MAY SHOWERS

I know, I know.  Enough with the flowers, Jane.  I promise---except maybe for the variety in the pots and the ground.  If I ever get to that point.

These are special, they came from Abigail's boyfriend, Tom.  It was such a nice gesture, I just didn't expect it.  They had just come back from visiting his mother's grave.  It's only been two years since they lost her but the family never misses a birthday, holiday or anniversary to celebrate her life.  So I was touched that he thought of me on Mother's Day.

Every Mother's Day there is a fundraising walk for breast cancer in my neighborhood.  This year we had torrential rain coming down just as it was to get started, so many of us bailed.  We did however, move on to my sister in law, Megan's home for brunch.  Here are some of the ladies (Bridget in the forefront is due to have her first baby this week and her sister Katie, behind her, is due in 4 weeks).  The men congregated downstairs to watch the Bulls game.   Meg put out quite a spread.  Deli sandwiches, salads and desserts (Banana Pudding and Cheesecake).  She also had a little buffet set up with Mimosas and Bloody Marys.  We had a ball.

Even Elsie Jane got into the swing of things wearing this year's T-shirt for the fundraiser.  :)

I saved time by making prosciutto and melon to bring to the brunch.

Emily made this fantastic grape salad and I had to share the recipe.  I actually wasn't going to have any, the ingredients didn't sound too appealing to me but I was so incredibly glad I tried it.  It will be a summer staple in our family for sure.  Here's the recipe:

Grape Salad

8 oz. softened cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup sugar

2 t. vanilla

2 lbs. seedless red grapes

2 lbs. seedless green grapes

3 T. brown sugar

3 T. chopped pecans

1)  Beat cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Add grapes and toss to coat.

2)  Transfer to a serving bowl, cover and chill.  Before serving, sprinkle over the brown sugar and pecans.  

This is heavenly and super simple to make.  :)

Charlie the Painter is currently here working on my den and guestroom.  I am sort of confined to the kitchen/living room area with the dogs but there is a French door leading into the den so I can take a peek every now and then.  The 28 year old wallpaper is down and the room looks huge.  The paint color I chose is Marshmallow by Sherwin Williams.  It's just a pretty creamy color.  For Abby's old room I went with a soft gray called Alpaca, also by Sherwin Williams.  It will take awhile for the reveal.  We haven't gotten a new bed yet and I have been too busy to paint the dressers.   As far as the den...grrrrrr!  I picked out two comfy chairs but The Husband thinks they are too large for the room even though Emily did a scaled diagram.  As soon as we can get back into the empty room we are going to make a chalk outline of the chairs based on the measurements and exactly where I want to place them.  This man definitely needs a hobby.  He wasn't like this years ago, he sort of followed behind me in the stores when I would pick out furniture or whatever.  And there's nothing wrong with a husband having a say in how you decorate your home, but it seems I would have had the room finished weeks ago if I had just done it alone.  I had to get four paint estimates before I finally hired our longtime guy Charlie.  I went over book after book of chairs with Emily at her showroom and we found the type of chair I liked in the smallest dimensions possible and he still feels they are too big.   Anyway, it remains to be seen if there will be a chalk outline of a man's body next to the chairs when we get through this ordeal.  

I'm still pretty much stuck indoors as Milo is under strict requirements to not have a lot of activity.  I'm still walking him around the backyard on a leash and talking to him like he's a puppy I'm training, "Go pee pee, Milo.  Go poo poo!"  Believe me, when you make 20 laps around the backyard in the pouring rain while he sniffs every tree and weed, you get a little wacko.  And now he's jumping on and off furniture and I'm following him around like he's a toddler.  I'm truly grateful he's recovering so well but he's wearing me out!  He's standing on a chair this very minute watching the next door neighbor mow his lawn, the big old cone still around his head.  Crazy mutt.  

So my plants and flowers are still sitting on the patio waiting for me to find the time to sneak away (or for the constant rain to let up) and get to work.  And my lovely children gave me a gift card for my favorite nursery for Mother's Day so I'm really excited to get started on my gardening.  Be patient, Jane.  

Friday is the bridal shower for my future daughter in law, Deirdre.  It's at her sister's home not too far from here.  She and her husband just bought a very old home in a beautiful part of our area, I can't wait to see it.  It's cocktails and dinner so it will be fun.  Emily and I will be going out to the burbs to get a gift at Crate & Barrel and we are going to each splurge on something new to wear.  I'm personally looking at shoes, I have fallen in love with so many new ones for this season.  Oh, how I love shoes!

Off I go.  I'll be back this weekend and hopefully have some pictures of the shower and if I'm really lucky, some pretty garden pics, too!

Jane x