It is so good to be home again. We got in about 9:00 Tuesday night and it was so nice to sleep in my own bed. I hope we can eliminate this trip in the future {without sounding ungrateful, I hope}, as I think I have seen enough of Vegas for awhile. That said, we will be returning in June for Abby's 21st birthday, we have quite a large group going so far and I think it will be a blast. But the October trip...we'll see. There are so many other places to see and experience. But I did have fun and didn't lose my pants.
I came home to a bunch of dead sunflowers and dirty dishes but it was less of a mess than I expected. I spent yesterday getting the house in order and then had some quality time with my laptop checking out blogs and doing a little shopping. I needed some 'Activewear'. Somehow that seems to be the wrong thing to call it. I call it 'Laying Around Wear'. It was a productive virtual shopping trip and I even hit a few sales.
My son Jeff carried up the box of fall decorations from the basement and I added a few things here and there. My mantel is not satisfactory to me yet so I am going to play with it more. This is a neat wreath, you can hang it or lay it flat with a candles in the middle. 
All is quiet on the kitchen reno front...the carpenters are working on the cabinets someway, somewhere, and the fabricator came last week and measured my counters and could be, at this very minute, be making my new counter tops. He said 10 days. But the cabinet fronts need to be done first. I am wondering if I have to empty them out if they are just installing the fronts. I really don't want to have to do that. I thought about making a little project out of eating everything that's canned or dried without buying anything else. Sort of how you clean out your vegetable bins by making soup. That will be less to take out. Smart. eh?
We have a busy weekend coming up. There is an event that Anne Marie from NaDa Farm has every spring and fall {she is a sweet and wonderful blogger}. She lives about 2 hours from here so I have talked The Husband into coming home early so we can be there for the Friday night opening of the weekend event on her farm. I missed it last spring as we were in Asheville. I really am looking forward to this and can't wait to see Anne Marie once again, along with many other bloggers.
Saturday, we head back to the lake. Our friends Craig and Snow will be joining us. Craig and The Husband have all the work to do {taking the boats out of the water and putting all the summer stuff away}, and Snow and I will be heading off to Dowagiac for the Under The Harvest Moon celebration. I've never been to it so I'll have to tell you all about it next week. Doesn't it sound like fun? I can taste the apple cider already.
Early tomorrow I am going to go buy my mums. The ones in Michigan are less expensive but a little on the shaggy side. The pumpkins there are nice and I also get haystacks. Most of the farm stands are selling pies and bakery now, too. Yum! Next week I can get to work on the outside of my house. 
That's all I have for fall decorating right now. I only do my living room and kitchen as those are the rooms we use the most. But you know how it goes...every year you see more that you want to buy and soon you are venturing into the bathroom and den....
This is a poor shot, I'm still using my cell camera. You might remember my buying the sheer curtains from Target and forgetting 2 panels. I went ahead and put these up since the other window in my bedroom is a garden window and I'm just not sure how they will look. Anyway, I think they look nice {pardon the ivy growing on the screen}. The afternoon sun looks so nice coming in.
I lightened up the bed linens too by taking the duvet cover off {yes, now that it is getting cold and we need it}, and putting a white coverlet over it. Then I layered it with an Ikea throw and some grain sack pillows. Layla is happy with it. She will be burrowing under in 5 minutes.
Well, that's all I have for the 2 days I have been back from Las Vegas and as I said, I am enjoying being home. Now I have to get back to the laundry so I have something to pack for this weekend. I hope you have a good one! :-)
Well, it's day 3 in Las Vegas and we have done a little of everything. We have been spending more time walking around outdoors and shopping than we normally do. I haven't made any big purchases, everything here is a little glitzy to me. I did buy a pair of flip flops as they are more comfortable than my boots. Yep, boots and jeans and cardigans have been my mainstay and I have been perfectly comfortable. The weather has been gorgeous, just a bit hot in the sun but perfect in the shade. I snapped some pictures of the outdoor cafes...my favorite places to eat. 
I could rave about the food here all day long. I've never had a bad meal. I've forgotten to take pictures of some of the food we have tried here, but it's all been out of this world. I have also been treating myself to Starbuck's lattes and chocolate eclairs every afternoon. The heck with the diet, I'm on vacation.
You might think this is an outdoor cafe in the above picture but it is actually in the Paris Hotel where the ceiling is painted like the sky. We stayed here a few years ago and I loved the French feel to it. But again, the shopping in the hotels is rather glitzy.
Our room at the Rio is plain and simple and clean. We stay here free with all the comps we win on our rewards card...it's complicated. but we stay here pretty often. It's pretty wild here with people running around in masquerade outfits; masks and feathers and the waitresses in teeny tiny clothing. Yep, makes you feel a little bad that you are eating eclairs everyday. 
The Husband and I have been enjoying sleeping in our own beds. No dogs either. I finally have room to stretch.
This is my dream hotel, the Bellagio. Someday. I think we are eating lunch there tomorrow. This and the Venetian are two of the hotels I would love to stay at. Can you tell how nice the weather is?
Today the Bears played and it was on in the Sports Room. All the guys met there and I took my sweet old time sipping coffee and getting ready. Then I joined them in time for the horse races and won $35.00 on my first bet. I haven't been doing too well on the slot machines so that is why I decided to stay in the room tonight and just get room service. As I mentioned before, 2 wives couldn't come so I have been hanging out alone. The Husband says the slots put me in a trance anyway. This is a picture of the Rio. It has pretty views all around and the landscaping is beautiful. I'll try to take more pictures outside tomorrow but it's hard with all the people milling about. I hope everyone had a good weekend. I have 2 more days here and then it is home sweet home. Abby keeps texting me pictures of the dogs and they have very mournful faces. I think they miss me! :-)
My camera is still missing, but I think I am getting some pretty good shots with my phone. I haven't started decorating for fall yet, that will have to happen after I get back from my trip, but I have spread out some of the decorations from Emily's party until I know how I want to arrange everything. It has been fun looking at all the blogs and the fall and Halloween decorations. Do we like to decorate or what?! I saw a front porch idea that I love and I am getting anxious to do my mantel differently. Fun, fun, fun.
This is a small slab of granite that I picked out for my counter tops. I didn't want anything with speckles or a muddy color, so this worked out perfect. My back splash is white tile, so I've picked up that and my cabinets are unfinished pine, the goldish color in the stone. My back ordered kitchen island has a black and white marble top, so I think this is going to compliment it. Today the fabricator is coming to measure and then we will have it in about 10 days.
After I nearly lost my lunch over the first quote we got on the kitchen, we decided to do things ala carte. We found a Kohler sink at Home Depot on sale and bought it. We also got the fixtures and garbage disposal {online}. A carpenter has one of my cabinets and is trying to match it up with new panels. Then I just have to wait for my island. Oh, we are getting a new dishwasher, too, as it's my only appliance that isn't stainless steel. I am excited to show you pictures because I have always avoided that since some of the cabinet doors had cracked and snapped off. It was really unsightly and I think I got the burner under The Husband lit by announcing I was going to have a Christmas Party with all of his friends and colleagues. ;-D
Anyone need sunflowers? I have 18 of them scattered around in various places. And all the bean jar candles. Those I may just wrap red ribbon around and use for Christmas.
So, I think I am ready for Vegas...just a little laundry and a trip to the drugstore for sample sized products. Two of the wives can't join us, one of whom I became pretty good friends with, so I'll be wandering around the casino alone most of the time. The Husband plays poker, sometimes at other hotels. I don't mind, it just gets a little boring. We all meet for dinner and sometimes a show. I'm not sure if we are seeing anyone this year.
I went to my doctor yesterday and I have bronchitis. I figured that from the 10 minute coughing fits. So I have antibiotics and I should start to feel well soon. Thanks so much for your well wishes.
Now I'm off to de~clutter my counters so the guy can get to them to measure. How would a vase of sunflowers look sitting on top of a toaster? :-)
Saturday was a gorgeous day for a graduation party. It rained a bit in the morning and then it was sunny and hazy...that perfect sort of fall day. Emily {the graduate} had specific ideas for her party, a sunflower theme. We had three large tables under a tent and 2 big vases on each table along with assorted squash and gourds. I made the candle holders with empty salsa jars filled with beans and a tea light candle {as shown in my last post}. We had a lot of salsa left so that is what we munched on with plenty of chips. 
The Husband hung up white lights under the tent and everything looked magical. 
A small table was set up to hold refreshments. The Husband made his specialty, Sweet Tea with lemonade and vodka. 
We kept the color scheme in brown and golds. 
The night before the party Emily made red velvet cupcakes, {recipe from the Food Network}. These were honestly the best cupcakes I have ever had. She made forty, and they disappeared in 10 minutes. The cupcake stands are from Marshall's.
Aren't they pretty?
It really was a pretty evening. I wanted to scatter some of those faux fall leaves on the tables, but we didn't have to bother, leaves floated gently down and landed softly {in the food}. And the walnut trees serenaded us with the plonk!!! of falling tennis ball sized nuts. No one was hurt, thankfully. Most importantly, my girl had fun and everyone joined in!
This is a crazy week in Blondieville. I have a cold and I'm trying to get ready for Vegas on Friday. Since it's affecting my asthma, I have to go to the doctor tomorrow, but better safe than sorry. We have people working on the kitchen {that is a whole other post} and I was having problems with the Internet, which is now fixed. I'll be back later in the week with more on the kitchen and to say goodbye before we take off for Sin City. :-)
I'm joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday!
This is the mess I awoke to today, a leaking kitchen sink. The cabinet underneath would have been destroyed if it weren't for the bin holding cleaning supplies. So everything had to come out and be rinsed off and now I have to call a plumber. That's okay, he is Irish and sexy. Oh, and remember the clogged garbage disposal I had? It managed to clear itself out on it's own. I am wondering if it cleared a path for the leak. Woe to me. And I saw my first mouse of the season. 
Plans for going to the lake were dashed when we realized all the work we had to do here to get ready for Emily's graduation party. The hedges and mulberry bushes were so overgrown it looked like a forest in the backyard. The Husband tended to them like a true lumberjack and I weeded the garden beds. 
Can you believe how much was cut down. The neighbors next door must be enjoying the sunlight! ;-D I was thrilled while pulling weeds to find plants and flowers I forgot I had. The Sedum is just now turning a deep blush, and I have a ton of those elephant ears plants {I can never remember their name}.So a lot was accomplished last weekend in between the Notre Dame and Bears game. We treated ourselves to dinner out after all our hard work, The Pit, one of our favorite spots. I had the Greek sausage, Texas toast and pasta salad. I think I then went to bed at 8:00 p.m., a very satisfied girl.
I took a few shots of the patio after I had it all spic and span. I have a lot of bird houses and some I just display because they are getting so old. I have an old chippy baker's rack on my patio, that I love to decorate for the season. Almost time for some pumpkins and gourds. 
These boxes would look pretty with some dried or faux flowers in them, but I cleaned out my stash and need to restock. I feel a trip to Michael's coming on.
Yesterday was busy, a hair appointment, grocery shopping and a trip to Target with Abby. I am making some decorations for the party tables and saw a cute little candle holder someone made on a blog. I would give the blog credit but it slips my mind. Sorry. Anyway, I bought about 6 jars of salsa and 10,000 pounds of pinto beans. I poured all the salsa in a big container and soaked the labels off the jars. These jars are shorter so you don't have to use so many bags of beans. In went the beans and I tied a piece of raffia on and popped in a candle. Voila!
I am really an all thumbs sort of person, so I was quite proud of myself.
So, our party is next Saturday, I am doing a lot for it as Emily is working and Abby is at school most of the day. I don't mind, I am SO proud of her graduating. We are supposed to have great weather in the 70's. We've have tents and tables coming and we are going to decorate with my candles and vases of sunflowers. The food is being catered by the same restaurant that did my son's wedding. Pulled pork, smoked chicken, beans and rice and all good Southern food that we don't often find here in the upper Midwest.
Next week we leave for 5 days in Vegas. I have already done my prerequisite shopping online, torn between the hot weather and the cold casinos. It's all so confusing, even though we have been going at this time of year for what seems like forever. I'll keep you posted on my plans and of course, everything that goes wrong or gives me a headache. See you soon! :-)
I am joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday.
I'm happy to be back in a new frame of mind, happy again and just letting the good times roll. After I wrote my pity party post the other day, I got to work organizing and cleaning my house. The Husband came home and asked if the cleaning ladies were here that day {I have 2 girls come twice a month}. I guess I did a thorough job, especially in his Man Cave Corner...think laptop, Nook, notepad, coffee cups, cigars and ashtray, and basket of Fantasy Baseball magazines. I did everything but the laundry, but as some of you said...it'll still be here tomorrow. Thanks so much for your support and if you took the opportunity to vent as well, I hope you feel good now.
My camera is still MIA. I hope I find it at the lakehouse tomorrow. If not, maybe it's time for an upgrade. ;-D. I was able to get some good shots with my cellphone and I thought I'd share the recent rearrangement of my summer mantel. Given that I am a total summer girl, I haven't hauled out the fall stuff. Not just yet.
I took away some beach pictures I had up here and added some mercury glass votive holders to give a little sparkle. It's definitely candle time with all those juicy berry and apple pie smelling candles out now. And the flickering light looks so pretty early in the evening now that it gets dark so much sooner.
I've had these dried hydrangeas for months and they have faded from pale green to pink. Since I don't grow hydrangeas myself, I ordered them dried from a farm through eBay. It's pretty cool, you can get lavender, peonies, whatever you'd like. In a few more weeks I will add some fall decorations. I've been getting so many ideas from blogs and magazines. My biggest love has been burlap pumpkins that I have seen in Etsy shops, and lighted branches, which I hear Kirkland's has on sale. 
My reading frenzy continues. I finished Maine. It had an ending that wrapped things up pretty well, but still left you hanging a bit. I liked that, sort of made me think. This is the author's second book and since I liked it so well, I ordered her first book, Commencement, from Amazon. In the meantime, I picked up this book at Target and I am really loving it. It's a beach read but really well written and it moves along fast. This weather just makes me want to curl up at night and read, sort of the way it motivates some to bake. At least I don't get the calories, although this story is set in a bistro and the food is outstanding. After reading Maine, I suggested to The Husband that we check out the upper east coast on our springtime vacation. He countered with Quebec City. I think I need to brush up on my French.
The temps are in the mid 50's today. I am wearing my heaviest sweatshirt since it seems just crazy to turn on the heat when I had the A/C on earlier in the week. After my shower this morning I put cocoa butter oil on and it sucked right in. My skin is the first sign that colder weather is on the way.
Tonight we are going to look at stone for the counter tops. We received our first quote on the kitchen reno and it left us speechless to say the least. We have another estimate scheduled for Monday. I really dislike this whole process, it frustrates me and I don't like that. Hopefully all the decisions will be made in the next week or two.
Thanks for stopping by and I will see you next week! :-)
Have you ever thought your life could be a reality show on television? This occurs to me quite often. 99% of the time that I sit down to write a post, I have no idea what I am going to say. I can practically see you guys opening up my blog and scratching your heads, "Where is she going with this?" Well, I usually post around my pictures because my camera is really my window to my world. And I had lovely pictures to share with you this morning from my weekend at the lake. But, as I type, I realize I try not to look around me when I get up in the morning...I pour a cup of coffee, forever grateful that we have some, give it a few generous heaps of Coffeemate French Vanilla creamer and sit down to read blogs or maybe write a post. Today I went to get my camera out of my purse and...no camera. I really dug around a while for it because if you have ever seen my purse, you would know that I could pack a weeks worth of clothes in it and still have room. No camera. It has to be at the lake. No camera, no pictures, no post. What would I do?
I grabbed my cell phone and thought, there has to be something I can take a picture of, make a pretty vignette and join a party maybe. I looked around and realized it was post weekend {we came home yesterday}. I was in the land of semi~adult children. As I mentioned earlier, I head for the coffee pot with blinders on and after I have blogged and had what I feel is my only connection with the adult world, I look around, have a little pity party and start the clean up. Post Weekends are always bad because I'm either not here or I do very little if I am here. Cleaning and fluffing that is. So I told myself this morning, after a mere 6 hours of sleep, that I would post and keep it real. I grabbed the cell for pictures, only to find the battery was dead {and yeah, I have a few important calls to make}. After I scratched my head and swore a bit, I gave it a little charge and started snapping pictures. So... welcome to my reality show. I took pictures in black and white to soften the blow. Above is the corner of my bedroom and underneath it all is a pretty quilt rack with pretty blankets and quilts we love to curl up with. Except Abby existed solely in my room for the weekend, eating and drinking and watching The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills. I'd love to be on that show except I would be the one without make up and an apron on. After arriving home late yesterday and putting my bag in my room, I tripped over a half dozen water bottles and paper plates and attempted to re~fluff the bed, my sanctuary. With the crumbs and dog hair, I needed a broom...on the bed. After making the bunch a delicious dinner of pasta, shrimp, salad and bread {I add this so you can join me in the "Why's}, I crawled into bed. 
They made their breakfast and lunches for school I saw this morning. I knew exactly what they had and would be eating. Maybe that's why they leave it out..."See, Mom, a balanced breakfast and everything on the Food Pyramid."
I'll let the pictures do the explaining, I am almost ready to delete this but I'm on a roll. When they were small, it was so much easier to feed them out of the jar, wash their faces and toss the remains in the garbage. I used to keep their toys in a pretty wicker basket in the corner of the room and now I'm looking at 3 open laptops, several remotes and a few cell phone chargers in the outlets where I usually have my Glade Plug In's. To further the scope of my reality world, I know for sure that downstairs I have at minimum, 11 loads of laundry. The garbage disposal is stopped up and not running {do I call a plumber or an electrician?}and I haven't heard from the carpenter since last week {don't people want work?}. I have a ton of weeds in the backyard and hedges to be trimmed, with a graduation party looming over me in a week and 1/2. The kitchen garbage is overflowing and I am getting ants in the dishwasher. Finally {maybe}, Layla pooped in the bathroom. Close, but no cigar.
I know I can sound like a Pollyanna. To take this conception further, let it be told that I had an idyllic weekend at the lake, the skies were clear, the birds were singing and I hummed as I made The Husband lunch with home grown tomatoes and grilled chicken. I sipped wine while I watched him skim along the bay in the kayak and I was at peace. Then I came back to my reality world.
I can sing the praises of my kids, but I won't. Today is a pity party. Through my tears I told Abby, yes, she could use my car because she was out of gas. And yes, I told Jeff, it was no big deal that he hadn't returned the tux from the wedding two weeks ago even though it is $20.00 per day late fee. For the most part I have a gentle voice and a smile on my face. I think it has nipped me in the a**.
Feel free to vent as much as you want in your comments. I would love the company. ;-D
It is so good to be home again. We got in about 9:00 Tuesday night and it was so nice to sleep in my own bed. I hope we can eliminate this trip in the future {without sounding ungrateful, I hope}, as I think I have seen enough of Vegas for awhile. That said, we will be returning in June for Abby's 21st birthday, we have quite a large group going so far and I think it will be a blast. But the October trip...we'll see. There are so many other places to see and experience. But I did have fun and didn't lose my pants. 
My son Jeff carried up the box of fall decorations from the basement and I added a few things here and there. My mantel is not satisfactory to me yet so I am going to play with it more. This is a neat wreath, you can hang it or lay it flat with a candles in the middle. 
All is quiet on the kitchen reno front...the carpenters are working on the cabinets someway, somewhere, and the fabricator came last week and measured my counters and could be, at this very minute, be making my new counter tops. He said 10 days. But the cabinet fronts need to be done first. I am wondering if I have to empty them out if they are just installing the fronts. I really don't want to have to do that. I thought about making a little project out of eating everything that's canned or dried without buying anything else. Sort of how you clean out your vegetable bins by making soup. That will be less to take out. Smart. eh?
We have a busy weekend coming up. There is an event that Anne Marie from NaDa Farm has every spring and fall {she is a sweet and wonderful blogger}. She lives about 2 hours from here so I have talked The Husband into coming home early so we can be there for the Friday night opening of the weekend event on her farm. I missed it last spring as we were in Asheville. I really am looking forward to this and can't wait to see Anne Marie once again, along with many other bloggers.
Early tomorrow I am going to go buy my mums. The ones in Michigan are less expensive but a little on the shaggy side. The pumpkins there are nice and I also get haystacks. Most of the farm stands are selling pies and bakery now, too. Yum! Next week I can get to work on the outside of my house. 
That's all I have for fall decorating right now. I only do my living room and kitchen as those are the rooms we use the most. But you know how it goes...every year you see more that you want to buy and soon you are venturing into the bathroom and den....
This is a poor shot, I'm still using my cell camera. You might remember my buying the sheer curtains from Target and forgetting 2 panels. I went ahead and put these up since the other window in my bedroom is a garden window and I'm just not sure how they will look. Anyway, I think they look nice {pardon the ivy growing on the screen}. The afternoon sun looks so nice coming in.
I lightened up the bed linens too by taking the duvet cover off {yes, now that it is getting cold and we need it}, and putting a white coverlet over it. Then I layered it with an Ikea throw and some grain sack pillows. Layla is happy with it. She will be burrowing under in 5 minutes. 
