I wish you could smell these!

Last year my gardenia bush had buds but they would all fall off before they bloomed. I haven't done anything differently this year but it seems to be thriving! I think within a few weeks this plant will be covered with blooming flowers. I love the scent but my daughter hates it. I've met a few other people who don't like it either. Do you like the scent of gardenias?

My hydrangea next to it is starting to bloom also and the lilies and roses are close to blooming too. I love June, everything blooms in unison in my little, tiny, pint-size garden.

Look at this book I found!

I ran into Barnes & Noble last weekend to see if they had the new Romantic Homes magazine yet. They didn't have it but as I was leaving this book caught my eye. I ran over and couldn't believe that it was a bargain priced book for $7.98 (originally $24.95) It is so beautiful!

Here is a cottage on Martha's Vineyard. I probably walked right in front of this one while I was there last summer.

I love this room. What a view!
This picture didn't turn out very well but this room is stunning!

This is one of the more elegant rooms...very pretty.
I really love this room. Look at the valance on the window. I love how it's not put at the very top of the window.
There are different chapters in this book for each different style of cottage decorating. I think this came from the Rustic chapter.
I love the toile wallpaper in the dining room and all the topiary. Oh, and that black and white check floor. I've always wanted a kitchen with that.

Thrift Store Find

I've been pretty good about cutting down on my spending but sometimes I just have to stop by the thrift store. It usually happens after I'm reading about all the great things other bloggers are finding. That's when I found this. I think it's a chocolate pot? right? It was more than I usually spend at a thrift store, $19.99 but I think it's worth more than that. It' s really beautiful, these pictures do not show the detail as much as I would like.

Awhile back, I ordered a book from the book club I belong to (Home Style Books) and this journal came with it. I've been using it to keep track of all my thrift store purchases. Someday I may start selling on eBay or maybe at the flea market and if I decide to sell some of my things, I'll know how much I paid for them.

Memorial Day

Hope you are all having a great Memorial Day Weekend. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the brave men and women that have served to protect our wonderful country.

Inspiration Friday - Cottage Gardens

I didn't get a chance to scan any magazine pics this week so I found some beautiful cottage gardens on Flickr. Aren't these beautiful? I would love to have any of these!
1. Cottage nestled in the garden, 2. Backyard Color at The Garden Cottage Bed and Breakfast, 3. Rose Covered Cottage, 4. Cottage garden 1, 5. The Gardens, 6. Birdbath and delphinium, 7. Larkpur and Roses, 8. A Summer Day, 9. a 'Sconset cottage, 10. La Fleur de Mer, 11. The Fairytale Cottages of Carmel, 12. Fairys Garden, 13. Giant Zinnias and Hydrangea14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

Found on eBay

My mom has a antique baby buggy that she is thinking about selling so I was looking on eBay for something similar to get an idea of it's value. I came across this adorable rabbit buggy. The starting bid is only $49 and shipping is only $20. I can't believe no one has bid for this yet. Click here to see it on eBay.

This is the one my mom is selling so if anyone knows an approximate value, please let me know. The little girl in the buggy is my now 14 year old daughter, Lauren. My mom and I had fun dressing her up in old clothes and taking these pictures.

Victoria Website is up!

This is my second post today but I just had to share the great news...Victoria has their website up. You can subscribe there. Just click here

Getting ready for Memorial Day

I have fond memories of my dad putting out the flag for all those flag holidays. I associate the smell of fresh cut grass with the flag...weird, I know. I think my dad would always mow the lawn and then hang the flag.

I don't have a place to hang a flag by my front door. I don't think my landlord would be happy with me drilling into the stucco. So, I just put out my Uncle Sam my dad made me about 10 years ago. I usually put him out for Memorial Day weekend and leave him out there until after Labor Day. Last weekend I took him out of storage and put him in my backyard. He's awaiting his grand entrance to the front this Saturday.

NOTE: I HATE this new auto save that blogger now has. I was trying to delete an extra space between my paragraphs and I deleted the whole paragraph and 3 photos by mistake. Then blogger auto saved that and I lost my original draft. Ughhhh, I was mad!

Crystal Candlesticks

My brother is 13 years older than me. I don't really remember much about growing up with him except for a few things. Like the time when I was 4 or 5 and he got mad at me and threw me over his shoulder and marched up to my bedroom and threw me on my bed so hard that the canopy fell down on top of me. I also remember him killing a snake in our backyard with a shovel. I only see my brother every Thanksgiving but hear about what is going on with him through my mom. We aren't very close and I think it has to do with being 13 years apart in age. Anyway, my brother gave me these candlesticks for Christmas when I was in my early twenties. I remember my mom telling me quietly in the kitchen that they may not be my style (which they weren't) but to save them and some day I will really appreciate them. My mom is always right. I love these candlesticks now and the fact that they were a gift from my brother makes them very special. I'm so glad I listened to my mom.

Note: The first picture looks a little bizarre. I'm not sure if you can tell, but the blue window frame is actually a mirror so it's reflecting the chandelier and the plates I have on the opposite wall.

Basil Pesto

Yesterday afternoon, after all my chores were done, I finally had time to sit down and take a break and read through some magazines. It was a beautiful day so I was relaxing on my patio looking through the May issue of Country Living. I saw a recipe for homemade pesto. It called for 3 cups of basil. I looked over at my basil plant(above) and figured I had enough to make it. There is something so satisfying about growing things and turning them into wonderful dishes to serve my family. I would have loved to put this on pasta but I'm doing the low-carb thing right now so I can lose some weight. Instead I pounded out some chicken breasts and spread the pesto on them, and then put some goat cheese on top of that and rolled them up and baked them. Wow, unbelievably good. My daughter loved it too. After I was almost finished eating I realized I could have mixed a little pesto with some cream to drizzle on top. Oh well, next time.

Here's the pesto recipe just in case you don't have the magazine. If you have it, it's on page 150.

Pulse 3 cups of basil leaves with 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup pine nuts, 2 small cloves garlic and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese in food processor until finely chopped. Sprinkle in 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper, and process until smooth. Store in refrigerator for one week or frozen for three months.

Inspiration Friday - ME Outdoor Companion

I've had this Mary Englebreit Outdoor Companion book for about 10 years and I still go back and look at it regularly. Sorry the pictures are so bad. It's hard for me to scan books so I just took pictures of the pages.

I love this patio table made out of a big bird house with a glass top.

And this birdbath made out of terra cotta pots turned upside down with a large saucer on top. Each pot is painted differently.

This is a cute house in Carmel, CA. If you ever come to Northern California, you must visit Carmel. It is so beautiful. There are so many cute cottages. I would live there if I could but the little, tiny cottages cost millions of dollars!

I love this gate. As I was putting this picture on here I remembered that I did an Inspiration Friday awhile back with this same type of gate.

I love the patio with the moss around the pavers (or whatever you call those things.)

I love the look of ferns and foxgloves together. Very cottagey! (spell-check says that's not a real word, but we know it is).

I used to have some pet doves. I always wanted a cage like this for them. Love this!

I love the plants trailing down the fence in the back. I would love to sit out here with all of you, enjoying a glass of some great California wine and some wonderful appetizers.

I would love to have a potting area like this! I love the pea-gravel on the ground. When I was little I used to go to the garden nursery with my parents. They had an old soda machine there, the type with the glass bottles that you pull out of the slots. I always used to get an orange soda and walk through the nursery paths, which all had pea-gravel. Funny, the weird things I remember from my childhood. Every time I see pea-gravel or drink an orange soda it just takes me back...

So many unfinished things...

The part about me that I hate the most is that I don't finish things. I know I've shown you projects here that I have finished but the truth is for every project I complete there are probably 5 more that I have started and not finished. I get really excited about new projects and then somewhere along the way I lose the enthusiasm I once had. Knitting is a perfect example of this. I learned to knit when I was young. I think I must have been about 5 the first time my mom taught me. It wasn't until I was in my 20s that I really learned how to make a sweater. I had a goal when I was in my early 20s to knit an Irish knit sweater and I did! It's a button down sweater with pockets. I still have it, although back then I didn't know that you can't wash wool in warm water so it felted a little bit. I can't believe I still have something I knit at 23 years old! I started these two projects a couple years ago. They are both almost finished but not quite.

Along with unfinished needlepoint, counted cross stitch, embroidery, and crochet projects there is drawing. I would love to be an artist. If I was granted three wishes that would be one of them. I admire people like Susan Branch, Christie Repasy and Gail McComack and I would love to be like them.

A few years ago, during an ALL DAY meeting at work I was REALLY bored so I started doodling. I drew a topiary on a small notepad with ball point pen. Everyone sitting around me was really impressed but not more than I was...I didn't even know I could draw. I went directly after work to Michaels and bought some water color pencils. The first photo below is my very first drawing. The second photo of the heart topiary seems to be a favorite of everyone I've shown my drawing to. My dad has really encouraged me to take drawing lessons but I haven't. I've tried to draw other things but it seems like topiaries are the only thing I can draw. (I'm not very good at the perspective thing so my urns are a little off)

Like knitting I go back to drawing every once in awhile but can't seem to focus enough to get really good. I'm so impressed with people that really know what they are good at and can stay focused and love it for their lifetime. Maybe I just haven't found what it is I should be doing yet???

Thrift Store Finds and a Gift

I have to stop going to the thrift stores so often. Although I don't spend much I am feeling the pinch from rising gas prices (I just paid $3.45 a gallon), my $100/month rent increase, and the rising prices of just about everything lately. My sewing machine is waiting to be picked up and that's $150 that I just can't seem to pull out my budget right now. Anyway, I found these things a couple weeks ago before I realized I needed to curb my spending.

The border on this platter above is yellow and pink. I wish you could see the detail better. I tried to take a close up of the flowers but it came out blurry. I have it hanging in my bedroom.

This platter has very cute pink roses. Sorry, this one came out really blurry. (I was rushing to get these pictures taken last night before American Idol came on.) It has a cute scalloped edge. I think this one is made is Austria, if I remember correctly. There is more and more pink slipping into my blue and white home!

I needed a silver tray for my silver tea set and when I saw this one, I almost didn't buy it because it was so tarnished I couldn't tell what shape it was in. Now that I polished it, I think it's a newer piece. It says Oneida on the back. I think I paid $5.99 for this. I think a lot of people get silver as wedding presents and as soon as it tarnishes they get rid of it. I actually like polishing silver, there's something satisfying in seeing that transformation.


I've always wanted a set of these fish dishes. My daughter and I love green salads with shrimp for dinner in the summer and I thought these would be great for that. There is one large platter and 6 salad dishes. This was $6.99 for the set.

This is not a thrift store find. This was a gift from Denise of Shabby Cottage Boutique. She sent it along with the cottage sign I bought from her. It's from France and it can be used either as a belt buckle, pendant, or pin. this picture does not do it justice at all. It's much more sparklier (I know that's not a word) in person.

Claire Murray

This is another one of my favorite magazines. I have every issue (it only comes out every two months.) The photography in this magazine if unbelievable!

Claire Murray is based in Nantucket and has shops mostly in New England along with a few other eastern locations. I visited her shop in Martha's Vineyard last summer when I was there and it was beautiful. She's known mostly for her hand hooked rugs, but she also has needlepoint and cross stitch kits available. She also has some beautiful birdhouses, pillows, dinnerware, apparel, etc. on her website. Here are some of my favorites:

I love her needlepoint rabbit pillows.
This bedroom reminds me of mine!

You can visit her website at http://www.clairemurray.com

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Yesterday my daughter and I entered our dog, Beau, in the 3rd annual Petco Chihuahua Races. There were 250 chihuahuas racing. The dogs raced on the little track pictured below, 10 dogs at a time. (The track was only 35 feet long). We were the 4th group of 25 groups to race. Beau came in first in that round so he and the second place dog went on to the semi-finals. We had to wait around for 21 more races before the semi-finals began. We went to the mall and then went to Taco Bell for lunch. We came back and it was time for Beau to race...HE WON AGAIN! We then had to wait for the finals. I was so nervous. The winner was going win a trip to San Diego for 2 people and your dog to compete in the National Championship Race. There were only 5 dogs competing in the finals. Just 4 other dogs and our Beau. They opened the gates and dogs all ran out, except Beau, he was trying to get out but he kept hitting his head on the top of the gate. He finally got out but the other dogs had such a big head start that he didn't have a chance. He came in last of the Finals. We won a $5 Petco gift card. That's okay we had so much fun and so did he. Now we need to train for next year!

Inspiration Friday - Jessica McClintock

I thought for this week's inspiration pictures I would show you some of my favorites from Jessica McClintock's Simply Romantic Decorating Book.

This is her home in San Francisco. She lives less than an hour away from me.

Here is Jessica. Look at her beautiful lace cuffs. I first heard about Jessica McClintock when I was in Jr. High in the 70s. Her company Gunne Sax made beautiful dresses and they were THE thing to have when I was in Jr. High. Now, I love her cologne more than her dresses! I've also heard that she has a furniture line.

Her home is very formal, elegant and extravagant. I can appreciate it's beauty but I can't imagine living in such a huge house. I do love looking at the beautiful architecture and decor though. I've just started reading the book but as I was browsing through it I saw that Francis Ford Coppola had edited the God Father in this house. It has it's own cutting room for movies!
I thought I would share with you my very 1st Jessica McClintock Gunne Sax Dress. I remember vividly how excited I was to get this dress for my 8th grade graduation in 1974. Remember...Gunne Sax was THE THING to have when I was in Jr. High. This was my awkward stage and I can't believe I'm actually putting this picture on my blog. (I'm on the right) I also wore a Gunne Sax dress to my Senior Ball in High School but the only picture I have of it is a wallet size picture with 5 couples so you can't really see the dress.

If you would like to see more of Jessica McClintock, she has a website: http://www.jessicamcclintock.com

To my girlfriends.....

A POEM ABOUT OUR GIRLFRIENDS
Someone will always be prettier. Some will always be smarter. Some of their houses will be bigger. Some will drive a better car. Their children will do better in school. And their husband will fix more things around the house. So let it go, and love you and your circumstances. Think about it! The prettiest woman in the world can have hell in her heart. And the most highly favored woman on your job may be unable to have children. And the richest woman you know, she's got the car, the house, the clothes~~~~ might be lonely. And the word says, "If I have not Love, I am nothing." So, again, love you. Love who you are. Look in the mirror in the morning and smile and say, "I am too blessed to be stressed and too anointed, to be disappointed!" "Winners make things happen~~ Losers let things happen."

Updated: I didn't write this, I received this in an email from a friend. I did take the picture of the cute cottages last summer in Martha's Vineyard.

A Bed for Beau

Awhile ago, I found this little bed at the Goodwill for $9.99. I think it was meant to be a doll bed but I thought it would make the perfect doggy bed. I added some rose appliques, finials, and painted it white. It still needs another coat of paint and then I will distress it a bit but I thought I would show you what I've done so far. It came with the mattress but Beau prefers something softer so I'm going to make something softer and prettier for him (well, the prettier part is for me, he really doesn't care).

I'm not sure how much he uses this bed because when I'm home, he's always by my side but I have seen him lay in it when the sun is on it. He loves the sun!

This is where he would prefer to sleep....my bed! I caught him taking a nap here last weekend. When I'm at work I keep my bedroom door shut because he likes to chew up pillows. I'm sure a lot of people are grossed out by a dog on the bed and I used to feel that way but some how this little guy just warmed my heart and I've spoiled him so much. He does get regular baths and he only goes outside for...well, you know what. Get your rest little guy, I've entered you in The Petco Chihuahua Race this Saturday!

Thank you Gail and Manuela

I came home from work yesterday and there were two packages for me! One from Gail McCormack from Australia and the other from Manuela from The Feathered Nest (click on their names to visit them).

Manuela sent me an email last week and said she had Jessica McClintock's Simply Romantic Decorating Book and it reminded her of me so she sent it to me. Isn't that the nicest thing ever!!! It came wrapped so beautifully too! The book is gorgeous! I love it!
Gail sent me a package of goodies that were wrapped in a beautiful scented rose paper. I had already ripped the paper off before I realized I should have taken a picture of it. The best part was that it smelled like roses! Gail sent me a set of beautiful note cards, two bookmarks, and a door hanger all made from her beautiful rose paintings.

See the teapot in the picture above? I found that at the Goodwill on Sunday. It's a Kath Kidston! I was thrilled when I saw that! It was only $3.99. I think I'm going to frame these two note cards. They are my favorites! I hung the door hanger on my bedroom door and it looks so cute!
Thank you Gail and Manuela! You are both so kind and generous! I was so thrilled last night opening these beautiful gifts...it felt like it was my birthday or Christmas...it was so wonderful! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

Look what came in the mail Saturday

I bought this at http://www.shabbycottageboutique.com/ a couple months ago. I fell in love with it when I saw it on Flickr. I was a little worried when I didn't hear back from Denise after I bought it. A couple weeks ago she sent me an email saying she had been ill and had computer problems but she would be sending it soon. I was so excited when I saw the mailman walking up with this huge package (it's 3 feet long). This sign was painted by Denise from a board she found that washed up on the beach in Cape Cod, MA. She also included a beautiful vintage piece of jewelry from France which was so sweet of her. I forgot to take a picture of that but I will so I can share it with all of you. It's beautiful!
I put the sign above my bed. It's perfect in my cottage bedroom!

The pictures she took look a lot better than mine. Here they are:

Tagged

Photo is a road in Edgartown, Marth's Vineyard

I've been tagged by "From My Cherry Heart" and "Raised in Cotton"
One was 7 weierd things about me and the other was 7 random things about me . I'm combining these, so here are 7 random weird things about me.

1. I tuck my dog, Beau, into a blanket on the couch every morning before I leave for work. Then I put the TV on the Animal Planet channel and set the timer on the TV for 2 1/2 hours. He still looks at me those sad puppy-dog eyes though.

2. I hate feet unless they belong to a baby or toddler.

3. I'm the worst judge of character when it comes to men. I've been divorced twice and I could tell you some unbelievable stories about some of the men I've dated. It's so bad that I've given up on dating until my daughter is 18 so I don't drag her into my men drama. It's better for me not to be a role model for her in that area. (Just to be clear, it's not that I went out with men that looked or acted like bad boys, that's not my type. These men seemed normal on the outside.)

4. I have a fear of driving long distances. This keeps me from doing things I would like to do, like visit my parents, visit my son at college and go to Susan Branch's store. These are all about 2-3 hours away from me. My fear is that my car will break down and something bad will happen.

5. I LOVE clean sheets and if I had the time and energy I would change my sheets every day. I change them every Saturday and sometimes midweek.

6. I drink a ton of coffee. I drink it all day long at work.

7. I cry very easily. I cry watching American Idol, when they show the proud parents in the audience and I cry every week when someone gets kicked off. I cried the other day when I saw a man at the stoplight next to me crying...a stranger. I started wondering why he was crying and the next thing I know, my eyes are watering.

I'm not going to tag anyone but if you haven't been tagged with this and you would like to be, then I tag you.

Inspiration Friday - Black & White

In honor of the great news this week that Victoria Magazine is coming back, I thought that this week's inspiration pictures should come from an old Victoria magazine (April 2001). If I ever changed my color scheme in my home to something other than blue and white, it would probably be black and white.

Also, I've been tagged a couple times this week. I will try to get my list of weird things about me together to post tomorrow.

Thank you Joanne for the cupcake recipe! Joanne left a cupcake recipe in the comments section of my post yesterday. I'm sure it's much better than Betty Crocker! I know a couple of you mentioned you want to make cupcakes so I thought I should let you all know about it.

One more thing, I just want everyone to know how much I appreciate every kind word I receive in my comments. Blogger does not allow me to reply to your comments so please don't think that I am being rude by not replying back to you. I really appreciate all your kind words!

Butter is better!

I was so busy last weekend. I stripped and painted the table, painted the glass house, cleaned my house, did laundry, went grocery shopping, taxied my daughter around, did some gardening, and I had planned to practice my cake decorating skills by making some cupcakes with roses on top. Well, I made the cupcakes but ran out of time (and energy) for the roses. So, here are the cupcakes without the roses. It was still fun using the pastry bag to pipe on the butter cream frosting. This time I made my own butter cream which I have to say it 100% better than the premade stuff I bought at the cake decorating store. They use high-ratio shortening (no butter) in their butter cream frosting. I used Betty Crocker White Cake Mix for these and they were really good. Here is the homemade butter cream frosting recipe I used:

Real Butter Cream Frosting

1/2 cup softened butter

1 lb powdered sugar

1 t. pure vanilla extract

3 T. milk

Beat together with mixer, add extra milk if needed to thin out a little.

In the photo above, I have two cake stands stacked together. Both were flea market finds! The one on the bottom is my favorite. I bought it about 10 years ago and I still remember how excited I was to find it.

Also, many people have asked me for the process I use to paint my furniture. I'll be putting together step by step instructions on how I do it (just remember, I'm not a professional). Someone asked about where I get my Rub N Buff. If you go to yesterday's post and click on Rub N Buff (in pink text) it will take you to a website. I didn't buy mine there but I'm a visual person so I wanted to show you what it looks like. I bought mine at a little hobby store in my neighborhood. Michael's also has them but only a few colors.

I painted it!

Remember this cute glass house I bought at a garage sale for $5.00? I decided to paint it white. I didn't want to just spray paint it white because I wanted it to look old so I used Rub N Buff in Antique White and Patina (I let some of the rust stay). This took FOREVER to do and I think I sanded off my fingerprints on my right index finger. I tried rubbing it on with a rag but it just works so much better with your finger tip. The glass was easy to take out but putting it back in was a nightmare. I broke two corners off try to get it back in. Yep, that's two things I broke last weekend (see Monday's post) After I finally got the glass back in, I realized that I had the whole thing upside down (this thing has three separate pieces) and if I had it right-side up the glass would have slid right in. Oh well, someday I'll get a new piece of glass cut for it but for now I just put the broken side against the wall and you can't even see it. I also put some white Rub N Buff on the little terracotta pots. As usual, it looks a lot better in person that in these pictures.

Below is the "before" picture. I like it so much better white.

Thrift Store Table Makeover

I bought this table at a thrift store last week for $12.99. Last weekend I stripped it and painted it white. I still want to distress it a little so this is still a work in process. When I bought this table, I had no idea where I was going to put it but for that price I knew I HAD to buy it. I think it would great in an entry way but my entry way is too small so I'm using it a side table for now. Now I need to strip and paint my coffee table so they match better. Funny how one thing always leads to another!
Here are some flowers from my garden, the apricot colored ones are called Nancy Reagan and the blush/cream are called French Lace. This seems to be a great year for roses around here. Every rose bush in the neighborhood is covered with roses.