First day of high school

School started on Wednesday and my daughter is now officially in high school...where did the time go? We were headed out the door and I made her come back in so we could get a picture of her first day of high school. Last week when she was at Freshman Orientation kids were coming up to her and asking her if she was really a freshman. I have to say that I was shocked to see how young some of those kids looked, they looked like 5th graders! I'm so used to seeing Lauren all the time that I forget she looks older than 14. She's tall too, almost 5' 9"

Speaking of looking older. Poor Beau is getting so many gray hairs around his mouth and nose. He's only 3 years old! He's sad because now that school has started Lauren isn't there to snuggle up to in the mornings when I leave for work.

Thank you!

I've met some of the nicest people through my blog. Although we've never met in person I consider you my friends. Lisa from Enchanted Cove Productions sent me this beautiful set of 6 place mats and napkins. She had posted a photo of this set (which she found at a yard sale) on her blog and I left a comment about not being able to pass those up if I saw them (ya know how much I love blue) and she was so kind to split up her set of twelve and send me 6 of each! How sweet was that!!! Thank you Lisa, I love them. If you haven't been to Lisa's blog you should go visit her. She makes really, really beautiful things out of shells.

Ruth, another sweet person sent me this romantic home sign which I have hanging in my entry way. Remember awhile back I did a post about her hand painted signs? After I did that post she sent me one in blue and yellow. I love it! The yellow in the flowers goes perfectly with my yellow walls. Ruth sells on eBay and she also has an online store called Classic Cottage Charm. Click on the highlighted text to visit her. Thank you Ruth, I really love it!

I was happy to see all the comments yesterday about some of you also having Mother/Daughter dresses...I'm so happy I wasn't the only one that did that!

Shari: I tried to reply to your email but it's not going through again. I LOVE the rug! Send me another email and I'll get back to you.

I may have messed something up with this post. Is the text under the pictures showing up normally?

Apron Sewing

A couple weeks ago my daughter was spending the night at a friend's house and I found myself home alone and bored so I decided to make an apron out of some fabric I had recently found packed away in a box. This fabric is a little sentimental to me...when my daughter was about 3 years old I made Mother-Daughter matching dresses with this fabric. Now I look at it and can't imagine myself actually wearing this but back then it was in style. Lauren cringes every time I tell her we had matching dresses!

I added some old lace to the pocket and around the bottom. The rose I made a few years ago out of ribbon. If I had a sewing or craft room I would sew a lot more often. I am so messy when I sew. I end up with thread, pins and fabric everywhere even when I tell myself before I start that I'm not going to make a mess!

These are very similar to the patterns I used for our mother/daughter dresses. Mine was a drop waist and my daughter's was a classic jumper style. I sure wish I had pictures of us in those. I remember we went out for Mother's Day brunch wearing them. It seemed cute at the time but now I'm wondering...WHAT WAS I THINKING?!! Funny how things change. I almost always wear solid colors now and can't even imagine wearing anything floral (except for an apron).

My Garage Sale Chandelier

Okay, I think these are a little clearer pictures. I couldn't
decide which picture to post so I'm just putting a bunch of pictures here.

This was the best $20 I ever spent! I love my chandelier! I've decided to not use the chandelier shades (for now anyway). It looks like the center lights up but it doesn't it just reflects the light.

New camera and coffee cup

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner but I have a really good camera at work that I need to learn how to use (this will be great for my review at the end of the year). It used to belong to our Graphic Designer and he left the company and they didn't replace him. I've been trying to learn Photoshop because I may be asked to do some basic things with it for some of our photos we use in our presentations. I asked my boss if I could take the camera home for awhile and learn how to use it. YAY...the answer was YES! I've been playing around with the camera at my desk today and took a picture of my new coffee mug I just bought at Marshall. $3.99 can't beat that! The camera is a Canon Rebel XT...and I'm loving it! This may spoil me and I may not want a crappy camera after this!

I'm going to take some more pictures of my chandelier with this camera. I'll post them tomorrow.

The Chandelier is hung!

Sorry for the poor quality of photos. Since my camera is broken I'm using an old one that is only 2 mega pixels and it doesn't work very well. This is the chandelier that I bought at a garage sale awhile back for $20. Click here to see that post.
A couple weeks ago my ex-husband came over to help me hang the chandelier. We got it up and I flicked the switch and we heard a loud POP! IT SCARED ME TO DEATH! Electricity is scary to me. Anyway, I knew what the problem was right away. When I had rewired it, I didn't replace the old light sockets just the wiring. They were old and I should have known better. We took it down and I was without a light in my dining room for a few weeks. Friday I finally bought 5 new sockets and put them in and now it's working perfectly and I love it. It adds so much sparkle to my home. I'm not sure if you can tell from these blurry pictures but I only have 3 shades on the lights. These are from my old chandelier which only had 3 arms so I still need to buy some new ones for this 5-arm chandelier.

Then there was another problem though. I guess the first time when I shorted out the light it must have done something to the dimmer switch on the wall. It would turn the chandelier on but it wouldn't dim. I bought a new one and installed it myself! I have to tell you I was so proud that I did it myself. I did have to call my dad and ask a few questions, but I did it! YAY!

Painting Furniture-Step by Step

How to Paint Furniture: I've received so many questions about painting furniture that I decided to write up a step by step guide to share with you. I'm sure there are many different ways to paint furniture but this is how my dad taught me. Below are a few of the pieces I have painted so you can see the "before and afters". The instructions are at the bottom of this post.

After

This bed was free on craigslist.org I was the second person to call on it but I left my name/number just in case the first person didn't show up. He showed up but when he saw how bad of shape it was in he didn't want it. It had someone's initials carved in it but nothing a little sanding couldn't fix.

After

After

After

Painting furniture

Stripping: I almost always strip my furniture before I paint it. Another option would be to sand it really well. You don’t want any clear finish or wax on it or the paint will scrape right off. I use Jasco paint stripper. It comes in a can and I think you should be able to find it at most hardware stores. Follow the directions on the can and make sure you have long sleeves and pants, shoes, and safety glasses or goggles on. Trust me on this one…I was using this wearing flip-flops and got just a speck of it on the top of my foot….Ouch, it feels likes it's burning a hole through your skin…actually it probably is. You can use a wire brush to get into crevices. I buy the small disposable wire brushes at the hardware store (they are shaped like a toothbrush).

Prepping: Before you paint, wipe the piece down to remove all the stripper and sand it lightly. I like to use the 3M sponge sanders. Wipe down again after sanding.

Adding appliqués: If you would like to add appliqués now is the time. You can see on the picture of my bed that I added a cherub/swag appliqué. There are a number of places you can buy them. One is Do It Youself Chic and another is The Shabby Suite. Update: I've been purchasing some lately at The Bella Cottage. Click on either one of those to go to their website.

Primer: Some pieces I primed first and others I didn’t. If the wood still has stain that was not removed completely from stripping and sanding it, I would prime it for sure. Make sure you get a primer that also says "sealer", this will seal the stain so it doesn't bleed through your paint. Some pieces of furniture will need two coats of primer to seal the stain.

Paint: I use regular latex indoor house paint. I’ve used flat and eggshell, it doesn’t really matter, in the end they look the same. I use a soft white, not pure stark white but any color will do. Just brush it on following the grain of the wood. Let it dry and if needed add a second coat. I wait about a week before I go on to the next step (If you're in a hurry you can probably wait 48 hours and be fine). Latex paint it will be gummy if you try to sand it before it’s really had time to cure. Warning...It’s going to look really bad at this point, it will be very flat and chalky looking, especially if you used flat latex but trust me it will look good in the end after you put the paste wax on.

Sanding and distressing: I lightly sand the whole painted piece with very fine sand paper. This really smoothes out the latex paint. On the edges I sand through to the wood to give it a distressed look. You want to do this in areas where the piece would normally wear over time, like on the edges. If you want a more distressed look you can take a large chain and hit it on the wood to leave dents…I don’t do this but I’ve seen my dad do it on his pieces.

Adding accent colors: This is optional but on some pieces you may want to add another color to bring out the details of the piece. There are two ways to do this. The first is to buy some brown craft paint (umber or sienna colors) and dilute with a little water to make a wash. Use a rag to wipe the wash over the area you would like to “antique” and then lightly wipe away the excess. If you’ve added too much you can remove some of it with a wet rag. I used this technique on the cherub swag appliqué on my bed. The second option is to use “Rub n Buff” which is available at most hobby stores. It comes in many different colors. Put a little on your finger and lightly rub over the piece where you want to add color. The difference between these two options is that the first one gets down into the crevices and the second one goes on the high spots. You can even use both of these together.

Waxing: I use a paste wax instead of a clear coat. I use Howard Citrus Shield Premium Natural Paste Wax. Make sure you get Natural color because it comes in different wood tones also. The wax does make the furniture a little more yellow but it's very light. Follow the directions on the can…you rub it on and buff it out. It takes a few coats of this to give it a nice luster. To keep up the wax finish I occasionally use another Howard product called Feed-N-Wax. Both these products can be found in most hardware stores. (look in the area where they have the wood refinishing products NOT in the cleaning department where you will find furniture polish)

That's it! I hope I didn't leave anything out. Please feel free to leave a message or email me if something isn't clear.

I'm playing reruns

A blogger friend "It's a Mom Thing" asked if I would share my recipe that I used to make my Valentine Day cookies. Since my camera is broken this is a great opportunity to do a new post with an old photo. These cookies were really tasty! The recipe I used can be found here. For the icing I used the first recipe on this page. They show how to decorate cookies with royal icing also on their website here. Be sure to check out the cookie cutters they have for sale. They have some great ones...like this cute cookie cutter dress.

I'm tempted to buy this slinky dress below. Just think of all the cute ways you could decorate these!
I've never bought anything from them so I can't say how good are but they have a great website. Click here to get to their Home page

My Cottage Style Bedroom

My Cottage Style Bedroom, originally uploaded by Romantic Home.

Thanks so much to all of you that left such sweet comments on my last post. Blogging has become so much fun for me that I can't imagine not doing it! I never expected to love it so much. It's like a job at times, but it's a job I LOVE. I stress about what I will post about tomorrow, next week, the week after that but I've learned that it just sort of comes to me day by day and I shouldn't worry about it. I've watched my blog go from very few readers to now over 500 a day! I still can't believe that over 500 of you are reading this and that you keep coming back to read this day after day. I also can't believe that I started this blog over two years ago. Time does fly when you are having fun! I started this blog originally as a knitting blog but I never had enough confidence to post pictures of my knitting. I never knew at the time that there were home decorating blogs. How ironic that I named my knitting blog "romantic home" . I'm rambling but I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who keep coming back to read my blog and for all your wonderful comments. Your comments bring me so much joy!

I know I've posted pictures of my bedroom before but since I can't get the pictures of the cute apron I made off of my digital camera and onto my computer to show you I'm posting old pictures of my bedroom. To see my bedroom makeover click here.

Taking a break

I'm being forced to take a break from my blogging because my camera is broken. I was trying to get the cable into the camera to upload my pictures and it wouldn't go in, then when I tried to take a picture the screen doesn't display anything. I have another really cheap camera somewhere, I just need to find it. The photo quality on that one is really poor though. Since I can't really afford to buy a new camera right now I may have to either take a break from blogging or post some blurry pictures.

Music to clean by

I think everyone has their own favorite music to put on when they clean house and I think most people like fast, upbeat music but I prefer soft, romantic music when I clean house. My favorite CD to put on now is Chris Botti - To Love Again. My favorite song on this CD is "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life-featuring Sting on vocals! You can go to Amazon and listen to it...click here .

What type of music do you like to put on when you clean house?

What a deal!

There is no better deal than free and if you check out craigslist you can find some really good things for FREE.

In the last couple weeks I've been checking out the "Free" stuff on craigslist regularly. Look at the great things I've found. I didn't get any of these things but some lucky someone did, I'm sure.

Remember all these things were FREE!

An old pedestal sink and a claw foot tub both from the same listing...wow, if I had a house I would have taken these in a second.

A cute old vanity that could be fixed up nicely if only I had room for it!

A footboard for a queen size bed. I guess they just wanted the headboard? It looks beautiful!


An old door. I love the color but I didn't need a door.

A shabby Adirondack chair....love this but again, no room for it.

A headboard with navy blue silk...I loved this but I don't need a headboard.

A beautiful old piano. I really wish I had more room! I need a big old house that I can fill with all the great free stuff on craigslist! So, if you don't look at the free stuff on craigslist you should but not if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area because you'll have to compete with me! (just kidding)

Update: The "FREE" section can be found under "FOR SALE"

Yesterday, in preparation of the painter spraying my ceiling I had to remove all my knickknacks I have sitting around and all my plates I have hanging everywhere. I piled all my things into my tiny kitchen. As I looked at everything all piled up on the counters and floor, I was really amazed how beautiful it all was together like that. It was like looking in a store where I loved everything! I just stood there staring at all my things. It was really a great feeling and it made me appreciate the things I have. Most of the things were bought at flea markets and thrift stores and didn't cost hardly anything so it is really amazing what you can do with little money, it just takes time to acquire them.

When it was time to put everything back in it's place I decided to move things around a bit. I had this antique dresser in my dining room and was using it as a buffet. I really want to get a china cabinet or hutch and I wasn't sure if I did find one what I would do with this dresser which I love and want to keep. Well, I think I found the perfect place for it in my living room. I love the way it looks under the hanging cabinet that my dad made me.

Now I'm ready to find that china cabinet for my dining room. I plan on finding an old one that I can paint white and then paint the inside a soft blue. I found one earlier this week free on Craigslist but I was the second person to call and the first caller ended up taking it! That is the second time I've missed out on one. Hopefully the third time will be the charm!

I'm bored!

Cindy's Photos, originally uploaded by Romantic Home.

I feel like I'm being held hostage today. I had to stay home from work because my landlord is having my downstairs ceiling painted. We had a plumbing problem in the upstairs bathroom a couple years ago and the water came down through the ceiling. I've been living with a stained ceiling for awhile. The last time my landlord was here she said she would have it repainted for me. Well today's the day. I'm stuck upstairs, bored to death. I'm hungry but I can't go down to get food because there is a huge plastic barrier between the upstairs and downstairs. Hopefully they will be done soon. It took them awhile to put plastic wrap around the walls, the floor and all my furniture and now they are painting.

While I'm stuck upstairs I was playing around with Flickr and put this mosaic together with all my photographs.

What is this?

I bought this little thing at the flea market years ago because it was blue and white and cute but I have no idea what it is. My guess would be a butter or cheese dish but it's very small so I'm not sure. I put it by a coffee mug so you can get an idea of the size. The inside is shaped like a shallow bowl. I know someone out there will know what it is!

Feel free to take a guess even if you're not sure!

A Late Bloomer

Finally my Morning Glories have bloomed...better late than never! This is another one of my favorite flowers. I just love any blue flower! I woke up Saturday morning and went out on my patio and out of the corner of my eye I saw blue. I ran upstairs to get the camera and the batteries were dead. Luckily I got another bloom on Sunday morning! Just one day of beauty for these flowers and then they're gone. As you can see they are growing alongside my cherry tomatoes.
It's funny how something this simple can make my morning so happy!

Chalkboard

Awhile back I found the cutest idea on the French Nest Blog and I knew I had to make one for myself. I found this old silver plated tray at the thrift store for $5 and painted the center with chalkboard paint that I bought at Michaels. I just used a ribbon I already had but I'm on the lookout for something I like better.I'm thinking about getting the rub on letters for across the top to read ~Menu~

This is the first time I've put a picture of my 1960's kitchen on my blog. It's so ugly that I can't believe I'm actually posting pictures of it. The cabinets and the walls are painted an ugly beige color. The paint on the cabinets is scratching off. She hired a cheap painter before I moved in and he didn't know what he was doing. If you run a fingernail down the walls, the paint will scrape off. My landlord said I can repaint it but I know it's a huge job because I would have to sand everything, even the walls and ceiling so I'm a little scared to start it. I would like to paint the cabinets a fresh white but not pure white and the walls I'm thinking of blue, but I'm not sure what shade of blue yet. The hood over the stove was avocado green when I moved in. My landlord said she would replace it but never did so I used some silver Rub N Buff paint on it. It looks better than it did but I only did the outside of it, the inside is still green. This is the worst part of renting...being stuck with things that you don't like and putting money and time into someone else's property. I plan on staying here awhile so I probably will end up painting it.

Nice Does Matter

I was nominated for a Nice Matters Award form Adrienne , Cathy and Cynthia and I appreciate it very much. Nice really does matter and that was so nice of each of them to think of me. I was also tagged for the 7 wonders meme that's going around but I'm going to skip that one because it would be really hard to single out just 7 people.

I'm going to pass this Nice Matters Award to whoever has ever left a comment on my blog and who would like to do it.

I'm going to brag a little about my kids

I've mentioned here on my blog that my son Vince, who's almost 21 loves to bake bread. Well, he's been doing more in the kitchen than just baking bread and I had to share these mouth-watering things he's made. The other day he sent me an email titled "Look what I made for breakfast" I opened the email and saw the photo above. His own creation even...isn't it beautiful!

Here is a loaf of bread he made...he makes bread often!

His BBQ chicken. He uses a dry rub...probably his own creation too, but I'm not sure.

Homemade cheese bagels! I would never even think of making bagels!


More delicious looking bread.


Pizza...he makes his own crust.
These pizzas make my mouth water every time I look at them!


Here is a picture of Vince BBQ'ing at his apartment on campus. His girlfriend also likes to cook! Vince is majoring in Political Science and Economics and will be going on to Graduate School. He plans on being a Political Science Professor.

My daughter Lauren is the budding photographer of the family. Here is one of her latest photos that I love. I had these tomatoes from my garden sitting on my windowsill and I didn't even know she had snapped this picture until I uploaded my pictures....it was such a nice surprise!

This is Lauren. Last time I posted a picture of her here she still had her beautiful auburn hair. She's now has it dyed dark brown. I hope someday she realizes that her natural color is more beautiful than anything that comes out of a bottle.

My Lemon Themed Home

Maybe I should rename my blog to The Lemon Cottage. I noticed the other day that I seem to have a lemon theme going on in my home. I bought the ceramic topiary above at the flea market about 5 years ago. I had a cat back then and he jumped up on the table shortly after I bought it and knocked it over and broke it. I have to make sure that the broken side is against the wall now. I couldn't bear to throw it away. It looks small in this photo but it's almost 2 feet tall! This is the tiered dish that my mom bought at Disneyland when I was little. I've always loved it so she gave it to me a couple years ago. In the summer I like to keep these fake but real looking lemons and limes in there.

This is my kitchen chalkboard that my dad made...you've seen this before. I keep the lemon garland up there to add some color to my dreary kitchen. I thought the board was erased better...You want to know what it says? "3 days until Lauren isn't grounded" She wrote that last week. I'm happy to say that she is no longer grounded!
And, of course there is the lemon drop jar that you've already seen.

My Bouquet of Coffee Filters

I've now made enough coffee filter roses to fill a small vase. Five roses to be exact. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here to see my first post on how to make these out of coffee filters. I'm still blown away that these are coffee filters!

I took this little bouquet to work to put on my counter. EVERY SINGLE person that came up to my desk thought they were real. It's so funny, a couple people picked them up to smell them! Even up close they look real...it is amazing! They even look more real in person than they look in the photographs because the coffee filters have a texture to them that is similar to a rose petal when it's fully bloomed. A coworker who was wearing rose cologne was at my desk. She walked away but her cologne lingered around awhile and another coworker walked up and said "Wow, those roses smell great"...it was so funny! All day I was waiting for someone to ask me if they were from my garden so I could say, "no they're from my kitchen cabinet!" I didn't even get to say it because everyone assumed they were real until they touched them or smelled them.

Are they easy to make? Well, sometimes they are and sometimes I really struggle with them. I've had a couple that I just had to throw away and start over. A couple of times the wire stem has come out as I'm almost finished and it's really hard to get it back in right. I think they are definitely worth the effort though.

Helen: Your comment yesterday really touched me. I hope you find all the happiness I have in being a single mom. Sometimes we don't choose these paths but that doesn't mean we will never find happiness...we just need to make our own happiness.

Making do with what you have

Years ago I found those most beautiful champagne/wine cooler in a magazine. It was love at first sight for me. It had a glass bucket and a distressed white stand with crystal bead trim draping around it. I found it for sale online but it was more than I could afford...I think it was around $175. My version doesn't really look anything like that one but it hardly cost a thing and I like it. I found this silver plated champagne bucket at the thrift store for $7.99. It still had the Pottery Barn sticker on the bottom (probably another wedding gift that someone donated after it tarnished.) The plant stand was passed down to me from my parents. I painted it white and put a small plate on top of it, covered the plate up with a crocheted doily and put the bucket on top. What a romantic look...too bad I don't have a nice man that I can cook for! Oh well...it looks good.

UPDATED: These are the photos of the one I made. I can see by the comments that I'm confusing everyone. I looked for a picture of the one I fell in love with but I couldn't find it. I'm very honored that some of you thought these were the magazine pictures!
I think it's so funny that I'm making do with what I have now. When I was growing up and I would see something I wanted, my mother would always say "we can make that." I hated hearing those words back then! Now I understand. Sometimes you have to make do with what you have! I'm so thankful for my parents for teaching me that I can make things myself.

I still don't have my crystal chandelier hung up in my dining room. Maybe I should attempt to hang it myself. I don't know why I feel confident rewiring it but hanging it by myself scares me. My ex keeps saying he'll come and do it but never shows up....

I tried something new on photoshop...I blurred the outer edges of these photos...dreamy

White Wicker and Silver

I love the look of white wicker with silver plated pieces. It's probably because my favorite look is that of an old summer cottage by the sea where the family has brought unused furniture and other things from their main home to furnish it. Some of the pieces may be antiques and others just extra furniture but it all comes together. White wicker and silver has that clean summer feel to it. It's fresh and clean. The silver gives the wicker more elegance and the wicker makes the silver more casual...it's the perfect match in my mind.

Update: If you are interested here is a link for the little side table. I didn't buy it here but it looks exactly the same. The top comes off so you can carry it from the kitchen to wherever. I move this table between my bedroom and living room...I can never decide where I like it best. Click here

A New Look!

How do you like my new look! I love it! Thanks Susie!

Hand painted by one of my readers

Isn't this beautiful? Ruth, one of my dear blog readers sells her beautiful hand-painted signs on eBay. Click here to see her eBay items.

She also has a website called Classic Cottage Charm. Click here to see all the nice things she has.

I wish I had a laundry room...this is so adorable.
Aren't these red items cute?

A must read

This is a must read if you have children and go to the beach. (click on pink text)

I once lost my daughter at the beach and I know that feeling of panic! It's a feeling I will never forget but it's a something that I don't like thinking about either. Luckily she had just wandered off. This poor mother had something scarier happen....luckily it had a good ending!

High School Questionaire

Picture of my High School which is no longer there and has been replaced with a shopping center

I found this on Julie's blog. Since I LOVED high school I had to do this one!

1. Who was your best friend? Donnae and we still keep in contact by email.

2. Did you play any sports? No

3. What kind of car did you drive? I'm embarrassed to say...a Vega station wagon with fake wood trim along the sides. I was just happy my parents bought me a car for Christmas my junior year...it really didn't matter what it was...it was a CAR!!!

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? If we had a game, I would be out there cheering (I was a cheerleader my senior year) if there wasn't a game, I was probably out with my boyfriend, Ray, who I later married, had a son with and then got a divorce from.

5. Were you a party animal? No

6. Were you considered a flirt? No, I was fairly shy around boys back then.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? No, but my Junior year I was a flag girl with the marching band.

8. Were you a nerd? No! Thank goodness!

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? Never

10. Can you sing the fight song? Most of it. Fight for the purple and gold.....
11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mr. Craig who just passed away last month.
12. What was your school mascot? Cougar

13. Did you go to the Prom? Yes

14. If you could go back, would you? In a heartbeat! I would love to go back for just a couple weeks!

15. What do you remember most about graduation? I really don't remember that much about graduation.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? The beach (Santa Cruz)

17. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes I worked at a children's clothing store call "The Chocolate Soup" I also worked an an amusement park called "Great America"

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? Taco Bell...almost every day my senior year and after we ate there we would go to Jack in the Box for lemon pies.

19. Have you gained weight since then? YES, unfortunately!

20. What did you do after graduation? can't remember

21. What year did you graduate? 1978

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? My now ex-husband Ray

23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? I went to my 5 year, skipped the 10 year, and went to my 25 year which is where the picture was taken on my blogger profile.

My daughter starts her first year of high school this month. I hope she loves it as much as I did!

I tag anyone who wants to do this fun questionaire!

The Lemon Drop Jar - The Book!

Yesterday after my post about my lemon drop jar, I received a wonderful email from Diane about this book. It's so funny how some things happen....It was Diane's first visit to my blog and one of her and her granddaughter's favorite books is the Lemon Drop Jar by Christine Widman. It's the story of Great Aunt Emma's crystal jar filled with lemon drops. After reading Diane's email I knew I had to buy this book! I looked on Amazon and was shocked to see it was selling for $53 to $99 for a used copy....it must be a great book! I'm often given Amazon gift certificates so I'm going to save them up and buy this. I don't have any young children but someday I will have grandchildren (I hope) that I can read to. Thank you so much Diane for your wonderful email letting me know about this book ....I just know I'm going to love it as much as you and your granddaughter! You can read more about this book on Amazon....just click here.