It was so wonderful having Vince here for Thanksgiving this year! He's now off to visit his dad for the rest of the weekend. Before we headed to the train station to drop him off I stopped by the school down the street so I could snap a few pictures of my two kiddos. They grew up way too fast!
I'm so thankful for my wonderful life, my wonderful family and my wonderful blogging friends!
Saturday my friend Nelson and I went to the Santa Cruz Flea Market. We got there just as everyone was starting to pack up. We quickly went up and down all the aisles and at the very last stall I saw a big pile of flatware. I quickly spotted a beautiful monogrammed silverplate spoon. It was black but I could see the beauty through all the tarnish. I didn't care that it wasn't my initials on it!
I started digging through all the pieces and I found more and more! I ended up finding 6 spoons, 6 forks, 6 knives and a serving spoon. I took my loot up to the hippie (there's a lot of those in Santa Cruz) selling the stuff and asked him how much. I can't tell you how happy I was when he said $5 for all of it!
This ended up being the only thing I bought there but I left very happy!
Last weekend my mom gave me a huge plastic garbage bag filled with vintage linens and lace. This tablecloth is my favorite thing in there! Oh my gosh...when I pulled this out of the bag I couldn't believe how beautiful it was! It looks like a wedding dress! I think the only hand work on it is the applique edging all the way around the bottom of it but it's still so impressive!
I'm sure wish I could have taken photos of this in natural light because it's so much prettier than these photos show.
I can't believe someone hand-sewed all that applique around the edge. Click on the photo to see it up close.
I included the photo above because I think that may be my last bouquet from my garden for 2008. 
She also gave me this linen apron. She bought this in the early 80s so it's not that old but I sure do love it! I think it would look adorable on a vintage type dress form.
Tomorrow I'll show you what I bought at the Santa Cruz Flea Market last Sunday. I spent a whopping $5.00!I took a ton of pictures this weekend for my blog because by the time I get home from work during the week it's dark outside and the pictures just don't come out as nice without the natural light (I miss summer). I took some photos of a beautiful lace tablecloth and some other items my mom just gave me. Then my friend Nelson called me Sunday afternoon to see if I wanted to go to Santa Cruz with him and I went even though I should have stayed home to clean house. We had so much fun! I took a bunch of pictures in Santa Cruz. He took me to see a beautiful Bed & Breakfast Inn he just found and I took pictures of that. We went on a tour inside and I took more pictures. Well....last night I went to upload all these wonderful photos and there weren't any pictures in the camera!!! I didn't have the memory card in the camera...can you believe that!!! How could I be that stupid! Without my reading glasses on I didn't see that every photo I took had an error message telling me there wasn't a memory card!!! So I looked through my photos on my computer to see if by chance there was something...anything that I could blog about today and this is what I found...my soon-to-be 16 year old daughter Lauren. These were taken a couple months ago and we were having so much fun laughing that I knew I had to get pictures of her to remember the moment...
It all started with us watching TV and her eating an ice cream cone. The next thing I hear is her opening the freezer again. In disbelief, I asked her if she was going to eat a SECOND ice cream cone. She told me NO that she ate all the ice cream off her 1/2 eaten cone and she wanted to add a little more to it. She comes out with this itty bitty cone topped off with a huge scoop of ice cream.
I don't know why but I could not stop laughing and I snapped these photos...
We were both laughing...
And then, she said that's enough and ran away...
Recently I was interviewed about my blog for a website/blog called Lookiloos! I can't tell you what an honor it is to be featured on a website that showcases homes of the Silicon Valley area! I need to thank all of you because without your visits to my blog and all your wonderful comments this blog probably wouldn't be worthy of a story! You can read the article by clicking here.
Yesterday I went to Marshalls to buy a gift card for someone and I saw these gorgeous blue and white turkey plates! I was only going to buy 4 dinner plates and 4 salad plates and then I saw they were 50% off so I now have service for 8!
I got the dinner plates for $2 each and the salad plates for $1.50 each! What a deal! I bought one of these turkey candy dishes a couple weeks ago and I found another one yesterday and it was also 50% off...only $3.50 (click on the photos to see the turkey up close...he's so cute)
Last night I had so much fun trying to figure out how I'm going to set my table for Thanksgiving. The turkey candy dishes will be soup bowls. My son, Vince, is making roasted butternut squash soup. I remember a long time ago...I think in the early 80s, Martha Stewart used turkey candy dishes as soup bowls and I always wanted to copy that idea! I still need to find 2 more of these so I will be hitting every Marshalls and TJ Maxx store in Silicon Valley this weekend! If I don't find two more I'll just mix and match with some white soup bowls I already have. Here's a close-up of the turkey plates...
I'll be using my condiment holder for olives and such. I can't remember how much this was but I'm sure I spent less than $10 for it...I just saw one EXACTLY like it that sold on a website for $75.00!!! WOW...I love mine even more now!
I received a package earlier in the week from Mary (unfortunately, she doesn't have a blog). When I opened it up and saw this beautiful little platter my jaw dropped! It's so beautiful and I love platters. I don't have very many blue and white platters and I've wanted more.
Then I unwrapped the next item and saw this cute little cottage ornament. When I read the little tag she attached to it...well...I got all choked up! It says: "From my home to yours, I hope you get your dream cottage!" I just got all choked up again just typing this!!! This little Christmas ornament will be staying out all year long and the little tag will always be on it...even when (notice I said when & not if) I get my dream cottage, as a reminder that dreams do come true! Thank you Mary, you probably had no idea your gift would touch me the way it has! 
Lauren requested one of her favorite dinners the other night...Chile Verde Burritos! It's really easy to make but you have to simmer it a long time. I don't use exact measurements for this recipe but this is how I make it...
I start with a pork roast that I cut up in bite-sized pieces. I buy whatever pork roast is on sale, I think this was a shoulder cut. Then I mix together some flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder...
Toss the pork pieces in the flour and brown them in a little bit of oil in a hot pot. I do them in batches. You don't need to cook them all the way through yet. 
Once the meat is all lightly browned transfer it to a plate and add 1 onion (or more or less if you like) to the same pot you browned the meat in (no need to wash the pot first)
Saute the onion for a few minutes and then add the pork back to the pot with the onions. Stir in 1 large can of Green Enchilada sauce.
Simmer for a least 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally...the longer you simmer it the more tender the pork becomes. I take the lid off for the last 1/2 hour so it thickens up a bit.
Then heat some tortillas. We use a "camal" which is made for heating tortillas. This is Lauren's job...
Then fill the warm tortilla with some Chile Verde (use a slotted spoon so you don't get too much sauce), you can add anything else you like, we add grated cheese (cheddar or Jack), a little hot sauce and sometimes sour cream. Roll it up burrito style, making sure you tuck one end in so you don't lose it all out the back door when you bite into it! You could also serve this with rice and beans and tortillas on the side. 
Lauren and her friends loved them. I couldn't believe how much they ate! Do you see Beau in the photo below begging for some? 
A couple weeks ago, my Supper Club I belong to got together and made tamales. We have a group blog and you can see our tamales there (click here). It was really a lot of fun making tamales, drinking margaritas and even playing a food game!
The weather last weekend in Northern California was unbelievable! After I took my walk through Los Gatos on Sunday, I went out to my patio with my laptop and just sat there and read blogs for a couple hours...boy does time fly when you are blog-hopping! It was in the low 80s and it was the perfect temperature to sit under the shade of a tree and just relax!
These awards just keep rolling in and if I don't keep up with them they get lost in all my emails so I hope I haven't missed any...
I got the Kreativ Blogger Award twice! First from the gals at Lookiloos, who by the way, I met last Saturday! I can finally say that I met other bloggers in person!!! Did I get any photos? ...NO! I didn't even think of it until after they left. They came to my apartment to take photos and interview me for their blog! It was so much fun because Julia and Desiree are so nice and I felt so at ease with them. I'll let you know when they post it on their blog which is so much more than a blog...it's so professional! Some of their content is published in the San Jose Mercury News!
Marilyn ~ Our Victorian Cottage gave me this Marie Antoinette Blog Award! Thank you so much Marilyn! I really appreciate it!! You have to check out Marilyn's blog...her weather is complete opposite of what we are having here!
Yesterday afternoon I jumped in my car and drove about 10 minutes from my little apartment to the town of Los Gatos and parked my car and went for a walk. With Beau's leash in one hand and my camera in the other I walked up and down the streets taking pictures of the beautiful homes to share with you.
Look what I found (below)! This is the first house in my post I did about homes for sale in my area. It's so beautiful but it doesn't have a garage and I think for almost $3 million you should have a garage! When I finished my walk and was heading back to my car they were having an open house...I wanted to go in so badly but I didn't have the nerve, plus I had Beau with me and I'm sure they wouldn't like that!
Around the corner from that house I found this....
Isn't is beautiful! I love the picket fence! Look at the house next door even! You know you're in California with those palm trees everywhere!!! I actually hate palm trees like that! 
Below is the house on the other side of my new "dream home" It's under construction.
Let's look at some more homes in this quaint area...
This was a little cottage behind the main house. So cute!
I even stopped to smell the roses which are still blooming! It was a beautiful day with record-high temps. It was in the low 80s which is really warm for this time of the year!
After I walked around for awhile and Beau was getting tired I headed back to where I thought my car was parked but I couldn't find it!!! I had to go back and rewalk the whole area I just walked to find my car. I need to get a hand-held GPS if I'm going to do this again!
Then up the street is Los Gatos High School. Olivia de Havilland went to school here....
I hope you enjoyed taking a walk with me!
Have you ever visited Lavender Fields online store? They have gorgeous things! Lori from Lavender Fields contacted me and said she would like to offer all of you, as readers of my blog, 20% off any purchase! How cool is that!!! Just enter the code VIP at checkout! The photo above is her beautiful newborn daughter, wrapped up in a gorgeous baby blanket they sell. If someone close to me has a baby in the near future, I am buying this blanket! I love the ruffles around the edge! 
Here are just some of the beautiful things they sell. Beautiful children's bedding
Gorgeous Belle Notte Linens
Robes that will make you feel like a princess!
I love looking at homes for sale online and pretending that I could actually afford to buy one. Here are some that I found that I like. These are all in my area (The South Bay~San Francisco Bay Area...also referred to as Silicon Valley) This home above is my favorite and it is expensive because it's in Los Gatos (location, location, location). It's listed at $2,875,000. Oh...If I could just win the the lottery!
The Home above is so quaint, it just needs a little sprucing up. It is only $699,000 but who am I kidding...I can't even afford the "inexpensive" homes! 
This is a charmer. I love yellow homes with white picket fences. It's $899,000. 
I love this home (above). I would put some black iron window boxes on some of those windows and fill them with overflowing flowers. Maybe add one of those domed black awnings over the entry. It's $1,289,000.
This home is so charming but the inside is way too contemporary for me! It's $1.5 Million. I think it's sad when they rip out all the charm to modernize these old homes.
Have you planted any bulbs this fall? I finally went and got some yesterday and they were 25% off! (at OSH for you local bloggers). I got the paperwhites (narcissus) to "force" indoors. I usually do this by putting them in small pebbles with water but this year I decided to plant them in 
Soon I'll have beautiful blooms inside my apartment.
The other bulbs will be planted in my garden and I can hardly wait to see them blooming in the Spring! If you want more info on forcing bulbs click here. 
I have a confession...if I see a home with the lights on and the windows open I suddenly become very nosy and I slow down so I can look inside!
The leaves are changing color and falling but my flowers are still blooming! Soon it will be too cold for the impatiens and I will replace them with pansies and violas which grow here in the winter.
The HGTV Rate my Space episode I was on is going to be rerun tomorrow (for the last time), Saturday, November 8th at 5:30 PM (but check your listing because it may be on at a different time, the episode name is "A Romantic Cabana with an Island Vibe"). 
This is the little shelf my dad made me years ago. He actually made it to sell at the flea market but I fell in love with it so he gave it to me. That was usually what happened every month at the flea market when they used to sell there. I would always come home with a little treasure handmade by my mom or dad.
There are a lot of sentimental things on this little shelf. The baby shoes belonged to my kids. The little slip was mine. There are pictures of my dad as a little boy and my mom as a young woman. There is a photo of my son and an oil painting in the back that he painted when he was around 10.
I've been given so many awards and tags in the last couple weeks so I've put them all together here. (I apologize if I missed any) I'm not going to pass these on because this took long enough to just put this together!
First off...I was tagged by Suzann~Lavender and Roses to show you five things I love about my state, the state of California. I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area so I'm going to only focus on Northern California. There a so many things I love about this area that it was hard to just pick five (so I didn't)!
1. The Golden Gate Bridge ~ I've driven across it so many times in my life but I still feel in awe every time! It's a must see if you ever come to California!
2. The Northern California Wine Country is another wonderful thing about living here. It's fun to drive to Napa but there are also some great wineries just minutes from where I live. Some of the best dates I ever had were wine tasting and picnics at the winery.
3. Another great thing about living here is visiting Carmel by the Sea! It's such a beautiful place and I feel very fortunate to live close enough to visit easily. It's a little over an hour away.
4. We don't get snow where I live but if we drive a few hours to Lake Tahoe there is lots of snow and great skiing. I used to ski a lot when I was younger. I'm not sure how my knees could handle it now!
5. The produce here is better than anywhere I've visited. Our farmer's markets are every weekend, year round! I think a lot of people would be surprised by how much farm land is still here in California. Most of the central valley is still agricultural.
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A friend and I were talking about Monkey Bread the other day and I couldn't stop thinking about it all week so I got up early on a weekend morning and started making it. Lauren woke up just as it was almost done and the sweet scent of cinnamon and yeast bread was filling our apartment.
This with a hot cup of coffee was such a wonderful weekend breakfast treat! I used a Martha Stewart recipe and it can be found here.
The winner of my pumpkin candle giveaway is countrygirl3031 ~ Country Vintage
Thank you to everyone that entered! I went back to see if I could get some more to give away and they were all sold out! I hope to be doing some more giveaways soon!
