Show & Tell Friday

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Happy New Year!!! Can you believe it's almost 2010! By the time you read this it may very well be 2010! It's still a little more than 4 hours away at the time that I'm writing this though.
I thought for this week's Show and Tell I would share a centerpiece I put together last January. I wanted something silver, white and sparkly and this is what I came up with. I just used things I already had.
I have yet to do anything with my dining room table since I took down all my Christmas decorations a few days ago. I think I'll work on that tomorrow!

Do you make a New Years Resolution? I have a few this year.

1. Lose weight! That's always #1...but I've got a head start this year, I joined Weight Watchers at the end of October and I've lost over 12 lbs so far. Between Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas that wasn't very easy!

2. Get out and have more fun! I'm going to do more things with my girlfriends this year!

3. Go on a date! (Wow...I can't believe I'm actually writing this on my blog!) I put dating on the back burner since I've been a full time single mom because it was too hard to juggle both. Now that Lauren's 17 I'm starting to think about it more. Talk about scary...the truth is, I haven't been on a date in 5 years (oh boy, was that hard to confess). I think I'm ready to give it a try again...at the very least it should make for some interesting blog posts (or not)!

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If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate.If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed from MckLinky, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.Thank you! I look forward to seeing everyone's posts...it may take me awhile to get around to visit everyone since I work full time but I'll do my best to get to your blog as soon as I can!

2009 A Year in Review Party!

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Welcome to my Year in Review Party! This is so much fun for me because I don't very often go back and reread my old posts so when I do it for my annual Year in Review Party it's really fun to remember what I was blogging about throughout the year!

So let's start with PINK! I seemed to put a lot more pink in my blue and white home this year! Above are my Eden roses I grew in my little garden. I can hardly wait until they start blooming again!
I also added more chintz to my collection this year! That cabinet above is full now! I bought more pink dishes at the flea market and eBay...

Probably the most exciting thing this year was being featured in Romantic Homes Magazine...
and also being featured in the San Jose Mercury News paper...
Getting a personal email with photos from Susan Branch after I did a post about her was really exciting...
Each year it's fun to look back on some of the projects I've done, like making this silver tray chalkboard...
My daughter Lauren and I took the second level of cake decorating class and had so much fun. Her cake is on the left and mine on the right...
I also made peach jam earlier this year...
I had a lot of fun making these cupcakes too...
This giant seashell cupcake I made was a huge hit! I had so many emails asking me how I made the fondant seashells that I did a little tutorial.
I was so happy when I found this big birdcage at the flea market for $25. All it needed was a little paint...I recovered my dining room chairs with a blue toile fabric and they look so much better...
I think my biggest project this year was the bathroom makeover...
On a whim, I ordered personalized license plates for my car...
I love my beautiful yard conservatory from Linda at Linda's Blue Gate...
Another great find this year was these big clam dishes...
My daughter Lauren and I shared many great meals together over the last year...
and enjoyed many of them out on the patio...
To make the patio more charming, I made this ruffled umbrella cover for my patio umbrella...
and added lots of candle lights to make the patio beautiful at night...
I had fun making these toile hearts and selling them on etsy! Thanks to all of you that bought one! I think I'll be making more for this Valentines Day...
Another fun project was this chair makeover...
I really enjoyed decorating for Christmas this year but I was eager to get it all taken down and put away once Christmas was over! I'm happy to say that it's now all packed up until next year!
Sorry, this is totally unrelated to this post but I have to share...I went to see "It's Complicated" with a couple girlfriends yesterday and it was so funny! I don't think I've ever laughed that much at a movie! I laughed, I cried, and I laughed so hard I cried!!! I think we were laughing so hard that we were missing some of the movie!!! As soon as this comes out on DVD I'm buying it!!! It's that good! Meryl Streep is so great in this movie! Oh, and her house in this movie is beautiful and she has the most amazing garden!! I want a garden just like hers!!! She owns a bakery too! My friend leaned over and whispered to me "she's living your dream life"! Yes, except that I have no desire to have an affair with my ex-husband(either one of them)!!!! cringe

If you are posting a Year in Review on your blog please use MckLinky below and link back to this post so that your readers can view all the others too!

Los Gatos, California

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Yesterday I met some old high school friends for lunch at Steamers Grillhouse in Los Gatos. We had such a great time and spent hours chatting! It's hard to believe that over 30 years have passed since we were in high school!
Before we met for lunch with the group, my friend September and I met two hours earlier to go take photos around Los Gatos.
There are so many charming old homes there. You may remember this post that I did awhile back.
There were even some roses still blooming...







The camellias are starting to bloom...


The citrus trees and bushes are all full of ripe fruit this time of year...



I hope you enjoyed the tour! Next week I'll share some of the cute shops in Los Gatos!

Today I'm meeting some other friends for dinner and a movie. We're going to see "It's Complicated"! It's been so wonderful having these two weeks off of work! I could get used to this lifestyle...I need a paycheck though! These two weeks have been so busy and the days are just flying by!!! Isn't that how it always is when you are on vacation?

Don't forget...tomorrow is my Year in Review Party!