Saturday, August 30, 2008

MUCH better on Sale!

They were a Must-have at $159.99 so I bought Three of these scalloped Umbrellas from Pottery Barn on-line; however, Today I noticed that they have been Reduced to $69.99 - Wow! So I called them up to ask and received a price-adjustment of $90 on each of the three umbrellas I bought. That's $270 back to Me!  

If you love them too, check out Pottery Barn fast because all of their Umbrellas are now on Sale. And, we do Love a good Sale!

Green for the Garden deck off the Solarium...
And, ink Blue for the Pool
At $69.99 I may just order a Few more!

Cuter still!

I stand corrected! I didn't think my little Halloween tree could get any cuter but he proved me Wrong by adding a strand of lights. I found some German glass pumpkin Ornaments to add to it today and now it's just too darn Cute! 

I realize that we're a little Early for Halloween but considering most retailers already have their Christmas trees on display, I think it's okay! 

Friday, August 29, 2008

Just color me Delighted!

McCain - Palin
What a nice Change of Events!
Congratulations to the Lady of Alaska...
                                                                                                                                                                               Getty Images

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Vacation, Day 3 - Enough with the Rain!

Not only can't I float around in my Pool in this weather but do you know what all this Rain does to my PH level? My dear Pool boy will have his hands full to get it Ready for the sunny Weekend we've been promised... Enough with the rainy vacation, please! 

After my soggy Walk there was Nothing left to do but to go Shopping. More rain Tomorrow so I have a pedi at 11:30 and then I'm off to Thomasville for day one of the Thomasville Furniture Outlet's Labor Day sale. Yea!

Come walk in the Rain with me... 

Another inch or two and we're in trouble!
Rain, rain, Go away!
My creek is anything but Calm today!
Won't be going over the Bridge today!
Note the puddles in my Path to the secret garden...
Good thing I've got my rain boots on!
Dear Saint Francis, we Give thanks for the Rain but could you Help move it along?

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Vacation, Day 2 - Fay, Fay GO AWAY!

Even before my eyes Opened this morning I knew it would be another Plan B vacation day for me. What remains of Hurricane Fay finally made it into the Triad so it's been raining since before the Sun came up. Rain we need. Rain on my vacation? Not so much. Nevertheless, Bing and I slept in a little longer than we did yesterday, which was Nice. After my shower and a bit of laundry and Housework I prepared a Perfect rainy-day supper in the Crockpot and set Sail for another full day of shopping. 

Yesterday I discovered a few more shops I've never been to that I wanted to revisit today, and I had a return to make. Costco no longer stocks the bath towels I like so I bought Six of every kind of white towel Home Goods had yesterday to bring home to compare them to what I have. Fortunately, the Martex towels at Home Goods are just as nice as those I'm used to getting at Costco so I took back the other five sets of towels and Picked up a few more of the white Martex they still had left.  

Dinner! Southern style ribs...  
Last time I made this recipe the Apples I added in with the onions
disappeared. This time I'll wait to add them an hour before serving
I've been invited to a Pampered Chef show tonight... When he saw the Invitation he 
laughed because he knows I have a Collection of Pampered Chef stuff that's pretty much
pushing me right out of the Kitchen. So I made a deal and told him that I will only go if I can find 
something in the current Catalog I don't have or that I need to replace. It was really time for me to 
clean out drawers and go through everything to see what I have any way. Well, while there isn't
anything in the Catalog I don't have at least one of, (really... even the Cookware and even the stones, 
spices and even the Chillzanne stuff) I am MISSING my paring knife and I NEED a new nylon spatula
since the boys, despite my repeated warnings Not to, used it to flip burgers on the Grill so it's all
melty on the edge. Where my paring knife is I can't tell you. The case is in the drawer with my other knives
but the paring knife is gone. So despite my Massive collection of Pampered Chef, there is a reason to Go!  
Every drawer, every Cabinet, even the closets in the Office... All full of Pampered Chef 
stuff and this isn't even the tip of the Iceberg of what I have Stored away out in the Garage!
Maybe one day, if I'm really Lucky, the Boys will need stuff to outfit Kitchens
 of their own and I'll be able to Unload some of this stuff... Yeah, that's it!
Because in their own Kitchens they'll want to use Cutting boards and whisks...
Oh!! In case you think there is Plenty of time left to get your Hallmark Peanuts Halloween 
ornaments, there's not! We picked up one set last night... Today I came across this cute, 
Spooky little Halloween Ornament tree at TJMaxx so I thought I'd go back to Hallmark to pick 
up a few more sets to fill out my New tree. However, three out of the four Hallmark stores I 
went to were ALL sold out! After striking out at the Hallmark downtown I called the store 
closest to home and Luckily, the woman said they still had three sets! But get this, she would 
only hold them Ten minutes! How nuts is that? Fortunately, I wasn't too far away and made it
in time. But the minute I walked in the door the counter clerk said, Are you here for these
Ornaments? When I said I was she said, It's a good thing you made it because these Ladies
here were waiting for you to Miss the deadline. Oh, well, How too bad for them! You wouldn't  
think that on August 26th and at $16.99 a set, Hallmark would be having a Rush on their
Peanuts Halloween ornaments! Imagine if we weren't going through a Recession... Wow!  
It's a little Early, but I couldn't Resist putting my
Spooky little Halloween ornament tree together
Click to enlarge to see Lucy reacting to a Fright wearing her Wizard hat, the Red Baron 
Snoopy bobbing for apples in a Tub, Charlie Brown and a Jack-o-Lantern and 
someone disguised as a Ghost holding a sack of Candy. Too cute!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Vacation, Day 1

Plan A is to spend my Staycation floating around my pool, taking long afternoon naps with Bing and reading in my Hammock until sunset. However, when it rains we go to Plan B, which is Shopping! Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your Point of view, today was a Plan B day!

Bing knew it was gonna be a Sleeping-in kinda Day...
So while I got ready to Go, he went Back to it!
Out on the Deck this morning I found this little
guy making his Way over to the hot tub
Well, hello there Mr. Turtle!
After lunch I popped into an Antiques shop downtown that I never
noticed before and found this little Stamp machine I just couldn't pass up! 
Now when I bought it I had no idea what I'd do with it. After all, I have absolutely 
no use for an out-dated Stamp machine in my home Office... However, upon 
further inspection I discovered the Reason this thing weighs a ton is because it's built 
with an interior Steel liner. Probably to withstand any attempts at Vandalism, which in terms 
of Light-bulb moments, makes the Lower change compartment the Perfect safe! And, 
since it takes Quarters, this Stamp machine technically qualifies as a cool Piggy bank too!
While shopping for new bath Towels I couldn't pass up these cute Summer
bags either. I also popped into Home Goods to buy all the White Tea
and Ginger linen spray they had left so I grabbed another Duvet too.
All in all, not a bad Start to my, boys-are-back-to-School vacation!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Cheesecake by Mail - Oh, my!

I couldn't very well order Cheesecake for my Mother's birthday (Happy Birthday, Mom!) and not order one for us too! Since James told me he ordered flowers I decided to provide Mom and dad with a Birthday desert. And, since my Gift package to Mom arrived way too early (Monday) she deserved a little surprise today. So who do you call for the Best cheesecake on the Planet? Everyone knows it can only be Junior's in New York! 

For Mom, only Junior's strawberry shortcake Cheesecake would do. For us it had to be a little of what we both like... Lemon and coconut cheesecake. Yum!
I can already Smell the Lemon!
Taaaaah!
We're having Dinner at Ruth's Chris this Saturday evening... 
I wonder if they'd mind if I brought my own Desert!
I hope Mom enjoyed hers as Much as we enjoyed this One!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

It only took Me twenty years!

...But I finally framed Brandon's baptism gown! I found this Display case frame two years ago at Pottery Barn but it's been hanging Empty because I never found anything I wanted to display in it. Then, as I was organizing the closet in the hallway last week I saw Brandon's baptismal gown hanging there and it occurred to me to put the Two together! So I had Brandon's baptism gown dry cleaned and Framed it. I added the candle we lit at his Baptism and think it's just perfect hanging in my Home office - So sweet. Brandon of course calls it a dress but I don't care. At the time it was very Traditional and I love it as much Today as I did when I picked it out twenty years ago. I have such fond memories of both Brandon and William's baptisms at the Carmel Mission Basilica. My parents are both Brandon and William's Godparents and I adore them for that. Any way, here's the Dress...
Brandon and William's ankle bracelets, bassinet cards 
and their take-me-home beanies from C.H.O.M.P, 
Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
Brandon's first Varsity sweater and Pacifier
Perfect!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Fall, babies and Cake!

My sweet, new baby Birds are another Week older!

It's pure joy to watch Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird feeding them all day - Each takes turns gathering Insects from the yard, then they Swoop over to the house and hang from the hole to Feed. Hungry baby Birds are Very noisy!

Speaking of helpless, Hungry beings... Do you hear that? No? Me either! Today is the First day since William began his new job that BOTH boys are at work at the Same time! The house is perfectly Quiet and completely ours for the next eight hours. How will we ever Busy and entertain ourselves? Ha!
We stopped in at Marsha's for Two new Koi babies for the Pond
This is Goldie and when the light hits her she Sparkles!
And, this is Zip! Normally, they cost $35 but since we also picked
up a New filtration system Marsha only charged me $30 each
Birds aren't the only ones that Perch!
Here's a Chipmunk busy cleaning out the Bird feeder too...
Fall showed up this Morning so I too advantage of the
Cooler temperature outside to bake a Cake this morning!
Into the pan We go... And now it's out to the Deck for me to enjoy
my melon for Breakfast and to read a bit while our cake bakes
I admit I needed a new Cake stand like I need another Teenager but I
couldn't pass up this Diner-style stand I found at Home Goods Friday
A perfect Orange Bundt - Chocolate Buttercream to come later...
I can tell Fall is coming by the Way the light comes into the Kitchen now