Summer Evenings....

Hey there girls....

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I still can't seem to get myself out of my blogging rut, probably because there isn't too much for me to blog about at the moment.

With summer finally upon us, I've been trying to spend more time outdoors instead of being at the computer. I figure with summer as short as it it, I need to be soaking up as much of it as I can and enjoy the outdoors and beautiful weather and not tied down to the computer as much as I am during the long, cold winter months.

Instead, I've been enjoying many an evening at the ballpark watching my older niece McKenzie's softball games and now, starting tonight, I'll be out watching my younger twin niece and nephew's T-Ball games. Before I leave, I thought I'd share a few photos taken last week at the ballpark.

McKenzie, patiently waiting for her turn to bat....

And taking her turn playing at being the first baseman...

Taking a swing at home plate....

Time for a quick water break and chat with her Mommy...

And taking her turn playing short stop in the outfield...

We are all so happy and proud for this young girl who just finished her softball season playing in tournaments over this past weekend and I am honored to say that her team won the tournaments and are considered the softball "Champions" for her age bracket.

Can you tell that I'm one very proud Auntie??

Now it's off to the ballpark again tonight as T-Ball games have started for this girls younger sister and brother. Can't wait to see how they do tonight.

Hope you are all enjoying your week so far and having as much fun this summer as I am.

Back From Vacation.....

Hi Girls...

I made it safely back home from my short trip to California.

My Mom, my sister and I had a wonderful trip to Sacramento for a family reunion and it was great seeing relatives that I hadn't seen for ages and ages, some in nearly 30 years which was how long ago it was since our last trip to California. Sure goes to show we aren't big travelers when we allow so much time to pass between trips. Relatives who were just toddlers during our last visit are now grown up married adults with children of their own.

Sadly, I never did make it to any antique shops during my trip to California. Time seemed to go so fast while we were there and we were having such a good time visiting with everyone that I hated to leave even for a short time to find the antique shops. No great loss though. Seeing and being with family is so much more special and important than visits to antique shops are.

Of course, once I got back home, with most of my vacation spending money still in my wallet, I felt the need to pay a visit to one of my all time favorite antique shops, which I did yesterday and I found this pretty, vintage inspired duvet cover in a lovely rose pattern with pale rosey pink stripes.

Just ignore the wrinkles as I took the photos before throwing it in the wash for a good cleaning.

I believe that it is a twin size duvet cover. I may or may not actually buy a duvet to fit inside. It will be useful just as it is to use a lap throw or light weight blanket.

The muted colors are just what I like.

There were a few spots on the duvet cover that may or may not come out in the wash. Even if they don't it won't bother me in the least as they aren't very noticeable unless pointed out. I can easily live with a bit of imperfection at times, especially when the piece itself is so pretty and when the price of the item was less than $20 like this was.

Still have some spending money left, so I'm off again today to see if I can find some more new treasures to bring home.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that the first part of your week has gone well.

Take care and I'll be back again soon.

I enjoy traveling, but I'm sure gonna miss this over the next few days ......................


One more night in my own comfy bed surrounded by my own things, then I''ll be sleeping in a strange hotel in California , in a strange and most likely uncomfortable bed and living out of a suitcase for several days. It's all gonna be worth it though as I'll be spending lots of time visiting with family, some that I haven't seen in maybe close to 20 years. The weather is looking perfect too for my trip. Hot and sunny, just the way I like it.

I won't be around to visit for a while and I'm sure gonna miss keeping up on everyone 's blogs while I'm away. I know I'll be missing a lot.

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone and have a great weekend!!

Withdrawal.................

I'm going through a bit of withdrawal at the moment in my efforts to be a good girl and stay away from my favorite antique shops as I try to save my extra spending money for my upcoming trip to California.

It's so hard to stay away from my favorite shops because I'm so afraid I'm going to miss out on finding some great new treasures to add to my collections.

I guess until my trip has come and gone, that I'll just have to enjoy the keep on enjoying the lovely things I already have. Like these wonderful items in my favorite color of pink....

Of course, that won't stop me from dreaming of things I might be adding to my collections in the future. And if things work out the way I'm hoping, I'll be returning from California with a few new treasures tucked into my suitcase. We'll be in the Sacramento area during our short stay in California and I've already googled and found one antique mall that is very close to where we will be staying. A short 15 minute drive according to MapQuest. I've already printed out the driving directions and they will be tucked in my suitcase along with everything else.

I love getting a chance to visit new antique malls whenever I can. Fresh eye candy to see and dig through in the hopes of uncovering a new treasure or two.

I can't wait!!!!

More Of My Decorating Scrapbook Pages.....

Hi Girls...

Happy Sunday to all of you. I hope you are having a fun and relaxing long holiday weekend. I have been myself. The weather is beautiful here in Minnesota and even though there might be a short spell of rain mid-day, it's supposed to clear up again soon afterwards and be nice for the reset of the weekend. Let's hope that rain comes and goes as quickly as they say it will as I have plans to attend a BBQ with family and some friends later this afternoon and I don't think any of us want it spoiled because of the rain.

I've been trying to be a good girl and save my extra spending money for my trip to California which is coming up soon. So, instead of hitting the antique malls, I've been staying at home and spending my weekends working on my decorating scrapbooks. Thought you might like to see a few of the finished pages...

This page has a theme of pinks and green...

This page has a theme of white.....

And here's one with some pinks, blue ad just a hint of red....

Here's a page featuring a blueish/green hue with a bit of pink too. Not sure exactly what you would call this bluish/green color, but think somewhere along the lines of what you would find in sea glass and that best describes the color shade I used on this page.

Another page in white with a hint of pale blue....

For this page, I chose a theme of blue and dark pink. The pinks are such a dark shade that they are almost red in color...

Well, that's all I have to show for today. I'm still working away at my scrapbooks and will show you more pages as I finish them.

A Beautiful Mess............

Hey there girls. How are things going in your world?

Things are going great in mine. Summer has FINALLY made it's way to Minnesota and except for a few short bumps here and there, we've had a nice stretch of beautiful weather over the past few weeks. That means being able to finally put away the winter clothes, dig out the shorts, T-shirts and sandals, dusting off the grill and doing some grilling, spending some time at the ballpark watching my niece play softball and just being able to enjoy the beautiful outdoors after having been cooped up in the house for months and months during the long, cold and snowy winter we had.

I'm loving it!!

In the meantime, other things have been piling up. And I mean that literally. I try very hard most of the time to keep things organized in my home, but this is the current state of the desk/work table in my spare bedroom which I actually use as a sitting room.

I'm almost embarrassed to show this to you, but even in it's unorganized state, it still looks pretty to me though, so I'm not going to be ashamed by it's appearance. As I've mentioned before, I love to collect bits and pieces that I hope to someday use when that crafting bug finally hits me, so I just keeping adding to the beautiful mess each time I find myself some more things that I hope to use in those future crafting projects.

Now if I could just find that hidden creativity I know must be buried deep inside me, I could actually turn some of these bits and pieces into something beautiful. Thanks to all the fabulously artistic blogger's I follow on a regular basis, I have so many ideas of things I want to create, but it's just hard figuring out where to start.

Maybe I should stop being so scatterbrained and a tad bit scared and just dive in head first and see what I can create. If I could just get myself to jump over that first hurdle, I might actually surprise myself and create something I'd be proud off. I know it's not gonna happen overnight and that it might take some time, but I know the day will come that I will finally create something that I can be proud to show off to all of you.

Faux Pastries.....

I have a definite sweet tooth and a taste for beautiful pastries, whether they be real or fake.

Since discovering the world of blogging I have found so many wonderful websites that sell products that I simply love and that fit me and my decorating style to a tee. One such blogger/artist is the fabulously talented Rhea of http://sweetnshabbyroses.blogspot.com/ who creates the most wonderful, beautiful and scrumptious looking faux pastries. I have ordered several items from her over the past few years, with the most recent being this yummylishous pink, heart shaped faux cake...

The faux cake is painted in the softest, most delicate shade of pink and is topped with a paper rose and some pale green leaves.I love the fact that while it isn't edible (great for my waistline..), it still looks totally real and it is something that I will be able to keep around to treasure forever..

The beautiful cake is perfectly finished off with some pretty ruffled pink crepe paper along the base of the case.

I sure hope that Rhea continues to create these wonderful faux pastries as I have a hankering to add a few more to my collection sometime in the future.

Intense Drama......

OMGosh.......

Did you all watch Gray's Anatomy last night??

The drama was so INTENSE and I'm still a bit freaked out over the shock and intenseness of it even hours afterward. Two hours of heart pounding shock and fear that had me totally glued to the TV. Best TV I've seen in a long time.

A nice cup of tea will work nicely in taking the edge off and helping me relax. At least I hope so anyways.

If you're not a fan of Gray's you sure are missing out.

Pink and Pretty....

Hi Girls...

It's Tuesday and I'm happy because the sun is shining brightly and it's a beautiful day here in Minnesota today.

Hope you all are having a pinkalishious week so far. I know that I am.....


Have a great day!!