Cyber-Monday

Hoping to get some more shopping done today online.  I'm not getting a lot of cooperation from people on their "wish lists!"  I remember the days when Justin and Jessica were little and they would rattle off a list a mile long.  I didn't go out shopping at all, either on Thanksgiving evening or Black Friday.  There are no deals good enough to make me want to go through that!  So many of the "doorbusters" are products I wouldn't want anyway.  We had an excellent Thanksgiving and I did really like the White Chocolate Raspberry Mousse cake that I mentioned in my last post so I'll probably get another for our family Christmas party later this month.

On the 1st, we decorated our Christmas tree and changed over a lot of our decor to Christmas.  I'm saving a few ornaments for Ryan and Jacob to add today.  From what I hear, they are both sick with colds so that's always a challenge for Jeff and I not to get sick, too.  I did really well last year avoiding their germs so hopefully will fare as well this holiday season.  Here's a photo of our tree:

Here's a close up of the ribbon that Mr. Jeffrey so tastefully adds:

   Can't remember if I showed you my latest Christmas pillow cover from Pottery Barn?  It's a woody.

We have a couple of warm days ahead- in the 80's- so Jeff will hang up the outdoor lights while the weather is nice.  By Wednesday, the temps are dropping into the 60's so it will start to feel a little more Christmassy.  Even though it's warm, I still made a Southwest Turkey Chili with some of our leftovers.  That'll be nice to have later this week.  Happy December!

Home Goods Happy

Home Goods is running a commercial with the slogan "Home Goods Happy" and that's what I am!  They have the best deals there and really cute thing for the garden.  Sometimes I find the things at TJ Maxx which is the same company and while they have a smaller section for items for the home, they often aren't as picked over as the actual Home Goods store.  I found all of these things at TJ Maxx which is literally just down the hill from where I live.  I've often walked with Jacob in the stroller there.  On Friday, I showed you the lantern I bought which I had planned on using on the patio until Jeff suggested using it in the house.  But I did buy these really cute planters that I used for herbs.  I don't think their actual color shows up too well in these photos but they have that green tint that copper gets when it ages.  In this planter, I have mint and oregano.

    

And in the planter below, I have basil and cilantro

I saw these exact planters at a nursery for more than twice the price.  I had my shopping cart full when I spotted something really unique.  It was a big wooden planter that was put together with pieces of wood like a puzzle.  It was by a designer named Danny Seo.  I texted Jeff to come meet me at TJ Maxx and I showed him the one of a kind (no others in the store) wooden planter.  He liked it but wondered what I'd plant in it.  I didn't have a really good answer for that so I said, "Okay, let's forget about it and just get the other things." I was still thinking about it a few hours later wondering how I could use that planter.  It had a plastic insert so all of a sudden it occurred to me that it would make a great fountain!  A few weeks before, I had seen at Home Depot a display that said, "Make any container a fountain with this kit!"  So I told Jeff my idea and off he went to TJ Maxx to get the wooden box.  Thankfully, it was still there.  The kit has 3 different nozzles so you can choose how you want the water to spray.  We chose the bell shaped spray.  It also lights up at night.  Since I didn't want to cut a hole in the planter for the cord, we just went over the side and I found a cute handpainted ceramic sunflower to hide the cord.  Of course, it turned into a much bigger project than anticipated because we had to run a waterproof extension cord out to the spa and Jeff didn't want it just laying on the ground so he bought black ABS (which is like PVC but not white) that he could run the cord through.  Here's Cooper and Kanan checking out our new fountain before I added the sunflower to hide the cord.

    

Shopping for Free!

The other day when Jeff and I went down to coast to Santa Monica, I had a couple of Pottery Barn coupons burning a hole in my pocket.  One was "Spend $50.00- get $25.00 Off" and then I was sent a "Reward Certificate" which you get when you buy things on a Pottery Barn credit card.  You get 10% rewards from prior purchases.  The reward certificate was for $25.00 so that meant I could get $50.00 worth of stuff for free!  How can you beat that?  Problem is, I have pretty much decorated out my living room so it's hard to find things I need.  I have plenty of Pottery Barn pillows and pillow covers for every season, lots of glasses, serving dishes, you name it so it's hard to find something I need and/or have room for.  Anyway, I was determined to find something so I bought got this oil-rubbed bronze bird sculpture/votive holder that goes perfectly with my fireplace screen and tool set.  I was also able to get a silver starfish and some decorative pebbles for a lantern I bought.  That's a whole other story...

If you browse the Pottery Barn catalog or website, you'll see lots of lanterns and they run from $100-$200.00.  I found a rustic-looking lantern that I loved at TJ Maxx/Home Goods.  It was so similar to the Pottery Barn lanterns and I even liked it more and it was only $19.99!  I had planned to use it on the patio but when I brought it home, Jeff liked it so much that he thought I should put it in the living room on our server.  During the summer, I have a beachy seashore theme in my living room so the silver starfish and pebbles from Pottery Barn and some shells and driftwood that I had were added to the lantern along with a battery-operated candle.  Here's a photo.  They look small in the photo but they are quite large and tall!

Here's the lantern with the lit candle before I added the accessories.  I love the rope handle.

More of my summer decor

Dining room centerpiece and shell placemats from PB

On Monday, I'll show you more great deals I got at TJ Maxx for the garden...some great planters for herbs and an interesting big carved wooden pot that we turned into a fountain!  Have a great weekend!

The Three Amigos

Sierra is back visiting with us for the next two weeks while Justin and Sarah are on their latest European Adventure.  Here's a photo of The Three Amigos also known as "The Rainbow Coalition."

Justin and Sarah's trip includes the following cities:  Amsterdam, Venice, Prague, Pilsen, Munich, Mittenwald, Slovania, Dubrovnik, Dublin and Paris in that order.  In Venice, they are staying on a yacht and in Dublin they are staying in a castle.  Dubrovnik is their big splurge where they are staying at a luxury hotel.  I'll be posting photos over the next two weeks of their travels.  

I used an old photo of the dogs because my camera is broken.  What's really ridiculous is the only part that's broken is a tiny plastic pin that holds the battery in place.  I'm so irritated that they made a nice, expensive camera and put a piece of plastic in it that, if broken, makes the camera inoperable.  The battery light keeps blinking because it thinks the battery is low when it isn't because the battery isn't pushed all the way down due to the broken little pin.  I've tried adding things to keep the battery down- paper, a paper clip and other things- and nothing works.  I called Sony and they offered me two "solutions"  I could get 15% off a new camera or pay $130.00 to have the camera repaired!  Sorry, $130.00 is too much for a tiny piece of plastic that in my opinion is a design flaw.  Since I have a lot of accessories for the camera:  extra batteries, extra cards, nice case, etc... I decided I'd try to find the same camera on ebay and if I can get one for @ $50.00, I'll take a chance on a second one.  I have a couple I have my eye on and I know I can get one for $99.00 through a "Buy it Now" but I'm hoping to get one for a lot less.

Back update:  quite a bit improvement so hoping it continues to improve.  Even planted marigolds out front!

Finally, here's the kitchen cabinet makeover after I put the dishes and things back.  The box that says, "Dream" is to gather mail so it's not on the kitchen counter.

Merry March!

Didn't have time to do my Monday post last night as we were at a LAFD retirement dinner all the way out in Temecula.  It's about a 2 hour drive for us.  We had a nice time with lots of good Mexican food and Margaritas.  This is going to be a nice month with the time change coming next weekend, St. Patrick's Day on the 17th, the first day of spring on the 20th and Easter on the last day of the month.  Justin and Sarah are leaving next week for another whirlwind tour of Europe and we will be dog-sitting Sierra again.  Not sure of their final itinerary yet but I know they will be in Dublin close to St. Patrick's Day.  They may also be in Rome around the time a new Pope is chosen so that could be interesting.

The party we went to was at the home of our fireman's friend's daughter and she had the Pottery Barn chandelier that I've always liked.  It's really just a rack and you hang wine glasses from it.  I've also seen martini glasses used.  I like the idea because you can easily remove the glasses and wash them in the dishwasher.  I'd buy it but I really have no good place to use it.  I don't think it would work well in a kitchen and I have my made-over chandelier in my dining room.  Here's a photo of it.

Forget what I just said!  Pottery Barn sent me a coupon so I ordered it.  Who cares if it doesn't go in my kitchen... I need a new kitchen anyway!  It'll be here next week!  Now I have to shop for 30 wine glasses!

   

Mudhole Mutts

Cooper and Kanan went along with Jeff and Chris mountain biking in Ojai.  They really get great exercise running alongside the bikes.  Chris' Visla, Bill, went along too but he didn't partake in the mudbath.  I always say that Kanan and especially Cooper never met a mudhole they didn't like.  Here's photographic evidence.

They were shedding gritty mud and sand all over the house so we took them both to the groomers for a bath and what they call a "tidy."  That's where they clip their nails, brush their teeth and things like that.  I brush their teeth a lot so they are used to that and I use an enzyme spray that is also good for their teeth.  I also clean their ears with wipes you can buy at the pet store.  They came home with neckerchiefs which Jeff immediately removes thinking they look silly.

On Friday, I took Jacob to the park.  Before we left he said, "Nani, are you ready to go to the park?  I said, "Yep!" to which he replied, "Gimme a minute."  He says the funniest things and always makes me laugh.  We walked to the park with Jacob in the stroller and then we went to TJ Maxx looking for some Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day and Easter decor.  I found these Easter eggs for my hurricane that I like to change seasonally and for holidays.  The photo doesn't do the eggs justice because they are so sparkly when you see them but here's the photo anyway.  They are made of pastel sequins.

    

Organizing

It's funny how once it's a new year, most people feel like organizing.  I think it's a way of sweeping out the old year and starting anew.  You see ads full of containers, storage boxes and other ways to get organized.  That and all the weight loss products and exercise equipment for those New Year resolutions.  I like the idea of decluttering.  I think a cluttered room/house/desk clutters the mind.  I reorganized our kitchen pantry.  I like using OXO storage containers to put things like sugar, flour and cereal in.  You can get them at Costco (sometimes) or Bed, Bath & Beyond.  They are less expensive at Costco but you can use 20% off coupons to buy them at B,B&B.  They look like THIS and they keep your food fresh as well as being an easy way to see what you have.  So do you have any things you like to do or use to get organized?

I find a lot of good ideas on Pinterest and I saw this idea for displaying photos or artwork that I liked.  I haven't wanted to put framed photos on the wall over a bed because, living in earthquake country, I am always worried they'll fall off the wall and hit someone in the head.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and I might use it.  You can hang photos on a curtain rod which would make them much more secure than on a little nail or picture hanger.  You can find really nice decorative curtain rods so many places and they aren't very expensive.  Here's a sample photo.

      

Window Wreaths

Every Christmas since we've had an artificial Christmas tree, we've been searching for a way to get that wonderful scent of pine that is missing.  I've tried sprays, candles, oils, you name it.  I decided I'd try using wreaths indoors.  We bought two fresh large wreaths at Costco for $15.99 each.  They come decorated with pine cones, berries and even sprays of different types of pines.  We used some of our extra gold ribbon that we use on our tree to hang them and Mr. Jeffrey made a couple of gold bows.  Did we accomplish our goal of getting the pine scent?  The jury is still out.  It's definitely not as fragrant as a fresh Christmas tree but we think the wreaths add a very nice touch.  I ordered some of Restoration Hardware's "Starry String Lights" which are teeny-tiny battery-operated white lights on a silver bendable wire.  I'll take another photo of the wreath close up once the lights arrive.  I did find what look to be the same lights cheaper HERE but I can't be sure they're the same...  For now, here's a photo of the living room and you can see the two wreaths in the windows.

 I already have one five-foot strand of lights that I use on our mantle.

Here's a close up of the lights.  See the tiny silver wire?

Most of my Facebook friends have already seen this video.  Jeff was at the dog park with Cooper and Kanan on Saturday and something spooked them!  Watch the video to see what scared them so much!

More Lost Photos Found

Thought I'd post another couple of photos from the recently discovered roll of film from over 30 years ago.  I had it put on to a CD.  Here's a photo of me, Justin and Jeff at the LAFD graduation.  I loved that dress and still remember it.  You can see it better in my previous post.

Also on that roll of film were some of the earliest photos of Justin that I have.  I posted this one below on Facebook and friends were making fun of it saying Justin looks like he's playing air guitar.  I said he was just woozy from the Beck's beer the doctor told me to drink each evening while I was nursing.  Times sure have changed... can you imagine a doctor saying that now?  But European beer has more brewer's yeast which is good for you.  It may not be the best of baby Justin but I couldn't get over how cute and young Jeff is!

Jeff was such a big help to me during that first 6 weeks or so of Justin's life.  He'd stay up late watching horror movies and rocking Justin until he needed to bring him to me for nursing in the wee hours.  As you can see, Justin is younger in this photo than the top one so this was probably before Jeff made it into the LAFD.  What a great thing that was for us... a fantastic job that he loved going to every day of his life.  Thousands apply to the LAFD and only a few make it.

On Thursday, Jeff and I went to the Pottery Barn.  I had a $25.00 gift certificate (that you earn from purchases) plus a "spend $50.00, get $25.00 off" card so that meant I could get $50.00 worth of merchandise for free!  I found this very nice hurricane type glass candle holder that has a bottom that you can fill with whatever you want so you can change it's look seasonally.  I bought a birch candle and fall leaves and here's my display for my living room coffee table.

  

At Christmas time, I'll add something like ornaments, pinecones...something Christmassy, in the summer seashells, etc... you get the idea,  It's really quite large... larger than it looks in the photo.  They're called "Double Tiered Glass Hurricanes" and you can see them HERE. 

  

Oh No You Didn't!

Oh yes I did!  Here's my beachy dining room centerpiece with the sand replaced with beautiful Carmel white sand.  It's so soft and fine, it's like sugar.  It was a piece of cake filling up my beach purse that has a zippered top.  I don't think anyone had a clue.

Here's a photo of Carmel Beach looking to the north towards famous Pebble Beach Golf Course.  The 18th hole is where the Concours d'Elegance was held on Sunday.  On Saturday, we were lucky to have this sunny day!

Carmel and Pebble Beach

Spinning around and looking south, you can see more of Carmel and in the background, Point Lobos, a great place for hiking, biking and scuba diving.

Carmel and Point Lobos

Unfortunately, Sunday was foggy and cold so I didn't enjoy the Concours as much as I would have had it been another sunny day.  Jeff thoroughly enjoyed himself though so that's what's important as it was his bucket list item.  There were some of the most interesting and expensive cars on the planet there as the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is probably the most famous car event in the world.  Jeff took a lot of car photos so maybe I'll share a couple when he gets them off his camera.  As usual, we are both exhausted after our vacation!  The dogs are happy to be home although they seemed to be enjoying themselves when we checked in on the doggy day camp webcams.  

Down by the Seashore

For my Mother's Day present, Jeff turned me loose in Pottery Barn.  I wanted to change out my dining room centerpiece which is very autumnal for a summer look.  I've been seeing a lot of beachy ideas so I found these placemats at Pottery Barn.  They had a lot of expensive trays filled with sand and shells but I knew I could reproduce the look less expensively at HomeGoods.  In addition to the placemats, I did buy the Japanese glass float at Pottery Barn which didn't photograph very well.  I wasn't sure I could find that elsewhere.  You used to be able to find those on the beaches of Northern California and Oregon but they are rare now.  Some beach towns buy a bunch of glass floats and turn them loose in the water for tourists to find.  At HomeGoods, I found the wooden tray and knew that would be perfect.  It's very artistic looking.  It's made of Monkey Pod or Acacia wood from the Phillipines and handsculpted.  We have Monkey Pod trees in our farmville game so I was familiar with them but googled them anyway and found this interesting bit of information:  "Monkey pod wood, also known as Acacia wood, is a durable and naturally resinous hardwood that is harvested from fast-growing Acacia trees. People have recognized the value of monkey pod wood since biblical times; it is mentioned in the book of Exodus as the material that was used to construct the Ark of the Covenant. Today, monkey pod wood is often used to make fine natural furniture and tableware.  I had some shells because I used them in the guest bedroom and found the larger shell, the candle and the coral at HomeGoods.  I told Jeff we would have to take a quick trip to the beach for some sand.  I may replace the sand with Carmel beach sand which is so pretty when we visit this summer.  We also had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

Feeling Springy

Actually, we were feeling summery this weekend with temperatures in the 80's.  On Sunday, we had a retirement party to attend in Valencia.  Valencia is northeast of us and where Magic Mountain is.  We haven't been to Magic Mountain in probably 20 years.  I'm sure that will change as the boys get older. The party was for one of our good fire department friends. The food was fantastic.  The chef was Rick Masda who won the Food Network's Ultimate Recipe showdown for Comfort Food.  His recipe for "Cheese Lovers 5 Cheese Mac & Cheese" won $25,000.  The recipe is HERE.  In addition, there was a delicious Thai chicken dish, baby back ribs, a grilled veggie dish, salad and lots of desserts.  He is a chef at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.

I'm looking forward to the time change next weekend.  I always like it when it stays light later.  In a little over 2 weeks, it will be spring and then I can change over all my Pottery Barn pillow covers, lampshades, candles, etc... to the spring versions.  Justin leaves for his England, Turkey trip on the 13th.  We will have Justin's dog, Sierra, here and maybe Sarah's dog, Buddy, too.  Won't that be fun to have 4 dogs, 3 cats and 2 little boys all in one house?

On the Blogger front, if you missed it, I added a tagboard in the right column if you have a problem leaving a comment.  I also added a button for the Animal Rescue Site right below the tagboard.  If you click on that daily, they will donate money to shelters on your behalf.  I try to remember to do that every day so I thought having it right here on my blog would make it easier.  Have a great week ahead!