Summerhouse

Ah, the Summerhouse is such a shopping treat! It is full of charm and each area is set up as a room in a cotage. Some pieces are antique and others are new. There are actual family phots strewn about in gorgeous frames, just where we might have them in our home like on the fireplace mantles or the side tables, etc. The women that run this place really know a thing or two about making it inviting. It's like visiting a friends home only everything is for sale. They have furniture, loads of decor, stationary, rugs, fabrics, toiletries, etc. It's an amazing place and every time I get to Greensboro, NC I have to stop in and see what's new and a must have. This past time, I came out with a lovely mirrored frame with a sketch of a dog that looks just like our Chance. I love it! This shop smells wonderful. It's truly a feast for all of the senses, well accept taste. hmmm...maybe they could serve us refreshments while we browse. lol
Are there any shops that you feel drawn to, like this? Oh and they hand giftwrap your items and make tem all pretty even if it's not a gift. Well, I like treating myself and unwrapping a purchase from there is like eating my favorite Dove milk chocolate bar. Yummy! Darnit now I'm hungry.

Shower curtain turned valances

I was out shopping for fabric to make some drapes for our dining room. I found some gorgeous silk fabric that I fell in love with. But there was one major hiccup, it cost $99/yd. ! Yikes! I have that kind of taste, unfortunately. I can walk into any store and my eye is drawn to the most expensive items. Now that would be fine but I have champagne taste and only a beer drinking wallet, as they say. So if I really want something bad enough I will either save up for it, wait for it to go on sale or improvise. In this case I would have needed 5 yds of fabric per window. I have 2 windows. Can you say OUCH???

So me being me, I decided to shop at one of my favorite discount stores (TJ Maxx) and stumbled upon this beautiful shower curtain ($14). It is fabric with gold embroidered swirls. I then went to the fabric store and had a 50% off coupon for one cutting and bought the gold tassle trim for another $27.00 and the thread to sew it with. So for about $44., I got a nice set of valances that look decent. I wanted floor length drapes but there was only one shower curtain, so I cut it in half, horizontally and folded over the top to create a rod pocket. I then added the trim to the bottom with a straight stitch and then to create the gathers I simply spaced out (3) 24" segmants and gathered them up about 12" and added a few stitches to hold them. Voila! A shower curtain turned valances.

'til next time...

Not much to say today. I have had an off week. Sorry. Some stomach troubles but I do miss you all and posting here. Hopefully Sunday I can sit down for a bit and share some inspirations. In the meantime, I brought you to my happy place. The beach. Enjoy. Hear the waves and the seagulls?

Free Signature Generator

Moving Day

Hello there. I am just back from Baltimore. I decided to go help mom and Rick move since she has been packing and cleaning for 2 weeks, alone. Rick's been working and is a great supervisor, if you know what I mean. Great guy but not a lot of help around the house. Some men are just like that, I guess. He would rather pay someone to do it for him.
Anyway, as stressful as it was for them, I enjoyed being able to spend time with them.

My loving husband covered my concession stand duties and our daughter scored 2 of the 13 goals that won the Lacrosse game. Woohoo!
Penny Duncan creates beautiful blog backgrounds and headers. She created mine. Isn't it pretty.? Click on her name or her button and check out her blog.

Missing all of you

Hello friends. I have not been actively posting as of late. I don't want you to think I am not visiting your blogs for any other reason than I can't find enough hours in the day, lately. I miss all of you and am slowly stopping by to say hello and see what is going on in your worlds.

We went to NY and then I went to NC to visit my son last month and then it seems every weekend since something's been going on. We bought a car for our daughter and that took up 2 weekends of dealership hopping. Ugh.

Last weekend we ran down to Baltimore to celebrate my lovely mothers birthday and help her pack a little bit. This week our daughter had a scrimmage and this weekend a game. I have a few custom orders I am working on, as well. So there you have it. I feel like one of those whirly gig things that hand from the porch and spin. lol A few of you asked to see a picture of my mother to see if we look alike. We are told we look like sisters all the time. She just turned 60.

I hope you all have a lovely Friday. TGIF! I love the weekend! Saturday is my fave. Get to sleep in, enjoy a hot cup of coffee at a leisurely pace, watch a few recorded HGTV shows and then off to the shower. Pure bliss.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Off to finish up our Corned Beef and Potato dinner. Cheers!

The winner is....

Well for some reason I cannot load photos right now. It keeps saying you must select an image, which I keep doing and it pops up with this message every time. So strange!
I had so many awesome SITS'as come by on my Blog feature day. It made me feel very special and excited to meet so many more blogging friends. I have so many fun blogs to visit now. If I have not come by yet, I will.
Anyway, yesterday I used the good old Random Number Generator to find out who the winner was of one of my magnetic memo boards and the winner was
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
46
Timestamp: 2009-03-13 16:46:44 UTC
number "46", so I went to my email and looked from the start of my visits anf counted to number 46 and it is....RebeccaMom. So congratuations and I will be emailing you to find out which one you would like.
RebeccaMom has left a new comment on your post "Hello SITSa's": I love lilacs! thank for having a giveaway for us, SITSta! I'm off to browse around :)
Thank you all who entered. I do giveaways periodically, so please don't feel left out. One day your number may be chosen.

Hello SITSa's

Hello sweet sista SITSa's! Welcome.

So glad you came by. So glad in fact that I am offering one of my magnetic memo boards as a Giveaway today. I have 6 more to list in my shop tonight, so you will have a choice between 6 or 8 of them. I will pick a name via the Random Number Generator at 5:45 am Friday morning here on the East Coast. The winner will be announced Friday around noon EST, USA time, so come back by.

Everyone with a blog is welcome to enter. I can't wait to go blog hopping tonight, after work, to get to know all of you.

This was our sky yesterday and those are buds on my lilac bushes. Those beautiful crocuses had their little heads open and showing all their glory, when I got home. How excited was I to see them! Spring is in the air, people. Woohoo!

Fire engines

I happened upon these old fire engines today and had my camera with me so off to the side of the road I pulled and took a few shots of them. The lighting was not ideal but I love the grills and the rust.

This one and the other in the same tones are my favorites. I may list them in my shop. I love my new camera. ;D

Up close and personal

So I got a new camera and I decided to have a little fun and shoot some closeups of colorful things in our winter garden. I love the red of these berries against the leafless grape vines.

This believe it or not is part of a snail I bought for my husbands vegetable garden, at an art festival. It is copper tubing and has a wonderful turquoise patina. I love scrolls.

This is one of a set of old wooden benches that I picked up on the side of the road. It is weathered and full of character. It has many layers of crackled paint. The texture is great. I usually put potted flowers on them to greet us at the doors. It always makes me smile.

The power of Optimism

"Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative and more happiness." Optimism is powerful and inspirational and now there is this wonderful program by Pepperidge Farms called Fishful Thinking. It has tips to teach your children how to be optimistic. There are quizzes and articles to show you how. I found it via The R Family Diaries . Tiffany is giving away $100 Gift Card to Target! Who doesn't love Target?! I was just there yesterday looking at the bedding for my daughter and wall decor. Tiffany has been invited to learn more about Fishful Thinking and possibly obtain one of the faculty positions. Woohoo! Tiffany. What a wonderful opportunity to plug in and make a difference.
Good luck everyone!

A happy heart

This is my latest magnetic memo board. It is very feminine.

I'm all about details.

Embrace life. One of my favorite sayings. Just a little reminder here.

You all know how much I am yearning for spring. Well, I saw these miniature daffodils in the grocery store and they had my name written all over them. So they camehome with me.

I am greeted at the kitchen sink with these smile makers. So sunny and happy.

The heads are a little larger than a quarter, but I zoomed in here to capture their beauty.

What do you surround yourself with to bring a smile to your face? This is only thing that makes my heart sing. What does it for you? Please share.

Baltimore Inner Harbor

This is a sampling of the homes around Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Pretty cool, huh?

You will find entertainment, shopping, food, museums, etc, here. So much to do.

These were dragon paddle boats floating in front of the museum. Looks like fun.

The Baltimore Aquarium is great for the whole family and cool on those warm summer days.

I just loved this giant mosaic bird. It was gorgeous! Painted beautiful blues, greens and purples and then there were mirror and tile pieces used to make the mosaic.

Look at this GIANT nest! It is actually a balcony. We drove up and there stood 3 people engulfed in this enormous nest. How fun, huh?

This was outside of one of the most whacky art museums (The American Visionary Art Museum)I've ever been to. It had a fun/bizarre gift shop, too.