Christmas 2013

The calm before the storm

It was all hustle and bustle for a week at my home

during Christmas week

I loved every minute of it

Having grandchildren around during this festive time

is absolutely wonderful...

magical, almost

 I should of had a picture of the after

but I was too tired on Christmas day

to do anything but

cook a big breakfast for everybody

and then off to take a nap...

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc.

or whatever your favorite saying is at this time

Petie

I started off decorating last week with this,

unloading and moving the hutch

After the holiday's I will be moving it back to where it was,

after I've changed the wall color

I haven't told my hubby yet,

he will be thrilled (insert sarcasm)

I am not looking forward to picking out paint colors

but it must be done

I can't live with the brown walls another day

if it wasn't for the holiday's,

I would have already been pulling my hair out with 

trying to pick a color and changing things up

but for now, I must wait

In agony,

Petie

Thanksgiving 2013

Another Holiday, came and gone

I posted this pic on instagram the other day

and I had several comments about the pewter

My Mother gave this pewter set to my husband

along time ago

She bought the set when I was a young girl

and would use it for our Thanksgiving meals and Christmas meals

One year, my husband casually said to my Mother,

that he wanted to be gifted the pewter set

so she gave it to him

lucky me...

One of the best memories that I have about the Holidays

is washing dishes after the meal with my husband's Grandmother

She was so full of wisdom and humor

I miss her

so this year,

I made my girls wash the dishes, glasses and silverware by hand

I called it bonding time

The next day when I was putting the tub of pewter away,

this is what I found

I'm guessing Holly isn't taking any chances

on anyone else claiming the pewter

Petie

A Simple Christmas

Love this...

simple gifttags...

a Christmas tree poster...

A simple Christmas

at least that is what I am shooting for.

I made my list of "to do's" for December to put on my calendar

one word, SCARY...

there is so much to do

and I am actually starting the week of Thanksgiving

with decorating.

My daughter will be in town this weekend with the monkey's

so I will be cooking the turkey dinner on Sunday.

Married children=sharing Holidays

So with turkey dinner out of the way,

I don't feel so bad about decorating next week.

I have a few new things I want to create this year,

but for the most part,

it will be pretty much the same as last year.

I can't believe the Holiday's are right around the corner.

I guess the saying is true,

time fly's,

when you're having fun...

Petie

LBD

anthropology

Let's just forget the fact

 that nothing  Anthropology makes

will ever fit me

but I love these little black dresses

especially,

the one with the bow around the neck

so elegant

lbd...little bubbly dresses

Petie

Stocking Stuffers

notebook

These would be perfect for the writer in your family

or for the person who journals.

I don't  journal,

but I do have a lot of binders

that I have filled with projects, magazine clippings,

furniture ideas, painting ideas, etc.

I also like to make lists.

it helps me get things done

and I feel like I have accomplished something

when I check it off my list.

Petie

Sunday's

I love the weekends.

Especially, Sundays...

Going to Church

Eating a home cooked meal

Laying around

Making plans for the coming week

and in the late afternoon

I love to get my laundry done

wash, fold, and put away

It makes me giddy to have a clean laundry room to start the week off

another thing I like to do on Sunday evening

is spend fifteen minutes

running around the house picking up and putting things in their place

cleaning off the kitchen counters

unloading the dishwasher

getting the coffee pot ready for the next morning

you get the idea...

when I do this,

it seems like my Monday's have a hop and a skip to them

and when I don't

well you know,

I feel like I am ten steps behind

On another note

our weather is changing

sweater weather

my favorite time of the year

Petie

these are not my pics above, see tumblr for sources 

Mad about Plaid

Why don't I have this yet?

I love wearing dresses,

but this dress would probably look better on my sister,

who is 6 feet tall

My sister told me the other day

that she missed my blog,

I told her that I lead a boring life.

I was reading

the art of doing stuff the other day,

and she blogged about

a Christmas pledge calendar.

basically,

it's a guideline to getting all of your Christmas stuff done

before December 1st.

I really liked this concept

but it would be impossible for me to do this,

so, I came up with my own calendar.

I will let you know if it works or not.

that is, if

I start blogging again.

too future blogging or not...

Petie

Plum Jam

I bought way to many plums

hopefully,

family and friends love plum jam

as much as I do

Six pints and 12 half pints later

I decided

 that making jam is more expensive then buying it in the store

that just doesn't seem right

Petie

Fun Stuff

Mint file cabinet

Rainbow pattern pens

Do or Die Rifle Note Pad

1/2/3

Getting ready for a busy weekend

Celebrating August birthdays and we have a lot of them

also, my hubby and son will be home for a few days

and my daughter and her family

so today I have been prepping meals

for the weekend

so I can enjoy every minute of them being here

I love it when we are all together

we will celebrate the birthday's on Sunday

with cake and ice cream

and then off to Mass with the whole family

Petie

Brooklyn Girl

 Brooklyn Girl

 is a casual neighborhood American eatery

 with a sustainable farm-to-table attitude.

It won Best Restaurant of San Diego for 2013.

And that is how my daughter picked the place

she wanted to have lunch at in San Diego

 before she had to head back home to the desert.

The internet is so useful.

The ambiance of Brooklyn Girl made you want to stay all day and

so did the grapefruit soda's from the soda fountain.

They were delicious.

If you find yourself in San Diego,

don't miss it.

Petie

Call Me Crazy...

But I love this flower from Anthropology

I also love their clothes but nothing fits

Everything in their store is made for skinny girls

Dear Anthropology,

I love your clothes.

I wish I could get married again

just to wear one of your BHLDN wedding dresses

and decorate with all of your fancy decorations.

But that's not why I am writing to you, I would like to inquire
why you have something against curvy women?
Your clothes are designed for skinny girls.
In the future, is it possible to design your clothes with us in mind?

Sincerely,
A Curvy girl

Petie

PS and I would still get married to the same man

Not a Chocolate Chip Kind of Day

My hubby lost his best friend last night

I am so sad today

so many memories with a family pet

he was also my hubby's hunting partner

he will be missed

R.I.P. Doc

Petie

Would Somebody Please Have a Ball

One of my favorite parts of

Pride and Prejudice

is the ballroom scene

the one where Keira Knightly plays Elizabeth

from the entrance with all the carriages dropping off the guests,

the fire burning in the urns, the amazing home of Mr. Bingley,

to the ball gowns and men in tuxedo's,

especially, Mr. Darcy

I would love to wear the gown above

I just don't have a ball to go to

Black Floor Length Maxi Tulle and Cotton Jersey Dress

can be found on etsy

Petie

Stuck in Traffic Forever

I went to town today

(if you grew up in Buckeye,

that's what you call going into the big city)

to pick up my son's birthday present

he has wanted an old ice chest forever

a really old one

but all the one's I have seen on the internet

are way out of my price range

but yesterday,

as I was looking on instagram,

one of the junk in the trunk girls was having a sale on instagram

and had posted a pic of a coleman ice chest

it was old, but not that old

I thought it would be perfect for his birthday,

and it would save me from running around in this heat

looking for one and it was priced right

I also scored some great furniture from the Salvation Army

for the next vintage sale while I was killing time

waiting to pick up the ice chest

on my way home I got stuck in traffic

if there's anything I loathe,

it's traffic that is not moving on a freeway

a big truck hauling watermelons overturned in the tunnel

and so all traffic was detoured OFF OF THE FREEWAY

yes, all 10,000 cars that were on the freeway and not moving

were detoured to a two lane road

it's a good thing I had my I phone to distract me

Petie

Summer 2013

I love this bag

you can find it here

traveling

plus

computer problems

equals

no blogging

In early June

I went to the beach

my favorite place in the whole world

I love the water and the sand

we ate good food

had beautiful weather

and

watched a drug bust go down at one in the morning

as we were peeking over our third story balcony

with helicopters  and a squat team

a couple of houses down from where we were staying

scary stuff but exciting to watch

we also visited the San Diego Zoo

my least favorite thing to do in the whole world

but I sacrificed for my grandson

I was home for just a few days

and then onto Reno

where my hubby and I drove to Lake Tahoe

BEAUTIFUL

the water in that lake

is absolutely breathtaking

I want to go back in the winter

we also visited

Carson City and Virginia City

I love the feeling

of the old west in that part of the Country

so much history

and finally,

the Fourth of July

with family

at a resort with a big pool

the only way to spend Independence Day

in the desert

I better go

my grandson was here for a week

and my house is a mess

time to get busy

Petie