New Toy!

Don't you just love new toy's? Now, let's be honest here, i'm not the most techie girl on the block, but i do get a kick of a little throw back instamatic fun  like this! It's called the 'Fuji Instax Mini' and i ordered it on Amazon.com

 It only has four settings and flashes on all settings. The photo's have that weird old school polaroid look...but cuter!

The pictures come out the top and are the size of a credit card- Look how cute! It's obviously not an every day camera, but i thought it would be fun for the girls to play with when they get together with their cousins next week at Universal!!! { hee, yup, we're meeting some family next week in Florida to check out  Harry Potter. Gotta get me some butter beer!}


Let's catch up next week!



 

Joy

Today would be the 114th birthday of my Grandfather. Yeah, i know he wouldn't really be celebrating his 114th {that's a lot of candles} but he did live to be a few months of 102. This picture is of him at 13 {nice knickers}!

He was the joy of my life, my hero, my best friend, my inspiration, my partner in crime. He taught me to appreciate the past, to live for now and not to fear the future.











He called me "The Kid". This picture is of him at his 100th birthday celebration. Here he's holding 'the kid's, kid' {'lil Ms. B at 4 months}
He was a published poet, a world traveler, a grandfather, a father, a husband to the love of his life and a friend to everyone he met. His yard was the neighborhood meeting place, he corresponded with hundreds well into his hundreds, and he wrote with a beautiful old fashioned hand that i always envied.

  

I love being able to look around my home and see little things that remind me of him. His bow tie...old books...
his cane and cap... it's almost like he just stopped by to say 'Hi'

I was lucky enough to introduce him to his third great grandchild, Ms. A, days before he went Home. Before he left, he told me not to be sad, but to be filled with Joy.

Joy

I talked to his sweetheart, my Grandmother today. She misses him too, and says surprisingly she doesn't feel his presence with her. We figure he's too busy questioning God. They were tight : )

Twelve years later, i still miss him dearly, and search for Joy.

I'm still looking.


                                                  
                                                             Missing you,

                                                              The Kid




                                                            

Deep Thoughts- {not really}

 Yesterday we had a snow day {yay} so it was a perfect excuse to goof off. I did a bit of re-arranging in my craft room. I love collecting goodies for future projects, but sometimes forget to use them at all. It just stays...stored. I dug out a few things and played. When i was finished, i came back down to find this message on my chalkboard:

HA! Somebody's been reading our autograph book. I bought a turn of the century autograph book last summer. It has the sweetest quotes, this being one of them.

Just thought i'd share : )

Happy Tuesday!

Easy Monogrammed Napkins

The Pottery Barn catalogue is always a source of inspiration. When i saw these numbered napkins, i immediately thought, 'I'm stampin' me some napkins!' 

I have a large stash of white vintage napkins, so i grabbed  eight that matched {more or less} and the black fabric paint.

I taped the napkin to my work table, 

taped the stencil in place,

and pounced lightly {pounce, pounce, pounce}

Carefully un-peeled everything, let them dry overnight, and... ta-da! Monogrammed napkins!

I'm a sucker for anything with my initial on it, and these were so quick and easy.








I'm linking up with The Shabby Nest. Talk about a place of great inspiration!


I'm still not sure about this new editor on blogger. I love the ease of loading photo's, but the way it lines up the text, i'm not so sure. Anyone have any advise? I hate when they move my cheese ; p


Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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New Magazine

While i was out today making my weekly Target run, i was hoping to find the new 'Flea Market Style' magazine, instead i found this little gem, 'Flea Market Gardens'! 

 

It's full of great inspiration and beautiful vintagey goodies.

These fairy gardens are adorable!

I think i need to find a way to put curtains outside.

It's a great winter dream read......

i really miss my grass

im just sayin'

Happy Wednesday!

Happy {Heart} Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have always loved vintage post cards, and have a small collection of Valentine post cards.

They have the sweetest little faces on them

And have the loveliest rhymes

People just don't talk like this anymore!

This is my favorite. It's a German pop-up card. The detail on it is just beautiful. Look at that lil' sweetie huggin' her mushrooms!

This is the bottom of it.

Tonight i'll make a romantic little dinner for my sweet family. Lamb chops for sweet man, heart shaped pasta for the girls, and molten lava cake for dessert {i'll give you the recipe later this week, it's a keeper!}

How do you spend Valentine's Day?

Hope you have a lovely one!

Wine Country, Baby!

Last week sweet man had a conference in San Francisco, so we grabbed a couple of friends and flew out ahead of snowlapalooza. We decided to stop in Napa before heading to the city. This is one of our favorite destinations, if you've never been, put it on your list!

We stayed at this darling B & B called, "Old World Inn".

{Just a quick warning, this is a long post, so go grab a glass of wine!}

All the rooms are themed, we stayed in "A Night In Paris"

It was dreamy

We started at the Oakville Grocery and grabbed some bread, cheese and of course these cookies. The size of a baby's head. Really.

Since we had several days, and stopped at many wineries, {and things get a little fuzzy after several days of wine tasting! } i'll just hi-lite some of my favorites. K? K.

My favorite stop for Chardonnay is William Hill. Love me a good buttery Chardonnay. The view from here is spectacular.

And boy, can they make an amazing Chardonnay!

We paired it with this yummy white cheddar. Heaven.

A peek into their storage area. needless to say, i signed up for their wine club. Bring it on!

Sweet man and i enjoying the day.

Sweet man with our friends, Scott and Kristen.

This is the time of year when they grow mustard flowers under the vines to fortify the soil. It's a beautiful sea of yellow everywhere you look.

This is the entrance to Rubicon Estates. It's owned by Francis Coppola, and houses some really awesome movie props. Think 'God Father' and 'Apocalypse Now'. Very. Cool.

They make a fabulous Cabernet Sauvignon. One of sweet mans fav's.

The last one is Fisher Winery. Way off the beaten path, but so worth the trip. This winery belongs to one of the Fisher families, who use to own Fisher Body in Detroit. Couldn't help but feel a little home town pride : )

They are a wonderful family run business that carries the 'Coach Insignia' label. This is one of the wine caves that run under the property.

Boozie, the families little labradoodle, led our tour. Such a cutie!

My favorite wine here is 'Cameron', a delicious Cabernet named after one of the daughters that gave us our tour.

Here's where things get fuzzy, i love this giant crown, but i can't remember if i saw it at Louis Martini winery or somewhere else. Hmmm. Love it...didn't fit in my purse.

We also made a stop at Michael Chiarello's store, 'Napa Style'. All kinds of wonderful things you never knew you needed! { i did pick up some grey salt- didn't even know i liked grey salt!}

Just look at this spoon chandy!

And look at this one! Sorry for the bad photo's- i used my iphone. Blah.

Glor.i.ous.

Wish i needed one of those instead of grey salt! Oh well.

We spent three lovely days in Napa and then a week in San Fran. Enjoyed great weather, good food and escaped lots of snow!

Getting away is great, but coming home is the best!