Pillow Make-Over

Rylee has decided to join me in a little pillow make-over (she thinks she needs to be part of everything)

I had this little bolster of Ms. B's from before her room make-over.

I got this laundry bag (?) from an estate sale earlier this Summer- i love the color and the printing on the front of it- Forrest M Phillips, i don't know who you are, but i love your bag!

(yes, i confess, i cut the bag apart before i took a picture of it, but you get the idea, right?)
Even after a thorough washing, it still has stains and stamp marks, but i like that!

I fit the bag around the pillow so the printing would be hi-lighted, pinned it, sewed it into a tubeRylee, with her super model legs, showing us the 'before' sewing pic

I tried to use the thick cord that originally cinched the bag together, but it was too thick, so... i grabbed the kitchen string ( and am shamelessly showing off my cute string holder- don't cha just love it!)
Drew up the ends nice and tight and...ta da! cute little bolster

Thanks Forrest!

What are you working on? I'm trying to get up the motivation to paint Ms. A's bedroom- i've got the paint and a plan...now to get the push to start! I'm just too distracted with this great Autumn weather! I suppose i could start with some 'before' photo's!

Have a great day!

Welcome Autumn

Hallooo, Fall?

It's me, Gaia...where are you hiding? With temps in the high 80's today, it doesn't feel much like the first day of Fall. However, the trees are just starting to color slightly and our pumpkins are bursting off the vine! The flowers are blooming better than they did all summer right now. Go figure!

My favorite end of summer bloomer is this climbing clematis. It's show is never disappointing.

It smells heavenly, and the bee's are giddy about it

Happy first day of Autumn!

Let's Visit Sweden and Finland!

I want to share with you a few (i promise, only a few!) pictures from our cruise this summer.

One of our stops was Sweden and Finland. Sweden is somewhere i have always wanted to visit. The architecture, the culture, the people...it was all amazing.

This is what we saw as we pulled into port in Stockholm.

I could live hereWe had a wonderful guide named, 'Aviva' I wanted to adopt her-pack her in my suit case and steal her home- she was adorable. She cheerfully dragged all nine of us all over Stockholm. She even helped me find a 'Jeanne d' Arc Living' magazine (even though it's Danish- gasp!) What a dear. She showed us, with so much pride, the 'Vasa', that sunk hundreds of years ago and was raised from the muck, dried out and partially restored- incredible. (I have twenty or more photo's of this ship-this one picture hardly does it justice)

On to Finland

And then there were the home decor stores. Oh.my.gosh. This was my favorite, and in my excitement i forgot to get the name of this store! All i could think was, 'i have to put this on my blog-we LOVE this kind of stuff!'

Sweet man kept asking, 'Whose we ?'

He doesn't get it yet, but i know you do!

Dreamy, creamy, shabby, embellished, yummy stuff.

Oh, my

Look.at.that.chandy.

After they dragged me kicking and crying out of the store, we went to the second best place in the world- the pastry shop

Yes, i take pictures of food

I love food

and chocolate
and shoes ♡All better!

It's In The Air

It's in the air...Fall, that is!

And the best part of Fall? ( aside from decorating for it!)

The cider mills!

I've been going to this cider mill since i was a kid, and it's still as wonderful now, as it was back then.

Do you know how you tell a really good cider mill donut?

The bag looks like this!

Hope you all have a great weekend, and get to your local cider mill!

...now i have to go hit the tread mill for a couple hours...ugh

100th Post!

Who da thunk it? I actually cranked out 100 posts!

While this may not seem like an accomplishment, if you know me you'd understand. I'm not by nature a chit chatty person, i'm really rather quiet. Sometimes it seems to take me a ridiculous amount of time to tap out a post! Any who, thanks for reading, listening, commenting and sticking with me!

Love you guys!

So, on that note, i'm dumping the travel log of our European trip...it's a snore! Aarrggg! I'm so sorry!

I bored myself when i re-read it!

Here's the new plan- there were so many cool things we did and saw, and so many times i thought, "Ah, i've got to blog about this!" ( see? i was thinking about you!) I think i'll just hi-lite certain things that stood out.

So, there ya have it! Hopefully no one falls asleep (good golly, i am my Fathers daughter- minus the slide projector!)

Let's talk soon!

Summer Travels

When i was a kid, no family function was complete without my dad pulling out the screen and slide projector. Being an only child, i was naturally the star attraction next to his slides of Hawaii, the Grand Canyon, and various other landmarks we had visited. My relatives had to be bored to tears!

This summer my family and i, along with our neighbors and there three children traveled to Northern Europe. We covered Amsterdam, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia and Denmark. We flew into Amsterdam and spent four days there before hopping on a cruise to our other destinations. So, grab a cup of something yummy and get yourself comfy, cuz were goin' on vacation! (and i'll try not to bore you!)

Our first stop is Amsterdam, Netherlands. After eight hours and very little sleep, we landed in Amsterdam and hit the ground running. Not wanting to miss a thing we grabbed a quick bite at this sweet bakery. Muffins the size of a baby's head. Oh, they were good!

Most everyone gets around on bike here. Young and old, they all ride bikes. This can be a little dangerous to pedestrians, especially jet-lagged-confused-American tourists and their five children. Yup, we almost died twenty times or more. Men in suits on bikes, little kids on bikes, women in skirts and heels- you got it, on bikes.

Amsterdam is built around canals and is filled with bridges and funky house boats. We walked through the floating tulip market. Oh my, there were so many bulbs that needed a home in my garden, but customs is a fun wrecker when it comes to plant matter.

Had to get a picture of this creepy fence-love it!

We decided the best way to see the city would be a boat tour. The grown ups sat inside where it was warm and the kids naturally wanted nothing to do with us.

(Sweet man and i snuzzeling- no wonder the kids didn't want to be near us!) Row after row of houses like this line the canal. In the evening the water is hopping with boats and people enjoying the night life on the water.

A lot of people live in house boats like this one. It's complete with electricity and plumbing. Like that little deck on top?

There were so many tall ships like these in the harbor.

Later that evening we had dinner in an area that reminded us of Little Italy in New York. We had great pizza and pasta, and the company of a couple furry customers. At one point this Beagle got down and walked into the restaurant. The kids were convinced he went to use the restroom! Maybe he did.

There is a great feeling of community here. Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming. Could it be the result of legalized marijuana? I don't know, but there were a lot of very happy people wandering the streets!

Lets end our little visit in Amsterdam here. Meet me back here again next time, and i'll show you some more of our adventure. Thanks for sticking with me!

Have a great weekend!

Back To Reality

Halloooo!

It's been so long since i've seen you here, and i've missed you all so much!

We've just returned from three weeks in Northern Europe. What a trip! I can't wait to share with you all the places we visited and the pictures i took.

Once i plow through the mountain of laundry that has grown in my laundry room, i'll take you on a little visit of all the wonders we saw!

Today my girls are back to school. I can't believe that summer is coming to a close.

We left Michigan in the high 80's and returned to blessed 70's. My summer flowers are fried (i'm so over them) and a jungle has grown in my back yard. The pumpkins are bulging on the vine and i can't wait to haul out the fall decor!

First things first, we need clean undies-the laundry is calling (i actually missed my washing machine while i was gone! Sick, sick, sick)

Today this little girl started High School. On Ms. B's first day of first grade, she packed crayons, the big pink eraser and her blankie, Daisy, in her backpack. Today she went off with her ipod, cell phone and lip gloss. I think part of her wishes Daisy could go along with her to 9th grade.

I know i do ♡

This little dumplin' is a 7th grader today. She still has the same go-get-em spunk that she had here on her first day of pre-school. Nothing is getting in her way.

I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. I can't wait till i have some free time to pour over your blogs and see what everyone has been up to!

Now i must go get a shovel and remove the green stuff that is growing in my fridge. Eww.

It's a glamorous life i live.

Have a great day!