My Bargain of the Month

I first saw these candlesticks in a boutique and loved the detail of them, but the color wasn't what I was looking for. They were a creamish gray color and each over a $100.00. (I also recently saw them in the Garnet Hill catalog for just as much.) I debated back and forth on whether to get them or not because I really wanted them in black and I thought they were a bit pricey. After getting home, I was kind of regretting my decision on not purchasing them. Well to my surprise, one day while shopping at The Expo, I saw them. And not only had I found them but they were on clearance for $30.00 a piece. I immediately grabbed them and away I went, stopping to get black paint on my way home. In less than an hour, they were painted black, candles placed on them, ribbon tied around and placed on the fireplace hearth. It feels so good to get a bargain now and then, that I just had to share my wonderful find!!!!

Oh, The Goodies

Look, look, my goodies have arrived from Cammy at Freckledfarm. I was so excited when I got home and found the package on my front step. She had a giveaway to celebrate her one year anniversary for her blog and I was the lucky winner.

The adorable sachet she made herself and it smells wonderful. She filled it with lavender from her own garden. She has given me the inspiration to try and make one myself. And I definitely want to plant some lavender in my garden this spring.

Thank you Cammy for sharing a little bit about you and your life at Freckledfarm and for all the wonderful goodies. I love every single thing.

Wintery Day

Have you ever had one of those days, where you have a million chores to do and a million errands to run, but you find yourself meandering around the house. You're kind of getting yourself ready to go out in public, but you're just not quite there yet. Well that's the sort of day I am having. It's a frigid 10 degrees out today and a soft snow falling down. It looks so peaceful out there as I look into the woods. I keep hoping a deer will walk into the backyard because that would make the "picture" perfect. I am not ready to get in the car and start doing all the errands from one stop to the next. I just keep putting it off. I do a little laundry and find my way to the computer checking out a few blogs. Then I went through all of my receipts and filed them or threw them out and then I found myself checking a few more blogs. Then I made myself a little lunch and tended to a few more chores. Once again, I'm back at the computer checking a few more blogs. One thing I noticed today is that we have way to many computers in this house that are calling my name as I walk by them. One in the den, one in the kitchen, two in bedrooms upstairs. No wonder I have no self control today. Next thing I know, the time has quickly gone and it's to late to head out the door because my oldest will be home soon from school and then the chaos will really begin as one by one the kiddies file in. Maybe I'm feeling a little quilty for not getting more done today, but I sure have enjoyed escaping to the computer to read some blogs. Hope you all enjoyed your day. Happy escaping every once in awhile!!!

Away for the Long Weekend

My youngest son, my daughter and I are headed out for a long weekend to Michigan for a hockey tournament. While my husband and oldest son are headed to St. Louis for another hockey tournament. My daughter is not looking forward to a weekend of hockey, hockey and more hockey. I always remind her that the boys have been dragged along to many of her horse shows, but some how she doesn't think it is the same.

One thing I am going to miss while I am away is being able to sneak away to my computer and catch up on all the new posts on my favorite blogs. That's my quiet time. I love reading and looking at all the pictures. I find myself going from one blog to the another that I easily lose track of time. Before you know it, ten minutes turns into 30 minutes which turns into 60 minutes.

Enjoy your weekend and I'm looking forward to getting back and having my "quiet time" Tuesday morning, catching up on every one's posts.

Organizing, Part Two

So I am on a quest to get my whole house organized, step by step, one task at a time. I have been looking through lots of magazines and websites for ideas on how to achieve this task and do it with some style and not with just a bunch of boxes. ( I bought some plastic containers from the Container Store for my master closet, but I am not happy with the look. Although they do keep things in order and great for storage, just not so pleasing to the eye). I would love to have a nicely decorated master closet, something relaxing and easy on the eye. In fact, I would love everything to be pleasing to the eye, from the pantry to the laundry room to the hall closet. It just makes it more appealing and more relaxing for me when it all looks so nice. I found these pictures on HGTV's website from their Dream Home 2008. I love this master closet with the basket drawers and the soft paint color. I could definitely step in this closet every morning and be happy.


This bench with the storage underneath would be perfect to have with my three kids. The baskets are ideal for storing each one's winter accessories. I just wish I had the room for it in our foyer.

I also thought this art supply arrangement was very creative. I'll take that too. I'll keep posting pictures as I find them. I just have to have my husband show me how to work our new scanner because I have lots of pictures from magazines to share. I'm getting so excited with all these ideas. Now let's see if I can just stay focused and get them done one by one.

Winter White

Another blogger asked for people to post their favorite winter white. So here's mine,

my white poinsetta in the foyer.

It's Time To Get Organized

On the top of my New Year's resolutions list is to get ORGANIZED!! There are to many mornings before school where we are looking for things last minute. On Mrs. Jones blog, she has recommended a fabulous website to help every mom get organized, http://www.motivatedmoms.com/. It has a wonderful chore chart for moms to help them have a clean and organized home. It is a simple system to follow that gives you a daily chore chart to a weekly chore chart. They have one from the year 2002 that you can print off for free and it gives you a daily and weekly chore chart for the entire year. So here's to getting organized and making daily life a little easier. Happy cleaning and organizing!!!!