I wish I'd discovered these earlier in the summer

They are GOOD!

Say goodbye to the big fork & spoon

They're gone. John looked at me the other day and said, "They've got to go." Yup, I was feeling it, too. Just didn't fit us.

I bought this to put up instead (or on a wall nearby):



I'm a tad perplexed, however. I went to HomeGoods last night to look at plates that I might put on this plate rack. I found one in the store just like the one I bought and tested two dinner plates on it. They look weird. They overlap. Is that normal? Why in most pictures (such as the one above) do they always only show one plate?

I didn't prepare a speech, so I'll just have to speak from the heart...

Courtenay (a/k/a Cooking with Court: http://www.cookfoodwithcourt.blogspot.com/) has presented my little ole' blog with an award! I haven't been at it for very long, so this comes as a complete surprise. Here's the hardware:



And now I will share the wealth. Here are the blogs that I will bestow this award on:

1. http://emoflamingo.blogspot.com/: Emoflamingo. I love reading Amanda's blog and seeing her cutie son Cameron. (She's also a whiz at photoshopping and doing cool stuff with photos.)

2. http://cld0528.blogspot.com/: My Ramblings. Crystal's one talented lady. She makes a mean towel cake!

Congrats to all the winners! Now here's what you do:

1. Post the award logo on your page.
2. Link back to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate seven other blogs, and add links to their blogs.
4. Make sure your nominees know they’ve won!

Happy Birthday Nana

My paternal grandmother, whom I called her Nana, would've been 90 today (if my math is right). She died almost six years ago after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. Often times when people leave us and they've been gone for a while, we don't take the opportunity to remember them as frequently as when they first left us.

Here are the things that I remember when I think of my Nana:

-- The smell of marigolds: I remember helping her to plant the orange and yellow flowers in front of her and my Granddad's house.

-- Homemade donuts: I remember she and I used the Fry Daddy to make donuts and I thought that was so fun.

-- Getting my picture taken at JCPenney: When I was probably four or so, she took me downtown and got professional pictures of me taken at JCPenney. She told me not to tell my mom, as it would be a nice surprise for her. Typical Katie...the first thing I said to my Mom when I saw her was, "Mom: Nana took me to get my pictures taken!"

-- Bowling the big balls: She bowled in a league with the "big balls" or ten-pin bowling and I remember going with her in the mornings to the bowling alley.

-- My blue & maroon afghan: She could knit up a storm! I remember how excited I was to get my very own afghan and matching pillow after watching the adults get them at Christmas.

Happy Birthday Nana...I hope you're having a gin & tonic to celebrate. :)

Speak to me on the tackiness factor

I saw these in Pier 1 and was intrigued. I was immediately harkened back to 70's kitchens with the big wooden fork and spoon on the wall which lessened the intrigue factor. Then, I thought, "Pier 1 is pretty hip...they wouldn't sell these if they weren't hip, right?" So, after mulling it over for a week or so, I went back and bought them.



I came into the house laughing (which immediately made John suspicious). I said right up front, "These might be tacky, so if you hate them, I won't be offended." He said he didn't hate them, so we hung them in the dining room.

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the tackiest, what's your rating? (I've developed thick decorating skin, so I won't be hurt.)

To go along with the utensil theme, I also bought these:

Lots of exciting stuff going on here

So much has been accomplished this week, thus far! John & I went to HomeGoods last night to look for rugs for either the living room or the dining room. We found two that we liked for the living room. Both would've matched, but one was more in my color comfort-zone than the other. However, I knew that the comfort-zone one would just blend in and not stand out. John talked me into getting the more vibrant one and I must say that I LOVE it!!!

Thanks to all those that gave input on the pillows. After much deliberation, we chose the maroon/wine (officially called mulberry on the tag). The rug has this color in and they really complement each other nicely.

We went to JCPenney and found a set of three lamps for $80 for the living room. Two table lamps and one floor lamp. The room is really shaping up! Our next frontier is art.

Tonight I bought some wall art at Pier 1 for the dining room. I'm not convinced that it's not tacky, so I'll probably need some opinions on this, too. (Once we hang it, I'll post a photo.)

I'm watching another dining room wall art piece, but again, not so sure on the tackiness factor. Unfortunately, I can't copy/paste the pic, so you'll have to tune in again in the near future for a pic.

Hmmm...that's the update.

Your vote counts

(Heard that one before, haven't you?)

As you may have noticed, I'm not exactly Ms. HGTV (I leave that title to my mom). I bought four different color accent pillows for the living room: red, maroon/wine, brown, orange/rust.

PLEASE tell me which you like! Thanks.

Red


Maroon/Wine


Brown


Orange/Rust