Happy Weekend!!!!

I am loving this room right now!!! I really love that desk. Just gorgeous!!!!

Goodbye Winter...Hello Sun

In just a few days I will be leaving this cold weather and heading to the great warmth of Cozumel, Mexico!!!!! Just looking at this picture makes me feel a little warmer. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow, just not the cold. So in order to get ready I headed to the local scuba store to stock up on all the snorkeling gear I would ever need. One thing that I did opt to get are these shorter fins.
I figured that they would be easier to travel with and plus they are so cute. I think I am all ready now!!!! I just hope I don't run into one of these.

Headboard Ideas

Growing up my bedroom was the typical kid's/teenager's room. Posters of my latest crush, stuffed animals as far as the eye can see, candy wrappers stuffed under the bed so my parents wouldn't catch me (oh wait, that was my sister...sorry K I had to do it). When I moved onto college, my bedroom was not only my bedroom but my whole apartment. I had to keep my whole life in my room. So I've never really had a bedroom that was a truly stunning, gorgeous bedroom like the ones you see in magazines. Even when we moved into our new house I arranged and kept things in my room like I was still in a dorm room.

That's is until I said enough is enough!!!! I need to grow up and create my stunning, magazine worthy bedroom. Now I know that I wont have my dream bedroom overnight or even in this house (it's a tiny room, no master bath or walk-in-closet) but I have to start somewhere.

My first task a headboard! After doing a little research I have decided to do a white headboard. And of course I am going to attempt to create it myself. Seems easy enough, right? I will make sure to share my progress with you.

Source:k8sanythingandeverything.blogspot.com

Source: Apartment Therapy

So I am back after a long blogging break. There are so many things to talk about that happened while I was away. There is little time to waste but first we must set some goals.

• Finish Painting the French doors
• Finish putting up the trim in the dining room
• Start exercising
• Finish putting the pool stuff away
• Start to manage my grocery money better

Mother Day Gift

For Mother's Day I knew that I wouldn't be seeing my mom since we live 5 hours away from each other. So I thought that it would be sweet if I made her breakfast in bed (mail). Granola seemed to be the perfect fit. Something that is absolutely delicious and can be mailed.

Here is my recipe for Mother's Day Granola. Recipe taken from www.cdkitchen.com

Ingredients:
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 F. In a bowl mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a saucepan warm the oil and honey. Whisk in vanilla.

Carefully pour the liquid over the oat mixture. Stir gently with a wooden spoon; finish mixing by hand. Spread granola in a 15x10 inch baking pan.

Bake 40 minutes, stirring carefully every 10 minutes. Transfer granola-filled pan to a rack to cool completely. Stir in raisins or cranberries. Seal granola in an airtight container or self-sealing plastic bag. Store at room temperature for 1 week or in the freezer for 3 months.


After letting the granola cool (and a few taste tests) I wrapped it up in a bag. Added a ribbon, label and a spoon.


I made a custom label just for my mom.

I also included a bowl that I got for a $1 and a card. Wrapped it all up and shipped it to my mom and told her when she gets it to not open it till mother's day morning.


The gift was a huge success. My mom love the granola and of course made her cry....
mission accomplished!

What is your deal lilac!!!

So apparently my lilac bush is a little slow. Everyone else's bushes look like this. Nice and full and fully in bloom. They look so beautiful!!!! And it's a good thing everyone else's lilacs are in full bloom because the Lilac Festival starts this weekend.

Image: www.danasresort.com

And here is my poor tree that is struggling to bloom. Every morning I look out my window and think today is the day that it is going to look like everyone else's and every morning I am disappointed. COME ON ALREADY LILAC, BLOOM!!!!!!!

It's getting there but not fast enough for me. I can 't wait to fill my home with the fresh scent of lilac.

May Goals

• Finish book started in April and start a new one.
• Prime Master bedroom window
• Finish painting french doors
• Install molding in bathroom
• Spring clean the upstairs
• Make my mom a great mother's day gift
• Get roof quoted

April Goals Revisited

So I didn't do so well this month. Only got two of the seven goals accomplished (two of the easier goals). Oh well!!! I will have to make sure to do better next month.

• Finish painting one set of french doors - I currently only have one set of doors almost complete and the other set still just primed. I think if I go out and find the new door handles it will get me motivated again to finish.
  


• Fix light in bathroom


• Install molding in bathroom - I bought the molding I just have to get the saw out and cut it. If I do anything this weekend, I am doing this!!


• Complete spring cleaning on all upstairs rooms - What was I thinking with this one. I haven't even started it. You know what's going on May's goal list.


• Prime window in master bedroom - Again something that I just have to get my butt into action and do.


• Start a good book


• Finish clearing out gardens - I didn't cross this off yet, but I really should have. I cleared out most of the gardens but the stupid weeds keep coming back...grrrr.

I hope you all got more done this month then I did. May is going to be one busy month :)

Pepsi Throwback

Pepsi launched a new soda (or pop) that is pure sugar cane instead of high fructose corn syrup. I picked some up at the store today to try it out and it actually tastes very similar to regular Pepsi. I do taste a slight difference but it's not bad. Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback will be available for eight weeks only so go grab it while its available.

I like pepsi but I wouldn't call it my favorite drink. I think that my favorite all-time drink, which they don't sell around here anymore, is Clearly Canadian. I don't know what it is about that stuff but boy is it good. I really should fine somewhere online that sells it and buy a bunch. I don't know why they stopped selling it here, I thought I was keeping them in business...lol.

A new member

The pear tree in the back yard has finally bloomed and joined the rest of the flowering trees. The only tree left to bloom is the lilac tree.

Jazz up the Deck

The back deck just lacked some color so I was off to home depot and lowes to pick up a few supplies.I grabbed two clay pots and a few paint supplies.

First task was to paint the pots white. I also sprayed the inside of the pots with Thompson Water Sealer so that the paint on the outside doesn't bubble. I learned this from my favorite blog thisyounghouse after they painted a bunch of pots for their back deck (Click Here for their project).

I then taped off stripes on the pots with masking tape and spray painted the whole pot black.

Remove the tape and....... VOILA. Two beautiful pots that add that touch of color the deck was screaming for.


I love the black and white and the boxwood just pops. They are very Mackenzie Childs without the price tag.

Flowers Galore

With all this warm weather that we have been having the trees around our yard have been exploding with beautiful flowers. Some trees have started flowering that I didn't even know were flowering trees. It's so fun to find new surprises in your new home.

Here are the two cherry trees in the back yard. They have a really nice little white flower.


My second favorite tree...the cherry in the front yard. My favorite tree is the lilac tree in the backyard that hasn't bloomed yet.


The bush on the left side of the picture was a surprise flowering tree. A beautiful yellow flower that is also great cut in a vase.

Who Smells so Good!

I have declared Wild Honeysuckle by Bath and Body Works my new favorite fragrance. I had purchased the soap awhile back and really liked the smell. So yesterday I went out to buy the air freshener in the same scent. While I was at the store I sprayed myself with the Wild Honeysuckle perfume and went about my business. Totally forgetting that I sprayed anything on me, I left the mall. As I was walking I could smell the perfume and kept thinking "Man someone smells really good." I got in the car and could still smell it and then it hit me...IT'S ME THAT SMELLS SO GOOD! This stuff really is the best and I therefore have placed it at the top of my Top 5 fragrances.

1. Wild Honeysuckle by Bath and Body Works. Discovered it after I sprayed myself in the store with the purfume.

2. Happy by Clinique. Discovered it after picking up one of my sisters friends who had it on. Has been my go to perfume ever since.

3. Love Potion by Victoria Secret. Discovered it because my sisters boyfriend bought her the lotion and I fell in love (I guess it really works!) with it.

4. Cucumber Mellon by Bath and Body Works. I can't remember how I found this fragrance. Probably just found it in the store and liked it.

5. Romance by Ralph Lauren. Discovered it after walking through Macy's and being sprayed by the Perfume girl. I think I liked it because it reminds me of a very good friend.

LOLLAPALOOZA LINEUP IS HERE

The lineup is finally out for the lollapalooza music concert in Chicago. We went last year for the first time and had such a great time we are going back again this year. I am really excited about the lineup. There are going to be some really great bands that I can't wait to see.

MY LINEUP
The Killers
Beastie Boys
Kings of Leon
Snoop Dogg
Rise Against
TV on the Radio
Vampire Weekend
The Decemberists
Arctic Monkeys
Coheed and Cambria
Ben Folds
Silversun Pickups
Kaiser Chiefs
Peter Bjorn and John
Glasvegas
Passion Pit
The Airborne Toxic Event
Ra Ra Riot
Los Campesinos!
Manchester Orchestra

With any luck I will get to see most of these bands. But there are so many this year that I want to see, I just know that there are going to be conflicts. Check out the rest of the lineup here.

Started My April Book Finally!

So, I finally went to the Library to pick out a book to start reading. After reading a review on another blog, I chose "The 19th Wife" by David Ebershoff. A fictional novel about Brigham Young's (the leader of the Mormon Church back in 1875) 19th wife and her crusade to end polygamy.

Two little visitors

So I looked out the window the other day and who do I see....two ducks swimming in our pool. I first thought "ah how cute" but then I realized "I don't want duck poop in my pool." So I headed outside to shoo them away. When I tried to get them out of the pool they just looked at me and kept on swimming. I was ignored by DUCKS!!!!! I gave up and went inside for a little bit. The next time I looked outside, thank goodness they were gone. After the swimming ducks, I realized that there was a little to much water on top of the pool cover. So, the next day I went out and bought a pump to remove the water. That will teach those ducks!

Oh deere

Sorry that it has been awhile since my last post. We have had a couple of very busy days. Thursday, we went up to Toronto to see a Toronto Blue Jays vs. Detroit Tigers game and Friday the family came up for the weekend and Easter. But the biggest news of the whole weekend was on Saturday our new lawnmower arrived!!!!

We got our new Deere used but it only had 16 hours on it so it's practically new. Can't wait till the grass grows a little bit more so I can take it out for a spin.

Image Source: nrmotors.ca

Home sweet home

The other day I came across another blog that caught my interest. bowerpower spoted some art work that inspired her to create her own montage of her home town. This of course inspired me to do the same for my new home town.

Inspiration piece number #1
Inspiration piece number #2


My master piece

• Finish painting one set of french doors
• Fix light in bathroom
• Install molding in bathroom
  
• Complete spring cleaning on all upstairs rooms
• Prime window in master bedroom
  
• Start a good book
• Finish clearing out gardens
  

Where did you go Spring?

So apparently winter doesn't want to be over yet. This morning when I woke up and looked out the window, this is what I saw.
NOT COOL!!!! I liked the 66 degree day we had a week ago better. Hopefully, this won't last long and we can get back to the spring like weather we were having. Fingers crossed.

Signs of Life

Things are starting to come to life around our yard. Flowers are popping up from the ground. Trees are starting to show little buds. Grass is starting to get a little greener. Yesterday was our best day in a long long time....66 degrees!!!!! I can't wait till it's like that everyday. Today is 53 and raining :( However, I did reseed the front lawn yesterday so now I don't have to drag the hose out to water it. Yesterday, I also checked the "lilac bush" it see if I could get a definite answer on if it is a lilac bush or not and

Drum roll please..........

IT IS!!!!!!!

I was so excited!!!! I can't wait till they fully bloom. It's not the best picture. But you can start to see the purple flowers come to life. YEAH!!!!!!

Here is a picture of one of the flowers I planted last fall. They are also starting to grow. It's so rewarding to plant something from a little seed and see it grow. Next fall I will have to plant some more flowers then I did this time.

Side Garden

So here is what I got accomplished this past weekend.
• Removed bricks from backyard
• Created garden edging for side garden

Before

After

• Finished Painting the bookshelves

Creative Easter

Very Cute Egg ideas for Easter. Hopefully, I can make some type of Easter eggs this weekend. I will let you know how that goes.

Image: Martha Stewart

Flirty "French Candy" Party Theme

How fun is this party decoration!!! Makes me wish my dining room was done so I could decorate it. We're getting there on the dining room. The bookshelves are almost painted I just have to touch up some areas and then I can check it off my list. Then I have to finish the doors, place the molding up, and put in FLOORS!!!! I can't wait till that happens. I really hope I can get the doors done this weekend, however if it is going to be 60 on Sat. like they tell me then you can find me outside!

Spring Chick!

Bakerella posted these on her blog today and I just fell in love with them. I can't wait till she posts how to make them. They are going to be the first thing I make for easter!!!!!!

Image: bakerella.blogspot.com

Bench for Front Entry

After searching and searching for a bench that would work for the front entry, I finally found one!!!! She needs some paint but after all the painting I have been doing, that's the easy part. I am going to paint it black. I am also going to buy a pub mirror to place over it.