A Question I Asked Hubby

When my granddaughter was here in March, I had her try on my wedding dress. I just wanted to see if it would fit or, truthfully, see how much larger than her I was as a bride. She's normally a size 2, but is probably a 4 right now because of the pregnancy but she gets weight off so easily I could scream. Ain't so with her grandma! Anyway, it wouldn't even zip up past her hips. Talk about depressing. I thought I'd cry since I was smaller than her when I got married. She's always been tiny even at 5' 4 1/2" tall, exactly like me. My daughter, her mother, is 5' 11" tall. I am the shortest one of our family. Granddaughter is also endowed with the family chest. We all have more than is wanted in that department. Just our heritage as my mother, all my aunts, my maternal grandmother and most of my cousins are well-endowed in that area. Why is it that all of us who have it don't want it and others who don't have it want more? A friend of mine is small and would like a bit more, but I'm always telling her: No, you don't. You really don't.

But that brought me to asking hubby about it. I said, "As a man, why do all of you look at the chests at women?" He, being a man, should know. His very serious answer? "We're hard-wired." I nearly fell over laughing. He's so honest about it. He looks at women just like any other man. I doubt most women are that concerned about the size of their chests.

Oh, and granddaughter? She eats like a horse. I mean she packs it away. Candy? Loves it! Pie, cake, ice cream? Eats it often. Always has to have dessert when we go out to eat. And just like me, if I bake a pie or cake for a special occasion, I have to eat some as soon as it cools from the oven. Drives my hubby nuts. That happened at Thanksgiving at her house. I baked the pie the day before and she and I had some. Hubby just glared at us both. She's so like me, more than her mother really. She just never seems to get fat. Life is not fair!
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A beautiful clearing in a yard for this dining setting and torches walkway, lots of plants and a building with a canvas top. Perfect for warm evening dinners.

Looks like a large kitchen in the mountains if looking through that far window. It looks like snow covered mountains back there. But it is a huge kitchen.

This must be a very northern European country photo of a living room. You get such marvelous light in that part of the world and simple lines of furniture with bright coverings for the furniture.

Another way to store your bedding and laces. Charming.

A sweet setting of flowers on a charming table.

What a tub to bathe in. Lots of room around for setting soaps, towels, bottles of scents and perfumes, and candles.

Another beautiful purple decorated bottle.

Aren't these cute?! A really fun way to jazz up your paper clips.

Has to be in Europe somewhere. Beautiful lavender and periwinkle wisteria.

A door to an old cottage with a purple door, knocker, mail slot and a #10 on its door.

It took a brave person to paint her gate this color, a woman with vision I think. Just beautiful!!!!

Another compact kitchen but elegantly appointed with essentials.

A bed or sofa to dream in with a canopy overhead and done in relaxing white with 2 splashy throw pillows for color.

I. Want. This. Purse! It's the cutest thing I've seen in  froufrou bags.

I'm still working on my 2 French cane chairs. Maybe soon I'll have them all done and can show them to you.

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Tidbit:

Spam filters that catch the cord "Cialis" will not allow many work-related emails through because that word is embedded inside the word "specialist."
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A Book I Read

If you've read my blog for awhile you know that I am not a chick flick-type chick. I love action movies and books. After all, I'm married to a retired Marine and my son is a former Marine and relatives are Marines also. My brother-in-law is a professor at the War College in Pennsylvania.

I read a book several months ago and started laughing immediately. Now, this wouldn't be remarkable except this wasn't a book of humor; it was a murder mystery. Let me tell you about it.

These 2 guys—cops— are looking for a certain bad guy. The main character, one of the cops, in the book—let's call him Bill—goes into an old barn where some bikers have their Harleys and asks for a certain guy. Of course, none of the bikers will give their buddy away since this is obviously a cop looking for one of the bikers. They act tough, talk tough, threaten Bill, and then they hear a noise.

Somewhere outside the door someone is humming the Ghostbusters theme. The bikers seemed a bit confused at that. Then the door bursts open and in walks this guy looking like a ghostbuster with a flame thrower. (I'm laughing so hard just typing this I can hardly type.) He points the flamethrower at a wall of lockers inside the barn and incinerates the whole wall. The bikers try to look and sound tough and then the ghostbuster turns his flamethrower outside the door where their Harleys are and incinerates one of the Harleys. They give up their friend faster than slick on snot. (Forgive me, but I love when the bad guys whimper!) Then all but the one wanted biker get on their Harleys and get out of there faster than a 747 jet airliner. Bill and the flame throwing ghostbuster—a cop also— look at each other and Bill said: "Was it something we said?"

I laughed so hard I barely made it to the bathroom. I loved that book! :-)
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This dining set is adorable. Love the way she has enchanting pillows on the chairs.

Who could resist such a lovely florist?

A darling home with roses-covered picket fence.

This could be a place on a side street of Carmel.

My absolutely favorite food—donuts!

Sparkly covered boxes.

Another darling cottage with pond.

Simple eye candy.

Love these rose wreaths.

Not sure what it is but it's cute.

A place to dream and dream about.

Beautiful decorated bottles.

I know it's not usually snowing this time of year, but isn't this scene gorgeous?

A secret place.

I'd take this chair in a heartbeat!

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Tidbits:
Hot dogs take more than 20 years to break down in landfills.
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Linking with NMH. 

Our Very First Home In California

When we first moved to California in 1961 we lived in a motel until we could get military housing on Camp Pendleton. We had left our belongings with hubs' parents and didn't get them for a couple of years so we basically had to start from scratch. We went to a local hardware store and bought 2 plates, 1 mug because I didn't drink coffee and we only needed one, 2 forks, 2 knives and one spoon as I didn't need a spoon. We had to be frugal. We somehow had a radio and I listened to that all day long. It was very boring for several weeks before we got housing.

Then we received word we had a place to live in on base—a trailer that slept four people. That's one bedroom and a fold-down sofa with a tiny kitchen and a tiny bathroom that we couldn't get in together. The shower was the bathroom. We were thrilled to get it even if it was tiny. We even had a clothesline though. Geraniums lined our little path from the street and we loved it.

Then a couple of months later our plumbing backed up and since there weren't any 4 sleeper trailers, we were given a 6 sleeper trailer. We loved the extra bed. We didn't qualify but since I was pregnant and would have our daughter soon they let us "upgrade" to that trailer. We were stylin' then!

When we were still in the motel room we lived just a few blocks from the beach and I remember we walked along the beach on Christmas day. It was wonderful. And the very first thing we noticed when we arrived on the train was the orange trees and the smell. It truly did smell like orange blossoms. To this day when I smell the orange blossoms, I remember stepping off that train.

We looked at rentals on the beach but they were so far out of our budget it wasn't even funny. I think they were $125 a month. Today they're probably that for 1/2 a day! But we loved it. We were so young and stupid then. ;-) Much wiser now.
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A quilted-type sofa.

Notice th' rug...th' rug!!!

Darling wall sconce. See what you can do with a little imagination!

Another gorgeous decorated bottle.

Another quilted-type sofa.

Elegant living room staircase.

Another cute sofa.

Bavarian homes.

I really do like that pinkish counter top.

Requisite roses. ;-)

Beautiful living room.

I love this old mannequin with the handmade roses on it.

Christie Repasy is one of my favorite artists. I wish we lived near enough to her to attend her Flea Markets.

Sweet little shop in Europe

Love this darling chair and the homeowner was very brave in her colors.

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Tidbit:

In Chico, California, the city council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons, setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits. (Your tax dollars at work.)

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Guess What I Found Recently!

For about a year I've been looking for some different dining chairs.

We bought our solid oak table in the early 80s in California. It is 42" square claw feet legs but has 2 leaves with it. We got six chairs and the table for $1,400 at that time which would be several hundred dollars more at today's prices. It is solid oak with a brown stain, which I've grown very tired of and want to paint. The problem is I don't want to do the grunge work of sanding. I've done that and refuse to do it again. That's a tough job.

The chairs that came with it were more a country look, which suited me at the time; they don't anymore and I've covered them with slipcovers I made several years ago. I wanted a new look.

So I went on a quest to find some french chairs. I do like that look. I did an internet search every couple of months to see what was available but nothing I liked or wanted to pay a high price for.  Then, lo and behold, while checking Craigslist recently I came across a table, 6 chairs, a beautiful hutch and an Aubusson rug. I didn't want all of those things and really didn't want to spend a lot of money. So I emailed the seller and we agreed upon a price for 2 chairs. I didn't want her arm chairs and 2 chairs needed the cane seats fixed. So we made an appointment to see the chairs.

Have you ever actually been inside a gated community of million dollar homes? I never had. I've been in some exquisite homes but nothing like this neighborhood in Eagle, an upscale suburb of Boise. When we moved to Idaho in the 90s we could have gotten a new home there for $159,000. Not any more. These homes were definitely upscale. Beautiful inside also.

Anyway, the woman and her hubby were gracious and we bought the 2 chairs pictured below. She buys and resells furniture and these she got at a store in Palm Springs, California, with which I'm familiar. These are very good chairs. I'm thrilled to have them and at a price that was extremely good because at Ethan Allen, my favorite furniture store along with Thomasville, I would have started at about $700+ for upholstery of my choice for similar chairs. I am very pleased with my chairs. It gives a totally different look to the dining room.

The two chairs.

Design on chairs.

Cane seats and backs.

Nice and tight.

The backs.

Gorgeous legs with bracings, which shows it's sturdy.

Just a lovely silhouette with the curved legs.

This is what I'll be making for the two I bought.

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Don't you just love this bright pink fence?!

Sweet pink vignette with peonies.

Some old ephemera.

A beautiful shuttered home with an English garden.

The way I like froufrou!!!

Now this is my kind of hammock. Slather it with fluffy ruffled duvets, pillows and cushions. Ummm-hmmm.

I've seen 2 cookies lately that are the most gorgeous ever. This is one set. I'll show the other later with another post.

An antique sign, pink table, pink upholstered vintage chair, pink cushions and a flowered lamp. My kind of decoration for a living room.

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Tidbit:
Oprah Winfrey sleeps on Frette bedsheets, which boast a very high thread count and sell for thousands of dollars a set. They are exceptional sheets. Looking at the website recently, I could have gotten a set marked down to $1,372.00 from $2,745.00 and that's just plain white 100% Egyptian cotton. It does have delicate lace around the top sheet and the pillow has an edging of lace and an inset of lace. Made in Italy. Oh, I guess you know by now I won't be purchasing them any time soon, right? ;-)
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