Kari and Kijsa (a/k/a Thistlewood Farm and Kijsa Studios)

What a treat I have in store for ya’ll today!   Two of my favorite blogs….and they are sisters too!!

First a little background….around the first of the year I discovered Karianne’s blog Thistlewood Farms….I’m sure many of you are familiar with her beautiful farmhouse.     Then just recently I found her sister Kijsa’s blog.    I was so excited because when I first started blogging 4 1/2 years ago (!) I ran across a blog called “Ask Kari & Kijsi”.    They really inspired me with their talent and “awesomeness” but one day they just sort of disappeared from blogland.    I never realized that Karianne was the Kari of that one time blog but when I re-discovered Kijsa’s blog I put two and two together and bam……there they were again!     Kijsa is a fabulous artist so we’ll look at some of her items she sells in her etsy shop first.

 

 

I want….no make that need….one of these for my front porch bench!

The girls are from Kentucky…in fact they live pretty close to my brother there…maybe a little road trip is in order?

 

Monogrammed burlap pillow anyone?

 

 

How about this stenciled burlap chair that Kijsa recently re-did?    Fabulous job!

Please check out Kijsa’s blog here and be sure to see her etsy page here

 

She’s also had her home featured in a couple of magazines

Kijsa tells me she took off a couple of years from blogging while they adopted a sweet little boy

 

Dining room with hand painted mural

 

 

 

I can see myself soaking in this tub…how about you?

 

Master bedroom….love the grouping of black and white photographs

 

Now what can I say about Karianne’s house?    It is my dream house and I didn’t even know it until I saw it (does that make sense?)

Here is her b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l kitchen…..love at first sight

 

Her “famous” hutch

 

You have to see how she transformed this plate rack with stencils (and no level!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s some of Kari’s house at Christmas time

 

 

 

 

 

And finally her back deck this spring…

 

Please be sure to visit these talented sister and tell them Judy said “hey”!

You Know You’re From Alabama (or the South) If…..

This was on a friend’s Facebook page and I just had to copy and share!

You know you're from Alabama when:

-You have a party or a barbeque when Alabama plays Auburn in football.
-You go to Gulf Shores every summer.
-You call the Atlanta Braves baseball team “us” like they’re actually from Alabama.
-You have family who would much rather visit Florida than California.
-You don’t “take”, you “carry” or “tote”… as in “You want me to carry you down to the 7-11?”
-A soft drink isn’t soda, cola, or pop, it’s Coke.
-You call it a “buggy” and not a shopping cart.
-You’ve said “fixin’ to,” “might could,” or “usetacould” during the last week.
-Someone you know has used a football schedule to plan their wedding date.
-You can properly pronounce Arab, Eufaula, Opelika, Loachapoka, Bayou La Batre, and Oneonta.
-You know exactly what chitlins and mountain oysters are, and though you may not, you know someone who eats them anyway.
-You think that people who complain about the heat and humidity in other states are sissies.
-You aren’t surprised to find rental movies, groceries, ammunition and bait all in the same store.
-Asian food is always “CHINESE” regardless of the fact that it may actually be Korean or Japanese or Thai.
-People actually grow, eat, and like okra.
-Mamanem means the whole family. (“Are mamanem comin?”)
-You measure distance in minutes or hours.
-You’ve ever had to switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day.
-You know what “cow tipping” is.
-You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still
summer, and Christmas.
-You know whether another Alabamian is from east, west, or middle Alabama as soon as they open their mouth.
-Visiting Wal-Mart is a favorite pastime.
-You know the difference between redneck, hillbilly, and southerner.
-You think everybody from the north has an accent.
-Y’all is a word.
-There is no such thing as tea.. it’s sweet tea.
-If a single snowflake falls, the town is paralyzed for three days, and it’s on all the channels as a news flash every 15 minutes for a week. All grocery stores will be sold out of milk, bread, bottled water, toilet paper, and beer. If there is a remote chance of snow, all schools will close.
-Your directions include “when you see the Waffle House” or “turn on the dirt road.”
-You say “sir” and “ma’am” if there’s even a chance someone is even thirty seconds older than you and it is just the polite thing to do.
-The falling of one rain drop causes all drivers to immediately forget all traffic rules; so will daylight savings time, a girl applying eye shadow in the next car, or a flat tire three lanes over.
-There is nothing but country, gospel, or classic rock on the radio.
-A tornado warning siren or sever thunder storm is your signal to go out in the yard and look for a funnel.
-Almost everyone you know is Baptist or Methodist.
-A Mercedes Benz isn’t a status symbol. A Chevy Silverado Extended Bed Crew Cab is.
-You know everything goes better with Ranch dressing, especially hot wings.
-You learned how to shoot a gun before you learned how to multiply
-Krispy Kreme doughnuts are the only doughnuts that exist.
-You know at least one Bubba, and maybe a few guys named Bo.
-You don’t assume the car with the blinker light on is actually going to turn anytime in the near future.

You actually get these jokes and your friends do too

And as we like to say here in the South:   “American By Birth, Southern By The Grace of God!”

New Family Member

Last week my nephew David popped the big question to his girlfriend Stephanie.     You can’t help but love that girl….she is sweet, silly and very pretty.   

She was totally shocked!

 

 

 

 

 

Stephanie has a little boy and David has a little girl….their families have blended together so sweetly

 

Congratulations David and Stephanie….I wish you both years of happiness!

Happy Easter

Monogrammed Jute Tote

It doesn’t look like I’m ever going to get my 2nd post done about our recent trip to Savannah but I wanted to be sure to share about one of my favorite shops there……Number Four Eleven.     A few weeks before we left I got the sweetest e-mail from Kathryn who invited me to visit the shop while in Savannah.     I had seen photos of the shop and followed her blog so I wrote back to tell her when we’d be there and that I would definitely come by.    

Here are a few pics I took inside the store but let me tell ya’ll, they don’t do this store justice….it is simply gorgeous!

 

 

 

 

 

I was too busy drooling to take many pictures so here are some from their blog:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is just a small sampling of all the gorgeousness they offer

 

This beauty belongs to my sweet friend Amanda who writes the Dixie Delights blog….Number Four Eleven monogrammed her chair and did a fabulous job!  

 

Before we went I had already picked out what I was going to get…..

…one of their monogrammed jute totes!    This is a generously sized tote that I have already found many uses for.     Whenever I carry it I feel so stylish and get many compliments on my tote

 

So during Spring Break daughter and her hubby went to Savannah for a week while their kids were at the beach and she loved my tote so much she got one for herself!

She chose this gorgeous turquoise color for her monogram.    Kathryn said it was a new color and I would have had a hard time choosing between the white and the turquoise

So if you ever find yourself in Savannah, I would recommend a nice long visit to Number Four Eleven.      Kathryn is not only a sweetheart, she is a cute as can be!

My Easter-Spring Mantle

Before I show you my Easter mantle I just wanted to share what a wonderful unexpected surprise I got today….I was home with a stomach virus when my phone rang about 10:30 a.m.    It was my son who lives out of town and who I don’t get to see nearly as much as I’d like to.    He was in town on business and said he was going to drop by.     He stayed about 3 hours and I got to fix him lunch and we had such a great visit.     That just made my day!

Now on to my Easter mantle.    I’ve done very little to decorate for Easter even though we are hosting the family for Easter lunch.     My husband has been busy with work in anticipation of a raise and promotion so his time to help me is very limited (I need him to get stuff out of the attic and I hate nagging him to do it when he tries to rest once he gets home).   

 

The only thing I bought were these gorgeous pink flowers at Michaels and the eggs in the apocathary jar.

 

The fabulous Jennifer at Dear Lillie offers a free download every month which I love!

 

 

 

 

I picked up those blue robins eggs at The Paris Market in Savannah a few years ago….I think I got about 12 eggs that I keep stored very carefully….they are very fragile

 

Every year I put Kimberly Queen ferns on my porch in black urns….they are the only kind I can keep alive!   

 

 

After Easter I’ll remove the nest and eggs in the jar and basically everything else can stay for Spring.

I hope you enjoyed seeing that it doesn’t take a lot to get your home ready for Easter or Spring….just a few touches here and there and the best thing is you don’t have a lot of things to put away!

 

I’m sharing here: