Dear Lillie–I Love You!

Unless you’re living under a rock, I’m guessing you know the gorgeous blog Dear Lillie written by the lovely Jennifer.      I love everything about her blog, from her beautiful home, to her photography and last but certainly not least, her most photogenic-in-the-world little girl, Lillie Annabelle.       Recently Jenn posted about her Easter egg topiary and when I saw what she’d done to a “rainbow bright” egg topiary, that set the wheels in motion as I remembered I had one very similar in my Easter stash.     When I finally talked husband into getting my Easter decorations down from the attic, I dug through all the containers until I found my egg topiary.     Jennifer’s is a little different from mine but I knew I just had to try and copy hers….it was so adorable!

 

Here’s what Jennifer’s looked like to start with…

….and this is the final result!

 

I can’t believe I can’t find a “before” picture of my topiary but it was very much like Jennifer’s except the eggs weren’t as close together.    Jennifer said she just sprayed hers without taking off the eggs but I went ahead and removed the eggs then had a hard time trying to place them back “just so”….I  winged it and then filled the empty spaces with faux grass.

So without further ado, here’s my “Dear Lillie” version of my own egg topiary…

 

I set up a little Easter tablescape on the dining room table by putting the topiary in my existing urn and surrounding it with my book bundles (made by moi!) and a sweet cream colored bunny. 

  

I set the table using woven charges, topped off with white chargers from Kirklands (they were originally gold and I sprayed them white at Christmas) and white dishes.    On top of the plates I added my linen napkins and some silverware.    I’ve misplaced a fork so one of the place settings is incomplete (which drives me nuts!)

 

A few close ups

 

I found this grass in Wal Mart while down at the beach this past weekend.    I like the green with the all white.

That’s about all the Easter decorating I’ve done inside and it will probably be all I do.    Sometimes “less IS more”!

Hope you enjoyed seeing my copy-cat egg topiary.      It was super easy and I only had to buy a can of spray paint and the grass.     Please be sure to visit Jennifer’s blog for some inspiration and eye candy.    She is due to have another little girl in a few weeks so wish her well in her delivery!

.    

Beach Trip 2011

Last Thursday morning David and I headed out to one of our favorite places to go….Gulf Shores/Orange Beach just “down the road a piece”….about 3 hours from home.     We arrived shortly after lunch and checked into our hotel.     This is the first time we’ve stayed at a hotel vs. a condo and I doubt we do the hotel thing again….we’re just too spoiled to having a nice big condo and not  a little bitty hotel room where we’re tripping over each other….oh, well, live and learn!

Here’s a view from our hotel room THE WHOLE TIME we were at the beach….everyone there was surprised at the fog, I felt like I was in a Twilight Zone movie, you couldn’t even see the water!

 

Here’s a view outside our hotel room!

 

Can you believe this?    We only got out on the beach one day for about 1/2 hour, that’s the only time the sun was out…at least in Orange Beach.    When we left and rode out to Foley the sun was out there!

 

Here’s the best it got on Saturday afternoon….just as soon as we got down to the water, the fog rolled back in!

 

 

Anyway, that didn’t stop us from shopping and eating!     Friday we went to Lulu’s a/k/a Lucy Buffet’s place.    We did a little shopping in the gift shop for the grandbabies then went over to the restaurant for lunch.    Unbeknownst to me, hubby had eaten twice at the hotel while I was getting  ready  so he wasn’t very hungry.   I ordered the shrimp salad which came with two fried green tomatoes.    

 

 

Oh, my goodness, that was the best shrimp salad I’ve ever tasted!    I was going to buy the cookbook that had the recipe in it but I found it on line and I can’t wait to make it.     In case you’d like the recipe, here’s a link.

 

 

 

 

Don’t you just love these pendent lights?    They remind me of something out of a Pottery Barn catalog

 

We went to the outlets and looked around a little but didn’t buy anything there either.    We ended up just going to Wal Mart and a few souvenier shops then back to the hotel to rest before going out Friday night to eat.     David wanted to go back to Lulu’s and so did I!     We got there at 6:00 p.m. and had an hour and a half wait but it was so nice outside, I had a little cocktail and we people watched!    It is such a family friendly place and we loved watching kids (both young and old) hula hoop.    Then the band started playing and they played songs even we knew!        We finally got our table at 7:30 and I immediately ordered the shrimp salad again!    Yes, it was that good.       David just had to order dessert and it was some kind of donut/bread pudding concoction….I just called it “death by donut”!     

 

 

By this time, I knew I’d blown my diet and so next week I’ll be eating much better!  

 

 

 

 

 

I think the lead singer  was channeling  Roy Orbison….he looked like him and sounded like him.

 

One of the beach shops I went in had these great subway signs, I wanted to buy one but I didn’t.    I might have to try my hand at making one, not sure how that will turn out.

 

 

 

David had been wanting ribs since we got down there.    Saturday night we went to Reds and Ribs which is across the street from The Hangout.     I must say the food and service were really good.    We had an appetizer of ribs which were falling-off-the-bone good and each of us ordered the catfish plate.    We should have shared because it way more food than I could eat.    

 

 

Sunday morning we got up and headed home around 10:00.    We stopped and ate at one of our favorite places in Greenville called Bates House of Turkey.   

 

 

David had the turkey salad plate and I had the smoked turkey sandwich.   At least we felt like we were eating a little better.    

 

But could we just leave well enough alone?    Oh, no!    We just had to stop at  Priester’s Pecans and sample lots of their pecans!   

 

 

Surprisingly, all I bought this trip was a pretty white lamp with drum shade at Old Time Pottery and some little $5.00 frames at Family Dollar I’m going to repaint and distress to use on a gallery wall I’m planning.      I’ve really tried to not buy much of anything  lately but just use what I have and take my time to make choices before buying things for the house.     I’d love to get Holly Mathis to help with some choices about our bedroom (I just can’t seem to get a handle on it and I love her designs)  and next year (when our house is paid off!) I want to completely re-do our den….re-paint, add picture frame molding under the chair rail, get some slipcovered furniture, add a new seagrass rug, etc.    I haven’t mentioned ALL of this to dear husband yet!    Oh, I’d also like to add some beams to our vaulted ceiling….lots of “wants”!

Next Thursday-Sunday we’ll be keeping our twin grandbabies while their mama and daddy take their annual trip with several couples to the Big Easy.      We plan on taking them to the lake on Saturday and then to church with us on Sunday morning.      Sunday afternoon they will have a pre-Easter thing at their church so we’ll take them to their other grandparents who attend that church.     I’ll be ready for another vacation by then!     But I will be going back to the lake again at the end of this month with my sister for our annual girl’s weekend there.

Have a great week!

Wish you were here….

…I’ll be back soon!

All Work and No Play …..

Tomorrow I’m going to son’s house in Birmingham for a few days to babysit while DIL is out of town on business.    While I know I’ll have a great time with the “grands” and son, there will be some work involved.    The main thing I’m hoping to accomplish is making the curtains for McKinley’s bedroom….go here to see the headboard I finally finished for her room.   When everyone was here last weekend cooking out, they were supposed to come back by on Sunday and get the headboard but their car was too loaded down for it to fit!    It won’t go in my car so we’ll have to meet them half way one weekend to exchange the headboard.     I was really hoping they could take it home with them so I could finish the room…..oh, well…..

I do plan to do a little shopping while I’m in Birmingham.    Once I drop the kids off at school and day care, I’m going to take one day to just do whatever I want to do.    Hoping to meet son for lunch one day too but it depends on his schedule.

Only one more week to go and then we’re beach bound!

Headboard for Sweet Girl’s Room and Spring Is Finally Here!

This headboard project has only taken me, let’s see, four months to complete!    In my defense, I’m just gonna say it’s due to bad weather and no motivation to do anything!    

Last summer son and I started working on granddaughter’s bedroom in Birmingham.    We got the walls painted and I made her a couple of picture frames and then I was supposed to get her bed painted but then new little grandson was born, football season came along, then the holidays and a cold winter dreary winter so this project got put on the back burner.   

They turned the upstairs children’s den/office into her big girl room.    Of course it looks a lot different now, her bed (minus a headboard) is in the room and all her toys.    I took these pictures the day we finished painting.      My inspiration was from Melaine’s daughter’s old bedroom at My Sweet Savannah.      Melaine has since updated her daughter’s room to a more grown up room.  

 

Paint colors are Brown Teepee and some kind of pink that has “Shrimp” in the name…..I’ll have to get that!

 

The feature wall is the pink and brown stripe, two walls are Brown Teepee and the wall opposite the striped wall is done in the shrimp pink color.

 

Back in January we had a nice sunny day and I took the bed outside to sand, prime and got one coat of paint on.    Then it sat in the sunroom until this past week and I was determined to finish it.    

 

 

This bed is a family piece that I inherited from my uncle when he passed away several years ago.     He had a houseful of antique furniture and my siblings and I divided them up.      This bed was in an upstairs bedroom in his home in North Carolina.     It was stored in my son’s house and then DIL wanted to use it for McKinley’s bedroom when she graduated from her baby bed to a big girl bed.     

I’m going to be in Birmingham for a few days next week babysitting and in addition to getting the bed up, I’m planning on making curtains for this room.     We’ll be using plain white sheets and some kind of material as a border.      Once I get that done, the room will be complete and we can move on to finishing her baby brother’s room, which was also started last fall!      Well, they do live 100 miles away and they have very busy lives so when we go visit, it’s usually for just the day, not enough time to finish any projects.     

So here’s the (finally!) finished headboard.    I primed it and then it took several coats to completely cover.    I also added a cute wooden applique that I literally took off the wall!   The one I bought was too dinky and small for the headboard so I tried out the one I ended up using and it works perfectly!    Hopefully next time you see the bed it will be installed in McKinley’s room and curtains will be made….yay!

 

Here it is propped up against the back of my loveseat in my still UNFINISHED sun room….hopefully I’ll get around to working on that room sometime in this century!

 

(please disregard all the stuff in here….the grandkids play with their toys in here while they are at our house and I still have some of my mama’s stuff stored in this room as well).   One thing’s for sure….those red walls will be outta here!   (I just noticed the scrape on the bottom of the “leg”…I’ll have to fix that)

 

 

I think the applique adds the finishing touch to the headboard

 

 

No styling going on in here….just pure mess….but I wanted you to see the finished headboard

(The color is “Popped Corn” by Behr)

 

Also, since Spring if finally here, I got out my basket I bought last year on our annual fall trip and stuck in some hydrangas, greenery and a little bird’s nest and hung it on the front door.   

 

 

 

 

 

You might be a redneck if you park your car in the yard!   See the bald spots in our yard?     I’m hoping the grass fairy will sprinkle some grass seeds around this year

 

I thought these hydrangas looked so real

 

Little bird’s nest tucked in among the flowers

 

I also have a little announcement regarding Weigh Less Wednesdays.    For whatever reason, I didn’t have many participants ….but I had a free trial period with the linky thing.     So for right now I’m not going to be hosting Weigh Less Wednesdays and paying for the linky services.      That may change in the future but for now, we won’t be having that link on Wednesdays.     Thank you to everyone who made comments and shared recipes.    I’m still on WW and doing pretty good, the important thing is I’m losing weight!

Hope everyone has a great week!  

No Weigh Less Wednesday Today

Please forgive me for not posting the link to the Weigh Less Wednesday today…I’ve been babysitting my Birmingham granddaughter this week in addition to having some tummy issues.     Wednesday just snuck up on me!    Hopefully we can resume next week!

Looking Forward To….

…..some time off to enjoy a few days here with husband….

 

…..at the beach

 

 

 

 

……then if that isn’t enough R&R I’ll spend a few days …….

 

….at the lake!

 

By the time I get there the azaleas will be in full bloom

 

and I’ll be sitting right here (see my chair?) sipping a cool drink and spending time with my sister…

 

Now if I can just hold out until April….

Spring Forward–It’s Daylight Savings Time!

 

 

Don’t’ forget to set your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed Saturday night.    I love that the days will be longer and weather warmer (soon)!

Weigh Less Wednesday

Here I am again to share a quick and easy recipe that I got, of all people, from my son-in-law! We were visiting with the twins at daughter and SIL's house Saturday evening and he fixed this fajita salad for himself. It looked so good that he fixed one for me. So I headed to the grocery store the next day and picked up all the ingredients so I could have my own fajita salad whenever I wanted. I've already fixed it for myself 3 times since Sunday!!!

Here's what you'll need:

Classic Caesar salad

Tyson Fajita Chicken Strips

Classic Caesar dressing

You just throw a little salad in a bowl,  add the cooked chicken strips on top of your salad (cook the chicken strips according to the directions) and drizzle some dressing on top! That's it, you get a big taste for a little effort. If I figured the Points Plus correctly, it's about 6 points for a small to medium salad (I use a smaller size cereal bowl instead of the big ol' Jethro size husband likes).

If you feel so inclined, I'd love for you to share any recipes you are using to help along in your weight loss journey or just a good recipe for healthy sensible eating!

We gotta take care of a little rule bidness (I'm southern remember?) first:

1. Be sure to link up your URL (permalink) and not your whole blog
2. Please add a link back to my blog in your post so others can find the party and join
3. Please don't forget to visit the other links for some sensible meals to keep you on track of your weight loss goal
4. I'd love it if you became a follower of my blog!