Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Linky party Idea...Opinions Please!

Hey Yall!  I've got another idea about a linky party and not sure if it's been done yet or not.  I was wondering if there was a "what would you do?" linky party specifically for small vignette or small design area ideas.  I've seen a similar idea party that was hosted for a while that was for whole room makeovers but only featured one person at a time.  Not sure if that one is still going on but I've got a bit of a different spin on it and would like to see a linky party instead of a feature party.

jasminemjblogs.wordpress.com


A few weeks ago I posted about an area I am wanting to improve but am at a loss on ideas.  I have many things that I will not change in that area above my couch but am looking for ideas suggestions to work within those parameters.  I got only one comment!  Seriously?

losasso.com

I also had a blog virus at the time, did not connect that post to any linky party and since I am not a big (popular) blogger, figured all of that contributed to only getting one comment.    I'm not sulking about that but am kinda bummed I didn't get a few more ideas.  You know ideas that I might try to copycat or might also spur a fresh idea for that one area in question.  

Do you ever feel this way too?  Like you could use a little help from a few friends?  I know most of you are so creative and probably rarely ever come to a stand still on on ideas but maybe, just maybe are there more of you out there like me, right? 

howdoitradestocks.com

Would you like to come to a linky party where you could link up your "brain drain area" and get a little help from friends?  Where you could also browse through several other linkers to the party and offer up your ideas and suggestions for those little areas they are stumped on.  Whole room ideas could be allowed but it would be mainly for those smaller areas or even projects that you have a start on but are stumped about how to proceed.  Our outdoor and garden areas would be allowed too.    It would be a real "what would you do?" linky party.

catechist.com

So, what do you know?  Is there a party like this already going on that I need to link to or do I need to start this ball rolling?  Do you think it is a good idea?  Do you see yourself ever participating in something like this?  Am I the only one who needs help getting out of dream world sometimes and into action?  Come on!  Talk to me!  LOL!

beyond.customline.com

Let me know you think!
I am linking this with The Tablescaper for
Seasonal Sunday.
Thanks, and have a great day!





Sunday, May 13, 2012

How was your Mother's Day?

Mine was wonderful and I hope yours was too!  Part of my day was spent exactly as I anticipated...eating lunch with my Mom, my brothers and my husband and one of my sons.

Can you figure out where we went? 

(Oh No, she did..ant y'all!  That crazy Decorative Dreamer did not just posted her leftovers online, did she?  OMG!)

Admit it you are drooling now aren't you?  You have to admit the spaghetti w/meatballs, bread sticks and salad is pretty darn good at the Olive Garden.

Before lunch I received two very thoughtful gifts from my husband and children.

The Mr. gave me the Mac Daddy of camera cases.  It is a travel back pack.  It's so cool.  It has a space for everything for your camera including an insulated pouch for your laptop too.

It also came with a smaller day holster that I have been really wanting.  I think I will be blogging on vacation now!  Woohoo!

Here's a glimpse at what my kids gave me.  No, unfortunately it wasn't a nice afternoon together in the pool.  Though I am really looking forward to that if I should ever get a day off that it is not raining.  

There's my gift!  It's the big pink float sitting on top of the lounge chair.  My husband bought the green one a few weeks ago for himself so my son decided to get me one too!  Sweet!!!

Seriously, I cannot wait to get into our pool!  Someone asked me how my grass was so green on here recently, well y'all this is how.  Can you see how overcast it is in this picture?  
Yep, it's because we have been getting so many rainy days.  I am very thankful for the rain and will especially love it if it gets as hot as it did last summer.   Although, I am kinda hoping for a few more sunnier days here soon.  

Since we couldn't enjoy our time outside, my Mr. completed a few honey do's for me.  I finally got the outdoor chandy moved over to the opposite side of the screened porch.

Now it hangs directly over the table again after moving the table over here.  It's the small things!


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Another little honey do that is done on his part was attaching my two shutters together.  Do you remember I posted about these last year after I painted them?  Well after wrestling with the idea of how to hang them on each side of the window with out adding more nail holes in my vinyl and that not working out I had given up on them.  They basically have sat on my porch  all year standing up and acting as a very unstable plant stand.  I recently got to looking at them and decided why not just reattach them together and hang them on one side as one big wall hanging, so we did.



I've temporarily hung an old sailing plaque on them that I have.   I really ought to take it down to hang aboard the sailboat.  But for now it's staying until I can find the right inspiration of what I want to go on top of the shutters.  You know something like a wreath maybe, or flowers, flower pots, shells, iron pieces, letters, etc.  Oh my head is swimming with ideas on what to add to this!

It's tough being a Decorative Dreamer ya know!
He-he!

I am joining The Tablescaper today for
  She is celebrating her 100th Seasonal Sunday too. What a great time to share the joys of the season!

I hope each of you had a lovely day and enjoyed your Mother's day as much as I did!
Thanks so much for stopping by friends!


Thursday, May 10, 2012

"IF" Mom came to lunch

It would look something like this.    I say "if" because it would be a very rare or special occasion to have my Mom over for lunch.  Most of the time I would go to her house, although that has been really difficult now that I am working again.  

I would go to her house because she has reached the privileged age of retirement that has allowed her to decline most all invitations prior to 1:00pm.  I guess after many, many years of getting up to drive 30 minutes to work everyday to arrive at the hospital in the wee AM hours of the morning she has decided to no longer do mornings.  Seriously!

So lunch would generally be out of the question unless it was of course a special occasion such as a holiday.  I know you are thinking well it is a holiday, this is for Mothers Day.  But let's be quite honest here, if I do NOT have to work this Sunday I do plan to be with my mother, only it will be in a delicious restaurant somewhere.  After all, I am a mother too!  It will not be a fancy schmancy restaurant either because that is not what my mother prefers.   She is more comfortable in a casual setting with her family.  She loves places like the Olive Garden, Cracker Barrel, Steak Houses and BBQ style restaurants.  She is not the fru,fru kind.  So with that in mind this is how I would set the table for her.

It would be a casual setting filled with just a few things that I think she would take pleasure in seeing.

I would have wanted to bring in some fresh flowers from outside because I know how much she would love them.

The only thing I have blooming abundantly right now are my Oakleaf hydrangeas though.

And I know my mother would stop me from cutting these.  Why? Perhaps because they are so large and the arrangement would be too large for a table set for two.    Naw, that's what I was thinking.  She would want me to leave them on the bush because they are so beautiful there and would have a longer life on the bush and I can still enjoy them out there.  Yes, she would think that way!  I know this because  my mother a very in depth thinker.  You see, she is a retired psychologist.   

She would be tickled to see these flowers just as well.  I know this because she has asked me several times where did I find these?    Were she really coming I might be seriously prompted to go and buy a sweet little bushel of fresh flowers from the grocery store and she would love that as well.

One thing is for sure, she would surely notice and comment on the flowers on the table whether they are fresh or faux.  In fact she would notice every little detail on my table.  That is after I got her to finally sit down.  

She would most definitely use the salt and pepper so I've pulled out the nicer ones that coordinate with my dinner plates.  Besides, I am sure she would notice if I left them off the table.  She would think that a table without salt and pepper is not properly set.  I think that's more of a generational thing though!

I would hope she would notice that I've set her place setting with an extra cup just for her.

 My mother enjoys coffee any time of the day.  So this very large mug of coffee would be here just for her.

I'd have to set out some cream (milk) and sugar too.

Okay, so it's not really sugar either.  But I assure you she would want this.  She is the one who got me started on Sweet N Low years and years ago.  My mother is diabetic and now prefers Equal but she will take the Sweet n Low all the same.

I think she would recognize the trivet I pulled out for her coffee mug to sit on also.  This was from a client of hers that was an artist.  She bought me a set of these along with a painted cutting board too.  She was always buying things from her clients who were artisans.  She really treasures handmade things.

She would find this quite charming.  I'm not sure what she'd think about the nest in here because it would have disturbed nature.  I may or may not hear about that thought but it would most likely have been there.  LOL!  All in all though, she would find this cloche quite cute and creative.

Creative because, she would recognize one of her mothers silver chalice/dessert cups that she gave me several years ago.  I don't think she would find the tarnish quite as charming as I do, but she might.  I remember spending many a years cleaning silver and brass with her.  Whew!

I know she would love the place settings! She likes color and patterns as much as I do.  She does not use it as abundantly as I do in her home but she loves that I do.  She says that to me all the time, that she knows how much I love color.

She would definitely recognize the tea glasses as well.  They were also her mothers!  This would make her smile and I could tell from the look on her face that she would be reminiscing about her own sweet mother, Grandma Millie.

I think she would recognize my wedding stainless but might ask if this was it.  Then she would get that reminiscent look about my wedding.  She and her friends did all the catering themselves for my wedding (it was their tradition among friends) and so my wedding was a very wonderful and happy memory for her.

She would chat on about how much she likes my new dishes.  She would probably even turn them over and inspect then as she has done every time she see's them.  She was thrilled when I won them!  She had even purchased a few for me that same year for Christmas since I had already started collecting them before I won more.  She has a huge set of the white Pfalzcraft that she absolutely adores.   So my love for white dishes has come partly from her.  I am sure she knows this and so treasures this small connection.

I bet she would also adore my newest yellow checked plates.  I used them during Easter and she commented on how cute they were too.

She would notice the napkin rings and comment on how pretty.  But, I would have to tell her why I chose those.  Because they remind me of you Mom, just like you they are full of pearls of wisdom.


So this is how lunch might look if we were to plan a specific date at my house, or if I were able to arrange everything perfectly and make it all work out.  But life is busy and I don't dwell on the what if's.   I have learned so much from my mother constantly and one very important thing I know is to accommodate and appreciate those whom you love the most.  We may not have time for lovely luncheons and weekly visits but we always make time to show our love and appreciation somehow.

So, I hope to be dining with Mom on Sunday somewhere!
How about you?

I am joining two fun filled tablescaping parties this week at
and

Have a beautiful day everyone and wishing you in advance a ....
Very Happy Mother's Day!



Sunday, May 6, 2012

Dreaming Under The Sea!

So last week amid all the craziness that has become my life, I received an email from one of our local garden centers.  It was one of those wonderful emails, that alerts you to their newest arrivals. Only these newest arrivals actually reeled me in like a big fish on a hook.  You could say, I literally fell for this email alert hook line and sinker!

What was it all about you ask?  Well, let me show you!

It was all about Coleus.  But wait...not just any type of Coleus plants, mind you.

Oh no!  These are the newest cultivar's of the Coleus world.

Quite interesting aren't they?

Isn't there anything about these Coleus that is catching your attention just a bit more then usual?



Yeah!  I thought so!


Maybe it's the shape and color of the leaves on this "Gold Anemone" plant that got your attention.

Amazingly beautiful, right?  But wait, let's take a closer look.

Do they look a bit more like something you would find under the sea?

Something more like... "Red Coral" perhaps?

I thought so too!  And that is exactly why I just had to rush out and purchase a few of these for myself.

I also had to find just the right pot to put them in as well.  I think I did pretty good.  Gotta love TJ Maxx!

I loved the name of this one so much that when I saw they had sample sizes of this plant I bought several.  Who could resist something like..."Lime Shrimp", certainly not me!

or pass up on an offering of...Bone Fish...could you?  Really?

I cannot wait to see how they grow! These newest cultivar's of Coleus are among the most unique introductions this past year from Hort Couture.  They are supposed to be more sun tolerant then the regular varieties of coleus and I certainly hope so!  I love how they are real stunners resembling sea creatures and corals from under the sea. They offer quite an assortment listed under names more familiar in the ocean.  I purchased only four different varieties.  

I love finding something new in gardening, especially since it complements our newest addition perfectly this year.  If your looking for something a little extra special and unusual for your outdoor area, I can't recommend these enough.  If I could have found a bigger pot that I liked I would have gotten even more!  Just sharing a little something new today! 

What do you think? 
Pretty cool huh?

Joining a new to me linky party today at

Have a great day!