Happy Dishes

A few weeks ago I was in CVS of all places (a chain drug store) when I noticed some dishes on sale. There were assorted dishes, some melamine and some pottery, but all with the same design and they looked like the happiest dishes I had ever seen. It looked like the perfect dishes for an ice cream party with my granddaughters (aka Jojo's joys) and I just couldn't resist the prices. The pottery dishes were on sale for ridiculously low prices plus I had a coupon for $5 off the entire purchase. By the time I got out the door, I paid $15 for 6 bowls and 6 plates along with a dozen matching paper napkins. Notice the ruffled edges of the plates. They're just too cute!


A couple of days later I was in Hancock's Fabrics when I noticed a fabric that matched the adorable CVS dishes. I bought fabric to make matching cloth napkins and I am still asking myself . . . what are the chances?

I am so excited about having an ice cream party for the grandgirls!!!

Announcement

Thank you for all of the wonderful comments over the last few days. I love getting comments and have really enjoyed meeting some new blog friends in the process. Very soon there will be another giveaway to celebrate my 200th post but for now the winner is . . .



A Beach House Dream. Again, thank you to everyone for joining in the giveaway fun. Stay tuned for information on my 200th post giveaway celebration.

Whoo Hoo!

Can you say Friday?

Manicures and More

If you read my posts very often you know that I enjoy volunteering. For the past year and a half me and a volunteer partner have mentored two women who for some time were homeless but have now transitioned into permanent housing. While they have found a place to live, they have no car and they still face a number of challenges that most of us will never have to face.

Our experiences with these ladies have been so much fun. Over the past many months we have gone out to eat, been shopping (one trip to Target took hours just so they could enjoy looking at everything), watched movies and other been on excursions that provide opportunity for fun and fellowship. This month I was in charge of planning our outing and after mulling over a couple of ideas I thought that it would be fun to go get manicures. About every month or so after a hard day of house or yard work, I will go get a manicure on a Saturday afternoon and it is such a relaxing experience so it seemed like the perfect activity for spring.

My volunteer partner and I picked up our lady friends and headed for the local nail shop. It was funny because the ladies were nervous and very unsure of the process. The shop keeper was even more confused because we came in as a group and she couldn't figure out how we all belonged together. At one point she asked me what was our relationship, though I don't think I provided enough information when I said, "we're all friends."


It was such a fun outing and all of us were so proud our new manicures and soft hands. On the way home we discussed how long it had been since our last manicure. One of the ladies said when she got married and the other lady said, "never." We also had time to plan our summer outing and it looks like we may be headed to a paint your pottery place. Volunteering is so much fun.

Even Though I Dream, I Love Where I Live!

While it's great fun to dream of living in other places, I love my neighborhood and I want to share some photos with you.

We're a front porch neighborhood with lots of really cute houses that come in all sorts of colors.

The houses have some terrific details.

including characteristic lights that hang from trees



that make our neighborhood look magical at night.

We have our own font for house numbers.

and other cute things.

There are lots of gardeners, painters, stained glass makers, mosaic artists, bikers, grandparents, young families, a jewelry maker, army officers, a well-known pastry chef, a bee keeper (we have our own neighborhood honey) and a landscaper. In other words, we are a VERY diverse group of neighbors with diverse interests but with a great appreciation of each other. My husband and I used to live in a small town but we finally found what we were looking for when we moved into our neighborhood. I just remind myself of what Dorothy said - "there's no place like home" and I think we found Kansas.

We call this house our little white house.

I am so glad that you stopped in to visit with me and my wonderful neighborhood.

Dreaming of Other Places to Live

Alchemy Fine Living is hosting a great party today. It's a "Dream of Where You Might Like to Live" party. I have to admit that I do daydream about going to live in other places. The thought of going to live in a different place, even if only for a few months, has always seemed like an exciting adventure and I would love to be able to just do it. Today I would like to imagine living in Lebanon. My husband is from Beirut and we still have family living there so there is added appeal. Here are a few things I love about Lebanon. For instance, the houses,

And the food,

hospitality,

people,

and best of all, the scenery.

Many thanks to Lebanon Houses for the first two photos.

Pause

Today our family stopped at 3:00 in a silent to salute to those who have who have given their lives serving our country. In our family we have a long history of service. My dad's father served in WWI. Three of his brothers and one of his sisters served in WWII and my dad along with one other brother served in the Korean War. Six out of 12 children in my dad's family served in the U.S. military. I grew up in an Air Force town and I am proud to say that my oldest son currently serves in the Air Force.

In spite of the constant rain this weekend we still had a small gathering of family to mark the Memorial Day weekend. As I shared with Joycee at Granny Mountain, we don't do Decoration Day as we used to growing up (though I wish we still wore poppies), but when our family comes together, we still pause to honor our family heroes.