GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V.17 {2016}

4.16.16 ~ SHOWER for BABY BEE

BABY SHOWERS are thoughtful, social, & emotional!

SLE's shower was NO exception! While working with my mom, daughter, niece, sister & sister-in-law, it was ALL about thoughtful details. The mother-to-be didn't want a "themed" event, but agreed on greens & yellows. Once the event was in full swing, it was ALL about the social aspect of visiting, eating, playing games, and presents. I hadn't anticipated that I would be so emotional the week following the party!!

SLE told me on the way to LAX (to catch her flight to Washington DC), she "didn't want the party to end!" YEA!!! it was a G.R.E.A.T. success! 

I wish we had taken more pictures of family... urrgh!

Friday, JPE & I met friends for dinner at the Olde Port Inn, Avila Beach. Great conversation, tasty food (although, expensive) & a beautiful evening...

a RANDOM picture of our walk on the pier. We never take for granted that we live in a beautiful community!

Several days before the shower, I scheduled some time to teach Katie to use a sewing machine. She's at that age where she's expanding her creative interests!

Some of the handmade gifts... Katie sewed five burp pads (bottom left)... Nana/Gigi made the baby quilt... Auntie Allie knit the mint green hat & purple headband! the monkey first appeared on this blog a few weeks ago. Auntie Janene (top picture) did all the table decorations for the party! & I know Baby Bee will be getting a handmade gift from Auntie Stacy... Welcome to the FUN club, Katie!!

posting with Tamar at Random-osity

Flying to Washington DC tomorrow!

catch me here, or on Instagram!!

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V.4 (2016)

Not just GOOD, but GREAT...
we had four days of rain
(off & on, but still much appreciated).

A RANDOM act...

JPE made turkey noodle soup with leftovers from last Thanksgiving... YUM!

Adorable decorations @ Lewis & Clark!!

Saturday, JPE & I went to Santa Barbara to "window shop"

(Ummm. I confess, actually, I spent a gift card)...

visited my favorite three stores - all located on State Street

Anthropologie, Paper Source and Lewis & Clark.

three FUN shops!

posting with Tamar at Random-osity

WE DO COOKIES!!

Our HOLIDAY TRADITION... 

When my daughters were in preschool, we started a tradition of baking cookies the Sunday before the last day of school. Over the years, it became known as "COOKIE SUNDAY" and involved lots of flour, butter, sugar and sprinkles. Now, if you know me, I love a "tidy" kitchen so having these ingredients in the hands of 3-5 year olds required patience! BUT, this tradition has continued into adulthood for my daughters... 

Of course, the favorite cookie cutters are those that yield LARGE cookies (boot, mitten, bell, tree) that can be decorated with green frosting & colored sugar sprinkles. See those little cutters? the mitten, snowflake & stars... those are usually handed out to the adults (they're small, so you don't feel like you are eating TOO many - in reality, you can't just eat ONE!).

As I mentioned.... we DO cookies.... Lots of them!

For the past 5 years, I've rolled & baked the cookies... Then, Christmas afternoon, we have a "decorating station" so everyone can put together a plate for themselves to take home. It gives everyone something to do when the meal is eaten, the gifts are open & holiday spirits are starting to fade.

I'm a bit of a control-freak (no comments from my
family, please), so there are some RULES... 

1. Decorate only the cookies on the wax-paper or 
paper plate in front of you.

2. NO licking your fingers or the end of the frosting
gun. 

3. Try NOT to smash your frosted cookie into the plate of sprinkles (don't forget, NO licking your fingers).

4. Place your decorated cookies on a plate &
clean-up your work area. I MUST say... this is the
most difficult to monitor... because EVERYONE wants to start shoving the cookies in their mouth!!

Family members ooohs! & aahhs! over everyone's creativity. There are lots of offers to decorate a cookie for someone else! Ummm... the power of the frosting gun & all that frosting & sprinkles! 

A plate of the finished product!

Creative artistry by Katie (at age 8)

RUSHING? WHOO-SH...

had to pick up some elastic at the fabric store...

technically, it's NOT even AUTUMN

(officially starts September 23rd)

...AND the CHRISTMAS decorations

are ALREADY being displayed!

I love CHRISTMAS, but

let's S-L-O-W  D-O-W-N!

PEEK INTO MY CLOSET...

Several weeks ago, JPE & I took everything out of our walk-in closet, so I could freshen it with a new coat of paint. Actually, I hadn't painted the closet since 1999, so the walls really "ABSORBED" a lot of paint... like a gallon and a half! I was shocked!

Changing things up!! we rearranged the closet & reinstalled the wire shelves differently! Our closet is good size, so we put our chest of drawers along one wall, which gives us more room in our bedroom. A good scrubbing and the racks looked like new. I hated the thought of buying new racks if we didn't need to! With a bit of rearranging, we had room for another long rack and a shorter one! Amazing!!

Just opposite the chest of drawers, JPE installed ALL the racks on the right side. After we got the support bars installed, we "READ" the directions & learned we had installed them incorrectly. SO, ever the "patient" worker, JPE, removed the bars and repositioned them in different places... which meant, I did some patchwork and touched up the paint before moving everything back in.

You can see... we have plenty of room for a chest of drawers (on the left) and my Grandmother's maple desk on the right. We got a "workhorse printer" for JPE's teaching (see the black printer) and have our color printer sitting next to it. JPE also purchased a larger computer monitor (sitting behind the gray printer) for the times he is working on detailed spreadsheets  - much easier on the eyes! He likes working on the dining room table, which looks over the back patio, so he moves the computer monitor downstairs when he needs it.

Feels "GREAT" to have another project checked off the list!

Cost = $35. for one new 6' foot rack (mine) +
a 4' rack over the desk + new screws to rehang the shelves.
PAINT = NO cost! used paint we already had!

SONG-OGRAPHY + SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 4.20.14

taken 4.19.14

finally.... I managed to pull my camera out. I guess I needed Spring Break to get me over the "BITTER SADNESS"

Posting with Kathy @ You'll Shoot Your Eye Out.

You're probably wondering why I posted a picture of the cat? it's the neighbor's cat... {I spied their cat napping in the patio yesterday!} and we're sad they are moving next week. It's a young couple with a 3-year-old, and another one on the way! they needed space for their growing family to run, ride bikes and roll in the grass! so, once again, we'll be hearing THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE!!!

Oh my! My FIT-BIT is screaming at me! that number is a far cry from 10,000 steps a day!! I hadn't worn it for 10 days... so I had to charge it and the recorded number that emerged was 36 steps {which was the number of steps I walked during the night from the bed to the bathroom}. I do have an excuse... I can't wear my "tennies" {foot is healing from some minor surgery}? my new magazines arrived? and, ummm, Lydia was visiting?! I know, poor excuses, huh? I'm so NEGLECTFUL...

The "hummers" {hummingbirds are prolific} are enjoying the blooming honeysuckle! JPE's sister sent this assortment of herbs to plant... he's officially resigned from one of his jobs, so in addition to teaching his college courses, he'll have more time to garden & cook {hence, the retirement GIFT of "starters"}. Both are definitely SIGNS OF SPRING.

I DON'T wear dresses! in fact, I had to buy a dress for Steph & Mazen's wedding last November! but, JPE is officiating a wedding in mid-May so, I found this lovely, inexpensive dress {from Macy's}... just arrived in the mail on Friday!

BUT, my last PURCHASE(S) have been paperbacks! I finished the bottom three; am currently reading the one on the top {which is the sequel to The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philip Sendker}; & still to read, People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks & The Wedding Bees by Sarah-Kate Lynch.

Afternoon light casting a SHADOW across the bedroom wall. Allie gave me the adorable laser-cut alphabet last Christmas. She found it at bookhou.com...

I put a few Spring/Easter decorations out at the beginning of March. When Stephanie moved to Washington DC, I believe she left this glasswear behind? I added some shredded paper, a German paper egg & added three additional eggs to this display. Who knew one of the SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY items to photograph would be FOUR THINGS???

Speaking of SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY... I haven't participated in quite a few weeks. So, I'm behind the camera again! There are some adorable SPRING-LIKE photos being posted at Ashley's blog, Rambling & Photos. Stop by and say HI!

You'll never guess what I did??? I just "hunted" for the words for April 13th. Oh my goodness! Well, I'm still posting --- but, the actual words for this week are: TRICK, SELECTIVE COLOR, CLOSE-UP, MIRROR or EASTER & BRIGHT COLORS. Just pretend my pictures fit this week's words.

Tomorrow, I'm driving with JPE to Palo Alto... while he's teaching, I'll help Allie with her kinders!! Looking forward to dinner with she & Brian...  BUT, I've already written my post for Monday, so, be sure and come back tomorrow.

 

BLUE... SPRAY-PAINT-SATURDAY!

LOVE the detail on this clay pot, but it needs some color

to give it some pizzaz!

Looked through my stash of spray paint & remembered I had selected this color for another project --- a year ago! 

Don't ya LOVE the blue dirt!!?

and, how about the blue bricks lifting the pot off the ground?

Actually, I do think the addition of color has made

the scallops really "POP". What do you think?

AND, I also applied a "textured paint" to the square ceramic pot! It was the end of the can... actually, an experiment to see if the paint would keep the pot from crumbling into pieces. 

This pot is not in good condition... it's pretty awful, so the fact that it looks decent with just a quick spray is good enough for me to consider buying another can of paint to finish the project. 

We're planning to set both of these in the front planter & fill with some annuals or ??? something that can thrive on shade, with a touch of afternoon sun.

Oh, AND, in the background --- check out the chair frames I repainted. I found a piece of fabric to recover the seats, so out came the spray paint to give the frames a NEW LOOK.

This project is completed --- I've even used the chairs... will try to remember to take pictures of the completed chair reno!

UPCYCLE - RECYCLE

{to reuse in such a way as to create a product
of a higher quality or value than the original}

GOOD.RANDOM.FUN. {WEEK 5}

:: GOOD ::

Yesterday, we

FINALLY had a touch of rain!

:: RANDOM ::
a bit of bird-watching - out the kitchen window!
{same hummingbird putting on a show}

:: FUN ::
pillow created by my mom & given to Allie, her granddaughter.
Allie created the paper quilt on a painted canvas
{hanging over the bed}
lucky to have such talented ladies in my family!

posting w/Tamar at Random-osity!

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. {WEEK 1}

 THE GOOD...

A seasonal treat at Trader Joe's!

grab some before they're gone!

a bit sweet & salty! crunchy & just plain tasty!

See the adorable Santa pitcher?

thank you, Katie & Mom for adding to my collection.

RANDOM...

Pretty RANDOM, huh?  Even more RANDOM... this was in a garden shop. 

RANDOM - part 2

"Oh, my aching head" statue!

pretty RANDOM, eh?

FUN...

Now, why didn't I think of this?

recycling a golf bag to store gardening tools... some of which have been painted with florescent colors.

Garage decor has never looked this "colorful" at my house.

FUN - part 2

recycled star - decorated with glitter, sparkles & twisty wire.

Posting this with Tamar @ Random-osity.

Consider joining THE GOOD. THE RANDOM. THE FUN. next week for Week 2

of this year-long "meme" {definition found HERE}.

BAH! HUM-BUG!

Apple Farm Gift Shop decor

U.N.D.E.C.O.R.A.T.I.N.G

one of my least favorite post-holiday chores!

JPE is off at Men's Group...

so, it's a perfect opportunity to start packing

my SANTA Collection AWAY!

Instead, I'm looking at blogs, listening to HGTV & 
transferring information to my calendar!

SO, BAH! HUM-BUG! 

to taking down the tree! 

Tomorrow is another day!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 12.8.13 + SONG-OGRAPHY

SHS 12.8.13

Wondering... how this holiday season came woooo-shing in? 

I haven't done a whole lot better getting my camera out, reading other blogs or posting (thank goodness for i-Pad's), ...

I'm planning to participate in Ashley's annual Memories, Reflections and Dreams. It will be a fabulous way to document 2013!!! Here's the LINK to get you started!!! I hope you join me - You'll be able to blog-hop while you watch the New Year's parades on TV.

WHERE I STOOD, SILVER, TINY, IN THE CUPBOARD & SHADOW.

From WHERE I STOOD in the doorway of the Apple Farm Gift Shop... this is what I saw... sort of a skinny St Nicholas!

Well, these outdoor decorations looked more SILVER when I took the picture! Pretty huh? and there's a SILVER car in the background.

This WAS actually very TINY! a TINY set of sweaters decorated with holiday characters... a Santa, Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer.

All our baking supplies cannot fit IN THE CUPBOARD (known as the pantry at our house)... JPE used the "candy cane" melting chips to frost one end of his candy cane biscotti! YUM!!!

I took this picture the day before Thanksgiving! Taken at the charming, historic Santa Barbara Courthouse... several of the ornate lights are in the SHADOW! 

And, now for SONG-OGRAPHY! This is an archived photo! but... it's located in OUR (JPE & I  got married in this area) "special place" - Big Sur, California.

stop by Kathy's @ Don't Shoot Your Eye Out to see what others have posted!!!

This week's song is the "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell.

"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
And put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half to seem 'em

Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you've got
Til its gone"

Well, in Big Sur they left this yellow bus, painted it blue, yellow & red & turned it into a little coffee bar! Truly unique... the bus sits on the dirt parking lot underneath some huge redwoods! Lucky for us... it's only a little over two hours north of us!

I'll be posting on a more regular basis this week. I've got a little stash of photos to share, so please come back.