firefly's




ice cream cones




swimming pools




4th of july




picnic's




~and~




bonfires




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




this is where we have our bonfires!


it's our first firepit


we've laughed, told stories and I can even remember my
sister & sister-in-law singing
the "go cubs go" song around this firepit


but......


although we have had some wonderful summer night bonfires



i am just not love'n the look


my husband would say.... why change it......who can see it in the dark


but i can see it in the daylight
and it's just not pretty


so....

here is my firepit wish list

1.
2.

which one gets your vote

3.

4.

i could use your input

5.

6.

some are simple

7.

8.

some are more complicated

9.

10.

so there you have it

got a favorite


good thing dreaming is free........

happy weekend to you

I

Benches!

What do you love?
Walk around your home and see what you notice
over and over again!

Mezzaluna!

Well, I have finally come down from the clouds!!

I found a home for most of the goodies I won in the
The Painted Lady contest.

And now back to everyday life.......

Speaking of which, have you ever heard of a
Mezzaluna?

A Mezzaluna is a knife consisting of a
single or double curved blade with a handle on each end.
It is often used for chopping herbs or a very large single blade
version is sometimes used for pizza or pesto.

The name of this knife means “half moon” in Italian.
The crescent-shaped blade is sharpened along its whole length,
allowing you to rock it from one side all the way to the other for a clean cut.

The wooden block has a shallow indentation in it,

ideal for containing the ingredients to be chopped.


These are my new favorites in the kitchen!
I have actually found many uses for my Mezzaluna knife and board.
I chop onions, celery, garlic along with fresh herbs.
Anything that I need to dice up small.

I ordered them from Amazon.com.
You can find them in sets but I choice to go
with two different brands.

All though if I did it again I would order the
WÜSTHOF 8in. blade and board set.
The Boos Board I ordered is really heavy.
And some how it ended up in the dishwasher.
Which is not good on a cutting board.
(No one will fess up - go figure!) ;-)

This is one of those things that I needed to share
with all the women in my life!
If you like to cook you'll love these.
{P.S. You might try a less expensive one
to see if you love it as much as I do.}

Now I am thinking Mandolin next!
If you don't know what this is, don't worry, I will talk about it later!

~Design & Decor Contest~

Now for the rest of the story!

I must confess that our trip to
The Painted Lady
was for more than just to pick up bed linens.

I had entered my dinning room in their
Design and Decor Contest.
{I didn't say anything because if I didn't win
I would feel a little stupid.}

I have never done anything like this before.
But when Beth the owner came to my home to deliver a hutch,
she said that I should enter my dining room in their contest.


Hmm....that would mean taking photos and then
trying to email those photos.

Yikes!!


Then.... a couple days later it was a wonderful, sunny day
and I decided what the heck.

I started snapping photos. I needed 5 good photos.

I figured out how to send them by email all by myself.


Then, last night my daughter and I went to The Painted Lady's,
very fun cocktail reception!

And get this, my dining room won!!

I never win anything, I mean, never!

Here I am after a couple glasses of wine!
Looking pretty cheesy!

Look at all the pretty treasures!

They also had Diane Passi, who is one of their
favorite flea market vendors there!
Diane has amazing handmade vintage home decor.

I bought a lovely cloche on a vintage metal stand. I love it!

You can also find Diane's things at the
Kane county flea market
in St. Charles once a month

For me just winning was a big deal but I also received this

awesome canvas bag filled with all kinds of goodies!

Oh happy Day!!

From left to right, Anne the manager, Beth the owner,
Me and my daughter MaryKate!

Oh and I can't forget dinner at one of my favorite Wine Restaurants,
Coopers Hawk.
In South Barrington IL.
They have the most wonderful Rhubarb wine!


Now no road trip to Chicago would be complete without a little


Stress!


You know what I mean!



TRAFFIC!


But even with the ridicules traffic,
we managed to have a wonderful
Mother/Daughter day!!

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

Linens

I'm so excited!!!

Tomorrow my daughter, MaryKate and I are going on a road trip.

We are headed east to a great little shop I've mentioned before.

"The Painted Lady!"

It's a quaint little shop in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago.
It has tons of refurbished pieces of furniture,
mostly painted in different shades of white.


They also carry Pom Pom Linens.
A wonderful bed linen!
Which is the main reason for the trip.

I have always wanted real linen bedding.
But I have never had a room that they would fit into.
Now I have a shabby chic bedroom so I decided to splurge!

Don't you just love this bed by Pom Pom!

The only draw back is that my shabby chic bedroom is our guest room
and I'm a little concerned that
these two......

.......when they come to visit,
will not appreciate my lovely linens.
(If you have sons you will understand my concern for my new linens!)

Another company for wonderful bedding is
Pine Cone Hill.

Couldn't you just snuggle up in this pillow-filled bed!

All this talk about bedding is making me sleepy!

Thank you for your thoughts!

I hope that in time I will get more people to weigh in on this blog!
I have been told to have patience and I am slowly but surely seeing more action.
As I told my daughter, I will not give up on this blog!

So now I will tell you my thoughts on this wonderful room by:
Cote De Texas

My first thought was that I needed to enlarge this photo
so I could really have a good look at it!


Next I notice the weeping branches in the glass vase.
Tell me, who thinks of that?!!

Then the floor, I love the floor, I actually have that floor in my
sunroom & mudroom.

It looks like there's a double island
and oh how I would love a double island.
I was finally blessed with my first island!
But to have one island to prepare and a second to serve from,
well that would be heaven in my book!

Love the pictures above the windows, the beams on the ceiling,
the farmhouse sink, the muted warm colors.....

and how about this funky stained piece and that bulls head!

I have actually been thinking I need a head in my kitchen.
I found one at Wisteria and I've had my eye on it for sometime now!



Are you wondering what's with the bulls head?
Why is it in the kitchen?
Here's what Wisteria has to say about this one!

The Butcher Shop Bull

{Butcher..meat....kitchen...get it?}
"Similar to those found in old turn-of-the-century
French butcher shops, our mighty beast is actually
a replica of an antique from that era.
And we’re happy to report no animals were harmed in the
heavy resin casting of our bull’s head."

Ok, so it's a replica of an antique!
Who wouldn't want one!

Any thoughts......

I'd love to hear what your thoughts are on this room!
What catches your eye. Could you see your self living in this space?
I seem to always have a quick opinion on a place I see for the first time.
But...I also love to see it through someone else's eyes.

Here is another view of the same room.

Photos from Cote De Texas

There are no right or wrong answers.
Just your thoughts!