Homebody

You Could Win $1000 at Old Time Pottery!

2011-10-25T16:50:00.000-05:00

Several months ago I did a post about Old Time Pottery. It's a fun place to shop for all kind of home decor, kitchen wares, etc. It's huge, and the prices are low.

I was recently contacted by OTP to let me know that they are giving away five $1000 gift cards. Sign up for their VIP email list to be entered in the drawing. Winners will be notified December 19, just in time for some last minute Christmas shopping. You can get a lot of stuff at OTP with $1000!

Cider-Roasted Squash

2011-10-19T16:50:00.000-05:00

This is a recipe I found years ago in a magazine. It is a quintessentially fall dish, and you will not believe how good it smells while baking!

8 cups peeled, seeded winter squash, cut into 1" cubes (I like to use butternut)

1 medium onion, cut in wedges

1/4 cup apple cider

2 Tbsp EVOO

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg or ginger

In a greased 3 qt baking dish, combine squash and onion. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over veggies, tossing to coat. Bake uncovered at 450°F for 35 minutes or until tender, stirring twice. Makes 8 servings.

Tech-Challenged Mom Gets iPhone

2011-10-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Craig got a new iPhone...not the newest one that comes out tomorrow, but the one that was the newest one a few months ago (4, I think?). He passed down his iPhone 3 to me.

I have been using a Tracfone that is several years old. It doesn't have internet. It doesn't have a camera. I could text, but didn't bother to figure out how. I paid about $100 a year for all the minutes I needed. It was a great, simple phone, and I highly recommend Tracfone if you don't like being on a contract and paying big bucks every month. You can even choose a smart phone if you like.

Anyhoo, that is to say that I am not iPhone savvy. Up until now, Craig's iPhone was nothing more than a Scrabble machine to me. If I ever tried to use it for another purpose, invariably I ended up pushing the wrong "button" and messing it up, and getting mad.

So, this is going to be interesting getting up to speed with the "new" technology. Wish me luck. Do you have any tips or apps that you just can't live without?

Beautiful

2011-10-10T09:22:00.001-05:00

This morning as I was watching for the school bus with my daughter, the sun was at just the right angle that I noticed this enormous, perfect spider web in the little tree in our front yard.

There was also an enormous, fat, size-of-a-half dollar spider in the middle of it, and as my son said, "I don't do spiders". But I got close enough to take a picture, and although the sun was in my face so I couldn't see the viewfinder, or what I was focused on, I managed to get this cool photo.

We have been having beautiful fall weather for the last week. It's sunny and warm, the colors are popping out everywhere...a perfect autumn.

A perfect picture of the wonder of God's beautiful world.

Inspired

2011-10-05T08:15:00.001-05:00

The other day I got an email from Rebecca, a senior at UC Davis. I don’t know Rebecca; she just wanted to let me know that my blog had inspired her. Isn’t that cool? She and two friends are living together in a house this year, and were looking for a way to assign chores. She googled “chore wheel” and found my post. The chore wheel has been effective for three years in our house, and that’s a record for us.

Here’s her version. I like how she put it on a bulletin board with a pushpin in the middle to turn it. So smart and simple…why didn’t I think of that? Mine turns works fine on its brad, but the pushpin didn’t even occur to me when I was searching high and low to find that stray brad.

I’m impressed that these girls are so organized with their chores and bills. I honestly don’t remember how we did it when I was living in a house with two other girls. Of course, I was only 17 and they were 19, so maybe we weren’t too worried about it.

What were you like in college…super organized or not so much?

Fall Porch

2011-10-03T11:53:00.001-05:00

There's no denying it--fall is here! We are supposed to have glorious weather this week, with cool nights and sunny days around 80 degrees. This weekend I got my front porch ready for the season.

First off, I needed to redo my DIY vinyl numbers. After almost two and a half years, they had become brittle and started to flake. No problem, I just repeated the process.

before

I'm still loving last year's Dollar Tree wreath, so I put it out again, but added a little embellishment with our initial. I got it at a thrift store a long time ago, and it just happens to be the perfect color for this wreath (you can also see the new and improved numbers).

Because the wreath is made out of foam board, it was easy to poke a couple of holes in a hidden spot underneath the leaves, and use floral wire to attach the A. Since the wreath is so light, the letter weighed it down on one side, so I anchored it in place with sticky tack.

Add a couple of pumpkins, and my porch is ready for fall.

{Did you see my announcement? I hope you'll come visit my new blog!}

Announcement

2011-09-30T17:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been MIA this week. I've been busy working on another project.

I'd like to announce the public opening of my new blog, Spoons.

It's a little bit scary to put it out there, because it is a totally different side of me, one that I have not addressed here on Homebody. It's a different topic and a different genre, and I realize that it may not have the same audience. But I feel like you are my friends, and I hope you'll at least check it out.

As a side note, I decided to try out Wordpress for this venture, and there are some inconsistencies in the appearance of these early posts. I'm still trying to figure out the ropes. For the most part, though, I like Wordpress so far, although there are a couple things I'm not in love with. But maybe I'll figure those out as I go along.

I don't intend to abandon Homebody, so I hope to see you around!

Another Craigslist Purchase

2011-09-23T10:43:00.000-05:00

In the family room, I had a white slipcovered sofa that was a craigslist purchase three years ago. It's a nice-looking piece, but the slipcover was starting to get raggedy, and honestly, it's not too comfortable. The cushions are feather-filled, but the seat cushions also have springs, which seem to be bent or something because it's very lumpy.

A few weeks ago I was browsing craigslist, as I often do. I always search "IKEA", and this time an Ektorp three-seater sofa popped up. These go really fast on our CL and I figured it would already be gone, but she had just listed it late the night before and I was first in line! There were others after me who would take it if I didn't.

It was only $125, and I had some money from some ebay sales, so I grabbed it.

The red slipcover works well in the family room, though I do plan to eventually get a new cover.

There are a couple of mysteries about this sofa. I knew it was an older model, and it's definitely well broken-in. But it is different from my Ektorp sectional and chair, and different from my friend Dixie's two-yr-old Ektorp sofa. (It is an Ektorp; the tag says so.)

First, the seat cushions are all foam, and the newer ones have a feather layer. Second, the seat is deeper; I can sit normally in the new ones with my feet touching the floor, but not this one. This is not a bad thing; while the new one is comfortable, this one is sink-in comfy-cozy.

I do, however, wonder if a new Ektorp cover is going to fit it. I haven't tried switching a cushion cover yet, but you can see that the new brown one is wider and thinner than the old red one.

One possibility is that the sectional and sofa cushions are different sizes. In fact, I just checked and the new sectional cushions are wider than the new chair cushion, so it stands to reason that sectional and sofa could also be different. But Dixie has confirmed that her sofa cushions feel like my sectional, and not thick and cushy like the red sofa, so there's at least that difference.

Do any of you have an older Ektorp sofa for which you've successfully and recently replaced the cover? I'm not in a rush to get the new cover, but at some point I'll chat with the IKEA helpline and see what they can tell me.

Oh, a couple of you asked what I was going to do with the spools I got last week. I didn't have anything specific in mind, and for now they're just in the Coke crate that's on the coffee table.

New Living Room Accents

2011-09-21T09:47:00.000-05:00

Back in July, you may recall, I got a new Ikea Ektorp sectional and chair for the living room. The only problem was the Idemo Light Brown color did not go well with the green accents already in the room. I removed the green rug, curtains, and pillows.

The furniture was nice, but the room was colorless.

After some thought, I decided to go blue, and the hunt began.

First, I found the Medallion Window Panel at Target. The background is the same color as the walls, and the design is navy and a lighter blue. Tip: they only have the 84" length in the store, but you can order 95" online, which I did.

Then I casually began watching craigslist for a rug, and it wasn't long before the perfect one appeared (I always make sure the item comes from a non-smoking household; the rug's home was also pet- and child-free). I snatched it up for $25, and it coordinates beautifully.

So far, I only have one pillow. I ordered it from Ballard's with 15% off and free monogramming.

I did also get some fabric to make a couple more pillows, but haven't got around to that yet.

(It's a little difficult to take good photos of my living room without a flash because of the backlighting, but you get the gist.)

You may wonder what that is on the coffee table; it looks a little strange from afar.

It's my collection of beach glass, rocks, and driftwood from the beach at Lake Ontario on our vacation to Canada. Love!

Lost in (Jane) Austen

2011-09-19T09:53:00.000-05:00

We recently discontinued our DirectTV service, which was about $80/mo, and instead purchased a Roku box for each of our two main TVs, at a one-time price of about $60 each. I won't go into explaining Roku, as I don't really know all the ins and outs and it would take too long. But if you'd like to save a lot of money over your cable/satellite, you really should look into it.

Because of Roku and our Netflix and other subscriptions we got to go with it, I've discovered a lot of shows I didn't know existed. A few days ago I stumbled on Lost in Austen. Originally a British mini-series, the Netflix/DVD version is a three hour movie.

I am a big Pride and Prejudice fan, as is Amanda in Lost in Austen. She is tired of her modern-day London life and her unromantic boyfriend. One evening she finds Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine of P&P, in her bathroom; she has stumbled upon a portal from her world to present-day London. Amanda and Elizabeth trade places.

Does it make sense (even if you believed in time-travel portals)? No, and Amanda doesn't get it either. P&P is a novel, not history. But she finds herself in 19th century England at the very beginning of the P&P story and a guest of the Bennet family as a "friend" of Elizabeth who, she tells them, has gone away to write a book.

Amanda, of course, knows how the story should go, but her very presence is changing the plot. Though she tries, she can't get it back on course, and the P&P characters make different choices than Jane Austen originally wrote.

source

If you are a hard-core Jane Austen fan who will tolerate no monkey-business when it comes to her writings, you might not like this movie. I, on the other hand, thought it was funny and creative and did a good job of staying true to JA's characters while going down a "what if?" rabbit trail. There are a few surprises that aren't in the book, such as Mr. Bennet's first name and the "truth" behind the Wickham/Georgiana scandal. To quote Amanda, "Jane Austen would be fairly surprised to find she'd written that!".

Two thumbs up!

Thrift Store Thursday

2011-09-15T16:34:00.001-05:00

I haven't done one of these in a long time, but I hit the jackpot today so I felt like showing off.

I have a very good consignment store close by which sells clothing and household items at reasonable prices. Next door to it is a much smaller room that they call their outlet.

All clothing, shoes, jewelry, and purses are $1 each. Household and decor prices vary.

Sometimes I'll stop in and find nothing, sometimes one or two things. A few times, like today, I've had much better luck. Here's what I got:

For me, a pair of Loft trouser jeans and a pair of Anne Klein stretch wool dress pants.

From the Gap, a casual button-down shirt for Craig, and a black blazer for me.

For Firstborn, an Old Navy fleece pullover and a pair of sweatpants.

A heavy winter coat from The Children's Place for Skippy.

And just because I liked them, two vintage industrial weaving spools ($1.75 ea).

Total: $11 and change.

Other high-yield trips to this consignment outlet:

Nov. 2009

Sep. 2009

Where Were You?

2011-09-12T08:48:00.000-05:00

Where were you? September 11, 2001 is a date that will forever evoke that question. We each have days that are frozen in our memory: our wedding day, the birth of a child, the death of a parent. But September 11, 2001 is a date that we have in common. We will always remember where we were when we heard about the events that were unfolding.

On that Tuesday morning, we had recently moved to Kentucky. Everything felt new and exciting. I had dropped three-yr-old firstborn off at preschool and come back to the house. I had left the TV on while I was gone, and in that time, it had gone from mundane news to confusion, worry and images of a smoking tower. I had to take Skippy to mother's day out in a little while, and then I had to go back to the preschool for a Teddy Bear Picnic. But somewhere in between all that, I saw the second tower get hit, and the first tower fall.

We were doing normal things, but we didn't feel normal.

The world had changed.

source

We will never forget.

Tiny Houses

2011-09-08T17:08:00.004-05:00

Hello, friends! I'm still here. I was just taking a little break. I was virtually computerless for a week, but also I didn't feel like I had anything to say. I guess, just like in my real life, I needed some alone time. Can I just say how liberating it is to me that I'm no longer trying to run my blog as a business?

So, did you catch Design Star this week? I thought this was a really fun challenge, one of the best on the show ever (speaking about the challenge concept, not necessarily the designers' results). Each of the remaining three designers had to completely outfit and decorate a tiny house.

Not just a run-of-the-mill small house, but a Tumbleweed Tiny House. These little houses are meant to be part of the simple, green living movement. Some of them are mobile and can be pulled by a truck. The larger ones (still under 1000 sq ft) are to be built on a foundation.

The show used the Beavan model, which the website says is 99 sq ft.

The inside started out as a plain box.

Inside, the designers had to include a kitchen, bathroom and closet, and spaces for eating, lounging, and sleeping.

Meg put the closet and bathroom on either side of the door, to create a sense of entry, and to leave the rest of the house wide open. I thought that was a wise move. All three put the mattress in a loft over the door, as you can see in Meg's house below (although I think Meg's loft is quite a bit smaller than the other two).

A word about the bathrooms: as you can see there isn't room for anything in there other than a toilet. They didn't mention it on the show, but the website says that in the smaller houses, the bathroom is the shower; it's called a "wet bath". Essentially, it's like having a toilet in your shower stall.

Mark and Karl both put the closet and/or bathroom in the middle of the room, dividing it up in to different spaces. It did give it a cozy look, but at 99 sq ft, I'm not sure it needed more coziness.

In the end, Mark was sent home, mainly because of his paint and leather belt "argyle" treatment on the walls.

Design Star aside, what do you think of the Tiny House movement? I think they're super cute and might make a fun weekend cottage, but no way would I want to live in one full-time. As a matter of fact, if I'm ever so fortunate as to own a cottage, I would like it to be big enough for my kids and (future) grandkids to all gather together.

There is something sweet and idyllic about them.

The Zinn, 99 sq ft

The Gifford, 99 sq ft

The Epu, 89 sq ft

The Whidbey, 461-557 sq ft

Model photos from Tumbleweed Tiny House Company website.

Design Star Debacle 2011

2011-08-25T00:01:00.015-05:00

It seems to happen every year. There's at least one Design Star episode that has such phenomenal failures that it makes you wonder if it was a set-up. Last year it was the Trump Tower mess. At least The Donald could afford to redo the apartments.

This year the designers each had a room/rooms to redo in a home a large single family home. The family had recently moved in, so while it had the previous owners' paint colors, it was basically a blank slate.

The two most glaring bombs were the children's rooms.

Leslie was given 2 yr old Kyan's room. His parents said he loves to perform and turn lights on and off. Leslie decided to go with a theater theme.

Perhaps the home owners chose the brownish-eggplant color of the carpet, because it's also in the other boy's room. However it got there, I personally don't care for Leslie's choice of paint colors with that carpet, but maybe it looks better in person. Also notice how the letters of Kyan's name are hung unevenly. Nope, it's not an optical illusion.

Below is the stage area that Leslie created. The curtains hang on a hula-hoop. Not a bad DIY idea, but not great for someone who's a professional. I'm also not sure how well it's going to hold up to a two year old.

Overall, the room just looked like a mess, cluttered and kind of disjointed.

Kellie got Mason's room. Mason is about 6 years old, and had two requests: bunk beds, and lockers.

Later, Kellie remarked that Mason wanted a "sports room, her worst nightmare" (Mason didn't actually say "sports" unless it was off camera). She decided to go with a non-literal interpretation of that.

For some unfathomable reason, she really didn't want bunk beds. Instead, she had her carpenter make a mini-loft bed. Honestly, I think even I could have screwed together some two-by-fours in this manner. Not only was the bed not what he wanted, it wasn't even particularly nice.

It had a teeny-tiny play area underneath. Kellie told Mason it was a "hidey-hole". I'm not sure even a six year old could sit up underneath there.

She also was not on board with the request for lockers, and this is how she interpreted the idea:

some crates from Pottery Barn mounted on the wall with hooks underneath for "his jersey or whatever". Now, you know that I like PB, but it seems like kind of an unimaginative place for

a designer to shop, since they have access to all kinds places the general public doesn't. Not to mention all the cool non-chain stores in NYC at her disposal.

Up until this point, I have liked Kellie for the most part, but I really was dismayed with her this week. Not only did she blatantly ignore her client's requests, she actually seemed disdainful of his desires. She herself is the mother of boys, and I would have expected her to be more in tune with this little boy. You could tell that he was disappointed at the reveal.

One more comment about this season of Design Star...

I find Tanika Ray's manner of speaking very annoying. It's totally overdone and unnatural, like a bad actress.

Bring Back Clive!!

Sell Your Stuff on Ebay

2011-08-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

I haven't mentioned it too much lately, but if you've been reading my blog a while, you know that I enjoy shopping at thrift stores. I also donate my fair share of usable items to the thrift shops.

But what about really good stuff that's worth quite a bit of money? Depending on the item, I will often attempt to sell it, either on craigslist or ebay.

A couple of weeks ago, I dug out all my old homeschooling stuff, going back as far as kindergarten. I've listed a lot of it on ebay, and sold quite a bit. Actually, so far I've sold $550 worth of homeschool books. That includes last year's curriculum, a Sonlight Core package that I bought used for $330, and sold this year for $300. That's pretty darn awesome!

So, what am I doing with this money? It's going to help pay for this year's curriculum (BJU Online 8th grade), and that's pretty great too. Next year I won't have so much homeschool stuff to sell, but I'm sure I'll sell other types of things throughout the year.

I'm not going to give you a tutorial on how go through the steps of listing an item on ebay; I'm no expert and just know the basics. However, I can give you a few tips for selling your stuff in general (this is all my opinion, not hard and fast rules).

1. Large items, such as furniture, are best sold on craigslist, which is local pick-up only.

2. For items which are relatively easy to mail, ebay may be your best bet, as you will have a much larger "audience".

3. However, you can sell anything (within their rules) on CL, too. Last year I sold snowpants on CL, which would have been easy to mail and would have been fine to list on ebay. And if you want to sell furniture on ebay, you can. I just don't want to bother with shipping on that kind of thing.

4. Keep season in mind for either CL or ebay. I sold the snowpants in October, when people are starting to gear up for winter. You wouldn't have the same demand for snowpants in May. Or homeschool books in March.

5. When I sell or buy something on CL, I like to either make sure Craig is home if they are coming here, meet in a public place such as a busy parking lot, or even have Craig do the pick- up or drop-off. Safety first.

6. When you are listing an item, your title should be made up of searchable key words, more than just a description. Let's say you're selling a Pottery Barn slipcovered sofa. Your title would need to be something like this:

Pottery Barn PB Sofa Couch with Slip Cover Slipcover

It sounds kind of idiotic, but you won't miss someone who searches "couch" but not "sofa" or "PB" but not "Pottery Barn".

And be sure to spell everything correctly!!

7. When you are listing on ebay, keep the cost of packing materials and postage in mind. I use the USPS postage calculator, but for some reason I'm not very good at it and I have several times spent way more on postage than I charged, and that eats into my profit.

8. When listing an item on ebay, do some research. Are there twenty already listed, but no bids? You might not want to bother. Are items like yours selling? If so, for how much? Use the advanced search and click on "completed listings" to find out, and use that to help you figure out a starting price and what you might expect to ultimately sell it for.

Like I said, I'm no expert at this. If you are, and have more tips, please share them in the comments.

Some previous posts you might find helpful:

Do You Craigslist?

Craigslist Tips

Gel Manicure

2011-08-19T00:01:00.006-05:00

A while ago I used a gift certificate to treat myself to some spa time. The nail tech talked me into a gel manicure. I had just read about this new procedure a few days prior, and it's supposed to last a couple of weeks, so I gave it a try.

The polish itself looked kind of gummy; if it had been regular nail polish you would have thrown it out because it was too old. The cool thing is that immediately after the polish is applied, you put your hand in a little ultraviolet thingy for a about a minute, and the the polish is completely dry! No waiting, no tackiness, no need to have the tech get your keys out of your purse for you.

source

While I was getting the manicure I asked her if it removed with regular acetone remover, and she said yes...well, you have to soak it, she said.

After about six days, my manicure started getting cracks. This could be because I so rarely polish my fingernails that I tend to mess with them when I do, and then I couldn't help but start picking at the cracks. Regardless, it didn't last anywhere near two weeks.

So I decided to take it off. Acetone and a lot of rubbing with a cotton ball didn't touch it.

That's when I got online and found several suggestions that you have to saturate a cotton ball for each finger, and wrap foil around that and let it sit for like 20 minutes.

After all that, it still didn't totally come off! It kind of partially did, and I could scrape off some of it, but it didn't seem like that was too good for my nails. I had remnants of the gel manicure on my nails for a couple weeks after I "removed" it. Fortunately, it was a French manicure, so it was pretty much clear an unnoticeable to anyone else.

So, have you had a gel manicure? How did you like it? Was I doing something wrong?

"Professional" Family Photos

2011-08-17T00:01:00.002-05:00

A while back, I purchased a $16 Groupon for a package at that photo place that was very popular about a decade ago and was in every mall, but now there's only one in our whole metropolitan area. I'll call them Foto Folks. It had been a long time since we had a family picture taken, so I figured this would force me to get it done, without costing an arm and a leg. Our appointment was last night.

I went to a lot of trouble to figure out what we were going to wear. I looked at photographer websites that had What to Wear ideas. There's obviously some place that supplies these images to photographers, because a lot of them had the same Gap/Old Navy/Piper Lime montages (hmm, maybe the Gap parent company supplies them).

The images were fresh, modern, cool, coordinating without being matchy-matchy. I wouldn't characterize my family as being any of those, but that's what I wanted our photo to look like. We've done the khaki and white, and the black and jeans. I decided on blues for the guys and pinks for us girls.

We had most of the necessary pieces, but for the rest I went to a lot of stores: thrift stores, Target, Kohls, shoe stores, etc. I actually didn't spend too much money, as I found two shirts at the thrift store, and one on clearance at Kohls, and Pinkerbelle's cute sandals were cheap at Kmart.

Our photo session was about what I expected...fairly unimaginative, which is kind of funny because the reason this place was so popular when it came out was that it was so fun and different. My package was for one pose only; of course, I could have purchased more but none were so great that I even wanted to.

In the end, we chose the photo in which everyone's facial expression was good. The pose itself could have been better, and you can't even get the full effect of all my careful clothing coordination.

It's not too bad, though. I definitely got my $16's worth.

When's the last time you had a family photo taken? How did it turn out?

Summer Fun: A Final Hurrah

2011-08-12T00:01:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that this is the last Friday of summer for us! That was fast.

Here's a fun, quick project for you and your kids; I'll call it Ziploc Ice Cream.

1. Fill a gallon ziploc bag with ice about halfway, add 6 tablespoons of rock salt, or regular salt (we used regular).

2. Mix 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla in a pint size ziploc and seal it.

3. Put the small bag inside the large bag and seal the large bag.

4. Shake.

5. Keep shaking.

6. After about 5 minutes of shaking, the mixture will turn to ice cream!

7. Dig in and enjoy!

The Book Depot

2011-08-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Nearly everyone in my family is a book maniac to some degree. When we are together, we usually end up at some type of bookstore, especially us sisters. Laurie happens to have the best bookstore ever not far from home.

The Book Depot is a converted factory. It looks cool on the outside...

...and on the inside is row upon row of discounted books.

Every kind and genre of book imaginable is available, all at bargain prices. Below is just a small section of the home/decorating section.

There's a large section of deeply discounted books, and as it happened, the week we were there those books were even further marked down to just $2 each.

These were my $2 purchases; I wish I had thought to get several of the cookbooks to keep on hand for wedding gifts.

The kids each got several big hardcover coffee-table type books on topics such as the sea, skyscrapers, and dogs. I'd estimate that we got $200-300 worth of books for about $20.

If you're a book lover, and you're ever in the Niagara region, be sure to visit The Book Depot. If you'd like to shop the Book Depot online, you can do that too.

My Alma Mater

2011-08-05T00:01:00.001-05:00

My sister Laurie and her husband live and work at a Christian boarding school in Ontario, Canada. My dad went to this school in the 1950s, and worked there in the 1970s. All of us kids, except my younger brother, also attended. I graduated in 1988.

When we were in Canada, we stayed on campus. I thought it would be neat to give you a little tour.

Laurie and Wayne live in this house on campus. When my dad worked at the school, we lived in this same house, and I went to kindergarten in town.

This is the main school building. It's pretty much the same as it was when I was in school.

This boys' dorm was built about eight years ago. It is a vast improvement on the old boys' dorm, which is basically just storage now. Craig and I and the kids stayed in the new dorm while we were there.

The girls' dorm is this awesome huge stone house that was built by a Canadian senator in the late 1800s. When my dad was a student in the beginnings of the school, this is where classes were held.

An older photo, before it was owned by the school.

We had our big family birthday dinner in the dorm's sitting room, which was the original dining room. There is a butler's pantry between the kitchen and the dining room, and a "secret" back staircase from the kitchen up to what was the servants' quarters.

The original stained glass windows still flank the fireplace.

I had several different rooms when I lived in the dorm. This was one of them, with a marble fireplace. I'd say the ceilings are at least 12 feet, and the baseboards 15".

I love that there's so much history here, and lots of my own family history. In fact, my dad, Laurie, and my oldest niece Lacey were the first three-generation family to have all graduated from the school.

Thanks for taking the tour with me!

Something Nice and Something a Little Crazy

2011-08-03T10:00:00.003-05:00

Recently my bloggy friend Paula of Sweetpea had a giveaway for homemade herbal soap, and I was the lucky winner! The soap arrived charmingly packaged in ticking stripe fabric tied with twine. They smell so good, especially the rosemary mint!

I have been using rosemary lemon at the kitchen sink and I'm really enjoying it. It leaves my hands smelling fresh. If you'd like to try making your own soap, check out how Paula did it. I'm thinking it sounds like a nice teacher gift.

On a totally unrelated topic, here's where things get a little crazy...for me, anyway. First, some background. My sister Laurie and her four daughters have matching tattoos. It's five ichthus (Christian fish) in the shape of a flower, representing each of them and their faith.

While we were there, my nieces suggested that my sisters and I should get matching tattoos as well. Laurie and I were totally on board (although I must admit I was a little nervous about it), but Wendy was a flat-out "no".

Wendy, me, Laurie

Back home, Craig and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary this weekend. (That makes me sound so old!) A few years ago on our anniversary I had tried to convince Craig that we should get matching tattoos, but he was against it. This year, with tattoos still on my mind, I brought it up again.

While still not a big fan for his own sake, he was willing to do it this time. Seriously, that's how much he loves me!

Long story shorter, we now have matching infinity tattoos. They are small and simple, because for all my big talk, it was really a huge leap for me to even set foot in a tattoo shop, never mind actually sit down and let somebody inject ink into my skin!

For me, that's pretty crazy!

Family

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The main reason for going to Canada was for my brother's wedding. Dave and Audrey met on

e harmony. I told them they need to apply to be in a commercial.

One of the nice things about weddings is that you usually get to see people that you might not have otherwise. In this case, it was my whole family. It's not often that we are all together at the same time. All of my siblings were there. In this photo, clockwise from left (numbers are birth order): my sister Laurie (1) my brother David (2), his new wife Audrey, my younger brother Andy (5), sister Wendy (3), our dad, me (4), and our step-mom.

We stayed with Laurie and my bil Wayne at their home. They have four grown daughters, two of whom are married with three children each. Most days there was anywhere from 15-20 people in my sister's house, usually eating. My oldest niece and her family live just a few houses down from my sister, so we got to see them every day. Her oldest daughter (my great-niece) though she is a few years younger, really hit it off with Pinkerbelle. They actually share the same nickname, so they went by Pinkerbelle J (my daughter's middle initial) and Pinkerbelle May (her last name).

Pinkerbelle May's baby sister shares my name! It took me a while to remember that when somebody said "Holly!" in a sing-songy voice, they were talking to the baby and not me.

Skippy's 11th birthday was last Monday the 25th, and my dad's birthday is July 30, so we celebrated both with a big family dinner. Again, something we don't usually get to do.

I also got to meet my youngest niece's BFF Lucy, her husband, and their adorable daughter. My niece introduced us through our blogs, and Lucy and I have emailed back and forth for the last couple of years. Check out her blog here.

More to come...stay tuned!

Home Again, Home Again

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It's good to be back! We had a wonderful time with my family, and packed a lot of fun into our visit. It's going to take more than one post, I think, but here's a sampling.

We went to Tim Horton's no less than six times. It was the first place we stopped once we crossed the border. The one below was our last call, in the Detroit area; I'm hoping they'll make it further (farther?) south eventually. Interesting fact: the cup sizes are larger at the US locations, where the small is at least the equivalent of the medium in Canada.

Canada's Dollarama is the best dollar store I've ever been to (although it's actually a $1-2 store).

Craig took the kids to Niagara Falls.

We went to a beach on Lake Ontario with my nieces and their families.

Come back next week for more family and Canada posts.

Have a great weekend!

On Vacation

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I'll be in Canada for my brother's wedding and family time for the next ten days.

Sorry I wasn't organized enough to get some scheduled posts together. But, there are almost three years' worth of content here that you can browse!

See you when I get back!

source

Pale Legs Remedy

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Thanks for all the input on my dress and shoes! You were all very helpful. I should have mentioned that it is an afternoon wedding, and a second wedding for both, so it's fairly casual.

I've decided to go with the first dress, which I thought looked better and you all confirmed. I was able to find both shoe styles at Target in my size. I haven't made a final decision on that yet, but I think I'll probably go with the all black wedge.

One other issue was my very pale legs. I'm pale everywhere; I'm a redhead and have never had a tan in my life, though I've had plenty of burns. But somehow pale legs are just...the worst.

So here's my secret: Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs.

I the photo below, my right leg is au naturale, and my left leg has the Airbrush Legs.

(I am not wearing any make-up, and my hair is still damp, so ignore from the neck up.)

Granted, the difference is subtle (and I'm not sure how it shows up on your monitor), but a deep tan would look ridiculous on me. This gives me enough confidence to not be so self-conscious about my legs.

Airbrush Legs is a spray. You spray it on your palm, rub your hands together, then apply to your legs. It is instant leg make-up. You can see exactly what you're getting as you apply it. There is no waiting for it to develop, and it doesn't stink. After a couple of minutes you can get dressed. I've never had it come off on anything, and it stays on until you take it off with soap and water. I find it much easier to use than self-tanning creams.

It has some sparkle to it, which I actually kind of like, but according to the reviews it was a newer addition and was very unpopular. Apparently they are going back to the old, sparkle-free formula in September, which is fine with me too. It comes in several different shades to best match your skin tone. I've only used in on my legs, but some reviewers mentioned that they've used it on everything else too, with good results.

What do you think? Can you see the difference?