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afternoon delight

This has to be the most refreshing drink ever!!! I am not even a big fan of "rosemary". I had a glass of this today and then another. I love it - this will be my cocktail of choice on hot summer days (no worries, it is alcohol free)....

Rosemary Lemonade

(makes 6 cups)
5 c water

1 c sugar

1 c fresh rosemary leaves

1/2 c fresh lemon juice

Mix sugar and two cups of water in a saucepan and boil gently for five minutes. Add the rosemary, remove the mixture from the heat, and let cool. Strain the liquid into a pitcher and add three cups of water and the fresh lemon juice. Stir well and serve over ice with a sprig of fresh rosemary.

rocking chair

bought this old rocker today at an antique fair





i loved it for the upolstery mostly..........a grain sack.....clever and unique!

not too sure what to do with it?

where it should go....

for now i will keep it on my front porch.

Flea Market Before and Afters

Remember the flea market shopping trip a few posts back? Well, today I worked on turning my trash into treasures - and I am very happy with the results.





First: I didn't do anything at all to this chair besides wash it down with Murphy's Oil Soap. It now has a new home in my craft room - perfect.




The first victim of my spray paint can was the oversized cutlery. I gave it an extreme makeover!

Before:

And After: giddy with love for it!

Next victim of spray paint: the old school desk made for two. I got this for $10 and honestly it was in very good condition, I just thought I should spruce it up a bit.......!
Before:

After: A cheery little desk that put huge smiles on my girls faces!!

A fun day with my spray paint can!!!

For the Love of Lilacs

I LOVE Lilacs. My favorite part of spring is when the lilacs are in full bloom. Today I took the back roads home and picked some sprigs to bring home. I am not sure what I love more about the lilac - the sweet scent, the delicate petals that are perfectly clumped together or the beautiful shades of purple. I put my lilacs in vases, turned up the jazz cd and cleaned the kitchen like a mad women.

Farwell High School!

An emotional day today:

Today was officially the final day for seniors at our high school. They have a tradition at our school which I think is a perfect ending. Instead of the kids tossing their papers all over the floors and screaming and banging lockers (I've had a past personal experience), the graduates put on their caps and gowns and do a final farwell walk through the school. The under classman line the halls and cheer for them.... ultimately, the soon to be graduates reach their final destination - the gymnasium where the parents cheer, snap pictures and have tears rolling down their faces(thank you waterproof mascara)! My daughter Brianna walked today - and it was a proud moment for ME....she will graduate high school officially in two weeks with honors. She was accepted into the college she always wanted to attend Michigan State University. She plans to study pre-med.

Flea Market Finds

Yesterday I took some friends flea marketing with me. Here is how my day went:

1. Love at very first sight...........

I thought this little brooch was adorable......I was in love. Especially when I opened it up to find vintage photos, one of a small boy, the other of a small girl. I think I will pin this brooch to my favorite pink cashmere sweater!

2. Recently, I was looking through the posts from one of my favorite bloggers., Layla over at The Lettered Cottage...check out oversized silver ware............It was obviously meant to be. This set was priced at a whopping $2 - I "scooped" it up - Pun (so) INTENDED. I plan to spray paint it black and hang it in my kitchen.

3. Love the vintage jewels........some of them I wear and some I use to craft with.........I scored big with a dealer on this lot!

4. I have been looking for a set of dominoes (for decorating purposes).......I was just going to pick some up at Target, but never got around to it. To my surprise today I opened a cigar box and found this chipped up set. $2 later I owned them!!

And this is what I had planned for my dominoes....

5. I spotted this old rusty bucket, and for some reason felt I had to have it. After some consideration of what I would do with it, I decided it might be the solution for an area that I am having some difficulty with in my den.

I felt that I needed some height on this table. So I got some spray painted branches and placed them in the rusted bucket. I love it the way it has added height into the area, and also brought a natural element into the space. I think it will also be fun to decorate on holidays. Red White and Blue in July......flying witches at Halloween......twinkle lights at Christmas and tiny eggs at Easter.

6. When I saw this old school desk......made for two. I knew it would be perfect for Katie. She loves to play school. She created a make shift desk out of an old bench . Now she has her very own school desk. My plan is to paint the base fire engine RED.

$10 and a can of spray paint and she'll be ready for the classroom.

7. I also found some items for my evolving "craft room" - which is inspired, but will never quite meet the standards of this room. Loved the lemon yellow chair...........and I can't wait to hang the washed out green shelf to hold old jars of ribbon and (mostly) unnecessary Junk!

8. TAH DAH.......Last but not least - My favorite purchase of the day was this old school room rubber stamp set. There are probably close to 100 stamps, some with words, some with numbers and some with the most darling vintage images.

I think I will make some vintage gift tags.

Today's Mission is to wash everything down and get out the spray paint.

I will post after pictures soon.

Hip Hop - the Dance?

Another weekend full of kids activities..........Here is Katie performing a "Hip Hop" Dance - let me note, that our family, well we are not known for our dance moves!



However, she looks like she is bustin a move here.

Playin it cool to distract from the moves.

or posing pretty always is a great diversion!

better yet: find a friend to pose pretty with.


and even better than that, include BFF in the photo.

Stay tuned for tennis lessons!!!!

Easy PLEASY Cinnamon Apple Muffins

Here is a wonderful recipe that I got from my grandmother.........so easy and really really good. She used this recipe to make a coffee cake - I make individual muffins!!

Ingredients: 1 box of yellow cake mix (eggs, oil and water - whatever the recipe on the box calls for). About 5 cut (skins removed)apples.......cinnamon and sugar.

Mix the ingredients together according to the box - just follow directions as if making cake batter. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.....I like to get mine from here .

Place a few chopped apples in each muffin liner. Then drop spoonfuls of batter on top of apples. Add a few more chopped apples and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until muffin tops are golden brown.

I like to serve mine warm.

No More BBQ Sauce :(

We are having a gorgeous day in Michigan - still needs to warm up a bit, but the sun is shinning bright all day............and I LOVE THAT.

I love to BBQ when the sun is out, almost every meal in the summer that I make is prepared on that grill. Tonight I am in the mood for BBQ chicken........I thawed out the chicken and went into the pantry to reach for the best BBQ sauce ever to have been made...........and boo hoo!! Gone! I can't run up to the local store for it, because they don't carry it.

Anyhow, I am placing my order via telephone in a few minutes. Not only is this bbq sauce delish, they also carry many other sauces, salsa's (cherry peach is awesome!) and jams. Check out their site by clicking on the picture above.

can't sleep

Why is it that I am tired most of the day............but at night when I can and should go to my resting oasis...........I can't do it?

Maybe tonight I will dream these wonderful dreams...................

I love Venice in the Spring!! Good night :)

My Man

I was looking through my past posts and I realized that I have left someone very important out!! Oops, sorry honey how could I have left you out??? So here he is - the man I married almost 21 years ago - the boy that was in my kindergarten class and the father to our six children!! The love of my life!

Champs

My son Jeffrey plays ice hockey - he has played for years. He is on the High School Varsity team. This spring he decided to take a break from the ice and instead played roller hockey. His team, which is mostly made up of the ice hockey team, won every game they played this season. They entered the State Championship Tournament undefeated............and continued to win every game in the tournament, making them High School Roller Hockey State Champs!

Weekend Guest

We had a little guest this weekend. His name is Shadow.........he is the 2nd grade classroom bunny. It was Katie's turn to have Shadow for the weekend. We all enjoyed him and Shadow is welcome back anytime.

Katie's First Communion

This was the weekend that my youngest made her First Communion...........She looked like a princess!!!

She was asked to be a reader at the ceremony.

PROM

Brianna (my oldest) getting ready for her senior Prom....thanks Aunt Dawn for coming over and doing hair and makeup - you made Brianna look even more beautiful than she is.

Getting Ready.........

Just about ready!

Finishing touches

Brianna and Katie.

Her date Ashton.

Aunt Dawn with Brianna

Goofy

In front of StoneyCreek - one of picture locations

a little grafetti at the school, imagine that?
Destination: Royal Park Hotel

Take a break from all the photos (I admit I went a little photo loco)

Brianna and her friend Alex - they have been friends since 2nd grade.