how to do florida

how to do florida  is a TV Show here in Florida... and I wish I would see my cousin on it but for now:

"how to do florida" is a broadcast show that entertains, teaches, and encourages Floridians to actively engage their state. This site will be a resource for information featured in the show and additional content not available anywhere else.

It is remarkably resourceful, interesting and wonderful!  I don't know if I am a floridian or when you become one after you transplant.  I have enjoyed so many of my adventures and day journeys since I moved here.  I just saw today, that there is a poster check list!  What a great idea but a poster is too big for me.  What I am thinking is to print it, either frame it or decoupage it and check off as I go!

The ultimate bucket list!   The poster is free, you pay shipping.


watch this to learn about the show.

There is a fish market right down the road (a piece) that I didn't realize was open to the public.  I had seen this when it was on television and I'm excited to go check it out.  Wild Ocean Market in Titusville, FL  looks like a great full service fish market...just what you'd want on the coast!

Kennedy Space Center is a definite MUST do!  Plan on spending the day, there is just so much to see and do.  For a brief look, click here.

For more information about the Space Coast, click here.

As I travel this journey...

As I travel this journey, I am often caught off guard about different things. 

I am a big fan of Facebook.  I joined in May of 2008, according to FB,  although I think it was more around 2007.  The idea was to be able to keep in touch with everyone 'home' after I moved from Long Island, NY to Vero Beach, FL in 2007.  I had been working for Linens 'n Things and transferred.  Working retail, you work a crazy schedule and sometimes over-nite, where the rest of the world is doing a 9 to 5 Monday through Friday.  So it was great to post whenever. 

Relationships change... by December 2008 all stores had closed nation wide.  Facebook became a way to keep in touch with all my friends and family that were coworkers.  To support each other in the quest for a job, a life, to hold on... to play games to pass the time and not lose our minds.  It was a difficult time for many of us.  People move... some got jobs... some went into new relationships, some got married, had babies... An additional injury at work, progressed and I wound up disabled and on disability...life happens... life goes on. 

I believe many of our beliefs stem from where our journey has lead us... all kinds of things can shape our views and beliefs.  I have always come from a place of doing to others as I have wanted to be treated.  There have been times that I have been in a position to help others and more lately times I can not.  I spent years as an advocate for children.  I've helped parents, male and female.  I learned allot from simple to complicated issues of laws, the government and it's workings.  I am a liberal.

	"... someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties..." then call me a liberal! JFK 9-14-60

I bring up my political views here today because it is part of my journey and only to say this:

I am so totally amazed that there are people is a family member I know that have has attacked me and I think, tried to change my views. It is not that I have not listened to other views, but have questioned them.  This is done on my personal FB page.  No one has to agree with my political views, nor I with everyone else.  I strive to keep my political and religious views there, when it moves me BUT not on my companion page on Facebook or here.  I was told in high school, there are things you discuss with "customers".  Those things were: Religion, Politics and Sex!  Good advice.

I wish to only share my journey here in a positive manner. 

My journey is my journey.  I have invited you along.  Take what you can, give nothing back.  You may not get anything from a post, but come back...I may strike a nerve.  You might get something back.  I hope there will be times when you realize you're not alone, not the only one.  I hope I will inspire you to go along on your own journey.  I hope you will laugh at some of my mistakes and better yet, learn from them. 

I have found some great ideas, great inspiration and great DIY lessons from other bloggers, which I hope to continue sharing as I go.  I hope my journey continues on a postive path that we meet up every once in awhile and share how it's going... until then...

Inspiration couch and chair...I got stuck!

I wrote this Wednesday, June 6, 2012 and as I finished, I had another one of those light bulb moments!  Sometimes, I hate when that happens.  I was ready to hit 'publish'.  But that's what happens when something or someone inspires you...or me.  As I worked on this and flipped back and forth between Completely Coastal, the different fabrics, Pinterest and my pictures, I got an idea!  The juices were flowing!


Fantastic  post from Completely Coastal and at the right time!  As I have mentioned before, as I redo my living room, I also want to recover the couch and chair.  In this post here, I went looking back for the measurements of the fabric I like and it was out of stock!  What a difference a day can make! 

That was last night and this morning was this fabulous post:  Upholstering a Chair Coastal Style!  I am so excited!!  I can't thank Completely Coastal enough.  For those of you who may not realize it, there is allot of effort and work that goes into such a post!

I am not, although it would be easy enough, going to repeat and share all the good pictures and information.  Go check it out yourself.  What I want to share is what I found that I like for my living room.

Here's what I have:

My $5 Thrift chair!
By the way, that's the panelling throughout before painting.

And this is what I like from Brick House Fabrics:

A nautical fabric with ships, birds, seashells, and documents with script! This nautical fabric has a weathered, beach look.. perfect for any cottage from Nantucket to France!
A background with documents, compass roses, post marks, and script is covered with rectangles printed to look as if they were basket woven, with pieces of old letters mounted on them. The background's writing is mostly in French, but the occasional English address and postal stamp is also there.
The papers that are mounted have ocean and beach motifs- an anchor, birds, starfish, a seashell, and a sailing vessel. It is as if someone drew the pictures atop pieces of deckle edged letters, and then mounted them to a heavier basket weave material. Other nautical motifs on the background tie the whole together. There are two different compass roses, a shell, and an official stamp with an anchor that reads Maritime something, and then Service A La Mer.
It is as if the background is made up of the correspondence from a Frenchman in the French maritime service to someone in London. Are the mounted letters part of them? Did the receiver draw the pictures? Or are they the return letters to the Frenchman who used them as drawing paper? Another intriguing documentary script fabric!
The colors used are navy blue, muted dusty sky blue, buff golden beige, muted brown, pale grey, rusty orange, and charcoal. There has been over-printing, and blending, so many other colors are seen. The background is oatmeal with fleck. The effect from a distance is of blues from navy to pale with brown, and golden beige on oatmeal.
This fabric is 55 3/4" wide. The basket woven rectangle with the sandpiper, the speckled bird, is just over 10 1/4" ( 26.035 cm. ) wide and about 9 1/2" ( 24.13 cm. ) tall. This is a mid-weight home decorating fabric. It has nice drape. It has a matt, dry look and feel. It is perfect for curtains, cushions, totes, etc.
This is for a yard cut.  $24.00/yd

It is very similar to the fabric I like but the difference in price ($24 vs $7.69) is making me stand back and look some more.

and for $6.99, this was on Beverlys.com:

It has the elements I like, including sand pipers, but bluer than the others, and I'm wondering if it will look too busy.  What do you think?

So this is where the post was going to end when the light bulb moment came.  So I put this on hold so I could try my idea out...



So here's what I'm thinking...for now...

I have enough material to recover the 'front' of each of the 4 large back pillows on the couch.  Although it doesn't really GO with the colors, it will freshen it up for NOW.  It buys me time to look for fabrics that I really want and not feel like I am settling...not under pressure.  I feel better already.  I've been stuck in this spot...now I can move on.

the journey continues!

OK.... so what do you think??

Some days I just do a quick run through and other days I actually look one after the other on Home Talk.  Today I got stuck there and came across just what I was thinking about for the bedroom but also an idea that may work for the hall.

Take a look:

Anita Roll Murals (Alpharetta, GA)

Atlanta designer Angela Hogan had raw wood applied to the bed wall and then I used a three step aging process to get a weathered look that also incorporated the dominant colors in the bedding. The builder was worried at first but loved it after all the painting and decor was in place. Beazer Homes/ Houston, TX

You can see some of the raw wood just to the left of the lamp.

Luckily, Anita shared her DIY...... link on HomeTalk

Okay here goes... Sand the wood if necessary before applying to the 

wall. My first step was brushing on a wash of grey paint which I mixed up into a bucket. I had rags ready to catch drips and actually rub into the wood to cover the raw wood but allow the natural grain and imperfection to show through. Next I lightly drybrushed a cream color over the grey wash using a wide brush (old worn out brushes work best) and allowing the grey to show through. It should be streaky looking. Next and most importantly I brushed the burnt orange color onto a sanding block and very lightly skipped it along the wood. The paint should not be too thick on the block or it will add to much at once on the wood. Start by very lightly touching the sanding block to the wood and run it along the edges of the planks and in the middle of the wood here and there. Experiment on extra planks to get the feel of it. Sanding blocks can be found at any hardware store.

The possibilities are endless...I'm thinking the ceiling too!!  I could go crazy and have a "beach shack" look everywhere!  LOL

One more thing.  If you want to get those crazy creative juices flowing, check out her website too

here and on Houzz here.

...it's part of the journey.

Need some advice?

I wrote another piece about Ocean Styles Beach Decor, What is your Ocean Style?, in case you missed it.  It has some wonderful inspiration and products from them that I hope you will check out.

Who couldn't use some advice?!  Especially when it is coming from the OCEAN and/or the SUN!!

I love these pillows!  Besides the fact that they would go so nicely in my living room (my forever project, it seems!), whatever way I go with my bedroom they would go nicely there too!  They combine my love for the beach with positive reinforcement.

I saw this post the other day and went back again today and thought, "I have to share these with you...":

Ocean Styles Beach Decor

Tuesday

We have two brand new pillows just listed today - Advice From The Sun and Advice From The Ocean. I love their charming word play "advice" printed on the reverse side. Find them here:

http://www.oceanstyles.com/throw-pillows/advice-from-the-ocean-pillow-p-2348
http://www.oceanstyles.com/throw-pillows/advice-from-the-sun-pillow-p-2347

I love these pillows!  They would be great for a gift too!  We all know someone who could use a little advice or two!

Who couldn't use advice from the SUN?

Look on the Bright Side! 

Rise to the occasion.

Keep it light.  Set your sights high.
Renew your energy. 
Keep a sunny disposition
Be Brilliant!!

Or advice from the OCEAN?

Take Time to Relax and Coast

Be sure of yourself.
Come out of your shell.
Avoid pier pressure.
Sea life's beauty.
Don't get tide down.
Make waves!

And that, my explorers, is my advice for this stage of the journey...

Knock Off Anthropologie Jute Hurricane Lantern

On June 1st, Hurricane Season started... again.  Since I moved to Florida, every year I prepare for the season, praying that I will make it through.  Every year since, I have been very lucky!  My thought on the matter is: if I prepare and I'm ready, all will be fine.  Every year I prepare a little more.  I just have to remember to check the dates on my canned goods.  I read that someone donates all their canned goods in November that haven't been used.  I think that is a wonderful idea, and will keep that in mind this year.

What brings this all about is the post below I saw on Facebook.  What a wonderful idea and good looking too, way to be prepared.  Even other storms knock out the lights (and accidents)... and just for atmosphere, these would be wonderful inside and out.  I can wait to make my own... one or two... three or four...!!!

I do hope you will take a look and spread some love on her blog and Facebook page!




Hymns and Verses: Knock Off Anthropologie Jute Hurricane Lantern: So here's my inspiration, an outdoor jute hurricane lantern from Anthopologie.  It sells for $38.  I made mine with things I had on hand...

Moving right along...sorta

Yesterday, I had such great plans... as I do so many days.  After checking in with everything and playing a couple of rounds of Words with Friends with my niece who is expecting her second baby (a girl this time) and on bed rest.

I haven't been feeling great these days but finally  decided that I would venture out and do a couple of errands.  After getting "dressed" and ready to put on my flip flops, it started thundering...ground rumbling and shaking thunder... and then came the rain!!  No flip flops, no going out.

So I did this instead:

I did hang things before finishing painting.  On the left side wall, I had spray painted LiveLaughLove in aqua.  It covered well but as you can see, it just fades away on the wall.  I'll repaint it and the frames white.

I put the electric blanket (plaid) away in the seagrass trunk (not truck!) as well as a quilt and a Nate Berkus blanket.

I want to recover the couch with duck cloth or a simple drop cloth.  I need to measure.  I want to recover the 4 big, back pillows of the couch with the following material... 2 and 2...

I'd love to re-do the whole couch with this...
but for now... 2 big pillows will do.
Tidepool

and 2 pillows of this...
Seagrass

 But when I just went looking for it, it is out of stock.

Just my luck!!  Back to the drawing board.

This is the idea for the sofa cover and wing back chair.
Annabellea drop cloth sofa; here.

Today looks like more of the same...

Southeast Corner Garden Plan - Lowe's Creative Ideas

Southeast Corner Garden Plan - Lowe's Creative Ideas
To create this bed, place a stake at the inside corner of the existing bed and attach a string to it. Stretch the string to one corner. Then swing the taut string across the lawn to the other corner, and mark this arc with spray paint. The result is a deeper bed with a gentle curve. Remove sod, build the edging, and prepare the area with garden soil, compost and soil conditioner.

Remember, tropical plants start small but grow fast in rich soil accompanied by moisture, heat and humidity. Zinnias and sunflowers last longer if you cut the flowers often. When the plants start looking tired, pull them out and replant them for a second round.

PLANT LIST

A) Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum)

B) ‘Lemon Queen’ sunflowers (Helianthus anuus)

C) Ginger lily (Hedychium coronarium)

D) Zinnias

E) Sweet basil

F) Variegated creeping lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus ‘Variegata’)

G) ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard

LOWE'S

While this is a great idea, I have to figure out how to do this on my southeast side but on the northeast side is a perfect corner just like this that I could do something with.

Stay tuned while I figure out what to do where as the journey continues...

Explore further...

Usually I notice exterior doors more than interior doors.  That could simply be that walking or driving by, that's what you see and either it invites you in or not.  I like older doors.  I understand that doors are now made of different materials to withstand the different elements of weather but I don't find that they now have the charm of older doors.  I don't know why they can't design them to look that way.  If you look at doors, especially from a time gone by, there is such charm...the wood, the patina, the hardware!  Some hardware is so ornate but when you actually look at it and it's detail, you have to admire the craftsmanship.

My front and back doors seem to be heavy-ish but hollow with a plastic kind of board over the inside and outside, with a rough surface.  They each have a little widow but you can't see through the yellow plastic rectangle on the front door!  I also have a storm door on the front that has probably been here since 1972!   I love wood screened doors too and would love to find one that fits.  I one I have has been screwed and stripped so I can't get the screws out to replace the screen!  It bugs me so (pun intended) that besides not keeping bugs out, it is no longer serving it's purpose, that I keep thinking about just taking it down.

These days, I am totally attracted to yellow painted wood screen doors with the cottage trim and barn doors, with fabulous black heavy hardware.  I saw a wonderful castle looking door that I'd love for my kitchen but the closest door, the front door, is in the living room. I did think of a barn style slider but that's out of the question right now. Anything extra, is on hold, if it's not a quick, cheap, DIY!  This is the part of the budget where I try to work with what I have.


These are just an example of what is tickling my fancy!

Bath room door from a NH sheep barn.

I love barn doors and I was thinking I could put those thin pieces of wood over the actual door and add hardware to it... more like the white one below.

 A great pocket door but no real reference to its original source.

I just love the pocket door above and all pocket doors.

I like this one for my bedroom room, which is at the end of the hall.  I don't kno what color I'm painting the hall yet but I'd paint this to match.  I think the mirror will bounce more light and hopefully make the hallway wider.

And the screen door that makes me drool can be found here:



Until next time...

Make Your Southeast Garden Sustainable - Lowe's Creative Ideas

I am always looking for information about gardening here.  Even the difference between here and Vero Beach leaves me scratching my head sometimes, but totally different from Long Island, NY.  I am trying to slowly but surely get 'native' plants going and growing here.  I used to do better with containers but the ones I have, I've been trying to get into the ground.





Make Your Southeast Garden Sustainable - Lowe's Creative Ideas


We’d all like to have a more sustainable garden as long as it doesn’t require more time, energy, strength, or money. Here are some ways to make your sustainable garden an enduring one.

Tip 1: Water Wisdom

While I have the best intentions of installing an efficient drip-irrigation system, I haven’t gotten beyond a leaky pipe and a sprinkler. However, I learned a lot a few years ago when watering was restricted due to drought.

• My garden needs less water than I previously thought to survive and grow. I try to group drought-tolerant plants to create areas that seldom need water.
• Watering well once (or twice if the soil is sandy) each week is better than a little bit every day.
• Reducing the water pressure to the sprinkler increases the droplet size and reduces the mist that usually evaporates.
• Watering in the early morning means plants are ready for the heat of the day with minimal evaporation.

Tip 2: Lawn Insights

• Raise the cutting height in summer to prevent the lawn from drying out.
• Use a reel mower for exercise and freedom from noise, fumes, and trips to the gas station.
• Fertilize only enough to support healthy grass, not excessive growth.

Tip 3: Tool Rules

• Buy tools that fit your hands, your height, and your needs.
• Sharpen all blades, including shovels and hoes.
• Use the right tool for the task; for example, use loppers rather than hand shears for a limb larger than your thumb.
• Buy well-made tools for long-term savings and enjoyment.

Tip 4: Good Ideas

• If you have a tree removed, recycle the wood chips for garden paths.
• Compost the easy way by burying non-meat kitchen scraps in empty garden beds.

Tip 5: Go Native

• Often the diehard plants are those that are nature’s gift. Blue phlox reseeds itself in my garden.
• Look to nature for well-adapted plants in problem areas. In a dry bed, eared coreopsis, moss verbena, and bird’s foot violet bloom without care. In a wet zone, sweet bay magnolia, Virginia sweetspire, and swamp hibiscus are thriving.

Really, a sustainable garden is one that belongs to a smart gardener — one who wastes little and uses everything. Have you found ways to be a smart gardener?

Be free in your spirit always...

In a recent morning devotional I read a line that hit me between the eyes. It said: Be free in your spirit always…do not waste your time attaching yourself to hurt and pain. (Joan Anderson)

It has taken me a very long while to be able to say, 'I will not dwell in the past, nor will I waste my time being attached to the hurt and pain.' 

Today is one of those days that my mind wonders and wanders but I am OK.  I was married at 21. My son was born 3 years later.  I remember that day well - like it was yesterday.  He was a cutie.  Six months later his Dad and I separated.  There is so much more to the story, of course, but today is my son's birthday.

1981 My First Mother's Day

As any other mother, that was not given that manual at the hospital or later with the divorce, I made a shit load of mistakes BUT did the best I could with everything I knew, and everything I had, to do the best I could.  To anyone out there: follow your heart.  I was a single parent most of his first 18 years.

During the end of my second marriage, he went to live with his Dad.  From that point, our relationship went down hill.  I always prayed that time was on my side and it would turn around but 12 years later, it hasn't.

I've always been a big card sender.  So in the beginning I'd send a card every Hallmark holiday and then every birthday and Christmas.  In the beginning, I still shopped on birthdays and Christmas.  Then it just became a Christmas ornament.  Every move I made, these wrapped gifts (got boxed up) came along with me.  Every card I sent went unacknowledged.  There were not cards, gifts or even a call to me for my birthday or holidays.

As I started this journey, and started to clean out the shed, I came across these plastic storage bins of unopened wrapped gifts I'd been holding on to for 12 years!

2000 Mother's Day

KEY WORD: holding on!  It is with great sadness, today, I am acknowledging that I must and am letting go. 

From things I hear, I don't know him anymore.  I am not around so it is easy to blame, distort and live in a place of hurt and pain.  But that is not a healthy place for me... I have to set my spirit free.  Moments out of my control are talked about with dates, times and people like it just happened.  Things where I came through are forgotten but that's OK, I did what I could as a mother.  It was my job.

So.... today:
 I wish my son a very Happy Birthday.  I wish him a good life and pray that life is good to him.  "I'll love you forever I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living My baby you'll be." (Robert Munsch)

love ya




meanwhile:

I am that which has emerged from the fire.

A Year by the Sea ~ Joan Anderson

There are people, places and things that can some how grip your soul.  They somehow reach in and you have one 'a-ha' moment after another.  It helps too if you are open and willing to see yourself and take a chance to move forward.  I was at that time in my life and my journey had just taken a zig instead of a zag and I was so searching... who the heck am I going to be when I grow up? who the heck am I? what am I going to do?

Do you know what I mean?  Joan did!!  And she wrote about it in the book: A Year by the Sea!

I first wrote about her books here.  I guess I needed a refresher!

~ ~

A Year by the Sea ~ Joan Anderson

Overview:

A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman gradually evolved. I didn’t run away to write a book. I was too brain dead to do that. I ran away to get rid of the clutter in my life and listen to what my heart was trying to tell me. My two sons were out of the nest, my husband was pursuing his dreams, and I needed to ask myself some hard questions without relying on the input of others. So I retreated to our Cape Cod cottage (off season) and gradually-- as I walked the beaches, ran into a fascinating mentor, and took a job in a fish market--came up with some unconventional answers for a new life.

It was when my best friends came to visit me and saw how different I was from the person that left them behind that they wanted me to tell them just what I had done to change. With their encouragement I began to retrace my steps and put my thoughts on paper. Several years later my first book, A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman was published.

After 36 rejects and 10 rewrites the book met with tremendous success. Women write to me from all over the world asking, “How did you know what was in my head?” The connection with these women has been more of a reward than I had ever imagined.

Praise for A Year by the Sea
"In this accessible memoir Anderson shares the joy and self-knowledge she found during her time spent in semi-isolation. Through vivid and meticulous observations about the natural world, Anderson makes clear her strong affinity for the ocean, with its changing tides, subtle colors, and burgeoning life."
—Publishers Weekly

"Curling up with this autobiography will refresh readers’ souls and adjust their attitudes. During her year-long separation from family she was able to reestablish her connection to nature and discover new hope. She swam with seals, ran a mini-marathon, worked in a fish market, and earned extra income clamming—activities that gave her the opportunity to shed her image as a family nurturer and allowed her to grow as an independent woman. Anderson’s story reminds readers not to overlook their personal needs. This is a good choice for discussion and a companion piece to Anne Lindberghs’s classic Gift from the Sea."
—Library Journal

If I had to sum it up, it would be more in line with that of the Library Journal.  I lost my job due to the company's bankruptcy in 2008 and wound up disabled due to a work related injury.  I moved basically because of a choice of no other.  I was wrapped up in NOW WHAT'S like an old blanket that I couldn't get out of.  I took this journey with Joan...as her uncertainty lifted, so did mine. I could totally relate as I read her story.  I listened, I laughed, I cried and the end of the book left me wanting more.  Luckily, she has written more. 

I am so appreciative of the sign she left in the fork in the road... the journey continues.

Working on A Wall...

I'm working on a wall...in my living room.  It's been a stormy weekend, so I am putsing around the house from one thing to another.  So this is my inspiration:  Casual Beach Inspired Living Room see this link for before and after photos of the living room below.  There are so many details to see which I love and I love the casual-ness of it.

I am liking the use of letters, IE:  SEA on a photo wall, on a shelf, stencilled on walls and/or pillows, etc.  It's an easy enough up-date.  I can't find it but I saw a gallery wall that had painted letters, NY, among pictures.  I can't remember where "she" was living but she was from New York, and the pictures were of favorite places and people in New York.   I thought it was a wonderful idea and decided to do something similar.  I decided on the letters:  NYC and KSC... they are the same number of letters and I am obsessed with the grounds of Kennedy Space Center and it's Wildlife Refuge.

Here's my wall:

some photos I'm thinking of using

I am painting the letters.  I stained them, but they match the wall too closely, so I am painting over with white and then I will sand some edges.  Easy enough.  One side I will put some NY beach pictures and on the other Florida beach pictures...and the shuttle fly over Patrick's AFB (good-bye) and Statute of Liberty (hello). 

"N" at top of picture fades away

stained, now painting white

I want to give a white coat of paint over the brown wood frame and 2 black shelves for under the picture. 

the way I'm thinking of laying it out

I'm looking forward to pulling it together!  My living room, my journey in pictures, one wall at a time.

Official Start of Summer

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe weekend.  I hope everyone that began their summer with a storm, made it through to sunnier skies this morning.




Coastal Living Magazine has a list of  99 Days of Summer  to live the coastal way.  I am all about lists and started mine on May 1st.  You can check it out here.

Mistake! My attempt at a Decorative Twine Ball...

There are always things that look easy but when I actually do them, they just don't seem to come out right.  Here is one for the record book!

This was going to be so simple!  All I needed was balloons, twine, and white glue and water.  Don't let anyone tell you that it isn't messy... it is very messy!

Follow the directions HERE 

You will want to.

 

not exactly what I wanted...

I didn't exactly pay attention to the directions.  And it was my first time, so what did I know....

• first, I didn't use as much twine as most of the pictures I'd seen;  I don't think that matters;
• to keep the dripping mess to a minimum inside, I clipped them to a bamboo and left them to dry OUTSIDE; that may have mattered;
• I forgot about them till the next day; that could have mattered;
• and this is what I found - a hard jumble @!#!?

I'm not sure whether it was the wind, the air coming out of the balloons, or what but that's what they looked like.  I didn't know what to do so I left them there and after the rain, there was a puddle of white glue and water and straight twine attached to the deflated balloon!

Do as I say, not as I do!!  Follow the directions above - let them dry on a plate or waxed paper.

Do over!

Just a quick post - from inspiration to reality

I am in love with Pinterest... as many of you may be.  You can check out my boards here .


While looking around today and not finding what I was looking for, I did come across something I did like:

Beach Themed Living Room

And from there, I went here: Using Inspiration Photos to Create your Home's Best Look
That's how I get lost; one click to another; read; click and so on.  Without repeating the whole article, I hope you'll read it if you find lots of inspiration but get stuck on how to implement it.

Their 5 Step approach:

1. Break down each imagine...what draws you in.
2. Now that you know what you like, create a mood board.
3. Go shopping with your board; bring real fabrics and paint samples.
4. Put your spin on it...
5. Don't be afraid  to edit.

When I was re-doing my kitchen on Long Island, it was basically from scratch and I wanted to bring in things and the feel of Prague.  I carried around paint samples, cabinet piece for color, paint samples, napkins, curtain valance, tile... each time I added something to the kitchen I added it to my collection so when shopping, I could easily see if it would match.  Even when I thought so, I'd take it home and lay the things out (in the kitchen light) and see if it still matched... Don't take the tags off or throw away packages until you are absolutely sure.  And even then hold on till you have lived with it a while.  One of those recycle shopping bags are good for carrying these things around and easy to grab to go out the door, (many times I left it in the car for shopping).


I painted that kitchen yellow, walls and ceiling and never got over how happy and bright that kitchen was.  I had to paint this kitchen yellow too.  This time, the ceiling and walls and cabinets are a pale yellow, while the cabinet doors are a brighter yellow.  And I am trying to work around things that I have and "put my spin on it".  See my kitchen ideas.

What I am doing now with my living room is burning that Living Room into my brain and putting my spin on it BEFORE going shopping, and will edit as I put it together.  I'm not sure why exactly but I am working in sections.  (Maybe it has something to do with clutter I create due to lack of room and my disability to move what needs to be moved.)  Right now, I have 3 walls painted a brighter aqua color...the ceiling will be the same pale yellow as the kitchen ( they run into each other).  I keep playing (in my head) with the 4th wall.  There is a break-thru on the wall between the living room and kitchen; so I go over whether to just paint the wall the aqua or the lower half aqua and the top yellow or all yellow.  I'll figure it out, meanwhile, I'll keep working on painting wall accessories from black to white (frames, shelves).

Stay tuned as I go along on this journey.
~pat

Practical Tips for Productive Living

Marc and Angel Hack Life - Practical Tips for Productive Living:

From time to time people ask me how I hold my head up so high after all I've been through, and I always tell them the same thing:  

“It's because no matter what, I am a survivor, not a victim.”

Never let go of hope. Remember what you deserve and keep pushing forward. Someday all the pieces will come together. Unimaginably good things will transpire in your life, even if everything doesn’t turn out exactly the way you had anticipated. And you will look back at the times that have passed, smile, and ask yourself,

“How did I get through all of that?”

- via:  Marc and Angel Hack Life

I can, now, relate to this so much!  I remember being told I was a survivor way before I believed it myself.  My mother told me that I came from a stock of strong women, and thinking:

"what the hell does she know?!"

Well, it takes one to know one.  SHE is a survivor!  And there are those that don't even realize it. 

I just called her... I asked her who she sees when she looks in the mirror?  She sees her mother (my grandmother).  I told her, I didn't now what coma I just woke up out of or when it happened but this morning, I was looking in the mirror and looking became staring because I didn't see "me"  I was staring at her!  She use to tell me I look like my father, BUT somewhere along the way I look just like my mother!!  That is NOT a bad thing, just surprised me.

Not what I was looking for but I posted this to Mom's wall with "Thank you!"  Destiny's Child - Survivor

and Christina Aguilera - Fighter

and I wish they all knew my mother or had a mother that kept them from the edge so they would believe they are Fukin' Perfect - (Pink).


It is so good to know not to ever give up hope and things do get better... not how you planned BUT better!

Love ya Mom...have a great weekend!