Our whole family has a had a really rough week....our cute brother who is the father of eight children (7 boys and 1 girl) and only 46 years old was just diagnosed with colon cancer stage 3. After being in excruciating pain for five days and having to go back and forth to the emergency room they finally admitted him into the hospital and found a bowel blockage and immediately got him into surgery and performed a colostomy (removal of part of the intestines ....he now has a bag). The doctor sent the cancer tumor to pathology and then we had to wait for 6 six days to get the results .....and we just found out today that it is stage 3. He will undergo chemotherapy and most likely radiation. It is so hard for all of us to watch this situation unfold and feel helpless. Not only does he have cancer but they have no health insurance, he is self employed with his business not doing very well lately and their home is a wreck as you can imagine...in fact more than you can imagine. Unfortunately cleanliness has not been a priority in their home for a long long time. All last week my mom, step mom and dad spent 2 days trying to clean and scrub to prepare for my brother to come home....unfortunately we did not hardly make a dent. (they are pack rats) I flew home yesterday after being there a week.... but My sister and I will be flying back later this week to continue to help clean, care for the children, hold garage sales and bake sales and anything else we can think of to help them in this time of need. Adversity is a weird thing.....it really brings everyone together, you take check of your own life, you realize what is most important in life and you prioritize your life differently. We have shed gallons of tears but we feel hopeful and know that Heavenly Father is in charge and will help us through it all.
Went to an amazing model home
By The Style Sisters - Saturday, August 23, 2008
I had a chance to pop into a model home in a neighborhood close to me. The house was....amazing! I think it was close to 6,000 Sq. Ft. ...a "Mcmansion"...I think is the current term for it. Waaaay tooo big for me.....But there were a few things I really liked about it and took a few pics to share with all of you. (Click on any of the photos to enlarge them to see the details better)
This kitchen was to die for! The walls were painted that yummy robin's egg blue with white cabinets. There was lots of beautiful trim and crown molding everywhere.
I thought this cupboard was beautifully done with stenciling at the back of the cupboard.
This is a larger view of part of the kitchen. It was just beautiful... You can click on the photos to see it larger.
Here is a picture looking towards the breakfast nook.
Here is one of the bathrooms that was stenciled too. It just looked so nice.
Here was a cute window treatment idea that I really loved. Simple and cute.
This was in one of the upstairs bathrooms! This is a turret (spelling) and they had covered it competely with black and white toile fabric and hung a chandelier from the center.
Hello fellow bloggies! I am busy working on 4 video projects, creating a website for my mom.....amongst a myriad of other things..... so I haven't been able to post any new, fun or creative things. Hopefully soon I will be posting some of my own creative things. In the meantime take a look at this blog Emmilines and tell me if you aren't drooling over the beauty of white!
If you haven't been over to the Dear Daisy Cottage blog (click on the name to go there) you must go now. It is full of deocorating "eye candy" from a little shop she found while traveling in Florida. Called the Rusty Crickett's Costal Cottage.
Look at all the fun goodies in this little shop. I want to be there right now checking it all out.
Doesn't this just feel like summer! Light and airy.....I wish It wasn't so dang hot here in Texas!! Actually today we do have some cloud cover and it has cooled down a bit. The heat just sucks the creative energy out of me. So enjoy this post of others who are very creative.
If your garden is like mine you probably have a ton of basil popping up! Here is a great pesto recipe to make using up your fresh basil.
Unfortunately our garden did not produce one zucchin!! But I know any of you who planted zucchini probably have more than enough. I found this recipe online and thought it sounded good. Another way to use up more of your garden produce.
Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Special equipment needed: A food processor
Method
1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.
Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Special equipment needed: A food processor
Method
1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.
Unfortunately our garden did not produce one zucchin!! But I know any of you who planted zucchini probably have more than enough. I found this recipe online and thought it sounded good. Another way to use up more of your garden produce.
These tasty zucchini muffins would also be delicious with about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans, either in addition to the carrots or to replace them.
INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
PREPARATION:
Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.
In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract.
Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.
Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.
INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
PREPARATION:
Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.
In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract.
Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.
Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.
Breaking Dawn and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate
By The Style Sisters - Saturday, August 09, 2008
Need I say more......
I didn't have any other chocolates laying around so I opened a package of chocolate chips and I am munching away! :)
I am on page 256!!
Isn't this so silly how this has taken everyone by storm! I can't believe how many women are reading this crazy vampire book! When my friend Penny told me about this series last year I was like......a vampire love story? Are you serious?...and you like it?.....and you can't put it down?.....and you can't wait for more?... who knew? I am not a big reader but it sucked me in! I have really enjoyed all the books so far. In fact when they were looking for people to be cast for the roles...Penny found a perfect Jacob!! He works at the dry cleaners by my house...she told me I had to go over there and I would see just how much he looks like the character, Jacob! OH yeah...... she was right on the money.....So much so that I almost called him Jacob to his face!! He looks so much like how he is described in the book. Penny is such a fun friend she makes me laugh all the time.
Let me know if you are a Edward fan or a Jacob fan by voting in my poll at the top of the page....
I didn't have any other chocolates laying around so I opened a package of chocolate chips and I am munching away! :)I am on page 256!!
Isn't this so silly how this has taken everyone by storm! I can't believe how many women are reading this crazy vampire book! When my friend Penny told me about this series last year I was like......a vampire love story? Are you serious?...and you like it?.....and you can't put it down?.....and you can't wait for more?... who knew? I am not a big reader but it sucked me in! I have really enjoyed all the books so far. In fact when they were looking for people to be cast for the roles...Penny found a perfect Jacob!! He works at the dry cleaners by my house...she told me I had to go over there and I would see just how much he looks like the character, Jacob! OH yeah...... she was right on the money.....So much so that I almost called him Jacob to his face!! He looks so much like how he is described in the book. Penny is such a fun friend she makes me laugh all the time.
Let me know if you are a Edward fan or a Jacob fan by voting in my poll at the top of the page....
Okay Pikes Pickles you gave us a challenge to see if we could come up with some ideas for your dining room and this is the first installment of some ideas that we have come up with. Here is a mosaic of some photos that might help to give you ideas as to what might work.
Click on picture to enlarge it.
starting from left to right...
First off we really like your dining room and the furniture. You can really make this room sparkle with just a few small adjustments or go bold with a lot of changes.
picture #1 We thought your dining set looked similar to this one from Pottery Barn! (You are right in style!) But notice in the photo that these chairs are black and have a fun color fabric for the seat cover. We thought it might be fun for you to paint your table, chairs and hutch black!! (if you are not up for painting your set then recover your seats with a fun fabric that has some colors in it that also work with your wall color ) Changing a seat cover is very easy...especially with an electric staple gun, a screwdriver, new fabric and you are pretty much good to go on that.
Picture #2 We picked this photo because we really liked the chandelier with the crystals. To add a little sparkle and frenchyness to your room! You can find chandeliers cheap at thrift stores and all you have to do is spray paint them and add some crystals to it for cheap!! Also take notice of the shudders in the background just leaning up against the wall. So simple and yet makes a nice statement. We liked the rug under the dining set as well as well as the iron decor above the doors.
Picture #3 Yummy fabric ...also from Pottery barn but...you can find deals at lots of other fabric stores. Have you heard of the $2 dollar fabric store? It is chock full of home dec fabric at really low prices! I am not sure where all they have their stores and you might look online. Even Joann Fabrics has a nice selection of home dec fabrics and they are always having sales. Find a fabric that has some color in it that will blend with your wall color but also has some other "POPs" of color in it.
Picture #4 We put this in to show how a hutch type piece of furniture would look black. I know it doesn't really look like yours but it is just to give you an idea of how a large piece of furniture would look black. We love it!
Picture #5 I know what you are thinking ORANGE! but I actually do really love the color and this whole set... but I was looking more at the centerpiece display. Tall skinny topiaries down the center of the table. Very unique and fun and also the rug underneath. Very nice. Have you looked at IKEA for rugs? They are quite reasonably priced and they have a large selection.
Picture #6 I thought this set looked a lot like yours (although I couldn't really see the table). By the way does this table have a leaf in it? Take it out to make the space feel bigger. Also if you don't want your hutch in there is there another place you can put it? Like in your living room or kitchen? We picked this photo to show you how fun it looks with a "POP" of orange fabric on the seats with a nice neutral rug underneath. It really works! Even if you choose not to use the color orange it is to show you how a pop of color can really brighten a room up.
Picture #7 A nice rug. I thought this rug had a similar color to your yellow walls.
Picture #8 Okay this is a picture of your dining room and my sister put it into a drawing program to change things up a bit to show some ideas. This is just for fun. You will notice first off that she removed your paintings and replaced it with a large black frame..(you could put another print in it or a nice mirror) she also added your fleur de le on the mantel, some funky flowers that she drew in, and some books. Hopefully you can enlarge these photos to see it better. She also painted two of your chairs black so you can see that as well. Tiffany also changed up your plate display by adding more to it to make it have more of an impact. It is always better to go big with a plate collection otherwise it gets lost on a large wall. You can find white plates and platters at a myriad of places like TJMAXX, BIg Lots, Ikea etc... Cheap but can really make an impact.
Picture #9 We would use a much fuller curtain for some ooompf. I love my curtains in the check fabric..but I also love stripes....big stripes! I like the tassle wrapped around the curtain for a nice tie back. My fabric is kind of a taffeta material so it does have a certain poof to it especially when you puddle them on the floor. I belive the curtains pictures are silk and would do the same thing.
Also I think your paintings that you currently have in the room would probably work much better in your living room, office or Den. Make them more of a focal point in those rooms.
What about a good sized beautiful urn with a real topiary in it for your bay window? That could be really nice.
Help me decide what to do next with my house.
By The Style Sisters - Thursday, August 07, 2008
Okay all my blogger friends I need your advice....After looking at my photos of my living room and dining room and re examining them from a different perspective and checking some of the other awesome blogs that are out there....like nestingplace I have decided that I think I might need some toile! Look at nestingplace's family room/dining/kitchen photo below. I LOVE THIS ROOM NESTING PLACE!! We both are using similar colors...red, yellow, black and white.
I love the combination of checks and toile and the black plaid. It looks so cozy and inviting.
I also love Nesting place's white cupboards in her kitchen. Mine are kind of a creamy color...I don't think you can tell by the photo. I really want to paint the cupboards white white but I don't know how well it will look with the beige colored granite counter? I think it could really come alive with a toile fabric curtain treatment in the window to warm it up. The walls are wallpapered in the red color....if you look closely there is a pattern in it...red on red. It is actually quite fun....it was here when we moved in. Kind of like a toile pattern!
My wanna-have, wanna-be hutch look (the cheap way)..... Made with Ikea shleving and lots of black and white dishes. With a few extra accessories she came out looking pretty cute don't you think?
This is the (Ikea) family room which has the softer colored green sofa...since all these rooms look into each other I couldn't very well go with a different color scheme like robin's egg blue could I? 
I think I am overdosing on the red but I don't what else to do. I was actually contemplating getting white slipcovers to go on this sofa and go for black and white only getting rid of the green...but I have a large chocolate brown labrador that likes to rub up against the sofa and so it would be dirty from the get go! So I decided to nix that idea right out of my head. I know what you are saying put the dog outside but she is just so sweet and loveable I just can't do it! We had another lab once upon a time ago and he drowned so we are now more attached to this one...long story.
Lastly this is my office...black and white with one yellow pillow. I made the curtains with some black fabric and added the toile fabric chunk to the very top of the curtains. It added alittle sumpin sumpin to it. Of course I am not going to show the other side of the room which is a total wreck...you only get to see the pretty part. :)
So there you have it gals.....what would you do if you were me? Would you add some toile? Scrap it all and start over?, Just enjoy it the way it is? Get rid of anything? I really want some advice and I know you are all just dying to give me some. :)
I love the combination of checks and toile and the black plaid. It looks so cozy and inviting.Notice her black chairs around the white dining table (I have a similar look below) but my yellow walls looks yucky in the photos. It looks like it has some green in it!! It does not look like this in real life....I promise. Maybe I should repaint it a softer yellow tone? Won't my husband be thrilled to hear this..."another painting project?"
I also love Nesting place's white cupboards in her kitchen. Mine are kind of a creamy color...I don't think you can tell by the photo. I really want to paint the cupboards white white but I don't know how well it will look with the beige colored granite counter? I think it could really come alive with a toile fabric curtain treatment in the window to warm it up. The walls are wallpapered in the red color....if you look closely there is a pattern in it...red on red. It is actually quite fun....it was here when we moved in. Kind of like a toile pattern!My wanna-have, wanna-be hutch look (the cheap way)..... Made with Ikea shleving and lots of black and white dishes. With a few extra accessories she came out looking pretty cute don't you think?I think I am overdosing on the red but I don't what else to do. I was actually contemplating getting white slipcovers to go on this sofa and go for black and white only getting rid of the green...but I have a large chocolate brown labrador that likes to rub up against the sofa and so it would be dirty from the get go! So I decided to nix that idea right out of my head. I know what you are saying put the dog outside but she is just so sweet and loveable I just can't do it! We had another lab once upon a time ago and he drowned so we are now more attached to this one...long story.Lastly this is my office...black and white with one yellow pillow. I made the curtains with some black fabric and added the toile fabric chunk to the very top of the curtains. It added alittle sumpin sumpin to it. Of course I am not going to show the other side of the room which is a total wreck...you only get to see the pretty part. :)
So there you have it gals.....what would you do if you were me? Would you add some toile? Scrap it all and start over?, Just enjoy it the way it is? Get rid of anything? I really want some advice and I know you are all just dying to give me some. :)
MAKING DO WITH THRIFT STORE FINDS!!
Rhoda at Southern Hospitality is hosting a party and showing all our favorte thrifty finds. Here are a few of mine.
Rhoda at Southern Hospitality is hosting a party and showing all our favorte thrifty finds. Here are a few of mine.
I recently found this photo of my living room before I added some color by sewing up some drapes in a plaid fabric of bright yellow, red and green. In this photo you can also see that there was some blue and white wallpaper in the dining room (I think it had some peacocks in the pattern) I painted right over the wallpaper!! It is funny to look at these two rooms and how they used to look.....don't get me wrong.....I really do like white rooms...... if there is also a lot of texture to go with it like.... wood floors, woven baskets, rugs and some other punch of color. I think the reason I did like this room is because this room has white carpet (who in their right mind would put white carpet in a room is a mystery to me. I did not do this!! it was already here when we moved in by the way).
You can see that I camoflaged the white carpet with this fun red, yellow and green wool rug from TJ MAXX. The sofa and club chair (in the forefront of the picture) were from a garage sale as well as the coffee table and side table. Those two tables were originally a pale yellow color and I painted them black.
Here in the dining room I painted over the blue and white wallpaper with a yummy golden yellow and also added more drapes in the same plaid fabric. I just used some left over fabric to throw on the table. (I am trying to decide if I want to paint the table black) This is my favorite thrifty find!!The black piece of furniture in the back (the sideboard) was a yucky old dresser at a thrift store that I bought for $25.00 and painted it black. 
The photos above the sideboard are french pictures from a calendar framed in old oak frames that my sister had in her room when she was a little girl! The chandelier was orginally brass that came with the house and we took it down and spray painted it black. A whole new look for the cost of a couple of cans of spray paint.
But now....I am thinking I might want to change up all the colors...... Since I have recently painted our bedroom that yummy robin's egg blue color with black furniture... it is so refreshing. If I do change this all up it will be a major project and I just don't think I want to tackle it right now. But maybe I could change a few things up for now.....maybe new artwork, paint the table black, add a rug in the dining room, find another coordinating fabric to add some variety......hmmmm what do you think?
While on our trip to St. Thomas I noticed many women dressed in their little sun dresses, bikini's, short shorts, tank tops and other beach wear. Some of the women dressed this way were blessed to have rock hard bodies and looked very nice in their beach attire. Others were actually quite large and were wearing these form fitting skin showing outfits, some were very tall and thin and not a curve in sight. But the one commonality between all these women I noticed is...... that each of them were enjoying their vacation......no matter their size, height, amount of wrinkles or no wrinkles, bra size, curviness or lack their of....some were with very good-looking men and some were with the average looking Joe. Some of these women were single young women with their significant other, some were young mothers with their all little children around them, some were with their teenagers, some were probably even great grandmothers with all their wrinkles being shown off in pride. As I looked around I realized that you choose to make life what you want. .....Just because some women have been blessed with bodies that men adore are they happier than any of the rest of us? I say no!...it all depends on the person , their personality and their outlook in life. Not on how they look on the outside that determines how much joy they can have in life. So my advice to you gals, not that anyone asked....... but go out and enjoy life to the fullest no matter your shape or size, find that bright colored nylon/spandex piece of fabric that is shaped like a tube and plop yourself into it and hit the beach, pool or even your own backyard!
Have fun, be a kid again .....don't wait around for that perfect bathing suit body before you go out and experience the fun things in life. Just go out!!
Have fun, be a kid again .....don't wait around for that perfect bathing suit body before you go out and experience the fun things in life. Just go out!!
