Opulent Cottage

27 Years

Today I celebrate 27 wonderful years with this guy. 

 

He is my rock. He is my calm after the storm, the voice of reason in my sea of life's insanity. His love makes everything I do worthwhile. 

I have never known this more than I do today. He is the real treasure in my life, this easy going, quiet guy who is so giving and patient. To his wife, his daughter, and so many others. 27 years ago I could never have realized how much sweeter love becomes, when as a couple you have been through life's trials, shared every heartbreak, and savored the victories together.

No crazy, crowded dinner out for us here tonight. Just a quiet night, enjoying each other and thinking about all the joys our life together holds. I'll be so content with a nice home-cooked dinner and maybe a small fire in our back yard. Enjoying being with my man. Grateful for every thing we have together. 

Love you, Maurie. Forever.

Our New Girl

Last week I told you all that Maurie brought a super-special surprise home after cleaning out his parents' house. Here she is! Meet Ginger, our new little furry bundle of joy --

This sweet girl showed up at her former home one day out of nowhere. Maurie's mom had never really been a big fan of felines, but this one had her at meow. She's a lovey, rubbing, purring little sweetheart, weighing in at barely 7 pounds! She looks like she's a good size in these photos, but believe me, it's all fur. Her teeny-tiny meow goes right along with her diminutive figure. 

Funny this is, right after his mom took her in, she figured out that Ginger was expecting. And sure enough, soon after, she delivered 5 little kittens, all boys. I never got to see them, and I just can't imagine this tiny cat having 5 little babies! All found good homes, and Ginger was a loving companion to Maurie's mom to the end. 

She sure does love the camera! The cellphone, too. I have been texting photos of her to Abby every day. She seems to just come running every time I pull my iPhone out!

There's only one member of our family who is not exactly happy with this new arrangement . . .

It's only been a few days, and we're hopeful that each day will get a little better, and soon they will be the best of friends. 

Thanks for coming by to see our new girl!

I'm joining

Claudia's A Favorite Thing at Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

The Final Stretch

Hi! I have about 8,000 things I should be doing right now, but I wanted to pop in and say that I sure do miss you guys! I can't really photograph a single thing in my house right now, because it's filled to the brim with the carnage from the last month's events. Fun stuff, I gotta say. So I'm just going to share some random snaps, and random thoughts.

 

 

Graduation is in one week, and things are really rolling along. There's a sort of perpetual frenzy due to all of the events going on, but at the same time, a peacefulness that settles in, knowing that we made it. All the fun, all the fretting, all the work, it all paid off, and we're about to cross the finish line. There's nothing left to do but enjoy the last of it, and go to parties. And banquets. And cookouts. Goodness, I have never seen so many parties, and everyone's just getting warmed up.

 

 

Our musical truly was the most fun yet. Thoroughly Modern Millie was a 1967 movie, starring Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing. It came to Broadway in 2002. Set in the 1920s, it's filled with great dancing, lots of flapper dresses, and plenty of lighthearted comic lines. I loved making Abby's gorgeous dresses for the show. 

 

Abby played the villainness, Mrs. Meers, with total hilarity. It was such fun that I almost didn't cry at the end of the four performances, seeing my daughter take her final bow on her high school stage. Almost. 

 

 

I only got a few horrible snaps of the prom. I was rushing, and preoccupied, and we had hundreds of teens and parents show up at White Rock Lake for pre-prom pictures. It was crowded and chaotic, but so fun. I need to hit up Abby's FB page to see if her friends got better pictures than I did.

This dress was definitely one of the most challenging I've ever made. It's this pattern. She loved it. I have a whole new respect for pattern designers. 

I learned something really helpful last month at Hobby Lobby. Did you know that if they don't have enough of an item you're looking for, they will order it in? And still give you the sale price when it arrives? So for prom, I was able to get 10 urns, 20 large palm leaves, 30 zebra feather balls, a dozen packs of curly willow, all of the needed styrofoam and moss, and barely topped $300. My order arrived in three days, too. I love that place.  

At the dance, each table had a different brightly colored tablecloth, which I unified with tall arrangements to fill some of the space in the 14 foot tall ceilings. I ordered feathered and sequined masks to put at each table, too. (Our theme was Carnivale.) The kids all went out to eat dinner, so we had a chocolate fountain at the dance, and a gourmet soda bar. Can I just tell you that those fancy sodas cost more than beer and wine?! The kids were so sugared up by the end of the dance that they were up all night. 

 

 

And yes, we did use the tin can arrangements!! At the end of setup on Friday, I had florals left over, but no containers, and we had spent our entire budget. We were able to make nine more centerpieces with what we had! I have quite a few ziploc bags of tomatoes in the freezer now that need to be used.

 

 

Did you all have a nice Mother's Day? We ate, and ate, and worked in the yard a little. Just what the doctor ordered.

I hope all is well with you all in blogland, and I must say I'm really looking forward to catching up. I feel a little out of sorts when I haven't spent time with my peeps. But I'll have to tackle at least some of my 426 unread emails before I can hang out with you all for long :)

Wish me luck! Have a great week! Love, Andrea

Homecoming Week

Last week was our (final) Homecoming Week (sob) at our daughter's high school. It's an extra big ordeal for the seniors, and they do it up with a bang. I feel liked we raced through the events, just trying to get it all done. But now that it's over, we can relax and relish the experience. Here are just a few photos to share with you all. Warning: insane amount of photos coming!

Every day of Homecoming Week has a different costume theme:

Twins Day

Decade Day

Super Hero Day. Abby chose to be Justin Beiber (???) At least everyone now knows that she looks like someone other than Miley Cyrus. Even her theater director didn't recognize her!

We have a community pep rally and parade every year. So fun!

Captains Sami, Abby and Nely

The Seniors

The Juniors

Wildcats! The cheerleaders all got those cute garter mums to wear for the parade and football game.

And here they are with their senior mums. You wouldn't believe the collection we have going of these things after four years of high school.

Here's a bad grainy photo of a super-amazing stunt! And we won, 29 - 7.

Every year our class has gathered before the dance to take group photos. It's mayhem, and just so fun.

They all looked so amazing. And no one had the same dress!

 

Abby with some of her besties.

With "our boys," the project group from junior year. We have unofficially adopted them as our own. 

 And last, the three of us

Thank you for stopping by! I hope everyone is having a good week.

Love, Andrea

A Citrus Themed Birthday for a Special 17 Year Old

I know I promised to post this last week, but I was totally sidetracked by the most fun adventure ever -- Paper Cowgirl!! That's another whole post (or two) in itself, and I can't wait to tell y'all about it.

But on to the birthday! Our girl turned 17, which we can hardly believe, and wanted a simple dinner with a few dear friends. She said "low-key, Mom, no big deal this year," like she thinks that I know how to do that. But I did vow to be as resourceful as possible, using things we already owned.

 

The inspiration for this table was this adorable print tablecloth, which was a duvet cover in its former life. It totally suits my contemporary teen, and is one of the few things around here that suits her modern taste!

 

We cobbled together place settings for eight, wondering along the way, where exactly do forks and spoons go, when they go missing from service for eight? Not ones to worry, we mixed and matched until plates and flatware and glassware all came together. Given our theme of using what we already had, I resisted the urge to run out and buy another box of the famed Gibson stoneware! Last, we added packages of Lemonhead candy for cheer and a simple party favor.

 

 

I chose vintage pressed glass, laid out in a somewhat modern line, for the center of our table. Some found orange and green plaid ribbon brought our citrus theme to the table. They were simply wrapped and taped around the pillar candles (low enough to be sure that they wouldn't catch fire). They looked so pretty when lit!

 

 

 

Key limes continued the citrus theme, lining a bowl for our centerpiece. We did purchase one white mum plant from my favorite dollar store, and cut it apart to create the low centerpiece. A few simple paper flowers made from crepe paper accented our arrangement. And I was finally able to use this vintage flower frog that I bought at a yard sale last year!

 

 

 

The flipside of this former duvet had been used on a client project, and only a bit of the fabric remained. It made a great table runner for the buffet in our (yet unfinished) dining room. Then we broke out the ribbon and crepe paper, and the room really became a party!

 

We added a candelabra and a plate rack, which left room for cake and presents to be added later.

 

 

How fun is this mirror adornment? Totally copied from an Amy Atlas party. Some heavy string, hung betwen two nails, was draped with crepe paper and curling ribbon. The girls loved it!

 

Our sweet girlies had such fun, and I was so glad that we had taken the extra time to make our dinner a bit more festive.

 

 

Thank you for coming by to see our special day! I'm linking to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday and Nita's Mod Mix Monday

 

 

The Show

 

Well hello, everyone! This morning I thought I would share with you a glimmer of what our past days have been. For me, a days-long collage of fabrics, trimmings and glitter. Visual inspiration, creative energy and tactile stimulation. As a crafter, it’s the best ever! For Maurie, many evenings and weekends of construction, priming, painting, sawing, and anything else that needed to be done to create the elaborate set. For the kids, it’s a grueling 2 months of juggling practice with sports, homework and lack of sleep. And more fun than they have ever had in their lives. Exhausted, but still witty and gracious, they were endlessly entertaining. I love them.

 

I'm afraid that these are all cluttered backstage photos, with fluorescent-lit hallways, your garden variety 80 year old American high school. But I love it, too. We’re a lucky bunch of folks to have a school that is steeped in such rich performing arts tradition.

 

Do you remember the story? Here come the zillion photos, folks! This old beggar woman (also known as Abby Haywood!)

 

Becomes this lovely enchantress

 

Who turns a spoiled prince into a Beast

 

And his staff into plates

 

Forks and spoons

 

Mrs. Potts becomes a tea pot

 

Cogsworth transforms into a clock

 

Lumiere into a candlestick

 

Madame de la Grande Bouche becomes a dresser

 

And Babette a feather duster

 

With her can-can dancing little feather dusters

 

Along comes Belle

A few villagers are in the story

 

Lefou

 

Gaston and Monsieur D’Arque

 

And Belle helps him become a Prince again at the end!

 

The staff return to their human selves, also.

 

Thank you all for indulging me in this story! It’s back to real life for us here now, gardening, cleaning, cooking, crafting and tablescaping, and I’m really looking forward to it. I have missed you all!

 

Happy Monday!

Love, Andrea

Homecoming, Again

Here in Dallas, it’s customary for schools to allow their students to ask a date from another school. Abby has been asked again, so we get to do it all one more time!!

 

At this school, the homecoming festivities began with the girls bringing a “lunch basket” to their guys. Abby thought that filling a tool box with lunch and goodies would be a fun and clever idea. What guy wouldn’t love a toolbox full of candy and chips? Abby’s date loved it, thought it was really witty, and it was the only tool box there, which he loved.  

 

 

 

When we got to the school, we could hardly believe our eyes. The baskets filled an entire hallway of the spacious school.

 

 

These girls are super creative! The Seniors really go all out.

 

 

 

Look at this football mum! She might fall over, wearing this gigantic thing! Her date made it himself.

 

The mum she made for him turned out really well. They all wear them to school on the day of the game, then to the game that evening.

 

Abby’s man is on the team, so she cheered him on with friends in the crowd. Her friend is a senior, so her mum is all white. Isn’t it just gorgeous?

 

Another fun Homecoming!

 

 

Homecoming

Mums ….

 

Friends ….

 

Party dresses ….

 

And flowers ….

 

So much fun!

 

Heirloom Party

There’s an heirloom party today! What fun. I have only a few pieces that I would consider heirlooms, and I would love to show them to you.

 

My paternal grandmother, Alice Doria, was a brilliant painter. This gorgeous painting of hers hangs in my dining room. It is THE focal point of the room, and my very favorite piece of art ever.

 

 

I went to my neighbor’s yard sale one morning, and she was selling this ornate frame, for $5. It was stashed in our attic for awhile, as I had nothing to put in it. When Mom moved to the condo-cottage, she gave me Grandma’s painting. I was thrilled when I realized it fit inside of that frame – perfectly!

 

 

I did make a mistake when I painted the original wood frame a dark green. It was white before, and now it needs to be white again. Grandma really did know best!

 

 

Grandma painted this portrait of me when I was little. We bought this ornate frame for each other for Christmas a few years back, and it was originally intended for Abby’s portrait. And still will be, but until then, I just hung my portrait inside of the bigger frame.

 

 

Sitting on a shelf on my desk is this block puzzle that Grandma made for me. Each side of the blocks has a different handpainted or decoupaged scene. I love this piece more than almost anything else that I own. I am already planning the ones I will make for my own, future grandchildren! Never could I have imagined, as a child, that in my adult life this handmade toy would hold such meaning. I treasure this so much more now, as an adult who can understand the love that went into it. I keep it above my desk, a daily reminder of my destiny, to have such an affinity for creating and to feel so blessed to be a part of this wonderful, inspired culture.

 

 

Thank you Marie, for letting us show our treasures and tell the stories about them!

Asleep

As a parent, you always hope that they fall asleep reading….

 

 

Instead of texting …

 

 

Thank you, J. K. Rowling.