JANUARY 2011 COTTAGE OF THE MONTH

What better way to bring in the new year than with surprise number one...

I am beside myself with joy that Jennifer at THE OLD PAINTED COTTAGE has selected my home as the JANUARY 2011 COTTAGE OF THE MONTH!



Here's a sneak peek at my home...







Please head on over to THE OLD PAINTED COTTAGE to see the full story and a look at my home.

Thanks Jennifer, it was fabulous working with you! All the best to everyone in 2011!

Hugs,

Shelley

New Year, New Plan: Five-a-Month

A friend of mine has a monthly goal section on her blog. She sets her goals and then reports back as things get done, or don't get done. I like that idea. But she has multiple sections and multiple goals under each section, and is vastly more organized about it than I intend to be (I think she's awesome to do it... I just know myself, and I can do organization in small portions. Too much, and I throw it all out.).

So here's the plan:

• Every month, I will start out the month by posting a list of five goals for that month.
• I will try to be specific, or make them measurable in some way.
• At the end of the month, I will report back about how & if I met those five goals.

If you'd like to join me, I welcome that.

By the way, have I shared with you all the beautiful view we have from our balcony? We live on the 12th floor, and very occasionally, we get a morning like this one a few months ago:

Tonight, we saw some great fireworks shows, and didn't pay a nickle! :)

So, anyway, back to the matter at hand, for January 2011, here are my Five-a-Month goals:

1. I will read or listen to Scripture every day.
2. I will visit two neighbors and get back in the groove of speaking Turkish more frequently.
3. I will read one book about pattern making/clothing design (something I've been wanting to learn about, but haven't made time to read the books yet...).
4. I will continue faithfully doing the "No S Diet".
5. I will take the kids to at least one cultural/arts activity (I'm currently trying to decide between an art exhibit and a classical music concert...) during this month.

I'm going to write these out and clip them to my mirror. If you think this sort of system would be helpful for you, please join me. If not, no pressure! For those bloggers who will participate, here's a way to link up to your post and we can all be in this together. (If you don't blog, but still want to participate, feel free to leave your goals in the comments and then report back with me at the end of the month.)

Blessings to you, and Happy New Year 2011! :)

Salvation Army Find

So, if you live in Northern Virginia and need some fun new things for your home, GO GO GO to the Salvation Army in Leesburg off of Route 7. It's right by the Honda dealership. I have found the greatest things there! They always have beautiful vintage glasses and old mason jars that you can put anything in! I seriously love this particular Salvation Army.

Luckily, it's right by my parent's house, so if they are babysitting for the afternoon, I will try to swing by and see what new things they have. They have great "diamonds in the rough," which is basically nasty furniture seen with the naked eye, but I can usually envision some paint and fabric that can make it pretty. I found a set of white chairs the other day for $4 each!! They were pretty gross and needed a deep clean desperately. The seat of the chair was disgusting and a vinal seat cushion. ugggghhhh. But for $8 for 2 chairs, I threw them both into the back of my car. I came home and went to work. Here they are before:

BEFORE: you can't really see the stains and such. gross.



Look at that cushion! awful.

I cleaned both chairs really well. I then went to Calico Corners in Fairfax and picked this fabric. Calico Corners is pricey and typically around $25 a yard, but I have liked this fabric for some time and since the chairs were so cheap, I bought a nicer fabric. 1 yard of fabric will cover 3 chairs.

AFTER:

I could have also re-painted the chair a fun color, but I do love white. So, I just decided to keep it that color.

The other seat cushion

I am going to leave these chairs in the basement for when I need extra seating. We entertain all the time and when it's really large groups, I end up borrowing folding chairs. I am going to try and collect some good will or salvation army chairs and clean them up, so that I can have extra seating for showers, birthday parties, etc.

I think these would be perfect for an entry way with a little round table in between? $8 you cannot beat!

All you need is a staple gun. Staple each side only once and the fold it like you are wrapping a present. Then staple all the way around. so easy and I have fun in the process. :)

Christmas Morning Breakfast

Every Christmas we have my mother-in-law over for breakfast. I love cooking and eating a hearty breakfast before we open presents. This year I made breakfast burritos:


They were delicious with a little taco sauce. I just scrambled eggs with cooked onion and green pepper. I also made breakfast potatoes with onion and red potatoes with the skins on.

Christmas Eve: Second Course

We usually have shrimp on Christmas Eve, but this year we wanted something different. One of SP's favorite dishes is fettuccine alfredo with sausage.


I used fresh fettuccine and lots of heavy cream and butter. It was delicious, but so rich we only ate half of it.

Fettuccine Alfredo
Slightly modified from Giada De Laurentiis

9 ounces fresh fettuccine
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup grated Parmesan
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Drain.

Stir 1 cup of the cream in a heavy large skillet, then add the butter and cook over medium heat just until the butter melts, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Add the pasta and toss. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, and Parmesan to the cream sauce in the skillet. Add the nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Toss the pasta mixture over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute.

WINTER FLOWERS

Just popping in with a quick post! Thought you might enjoy my winter flowers...



verbena in an old well bucket.


pansies are one of my favs.


sweet alyssum in old terra cotta pots.


pansies and more pansies.


love these pansies in this fab white pot.


what a surprise! more pansies in an old kettle.


luscious lobelia.


bacopa and what else? pansies.


pink pansies.


sweet alyssum on the front patio.

hope you enjoyed the winter flowers! back with a surprise (first of two) soon!

Happy New Year!!

Christmas aftermath and Popular Selling Blog

I would like anyone who has a SELLING BLOG listed with me on this site to let me know if you still want it advertised on my site – I went through today and clicked on every one and some are no longer in service so I deleted those sites.

If anyone has one that isn’t up to date and you don’t want it advertised with me just send me an email  please. I am doing this as a favor and it’s very time consuming for me to go through each one,  if you close your site and don’t let me know.

Other's who do have up to date and working sites are left in the middle of these dead accounts…so just asking please to help me help you .

Thanks, and I so appreciate all of you who are listed – I hope it has helped you just a wee bit.

kmprimitives at yahoo dot com

Now just a couple of Christmas photos of the AFTERMATH of the storm that went through here on Christmas afternoon. 13 people piled in, ate, unwrapped gifts, chatted, laughed and went home pooped.

 

 

 

 

 

Each of the girls got a handmade rag quilt that my niece made – Emily was the only one who asked for one but we got Alex one as well so being it was Emily that asked for it we had Alex open hers up first and I wish you could have seen Emily’s mouth drop – couldn’t get a picture of the disappointment because we were taking pictures of Alex but it was priceless. I wish you could see them up close because the designs are really cool.

 

Finally Emily got hers!

 

And would you believe – I got one too!!!! Doug told my niece to make one for him to give to me so it’s here on the chair behind MaryAnn and Aidan.

Doug, Dan, Brett, Darren

 

 
Brett and Heather

 
Dan and Alex

 
Alex and Jesse

 
Jamie and Alex

Darren, MaryAnn and Aidan

 
 
Emily and Aidan playing in Santa’s suit

The group

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a Happy New Year!

Karen