Cheap Beach Towels

Hi all,
I forgot to show you these. I bought them a little while back from Walmart. Only $5 each. Pretty cheap I have to say for cute lobster towels.

Yeah!! Tomorrow is Friday. Get together with co-workers after work. Should be fun.

Linda

Please say a prayer

Today when I went to work my co-worker begins to tell me about her daughter. She is 27 soon to be 28 and is in heart failure. It is the craziest thing. She says to me "Linda my daughter is going to die" Oh girls we were both crying. I have worked with my co-worker for 7 years now and my heart just breaks for her. She has 4 children and this is her oldest. Her daughter a while back started working for a cardiologist and the doctor likes to put his staff through some of the same tests the patients have to go through so they understand how the patient feels. Well in doing this they discovered some problems and over the last several months have been running tests, trying new medications etc. But the tests this week just showed things getting worse. I guess the news now is that she has an ejection fraction of less than 40% and her heart rate at rest is 160!!. The doctor told her she could have a heart attack at any time. Can you believe this she is 28. Of course she is hysterical and can't believe this is happening to her. They are saying they could do a valve replacement on the one side of the heart but it is the other side that they say is basically dying and there is no way to do surgery there. They have even talked about a heart transplant. This poor girl. She is very pretty & fun loving. Her mom is always telling us about all the boyfriends her daughter is dating and how they can't keep track. We have laughed at so many funny stories and now she is going through this. Please say a prayer for her and her family they really need the prayers right now. Her name is Lori.


Thanks,

Linda

We are back with lots of blueberries

On Saturday we headed to Michigan to get some blueberries. We came back with 20lbs! We ate a bunch, the hubs made a blueberry pie that was delicious and then we froze the rest. Freezing them on cookie sheets so that the blueberries freeze individually works really well if you have never tried it. Here are some shots with the new camera. It worked pretty well and has great zoom. Loads better than my other camera anyways.

On the drive back to Chicago we also stopped for lunch in St. Joseph, MI

On the right in the picture picture below they are building an outdoor carousel.

And last but not least here is our Sammy dog smiling for the camera.

Hope you all are having a great week.

Linda

Taking a Day Trip

Morning all. We are off for a day trip to South Haven, MI http://www.southhaven.com/ today. My husband likes to get Michigan blueberries every year. What we can't eat we freeze and use all year long. We would normal stay over but this time we are taking Sammy our dog with us. He always gets left behind and looks so sad when we leave. I will attempt to take some pictures with my new camera too. Yesterday a package came for my husband. I later found out it was a present for me. My sweet husband ordered me a new camera just because. Isn't he the nicest. My husband said he knows I take a lot of pictures and wanted me to have a better camera. He was so happy it came before today so we could take it with us. I haven't had time to read the manual yet but I will wing it. Oh and he also got me a 4GB card. Girls I can take a lot of photos with this baby.

Have a great Saturday.

Linda

I need your advice.

First of all I am off work tomorrow. WOO HOO!! Work has been so busy and I went in last Saturday. Yes I know Saturday so that is why I am taking tomorrow off. Yippy!! O.K. now that I got that out of my system. On to things. A few weeks ago my husband surprised me with these cute natural Adirondack chairs.

He tells me he decided on the natural because he will stain or paint them what ever color I want. My problem, I can't decide what to do. He thought for sure I would want one pink and one green. He knows me so well. Yes that would be fun but would I want something a little more neutral. I just don't know. Should I have him paint them a color or just stain them. Girls please help. As you can see they are still sitting in the sun room waiting to have something done before they go outside. I am obviously over thinking this HELP.

Linda

L.L. Bean has captured me again

Look what came yesterday. L.L Bean sent me a $10 off coupon and I just can't let that go to waste. I really wanted those new argyle totes but I had to talk myself out of it. I have SO MANY purses and bags it is out of control. So I decided to go with another one of the vacation land rugs. I had ordered the sailboat one earlier this year for the North Carolina house and just loved it!! My husband couldn't believe how nice it was. I ended up putting that in one of our guest rooms there it was so cute. So I ordered this one also for North Carolina and will maybe put it at the front door but I am still deciding. They have added some new ones too. I like the cardinal and the moose rugs as well but these are more wintry. If you have never ordered one of these rugs I would highly recommend them. They are great quality and are even cuter in person.

Linda

Costco treat

The other day when my hubs and I were at Costco we sampled these.

They are super yummy. I like having little fruit snacks but the ones from the stores usually are filled with corn syrup but these are all natural. Have any of you tried these? I will have to go back and get another bag of these to keep in my desk at work when I need a little snack.
Linda

Monogram giveaway

Tales of a Short Southern Momma http://shortsouthernmomma.blogspot.com/ is having a cute giveaway. Make sure to go over and sign up. Who doesn't love a monogram. You have until July 25th.

Cosmetic Bargins!

Oh girls have I found the bargains. Sunday I went to the Cosmetique warehouse sale. Everyone I work with has been going for the past 4 or 5 years now and just raves about it. They only have these sales twice a year and every time they've had it either we were out of town or had other plans. Well I finally went. I had never heard of Cosmetique but the company is not too far from my house. It is just that a warehouse attached to the side of the main building and everything is sorted in boxes. Here is a picture of all I got.

I thought I did pretty good and I got some things for my sisters and my mom too. Well it wasn't till I got home and checked out their website www. cosmetique.com that I was jumping for joy. I came home and started adding up all that I bought and how much it would be if I had ordered it all off their website. Girls I would have spent $545!!!!! Can I have a drum roll please.... I only spent $38.25 for all of it. I LOVE IT!!! One of the creams alone is $35 on the website and I got it for 75 cents!! If I would have know that before I went I would have probably picked up a couple more. And the two cosmetic bags that I got for my mom one is $18 and the other is $15 online. Can I tell you I spent $1.00 each. I saved $506.75. This is by far the biggest bargain I have ever gotten. I am sure glad I finally got to go.
Linda

The Cross in the Woods

Driving home from Mackinac Island my husband and I stopped at The Cross in the Woods. I am Catholic and growing up my parents, my sister and I would always stop here when we went up north. My husband had never been before so it was nice to show him something I have done since I was a very small child. This is a Catholic shrine located in Indian River, MI. If the weather is nice like it was when we were there you can go to mass outside. It is a very peaceful place. They also have a whole wall of candles as you walk in that you can make a donation and light. I always light several in memory of our family members who have passed. There is a gift shop (I am stocked up on prayer cards and medals) and even a doll museum. If you are ever in that neck of Michigan I would recommend stopping especially if you are catholic or check out http://www.crossinthewoods.com/ Here are some pictures.

Inside the church looking out.

Doll Museum

Have a great week all. I went to a cosmetic warehouse sale today and saved a ton of money. More on that later.

Linda

Ikea Finds

Sunday the hubs and I stopped in Ikea. I love that store but I controlled myself and only got a few things. The bags were only $1.50!! Can you believe it. If any of you have Scout bags they are kinda the same feel. I could maybe use them for cute grocery bags at the store. I especially love that black and red one. For $1.50 I got a couple in each color. The round silver candle holders with the set of large tea light candles I thought would be perfect in our other guest room down in North Carolina that I will be doing next. I am going to be doing a black and white/Paris theme so I I think these will be cute and only $7.99 each. The other candle holder was just cute and only $2.99 I will find a place for this. Ikea has great napkins. They usually have a bunch of cute ones but not this time. I did pick up these brown ones though. And lastly the magazine holders come in a set of 5 for only $2.99. Well the very talented Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality had a great idea a while back so I thought I might get creative with these once I get the chance. Check out Rhoda's aren't they adorable!!

Linda

Mackinac Island Part Four

Hi all,

This is my final Mackinac Island post I promise. I know lots of pictures but the weather was just perfect I couldn't help but take tons of pictures. If you ever get to go to the island be sure to set some time aside to rent bikes and take the 8 mile ride around the island it is such a pretty ride. Below are some shots along the way.

Here I am posing with the Arch Rock just over my head. I spoke about Arch Rock yesterday with the view from the top looking down.

Hubs skipping rocks. Mackinac Island is pretty rocky so if you want an island to sit in the sand this wouldn't be it.

This is the Mission Point Resort

Happy Monday!!

Linda