Saturday, July 31, 2010

Bon Jovi Weekend



Oh I am soooo jealous, my sister and brother-in-law are coming to town to see the Bon Jovi concert tonight.  With the baby we will have to skip this time but if you have never been you should go some time. They put on the BEST concerts.  We've been going to their concerts since we were in high school.  This is what they looked like then.

 

Too funny. They look so much better now. Especially Jon.

Have a great Saturday.  I will be sitting here waiting to get the scoop from my sister.

Linda

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Nantucket Baskets

Aren't these adorable!! You can find them here .  Hope you all have a great weekend.

Linda

Pink and Green Thursday





Well this week I thought I would show you something I have been using for years.  Bandanas as basket liners.  I have purchased them in many different places and have lots of colors but I have found Walmart to be the cheapest at only $1 a piece.  They have the traditional bandana pattern but around the different holidays I have found cute 4th of July, Halloween and even Christmas ones.  I use them to line baskets for rolls or hamburger/hot dog buns, cookies, chips or nachos.  I have also used them as napkins and to line baskets that I have made up for people filled with all kinds of goodies. Just an inexpensive way to add a punch of color to your party, get together or gift idea.  I have received so many compliments on these silly things over the years and I always get the same response from people, they can't believe they never thought of this and can't believe how cheap they are.  If your interested Walmart has them over by the purses/belts accessory area or Michaels has lots of colors too.

Happy Thursday
Linda

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

It's giveaway time!!

I was contacted by CSN stores (featuring the Le Creuset cookware line ) about hosting a giveaway, so I jumped at the opportunity to have you all get a chance to win a $40 gift certificate to use on any of there many products.  If you are not familiar with CSN stores check out their website.  They have just about any product you would want.  From furniture, home improvement, shoes and bags to baby and cookware.  Whoever wins has lots to choose from.  Here were just a few products I spotted that I want to get.

First I am going to have to order the NC State pitcher by The Memory Company to have for game weekends this fall.  Love this.  They have many colleges out there to choose from.



The Le Creuset sangria pitcher in kiwi.  What a great color.



The Certified International hot tamale pitcher.  Perfect colors for summer.




I am loving the Certified International Sea Catch Collection too. How cute would these be.






And last but not least how about these Cape Craftsmen Nantucket and nautical TV stands.  Adorable!



Here is how you can win:

1. Become a follower or let me know you already follow--1 entry
2. Put the giveaway on your sidebar--2 extra entries
3. Blog about the giveaway-3 extra entries

Good luck.  Giveaway ends in 1 week August 4th!!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

3 months old

I can't believe it but our little guy turned 3 months old today.  Boy has that time flown by.  We have been enjoying ever minute with him.


Have a great week.

Linda

Monday, July 26, 2010

Award time part 2

The sweet Seersucker Scrapper sent me some awards.  Thank you so much :-)  She has the cutest blog so be sure to stop by and say hi.

So you all get to find out 10 more things about me this week :-)

Rules: Thank the person who gave you the award, share 10 things about yourself and pass it on to 10 bloggers and let them know you've passed this on.

1. I LOVE margaritas (though I haven't been able to have one in a while).

2. I am the youngest of 5.  Well 4 now.  We sadly lost my brother in a car accident 24 years ago. There were two teenagers who ran a stop sign and all 3 were killed.  I now have one brother and 2 sisters.  My oldest brother and I are 20 years apart and yes we all have the same wonderful parents who have been married 60 years. My parents were in their 40's by the time I came along.  Not common back then but rather common today (at least in Chicago).

3. I love, love, love to travel.  My parents instilled this in me when I was young.  They always made vacations a blast.

4. I am always making To Do lists. It feels so good to get things done and cross it off my list.  My husband tries to get me to just do it on the computer but I like my hand written version better.

5. I love shopping.  This may change now that I am a SAHM (ha-ha).

6. I became an aunt when I was 6 years old. I have 5 nephews, one niece, a great nephew and a great niece.  I feel so old. 

7.  I LOVE anything monogrammed.

8. I enjoy looking for shells when I go on vacation.  I just find it relaxing and enjoy putting shells in jars and baskets once I am back home. 

9. I heart Bon Jovi.  While in my car I not only listen to the local radio stations or my XM radio but I usually have at least one Bon Jovi CD in the car at all times.  Currently there are two.  And I am soooo jealous that my sister and brother in law are coming to Chicago this weekend to go to the Bon Jovi concert.  They got tickets when I was still pregnant.  Couldn't really plan for a concert back then. 

10.  I am an 80's music junky!!!  Love the 80's. 

I would like to pass this on to:












Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Big Decision

Well it's official, I've decided not to go back to work.   I'm joining the world of stay at home moms.  I've been going back and forth with this decision throughout my 12 week maternity leave.  I have always worked since I was 17 so this was a big decision for me, but it took us 5 years to have Kyle and the reality is we are not sure if we will be able to have another one.  This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to stay home and raise our child.  I feel this way, even though I have enjoyed my job the last 8 years, I can always find another job some day if I need to, but I can't hit rewind on Kyle growing up again.
So, I'm excited to start this new adventure in my life.  My husband is of course very happy I will be staying home with Kyle, but he is also glad I'm not going back to work because now we can spend more time in North Carolina.  Because my job had been so busy we could only get down there about once a year for a week or two at a time and now we can spend a couple months if we want to.  This will be fun. 
So if any of you stay at home moms or former stay at home moms have any words of wisdom for me please email me and let me know. I would love to hear from you.

Linda

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Award time

Thanks so much to the lovely Ashley at Sweet Southern Prep for sending me the Honest Scrap Award.



 So 10 things about me.

1. I absolutely LOVE Christmas music.  My mom always had Christmas music on during the holidays when we were kids.

2. I have to have salt on my watermelon.  The hubs thinks I'm crazy.

3. My favorite color is pink

4.  I HATE!!!! spiders.  I had a nightmare that spiders were crawling all over my legs when I was a little kid and I still can't forget it.

5. I enjoy doing papercrafts (when I get time these days) scrapbooking, card making, rubber stamping.

6. Some of my favorite shows to watch are Criminal Minds, CSI New York and CSI Las Vegas.  I have always had a secret desire to be an FBI agent or privite eye (ha-ha).

7. I LOVE anything nautical or beachy.  Sailboats, lighthouses, anchors, shells.  LOVE it all.

8. I slept in a box outside when I was in college.  All of the sororities and fraternities on our campus where raising money for the homeless.

9. I dislocated my knee cap in high school and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance.  Literally my knee cap was on the side of my knee. It still grosses me out today thinking about it.  I was walking in the hallway with friends and we turned to go the other way and I turned my ankle and fell.  I thought that is all I did until I looked down at my knee.  I went to catholic school and had a uniform skirt on so I could see the whole thing.  Talk about embarrassing and painful.

10. I have no idea why but I seem to love things that start with the letter P.  Purses, I love purses and totes of all sizes.  I have some how inherited this from my mother.  I will just say there are tubs and shelving units involved with this.  Plates, it's just fun to have different dinner plates, dessert plates and dishes to use.  I'll have to do a post on these one day.  And paper (stationery), cute note pads, stationery, note cards.  I just find it fun to have cute paper to write on or to send someone a note. 


I would like to pass this award on to:

http://marylandpinkandgreen.blogspot.com/

http://suzstreats.blogspot.com/

http://monogrammedmrs.blogspot.com/

http://southernbellesimple.blogspot.com/

http://thepinktutu.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A gift from Italy

A little while back we received this sheet set for Kyle from some friends in Italy.



We will have to wait until Kyle has a big boy bed but isn't it neat.  He can start learning some Italian.  Maybe mommy can learn along with him.  Hubs can already speak some Italian since he worked in Italy so we will need to catch up.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Sunday drive and a picnic

Yesterday we decided to take a drive and have another picnic in Lake Geneva, WI.  This time we came in on the other side of the lake through Fontana, WI.  We came across The Abbey Resort  My husband and I will have to check this out sometime. 



Here is an aerial view from their website.



We ended up having our picnic in Williams Bay because the beach in Fontana was packed.  My husband was looking for a quieter spot.


Kyle was having fun playing airplane with daddy.



Here is a shot of the mailboat you can take a tour on.



Another cute place we found to stay was the The Geneva Inn  I will have to remember this if we ever need a short getaway.



Hope you have a wonderful Monday.

Linda