All is NOT Quiet on the Western Front....

 Just thought that I would pop in and say hi...

*HI!!*

Lots has been goin' on in my neck o' the woods.

Doors and door hardware in......

These knobs are on all the bedroom, bathroom and linen doors...
(sorry for the weird red-light district lighting!) 

Garage door into the kitchen...
this is my favorite knob!
I love the backplate.

Flooring and baseboards are being installed....

(the Stig on the left and my dad on the right...pretending to be dead from working so hard - haha!)

(Rylee's room with the floor installed)
The color is from Martha Stewart's new paint line
"Pink Graphite" 

Still waiting on kitchen cabinets.....
Can you see my sad face here ?

:(

We had a last minute change on our island design.
We decided to get a drawer microwave!

 Sharp Microwave Drawer
 (this was the Stig's bright idea)

But that meant that the cabinet guy had to make some adjustments.
He is also adding beadboard, corbels and feet to our island.
YAY!
I cant wait to see it....
I am soo ready to get back to home cooked meals. 

We are all sooo over pizza, burgers and mexican fast food!

Some of the light fixtures and fans are being put up -

the Ballard Claire light in our bedroom hallway
(we also have one in our entry)

The Stig put down the tile in our entry - its amazing!

(HE is amazing....) 

Marble and travertine.
*love* 

I am diggin' the contrast of the matte travertine and the shiny marble. 

Oh, I almost forgot.....

I just have to rub in the fact that I won this amazing giveaway!!

 28" Santos Cage Doll Angel w/ Removable Wings, Sienna

 I must give a shout out to Melaine of My Sweet Savannah

for hosting the giveaway 

and also some big Cali lovin' to 

Jen and Rob over at Santos Cage Doll 

for their amazing generosity! 

You MUST go to their website and check out their gorgeous

reproduction Santos Cage Dolls - 

I have my eye on this one for Ry Ry's room...

20" Aqua-green Santos Angel with Tin Skirt & Wings 

$147 

*Sigh*

 And on another note - 

They are forecasting SNOW here this weekend....

SNOW!

Can you believe it?!

We just had a 80 degree weekend here

2 weeks ago.

What the...?!

With all that warmth, it got all of our spring blossoms blooming already.
I have been loving their scents and colors....

freesias... 

jasmine vine.... 


 and this:

finally bloomed into this:  

It is a wild geranium from the island of Madeira.

It is the coolest plant..... 

It self seeds and drops its leaves and uses them as a support system. 

  

But 22 degree weather is coming?!
YIKES! 

We will be covering these beauties with burlap tonight.... 
Along with our avocado tree and lemon trees. 

But I am still crossing my fingers for the white stuff.....

Cuz this flip flop wearing, Cali blonde has some mad snow ball fighting skills !

:)

Have a wonderful weekend wherever you may be...

Snow, rain or shine!!

Im'a gonna try to sneak away early tomorrow morning and hit up the Junkin' Trail Event !
Check out this treasure map:

Wish me luck....I better bring my snow boots just in case! 

XOX 

L.O.V.E. Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is what I am loving on today.....

"The Stig"

(aka my husband)

L.O.V.E. 

He had my favorite roses delivered to me this morning...

I dont like red roses. 

I l.o.v.e the fact that he found my favies!

We celebrated our V-Day yesterday with a trip down south

to the Rose Bowl Flea Market.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day

( I came home with a bit of a sunburn ...... in February!) 

This is what I scored:

Antique Zinc Trough

$40

The vendor told me they were used in Belgium as sinks....

I don't care what the heck they were used for.

It's cool.

Oh, and our "friend" Pottery Barn sells them for $200!

I also scored 4 grain sacks from the same vendor for $25 each.

L.O.V.E. 

They had a huge massive table FULL of them.

I wanted them all.

But I was a good girl.

I only picked out 4.

A pink striped one, a teal striped one, one with blue stripes and one black.

I have one heartache though....

I almost came home with an antique carriage seat.

It was the neatest thing.

I wanted to convert it into a swing....

The Stig said he could do it, but it would be sketchy,

considering its age and condition.

I debated....and pondered.....and fretted over my decision.

But in the end, I couldn't add another project to the Stig's

looong list right now.

*SIGH*

 the one that got away....

*tear* 

oh well....

I recovered from my loss and  got a lavender sachet 

from Dani @ Euro-Linens

for $5.

L.O.V.E

It smelled divine in my purse all day :) 

They have amazing french linens and grain sacks. 

The Stig found some treasures too.

he is pretty dang good :) 

a french bottle crate.

complete with the bottle and the cork still attached. 

$45

Example: 

( this one is not ours...its on Etsy)

 some old tools/hardware

(he always gets at least one old tool on our excursions!)

Oh...

I almost forgot!

I am this year's winner :)

I won the contest that the Stig and I have every year we go 

to the Rose Bowl for his birthday.

We decide on a random item or thing that one of us

has to find first and purchase in order to win the battle. 

Last year I lost to a cowbell.

This year I won by finding our address #'s at the market.

The rules:

Had to find it at the Flea Market. 

It had to be vintage. 

Could not be made on the premises.

Had to be purchased.

Long story short....

I found 2 vintage railroad nails that equaled our address number.

 Pretty clever, eh?!

I went thru countless license plates, 

vintage postcards,

random signs,

odds and ends

before I found these nails. 

We are either going to put them on our patio cover 

that we will be making with old beams,

or

add them to a possible reclaimed beam that 

we might use as a mantel for our fireplace.

L.O.V.E. !!

So, I am officially the Winner of a chicken dinner.

(paid for by the loser of course!) 

Dinner date TBD at a later date..... 

 After our morning at the Rose Bowl,

we stopped by our favorite Italian Deli/Market in Arcadia, Claro's. 

(i miss this place sooo bad!) 

Stocked up on all of our Italian foodies

and had a picnic lunch in the parking lot

(they have the best deli sandwiches!) 

Topped it off with a super yummy Napolean pastry.

No diet when you go to that Deli! 

Then we hit up Ikea.

The massive Blue/Yellow mecca.... 

Long day.

"Love"ly Day :) 

Hope you all had/have a wonderful Valentines Day today!!!

XOX 

*ps - 

I most definitely have to give a "l.o.v.e" shout out to my gal-pal Jen....

she surprised me with one of her ruffled burlap pillows over the weekend!

Seriously, how amazing is she?! 

LOVE you chickee!!

I have been coveting these pillows for some time now.....

Please stop by her online store and check out her drop-dead gorgeous

children's clothing line...

 She also has vintage flea finds and handmade items,

like the burlap pillow and the Evangeline valance.....

  

(so sweet! I have 2 of these beauties!!) 

Get your love buns over to her shoppe! 

Free shipping on orders over $200 with code: VALENTINE

Save $30 on Jolise Pants and Gossamer Tie Dress

SHOP ONLINE

Offer expires February 16, 2011

Gorgonzola, Ricotta & Honey

Better Homes &Gardens - December 2010

 I made these lil' thingies yesterday.

I have been wanting to try the recipe out

and figured the Super Bowl was a perfect chance!

(yay Packers!!)

This recipe is super fast and super duper easy. 

I made them in about 30 minutes

(after priming our new kitchen then running home to cook and take a 5 minute shower!) 

And really really yummy!

(even all the men gobbled them up!)

And they came out exactly like the photo above....

I pinky promise.

Here is the recipe:

(I doubled mine and made 72 slices - there were only 6 left at the end of the game!) 

Ricotta, Gorgonzola & Honey Spread

Ingredients

1 15-oz. carton whole milk ricotta cheese 

6 oz. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/2 tsp. snipped fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme, crushed

(i used fresh - highly suggest!) 

1/4 tsp. snipped fresh rosemary or 1/8 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed

(went and trimmed a bunch out of our backyard - FREE!) 

1 Tbsp. honey
36 toasted baguette slices

I used one french and one whole grain 

(go to Panera and have them slice a baguette up for you) 

  Sliced apples, fresh thyme, and/or toasted walnuts

(I sprinkled toasted sugared pecans) 

Honey

Directions

1. Place ricotta in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in Gorgonzola, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon rosemary until combined. Fold in 1 tablespoon honey until just combined. Spoon mixture into a serving bowl. Cover and chill 1 to 24 hours. 

Makes 36 appetizer servings.

2. To serve, spread on baguette slices and top with apple slices, thyme, and/or walnuts. Drizzle with honey.

**

I placed all my baguettes on a plastic wrapped, large serving tray 

Then drizzled them all with honey in long sweeps

Threw on the coarsely chopped pecans. 

Tucked in some extra thyme for decoration.

ENJOY!!

Stop..... in the name of Love

I can't believe the love day is almost here!

February is short and sweet, isnt it?

The Stig's birthday is the 10th and the 14th is Cupid's....

so, yeah, there is alot of love goin' on in our household.

Anyways, I thought it was time for some sweet luvin' inspiration!

:)

First up, some eye candy:

 Love Paperie Garland

i *heart* the snow backdrop 

Soaring Heart Necklace 

industrial love for my neck.... 

Love Bird Burlap Bag 

so sweet to get a gift in one of these bags! 

 Queen of Hearts

Emilie makes gorgeous paper creations.....

(she is also the gal responsible for the infamous Flea Market Style Banner!)

 Linen Heart Lavender Sachet

my sweet pal Claire and her lovely linen creations 

 Year of Cookies!

Um hello.....cookies delivered to your house every month for a year?

SIGN ME UP! 

Wings of Love Print 

the very sweet Alice's photography - she is so talented!

(and was just featured ((again)) in Romantic Homes)

Storybook Love  

I just love this display on the old window....

please check her shoppe out - all kinds of amazing creations! 

Love Bird Frame 

*cute* 

  

 Rosette Heart Wreath

Lavender and Pumpkins....

love them separate, who knew together?! 

 Primitive Heart with Key

what a sweet lil V-day display!

Mini Love Notepad 

The Stig got one of these last Valentine's Day from me...

it was one of my favorite V-Day gifts I have ever gifted. 

It took awhile to fill in 40 pages....but I really needed 100!

(It sits on the mantel in our bedroom) 

 Bloom Spoon Garden Markers

What a surprise it would be to see a "Marry Me" spoon

tucked into a girlfriend's rose bouquet??

Any girl would love that surprise from her boyfriend....

and soon to be fiance ;) 

All You Need is Love 

nuff' said..... 

 Love Bird Cookies

Did you see the Martha Show the other day?

These lil guys are SO cute!!

Birch Bark Personalized Love Vase 

 Simple Love.

Ok, sweets.

Thats all from me for today.

T.G.I.F.

Seriously.

Oh and just a little update - 

Drywall done.

Wall texture done.

Paint samples picked...

(almost started WWIII)

  I dont EVEN want to get into it....

Let's just say all you ladies that have

free reign on decorating-

I hate you. 

Anyhoo -  

Meeting with the Painter today.

Then off to my BFF's husband's CHP graduation party!

Congrats Jerry!! 

 CU later Allygators - 

XOX 

A Remodeler's Dinner

Just popping in to let you know I am on a new diet.

Chips, Dr Pepper and paint swatches.

I am pretty sure this diet will be all the rave on the runways soon.

 :)

**ps - you like my romantic candle, huh?

It makes the drywall dust smell pretty when I inhale it.