Life's little pleasures.

Sorry for the unexpected absence.

I just got caught up in living life. It is summer and one must enjoy! :)

So let me introduce you to the fern on my back porch. There is a reason it looks so shabby lately (see the brown leaves that need to be removed)...

Take a closer look...

A little closer now...

Amazing, huh?

So, I almost broke my leg while teetering on my ladderback kitchen chairs (not the most stable of all chairs) to get this close picture without touching or getting too close to the fern. I don't want mamma bird to abandon this sweet little nest she has made so close to my own nest.

Needless to say, we won't be working to make this fern look any better any time soon.

I'll keep you updated on this new little family.

Easter Lilly in June.

Finally, my Easter lillies are blooming!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Oops.

Just when I was starting to get really creative this evening, this thing...

did this...

My poor pinky.

Didn't DH do a great job playing doctor and bandaging my wound???

The problem: what am I going to do for work tomorrow???

The solution: My friend Tegaderm. :)

But really, I gotta be more careful with this thing.

So what was I working on? Well, I need a new tote for summer.

I want a simple, cute tote. I've had this quilt block that my sister gave me (I think she made it...or maybe my grandma did - Leap, which is it???) and I have been trying to think of a project to use it in. Well, I decided to raid my stash and I found this cute white & red polka dot fabric. Perfect. I love the way it looks with the quilt block. Pair in some linen and I'm good to go. I'll work on it some more tomorrow...after my poor pinky has some time to recover.

Wacky Weather.

A huge hail storm passed through my parent's town. It's amazing how hail can happen in June (especially here where it is so hot right now)! Just look at my parent's back deck...all the hail...all the leaves...
Look at the size of these pieces of hail compared to my dad's hand!
Wacky, wacky weather.

Where have I been?

My sis and I went to a Carrie Underwood concert over the weekend. These are our steppin' out shoes as we lounge on the grass before we left for the concert. We had a great time! Gosh, that girl can sing!!! (Don't you love my sister's cowboy boots?!?! Now I sooooo want a pair of cowboy boots.)

DH got crafty for Father's Day. He made this caduceus for his dad. DH designed it, carved it out of wood using a knife and his handy Dremel and then painted it. In the end he mounted it on a solid block of wood to serve as a stand and put his dad's name on the base. It was so darn cool. Now, I soooo want him to make me one of these for my office. DH also made a '67 Corvette model for my dad...my dad LOVES corvettes and likes to make models too (in his office he has a whole curio cabinet of model cars) so this was super sweet for my hubby to do this for my dad. We had a great Father's Day - all the family over for a cookout with DH's yummy and famous burgers.

I couldn't resist whipping up a couple of new button hair elastics. With all the hot weather and all the time I have been spending at work lately (it is crazy right now and I always have my hair back at work) I needed a few new hair accessories. It is so satisfying to use up some fabric scraps and complete a project quickly.

I can't get enough of this Strawberry Poppyseed Salad from Panera Bread lately. It is everything summer should be.

With work being crazy as it is right now, the weather being as nice and hot as it is right now and me being the procrastinator that I am right now (I have a BIG presentation next week for work and I haven't even started yet) I will probably be popping in less this week. Perhaps I should do a week in pictures or something so I can still blog but it could be quick to fit in my schedule right now. I'll think about it...

The food group.

This is my favorite meal: pinto beans & cornbread. Put it this way...I will miss any lunch in our department from any catering company or restaurant in town when the hospital cafeteria has pinto beans & cornbread day. That is how much I love this meal. I have been participating in The Food Group flickr photoshare and I have noticed we are not far into June and already I am repeating this meal. Can't help it...I'm sure it will pop up again before the end of June.

Look at these cuties! I just couldn't resist this set of salt & pepper shakers when I was out with my sister this past weekend. But there is a problem...I got them home and realized they don't match anything in my kitchen! Bummer... Plus, I realized I have waaayy to many sets of salt and pepper shakers already! Off to the etsy shop they go...please help me find a good home for them (and another cute retro pair that I have decided to part with).

Fresh Baked (Banana) Bread

I walked by our fruit bowl yesterday and noticed 3 bananas which were past their prime. So, when life throws you bad bananas...make homemade banana bread! My house smelled so great just prior to bed last night. I made the banana bread using the Martha Stewart recipe (sans walnuts...DH request) and it is so much easier and better than recipes I have tried in the past. It all came together very quickly too! Prep time was maybe 15 minutes and bake time was 1 hour. Highly recommend this recipe. Plus, if you have a loaf style molded pan like above...it makes it even prettier. :) Now...banana bread for breakfast, desert, bedtime snack....

How I spent my weekend off.

advance warning: this post is very picture heavy :)

My weekend off went a little something like this...

I spent a lot of time on this raft in this water.
Temps in the upper 90s + super humidity = HOT!

I also spent a lot of time playing with the sport feature of my camera.

See DH dive.

(sounds like a Dick & Jane book huh?)

We also spent a lot of time with family. Our nephew was in town visiting his grandparents (DH's parents) and had no front teeth...too cute...had to share this picture.

I also got to go to some yard sales with my sister (pictures of finds to come later this week) and we had a cookout and marshmallow roast on her farm.

And we had Smores! Yum!

My niece, Soso, and my nephew had the best time playing together riding power wheels, roasting marshmallows, playing with bubbles and helping feed the animals on the farm. The below is a cute video of Soso telling me the names of her goats.

We also made a new addition to our family. Welcome our new Bose portable docking station. This little thing is fantastic. It is everything we love about the one we already own (great sound quality, great volume range, easy to use, charges your ipod while it is playing) PLUS it doesn't have to be plugged in AND the rechargable battery lasts quite a long time (we had it playing continuously outside for about 4 hours!). With this little addition we end the struggle to find outdoor speakers that will work with our ipod...plus we can take it anywhere. We already have big plans for this little contraption - tailgates, the beach, any trip where we will be staying in a hotel room and, of course, our backyard. And in the in-between portable uses guess where it is going to find a home - yep, my sewing studio...sweet.

It was a great weekend. Hope you all had a great one!

Patiently waiting.

DH & I decided our cat, Chloe, needed a little more stimulation (she is an indoors only cat). So we purchased a bird feeder and placed it outside our living room window. Today I walked through and Chloe was patiently waiting. I know birds are coming to feed because I have to keep filling the feeder (and gosh they eat a lot!). However, every time I see Chloe patiently waiting and I walk over out of curiosity I never see any birds. Then I saw her doing this...

So I had to see what she was looking at so intently...

Isn't this cardinal beautiful! Sorry for the bad photo - it was taken through my blinds. And sorry for the big censor marks...they are to protect the innocent (my neighbor)...hehe.

So needless to say, I scared the bird away by opening the blinds trying to get a better photo...but Chloe didn't seem to mind.

She is still sitting there. Waiting.

I love this trim.

My mom picked up this lot of beautiful vintage trim a couple of weeks ago while visiting family (thanks Mom! ...she's always thinking about me and my crazy love for vintage sewing notions). I especially LOVE the red one with the edelweiss.

So I decided to pair it with some linen I had on hand to make this Heidi Headband. This is a BTRS pattern with my own modification for the back closure. The pattern says to use twill tape and sew it to both ends so that you tie it on. I decided to make it easier and just use a cut up Goody's elastic headband piece to connect the two ends so it can just slip on/off. The result - the perfect accessory for my green scrubs and it keeps my hair out of my face all day without the "headband headache" when I come home!

A Happy Birthday Apron

I whipped up this cute little half apron (BTRS Vintage Apron Pattern - 1st time trying it and I love it!) for my grandmother for her birthday. I used some vintage fabric that seemed just perfect for the pattern and the upcoming summery season. I just love how it turned out. I used vintage rick rac, vintage bias tape and vintage buttons too!!! The perfect new vintage apron! I can't get enough of those cherries - too cute! Hope she likes it!

It keeps raining and raining and I love it. Let it rain!!! Less watering of flowers I have to do later! :)

Beautiful weather...

Too bad I'm stuck inside working so much! Had to capture the beauty of my geraniums to share with you all...

I finished the apron for my grandma and lugged my dress form outside to take advantage of the nice sunlight but when I came upstairs to post them I realized my camera is downstairs! So, I'll post them tomorrow. I'm so tired everyone! Good night! Have a great day tomorrow.