SoInspired

2009-10-31T16:09:00.003-07:00

Happy Halloween! You better believe that I'm wearing my darling new charm bracelet from Saucy's Halloween charm bracelet swap. Boy have I been getting a lot of compliments!

These "wicked" charms were my contribution.
I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween.
Best Witches!

2009-10-15T07:21:00.001-07:00

We are leaving today for New York and Connecticut for our fall break trip. Have a great week!

2009-10-12T07:25:00.014-07:00

It was my month to host my "Annual Fall Bunco".
This was my first time preparing appetizers, drinks, salad, dinner and dessert while working fulltime. I planned our date on a school half day to allow myself extra time. There's never enough time for all the details though.
We had a blast. I love having everyone over.

I served sugared-pecan salad with poppyseed dressing.

Homemade chicken salad on crossiants.

Fruit Skewers

Kettle Chips (I had to put something in this huge bowl)

Mini Pumpkin Muffins

For dessert, Banana Chocolate Chip Cake and Glazed sugar cookies

2009-09-08T06:55:00.002-07:00

We rented FIVE DVDs this weekend. It was my husband's birthday yesterday. We had plans to go out both Sunday and Monday. We were so looking forward to it. His sinuses and allergies had other ideas. So we stayed in, ordered pizza and watched movies. I am such a sap. I really enjoyed this movie and wanted to give it a thumbs up. Unfortunately I can't give the other four movies good reviews. I've been wanting to watch Coraline with my daughter for awhile now. My daughter thought it was "disturbing". Seriously, I really don't see the need to use overinflated balloons as female body parts, especially when they only have flowers over a very tiny amount of the overinflated balloons. This movie was rated PG! Anyway . . . I highly recommend "New In Town".

2009-08-14T18:36:00.020-07:00

It's all Tricia's fault. I wanted to go to Art Unraveled, but I "NEEDED" to stay home and get caught up around the house. She and I were going to hook up so that I could buy some of her awesome junque that she finds on her fun trips. Didn't happen. We were both too busy. So instead, I "HAD" to go to Art Unraveled. I woke my daughter up and "MADE" her go with me. After we exited the 101, we realized that we were passing Scottsdale Road and that Sprinkles was nearby. We went to Art Unraveled all right, but that was just one of our many stops and we didn't get home until 8:30 pm. We "NEEDED" a day like that. Our lives are so busy around here. I'm always shocked when I have time to reflect at how little down time we have.
I have two favorite booths, Tricia's and Hannah Dry Goods. This year, Beth Quinn had a booth! Here are a few of my goodies from Tricia.

She had a sample made for us to show us what she did with this charm.

Cool charms

Vintage "T" game piece
Cute little labels

A few cuties from Hannah's, where darling Maija, was helping out.
I fell for this birdcage.

Look how tiny it is.

My first "Charlotte" dollhead

More charms

Replacement earrings from darling Beth. I bought myself the same pair at Blissfest, but then gave them to my mother-in-law for Mother's Day.
.
After leaving Art Unraveled, we spotted an Islands Restaurant, our favorite lunch spot. Had to stop there. Then we worked our way over to Sprinkles.
I see myself in the window!
Yummy cupcakes!

I had a black and white, Tay had a strawberry. Did I say "Yum"?
Now, just as I was pulling out of Sprinkles, I noticed that Anthropologie was right across the street at Scottsdale Fashion Square. Of course we went. Of course, I found another dish towel that I couldn't pass up.

I have a thing about monograms. Found these cutie-pie file folders.

Guess what we spotted when we left Anthropologie?? Crate and Barrel. From there Taylor spotted Tiffany directly across the mall. Then Juicy was two doors down.
We finally left Fashion Square. Guess what you see when you leave Fashion Square?
Scottsdale Waterfront shopping center. We had to stop at Urban Outfitters. Found an awesome compass necklace for me.
Only two more stops after that. Ever have one of those days???

2009-07-31T22:09:00.006-07:00

We went to the beach 7 out of the 8 days we were here. We rented snorkel equipment, boogie boards and a surf board for the week. Mark was so excited to teach our kids to surf. I'm happy to say that they both got up!

They all three were in the water alot more than I was. They are stronger swimmers than I am. They would keep dragging me back out though. It gave me plenty of time for beachcombing, my favorite pastime. I happened to meet a very nice (handsome) guy on one of my strolls that asked me if I was having much luck finding shells. I said no and that I was really hoping to find an area where we could see sea turtles. He told me that he had lived on Maui since he was 8 and that he was going to tell me where his secret sea turtle spot was. I couldn't believe my luck. As soon as my family came in, we drove to the beach, swam out and saw 5 very large sea turtles. It was difficult to even stay away from them. They wanted to swim with us. They are endangered and you are not allowed to touch them. We were so excited. Mark and Taylor even saw an octopus. We all got to see the turtles and several tropical fish. I need to get the underwater camera film developed. Can't wait to go back!

The turtles were swimming around these lava rocks.

2009-07-31T21:53:00.011-07:00

We celebrated my birthday at The Hula Grill. Location is everything! Of course, the wonderful food, sipping a Blue Hawaiian drink, live island music and fresh leis help.

We also attended the Hyatt's "Drums of the Pacific" luau.
It started to rain as we were seated. I was certain that we would be caught in a storm. The wind was blowing strong and it was definitely sprinkling HARD. My hair was ruined. There went our Christmas card picture, but just when we thought the evening was ruined, it stopped. The show was phenominal. We especially enjoyed the fire dancers.

Of course you can't see us, but somewhere on that stage is my daughter and I taking a hula lesson. Yes, she drug me up there with her, but she fulfilled her promise to me and took a hula lesson.

As we were leaving, one of the dancers was available for photos. Let's just say that I'm happy that my daughter is the one to the left. The dancer's little coconut bikini top is about the size of the one I brought my daughter back from Maui the last time I was here when she was about 4!

2009-07-31T07:19:00.009-07:00

We made it, driving of course, 10,000 feet. We drove through upcountry Maui to the top of the Haleakala volcano. We were above the clouds and in the clouds. It's awesome to watch them float by you.

We spotted several of the beloved, endangered Maui nie-nie birds, as well as the silver star plant that only grows on Haleakala.

2009-07-29T20:41:00.014-07:00

Maui - Day 1
We arrived in the evening on July 3rd. We were up and ready to leave by 7 am. Those 3 hour time changes kill me. After walking across the street (gotta love that) to the beach exploring tide pools, we began our day at the Maui Swap Meet. A friend of mine is married to a native Hawaiian and she informed me that I "had" to do my big shopping there. We wouldn't have chosen that for our first activity of our first day there, but as luck would have it, the swap meet is only open on Saturdays. We were not disappointed. The flower vendors were fabulous.
The jewelers booths were amazing. My personal favorite! My husband bought me a beautiful Hawaiian Heirloom bangle bracelet. Cole bought Taylor a sterling flip flop necklace and matching earrings which totally stunned me. That's my boy!

When you are in Hawaii, everything seems to be in technicolor. There was a framed print of this flower in our resort suite. It was one of the many that we saw growing at The Tropical Plantation in Maui.
The Tropical Gardens were filled with incredibly lush flowers.

Wish I could grow this blue one in Arizona. Not a chance!

We had a picnic lunch in this charming gazebo.
We moved on to Kaanapali Beach, changed and spent the afternoon at The Hyatt.

I have a tradition of only having a Pina Colada when I'm at a tropical location. We were entertained by a patriotic parasailer.

To end our evening, we celebrated the 4th at an oceanside table at Bubba Gumps, watching the fireworks over the water.

2009-07-02T15:20:00.021-07:00

I'm spending every spare second getting ready for Hawaii!! Let's just say that we are stimulating the economy. Wanna see my dress for the Luai?

Taylor wanted to buy these Betsy Johnson earrings for my birthday. Instead I told her that I would buy them if she would take a hula lesson in Hawaii for me instead. I'm hoping we can find one.

This vintage necklace was my Mother's. She wore it when she was in her twenty's and gave it to me to wear when I was in my twenties. I own and cherish several pieces of her vintage rhinestone jewelry. I wore them when Mark and I used to have fancy, dancy parties to go to when we were newly married and he was the Head Pro at the very exclusive Camelback Country Club. On my list tonight is to rework a necklace to wear with my new dress using a few of the pieces from her necklace. I'm going to make a bracelet as well.
I needed a second nice dress for my birthday dinner. We are celebrating my birthday in Maui at the Hula Grill. My birthday was actually five weeks ago, but we were still in school.
Accessories are everything! Carmen has been helping me get ready. She gave me this darling tote for Christmas to take on our trip and this fun tropical beach bag for my birthday.

I'm taking this straw handbag with tropical flowers. I really get into theme dressing.

I hope you have a great week. Until then, ALOHA!

2009-06-27T09:46:00.012-07:00

I love the Fourth of July. I get that apple pie, baseball, patriotic feel good feeling. However . . . I try not to be in Arizona over the 4th. It's just not fun watching fireworks when it's 100+ at night. I miss sparklers! You can't buy any fireworks in the state of Arizona. Too many fires with our hot summers. So I try to create my own little spark of patriotism around our home.
I "borrowed" the red and blue stars from Cole's room. We decorated his bedroom around the armoire that I bought when we moved into this house.
I'm using an older photo. He no longer plays with those toys. Big sigh. He's a big high schooler now.

I made the mistake of filling the small jar with the blue jelly bellies before I had the licorice for the larger jar. Can you guess what happened?? I even threatened. I guess they're not scared of me. I need to toughen up.

I saved my Mountain Dew bottles from last year. Didn't see them this year.

I would like to take credit for the brilliant idea of using red, white and blue poker chips in my vase. I found the idea in my favorite seasonal home decor book "Celebrating Home".

I was thrilled that my lighted house that I found last year in a Scottsdale thrift store still works.

2009-06-17T22:25:00.005-07:00

We bought our tickets today for "WICKED". I'm so excited. It is always so much easier to get tickets when it's a return performance. My bunco group tried to get tickets when it was here last year, but they sold out immediately. This time my husband and I are having a romantic date night.

The streets of ASU are flying their Wicked flags. I can't help but here "I'll Get You My Pretty." I know that it's a take off from the Wizard of Oz and that's all I know and I'm purposely not reading up on it so that I will be surprised. We went down to buy our tickets in person. Our seats are in the 11th row. We like to sit in the orchestra section. Can't wait!

2009-06-16T12:32:00.012-07:00

It's the little things. I love the attention to details. It seems surprising that I'm like that because I don't have an anal retentive bone in my body. With my husband's permission, I turned our butler's pantry, which previously had a bar theme (wine bottles, etc.) into my baking area. During the holidays, we use it for entertaining. We have a little arched area in between the kitchen and dining room with a butler's pantry to the left and our walk-in pantry to the right. I've said this before, "I love our kitchen." It's the best part of our home. I walked by the butler's pantry and noticed out of the corner of my eye, Taylor's beloved Strawberry Crush bottles. I thought it was so funny that she displayed them there. They won't last long! They are a rare treat, too much sugar.
Our 4-shelf tall cupboards previously held wine and bar glasses. Now they house my baking supplies.

I found the darling candy-cane measuring cups at Hallmark a few Christmas's ago. Both the pink measuring cups and the cookie jar with the pink lid are from Pottery Barn Kids.

I keep my cupcake liners in the cookie jar.

Glass jars are wonderful for storage. I found the other glass cookie jar with the red knob at a thrift store for $.50. It's great for storing cookie cutters.

I found the cutest little cake pedestal at Blissful Saturday. I told Tricia that I was going to buy one after class. In the middle of teaching us, she said "Cindy, that lady just bought the last two cake pedestals." Lucky for me, she knew where there was one more in the back.

2009-06-13T18:58:00.013-07:00

I found a fabulous garage sale today in one of our nearby neighborhoods. I haven't been able to go out garage sailing in months. This family previously owned a home decor store in Denver, had just moved to the Phoenix area, and was selling the remains from their liquidation sale. I could have gone crazy. I restrained since our trip to Hawaii is coming up. They are expecting another truck and will be having another sale in a few weeks. Can't wait. Tricia called me a few days ago encouraging me to take her upcoming beeswax canvas class at Blissful. I have been wanting to take it forever. She is such a great instructor. There were just 3 of us in her class today, allowing her to give us her undivided attention. I'm sure I'll be making several more canvases as soon as I buy the beeswax, a few stamps, canvases and a mini quilting iron.
I loved learning this new technique. I really want to make her bunny canvas. She also shared the technique for using photos. Fun class.
On the way to Blissful, I stopped at my favorite thrift store. I found a set of four vintage "Marie" pictures. I gave two to Miss Tricia.

I couldn't believe my luck in finding this adorable tiny vintage cameo pendant. I know the image is blurry, but I wanted you to see the price tag. $2.00!!!

I stopped in at the produce market in Mesa where we used to shop with Mark's grandmother years ago when we would have family dinners in her home. I found these tiny, little red potatoes and decided to serve shish kabob for dinner. I also made a special trip to this little cornfield where they sell corn on the cob during the month of June. I had planned to grill chicken, red potatoes, yellow pepper and zucchini. Well, my family loved the idea, but wanted to expand on my menu. They went to the store and bought beef, shrimp, onions, asparagus, mushrooms and more peppers. I used my new grill pan to cook the asparagus on the grill and marinated the rest of the vegetables with olive oil. We dined on a feast. It's amazing what a little olive oil and cooking on the grill makes food taste so much better.

2009-06-09T20:02:00.010-07:00

My Fabulous Birthday Gifts
My husband and kids took me to the Coach store. Wanna see what's inside???
We all picked this one out together. I love the shape. Our second choice was a pink one, but it was a little over the top.
My next gift from my family is my new black island for my kitchen. I've been wanting one since we moved in. I've seen several with marble tops and was going to settle for a white one, but then we found this one. I'm loving it.

I'm thrilled that I now have a place to hang cute towels. My husband swears that I just wanted the island to have something else to decorate. Well duh!
Check out these drawers. All of those utensils used to be in this crock with my wooden spoons. It's always driven my husband crazy.

I wish my entire house was this tidy. My dear great Aunt Ruth, who I adored, and had an incredible Victorian home in Iowa told me that her secret was "A place for everything and everything in it's place." I think I just have too much stuff. I wish she was still around to help me find a place for everything.

Our birthday candles.

My sweet next-door-neighbor gave me this darling Willow Tree birthday girl angel. I love it.
These beautiful silver bracelets are from Mark's family.
I also received a gift certificate to my favorite pedicure salon
and money. I hope to spend it tommorrow shopping with my girl. I love summer!

2009-06-06T10:57:00.007-07:00

This is my first attempt at a diaper cake. My neighbor's daughter is having her first baby next month. Taylor and I will be attending her baby shower today. My go-to-gal, Sasha, has been making these for the past few years and generously shared a tutorial on her site. She is incredibly talented and lets her readers in on her secrets. Cole and Taylor both helped me shape and tie the 90+ diapers that we used. I found everything I needed in my "magical craft room" as my kids call it, except the pink teddy bear. I shopped yesterday specifically for a light pink teddy bear and was so happy to have found one. I hope she likes it.

2009-05-31T14:07:00.026-07:00

We went to Disneyland and California Adventure last weekend to celebrate my son's birthday. Mine just happens to be the day after his. Disneyland is offering free admission in 2009 on your actual birthday. Since ours are a day apart, we went for two days. They give you a button to wear that says "Happy Birthday" and your name. All day, complete strangers call out our name and say Happy Birthday. You can't help but be in a wonderful mood all day.

I wonder what Walt would say about today's Disneyland. It is still the happiest place on earth. No matter how many times we visit, I still find little details that I've never noticed before.
I don't know how we've missed this candy store. Are those the cutest carmel apples or what? We bought a Pooh rice krispie treat.

Disney has been advertising their "Dream Suite". We were racing around a corner and I spotted it.

It's official. My children are now both taller than me and I could barely keep up with them. As a mother, I can't tell you how strange that feels. We visited on Memorial Day weekend and I was afraid that the crowds would be unbearable, but we were pleasantly surprised. We raced through Disney and California Adventure riding 15 rides the first day and 10 the second.

We laugh through the entire ride on Big Thunder Mountain.
I never tire of Small World.

We loved the new Toy Story attraction at California Adventure.
There must be a camera near Toy Story's Mr. Potato head. As I was taking the picture, he said "Hey that lady's so famous her hair is wearing sunglasses."

The kids couldn't get enough of the Grizzly River ride. They loved the single rider option for immediate entry and rode their favorites 4 times in a row.

They must have magical elves that garden while everyone sleeps. I've never seen any gardeners, yet the flowers are magnificent.

2009-05-20T18:00:00.036-07:00

Friday night I went to the magnificent Bohemian Bliss. I haven't felt well since the event, or I would have posted sooner,even missed Maija's party, so you know I've been under the weather. Sorry Maija! Thanks for the invite. I couldn't wait a minute longer to share these photos. The house above belongs to the owner's of Domestic Bliss. Included in your ticket for Friday nights event, were home tours of their two side-by-side homes. They are both listed for sale. They hope to sell the one above and move into the larger, newly renovated home next door. Before the home tour, I met up with friends, Maija, Sweet Deb, Mary,, Tricia, Michelle, Maria, Laurie and Beth. I also met Sherry who is sisters with the Sweet-As-Sugar Ruth Ann whose blog I can't get enough of. I didn't take near enough pictures. I was too busy talking. At the end of the night, Beth said "Can you believe it's almost time to close up? It went too fast.

Now on with the home tour

I only have a few photos of the new home. This black piece sits in their living room. I would be in so much trouble if I owned Domestic Bliss. The store would be empty!
This is the divine wallpaper in the laundry room of the new house. I want it!

The new kitchen.
The rest of the photos are of the older yellow cottage. You can tell by the number of photos that I took, that I'm more partial to it. I had a personal tour about five years ago. I was amazed at the changes.
Both this kitchen chandelier and the background wallpaper are new since I was here last.

Believe it or not, their washer and dryer are disguised in their den.

Another piece in their den.

Master Bath

Master Bedroom

Now onto the patio and backyard.

Don't you love this darling little playhouse entrance?

How about the secret garden?
I could just move right in. Couldn't you?

2009-05-13T21:56:00.005-07:00

My husband came home a few weeks ago with four tickets for tonight's Diamondbacks game. Little did we know that they were in the infield box in row 24. We had awesome seats! We had been on the freeway about five minutes when we heard on the radio that Air Force One would be landing in 20 minutes. The president was speaking at ASU's graduation tonight. I noted the time and after 10minutes, instructed my family to start looking for his plane. Of course, the air traffic had been cleared for his arrival, so it wasn't difficult to see the only plane in the sky. We were so excited to see it. We had a great view as were driving parallel to the airport. I couldn't believe our great timing.
The game was fun! It helps having awesome seats. Unfortunately, our team didn't win, but we still had a great "family fun" evening.
My daughter took this picture of the mascot driving around in his jeep.

2009-05-10T16:35:00.008-07:00

My husband announced that we should empty out our entire walk-in pantry today and do a "clean sweep". Now most of you might think that this would not be a pleasant way to spend Mother's Day. However, I couldn't be more thrilled. We were starting to open the door, get what we needed, and quickly close the door. This was going to be one of my dreaded summer projects. We all worked together and after five short hours, completed our project. My husband stated more than once that it didn't need to turn into a decorator project. The pictures were all ready hung, I just added a few little touches. I had to share my photos because this will probably be your only glimpse into my pantry
I finally played with my new removable chalkboard stickers. I saw them on Kari and Kijsa.Thanks girls for the great idea.

My one empty wall houses a small bulletin board where I keep my current invitations. Can't wait for the Bohemian Bliss - Domestic Bliss event this upcoming Friday night and Saturday.

My copper molds are hung above the inside of the door. I love having little surprises everywhere.

2009-04-13T07:20:00.009-07:00

My kiddos woke up to this little table scene Easter morning. I baked a ham Saturday and their favorite breakfast of all is when I make them my version of egg mcmuffins.
We skipped dying eggs this year and decided to spraypaint our eggs with chalkboard paint.
As the kids get older, their Easter baskets aren't filled as high, money in eggs, etc. and we put their larger pool toys and sports equipment in the backyard for an Easter egg hunt. They never tire of that!

Then there's my youngest baby. "Mommy why are you trying to make me look like a bunny, I'm a dog."
"Why are you holding me near the pool?? You know I hate that swimming pool . . . I am not a water dog."
Taylor and I were on a mission. We found an adorable dress for both Easter and Hawaii. I hope you all had a wonderful day filled with family and fun.

2009-04-11T16:40:00.002-07:00

Happy Easter Peeps! I picked up this box of chicks and bunnies a few months ago at a church rummage sale for $2.00. I love all of them! If you need one or two, let me know and I'll share with you.
Wishing you all a joyful Easter.

2009-04-05T18:13:00.038-07:00

My husband, daughter and I went to the incredible "Chihuly" exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens. A friend recommended that we select the 4-8 pm reservation and I'm grateful that we wanted. No wonder that time frame is so popular. The weather was spectacular and it made us happy and grateful that we live in Arizona.
This tree was one of my 3 favorites of the over 100 displays.

This one reminded us of our "worm" succulent in our back yard that my husband brought us home from work a few years ago when they were clearing land for a new golf course.

This one was my favorite. They were all named except this one. I named it "Dancing Waters". I love the arch in the background that I didn't notice until I looked through my lense.
Next are the chandeliers. I'll show you a few of my favorites.

Daylight image before 7 pm.
After 7 pm image. This is why the 4-8 time slot fills up quickly.

We saw some feathered friends.

A few more of my favorite scenes.

A message to my local peeps: "Do not miss this."

2009-03-29T00:19:00.005-07:00

I guess it's my week to see famous vehicles driving around Phoenix. Earlier this week, we saw the Weinermobile. Today, I was driving to downtown Phoenix to see our son perform in the Arizona State Championship Drumline Competition and all of a sudden the most beautiful firetruck I've ever seen passes me on my right. Of course I wasn't able to take a picture while driving on the freeway, so I borrowed a photo from their website. I'm waiting for our son to come home now. What a long day it has been, it's 12:23 am and the bus hasn't quite arrived. However . . . they won! I'm so proud of all of them. They work so hard. While I'm waiting up, I've been reading some of the wonderful stories on pinkribbontour.

2009-03-25T06:43:00.014-07:00

I recently chaperoned our daughter's field trip to the Arizona Renaissance Festival. It was very entertaining to say the least.
This was my little group. I enjoyed spending the day with them and I tried my best to make sure that they had a taste of the entire experience.

We shopped at several of the vendors. The girls each bought a charm from this glass blower.

We each took our turn at archery. I had to show them what to do. Can't believe I even remember.

They all eventually got the hang of it. Too bad we can't do that more often. I think it would be great for hand/eye coordination.

They took a ride on the "Flying Machine".

We saw a fairy.
Check out her wings!

We went to a sword fighting show.

We went home very tired and happy at the end of a long, fun-filled day.