I forgot how to shop!

I am desperately in ned of some new shoes and clothes for fall/winter. Mostly work stuff, but a few casual things, too.

Yesterday I was out running errands and decided to stop at TJ Maxx and see what they had. I am a huge fan of stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and even Ross, because not only do they have clothes, they have EVERYTHING. And it's kind of nice to find other little treasures to slip in my cart...

I must have spent two hours browsing and trying stuff on, but I bought no clothes. I have learned it's no fun to try things on when you're not having a "skinny" day. Those dressing room lights are brutal! I did buy two things, though... A 3 pack of Juicy Couture rollerball perfumes for $19..99 (quite the steal because one of them is $20 at Sephora!), and a set of coasters that make me smile and are metal - hopefully that makes them Pablo-proof!

I am heading back to the gym this week, so hopefully next time I go shopping I will feel a little more confident in the fitting room! A couple of pounds snuck back up on me, and even though it's only 3 or 4 (depending on the day), it really does make a difference in how you feel about yourself and how you perceive yourself to look. I'm really excited for fall stuff... And I'm also really excited about Essie's fall colors. I think they are the best yet! There are about 4 of them I have my eye on...

Aren't they gorgeous??

Also, I am super pumped for Target's Missoni line coming out on the 12th or 13th of September (I've read both dates, not sure which). I never get excited about stuff like this, but I must have these flats!!

I love them TOO much.

I also wouldn't mind this luggage

(and a vacation to go with it),

this bicycle,

or this outdoor furniture set:

I'm not going to lie, I really, really, REALLY want that outdoor firniture set. However, unless I snag it on clearance for a deep, deep discount, it's probably not going to happen. But I am getting those shoes, darn it!

New hairs!

I finally got my hair cut and colored on Saturday. It hadn't been touched since March. MARCH!

Here's how it looked before:





Believe it or not, Josh was a big fan of the raggedy mess. I liked the length and the 'sexy bedhead' that I sometimes had, but the ends were just worn out. I couldn't even straighten it anymore since the ends were so damaged, and even my big-barreled curling iron had stopped doing me favors.

But here is the after!





It's still plenty long, as you can see.

Before & After:



Hooray!

I keep wanting bangs, but I can never pull the trigger on it. Next time... but that's what I always say. Trying to decided if I want to go a more copper-y red next time or if I want to go darker and a little more brown for fall/winter. Hmmm.

Weekend - and canning!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

Friday night I went over to a neighborhood friend's for a glass of wine, some paint consulting and a trip to Lowe's! I picked up a Halloween magazine there, and this year I am definitely going to try my hand at some candy corn pumpkins like this!



Saturday morning I headed out to the Farmer's Market for some peaches and local honey, then went to Whole Foods for some pectin, came home and cleaned and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

Yesterday (Sunday), it was time to dust off my canning pot and get to work. First up, I tried a new fig jam recipe - I think this one is a keeper. The one I did last year was good, but I like this one better, although I will use less honey next batch. Three ingredients, though, can't top that - figs, honey and lemon juice!

Starting:




Closer:



Then I put those peaches to use and made a ginger-peach jam. Peaches, sugar, lemon juice, pectin, calcium water and two tablespoons of freshly-grated ginger.... I really think this is the best thing I've ever made. This cooked up really quickly and took almost no time at all. I still have 4 pounds of peaches to use up for another batch. Hopefully tonight?







Everything from yesterday. On a checkered towel. I am such a grandma.:



In other news, the shelves are vexing me.



The whole point of them was to bring more color into the room, but I keep adorning them with neutrals. I will get it figured out one of these days. Until then...

Julio has it rough.

"Hey, Pablo, did you just take my stick?"




"He DID take my stick!"



"Awww, man."

My little tomato eater - and POISON IVY??

I was very excited that my tomato plant was going cray-cray this year. I had visions of homemade salsa dancing in my head. But every time I'd go check to see how many were ripe, none were, and there were fewer of them. Hmmm.

Eventually I found the culprit - Pablo. Every day he helps himself to a ripe grape tomato or two, plays with it and then eats it.







And of course when he runs out of ripe 'maters, a green one will do...



In other news, the Bipster went camping over the weekend. I had a great couple days of "me-time." House was scrubbed, I was napped and self-nurtured, laundry was done and dinner was in the fridge by the time he came home.... covered in poison ivy. Egads. I've never had it, even thought myself immune to it. I got him several over-the-counter remedies and thought it would all work itself out, but it kept spreading. Then yesterday, some itchy, blistery patches popped up on both of my legs and one arm. Oh, hell to the naw. I was not going to deal with it. So off I hauled us both to a walk-in-clinic (we actually had to go to three before we could get some care, but that's another story). Verdict? They don't know what it is, but they don't think it's poison ivy. Josh just breaks out in itchy, burning blotches all over his body that eventually shrink down to itchy little pimples. Mine started as itchy little pimples that turned into raised, red patches. He is on heavy duty oral steroids (6 a day for the first few days, gradually decreasing over two weeks) and since mine is not as severe, I just needed a steroid creme. Mine will probably be totally gone in a day or two, his is not slowing yet. What in the world is it?

Of course there's all kinds of special soaps, lotions, potions and disenfectants littering my once-spotless house.  Part of the disenfecting process is TONS OF LAUNDRY. Josh's definition of "doing" laundry is washing it, drying it, and then putting it somewhere else for me to deal with. Not happy. Not to mention the steroids make him hungry and super-duper grouchy. If I come home tonight to a still-cluttered house and unfolded laundry and my Incredible Hulk of a Hubbin asking me what's for dinner, I may have a little 'roid rage myself.

SHELVES!!!

Josh and I bought some "LACK" shelves from IKEA last April or May. It was always my intent to use them in the living room to add some accessories and bring more colors into the room, but instead they got shoved under the bed in the spare room for a year and a half.

I just was not happy with the way things were looking above the couch.



Just that clock there and all that yawning wall space, waiting for something. The more I brought up the shelves, the less Josh wanted to hang them, at one point even claiming "aesthetic differences." So I told him I would just ask our friend Chad to do it while he was camping. He thought I was kidding, but no. Chad works cheap - he'll do just about anything for some salad and chicken burgers. I even threw in some yummy dilled potatoes, too.

After a little debate on the best configuration for hanging and how high (we hung them fairly high for the purpose of maximum head-clearance for tall couch-sitters like my husband), we decided on a plan and Chad started drilling and screwing and hanging.



I started making lunch.

Here is the finished product:





Josh likes them, and I am enjoying figuring out what to put on them and thinking about how I'll get to change them up seasonally as well. I really enjoyed the fun shelves at my last apartment:

But I think these will be decorated a little more sparingly. We shall see how it all ends up. This is where I am at with them as of this morning:





They are a work in progress. Like myself and the rest of the house!

Weekend!!

My dearest bro-in-law arrived in town on Saturday from CO and stayed with us for the night. He is doing some training for his job in KY, but we were lucky enough to have him in TN for a couple of days.

Several of us went out to eat Saturday night at Battered and Fried. I had a fried scallop sushi roll. My heavens, it was so good I wish I had never tasted it, because now I just want to eat it again!



(here's our group minus me and two others)

After dinner, everyone came back to our house to hang on the porch and drink beer and tell stories. Which means our fridge looked like this:



We have tons leftover, too bad I don't like beer.

And speaking of our porch, we finally got the glider put together... I love sitting in it and watching the hoodlums go by.

Here's a shot of it the evening we put it together:



And here is how it looks in the daytime:



Love it! The pillows are made of napkins from World Market. I got two different patterns for the big pillows so they are reversible, and one of each pattern for the bolsters. Now we just need a porch swing (and a couple more pillows) for the other side of the porch.

Sunday was a very lazy day...





I can't resist sharing this picture... Julio stole Pablo's "chewie", and when I went to take a picture, Pablo came up next to me and Julio bared his little teeth because he didn't want Pablo to take it back.



Josh took Bo, the neighbor dog, to the vet to get fixed this morning. Here is a picture of him and Pablo (BFF's!) from Friday:



I think his new home is going to work out. He's adjusting.

I love my 'hood

Even though I live on the not-so-good side of the neighborhood (for now), there are still many blessings over here! I've been getting more involved with neighborhood things and getting to know more people (several on my side of the hood who are as passionate as I am about making this place the best possible place to live). I even volunteered at our local "Night Out Against Crime" (which is a Nationwide event - did you attend yours?) to work in our Neighborhood Watch booth. It was a blast!

Here's Pablo, doing his own version of Neighborhood Watch:



He's available should they ever need a mascot. His motto is "Tough on Crime... and Squirrels!"

Yesterday was election day, and this was my first time voting in anything other than a presidential election.



I have gotten to know my council person (who was a resident of my neighborhood for 25+ years and is still a great participant in making the Village such a great place to live), and my vote helped him get re-elected (though he really didn't need it, he won by a landslide!), I also cast my vote ro re-elect our mayor (not that he really had much competition, but it feels good to know the person *I* voted for is serving the great city of Nashville), and I educated myself on the issue with the fairgrounds and was able to make an informed vote on that as well. That whole "knowledge is power" thing is not just a rumor, folks! ;)

In other news, I don't think I mentioned it much on here, but our next door neighbors (renters) were just awful people. Awful to each other, their kids, their dog. I can't tell you how many nights I worried myself sick over that dog because he was not getting proper care. Josh and I really did what we could, but our options were pretty limited. Our neighbors across the street are also dog lovers and really did a lot for him, too. More than us, but the neighbors liked them more! Haha. Joy of joys, the bad neighbors moved to a different state this week and gave their dog to our neighbors across the street. Not only did my life instantly feel more peaceful the moment they left, but I no longer have to worry about the dog getting proper care. Since the dog never had his shots, got neutered or anything else, Josh and I decided to pitch in on getting him up to par, since we are so grateful for our neighbors for giving him a home. He will be getting fixed on Monday, and he's already gotten his shots this week. It may be a long road to get him settled, so send good thoughts. He's very confused as to the change in his living situation and he's never really had any training or a proper home. He has gotten out of his fence several times. Yesterday I came home to find him in his old back yard. It's sad, but I hope we can all work together to get him acclimated to his new and better life. I think our great neighbors deserve some homemade cookies or something this weekend, don't you?

Even the backyard sunsets are more beautiful with the restored peacefulness on our block!



Though we may not technically be on the 'good side', our blessings are no less bountiful.

Have a great weekend!

Oopsie!

It's been nearly a week since I read blogs or updated mine. I am not doing a very good job of chronicling my life lately!

My mom and Aunt were visiting from Thursday night through Monday morning, so I spent those days cooking, cleaning and playing tour guide. I'm still whooped from all that! Friday we shopped all day, and man, those two can shop! We had lunch at the little restaurant down the street that day. Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market in the morning,  Loveless Cafe  for lunch and then to the Hermitage... and then more shopping. Sunday I made a hearty breakfast and then we went downtown to walk around, stopped in at a Honky Tonk (Legends, my favorite), had lunch at Demos', and then spent a little time just hanging around the house. I made a huge dinner that night. Unfortunately, it was ungodly hot all weekend, and since my stove was working overtime and my husband likes to keep the thermostat at a toasty 78 degrees, it was hotter than Hades both inside and out.

I usually eat fairly light on the weekends, so I felt unusually stuffed between all the home cooking and mid-day eating out.

I was so busy playing hostess, I didn't really take any pictures aside from a few at the Hermitage. Weird that I've lived practically down the street from it most of the years I've lived in Tennessee, but I've never been. No pictures allowed inside, but I did grab a few on the grounds and in the garden.













My mom also brought me/us new vintage looking metal porch furniture for my birthday/our anniversary. We have the two chairs and table put together, we just need to finish the glider. Can't wait to take photos of it to share! I got some cute napkins from World Market that my mom made into outdoor pillows for me to go on them. Just took a little fabric glue, stuffing and scotchguard! I used two patterns, so the big pillows are reversible. Very inexpensive and I will probably make more.

My mom also hung up my new-to-me vintage kitchen curtains from my MIL.



I have valances on this kitchen window facing the backyard and on the back door window, and then panels and a valance on the side window. I need to get some ribbon to tie the panels back with, and then I will share a photo of that.

Here's one last little photo... on the left is a grape tomato from the store, on the right is a grape tomato from my garden... a little bigger than a grape, huh??



I kept noticing my tomatoes disappearing and I have figured out why. Pablo is picking them and using them as little balls to play with outside. That goober!