What I Buy Wednesday

So. We're going down to the beach in two weeks. We need a new rug for the porch. Butch and I talked about checking out Home Depot, Walmart and Lowes. Then Butch reminded me of Wayfair. This is the one I picked out. I love it and can't wait to get it. The rug we have needed to be replaced in the fall, but we decided that we might as well wait until spring rather than have the wear and tear of a new one through the winter. In fact, ALL of the rugs we have at the beach came from Wayfair. 

They are the best place to go for home decor. They have everything. In fact, I bought both of the huge bathroom vanities from them when we remodeled our upstairs a few years ago. 

I bought this rug on Monday night and it's being delivered today! Plus, free shipping! You can't beat that! 

I have used Wayfair for years. Their return policy is so easy--although I haven't had to return much. We've received a couple things through the years that were broken. All we had to do was send a picture and they replaced it. 

I like this rug so much, that I'm thinking I might use it inside and moving another one outside. We'll see when we get down there.

Travel Tuesday

This past weekend, we went to the wedding of my friend, Connie's granddaughter. Everything about it was perfect! Even the weather cooperated!

The bride and groom: Nick and Analise.

The wedding party. The venue was at an old country club in Knoxville--Holston Hills (that's where the travel part comes in). It had a lot of old charm and character.

This is Connie's younger daughter and her family: Charlie, Grace, Malinda and Drew. The bridesmaid's dresses were a lovely shade of blue. The dresses were simple, yet beautiful. 

Connie had told me ahead of time that I needed to pay attention to the flowers. Well, that was easy since I love flowers! I told her that I didn't know they were buying the whole shop! There were flowers everywhere--including 2 huge wreaths on the entrance doors to the club.

Although you cannot see her face, this is Amanda--Analise's mom. I was sort of at the mercy of the pictures I was able to pull off of Facebook. Amanda's dress was gorgeous too.

Analise with her brother, Merrit.

Each row had more beautiful flowers. 

And then these are the centerpieces. Connie encouraged us to take them home, but since we were traveling we couldn't really do it. I loved the shabby chic tablecloths too. Every detail was perfect!

Analise did another thing that I think is so classy! She wrote notes to all of her guests--thanking them for coming. She mentioned a personal experience in each one. Since our families are such good friends, she grew up with us. I'm so impressed by the time it had to take to do all of these notes. 

Another family friend, Paige (daughter of my friend, Nancy) did the same thing a few years ago. I had never heard of this but love it so much. Writing is becoming a lost art. 

It was a fun weekend. Since we gained an hour on the return drive and with a stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, we were still home by 9 a.m. Can't wait to see Connie this week to see how everything went after we left.

Me on Monday

On Friday, Butch and I had a date at Walgreens!

We got our TDAP boosters! There's a new baby coming and it is recommended that everyone who comes in contact with our newborn great-grand be immunized. It's best--for everyone!

Happy Easter!

The year is 1965. I am 13 years old--in the 7th grade--in the blue & white striped dress. From the back--Grandma and grandpa Preli holding Joyce--she's 6 months old in this picture. The next row starting next to me is Ronnie--12, Janice & Jennifer--11. In front, Jeanne--8 and Matt--4. 

We are all in our Easter finest. We always got a new Easter outfit and a Christmas outfit down to the shoes, purse--and spring coat and gloves.

We are at our Uncle Al and Aunt JoAnn's house--my mother's brother. We had an Easter egg hunt and good food! We didn't get to go to too many places. When you have 7 kids, you don't get invited much. 

I am thrilled to have this photo. It is only one of two that we have with all of us kids together. 

Happy Easter to you and your family!

Scrapbook Saturday

We had our AYM meeting for March. The topic for the month was "the bedroom." As always, everyone can focus on anything to tell a story about. As for me, I decided to go with "Lucky" in honor of St. Patrick's Day. 

I was thrilled when I found this shamrock paper--green shamrocks on a robin's egg blue background. That's the exact color of my bedroom. It's kind of hard to read my journaling so here it is:

I have so many fond memories of my bedroom. It’s where the girls all piled in as we snuggled and watched the school closings over and over again. When Sandy was a baby, we brought her in with us just to cuddle and look at her. She was such an easy and happy baby. When Stephanie was little, she came in every night to climb in with us. Every. Night! If we let her, it continued over and over. She never gave up. She ended up sleeping on our floor. When we moved to Nashville, I remember saying to her, “Steph, I don’t care if you want to sleep on the cold, hard floor instead of your nice comfy bed, but you’re 8 now. Are you going to be doing this when you are 18?” That’s when she finally stopped! As for Mindy, she started climbing in at around two years old and wanted to know everything about her day—including all her meals! 

Now, my bedroom is where I go around 8 or 9 p.m. to relax, read, and listen to podcasts while playing games on my iPad. I never watch tv in bed unless I’m sick. In the winter, I love having a fire at night or in the early morning. It’s a cozy place for me and I’m glad for it! But truth be told, I’d go back in a heartbeat for more time with my babies!

What’s on my nightstand:

Nightstand. Isn’t that an odd word? I think in today’s world it’s called a “bedside table.” In my case, it’s a little chest of drawers. My nightstand contains nothing but practical stuff: a lamp, a bottle of water on a coaster, my book (Kindle), phone and charger and my iPad. The top drawer contains kleenex and Blistex in case the need arises.

This is Susan's layout.

Here's her journaling:

Nancy's layout:

Her journaling:

Nancy based her layout on dogs in the bedroom. 

This is Susan's February layout.

I love her pink and orange color-scheme.

That's it for now!

Friday Frustration

By now, you are probably pretty sick of hearing about my sewing problems. You are probably thinking..."Here we go again! Why doesn't she just quit with the sewing machine already! It's beyond her. Just give it up!"

Well, that's not in my nature. I've been plugging along and actually doing pretty well lately. Until...yesterday. Then it happened! The bobbin ran out! OMGosh! My thoughts immediately turned to my friends who always rescue me. 

When Nancy told me to just change my thread color by "tying the new one to the old one and just pull it through”—that was a game changer for me! GAME CHANGER! I’ve done it many times with complete success. I'm no longer afraid to change the thread! Win!

But yesterday, when my bobbin thread ran out. I kinda’ freaked, and was going to call her for emotional support. Instead, I took a deep breath and told myself I could figure it out. I pulled out the “quick start” card, but there was nothing about the bobbin. I had to go to the “book.” I wasn’t sure what to call what I needed to do—change the bobbin or replace the bobbin. My friend, Karolyn came over and replaced the bobbin the one and only time it ran out. 

Everything takes me longer, but I found the page. I opened up the bobbin door and pulled it out. Then I panicked because I didn’t pay attention as to which way everything was pointing or how the thread was coming off. Luckily, I had also taken Nancy's advice about buying the pre-wound bobbins. So, I followed the pictures carefully and put everything back in. But then, the thread was sticking out towards me and I could not figure out how to get it to go up and come out towards the needle! I looked everywhere in the instructions and couldn’t find anything about that. I decided to close it all up and see what would happen. I rolled the big wheel and it seemed like a miracle—a tiny little loop came up. I carefully grabbed my scissors and pulled it out. OMGosh! I couldn’t believe it. I took a scrap and practiced and it worked!! I cannot believe it! I actually did it all by myself. I felt like a proud little kid—even if it took me 30 minutes to do it!! I actually like that little kid feeling--all giddy--even if I'm 74!

 I couldn’t have done it without my friends!! 

So, this post isn't exactly a frustration at all. Perhaps I should call it "Feel Good Friday!" Because when it was all said and done, I felt good!

This is what I was stitching--for Jordan's wedding album:

Five Things Thursday

Just for fun, I have a few vintage finds today.

I loved the turquoise of the 50's. My Aunt Marie's first car was a 1957 Chevrolet convertible in turquoise. 

That car was slick!

I really liked this shade of green--much pretty than the avocado of the 1970's.

My grandma Z. had dishes that were the green glass. 

This has always been a controversial topic. 

In the 70's when printed toilet paper came out, if you hung it the other way, the pretty print didn't show as well. I do understand why people with pets or babies hang it the other way.

This is so clever and a great use of old globes.

This would be so cute in a kids room over their desk on in a library. Actually, I would want a few like shown here. 

What a clever way to show a collection of vintage pins. It's a great way to display inherited pins from your mom or grandmother.

As for me, I have a collection of rhinestone pins and jewelry. Now I'm thinking I'm going to have them framed to enjoy myself.