Drawn to Details

I like things to be hindering above the surface, quietly. The kind of things that can easily be missed. The flavors that linger in your mouth and you just can't put your finger on it. Things that you taste, see and touch that make you wonder why you even like them. Anything that makes me do a double take, I am drawn to.


Right on the sidewalk we found this little birds nest at a park, abandoned and wet. Now, perched up on the branches I have found it a new home and a new owner. This porcelain bird was a gift from my sister-in-law, chirping around from season to season it made its way to an egg.


If you liked this you may also enjoy http://outtoimpress-hope.blogspot.com/2009/03/spring-time-forward.html
Lingering, hope.

Three's a charm

Here I am. Guests are gone. House feels quiet and I have caught up with everything. Everything to me means cleaning (of course!) laundry, organizing, ironing, hemming, groceries and all of the necessary appointments. It is amazing how many things can accumulate over a month, this has never happened to me before so the recoup lasted one week.

One week later, I find time for redecorating. I tend to do this often. I like to change it up, get a new feel on things and my constant battle for the last 3 years has been our "living room".

This was the beginning in 2006. I love the clay jars, they were a gift and probably the most expensive accessory in the house. It's designer and it show's. I love it.


Replacing them, I added more drama with curly willow and cherry blossoms. Lighting helped but the side table was gone. The problem was that I had no other place to put it. This caused a storage issue and I needed another floor plan.

The big change was dropping the mirror from the wall to the floor. It does not sound complicated (so I thought) but with a mirror this size it needed to be done with muscle. I do not have that, so it took a little time to get this vision set on the floor. Regardless, all of the pieces are present and I like the new floor plan. It is full, yet minimalistic and it seems to work for this space. Tell me thoughts.

What has worked for you when you redecorate? Where do your inspirations come from? Mine has been about texture in this house, so take a closer look.....

Changing, hope.

Conversation Clothing

From a recent episode of the "Marriage Tune Up" video series the couple talked about words that have different meanings with men and women that can cause a communication gap. One of those words was "fine" and how to a male the word simply states "good" but the female hears "I don't care". We had a discussion time with the group and argued the differences. "Genius" said that for a better response the women should pick appropriate times depending on the situation and intrigue the male enough so that he is interested in giving you time.

That was exactly what I did for our date day. First, I bought a "boy-friend" t-shirt. I guess its a big hit these days and I thought it would be the perfect wear for our casual, backyard evening. Usually they have some kind of print on them but I didn't pay enough attention to see what it was. We were going to make pizzas on the grill and if the weather permitted build a fire outside. "Genious" walked in and I excitedly pointed out my "casual" look, its his favorite so I wanted him to notice. His response was unexpected when he asked who was on my new t-shirt.
"I don't know?" I replied. "Some chick."
He raised his eyebrows. "It's Pamela Anderson".
"What? How would you know?" I said completely confused as I looked down at my shirt. The print was black and white and was made to look distressed.
"How do you even see that?" I tried to put together the image of the female.
"Ya, its from the movie Barb Wire" He sounded certain.
"Is that weird?" I asked, before I interrupted myself and attempted on making a joke
"My hair is blonde so I guess I'm half-way there, You can call me Pam from now on." Sarcasm rang strong in my voice.
"Genious" laughed, the whole conversation had been fun and playful.
"You mean SPAM!" He teased.

That joke was the beginning of many more that followed and all evening long we laughed because almost anything can be connected to the famous PAM and her new knock-off SPAM. Unintentionally the shirt created interest and captured my husbands attention. A simple "fine" tee became "fantastic" ....and there is no second guessing that word.

I am now curious about the responses other females get as styles change and trends go in and out, what are they doing? And how are the husbands reacting? I have a friend that places attractive items on the bed for her husband to notice during the day so that their paths cross numerous times before she tries it on. What are some of the things you do and do they even get noticed? Let me know.

"Fine", hope.

Powder Up Girls

I came across this picture in the trash file, it was taken by our friend for a contest that I never entered so I simply threw it away. Luckily in this computer age even the deleted items are stored so I moved the picture and now I am able to share it with you.


This unexpected space gets people excited and its easy to say that this is my favorite room in the house. Our powder room is a small space with a lot of drama and when I was putting it together I wanted it to resemble the rest of our home. The "Black and White" theme echoes in every room where floor to ceiling curtains are always a must. Simple and clutterless is my kind of style because it always feels clean and fresh.

I have heard that a bathroom determines the condition of a house, I don't know how true that is but I guess if you have time to keep your bathroom clean every thing else should be in order......it makes sense, but what do you think?

Private, hope

Bi Bitty, Bo Bitty, Boo!

Previously I wrote a blog about my Dining Room dilemma, and since then I have been enjoying the chargers I had placed but the middle of the table still lacked a centerpiece. I rummaged through my odds and ends and "put them together". All of a sudden, at the touch of a wand a glass slipper was born. Magically these pieces fit together just like in a fairy tale, perfectly aligned and unintentionally created.

BI BITTY.....

BO BITTY....

BOO!

I wish I could say that I was actually inspired by something else besides junk but some times the best things can happen by sheer chance. So I presumed to believe that if it worked for Cinderella it could also work for us, so whats your fairy-tale? Tell your story.

Magical, Hope.

Pineapple Express

Draker's my one year old is the cutest little thing but some times I feel he is more like a puppy. He is exceptionally friendly and uses his emotions a lot. For example he tilts his head to one side when meeting new people, brings different cups to me depending on if he wants juice, water or milk (kind of like a dog brings you his leash or ball) but most of all he needs to be taken for walks outside at least three times a day. I swear if this won't prepare me for a dog nothing will.

Today the sun is finally shinning and my damp, little heart rejoices. I can stop sitting in the rain, in the cold, in the hail (yes, it hailed this week) and finally enjoy taking Draker's outside. Seeing that the weather looked quite pleasant in comparison with the rest of the week I called a friend and made plans to meet at the park late in the afternoon.

No day in the park would be complete without a picnic so having the day quite free I baked some Zucchini Pineapple Muffins. I think they are the perfect afternoon snack because they are both healthy, sweet and quite delicious. I love to have a piece of extra pineapple on top because it reminds me of the grilled ones but adding a little bit of honey or butter makes it go over the top. By the time I took them out of the oven I was really looking forward on going and since I was already in the kitchen I cut up some watermelon, make a few sandwiches and packed some water for the kidlings. So just in case you feel like heading out to the park this weekend make sure to pack this easy snack.

Zucchini Pineapple Muffins
(Source was from a friend)

1 20 oz. Can Crushed Pineapple
1 Pkg. Krutz Honey Cornbread mix
1 cup. Shredded Zucchini
2 tsp. Baking Powder
Butter for Greasing

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingrediants in a bowl. Grease mini muffin pan and place mixture in. I placed a slice of fresh pineapple on top and sprinkled sugar on it. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 mins.

I am always looking for new picnic snacks around the time the weather starts to warm up. What are some of your favorites? Let me know, I am a sucker for delicious delights.

Delighting, hope.

Going Green

Months ago I found an article that emphasized on going green. It gave helpful tips on introducing plants to brighten your space and one of those ideas was a humid-loving plant growing in a decorative glass hurricane. The ferns can use the moisture they let out and reuse it continually for up to six months without watering and after reading it I became inspired by the beautiful pictures. I knew that this was a great first step in introducing plants in my home so I ripped out the article and placed it in a place I would be sure to find it. It must have been a really safe place because yesterday when I turned my office upside-down it was no where to be found.


When I get going on a idea, it tends to take control and even though I didn't remember what type of plant I needed I went to the nursery in hopes of finding the answers. I know your probably thinking I could have got more than enough information online but in this case I wanted a person to direct me and hopefully give me some of that "Gardner's Thumb" that people seem to have. I needed my vision to be touched and I felt that at the nursery that day.

I came home and assembled my plants. I added some rocks, displayed them above the fire place and kissed my new Green Thumb. As I admired my green space, the air looked fresher and I came to realize that plants aren't so bad, that I would actually love this "thumb" to stick around and if you know anything about keeping indoor plants alive help me out with some key pointers so the "Green" could keep on livin' on.

Growing, hope.

Bridal Bash

This Saturday my sister-in-law and I held a bridal shower for our new sister-in-law to be. The shower was done in our home and many last minute preparations had to be made. The Cake we made was a Red Velvet Cake with a Cream Cheese frosting by Paula Dean. We knew we wanted to do a "Corset cake" so we had a little fun and made the breasts 3 sizes to big and the waist unreasonably small. When she was cut open there was a layer of pink fabric (fondant), skin (frosting) and flesh (cake). We laughed together over the intentional exaggerations. Playfully we assembled our creation and let creativity flow as the minutes turned to hours quickly.


Before the arrival of the guests we created a centerpiece which was also the gift. I had purchased the jewelry branch in Costco that week and was pretty excited by it. I did think it had potential but the idea came just days before the party. We wrapped the secrets separately and hung them on the tree and a collection of the "Dream Angel" samples were strung along side a scented bra.

The party went well. There was plenty of food eat, new people to meet and little presents to create lots of heat. There was music playing. Candles blowing. Wine sipping. And lots of wonderful ladies. Everything was beautiful, almost magical and I thought that it was the perfect introduction for her wedding.

All in all the cake was the biggest hit, and it didn't even matter so much what was on the inside. Of course I am not a professional and the lace was not edible but it worked and fulfilled my vision for the party. If by any means you are a cake artist I would love any input on how to create a lace look without using it, on the other hand if you are a beginner like me and would like to know how to create one yourself don't hesitate to ask.

"I do", hope.

Photo Frenzy

Mothers day is this week end. We try to celebrate this day the best way we know how and that is by going with the "flow". The "flow" during this holiday focuses in on flowers being delivered, special sentimental jewelry and gift certificates for luxurious spa treatments. Of course there are also handmade cards, handpicked dandelions and homemade breakfasts from the biggest of hearts...our kids. This year I thought that I would love nothing more than a photo of them on a ring that I had seen on Miranda's finger almost a year ago. It was from Snapfish.com but a little spendy so I thought "Mother's Day" would be the perfect excuse for purchasing it.

I relied on my idea and imagined their sweet faces always in my hands reach. I knew that this was what I wanted and this occasion would give me that type of cheese. Cheesiness, is defined by being tasteless or tacky but I didn't care because it would probably look better then my wedding ring, which I am sure reads "pathetic". It was easy to choose between the two.

For two days I tried taking a decent picture and I realize now why I previously paid a photographer, which wasn't an option this time so I needed to be as pleasant as I could. Patience, kindness, consideration and love were put to the test that day and I realized what being a mother was about.....

Don't expect perfection from the first time and
know what you are asking from your children.

Applaud them for listening and trying but
some times giving up helps us be stronger.



Wait until you are fully ready to try again,
but do so prepared. I needed an umbrella.

Proper attitudes is something we all struggle with.
Learning that is a life long journey.

That day I found out that that ring is no longer offered by that website and I was very much disappointed but in the end, when I looked at the picture I saw how much my kids loved me and how much they tried to make my "Mother's Day" gift work, so that was enough.

What is your favorite type of cheese and did you get it this Mother's Day?

Cheesy, hope.