Life At Home

"The Bounce"

2011-10-23T07:28:00.001-04:00

Have you ever heard of Cherry Bounce? It is a long held tradition among family and friends in Northern Michigan. Cherry Bounce is a Cordial Liquor with roots dating back to colonial times.

The main ingredient to make your own Cherry Bounce is fresh Tart Cherries. Tart Cherries are very perishable so around the middle of July the Tart Cherries that are left over after all the major pie corporations scoop them up for their pies, the locals get there opportunity to acquire any that remain.

The farmers markets are the purveyors of these precious jewels and the early birds are the lucky ones. If you are one of the fortunate, your next task in the small communities that dot the Northeastern Coast of Northern Michigan is to acquire enough Vodka to make your "Bounce". Our small town ran out of the big bottles of Vodka the first day the Cherries were available.....

I have heard that you can find frozen Tart Cherries on line if you are interested in making a batch of Cherry Bounce yourself. It is a delicious drink to serve your friends or to give as gifts in small batches during the Holidays. The taste is like nothing you have had before and if you do decide to try it I guarantee that before long the words "The Bounce" will become part of your vocabulary too.

Classic Cherry Bounce

6 cups Tart Cherries

3/4 cup sugar

1 fifth Vodka

Directions

What a fun way to ring in the holidays with cherries from the summer. When the liqueur is gone, enjoy a vodka infused cherry every now and then.

Place the cleaned cherries in a large, clean jug or jar with a tight fitting lid. Add the sugar and then pour in the vodka. Seal and place the jug in a cool place away from the light. Shake the contents on occasion.

At holiday time (six months later), the bounce should be ready to enjoy. Serve in cordial glasses as an after dinner liqueur and enjoy in moderation. The cherries that have been steeping in the liquor can also be enjoyed on their own or spooned over ice cream or pound cake.

Trunk Show

2011-10-22T08:19:00.001-04:00

Trunk Show by preppysue featuring coach handbags

J Crew navy blazer
$188 - jcrew.com

J Crew long skirt
$135 - jcrew.com

Tory burch shoes
$289 - mytheresa.com

Coach handbag
$158 - freepeople.com

London Road pearl stud earrings
£85 - johnlewis.com

Jigsaw scarve
£15 - jigsaw-online.com

Pintrest

2011-09-30T08:46:00.000-04:00

Good morning! Long time no see....

Hope you all had a good summer, ours was crazy busy with many fun, and exciting new adventures.

More about those later. For now let's talk about

Pintrest.

What a fun site! Have you joined? I have joined and started to follow a few bloggers. I have no idea what I am doing and am probably breaking some Pintrest etiquette rules so if any one has any tips please leave them here for me in the comments.

I have a link on my sidebar to follow me if you are so inclined and I hope you are. Let me warn you though, this site is addictive.

xoxo

A Few Cottage Pictures

2011-06-14T10:25:00.000-04:00

Hello all. Last weekend was rainy, cold, and windy but at sunset on Saturday night the sun came out and cast the most beautiful gold glow over everything at Dana's cottage.

She is still fluffing the inside so here are a few pictures of the outside of the cottage.

When we were up north over Memorial Weekend we scoured all the antique shops in Northwestern Michigan and we were able to fill the front porch with a lot of nice old wicker and ratan pieces.

Here is a sneak peak at what is to come of the interior of the cottage. It is going to be adorable!

Forget-Me-Not

2011-06-01T06:37:00.000-04:00

Hope you had a good Memorial Day weekend! We had a great time at the cottage, but we were so busy hunting, gathering, and rearranging that there was no time to photograph the results.

So, I greet you this morning with this picture taken in my laundry room of a Forget-Me-Not plate that hangs over the dryer, by the window, and with an appoligy for no cottage pictures.

Back To Boyne City

2011-05-26T07:26:00.000-04:00

Wow, what crazy weather we are having here in the USA! Our hearts and prayers go out to all those in harms way and those recovering from the devistation caused by the tornadoes and flooding.

Hopefully Memorial Day weekend will end up being nice and peaceful.

Tomorrow we are going to Boyne City on beautiful Lake Charlevoix in the north-west portion of the lower penninsula of Michigan for the Memorial Day weekend. Our family spent summers there for many years before relocating to Harbor Springs. After selling the cottage there we were renting most summers. This year we are back in Boyne City and happy as can be about it. Our daughter and son-in-law bought a cute little cottage there right across the street from where our son and his wife keep their boat.

I will be back next week with pictures.

Mother's Day

2011-05-06T09:43:00.001-04:00

Wishing you all a very happy Mother's Day.

This will be the first year that my sister and I will be celebrating Mother's Day without our beautiful Mother but she will always be in our heart.

The Pear Trees About To Burst

2011-05-05T09:51:00.003-04:00

The first signs of Spring are beginning to appear after weeks of cold temperatures and rain. This picture, out our front door, shows the Bradford Pear trees that line our streets about to burst into full bloom.

If you disregard the mess that my garden is in, because it has been too cold and wet to get out there, you can get a glimpse out our back door of the tree lined street ready to put on its finest show of the seasons.

Hope things are warming up in your part of the world if you are in the Northern Hemisphere.
I am sooo over this cold weather!

Home Made Lemoncello

2011-05-03T07:43:00.002-04:00

A week ago we went to an Italian Cocktail & Dinner Party where the host and hostess set up a Make-Your-Own Lemoncello bar. They provided all the lemons, canning jars, decorative jars, the directions to complete our Lemonchello at home, and the little bags to carry it all home.

While at the party we each pealed the skin off of five lemons and put them in pint sized jars. After that we added a cup of any kind of vodka, that we chose and were instructed to bring to the party, into the jar.

The rest of the instructions were printed out on these cute cards that were attached to our take-out bags. If you click on the above picture you can see them close up.

Because we had a busy weekend I am a few days late in completing the process but I don't think that will cause any major problems with the mixture.

This morning I boiled the sugar syrup, let it cool to room temperature, added the marinated lemon mixture, then strained it into the decorative bottles. It was a little tricky straining the mixture and a bit of it went down the drain but all in all it was time consuming but easy.

If you are looking for a theme for a Dinner Party I would highly recommend incorporating making your own Lemoncello into the program. It was a big hit at the party and it takes care of your party favors in a big way too.

My whole house smells lemony delicious too!

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T09:23:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to the Royal Couple!

I can see a nap in my near future. Up this morning at 2:30am so as not to miss a minute of the Royal Wedding festivities and what a treat it was. Everything was so beautiful and the memory of the handsome grooms Mother made it very emotional.

Did you watch? What did you think?

Family Love

2011-04-25T07:26:00.002-04:00

Hope you all had a good Easter weekend. The weather in Mt. Pleasant was beautiful for Dad's annual Easter Egg Hunt. Here he is posing with his nine great-grandchildren.

We love you Dad and thank you for all the wonderful memories you have created for us all over the years!

Easter Basket Prep

2011-04-21T09:20:00.002-04:00

We use the same baskets year after year for our nine grandchildren, but four of the baskets are missing this year. OK, who took their baskets home last year? Hehe. The twins and their brother and sister won't be with us this year so we combined the missing four baskets into one that we will deliver to them tonight so the problem of the missing baskets is solved for this year.

Grampa G went with me this year to get Easter basket goodies. Predictably, the baskets this year will be filled only with candy. Parents B E W A R E ! I tried, I really did, to add the usual non-sugary treats like usual but Grampa won so good luck with the kids bouncing off the walls Easter morning ;)

Thankfully they won't get their baskets until after church, a dose of healthy food at brunch, and the Easter egg hunt at Grampa-Great's.

I hope all your Easter prep's are going well if you are preparing for this holiest of days for Christians around the world.

Blessings and much love.

Majolica Flowers and A Good Report

2011-04-20T07:55:00.003-04:00

It is another rainy, overcast day here so this picture of our china closet in the dining room is the closest thing we have to a garden view around these parts.

On a happier note, this morning was my weigh-in day after my first week on WeightWatcher's and I was very excited when the scale reported that I had lost 4.6 lbs.

Stella & Dot

2011-04-18T09:19:00.005-04:00

What a surprise it was when I spotted a vendor for stella & dot at a gymnastic meet a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, to pass the time between events I ordered a few pieces that I had had my eye on for sometime on-line. Saturday it arrived.

I am looking forward to putting some outfits together to go with all these cute pieces. Any suggestions are welcome.

It is snowing like crazy here is SE Michigan. Not very conducive to thinking spring outfits....Yuck!

Prayer

2011-04-17T10:10:00.003-04:00

Since 2000 these two books have been an important part of my prayer life.

This morning the Power of A Praying Parent seemed like it needed updating. The covers were worn off and the pages were pretty tattered from eleven years of use. I joyfully saw that Stormie Omartian has a book for praying for your adult children and decided to order it to replace the Power of A Praying Parent.

I love The Power Prayer books and look forward to checking out this new one. Have you used any of Stormie Omartain's books?

Alternatives

2011-04-16T08:38:00.003-04:00

A few adjustments to an English Breakfast to make it more WeightWatcher's friendly.

1. Use one whole egg and one egg white instead of two whole eggs.

2. Spray the pan with Pam instead of using butter.

3. Either eliminate the sausage or replace it with turkey sausage.

4. Replace the white flour English Muffin with one half of a whole wheat English Muffin.

5. Replace the Smucker's Strawberry Preserves that are in the rabbit dish with the American Spoon Foods Strawberry-Rhubarb sugarless preserves that Dana gave me for my birthday.

6. Omit the butter on the muffin.

OR

Sit at the place setting next to this one and just have coffee ;) That is probably not a great idea.

Happy Saturday.

Charmed

2011-04-15T09:43:00.003-04:00

At the top of my wish list is a charm bracelet. After consulting Tracey Zabar's book for ideas I have found The One!

This recent purchase at the Tiffany in Las Vegas to commemorate John's jackpot win has precipitated moving a new charm bracelet to the top of my list.

At a 6mm width, with a pretty end piece, and an insignificant clasp, this bracelet (also available in a length that works for me) meets the "Charmed Bracelets" requirements suggested by Tracey.

Success

2011-04-14T06:39:00.003-04:00

On the way home from up north earlier this week the usual stop at the Ralph Lauren Outlet provided several needful items. Some things for the house, a few fresh Polo shirts for John, and a cheap alternative to one of the blouses I lost on the plane on the way to Las Vegas last month rounded out my shopping list.

The beautiful weather we had yesterday encouraged me to throw open the windows and get organized. When ever I am away, even for just a couple of days, it seems like the house is a mess when I return. Anyway, I unpacked and started the laundry first thing yesterday morning. By noon I was ready to wash our new sheets that we desperately needed. Even though I love old broken-in sheets it was a delight to climb into bed after a busy day and to fall asleep on the new, freshly laundered sheets.

On another note, my first day of WeightWatchers was a success. I felt like I was eating all day but I managed to stay within my points range and fulfilled all of the nutritional requirements. After a trip to the grocery store I calculated and marked the products that I use most regularly with their point values. I am thinking this will help me get used to the new PointsPlus system that WWs is using now. So, one day down and 160 days to go. Wish me luck!

Back At It

2011-04-13T09:12:00.002-04:00

Have you ever been on WeightWatchers? Ever since the birth of my second child when ever I needed to take off a few pounds WeightWatchers has been the only way that guaranteed me any maintainable success.

Other weight loss programs have lured me in with their quick loss tempting lingo (Atkins, South Beach, Mayo Clinic 3 day diet), their lifestyle changing promise (Mediterranean, French Women Don't Get Fat), or their strictly defined, buy this, cook this, eat this, and lose weight, easy directions (Saving Dinner) are examples. All of these have merit but I have never been able to maintain any of them long enough to get me back to the weight that is healthy and comfortable for me personally.

So, while I have started and failed miserably at WW's more times than I can count, I am giving it a go again. They have a new method of tracking the food you eat so that will take some effort to get used to but I am committed to it. The reappearance of cute Lilly Shifts in my closet, the up-coming pool season around the corner, and my Lilly two-pieces bathing suits coming out of winter storage will be reminders that it is time to get serious.

Happenings

2011-04-11T07:42:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Uncle Bill!

One of my favorite Uncles turned ninety last week and he gathered about seventy five of his friends and his family to celebrate on Sunday. He and his beautiful wife, who is two years older than he is, stood and greeted guests for more than and hour as the party got underway. He gave an inspiring speech in his strong loud voice thanking everyone for coming and kicking off the celebration. His strength and elegance gives credence to the statement....

Ninety is the new seventy!

Hopefully the weather on the east coast today will cooperate so our daughter-in-law can make it home today after spending an unintended night in Queens when a canceled flight left he stranded there overnight.

Our little peacemaker, Blake, receives his Peacemaker Award tonight. In our large rowdy family he is the peacemaker among the grandchildren. I guess that role has translated well into society too. Good for you Blake.

Congratulations to all the little peacemakers receiving the award tonight. Lord knows we need you all!

Weekend Plan

2011-04-08T08:23:00.002-04:00

Isn't this book tied up with a big orange bow cute? Carrie came and spent the night last night to be closer to the airport for her flight to Florida this morning and brought me this cookbook that extends the birthday celebrating for another week......

We have a busy weekend coming up. The Masters on TV, John is heading downtown for opening day for the Detroit Tigers, I am getting ready to host family overnight to be close to Bridgid's gymnastic meet in the morning, then off to MP later Saturday for my Uncle's ninetieth birthday party Sunday, and to watch Blake receive a Peace Makers award Monday night.

Hope your weekend is as event filled as you want it to be.

The Kennedys' Miniseries

2011-04-07T08:13:00.005-04:00

Are you watching The Kennedys' Miniseries? As you can see by the photograph and stack of Jackie books on my end table by where I sat watching the movie I am a long time Kennedy fan.

I have been looking forward to this move ever since first hearing about it while in production. When I heard that the History Chanel had decided not to air it I was not happy. Thankfully the Reelz Chanel picked it up.

Here is a close up of my Jackie books.

This is the envelope from the Whitehouse that my fifty year old picture of JFK came in.

Apparently someone tore the stamp off, I have no idea where it went. The envelope is post marked, "Washington 36, D.C., Aug 16, 8-PM, 1961".

It is strange to think about today that at nine years old I was so taken with the Kennedys' that I would write a letter to the White House asking for a picture and that I knew at that young age they were something special.

So, are you watching and what do you think?

Tea and Silver

2011-04-06T07:52:00.003-04:00

The forecast for SE Michigan is dreary with rain predicted through the 15th....Yuck!

Since it looks like we will not be getting outside in our gardens any time in the near future here are some pretty flowers that do not need tending for you today.

A couple of weeks ago John and I went on a rare antiquing excursion and picked up this Crabtree & Evelyn tea set and the silver tray that is sets on. I hope this brightens your day.

Also, apparently it is Tartan Day, or something like that. Anyhow, I am waiting for Scot Meacham Wood over at "The Adventures of Tartanscot" to post what he claims will be an abundance of tartan on his blog today. If you are a tartan lover you might want to check out his blog today to see what he has in store. He is amazing and I am sure his post today will not disappoint.

Lost Shirts

2011-04-05T08:09:00.002-04:00

I have a routine when traveling from our house north that, most times, includes a stop at the outlet mall in Birch Run, MI. The stop includes two stores, Ralph Lauren, and Brooks Brothers. If I leave the house close to 9:00 a.m. it puts me at the mall for the store openings at 10:00 a.m. so I do not have to fight the crowds. It is usually a quick stop to pick up something for the grandchildren or to replace a worn out OCBD.

On our way to Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago I made an unusual stop at the Brooks Brothers at Metro Airport because we arrived early for our flight. They had two interesting shirts that I could not resist so I bought them. The shirts were a medium wide stripe, one in pink and white, and the other in blue and white stripe. They also both had a double collar, one in the stripe, and the lower one, along with the cuffs, was in white.

I had packed for the trip in a hurry without much thought and felt like the addition of these two shirts would round out what I had packed. Well, unfortunately, I left them in the bag under the seat on the airplane so that did not work out too well. So far I have still not been able to retrieve them from Delta Airlines. I am sick about it because they were such cute shirts. This morning I could not find photos online anywhere to show you. Hopefully, mine will show up but if they don't, I am even considering repurchasing them, (they were that cute), if they are even available somewhere.

Sadly, on Saturday while shopping with the family at our town center, Partridge Creek, to check to see if the BB there had any of the missing shirts, I found out that our BB had closed! I felt bad, but was not surprised. Bad because I had not supported our local store more, but not surprised because you can get so much at the outlet shops for so much less than at the brick and mortar ones.

I like BB and get many shirts that are monogrammed for the boys there but often order them online. From now on I am planning on ordering them from the BB at Somerset in an attempt at keeping them in business. I realize that one person can not keep a shop in business but at least I can try. The people that work at the Somerset store are very professional, helpful, and creative so I hope they they keep that store open.

What A Week!

2011-04-04T09:31:00.004-04:00

What a wonderful birthday I had this past week. John started the week of by completing the painting of our office. We ended up going with Benjamin Moore paint in Beacon Grey and I am more than pleased with the result. It reads pale blue and coordinates perfectly with the gray blue in the Turkish carpet that Mom & Dad brought back for me with them from a trip to the Holy Lands more than a decade ago.

Look what the kids got me. What a surprise, three gorgeous pieces of the china that I posted about a few weeks ago. It is more beautiful than I could have imagined. The detail and texture is exquisite.

The covered Butter Dish with the detailed draining plate inside.

The 14 1/2" Oval Platter.

The Round Covered Vegetable Dish.

We had friends that were in town to shop for their up-coming trip to Italy that stopped by to drop of this darling McKenzie-Child's serving piece they had gotten me.

All in all it was a great week. Now it is time to get back to work around here and to find someone to hang our wallpaper in the dining room so I can use all this beautiful china.

Good Wednesday Morning To You

2011-03-30T09:09:00.004-04:00

We hope you are finding yourself in a place full of sunshine like we are here. A fresh pot of coffee is brewing, the table is set and our Grandson's, Aidan and Blake are on their second On Demand movie of the morning, first Scoobie Do now Tangled. Dana is getting some much needed rest so Grandma is spoiling the boys with two movies this morning.

The little hand in the picture is Nolan's, our baby, who is growing up very fast. He helped me set the table.

The Smokey Links are browned, the English Muffins are sliced and in the toaster ready to be toasted, the eggs are scrambled and waiting to be cooked, the jelly and juice are decanted. All we need now is for Dana to wake up and join us for this simple breakfast.

After breakfast we will clean up then head out for some shopping. I need to replace my Clinique Foaming Facewash at Nordstrom's so I for-see lunch in their cafeteria. This is the start of my birthday week celebration so I will let John decide on dinner plans, and I hope that it is something that does not include me washing piles of dishes.

Oh, we had a very strange incident last night. Something very odd happed to our refrigerator. When we opened the door to the regular side of the refrigerator a blast of warm air came out. The freezer side was still chilling but the other side was in a full meltdown. I have never seen anything like this before. We transfered the contents of the meltdown side to the refrigerator in the garage, pulled the frige away from the wall, dusted it off, swept and washed the floor, unplugged it, let it set a few minutes then plugged it back in. This morning when we woke up it was cold again.

Has anybody ever had anything like this happen before?

The Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino and Martha

2011-03-28T06:55:00.007-04:00

This morning while I was browsing blogs and catching up on Faux Fuchia's baby news I spotted my long lost friend Martha, who FF refers to as OUR DOMESTIC GARDENING AND DECORATING LEADER, in her side bar and decided to have a visit. As it turns out Martha and I were both at the fabulous Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino of Las Vegas at the same time. I did not have a personal photographer with me so have no pictures of my own to share, but Martha did, and does. Click here to see what Martha has to say about the dazzling Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino and see the gorgeous photos of her trip.

We did not run into Martha and her crew but our crew did clock quite a few hours in the Chandelier Bar's area that is shown in the top picture. We also had fun with the Jackpot trinkets (actually purple chips that we all immediately cashed in), that John shared with the girls in the family at The Crystal, which is connected to the Cosmopolitan, that Martha took lots of pictures of and describes perfectly. I had no idea that the Louis Vuitton store there was the largest in North America while we where there, but Martha pointed that out and I can believe it. There were three floors of beautiful bags, accessories, shoes and more in this flag ship store.

I have never, and I mean never, been a fan of Las Vegas, but this trip has changed my mind. The Cosmopolitan and the surrounding area is a game changer for me. There is so much to see and do there. I highly recommend taking a second look if you are not a fan of Las Vegas too. You never have to leave the resort area, they have it all.

So sorry! The links to Faux Fuchia and Martha Stewart are not working. Something must be up with blogger. I will try to fix it later in the mean time you can find both links in my side bar if you are so inclined.

Hummm....I am seeing that when I link to someone it takes you to a site where you have to click on a Google search. Is that what you are getting when you click on what I have linked here or is it just me on this computer?

Another Grosse Pointe House

2011-03-27T11:39:00.004-04:00

We got back from our trip Friday night and the first thing I did was check the news and read my e-mail. To my surprise a house in Grosse Pointe Farms on one of, what I think is, the prettiest streets in the Farms, had a major price reduction according to my Realtor.com e-mail alerts. I clicked over to the site and I gasped a little bit when I realized the major price reduction was on a house the we had driven by last week and looked longingly at but realized it was way over our budget so we moved on. I had seen the house and put it in my saved listings because it had everything we would want in a house even though it was out of our price range.

Isn't the back of the house beautiful? I love that it has a big tree shading the patio area and the ivy climbing up the trees base adds to it's charm.

Pool House

This is the pool house that is behind the main house. We entertain out of town family so this extra space would be a real bonus. It is winterized and would be a welcome addition to accommodate the overflow we experience when the whole family is here.

Guests would have their own little kitchen, bath, and even a fireplace to warm cold winter nights.

I love this fabric and wallpaper in the Pool House bedroom.

The front of the house has a big circle drive right off of Cloverly.

The box woods in the Chippendale planters soften the entrance.

The kitchen is a rarity at this new price point. Most of the homes in Grosse Pointe are older and the kitchens are often dated. This kitchen is an exception. There are loads of cupboards on the other side of the kitchen and a nice eating area.

I like how they furnished the cozy den.

Another bonus is the completely updated master suite. There is an updated bath and dressing area through the door at the back of the bedroom.

This house is probably around 2,400 square feet with the Pool House adding addition square footage which is a good size for us. The main house would be big enough for us to use efficiently and when family is here we could accommodate them for visits while not having to use resources to maintain the extra room when it is just us.

The Grosse Pointe's are unique in that home owners also have access to Lake St. Clair via the individual parks that are available to each of the Pointe's communities. The parks have pools, boat slips, and most have tennis courts. With a house in the Grosse Pointe's there really is no need to have a separate cottage some place else although many of it residents do and I probably would too if it wasn't such a long drive up north. We have a saying here in SE Michigan that we have two seasons ~ Winter & Road Construction. Where we live now it is almost impossible to get out of town on a Friday night to head up north during Road Construction season.

The Pointe's are also walking communities. From most locations you can walk either/or to the lake and the parks or to the two town centers. The house above is within walking distance to both which I love. Where we live now you have to get in the car to go anywhere which I don't love.

I have my eye on a church that we would join and there are many opportunities for community involvement in The Pointe's that I have missed over the last 9 years living here in the suburbs. We are spoiled here with the fabulous markets and restaurants, but maybe by moving to GP I could walk off some of the extra weight that has crept up from the close proximity to all that fabulousness. We will see....

All of these bargins are tempting but I am not sure I have what it takes left in me for a move. So, thanks for coming along on this journey of sorting it all out. I hope you enjoy seeing the GP eye candy.

Fleeting Moments

2011-03-15T07:27:00.004-04:00

Photo

My Parents Guest House

Good morning from the Guest House. If you click on the link above it will take you to a recap of the creation of the Guest House. With the devastation that continues to unfold in Japan I reflect on fleeting moments which of course is all anything is anyway and give thanks for this very moment that I have the privilege of sitting here writing to you.

This little Guest House gave me the opportunity to be close to my Mom in her last few years here on earth. For that opportunity I thank my sweet Father for having the fore site to buy this little cottage behind his beautiful house and allowing Dana and I to transform it back to its glorious self. Many happy moments were shared here with Mom and I can still see her beautiful smiling face enjoying those sweet times. What a blessing those precious memories are.

Thank you for coming by. I hope the tour of the Guest House is a pleasant break from the saddness we are all feeling for the people in Japan and the world as we continue to pray for those in harms way.

Blessings and much love,

Sue

Test and Paint Color Question

2011-03-13T06:48:00.002-04:00

Testing a new way to link to the blog. This

'> office has been on our radar for years.

We will see how this new way of linking products to the blog works.

Well it seems to have worked, sort of. It will need some tweaking.

Does any one have a guess what this wall color might be? I am thinking maybe BM Woodlawn Blue (HC-147) or Yarmouth blue (HC-150). Any thoughts?

Bon Bons and Nuts

2011-03-12T08:20:00.005-05:00

Yesterday John and I went antiquing with a long laundry list of items for the house and came up with a couple of items that I will post about later, but came up empty on several other things. One of the things we, well I should say I, was looking for was china to go with the new wallpaper that is going in the dining room. Having failed on the road I resorted to my favorite Internet site for all things fabulous in dishes, Replacements.Com.

After an extensive search I narrowed down my choices and decided on this Haviland pattern called Princess. I think the small scale of the pattern will be a good contrast to the large scale pattern in the wallpaper and the faded chintz fabric that we have in the living and dining rooms.

This pattern has the scalloped edges and gracefully curved shape that I always favor. It brings out the Southern Belle in me as opposed to the North East Prep that I also embrace. This ditsy print suites me. The number of pieces available is right up my alley.

As a public service announcement I am listing the pieces on my wish list for family to have ideas, forever listed here on the blog, to get me for gift giving occasions. Aren't I thoughtful?

Replacements.Com

Haviland

Princess

Large Salad Serving Bowl 10 5/8"

Round Covered Vegetable Bowl

Oval Covered Vegetable Bowl

Tureen with Lid

Oval Tureen with Lid

Oval Serving Platter 14 1/8"

Oval Serving Platter 16 1/4"

Oval Serving Platter 21"

Tea Pot with Lid

Chocolate Pot

Gravy Boat with Attached Underplate

Round Covered Butter with Strainer

Demitasse Cup & Saucer

16 oz Pitcher

32 oz Pitcher

48 or Pitcher

Bon Bon 6 3/8"

Bon Bon 8 1/2 "

Nut Dish 5 3/4 "

So, there you have it. Start saving up kid's 'cause Mama needs new dished. You may need to chip in together and combine holidays when you see the price of some of these beauties. That is alright, I am patient. The Tea Pot alone would have your gift giving requirement covered through Christmas 2012.

Living Room and Dining Room Wallpaper

2011-03-06T09:52:00.002-05:00

After ages of trying to decide what color to paint our living room and dining room I finally made a decision and decided not to paint at all but to wallpaper both rooms. While contemplating make a move, continuing making our suburban house into an English Cottage in the burbs keeps pulling me back.

This cabbage rose paper with a great deal of white space will go in the living room. I had a similar paper in blue and white in the foyer of our old house that I liked so I am pretty sure I will like this one too.
This pink damask paper will go in the dining room. It should make a good background for my old pieces of art and the plates that I will hang on the walls.

I have enjoyed the bright jewel toned colors that have been in these two rooms for several years now but the landscaping has grown up dimming the light in these two rooms. Hopefully, these two light bright papers will lighten things up. We will see. If I don't like it when it gets here I will send it back or add it to my someday inventory.

Grosse Pointe Shores Village

2011-03-05T06:19:00.007-05:00

This is my new love. Isn't she a beauty? If you are from Mt. Pleasant you will probably see the resemblance between this and the house we sold when we moved in 2003. I loved that house on its pretty maple lined street and this Grosse Pointe Shores house reminds me so much of it when we first bought it in 1996. I'm guessing Kyle will recognize it and make the same comment he made when we bought the Maple St. house. "It looks like a box and when you fix it up it will still look like a box with a wreath on it". He later recanted his statement.
The gleaming wood floors are an improvement over our former house that we had to remove miles of pet stained carpets from and refinish all the floors. The window and fireplace placement are identical. Some moldings around the fireplace would be all I would do in this living room.

The mirror in the dining room would have to go.

The kitchen has a good layout for the way we live which would save on renovation costs. I would add crown molding, paneled doors, paint the cupboards creamy white, add bin pulls to the lower cabinets and knobs to the uppers in gold, thick marble counter tops with ogee edges and marble back splashes, a farm sink, new faucets, a couple of lanterns over the island, and new appliances with a focal point hood added over the new gas stove.

New doors and windows with mullions, a slate floor, and painted rattan furniture in here.

Wouldn't this be pretty with beautiful windows and doors on the sun room?

There is plenty of room for a pool which is a must for us even though this house is only one house away from Lake St. Clair.

Do you like classic old houses? Would you even consider a house that needed updating like this one if you were contemplating a move? Feel free to add any suggestions of what you might do to this house to make it fabulous.

Realtor. com

2011-02-02T09:57:00.002-05:00

This morning while braving the blizzard that is swirling around outside I logged on to Realtor.com looking for houses with land. The picture that invited me to look inside was not that enticing but when I opened the virtual door it was love at first sight.

This kitchen had me at hello. So many elements that I like jumped off the page. After making several attempts to enlarge the picture, and failing, I brought it here to share with you. I am in hope that when I post it to the blog it will be easier to dissect.

I am also over-the-moon for this living room. The furniture not so much, but the room itself is swoon worthy, at least IMHO.

For some reason blogger is not letting me type below this bottom picture. I have had this happen before then within a couple of minutes it works again.....Oh well.

Anyhow, the outside of the house was the one that was just so, so, but also the one that invited me in. I am guessing that it is lovely in real life. Sometimes Realtors don't get the best shots of houses. I feel qualified to say that since I am an X Realtor and know from experience that it is true.

Back to the house. Some unfortunate soles have, or are in the process of losing this beautiful house. It is available through a bank now. I can't begin to imagine how bad they must feel. My heart goes out to them.

Matchbooks On Your Coffeetable?

2011-01-27T06:53:00.007-05:00

FIELD GUIDE to a CHARMED LIFE, is a new e-book, that you can click here to look at. I ran into it while searching for the picture of Andy and Kate Spade's matchbook collection. The picture and the e-book are from the author of the blog A Lovely Being.

A couple of days ago ESA, at Let The Tide Roll Your Dreams Ashore, did a blog post about Mr. & Mrs. Spades Abode. Lovely post and lovely blog and blogger, but what really caught my eye was

Mr. Spady's

collection in their fabulous living-room

of matchbooks.

Mr. LAH (Life At Home) has a collection of matchbooks too that his Father collected. We have them in a bowl in our living-room and they are fun to go through. I never thought much of them, other than that until a couple of months ago. I was reading Paul Fussell's book CLASS and I found, (while reading the reviews for the book TRUE PREP on Amazon), that many of the reviewers referred to Fussell's book in there reviews. I was curious about who this Paul Fussell was so I ordered the book.

Fussell's book, which was first published in 1983, has a quiz in the back called The Living-Room Scale where you can rate how Classy you are based on what is in your living-room. Having a matchbook collection gives you 1 point.

Here is the quiz for those of you that like this kind of thing.

I will let you put your own label on how Classy you are but you can get the drift by knowing that the higher the point total the Classier you are according to the controversial Fussell.

THE LIVING-ROOM SCALE

(Revised)

Begin with a score of 100. For each of the following in your living room add or subtract points as indicated. Then ascertain how you score.

Hardwood floor Add 4

Parquet floor Add 8

Stone floor Add 4

Vinyl floor Subtract 6

Wall-to-wall-carpet Add 2

Working fireplace Add 4

New Oriental rug or carpet subtract 2 (each)

Worn Oriental rug or carpet Add 5 (each)

Threadbare rug or carpet Add 8 (each)

Ceiling ten feet high, or higher Add 6

Original paintings by internationally

recognized practitioners Add 8 (each)

Original drawings, prints, or lithographs

by internationally recognized

practitioners Add 5 (each)

Reproductions of any Picasso painting,

print or anything subtract 2 (each)

Original paintings, drawings, or prints by

family members subtract 4 (each)

Windows curtained, rods, and draw cords Add 5

Windows curtained, no rods or draw cord Add 2

Genuine Tiffany lamp Add 3

Reproduction Tiffany lamp subtract 4

Any work of art depicting cowboys subtract 3

Transparent plastic covers on furniture subtract 6

Furniture upholstered with any metallic

threads subtract 3

Cellophane on any lampshade subtract 4

No ashtrays subtract 2

Refrigerator, washing machine, or clothes

dryer in living room subtract 6

Motorcycle kept in living room subtract 10

Periodicals visible, laid out flat:

National Enquirer subtract 6

Popular Mechanics subtract 5

Reader's Digest subtract 3

National Geographic subtract 2

Smithsonian subtract 1

Scientific American subtract 1

New Yorker Add 1

Town and Country Add 2

New York Review of Books Add 5

Times Literary Supplement (London) Add 5

Paris Match Add 6

Hudson Review Add 8

Each family photograph (black-and-white) subtract 2

Each family photograph (color) subtract 3

Each family photograph (black-and-white

or color) in sterling-silver frame Add 3

Potted citrus tree with midget fruit

growing Add 8

Potted palm tree Add 5

Bowling-ball-carrier subtract 6

Fishbowl or aquarium subtract 4

Fringe on any upholstered furniture subtract 4

Identifiable Naugahyde aping anything

customarily made of leather subtract 3

Any item exhibiting words in an ancient or

modern foreign language Add 7

Wooden venetian blinds subtract 2

Tabletop obelisk of marble, glass, etc, Add 9

No periodicals visible subtract 5

Fewer than five pictures on walls subtract 5

Each piece of furniture over 50 years old Add 2

Bookcase(s) full of books Add 7

Any leather bindings more than 75 years

old Add 6

Bookcases(s) partially full of books Add 5

Overflow books stacked on floor, chairs,

etc. Add 6

Hutch bookcase ("wall system")

displaying plates, pots, porcelain

figurines, etc., but no books subtract 4

Wall unit with built-in TV, stereo, etc. subtract 4

On coffeetable, container of matchbooks

from funny or anomalous places Add 1

Works of sculpture (original, and not made

by householder or any family member) Add 4 (each)

Works of sculpture made by householder

or any family member subtract 5 (each)

Each framed certificate, diploma, or

testimonial subtract 2

Each "laminated" ditto subtract 3

Each item with a "tortoiseshell" finish, if

only made of Formica Add 1

Each "Eames chair" subtract 2

Anything displaying the name or initials of

anyone in the household subtract 4

Curved moldings visible anywhere in the room Add 5

CALCULATING THE SCORE

On a scale of 245 and above being the classiest, and to below 50, not so much.

245 and above

185-245

100-185

50-100

Below 50

Even though this quiz is more than 25 years old from the looks of Mr. and Mrs. Spady's living room their score was easily 245 or above even with out the 1 point for the matchbooks on the coffeetable.

Interesting?

A Scottish Frame of Mind

2011-01-21T11:04:00.003-05:00

We have some Scottish lineage running through our family tree so over the years I have incorporated doses of Scottish Country into our houses. After being in this house for seven years I am starting to think about improving our bedrooms. You can see in the fuzzy picture above the scratchings I did as a guideline for one of the guest rooms and several pictures I have saved to frame for future projects.
This book will put me in a Scottish frame of mind as I contemplate how to transform the guest room into a Scottish retreat.

Love the plaid chair and gold framed pictures of Ancestors or Scottish hero's.

At one time I had a couple of chairs very similar to the ones above but they ended up at Daughter Dana's and I think one of them broke. To bad, they would have worked well in the future Scottish retreat....

This along with several of my other unfinished projects will more than likely be left to percolate until the right time presents itself. Having a vague plan waiting allows me to be on the look out for those unique items that go into creating a house of distinction, and by that I do not mean superior, but one with distinguishing quality or characteristics, and not one that is assembled with one trip to the Pottery Barn.

I am tempted to add here that I like Pottery Barn and often by things from them, but I really do not, and have not....

Are you a Pottery Barn fan or do you like to gather things from unusual sources or use inherited pieces in your house?

Kindness

2011-01-20T09:03:00.004-05:00

Thank you everyone for all your prayers and kind wishes for Aaron. Things went well in Miami and we now have conformation that even with limitations a positive outcome is possible.

After a bit of catching up here at LAH I will be back to visit tomorrow.

Plato Quote

Via

Aspiring Kennedy

The On-Going Battle

2011-01-17T04:43:00.003-05:00

Do you remember Aaron, my oldest son that survived Stevens-Johnston Syndrome in early 2008? It was a battle that many of you long time readers of LAH will remember and again I thank all of you for your amazing support during that awful time. Blogging was fairly new for many of us back then and it was rare for people to reach out for prayer and emotional support but we were so distraught by this relatively unheard of condition that I did the only thing I could think of to get through the ordeal and posted every day here about what was going on. The out pouring from across the world was amazing and again I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

After a six week stay in the burn center of Detroit Medical Center Aaron was finally released. He was one of the lucky ones that survived such an advanced case of SJS and my heart and prayers go out to the friends and families of those who were not as fortunate and there are many of them.

Well, it is three years later and Aaron is still doing very well and he has pretty much returned to all his normal activities. There are many issues that continue though and his eyes are one of the main ones. Blindness is one that many survivors are faced with as a result of scar tissue building up on the inside of the eyes from the burns which is painful and debilitating.

Aaron's vision has been impacted but he has good vision in one eye, the other one has sever damage to it. Today Aaron, his Doctor from up here, and I are off to Miami to see the next in a succession of many Doctors in hopes of finding a solution.

There are links to the SJS foundation a few posts back and you can click here to the section of LAH about Aaron's battle with this terrible syndrome.

The pictures above are of Aaron. The first one was taken a few months after he was released from the hospital and the one below was taken of him and his daughters the summer before at Kyle & Carries wedding.

Have a good week, and if you are the praying kind, please keep Aaron in your prayers the next few day. I will be back on Thursday with an update.

xoxo

Sue

Blue & White Morning

2011-01-14T09:52:00.003-05:00

Unloading the dishwasher...one of those morning chores that needs to be done.

Sometimes it gets done while the coffee is brewing, and that is a good day.

Often it lingers until after dinner and becomes a bigger chore.

You know the kind...dinner is over and you are ready to clean up only to discover there is already a dishwasher full of clean dishes that need to be put away before you can put in the ones now filling your sink. That one extra step seems to be more of burden after a busy day when you are ready to relax than it is if you do it earlier in the day....It is for me anyway. You?

Household Inventory

2011-01-13T07:52:00.002-05:00

I am off to the dentist but in an attempt to blog regularly here is my inventory list of useful household items that I compiled many years ago that I was looking at yesterday.

The pictures that I took are not too clear but if you click on them you may be able to see them better.

The dentist is waiting so no time to retake pictures. If you have any questions I will answer them in the comments. Do you have lists like this to help you maintain your household inventories or is it just me?

Vintage Vera Bradley

2011-01-11T05:49:00.004-05:00

We had an eventful weekend in Mt. Pleasant. Blake turned 6 today but we celebrated his birthday on Saturday afternoon. Early evening I finally had a chance to spend a few minutes with Sheryl at Friendship Cottage and we exchanged our Christmas gifts. Later we gathered at Dad's to visit with Ray and Rong. They had their adorable daughter, who also turns 6 today, with them. We had not seen them since she was born and what a treat that was. More about that later....

It was a quick trip, but event packed and very fun.

I snapped this picture of my vintage Vera Bradley, Miller Bag, Large Tote & Villager Handbag in the Greenfield pattern, and my book of choice for the ride, as we were heading out the door because I thought it would be a good introduction to one of my favorite bloggers. She also is a fan of Vera Bradley and if you click here it will take you to her blog posts on the topic.

I hope you all had a good weekend, whether it was eventful or not, and that you enjoy meeting Muffy Aldrich at The Daily Prep as much as I have. I am bias toward her because I love New England and find her life style of authenticity, simplicity, thrift and integrity one that I look up to and aspire to emulate. Her traditional life style and choice of clothing translates well to our environment here in Michigan too....

Catching Up

2011-01-07T05:59:00.009-05:00

A couple of days ago a dear friend of mine sent me a link to Susan Branch's site suggesting I check it out. Well, I had already been a fan of Susan's for a long time but her message reminded me that I needed to order my 2011 calendar.

I found my 2009 calendar behind my 2010 one when I took it down off of the nail in my kitchen cupboard in my phone and file area. See all the nasty tape on the bottom of the calendars....I need it to keep the pages from flopping down after turning to the next months. Do your calendars do that or are you a strictly digital calendar keeper?

I have tried the digital method but am not ready to fully embrace it for several reasons. 1) I share this wall calendar with Mr. LAH (I recently learned that it is common to refer to a blogger spouse using the initials of their blog title to reference them in blog posts ;) ) who refuses to get with the technical revolution going on in the world. 2) Fear of lost information 3) The love of Susan Branch's little stories and sweet illustrations on her calendars.

Hopefully by the middle of the month our 2011 calendar will get here and I can catch up with the rest of the world or at least our little corner of it.

On another note

I have been discovering (spending way too much time devouring) some really beautiful, informative blogs.

Yvonne, over at StoneGable is one. She has weekly menu's that hopefully will help me with the question of what to make for dinner that often goes unanswered around here leading to too many nights eating out. I love to cook and have tried several different types of sites offering suggestions for menus like, Saving Dinner, French Women Don't Get Fat, and a couple Mommy Blogger suggestions to get ideas for what to fix for dinner. Since I don't want to save dinner I would rather enjoy dinner, I am not French, and my Mommy days are long gone, Yvonne at StoneGable's sumptuous tablescapes, delicious looking food and fabulous presentation of recipes seems like a better fit for Mr. LAF and me.

If you need some meal time inspiration or just inspiration in general stop by and visit Yvonne and tell her I sent you. That might help her understand why I am lurking around her blog so much....Hehe.

Blake's birthday party is this weekend and I hope to catch up with friends to exchange our Christmas presents. Have a good weekend and I will chat with you next week.

The Organized Pantry

2011-01-04T17:56:00.003-05:00

Sunday when we got home from up north I got our refrigerator cleaned out. Today I got around to cleaning out the pantry.

It feels so good to be able to look in and find the garlic in its pot front and center with out having to dig for it.

The cook books are now back in the pantry where they are easily accessable after spending the holiday season in the office to make room for the abundant supply of food we set in for entertaining from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

This is a picture of of the floor when I started. Apparently my sprouting onions had rolled behind the broiling pan out of the basket on top of my hanging produce stand. You can see them in the picture below....nice hah....

There they are! I like this basket but if the potatoes or onions get off balance they fall out and create a bad, bad smell that I have to go searching for when it gets to bad to tolerate....yuck!

All the candy and opened bags of salty junk food is out of here.

Good by messy pantry..... see you this summer when the pool season begins......

Winter is a verb.

2011-01-01T07:14:00.003-05:00

When we were leaving Harbor Springs I spotted this billboard on the corner of M-19 and Pleasantview Rd., the road that leads to the ski resorts. I knew that in the Official Preppy Handbook the phrase "Summer is a verb" was used but this is the first I have seen Winter described as a verb but I agree with the use.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and wish you a very happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T03:36:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome

2010-12-23T05:55:00.004-05:00

It has been almost three years now since my oldest son Aaron developed Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and its more insidious form called TENS. The syndrome manifests from an allergic reaction to over-the-counter or prescription drugs and is deadly and has life long consequences for those that survive.

Early diagnosis of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is the key to survival of this hideous condition. Because it is rare (or so they say) very few health care providers are aware that it exists and many people afflicted die going undiagnosed.

I am taking a few minutes here to post this public service announcement to advocate for better education in the health care profession for SJS awareness. I am also advocating for personal awareness. If you or a loved one develops any kind of a rash that involves blistering, especially around the area of the lips, mouth, and throat, please, please, please seek medical attention immediately and raise the issue of SJS with your Doctor and ask them to do an Internet search for information about it and then follow up with it on your own and find another Doctor if the Doctor you are seeing does not.

Many of you long time readers of Life At Home will remember Aaron's battle with SJS. For new readers or any one coming here for information I refer you to my side bar categories list where if you scroll down you will find a category labeled Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. There are 49 entries in the category so I would suggest you scroll to the beginning to read through the progression of Aaron's case.

There is not much technical information in the blog posts, they are mostly a Mother's heart being poured out for support while going through the ordeal of a sick child.

For more technical information about SJS for any one afflicted with it, or that has a loved one experiencing it, I would direct you to the SJS website but I issue this warning that it is not a pleasant subject to delve into right before Christmas and the pictures shown there are beyond (though accurate) graphic and horrifying so enter the area with pictures with caution.

Links are provided on the SJS website for those interested in donating to raise awareness. Aaron and I thank you in advance for anything you can give.

Peace

2010-12-22T07:08:00.008-05:00

Hopefully you are all keeping your cool during these last few days before Christmas. We had our family celebration here a couple of weeks ago so the bulk of my shopping, wrapping, cooking, cleaning, and hostessing are complete. You would think that this week would have gone smoothly, and it has for the most part, but yesterday I felt like I might be loosing it with papers piled a mile high on my desk and the ghosts of things undone all came rushing in at once.

I was on the phone most of the day with our insurance prescription provider, then with Boyne Highlands and Dad trying to get rooms reserved for the overflow up north next week. Stacks of menu ideas, grocery & to do lists, year end charitable giving lists, graduation and wedding cards to get in the mail (added anxiety about being so negligent), Christmas pictures to download and forward were all piling up. Hurt feelings soothed and confusion clarified.

This morning though I woke up with a new attitude. These smiling faces greeted me on my computer and reminded me that all is right with the world even if I don't get every thing done.

I am so grateful for the grace that my family and friends give me, and we give each other, year in and year out for my, and their, short comings. Isn't that one of the best gifts we can share with each other?

Blessings and grace I share with You my kind reader. As you go about your day may the peace of the Lord be with you. Smiles all around!

Pictures of our Grand Children

Ashley Privite

A Visit To Meadow Brook Hall

2010-12-20T12:25:00.006-05:00

Tonight we are going to visit one of America's Castles. Meadow Brook Hall is located on the property of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. They open the house every year for their main fundraiser, a Holiday Walk.

Here is a closer picture of the enterance.

The picture above is of the Banquet Hall.

Here is the fireplace in the Main Hall beautifully decorated for the Holiday Walk.

This is the living room fireplace.

I love the paneling in Mrs. Wilson's Study

Meadow Brook Hall is a place for the community and its visitors to be entertained, educated and inspired by history. As Meadow Brook Hall is fully self-funded, it relies on events such as the annual Holiday Walk for its preservation and interpretation.

You can read about the history of this interesting house and view more pictures at the link below.

Pictures courtesy of Meadow Brook Hall website

Favorite Things

2010-12-17T08:47:00.003-05:00

Well the neighbors may have questioned the sight of me outside this morning in my robe and PJ's but I wanted to get this picture for you so it was worth it....

One of my favorite things is having our dry cleaning picked up and delivered. Every week I hang the cute yellow bag the cleaners provides us on the front door and in a couple of days they bring us beautifully laundered and pressed shirts and pants. The best part of this small luxury is that they provide this service for FREE....

Thank you Bella Cleaners of Shelby Twp., Michigan. If you are in this area you might want to give them a try or ask the dry cleaner that you are using if they provide this luxurious service. It really is one of my favorite things.

Two New Books

2010-12-16T04:51:00.002-05:00

The books that I ordered months ago, before they were released, were delivered a couple of weeks ago. These beauties will be my project today.

It Is Freezing Here In Michigan

2010-12-15T06:01:00.004-05:00

I am ready to fly off to any where that is warm. From the looks of the weather maps that might have to be somewhere outside of the US.

We celebrated Christmas here at our house last weekend. Today my plan was to head up north for a party with my girl friends but the black ice covering the roads is keeping me home ;( Hopefully by Christmas Eve the weather will be better so we can make it home for the final family Christmas celebration.

During the spring, summer, and fall I don't have any problem jumping in the car and traveling all over the state. When Winter hits I get much more cautious. The least bit of potential for slippery roads keeps me house bound. It is a good thing I love ~ Life At Home ~.

Well, since I have no plans to jet off to warmer weather any time soon, and I have to miss all my girly friends, I better go find a project to get busy with around here. One can only watch so many episodes of The Real Housewives and I think I have reached my saturation level.

Who Hijacked My New Camera?

2010-12-13T09:26:00.002-05:00

Photo by Taylor White

Techno Tike's

2010-12-12T04:51:00.004-05:00

This was the scene yesterday at our house. Nine Grandchildren all over the house plugged into their new Pottery Barn Kids personal DVD players with matching headphones.

I hope you all are enjoying this lovely time of year with the ones you love!

xoxo,

Sue

Christmas Past

2010-12-06T08:39:00.002-05:00

It has been so long since I have blogged it is hard to remember how. Anyway, how is everyone? Thank you for the kind expressions of sympathy. This is a difficult time of year for those of us that have lost loved ones and my heart goes out to all who are dealing with their losses.

Friday we have the family coming to our house to celebrate Christmas. This year we got one of the new pre-lit, slim Christmas trees that they had at Costco. It will be our only decoration this year. With Thanksgiving close to the end of November, an early celebration to accommodate family commitments, milestone birthdays to commemorate and my general funk it will have to do.

Life At Home, or any where for that matter, always has its ups and downs. The second half of this year has been weighted more to the down side but I look forward to a new year. With all the problems of last year filed away as life being lived, lessons learn, and memories saved we all move on. We make the best of what we have left with the ones we love and carry on.

Blessing and much love,

Sue

Missing My Mother

2010-11-10T07:47:00.003-05:00

I am sad to report that the keeper of this lovely house died on September 28th after a 15 year battle with Alzheimer's. Mom also had heart problems that created problems that could not be overcome. She died peacefully surrounded by her family.

This is a picture of Mom at last years CMU Homecomings parade. RIP Mom.

The Summer Shuffle

2010-06-28T12:30:00.004-04:00

The mirror from the foyer is now in the dining room.

I added a few old leather books to the living room.

It cost me a broken window but finally the trays that I have had for years are hung over the fireplace.
This is a close up of the mirror that I am contemplating for the foyer

So what do you think? Is it a keeper?

Porch Season

2010-05-28T07:52:00.003-04:00

Porch season has finally arrived here in Michigan.The morning pool skimming, flower watering, and flowering plant feeding is in full swing. My back door chaise lounge is beckoning me to get out there for some PTH (peak tanning hours) tan time.

John wanted a rainbow of flowers this year with nothing hanging down to get in the way of his constant grooming of said porch so I complied and picked out sun loving plants in a rainbow of colors for him to plant....Roy G. Biv (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and indigo) kept running through my head as we cruised the rows of blooms at the nursery.

With the morning chores out of the way it is time for a Friday mani & pedi, a couple of hours of sun, wardrobe change, hair and makeup then out to dinner with friends on our other favorite porch at Brio, a show, then music in the town center.

Tomorrow morning trips all over the neighborhood markets for fresh produce and fodder for the grill for the family and friends that will be joining us to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday weekend that we observer here in the US to honor our Veterans.

Good Morning

2010-05-03T07:17:00.005-04:00

Just stopping by to say hello. Hope all is well with you and yours.

xoxo,

Sue

No More Golden Oak

2010-04-14T07:58:00.004-04:00

I am still on the hunt for the perfect carpet but the stair case is painted. Thanks to Ryan and Mike, my fabulous painters, for a job well done.

Welcome Spring

2010-03-29T04:03:00.004-04:00

Happy Spring!

We are finally getting the stairway painted. The painter's started last Thursday and promise to be finished by this Wednesday. At this stage it looks terrible.....We had house guests this weekend that were kind enough to tolerate the light coating of dust that has permeated the entire house. Of course I did the best I could to remove as much as possible before their arrival but I am afraid the thin haze of gunk remained where least expected.

I hope you are enjoying Spring where ever you are.

xoxo,

Sue

Guest Blogger Today is Blake Moore

2010-03-24T06:30:00.003-04:00

Dear Aidan, Have a nice day. Have fun at school. I am staying with my Grandma. Good by.

~ Spring ~

2010-03-18T04:19:00.005-04:00

So is everyone in the northern hemisphere enjoying this glimpse of spring that we have been getting recently? We had a great time in Florida last week. After 5 weeks on Weight Watchers the Lilly bathing suits worked out alright.

Since we got back from Florida I have been working on putting away the heavy winter clothes and bringing out a few lighter pieces. We can not be certain here in the north that we will not get another snow storm until around the end of April but I am feeling like it is safe to start thinking about spring at this point in time.

Today is supposed to be beautiful so I am heading to the outlet mall at Birch Run to meet a couple of my girls and their boys for some pre-season shopping. I have some birthday gifts to buy and then on to some of my favorite outlet stores. The Ralph Lauren outlet store is starting a sale today so that will be on my list of must stop shops. JCrew, Brooks Brother's and Coach are a few other ones that I hope to get to if I have enough time. I will let you know if there are any great buys out there.

Hugs,

Sue

Fun In The Sun

2010-03-02T05:22:00.003-05:00

March came in like a lamb here in southeast Michigan. Yesterday we had beautiful sunshine warm enough to start melting the 10 inches of snow that we received last week. Just the kind of weather needed to get me in the mood for our up-coming trip to Florida. From the looks of the extended weather forecast for southern Florida next week it should be clear sailing for soaking up some Florida sunshine.
My sun soaking attire needed to be refreshed this season so while holding my breath I nervously order a couple of two piece bathing suits. I was holding my breath because I have not attempted to wear a two piece for many, many years. I really wanted to be able to sit in the sun with out wadding up the skirt and tucking in the straps of my old skirted tankinis to get an even tan so I placed the order.

The package came yesterday and to my surprise they fit. Three weeks of Weight Watcher's helped a little. The little sundress coverups help a lot!

The plan is to wear the little dress over the two piece and only remove it when reclining on the pool lounge chair.

Thank you Lilly Pulitzer for these generously cut, well fitting bathing suits, and for letting me borrow your pictures.

I have been busy with house guests and getting ready for our trip so have not had much time to get around to visiting all of you but I miss you and hope you are well.

Hugs,

Sue

The Perfect Cottage

2010-02-22T05:22:00.005-05:00

Last spring we looked at this old, old cottage and we were instantly smitten.
It has four separate little cottage apartments all connected to this huge common screened in porch that faces the water.

The old boat house has room for three good sized boats.

This is the view from the water.

Can't you just imagine lazy summer days spent here?

The Dining Room Bay Window

2010-02-11T11:47:00.006-05:00

Welcome! Last week, while rearranging, I brought this demilune table down stair to put in the dining room bay window. The half moon shape made it easy to push back into the bay window to fill that akward space. The curved front leaves room on the edges to easily walk around it.
A few favorite pieces add to the vignette.

In this close up picture are a MacKenzie-Childs dinner plate in the green Honeymoon pattern and a set of pot de creme dessert pots on a matching serving tray.

They are flanked by a pair of custom lamps.

This pair of romantic Staffordshire figurines came from Longton Hall, an antique shop, in Petoskey, Michigan. I am not sure if Longton Hall is still there but if it is you might want to stop by if you are in the area. They carry a beautiful selection of Staffordshire figurines, as well as furniture imported from England and Scotland.

When I worked for Patricia Woods & Co. in Harbor Springs Pat had these figurines made into lamps for me. I love the fabric she selected for the lamp shades. If I am not mistaken, I think that she hand painted the bases to coordinate with the shade.

Sadly, she closed the shop last year. Pat has her permanent home in Dallas and summered in Harbor Springs where her shop was located. It was such a privlige and honor to work for, and learn from her. This pair of lamps will forever remind me of the time I spent with her and all of the knowledge that she so generously shared.

Thanks for stopping by ladies.

Hugs,

Sue

Bringing Up Baby

2010-02-04T09:19:00.004-05:00

Good morning Ladies.
Meet our new Spode, Blue Italian, soup tureen. This new addition to the household repertoire is courtesy of Mom & Dad. Over the years Mom has hand selected beautiful pieces for my table every year for Christmas. As time past and the family grew it became more efficient to gift us all with pin money to add to our collections at will. I have had my eye on this beauty for a while, so in the tradition of lovely pieces for the table it became ours.

Hopefully for Valentine's Day a big boquet of creamy white roses will fill the empty vase.

Well, you all know how one thing leads to another when you add something new to a room. Here is the thing. During the holidays my red rug that used to be in our cottage goes under the dining room table. The rest of the year a less than desirable old blue and green rug has filled the space by default.

It occurred to me that there was another rug from Summer Hill (the name of our old cottage) in the basement that might work better. I had been hesitant to use it in the past because of concern that the pink background of the rug would clash with the orange hue of the kitchen cabinets, not to mention the whole red thing going on in the adjacent great room.

Over the years, and with an English Cottage attitude toward houses, I have learned that sometimes the things that you can not imagine working actually do work out. The play of light and shadows do amazing things to soften the look of a room. The light in our kitchen comes from the north which generaly produces a cool effect. When the table and chairs were added back in the shadows it created really did soften the area. I am guessing here but I think that the combination of the cool color of the rug against the warm color of the furniture and cabinets kind of neutralized the whole room.

I do not know, but when the rug went down with out any furniture on it the look was awful. When the furniture went in place I really liked the way it turned out. Am I wrong here??

See how blue pink it looked here all by it self.

Anyway, I am glad to have this baby up out of the basement seeing the light of day. This tree of life pattern rug came from a junktique shop in Charlivoix, Michigan in the early '90's. It was in pretty good shape for an old barn rug. After a trip to Hagopian in Birmingham for a good bath and new fringe it looks almost like a really good old rug. I do not remember exactly how much I paid for it originally but it probably was not much more than $100.

I hope you are all having a good week. It is sunny here this morning for a change and there is a pretty light dusting of snow on the ground covering up all the dinginess from our last rain shower that melted all our snow.

Thanks for coming by.

xoxo

Sue

Romancing The Home

2010-01-28T07:41:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I changed the dishes in our dining room china cabinet to a more spring like display after being inspired by Cindy at My Romantic Home. I ran out of plate stands so as a temporary fix I used these clunky bowl stands. This afternoon I will pick up some more and change them but I thought I would share the progress so far.
These happy couples in the living room are a nod to Valentines Day romance.

I hope you are all having a good week.

Hugs,
Sue

Weekend Finds

2010-01-25T08:19:00.003-05:00

This weekend I picked up a few things in an attempt to add some sparkle to these dreary winter months that remain before we get our first glimpse of spring. St. Germain Antiques in Mt. Pleasant never disappoints. This little silver bowl will be perfect for lemon wedges. The cut glass ice bucket and tongs is just the right size for a few ice cubes to have out when serving. I love the idea of collecting sparkly bottle stoppers. This is the first in my collection.

I have been looking for a tray like this for a while and was happy to find this one at St. Germain Antiques. The wine decanter and stemless wine glass set came from Stone Soup in downtown Mt. Pleasant.

My friend Sheryl volunteers at the hospital gift shop. A visit there yielded these cute little hand towels.

Hope you all had a good weekend.

Hugs,

Sue

Joy In The Morning

2010-01-21T05:16:00.003-05:00

While up this morning mopping the kitchen floor I looked on the counter where I stack things that would hinder a swift swipe of the mop and noticed a pleasant sight that triggered memories from the past. It gives me joy to see randomly placed objects that turn out to be pleasing in appearance. Housekeeping chores can be a drudge or a joy. Little moments like this make it a joy.

This stool & quilt rack belonged to the doctor that delivered most of the babies at that time in my home town. When I was growing up we lived right next door to Dr. Junke and his large familie's house. Many years later I lived in that house. When we bought the house he was moving into a retirement home and selling many of his posessions. We bought this stool and quilt rack from him along with many other things.

When I look at these pieces, setting here on my counter top, I think of the sweet doctor in a Santa suit singing to the children that delighted so in a visit from him at Christmas time. His precious wife Anne that collected so many beautiful pieces that bring me such joy, even now, I think of her.

I am not sure if any of you townies that were around at that time will read this post, but if you do, I hope you will chime in with your memories of the good doctor and his family. I do not think it is too far of a stretch to say that they were kind of like the Kennedy family of our little community back then. Today the memory and the sight of their belongings brought me joy.

Take time to spot your joy.

Hugs,

Sue

Let It Snowman

2010-01-17T06:35:00.002-05:00

Let it snowman, let it snowman.

Snowmobile,

snowfort,

snowcone.

Let it snowman, let it snowman.

Snowball,

snowboard,

snowdrift.

Let it snowman, let it snowman.

Poem by Bridgid Giannotta

9 years old

MAC Cosmetics Teams Up With Lilly Pulitzer

2010-01-14T04:58:00.007-05:00

I always wished that I was one of those girls that could wash my face with Ivory soap, dab on a little lip gloss and go. Over the years I have accepted the fact that it is not to be, but with a little help from my friends at MAC I can get by with out too much effort.

Last night after dinner, with Dana and the boys at PF Chang's, we wandered around Partridge Creek to walk off our Lettuce Wraps and Mongolian Beef. It was really a beautiful evening to stroll around our beautiful outdoor shopping center with its heated sidewalks providing a smooth surface for the boys to run off their pent up energy from dinner.

We wandered into to Nordstrom's and I saw that the MAC counter had received their shipment of the new Lilly Pulitzer line. While Dana walked around with the boys I made my selection from the new line and picked up a few staples that needed refreshing.

From the top left corner, this is what I got.

Mineralize Skinfinish Natural ~ medium plus ~ A new type of powder for me.

Lipgelee ~ Preppy ~ Preppy is a watermelon color that I often look for. The sales assistant said this has amazing staying power. I put some on when we got home and when I washed my face before bed it was still on so I agree with her assessment.

Lipgelee ~ Shift To Pink ~ A blue pink. These Lipgelee's look really glittery in the tube. Once applied they create a very pretty shine. The glitter seems to disappear.

Studio Fix ~ Powder Foundation ~ NC25 ~ I love this stuff and go through it very fast.

Pearlmate Eye Shadow ~ This is the pink, green & white Lilly eye shadow. It looks like it will be fun for spring.

Creamblend Blush ~ Florida ~ This is really bright but blends beautifully and leaves a nice rosy glow.

Satin Lipstick ~ Pink Nouveau ~My go to pink color.

Amplified Lipstick ~ Chatter-Box ~ A warmer pink.
Matt Eyeshadow ~ Omega ~ This is a staple for blonde's. I use it for my eyebrows as well as for a neutral eyeshadow. Every time I get my makeup done at MAC they pull out this shade.

If you are interested in more detailed reviews of these products or any other makeup items you can go to Makeup Alley and check out the Product Review section. The ladies there know their makeup.

Time To Get Moving

2010-01-11T08:57:00.009-05:00

Good morning. Well, the last of my injuries from Christmas day are finally beginning to heal. The house is still covered in Christmas decorations but this morning I felt good enough to start the undecorating. So far I have the tops of the cabinets done. They still need some work but at least it is a start. The rabbits and roses are starting to reappear after their rest in the basement. OK, I know the faux foliage on cabinet tops is way over but they work for us so they are back up. They are clean and not your run of the mill ivy (which I really kind of like anyway, if done right, but it seems to have really gotten a bad rap here in blog land).

On top of the glass front cabinet you get a close look at the faux parsley in a Tiffany blue and white cachepot. It is clean and has a good deal of texture. The lavender plant needs a blue and white cachepot. That will be added when I find one that works. The chalk ware rabbit, in front of the tole tray, is happy to see the light of day.

This black berry plant, with its curling tendrils, softens the top on the opposite cabinet top. The beat up tole painted plates match the big tray on the other side of the room. It does not look beat up from a distance. Well, not much anyway ;) The rabbit with his French horn is tucked in the back to evenly distribute the rabbits around the room.

This blue and white, Crab Tree & Evelyn, wreath softens the corner by the pantry. That funny looking thing in the back, on the cabinet top, is another rabbit that lost its mate over the winter. The little couple below is keeping him company.....

The stairway project is moving along. I have found one Milken carpet that looks like a look-for- less alternative to the Stark carpet that I really want. A sample is on its way to us so I can see what it looks like in person and determine the quality of it. The search is still continuing though because even if the quality and look are acceptable, there is not a border to go with it, we will see. Maybe I do not even need a border to get the look that I am after.

Time to get back to work.

Hugs,

Sue

Colefax & Fowler To The Rescue

2010-01-03T07:47:00.003-05:00

This year John and I decided that we would give carpet to each other for Christmas, not very romantic but needed. This morning while looking for a solution to our problem staircase I remembered a tiny picture from Colefax & Fowler ~ The Best In English Interior Decoration by Chester Jones. A note to this particular page in Jones charming book has languished in my decorating notebook ever since we moved into this house six years ago. This little picture has solved all my problems in regard to carpet placement and our problem stairs.

You can see the problem stairs here if you scroll down. My major dissatisfaction has been with the color of the trim. Golden oak does not go with our furniture at all. The C & F solution to the problem, paint it all white. The next problem is that the runner is not even centered on the stair and the existing carpet is inset between two pieces of the dreaded oak. There is particle board under the carpeted section of each step that is about a half inch lower than the oak making the carpet inset on the tread even off center. The C & F solution is to fill in the lower particle board area to make a level step then carpet the whole stair tread all the way across. Ta-da!

The next informative bit of information in the picture above is the placement of the guilloche border. See how the border is placed on the wall side of the stair only. I love that idea. I have seen stairways carpeted with the border on both sides and for some reason it just looked wrong and chopped up. This seems to give the decorative effect without cluttering up the look.

The color does not show up well in the picture here but it is a navy blue pattern on an ivory ground. The wall color is a beautiful mid-range true blue. Since our walls are a mid-range green I will be looking for a dark green pattern on an ivory background. Wish me luck. I know this will not be easy to find but, hey, it has taken me six years just to figure out how to correct this mess of a potentially beautiful stairway.

Hugs,
Sue

Happy Birthday Cathy

2010-01-02T12:35:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Cathy! This picture is of the ladies on our Christmas Eve. When I enlarged it Cathy was cut off a bit ;( You still get a good idea of how stunning she looked in her Anthropology's dress.

My hand is still hurting so I can't type much. I hope all is well with you all and that you had a happy New Years celebration.

Hugs,

Sue

Nubs Nob

2009-12-27T08:31:00.005-05:00

Today we are packing to head up to our family chalet at the base of Nubs Nob ski resort in Harbor Springs, Michigan. The picture above is of the Lodge at Nubs. The family has spent Christmas break there, with a few exceptions, since 1961. Boyne Highlands, a resort in the Boyne Group of resorts, is right across the street. Nubs is a much smaller resort but those of us who are regulars swear that Nubs is better ;) If you are looking for a fun place to take the family for Christmas break come on up. The Petoskey/Harbor Springs area is a winter- wonder-land this time of year.

This is the view of the face of the ski hills from a Chalet close to ours. Unfortunately, I just lost the link to an article using this picture that I was trying to share with you that is about the area and the interesting people that own the beautiful Chalet that is attached to this porch railing. If I find it I will come back and edit this post.........

Christmas Recap

2009-12-26T11:27:00.005-05:00

Warning: Picture heavy post ahead. First let me say that at our last stop on the Christmas trail I fell. As a result I won't be doing much typing because my left hand is pretty much a mess.

Our first stop was at Mom & Dad's to celebrate Christmas Eve with my side of the family. A good friend of the family came by and helped them deck the halls so every thing look especially beautiful. Thank you Eunie!!!!!

Every year we alternate spending the night Christmas Eve with one of the children. This year we were at Aaron & Angie's. The Christmas magic was felt in a big way there as those of you have been readers of Life At Home for a long time can imagine.

The weather was icey and rainy so after breakfast at A & A's we headed over to our friends to do a quick gift exchange then got on the road to come back south as early as we could.

Our last stop was at my brother and sister in-law's for a polish feast with John's side of the family.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. My hand is throbbing now so I will sign off.

Hugs,

Sue

~ Merry Christmas ~

2009-12-24T17:14:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas to you and yours from our family to yours.

Christmas Downstairs

2009-12-23T06:30:00.006-05:00

This year the kitchen looks pretty much like it did last year, but come on in and have a little tour of the house with me if you like before I start packing to head up north.

My old Santa dummy board gets moved around a lot during the Christmas season. The garland got a little more attention than usual this year with the addition of clusters of ornaments. The Mark Roberts fairies are still climbing all over the place though. The colored lights and fairies give it the childlike look that we go for around here.

This year John and I have decided that our present to each other will be new floor covering. This nasty beige wall-to-wall carpet has to go.
Santa and the Nutcracker's keep an eye on the action from the top of the entertainment center. I am looking for a little faux Chippendale chair to replace the children's lawn chair that he is sitting in this year.

In the powder room I added some antique ornaments and sparkly red snow flakes to the silver tray that holds items like Lady Primrose hand cream for the guests.

I am loving these Mariposa guest towel holders this year. They are a good alternative to the wadded up dirty hand towel that tends to look pretty ratty when you get a house full of people.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Now I need to get upstairs and pack for the trip north so I better get going. Don't work too hard ladies.

Hugs,

Sue

Practice Picture

2009-12-22T19:21:00.003-05:00

Oh what fun. I just learned how to enlarge my pictures. Susan at Between Naps On The Porch has a fairly simple tutorial on her lovely website. You can find it by looking in her catagories section and clicking on the link there.

Thank you Susan!

Call It A Bribe If You Want To ~ It Worked ~

2009-12-22T09:39:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas early at our house. All of our children and grandchildren arrived Friday for the festivities. This is the first year that we have had them all here. In the past six years since we have been living in Metro Detroit we have celebrated Christmas in MP. Now that our oldest has moved back from Colorado with his wife and four children we decided to do it here.

You can imagine what a chore it has been for us to load up all the Christmas goodies to create a memorable Christmas away from home. Not an easy one for sure. So, this year they all agreed to make the trip here. Hallelujah! To insure that they would make this an annual event we really put on the dog. E-mails and phone calls were made by the dozen to coordinate all the details. The agenda was set. Friday would be our Christmas eve, a casual affair, with heavy appitizers and a social hour. Saturday morning we would exchange presents and have a nice breakfast. Saturday afternoon the ladies would get their hair done and it would be a free day for the gentlemen and children. Saturday night a semi-formal dinner party would follow.

Below is our opening attempt to insure a continuation of this annual event.

Pretty dresses

for the ladies.

Monogrammed shirts for the gentlemen

with ties that coordinate with the ladies dresses.

I think it may have worked!

~ The Guest-Room Of Perfection ~

2009-12-21T07:17:00.014-05:00

Good morning ladies. How was your weekend? I hope you are all safe and warm and surrounded by the ones you love as you as you make your way through this last week before Christmas.

Above is my tiny pink living room. Since this room is already pretty well filled with goodies that endlessly sooth my soul I only added a couple of Christmas touches. The stag needlepoint pillows have replaced the cabbage rose ones for the winter.
An old cut glass bowl with simple sparkly pink ornaments in it on my mother's end table in the corner finishes off my favorite room in the house.

This old, rag tag bough, with some left over pink ornaments from the dining room tree, fit on the banister that leads upstairs from that room. It is lit with white lights that must make an unusual site from the street. The opposite banister has colored lights and red ribbon on it. I know it sounds weird, but with Christmas magic, and from the entrance it amazingly works. Well it works from the inside anyway, hehe.....

You saw how many gran's we had here last weekend in the last post. This is the table I had set up for them in the foyer. It worked out well for them to do crafts on while the adults socialized in the back of the house. Come to think about it, I don't think they ever did get around to making the ginger bread house from the kit that was waiting for them. Oh well, I will take it up north with us when we go on Thursday and they can work on it an Mom's.

We did a fun thing this year that I will show you tomorrow. Today let's see the upstairs before I added the surprises that awaited our guests.

Our room got a good going over so our youngest son could have a place to store his things. We made up a bed for him on the sofa so our room was his place to stow his bedding, clothing and the like.

Our bathroom is action central when the girls start primping. They love to get into my makeup and jewelry. Last Saturday when we were getting ready for our big dinner party on Saturday night the hair, jewelry and eye-lashes were flying.

Just thought you might like to see my new pink and white monogrammed towels. John wanted to know where his towels were. I told him that upstairs linens are only monogrammed in the lady of the houses initials according to Emily Post. Bless his heart, he laughed and resigned himself to using his soft old green towels.

Come on in. I will show you around the guest-rooms that are ready for company. This is the Currier & Ives room. These C & I prints of the four seasons hang on one wall under this old plate shelf that holds red C & I transfer ware plates and a platter.

A C & I lamp shade tops the green glass bedside lamp.

The bathroom between two of the guest-rooms is freshend up for company.

Fluffy clean towels await their arrival.

A small sample of my collection of rose plates stand ready over the light fixture to welcome them home.

Even the waste basket got a bath in anticipation of their arrival.

The blue and white room with its diamond shaped checkered old quilt and matching pillow shams on the feather bed covered with a scalloped white spread is clean as a whistle.

One of these days I will get around to painting this chair white. The fabric on it matches the curtains that are stashed in the closet from our old house that need to be refitted to cover the windows in this room.

These are the windows that they will eventually cover;)

OK, moving down the hall to the last guest-room.

The hunt room.

This needle point chair is waiting to be piled with clothes.

The ancestor pictures hold sentry over the bed.

This little corner of the laundry room cheered me while the washer and dryer was buzzing.

I hope you enjoyed this visit and the tour of our guest-rooms. If you are hosting guests this Christmas at your house you might like to see what Miss Emily Post has to say in her book, The Personality Of A House, about The Guest-Room Of Perfection:

"The essential requirements of comfort for every guest-room of perfection, whether it be in a palace or in a little but well appointed house, include:

1. A bathroom of its own.

2. A delightful bed.

3. Plenty of light and air.

4. Choice of pillows.

5. A perfect dressing-table.

6. A good light to read by in bed.

7. Heat in cold weather.

8. Cross-ventilation in hot weather.

9. A sofa to rest on.

10. Situation as free from noise as possible."

Her book, first published in 1939, is one of my favorites.

Stop back tomorrow if you get a minute during this busy week to see the surprises that we had for the family when they got here last Friday and we will take a look at the downstairs all decked out for Christmas.

Blessings and much love,

Sue

Christmas Fun

2009-12-20T07:47:00.003-05:00

We are having a holly, jolly time around here.
All of the girls Lanz night gowns and the boys monogrammed Lands End pajamas fit perfectly.
Getting them all to sit still was another story.

We had the family down here for an early Christmas this weekend. No time to visit much right now because I have a kitchen full of dirty dishes. Just wanted to stop in and share these couple of pictures of the Gran's all decked out in their Christmas PJ's with you and to wish you some Christmas love.

Hugs,
Sue

Our Whimsical Tablescape

2009-12-17T04:31:00.003-05:00

One of our beautiful daughter-in-laws gave us an early Christmas present of this pretty glitter house. We are having the family over for the weekend to celebrate Christmas early here so the glitter house became the centerpiece of a whimsical tablescape in the dining room. My camera still refuses to take a clear picture so I'm only posting this one little picture........

Hope you are all holding up and that you are enjoying this special time of year with the ones you love. I can't wait for all of mine to get here tomorrow. I am no where near ready but at this point I really don't even care. It will all come together one way or another, at least that is what I keep telling myself, hehe. Please tell me it will all come together:)

Hugs,

Sue

Pink Chintz

2009-12-15T06:47:00.005-05:00

So good to hear from you. I have gotten around to visit a bit between chores and will do the same today. You all are keeping me inspired with your warm hearted stories and gorgeous Christmas decorations.

This little potted, pre-lit tree came from Marshall's a few years ago. The size works well for this space. Since we don't have any lights outside it lends a welcoming glow from the inside to the front of the house at night when the lights are turned down low. With this little tree lit, the foyer chandelier lit and turned down low, and the primitive lighted sign in the living room bay window that is across the hall, balance of the lighting is achieved to light up the long winter nights.

The needlepoint, pink poinsettia, tree skirt from Horchow came with a small tree that has since disintegrated so I used it to cover the tabletop of this tree in the dining room bay window. The tree topper is a Mark Roberts elf from a Valentines Day collection many years ago. Pink, wired french ribbons curl down the tree top to connect the tipsy elf to the rest of the tree. That sums up the frame work of the tree.

The ornaments with their sentimental value and sparkle are really the stars of the show, each and every one have a story to tell. Reading the stories of your ornaments always puts a smile on my frazzled Christmas face. If I had more time I would write a small book describing the love that surrounds each and every one of mine, but a basement of unwrapped presents are calling my name so I will leave this post as it is for now.

XOXO,

Sue

Peace, Love and Joy!

2009-12-13T10:24:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas

Hello ladies, I have missed you. My list today is very long, vague, and confusing. Does yours ever get like that? Much to do but nothing really urgent so I thought it would be a good time to pop in and say hi to my blogging friends, like I said I have missed all of you.

My camera is taking the worst pictures ever, so I will spare you a full photo journal of the crummy pictures that I took this icy morning here in Metro Detroit. The downstairs of the house is decorated to the point of being nauseous so if I posted them, even if they would have turned out, I would surely get a repeat of the one and only negative comment I have ever received in my three years of blogging that said "it looks like somebody threw up in these pictures". So, I will share this corner of the living room that turned out fairly decent and offer my warmest wish for you to have the merriest Christmas ever.

Peace, love and joy to all.

XOXO
Sue

~ Wine and Cheese In The Library ~

2009-11-12T07:19:00.003-05:00

Hi, and welcome to a little wine and cheese party set up in the library for Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps On The Porch.

The acrylic and stone ice bucket, plate, and permanently tarnished little spreader are by Temptations By Maggie. We used to carry her line in the store. They are fun pieces that come in several color combinations. The pink and green, and blue and white were our most popular colors.

The pea pod Deruta plates are Italian. Out of a set of four there are only three left, but they come in handy any way for a small setting.

You all know how much I love ruffles and scalloped edging, so when I spotted these little scalloped edge, linen cocktail napkins in a shop in Harbor Spring they had to come home with me.

We are loving these wine glasses by Schott Zwiesel. They were recommended in an article in Wine Spectator magazine for their durability. They can go into the dishwasher and come out clean as a whistle and so far I have not broken one, which is a minor miracle.

Susan has links to other Tablescapes on here blog Between Naps On The Porch.

Thanks you Susan for all the work that you put in every week to put together this party for all of us and for your beautiful inspiration to set a pretty table.

Thanks for coming by today.

Hugs,

Sue

Fall Festivities

2009-11-11T07:27:00.006-05:00

Good morning lovelies, hope you had a good weekend and your week is going well.

We had a good time with the family celebrating birthdays.

Saturday was Kyle's birthday. Here is the birthday boy out in the yard with his dog Beans.

Grampa with the Cannoli (Nolan's nick name).

He looked so cute in his pink v-neck sweater and big boy shirt.

Brothers and sister.

The in-laws.

Cakes for the birthday people.

Sisters in-law.

The kid's table.

Birthday people and Bridged.

The Cannoli and his Dad.

Kyle & Carrie.

Mom & Dad

Aaron & Ang.

Bernie & Cathy

A good time was had by all.

We ate way to much at the Baked Potato Bar but had fun sharing a beautiful fall weekend together in Central Michigan.

Thanks for coming by.

Hugs,

Sue

Baked Potato Bar Birthday Party

2009-11-07T08:00:00.004-05:00

Photo via Rookie Cookie

We are up north today getting ready to celebrate fall birthdays. Kyle requested steak and a baked potato bar for the meal. Everybody likes steak and baked potatoes, well almost everybody. I suppose it sounds repulsive to a vegetarian but we don't have any of those in our family. Not sure that is good or bad but it is what it is.

A Baked Potato Bar sounded like a fun simple idea for the party. The few days that I was home last week was spent hunting and gathering party preps. Gifts were finalized, presents wrapped, cards were signed, food was purchased, cake was ordered and picked up, bar was restocked, extra plates, utensils and linens were located, 8' folding table and 8 chairs were schlepped up from the basement, food was put on ice for the trip, and then all was placed oh so carefully into the SUV.

Although not as simple as it first sounded, with the major effort behind us it is time to unload it all and let the celebration begin.

Happy birthday Kyle. Today is his actual birthday.

Happy belated or pre birthday also to:

Dad

Angie

Taylor

Hugs,

Sue

A Bookish Breakfast For One

2009-11-05T06:05:00.005-05:00

Good morning Tablescaper's and Visitor's. Welcome to Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps On The Porch.
A plaid placemat and napkin by Ralph Lauren that came from Marshall's last year for my Christmas tablescape inspired this bookish arrangement.

An old bamboo grapefruit spoon is poised to dig into a fresh grapefruit.

My favorite cobalt blue glasses for skim milk and juice fit in alright.

The cream pitcher and sugar bowl are setting on a book box that I won, along with the black candle stick shade on the barley twist candle stick, from Rhoda at Southern Hospitality in a give-away last year.

The little herringbone blue and white spreader goes with the Spode, Blue Italian dishes that I used here for you today and are a nod to the RL placemat and napkin.

Happy Tablescape Thursday everyone. Thanks for visiting today. I really enjoy our Thursday visits.

Hugs,

Sue

Unpacking

2009-11-02T09:18:00.004-05:00

Greetings from the Guest house. Blake and Nolan have moved in with me here for a couple of days. Blake is over helping Great Grampa F take down the Frankenstein that was in their front yard.
Nolan and I are unpacking their bags.

Friday night we stayed in and had take-out Fish & Chips from Demetrie's, our favorite neighborhood Greek restaurant.
Saturday was spent Halloweening with Bernie and the family.

~

The rolling suitcases above are from The Pottery Barn outlet.
~

~Storage~

2009-10-29T20:46:00.010-04:00

I am not sure that this picture is Show & Tell worthy but I always like to have a look at service areas in houses so I thought you might too.

This beat up old painted cupboard has traveled with us from house to house and is used for the storage space it provides. In one house it was by the back door and held kitchen things that didn't fit in our small kitchen. In the next house it was in the garage to holding garden tools, pots and potting soil.

In this house it is in the basement holding extra dishes.
~
Thanks for coming by for Show & Tell Friday and thank you Cindy at
My Romantic Home
~
Bernie, Cathy and the kids will be here to trick or treat and spend the night Saturday. Sunday I will be heading up north to watch Dana's boys for a few days at the guest house so I will blog from there the first of next week.
~

Try not to eat too much Halloween candy this weekend.
Hugs,
Sue

Halloween Tablescape For Two

2009-10-29T07:46:00.003-04:00

This week I set up the kitchen table for two on my faded place mats and napkins. They are old but only get used during Halloween so they have held up pretty well. The pumpkin on the black pedestal came from the Hobby Lobby this year.
The leaf plates are from Big Lot's in Mt. Pleasant before they closed a few years ago. The green base plate if from Pier 1 last year. We got the little all bees wax votive candles this year at the Victorian Festival in Novi. They are sitting in my old little green depression glass cups that hold syrup in them when I make pancakes for the kids or raisins when I make them oatmeal.

The three tiered stand came from The Basket Tree, a cute little shop in Mt. Pleasant. Last year I bought two of them, one for me and one for Dana for Christmas. They have really come in handy for creating height in seasonal decorating. I think the fruit topiary also came from Big Lots along with the leaf plates. The amber glasses you have seen before.
~
The flat ware is what we use every day and has been in many of my tablescapes but I do not think I ever said what kind it was. It is Reed & Barton's, Francis 1st. My Mother started buying it for us, a place setting at a time, for Christmas many years ago. Over the years I have added different serving pieces to the collection and now have a nice set. I have a set of Ice Tea spoons on my wish list if anybody is interested ,).

~
Thanks for coming by. Susan at Between Naps On The Porch is the lovely hostess for this weekly event.

~

Happy Tablescape Thursday,
Hugs,
Sue

Happy Birthday Angie

2009-10-28T09:35:00.003-04:00

This is Angie, one of our daughter-in loves. Today she is celebrating her birthday. In this picture she is holding baby Nolan. It is hard to find a picture of Ang where she is not holding a baby. Angie and our son Aaron met in college and have been married now for over 10 years. They have three beautiful children that keep Ang busy full time. When their second baby came along she retired from school teaching to devote herself to her family full time.

If you have been a reader of Life At Home for a long time you will remember what a wonderful job she did devoting all of her attention to Aaron when he was going through his battle with Steven-Johnson's syndrome. She is one amazing angel.

Happy Birthday Angie, we love you with all our hearts.

~ A Flair for Living ~

2009-10-28T08:51:00.003-04:00

A stack of books in my living room ready for reading.
One of the books in the stack is just like one of my favorite decorators.

Charlotte Moss has this same book in her stack too. This picture is from her book:

~ Charlotte Moss ~ A Flair for Living.

Weekend Recap

2009-10-26T07:56:00.004-04:00

To get ready for the busy weekend I dismantled the Tablescape Thursday kitchen table and moved the bunny with my Sweetest Day roses into the foyer.
Dana and the boys came down to go to a birthday party on Saturday afternoon down here. Between the main event the boys watched a 3-D movie
and Dana fluffed up the mantel.
~
We did a little outdoor seasonal decorating, worked on Dana's computer generated house of the moment, and did a whole lot of Christmas shopping.
~
After a full day of Christmas shopping Dana and the boys headed home and John and I fought traffic jams and went across town to watch Luke play hockey. It was a very full weekend that I thought would leave me exhausted but surprisingly it did not and I am ready to go today. Oh, I even stayed up long enough to watch Mad Men in real time which is rare, I usually watch it via Direct TV on Monday afternoon.

Hope you all had a good weekend.

Hugs,
Sue

~ MacKenzie-Child's Lamp ~

2009-10-23T06:17:00.005-04:00

Thank you Cindy at My Romantic Home for hosting another fun Show & Tell Friday.

Today I thought you might like to see this table lamp in our living room. The crazy color of the lamp shade dictated the wild wall color of this room. This whimsical, novelty lamp by MacKenzie-Childs is a good size to fit between two chairs in our bay window.
This is the base that has four fantastically painted dogs supporting the lamp. We like the whimsical nature of this lamp with the juxtaposition against our mostly traditional furniture and accessories to personalize our home and give it a more casual fun feel. The grandchildren love it and have had many a tea party on it using my Mother's old pewter tea set for their toy.

Don't you love Cindy's picture that she uses to tag participants in her Show and Tell Friday party? I just think it is so pretty. It reminds me of photos by Toshi Otsuki in the old Victoria magazine.
So, to see more of Show and Tell Friday or join in you might want to stop by My Romantic Home and take a look around.

Thanks for coming by and visiting, it is always good to hear from you.

Hugs,
Sue

Majolica Morning ~ Happy Birthday Sheryl

2009-10-22T05:12:00.004-04:00

Welcome to another Tablescape Thursday sponsored by Susan at Between Naps On The Porch.
In honor of my friend Sheryl at Friendship Cottage who is celebrating her birthday today I set up this breakfast table pretending that she and the girls were here celebrating after a sleep over.

Just a simple breakfast of some fruit, toast with jelly, juice, coffee and maybe some scrambled eggs if anybody is up to fixing them.

Ooops, I forgot the napkins! We are going to need them if we attempt cracking open that juicy pomegranate at the table.

To see more Tablescapes or join in on the fun you can visit Susan at Between Naps On The Porch.

Happy Tablescape Thursday and Happy Birthday Sheryl.

Hugs,

Sue

Something Is Not Right

2009-10-21T07:52:00.006-04:00

While packing to go up north a couple of weeks ago it was a struggle to find shirts to take for John that were not frayed around the edges. That five o'clock shadow wreaks havoc on the collar of his shirts. During the summer he wears polo or golf shirts but when the weather starts to cool off he switches to oxford cloth all cotton button-down shirts. ~
After inventorying the shirts that could be salvaged I placed an order for a fresh batch of shirts to fill in the gaps. The shirts arrived last Thursday so I unpacked the box, took off the tags and gave them a quick press before hanging them in his closet.
~
Something is not right. Can you tell what it is?

~ MAC in Lillyland (Lilly Pulitzer) Collection ~

2009-10-20T07:30:00.004-04:00

Good morning ladies. Thought I would share some pretty pink and green with you all this morning.

MAC cosmetics have been a favorite of mine for years. The only thing I use from the foundation or skin care line is their StudioFix foundation in a compact. The NW25 color matches my pasty skin tone perfectly and is so easy to slap on for a quick fix.

Their color line though is fabulous. It has a broad range of colors in eyeshadow, eye kohl, lipstick, lipliners and blush that is highly pigmented, blendable and long wearing for a fairly reasonable price.
January 7, 2010 is the launch date in the U.S. for the new:
~
MAC in Lillyland (Lilly Pulitzer) Collection
~ Looks like the perfect complement of colors for all the Lilly lovers out there and the launch will be just in time for the resort season.
~
Hugs,
Sue

~
Photos from http://www.temptalia.com/mac-in-lillyland-lilly-pulitzer-collection

Time To Get Busy

2009-10-19T07:36:00.004-04:00

Hope you all had a good weekend. I never really think about Sweetest Day so I was very pleasantly surprised when John came home from work Friday with these pretty roses, a sweet card and tickets to see the play Legally Blonde downtown Saturday night for Sweetest Day. We worked around the house Saturday and then friends joined us for dinner and the play Saturday night. We had a very nice quiet weekend.
Now it is time to get my feather duster flying.

When I get behind with my house work I revert back to The FlyLady for guidance.

Today the plan is to complete the Monday: Home Blessing Hour.
Cull/toss old Magazines
Change sheets.
Empty all the trash.
Vacuum all rooms.
Mop kitchen and bath.
Clean mirrors and doors.
Feather Dust furniture.

Have y'all heard of The FlyLady? Any FlyLadie's around here?
~
If you are overcome with C H A O S (Can't Have Anybody Over Syndrome) you might want to check out her website.
~
I have used routines most of my life but around 2003 The FlyLady came into my life with her daily email reminders of BabySteps to help reduce and remove the CHAOS and disorganization in our homes. When I get side tracked I go back to basics with the FlyLady and before I know it I'm back on track. So, this morning I'm pulling out my Control Journal and getting busy.

Happy Monday!