Thrill of the hunt

Today I took the boys as well as my daughter to a little used book store that opened in our downtown area which is a few blocks away. I grew up going to used book stores with my mom and it is one of my favorite memories. I LOVE books!!!!!! The only issue I have is finding places to put my books,lol!!!! My shelves are full.I ended up buying some vintage children's books.After the book store we went to a thrift store that we hardly ever go to.We are still looking for baby shower vintage props.
I found a cute little baby figurine and a vintage baby doll.I'm looking for something with a stork and a vintage baby scale. I did find a vintage scale on etsy but there is something exciting about the thrill of the hunt going from store to store!!!!! You never know what treasure awaits.

Vintage baby

I have been planning a baby shower for our daughter Paloma. The theme is "vintage baby". I know Vintage decorating are all the rage when I look thru the internet but I can say that it has been our style for our entire lives.My kids love going to the flea market and we love to thrift!!!!! I do miss the thrift stores in Chicago,also the yard sales!!!!! So it is really fun hunting around for vintage baby items.I have a tiny collection going on in my dressing room. My latest find is a wooden cradle!!!!! I put money down on it at a children's second hand store and I am going to pick it up on Tuesday( so excited )!!!! It can be an heirloom piece for Paloma to pass on to her kids.For the shower we are going to display it and put the small gifts inside.I am also looking for a vintage baby scale .I have seen them on ebay so I might have to buy it from there. Here are a few photos of the little items we will use to display for the shower.

Blog award

I feel so honored that my little old blog received an award from the lovely Claudia at http://whosjaja.blogspot.com/ It is the Liebster blog award!!!!!!! Thank you Claudia!!!!!!

I started blogging to document the process of our house renovation and to remember the many moments in my life with four kids. Since starting the blog two kids have grown up and moved out(hard to believe).I love visiting other peoples blogs and seeing the lives around the world.
I am passing the love to http://iheartvoodoo.blogspot.com/
http://curlyscorner-sandy.blogspot.com/
http://broomsticksandlace.blogspot.com/
http://kimspieswithherlittleeye.blogspot.com/
http://oldflowers4me.blogspot.com/

Liebster means "dearest" in German, and this award is given to bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. The stipulations of the award are as follows:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your 5 blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Hope that the people you have sent the award to will forward it to their favorite bloggers

Julian's 10th Birthday!!!!

This Monday was my sweet Julian's birthday!!!!! He turned 10.My sweet boy had the best birthday ever!!!! We celebrated at home and then we went to dinner at a place of his choice.He picked Rocky Roccos. After dinner we picked up ice-cream from Ben and Jerry's to have with his cake at home. Big sister Paloma came over with her fiancé Jake to have cake and ice cream.He had the biggest smile on his face all day !!!! He especially loved the "Happy Birthday" phone calls from all the family.

We are so blessed to have Julian in our family!!!! He is so bright but most important he has such a gentle loving soul!!!! Happy Birthday Julian!!!!!!

Laundry room

Last December our washing machine broke down(yeah,the perfect month for it).At first it was just leaking some water but by the end it became a river!!!!)We looked into repairing the machine but it turned out that it would cost half of what the new machine would cost.We purchased our original machine used so it didn't make sense to fix it.Luckily the week after christmas we found a front loader on sale!!!!!! I was so excited,our old machine was a front loader too but was not in the new see thru window style.We did not buy the stand that came with it because I had seen a photo online of what I wanted. I found a photo on Ana Whites website.It is a blog about building(furniture) items and she gives the dimensions on how to build http://ana-white.com/2011/01/sausha’s-washerdryer-pedestals used her design as a guide but made ours a little longer.Here are photos.I am in the process of painting a part of the wall that I started about 3 years ago and ran out paint (lol) and left unfinished. Also I want to buy some type of rug for the floor.So stay tuned for more updates.

Clearing

Today I finally finished packing all my xmas decorations and putting everything away.I am exhausted!!!! I really love xmas decorations but by the end I feel suffocated in a way. I feel like I need more space!!!! The house is a little messy because we worked on a project this weekend!!! The first one of the year. I am not done so the final reveal might take a while.So besides the xmas stuff ,I am cleaning up lumber,tools,etc.One of my "new year resolutions" that I write down every year is to organize better. That is my challenge ,I am always looking for ways to organize our "stuff". I have become better at it but we still have a way to go. I do believe in Feng Shui and space clearing so that is what I am doing today,wish me luck!!!!! Have a great day!!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!

We had a very mellow New Year's Eve,we were exhausted from working (doing hair) earlier in the day.We did get to eat some fabulous food in the evening!!!!! We bought thai food from our favorite Thai rester aunt!!! Yummy!!!!That was a good way to end 2011.Looking through my blog at the projects we did in 2011 has been fun!!! I mostly did a lot of furniture makeovers.Many paint projects, most important was finishing the exterior of our house that we started last year.I also painted the front porch(I had wanted to repaint it for years!!!!! We redid electrical in our main bathroom(it started when I wanted a new outlet installed for my electric fireplace heater). In the summer we made our garden more functional and beautiful by adding pea gravel.We also put up my wrought iron arbor in the back leading to the garden.Back inside I added an apothecary wall unit in the kitchen for organization.The biggest project that was in the planning for years was adding a driveway gate!!!! That to me was one of the biggest things that we did (we also redid the fence on one side of the house) beside painting the exterior.Our house is looking complete!!!! I am thankful for what we have been able to accomplish in 2011 but am looking forward to 2012!!!!!