Happy Birthday to Me!

Well I gotta say, all in all, barring getting 1 year older it was a great day! Although I did go to work the girls at work had a cake for me and a box of chocolates. Actually two cakes, one chocolate and one funfetti white cake!

Another friend gave me a canopy for my bed. I'm still debating if my room is big enough for a canopy or whether I'll feel claustrophobic. I'll post pictures if I put it up.

And my mom really surprised me with an addition to my grape/wine themed kitchen. She purchased the two grape trivets shows in the pictures below and then set up a little display along with the plates my daughter gave me. Now I've done a few tablescapes but it never dawned on me to display a tablescape under the glass top so I can actually use the table. The glass is on top and you are looking through it to see the display. Isn't my mom brilliant and doesn't she have excellent taste in gifts?

I also received a beautiful green suede jacket from my sister which I'll take a picture of once it's actually cool enough to wear a jacket since it's 108 degrees today!

My daughter took me out to a super dinner last night at Mimi's. I had my favorite Asian Chicken Salad, she had Scallops with Asparagus Ravioli - Yummo! And my mom who also joined us had Maple Glazed pork chops that were to die for! Mimi's staff was gracious enough to provide us with a dessert ensemble consisting of a brownie hot fudge sundae with vanilla ice cream, chocolate mousse with fresh strawberries and an apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Thanks Mimi's. They also gave me a gift card with a free appetizer for next time I visit.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thrift Store Treasures

One of my favorite blogs, Southern Hospitality features a "Today's Thrifty Treasures" every Monday. She invites bloggers from across blogland to a Thrifty Treasures Linky Party. To attend this party you write a post about a thrift shop/yard sale/antique store, etc type of treasure that you've found and you link your post to her website where it's listed together with other partiers. I've been checking out everyone else's treasures for awhile and decided this week to "go to the party".

Normally my thrifting partner is my mom. We had a whole day planned for Saturday because Monday is my birthday and I had told her that all I wanted for my birthday was to thrift til we dropped and then a great lunch. But unfortunately mom took a spill in the kitchen, and while she's ok, she did bruise her little toe and she didn't feel up to wearing shoes, let alone walking.

My sister took pity on me and said that if I would go to J.C. Penney's with her, she would go to a FEW thrift stores with me. So somethings better than nothing right?

We hit the Discovery Store first. This store is sponsored by the American Cancer Society and it's one of my favs to hit after work on Friday as it's just down the street from my office. It's been a while since I had found anything good there, but this Saturday I found a pair of Lee Capri pants in light blue (not pictured), and the following. . .

This little butterfly picture was $5.00. A little pricey, but it's for the American Cancer Society so I don't mind spending more than I would have if I had found this at a yard sale.


Here you can see it completes the display in my bathroom. Originally I had three butterflies
but one of them met it's demise because everyone who uses my bathroom automatically assumes the light switch is there and they run into my butterflies. I had to secure the remaining two with tape. This new little butterfly friend fit perfectly on that bare nail, don't you think?

I've been trying to complete a Grape/Wine decor in my kitchen but I'm doing it only with items bought while thrifting...nothing new! I was lucky enough to find this tile/trivet? Not sure what it really is, but it came with twine to hang it from and it fit perfectly under my wine bottle picture and it was a mere $3.00.

I looked up the name San Martino delle Scale and it's a Benedictine abbey in Siciliy. The original monastery was founded by Pope Gregory the Great circa 600. It was burnt down by invading Arabs in 829, and built anew over the ruins in 1346. It is still used. Among its art treasures is a splendid marble staircase by Venanzio Marvuglia from the 1700's and Ignazio Marabitti's famous "Saint Martin and the Beggar," dedicated to the patron saint of the abbey. There is also a painting titled "Daniel in the Lions' Den" by Monreale's own Pietro Novelli, dating from the late 1500s. I don't know much about wines, but I do know I love Pinot Grigio!

From the Discovery store on our way to J.C. Penney's we hit the brakes for an unplanned stop at an Estate Sale where I found this little treasure. And it was so difficult to photograph him as you know how fast hummingbirds wings flap! Good thing I have a great camera!

He flittered about my home until he landed next to my lovely little candlestick/piece of art? I'm not sure what this object is; but it's definitely beautiful. And I guess my little hummingbird thought so as well.They seem almost meant to be don't they?

Hummingbird cost me $1.00 at the estate sale! My sis purchased a jewelry box for $5.00 and three really nice heavy-duty knives for $1.00! And that was it for my thrifting yesterday. I won't even go into what I bought brand-new at J.C. Penney's because that was clothing and clothing whether vintage or brand-new is always ok to buy in my book! Plus it is my birthday tomorrow so I deserved it!!!

I did want to mention the curtains pictured below. I haven't had time to buy the curtain rod I want to use, this is just temporary, but I got these beauties at the American Cancer Society Discovery Store for a mere $8.00 a couple of weeks ago. I'll post pictures later with a nicer rod, but aren't they pretty? These are for my bedroom.

Here's the full shot. The picture on either side of the curtains are also thrift store finds, as is the little table my TV sits on and the mint green table cover is from the Discovery Store. I really don't like to buy new!

So be sure to visit Rhoda at Southern Hospitality to see what treasures all the other thrifting queens found!

Iwanna Wednesday

Next week Monday, July 20th is my birthday. I'm going to be 51! Can you believe it? I passed the half a century old mark :-(

So what Iwanna this Wednesday is Iwanna give ya'll a birthday idea! You know that I've posted before that Iwanna new computer right? Well check this one out! It's so unique and no one else will have one. I guess that's why Iwanna one.

This pc is called Dear Diary 1.0

Dear Diary 1.0 is a computer embedded in a traditional wooden desk with a wooden keyboard laser cut and comes with a wooden monitor, wooden mouse to match. By designer Marlies Romberg. It also has Topsecret USB Stick, which made of porcelain and silicone.

I found this little sweetheart at a website with a great name "mocoloco"!

So that's what Iwanna for my Wednesday, and my birthday!

Jack in the Box

I love Jack in the Box tacos. In our family we call them dog meat tacos because the meat in them resembles dog food. But they are so tasty and Jack making them 99cents for two...well that's just super! Delicious and cheap! Crispy, crunchy, just greasy enough to make them taste like Mexican food!

Just looking at that picture above makes you wonder what Jack could ever do to top those tacos. And for years and years and years he couldn't think of anything. So we just enjoyed the dog meat tacos and were content.

But now, Jack has gone and done it! I think that accident that he had a few months ago joggled his brains and made him much more creative because now he's come up with the Jack in the Box Nachos! My sister and I order some on the way home Friday just to try them out. Were we surprised! Because Jack took those awesome, wonderful, just greasy enough tacos and cut them into slices and put them on a bed of lettuce, added nacho cheese and jalapenos and Voila!!! Jack in the Box Nachos!

Now I will warn you that these are not a fast food you can eat in your car while you are driving, unless you have a sister that will hold the tray for you. But even then they are very ooey and gooey and messy. It's really much better to get the regular tacos because those are totally eat in your car while driving food.

Try them though and tell me what you think? I think they're great but could use quite a few more jalapenos. Other than that they are perfect and I can't wait to see what Jack comes up with next!

Go Jack!

I saw this video on Friday morning while I was getting ready to go to work, but I didn't really pay attention so I didn't notice what the product was.

Today I found the video and I just think it's the oddest, weirdest, freakiest, cutest thing I ever saw. See if you agree.

Iwanna Wednesday

Do you realize that today is 7/8/9? July 8, 2009? I just thought that was kinda cool. Has nothing to do with Iwanna Wednesday.


What Iwanna this Wednesday 7/8/9 is for a man to pick me up at Home Depot and ask me to take him home with me!


Yep, that's what Iwanna. Why you might ask? I mean I'm sure you can understand why Iwanna man to want to come home with me, but why one at Home Depot?

Well, let me explain. I have a really nice backyard. It's pretty big and has a nice tree and some beautiful roses, but it's just a yard. See example below. . .

See, beautiful tree, nice roses, green grass, even some person laying there in my hammock. Not sure who that is, but they seem to be enjoying it.

Now here's a picture of the man that I want to meet at Home Depot and have him ask me to bring him home with me. This man is this guy. . . .

Ah ha! See...I even have a guy all picked out. Dreamy isn't he? Do you recognize him? Do you know why I want to bring him home. Here's another lovely picture of this Home Depot pickup man.

Now tell me you wouldn't want him to ask you to bring him home!

So who is he? He's the Yard Crashers guy. And what is Yard Crashers? It's a television show on DIY Network's Yard Crashers. Expert Ahmed Hassan (gorgeous guy above) waits at Home Depot Stores looking for the perfect weekend warriors who could definitely use his help. Once he finds his target, Ahmed and his team follow the surprised shoppers home and completely transform their yards.

Here's some examples of their handiwork. . .

Pretty Sweet huh? Yep, Iwanna meet Ahmed at Home Depot and get a free yard transformation.

My sister has shown her husband this man's picture and told him that if this man wants to come home with him he better darn well let him!

Here's a short video of one man making a big mistake...don't you make this mistake, cause now you know who this man is and why today 7/8/9 Iwanna him!

Iwanna Wednesday

Seems to me this is getting to be just an Iwanna Wednesday blog, and that's not what I wanted or intended. I guess I just have to be more diligent about posting. I have lots to say and lots of ideas to share, but by the time I get home and have dinner, well and watch some TV and share some time with my mom, it's time for bed.

The other night my mom decided to make fried ham sandwiches for dinner. It's kind of a normal, traditional meal for us. You buy sliced ham and fry it in a pan, toast your bread, apply your condiments...I prefer Mayo, add your fried ham, lettuce and tomato and you have the best sandwich in the world. If you happen to have some avocado then it's sheer heaven.

So I decided that I would make some jalapeno poppers with cream cheese. Lest you think I make them from scratch (hahaha), I buy them frozen and then I toast them up in my toaster oven.

Well I guess I have never had so many electrical appliances on at once cause I blew the breakers and I lost electricity to my kitchen and my toaster blew out. Which was ok because it was really, really old. I bought it when I was still married and my kids were 7 and 11 then and now they're 23 and 27...sooooo that tells you how old the toaster is. It's one of those that when you put your bread in you have to stand-by and push the do-hickey up or the toast will burn.

I went shopping online, which is what I do best; for a toaster and OMGosh, they make some really cute ones now-a-days.

Iwanna any one of these:

Aren't these all beautiful? Which one would you Iwanna?

Iwanna Wednesday

My sister gave me an awesome idea for Iwanna Wednesday.
See...I was going to do an Iwanna post on toasters, cause Iwanna one. But I'm going to save that post for next week because what you're about to see. . . well frankly it got me so hot I can toast my own toast without a toaster!! Whewwwww Baby!

What Iwanna is one of the Men of Mortuaries, especially the one changing the tire on the hearse, mmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmm!!!

Watch this video and enjoy and if possible donate, it's a great cause! We've all had family members with breast cancer.

Doctor's Appointments

I had two doctors appointments this morning. Now you know how graphic I can get about doctors appointments and procedures...I warn you ahead of time.

The first doctor was my endocrinologist. An endocrinologist is a specially trained doctor who diagnoses and treats diseases that affect your glands and hormone levels (endocrine system) such as:
Adrenal Disorders
Diabetes
Lipid Disorders
Osteoporosis
Pituitary Disorders
Parathyroid and Calcium Disorders
PCOS, infertility
Thyroid Disorders ...which is my disorder and why I see one.

The second doctor was my surgeon, and well, I guess you know what surgeons do, except this one did it twice; cut me open I mean.

So I thought I would show you a picture of my two doctors. . .

First my endocrinologist. Capable looking guy isn't he? He can manage any of my disorders anytime!

And this is my surgeon. Definitely a man you would trust to take a knife to your throat isn't he?

Ok, Ok...I know. These are those two doctors from Greys Anatomy, a show I absolutely adore for many different reasons. The two McDreamy, McSteamy guys shown above being two reasons why I adore the show, mmmmmmmm, yummy!

So why did I lie and try to pass off these two gorgeous men as my doctors? Well because today's doctors visits consisted of the endocrinologist and the surgeon (both during different appointments, one at 8am and one at 9am) massaging and palpitating my neck and shoulder area gently with their bare hands. And do you think that when I closed my eyes, (cause to be frank, it felt pretty damn good) I thought about the actual real life doctors? No way Jose! I thought about those two doctors up above. It was worth the $275 a piece that I paid today!

A girl can dream can't she?

I can't wait til next Monday when I have a mammogram scheduled. Let's see what doctor or x-ray technician I conjure up for that one! Stay tuned.

Disneyland was Great!

Last Saturday I went to Disneyland. I hadn't been to Disneyland since my daughter was in the band in high school and she's now 28, so it had been quite a while. I really hadn't had any interest in going to Disneyland but when my daughter texted me and asked if I wanted to go I figured why not? It would be just her and I and if I got too tired we could just come home.

Then she told me that she invited my nieces, Alicia and Beatriz and I thought, well that's great. I would love to hang out with them as well and if I back out at the last minute April will still have someone to go with.

Then she told me that my brother Fred, his wife Norma and little Fred and baby Melissa would be going also and well that cinched it that I was going to have to suck it up and go. And I'm sure glad I did, because we had the BEST TIME EVER!!! We opened and closed the park and it was so great to see little Fred and Melissa enjoy their first time at Disneyland.

Here are some pictures because as the saying goes, a picture is worth a 1000 words. . .

First off the gang on Main Street, April, Beatriz, Alicia and Little Fred

First ride...Jungle Cruise. Here's Melissa and her daddy Big Fred. Now those are the faces you come to Disneyland to see. Just look at those smiles!

We ended up in a separate boat from Fred, Norma, Little Fred and Melissa. Here's Alicia, Beatriz and April ready to set sail for the Amazon Jungles of Disneyland!

After that ride it was time to split up. Fred, Norma, Little Fred and Melissa took off for Toon Town, Small World and the Tea Cups. They promised to wait and ride the Tea Cups with us. Here's the girls outside of the Indiana Jones ride. This one was fun! I was amazed that I wasn't scared to get on them because I usually don't like the fast, scary rides and prefer to sit them out. I was feeling particularly adventurous this day :-) I rode Splash Mountain and Space Mountain as well.

Mother and daughter! I know I look drunk, but hey, it was barely 9am. My eyes are actually just trying to refocus after that ride! Seeing April smiling made this whole trip worthwhile! Thank you so much April for wanting to drag your tired, old mom with you! xoxoxoxo

Ok, I look a little better here. Here I am with my namesake, my niece Alicia.

And I can't let Beatriz get away without taking a picture with her Tia Ale as well.

Here we are waiting to ride the Tea Cups. Melissa is eating Cotton Candy. You haven't had fun until you've watch her eat Cotton Candy. Her big sissy, Alicia actually sticks Melissa's whole hand in her mouth a little later to clean off all the pink, gooey, sticky, yummy mess! She's a great sissy-poo.

This next set of pictures are my favorites. Here's Melissa looking a little leery, wondering what in the heck this ride is all about. She's got her hands on the wheel in the middle, but she really doesn't know what it's for just yet.


Check out the closeup...is this a face or what?? Beautiful!

Ah Ha!!! She figured out what this whole thing is about and is this a face of sheer joy or what? This is what makes Disneyland worthwhile!


Here's the gang in the other Tea Cup. It is just too funny to watch grown men sitting in these Tea Cups!

Uh Oh! I think Fred has had just about enough of this spinning around, don't you think? Although April, Beatriz and little Fred seem to find Fred's discomfort rather amusing.

Awwww, how cute is this?
Here's Melissa telling Daddy it's ok after his scary ride on the spinning Tea Cup.

Mother and daughter yet again. A little more tired, hair a tad messy after the water ride. Let me warn you, Splash Mountain should be renamed "Come out totally soaked" Mountain, there is no splashing...there is drowning! But I loved it. Thank you April. Love, Love, Loved Disneyland and love you too!

Next time someone invites you to Disneyland, Go, Go, Go. It's so worth it!