Tips on some great blogs, an award and seven things you didn't know about me, or maybe you did!

One of my favorite bloggers in the whole blogging world is JarieLyn from Write Place! Write Chick! From the very first day I started reading her I was hooked. Her photographs are amazing and she lives in the City that Never Sleeps...Las Vegas! She shares lots of information about Vegas and the surrounding area. She's fun,funny and goofy at times. Other times she's sad and pensive and can make you cry, but regardless, she is always JarieLyn! One day I hope to get together with her since she's from my neck of the woods and I visit Vegas at least once a year, so I'm sure it's just a matter of time until we sync up our calendars and make time to meet.

JarieLyn recently started another blog. How she does it I don't know as I can barely keep up with one. The new blog is called dancewithwords, very fitting for JarieLyn as she loves to dance and she does have a way with words! I'm going to explain the idea of the new blog using the  explanation off of the blog itself:

"This blog is a collaboration between two women who live in two separate countries. One lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, the other one lives part time in two different cities in Brasil. The reason we created this blog is to improve our writing skills while developing discipline in this medium. Our concept in writing entries for this blog is to each contribute a paragraph or two on one topic. Two perspectives, one post. It is our thought that writing this way will challenge us to write out of our comfort zone and to think more creatively. Each post has both of our writing styles within the entry."

Isn't that a great concept? I hope all my readers...all three of you, run right over there and check out one or the other or both of these great blogs.

The reason I'm mentioning these blogs and JarieLyn is that she has honored me with a blogging award on her dancewithwords blog! She's given me the award but even better she's given me the gift of her beautiful words by writing this about my humble blog: "Alicia over at Titere Con Bonete is my favorite blogger. She is so talented in her personal storytelling. Her blog is fun and never boring. I just love Alicia because she is so down to earth."

Isn't that so sweet? High praise from someone I respect and have such affection for. Thank you again JarieLyn for my SISTERHOOD OF THE WORLD BLOGGERS AWARD!

Now I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself and since I love talking about myself this should be easy...let's see if that's true.

1. I was very shy in high school so I forced myself to try out for the cheer leading squad in order to not let my shyness defeat me. I made the squad and had a blast and have always been proud of myself for not giving in to my fears!

2. Like JarieLyn I love, love, love to dance! My favorite dance music is Mexican music, especially Cumbias, Rancheras and Cha-cha's! Of course, I usually need to get my rhythm going so I always start with a shot (or two) of Tequila and then sip the rest of the night on a Long Island Ice Tea!

3. I'm a recipe cook...meaning I can't just throw things together and come up with a meal. I have to have a plan and a recipe and all the ingredients that go with it or I can't cook.

4. When I first got my computer back in 1994, I got hooked on chat rooms. After hanging out in a chat room for about a year with the same group of people, we all decided to meet one weekend in Chicago. I flew from LAX to Chicago all by myself to meet a group of 20 or so complete strangers. I had the best time and was so proud of myself for being so brave!

5. I really don't think I have much of an imagination. I think of myself as an "in the box" individual. I don't stay in the box because of fear, I just stay in the box because I don't have the imagination to get out of there. But I do so admire people that are creative and think outside the box.

6. I'm not a dog person. I know you wouldn't think that because I love my daughter's dog Chorizo to little itty-bitty pieces...but that's cause Chorizo isn't really a dog. And how can you not love this little face?

7. I enjoy sweet and salty foods together. The other day I added strawberries to my salad that had bacon bits and ranch dressing and mixed them in and they were delicious! I love Kettle Korn for the same reason, cause it's sweet and salty...plus crunchy!

So there you go....7 things about lil ol me! I'm supposed to pass the award on to two other bloggers that I feel are worthy of being in the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers.

The first blog I would love to offer the award to belongs to Paula over at Sweet Pea. Paula is one of those "out of the box" people I admire. She's a 7th grade school teacher and that right there would leave me exhausted. But not Paula, she's very active and enjoys keeping fit and sharing fitness tips and secrets with her readers. She's also a wonderful Crafter and believe it or not she can show you how to make a wreath out of a tennis racket. But my absolute favorite thing about her is when she shares here family heirlooms with her readers. She's a lot like me in that she is very sentimental about items from the past; things like vases and pots, old sewing patterns, cookbooks, jewelry, crystal...just tons of stuff. She posts much more regularly than I do and I guarantee if you check out her blog daily you will learn a lot plus be thoroughly entertained!

The second blog belongs to DUTA over at Places with Character. I have given DUTA an award before, and giving her another one is just further proof of how much I love her blog. DUTA lives in Israel and shares so much of her world with her readers. She posts amazing pictures and visiting her is like being given a tour by a professional tour guide. And she is so amazing because no matter how many comments she receives she personally responds to each and every one! She travels often and shares video about the places she has been.  Reading her blog helps me to realize that even though she's in a completely different country there are startling similarities in our life in spite of different cultures and beliefs. Did you know that there is a Global Seed Vault in Norway? I didn't know that either, but thanks to DUTA I now do. My dad has been a farmer all his life and when I told him about the seed vault that I read about on DUTA's blog I was amazed to find out that he knew all about it. And that is why I feel DUTA is deserving of a Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. I hope that you visit her because I'm sure you will love her blog as much as I do.

I couldn't give a Sisterhood of the World Bloggers award to another blog I really enjoy because that blog is written by a brother...not a sister. But I do want to mention him on my blog. He is Sextant of the blog Navigating the Finite. Sextant has the most interesting blog and he writes about so many different topics. I love that he does so much research when it comes to writing his posts. He writes about politics, electronics, retirement, the military and he does book reviews. One of his funniest posts recently was about a bird pooping on his head, it was hilarious. I wish I could make him an honorary sister and give him the award but I don't want the awards police to come after me. So Sextant know this...if I could give you the award I would but you have the Alicia of Titere con Bonete Award of being one of my favorite blogs!

We Must be the Cleanest Family on the Planet

Remember the Great Bee Invasion of 2009? If not then you can read all about it HERE.

Not since the Great Bee Invasion of 2009 have we been plagued by an infestation of any kind...until now. Now we are suffering through the Great Ant Infestation of 2012!

There are these little tiny black ants everywhere!

We can't leave even one breadcrumb on a counter. We can't leave any cookies or chips, no matter how tightly we seal them in the kitchen cupboards because they figure out a way in!

We can't leave dirty dishes in the sink or on the table. We can't leave any trash at all in the kitchen trashcan over night.

The little guys seem very friendly, although both my mom and my son say they have been bitten. I've found them crawling on my arms and legs and I haven't been bitten once...maybe my blood is not as sweet?

Well because of these little ants, we have had to clean up after ourselves every time that we make a sandwich, or eat some milk and cookies or chips or ice cream. Not that we don't normally clean up after ourselves...but c'mon everyone makes a sandwich and leaves everything on the counter until they finish eating, then you clean up, right?

During the summer months we love to eat ice pops. You know those little tubes of colored sugar that you stick in the freezer? I know, I know...they are full of sugar, but they are so refreshing and delicious! And they're just a summertime treat! And I only eat maybe 7 or 8 at one sitting...so give me a break ok?

Because of the little black ants, when we eat one we immediately go to the kitchen sink, put in a drop of Dawn and wash out and rinse the little plastic tube before we put it in the trash. We do the same thing with our cans of Pepsi and Diet Pepsi. We have the cleanest trash on the block!

Unfortunately because of the ants I have not eaten my quota of ice pops! It's just too much work to go and rinse out the little tube each time! And all because of "them ants!"
We been spraying Raid Ant Killer and their masses seem to be dwindling. Yesterday I purchase some Ortho Home Defense Spray and today I cleaned thoroughly and then sprayed the inside of the house thoroughly and we plan to spray the outside tomorrow. So hopefully soon the Great Ant Infestation of 2012 will be just another moment in history, just like the Hippy Bees!

Iwanna Wednesday - A Sitting Place

Ha! Bet you thought I forgot about Iwanna Wednesday right? No...actually I had this post all done but for some reason when I hit publish post on my work PC it kept giving me an error message and wouldn't let me post or save. So anyway...here you go!

It's Iwanna Wednesday again...see, I told you guys I was gonna get back to posting about things Iwanna. I still haven't found the perfect finials I want, as I posted about last Wednesday. I also haven't tried making the fabric-covered tennis ball finials, but I did show them to my mom, the craft queen, and she said they would be easy peasy to make. If you want to see how to do them please visit Dianne at In My Own Style.

So anyway....I'm going to be doing a bedroom makeover in the near future and there is one thing I have always wanted...a bed bench. I always thought it was called a Settee, but a Settee is something totally different.

This is your Basic Bed Bench...

This is a Settee...

Courtesy of Anthropologie 

As far as I can tell a Settee has arms and a back and a bed bench doesn't. I've always wanted a Bed Bench at the foot of my bed that I could sit on and put my shoes on in the morning. I've never really had a bedroom big enough to allow for it, but now my new bedroom is going to be huge and I'll have plenty of room so Iwanna one!

I've been reading lots of DIY blogs and seeing that a lot of people find really nice ones on CraigsList or Goodwill and then just re-do them. So I've been haunting CraigsList in hopes of finding one. But Iwanna share with you all the one's I've been seeing online that I love!

I love this one! It's a Bob Mackie Classics Bed Bench and you can have one for a mere $1,207! It's a little steep for my budget but I just love the legs on it, like a big square turtle! And I am so jealous of whoever owns this house because if you look to the upper right of the Bed Bench, this person also has a Settee!!!

I am so in lust with this next one. Look at the drawers for storage! You could put quilts or comforters, extra pillows...even your shoes once you take them off, or socks even! Plus the fabric and the detail on the drawers!! *sigh* Iwanna this one so much! This one you can see at Coleman Furniture, and the pricing is a little bit better at $435.00.

This one reminds me so much of Santa's Sleigh! Just read the description on this one, "adorned with ornate hand applied decorations covered with the beautiful glazed bisque color. With diamond inlay stone veneer tops on dresser and night stand and dark bronze color metal hardware, the "South Coast" bedroom collection captures the true elegance of traditional styled furniture." This is a piece of furniture that you would hand down to generations to come. I love it...and at $489.00 for a family heirloom? I think that's a bargain...although still quite a bit out of my price range, c'mon people...I'm looking on CraigsList and Goodwill!

So here's another one that I love even though I'm not a huge fan of blue (my sister Lisa would love this, she loves all things blue). I guess I love it because I love neutral colors, white, off white, ecru, beige, tan, brown, chocolate brown and this splash of blue would really make a room...don't you think? This one though is custom made and I'm sure it costs a pretty penny...my pennies are only cute.

But I think this is the perfect one. If I can find this one on CraigsList or at Goodwill then baby...it's coming home with me! As long as it's not over $100. I believe this place also custom makes them! Iwanna this one for sure!

So when I find one I'll be sure to let you all know. So Happy Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!

Sister Wives

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 4 or 5 television seasons, you’ve probably heard about a television reality show on The Learning Channel (TLC) called Sister Wives. The show is about this guy named Kody Brown who has a gaggle of wives. Hmmm, I think a gaggle is five and at last count there are 4 wives and around 16 or so children, so maybe he doesn’t have a whole gaggle, but I just like the term gaggle.


They all live in Vegas now, but I believe when the show first started they were living in Utah. They are a polygamist family, meaning Kody is married to one wife legally and the other wives are a “spiritual union”. The women are known as Sister Wives. I guess not only are they wives but the spiritual union makes them sisters to each other or something like that. I’ve never watched the show, just know about the show because of snippets of the promos for the show and what I’ve read online.

So what does this have to do with me? Well I believe a spiritual union may be in my future. You see…this morning while just doing my job I contacted a client about renewing his insurance policy. He seemed very worried that I get all his paperwork to him right away as he was heading out of town tomorrow. I told him not to worry; I would be sending all his paperwork today. Then I reminded him that he doesn’t have to renew this policy until June 30th which is when the existing policy will expire.

He then exclaimed, “See Alicia…that is why I love you! You keep my life straight!” (I only insure his vehicle…how is that his life?) Then he says, “Are you married?” Before I could answer, he goes on to say, “I know I’m married, but I have room in my life and in my house for another wife and I would like you to be that wife. I’m a really good husband and would treat you well.”

…… Say what?

The only thing I could think of to say was, “It sounds to me like you don’t want another wife, you just want a bookkeeper!” Thankfully he just laughed and didn’t take offense to my thoughtless declination to become his wife…Whew! I let him down easy... although I wouldn’t just be gaining a husband, I would also be gaining a sister, a Sister Wife.

It's Finial! Iwanna Wednesday

Did you read the title correctly? Did you think it's said that it's FINAL? A final Iwanna Wednesday? Look again...it's not FINAL, it's FINIAL, cause that's what Iwanna this Wednesday...some Finials. I can't do a final Iwanna Wednesday because I haven't done one in ages.

A little background on Iwanna Wednesday just in case you forgot. Ok...so I want everything I see. I mean it. I can walk into a drugstore and see something and say, "I want one of those." I can drive by someone's house and say, "I want some decorative rocks like those!" My mom and sister finally started teasing me and saying, "Aye si, Iwanna...you want everything!"

Iwanna Wednesday was born! A day when I do a post about what ever it is my little heart wants at that particular moment.

I've been looking a window treatments of late and there are tons of beautiful ideas. I notice that almost all of them have curtain rods and I mean real curtain rods, not the little white ones I grew up with that I still use. The ones that look like these. Do you remember these?

But now that I'm a grown up. I will put away little girl things and only want big girl things! Iwanna curtain rods like this.

See those cute little detail thingys at the ends of the curtain rods? Well someone got tired of people calling them detail thingys and they named them FINIALS...and that is what Iwanna today cause there are a gazillion of them!

For you wine lovers or maybe health foodies that love to eat fruit, how about these lovely little Grape Finials? These would be perfect in a kitchen or dining room right?

Sticking with the purple theme, I am so loving these! Purple beaded Finials...I think anyone would Iwanna these. I know Iwanna them *sigh*. You can find these at Etsy. I bet there are some of you crafty people out there that could buy the beads on strings and glue them on something and make these right? If there are some of you people out there, you can gladly make these for me and I would love you forever!

And I know I said I would put away little girl things, but for some reason little girl colors just call out to me...."Alicia....Alicia....you know you love us...C'mon Alicia....look at us, love us, want us."

Oh pretty little Pastel Finials...Yes, Yes, Yes, I love you, Iwanna you. You know you wanna them too! You can find them at PBteen.

But getting back to big girl things...how grown up and gorgeous are these? These were custom made for a boat builder and created to compliment the nautical theme in a boat cabin. They are little octopus' or is it octopi? You can find those at Allen & Baron.

This one reminds me of a TV show from my youth. I'll give you some hints. Major Healey? Master? Tony? Major Nelson? Did you guess it? If you said, "I Dream of Jeannie" then you had it. Doesn't this one look like Jeannie's bottle? Love it!

So finally I'm done with my Iwanna Wednesday Finial post! Ha! Actually, I think what I'm going to do is something that I've seen on a few blogs and on Pinterest. I'm going to make my curtain rods out of electrical conduit! Yes I am! And then I'm going to make finials out of old tennis balls. Old tennis balls you say? Yep...just keep on visiting me and I'll keep you posted. Happy Iwanna Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!



Sciatica and the Escalator

Once upon a time there was a beautiful Princess named Sciatica and she lived in a huge castle. The castle was so grand that the king had escalators installed to passenger the queen, the princess and honored guests up and down the various floors of the castle.

Princess Sciatica loved going up the escalators but she had an intense fear of the escalators leading down. She would see  the others getting on the down escalator with no problem, laughing and joking and hanging on to the moving hand rail, but when it was Princess Sciatica's turn to go down, she would stand at the edge and tell herself she could do it, but she would immediately feel a weakness in her legs and a sense of vertigo and she knew that if she tried to take one step on those moving stairs, her legs would not have the strength to hold her and she would fall and tumble all the way down to her death!

Luckily the King had also installed elevators in the castle and Princess Sciatica would ride the lonely elevator down to the lower floors. She could hear the laughter and joy of the others racing up and down on the escalators and she so longed to join them and swore to herself that one day she would!

One day, the Princess rode the escalator to the third floor which is where her bedroom was. She needed to fetch her fencing gloves and then she quickly raced to the other end of the castle to where the King, good King Otis had installed the elevators. She pushed the down button and waited. After a few minutes, she pushed the button again and waited. Then she did what any intelligent person knows to do, push the button over and over again! That always makes the elevator come faster cause it knows your are pretty darned ticked off by now!

Yet the elevator didn't come and the Princess did not know what to do. She roamed the third floor where she found her sister Princess Lisa and her mother, the good Queen Tomasa. She was crying and telling them that she wanted to go back downstairs but the elevator would not come. The sister and the queen knew of Princess Sciatica's intense fear of the down going escalator, but they tried to convince her how easy it was and that they would go before her so she wouldn't have to fear falling. They would catch her! But fear struck the poor Princess's heart and no amount of cajoling or pleading would help. Was our poor Princess destined to live forever in the highest floor of the castle?

Apparently...yes! I know this cause it happened to me yesterday. I am Princess Sciatica!

Yesterday I went to Macy's Department Store with my mom and my sister. My mom had a gift card and wanted to use it to purchase a set of sheets for her new bed. The bedding department is on the third floor of Macys. My mom, sister and I rode the escalator up to the second floor, then the third. I had no fear going up and no worries about how I would get back down as I knew they had an elevator. Easy Peasy!

We shopped for sheets and then searched for the elevator and headed over and did as Princess Sciatica did. I hit the button and waited....then I hit the button again and waited...then my sister Princess Lisa hit the button (in case the elevator just didn't like me) and again we waited. Then I tried the old faithful move and hit the button several times in succession...nothing! Fear struck my heart! What was I to do?

My mom and Lisa tried to convince me that it's easy to get on the escaltor going down. They would help me, they would go down before me and that way if I fell I would fall on them. Aren't they wonderful to sacrifice themselves like that for me? Especially my 78 year old mother! But I knew that I couldn't do it. I no longer had the leg strength. Not since the great Sciatica Debacle of 2010!

For some reason, ever since I had that awful bout of Sciatica in 2010; where I had to take almost a month off of work because I was in the most excruciating pain I have ever had (it was worse than childbirth. I had two kids, one natural and one c-section...trust me, it was worse than childbirth), I don't have the strength in my left leg that I used to. It's hard just to climb stairs using my left leg. So I have to climb them by putting the right leg on the step first and then bringing the left leg up, then the right again, then the left. It's quite embarassing!

So there we were on the third floor. I can't use the down escalator and my mom and sister can't just leave me cause I drove and I had the car keys! We asked a couple of the sales clerks if the elevator was working or not and they really didn't know. Then I saw an official looking lady in a navy pin-striped suit and I asked her. And bless her little pea-picking heart, she saved Princess Sciatica! She told us that they were doing some work on the elevator so they were not working, but that she could take us down using the service elevator. I think she saw my elderly mom and thought she would do a nice thing for the sweet, elderly, gray-hair woman.

So she takes us through some double doors by the elevator and we're in the back of the store. And she was so sweet and she pretended like she was giving us a tour and pointing out products and joking with us. She was wonderful. Then she pushed the service elevator button and the doors opened. She then opened up this cage thing and she stepped in and said, "C'mon in!"

 We were all a little apprehensive. It looked scary. My mom even asked her in a timid little voice, "You are going with us right?" Our little Guide assured us that she would never leave us alone, "Oh nowhoney...I wouldn't leave you alone, Oh Heavens No!" So we had no choice, we walked on in. Our little tour guide then proceded to close the elevator doors and then manually pull down the gate door. Now we were in the Belly of the Beast! The elevator started. It was slower than the public elevator so it took a little while for the elevator to get to the bottom. Our little guide just kept chattering to us about various "behind the scene" things at Macys. We were almost to the main floor when my mom felt she had to make one thing clear. She turned to our little guide and she said, "The reason we needed the elevator is because my daughter is scared to go down the escalator." And then she pointed at me!

Can you believe that? My own mother threw me under the bus like that....lol. You have to admire her though, she didn't want to be thought of as some poor elderly lady that needed help getting around. Oh no! Not her, she's very proud of still being strong and independent! But dang-it...was my face red! Poor Princess Sciatica...

Tomasa's Child and Homemade Flour Tortillas

When I was a little girl, there was nothing better in the whole world than a homemade flour tortilla made by my own dear mom.

I remember that she would knead the flour, lard (because we didn’t use the much lighter shortening or oil that we use now, we used big huge blocks of lard) baking powder, salt and water in a big bowl. I loved watching her hands, strong and sure working the dough.



Little Balls of Dough



Then she would make these perfect little balls of dough. I made the ones in this photo and they are not perfect at all, but mom's were. She would then line them all up on a clean dish towel, ready to be rolled out into perfectly round tortillas.



Mom would always give my sister and me our own little ball of dough which we would pretend to knead and roll out as she did. Sometimes, depending on our mood, we wouldn’t knead or roll it out; we would instead form it into animal shapes, like it was clay.



Here's the rolling out in process



When my mom was done making the family tortillas, she would have us roll out our little ball of dough and she would place it on the “comal” which was made out of cast iron and heated over the open flame on the stove. We would watch her flip our little tortilla around until it was perfectly browned on both sides. We couldn’t wait to eat them!



This is the Cast Iron Comal



Mom would slice a pat of real butter which had been softening to room temperature and sit us down, each with our little tortilla. She taught us to rip off little pieces of the tortilla and dip them into the warm, melting, sweet butter. There was nothing better! We felt as though we had cooked these tortillas ourselves, my sister and I. Sometimes we would save them for our dad to eat so he knew his little girls had been slaving away making tortillas for him.



Comal with a Tortilla



My mom was great at including us in on her regular household chores and making it fun and like a game for us. We didn’t need fancy play-doh with all the little accessories they come with now. We just needed the plain tortilla dough, our imagination and our wonderful mother by our side. My mom's name is Tomasa and I am her child.

This post is inspired by the novel Julia's Child by Sarah Pinneo. Worried about what her kids eat, Julia Bailey starts a prepared organic toddler meals business. With names like Gentil Lentil, can Julia balance work and family and still save the world? Join From Left to Write on May 24 as we discuss Julia's Child. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.

 

The Runs

Any of you that have ever worked in any type of customer service job know that many times customers say "the darnedest things!"

That happened to me today. Well it happens to me most days but today was so hilarious I had to bite my tongue to keep from busting out laughing and telling the customer, "Really? Did you really just say that?"

Ok, to preface my story, I work in insurance and in insurance many times an insurance company will ask for Loss Runs from a previous insurance company. Loss Runs are a report from the insurance company that the customer had previously. They are a report that tells us, "yes, this insured did have insurance with XYZ Insurance Company from this date to that date." The Loss Run will also show whether or not there were any claims incurred during that time. If not it will say "no claims or zero claims". If they did have a claim it will tell you a bunch of info like the date of the loss, the claims number, if the claim is still open or closed, if money was paid out and if there was money paid out how much it was and if it involved property damage or bodily injury or both. It's kind of like a report card for drivers.

I had asked this particular client for loss runs. The client had to get them from their previous carrier and it took about three weeks. So this morning, the clients wife gives me a call and says, "Hi Alicia, I was just calling to see if...did you get the RUNS?" Now mind you, she didn't identify herself to start with (they never do) so it just came out of the blue. Luckily we have caller ID and I saw who it was and I knew what she meant, but none the less it freaked me out that she asked if I got the RUNS!

I think the poor thing realized what she said but she was embarrassed so she just kinda played it off like she didn't really just say that and I, being the ultimate professional...didn't bust out laughing and embarrass her further. But when I hung up, I could not control myself.

And I love to include pictures when I share a story with you all but how do you include a picture of "the runs"? I found the one you see and thought it was pretty cute! And...I did receive the runs, I didn't get them!

Know why you haven't heard from me? Cause I'm on a deserted island...no really!

I know it's been a while since I've posted, not that any of you have missed me :-(
But thought I would let you know that I'm on a deserted island, kinda.

Here's the twist, you knew there had to be one right?

You’re on a deserted island, with no sign of rescue. You can have 10 things with you on the island. You just have to choose from this list. What will keep you company under the long, hot days in the sun? (my choices are in bold):



1. Chocolate or Potato Chips? Chips definitely. I cannot live without Chips, they are my one true passion. Surely on this island there must be something I can use and put together for some salsa? Maybe a luscious mango, papaya, pineapple, jalapeno salsa. Yeah, cause you know jalapenos grow wild on deserted isles...wow, that rhymes. This is why I'd do ok on a deserted isle, cause I can entertain myself.

2. Fiction or Non-Fiction? Fiction definitely since the choice blogs isn't listed. Cause you know I love reading everyone's blogs. 

3. The Lord of the Rings or The Godfather movies? Oh gosh, those are my only choices? I guess I would have to go with Lord of the Rings, but only because I've never seen it and at least it would be something new. 

4. Cameron Diaz or Jennifer Aniston? Cameron Diaz because I don't think she's going to look that good without makeup and neither will I but darn that Jennifer has gotta be gorgeous without makeup...who needs that pressure? Besides Cameron is sturdier and would have to be better at gathering wood and building makeshift huts than Jennifer would.

5. 70′s or 80′s music? Since I'm a child of the 70's then 70's definitely. And by child of the 70's I don't mean born in the 70's but that's when I became semi-interested in music. 

6. Jon Stewart or Daniel Craig? Daniel Craig, see the picture...need I say more? He's already dressed for the event!

7. Friday Night Lights or Downton Abbey? Downton Abbey! I just watched Season 2 again yesterday on PBS and I love it! Pure entertainment. Love the sappy storyline, the actors, the clothing. Can't wait for Season 3. 

8. Beer or Wine? Wow...this is a tough one. Well I would have to go with the beer, but only because it would go best with my pineapple, mango, papaya, jalapeno salsa and chips.

9. Pizza or Hamburgers? Burger baby! If we're deserted on an island, we're not going to worry about carbs! But wait...if I eat carbs and gain weight...then Daniel Craig is going to run off with Cameron Diaz, makeup or not! (Yeah right! Who am I kidding, like that's not going to happen anyway!) 

10. The Rolling Stones or the Beatles? I gotta say, I'm not a big fan of either, but would probably go with the Beatles. Could I trade the bands for some more books please? 

Grabbed these cute little questions from The Zadge over at  Blue Skies and Yellow Dogs, she's hilarious! A girl after my own heart!

Promise to be back soon with posts (again...not that anyone has missed me), working on a project I hope to share with everyone.

The Old Lady Was a Bathroom Hipster

I bought my house about 4 years ago. It's an older home, born the same year I was and I'm not gonna tell you how long ago that was. Suffice it to say that the old girl has a lot of class and character, just like I do!

This old girl (the house...not me) has some cool little details and some not so cool ones as well. It has a cute corner sink that I fell in love with the first time I saw the house. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that because the sink is in the corner, only one person can stand at the sink at the time thereby giving others an "out" when it comes time to help with the dishwashing!

On the plus side, there is a nice little ledge above the sink that I didn't get a picture of where I can display things. They change from time to time but right now there's a wine bottle, a fancy bottle for olive oil that is beautiful but I never use it and a candle. Because it's so handy my mom often likes to put random things up there that don't really go with my vignette, like for example my travel coffee mug or some tupperware items she needs to remember to return!

In the bathroom there is a very unique soap - toothbrush - cupholder which you can see pictured here. I know this looks like it has some pretty butterflies and flowers on it, but it's actually all silver, with a mirror surface, the butterflies are a reflection of the shower curtain across from it.

When you push on the right side of that silver square, it swings open to reveal this....

Please ignore how cruddy it looks because we never, ever use it, but it's just so cool and a neat little trick that we can show people when they come to visit. Hey! Shafter is a small town and there's not a whole lot to do with company when they do visit!

It is a cool way to hide things right?  But with the size of toothbrushes now a days, it's not very practical...but a neat little detail don't you think?







Another neato thing is this Thermador bathroom heater. Now don't worry about that pretty little plant getting scorched or over heated as this bathroom heater has never worked.

I know many people have fancy-schmancy bathrooms with heated towel holders and heated floors, but I'm just as impressed with this broken bathroom heater that I have never, ever used. I bet it was pretty cool to have back in the day when it worked!

I imagine this house was state of the art when it was first built. With all it's fancy swinging toothbrush holders and a bathroom Thermador heater and all!









So that brings me to the point of my title of this post, "The Old Lady Was a Bathroom Hipster".  In the bathroom is where one of my favorite little handy-dandy objects resides. It's this little wall-mounted Dixie Cup Dispenser.

Do you know that you cannot find that dispenser anywhere on the worldwideweb? At least I couldn't and I'm pretty good at googling and amazoning and whatever. So I was telling my son that I need him to figure out if that little dispenser can be taken off the wall so we can take it with us if and when we ever leave because I love it and now they only make these ugly plastic ones that sit on the counter and you pull the cup out from the top and I don't like a bunch of crap on my counters.

My son said, "Just find another one online." So I said, "I can't find one online, this is a vintage item!" He replied with, "The old lady was a bathroom hipster." I don't know exactly what that means, but I'm just hoping the old lady he was talking about wasn't me!


Actually, the old lady that owned this house before I did was pretty cool and very cautious and prone to pre-planning in the event of a natural disaster. For instance...the inside of this kitchen cabinet had this Earthquake preparedness plan taped to it. I don't know how old this is or how relevant to today's information, but I didn't have the heart to take it down because I'm sentimental like that. The old lady was not only a bathroom hipster, she was also one darned prepared old lady!