CHANEL No 5

I was about 16 when my Dad brought home a bottle of Chanel No 5 for me and said, "Every young lady should have a bottle of Chanel No 5". I wore it everyday to high school and still have the bottle. You can see the stains on the label but it still smells special and brings back those memories. I saw recently a bathroom renovation in House Beautiful (Aug 2009) where the designer cut out a stencil of a bottle of Chanel and sprayed on Frosted Glass by Rust Oleum on the shower door! What a great idea...........

DECATUR BOOK FESTIVAL

We decided to drive over to the Decatur Book Festival this afternoon. It covered several blocks of downtown Decatur.

No book festival would be complete without books! This cute little girl had just bought a book, sat down on the curb and started to read!

And you couldn't have a festival without Funnel cakes!

As a child I remember my mother taking me and my brother to the Decatur Public Library. I remember parts of the interior and walls and walls filled with books. Our special treat after we picked out our books would be to play on the giant magnolia trees out front.
They are just as I remembered them! The branches were huge and reaching down to the ground just waiting for a little boy or girl to climb on them. Brings back great memories.

Downtown Decatur Courthouse.

We stopped at SIAM restaurant for some Thai food.

We saw several authors, one was on the Children's Stage singing a book and next to him was an artist painting pictures that are in the book. All of the kids in the audience were singing along and looking at their books.

Can't go to a festival without getting some Kettle Corn.

This dinosaur was the main character of the festival.

These little girls were reading their new books in front of the main stage where a concert was going on behind them. I think this is my favorite photo!

What a great way to watch a concert..........on your grandfather's shoulders.

.......or sliding down the bannister.......

or laying on your tummy! It was a great festival. Look for it next Labor Day weekend. It is worth the drive to Decatur.

LAZY SUNDAY MORNING

Dunkin Donuts + coffee + the paper = one lazy morning!

TIFFANY & CO

Walls of "Tiffany Blue" need a black and white photo of the Tiffany & Co building in New York. I decided to print a few 8 x 10 prints of photos I took in New York, put them in black frames from Target and hang them in my newly painted laundry room. Tiffany & Co is located on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street and opened at this location in 1940. The facade is limestone, marble and polished granite and has a nine foot statue of Atlas holding the famous four foot wide clock on his shoulders. This clock was originally located at it's Broadway location in 1853. It was the first air conditioned building in New York City.

The middle photo is "Patience" the lion who guards the New York Public Library. He sits on the left and "Fortitude" his companion, sits on the right. While we were in NYC, we toured the library. They were restoring much of the exterior including "Fortitude". The black and white photo on the right was taken at the top of Rockefeller Center called "Top of the Rock". I was looking north toward Central Park. You can see how vast the park is along with the Upper West Side. Click on the photos to see a larger version.

SPINACH SALAD FOR DINNER

I found this salad on a website (Daisy Cottage) the other day and thought I'd try it tonight. When I arrived home from work, my son had already marinated the chicken. We added spinach, gorgonzola cheese, pine nuts and poppy seed dressing. It was delicious, quick and easy, and so good for you. You'll have to try it!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Well it's getting that time of year again! The days are getting shorter, the breezes are picking up and there is a nip in the air. Time for COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Time to pull out the chip and dip, stadium seats, car magnets and flags. Go UGA, Tech and Auburn! (mostly, UGA)

Laundry Room Redo

Cleaning out, touching up, refreshing, repainting...........our laundry room. You can see the drab beige that has been there for 13 years. I wanted a fresh new color to perk up the laundry room. Something to make me feel happy to be in there, if that is possible! I still plan to change the vinyl floor and add a few more black and white prints from our trip to NYC.

Here is the finished room. It seems so much brighter and happier. I added black laundry baskets and three brown baskets, Audrey Hepburn and a fresh coat of Tiffany Blue paint. It makes me happy!

WEEKEND PHOTOS

Watch out for the WHITE MARKED TUSSOCK MOTH CATERPILLAR because it will sting you and make your hand swell like a jellyfish sting! I know, because I was stung while trimming my crepe myrtle. They have little fine hairs projecting from the little white tufts on their back. I don't see a stinger, so I guess the venom comes from the fine hairs. Believe me, IT HURTS!

Later, this little guy landed on a marigold on my deck. Love the patterns of his wings!
Here are a few photos of my son's cats. I'm usually not a cat person, but they are very cute!

BARBIE'S PROGNOSIS

Well it seems that my dear Barbie needs a new head of hair! It's no wonder since I trimmed it many, many times myself! I also dyed it, curled it, and restyled it.....so I'm not really surprised. She also needs a little touch up to her lips, eyebrow and eyelashes. I will post an "after" photo when she returns from her spa vacation.

IKEBANA

Thanks to Suzanne for hosting Vintage Thingies Thursday over at Coloradolady blog. Check out her website and all of the interesting things others have posted. My vintage item this week is an Ikebana vase that belonged to my mother-in-law and is from the early 60's. My mother-in-law lived in Hawaii for several years while her husband was stationed at Wheeler Air Force Base. She loved the flowers of Hawaii and started taking Ikebana flower arranging classes. Ikebana means "living beauty" in Japanese. The vase is made of two pieces and below you can see the base.

The round disk like piece fits on top of the base. There is a hole in the middle for the flowers to go through.

The two pieces fit like so..........I think it is such an elegant vase. Several years ago when I was cleaning out her house so she could move to an assisted care facility, I found a cabinet full of vases and flower arranging materials. She told me that when she and her family were leaving Hawaii in 1962, they were aboard the ship and she heard her named called. She looked down and saw her "MammaSan" (a native Hawaiian) their cook/housekeeper. MammaSan ran aboard to give her this beautiful vase as a reminder of her days in Hawaii.

As a tribute to her, I made an arrangement using flowers I bought from Publix, some branches off of my corkscrew willow and a (plastic) anthurium. I remember she always had fresh flowers on her kitchen table. I think she would be glad to know I'm using her vase and I love the story behind it.