My Cozy Home

bed knobs, bookcases, and a brilliant new job

Bed knobs:

Sophie from Sophie Honeysuckle said that she wanted to see people's beds.  Everyone (including Sophie) have probably seen my bed before, but here it is again.

   

Not sure if you can tell, but the accents (the toile, the coverlet and shams) are brown, with the duck egg blue.  I really love the combination.

 

The phone is from Pottery Barn.  I thought it looked sort of French 1930's.  The bed is from Room and Board and is a four poster bed (these pictures don't really show that).   

                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Bookcases:

This is one of the bookcases in our living room.  The other bookcase is filled with my mystery stuff.  I started organizing my magazines in this bookcase because they were all over the place.  I tried to organize them in stacks, but all I got were a bunch of stacks - stacks on the floor, stacks on tables, or any surface that was handy.  Now that they are in the bookcase they are so much easier to find, and they look so much better.  Especially the Country Home magazines - love the the colors and patterns they use for the binding.  The rocking chair is one my grandma refinished.  She also made the needle point seat that is barely visible. 

 

The bottles and little stand are from a post office - the stand use to have stampers hanging from it.  I put individual flowers into the bottles sometimes.  The chalk dog is one I got with my mom in Buffalo on an antiquing excursion.  The colorful boxes hold greeting cards for every occasion.  It's very handy to have cards around - and I love the colors and organization of the boxes.  You can see the Country Home mags on the lower right - love all the colors.

Many of you have probably seen this picture too, but I thought I would include it since I showed the other bookcase.  The bookcases are on either side of a window in the LR and are mirror images of each other except that they are filled with completely different things.

Displayed are all of my mystery DVD's, some of my Nancy Drew books, mystery games, old typewriter, magnifying glasses, old flashlight, Maltese Falcon replica, 1930's picture of Basil Rathbone playing Sherlock Holmes, and of course my deerstalker hat. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Brilliant new job:

You all have been so great to me with your many positive comments regarding my job change.  I wanted to report back that I absolutely love my new job.  My team is so great, very top notch.  And my manager is wonderful.  The change has been so dramatic that I sometimes can't believe that I didn't do something about it sooner.  But, good or bad, we do get stuck in our routines, afraid of change because what if that change brings something worse.  I happily get up every day for work now, and no longer have the "Sunday blues".  So for anyone out there contemplating a job change, it just might be your best move yet.  For me, stress has now been replaced with excitement.  My commute is an hour less every day - that's approximately 240 hours a year of my life that I just got back.  No longer do I have to think about laying off members of my staff and all the many other unpleasant things I had to do every day at work. 

We just bought a new laptop for home so you will be seeing more of me.  Blogging in the basement wasn't fun - I always felt I was missing out on something upstairs, and as a result, wasn't posting as often or visiting you as often.  Now I can blog outside, in the kitchen, in the bedroom - where ever the mood strikes me.  Much more convenient.

Thank you all for the visits - best wishes to you!!

another wild night for allison....

     By now you all have probably guessed that I live a pretty wild life, what with the magazine reading, sitting in the back yard and staring at our pond, antiquing with my mom, reading mysteries on our front porch.  Yes, it's hard to keep up with the fast pace I set for myself and those around me.  "Wild" doesn't even begin to sum it all up.  Last night was just one more night in the fast lane for me.  It began with a rendezvous with my friend Jen at our local mystery bookstore, "Once Upon a Crime" so that we could pick up the new Janet Evanovich book "Lean Mean Thirteen" that came out this week.  Then it was dinner at Maggiano's - in addition to the great food it was almost non-stop laughter between Jen and I throughout the meal.  I nearly sprayed Diet coke out my mouth and nose at one point.  From there we went to a movie.  Can you guess what movie we went to?  I have provided a "clue". 

Perhaps a close up.

Yes, we went to the "Nancy Drew" movie that recently came out.  It was me, my friend Jen who is also in her 30's, and every Tween within a 20 mile radius.  Like I said, it's life in the fast lane for me.  Sitting to my right in the theater was a boy of approximately 10, who slurped his slurpy every couple of minutes - even when it was gone, still slurping, or he would hide inside his t-shirt during the "scary" scenes.  The girls behind us squealed and giggled - yes, we were right in our element and loved every second of it. 

Are we the only people our age at the movie without our kids?  Anyone, anyone?  I love Nancy Drew.  I grew up reading it with my mom.  It sparked my interest/obsession with mysteries, and that interest has never died out.  Some of my best childhood memories are of my mom and I reading Nancy Drew together (and Trixie Belden).  My mom is a lover of mysteries as well, and she passed on that love to me.  It's just one of the many things we have in common.  I hope that Evy loves them as much as I do - I can't wait to read them with her.  My childhood friend Jennijo gave me a Nancy Drew book when we graduated from college.  Inside the front cover is her wish for me.

So there you go, I never will quit loving mysteries, especially the ones that spark kindred memories of my childhood.  And, no matter my age, I always want to remember what it feels like to be a child (even if slurpy boy has to sit next to me while I'm doing it :o)   

Father's Day thoughts...

I should have posted this yesterday, but I was having such a nice time with Steven that I didn't want to pry myself away.  I'm fortunate to have the kind of husband who likes garden gnomes.  He enjoys old movies and music even more than I do.  He knows what I'm thinking and how I feel without me ever saying a word.  He loves all my quirks, my goofiness, my nostalgia.  He just gets me, and I get him.  He's a wonderful husband and father, and I'm grateful every day that we found each other.  We had a nice day yesterday.  We grilled and ate outside - such an excellent evening.  And when Evy went to bed, we sat outside talking and listening to the pond.  I lit candles, and had some floating in the pond too.

Steven, I'm so glad you're in my life - my husband, my friend, wonderful dad to Evy and Alex - I love you.

And you look good whether you're drinking a beer, or working for your beer :o)

backyard fun....

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement and excitement as I move on to a new adventure.  I really appreciate the support!  We had a great time on Saturday night hanging out in the back yard.  We made s'mores, looked at magazines, did the crossword, talked, stared at the fire.  It really was exactly what I needed. Here are a few pictures of our fun.  The fire really got going in our little stove, as you can see in one of the below pictures.

The wheelbarrow in the picture is one that Steve repainted in a glossy red and then stained the wooden handles....so we could then throw dirt and weeds into it.  Once he sets his mind to something, it just has to be done.  I'll admit, it's sweet looking wheelbarrow - even with dirt and weeds :o)

Me and my new "English Home" magazine.

The fire really gets going at times - it's mesmerizing.  Fortunately I don't feel compelled to touch it, that could be bad.  Mostly I just stare at it, eyes wide as saucers, mouth slightly gaping.  I don't know what it is about a fire that makes me just want to sit and look at it.

We have numerous rose bushes up on the hill that is above the stone retaining wall.  They have all started blooming and I think they are so pretty - just the perfect shade of pink.

Thanks again for all of the kind words - as always, you're such an inspiration.

one chapter ends, another begins....

     I've mentioned before that I have a very stressful job...one that has worn me down, caused burn out, mental fatigue, and all around frustration.  My cell phone is always at my side, whether in a movie, eating breakfast on a Saturday, or in my bed at night - it is always there so that I can be contacted day or night.  I decided that I needed to make a change, and so I did.  Friday was my last day with my former company.  Monday I begin with a new - one that will hopefully be much less stressful.  Right now as I type this, I'm in the basement, and my cell phone is in our bedroom two floors up - that's where it will stay all day.  Yesterday after work Steve and I went to a movie.  Instead of my cell phone being attached to my hip, on vibrate so that I will know if work is calling, it was on silent mode in my purse, on the floor.

And as for my day today, this is pretty much what is in store for me.   And yes, the pants I'm wearing are my pajamas.

We have some planting to do as well, which will be fun...just puttering about and enjoying ourselves.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend I won't even remember where my cell phone is :o)

I hope you all have a blissful weekend - without cell phones, without burdens, without worries, just bliss.  My best to all of you.

kitch' n' things....

I'm surrounded by sick people - trying to keep myself healthy, but when people are hacking, sneezing, wheezing, and generally oozing goo from all facial orifaces, it's a tough row to hoe in order to keep from succumbing to the same fate.  So, hoping my next post will boast of my iron-strong immune system, repelling all cold, virus, and bacterial germ entities in the vacinity.  Back off germs!!  Just back off!  I'm having none of it!  While I'm waiting for the germy incubation period to pass, I thought I would post a few more pictures of my kitchen.  So many people mentioned the island and the marble on top that I thought I would mention that we got it at Williams-Sonoma.  I looked to see if they still have it, but it doesn't appear as though they do.    Also, folks have asked about the paint in the kitchen, and I don't have a name for it, but it is a dark camel color with a slight bit of a mossy green in it, although, really it mostly looks camel-colored to me.  The below is the breakfast nook.

In the breakfast nook to the left is the cabinet from my granparent's farm - it is very old.  Here is a picture of what the cabinet looks like if you haven't seen older posts.  The below is the opposite view from the breakfast nook.

There's my sewing basket with the liner that my mom made me - love it.

One more.  Can you see the salt pig in the below picture on the right side on the counter?  It's next to the Kitchen Aid mixer.  I love the salt pig - its so great for cooking  - we use kosher or sea salt typically.

I hope you all had a great weekend and will have a nice week.  I appreciate your visits so much - it truly is a brightener each day to hear from you.  Thank you my friends!

bits, and bobs, and things....

I had to step onto the wooden trunk in the living room to get this aerial shot of the ironstone platter with vintage buttons.  Either that or I'm very tall - but it's one of those two possibilities.  I found the platter and buttons on a recent antiquing trip and thought it would be cute to put the buttons on the platter and add a few candles.  My mom and I used some of the buttons for our sewing projects.

The below picture may look familiar if you saw this post.  I swapped out the green bowl for a very old egg basket that I found when I was antiquing with my mom.  I have always liked old egg baskets and I especially loved this one and its simplicity.  The green bowl now houses cookie cutters in my display cabinet above the sink.

The below is in our master bathroom.  The little French bucket holds our lavender cleaning products and lavender linen spray.  The soap is Savon De Marseilles - I love the blockiness of these soaps.  The little flowered bag was made by a local woman in the Twin Cities.

I hope you are all having a safe and wonderful weekend my friends :o)  I'm about to make some coffee in our new pretty coffee maker...sometimes I just like to stare at it.