Buffalo Plaid Vintage

The hubby and I just returned from a 9 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera out of San Diego.  We sailed aboard the Carnival Spirit .  As many of you may know, Royal Caribbean recently pulled out of Mexico due to the violence that has been occurring throughout the region.  I thought I would do a four part series on our experiences in Mexico as we did not encounter any issues. Our first port of call was Ensenada Mexico. Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and is located only 78 miles south of San Diego.  Ensenada is well known as wine country and is regarded as the best in Mexico.  An excursion to wine country through Carnival would have cost us $39.95 per person for two wineries (which included a free bottle of wine).  We decided to venture out on our own. After talking to a few different cab drivers, we found one with a nice size van who would take all 6 of us to three different wineries for $15 each!  We loaded up the van and off we went.  It was a very scenic drive, but after 30 m

Ever since we moved into our home almost 7 years ago, I had always wanted a window seat.   There was this perfect little place in the living room to the left of the gas fireplace.  I had a chair sitting in front of the window that nobody ever sat in. During the Christmas season, we always had to move the chair to make room for the tree.  I wanted my window seat!  I was on a mission.  I started searching around the internet and found fireplaces/living room layouts similar to mine.  As I was looking, I realized I could have built-in bookcases to the right of the fireplace.  There were lots of inspiration pieces (this was last year, before pinterest).  I found a few and printed them out. We have a friend that does amazing woodworking projects, so we approached him with the project.  He took a look at the space and looked at the pictures I had given him and said, “I can make this, no problem.”  He took the measurements and left.  A week later, he showed us the drawings and gave u

Article submitted by Christina Johnson It helps to switch up your bedroom every so often. If you find yourself staring at the same thing every day, you can quickly become bored and uninspired. Not everybody can afford to do this with no budget in mind, however. If you want to change your room inexpensively, there are options at your disposal. 1. Paint the Walls If you live in a home that allows you to change the color of the walls, consider painting them something a little different. Paint is not too expensive, and with so much available on the market you are bound to find something that fits your tastes and needs. A new paint job can make a room feel new again, especially if the walls were white, and it can be done in a short amount of time. If you do not believe that you can paint it yourself, ask loved ones for help or hire professionals. 2. Change the Bedspread Sometimes, all it takes to make your bedroom feel entirely different is a new bedspread. If you have a room tha

Insanity DVD 2 :  Cardio Power & Resistance "Build lean muscle and upper-body definition with strength-training and power moves."  This DVD followed the same structure as the first one I reviewed (Plyometric Cardio Circuit).  There’s about ten minutes of warm-up and just when you think you can't go any further, there is ten minutes of stretching, yeah!  After stretching, you get twenty minutes of intense cardio with 30 second water breaks interspersed throughout.  It's a tough work-out.  You will be doing a lot of jumps and push-ups in this session.  I stuck it out just for you!  Keep those New Year's resolutions rolling - as Tony Horton would say, "do your best and forget the rest." Insanity DVD 3 :  Cardio Recovery "Shaun goes easier on you once a week so you're ready for the next round (33 minutes)"  My take:  The stretching feels amazing after doing cardio type exercises all week.  There are some squat sequences, but not too many

My new obsession is wearing scarves. It just makes a plain colored shirt really pop! I saw this great picture on my daughter's pinterest board and thought I would share. I usually go with #3, what's your favorite way to wear a scarf? Source: scarves.net via Kaitlyn on Pinterest For all the how-to's, please visit:  http://www.scarves.net/blog/12-ways-to-tie-a-scarf  No Scarf   Scarf - more polished look  Another day, another look with a scarf   Last One! 

I woke up to this lovely breakfast this morning!  So sweet and simple, made my day :)  He's definitely a keeper!

Stand next to a really large cruise ship – works every time!

When we finished the basement five years ago, we planned for a craft room .  I have two daughters and they were always into something crafty.   Over the last 3 years, the room saw a lot of activity when we were scrapbooking like crazy for high school graduations.   We are such messy scrap-bookers!   In time, the room started becoming a “dump” for just about everything.  I had enough – I wanted my craft room back! It took an entire weekend to clean it all up and get organized .   I asked hubby to put up a couple shelves above the crafting desk area for small items like jars and supplies.  These shelves were made of 2 x 8’s and cost less than $10.  I also found a small peg board in the clearance bin at Home Depot and snagged it for .79 cents - best find of the day!  It’s so nice to have an organized crafting area!  I love my little room….. Messy Before Photo’s (no shelves yet)! After Photo’s: 2 x 8 shelves that I painted white and awesome .79 peg board! We tried

This is part four of my metalsmithing/jewelry making class I have been taking.  I finally completed my hammer textured chic linked bracelet and I love it!  I ran it through the tumbler for 45 minutes to give it a nice shine.  What do you think?       Want to check out the entire series? Part 1:  A Ghostly Time At My New Jewelry Making Class Part 2:  Jewelry Making Adventures Part 2 Part 3:  It's A Bird, It's a Plane.....   

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