I pass by this house everyday on my morning run.  It’s always so refreshing to reach this house.  The rest of the neighborhood is a sea of brown adobe. This house marks the last mile of my run so instead of thinking about how tired I’m getting, I start thinking about how I would decorate this house.  I would definitely not touch the purple door.  How fun is that?  I admire the free spirit and boldness of the owner.  I wonder if there are window seats inside f the turrets and dormers?  Do they have wood floors?  What does the kitchen look like?  I start wondering and dreaming and before I know it I’m home and didn’t even obsess about the blister on my heal or the twinge in my knee or how hot it was.

     This clean, organized and stylish mudroom is in my brother’s new home.  I am loving those hooks.  Seeing this mudroom has inspired me to spruce up and organize the entrance from my garage (no mud room in my house).  The kids haven’t even been in school for a month and I feel like I am drowning in  a sea of papers.  If I can’t stop the flood of papers, mail, shoes, mittens, coats and what-nots everyone brings in with them, then maybe I can at least have a place for everything.

     I have been collecting antique Fiestaware for about ten years now.  I also have a pretty good  collection of modern Fiestaware that our family uses on a daily basis.  Love, love it.  Not only are the colors bright and fun to mix and match but they can survive my kids.  Last week one of my kids droped a bowl on my smooth cook top stove.  The bowl didn’t break or even chip.  The cook-top on the other hand shattered.  C’est la vie.  Here is another quick, easy, no-fail recipe I always get a lot of requests for.

Clam Dip 

3 cans minced clams

3 packages cream cheese

1/4 c milk

chips

Mix clams, cream cheese, and milk season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with chips.

     I thought this wall treatment would look good in a nursery or a little girl’s room. I would do this on an accent wall or maybe all the way around the room under chair rail molding.  All I did was paint my wall color then I made the flowers from wallpaper.  I purchased an outdated wallpaper book from Wallpaper Warehouse for $2.00.  I chose three different wallpapers for the petals and three different wallpapers for the stems and leaves.  I drew my pattern, cut them out, wet them and stuck them on the wall.  Very quick and easy. 

     The wallpaper store only had a book of nursery wallpaper for sale.  I keep going back hoping that they will have something more grownup and modern so I can try different designs.  It would be fun to do birds, branches, or something graphic (circles, squares) in a black damask or metallic grass cloth.  As soon as I get a new book I’ll post some more ideas.

    The kids are back in school.  The days are getting shorter.  September is more than half way over but, it still feels like summer. (It has been hot here.)   My flower gardens are still in bloom.  And darn it, I don’t want summer to end.  I like having the kids to myself all day.  I like working in the garden while they play in the sprinklers.  I like wearing flip flops.  Don’t get me wrong.  I do love the beauty of fall; the russets, ochres, and ambers that just seem to sparkle in the crisp air.  Fixing family favorites that are just not that palatable in summer (chili!).  Halloween!  Thanksgiving!  So, welcome fall, just don’t snow and make me put my flip flops away.