Fab Five Friday--Granny's things edition

If you have been following my blog for a while you may remember that just over a year ago my dear granny passed away after a very difficult battle with cancer.  For the past year my parents and my dad's sister have been goign through things, and last week I went to look through some of her things for keepsakes and to put in my home.  These are some of my favorites, which I will be putting up and using to remember my dear Granny!

1.  "Breath of Spring"

 the title for this beautiful painting that she painted in 1975!  I love it--the fact that she made it, the cheerful colors, the title; it's just a wonderful reminder of the amazing woman that she was.

2.  Her spice rack:

I've given it a bit of a makeover since I got it--it was a dark 70s looking wood and had little metal stars and an eagle at the top--not really my thing.  But I LOVE the glass jars and the brown-bordered labels.  And also the fact that she re-labeled some in her own writing.  They actually still had the spices in them when i got them--not quite sure how old those spices were! But I cleaned them out and scrubbed them really well and am now using them to hold all of my baking spices.

I've put both the painting and the spice rack on the side of my kitchen cabinet so I can enjoy them all the time!

3.  Her Coca-Cola wall hanging:

 You know how for every kid there is one thing that signifies your grandparent's house to you?  This was one of the main ones about Granny's farm house.  She had it hanging in her kitchen (where of course we spent a lot of our time) and I remember walking up and standing right beside it and looking at it so intently.  It also makes me think of potato skins chips & green tomato pickles...

4.  Favorite Recipes of America cookbook set:

 Granny was an amazing cook!  My very favorite thing that she would make was biscuits with milk gravy.  I could eat it over and over and she made it better than anyone in the world!  We spent so much time in that hot country kitchen with the yellow Formica topped table and her deep freezer in the back room.  I never saw her use a cookbook, but of course I had to have these!  It cracks me up that there is an entire volume dedicated to salads (of course most of those are the mayonnaise-based salads...)

 And you know I'll be trying some of these dessert recipes!

5.  This gorgeous apron:

 I honestly don't think she ever wore it--it is in really good shape, but the yellow reminds me of her kitchen table, and the whole thing looks kinda like her painting!  It is a very special addition to my apron collection :)

And I've got to throw in one more thing, even though it's only supposed to be a list of five:

6.  a Lady Lovely Locks tray!

I honestly don't remember using this, but I'm sure it was there for me to use as a kid--Lady Lovely Locks was one of my favorite dolls!  I had the Lady Lovely Locks & Maiden GoldenWaves Enchanted Island dolls as well as the Enchanted Island Fairytale bedroom & Sea Magic Salon  (and no, i didn't remember the names off the top of my head but found them on the AWESOME website Ghost of the Doll which identifies 80s & 90s girls toys).  I also had a nightgown :)  It's just such a sweet reminder of how Granny would always do special things for us and get us little treats and toys for when we came to visit. 

I'm so thankful that we kept so many of these things and that I can have them in my own house to remember her by!

Fab 5 Friday

Hello everyone!  I have to say that this has been a refreshing, and in many ways uplifting week for me.  I am going through major transitions: next week will be my final week at my office, and this past week I worked 2 partial days of training my replacement, but it was odd to be at the office and not be working my normal routine.  I have also been confused each and every day about which day of the week it is...gonna have to do something about that if I'm going to be staying home!

Once again, I'm going to join in with Emily to post about 5 things that made my life fabulous this week:

1.  My bedroom.

Last week I had the good but also weird experience of taking a week-long vacation with my parents & sister.  We all stayed in a one-room suite with 2 beds & a pull-out couch and it was...interesting.  I really did enjoy the time with the family, but I must say that it is a bit odd to be 26 years old and married with my own home, and to spend a week away from my husband sharing a room with my family.  There was snoring. There was sleep-talking (but thankfully not sleep-walking).  There were different sleep schedules and habits.  And there were lights on when it was time to sleep.  Though I had a queen-sized bed to myself during that week, I cannot tell you how relieved and relaxed I was to come home to my own bed (even though I found--to my horror--a spider in the bed when I turned down the sheets--how did that happen?  hubs had been sleeping in that bed all week!  eep! we immediately stripped the bed and washed all the covers) and my own husband and my own bulldog ;)  And the room was almost pitch-black, and we had our fan on so I couldn't hear any other noises.  Ahhh...bliss!  The only negative (other than the spider) is that a week in a room with maid service will show you how messy your house is!

2.  White Noise App for Ipod touch and Iphone.

so many settings--and it's free!  I chose "airplane" and this is what got me to sleep in the above mentioned situation.  Thank you Apple!

3.  My DVR

We are friends.  It was super nice and recorded all my favorite shows while I was in Florida!  Sadly, a few were deleted b/c I used over 99% of the memory.  My name is Sarah and I am a TV junkie.

4.  Club Bing

My bestest sent me a link for this while I was away.  You know how much I love websites where you can earn points for free stuff (like zoom panel & swag bucks).  This is another one!  Only instead of surveys or searching, you win points for playing computer games!!!!  eep!!  This may become a problem for me.  When I was in college, I had a severe addiction to addictinggames.com.  Whenever it was time to write a paper or study I would have to win "just one more game" and would inevitably end up awake until 3 am b/c I wasted so much time.  So I'm excited about this, and have been playing ;)

5.  Facebook/blogs

Since announcing my decision to leave my job I have also had the freedom to blog about whatever I am feeling without worrying about co-workers finding out that I was leaving before time.  In that, I have touched on some things that have been hard on me including recent posts on parenthood & guilt.  For me, writing has always been cathartic and I am the kind of person who will really put almost anything out there (the only off-limit subjects are honestly personal things b/tw me & hubs which I don't write about out of respect of his privacy).  In writing about these issues, I have not only been able to really evaluate my own feelings (some have since shifted...more on that another day) but have also been overwhelmed by encouragement and support from online friends.  And I do mean friends.  There are several people who I have reconnected with from my past, and several who I have never met in person, but it has meant the world to me.  Today alone I was brought to tears by some of the messages I have received.  So thank you.  For listening even when I over-share, for offering perspective & encouragement, and just for caring enough to read my thoughts and let me know that you understand, that you feel the same, that you will be praying for me, or just that you are here.

So those are the things that made my week fabulous--what about you?

Fab Five Friday, moments edition

This has been a wonderful and interesting week for me.  It's my first full week on my amended July schedule, meaning that I'm only working 2 days, and have started my water aerobics class.  It's kinda weird to get used to the changes, but I've had a lot of great moments!

1. Watching kiddie shows w/hubs.  We are a silly pair.  I have a strange aversion to all drama, horror, or suspense movies...(I like to watch happy things with lots of color...so we have sitcoms, reality trash TV, rom-coms, old musicals, or things that were intended to be watched by children.)  Well, in the past few weeks, hubs and I have been indulging our inner children.  It started with repeat viewings of Disney's Enchanted (which he would dance around to.  heehee), then a date to go see Toy Story 3 (and I sobbed and sobbed) then this week we have been watching my dvd of Sesame Street's 40 Years of Sunny Days--it has all our favorites from childhood and we sing along and it's perfect!!  I'm so happy that I married someone goofy like me :).

2.  I'm famous!  Not really, but I sure felt special on Monday... I recently did a book review of Sascha Rothchild's new-ish book,  How to Get Divorced by 30:My Misguided Attempt at a Starter Marriage.  I loved the book and you can read my review here, but even more important than my review, head down and read the comments...comment #2 is from Sascha Rothchild--the author!  So cool!!  It really made my day :)

3. Grocery shopping on a week day.  True, in my old schedule, I could officially have done this on Fridays, but I like to go shopping towards the beginning of a new week to stock up for our foodie needs.  To me, this is the ultimate luxury :).  I don't have to go to Walmart on Saturday or Sunday when the lines are a mile long, the aisles are crammed, and it makes me so cranky that I want to scream and cry.  It is fairly calm.  And my beloved Kroger is even better!  And they aren't out of rotissery chickens!  woohoo!  LOVE IT. 

4.  Old lady water aerobics.  I keep calling it that, and hope that I don't offend anyone by it!  But seriously, most of the women in my new water aerobics class are old enough to be my great-grandma!  I'm taking water aerobics on Tuesdays & Thursdays now and am excited to finally be doing regular exercise that my body doesn't rebel against!  My mother in law and a former co-worker are in the class as well.  It's fun and I get a workout and enjoy the company :).

5.  The sweetest blog post a friend can write.  My dear friend and coworker Holly wrote this post about me yesterday.  To me, a blog post about someone is like sending them a very special card, but loving them so much that you want to put it out there for the whole world to see.  It brought joy to my heart and tears to my eyes.  I love her dearly and am sad to no longer see her on a weekly basis at the office.  But her words of encouragement mean the world to me.  Thank you Holly--I love you!!

Well, that's my fab five for this week.  Head over to Emily's blog to see who joined in this little blog carnival for the week, and in the meantime, let me know what made your week fab!

Fab 5 Friday

Happy Friday to you, Happy Friday to you, Happy Fab Five F-RI-DAYYY, Happy Friday to you!!
Once again, joining Emily and the girls to list 5 things that made our lives fab this week!

I think this one is going to become a food edition...let's see!

1.  Bruster's Ice Cream

We have gone out on ice cream dates a couple of times in the past month, and Bruster's is awesome!  Peanut Buttter Puddles is officially my favorite flavor.  My favorite thing about it is that they give a free mini "pup-cone" to your dog if you bring them (even in the car)--it's a little scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with a dog biscuit!  (and if you have a human child under a certain height they get a free kids cone too--minus the dog biscuit of course ;) )   We went out last night for our anniversary and it was so fun!  It makes me feel like we're in a really small town b/c everyone hangs out eating ice cream and we met all kinds of people who wanted to pet our pup.  Also, we're always looking for places that we can go as a "family" (aka w/Butch) so it's a nice fun treat for all of us.

2.  Griff's deli

This is one of my favorite lunch places in town.  I am in LOVE with the T-bird panini--like a turkey club but with avacado instead of lettuce.  YUM!  It's kinda expensive, but the sandwiches are big enough for me to make it last for 2 meals.  Plus, it's super close to my office!

3. Strawberry shortcake

For TWD this week we made homemade shortcakes and they were amazing!  Perfect for my favorite summertime dessert--and all fresh this time, no processed cool whip or bisquick shortcakes.  Hubs even liked them!

3.  The Pioneer Woman's Homemade Chicken strips

(image from her site, not mine)

I've been doing more meal cooking this week and decided to branch out a bit and make some homemade chicken strips that I had recently bookmarked from The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  As all food bloggers know, Ree is the queen when it comes to good stick-to-your bones (and belly) food.  I figured that this would be plain enough for even hubs to eat ;).  They took a little longer to cook through than she says on the recipe, but they came out really good.  "Like real chicken strips" per hubs.  And he liked them!! woohoo!  

4.  Fresh cherries

I know most people are going crazy for strawberries right about now, but for eating out of hand, cherries are really my favorite.  I love it when you can get them for a fairly reasonable price!  Honestly, I usually prefer to just eat them plain than to bake with them, but since I got a cherry pitter last year I may branch out and try some real cherry desserts.

5.  Croissonic Bacon Sandwich

"Number 14 please with a bacon sandwich, tots, and a diet Dr. Pepper"

Not a good choice, but  I sure do love it!  My favorite was honestly the breakfast ciabatta sandwich but they got rid of it :(  *sigh*  I only allow myself to get this maybe once a month, but I sure do love it! And I eat it for lunch,  not breakfast.  (I know, I'm weird).  I had one this week and it was all I could have wished for!

Well, cleary I did not make great food choices this week, but there were things to celebrate so we enjoyed some of our favorite treats.  What about you?  What foodie treats will make your week fab?

Fab 5 Friday

Woohoo for Friday, and a super long holiday weekend!!  Once again I'm joining in with Emily and the girls to lsit 5 things that made my week fabulous.
1.  Swagbucks.com 

I have a widget for this at the bottom of my blog, nad like my beloved Zoompanel, this is another website where you can rack up points for free things!  Swagbucks is a search engine powered by google, so you can literally win points just by searching.  (that image I posted is the points I won just for typing in "swagbucks").  Now, I will admit that the search engine is not as well organized as Google, and I do still use Google a lot, but I don't mind visiting a few sites if it means I can get free stuff!  This week I cashed some of my points in for a $10 Barnes & Noble online gift card and was able to order 2 used books with it!  Swagbucks doesn't have the greatest selection of prizes, but there are a lot of gift cards to choose from, and also a section to donate to the Nashville flood relief.

2.  My Kitchenaid Mixer!

The two of us are best friends :).  It has gotten me through marathon batches of holiday baking, helped me turn out tons of cakes and cookies, and has not failed me once!  I really should name it--it is that important in my life.  Any name suggestions?  (and I do have it in red btw...love it!)

3.  Enchantment: the Life of Audrey Hepburn

After my less than enthusaistic feelings towards Julie Powell's Cleaving, this book is like a breath of fresh air!  I adore Audrey.  We even share the same birthday!  I've only made it a few chapters in, and I am already fascinated with her life.  As a young child she even risked her life to help Holland's resistance in World War I!  Great book, excellently written, I can't wait to read more this weekend!

4.  So You Think You Can Dance

My favorite summertime show is back!  Woohoo!  And I'm excited about how they are changing things up, and about Mary Murphy taking a back-seat role (her screaming was making me crazy!).  Last night's premeir was awesome!

5. Kashi Organic Promise Cinnamon Harvest

This is some good stuff!  I have it basically every day before work with bananas and strawberries or blueberries.  Nice and filling with a hint of sweetness, and you know that there it is made of good real ingredients :).

Well, that's it for me!  What made your week fabulous??

Fab five friday

I considered skipping this week due to a case of the grumps and some loopiness from pain meds, but then i got on here and all my other fab-five peeps are posting, and i didn't want to feel left out ;)  So, once again I am joining Emily to post 5 things that made life fabulous this week!

1.  My George:

I adore this George Foreman grill that we got for our wedding!  I use at at least once a week, generally more often.  It's got waffle plates, grilling plates, and a baking plate that basically works as a griddle and you can even do cookies on it (though i haven't attempted that...)  I use it a ton for making hot sandwiches and quesidillas, and occasionally eggs and breakfast sandwiches.  And, most importantly, the plates are removable and dishwasher safe--woohoo!

2.  My Ipod Touch

I'm not fancy enough for an iphone or ipad, but I adore my ipod touch!  From being able to check my email or google something in bed (we have a no tv or computer in the bedroom rule) to storing pictures, and most importantly, to holding tons of music to play while I'm at work, I love this little guy!  I literally cannot work without music.  I've tried and I can't concentrate and I get all agitated.  So I keep my ipod plugged into the work computer and play to my heart's content!

3.  Potato soup

After having one of my wisdom teeth pulled, I am currently living on this.  Filling and delicious, and I don't have to chew.  perfect :).  I did puree my potatoes this time so there are no lumps to chew through.

4.  Scentsy Mayflowers scent

I adore this spring scent--it smells like roses and makes me so happy!  My favorite so far, and it's pink!

5.  Lortab

Okay...maybe something is wrong with me since I sometimes list pharmaceuticals as my favorites...but  these are really helping after the wisdom tooth removal.  It actually went very smoothly and I think that having them pulled rather than cut out is definitely the way to go!  They were only able to pull one, so I have to do this 3 more times, but it was over in about 15 minutes.  The worse part was that due to my tiny mouth, it took him a while to even get to an angle where he could get a good hold of the tooth...and then the crunching sound as it detached.  *shudder*  Oh well, they drugged me up and now I'm resting for a few days. (oh yeah, i've managed to have a cfs flare up at the same time with swollen lymph nodes and fever and all, so that is no fun either)

What made your week fabulous?

Fab 5 Friday!

Yay for Friday once again!  I'm joining Emily and the gang to post a list of five things that made our week fabulous, here goes!

1.  the Beater Blade for my Kitchenaid Mixer!

 I have been lusting after these ever since I discovered them...if you bake much you know how annoying it can be to have to stop your mixer to scrape down the sides...and that hump in the bottom of the KA bowls drives me crazy!  Well, weep no more my friend!  The Beater Blade is here!  It scrapes down the sides of my bowl as I mix so there is no more stopping or unmixed bits at the bottom.  I am in love. :)  Thanks to my super-sweet mother in law for a birthday giftcertificate that paid for this baby! 

2.  My Bears. 

So I told you that I have been knitting up a storm lately, and this is one of my projects.  I have made 4 little brown bears in the past 2 weeks.  I found the free pattern at Hobby Lobby and decided it would be cute for my sister in law who is pregnant with twins. I made 2 bears before I came to a conclusion about size and whether or not to do a lining (i did line them, and was excited to use old t-shirt scraps that I had saved in my hoarding-ness), and then I had to learn how to knit w/more than one color (super easy).  The bears in the picture are the final result, and knit with the first initials of each of the twins.  My sis loved them too :)  I'm also excited about this new world of stuffed toys--i'm gonna use up my yarn making little toys!

3.  My new bag

(butch was interested...)

My super fun bloggy friend Danae (aka: The Busty Baker) made this bag for a recent giveaway, and I won it!  I have been using it all week for emergency grocery trips and to carry my knitting projects.  I adore the little cupcake!  Thanks so much Danae!

4.  It's Complicated

One of the few movies that hubs and I have gone to see in the theaters (we're cheap...) we bought it on blueray once it came out a last week.  LOVE this!  It is so funny and sweet at the same time...and I want to BE Meryl Streep's character (minus the divorce...)  I adore her bakery and her house and the way she dresses...I swear I must be older than 26...

5.  Longhorn Steakhouse

Hubs and I are routine kind of people, I will not lie. We keep trying to go to a new restaurant but we can never seem to stray from our favorite!  It is the one place that we are NEVER disappointed...and we always get the same thing: hubs gets the Renegade steak with garlic mashed potatoes and cinnamon apples; I get the Longhorn salmon (which is so much better than Red Lobster's) with rice pilaf and a baked sweet potato.  The bread is delicious and we both save half our meal and have it the next day!  It's a great little routine and I love it. 

What made your week fabulous?

Fab Five Friday

Yep, it's that time again, to join Emily and list five things that made our lives fabulous this week!

1.  Knitting.  I have recently gone on a knitting kick again and am working on a very special project that I'm super excited about!  I will post it once it is gifted as I don't want to ruin any surprises.  I've spent my evenings knitting and watching my shows and really relishing both the freedom to do that and the fact that I am accomplishing something in my leisure time.  

I know, it looks gross but it is wonderful!

2.  "Mexican mush"  I've mentioned this before, but one of my very favorite things about going to eat at a Mexican resturant is mixing up the beans, rice, queso, sour cream, and guacamole and eating it as a dip with chips.  It  brings joy to my heart!  Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner with some of my former Bible study girls and I got to pick the resturant in honor of my birthday (next Tuesday)--so of course I chose my favorite Mexican resturant, Peppers.  The night was perfect with great food and fellowship, and I got to eat my leftover mush for lunch today.  yum!

 

3.  Zoom panel   This is another thing that I mentioned a while back, but I love this market research panel!  I signed up with it in college and take several online surveys each week, and then I win points to cash in towards awesome things!  Of course, being the reading whore that I am, I ALWAYS use my points for books (cooking or "regular").  I got one of my prizes in this week (shipping is free) and was super excited to get Julie Powell's new book Cleaving, which I had been wanting to read while I"m on my memoir kick but didn't want to pay for in hardback.  Now I'm quickly accumulating more points and cannot decide between getting Baked or Pioneer Woman's cookbook...(please way in with feedback if you have either one...)  Also this week I got a new product to sample and report back on--and it was something that I was going to have to buy otherwise--score!!  If any of you are interested in joining this, send me your email address to sarahw5484@gmail.com and I will send you a referral link--it's a great way to feed your "shopping" habits for free! (and they have tons of non-book stuff too: kitchen gadgets, electronics, dvds, you name it!)

4.  Bloggy friends :)  In the past few weeks I have really found joy in the blogging community.  I truly feel that so many of you are great friends--even those of you who I've never met!  I love how I can communicate and grow closer to people that I know in "real life" but may not get to see very often, and I love finding new friends all over who share interests and encouragement.  It makes me feel so special to know that some people who I have never met care about what is going on in my life.  Hugs to you all!

5.  Twitter.  So I caved.  I signed up this week and love it! (even though the stupid facebook apps are not working for me to link my accounts...)  Another fun way to keep in touch!  I'm @sarahedmundson1 if you want to follow me :)

What made your life fabulous this week?

Fab 5 Friday

Hello again!  It's that time of the week where I join with Emily and the girls in listing 5 things that made life fabulous this week!

1.  Kroger. 

LOVE IT!  I've been a walmart kind of girl most of my life but lately have been converting to Kroger.  It can be more expensive for some things, but the customer service is so worth it!!  In the past few weeks I have been specifically blown away when I actually had someone help me unload my cart into my trunk (and i had a HUGE bag of mulch so that was so helpful), and today--after scouring the whole town for a container to package a cupcake order in, I asked if they would sell me one of their cupcake holders and they did for just over a dollar!  Now other bakeries may do this too...but they were so friendly and helpful.  It made my day :)  I also LOVE that they give either 4 cents off or gas points for every reusable bag that you bring in to use with your groceries instead of using plastic bags.  They don't even have to be kroger brand!  I highly recommend them.

2.  My Scentsy pay card.  (sorry, not going to take a picture of that).  I have mentioned before how much I love the Scentsy products that I sell, but this is an awesome thing about being a consultant with them.  When I've done other direct sales stuff you just purchase the products at a discounted rate--you don't actually get "paid" but with Scentsy, if a customer gives me a credit or debit card info I can put their order in with their information, saving myself the whole pay, then get reimbursed process.  Then once a month the company loads your commissions onto a pay card which you can use as a debit card or transfer the funds directly to your bank account.  Well last night this got me out of trouble!  I had run to Kroger to pick up some pecans for a pie, and not until I was in the checkout line did I realize that I had left my credit card sitting by the couch where I had just paid my vehicle registration.  Thankfully, I had my pay card with me and it had recently been loaded w/last month's commissions--woohoo!

3.  Good deals on fancy baking tools. 

Okay, this isn't exactly a tangible thing, but recently I got some items that I had really wanted at a great price!  I have really been wanting a marble slab for working with pastry.  A few weeks ago I went to one of my favorite consignment stores and found this piece of marble for $8.50!!!  and even better, I had a credit on my account for some things that I sold, so I paid nothing!  Also, I was wanting a french rolling pin but had not been able to find one in town.  I had gotten one of those $10 gift cards from Kohl's and went in on my lunch break yesterday and saw this one for just $15.00, so I would only have to pay $5.  I didn't realize that the Food Network brand stuff was also on sale, so I ended up getting it for 64 cents!  Woohoo!  I used them last night to make some pies and felt very fancy : )

4.  Cream Honey

I discovered this stuff a few years ago at TJMaxx and fell in love.  So good.  So creamy.  Mild and sweet and wonderful :)  I love it on my sourdough bread, and recently used it on my TWD biscuits.  The only thing is that TJ Maxx is not a place that carries a regular inventory of things, so I just stock up whenever I see it in the store.  Thankfully they have kept a fairly regular supply.  If you like honey, I definitely recommend it!

5.  Glee!

I love this show and am so glad that it's back!  It's the perfect thing for a musical-loving girl like me :)  I'm hoping to get season 1 for my birthday in a few weeks (hint hint hubs)

What made your week fabulous?

Friday Favories...Jewelry!

So this week I'm skipping out on our "fab five" group b/c I wanted to dedicate a whole post to my most recent project...

a frame to display my jewelry!

I actually made this over 6 months ago, but just over the weekend finally sorted my jewelry and attached some hardware so I could actually hang it up.  This fun little project cost me less than $10 to make--I found the fun vintage frame at one of my favorite consignment shops, bought a roll of screen from Lowes (which I will use the rest to repair my screen door!) and attached it to the back of the frame w/my staple gun!  To hang the necklaces and such I bought a little bag of earring hooks from a craft store and stuck those through the back of the screen. 

Those of you who know me well may be surprised to hear that this is something I like so much...I am a very plain-jane kind of girl.  The only "accessories" I wear regularly are my wedding rings and hubs' grandmother's ring and a pair of earrings.  But ever since I was a little girl I have loved jewelry.  When my mom would get catalogs in the mail I would get out my scissors and cut out the pictures of rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets and keep them in a little box...I just love all things sparkly and feminine and vintage!  

But I just don't wear much of it.  That is why this project is so wonderful!  Instead of letting everything get all jumbled together in a jewelry box, I can neatly organize it and also have it on display.  And I still get to enjoy it even if I don't wear it. 

I do want to show you some of my favorite pieces, mostly things that came from my grandmothers:

I absolutely adore those tiny little rose earrings!  They are hand panted on ivory--my great-grandmother got them while in Alaska.  A few of the other earrings on here are also ivory but these are my favorite.  I actually never wear them but I think they're just gorgeous.  

I love the little horn-player pin too.  This was from my granny.  I don't think it is a real pearl, but I love how the little face is painted on.  The hat is made of some kind of fur...not really sure what.

And the tiny red and blue hearts towards the right are turquoise that my mom gave to me.  I think they are so sweet. : )

The tiny gold balls in the center of this picture were the first piece of jewelry that my Pappy ever gave to my Granny, and when I got my ears pierced she passed them on to me. Just simple and precious!

I think this love of jewelry definitely runs in my family.  My maternal grandmother had an enormous collection of...well...enormous clip on earrings!  lol.  They were so big and extravagant that she used them instead of ornaments to decorate her Christmas tree!  We still have most of those as well and I'll have to add some of them to my little display here.  : )

I just love this new display!  I smile everytime I walk by it : )  Do you have a favorite piece of jewelry??

Fab 5 Friday

Once again, joining Emily and the girls to post about 5 things that made our life fabulous this week!

1.  My coin counting bank!  Okay, I'm a nerd but I get serious joy putting all our change into this little bank and having it keep a total for me!  We're like the couple in Up, dropping in the coins to save up for a vacation.  (we hope to go back to Maine one day)  We already have a little over $50!  ; )

2.  Barnes & Noble.  You know I love to read (oh how I love it!).  This week has been a bit too rainy to enjoy reading at the park, so instead I have cuddled up in their big comfy chairs with my book and had blissful relaxation on my lunch break : )

3.  Speaking of my book:  Get Happy: the Life of Judy Garland  which I just found out (when i googled the title to find an image) is going to be made into a movie with Anne Hathaway!!!  I love the tragic Hollywood story and I really love learning about this time.  It has been a very interesting read so far.

4.  My swing.  I really  want that to say "my hammock" b/c everybody else is posting about their hammocks, but alas, I do not have one.  Though I cannot recline, the swing is quite lovely for reading outside with my bulldog, or swinging with my sweetheart.  Hubs got it for me for my birthday a few years ago and came home early from work so it would be ready when I got home : )

 kitty likes it too

5.  Reeses Eggs.  Yes, I know Easter is over, but these things have been calling to me from my kitchen counter ever since!  I love the peanut butter chocolate combo, I love how much more peanut butter these have...I LOVE THEM!

What made your life fabulous this week?