Gotta BBQ with Summer weather like this...oh and what's a BBQ without a bruise?

Susan and Bryan (my two best friends, but then you already know that by now) invited me over for a barbecue tonight and perfect timing because the weather has finally decided to give us all a break! Phew! How gorgeous are these?

Oh. About the bruise part. Well...umm.......okay it went like this. When it came time for me to bring the skewered chickens to the BBQ outside where Susan was at, I stepped down the steps with my bare feet, long rod with skewered chickens in both hands.....the foot I stepped on the "wet" cement with slowly went out from under me..both my knees going inward...and my thighs slowly doing the splits. Okay, I know you all are picturing this and laughing. Heck I would! As Susan said afterwards, I went down gracefully. Lol! It sure didn't feel graceful BUT! Big BUT here...I SAVED THE CHICKENS! Yes! Despite my legs going North and South I held onto those skewered chickens like they were gold! Lol! See how much I respect food? And this is the doozy of a bruise I got. Oh and when did my legs turn into tree stumps? My legs look much better in person, I swear.

Oh! Look what Thea acquired this week. :) She didn't mean to acquire him though. Isn't that the way it always happens? She says she has to find a good home for him but I have a sneaking suspicion he already has found home. ;) I mean how can you deny this adorable cute thing!? He's a cross between a Jack Russell and a Shi-Tsu. I won't try to abbreviate that for you. You know like Labradoodles or Peekapoos. You can say it to yourself but don't say it out loud. People might think you're saying a bad word and poor little Buddy doesn't deserve to be called that.

She's already named him Buddy. Yep, I think Buddy is already home. She will kill me if she sees this post because she JUST CANNOT keep another dog.

Looks like Buddy's already having sweet dreams of his new home. I'm headed there myself. Night all!

Too Darn Hot to Post

The weather has me lazy....and trying to keep cool. Be back tomorrow!

Can you deny....

These adorable fuzzy feet? And to think I carried around a rabbit's foot when I was younger. I don't think I quite understood those were REAL! ;)

Such a sheltered childhood. :)

Another crazy week. I will be by very soon to visit you all!! Tomorrow's forecast....a record breaking 110 degrees (supposedly). I am VERY scared now.

Home Today

Well, the migraine monster got me again. Yesterday I ended up with a migraine and thought well, go to sleep and it should be gone today. Nope, not this morning...so I had to stay home and rest in bed all day. Sometimes when the weather changes drastically my migraines hit.

And I ate a lot of this today on my pretty new plates the Fairmaiden of Sea Cottage sent me. Let me tell you things taste so much better when they're on pretty plates. :) It was so refreshing given the 100 degree weather.

My little ones stuck right by me.

Check this out. A rare moment. Mocha NEVER lets anyone get this close to her. Lol! Poor Quincy has been trying to worm his way closer to Mocha with his big heart and today I think he accomplished something. :)

I have to thank God that I have air conditioning in my little abode. Tomorrow and Wednesday will be 103 and 104 degrees. I'M SCARED! :)

Watermelon Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Today I had my paranormal group meeting and the gals know I take the opportunity to make something fun! So, this is what I came up with. I used the cream cheese sugar cookie recipe I used at Christmas, along with a cream cheese frosting. So sinfully good. :)

CREAM CHEESE SUGAR COOKIES

1/3 c. butter
1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 c. all purpose flour
2/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and cream cheese. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add half of the flour, the 2/3 cup sugar, egg, baking powder, vanilla and almond extract; beat until combined. Beat or stir in remaining flour. Divide in half. Cover and chill for 1 or 2 hours or until firm. Heat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface roll 1 portion of the dough to 1/4" thickness. Using cookie cutters cut into desired shapes.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 8 to 10 minutes until edges are lightly browned and cookies are slightly puffy. Cool completely. Store tightly covered. Makes about 32 cookies.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Red food coloring
Green food coloring
Chocolate sprinkles

Directions:

With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness. Split frosting in half and put two drops of red food coloring in one and two drops of green in the other. I spread the pink over the entire cookie, then piped the green as the rind on the outside. Then sprinkle chocolate sprinkles for the seeds!

Perfect for a summer picnic, huh?

It was over 90 degrees today and, although these weren't real watermelons, they did just fine inside an air conditioned house. :) Besides, we had cantaloupe so that balanced out the cookies. Lol!

Christmas in July Giveaway!

Okay everyone, as promised here is my Christmas in July Giveaway. If you haven't already done so, swing on by Maggi's place. She's the lovely gal hosting this Christmas party!

My original party post is down below so feel free to check that out and feel the Christmas spirit!

Okay, here is the complete package. I have to tell you a funny story how I came upon these ornaments so early in the year. The gift shop downstairs in the building where I work had a few leftover Christmas stock out on a table (discounted, I might add) and the little sign said "Christmas in July!". How funny is that! I HAD to get them of course just for this blog party. :)

Isn't this Santa coat ornament too cute? It comes with it's own hanger!

And these mittens! How sweet are these?

You can never have enough present tags. :)

And Miss Emma is showing off the fun and whimsical pen you will get to write your Christmas list with!

There you have it gals! You have until July 31st!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas in July!

Welcome to Christmas in July brought to you by Just Add Glitter and Stir! I thought I would string this out the whole weekend and to give everyone a chance to enter my Christmas giveaway.

Wow, I can't tell you how nice it is to have Christmas more than once this year. :) Have you been naughty or nice? :)

Okay, well either way we'll all celebrate. First, let's take a relaxing sleigh ride home...

We're almost there. The streets are already bustling with holiday cheer!

Did you spot this beautiful wreath hanging in the town entrance?

Here we are. Home sweet home.

Oh, woops..we're still hanging ornaments. If you wouldn't mind can you help me finish hanging them?

Eggnog? Of course we have Eggnog! What's Christmas without Eggnog?

And we made some fresh baked cookies...

We've still got a few to finish...

Oh! If you want to finish wrapping a few presents, feel free....there's wrapping paper in the kitchen.

And may I suggest some cute and natural ideas for finishing up your wrapping?

The dining room is ready for dinner and guests...

Afterwards, feel free to relax in the living room...

Isn't the Christmas tree beautiful?

Until tomorrow...make yourself at home. :)

If you want more holiday cheer swing on by Just Add Glitter and Stir and you will see the list of participating blogs and you can blog hop your way through Christmas! :)

Stay tuned for the Giveaway later today!!

All pictures courtesy of Country Living (except for the Thomas Kinkade one and the vintage pin up one :) )

What do you do with a small flower pot that costs $1.25?

You put your sugar sticks in it! :)

Mocha, do you think you can do that on my back? I'll pay you with a can of cat food.

Oh and a quick reminder! I will be participating in Christmas in July brought to you by Just Add Glitter and Stir. I'll be having a Christmas giveaway so stay tuned on Saturday, July 25th!

Let's all sing like the birdies sing....and I've been tagged!

I think I promised all of you earlier this week that I would show you the rest of Thea's zoo. Lol! These were pictures taken from last Saturday. Thea lives about 50 minutes away from me in Kelso, Washington but I so don't mind taking the trip out to spend a day with good friends, food and get my animal fix!

Oh, first I wanna show off another hydrangea arrangement of mine. I love that the eggs match the blue in the hydrangeas!

Okay, this definitely looks like an odd picture. Kinda like the ferret is biting my nose but, in fact, he was in the middle of madly licking my nose. Lol! This is Puck the ferret. He is so fun to play with! I love getting him hyped up. Then he lives up to his name and starts playing puck with the toys on the floor. :)

Behold...the BIRD ROOM. And I'm not kidding when I say this. This room was specifically built for the larger birds. They even have a view of a beautiful water feature right outside the window. Wait a minute, I think these guys have it better than me! Especially when they get scrambled eggs and toast or pancake for breakfast, blueberries, oats, fresh mango or watermelon along with it. Yea, Spoiled with a capital "S". She treats her animals so well. Now on the far left is Geraldine (aka "The Queen"), the blue and gold in the back is Zoe (she loves me the best), the red in the front is Marley and the far right, the green parrot, is Paco.

This is Zoe. Whenever I enter the bird room she immediately comes down off her cage and sits on my feet. Thea says she has never let anyone else touch her (besides me and her) but Zoe goes crazy when I come over. I actually gave her my fingers last weekend (TRUST....or craziness) and she gently held them in her huge, scary, fierce looking beak and started.....regurgitating on them. LOL! If you all don't know much about birds, regurgitation is actually a form of bonding.

This little guy is Paco. He talks up a storm. He says "Hi Paco"....and when Thea starts singing the carpenters song "Close to you"....when the part comes up where she says stars....he bellows out "STARS!". He even vibrates his beautiful voice. Lol! Now, the BAD thing that he says is "Ahhh....Sh*t." He picked that up from the housekeeper whenever she came in to see the mess she had to clean in the bird room. Lol!

This is Marley. I'm starting to get close to him but I still need to build up some trust. He's a sweetheart and LOVES interacting with us. He doesn't stop saying "Hi." He should get a job as a greeter somewhere. Ha!

And last but not least...this is Lucky Lu Lu the sparrow. I want to post the story of Lu Lu separately once I find pictures when she was a few days old. Yes, moi, saved her from a busy city street (nest destroyed, siblings were stepped on). I took her and raised her from 3 days old getting up every 20 minutes to feed her. It's been a year now and Thea has graciously taken her in. Shhh...you're not supposed to house sparrows but seriously, we tried letting her go and she kept showing up on the doorstep (no kidding). Heck I would too as spoiled as these kids are!

Last but not least I have been BOOK TAGGED by Lola over at The Johnson Diaries. Lola and Nora are SUCH fun!! Of course Lola steals the show. Okay, this is what I'm supposed to do.

1. Collect the book that you have most handy

2. Turn to page 161

3. Find the 5th complete sentence

4. Cite the sentence on your blog

5. Pass it on to 5 other victims (Oops! bloggers)

Here goes....

"When I'm forty two, I'm quitting law and I'm going to have a little studio out behind the house."

Hmmm....not sure if you can guess what that's from. Okay, I'LL TELL! It's from a book called Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells. She was the author of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

Isn't that sentence kinda fitting? Let's see, I'm 42...and I work in law. WEIRD!

Well we're almost through the week gals! Hope you're making it your best. I feel some baking or cooking coming on for this weekend.

Oh yes! I have vowed to finish some craft projects I've started. Didn't I say that recently? Typical of me...still haven't gotten back to them. Lol!

Oh and let's all play along, shall we? If you leave a comment, feel free to play the book tag!

I'm a little "hormonal" tonight....

You know what I'm talking about girls. I'm going to my happy place to relax...and relax my hormones! :)

Hope you all had a great day!

Hydrangea

hy·dran·gea (hī drān′jə, -dran′-; -jē ə)
noun

any of a genus (Hydrangea) of shrubs or vines of the saxifrage family, with opposite leaves and large, showy clusters of white, blue, or pink flowers

And I love them. I cut these from Susan's garden. Something as simple as fresh flowers really do brighten your day. :)

A Special Gift from a Very Special Friend!

Oh I am so excited!! Why? Because I got a special present in the mail from a very special friend. :) Last week I came home to find a box on my front door. I rushed in and tore open the paper (sorry, I'm one of those that doesn't open things daintily, lol) and here is what I found inside. Just the SWEETEST GIFTS of all and from the Fairmaiden at Sea Cottage. She has the most quaintest sea cottage you have ever seen. She's also very romantic and her blog often features her sweet little feet. Go there, you'll see what I mean. :)

Isn't this apron A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E? I think I once said I probably wasn't going to collect aprons. I think I am changing my mind now! I have received two as presents so far and I love getting them and wearing them! Okay and it's the closest I can get to Donna Reed. LOL!

Making friends with my other special aprons...

And aren't these plates adorable?? So cheery and so summery!

And this sweet, sweet, white vase. It goes so well with my "farm-ish" theme. :) I waited until today to post this because I wanted to display fresh hydrangeas in it.

And princess Mocha saw what I got and insisted she model next to the beautiful vase and hydrangeas. She said she would add a touch of cute-ness. :)

Thank you ever so much, Fairmaiden. You have a heart of gold and a soul of an angel. You are the most "feminine" blogger I know. :) I hope one day we can meet for real! I am dying to see that cute little vintage trailer of yours. :)