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"OUR Cottagy Cutie Poototie"....

Finally it's been 5 months!!!   We now have confirmation that one of the bids we put on came through and they accepted, we are awaiting to open escrow any minute. {edited to add WE ARE IN ESCROW and should close by CINCO de Mayo} We are so excited!!  So very excited!!  You might of remembered this post  when we had just announced our "House Hunting", it seems like ages ago. We will end up in that neighborhood where those kind of houses are, click on the hyperlink and you'll see Cottage Cute homes, where lots of pretty gardens exist and white picket fences. Yipee Kay Yay we have come home to our Wisteria Lane!

We did have to make some compromises on what we got in our house.  You can't always get "everything" you want but you can come darn close.  I think this home has so much potential and could really  be turned into a cute Beachy Cottage Home, something that you might find on the coast of  Nantucket. Here she is without further ado.....

 
Yep!! It's got a great rambling brick pathway up to a brick porch surrounded by shingles..SCORE!  I LOVE the shingles too, it reminds me of the houses by the beach.  One of my collegues said, "that would be the first thing she would get rid of".  "OH NO!...that is one of the things I adore about it!" My current neighbor across the street as a darling porch, which I have featured on my blog before and it has always been my inspiration in our search when looking at homes, I wanted a brick porch like hers if possible. 

 
Told you it was cute..she also has quite the green thumb...many times I sit on her black wrought iron bench and study her garden to see what I want to plant in mine.  I wanted a flower bed off the porch to plant a Cottage Garden with a hodge podge of favorite flowers,  a hydrangea or two, a little bit of bacopa as a ground cover, lavender and some day lilies.

 

So that thick hedge is got to go to make room for that cottage style garden.  I'd like to get rid of the black wrought iron balusters.  The heavenly bamboo to the right, not quite sure I'd keep that. 

 
As you can see it has a long driveway for RV parking and or a basketball court. You can remember this post, about what the deal breakers are.  We had to compromise on some aspects.  I'll post more on that in a later post. That awning has got to go, as well as those hedges by the back door.  I like the red geraniums.  And oh boy that GREEN, that will be gone lickety split.

  I've been taking pictures of homes {imagine that} of the color of paint I find myself attracted to right now. 
 
  {this image above is of my colleague's house in Charcoal which is called Pointed Rock by Dunn Edwards}

I am really digging this dark charcoal color.   What do you think?  

 
 
What about this Khaki color?

 

Not sure about a Pewter color? 
 

Maybe a sagey green?  So many choices.....we have our work cut out for us and up for a the challenge.  If everything goes as planned we should be in by Cinco De Mayo.....ready to start blending the Margaritas!!!! 

 

 

"MOVE THAT Antique!!!"

Last weekend some girlfriends and I spent our Sunday browsing the Rose Bowl Flea Market and lo and behold guess who was filming a new show there?  Ty Pennington.  Yep, the host of Extreme Makeover.  I forget what the new show is called...Cristina..can you help me out here?  Plus I need a better picture of Ty....one that doesn't show his sagging butt in his jeans....

 
As you can see he travels with quite an entourage...so I did not get the best picture of the HGTV star.

There are so many shows on many of the different networks, whether it is the Discovery or the History channel, it is not just HGTV that is leading the trend into the recycling/up-cycling, flea market movement, for example  Cash and Cari. I'm surprised Rachel Ashwell, the one who started it all, never got her own shown on one of the networks.  I'd definetely tune in...It is very hip these days to buy used or lovely worn items with a history.   It is not hard to take a gently used or even a beat up item and turn into something beautiful and useful for our home. Mr. Incredible is a big fan of Pawn Stars,  American Pickers and Auction Kings.  Have you seen any of those shows?  Years ago I only had to have new stuff.  My parents though always bought used furniture, I think the only thing my Mother bought new was a French Provincial Bedroom set from North Carolina.  She was very proud of it and I can remember her showing it off to the neighbors when she got it.  But the house I grew up in had hand me downs from family or my parents bought it at the local Antique store or Goodwill. My Dad only bought his clothes at the Goodwill {Choc, is the one he shopped at} not sure if they had any in other parts of the country.  So I guess you can say it's in my blood....

Last Sunday was a nice day and perfect for shopping at the Rose Bowl Flea Market to uncover treasures.  This flea market is open on the second Sunday of each month. It's been awhile since I've been and this time I brought along my sidekick...

 

Oh my and she did not leave empty handed.  I think she spent every penny she had.  Here are some images of things I found interesting..while browsing....

 
I really liked this zinc demilure table and old crusty lamp.....

 
Since we are moving {I don't know what I'll need and want to keep the packing to a minimum if necessary} I showed great restraint in purchasing beautiful things I found for the home...

 

I love this idea with this big urn as a table base....for a patio or courtyard.

 
 
I thought this German Glass Glitter box with a vintage picture on top was very pretty...

 
Old Seltzer bottles are highly collectible..right now.

 
You can't really see very well in this picture, but the golden oval frame has a very delicate piece of lace in it, which I wanted to take a picture so I can put it into my idea file.

 
Kate Spade.....bling, bling sandals...I was very tempted to pick these babies up.....I love sandles and who doesn't like a lil bling even if is on your feet!
This booth was a very popular one, it had a lot of Audrey Hepburn art and French Chic pieces. I did buy a linen ruffly pillow to {sort of} match the other one I have on my bed in the master bedroom. 

 
I also liked this bench but thought the tufted cushion looked a li'l odd on top of it.  I don't think it fit right.  But I like the idea of a khaki colored cushion for the dining room table instead of chairs.  Which by the way I was on the hunt for and the reason I wanted to scoure the Flea Market...

 
{these chairs are from Home and Harmony, she scored big time} "That's what I'm talkin' about Willis".  We did stop at a Yard Sale before hitting "the Bowl" and they had some very similiar and they were selling them for 2,4o0 for a set of 8, Yikes...way more than I was looking to spend...

 

 
Love this painted piece....turqouise is really popular right now....

 
My girlfriend and I thought this lamp was neat and Industrial chic is all the rage now too...especially with the younger crowd.

 
Now isn't this a riot?   Is it a Troll, is it a clown?  I don't know but it sure is ugly!!   Poor guy....but at least he's got friends...

 
His girlfriend is real cute, she has got some missing teeth and check out her pedicure.......I need to find out which salon she goes to.  All kidding aside we had a great day and we all brought home some treasures, which I'll share in my next post. 

It is raining like cats and dogs right now, what a beginning to the first day of spring.  Stay tuned to the next few posts..I've got some exciting news!!!!!

 

The Story of Us {con't}

Did I leave you hangin?  Well....let's see where did I leave you last?  Yes..this restlessness that was inside me.  When I got back to the Island of Kaua'i and started getting my classroom ready for the upcoming year I came to find out that I was pregnant.  Yep...and I really wanted a baby just wasn't sure if this was the right time.  I had such mixed emotions.  I called Troy back on the Mainland and told him the "news".  I didn't get a good read on his take on the whole matter.  I went on and started teaching, I was very excited about this growing life inside me but did not know what was going to happen with Troy in Calif and me in Hawai'i, how where we going to make this relationship work?  School started and that first week while teaching the Second Grade something dreadful happened............I miscarried our baby.  I was so heartbroken.  I immediately called Troy and told him what happened and said to him, "Your off the hook now".  He told me, "that he didn't want to be off the hook".  Wow!!   A few weeks later....he planned on coming for a visit.   He had a return ticket back to Calif and when I took him back to the airport to catch his flight while waiting in the parking lot, he said, "let's go home".  I was like "home?"..to the li'l Lime Sherbert house?", he said, Yep.....

 
We ended living on Kaua'i together for about a year. Troy spent his days fishing and crabbing.  He always had a cold glass of wine for me when I came home and dinner, usually Chef Salad.

 
It was a nice break for Troy living on the Island for a year.  We spent our weekends at friends barbecuing...or hanging out at the beach.

 
 
That year went by in a blink of an eye.  When June came and I closed up my classroom for the summer, we came back to California to visit family and friends.  It was then that we decided that we would try again to have a baby and low and behold...it didn't take much  time....BAM!!!  We were pregnant!

 
                 {here we are in Santa Barbara, pregnant with Madison}

We decided to move back to California because it is so expensive to live on Kaua'i and I wanted to be a stay at home Mom.  Troy could go back into the Ironworks and we would be able to live off of one income. 

We got married in March of 98 and then in May we had Madison.  It's amazing that it's been 13 years!!  We have never been happier and enjoy our life together, raising two daughters.  Happy Anniversary..Mr. Incredible, here's to another 13 years!

The Story of Us...

Today is OUR 13th Wedding Anniversary, Yes, Troy and Gabrielle {the High School Musical couple}.  I have known my husband since I was 19. We met at a party place we used to go to called the Fullerton Bowl.  It was a bowling alley but they had some back rooms you could rent and often our friends would have parties there. That is the first time I  layed eyes on my mysterious, lanky {Edward Cullenesque} blued eyed husband and he on his fiery, petite latina.  Yes we are opposites to the core if you look at us on the outside but not so much on the things that matter.  We dated a whole 9 months, we practically were living together, he rented a house with his brother and I was over there all the time. In the summer I walked to work from his house, at the time I worked at a park for the community and it was one block away.  In the short time we dated we did and went many places.  One memorable trip was to Mexico.  Just across the border to Tijuana.  I would make him take me into all kinds of "Raunchy Places".  I was very naive back then and was enthralled with the seedy side of life.  He was not at all comfortable and it was very strange that these women would come up to him and offer their "services" while it was obvious he already had his "hot Mexican Mamacita".  Anyways..he said, "let's get our of here".  We spend the day strolling down the main street shopping and eating the good food Mexico has to offer.  We stopped to take a picture on a burro, we thought it was so funny that the man called us "HoneyMooners", come get your picture with my Donkey who had painted on stripes to resemble a zebra.  It was a memorable trip to say the least. 

 
                        {edited to add Burro pic in Mexico} 

 I still have the silver bracelets that we bought on that trip. They are now in my jewelry box, all tarnished.  It was a short lived romance and we broke up within that year. I went on to live in San Diego, live by the beach and attend San Diego State University.   

Troy went on and got into the Ironworker trade and ended up marrying someone else.   

 

 Flash forward to 1996...I was living on Kaua'i and worked as an Elementary school teacher.....

 

but had come "back home" for the summer {I'd recently broke up with my boyfriend of 10 years}.  I was living in this cute Lime Sherbet House. I loved that it had this wrap around Lanai, I wanted a house like that forever, I still yearn for a small porch.  We used to eat our dinner out there by candlelight and you could hear the Luau music from the nearby hotel.

It needed some beautiful flowers and plants to bring it to life but at the time I did not feel like nesting at all.  I could see what it could of become..this cute little Island cottage. Even though we had a beautiful vegetable garden out behind the house.  Troy has always had a green thumb.  Yes..at one point he did come back to live with me in this cute little cottage but I'm getting ahead of myself in the story. 

Well I had been home for the summer of 1996 and visiting friends and we had gone to dinner at The Elephant Bar.  I was single and come to find out, Troy was newly single too.  He was in the process of getting a divorce.  I called him up from the pay phone {hey..cell phones were not the thing they are today}, he decided to meet me and the rest of my gang at a pool hall.  We reconnected that night.  The next day I went home to my Mother's Cottage in San Diego.  Now I wish I had a picture of that home..it is a true cottage in every sense of the word.  Troy called me every day at exactly the time he said he would.  He asked {pleaded} with me if I would postpone my trip back to Kaua'i.  So I did and I decided to fly out of Los Angeles instead of San Diego.  When I got to his house the night before my plane departed back to the islands we had a beautiful night together.  We drank wine and did spent the night in each other's arms for one last evening.  He drove me to the airport the next day...and their was this restlessness inside me the whole way flying home.  I could not pinpoint this feeling that was happening inside me.  In a short couple of months I would find out.

{to be continued}....
 

Monkey Bread

 

Ingredients: 

1  3/4 cup of sugar

2  sticks of butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

4 pkg of country style biscuits or 2 cans of Grands

Mix 2/3 cup of sugar, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1  1/2 cups of butter in pot and bring to a boil.  Keep warm.  Mix remaining sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnomon and sugar mix in bowl with cover.  Cut up bisquits rounds into quarters: shake half in cinnomon and sugar mix.  Place side by side in a buttered tube pan.  Pour 1/2 syrup mixture over the top.  Dot with butter.  You may add chopped nuts or raisins if you so desire.  Repeat with remaining bisquits and syrup.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, should be golden brown.  Turn onto plate immediately, do not cut.  Pinch off with fingers.

 The Birthday Girl Loves Monkey Bread....this year when she was chosen to be "student of the week" she asked to bring Monkey Bread.  When the Girls Scounts were putting together a recipe book and had to bring in the food to match...she brought in Monkey Bread!  Have you ever had it?   It is Yummy!!