putting a little spring in my step

 This weather is C-R-A-Z-Y.

March 19th - technically still winter - in the Chicago 'burbs

and the trees and perennials are blooming!

We've had six straight days so far of temps in the low 80's.

 Normal high is the mid-40's.

 Hubby has been working hard outside on raking and cleaning up all the yucky winter

stuff (lots of dead leaves and sticks) out of the gardens and the lawn

while I've been putting little touches of spring inside...

I picked up this green glass bottle at TJ Maxx this weekend
for only $4.99. I can picture pussy willows sticking out
of it...ooh, will have to try and find some of those.

I'm not big on traditional Easter decorations, but I did incorporate

a few things in the middle of the kitchen table.

The ceramic blue and yellow egg in the upper right was a

recent find in a resale shop.

I recently bought some little succulents and repotted them in 

pretty little containers. This table is in the guest room/office ~
the room that used to be Phil's bedroom.

 "No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow."  ~Proverb

crockpot meal, shopping, and spring

Warning: This post is about three things that have nothing to do with each other!
My life just seems too busy and swirly and hectic sometimes
and it's hard to post often, much less on one subject.

Thus said ~ ever wonder what you're going to make for dinner?

I think most women face this dilemma. Doesn't matter if you work outside the home

(which I do, three days/week) or if you're busy at home (which I am).

I've read that slow cookers are making a comeback, and with good reason.
I have found that you can basically throw anything into the pot
and it turns out delicious....the only necessary prep work is chopping
 veggies and/or meat.

I decided to try a meat-based spaghetti sauce. I used a pound of ground
sirloin, one link of hot Italian sausage from the butcher, a 28 oz. can
of whole tomatoes, a little tomato paste, 1/4 c. white wine, and finely
chopped carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. I then added a lot of Italian
seasoning, freshly ground black pepper, and a bay leaf.
Set the slow cooker for 8 hours on low....

And this is what it looked like 8 hours later - yum! The house smelled so good

while this was cooking. And, if you're gone most of the day, how wonderful is it

to walk in the door and dinner is done?

We had it served over whole wheat spaghetti noodles and topped it with freshly grated

Parmesan cheese.

There's leftover sauce which I put in the freezer, but for a new meal

I will toss the sauce with penne pasta and chunks of mozzarella cheese

and bake in a 9x13" pan.

My husband actually had this past weekend off ~ he's not in the "normal" 9-5 office profession ~

so we spent the day on Saturday in one of our favorite browsing towns...Geneva, IL.

You may know that one of the decorative items I love is cloches.

Well, I was in a garden shop and I saw the world's tiniest cloches!

So cute...but what would you put under those two teeny ones?

They had some other miniature garden items, so I'm thinking they were for people

who make fairy gardens.

See the glass bottle with the heart-shaped bird stopper on top - at the left?

I found it at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Geneva

 ( http://geneva.patch.com/listings/st-vincent-de-paul-thrift-shop-deja-vu)

 for just $3. I hung some sterling silver bangles around the neck of the bottle.

One of my favorite stores in Geneva is Cocoon (http://www.cocoononline.com/). 

Couldn't resist this wooden bird necklace.

Mmm...besides cloches, I'm a bit obsessed with birds and nests, too. :-)

Spring has sprung in northern Illinois! Saw these beauties popping out of the ground

in Geneva. Are they Lily of the Valley?

I did a lot of spring cleaning on Sunday and started some spring decorating.

That will be another post for another day.

adding a cheerful touch with spring blooms

 Even though the calendar says March, it is still cold and snowy

here in northern IL.

I was at Trader Joes (don't you just love that store?) the other day

and couldn't resist a bouquet of lovely flowers for just $5.99.

Instead of just lumping them all-together in one big vase,

I decided to take the individual flowers 

and disperse the beauty throughout the house.

I love how this one simple red flower adds 

just the right touch to the white pitcher.

And, how this cluster of yellow flowers plays off the blue and white.

 

 Yellow and red...such a cheery combination.

Even the bathroom gets a fresh touch.

 "Where flowers bloom, so does hope." (Lady Bird Johnson)

this little light

Remember that little lamp in my kitchen - the one with the plain white shade?

I thought of adding some pom-pom fringe to the bottom of the shade

but then I realized that probably wouldn't look "right" in the kitchen.

So, while browsing the rick-rack options at the local Michael's store,

I found this flowered red trim and thought it was perfect.

Much better than plain, boring white!

Counter areas tend to be dark if you don't have any under-cabinet lighting ~

which I don't.

So, I added a little lamp to a corner to brighten things up a bit.

I think it looks pretty cute in the corner, even in the daytime.

I have three floating shelves above my fireplace instead of a mantle.

I play around with my decor and change things around often
and the shelves are no exception.

I saw the idea of using wine glasses as decorative items either in a magazine

or on Pinterest...can't remember which.

Anyway, I played around with the glasses and came up with this
arrangement for one of the shelves.

Not sure if I'm totally digging this look, but I'll live with it for now.

Here's what the three shelves look like...

How about candlelight?

I think it cozies up a room, especially in the winter.

This little table sits in my living room between the couch and chair.

a little rearranging in the master bedroom - working with what you have

Our master bedroom is small - 15x12.

Even more of a challenge is the fact that we have a king-sized bookcase headboard.

 Needless to say, space is at a premium.

As for a nightstand on my side of the bed, I once

used one of those cheap, round plywood tables and covered

it with a white tablecloth. Voila - instant nightstand.

Got tired of that and used a small, dark wooden table for awhile.

Hmm...now that I look at this table, it would be really cute

painted in a pretty color. Say, turquoise.

(Oh, and ignore the gross, old carpeting. This room obviously needs a total makeover!

Time and money.)

Now my nightstand consists of my grandma's marble table

with a vintage suitcase on top of it. The beautiful lamp (not the shade)

belonged to my grandma, too.

And then remember in my post from February 10
 http://comfyhouse.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-pretties.html
where I showed the vintage silver plated dish with the blue sea glass in it...
and said the dish needed something underneath it?
I placed this white cotton runner to soften the look. Much better, right?

And here's the proverbial elephant in the room - the king-sized bookcase headboard.

We bought this bedroom set from my aunt 27+ years ago when we first got married.

It is solid oak and very well made, but like I said, the pieces are way too large

for our small bedroom - and we're tired of it. I plan on contacting a furniture

resale shop soon and seeing if they'll buy it from me. 

Once I get all the furniture out of the bedroom, I can then paint the walls,

have that disgusting carpeting ripped out and hardwood floors put in,

and start buying new pieces of furniture.

I want to do something really cool and creative for a headboard ~

like an old iron gate or doors, or even moldings and paint on the wall

to make it look like a headboard. We'll see!

mushy stuff

 May your heart and home be filled with lots of

L O V E...

Not just today ~ Valentine's Day ~ but always.

xoxo 

 

new pretties

Green sea glass (eBay) in a vintage dish...

Vintage Valentines on display in a mirror...

Hand-painted in Mexico owl (resale shop)...

(Love the detail on the back of the owl!)

Tiny blue sea glass (eBay) in a silver and glass dish that belonged to my grandma...

(Silver bangles from Mexico)

I need to polish the silver ~ and perhaps put some kind of fabric underneath

to anchor it...maybe a vintage hanky.

Orange crackle glass little pitcher from the local antique mall...

Cheers up a gray, ugly view...

I'm normally not drawn to any kind of Asian decor, but I saw this clay

sculpture in a nearby antique shop and was intrigued by it.

The lady told me it's made by totally by hand - no tools of any kind.

The artist "pinches" the clay to make the tiny pieces and uses his/her

fingernail to carve the lines. Cool!

Lastly, a little heart-shaped box with English violets ~ also from the local

antique mall. I'm really drawn to these English violets lately...

What's new in your home? Are you drawn to vintage items like I am?

Unique art? Please share!