Look What I Found!

Here's a picture of my kitchen this morning. There's something new in it... well, actually it's old!

So... out of all the amazing vintage finds at our antique mall, I picked out an old vintage metal step stool as a birthday gift!
I just love it and think it goes perfect in my cottage kitchen! I've been seeing and admiring them around blogland for awhile. I especially like that it is red! I didn't realize it until later, but it is missing the back part of the seat. I still really like it though and it's in great shape. 

 My husband said it reminds him of one he had growing up. I think it will come in quite handy to reach up to the top cupboards or to just sit on at the center island! 

My sweet daughters Jessica and Jaime. 

They also celebrated their birthdays this past week. Jessica is now 20 and Jaime turned 24! They are on their way to attend a wedding right now. Jessica is wearing
4 inch heels, that's why she is so tall next to Jaime!

I'm linking to Rednesday at It's A Very Cherry World!

Blessings,

Birthday Week !!!

This past week we celebrated four birthdays at our house!!! It has been a very crazy, but fun week! We started off on Sunday with my son Jimmy's 13th birthday! He wanted to have "Dirt Cups" instead of a cake! That was just fine with me since that would mean one less cake this week! However, I decided to make it in my trifle dish because I tripled the recipe!

If you've never made it, it's super easy and really good, too!

   DIRT CUPS

2 c. cold milk

1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding

8 oz. Cool Whip

16 oz. oreos, crushed (remove icing)

8 to 10 clear cup, goblets, etc.

Mix pudding into milk until well blended. Let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in Cool Whip and 1/2 crushed cookies. Place 1 teaspoon cookies into cup. Fill 3/4 full with pudding. Top with remaining cookies. Refrigerate one hour. Garnish with gummy worms, frogs, candy flowers, or chopped nuts.

 I can't believe my little boy is a teenager now! 

The very next day was my birthday! I got to pick out something from our local antique mall. I will share what I found tomorrow! 

Blessings,

Decorating for Fall with Yard Sale Finds!

I've had a really busy few weeks and have missed blogging, but I did manage to get out to some yard sales. I'm always happy to find fall decorations at yard sales during the fall season! These sweet little Pilgrims were only $4.00!

This cute stuffed turkey was just 75 cents!

Recently, I've found several vintage Scrabble games.
 The bird cage was a great find, too! Did I mention it was free?

I even found some fall flowers and leaves!

Pumpkin under glass .... 25 cents!

I hope everyone is enjoying this fall season! It is my most favorite season of all and I just love decorating for it! Actually, my fall decorations are kept out the longest amount of time, from the first of September through Thanksgiving! They'll be replaced with Christmas decorations the very next day! 

I'm linking to Show Of Your Cottage Monday at The House in the Roses

and Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage!

Blessings,

Day Trip

On our way to Apple Farm last week, we stopped in Solvang for a late breakfast. It is such a quaint and charming little town just north of Santa Barbara. It's actually like visiting Denmark, but you don't have to leave California!

.

There are lots of bakeries, restaurants and cute shops!

Whenever I visit Solvang, I always have to order Aebleskiver and Danish sausage! Aebleskiver is like a pancake only shaped into a ball. They are cooked in a special cast iron skillet. The most common way to serve them is topped with raspberry jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar! Yum! 

The next day we visited several little beach towns on the Central Coast. This is the quiet little town of Avila Beach. The pelican on the left was actually posing for me!

We stopped by the Avila Valley Barn, which was full of Fall's bounty! 

A little further up the coast is Morro Bay and the rock! 

  

This beach in San Simeon is home to the elephant seal preserve! This is their home base they return to after their 5,000 mile trip to the Aleutian Islands twice a year!

Blessings,