Highlights of the Week

Sookie, our Siamese, enjoying the sunshine.

   I thought she looked glamorous.  Not the best photo with the window's bright sunlight but I still liked it.

Bella got a new munchy toy

Treated Emily to a Shamrock shake & a trip to our Fav used book store after her orthodontist appointment yesterday.

I got the mummy book for $1!

Some of my post Valentine haul from Target.  90% off is just too good to pass up,  n'est-ce pas?  The little cat & dog holding the hearts are salt & pepper shakers.  The cute mug says, I Love you a Latte. I bought a few of them for gifts.

I think I'll use the little pink canister for dog treats and I picked up some new human treats from World Market.  I'm obsessed with ginger candy and this kind is really good, gummi, lemony & not as strong. Try it!

 I thought the empty Valentine candy box looked cute on my bookshelf

Some cute Valentine cookie treats I got from a Ladies Luncheon, Thanks Edie. 

Daisy got a bath & trim.

I always order Moravian chicken pie when I dine at the Old Salem Tavern.  This day we lunched there for Alex's Bridal Shower.

It's been a cold week and nothing warms you up when your on the go like a good cup of coffee.

PS I'm ready for spring. Are you?

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It snowed!

a lot

We live in North Carolina and usually don't see very much snow.  If it does snow it usually doesn't stick.  And we rarely get any accumulation, so when it does actually snow it's a pretty BiG deal.

 When "Wintry Weather" is predicted in The South it's exciting and there is quite a feeling of expectation.  Schools & businesses close early, before any snow has even begun. Stores are jam packed with folks running in for bread & milk.  I absolutely LOVE how snow is such an event down here!

All day long I keep checking out the window looking for the snow.

Finally, I see the old house across the street roof and the road is covered with white stuff!



With excitement I go searching in the attic for our boots & gloves for a walk in the snow!

We bundle up and go outside. Everything is covered with white.

We'd go out




and play in it,





take photos,






catch snowflakes

on our tongue






and make little snowmen.

Emily made Olaf





from





FroZen!!!





But then






we'd get so cold 




we'd have to come in and warm up with some hot cocoa.

  It is really coming down out there, big huge fat amazing flakes. 

And the snow kept coming

It was so Lovely to sit by the window and watch the pretty snow fall for 2 days.

I had to take a photo of how high the snow was piled up in the Target parking lot 6 days later.  That was quite a storm!!!

The Liebster Blog Award

How cool is this?  My wonderful daughter nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award!  Thank you, Sarah!  Please, check out her Super Blog:  lostvestige.blogspot.com

What is a Liebster Award? 

It is said that the Liebster award was created to recognize and/or discover new bloggers and welcome them to the blogosphere.

 "Liebster" roughly translates to "Dearest" from German

11 Facts About myself:

I Love LOVE Luv Halloween

I dislike driving.

I carry a big pocketbook/purse and treat it like a totebag for everything I might need during the day.  I throw books, magazines, coupons, shoes and snacks in there + normal things like my wallet, lip gloss & cell phone.

I adore nail polish, own hundreds of bottles, but hardly ever wear it because it only lasts for a day.

My Favorite fragrance has been Dune by Dior for many years.  Before that it was Hope by Frances Denney but it is extremely hard to find now.  I also like Gucci Play, and Georgio shower gel and Chanel Number 5

I drink water, coffee, tea everyday ...  and the occasional alcoholic beverage

I have green eyes

I like to take walks, listen to birds, look at flowers

I keep all my movie ticket stubs and Love throwing out quotes in daily conversation

Bravo Network TV shows are my guilty pleasure and Watch What Happens: Live is my Fav talk show so...

3 things I'm obsessed with, lately: Lavender, moss, photos

The 11 Questions Asked of ME:

1) What are your hobbies?
Gardening, scrapbooking/journaling, thrifting, books, movies

2) What inspired you to start blogging?
My Beautiful daughter, Sarah!  She started her blog just one month ago and helped me format mine.  I've been journaling & scrapbooking for years and Love it, lately I've been combining the two and my Blog can beome and extension of that.

3) If you could move anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I think I could be happy just about anywhere in the world as long as I have my loved ones close.

4) What is something that always makes you happy?
Nothing is better then hanging out with my girls, pets &/or bffs. But so do tiny things like a leaf or flower, piece of candy.  I'm easily amused.

5) What would you do if you won the lottery?
Probably more of the same!  And a lot of traveling.  There's so many places I'd Love to see, take pictures of and eat some good food.  It be awesome to own a little antique store and/or a tea shop especially in an exotic locale.

6) What is something you could eat every day for the rest of your life?
Right away I'd say PIZZA, Love, LOVE, Luv it!

7) Do you prefer living in the city or country (or somewhere in between!) and why?
I've lived in the city and the country.  Both have their pluses and minuses.  The best part of living in the country is all that beautiful space to explore.  But exploring a cool city is also pretty fun.


8) What is your dream vacation?
Any vacation is my dream vacation!  Whether it's a trip to the beach, visiting family in another city or state or just a quick trip to the mountains, anytime spent with your Loved ones is a blessing.  Big vacations I'm hoping to go on someday are to NYC, San Francisco, Hogwarts, Italy and I'd LOVE to go back to London & Paris.


9) What is your favorite decade or era from the past?
Actually, when i think about it, I like a whole bunch - from the Victorian era through the 1920's, 30's & 40's.  I am Nostalgic.  Maybe I lived through them in a past life. I've been crazy about swing music since I was a small child and listened to it with my Grampy.  Love ragtime, old standards sung by Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald & Sinatra.  
      
10) What is something you like to collect?
I LOVE old things.  They are Lovely and more interesting because they have a past. Think about the kid that played with this doll or the lady that washed this dish and served food to her family in it. Beguiling, no? I collect the Jadite dishes my Aunties ate off of, the McCoy pottery & pyrex my mama had.  Anything Vintage, retro, you bet!  Especially if it is a good price.

11) What is your favorite time of year?
Fall is my Favorite time of year.  I Love the cooler weather, the color change in the leaves, upcoming holidays to look forward to including my birthday.

Here are my nominations for the Liebster Blog Award:

Emily - lovliesm
Emily - sassyinsequins
Kelly - smudgesandblips
Amanda - catscuddlingandcarrotcake
dogwithnobrain
Cristall  - mominbeauty
Lindsey  - troyandlindsey
Nicola & Debbie - thegirlsnextdoor
Rosie - rosieposiespuddingsandpies
Cari  - beautyfrenzies
Ashley - missbeautybabble
Frances  - fairegarden
medusasgarden
seedscatterer

My 11 Questions to You!
1.)  What are you listening to?
2.)  What is one of the best restaurants that you've been to, what did you eat and where is it located?
3.)  Name one or some of your favorite products and why
4.)  Favorite fragrances?
5.)  What is your special talent?
6.)  Pet Peeve(s)?
7.)  What are some of your guilty pleasures?
8.)  Name 3 things you are obsessed with.
9.)  What's your favorite thing you ever wore?
10.)  Describe the best vacation you've been on
11.)  What is your preferred way to get exercise?

Guidelines of The Liebster Award 

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you:

1. thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)

3. answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

4. Reveal 11 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)

6. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

7. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:

8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)
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Thanks to:  lorrainemariereguly.wordpress.com for the informative list above.  I learned a lot reading her blogs.  

Thanks again for nominating me Sarah at lostvestige  

as well as Abigail at Sweeter Gets the Journey for nominating Sarah!

I hope you enjoy reading my post and I look forward to reading everyone else's!
xo
Michelle

Hooray for Love

Happy Valentine's Day !
I thought it would be fun to share some photos of my Valentine decorating.

The display of collectibles on my kitchen cupboard changes through the holidays and seasons.

How cute is that?!  I Like to display things that make me happy:  Pink & green dishes, snowmen & candy.
I have an obsession with Lovely glass jars filled with interesting things, cloche & terrariums.  I have a whole board on Pinterest devoted to my Glass Obsession

Don't you Love the old vintage Godiva Valentine tin? I got it from my sweetheart soooo many years ago. Over the years I've amassed quite a collection of them and I've saved every candy heart & card!

That brown chunk is a hunk of Callebaut chocolate, a premium Belgian chocolate that is exquisite.  I got it from Whole Foods for about $5 to make hot cocoa with by grating it into a saucepan of milk over low heat. mmmm


Don't you Love the way the Valentine candies look in the displayed in the jars?

Hope you all had a fun Valentine's Day filled with Love & candy

Shelly's Diner ... Inspired by Pinterest

Did a little surfing on Pinterest late this morning.  It's a great distraction, there's always such cute stuff on there and looking at pretty pictures makes me happy.
So I came across some beautiful food photos and started feeling a little hungry.
{I'm always hungry!}
But the fridge is practically empty and I've grown weary of salad or salad making again.  So mostly I have salad stuff on hand, including my fav spring mix of baby lettuces that is getting a little old & gooey.

Then I come across a lovely photo of a gorgeous sandwich that is so perfect for me ...
1.) Because I'm not a fan of lunch meat.
2.) I've got an avocado that is just about at it's peak of ripeness
3.) I'm hungry for lunch and in dire need of comfort food in the form of grilled cheese.

My avocado & tomato grilled Muenster cheese sandwich on wheat.


Here's some other pins that have inspired this week's Menu:

Doesn't this shrimp salad with avocado, tomatoes and whatnot look wonderful?

I imagine eating this on a sunny warm summer evening, dining al fresco on my patio.  The photo is fantastic but leads back to a blog called debragreatrecipes that doesn't seem to be working right or something so no ingredients or recipe.  I'm new at this stuff.

 My dream version would look as yummy good, have citrus based dressing with some cut fresh herbs and a little balsamic.
I'll have to put shrimp on my Costco shopping list this week {Costco sells great frozen shrimp, tail off!!} and think warm thoughts for NC, although I think the weather forecast for my corner of NC calls a wintery mix of rainy snow.

Maybe I'll give this beautiful homemade mushroom soup a try this week,
 Homemade Mushroom Soup at ShopRuche.com

PS.  I call my kitchen, Shelly's Diner, because my name is Michelle and I own a darling little Dept. 56 Snow Village collectible light up called Shelly's Diner that is usually displayed in my kitchen and is always open for business. But that's another blog post!

                                        ~    It's been Lovely chatting with you, xo ♥