Winner!

I attended this block party the other day,

signed up to win a gift certificate here

and guess what?

I won!!!

I have $100 to spend at their store!

How fun is that?

Palace shadows

Stairwell at the US Consulate, (Palazzo Canevaro) Florence, Italy

The photo is a bit blurry, but I wanted to show off the consulate...

the place I was fortunate enough to stay while in Italy.

Hey Harriet's shadow shots

New fave

I stumbled across a great site...

thought I'd share some favorites

Refreshing

Canard Inc.

Temperatures in the 90's again today...

this sounds fantastic:

White wine

fresh fruit

jalepeno

cilantro

and club soda

When bloggers meet

Monday night, Carla & Suzanne arrived in the high desert.

It is always fun to meet people you've been virtually "talking to" for months. In this case, I met both of them when Mark & I drove to Eastern Washington in March for Suzanne's Sweet on Spring nursery sale. But it's always fun to see people in your own hometown....show it off a bit.

Tuesday morning we headed to Bend for a shopping trip. We were gone for eleven hours. First stop Pomegranate, a charming antique/home decor store.

Then we headed downtown for hours of shopping and lunch.

Finally, we hit the Mill Quarter Design District.

Pillow inspiration for Carla at a home dec store

Eye candy for Suzanne at Evergreen Plantscapes....

we stumbled across this shop as we were headed to the car-

an excellent finale!

They're leaving this morning for their 7 hour drive home.

~~~~~~

Finally, a shout out to my sister, Cherise

Happy Birthday!

41 looks good on you!

Going up!

The ramada is starting to take shape....

Trux got tired of his supervising job

Not so boring

Years ago, I painted a closet door in our old kitchen with black chalkboard paint.

Photo credit-Philip Clayton-Thompson

I loved having a giant chalkboard to write on...reminders, to do lists, love notes to my husband....it was great! I liked the black, but I like the idea of color choices even better.  There are endless uses for this paint...and it isn't limited to vertical surfaces.  Vases, clay pots, napkin rings, table tops, frames...let your imagination soar.

Chalkboard paint from Hudson Paint.  

Not just basic black...they have over 30 colors available. 

Cool!

This...I like

Love the shape of the chairs and the table legs.  The height of the back of the chairs....perfect for this tall girl.  Not crazy about wicker, but I'd love something similar for the (soon-to-be) flagstone patio out back.

These beauties were found here

image from Atik website

In the shadows

"People's dreams are made out of what they do all day. The same way a dog that runs after rabbits will dream of rabbits. It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around."

~Barbara Kingsolver

Hey Harriet's shadow shots

Vertical Gardening

I found this photo while reading a design article. 

The nifty wall pockets are found here.

Can't seem to get enough of the vertical gardens.  I must figure out a way to incorporate some for our new deck...