Roller Coaster Realty

Roller Coaster - say what? (hat tip to Ohio Players - I'm a 70's kid, what can I say?)

They say you only get hurt on a roller coaster if you jump off. I'm just enjoying the ride since at least this adds some excitement to our empty nest lives. Smile. Here's the latest on the house. Last night after 2 days of - offer / counter offer / response to counter offer we accepted the buyers offer. We went to bed excited and nervous that we had just agreed to be out in 30 days. We have no place to go but planned to look at a place with tons of character at 10 a.m. this morning. Got to work early this morning and received an email from our realtor explaining that the buyers, who hammered us for a great deal, talked over night and got cold feet. They are canceling.

Hands up everyone? Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Make It Your Own

Sunday morning is for muffins, well at least today it is. Do you have a Trader Joe's store near you? I admit to loving TJ's. No, they don't have everything but the scale of the store and the products they carry make shopping decisions manageable. Okay - enough of a plug for TJ's - back to muffins, right?
This handy little mix Triple Berry Bran Muffin mix is a delight and I've found with this mix you have the opportunity to safely and successfully add some delicious ingredients. It already includes dried cranberries, raspberries and another berry that escapes me right now - 'doh! This week I had some organic Santa Rosa plum from a local farm. I took one plum and diced it and then folded it in just before filling the muffin tin. Talk about moist muffins - talk about delicious goodness - this is a great way to add even more good stuff into your diet. I did this a few weeks back with apricots when they were in abundance. Fabulous. Again, this couldn't be simpler and the effect is a muffin you can be proud to serve the family or bring to the office to share with your work peeps, too.
P.S. This is one of those rare mixes that actually makes a full 1 dozen muffins.
Be well.

Downsize.2!

I really hesitate to call it downsizing because we really have yet to actually downsize our homes in terms of square footage. We did attempt a downsize when we moved here in November of 2009 but we got a really good deal and really just downsized our payment but not the home or lot size. That being said we are ready for our next move where we will go smaller on both the payment and the footprint this time (we'll try anyway - good deals are everywhere!).

Hubby and I have taken a long hard look at our financial situation and although it is not too bad, it could and should be better. We are not really prepared for a worst case scenario like a job loss. Are you? We have recently been introduced to the smart guidance of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and both hubby and I are in alignment on having an emergency fund and eliminating our debt. Now please know Dave does not start by telling people to sell their homes. Ha! In our case we just realized that we have more house than we need and if we did reduce that we would have a whole lot more money to apply to other debt and to save for retirement. We figure that with good health we have about 15 more years to work - that's it. Also, we want to start traveling more when we have vacation time and we are a little cash strapped for any major trips.

That brings me to this: Tada! Our house is on the market. Yes, it is all cleaned up and model-home pretty, right down to the glass bowl of fresh lemons on the kitchen table. :-) It seems we are living in some level of suspended animation so that we are ready, at the ring of the phone, to make a quick exit and allow home buyers (complete strangers) to come trudging through our home with their RE Agent. God, I hate this part!

Blushing Blouse - Finis!

My dressed up and more romantic take on the same peasant blouse pattern I used for the vintage gingham - peasant top is finally finished. I blogged about this blouse back in May and never thought it would take me this long to complete. I live a full life - what can I say? Ha ha! I do love that one pattern produced two lovely tops with completely different looks. Now that's value! Adding to that value, the two fabrics I used were dirt cheap. The green and white jumbo gingham check was thrifted and the beautiful blush crepe was red-tagged at Joanne's - a steal. Will I be packing this little gem for my September Las Vegas trip - you betcha!

How are you stretching your fashion budget during this recession/ near depression?

Windsong and White Shoulders

Today's momentary passion is a memory - a memory my nose remembers best. Windsong perfume, by Prince Matchebelli and White Shoulders, by Evyan of New York city, are two signature fragrances worn by my late mother, Caroline. When a girl of 19 loses her mother she has but her memories to carry her a lifetime. It's amazing how the mind, body and senses work together to ensure we do not forget those who go before us. I had not thought about these fragrances in a long time but something in this hot summer day clicked and there I was digging around the WWW doing a little research. When I happened upon an image of the very regal "crown" bottle of Windsong there was surprise and instant recall of this bottle on a dresser top from my childhood. It might even be my grandmother's dresser top. Of course most folks my age remember that ...Windsong stays on your mind. Commercial from the early 70's drilled that into us. :-)

The fact is although I have memories of both fragrances, White Shoulders is what I think of most when I think of mom in the summertime. Never overpowering, lightly floral with a fresh bathed crispness and a bit of sexy base notes. LOL! Readers should be warned I haven't a clue how to describe fragrances - it's hard enough to try to keep up with my wine snob friends and their descriptions. Others in bloggy-land are more experienced in the history of fragrances and I will hook you up here to a fabulous post by Amelia about this truly American perfume over at The Vintage Perfume Vault.

Created in 1940 this perfume is considered to be one of the most desired and successful of all American perfumes. It was war time and Americans wanted to spend their money on things made here at home. Hmmm - something sounds familiar.

I'm simply going to have to smell some White Shoulders fragrance today - somewhere. I will search out a Sephora if I have to; it's hard to explain, but I may even need to buy some White Shoulders today. If you think about how fashions come back in style it is not a stretch to imagine that the accompanying fragrances regain popularity as well especially when they remind of of better times.

P.S. The formatting of this post has been a battle today - for no apparent reason. Ug!

Evil Eye on the 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to all my bloggy friends! This is a big day here in the U.S.A. and one we love to celebrate outdoors with family or friends. Soon we will head over to a nearby friends yard for some BBQ ribs . I can smell them from here! Actually the day has been very low key but it's hard to party hearty on a Monday - tomorrow work beckons. Plus - it's so hot outside this weekend. Whew!

Yesterday Hubby, Lo and I ventured to the Alameda Point Antique Faire where I made a fun necklace purchase. There were rows and rows of fabulous things at this once-a-month affair; but even there by the water, with a clear view of San Francisco, the heat got us and we didn't stay long.

Almost at once my attention was caught by a stall with a great gob of jewelry - stones of every color catching the morning sun - run by an old mother in a pink straw hat and her adult son. Nothing was tagged with a price and so each thing that interested you was put before the Mama and she inspected it and offered you her price. The second necklace I put forth for "pricing" was this cute $15 glass bead fish necklace that just screamed summer to me. I was a bit hesitant when she surprised me by sliding in her little, "It's a Turkish evil eye necklace", comment. I swallowed hard. I mean who needs to invite trouble, right? Thankfully she jumped right back with, "It wards off evil from the wearer - keeps it at bay". I said, "Oh, great - of course. I'll take it for $13"! Sold.

So don't mess with me - I have Mama's Evil Eye necklace on this Independence Day. Ha!

Everything Is Coming Up Roses

Here are some pictures of my roses as they emerged from slumber this Spring. I meant to post them sooner but life got in the way. :-)

I shot them in morning light with just my handy iPhone 4 camera but apparently their beauty won't be denied. These roses came with the house a couple of years back when we moved in so I don't know their exact names. I also have a yellow rose that is very fragrant but was not performing on this particular morning.

I L O V E roses!