Small Changes in the Kitchen

I think I get bored easily. I've enjoyed seeing other "blog girls" who have turned various objects into impromtu blackboards. I decided that the side of my fridge was getting pretty icky.

The curtains covering the area under my sink were on sale at Walmart. I thought they'd be fun for a while.

YUM O!

We had a fabulous lunch Saturday at Felinni's in downtown Norfolk, VA. We split a Greek salad with grilled chicken on top and an order of focaccia. Greek salad is a particular favorite of mine. Their Greek salad is one of my top two favorites in the area.

Felinni's is my favorite kind of place...local, independent...not a chain! Felinni's does something very interesting with their sun-dried tomatoes that I really like. They reconstitute them in boiling water and then add them to salads. Try this, it is quite delicious.

For more information about Felinni's and to see a menu, visit them at

http://www.fellinisva.com

Living Room Refresh

I spruced up the living room during the past two months. Bruce painted the walls a lovely yellowy maize color, which has brightened up the living room immeasurably. Then we painted the very damaged hardwood floor “Barnwood;” a silvery grayish brown. We replaced our old flowered love seat, sofa, and large chair with just a sofa and a large chair with a matching ottoman. We needed a little extra seating, so I pulled some old chairs up from the basement and gave them a little spray painted refreshment. I think they look terrific with inexpensive cushions from Walmart and paired with my old singer sewing machine table.

Today's Thrifty Treasure

Manuela over at The Pleasures of Homemaking blog, which I adore, has a feature called "Thrifty Tresures."

http://thepleasuresofhomemaking.blogspot.com/ called "Today's Thrifty Treasures."

The picture above is one of my "thrifty treasures." My friend Nancy spotted this bottom of a Hoosier cabinet left out for the trash a few weeks ago. I wish I had taken a "before" pic, but I'm always so excited to finish the project that I forget.

We hauled it across the street and up on to my porch. The counter top was gone, you you looked directly into the drawers. It was paint splattered and had some "plastic wood" repairs. Two cans of white spray paint later, I think it looks pretty good!

My Starbucks Peeps

I advocated for a long time to get a Starbucks here in Portsmouth, VA. It took ten years. I actually check for the nearest Starbucks on Mapquest before I closed on my house here. Starbucks is more than just coffee. I once took a colleague from Red Cross to Starbucks for the first time. She had been blind since birth. She inhaled deeply and said, "This is what brown looks like, right?"

I love my Starbucks peeps. They provide wonderful service, as well as a strong sense of community. They started a book and magazine exchange. Last week, I was able to read the lastest issue of More magazine, one of my favorites...brand new. I've taken home many excellent novels and dropped off books I've finished.

McDonalds started serving iced coffee and lattes a few months ago. They marketed this new product to Starbucks patrons. Wrong demographic! Apparently McDonalds didn't do as well during the last quarter and experts believe is it because the upscale coffee drinks were a bust. I'm not surprised. They might have been cheaper, but they didn't taste as good and the ambiance wasn't the same.

It's not just about the coffee. It is the decor, the terrific music, the patrons, the service, the sense of community...the whole megillah, as they say in Yiddish, which has to do with the book of Esther, but I digress.

So I'm off for an iced vente three equal sugar free vanilla latte. It is my luxury and my treat for the day. It doesn't bother my blood sugar and is a good source of calcium. And my Starbucks peeps will be there.

Where I Work

When Bruce lost his job in March. I took two part-time jobs to tide us over. One of the jobs really captured my heart and I've stayed with it. Joseph is a dignified British attorney (or barrister, as he would say) and ordained minister whom I met six years ago at church. Although some people might term him a "senior citizen," they would be mistaken to label him with words used for people who lived in assisted living. He is a current black belt in Tae Kwan Do who drives a sexy sports car with the top down Joseph is writing a book about his amazing life My role is to help him put the words to paper, to edit, and to be a sounding board as he brings his remembrances to life on paper. We usually work in the decorating shop which he owns with his wife, Elaine. I hope you enjoy looking at these exquistie pictures of the shop. Please note Ma Maison's most successful salesperson, Dudley.

You Never Know Where Life Will Take You

Little did I know when I made my last post that I'd be gone for so long. Life is funny like that.

Bruce lost his job in March and it really knocked both of us flat. God has been good and one month later, he had a better job, with a bigger defense contractor (Lockheed Martin), doing something he enjoys tremendously, for a lot more money. Essentially, he gets to think deep thoughts, investigate various issues on the classified part of the military's Internet, and talk about cool stuff. Seriously. He even works for a command with a cool name, the "Navy Lessons Learned Office." Considering that most military commands have strange names like NAVSUBTRACENPAC, COMSUPAC, SIMA, MARMAC and other esoteric abbreviations, it is nice to work for a place that sounds just like what it is.

In any case, it is a lot better than the Carcass Tracking Unit in Hawaii which was the most unappealing military name I've ever encountered. I don't even want to know what they did there.

The odd thing is that it has taken us quite a bit of time to get back on track. This unexpected change was terribly disorienting and we feel as though we are just getting back to normal these many months later.