The new table, its finally here...

The boys are just as excited as I am. Harry wanted to play table tennis on it with a plastic ball and Thomas, well you will see what he uses it for......

We are looking forward to creating lots of wonderful memories at this table!

Its only a table....

Its amazing how sentimental and attached you can become to worldly possessions...I keep telling myself its just a table!

But its hard to see a table go that has so many wonderful memories around it....

Our first family Christmas, Birthday parties, Special romantic dinners, craft nights with the girls. Every little dent and scratch tells a story.

This was one of our first piece's of furniture purchased here in the states, something that said...we live here and not just on a vacation. The time has come to make room for bigger and better things. I have a new table on the way which I am so excited about.

Today I said good bye to my dining room table, I've passed it on too a good friend, just like so many of my friends have in the past with their furniture. Its gone to a good home!
The new table will seat 10 and is huge! We are looking forward to making many more wonderful memories around this table. Our next family Christmas, the boys next birthdays, dinner parties with friends and so many more.

As the table does not come with chairs, Dave and I have decided this Fall to search our favorite little antique stores for interesting and unique dining chairs to go with it. Its going to be fun!

The table arrives with in the next hour, I will post some pics when it gets here....I'm so excited!

House update...my new art print has arrived!

"Avranches" Not to sure who the artist is. Its a beautiful vintage travel poster from France. I just fell in love with it when I saw it. It really did become the color inspiration for my (not so formal) formal living spaces.

I love that it has an umbrella too, such a Seattle thing...lol! So its like a combination of my love of France and Seattle with Art Nouveau flare. I am getting it framed and will show you when its hanging on the wall....

Soft & delicate Hydrangeas....

One of my favorite things about the house when we found it was and still is the garden! The previous owners did such a beautiful job establishing a very fragrant and visually pretty garden for all 4 seasons. Besides the beautiful wisteria and jasmine that cover the pergola and the tulips and daffodils that bloom at the first sign of spring...

The Hydrangeas have to be one of my favorites! There are a total of 15 huge Hydrangea plants on the property, most of which are over 20yrs old and originated from the previous owners, grandparents property. They are just stunning and range in so many colors, from true white, periwinkle, purples all the way to magenta and teal!

August in my garden........


Not sure what the pale pink flower is? The ones on the right are roses that smell so sweet!


The garden along the back fence, Harry the little garden gnome!



Love this photo, not sure what it is though? Let me know if you have any idea =)


French lavender & huge hydrangeas



My lawn, just had to have a pic while it looks so good!
The Wisteria is blooming for the second time this season...
I love my garden!

The House & Garden Club

Starting from top left going clockwise, Samantha, Tonia, Sarah, Heather and Jill

Today was the most perfect summer day! The sun was out. A refreshing cool breeze blew and rustled the leaves on the wisteria and Jasmine vines. The kids played well....mostly =)
The girls had a fun time of talking House & Garden, drinking, eating and more talking!
It was a wonderful way to spend the morning.

This was our first get together for the Club and can not wait to do it again. Its such a fun group of friends and we all love to garden. It was great to chat about our own gardens, get tips, ask advise and share experiences.

Next time we will take a trip to a nursery, I can't wait!

Whats cookin' good lookin'?
Braised lamb shanks...mmm

With Dave working so much at the moment, when he is finally home for a meal I really want to make it special! So I try and cook something yummy (or suggest somewhere nice to go...lol!)

The other night I tried a new recipe for Dave, as I know how much he loves lamb shanks. I found some at Fred Meyer, lamb is not always easy to find here in the states. But when I do, I buy it all up! Rosemary braised lamb shanks on garlic mash potato, with a glass of red wine...yummy! The Lamb slow cooked for over 2hrs in a mix of red wine, garlic, pearl onions, cherry tomato's, chicken stock, rosemary (from our backyard) and seasoning, very tasty!

Red wine Rosemary Olive Oil Vine ripe Tomato's The aroma was amazing and the taste was so comforting...



I found this recipe on a really wonderful website http://www.allrecipes.com/ you can type in what you have and it will find a recipe that uses your ingredients. It can also compile shopping lists for you using all the ingredients you need. Its pretty addictive and very inspiring when it comes to trying new recipes. Can't wait to try something else from here.

I am excited to learn some new cooking techniques and even more excited to see the look on Dave's face when I cook....the way to a mans heart really is through his belly!

Home sweet Home

Our cute little inner city cottage back in Australia

The last few months our real estate focus has been on 100yr old house back in Newcastle Australia! Its been a drain of an investment, although the cutest little house ever, it really has not been that much of a success when it comes to an investment! We decided to put it on the market last April. 4mths and one terrible offer later we decided to take it off the market and lease it again....agh!

To be honest I am a little relieved as I LOVE this place, I'm so sentimental...lol!

It is now rented and we could not ask for a better tenant, one of the property managers at our real estate management office. It's a relief to have it rented again and to someone who is really going to take good care of it!

"So little to do and so much time! strike that, reverse it." - Willy Wonka

The house improvements are coming along....slowly but surely! Dave is still puzzled as to why I call it house "improvements" when we bought a house "move in ready" Laugh Out Loud!!!! Honey you married an Interior Decorator, what did you think was going to happen!

While Warren was here he helped so much with the house, hung my curtain rods in the front room, installed a light under the stairs, attached the lintel over the front door, hung pictures on the walls, helped attach the chalkboard to the kitchen wall....and the list goes on! Thanks Warren, You Rock!

The newly hung curtains in the front living/dinning space

It was so nice to have a second pair of hands around to help me on my DIY quest! There really are somethings that need two sets of hands...OK and someone who knows what they are doing helps too...lol!

Here are some updated pics of the house...



Found this great second hand lintel at second use, LOve that store!
I am going to paint it white to match the door trim, will update when its done...

Just had to add that this one of my cutie boy...toot toot!

Cooking with Grandma....

"Mix some love and hugs and a little bit of milk, that's how its made" - Harry talking of Grandma's tiramisu, what a sweetie! I think he was quoting what grandma had said previous but I didn't hear it, anyway still cute!

Grandma and Grandpa have been staying with us this week.

Harry has had a ball in the kitchen cooking with Grandma. If there is anyone that can teach him to cook its his Grandma as she cooks for a living!

Here are some of the delicious things they made....

Here they are grating chocolate for the tiramisu...yummo!

Harry holding up his little tiramisu cake with chocolate sprinkles

Fruit salad....yummy yummy!

Washing the freshly picked mint from the garden, so yummy on a fruit salad.

Bruschetta...mommies favorite! Great job with the oil Harry it was delicious!

My next home project...























I am a total DIY (with some help...thanks honey!) I love changing elements in my home to make it uniquely ours.
The next thing on my to do list is a kitchen blackboard...to fun!

Here is a pic of how it is going. So far I have repainted the top half of the wall and primed the bottom half for a chair rail and fresh coat of white paint. I have not decided yet if I will frame the blackboard or just hang it on the wall as is.
I will also rip off the kick board and install a 3in one like what I did in the front rooms.

House updates....paint, paint and more PAINT!

I have finally finished the painting/mill work in the formal living/dinning rooms...Yee Haw!
Thanks Dad and Dave for all your help with this. Its only taken 6mths to get there...lol! 5mths late, but I couldn't be happier! I am thrilled with the outcome, it's so bright and lively. The color in this area was a drab mauve/grey, looked fine during summer, but in winter it was such a depressing, unwelcoming color. In winter its the room that you want to be in as it gets the beautiful warm winter sun. Hmmm, ugly grey room but gets all the sun, not a good combination! My goal was to bring the sunshine in, making it a happy, warm and comfortable place you want to be all the time. We love it and can not wait to finish it off with the curtains and furniture.

Here is the before photo pic (with previous owners furniture)

Here is the after photo looking towards the other corner in the dinning room.
OK having some technical issues with loading photos, will update as soon as my tech support wakes up =) Thanks techie! Lets try that again here are the after photo's.....

A reflection of the dinning room's back wall through the huge mirror we hung in the dinning room opposite the windows.

so many things to do still...... like get the furniture placed and move out the painting tools! Stay posted for more updates to come!

My new favorite place to spend way to much money....

Today while the boys were in Soccer camp, Sarah and I got to have some more hang out time...whoo hoo! We both have a love for gardening and home improvements (someone else who is just as addicted to HGTV as I am...lol!) We spent the other day visiting nurseries like Furnies in Burien and Lowes in Tukwila. OK Lowes is hardware but they still have wonderful plants.
So today we wanted to head out again and visited a great little hole in the wall outdoor garden sculpture place, very cute frog there! We also stopped in at another wonderful little family run nursery, I think it was called Earlington's? Up in Renton, very friendly and helpful.

But my all time favorite place, where I could spend all day not to mention all my money was "Second Use" OMG I am in love! I was so tempted to ask if they had any positions available...lol! Second Use is a salvage center, mainly salvaged house parts from demo's. I have never seen so many wonderful old lights, fittings, knobs, doors, windows...etc mostly from old old houses.
I am so going back there with measurements and a list (should I be saying that, Dave if your reading I won't spend too much...lol!)
Anyway I will post here any treasures I find, hopefully something old that needs some restoring. I would love to find a new dinning table and chairs.
Check out their website link on the side of my blog, I can even shop there online, so dangerous!

What I find in my garden.....

It's finally starting to warm up outside, the sun is returning.....at LAST! (knock on wood)

And that means getting out in to the always changing garden. The boys are finally getting to play on their swing set and I am finally getting down and dirty with the flowers and the weeds!

Here are some of the things the boys and I came across last week in the garden....

And then there is this......Look at that cutie boy, whooo wooo.....lol!

More Pancakes Please!

Waking up to the smell of breakfast being cooked....what's the special occasion?

Dave makes the best Pancakes in the world and I am the lucky recipient...mmmm!

We all got short stacks covered with sticky maple syrup. Before Dave had even cooked mine, Thomas was already waving his plate at Dave saying "More Cancakes Please!" he is a pancake hoover! blink and they are gone. It was so special sitting down together as a family for breakfast, its been a while since we have done that at home, thanks for a yummy family breakfast daddy!