Tackle-It Tuesdays!!! #5

Guess what day it is??? That's right! Tackle-It-Tuesdays, hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom!


Whew! I'm pooped!

I had been procrastinating cleaning off and in the writing desk that resides in our bedroom for too long. I had thrown receipts, paperwork, newsletters, pens, pencils, etc...into the three drawers for it to swallow it up like it always does.
Well, last week I re-discovered a box that belonged to my great aunt that was full of her little display-ables.. and I had yet to put them somewhere! So on top of the writing desk they went...to sit for a week and clutter up our room.
Today-I tackled it, and good!

Clutter on top...













Clutter on top and inside! Whew! What a mess!














Closer look inside drawers...had to pull them out and set on the bed just to get into them!
Trivia: there were over 35 pens/pencils in those drawers!

















Purging and beginning to organize 'piles' or stuff for separating....
Trivia #2- I found an old cell phone in there from 2 years ago!












I finally moved the trash can closer to me so I could easily purge.... See how full trash can is?












Getting better! Still have to do something with all those chotchkies/chochtskies/chochkeys...
however you spell that word!



And finally....








Cleaned inside and out! I packed up all those 'things' and put them safely away.
Whew! I'm pooped!

Et-hEM...Attention Everyone!

I have just received my very first award!!!!! Look---->
Ain't she a beauty?? (beaming with pride)

Thank you Elizabeth, (over at Thoughts from an Evil Overlord) for this distinguished award! It is awarded to those who 'comment' around the blogging community. I feel so excited to be recognized because I do try hard to visit alot of new sites and comment to those friends, as well as visit my regular blogs, and say hi and comment something to them too!
I remember praying so hard someone would come to my blog and leave just a little, "Hi Beth Ann, it's Mom".... (haha Mom!)

So Thank You Elizabeth for making my week! Im sending you a cyber-hug!

Menu Plan Monday Aug 18th (I'm brand new)

I'm very excited to join in on the fun that Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie has each Monday. I have been menu planning all summer, and was so excited to hear people blog about this! (My husband is groaning right now...)
Hop on over to Laura's if you want to join in on the fun- or just go check it out and be impressed with all the new recipes you can browse through!

BTW- these are all Rachel Ray's 30 minute Express Lane Meals!

Monday: Leek-y Chicken and Couscous p.22

Tuesday: Three Vegetable Penne and Tarragon-Basil Pesto p. 36

Wednesday: Steak, Fried Onions and Potato Salad Bowl with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette p. 38

Thursday: Chicken and Sweet Corn and Potato Saute p. 72

Friday: Tuscan Calzones with "the works" p. 118
I have to give it up to Rose-Anne, who typed it all out and blogged about it!
Thank you Rose-Anne!

PS- to all of you who have done this before- how do you get your recipes on-line? What if there is no on-line version? Please give me some advice! I was hoping to find each one and link it- but cannot find any that were in this cookbook! :(
They are all great tasting!

Bringing home the clothes... part 2 of The Outlet Malls

Well- highly successful day shopping with family in tow.



It went something like this...

(7:00am) riing, rriinngg,, riinnggggg... ("Boink!"...alarm clock get snoozed)

Repeat this three more times.

3 hours later...I stumbled out of bed and proceeded to check on kids and wake up hubby.
By 12:30 we had showered, dressed, ate lunch (what happened to breakfast?) and on our way.
(Click on pics to enlarge)

From Palm Springs going WEST towards Cabazon, we pass the windmills.

Then we pass Morongo Casino and Bowling Center....

They have a TON of things to do here, and it is located practically right next door to the outlet mall!





pic courtesy of Morongo

And we are here!









Remember there are TWO outlet malls right next to each other!







This is what the coupon booklet looks like (remember to go to information office and show your AAA card) I got to use the coupons on top of the already discounted merchandise!


We did make it to Stride-Rite, which we scored at for Tierney! Cope only looked at shoes that had the "Z-Strap". (no shoe strings, only Velcro)









Cope wore his out the door. He would have slept in them too if I hadn't caught him.










Tierney's shoes...this is the most shoes she has ever owned!











Went in some cool stores!







Admired the beautiful landscaping!








Even mommy got some new diggs!








Here is our stash from the day....








All the kids' clothes...








Mommy's clothes... (YES! there is a dress in there!)











And these iron candlesticks were an awesome deal!
Originally $30.00 a piece
On Sale $19.99 a piece
I got them for $1.99 a piece!!!!
Of course my husband said loudly, "And what do you need those for?"
So I shot him my "Why are you even asking me this question?" glare and he just smiled and sat back down.


Whew! I'm exhausted!

Got an Outlet Mall near you? We have two!

Yes, it is true...for some reason they have placed 2 outlet malls right next to each other.
Now I'm not complaining, mind you; quite the opposite. I get very excited just thinking about 2 outlet malls right next to each other!
One is called The Cabazon Outlet Mall and the other is The Desert Hills Premium Outlet
a.....n......d....TODAY we are going to go shopping!!!

I am a little apprehensive about getting up early enough for it, and I seriously get butterflies and a sick feeling if I'm not dropped off at the door...forget being in the car circling like a hawk trying to find a parking space...ugh.
We need shoes, well made shoes (remember I have 7 year old twins) that will stand up to the constant dragging in sand underneath the swing, and crawling on cement somehow the sides of the shoe, and the many hard kicks of a plethora of playground balls... I don't know how they do it, but both of them go through shoes like crazy! I love cheap prices, but somethings in life I don't mind paying more for top quality. (like really good toilet paper, real mayonnaise, and shoes)
Then we'll travel over to the oldie but goodies, like Osh Kosh by Gosh, and Gymboree

And more than likely hit Coldwater Creek... LOVE that store! They have beautiful clothes and accessories for women...very feminine and wonderful quality.

I'll be sure to take pictures so I can come back and show you.. and if you come my way...it is a MUST! (If you have a AAA card, you can stop in the information office and pick up a free VIP coupon booklet) I'll be back soon! Later Tater!

Where do you hang your shoes from?

A few days ago, I wrote about our travels to Las Vegas and I showed you the "Shoe Fence"....
a place where people randomly take a pair of shoes with them, pull over and hang them on the fence. It used to be that people put just one shoe on the 'tree' but on the new fence, I see more pairs of shoes than a single one.
So I stumbled across the original Shoe Tree picture and wanted to show you!! Click to enlarge
Original Shoe Tree & New Shoe Fence

The Shoe Fence is on Hwy 62, between Vidal Junction and Hwy 177. Bring a shoe and be a part of history! Make sure you send me a picture of you there!

Vintage Thingies Thursdays #5

Welcome Back!

As I mentioned last Thursday, I would showcase the antique hutch, which is a part of a set with the dining room table and chairs.
My grandmother passed them down and they were the only set I remember her using.
She always kept table pads on (and a tablecloth) and I still use those pads.
In the hutch, were Snicker's bars, and every so often I would get one as a treat!
She also kept her good chinaware in there and there is a lined drawer for the silver.
(Click on any pic to enlarge)

I really love the smell of this hutch! It still smells good inside the cherry cabinets!
(note* my VTT clock from last week is sitting in top)

Here is a peek inside the lined silver drawer...

And inside the cupboards...

This table is cherry wood also, and has 2 leaf pieces.
(I took the table pads off so you could see how it looks)

Here are the original table pads. They are nearly falling apart- but I cover them with a tablecloth and just love how they have protected this table for years!

Here is the whole package...

Now head on over to Lisa at Confessions of an Apron Queen and see the others and their fabulous antiques! Thanks for stopping by!

Addicted to Antiques! (Las Vegas style)

WOW!!!

After celebrating the 40th wedding anniversary of my in-laws, I have rediscovered my passion for two things.... 1) time with 'the girls' and 2) antiquing!!!

Even though I lived in Las Vegas for close to 6 years, I was a new and busy teacher, getting married, getting my Masters, trying to become pregnant...blah, blah, blah... so that didn't leave alot of time for me to do what I love to do-antique shopping by myself.

The reason I say by myself is that when I finally get some time to do something special-like antique shopping-I want to be alone. No one to say, "Hey- look at this" or "Oh my gosh, you have to come see this" as they drag me further away from my current spot...or sigh because they are bored, or talk incessantly while I concentrate on looking and being absorbed into the moment...and I want to TAKE MY TIME. If I want to spend 5 hours in one store, going over the same things, then I can. No one to bother me or make me feel guilty, or ruin my special day...

ANAL? Yes- I am a Virgo after all, and 40- so I have a right to be anal and enjoy my day alone!

However- this day I was pleasantly surprised because my sister-in-law and Mother-in-law wanted to come with me! And to make it even better- my dear hubby said he would take the twins and go visit a friend who had a pool! So no kids in the antique store! YIPPEE!!!

So off we went- and had a MARVELOUS TIME! It was so great to spend more time with them, and find treasures along the way. I had talked to them about aprons (Hi Lisa-the Apron Queen) and salt cellars (Hi Lisa T. from Open Salts) So we scoured the store for both!
I had already made out a list of 8 antique stores, so we would have plenty of places to choose from!
Ready? Here we go!
This doesn't look very big-but it is HUGE inside!!! Cubby room after cubby room....
(CLICK on any pic to enlarge)











How could you not go in an take a peek after seeing a door like this? (I'm hyperventilating just thinking about going in...)
















This needlepoint was sooo cute! I loved this little corner!












Ahhhhh....salt cellars! I recently has some shipped to me from my favorite aunt! They originally came from her mom (my grandmother) and she remembered her using them on the table!








This was one of my favorite rooms! The Tiki Room! I could have bought everything in here!












Ad guess what these are?.... YES! APRONS!!!!!
A whole rack full of them and there were some scattered throughout the store...I bought my daughter one to wear while helping me in the kitchen!















Here are the treasures that I bought...
5 cute little bowls @ $25.00, 1 blue and silver salt cellar @ $8.00, 1 apron for Tierney @ $5.00, 2 Matchbox cars for Cope @ $1.50

We spent over 4 hours in that one store and were exhausted when we came out!

So we went out to lunch! The perfect ending to the perfect day! Thank you Donna and Elaine!
(you know I'm going back every time I come visit, right?!)




Next time we will go right next door to the Red Rooster Antique Mall! Yippee!!! I cant wait!