Air Plants

After years of seeing these strange creatures in expensive floral shops I decided to check them out using my best friend: Ebay. There are many vendors on Ebay selling Air Plants, and not knowing who any of them are I chose to go the least expensive route. 6 airplants for $9.99 + shipping and hit CB2 for clear glass votive holders that hang on the wall ($1.95ea.). Crate and Barrel here in Chicago sells air plants for $9.99 each on up, and Jason Home and Garden sells Air Plants starting at $12.99 each. So far so good.. Air Plants are virtually indestructible, they require no soil and only a weekly soaking in water for survival. The ways you can display an Air Plant are limitless.....

Design Wednesday

This may be the new gadget to have.. the IPAD

1/2 inch thin, 1.5 lbs, high quality, great angle vie

ws, 1HGzA4chip, 16GB memory, 32 or 64 gig storage, same multitouch screen as Iphone with a 10 hour battery... Looks like the price will run $699-$1000

Tasty Tuesday... chocolate covered peanut butter balls...

YUMMO.....

1 cup creamy peanutbutter

2 cup confectioners sugar

4 tbsp melted unsalted butter

1 package semi sweet chocolate chips

combine peanutbutter, sugar and butter in a bowl, I use my hands to get everything very well incorporated. Using a small ice cream scoop I make small peanutbutter balls. Place these on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Melt your chocolate chips. Dunk each peanutbutter ball into the chocolate and place back on parchment covered baking sheet. Refrigerate chocolate covered peanutbutter balls for approx 30 minutes to set the chocolate and enjoy!

Design Wednesday

Going forward I will dedicate Wednesdays to items I find that I think have great style or design..

During a holidays visit to the store Anthropologie , I ran across these terrific candles and candlesticks. The candles came in three styles, a dog, a rabbit and a horse. The candle and stick combo retailed for $30.00 each. By waiting until the week after christmas I was able to get them for $9.99 each. The hazard of waiting tho was the rabbit was no longer available.

The Adidas addiction

I'm afraid I'm addicted to Adidas Tennis shoes.. not just any Adidas tennis ahoes but the Stan Smith classic style Adidas tennis shoe that J Crew has labeled a mens fashion must have... so In November of 2009 I blogged that I had purchased my first pair.. the white / green classic of course.. well now 2 months later I'm afraid I'll need to start looking to replace them as wearing them in the weather has made them.. well... not pretty anymore. I have added to this Adidas collection recently with the Navy Blue Patent leather, and what I'm calling my Golden Globe shoes, the Gold classic. Left to acquire? well of course the all white, the white/blue, the white/red and the black patent...I'll update as they make their way into my closet.

Pussy Willow Tree..

Maybe this will garner some of the spring I'm looking for... This is a Pussy Willow Tree.. I think it will be absolutely lovely when it's fully bloomed.. next project will be to see how I can plant it and keep it alive as it grows.. Maybe the 10 acre Horse Farm I've spotted for sale will be the perfect place for a Pussy Willow tree? Must win the lottery first as it is the only way that will happen.. But I can dream.. and I've been doing alot of that lately...

greetings..

well my last blog entry was January 1st, I'm sorry I've been away so long but haven't been feeling especially creative. I may have a touch of cabin fever, I'm really looking forward to spring so Ken and I can get out an explore Chicago and the surrounding areas so much more. Stay tuned.. I feel the creative juices starting to flow again......

The torture device...

so the box was so heavy it took both of us to lift it onto the cart. It was an ordeal getting it into and out of the car. Then came the trek up to the 3rd floor... we opened the box and the fun began...

the crazy Cuckoo clock...

Ken got me this crazy cuckoo clock for christmas... I saw it in a really cute shop in Lincoln Park and knew it would go great in our loft.. the strange thing is ... it cuckoo's on the hour but you never know how many times it will cuckoo... thirteen times??? now thats cuckoo..

Happy New Year...

let 2010 begin. I have to say 2009 wasn't such a bad year for us. We welcomed our first grandchild, Coy Christopher Lyght in March. Ken landed a terrific promotion at the Tribune. We moved to Chicago in July. I started my often uneasy, temporary "retirement". I spent a great week with Mom in California after her very successful back surgery. We bought a car after 2 years of not having one, and I drove solo from California to Chicago. We have a beautiful home, happy and healthy pets. I have revived friendships with ghosts from the past through facebook and I love catching up with everyone. I enjoy my many catch-up's with my favorite sibling. We're close enough now we get to see and enjoy the kids, Coy and Ken's family. The holidays are over, the cold is setting in... Let's see where 2010 takes us... Happy New year everyone!