Heirloom Party!

So, I happened to stumble on this Heirloom Party that Marie at Emma Calls Me Mama is having. What a great idea! So I ran and got my camera and snapped a few pics of my beloved heirlooms.
This pictures leave a little more to be desired, seeing as how it was 9:15pm when I took these!

My first heirloom is my china set that my Grandma L gave to me. She had it in her will that it should go to me. It's pretty common, but oh, so lovely. Desert Rose by Franciscan Ware

She loved this china. I remember it serving all the yummy things that she would cook such as cabbage rolls, noodles, and Thanksgiving dinners.

My 2nd heirloom is this quilt. This quilt is a mystery to me. All I know is that it came from my Grandma L. I know nothing because I took ownership of it after my grandma passed. I wish I knew the story behind it. Sometimes I can still smell the sweetness of my Grandparents house, deep in the fibers of this old quilt.

My 3rd heirloom is very special to me.

My Grandmother G painted this for my Grandpa and Grandma L's 50th wedding anniversary. It is a painting of their house. So it is very special because the artist is my Grandma, and the subject is the house where so many great memories were made.
This is actually a print, my (fantastic) mom had a print made of the original because she knew I loved it so much.

My 4th heirloom is these sweet birds. My mother gave them to my Grandma L and they perched on a shelf in my Grandma's kitchen. She collected birds, too bad I don't have more of them. I always loved looking at this pair as a child. I love how the one looks a little riffed about something. Maybe he was cold? The other one has glue stains all over her face, where I'm sure one of the grandchildren dropped him and my Grandmother glued her back together.

I have so many more, but these are some of my favorites (that were easily accessible for pictures). I hope you enjoyed looking at them. These simple things bring me joy every time I look at them.

Now hop on over to Marie's blog and join the party!

To my baby girl, Valerie, on your 1st Birthday

Valerie-
I can't believe you are a year old already. The year has flown by, and it's been so fun! It seems like yesterday you were so small and helpless, and now you are so big and walking all over the place!

You are such a wonderful little girl. You stole my heart the moment I laid eyes on you. I remember the day you were born so well. It was the happiest day of my life- our family felt complete.
You are so independent and determined, yet you love to snuggle and cuddle. You are a joy.
You are my sunshine.

All my love,
Mommy

More pictures of my sweetie!

Isn't she a doll?

Mantel & Little Photo Shoot

My mom and I went antiquing yesterday and I got some great finds!

I found a great aqua vintage oar, an old beautiful glass door, an aqua mirror, a cute bird, an

artichoke thingy, and a beautiful mason jar!

I arranged the mantel with my loot. This is temporary until I can get a large mirror to replace the ceiling tile. Or do you like it the way it is? (The ceiling tile is plastic!)

This afternoon, Valerie woke up from a nap and she had the cutest little aqua shirt on. I've been meaning to take her on her 1 year photo shoot, so we hopped in the car and I think I got some great shots!

This is my favorite so far. (SOOC) I literally just got back and downloaded these. I'll post more later!

More family room pics!

So here are some more pics of the family room remodel.
We did a LOT in this room.
We:
-replaced the 6 ft slider to a 10 ft french door slider (love it)- we had to move electric to accomplish this (thanks Joe!)
-removed an ugly wood wall, which revealed a large hole in the drywall, which required a drywaller (thanks Matt!)
-ripped up ugly red carpet and replaced with walnut hardwoods (Thanks Steven!)
-ripped out the fireplace surround, tiled new surround (DIY!), and installed new mantel
-ripped out old ugly 70's wet bar and had plumbing fixed and holes patched
-installed new can lights
-installed new base molding and casing (which requied a ton of painting by yours truly)



This shows the new door.

New fireplace mantel and tile. I'm so proud of my tile work. :)

The tile is 2x4" subway carrara marble. Yum....

Here is Zoe T. Dog modeling the new walnut hardwoods.

And to remind you where this room came from (the 70's), here are some more before pics.

Sorry they're so big. You'll need to click on them to see the whole picture. I don't know how to fix, sorry!

The door to the cave.

The lovely wetbar.

Now I just have to DECORATE!

Valerie- 1 year in pictures

I can't believe Valerie is almost 1 year old. The year has gone so fast. It's been so fun.

Birthday

July 09 (10 days)

August 08

September 08

October 08

November 08

December 08

January 09

February 09

March 09

April 09 (click to enlarge- her expression is too cute)

May 09

June 09

July 09

My baby is growing up so fast!

Sneak Peek- Family Room Remodel!

I am happy to say, that we are completely complete with the family room remodel!
I would post a ton of pics, but I need to take some more when it's not dark outside.
Here is a sneak peak at least.
Hopefully I'll be able to get some more pics tomorrow.
To appreciate what we've done, you must see where we started. (With sellers stuff)

Now