Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday ya'll!!!

Today I am joining Rebecca Jo for her Thankful Thursday as I always do. It is so important for me to remember all that I have to be grateful for!

I am thankful that we are almost to Friday!!! YIPPEE and praise the Lord!! HA!

I am thankful that I was able to have another chill night last night. I worked, ate dinner and did a little more organization around the condo...whoopie!

Let me show you...

I bought a few of these online the other night! They were very reasonable compared to the container store...

And I did this with them!!! I love that I can now see all my lipsticks and lip glosses!!! The Buxom lip-glosses on the left side are too wide to fit in the slots but everything else fit perfectly!!!

I used another one for mascara's and larger brushes...

Here is what the shelf in my bathroom looks like now...so organized!!!! Yay!!!!

I had shelving space in one of my dressers and was not sure what to use it for. I bought two baskets that fit perfectly onto the shelves and I found a purpose for them last night. The top basket hold swimsuits and coverups and the bottom basket holds all my scarves (sorry the picture is a little dark)...

There is the one with scarves pulled out...I folded them so that I can see every one!!!!

I bought this awesome dresser last year and put it in my guest bedroom. Last night I decided to swap dressers so I put a plain five drawer white one in my guest bedroom and moved this one to my bedroom. 

It is designed to hold jewelry which I love and it was a little weird having all my jewelry in the guest bedroom. So, after I swapped them out (the hardwood floors make moving furniture so easy now) I got to fill it up with my STUFF! Here is the dresser...

The small drawers on the right hold my bracelets, rings and miscellaneous jewelry...

The door on the left has two shelves...sweatpants are rolled up on the top shelf and the middle section pops out and has all of my "good" bracelets and there is the mirror on the back side of the door...

On the far left side of the piece is a hidden door...it has all of my good necklaces...

I feel even more organized now and I am so happy that I bought this piece of furniture last year! I like it so much better where i have it now and I can get so much more use out of it!

I don't know why but I have a thing for white furniture! I think every piece I have purchased has been white! HA! It feels so clean to me! 

I am thankful that for years I have been gifted with hand me downs from my family. I still have my sisters TV stand, my parents old bed, my other sister's coffee table and dinner table and my brother's old microwave! I am so grateful for the things my family have given me - it has allowed me to be back on my feet without spending a ton of money. Slowly, but surely, I am purchasing new things but I want to hang on to their things as long as they function! It feels like they are here with me in my home everyday!

I hope everyone has a great Thursday!!!!

Anyone else cherish their hand me downs? What are your decor preferences? Do you have favorite pieces or stories when or why you purchased? Have you jumped on the organization bandwagon yet?

Strawberry Wednesday Medley

Happy Hump Day ya'll!!!!! Every time I say this I think of that Geico commercial and start laughing inside!!!! "Happier than a camel on Wednesday!"

 

 

Terri has come up with another great Medley for us!!  

 

If you want to join in on the fun go get the questions here, answer, post and link up on Terri's blog!

1.  Given all that information on this National Strawberry Day, do you have a favorite recipe for strawberries? 

I do not have a recipe at all. I wash my berries, slice them and sprinkle them with a little sugar if necessary...that is it! I love strawberries just as they are!!

2.  Some people think the smaller, northern varieties are sweeter than the larger berries that grow in the south and in California.  What are your thoughts on that? 

I grow them in hanging pots on my patio and they are awesome. The smaller ones are definitely sweeter!

3.  There is a Strawberry Festival right here in Plant City, Florida (next town over from Lakeland) and it is a huge event that lasts 11 days with headliner acts each day.  Have you ever been to a Strawberry Festival? Sadly never :-(

4.  Strawberries are grown in every US state.  Have you ever grown them in your garden? 

Absolutely! I get a hanging pot every year and get to enjoy approximately one berry a day all summer - ha!!!

5.  Strawberry is the only fruit that has seeds on the outside, and technically it is not a berry but rather a fruit, and would you be surprised to learn that strawberries belong to the rose family?  Do you have any strawberry trivia to share with us?

No but thank you for sharing yours.

6.  Tell us something random about your week!! 

It's been a very long week. Things in my office are getting so sad with the looming shutdown and everyone is just kind of "existing". It is like a bunch of zombies waiting to get "the ax". We are offered 2 weeks severance for every year of service if we stick around to the end.  It is not a fun place to be anymore. It is like everyone is sitting around waiting for a hatchet...I may have to find something else sooner rather than later because it is a hard working environment right now. UGH and UGH! 

On a happy note...I have my cats, my family and my friends and life itself is still an awesome blessing!! Only 14 days until my Florida trip and 44 days until my Aruba trip! WHOOP!

How has your week been? Have you ever faced losing your job when you knew if was coming but did not know when? Do you have any vacation plans for this year yet?

Life on an Even Keel...

Happy Tuesday Morning everyone!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful start to the new week!!!

I worked, went tanning (ahhhhhh...) and then went home for dinner.  After dinner I made a necklace to mail out today (an order from My Etsy Shop) and then got lots and lots of beautiful sleep.

Nothing exciting at all. Sometimes that is the best feeling! Serenity!!! No drama, no craziness, just "even keel" life...serenity...

I have to say, I LOVE my neighbors (on my floor) right now! I live in a condo and your neighbors are SO very important in that living arrangement!

The four units on the second floor are "second floor strong"! We attend all of the condo board meetings and are all very involved on voting for the rules, etc. Everyone else (four units on the top floor and four units in the basement) just seem to not care.

One neighbor is a single woman in the same situation as myself; she lives alone too. Another is a single mom raising her son (he is 11 now) and the other is a couple that has downsized since their children grew up and moved out.

We all think alike and support each other and that is really a great situation!

If I need help moving heavy furniture or anything else that comes up; I know I can always knock on doors until I find someone home to help me...it is a wonderful living situation right now.

I have had horrible neighbors in the past so I really hope we all stay put, for a while at least - it is like Condo Nirvana right now! HA HA!

Anyone else have neighbors that make it a great place to live? What about stressful place to live? How was your Monday?

A Visit to Phipps Conservancy and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh

Good morning and happy Monday to everyone!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Mine consisted of hanging out at home and snuggling with my cats and then a few visits with friends!!!

There is nothing better than that!!!!

On Friday night I met up with of my very favorite friends to visit a Pittsburgh attraction!! In all the years I have lived here in Pittsburgh, there are a bunch of attractions that my friends or myself have never been to. We have made a plan to get to all of these places over the next few months and I am so excited!!! 

The first place on our list is Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens!  My friends have been there but I had not. We learned that it was the annual orchid display so we made a date for Friday night!

When I arrived, I parked in the middle island outside the venue (the parking is free there and very convenient).  This is Phipps from the outside. We met in the lobby and ate at the restaurant there in Phipps. It is all very delicious food. I had the salmon salad and it was amazing!

Then we walked through the venue! There were soooo many beautiful orchids!!!

We loved these little hanging globes!!! As we were discussing how we could recreate these; a woman that worked there came up to us and explained how to make our own (I am going to try it and use it as a future post). She also offered to walk with us as a "tour guide". It was great! She was soooo knowledgeable about every plant and orchid! She was lovely!!! 

A super cool plant that looks like a turtle - what?!?!

This photo is a photo of the oldest plant at Phipps!!! It was brought in 1893!!! It is a type of palm tree that was purchased at the World's Fair that year and was the first plant at Phipps!!! So cool!!!!

And this is that same plant looking upwards!!! Such amazing history!!!

This is a tiny replica (with a train running around it) of the original Phipps

I can not live with this tree in my life!!! Ahhhhhh...

Bananas!!!! I saw one of the in the wild in Hawaii!!! Our "tour guide" explained that it only takes 18 months for a shoot to turn into this size banana tree!!! If you live in warm climate- get yourself a banana tree - they grow fruit quickly!!!

I had to take a picture of this!!! I want a clipping from this tree and I want to try to grow it indoors at home! We ate these in Hawaii right off of a tree when we were ziplining and they are so yummy!!!  The "tour guide" sadi I should call and ask for one...I am going to give it a shot!!! PS - I keep saying "tour guide" because I unfortunately can not remember her name!!

This is jasmine...it smelled awesome!!!

More orchids...I loved these striped ones!!!

Such cute displays everywhere - even hanging above all over!!!

This is the main lobby after you enter the gardens...this is our little group (L to R...Me, Carol, our new friend and tour guide and Kathy) ...Please excuse this awful picture of me!! Goodness I need to lose this extra weight!! UGH!

Beautiful...

This gentleman donated and dedicated an entire room to his daughter that is there  all year round and they just happen the make the best chocolate in the world - Sarris Candies!!!!

 Nature is so cool...

 A cute little bonsai tree that grows oranges!!!

As we were leaving I got this shot of the building at night - cool, hugh?

It was a great night with such good friends!! I cannot wait for our next adventure!!!

Have a great day!

What is your favorite flower? How was your weekend? What is your favorite candy?

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday time!

Whoopie!!

Come on over to Rebecca Jo's blog Knit by God's Hands and join in the gratitude!!! It will make you feel soooo good!!!!

Today I am very thankful just to still be employed (for a few more months maybe) and...better yet...so very thankful to be allowed to work from home when roads are treacherous!!
 

The three pictures above were taken as I sat on the side of the road at various times yesterday. I tried to leave my housing plan (once at 7am and then again 8am) and just kept sliding off the to the side.  Then I just gave up! UGH! I finally slipped and slid right back to my house!!!!
 
I called my boss and let him know I could not make it in. He was okay with it.

Later in the day, on a conference call, someone that did make it in that morning said there was only like 8 people in the WHOLE building!

Cudos to those that braved the drive but I am not about to wreck my car or lose my life for my job! I would rather burn a vacation day if it came down to that! 

Isn't this gadget the coolest thing ever?!?!? I got it from Nutrisystem! It is a salad keeper! The lettuce goes in the container; dressing goes in the little cup on top and when you spin the cup on top it dumps the dressing in when you want ot add it to the salad!! NO MORE SOGGY LETTUCE!!! YIPPEE!!!

The second lid also has an ice pack to keep the dressing and lettuce cold! How totally cool is that?!?!? It is made by Fit and Fresh! Such a cool little contraption to take salad to work!! Thanks Nutrisystem!!! I love it!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy day! Stay hunkered down those of you that are getting hit by the storm that got us yesterday!  Think safe and warm!!! HUGS!

Did you get the snow and storm? Are you getting it today? Do you have any tips for winter driving? Do you drive in bad weather or hunker down? What are you thankful for today?