Yes/No.....turns out they're both good

First of all, I'd like to introduce you to my new girlfriend..... 

her name is Lily... 

for her pretty flowers.

We fell in love on-line..... 

 

In case you haven't guessed, 

I love white ironstone...

and have a little collection underway...

The good thing is... 

I have developed a special affection for the
 shabby pieces ~ 

the ones with "patina" and "character".

And those good things translate to...

"affordable".

Well, last you heard from me, Lily had just arrived on my doorstep...

 and I was to be heading to Goodwill with a car-load of  crap  blessings for others...

But Mother Nature stepped in 

(duh, duh, duh........)

and brought us some of this.....

and life as I know it was pretty much put on hold...

because school was cancelled for the rest of the week and we lost power for 30+ hours.

And that lovely... peaceful... serene... 

room that many of you commented on... {thank you}

turned into a campground for the better part of 3 days.....

And, I have to admit that, as fun as it was for the monkeys to camp out by the fire in that tent, 

and as much as I enjoyed their pleasure...

it KILLED me just to walk through this room for those 2+ days.  

There. I said it.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those moms who can just "let go" easily, in the name of fun and whimsy and childhood. Uh-uh. No, this was a "stretch" for moi.....

And it's not easy for me to even say that. 

But, hey, I said it..... and, most importantly, I did it. 

Which brings us back to why I am just now geting to this post, and why I haven't done squat about that Goodwill trip. Because I've been busy chewing on my nails while a tent sits in my living room....... ;-}

The monkeys went off to school this morning and I have this house to myself for a while... 

so I am off to fill some boxes and bags with our junk  someone else's treasures...

But while I've got you, I thought I'd share a little wisdom I acquired recently.....

I think I read it on one of my organizing blogs (yes, I like those, too) 

but I'll have to verify which one for you...

Anyhoo... it goes something like this....

Every time you say "yes" to something, you are saying "no" to something else.

Which, when you think about it.....

.....is so.very.true. 

So, I have been applying this idea to my life here and there, when I remember it...

and when this Goodwill project came to be *urgent*, and then I had a few nail-chewing days to mull it over, 

I came to a rather stunning realization.

You see, I am great at getting rid of household "fluff"..... you know... 

newspapers, catalogs, school papers, other peoples' stuff (oh how tempting it is), trash, recycling, old junk.....

but it's a lot harder to get rid of the "good stuff", that you paid good money for, and just because you don't "love it, use it or need it" (the decluttering mantra, people) doesn't mean you want to just give it away, right?!

Well,  I have finally had the lightbulb moment I was waiting for about my "precious" junk. 

All that stuff I've been "saving".... for the consignment shops, Ebay, Craigslist, whatever.... 

so I can make a few precious bucks back on it.... 

I am saying "NO" to that stuff. 

I have spent some time struggling with "that stuff" in my head, and it finally hit to me..... 

if I said "yes" to those piles of my-old-crap, I was saying "no" to something else. Whoa.

So, I thought about what I'd be saying "no" to... 

and I won't bore you with details, but it didn't take me long to realize that what I'd be saying "no" to was 

WAY more important to me than the little bit of money I might recover on the other end.

What it came down to for me was this... 

that if I said "yes" to the stuff, then I was saying "yes" to the past... 

and if I said "no" to the stuff, then I was saying "yes" to the future, and what I could DO with all that time and energy in that future. Whoa.

So.......

what are you saying "yes" and "no" to today? 

(you knew I was gonna ask)

I'm gonna go say "NO" to some junk.

more soon .....

oneshabbychick

real (not staged) pile of junk at oneshabbychick's house

linking up to...

Feathering My Nest....

Hey there, chicks!... well, I've been busy around here....

feathering my nest (literally!) and preparing for some crazy days ahead.....

It's already been a busy start to the new year... with rehearsals and family getaways and concerts to sing... 

I didn't even have a chance to take down the Christmas tree until this past week. 

But I ended up having *the best time* doing it... 
I put on a new-to-me recording of some favorite holiday "fromage" 
(John Rutter, for my fellow cheese aficionados ;-}) 

the winter sun was beaming into my living room...

I got lost in the music..... and all pleasantly nostalgic for a bit

and finally got that tree out to the curb.....

I put away the lights, and even the seashells, which have been holding down that mantle, like, forever... and tried out my ironstone and some white-washed little pots and moss spheres for a white winter mantle... 

so clean & fresh.

 I even washed all my white slipcovers. It was about time :-}

 The dog makes a beeline everyday for the corner of the sofa that gets the midday sun.....

if I don't beat her to it and put her bed out there, she plops right down against that corner and pretty soon it's the color of her - orangey brown - which actually works with the color scheme... hmmm...


but, anyway, two kids, two adults, one dog, and we actually live in our living room... it was time...

So for a few days, my living room looked something like this... 

and now there are tinylittlefeathers everywhere from the 

down cushions... but I am not complaining..... 

This furniture is one of my greatest scores in the bargain department and one of my biggest "house joys". 
I could never in a billion years have bought this stuff new - it's Montauk, really good, expensive stuff - and I came across the two chairs at my (now!) favorite home consignment shop, marked down to rock bottom... don't ask me why, but they were waiting for me..... 


I snapped them up, not even realizing at the time what fine furniture they were. 
When I bought them, they mentioned that the seller was interested in selling the matching sofa as well, 
if I was interested (!!!!!!!!!!!). Uh, yeah, I was interested.


When I first got the chairs home, I wanted to dye the white slipcovers... they were so blindingly WHITE. 
And I *love* white, but this was a little hard to get used to...
Well, I am so very glad I didn't. Cuz now it's love.

This room is my peace and my rest. 
I start my day here with a cup of coffee, when I'm lucky :-)...
And those two chairs are where Mr. Shabby and I go when we need to unwind, reconnect, pow-wow, whatever's on the plate at the moment...


Inevitably Legos and other toys will get dragged in here...
I recently had an entire neighborhood arsenal of Nerf guns piled on that sofa... 


but I really try to keep it as serene a space as possible. 
I think we all need that somewhere in our lives.....


Which leads me to my next project...
Trip to Goodwill. This week. No ifs, ands or buts.
I can't fit the new stuff we got for Christmas into our petite cottage.
Something's gotta go......

Which really doesn't explain why I had this delivered to my doorstep today...
with something old and white and "fragile" inside... :-}


I guess I better get cracking on that Goodwill trip.


more soon...


oneshabbychick

P.S. Linking up to...


The Stories of A to Z             My Romantic Home         The Shabby Nest


and...

My friend, David Eyre...

Hello, friends in blogland! I would like to introduce you to a good friend of mine.....

His name is David Eyre and he helps me get my kids out of bed and into the kitchen 

on those mornings when I need a magic trick... 

or when I realize that they've had cereal too many days in a row and it's time for something 

a little more special for breakfast.

David Eyre Pancake has been my friend since I was a kid, but back then I thought it was Davidair or something like that... didn't give it too much thought... I just ate it.

I have since looked him up, and learned that he was the founding editor of Honolulu Magazine and made this pancake once for a friend from The New York Times. The rest is history...

So, David Eyre Pancake is always a big hit in my house... 

my favorite part is that it's easy-peasy and can be thrown together in about 10 minutes... 

perfect for rousing monkeys for school on a cold winter morning...

or for one of those lazy weekend mornings for that matter.....

I urge you to try it. 

You will not be disappointed... and if you are, you never have to make it again. 

But that won't happen.

Here's what you will need.... 

1/2 c. flour, 1/2 c. milk, 2 eggs, 2 T. sugar and 2 T. butter. 

And an ovenproof pan.

That's it! Really! 

While you preheat your oven,

throw everything but the butter in a bowl 

and mix it all together until smooth......

preheat your pan, too, in the oven or on the stove...

melt the butter in the pan,

swirling it around and up the sides of the pan.

pour your batter into the pan and put it into the oven.

Wait. 

12-15 minutes. 

I know, it's hard. 

Find something to busy yourself...

In the oven, it puffs up gloriously, and when it first comes out, it looks like this.....

But not for long, and that's OK...

because that's what powdered sugar is for...

The monkeys love it simply dusted with powdered sugar. 

I love mine with a sprinkling of fresh lemon juice...

I hope that YOU love it, too!

David Eyre Pancake

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs, room temperature

2 T. sugar

2 T. butter

 Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

 Heat 10" ovenproof pan in oven or on the stove.

 Mix together flour, milk, eggs and sugar until smooth (a few lumps are ok).

 Melt butter in pan and swirl to cover bottom and sides.

 Pour batter into pan and put in the oven.

 Bake 12 - 15 minutes.

Serve with powdered sugar and lemon wedges, if desired.

You can double the butter if you're feeling naughty.....

or replace half the flour with whole-wheat if you're feeling angelic ;-}

This recipe is easily doubled. 

Use a large 12" pan or a 9"x13" baking pan and bake 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

more soon...

oneshabbychick

p.s. I'm linking up to...

All Thingz Related    

and      

Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday

a major Anthro coup...oh yeah, and a birthday, too

You know when you go into Anthropologie, and you stop to check the sale section, and you find something fabulous, that was originally $398.00, and is marked down to $29.95?..... No?!?! 

Well,  then you must come shopping with me sometime... because THAT is what happened to me today.....

But more on that in a moment, because today is also an important birthday in our house....

Mr. Shabby's, in fact, and its a "big" one. 

We've been checking out the sunrise lately and this was his lovely birthday sunrise today...

As soon as everybody was off and running, after the requested birthday breakfast 

{banana oatmeal pancakes and bacon} I got started on a birthday cake. 

I almost let it slide this time and buy one, because I'm busy and tired, etc., etc....

But then I remembered that I lovelovelove to bake, and there's nobody in the world that I'd rather make something special for. So I did it :~}

Action shot. sort of.

I just managed to finish it in time to meet the birthday boy for lunch. 

When it was time to head home in separate cars, I kissed him goodbye and said I was just going to run in to Anthro - cuz it was right there - and check the sale section.......

And that's when I found this fabulous, funky-cool lamp! 
...marked down from 398.00 buckaroos... to $29.95..... 
I'm keeping the price tag to put in my scrapbook {just kidding!}.

What a great birthday gift, huh?! 


Mr. Shabby loves it. {just don't tell him how much it cost ;-)}

It's looking lovely in the bedroom. And I just happened to have this consignment shop shade lying around, waiting for the perfect greige lamp to come along..... done.

Here's our little birthday party scene (complete with chocolate malt cheesecake).

It was a rushed little family celebration.... Mr. Shabby had to run off to work... again.

You see, the Mr. and I are professional musicians, so it seems like somebody is always running out of a family event to go sing or play a concert. 

And that's OK... as long as it's not my birthday ;-)

Happy Birthday to my shabby prince!

more soon, my lovelies...

oneshabbychick