The beach is my happy place......

My friend and I made our beach reservation for later this year. I can't wait to go. I get beach fever so bad every January. Having 70 degree weather and wearing flip flops the other day in the middle of January didn't make my yearning any easier to handle. I am always up for a trip to the beach.

When I get in a beach mood I look at the pictures I took the year before. These are from last year. I can almost hear the waves crashing on the shore.  

I got to watch some beautiful sunrises, which is my favorite thing to do.

I will sit on the balcony from the minute it starts coming up until it breaks through above the clouds. 

And I love a good book to read on the beach. Of course, I get so mesmerized by watching the ocean and the waves that I don't get much reading done.

Plus, I have already lost 12 pounds since the first of November, just 20 more to go to reach my goal weight. Then I will have a "beach body" and get me a new bathing suit. 

I can hear the waves calling me now. 

It's been great so far.....

I am on Day 3 of my days off this week. It's been a great week so far. I started out on my last day of work by stopping at Staples. I need a new notebook and some labels and tabs for a project. I went straight to the clearance section and found what I needed for about $5 total. Original prices it would have been $13 so I did good.

Then I got to work and a good friend had brought me a Pandora Rope bracelet she didn't want. Now to get some charms. 

At church Sunday morning, another friend brought me a gift bag that had something she got at Target for me. Check out the pitcher! I am loving it. I needed something to put my daisies in so this was perfect. She also got me the little hanging towel with directions and recipe on it to make home made hot chocolate. 

So obviously I changed out my winter Pyrex to Valentine's on the main shelf of my Baker's rack.

I am so late getting all the Christmas put away and my living room back to normal. I am glad my recliner is easy to move by myself. Have my nice comfy reading area back. Time for some relaxation. I am currently reading Happy Endings by Katherine Stone, one of my favorite ever authors. 

The mailman brought me a goodie package from Georgia. I am thinking about taking a two day trip to Helen, GA this spring with a couple of the girls from work. When you open up info on Georgia and Jason Aldean is on the front of the travel guide, it makes you definitely want to go to Georgia.

I show you some salt & pepper shakers last week that Cracker Barrel has. I stopped and got a pic and a cow. They are only .99 cents each. But a friend of mine had the roosters and didn't want them. So I got her a rooster dishtowel like mine and we traded. I am so happy with my little farm. 

I went to Hobby Lobby Saturday before work and got this cute little "house" with the saying on it. I fell in love with it. I also got the charger plate that was only $1.99 and looks like milk glass only it's plastic. 

Most importantly I got a white pitcher I have been wanting for the dining room. It was $20 marked down to $9. I need to get a different color table cloth, but this was already on the table and I just wanted to see what the table was going to look like with my new centerpiece. 

I am going to order this tablecloth from Bed, Bath & Beyond. I want blue and white because my border will match it.

And last but not least, I am going to a work dinner and needed some dressy shoes. I found some wedge heels that I fell in love with. They looked so cute on my feet if I do say so myself and they were at a great sale price. So for the first time in over 20 years, I actually own a pair of dressy heels again. 

Well, I have to catch up on the rest of the house work today and do my nails for tonight. I hope you all have a blessed day. 

Sunday's Songs

I had to check it out....

I just live a couple of miles from Douglas Dam. Yesterday morning when I woke up, I could hear the giant turbine engines running. That usually means that they have opened the flood gates to release water into the French Broad River to control the risk of flooding. They can release it at the bottom small flood gates which just causing a swift flow in the river and a little extra turbulence. Of if it is really high, they will release the top flood gates and water will flow down from the top of the dam to the river. Me being me, I got in my car and drove over to see what it was hoping for it to be the top gates. It wasn't. But it was still cool to see how swift the water was flowing and to hear the large turbine's running. Between the roar of the river and the rumbling of the turbines, I was still glad I went. Here are a few pics I took.

Just to show you what it is like when they open the top gates, I snagged a photo from Wikipedia of one time when they were running wide open. The aerial view is fabulous.

It's breathtaking. 

Friday Finds

Here are my Top 10 favorite finds I have come across this week. This is from Cracker Barrel. Isn't it gorgeous. Since I have roosters in my kitchen and I collect tea for one sets, I think I might just need this.

Cracker Barrel also carries a line of .99 cent salt and pepper shakers. I want this pepper shaker.

And this salt shaker. Aren't they adorable.

Saw this on Collections, etc. website. Talk about super simple and super easy to spruce up under the cabinets. I just have a small section of wall so I think I will do this.

They also had "brick" walls that you just peel and stick. I loved the white one.

I saw this on that same website. Now this is just too cute.

Hobby Lobby has some Washi Tape I want for my Happy Planner. They are out of stock right now, but the whole package was $2.99. With my 40% off coupon that would only be $1.79 for the whole pack.

When I was on Cracker Barrel site, I saw they have a whole line of Coastal products. I fell in love with these because they were pink AND they have a pineapple.

But these are so ME. I have to see if I can find these.

But of everything I found, this had to be my favorite. It is at Cracker Barrel for only $14.99. Most tea for one sets start at $24.95 and up. So this is a killer deal. I want it for my beach room SO BAD! There are about 6 or 7 within driving distances of me. On my day off Sunday I am going to call around and see which hone has this. Then I am going to go get it and have lunch at Cracker Barrel. Sounds like a plan to me.  

There you have it. My favorite finds from the week.

Baking Challenge

I have some awesome cookbooks with great recipes for baked goods. I got another one for Christmas. It comes with little stories and written details about the recipe. I am going to challenge myself to do a baking day once a month at the minimum and try a new recipe from this or one of my other books.

First thing I want to try is this chocolate chip cake with buttercream icing.

Next is the chocolate covered yellow pound cake.

Going to really get out of my comfort zone of desserts and bake some bread. I may try the honey white bread recipe and see how it turns out. 

Whatever I end up doing, I will let you know the results and the recipe.

Dollar Tree finds

I ran out the other day and stopped by Dollar Tree. I picked up a few things for Valentine's Day. The candy came from Walmart, but the little glass I am going to put it in was Dollar Tree.

I love mugs to match the holiday. I won't be putting Valentine's decor out for a week or two, but I will drink out of my mug.

I bought a candle and some lace and string to "fix it up" with.

A cute sign for my door.

I posted a pitcher with an XOXO and some hearts. I found the XOXO at Target in their $3 section, but the hearts are from Dollar Tree. Going to try to recreate a table centerpiece I saw on Pinterest.

I love doing S & P shakers for the various tablescapes I do. I love doing the Dollar Tree ones. I use the paint from Walmart that is .87 cents. They are super easy. You pour the paint inside (they are for decor use, I don't put salt in them). Then you swirl the shaker around for the paint to coat the inside. Then turn them upside down for excess paint to drain out on a paper plate. No mess.

Well, I got some good finds again at one of my favorite places.