The Purse Saga....

I made it to the new Donna Sharp Outlet first thing Saturday morning. We got there about 10 minutes after they opened. We walked in and were greeted a the door with someone to let us know about the grand opening specials and to introduce us to Donna Sharp.

I almost freaked out. I had no idea she would be there. I am such a HUGE fan of her products that it was as exciting for me as if I had met the Queen of England. She was so awesome. I told her how much I love her product and she personally walked around the purses with me helping me look at the different designs and patterns. We had a blast! She was so down to earth and I left feeling like I had a made a new friend.

You should check out the Donna Sharp Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/DonnaSharpInc

They had buy a purse and get 2 accessories for 1/2 off. Plus they had a wheel you could spin for additional savings. I spun the wheel and got the only $25.00 gift certificate on there. Needless to say I used it Saturday.

I got a new Elaina purse in her Pink Passion Pattern

 The matching wallet (which I adore!)

 And this neat cell phone wallet for those days when I am taking the kids to the zoo, the aquarium, miniature golfing, etc.

The cell phone wallet has an exterior cell phone holder and on the inside their is enough room for your camera, your keys, your cash, your ID and your credit cards.

Plus it comes with a removal strap that can be hooked to your belt loop and a removable shoulder strap so you can wear it on your shoulder or adjust it to fit around your neck. It's awesome.

 

And the best part of the day? I saved $52.20 all total! What an awesome day!

 

I'm going back this weekend and get me a purse to put up for fall/winter in the pattern of the cell phone wallet while they are still having their good sales.

 

The birthday party....

Why is it when you pick up a camera, aim and shoot, children think they have to make funny faces? Three of my beautiful grandchildren....Caleb, Shelby, Alexis. These are their new "cheese" faces. 

Garret is in his "Bet you can't make me smile" stage. He can be laughing and not even noticing I have a camera, but the minute I click he can put on a serious face without batting an eye. The minute I snap, he's back to his laughing.

Colby is still at that "Cheese? What's cheese?" stage where he could not care less about the camera. I've learned to just get what I can. He was so entranced with the party that I could not get his attention. Of course, you will notice I made sure I got one while he has on his "I love my Grandma" bib. 

I did get a good picture of the birthday boy, Caleb. He's 8 years old now. He's already counting the days until he turns 9 so he can ride in the front seat of a car. It's his big dream at the moment.

He finally got the Lego Semi Truck he's been wanting for three months!

My 12 year old grandson Garret (3rd boy from the right) had a great time hanging out with the Tweens & Teens

This is a little blurry, but these are my two beautiful princesses. They are watching a group of high school girls playing Guitar Hero. They were entranced.

 It was a wonderful party and topped off an awesome day. Stay tuned tomorrow for my adventure at the new Donna Sharp Outlet Saturday morning.

The good, the bad and the ugly....

THE GOOD.....

It's going to be a great day. I get to take the baby grandson, Colby, shopping with me today.

Tanger Outlet Mall in Sevierville has added a Donna Sharp Outlet. I love Donna Sharp purses and bags. They are my favorite. I have about 4 or 5 purses and a couple of her big totes. The quilting is so sturdy and the material so soft. I am so excited to have an outlet in town. Here's my new dream purse pattern of hers. It's called Pink Passion and I love several of the styles it comes in.



After shopping, we are going to Mr. Gatti's tonight for a birthday pizza party for my grandson Caleb. Tomorrow will kick off Vacation Bible School at church. It's going to be a great weekend.

THE BAD.....

You are probably wondering why I'm calling my coffee table "the bad". Well, I have always loved this table. The sturdy solid oak of it. It is one of those heavy, solid tables that will withstand the test of time. As of yesterday, it is now my arch enemy #1. I had so much going on yesterday and was scurrying around getting ready to leave the house. I was barefoot and was hurrying around the living room, when BAM....I caught two of my baby toes on the solid base of the coffee table when I rounded the corner. OH...MY...GOSH....!!!!  Can we all say OUCH. I fell in the floor and grabbed my toes and had a little ow ow ow fit right in the floor. It hurt like the dickens.

THE UGLY.....

My toes. Well, okay they are not ugly, but they are hurting this morning. One of them is swollen and starting to get a little bruising. I can walk okay, but there is a little pain with each step. But not enough to keep me from shopping.

Well, two of the grandchildren stayed all night and they are now up wanting cinnamon rolls for breakfast so I'm going to go enjoy my weekend. Hope you will be enjoying yours as well. 

I'm homesick....

Growing up in West Virginia creates a bond and a closeness like no other place on earth. I've lived in Tennessee for 22 years and yet I have moments when the homesickness gets to me.

I go home about 3 times a year and family comes to visit down here. But there are little windows in time when I want to go back to that old country road and sit in the yard of the old home place.

I can close my eyes and hear Daddy pounding and sawing as he works on another project in his building. I can hear the cling clang of pots and pans touching the old porcelain kitchen sink as Mommy stands at the window washing the dishes.

I can picture going to bed on hot summer nights with no air conditioning, just the cool breeze that drafted down the holler and came in the open windows. I remember sleeping with the "big" door open and the screen doors unlocked. I can remember climbing between cool, fresh sheets that hung out on the line that day and the wonderful smell as we snuggled in bed in our shorty baby-doll p.j.s Mommy had made for us.

I remember cook-outs and get-togethers with my cousins as we romped and played all over those old hills and walked in the woods. I can see my sister and I with our books and a glass of lemonade or tea as we reclined in the yard trying to get a suntan. I can remember fussing at our brothers because they wanted to play ball and we had to move our chairs over near the clothesline so we wouldn't be in their way.

I can remember getting our first car when my sister was 16 and us going places without having to walk or catch the "town" bus. I remember our dates picking us up and Daddy insisting they come to the house to get us. If they pulled into the driveway and honked, we weren't allowed to go.

I remember walking down those wooden steps and driving to my graduation. I remember the day I moved out and got married. I remember bringing my children back to that old house up the holler and watching them with their cousins. I can picture each of my children and my nieces and nephews as they too enjoyed the fun times to be had in that old house up the holler.

I remember that old dirt country road with such fondness and such wonderful memories. The years have marched on. Daddy has been gone since 1999. Mommy moved into town. My brother owns the old home place and has remodeled and redecorated until it doesn't look the same any more. The nieces and nephews are grown and married with kids of their own. The family still gathers in that old yard for cookouts and baseball games. The great nieces and nephews hear the old stories about what it was like growing up in the holler. When I go home to visit, I can still see that old white house in my mind, sitting on top of that hill. I can envision being in the yard, watching for Daddy to walk up that old dirt road when he got off work for the day. 

But most of all, I remember the love.  And I get homesick.

Waiting for the weekend....

We spend half of our life wishing it away, don't we. Every Monday, we drag ourselves out of bed and head off to our work day....whether it is on the job or at home with the laundry and housekeeping. We look forward to Wednesday since we know that we will be over the hump. Come Thursday, we can't wait for 5:00 Friday to get here. Then we cram all the fun and excitement we can into two days and start all over on Monday, waiting for the weekend to get here.

But you know what? It's kind of fun to have something to look forward to, isn't it. If you are like me, you usually have something going on every weekend. It's supposed to be for relaxing but I don't like to take the time to relax when I could be having fun or doing something cool.

This weekend, I get to keep my littlest grandson all day Saturday. He is such a happy baby and when he smiles those two new teeth are just adorable. Saturday night will be a birthday party for the second grandson. He just turned 8 and we are going to celebrate at Mr. Gatti's for pizza and games.

Sunday will begin a week of exhausting fun. Vacation Bible School. The Big Apple Adventure. Nightly dinners served in the fellowship hall. I'll be fixing a dessert each day to take to help out. The "train" will be running for the kids to ride. There will be Snow Cones and Popcorn and Lemonade. I am helping with Pre-K crafts and music. We will have three 20 minute classes. It's always a blast.

So even though I'll have to work every day next week, it will be like a "daily" weekend because I get to have fun every night. Wait a minute? Did I say fun? Yes, I consider it fun to work with over 60 kids a night from the 4-5 year age group. I either love children or I've not got a lick of sense. Haven't figured out which one yet.

Bring on the weekend and let's get the show on the road.

Household gadgets and giveaway....

 I may not be a big cook or spend a lot of time on dinners, but I love my kitchen gadgets. There are a few things I have accumulated over the years that I cannot live without. What is your favorite gadget? Here are a few of mine. Be sure and read at the end how to enter for my Kitchen Gadget Giveaway!

 My newest addiction is The Micro Egg™ which I purchased for $7 at Smoky Mountain Knife Works. It is an easy way to microwave a boiled egg in just a couple of minutes. I'm not a patient person and if I put an egg on to boil, I get so sidetracked that I get an egg that is ready for Easter coloring. You adjust the microwave time for soft, medium or hard boiled eggs.

My next favorite gadget is one that also involves eggs. Even though Hubby does the cooking, I do make the deviled eggs for any occasion. I hate mashing them with a fork and I don't like to drag out the food processor just to chop up the yellows. About 3 years ago, I got the Mix-N-Masher from Pampered Chef. It was just around $10 and it was the best investment I ever made. It can mash eggs, potatoes, all kinds of goodies. It can be used to blend ice cream for milk shakes and a ton of other things. I can't live with out it.

 My next item is one I have used for 30 years. It's my Butter Cutter. This thing is awesome for making pats of butter. I make several cooked cake icings and fudges that call for "1 stick of butter, cut up" to help it melt faster on the stove.  Of course, I know it is easy to stand over the pan with a knife and slice off pieces of your stick of butter. But with this, you open the paper off the butter, place this on top of the butter and push down. Just pick up you butter wrapper by the ends and turn it upside down over your pan and you have your butter all nice and sliced. It also comes in handy for a fancy dinner if you want to have your butter in pats on a butter dish. This is my second one as I lost my first one. I bought this at Smoky Mountain Knife Works, but you can also find them at Food Service Warehouse. The $3.00 investment I ever made.

 Another thing that I adore is my Prep Bowls from Pampered Chef. I use these for so much. We chop up onions and tomatoes for taco night. I use them for pudding, jello, peaches, etc. They hold one cup. I love to make pudding in them and that way, the kids can just reach in and grab a bowl of pudding when they want it. I'm trying to eat more fruit. I like storing a bowl of apples, peaches, or mandarin oranges in my little bowls. That way, when I want my fruit, it is already prepared. They run about $20 for a set of 6 but are so worth it.

Since I bake about a cake a week, I also like my little cake tester from Pampered Chef. This was a special they did one year for Breast Cancer Awareness. I love the pink ribbon and the little whisk on the end. It's nothing spectacular but I love it. It was the best $1.00 I ever spent.

Kitchen Gadget Giveaway

I will be giving away a set of Prep Bowls and a Micro Egg™ to one lucky winner. To enter is very simple, please click to follow my blog (if you are not already a follower) and leave me a comment on what your favorite kitchen gadget is. You can also email me at mamawsplace@gmail.com to be entered once you sign up as a follower. The drawing will be on June 15th. Winner will be announced on June 16th.

My weekend in review...

It's been a wonderful four day weekend and I'm glad to be back to blogging world.

Thursday afternoon my sweet niece Cindi presented us with a beautiful new great-nephew. Allow me to introduce you to Chase Matthew, 6 # 10 oz. Isn't he a cutie!



That was a great afternoon, but it went down hill from there. We had a major hail storm come through.

After the hail storm and the rain stopped, I went out to inspect for damage. Mine and hubby's vehicles took a beating. His is repairable but mine suffered more damaged and the insurance company is going to total it. I had a cracked windshield, cracked trim, dents in the hood, trunk, roof, quarter panels and light covers cracked.

His was some hail damage on the hood and a little on the top.

You would think I would be devastated about all this damage, but for some reason I was very calm. I've been thinking about trading my car in. I've never been happy with it since I bought it. Guess I won't have any choice in the matter now.

What really upset me was what the pounding hail did to my patio swing. I never knew hail could beat a hole in material. My swing was only a year old and I had babied it and there was not one single tear or scratch in the material.....till now. The storm roared up out of nowhere so we didn't have time to bring the cushions in like we normally do.

I think I'm going to look for a wooden swing to replace this one.

Friday, I ran errands and spent a wonderful evening at the ball field with my son and his family. Got to watch Garret and Alexis both have a game. Saturday, I went shopping and car scouting with my daughter and her children. Her Explorer took a beating and is totaled as well. So we went to get some ideas while we wait on the insurance company.

Sunday was a beautiful Memorial Service at church and the rest of the day we just relaxed some more. I even took a LONG afternoon nap...which I NEVER do.

Monday, Hubby and I went antique shopping. I could not find the pitcher I was looking for. But I also wanted to start a collection of salt cellars (also known as salt dips). They are little tiny "bowls" that would be placed at every plate with a little salt in them so you could salt your food. A friend of mine has some and I thought I would start collecting them. Some have little lids such as roosters, rabbits, swans, etc. And some are just open containers.

I found these little rooster ones that I just had to have. My mom and grandmother had the larger size of these that were candy dishes when I was growing up. The jadeite and the pink one are my favorites. They range from $2.00 - $3.95 each. They made my day. Each one is about 2 1/2" long.

This little salt dip is adorable as well. I want to find some more to go with this. It was just $2.50.

I found this cute little bowl/dish. I have no idea what I will use it for, but I fell in love with it and for just $5.00, I had to have it.

After antique shopping all day in 90 degrees, I was exhausted. I came home and took a bubble bath and read. Then hubby fixed me biscuits and bacon gravy for supper. I had that with homemade apple butter and vegged out on the couch all evening. It was a very relaxing weekend. I'm ready to face the world again. I needed these four days off. Sunday starts Vacation Bible School at our church and I'm helping with crafts and music for the Pre-K kids. Relaxation kind of goes out the window that week but I love every minute of it.