I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won the lottery! Okay, I didn't really win the lottery but, to me, it might as well have been the lottery!! Brittany from Adeline's Shabby Cottage gave me the Arte Y Pico award!! I was so excited I was jumping around and doing my happy dance!! What an honor!! This is my first award and I was totally not expecting it at all!
Brittany is such a sweetheart! She has a wonderful blog and if you haven't been there you should get over there as soon as possible! Oh! And while you are there you will have to check out all of the precious things she offers up for Flea Market Fridays!! Brittany- thank you so much! You have no idea how good this makes me feel. You made my week! Probably my month!!




Here are the rules:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name of and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.
4. The award winner and one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.

Now this is the hard part. Choosing the five that inspire me. How can I choose only five? I have met so many wonderful people through blogging and there are so many that inspire me. But I will do my best!

1. Rue from Rue's Peanut Butter & Jelly Life

2. Nikki from The Scarlett Rose Garden

3. Brenda from The Brenda Blog

4. Kimba from A Soft Place To Land

5. Jo from To A Pretty Life

Congratulations Ladies!! And Brittany- Big Hugs!!

-Heather :)

Decorating Inspiration

Today my feet are swollen beyond all recognition. I have never experienced this with the last two pregnancies but this one hasn't exactly been my norm. So I have been given strict orders to keep my feet up. HA! With a two year old and almost 4 year old............ easier said than done. I did pretty well though and after I laid them down for naps I decided to play on my computer. Months ago we were trying to figure out how to decorate the new nursery. I searched the web for hours every night and found nothing that popped out at me. My sister called one night and told me to Google images of nurseries and to look at a specific picture. She had found it!! My husband and I stood there looking at this beautiful room and knew this would serve as our inspiration for the new nursery. It is fun and whimsical but serene and calming all at the same time. I fell in love with every inch of this room.


I especially loved the geese that are hanging above the crib. I went on a mission to find these geese. After looking online for days I came up with nuttin'!! I was so frustrated. So my darling husband- bless his heart- hopped online and within 2 hours had tracked down the designer just from the picture we had. So cool! She is a very talented designer out of Kansas City and even owns her own boutique there. It took a few days to track her down but I finally spoke to her. I found out that this nursery was one she had done years and years ago and that the geese had flown south since then. Translation- no way in a hot zone are we going to be able to get some. Man! So I called my sister and whined and moaned. She took a trip to JoAnns and got fabric and made up a pattern as she went. This is what she came up with..........

Isn't he fabulous!?!?! She is SO handy, my sister! So this one is done and she has 2 or 3 left to do. These will hang above Cali's crib (out of reach of course) and serve as her "mobile". Precious!

She drove up to see us one weekend and we went to JoAnns to pick out all of the fabrics I will need to make the curtains, bedding, chair slipcover, etc. While we were there I feel in love with this cute little guy.................

So he will have to be worked into the room too. We are almost ready to get started on the room and I am very excited. I just hope we get it done in time!!

Now on to my son's room. ARGH! I do not like my son's room. In fact- I despise my son's room. I started off trying to do a transportation theme in there and it didn't work. The car crashed, the plane took a nose dive and that boat sunk. It is a design flop to say the least and honestly- he's not diggin' it either. But I have been waiting- not so patiently- for something to come to me. I want this room to have his personality in it. And my son has a lot of personality- how can you fit that in a gallon of paint?? I want the room to reflect his likes, have him be surrounded by his favorite colors, favorite items etc. I want it to be a place he enjoys being in. And right now he and I would rather be anywhere else it seems!

The walls are sage green but with awful lighting they always look gray. Gloomy.
We bought him a traffic light at an antique store and it is one of our favorite pieces in his room. He loves his "hider bed" (bunk bed) but I would love to separate them into two beds if he will let me!!! He loves his star quilts. Probably his favorite thing in the room. His favorite shape is the star............

And we have little vintage looking planes hanging from the ceiling.

The other night I was looking back through my posts from my family visit this weekend and I got hung up on the picture of Kyle holding the flag. I love that picture. I was telling my husband "Isn't it cute the fascination he has with the flag?" Every where we go he is either finding a flag to carry, to buy, or pointing them out to us. He loves the American flag. Although I am not exactly sure why- other than part of it may be that red and blue are his favorite colors- I think it is just the cutest thing.
As I was thinking about his love for flags and stars I had a revelation. Oh My Goodness! I could decorate his room in a red white and blue theme, and still incorporate his vintage travel stuff in with it! Oh my how fun would that be! So I started sketching and writing down ideas. I can not wait to do this for him. I think he is really going to love it!!! A special room for a very special little boy.

Then we still have the master.......................... still undone.......................still blah and boring............ still making me itch when I go in there. Ugh. I bought that bedding from Target and ended up taking it back. When it arrived it didn't look like it did in the picture online......... and it was pretty hyper. Yeah, hyper. BIG BOLD flowers just screaming at ya! Now I don't know about you but when I go to lay down at night to sleep I don't want big bold flowers screaming at me.

I want my bedroom to be calm and soothing. I keep thinking I should do red because that is my color, right? But I keep going back to blue!

Here are some inspiration rooms I like.....................

These first two pictures are from the Ralph Lauren website.

These next rooms are all from Cottage Living website. Love that site!!
Here is a very french looking room. Elegant, understated, beautiful.

This is a cute but romantic cottage style room. There is something very cozy about this room.

I love the yellow and blue toile in this room............

This room has probably got to me my favorite though................

I love the simple beauty of it.

Now the problem with all of this blue is that I still have the red bug in the back of my head. I know how I would ideally love to do my room but I have these beautiful antique dressers and I can not bring myself to paint them. If I could I would paint them white and all would be well and progressing in decorator land. But I just can't do it! So, I have to find a way to incorporate them into my design and achieve the look I want just as they are. Until then I guess my bedroom is just going to continue to make me itch.

I will focus on the nursery and Kyle's rooms for now. Both rooms shouldn't take me more than a week to do though once I get them started. Maybe I will find something in the meantime for my room and if not.............well it is just going to have to wait some more.

Have a great evening everybody!

-Heather :)

Dinner Anyone??

Today I thought I would share a recipe with you that I made for dinner last night. I am always finding recipes and trying them and then I play and tweak until I think it is better. he he he This used to drive my husband crazy- but lucky for me he eats everything I put in front of him and rarely complains!! When we first started dating and I played around with recipes or created my own I would have some that turned out okay when others were so awful we would end up calling for take out. Over the years I have learned a lot, now know what spices pair well with others, how to prepare things and therefore lately have a much higher success rate!!

Okay, here are the ingredients you will need...........


EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) Seasoned bread crumbs, spinach, smoked Gouda cheese, gala apples, ground nutmeg, lemon juice, Dijon Mustard and skinless, boneless chicken breast.
Now I rarely measure anything- I just throw stuff in. I will try and be as exact as possible!

I use 3 skinless boneless chicken breasts (because that is how much feeds my family) so if you need to prepare more, then just adjust the recipe accordingly.

3 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts, trimmed of all fat
4 ounces of smoked Gouda cheese- grated
3 handfuls of spinach- finely chopped (I usually use fresh but only could find the bagged last time)
1 Gala apple- peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice
1/4 teaspoon of ground Nutmeg

Prepare all ingredients. Be sure and grate the outside of the cheese too for the best smoked flavor!!

Mix cheese, spinach, apple, lemon juice, Dijon and nutmeg together in a bowl -by hand.

Next, using a sharp knife, cut a "pocket" into the chicken breast from front to back side to side as big as you can without slicing through the outside edges. I am sure there has to be a fancy culinary term for this but "pocket" works for me!!

Now take your mixture and stuff each breast as full as you can. Coat each breast with the EVOO on all sides and then coat with the seasoned bread crumbs. Coat the bottom of the baking dish with a combination of water and EVOO just until the bottom is coated- not too much- don't wanna drown your bird!! Place chicken in the baking dish and then sprinkle the top of each breast lightly with more ground nutmeg.

Bake- uncovered- at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour. I bake them for one hour and get perfect results but every oven varies so use your own judgement.

And Voila!! A delicious stuffed chicken! This meal has been one I have made for family dinners and when we have entertained and it gets rave reviews every time! It is so good!! It has somewhat of a rich flavor to it with the Gouda but the spinach and apple helps balance it nicely.

I really need to learn how to take better pictures of food! Trust me- it is much prettier in person!

I haven't named the recipe so I guess we will just call it Heather's Stuffed Chicken. LOL!!!

Enjoy!!

~Heather :)

My Family Visit- Part Two

As I had mentioned in the last post, my family came up to visit us for the weekend. Day one was a lot of fun and we wanted to make day two memorable for them as well. Since they all stayed in a nearby hotel Saturday evening we met them for breakfast to fuel up for our day! After we were all stuffed beyond the ability to walk we headed to our next destination. My favorite town ever! This is the quintessential, all-American little historic town filled with century old homes, quaint little shops and boutiques and a beautiful park and waterfalls. If I could pick anywhere to live- this would be it. It just has an almost storybook quality to it. We spent most of our day right here, all of us going camera happy and snapping a gazillion pictures.............. but seriously with a view like this, how could we not??


It is just remarkable. The beauty, the calming sound and the breeze and mist that comes off of the falls is incredible and relaxing.

The ivy covered hill is so pretty and green!

You can see the boardwalk and the many, many stairs you have to walk to get down to the level where people are standing. Then, if you want to get clear down to where we ended up you have to take a stairway that is made out of mud and moss covered rocks- and no handrail baby!

Little shops and restaurants back up to the edge and overlook this gorgeous site! One of my favorite dinners ever was in a restaurant overlooking the falls. I don't think I even ate much- I just stared out the window. It is gorgeous during the day but even more so at night.

Here is Daddy and Kyle exploring............... actually Kyle was exploring a little too far from our comfort level and Daddy "rescued" him!

You would think that Daddy's arms would get really tired after awhile!

See all of the cute little ducks? They are so precious! Talk about getting tired! They keep swimming right up to the falls! I got worn out just watching them. LOL!!

After awhile they took a break to rest and relax in the sun.

I could have stayed here all day long.

Bella loved it too. She found a rock just her size and enjoyed sitting here and watching the ducks and the waterfall!!

Kyle.............. he finds a flag to buy every where we go. Literally- everywhere. He loves the flag! And he loves to explore. Today was an "adventure" right up his alley! This picture just melts my heart.

Me and My Baby. Not a great picture of me........... I was hot and exhausted and all of my make-up had worn off by this point!!! But I rarely get pictures taken with Marc so I was happy no matter what.

Here is some of the town and on the left here is a very famous little shop- known for it's popcorn and ice cream. Mostly the ice cream!!

There are flowers every where! In beds in the sidewalks, in planters, hanging off of railings and lamp posts. They are beautiful!

My favorite boutique! Full of eye candy........... so many ideas, so many thingies, so little money and time..............

Isn't this bench adorable?

I just love the displays in this shop...............

After a long morning it is time to head back to the car..................

And say goodbye to my wonderful brother and his beautiful wife, my fabulous cousin and my sweetheart of a best friend....................... I did OK with all of the hugs and kisses until I got to my brother. For some reason I just have a very hard time saying goodbye to him. I started crying and walked away and got in my van. I didn't want them to see me cry, although I am sure they knew.

It was an amazing weekend but it went by way too quickly. I loved having them all here with us and I miss them terribly already.

But I am thankful for the time I did have with them and praise God for blessing me with such wonderful family.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

~Heather :)

My Family Visit- Part One

I was going to wait until tomorrow to do this post. However, the kids are asleep and I can not so...
We had family come up this weekend to visit us. My brother and his wife and my cousin and his wife (who has also been my best friend since the first grade). It was a great weekend and we crammed a lot in!
They arrived on Saturday and after taking them the tour of our home we took off to show them my favorite market. This trendy market is part open air and part indoors. I discovered this market about 7 years ago and used to go at least a couple of times a week. So much that the vendors started calling me by name and saving me "the good stuff" when they knew I was coming! There isn't too much you can't find here and the atmosphere is so fun it was a place I really wanted to take my family. They really enjoyed it! There are two huge halls of produce. The halls are covered with a ceiling but the rest is open. It's fun because you can go up and down the isles and barter with people for the best deal- especially close to closing time.


For the most part all of the vendors are super friendly and you can pick pieces to sample before buying.......

Even if you pay what they are asking you still get a much better bargain- and fresher products than buying from the grocery store.

The inside part of the market is located in a historic building in this beautiful downtown area.

Aww....... isn't that a cute site??

The ceilings in this building are incredible.

Rows and rows of anything you can think of and even things you wouldn't think of. There is even a fish department where the guys do the song and fish toss. It is very cool to watch but, unfortunately, we didn't make it in there. Which is fine because I don't really like the smell!

This was the first time my husband had ever been here too. I'm not sure who was more fascinated- the kids or the adults!

The meat selection is beautiful but- seriously, that poor piggy!

And the cheese............... the glorious cheese............ my biggest addiction. The selection is almost too overwhelming. I have a hard time not jumping up and down when I see this beautiful site! Smoked Gouda please!!!

One of the best booths in the entire market (for me anyway) is the spice and sauce booth. They have every spice imaginable and at very good prices! I bought some Cilantro, some Chervil and........... my bargain of the day............. the spice that I have pawned over and dreamt of adding to my collection................ the "gold" of all spices.............. the world's most precious spice................. (DRUM ROLL PLEASE).........

Pure Spanish Saffron! Oh I wanted to sing!!!!!!! And I did! I did my happy jig singing "It's my birthday, uh huh!" I picked up 3 grams of the saffron for $30!!!!! I was so thrilled with my purchase and guarded this stuff with my life all the way back to the car. Silly? Perhaps. But if you know anything about Saffron- this was truly a bargain! I was a happy girl. And if it weren't for my husband asking the lady if she had some hidden behind the counter I would have never thought of it. Bless his heart!

After we left the market we hit a cute little deli that served deli sandwiches and Mediterranean foods. After filling up on Reuben's and Humus we headed home.

We hung out for awhile and just chatted and had a big storm hit. We love storms and my family was overjoyed with the nickle size hail that was falling from the sky. Apparently it doesn't take much to thrill us!

As it got late the four of them took off to a horse race that my brother's boss had horses in. His boss had given us loge seating and unfortunately we were unable to go due to a last minute babysitter cancellation. But it was okay as we were beat!

Not ten minutes after they left Kyle started yelling "A rainbow! A rainbow! Come look!" I ran to the door of our balcony and there in the sky was the most beautiful site! Not one but two rainbows!!!!!!!!! A double! And you could see the full arch of both of them stretching across the grey blue sky!!!!!! What a gorgeous and rare treat! We stood out on the balcony and stared at the rainbow until it disappeared into the darkening sky. Of course I snapped over a hundred pictures in the meantime!

The kids were fascinated. Kyle said "Mommy- what a special treat this is!" Even at his young age he realizes the beauty a rainbow beholds....................



While my husband bathed the kids I ran to the store and picked up 2 bottles of champagne. I took the champagne and some cards to the hotel and had the desk clerk help me chill them in beautiful silver ice buckets and place them in the rooms where my family was staying. My brother and his wife just celebrated a wedding anniversary at the end of May and my cousin and his wife will be celebrating their one year anniversary next week. I wanted to surprise them when they got back from the races. The desk clerk was more than happy to assist!

We received a call around midnight that they were safe in their hotel rooms and tickled with the surprise!!

Day two of the visit is in the next post. So as they say:

TO BE CONTINUED......................... (suspenseful, isn't it?) he he he

Be Back Tomorrow

We had a big weekend with family in town. It was WONDERFUL! I will have a big post with a ton of pictures tomorrow!
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
~Heather :)