Let's Play A Game

It seems lately I am playing the CATCH UP game more often than not. 

If it's not planning for the upcoming Farm Chicks Junk Junket in June, it's laundry, dishes, finding the dining room table under all the mail, trying to get taxes done (which by they way, they aren't), figuring out what to do with my overstock of buttermilk from our milk deliveries, or trying to remember what I'm suppose to be doing and where I'm suppose to be at on any given day. 

So today..............

As I consume Peeps, cookies and Diet Coke I'll be dragging you with me in my game of CATCH UP

So let's catch up on blogging................

Last week Tiffany at Shabby Scraps hosted a weekend crafting retreat that I have heard through the grapevine was FABULOUS!

You should go visit her (and scroll through a weeks worth of posts because she's NOT behind) and take a look at her pictures and read about it.

So Friday before all the guest were to arrive at Tiffany's, Donna and I met up with Lisa and Isabel for a little junkin and luncheon in Sumner.

It was so much fun to shop and visit with them for a little while. 

Thank you Lisa and Isabel for asking us to come meet you.  It was fun and we have to do it more often!

Go check out Lisa and Isabel's blogs also for great stories and pictures about their weekend in Washington.

Taken at Today's Country Store

One of our favorite places in Sumner. 

On the way home from Sunmer Donna and I swung into Kirkland to the new of home of Haley's Cottage for a grand opening party.

Have you been there yet?  It's down on the waterfront on Parkplace next to Cactus Resturant.

Lunch and Haley's sounds like the perfect plan to me!

It's a beautiful store! 

If you haven't been in there yet, go see Cindy and her fabulous new space.

You will love it!

After all that running around on Firday,  I had to stay home on Saturday to at least get PJ's skivvies washed.

BUT THEN....................

On Sunday...

I was honored to have been able to go help Deb and Bob Kennedy of Retreat Style.

They were having a private opening at their fabulous little farm on Camano Island

called "Petite Retreat".

They will be holding sales here throughout the spring and summer starting May 8th.

They have truly outdone themselves!  Everything was just beautiful

Lots of beautiful custom furniture pieces

Now you know my pictures aren't that great but if you go over to

Deb's blog  and again.............scroll through a weeks worth of posts (because she isn't behind) you will find some fabulous pictures.

No detail was missed!

Marybeth and Julie

The lovely ladies of Poppyseeds in Stanwood

When planning your trip out to Petite Retreat this is right on the way.

You will want to be sure and stop in and say hello to them.

Join Poppyseed's fan page on Facebook.

The parking lot help trying to warm up

Be sure to join Retreat Style fan page on Facebook for updates on upcoming shows and events.

After leaving the Petite Retreat Sale, PJ and I headed to my parents house for an early Easter dinner and egg hunting.

Since PJ and I had planned to be gone over Easter, we thought this would be a good day to do it and Princess Spoiled Brat was available for egg hunting.

This was a special egg that Princess Spoiled Brat made for PJ

Let's not tell him that the egg and his head look alot alike.

Just sayin.....................

All the eggs were collected and accounted for

then it was time to let the deviled egg makin begin!

It's not a party until the deviled eggs come out!

Then last week it was a week of still trying to play catch up and getting ready to go over to

Pacific Beach for Easter.

Lots going on with Come Junk With Us

Did you know that there are only 25 days left to buy tickets for the Junk Junket?

That's right!! April 30th is the cut off date for ticket sales.

Did you see The Farm Chick blog ?

She's giving away a seat on the bus

 A $625 value

Also.......................

Saturday April 17th

I will be co-hosting a sale at Annie's in Snohomish

Annie is having an Anniversary Sale and I will be there selling tickets for the Farm Chicks Junk Junket.

I'm working on a little something for those of you who come down and buy your tickets that day.

Stay tuned!

Have a great day!

Tickled Pink

Ever have those days, weeks or months where everything goes wrong?  Seems like ya can’t catch a break.

Then life mellows out a little bit.  You totally forget about the day, weeks, months where nothing went right. 

Then

BAM!!!

All of a sudden stuff starts happening that you have to keep pinching yourself to make sure it’s real!

Well that’s how it was for me last week

It started out with being invited to Juanita Cafe for dinner by my cousins Jim and Angie

Who were visiting from out of town

Jim and Angie are our Family Reunion organizer extraordinaires.

If you have never been to the Juanita Cafe it’s a Foodies dream.  It was fabulous!

and……………….we got some ideas in the thinker for this years Family Reunion.
I’m excited for summer already.

Then the week kept getting better…………..

Check out this photo

Serena (The Farm Chick) , Deb (Retreat) , and Lisa (Salvage Studio)

Not pictured…… Kim (Mimi Charmante)  She had to leave early and we were all so engrossed in eating that we didn’t think about a picture before she left.

Sorry Kim I was totally thinking cupcake not picture.

I KNOW!!! 

Can you believe that?  Yes, it’s me! 

Me! Amongst some very talented, smart, and very photogenic women.  I had to keep pinching myself.

**side note*** Can a girl take some photo posing classes somewhere? God knows I could use them!

I know your sitting there thinking, How , Where, Why????

Well I got wind of Serena coming to town and I totally invited myself.   We had lunch at Dahlia  downtown Seattle.  It was stinkin delicious!

Lunch was fabulous………………

It was so fabulous I got not one picture of lunch.

but I did get a picture of our waiter preparing desert!  You know I wouldn’t miss that!

Preparing the little fresh doughnuts with vanilla mascarpone cheese and huckleberry jam. 

Poor Serena sat next to me with those little pillows of happiness.

About 5 seconds was all I could take before I had to have one.

No!  I didn’t just eat off her plate!

I sat there and looked pathetic enough she finally asked if I wanted one.

My mom didn’t raise a total heathen

Don’t they look nummy? 

They were!

Lisa and I taking pictures of each other. 

I was tickled to death to be able to spend the afternoon with these ladies.  It was so cool to sit, visit and get to know these ladies outside of blogland and shows.

Can’t wait to do it again sometime.

Another reason I was tickled pink this last week………………………

See these boots?

I bought them about 8 years ago.  They have been my work boot friend over the years.  We have mowed lawns, cut trees, pruned bushes, camped in unfavorable weather, taken the dog out in unfavorable weather, and visited friends at horse barns.  A lot of Fakebusy happened in these boots.

Well they finally wore out.  They became uncomfortable and the bottoms didn’t have enough tread on them anymore so they were super slick on wet surfaces.

A hazard!

Well about 4 months ago I threw them out and have been telling The Hubs that I need to go buy another pair. 

As you know I’m also AKA… Princess Lazy Ass

so getting some new "work” boots isn’t on the top of my priority list.

“I can’t, I don’t have the right shoes” is one of my favorite excuses.  Also it’s so lame that most people (The Hubs) just look at you like your stupid and don’t ask for help anymore.

Well after having lunch with my friend Charlene last week I was on my way home and I took a wrong turn.

I know!

I should know where I’m going to get home.

Well I was talking on my cell phone and turned too soon.

Which put me right in front of

Work’n More

Since the weather has taken a turn and it’s time to think about getting ready for cold weather I decided that I would stop in and see if they had some new “work” boots.

To my surprise………

That’s right!

Pink!

I love them!  They were a special promotion for October Breast Cancer Awareness Month.   They still have lots of sizes left but the ladies told me they would be getting them in again in March.  Work’n More is taking orders for the March shipment.  They also had little girls which were very cute! 

So I brought my new boots home and was so excited.

The Hubs took one look at them and laughed and said “looks like you still don’t have the right shoes”

He’s probably right.

Oh this story gets better……..

Last spring I bought a Peony Pink down vest from Land’s End.  I put it in the closet and kind of forgot about it.

It matches my shoes perfect

Which also matches

my Vera Bradley Hopes Garden Hipster

Yeah I know it’s a lot of pink and I’m not sure I’ll wear it all together but I was

Tickled Pink that it all matched.

All in all it was a great week at The House of B’s.  Good food, good friends, new friends, added some pink to my wardrobe and………..I still don’t have the right shoes!

Farm Chicks 2009

AWESOME!

This is the only word I could come up with that described this years road trip to Spokane for The Farm Chicks Show.

I don't know how they did it, but those ladies put on an even better show than last year. In fact The Farm Chicks should think about changing the event name to
The Farm Chicks Antique and Amazing Talented People Show.

I talked with Twiggy 59 Accessories when I first got in to the show and she put in to words exactly what the feeling was in the air at this show.

"This is the most amazing show, every woman in this building gets it!

We might not all have the same tastes but we all have a common thread and we all get it. It makes me almost cry if I think about it too long."

If you have never been to a Farm Chicks Show you need to plan on attending one. Gather up your best junkin buddies, shit shoppin girl friends, or who ever and make the pilgrimage. Even if it's just one time, do it! You will not be sorry at all.

Because it was so much fun and such an amazing experience this year I'm just going to give you the high lights. I'm not going to try and describe every detail of every moment I was in Spokane. I would never be able to. You just can't fully explain how fantastic this show is.

This is something we are all going to be talking about for the next 12 months.

Not to mention.........I'm helping my mother get ready for her 45 years of accumulation garage sale this weekend.

It's going to be a lot of work!

We arrived on Thursday evening. Had a nice dinner, then walked down by the falls. If you haven't done this you should. It's beautiful. Not to mention a good way to walk off dinner.

Donna on the left, Michele on the right. This is part of my posse that went over to Spokane with me. WSU Laura and her mom drove separately.

Michele is my nurse friend whom I have been friends with since I was in the 4th grade. Donna and I met while working together 6 or 7 years ago and have stayed close friends ever since.

They were my posse last year too.

Donna is addicted to her G-Crack. I'm addicted to my Crackberry too but Donna is the only one who got caught on camera.

Friday Morning we got up early and headed out to Coeur d' Alene Idaho to check out Mary Jane Butters Farm store that has opened.

Donna and I have just recently become Mary Jane Butter fans so we really wanted to go check it out since we were so close while in Spokane.

Half hour in the truck........................

Here we are! It's so exciting!

We wondered, we touched, we took pictures, we purchased and we decided that one day we have to make it a point to attend one of her shows.

This cute Tear Drop Trailer was set up outside Mary Jane Butters store.

It's the Mary Jane Butters trailer that you can purchase.

It's very cute!

Then we ventured out of the Plaza and down the street where we came across

Coeur d' Alene Olive Oil Company.

AMAZING!

These are some fantastic oils. I purchased a couple and can't wait to use them. I got Blood Orange Olive Oil and Lime Olive Oil.

I'll let you know what I use them in. They were good just on bread!

This is Janie.

She not only provided us with excellent customer service but she was just a fun amazing woman. Stop in and see her when your in

Coeur d' Alene.

After a full day of shopping we decided to hit one of WSU Laura's favorite old college drinking spots. She was itchin for a Derailer.

The Iron Horse is where you can get the famous Derailer.

I don't think WSU Laura remembered this little cocktail was served in a BUCKET!

With a little help from friends................

It got polished off.

Timi and Donna.

No need to e-mail me and let me know I need a new bra. I see it! I'm on it!

Probably taking care of it as you are reading this.

After we left Coeur d' Alene we headed back to Spokane where I wanted to try and find the Riverside State Park. I had heard that The Sisters On The Fly were going have some of their famous trailer caravan there and I had to see it.

I have been an admirer of these ladies ever since I saw them featured on HGTV

about 6 years ago. I have been following their media ever since. I just recently read an article about them in Mary Jane's Farm Magazine.

I had to go!

My pictures aren't that great and it was a little awkward making Donna and Michele hang out the windows and take pictures while I was driving as slow and inconspicuous as possible through the public camp ground.

We were driving by Miss Cammell Lot trailer and she yelled at me to "park that truck, get out and come talk with them." I couldn't get that truck parked fast enough! It was fun to meet some of the ladies and chat with them about their group. I was all set to sign up!

Donna, Michele and I were discussing what our trailer themes would be and were we would start shopping for old trailers on the way back to the hotel.

***Side note** The Hubs is totally NOT on board with me getting an old trailer and him fixing it up so I can take off every weekend without him. I won't be doing this any time soon. Still just admiring from afar.

Saturday....................THE DAY!!!!

It's finally here!

WSU Laura and I are READY!

We have our aprons, we have our shopping carts and most of all we have our blog badges.

For those of you just tuning in........there was an organized blogger meeting while at the Farm Chicks. Kim at Camp Whimsy was the intital organizer of this event.

A again.........WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA!

The line waiting to get in to the show on Saturday morning. This year wasn't so bad. No rain, more ticket sales booths, no vendor outside the entry door and it was just a lot nicer. Not to mention this year you could stand and visit with people in line.

We had the nicest group of ladies from Spokane and Salem Oregon. They were there celebrating one of the ladies birthday. They had come out to stay with another friend who owned a Bed and Breakfast. Now that's a friendship a girl needs!

These ladies were so much fun. We had a great time with them in line.

In front of us was another group of ladies that were from Edmonds. This was their first time to Farm Chicks and they were so excited they could hardly stand it. You could see waiting in line was killing them.

Hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.

My first group of blogger buddies I ran in to was Kal and Angie from Bella Country. I met them last year while they were admiring the shopping cart I had just bought at A Thing For Roses. Kal and I have maintained an e-mail friendship over the last year and were really looking forward to seeing each other again.


Kim from Camp Whimsy. The woman who started this whole blog badge party.

Some of the blog badge participants that we could round up for a group photo.

Laurie from Magpie Ethel

I was so bummed that I didn't get to chat with Laurie more.

I remembered her from last year because I had admired her cute shopping cart every time she walked by. Then this year.........I got to meet her but didn't get to chat much because I was acting like an idiot with excitement because she was the woman with the cute cart from last year.

This is my posse that I went with.

Donna, Michele, WSU Laura, Laura's mom Susan.

It was another fabulous weekend.

Lisa from A Thing For Roses and myself doing the soroity pose that WSU Laura taught us.
Lisa and I also met last year when I bought my shopping cart from her. We have developed a friendship from there.



Lisa and Isabel had a rocky start getting to the show and I was so happy to see them at the show.


Isabell at Maison Douce

Isabell told us some "spicy" jokes at dinner and we were still laughing about it on the way home Sunday.

Thanks Isabell!

Even more blog badge participants

WSU Laura

Mermaids of The Lake

Magpie Ethel

A Thing For Roses

Maison Douce

Camp Whimsy

Tinker Verve

Unexpected Necessities

Donna and I both got our Farm Chicks Cookbooks signed by Teri and Serena.

This was just as exciting as when I met Paula Deen.

That's another story for another day.

Kal I really did meet her.

After the show on Saturday we went to Chaps for dinner.

FABULOUS!!!!!

I can't say enough wonderful things about this resturant.

Food was fantastic

Atomosphere fantastic

Service fantastic

This is definatley a must drive out of your way to spot while in Spokane.

Wish I had pictures but I was too busy stuffing my face and laughing with

Joy, Teri, Lisa, Isabell, Donna, Michele, and Laura.

The Farm Chicks Show is something I look forward to all year long.

It's an amazing show.

Here are some other bloggers that I met but didn't get pictures with.

Go check out everyone's blog to see pictures and their stories from the show.

Queen of Tarte

Barn House

Annies

Duchess

Teresa Sheeley

Heart Rocks Home

Simply Stork

Jacquie Richel

Twiggy 59 Accessories

(I couldn't find a website or blog for her. I wish she did her accessories are fantastic)

I know there were other ladies I met and didn't mention. I'm so sorry if I missed mentioning you. I enjoyed meeting everyone and I'm still on a Farm Chicks High.

I could probably write more about this trip each week until next year.

Ok, my mother is calling me. I gotta go!