~CALIFORNIA DREAMING with FAMILY and FRIENDS~

~AT COUNTRY ROADS~

Orange, California

Today I'm going to share with you a few more pictures of my Cali getaway.  I hope they will make you smile!  While I'm at it I'm going to ATTEMPT to make my way around all the changes to Blogger!  BAH!  The new layout is making me NUTS! 

~I WANT THIS BENCH~

(and everything else you see, too!)

The picture you see at the top was taken two weeks ago last Tuesday.  My big sister, Linda,my sister-in-love, Ginger and I had a great time shopping at Country Roads in Orange, California.  My brother, Bill, was such a trooper and let the three of us shop until we dropped.  It was such a fun day and the memories of it all will be with me forever.  I love my family!!!!

~BEAUTIFUL TANZA and ME~

Now...you don't think I went all the way to my home-state without finding time to visit with my longtime friend, Sweet Tea (Tanza), do you?  No-sir-ree!  After my family and I shopped all day Miss Tea graciously met up with us for an early dinner.  She worked all day and still managed to squeeze in a visit with her Okie-friend.  We dined at a sweet eatery in Orange and then Miss Tea drove around with us and pointed out some of the most famous homes in Orange.

 ~HISTORICAL CRAFTSMAN HOME~

One of the homes on our mini tour was that of Tea's beloved cousin, Sandy and her husband, Rick!   Sandy and Rick live in a Craftsman Home (Craftsman Homes were originally built using a KIT and sold by Sear's) and it is the most charming thing I've ever seen.  Every room in the house looks magazine perfect and I can't help but wonder WHY I haven't seen this amazing home in print before.  It's on the historical register from what I understand so all the updates must be approved... 

~BEAUTIFUL LADY~

This is Sandy!  Isn't she just darling?  You can see in the background a bit of her incredible home.  Want to know what else?  They didn't even know we were coming and everything was picture-ready!  

 ~AMAZING KITCHEN~

Their fabulous kitchen!  Sorry for the less than fabulous photography skills here...  Love the sink and the island!  The house isn't overdone and yet warm and inviting!  Incredibly beautiful!

~WARM and INVITING~

This is a shot of Rick and Sandy's living room.  We interupted Rick watching TV I'm afraid.  Look how lovely it is!  Again...they didn't know anyone was coming!

~THE GAZEBO~

 The backyard was breathtaking!  Rick and Sandy recently hosted a wedding here!  Beautiful!  More than beautiful!

~G is for GREEN...and LIFE~

 I had forgotten how lovely California foliage can be.  It's the one thing I miss...it's beautiful in Oklahoma but the heat sometimes kills our flowers off early if we aren't careful with them.

 ~GRILL 'EM UP~

This is Rick's Bar-B-Q joint! :)  I love it

Thanks to Miss Sandy and Mr. Rick for allowing my family and I to barge in unannounced for a visit to your lovely home.  You were both so nice and kind and I can see why Miss Tea loves you so much!  I'm so hoping to see your entire home in print someday!  Long overdue and totally deserved!

Still have so much to share with you...I'll keep it for next week!!!

Hope your day is wonderful!  Tonight my daughter Adrienne and I are going to the Oklahoma Ballet to see

The Wizard of Oz.

I love spending time with my girl-child.  I can't believe she's been married almost five years now!  This is our second time to attend the Ballet together and this year it's my Mother's Day treat!

More soon!  Love to you...

~THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME~

 When my family and I moved away from my childhood home in Southern Cali in late 1974 I never expected I'd ever see the inside of the house again.  I don't know about you but I'm not the kind of person who is willing to walk up to the front of a house, knock on the door and announce to the current resident that I once lived in their house and then ask to come in a look around.

But thankfully my big sister is.

Well, sort of!

My brother Bill and I asked begged her to do it!

Linda actually asked if we could take pictures in our old front yard and the kindest man EVER not only said yes, but invited us inside as well!  I can't even begin to tell you all what a blessing this was for the three of us.

I never dreamed when I walked out of that home in August 1974 that I'd ever peek inside it again.  It's been nearly 38 years since my family called the tiny house on Sigman Street home.

 Now...this is not our home...but it's nearly identical to what it looked like back in 1962.  I grew up in a track-home neighborhood where every fourth house was the same.  This house is a couple streets away and not far from the one my parents bought for less than $10K.  The home above still has the crank out glass slated windows and the original garage.  Betcha it has a wall heater and no AC either!

A few years ago this is what our home looked like.  The windows were updated and the garage door replaced.  It also had a newer roof as the one we had was originally rock.

 The house today is in the process of being completely updated and lots of remodeling is taking place on the inside.  The original 950SF floor plan has probably been doubled in size as additions have been added to both sides and across the entire back.  The windows have once again been changed and the front door enlarged and repositioned.

 See this sweet picture above?  It was taken in January 1974 before the Winter Formal hosted by our high school.  That is Linda and I (on the left) all dressed up and ready to go.  I had just turned 15 and that guy was my BLIND DATE (I never saw him again)!  In the picture the doorjamb you can barely see behind me is shown in the photo below...

 The ceilings in the house have been raised and if you look carefully at the wall above the door you can see where the original ceiling once was.  To the left of this doorway we had a raggedy old wall heater...it was tiny and had to heat the entire house.  I use to dry my hair in front of it as a teenager and when I was little I tried to dry the hair of my Midge Barbie Doll but ended up melting off her, um...chest!

(Isn't it funny what you remember?)

The white door you see in the hallway is the only bathroom we had in our home at the time...

Linda and I never had any pictures taken of us in our bedroom while growing up and so I was very excited when the current owner allowed us to snap some pictures.  I can't even begin to tell you how tiny this room is!  My French Provincial twin headboard was against the wall where you see the lamp and Linda's was on the other side.  A wee little chest was between our beds and a matching one was by the door. 

I remember clearly the day I snapped this picture of my daddy back in 1969.  Long before he fell prey to the MONSTER IN THE BRAIN he was vibrant, healthy and strong.  He was weeding out the area around our water meter...

I'm not sure why, but I was overwhelmed with the thought of snapping a picture of the same area before we drove away.  I love how both the cement cracks/seams can be seen in each photo.  What I wouldn't give to have seen my father sitting there as well.  :....(

I know we can never really go 'home' once we've grown up and moved away.  But...even though the decor and the layout of my childhood home has greatly changed it was a blessing to be allowed back inside.  In many ways it will always be HOME for me.

(Thank you God...Thank you Mr. Nguyen!)

Want to know one of the life-lessons I learned while on this trip? 

Someday if some nice looking siblings knock on my front door with a bunch of childhood pictures showcasing our La Chaumière de Briarwood I'll think twice before turning them away.

 Hope your day is blessed!  More about my Cali Trip soon!

Love to you...

 

~LAYERED LINENS in FRESH WHITE~

 Last Sunday my Mr. AGPMan and I hosted a wee Easter dinner for my daughter and her hubby.  Generally our table is crowded with family but not this year!  To celebrate the Holy Day on Saturday evening my girl and I loaded up my slow cooker with everything needed for a scrumptious pot roast meal and also took the time to pre-make things like soft biscuits (made with yeast), fruit salad and vanilla cupcakes.  By the time we returned home from church on Sunday our dinner was ready!  The fresh white roses and soft white tulips we had as a centerpiece (and made by our girl) wimped out and so they are currently hanging upside down to dry naturally....  My silk hydrangeas had to step in for this photo! :)

 Since our formal dining room will seat twelve in a pinch the room is just too large for such a small group.  So, I decided to layer my breakfast room table with a combination of new and vintage linens and dine there instead.  I'm sooo loving our new French Doors and all the sunlight that streams in!  I rummaged through some long forgotten display things from my days as a shop owner and found a simple tablecloth I made about twenty years ago.  Fashioned out of white cotton batiste the square cloth includes a deep ruffle and fit my round table perfectly!  On top of it I placed a round Battenburg cloth and then a smaller cloth trimmed with crochet lace!  I love the layered look so much I'm keeping it like this for a while...maybe throughout Spring!

The box I shipped back home from Cali came today!  Inside was this fabulous wreath I snagged at Home Goods in West Covina!  It is simple and uncomplicated and perfect for my home!  I'm telling you...it's a gooooood thing we don't have one of those stores here.  TJMaxx and Marshall's are good...but not that good!  I love how the wreath looks propped up on my mantle!

Isn't this a fabulous lace curtain?  I found this at the Community Thrift Store not far from my brother's Cali home.  It was $2.99 and is huge, huge, huge!!!  I'm going to remake the header and use it in our remodeled upstairs bath!  It's a soft white and is in perfect condition!  SCORE!

 While in Cali I snapped this photo of one of the homes in Orange.  This home and it's gorgeous gardens took my breath away!  Yesterday I shared with you I wanted a picket fence...I also want an arbor...

I'm continuing to dream....

(and my guy continues to ROLL HIS EYES!)

This is another home I saw during my trip and I think this one was also in Orange.  Next to the homes in Orange my favorite homes were in Pasadena.  I've never seen such beauty.  Old, stately homes that are absolutely lovely! 

Today I'm linking up with Kathleen at Faded Charm for White Wednesday!  Hope you'll hop on over to her fabulous place and check out all the fresh and beautiful whites showcased this week! 

Hope your Wednesday is lovely!

Love to you...

~PICKET FENCE DREAMING~

I so loved being in my home state of California last week and a big part of me didn't want to come back home to Oklahoma.  I'd have stayed longer if I could have...I miss my family so much!

  Cali is already so green and lush and flowers are blooming everywhere!  It all took my breath away and I came home with lots of wonderful landscape ideas for my La Chaumière de Briarwood!

 I'll talk about the shopping later...  I found so many fabulous things I had to ship them back home via Fed Ex Ground! :)

I snapped the picture you see at the top of a sweet ranch style house near my brother's home.  I have always wanted a picket fence and this one stole my heart away!  I love how the gate area is recessed and not flush with the sidewalk.  I showed it to my Mr. AGPMan and someday we hope to do something similar...

(Can't you just see my guy rolling his big blue eyes?  He is!)

I'm dreaming here...  We are smack dab in the middle of a kitchen makeover and THAT is the priority right now!

On Saturday a big box was delivered to my front porch and I thought at first it was the one I'd shipped back to myself.

 

But when I looked closer I realized it was from one of my longtime friends I first met via eBay.

When I opened up the box it was filled up and over flowing with the most gorgeous vintage linens, lace doilies and old bolts of ribbon I've seen in a long time.   I know for certain gathering up so many treasures would have taken lots of tag-sale-shopping to acquire!

 Even then finding just the old ribbon would have taken a miracle.  Very, very hard to snag these days...especially the soft shell pinks sent to me!

I can't wait to dig in and start creating with these wonderful old finds!  Thank you, Michele.  You are such a sweet, precious friend to me and so very, very generous!  I hope someday to meet you in person and give you a huge hug...

You bless me more than you can know!

I came home with a pile of work to tend to and for that I'm grateful.  I also returned with a pretty nasty upper respiratory thingy and so I'm feeling pretty crummy so you may not see or hear from me for a few days!

I'm still blog-hopping and trying to catch up on your most recent posts!  I've missed out on so much!

More soon!

Love to you...

~HOME AGAIN - HOME AGAIN~

Dear People...

Early, early this morning my MahMah and DadDee came back to me.  After being away from home for ten full days they pulled their SUV into the driveway just before the crack of dawn and I'm happy to tell you all is well.  They are home again...safe at last!  MahMah said they both had a wonderful time but I'm thinkin' she was probably really miserable without me.  She didn't say as much...it's just a hunch!

My Mahm is VERY tired and is sleeping soundly in her own bed.  As soon as I finish typing this note to you I will return to her and snuggle back in close to her side.  I missed her sooo much!  I was pretty upset when she left me last week even though my big "human" Seezter, Adrienne, took great care of me while she and my DadDee were gone.  Adrie doesn't give me the treats my MahMah does and her hubby doesn't allow me to sleep on top of the "people bed" at night. :(  That kinda bummed me out (I guess I'm pretty spoiled by my 'rents!).  Soooo...you can imagine how close I came to tinkling excited I became when they both walked in the door and MahMah scooped me up and held me tight.  

She missed me very, very much.  She loves me!  Yes!  Yes!  MahMah loves her Yorkie-Girl!

Anyway...I just wanted to tell you that she will be back sometime tomorrow.  Today I'm keeping her ALL to myself and I'm not allowing her to get onto her computer.  I immediately started crying when she opened her office door because I KNOW what that means!  I'm pretty jealous and don't like it when she gets really busy and doesn't give me  LOTS ALL of her attention.

Thank you for thinking of her while she abandoned me was traveling about and for all the sweet notes you sent her way.  She can't wait to chat with you all and tell you all about her trip!

Love, Mollie

(MahMah's Favorite Canine Child)