A Quick Trip to Idaho and Helping My Daughter Reinvent Her Life!!

Scott and I left immediately after hosting our Empty Nester Family Home Evening Group on Monday night and headed to Twin Falls, Idaho, arriving at 3:00 (Yawn) A.M.  Brittany and Mike hosted us on an amazingly HUGE air mattress .... and I didn't see the light of day until 9:00 A.M.

Here we see Scott with the moving van.  Britt and Mike unloaded a lot of big stuff when they got to Idaho the evening before, at least of third of the van had been emptied.  Amazing people!!

This is Scott maneuvering the tread mill.  Britt is barely noticeable behind him...  That was the best I could do!  Note that it is starting to snow, good times.

Alex, 4, who had chosen to take the long trip with his parents on Monday afternoon rather than coming up with his brother Kai on Friday, started arranging some of his own belonging.  He loves stuffed animals, and this particular arrangement made me laugh ... the huddled bears vs the dinosaur ...

Here is the man himself!!

... and of course the lunch run!!  (Note the sack of Cafe Rio goodies ... from the recently proclaimed number one fast food restaurant in AMERICA!!  I knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the USA figured it out!!) This is the only picture of the exterior of the house that I was able to take, as my camera promptly gave up the ghost when I tried to zoom out to get the whole house .... Thank Goodness for the new camera that Rui's family gave us for Christmas!!

Now Britt and Mike are pretty much settled.  They have both boys in Idaho with them now.  Kai and Alex will start at their new schools on Monday.  The principal at Kai's elementary school has evidently won some amazing prestigious award.  Things bode well for the Mitko family of Twin Falls!!

Picture, Picture and Pretty as a Picture ....

So the first picture of which I speak is this one at my booth in Treasures Antique Mall.  A remnant of my cottage print collector phase, and one of my favorites .... However, evidently the frame came apart spontaneously, and I was amazed that it did fall to pieces and drop all to the floor .... lucky me!!

 Picture two was going to be a picture of my favorite in Rick Nye's show at the Provo Library, located in what was originally the BYU Academy.  Unfortunately the canvas flashed back at me :-( .The library is wonderful and worth the trip all by itself, but this month and next it will exhibit the photos of well known local photographer, Rick Nye.  The Photos and "Painted" Photos in this exhibit are all landscapes, though Rick also does wonderful work in the area of portraiture (of course) as well as other subjects.  The pictures in this exhibit were great!! My favorites were those that had been heavily 'brushed' and remind one of what the great French Impressionists did in the area of landscape work.  Just lovely!  Worth the trip, and free to the public.

And now for the Pretty as a picture part.  My friend Stacy, of affore mentioned, Stacysshabbyshoppe.com fame, has been reorganizing her office.  I have been consigning with her for several years, and it was fun to see that I now have my own shelf !  Her office has always looked nice, as does her amazing house, of course, but her latest binge of organizing has made it essentially perfect.  Her example may even nudge me into the direction of organizing and decorating my work space in the dungeon ... Hey, it could happen!

 This is her main work station.  Note the comfy pink fur throw that she snuggles into for winter listing time. Also the nice little flat screen on the wall above her monitor, so that she can watch favorite old movies while she works. In my less than snug dungeon work space,  I have an old TV-VCR that is currently digesting my sixth Pride and Prejudice tape and refuses to give it back ... time to up-grade, I guess.

And here is a shelf full of favorite items, just to set the mood.  Its just a lovely, lovely room!!  Thanks for coming along on the tour and thanks to Stacy for letting me include these shots!!

Reinvinting Kimberly's Room!!

Yep, its finally done. Though, I am thinking that Kim, who has been living in transition since she and her friend Shantell started stripping the wallpaper last summer, is feeling more closure than I am. At any rate, Kim loves it!

Here's our adorable, pretty as a model, Kim herself, dressed to match the room!  She's been a ton of fun to do the project with.  As, you may recall from a previous post, she hung in there with stripping the impossible wallpaper!

Here she is in another view with a glimpse of the fish tank that "had to stay".  I was lucky enough to find a sturdy table that was already black, at my favorite boutique for only $8.  This is also the best shot of the dresser that I painted in a black semi-glass oil based enamel ... the finish should last forever.  The drawer fronts are decoupaged in a Frenchie diamond check!!

This wall is a bit understated, as Kim asked me to leave room for her to add posters later.  These charming French Couture Advert plaques were a gift to me from my friend Stacy.  I told Kim that they are just on loan, as I adore them!!  (They were in my Black and White and Frenchie booth at the antique mall, with a NFS tag, to the frustration of several customers, for a long time!)

Here's a closeup of the 'Paris' pillow sham that I found at Treasures Antiques in Diane's booth (2160)!  She's had it forever, at least 5 years, so its about time that it finally found a home!!  I found the tiny heart and boa pillow on my way to Kim's yesterday, it was 75cents, brand new and complete with original tags!! Does it get better than that?

 These are those skimpy silver plate trays one sees everywhere for practically nothing!  I got the idea from my friend Becca's daughter Sagan's wedding reception. (I had Sagan in Joy School back during the late Jurassic period)  Sagan and her new husband had done the history of their pre-married life on the wall with pictures and paragraphs on this type of painted tray with scrapbook paper inserts, Adorable!!  I obviously loved it, since imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, right!!

Here's a close up of one of the Fleur de lis curtain tie backs.  I put this picture in for Bronwyn, who loves Fleur de lis,  in case she never sees the room.  It was Bronwyn's adorable pink and black and Frenchie room that got me kick started in the direction of doing Kim's room!!  Her inventive mother, Jennifer is a hot bed of terrific ideas for everything and anything.  Thanks girls!!

Here's a close up of one of the trays.  Its shows Kim (on the right) with her BFF, Shantel at Disneyland with us last year!!

So that is Kim's room!  The best part of doing the room was the time spent with Kim.  She is bright and bubbly and a joy to be around, so thanks to you too, Kim!!  And now on to redoing her brother Ian's room for his birthday in May.  At least I will have a bit of time off!