Star Cottage Cafe

I have such fond memories of playing restaurant with my best friend Kate and her little sister Sheila, when I was a little girl. It was so much fun, and I often reminisce about it when I see my own girls playing with their little kitchen. And now, even at thirty something, I sometimes like to don my apron and pretend I own a cafe, where I serve up delicious salad, fancy sandwiches and hot soups followed by irresistibly yummy deserts. Only difference is now I am actually playing with real food instead of that of the plastic, wooden or play-doh variety. My friends and family are gracious enough to play along. It really is quite fun. And I don't think we are ever too old to play pretend ;)
I only wish I lived close enough to my dear friends Kate and Sheila for a restaurant reunion.

Today's Lunch Menu~  

Piping Hot Panini, Fresh off the Press!~Hummus, Pesto, Spinach, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Shredded Carrots, Shredded Chicken (Marinated in Ranch Dressing) and Provolone, all Melted to Perfection on Home Made Sun Dried Tomato and Herb Bread.

Salad~ Spinach, Arugula, Romaine, Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Chopped Celery, Cucumbers, Yellow Peppers, Sliced Apples, Craisins, & Sunflower Seeds tossed in a Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Soup Du Jour~ Creamy Tomato

And For Dessert~ Strawberry Shortcake!

For the Love of Lavender

Lavender is my favorite flower, and smell. Last year I started 100 seedlings indoors and planted them along my walkway. They look so full and beautiful this year. I have been cutting bunches, and tying them and into bundles with scraps of ribbon, to give them to friends and also to hang around the cottage to dry and fill the air with their clean floral scent.

Fall is in the Air

We've been busy... this is what we've been up too ;) As you can see... it's really important stuff ;)

2 Amazing Little Girls + 1000's of Leaves + 1 Beautiful Autumn Day = 1 Happy Momma ;)

The Red Door

Yay! Yet another project to check off my very long list. I finally Painted our front door. It took 2 coats of grey primer and 3 coats of Red. I didn't make a mess either, Kevin was quite proud.

Ralph Lauren doesn't make exterior paint, but I love their color palette, so I asked them to color match it for me @ home Depot.

If you like the colors, it's Ralph Lauren "Derby Red" for the door.
Ralph Lauren "Yacht Blue" for the wider trim. I still need to paint the thin white door frame.
And flank the door with more pots of flowers. But until then I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Hot Air Ballons

They give balloon rides @ the Lake down the street. I have always loved hot air ballons, but I would never ever go in one. (I have a healthy fear of heights) But I love to watch them from our back deck. This one went right over our house.

Oh Christmas Tree...

...poor Christmas Tree.

I finally planted the Christmas tree. Our cottage is small, and we don't have room for a big old Christmas Tree. So we thought little potted ones would be a great alternative, and then we can plant them in the back yard when we are finished. I had been putting off getting it into the ground because I didn't think I could move it on my own. It had been sitting quite pretty by the front door for months. Dec 25th to be exact. I took it outside as soon as I had packed away the decorations. We were advised @ the nursery that you can only keep them indoors for a short time if you plan on planting them outside again.

It looks so teeny next to the Big old pine trees that were here when we bought the place nearly 4 yrs ago. I am so glad all the trees are now inside the fence. Speaking of the fence. We are going to stain it this year finally, I know it's about time. But I am torn between practical and pretty. I have always loved the "cottage" look of white, but our deck was stained that reddish/brown "natural" color when we got here, Lily's play house is that natural color as well and so is one of our picnic tables. I'd really like everything to match, But I think White might look better with our "cottage" since it is White with Navy Blue trim. All the men in my life, of course think it should be stained "Natural" because it is less maintenance and blends in with the surrounding trees etc.

Definately share your opinions with me, as I am having a tough time trying to decide.

Master Bath

Recently I have been reconnecting with old friends and they ask me what I have been up to. So this is what have we been doing for the last 3 and 1/2 years? Making babies and fixing up our little house. We are transforming an old 70's raised ranch into our dream home. "A little country cottage by the sea". Except the closest thing to a sea we have here is Lake Ontario. The theme we are going for was a mish mash of my childhood. I was born on John's Island in South Carolina. So there is a little Southern Charm in the mix. And my love for the Ocean is deep within my veins. So you will see Sea shells scattered her and there some sail boats and even a light house or two. Later we all moved back to my mom's home town in New England right on the coast :) That's where I spent most of my life. I loved having my grandparents around. I loved big old Victorian houses and small little beach cottages & beautiful farm houses. Built in furniture so intrigued me even as a kid. I loved going to visit peoples houses. I remember my grandmother had a hutch in the dining room with all her china in it. And the drawers came out of the wall. I thought that was the coolest thing. I had a window seat in my bedroom it was my favorite spot to curl up and read a book and all my toys were stored inside. As a child I had a very romantic imagination. I started a huge garden lined with cobblestone in my parents back yard. My dad helped me, We made it in the shape of an old skeleton key. He collected the cobble stones from roads that they were tearing up in the city. He also got me a beautiful wrought iron park bench and put a section of white picket fence behind it. He was the DPW supervisor and they were just getting rid of the stuff. How sad. Well we gave it a good home. Amazing what they throw away. I also have many fond memories and images from the stories I read with my mom. Mandy, was one of my favorite books along with The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, and all the Jane Austen novels. We also spent our vacations staying @ various bed and breakfasts throughout New England and touring old historic homes. (My mom is quite the history buff. She does genealogy for fun.) Best way to travel I think. I love B&B's. So when my hubby and I got married we went to a beautiful B&B for our Honey Moon. Morgan Samuel's Inn http://www.morgansamuelsinn.com/index.html. We stayed in the Morgan Suite. It was awesome. We loved the corner garden tub so much we wanted to put one in our dream home. We were not home owners yet. So it would have to wait. 8 months later we moved into Our fixer upper. Or "Money Pit" as we like to call it. Here is how the bathroom turned out.
Now before you freak out. My Hubby worked for TRANE @ the time which was a branch of American Standard so all the fixtures were under employee discount. So we had some fun with this project. And our friend Steven did the Labor with Kevin's help. The color Scheme is Gold and Brown. Kevin's sister and I did a faux finish on the walls with five different colors of paint. What a job but it turned out beautiful if I do say so myself.

I love old fashioned hardware. Kevin had to have the vessel sinks. The cabinets and counter top are kitchen height. We are a tall family and I didn't like having to bend over every time I wanted to wash my hands etc. I put some bathing suits on my girls using paint shop ;) I don't want my naked babies on the Internet. The curved soffit above was absolutely necessary. I had to have the border go all the way around the room. And I wanted to hide the shower curtain rod as well. I used 80in window curtains from Target in a lovely golden yellow damask.

We got the taller Potty with an elongated seat. :)

We got rid of our walk in closet and linked the previous bathroom to our master bedroom. It also allowed for us to have an outside wall to put in a window for some nice natural light.

Door to Master Bedroom.

Note- these pics were taken in Oct. 2008

Pretty Pillows

Now that I have a camera to play around with, I can start posting some of the things I have been working on. I made a new cushion for my window seat last summer. And last month I decided to sew up some extra pillows, to make it more inviting. It's a favorite spot in our house. Even Hailey our Goldendoodle likes to hang out there. She sits up there whenever we leave the house, and doesn't move till we get back. Poor puppy, but it's far to cold to leave her in the car while we run errands. Anyway back to the pillows, I made 3. Here they are. This one has starfish on it. Not sure if you can tell from the picture. This is the back of the starfish pillow. Haha I didn't measure quite right and really had to jam it in there. Oh well, it works.This fabric reminds me of an asian pottery print. My mom blessed me with lots of her old blue and white vases. I love hand Me Downs. So I had to throw this fabric into the mix. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

This is one of the built in shelves that makes up the window seat, Kevin and I built together. there is one on each side. And the lovely blue and white pottery my mom gave me. The teapot was a gift from my friend Shannon. She noticed my growing collection of blue and white and gave it to me, it was from her grandma in Hawaii. I am so blessed.I fell in love with this fabric. This is the front, and I put a striped fabric on the back.

And Hailey, enjoying the best spot in the house. :)

The Fence

Daddy was working very hard on the fence today. He worked late into the evening. Lily misses him sometimes even when he is home, with all the renovations he has been working on. So we let her stay up and hang out with him tonight. She was a great helper too. She put all the old nails into the bucket for daddy. He is so patient and loving with the girls. I am so very blessed to have such a wonderful hubby and father to my children.