mmm...birthday cake!

My Aunt Suzie had a family BBQ at her house yesterday, August 9th. She surprised me (obviously - check out the dork face!) by bringing out a white raspberry cake that she had made for my birthday...

The cake was beautiful; covered in real whipped cream and fresh raspberries...

It was delicious, too!

my sunny, special summer day

What a pretty summer day...a good day for celebrating a birthday!


Nothing but blue skies, puffy white clouds, and lush trees...

I did enjoy some free time indoors doing something I love...scrapbooking and card making. Here I am in my little "studio" downstairs. There's hardly any natural light, so I apologize for the quality of the pictures.

My son, Tim went out and got me an iced mocha from my favorite coffee shop, Honeyhill. He said, "I don't have to get you a card now, do I?!" I told him I'd much rather have a coffee drink than a card...

my birthday evening

Hubby and I went out to dinner at Lindy's Landing...

We sat on the vast, vacant front porch on a swinging glider and relaxed a few minutes...

View of the lake and marina from the dining patio...

I had tilapia with mango relish; rice pilaf; and broccoli...

And a margarita, of course! Happy birthday to me!

fireworks

Every second week in August, the little town that I live in puts on an awesome fireworks display. My friend lives right on the lake where they shoot off the fireworks, so she invites everyone over to her house for the evening. Here's a view of the lake just as the sun was setting and we were waiting for the fireworks to begin...



I don't have a fancy camera; just a Canon A590 IS. And I've never read the instruction manual, so I have no idea what to do with the settings...you know, aperature and all that other fancy stuff. I basically point and shoot. I think the pictures turned out kinda cool anyway.

some kitchen decor

Little shelf on a wall in my kitchen...the yellow dish with the bird on it is new; got it from the antique mall this past weekend. I plan on painting my kitchen a light, creamy yellow in the near future so I'm starting to collect some yellow decorative pieces.


Large shelf in my kitchen. I think when my kitchen is repainted, I'm going to forego this big shelf. I'm tired of it - have had it hanging there for many years - plus it's an outdated look, I think. I change the decor on this shelf all the time. Right now I have a red and white theme going.

Yellow candleholders bought at the antique mall. I splurged a bit on these, but just *loved* them. I passed them up at first, but then kept thinking about them as I was shopping, so went back and got them. :-)

Until I get tapered candles, I simply turned the candleholders upside down and used them in another way!

latest resale shop finds

Cute wire shelving for the bathroom...

Brand-new necklace (still had the tags on it) from White House/Black Market. Retail price $38. My price $9. Click on photo for detail - this small photo doesn't do the necklace any justice.

Woven purse on the left is a Liz Claiborne ($4.99); little purse on the right is a DKNY ($4). Both in perfect condition.

Tiny vintage salt and pepper shakers with sterling silver tops. Check out the little holes on top; some of the are even star-shaped.

Viva beads bracelet - $1.99...

Tim & Casey in the kitchen

Tim and girlfriend, Casey decided to make taco pie...

Aw, young love...

Casey stirring the ground beef...