~My New Avian Obsession~

I have seemed to have collected in the last two months so many little bird items.




Here are a few of them:
The cage and the little birds were all purchased on e-bay!

This I bought at my friend Kasey's Holiday open house..

This is when it must have all started...I went to a Southern Living at Home party about three years ago and bought this birdhouse~

Again, this cage is actually part of a three piece set I got off of E-Bay. It has the Father Bird cage, the Mother Bird cage and the Baby Bird cage~

Again from Kasey's open house....

Gotta love a bell jar. They make EVERYTHING look pretty....

This poor little lonely bird needs some company under that bell jar.....maybe a mate :)

I got this darling bird 1/2 off after Christmas at this little store here in town. They called this a Christmas item....this is not a holiday piece in the Maisy house~

I got this at Target. Again, they called this a holiday pillow and I got it 80% off after Christmas. Again....I think not.



I really, really, really want 2 real birds for my house. Ya know that kind, the itty, bitty ones.
Bill said "NO.....buy as many fake ones as you need but please don't bring live lunch in for the cat"....

~HELP WANTED~

Ok...so...I run this pretty busy business out of my home.
I am looking for someone to come in and help.
The reason I need help is because I would occasionally like to sit around and eat bon bons.
Maybe watch Oprah every once in a while.
It would free up some time to actually organize my pantry..maybe even my closet.
I could just shop....shop....shop.
Make a healthy meal for my family(yeah right).
Read more books to my boy.
Spend more time with friends.
Work out more!
The list goes on and on...................

Now if I could just get hubby on board that would be great.

Now you all see one of my little secrets...I don't like doing laundry.
I would actually like to organize my pantry instead.
OK...who is the talking??? Where did I come from?? Did I just type that?? I would like to organize my pantry???
I REALLLLLY do need a girls weekend.
Anyone in???

~Hand Me Downs~

I have a sweet friend.
Her name is Marjie!
She is putting her house on the market.
She called me Wednesday night around 8:30 pm.
I was tired and asked Bill to please take a message. OK..OK..so I was actually almost asleep~
The message was "I have a desk and wanted to know if Amy wants it."
So Bill relayed the message to me.
That next night we were having a girls night out. I was on the way home for her to change and she asked if I wanted her to pick me up so I could see the desk.
This is what I saw.
Tell me...would you want it???

HECK YA!!!!!!!!

I haven't decided if I'm going to paint it white. I think I actually love it just the way it is.

I'm so happy my sweet friend thought of me.

Happy Monday to all!!!

~The Dungeon~

This is the basement.
We had it finished over a year ago.
I picked out the color.
Moved some furniture down there.
Bought some things off Craigslist.
Bought some stuff from Target.
Plugged everything in.
Hung some stuff on the walls.
Change a few light bulbs from time to time.
Took a step back.
Realized I don't like it.

I need help.
The other thing is no one ever uses the basement unless there is a serious competition of Guitar Hero.
The DVD player is broken.
The lighting is bad.
The HUGE TV is toooo close to the couch.
I can't use the Wii Fit because the ceiling is too low for the yoga.
The couches are leather....the kids have trashed them and no matter how many pillows I put on there they are still not comfortable.
The sump pump is in the area where the TV wiring is so it goes off all the time.

I need to have a girls decorating party at my house...after I have the take down my wallpaper in my dining room party.

I love projects.

I guess I will have to procrastinate to figure out which one I should do first.

UGH!!!!!!

The life of a simple girl!
YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!

~The New Report~

So...What does everyone think of the new look???

I want an honest opinion!

I'll be waiting!!!!

~Has It REALLY Been 10 Years?~

So...it was 10 years ago yesterday that I married Bill.

I can't believe it has been 10 years!!!





This is a picture of us at dinner last night. We had such a nice time. Can you believe it....it took us 3 hours from start to finish. It was so nice to just sit and relax. The martinis were exceptionally yummy. Dinner was to die for and dessert well it was probably my favorite.

Bill, if you are reading this I love you!!! Looking forward to another 10 years. I wouldn't want to be on the journey with any one else.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!!!

~The New Lid~

Every one knows that a girl needs a cute hat in order to survive this FREEEEZING cold winter Chicago is having . When I woke up this morning (4:20 am..yes I'm crazy...I get so excited that the kids might have a snow day that I can't sleep) it was -23 outside.
Well, here's my AMAZING hat.
My friend, Alessandra, made this. I had to have it so I went to her Etsy shop and I bought it.

This is the matching scarf.

Bring it on Chicago...THIS GIRL IS READY!!! (thanks to my sweet friend)

~Gotta Love a Give-a-way~

Ok Everyone....

We all love a give-a-way!

Go to this website Lola B's Boutique!!!

It's a wonderful blog.

She's doing and AMAZING give-a-way

HAVE FUN!!!

~WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO TO PASS THE TIME...HUH..........I HAVE A FEW IDEAS~

OHHHHH HAVE I BEEN A BUSY GIRL..................

Below are a few pictures of a table I found on Craigslist. I reallllly love that site. It's has been good to me both selling items and buying items.

I wish I had a before pic. It was pretty ugly. However....I had a vision. It turned out just great. Nothing a couple coats of paint and really pretty hardware can't take care of .
Just another piece of furniture to display things I love :)

The next picture is of the mirror in my dining room. Finally I pulled the trigger and painted it.
Again, I'm a happy girl~

Awesome!

This is a frame I bought at a resale shop on Friday. By Saturday night it was painted and ready to put on the mantle!

BEFORE

AFTER

Those other two frames with the big one are frames I just had laying around the house. Again nothing like a bit of paint!

This is what happens when I become snow bound.
I become a busy.....busy....busy girl :)

Now if I could only remember to do all the other things I'm suppose to get done. There's always tomorrow~


I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

~5 Year Olds~

Happy Friday.


This is what happens when you leave a 5 yr old little boy alone with a realllly big roll of masking tape. Who would have thought??

I had no idea that he apprciated my mixer. See...it has a purpose for everyone~

Yes...that's right....he stuck a car to the bottom of the tape. When a brain has room to think outside of the box amazing things happen~

I felt a little bit like a crime took place in my kitchen OR that this is a 5 yr olds impression of a high tech security system. Either way I LOVE having a son!

It was a great way to start my weekend!

~Drum Roll Please~

So, I have one of my favorite online stores, Lola B's Boutique, I just love to shop at. The owners name is Kasey. There is a little story about this place. I'm not sure how but I found her blog/store. I looked at her items and thought to myself "wow, she's got great stuff". Then, when I did just a wee-bit more investigating I realized she is located only about 20 minutes from my house. Back-flip time. I was so happy that that very weekend(ok...I found her online on a Thursday...so I obsess...can't help it) I made Bill do a little detour to go to her shop. My, was it a cute store.

Then the bad news struck and she posted that her store will be closed temporarily until she relocated. Not to worry though, she will still have her online store. YEAH!!

Well, I got this on her online store.
Fortunately, I now call Kasey my friend so she actually delivered these pieces(and a couple more)to my house. Then off the McDonald's playland we went. I couldn't wait to get home to get this in the perfect place~

The desk and the lamp. AMAZING. The lamp I bought last minute from her. I e-mailed her that morning and asked her to bring it. Of course she did. That's the kind of girl she is.

This is the top of the desk. Old pages from a poetry book. Sooo very sweet!

I just happened to have this chair. It works PERFECT. See, I think I was actually suppose to have this desk and chair. Now the chair finally feels like it has it's mate.

This is what it looks like up a running. It really is being used as a desk. Not one of the pieces that looks good but doesn't function good.

Thank you Kasey! You are not only AWESOME to do business...I'm glad you are my friend!!

~ I NEED YOUR HELP!~

OK sooo...i've had these in my basement for quite some time now. I am now officially ready to do something with them. This is where you come in.....
WHAT DO I DO WITH THEM???

People, I am very serious. I absolutely LOVE them....I REALLY need to get them up so and can enjoy them everyday!
HELP!!!!!!!!

~Surprise...Surprise~

My husband was out and about the other day...actually, it was New Year's Eve, picking up a few last minute things we needed for our annual 3 course fondue dinner(yes, I know, it's a 70's thing...however, I LOVE IT) and this is what he brought home. They are such the perfect shade of pink. Just what I needed to lift my chilly spirits at this time of year.

I'm really not a rose person. I just feel like they NEVER open the way they should.....They are pretty expensive....and they just seem so ordinary to me...maybe even over used. I mean come on....there are soooooo many beautiful flowers our there.
I don't think I will ever look at a rose the same again after getting this stunning bouquet!
I'm a changed woman.
Happy Tuesday!!

~The Elpaca Farm~

My dad and his wife, Susan, own an Alpaca farm. They have 43 alpacas. It was night time when I was there. Unfortunately, this is the ONLY picture that came out. They are soooo very cute. I so wish I was there during the day. I will have to take a ride out there during the day so I can get some day time pics.

This is Bill just CHILLIN' out.

Bradley and farmer Grandpa!

The boys working on something together.
When I look at this pic it reminds me that I gave birth to a boy that doesn't have a thermostat.
It was about 20 degrees outside when this picture was taken. Let's all keep in mind that my dad lives in an OLD chilly farmhouse. We walk in and Bradley immediately removes the nice warm sweatshirt he had on.
Notice his HUGE guns on his arms. Unfortunately my arms don't look like that.

That brings me to my next thought....I FINALLY went back to the health club today. Boy, that place kicked my butt. It felt soooooo good to get me blood flowing.
I'm really looking forward to getting healthy in 2009!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!!!