~This Is Not How It Always Looks~

This is Bradley's bedroom.
And no, it doesn't always look this neat and picked up.
I'm just not sure if I have the guts to show you how it really looks.

This photo was taken looking into his room from his door.
He has the brightest room in the house.
Lucky guy.
Oh....I also forgot to mention that he is the only full time child in this house and he has the smallest room.
Go figure??

This is a bookcase from Ikea that I purchased when he was a baby.
I painted it brown and lined that back with bandana fabric.
Most of the items in his room were purchased from either HomeGoods or Hobby Lobby.

Bradley's bed was his crib. We purchased the conversion kit and waaaa laaaa....now it's a full size bed.
I love magic :)
Again, his bed was bigger than his 19 yr old sisters until about a month ago.
Go figure???
We are really a backwards family.
Oh no.....now you know!!!

Just a wall of cute stuff.
I love the cowboy theme.
These days he wants Star Wars.
Do you think he knows who he's messin' with here???
Seriously people, Star Wars.

This was a picture my friend drew for him.
Right before she left me for Texas.
Silly friend!!!

These are iron stars I bought in Texas while visiting my friend that moved on me.
If you are reading this....feel guilty! Yes, that's right. Maybe someday you will move back here.

Again, from Texas. Same trip. Same friend. Same guilt trip!
Iron hooks. The problem I have with these is this:
They look much cuter when they don't have anything hanging from them.
However, they look sad when nothing is hanging from them.
UGH!!!!!!(see....that's is truly how my brain works)

These were a Christmas present from my other friend. Now Bradley has a wall of chalk boards.
The funny thing was he thought that he threw them out when he was done doodling on them.
YIKES!!!

I FINALLY bought him this Ikea guy. He loves it. It's amazing what positions he gets this guy in. TOOOO FUNNY!!!


Well...there ya have it.
Another room in Maisy's home.

Happy Monday.

PS Not sure how much I will be able to post this week.
It's spring break and I'm hoping to be out of the house most of the time.
WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!

It's Friday

This is how I feel today.
It has just been one of those weeks.
This is the best I could do today.


This is what did NOT happen this week:

I did not do laundry all day on Monday.

My kids did not clean up their rooms on Tuesday and give me WAY MORE LAUNDRY.

I did not get my new cell phone.

Bradley did not say he didn't really like that yo-yo AFTER her literally knocked his dad out with it.

The police did not get called to our house because of our creeeeepy neighbor.

I did not paint 6 chairs.

I did not FINALLY pick out fabric for the chairs that I didn't paint.

I did not spend an afternoon at the AT&T store getting my new phone programmed.

I did not hear the most amazing news from my sweet friend.

I did not get new orders on my Etsy store.

I did not spend most of an afternoon and night in bed with a horrible sinus headache.

I did not eat Mr Donald's twice this week.

I did not get another surprise from my hubby.

I did not miss my older kids.

I did not get giddy at the thought of Bradley being home with me over spring break.

I did not order a new skirt from my friends Etsy store.

I did not redo Bradley's room.

I did not clean out my closet and house and make a HUGE trip to Goodwill.

I did not find awesome things at Goodwill this week.

I did not cheat and order chinese food for dinner.


Last but not least...
I AM NOT GOING ON A WOMEN'S RETREAT THIS WEEKEND.

See ya all on Monday!!


(I promise....I am going to stop by all your blogs before I leave)

~Inspiration In A Jar~

Everyone gets inspiration from somewhere.
Whether it be color, fabric, paper, linens or other people, we all get inspired by something.
RIGHT???

I get inspired by:

Jars that are full of my favorite things.

As you all know, I love a beautiful cloche.
However, these jars have lids.
This jar is full of vintage printing press stamps.
My sweet, sweet dad had them and let me borrow them.
Who is he kidding...he's never getting these bad girls back!!!
When they were brought to me they were in a tray.
In a jar, they looks so cool!!

This is a jar I picked up at the flea market.
It was already stuffed with great Easter stuff.
Hard to turn down something that you have to do NOTHING to to love it!
(wow that was a cooky sentence)

This is that jar I bought at Goodwill the other day.
I just love it.
This may have to stay out all year.
Hey...who decided that eggs were only for Easter???

This of course is my jar that I got at Target on clearance for under $3.00.
I filled it with white buttons (thank you Kasey.)
Perfect.

This is just a bit of what inspires me.

What inspires you??

~Flea Market Finds~

A couple weekends ago I carved out some Maisy time.
I happen to live near an amazing flea market.
It runs the first weekend of every month.
It's so much fun.
I packed up my backpack with a credit card, check book and cash.
A girl must have a hands free experience.
I don't like to carry stuff around.
If I had to carry stuff around I wouldn't be able to touch EVERYTHING!!!!
(and I do mean everything)
I'm a tactile girl....what can I say??
If the items are too big to fit in my backpack I ask if I can pick up my things as I am heading out.

This is what I bought:

A chalboard in an old frame.
Looks great in my dining room.

This darling little blue jar.
There is some old story that came with it.
Not sure if I believe it.
Oh well.....I just LOVE this color blue!

This is my favorite purchase from that day.
It's a shelf made out of old doors.
AMAZING.


OH NO.................
I just remembered I bought something else. Well, I'm tooooo lazy to get up, take pics, edit pics, load pics and write about it now.
It's just been one of those days.

Happy Wednesday!!
(not today..tomorrow...I'm sure you figured that out by now...phew)

~My New Goodwill Finds~

Every Monday morning I drop Bradley off at school and head to my local Goodwill.
Sometimes, as all of you know, it is hit or miss.
Well, today was a hit day.

YEAH FOR MAISY!!


This is everything I got:
A jar with a lid- $1.99(back left)
Vintage lime green baker. (I'm a freak for these. I have no idea why) - $1.99
a 1965 aqua blue Singer sewing machine - $6.99 (I have noooo idea why I bought this...I had to have it)
Bag of moss - 2.99 (to fill the jar and put a nest in it)
Needle point frame - $.49 (I saw on another blog that someone put fabric in it...CUTE)
Can open - $.99 (just needed one)
1930 salt and pepper shaker - $9.99 (new in box...never used...person even kept record of where they bought it and for how much.)
Total - $25.43

I wish you could see the color.
It is so cute.
Seriously though, I have no idea what to do with it.
My husband just rolled his eyes at me.
However, it makes me giddy...yes that's right....giddy!!!!

These are just beautiful. I couldn't pass them up.
I looked them up and they are worth around $150. AWESOME investmemnt.
However, I don't want to get rid of them. I just want to enjoy them.
Haven't quite decided if I am going to use them or not....I don't even know if I'm going to polish them.
What do you think I should do with them???

This is my dog, Stitch and my cat, Riffy.
Thought I would just throw this pic in to see if you are paying attention.
I just want you all to know that this cat RULES this dog.
This is a rare photo. When Riffy is this close to Stitch he is usually biting or smackin' him.
Poor Stitch.

Anyway....back to the whole Goodwill thing....
I don't think I have EVER spent $25.43 at Goodwill in one stop.
OH WAIT...I almost forgot..since I spent over $20 I got 5% off.
That brings my grand total tooooooooooooo:
$24.16

Gotta love a great bargain!!!!

Happy Tuesday!!!

~Floam ~

So, the other day I was reading my friend's, Sarah, blog.
She was mentioning how she did all this amazing shopping at Hobby Lobby.
This is where it gets tricky.....just stick with me here.
I was at another friends house and on my way home I always drive past Hobby Lobby.
I ALWAYS have Bradley with me and let just put it nicely....he's not a fan of shopping.
Well on this particular day he was down with it.
I immediately drove my car as fast as I legally could and parked that car in record time....Ya know before he changes his mind.
Needless to say...I helped the economy that afternoon.
EVERYTHING I wanted was 50% off. How can a girl say no?
Any-hoo.....Bradley was such a good little boy I told him I would buy him a little something.
So I bought him Floam.
My oh my did he want that Floam.
How bad could it be???

Now...I don't know if there is a secret to this stuff but we both HATED it.
We couldn't get it off out hands onto something else. Completely useless.
It turned my hands blue. That's right blue...not just a little, not just a bit....we're talking full blown blue...Think Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
It got in my engagement ring setting and I couldn't get it out.
There are very few toys that really get under my skin.
Now that I'm thinking about it I'm not sure any toy gets under my skin.
We did NOT like this stuff at all. Let me repeat that...We did not like that stuff at all.

Is there a secret? A method we just don't know about?

Needless to say, it doesn't matter now anyway. It has been resting in the garbage all week.
Tonight it is off to garbage heaven!

R.I.P. Froam.....R.I.P!!!!!!

~PHOTO FRIDAY~

This is what I wanted to take a picture of.
The top cake plate I purchased at Goodwill for $1.99
Middle cake plate I got from my sweet, sweet friend Kasey.
The bottom one is from Homegoods. I think I paid $12.99 for it.

I have decided that this weekend I am going to do some baking.
I want to fill these babies up.
The are starting to feel neglected.
I don't know if your cake plates talk to you but mine talk to me.

On the top one I will put chocolate covered strawberries.
The middle one I will use for a pie.
The bottom one will have a coconut cake on it.

YUMMY!!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY

~I 'm A Facebookaholic....Part 2~

OK...so...some of you may know that I also have 3 older step-kids.
Jakob, he is 22 years old. Then there is Haley. She is 19 years old and the closest thing to a daughter I will ever have.
Of course, the original caboose, Asher, he is 17 years old and so full of life.
I just adore ALL my kids. They are all soooooo very special to me.

I would get some pics up of them but I lost years worth about 6 months ago.
I have plenty of pictures of Asher but they all seem to be of him eating.
It's a little joke that we have. I feel like he's only home when there is food around :)

The reason I tell you this is because they think it's weird that parents..ie. me.. are on Facebook.
(I will from this point forward refer to Facebook as FB...I'm not much of a typer and for goodness sakes it just makes me feel cooler to use FB)

I think this is sooooo funny.
Jakob is now graduated from college and living in New York. I guess he should now remove himself from FB. Ya know, because he's graduated now.
RIGHT?????

Jakob, if you are reading this...... STOP ROLLING YOUR EYES!!!!

I love FB. Those of us who didn't grow up with it, it has given us an avenue to reconnect with old friends.
SERIOUSLY PEOPLE....this whold FB thing rocks!!!

Now if I could just figure out this whole Twitter thing.
(From this point forward I will now refer to Twitter as T)
I really don'y understand it.
Maisy, one step at a time girl....one step at a time!

HAPPY THURSDAY!!!!

~I 'm A Facebookaholic....Part 1~

Are any of you have Facebook?

I am and it is my new obsession.
Actually, it has been for a while.
I check everyone's status all the time.
The problem I have with the status for myself is I can NEVER think of anything clever to put in that box.
I mean it....it makes me feel so inferior.
I feel like my life is so boring.
I have a Facebook friend who is a travel writer for USA News.
Seriously, just imagine his status quotes.

I think I could be considered a Facebook stalker.
I look through everyone's pictures.
It's so fun to see pictures of what they look like now.
It's a total added bonus if they married someone from high school or someone you knew long ago.
You don't even have to be their friend to see their pics.
It ROCKS.

Oh, and all the super cute kids.
Love seeing all the kids.

I heart Facebook!!

DO YOU????

Feel free to friend me on Facebook.
*My real name is Amy Waldron-Deitch*

~Happy St Patrick's Day~

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY BLOGGY FRIENDS!

The following pictures were taken Sunday at the
Morton Arboretum

These pictures are of the maze garden.
In case any of you were wondering...
NO WE DIDN'T LOSE BRADLEY IN THE MAZE GARDEN (wink, wink).

(wish the pics were greener...sorry it's still March in Chicago)

Hope you all eat green bagels, green cake, green cupcakes.

Throw in some corned beef, cabbage and potatos.
Wash it down with some green beer.
Now that is the perfect St Patty's day food!

Erin go braugh!!

~Saturday Morning~

This is what I came down to Saturday morning.
I walked into the kitchen...looked to find Bradley and could barely see him.
Oh...that silly boy of mine.

As you can see I have had these cups since Christmas.
It's amazing...Bradley found these in the back of our pantry.
Huh...wonder what he was doing in there.
Double huh....wonder what else is back there.
He certainly went right past the fruit snacks, cookies, chips and donuts.
I thought he only went in there when he was hungry.
Makes me wonder if he ever made it to the snacks~

~Happy Monday~

~I Heart This Piece~

**Before you start to look at the pics I want to apologize for some of them being crooked. I took most of these pics at 11:30 pm last night. AFTER my friends came for dinner and wine.**


As I mentioned in my earlier post, my family owned a candy store.
In the candy store we had some really neat antique pieces.
My mom used them for displays.
When they closed the business my parents kept just a few pieces.
They sold the rest. Boy would I love to get my hands on some of those pieces.
I was in my early 20's and just didn't appreciate them at that time.
About 10 years ago my Dad realized that I didn't have anything from the candy store.
He asked me if I wanted the old ice box. I WANTED it...actually I NEEDED it.
So, it went in the basement. It never got used. I didn't have a place for it.

Then our friends came over and borrowed it for their store. They were going to use it for displays.

Guess what......I GOT IT BACK!!!!

I HAVE THE PERFECT SPOT FOR IT!!!

This is what it looks like closed. Somewhere along the way it had a run in with a paint can. Poor ice box.......

This is it with all the doors open.
As you can see one of the doors is broken :(

You can see the original shelves. Too "cool." Sometimes I just crack my self up.
I'm just a chip off the ol' "block."
OK....OK...I'm done.
Phew!

This is the side that held the ice blocks. You can see the drain hole in the back of the bottom shelf.

This is what it looks like in my kitchen.
Doesn't take me long to fill up space!

I just love all these old jars.


Thanks for letting me share my excitement.
I am just giddy!!!!

~Photo Friday~

Here I go again.....

Photo Friday.

This is what I see......

My pond is FINALLY back on.
Can't wait until my water lillies bloom and my water hyacinth has taken over the pond.
Maybe this year I will give water lettuce a shot again.
My fish love to eat all the roots on the floating plants.
That's the other thing....I need to buy all new fish!
The sound of frogs mating alllllll night long is hilarious.
The neighbors even comment on it. Those little amphibians make quite the ruckus.

This is what I spotted out my kitchen window.
Isn't he beautiful??
So red he almost looks fake.
I just love that my husband loves bird feeders.
In the summer we always get birds I can't identify.
I take pics and head to my bird books.
Now that I have a zoom lense for my camera it will be even easier.

Every morning Bradley and I have the same conversation. This is how it goes..

Maisy: Bradley, do hear that??
Bradley: I don't hear anything.
Maisy: You don't hear annnnnnything??
Bradley: Well, maybe I hear something.
Maisy: Bradley, what do you think it is??
Bradley: Mom, I told you yesterday...it's the birds.
Maisy: YEAH!!!! Spring is on its way.
Bradley: I know!!!!!

There ya have it....
my next stage production..."Maisy Hears a Bird"

WHAT DO YOU SEE OUT YOUR WINDOW???

Happy Friday!!

~Two Little Monkeys Sittin' In a Tree~

So, last Friday was so warm.
I think it hit close to 75 degrees.
I know, I know, you are wondering to yourself...
"Maisy, what in the world did you do to get 75 degree weather?"
Let me tell you.....
NOTHING.
I just live here.

Anyway, Bradley had his very sweet friend, Colin, over to play after school.
Gotta love a playdate.
It really makes life so much easier.

Wow...I always do that.....get off track...imagine having a real life conversation with me.
Thank you all you people out there that tolerate me!!

Wow I just did it again!!!!

Any-hoo....
I looked in the backyard and this is what I saw:

Two really cute boys (monkeys) sitting in a tree.
Seriously, if this doesn't SCREAM summer I don't know what does.
Pleae take note.....no coats and Colin has a short sleave shirt on.

You can tell this is my son because he's about as photogenic as his mama!
I'm not kidding....I told him to give me his best.
That's it! His best!
Imagine all the school pictures I get to pass on to him some day.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

I love that kid!!!

Happy Thursday....Just one more day left until the weekend!!!!!!

**Today we are expected to have a high of 26 degrees.....GOTTA LOVE CHICAGO**

~Chicken Soup for Maisy's Soul~

As we march into spring, at least I think we are...please don't quote me on that...it makes me think about all the things I love about winter.
Wait just one second...did I just say that...love about winter..huh????...I think I did.

I would have to say the first and foremost thing I love the best about winter is making my mom's homemade chicken noodle soup(listen, we just won't even put Christmas in this category..ok.)

Let's just spend a few moments in Maisy's kitchen~


I use bone in and skin on chicken breasts.
I cover with water and boil until the chicken is cooked.

Just boil it and boil it.
We all know about uncooked chicken....YUCK!!!!

I was very lucky this time.
I just happened to have all the veggies I needed.
I NEVER have celery on hand.
Do you??

I just get choppin'.
The onions are really the pits.
A woman has to do what a woman has to do in order to fill her belly with some good winter grub!

Once the chicken is cooked...remove the meat from the bones.
If this grosses you out I'm really sorry.
No way around this.

Put the chicken back in the water... .of course without the bones. That seriously would just be gross. Add all the veggies and season to taste..ya know people...salt & pepper.
I have to confess I'm a cheater, I also throw some Herbox in there for more chicken flavor!

I cook up some egg noodles and keep them on the side.
If you have left overs the noodles don't store very well .

If I'm feeling really cooky & crazy I make Bisquick dumplings.
Now that is a double YUMMY!!!

Can ya smell it.
I think all the angels in the heavens can smell it.
Wait I hear them, they are singing and rejoicing.
Can ya hear them, can ya hear them??

It is soooo good.

I tip my bowl to you Winter.
I sure hope you are gone soon!

~Happy Wednesday~

I DID IT.....I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at my side bar.

I opened ONE of my Etsy stores, Maisy's Market.
It has really cool stuff.

(don't tell Bill buuuuut...if something doesn't sell I'm just going to keep it..hehe)


Stop over there and let me know what you think.

What do you think of the name???

Cute right???? That could be one of my favorite things about the new store..the name.
I'm so lucky that some of my loved ones call me "Maisy". If it wasn't for them I would just be plain ol' Amy.
I mean it's cute and all but seriously..."Maisy"...off the charts cute.

Can't wait to read what you all have to say....
the suspense is just killing me...
I think I need to organize the pantry or something ...
this is just a nail biter...
oh goodness...
who should I call??
Ok, I guess I will just read a magazine..
That won't cut it, I will have to do laundry. BORING!!
Oh no, maybe I should just go take a bath.
Never mind. I will just do my favorite thing....read all your blogs!

Happy Tuesday!!!!

**don't worry, the candy store will be opening soon....I promise**