Hello To March!

This is the front of the birthday card that I received yesterday from my brother and his wife.  While I still can't stop laughing over it, Kevin and the kids didn't think it was all that funny.  This year, in addition to waiting an "extra" day for March 1st, my birthday took a back seat to the kids' baseball and softball practices, volleyball tryouts, babysitting and homework.  We were all finally home for dinner (pizza - not even my choice!) at 8 pm and then that was cut short because Christopher had homework to finish.  Caitlynne did make my favorite cake for dessert - yellow with dark chocolate icing - so at least the day ended well!  Kevin is taking 1/2 a day today so we can golf and go to lunch.  

March also means that, in less than four months, we will be back in the U.S. for our summer vacay!  I really love Bangkok and Thailand but I am looking forward to being back "home" and catching up with our family and friends.  The kids and I are already talking about going to Panera and Einstein Bagels for breakfast and having genuine New York pizza when we visit my parents.  I am looking forward to going to a grocery store and 1) finding what I am looking for and 2) knowing exactly what I am buying. In Bangkok, especially with sauces, spices and cleaning products, I am never really sure if what I bought is what I intended to buy.  I have had to ask PeePorn several times if what I bought was laundry detergent or dishwasher detergent.  Trust me, there is a big difference between the two and you don't want to mix them up. 

Thank goodness for the end of the week!  Not that our weekend won't be busy but at least Kevin will be around to help out with the errands, transporting the kids, etc. Christopher has a baseball game tonight and tomorrow both he and Caitlynne have 8.30 am games.  So, while we will be shuttling back and forth between fields tomorrow morning, we should be FINISHED with baseball & softball games by 11 am.  

Here is a photo of Christopher's travel team that will be going to Australia in a few weeks (Christopher is at the end of the middle row on the right and Kevin is behind him)...

I have a couple of DIY projects on my list for this weekend.  I read quite a few design blogs and found some projects that are easy and can be done with materials that I have on hand. The idea for my first project came from http://www.athoughtfulplaceblog.com/.  I love how black picture frames "pop" against my gold walls and I think this detail on a few of them will add some interest.   The step by step instructions are here.  I am going to paint on the frames directly - she painted on painter's tape so the gold tape could be removed in the future if her tastes change.  I know that I am not skilled (nor patient) enough to apply the painter's tape to the frame as nicely as she did so I will save myself the frustration and do it differently.  I will tape over portions of the black frame and then carefully paint the area of frame that is exposed.  I have a few vintage bird prints that I plan to put in these frames and, hopefully, I will have some photos to show you early next week.  

My second project is from www.http://hisugarplum.blogspot.com/ and will go in our office...

Her step by step instructions are here.  I wish she had posted a photo so I could see what the final product looks like.  This project might need to wait a few days as I need to find fabric with a pattern that I really like and that is suitable for this project.

And, speaking of fabric, I FINALLY ordered the fabric for the family room drapes.  I  was getting tired of looking at the few fabrics I was trying to choose from, not really "loving" any of them and getting frustrated that I couldn't make a decision.  So, yesterday morning, I decided to toss them all out the window and selected  (in less than an hour) something altogether different...

I have to say that, while I really do like this fabric, I LOVE the manufacturer's description, "This linen drapery fabric (Roberta Cream from Duralee) was created for an authentic antique look.  The colors of the museum quality print include yellow, shades of olive green, medium blue, navy blue, red, coral rose and ivory on a cream background."  I have never ordered fabric online and am interested to see how the colors in the online photographs compare to the real thing.  I found the fabric at a greatly reduced price which, given the fact that I need 34 yards of fabric, was a BIG help cost-wise.  

Have a great Friday!