DWTS Season 12

The announcement is in...and I have a favorite already.

Not sure how that favorite will do, but I do have a very soft spot.

Can you guess who my favorite is?

~Here's the Cast~

Actress turned Reality Star Kirstie Alley

Kendra Wilkinson

Original 'Karate Kid' Ralph Macchio

Supermodel Petra Nemcova

Boxing Legend Sugar Ray Leonard

Former Super Bowl Champ Hines Ward

WWE star Chris Jericho

Disney Star Chelsea Kane

Rapper Lil Romeo (as opposed to Big Romeo??? No Idea)

Loveline" radio host Mike Catherwood

Talk Show Host Wendy Williams

As usual, I don't know who half

of these people are...but that doesn't

stop me from having a favorite.

It's kind of unlucky for these contestants

to have me in their corner.... I was the

only one cheering for Steve Guttenberg afterall.

Tomorrow the pairings.

And the Oscar goes to .................

My girlfriends got tickets to

Oprah's

after Oscar Party!!!

  I got this teaser pic

this morning. 

Have fun ladies and I hope you send me more pictures.

How do you get the seats closer to the stage?

How did everyone like the Oscar's last night?

Did you like Ann Hathaway and James Franco?

I don't know,

I think I would like Ann and Hugh Jackman.

Alive and Well

No Worries, I survived my 24 hour adventure. 

I can't believe it was only 24 hours. 

I think Tim and Kristi had a great time,

and I know I did. 

Mental note: 

Do not plan a dinner party when you are watching the kiddos.  Not smart. 

Sean surprised me by coming home

Saturday and was a big help. 

He made the pasta sauce

and the broccoli. 

I must share this broccoli recipe ...it's easy, and delicious. 

I will dig it up and post it today.

I do think Kristi's birthday is officially over....

until next year.

Should I be Afraid?

Kristi celebrated her birthday yesterday,

and as a surprise, her husband Tim

asked if I would keep the girls over night

so he could take Kristi to an unknown location

and continue celebrating with more birthday festivities. 

We learned that trick several years ago

from a good friend. 

Kris G has been known to extend birthday

festivities longer than anyone I know....

months even ... years maybe. 

I agreed

and will take over duties this afternoon. 

Should I be Afraid? 

Maybe yes and maybe no.

All I know is

these little girls have big plans

for our time together.

and they don't look too scary....

 or do they?

If you don't hear from me by Monday ...  you'll know I've been

held captive

but I hope think I can handle it ....

Today

Today I woke to a crisp winter feel

It’s your birthday, I realized with a delightful squeal

All those years ago you were born, a sweet little dear

My precious sweet baby girl, who grew up to love beer

We have many things in common and interests we share

And the woman you have become is far beyond compare

I am proud to see the wife and mother you are

And did I mention your love for a really good cigar

 

Kristi I enjoy you as my daughter but even more as a friend

We cook, eat and shop and spend, spend, spend, spend

So Happy Birthday my darling, Enjoy your wonderful day

You’d better enjoy it now, because soon you’ll decay

And hopefully you and I will get to go play

Happy Birthday Kristi

(you don't get much with one of my one minute poems eh?)

Love,

Mom

Happenings at the Kelley Homestead

We had a very low key weekend, but I must say one of the highlights was having Sean drop in for a visit.

I always love when Sean comes home...

first I get a text "What are you doing today?"

Then he drives up the driveway.

I had the grand girls visiting when he drove up,

they were so excited to see him.

I don't think they stopped hanging on him the whole time.

We ran out to a store or two,

being sure to stock a lonely San Diego

cupboard with some food items,

had Chinese food and heard all about Sean's current happenings. He's says he's never worked so hard
and is having the time of his life.

Law school suits him, even though he is only 6 weeks in.
Mid Terms are next, so he will be MIA for awhile.

I also attempted a little face lift to my living room.

This is a photo of how my poor tired curtains are now.

I had this great idea...hahahaha ...to give my living room an update without changing out furniture.

It needs a little color, that's right you heard me correctly.

I need color ....

I crave color ...

even though it may not be as spicy as my man room

(which I still need to show photos of)
I need some spunk.

I half made, half bought these curtains

when I did this room originally. 

I am trying to get rid of that old lady feel, even

though I have been called old lady alot recently :(

Well after putting up the rods (which I love)

and hanging the curtains...
I quickly realized I needed not only a splash of color but lots

of TLC (oh and new curtains)

Here's what they look like now, but they will soon

be finding their way to the curb and
replacements will be taking their place.

Something about this time of day

really makes for a dark picture

So here are some color ideas I'm tossing around ...
 I'm keeping the green sofa and
recovering the two chairs.  Fabric will
be on my search list as soon as I decide on a rug.

Let me know what you like.

Lastly,
my little girl has started school.
Thanks to my good friend Kris,
my mom has been able to enjoy
crochet again.
Here she is on her first day of
knitting class.  I think she even
got a flower from Kris' grandson Noah. 
It was a good day and she gets to go again today.
Lucky Lady.

Lunch and a needle

Ready for her ride

Never looked back

Enjoy your day!!!

Lunch in the Lions Den

Don't be afraid, the scariest thing in the Lion's Den,

other that Rex from Toy Story is Leo,

and Leo is about as scary as Rex if you know what I mean. 

The Lion's Den is Leo's playroom.

 Today was our every 6-8 week or so mother/daughter/kiddoes luncheon.  Sheryl hosted our lunch today which was very

energetic of her.    Today marked her 20th week of pregnancy while following a around 2 year old.

She made us a lovely lunch of grilled paninis,

pasta salad, chips and delicious homemade cookies.

Everything was so delicious as usual.

She had a lovely tray to hold the paninis

and don't you just love her napkins?

Williams and Sonoma

(her favorite place)

It was just so perfect and intimate

and did I mention delicious?

The cookies were such a hit I think we emptied the dish

We were even had some professional entertainment for our dining pleasure

Leo, thanks for sharing your Lion's Den, and Sheryl thanks for

a great food, great company and a delightful afternoon.

and last but not least .... DP we love you too.

A Whisker Away ......

Sort of ...

I hope everyone enjoyed a nice Valentine Weekend. 

With Valentine's Day falling on Monday,

I know alot of people celebrated the weekend before...

it was such a lovely warm weekend for us
it was hard to stay inside.  My Valentine
always likes to do projects for me and this
past weekend was no different.
We have had several projects going and we
are a whisker away on a couple of them
Here's a short update.  But first
I will share my lovely Valentine bouquet that
I received from my Valentine! 

The Outdoor Room

I'll start with the project that is furthest from completion and

the one we are most anxious to have complete.

He has been very lonely the past 2 weeks, because

no one has come to add to his structure.

Maybe soon.... 

The Rose Garden

The rose garden is full of nice new soil

and has irrigation in place (ready for me

to pick out my planting scheme).

Kevin still needs to build the trellis structure

that will go

up against the block wall and block the neighbors shed, but

I think we will plant before he has time to do that.

We were watching the Harrison Ford version of Sabrina the

other night and we spotted  a trellis structure that

I think we will use as our inspiration

Do you notice the similarities between their house

and ours????

Maybe not so much

Looks like I can start shopping for a bench, some roses

and other cutting flowers.

Any recommendations?????

I picked these up this weekend....do the colors match

anything I have been working on in the house?  Do

they look like they may match my teaser PB picture.

Let me know what you think.

The Grape Arbor

The lines are up for the grape vines as well. 

New irrigationwent in and wire lines

are in to act as a trellis for the grapes.

I have never grown grapes before and am anxious to try.

Our inspiration for the grapes come from 2 of our favorite movies.

A Walk in the Clouds

(we shall call our vines Las Uvas)

and maybe Keanu will come and visit

and A Good Year.

White rock will cover the ground beneath the grapes

just like in the movie.

Here I am with Russel Crowe.

We are so close (not Russel and I even though we are) 

to finishing the grape arbor,

I actually started buying

Las Uvas

The Veggie Garden....

inspired by what?

"It's Complicated" of course.

I don't expect Meryl Streep's drama but I would love her vegetable garden.

Again ready with irrigation...

a little more dirt and it's planting time.

I know it will look slightly different than Meryl's

- hahaha -

movie magic and all.

But I may have to re-create this....

I am in love with this

Lastly,

I planted my fountain garden and my front porch.

We are expecting some rain today so I hope my fountain

area survives.  I know my newly cut and fed roses will be very happy to have rain.

I even pulled out my hanging cone shaped planters

It always feel like spring is on it's way

when I plant the porch.

Looks like I could use a new mat

and a little paint on my iron plant stand...

oh well, there's always something

I did say that this was a short post but maybe it wasn't.

Thanks for putting up with my planting drama.

I am linking to Outdoor Wednesday hosted

by

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer