Christine's Home and Travel Adventures

Friday, July 3, 2015

Happy 4th of July, 2015!!

I don't think we are doing anything special for the 4th of July but I thought I would set the kitchen breakfast table festively. I hope you all enjoy the holiday and please stay safe if you are going somewhere.

I pretty much gathered anything patriotic or anything with red, white and blue around the house.

I do have something new though. I saw these enamel plate chargers at Homegoods 2 days ago and bought some red, white and blue ones but I only used and alternated red and white ones here. They were on sale for $3.99 each. I already own some blue and white enamel dinner plates and bowls so I just gathered those too.

I only found 2 of these personal lidded enamel bowls, not sure if I have more cause we are still in the process of moving and half of my kitchen stuff are still in Natchez, so I just put them across each other. I bought them from Pier 1 years ago. I placed 2 blue and white bowls on the others.

I thought I would put this cruet set on the table too. They are midnight blue in color.

R, w and b bike napkin rings from Sur La Table. They were still packed in a box in the garage. Good thing, my very organized friend, Brenda, who helped me packed, labeled all the contents of the box on the outside so I knew where they were. Thanks, Bren!

Thank you for another visit. Wishing you all a Happy Independence Day! Thanks to all the hostesses!

Home Sweet Home

The Charm of Home

Kate's Flaunt it Friday

http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com

Anything Blue Friday

http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/

Beverly's Pink Saturday

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Sally's Blue Monday

http://smilingsally.blogspot.com

Christine's Table it Monday

http://www.rustic-refined.com/

Cindy's Amaze me Monday

http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/

Mary's Masterpieces Monday

http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/

Kathryn's Make it Pretty Monday

http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/

Marty's Inspire Me Tuesday

http://www.astrollthrulife.net/

Maria Elena's Tuesdays at Our Home

http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com/

Paula's What's It Wed

http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

Centerpiece Wed

http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/

Sarah's Homemaking party

http://www.hopeineveryseason.com/

Kathy's Home and Garden Thursday

http://www.adelightsomelife.com/

Share your Style Thursday

http://northernnesting.blogspot.com/

Tablescape Thursday

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Thursday, July 2, 2015

BoosBlock for Our Kitchen Island

Our Florida kitchen is not as big as our kitchen in Natchez, MS, but it is functional. I love how it has a lot of storage but I miss our kitchen island in Natchez. So, when John and I spotted a butcher block table at Homegoods about 2 months ago, we both fell in love with it. But, the price was more than what we were willing to pay.

Our kitchen before the table.

The other day while headed for the Farmer's Market, which is next door to HG, John asked if I wanted to go to HG first. But of course after all, it is my favorite store. And as usual, I went and checked on the butcher block table and lo and behold! They have marked it down $200. We could not resist any longer so we bought and brought it home. It was so heavy that John and I could not even move it but the employees helped us load it in the car and my son in law unloaded it for us.

And there it is! I think the size is perfect to serve as a kitchen island.

I love how thick the block is.

Still have enough room to walk around it.

I ordered Boos block miracle oil and cream from Amazon but they have not arrived yet. And they did not cost me anything since I had enough rewards to pay for them.

The house is coming together. We still have some furniture in Natchez that need to be moved but we are in no hurry since we have not sold the house yet and we have enough here to function well. See the bookcase that used to sit in the hallway in Natchez? It fits perfectly in the big wall in the family room. I love its ladder cause I can easily go up and move things around. I even store oversized serving top and can easily get them when I need them.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you like the minor changes. I love my butcher block table/kitchen island.

Thank you to all the hostesses or these fun parties!

Kathy's Home and Garden Thursday

http://www.adelightsomelife.com/

Share your Style Thursday

http://northernnesting.blogspot.com/

Home Sweet Home

The Charm of Home

Kate's Flaunt it Friday

http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/

Christine's Table it Monday

http://www.rustic-refined.com/

Susan's MetamorphosisMonday

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Cindy's Amaze me Monday

http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/

Kathryn's Make it Pretty Monday

http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/

Marty's Inspire Me Tuesday

http://www.astrollthrulife.net/

Maria Elena's Tuesdays at Our Home

http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com/

Kathryn's Before and After Wed

http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/

Paula's What's It Wed

http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

Centerpiece Wed

http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/

Sarah's Homemaking party

http://www.hopeineveryseason.com/

Monday, June 8, 2015

Dinner by the Pool with 2 Daughters and their Families

Now that we moved to Florida, we get to see my children and grandchildren more. This past weekend, my daughter Rochelle had arranged for a small birthday party for her youngest daughter, Myla, at the gym close to here. They live about 2.5 hrs. away but they wanted to be able to celebrate the weekend here.

My other daughter, Tina, who lives next door, and I take turns in cooking for dinner so we do not have to cook everyday. And last Saturday was my turn. Since both daughters and their children (7 all in all) were all here, and they all wanted to go swimming, I just set the table out on the pool deck.

I used casual melamine plates and acrylic glasses.

I grilled salmon but I wasn't sure if all the kids eat fish so I made some chicken noodle soup also.

The yellow bowls are for the soup of the little boys.

I bought these woven basket plate chargers from World Market. They were on clearance when I bought them, $3 each, if I remember correctly. I bought greenish yellow, teal and orange but I did not use the orange ones on this table.

I just took out some Polish pottery cups to serve the soup for the adults.

I used bird nest rings for napkin holders.

Do you see the coffee table near the window? I set the table for the 4 little grand girls and used step stools for their seats.

The bigger kids started swimming while the little ones were still napping.

I love these food domes that I bought on line, also from World Market, last year.

I wish I could find more acrylic stems like this. My grandkids are getting fancy. When they ask for milk, water or juice, they want us to put them in "fancy glasses", meaning these, lol. But I only have 2 of these. I have some yellow plastic goblets but somehow they prefer these.

We also had some mangoes. Yum! Right after we got here, I planted 2 mango trees outside but these mangoes are not from our trees. They have fruits but they are still green.

Here is the table I set for the 4 little girls.

Chairs would be too tall for the coffee table so I used 4 step stools. They were just perfect for their little 2 and 3 year old legs.

Here are all 7 grandchildren, from youngest to oldest.

I also want to share how well Rea is doing. Look at all that hair! After a year long treatment, she is doing so well and has been in remission for months now. She is finally enjoying being a normal kid again. I want to thank everyone for all the prayers.