Prayers For Hazie Please!

Hazel Jo

Our littlest munchkin is in the hospital getting antibiotic therapy for a blood infection. Please pray for her that the infection will be under control soon and the Abs won't fry her little tiny veins. Please pray that she will not be afraid and unhappy as doctors have become very unpleasant to her with all the poking and sticking that goes on in the hospital. Please pray that her Mommy and Daddy and sisters can hold up well under all the worry and pressure.

For Hazie and Jennifer!

This morning I posted a link to Linda Ann's post about Lanette. I hope neither one of them will sue me for snagging the lullaby that Lanette sang at camp. I wanted little Hazie to be able to hear it in the hospital over the laptop. She loves music and I am sure she is very well-acquainted with her angel friends. Maybe it will bring her comfort, anyway that is my prayer. Thanks everyone...we will keep you posted!

Lanette...To Know Her Is To Love Her!

This morning I was reading through my favorite blogs and I ran across this sweet post by Linda Ann. She has written a post about Lanette as the Young Women's Camp director this year. Some people just seem to have it all. Lanette carries the Light of Christ with her everywhere she goes, she has an amazing talent to teach by example, as well as her words and she never stops giving. If you want to see a tiny bit of what she is constantly giving...click here.

Thank you, Linda Ann, for sharing this for those if us who did not go to girls' camp this year. We are blessed to call you both our friends! I absolutely love the lullaby you have included for us all to enjoy! Lucky young women...lucky us!

A Simple Woman's Daybook~July 20, 2009

While Peggy is taking a summer vacation from her daybook, Grandmother Wren will be hosting so you can post your daybook there until Peggy’s return.

Normally to join in focusing on the simple things and pleasures of your daily life or to read other people's entries, you would click here.

So, For Today...Monday, July 20, 2009

Outside my window... the morning looks different than usual as I am getting a late start on my Daybook...it is 9:10 am. Jim let me sleep this morning after a late night last night. I am grateful but always feel slightly disappointed when I sleep later than 5:00 am. It seems like I have slept through my really productive hours! But sometimes good sense just whispers..you need sleep. The sun in pretty high already and it is going to be hot today. It is quite breezy though and that will be a blessing later.

I am thinking...I need to block out my plans for the week so I can get lots done.

From the learning room...I am reminded how very important our families should be to all of us. How much I love my brothers and their families and how much I realize they are such an integral part of my happiness in this life. God's plan for families to be together forever brings me great joy. His plan is so amazing and I am learning more about it all the time. I'm wondering if we ever stop missing our parents once they are gone? I am learning we need to spend more quality time with our extended family.

From the kitchen...the cupboards need replenishing. I wish a magic wand could do it but, alas, no. It is me. Plain and simply..I need to get out and do it today. In Harry Potter's new movie I loved the scene where the magic wands put a disheveled room back together in a flash. Where can I get one of those?

I am wondering...how I can be an instrument in God's hand today to help someone in crisis. The thoughts, Lead me, Guide me, Walk beside me from the song I Am A Child of God come to my mind.

I am wearing...Jeans (the uniform) and a lime green tank with a lime green and white shirt. It is bugging me though as it is one of those stretchy shirts that makes noise when you move. Hate that. So I will probably change and put the shirt in the Good Will bag by day's end!

I am reading...John Adams...very slowly..hope I am done by Halloween!

I am creating...some travel plans for December in Italy and hoping I can get to calling about flight info this week.

I am praying for...help!

I am hearing..Here and Now...Luther Vandross.

I am quoting...Winston Churchill...Never, Never, Never...give up!

I am going..to gather up the things our kids left here and send a box this week!

My spiritual thoughts include...joy in having had a chance to teach at church yesterday. I love teaching it just forces me to study more, learn more, focus more. I love that.

Around the house...I still need to make the bed, and do a 15 minutes picking up..you know, the daily routine. Then phone calls and paper work. Ugh! Oh, and shopping for food.

Today I miss...our daughter, Laura. They have been traveling for two weeks and I have only been able to talk to her once during that time. They took the boys and went to the eastern coast of Italy by the Adriatic Sea for a little vacation and then last week they were in Bern, Switzerland. I am so thrilled for the opportunities they are all having now while living in Italy.

I am hoping... Our daughter, Jennifer, will have the time of her life when she gets to visit Laura and family in November for ten whole days. What a loving husband she has to let her go and relax and have a respite from 4 busy little girls that keep her on the run day after day without end.

I have been procrastinating...Always the same stuff...budgetary paper work. I need a wand for that too.

One of my favorite things...A perfect brightness of hope. Hope that just refreshes and gets you going again and again each morning. And a Heavenly Father who loves me perfectly...not because of who I am but because of who He is.

A few plans for the rest of the week..Client design consultation with a woman that is the Rabbi's wife of a local Temple in the area. We have only spoken on the phone so far, but I have found her to be simply delightful. She wants her home made up with "a little lipstick and rouge" so it can be put on the market. Movies on Friday and just a lot of regular routine type busy work around the house. And I absolutely need to write thank you notes for kindnesses and gifts given to me on my birthday a few weeks ago.

Here is a picture and a thought I am sharing with you...

The hot weather makes me feel like this but I need to just ignore the desire to lay low and get busy! Putting my shoulder to the wheel and getting things done is a necessity this week. Wishing for something is never enough. Work is the essential element of accomplishment. Hey, I just made that up...you can quote me on it and remind me once in awhile too. OK?

Facebook Communique~I'm An American!

From Jen~ to her iPhone ~to Facebook ~to me ~to you
~as if by Magic...in July 2009

"Mom: Wow! Chloe, you are so fancy!

Chloe: I'm not fancy. I'm an American. ...
Mom: Hmmm...what is an American?
Chloe: It's when you have a dress and a necklace and curly hair and a build-a-bear and you are smiling.

From the mouths of babes..."

Vegging Out With A Movie

Littlest Princesses Zoning Out!

When you take a photo of the kids and you get this...you know they are looking at something more compelling than you! Everyone need some vegging time so we are taking their lead and going out to see Harry Potter this afternoon!

You've Come A Long Way Baby!

Was this really nearly two years ago?

22 months old~Miss Hazie!

Pottery Barn~Target Marketing

Some flowers to brighten your day to begin!

Enough of you said, "Yes" to more decorating tips and posts so here is another one! Thanks for letting me know of your interest as I like to write what you want to read.

In real estate, target marketing is essential. Every house needs to appeal to the highest number of potential buyers but you also have to be aware of what demographic will be looking at your home. Will your buyer be an executive looking to upgrade or relocate to a new area? Will the potential buyer most likely be a family with children? Does your home and area appeal more to a retirement age group, single adults, or first time buyers? When I stage a home I take all of this into consideration before doing my design plan.

This week we did a home in a great location. It is, however, a small condo with a savvy homeowner that wanted to target market to the young upwardly mobile, single person or couple and first time buyer.

I love it when my client does my work for me...I have never had one that knew much about target marketing until this homeowner! This woman was my dream client. She was receptive to all my ideas and direction and did everything I suggested. This was so refreshing and I guarantee it will sell her home much more quickly and for a higher price. A hard working, cooperative client makes all the difference. (Note to self when it is time to sell your home!)


My client wanted me to do a Pottery Barn look as she had actually asked some twenty somethings what they would like to see if they were looking for a home. Brilliant, don't you think?

One thing that made this project so delightful was that it is vacant and empty. Before it was staged the kitchen was remodeled along with both bathrooms. New wood laminate flooring was installed downstairs. Upstairs it has new carpeting and each bathroom has updated flooring, cabinetry, and fixtures as well. This made a tremendous improvement to the property. I assisted my client in selecting some of it including the paint colors, etc. and so when I arrived to stage it ~everything was like new and coordinated and ready to be designed.

This home owner understood one very important element to selling her home. You must invest money in making the best presentation possible, IF you want a short market time and the highest possible selling price. Also she paid attention to the details. The competition out there is fierce.

This client was also willing to rent furniture to make sure everything was good quality and the proper scale and the right style for the look she wanted. I use Cort Furniture for all my clients and I love going down to the showroom and picking out an entire household of furnishings to make it work. The person at Cort that is the most knowledgeable and helpful to me is Iuliana.

The only thing that the client already had and wanted to use was the master bedroom set and since she sells Ralph Lauren bedding online, she wanted me to use the bedding ensemble she had chosen. The bedding is an aqua and cream set so aqua was the color I wanted to feature. When you have a small home keeping the colors consistent makes it flow better and look bigger. So with aqua in mind and PB, I set out to find what could help create a Pottery Barnesque look, in a great neighborhood, for a first time buyer.

I know you like before and after photos but
this house was nearly empty so most of the rooms
looked something like this a few days ago.

Anything would be better than empty, right?
Only 5% of the population can visualize how their furniture
would fit and look when looking at an empty room.
Here is what it looks like now...
Double click the photos to see more details.

The living room has light, neutral, contemporary upholstered furniture. Most of the art work in the house features geometrics. The zany area rug has several colors in it and includes the predominate colors through out of aqua and pumpkin, black and brown. The geometric figure that is most dominate in this room is the circle.

Taken from the stairway landing.

The wall in the living room opposite the front door.
An entry is a great place to put a mirror.
It is said that most people just love
seeing themselves when they walk into a place!
Funny, huh?

I wish you could see this piece better. It has nine drawers and they are painted black and brown and aqua and goes great with the area rug. The silver-toned, round mirror compliments the other round features of the room.

The dining area is connected to the

end of the living room and also the kitchen forming an 'L'.

In the kitchen and dining area I stuck primarily to the aqua and black. I selected this round table for its modern design and it was the smallest table they had at Cort.

This is a small area and is also the walk way to the patio so I had to allow for getting to the slider. Round is better in a situation like this as it prevents possible injuries if you were to accidentally run into the table walking through. Note that the chairs are not placed at 12-3-6-and 9 positions in relationship to the slider, but at 10-2-4 and 8. This gives you a lot more walking room. It also adds interest to the table setting. Try this even with a square table if you have limited space. Angle the table as a diamond instead of a square to your slider or wall. You will be amazed!

I used a mirror to visually enlarge the space and to connect the kitchen and dining area. When staging sometimes it is fun to 'over stage' an area and use a little whimsy. I used the large, wooden, black flower with the bling as the centerpiece on the table~ just to be an eye catcher and to tie into a black charger on the counter that actually has rhinestones around the edge. It adds a little youthfulness and fun.

I kept the kitchen really simple as it is small
and I wanted it to give it an open, airy look.

Upstairs the condo has a master bedroom, one bathroom
and a secondary bedroom which I did as an office.
The home office with faux computer.


In the office the same type of geometric, modern art has
been used along with the black, brown and pumpkin colors.

It is nearly impossible to photograph a small bathroom but I wanted to show you what I came up with for the towels. I found and purchased this art piece and remembered I had some black and white towels in the warehouse with a design very similar to the design at the top of the picture. I thought it might be fun to combine the black and white and orange and this is the result.

Double click to see the pattern on the picture.

Here is the Master Bedroom and the aqua we started with.

The area rug in the living room allowed me to add in some other
colors to the entire condo and still keep it flowing.

These two photos not the greatest but gives
you an idea of the rest of the master.

I enjoyed this project. Although I have staged lots of condos, I have primarily worked with executive and family home buyers in the past. Having someone request modern design was a new experience. I discovered I had to buy a lot of new things for this home. I haven't had to do that in a long time as I do have tons of inventory...it just was not suited to this house. And on top of that, the last house I did also had a lot of aqua so the accessories I might have been able to use were out.

This project proved to me once again that it doesn't matter so much what you are working with, but rather where you put it, when you are designing a room. It may not be your taste but, with the proper design principles implemented, you can get great results. All I can hope for is my next client to be just like this one!

And now it is Friday and I am beat! I am planning to do some relaxing things today to rest my brain before the weekend. Have a great one!