Remodel complete for now

Here is the simi-end result. I do plan on framing the mirrors, getting new light fixtures, faucets and putting curtains on the window but as of now it's finished.

Faux painting the bathroom

At last I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. After trying my hand a faux painting the bathroom my mother-in-law who knows what she is doing is painting it. Thank God for good mother-in-laws.

My wedding (inspired by Betty Beguiled)

Hey guys,

To give you a reprieve from the remodeling talk, I'll talk about my wedding instead. I got the idea from Betty Beguiled. She was asking about weddings and wedding dresses so I'll talk about mine here.

I loved my dress and I still do. It took me about a year, 3 states, about 7 cities, 20 bridal shops, and 100 dresses (I'm not exaggerating) to find it. The top and the bottom originally come from two different dresses by one designer. We called the company and they made my dress exclusively for me.

The bodice was originally strapless but the bridal shop made a sheer higher back with covered buttons and sheer sleeves. They also beaded the bottom of the sleeves to mimic the rest of the dress. The dress was made of golden (it was more of a cross between cream, champagne, and candle light) Italian Satin with a double Cathedral length couture satin and tulle train. It had a sweet heart neckline, the bodice was elaborately beaded with Swarovski Crystal and embroidered with platinum thread. It had a ball gown style skirt with scalloped hemline that barely missed the floor. When I walked it looked like I was floating. The train and skirt were also elaborately beaded with Swarovski Crystal and embroidered with platinum thread. The back of the dress had covered buttons from the top of the train all the way to the back of my neck.

Close up view


Detail of the train.

It took forever for me to find the dress but once I did I fell in love. I had my grandmother's diamond and platinum watch band made into earrings and wore them. I also carried her rosary in my bouquet. I wore my prom shoes because they had a pretty embroidered flower pattern that complimented the dress. We had them re-dyed because they were still white. My hair was worn up with my sister's head piece and I bought a scalloped beaded veil with blusher. I felt like a princess all night.

My sister and I both got married Dec. 28th. My wedding day was her 25th wedding anniversary. So now I will never forget her anniversary date and the guys can call to remind each other.

The mass was held in a simple church that was beautifully decorated from Christmas.

My wedding colors were white and red. The girls all wore red satin floor length dresses with boleros. The styles of the dresses were different and fit their body types but all looked very similar

.

The grooms men all wore black tuxes with red vests and ties. The fathers wore black tuxes with gray vests and ascots. (They both looked very dignified).

We had two ring bearers but only one made it down the aisle. Our flower girl was so cute in her dress. It had a few of the same characteristics of mine but was very little girl appropriate.

My local church choir (the whole choir) sang for my wedding. We had the Mass of the Angel's sung. The whole wedding had an ethereal feel to it.

The reception hall was decorated with white and ivory with touches of red. We had a seated dinner reception. I heard the food was good from everyone. (Even if I didn't get to eat any) After dinner we danced the night away

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Over all I loved my appearance and had the princess wedding that I always wanted.

And the first coat is on!

The first coat of paint is on. Now to let it dry over night and bright and early tomorrow morning my mother-in-law is coming over for the faux painting party. More picture to come.

Slow progress

Here is the bathroom at the moment. I'm dry wall plastering the holes where the wall paper made holes and my dad is trimming the sides before we start painting in walls with the first coat.

A long week of re-modeling

Hello Everyone out there in blogger land,

This week has been very busy. My parents came in on Saturday. On Sunday my father helped the Baron to fix his car. I am SOOO excited we have two working cars again. My father has resurrected that dead car once again. She really is a blue haired old lady these days. I guess it's a miracle she's still alive period. She's a delta 88 and has been on her last leg since she was given to the Baron about 4 years ago.

The other project, the one that has been keeping us up so late is the bathroom. We've been having a great time peeling wall paper off the walls in the bathroom for the last 3 days. WHY DO PEOPLE EVER PUT WALL PAPER ANYWAY! It's hard to put up and hard to take down. Once all the paper comes down my dad is going to float the walls and then paint the base coat. Then I get to faux finish it. We're still on the removal of w

all paper stage. Hopefully that will be done tonight. The Baron and my father are still working on it. I'm taking a

break. I can't feel my hands anymore and my back is killing me. I'm sure my father is hurting too. He and I have been at it all day. Not bad for a 70 year old. He's really hanging in there. Well I better go back and help so we can get to bed before 1 AM. If I can find the camera I'll post pictures on the next blog entry (maybe tomorrow). This is the before picture. I'll put a during and hopefully an after if all goes well. My parents have to go back home this coming Saturday for my Great-Nephew's birthday party. See you guys later.

Great scrub deal

Hello dear readers,

Some of you know that I have interviewed with and was hired by a rehab contract company. I have to work 1,260 hours to become fully licensed and get my Certificate of Clinical Competence. I will be working three days a week in two different long term care/in-patient rehab facilities. One facility is about 30 miles from our house and the other is about 55 miles. That means I'll be in traffic for about an hour and a half one way on the days I go to the farther facility. I'm not looking forward to that part but I guess it's only three days a week and I can work there for a year then look again for something closer.

In preparation for starting my new job I had to get some scrubs. I found a place near the house that was having a sale on their discontinued styles (Didn't know scrubs had different styles before that). Well I decided that I'd at least try a few on and low and behold I found some. For you guys who are not in the medical field and don't realize how much scrubs are, a pretty nice set (one that isn't 100% cotton) runs about $50 to $60. The higher end scrubs run about $30 for the tops alone. I was able to pick up some really expensive brands from their sale rack for $5.50 per top and $ 4.50 per pants. The mid-quality set out of the sale been was $2.50 a piece. I got 2 complete outfits and 3 extra pairs of pants for $40.00. I was super excited! The baron told me I should brag about the purchase on here since it was such a great deal. Now if I can only find an other shirt with an empire waist in a petite size I'll be really excited. I'll even be willing to pay full price for it since I got such a great deal on the rest of my scrubs.

I also bought a new pair of Nike tennis shoes for work yesterday and they were only $40.00. Over all I think it was a very productive shopping day.

On a totally different note, my parents are coming back to visit and to fix the Barons car. (My dad and the Baron are doing that). They are also coming to help me remodel my master bathroom this weekend. (It will be a group effort). We are going to need to remove wall paper, maybe re-float the sheet rock and paint it. If things go well, I'll have pictures of that to put up by the end of next week. If not I'll have to live with a half way done remodeling project till they are able to come back again to finish it. Lets hope we can do this in a timely manner.

This is my inspiration for the bathroom. (Or at least the color and texture)

Another Heart Attack meal

(late edition)
Written Feb. 4th

I know it's Friday and I should be posting a Fish Friday recipe but today's Champagne Shrimp wasn't great. It was edible but was not worth the calorie count. So instead I'll write about last night's meal. Due to the weather, the Baron came home early from work. I decided to make an early dinner and to fancy it up a bit. We had Bow Ties with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream. I am including the recipe below. As usual I changed it up a bit.

Bow Ties with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream
Ingredients

* 1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/2 cup diced onion
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 (28 ounce) can Italian-style plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
* 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
2. Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage and pepper flakes until sausage is evenly brown. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, cream, and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir cooked pasta into sauce, and heat through. Sprinkle with parsley.



Changes:
1. Used Turkey Italian sausage instead of regular Italian sausage.
2. Used half fat free half and half and half heavy whipping cream.
3. used 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes but probably could have used it all.
4. Cut an entire onion and used it all
5. Used Italian seasoning, black pepper, salt, and garlic powder to taste.
6. Added 3 cups of mushrooms.
7. Cooked (in separate pan) 4 strips of bacon (I'd use more next time added a nice layer of flavor)
8. Sauteed the mushrooms in some of the bacon grease (I know I know terrible for you but O SO GOOD!)
7. Added some green onions at the end because I had them.
8. Cooked the pasta al dente then finished cooking it in the sauce.

Update:
We had left overs and ate them on Saturday. We almost fought over them it was so good. I'd say it was almost better on Sat. than when it was freshly cooked. This is going to be a redo. Next time I'll make it with fat free half and half to help with the calorie count (but I'm still adding the bacon. Think of it as a balancing system. hehe).