"Bella Rose Cottage" Blog

How To Boil Water???

Okay... so basically... "I only have a kitchen because it came with the house".... hahaha! I was just looking at my friend Jo's blog at neereandearcreations.com/wordpress/ .  She has a wonderful looking recipe on there made with acorn squash (YUM) and sausage, so check it out. I am the worst cook… I do spaghetti, fettucine w/Alfredo (in a glass jar) and my all time FAVE… Hamburger Helper Stroganoff……….. hahahaha! My MARTHA STEWART type Mother actually gave me a handwritten manual when I got married on "HOW TO BOIL WATER, ETC". I totally inherited her sense of style and décor… but her fabulous COOKING forget it… get me a reservation! HA! I wonder if Jo would make this for me and ship it overnight??? LOL!

Oh Christmas Tree....Oh Christmas Tree

I finally got my PINK and White Tree up in my office. I got the prettiest pink lights from JORABEELS.COM with white wire.... I added little mini white feather wreaths and sparkly *word* ornaments, as well as white flowers, white stars, sparkly white ice skates, strands of white pearls and so on! I like to turn off all the lights in my office and just be at PEACE... it just glows. 

Sadly, though the BIG Green Tree in our Great Room is up and has the lights on it, I just can't muster up the desire to decorate it.  This is my first Xmas without my Mom and it is a struggle to just get through the day without crying.  My Mom always decorated the stair bannisters and wreaths for my doors as well as help me do the tree.  This year my bannisters aren't decorated and I got my white wreaths at Target! Brooks sets up the big tree and adds the lights.. I am supposed to do the rest. I feel like getting on a cruise ship and sailing off to a tropical island and just forgetting all about Christmas!

Normally we have ALWAYS decorated the day after T-Giving. Not this year... I just am not in the mood. Brooks spent all day on Sunday (in the pouring rain)decorating the outside of our house and it looks pretty... white, pink, blue and red lights are everywhere as well as those lighted reindeer along the house. I am trying to get into the spirit, I listen to Xmas music all day when I am home and in the car... but it is just not the same without my Mom (and if I hear "Blue Xmas" one more time I am going to scream) LOL. Anyways, my all time favorite Christmas movie is on tonight : "CHRISTMAS VACATION" .... so I am going to get a glass of wine and snuggle up with my hubby, son and my girl Bailey (my dog) and watch it. Enjoy the photos!

                                                                         

I'M DREAMING OF A PINK CHRISTMAS

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. Growing up, we had the most beautiful Christmas's! My Mom would decorate the inside and bake for days and my Dad was the original CLARK GRISWOLD with the decorating outside for a entire weekend, the presents under the tree were like a beautiful display wrapped so pretty you didn't even want to open them.  I have done the same thing every year for my son as well, since he was born... I am inside decorating and my hubby is *outside* ...where else?? I tell him where to put everything and what color lights to place where, because let's face it, he isn't overly thrilled to be out there in the cold weather ALL DAY, plus he is a MAN and doesn't seem to be able to coordinate colors too well!  LOL! My son is now 14, and finds everything a chore (lol) and doesn't seem to be into Christmas that much (except he has his REPUBLICAN Red, White and Blue Tree still up in his media room since last Xmas!!! He did provide me with a Xmas LIST he gave me over a month ago, of his current needs and wants! He has tried to update this twice now, with NO luck!! hahahaaha!  Meanwhile, I am dreaming of a PINK Christmas!

Winter Wonderland at Green Acres

Well, here we are, 2 weeks away from Christmas and we have already had a snowstorm. Here in Virginia, that rarely happens till January, sometimes even February.  With the big 3 inches, the schools were all closed and the town was basically empty.  C'mon people...  I am from Michigan... we used to have to walk to the school bus in a foot of snow!  I took this picture from my front doorstep while the snow was falling, that is my friend Beth's house at the end of my driveway, and her CUTE son Sawyer on my lawn!  One of the great things about SNOW Days, is that is the best time to hop in my SUV and hit the stores... they are basically empty!!!  Finally getting some spare time to decorate, more to come later!!

GREEN ACRES????

Okay, so I am probably showing my age... but who didn't love the TV show "Green Acres"???  I watched it religiously! HA!  Oliver and Lisa Douglas.... what a pair they were! Lisa, obviously used to the finer things in life (like myself), marries Oliver (my husband Brooks to a T) and ends up in the country totally out of her element. She in her fancy clothes, diamonds and high heels, Oliver in his overalls and work boots.... Well, when Brooks and I decided to build our dream home... he wanted out of suburbia (where we were currently living in a nice house 3 feet from our neighbor's...lol) to move to the country (yikes... Farm Living is NOT the life for me), and I wanted a big PINK beachy stucco home with an inground tropical pool. So, we compromised.... I'd get my home and pool and he could live in the country with some land and get a riding mower....yee haw! So here we are, some of our friends refer to us as Oliver and Lisa! HA! One year in the country life and I am thinking: "Dahling I love you, but give me Park Avenue". I hate bugs and anything that crawls, flies and makes a buzzing sound.... I practically have to wear a HAZMAT suit outside from April through September....and I have NO desire to share a pool with these creepy crawlies... so I have NO POOL! We did buy a beautiful pergola and nice huge hot tub.... that my hubby sits in almost every night... but until it is freezing out... I am passing, after my son informed me of a huge spider (eeeeekkk) he spotted on the stairs leading into the hot tub, which he claimed was ZOO material! Brooks and I have so much in common with Oliver and Lisa... he likes the chores, I love the stores!  My wonderful e-friend Kathryn Bechen suggested that Brooks and I dress up in front of our PINK Stucco House (aka: PINK ACRES) and he can be in his overalls and hold the pitchfork, I can be in my designer duds with my coach purse and coach shoes on and have our picture taken..... what a HOOT that would be... say wasn't Green Acres in HOOT-ERVILLE??? LOL!

PINK PUMPKINS

I finally had a few spare minutes to devote to some Halloween decorating last weekend!  Ever since my son was born (14.5 years ago)... my hubby and I have gone above and beyond with the whole HOLIDAY decorating thing.... Halloween, T-Giving, Xmas and Easter. I have such fond memories as a child, of how our house looked at these holidays.... my Dad would spend days decorating the outside and my Mom would do the inside, it was truly GORGEOUS. So, I felt it important to do the same for my only child, besides, who doesn't want to be surrounded by pretty things! This year however, my Mom (my own personal Martha Stewart) is no longer here, and I have NO desire to do any *holiday* decorating. I think my hubby is actually breathing a sigh of relief....heeheehee! Normally on October 1, November 1 and Dec 1... he is out there for hours and hours stringing lights and hanging deco's and plugging in all my lighted deer. Very CLARK GRISWOLD-esque! LOL!  So, last weekend, I had him pick up 10 pumpkins for our front steps, along with 3 cans of PINK spray paint, yes, PINK!  I asked my son if he cared if I painted all the pumpkins PINK, instead of the orange.... to which he said: "WHATEVER". I mean I was lucky to get that response from him, since he is practically 15 and grunts alot of his words. HA!  So, my son and I, with spray cans in hand set out to paint the PUMPKINS.  I think they turned out really pretty!  I also ordered some GHOSTS that appear to be dancing in a circle from Grandin Road Catalog.... and we tried to set those up as well... they have to be the cheapest made pieces of JUNK for $100 I have ever seen.... they all broke as we were trying to get them into the ground and we had to end up using *fishing line* to rig them to stand. I have Orange TUBS filled with the ORANGE fall and Halloween deco's in my basement... but just had no desire to face them all!  Once your children are past the stage of Trick-Or-Treating, Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, it just becomes less FUN! Christmas is normally my favorite time of year... I need to get into the spirit quick!

Prayers PLEASE!

I just received an e-mail from my sweet E-FRIEND Kathryn Bechen.... she and her hubby Steve and their kitties have had to evacuate their new condo near San Diego due to the fires and are staying in a hotel. Here is her e-mail, please pray for them!

"Just to let you know Steve and I self evacauated our Cardiff condo this am due to the air quality and my special health needs. I pray all my San Diego people I know are safe.  When we left there was ash on the ground, and a green sky like tornado weather for those of you Midwesterners on this list!  Very scary looking.  We taped up all our windows and cranked our air purifiers on high.  We had time to pack both our cars full of personal possessions and important financial papers and that was all that would fit.  We were fortunate to get a hotel in Carlsbad, but our kitties are housed in our second car as they would not allow pets.  I cried (and tried to reason with the hotel owner, to no avail) when in front of us they very rudely and adamantly  turned a family of 4 with a dog away who said they had nowhere else to go, little children, and an SUV of "stuff."   They were forced to evacuate.    I will never forget the look on that man's face as long as I live and I have been praying for that family all day.  The hotels are all full--we stopped at several as had this family.  As for the kitties, although in the car, fortunately we had brought their beds, carrier, leashes, water and plenty of food so they are parked in the shade and happy as clams roaming Steve's car.  We are safe and have a clean place to stay for we don't know how long and will take it day by day.  We brought food etc. so we are fine for now.  Our church sent an email that they will attempt to help displaced parishioners who need housing.    As of now, we don't know if that will be us or not.  The neighboring beach town, Solana Beach, was on alert for evacuation, and we are right by there. We walked down the street from our hotel to where else, Starbucks, so I could do this email." 

Weekend of Bargain Hunting w/Jen (A Bit Of Paris)

Hi Everyone~

First of all I want to thank Jen Froh of Pear Street Studios for creating my blog design (she also created my BELLA website) . If you need a website, blog, newsletter or logo graphic, she is the one for the job! Second of all, I want to thank Kathryn Bechen (of Kathryn Bechen Ink) and Angelina (of Angelinas Cards and Paper Boutique) for encouraging me to have a blog.

I must say, I am a bit nervous about this endeavor, because I don't find my life extremely exciting and I am so busy, I am worried that I will not have the time to update this frequently.....not too mention, I have no idea what I am doing and how to even work this blog... so please forgive any errors! LOL!

Jen (from A Bit Of Paris) and I decided since she lived in Tennessee and I am in Virginia,  we seemed to have a lot in common, that it would be great FUN to hang out for the weekend and go to Open Air Markets and Estate Sales, and do some serious shopping for great deals and wonderful finds! We have been e-mailing with each other daily for several months, but had never met in person.  She took the 6 hour drive to stay with me here at my PINK PALACE and we have had the BEST TIME. We have had yummy dinners out with my hubby and son, drank lots of wine, and shopped till we dropped. 

   

Today we went to an Open Air Market near my house, and while Jen was haggling with a vendor over a lamp (basically trying to save herself $2...hahahaha), we came upon the AMISH... who had the cutest little puppies for sale for $250.  So, to make this short, Jen spent all the rest of her money on obtaining " BERNAFFAIRE .... which in French translates to GREAT FIND!

He is just the cutest Cairen Terrier... 11 weeks old... he has a new best friend in my golden retriever Bailey, who was even willing to share her prized tennis ball with Bernaffaire....

So, finally we packed up Jen's little Red Truck and Bernaffaire and they are ready to head back home to TN.

 

Wow, this little truck is really packed!