GHOST HUNTERS!!!

For those of you who have been emailing me wanting to know when my next Paranormal Investigation will be, you'll be happy to know that I meet up with my group last night and we talked about several places for us to go to.

Our next investigation is going to be on Feb 6th. We are going to a church in Brea where a man fell off the roof while doing repairs and died. It is said that many of the people who go to this church have seen, felt and heard him over the years.

Also, there was an accident out front of the church and a man died. He is also said to have gone into the church to find comfort and remains there as a lost soul.

As in most church's, there have been many funerals held there and it appears that at least one spirit decided to not go with his body to the grave. Rather, he is hiding in the church waiting for the rest of his family to pass over before he moves on.

Should be interesting and I will be sure to post about our findings.

Some of our up coming investigations will include a closed down mental hospital where it said a few of the Dr. decided it would be best to kill some of the patients rather then treat them.

This place has been investigated by some of the top Paranormal investigators and even a few of the TV shows have gone there. Lot's of interesting things were found in those investigations.

We are also going to go back to the Star of India to re-investigate the ship down in San Diego.

We are going to go to Suicide Bridge where many many people have jumped to their death as well as some outside hiking trails were murders took place.

So, if you are some of my readers who enjoy the ghost hunting stories then be sure to come back to read the stories about what we found or didn't find.

LET'S GO SEARCH FOR VINTAGE VALENTINE'S DECOR

Today I felt like getting out of the house but I really had no where to go. So, I thought I would head on over to the Orange Circle where all the antique stores are. I was searching for some fun vintage Valentine's Day decor.

I thought you may like to see what I found.


These are super heavy and nicely made vintage baking pans in the shape of hearts. While they were $48 I think that was a great price for these pans. However, I have a set of stacking heart shape pans. I left these behind.

There were a few vintage hankies that I thought were darling. However, I'm going to my friend's Valentine's Day party and I happen to know she is giving everyone a Valentine's Day vintage hankie.

So, I saved money on these.

A few more were found in the next booth. I almost caved in and got them. After all, if I bought them all I would then have a collection!

Then I remembered my plan for 2010 and staying on budget so I walked on.

A little vintage hand made heart pillow and an unused Valentine's were spotted in the back of this booth. I wasn't real thrilled with either so I wasn't even tempted.

Now this Vintage Valentine's made me swoon! But it was $22.00 which I hear isn't that bad for big old Valentine's cards. Yet, it was way over my budget amount. It got left for someone else with more money to spend.

This big heart was pretty and reminded me of the Christmas trees and wreaths we all love. It was not vintage but had the look. Still, not what I wanted.

Lots of mini heart pans. Again, I have several of these already. After all, I do bake and decorate cakes so I have tons of baking supplies. I don't need one more thing in that area.

I did like these cute heart pillows made out of old towels, quilts and so on. Sadly they were not in the red, black and white color theme I'm going with this year.

I did fall in love with this. Do you know what it is? It's a little wire mesh in the shape of a heart and it's a soap saver. I'm not sure how you use it but you put all the little bits of bar soap you have in it and use it up.

Now this was a good idea for those who are trying hard to use every last bit of soap. Saves money and is not wasteful.

Here it is up close. Since I had no clue how to use it and I wasn't shopping for items to hang up in the kitchen or bathroom I put it down and sadly walked away from it.

This little area caught my eye for sure. Not so much because of the Valentine's Day items but because of the milk glass!

The milk glass was priced way to high for me. So I took notice of the candy heart boxes, they were sweet but nothing real special.

I did like the Valentines but again, to much money.

The candy heart in the jars were darling. I have lots of jars at home so I could just use this idea and not spend a penny.

This was pretty but I don't know what it says. Do you?

These little lady bugs were darling and would be cute as a party favor. I have no idea why I didn't even look to see what the cost was on these. I guess it's because I already knew what I was giving for my favor at my Valentine's Day luncheon.

The little heart boxes would also make a cute favor. You could even put a little chocolate inside.

These pillows would be great on a couch or chair. But I feared my dogs would think they had a new toy and chew it up.

Not really sure what this was all about but she made me laugh.

Lots more Valentines but the ones I looked at were not in that great condition.

This little plate was cute but by the time I saw it I wasn't even in the mood to spend money any more. WHAT! I know!

These were the items I know I'm going to lay awake at night and dream about. Plates and bowls in the shape of a heart with an arrow through them.

Oh how I fell in love with these. But they were $65 and I could not justify that amount to use one day a year.

I've never seen anything like these before and I'm all about the different and unusual items.

This booth had a table set up in Valentine's style.

Old cookie cutters and I love the pan cake mold in the shape of a heart.

This little guy makes me smile every time I see him. I should have gotten him. I could have used him all year long. Oh well!

If you add a little tablecloth with hearts on it and use red and white items it's Valentine's Day! Proof you don't have to use actual Valentine's Day dishes and glasses.

I thought this was very sweet but once again, the price tag made it to where I had to leave it behind.

Same with this little darling girl. To me $32 was to much to pay for her when she wasn't it perfect condition.

While this post makes it seem like I came across a lot of stuff there really wasn't much out there. This was all I found in all the stores I went into. I guess they really didn't decorate much for Valentine's Day years ago.

So, I went home without one thing! But, I am still dreaming about those clear plates and bowls. I really really want them!

Hope you enjoyed going shopping with me as we went on the hunt for Vintage Valentine's Day decorations.

NOT WHAT I REMEMBERED

I finally found the milk glass items I had been looking for. Though in my mind, they were drinking glasses and these clearly are not.

I was going to use these for my Valentine's Day table but now I'm not sure. Though I do love them and think they would be pretty with maybe some sorbet or pudding or for Valentine's Day I could put some cut up pound cake and fresh strawberries topped off with some fresh whipped cream.

I love the ruffled tops. They are nice and heavy too.

The bottoms give them that vintage look that I adore. When I purchased these from an antique store the lady told me they were from the late 1930's.

As is normal with milk glass, they are opaque when light shines through them.

They look like they have a crack in them but they don't. You can't see the lines in person, only in the photos. Strange!

I think they would be perfect to use for holding a sundae in them during the summer. Oh there I go, thinking ahead and not enjoyment the moment I'm in.

I think I'm happy these turned out not to be what I thought they were. These can be used for so many more things then if they were drinking glasses.

They are now washed up, put away in my china hutch and safe and sound where they belong.

FREE FROM CRAIGSLIST!

Several times a day I go to Craigslist and see what is being offered for free. While I have not found to many items I was interested in I do come across some things every now and then.

I found an add on there yesterday and was thrilled when I got an email back saying it was still available.


It's a set of Homer Laughlin dishes! I love dishes and vintage dishes always makes me happy.

The girl said they had belonged to her grandmother but when she died no one wanted them and they had been sitting in garage. She thought her grandmother got them back in the 1940's but she couldn't be 100% sure.

There were 6 dinner plates and saucers. Sadly there are only 5 bowls and bread plates as they broke while in her garage. There is on larger bowl for serving veggies, 2 oval plates, 1 tea cup and 1 coffee cup. The other ones broke a long time ago, she said. Also there is a gravy server that has a hole in it but I thought could still be used.


I did a quick search on EBay and found that the missing pieces can easily be replaced.

Since I took the pictures at night, the colors don't show up that well in the photos. The flowers are pink with a hint of yellow in them and tiny flowers that are blue. The outside ring is a cream color and the center is yellow.

They are very pretty.

I'm not a coffee drinker and since I collect mismatched tea cups and saucers I'm fine with only having one of these.

Here is the gravy server. It's very pretty still but there is a hole in one side and a crack. So it clearly can't be used for gravy.

Here you can see the hole better. I thought I could still put some floral oasis in here and make a sweet floral arrangement as the centerpiece. So, I'm hanging on to this.

The bottom oval plate matches the other two oval plates so I can use that to serve maybe some sliced tomatoes drizzled with some balsamic vinegar and fresh basil.

It was worth a few minutes of my time to make a run out to pick these up. I love them and the girl who gave them to me loved that someone will treasure her grandmothers dishes.

Have you found anything free on Craigslist before? If so, tell me what you got.

FYI I weighed in today and lost another 1.6 lbs. That's a total of 43.6 lbs. Slowly but surely it's coming off.

WEEKLY WEIGHT WATCHER RECIPE REVIEW

This week I tried another recipe from the Sept/Oct 2005 Weight Watchers Magazine.

This recipe calls for chicken but since I'm a vegetarian I did not use that. I will give you the recipe the way it was written and then I'll let you know what I did.

I always like to get all my ingredients together before starting any of my cooking.

Chicken, Asparagus, Penne Pasta

1/2 pound skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into 2 1/2 inch strips

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

1/4 box penne pasta

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally in thirds

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Sprinkle the chicken with the seasoning. Spray a large nonstick skillet with Pam or other non stick spray. Cook chicken over medium-high heat until browned on the outside and cooked through.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. When cooked use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta to a colander, reserving the the water in the pot.

(As I was cooking the pasta I got all the other items ready to go. By doing this I noticed quickly that I had forgotten to put the basil out.)

Add the asparagus to the same pot of boiling pasta water and cook until crisp tender. About three minutes.

In bowl add pasta, asparagus, tomatoes, basil, cheese, garlic, oil and salt. Toss well to coat and serve at once.

So what I did differently was, I didn't use any chicken. I also put everything back into the pot to heat it up.

I added a bit more olive oil and cheese then it called for. I didn't have two tomatoes so I only used one and I didn't have a full cup of chopped of basil. This worked out great and didn't seem to lack anything.

I also added about a cup of pasta water I saved. This made the pasta more moist and not so dry.

Goes great with a nice piece of bread.


I would make this again for sure. It was very good and super easy. It was ready to eat in less then 20 minutes too.

I think the next time I make this I will use sun dried tomatoes rather then fresh ones. I also will leave the garlic out and use garlic salt. I don't like the taste of raw garlic. If I do use fresh I think I will cook it first.

If you make this and are on Weight Watchers the count would be (with the chicken) 273 cal., 8 g fat, 3 g. Fiber and 21 grams of protein.

This will be 6 points per serving

One serving is 1 1/2 cups. This makes about four servings.

Don't forget if you don't eat the chicken then it will be less.

I hope you try this. If you do, let me know.

Oh, one more thing. This can be served cold or hot.

I've linked up to Foodie Friday over at Designs by Gollum. Take a peek and see what everyone else is cooking this week.

SOMEONE HAS BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED!

I walked into my bedroom and found this! Poor Zeke, he is so cold and just hates winter. He can't wait for the long warm days of Summer.

He is all snuggled up in "his" blanket. Normally I find him crawled under my covers but since his blanket was on my bed he found the perfect spot to get cozy and warm.

After giving me the "get out I'm tired" look, Zeke gave a big sigh and then drifted off to sleep. Not a care in the world.

Good night Zeke. Sweet dreams big boy!