RISE AND SHINE TABLESCAPE

Rise and shine it's breakfast time!

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives us energy to face the day and jump starts our morning.

I never used like to eat breakfast but now I do. Eating breakfast out is my favorite meal to eat out.



If you are like me, you don't normally set a nice tablescape for breakfast. But, if you do it the night before, it's there waiting for you and it's sure to put a smile on your face.

So that is why I picked a breakfast tablescape today.

I got the tablecloth, napkins, larger red plate and smaller plate with rooster on it all at one time. However, I have not used them until now. Well, except the larger red plate. It's used a lot and is one of my top picks for my tablescapes.

I love the pattern on the solid red plate and that little rooster just makes me happy when I look at him.

I added a milk glass that says Milk in several languages around it and a darling little rooster juice glass.

Both perfect for breakfast.

I bought these cute little rooster napkin rings over a year ago. I love the roosters but it's the little rooster foot prints that I couldn't resist.

I folded the napkin in a fan shape today.

This big girl is the centerpiece. Normally, she sits on top of our refrigerator but she got to hop down to take center stage today.

The flatware I used is our everyday flatware. We just changed it out a few weeks ago and I really like it.



The butter dish is from my milk glass collection. I love it and try to use it whenever I can.

I think for breakfast I'm going to have some fresh fruit, eggs and homemade blueberry muffins.

I'll serve the muffins in the red braided bowl. It's a great size for breads or muffins.

The two little rooster salt and pepper shakers sit at the base of the milk glass vase filled with fresh white hydrangeas from my garden.

For those who want to know where I got everything here is the list:

Tablecloth & napkins - K-Mart

big red plate and smaller rooster plate - K-Mart

milk glasses - Crate and Barrel

juice glasses - Williams Sonoma

napkin rings - EBay

flatware - Villeroy and Boch

red bread bowl - Ross

Big chicken - I don't remember

salt and pepper shakers - TJ Maxx

milk glass butter dish - thrift store

milk glass vase - thrift store

I'm joining in on the fun over at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursdays. Hop on over there to enjoy a lot more wonderful tablescapes.

TREASURES IN THE MAIL

It's seems like in today's time with everyone practically living on computers, the mailman seems to only bring bills and junk mail any more.

I used to love getting mail. Checking each day to see if there was a card or a letter or some other fun little surprise for the day just waiting for me to open it up.

Not much of that going on these days.

Yet, every once in awhile, I'm caught off guard and I see something that stands out. That happened to me this weekend.

I quickly opened the padded envelope and found it was this darling little book made by Karla from Karla's Cottage. I had won her giveaway.

She made this and wrapped it up in vintage wall paper. Very cute.

It made me so happy. Thank you Karla.

ON THE LOOK OUT FOR THE BEST CUPCAKE IN SO. CAL

Last year around this time, I did a mini cupcake review. I didn't go to a lot of different places to try cupcakes. But, when ever I happened upon a cupcake for sale I bought one and did a review.

This is I'm doing an all out big cupcake challenge review.

I am searching for the best cupcake in So. Cal and I'm willing to drive up to an hour away to find it.

That means I'm willing to go to Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside and parts of San Bernardino Counties to find great cupcakes.

I've always loved cupcakes but now that it seems they are more popular then ever, it's getting to be easier and easier to find cupcakes being sold.

My review will be in many different areas. Things such as:

Price - Most affordable to the highest price
Size - Smallest to largest. Not counting mini cupcakes
TasteTexture
Moisture
Presentation
Frosting - both taste and amount
Most creative flavors
Best over all cupcake

Cupcakes make me happy. Heck, they make most everyone happy.

The hunt is now on. For the next several weeks I will be giving weekly reviews and then at the end I will give my "awards" to the best cupcakes around.

So, if you have a favorite cupcake place or if you own a shop and want to be included, please send me an email or leave me a comment here to let me know.

My first stop for cupcakes will be tomorrow. So, look forward to the review in the next day or two.

I HAVE A CHANGE OF HERAT!

I had my garage sale this weekend. I know I told you all I hated everything about having a garage sale. But, I've had a change of heart.

We got up at 5:00am (still hate that part) and set everything out. Even though I advertised no early birds, people still started to come a little after 6:00am. Our sale was set to start at 7:30am.

People were buying things like crazy before we even had 1/2 of the things unpacked. So between customers we quickly pulled things out of the boxes and sat them out.

I had planned on setting things up so it was pretty and organized like a little store. We had no time for that and no one seemed to care.

I don't think we went for more then a minute or two without having someone shopping and buying.

Where I live we can only have a garage sale four times a year. This weekend was the first time this year our city could have one and I think everyone was out either shopping or having their own sale.

I was worried I was going to have done all this work getting ready and then only sale about $100. I was shocked to see in only 5 1/2 hours I made close to $1600.00! Wow!

That is when my change of heart took place. It all became totally worth it.

Plus, we had so many nice people show up. We had a lot of laughs and everyone was so friendly and in a good mood.

Sadly we did have a few things stolen from us and I did have a few people try to get a lower price even though my prices were rock bottom. But, even those things didn't put a damper on the day.

When it was over, we still had lots of stuff. I packed up three car loads and took them to Goodwill. I had a super heavy solid steel work bench, a large table and a huge bag of packing peanuts that I listed as free on Craigslist.

By the time I got home from my third trip to the Goodwill, the table was gone. Then last night some time before 11:00pm the work bench and packing peanuts were gone! Yeah!

We have so much room in our garage now and I have some space in storage to move around.

It went so well that I'm planning on having another one in three months. It will be a great reason for me to go through all the things I have in storage and get rid of a lot of it.

So for those you, who are like I was, give it another shot. You too may have a change of heart.

EATING ALONE

It was time for dinner and I was home alone. Yet, it was time for Tablescape Thursday. So, I figured, why not set the table for one.

I have lots of different china pieces that do not belong to a whole group. A few dinner plates from one set, a few salad plates from another and so on. I love them all and so I picked a few different patterns to use for dinner tonight.



They all have pink flowers and I thought they looked just fine together. I also got out one of my white lace chargers.

I have gotten so much use out of those. I think they are one of my best buys.

For dinner, I used all the plates here. The large one for pasta, the main course. The middle one for my salad. The smaller one on top for my dessert of fresh fruit. I even used the bread plate for my roll.

Normally, if I'm alone I don't use all these different plates. In fact, to be honest I never use a bread plate unless I have company. Tonight was a real treat for me and I have to say, I did feel a bit special.

OK, the tea cup was really more to ballance the color. I don't normally drink tea. But, I did keep this out for my sister to use. She has a hot cup of tea every night.

Not to long ago, I polished all my silver. This little tea strainer was one that polished up nicely. So of course, I had to put it out too.

I even got out the good silver. Sometimes I like to spoil myself and besides, why shouldn't I get to eat on silver? Who says it's for company only?

There you have it. My Tablescape for one. Not a normal setting for me yet, I still enjoyed it and I hope you did too.

I'm linking up to Tablescape Thursday over at Between Naps on the Porch. I always have fun going there and seeing what everyone comes up with. Don't you?

I'M FINALLY DOING IT

I can't tell you how many times I have said I was going to have a garage sale and then didn't. Yet, this Saturday, I'm finally going to have one.

While I love going to garage sales, I hate having them. I don't like to prepare for them. I don't like getting up early. I don't like the actual sale. Nothing about having one makes me happy.

Well, except the money and extra space one gets from cleaning out everything.

I'm not one to haggle over the price of an item. I practically give my items away when I do have garage sales because I don't want to pack things back up and haul things to donate afterwards.

So, when I am asked a price and I give a super low price I don't like when the buyer comes back asking for it to be even less. I know this is normal and considered part of the "game" that people enjoy but I don't like it.

I also don't like the feeling when people come up, take a look around and leave. I feel like they think my stuff is just junk. Again, I know people are out looking for certain things but I still feel like a simple hello or good bye would be nice.

I also feel uncomfortable when a child really wants an item but the mom or dad tells them no. I'm not sure if I should offer to give the child the item for free or if the reason the parent says no is because they don't want any more toys around.

The thing that gets me the most is when someone steals something from you. What do you do? Do you confront them and start a fight or just let them take it? Every time I've had a garage sale or helped a friend have one I see this happen.

Most of the time I figure, if someone needs something so badly that they steal it from a garage sale then they need it more then me so I just turn away and let them have it.

So, I'm not looking forward to this coming Sat. But, I will be happy when it's over. I have so much stuff I'm getting rid of. So far, I have 1/2 of my garage full with boxes of items to sell. I still have a lot of my storage to go through before Sat too.

I wish all my blogging junking buddies lived close by. I know I have things you guys would want and having customers like you guys would make my day!

Wish me good luck and if you are in the area, stop by. I would love to see you.

NOW THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD A MOVIE!

A few months ago I posted about the place I wanted to go to for my birthday this year. I wanted to go to Gold Class Cinemas in Pasadena.

My birthday was on the 22nd of May but I wanted to wait until this week to go so I could see a movie I've been waiting to see.

Today was the day! When we got there, they had the red carpet rolled out for us. Really, the guy that worked there told me it was for us. So what if he tells that to everyone. I like to believe it was just for us.

This theater is much different then any other theater I've ever been to. Nothing I had read or heard had prepared me for this experience.

When you first walk in you are in a small room. There you will get your tickets. You will then be told to take the elevator or escalator down two floors to the lobby/lounge waiting area.

It was not your normal movie theater waiting area. No popcorn machine, counters filled with candy or soft drink machines.

There were plush chairs and couches, a full stocked bar and rooms that looked more like an upscale night club then a movie theater.



When it's almost time for your movie to start, you will be guided to the theater. The room is about the same size as most newly built theaters, with a nice large screen in front.

That will be the only thing that is the same as other movie theaters.



Here you will find super plush automatic recliners. These chairs are so soft they make you feel as if you are sitting on air. You do not feel any pressure where you sit. You don't sink down, the chair is not hard. It's just soft and the most wonderful feeling you have ever had.



You won't have to put your purse, backpack or packages on the floor. Just open the extra wide arm up and slip your belonging inside.

Before the movie starts, you can order what you want off the gourmet menu. Anything from potato chips with blue cheese dip to pasta or hamburgers can be ordered.

Your food will be brought to you during the movie. There is a list of wonderful desserts to pick from as well as gourmet popcorn and candy.

I ordered pasta with artichokes and cauliflower in a cream sauce and a dessert of strawberries with toasted angel food cake tossed in a mascarpone cheese sauce.

My sister Patty and our friend Julie both got the beef sliders.

Your food is put on your tables and as you can see there is a button you can push should you need anything else. If you decide later on you want something else to eat or drink, just push the button and within seconds a server will be there to take your order.

If you get cold just push the button and your server will bring you a plush, soft and cozy blanket with a pillow if you want.

I'm not sure but I wouldn't be surprised to find out if you asked for a foot rub I think they would do that too.

This place is so great. I can't say enough about it. It is a bit pricey at $22 - $29 a ticket but it is worth every penny. The food is extra but on Tues it is all half price. You can even order a fancy cocktail for 1/2 off on Tues.



We saw, Sex and The City II. It was cute. I enjoyed it. I wish they would have kept the girls in New York though rather then traveling across the world. While the costumes were pretty and it was fun to a part of the world I will never go to, I feel like New York is really the 5th lady the show has always been about and I missed seeing more of her.

I want to thank my sister, Patty, for treating me to a perfect day. I had so much fun and can't wait to go again.