Happy Thanksgiving !!!

Today...preparation.

How could I have forgotten Trader Joe's in my posting about my favorites?

I was so happy to move to a town where we have 3 of them. I stopped by this one yesterday as well because they sell Maya's favorite dog food and we were almost out. Can you believe I got in there and out again without buying anything but dog food? That's a first for me.

Okay, so this is what I'm up to today...


Two are in the oven and two are out and cooling.
Sweet Potato pie is my favorite and I've been making these for over 30 years. I love them and while 1 is for my home, the other three will go to other families for their holiday dinners. In Columbus, Ohio, my cousin Randy will be making my recipe for this pie along with 4-5 other pies for the table with all my cousins and their families. He inherited my grandmother's pie-making gene and really puts the rest of us to shame.

I'm also making green bean casserole. Even though I'm joining my two best sister-friends for dinner tomorrow at a local restaurant (none of us want to do the cooking, have the mess, or clean up after...lol), I want something here because I'm going to bake a chicken and make stove top stuffing for "leftovers" on Friday.

I think I love "leftovers" better than the actual dinner.


Yesterday, I finished all my mending. I got some fabric to cover my great task chairs that I got from IKEA....they are okay, but the fabric seems to be a dog hair magnet ~ it's the texture of the fabric or something, so I'm going to make cotton covers that I can take off, shake off, and launder when I need to. The bedding in my bedroom is orange/rusts, or all white, or watery blues. I like to switch it up. So I found a wonderful graphic print at IKEA that has the blues and oranges on a white background and will make the cover for the chair at my desk in those colors. The sewing table in the living room will have a red cover for that chair.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Yesterday's Favorite Things

I had a gazillion errands and left my camera in the car so I was able to show you some of my favorite things about living in Sacramento.

IKEA is only just across the river ~ less than 5 miles from my home. I got the IKEA catalog every year while I was living in Mexico and drooled over it. When I moved to North Carolina, the closest IKEA was in Atlanta....5-6 hours away and I made that drive twice in 2 years just to get my IKEA fix. Now I go at least once a month and when I first moved here it was 2-3 times a week!!! I love me some IKEA.

We are so lucky to live in what is called the Market Basket of the world ~ the central valley of California is largely agricultural. We have some wonderful markets here and a new one to me, is Nugget Market. Not only is the outside of their market wonderously beautiful, the inside is amazing to behold. Even if you aren't in the mood to cook....you will once you travel these aisles.

Isn't this butterfly bench something? The corporate offices have opted for beauty and function when it would have been less expensive to just go for function.






Sculptures on the walls of gossamer-clad beauties holding up platters of fruit. My, my, my.

Oh, and the awnings over the windows look as if they are made of seeds...the texture is remarkable.



The produce is displayed like fine art, and even though you came to shop for vegetables, it seems a shame to change a thing...it is so perfect.






That was yesterday....

She's Baaaaaaaaaack!

It may seem that I've been gone, like forever, but really it's only been 6 months....in which I moved cross country, unpacked, wandered hours and hours through IKEA, furnished my digs, settled in, and got the lay of the land. Whew! Now during that time you guys went on with your lives and a couple of my favorite bloggers, Anna Maria and Meg, got pregnant. How do I know? Well, even though I was busy doing all that stuff up there, I was also getting online and reading blogs. I needed an anchor for the upheaval in my life, and my blog-sisters were that and then some.

Can I show you my dining room and my stash? Here ya go!
Ha! Just kidding about the stash, 'cause this isn't all of it. (There's a bunch in rubbermaid tubs in the storage closet and some more in my bedroom closet.)

The stash in my dining room is arranged delightfully. I love looking at it, and so do my guests. Those purple boxes on top hold my quilting books.

The cabinet is IKEA.
I'm glad to be back here. Let me know if you found me.