Miss Larrisa Rose

Happy Saturday everyone, the best day of the week! For the most part the dream kitchen is done and life is somewhat back to normal. The upside, except for a few small details like a paper towel holder, towel rack and accessorizing we're done...the down side, as mentioned in my last post you don't get to see it yet until after the August reveal...August 27th to be exact :O)

In the meantime, I'm going to veer off course for a less traveled road, well for for me anyway...I decided to do a post about two things I don't normally put much thought into; dolls and the color pink. Not that I don't like either but because I'm too busy thinking up the next remodel project and because I'd rather be organizing my house and creating than playing with dolls which is what this post is all about...two dolls and the color pink. I don't have a lot of pink in my house except in this room which also doubles as a guest room.

So today I've decided to do a post on a lovely little doll that came into my life many years ago and left an indelible memory in my heart forever...

meet sweet Miss Rose with the beautiful smile...

When Rose came into my life 18 years ago I had no idea we would become such good friends and become as close as we did. She was "elderly" if I dare say that, but I mean it in the sense that she was well into her senior years at that time and I was in my 30's which meant we were at different places in our lives chronologically speaking.

But the more I got to know her, the more I soon realized we had much more in common than I could have ever thought possible. She loved her husband and family and she loved to laugh and enjoy each day. She loved to cook, loved celebrating and being with family and loved her home. Most importantly, Rose had a keen sense of humor and the just loved life...simply said, Rose was a women after my own heart and the more I got to know her the more I realized age means nothing when you have kindred spirits and friendship.

When my sweet friend passed away last year at age 96, it was a like loosing a family member and dear friend. I missed our frequent "chats and giggles" as we used to say to each other. I missed her smile and the kindness she always bestowed upon me whenever we saw each other. She had a way of making me feel as if I was the most important person in her life and that I made her day she most certainly always made my day better no matter what was happening in life!

One of the many blessings that came out of my friendship with Rose was getting to know her family and especially her daughter and son-in law...

Shortly after Miss Rose was gone in the month of December, her daughter called and asked if we could meet for lunch. She and her husband picked me up and off we went. The three of us were having a lovely time catching up when they pulled out a beautifully wrapped package...a Christmas gift and a special remembrance of Rose, my sweet friend...

As I opened the gift, I saw this beautiful, beautiful face looking at me, so pretty, so sweet all dressed in pink Moire satin, ribbons and lace...

and her name was

She was just the sweetest thing I had ever seen...from her lovely little bonnet down to her lace covered shoes and crocheted stockings, she was beautiful!

As I began to open the box she "lived in", I noticed in some ways she looked like my friend Rose. She had dark hair like Rose,

and the most beautiful eyes like Rose...

But most of all, she reminded me of Miss Rose because according to her daughter, Rose collected dolls and this was her favorite. Her favorite...and I was being handed this precious gift...Rose's favorite...what a sweet honor to now become her caretaker...

That day, I named this lovely doll, "Larissa Rose" in remembrance of Rose and the memories she'll forever hold in my heart.

Larissa Rose is now residing in my SEWING ROOM 
and when I walk past the room or into it,

I see sweet Larissa Rose smiling back at me and remember a lovely friendship shared and how thankful I am two paths crossed in life to share a little of each other's journey...

joining
Beverly at How Sweet the Sound
for her Pink Saturday
and her birthday!
Happy birthday Beverly 
and thank you for hosting another sweet pink party!

A Sneak peek and and a journey...

OK so for those of you loyal, dear friends that have been so sweet to hang in there with me during this monumental undertaking of a 6 month kitchen remodel I just want to say thank you! 

You have been so encouraging about all the chaos and mess and have waited patiently for the final reveal when we finally finished this "little face lift"...which will happen but not just yet until we have our "reveal party" with our best friends and neighbors in August...sorry :o)

However until then here's little sneak peek at a little eye candy! The "Blue light special" on the floor is the light that comes on and shines down on the floor to let me know my dishes are done! Amazing how such a little thing can thrill me but hey this has been a long road with this remodel...technology has come a long way in 20 years and it boggles my mind and tickles me pink, well OK make that blue!

The other thing that just makes me want to smile is the inside the dishwasher...OK so other than the blue light on my floor when the dishes are clean, when I open the door magic happens, two L.E.D. lights come on inside the machine so I can see what's in there or where to put a dish! Maybe this isn't new to anyone reading this but it is to me and I love it!

The picture below was taken without a flash and the lights dimmed in the kitchen, that's how bright it is inside...oh be still my beating heart, I love this!

Another wonderful thing that has happened as a result of this major undertaking is "purging" yes you read right..."purging". 

When I had to live like this for months in a very tiny laundry room it was sort of like living in a New York apartment or perhaps camping but never once did I use the word "fun" while living like this! 

However at the same time I was learning to "live without". There were many times I couldn't find something that was either packed in a box or just too difficult to get to so I had to either go without or think of another way to do something. Because of that, I learned something amazing about myself, I didn't need all that "stuff" anymore and the reality was it felt like "the stuff" was owning me instead of the other way around.

So for the past few weeks knowing I would be able to rearrange, reorganize and remove before putting anything away, I did! Whenever I went through a box or a pile I'd ask myself when the last time was it got used or more importantly "WHY" was I hanging onto this "thing". It was an amazing process both physically and emotionally. Sometimes the reasons I kept things was for sentimental reasons, like "somebody" gave me this as at my bridal shower 21 years ago or (fill in the blank) "I bought it because" again (fill in the blank). 

I was remembering the person or the event by the "things" I had in boxes not the beautiful memories associated with it. An example of this was an old and bent Spring form cheese cake pan. I'd shuffled it around for years because the person that gave it to me had since passed away and the pan reminded me of her...odd the things we do for comfort in life...

Now the end result is everything has a place and there is a place for everything. I have only one small pantry that is very well organized in pull out drawers by how the items are used and the rest of the cupboards and drawers have much the same story. As you can see from this pot cupboard my husband built, there isn't an inch of wasted space and everything has a home.

Gone are the cluttered cupboards that I had to shove things around in to get to. Gone are the old pots and pans, dishware and miscellaneous "things" in my house all donated to various charities and organizations.

And in its place...peace of mind and a beautiful, well thought out kitchen...

Wait till till you see because we're not in Kansas anymore and my kitchen doesn't look like this anymore!

Joining Susan from

  "Between Naps on The Porch" for Metamorphosis Monday

Living in Chaos and Mayhem...

OK so for those of you that have followed along with us on the kitchen remodel we are now at a point of living in chaos and mayhem! The painters have been here for that last two weeks and needless to say life has been a bit difficult.
I think if I had to say, this has been by far the most difficult part of this remodel process. We have a kitchen that's completely unusable, not to mention stinky from the oil based paint!
So for now, just to keep you all up to date here's where we are in the process...

In the meantime we are pretty much sequestered in an upstairs office until this process is done, and you can bet, that can't happen soon enough for us!!! As I write this we are a bit cranky and overwhelmed, but I just keep thinking this will be done...SOON and this will be the most beautiful kitchen EVER on the planet...at least in my mind!!!

Rejuvenation Field trip

Hello everybody,

Yes its been a while since I've posted but things have been a bit crazy around here and I still do not have a functioning kitchen and we're still "camping" from the living and dining room! Much to my dismay, our kitchen isn't done yet, but almost...I think...

Little did we know that when deciding on tile for the back splash from Pratt and Larson it would take six weeks to be ordered, made and delivered but it did. Happily as of Friday the tile came in and is our hot little hands ready for install next week. 

In the meantime, my BFF and I took a little field trip to Rejuvenation lighting shop in beautiful downtown Portland for the lighting above the island that the hubs custom built. 

(click any picture to enlarge)

This place is amazing for any kind of lighting you can imagine! Really anything you can picture you can custom build to your exact specifications. Any finish, any fitter size, any shade or shape, any color, any length at any price, they can do it.

The place is just a treasure trove of ideas and styles, from period traditional, to Mid-century modern and anything in between. Whatever your style, they either have it or can make it for you. Whatever you can imagine or dream, they can do it. The down side...yep there's a down side...the most challenging thing is deciding on just exactly WHAT you want and let me tell you first hand that is THE most difficult part! 
I went in with an idea in mind and by the time we walked out, I had a fourteen-eleven gazillion other ideas in my head! I was ready to remodel another room just to do lighting...OK well not really but its so easy to get carried away!

They also sell antiques and furniture including period pieces and glassware as well as reproductions pieces, but all beautifully made as you can see on the vintage picnic table above and below. Oh and by the way, that picnic table is authentic and is for sale...$5,000.00...a drop in the bucket :O)

These beautiful bottle trees below are adorable but I think I'd need to have those big windows to park them in front of...oh and that Galvanized island to set them on...

The show room is wonderful and very historic. Here's an excerpt from the company website; 
"The Southeast Portland retail store occupies 38,000 sq. feet on the first and second floors of the historic Neustadter Building, which the company renovated in 1992. Located at SE Grand and Taylor near downtown, the store is unlike any other in the nation, combining our period-authentic reproduction lighting with period furniture, hardware, plumbing, decorative accessories, mill work, and architectural salvage"

(source)

This beautiful light below is one I have in my nook and the finish I chose is "Oil Rubbed Bronze" with a scalloped shade whereas the one just below it is pretty much the same light only in a different finish; "Bronze with a very expensive hand-blown shade on it.

Its a beautiful light but wasn't quite right for our application...yea that's it..."wasn't quite right for our application"...translation; it was too expensive for this little area and my pocket book!

Loved this view toward downtown Portland from the second floor which was being remodeled when I was there. Those windows are huge and have that wonderful rippled/rolled glass in them. I actually thought this space would be so wonderful as a loft to have for the weekend city getaways...OK so I'm day dreaming again but it was the only thing free that day!

There were beautiful leaded glass windows for sale...

and amazing mirrors and of course, more lighting but at the end of the day, I walked away with only two light fixtures and two shades for above the island and that my friends will be a post for another day! 

In the meantime happy to have had this time for our little field trip and so glad you could come along for the ride!

A year from now...

This might all be funny when I look back at all the work that has gone into this DIY project but right now, I'm just sighing a lot!


For those of you that have been following along with this "little face lift", you know that at different times this space has been a mess! OK so I'm not complaining because the Hubs has worked tirelessly to bring our vision to life and believe it or not, its getting there as you can see in the pic below. 

...compared to this picture below with no sheet rock and ugly, fuzzy insulation hanging around exposed pipes, beat-up old stained oak and ugly tile counter tops! Need I say more about how I really felt about that old kitchen?

However, at times it feels like its just dragging on but at least now we have a wonderful new single bowl under mount sink and running water! 

I surprised myself with this one because I had my heart set on a Farm style sink but it wouldn't work with the cupboard configuration. Then I thought I'd go with a double bowl sink in white because that's all I've ever known. 

But when I saw this single bowl by Blanco in "Cafe brown" it really made my heart sing and made sense to not have two separate little sinks. I mean think about it, Thanksgiving turkey pan, big bowls, you name it, it'll fit in this bad boy! Heck I could even give a baby a bath in this sink...well that's if I had a baby to bathe and I don't so I won't...anyway, I digress, back to the story ;0)

The sink works especially well for washing cookie sheets...not that I've been making any cookies lately with a torn up kitchen. However, the one thing still hooked up at this stage and in working order is the old oven. So I'm still able to roast vegetables and bake casseroles which I do use my cookie sheets for...

Oh yes and I have a beautiful new Grohe Oil Rubbed Bronze faucet, a separate hand-held sprayer and (insert the hallelujah chorus here) a flush mount soap dispenser! Yes you read that right...I am so stinking excited about that little luxury...no messy soap bottle sitting on my counter and no ugly bottle with a ticky-tacky paper label on it to detract from my counters!

called "Brazillian Ouro" and based on the information we received on it, its sort of old...500-550 million years old to be exact. 
Yes I said "million years"...that's what the paper say's about it and that it was quarried in Brasilia

and that's all I'm going to show you for now since I want to save the pretty stuff for when everything is done or maybe inbetween...whenever that may be...there I go again sighing...