That's a wrap!

My birthday month comes to an end today.  Everybody say, "awwwww!".  :(

June was incredible from beginning to end and I've had a fabulous few weeks of celebrating.

I celebrated my parents' 48th wedding anniversary with my family and Brian took this awesome picture of the five of us.  Ma and Pa and the kids.  :)  In the words of Vince Gill, when you wanna see how true love should be, just look at them.

I said hello to an old friend and had lunch and a movie with a new one, I discovered the wonders of showering outside, I treated myself to some really cute things for our Yellow Submarine bathroom, I got some awesome presents from my love, I had my first ever blog giveaway, I spent my actual birthday in a place as magical as Disney World (but a whole lot cheaper!) and I got 150+ Happy Birthday wishes on Facebook, one from Young and The Restless' own resident rock star hottie, Danny Romalotti, Michael Damian!  This is what he posted on my timeline.  Squeeeee!

Michael Damian posted to Ginger Hall Schneider

June 24

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! HAVE A BLAST!! XOXO

I wish I could show that to my 15-year-old self.  She would have been thrilled beyond belief.  :)

The biggest birthday surprise I got was this Gone With The Wind poster that Ami had printed and then matted and framed for me!  I had seen it on Pinterest and posted it on my Facebook, saying I wanted to blow it up huge, frame it and hang it on my wall.  Well, she saw that, didn't say a WORD, had it blown up and then framed it for me.  And in blue so it would match my living room.  

I absolutely love it!!  What a wonderful surprise.  

Rhett said that to Scarlett right before he kissed the fire out of her.  'Cause he knew how.  :)

 








Today, I'm having a quiet day at home, listening to my cat snore and snacking on watermelon I got at the farmers market yesterday.  Life is good.

Presents

In my preparation for The Ultimate Homecoming, I have cleaned out, organized, donated and tossed probably more than I've kept.  It is amazing how much stuff you accumulate in ten years!  And while I was cleaning, organizing and tossing, naturally I discovered some forgotten treasures.

My grandma, our Maw, passed away almost two years ago.  Before that, though, she had been living in nursing homes for almost a decade.  When she was living on her own and shopping on her own, she would buy all of us Christmas presents.  ALL of us.  And if you know our family, we're aplenty!  I can't remember exactly but I'm guessing the last time she was able to shop for us was around 2000 or 2001.  

The very last Christmas present I got from my Maw was a big box of candles.  I had completely forgotten about them until I went through my candle cabinet and found them, way in the back. Apple Cinnamon, French Vanilla, Mountain Berry and Wild Orchids.  There are three of each in the box.

This being my birthday month, I've been all about some presents!  And I've been enjoying my Maw Candles.  

I can feel her presence so strong most days but even more so when I'm enjoying her presents.  :)

46 at IKEA

I spent my birthday yesterday at IKEA in Atlanta.  Brian, Ami and I left around 10:00, got there, had lunch and then shopped until almost 5:00!  We had so much fun and it was a wonderful birthday!!

Here are some pictures from our day!

This was my lunch!  IKEA's famous Swedish meatballs, mashed 'taters with gravy and lingonberry sauce.  The mashed potatoes are okay but I really, really miss the little red potatoes they used to have.

I got a bowl of cheddar broccoli soup, too, and it was delicious!  I asked about it in the Marketplace but they don't have it yet.  Maybe in a few months, the cashier said.  Don't give us a reason, IKEA. 

This was my birthday cake!  Chocolate Overload.  OMG.  Ami snuck a candle and lighter into the store so I could make a wish!

Ami was so sweet and she made me this adorable ribbon that I wore all day!  
I had twelve people working and shopping in the store tell me "happy birthday" and one sweet lady grabbed me and hugged me!  AND said I didn't look 46.  I just loved her so much.  :)

Here I am peeking in a freezer in one of the display kitchens, looking for some birthday ice cream.

 They didn't have no birthday ice cream.  :(

Here's Ami taking a picture of me looking for some birthday ice cream.  We LOVE this beautiful warm sunny window and take pictures every time we're there right in front of it.

I absolutely fell in love with this display bed!  I wanted some new bedding for Larry's homecoming so guess what?  Yep.  This bed now lives at the Schneider Condostead.  :)  Minus those white roll pillows.  I wasn't real crazy about them.  And since our bed is a queen and they only had ONE flower print pillow anyway, I got just the one.  New sheets, new pillows, new duvet and pillow shams, new throw pillow (that I'm sure Larry's just gonna throw) and a pretty navy cotton blanket for the foot. Squeeeee!!

 I loved these funky orange lights!

 Ami and Brian, dressed in IKEA colors and carrying their cameras. :)

 Aprons are some of my very favorite things!

 I loved these handleless coffee cups!

 My buggy handle.  :)

This was so funny to me!!  A teapot named Omelett.  :D

So long, IKEA!  You gave the perfect birthday party!

Thanks, Ami and Brian, for taking me and spending the day with me.  I love y'all!

Birthday goodies!!

I got a big box of goodies yesterday that Larry sent me for my birthday!  I had to wait until I had him on the phone today to open them.  Well, I didn't have to, that's just what we always do.  This is the LAST birthday we'll ever have to do that!!  Yay!!  I cannot wait to get him home.

He found me a bunch of little vintage treasures and I love them all!

Papa Smurf, an adorable Ty bunny named Spencer, a 1980 commemorative Georgia Bulldogs national championship Coke bottle, the little Taco Bell chihuahua, Minnie Mouse with a tiny Mickey keeping her company, the most precious little yarn clown that I have ever seen and two Beanie Babies that I didn't have.  And one's a birthday Beanie!

I put Minnie and little Mickey beside our wedding cake topper.  They like it there.  :)

And Spencer the bunny found a home among some of his peeps on a shelf.

 That adorable little handmade clown!!  I just love her.

How cute are these little folk artsy chickens, milk bottle, barrel and bucket??  They are right at home in the kitchen.

And he packed them all in this eco-friendly shopping bag.  He liked the 0% plastic part.  Me, too.  :)

Happy Birthday to meeeee!! 

And the winner is....

Ami!!

I'm going on an adventure tomorrow for my birthday so I decided to do the giveaway results today.  It's my birthday and I can do that.  :)

There were nine comments and I numbered them by date and time they were posted.

#1 was Brandy, 6/16 @ 6:36
#2 was Mama. 6/16 @ 8:43
#3 was Ami, 6/17 @ 12:10
#4 was Margie, 6/17 @ 12:45 on blog
#5 was Stacy, 6/17 @ 12:45 on Facebook
#6 was Michele, 6/17 @ 12:50
#7 was Fran, 6/17 @ 12:56
#8 was Dr. P, 6/17 @ 2:28
#9 was Mark, 6/17 @ 4:16

I used a random generator to pick the winner.

Congratulations, Ami!!

Thanks for playing, y'all!! 

And we lived beneath the waves...

...in our yellow submarine.

For my birthday, I bought a few things for my Yellow Submarine bathroom.  Larry gave me the shower curtain Christmas 2011 and I decided it was time to get some stuff to put in there!

Here's the curtain.

I'm still hunting a cute hand towel to hang on the towel rod.  All I've been able to find is black and I don't want black.  I'd rather have a pretty bright blue so I'm still looking.  I haven't been able to find a bath mat that I like either.  I have a mirror decal, a Blue Meanie figurine and a yellow submarine figurine with all four guys attached to it still coming but these two came yesterday!

This is a tin "lunch" box although I can't see anybody taking lunch in it.  It's too small for much more than a sandwich.

I found this on Etsy.  It's a yellow submarine cut from 80 lb textured paper and mounted on gray 8x10 paper to give it a kind of 3D look.  It's in an 11x14 frame.  I love it!!

I also bought myself the Yellow Submarine DVD.  I'll sit down this weekend and watch it.  Happy Early Birthday to meeeeee!!  







We all live in a yellow submarine,
yellow submarine, yellow submarine,
We all live in a yellow submarine,
yellow submarine, yellow submarine.


****Update****

The guys came Saturday!!  Yay!!

The decal and Chief Blue Meanie are here now, too!

Summer showers!

In my 46th summer on this earth, I have discovered the wonders of showering outside!  And don't worry, Mama, I wear my bathing suit!  :)  Now we've all done it after a day at the beach or while camping but I have never, ever done it at home.  Until now.  It started out very innocently, too.  It was HOTTTTT about a week ago, I was watering my flowers and that cold water hit my leg.  A little thought bubble popped up over my head and I ran back in the house, grabbed my Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, a wash cloth and towel, went back out, put that nozzle on the shower setting and had the most exhilarating, luxurious shower ever!!  Seriously, y'all.  I will never be the same.

I found a few pictures of some really simple outdoor showers that I love.  Definitely adding this to my list of must-haves for the Schneider Dreamhouse.  :)