Traffic on Blogger's Lane....

My childhood friend, Doojies, has a "giveaway" going on at her site.........and in order to get your name thrown in the hat, you have to comment on my blog as well as hers. So I have been enjoying some traffic on my blog......and some very kind comments. Most of these commenters will be going to Silver Bella....so I will get to meet them in person in November. (Please God, may they all have on nametags. Amen)

As of Monday, I will return to my day job....working as a kindergarten paraprofessional (definition = teacher's aide). Everyone knows I love my job, but you also know how much I love to sleep in late. So those late mornings will be coming to an end and I am a little sad about that. The good news is we get one week without the kids....so I can get used to getting up early before I get totally wiped out by the energizer bunnies.

I have also enjoyed sitting at my computer for long lengths of time this summer reading through all the blogs out there. This new addiction has almost taken over my addiction to decorating magazines. Almost.

I am going to post a few pictures of some of my favorite new things around my house. First, I had my master bathroom wallpapered this summer. I would love to drop $30,000 on this room and turn the shower and garden bath into a larger shower and extended closet....but the $300 wallpaper job pleases me for now. I am one of the last people on Earth who still loves wallpaper. I just love pattern and lots of it scattered around a room with the colors being the main theme. Does anybody out there agree?

A 15 year old shade that was in the arched window over the tub was taken down for the wallpapering job and did not get put back up. I will not tell you how dirty that thing was, but I did think the shade was supposed to be a grayish taupe. NOT. It was originally white. I would love to tell you that I fired the maid for her incompetent dusting, but I'm the maid. I shopped around the house and found 3 beloved shutters found at Roundtop over the years.....Chuck fixed them so they would hang as one and VOILA! A "window mistreatment" as The Nester would call it.

I used joint compound tinted with paint for the potty area. Scrape it on, leaving the old wall showing through now and then. A great look. I sewed a little valance using the colors in the room with some different trims. Not much fabric or trim needed when you do it this way. If you can't sew....this can be hot glued. I bought a bamboo shade with privacy liner for the window...I would put these everywhere if I could. I love this look. So Ralph Lauren. Click on this photo to enlarge it and you can see the texture better.

The other little trick I picked up this summer was using willow branches as a tall house plant....to fill that space when you don't know what else to use.

You can pick these up in the floral department of HEB here in Houston...for $7.99 a branch. I bought 3 branches and put them in a tall vase of water,then in a taller basket which is really an umbrella stand. I stole this idea from the owner of a new decorative store and she said she had had hers for over a year...it almost reached the ceiling! The florist said to change the water once a week. But I can't remember when the week is up...so I wait for it to holler at me.

If you are still reading this.....thank you. This post was all over the place....but if you made it to this sentence you're good.