Today is God's Gift, My Diagnosis was Oct. 2007

Every day when I step out of the shower

I see this plaque on the wall. My friend sent it

to me (she is dear and has helped me alot through

this cancer journey)

Today is God's Gift

I am glad I keep getting today.. I love my life mostly

although things have been difficult with my youngest

back home with 2 more cat

FEEL YOUR BREASTS

I was in Stage 4 already in Oct of 2007

after having a mammogram

in Oct. 2006

if you feel something

insist on a mammogram

no matter what age.

Girls in their 20' s are

more and more begin diagnosed with breast

cancer.

CANCER ..One in Two Men

One in Three Women

We need a cure for all cancer.

Sept has seen so many cancer victims pass, I can tell

you 5 friends and relatives have passed this month

of cancer..

Pray for the world!! Miracles do happen.I am one!!

I fear I am not as sweet as I should be, especially to

hubby hunk. I just the house back, with just hubby, our

fat GOOD cat and me here

I had kids in the house for 35 years and just got the house back with

just us ..I like it. I'm selfish with my time with hubby.

Here's a picture of my mom and me at Cracker Barrel just outside

of Springfield IL. We had a great time,

George..my awesome step dad, Mary Jo me MOM

my brother Jeff, sis inlaw Lisa and nephew Ethan (13 yrs)

It's great to have family..

my dad and step mom and step brother are all deceased.

I just realized my mom LOVES me, silly of me not to know.

It feels great to have a MOM and such a great step dad..he is

a keeper like my Hunny Hunk..

A happy wife is a happy life..George said when I asked

him why he babies my mom..so cool guy, builds homes in

Springfield IL and they are AWESOME

I am not sure if this is what I signed up to do..but I am going to

blog my breasts..I think they want us to show them..Ford has (or did have)

a wall of breasts and I am on there..

You won't see my face..I invite all my Pink Friends to show your

scars and support Breast Cancer Awareness Month..October 1st is

the kick off..let's start a tradition..bring those boobies out of the

dark and FIGHT LIKE A GIRL

~~Celebrate we are Survivors~~

Wallpaper Collective. Yea, it's still in... (Via Made By Girl)

Wallpaper is still so "in" these days. The fact is, it's being designed with so many different types of patterns that it's HARD to find ones you DON'T like! I remember when wallpaper was starting it's come back & BLOGGERS started writing about it. I admit, at the time I was a bit hesitant. But companies like Graham & Brown restored MY FAITH in this 70's fad & it's been a healthy obsession since then!

One company you must know about is Wallpaper Collective. This company has a ton of funky wallpaper many with bold graphics and gorgeous colors, you won't be disappointed. These are a handful of the ones I really liked from their site, you can see more here.

Also (below) a NEW collection below by UK designer Louise Body. Louise Body is known in the UK for her FUN graphic & EARTH FRIENDLY design work..

images via wallpaper collective

New Inspiration Gallery at Made By Girl...

Check out the inspiration gallery on my Made by Girl site. There you'll see some pics of customers displaying our designs in their homes!

image via curfew bytes

Designer Todd Yoggy ....(Via Made By Girl)

Todd Yoggy has a great sense of decor. He really knows how to put things together in an elegant yet comfortable way. He has a way of bringing history into a room and making it fit into today's lifestyle.

The photos I chose were of MASCULINE style interiors, basically interiors decorated ideally for a man's taste. Even though I don't normally go for dark walls, these really sparked my interest. Have you noticed all the dark lamp shades floating around online?!?

Glad I made my own lamps for my bedroom, which you can see in this post.

images via todd yoggy

My Mini-Cupcake Ordeal...(Via Made By Girl)

This past weekend I went on a baking RAMPAGE. I tried to bake mini-cupcakes for the FIRST time in my life!! First, I started off with baking cups from Bake it Pretty. I love their cup designs, especially for parties! However, I recommend ONLY baking white cake with these cups so that you can ACTUALLY SEE the designs. I tried some with chocolate & you could BARELY TELL tell how cute the cups really were! Duh.

Not sure what happened here (see below) , but the baking cups started coming away from the cake!! What the!?!? Does anyone know why this happened?!?

I was pretty surprised & it didn't happen once, it happened several times & ALL were minis! I was thinking it was probably this particular baking cup (the blue one with the pink flowers) because it was the ONLY cup that came apart from the cake!

All in all, I think I ended making about 70 mini-cakes because of this issue, so several were DUMPED or given to my dogs. They loved them & didn't COMPLAIN ....

I made 3 different flavors (banana, chocolate & white), below are the banana nut ones. How cute! Of course, I made them from a box, which means they weren't as tasty!
I should have gotten baking tips from Sonja of Tied with a Bouw blog, she's pretty darn good at baking! My guy made the maple syrup FROSTING for these, he's such a great cook!

The mini cupcakes below were just plain CHOCOLATE flavored with a turquoise blue frosting & a piece of a gluten-free OREO cookie on top to adorn it!

images by jen ramos

After this experience, it's safe to say, I probably won't be baking mini-cupcakes again.....

Update, More Soon

With a hubby this good, 2 is better than one.

I wrote about the leaves burning and stopped my post

& went out , started a leave burn in my vented can..

I am WAY to OCD

Rich & me goofing off with I photo ..we are just a couple of kids

Rich calls me gigglypuss.

LOTFLMAO

I have so much too share I may have to post more than once.

On the deck, enjoying my Nestle that keeps me peaceful.

The leaves are changing and falling. Is that why

Autumn is referred to as "Fall"??

I love this season, cool crisp air, leaves crackling under your feet,

the smell of burning leaves and moss.

Hello!! I am back from Steroid Hell!! It was WICKED.

I am on a low dose & hopefully totally weaned off

soon. I had Gamma Knife Surgery on 3 of the first batch

of my Brain Mets. (5).

They have been through Gamma Knife Surgery, Whole Brain Radiation & a second

Gamma Knife Surgery. Right now those tumors look the same..no larger.. no smaller

but I will be getting another MRI soon, just to monitor any changes.

If these tumors don't decrease in size or start growing again, the next step

is Brain Surgery. Just drill where each tumor is , remove it & move on to 2

& 3. I'm all for that. Get rid of them & move on. I'd be in hospital for maybe

5 days, as one is a bit deep in. My balance is so off, I tumble from a

stooping position, I can't walk a straight line unless I am walking with

my arns at my sides. It's ok, I can deal .

My friends have to keep a close watch on me & my belongings. The 2nd

thing I did at the

"Fine Art Fair" at our river front, was lose my wallet with all my ID, cards, money,

insurance card EEEKKKK.

My BFFs Marcia & Michele ..Michele stayed with me, while Marcia scouted

the last place, I stopped .. It was there!!! They thought it was a little boys.. Teehee, I love it. The ladies at that table were

selling raffle tickets. No I didn't win, shoot.

I've more to post..check back .

Blessings

LIFE

A Living Room By ZGallerie... (Via Made By Girl)

If I had to pick an entire living room from ZGallerie this is what it would look like. The Planters buffet is one of my favorite pieces, it's even better looking in person & pretty darn BIG as well! Have you see in it at ZGallerie yet?!? For some of you, my picks may be lacking in color, I know. But, I was going for a fresh, clean mostly white look.

In REAL life, I don't OWN any of these pieces but I'm tempted to get the twig lamps and the planters buffet. Many times I wish I could just BUY EVERYTHING all at once, know what I mean?? But that's wishful thinking for most of us & would probably run me thousands of DOLLARS!!

So, I'll just follow the advice my mother gave me when I first moved out....she said, "don't worry, little by little you will put together a home".

images via zgallerie

ART by Thomas Nozkowski .......(Via Made By Girl)

Elle Decor's October 2010 issue featured an artist named Thomas Nozkowski. Did you see this feature??

I'm a HUGE art lover, I find Nozkowski's work to be quite compelling! For me, the colors & the use of unusual shapes are what attracts me to his pieces. Thomas has been painting for more than 30 years....but I REALLY hope his work will be talked and written about more. Enjoy!

FLOR for my closet?... (Via Made By Girl)

I may be moving soon & with moving comes NEW PROJECTS! One of those projects will be my (BIG) closet. At this moment, I'm REALLY considering carpet tiles by FLOR.

For those of you who don't know about FLOR, they make design-inspired carpet squares that come in an array of vivid colors & and modern styles that coordinate together to create custom designs. They're basically SQUARES that ASSEMBLE together super easy....NO nails, No Padding or glue! YES, they're removable, YES, they are washable & YES, they are replaceable! So to me, the idea of having FLOR carpet tiles in my closet is definitely something I'd like to consider.

What do you think about these in a closet?? Have you used FLOR in your home? What has your experience been like so far?

In this post, you'll find a few of my FLOR FAVORITES, but I'm REALLY leaning toward the Martha Stewart Serengeti tiles.

images via flor

FLOR also has a new blog, check it out here.

What do you think about these in a closet?? Have you used FLOR in your home? What has your experience been like so far?

Thanks to 'House & Home'.....(Via Made by Girl)

It's Monday...again. I had a great weekend & you?? As for the mini-cupcakes...well, baking those mini's were more of a CHALLENGE then I thought it would be! Oh boy! I have NEVER had that much TROUBLE with baking anything in my life!! But, I did manage to make a few good ones & I'll post about it soon!

In the meanwhile, check out Canadian House & Home magazine's homepage...I'm featured in their photo gallery & there you'll find me talking about "my favorite interiors". Talk to you in bit...!!

Happy Monday !!!

Just popping in to say Hello......

And that I wish you all a Happy Monday. Have a great day!!

Your Weekend.....(Via Made By Girl)

image by jen ramos

Looking to Shop?? ...(Via Made by Girl)

Here are some items you may find totally pretty...and I SWEAR, some of them may EVEN be climbing onto my own wish-list! Oh yeah! Enjoy!

Above: Porter Teleo hand printed wall covering

Above: Je t'aime - I love you 30x30 Photograph on Canvas via Rebecca Plotnick

Above: God Will Make A Way print via Teezy

Above: Atoll Mirror via Ballard Designs

image above by Shelter Design Blog

Above: All white Tassimo Espresso Machine

Above: Gray Naughty Monkey Detective Boot via Endless $99

Above: Gold Crown Candle holder via Timeless Settings

Above: Natural Leather Cord Bangles via Marie Belle Campa

Above: Sideways Cross Pendant Necklace 14K Gold Filled via Kiska Style $26

Most Amazing Hot Chocolate at Marie Belle... (Via Made By Girl)

I went back home to NYC a few years ago to visit my family & I visited a little cafe called Marie Belle on Broome Street in Manhattan. I had NO IDEA what this place was about, but my experience was quite a PLEASANT one! I met one of the managers & they served my best friend and I Aztec hot chocolate in a small espresso cup. I looooove chocolate (especially dark) but when I saw this hot chocolate in that tiny espresso cup, I realized it was VERY thick!!

I had NEVER seen hot chocolate that thick & smooth looking in my life! I was anxious and curious to taste it....so I sipped it and it was AMAZING! I got instant chocolate EUPHORIA (which I get from really great chocolate) I felt so relaxed...

Do you know that feeling?? A Chocolate high some people like to call it...ever felt that??!?

Well, ever since I arrived back home from the NYC, I regretted not buying a container of Marie Belle's Aztec Hot Chocolate. I had been contemplating buying it online but never did....finally I walked into William Sonoma yesterday & to my surprise, there it was sitting on the shelf with my name on it. (Not really) So, I went for it even though it's $25 for a 20 oz container, the taste is worth it.

As for making it, I make mine European Style...its thick and you can even top it off with a bit of whipped cream!