Remembering Leslie..

"Most ppl are naive to the unfairness of the world and how fragile life is. we are here today, but nobody is guaranteed anything beyond that."

I just wanted to take a minute and share how devastated I am with the passing of sweet Leslie over at A Blonde Ambition. She was one of the first bloggers I ever really became friends with back when blogging was just taking flight of course in 2009. :)

We shared hair secrets and she gave great make up and tutorials on her hair styling.

She has 2 amazing baby girls who are never going to get to know their mother. For those of you that even still read blogs, or are wondering what happened to Leslie, she was born with a heart defect and had surgery when was was 1 year old. She never had a problem (remission so to speak) all these years later, until the birth of her second daughter. She rapidly went downhill from there, as she was unable to blog as much as she used to. My heart breaks for her sweet husband who is now alone and responsible for raising their daughters on his own.

I think dave matthews band has always said it best in two step (famous song if you haven't heard of it)

"Celebrate we will, because life is short but sweet for certain." -DMB

Her husband has set up a Go Fund me account for their baby girls futures....if you can or chose to contribute anything..

RIP Leslie. Your warmth and sweetness will ever so be missed.

As Leslie would say,

Be BLESSED lovelies.

Summer Reads

I cannot say enough good things about Kristin Hannah's new book "The Nightingale." It was one of the best page turners I've read in a long while. I love when that happens--when a book just sucks you in and you can't stop reading it! This was a 400 page book that I read in 2 days, which I was able to crank out mainly because on the second day I was on 3 hour airplane ride to Colorado so I had no distractions! 

I loved Kristin Hannah's Firefly lane and Night road. Highly recommend those books by her as well. 

And if you are having any more doubts about this book, it's also listed on amazons top 2015 books of the year! What's the book about? You can always read the synopsis on Goodreads or Amazon, but to sum it up, it's about 2 french sisters during WWII and all that they go through when the germans attack and invade France. I couldn't put the book down. So good! You won't be disappointed!

A book I didn't like which many are reading now...

A Girl on the train 

SKIP IT. Some are comparing it to Gone Girl. Eh NOT EVEN CLOSE. I was really quite annoyed with the main character. The book was slow moving till the very end. 

You want a thriller, read anything by Chevy Stevens or Gillian Flynn. This book wasn't even comparable to the other authors mentioned above. 

I am just about finished with Harper Lee's new novel "Go Set a Watchman." 

I'm on the fence about this book too. To Kill A Mockingbird is such a classic (obviously since it's a required reading in just about every public school I know of!) It's just hard for me to grasp the concept of why now, why would the author decide to release this book all these years later. There will be great debate, now and for years to come, if the book should have been published. And many will say "No." I'll let you all decide.

Wedding Weekend/Family Get together

I don't see my parents all but maybe once a year. Last time I saw them it was November of last year for Thanksgiving. I had a cousin getting married in the same state they reside in, so a trip was in order! 

Colorado is one beautiful state. God's country is what I think and feel every time I am there. 

Can I also say although the Denver airport is big, it's probably one of my least favorite airports? Very confusing with all the book your ticket here then go down through security and take trams here and to pick up your bag you still have to go down more stairs. Oy vey! 

This is the view from my parent's backyard! Breathtaking! 

A view of the aisle the theme was very country :) I loved it! Lots of Mason jars!

I am one of 14 Grandkids, and now my grandfather has 3 great grand kids! Here's most of our crazy crew (4 grandkids couldn't make it) Plus the bride and her 2 brothers aren't in the photo either. 

My Stepmom loves to host, she made just about everything for our get together. It's definitely not summer without some fresh watermelon!

A view of the backyard, just another angle. 

Bros & Sis. Me & my brother. My cousin and her brother. :) 

This net got lots of use. We had a very competitive game of badminton and volleyball!

Lots of beverages (this was just the beer selection) 

Bow tie pasta salad and fruit salad.

My contribution was my famous cheesecake stuffed strawberries! Yum! 

If you are from Ohio then you know what dessert these are! :) 

The beautiful bride and groom!

And there you have it! What I've been up to as of lately! 

My number ones

Music plays such a big part in our lives--whether you are old or young it still finds a way to touch our souls. 

I can remember what albums really moved me from my early teen years, to high school, to then college. These artists that I am about to share are what I feel the epitome of a talented group of individuals and or music groups. They are real game changers of the music we listen to today. 

I'll start with Elementary school. If there is any one artist I listened to over and over, and knew every single word to all of her songs, it was Janet miss Jackson if your nasty. I listened to her cassette tape to the point where some of her songs sounded worn out from me fast forwarding/rewinding it so much! It's the one album that I can still listen to over and over at the gym or in the car and not get sick of hearing her tracks. 

All seven of RN‘s commercial singles – “Miss You Much,” “Rhythm Nation,” “Escapade,” “Alright,” “Come Back to Me,” “Black Cat,” and “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” – hit the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, even breaking the record previously set by brother Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Her record still hasn’t been broken! So for me, what Janet Album is her best? Why Rhythm Nation of course!

I'll move right into Madonna. I spent a lot of my 5th and 6th grade years rocking to Madonna's Immaculate Collection (also on cassette tape!) Who knew that Like a prayer would be the ultimate bar song years later when I was older! Madonna was way more sexual with her music and videos than Janet was initially, but she she still made great music. The Immaculate Collection is still one of my favorite Albums of hers. 

Moving on into High School. When I think of high school, I only think majority of one group, and that's Dave Matthews Band.  How influential were they? A song from one of their albums was our "theme" to our senior year prom! I kid you not! I own all their albums on CD, and had a really tough time picking which one I thought was the best since they are all so dang good. But if I had to pick one that I feel is a step above and means the most, it would be under the table and dreaming. 

In college the artist named John Mayer rolled around and the acoustic guitar was all the rage with music. He's had several albums out since my college days, and Battle Studies, in my opinion, is his best work. 

If you had to pick your all time top 4 best musical albums you have ever heard in your life, what would you pick? What molded or shaped you growing up in the music sense? 

Other Honorable mentions that I listened to quite a bit as well..

Elvis Presley (all his songs not just one album)

Brian McKnight

Christina Aguilera 

The Backstreet Boys

Bush 

Reba McEntire

Michael Jackson 

Garth Brooks

So where did this entire blog post stem from you ask? Honestly I was at the gym, getting my cardio sweat sesh in and Janet came on my play list and my heart was pumping. I felt like I could push through anything listening to her sing Rhythm Nation! And that my friends is what made me really think, what were my all time favorite singers/music groups that to me, I felt were the best of the best in my childhood, and paved the way for a lot of musical artists who try to live up to them today. 

Life...as of lately

Hubs and I did a little tour of the CLE Art Museum! Did you know that this museum is FREE to the public? I can't remember the last time I went to a museum that had Monet, and Picasso masterpieces on display and it was free to get in!










We did a little walking around downtown CLE and grabbed a bite to eat before heading back home.







Couldn't be out to late with this little one awaitng for us!

DIY Chalk Paint

I know Annie Sloan's chalk paint is the bees knees, but I was searching for a cheaper alternative and found this chalk paint by Americana from Michaels and thought I'd give it a whirl. 

The first item I tried it on was a metal mirror. I really like the crackle effect it gave on it! 

What you'll need: 

• Paint brushes
• Chalk paint
• clear wax 
• clean rag/towel 
• sand paper 

Then I saw this on Pinterest and said why stop there!?! I was needing something to store all my paints since we've moved and I don't have my classroom as my art studio anymore!

image via pinterest

So I began to hunt around for a vintage carpenters tool box and was on my way! 

Here's my final result!