New kitchen light is up - an oversized lantern!

Memorial Day weekend was spent battling suppressive heat in the upper 90s, a fever and awful sinus and lung infection.  All of those factors made painting my kitchen ceiling almost impossible.  I finally gave up and only painted the area needed to put up my new kitchen light.  

This is the light I bought back in March at the Habitat for Humanity store in South Bend, IN.  It was new in box and got it for about $28.  

I love this picture from my Pinterest.  I love the oversized lantern in this picture and the black patio doors.   This is definitely one of my favorite inspiration pics.  

Being a holiday weekend, not a lot of people were around to help.  So I decided to pile boxes up on the table to support the light while I wired it and installed the canopy.  It worked very well and I was a little thrilled that I was able to hang it without any help.  :-)

Once I got down off the ladder and looked at it, I was like, "WOW!  That light is huge!"  But then after about twenty minutes, I loved it!  It is perfectly perfect and I am absolutely thrilled.    I cannot wait to get the ceiling painted, the walls finished, the wall treatment completed and the finishing touches on the kitchen.   Still lots to do but I feel I'm well on my way to have it all done by the 4th of July!



Linking up to:

Finding Fabulous Frugalicious Friday Party

Tennis Championship, Antibiotics and Star Wars. :-)

CRAZIEST title for a post ever, right?  I just noticed that the last entry for my blog was May 7th - yikes.  I have been SO busy for a variety of reasons and vow to get back on track right away.

Firstly, I have been crazy busy with my boys tennis team.  It was such an amazing year and I wish I could post tons of funny pictures but I would never post their faces so I creatively cropped one of the pictures of our team championship SICA Blue Conference trophy and a couple of the medals in the background.  LOL

We not only won the title, but swept every spot and were individual champions at all of the singles and doubles spots.  One of the best days of my life - it was a storybook ending to an amazing season with 18 of the most talented,  intelligent, courteous and hysterical teenage players I have ever had the honor to coach!  SO FUN!

Secondly, I have been SO sick.  Having had cancer twice, I have different definitions of "sick" and with most things I can usually tough it out.  I have had this awful sinus infection, lung infection, fever thing for about three weeks and I am still deathly ill.  For the tennis awards night, I had a 102.3 fever and it has only progressed from there.  So now I am almost done with my prescription meds and they haven't even touched this - so frustrated!  It has definitely wreaked havoc with my life and DIY project schedule.

The cough is incessant and now it is involving my right eye - seriously?  UGH.

Disney's Old Key West Resort - the weather was AMAZING!

Thirdly, someone very close to me was heading down to WDW to celebrate a college degree and asked me to tag along.  What?  Disney?   Of course!  So I used some DVC points, got a sweet deal on a flight from Southwest (the only way to fly) and hung out in Disney for about 5 days (my favorite place in the whole world).  It just happened to be Star Wars Weekends (one of my favorite times of year) and so I hung out with Darth Vader and Jedi Mickey and had a ball - even being deathly ill which did take away from some of the fun.  :-(

Jedi Mickey, Darth Goofy and Stormtrooper Donald during the parade when it was 95 degrees!

Greatest Disney dessert ever - Double chocolate Vader cupcake with peanut butter mousse!

I am a huge Star Wars nerd and so I simply had to try this little beauty.  They had two special Star Wars treats and I was fortunate to partake in both.  One was a frozen slush in a R2D2 stein - it is so cool!  This Darth Vader cupcake was SO good.  It was double chocolate chip with chocolate lava sauce, chocolate shavings, a chocolate Darth Vader candy on top, a light saber (actually it was a coffee stirrer but it did the job nicely) and filled with peanut butter mousse! It could be the greatest Disney dessert I have every had and I have had a ton!  SO good!

The graduate with Mickey and Minnie topiaries in EPCOT!  So pretty!

It was also the last weekend of the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival!  If you have never been to this event, you may want to put it on your bucket list.  SIMPLY GORGEOUS!  Flowers everywhere!  I had quite the treat I will have to share in another post - it is so exciting it deserves it own space.  LOL!

So fellow bloggers, that is why I haven't been posting - coaching tennis, being sick and hanging out in Disney World.  But this weekend between coughing fits, I did make a little progress on my kitchen.  I will share that too!  Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend are ready for SUMMER!

Flower Shopping - Woldhuis Nursery - SO amazing!

Yay - Spring is here and Mother's Day is this weekend which means it is finally safe to plant up here in Zone 5.  Warm weather warrants the annual pilgrimage to Woldhuis Farms Sunrise Greenhouse.  It is such an amazing place just south of Chicago.  It is not just a nursery, it is like the Midwestern version of the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival.  The picture above is JUST the impatiens room.  I mean, can you believe it?  And you get 48 plants flats as opposed to 36 plants - big difference.

So we printed out the coupons they e-mail each week and headed down ready to enjoy the day!

Red geraniums anyone?  Potted or hanging baskets - which ever you choose!

The place is so large that they have actual "street signs" which help you find the plants you are looking for.  Whether annuals or perennials, roses, shade plants etc. you can get a map of the green houses so you can navigate your way around a little bit easier.

There were beautiful butterflies all over the stunning dahlias.  So pretty!

They also have adorable topiaries - here is a flower and little angels.  So cute!

The gorgeous gardenias were in full bloom.  This was my Mom's favorite flower.  And they smell heavenly!  

Begonias!  As far as the eye can see.

I love these red flowers in the hanging baskets

More hanging baskets....

And still more hanging baskets.  Gorgeous double impatiens!  STUNNING!

Their statuary is awesome with such unique pieces.  I LOVE the giant sea shell!

This egret stood about four feet tall!  How great would he look in a garden?

At the end of the day, this was our cart.  Pretty pink geraniums, impatiens, lots of New Guinea impatiens, red geraniums, begonias, Proven Winners Diamond Frost and a few other random plants that looked interesting.  I can't wait to plant these and enjoy the gorgeous display!