Happy Kwanzaa!

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day to all those who have served our country. Your service is welcomed, appreciated and respected. A big thank you to my love for your service to our country, your hard work and dedication didn't go unnoticed. Hooah!

DIY Coffee Table

Hey Loves, here's a completed  look of my coffee table redesign.  I chose gold because I wanted more of a sheen in my room decor. Let me know what you think of my DIY and do not hesitate to share your diy's with me.

Until next time Loves!

Mmm...Mmm...Monday!

Kehinde Wiley is a New York based painter who paints people of color in classic heroic poses based on Old Masters paintings who often saw in museums while growing up. As an avid collector of African and African American art I was immediately drawn to his collection. I had the same thoughts of being disappointed of not seeing my people in the beautiful portraits that hung in museums around the country. His works are definitely an inspiration and a sight to behold. I will try to make it to The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth to see his collection. 

Enjoy my Loves!

Happy Halloween!

Coffee table DIY

Hey Loves, I know my posts have been stagnant but I'm trying to quickly finish all my incomplete house projects before the holidays roll around. I also managed to pick up a couple of decorating projects in my "slow" season. Here's a sneak peek of what I've been up to around my home. The project was done partially indoors due to the unpredictable weather. Just so you all know it was a terrible idea, next time I will wait!

I had sawdust everywhere for a good two weeks!

I will be posting pictures of the completed table this weekend!

Have a good night Love Bugs!

Mmm...Mmm...Monday! Summer Vacation

My trip to Cincinnati was relaxing and fulfilling. This is the first time in years that I was able to see the majority of my family at one time. Since my husband and I share our hometown a visit home can become quite laborious with all the family visits. We always run out of time to do the things we enjoy. This time I decided to change things up and I invited my family bowling so we could all meet up in one spot and have fun too! This was the best idea ever!! We all had a blast and nobody had to rush to go somewhere else.  I'm planning a destination family outing from now on. We literally ate our way across Cincinnati enjoying all our hometown favorites along the way! Graeter's Ice Cream, Red Squirrel, Grippo's, Frisch's and LaRosa's hoagies all made our must eat list sometimes multiple times. I'm still getting over the shock to my system. The husbster enjoyed the local breweries and brought a lot home. In fact we brought so much food back home, you would think Texas is having a food shortage. Hey Loves, I know my posts are coming back to back but, I wanted to touch base with you all since my summer break from the blog was a long one.  I have a couple of more posts from my summer projects to share and then I'm heading into the fall season full steam ahead!

My beautiful view from the Moerlein Lager House

The G babies and I are hamming it up in the lobby at our hotel.

Somebody wanted to take a picture and hopped out the truck.

My beautiful cousin invited me to the W&S tennis tournament.

Look at the perfect seats we had, we were almost court side! Just missed it!

My son posing outside of a hometown favorite restaurant Frisch's.

A side view of fountain square, in the heart of downtown Cincinnati.

Taking a selfie or should I say usie? In the sun guarantee's we will be squinting.

I went to my cousins dessert shop in the hip area of OTR.  I was so surprised and pleased with all the revitalization's efforts around the city.

Just taking in the view from my room.

This is another view outside from outside the hotel.  We had the best ever accommodations and service!

This is another part of the city's revitalization efforts, Washington Park. My brother in law took the kids here and they played for hours on end. We need this splash park in my city.

I hope you all enjoyed the photo's as much as I enjoyed making some memories! Have a wonderful Monday! Until next time my Loves!

My garden trials and tribulations this summer

My garden initially started out great this year. Everything was growing and I had minimal issues with bugs, I even added different types of melons and veggies to my repertoire. I even had so many cantaloupes at one time, I actually ran out of space in my freezer, so I began making cantaloupe infused vodka. Can you say delish? More on that in a later post. But then right before we went on vacation, my hubby was checking some melons to see if they were ripe and noticed they were extremely light. Anybody who picks melons knows that the ones that are heavy for their size and are fragrant, generally are ripe and sweet. Well, imagine our surprise when he picked the melon and it was light as feather! No really, it was light! Upon further inspection, we found a large hole in the cantaloupe and all the juicy meat was gone and we had no idea of what, who or how it happened! (see last photo) So since we were leaving we fenced the area off and went on our vacation. Whelp, our house sitter informed us that a couple of raccoons were enjoying the fruits of our labor. (pun intended) She was startled by them one day but at least we found out what the problem was.  After returning from our trip we were alarmed after reading all the horror stories on how to get rid of these pesky critters. We eventually settled on this sonic system and haven't had anymore problems so far. Unfortunately, they wrecked havoc for the short time they were here, so I'm working on getting everything together for my Fall crops.

Can any of my fellow gardeners recommend some ways they got rid of garden pests?  Any and all comment or suggestions are welcomed.

Until next time my Loves!

Chicken n Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry

Hey Loves, just giving you guys a peek at  what I cooked for dinner tonight. You know how you have some ingredients on hand but not enough to make a whole meal? Throw everything in a wok and stir fry it. This has to be one of my quickest meals ever, and you can really load up on your veggies in one easy meal. If you would like to see a recipe for this meal leave me a comment.

Have a good night my Loves!

Earthbound Trading

If you have never made your way into an Earthbound Trading store I suggest you go asap.  If you are in search of multicultural wares, this is the place to be. Seeing that I have lived out of the country and have been a military spouse and who still resides in a multicultural neighborhood, I have a deep appreciation for items made all over the world. I'm really loving their décor pieces at the moment, since my home is having a more global look these days but still maintaining a traditional spin. Also, if I went there more than once a month, I would have to get a job there because I would buy all there jewelry pieces. Anyways, I wanted to share with you all some of my favorite finds and I will post some of my favorites at home on IG.

This big beautiful tapestry can be used as a tablecloth or wall hanging and its only $20

This jewelry box is like a piece of art, I would put it on my coffee table.

I have found no other place in my area with a better selection of boho jewelry than here.

They are ready for Fall season with a great variety of scarves.

If you need some gem stones to clear or center your Chakra's this is the place to find them.

I wish I had a place for this modified peacock chair.

All these multicultural figurines fit in perfectly with my décor at home.

Brass is called the Poor Man's gold and I love the warm patina the jewelry gets after continuous wear.

Another richly textured tapestry to go in the home.  I need a place for this rug to go.

This incense is so intense an fragrant its perfect for cleansing your home and spirit.

You could say this is a good barware item a bottle opener does give you a hand.  Wonk Wonk!

Now this is what I'm talking about, I love handcrafted ethnic jewelry.  These pieces are more beautiful in person. I'm adding these to my Christmas list.

With this open floor plan home, I'm finding I need more wall space for prints such as this one.

Can you imagine placing a succulent in these hanging pendants?

The third eye reminds you to maintain your calmness and vibrate higher then any negativity that may come your way.

Here's a close up of the lovely jewelry pieces inside the store.

Thank goodness they are getting some larger clothing sizes in the store.  For a minute everything was 4-8! Uggh!

These antlers will hold quite a few rings.

These Day of the Dead canvases would be the icing on the cake for a Halloween party.

Moroccan shelves in a bathroom would be divine.

If you are new to essential oils try getting some scents to effect your mood and then move on to using them for medicinal purposes after doing some research. Essential oils readily available at an affordable price. You can even make your own signature scents to use throughout your day.

You can find beaded bracelets in every color and they are delicate and affordable enough to fill up your wrist without lightening your wallet.

Some of these shades are low as $2.  They are trendy but don't keep the sun's rays out.

And last but not least this verbena & eucalyptus room spray is good but a bit overpriced. But then again I have been making my own scents so I can cut some cost.  If you don't have time for all that this spray is a good alternative especially when you don't like those heavy floral scents.

I hope you go check them out for yourself and if you do purchase something let me know.  I may have a missed something.

Until next time Love Bugs!