Cooking in Tuscany

We have this wonderful little italian place inside of our grocery store where you can take a break from shopping and eat! Little did I know, this place-GOURMET ITALIA is owned by an italian family and they offer cooking classes in Tuscany!! My friend Angie just attended the class and she said it was wonderful. You have to find your own transportation there, but for $595 you stay at their hotel (Hotel Piccolo Mondo), you get all your meals included and 3 days of Italian cooking classes!!! From now until June there is no specifications on group size, however after that you must have 10 people to attend the class. My friend Lauren and I are in, and we each have a few other Frontline ladies in mind. I don't think it is going to be hard to get 10 ladies together to fly to Tuscany in August and on top of all that, take cooking classes from the professionals!! So in August or Sept which ever suits us all best, we are headed south for 4 days to learn the art of cooking "Gourmet Italia"

CAIO

Junking in Germany

So junking is a fun thing here in Germany. You pick up a Kabel Magazine and flip to the back where it lists the dates and towns that will host junking. You go the night before and pick up your treasures!!! Sometimes you stike it big and other times are a flop-but it is the thrill of the hunt that keeps me going. So above is a head board that I found. The bottom was completely holzworm (wood worm) infested, so my husband cut off the bottom and WaaLaa! See photo below!

I painted the piece a creamy, ivory color and used a light pink to stencil an elegant design in the background. Then I picked my wording "A jamais das l'amour"-Which means "Forever in Love". Check back for more junking redos!!

FYI-Due to some people leaving piles of their junk in parking lots-the Kaiserslautern Community no longer does junking-however Kusel, Birkenfeld, and Pirmesans does, so no worries!

A Wonderful Surprise!

I wish to humbly thank Madeline @ Hydrangea Cottage (http://www.myhydrangeacottage.blogspot.com/ ) for these 2 lovely awards! Her blog is completely inspiring and so to receive something from her is quite an honor!

These awards movitate me to keep blogging and to write about the things that I love...my family, my faith, decorating and traveling EUROPE!!!I appreciate the generousity of these awards on part of the giver. There are many wonderful blogs out there and I can only hope to be apart of that realm someday! Thank you again and God bless!

I then pass these awards onto:

Joy @ ShareJoy (http://www.scrappysolano.blogspot.com/)

A fellow believer who is a lovely mom of 3, who is very talented-check out her blog!

and

Kathy @ Kathy's Red Door Welcome (http://www.kathleengauthier.blogspot.com/ )

Another fellow believer who has shown me kind words in the comments that she has left me! Her blog is wonderful too!!

Camping European Style

So I have to share some information with all of you about camping!! Yes camping! But before you say "Heck No" (like I said), just check this out!

One of the ladies that I work with led me to this wonderful site, and several others for camping here in Europe. It is called

http://www.yellohvillage.com/

Camping in Europe is totally different then in the States. This particular site list campgrounds all over France and Spain. In another blog I will give information on campsites all over Europe to include Croatia, Greece, Italy-you name it!!

So below are 2 places that we are going in the near future. The first is in Normandy. From 18-20 April, we are taking our in-laws there. My father-in-law is an avid history buff so thought it would be nice. Only thing about Europe is getting reasonable accomodations for more than 4 without breaking the bank. We have 3 children who could easily share beds or sleep on the floor,but it is never allowed. Now with "camping" we can rent little Cottage Bungalows for literally nothing.

We are only staying 2 nights in Normandy-but for all 7 of us it is going to be 130 euro (for 2 nights!!)

These cottages have living areas, bedrooms, baths, and kitchens!! So here are some highlights from around Normandy. Of course the beaches and bunkers from D-Day

We are super close to Le Mont St. Michel (see below)


Below are other pictures from "The Region" where we will be staying-the coast is gorgeous! Whenever you log onto the above website, you pick your region (and you can choose the English translation) and it will bring up all the campsites. Then it will show you what the camp looks like, activities for adults and children, the surrounding area, activies and costs!

Below is the pool on the campsite. Now you can pitch a tent and it is super cheap, but Andrea needs running water!!

We are staying at COTE DE NACRE

Below is a picture of the cottage where we will be staying

Oh yeah, and in 2008, the Normandy campsite built an outdoor icerink, so even in the dead of summer you can skate your heart out! How cool is that?

So every May we allow our boys to pick their birthday trip since Micah's bday is 28 May and Trentan's bday is 3 May. Since living in Europe we have flown to Spain (Porta Ventura), back to the United States and last year we went to Duinrell in Holland. Duinrell is another campsite with an amusement park!! Fantastic. We stayed for 5 nights and it was free to get into the park for 350 euro!!!! Unheard of for a family of 5. Check out http://www.duinrell.nl/

So anyways, we are going to Provence, France for 7 nights. Nothing but a big beach vacay!

Below is a picture from a secluded area where you can sail, jet ski, or just relax

We are staying at LE DOMAINE de COLOMBIER

Below is a picture from the campsite and it's lovely, lovely pool!!!

And the best part, the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL is going on when we will be there, so guess who is going to catch some shots at the Red Carpet? The small town will be swarming with celebrities-I can't wait!! Oh and the best part-7 nights-410 euro!!! I can't wait to scope out Provence!

So check out this site!! The places are amazing. Sure you have to bring your own food-or eat out, but you just can't beat the price!

Another shabby chic makeover

So here is another before and after project that I just completed. I purchased 2 identical beds at an antiques/secondhand store in France. The 1st picture is the original finish which I then stripped and sanded off:

It took several hours and lots of elbow grease to take off the original finish

I didn't take pictures at each step, however you can see the finished product. I primed it with 2 coats of "The Gripper" (love this stuff!) and then chose an off white cream color. I applied an applique to give it a vintage feel. After a few coats of paint, I distressed it all over for a time worn look. Now it is ready for someone's bedroom. You can see Chloe's bed under my "Home Makeover" link.

Upclose view of the headboard with applique and distressing

The wreath applique

D-Day (Demolition Day)

Here is a photo of the old doorway, prior to opening it up. We are having an archway put in! Thankfully we have an awesome crew who sealed up the rest of the house so that I don't have dust everywhere!

There is no turning back now!!! The walls came down and our new kitchen is well underway. You can see that the wall that used to separate the pantry and the kitchen is gone. The water is being drained from the radiator and being torn out before they install the floor heating.

Rudi asked Scott if we had speakers in the kitchen b/c the lights were installed previously with monster cable (typically used for stereo and speakers). The more we do home improvement, the more we find little quirks in our German home!

Thank goodness the kitchen is at ground level-it made carrying the debris a lot easier

This is Rudi's brother and friend! They are all so awesome! And they sure can eat Pizza!

Rudi's brother and superman. See the new expanded doorway?

I am so happy that we hired this job out!! It is a lot of hard working and many trips to the dump!

It was very cool to have Superman helping!!!

London Baby!!

On March 14, Scott, Micah and myself are flying to London to see The Phantom of the Opera. Micah is in need of some special mom and dad time and he loves this on DVD! He has no idea that we are flying to London for the night-I can't wait to surprise him!!! This is one reason that I absolutely LOVE it here!! We are flying in on Saturday afternoon and flying home on Sunday morning and the entire flight round trip was 30 euros for all 3 of us!!!! Now the performance was a little more and we still have to book a place to stay, but it is totally worth it since we only have our children for a short period of time. We have friends in London, so hopefully we can do dinner! This is going to be awesome!

Cottage Decor For SALE

Have you ever been to Nags Head in the Summer? Let this hand painted sign grace your cottage and bring a little of the beach to your home. A distressed blue background with sun bleached yellow lines cover the sign and NAGS HEAD is painted in a beachy, red color. To top it off, the scrolled letters of BEACH point you in the right direction!
$18

French Girl's Clothing For SALE- all NWT!!

NWT 9mth dress with diaper cover and bandanna! So trendy and chic. The colors are lime green, light robin egg blue and brown. Your girl will be in style with this great dress. Perfect for spring.
$15

French items for SALE!

La Boulangerie Handpainted Sign (the bakery)-Painted and perfectly crackled to give it that aged "French chic" appearance. Perfect for any french kitchen or home. 4 fleur de lis grace the bottom of the sign. The days and hours of opening are painted in gold at the bottom. A must have for any lover of French items. One of a kind
$20-SOLD

Upclose view of the fleur de lis and "fresh bread and pasteries"

"Bienvenue" -Welcome in french. Hang this sign on your door to greet visitors, or any place in the house to add a little french flair! This items is new
$5-SOLD

New french metal signs are just like they use in the B & B's around France. Chambre (bedroom) or Salle de Bain (bathroom) would go perfect in any home, and bring a touch of french flair to your life
(I have 2 of each)
$3.50/each

This New with Tags monogrammed pillow is perfect for the French style home. Done in a khaki and cream color, one side reads "Chambre" (bedroom) and the other reads "Bonheur" (happiness)
$6-SOLD