Glorious Spring!  It's in the air!  Hints of green, bulbs poking through the earth, birds singing...I cannot get outside fast enough!   The beautiful oranges above made me stop and take notice as I was cruising through Whole Foods.  What vibrant color!  I love seeing colors come back to life in the Spring. Woot! Woot!  It's Spring!!!!  Here are a few of my current Friday Favorites:

New Scoots

As the ladies in class know, I've been putting off buying a pair of new workout shoes for quite some time.  The treads on my gym shoes had all but disappeared and I have more than gotten the miles out of my old pair of shoes.  My problem is, getting new workout shoes is about as stressful as buying a new car!  How do they feel?  How is the traction?  Do I get the right support?  How do they look?  What's the price?  UGH!  It had just been too much for me to wrap my head around, so I wore my glorious old pair of Adidas way past their expiration date.  Generally speaking, I am an Adidas gal.  They fit my feet well and are super cute!  But this time I went with New Balance.  The price was right, they feel great and have excellent traction and support!  I'm happy as a clam!  Even better...I can check that "to do" off my list!

When life gives you lemons...

I built a coffee table with my dad years ago using yardsticks to create the top and I loved it!  It was one of my favorite pieces.  Sadly, after years of my girls spilling drink after drink on it, the yardsticks started to warp and twist.  Try as I might, I just could not come up with a way to repair the yardstick top, so...I made lemonade!  My dad has some beautiful lumber at his farm that he's milled from trees that have dropped on their property.  There was a particular piece of spalted sycamore that I had my eye on as it is a very unique looking wood.  I gave my incredibly talented father the dimensions of the table top and voila!  A new top for our coffee table!  

Old silver pieces

Using unusual object for organization is a favorite of mine.  I feel like using them for grouping items because it shows personality and it's something you won't see in everyone's household.  Whenever I find old silver trophies, ice buckets, silverware I always snatch them up!  I've collected these particular items from around the house to show you how I am using these old pieces.  The ice bucket is in the kitchen next to the stove and holds various utensils.  The apothocary jar is full of old silver spoons as a decorative collection I run down the center of the dining room table.  The trophy is my pencil holder that always sits on my desk.  All of these items tell a story and make any grouping of objects more interesting and unique.  What can you organize in an old piece of silver?  Like I always say...think outside of the. box and you'll come up with something unique.

Getting creative with architectural salvage

My dad gave me a great piece of lumber from their farm last time I was home and that was the inspiration for my latest found object project.  It's a beautiful piece of spalted sycamore and I used it to create the column that sits on an rusted, metal gear base of this (yet to be named) guy.  Old wooden shoe forms are his feet and a salvaged corbel is the start of his left leg.  He's far from finished, but I think I'm off to a great start.  More to come...

New Premier Protein favorite

Cindy and I were working on the blog one morning after class and I needed a little treat, so she shared one of her Premier Protein drinks with me. It was the caramel flavored one, which was new to me.  As you all know, I am a HUGE fan of Premier Protein and all that you can do with it.  Anything from overnight oats to protein shakes to protein bars....its a staple in my pantry.  Well the earth stood still the moment I tasted my overnight oats made with the carmel Premier Protein!  I'm telling you, it was heavenly!!!  Even my daughter, Anna, thought it tasted like a brown sugar oatmeal.  YUM!  Click HERE for the Premier Protein Overnight Oats recipe.