Pataki Not the Governor

Good Morning Readers,

I decided to switch things  up today and share with you a new author I have fallen in love with...Allison Pataki.  She has a famous last name, and that is because she is the daughter of former New York State governor, George Pataki! One would expect that this little gal would be involved in politics, but clearly she has a great talent for writing.

The first book I read by her was her debut novel, The Traitor's Wife.  This is the story of Peggy Shippen, the wife of Benedict Arnold.  Though the story is fiction, it is heavily based on historical facts and populated with real historical characters. I'm a big fan of the Revolutionary period of American history, so this book was already right in my wheel house.  Ms. Pataki, however, managed to bring new insights into one of the greatest betrayals in our country's history.  The saying goes that behind every great man is a great woman, well, this doubly applies to Peggy Shippen, only I'd change the saying:  "Behind every wicked man is and even more wicked woman"!!!  That poor man was lead around by his nose by this devastaingly beautiful, greedy dame.  Now, I'm not absolving Benedict of all blame because he certainly had free will and a weak moral character, but Peggy most definately was a huge influence. I won't give away any more details, but I highly recommend you pick up a copy of The Traitor's Wife; it's a thoroughly enjoyable read.  Learn more about Allison Pataki and her debut novel, and even watch a video of Allison's thoughts about Peggy Shippen by clicking here.

One of the cool things about revolutionary historical fiction is that much of the action took place right here in good old New Jersey.  That's the case with The Traitor's Wife.  Though a good part of the story is in Phili, if you want to see the home of Peggy Shippen it's just a quick car ride to Burlington county. Click here to read more about the Shippen house and for directions... a fun and interesting day trip idea.  PS.  I think the book is being made into a movie soon.  Can't wait!

The second book that I read by Allison Pataki was The Accidental Empress.  This too, is historical fiction by genre, but the time period is not Revolutionary America. The story is set across the Atlantic in 1853 in the luxurious Austro-Hungarian Empire. The main character is the spunky, young duchess of Bavaria, Elizabeth, affectionately known as "Sisi". The story follows Sisi from her provencial upbringing in Bavaria, to the stunning glamour of the Austrian court of the Habsburg Empire as she marries the emperor, Franz Joseph.  Sisi is a much more admirable character than Peggy Shippen for sure, but her life is beset with strife and tragedy. The reader has to admire her fighting spirit as she attempts to keep her identity and independence among the politics of the court and times.  Sisi is a real historical personage.  I didn't know anything about her, but she is a fascinating character.  You can read about her, just click here.

Author Pataki hints at a sequel to The Accidental Empress.  Sisi's story is an intricate one and could surely continue into a series of books.  I look forward to the next installment.  If you're interested, you can check out potential movie trailer, the author's thoughts on the book and more, just click here.

So, dear reader, if you like books and want a suggestion or two, pick up one by Allison Pataki.

Spring Inside and Out

Hello Dear Readers

I know Spring is well underway, and I assure you I have welcomed it into my home.  I just haven't had time to share with you what spring touches I have added to bring spring into my world.  So I did a quick photoshoot around the house, inside and out, and will simply share with you now, some of the quick things I did to celebrate the season.  After such a cold and long winter, I was delighted to decorate the house with new life!

family room mantle gets dressed in spring blooms

I have a grove of lilly of the valley blooming under a kwanzan cherry tree in the back yard.  Every spring, I look forward to their reappearance.  It also reminds me of my grandmother who was born in May, since lily of the valley is May's flower. I gave them a place of honor and put a few blooms inside some vintage jars.  I also added a few branches of the spirea bush that is putting on quite a show in the side yard! Here's a closer look at the blooms.

My kitchen needed a little spring too, so I added a new Scrabble message next to my birdie that sits on the window sill my my kitchen sink. Now I can look at birds inside and out  

Birds and nests and eggs are such symbols of spring.  I decided to use these symbols in my spring decorating. My dining room is inundated with wedding preparations, but I managed to carve out a little space on the dining table to display a vintage silver tray filled with espresso and tea cups that I made into bird nests with moss and shredded raffia (PS - the center tea cup is from my grandmother's set...I will do a whole post on that later...they are one of my favorite things)

Front entry also needed a touch of spring...eggs for the vintage egg basket.  Scored the simple white eggs at Walmart at Easter time.

Outside is welcoming the season too. Pansies at the front door...

Hope you have brought spring into your home too!

Sweet Music

Just had to share about a phenomenal concert Bob and I attended Thursday May14th.  My daughter had given me tickets for Mother's Day to hear Vince Gill at the MPAC in Morristown, NJ, and it turned out to be a wonderful time.  What a class act this guy is!  If you are a country music fan, I am sure you already know this, but I was still impressed at the level of professionalism and sophistication displayed throughout the concert.  The sound system alone was the best I have ever heard, and I know it must have been his because I've been to other concerts at the MPAC and they did not sound this professional.  A unique part of the experience was that Vince played every song on a different guitar.  Some of them were obviously vintage and something collectors would drool over.  He practically petted them when they were handed to him.  You could tell how much he loved and cherished each of the instruments.  Vince's backup musicians were equally impressive.  His bass guitarist use to play for the Doobie Brothers and the steel guitar player is the most recorded steel guitar artist of the past 40 years.  A sweet touch was that his female backup singer was his daughter, Jenny Gill.  He was obviously a proud Papa when he introduced her to do a solo performance. Needless to say the apple didn't fall far from the tree...she has a phenomenal voice.

The other thing that struck me about Vince (besides his smooth- as -silk voice and outrageous guitar skill) was his sweet, humble and kind nature.  He wore a simple pair of jeans and a plaid flannel shirt.  The set was a clean backdrop of light stands.  The focus was obviously the music.  But Vince is a great storyteller and his stories reveal the kind of person that he is.  He told stories of his dad and how he was a lawyer by day and a redneck by night and how he taught Vince about life. Vince followed the story with a tender song about his dad.  Vince also shared the tragic story of his brother who was dramatically injured in a motor cycle accident early in his life and suffered with the after effects for years.  Again, Vince followed the story with a loving tribute to his now -deceased brother. Vince also shared a beautiful love song he had written for his wife, Amy Grant.  He shared that he has never recorded it, because it was just for her.  How sweet can a guy get?

I don't have any photos to share of the performance because I obeyed the rules of no cell phone use or recording during the performance, unlike many others who disregarded the rule and forced the ushers to run up and down the aisles asking patrons to shut their phones! Jeesh!  But I do have some pics to show you of a pizza spot where we ate dinner prior to the concert. Millie's Old World Meatballs and Pizza made the top 25 list of N.J. Pizza Power Rankings.  Pete Genovese, a food critic for the Star -Ledger, is most known for his "Munch Mobile".  Pete travels all over New Jersey finding the "best" spots for just about anything from doughnuts to seafood. This month he had a six-month update on his pizza rankings.  Millie's Old World Meatballs and Pizza made #16.  My husband is a life-long foodie and follows Pete's exploits avidly.  So, when he saw this Morristown eatery in Pete's list he decided to give it a try when we went to see Vince Gill.

Pete was right the pizza was super good.  The unique thing about Millie's is that they serve two kinds of pizzas:  those baked in a wood-fired oven and those baked in a coal-burning oven.  We preferred the wood-fired as the crust was thinner and crispier.  Make sure you also try the meatballs.  Bob and I shared an appetizer of meatballs with warm ricotta cheese.  Yummy.  The salads looked equally as delicious, but my husband's a devout carnivore so meatballs won.

Here are the two different ovens that are on the premises:

It was a lovely evening in Morristown.  A big thank you to my daughter Susan.  We had a great time.

Perfect Day

What could be a more perfect activity for a retired couple than a leisurely bike ride along the scenic Deleware River?  Nothing! Yesterday, Bob and I took our first bike ride of the season.  We unloaded the bikes in the parking lot in Stockton, NJ, only one block from the historic Stockton Inn and rode the canal path all the way to  Lambertville.

The weather was perfect, too, sunny and cool. The trees were all in bloom, especially the dogwoods, so pretty dressed in their delicate white blossoms edged in pink. The wildlife was bursting all around us.  We spotted mounds of turtles sunning themselves on rocks that burst forth from the slow-rolling waters of the river. Mallards and other ducky birds floated by dipping their heads beneath the clear water to capture a mid-morning snack.

And then there were the geese!  I had to laugh at the adorable family of geese who had commadeered the canal path to escort their brood of goslings to a safe patch to feed.  One adult led the five little fledglings, and the other adult stood guard at the rear, its head erect and ready to peck if you got too close to the brood of young ones.  We had to carefully pass by in order to avoid upsetting the parade. Who could ask for better entertainment?

The ride was blissful.  Quiet, serene, fragrant...simple.  I felt like Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables who adored and wrote about the simple beauty of Prince Edwards Island.  I felt blessed to live in an area that offers similar beauty.  There is something peaceful, healing and yet exhilarating about the beauty of nature. It offers the perfect antidote to the stresses of living in the 21st Century. And bikeriding among its beauty is the perfect retirement activity! I am looking forward to more days of exploring the rich beauty and rich history (more about this later) of my home state.  Retirement surely does have its advantages.  I don't understand those who say they fear they will get bored if they retire.  There is so much to do and see!  Stay tuned for what Bob and I discover next.

Craziness

Hello Dear Readers,
   It has been over a year since my last post; my bad (but my life has been CRAZY!!!!). Retirement is suppose to be that lovely, lazy phase of life where the pace is slow and the days are leisurely.  Ha! that's all I can say about that myth.  Since my last post in March of 2014 much has happened: my youngest daughter got engaged, my oldest daughter bought a new home, my youngest daughter bought her first home, and I've become addicted to Pinterest and the blog world! What, you might ask, does that have to do with me not blogging?  In my world, major life events for my girls become major life events for me and my husband. It has been months and months of house searching, house packing, house moving, house painting, house unpacking, house decorating...you get the picture?  And that's just the half of it.  Then there is the wedding planning...but I will save that for a future post.
   First, the engagement.  Allison, my youngest, met a lovely young man at the dog park when she took Lilly, her beagle, for an outing.  Little did I know that she really first met him on a "match" site on the Internet and arranged to meet at the park.  All worked out well, thank goodness, he turned out to be a very good person.  They instantly (talk about love at first sight) made a connection and the next thing you know they're standing in my dining room telling me they plan to get married!  I really must confess I wasn't all that surprised.  I knew the first time I saw the two of them together that they were meant for each other.  You just can't fake real adoration, and that is what I saw in both of their eyes when they looked at each other.  "Thank God" was my thought.  What more can you wish for your child, than to find her soul mate, the one that completes her, the one who will cherish her.

Here's the lovely couple mugging it up for a selfie:

Craziness will be continued on a future post!

Framed

Good Morning Dear Readers,

I've been busy with my wall art project and have made significant progress.  I wanted to re-purpose and reuse as much as I could for this project because I did not want it to be an expensive project, so I went in search around the house for things that could possibly fit the words/lettering theme.  As I rummaged through the attic for usable frames (I have so many) I came across a project I had done for my husband shortly after his father died.  I had found letters his dad had written to his mother (my husband's grandmother) from Europe where he was stationed during WWII.  I had framed the letter and a picture of the young Donald in uniform.  I thought this would be a perfect choice of picture to include in my current project.  Here is the picture I had done.

As I recall I had purchased this vintage frame from a local antique shop.  It had a black and white photograph of an aerial view of some factory site.  I remember thinking that would be a perfect backdrop for the war-era ephemera.  Resurrecting this picture lead me to search for other letters or primary documents from deceased loved ones.  The wall would then take on an even deeper meaning than the glorification of the word which I initially had intended.  I thought about framing some of my husband's love letters that he had written to me in the early 70"s ( I've got them all safely stored in a box that is stashed in the spare bedroom's closet), but that might be just a bit too personal and not to mention embarrassing.  So, I searched even further.  Two weeks ago, I had surprised Bob by making him crepes from his mother's recipe.  As I searched for the recipe, I realized it was one of the few things we had with her actual handwriting.  A ha! Perfect subject to be framed.  The recipe was written on a lined sheet of notebook paper and in pencil; the text needed to be darker for anyone to see it from a distance.  First, I photocopied the recipe so it would not be lost if I messed up in tracing her handwriting in black ink. Then I reused one of the photo frames from my girls' pictures, placed the recipe against a solid black backdrop and Presto! Another item for the wall.  This one only cost $.79 for the black paper.

The recipe idea spurred me to search  through my own mother's recipe cards.  I was rewarded with a great find, not only did I find several written in my mother's handwriting, but I also discovered one written in my grandmother's hand.  I decided I would do a generational picture of 3 recipe cards one written by my gram, one by Mom, and one by me.  Again I reused a photo frame from my girls.  The result is seen below:

I was on a roll now, so I dug through some of the rememberances my husband had received when his grandmother died.  She was the sweetest old lady I had ever met.  She was 107 or maybe even older when she died.  Nice longevity in his family. I found two letters that were written to her.  I decided the envelopes themselves were more interesting than the letters.  One had a post mark of 1907, this was before she was even married, but was I believe either when she was a teenager or early 20's.  The letter was from a friend who recounted all the fun they had flirting with a group of boys.  I guess no matter what the era, life follows certain patterns.  Anyway, the postmark was intriguing. Guess how much stamps were in 1907?  2 cents! The second letter was postmarked 1947 and came from England.  During the war, my father-in-law had been stationed in England and married a war bride.  Her family became friends with Bob's grandmother and corresponded with her.  I put both letters in their respective envelopes and framed them together.They will make nice conversation pieces as well as lovely art.  See them below:

I have a few more ideas for things to frame, single ABC letters for example.  I'll let you know how the search turns out.  I'm hoping to complete this project by the end of the week.  Unfortunately, I do have to include Bob in the project.  He insists on nailing things up on his newly painted walls himself.  I guess I don't mind the help, but it will be a challenge.  He's not the most patient person when it comes to making changes and especially in taking directions!  This could be fun.

Picture Perfect

Hi Viewers and Readers,

I'm starting a new house project that I wanted to share with you.  My husband and I are currently painting and repairing and refreshing just about every room in our house...LONG OVERDUE.  The first room to be painted is the family room.  While Bob really does all of the painting (he thinks I am too messy...when really he just has a control problem !) I am the organizer and decorator.  I must say, that I am good at organizing and kind of have a knack for decorating. At least I enjoy those activities.  I chose Benjamin Moore's Cameo white for the walls.  It is my favorite white, nice and creamy, and it has a soft texture not harsh at all.  I thought this would make a nice neutral background for any wall art I will do.

The main wall of the family room is now a blank canvas and I will be decorating it.  Right now the wall is home to two bookcases and a console table that supports the TV.  Before painting, the wall was covered in black-framed photographs of my two girls.  They were lovely pictures, but my youngest, Alli, was in middle school when those pics were taken and now she is 26!  I think it's time to move forward, don't you?  Of course I will miss the pictures, but I am putting them in a lovely separate album that I can flip through whenever I want.

I've taken several days to plan and mull over what I want to do to the wall.  I've finally, decided on a word or lettering theme.  The family room also contains a corner where the computer table sits, along with another corner built-in bookcase.  Lots of books in this room I thought, why not focus on emphasizing them and go with a complimentary theme like words and letters.  I had purchased vintage word flashcards from a local antique shop in town this past summer, and decided they would be the perfect thing to frame and at least be a start for the theme. The cards came in two sizes and I had picked out some great words like pretty, jam and meow. I'll reuse the frames from my daughters' photos in order to economize and will be on the lookout for various other items that might be frame-able and fit the theme.

I keep you posted with the progress.  Below is the freshly painted wall sans photos.