My house is a blank slate right now. It's coming together, but there are so many possibilities of what to do that sometimes it makes my head hurt.

This last weekend, I went to the Salado Design Stars Showcase. Several of the shop and B&B owners sponsored a weekend of events where we got to tour some houses and learn design secrets. It was a lot of fun and now I think I'm prepared to decorate my house.

As you can see, there are many ways to go. First, I have to determine my style. Am I traditional, modern, country, french country, Italian country, Tuscan, shabby chic, or the newest trend, industrial chic? I really don't know. I need to put some thought into this.

I might not know my style, but I learned some things that I can apply no matter my style.




Everyone needs a rooster. Farm animals are back, but this does not give anyone permission to put out the geese that we so proudly displayed in the 80's. Get new farm animals. I've always wanted a rooster and this one just kept screaming, "Buy me!" He was especially insistent after the shop owner gave me a glass of wine and told me to relax and take my time. So he came home with me. He is going to be beautiful displayed on my black granite counter tops. Right now he is sitting on plywood.

Birds and anything associated with birds are hot! Bird nests, bird cages and bird figures are something everyone must have. So I bought this paper towel holder. It was time. Our previous
paper towel holder was something Alan had when we got married. It's been 20 years, time for a new one. I think it's cute that the bird is looking at the towels. Alan and Tom think he looks like he's about to fall out of the tree.

Orange is the new color to have. You don't want a lot but a least 3 things in one room should be orange, so I bought this orange bottle. It was also talking to me while I was enjoying the glass of wine. Now I only need two more orange things.

My last purchase of the weekend was this cookbook holder. Something else I have been wanting. Right now it is holding my Pioneer Woman Cookbook, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to give this cookbook a rest for awhile. As far as the Pioneer Woman is concerned, cream, butter, and lots of cheese are staples in every meal. The recipies are very yummy, but if I keep this up I won't have any clothes that fit. This Marlboro Man sandwich is very good, but it is all about butter. You cook the meat in butter, you add more butter to flavor the meat, you saute the onions in butter, and that's not all, oh no, that's not all. You toast the bread with gobs of butter.

I should be really calorie conscious for the next couple of weeks, because my new range will be here on March 17 and I will be cooking.