Happy 4th of July from My Slice of Heaven!

*Brooklyn

Young House Roadtrip featuring BIRMINGHAM!

First of all, John and Sherry from Young House Love (formerly This Youg House, which I personally liked better, but some big bad company policy had to come between me and that) is one of my favorite links. These guys just make me smile. Plus, they know what they are doing and they are growing to be everywhere. I opened my BHG DIY this month, and yet again, there they were. Their house is super cool, they are amazingly creative, and are also video editing genieii. Check out their summer road trip:

Young House Love: Dallas Road Trip from John & Sherry Petersik on Vimeo.

By the way, the Bham Vulcan thing...yeah, thats my town!! Plus, they were staying uber close to my house and I didn't even know it!

Fashion is not my forte admitedly, but I still enjoy the art of it all. Here's a fun for all poll to get your fashion juices flowing. Vote for the best dressed chicks at Art on the Rocks at the Art on the Rocks Events. A preview of some of Bham's hottest:

Junk Beautiful

I dream of being able to repurpose junk more, but until school starts back, I just dream about it. And since it's a heat wave outside, my yard saling has been slim. But I have found a new book, and site that will be total inspiration when I get there. Junk Beautiful by Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer and site Junkmarket style are definately feature worthy!

Good Books this Time

Saturday, I finally got to spend some quality time with my beloved books at my beloved library, and I actually emerged with some good ones this time and feel very inspired for my house and my sisters wedding. Check it out (at your local library):

Book Club

2 More books in our book club today...

Simple Style by Julia Bird****

this was finally a good one!! Julia Bird is an amazing poet and photographer, and her style is timeless.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for Do It Yourself Decorating with Fabric * which was very outdated and boring.

Still loving the library, by the way. So much so that I think it's going to be my new hangout even without the kids. How much of a nerd am I?

The kids and I have discovered books on audio:

There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom, America the Beautiful, and The Man Who Walked Between Towers. Very very fun to curl up and listen for a change and give my scratchy voice a rest. Have a good weekend everyone and we'll pick it up here on Monday!!

Welcome to My Decorating Book Club

This summer has been great so far! We have been regulars at the Hoover library. We have seen Aesops Fables puppet show, and Chicken Little performed at the Library Theatre, joined the book club, explored the world of computer learning, and read plenty of amazing books (including Edward Tulane which is awesome!!). But until yesterday I did not realize that the library is NOT JUST for kids!! They have a plaza with great food, and an adult book club, and a whole section of decorating books and magazines!! I'm in heaven! So, here's what I picked out yesterday:

Leading an Artful Life by Mary Engelbreit. **, A Passion for Antiques by Barbara Milo Ohrbach*, and Kids' Rooms Magazine by BHandG***

Clearly, I need to go back today and choose more wisely, but nonetheless, I am so excited about my new pass time. It is a good, healthy activity for everyone!!

Highly recommended children's book:

Egg Lady

That's right. One of my newest projects is egg distribution.
Blake has a sweet patient who has a variety of laying hens, and eggs to spare. So, every month when he comes in for his apt, he brings us eggs galore. This time I had 186 fresh, organic eggs to give away. It's a good problem to have, but can get a little stressful since I don't have the refrigerator space for that many eggs. So I gave, and gave, and boiled, and cracked, and scrambled and served until the fitting name for me is now Egg Lady.

We Play Hard

5 Loves of January 09

1.) The Flight of the Conchords. Jemaine and Brett are a folk parody group from New Zealand who just landed a new show on HBO that is simply halarious!! I have been a big fan of the show for a long time (since my friend Amy Luster emailed me the youtube of of 'Business Time'), but am so glad they have been reintroduced into my life. I can think of no better way to wind down and waste time than watching Flight of the Conchords.


2.)American Country Countdown. I have been listening on Sundays since I was a little girl. I truely love any music countdown. It just makes me happy.


3.) The Village at Blount Springs. I first entered this wonderful development in middle school. My mom and I toured the Southern Living home. We both fell in love. It's just a beautiful drive through these days for me, and a dream retirement location. But a couple of weeks, my mom and I stopped by again to look around. We let the boys play at the playground with the local kids. What a dreamy place to live!
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5.) Horseback Riding in Bankhead Forest. A picture is worth a thousand words...

Eurobungee

Run (don't walk) to the Galleria to do the Eurobungee!! I am not going to lie, it's expensive. But an amazing 3 minutes! The boys were absolutely obsessed! And when they insisted, and my dad offered to pay (to see if I had any of my gymnsatics skills left),the next thing I know, I am being strapped in as well. It was thrilling and, Oh my goodness, exhausting. I felt like I had just sprinted a mile afterward. What a workout! But I will definately do it again...and soon...maybe...okay...um... bye, gotta run to the galleria NOW! :)

On the 8th Day of Christmas...

Went to a Brunch Pajama Party for our Home Church,


















Watched A Christmas Story,

Ate Chinese Food,
And drove around and looked at Christmas Lights.