Easter Sunday and Spinach Waffles

I know Easter morning should be reserved for candy and chocolate only, but I did whip up a batch of homemade waffles in hopes my kids wouldn't die of sugar overload.  I start by mixing 2 cups milk, 2 eggs and either a cup of blueberries or peaches (usually, these are frozen) in the blender.  Well, for some reason, I wanted to change things up a bit.  I decided to add 1/2 cup blueberries and 1/2 cup fresh spinach.  The ingredients became a blur of purple in the blender.

Perhaps you read my blog post about how I found my thrift store waffle iron (click here to read more), but I've yet to blog about my $2.00 handheld Malitta coffee grinder I found a few years ago at a garage sale.  New, they sell for around $30.00.  I use it to grind flax, chia seed, oatmeal and more.

In my waffles I add 1/2 cup ground flax seed, 1/2 cup ground chia seed, 1/2 a cup ground oatmeal and 1/2 a cup ground whole wheat flour.

Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, with a tablespoon of olive oil and baking power.

Although I think a cup of fresh spinach would taste great (because you can't even taste the spinach at all ), I didn't want my waffles to be green.  The blueberries and flax keeps the waffles a nice dark color, so nobody becomes suspicious of just how healthy they really are.

Oh, no!  If the kids new these things were healthy, I don't think they'd eat them.

We took these fresh picked honeysuckles to my mother-in-law and had lunch with them.  They smelled amazing!  The glass vase was $1.00 from Goodwill.

For church services, I wore this $8.00 Aryeh dress I found at Goodwill.  

I just loved the colors and ribbons.  

From what I found on-line, an Aryeh dress sells for around $50.00.   

Eden wore a little dress from Wonder Kids I found for $2.00 at Goodwill.

The dress is 100% linen and has oodles of ruffles to keep it fluffy.  

She looked so cute, running around the yard and playing with her cousins.  She certainly didn't let a fancy dress slow her down.

We carried on our Easter tradition at Grandma and Grandpa Hinze's home.  They didn't want to slow down, but I gathered as many grand kids as I could to get a quick photo.

Well, the Easter candy is almost gone, but I've been experiencing with the waffles.  This morning I added an entire zucchini and it slipped by without any suspicion.  I feel deceptive!  Should I feel deceptive?  Strange to feed my kids something healthy and feel so secretive!  :)  I should be a spy!

The deception must run in the family because Eden is hoping I don't notice the dog she just slipped inside her Barbie Dream House.

My Vicky Tiel Vintage Dress

It was Saturday night and I spent a few minutes cleaning up.  My make-up, only used two times a week; for date night and church on Sunday was quickly put on my face.  In almost an instant, I brushed through my hair.

What to wear?

What    to    wear? 

I had just picked up a dress at Goodwill on half-off day.  It was a bit funky - vintage perhaps but not cool vintage quite yet?  More like late 1980's - something a Duran Duran model would wear in a music video from that era.  I almost didn't get it, but I understand the wonder of a beautiful wrap-around.  For $5.00, I bought it.

It was a little too fancy for a typical date night in the Mesa/Gilbert area.  The counselor and I usually hit up Oregano's or Pita Jungle, but I took a chance.  I've been so excited for project:USED I seek out unusual dresses just for the heck of it.  I want as many crazy cool used dresses I can get my hands on.  For more information on project:USED and my desire to raise awareness and offer help to victims of sexual abuse , click here.

I put the dress on and instantly felt like a disco light turned on in a dark room.  The colors were amazing - they were perfect for how I felt.  The fabric was soft, but durable.  The wrap formed perfectly around my shape.  I loved it.

I opted for a pair of high heals and out we went.

Love was in the air!  Why did I feel so lovely - like a model walking the streets of Paris?

  

I smiled at perfect strangers and kept seeing photo potentials everywhere.  What was it?  It certainly was my date' he's pretty special, but it was more then that.

It was the dress.  I knew it was the dress.  I loved the dress.  People stopped and commented on the lovely thing.  I twirled a time or two.  I loved the dress.

Later that night, I just had to know.  What was it about the dress?  Who designed it?  I knew it was something special, but I knew I'd  be surprised.  I love being surprised.

Vicky Tiel vintage dresses, priced anywhere from $600 to $1,100.
Here's a little bit about that girl, Vicky Tiel (she's awesome).

As the "it" girl of the sixties, Tiel's signature dress designs made women feel and look great in their corseted draped dresses that flatter the curves of a woman's body. Tiel's couture designs have been sold exclusively in Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus for over thirty years, worn by everyone from her partner and backer of her boutique in Paris, Elizabeth Taylor, to Goldie Hawn, Halle Berry, Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey.

Tiel wrote her memoir in 2011,"It's All About the Dress", published by St Martins Press and she has a fashion- art -couture blog on the Huffington Post. 

Yes, I knew there was something special about that dress.

April, moving wedding dressers and another Project Used

For many many years, the month of April has been my busy month.  

I had three babies born in April, so there's been a lot of celebrating around here.

Mayer turned nine.

Eden turned four.

And Payson turned 12.

There's been one to many birthday cakes, even an ice cream cake (with homemade graham cracker crust) I made for my baby brother Sam.

I think my little niece Ada is really looking forward to some of that cake.  

The counselor and I finally moved the "wedding" dressers (click here to read more about the wedding I recently hosted at my house) down to the shop at Antique Plaza.  Because the bride's colors were gray and cream, I painted an assortment of dressers to match.  Now, there are all for sale.  Cool, huh.

Cream and gray are really popular colors for furniture up-do's!

Wouldn't it be nice if I had a hobby, like collecting English tea cups or decorating birthday cakes.  

Moving all this furniture can be such a pain in the back, literally, but when I was a little girl, I used to help my dad move furniture a lot.  I remember him saying "Lift with the legs, not the back" so that's what I try to do. 

The counselor works wonders with the furniture dolly, so it seems more and more I'm just giving instruction.  I'm like an annoying backseat driver, but he loves me anyway.

And, this Saturday April 26, we are having another project: USED 

(click here to read more about an awareness campaign I've started with used dresses to prevent, offer support and raise awareness for sexual abuse).

Please join us 3:00 to 5:00pm at my home for a photo session. I provide the used dresses.  There are so many wonderful people working on this project, we have a lot of fun and you get to keep your dress.  Please contact me at lauralofgreen@aol.com for more information.

Linking up to:

Vintage Market Friday & Saturday!

Come see My Dear Trash at the Udderly Sweet Vintage Boutique this Friday and Saturday!

The Wedding Bench

Ever since hosting my brother Matt’s wedding last year (you can read about that here), I’ve been partial to weddings.  The whole experience was so heart-warming.  Not only did I grow closer to Matt and his bride Monique, but my home came alive in ways I hadn’t expected.  The experience of sharing and giving left me more grateful for everything I’ve grown to love about my home. The yard became the backdrop to so much joy and celebration.  More then ever, I appreciated the trees, grass and vegetation of this beautiful place.

 

So, when a dear friend from church was scouting out places for her daughter Keeli’s wedding, the counselor and I offered our home and again, it came alive with wedding bliss.

My neighbor the caterer built a lovely crate wall 

and the groom’s father brought in rows and rows of handmade benches.

After the guests were seated, the bride and groom walked through a gate in the back yard.  

The ceremony was like heaven.  The skies were a bit cloudy with a cool breeze (very important here in Arizona), but Spencer and Keeli weren’t the only love birds.  During the ceremony two birds chirped and sang high up in the trees.

That night, there was food, dancing and celebration.  

Vintage finds were perfect for décor. 

The bride was a vision!

The groom’s father also provided the wooden cake stand.  

Isn’t it beautiful!

After the wedding, I was offered a bench - a beautiful handmade bench. 

For years I’ve wanted to replace this kitchen table.  

It may look fine in the above photo, but several years ago we left all the leather chairs outside after a family dance.  My dog chewed through six of them.  Although the damage was more cosmetic then anything, I’ve been wanting to change them out. The table has put up with years of wear and tear.  How many projects with the glue gun had I done?  Fingernail polish endeavors with Eden and her little friends?  Cutting watermelon, building Egyptian pyramids and more. In addition, I host lots of family dinners here.  There's never enough seating.  I wanted something bigger!

Do you know how hard it is to find a descent kitchen table at the thrift store?  Finding a cute set is near impossible, especially something that seats 8 or more.

So, bring in a huge wood table a friend gave me last year.  It really just needed to be trashed, but there was something about it that said “Help me.”  The wood was peeling in places and it was on its last leg.  It also needed to be stripped and restained.  Since it was essential to have a huge serving area for the food at the wedding, the table had to be finished.  I just loved how it turned out, but thought it would be too large to fit in my kitchen area.  When I was offered the bench, I knew it would go perfect with the table.

But, would it fit? 

It fit and I love how it turned out.  I should be able to seat a lot more people at my kitchen table now!

I didn’t expect such a beautiful gift as a wedding bench, but we will enjoy it for years to come.

Huge Garage Sale Saturday, April 11 7am

2212 E. Glencove St. Mesa, AZ 85213.  Tons of home decor!

Hope to see you there!  Love, Kelly