The Blog Post About Nothing

I have nothing to say really.                                         

Are you a fan of Seinfeld?
The show about nothing?

I have nothing to write about.

I have no pictures I want to post. Except ones to make my point, I guess!

Is it because it is the end of summer/not quite Fall? You know, that transition time between things or events or seasons where it is too much bother to keep talking about stuff you have been talking about and not enough stuff to talk about yet, in what is to come?

I am really over summer recipes and not really into Fall comfort food yet. I cannot think of a recipe to share, that hasn't been already.

I have been thrifting and I guess I could share my treasures........again!

My son is at camp and it is a great camp but I can't think of what to write about it. I have pictures though.

I realize that this blog post will not qualify to link up with many of the blog parties I join in on every week because.......

It is not a recipe. 

It is not a DIY, room makeover, repaint tutorial kind of post.

It is not about decorating.

It is not about fashion or make-up. But then I don't write about those things anyways.

It is not about tips on blogging. Although it could be a good example of what NOT to write for a post!

I am just filling space so that my last post doesn't get too old.

Ever been there? or here, where I am right now? Blank?

AnnMarie :)

P.S. If you made it down to my name, thank you! Ya know, for reading that far in this post about nothing.


Linking up with these great blog parties anyways.....

Tuesday Trivia
The Scoop
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
What's It Wednesday
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
The GYB Networking Party
Freedom Fridays
Weekend Wonders
I Love My Post
TGIF Link Party
Strut Your Stuff Saturday Link Party
Weekend Bloglovin' Hop

Random Things

Just some random interesting things that happened this past weekend, with pictures. I finally have learned to take my camera wherever I go in case there's a blog post in it!

My husband's company participates in offering it's employees free days at different places throughout the area. The place for August is the Rochester Museum and Science Center on East Avenue in the city of Rochester. It is a beautiful area of the city. My husband loves going to that area because it reminds him of the "good" parts of New York City, where he grew up. I have lived in the area all my life and can't say that I visit these places very often. We decided to go on Saturday.

The first "scientific" thing you encounter when you arrive to the museum is the Whisper Dish.
This is how far the two dishes are from each other.....

 

My husband could not believe that it really worked until he and my son tried it out. He got a kick out of it.....

 

There's my son way down there, whispering....

After a few hours at the museum we decided to hang around the city more to partake in the "culture" and stay there for dinner. We were meeting our friends Karl and Diane at a restaurant located in the High Falls district of the city, on Brown's Race, where Rochester's early industrial development took place.

The restaurant is called La Luna and boasts about it's fantastic view of the falls while sitting on the deck to eat. Sounds romantic right?

Do you see any Falls? Nope, there aren't any in view. They are way far to the right around the bend and we never did see them. We could hear them though.

It is a pretty view though,  surrounded by historic warehouses and huge water powered wheels. Rochester was once known as the Flour City and now is known as the Flower City because it hosts the Lilac Festival every year.

Here is a cool, huge wheel and the walls surrounding it.....

 

 We never did eat at that restaurant. It ended up being too pricey and so we decided to find somewhere more suited to our budgets!

We did walk around the area though before leaving. The city had renovated a lot of it to make it THE place to go to walk around and eat in one of the many restaurants.

As we were gazing out over the landscape, there, near the woods, was a family of deer. We could see the rack on the male, then the mother and then the babies. They were heading toward the water for a drink. Very cool, being that we were in the middle of a city. You can just see them on both sides of the white pole.

We ended up at Hogan's Hideaway on Park Ave., another cultural, cool place of the city, for dinner and sat out on the deck with the bees.

You never know what you will encounter when venturing off to the city. Walking our food off just a block from the restaurant and we were encountered by a very inebriated man and a good Samaritan who was trying to keep him from walking into traffic and to help him find his way home.

We walked by a brightly lit room, decorated in bright colors and fabrics with a Buddha statue at the far end. There was music and chanting going on. We whispered as we went by.

We always have a great time hanging out with Karl and Diane. This was an especially memorable one.

What interesting thing did you do this weekend?

AnnMarie :)

Linking up with these great parties:

Monday Mingling Blog Hop
Amaze Me Monday
You're Gonna Love It
Tuesday Trivia
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
What's It Wednesday
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Freedom Fridays

 

A Room Fit for a Teen - a Total Makeover

The unsuspecting birthday boy eating his breakfast.

My son Michael turned 15 this week. And for his gift he got a surprise total room makeover!!

And not just any boy themed makeover.

The LA Lakers! Purple and gold!! My husband Frank has been buying LA Lakers (particularly Kobe Bryant) posters, buying basketball themed decorative items, spray painting things purple and gold and printing up all the basketball stickers to fill in the walls. I made the purple valance and table skirt. It was a total guy thing so Frank did it all!

Michael "inherited" the apartment upstairs in our Victorian home from his two older sisters, who each used it in their teen years. The wallpaper was newly hung when we bought the house and so it stayed. It is pretty....but not for a boy!

 

Not wanting to tear the wallpaper down because of what we might find behind it (the walls are plaster and other rooms revealed lots of cracks!) we decided it had to be covered as much as possible to give it a different look. And it had to be done with a minimum of holes and damage to the wallpaper.

 

My husband just happens to work in the Media Technology Center (where they test cartridges, paper, etc.) of his company and it just so happens that they were going to be testing some post-it material to see how it took designs.  He asked the boss if they would use his designs (which happened to be  black and white basketball images). They did and we got a whole room full of stickers to fill in with the posters. The stickers are removable and don't damage the wallpaper. We used glue dots to hang the posters....also not supposed to damage wallpaper. I am the only one who cares about that!

 

Here are the before and after pictures of each wall of the makeover. We only did his bedroom area.....there is also a sitting room, a kitchen and a bath! Nice for a 15 year old, huh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are some unique details only my creative husband could come up with.

 



He spray painted an old lamp, put basketball stickers all over it and added a

a figurine of Shaq. That ring is a replica of Kobe Bryant's 2009 Championship ring.

 

 

There's a basketball court on the top of the dresser and

a purple painted lava lamp with a basketball on top

 

 

A Lakers covered switch plate with a fiery basketball....

 

 

Those are basketball stickers all over the ball,

wedged in on either side of the headboard

 

 

My husbands old E-Reader is hanging on the wall with a basketball

slide show continuously playing. Notice the CD player that has been spray painted gold and purple.

 

 

Michael's childhood clothes rack has been painted purple and holds his first

pair of basketball shoes, and his Laker's jersey and jacket that no longer fit.

 

 

Another spray paint job.....Michael had been

wondering what happened to his garbage basket!

 

 

 

 

Michael was downstairs the whole time my husband, I and daughter Jena were hanging everything. He kind of knew he was getting a Lakers room but had no idea how it would look. He was pretty surprised. He said it was way more than he expected. It is a WOW in person and the girly wallpaper

fades away!

 

 

The bedding was his birthday gift from his sister Jena.

 

The other rooms in his room are not plain by any means! In the sitting area he has an Irace wall (our last name), a Michael wall, a reptile wall and a superhero's wall. They all have the same kind of decorating style done by the same decorator! My husbands study has a similar look but that is a post for another time!

 

 

It was a joy to do this for Michael since he has been such a blessing to us. A true labor of love.

 

What will turning 16 bring? And how will we out do ourselves after this?!

 

AnnMarie  :)

 

Linking up with these great blog parties!

 

The Pin Junkie Friday Link Party

 Weekend Wonders

Thursday Favorite Things

Freedom Fridays

Bloglovin' and Facebook Blog Hop

Strut Your Stuff Saturday Link Party

DIY Sunday Showcase Link Party

A Bouquet of Talent Linky Party

Let's Get Social Sunday

Sweet & Savoury Sunday

Marvelous Monday

Monday Mingling Blog Hop

Amaze Me Monday

What D'Ya Think?

This is a "HELP me decide" kinda post and a "I would love your opinion" kinda post....

I just want your opinion on what I should do with a new fabulous find. I am leaning one way but I was hoping you can give me ideas I didn't think of!

I got this great mirror at another thrifting adventure this past Saturday. I always go out with the idea of finding things to sell in my Etsy shop and occasionally I just have to keep something!

My first thought was to upcycle this large mirror by painting and distressing it a funky color and then listing it in my shop....but then I am too afraid to ship it!

 

 

My second thought was to try and do something very fun and different which is to paint the frame and hang a plant inside of it like Tuula from The Thrifty Rebel did....

 

 

 

I picked up a planter just like the one in the picture at the same sale that I got the frame. I already bought the plant to go in it and I have a great wall to hang it on the front porch...right above my vintage 3 tier shelf.....

 

The plant on the top is actually the plant I would put in the planter. I haven't come up with colors yet for the planter or frame. My porch is white with different shades of sage green. I could use suggestions there too!

 

The only problem with this great idea is that I would have to disassemble the whole back to take the mirror out and I am not sure I want to do that....or do I? Ya know, in case I change my mind in a week.





 

As I was pondering all this I decided to hang the mirror from the cupboard in the dining room to get it off the floor and avoid breaking it! It is quite large at 24" x 30" and cumbersome.

 

TA DAAA! This became my third choice!

 

It looks great on my dining room cupboard and up till now that is where it has been! It is kind of  a different thing to do....hang a mirror on a cupboard....and that is why I like it.

 



 

It is not really practical here because I would have to move it every time I needed something IN the cupboard, which holds all my good dishes and serving pieces. I just won't entertain ever again!

So, do I have a dilemma or is the choice clear?

AnnMarie :)

 I am linking up with these great Blog parties this week:

You're Gonna Love It
Tuesday Trivia
The Scoop
What's It Wednesday Link Party
Adorned from Above Blog Hop