Since its Halloween weekend its a perfect time to post these pictures of a cute condo I saw decorated in orange and black. I wouldn't normally think of using these colors but love these rooms especially the dining room. Orange decor is everywhere now though and really adds a pretty brightness to a room.
With all that was going on in the last few weeks with my brothers heart attack, I didn't get to mention we have a brand new member in the family. My nephew and his wife had a sweet little baby girl Kenna Mae a few weeks ago. She is so precious, as you can see in the picture above. She is also such a good natured and calm baby and her Mommy and Daddy very pleased about that!
What a cute small space from the blog design fragment. Love the personal touch of the enlarged photo of their child. This blog focuses on Swedish decor, is beautiful to look at if you love interior design, besides being a great place for inspiration in decorating.
My brother had his heart bypass surgery on Thursday and came through with flying colors. We are so happy, relieved and grateful for modern technology! The recovery from this surgery is tough and lasts several months. I am confident though that a few months from now he will be back to how he was before, active and living a full life. One of the positive things that comes from a crisis like this is how it brings a family closer together and reminds you how much you mean to each other. My three brothers in the picture above spent a lot of time when they were young playing in little league. Baseball was a big part of our family life and it bonded my brothers. My middle brother Bob (middle in the picture above too) remembered a baseball moment from when they were young and posted it on Bill's facebook page. He was having a hard time after the surgery with all the pain and this story brought back to life those happy days for him. It is such a sweet story I wanted to share it here.
I haven't posted in a while because this last Saturday my brother Bill had a heart attack. I have just been walking around in a state of disbelief and shock. As you can see in this photo of him this is not the picture of someone you could have imagined just had a heart attack. He is fit, doesn't drink or smoke and eats healthy. He runs regularly and surfs often and is a very successful litigation attorney. The doctor said most likely it was genetic and our family history is the only key. My father had heart problems and my grandfather had a heart attack at 65 but they both drank too much and smoked. Bill never did any of these things so we never could have believed he would have a heart attack at 55. I wanted to write down his symptoms here because they were so subtle and important for everyone to be aware of. He started to have some mild pain about a month ago when he would run. He said he thought it was heartburn, but what was weird is my brother said prior to this he never had heartburn so he didn't really know what regular heartburn felt like. He said the discomfort was above the sternum and felt like congestion and was somewhat painful but not crushing pain at all. Also a couple of times when he was running he would get nauseated all of a sudden, he would stop running and then it would go away in a few minutes. He did go to the doctor a week ago about the pain and they did a EKG. The doctor said there were some mild abnormalities but no emergency just make an appointment with his doctor to check it out. That was definitely a wrong call!! Saturday he started to have the pain and it wouldn't go away (before it always went away). It still wasn't that painful but thought he should get it checked out still thinking it was heartburn. He then called the ER and told the nurse his symptoms and she told him to come in right away. Good call!! She probably saved his life. The doctor told us yesterday that Saturday when he had the continuous pain was when he had the heart attack. Bill said the bizarre thing is the pain never got that severe and it wasn't crushing pain. He had the symptoms that women tend to get not men (that made for a few good jokes from my other two brothers). The next shocker came when the doctor said he had 5 blocked arteries and would need quintuple bypass surgery. We were all just stunned! My brother managed to take all this news in stride. He is an amazing person and has a real love for life which he has not lost even with all that he has he has gone through in the last few days. He is in good spirits and our whole family has been in his hospital room joking around and laughing with him everyday. I have 3 brothers that are hilarious when they get together which helps all of us deal with the stress of this. He has the quintuple bypass surgery in two days which the doctors say he should do really well since he is young and in great health besides the blocked arteries. We are so blessed for that.
I love this one line a day journal from Modcloth via the Scoop. My journaling is just so hit and miss and lately miss, it would be a lot easier to write down one little thing a day. It is set up for 5 years with each date on one page. How quickly it would be to look and see what happened on the same day throughout 5 years. With just the 5 lines for each day, I would be much more likely to keep this one up!
What a cute idea for a thank you card from a Mom on Ohdeedoh. After her daughter's birthday she took a picture of her with each present she received using it. She then put the photo on white card stock with a thank you note below it. That way even people who missed seeing their gift opened still had a cute photo of her having fun with it!
Noah had his first trip to the Pumpkin Patch this year. Last year he was only four months old just a little to young to enjoy it. We had been having really hot weather but we got lucky and the day we went was the first day that felt like fall. Noah's most favorite thing to do now is go outside. If you are home and walk towards the door or say the word outside he stands by the door and waits for you to take him outside. Needless to say being at the Pumpkin Patch was heaven for him. It was so fun watching him run around, check out all the pumpkins, play with other kids and be outside where he is free and feels like a big boy!
What a cute idea for fall for an added touch to a salad. Leaf crisps made from wonton wrappers with parmesan cheese and herbs. You can find the recipe here from Martha Stewart.
If you are not already aware of it Stephanie Nielson from Nie Nie Dialogues is going to be on Oprah tomorrow. She has the most amazing blog about her family. The first time I heard about her blog via Design Mom, I was immediately struck with her creativity and talent as a homemaker, Mom and photographer. It was so good I actually went back in time and read her entire blog. It was devastating last year to hear about the plane crash she was in with her husband where she was burned over 80% of her body. She fought her way back with courage and faith and to be there for her 4 beautiful children. She has been honest about the struggles she has gone through, talking about it on her blog and inspiring so many people. I cannot wait for her visit tomorrow on Oprah, something you won't want to miss!
Today was the launch of the online magazine Lonny, headed by former market Domino editor Michelle Adams. It appears that everyone is loving it as much as I am. What is cool about it being online is if you see something you love you just click on it and it takes you right were you can find it. Love this feature! Above are some of my favorite photos from their first issue. Check out the whole thing for all its great articles, tips and beautiful decor.
