When Pigs Fly and other Giddyness

Ya'll stay with me on this one, I ramble am a bit wordy at first but it is worth it if you hang on....

I am a firm believer in surrounding yourself in things that you love, things that make you smile...things that make you just plain giddy.  I don't subscribe to my Grandmother's habit of "saving" stuff to make it last so I use the good stuff, the stuff I love, the stuff that makes me giddy....everyday.

I will admit that I have been known to run the family off the sofa in the living room because I felt they were wearing it out ("this sofa is a sitting properly sofa not a crashing about couch" I would tell them)...but that ended when my grandmother passed away in August.  At her funeral the priest spoke of her "thriftiness".  The example he used was her sofa.  All my life my grandmother had the same two sofas in the living room.  One was her "good" sofa and it was for company only (even then I could see her twitching when company sat on it) the other was for everyday, kind of.  You see the everyday couch was a wooden frame with six removable cushions, as was the matching chair.  Every morning my grandmother would pull off the seat cushions and take them to the porch to "air".  My poor grandfather would come home from a hard days work, grab a cushion and sit in the chair...until Grannie got wind of it and then she would shoo him up, take the cushion and replace it with a piece of cardboard so he didn't "wear out" the cushion.  Thankfully the kind priest dressed this story up a bit for the funeral (the close family all laughed at how thrifty, not cheap or nutty he made it sound) but it drove home how crazy I sounded trying to save my sofa!  So any "save the good stuff"  mentality I had (which wasn't much) went out the window forever that day.

We use cloth napkins everyday, china and crystal regularly and yes, I even burn the candles in my house!  If I love it I use it.  If it makes me smile I use it.  If it makes life better/easier I use it.  I am an excellent user of the good stuff just not an excellent buyer...because I am incredibly cheap (I still can't believe you can't buy a nice new car for $15,000).  So what follows it a big deal.

The best example of this is my most recent purchase.  It passed both the love it and makes me giddy test.  A couple of weeks ago Wonder Hubby and I purchased a new kitchen set.  The table is rectangular instead of the round table we have used for years.  Now I have much more surface area on the table.  I generally have something that you can call a centerpiece, as a rule it is a rooster since I have a thang for roosters.  With all the new surface area one rooster didn't seem like quite enough.  The day after we got our new set Wonder Hubby, mother and I headed out shopping, we were on a hunt for more FiestaWare (gotta fill up that new cabinet you know) and fabric to recover the chairs (I am excited to get that post up soon) and ended up stopping in Kirklands.   As we wandered about Mother pointed out a display that had some pigs and said "you need that pig".  I half looked ( what is she thinking, I am a rooster girl), and stated "I don't need that or any pig" and continued shopping. 

 I found these awesome crackled candlesticks that I just knew would look great with one of my roosters as a centerpiece.  They were available in three colors so while I was wandering debating which height and colors to choose I found an awesome over sized apple that I thought would look great with them.

Sorry about the sideways shot.  I love the crackly, rusty look!

  I drug the candlesticks and the apple to a table and tried them this way and that, but the apple just wasn't quite right.  I really wanted that apple but I just couldn't make it pass the useful, love it test.

It was just then when it clicked that the pig that mother pointed out was crackled as well.  I found the display with the crackled pig but the crackle isn't what hooked me...the wings did!  I had blown off the pig display so quickly the first time by that I had missed that they were winged pigs!  Winged pigs y'all!  Like when pigs fly.  

I immediately plunked down my candlesticks beside the pig and went completely, happy dance giddy!  They were perfect!  I could not look at this pig without smiling and laughing.  I couldn't get checked out and headed home fast enough.  I texted both kids to tell them about my pig and Wonder Hubby sent them pics.  Mini said it was disgusting and BDJ just said that it was interesting.  Interesting?  What the heck?  Don't they get just how darn cute this thing is?  Doesn't it just make you smile?  Wonder Hubby wasn't exactly thrilled with this pig either but after 25+ years he knew this wasn't a battle he wanted to wage

Well....their loss I say cause this pig is the bomb.  Let me introduce you to my pig Consuela.

I just love her dirty little snout, hooves and wings....just enough to make her whimsical and who wouldn't love those wings?

Consuela isn't just any pig, oh no she is a mood pig.  I'm pretty much happy dance giddy

Mini has talked of Consuela having an accident or being held for ransom since she is opposed to Consuela's dirty cloven hoof being so close to her dinner plate, but in truth I think she knows how happy my pig makes me (and I think deep down she love her too)!

While I was thinking about being giddy and living life using the good stuff, I decided to give you all a little tour of a few of the other things in my life that make me happy and/or make my life easier everyday. 

I love to cook and spend lots of time in the kitchen so kitchen stuff always makes me happy, good kitchen stuff makes my heart sing.  Love me some good cookware.  Last Christmas mother gave me this beauty.

It is a Cuisinart pan and it has changed my life.  I literally will run you over to get into the kitchen to use this pan.  She is perfectly weighted, cooks evenly and cleans up beautifully.  Truth is, our whole vacation packing this year was done around the fact that this pan had to go with us (I know truly crazy, but I just couldn't imagine cooking without her).  Not everyone was thrilled with this but in the spirit of keeping Mama happy they packed around her.

This year mother nudged one of my brothers into this Cuisinart nonstick pan (good mom don't you think?) and I am loving it too.

Word of warning, this pan needs no oil, spray, butter etc., in fact it is so nonstick that you will send an egg flying if you are not careful, trust me I know of what I speak.   This year mother added to my cookware collect with this stockpot.  Kuddos on the Emeril line of cookware...I have used it several times already making soups and chili's and it is awesome....smiling again here.

I also can't live without good dish towels and a good chefs knife.  I find it incredibly relaxing to spend time chopping.  I had never owned a food processor until mother gave me her tiny one when she purchased a new one...and I do love it.  It is wonderful for chopping garlic and making salsa...but it didn't cure my need to hand chop.  I have an awesome collection of nice stainless serving utensils that I use everyday, don't know how I made it without them. 

Other loves,
My big honking Kitchen Aid Mixer....ahhhh...(did ya'll hear the angels singing?) 

Wonder Hubby got it for me before Christmas last year and I enjoy it almost daily.

Kitchen aid kitchen shears.  I have two pair, one is in a holder that is magnetic and sticks to the fridge (love that) and I could use two more pair.  I use these constantly, they are great for splitting chicken and chopping chives or green onions.

I am addicted to and use daily, napkin rings, cloth napkins, vintage glasses and FiestaWare.  I can't walk past the cabinet in the kitchen and not smile when I see all the happy colors of Fiesta.

Vintage Glasses - Christmas from Wonder Hubby

Some of my Fiesta collection

Every night, I use some of my Bath and Body works goodies.  I keep this cabinet and another display stocked.  My favorite is the bubble bath, there is just nothing like a long bubble bath. Thankfully I restocked with Christmas gifts cause this cabinet was looking a little lean when this was taken before Christmas.  It is just hard to not be relaxed and happy when you are smelling like Honeysuckle!

A few of my new for 2012 bath goodies.

New books are always guaranteed to make me giddy.  I got two new hardbacks for Christmas (big deal since I am way too cheap to buy hardbacks, I don't even buy paperbacks new). 

I can easily read 3-5 books for week when I am really into it...but I made myself savor these slowly and just finished them up yesterday.

I look forward every Christmas to adding some Estee Lauder Perfume (always Beautiful) to my collection as well as the gift I have gotten from my dad for 25+ years, the Estee Lauder Makeup kit.  Ladies if you have never gotten one, put it on your list.  The cases are so useful every year, the brushes alone are worth the cost and makeup is incredible and lasts forever.

Have to have good pj's and a great robe.  My newest favorites are from Soma.  The PJ's have just the right amount of stretch so you don't get that wound up in them feeling.  The robe is incredibly cuddly.  Love :)

What are some of the things that make you smile and/or make your everyday life easier?  Do tell, I may want to add them to my favorites!