Welcome to the 85th Metamorphosis Monday! A Story of Hope and Healing...

Colette Gauthier was given a 5-15% chance of survival by her doctor. She had moved into a dismal rental house and was out of hope. Kelee from The Katillac Shack went to Michigan and with the help of Guideposts Magazine where she is their Inspired Home Expert, she created a beautiful makeover to change Colette's "sick" room to a healing space.




The goal was to create an uplifting and beautiful space to help Colette during her recovery from cancer, as well as lift her spirits through the course of her chemotherapy treatments. A miracle resulted for the room and Colette Gauthier. Seeing is believing in this wonderful video below. (If you can see four tiny white arrows beside the Vimeo name, click on those to enlarge the screen. When finished watching, hit escape.)



You may read more about Colette at The Katillac Shack and the story is featured in the September issue of Guideposts.


Here's how you can help!
For every comment you leave on this post and at The Katillac Shack and Facebook/Guideposts, $1 will be donated for the next needy makeover recipient. :)


One dollar ($1.00) donated for all comments received at The Katillac Shack, Pink Saturday, Spiritual Sunday and Country Wings in Phoenix and on this Metamorphorisis Monday post. That's a $5 donation from DesignGivesBack.com by commenting at all these host sites! :)






Metamorphosis Monday:
If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday: Please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

I'd love it if you would include the MM button in your post, to make it easy for others to find you MM post. To do that, just copy and paste the Met Monday button to your computer or grab the html code from underneath the MM logo on my sidebar.

Please include a link in your MM post back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. Why is this important? When you include a link back to BNOTP, it ensures your regular readers/visitors will find the other awesome "Before and Afters" linked for this Metamorphosis Monday. If everyone links back, this maximizes the opportunity for visits for all participants.

Please do not add your link below, until your MM post is actually published to your blog. Please DO NOT type in all caps...it spreads the links waaaay out. Thanks! :-)

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course. :-)

Where Do You Blog? Party

Kate at Centsational Girl is having a Where Do You Blog? Party!


Have you ever wondered how the home offices or blogging spaces of your fellow bloggers might look? Where do they sit and create the posts you read? Be sure to stop by Kate's and check 'em all out!


Where Do I Blog?

When Max cat plants all 15 lbs of his furry, little body on top of my chest every morning asking to be fed, I roll out of bed, feed his Royal Furryness, and then...




I walk the 15 or so feet to my desk in the dressing room located just off my bedroom. My blogging spot is right in there...you can just see the chair from my bed.




So, now that you know from whence I blog...




I guess it's time I 'fessed up and shared who really writes all those posts you read.




Meet SAMMY!




Not only does Sammy create all the posts you read, but he's a whiz at using the mouse!




And he can really pound out posts on the old keyboard, lickety split!




After a hard day's blogging, Sammy likes to just sit back, kick up his feet...and admire his latest post. :)



So...that's where I, uh...I mean Sammy, blogs. Oh, there is one more spot that Sammy and I love to blog...click HERE to see one of my fav places to create posts. :) Stop by Centsational Girl to see where all your fellow bloggers do their blogging.

(You can get your own Sammy HERE.)

When Life Gives You Lemons...

What do you do? I'm a firm believer in just digging in my heels and pushing forward.




Don't waste time asking why...




Or, why me?




Listen to your heart and find your strength from within...




How's that old saying go?




"If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."



Be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday .

Lemonade Days... Welcome to the 105th Tablescape Thursday!

It's still very much summer here in the sunny south...and I'm loving every moment of it. I'm one of those strange people who loves hot weather. Cold weather...not so much.

Since I was really hoping you might be stopping by this evening, I made us some yummy lemonade and cookies. What's that? You're wondering about that tripod out on the deck? Shhhh, that's my top secret, special ops, hummingbird spy station. Either that, or I'm spying on the neighbors. ;)




A few months ago I was shopping in HomeGoods, one of my favorite stores in this big, ole world...and I came across this awesome beverage server. It was super reasonably priced, as most things are at HG.




Wouldn't it look great with the bottom portion filled with shells for a beach party?




You could use tangerines if you were serving an orange flavored drink.




I think the possibilities for the bottom section are endless. It would be lovely just filled with summer flowers....or how about mini pumpkins for the fall.




Oh, oh, oh...great idea just hit! How about ornaments at Christmas time...with a yummy cranberry punch above! :) I think I'll have fun trying new things in the bottom.




Soooo, come on over here and grab a lemon-covered glass...




And fill it up with some icey cold lemonade. I've saved you a spot right over here on the swing.




Don't forget the cookies...ya gotta keep your strength up for porch swinging, ya know. :)


Happy Sweet Summer, dear friends! Fall will be here soon enough so let's savor these last warm days out on the porch...every. single. last. one of them.




2-Gallon Beverage Server: By Artland, The Simplicity Collection...found at HomeGoods
Lemon Glasses: Dollar Tree, last summer, I think
Information about the Tabletops, Ma Maison china seen on the hutch can be found HERE. It's #7 under the Non-Holiday Group and #6 under the Holiday group.

Looking forward to viewing your beautiful tablescapes!



Please Read:
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name. Then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

You may see a red X once you enter your link. No one else can see the red X, it's just there in case you make a little mistake and need to delete your link and re-enter it.

I'd love for you to use the Tablescape Thursday logo button in your post. To do that, just copy and paste it to your computer and upload it to your post as you would any photo. Or, just grab the html code posted on the sidebar under the TT button.

Please, link back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. This is important because it helps those who are visiting your blog, find the other wonderful tablescapes posted for this Tablescape Thursday, thus increasing visits for all participants.

Please, do not add your link below, until your tablescape post is actually published to your blog.

Please, don't add your post name/blog name in ALL CAPS...it tends to create big spaces between the rows of links. Thanks!

The Endearing Art of Silhouette

Hi Everyone! Hope your day was grand! Have you had a chance to visit the "Before and Afters" linked for this week's Met Monday? If not, scroll down to the post below and enjoy! I have to tell you, y'all make me feel lazy when I see all the wonderful and creative things you are doing in your home!


The Endearing Art of Silhouette:

Today, I thought I'd share a special moment in time...21 years ago. One morning I read in the newspaper (remember those?) that a renown silhouettist by the name of K. Housel Bogue, was coming to Macy's to cut silhouette portraits. She would only be here for a couple of days and appointments were booking fast.

I had previously had a silhouette of my son done by another artist and was disappointed when the final product didn't look anything like my sweet boy. So, in nervous anticipation, I drove to Macy's where Mrs. Bogue worked her magic. I was both thrilled and stunned...she beautifully captured my son's countenance and I would be forever grateful.




He was little...for a moment. And when I need to remember, I pause in my entry and look longingly at that sweet, sweet face.



Twenty-one years later, Mrs. Bogue is still working her magic. You can read about it HERE and can even arrange to have your own special someone's silhouette portrait cut. Apparently, she can even create a silhouette from a photograph. Silhouette cutting is almost a lost art and some fear it will disappear entirely one day due to the advent of computer generated images. I hope not because there's something very special about a hand-cut silhouette.

Beautiful Bath Renovation, Welcome to the 84th Metamorphosis Monday!

Hi Everyone! Hope you've been having a fantastic weekend. The rain finally let up here and we've had a gorgeous summer day. I love summer and will be so sad to see it go.

This week for Metamorphosis Monday, I'm sharing a bathroom renovation. It's not one of my baths...how I wish it was! Mary, who lives in the beautiful state of Virginia, sent some great "Before and After" pics of the changes she made recently in her guest bath.

BEFORE:

About her bathroom before the renovation, Mary said: "My before pictures do not show how the bathroom was decorated. I had been using green and brown, hiding the harvest gold shower tile. I never disliked harvest gold but the tile was cracked and starting to fall off.




Unfortunately, the previous homeowners had taken some shortcuts after a previous water leak and had failed to repair the subflooring properly. Mary said, "The floor was supposed to have been repaired 15 years ago, but never was."




"The previous owners had someone come in to repair the floors and all they did was lay another tile on top of the old tile! The old tile was prettier! The moisture in the wet subfloor was going up into the wall by the shower causing the tile to fall off!"


Mary, I feel your pain. It's not pleasant to find these kind of surprises when you start a renovation.



Let's take a look at how it looks now. :)


AFTER:

WOW! Gorgeous!



A little close-up of the beautiful wood cabinet and oiled bronze knobs.




Take a look at the shower, now. The harvest gold tiles that were falling off are now gone for good! Mary went with neutral colors knowing this would be a great benefit down the road for resale. I love using neutrals in kitchens and baths. You never tire of them and you can add in all the color you want with your fabrics, shower curtain, towels and accessories.




Some of the beautiful detail work/trim...




Mary chose towels and accessories in soft creams and aquas.




The shower curtain is a soft aqua color, too.




Mary was kind enough to share all her resources for her beautiful bath renovation:

Tile: American Olean "Avila Crema" 12 X 12 on floor and bath; floor is straight pattern; wall and shower in broken joint pattern
Grout: Mushroom
Tile Trim: American Olean "Alysse Blanc" 3 X 10 listello in tub and on top of wainscot
Tub and toilet are American Standard in "Linen"
Wall paint color: Benjamin Moore HC-81 Manchester Tan
Ceiling paint color: Benjamin Moore 624 Bath Salts
Counter top: Marblux Cultured Marble "Wheat"
Cabinet: Shiloh
Style: Asherville
Wood: Maple
Finish: Medium with Mocha Glaze
Pulls and Knobs: Amerock "Inspirations" finish: Weathered Nickel
Faucet: Price Pfister
Shower faucet and Shower head: Delta
Shower curtain purchased at Dillards
Towels both at Dillards and Target

Mary, thanks so much for sharing this wonderful metamorphosis! Now I'm itching to start my long overdue bath renovations!


Metamorphosis Monday:
If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday: Please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

I'd love it if you would include the MM button in your post, to make it easy for others to find you MM post. To do that, just copy and paste the Met Monday button to your computer or grab the html code from underneath the MM logo on my sidebar.

Please include a link in your MM post back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. Why is this important? When you include a link back to BNOTP, it ensures your regular readers/visitors will find the other awesome "Before and Afters" linked for this Metamorphosis Monday. If everyone links back, this maximizes the opportunity for visits for all who participate. I don't like having to delete links, I truly don't. But it isn't fair to the other participants who do link back, if I allow some to participate and not link back, showing they do not care if their fellow participants get visits or not. I hope you understand why I will have to delete your link if you do not link back to the MM party...just trying to make it fair for all who participate and maximize visits for all who participate.

Please do not add your link below, until your MM post is actually published to your blog. Please DO NOT type in all caps...it spreads the links waaaay out. Thanks! :-)

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course. :-)

Do You Have Synesthesia?

A few weeks back, I was listening to The Skirted Roundtable and the topic of synesthesia came up. Even as a Psych major, I don't ever remember having ever heard of it. Have you? I'm fascinated with almost any discussion about how our brains work...how we perceive our environment and how we think.

Synethesia, from the Greek words, "syn" (together) and "aesthesis" (perception) is a condition, for lack of a better word, where a person's senses sort of overlap...one sense triggering another sense. Imagine if every single time you looked at a particular color, you sensed a particular taste or flavor. Or, what if letters or numbers always appeared to you in color. A person with synethesia might see the alphabet like this...although the colors would not all appear the same way to every person with this condition.


The most common form of synesthesia is associating letters and/or numbers with colors like you saw in the picture above. If you do not have synesthesia, letters/numbers that are written in black ink are just seen as black. But for people with synesthesia, black letters and numbers are often colorful. Not all persons with synesthesia have the same sensations or experiences. One individual might look at the number 5 and have it appear as red while another person with synesthesia might see the number 5 as being purple.

Imagine seeing or associating the months of the year in color...pretty wild, huh?


In case you are wondering, I did read that certain drugs can trigger an experience like synesthesia. But for a person who has real synesthesia, the condition is completely involuntary. Some folks with synesthesia do not realize in their younger years that not everyone is seeing the world as they do. When a person with synesthesia figures this out, they often keep quiet about what they experience for fear of ridicule or being thought weird.

Synesthesia can take several forms...for instance some folks connect color and music...seeing a certain color when a particular musical note or instrument is played. Synesthesia can also involve taste, where a person tastes a particular flavor when they hear different words or names. It can even involve touch...with a person feeling shapes when they hear certain musical instruments.

Scientists do not know what causes synesthesia but they think it could be caused by "cross talk...a genetic neural connection over-abundance" or "a reduced amount of inhibition along feedback pathways.”



This video below explains it much better. After you watch it, I would love it if you would leave a comment telling me what you think about this. Do you know someone who experiences synesthesia?

I wondered if I might have a touch of it just because there are certain numbers I really don't like...usually odd numbers. I really don't like it when the year changes and it's an odd year like 2009 or 2011. I like 2010 and I will like writing 2012. I find myself having strong "feelings" about certain words, as well. Some words have a rhythm that I find comforting or pleasant, while others do not. That's probably not a form of synesthesia but just me being strange. LOL

Here's the video...tell me what cha think. Wonder if decorating would be more of a challenge for the person with synesthesia? Or perhaps it's easier. :)



For more information on synesthesia, visit Wikipedia.

Beautiful "Rote Rose" by Meissen... Welcome to the 104th Tablescape Thursday!

Tablescape Thursday:

For this week's Tablescape Thursday, we are international travelers again...jetting off to Switzerland to view beautiful china, crystal and silver in a most exquisite setting...Cornelia's gorgeous home!




Cornelia recently had a tea party with some dear friends. The children were invited for this special affair and I know everyone must have felt like royalty dining at such a well-dressed table.

Cornelia told me, "The china is from Meissen “Rote Rose” or Red Rose.




"Like all the other patterns from Meissen, Rote Rose is handmade and hand-painted...so every piece is unique.




"Meissen is Europe’s first porcelain. It was founded 300 years ago (1710).




"The silver cutlery is from Jezler (Centenaire).




"The big cup is for tea or coffee, the small one for espresso."




Beautiful!




Cornelia shared, "The tablecloth is from Jacquard Français. The napkins are Swiss and made in the 50ties.




"The Champagne glasses are handcut crystal by Peill/Germany.




"The small glasses are copies of early 19th century glasses. They are handblown, handpainted and made in Switzerland by Glasi Hergiswil. They are called Flühli-Glasses.




"The Water Carafe is also from Glasi Hergiswil/Switzerland.







"The box next to the teapot is a caddy.







"The vase is handcut bohemian crystal. In the small bowl are miniature swiss chocolates."



I asked Cornelia about the fruit below...it looked like peaches but a little different from the Georgia peaches I've eaten all my life. Cornelia told me they are "wild peaches." Ummm, I asked what that meant...do they grown wild like I've seen with blackberries? Cornelia said, "No, they are from trees which have not been mutated. They are the original form of peaches. They grow in Italy, Spain and Portugal."




Cornelia said, "The cake is home made. We call it Gugelhopf. It is made with yeast. The cake server is silver and Italian." Wow, doesn't it look yummy?! I think we need the recipe! (hint, hint)



A few candlelight pics to make you swoon...



Cornelia's beautiful chandelier lit up at night...



Cornelia, thank you so much for being such a gracious host and having us into your beautiful home again. I continue to feel very blessed to have met so many wonderful and talented souls via this amazing thing called, blogging. How else could we ever travel to so many wonderful places, see so many beautiful treasures and meet so many lovely people...all while sitting in the comfort of our own homes? Life is good...and I am grateful! :)



Little Reminder: Thank-you for linking back to this post so the regular visitors to your blog will find all your fellow Blogger's posts linked here for this Tablescape Thursday. Don't forget to use your permalink. : )



Looking forward to viewing your beautiful tablescapes!

Please Read:
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name. Then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

You may see a red X once you enter your link. No one else can see the red X, it's just there in case you make a little mistake and need to delete your link and re-enter it.

I'd love for you to use the Tablescape Thursday logo button in your post. To do that, just copy and paste it to your computer and upload it to your post as you would any photo. Or, just grab the html code posted on the sidebar under the TT button.

Please, link back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. This is important because it helps those who are visiting your blog, find the other wonderful tablescapes posted for this Tablescape Thursday, thus increasing visits for all participating.

Please, do not add your link below, until your tablescape post is actually published to your blog.

Please, don't add your post name/blog name in ALL CAPS...it tends to create big spaces between the rows of links. Thanks!