Anyone Can Decorate: May 2012

Our Vacation - Mexican Riviera Cruise

We are finally home after having a 10 day vacation. We spent the first two days a a hotel in Orange County for our daughters college graduation and then we went on a 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise, plus took Memorial Day off of course :) We had an amazing time. I must admit I am seriously missing having someone make my bed and clean my room every single day! And I definitely wish I could just walk up to a salad and fruit bar buffet, eat whatever looks good and not have to do any dishes ever!!! We were so spoiled all week long, that it makes being home feel somewhat difficult... lol. Don't get me wrong, I love our home. I just wish it came with a maid and a cook! Lol... :)

Pictured below on the bottom row is me (Diana), and the top row is my daughters good friend Taylor, my youngest daughter Britney and my husband Jim. Britney and Taylor had just graduated from college (CSUF) the day prior to our cruise.

Cabo San Lucas was stunning and the weather was absolutely perfect! We actually got to visit Cabo for two full days which was really nice!

I was pretty much camera happy every day taking pictures of the girls having fun and of the different scenery! My husband and I occasionally got into a picture, but most of the pictures are of the graduates! Here are some fun pics posted in no particular order...

Trying on sombreros was a must! Although we didn't buy any, they were cute :)

All of us girls got henna tattoos on the beach.

Sunset as we were about to leave Cabo and head to Puerto Vallarta.

We boarded a boat from the dock in Puerto Vallarta for a scenic ocean cruise across Banderas Bay to the isolated cove of Las Caletas. It is a private beach, where the only way in or out is via boat. It is about an hour from Puerto Vallarta. It felt like we went to a private island. We went for the Rythyms of the Night dinner and stage show. It was similar to a luau, but in Mexico.

This excursion was five hours long all together and we had a great time. I would definitely recommend it!

We had an amazing time on our entire trip. Now I just feel like I need a vacation to recover from our vacation!!!

Vacation Time - Cruise Anyone?

My baby girl is graduating from college this weekend... and for her graduation present we are taking a vacation :) Woohoo... I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!! Here are a few preview pictures of where we are going... Can you guess where it is?

We will not be staying in a hotel, we will be on that ship you see out in the ocean.

I've never seen clear ocean water and am looking forward to it!

This rock formation is pretty famous and has been filmed in a bunch of movies... I've never been here in person so I hope it really is this pretty!

I won't be blogging while I'm away since the cruise company charges 79 cents a minute (highway robbery) for Wi-Fi internet... but I will bring back plenty of pictures to share.

To Post or Not to Post

Things have been crazy lately. I feel like I've been soooo so busy, but I have yet to accomplish finishing any projects this month. There has been family health issues (which took us out of state for a bit), my daughter is about to graduate from college... (which we are preparing for and I'm doing a few projects for), today is my birthday (so I got to play and get a much needed hour long massage)... and we are getting ready to go on a cruise (so shopping for clothes, cute shoes, sunscreen and fun stuff has pretty much been a priority lately)... Plus doing tons of laundry and packing has kept me busy busy busy! On top of all that; housework, company visiting, cooking meals, working on our veggie garden and back yard and just life in general has kept me from blogging much as of recent. I promise I will get back to my tons of projects in the near future, after graduation this weekend and our week long Mexican Riviera cruise this next week!

We will be cruising on that ship that broke down a few years ago on it's maiden voyage.... The one that had no electricity and no running water or flushing toilets for days and they were stuck at sea. I assume that can only happen once... hehe, praying!!! Anyways, we got a great deal because of recent negative publicity with the cruiselines. Hopefully we will have a great time and won't have anything negative happen to us!

I will not be posting from the cruise ship as I have a lame phone and I won't have any service when I'm out of the country, but when I get back I will post lots of fun pictures and probably a few stories of all of the festivities! Hopefully the stories will all be fun ones!!!

Wish us luck :)

Shelf Liner Backed Cabinets - Fox Hollow Cottage

I love the Fox Hollow Cottage Blog. Shannon, the author of the blog is super creative and she does many amazing DIY projects... and they are usually super budget friendly :) I love her style and she has a great eye for decorating!!! Here is one of her recent projects that I absolutely love and I wanted to share!

She did lined these cabinet backs with shelf liner paper from Dollar Tree. The total cost of her project was only $6... amazing!!!

Visit Shannon's blog to see the complete post on how she transformed these beautiful cabinets and see all of the additional photos of the project... Just click to visit: Fox Hollow Cottage: Open Cabinets in a Cottage Kitchen

Life Struggles - Father in Law's Health

We were away for a few days visiting my father in law who had a stroke this past week. He lost quite bit of his eyesight and his equilibrium. He is now walking with a walker or a cane, bumping into walls regularly. He has times where he is very lucid and other times where he is completely disoriented (like getting lost in his own house). He has had a few prior strokes and each one seems to get worse. The doctors are saying that there isn't much they can do for him. We ask for prayers for him to be healed, but more importantly we pray that God's will be done in his life ♥

I did not blog while we were away... today I am getting back to a few painting projects and our garden project. I will be posting photos on these projects soon.

Blessings,

Friday Shout Out - Join the BLOG HOP

This week I am the guest host for the Friday Shout Out blog hop :)

What is this blog hop all about, you ask? Myself (Loren), Cinthya and a Guest Host (this week, that's me, Diana) will be hosting this blog hop every Friday for the duration of three days. The Guest Host will be a featured blogger picked randomly every week (and can only be featured once every month) from the list of everyone who link up. They will have the benefit of joining Cinthya and Myself in hosting the Friday Shout-Out blog hop along with getting some free promotional space on our blogs (hence the Shout-Out). We will post their button on our page for a week for free. Who doesn't love free advertisement?!

Meet out guest host for this week: Diana from Anyone can Decorate

Hi, I am Diana and my blog is Anyone Can Decorate (http://AnyoneCanDecorate.blogspot.com). I am a Southern California native who grew up near the beach. I believe that, with a little help, Anyone can learn to decorate and put personality into their space! I am a fun loving DIY decorator & crafter. I enjoy sharing tips, tricks and ideas. I absolutely love thrifting, flea markets, garage sales and roadside junk! I use many vintage and salvaged items and transform them from drab to fab. I hope you will come to my blog for a visit! Blessings, Diana

How to join in:

Follow the hosts, Loren and Cinthya (Pandora's Craft Box and Eye Heart) and our Guest Host, Diana from Anyone Can Decorate via GFC or Linky Followers.
Be sure to link up the HOME page of your blog as this is a Social Blog Hop.
Be social and visit some of your fellow bloggers who linked ahead of you.
Post the "Friday Shout-Out" Button on your blog to show your support and spread the love. Help us make this blog hop grow.

Liebster Blog Award - A Nice Recognition

Thank you so much to Tammy at A Walk In The Countryside for nominating me for the Liebster Blog Award! After receiving this nomination I did a little research on this award. Although I couldn't find the exact origin of the award, it seems to have started in Germany. In German, liebster means "dearest", "darling" or "favorite". This award is given as a form of recognition, appreciation and support for smaller "Up and Coming" blogs that have fewer than 200 followers.

The rules of the award:

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog.
Copy & paste the award to your blog.
Nominate up to five blogs for the award (include their links on your post) and let them know they have been nominated by leaving them a comment.

It is an honor to pass this award along to the following blogs:

Please visit these lovely ladies blogs and give them some support! They all have beautiful things to share.

Until next time :)

Healthy Pizza Recipe - Half the Calories

Okay, so this has nothing to do with decorating, but I had to share!! This is absolutely my new favorite recipe. I got the idea for this amazing pizza alternative while watching the Dr. Oz show last week when they made a No Dough pizza by making a pizza on Naan Bread (a flat bread found at most health food stores). A few of my ingredients are different than what I saw on the show, but I think I have improved on the recipe! I found Naan bread and also Artichoke hummus at Sprouts Farmers Market, a healthy, natural and organic foods grocery store. Naan bread comes in whole wheat, garlic and spinach, you can use whichever is your preference. This dish is approximately 350 calories per serving, which is way less than traditional pizza!

Ingredient List for 2 servings (2 personal size pizzas):

Naan Bread - 2 pcs.
Artichoke Hummus - 2 tbsp.
Organic Ricotta Cheese - 2 tbsp.
Organic Skim Mozzarella Cheese - 1/4 cup
Cherry Tomatoes - 7 small
Baby Spinach - 1/2 cup
Fresh Basil - 1 bunch
Onion - 1/8 cup chopped
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tbsp.
Lemon Juice - 1/2 tsp.
Sea Salt - 1/8 tsp.

Optional items that I've tried include mushrooms and chicken... You can put on anything else you might like on your pizza :)

RECIPE:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Put your Naan bread onto a foiled cookie sheet. Brush the top of the bread with a dab of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Then mix the artichoke hummus, ricotta cheese and the diced onion into a bowl.

Put half of the mixture onto each of the breads and spread around evenly.

Use the balance of your olive oil (just under a tbsp.) and add lemon juice and salt to it. In a separate bowl, put cut up basil and spinach.

Pour EVOO, lemon juice, salt mixture onto spinach basil and stir. Then set aside.

Place tomatoes and any other toppings around each pizza. Sprinkle thin layer of skim mozzarella cheese on top.

Put into preheated oven for 8 or 9 minutes (until cheese is fully melted and edges of bread will be crispy).

Remove from oven, spread spinach/basil mixture across top of pizza and serve.

This last picture is a version of this pizza that I made for my husband with chopped up chicken breast and a drizzle of an organic barbecue sauce on the chicken. Basil was put on and cooked with the toppings just under the cheese... No spinach mixture was put on this version. It came out amazing too!!!

I'd love to hear from you if you try this recipe. Let me know how you like it!

Until next time...

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