THE FIRST "HONEST" REVIEW OF "MY PILLOW".COM.....remember we're from Jersey!

Is there anyone out there who doesn't know who this guy is....
When your home all day his face pops up no matter
what channel your watching....
So after all this time the inevitable happened....
Le me say we are NOT shoppers of QVC.... and we have been very
proud that we never succumbed to their marketing ploys...
Until now....
While randomly changing channels the other night I came upon
Old Mike Lindell hawking his pillows...
Having a bit of a sore neck when I get up in the morning I was
intrigued....
In a few short minutes I heard from multiple people calling in
to say these are the BEST pillows God ever created....
They healed many a bad back and neck....
 For just a few short hours....
Mike would be selling these at a discount just for
QVC Shoppers...
Hey!! That could be me....
So in a frenzy over trying to get that "perfect nights sleep"
I ran and got my American Express Card...
I ordered a pack of two for a mere $85.00 plus $5.00 shipping....
One KING FIRM....One KING MEDIUM....
This is very important for our Live
demonstration
BELOW.....

A Bit skeptical when both King pillows came in this box....?
 It appears big in this picture but it is only
15"x13"x6"
Now... along with my very agreeable "Pillow Model"....
I give you the Infamous....
"My Pillow.com".....

Here is the Boss showing you the firmness of the
"FIRM" one....
I followed the full instructions so this went into the
dryer with a damp washcloth for the suggested
15 minutes to "plump" it up...
 The Boss is "Plump"
This pillow not so much....

LOOK!!!
It's so "firm" that it can stand on it's own....
No...wait...that's the Boss...not the pillow...
It folded like a cheap suit....
 Let's have our model give it the
"comfort test"
Maybe it really will give you that sleep you have never
enjoyed before.....
Here is the Boss taking his afternoon siesta on the
ultra soft Pottery Barn sofa....

Wait....why is he wincing in pain???
Why does that pillow look like there is coal inside...
can you see all the lumps...
He wondered why it wasn't as comfortable as described
Until he looked underneath....

That explains things.....

He was lying on a Dime!
He was kind enough to now demonstrate my pillow....
I ordered the medium fill...
I like a softer more scrunchy pillow...
Let's see how he does...

Folds almost in half due to lack of filling somewhere
around the middle of the pillow....I guess this
might work if Two People were sharing it....
But wait....

Nope.....no filling in a good 12" of the pillow....
Once again this is After the "Dryer Poofing"
 For the Boss to fairly test mine...
Since it really wasn't fair to properly review it while on
the Ultra Soft Pottery Barn sofa...
We were more realistic.....

Nope...same wincing face....

AHHHHHH......that's much better....
I think he actually fell asleep for a few minutes he was
so Comfortable.....
But not being people Who Complain we wanted to give it the
Benefit of the Doubt....

So he tried it again....this time "scrunching"
it up like Mike recommends to get it just right under your head...
Promising that it stays that way all night...
Once again....feeling every bump and bulge....
No No...wait.... 

Just a large paper clip....but in all fairness...
It is a large paper clip....
 After all this "testing" and after sleeping on them
last night and waking up with a stiff neck....
We have decided to ship these things right back to where they came from.....
Thanks QVC for the shopping experience....
We hope that our research will spare others from the
pain and expense of My Pillow....
For now we will just stick to what we have found to
be the ultimate in comfort next to
Mike's Pillows....

The Boss and Wife say....
"Good Night and Sweet dreams"....

Peaches and Cream and Chocolate Pie....Oh My!

It's that time of the year again when I like to post my
favorite pie recipe of all time....
Although you can make this all year long....
using canned peaches...
It is far better using fresh ripe ones...
even though I live in the
"Peach State"
I actually prefer South Carolina peaches....
I think they just taste better...
The secret of the pie being wonderful is letting the peaches
ripen on your counter for a few days after bringing them
Home....
This is what you need to make this super simple summer pie...

1.) 1 Oreo cookie crust pie shell....
If you prefer using a ceramic pie shell you can crush
oreos...add a little melted butter and mold into the pie dish...
I just use the ready made because I can put this pie together
in under 5 minutes....
2.)  About 5 freestone peaches...ripened and sliced.
3.) 1 cup of whole milk
4.) 1 1/2 pint of Heavy Whipping Cream
5.) 1 package of vanilla instant pudding...

mix the pudding with the one cup of milk until thickened.....

Whip the heavy cream until thickened....
For ease of cleaning I usually will whip the cream first...
Then the pudding so I don't have to stop to clean the
mixer blades...
Heavy Cream whips better if you use a clean blade...

take the pudding and gently fold it into the
Heavy Cream...

Fold in using a rubber spatula until the two are
Mixed well...

Take your least pretty pieces of peaches and dice them....
place on the bottom of the crust....
Do not be tempted to "sugar" the peaches for sweetness...
This pie is a combo of tart and sweet plus you don't want any
juices that sugar would cause to make for a soggy bottom 

Using a damp piece of paper towel
Wipe off the plastic cover of the pie crust...
Take your nicer slices...I like a little red to show for color...
and place them on the inside of the cookie crust lid...
This is Only to make sure you will have enough peaches to
Cover the top of the pie....

Take the peaches that are left and dice them...
Then fold into the cream mixture.....

Place the peaches in a circle on top....
And it will take you no longer then 5 minutes to prepare...!!
Pop in Fridge for about a half hour before it's ready to
cut and eat...you can fold back the tin pie plate a little
for ease of serving....
It will come out....even that first piece....
Looking like you spent all day making it...

ENJOY!!

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE "BOO" DOG...........?

This here is the Boo Dog.....
Named after our dearly beloved Great Pyrenees "Boo"
who passed away 5 years ago....
Now the original Boo was the sweetest dog you can imagine...
This breed is called the "Gentle Giants"...
with the males getting as big as 150 pounds....
So why would we think otherwise when we Lost Our Minds and
decided it was time to get another Boo Dog...

I mean how can you possibly resist this face....
and he's soft and fluffy too!
Like a stuffed animal who came to life...
We actually considered calling him 
"Stief"
After the German stuffed animal maker...

Or so we thought...look at that innocent face....
He wouldn't hurt a fly right?
In our three weeks as new parents he doubled his weight...

He loved to roll in the grass....
Of course he listened to and followed the Boss....
Me...not so much...
But I was okay with that...I was also okay with his
sleep schedule...
going to bed at 9:30 on the dot and getting up at
5:00 a.m. ready to party....
I'm used to sleeping till noon....
But he was so cute how could you complain...
And let's not get into the fact that we covered all our
"Good Rugs" with plastic runners
(that I kept tripping over)
And let's mention how the Daughter had a stroke
When I sent her a picture of him lying under her piano
On the Real Persian Rug...
 The little bugger would pee on the inch of carpet where
there was no plastic...
I have never seen anything or anybody pee as much as this dog...
He peed more then me and anyone who has ever
spent the day with me knows how much I pee....
In all fairness I do drink a tremendous amount of
iced tea...

things were going okay.....
the Boss took him in the pool to get him used to the water
Since on "day one" he got a little too close and fell in....
Luckily the Boss jumped in after him but the little guy
could do a mean doggie paddle.
He was extremely smart....learning to sit and give his paw
within days of coming to his new home...
He knew his name...

There was just one Tiny Problem we ran in to....
Now we are the same people who managed to tame a
"feral cat"
so we treat animals pretty darn special....But...
We expect them to appreciate our sacrifices for them...
Like missing all the Housewives Franchises
because your too exhausted from getting up at 5:00 a.m.
And what about missing the season finale of
Southern Charm....
But that was okay....we have it all on tape....
I  made my homemade dog biscuits and was fully prepared
to cook him a chicken...
But we did not expect what happened to
Happen...

Here I am waiting for the bite....to my face...which was coming...
Boo turned out to be a world class
"Biter"
Oh not just puppy teething...
Not "mouthing" as they call it...
No this dog meant business....
He had a jaw like a steel clamp....
We should have suspected something was afoul when
on day 5 he consumed a Chipmunk Whole...
that's right...the Boss caught him with a chipmunk
that the cat had killed...in his mouth...
When he tried to get it out the dog growled and bit him...
Then in one gulp he swallowed the thing...
Gross right?
We had to rush him to the Emergency Vet Clinic
on a Sunday night for them to extract the
Chipmunk the same way it went down it came up...
The lady Vet was even grossed out by it...
So for everyone who says it was merely puppy
"nipping"
Does Puppy Nipping do this????

the only time this dog licked me was to lick the
blood off my arms after he bit me...

this is nothing compared to what he did to me and
the Boss....He counted over 50 puncture wounds on his arms...
We talked for days about what we were going to do... and it was one tough decision to make...
Our Vet said never to have a dog touch your skin with his teeth...
I called a representative of the
"Great Pyrenees Club of America"
to get their opinion of the situation...
I spoke to two women who have owned this breed for over
30 years...They were both horrified that Boo was
an aggressive biter...
They advised us not to keep him that it was totally
against the breeds behavior and he would never become
a trusting house pet...
They blamed it on the Mother Dog getting sick at 4 weeks and dying when
Boo was only 5 weeks old...
We have no idea how he was treated on the farm where he came from...
But by his eating habits I would think he had to fight for
his food....
I consulted with a H.S. friend on Facebook who
has had many a Pyrenees...
The consensus was all the same...
Send him back where he came from...

We even asked the breeder to take him back for one week and
see if she could break him of this horrible habit...
She appeared to be experienced with animals...
She sent us an e-mail saying all was fine and he was
lovable and sweet and she didn't have any issues with
biting in the few days she had him in her home..
It must have been US??? she claimed....... we weren't "rough playing"
with him enough...
He was not meant to just sit around on a couch...she said....
On the phone her story changed and she admitted he bit
both her and her 3 year old daughter...
She also decided along with her parents.... who own the
farm.... that they would refund our money and wished us good
luck....Basically they didn't feel we were the right people for
the dog...
He came from a filthy farm where all the dogs were matted and
They lived among Donkeys and lamas...And Goats...
No air conditioned runs or pens in 90 plus degree heat...
No signs of water anywhere...
Goat crap everywhere you walked...

Compared to a beautiful home with a pool on an acre
all fenced in...with two people
dedicated to giving this little guy a wonderful life...

We were basically insulted...
And believe me it takes a lot to insult an Adivari...
We decided to let her keep the dog...
We are still waiting for our check to arrive in the mail...
You all know the Adivaris
If it doesn't show up soon we will be going down to
small claims court....
The only one who is really really happy about this
out come is.....

Mr./Miss. Kitty....
Here she is saying....
What in the hell in that furry thing in "My House???"
"is it gone yet???"

Cudos to the Cat for turning me from a Dog Person
in to a Cat person...
This wild animal.... who took over two years to trust us... and
enter our house.... is the sweetest most lovable animal
Ever...
She/He has never hissed or scratched...
No litter box...just a quiet meow at the door...
Comes and goes as it pleases...
She...unlike the Dog...knows a good thing when
she/he has it...
We Love you Miss Kitty....

As for getting another dog...
We may or we may not...In any case the good thing
with Pyrenees is they all look alike....
So we could find another that looks just like Boo #2
We will not name him Boo next time...
 We decided there will never be another Boo......
We will be more selective with the breeder next time...
If there is a next time...
I still have to recover from a lack of sleep and
there's that whole Housewives thing to
catch up on...

MISS B'S BEAUTIFUL BEACHY BEDROOM MAKEOVER!

Miss B has been asking for over a year if we could
Paint her Bedroom here in Atlanta....
She started out wanting the walls painted
Blue....
Not a problem until she described every decorators
Nightmare...
"Star Wars Blue"...
After vacationing with us on Kiawah Island last summer
 she changed her mind
from Star Wars to a Beachy Theme....

Being totally on board with that decision I got to work...
It took a while but every time I went shopping
little by little I would pick up something
that would remind her of Kiawah....
It all started with the bed which I painted years ago in
Tiffany Blue...
A good starting point and it just happens to be
the "in" color right now...
I decided to add orange and hot pink as the accent
Colors and the room was coming
Together nicely....

One day.....all alone at Ikea....I decided she needed a
desk space to build her Lego's....
starting with their popular saw horse legs....
I wandered through the clearance section and found for only
$18.00 the table top!
I love clocks so I picked up... for only $20.00... a nice white one.
I also found a great desk lamp...
I had the chair and with one can of spray paint and some
Polka Dot ribbon it went from Navy Blue to
matching the bed!

A few family pictures....a bucket of colored pencils....
and a journal called...
"My Book of Happy Thoughts"

Recently opened "And That" retail store which is
Another name for every Bloggers favorite store to shop for
crap.."The Christmas Tree Shoppe"....I picked up some great pillows for the bed...
I had the existing comforter and merely turned it over to
the plain white side...

Not too clear in this picture but the monkey is wearing
a Bathing Suit!

Life is Better at the Beach....

B had to have a little reading nook and with the help
Of $1.79 letters found at Walmart and a couple of cans
of Spray Paint....

We now have a reading nook....
complete with....

the Infamous Ikea "Poange" Chair...
and a basket filled with Nancy Drew Mysteries....

B's favorite fabric.... it will soon become a
Balloon Shade for the little window in the Nook....
I guess she loves V.W.'s just like her Grandmother!!

$14.99 each .....More homemade ones will be added...
I have a lot more sewing to be done...
Including a pillow that will have her name
"Sophie"
spelled out in vintage buttons....

Undecided when I started the project about what to hang
over the bed....
What better then a canvas print of Sophie at
Martha's Vineyard when she was 3 years old...
I think it is the perfect touch... 

a touch of pink polka dot....
some shells....and best of all...
Who recognizes the calendar art work of
Susan Branch....
To make it even more personalized Ms. Branch was
in town a few weekends ago so I brought a page from
one of her calendars with a summery theme
to her book signing
and she signed it...
"To Sophie with love from Grandma and Me"...
It fit perfectly in a "Album Frame"
sold at Ikea....

we bought this for B last year on our trip to
Kiawah....
This is the guy that started the whole thing

I wouldn't be the Beach without a big jar of
Salt Water Taffy...
Taffy found at "And That" for $1.79 per box...
I used two boxes in this great jar found....
Yup....at Ikea for $4.99

A bit difficult to spray paint a chair with a rush seat....
I missed a tad and got a little paint on the
seat...So what to do???
Tie on some ribbon to hide the paint that refused to
come off...
Hot pink trash can....$4.99 Ikea.

A great shell wreath found on Clearance at
Home Goods....Yes...I do shop at other places besides Ikea...
I almost passed it up but at the last minute in the check out line
It went back in to the basket...
I love how it looks at the foot of the bed..

I also go to TJMaxx....where I found this great throw
for only $14.99
I love the big ball fringe....
a tribute to my Mother Millie who never sewed anything that
didn't include some sort of ball fringe....usually in orange...

It's all in the little details....

a picture of the Fam.....

a gift from daughter on their last trip to
Martha's Vineyard...
I found the perfect frame at Michael's for 50% off...

I was thrilled to find super soft sheets with
Flip Flops!
$14.99 for a Queen Set found at
"And That"...

a great bed tray $1.29....
for late night snacks before bed...

The Susan Branch Calendar page....

She wanted the Beach....I gave her the Beach!

I couldn't leave out the bathroom.....
I chose not to paint the Jack and Jill bath blue since
it is used by two bedrooms....
But I did bring in a bit of the beach...

  

Taffy!

a little hot glue and some ribbon...

And finally....I made the dust ruffle in three sections....
shirred on to three tension curtain rods...
Which I simply put between the mattress and box spring...

I loved the fabric that I had seen months ago early in the
decorating process...a nice heavy weight cotton..
When I went back down to Atlanta to buy it the price had
gone up to $25.00 a yard...
Crazy Price....I found it locally at a fabric warehouse
for only $13.99 a yard...it took 6 yards...
and the curtain rod installation worked like a charm...

Miss B is coming sometime in August and I hope she
enjoys her new room as much as I enjoyed
decorating it....
And a big thanks to the Boss for having the room
professionally painted...
At one point he suggested that she and I paint it....
when I explained that a nine year old with a paint brush
might not be the best idea...We had a lovely man do a wonderful job....and he even made the suggestion to paint the ceiling a
lighter shade then the walls...
A Successful Project!!!!