Blog Anniversary Winner

Sorry for the delay. My computer caught a virus over the weekend. But we're all fixed and up and running.

I am happy to announce the winner of my 1 year blog anniversary giveaway. Congratulations SuesueB, you won the ocean themed goodies! Please email me with your address.

Yay, the photo is of Rockport and that is exactly where I am going tomorrow. I am taking the afternoon off to join my sister and friend Debbi on a little excursion. We plan to dine by the ocean, shop a bit and hopefully have our warm apple strudel and ice coffee on the deck of Helmut's Streudel shop.

The forecast is for a sunny day in the 70's. I'll do my best to bring you some cool shots from Rockport. By the way, this is my 99th post. What will I write about for my 100th post?


Oh my such pressure!

Pink Saturday Birthday

Let's raise our glasses and toast Beverly from How Sweet the Sound. It's her first Pink Saturday birthday! One year of posting Pink. Congratulations Beverly!! You may ask what's in the glasses? Well, it's non-alcoholic and quite yummy.

Before I tell you about my favorite summer beverage, I want to share with you the cups I use most in the warm weather. I got a set of six of these plastic cups about two years ago on clearance at Starbucks. I just love the cheerful pink and green colors and they came with an adorable plastic tote for storing them. It was clear with pink roses and it was not photogenic at all. Actually sorry about the cup photo too. They really are cute in person.

Anyway, my friends and family are toasting Beverly with strawberry lemonade. It is the best strawberry lemonade ever!

Here's the recipe so please try it.

Strawberry Lemonade

6 cups cold water, divided

1 cup strawberry halves

1 (2.2 oz) tub Crystal Light Lemonade or Pink Lemonade Flavor Low Calorie Soft Drink Mix

Place two cups of the water, strawberries, and drink mix in blender container, cover.

Blend on high speed until smooth.

Pour into large plastic or glass pitcher and stir in remaining four cups of water.

To see other Pink Saturday posts, click on the icon on the sidebar.

Just a Quick Post

Just a quick post today. I wanted to share some photos from my recent trip to Concord, Massachusetts. I drive by this house every time I head into Concord Center and I always say to myself "Stop the car and snap some photos" but I never do. Well, last week I finally stopped.

Isn't this house the coolest? I love the heavy glass on the windows and the reflections are so interesting.

The greenery grows like crazy. It seems to be taking over the house! But in an artful way of course!

If I could have unhinged the gate, I would have taken it home with me. Just kidding, I'm not into stealing so a photo will have to suffice.

I swear that little chipmunk was not there when I first photographed the planter and he sat so still I thought he wasn't even real! He sat there for quite a while during the photo shoot.

This statue was in the back of a church which is next door to the house. I thought she had a serenity about her. Something we all could use I'm sure.

I hope you enjoyed le petit house tour.

One more thing, don't forget to leave a comment on my May 21st post to enter my blog giveaway.

Recent Finds

Today, I thought I would share with you some of my recent purchases. Last month, I co-chaired a tea at a Victorian Home in Melrose and the homeowner told me she had to clear out the house and sell all her belongings. She was moving to a much smaller home. I looked at all her beautiful china and wanted it all. I settled on this sugar and creamer. I don't have any blue and white china so I thought it would be nice to have a couple pieces. I got the little white coaster at a flea market in Malden.

I bought this vase at a yard sale in Reading for $3. I wanted something tall for the top of my CD rack.

The photo does not do this lamp justice. It really is quite beautiful. The base also lights up.

This also came from the Victorian home.

Another yard or rummage sale find. This time in Winchester. Yes, it is limoges. It's a chocolate pot and I got it for $10.

Aren't these sweet? They're ceramic and I got them at a store called Sweet Thoughts in Melrose.

I put white tulips in this turquoise Ball jar. I love this color. Last week when I was in Concord, I picked up three of these jars. I put one of them in the common area of the condo near the back door. Now there's something pretty back there. The other 3 unit owners are guys so usually there's snow shovels and rock salt back there. I feel it's my job to beautify the area and the guys don't seem to mind.

That's it for now. Don't forget to enter my blog giveaway. Leave a comment on the post if you haven't already.

Pink Saturday- 100 Wishes

It's midnight Eastern Standard Time so it's time for another Pink Saturday. Click on the icon on the sidebar to see other participant's posts and as always thanks to Beverly of How Sweet the Sound for organizing Pink Saturday.

This week's post involves wishes. I celebrated my 1 year blog anniversary this week and I am having a giveaway. One of the items in the giveaway is this pink roll of 100 wishes. You can enter by leaving a comment on the giveaway post (the post just prior to this) and feel free to read the blog anniversary post about Oscar too.

So what are you wishing for today at the start of Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial beginning of Summer? My wish is that you have a happy, healthy, and safe holiday weekend. Until next week....

Blog Giveaway

I am having a blog giveaway to celebrate my 1st blog anniversary. I can't believe it's been a whole year since I started Cafe Chatelaine. Everyone has been so gracious with their compliments that I think you deserve a little reward or a treat. So....

here's the giveaway. Wait, first let me say that I wanted to do a ocean themed giveaway because I love the ocean and I am a New England girl and don't you think of lighthouses and the ocean when you think of New England?

So these items are things I would want to win. I love bath products so I am giving away these sweet little shell soaps. They smell so great! A little purse made from fish net and ...

some vintage scrapbook cards, a seashell, a poems of the sea book, and a roll of 100 hundred wishes. Oh, by the way, the scrabble tiles stay with me!

So celebrate my 1 year anniversary by leaving a comment on this post and I will enter your name for the drawing. I'll be drawing one winner on May 29th.

Please read my prior blog anniversary post too! Good luck to all of you.

My One Year Blog Anniversary

Exactly one year ago today, I started my blog. Without a plan or any idea what I was doing, I got myself to that blogger template and started playing around. Pick a name, ok. Pick a layout, ok. It was really pretty easy.

The hard part was picking something to write about. I had writer's block and I hadn't even done one post. I decided to title the post Starting from Scratch which led me to write about the stray cat I had been feeding since Valentine's Day. (Read Starting from Scratch under blog archives
May 2008).

Those of you who follow my blog know of Oscar, my cat but you may not know the entire story. Here he is in a camera shy mood. And here he is in all his handsomeness. His journey over the past year has been a long one. After feeding him for 3 months, I rescued him, bringing him indoors. Again, here's the recurring theme, without a plan or any idea what I was doing, I decided Oscar needed me to save him from himself.

Oscar was living in my apartment parking lot and depending on a number of good people who lived in the building to feed him. Anyway, June 22nd I grabbed him, threw him in a cat carrier, and thought now what? I brought him to two animal hospitals before he could get an appointment. He was given an exam and shots. Amazingly, he did not have any diseases and they guessed he was maybe a year old.

I arranged to have him neutered and I paid for his exam, shots, and surgery and to board him for a week. I immediately started asking around if anyone could give him a home. My landlord was fed up with me for feeding this stray cat and he would not let me keep Oscar.

My sister did an email blast to everyone she knew. Her friend Debbie said she had a friend who might take Oscar for the short term. She had a big house and one of her cats had died recently. So we made contact by email and sure enough, this guardian angel of a woman, Diane said she would take Oscar for three months.

I checked Oscar out of the animal hospital ( two weeks and $650 later) and drove him to Diane's. Diane's house is fabulous and is surrounded by woods. She did not let Oscar out but he had plenty of windows to sit in and watch the local wildlife. He flourished with Diane and her partner Michael. Michael built Oscar a scratching post and Diane gave him daily loving. Diane let me visit Oscar every week!

I moved out of my apartment and away from the animal hating landlord ( I'm being kind here).

I bought a condo, some say because of Oscar. Oscar moved in with me on December 30th. Yes if you do the math this is way longer than three months. Diane was so sweet, letting Oscar stay much longer than I expected.

Diane and Michael still visit Oscar and they have become my friends. They are always welcome in my home and Oscar will always have a special bond with them.

Anyway, here's his silly pose when he thinks he's a circus performer. He loves this cushion and has claimed it as his own. Who would sit there anyway? Unless you want cat hair on your backside.

Anyway, here's the before photo of Oscar. Skinny, dirty and desperate for love. The look in his eyes told me he needed help and of course I needed to be his guardian angel. I don't like to look at this photo, it makes me too sad to think of his "street life". The main thing is he's happy and

healthy today and the dangerous life is behind him. The journey has been worth it.

And back to the blog anniversary. Another story of jumping in without a plan. Sometimes you just have to take the leap of faith and if you do, something wonderful can happen! I've enjoyed every minute of my blogging experience. I hope my readers have enjoyed the journey too!