Dinner With the Congressman

By Barbara Bussey | October 2, 2011 |

Well, the dishwasher is humming and we’re relaxed, with our feet up after a great evening, serving dinner to Dan Lungren and a group of lovely people, including Larry Garcia and his wife Chris. The biggest treat was having my dear friend and maestro of entertaining, Moka Davis, in charge of the menu, preparation and clean up. You know exhausting that can be and to have his help was a real life saver. Here are some shots of the evening and our yummy dinner. (Back on the diet tomorrow!) We started with a selection of appetizers, including Moka’s “world famous”…

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Our Dining Room Gets Ready For Congressman Lungren

By Barbara Bussey | October 1, 2011 |

Last spring, at the annual Cristo Rey High School Scholarship Dinner, we auctioned off dinner in our home with our area’s Congressman Lungren. Tomorrow’s the big night and we’re looking forward to a great evening with interesting conversation, new friends and delicious food. With the place all decked out, I thought that this would be a good time to invite you into our dining room! Remember the flower arrangement I made earlier this week (in 5 nominates for $19)? Well, here it is! Mr. Wonderful and I bought the oil painting on our first Valentine’s Day together, 13 lucky years…

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Weekend Favorites

By Barbara Bussey | September 30, 2011 |

My brother is always on the go. Recently, he sent me this picture from the very top of our beloved Golden Gate Bridge! Isn’t this an amazing shot? His back is to San Francisco and Sausalito is straight ahead. He took an elevator up the bridge tower and then climbed a ladder to the top! Next month, my brother is taking me and my three sisters on a 2 1/2 week adventure, from San Diego to the tip of Baja Mexico (Cabo San Lucas) up to La Paz, Mexico, on a caravan with about 30 other boats. We’ve been planning…

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Easy & Delicious Pulled Pork Tacos

By Barbara Bussey | September 29, 2011 |

Do you have food trucks in your town? There’s one in our area, that showed up about a month ago, serving nothing but tacos. Very simple. No cheese, lettuce or tomatoes. Just salsa. Nothing fried. Mr. Wonderful and I love tacos! And the tacos from this food truck were simply delicious! The line of customers agreed with us. Well, they disappeared a couple of days ago, so I proudly recreated just about the same exact taco. Maybe even better. No muss, no fuss. Easy-peasy excellent and I think kids would love it too. Sorry…no pictures! Here’s how… In the morning,…

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How To Create a Gorgeous Centerpiece For $19 In 5 Minutes

By Barbara Bussey | September 27, 2011 |

I probably should have been a florist, because I get so much joy out of creating a flower arrangement. While at the nursery this morning, buying shrubs, I picked up 2, 4-inch gerbera daisies and one decorative kale, along with 3, 3-inch mums (grand total $18 plus tax). I wasn’t sure what I’d do with them, but thought they’d probably end up by the front door or maybe in the kitchen. Then the patron saint of flower arranging spoke to me…”Use these for your centerpiece, for this weekend’s dinner party!” She pointed me to a flat, open basket in the…

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DIY Chicken Wire Noteboard

By Barbara Bussey | September 26, 2011 |

Way back, I took my maiden voyage into the world of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Now, some of you would dive right in and paint your heart away, on a desk, dresser or hutch. Nope, not me. I started with a picture frame! Not one to move at break neck speed, in the land of tools, instructions or paint, this was a safe approach to take. That left me with, well, a painted picture frame! What will I do with that, I asked myself? Then, friend Dorothy, told me about her new chicken wire note board, and I/we got right…

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Come Into Our Living Room…

By Barbara Bussey | September 25, 2011 |

We’ve recently inherited a number of pieces that belonged to my parents and I have spent time finding just the right spot for each of them. It’s bitter-sweet…losing my parents, but it’s nice to keep things that they loved and that I grew up with, close by. When no one else wanted these large table lamps, I decided that they might work in our home. The original shades were a bit much, so I made a hop on over to Lamps Plus and picked up these new shades. I cleaned the lamp and crystals and now we are ready for…

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Craving A Farm Sink In The Big City

By Barbara Bussey | September 23, 2011 |

While I’m really not complaining about our dear kitchen sink, if I had my hand in on our kitchen’s design, early on, I would have asked for a farm sink. While our sink is tucked nicely into a corner, with views of our backyard, it would be impossible to slip in a farm sink without moving the dishwasher, cutting the granite (replacing it with Carreras marble?) and all sorts of other unmentionables, that Mr. Wonderful isn’t likely to go for. So for now, I’m just dreaming a bit, browsing through pretty pictures. Join me? Now, as long as I’m dreaming,…

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