Hey there folks, so happy the Home May’d parties continue this week, Tuesday’s event is hosted by the most gracious hostess in the South and my dear friend, Ms. Rhoda of Southern Hospitality. 

What a perfect opportunity to share my favorite summer pasta salad with you!  It’s made with orzo, which falls under the pasta category, but in my opinion, orzo wants to crossover and be like rice.  There’s some sort of meaningful and deep analogy there, but I can’t think of it right now, I’m too distracted by the feta.  As you know, cheese is my Kryptonite. 

This pasta dish couldn’t be easier to make, and it’s so delicious!  It has cheese, awesome.  Kalamata olives too, oooh, Greek infusion!  Sundried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts add to its savory goodness, I just love it. 

This dish is wonderful when the orzo is warm and the feta gets all crumbled and a little bit melty, but it’s really good served cold on a warm summer evening, and is the perfect gourmet treat for your next summer picnic.  This is one easy recipe!

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Happy Monday everyone!  We spent the weekend working outdoors on our patio, more to come on that project later this week.   Meanwhile, I thought I’d offer up my very best tips for thrifting, plus a peek at my latest thrift store before and after. 

There are plenty of people who don’t care to shop thrift stores.  Perhaps they dislike or are afraid of used goods, or their local thrift stores carry nothing but useless junk.  I’ve seen my share of thrift stores that carried mostly unusable items, but I’ve also scored a few finds in thrift stores that could be resold for hundreds of dollars.  It all depends on the particular store, they’re all so very different.  I’m asked now and then for my best advice on thrifting, so I thought it time to put them all in one place!

Here are a few of my tips for shopping thrift stores:

Stay Focused.   When you find a great thrift store, it’s like shopping in any second hand forum.  Your visit can quickly turn into ”Hey that’s cute” or “Oooh, I like that too!” and before you know it, your tab has climbed higher than you planned, and you’ve brought home things you don’t really need.  Before you walk through the door, remember what you’re there for.  Stay focused on your needs and your budget.    

Know The Sales Days.  Find out when your local store has sales and show up early.  My local St. Vincent de Paul has furniture sales when they have too much in stock (typically after a big donation weekend) so I’m in the habit of stopping in every Monday or Tuesday to see what’s new.  My mom loves to shop at the Goodwill on Tuesdays when anyone over 55 gets a 25% discount.  She’s found so many designer labels and even items that are brand new and have never been worn, you just never know what you’ll find!  It pays to know when your local store offers discounts. 

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Happy weekend all, Abi and I rounded up some fun links for you in our continuing ‘Best of the Blogosphere’ series.  Here are a few great posts from this past week, we hope you enjoy them all!

Mom of three Jenny of Little Green Notebook shares her favorite product for cleaning upholstery and removing stains from furniture.

Holly at Decor8 and her friend Tinna created this porch space in a day, how cozy is this spot for weekend lounging?

Is your little girl growing up too fast?  There’s no stopping that, but you can repurpose her dress into a shirt to reuse it another season, Ashley of Make It and Love It shows us how.

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Wow, thanks everyone for linking up your amazing projects at the ‘Outdoor Ideas’ party, so much inspiration to be seen in over 250 links!  A few caught my eye and I wanted to share. 

Kathy from All About Vignettes built a screened in porch then furnished it with European flair.  Wow, this view is like something out of House Beautiful, the columns, the mirror, the fabrics… swoon!

Beth at Unskinny Boppy turned an old ladder into the perfect support for jar lanterns on her enchanting patio.

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Greetings everyone, welcome to the link par-tay celebrating the great outdoors!

May means the kids will soon be out of school and the days are getting longer.  The sun sets later, the weather is warmer, and that means we will be dining outdoors most evenings, so why not spruce up our mini outdoor dining space?  Yes indeedy, that’s what I did!

Just last week I popped into Anthropologie in NYC and spied the Tahitian Vine tablecloth with a fabulous ruffle detail, but it was $98 dollars, ouchy.  I was so inspired I decided I neeeeeeeded to create my own version of a bold and bright floral tablecloth with ruffled trim, but with an outdoor fabric that would resist fading.  I picked this vibrant pattern in a playful floral, than I stitched up a quick tablecloth, and added a flirty striped pleat along the bottom.

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