Amazing Na-Da Farm and Anne Marie!

This is how I spent the weekend, YES, I said weekend ~ at the Na-Da Farm. Friday night Bo-Ho Ball, Saturday more shopping, AND the mixed media art class in the afternoon.  See?  The weekend.  Sunday was rest.


I left work just a tad bit early and took to the road.  Back roads of course, because I'm just that kind of girl.


Drove the roads between Dixon and Oregon, and picked up Rt. 64 in Oregon and continued heading east.  Just past my uncle's farm and Rt. 39, here was this little ordinary sign.  Perfect for this simple girl.

Ah, but there was nothing simple about the Na-Da Farm.  It was beautiful with nothing out of place, or it appeared that way to me.




The entrance to the pole building.  Look how they framed the welcoming "desk".  Check out the sign.  Isn't that the best?   

A new way to hang clothes.  Love it!

This is Anne Marie (she lives here), and Jeanne Oliver (she doesn't live here).  Anne Marie and her family did an AMAZING job putting this all together.  It takes an incredible amount of work making everything look just right.


I am in awe.

This paper garland is fascinating.  Who thinks of things like this?

This lady is waiting for the Bo-Ho Ball to begin ~

Love this metal FAMILY sign.  It set the mood.  I think it was exactly what Anne Marie was trying to convey.


I only have a tiny Nikon pocket camera but hope you enjoy the rest of the pix.  

Fifi O'neill, editor of Romantic Country Magazine was here both days to autograph her book, Romantic Prairie Style.  (Yes, mine is now autographed.)
http://fabulousfifi.typepad.com

This was part of the bloggers tent on Friday night.

Fifi ~ I think she is ready to head out.  So cute, she called me Connie Lou.

Our pic taken Friday night ~

This is the garden area.  Isn't it beautiful?  So tidy.

AND the flower garden going to the house.  Amazing!  Did you know besides her five young children (and husband of course), she has a new born too?

Saturday 1-4 was our mixed media class with Jeanne Oliver.  It was fun ~ 
What did I learn?  I am no artist.  But I suspect if she does it again, I will be back.  btw, look at THOSE tables.  SO creative.  I didn't want to mess mine up.

Jeanne Oliver ~ SO inspirational!  SO encouraging!  SO funny!  SO confident!

SO much energy!  SO talented!  Check out more of Jeanne's work http://jeanneoliverdesigns.com/

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THANKS so much Anne Marie.  You and your family are amazing. 


If you would like to check out more about Anne Marie, here is her link http://nadafarmlife.blogspot.com/



AND to the vendors who participated ~ THANK YOU!

In the "Shop".....

Polly Hood (French Cupboard)

Jennifer Rizzo

Jeanne Oliver (a Bushel and a Peck)

Beth Quinn

Jill Harris (Gypsy Brocante)

Anne Marie (Na-Da Farm)
Christina R. (Simple but Different)

In the "Market"...

Traci and Mark

Jeanine (ChiPPy!-SHaBBy!)

Laura (Verbena Nested Treasures)

Janice and Denise (Denise Adornments)

Outside Market

Eclectique Boutique - including a dealer of all natural goats milk soap
(from Plano, IL)
Carrie and Todd - (Hot House Market)
Diane Passi  (you can find her at the Kane County Flea Market)

The date is here ~ Na-Da Farm

The tilted box

happens this weekend 

and I'm full of excitement.

BOHO Ball tonight 

and I'm still struggling with what I'm going to wear.

Is it going to rain?

Is it going to snow?

What is the temp?  Freezing or blasted hot?

and exactly where is Esmond, IL?

I don't have a GPS (well, I have a portable Tommy.....somewhere)

so I'm going to have to get my new Atlas out.

One of my Christmas presents,

pretty practical, huh?

What I do know is ~

I have my my book

Romantic Prairie Style

by Fifi O'Neill

already packed in my Jeanne Oliver tote.

Note to self:

Charge up phone

Charge up camera

 Oh, guess I better get ready for work ~

hope I can stay focused.

Note to self:

Ask boss if I can leave early

So excited to meet all these awesome people 

that I have been following these last few months.

I hope Anne Marie has her entire family there ~

such precious children.

AND I will be going back tomorrow for

 I have a date with an artist!

I'm all smiles.

Good Morning America and Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th.  I'm at work and get this link from my brother-in-law.  His daughter Brandi was on Good Morning America.  I had already seen the local Chicago coverage but GMA decided to run a segment on it as well.  Got caught up in that debit card scam happening at Michaels.
 http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNews/video/debit-card-fraud-probed-michaels-stores-13595764?fb_ref=abc-fb-recs

Then I get home from work and got this link from my cousin who lives in Columbus, OH.  Her son was ALSO on GMA Friday morning.  He is the cute little guy holding a sign saying "Love your tuxedo".
http://youtu.be/Vhu7kgQ7D64

Now, what are the chances of a farm girl in the midwest knowing two people on GMA the same day?

Pretty cool.

Waiting on the fireplaces

Ok, I did it. 

I wrote a complaint letter.

I didn't want to do it, but I felt I had to.

It starts off like this ~

We have two fireplaces - one in the living room, 

and one in the family room.

Both are wood burning and both had this fake stone from the floor all the way to the top of the cathedral ceilings........

and the fake stone covered a very, very wide area.  

I must have disliked these fireplaces so much that it was difficult to find a "before" picture,  however, I did find this picture of our cat Patches.

See the fake stone in the background.

(I know, a cat sitting on a Longaberger basket - probably not too smart.)

Isn't that black painted cement grout lovely?

I have been wanting new fireplaces since we bought his home 12 years ago.

 We thought about painting them white.....

but we saw some of those painted white, and they still looked like fake stone, but painted white.  

So, between Christmas & New Years, 

we picked out two fireplaces

 at one of the best, well known fireplace stores in Rockford, 

in fact, 

they specialize in working with stone and brick. 

They have numerous "working samples" right on their showroom floor.

It sounds perfect, right?

Wait until you see the two we picked out.

This below is limestone and slate for the living room.

Because our hearth & fireplace are higher than the normal fireplace,

they said we would have to have it redesigned in proportion to our needs.

Gives you the general idea.

I really fell in love with this style.

First of all, I grew up with a slate entryway that my mom adored.

She felt having slate was a luxury, and I came to appreciate that floor myself, 

with the subtle colors that didn't always look the same depending on the light.

The mantel on this piece is so simple,

and I hope the style will be timeless.

Here is a close up of the corner and the straight lines and simple details.

For the family room and the heart of our house,

we chose this style and brick.

I like the big stone that surrounds the opening. 

To further update our fireplace look, we are changing out both screen doors with a more updated version, and of course, at an additional cost.

But to me, it is worth it.

So, we removed all the fake stone,

and redrywalled -

 in the living room, the entire wall had to be redone,

whereas the family room, only half the wall had to be done.

Then we waited for the fireplace people 

just to come and give us a quote.

We called again, and waited.

Please, just a phone call?

My brother offered to paint our entire interior house, 

and even though I wanted to have the fireplaces done first,

I took him up on his offer since it fit his time frame.

So one week in February, he painted our entire house.

Here is the fireplace in the living room,

with the newly painted wall.

Notice all the wood flooring in the middle of the living room.

Yes, the wood flooring installation is also waiting for the fireplace people.

Here is the newly painted wall in the family room.

Notice how high off the floor the fireplace is.

On Ash Wednesday,

our Mr. Fireplace salesman showed up to take dimensions.

So here we are on May 16, 2011.

House is still torn up.

After multiple phone calls,

we STILL do not even have a quote for the two fireplaces.

We are waiting.

I think I have been very patient, too patient

 (my husband calls it something else).

My inclination to write the owner of the company came on swift today, 

and when I get the urge to write, 

I best take advantage of it.

The 24 hour rule will apply, but I think my letter will remain unchanged come morning, 

and it will be mailed in the  

in the nicely addressed, stamped envelope.

You know, for every customer complaint, 

you have a certain number of people who won't complain.

They just won't ever come back. 

(I'm usually in that category.)

I didn't want to do it, but I felt I had to.

***************

Now we will wait ~  for his phone call.

Are you a betting person?

What are the odds?