Just a quick observation...when you take Monday off from work, Friday seems to arrive much quicker!! Unfortunately, it also means one less day to get all of your work done before starting the weekend... And it seems it is National Sibling Day today (thank goodness for Facebook or I'd never keep track of all these new "special days"!).  I have the best siblings in the world, probably because I had such terrific parents.  Aren't they cute?!

And now on to all the projects and parties I've been promising you!  We'll tour my new kitchen today--well, not NEW, but one addition that has made me sooo happy.  I disliked the kitchen back-splash from the day we moved into our home--it was an odd shade of green Corian, solid, serviceable but no pizzazz at all.  And, it showed every grease splatter like crazy.  We finally decided to replace it with something a little more updated, and sparkly.  Yup, sparkly!  Because who doesn't want a sprinkling of fairy dust in their kitchen??!

Before pictures (don't I wish my counter tops were always this clean!)  And check out the simply awful fluorescent light fixture under the cabinet and the plastic paper towel holder next to the stove that also managed to catch grease splatters...

After you get everything cleared off the counter tops, it has to go somewhere...

But after a long weekend with no cooking (oh darn) it all came together beautifully!  Except, of course, in that "If you give a mouse a cookie" way of life, one thing leads to another, and now I think I need a new kitchen curtain...

Can you see the little sparkles of crushed glass in the tiles?  They go really well with our black and stainless steel appliances and add a little sparkly whimsy to my kitchen.  I love it!

The new light fixtures have arrived so next week I'll share some pictures of how it all came together--I'm on the hunt for a new curtain while Phil installs the lights!  Have a wonderful day, and please be sure to stop by on Monday to see what else I've been up to!