Doojies

Until I Write Again...

2012-01-26T10:26:00.002-05:00

Still working on moving my studio work room two floors down. Of course I hurt my back in the process so it has been at a stand-still for a couple of weeks. Chiro everyday so I'm hoping...so desperate that I'm offering Matt's friends real $ to help me this weekend. I can't lift anything but three 14 year olds should be able to carry not-very-heavy boxes of fab crap down two flights. As use, I'll keep you posted. Hang in there. Yeah, the bad back does not keep me off facebook and now Pintrest, oy.

Another day, another chandelier.

2012-01-09T18:34:00.007-05:00

Scored a round birdcage stand from the brilliant woman who created this chandelier that I got from her a few years ago. Yeah, those are hanging dominoes, checkerboard pieces, and curly wire! I'd moved it into a room where I didn't see it much after we inherited a crystal one from Paul's aunt and uncle and I put it up in our breakfast nook. Anyhoosville, Janine had this stand in the shop for a while but not for sale. I worked Saturday for the first time in a long time and the stand had a price tag on it. Who needs more signs than that? I got used to having some light in this corner of the family room when I had my Christmas tree "thingy" up and had been pondering a standing lamp or...voila!!!!! It makes a beautiful warm glow in that corner adding mucho ambiance to the room. Thanks Nene!!!!!

Deal with it.

2012-01-05T17:02:00.006-05:00

As many of my creations, this was once for sale. I thought it was adorable. I think it of it as my Ashley Carter/Goldbug-inspired chandelier. And, also as usual, it was a great price. So, after a ridiculous amount of time, I realized that if no one else was going to appreciate it then *%^$it, I'm taking it home.

So now I have a great spot for it where I will get to enjoy it hooked onto a birdcage holder. It will be the main lighting for my main work table.

This was the original chandelier I wanted for my new room. This is a shoedelier made by Lisa Loria. It was in Somerset Home or Life. It's a fabulous piece. I wanted it the second I saw it in the publication but didn't know it was for sale. All of a sudden, not only is it for sale but she had lowered it to a great price. I paid her for it and shipping then she got an actual shipping cost of $150. I had to get a grip. I had a cute chandelier. I wanted her chandelier. I have so much more than so many others in general but I also have a fresh perspective of how temporary things are and how I'd give up everything for one more day for many a person's time. Truthfully, I still want it; I'm a recovering shoedelier wanter. I want a famous shoedelier that has been made by another artist and has been published. Actually, I really want Glynnis back more than anything.

Ew Boy

2011-12-27T09:15:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I completely moved my oh-so-overdue-rehab studio to a new room-NOT. I started. This is going to be a big job: 1. third floor to basement; 2. total chaos to complete organization vow; 3. way too much stuff that hasn't been properly vetted for years; 4. again, two floors-two flights of stairs to move heavy furniture and lots of shit down. Oy. I've been wanting to do a cluster of lamps like this for a while. This is my start-my inspiration wall. Soooo much more to do. It's just peeing in the corner, which is how I begin things-I have to complete one small thing before tackling the rest. Pretty good start, huh? I saw it in a fabulous new magazine I found while in Balto. I'll share the magazine and photo with you when...well I won't commit to anything else right now.

Sadly, I inherited this room and the rest of the 800 square feet of a full apartment through my father-in-law's passing. We built this house in 1996 including the finished basement with lots of windows, its own entrance, and full kitchen, bath, living room, and bedroom. For 15 years he has been, comforting for all of us, right below our living space. Yeah, I'm trying to fill a void that can never be filled, but can be utilized.

Taking full advantage of having all my guys home yesterday, we tackled getting everything out of that room. These were "before" pics. Oh hale yes, I'm going to document this big project (and hopefully publish it eventually).

I still have some cute looks in my current studio. I've been in there about 3 years, heavy cleaning every 3-4 months but I've not been able to find things for months. That's when all the process comes to a stop-except in my head. Frustration out the what's-it.

I have made very few things in the last few months and during the biggest time to make money in the year. The last couple of years I have been fighting a complete lack of motivation and no energy due to the depression meds I was on. I hadn't made a change earlier because, well, I wasn't at the worst so I gutted it out-ugh. I changed my meds a couple of months ago-voila!-I've got energy and motivation back-whew.

The timing was good for helping our dear friends, as much as possible, trying to get through the worst of times. Time was so precious that nothing could come close to spending any free time with them. And, truly, when not with them it was hard to do much else other than think of them and pray. Priorities become crystal clear.

So, yesterday, off I went. This is going to be a long process, mostly because there's so much to do and partly because I want to do it right. I want to be able to get in there when it's set up and get some of these stored-in-my-brain things come to fruition.

Oh the humanity! This is what the studio really looks like and has for a while. I sit in the middle and dig and, most time, can't find what I'm looking for. That's always when I draw the line in the sand. Editing will be a big part of this process. I saw somewhere recently where to send art supplies that weren't being use. I need to find that info again. Stay tuned.

A Friendly Reminder

2011-12-16T10:45:00.003-05:00

Please take time to appreciate all of your blessings especially family and friends. You never know what tomorrow or even later today might bring. It's human nature to take things, and especially people, for granted. If we didn't we'd be living more in the future and with fear than in the present. Just make sure you check your perspective often; it's so easy to get distracted by the minutia that gets thrown at us constantly. And please pray for those who are going through unimaginable pain, they need all the help and strength and support that we can give. Give the gift of love and compassion this holiday season.

Reluctant Christmas

2011-12-15T14:24:00.014-05:00

I realize this will all be backwards as I posted these in chronological order, so this is forces you to read the other posts if you want to know why I'm reluctant, at best, to "do" Christmas this year. I don't really care for Christmas as I did as a child when we had lots of family gather and other children to share the joy. Other than once Christmas in 16 years, we have spent all of ours at home with, mostly, just Paul, Matt, Art, and I. It's been years since Lucas and Justin have been home for the holidays and my family is all the way on the other coast and it's not a good time to travel. My fantasy for years has been no gifts and a destination trip. Be careful what you ask for. So, because of all the trauma we've recently experience, we are going somewhere for Christmas-after Christmas actually. But not a to-do as usual (pale is usual). Justin finally piped up and said he wanted to have the first "normal" Christmas in many years so I scrambled and did very different decorating than usual (pale anyway). No tree; a birdcage stand with a small tree, lights, baubles. Did the whole mantle when I usually do just a little. Anyway, I like how it turned out. There is a bit of a theme; can anyone see it?

Have a wonderful holiday. Enjoy and embrace the family and friends who mean so much to you. Remember your blessings.

Dad, Pop-Pop, PD, Art

2011-12-15T14:01:00.003-05:00

It's still a nightmare; one we know we won't wake from, but it still seems as though this has all be completely impossible. On November 15th, literally when we arrived home from hospice and Glynnis' passing, Paul found his dad having a stroke. We never did determine how long he had been slumped, dressed in the bathroom in a very uncomfortable position. No speech, right side completely paralyzed, but somewhat alert. As we stood in the front yard watching the paramedics load Dad into the ambulance, we were sure that it was IMPOSSIBLE for these two major life changing experiences could occur in the same day.

Art had been raking leaves that day and the day before. He was still cooking, driving, grocery shopping, everything except hearing. He would have been 93 on January 24th. Two points of view. One, the fact that he was able to be so active and healthy for so long was a blessing, but, because of that, it gave us a false sense that he would keep beating the odds for many more years. So, even though it may sound strange, it's a shock and surprise that he's gone. Other than six weeks in Hopkins six years ago for heart issues and ten days of hell (hopefully more for us than him) in the hospital then two days in hospice, he was amazing. We do take things for granted, it's human nature to do that, otherwise we would be focusing on the future rather than the present.

He was the only life-long constant in Paul's life. He had lost his mother when he was 18 and she 56. But his dad was always there for him. And, that he lived with us for the last 15 years, makes his absence constantly obvious. It doesn't matter how long one knows that a person is going to pass or if it is sudden, it is still like being hit like a truck.

We all love and miss you so and always will.

Glynnis

2011-12-15T12:27:00.009-05:00

On November 15th the world changed and not for the better in my and many others' minds. This beautiful, graceful, glamorous, intelligent, hilarious woman, wife, mother, friend, and overall human being left this life. She was the poster child for great health; the quintessential anti-cancer candidate. She was thin, ate well, exercised, did any "bad" things in extreme moderation. She found out almost seven years ago that she had breast cancer. She "got away" with a lumpectomy and chemo. She lost all of her hair but handled it with such grace and actually made it very creative. Her hair grew back as this fabulous white that had been her signature since. It just further highlighted her gorgeous blue eyes.

And this is the love of her life, Ron. And she was the love of his life-hands down. Frick and Frack; they were a wonderful couple and a great act together. Always making get-togethers worth every minute. Last March she was once again diagnosed with cancer; this time in her shoulder, lung, and somewhat spread to her bones. She immediately started chemo again. Once again she was like iron woman, going through chemo, loosing her hair, but able to continue to function and live her life, and things looked really good. In late September she found out that, instead of killing the cancer, the cancer was aggressively taking over her liver and the areas surrounding it. She began an equally new aggressive treatment which made her quite sick and miserable but without improvement in her progress. The writing was beginning to become clearer on the wall. It was not good.

Glynnis loved Halloween as a grand understatement. Cancer be damned; she and Ron borrowed my truck to pick up an extra big ladder to put up some of the higher Halloween decorations. It's impossible to describe how much Halloween decor they had. Outrageous. Wonderful. So, to our surprise after I'd been with her two days before when she was violently ill, the Halloween party was on. Paul and I discussed our surprise on the way to the party having thought there would be a call at any time during that day canceling the party. My theory was that even if Glynnis had to just sit on the couch and watch the party, the party would go on. But, as you can see above, she was having a good day (at least by appearances). There were a few times she had to sit and rest but she was dancing and having a great time.

Absolutely partners in every way including crime (puns are always intended), in the form of fun and delight and dedication to each other.

While I watched this photo of their family being taken, I was painfully aware that this would probably be their last family photo. I made myself push it out of my mind and just tried to soak in the moment as much as possible. They knew, everyone knew. But they BLEW IT OUT that night and I sucked it up and did my best to do the same-a joke-we all had a fabulous time. We danced and sang loudly (in my case badly) and played. It was perfect. TWO WEEKS BEFORE SHE PASSED AWAY.

Things went down hill shockingly fast. Paul and I were so blessed to be among the family and friends who were with her as she left her earthly body and experienced the most personal of experiences with her as a final gift. And she was a gift; one I can't begin to describe.

This is 1996 on Asilomar Beach on The Monterey Peninsula at our going away party when Paul, Justin, Art, and I moved Maryland. Classic. Signature (at the time) short, red hair and (always) chucks.

This is the arrangement I made for Glynnis' memorial service. She had a little clay angel above the window in the t.v. room of their home so this woman kind of reminded me of that and of Glynnis and all her grace and beauty (and a bit of wacky)-inside and out. Now, please pray for her family, friends, but especially her children, Bryn/21 and Peter/19, and most especially Ron. He has lost his other half, his heart is broken, he is devastated and lost but he is putting one foot in front of the other. He needs all the strength and support and prayers he can get. I miss you and love you so Glynnis.

Hello, my name is Stephanie and...

2011-11-14T11:29:00.008-05:00

Art by Black Apple; frame from Hobby Lobby

...I am a sentence finisher. This has become a thing in my house. Okay, let's do a recent inventory. My almost-93-year-old father-in-law who can't hear anything (not great for conversing)-check; my husband who needs hours to tell a short story (well, so do I but that's because I tell so many details) because minutes go by painfully between word-check; my boomerang 25-year-old son who, although quite delightful, is not really chatty-check; then my 14-year-old son who is-well-a teenager-monosylabic-check. And me? I've always been a talker. And I hang out with other women of a certain age who often need help remember rarely used words such as "bread" and "parking space". It drives the guys crazy. Trying to interact with them drives me crazy. I told Matt (14) the other day that one of his friend's fathers is sooooo good looking. "Oh, Mom, you need a woman to talk to!". Ya think. Thankfully, most women I hang out with me know my situation so they patiently allow me to talk too much. Thanks girlfriends-you save me.

Twin Sister Birthday

2011-11-14T10:47:00.011-05:00

We knew each other a few months and I know I adored her the minute I met her. Who couldn't? Then I found out she was from Oklahoma and HAD LIVED IN TEXAS MANY YEARS. Hello. Janine called me one day a few (many, as I recall now) years ago and asked if I could work for her on her next scheduled shift at our coop at Oella Mill. I looked at the calendar and said that I would do it any other day but I really didn't want to do it that day. She pushed, ever so little, more and I finally said I didn't want to work because it was my birthday that day. She asked me if I was kidding. Do I ever kid? Okay, she asked me a reasonable question. I said I was indeed not kidding; it was my birthday. She said something like, "Holy crap-that's my birthday too!!!". Okay, so not only did we adore each other, we were now twins-sistas from another motha. We have celebrated our birthday in one form or another ever since.

Not to make any other birthday sound trivial but we had, I believe, our best a few years ago. We were doing a show at The DC Big Flea. We did it as a group; Karen, Mellie, Janine, and me. We all shared a hotel room and this trip was no different. Our birthday was on Saturday; we had set up the day before but hadn't worked the weekend yet. When we all woke up, Karen and Mellie made Janine and me stay in bed and brought gifts to us and Janine and I exchanged gifts. In our jammies and in bed!!!!! Just what my family did when I was growing up. We were all giggles and giddy; SO MUCH FUN. Like getting to live out one of your best childhood moments as an adult. Amazing.

This year our birthday was on Saturday again but Janine was all booked up. Most years we do work around our families. So birthday on Saturday, November 5th we had our birthdays with our families and it was great. We could only get together by Tuesday. We'd gone to Cafe' Hon in Hampden (Balto) a couple of years ago, loved it, and wanted to do that again this year. Well, really long story (I'll spare you this once), Cafe' Hon wasn't open that day so we started walking around. We went into one shop-great one 'cause I got...umm...something that holds me together when otherwise I would have gotten it online and paid shipping. The woman there told us there was a great restaurant a couple of doors down so we checked out the menu on the board outside. Very nice place, reasonable prices, and...wait for it...THE BEST MONTE CRISTO IN THE WORLD. I have a bit of experience with Monte Cristos so I know a little of what I speak. Unlike the usual which are battered and deep fried, this was dusted on the outside with powdered sugar with a little lemon in it and cooked like French toast. Okay, enough-I'm a foodie, not everyone is. It was good.

I guess we had mentioned to our waitress that we were celebrating our birthday but we were so full after lunch that instead of bringing us more food, she brought us Sprite with a huge blackberry in it. Wonderful. We toasted and drank, and ate that Sprite soaked berry-yum.

Clink.

And before we left the area, we saw these last remnants of time before winter.

I love you birthday twin.

2011-10-19T17:48:00.004-04:00

Narrative to come...

During Part 2

2011-10-19T17:41:00.009-04:00

Narrative to come...

During-How Fun is This?

2011-10-19T17:23:00.007-04:00

I did some research before I left for Texas and discovered that I'd be driving right by the exit where Julia, a.k.a. Miz. Juney, works. So I programed my garmin as soon as I got into the rental car and off I went. Right after I made my first stop, What-A-Burger (dur), I surprised her. She had just stepped out of the store for some fresh air and voila! I'd been reading about the store and Julia had actually taken me to the first Magpie's over 25 years ago and now she's working at their newest location-Cypress.

I was raised right and knew to be polite and buy some great stuff while I was there as a compliment to all. It's also quite patriotic; helping the economy. What a great place and so fun to get a short visit with a wonderful bff.

What is a visit without some goofiness? We were mimicking the woman in the picture behind us. Guess whose idea that was? Check Miz Juney's blog.

Before

2011-10-19T17:11:00.006-04:00

I took these photos before I left for Texas and I've been needing to do some major rearranging for a while. Sooooo, as soon as I have a couple of minutes I'm going to rehab my look. Just wanted to show these before then. There's still a lot to do in the meantime...coming up.

A.W.O.L.

2011-09-30T16:18:00.004-04:00

Not just here-everywhere. I've just not been around. I had a huge list of things I vowed that I would do over the summer before I would make any art or play with my blog. Of course, sitting on facebook was acceptable. I can't help it. I have found and reconnected with about 400 friends from my past. I will forever be indebted to facebook for this. I don't care if they start charging. I don't care. I am so happy to know where all of these beautiful people are. I have lived away from my hometown most of my adult life and I miss it and all the fabulous folks I grew up with there. And now I am, once again, going back to reconnect in person. Ugh, it's been since June. Next weekend is a big one for Bryan/College Station, Texas. Texas Reds. I don't know what it is and don't care. It is bringing people from all over together for the first time in, in some cases, over 40 years. Just as I did in June, I have gotten over the fact that I'm not going to loose 30 pounds by next week.

The only vanity thing I'm doing is bleaching my teeth; something I've been wanting to do for a very long time and something I'd wished I had done before June. It's an easy fix for aging. I don't feel so bad about it; after all, I'm not getting lipo like I need to. It's about seeing important people in whatever form I am. You know I will be posting and blogging away when I return-gotta show off all the love. Until then...Yippie.

Five Years of The Pink Cabbage

2011-09-18T13:21:00.019-04:00

I've been at The Pink Cabbage all but the first year. It took me a year to catch on and I was lucky! I was invited at the very beginning but already had a big space at Emporium Antiques in Frederick; I just wasn't ready to make a major move again. The second year, things were changing big and fast at The Pink Cabbage and Karen (she and I were sharing the space in Frederick by then-it started with Janine and me) and I were asked again. We didn't hesitate. Now, for 4 years, there is a list of people waiting for a space there as long as a football field.

I'm in my third location in the shop. I started out with a great size room then decided that I wanted to downsize. I moved into the smallest space, a very small closet, there and it proved to...well, not work out. Now I'm in a small space but I think two people can be in my space at a time; the closet, not even one could be "in". The last reorganization has made for a beautiful setting.

So many talented and wonderful women. Sixteen of us! And we all like each other! Our group has matured together and become close. And we are some of our best customers.

As you can see, we have a diverse array of tastes and inventory but it all flows very nicely...

The turnover of merchandise there is head-spinning. We've all had the same idea of keeping prices down but particularly so when the economy tanked; we worked even harder to make everything there affordable.

I know that sometimes new customers think we are pushing a sale when we tell them not to count on an item still being there if they don't buy it when they see it. It only takes one "where tha?" to see it's not a pitch.

The cherry on the top is Jody, our leader. We are a co-op theoretically but we are very blessed to have a great leader. Jody works tirelessly to promote our shop, set up great events, and get us involved in many donation projects. A church or school silent auction, we all pony up items from our shops; we never say no to a good cause. Then the holidays, huge food donations as our customers get a discount for bringing in a food item. They also get a discount at Christmastime by bringing in a new, unused toy for Toys For Tots. Both occasions make for our shop spilling over with food and toys. We are in partnership with Success in Style, a non-profit that works to reintroduce women back to the workforce. We partner with a close-by elementary school making special lunches and treats for teacher work days. And our customer-based email list is worth millions!!!!

So Jody made pink martinis yesterday starting at 9 a.m. and we all brought in homemade desserts. The events are always so fun and special with beautiful details.

The best we've ever been able to do for a group photo-11 out of 16. Jody is front and center and, our mascot Madge, well hopefully you can figure out which one she is...

2011-09-15T18:01:00.001-04:00

2011-09-15T17:54:00.002-04:00

I finally just got this little cutie put together. I got the gum ball machine at the same Empty Nest estate sale as a couple of posts ago when I got the precious porcelain bird and the toy accordian. Wouldn't you run for this?

Just a fun little addition...

2011-09-15T14:14:00.003-04:00

When I post on Facebook that Empty Nest is having an estate sale, if you can, RUN. They have the greatest sales. And a bonus is that most folks haven't passed away, they are just downsizing-no creepy feelings though, I don't have a problem with that. It's recycling at it's finest. In this vignette, at the top is the antique auto headlight I bought at Round Top in Texas, then a cool crown hanger from Luckett's, and at the bottom is a camera I got from and Empty Nest sale. In between I found in my own garage. Buried in one of the many boxes we still have leftover from cleaning Uncle Robbie's apartment was this great, old school class photo from 1940. This location seems to continually change as I find "new" things that seem to fit together.

I finally changed my underwear.

2011-09-15T13:39:00.009-04:00

One of my besties, Mellie, has accused me of painting things more often than changing my underwear. That used to be pretty much the truth but not in the last couple of years. I've been motivationally-challenged of late so, this summer, I vowed I would do nothing else before I painted Matt's over-needed room. It used to be nothing for me to wake up one morning, decide to paint a room, get the paint, and finish it in a day. Hummm, wonder where that energy went? Meno...what? they can't even let us have our own term of a life changing time without men being involved? Believe me, they don't want to be involved. This is backwards, but, after painting Matt's room and remembering that the hard part is the prep, I pulled the trigger on a new color for our front door. TWO WHOLE YEARS since I had painted it-unpresidented. I hummed and hoed about the color, there were wanted awnings that didn't appear, which were factoring in. In the end, I simplified things, matched the color of the siding on the color wheel, went two shades darker, and voila! Not thrilling but my thrilling is expensive; this was cheap. And attractive-kakhi.

In keeping with the backwards theme, here is Matt's room after. We went with "urban chic". He loves NYC and I have no doubt that he will live there someday. Black and white of the Chrysler Building above the dresser.

The huge, vintage print of Manhattan's landscape from Ikea had been sitting around a while waiting for me to get to it. What a great find it was; $100. It may seem like a lot but it's about 5'x3' and makes the room.

This is the blackmail color. When Justin moved out and the smaller bedroom was freed up, I bribed Matt into moving from a larger room to this one so I could have the big one for my "studio". I told him he could pick any color he wanted and could decorated it any way he wanted-shameless. For three years we could live with it. It got dirty and scratched and junky in there. He needed more room, furniture needed to be replaced for space.

So what am I doing with all this free time now? Putting together several reunions in hometown Texas for the beginning October. Yeehaw!

Stand back and no one gets hurt...

2011-08-19T18:53:00.001-04:00

http://emptynestestatesales.blogspot.com Dude, are these awesome or what???

New scale from The Pink Cabbage

2011-08-16T12:42:00.001-04:00

Just as good as going to church?

2011-08-08T13:35:00.008-04:00

I started collecting these...umm...cheesy Jesus icons a few years ago. I have several in my dining room. Once a person starts a collection, you either sell it or keep collecting. They may seem sacrilegious but I think they are sweet in their tackiness. This one I got from Rita at our Ice Cream social on Saturday at The Pink Cabbage. Just like two others I have, this has some 3-D elements to it which makes it even better!

This is, I think, my favorite because it is the most "sacrilegious". Seemingly. I think that anything that causes a person to stop and ponder our Lord is not sacrilegious but, tacky, yes. I have several collections; fewer than you might think, probably more than I think; but I love them and most of them are heirloom-related or include heirloom items. Anyone need help with justification? I'm your woman!

Crown of Texas

2011-08-08T09:45:00.004-04:00

Not sure if I ever got around to showing off the fab crown I got in Bryan in June. I was admiring it yesterday and decided to highlight it and the beauty how beholds it which was a gift from Janine on my 50th birthday. I made the "necklace". Have a great Monday!

The Maine Event

2011-08-03T13:06:00.050-04:00

So this is the new ride that I want to go with my new crib which you will see in a sec. What a beauty this was. Who would want to be anywhere else at a time like this? This year I choose where we were going on summer vaca. Okay, I suggested it. We usually do what the guys like, go to the beach in the Carribean somewhere. They love the heat and the beach. I'm okay with that, especially the last couple of places where we've been because there were other things to do and see, but not every year. We went to The Outer Banks of North Carolina three years in a row and I thought that was the East Coast. Looked like Nantucket (oops, I shouldn't have said that)-scruffy, weedy, mmm. Well, Maine is a whole other world. It's rugged and cliffy and beautiful; more like the West Coast. The place where we stayed, Spruce Point Inn, was gorgeous. The rooms, views, landscape-all so beautiful. And staying there is better than a box of Tampons. They have croquet, shuffleboard, bikes, kyaks, fishing, sailing, swimming, and MORE. And that was just at the Inn. Then there's the quaint town; not a franchise in sight. We all loved it. Going into dinner at The Inn restaurant, Bogie's. They showed Casablanca on a big screen t.v. that night. Matt's stoked...not. The growing season is short there so they make up for it with quantity...everywhere. This is the main Inn building. There are many buildings on the resort and cottages and houses. Pick a house, any house, I'll take it. There's not a dud to be found. The view from our back porch. Our porch from the view. The quaint town. I didn't take many cute pics there were too many flowers... ...and this is not a short boy, this is a huge dog. Where we had our first lobster. Oh yum! And, though I didn't ever get a good photo of one, they have real whoopie pies there. A sandwich made with two cake-like rounds with something yummy, creamy in the middle. This is definitely a foodie state. Oops, caught you smiling! We won't tell, right? Nice sunset view waiting for our dinner...not sure which was better... ...I know which one was more distracting. I didn't care that it had a mamma or eyes or that I had just talked to it alive. Butter will do that to you. Not only did we not try the bombs, we didn't even inquire. Oh my, be still my heart, The Botanical Gardens. One of the many great concrete sculptures. With a cute shop. Wait for it... ...my new dream home, complete with grass roof. Cute arbor made with hoes and shovels.

Who knew???

Oops, caught you smiling again. This is really fun.

Do not get in this woman's way.

He thought he was a ringer when he won the first game. I couldn't buy points the first one but look who kicked butt on the second-that's right-me! I overheard a dad next to us giving his son some very good instructions.

Mo flowers.

This is Monkey C Monkey Do. It's a rope climbing, zip line place. We all did just the zip lines. It wasn't Costa Rica but it was kinda thrilling. We had so much fun. Paul has all the photos from there...to be continued. A woman working at Monkey C told us we had to go back to this place that we had passed on our way. Traffic was backed up into this town from a mile away just to get there by car. The woman said we would drive all the way back just to thank her (we would have but we went further in the other direction to the lighthouse) for the best lobster rolls in the world. She was right. We heard of lobster rolls when we first got to Maine but Paul, unfortunately, tried his first on at the grocery store deli. It was basically lobster salad, like chicken salad, only more fixin's than lobster. Not at Red's. This is the line. Perpetually an hour long or more all day every day. In the hot sun-no, not Texas, not complaining. Forced to amuse myself I tried my hand at some artistic photography...

...I was going for something! It was an hour, in line.

The order window.

The lobster rolls. One half pound of pure heaven. I ate the overflow meat with melted butter and then put a little mayo on the sandwich. I don't think I can go on...

Stand back and no one gets hurt. It was worth every dime and minute and more.

Then we rolled along Highway 1 to the lighthouse. Yep, I should know the name but we have seen so many dang lighthouses along the East Coast that they all get mixed together. This one is small but the setting was heavenly.

Of course, I had to take a photo of the Frenchman peeing; it's just tradition.

I thought I kinda nailed it on this one.

My travel companions.

I wish I would have gotten a better photo of this photo in the lobby of the Inn. It's the Bobby Kennedy family. Along with Neil Armstrong, there is Andy Williams and then-wife Claudene Longe, who my father adored listening to. Sunrise, sunset. Bobby and Agnes are there and it looks like Claudene's sister. We didn't know who everyone was but it was interesting-I'd love to have a copy. We drove back to Portland the day before our flight since we were leaving at 5:30 A.M. There's not a lot to see there; tourist traps, etc. But we came across this and thought it was cool. P.S. If you go to Portland make sure you have evacuated your bodily functions as there are NO public restrooms. As you can probably tell, this is a sore subject for me. I'm proud to say that our shop lets anyone use it and I decorated it so we can be proud of it. I asked at the ice cream shop where they would recommend a person several hundred miles from home might go to the bathroom...no reply. All the restaurants have signs saying, "Restrooms for Patrons Only". We finally walked into one and I told the hostess we were just there to buy something so I could use the bathroom and she kindly let me for free. Sometimes bitchy does work!

I Could Have Written That

2011-07-20T13:18:00.006-04:00

I have been reading a lot lately. I usually read a lot but there are times when I take breaks and just read magazines. But this has been one right after the other for nearly a year. My mother, of all people, told me about the above book. That sounds kinda mean but my mom doesn't usually read much anymore and is not...mmm...highly enlightened. I'm going to start this tonight. My mom said it will explain a lot about why I still love where I grew up so much. That hooked me! I'm considered by "some" to be a "little nutty" about it. Tough. I can tell you exactly where to look on Google Earth for you to see where my Heaven on Earth is. It's been most of my life and I don't think it's going to change. I don't read a lot of non-fiction, unless, Miz Juney does, but this has me intrigued. Just finished this. I love Anne Lamott. This is another great book from her, but, spoiler-it's a bit dark-not depressing but not many chuckles and no gut-busters in this one. Raw emotions. I like reading books with some meat to them, not too much fluff, formula books-this is the ticket. But, after this one I'm ready for a change of subject. We are getting ready to go to Boothbay, Maine for our vacation and I think it'll be fun to be reading about traveling while traveling. I have to share a line from the book: "...he volunteered that every morning when he took his psychiatric medication, he knew he'd done his community service for the day.". Amen and your welcome. So, I'm inviting all of y'all, once again, to join me on Good Reads. I love working the list on the site of all the books I've ever read. But I also want to see what my friends are reading other than just stalk the info on their blogs. Come along with me!!!!

2011-07-14T17:35:00.006-04:00

I've got mail.

I love when I get gifts for myself; I always know what I like. I had to wait a little for this beautiful package to come in the mail. These folks are busy. And you are seeing why. They are Paper Nosh on Etsy.

But wait; there's more. Inside the toile tissue is the above...

...I tell you, it's sooooo fun...

...then, voila! It is layer after layer of eye cream cheese brownies...yum! Check it out.

Yum!!!

2011-07-14T12:06:00.006-04:00

This could go many ways but I'm going to play it straight. I'm boring like that now-tough titties. I'm a foodie. I came by it honestly; my parents were big time foodies. Anyone who has been in any line with me anywhere has heard that it was nothing for our family to jump in the car and drive 90 miles to Houston when my dad got a hankering for German food (yep, the one on Westheimer). Or really good Mexican food; back when there was only one Ninfa's and it was good. We made elaborate plans when we travelled around where we'd eat. My parents were both from San Angelo so we drove there from Bryan several times a year. We always had to time it around eating lunch at Buchanan Dam. AKA Captain Dan. I apparently called it that once and it stuck. Just like my dad never said "sandwich"; it was "samich". P.S. Captain Dan's had the best TexMex enchiladas. Later, when they drove back and forth from Texas to California, the trips were all planned around Good Earth restaurants. Tucson, L.A., Santa Barbara, San Mateo. We loved Good Earth restaurants. You can still buy their great tea. Okay, so this is my favorite food-zuccini. My dad used to grow it in our backyard in Texas, larger than this one but this one is the largest I've seen in years-15 inches! Best served dipped in egg, rolled in cornmeal, and fried in olive oil. That's not saying too much; so is anything, even dog dooie. But zucchini, wow!

In route...

The final look before devouring. OMG-this is where that term came from-cornmeal fried zucchini. I definitely have carried on the family love of food-especially road food. When I go to Bryan I have a long list of food. Shipley's doughnuts, Jamba Juice (at least twice a day), Schlotsky's, WHATABURGER (the first one is the closest to the airport), chicken fried steak at The Dixie Chicken or Chicken Oil Co., and more. I have to schedule enough time to hit them all and include healthy meals in between. Last month I hit them all except Shipley's and we left Bryan so late that it was closed by the time we drove by on our way out. Third to the first-the people, second-the place. Best State all around.

New Art at the Shop

2011-07-08T14:31:00.012-04:00

The birdhouse lamp I finally got around to decorating...

...love Black Apple soooo much that I made a little banner of her art...

...some new, some re-runs just waiting for the perfect adoption situation. Thanks for looking!!!

And...

2011-07-08T14:29:00.003-04:00

Oh, and I played with the deck more this year than usual.

Before and after, part 2975

2011-07-08T14:07:00.005-04:00

I started on this "porch thing" about 5 years ago by campaigning for a new one when I saw ours was rotting. The last 2 years I've been pointing and begging and threatening to cut off the rails.

When there was snow still on the ground we made a list of things we were going to fix in the spring. The porch was at the top of the list. Okay, some of us know that when you make the largest investment of money in your life you're going to have to maintain it. Some people like to buy quality and be done; it's nice enough to stay that way forever. I can show you the car later if you don't believe me. Spring comes and we have our builder-turned-home-improvement-contractor come by and give us separate quotes for all we want/need to have done. Front porch, awnings (the upstairs cooks, Paul's dad freezes in the basement), fixing the dropping driveway, replacing the broken outside water valve, replace the burned out attic fan. I didn't even push for the new windows we need and would pay for themselves the first year. So far, we did the cheapest-we had the attic fan replaced. It's July. We have no future appointments with Robbie at this time. So, while Paul was gone, I took out my saws-all and took those railings down-yes-the ones rotting and missing pickets like lost teeth and loosing more every day. Paul doesn't like it. Ha! If he doesn't like it he'll can have a new porch put on. ;)

Here it was before. The missing pickets on this side are being hidden bye. the fig tree. Bub, bye.

You've Got Hair

2011-07-08T13:04:00.006-04:00

This is not going to be as satisfying as you think but please read anyway. I finally, after THREE YEARS, went to get my hair cut. If you weren't here or forgot, exactly three years ago I accidentally burned (chemically) all the hair off my head. I immediately started wearing wigs. Through the first year I would trim and cut and try to style it to no avail. My hair had grown back but thinner (never thought it could be thinner than what I already'd had all my life) and had changed direction in several places (yes, that can actually happen, usually from chemo or extreme stress or African American Hair Care Products), so I didn't know what to do with it. I used to be a hairdresser and I have cut my own hair most of my adult life. Not that it's right, but I was pretty good at it. This was the first time I had no idea what to do. It was down my shoulders and had not been that long in about 25 years and only two or three times in my life. So I didn't want to go back to the pixie cuts I'd had most of my life. I'm usually in control. This is the first time EVER that I have not come home and redone and recut my hair after someone else has done it. I can't seem to get a good photo of myself with it yet but as soon as I can style it right and get a good pic, I'll post it. I'll just tell you that it's a bob. A BOB! I still have hair I can actually run my fingers through and a hairstyle at the same time-ingenious!

I first got really antsy before my reunion. I mean, if it got screwed up I could always slap a wig on like I did anyway but I knew that making a decision before going was going to skew my thinking, so I waited. I'm also sick of, after 3 years, wearing wigs. Thousands of dollars on them, hundreds wasted on ones I ended up not liking when they came in the mail, not being able to find the ones I liked again. Success in Style has benefitted from my mistakes; at least I can feel somewhat good about that. And it's summer, not Texas summer, but summer no less. When I was bald I didn't feel so bad but when it had grown out I felt more and more like a phony. I always wore really tousled-looking ones so that often even my family (critics) would ask if it was my own hair. Boy, had we all forgotten how little had been up there! It Was Time.

So I had been to this hairdresser once years ago. My friend, Glenda, has gone there for 15 years and she kept "nudging" me to go. They just moved into the most fabulous place. Well, they just decorated a new place fabulously. Seats from airplanes, airplane panels as dividers...I promise I'll take photos next time...too shy to do it the first time. Now, I forgot my receipt so, I don't know how much it was but you know if you get a card for a $20 discount on a haircut for anyone you refer, it's expensive. Thirty years of saving money cutting and coloring my own hair-check. Check, not "right". Paul is going next week. He said, "$20 off!!! I can get a haircut for $10". True, but he needs to have it styled, very different. Twenty something years cutting my kids hair, fifteen years of cutting my husband, his father, and my youngest's hair-check. I think I've earned it. And I like it and I feel kinda normal now! P.S. You know when you get a goodie bag with serious goodies in it, that it's expensive. But I'm worth it.

A Good Plan

2011-07-08T12:12:00.006-04:00

I had a great idea...finally! On July 4th I suggested that we go to the mall which is right across the street from the lake where the fireworks are. Go to the mall early and see movies which we've been wanting to see. Then we could eat dinner and walk over to see the fireworks. Otherwise we would have to go almost as early to find a parking space or end up watching them, as every year, from afar. I HAD AN IDEA EVERYONE LOVED. Historical. So I went to see Larry Crowne. Loved it. They should make most movies like that. No bad language, no violence, and very entertaining. We had recently watched Knight and Day on cable and I couldn't believe the gratuitous cussing-rediculous. And it was a pretty good story and movie and could have been PG if they had wanted to. Couldn't they make more money that way? Even PG-13, but I got so tired of hearing it; it was interfering with the regular dialog. Movies should be like Larry Crowne. Soap box, down. Matt and Paul saw Transformers. Matt had seen it but wanted to see it again with his dad; not my cuppa tea. However, my movie got out 45 minutes before theirs so I snuck in and watched a lot of it. It was okay except when we got up to go afterwards I suddenly felt something soaked through to my skin on my rear end. How I didn't feel it at the time I have no idea because it went through my pants and undies to my skin. Eeeeewwww. Of course, the first thing I thought, after ewe, was new shorts! And, yes, the mall was closed. So I had to live with it through another 1 1/2 hour as a sacrifice to see the fire crackers. Other than that it was great for all!

The fireworks were much nicer that these cheesy photos I took. I just wanted some sort of record but my camera is old and doesn't adjust well to different lighting. Sound familiar?

Coming home and getting busy.

2011-06-15T16:20:00.010-04:00

I'm usually the first show up at the big box store buying flowers but this year I knew we were going to be going out of town so I didn't want to burden my father in law with a bunch of watering. So, as soon as we got home I headed out and got some flowers to spruce things up and distract me from being back home.

We're supposed to replace our front porch this year so I'd been formulating a new color scheme, especially because it's been, what, 2 or 3 years since I've painted the shutters and doors. So I replaced the dark green wicker of last year with a couple of bright red things (I'm thinking charcoal for both the door and shutters). Then good friends gave me their fab primitive cabinet to either sell for them or for free if I decided to keep it...

...oh boy! I thought that I had no where to put it so I'd be selling it. Then I decided that, since our garage is still full of furniture and treasures from Uncle Robbie, we would just stick it on the front porch until I had a place to sell it. Well, oopsy, doesn't it look happy there? I thought so too. So more fun rearranging and decorating!

Side view with my daddy's pelican center stage.

Our builder hated the "greenhouse" I'd made as therapy, when Michael Jackson passed away, out of scrap windows and doors and sat out front in the yard. The glass kept breaking whenever we had a storm, loved it anyway but finally decided to let someone else "adopt" it at the shop. The chair I had inside it still remains with a fresh plant inside.

One of my little "funnies" I put together.

Still a "before", the front door...

...shutters still "befores". We'll see what happens over the summer...

What a great time and I'm not as big as you think.

2011-06-15T15:16:00.019-04:00

Friends told me that I should shop until I had a fabulous outfit to wear to my 35th high school reunion. I told them that all I cared about was seeing friends and staying as cool as possible in 100 degree Texas heat. Well, I was somewhat wrong. Looking at the photos after the reunion, I might as well have worn a muumuu. I was always made fun of all through school for being too skinny...a problem I no longer struggle with...but still. I hadn't seen a lot of people in 35 years and won't see them again for who knows how long so you really want to feel good about yourself. I didn't panic until we had gone to the hotel where we were staying that night and I tried on what I was going to wear. I had barely payed attention at home when I was packing; now I think of all the cute, smaller-looking outfits I could have worn. Okay, OVER THAT. It was fabulous. No. 1 is above-having my family all together at one time is rare, maybe once a year if we are lucky. So, while this party is going on I just let go and enjoyed it all-soaked it in.

Sans "The Girl", we took this our last day out by Becky's pool.

Justin has a history with goggles...

...Lucas has a history with looking like Tom Cruise.

Bros.

The plaque honoring my dad at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, the church I grew up in. And I saw a couple of VIP's while there who tickled me pink!

Not exactly No. 2 because I consider these folks like family. Probably better because we don't have to live with each other; we are together by choice not by chance! Bro Tim and Sista Becky above.

This is the band who played at the reunion. Three of the guys are from the original Sweetbriar Band from when we were in high school. You would never guess that they are old farts when you hear how they rock. They played so hard and we danced so hard I started thinking that it might have been a good idea to have an ambulance parked nearby like they have at sporting events. That's one of the wonderful things about being our age; we are more interested in seeing each other and having a great time than how we look (we rocked without any dorkiness at all!).

So many memories that are priceless-growing up together in a special place. We are Lord and Lady of Bristol, above.

False starts and not able to agree on a time or place for a class photo...we were as I said, "BHS Class of 1976 A.D....D. It was like herding cats. There were even a couple of white plastic chairs we didn't take the time to move out of the way that I photoshopped out of these.

Just one of our many class clowns!!!!

There are so many more photos that I couldn't download from my Facebook profile onto here...many, many more brothers and sisters. Go here to see a lot more great pics.

No. 3? The food! Jamba Juice and What-A-Burger at least once every day. My heart is full but still alway have the longing...

Last Check in Before OH BOY!

2011-05-27T18:59:00.016-04:00

A new acquisition is the fabulous vintage clock/mic trophy and some new hair for Dingus. Quite a bargain for both.

I've been working on my little shop and things to go in it ramping up to The Pink Cabbage's Funky Flea that's next weekend. I want to have plenty of goodies to offer the customers while I'm romping in Texas.

So this is my last Maryland post until after I get to Texas for my 35th high school reunion!!!!

So here are some of latest photos. Actually I went in today and it looks a little different, fuller, but still (I think) cute.

Can you figure out what anything is? Well, it's a lot of things that people need to purchase to make their lives wonderful.

Here's the ostrich egg that I got in Richmond...did I mention it? Anyhoosville, I got a great stand and love the way it's turned out.

Why the laundry isn't folded and put away...

2011-05-20T14:43:00.006-04:00

Okay, some of this is Amy Power's (of Inspire Co. fame) fault because of her fabulous online magazine which can be found for a crazy low $3.50 here . It's unbelievable how many great ideas there are in her mags. So, I copied one of her ideas and made two birthday wish hanging boxes plus a lot of other stuff. Really, I've literally (more photos when they are installed in my shop) been in my workroom all day the last three days and have made some fun stuff; these are just a few. So, when not working on art, I'm outside (when it's not been raining-sorry, Texas, but we are having a couple of days break from rain after every day this week and forecast for all next week) snapping some photos of all the color. If you know me you know that I'm not Maryland's biggest fan but it's hard to beat spring here-soooo dang green. And with so much rain this year it's really, really green and our trees are now growing like several feet every year. Lantana is my favorite. Everyone here says not to put out flowers until Mother's Day to be safe from freezing, but we all know I'm not "everyone". Sheesh, wait until May? The season is way too short here to start late and I hang on to the annuals until they are begging to be put out of their misery. Continuing to baffle the guys until I get a new porch, I'm putting all the funk up here! Well, the bath sink is still in the flower bed in the yard but...now you know.

Fun in Richmond

2011-05-20T14:14:00.007-04:00

I always have a wonderful time just seeing Stacy (see previous a few posts ago) when we get together. I love her job because it brings Stacy within driving distance of me every few months. While Stacy works I run around Richmond having fun and helping the local economy. This time I discovered Sweet Frog-wow! I've been a huge Jamba Juice fan for many years and I've listed, somewhere, all the different cities and states I've had Jamba Juice. I worked in one of the first frozen yogurt cafe's in the country back in 1976, so I've had my fill. And I'm not a huge ice cream fan...I'd rather use calories on a cannoli. But the bright colors and warm weather drew me into this place-two days in a row. Keeping the same genre, I have always had chocolate with strawberries and whatever boosters at JJ, so I went for the chocolate (low fat!) with strawberries and then remembered how much I'd loved (and eaten) granola on chocolate frozen yogurt...so voila...they had it all and I made this beauty. So far they are only in Virginia and North Carolina but I hear there are ones like them in Texas. In a little over a week I'm gonna have both!!!!

I love Whole Foods (which, of course, we don't have) and this one was very close to our hotel and I made several trips there for food, groceries, etc. It's special to me...

Just 'Cause...

2011-05-06T16:30:00.003-04:00

This is just 'cause I wanted to take a photo of some of my favorite things. The red clock piece I made (collected and put together) and the ribbon. The other things are just favorite finds. Just 'cause.

Another fabulous, sweet reunion...

2011-05-06T15:28:00.006-04:00

I'm sure that most of you who read this know how fast 20 years can go by these days. This summer it will have been 20 years since this young man and I had seen each other. Twenty years since I put him on that plane in San Francisco after spending the day there. Matteo Pistono had just spent a week helping me move back to California from Wyoming where we had met. Way back then, I was head of the Amnesty International in Casper and Matt was head of AI at Casper College. We merged the groups and grew the group to a very respectable size. We became very close friends through working together so, when it was time for me to move back to California after getting a divorce, he had the time, energy, and good attitude to help me do it. We drove a HUGE truck all the way and Matt stayed for about a week to help me and for me to be able to show him around The Monterey Peninsula and Big Sur, and San Francisco the last day. Then fast forward to Facebook. I found Matt on there and contacted him. From there I went to his website and learned about all of the phenomenal things he'd been doing especially the last 10 years.

Tuesday night, in Washington DC, Matt gave a talk and slide show on his work and travels in Tibet. He has been touring the country doing speeches and slide shows to promote his book and his foundation Nekorpa. The photos were stunning and he is very at ease speaking in public and sharing his story. It was wonderful to see him. He had been just a college student when I last saw him. Now he has done incredible things on behalf of Tibetan Buddhists, has gotten married, and has traveled the world with many dignitaries. He is passionate about human rights, something we definitely still have in common. Here's his book. You don't have to be a Buddhist to read it; it's fascinating. It's hard for me to be very objective about it; in fact so much so that when I read it, it was Matt's voice I heard the words spoken in. It is alternately about the history of Buddhism and his personal experience as he goes on his spiritual pilgrimage and the "spy mission" which side tracked parts of his journey. It's, in my opinion, a good situation for us all to be aware of. I'd seen "Save Tibet" bumper stickers for years but never knew what it meant until now. There is a lot we can do, free-letter writing, to help this cause for the right to practice the religion of your choice freely and safely. Here's Matt, my sister Valori, and (I wish I could remember his name-he was so nice) the guy who was head of the University of Wyoming Amnesty group...over 20 years ago. I'm not sure why I'm getting to be so blessed to be having all these unimaginable reunions in the last few years. It's indescribable how full these reunions have made my heart and soul. It makes the waiting so much sweeter. This is why I love Facebook and the world wide web. Reconnect.

New Photos from The Pink Cabbage

2011-05-06T14:53:00.036-04:00

No commentary on this post. Just enjoy these photos of updates at The Pink Cabbage...

...thanks for looking!!

I did it!

2011-04-29T19:59:00.002-04:00

This day had "getting nothing productive done" written all over it. Starting with getting up at 5a.m. to watch the wedding. That was a no-brainer for me. I know I could have seen it 1000 times after but only once live. I have a thing about doing things on the day or at the time when it is most significant. I like to celebrate my birthday on my birthday. If there is a scheduling problem, then beforehand will do but no after the fact. It's over after the specific time. Not to say I don't accept birthday gifts that come late but there's not likely to be a party. A silly quirk.

So, after watching all the festivities and a nap, I hadn't scheduled anything else for the day and I was getting that bad feeling of uselessness. Alas, there is always the "bomb" room, my studio, where I can head and at the very least clean and organize. But I remembered that I had been procrastinating about learning how to make my own paper flowers. I've spent a lot of money buying the flowers I use in my art from others by mail. I purchased a machine several months ago which I had taken out of the box and tried once a couple of weeks ago. It was just too easy to purchase them at reasonable prices. Okay, so today I made myself make two different kinds of flowers; this is the second one which means it came out much better than the first. I've watched several tutorials on you tube, studying and doing my homework. On the first one, of course, I didn't do it as they said...dur...that's why it didn't come out as well. So this is just the first of many of my upcoming tries. And it's kind of on the tail end of the rage but maybe not. Cutting edge has not been that good to me so we'll see what happens. Thanks for stopping in!

Fun Spring break but no sun tan...

2011-04-27T19:06:00.026-04:00

I used to think of New York City as lots of concrete and tall buildings. There are a lot of tall buildings but I've learned now, after many trips, that there's so much more like the many parks and gardens dotted around Manhattan. Above is one of the many, many gardens that we saw even in pretty cool weather in April. Another bunch of beautiful flowers in another beautiful park. Funny sign, another example that Texans and cowboys are welcome! Gotta love the Flat Iron Building.

Me and Lady Liberty.

Found Jamba Juice right around the first corner from our hotel. Yep, got to have at least one everyday.

We stayed near Times Square, wonderful all night and...

...then filled with bistro tables and chairs during the day for eating, hanging out, and endless people-watching.

Yep, another Jamba Juice. Hey, I left many JJ photos out of this post.

Would you ever guess this is a Mickey D's? Only in Manhattan do they look like very nice two story restaurants.

I took this during my first cab ride in NYC alone. I had walked Manhattan shopping all day and was going to Little Italy to meet Paul and Matt for dinner. I was totally chill while the cab driver drove 80 MPH in rush hour traffic.

A beautiful painting in the fab restaurant in Little Italy.

We ended up in this particular restaurant, Cafe' Napoli, in Little Italy by way of a pure NY Italian came right up to me on the sidewalk, put his arm around me, and said if we wanted the best Italian food, we should come with him. Having heard that every restaurant around there was great, we went with him...

...and it was one of the best meals we had ever had.

From the outside; as it got cooler they closed the wonderful iron and glass doors but still had the tables outside for the hardier folk.

Of course I knew that NYC was a foody town but we had not spent much time previously working on making the best of that until this time. We went to Greenwich Village to The Carnegie Deli which Paul had said was a classic "must do" (he's from NYC, so he should know).

While there I hear the waiter nearby say Texas loud so, of course, I had to check out the situation. This is a family from Midland who were two tables over. Right there, the daughter coined the term, "Bacon is the candy of meat."!!!! That's what the waiter was announcing to the whole place for historical record. New York and Texas do work well together-they are both so special...one more so than the other...guess which one I choose.

At the Carnegie Deli the walls are covered with celebrity photos who have eaten there since 1937.

Fun and full.

This is the only photo I have handy of the infamous Annex flea market where I've always wanted to go. I didn't have long or much cash but I did very well in this fab silverware department!

The creme de la creme of the trip, our first game at the new Yankees' stadium!!

And they were playing the Rangers! Not that I care about the Ranger but they would have been my choice just 'cause they from Texas. Perhaps I will bore you with the details of how I came to be a Yankees' fan. When I was growing up in Texas all we had were the Astros. Now the Astros got us the Astrodome and Astroturf, but they have never been very good at baseball consistently. I've never seen them win a game and I grew up going to their games (this was before the Rangers). Sooooo I was not a big baseball person plus Texas is mainly a football state. Fast forward to when Paul and I met, him being from NYC and growing up with the Yankees, I was ripe to embrace them.

And, last but not least, a grand view of the new stadium. Great trip. Matt got to be where in the world he love most and we all agree that we love it.

Catching up here and there...

2011-04-25T17:52:00.000-04:00

At some point in your life math stops working. People tell you that things occurred many years before you were even born. e.i., "We met 35 years ago.". And the response in your head is that can't be because I'm only like 28. Then comes, oh wait, my oldest son is 27...mmm...the math is not working out any longer. In any case, I have this photo, above, from my 19th birthday party over 34 years ago (a calculator would be easier). And this is Stephen. I have mentioned him and seeing him on my Facebook wall but this occasion deserves a blog post as well. Stephen was my sister's boyfriend for many years. Our family was very close to him. My parents adored him and visa versa as did/do I. He always and still calls me Baby Girl. I was the little sis. He was there to pick me up after my first commercial airplane flight to San Francisco and drive us back to Pacific Grove where I was going to stay "just for the summer" between my freshman and sophomore year. I fell in love with the Monterey Peninsula, and when I saw Big Sur for the first time, I went home and wrote my parents (yep, chicken shit wouldn't pick up the phone) to let them know I would be staying indefinitely and going to school there. My parents got in their car, drove out to see this place, and also fell in love. It took them six years to wrap up 25 years of life in Bryan, Texas and move to California to get into the B & B business.

Okay, enough...fast forward. We all roamed around for a while (not my parents-they stayed 16 years), my sister and I separately back and forth. But soon after we left Stephen moved to Idaho where his family had a vacation home. He was raised in L.A.-in fact the only time I've been there was to have Thanksgiving with Stephen's family-but needed a change as a lot of us do from time to time. Stephen and our family stayed in touch for many years. In fact, 20 years ago he came to visit when we were living in Wyoming and he was there for a tournament. There's a lot of yada, yada, yada here but, we lost contact. Last December, Stephen's mother passed away and, as usually happens, there were a lot of historical stories and photos circling around. Photos of my sister and I surfaced and caused Stephen to want to connect again. He googled my sister's name and, unfortunately, first came to my dad's obituary. Stephen hadn't know that we'd lost dad and it saddened him. He wanted to reconnect with our family. He called my sister, my mom, and emailed then friended me on Facebook. With grand "luck" Stephen had a training session to attend in Emmitsburg, Maryland, about an hour away. So week before last I drove up there and we had dinner together and it was, big sigh, wonderful. I have been so blessed in the last few years to have had several very long overdue reunions with once-close friends. And it never ceases to amaze me that, even though I realize I've missed these people, when I see them I let myself finally feel exactly how very, very much I'd missed them. Seeing Stephen was no exception. My heart was so full of love for him and soaked up his love for me. Friends are soooooo special, and it's important to keep in touch, but these delayed gratifications are just so sweet and fulfilling too. An upshot to not being able to make sense of math any longer. I love you and cherish you Stephen. I love and cherish all of my friends more than you could know.

Really, Just Let 'Em

2011-03-28T17:21:00.000-04:00

I'm going to introduce you to two of my new virtual BFF's today. The above banner was made by Joosy Card Co. on Etsy. I can't remember how I found her but, wow, she does beautiful, whimsical art. Just got it today and already knew where it was going...the dining room, of course!

We gave Matt a 3-D puzzle of NYC for Christmas and he set it up on the dining room table. It's been there since then. I've been slowly putting my foot down about moving it, getting stronger the last few days knowing I had this beautiful banner coming and wanted to claim my favorite room again. He moved it when he got home from school today. I think, when he saw me putting up the banner, he thought some kind of mutant glitter was going to attack his puzzle.

I do love this room. I call it my circus room. Pale pink and robin's egg blue and lots of frou frou. See my daddy's pool cue propped in the corner? My daddy is in there, too. And so many of my favorite things.

The requisite Alamo that every Texan has to have at least one of, not to mention a suitcase bar.

This new pretty is a chicken feeder that I found at Luckett's. I cleaned it up and put my favorite nest in it and perched it on the cake plate stand that Amy (Inspire Co.) Powers gave me.

Atop is a little pretty from another virtual BFF, Meadow Street. They make the most beautiful ribbon flowers and flower cufflets. They make me swoon...cherry on top.

When I got married the first time, my mom and I picked out the china together. I found a pattern right away that I totally loved. A few days later the store where I picked it out called and said it had been discontinued. I was heartbroken but we found another beautiful pattern that I still love. About a year ago my good buddies from Empty Nest Estate Sales had a sale where there was a set of the pattern that I originally loved. I was so mad at myself when I let it get away but just couldn't pull the trigger at the time for some reason. Soooo, Nene gave me a heads-up that another sale of theirs was going to have another set of the china. This time I scooped it up. After 31 years I finally have the china that I always wanted (at a steal, at that) and I think it comes at just the right time in my life. Anyhoosville, there it is, above in all its glory. I may be fickle about fashion but when it comes to big things, I'm lucky that I know what I like.

Though it doesn't need any embellishing, here is another flower from Meadow Street-velvet-yum, with pearls and buttons and ribbon.

One more fun, fun, happy, pretty is this party hat also from Joosy Card Co. Dolly may have a good head for math but her mother should have told her it's more important to have a head for a party hat, crown, or tiara. I talked her into it and she's on board with wearing it now so I can see it as soon as I walk in the front door.

Just a little close up before wrapping up. Her art gives such a huge, fun lift, and at a great price-you should check her out. No more purchasing posts for a while, inexpensive or not!

Fine Furnishing

2011-03-25T23:29:00.002-04:00

A couple of posts ago I wrote about Janine and I going to Luckett's on a shopping outing. At Luckett's, they have several outbuildings, open to the elements except for three walls and a roof. The above cubby piece was in one of these outbuildings and I was, of course, drawn to it immediately because of the colors and storage potential. I decided not to get it that day -no regrets.

The next week I had to drive through there on my way and back to drop off art for a home sale, Chick's Picks, that I participate in. On the way I thought about the piece and let myself stew. Obviously, on the way back I stopped and it was still there. By then I'd had a few intense days in my work room, made more challenging because of not being organized enough even though I had put in a large piece which helped a lot recently. So, here it is in all its glory. It took me about 30 minutes to fill it up but now my studio is so much more workable.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the final decision was based on the fact that it had been marked down 50% since I'd seen it the week before!!!

After a long comedy of errors...

2011-03-22T11:44:00.002-04:00

This all started several months ago when I submitted many photos, actually and virtually, a long letter, and the gift of one of my mirrors to who I thought was still the editor of Somerset Publications, Jenny Doh. I was following the directions on the submissions page. After a few weeks of not hearing back, I did some probing and I found out that Jenny had left the company. The package was address to her at the company. So I emailed the company to inquire as to where my things might be. I had spent quite a bit of time and money on these things. I didn't hear back. So I waited a couple more months then emailed again. This time I heard back right away from a lovely woman who said she would look into the matter and respond to me. She was telling the truth! A couple of days later she let me know that they had found a mirror with my name on it. I replied that it was to be a gift to the editor and that I was submitting the photos for consideration. She emailed me back right away saying that she thought that they had already published a photo of my mirror under the "wrong name"-I use George rather than Hirschberg as my "professional" name. She didn't say which magazine it was in so I let it go and forgot about it. Coincidentally, I had made an order with Somerset for some art supplies and pre-order one of each of their upcoming issues of two magazines. The package a while but I received it yesterday; it included Somerset Life and Somerset Studio. I love all of their publications but Life and Home are my favorites. I was so surprised to see the photo of my mirror in Life! The photo is unusually taken, in a reflection (pun intended, as I love), but even better because it doesn't reveal my secrets of the mirrors. I have purposely not put them on my blog, Etsy, or anywhere other than in my and Chick Pick's shops because it's probably the only true original idea I've ever had and they do really well and I love making them.

I'd like to thank the Academy and Somerset for appreciating my art. And thank you for looking.

Just 'cause...

2011-03-19T15:04:00.001-04:00

Just 'cause I love this little organ grinder and his monkey and love the special person who gave it to me and I wanted to share.

And just 'cause I made it and I like it and I wanted to share it. Thanks for visiting!

Ode to Black Apple

2011-03-18T12:42:00.000-04:00

Sometime, a couple of years ago, I found Black Apple on Etsy. I love her stuff; slightly dark but oh so sweet. Above I used one of her postcards to embellish a lamp and another for a mirror.

This mirror is embellished with just one of her buttons and, I think, makes the whole thing! Check out her Etsy store by clicking on Black Apple in the above paragraph. Have fun!!!!

Check these out!

2011-03-18T12:06:00.000-04:00

I have been complaining about the clothing options out there lately. It seems like the same, same, same everywhere...until I got a new catalog in the mail. Wow, nextdirect.com , is so fab. Clothes and shoes like I've not seen anywhere else; for women, men, and children. Lots of unique, fun clothes, and...wait for it...inexpensive! Check it out; I am so happy to not be buying all my clothes where I get my prescriptions filled.

Chick's Picks with Hillary

2011-03-18T11:53:00.001-04:00

It's that time again-Hillary is, as I type, having another sale this weekend. Click here Chick's Picks by Hillary is a great sale every quarter at her beautiful home but her's and her friends' (me too!) and a website store. I was there just a few days ago dropping off my wares and snapped just a few pics out of sooooooo many wonderful items!!! Here are some photos for you to drool over. Also check out her web store to purchase anything that you can't live without and other things I didn't have the chance to capture.

Amen.

A huge Angelophile, Hillary had to have the royal couple over for the event and, of course, I had to mug with them. Great show, great web store, great gal!!!!!!

Treats from A Treat-Filled Outing

2011-03-09T15:00:00.002-05:00

These are the photos of most of the treats I got while on my fun field trip with Fran and Nene last week. We went to Luckett's Country Store and the Luckett's Design House sale. The Design is open once a month with the holiday season being the most merchandised but always fab. The dude above came out of the house. You just know the boys are going to find something wrong with him being set up like this in our entryway.

Always have to include the wonderful car headlight whenever I can but the new pieces are by themselves below...

...a repro queen crown and old ??? with an old piece of a birth certificate in the middle.

Great price on yet another clock for my collection...some day I'm going to count them, but,

until then...

It's only been a few days but have gotten soooo many compliments on this bracelet that I got at Luckett's. I made the ring above it by taking an "old" Jill Swartz earring and attaching it to a ring frame. It goes perfectly with the new bracelet. Hammered brass, coral flower, brass flourishes, and "pearls". I unpacked this right away and have barely taken it off since.

Not gotten from the outing, ordered online, is my new computer skin. From The Decal Girl has many looks to choose from and it's really nice. The photo isn't great; the bottom is actually as colorful as the top-just glare from the flash. There's a piece for the top of the laptop and also on that goes perfectly around the keys and mouse inside. You just tell them which laptop you have and which design and voila! So fun. TTFN!!!

Paradise, plastic bird or not.

2011-03-09T14:52:00.000-05:00

My college roommate, Stacy, from now 35 years ago had her birthday last week. She called me late in the week and asked if I wanted to make her birthday even better. I said yes, of course. She said she had a last minute meeting scheduled in Richmond, VA (we've met there before-just under 3 hours from me and an easy drive) and, if she took a vacation day and stayed an extra day would I be willing to drive down and spend a night with her. Durr! Uh, ya. The above photo was taken in the bathroom at a cute little cafe' where we ate. I had to feel it to find out if it was plastic or not, it looked so real. It was plastic but I would have loved to have had/bought it.

We had 24 hours of pure bliss just being together. Doesn't matter when, where, or how, it's just bliss. Ironically, she's been to Richmond many times-me only once before-but she had never had time to see the fun, cool parts so I got to show her. Above we were in, what just might be, the coolest store in Richmond. Yum. I bought nothing! Remember, last week I went on that fun outing with Fran and Nene? I haven't even had the chance to unpack the goodies I got from then and when I do I want to share. Until then, my heart is full, my soul is happy, and I am so very blessed. I love you Stacy.

OOOOOOOh Fun Outing!!

2011-03-06T21:01:00.002-05:00

Janine, Fran, and I went to the Design House and Luckett's Country Store in Lucketts, Virginia as we do every few months. Fortunately we did before know that the Design House is open once a month; heretofore we had thought it was once a season. So off we went on Friday. It's our little everyday (Luckett's Store) version of Round Top. They have the coolest stuff and arrange it in the coolest way. It's very inspiring...so much so that one must take home several souvenirs of the fabulous outing. My wallet is in a cast.

Here are the iron gates leading into the Design House through a barn where there was a mannequin hanging on an old bed spring with some deer to keep her company. They all speak the same language.

Right out of the barn is Cinderella's cab with a twist. I like the cow so much better than, what, mice?

As soon as you walk in the door there is a cue. This line is short now but it gets really long and this was after taking 10 minutes to get into here from the back door which is the next room over.

The rooms are just so dang beautiful...

...all the way through.

Backwards but this is the fabulous wreath on the door to the Design House; didn't shoot it until we were on our way out.

Here we are inside Luckett's Store right next to the Design House. As you can see, they have loads of eye candy, too...

...so there are the photos of where we went. Next come the party pics of what came home with me, but first I have another fun outing to take for the next couple of days so I'll post the treats along with fun photos of my newest outing!

Okay, now we got something to talk about...

2011-02-25T22:08:00.002-05:00

We've hit the big times here! Jody forgot but I remembered that someone from Flea Market Style came to our annual Strawberry Days which is our version of a flea market. We rent out spaces outside all around our shop. Every so often, since June, I would look around and wonder when the next issue of FMS was coming out. The woman made it seem like we were going to be in the magazine. So, this morning when I opened my email, there was an email from Jody saying that we had made the magazine and that it was out. It took the third try for me to find it but, find it I did! And there we were...

...you can click on the above photo to see it larger and look at #9~that's us!!!! It's so fun to be on the map~we are the only ones in Maryland listed! Yep, we are all goofy over it.

I threw in the rest of them just to show all.

From a magazine that gives us photos like the one above. Run, don't walk, to your local magazine stand and get it. Take a ten-spot plus tax, nope, it's not cheap.

And just to make sure y'all understand that I may not have been leaving the house much but I have been "working". Yes, the laundry is done, dinner is on the table more nights than not, clean sheets and towels, bathrooms not quite ready to be cleaned again, so guilt free "work". Above wreath is made with all paper flowers and shreds.

Made a few tin vignettes and candles on stands.

One of the cute candle holders that sits on a stand. I forgot to undo the fancy "do" that I did fooling around with my new photo stuff.

A tin and a candle...girly.

As I was packing up several dollhouse windows and doors to ship to a woman who bought them from me on Etsy, I thought of this idea to do with them. I think it might be an original idea. I got the ATC's from a fellow on eBay, love them, and I like how they came out.

A little close up...

...another close up. Well, I feel better about updating my blog again~I'd been getting some crap but I was waiting for purty pictures like these. Thanks for looking.

P.S. Oops, forgot to add the photo of my inner Debrina Pratt:

Good Shopping

2011-01-20T15:03:00.001-05:00

So the boss of this office where I am today in Bethesda with the great Internet service told me that there is good shopping around here. Something for me to do to kill time (sheesh, I haven't even gotten to Facebook yet). Cartier, Bulgari, Ralph Lauren, Barney's, Gucci. He doesn't know me very well, obviously.

I did need to get out and get real air and see the sun (bonus) and get something to eat and drink. I see Hoochie Coochie over there but as I head for my last choice, Starbuck's, I see WHOLE FOODS. I love Whole Foods; 40 minutes to the nearest one from home. On my way to Whole Foods I see ANTHROPOLOGIE. Gotcha. I broke a world record; I DIDN'T BUY ANYTHING AT ANTHROPOLOGIE~first time ever. Karma rewarded me.

Onward to WF. I know I'm going to get something for dinner to heat up but the deli is the first thing I come to. I got my wonderful salad and juice AND THEN I got the ABOVE. I've never seen American Pie so I don't know the exact context, but I can't decide whether to eat it or marry it. I mean, look at that thing. I've always wanted the classic Cartier tank watch but I'll take a cupcake until then.

From procrastination to fruition.

2011-01-20T12:29:00.001-05:00

Last year I had a difficult time getting through winter especially the one storm when we got three feet. I was more ready this year. Okay, yes, a med adjustment since then but still...and we've only had a few inches at a time. We are supposed to get 1-3" tonight. Don't envy us; snow days turn into extra days at the end of the year. Summer break didn't start until June 20th last year! Okay, off subject.

I purchased a kit from The Pink Studio last year which included this Valentine heart box and little bubble window. I had lost it in my studio for quite a while. I found it about 5 months ago but still it sat right next to me. If you are an artist you will understand this. I just have to get in the mood or the spirit has to move me.

Back to yucky winter-I finally learned that when I'm feeling that feeling if I'll just go into my work room it immediately helps. Most times the first thing I need to do is clean at least enough to make room to 1) get in, and 2)get to make something. I have two desks but I always work on the floor. I'd love to have one of those huge, long tables in the middle of the room but I'm smart enough to realize how blessed I am to have a room dedicated to just my art that I'd never complain.

Once clean, I root around for inspiration. Right now is finishing things or starting things that are ready to go. Short story endless, that's what this was. A kit that I completely revamped with my own paper and vignette inside.

Lest you think I live a queen's life~I am resurfacing my family room floors tomorrow. Balance. Art~Work. Cook~Watch Glee. Laundry~Nap. I still want to earn my keep and be a productive citizen. And make pretty things.

New creations.

2011-01-20T11:51:00.000-05:00

These are just a few new items I've been working on since I haven't had a computer to spend my time on the computer.

Back in the saddle again, kind of.

2011-01-20T11:20:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm trying to get back into the computer. I got a new Apple laptop for Christmas. I didn't know about the no manual thing and, since everything is opposite of Microsoft, I was already having a very hard time trying to figure things out. I finally got subscribed with the Apple tutorial and within a year I should know more than I do now.

So right after I got this new laptop our modem went out-no computer. As soon as we got a new modem, our router went out-no computer. Now we have a new router, the one the "guy" told me to get, and I get the worst reception. As bad as my old computer-like using a Radio Shack desk top. Sooooooo, I am in Bethesda for the day at a place where the reception is fabulous and I'm getting to get caught up on computing. Paul was so worried that I'd get bored but I haven't had this much fun in a long time and I don't feel guilty looking around at the dishes, laundry, and dust bunnies-there are none here. Just me, my laptop, and a 2000 channel t.v. One more post then I'm going surfing...

Only in the name of tradition...

2011-01-20T10:33:00.001-05:00

...would I give up this fabulous piece. I mean, who could? Can you see what it is? It's a female monkey having a baby (you can't tell by the photo but the baby is almost all the way out), obviously without an epidural while the ob/gyn does his part. Plastic monkeys, fabric clothes, all instruments available.

Two years ago a woman with whom Paul has a working partnership asked us to her home for her annual holiday party. We only knew her; hadn't even met her husband before the party.

We were asked to bring a white elephant gift and that there would be a "naughty Santa" gift opening. There were many great people, great food, and drink. We had a great time. AND I was lucky enough to pick number 1 out of over 40 people out of the hat for opening gifts. Well, first thing, I open these monkeys and immediately fell in love with them. Apparently they had been around for many, many years. It was supposed to be a bad gift but, being me, I loved it. The gift-picking rules seem to change every year but the one that sticks is that the person with number 1 gets to pick from all the gifts at the end of the opening. The monkeys went all over the place. In this ritual of rules, many folks can get their hands on your prized item over and over. My beginner's luck paid off and I got the monkeys.

I took them home and put them in the dining room; what a great conversation piece-I mean where else would one put them?

Last year they didn't have the party because Dave (the husband) was out of the country. They didn't get the chance to have it until this year, so I got to keep the monkeys two years! This year was their 20th of having these parties.

When Paul first told me about the party~not until after New Years~I though we'd dodged it again, I put the monkeys under my pillow and my thumb in my mouth. First, I wasn't going to go. Then I was going but not taking the monkeys. Finally I realized that I had to go and take the monkeys; that it was only fair and in the spirit in which it was given.

We had to sneak it in lest anyone recognize the taker of the monkeys, but, no worries since they'd all met us only once. Which brings me to one of the greatest parts of the party. Kathy and Dave have been having this party for 20 years. Dave and Kathy are 50 somethings with, as Kathy put it, three through college and two married. The couple is very high up in their respective jobs and are Country Club Folk. Now I grew up as a country club kid and privileged but don't live like that now or know anyone else who lives like that here. WASPS is what Paul pigeon-holed them as. They are very nice people and so are their friends; we always feel quite comfortable considering we don't know anyone except Kathy. BUT the big thing that impresses me is who attends the party. Kathy points out to us a friend she's had since 4th grade, many since junior high, a bridesmaid, college roommates, etc. This makes me pea green~how fabulous is that!!!! Well, very fabulous in my book; they have stayed friends all these years and get together at least once a year to have a great time. They are all like family; very comfortable in the home and have probably been there during births, deaths, trials, and triumphs. If y'all know me at all you know that's exactly what I wish I had~all that wonderful, constant history.

So, in the end, I realized this and had to honor their tradition of having the monkeys under the tree for about the 14th time. There's a teddy that's been around about 18 years! I came home with some very mediocre items but I felt better and more inclusive because of it. Everyone was so tickled to see the monkeys and the other "traditional" items back. And some new ones like two different banana hammocks. Did I mention this was a classy group? They are so fun and funny. In the end the favorite gift of the night was a "new" one~a fake stuffed parrot on a hanger that said the most crude things, over and over. "Where's my f*&^ing cracker, get my f(*&ing crackers.", "Dickhead alert, dickhead alert", etc. It was hilarious. The second best was also a new one called Mr. Right~a stuffed doll that also said many very funny things like, "Of course your ass doesn't look fat in that.", "No, no, let me do the dishes tonight." and on and on. It was a great night and, yes, I'll be back next year trying to get my monkeys back or at least Mr. Right or that parrot.

On a little blog vacation...

2011-01-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

Just taking a little break since I got a new laptop for Christmas. I needed a new computer badly; the old one was like working on a Radio Shack desktop. I wouldn't spend so much time online if it didn't take so long to load everything. We'll see how I scale back after getting my new pretty. Wadayathink? Yeah, me too-more time, I predict. In the meantime keep yourselves entertained with Miz Juney; she's always good for a smile, a laugh, a tear, and always inspiration for writing and living life with a sense of humor. See y'all soon.

Yes Virginia, I finally decorated the house...

2010-12-25T19:47:00.001-05:00

I'm not one of those people who get excited about decorating for Christmas. I know, hum bug, but not completely. I love seeing how other people decorate and I love looking at outside Christmas decorations. But, as far as my own decorating...I don't know why...I've always done it for the kids, that's about it. To qualify, I feel the same way about all holidays; I don't like decorating for one day or temporarely. I like to spend my money on things I'm going to enjoy all year. And, we trade off every other year; one year I get to decorate and choose the tree, the next year the guys get to choose. So this is my year. I saw an inspiration photo in Pottery Barn in November and I was actually motivated to get going on it. And, I got a real tree, not my usual fake white tree already wrapped in white lights with some kind on monocromatic theme. So, to start, is when you walk in the door on our front table...very flambouant vignette. Okay, it's all going to be "understated".

Okay, this is not an actually Christmas garland but I saw it at Hobby Lobby, loved the colors, and decided to use it for holiday decor'. It's also wrapped in a mercury glass and beaded garland. I might keep it up..

I got this beautiful wreath from The Pink Cabbage. Janet is wonderfully talented at making fabulous wreaths. So are many of the girls at The Cabbage but this one, with the spoons, caught my eye this year. It's on our laundry room door which is in our breakfast nook which is between the kitchen and living room.

And here's the tree. I got pretty dang close to my inspiration picture especially since I bought the banner from them. The guys actually like it...qualifying it as...considering it's my year.

A little vignette behind the tree...

...another on top of the t.v. cabinet...

...and lastly, the little vignette on the coffee table. No, there are no Christmas towels in even the powder room, or lights outside, or a pinch of anything on the mantel. But this is how I did it this year. Simple but we like it. I hope you have all you want surrounding you especially your family.

Cabbage Girls' Holiday Party

2010-12-24T11:38:00.000-05:00

Every year someone volunteers to have our shop, The Pink Cabbage, holiday party at their home. This year it was Daryl, the wonderful woman above.

Graciousness and fabulousness are understatements for what we were to experience as soon as we walked in the door until we reluctantly left.

To say Daryl's home is beautiful is another understatement. This photo, as each photo, don't do near enough justice to how wonderful everything is. Her whole house is decorated to the nines with Christmas everywhere; all so beautiful and stunning.

A close up of her main tree. Wrapped in gold tulle, gold beaded rope, huge silk magnolias, and gold and silver shine and glitter. It looks professionally done; well, I guess you could call her a professional because she could surely get paid to decorate trees and homes!

One of the many vignettes that are all around the house~snowman with candles and holly. It's really impossible to show all the grandness. Next year she should give tours!

Part of the party was to have an ugly Christmas sweater contest. Some of us got really into it; me going onto eBay and buying one of the hundreds offered. I didn't know before that this is apparently a popular ritual as there were so many to choose from. Above are some silly sports.

And the winner was our own ringleader, Jody. Please note the elastic waist on the stretch pants. What you can't see here is her how the pants are above her ankles (part of having them hiked up well above her navel), the white socks, and the white Keds. She looked exactly like someone out of my junior high class. Especially funny for the usual fashion maven.

A good look at Jackie's sweater and what Emma, on the left, thinks of it.

Here's one with me. No way to take good enough photos of my sweater but it has a full size teddy bear, big ornaments, plastic flowers, and light-up lights! It was really something.

Janine and I; Janine in a way more tasteful sweater, me feeling pregnant.

Some of the tasteful beauties. Daryl, left; Nancy, middle; Karen, right.

We also had a "white elephant", "Yankee swap"~"naughty Christmas" gift exchange. In case you don't know, the Yankee swap or naughty Christmas is where you can choose to either pick a gift from the pile of take a gift from someone else who has already opened one. Jody ended up with this super-soft throw which went through...I don't know how many people. They said it was only suppose to be stolen twice but since I broke a couple of other rules that one went out the window too. There was no prying this off her!

And another popular one was what Karen ended up with~hemorrhoid cream and Nancy Pelosi toilet paper!

It was a great night. The food and drinks were wonderful also but the company was the best. Thanks Daryl and all my Cabbage buddies!

Must Books

2010-12-09T21:49:00.000-05:00

These are great books that I've been studying and reading recently. Highly recommended. For art:

For great reading:

This one recommended by Miz Juney. I was afraid of the subject-the big C, but it was really great and non-fiction. I hope everyone has time to read something really good over the holidays.

Been doin', gonna do...

2010-12-09T20:37:00.000-05:00

I've been combating cold weather by making more art recently. Not that I need a reason but it's great excuse. I got the inspiration from the holy grail of inspiration Inspire Company and Amy's wonderful FREE magazine with many, many pages of, well, inspiration. As usually happens when I'm trying to make something like someone else, I got my own spin going on it.

These were fun and I took my time making them since I was doing it completely differently than the tutorial.

This one is a little hard to see as the Frozen Charlotte is very pale but cute.

And a re-worked piece I've had around that needed more fun. I was really busy last week making new things for our open house at The Pink Cabbage on Sunday (wildly successful!) but didn't have the time to take photos. If they haven't sold, I'll add the photos here.

Above is going to be my view for the next couple of days. I'm finally going to get around to listing all the fab things I have from Paul's aunt and uncle's estate on eBay. I did a few a couple of weeks ago, but it wasn't the really good stuff. Today I spent quite a bit of time hand washing many beautiful vintage aprons. Between those and the vintage jewelry, purses, and furs, I hope to make some extra Christmas money by providing gifts for others. It's time consuming so I'll have eBay butt, but with cute slippers and that t.v. will be on.

Also, in the meantime, I've been starting to decorate for Christmas a little at a time. It's "my" year to decorate as I please, which usually means I take out the white faux tree and pink ornys, but not this year. Above is the railing on the stairway and...

...and this beautiful wreath that was supposed to go on the front door but it's been too windy so it goes inside so we can enjoy it.

So this is the look I'm going for with the tree. So far all I have is the Pottery Barn Happy Holiday banners. I'm thinking white lights and some crystal/alphabet ball ornaments. Very simple and classy? Now Paul just needs to find a tree exactly like this...

Memories of cooking...

2010-12-09T18:36:00.000-05:00

This is going to be in "Miz Juney" style of writing only I can't keep up with her much less compete.

Confession: I haven't been a very good home professional in the kitchen in the last couple of years. I think I made promises, which have not been fulfilled, when I got the subway tile in the kitchen I wanted for so many years. I love it. I love looking at it. Clean.

Paul has made his feelings about this known for quite a while; first in passive-aggressive hints, "Is there a plan for dinner?", then, "What's for dinner?", now full-blown, "Where the hell is dinner?". I understand. He works hard all day and provides a lifestyle, while not glamorous, I have nothing to complain about. And I'm at home near the kitchen all day. I do have a small business and work on my art, do laundry, bathrooms (3 boys), floors, etc. But I have more time in the proximity of the kitchen. I've tried telling him that I've been doing this for over 30 years, but it's not his fault; he's only been here the last 15. I'm sick of my own cooking. Can I hear an AMEN Sisters?

The guilt got to me enough where I started out doing better by having Giant deliver the groceries. Then I improved by jumping up from the computer/t.v./art project to thaw something in the microwave and search for a side dish in the freezer as soon as I heard his car drive up.

Recently, however, I've tried to make a real improvement. And it doesn't hurt that Paul, purposely or not, is so pathetically thankful when he gets a meal. I'm not saying I'm Martha. Been there, done that, no medals. But I've been starting to think about dinner before 5 p.m.

Today I thought a little more in advance, something easy but really yummy and I haven't made it so many times that we want to throw up whenever we see it. I'll share it here:

Cheddar-Tomato Pie

2 deep dish pie crusts, can you guess whether or not I make them from scratch? Used to.

1 large can plum tomatoes, peeled and sliced-I use 2 standard cans of stewed tomatoes, drained

1/4 cup fresh basil...yeah, right...sprinkle some dried on

1 cup cheddar or provolone or mozzarella-I use mozzarella

1/3 cup mayo

2 T lemon juice

1/2 cup more cheese

Arrange tomatoes in pie crust in pan and sprinkle with basil. Top with 1 cup of cheese. In a small bowl, stir together mayo and lemon juice. Spoon over tomatoes in pie and top with the remaining cheese. Place the other crust on top and pinch and cut some slits. ****Cover edge with foil and bake at 375 for 25 minutes, remove foil, and bake another 15-20 minutes more or until golden. Yum. Serve with a salad, corn on the cob, and it's a meal.

****This is where my musing started. The recipe said "cover edge with foil". As I was cutting my foil in strips, I thought I remembered buying something from Pampered Chef years ago that was just for this situation. So I go digging around the kitchen and didn't find it. It did, however, remind me of all those Pampered Chef parties I went to when Matt was a baby. Can you imagine needing to get out of the house so badly that...okay, we've all been there. And we had only lived here a few months when I had Matt so I had double the reasons for getting the hell out. Bible study and weekly play group were great but that was during the day with Matt in tow. All those Tupperware and fun wear parties. I went to everything I was invited to. Then one day, the heavens parted and I was asked to my first Bunko party. Oh how that saved not only my sanity, my social life, but was fun~eating and drinking and adult conversations.

Now that our kids are big and busy, we don't see each other, and I miss the camaraderie. Ebb and flow, flow and ebb. Maybe a good New Year's resolution~make real, monthly or whatever, plans with those groups of women. In the meantime, I give Paul 5 more years to collect take-out menus which will be his choices for dinner when Matt goes to college.

Fabulous birthday fun!

2010-11-10T13:39:00.000-05:00

Janine had the wonderful idea for her, her daughter Heidi, and I to go to the open house at Lucketts. Lucketts is a tiny spot just north of great Leesburg, Virginia. The drive is beautiful especially right now while the leaves are changing colors. There is Luckett's General Store which is open all the time and oh so amazing to go to anytime. The open house, though, is only open once or twice a year and last weekend it was for Christmas. It was all decked out in delectable things for purchase. I was pretty restrained but not stupid. Enjoy it from here and, perhaps, you'll come and see it in person next year.

Janine (Nene), my birthday twin and her daughter, Heidi in front of the Luckett's store.

Is there anywhere where cowboy hats aren't popular and fit in perfectly with fab decor'?

Both the chandelier and Heidi are even more beautiful in person.

Here's the fab standing paper lamp that I soooooo wanted. Paul should be very happy and proud that I didn't spend the $350 on it. Crazy, I know, but it spoke to me, saying, "Take me home and love me.". I was strong.

Pink couch...fits in anywhere.

Didn't get the shoe lamp either...I told you-great restraint.

I'll remind you next year ahead of time. Not to be missed.

Some new art work and I really need a new camera!!!!

2010-11-04T13:27:00.001-04:00

Just some art therapy I wanted to share. Sooooo helps! I hope you enjoy.

Visit to Penn State but...best...Bellefonte

2010-11-04T13:12:00.000-04:00

This last weekend Paul, Matt, and I went to State College for a Penn State game. The game was Saturday night but we left late Friday afternoon so we would have at least one day that we didn't have to drive. It's about 3 1/2 hours from here.

Actually we stayed in Bellefonte, a beautiful, small, quaint town near State College. Paul and Matt had attended a game last year during one of my trips to Texas and found this great B&B in Bellefonte. It's a couple's home where they rent rooms during game weekends.

This was a perfect house in a perfect place-I could have moved right in. What a fab getaway.

Here is our hostess, Jill, along with Paul and Matt. What a wonderful, gracious hostess she was. The home, the food, all the accommodations were fabulous.

Jill is a retired school librarian and her husband is an-almost retired minister. Jill is a weaver and a very talented weaver at that. This and several rooms in their home reminded me of pictures of Carl Larson's home...be still my Swedish heart.

One of Jill's looms in the works.

Some of Jill's works of art. She makes rugs, throws, scarves, pillows, etc. All beautiful.

A little close up...

...and another.

The beautiful living room. The house was amazing and I spent way more time studying than taking photos.

The bottom of two separate floors of the same room in the back of the house that have three walls of windows overlooking the most wonderful back yard and carriage house.

Oh yeah, and we went to the game.

Fabulous travel opportunity!!!!!

2010-10-21T17:07:00.000-04:00

Every so often I make a piece of art that I really like. This is one of them that I made today. It was fun. It's going in the shop, but should anyone* out there in cyber world like to purchase** it, it comes with a free, all-inclusive*** vacation to your nation's capital. This offer includes an unlimited stay at a bed and breakfast so warm and friendly that you might think you are at a friend's house. This particular B&B has been rated A++++ by Zagats as one of the top ten B&Bs in the neighborhood of which this is the only one. You will be given a first-class tour**** of your nation's capital and a VIP tour of the White House by a professional artist. You will have some free time, also, to cook for your hosts. Any special requests will be taken into consideration, but don't get your hopes up. This is a once-in-a-life opportunity, so if you think you might like this, don't hesitate-let me know right away*****.

*Does not include residents of Maryland, DC, or Northern Virginia...duh.

**The cost is $45.00.

***Does not include any airline or miscellaneous expenses.

****This is a relative statement.

*****Shamelessly trying to get friends to come visit.

New artwork...some sanity continues...

2010-10-20T15:34:00.000-04:00

I guess my theme is friendship as it just happens and I had a good day today putting these and other things together.

I have several girlfriends who qualify for this but I'll put it in the shop and see who wants to make a favorite girlfriend feel special. Wish them all luck!

Image of the day...

2010-10-20T15:25:00.000-04:00

Just got this back up after having the wallpaper done. For some reason it is one of my favorite vinettes and had missed it. Now it's back up...next are the window treatments...

Yippie!!! New wallpaper!!!

2010-10-16T15:41:00.004-04:00

I've been waiting a looooooooooooong time to get new wallpaper and I finally got it this week. I had the idea and got the new paper way before Miz Juney ever decided to re-do her kitchen-FYI. I had a friend who was going to install it but couldn't bring herself to tell me that she didn't want to do it because it was such a shit job, so it took me way too long to get the hint then I found someone else to do it. This photo also shows the chandelier that we took out of Paul's Uncle Robbie's NYC apartment. It was a very dusty gold. I removed the crystals and spray painted over the dust, cleaned the crystals, and added shades. I love using heirlooms whenever possible.

I was beginning to get really nervous having hundreds of dollars of wallpaper sitting around the house for so long. It was a ridiculously priced job because the most wall in the area-the kitchen and breakfast nook-is a 5 foot wide wall, above and only 8 foot ceilings. The rest is a 3 foot knee wall, a sliding glass door, two doors, two entryways, a fridge cutout, and cabinets- so mainly just soffetts to paper.

Sooooo much expensive paper wasted but there was no other way. OVER 12 YEARS we had the other paper. The new is a beautiful robin's egg blue background which is the same color as my dining room which the paper bumps up against. It also has very similar flowers to the ones on my roman shades in the family room which it bumps up against on the other side. The picture is also from Uncle Robbie's apartment-one I just fell in love with and am so happy to have the perfect place for now.

Here's the old paper. APPLES ON VINES. Very similar to the paper two papers ago in Miz Juney's kitchen. 12 years. That's too long. It wasn't just Paul's fault; I got too used to it too and just didn't see it for the last few years then suddenly I did see it and went, "Yikes!, where have I been?".

Here it is close up. I know, not even really right for 12 years ago. Not a classic design but this is our first house and I made so many mistakes at first; the whole house has been done over at least once but this was wallpaper and wallpaper has to be lived with unless you're made of money. That's why I splurged on this new one-Thibaut-to get a more classic look, hopefully, that will work for a while. The other one was right off the shelf-how embarrassing. I still have to make the new curtains from the same pattern fabric with a yet-to-be-found coordinating fabric. Of course I'll let y'all see!

Ode to Tina

2010-10-13T11:46:00.003-04:00

Tina Wright. I was going through some older issues of Somerset Magazines a couple of days ago and came across an article that Tina wrote, I think, in 2008, about the art in the first photo above. I never met Tina in person. I can't even remember how I got to find out about her Cowgirl Paper Swap, but that's when I first "met" Tina. I was lucky enough to have gotten her, the hostess, as my swap partner. I got a fabulous box full of wonderful and fun cowgirl themed collage art. I have them all over my studio and some here and there in the house. Later, I purchased the above necklace from her through her Etsy shop. It is one of my favorite necklaces, and I have a lot, and I get constant compliments when I wear it. Also, if you read what's on the back, it's very special because of that, also. That was Tina. By now you must have guessed that she is now in heaven. Around this time last year she had been diagnosed with colon cancer and was being treated. She passed away January 3, 2010. She is the one who founded Paper Cowgirl art retreat in Waxahache, Texas. She was also an Aggie, which y'all should know is very near and dear to my heart. She would email me when she'd been to The Dixie Chicken and had eaten chicken fried steak and drunk Shiner Beer. She loved making me squirm!!!! As much as a person can get to know another, and that can be surprisingly a lot, through the inter net, I got to know her at least enough to get a good sense that she was a fabulous person. Her friend, Cindy, continues the retreats which, from the photos, are great and I hope to attend some time. I just felt moved to post this when I came across the photo and article. She still lives on, even in lives she lightly touched, and I believe she will for a very long time.