Pink Saturday 8/30/2008

I'm doing this post early (thursday) because we're going camping. I'm just so excited you can see the bugs in my teeth from the grinning!! Maiden voyage of the hubs new popup camper. Just tooooo excited for words spending the weekend with the bears, freezing temps, mosquitoes, portable toilet (j-o-y !!) and maybe ever a skunk or two. Whoooooo knoooOOOOooows?!?!?!? ;-)

I was sitting here today wondering just what I was going to post for Pink Saturday and went out to pick up the mail and LOOK what came in the mail today from my sweet friend, Bertie!!! She truly has some of the most fantastic stuff for incredible prices that you should really check her out. Just scrumptious! A tea cozy, a fan, some roses stationery and the biggest bar of french milled soap I've ever seen! I just love this chickee and will forever.
Isn't this bracelet beautiful?!?!?! I cannot describe to you how lovely it truly is. If you want to know who did it email me because she doesn't want advertisement. She's a special little huney to us also. ;-) Please enlarge to see how beautiful her silk ribbon roses really are. That's a decoupaged button in the center. Just exquisite!!!

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Just a thought.

There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Of course, we have special events in our lives, but ordinary days need to be celebrated also. You have power over your daily life; no one else. What you do with it is entirely up to you. Celebrate even the mundane daily tasks. As I've said before, I like to putter. For me that can be taking apart a sock drawer and weeding out the socks with holes in them to discard or the silverware drawer and cleaning out the little crumbs that get in there. It can be re-arranging my office or a shelf in my office or living room or just the pictures and "fluff" on the wall. It can be "seeing the room with a different eye" and thinking "Ah, yes, I can do "this or that" there and a little "tweak" over here. It can be draping a beautiful silk scarf over an end table or coffee table or dining table. Little things make a difference. Whatever it is, look at it differently!
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Mantel Arrived

As most of you may know I post ahead if I have a few minutes to sit down from doing all the things I won't get to finish in my lifetime. Sometimes I'll get 2, 3 or maybe 4 or 5 ready to post for future posting. This one I am actually putting together on wednesday, August 27, 2008 but it won't be posted until 2 days from now - the 29th....MY BIRTHDAYYYYYYYY!!! Now how many of you celebrate the "old" birthdays? I do. Not in a glam or glorious fashion with presents although I do get them from my ebay friends, who treat me waaaaaaaay toooo special, but I love them no matter what. My ideal celebration is dinner OUT! We eat out a couple of times a week anyway but I just want to eat out on my birthday and come home and be with Love Bunny all to myself. I love getting older. Love it!!

Two women were over last night from my church just visiting because they've never seen my home and one is a blogger and has seen it on line but not the actual inside. They were very complimentary and just in awe (meaning "wonderment") looking at the real thing because we ALL know pictures never do something justice. But that's neither here nor there today.

We did talk about getting older. One lady was 73 - near my age - and the other one was early 30s. Each of us said that getting older was not a problem for us and we just loved the "wonder" of aging. Quite refreshing actually to admit it. But we were of like mind on the issue.

Anyway, on with the mantel post. Yesssssssss, it arrived today - wednesday - and I had the FedEx man just "tip" it in the doorway since we know they don't like to bring things in but he probably would have since it was so long and heavy. Once inside I could push it and then open the box and carry each piece out to our back yard to spritzzzzzzzz with my spray can of white paint. It was primed, thank heavens. So here's the first view of my new focal point faux mantel!!! Squeeeeeeeal. How do you like my "painting are and table"?? LOL

I'm almost embarrassed to show you the back yard grass and this area because we've done almost nothing to the yard out there but MOW. It's just too hot in this desert to work out in it but it's starting to cool down and we're going to get some stones for that area in the lower left of photo. That will extend the patio a bit and solve the problem of grass just not wanting to thrive in that area. Hubs also needs to weed and feed the back yard. Our front looks like green velvet but this out back is becoming MY EYESORE!! But I wanted to show you how the star jasmine is thriving there. It's got shoots up twice the original height since we planted it about a month ago. I just love it.

Old Post on Living Colorfully

I've realized that when we have a lot of posts that the older ones don't get perused much after....oh, say, 10 or 20 posts and I have almost 400 so you may not have seen or read this one. But some of them are noteworthy. This one goes back to June of 2007 and I think is noteworthy to repeat. So if you've seen it sorry........just read it again for a reminder of beautifying your home office.

When I talk the talk, I walk the walk so to speak. I cannot tell other people to do this or that if I don't do it! But I always practice what I tell others when it comes to decorating. I love color as you probably know by now. In my kitchen, living and family rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, office - everywhere. So this tip is about your home office. For so many years people thought that their office or computer room had to be utilitarian and boring. Not so today. Femininity, softness and genteelness has entered into our everyday existence in the form of lovely offices. Mine is truly a shabby, chic, girly office. Here I've got a pale birch file cabinet in which I have my household accounts in the top, but the bottom drawer is for my personal files. Again, the file folders are pink and purple No need to have those old green or manila ones when these are available. Then the envelopes also can be colored as seen here. I used pink and purple again, but they come in other colors. Then my daughter bought me some beautiful file folders with roses and strawberries on them. I adore them. So pretty to look at and colorful yet utilitarian. Live colorfully!!
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Crafting Today

Love Bunny made a decorating suggestion. Yesssssss, he did!! Now, he truly could not care any less about how I decorate his castle. That is NOT an exaggeration. He truly doesn't as long as it makes me happy. That's his aim in life - to make me happy because when mom's happy everybody's happy. :-) Anyway, he thought the print over the sofa that I got (see it here), should go over the new mantel. And I agree with him! Sooooooo since I'm kind of in limbo today about doing anything but getting ready for our camping trip for the labor day weekend (yes, I'll take my camera so you all can see the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho - gorgeous) I thought I'd do something creative for ME!

So I didn't have anything to do except craft. I got this little vintage drawer at a yard sale about 5 or 6 years ago and haven't done anything with it yet. So I've decided that it should go over the sofa.......with a bit of frou frou-ing up, of course. This is the inside (front). I've put little hangers on the back as you can see in a couple of the photos.

I've gotten this far using snippets of vintage laces, trims and roses tacks.

I also thought of doing this little bottle rack. It had 8 bottles when I bought it and sold 4 of them because it was a bit difficult trying to get the lower bottles in and out. So I sold them separately and put a little pizzazz on the bottom shelf and the other 4 bottles on the top. I'll be selling this on my selling blog, la maison rose, so you might want to check it out if interested at all.

Surprise from the Mailman

I absolutely never ever expect something unless I've ordered something online and am always surprised and overwhelmed and humbled when I receive a present in the mail. If you don't believe me just ask hubs! We are not a "gotta buy a present for someone" family unless it is grandkids and once they reach a certain age, that's it. Just best wishes or a phone call to let them know we love them. I have all I could ever need and a pretty good percentage of all I would want. ;-) If it's pink and has roses then I want it usually. Hah. But anyway when I got the mail today a package was in the mail also. Not expecting anything that size in a Priority box (I am waiting for a new ethernet cable and keyboard from Apple, but they don't ship USPS usually.) so I was a bit surprised and perplexed as to who would be sending me something. I opened it up and immediately spotted this beautiful paper and knew I had to photograph it. Isn't it pretty? Then I unwrapped it and saw this adorable pillow from Vickie (she's in my ebay group and we just love her to pieces!) and just squeeeeealed with delight!!!! DIVA?!??! You betcha! A shocking fuchsia pillow with matching feather and DIVA on it! I AM a Diva!!!!

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Wylde Woman award from Shannon at Paint Mine Pink. This chick is one of my favorites because of the "tea parties" she has with her son and the sweet things she does for him. Plus her cupcakes are adorable! ;-) She brightens my day far more than I brighten hers, trust me! I wish we lived on the same continent but it's hard to get her to move over here..........hmmmmmmmm, would a free meal for a month do it, chickee?!?!?! LOL The wildest thing I've done lately is take the hair off my legs with Nair! Ouuuuuuch........that reeeeeallly hurt! I think I'll shave them next time or just not wear my hot pants!! Hah......... ;-)