Maria

Maria is my friend and masseuse. I met her several years ago at Massage Envy. I asked for a deep tissue massage and got her one day. She's one of the best I've ever had. She knows my body well. But we are also sisters of the heart. She's from Mexico and a religious person like me, though not of my religion. She has 2 daughters who have given her 2 grandchildren.

Maria is lovely and has a gorgeous and sweet heart. Her life has not been easy and she suffers from depression. But I loved her from the first massage. She's intuitive. I tell her what's hurting and she fixes that hurt. Once I told her I was having a problem with my stomach I believe it was as that was several years ago. After she did a special thing to my stomach, it wasn't hurting! She is truly amazing. She is one of the most amazing women I've ever met and is in the top 5 of best masseuses I've ever had. All five I speak of are great, but in different ways. I don't think I could get through some days if I didn't treat myself to regular massages.

Maria is working at another place now and I'll follow her. She wants more freedom to use oils and such but also other techniques she likes to use. I'm excited for her. If you've never tried massage, I recommend it highly. I feel so much better after having one that I feel like a new person.

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A beautiful display of flowers from a lovely balcony.

I love the tablecloth draping on the floor. Sometimes I think I'd like one to drop to the floor but I love the scroll of the legs of my dining table and the claw foot at the bottom so much that I'd hate to cover it up though.

The white flowers I find stunningly beautiful amassed together as that. I don't know what kind they are as I'm pathetic at horticultural names. I once read a book about a landscape designer with 2 boys and her boys knew the Latin names of all the trees and flowers instead of the popular names. What a treat to be taught by a mother like that!

A heavenly haven for a walk or picnic or just to sit on a bench in here from the sun.

I love these old tins and the glass bottles of soda pop. I got one recently at World Market with a rubber top with wire that can be snapped back on fizzy or carbonated drinks. I love it for my Henry Weinhard's Roob Beer, the very best in the world!

A simple contrast in whites in this light-filled kitchen.

This reminds me of a Mexican restaurant in Old Town San Diego we used to frequent. We loved sitting under banana leaves in the hot sun and eating.

A most striking table setting with fantastic pink roses and stemmed glassware.

Another sweet getaway in a home where pink is a favorite color.

While this room looks more like something a man would like, I find it very appealing to my sense of aesthetics.

That white curved sofa is gorgeous!!!! I'd love one like it.

Cute wire basket with six places for glasses filled with roses. I wonder where these can be bought. I'd love to have a couple.

Another dream kitchen with lots of fabric embellishment along with pretty things strewn around the kitchen counter tops and island.

Oooooh, my! Yes, it's a beautiful hallway with beautiful rooms off the entrance to a lovely home.

Some woman has taken some lovely jewelry and made it into...whatever this gorgeous thing is called. I don't know, but it sure is stunning.

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Tidbit:

More than half of all doctors in Finland are females.
[I once read Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. In that book he told how women are encouraged to become doctors in Russia because it is considered a second-rate job and very low paying, extremely low paying and not prestigious at all. It's a tough book to read but I recommend it.]

Lunch with th' Girls

The winner of the giveaway was Jeanne of Backyard Neighbor. Get in contact with me, Jeanne, and I'll get it off to you asap.
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Three of us girls went to lunch the other day. We aged from 50 to 70 years of age but we still consider ourselves girls, just with more experience than 16 year-olds...well, most of the time. ;-) We had a wonderful time. I've not been so picked-up and jazzed in a long time and definitely needed it and so did each of them due to family matters.

We went to a very small girlie cafe in our small downtown. It's a boutique kind of place where they sell cutesie items, have tea, breakfast and lunch. We closed the place down. They're only open until 3pm and we noticed them bringing in the table and chair from the outside in as we sat near a window, so we thought it was time to go.

 The food is very good and the atmosphere is like your grandmother's dining room. Soft lighting, different tables and chairs all around, tablecloths on some tables and privacy.

We each talked about home, hubbies and kids a bit, what's going on in their lives. One woman's hubby is just out of a serious physical problem and getting back on his feet. One woman, whose hubby is a pediatrician and the bishop of our ward talked about her upcoming events—sending a daughter off to college— and wondering what she can do to keep herself busy when the next two leave home, which will be several years yet till the youngest is gone but she's planning for the future, which I think is a good thing. Some women are lost without their kids. I'm not one of them; I enjoy the freedom of being with Love Bunny more than anything since we got pregnant within 2 months of our wedding. We've always had kids! ;-) I love them and the grandkids and great grandkids, but I love my hubby more and want to be with him more.

Then we got to talking about books. Well, that took up about an hour and a half as we're all voracious readers. We each had recommendations for the other so we'll see how they like some of the books I read. All-in-all, a very relaxing, fun day for all of us. We've committed to try and do it once a month. Maybe add a 4th person, maybe not. We'll see.
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This would have been a great place to lunch also.

The flowers would have pulled me in, but the ladyfingers were a plus on this one.

I love the color of these flowers: periwinkle. I've always loved blue, but not as much as pink.

I know, I know, you want this backyard. So do I! Beautiful.

I'll bet none of you know what this is. Well, I'm here to tell ya! It's a fortune teller's hut. Isn't that interesting? I find it adorable. She even has her wood stacked outside. What a lovely place. I'm betting it's in Romania though and not the U.S.

Gorgeous pale pink roses.

A neatly organized kitchen sink area.

You want atmosphere? This woman got it with no trouble at all. Even the building adds to it with the crumbling stone walls.

This little ottoman reminded me of Mary Kaiser ottomans. I've always loved them, just didn't know if I wanted to spend the money to buy one.

I have some of the fabrics pictured here. Maybe I'll make my pillowcases instead of buying them. These certainly look cuter than the ones I buy. Actually, I'm sitting on a pillow case I made from a beautiful toile I bought from a place in NYC, online of course.

Can pin cushions get any cuter? I have one someone sent me as a swap gift years ago. It's a sugar bowl actually and decorated darling and I do keep my craft pins in it. This one I love because of the fabric in the cup.

Forget the beautiful chest and cabinet, I'll just take the pies. I love pie!

A cozy place to relax.

Lacy cupcakes!

I do like this space but it was that lamp that drew me in. I love those kinds of lamps for reading and crafting. I have 2 pink ones. One over my sewing machine and one on my craft table and they give the greatest light that can be directed just exactly where you want it. I don't know if they make them anymore but I sure would like one for a floor lamp, just exactly like this one but on the floor for my reading. I use a pharmacist's lamp now and it works well, but nothing like these old lamps from the 70s.

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Tidbit:

What do you call the noise your epiglottis makes when it flaps? A burp.
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Linking up with Pink Saturday.
 

Train Compartments

Just a reminder that I'm having a giveaway. Go to this post and see what I'm giving away and follow the instructions for being eligible to win. I'm doing the drawing this coming Tuesday night and will announce it in the post for Wednesday, June 19th and will announce it then.
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My hubby is a great train enthusiast. He's extremely knowledgeable about trains also as that's his hobby. He can talk for hours to friends about them and his train layout in the 3rd car garage. I usually have to rescue them after maybe 20 or 30 minutes.

The train dining car equaled some of the best restaurants back then. They served on white plates with the train logo, crisply ironed brilliant white tablecloths and napkins. The decor was lovely and you were expected to mind your manners perfectly. I actually loved eating on the train. Always had wonderful meals and rolls and all kind of drinks and the waiters were especially nice. They wore white gloves and had white towels over their arms. Very nice men.

I've never seen a compartment like this. Perhaps it's on a foreign train. It just doesn't look like any we traveled on.

This was an upscale room—2 beds with a dresser and a bath, tiny, tiny bathroom.

This could be a club car. I see more tables at the other end, but sometimes there would be a car where you could go to smoke and just have a drink and perhaps some snacks. Those were called club cars and men would have a card game going most times.

This looks different from any dining car I was in, especially with the men looking like they are foreign. It could be an Asian train of some kinds. Just the food and setting looks just a bit different. Oriental Express??? But it is gorgeous.

This was probably a lower priced suite. The seats folded down for a bed and the top compartment above the orange sofa folded down also. And you have a little dining table if you didn't want to leave your train car.

These look more European because they had private room for train riders, instead of one long car with a large group of people all sitting in one big car. I'd love this feature. These afforded you more privacy and less noise with little kids running up and down the aisles.

This might be a European train dining car. I don't think we were ever in one that was this luxurious with posts and such. But ours were very lovely.

Some of them would even have showers on them. Now, these showers were so tiny only one person could get in at a time and the water didn't flow heavily but if you felt dirty after traveling a few days on a train it sure was exciting to be able to refresh yourself with a shower! It looks like they slept up high on the bunks, but there were always ladders to help you up.

This would have been my favorite way to travel but we never had a compartment like that. Gorgeous.

This was how my grandmother and I traveled. I really believe I was her favorite grandchild. At least, she told me so, made me dresses, let me visit summers and let me travel with her. I couldn't find a good photo without the logo on it so I hope I can use this. But we'd get in the beds, one top, one bottom. I think I got the upper once but I can remember both of us sleeping in the down compartment sometimes. I was a princess being treating by a queen. She was so good to me. I know she loved me a lot and I can hardly wait to meet her in the next world. I really loved her and my grandpa. We'd put our purses and clothes in a little stretchy rope thing by the window. And we never got treated improperly by any one else in the other compartment beds. We sat in them during the day, then at night the porters would come around and fix them into the beds. I simply cannot tell you what grand times we had. My grandfather worked for the railroad so she got free or very cheap fair when we traveled. Like I've said before, my father was overseas a lot so my mother and my brother and sister and I went to live with them in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky when we were young until he got through with that tour of duty overseas. I had great fun and the happiest times with my grandmother that I'd ever had.

What a lovely bed with wonderful pillows, spreads and comforters.

I so adore this little cabinet. I had Love Bunny working on one for me for our bathroom. I nagged, tried to encourage him for 2 weeks to get busy on it. It's done now and I've told you the story. This one is definitely adorable though.

Though this photos isn't the best, the kitchen area is cute. I just love people who do pink and not worry about what others think. ;-)

There were some days I'd spend on the sofa when I was pregnant. I wish my home at that time would have been this inviting.  We lived in USMC quarters. However, as nice they were—and we considered ourselves very fortunate to have those quarters—they never had any style to them. However, I loved living in them because we were in close proximity to other women who shared the same lifestyle we did.

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Tidbit:

The heart of a blue whale only beats nine times a minute.

A blue whale's testicles are the size of a family car.

A Weddell seal can hold its breath for approximately eighty minutes.

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A "Spa" Day and Retail Therapy ;-)

One Sunday recently I didn't go to church. My stomach wasn't feeling all that well so I stayed home. When hubby got home, I lamented about aging and the "not feeling so great" days we endure. He tried to cheer me up with a kiss and hug but I needed something else. So I told him if I was feeling up to it the next day, I was going to Sephora and getting my face made up. (I was and I did!) I also warned him it wouldn't be cheap. He knew that!

The little sweet young woman helping put on my new face was a cutie, and that always gets to us older women remembering how cute/pretty/beautiful and tight-skinned we were 50 years ago. But I truly don't lament the aging process that much. I know it's inevitable for everyone on this earth. Facelifts? Not for this woman. When they sag, it's an overnight/all at once thing for them. I want it to take years for people to get used to seeing me age, not one day looking old and the next looking like a Hollywood hag with slanted eyes and puffed-up lips.

So I got a wonderful moisturizer called Ole Henriksen, Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation, Stroke of Light concealer, 2 brushes, shimmering lip gloss, a free sample of eye lash injection (???) mascara and 4 free samples of Coach Poppy and Coach Poppy Flower perfume (smelled wonderful!!!). May buy some of it; it is that great. And my daughter has a number of Coach purses and loves Coach.

I didn't particularly see much difference except my dry skin felt wonderfully moisturized and under those harsh department store lights we all look horrid. But when I got home and hubby came home later, I asked him how I looked. He said, "Great." He's such a good liar. ;-) But I felt better all the way around just being pampered for an hour and a half, plus spending a chunk of money to the tune of $176.00! Retail Therapy? You bet! And since the first foundation she picked out to try on my skin didn't look good to her or me, she had me wipe it all off and started again with another brand. (I had heard of makeup called HD and Forever Makeup and wanted to try that but she said it was too drying for my skin. Knowledge she had but I didn't.) I couldn't have done that if I had bought what I thought I wanted, brought it home and didn't know how to apply it properly. I probably would have just have stuck it in the back of the cabinet and not used it ever again. She was free and experimented with different things. I liked that and absolutely felt pampered. No manicure, pedicure or massage could have done what she did. And I'm worth it! :-) Well, I think so.
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This is simply a gorgeous room and looks so clean and white. I, however, need some color in my rooms. But I still love this room!

A sweet idea for an Easter wreath, but I think you could leave it out all year round, especially in your house.

I like how the owner has a window and shade at the end of her table. It looks like she's delineating her dining area from her living area. Quite fanciful. I do that with lace curtains and love that look also.

Isn't this a sweet room for a young girl? If I had a little girl now, I'd try to replicate this Princess room for her. My daughter, however, is 51 years old! Hmmmm, she still would like this room I think. :-)

Another way to separate a dining area from another area: beautiful vintage doors. Of course, I'm lusting after that ruffled tablecloth!

An absolutely gorgeous dining room with pale lavender walls, blue and pink accessories. Beautiful!

A sweet painting of an English thatched roof cottage.

Beautiful dining room with a harlequin design painted on top and a saying on the side. Chairs are gorgeous also.

While these are pretty to observe, I'm not sure I'd want to live over water. Are there fish in there? Is it damp and smelly to the homeowners? Looking through the upper windows though it looks lovely, but why are there some serious bars on the first floor windows on all these buildings? You can just barely see the bars on the left window here.

What a lovely setting of table, beautiful old chair and basket to hold roses.

Speaking of roses, could it get much better than this gorgeous vase and dozens of roses? WOW!!!

Darling, darling, DARLING tiny potting area done right.

I think I've been on a dining room kick lately! Another beautiful one.

Now, is this a house on an island with only this bridge to get to it or is it there as another entrance? Cute though.

This is another look at a house I've shown earlier that had this little sitting area off the kitchen. What a lovely house. I think it must be in another country though, perhaps Australia. They have beautiful houses over there and some of the most amazing light.

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Tidbit:

12 nations have trillion-dollar economies. So do 3 US states: California, Texas and New York.

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