My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Sugary Eye Candy and A Newlywed Story for Pink Saturday 3/31/2012

Just to let you know that if you're seeing two different fonts on here today, so am I. No clue what is happening but I'll figure it out later. If it ain't one thing, it's another, as they say.
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Welcome once again to Pink Saturday brought to you by Beverly's blog. Just click and go to her blog to see all the pink participants.
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Back in the 1960s we lived in Oceanside, California. We were newlyweds and quite poor. It would be a magnificent day if I received a letter from my mom with two dollars—that would be about fifteen dollars in today's money—in it. But I truly look back on those days with fond memories. Another blogger evoked those memories on her blog not too long ago. I hadn't thought of those days for many years. And that brings to mind a story.

We first lived in a trailer, which was on blocks in a very neat and orderly "neighborhood" of trailers on the USMC Military Base of Camp Pendleton. It was one bedroom, if you could call it a bedroom and actually quite nice. It was small—about the size of a small camper— but immaculately clean. When I had our first child we then moved up to a two bedroom trailer and felt like we were in heaven with all the extra room. After our son was born, we moved into base housing—called Sterling Homes— in the town of Oceanside. We had a 2 bedroom, first floor apartment. It was furnished as we had nothing but a crib, clothing and dishes. We had two children, only one car and were fortunate when it ran. I have no pity at all for people who complain they have only one car. My hubby drove the car to work; I did the shopping with two kids in a stroller and walked about a mile to the local Vons grocery store. But if I was real lucky I could take a bus or hubby would drive and shop with me sometimes after he got off work. I said "No pity" and I meant it. Try doing that today.

In those days there was a truck that came around; actually, there were two trucks that came around as I just this moment remembered the second one. The first was a bakery truck from a LA-based bakery called Helms Bakery. This is a photo of that coach, as they were called. I loved that truck. As I recall, you could just step up into the coach and get your items and put them in a paper bag. It also sold cigarettes and at that time hubs smoked; however, I've never smoked and am glad of that now. (He hasn't smoked for 30 years now and I'm glad.) But they sold all the items on that coach on credit. You just signed a receipt, no credit cards in those days as I recall, and paid when payday came around. It saved us from starvation many times. Not only bread was sold, but pastries, my favorite sweet.

The second truck was a big ole lumbering truck with fresh vegetables, fruits, candy and other things that actually eludes my mind now. It had fold-up sides and he even carried a hanging scale to weigh the produce. And it also took just a signature to buy something and pay it off on our paydays. The man who owned that business was Mexican and he had a service that few people had in those days, but he was valued in our neighborhood, let me tell you. That truck also kept us from starving a few times. Okay, so we weren't truly going to starve, but it sounded good in the telling of this story. We've been incredibly blessed in this life. Always enough food and always enough money to survive. That's a great blessing
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This is a very brave color to use and I love it. That living room is about the size of mine. Small. Actually, mine is probably smaller than this room.





Can you really believe a polka dot Aga stove?!

Isn't this lovely in blue? Just a sweet setting.

Organized perfectly in my opinion.


When I saw this pink door I started thinking about painting my front door pink. It's red now and I am wanting to repaint it a vibrant red, but I just may opt for pink instead. We'll see.

I'm not fond of carnivals or amusement parks but this merry-go-round is stupendous.

I like pink and white stripes but I can't even begin to imagine the amount of thought and measuring that went into this bathroom wall decor.

Definitely my kind of setting.

Oooooh, yesssss, white fluffy clouds in a pink sky.

Love this studio also. Awesome workspace.

Can you imagine these colors in a cottage by the seashore?

Another awesome blue vignette.

I have a hook that is very similar to this piece of jewelry.

I'd never thought of painting my hutch pink but this one inspires me! I think I'll do it this summer.

Weathered doors are always great eye candy. Just a certain patina to them that draws us.

My embroidery thread never came on tiny palettes so beautiful.

While some people may like this look, I think I want a more polished look in my bathroom furnishings.


Another stroke of genius in the color department. Gorgeous!
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Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents or parents had a different word for burger flipping: They called it opportunity. Both of my kids did it as teenagers, besides working at a drive-in theater, and they are both huge successes today. It gave them character.
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Photos courtesy of tumblr and pinterest.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Trash Talk in Today's World

I recently was looking for some carafes on the internet for a luncheon I wanted to give so I perused several websites finding them. In my search I found one that offered mugs with what I consider filthy language. The mug was stamped with "Have a f*ing good day". There were other mugs with trashy talk on them also. I was stunned because this is a very popular store—both at malls and online. I'll not be shopping at any of their stores again. We don't use that kind of language even though it's commonplace among adults and teens today. We're pretty clean mouthed and I refuse to talk trash even if most of the population does. It's getting ugly out there! What is happening to decency any more? Someone has to stand up for right and tell people they won't tolerate that kind of language. Hubby did.

Back when we lived in California, he was working with a man who was a customer of hubs' large computer related company. The man called him one day and started spouting obscenities. Hubs warned him if he uttered one more obscene word, he'd hang up on him. He did and hubs hung up the phone. The customer called the head of the company and complained. The head of the company came to hub's office and tried to get him to call the man and apologize. He refused and said he'd quit before he would do that. The customer must have been informed because HE called hubby back and apologized for his language. It just shows you how they realize they're in the wrong. But hubs will not tolerate filthy language around him and will walk out of a conversation that includes it.

Stand up for right!
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Off my soapbox so on with looking at delicious pictures.

See how those little hanging lanterns teamed up with a lace tablecloth can make a delightful tent for an afternoon, either for you or the little munchkins.

That BoHo look again. I'm not a devotee of it though.

I like this little pink tin and have looked all over the internet trying to find one with no success. If you know where some are, please let me know. I think they're adorable.






This is an adorable living/family room.


Another "cool" looking living room. Looks like it might be in Florida because they have a lot of tile floors there. Californians like their carpet!

Another innovative tent hideaway. How do they think of these darling ideas?

If I have stairs, I'd do this exact same thing. It's darling with that shelf displaying what would be empty space in most homes.
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Stiletto heels meet the legal definition of a lethal weapon.
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Photos courtesy of pinterest and tumblr.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Birdhouses

I love birdhouses. I mean little birdhouses I decorate. I love doing that above all else. While crafting is a passion of mine, I don't do it as much lately as I'd like. But I've got a plethora of little birdhouse just waiting to be made into delicious little eye candy for my home. So I've posted a few cute ones here to show you. These are not ones I've made but I found on the internet. But I had to give this post a name so don't even complain to me! ;-) Enjoy all the photos, chicks.

I wish I could find some of these cute chairs for a good price to put on our patio. I have the clunky white resin ones with the high back. No pizzazz to them.




And some sweets for you to drool over.

A delightful setting with more of those chairs I like.


While I love these colors and this room, I seriously doubt I could live with such a busy wallpaper.

Mexico has so much bougainvillea growing wild it seems a paradise. Actually, it is. One of the things I love about Puerto Vallarta is its lusciousness of bougainvillea and hibiscus. This reminds me of the wonderful memories we have of going down there many times.




This sure brings a new meaning to red, white and blue. Just gorgeous and in no way Americana or old fashioned.


Just where do people find these darling bowls?


I'm pretty sure this is just another view of that streamside studio that is all over the internet, but it truly is a little dream cottage.



Life is not fair; get used to it.
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Photos courtesy of pinterest and tumblr.