I'm thankful that Thanksgiving is over and we're ready to begin CHRISTMAS! Next year, we're grilling for Thanksgiving...thanks for the subliminal suggestion, Tom!
And I'm thankful for my sister-in-law, Melany, who hand painted this superb wreath. It's one of my all-time favorite Christmas decorations. The colors are vibrant and it's such a happy decoration. I've had the wreath forever and I adore it!
What's your favorite Christmas decoration? Do you decorate early, or wait until it's closer to Christmas Day?
Happy Thanksgiving Day, dear family and friends.
May you have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving Weekend.
Have I ever told you the story about the eyelash caper in the grocery store?
No?
OK, here we go...
I was standing at the deli counter in Publix, minding my own beeswax and trying to decide which processed meat I was going to buy for my family's lunches, when I felt a tap on my shoulder.
I took a deep breath, swung around and yelled, "Whatdayawant?!"
Not really.
Turning around, a woman who was slightly older than myself (she could have been younger, but I'm a terrible judge of age) said to me, "Excuse me, but your eyelashes are so long! Do you use mascara?"
I replied, "No, lady. I'm blond with no visible eyebrows and black eyelashes are my natural color!"
No, I didn't really say that...but I thought it.
My reply: "Yes, I do use mascara."
She said, "Oh, your lashes beautiful and long. I would love to have my eyelashes look like yours. Would you mind telling me what brand you use?"
So I said, "Lady, you barely have any eyelashes at all and no mascara is going to make those skimpy lashes long. Accept that fact and move on!"
Ummmm...I didn't say that.
What I said, was: "Maybelline Colossal Mascara, in the yellow tube. Try it, it's my favorite mascara."
And she said, "Thank you."
By this time, my fake-processed sliced deli turkey was ready and I moved on to the produce section. Bagging my apples, I felt a finger tapping my shoulder. So I turned around and yelled, "Whatdayawant?!"
It was my lashless lady again, with 3 packages of Maybelline Colossal Mascara in her hand.
Oy vay........
"What color do you use and do you prefer the regular or waterproof?" she asked.
And I responded by hitting her upside her head with 3-pounds of apples.
The End.
She's a shameless hussy! The dog, not Grandma.
I normally wouldn't talk about the silly dog two blog-posts in a row, but the apron I want to show you is missing its divine little pockets and any filler on this silly blog will do.
And the filler I usually turn to is BB, the hussy-dog.
BB loves Grandma. A LOT!
Here's why:
Really, who would turn down a belly rub?
Certainly not BB!
Before: scraggly, uneven, overgrown, wild.
After: neat, even, tame, BLONDE!
She came home feeling pretty and sassy...and really, don't we all feel that way after having our hair done?
Pretty girl. She's the sweetest!
And she loves me.
What a sweetie of a calendar!
It's going to make you smile...babies do that, ya know!
Some of the babies are children of our clients. Some are the babies of the staff's friends.
The babies are as cute as cute can be!
Everyone needs a calendar...all proceeds benefit the Women's Help Center.
The Center is a beautiful place...come and visit us, take a tour and discover the miracle.
Calendar...whhat a fabulous Christmas gift!
Christmas. A baby, His mother and a wondrous miracle.
To order, please call:
904.398.5143
American Veterans: every branch, rank and generation...
Thank you!
I love this photo of my mom. Her posture is so casual, comfortable, natural. I believe she's at a fort of some kind. This would have been taken in the '50s, I think.
Mom had four of us rowdy kids...three boys and a girl.
Some facts about my mom:
- she's very smart
- she can make up delightful children's stories
- she's very artistic
- she has a keen sense of humor
- she loves her family very much
Happy Birthday, Mom.
We love you...I've decided to keep you!
If you're a sewer, you need to trot over to Izzy & Ivy and enter their giveaway. Let me tell you, they are some very talented pattern designers. And they're giving away 4 bundles of 3 patterns...you figure that out.
Seriously, it's a charming site and the patterns are so lovely. Have fun looking around and tell 'em that Patti sent you. And they'll say, "Who? I don't know who that is..."
I'm famous that way.
I'm birthday-challenged. I have a very difficult time keeping track...and it's no different this year.
Seeing that I'm 3 days late, I'd like to wish this lil' lady a...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
It's been a very good weekend in oh, so many ways!
First, the temperatures have fallen to the mid-fifties and I don't have to tell you how incredibly happy this makes me. We opened all the windows, letting the chilly air permeate the house. We slept with the windows wide open, snuggling in at night and letting the chilly night air waft over us. It was glorious!
On Saturday, we celebrated my Mom's birthday and Jason's Dad's birthday. They share the same birth date, November 9th. Jason made steak on the charcoal grill and we had a fun and happy birthday celebration.
Today, our good friends Mike and Pat hosted us for a lovely dinner in their new home. The food was delicious and company, even better! And any day that I don't have to cook is a glorious day!
And finally, last night, the time turned back. This makes me so insanely happy...when we wake up, it's light outside. In the evenings, it gets dark earlier and that means one thing:
...I can put my jammies on at 5:00 PM and not feel guilty about it.
And that, my friends, is a very good thing!
I found this fabric the other day and I instantly fell in love with it. It's my great find...it'll be another four years before I find a comparable design that I love so much. It doesn't happen often, but when you find THE fabric of your dreams, your world screeches to a halt and all you can do is admire the cuteness of the design.
The skill of the sewer has nothing to do with the finished product...it's all the fabric, man!
When you walk the fabric to the cutting table and women stop you in the aisle, exclaiming the charm and sweetness of your find, you just know you've hit it out of the ballpark! When the lady at the cutting table asks what you're going to make with the cute fabric, you clam up and you don't really want to share your ideas...because it'd be like giving part of your heart away. To share your dreams for the fabric would be akin to sacrilege. No, a fabric like this you treasure and look at for a few days. Then you wash it, iron it and timidly cut into it.
Oh, the possibilities! The charm...like stepping back in time.
We're talking about Miracle on 52nd Street...June and Ward Cleaver...A Christmas Story. And be it an apron, table runner, placemat...it just speaks Christmas. The good ol' days. Childhood. Innocence. Simplicity.
Stay tuned...I'm not sure what I'm going to make with the fabric, but whatever it is, it's going to be supremely cute.
Christmas is coming, my friends! I'm hoping for snow...
Miniature fabric bags. It's what's new and trendy for Christmas.
That's what I'm going with...
I stumbled upon the pattern on The Happy Zombie's blog. Ms Zombie posted how her cute pattern was to be published in Better Homes and Garden's Quilts and More Fall 2010 publication. Naturally, I just had to buy the magazine. I turned to page 16 and found that the instructions are free on the online sister-site of the magazine. I hate it when that happens! No matter, there are plenty of other wonderful inspiring projects in the same magazine issue. This little bags measure 4-inches by 4-inches by 2-inches. Two fat quarters and you're in business to make 4 little bags! I added some interfacing to make them sturdy and stand on their own.
The bags are fun and so easy to make. I have several in Christmas fabric, Halloween fabric and everyday, cute designer fabric!
These miniature bags adorable! What, you may ask yourself, would you ever use them for?
I'm going to use them as gift bags. Let's see...you could put a jewelery box in it, a lovely box of chocolates, rolled finger-tip towels to be placed on your bathroom vanity, a gift card would be lovely in a fabric bag...
Or let a little girl use the miniature bag as her Christmas purse, stashing her little brush and girlie treasures in it.
Jason's going to use these to put gifts in, for the girls in his office. He's not going to personally carry a tiny bag, as he'd look silly with a such a small bag. No, I'd make him a much bigger bag if he ever needed a cute bag...
So there you go...if you like to sew, go visit for the free project.
If you don't sew but are interested in some for Christmas, just holler.
I'll be making a lot of these little darlings!
