Catching up here and there...

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

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

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...

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...

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!