Happy New Year!

Happy 2010! It seems just the other day we were celebrating 2009 at a friends house eating great homemade Italian food, sipping our stoli doli's and cleaning up barf. Yea, good times. Ms. B had just eaten a hearty portion of gnocci when she started feeling 'funny'. Thank goodness she had enough sense to head to the bathroom where she proceeded to decorate the room with Agnes' wonderful gnocci. Poor kid had a seven year puke-free ride until that night. We welcomed in 2009 and the stomach flu. Blech.

Hopefully this years celebration will be different (oh please let it be different!) Tomorrow we start by saying good bye to my best friends father. A sweet man of 80 years, husband, father, grand father and friend. You'll be missed Ike. xoxo. Then tomorrow night we'll get together with a few neighbor families for a little well deserved rowdiness and fun! Whoo hoo! O.K. so in past years i've made a lame attempt at New Years resolutions (never keeping them) and have decided that this year NO lists of things i'll never do. So this means i get to keep that extra twenty pounds i can never seem to loose and never figure out all the settings on my camera. Catch up on scrap booking? Nah, pressure's off! Become a better wife, mother, friend? Honey, that's just part of everyday growth. Cut back on Diet Coke? Ack! I couldn't be that great wife, mother or friend without it! Don't be silly! Every day has room for improvement, baby steps. Why pressure ourselves to do it all in one big crazy list? I hope this coming year finds you happy, healthy and resolution free! Happy New Year!

Belated Good Tidings!

Happy belated holiday blessings to all of you in blog-land! I just returned from an ultra relaxing cruise with my family and friends. We sailed on Royal Caribbean's "Oasis". Holy moly, this is one big ship! About half way through the trip i was finally able to find my room...perhaps those daily pina coladas didn't help! What ever your faith may be, i hope you spent this season with the people whom you hold close to your heart. Take time to hug your kids, kiss your man and tell your family and friends near and far you love them. Time changes our lives so quickly, don't miss your chance! xoxo

Gone To The Dogs

Hanukkah toys! We love new toys!

Snacks wrapped up in paper rolls? The BEST!

We sit, we stay, we give paw on a regular basis.But we make sure we are really good around the holidays, cuz you know what? We get presents! We LOVE presents!

Strength

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the things you think you cannot do."

- Eleanor Roosevelt-

This lady has the greatest things to say. My sweet man's grandmother and Eleanor were good friends. How i would have loved to hang with those girls!

Meet my leeetle friends

Here are a few of my leeetle snow friends i have been collecting over the years. I love these little paper mache snowmen! Some of their carrot noses and coal buttons have gone missing, but what can you expect when you're pushing fifty. ( There are many days i feel the same way!)
This little man was made in Germany in the 60's. Check out his lil' ear muffs!
This guy is stamped "Occupied Japan" on the bottom. He is probably my favorite...don't tell the others!
In 1959 this was a gift from my mother to my father. He's lost whatever it was that he was holding and his carrot nose has seen a lot of glue. Between you and me...this guy always kind of freaked me out when i was little. That could explain the nose issue!

The weather man is predicting snow for the next two days. Ooh, i hope he's right! I love that first blanket of snow. I know, i know, i'll be eating my words in a month, cursing the crusty white stuff and scrubbing salt off my boots, but for now...

LET IT SNOW!

A match made in Heaven( aka HomeGoods)

You never know where or when love is going to strike. Last year when i picked up my little snow Misses i knew she wasn't meant to be alone. This Misses needed a Mister! Lo and behold last week when perusing the aisles at HomeGoods, there he was decked out in his holiday duds. The perfect match for my Misses! I brought him home to meet the little lady and it was love at first sight. Just look at the two of them together! A match made at HomeGoods.

Happy Spud

Some times you come across something that just makes you giggle out loud. Ms. B was cutting up potatoes for a soup last night and came across this cute little guy grinnin' his silly face off at her! Well, she didn't have the heart to add him to the menu (too cute to eat) however his friends weren't as lucky. They did make a fine soup though. Have you giggled today?

It's Heeere!

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." (insert happy little holiday dance here) The glittery pumpkins have been put away, the fall wreath is off the front door and the twinkly lights are fired up. Everybody stand back cuz momma's getting her Holiday on! It can't be helped, i grew up with the Queen of Christmas. If it wasn't nailed down, it got decorated. If two trees were good then ten would be better! I have a lot of the 'i can decorate that' gene in me. However...we need to slow down and take a deep cleansing breath here, ready for it?...i don't decorate for Christmas! (audible gasp)! I know, are you O.K.? It's really not that bad. Really. Twenty-some years ago i met and fell madly in love with my sweet Jewish man. From that point on i knew i had to make a choice as to which side of the menorah i was standing on, and ,well, you guessed it ...it's the 'Festival of Lights' Gaia style! I still need to get my fill of Christmas finery, so we take our annual light tour through other peoples neighborhoods and i get my fill. I've been collecting snowpeople for years so this is the perfect time to break them out and decorate for the season. So many Hanukkah decorations are themed with blue and white, so i expand on that a bit with silver, turquoise and LOTS of glitter! Lucky girl that i am i have a very understanding sweet man. Every few days i'll share with you a different part of my collection. Bring on the twinkle lights! Let the festival begin!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving friends! Hope you enjoy this day filled with good company, good food, good memories and most importantly...PIE!

Lil' Get Away

Chicago skyline

Window at Tiffany's
Those yummy waffles. MMMMM
Giordano's deep dish pizza

Last week sweet man mentioned that he had a meeting in Chicago and would i like to come along for a long weekend. The words were barely out of his mouth and my bag was packed. My niece so sweetly came to stay with the girls and pups, and we were off! Not only is Chicago one of my favorite shopping destinations but also a great place to gain an easy 10 pounds (great idea right before Thanksgiving, right?) We stayed at the beautiful Peninsula Hotel, right off Michigan Ave. A hop and a skip to all fine shopping. Been there, shopped that. O.K, let's talk food. I'll only drone on about my top three meals. Breakfast at the Peninsula was dreamy. I was torn between the banana's foster french toast or the waffles and the waffles won. Three belgium rounds, one with cranberry chutney, one with orange zest mascarpone and the third with candied walnuts. Amazing! Our favorite lunch has to be pizza at Giordanio's. Chicago is known for their deep dish pizza and i think this one has to be our favorite. Deep and cheesy with a bready crust, but barely greasy at all. Yes, you do feel like you've eaten a football when you're done, but worth it. And finally dinner. For ultimate atmosphere and romance the winner is...RL. Oprah loves this place too. It's something like walking into the library of a country house...fire place, paneled walls and ceiling, books and paintings galore. If you go, reserve a corner booth. It gives you a great people watching advantage and you can snuggle with your hunny in those cooshie Ralph Lauren pillows! Oh yeah, the foods great too! Best place to put your weary shopping feet up and have a cocktail would be the Bar in the Peninsula. Grab a couch in front of the fire, order the chips and dip (really) and enjoy one of their signature martini's. We were two of a million people who caught the "Festival of Lights" parade down Michigan Ave. Mickey was the grand marshal and 'lit' all the trees along the street. The weather was beautiful, the company divine and it was great to get away with my sweet man.

Temptation

Does someone at the Dove factory know me??? Oh i gave in,believe me, i gave in!

Gaia Friday(even though it's Tuesday)

I'm feeling just a step behind this week. I meant to post this on Friday and here Tuesday has snuck up on me. I've been nursing a sore tooth that turns out, after a trip to the dentist, needs a root canal. Oh, the words 'dental work' fill me with pure terror. Let's not talk about it...any hoo, i hit a great estate sale on Friday. The weather was beautiful and the prices amazing. It really gets to me when the people running these garage and estate sales get all jiggy with their pricing. We're talking used stuff. Not museum quality collectables nor ebay where prices are driven by demand.(O.K. getting off my soap box) I've been looking for a small laundry basket to keep in the laundry room and i fell in lust with an industrial looking one i spotted in Martha's magazine. When i went on line it was $77 plus $22 to ship it! Yikes! So when i saw this basket for $10 at the sale, i knew it was meant to be. I did the 'woo hoo, i just snagged a deal' dance (yes, i have a dance for everything) plus i added to my button obsession and found a darlin' mirror. Oh, and let us not forget the awesome tray or this amazing moth pin (i do like my bugs) Thank you lovely estate sale lady : ) How was your day?

New Kicks

Nothing puts me a my happy place quicker than new shoes. Just look at these babies! They're shiny, they're leopard print and they make me TALL! Take a moment to join me in a little number called, "Happy New Shoe Dance" (doing the dance) Wasn't that fun? How was your day?

Just Hanging

This is what we do when we think no one is watching us: We sit on the furniture we're not suppose to, we make plans for what to do with the hole we're digging under the lilac, we take naps in the sun spots, we devise plans for all the missing socks we've been hoarding under the bed and we BLOG! It's good to be the dog : ) How was your day?

On The Nightstand( next to the chap stick)

I could spend countless hours at our public library, they give you books for free! (you're expected to give them back at some point, but still!) I always walk out with more books than i can carry or have time to read. Cook books, craft books, gardening books, always something in historical fiction. The mouldering old librarian there has given me the bad eye more than once when she see's me come in with my Whole Foods grocery bags to carry my books home. I just finished another Kate Morton book, "The House At Riverton". She has a beautiful way of painting a story in your mind, full of mystery, secrets and people you wish you knew. By the end of the story you feel as if you were parting with dear friends. I think this one of two books she's written-i hope she keeps them commin'. Whats on your night stand?

Doodle Gets a Doo

Our Labradoodle fur baby Rylee, who is 5 months old, was beginning to look a little like Chewbakka from Star Wars. As cute as she was it was time for her first big dog grooming. I've tackled the dog grooming thing before when we had an Airedale (he looked more like the 'Alf' character) and didn't do too bad, but i didn't know where to begin with all this puppy fluff. So off she went to the local groomer and three nervous dog mom hours later (she's just a baby!) she emerged from her make-over looking so grown up! Rylee has the most amazing glam eyelashes! They must be 2 inches long. We're suppose to trim them but i can't bring myself to do it! She's such a Doodle bug!

Funky Armoire goes Glam

That funky little number that i picked up last week makes her debut after her make-over! After sanding her all down to get the gloss off (lets not talk about the red paint dust i blew out of my nose...ew) i gave it a heavy coat of Kilz. Then a coat of semi-gloss white, polished up the mirrors and replaced the knobs. I really wanted vintage looking glass knobs, but with 8 knobs at 4.99 a piece...thats half the price of the armoire! So, off to Target for a pack of 10 for 9.99. Let's say it together, "value pack". I stamped 5 of the knobs with Staz On in jet black(great for stamping on almost any surface and smells yummy) and glued big 'ol buttons to the other 3 and...ta-da! Cutiful storage. Can't wait to load it up with junk! How was your funky day?

Happy Haunting!

Bwahahaha! Happy Halloween! The wind is howling and the leaves are dancing to an unheard melody down the street. It's almost the witching hour, are you ready? I'm preparing to send my flying monkeys out into the night to do my bidding...O.K., really my motivation is CANDY! Send my children out to neighbors houses to bring home goodies for mom. It's the most wonderful night of the year!!! Dibs on the Almond Joy! Bwahahaha!

F.O.T.D. (find of the day!)

Salvation Army comes through again! Find of the day...funky armoire! I've been looking for a storage solution for my crap room, and today i found it. I think it must have been a child's armoire from the size of it. My sweet man and i dragged her in the house, bumped her down the stairs and showed her to her new room. It's hard to tell from the picture, but she's bright red. I can't wait to get her out of those carnival rags and into something dreamy and creamy, polish up her mirrors and add some glitzy new hardware. Great fall project! For some reason iphoto keeps turning my picture on it's side. Just tilt your head to the right and imagine...How was your day?

"Housekeeping Made Easy"

This morning i ran over to Sal's to drop off donations. I couldn't leave without a quick peek inside. Of course i found some treasures...a small milk glass egg cup, a sweet little tea cup, cute bird cage, black dress for Ms.A's vampire costume and this helpful book. It's from 1943 and called" Housekeeping Made Easy" Here are some of the gems i found inside: "Bathtubs can be cleaned beautifully with cleanser mixed with a little benzine or gasoline" yeah, gasoline. This one is really sweet, "Put a drop of your favorite perfume in your personal ink bottle or fountain pen. It gives a delightful scent when the letter is opened" Awww. And then there's this, "When your daughter's rubbers are too short for her, make sandals of them like those mother wears." Okie dokie. My favorite ones are the beauty tips, "To clean gold teeth, scour with prepared chalk, and polish with a piece of linen" Yup, got to keep my gold toof shiny! It's amazing how many of the tips really are still good idea's and some are just weird! How was your day?

Happy Gaia Friday!

In the tradition of Gaia Fridays it's time to craft! Today while i waited for an installer to put in our new dish washer drawers (very cool by the way!) i put the vinyl rub-ons that i picked up at homegoods last week on Ms. A's wall. They were super easy and fun to do. Check out the before and after pics. Cute, huh? I also sewed up two little pillows. I love the look of burlap, so i stamped with fabric paint on the burlap then sewed these two little sweeties together. I love how they turned out. I would whip up a few more but maybe you can have too much of a good thing...nah! How was your Gaia Friday?