Pink Paint and Roses

The first week of the New Year!

I feel like a stranger here anymore. No time to write, not much time to visit either. I miss that.  Life is becoming very busy again now that I'm back to work. As much as I loved staying home I think I have a tendency to get a little depressed, well maybe not depressed but I definitely isolate myself a bit and that gets lonely. Now that I'm working again I am much more social and am seeing friends that I hadn't seen for months....or even a year. My husband told me last night that my 'confidence' is back (didn't know it was gone') and that I have my 'old swagger' back (like John Wayne?) Anyhow, whatever this transformation is, I like it but I do miss my time here with you, my blog friends.

I appreciate all the nice comments you left when I announced that Kate had got married. She read them as well and cried. I still have all the comments and am trying to send off a personal note to each and every one of you.

Lots of fun things going on at work, spring goods arriving almost daily, the Xmas stuff almost gone. With Valentines Day just around the corner we are busy little bees preparing for the onslaught of harried men looking for something special for their ladies. Yesterday almost all of our guests were purchasing Spring silk arrangements and wreaths, lots of pink! Probably had something to do with the weather, it was a balmy 64 degrees here, not the norm for a January day in Chicago! Looking at the calendar we are only about 11 weeks from April 1....gosh thats a good feeling. In dog years thats like 2 days right ????

I have been on my job now for about 8 weeks and last weekend was offered a promotion! I am soon to be managing both of their shops, not just the one. I am very excited about the possibilities here. I love the owners and am flattered that they think so much of me to offer this opportunity. Not only will we  have the two shops but will also operate a kiosk for a 3 week period for Valentines Day. There's also word that there may be a third shop in the wings and I've already been asked to help get that up and running when its time. It just gets more and more exciting all the time! There is more but I will wait and share that when the details are finalized. All I will say is that these ladies that I work for are movers and shakers and every week they share some exciting detail of what lies ahead.

Here is part of my head vase collection sporting some of my hankies. I think that the idea came from an old Mary Engelbreit Home Companion magazine. I just love these head vases, there are more but I think you get the idea. This is such a great way to enjoy my pretties. 

Last but not least I am putting together a giveaway. It is in celebration of my blogs 1st birthday! I can't believe how many nice people I have met here and yes, I do think of you as friends....some people think thats weird. We share so much of our lives with each other, we pick each other up when we're down, we laugh, we cry, we share so much...how can we not be friends!  And so dear friends, all you have to do is leave a comment on my next Birthday blog and you'll be entered.  Look for that on Thursday, ok maybe Friday with the pace of my life lately.

Have a great week girlfriends!

New Years Eve and .......

Happy New Year! Well I told you I had a sneak preview as to what was in store for 2008 and here it is....

My daughter Kate got married! It was just announced about a month ago. She and Jim  were engaged last Christmas. I had mentioned on the blog that they had a breakup back in the Spring but they reunited shortly after that.

Neither is one for big fanfare and just wanted to have a little gathering of close friends and family. Jim's family hosted the party and we all had a great time. It was symbolic to them to get married on New Years as that was the 2 year Anniversary of their first date.

They're young but very headstrong and chose to do this their way. They remind Mike and I a lot of ourselves, marrying young and very unprepared, BUT you learn, you learn very quickly. Their love should carry them through the rough spots and we all know they will have their fair share of them but that happens regardless of age and preparedness.

We love you guys-be happy!

Next wedding October 11-Sarah and Mark

Hope your Holiday was Merry!

I hope that everyone had a great holiday! We were bustling about til the last minute and everything was super! We had the family and our dear neighbor here and ate til we popped! I was in Paula Deen mode and made her fabulous Coconut cake and a Chocolate Creme de Menthe cake, all triple layers. They were a big hit!

We played Scattergories after dinner and laughed til our jaws hurt! Some of the answers were a direct result of food coma.....since when is 'herb' spelled as 'erb'? We laughed for ten minutes about that one. It was a great day for all!

These are my girls hamming it up for the camera. Sarah is on the left and Kate on the right. 

I have in usual Lisa style, stripped the house of all Christmas decor and am in the process of restoring order.....gosh I always need order going into a New Year. I guess it's a sign of having a clean slate for whatever the New Year brings. I have a sneak preview of that in a future post so be sure to come visit me again on Monday.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

2nd post-a few other things I wanted to show you

I have found some really nice keeper's for my cottage these last few months and wanted to show you. I always love to hear your opinions.

First here is the lampshade that I got from Ebay seller Lampgirl12 aka Missy, it came by way of my pal Chris. Anyhow Missy makes lampshades and will even use your fabric or frame. She's terrific and very reasonable. The lampshade just happened to match my curtains and I had to have it!

Then there's more storage solutions....suitcases!

 

...reminds me, I need to paint that chair!

Then there's the parakeets that look like my Laverne!

Then there's a growing collection of vintage hats, the millinery flower in the center was sent to me by my lovely friend Clarice which really made it special.

 

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Trying to organize my little space

I'm sure that you all have this problem, not having enough storage for your 'stuff', your endless supply of paper, the little millinery flowers that you have vowed to use in a project for the last year and a half, the buttons in every shade of white, pink and green, the ribbons that slither out like hungry snakes every time you open the box. Well I found a new piece of furniture to house them. This was found at a thrift, the price was right and I saw flashes of the 'Where Women Create' book coming to life in my own little space!

The front panel on the right door was damaged so I tacked some vintage wallpaper to it. I hand tore it and then ripped at it a bit til it looked like it might have always been there...Looks ok right?

The wallpaper is really pretty but very fragile.

I'm going to dress up the interior as well. It's awfully dark in there at the moment.

I'll show you more when it's done.

Now if only I could cover this unsightly office chair. Anyone know of any pretty covers for these hideous things? I've seen the ones for armless chairs but nothing for armed chairs. Write me please, please, please if you have a source.

So much to tell you!

Let's start with a big resounding HAPPY HOLIDAYS! to all of you! I guess we are all officially in the planning and shopping phase of the season...whether we like it or not. We haven't had any snow here just yet, well maybe a flurry, but once that first snowfall comes it will feel like a lot more like Christmas. I'm not sure how you girls in Cali do it....without snow I mean. I'd actually love to hear how you get yourselves in Christmas mode without it.

Onto so much to tell you....I have a job! I'm working at a beautiful boutique that just opened at the nearby mall. It is independently owned, not a chain and is bursting with gorgeous treasures! It's a garden shop, lots of fresh flowers, iron arches, cement birds, etc. All of todays pics are courtesy of the shop.

 

The owner is a lovely woman with great taste and the shop is a total reflection of her. Isn't this tub of ivy and roses the greatest!

 

These potted flowers are actually glass ornaments!

Lots of luscious flowers! What a great way to spend a day, surrounded by beauty and actually getting paid for it!

 

This was my 1st attempt to make a hand-tied bouquet, not too bad but needs some tweaking.

Lastly, thank you for all the inquiries and kind notes about my little Piggy who was a very sick girl. The Doc ended up doing surgery on her trachea last Friday to try to open it up. We brought her home late Saturday and by Sunday evening we were resigned to the fact that we would have to let her go. It just wasn't fair to watch her suffer. Her breathing was real wet and both eyes were almost sealed shut upon waking for all the discharge. All she did was lay around and wouldn't respond to us at all.

Monday morning I started work and had planned to call our Vet when I got home. I walked in and there she was greeting me at the door, weak but there she was! Tuesday morning she was showing somewhat perky behavior and yesterday evening she was running around the house chasing our other dog and begging to eat everything in the house (hence the name Piggy) and acting very spoiled from her last 3 week ordeal of the trachea/pneumonia ordeal. Miss Piggy has decided to hang around awhile, probably heard us talking about Prime Rib for Christmas Dinner and doesn't want to miss any morsels. We are thrilled and so grateful for all the good thoughts out there. Thank you again.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Two days to go and so much to do. There are Ebay packages waiting to get to the post office, house to be cleaned, last minute groceries, etc. I guess we're all in the same boat...not the Mayflower.

Speaking of the Mayflower, have I ever told  you that my brother-in-law is a direct descendant of a passenger on the Mayflower? I thought that was pretty cool. My oldest daughter researched his name and it comes up often in history books...and it actually is mentioned several times in reading about the Salem witch trials. And there it is, BIG NEWS, you'll sleep better tonight knowing that. LOL

UPDATE ON PIGGY:

Piggy went back in the hospital yesterday morning after a very scary night on Sunday. I slept on the couch with her for fear that she might not make morning light. She did but she's a very sick little girl. I had posted a few days ago about her having pneumonia and a collapsed trachea, well the combination is very bad. I spent the morning in tears praying that it wouldn't be Piggy's last day with us. I kept thinking about some very good advice that I received once about how you know it's 'time' in an animals life, and that was that when they stop doing their favorite things, you will then know. Well Piggy wasn't interested in two of her faves, eating and going for a walk...but her third favorite is cuddling and she wanted lots of that and I was happy to oblige. I think I need it worse than her. Does 2 out of 3 count?

Our wonderful vet met us in the waiting area, took one look at her and shook his head. He led us to the back and told us that this is a very critical time and that he wanted to perform a procedure to try and draw some of the mucous out which will help her breathe better. At first I objected as he had said last week that he wouldn't put her under anesthesia due to the respiratory issues with pugs and Piggy's was already compromised with the double whammy of pneumonia and the collapsed trachea. He said it would be a light sedative and we had nothing to lose at this point. We agreed. It's still a wait and see situation and I won't know more til this afternoon. God willing, she'll enjoy a bit of ham with us on Thursday.

I don't expect to have a minute to blog before the holiday, so I will leave you with this....

This Thanksgiving, I have a list of things that I am thankful for:

I am very thankful that Piggy is fighting. 

I'm thankful that my daughter and her fiance found a house that they love.

I'm thankful that I keep two sizes of clothes in my closet for fat days.

AND

I'm always thankful to have a great family and a ton of good friends, all of you included.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

Greetings Earthlings!

I adore lawn ornaments but this is ridiculous! Look at the size of him next to the house....he's enormous! Seriously, he's not really a lawn ornament, he's a mascot and is stationed just outside a gas station in Wilmington, IL. Should they ever want to give him up I have a place for him in my backyard. Guaranteed that the neighbors would love it! 

I've Discovered Etsy!!!!

Yesterday, I discovered Etsy! Oh yes I had been there before but that was a long time ago. I was so excited about all the great handmade items that seem to have made for me..or at least for people like me. If you are just starting your Holiday shopping you might want to check them out.  I bought myself a little something too....I mean how could I not?!

This is the piece that I treated myself to. She's called Tiny Skater and was made by Rhea at Sweet n Shabby Roses. She also sells on Ebay and has a blog. Go check her out! Gorgeous vintage'esque holiday fare!

Then I found Berry Lane. What great prices on pillow covers! Lots of altered treasures too! Website and blog.

Before I go, I wanted to share this one too, Little Pink Studio. This Etsy seller offers all sorts of awesome items for all you altered art gals! If you want to see what she's up to, visit her blog. Check out her pink and aqua valise gift idea for your altered artist. She will actually fill them with goodies in the theme of YOUR choice! What could be better!

Love these Fleur's!

Ladies, start your holiday shopping! Only 38 days til Xmas.

oh poor ailing Piggy

First order of business is to thank Mary and all of you for the warm birthday wishes a few weeks ago. What a nice surprise to see my birthday announced on kind Marys blog. What a wonderful person that lady is. I can't imagine how much time and effort it takes to do nice things for EVERYONE like she does.

It was a good day! I woke up to find cards and gifts all over the kitchen table...nicely wrapped I might add.

The hat box was a gift from my husband and inside....

all wrapped in vintage hankies (he did a fab job but raffia? to tie them up?) were these...

FUN, FUN stuff!

We had a nice leisurely day and went to a few antique shops that I like and finished off meeting the family for dinner. All in all it was a great day!

This is Piggy and she is ailing.

 

I've been busy taking care of my sick Piggy this last week and a half.  I had told you that my daughter Sarah had adopted a puppy from Animal Welfare right? Well turned out that Charlie had kennel cough and then Piggy started coughing. Off to the Animal Welfare Clinic we went to get her meds, we went there because they were familiar with Charlie and would just give us the drugs and off we'd go. Well thats the problem...that is exactly what they did.

Two and a half days later poor Piggy was worse, lots of respiratory noises, slime out of her nose and eyes, lethargic, etc.  We took her back again and they took xrays and diagnosed her as her virus has turned into pneumonia. Ok, so more meds and back home. After a full weekend of her condition staying absolutely the same we rushed her off to our regular vet, this man is a saint! He will and has done house calls for us and works til late at night if needed. I thought to take the xrays that the clinic took and he had a look at one and called me in to see what is very obviously a collapsed trachea, with the pneumonia being secondary. She stayed overnight at his hospital to start antibiotics and that gave Doc time to think about what happens next.

Apparently collapsed tracheas are a condition that happens to smaller breeds. The normal 'fix' if you will, is surgery but NOT for pugs. Pugs have very weird respiratory issues and anesthesia can be deadly to these guys. Doc says NO surgery. We are trying out some drugs to help the secondary condition, pneumonia, which will hopefully alleviate the first condition. Doc says that he is cautiously optimistic'. She can't wear collars any longer, nor take walks as she struggles with her breathing. We think that if the pneumonia clears up and it helps her trachea problem then we shall buy her a wagon and pull her around. Unfortunately if it doesn't....well I can't stand to think about that right now.

I've been around the blogs this morning visiting and see that a lot of you are getting ready for the holidays. Everyones blogs look so festive! I added my little greeting that I won on Isabellas Closet blog just above 'Email Me' on the top left. Isn't it wonderful??? Ya know if you need a little 'something-something' to jazz things up please go see Mary. She makes the prettiest web art!