Let it begin...and Père Noël

I have to confess,

decorating

for Christmas is truly my favorite part of the whole event!

(this is news to you I'm sure!! )

Let the decorating begin!

For some unknown reason it begins at the mantle in the kitchen...

this year I made little pots of boxwood tied with grosgrain chartruese bows...all nestled among oodles of silver and gold beads....

simply divine me thinks!

It is such a beautiful Sunday here ~mild and pure sunshine~ that I'm off to the woods to gather some different pines to bundle and hang here and there!

Just a little shout out first for

Père Noël!

A new sign I've listed on ebay for a little French Country Christmas!

...you can see more of him here.

Au Revoir sweet bloggers!

¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ paula

Never been much for

Black Friday, and I'm guessing if you're reading this you aren't too. I do have a childhood memory of one Black Friday my parents ventured out. But it wasn't to buy gifts, it was to purchase a new oven. That was the year Mom burnt the turkey, and the oven along with it.

We woke up to smoke alarms going off at like 6am..

that was a Thanksgiving to remember!

{we can laugh about it now}...

I guess there simply has never been anything I wanted, or I wanted to give so badly that it warranted getting up at the wee hours of the morning, getting into a cold vehicle and joining masses of strangers at a store. Nope, nothing, never!
Now if by chance this particular item was a Black Friday special ...

say...70% off....

"Magnificent stone built villa with small seaview on a closed
Alpes Maritimes 06, Provence-Cote-dAzur
€1,900,000"

...well...
THAT would be a horse of different color!!

happy bargain hunting to all!
¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ paula

Today I am one!

It almost slipped by...I almost missed it.
Today is my One Year Blog Anniversary!
It has me contemplating how wonderful this little,
{ok..not so little} blogland is.
I now have 200 friends that I didn't have one year ago...200! That's alot by anyone's definition! Friends that stop by my place or I stop by theirs and send words of encouragement, words of laughter and words of praise...all so important in our human lives.
This morning PJ sent me an email to let me know about Cathe's (Just Something I Made) little blog "friendship graphic" she made for all to share...isn't it so cute!

and about EdieWadsworth’s post about blogging freinds... two very worthwhile reads!

Thankyou PJ!

Leaving you with two Thanksgiving funnies....I think they are for womens' enjoyment only!

A wonderful, family filled Thanksgiving to you all!
¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ paula

46 years ago today...and, 2 weeks later

You may have noticed, or you may not have,

I'm a bit of a

'quotaholic'

(a word that is not even in the dictionary, yet.)

On this day in 1963 we lost a man who not only inspired a nation to
look foward,
but spoke so eloquently about it that we commit his words to memory.


I grew up with his portrait hanging on the wall of my parents home, often gazing at it in awe of his handsomeness, never knowing till many years later why my mother had so proudly hung this man's picture.

Every year, at many Thanksgiving gatherings around the country, his words are repeated as families and friends offer a toast or a prayer
before they share their meal.
They are as meaningful today as they were then.

So take this toast with you on Thursady, wherever you gather with those you love...

my Thanksgiving gift to you, so to speak.

Oh, and two weeks later? I was born.
¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ paula

Lunch with Anthony Bourdain and .... being Thankful

Yesterday I had the most wonderful lunch..

(panera bread butternut squash soup!)

while watching my favorite bad boy

Anthony Bourdain

tour Venice, Italy.

(you thought I really had lunch with him didn't you?)

He lunched with artist Geoffrey Humphries after touring his studio.

Below is a photo of darling Georffrey in his studio...

how cute is he???

His studio overlooks the Giudecca Canal

(a well-known centre for music and the arts)

where he teaches courses on painting and life drawing.

He is also an accomplished blues guitarist, and spends part of every year painting and exhibiting in the Deep South of the United States - New Orleans, Charleston, and Savannah.

well, I noticed that Geoffrey and I have one thing in common...

we have the same little black hat!

Just that I don't paint with mine on, it mostly hangs on the wall!

well anyways...back to my lunch on the couch...

naturally I start thinking about my studio and well, how small it is!!

This has been an issue for me for over a year now...

just take a look...here's where I paint...

then I roll my chair about 4 feet to the right and ...bam!...my computer....

This is when I start whining... I want a bigger studio!

Then I remember...

when I started painting, (how ever many moons ago that was),

I painted on the kitchen table.

It was easier to watch dinner on the stove but that was about it.

So... since it's Thanksgiving I thought...

maybe I should just be thankful I have a studio!

Yeah. That's it. I'm just going to be Thankful I have a studio.

(well...til New Years anyways...then all bets are off!)

wishing all of you a wonderful weekend!
¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ paula

LuLu's Giveaway!

This girl does it all....

but I so love her jewelry!

Her latest giveaway is for these gorgeous earrings!

They are fine brass, Swarovski pearls and fine brass ear wires.

You have until Sunday, November 22nd at 7 pm to enter and she's giving you three chances! Hop over to her beautiful blog here to enter....coastalsistersnews

and be sure to go to her etsy shop coastal sisters and her gorgeous website Coastal Sisters.

Lulu's jewelry is so unique...she is an artisan with quite an eye for design!

Good Luck to you ... and me!! lol:)
¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ paula

{knee deep}

There's bad 'knee deep'

and there's good 'knee deep'...

and I'm in the good kind!

Just posting to let you all know that I am here...

I'm just knee deep in signs

{and loving it!}

I don't always get a chance to respond but I am reading all of your

comments & so appreciate them!

ok...back to painting i go :)
¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ paula

Time to Celebrate!

It's time...and what a celebration it is!
The winners...

RED... hands down,

most of you decorate for Christmas with traditional reds...

the runner up was whites...

and lot's of silver and gold...{definately}...

what fun it was to read all your comments and visit your blogs!

{this I'm still working on!}

But now the real winner......

Teresa from Life in my Nest!! (#27)!!!

congrats Teresa!

I'll be over to your blog to congratulate you personally!

Oh, and my favorite?

Greens!

I love lot's of fresh greenery all around the house!

I gather from the gardens or the woods starting on Thanksgiving day

(usually a family walk with the dog...it's a great cure for 'oooohhh I ate too much'!)

then a week or so of making my own wreaths and garlands.

I add lot's of white lights and silver and gold embellishments... love it:)

To all of you who entered, my sincere thanks!

I will be doing another giveaway in December so stay tuned,

it will be a Christmas present to keep!
´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´paula

{adoring Nordic style}

I am slowly falling in love with the French ~ Swedish Nordic style ...

Teresa from Dreaming in Pink with Roses shared this fabulous site,

Swedish Interior Design

where I fell in love with this sleigh...

I can see this in my front yard, filled with brown paper wrapped presents

and lush Christmas greenery...

and this simple and lovely tablecloth from Jeanne d'Arc Living...

This is simplicity at it's finest! You can win this,

along with other great French Nordic style goodies at Tracey's blog,

French Larkspur

This style of simple and all natural decorating was the inspiration for a sign I have on ebay now...

French Country Christmas Joyeux Noel Sign

and there's still time to get in on my giveaway!

Best wishes for a lucky weekend!
¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ paula

{sometimes you just gotta twirl}

wow...
never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined!
When I thought of doing a blog giveaway my thoughts were...
'it will be fun, wouldn't it be nice to meet new bloggers?
have more followers...even 50? yes, that would be fun. '

but I never thought it would be this fun!!

Thankyou all for such wonderful comments,
each and every one of you!
I'll be visiting all of you in the coming days:) pinky swear!
you have me twirling!
(and it's not even over yet!)
so far... traditional red seems to be the Christmas color of choice & I am amazed!

Giveaway Time!

Dreaming of Christmas...{well, it's cold outside...really cold!}

...so I have Christmas decorating on my mind!

A perfect time for my first blog giveaway don't you think?

The winner will recieve a $40.00 gift certificate to my etsy shop!

You can keep this for yourself or give it as a gift...

I'll be mailing it or sending it via email,

winners choice!

Tell me your favorite Christmas decorating color...

is it shades of white?

traditional reds?

shabby pinks?

shades of green?

or seaside blues?

Two easy steps to be entered to win....

first, if your aren't already, become a follower of my blog,

{simply click "follow" on the right side bar}...

second, leave a comment on this post..

telling me your fave Christmas decorating color!

before Saturday, Nov 14th at noon {drawing day!}

Double your chances by posting about my giveaway on your blog!

Just come back here and leave a second comment to let me know.

Winner will be chosen via random.org.

and will be contacted via email or your blog:)

Good Luck!´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´paula

New in my shop....

just in time for the shopping season...Gift certificates!
Be sure to stop back here tomorrow...I'll be doing my first giveaway for one of these to give or keep!
´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´paula

An AMAZING GiveAway

PJ's done it... she said she would and she did!
If you haven't met PJ you must go over to her blog...
Seens From The Back of My Eyelids
I just recently met this wonderful lady & am so glad I did...
PJ is a wonderful writer, a creative soul

and one of etsy's biggest fans!
And today she's giving away a $75.00 e-Amazon gift certificate!

(that's not a typo...it's 75!)
Jump over and get in on it, you don't have to be a blogger...

she carefully takes you through the easy 123 of it!
Good Luck!
oh...one more amazing thing.. I just blogged twice in one day!!!
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ paula

...seems like yesterday..

my precious baby boy is 21 today.

Nov 3rd, 2009.

please allow me to indulge :)

how time does fly...happy 21st birthday Michael!