three little words....

I haven't floated away...

as you can probably guess, I'm just swimming in paint....

life. is. good.

I'll be caught up soon...then I'll be back, with a bang!

xo

My Bella Inspirations Table Runner...

Did you see I was the winner of Sherrys' ~ Miss No Minimalist Here ~ giveaway last week?

I won a French burlap table runner from Laurie of Bella Inspirations...

and it came today.....!!!

It is GORGEOUS!!
I think it was made just for my granite island....


in my french kitchen...


I love how it warms up the granite...and adds more all-natural beauty...
Check out Laurie's etsy shop here...



and her beautiful blog....
"Bella Inspirations"

A BIG THANK YOU TO SHERRY & LAURIE

XO XO!!

Anticipation....

Sometimes a song comes on the radio and it's as if they're playing it
just for you

last night...
driving home from Hannah's lacrosse game,
just me and Carly Simon...
"We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway, yay
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasin' after some finer day"

and my mind is racing...
so excited for friday when Mike get's home...
(he's out of town again!)
can't wait for summer when it's hazy, hot and humid....

(oh I love summer!)

and Carly's still singing....
"Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin'"

and I'm still dreaming along......

so looking foward to vaction...visiting family in Iowa and Virginia Beach!!
(woohoo!!)

soon I'll be 'three days ahead' instead of 'two days behind' on my work....

(yippeee!!)

And tomorrow we might not be together
I'm no prophet and I don't know nature's ways
So I'll try and see into your eyes right now
And stay right here 'cause these are the good old days
And stay right here 'cause these are the good old days
these are the good old days
these are the good old days

And *snap*!

Yes, these are the good old days, right here, right now....enjoying what I've got, what I've acheived already,

stopping and smelling the roses!

I've been painting from sun up till sun down lately!

here's just a few of the signs...

Life is good...thanks Carly...these really are the good old days!!

Spreading the word...Help find Maddy

Helping Spencer from Bellamere Cottage to spread the word...


Being the mom of a teenage daughter, I can't imagine how fearful her parents are. Since us bloggers range all over the country...perhaps spreading the word and her photo will help!

God Bless....

The Prom & that's why I love Paypal!

Last weekend was Hannah's prom. We started the dress hunt in early March and after looking at just about every prom dress for sale in the state of Delaware she finally found this one online....


It would take 3 weeks to make, 10 days to ship. We ordered it~ she was so happy!
(I won't mention the name of the website...but there it is in the photo!)



Two weeks before prom the dress still hadn't arrived...I started emailing them." Don't worry, we're working on it, it will make it for May 7th." This is what they kept telling me. These emails come from "Boris" and he's writing in broken english...I'm starting to worry.
Eight days til prom...still no dress. The last email says they're shipping it on May 2nd. From China!! No way Boris...it ain't making it. I went to paypal and filed a dispute (thank goodness I paid with paypal!!). 24 hours later I was refunded.


I. Love. Paypal.

So...she borrowed a dress from a friend ....




Hannah's in pink...

she's beautiful....








and happy....
















and.... a bit grown up... (oh no!)

and had a great time....

phew!

.... and the moral of the story...if you MUST buy a prom dress online ... pay with paypal!!

Lessons from Mom...

Mother's Day...always spent with my children and my husband...a cherished day together with them doting on me, just precious.

But my heart is truly with my mom.

She left us in August of 1999,

but she remains in my thoughts daily...

my memories of her and the lifelong
lessons she gave me become more dear to me with each passing day.

she was the one who taught me...

to be a free spirit...that what you could make with your own two hands~ what you could grow yourself in your own garden~ would be more valuable to you and your soul than anything you could purchase at a store~

that if you gave your all to just 'getting by', then that's what you'd get~

and when you don't know what you want,
then it's probably time to start enjoying what you have~

Thanks Mom, for always believing in me~ for always seeing the part of me that I could never see ~ and for just being my mom, then and now.

Wishing all of you a beautiful Mothers Day weekend full of
sweet new memories and precious old ones!

If I didn't see it ....

with my own two eyes....

I would never believe it!

But there it is... page 12... in full color!!

pinch me!

Thank you, Romantic Homes and Justine Lopez.

I'm simply blushing, and smiling...from ear to ear!

What an absolute honor!!

But I'd be remiss if I didn't thank all of you,

my fellow bloggers, customers, friends ~ old & new....

I wouldn't be here without you!!

xo