Quality Time...with Me

Sunday afternoon...

A thoughtful husband who insisted I rested. He also made sure everyone else was resting so the house was quiet for awhile...

Time on the computer... it's not the Apple of my eye, but it works. (So far...)

A hot summer day at the computer just cries out for an icy glass of Coke. The Real Thing.

A Coke and a Blog.

I think there's a new SuperBowl ad there somewhere...

I Joined the Club

Don't you just love our matching Mother's Day tattoos?!! :P

I really enjoy visiting blogs. Due to the gifts of writing and creativity bloggers can have, I feel as if I've gotten to know these authors personally.

Last night, I actually did.

I found out one of my blogging friends, Michele, lives in a town about 45 minutes from me. Michele has two blogs. I really enjoy I'm not Cheap I'm Thrifty because who doesn't want to hear about someone's great bargain finds?! Trading Ashes for Beauty is her "life" blog.

When we realized our proximity, we began hatching a plan to meet live and in person.

Fast forward several months....

I got a Facebook message yesterday telling me she was on her way into town! I was so grateful that I had a rare day with nothing on the schedule! My daughter and I (poor daddy was working) met Michele and her family for dinner and just jumped into conversation like we'd done it many times before! It was SUCH a lovely evening! The most disappointing part of it was when it ended!!!

We both agreed that we HAD to get together again...I just hope it's sooner rather than later!

Yarden Bounty

This weekend my husband took a stroll through our yard and this was the result. While others with more decorating savvy would have pulled out the cut crystal vases; hubby, always resourceful, pulled old drink bottles and small bowls from the cupboard. (Perhaps this also speaks to the fact that there are NO cut crystal bowls in the house?) So this week, as I've fixed lunches and grabbed dishes from the cupboard to piece together meals, I've caught the gentle fragrance of roses wafting up.

It somehow adds a bit of gentility to our otherwise helter-skelter lives.

A Little Something for Sunday

After I ran at the park Friday, I noticed the sun filtering through everything and lighting it with a lovely glow.

A Little Virtual Happiness...

Because she makes me happy.

Birthday Adventures

I wasn't quite awake, but mommy and daddy said I there was an birthday present for me to open before I went to school. Even though my birthday wasn't until Saturday, mommy said I could have this present early! Hurray! Knowing you have a birthday present sure helps you wake up quicker! Daddy is holding our cat Coco. Coco really wants to "help" me open my present.

Ooooh, what is it?! Coco says, "It's CRACKLY PAPER!"

It's a dress!! With birthday balloons on it!!! Mommy won this dress from Chigger Hill Cottage! Mommy said Ms. Rhonda made it all by herself! Wow, Ms. Rhonda is really smart to know how to do that!

"IT'S CRACKLY PAPER!!"

And look what else!! A cool bow to go with my dress! (Uh, daddy, no offense, but I think I'll let mom put it in for me.)

Daddy, maybe it would look better on you if you were wearing the bow...

See, Daddy? Doesn't it look better with the bow?

Here I am, all ready for school.

School is always fun, but today was extra special because, I was THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!

Mommy and Daddy brought BALLOONS! Just like on my dress!

They also brought cupcakes for everyone in my class! My favorite part is the icing. I got a blue one, 'cause I always get blue.

Do you like my blue lipstick?!

I'm wearing my pink class shirt under my dress. You can't see it, but this is what is on the back! We drew our faces and wrote our names. We are all really good artists!

Part of my favorite part of Friday at school is going to the treasure chest!!

Wow! I had so much fun celebrating my birthday with my friends at school!

--A note from mommy...

You really MUST go check out Chigger Hill Cottage. While you very well may get a cavity looking at all that sweetness, you should definitely risk it because there are some cutie-patootie outfits for your girly-girl. Her prices are reasonable and her handiwork is very well done and professional. Tell her Hippychick sent ya.

I May Already, Actually Be a Winner!

So excited!

I just won this!

I'll post pics when I receive it. (Of course.)

Go to Chigger Hill Cottage. Quick, quick--like a bunny!

Feeding the Artistic Funkiness...

This past weekend we jaunted down to Savannah to the Pinnacle Art Gallery (a SCAD gallery) to see a small exhibit of Nick Cave's Soundsuits. Two soundsuits were featured. Here is the first with close up details to follow....

These round pieces remind me of patchwork quilts.

Detail of what I call "The Birdbrain"

Feeling the Highs of Anticipation and the Lows of...Well, Feeling Low.

Wow it's only Tuesday, but I feel I've felt a whole week's worth of emotions in three short days.

Sunday, for whatever reason, my hubby and I had a rough day together. I suspect he was feeling--something---which led to a loooooong conversation during which I cried most of the time. What can I say. Marriage is that way sometimes. You hit a bump, but once that hill is traversed, life can be smooth sailing again.

But that didn't happen immediately, so I spent half of Monday thinking, considering and generally digesting. I find working with my clients helps take my introspective mind off myself and I must say that my day improved with age.

At the end of this week, I'm flying out to NYC for a hair show. I've been kind of disappointed, because last week I found out that I owe a pretty significant amount for taxes this year and that kind of sucked the joy out of my trip. I feel like if I go I shouldn't spend a penny on anything that isn't Absolutely Necessary. Like food. (But I'm gonna get some GOOD food dangit!) And with that pragmatic approach, I've decided: "Hey. I'm going to New York City, whoopee!"

Today was the best yet. One of my clients today is also one of my good friends. Every time she has her hair done, we make it a point to have lunch together. Not just any lunch but a 2 hour lunch. And let's face it. If lunch is done well it will take a minimum of 2 hours. We love to savor and enjoy our food. We always choose a restaurant (no fast food) and usually we try to visit a place that will be (a.) Delicious and (b.) a Culinary Adventure. Today we tried the only Thai restaurant in town. We hit the culinary jackpot.

After feasting on omelet soup, pad Thai and some sort of catfish "pen kay" (who knows?) we studied the dessert menu. Since we couldn't make up our minds, we chose two desserts: a triple chocolate cheesecake and something with vanilla ice cream and Grand Marnier drizzled fruit. Beyond that we ended up with a couple of ginormous white and dark covered strawberries and a side of mango mousse.

May I say after polishing off our entrees we put serious dents in all of the desserts. Strawberries? Gone. Ice Cream? Only a smattering of fruit remained. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake? Barely enough to divide to take home.

But we did anyway.

Food is wonderful therapy, but this particular friend is also of creative mind. While shamelessly eating off each other's plates, she began telling me about a plot line she has and we began brainstorming using her phone to record some of our ideas. (I thought that was brilliant. My great ideas always evaporate without a trace.)

After asking the wait staff for a wheel barrow to roll us out, she returned me to work. I have retained my sense of well being, feeling that my time with her helped light my creative spark.

My heart feels free, because....

I am me.

The Making of a Weekend

I've been following Harper's every breath.



You know how you're not supposed to carry your social security card on your person? Yeah, well, since I don't and I've put mine in a very secure place, I spent a portion of my day off here (but in my local office and may I just say, the people who hang out there are a bit unsettling..."I need my money! Where's my check? I'm on dialysis!") so I could finally get this:

Am still cruising the internet on hubby's good graces. Although I have my laptop, the cord is STILL not here so I had limited battery power which is now depleted. Three hours only SOUNDS like a lot of time to be on the computer. When trying to pull it back to the land of the living, it's more like the twinkling of an eye.

Was so excited to receive my new subscription issue of ReadyMade. This may be my new fave. The decor projects look like things you find in domino which is my current favorite decorating magazine. Great. More magazines to save. I seriously need to show you the bin (a literal plastic bin) FULL of magazines. Other people stash fabric or craft supplies (and I do a bit of that too) but I stash magazines for inspiration. I could paper my house with all the mags I have. The scary thing is, I've weeded out a bunch. What can I say. I love a lot of things and I'm a decorating schitzo.

I also discovered yoville on facebook. It's a fun way to waste time.

Lest you think I piddled away another weekend, I must hasten to say that I found time in my busy play schedule to clean the bathroom and vacuum the whole house. (Which by this point was less vacuuming and more beating dust bunnies to death with the vacuum hose. They had grown large enough to fight back.)

And I'm spent. It may take me all week to recover from my indulgences.

Luxury List

Someone asked me this week: "If you could have two luxuries, what would they be?"

Now, I'm not one for excesses.

I don't particularly want a luxury car, a Mcmansion or so many clothes that I turn a room into a closet.

You know what would be the ultimate?

Having someone drive me where ever I go.
Having someone clean my house every week.

My clients tell me consistently tell me that the ultimate luxury for them would be having someone do their hair every day and as soon as they win the lottery, they'll call me.

Hmmm.

Only if the job comes with a chauffer and a cleaning lady.

Fresh Hope

Thanks for your commiseration on my work rant.

Yesterday, I felt I'd been redeemed.

We've hired a girl who is about to start cosmetology school and is interested in apprenticing with us. That means she will get a special license so she can begin doing hair (under a licensed stylist) while she is going to school. It will help her get a head start on her career. She has impressed me with her quick smile and apparent willingness to do anything and she is available anytime we need her (for now). We hired her and yesterday was her first day. Here is where she really sold me on herself.... she was standing near me, calling clients to confirm appointments and the phone rang. She stood there for a second and when I realized everyone else was busy and no one was answering the phone, I asked her to grab it. She answered stating the business name and her name. I could have swooned! I'm big on phone professionalism (and in all areas of business for that matter) and it seems that she has it!

It was such a breath of fresh air to have her work yesterday. Perhaps it's simply that her personality is more outgoing than some of my other employees so I'm attracted to her ability to be personable. Between that and her willingness to work, she's charmed me.

Hallelujah!

Dreamy Morning

I'm having the morning of my dreams.

I got up at about 5am with the intention (been saying that a lot lately) of going to work out. However, with the pain in my head I couldn't imagine the exertion would help a headache any. That's what happens to me when I go a month between massage appointments instead of every other week. My shoulders gather up around my ears and muscles wad up into knots.

Although that doesn't sound very dreamy, drinking coffee (surprise) and visiting blogs is. I've been making my long neglected blog rounds. Over time my list of favorite blogs has lengthened. I used to be able to visit most of them about every other day. Now, not so much.

Some inspiring things this morning:
Alicia's post evokes memories of summers past.
Anahata inspires me with her art.
This sweet lady reminds me to let kids be kids.

I think I love blogs about as much as I love coffee.

Combine the two and I'm in a swoon.
Yes. I'm very relaxed now.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the muscle relaxer I took either.

Of course not.

For Inquiring Minds Only

Orange marmalade toast? Check.
Coffee? Check.
Cats snuggled in? Check.

It must be time to write my post.

Friday was blissful in many regards. My facial and microdermabrasion was a wonderfully relaxing time. It was also research and development for S. who is doing them for the salon. I've never had microderm before. I was slightly nervous. It was bearable. It felt as though she was rolling a ball with sandpaper on it across my face. It was actually a tube that blew and vacuumed crystals at the same time. Working in sections, she went across each section three times, each time going across in a different pattern. (Across, down, diagonal.) My cheeks were the most tender, so she turned down the intensity. It was really fascinating to me. Although I could tell my skin felt a lot smoother, I'm going to do a package of 5, or so, to see maximum results. (This is one of the perks of my job. Otherwise, this would probably be out of my price range or I simply would not spend the money on this, preferring to spend it on, oh paint, maybe.)

Her facial was soothing and relaxing. I melted into the table. She did it after the microderm. The worst part was, after the microderm, my skin was tender (especially my cheek area) and the pads that she used for wiping product off my face began to feel very rough and irritating. Since she is my employee, I was able to tell her all the picky things I noticed like: it would have been nice to have a rolled towel under my neck for support, the music was a little too loud, the lights could have been dimmed a touch more...More importantly, I told her that it was very relaxing and she has the most soothing touch. She is going to do well with this, I can tell.

I went directly from the salon to get my massage, this time with reflexology. Let's face it, I just wanted someone to rub my feet. I don't know if it made a huge difference, but it did feel good. I could feel that one foot was tighter than the other and she said the tightness correlated with my shoulder area which made sense. Once she started the massage, I think I dozed off a few times. I've never been that relaxed for her massage before. Especially since it's usually more like physical therapy and a good bit of it hurts. (But it always makes it so much better.) Couple my pampering events with a steady rain outside and you have a recipe for a well done "noodle".

I also decided to get some movies "just for me". Interestingly enough, hubby's been watching them with me this weekend. We've seen Little Miss Sunshine and Art School Confidential. There was a good bit of coarse swearing in both of them and a little bit of nudity in the second one (duh, art school models). I still have left to watch: the Devil Wears Prada. I don't know when I'll be able to watch that now that the week is back in full swing.

Chicago is waiting for me at the end of the week. I'm looking forward to going but a little apprehensive about the weather. Will it be too cold to bear? I'm a warm blooded creature. I'm planning to be conservative with my spending, there's nothing I need to speak of. And, since I don't have a lot to spend, that works out.

Speaking of spending, we officially have a leak in the bedroom now. The roof is becoming insistent that we do something about it. Nice.

Other than that, life's just peachy. I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish over the weekend and did almost all of them. The largest item being: cleaning out the refrigerator. I've put it off so long it was embarrassing and shameful. But! Now it's DONE and it looks like I have a new fridge!!

I think making a list works for me because I feel the weight of my responsibility and the need to get it done. If it's just in my head, I can pretend it's not there and play my procrastinating mind games. If it's written down, my first-born sense of responsibility kicks in and I get it done.

Harumph. Yea first-borns.

Great Day Recipe

So far, it's rained ALL day.

It's the recipe for a great day.

rain
hot chocolate (with some breakfast coffe thrown in for flavor)
knitting
old Mickey Mouse Club Hardy Boys episodes
knitting
browsing on the web
homemade biscuits
Cambell's chicken noodle soup

Let sit all day for flavors to meld.