Just Breathe....

Lots of rain today....

                          Nice time to sit, relax, and do some reading...            

                    How is your Wednesday going?               

Oscars loveliest and funniest....

What did you think of the

Oscars last night?

For the first time in a long time

I really had not seen many of the nominated films...

With a 4 year old we rarely go out

movies are usually a RedBox event.

I did enjoy the show last night for several reasons..

#1

I thought the plus sized contingent among all the size 2 women

looked lovely...

Whoever helped Octavia pick this

dress did an awesome job!

It was beautiful and designed well for a woman with curves.

I loved her good cry...it didn't get to the ugly cry level

and it was great to see someone so taken in by the moment.

 If you Google Oscar Dresses from last night 

out of all the images that come up only two of Melissa McCarthy

come up...

Sad.

I get why she chose this dress 

It is so soft and feminine and has those beautiful diamond accents

The color was perfect with her skin tone.

I can only imagine she is ignored because of her size

and because her dress didn't make her look like a size 2?

No matter how amazing the dress or tailor 

you can't make a size 22 look like a 2.

That doesn't make her unworthy of being put out there with the

other beautiful women

she looked fabulous and is just as deserving.

By the way,

did you notice half of the jokes of the night and a lot

of attention was focused on a character she played?

You go girl!

I think the best part of the evening for me was this

weirdness...

  I have no problems with Mrs.Pitt..

but yeah,

we get that your dress had this incredibly long slit 

so you could show off your legs.

When you walked we could see the beauty in the design.

Did you have to strike this odd pose all night long?

It just screamed "Hey, look at me ...don't you agree I'm awesomely full of myself?"

Even if you didn't intend to..it came off weird...

Which is why I am now in love with this man on the right....

whoever you are..

You ARE awesome!

I think my most sharp dressed favorite though,

was this guy...

How could he not be?

SO handsome in his classic bow tie.

Hope if you watched you had a good time.

Happy Monday!

Finding the Lovely week 4 ...

It has been

an interesting week...

some major changes in our life...

and then 30 degrees one day and then 75 the next!

There were definitely some lovely

moments wrapped up in all the crazy ones that went on too...

finishing up with

the last week of 

 over at

Jeanne O's 
and
Kimberly Taylor's 

go visit and check out the other great

pics for the week..

Here are mine....

 Notice there is always coffee involved in my days?

It was just a beautiful 2 or 3 days to imagine

it was spring and break out the crop pants and take a swing.

The ketchup shot was all that was left

after our 3 person sharing at Five Guys!

I love that they make everything right there,

nothing pre-made or shipped in!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend

and thanks to

Jeanne and Kim for hosting another fun

February sharing event!

Happy Birthday Sista.....

WARNING

today's post is absolute ridiculousness...

absolutely nothing to do with

crafts, thrifting, or photography.

For my little sis....

 

Hope you have a great day!

Love,

Big Sista!

It is that time of year again...........

This is originally a post from last year...

but I had to do it again

because the other day I was

accosted by a group of the devious little darlings...

this year they decided to block BOTH entries to the

grocery store so I could not avoid them......

It's that time of year again.....

You try to walk into the grocery store,

and there they are...

You try to go into the gas station to pay,

and there they are....

You try to get into the mall,

and there they are....

watching you,

calling out to you,

you feel the pressure

as the other addicts are there getting their fix...

These doe eyed little devils dealing their drugs...

I mean..... cookies.

Well organized and dating as far back as 1917

Girl Scouts are the mafioso of baked goods...

Their reach is felt far into all of society...

Early ring leader...

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt!

In the beginning,

girls were taught the recipe and cookies were baked at home..

They were sent out in roving gangs to peddle their "goodies"

 at.25 to.30 cents a dozen.

During WWII when sugar,flour,and butter were in shortage

they were smart enough to diversify and sell calendars for a time...

To involve all age groups

the girls are broken up into gangs.

Daisies,Brownies,Juniors,Cadettes...

These girls are taught to keep up a wholesome image

so as to hide the true nature of their network...

"Service projects" for the communities they live in...

From rescuing helpless kittens

to visiting with the elderly....

These cherubs are well organized and compensated...

Selling to earn badges , status, and recognition in their gangs,

or as they call them "troops".

Troops supported by of all people,

 their mothers...

Distribution has gone Worldwide involving the U.S. Military

Now look who is in negotiations to get in on some of that

well organized cookie action.....

The network (or council) is expanding to show they don't discriminate!

Low fat,

Sugar free,

Kosher.

Once excluded,

 diabetics ,dieters , and even the Jewish can eat them now!

What has this world come to?

Soon they will retreat back into their underworld

to replenish their supplies for next year..

Until that time stay strong...

If you see those colorful boxes in a loved ones freezer,

sneak them out so they won't be tempted to fall off the wagon.

Seriously though

I have to admit...

I am a recovering Cookie-Holic...

I was even once a dealer!

I still have my box of badges and medals hiding in my closet!

Are you in recovery?

Drop me a line or join my support group...

Looking forward to your comments...

Lovely Week....

Nice re-cap of our week...

Continuing with finding the Lovely

in everday life...

 We had a sprinkling of snow that actually was accompanied by 

thunder and lightning!

A rare occurrence from what I know!

Then we had some 65 degree days

Reading, writing, re-arranging, and baking / candy making, 
and of course some coffee thrown in!

Learned how to finally make a proper biscuit gravy!

Head on over to 

jeanneoliverdesigns 

and

kimberlytaylorimages 

to see what some of the other great images for the week were!

I am really enjoying this monthly and weekly Instagram

thing I have been doing.

I've never been good at keeping a diary,

I love doing it but I tend to put them down and not find them

for a month or so.

Instagram is like a daily diary for me now!

Well, I'm in with a sick boy today...

but hopefully I'll be able to head out to an Estate sale I saw advertised

yesterday if I can manage a few free minutes!

Have a great weekend everybody!

P.S. Anyone mind telling me what their favorite apps for collage are?

I'm not really digging the one I am using and there are so many out there!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Leftovers with sprinkles on top....

Do you ever buy things,

then 

"put them up so you know where they are"

or

"hide them until the occasion you bought them for"

so the items will be a surprise?

Only to later not know

where the heck you put them?

I purchased two boxes of mini candy canes before Christmas

and "hid" them so Little Keeper wouldn't get into them...

Well I finally found them in the middle of January!

Luckily I found a great idea

to make use of them

for Valentine's Day!

 

 Chocolate Peppermint Hearts!

I added the sprinkles for a little extra fun and color!

 You could also use dark chocolate

I just thought the white was prettier with

the sprinkles!

Easy and Unique!

Next year you could do even better by

waiting until the after Christmas sale to but the candy canes

when they are 1/2 price!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day yesterday!

 

O.K. so I decided we need our own....

O.k.

So this is some of my silly side

I have been laughing like crazy at

some of the 

"Hey Girl,"

Ryan Gosling photos that have been

floating around on the web for a few years now....

There have been some of the best popping up on Pinterest...

case in point....

Via

Here is another great one

 via 

The Happy Zombie

So in honor of Valentine's day

I was thinking

Hey, what about a girly smart-alec version?

Here is what I came up with...

 What do you think?

Have any suggestions for new ones?

Just having a fun time being silly for a change !

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Treasure on the Cheap!

I've been limited in

my thrifting lately

but have managed to come up with a few great finds 

in the last couple of weeks....

For some reason the thrift stores actually seem a bit bare

Usually this time of year is gangbusters.

Hmmm.

I managed to find all three of these at a CHKD

about a 1/2 hour away one day after a half day at one of my

clients offices....

I call that a good work day with a little bonus!

This pink Fire King vase was only $1.98

I'm used to seeing the hobnail pattern only in milk glass,

so pink was too different to pass up...

We have it on the dining room table with lollipops and flowers for

Valentine's day...

This vintage 1968 Wizard of Oz story book was only .98 cents!

My mother has always had a soft spot for the Wizard of Oz Movie

so I couldn't help but open it....

It has a lot of great color and some black and white illustrations...

I loved their vintage quality

so I figure I will use the pictures in some projects...

Love the lady in green...

Then on a bottom shelf I spied this sewing box...

We had one like this when I was a kid but it was plain and that 70's green...

I loved that this one looked like a basket!

$2.98!

I have already filled it with odds and ends...

Some sewing items , some not,

there are three compartments...

It is great to have a place to put all the spools I have collected so I know they are in one place..

  In the bottom is the contents from a bag of odds and ends I purchased for $1.98

Lots of trim, ric-rac, lace, 

but the best part was...

After I got home and could fully open the bag 

there was an envelope inside with these...

Nice little bunch of fabric animals and children...

You could sew them onto clothing or a blanket...

I'm not sure of their age but they

are ADORABLE!

Now I have to decide what to use them on!

Head on over to

Apron Thrift Girl 

to see what everybody else found.

Happy Monday to all!

Wanted to share 
my collage for this week
for
 

with
Kimberly Taylor 
and
Jeanne Oliver 

The point was to use your Camera Phone to
make it simple
and find the things in your week that are lovely to you...

 This was my first ever collage using Photoshop!
Check out the links at Kimberlys page to see what lovely things everyone else
enjoyed this week.
Hope you are having a Lovely weekend!

What do you do?

I've been battling sinus problems for

several weeks now.

I think my antibiotics are getting the best of me...

I just seem to have absolutely no energy!

 I have always had a few things that when I'm sick

always make me feel better...

Egg drop soup...

B-12

 Coca Cola in certain cases

and lots of water...

Do you have anything that helps you feel on the mend

or you use to help you regain your energy?

Let me know...

I'm taking suggestions!

Otherwise,

I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest

and Etsy while I'm feeling crummy...

ANYWAY

I just had to share this..

I'm not necessarily a technology Geek

but today we went out to lunch and the

restaurant had this new self serve Coke machine....

It is called a Coke Freestyle...

Now when I lived in GA - they called every kind of soda Coke

so I know they made these just for the South!

You select whichever you want

and the next screen that comes up has 6 choices for that particular soda...

So the Coke selection has cherry, vanilla, cherry vanilla, orange, etc.

The Fanta comes in 6 flavors and on and on.

Pretty cool

especially since they are using syrup mix-ins instead

of the already flavored stuff...

Have you ever had a real cherry or vanilla Coke made with

the mix ins years ago

at stores like Woolworth's?

This is pretty close.

The funny thing was watching some of the folks trying to figure

out how to work the touch screen...

So technology now invades our lunch!

Hope everyone has a great weekend...

we're hoping for a little snow!

Valentine's Day Swap Goodies!

Yesterday I shared the ornaments I made for the

Valentine's Day swap at

Indulge Your Shelf

I received my package on Monday...

It is so exciting to get a package in the mail!

I couldn't wait!

Most of the time people never Surprise you with anything anymore

so to not know what you are going to get is so much fun!

(Mr.Keeper thinks it is pretty hee-larious that I get like this)

As they spilled out of the box 

I knew this was a REALLY bunch of talented ladies!

  Not too much but just the right amount of sparkle with those beads..

created by
Wendy 

Front

Back

All the glittery goodness she could manage!

Michele  has mad glitter skills!

 I loved how simple but sweet this was packaged....

 The most lovely layered stitched heart.

Even the back was beautiful..

 I want to be able to sew this like this some day!
I'm not sure who made this one though, 
if it is yours leave me a comment so I can give you and your blog
a shout out! 
**found out this is by Tamatha***
(thanks Laurie) 

Lastly

the most adorable little....

 Birdie in a nest!

I had to take a few views so you could appreciate all the details!

Sitting in a nest on top of an  ....

Old thread spool!

Robin 

as her blog will tell you is all about the

GLITTER

in life!

This was a great  swap!

Thanks again to Laurie for hosting

and to everyone I was honored with a bit of their work!

A truly talented bunch of ladies!