i'm still alive and the "J" word

Wow...it took me about two hours to get my pics loaded onto Blogger. I thought it was a problem with the site...or maybe it because I actually forgot how to blog.

A few months ago I got what my friend referred to as the "J" word...a job! It's all still very strange to me. I haven't worked since my first son was born over ten years ago!!! Before he was born, while working full-time, I was also working part-time as an assistant to a designer. Knowing that that I was planning to get pregnant, I would eventually quit my full time job and keep the assistant job. My plan started out perfectly...I made my own hours, did layouts at home while the baby slept and when I had to go see clients, my mother would watch the baby for me for an hour or so. It was the perfect job to keep my feet wet until I would one day go back to work and I loved it! A year and a half later my mother died and I quit!

I am a firm believer in doing what you love and being creative is what I love. This job isn't very creative...it's not "me". It is pretty surreal to realize one day that 10 years have flown by and, WOW, finding a job is not so easy...

...by easy I mean a job that will have me home in time to pick my boys up from school. A job that I can't be at during the evenings because, between the three of them, there is at least one baseball or basketball game every night. A job that doesn't need me on weekends because of again, baseball, football or whatever the sport is that season, and my husband usually has photo shoots on weekends. A job that I don't have to work all summer or on school breaks or that doesn't mind that during my second week I had to call in because my son was sick. A job that even if I could find a babysitter to stay with three very active little boys, pays enough for me to pay the babysitter! But most of all a job that I can use my creativity and that I will love!

Really, I'm not complaining! I think it's more about the guilt of not working while all my kids are in school now. I also think it's about not having anyone home to take care of...no more babies!!! I've loved my "job" for the past 10 years...I really did!

~happy mothers day~

{card is from ony of my favorite Etsy sellers....

Ellen from One Ripe Peach}

pink cameo

Tonight I am going to a jewelry/sell your gold party and I was looking and sorting through my jewelry box the other day. I came across jewelry that I forgot I ever had! Including this pink cameo. My mother had given it to me I guess when I was in my 20's. It just makes me remember how well my mother knew me and my taste!

I also found this little ring that was mine. Good timing for my little niece who I was babysitting at the time. Fit her perfectly. And don't you just love those pudgy little fingers!!??

vintage wallpaper

This week I finally got to do what I've been wanting to do for weeks...dig into some old papers and embellishments and play. It's been so long that I found some neat little trinkets and things that I had completely forgot I even had! When I dug into my wallpaper stash, I found the first rolls of vintage wallpaper I ever bought. About 11 years ago a really neat antique shop opened up nearby. I mean really neat...great old chipped up pieces of painted furniture, tons and tons of ironstone pieces, great mercury glass. Most of it all priced way out of my range but I loved to go anyway. One day my aunt was in visiting and I brought her there. She ended up knowing the owner and as they were chatting and catching up, I was snooping around the store and came across some old rolls of wallpaper. They were really OLD! I immediately fell in love with them but wasn't sure what I would do with them all so I only bought a few. Boy do I regret it now! Unfortunately, the shop closed shortly after.

The only thing I did do with them at the time was cut a few small pieces and put them in some old wood frames that I still have in my bedroom. When collecting vintage wallpaper became so popular, I still never used them because I wanted to save them. Besides that, they are falling apart. They are so fragile that when I start unrolling them they always rip. Today I decided that I'm not going to keep "saving"...saving for what or when??? And you know, it's a lot more fun when you are using something that is just so pretty! I also made some more little calendars and some wallpaper pockets. I didn't get pictures of all them because I ran out of good light...hate that!I love how simple this Bingo card looks!

Wow....two posts in two days! Let's hope I can keep it up!

blueberry french toast

Have you seen this bread in Target??!!! If you do, I highly recommend you buy it! We are addicted to it....makes the best blueberry french toast!

I first bought it a few weeks ago...just before we had that huge blizzard on the east coast! Two snow days and the loaf was gone!

Right now it's 11pm and it is starting to snow...again! A little piece of me is hoping for a snow day tomorrow! I have a new loaf of bread! Since I took this photo I broke my all time favorite mug! I've had it for three years I think. It was a dollar at my supermarket. I bought four of them and broke three of them probably within the first month. I was down to this last one. It was not only pretty but the perfect size! I am very particular about the mug I drink my coffee in! I'm not crazy right!? Everyone has a favorite mug...right!? So now I am on a mission to find the perfect mug!


Since I am a bad blogger...here are some pictures from the storm we had a few weeks ago.

I love this picture....it's serious business building a snowman ya know!






But I think he's lovely!

happy {heart} day!

a new year a new project

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year! We did but what I think I loved most about it was just being home! Although we did some things, I loved not having to have to go anywhere...no obligations. No homework, no bedtimes, no baseball or basketball practices. Don't get me wrong...during the summer break after about a month I want to rip my hair out, but we could all use a week off once in a while! I also thought a lot about the new year and some changes. Changes that I will choose to make and some that I won't have a choice but to make! I also thought about whether or not I was going to keep this blog going. I love the idea of it but just never seem to have the time or anything all that interesting to blog about. Same with my etsy shop and just creating in general...where does it all fit in??? My head is always spinning with new ideas and inspiration and it bothers me that I don't act on it the way I should or want to. But what I've decided is that for now, I am going to just go with my gut and go with the flow and not worry about it and hopefully things will fall into place, and usually they do! So onto my first little project of 2010! After the holidays all the urns and planters in my house are empty! In the spring and summer they usually have hydrangeas or cut flowers in them. In the Fall, mums or gourds. During the holidays, cut greens, snowballs or pine cones. Then after all the decorations are put away and winter is officially here, everything is so plain again.
In my little dining area I have probably the biggest bay window you've ever seen...a little too big. But it lets in lots of great light and I have a big backyard that I love looking out into it. I remember the first morning I woke up in this house. I walked down the hallway and when I walked into this room and saw all the sunlight and the green backyard it made me feel so happy and content and I'll never forget that! I have this black urn that I usually find some plant to put in but it needs something big. Something to fill this space in. I thought about going into the backyard, grabbing some branches and see how it goes. People do it all the time right!?

So I did just that...picked branches up out of the snow and found some moss that I already had and got to work.

Ta-da! What do you think? Be honest! I added two sprigs with little white flowers that I got from Michael's but that was it. I will probably keep adding more as time goes on. Once the snow melts you never know what I might find but I am happy with it for now!

And you know who really loves it?....