pumkin pie anyone?

I’ve been so excited for the Christmas and holiday season I almost completely forgot about Thanksgiving! One of my favorite holidays is just around the corner. I have great memories of visiting friends and family and eating way to much of my Uncles Cajun turkey! This year we’re going to be tackling the task of cooking dinner ourselves. I most defiantly plan on documenting our journey because I think it’s going to be very entertaining. The good news is that we got a free turkey from our local grocery store! The bad news is I have absolutely no idea what to do with it! It should be exciting!

Well to get us in the Thanksgiving mood I found some really great decorating ideas on Etsy that I’d love to share!

Jenn Matthews

Janice Cordeiro

Dining Out

By Dan

Vintagies

Silky Creek Gallery

Bits and Barley

Happy Trails!

Bowling anyone?

Due to the fact that we’ve moved we’ve gotten the opportunity to talk to our friends and family back home via “Skype.” If you don’t know what “Skype” is then let me explain; it's like calling video chating, you use a webcam. So not only are you calling your friend you can see them too. You can in the same city or even a different country to use “Skype.” They also have a phone plan but I’m not sure how that works. There’s a bunch of different games you can play with another person you are “skyping” with one of them is bowling. My daughter loves to watch this game for whatever reason. She loves the noise and the excitement. I love the retro theme they gave the virtual bowling alley.

So with that in mind I decided to but a list of fun “bowling” items. They’re fun, colorful, and vintage. I hope you enjoy.

How can you resist this bowling set from Muddy Feet?

What home would be complete without this vintage inspired bowling photo? I love Gandol Photo’s photography.

You have to look cool if you are going to get onto the right bowling team! This one is probably my favorite. I want to be on a team with “Phyl!” Find this cute at mbellishedbloom.

I can’t forget the guys leagues! So, Scotty doesn’t know? This hot number is from CarolMai.

Need a spare? Get one from experimental vintage!

A good bowler always has a good ball bag. This perfect number is from The Paraders.

Get pinned at KatrinakasDesign.

Need I say more? Find this treasure at Anna Belle Arts.

Maybe this will inspire you to hit the lanes or maybe just remember the good old days. Happy Trails!

Prayer and Patients

Life has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for while now. I'm still getting used to living in a new state with a whole new role to full fill. I've been 'mom' for a little while now but being mom full time is way different from working and being mom. Granted I didn't have a "high level" job but working in the salon was hard work. I almost feel like taking care of the book and the customers helped me prepare a little for what I'm doing now. I have to meet someone's needs 24/7, I keep list of tasked that need done every day, If ‘someone’ doesn't get exactly what they want I still get yelled at, it’s just in the form of a 2 year old tantrum now. There are some days that I totally lose patients and control. Yesterday was one of those days.

It all started out okay, I blogged when I first woke up and got ready before Aurora woke up. When she got up everything seemed okay, and then I burnt breakfast. Somehow with the smell of gross burnt eggs in the air the rest of my day went downhill from there. Aurora didn’t seem to listen to a word I said. Piston just barked and barked for no reason. I just felt anxiety all day long. Thankfully my loving husband, Marc, rescued me after work and brought home pizza, chips with dip, and a new box of tea. The night ended way better then my day had started.

I’ve been feeling like I’ve been having more and more days like yesterdays and they were coming closer and closer together. I decided it needed to stop. So, this morning, Aurora woke up and we started our day together and I could feel myself getting anxious and annoyed. I took a deep breath and said a prayer. Yeah folks, I said I prayed. I asked God to give me patients and calm to get through the day, and you know what? It worked! It’s amazing. We all had a wonderful day together. We took Piston for a walk, played at the park, and went to McDonalds without a hitch. At one point Aurora knocked a container of chocolate milk off the counter all over herself, her purse, and MiMi. I laughed. I couldn’t help it, she was so upset and so cute. All she wanted to do was put her Elmo PJs on after that and clean up the milk. She’s napping now and I got to get some school work done and write this blog post. Yep, today was a good day.

The power of prayer is great. Maybe not all of our prayers are always answered but I know a lot of mine have been. Sometimes we pray for one thing and get something else even better that we didn’t realize we wanted or needed. If I would have had a glimpse of what my life is now back when I was younger I would have laughed. I enjoy everything I have and what I do. Thank God for prayer though, it gets me through the rough patches. It’s mysterious to me. Maybe it has something to do with the power of positive thinking but whatever it is it works.

I give credit to all the moms out there. From the single moms to the moms with five or more kids, you rock. This really is a full time job and sometimes I forget to enjoy the moments I have and not think of them as work. I encourage everyone to play sometimes, and be a kid with your kid, or be a kid with a kid you know, it’s so worth it!

thank you.

to those have have served, are serving, and their families.

“Robin Hood is like Batman.”

Last night after finishing my final projected for my Digital Image Management class I sat down in the living room with my husband to enjoy the remaining piece of the new Robin Hood movie he was watching. What makes us so obsessed with the Robin Hood story? Is it the good versus the evil? Taking back what’s rightfully the “little mans”? Who do we truly identify with in this story? Do we wish that there was a hero like Robin Hood that would come save us all? Receiving the new Russell Crowe version of this story got me thinking about all the different Robin Hood legends that have been told through the years.

The first version that popped into my mind is one of my all time favorite movies, I mean, who doesn’t love Mel Brooks?

I think “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” was probably the start of my sense of humor. You’ve got everything in this movie I love, a little dark humor, quirky characters, romance, singing, and a sprinkle of slap stick. Even though the story isn’t very “realistic” if you’re looking for a really good laugh watch this movie! And after you’re done watching this one, watch “Princess Bride.” If you haven’t seen them then you are seriously missing out of classics comedies. I wish they would make more movies like these.



Okay, moving on in our journey brings us way back to my childhood. Disney’s Robin Hood! If you love Disney and foxes this is great! I recommend it to kids of all ages to watch. I think I played this VHS so many times as a kid I broke it and we had to get another one. It’s classic Disney, although I love the new animation, these just something about these characters that I love. They’re always coming out with new Princess stuff they need more things like this in the Disney world.


Next stop is a movie I don’t think I’ve actually watched myself but of course it’s a “classic” so I had to mention it. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner, most people don’t have a whole lot of great things to say about it. I can’t say for myself yet but I’m going to have to watch it and see what it’s all about. Anyone out there have any insight on this possible diamond in the rough?


Another Robin Hood that I’m going to have to check out is the BBCs take on the story of Robin Hood. It’s a new kind of twist on the story were Robin Hood has seen so much killing while he was fighting in the Holy Land that he won’t kill anyone. It seems like an intriguing tale that might be worth a look.



Our last stop on our voyage through Robin Hood movies brings us back to the start of this entire blog entry. I’m not the biggest Russell Crowe fan in the world but I did enjoy him in this movie. It is also a slightly different look at the famed “Robin Hood.” It’s kind of a prequel to his story. Robin is fighting in the Holy Land and stubbles upon the dyeing Robert of Locksley who asked Robin to take his sword back to his family. There Robin poses as Robert and thus our tale begins. I really enjoyed the characters in this movie. I think the Maid Marion character is my favorite out of all the tales I’ve seen. Kind John is an interesting character as well. He is defiantly a tyrant but a virgin to so many things in the world he lives in, which makes things very interesting. It has the same kind of feel as “Brave Heart” but with a different tale. If you like action movies and love Robin Hood I think it’s a good choice.


What is your favorite Robin Hood story? I would love to hear about it!

I will leave you with this, just because. I love Wishbone and who can resist a dog in a hat?


Happy Trails!

Wordy on Wednesday

I’ve decided to try and make this blog a little more organized; mainly for me. I want to make sure that I blog on a regular bases and as often as possible. My first step in this goal is to create a weekly series, thus Wordy on Wednesday was born.

I adore words. Words and I have not always seen eye to eye but eventually we came to terms and have had a great love affair ever since. I enjoy quotes, one liners, zingers, and lyrics the most. Even one simple word can be very thought provoking to me.

So here’s the deal: Every Wednesday from here till whenever I will take time to be creative. I will take my favorite word, quote, song lyrics, or whatever and create something visual. It could be a photo or a sketch but whatever it is it has to be WORDY!



Here is my first attempt at this. Please be kind, this is the first time I've ever really done the "scrapbooking" deal. Recently I've been using the word lovely for EVERYTHING! I can't help it, it's a lovely word!
I’m excited! Are you?




Happy Trails!

Adorable on Etsy.

I’m in a very “adorable” mood so I thought I’d share some really cute shops to browse through on etsy.com.

I have to say I absolutely adore blythe dolls. There’s adorable and rare and customizable. I also really like to look at photos by people that own them. They are so creative and whimsical. There are some great groups on flickr.com and other sites that are just great. I don’t forget to mention the clothes that you can buy for them. Take little dear for example. I love this shop! Not only does she have great dresses for blythe dolls, she has some really cute girls herself! I also can’t forget to mention her great embroidery work. She has a fabulous doodle stitching book that I so need to get my hands on!

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Art on Etsy isn’t exactly what you would find in your typical museum and that’s why I love it! Nan Lawson is a great example of the things you can discover on etsy. Her art is lively yet subdued. It’s sometime quirky and always adorable! I also like the fact that she uses words in her images as well as great characters. I can’t help but smile that she has a section in her shop called “objects that I love.” Now who wouldn’t want to click on that?

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I’ve posted about this shop before but I can’t get enough of Sleepy King. My love of stuffed animals hasn’t died since I’ve “grown up” and I think I may have passed this love unto my daughter. Aurora can't go to sleep without at least five animals or “bebes” snuggled in around her. I’ve been meaning to get her one of the adorable foxes from Sleepy King. Savannah, the shops creator, is a really sweet lady herself.

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Who doesn’t need a cute throw pillow? Fallon at OIive on etsy has the best and move creative pillows around! She has lovely images and bonds of creativity. From the fabrics she picks to the photos she takes, everything is too sweet for words. If you are going to head over to Olive you must check out her vintage shop as well. My Vintage Backyard also has some super cute items I’d love to get my paws on!

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I, of course, had to throw in some kind of photography! Violet Bella photo is by far one of my favorite photographers on etsy. I love her use of light. Everything is so bright and cheery even if the photo seems a little on the darker side. Her images fill my heart a flutter every time I open her shops site. It’s very inspiring for an aspiring artist.

What are some of your favorite adorable etsy shops? I’d love to know!

Till then; Happy Trails!