basket o' flowers

On my birthday my fab friend, Alex, sent flowers to me (boohoo! they made me cry!). The next day the beautiful tulips had already started to curl funny and the iris were withering into themselves. One tulip had committed suicide right in front of my morning tea. Not a good sign for birthday flowers to be giving and I was taking it personally, lol! As I walked past them this morning, the whole arrangement smelled like a swamp. Hhmmm, what to do. Alex wanted me to send a picture. They came from one of those places that 'guarantees' their flowers so I called them and discussed the odor the arrangement was transmitting. The chipper young man told me to bring them down. One quick trip and a 15 minute wait and a brand new basket of beautifully fresh flowers is making me feel so much better about starting a new year :)! I feel kinda funky for calling them on their less-than-fresh arrangement, but I know Alex would have been very p----- o-- if I'd kept the deteriorating tulips (for what they cost, they should last more than a day or two, don't you think?) and I was in just the right sort of mood this morning to go for it. Thank you, Al! I love my flowers!

ps. no, I didn't get to those magazines yet...

the joys of procrastination

How do children learn about procrastination? Mine, obviously, learn from me, lol! I've had piles of magazines building up for what seems like forever, and I have every intention of getting to them (sooner or later). I'm just showing the tip of the iceberg here - I hide the really big piles because it's embarrassing ;). All those turned pages that I want to keep for the fabulous ideas whirring around in my head. These magazines are going to help me re-find the things that will make my house the home it's always wanted to be. Kind of like 'The Little Engine that Could'. I'm at peace that I'll probably never read them all cover to glorious cover - that was a reality many years ago but llooooooonng gone. Boy, do these things multiply quickly! So my intention is to tear out all those dog-earred pages and file them in an accordian folder, by room. Yes, that sounds nice and tidy. Maybe I'll start that tomorrow, hehe! I dare you to join me...

happy birthday to me!

Let's all sing it together, lol!

Today's blog is about birthday cake and, specifically, the same birthday cake I've had every year since I-can't-remember-when. My Dad and brother used to dread this cake but had to eat a piece because Mom said they had to. Really, it would have been fine if they didn't - more for me! It's an angel food cake with Betty Crocker's Fluffy White Icing slathered all over. It's the stickiest of sticky marshmallow type of icing that's readily available. My Mom has mailed me a steady supply every year (until recently because it's finally stocked in the stores out here - someone must have found out how fabulously sticky it is!). I don't think of it as an indulgance so much as a comforting tradition that signals the passing of another year. My Mom must understand this. The number of candles means nothing. It's the number of sprinkles that matters ;) !

always the new yorker

This (http://www.alexthegirl.com/ Feb.12) is why I'm a New Yorker and why I'll always be a New Yorker. Oh, how I wish life were the same out here! I've found snippets of familiarity but nothing lasting or truly genuine. It's soothing to hear a non-native NYer's point of view, especially one who's really captured the feeling (at least for me). To some degree it validates my homesickness, not that a NYer would ever need validation *wink wink*, hehe!. No time to write now - I have to get out the picture books and visit memory lane ;)

ps. one day I'll figure out how to create a neater link to sites!

happy valentine's day

When did Valentine's Day become so busy? Oh, yeah, I have kids, hehe! Time is very short so my blog will be also. Still, I had to make my mark on this day ;).

This pillow is my favorite and nobody is allowed to use it. They're hardly allowed to look at it because then they might start thinking about using it. There was a small shop a few years back called Shady & Katie that I adored. It was one of those shops you could always drop by that always had some wonderful treasure that you either needed or might need in the future. She had some high end giftie-type things, some very affordable giftie-type things and it was all mixed in with hand picked antiques from across the country. Big stuff, little stuff, good stuff. The type of stuff I would have personally searched for if I was lucky enough to travel through town after town, state after state with nothing but an empty truck and deep pockets. Alas, Shady and Katie is closed. The owner moved out of state so my little dream shop is no more. When she was closing, she'd advertised her sale well in advance. She knew her customers would want to plan ahead. I was number three in line that morning, arriving 45 minutes early. Only ten people were allowed in at one time, and I took my time in there! I got the rest of her provence candles (a lovely true lilac scent) as many wire racks as I could justify buying (I think I got them all) and this pillow. I'd been watching this pillow for months as it moved between displays within the store. I gingerly seized it before anyone else! The workmanship is impeccable, the fabrics have a lovely hand. And it's mine ;).

room moms rule!

There's a baking frenzy today! I'm Room Mom for two classes and tomorrow is Valentine's Day, hehe! The whole school is buzzy with that excited energy of upcoming parties with the added thrill of exchanging valentines with their friends. I've got dozens of cupcakes in the works for one class - then it's on to the mountain of sugar cookies for another class. The Room Mom gig can be draining at times (like last week on a field trip when the whole fourth grade insisted that this room mom should be the one to hold the tarantula - didn't happen ;)) but when it's party time, I'm so in there with sweets and crafts, lol! Oh, and a Starbucks Mocha for the teacher, hehe! Everyone gets something at my parties !

so much for those resolutions, lol!

Before I forget, this morning while driving the kids to school, we passed two exercise machines left at the curb. Hhmmm. Just last week, my neighbor left her stair-climber out for pick-up. This morning, a treadmill and a cycle machine were discarded. Is everyone giving up on their New Year resolutions all at the same time?! Or maybe they're just going back to basics, and we'll wave while I'm walking the hills of our neighborhood in the evenings, exercising the good old fashioned way ;). Maybe they've just given up on machines. Don't get me wrong, I used to own a NordicTrac and loved it but it really isn't the same as real cross country skiing. The nice lady who bought it eight years ago seemed very pleased to be getting such a great deal, and DH had a good laugh once she drove off with it (most grateful to see it gone!). I'll walk, thank you!

On Saturday I visited my local weaver's shop with my first woven creation, yeah! I got some great feedback from them, and we laughed about some hard-learned tricks. The warp for my next project will go on the loom today. So many ideas running through my head!