Patio

The first bricks are laid. This is scary stuff.

Pup making sure his work is perfect. He is a sexy beast in his knee-pads.

Deck with furniture I scored from Craig's List for $225! Love it.

My deck daisies. See the little grasshopper?

George helping. He is the cutest dog in the world. Even with eye-boogers.

Julie & Julia

Here is a little postette I created the other day after seeing this movie. That movie is what started me on my real thinking.

BTW - I once created a brochure cover that looked EXACTLY like this. For the Navy. Do you think the Julie & Julia people saw it? ;)

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Pup and I went to see Julie & Julia yesterday afternoon after we returned from Rice Lake (fab time btw!!). Loved it!

Made me rethink my blog and recommit to it. I do fear I've been all over the place without a set plan or deadline or purpose or vision. Typical! :)

Here is what I do know:

1. Design is everywhere.
2. I have a baby-knack for it.
3. It needs nurturing.
4. I need to throw off the limits.
5. I need to embrace inspiration.
6. I miss cooking!
   

Can We Talk?

*sigh* I am amazingly unfocused. Not an entirely horrible thing. I haven't had a summer off since I was a student! I am reveling in it, yet am getting nothing done. This causes me a bit of guilt. Why is that?? Everyone is running around "getting things done." I just feel no compulsion!

Not entirely true I guess. Pup and I have been working on a patio - doing it ourselves!! - I am planning our party - I am dealing with identity theft (oh yes it can happen to you!). I got married, my oldest got married, I road-tripped with youngest, healed from knee surgery, got laid off from a job I had had for 11 years, had my dad and step-momma here for a month, dealt with said dad having mild heart attack the minute he got here. The list goes on and on when I list it out.

So! I have been thinking about where I am going and what I want to DO with this blog. Coming up with my plan, thinking thinking. I've been thinking for months! Ha!

If anyone is reading this I'm glad! If no one is I'm not surprised!

I even thought about blowing up the blog and starting over, but I don't want that. I want to see my mistakes. I'm growing.

Love anyone out there that is reading this. I am eating the energy and getting strong. Thanks!

Hot Men Friday

Apparently Hot Men is all I can think about since I got married! ;)

A return to real blogging will occur next week. Promises.

Meanwhile - here is last week's winner all grown up. Can you believe this guy??

Hot Men Friday

All I can say is *sigh* - they don't make men like this any more.

Hot Men Friday

You're right. It's not Friday.

How could I have forgotten???

Here he is:

Oh swoon I say. I am using him today as I am feeling rather geezery and need to see someone from my generation that is hot and hitting it.

Love him.

Aaaaah - Coffee

What could be better? That first cup in the morning is something I will nevah evah forgo. You will have to pry my mug out of my cold, dead hands before I give it up.

Oh, I love this polka dotted cup and saucer.

Halleluiah - Her 15 Minutes Are About Up

Vanity Fair

How dare she step down with over a year left? The people that elected her should be angry! Higher calling my arse. I believe some fire is licking her butt and she got going when the getting was good.

Bye bye. She has set women back by 15 years at least with her diva-like ways and idiot-talk. Truly a dumbass in the most transparant sense. Blech.

My Hair! Arg!

I am just not loving it.

I went a bit shorter and suddenly I have a mom-cut. Arg!

Poopy-shitty.

Here are a few I'm liking . . .


Please forgive the Jessica picture. The hair is good!

I don't have good hair. I color it (gray ugh!) and it's frizzy if I don't flat iron it. I can wear it curly, but I'm not loving that lately.

I think I'm having a crisis.

I Stole This from . . . love Maegan

Who's blog is now my latest obsession. Her creativity is amazing! And her love of the vintage.

Who can resist a girl who is that hot and so very fearless? Love her.

. . . love Maegan



Enjoy this video. I wish I could rock a onesie like these babies.

Hot Men Friday

Wowza . . .

No special reason - just because.

On another note . . . I got married! We took the young uns with us and went to Vegas baby! Had a great time and now I'm Mrs. Pup!

It's been crazy crazy around here for the past month.

My dad and Momma Bee were here for a month from Idaho. Parked his big-ass camper in our driveway! That looks like so much fun! Pup and I are thinking about renting one for over Labor day. Hmm . . . fun? Yes!

Then my darling Bella and her Big B got married!
How adorable.

Forgive me from stealing the photo from the photographer's website. She's an awesome photog btw. The pictures are phenomenal! I will be buying millions of them.

Ideas

Several are rumbling around in my head.

Thoughts about:

1. Hosting a clothes swap
2. Doing closet makeovers
3. Online "choose her style" competitions

I've done some thinking about design as well. Of course design is everywhere. From our clothes to our houses to how we style our office environment. All these things are linked together. One influences the other. We should treat these things as integrated; not segregated.

Ever notice how a friend who's style you admire is stylish in all aspects of her life? Her car, her interior decor, her hair, her makeup, her clothes. I'm not talking about how you'd like to copy her look, but you see how her "look" is in all of her life. Not just on her back.

I'll be thinking for days I can see!

Randy Jackson Eyewear Collection

Eyewear!

No more lasik. Wear your glasses!

Fashion Inspiration

Brigitte Bardot

I Am So Jealous of This Girl

Total and complete effortless chic.

I had a knockoff of this bag several years ago. Where is it? I think in a fit of organizing I gave it to baby-girl number 2. Wah!

Thrifting Revisited

Here are a couple of shots of a few things I found while thrifting the other day.

Daily Tip

Get in your closet. It's spring and time to move things from your winter closet out and bring in all your warm weather clothes. This is the perfect time to assess what you have in your closet.

Get creative. Pair some colors together to shake it up a bit. Like purple and gray, white with beige, purple and yellow, navy blue and gray; endless choices.

Start combining things that seem incongruous. The current leggings-with-everything is a great place to start. Put them under dresses, skirts, tunics. Put t's under cami's. Cami's under sundresses, denim jackets with pencil skirts, polos with flowery skirts; you get the picture.

Try everything and anything. You are going to find something you never thought of before. Combine outfits and take pictures of them so you don't forget.

Trendspotting

Cross body bags. Once you've used one you will never want to switch. Especially nice when out shopping.

Thrifting

There is a lot of talk around regarding thrifting. Several ways to go about it as well. Some of you guys just don't enjoy the hunt while others live for it! It can be fun and you can score amazing finds. You do need to have fortitude and comfortable shoes.

I was out and about today at several different types of second-hand stores.

The first one was a typical thrift store. Organized very nicely! Clean, orderly, a pleasure to rummage about in. Found a darling vintage straw clutch, a workout hoodie and T.

Next I went to another type of thrift store. Less organized, but lots of fun digging for interesting household items. Here I found a boombox-type stereo for my deck and a couple of hardcover books I've been meaning to read.

Third place I visited was a high-end consignment store. Nice! Hit paydirt regarding denim. Didn't buy anything here, but I am planning on returning regularly. This place is perfect for anyone with a transitioning body. Perfect!

Here are a few pointers regarding thrifting:

Thrift Store Fashion DO's and DON'Ts
• Do be willing to spend a morning or afternoon to find the very best bargains.

• Do be prepared to visit a thrift store more than once to find clothes that you like.

• Do shop at a thrift store that donates its proceeds to charity.

• Do inspect an item of clothing for fading, stains, tears or blemishes.

• Do look for brand-name items. Brand-name items cost much less at thrift stores.

• Do look for items that have never been worn and still have their original tags.

• Do try on the clothing before buying it.

• Don't go into the store with the attitude that you won't find what you want.

• Do shop alone. I love to bring friends, but they can never last as long as I last. I can dig forever!

• Don't forget to accessorize - some thrift stores have great accessories in addition to clothes.

Hiatus Over

Yay for Hunger. I have a plateful of ideas.