If I were a rich [wo]man..

..Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum

Oh man. Talk about wonderlust. Shopping for new curtains and linens has really got me craving endless funds buy these lovely fabrics! What would I use them for? I don't know.  I would sit and sew my way into oblivion. My first observation is that my taste always transcends my budget. BUT this inspires me to be more picky about what I do invest in. I just bought the Bohemian Bouquet curtains and matching tapestry from Urban Outfitters

I hope to get started on my sewing projects this weekend (keyword: hope)but usually my priorities get rearragnged and my hope turns to dreaming.  Refocus!! I never ceased to be excited by pretty prints, textures or patterns. This is what excites me recently:

Check out the sweet way that Volksfaden shows off their fabrics. Who wouldn't want to buy these?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alas,I dream of living in Europe where things come with artistic flair free of charge. The Swedes have it figured out for sure.

 I went to one of my favorite stores, World Market, and bought these fine curtains to replace the other ones Lola-Jean ruined in July

 

but after having them hung up in my house for a week, I decided they are not the perfect fit. This is how much of a fabric junkie I am. If I see it, I just buy it. I need to hone my fabric addiction. Easier said than done. I have a stack the size of my husband consisting  of curtains with sweet voile patterns and vintage tea towels, quilting remnants and old scarves.  Oh well.

Maybe I will  do what Cassi @ Bella Dia did:

Also on the "things made of fabric wish list" from Huset

they are fun, yes? She looks in pain or stoned but the bracelets are cute.

THEN! we have LeSportsacs that I am into at the moment:

 

They remind me of the 80's. And the fabrics they have now!- SQUEAL!

I will post a bit more about my success with curtain making once I get started. Remember: I hope to get started this weekend. Having a half -working, second- rate sewing machine isn't a help but hey, it could be worse! Atleast I am still dreaming!

Have an Arsty Fartsy Friday and an inspired weekend!

You should be celebrating!

Today is National Cat Day! Praise Jesus for such sweet animals! My babies have been such companions to me and John. When John was in Iraq for the second time and I was alone, Dante' Javier Culpepper was my best little friend. He knew when I was sad, he alerted me to things that were amiss in the house. He greeted me with purrs at the door everyday after work, and kept my head warm at night. Everyone's cats sleep on their heads, right? It's not just me!?  He is a source of unconditional love for me and even though he doesn't talk back, he's a wonderful counselor- he has the gift of listening.  Lola-Jean is a different story. She's squirley. She was rescued and she has a mouth on her. She only likes love on her terms. And God help you if you don't give her the attention when she wants it. She is very melancholy. Just like her mom :)

I blogged about my cats a while back so I will save the ramblings about my feline loves for now. But enjoy this celebration of beautiful kitties and if you have one, what a blessed person you are for it!

It is the season, after all, for black cats! My little woobies love this time of year.

enjoy!

Dante is considering this costume for Halloween:

This gives me the warm fuzzies!

Look out Lola and Dante' Mom's going wig shopping!

I think I will get a black cat for all my friends this Christmas

My little L.J

He's handsome

They are my family

What a little nub!

 

Happy Celebrating!

Another jazzy autumn..

Nope. It's not another post about my husband. It's about my fall loves.

Another Fall post! As if you hadn't read enough blogs about how wonderful Autumn is. But really!? How could you not be inspired to share how wonderful this season can be!? Yes, the leaves are falling from the trees leaving them quite ugly and naked but still, and my carved pumpkin is rotting inside, this starts the time of year that is all things baking, creating,decorating, SHOPPING, family-ing and loving. (actually it's shopping seasson all year long- scratch that) And I  know that a holiday show of sorts is on the horizon. (This year I think that my good friend,Karis and I will be going to see Chicago at the Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis.*squeals*!) Also, for some weird reason I start listening to jazz nonstop this time of year. I think it's because it reminds me of the music being played in the mall during this time of year and malls and shopping make me happy.  Jazz reminds me of my swanky grandparents, John and Evelyn. Grandparents, malls and jazz are comforting and make me instantly happy. City strolls, holiday baking, Christmas shopping and holiday get togethers! (I am squealing with excitement!) Let the jazzy holidays begin!

Integral parts of my 'jazzy autumn':

John got me some African Autumn tea for my birthday and it seriously is a cornucopia of  jazziness on my tongue!

Two of my favorite year round inspirations!

Have a swanky autumn!

Couldn't have said it better myself..

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.  ~judy garland

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.  ~e.e. cummings, 1955

 "God will never help you be anyone other than yourself" ~ joyce meyer

LOVE THIS:  If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.  ~david carradine

Yep, I'm still in love. Ushy ,gushy love!

John and I recently celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.Thank you very much [bows to the right and to the left]. We have been together for 7 years. Our relationship has been different from the start. Everything about him is different than my pre-marriage ideas of the perfect husband. God was able to see what I needed in a life partner, a soul mate, a friend and a lover and provided abundantly above all that I ever asked or thought about wanting in a husband. In our first two years of marriage, he was there for 13 months of it. It was rough. But when something is meant to be and protected by God, it survives and thrives despite the hard times.

 I love him more than the sun shines.  He's the sweetest most tender hearted, well meaning person I have ever met. 100% genuine. He doesn't put up a front or try to people please. These things inspire me to be thankful and to be better. He  is manly to the max but is never arrogant.  He is light-hearted and makes me laugh even when I don't want to. He helps any who need it and asks for nothing in return. His heart is gold. He is patient with me, gentle with me. He indulges me and pampers me.What did I do to deserve this?!  We are still working out our differences day by day (which are many, still!) but  I couldn't have asked for a more suitable guy to work through life with.  So indulge my ode to my Love. He captivates me!

So darn kissable too!

Even when I can' see him. The very thought of him makes me smile.

The Handsomest

If he was a Care Bear, he'd be Tenderheart.
 

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."
-St. Augustine

Artsy Fartsy Friday!

Since the weekend usually is my time for concentrated inspiration and artsy activities I am deciding to make my Friday posts about something that artistically inspires me.

So the first of many Artsy Fartsy Fridays:

BOKEH!  Love this stuff. Check it out, I will give you the teacher definition first found on the sometimes inconsistent and unreliable Wikipedia:

Bokeh (derived from Japanese, a noun boke 暈け, meaning "blur" or "haze") is a photographic term referring to the æsthetic quality of the out-of-focus areas of an image produced by a camera lens.  Essentially, bokeh is an aesthetic and qualitative measure of light distortion in the out-of-focus areas of an image.

OK, so look at these snapshots of sweetness and be inspired to find the beauty in the out of focus times of life and savor the blur of a rushed moment. Ready, Set, GO!

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”

-Greg Anderson

“Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention.”- -Greg Anderson

This one gets me feeling all Christmasy!

 

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”- Aristotle Onassis

Being Sick with David Bowie

After trying to fight it with all the vitamins and supplements in my cabinet, I have joined the ranks of the sickies. While laying on the couch for  a couple of days this past week I found my time layed up incomplete without David Bowie. Everytime I was sick when I was younger I eneded up watching the movie Labrynth. Which I thought was the most amazing movie quite ever created (but it also made me very scared to ever watch my little brother at home a lone).
Watching it now. It's a different story. But it IS still one of the best in my opinion.  I have the movie at home but it is wrapped and ready to be given as a Christmas present. Sadness. So there I was watching this music video, HIGHLY distracted by David Bowie's pants and the scarriness of the whole situation of puppet demons and babies is striped PJ's . But it did make me want to dance, magic dance!
"You remind me of the babe. What babe? The babe with the power..."

Enjoy a dance but try not to gag at the pants situation.

A final goodbye!

   

It's officially gone. Summer, that is. So here is my little ode to flowers and colorful naturey things. I will be looking forward to the return of all things bright and sunny!Until then I have some pumpkins and holidays calling my name!

Joy like a child.

If I ever have a bad day or think that the joy has been sapped from my soul, I look at this picture and remember that when I look at the world like a child would- full of hope, excitement and expecting to see endless possibilities, I rediscover my joy.

.with joy like a child i sing unashamedly at your grace.

.with the eyes of innocence i take in your creation.

.with the pureness of heart i love all that you are.

.in my weakness, you give me strength and i grow into the woman you designed me to be.

.still tiny compared to your vastness, i am amazed by you.

.more grown up than I've ever been, I will always be your child.

What a compiment

courtesy of Kelly Finlaw