Authentic

I'd like to speak a word to all the fashion bloggers who go to the city parks and fields of flowers to take their photographs ...
I love y'all, I do.  And I dig your inspiration too.  After all, you're probably the (mostly) whole reason that I'm wearing (p)leather pants and studded butt-stompers and a so-fresh-so-clean cardigan and some version of a tartan scarf if not the winning one*.

Oh, and plaid in general, duh.

And I'm inspired to do this blogging thing too.  It's just that over here, what I have is table tops and ceiling views, toddler socks and knock-offs.

Oh, and bad photography, duh.


I have little to offer, really, that's actually and truly, so-fresh-so-clean-so-hasn't-been-done-before.  No portending here that what I have, nobody else has except for one thing, really, and that's my story.

We all have that, you know ~ a life that can't be duplicated.  I hope very much that each of you is inspired by the beauty that's around you, that you learn from those with talent and wisdom to offer, that you copy what you can.  But then never be anything other than your real and genuine self, no matter how "im-picture-perfect."

(And those who do actually have picture-perfect stuff to show, please keep doing that too!  It's how I know what to wear when I leave the house.)



*If you're a pinterester, and even remotely follow fashion, and I say, "tartan scarf," you've got it, right?  In your mind, there's a picture of a particular plaid that's winning the pins.  Right?

Say Something Nice

It's Monday morning so, you know, I'm supposed to be working.

However, I came to my desk with a draft in mind ~ several, in fact ~ the first and most pressing one being on the subject of encouragement.  I had this whole thing to say about how, here, at the Christmas season especially, we oughta go out of our way to say kind words to one another, encourage one another, build and hold one another up.

However, again... when I got to my desk, there was an envelope propped here, something the man left  for me after rifling through the mail.  It's something mass-mailed from a local entity, but someone hand-wrote a note on the envelope ~ a personal note just for me, to encourage me regarding this very thing you're reading.  (And signed it.  This wasn't my man trying to keep me going.  :) )

Ummmm...I'm not crying or anything.  That would be way too super girly, but can I just tell you that my eye sockets are swelling and I might find it difficult to speak at the moment?!

So obviously, this thing just changed course just a bit!  Rather than share now what I think might be a great gift idea, I'm straight up telling you something that I know to be true:  encouraging words are a gift to the soul.

So consider for a moment how regularly you hear complaints/negativity versus encouragement (regardless of the target.)  How regularly do you share one or the other with those around you?  How easy is it to affect someone's entire day with your words?  Why not say something nice?

Complaining and grumbling:  that's ordinary, everyday material.
Let's put that aside and gift one another with something extraordinary.
T'is the season, now especially!
Pour out tidings of joy, I say!
Good tidings of great joy!

Spread It 'Round

I'm a crappy crafter, no denyin' it.  

But please, by all means, y'all do better!

For days and days, I've been looking for the perfect diy project:  

Christmas gifts crafted from those things regularly spilling over at our shop.  

Here, what we usually have more than we know what to do with are things such as 

plates, cups, socks...  

(That we have too many ladies' clothes might go without saying.)

I can find projects, sure ~ sock monkeys, paint a plate, put some candy in a cup.

But I wanted something to convey a message, and I knew that, were it up to me,

I'd convey joy. 

Not finding any pinterest projects that met my goals, I decided to just do it myself.

So, I started with a picture frame, one of those Most Abundant, 

nobody-seems-to-know-what-to-do-with-them kind of things, 

and then scavenged from my thrift and hold pile.

Painted the frame 

(and later screwed it up, leading to some pretty serious disappointment.)
*Take your time.

Wrapped the mat.

Like a boss.

Not.

Determined my layout.

And voila!

This, I like.

But, truth in telling,
because I hurried, it looks like this:

Told y'all I'm bad at this!
Oh, well.  I've enjoyed myself and hopefully made my point:

We have picture frames!

Just kidding.

Obviously, you can't buy joy, but if you're in a gifting mood,

then I propose that joy is a great gift to convey.
And there are some really creative

(and inexpensive)

ways to do it!

So, y'all get busy!

Do a better a job than I have done

and

Merry Christmas To Ya!