Paper Dolls...Or Furniture?

As a child, I played for hours with paper dolls. Dreams of having lots of beautiful clothes and accessories would twirl around in my imagination. Sometimes wish I could just fold a few tabs and be instantly dressed - LOL! What about decorating? It would be great to have a grand selection of paper furniture and accessory that fit on a cardboard sample of one of my rooms. Sure, I have a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) program and it's very helpful, but it isn't the same as paper...nor as easy, simple or fast. Would you rather play paper dolls or paper decor?

Around the Kitchen Table

Many nights an aunt, uncle and my parents would *put on a pot of coffee* and visit around the kitchen table while my cousins and I would be in the living room. As the kids would play, laugh at our newest jokes and catch up on the past year, we could smell the coffee mixed with cigarette smoke. It was the 1960's. Everyone smoked. We didn't have seat belts in our cars either. Neither did we have free long-distance, so we only heard news through an occasional letter or *gossip* from other visiting relatives. 
After we kids were put to bed, it would make me feel that everything was safe and right with the world hearing the pleasant drone of distant adult voices mingled with the clink of cups on saucers and scrapes of chairs on linoleum. Here are examples of the progression of dinette sets. Does anyone else have those type of memories? Chrome set 1950's; Fiberglass Chairs from the 1960's; Swivel dinette 1970's; Wicker popular 1980's; Glass and ornate iron 1990's; Arts & Crafts with bench 1990's; Banquette seating early 2000's and now Counter height dinettes are all the rage. Naw, those people aren't my family, but they are a great representation!

  

Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

 We have all probably heard the statement, "Don't bite of more than you can chew."  It means that you should not take on too many tasks or responsibilities. As a result of taking on too much, you may fail at one or more of the tasks. Then you'll experience stress due to this decision.
In societies where people are actively encouraged to take on a lot of responsibility, people often "bite off more than they can chew."  Usually they are reluctant to ask for help because they fear being looked upon as weak or a failure.
I cannot tell you how many times I've done this.  I say "yes," then weep from fear, frustration and weariness.
Well, chickies, when it comes to GOOD stuff in life, I say, let's BITE away!!  I'm going to sink my teeth into good causes I believe in.  I'm taking a bite out of healthy, happy things this week. Anyone wish to join me? Whatta ya say?  Okay, none of the images today are exactly "healthy," but they're fun favorites of mine.  Anyone else tend to "bite off more than they can chew?"  Photos from top:caramels with sprinkled with sea salt; gummy bears, strawberry Twizzlers and the granola, which was a "guilt offering." :)

What Do YOU Love?

 

What do YOU love? Some of us "love" our china and teacups, while others of us "love" the spoons that stir the beverage in them. Some of us "love" cookies or baking, while others of us "love" the chickens who graciously laid the eggs to make the cookies!  Some of us "love" shoes or purses that we work for or work for us. Others "love" creating by hand while others of us "love" using a machine. What do you "love?"  

It's Sunday So Refocus

Before the day is done take time to refocus. All this past week everyone and everything has been competing for your thoughts, your attention and your energy, right?  Take a few moments to breathe deeply; maybe soak in the tub. Drink a cup of the best green tea (shown below) you can afford and refocus on your goals. Sunday is a day for resting and worship but you cannot do either very well in chaos.  Is your life kind of "crazy" right now?  Is it difficult for you to allow yourself REST and refocus time?  

 

Poodles - Retro and Cupcakes

 























Poodles are inspirational. When I was a little girl my dad was allergic to pets so the closest things we got to a dog were crocheted poodles my mom made They doubled as bathroom tissue holders (so classy, I know - rolling my eyes).  Oh, we had an orchid one, pink one, a white one identical to the first photo.
Then when I was teen, we discovered poodles have HAIR not FUR so we got a real medium-sized poodle!  He was so smart and beautiful. He was gray, not pink like the second photo, even though it was quite chic to dye your poodle pink or blue back then!  Poodles are still a favorite. The pink poodle cupcake cake is too cute! Anyone have a crocheted poodle now or in their past? Anyone have a real poodle?

   

Monday Moonstruck, Eggs in a Nest and Tiles

                                                  I liked the movie, "Moonstruck." How wonderful was the Castorini's  4,160 square-foot Federal style Brownstone in Brooklyn Heights which was built in 1839 (pictured below). It's been reported to have sold for between $4-5 million. No wonder I like it!  Did anyone else adore the huge kitchen?  When "Rose" cooked the Eggs in a Nest I got soooo hungry.  A good kitchen can make anything taste better, cant' it? Note the white subway tile and glass front cabinets? White marble tiles and white frosted tile options are below. Any other Moonstruck fans or "Eggs in a Nest" fans?

Cinnamon......oooooh

One cold January evening we went out with another couple to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Afterward, we agreed to "walk dinner off" by strolling around the area.  About half-way through the exercise we started smelling cinnamon.  Understand that we felt stuffed full of Chinese food, but cinnamon.... Finally we came upon the bakery.  It was like a story book!  We stepped inside viewed  the most awesome cinnamon rolls.  Yes, we bought them "to go" and feasted on them later.  Do you have a favorite bakery?  Both of our favorites are now gone, (oh how we enjoyed Sophie's Bakery). This image is of Vesuvio Bakery in N.Y., but it kind of had the same mom and pop feel as our cinnamon roll bakery!      

Wood Burning Stove?

Not long ago "The Egg and I" was on the classic movie channel. It starred Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert. In the movie, city-slicker Claudette has a run-in with an old wood farm cookstove.
Well, one year my honey and I, along with a large group of friends, went to a cabin retreat in the Georgian mountains.  Imagine our surprise when we found it had one large, OLD wood cookstove to prepare meals on. Period. No microwave. No, nothing else. Meals for around 40 people. Ye-ah.

Buddy, we "fired her up," and began experimenting. It was slower than our modern counterpart, but I tell you the truth, it made great meals! The biscuits seemed especially delicious.
It was a blast feeling a connection with our pioneer ancestors too.
Anyone else ever cook on a wood-burning cookstove? Since my biscuits were immediately scarfed up, there were no photos, so I'll post these biscuits that closely resemble mine. They belong to Pinchmysalt.com. There are FAB recipes there!

What's In A Name?

We've all got 'em. Some of us like our names, while  others go by "AKA's," (Also Known As). I got a comment a while ago from a lady whose name was Tanna.  Since I had never known anyone with that name, I looked it up. It means gracious or saint.  A lovely meaning for a lovely name.

My dear mother named me after one of her cousins who she adored. Unfortunately, from my first memory, i totally disliked the name...even the way it looked on paper!   In my early 20's i just started introducing and signing my middle name, Janean.  It means, "God is gracious." 

This FAB clock is a Mora clock, so named from the town in which they were originally made in Sweden.   It describes the style of clock, much like our names describe us.

Another funny thing...The vast majority of my close friends have been named "Jan" or "Carol."

Do you like your name or not?  Does the meaning "fit" you?  Click here for link to toe rings that can be customized with your name.

Expressway to Espresso

We wandered in off the cold streets into Williams Sonoma. They were serving samples of  their yummy apple cherry twists.  As we delicately munched on the fare, we naturally were drawn to the coffee machines. "Would you like a cup of coffee from this machine?"  a pleasant young woman asked.  "Sure!" we both chimed.  She poured the coffee beans into the top and in just a minute or so, she served us THEE best coffee i had ever tasted.  "Wow! Honey, we could use a coffee maker like this," i pointed with my pinky.
"How much is it?" i asked.
"$2,499.00," she smiled sweetly.   i looked for myself as i picked up the price tag with my trembling hand (was it the espresso or dollar sign?).
We gently strolled AWAY from that fabulous DeLonghi Gran Dama Espresso Maker.  We've always agreed that "you get what you pay for," but the expressway-fast espresso maker was out of our league.  It's back to our Black and Decker coffee maker, but that was one great cuppa "joe!"   What kind of coffee maker do you own?  Any espresso lovers?  The vintage coffee pots are from Laurel Leaf Farm.com and are more in my price range! LOL. 

Ring Ring Gift Idea

 

"Ring-ring," the woman says into the can.   I just adore those Progresso soup commercials!  Do you?

When I was a child I tried to do the can and waxed string thing. It didn't work so well.    Last week a lot of us talked to our friends and family who live all over the world.   It was nice to catch up on each others lives and hear their voices.  Then there were those friends and family we couldn't talk to because they longer live in this world.

In December I may send a few people in my life a tin can with a waxed string attached, along with a note that reads, "Give me a ring."

What do you think? And hey, if you're one of my relatives or friends. Call.

 

Old GE phone and radio. Anyone remember when we used to have prefixes like TU for Tuxedo, PL for Plaza...? What are some other ones?

Trust Me, I Am A Real Person

I like words....just ask my honey. He's making one of those "blabby" signs with his hand as I type this!

A lot of bloggers have those word verification settings. It is supposed to tell if we are a real person or a machine, I think. When I leave a comment and am asked to type the word in as it appears, what do I do? I sound out the word as I type.   Like it's a real word-----Not.

Then I noticed recently that I started making up meanings in my head for the words. Here are some examples of actual verification words and my made-up meanings --

scrorede: past tense use, hurried skating. "He scrorede to his friends house yesterday."
purphaph: uber-phaph, urban slang - awesome, rad or sweet. "Dude, your skates are purphaph!"
nonnidym: root word from Chinese river Nonni, meaning fast flowing. "Dude your purphaph skates are nonnidym!"
emberner: ever since. "Dude! Emberner I saw how nonnidym your purphaph skate scrorede to my house, I want a pair."  

Trust me, I AM a real person. However, I might need tescobey: extreme intense therapy. "Dudette, you need some serious tescobey."  Am I alone here, or does anyone else try to sound out these words?  

Eamebake, chickies!