The Mystery Purse

Why is it that when you finally find 'the' handbag or purse it is always somehow out of reach??? Case in point I'm flipping through a back issue of People magazine the other day and...wham!! There it is!! The purse I've been looking for but technically didn't realize I'd been looking for! (stick with me - I know I'm confusing - it's a girl/purse thing) Now if it was on the arm of a celebrity all I'd have to do is google it and sure enough I'd have my answer but NO! It's a Pantene ad!!! grrr Google was not my friend and I am at a loss!!!!

Well here it is...if anyone knows please tell me!!! lol Probably obscenely priced but hey! a girl can dream right???!!!

My Last Baby!

Well the day has come and gone. That day that I was longing for for a better part of the summer but ended up dreading when it finally got here - yup I'm talking about the first day of school. As usual when the summer is going full swing it seems like it will never end and the kids mission each day is to come up with new ways to terrorize and maim one another while simultaneously drive me to the loony bin. I had grand plans, really I did! Let's just sum it up with two quotes and spare you all the gory details.
"the road to hell is paved with good intentions" (apparently  St. Bernard of Clairvaux gets the credit for that one)
and
"Man plans, God laughs" (that would be a Yiddish proverb)
Well about now you might be asking yourself what does all that have to do with this entry being titled My Last Baby? Well nothing really - that just summarizes my Summer of 2010 or perhaps Lord of the Flies Revisited?I do tend to ramble when I have a captive audience am talking to myself -apologies!.

Well my littlest girl (aka fire-eating-wild-child) started school and while it all went really well (okay except for the small incident at line up where she made the loser symbol on her forehead to educate her grandparents on it's meaning- more on that later) I looked around at a lot of parents with cameras, camcorders and babies. Mine reluctantly posed for a couple of picture and was practically levitating she was so stoked to be there! Suddenly, and all too quickly, I was waving at my last baby who was unceremoniously telling me to go and I realized that I was done! DONE! No more babies! Five years ago I was in the same spot dragging dropping of  my number 1/Little Man (actually peeling my 'brave' boy off of me, who was bawling like I was never coming back!) all while toting a 14 month old Angel Girl and 5 months pregnant with said Wild Child. Fast forward back to present and I should have been doing a dance like Terrell Owens in the end zone. Instead I was feeling curiously sad.

As a made my way back to the car I consoled myself with the thought that at least she was grabbing life or at least kindergarten by the tail! That and I was about to run some errands with no unscheduled bathroom breaks and no requests for 'a treat' at every stop I was about to make. Now I would get to give the sympathetic smiles to the other adults with children in lines at the grocery store for a change. Strangely I really wasn't as excited about it as I had thought I would be...

Now about that whole loser symbol thing....I guess I will have time to contemplate that over the 2 1/2 hours every afternoon that Wild Child is tearing up the Kindergarten Room....

Words of Wisdom

Life is too short to wake up with regrets.

Love the people who treat you right.

Forget about the ones who don’t.

Believe everything happens for a reason.

If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.

If it changes your life, let it.

Nobody said life would be easy.

They just promised it would be worth it.

Resurrecting Luna Verde (sort of)

Okay - I went through a whole process of starting my own home based jewelry business a while back Luna Verde Jewelry and Design...yup had to do up a business plan and all...however my self promotion sucks and it didn't really go anywhere...(sound of crickets) Now I've decided to start giving up some of my stash and the best way to do that is either Ebay or Etsy - I have a soft spot for Etsy as my buyer feedback shows lol. Also my sister has some goodies to unload as well so I'm getting some help (read kick-in-the-pants) to get going - lol. Anyhow so here it is my our official Etsy shop - currently it is empty however I we will be working diligently to load it up with all kinds of interesting items. Incidentally if you have never been to Etsy you are missing out - take some time and look around...you won't be disappointed!

Fiona and Twig - Giveaway!

Wanna win an awesome new decorating book???!!! Nothing like a little eye candy and inspiration!! Head over to Fiona and Twig and see what I'm talking about! Take some time and browse around - you won't be disappointed! I never am!

To Paint or Not To Paint...That is the question...really

Okay -here it is...I have a behemoth red brick fireplace - floor to ceiling, approx 8 feet in length and 3 feet deep. Sound lovely?? Well maybe if it didn't account for a 1/3 of my living room. I suppose if I'm doing a shout out for opinions I should include a picture (I will get on that). If this was an open concept room with cathedral ceilings it would be fine - I don't even mind the bricks - the colour isn't bad....(deep breath) I think I'm going to paint it...don't think I should paint it white though as it would still end up standing out unless my wall colour is going to be white too.

So I've been looking at greys/taupes/creams until my eyes are crossed and my head is spinning...I like the idea of going neutral - nice clean palette and just add colour with accessories and small furnishings etc. But I don't want it cold either...

So there it is...to paint or not to paint! And I have googled everything I could find on painting brick and have read all the pros and cons.... Picture to come soon - opinions welcomed! (be nice though! I get told I'm crazy enough by the DH lol)

The Mysteries of Digital Photography....

Love my digital cameras...we have 2 - a Nikon D40 and for Christmas my husband bought me a Nikon CoolPix S70. Truthfully the S70 was a little more camera than I was looking for and I have yet to navigate the mysteries of all the little icons on the touch screen - and there are a lot of them!!!!

I've always admired the dreamy quality to art photographs that are gaining popularity and especially envious of the artist/photographers who have taken it to a whole new level with collage. One such artist that caught my eye a couple years ago is Susan Tuttle - she does amazing work and even better she offers affordable (yes I did say affordable) online courses (yup online - you don't have to take out a loan and fly several hours...lol) that teaches you how she works her magic! Susan's Online Course Series is called Visual Poetry - don't you just LOVE it???!!! I have taken one too so I can actually speak from experience. They aren't offered constantly but you can sign up for her newsletter and she notifies you when the next on is up - and they are popular!!! (read if-you-are-interested-don't-put-it-off-or-you-are-out-of-luck! lol)

Good news though! Susan has made it even easier for us - she has just had a book published Digital Expressions: Making Digital Art with Adobe Photoshop Elements and even better you can enter for a chance to win it here! Personally I'm hoping I win it - however my fall back is the book store! lol Believe me it is worth the visit to her site just for the eye candy!