I Won!

Woohoo! I won!
This is an authentic Judith Leiber sterling silver mirror compact covered in pretty little pink Swarovski crystals! "Who's Judith Leiber?", you might ask?? I didn't know who she was either until a month or so ago when a field trip to the Phoenix Art Museum had me gazing in amazement at an exhibit of over 150 'Judith Leiber' purses in various shapes, animals and styles covered and adorned with tons of these pretty crystals! The display is unbelievable! Little purses made in the shape of a bundle of asparagus tied with a ribbon, red lady bugs, pink pigs, cherries, siamese cats, butterflies, and on and ON! Shiney, sparkly, oh-so-cute little purses that have a big price tag! I instantly fell in love with them and even went to her web sight afterwards. For a mere $3,500 I could purchase an adorable pear purse! Ahhh...but that is not in my league...and I'd look a little silly shopping at Target with such a fine container for my money... what little would be left of it. So I put that fantasy in my 'dreams' file and thought nothing more of it...

Until one day...

I happen to check out a website promoted here... mysweetconnection.com. It's a 'chick site' full of 'chicky' things like recipes, helpful hints, deals on shopping, etc. There's even a way to 'earn points' through trivia questions and surveys and then spend those points on raffles being held on a variety of items. Well, I happened to check this site out about a week ago...(I had first checked it out two months ago and forgot about it). One of the raffles was for this adorable Judith Leiber compact! I thought if I couldn't afford one of her purses, at least I could spend my points and try for her little cute compact (can you believe it's valued at $475?!?!). So I dilligently played trivia each day and took the survey for this past week. (sidenote: it's interesting what one will focus on when one is in a loosing battle with a wicked stomach flu and is neither willing nor able to assume an upright position for 3 days) As soon as I accumulated points, I spent them on entries for this compact. I think as of last night I had 36 entries. I was serious about winning this!! Lo and behold, the raffle closed today at 11 am and I just checked to see who won, and I DID!! WOOHOO!!! I'm getting fitted for contacts tomorrow morning and eye-sight willing, I am going to drive over to pick up my 'oh-so-cute-little-pink-Judith-Leiber-mirror-compact' !!! Nothing like pulling out my ultra-chic Judith Leiber compact from my $29.99 purse from Target!

Going Up!

Call me crazy, but the airport is one of my favorite places to be. I love planes. I love to fly. I love the whole unbelievable concept that 60 tons of metal can break the binds of gravity and soar to altitudes that allow you to see the curvature of the earth - all in comfort and style. I love everything about the airport and find it simply facinating.

My love of flying starting at a young age. My dad would load up the family and stop by Kentucky Fried Chicken for individual dinner packs. We'd drive out to the airport, dinners on our laps and watch the planes take off and land as we ate. My dad had a radio that allowed us to listen to the conversations between the control tower and the pilots. It was such a thrill to listen in on the instructions, readings, directions and things that passed on this frequency. Sort of like secretly listening in on a forbidden conversation.

I've always carried this love with me. I don't fly NEARLY as much as I would like to...my last trip was two years ago... pity. But sometimes I'll drive over to the airport, radio tuned in and watch the planes. I'm not the only one there. It's funny how many others find this a great way to pass time.

Friday I was able to go on a tour of our airport... of the artwork. Ours is the second largest collection of art in the U.S. Who knew! We were given all sorts of facinating information...our airport employs 31,000 people! We were driven over to the new 'rental car' complex...wow! Rainbows of reflected prisms colored the walls - it was a facinating art installation and one that all valley residents should really see at least once.

I took this shot of the new control tower being built. It's HUGE!! Unfortunately, I didn't get the current control tower in this picture for an awesome comparison. But trust me...this tower is a monster! Once completed, it is going to operate for a year in tandem with our current tower before it takes over the operations of the flights soley on its own. I can hardly wait to see it when completed. Now if I could just find a way to finaggle a tour of it....what an experience that would be!

A Tisket, A Tasket...

Meet my 'first aid' basket....
Some might notice that it's really a Longerberger basket... the 'lunch basket' model, to be exact. I'm guilty of loving their baskets. Good thing I bought my collection of them when I did...those days are probably over. I have had this one for almost a year and it goes where I go... work, the grocery store, Starbuck's, lunch with my girlfriends, to pick up M, the cabin in the woods... Yes, I carry it with me everywhere.

I call it my 'first aid' kit because it contains things that help me with the day. In the back is my green scrapbook album of my new home. It's a work in progress and one that was suggested by Susan Ban Breathnach in her new book "Moving On". It's a wonderful book that guides you through the process of 'moving on' in your life; either literally due to divorce, loss, moving, etc. - or by simply 'de-cluttering' your life of things that clog your closets, garage and probably your spirit. I started reading her book on March 19th, and I'm on page 40. I've been there for 2 1/2 months. That's because she suggests making an album of how you see your 'new' home...whether you really are in a new home, or you are 'renewing' your present one. I was so taken with her suggestion that I accumulated the necessary album and embellishments and for the last two months, that's what I've been doing..setting up my 'new home' book... a page for the living room, a page for the kitchen, one for the bathrooms, etc. Magazine clippings, drawings, inspirations are beginning to slowly find their way into my album. If I come across an idea or inspiration for my eventual new home, then I tuck it in there. I tend to be one who spearheads through a project to get it done, but for some reason, I am perfectly content to take this at its natural pace, which seems to be a bit slow, and just enjoy the process.

Next, is my black box of my colored pencils. A 48-peice set of Prismacolor colored pencils. My favorite. They are so rich and smooth to work with. These aren't your grandma's colored pencils. I love the rich color and silky texture that lays down when I color with them. Sometimes, I think it's crazy that I cart them around with me every day, but when I consider taking them out of my basket, I just know that I'll be inspired to create a page or label or card, and darn...I won't have my pencils. So I trust my inner voice and keep them with me. Good thing. I use them quite a bit.

My personal planner is Mary Engelbreit...have you heard of her? Her 2006 desk calendar tucks so nicely in my basket and keeps me sane!! I write down everything that's important...phone numbers, appointments, meetings, classes...and thank goodness, because in these crazy days, I know I would have forgotten an appointment or 'lost the magster'!! Do you have a planner??

The next book is my pink leather Italian journal. She's relatively new to the bunch. I don't write in her much...only when I really think about it...which is about once every month or so. But I love the girly pink color and the little pink button book marker in her. Silver with pink and white buttons - made by a woman's group for battered women through J. Jill stores. I wish those women strength and courage everytime I see it.

Next, is the wonderful Susan Ban Breathnach book, Moving On. It's laying on its spine and those little pink 'flags' are paper tags that I've used to mark special parts of her book that I wanted to be able to refer back to. Like I said, I'm only on page 40, because I've been busy doing my 'homework' of creating my album and haven't read on. But every so often I think about going back to this book and learning more about this process that I am in. Maybe I just carry it around for its good karma.

Next, but hard to see, is my purple pencil keeper. It's nothing more than a plastic envelope from Target for 3 bucks. But I carry a wealth of writing supplies in it...mechanical pencils, a little pad of sticky notes, art gum eraser, pink pearl eraser, a yellow highlighter, Zig 'millennium' writing pens in different sizes - 6 black, one in blue, Zig 'writer' pens in all sorts of colors - kiwi, pure violet, black, wheat, orchid, coffee, burgandy, apricot, plum mist and platinum, a pack of ink pens in colors of blue, purple, orange and green. Life is too short to only write in black.

Tucked down in and out of sight is an eclectic group of cards sealed in a baggie. They are mostly from '7 gypsies' - a collection of old-fashioned cards used to scrapbooking...check out their site...I love these cards!! Also in the group are cards with soothing pictures - hearbed bathwater in an old-fashioned clawed tub, a wooden bowl with a mix of potpourri, a sweaty glass of lemonade...all with recipes and words of wisdom on the back of each one. I take them out now and then and look through them. These, too, have almost been removed from the basket, but as soon as I do, I know that I'll wish that I hadn't.

I don't have all of my eggs in one basket, but the basket that I do carry around is one that helps me through the day.

What's in your 'basket' ??

Watermelon Bra

Maybe it was the 115 degree heat.

The magster and I went shopping today for some things. After an uneventful trip to Old Navy, we headed down to Kohl's...they were having a 'bra' sale. Now mind you...I HATE bra shopping. You find 3 bras that aren't designed for 49+ yr. old, 2 kids, weight-loss, down-to-my-knees boobs and stride right into the fitting room, hoping that there are no hidden cameras ready to capture the 'tit-sling try on'! I always have a trace of optimism that when I try on the first one, I, too, will look like the woman on the front of the tag...looking so 'fly and foxy' in this bra! But after struggling to slip, plop, hook and adjust my boobs into this fashion statement, I realize that no matter what kind of fancy contraptions you strap on a cow, udders are udders.

If I had my way about it, I would strip down to nothing on the top, gamely grab bras left and right, try them on right there in front of the display, and if they didn't fit, throw them down and go over to the next display. None of this 'take off shirt, take off bra, try on bra #1, bra #2, bra #3....put back on old bra, put back on t-shirt, fix hair, go back out and try to find 3 different bras that might fit', and do the whole process over again.

I spent a good hour perusing the selection Kohl's had. After trying on 3 with halarious results, I headed back out. I searched for the 'lavendar' tag that corresponded to my cup size... for heaven's sake. (J says I need a 'boob lift'... she may be right) The pickin's were slim...the sale had obviously already been a hit with a lot of women (and probably a guy or two, if truth be told). Finally, I found two that would do. They were white and pink...the pink one being my personal fashion statement...albeit a rather modest one. One for the magster (it was a buy 2 get 1 free!), and I headed over to the pajama section. Heck, I was feeling so sassy with my new boob slings, I figured I should find myself a new nightgown! Well, meandering through the pajama section found me staring at a rack of miscellaneous undies...and there on the end was a pistachio green bra with a little pink bow in the front and a little pink ribbon running along the sides. Green and pink! Watermelon colors!As fate would have it, there was one in my size! And the kicker...there was a big ol' sign on the rack - 'GOLD STAR SALE - 60% - 80% OFF!'

Well, I knew this was a sign from Lily of France (undergarment goddess), so I grabbed my new bra and triumphantly strode up to the register. I asked my friendly sales clerk how much my new watermelon bra was, since it was on sale. She scanned the code and told me it wasn't on sale. ??? Yes it is, the sign says so. She nonchalantley picked up the phone, spoke to anonymous, nodded, and hung up, only to tell me that it wasn't on sale. I repeated that the sign said differently. 'You want to talk to her?' I was asked. "You betcha" was my reply. I was committed and willing to do what I needed to do to take home my watermelon bra at a reduced price!

Ms. Frumpy Grumpy appeared. I explained that the bra had been on the sales rack. I showed her the tag with a yellow line marked through the bar code. She told me that that didn't matter. I said that as a customer, it did to me! So I invited her to allow me to escort us over to the said rack. Ms. Frumpy Grumpy launched into her 'wave-off' diatrabe that the yellow mark didn't matter, the bras probably shouldn't have been there, someone must have put them there, there is no sale and that the sign stating the 60% off was on the wrong rack. "Look...it's not even tightened" she said as she loosened up the thumb screws and move the offending sign over to another rack. She showed me!

Ahh... but not so fast, glass-hopper....

That bra was coming home with me - and at a sale price.

I then exposed my knowledge to Ms. Frumpy Grumpy that if a store advertises merchandise at a sale price, they are required by law to honor that price. They had a sign on this rack. Three of these bras were on this rack. This bra, Ms. Frumpy Grumpy, is on sale.

"I'll need to go look up some numbers. Do you want to follow me or wait here?"

"I'll wait here, thank you."

As we waited, I explained to my mortified daughter that this was an excellent lesson for her to witness in shopping. I explained the theory behind it and patiently waited for Ms. Frumpy Grumpy to return. About 8 minutes later she did. She happily handed me my bra and said 'Here you go!' I asked if she was able to get the sale price and she replied that she had written it on the tag. 'Thank you very much.' I said. As magster and I strode back to the register, I looked down.... $12.99. Yipeee! This bra and I were meant to be together!! My new watermelon bra was the deal of the day!!

A melon bra for my melons!!

Like I said.... maybe it was the heat....

Grace named Molly

Molly...
my dear Molly...
you were the best...
may you be running with ease now...
give Mom a lick ... tell her I miss her and love her...
and give Mokie a real run for his money... he's been waiting for you...
thank you for all that you gave us... you were graceful up to the very end...
we will always have you in our hearts...