A Happy New Year to All! Absent for a bit!

Hope you all had a great Christmas! Mine was a bit unconventional this year with no family at home, BUT as mentioned before, I have the BEST friends in the whole world! I have always felt blessed with good friends, but this year, I felt especially blessed!

I heard from friends I hadn't heard from in years, and I had invites galore from co-workers and neighbors. I got surprise phone calls (my old friend Mary and my New friend Lulu) AND goodies and handmade gifts (Thanks Deb for the wonderful embellished monogrammed coaster AND, your beautiful PINK Jam)galore! Thank you one and all, it truly was Golden!

My son Andrew got back today from Virginia (and none the worse from the roll over accident) and we have Chelsea (his gf) coming in on New Years Eve for two weeks, and a housefull for a Ham dinner here on New Years Day!

My best to ALL of you for a wonderful beginning to the new year! 2010??? Geesh! I doubt I'll blog until around the 12th, when Chelsea heads back East ....

Hugs and Love and a VERY Happy NEW YEAR to you all!

Shell

Thanking God, they are OK! Tell someone you love them!

My son Andrew called me today from Virginia, initially asking if I was "okay"-was I feeling better after being sneezy/wheezy feverish the last couple of days?

At any rate, Andrew finally related that he and his girlfriend Chelsea, were in a serious accident earlier this week. They "rolled" in the car and the car was totalled.. But,they were both OKAY!

Now, this is the kid/young man that had TWO tours in the Marines in Iraq. This is the guy that had to hang up the phone one time urgently because they were under mortar fire...."Mom, I gotta go." Click......

I know that he was in danger then, but I also know the dangers of automobile accidents, having been widowed (my husband, Karl, the pilot) coming home after flying in his little plane to meet his fate (our fate?) on a busy stretch of Highway 9 near the Arlington airport.

So today, I reiterate, an important reminder to me primarily from the loss of my husband, and apparently as well from my son after we spoke about the incident today, that I truly believe it is SO important to tell the people you love and care for that you DO love and care for them. It sounds so simple, and yet, my husband Karl's last words to me on the phone prior to the accident, was that he loved me. And I try and tell folks in my life that I LOVE THEM,,,,,even though it's awkward for some. I think it's important. I don't want to hold back, I want NO regrets!

So,,,,Love and I DO mean love to YOU and yours, thanks for being part of my life and have a wonderful holiday, a joy filled new year! And, I hope you take the time to tell someone, if not all the people in your life what they mean to you!

Shell

Sick and Tired of being sick and tired!

Ugggh,

Saturday at Joyworks I think I sneezed more in 8 hours than I ever have in my life. (Allergies,, , at least I thought!)

Then I woke up around 4:00am Sunday morning from some bizarre fever dreams and realized it WASN'T allegies after all. I've been "one" with either the bed or the couch for the last two days and I truly am SICK and TIRED of being sick and tired. There are only SO many books you can read after your nap(s) and only so many Hallmark movies you can watch (and I don't advise it, If you were/are as plugged up as I am anyway and THEN crying at the end- either happy OR sad tears...just something you might want to consider)

I wanted to attend a concert tonight at Belle Chapel-the Historic Church/turned Wedding Chapel, where I used to help out my friend Laura when she owned it. Now owned by a lovey family that have the equivalent talents and cute factor of the "Von Trapp Family Singers" aka Sound of Music Family. The St Marie's are SO talented and their son Andrew who is truly a self-taught piano virtuoso married his sweetheart and my family friend Lauren. (They, the newlywed couple, not the whole rest of the family, live in Nashville now and are as pianist and vocalist repectively,pursuing their musical and vocal dreams.

So here I sit-the perfect candidate for either a Cold or Flu commercial and stew!

Hot bath, warm tea and bed for me! Stay healthy all!

Shell

Parlour Tour AND Joyworks Party!

Yesterday was Hopping! Woke up to snow gently falling and thinking, OH NO!
Day of the Parlour Tour AND the Joyworks Christmas Party in the evening.
Fortunately the flakes were few and everything went off without a hitch!

My dear friends Zoe and Kelly helped me welcome the masses (not sure of the counts, probably a couple hundred or so people) some of whom I knew and many out of towners. It was fun to see what people commented on-a little bit of everything! It was a busy 4 hours!

Ahhhh, A breather, a glass of wine with Jana and THEN on to the Joyworks party which was a blast! Kay's home was wonderful, everything so special!
We feasted on Cornish game hens (whose glaze set the smoke detector off at one point, but no harm done.) It just added to the fun when the smoke detector went off! Dinner was awesome!

We played our usual dice game and for a while everyone played "nice" and then the "stealing" began! All is fair in Love and Dice! I managed to hold on to Jana's, and I think Kay cheated because she "hid" her gift from our gaze! (Sneaky!) Jana said Amy would probably go for mine, and she did, because of the polka dot paperchain I put on the outside! Amy got a little "bonus" too, in the sweatshirt "extrodinaire" that we keep embellishing and passing off to some unsuspecting coworker! Enjoy Amy,,,would be cute with Tights and boots on YOU!! : )

Clarice gave us all wonderful goodie bags with treasures old and new! "Lots of 30's" in there too for our 30th year....30 nickels, 30 dollars, and her original receipt books and dough art! Not to mention an old Beanie baby for all! Too fun!

We all chipped in and bought Clarice a pearl embellished long chain and earrings to commemorate the year and a new handbag!

And we finished off the evening with Jill's wonderful almond/cranberry/pair torte and a peppermint cordial from Sandi!!! Wowza!

Fun night ladies! Thanks to all! Here's a quick Slideshow of the Eve

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Pics of House Slideshow and Comments

Last night (Friday) was the Parlour Tour Preview. It's an opportunity for all of us involved in the Tour (Selling the Tickets, helping out, Shops like Joyworks, etc, and extended members of the Historical Society to Preview the Homes actually on the Tour on Sunday. This, followed by a Social Event after the Preview for all of us......

It was a FANTASTIC evening! The homes were over the top in their decorations, their archetecture, everything! The wrap up at Karen and Warner's house was fantastic and the food was great! I did NOT take my camera on the preview for various reasons, but I would HIGHLY recommend anyone interested in visting the various homes,,,it was extrordinary, and my dear friend and co-worker Penny was instrumental in lining up the participants.

If you can, visit ALL the homes. And, if I get links to the others I will most definetly post them in the near future!

I think my house was the smallest on the Tour. But here is a slideshow of my little 90 yo bungalow. I'm sorry but some of the pics got cropped, even though I submitted them in their full format,,,,,,but at least you get the idea, and I hope you enjoy! Happy Holidays and I will post more pics of the actual tour, if warranted, after tomorrow,,,,,and Jana and I, I am sure will both have pics/blogs of our extravaganza Joyworks company party tomorrow night!!!

Again, the pics were "chopped" a bit, but I hope you enjoy the slideshow of my little house!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hope you enjoy!
Hugs,
Shell

White Trash Christmas and Aloha!

I had to post my SPAM "Chirstmas Tree" from last year on my header. . . it just makes me laugh! Last year, my wonderful articulate, tasteful friend Zoe and I hosted an ornament swap party at my house. Now I KNEW going into this that everything she does is meticulous and gorgeous.......So I decided that I'd "carve" a Spam Christmas tree for an appetizer for our functions,,,,,complete with green olives with the red centers, or COURSE!  I also had a can of spray cheese on hand to totally send her over the edge,,,,,but the Tree did the trick! Merely for the shock value, mind you! But it was good for laughs at the party!!! Now if you WANT to create your own:

TWO Cans of Spam-stack together and hold in place with a toothpick
A jar of Green olives With the Pimentos!-Cut in half and adhered with MORE toothpicks!
Serve with Saltines,,,,,,(No gourmet crackers were harmed in this preparations!

"Bone Appetite"
Shell

(almost ready for the Palour Tour on Sunday, although it would be a BIG help if it wasn't so friggen cold that I don't want to leave the comfort of my down throw and brave the elements!!) Oh,,,,,and NOW they are talkin' SNOW?????????

Baby it's COLD outside!

Okay, so I'm sitting in my house wearing long johns under my clothes top AND bottom and the thickest socks I own. It's so chilly sitting here in the office my fingers feel like popcicles ready to break.. Oh YEAH and trying to craft in my studio (in the old drafty basement today was a challenge, although I got a few things done).

The house is getting there for the Parlour Tour. I'm just tweaking this and that and so I finally had time to do some crafting and finish a crown I'd promised for my dear friend Lulu for her new turquoise decor on the landing of her gorgeous old home. She hasn't seen it yet, but here it is... I had it almost done, but it wasn't quite what I wanted and then it came to me during one of my many hormonal/insomniac epiphanies at about 3:00am,,,,,anyone else familiar with those??? Anyone?    So I took one of my vintage Ballerinas that I use on cake toppers and birthday hats and cut her in two!!! I then proceeded to sculp a mermaid tail out of paper clay/glue/glitter,,,voila! She looks a bit like Bette Midler though with that red hair!!!

So,anyway,,,I worked down in the basement for a couple of hours after I thought I could tolerate getting by with my space heater down there and when I came up to check on some guys doing yard cleanup for me, I found a package!!! Lulu's sister Lisa, sent me the CUTEST Mermaid pic for my hot pink and green bathroom! The pictures don't do it justice, because I kept getting glare off my light fixture,,,but I LOVE IT!

I tried to buy one from the Coastal sisters shop but everytime I tried to talk to her about doing custom colors and size for me and/or payment, she ignored me!How rude-NOT!  So,,,I thought I might not ever get one of her darlin' Sea Maidens and then today...TA DA,,,,I got a box in the post that she drew the cutest Mermaid on, I think I may have to cut THAT out and put it down in the studio....Too cute!!!

(You can go to CoastalSisters.com to see more of Lisa's and Lulu's lovely creations-artwork, blog banners, faux cakes, gorgeous jewelry, and more!) Thanks Lisa, SO MUCH!


 And Lulu your aqua crown will go in the mail on Monday!!!







The warm Southern climate sounds pretty darn good, Ya'll!!
Hugs and love,

Shell