12 Years

Today my sweet dotter is turning 12. Now some of you might not think this is a significant birthday but for me it has brought on time for reflection. 12 is a really important age in our lives. She will now leave elementary school and move onto junior high this year. She will start attending our church youth group (which is a huge part of our lives) because you can do that at 12.  While she was close to becoming a teenager, she is now teetering on the edge with all that comes with that......attitude, angst, heartbreak and the good things.....responsibility, joy and curiosity.

I've been thinking about how hard it was to have her, literally (I was in labor for 52 hours, no epidural at the end,) and how hard it is to be a good parent.

I think about that a lot, being a good parent. I constantly worry about the time I spend with them (or really lack of) how I handle situations, how to make them know they are smart, pretty, funny (all the things that are important to them right now.).......Will they be well adjusted adults.....keeping their grades up.......the list goes on.

I just worry.....but today I'm not. I'm just going to have a fun day with my beautiful 12 year old dotter and be grateful for the time I've had with her so far......and the many years ahead I will have with her.

I look at her and I think it all turned out O.K. and it will be O.K.

Happy Birthday my sweet BRONWYN. I love you more than you will ever know.

I made this board for her, and it was waiting in the kitchen. I'm having friends and family post little notes to her throughout the weekend. I put little quotes and doo-dads that represented her.

Notes on the board.

Good advice to live by. One of my favorite pictures of the dotters.

I always try to get her a sock monkey to add to her collection. Thanks to my dear friend Paula I was able to procure this one at the last minute. (She has about 20 vintage sock monkeys.)

Oh the things you can do........

I have an awesome and capable husband, like I'm sure many of you have. Since he is a designer and technical director he is also extremely handy. Things that would take me hours to do he can do in mere minutes like working with tools or building something. He is also the cleanest painter you will ever meet. (I mean he doesn't even need to put a drop cloth down!) Now I think of myself as pretty handy too. When we first met I was working in props and set dressing. That takes skill too! (and use of power tools.) But we have been together for a long time and over the years I have let him do a lot of things for me, because he is faster and it's just easier for him to do it. I'm sure some of you might be in the same boat.

Okay so why am I telling you all this...you wonder? I recently had a moment of great satisfaction that I want to share. So at some point in our marriage, he decided he was a better packer than me, especially when it came to packing a car. I think early on I might have defended myself but over the years I just conceded and let him do it. The dotter's and myself would bring all our stuff to the driveway so Dad could load it in the van in a orderly manner. I can't really remember the last time I packed our van for a trip.

So a few weeks back, my sweet friends and Fleaology partners made the trek to CA to go to a big Flea Market there and to just have some fun in sunny So Cal. We spent all day at the flea market and between the three of us had a hefty haul. (Come to FLEAOLOGY May 5 to see some of the goodies we picked up.) Now my dear friend Paula drove her 12 passenger van with the seats out, so we had some good space.

Once we gathered all of our stuff together and looked at the van space, I had a moment of inspiration! I can do this! I can pack all this "stuff" into this van. It was like the old ME stepped forward, not the complacent ME or the "honey you can do it" ME. (And the honey wasn't there anyway.) It was fun and challenging and took about 45 minutes to pack but I DID IT!

It's funny how little experiences can help us remember who we are and what we can do!

Now I'm not saying I'm going to start doing all those things that take me an hour and him 5 minutes, but next time the van needs to be packed for a family road trip, I'll show him who has mad packing skills too!

I did get proof......see the pictures below. 

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND COME TO FLEAOLOGY IF YOU CAN!

A picture of the stuff, ready to be packed into the van.

 

Paula and Cathie trying to get pictures of all the stuff! I thought this was so funny, so I snapped a quick pic.

See how excited they were to know that we didn't need to leave anything behind?

Some of the awesome things we picked up. Some you will see at Fleaology!

A Place for Contagious Creativity

Have you ever walked into a place and felt so inspired, delighted, happy and....at home? This happened to me recently during my trip to CA. I was showing my Fleaology partners some of my old stomping grounds from when I lived in LA and I took them to South Pasadena which has a charming little downtown area. We were looking for a place to eat and found this sandwich shop and as we were coming out this window display caught my eye. I just had to go in and see what the store was about.

I imagine I must have felt what Charlie did on his entrance to Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory. My eyes popped out as I took in the eye candy and whimsy of this delightful store. Basically it is a store for artists and crafters, especially those who love vintage and mixed media design. In the center is a awesome smorgasboard of items you can buy to create one of kind mixed media masterpieces. A lot of the items were vintage and really reasonably priced.

The store owner was really charming and we had a chance to talk with her a bit. She has artists teaching classes there every week and as I looked at some of the projects, I was wishing we could stay and sign up for a few. If you don't have time to take a class she has some great artwork for sale that you can just purchase. I loved looking at all the creations for sale.

Everywhere you turned there was a bit of inspiration in this store, especially this gorgeous hanging lampshade. I loved it. She told me it was continually a work in progress. I'm thinking about how I can start my own....

I truly loved everything about this store, the displays, the goods, the wonderful and kind staff and the creativity around every corner.

I loved the tag line of the store.....a place for contagious creativity....and while I haven't found a store like this around me, I hope all of you can find that space in your life. Where is your place for contagious creativity?

 

 

Make sure if you ever in the LA area, you stop at ZINNAS in South Pasadena, it will make your HEART sing!

Featured on Dandelion Farm Girl

My sweet friend Marci did a little post on her blog about me today. She has this teriffic blog called DANDELION FARM GIRL, (love that title) and she features interesting and creative people, places, ideas and things.

I met her at FLEAOLOGY and have gotten to know her over the last year.


I found out she only lives 5 minutes away from me on this sweet farm called FALLOW FIELD FARM.

She does a show at her farm every Fall which features handcrafted items, vintage fare and some cool junk. She asked me to do her show last year, but my little sis got married that day. I can't wait to do it this year. Go to her blog Fallow Field Farm and you can learn some more about the show. This year it is September 29 so mark your calendars!

I was recently at her farm and was able to see how charming it is and her sweet house at well. Lots of character with details that I just love.

Here are some pics I took with my phone:

She has this awesome potting bench on her porch, I just love it!

On the other side of the porch, this great door with this cute wreath she made.

She is super crafty and I just loved this lampshade!

 

I loved all her lighting. It was so fun and eclectic. This is an old flour sifter she picked up.

Her kitchen was just charming. Don't you love the old chicken feeder light?

Every farm needs a cool vintage bike.

Go check out the post today! I am honored that she wanted to feature me. She is also doing a giveaway later this week.

Flowers....in LA

Okay, so I think some who do wander get lost.....and that would be me. Lots has happened since the last post, 3 major shows, a move to a new house (same neighborhood, just a better house) and a recent trip to CA. I went to a Theatre conference in LA and my fellow fleaologists thought they would join me later in the week and go to one of the famous LA flea markets. Now I lived in LA for 9 years and knew my way around pretty well. Prior to the market we went to a few of my most favorite places in LA.

We first hit the famous LA Flower Market.

I was so excited to show my friends this wonderful gem in LA.  I believe it is the largest flower markets in the United States. It opens at 3am to the trade (florists) but at around 7am the general public can come and purchase flowers and plants.

As much as I wanted to buys dozens of flowers, especially the wonderful tulips and ranaculas, I ended up getting some awesome topiaries for my front porch. I also got some wonderful succulents. The other two fleaologists had a great time and were delighted by the wonderful array of texture and color. Cathie our photographer took some wonderful photos and Paula bought some wonderful plants for a miniature garden including a bonsai tree.

I'm planning post 2 in few days about a wonderful and inspiring store we found and of course our flea market adventures at Pasadena City College.

Head on over to the Fleaology blog, we are have a giveaway. The prize?? A $50 fleaology gift certificate!!!!