Seattle, Bainbridge, Snohomosh, and Poulsbo!!!!

On Tuesday of my week in Washington I went to the airport to pick up my best buddy Noreen. She came up from L.A. to spend some time with me. This is our third get together on Bainbridge and we are so lucky to be able to do it!!! Our first stop after the airport was the lunch you see below. BBQ pulled pork sandwiches! Yum! Next stop was one of the best bookstores ever, Elliot Bay Book Company in the Pioneer Square section of Seattle. You could spend thousands of dollars and many hours in this place!!! I have always wanted one of those Read signs in my house!

Next stop was a cute shop called Fireworks. Noreen found a great purse, see above left, green purse, oblong shape. Lovely handmade number! I liked the state pillows pictured below and the red purse with the Seattle gal on it!! I behaved myself though and saved my money for antique shopping!
The next morning we were off on the Kingston ferry. We took it over to Edmonds, and then drove over to Snohomosh which is a small town with a ton of antique shops.
We fortified ourselves with some cream cheese chocolate muffins!
There was one particular place, Star Antique Mall, which had 5 floors of stuff!!! Our dogs were barking by the end of the day (that means our feet hurt!)
Love these head vases!!!!
Great antique sign! Really gets your heart pumping doesn't it???
I loved the graphics on this old Totes box!
See this lamp above? I could not resist it!!! I brought it home with me! Well, I mean, my Dad is going to ship it to my house in the next couple of weeks along with a few other treasures which I will show you when I get them in hand.
More cool graphics...
On Friday we went to Poulsbo to meet my friend Carolyn who lives in Bremerton.
We ate lunch overlooking this cute little inlet!
Poulsbo is such a cute town. It is very Danish.
We went to an antique store (what else?) that had this dear little scrapbook all about George Harrison!
Here are myself, Noreen and Carolyn at Rubber Soul in Poulsbo...I found 2 new great stamps! We had a really nice time together.
On the last night we went to the Town and Country grocery store and got lots of little fun things to eat for dinner. I gave my Dad one of his birthday CD's.
I gave Mary this book as she loves this author. Looks like a really good read.

I am so lucky to have had this magical week! I hope to go back soon. It is a place that really gets into your system and you need another dose!!!!

Thanks for all the welcome back wishes - you all make me feel so loved!

Back Home Again......

I had an absolutely fabulous and wonderful vacation in Washington! It is SO BEAUTIFUL there! I would move there in a second if I could get the rest of my "core" people to go with me. Here is a photo from the morning I left....this is at O'Hare. You can see Chicago in the background. I was feeling mighty wistful when I took this shot because Mike had just dropped me off and I knew I would miss him and the cats something fierce all week.
Perhaps the other people in the terminal thought I was a bit odd as I unpacked my carry on bag to photograph my reading material; however, I would love to see what other people take on trips to read!!!! I finished Have You Found Her on the trip and it was riveting. I am going to pass it on to my friend Trish as it is right up her alley. I am currently reading Nineteen Minutes and it is a great read; can't put it down!
Here is a photo of my Dad and I when we were out running errands and driving around Bainbridge Island taking in all the beauty.
I ended up watching Masterpiece Theater last Sunday night with Mary. Cranford is the title of the current little mini-series. IT WAS SO TOTALLY FANTASTIC~ It is set in the 1850's in a small town in England and it is riveting and delightful. If you get a chance, please do watch it.
Drinks, snacks and crossword puzzles.....that is how we spent some of our time.
The local grocery store, Town and Country, always has gorgeous flowers......
On Tuesday we went out for a little sailing trip on my Dad's boat.....It was a bit cold and rainy but we had fun. We brought a little picnic lunch on board and had fun setting that up with some nice linens and cute plastic plates...
Here is a view from our boat, Widgeon, out to where the ferry from Seattle is coming in.
Here is Mary. She did a superb job of taking the boat out of the slip and into the harbor. It is a feat that I would not be able to accomplish and she did it very calmly.

More pics to come! Glad to be back to check out everyone's blog, but would like to remain in this permanent state of relaxation and constant state of having fun!

Vacation!!!!

Lucky me!!! My Dad and his wife, Mary, are flying me out to Seattle so that I can then take the ferry over to their home on Bainbridge Island!!! I love this area! It is so gorgeous...the water, the trees, the slower pace.....I love taking the ferry!
As you can see it is very beautiful there. I am looking forward to hanging out and doing the things we usually do.....watching the birds, eating almonds and grapes at cocktail hour, reading books, listening to good music, talking a walk in the woods....
...visiting Bainbridge Gardens which is a beautiful nursery, maybe going out on my Dad's sailboat if the weather is good, strolling through the downtown with all the great shops!
and then later during my stay my best buddy Noreen is flying up from L.A. so that we can drive over to Snohomosh and go to this big antique mall!!!! It is called Star Center Antique mall. We are planning on driving there and spending the night so that we can really antique it up!!!
One of my most favorite pre-trip activities is getting my reading material all ready. I have been avoiding starting a new book thinking I will start it at O'Hare on Saturday when I leave......so far I have this book ready to start. I came across it at Target (which surprisingly has a very good book section!) and it looked very interesting. I am a sucker for memoirs!!! Also, I am hoping to get Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Piccoult. Not sure why, but this looks like a good fast read too. I also got the new Marie Claire magazine because Tina Fey is on the cover and I find her fascinating. Once I am the airport (will arrive there early) I will look over all the book and magazine stands....so much fun! I can't wait to hunker down on the plane and read my way to fabulous Washington.....

If anyone out there knows of any good antique shops in the Snohomosh area, will you let me know???

I am flying back on May 10th and I will be back here on the blog on May 11th.....I will miss Mike who is staying home, my darling cat children, and all of you until then!!!

Lunch Hour

A couple of days ago during lunch hour my coworker and buddy Miss Jane and I had to break out of the office. We had a serious need to see something vintage. We heard that a local antique shop was having a moving sale.
Luckily for us we found a stash of most excellent greeting cards!
Can you stand the cuteness???
We will be putting these to good use over the coming months!!!
True Confession: I would love it if a professionally driven Winnebago would pull up and take my friends and I driving around the antique shops of the Midwest so we could look for vintage cards!! Can you imagine the fun!! Being driven about while napping, chatting, reading, eating snack foods, searching out Starbucks, and laughing!!!! Dreamy!!!

Linky Loo

Isn't this one of the cutest button cards you have ever seen???? My friend Lorie gave it to me this weekend and I am wild about it! The graphics on some of the old button cards are just stunning!!!!

Over the past few days I have received some of the most exciting and inspiring comments on my blog.....I have met some new people and just had the best time visiting new blogs. Thank you to all who leave comments and to all the new people who have visited lately.... you all have surely brightened my days!!!

With that in mind, I would like to give you some links to other blogs that I have recently discovered........please have a visit for yourself...

Dan Drinker

This is a blog written by Dan Drinker's younger brother. Dan has Down's Syndrome. Dan knows how to live and celebrate every moment of life. You want inspiration...go to this blog!! You want some brotherly love.....go to this blog!! You want flat out entertainment....go to this blog!!! Great place!!!

Lesley's Book Nook

Lucky me!!! Lesley came to visit! Lesley writes a blog full of book reviews!!! So many great books.....it is so much fun to read...I think we have quite similar taste in books. I could spend hours looking through her blog!

Come Sit By My Fire

This is Relyn's blog and it is full of eye candy and inspiration! Beautiful photography. Wonderful sentiments. and Relyn and I have a lot of books in common too!! Wonderful blog!

Be Present, Be Here

Liz's blog is just gorgeous. It has a feeling of tranquility and thoughtfulness....and anyone who lists the movie Pillow Talk among their favorites is a friend of mine! I also just noticed that Liz is a yoga instructor in the Puget Sound area!! Liz, I am coming to Bainbridge Island in two weeks and have always wanted to try yoga! I will have to ask you if you are close to Bainbridge!

Sleeping Dogs

As titled above, this is a website with movies of dogs sleeping!!! You cannot beat that for sweetness (well, I guess sleeping babies would be sweeter, but you know what I mean!)

Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords

This is a blog that has been around for quite some time. Is is written by a man and is mostly about his daughter who has a condition that prevents her from being able to speak. He has a new book out about it called Schuyler's Monster which I really want to read. He has a great writing style and seems really cool.....

Thanks for all the happiness and joy people!!

Elizabeth Berg

One day a long time ago when I worked the 3-11 shift in the psychiatric unit.......I was on my way to work, but was a little early. I went to the bookstore. I saw Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg. I didn't know who she was. I didn't really buy books, mostly I would read library books. But something happened that day, and I thought to myself, this book looks really good and I am now a successful single working woman and I think I will treat myself......so I bought the book. Lucky, lucky me!!! It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship with some of my favorite books ever.
Fast forward several years, I was married and now I was able to buy more books because my wonderful husband loved to read too and we would go to bookstores together on "toots" and just have the greatest time. It was around this time that I noticed that when an author had a new book out they would go on tour and read from their new book. They would also sign your copy of the new book. Fun! A new passion was born. I went to a lot of readings (mostly with my friend Sharon, we had it down to a science!)
Of course, when Elizabeth Berg came to town we went to see her. The first few times my Mom and I went. Then Sharon would come. Then we would get a whole group together, you know Kathy, Pat, and Diane.......we would go out to eat and then go to the reading. It was so much fun and so great to be in the presence of Elizabeth who is just once of the nicest, coolest and greatest writers there is!

Well, tonight after work, I went over to the bookstore because Elizabeth has a new book out. It is called, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted (see book cover below). I went by myself because I had not planned ahead for all my buddies to come with. I guess it was kind of a spur of the moment thing because I have not been to a reading for a long time, but this reading tonight was close to where I work so I figured I had better make the effort.

I am so glad I did. Elizabeth is in fine form in this book. These are short stories and the second you read the first sentence you will not be able to stop. Elizabeth has a way of writing that puts things you think, feel, love, and wish into words. She is so real and so funny. Nowadays she even has a website with great information about all of her books, her current book tour and a blog. Please check it out HERE! Check out the appearance schedule and, please, if she is going to be at a bookstore near you, GO!!! You will have a wonderful evening....and please read some of her books, they are the best!!!!!!!!

A Must Read!

I have spent the last 24 hours reading this book!!!!! It is a must read. I say RUN, don't walk to the bookstore and get it. It is a memoir written by a lovely and funny woman, Kelly Corrigan. She recounts her youth, her cancer diagnosis and treatment, her marriage and her two daughters, and her parents with such wit and great storytelling! I could not put this book down and I wanted to tell all of you about it because I think everyone I know would love this book.

Intriguing

Intriguing...........All the women pictured in the post are intriguing to me. I stop in my tracks whenever something about them is on TV, or one of their movies is on......Doris Day...I just love her! She is a great singer and a great comic actress....and so gorgeous!!! Pillow Talk is one of my fave movies!!!!
Also one of my favorite singers and actresses...Barbra Streisand! I love Funny Girl the best. I would love to read an autobiography by Barbra.
I love a few old Bette Davis movies too. Now Voyager is my favorite.
Hands down, the most intriguing woman ever to me is Princess Diana. I am still devastated that she died. I have many, many books about her. I wish she were still here. She was the most beautiful woman ever.
Joan Crawford. She was so gorgeous and such a great actress. Pictures of her from the 1930's and 1940's are so iconic looking. I love the movie Mildred Pierce.
I love Julianne Moore. I think she is such a great actress, not to mention the fact that she is so beautiful. My favorite movie of hers is Magnolia.
I would love to just sit and listen to Meryl Streep talk. She seems so interesting. I would love it if she would write an autobiography.

Who is intriguing to you?

Lucky

A couple of weeks ago my friend Jane traveled to a little place we call "Heaven on Earth!!!!" Red Lead Paperworks in St. Louis!!!!! She brought back these stamps for me and they are totally great!!!!! The one above is a Red Lead original!!!! If you are loving it too, you can order one from their site! Go HERE to see the wonders of Red Lead!!!!!!!!!!
These two stamps (above and below) are new from Tin Can Mail........I can't wait to use them!!!!!!!!
Thanks Jane!!!!!!!

Spring

I am back baby!!!!!! I just finished with my Paralegal course........now I am going to pay attention to my creative side! Oh, and try to clean the house and eat healthy and exercise.....and basically just get "in touch with my real self" again......... First up will be a health dose of napping, reading, and a bit of stamping today! Hope to see a lot more of you around these parts as I get back to a regular blogging schedule!

Crush

Here lies the history of my celebrity crushes.................first there was the trio of David Cassidy......
Donny Osmond........
and Bobby Sherman.............. I remember being in the car going somewhere with my Mom and Grandma and reading Tiger Beat magazine in the back seat!!! I wish I had an old back issue..that would be hilarious! Around that time I was also a faithful reader of Seventeen magazine and hoping against hope that I too could have some Bonnie Bell lipsmackers!!!! And even more hilarious....when I would go to the doctor and have to get a shot...I would repeat "Donny Osmond, Donny Osmond" in my head in an attempt to alleviate the pain of that needle prick.....

In high school most of my crushes were on real live guys, but I managed to have time to have a little obsession with Luke (Anthony Geary) of General Hospital fame...
Let's throw in a brief crush on Richard Gere.......
.......a more lengthy crush on Sylvester Stallone........especially from the first Rocky movie where he was so sweet to Adrianne.....


and the years passed and there was no real celebrity crush until......
........Jim of The Office! It the character of Jim and the looks of the actor John Krasinski that really make me swoon! Actually, as I reflect on this I really think this is why I am in love with my husband, he looks kind of like Jim and has that same sweetness about him.

What is your celebrity crush chronology?????????