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Today is Saturday....Mike and I are about to embark on a shopping trip for some work clothes and bathroom fixtures. Of course, I would rather embark on a shopping trip for books and vintage ephemera (but that will be coming up next weekend!!!).
I wanted to post something though.......Above is the little page I made for a collaborative project through Red Lead Paperworks in St. Louis. The project is called the Itty Bitty Friendship Book and was thought up by the wonderful Linda of the Red Lead Yahoo Group. I am anxiously awaiting my book to return in the mail....there will be 32 pages in it! Hope it comes today!
This week I have been positively obsessed with a book website, Good Reads, that my blog buddy Relyn told me about. It is so much fun and so easy to maneuver around. You start a bookshelf, ask friends to join, and then you can browse other people's bookshelves and make comments. Last night after a rough day at work I came home and spent an hour and a half on the site just adding books, looking at other people's books, and it totally relaxed me. Better than a highball!!! (If you don't know what a highball is, let me know.)
Also this week I stumbled on two new blogs that are wonderful....
Mommy Time - by my friend Michelle Peterman. This is a stamping blog and Michelle has wonderful creations. She is on a couple of design teams and you will see why when you visit. Very inspiring!
Sleepy Hollow Craft Company - by Jenelle. Talent!!!!!!! Beautiful blog! Inspiration! Fun!
Have a good weekend!!
I think Mike and I might be the only two people who have a 4th of July tradition of going to the bookstore! Yesterday we were at it again. We went to Barnes & Noble and just browsed; taking down titles of books we might want to check out at the library (part of our new austerity program).
Today we had to go back to B&N for a birthday gift for a dear friend and I succumbed! I got the book above on the recommendation of Kim and the magazine below because it is just too much eye candy not to be able to drool over in the privacy of my own home!!!! So, life is good over here! Naps, reading, cats, etc.! Also, so far I am on page 32 of the book and love it!!!!
So far this week I have shirked all of my duties except for going to work. I ordered some movies from the library and they all came in at once. Tonight I watched La Vie En Rose, a movie about the singer Edith Piaf. When I heard her voice a long time ago I thought it very strange. Now I am intrigued by it and will be getting a CD by her from the library. She had a very sad life but was blessed with her singing and that brought her joy. The actress who starred in the movie certainly deserved the Oscar that she won!
Last night I had a double feature. First up Mike and I watched the documentary, Crazy Love, which is too bizarre to be true, but it is. Then I watched Notes of a Scandal which was completely engrossing. I think I have about 6 more movies from the library this week! Every night will be movie night around here!
I don't know if anyone else is as weird as I have been over the last several years. Anytime there was a book or movie (DVD) that I was interested in I felt I had to own it......Hence, lots of money spent at the bookstores. Enough that I am now pretty cash poor and book rich.......Well, I recently rediscovered the joy of the public library. You can order anything from them and if my town's library doesn't have it; they order it from another library in the system. The only drawback is waiting, but that builds character right???? So, I have been on a spree of ordering things from the library. It all built to a crescendo this evening...I arrived home from work and Mike told me he picked up our new stuff from the library. So this weekend is going to be fun, fun, fun. The picture above is from a Busby Berkeley musical (popular in the 1930's). The lovely Jeanie told me about this DVD that just has the musical numbers one right after the other!
Next up is the book above. I read the first two books by Suzanne Finnamore. The first memoir was about her engagement and wedding. The second book was about having her son. The book about her pregnancy and childbirth was one of the best I have read. I think the writing that she did about the love of her son is some of the most poignant I have read. So, I was particularly saddened to hear about the fact that she is divorced; but I am putting aside my other book so I can read this book tonight and tomorrow. That is another great thing about the library; because I am such a memoir fiend and can read them quickly, it really is great to get them from the library.
And lastly, we have these two movies to watch! Perfect, because it is a rainy night here......books, movies, my honey, and also this weekend the Chicago Cubs are playing the Chicago White Sox. This will be fun because Mike will be hepped up about the games and I can watch them with him or sneak in some reading! Happy weekend people! I will put up part two of the previous post on Sunday!
Sorry about this picture-less post!!!! Our computer is on the fritz and might be in its last stages......We are planning on going with an Apple next and hopefully we will be doing so in the next few days or else, maybe our computer will come back to life.
I just wanted you to know in case you wonder what is going on over here in the Land of Maude! I will be back as soon as I can!!!!
A couple of years ago I stumbled onto the soundtrack for the musical 42nd Street. I love the songs and music; and the sound of tap dancing.
Recently I have been on a streak of ordering things from the library and decided to try out this movie. It was made in 1933 and has some gorgeous clothes and dancing. Some of the plot points are a bit strange, but overall it was some good escapism. While Mike watched the Cubs, I watched the movie. Now I am tapping off to sleep!
Yesterday Mike and I went to the annual used book sale in the parking lot of Old Orchard shopping center in Skokie, Illinois. This is the 13th annual time for us. The first year we went when we were dating.....1996. The next year we were married. It is as much fun as Christmas morning to me.
There are a ton of books and they are very inexpensive! In our first years I would buy tons of books. I still have some from the first years that I have not even read yet. This year I tried to be sensible. We have so many books in our home and we are running out of space for them. So, I was pretty selective this year. The highlights of my book buying yesterday were Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner and Love Walked In by Marissa de los Santos. Also, I found some really inexpensive children's books to use in art projects.
In the fiction section I met a lady, a retiree who lives in Arizona part of the year. She held up The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and asked me if I had read it. I didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm by saying that I am one of the few people who did not care for it. So I said, "So many people love that book!" Well, we got to talking. She told me she is in a book club in Arizona and went on to show me some of the books they read and loved. In turn, I was able to foist some of my favorite reads on her. She was very receptive and bought all the ones I recommended such as Plainsong, Tender at the Bone, and Motherland. It was lots of fun.
There were so many good books there that I have already read. If I had a lot of money I would have bought them and sent them out to people I know would like them. With finances the way they are, I took pictures of them and hope that some of you find a new great book you have not read!
If you are in the Chicago area, the book sale lasts all week! They had tons of boxes of books they had not even unloaded yet because the tables were full. I would have liked to go through all of those boxes! Treasure hunt!
(Photo courtesy of slimmer jimmer of Flickr)
I WISH....
- That I could dance the quick step with Tony Dovolani
- That I was in a rock and roll band and we could do a cover of "Signs" by the Five Man Electrical Band
- That I could see a custom made double feature of Sex and The City and M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, The Happening, right now.
- That I could be shipped off to a cabin by a lake somewhere in Michigan and just sit on the porch and read books for a month straight
- That I had enough energy to clean and organize this house once and for all
- That I too had a magnificent pair of Wellies to wear to the beach (see above!)
I ran across this video on a Americablog, a great site for political commentary. However, this video is not about politics. It is about the ocean and undersea life. It is a man giving a speech about something he is passionate about. It is riveting. It is cool. It made me want to go listen to lectures about art, history, science, and all kinds of cool stuff. It is only a few minutes long and so cool, especially the last little bit. Click here to see oceanographer, David Gallo!
I might not be around blogland for the rest of the week, I am laying low people! Trying to get my creative mojo back and/or trying to get the house in order........
Adding my voice to a chorus for Peace.
Last Friday we hit the road and drove down to St. Louis. Jane drove myself, my Mom, and our friend Liz.....we stopped at antique shops along the way (a four hour trip turned into eight!). Our final destination was Red Lead Paperworks, which as you may know is just my idea of heaven!!!
Above and below are pictures from their website. I think you can get an idea from this picture of their store just how much inspiration there is! Whenever we go to Red Lead we spend the entire time the store is open just walking around and around soaking it all in. Chris and Sharon are always such gracious gals and let us bug them all day. 
We were able to stay in a Hilton Hotel thanks to Jane's husband's business trip points. It was totally luxurious! We all had a great time, relaxing, shopping, and laughing!
The only problem was that I did not take my camera out of my purse. I was too busy "being in the moment." We struck vintage ephemera gold at all of the antique shops we stopped in.
I included my favorite finds in this post. 
This teen book is hysterical with lots of ideas about fashion and boys, boys, boys.
We felt very lucky to have three days to just do what we wanted and go where we wanted to go. It was fab!
