So Long

I am taking the two older children to NYC. We are leaving in a couple of hours. It has been too long! In my attempt to get Nadia more excited about architecture, I am going to take her downtown to the financial district. Wall Street will get her. Garrett wants to see some Graffiti, so we will have to wander around for that. Me? I just want to be there. Oh, and I may do a little shopping for the new house. And get some spring clothes. And a spring pocketbook. And some spring shoes. And...


I just need to figure out how I am going to get it all home. Not my purchases. The city...

please

I have always loved to write

The other day my mom brought me a very special treat. It was a box full of stories, art and self evaluations from my childhood. I have only looked at a few things... This story was one of them.

(There was  quite a bit of foresight to how I feel about my life in this little story.)

Keep in mind, I am going to type it word for word.  Grammatical errors, mispelling and all.

THE CASTLE

By Lyndsey valerga

There once was a girl who was so pretty, she won every Miss Utah Pageant in the world. Her name was Jessica. She had red hair and green, green eyes. and rosy cheeks. She had a brother named Jeff. He had a skateboard. He could win every contest. One day, they were eating steak and potatoes at the dinner table with there mom and dad. They were very poor and one day, a mean lady knocked at there wooden door and no one would answer the door. So she opened the door and said "I am here to take away the thing your the best at" she said to Jessica "What do you like to do the best"?. Jessica said " I win all the Miss Utah Pageants in the world." So the witch said "come here young lady and stand steele." So Jessica went to the mean lady and she stayed steele. and she said "what are you doing to me?" I am going to take away your prettyness. and she did. Next she said Come here young man. By the way, whats your kids name. Jeff said my name is Jeff and Jessica  said my name is Jessica. After that he walked over to the mean lady and she said what are you best at? And Jeff sayed  I can ride my skateboard. She said bring it to me in ten seconds and she looked at her watch and said go run along. He was so scard he ran almost as fast as a squirll could run. and he got back in five seconds! And he gave the skateboard to the mean lady and the mean lady said let me have that and he said no and the mean lady slapped him. And she said  "now give that to me without saying one word" so he gave the skateboard to the lady and she threw it out the window. and the mean lady said to the mom, come here old lady and old man and get into my carriage. now get, scram, shoe, beat it. when they got in her carriage she said get in the back. When they got to the witches castle the witch said gards take them to the dungen with the rest of the old people.  So the gards did! And Jeff and Jessica started to cry and cry and cry until there eyes got really red and there noses started running and other stuff like that intil one day when Jessica went outside, she saw the castle and she went inside to get Jeff and when she told Jeff there was a castle they thought that there mom and dad must be in there. So they tried to find there way to the castle and on there way there, they new all the other kids moms and dads got taken away from them. So on there way they went house to house picking up the other kids from there house so every kid went with them on there way they saw a house on fire a train and stuff like that. They walked 30 miles and they finally saw the castle. They ran the rest of the way. They saw the gate to the  castle. They climbed the gates. They opened the door. Bats flew out. The alarm went off. They went to hide and the fell into a secret door that no one ever new about and they fell into a basement. They heard people screaming and they found there moms and dads. And for the bad the things the mean lady did she went and lived in a small little garage and Jessica got her prettyness back. Jeff got his skateboard back and all the other kids got there stuff back.

Each family got a manchion and they lived happily ever after.

 The red hair and green eyes, the steak and potatoes, the "prettyness",  the skateboard and no one wanting to answer the door...

While all of that is definitely me, the shoo-in guarantee that this story was written by yours truly was  the fact that after all the horrible things this mean woman did, the worst punishment in the whole world for her evilness was being forced to live in a garage.  The death penalty couldn't have been worse. Oh, and after all that suffering, Jessica and her family finally got to live in a "manchion".

Thanks Mom. I love you!

Art work by Lisa Mann Dirkes
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Love EVERYTHING about this. If I could only have one piece of art at this very moment,
it would be this.

You can purchase "Dare to Fail" at Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Couture in Manhattan.

Coincidentally, this is one of my favorite shops in NYC.
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I will now post some pics so you too, can fall in love...

Her bedding is dreamy whether you are asleep or awake.
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I am using her couture bedding for my girls room...

Perhaps  I will add a touch of Rachel  to my Hollywood Glam Boudoir. 

Indeed.
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 I think I must!

I love this.

I think this artist has the "hole" to thank for his artistic inspiration.

Things are a lookin' up

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had a bit of an acne situation... I have never had the privilege of experiencing this before, not even as a hormonal teen.

I am now happy to report that I am once again, acne free.

In related news

The dark circles under my eyes are going away.

I will be back to the new old me in no time.

Yet another humbling moment for yours truly.

Loves,

Bless Her Heart.

As most of us know, the phrase "Bless her heart" is usually prefaced or followed by  the verbal recognition of another's unfortunate circumstances.

Examples:

 Well Susan, bless her heart, is so large she fills up the bathtub and then puts in the water.
                                                                 
 She is so dumb, she can't even pass a blood test, bless her heart.

Note:  As long as her heart is sufficiently blessed, the insult isn't really even an insult... at least that's what my Great Aunt Edna (bless her heart, she was anything but) would say.

 I must have been really bored because this peaked my curiosity. So  let's look this up on  The Urban Dictionary and see if they share  my Aunt Edna's opinion...

Their Definition:

A term used prior to ridiculing, insulting the sensibilities of, or pointing out the shortcomings of someone. Used to soften the blow of a statement, and can render nearly any comment, no matter how brash or distasteful, socially acceptable.

Their Examples:

Wife- Honey, do these jeans make me look fat?

Husband- Bless your heart, dear, but you've been a whale for the last ten years and I still can hardly believe you haven't imploded into a black hole due to the force of your gravity yet, so no matter what you wear, you'll still be a walking pork rind.

Little Billy- I am 6 years old (only holds up 4 fingers).

Woman- Oh honey, bless your heart, but that's only 4 fingers.

Little Billy tries again- I am 6 years old (this time holds up the same 4 fingers and 4 more on the other hand).

 Woman- Child, Bless you and your momma's heart.
 

Okay, So now that we're all in agreement, who's heart are we blessing?

 
Today we are blessing The  Dancing with the Star's hearts.

That's all I am going to say.

I know I am a design snob... I never said I wasn't.

Yes, it's true...

Surprised? I didn't think so.

 I will freely admit that when it comes to interior design, I am gonna have an opinion.

The only thing I have to say on this topic is...

First, I can appreciate any style. However, if it is the SAME style as everyone else,  I probably won't even acknowledge it.

Second, If it is your style and you embrace it, whether or not it follows "rules" or "themes" is completely  irrelevant.

 Side note:  Literal themes and sticking to text book decorating rules are the worst  thing to ever hit the design world. Unless you are four years old. (Even then, it's questionable.)

Third, Please don't live in such a small, shortsighted world. Open your eyes. Try to appreciate the raw and unprocessed approach. If I see the same "Utah special" house one more time and it is known as "The beautiful home of  the neighborhood", It will be over. I will impugn it right there on the spot.

You people that scoff and judge other people because their home is different and YOU are not use to it... Spare us all and just go away.

News flash: Not every home needs to look like Tai Pan vomited on it with their shoddy, tasteless, debris. In fact, I don't know how much more Tai Pan style I can take before I  vomit myself.  Current is good. It's refreshing and in the end it pushes you to follow your own taste and not someone else.

Rule of thumb: Do not copy your neighbor down the street, chances are they just copied their neighbor and then you fall into that horrible blind leading the blind scenario.

So at the end of the day...

Design your home the way you love it. If only people would realize that just because one particular style is stamped all over the  neighborhood, (or in my unfortunate case, the whole state) that doesn't mean it is stylish. It may have been, but it has now been done. Move on to something else. Please keep in mind that our lovely state happens to be ten years behind the trends. SO to my fellow state dwellers, if you see a home that doesn't look like every other bloody home in the neighborhood, don't shun it. Realize that the homeowners may be onto something. Perhaps, they are the ones with the taste.  While everyone else's "beautiful" (trendy, insipid, stagnant)  homes are the ones lacking.

If you, my lovely readers, are wondering what instigated this post, it's best if you don't ask...

                                                                         Loves,