larajanepark

Bitter Melon

2016-07-16T16:19:00.001-07:00

http://larajanepark.tumblr.com/post/147465540063/reason-1092-why-i-love-him

Children

2015-11-25T09:09:00.000-08:00

http://larajanepark.tumblr.com/post/133935105043/children-in-a-family-are-like-flowers-in-a

Free movie; The Godfather - Pete's Popcorn Picks - November 2015 - contra costa

2015-11-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

Who could say no?? See you Thursday!

Sweetness

2015-11-10T16:05:00.002-08:00

Sweetness... pic.twitter.com/TT5oZqvodj
— Lara M (@larajanepark) June 23, 2013

One of Duke's sisters from 2013.

2015-11-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

Summer 2013
A photo posted by Lara Mijatovich (@larajanepark) on Oct 4, 2015 at 7:25pm PDT

Baby Duke

2015-09-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

Throwback to Baby Duke. Summer 2013.

Alameda Point Antiques- July 2015- William's Antiks and such

2015-07-05T18:12:00.001-07:00

It has been a really long time since I've made a blog post for myself! I've been doing a lot of that at work and the skills I taught myself here have made great opportunities to update and work with the new web designers and the PR firm. Adding news to our business website is keeping me busy, I don't have as much time for my own blog.

So, I'm going to try to keep this up. It feels like getting a brand new moleskin notebook and being afraid to write average things on the first page- like it might set you up for an average accounting of this life on every page (I usually start writing 3 pages into a new notebook, so I can place wild and wonderful things on the first few pages later...)- when really, just write. No need to be so silly about it.

****

ALAMEDA POINT ANTIQUES- JULY 2015

with HM

We did find some treasures today:

It was 11 o'clock somewhere, but in Alameda it was 8:47am and we were already to row "H" to see our wonderful friend William Berg of William's Antiks. William was once a cook in the Navy and I would hire him in a second to cook for us! His beautiful wife Katie and his three handsome young sons are so lucky. William can also fix clocks (and just about anything else), speaks fluent French, has a never ending supply of jokes to tell and travels as often as he can to Paris where he buys French antiques, treasures and vintage leather club chairs, which he repairs and refurbishes and sells in America. If you haven't stopped by his booth, you're really missing out.

Fun facts: William never misses a Burning Man and his Katie used to work on the production side of Jaques Pepin's cooking show on PBS. They are a formidable team, raising handsome and charming boys in a huge and lovely warehouse in the artist/live/work district of Benicia, CA. Every now and then they have a Warehouse Sale and we try not to miss it!

They have another business called Dharma Door that sells wonderful baskets and linens, you should probably check it out.

The treasures from William's Antiks are authentic and one of a kind. ALWAYS.

Coat racks from Parisian homes and Bistros....

The "smalls" are favorites of mine too. I love the little treasures...

This little escargot was super lovely.... I should have bought him. Tant pis, maybe next time.

(unfortunately I don't like escargots! I never could bring myself to eat them in France, which HM couldn't believe- so he once arranged to take me to Bistro Jeanty in Yountville, CA, where we ate them together...and I still didn't love them)

A small shop sign. An exquisite flask (flasque? flacon?)

Various small pieces...

....for the wine. Maybe for the wine we carry to Pizza Antica every Friday night!

Bright blue enameled kitchen canisters....

Small champagne buckets and a confitures pot....

And this is what we came home with:

This tiny treasure from the late 1800's or very early 1900's is 1 1/2" tall and only 3 1/2" long. It's solid cast bronze hand painted. It's stamped with a name on the bottom that I cannot make out. It is something HM and I have never ever seen before in our lives.....incredible really.

Very little wear and all the arms, legs and toes are still there. Not bad for 120 years.

HM has a very good eye.

This was from the guy across from William today.

I'm crazy for the printed confiture pots and mustard pots from France, so HM bought this one from Terry Littman (Row G). Terry arranges trips to the southern parts of France, near L'isle sur la Sorgue. She will take you shopping and feed you and show you all the best antiques shops. My Aunt Carolee and Uncle Bob have taken this trip with Terry every year for two or three years now. They bring back amazing treasures for their Christmas House on Bainbridge Island, WA.

We always try to buy a treasure from William and Terry when we go to Alameda.

We forgot to buy at William's today, we owe you one WB.

And the back....

So we came home with boots for me and boots for HM (Lucchese's), a green horsehair brush from I can't remember who, the mustard pot & the little yellow confiture pot (from Terry Littman), the boy with the alligator and a fascinating metal duck clip. The duck came from the Alligator man across from William on row "H".

Kind of a dark picture of the green horsehair brush, the duck and the yellow French confiture pot....

The duck is a clip- you press the top and the beak opens, it hangs on the wall. I have a similar clip near my front door that I put outgoing mail and important papers (used to be signed permission slips for the kids, etc.)

It was a pretty fun day.

We left Lafayette at 7am and walked to row X (the market goes to Z and then double letter rows until past GG I think!). We got hungry and left at 11am. And had breakfast at the Village Cafe in Orinda on the way home. Best breakfast in Northern California if you ask me. Kathy and Kurt Bellows run the place. Kurt makes the BEST corned beef hash HM has ever had (that is a supreme compliment!) Their son went to school with my daughter Paris.

I love our area. And I love our outings.

Happy Sunday!

xoxox

As if she were the sun

2015-07-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Summer Time

2015-07-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Pashley Princess Classic

Medal Turkish Beach towel

Verdant Garden Mini Dress

Paris and Life

2014-09-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Lots of memories of my Paris trips this week. I named my oldest daughter after my favorite city.

She is strong, elegant, enduring, beautiful with a classic elegance and a palate for all new foods and adventures. In the past I have sent her to Paris, with her French class in High School. And she on her own has studied abroad in London, visiting Scotland, Ireland and who knows where else in the 4 months she was there. Paris Gray, that's my girl. Life is not made of things. Life is made of experiences.

Paris (the city) has always been an escape for me. Once, a daring freedom, insisted upon, bought for a big price, and sacrifice (defiance even!). A treasured adventure with 5 of the most amazing women I've ever encountered. Chickie, Janey, Sandy, Corrine andCatherine (Dr. Mac!). Those wonderful days, trading roommates each day, dinners of steak pommes frites, a sip of Calvados, a tiny paper umbrella tucked behind an ear after a saucy night out, always diligent journal entries each night.

We rented a car and drove around France, clockwise of course, Paris being 12 and Lyon 1:30, Roussilon being 6, Limoges being as close to 9 as we could afford this trip (parking was quel horreur and it was pouring rain), Ending at Mont St. Michelle and Versailles before Charles De Gaulle heading to San Francisco International. We had our ups and downs, (who could think 6 independent, determined, strong minded women would travel two weeks in a foreign country without a difference of opinion now and then?) oh my, did it end up being the trip of a lifetime.....

My dearest friend Karen and her new husband Jon are on their honeymoon (18 months delayed) in Paris as we speak and they are posting diligently their daily adventures. I am so thrilled to say to myself as I read those posts, "Lara! (my other me says to myself in my head) We've been there! We know exactly what they are talking about! We have SAT UPON COLETTE'S grave at Pere Lachaise, JUST LIKE KAREN is now!" I am revisiting an old friend (Paris) with an old friend (Karen, since we were 11), right now as we struggle with this life and these challenges...I suddenly am 32 (and 38) visiting Paris again. I am there. It's almost enough that I have been and that I know and can live it again now.

Almost.

Again when I was 38, I returned to Paris for my birthday. Paris in May is lovely! However, my birthday (May 1) was Fête du Travail (everything is closed) and I could not go to the top of the Eiffel Tower and throw my wedding ring over the edge as I had longed to do (2006- 18 years= divorce for me). *trying to find image on Google of this sign is actually futile!* The only sign I could come up with is this:

I assure you , I had no desire to climb the Eiffel Tower. Well, I did climb it, there are some stairs to the top. But please believe me when I tell you that there is a sign that says something close to "you will go to jail if you throw things off the Eiffel Tower". As a law abiding citizen, I of course could not continue my plan. Tant pis. But I only had 4 days in Paris and I was not keen on spending ANY of them in the hoosgow- French or otherwise....

Sadly and undramatically, I left my wedding ring in my little red coin purse with my Euros. But every now and then I do think "what if I had thrown it?" (A poor starving artist may have found it and hocked it and was able to buy a few more pages of Arches Watercolor paper that would have allowed him/her to paint the picture that he/she sold to the honeymooning tourists -not unlike Karen and Jon-, that paid his/her rent and allowed him/her a few more months in Paris").

This trip I rode the train through the "Chunnel" from England to Paris. A first class ticket to Paris, with lunch and wine. I was so happy, so excited and feeling so very spoiled, a birthday gift from a very special person who had lived in France and been to Paris and had places to introduce me to, but who also paid attention and made reservations to stay at my favorite little hotel in the 5th arrondissement, the Hotel Europe St. Severin. Oh not fancy or 5 star, but in my neighborhood. ( My mother always told me- the least expensive place in the best neighborhood!). Yes, the 5th arrondissement is the best neighborhood. St. Michelle Metro station....the life on the street is my favorite.

The perfect birthday gift.

The sad thing is how different technology is now. Well, it's not sad that it is the way it is now, but then. My first trip to Paris (not France, my first trip to France was to the Cote d'Azur in 1988) was with a little camera who's greatest claim to fame was that it could print panoramic photos. They are beautiful photos, I still have them. They must be scanned and uploaded and inserted and added to the cloud etc.

This second trip to Paris (38), was with the photographer. He is so talented. Unfortunately all photos of that 4 day trip had crashed shortly thereafter with his hard drive (it was 2006). And all we have are memories.

Which brings me to my conclusion. It's not the things you have. It's the memories you make. Those are the real treasures.

So. A post with no pictures. A first? For me? yes. Use your imagination. If you cannot. Go to Paris. Wander Pere Lachaise. Have an espresso at a little cafe. Some raclette at the place across from the Hotel St. Severin. Ride the Bateaubus down the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. Climb the stairs. View the view. Buy a book at Shakespeare and Co., A Pernod at Cafe Flore. Aside from the births of my three children, these are some of my fondest memories.

It would be so sad if you couldn't see what I have seen.

It is truly a beautiful life. I'm ready for more.

xoxoxo

Love,

The one with the Equipment silk snakeskin blouse. From France.

2014-04-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

ONCE UPON A TIME.....

Someone invented Pinterest. For a visual girl like myself, this is a way to catalogue who I am and what I love. When I was young I spent my hard earned babysitting money on fashion magazine subscriptions- I was the only girl I know who had a subscription to WWD. I would cut out my favorite images and tape them to my bedroom wall. My friends had Adam and the Ants, The English Beat and Billy Idol posters, I had the seasons runway shows cut from WWD and Vogue and Vogue Paris. Taped to my wall. Floor to ceiling. With scotch tape.

I'm still the same. But I can't find the tape half the time and thank God for Pinterest. It feeds my soul.

Looking through my "My Style" page on Pinterest and I found the below picture from years ago. Something about this outfit just says Lara, even though I've never owned white trousers or a snakeskin blouse!

I found this amazing silk blouse. Made by Equipment. In Paris. Just this weekend at my designer consignment store in town. It's the only thing I bought. I loved it at first sight, though it is a little daring for me. It's luscious. Beautiful. And it fits me. I'm calling it the find of April 2014. I think I'll wear it to work tomorrow....

I'm sorry I've been absent lately. Work really takes a lot of time! But 45 days until Hawaii and summer is really just right around the corner. We have such a fun year planned, the girls and I. Life is good and we're enjoying all of the minutes.

Hello to you, thanks for reading.

xoxoxox

love, me

One of my favorites

2013-12-18T08:53:00.001-08:00

Nude Descending a Staircase

BY X J KENNEDY

Toe after toe, a snowing flesh,

a gold of lemon, root and rind,

she sifts in sunlight down the stairs

with nothing on. Nor on her mind.

We spy beneath the banister

a constant thresh of thigh on thigh;

her lips imprint the swinging air

that parts to let her parts go by.

One-woman waterfall, she wears

her slow descent like a long cape

and pausing on the final stair,

collects her motions into shape.

I have been very busy at work. Neglectful of my little blog, but am determined to keep it up when I can so my kids can see what I like when I'm not around someday.

xoxox love,

Flashback UK

2013-09-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

With Paris away in London doing her study abroad thing, I thought I'd put a few of my old UK pictures up from Dec 2005- June 2006. Armchair traveling. Happy memories.

Rag Freak, Brighton, UK Dec 2005

London, Spring 2006

Fountain at Buckingham Palace, May 2006

Buckingham Palace, May 2006

Library, British Museum May 2006

December 2005

Bath, UK Spring 2006

West Wittering, Sussex, UK March 2006

The arbor in the garden at Jane Austen's house in Chawton, Hampshire, UK Spring 2006

Alton?

Winchester Cathedral December 2005

London, May 2006

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, April 2006

Wicker Man, Butser Ancient Farm, Spring 2006

Wicker Man Burning, Butser Ancient Farm, Spring 2006

Green Men at the Beltane Festival, Butser Ancient Farm, Spring 2006

Sunset on the Pier at Brighton, December 2005

Me at Sunset on Brighton Beach, UK Dec 2005

2006 Going to the Isle of Wight

via hovercraft!

St. Catherine's Hill, Hampshire, UK 2005

Sometimes the best time to be lost is when you are adventuring.

xoxox

Love,

All photo credits: James T. Shaffer ©2005-2013

Dog Days of Summer 2013

2013-09-02T09:59:00.001-07:00

This is Duke. He's four months old.

Love my pink hammock, Duke the Bernese Mountain dog puppy, my darling house, my white picket fence, my gardens, my green chair, summer, sunshine, daughters, son.

Hey. I didn't do so bad for myself.

xoxox

(here's Duke with Odin about 6 weeks ago)

A little bit of beach trip in July...

2013-07-23T23:43:00.000-07:00

The kids have all the pictures. Best cameras. Patience. In desperation (for a few measly photos!) I have swiped some from HERE and THERE. Daughter #1 has a new blog (as opposed to the old blog), so yeah, you'll have to follow the new one to read about her new adventures this year (not limited to London for three months starting in September! University of London!).

Me and Ellie. My sister's granddaughter and my mother's first GREAT GRANDCHILD!

My gorgeous Mother. (a grandmother and a GREAT GRANDMOTHER!)

Mermaid cousins, my daughter Scarlett Darling and her partner in crime, Erin Estella...

Mrs. Calabash, at it again....

2013-06-20T22:45:00.001-07:00

Masud.

He's the 93 year old founder of my company. When he's feeling chipper, he comes by my desk on his way out of the office and tips his imaginary hat and says "Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!". I love it. He is an amazing man and he always makes me feel special. It's incredible to work for him, he's built an amazing empire in Northern California and his son and grandson are carrying on the tradition with his business.

I've told you this before- you can read it HERE.

About two weeks ago, Masud came by my desk and instead of saying "Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are" he said quietly to me, "If you find me a Jimmy Durante hat, I'll wear it."

I asked him his hat size.

7 1/8

He spoke so softly, I really wondered to myself if he'd said it. But yes. By Gosh I was going to find him a Jimmy Durante hat. I googled Jimmy Durante hats and watched old clips of the Jimmy Durante Show (which only ran on t.v. from 1954-1956).

Then I found the best Hatter I could find, Lock & Co., LTD in London- St. James's Street, and tried to figure out which hat would have been a Jimmy Durante hat.

I found it.

The Chelsea.

In Gray.

So I ordered it and had it sent to my office......

It felt like Christmas when it arrived. The box was huge and wonderful.

So I wrote a little note, tucked it into the tissue paper and set the box on his chair in his office so he'd see it first thing when he came in Tuesday afternoon....

And he LIKED IT!

This is what I found in my mailbox at home today:

I think we made each others day.

P.S. I love my job.

Love,

xoxox

Better than a bicycle license plate

2013-05-28T22:58:00.002-07:00

I knew when I named you that early morning in February, nineteen (yikes!) years ago that I wouldn't ever be able to buy you a monogrammed bicycle license plate from Great America, or a Name keychain from Disneyland, or any of the other important things children look for in shops like that.

But we like shopping elsewhere anyway.

Paris Gray. I love it. (and you!)

xoxoxox

Love,

Mama me

The Most Handsome Man I Ever Met.

2013-05-21T23:47:00.001-07:00

This is my kid. Simon Harrison Mijatovich. I love him to the moon.

“You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not.”

― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

Lazy May Sunday

2013-05-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

The girls, Wayne and I went to breakfast then played in the yard of W's house with Odin.

The lazy days of summer are almost here. Too bad Mama's don't get summer vacation too!

Pear brought her camera. But breakfast was so good, it disappeared before we could think to photograph it!

Then we were full and lazy...

Even Odin was tired after awhile.

I try and go barefoot whenever I can....(it's not encouraged at work).

The girls are silly and lovely at the same time. It's rare to have a Sunday when Paris doesn't work, so we were happy to spend the morning together.

Sweet love every day....

Who wouldn't want to come home to this on their front door?

The girls did this for my birthday and I decided it should stay up forever.

Good plan, dontcha think?

Happy Spring

Love,

xoxoxoxox

P.S. Last night we saw "42" at the movies. It was amazingly wonderful. I highly recommend it to all!

May Garden update...

2013-05-19T16:44:00.001-07:00

Random days getting away from me.........

2013-05-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

Pear is a more prolific blogger than I these days, take note here and here and dang if I didn't have a birthday while time was flying by here.

My Spanish is seriously lacking. (Hence, the "Cinco de Quattro" of May 4th on Pear's blog- and hey, it made sense after a margarita). Vito tries to teach me something new every day at work, but alas, as many times as I write down (phonetically, of course) 'They always blame it on me" or "I'm not the guilty one!"- all I can remember is "Dios mio" or that "Bien" is the answer to his quick inquiry that translates to "How are you today miss Lara?". I have, however, trained him to say "How is the Princess today?" when he walks up the grand staircase to my office each morning, so don't think I'm not trying SOMETHING new! There's something about Princess in any language that makes me smile.

Ahem, yes. Flea market first Sunday of the month, Sadly only a few photos below. The original idea was to wake up early and be done by noon, which only works for one of us (the one who wakes at 5am every single day). I woke up at 8am and that made for a 9:30 am arrival at Alameda, thankfully Courtney waited in line to get us tickets so we could zip right in like VIP's. We did try a new food truck- Dim Sum, which is brilliant because they can make all the food ahead of time and just keep it steaming in bamboo boxes over simmering water heated by propane gas. No prep time, chopsticks and paper plates. It was a good set up, if a little expensive.... But yum dim sum....

Missed seeing William, but stopped in his booth quickly. I came away with an old red and white quilt (I think it's still in the dryer at HM's house), and C & HM each found cowboy boots.

Back home to head to my other work for the first time in months. Quilted a little quilt at American Jane Studio, I'm rusty I'll tell you and had to get a little visit in with my girl Sandy Klop, which of course led to tears (It's been a doozy of a month), exhausted myself and had to go to bed at 8:30pm. The girls checked on me and were like, "MOM's ALREADY ASLEEP" holy cow. Had to tuck themselves in.

Sometimes I go over all the stuff that's happened and I think, sheesh. I only had to go to bed early one night- heck, I'm surprised I survived it all!

Random photo uploads because I'm still surviving it all and I'm pretty exhausted:

He was the other team (Orioles, but dang, he was right in front of me!)

One of the first photos of the three of my beautiful children under my roof at the same time for the first time in over 7 years.

SUSHI. With Andrew and HM. Yum. Kane, Lafayette.

Birthday text from my Scarlett Darling...

boot photo shoot on a Friday night....in the clover.

My Birthday, At work.

Birthday gift from my wonderful neighbors....

The revamping of hand-me-down chaise lounges for the backyard....a work in progress.

The new trellis from Farmyard Darlings in Lafayette. For the viney thing growing out of the pot that I inherited with the house when we moved in last year....

Oh, the other hand-me-down chaise lounge near the newly planted Morning Glories on the back fence.

Old school drinking fountain from the flea market,

Beautiful Green door with transom window, all in one piece, for sale at Alameda $495.00.

The dresser I thought that Paris would love!

Cafe sign from France. William's Antiks. Alameda Flea Market, May 2013.

You just know I'd love a PARK HOTEL sign.

Best book find ever.

The hen house. With green stairs.

Really, don't tell me you think this isn't adorable.

Not my best post, but it's my life. A little bit of everything I thought to take a picture of.

Love to you ,

xoxox

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

2013-04-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

When I was a girl, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said I wanted to be a mom and have babies. Really.

When I was in high school and people started asking me what I wanted to "be", I knew that having babies was NOT what they wanted to hear.

***

So when I was a senior, I decided that I would study Fashion Design. After all, I loved fashion (still do!), had bought myself $100 Norma Kamali bathing suits and had a subscription to Vogue and WWD with my babysitting money. I made the coolest clothes in high school and considered myself very fashion forward. I wasn't absolutely positive that I wanted to be a fashion designer, but I felt compelled to make a decision because it was "time".

Well I went to Fashion Design school- FIDM in SF. What I learned was that I could MAKE anything. Really, anything. Somebody has to sew these things and I am one of those people who understands the language of threads, wool, weaving, textiles, drape, bias, and construction- involving fabric. I can make a pattern for anything and I would be happiest to spend all of my money in a fabric store! While in college, I would stop at Britex at least twice a week to feast my eyes on floors upon floors of bolts of fabrics and notions.

And I adored my Pattern Drafting class, pinning muslin onto Wolf dress forms to make patterns was just right up my alley. I learned so much! And created a lifelong love for Wolf dress forms (thank you Janey, Ms. Wolf was the perfect gift!):

Maybe my interest developed while watching my mom sew when I was little. I have a vivid memory of her kneeling on the living room floor with a tissue (Butterick?) pattern laid out on some yardage, pins in her mouth, using that little pronged pattern tracer that looked like a tiny, pokey pizza cutter.

My mom sewed the satin red, white and blue ballet skirts for my recital when I was just 5 or 6, she sewed all of our Halloween costumes, she sewed us girls Easter Bonnets and made us cute matching nightgowns out of pillowcases and ribbons. She let us use her sewing machine any time we wanted.

Turns out, I'm a mom who had babies (3), who can sew just about anything, who loves fashion still to this day, who is crazy about textiles of any kind, who used to play "office" and "store" with my sisters, who is doing (for the most part) the things I wanted to do when people asked me "What do you want to be when you grow up?".

I'm thinking about all of this as I watch my detail minded/computer building/lego/boy engineer pursue his college education studying physics and math. And as I watch my Beautiful Daughter #1 try to decide what she "wants to be" when she grows up. She is feeling that same pressure, trying to figure it all out, and only now, in my early 40's can I really say to her: just study what you are interested in. It will come to you. I think someone else has made our plan already and we have to be open enough to receive those directions.

And that may be the hardest thing of all.

Alameda Flea Market, April 2013

2013-04-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

Lovely, but they wanted $20 each book! Yikes!

Stadium seat

Carved of wood

Oh the ANT FARM that reminds me of this post (and my childhood!)

Me and my crate/box/container thing...

For riding off into the sunset together.....

The tooling was beautiful on this saddle

Treasures from William's booth

Oh how I need this cafe table base....

An Arthur Court walrus ice bucket. The tail and the head tip open on hinges!

A Red Cross Medicine chest. Reminds me of a Seabold Vintage Market find.

Lovely chest. He said American, we said English. If I'd have had a spare $950, it'd be in my little house right now.

Odin protecting Ellie's tiny cowgirl boots.

Such a good baby, our Odin.

Nobody is getting these boots except Ellie!

Ellie's boots and my 1930's French Latte bowl from William's Antiks. William has 3 boys and they need shoes! We always try to buy something from him. Believe me, it's not hard.

Getting fancy with the display (miss this job, I'll tell ya)

Commissary food?

Definitely lunchroom at McCoy School in Eagle County, CO circa 1977

It was actually HM who couldn't pass up Ellie's boots. Look how tiny they are in his hands.

Fortunately, I was able to pass up the strange cowboy boot flower planters.

Tiny Standard Folding Typewriter

The Lone Ranger and the Black Shirt Highwayman. (A BETTER LITTLE BOOK)

Odin was happy to run in the yard when we got home. Here's HM watching over him.

Tired feet after a long flea market day.

The Christmas Boots. They've been night caving in Utah, flea marketing, two stepping, and grocery shopping. Love my cowgirl boots.

Hit in the head with a brick.

2013-04-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

I am on day 5 of the headache. I rarely get headaches. Feels like I've been hit in the head with a brick.

The good news is I've lost 4 lbs!

Check out this beautiful brick. Someone worked so hard to create it, make it festive and lovely, gave it life, lived with it in their home for such a long time.

It was the only treasure I found at an estate sale last month. I almost didn't get it, I really don't need a doorstop. But it belonged to an old grandma and I could picture her lovingly embroidering this crazy green brick cover.

I paid $2 for this brick.

It makes me happy.

I am a nut.

It's been a crazy week. I'm not ready to talk about it really, but I have learned that I really do have the most fabulous friends, and job- family really is forever- and there is nothing like having my three beautiful children in the same room with me at the same time.

We are always exactly where we are supposed to be, even if we don't agree with that at the time.

And the doors are always open

(even without a doorstop brick)

Mamas love their children forever. Every single day.

Be gentle, always delicate with every soul you meet.

2013-04-18T23:17:00.002-07:00