here are some pretty kitchens i found off of, http://desiretoinspire.blogspot.com/

Here are some new quote for your new years eve! hope it is terrific. (i just hope i can stay up that late!)

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.

~Henry Ward BeecherPlymouth Pulpit: Sermons. October 1882-April 1883, 1887;

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

the bright whites of winter....

one of my favorite flowers.

we are home. so i have my favorite months, and january is not one of them. it never has been. however the more i have thought about things, the more i think that i do love january. it is sad to take down christmas, but i love to clean. pine sol, and listen to jazz music, throw things away, rearrange things, and just enjoy winter. just winter. make goals, enjoy the bright white snow, and the light coming in through the windows. it seems new and fresh. and i am going to enjoy this january.

photogs: http://www.rieeliselarsen.dk/index.php?group=27&gallery_id=83&image=642

my cozy home...

bella's stocking! i wanted her full name, but online it didn't look like i had room! i was WAY wrong!

merry christmas lady liberty... 13 complete tea towels all spelled with the word 'glorious' wrong. so now i have to redo 13 tea towels, and figure out what to do with the 13 others.

the packages are mostly wrapped, no bows yet! santa will bring those! the gigantic stocking i got for bella was delivered, (it is as tall as her, i had no idea it was this big, but i love it, and so does she, i hope in the future we can find as cool as stockings, and as big! so no rivalry!) the tea towels were thought to be complete,(until a major misshap) the laundry is being done, (and not folded, not even close) for our afternoon departure. now the house has to be cleaned, (you know why linda campbell) so when we come home, we come home to a clean house, welcoming and warm, and that can be messed up just seconds after we get home, with our belongings. i also have not mailed my christmas postcards yet! so do expect them after christmas! sorry! so much to do! but i am so excited to go home! yet kind of sad too leave our festive little apartment. i think my harmonies are acting up or something. i just want to wish you all a very very MERRY christmas! i hope everyone has a great holiday, and that it is full of cozy memories, snow, and hot cocoa, and love.

the magical nights of tea towel making....

tonight, and tomorrow night, i have a big order of 4th of july towels, that need to be done by tomorrow night! my 'studio' by night, kitchen by day looked so cozy i could not resist this picture!

the lovely photos are from an australian interior designer. i love her blog, and she just redocorated her home, and this is some photos! i love it!

it has been snowing crazy here! i love it! yesterday at 9:30 it was -1! AHHH! it is so cozy to be home and have cleaned with pine-sol. i love the smell of a pine-sol'd home!

photogs: http://absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/index.html

i saw this cd on a blog, and i checked it out, and put it on my playlist. what a fantastic cd!

photog:http://blackeiffel.blogspot.com/

this is my favorite! i came down the stairs to catch bella looking up at the tree! of course she is taking everything off the bottom of the tree, but i am glad she loves it!

christmas is so exciting!

can you see anything? nope! thats because mother nature decided to listen up and join in the festivities, and bring snow! and extremely cold weather it is only 6 degrees here! oh let it snow, let it snow!

bella is having a hard time leaving the tree alone!

We have a WiNneR! Linda! bella helped with this christmas towel drawing. she makes an excellent assistant! Linda post your address for me, (i won't post it) so i can send you your tea towel! hooray for drawings!

interesting!

i love to find inspiration of design where thousands of dollars are not spent. solutions i could use in my life being students. something i could afford to do. i thought this was interesting! i am really into storage solutions as well.

on another note, one of my favorite commercials are the ups commercials. what can brown do for you? the guy with the brown hair that draws magically on the white board. well santa clause has ordered most christmas presents online, so needless to say i have had some packages. which is most delightful for me, to open the boxes and see the beauties i have ordered. however these ups men are so nice, and they wait for me to come to the door, and they tell me to have a 'good one'. so you know what this is a shout out to all those kind delivery workers, thank you! here is a quote to the courteous...

"life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy"~Ralph waldo emerson

and one more please:

"the little unremembered acts of kindness and love are the best parts of a person's life." ~william wordsworth

post script:my tea towel drawing is tomorrow! 12/12/2008

photos: http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/120308meg/mirror

Do you want to know what i love about the holidays...here are just a few random ones.

seeing christmas trees ontop of cars, vans you name it.
seeing wood for fireplaces at the gas station.
christmas music.
christmas cards.
christmas lights.
the smell of pine.
festivities.
long lines to see santa.
busy shopping centers, with lots of crowds.
snow!
ski resorts.
cars with skiing, snowboarding equipment on top.
the feeling of excitment.
fires in fireplaces.
wrapping paper.
the smell of fires.
the feeling of giving.
christmas window design at stores.

what are yours?


photog: http://blackeiffel.blogspot.com/

Did i say Tea time? You betcha! it is my christmas tea towel drawing! please write your name in the comment section, and this week i will be drawing some lucky ducks name! I am not sure what towel, perhaps this one, perhaps not, but it will be sure to make you jolly and cheerful!

great advent calenders! a good project to work on for next year!

tis the holiday season and i am going to send out my christmas cards. so if you want to be pen pals, and send some christmas cards, please give me your address, post it in the comments, and i will not post it, however i will write it down, then probably loose it 5 seconds later.

"what a wonderful thing is the mail, capable of conveying across continents a warm human handclasp."-molly O'shaughnessy her book, "just write the art of personal correspondence" is a very good read!

photogs: via http://blackeiffel.blogspot.com/

a good shelf.

cheerio! so i got a new shelf. and i LOVE it. i have been looking at this shelf at costco for a LONG time, really months. well since october 23. finally it was all i could do, but go get this shelf. i had two other shelves in my kitchen, one had just dishes, and the other had dishes and books, and some mumbo jumbo. i worried and worried about if bella if crawled up or grabbed a shelf, the shelves were not sturdy, no matter what we did to secure the shelves. but this baby i love. i have some new designing to do and i do not have all my stuff where i want it yet, but i love it. each shelf can hold up to like 600 pounds, which could be a total lie on my part, but i think that is what the box said. it also is on casters so i can wheel this baby down the street if i have too, and it has brakes so i can stop at a moments notice. i also have room for some big items at the bottom, which is good for our no storage townhouse. the first photo i found just tonight of a shelf similar, but close and i love how they hung their coffee mugs. perhaps i may as well! the only downfall i am now having trouble getting npr, hence the cords in the photos, but i am just happy as a clam!

first photog:http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/120208meghanshawntour/meghan40

a room designed by the boy and his mum.

secret clubhouses.

this is for the kids. i read an article today that made me very upset about a mother and her 'philosphy of raising kids.' so then i found something to prove to me that mothers still love being mothers. the first photo this lady is a stylist in london. she takes her son and they go to flea markets and find 'treasures' for his home. an idea that i love. their room is their own sancutary, they should have a right to have design input. the rest of the photos are about a lady who did a 'secret clubhouse' under the dining room table for the whole weekend. then she puts it away and it comes out weeks or months later. i love this idea. i love this quote.

"Grownups never understand themselves, and it is tiresome for chilren to be always and forever explaining things to them." ~antione de saint-exupery


photogs one and two:http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/look/look-new-photos-of-antons-room-070171
photogs three four five:Look! Three Day Secret Clubhouse
http://gardenymph.com/?p=324

http://www.flickr.com/groups/underthekitchentable/

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/inspiration/look-three-day-secret-clubhouse-070168