Pampering Myself

I decided to pamper myself and visit one of my favorite shops.

The Flower Barn

It is an indulgence for me when I visit.

I almost never leave empty handed.

Beth, the owner has everything wonderfully displayed, lovely smells, soft music and on a hot day like today she even brought me out a mug of cold water.

I enjoy myself so much when I come to shop, and really I feel like it is more like visiting a friend.

Today I was surprised, amazed to say the least when I walked in the door and what should greet me but.....

clothing by none other than

Magnolia Pearl

My jaw dropped.

You have to understand, this is a small suburb of Buffalo, not the big city, 

not even Buffalo has Magnolia Pearl clothing.

I am so happy for Beth that she has such a wonderful opportunity to sell this line of clothing.

As beautiful as the clothing is in the pictures, they are even better in person.

You have to feel the fabrics and see all the details.

Just look at all those ruffles.

These pictures are from Magnolia Pear Clothing found here.

I will have a post soon with pictures from Beth of the available clothing she is selling.

But, if you can't wait until then.

Stop by and visit Beth.

The Flower Barn 

7716 Rochester Road

Gasport, NY 14067

(716) 772-2099 or 800-231-0281

I could not resist, I bought myself another candle.

I can never have too many candles.

Snickerdoodle by The Swan Creek Candle Co.

They have the best smells.

A cute little numbered bucket.

And

A new line Beth is carrying, TOKYOMILK/DARK by Margot Elena.

I bought Tainted Love lotion.

I am absolutely sure Mr. M. is going to like how it smells on me.

She offers a variety of collections in lip balm, body souffle, shower jell, roller parfum.

I have a feeling I will be going back to get Bullet Proof for him, it has this smokey smell that I just loved.

Oh, yeah,
I also bought this AWESOME CABINET!

It is a vintage medicine cabinet

Look at that key hole.

DETAILS!

I have mentioned on several posts what a wonderful boutique this is.

There are none like it around in this area.

Not only does she make beautiful floral arrangements,
 Beth also offers such a variety of home and gift items that are both old and new and just so unique.

Thanks Beth, I had a wonderful visit today and I can't wait to come back.

Are You?

ARE YOU?

HAPPY

Definition of happy

adjective (happier, happiest)

• 1feeling or showing pleasure or contentment:Melissa came in looking happy and excited[with clause]:we’re just happy that he’s still alive[with infinitive]:they are happy to see me doing well
• (happy about) having a sense of trust and confidence in (a person, arrangement, or situation):he was not happy about the proposals
• (happy with) satisfied with the quality or standard of:I’m happy with his performance
• [with infinitive] willing to do something:we will be happy to advise you
• [attributive] used in greetings:happy Christmas

• 2 [attributive] fortunate and convenient:he had the happy knack of making people like him

• 3 [in combination] informal inclined to use a specified thing excessively or at random:they tended to be grenade-happy

Phrases

(as)happy as a sandboy(or British Larry or North American a clam or vulgar slang a pig in shit)

extremely happy.

happy hunting ground

a place where success or enjoyment is obtained:this should prove a happy hunting ground for those in search of a bargain

[originally referring to the optimistic hope of American Indians for good hunting grounds in the afterlife]

If you are not, why?

The other day, my oldest son said he did not enjoy going to bible camp that night.

"Why?"   I asked.

"It was boring."  He said.

I told him, "only you can make it boring, you bring the attitude with you.  Decide it will be fun and you will make it fun."

The next night, it was fun.

Amazing was actually his word.

He made a new friend.

I am happy, very happy.

No, my life is not perfect.

I am happy with me.

I am happy with life.

Are you?

happiness

noun pleasure, delight, joy, cheer, satisfaction, prosperity, ecstasy, enjoyment, bliss, felicity, exuberance, contentment, wellbeing, high spirits, elation, gaiety, jubilation, merriment,cheerfulness, gladness, beatitude, cheeriness, blessedness, light-heartedness I think she was looking for happiness.
depression, distress, grief, misery, sadness, sorrow, misfortune, unhappiness, annoyance, despondency, low spirits

Quotations
"Happiness depends upon ourselves" [Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics]
"Happiness to me is wine,"
"Effervescent, superfine."
"Full of tang and fiery pleasure,"
"Far too hot to leave me leisure"
"For a single thought beyond it" [Amy Lowell Sword Blades and Poppy Seeds]
"Happiness is a matter of one's most ordinary everyday mode of consciousness being busy and lively and unconcerned with self" [Iris Murdoch The Nice and the Good]
"To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others" [Albert Camus The Fall]
"I am happy and content because I think I am" [Alain René Lesage Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane]
"Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so" [John Stuart Mill Autobiography]
"Happiness does not lie in happiness, but in the achievement of it" [Fyodor Dostoevsky A Diary of a Writer]
"In theory there is a possibility of perfect happiness: To believe in the indestructible element within one, and not to strive towards it" [Franz Kafka The Collected Aphorisms]
"Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination" [Immanuel Kant Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics]
"Happiness is in the taste, and not in the things" [La Rochefoucauld Maxims]
"Shall I give you my recipe for happiness? I find everything useful and nothing indispensable. I find everything wonderful and nothing miraculous. I reverence the body. I avoid first causes like the plague" [Norman Douglas South Wind]
"Happiness lies in the fulfilment of the spirit through the body" [Cyril Connolly The Unquiet Grave]
"We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it" [George Bernard Shaw Candida]
"What we call happiness in the strictest sense comes from the (preferably sudden) satisfaction of needs which have been dammed up to a high degree" [Sigmund Freud Civilization and its Discontents]
"Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly often attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults" [Thomas Szasz The Second Sin]
"Nothing ages like happiness" [Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband]
"Happiness is no laughing matter" [Richard Whately Apophthegms]
"Happiness is enjoyed only in proportion as it is known; and such is the state or folly of man, that it is known only by experience of its contrary" [Samuel Johnson The Adventurer]
"happiness: an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another" [Ambrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary]
"Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length" [Robert Frost The Witness Tree]

"Happiness depends upon ourselves" [Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics]

I too believe that you are responsible for your own happiness.

If you are not happy, then what can you change to make yourself happy.

I am going to read and watch baseball with my favorite people.

My family.

Make your own happiness!

A New Way to Read

I was excited to get home from work yesterday.

There was a package waiting for me.

 A Kindle Fire

A new way to read in bed.

Or anywhere I want.

While the kids were at bible camp, Mr. M. and I played with my new toy.

You would think that Mr. M., being the computer guy and all would have all the latest tech toys.

Nope.

We don't even own a cell phone, the one he has is for work.

I am hoping to find a neat case like this one here.

And a pretty shell like this.

I kind of figured that since I am not going to escape baseball anytime soon in the next 10-15 years, 

I might as well enjoy myself while I am there.

Saturday is the LAST DAY OF BASEBALL.

It is an all day event.

Mr. M. finally gets to play instead of coaching.

The tournament starts at 9:00 and he has a chance of playing 5 games, all in one day.

So, happy me has loaded lots of books, magazines and games to occupy myself.

I may let the kids play a game or two.

How about you?

Are you a Kindle or Nook reader?

Does anyone have any books they would like to recommend to add to my reading list?

Summer Bandits

I happened to look out in the back yard and I saw a flash of color.

It seems that the children raided the dress up box.

You wouldn't know it from their state of attire but it was;

84 outside.

They were playing cowboy/soldier and a lady.

The coat is his sister's, but he said it made a great soldier coat.

Don't worry, that's not chew in his pocket, for some reason he has my furniture movers in there.

It is not always important to ask why, but to let play.

Imagination, it is a wonderful thing.

Where I Create 2

The pictures in the last post were supposed to be from last years' Where Blogger's Create.
And really nothing had changed until last week.

I made a few adjustments.

I found that having the desk on the front wall made it very difficult to see the computer after 8:00 in the morning.

I could have put up a curtain would be the easy way.

I don't always do the easy way.

I decided to rearrange the room around totally.

I did that last year and accidentally knocked over the hard drive.

BIG NO NO!

This time I was smart.

I smiled sweetly at Mr. M. (the computer guy) and asked if he would please help me move the room around.

Let me tell you, he did not wine at all, he was full of "yes dears, anything for you!"

Yep, you guessed it, he was doing some butt kissing.

See, I finally caved in and he knew he was going on Monday to pick up his new truck.

The man is still on cloud nine.

Anyway, I managed to convince him to not only move the computer, we moved the HUGE cabinet to the basement.

As much as I loved it, it was not doing much good for storage in the office.

Let me tell you a secrete, I have a cute corner cabinet I have my eye on that I may just put in that very same spot.

But, that is another day.

This is the quote I painted above the door on the inside of the office a couple of months ago.

This is the corner where the large cabinet was.

A music sheet inspiration board.

I originally made it for a sale I had a couple of years ago, but I decided I liked it too much.

So, I kept it.

Black and white, old books, worn children's shoes and buttons.

A few of my favorite things.

This shelf and dresser were originally from my first shop.

I moved them twice before putting them back in their original spot.

I am a visual person, I have to see it to know if it is going to work or not.

The baskets on the shelves are great for holding paper and other necessities in my office.

The glass jars come in handy for holding ribbons, buttons and thread.

In this corner I moved my little secretary and a chair for relaxing and reading.

And for children to wait patiently for their turn at the computer.

A little chair I found at a flea market several years ago. 

I just love this old hat form.

It is holding one of my vintage top hats.

Pretties on the desk.

As you can see the bright morning light can be very blinding.

Now that the sun shine is to the side of my computer screen I have no problems seeing the computer.

This is how the room looks at 7:00 at night, still lit up by the light from the windows.

Fresh Hydrangeas and Phlox from my gardens.

A favorite little hand made cabinet.

This room is only 9x11.

I am standing in the doorway taking this picture.

I thought I would amuse you and show you the other space where I create.

Another small room, this is 6 1/2x9 and is located in the basement.

On the left side is the kids' play room and on the right is a door to a closet.

I have my work table, a large shelf on top, filled with lots of different craft items for me and the kids.

On the opposite wall there is a narrow dresser filled with more little bits of whatnot.

I do my sewing here, sometimes.

If it is a big job, I move the sewing machine upstairs to the kitchen table.

Arbor views from my office window. 

Thanks for stopping by.

After working extra hours at work this week, I can think of nothing better than visiting my blogging friends.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend too!

Where I Create

For now, this will have to do.

I have company and I did not get a chance to update my post for Where Blogger's Create, so I am going

to show my post from last year when I missed the party because I killed the machine.

Thank you Karen for having such a lovely party.

Please stop by My Desert Cottage and visit all the creative bloggers and where they get their create on.

Let's get this PARTY started!

Seeing as I had all the extra non-computer time, I finished rearranging the room and fluffed a little more than it would have been last week.

This picture is what I see when I peak into my blog room.

This room is small, only 9x11, but I know how to pack a room with furniture and not make it too crowded.

This room is always full of light from three large windows.

To me it is just perfect!

This is the desk where everything is done.

I have everything within arms reach.

My favorite pin board for inspirations.

Collections of my father's paintings turned into Christmas cards from years past.

Some of my mirror collection and a chicken wire frame to hang important notices.

My favorite fairy Clara, named so because she looks like my grandma.

She dances above my head hanging from the light fixture.

Beautiful Hydrangeas from my gardens and a stray baseball that I simply can't seem to get away from.

Important message on the chalk board.

Stay cool by swimming and BACKUP the computer!

This cabinet stores a variety of china that I can not bare to part with but do not decorate with.

I also use it to store paper for the computer and school supplies for the kids.

I love the look of this topiary, who happens to be in need of a haircut.

Green and white my favorite color combination.

A simple secretary I bought at a garage sale and painted white last year. 

The drawers are packed with some of my craft supplies that I like to keep handy for when I get in the mood to create something.

I make sure to have plenty of buttons on hand.

This is the first slipcover that I made. 

I am glad to say that I have improved, but I love this couch.

It is a great place for the kids to come and chat with me while I am on the computer.

Now I am off to join the family for some early Sat. morning cartoons.

Thank you for stopping and visiting my blog room.

Make sure to close the door when you leave.

As said this post is from last year.

I will try to get my updated post up asap.

Thanks for stopping by.