TIMBERRRR

I think I may want to be a "lumberjill", the feminine of the "lumberjack". You know the bearded, burly, strong, suspender wearing Paul Bunyan character. Except as a lumberjill, I imagine that there is a ladylike touch to the sawing and axing of trees, such as the shiny paint job above.... hi diddle dee de it's a lumberjack life for ME.

Flakes

A spec, flurry oh chalky white, will you please visit tonight? Looking up, catch my lashes, tongue out, land mid flight. Snowy thoughts for bedtime.

Matter

http://www.keepcalmcarryon.com/

KEEP CALM and CARRY ON: A mantra that does my body and SOUL good. IT seems as though the times we are facing may take us back to the basics. Before our consumer minds were crazed with the next fix and WANT was just a glimmer. My heart is heavy from the struggles that be grudge. Perhaps struggle, is a blessing in disguise that presents itself in a bruised and battered package, whose contents prove to be a treasure.

It often seems as though we cannot see what is right before us, but that it takes a fine tooth comb to discover the nitty gritty of the everyday that is combined to form matter, you know the matter that REALLY "matters". Matter by definition is "That of which the sensible universe and all existent bodies are composed; anything which has extension, occupies space, or is perceptible by the senses; body; substance". You see, it is when we focus on OUR content, rather than the extrinsic that tend to lead us a stray.....with the microscopic lens of our composition that we can realize the blessings....WITHIN.

Sex on Fire

*Photo via the concert blog, Jim Harrington*

My 'flava' of love band the KINGS ooze "Sex on Fire", which also happens to be a single on their new album. If I were a young southern Belle living under the magnolia trees in Savannah, Georgia, I would tattoo I heart kings on my bosom and drop out of High School to relish in a teen crazed rebellion revolving around ROck BaNDs, making sure to renounce all things holy and pure. Caleb Followills voice is crisp and fine, making me shake in my pretend 'southern boots'. Tight white washed jeans, excessive facial hair mustachios and the sharp collared jackets of his 'mates' complete this revelry ensemble....I AM consumed with what's to transpire.

FIZZLE SIZZLE

Tststsssssss......goes the sound of mother nature smoldering the flame of Arizona's heat inferno. Ignited is cinnamon, socks, warm cider, straw, rosy cheeks, chilly evenings, fuzzy scarfs and wood crackling fires. Wait...... sCratCH... (pretend to hear a record album come to a screeching halt). Let's face it, in our neck of the woods, uhh I mean desert, we only experience the above mentioned in movies such as "Dan in Real Life" (which I have watched repeatedly) and "Hocus Pocus" (my favorite). Where trees actually turn shades of red, orange and yellow, crumpled leaves pile in yards, sweaters and scarfs come out of hibernating boxes. Where tips of noses turn a soft shade of pink and an exhaled breath in the morning is a puff cloud of white.

I find myself wanting to taste the nutmeg, touch the yarn, feel the warmth and smell the dusty bitter air when it peeks it's apple pie head around the corner. Fall can't come to ME in the literal sense of the word, but I can come to IT, in a leafy tradition and orange festive touch. A pumpkin spice candle, baked walnut and apple desert, muffins, everything stick colored, soft quilts, warm cinnamon tea with honey, make an appearance or two at the Bairds (even if we still have the option of swimming, wearing sunscreen and having outdoor barbeque's).

These are the best days of the whole year and an opportunity to "turn a new leaf". Here is to freshly sharpened pencils and golden appled evenings spent with the familiarities of a new SEASON.
Psssst, it's almost halloween.

JOIN US

My amazing BFF Carolyn is at the forefront of this charity event to help the sweet family, the Nielson's. Not only are you going to be able to find and afford awesome one of a kind vintage (Nie would aprove) items, but you will be donating for a good cause. We will see you there!

"h♥pe for Nie" Nielson charity garage sale!

who: anyone who likes to give things or buy
what: baked goods, furniture, silent auctions, crafts/art, and nick knacks
where: Agritopia community center(on Agritopia loop Gilbert, AZ 85296)
when: 7 am to 1pm sat sept 27th

If you'd like to donate any furntiture, time, baked goods etc. for this event, email me at lilleyb2000@yahoo.com.

Other ways to help on Nie dialogues and Cjane run.

BUZZ.........

picture from Purlsoho.com

picture fromPurlsoho.com

COMFY CHAIR + LATEST BOOK READ Equals= Want to Knit

EXPLANATION: Currently reading "Friday Night Knitting Club" for Book Club, brings

out the knitter from within....a secret yurning that is just waiting to come out. Visit Purlbee.com.

for warm fuzzies and other balls of delight

I think I want to TRY..........

I Luf HIM

Ahhhh, he's turning 27

MY Birthday Boy.....aka, LOVE of my life:

Worlds longest and slimmest legs (and he's a man), two A-Holes buying a Christmas Tree, Marathon Supporter, Grill wearing gangsta, Gunther look a like (you've got to check this Euro ManFest out), Scum Stache (all you boyz are jealous of my manly man, he can grow hair like you wouldn't believe).

And the kicker, he rescued sweet innocent little kittens when his steel hearted wife turned them away to the streets.

O Happy Day!!!

LABOR DAY (minus "day")

RECIPE: CUPCAKES ,

Southern Ginger Lemonade, Grassy Knoll, 2 ski polls, bottles and 4 very enthusiastic players, WHITE clothes, Southern Cali Chicken Tacos with Summer Corn and White Bean Rosemary Dip, For Like Eva and One Strawberry upsidown cake. An afternoon well spent.

BIRD BRAIN

New purchase from Etsy..... in my bathroom REDUX.

It is a bit Nefertiti and definitely gets the "Oh, that's an interesting choice for a photo".

One picture that I bought on Etsy was from a lady on the Island of Crete. We corresponded back and forth a few times and of course she was ever grateful, in her "Cretish" accent that came through via type.

Buy ETSY. You'll feel so good about it.

So Long Summer

It was fun while it lasted and it was nice to know you.

My "real JOB" as a Speech Therapist has begun AGAIN (riiiiight... your jaw just dropped that I am not technically a "professional blogger"cause I am THAT good). Naw yo, full time, 8 plus hour workdays at a school, fixing lisps and r's (common misconception, this is not at ALL what I do) is where it's at for me.

Sooo without further ado, my "ODE" to a summer well spent.

The "Late Show with David Letterman" has the top
ten, "10 Things I hate about you" and "How to loose a guy in 10 days" (don't pretend you're too good for these classics) put emphasis on the number 10. Which is why I have chosen to highlight my summer in a top 10 fashion (in random order. I promise #1 was not more fun or cooler than #7).

Why should you care you ask? I don't know, why anyone reads this blog is beYOND me, but nonetheless, I KNOW you're out there.

10. Running the Rock and Roll Marathon SAN DI-AGO because C-Note made me. I thanked her later. Although I think she may have lost a little respect for me due to crying and pleading at mile 23, while gasping for air and hyper-ventilating.

(obviously I wanted to catch your attention, ahh SHIZZZ....., get ready for the rest....... )

9. Getting locked out of my own house for 3 hours, shoe less and in a revealing, let's say "loose" top with no bra(let your imagination run wild), hang-in with the neighbies. "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got, cuz I'm still W-T from the block".

8. Enjoying the mornings, paying close attention to the beautiful sunrises and chirping birds. MMMM-K, this did NOT happen, despite multiple attempts and the best intentions. Heh, a girlz gotta catch up on some z's.

7. Spying on neighbors daily activities....this is not as pathetic as it sounds, I was TOTALLY busy and way too good for this, just checking to make sure you're still there.

6. Endless hours at Barnes and Noble, fingering through magazines so that making sure not to spend a DIME. Does it sound like I had too much time on my hands?

5. TODAY show in the morning (minus Meridith Vierra's stupid, inappropriate jokes, face and awkward laugh. She's SO lame). I hate to even mention the extra 4th hour with Hoda Kofi and Kathy Lee, GAG. Are the executives kidding?!

4. Almost dying while tubing the Salt River....there ARE rapids! I had a new found sense of life's delicate balance.

3. CO-ED soccer in 110 plus degree heat, while going up against a MAN WOMAN beast named Sabina (seriously her name, doesn't it sound like a lioness?), the jury is still out on that one.
P.S. still getting over groin injury...1 month later and continuing to ponder mysterious opponents sex.

2. ALMOST buying a $30.oo Eames swivel chair at Goodwill, but not, do to previous agreement with THE significant other, only to go back on 1/2 off Saturday ('cause $15 sounds so much better than $30) to find it was GONE! Did I mention that they go for $35oo? Yahhh, that day I almost gave up, but then quickly realized, life's not about possessions (barf). This one deserves an entire dedicated blog entry to be determined at a later date. Stay tuned.

Drum roll please

1. Taking care of one deathly ill Husband. OK, so I may have a slight problem with worrying, I thought he was going to die.......Between the night sweats and uncontrollable shivers, thoughts of incurable diseases and rare illnesses swarmed my every thought. Some day some one will thank me for thinking of the random 1 in a millionth disease that I discover from their symptoms. These occasions put life into perspective (and it sure helped that it happened after the EAMES chair incident, I finally let it go).

Did you notice how I turned so many negatives into positives? Kudos to Luise L. Hay, author of the self help book of the NOW . Also a summer pastime, but not noteworthy enough to make the top ten.

SIDE NOTE: I use way to many of these " " and these (blah blah blah blah).

I like 'em hard....ahh errr (double wink)

Soo....I was at AJ's Fine Foods the other morning looking to take advantage of their delicious bakery concoctions. First, with the best intentions I headed over to the fruit section and picked out THE perfect banana. I figured if I was going to fill my body with delicious, sweet empty calories, I might as well have a lil healthy potassium to go with it. Then, I made my way over to the bakery counter. Oooh, ahhh!! All the buttery croissants, turnovers, Cinnamon rolls and donuts a sugar craving girl could ask for. "Can I help you" the fine gentleman behind the counter asked, "Ummm, ahh, err, I don't know want I want yet"....I responded. After scouring up and down the rows of delicacies in the glass case, I spotted my indulgence for the morning. "Umm" I said, "I'll have the nut roll. "Awkward" I thought to myself. I could have said "the roll with Carmel and nuts or, "The Cinnamon nut roll" but no, I chose the classy mantastic one word syllable. I placed my accompanying banana on the counter to also be rung up. "Are you sure you want the green one" he asked, "it's not going to be very ripe yet for eating. "Oh, yah, I know" I responded "I like em hard, otherwise their too mushy and soft, ahhhhh yaah (voice trails off)". Nice! I wanted to reverse word vomit. Who says stuff like that "One large nut roll, with a side of hard banana, cause that's how I like 'em"? He probably thought I was one of those undercover secret sex world chicks talking "code" for "I want your junk".


Chiquita! Ba da dum dum chink.

Re-bonjour Project Runway

Epi 1:
Designers construct outfits from crazy materials (i.e. plastic cups, coffee filters, lettuce, tablecloths, etc.). To watch these designers construct wearable ART out of everyday usable items, was inspiring. I felt like rummaging through drawers and garage storage boxes to "redeem" thrown out items for new use.


My favorite, top is coffee filters with holes burned for a pattern and....bottom is dyed vacuum bags and.....the back is hook and eye closures from a notebook spiral, what?!

Dress constructed with CANDY, how SWEET. Although not the most innovative or pulled off (the designer kind of copped out at last minute).
Her top is made from BALLS.....you know the kind you can kick and they bounce forever. Bottom is lawn chair fabric, how durable, heh.

I have a ton of paper clips just lying around.....perhaps a skirt is in store.

Having to be creative with limited materials is always way more interesting than having an infinite amount of choices at your fingertips. Design can be so stuffy and snobby. This proves it's not about who it came from or the extravagant amount, but thinking outside the box and having a vision (can you tell which side of the tracks I'm from).

Carpe Diem!

EL TORRO BRAVO

A bull shirt with horns and stripes scored for the HUZ-BAND at a whopping .99 cents from a local, shall I say cost friendly store. Who would have thought that this would be my huz's new equivalent to a "Mister T" shirt at say age 6, that got the little fuzzy balls and faded logo from too much washing and wearing. You know, we all had that article of clothing, blanket and/or stuffed animal (mine was a strawberry shortcake skirt with frilly lace that was degraded to a rag).

First some background: If I ever have any kind of inkling of buying clothing for the huz, it has to be cheap and NON BRAND (AKA, Target, Mexico's street market and my personal favorite Walgreens... specifically shirts with themes such as the quintessential dancing kachina and the timeless purple mountain with the howling desert coyote in the forefront. It's easy to get carried away).

This is the guy that expressed excessive, unrelenting refusal and would not even TRY ON a pair of Abercrombie jeans that I bought him (back in the day, you know, when there was a song about it), which now I can appreciate as I have since moved on from the lacrosse/cricket/tea enjoying "scene". He'd be perfectly fine wearing stretchy sweat pants and tapered white wash jeans (which he was famous for in high school).

Well, I knew "I had him from hello" when I came home that day with the see through plastic bags full to the brim, it's contents exposed. The "gently used" shirt treasures ranged from a Miami Vice Esq see through pastel pink button up with turquoise and lavender stripes (think day at the beach, chest hair exposed), blue paisley pattern (a little femme, I'll admit),to his personal FAVE, El BRAVO(can't blame him, have you seen the intricate stitching). Who knows if it's because the tag says Roper, in his words "A real cowboy brand" or his dreamy thoughts of the handle bar mustache, boot and spur stomping, ass hugging wrangler wearing of a rustic Ranch Man who used to own it. What can I say, whether it is because of the previous owner or original grass roots, as long as he keeps sportin it (it's been a week and he has worn it 5 out of 7 days), I'll support whatever fantasy he conjures up.
OLE!

DAZLIOUS

white, delicate, lace, fall slow
whirl, fleet, up and down, finally down
land, soft, fury of white
Perfect

A movie review (by yours truly):

The human condition is put under a microscope and illuminated in the movie "SNOWCAKE".

My Take: The feeling of connection and sameness may be difficult to gain in a world where to most you are just another speck amongst an infinite amount. But to a few, the ones that matter...Dazlious.

A snowflake saunters to the ground from the sky with the vast number of mute white, unknown territory until it joins the army of others on the blanket of ground, uniquely different yet all the same.

This movie "takes the cake" on so many levels, that I would not do it justice in summary. Here, enjoy a slice or two (wink):

(Playing Comic Book Scrabble)
Linda: "B-A-A-N-G". Alex: "You can't have two A's in bang. Linda: "In Comic Book Word Scrabble, you can. You can have three A's if you want".

(On Alex's appearance)
Linda: "Do people like you Alex"? Alex: "Not much, no". Linda: "I'm not surprised. It's because those glasses don't look right on your face, you have a long face and those glasses make you look shifty".

(From Linda, who happens to have Autism)
"Neurotypical people are obsessed with having friends. I'm only trying to help you get some".

See it. It is Perfectamundo!

CHECK IT OUT: A house in Encanto Palmcroft in downtown Phoenix......Doesn't the red door just make you want to BANG on it. Who lives there and what is is like inside? Probably annoyingly cute and put together.