My Cup Runneth Over

I love.

Valentine's Day is truly my favorite holiday of the year {Talk Like a Pirate Day is a close second on 9/19}. I'm not exactly sure why, it just is...maybe because it's represented by my favorite color combo of red, pink, and white, maybe it's because I {heart} hearts, better yet I {love} love.

I'm so lucky, I'm filled with love. I love my parents and the fact they've been married for 55 years. As you can see above, my dear dad delivered my heart box full of chocolates.  It's the one thing I can depend on - I bet he has given me that same Valentine's gift for at least 35 years, never missing a year.  That red heart makes my heart swell and I love him beyond words.  I love my three older brothers, Eric, Frank, and Tony; the older we get, the closer we get.  I love my besties - Lani, Trish, Bridget, Ashley, Wanda, Taryl, Luissa.  I love my co-workers, they make me smile and laugh the day away.

I love my daughter, Chloe-Bella, she is simply the best part of me.  She worked feverishly on my huge Valentine's Day card shown above - I could not love anything more.  She makes every single day a better day and I consider myself the luckiest gal in the world as I have the pleasure of being her mother and watching her grow and turn into her own person, her own spirit, her own tender heart.

Above all, I love Him.  God is good.  He has provided all of these wonderful people in my life and I am so completely thankful.

Make no mistake, I do {love} love...indeed, my cup runneth over.

images courtesy of me

Nah Nah Nah Nah Hey Hey Hey Goodbye

I can't believe I'm using this image since it has the dreaded smiley face {gross} but it's perfect for the post.  So over the last week I have been prepping my house for sale as I'm now on borrowed time before listing day; I've worked harder in the last three days than I probably have in three years.  My Type A personality can be a curse when it comes to projects like this, thinking that every single thing has to be perfect which in turn just stresses me out.  Anyway, I'm bidding GOOD RIDDANCE to all the clutter in my house.  I sucessfully took four car loads of who knows what to Goodwill for donation, and when I say car loads, I mean doors busting at the seams car loads...the kind of car loads that you can't see out of any window but the windshield...the kind of car loads that when I opened my hatch, the wide-eyed attendant simply said, "wow."

During this whole process, I thought to myself, "where does all this come from?"  I keep my house pretty cleaned out to begin with, but I could not believe the amount of "stuff."  I cleaned out every closet {which included me donating 2/3 of my wardrobe}, every drawer, every cupboard...it felt so good.  Regardless of whether the house sells or not, each day is better with less "stuff" in my life.  You should try it...and don't forget your tax deductible receipt.

image courtesy of Worldstudio

Moving On

So it's settled, I've decided to put my house up for sale...yes, even in this economy.  After I did my last blog posting I really started thinking about what I want my life to be like in the next five years, and downsizing and simplifying was yet again the answer, among other things.  So, there is no better time than the present.  Therefore, within a blink of an eye I produced a nice long to-do list to get the house ready for the market as my realtor wants to list it by the end of the month.  Apparently the buying/selling season has already kicked off and remember, all it takes is one buyer.  The next few weeks will be quite busy for me and Coco - ok, it will actually be busy for me running around behind Coco telling her not to touch anything and not to make a mess!  It's either that or just plain tying her up to keep the place clean...decisions, decisions...

image courtesy of The Social Penguin Blog

Stop And Smell The Laundry

We just came off of a gorgeous weekend here in Winston-Salem. I had most of the windows thrown open so the great smell of sunshine could envelope the house. Saturday night, I had closed down the kitchen for the night and Coco was in her room playing and I was in mine reading a book with my room lit with tons of tiny Christmas lights {windows still open to let the cool breeze in}, and I thought, why can't everyday be just like this day? I'm working on adopting a much simpler way of life. Probably most would say it's already simple but in my mind, I want to live in a much smaller way too. Our house is not large by a lot of standards, maybe 1,800 sq. feet but it's way too big for me! I can't imagine why people want huge McMansions to live in and take care of.

Simple and small for me - small house {mid-century of course}, no debt, no excess "stuff", clean closets, lots of exercise, green grass, running barefoot, complete work & life balance. I'm lucky that I enjoy what I do but you will never find me sitting at work after 5 twiddling my thumbs when I could be home with Coco and actually enjoying life - real life...family life.

Yep, a good old fashioned clothesline that makes your clothes smell like sunshine everyday.

image courtesy of The Row House Nest {my new favorite blog}

What's On The Fridge Today?

Yeah baby!  I just found out over Christmas that one of my besties is having her first baby - I'm over the moon excited {sigh!!}  Ashley and her hubby Jason are two of the coolest {and good ol' countriest} people I know.  You ought to hear about their parties - I'm just sayin...

Anyway, I was so surprised when Ashley handed me this photo that I hit her in the arm {I confess, I'm a hitter when I get excited!}  The old eyes starting filling with tears...

They have affectionately nicknamed the baby, "Kriss Kross"...I can just imagine Kriss Kross popping out and leading a very successful life as a rapping country artist but dressed to perform the can-can at the Moulin Rouge.
A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

P.S.  Now I'm just waiting to find out if it's a baby girl or boy so I can SHOP!  Yes!  I'm thinking old school Mary Janes for a baby girl and of course teeny tiny Adidas Superstars for a boy.

image courtesy of me

Cowgirl Couture Cooking

A couple of weekends ago, Coco and I went to one of our favorite stores, ChefSmart.  Where else can you buy a case of romaine, a ginsu knife, 10 lbs. of gouda, and a giant chef hat?  Coco selected her outfit specifically for the trip, she omitted a strand of pearls.  I think the cowboy boots dress up the skinny sweatpants, don't you think?

image courtesy of me

I...Die...

I'm a drooling, babbling idiot when it comes to the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, specifically in white. {This is me without words yet with tears in my eyes.}

I think Heaven must be filled with these chairs - just picture it...

{Pearly Gates - Saint Peter in a chic white cashmere kaftan sitting in a white Eames chair with his feet crossed at the ankles delicately resting on the ottoman. Saint Peter says, "hey now, how was your trip, what took you so long, come on in." The pearly gates open and O-M-G...a sparkling sea of white Eames loungers filled with Charles and Ray Eames and all their peeps Eero Saarinen, George Nelson and Harry Bertoia.}...I Die.

My parents had an original Eames Lounge and Ottoman in the late 70's/early 80's but of course it seemed to be just another chair then...little did anyone know what impact it would have. I regret to inform you that chair is no longer in the family {I profusely shake my head until my brain rattles around every time I think of that.}

One day, just one day, I will have the white chair and ottoman that I long for in the mid-century modern home that I long for...it's likely to be the only piece of furniture in the room and I'm pretty sure I'll be rocking the white kaftan too.

image courtesy of Jules Seltzer Associates

Channeling Julia Child

Me: "Chloe, would you rather have goulash or boeuf bourguinon for dinner?"
Chloe: "Boeuf bourguinon!"
Me: "That's my girl!"

I thought I would hang out in the kitchen {and in my mind} with Julia Child yesterday while making her infamous Boeuf Bourguinon. This is only the third time, in my lifetime, that I've made her recipe since it takes several hours to make! It's not a difficult recipe, just time consuming but very well worth it. I'm always surprised at how rich and decadent and delicious it is - I must confess that the more wine I drank, the more I enjoyed the dish. I'm sure Julia had that all planned out when writing this recipe as she and Paul loved a good bottle of wine...alot! Now if I could only wrap my mind around making Lobster Thermidor {aka the lobster killer}.

image courtesy of me

Rollin' With My Homies

My daughter Chloe-Bell has skate night once a month sponsored by her school. It brings me back to my childhood every time we go. And yes, I still bust my moves on the flo' even if Chloe cowers behind the Centipede game. Some things never change.

My parents like to think they raised me, but from 1980 - 1988, Sportsworld was my home, now Skateland. So many great things happened at the skating rink...I kissed boys, was on the speed team {had nothing to do with boys by the way}, had my first drink of California Cooler which was secretly stowed away in a locker, and I could "shoot the duck" like nobodys business. The nights were all planned out...we would hop over to the Ben Franklin for candy, then walk over to McDonalds for sustenance, then on to the skating rink where couples skating awaited. The skates above looked a lot like mine and for many years I rocked them with spandex {wow}, three layers of neon socks, and big hair. Ok, maybe the real thing wasn't as great as it is in my mind but to this day, every time Devo's Whip It comes on I get a tear in my eye.

P.S. Thanks to Coolio for inspiring my blog title today...ah, good times.

image courtesy of Skate Shack

Chatterbox

Finally, a post about one of the great loves of my life...LIVE CHAT! My friends know that I am a closet hermit and that I rather communicate with people over live chat than any other form. I have struggled not to click the lovely "live chat" button with my credit union just to ask, "whatcha doin, how's your day?" That whole instant response without having to actually see or hear anyone is like music to my ears. In the pic above I was chatting with two separate paper distributors about parent sheet sizes, grain direction, weights, etc. {HEY, WAKE UP!} I was taking very special care to respond to each correctly, as if dating two guys at the same time...I'm just sayin'.

image courtesy of me