Tuesday, February 17, 2009

It's Been Fun

Timing is everything in life, and for now, blogging just doesn't fit into my schedule. The Cheez Doodle has got her "wheels" and it's all I can do to try and stay two steps ahead of her. Thank you all for stopping by and for your encouraging comments and friendship. I do know that I will be back in the mix at some point, but for now, this blog is closed. xo Kimla

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Things That Made Me Smile Today

An old loving cup. A bird made from tree bark.
Ribbons and trims.
A treasured piece of art.
Nubby fabrics.

And always the Peanut Patty.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Home Tour

Nope, not mine. (I didn't think you would want to see piles of cardboard boxes and a bare cement floor.) My lovely sister however bought and completely remodeled a house a year and a half ago; and, I was finally able to visit her and see it over the holidays. This house is really something special, exquisitely beautiful filled with antiques, religious art, gorgeous lighting, and palatial interiors. I wanted to share some photos with you.Take a look at these carved cherubs in the frame. Amazing.
This mirror was bought new and then distressed with acid to look old.This fossil is incredible!More religious art.

The cozy kitchen.Another antique chandelier: the bulbs actually move and flicker with the wind. So cool.
Here is a pic of my sweet sistah!!
This is a view of the grand salon, looking into the courtyard.
Her home office.
Her study houses her collection of antique tins. She found Lady Liberty, whose torch actually lights up, at a junk store.
Vintage taxidermy for a bit of quirk.


Saint Rose watches over the home.
The chandelier in the master bedroom.Girandolas around the bath.The guest bath is completely decked out in religious art and vintage church decor.



A cool ornament made by one of her artist friends.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour. I always like to get a peek at other people's homes, how they decorate, how they live. Now for me, it's back to unpacking. Of all things, we cannot find the baby monitor so my husband and I are taking turns sleeping in the baby's room. Ay Carumba!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Reindeer Winners

Thank you all for playing and for your comments. Caryn, Kari, and Valita - please send me an email lickety split and I'll get your reindeer off to you today. Merry Christmas all. This may be my last post until 2009. We actually have movers coming this Saturday. Yea!!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

She Sold Bears???!!

I'm always fascinated with the various jobs and careers people have had. It's fascinating how life, opportunity, and circumstances take us from one interest and direction to another, sometimes very far from where we thought we would end up. In college, I changed my major five times before finally settling on psychology, probably because I had just run out of ideas and didn't want to take ten years to graduate. These are some of the jobs I have had in the past:

  • Customer service representative at a bank
  • Substitute teacher
  • Educational Diagnostician
  • Psychotherapist
  • Jury Consultant
  • School Counselor
  • College Instructor
  • Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur? Hmmm....what exactly were you doing, you ask. Well, I find it strange to tell you this, but several years ago, I had a bear business. Yes, wild but true. I bought a stuff-your-own-teddy-bear franchise (like Build-A-Bear but these bears were much cuter in my opinion), hired a few teenagers, and set up shop in a mall. Now I didn't fantasize about selling bears as a youth, and I certainly didn't go to school for all those years to sell bears, but there I was. A little history. Four years prior to the bear phase I was working in the fast-paced, crazy intense world of litigation and trial consulting. It was an incredible adventure and experience, filled with glamour, intelligent attorneys, first class travel, exciting research, and even meeting a few celebrities along the way. It was also an insanely toxic work environment filled with long hours (80 to 100 hour workweeks), spending three months away from home living in a hotel room for a trial, running constantly on pure adrenaline, and trying to please (and avoid) two ego-maniacal bosses, one of whom now has his own talk show. So it's really no surprise that my impulsive decision to buy a bear business was a karmic attempt to get as far away from the world of conflict, greed, animosity, manipulation, and screaming bosses as I could get. Alas, my foray into retail didn't last very long. Retail, at least in the middle of the mall, I quickly found was not for me. (I've got a Dave Sedaris-esque short story in there somewhere.) But, I did walk away from the experience with a few life lessons, along with a herd of bears. So, please, won't you give one of these reindeer a home? Just leave a comment and I'll draw three names Thursday morning. (Reindeer have not been handled or played with, are stuffed with 100% polyester filling and a red felt heart. Not for children under the age of three. Bells could be a choking hazard. Prefers oats and barley but will also eat cat food if you have it.)

Monday, December 15, 2008

Rome Wasn't Built In A Day

And our house wasn't remodeled in six months. Whew! Honestly, some days I just want to fall in a heap and cry, but I remember what my friend Cheryl says, "Just do the next thing." So that's what we do. For those of you who have been down the home repair road, I know you can feel our pain. Remodeling and moving are just plain stressful, even if the move is only 20 miles or so up the road. Instead of ripping off the band-aid in one fell swoop, we've been moving a car load here and a SUV load there, here a box, there a box, everywhere a box, box. Kinda makes a girl insane. And it's not like we're moving into a cool 200-year-old farmhouse or something. It's just a house. Eight or nine years old, but really uncared for and unloved for lots and lots of years. Jim has been doing 99% of the work himself, after he leaves his day job so, you know...time marches on. But, we're close and hopefully will be toasting the new year in our new, work-in-progress home.
Even though we'll be skipping the hardcore Christmas decorations this year, I was delighted when I packed (unpacked? can't remember) these vintage stockings. I've never seen one with two dogs and Frosty before. Sequins just make me happy. I know you know.
Frosty's holding a miniature lantern.
Two dogs...unless they are supposed to be reindeer.
Silver and pink bells for, I imagine, some lucky little girl.

When I was home (my parent's house) for Thanksgiving, my mom dug up some of my old baby dolls that somehow, miraculously, survived a horrific flood that pretty much wiped out all of their belongings a few years back. The one on the left is a Madame Alexander and the one on the right was handmade by someone in Houston. Of course, you might recognize the one in the middle. She kind of looks like the Pillsbury Dough boy. We are having so much fun with her. I don't even need Christmas decorations this year. Having the Peanut Patty makes this the best Christmas ever. Here's wishing the same to you! Please stop by soon for a mini Christmas give-away. Fa la la la la.