Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

February 20, 2011

Forgotten Treasures

Filed under: Home,Memories,Things I Love — gardener @ 9:49 am

The past couple of days I’ve been cleaning out drawers and spaces where I haven’t ventured in a while, and it has almost been like Christmas in some aspects. The intention of going through these spaces was to get rid of things that I no longer used, but in doing so, I’ve also found things I’d forgotten that I even owned.

My favorite thing so far- a pair of knitted purple house socks with a cat applique on each side. The cat is coming unsewn on one of them, so I’ll repair it so I won’t lose ‘kitty’.

The odd thing is that I have no recollection of when or where I bought them. I do remember buying them, just not when. My favorite thing about them (aside from the cute cat on the side) is that they are just the right amount of warmth- not too much and not too little. They keep my feet the perfect temperature.

I can’t wait to see what other treasures I find in this quest to reorganize and get rid of things that we no longer use.

February 19, 2011

Living Colorfully

Filed under: Life,Shop til ya Drop,Things I Love — gardener @ 10:20 am

Last weekend when we went to dinner with Hein and Desere for an early Valentine’s Day, belated anniversary dinner, I wore heels and red socks with my outfit. I had on black pants, a charcoal grey sweater with black shoes. My handbag, socks and scarf were crimson. Oh, and let’s not forget my lipstick- which was also crimson.

I have noticed that socks with heels are the big thing right now, and I figured I could either wear black socks and let them blend with the shoes and pants or I could be ‘bold’ and colorful and wear red. I chose to be bold and colorful and loved every second of it.

A few days ago I was browsing the Kate Spade website and I came across some adorable socks from their Spring collection. I want every pair and in fact, I may order them very soon. Ironically- their motto right now is ‘Live Colorfully’ and I think that suits me perfectly.

February 18, 2011

Good Eats

Filed under: Food,Health/ Fitness,Things I Love — gardener @ 10:37 am

This is one of my favorite sandwiches.  I made it a few weeks ago because I was craving one so bad. It’s generally something that I eat in the warmer months, but I had some grape tomatoes (something that tastes great year round), a little avocado and smoked chicken tha I needed to use, so I decided to whip one up.   I added  a little lot of black pepper and a smidge of stone-ground mustard and that was it.   Deeee-lish and healthy as well.

I mentioned earlier in the week that I’d started a new blog a while back about health-fitness and my journey to a healthier me.  I’ll be sharing that link again with y’all in the next couple of days.  I’m trying to come up with some sort of structure instead of randomly writing since it themed towards my health and losing weight, but I’m excited about being able to hold myself accountable in that way.

Blank Canvas

Filed under: Food for Thought,Inspiration,Life,Things I Love — gardener @ 10:31 am

I was looking at the blank canvas this morning and thinking about what I’d like to paint.   Since I had to be somewhere, I ended up not going through the motions of pulling out everything, only to have to put it away again a half hour later.  When I want to paint, I want to be able to do so without having to think about being rushed.  

I ran my errands with Marcel, came home and decided to go through my shoes.  I’ve needed to for a while and I ended up throwing away two pair and putting aside about 6 other pair that I never wear and will give to the thrift shop.   While I was sitting in the middle of the floor, I couldn’t help but think about how life is like that canvas. 

Our lives are a canvas- a flowing tapestry that is sometimes colorful and sometimes dark.   Ultimately how we paint it is entirely up to us.

February 15, 2011

Nurturing Creativity

Filed under: Inspiration,Life,Things I Love — gardener @ 9:15 am

I’ve been realizing in this little journey that I’ve been on lately that something I’ve been missing in my life is that I haven’t spent enough time being creative.   I need to spend more time with my photography, with creating jewelry and even painting.  I’d forgotten how much I love painting until I went to Paint Party Studios when I was home for the holidays.   I went twice and loved it both times.  

I’ve decided to start spending time each week tapping into that creativity and doing something for me.   I’ve found that if I don’t nurture that creative side of me, that I feel as though something is missing.   

Today I bought some acrylic paint, some brushes and canvas.   At this point I haven’t decided exactly what I’ll paint, but I can assure you that it will be colorful!

January 11, 2011

Just What I Need

Filed under: Health/ Fitness,Life,Shop til ya Drop,Techy,Things I Love — gardener @ 3:31 pm

Since ‘Santa’ gave me a Kindle for Christmas, one of my favorite things to do is browse through the books that are available. A few nights ago I found a download that shows some good ab workouts for the bargain price of less than 2.00. Needless to say- I bought it on the spot and have been checking it out. Granted, I haven’t actually started using it yet, but I will be, and soon. I WILL kiss this last 40 pounds goodbye this year. It’s time to stop talking and start doing.

January 5, 2011

Back on Track

Filed under: Health/ Fitness,Holidays,Home,Things I Love — gardener @ 11:38 am

When the New Year rolled around, I promised myself that in spite of still being on vacation, I was going to make sure that I started making healthier choices and stop treating this vacation as a free-for-all to eat everything that isn’t nailed down.    Ok, it hasn’t been that bad, but I have been definitely indulging and before I outgrew my clothes, I knew I’d better get back on track.

I’ve done really well with the choices I’ve made, and this morning I added a little Italian Sweet Cream Coffee-Mate to my steel-cut oats.   It was out of this world!   That, along with a little cinnamon and I had a delicious, healthy breakfast.

In the five days of this New Year I’ve already noticed a change (for the positive) in the way that I feel simply by getting the ‘junk’ out of my body.  I’m sure that it’s only going to get even better over time and I’m determined to make this a successful year in all aspects of my life.

December 12, 2010

Tis The Season for Giving

Filed under: Food,Gratitude,Holidays,Things I Love — gardener @ 1:49 pm

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. When I was younger- I am sure I loved it because of the gift receiving aspects, but now as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that I receive much more joy from giving than I do from receiving. Don’t get me wrong- I love gifts; after all, who doesn’t, but it’s nothing like surprising people randomly and adding a smile to their face.

Today while running around, I stopped in at our local Krispy Kreme shop and picked up some gift certificates good for a dozen original glazed doughnuts. If you buy them- the price is close to $8.00 per dozen, but if you buy the gift certificates they end up costing about 2.75 each dozen. It was a pretty big chunk of change that I had to pay to get them, but I wanted to be able to give them to family and friends- plus pass them out to random strangers. Tis the season- and hopefully it will brighten someones day.

I challenge you to do the same- in any way you can.

December 11, 2010

Back and Playing Catch-Up

Filed under: Home,Life,Things I Love,Travel — gardener @ 8:57 am

We are back on land and much as I suspected, we hit the ground running. The cruise and time with Desere on her 40th birthday was great, but now it’s time to really dig my heels in and start getting things ready for Christmas. I haven’t started on Christmas cards as of yet, nor do we have the Christmas tree up, but I know I’ll get it done.

I have a stack of mail to read that arrived while we were on the cruise, including a few coupons and some information on term life insurance quotes that I’d requested a while back. Today is catch up day- so we are doing laundry, catching up on bills and mail, plus straightening things up a bit in the house. I have much to say, but will break it up in more entries.

I’m glad to be back, but I sure miss the ship and the people.

December 1, 2010

Let the Fun Begin

Filed under: Holidays,Home,Shop til ya Drop,Things I Love,Travel — gardener @ 2:36 pm

Desere is in Atlanta waiting for her flight to Mobile (or I assume she is- since I haven’t talked to her) and I’ve been getting a few things done around here in anticipation of her arrival.

She’ll be here 10 days, but our time will be spent constantly on the go- so it’s safe to say that this definitely will not be a vacation of rest for her. In fact, it’s one of those trips where you’ll probably have to go home and get some rest to recover from the vacation that you just took.

Tomorrow we’re headed out to New Orleans. Friday, she and I plan to spend the entire day out shopping between the outlets and Malbis and then Saturday is our cruise. We get back on Thursday- and she leaves again on Friday. I’m looking forward to taking plenty of pictures and having many adventures to share- including our swim with the dolphins.

I miss reading blogs- but I just haven’t had the time. Maybe after she leaves and heads back home- I’ll have a little more time.

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress