If I put a picture on my blog, maybe I won't have to buy them for myself...

How cute are these? I've never seen anything like this in my life, but suddenly I really don't know how I've lived without them until now. Cupcake stands from Olive & Cocoa, my newest favorite catalog full of all kinds of stuff.

I like this

This little vase that my mother brought me the last time she came down to see us. It's called, she said, a "mommy vase," especially for those precious, tiny flowers that your children bring you when they're little. I love it so much! And what a perfect, fun gift for a baby shower.

I like...

One of my most favorite things at the moment is my little can of Nivea Creme that I keep in the car. I got it at a drugstore in Petal one day when I was too early to go pick up the May Baby. I've never seen this before or since, so I've had to buy a huge tub of the stuff to use to refill it. When I notice the back of my hands and my wrists while I'm driving, and I see how dry they are, I smear a bit of the thick white cream into my skin and make it softer. It makes me feel like I'm redeeming just a few seconds of the massive amounts of time I spend in the car.

That's me, Mrs. Efficient.

I also like the Snappy Turtle Sundae from Bop's. A vestige of that confection is the blob that you see in the lower right corner of the photo.

E-mail to my sister

I want to post photos and memories from Christmas and my birthday and the recent wedding we got to participate in, but I haven't gotten myself together for that yet. So I'm posting this e-mail I sent to my sister earlier because it sort of captures this moment, this day, this stage...it all seems like a pretty big deal right now, but it's all fairly every day stuff that I fear I'll forget quickly. (I also edited it a little because I used too many exclamation points and it didn't seem dignified. Now that I'm 41 I must try to maintain my dignity at all times.)

Hey,

I am so enthralled with Ellen Langford's paintings! Thanks so much for the introduction. I looked at her website and there are about 52 works I want. I've tracked down the one called Thursday Morning and am considering buying it. We'll see.

There's no school for anyone tomorrow. Closed for cold...not really, I think it may be quite icy in the morning. Luke Logan is going to come spend the night with us. I need to take down the Christmas stuff, but all I want to do is cook soup and read, read, read. And drink hot chocolate.

Laura Lee's Slimming Secrets.

I hope you have fun with Kelli. We'll be watching the Championship Game, I expect. I can't decide who I'm really going to be rooting for.

I am watching what we call "regular tv," which means "not DirecTV," our local stations, to check to see if Petal schools are closed tomorrow. (Ella's school follows their lead...they're closed). "Jeopardy" just came on and it reminded me of Aunt Patsy and Uncle Sonny so strongly. I miss those days.

I love you,
Laura Lee

This is the painting I was talking about. Don't you think it would look so lovely upstairs in the playroom? Or in my bedroom? It's called Thursday Morning by Ellen Langford. Margie gave me an Ellen Langford calendar for my birthday and she (Ellen Langford) quickly became one of my most favorite artists. Margie was already one of my favorites...Margie, Raoul Dufy, Julian Merrow-Smith, Lisa Paris, Emily Patrick...and now Ellen Langford.

Sunset on Providence

 I realize the title of this post is a little creepy, implying that our neighborhood (Providence) is dying out. Would "Sunset over Providence" have been better? At? In? Beside? From?

Well, this was the view that I saw when I pulled out of the driveway yesterday on my way to pick up one of The Three from a birthday party. It was so astounding that I stopped in the middle of the street (thankfully, no one was coming around the curve) and pulled out my phone to take a picture of it. It wasn't until later, when I cleaned out the mounds of detritus from the passenger seat, that I realized my actual camera was in the car with me.

Next post..."I wish I could Google my car"?

Books

I copied this photo


from The Pioneer Woman's blog. I don't know where she got it, but she showed it under a post called "Stuff I Like" and since I like it, too, I'm putting it here. Isn't it funny, though, the difference in perception? I've actually been thinking about that lately and started another post that I was thinking of calling, strangely, "Violinists and Fleas"...okay, right, back to my point.

PW likes the look of this room because of the white couch and the shelves. I, on the other hand like...no, I LOVE...the stacks of big books used as a coffee table. And the red print on the pillows. But mainly the books.