One Day at a Time

My mom had her surgery last night,
and things are still very precarious as we speak.

The extent of the cancer was widespread, and the future
is uncertain and daunting to say the least.

Without my faith and your prayers, I would have
fallen apart a long time ago.
So thank you...so inadequate
but that says it all.

Hug someone you love today...
Call your mom...
Don't take the gift of time for granted.

With love,
Anne

Update on My Mama

{ my mama }

Those of you who are my Facebook friends have followed along

this past week, and have so generously offered

your prayers and kind words...you have no idea at all how much

comfort we have derived from these, so thank you and bless you all.

I have run the entire gamut of emotions the past few days...

fear, panic, grief, anxiety, confusion, compassion, gratitude,

and ultimately...hope.

She is scheduled for surgery Tuesday.

This is no minor thing, and she is extremely fragile.
There are no promises or guarantees,
but it's the best option we have.

I'm struggling to stay strong, but stay strong I must. She needs this from me.

So, please...if I could ask...

continue to pray.

With much, much love,

A Grateful Heart

There are no words to express

how grateful I am for each and every one of you,

for your kindness with regards to my mother.

I am traveling in unfamiliar territory these days,

and so many of you have offered a prayer,

a kind word, and have just let me know that you understand.

It's a lot less frightening when you know that you're not alone.

It means so much to me, more than you know,

and I will be slowly but surely making my way over

to say thank you to all of you very soon.

Until then,

The Circle

I've been pondering the circle of life of late...

the seasons we pass through, the ages and stages

and milestones which mark and imprint our lives.

I am part of what some have labeled the sandwich generation...

that age where we are raising children, and simultaneously

starting to worry about aging parents.

Well, yeah...
if we had ever been able to actually have  kids, I suppose.
That ship has sailed.

But the age remains the same, 

and the aging parents thing is looming large.

Objects in my rearview mirror are most definitely

larger than life, and approaching with what feels

like breakneck speed.

What if I'm not ready for them, though? The changes.

"la,la,la, I can't hear you" only works for so long, you know.

There is a beauty to the changing of the seasons,

to newness and rebirth, but a hesitancy and a denial almost 

of what must precede it...

there has to be a Good Friday 

before an Easter Sunday, after all.

A constant theme of late is the passage of time,

the ruthless, mercenary, onward march of life...

Days into weeks,

youth into middle age,

the cared for becoming the caretaker.
Cruel and inevitable, as day passes into night.

My faith has been shelved of late, but it's time to retrieve it.
The journey demands it,
and  I can't see myself
navigating these waters without it...

not with any degree of success, or...peace.

"Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day.
In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety..."

Yeah, God.
I give a hearty amen to all of that, but always feel that last part
is aimed squarely at me.

And so the wheels turn.
Slowly, steadily, fatefully.
The circle is formed, and a new season begins.

P.S.
please keep my mom in your prayers

"New and Improved"?

Originally posted August, 2009

I recently scored an absolutely amazing vintage china cabinet

at a local flea market...to say I got it for a song would be a gross understatement.

It was such a steal that I even felt a momentary twinge of guilt

as I loaded up my treasure, knowing full well that what I got for a mere $85(!)

was going for upwards of $600 just a few blocks away at the chi-chi antique stores in town.

Upon getting it home and placing it in the kitchen corner,

I began to fill my newfound gem with wedding china and household wares

procured two years ago, but heretofore unpacked.

Hooray, I thought!

At last, a fitting showcase for my shiny, new Calphalon,

my glistening Corningware, my sparkling ivory Mikasa.

The new juxtaposed against the old,

the timeless contrasting sharply with the transient.

Would my designer label china have looked any more elegant

displayed in a modern, new Ethan Allen piece?

Some might say yes.

But like so many of you, the inherent beauty in what others

might perceive as junk is this:
my chippy, peeling, flea-market find has lived a life.
Not to anthropomorphize, but it has tales to tell.

Each chip, each dent, each coffee-stain ring speaks to an existence

foreign to my own, yet strangely similar.

Utilitarian practicality is now sharing the stage with stylistic functionality,
but to us junkers, the beauty has always been evident,

even if Farmer Jones and the Missus might not have fully

recognized it before relegating it to the storage shed.

Yes, my pristine Mikasa serving pieces

have a resplendence all their own,

but they have yet to live a life.

They still have much to learn from the wisened old veteran

which provides them harborage.

I'm hoping they will confer, as we would all be wise to do

in our own small corners of the world, be they kitchen or otherwise.

*** this is a re-post from August 2009***



Real

Time.

It passes so quickly these days,
so very quickly.

I often just sit and wonder...
ponder...over what has become of the day,

and how it is that I was able 

to get so very little accomplished.

I met someone this morning, at my monthly haunt...

Fredericksburg Trade Days...a really lovely lady who recognized

me from my blog, and we chatted a bit.

She told me that one thing people really respond to

is that I always strive to keep things real here on the blog.

I try.

But it's hard to keep it real, 

when things seem to be unraveling.

I'm dealing with some medical "stuff" right now,

and it's not my first instinct to open up

and share everything...even though that
would be the "real" thing to do.

No, I want to keep it all very close to my chest,

and shut you all out.
Bolt the door and hang up a "closed" sign.

But I won't do that.

Still...I need y'all to understand.

I need y'all to rally 'round and tell me that this too shall pass.

Even though I won't share just exactly what it is that

I'm dealing with.

Even keeping it real has its limits.

Just know that it isn't life or death.

It's a cross to bear, albeit a much smaller one 

than many of you carry every single day.

For today,

the one "real" thing I know is that

I love y'all.

Happy Weekend.

Entry Way Table and an Anniversary

This week is crazy.

CRAZY.

So I did what I always do when the crazy starts

to set in....

I staged a photo shoot!

Not re-inventing the wheel here, decorating-wise.
I just have a plethora of vintage suitcases,
and I knew I wanted to use a few in the entry hallway as a table of sorts.
I'll probably add one or two more when I find just the right ones.

The farmhouse is still very much a work-in-progress.

Next to nothing hung on the walls,

and still living out of boxes.

If anyone with any extra free time wants to volunteer 

to come on down and help me get the place finished up, 

then I have an extra bedroom with your name on it. Seriously.

I picked up the light colored top suitcase from 

Peg of French Vanilla at City Wide Garage Sale this past weekend,
and inadvertently made off with two of her light fixtures tucked inside!

We have plans to hook up this Friday 

so that I can return my stolen loot.
Darn, I almost  got away with it!

In addition to doing in-house photo shoots,
I'm also struggling to get an article written.
Struggling would actually be an understatement.

I'm working on a piece for a publication
which has to remain nameless for now,
and the words simply will not come.

The irony in all of this is that way back in the day,
I was working towards getting a degree in journalism.
Writing was my thing, and it was the one thing I believed I
was consistently good at.

But since shifting my artistic focus towards photography,
I feel like my writing ability has gone pffffft.
It's incredibly frustrating, especially when one is working
under the constraints of a deadline.
Please wish me well!!!

Oh, and TODAY marks my second anniversary of blogging!
Happy Blogiversary to Me!

Have a lovely evening!

Weekend Stuff and a Winner....

How was your weekend?

Mine was good.

Well, Saturday was, anyway.

Went to the fabulous City-Wide Garage Sale

in Austin yesterday, which is not so much a garage sale,

as a really nifty collection of vintage sellers offering everything from

vintage clothing to architectural elements to advertising memorabilia

to the kitchen sink...literally!

It's also a great place to connect with old and new friends alike...

  

{ can't really tell here, but I recently had 8 inches cut off my hair!

I still have enough for the wee-est of ponytails! Oh, and I'm 5'8", people!!! }

I finally got to meet the The Vintage Laundress

herself, LeAnn Stephenson. What a fun gal! 

Phone numbers were exchanged,

with plans being made to wreak some Hill Country havoc soon. :-)

And it always feels like home when I reconnect with my sweet friend

Theresa Cano of Garden Antqs Vintage. 

We dished about anything and everything,

and I got the top secret 411 on the big blog party

she's planning next monthin Warrenton.

You bet I'll be there!

So yeah, Saturday was good.

Sunday?

The less said about that the better.

My facebook friends need only read my feed

and latest status updates

to catch up on the latest fence drama, as well as

my innermost thoughts about

our less than charming neighbors.

Suffice to say, we are once again in the position of'

having to cough up a grand or so to replace the last

of the existing fencing due to nasty neighbor dogs.

I would say more, but I feel that this blog is much more public 

than my somewhat private facebook settings, which are limited

to only friends reading my comments.

I realize that nothing posted on the internet is ever really private

{ well hello, Anthony Weiner! },

but as a rule, I prefer to hedge my bets and keep things a bit

more vague here on ye olde blog.

Two more things:

I have a long awaited, much needed doctor's appointment

this week, so I'd appreciate good thoughts and prayers.

And finally:

We have a winner!!!

The lucky winner of the  

Bilancia Design Handmade Beauty Giveaway

is

Laurie at Heaven's Walk!

Send me your contact info and I'll pass it on to Lisa.

Have a happy week!

bloggus interruptus

yo peeps,

winnie here.

'sup?

mom just wanted me to remind you about the

way awesome giveaway she's sponsoring

for lisa at bilancia designs.

you can win

this

and this

and a $50 credit at her shop!

$50....

that's a whole lotta noms.

click HERE to enter.

 
peace out,
gotta go catch some zzzzzz's

on mom's way cool vintage grainsack.

she LOVES
when i do that.

Anne   

  WiNniE

Handmade Beauty

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

I have an extra special friend 

to re-introduce you to today,

and an extra, extra  special giveaway 

to announce, too.

Do you remember my beautiful friend

 Lisa of Bilancia Designs?

I posted about the lovely 

handmade gifts she sent me

 HERE....

and now it's my extreme pleasure

to introduce you to Lisa's 

brand new blog and online shop!

From her shop description...

"Inspired by her passion for calligraphy, 

Lisa knew she had a gift for beautiful handwriting… 

one that continually evolved after receiving a simple 

calligraphy set from her father at an early age.

A passion for collecting quotes and poems 

later developed into hand lettering books with 

hundreds of quotes she carefully penned in calligraphy.

Often asked to make handmade cards for friends 

and address envelopes for weddings, soon turned into designing 

customized wedding and party invitations.

After working as a floral designer for years, 

the two talents merged into a wonderful business: Bilancia Designs."

 
Lisa's shop is a delight for the senses...

creamy wreaths

wine and gift tags

 

romantic kissing balls

whimsically lovely rosebud letters

and some things 

you never knew you needed...

until you saw them

...love this!

And wait until you get a load 

of Lisa's gorgeous home...

{house photos Lisa Moran}

how could you NOT 

create beauty in these digs???

To celebrate her new blog and shop,

Lisa is having a GIVEAWAY,

and I'm the lucky gal who gets to sponsor it!

Lisa is offering one lucky reader the following treasures...

 {photo Lisa Moran}

this darling 
Vintage Button Star

 {photo Lisa Moran}

 along with this lovely 
White Rose Kissing Ball

and get this...

she's also including a
$50 CREDIT to her online shop!

Pretty wonderful, right?

Here's how to win:

1. Head over to Lisa's shop HERE 

and have a look at all her gorgeous pretties.

2. Click on her "Join This Site" button and follow!  

3. Head back over here to me and leave me a comment on this post

letting me know you've paid Lisa a visit. 
Tell me which of her creations you love most!

4. Extra chances for grabbing the giveaway button, blogging,

tweeting or facebooking about this, too!

Just leave me a separate comment for each.

I will select a winner on Lisa's behalf

on Monday, August 15th.

Good Luck!

I'm "At The Picket Fence" Today!

Happy Monday!

My good friends Heather and Vanessa from

At The Picket Fence

have a wonderful series going on called

"Behind the Blog", where they introduce all of us to

some of their favorite faces behind their favorite blogs.

It's a lot of fun learning more about these talented gals,

and I was super honored to be asked recently 

to be one of their featured bloggers!

I'm featured today, so head on over
to read my interview HERE!

And while you're out blog hopping,

make sure you pay a visit to my friend Jackie at

Bliss Farm Antiques, she's having a lovely giveaway

 packed with vintage French goodies.

See you
At The Picket Fence!