Romantic Country, The Fredericksburg Edition!

Hello and Happy Week!

I am delighted to share with all of you
that the wonderful new edition of
Romantic Country Magazine
is currently on newsstands now,
and I am fortunate enough to have
three different features in the Autumn 2012 Issue!

 And I'm calling this issue  
"The Fredericksburg, Texas Edition"
because 'da Burg ( and surrounding areas )
is so well represented in this issue.

These three separate features have been in the works
for a very long time, so it's been really, really hard
for me not to blab about it before the issue was released.
But now that it's out, I hope that y'all will grab a copy
and see what our beautiful corner
of the Texas Hill Country has to offer!

RC did a fabulous write up on my dear friend Carol Bolton's
shop  Laboratoire de Design, using 10 of my photos.
In fact, I'm working right now on
doing the photography for their website,
so this is priority number one these days.
Working with Carol is like a dream!

But there's even more Fredericksburg love to share...
in the very same issue, our very own local monthly flea market,
Fredericksburg Trade Days, has a two page spread
featuring my photos as well.

More and more people are discovering
our little gem of a flea market, a monthly Canton or Warrenton
on a smaller scale. It's a great place to pick up super vintage finds
at great prices. Plus, we have some of the nicest dealers anywhere!

  And finally, just down the road apiece in Llano, Texas,
a photo I shot in Patricia Hamm's home was featured
in the "Looks We Love" section in a piece on tarnished trophies.

Patricia is owner and proprietor of one of my favorite
shops in Llano, Whimsey's.

But that's not all...I did an entire photo shoot in Patricia's
colorful little gem of a home, which is set for publication
in another magazine soon! I also wrote the article for this piece,
so I can't wait to share more details with you about this.

I just want to give an extra special thanks to

the now-former Editor of Romantic Country, Mary Forsell.
Mary, you are a lovely woman and a class act all the way.
It has been my honor to work with you this past year, my friend!

Wishing you all a happy week!

My Farmhouse Photos...FINALLY!

Hey, it's only taken a year, right?

I'm bettin' that some of you were thinking

I'd just made the whole thing up.

No farmhouse, just a figment of my over-active imagination.

But I feel like I've finally  made enough progress

to give you some glimpses of the living room,

or to be more appropriate to the age and era of the house,

the parlor.

Come on in.

Pardon the blown out, over-exposed photos.

I wasn't in the mood to edit, or apparently to even set

my camera properly. Oh well...

{ remember to double click all photos to "biggify" }

You see the dress form?

That will likely be removed next week,

the little side table will take its place,

and a set of tall gym lockers will be where

the side table is.

This is where I blog, edit my photos, eat,

I pretty much spend most of my time here,

and happily so!

I've received a LOT of Facebook comments about that

fabulous hand on my desk....

You can get your very own via my friend Ruth

at The Beautiful Life.  Go visit her!

My splendiferous (sp?) Carol Hicks Bolton sofa.

Thank you sweet Carol, for birthing my beautiful couch Babette

15 or so years ago. I've been a wonderful second mama to her.

Just a little bit of religious themed, mixed-media art

I whipped up from a piece of wood I got at Habitat for Humanity.

I know that it's nowhere near as good as what most of you

craftier gals produce, but I don't claim to be a mixed-media artist.

I just love this piece, as it has special meaning to me.

The little table which has a drawer on top

is placed strategically where it is just so

that Winnie, my cat, will have a place to sit

and gaze at the big world outside our window.

This lamp, tucked behind an old screen door,

formerly had a Tiffany syle shade on it.

I just felt the simplicity of this white one blended more

with the ambiance of the room.

 My suitcase vignette high atop the TV armoire.

Thank goodness for our HIGH ceilings.

And that, my friends, is it for now.

I will be sharing more photos of the master bedroom and kitchen

in the days ahead, as well as keeping y'all updated on all

my latest magazine projects.

Thanks for looking,

and have a wonderful week!

Mid-Life Crisis? UPDATED WITH TATTOO PHOTOS!

Another half-arsed post from me,

as I just pulled an all-nighter, photo editing project

for an editor friend.

Today is sort of a big day too, 

as I have a visit to the dentist,

I have an article to complete for another publication,

and.....

 sometime later this afternoon,

I'll be getting my very first tattoo,

a variation on the one you see above!

It will be above my ankle rather than on my foot.

Mid-life crisis?

Perhaps.

But it's my ( mid ) life, and by golly,

I'm gonna take the plunge.

It's also highly likely that I'll be taking handfuls

of Ibuprofen and / or Xanax, too...

I'll report back on Facebook later! 

Edited to add...

I DID IT!

And it wasn't really bad at all!

Here are the iPhone pics at the tattoo parlor...

just gettin' started. so far, so good.

got a royal laugh at my bestie Troy Rash of 

 Junk Exchange

who posted this comment to my FB wall during the tattoo...

" i can't believe you walked into a place that begins with CHAOS 

and threw your leg up to a complete stranger and said 

'here, stab me with a needle like a bazilllion times' ..

Oh, how I love my sweet Troy!

I promptly phoned him and let him hear the buzzzzz of the needle!

  And voila!

 

The finished product.

Still a little red, as it's brand new, but it's healing nicely.

Might go back later and get the Nikon logo added.

It was a breeze, I'd tell anyone hesitating out of fear,

go for it! You just sort of zone out to it and then the endorphins

kick in. Trust me, stepping on a sticker hurts a LOT worse.

No more tats for this girl, 

I think one is plenty. :-)

linking with

common ground

french country cottage

at the picket fence

One of These Days

Yep, one of these days, 

I'll do a proper blog post again.

Just not today. Or tomorrow.

Friday isn't looking too good either.

I'm busy, but it's a good busy.

It's busy with photo and writing projects,

and having the opportunity to work with new

publications and new editors.

It's up to my eyeballs in photo editing busy,

and having to crank out a feature article by the weekend.

That kind of busy.

It's also having to work three consecutive

12 hour shifts at the hospital the next few days.

So.....

if any of you friends and followers are still out there,

hang in there. I'll be back!

Have a restful, stress-free week!

Photos from one of my
Romantic Country features ( I have three! )
in the Autumn 2012 Issue, taken at
Fredericksburg Trade Days 

linking with
french country cottage
common ground
at the picket fence
faded charm 

savvy southern style

Home Sweet Home

Home at last!

Back in God's country, aka Texas,

and I miss my girls already.

Give me just a bit more time 

to get re-acclimated,

and I will provide my own re-cap of my most

excellent adventure with Debra Oliver and Elizabeth Maxson.

But until such a time, please enjoy their  uniquely

entertaining takes on our 

wonderful time spent together.

You can read Debra's versions

HERE
and
HERE

and whatever you do, do NOT miss

Elizabeth's re-cap

HERE

Just be aware that sweet Bitsy's version 

comes with a decidedly 

PG-13 rating.  ;-)

Be back soon!

XO,

P.S.
BIG giveaway just around the bend....

linking with

common ground
french country cottage
at the picket fence 

Vacation

Having a blast in the heartland,
Springfield, Missouri, visitng my bestie
Debra of Common Ground.

We've been shopping, and eating and shopping,
and laughing and shopping, and then there was
this bit of drudgery we were subjected to
yesterday afternoon...

Debra has a fabulous home and a fabulous pool.
And yes, Mr. Twig has a farmer's tan.

And yesterday at lunch,
I got to meet some of Debra's junking besties
from Springfield, Kenda and Jan of
Leola's Vintage Home and Garden.

What a gorgeous shop!
I took lots and lots of photos,
so perhaps I'll share a few in the days ahead.
I'm thinking Leola's is such a treasure that it
deserves a magazine feature, so I'm
exploring the possibilities there, too!

Off to St. Louis this morning to hang with
the one and only
Elizabeth Maxson

See you again
next week!

"Do-Over"

Remember when you were a kid,

and you'd either be playing a game, or just doing

some random thing, and you'd call a "do-over"?

 And just like that, you would begin again.

Oblivious and impervious to what had happened before,

a giant cosmic eraser would swoop down

and wipe the slate clean.

Ahhh, that life were only that simple.

 In antiquing circles, there is a healthy market

for do-overs.

We routinely recycle, re-use, repurpose...

it is our mantra, our avocation.

 But as it applies to life. Real life?

Not that simple.

Which got me thinking,

is there any place or time in my life

where I'd like to call a "do-over"?

How about you?

 Would you have married later?

Or perhaps not at all?

Would you have majored in business

rather than education?

 

Or would you have swerved left

instead of right on a particular patch of road?

 So many questions,

so many choices.

 The easy answer is of course, with all the mistakes I have made,

a do-over would be a no-brainer.

A chance to re-write the past and save myself a whole lot

of grief and heartache.

But the truth is that no, I wouldn't choose the easy out, the do-over.

And you know why?

He Is Risen.

Yes He is.

This photo, as well as every other photo in this post

was taken at my friend Carol's shop,

Carol Hicks Bolton Antiquties, Laboratoire de Design.

The Bolton's live out the gospel of Christ in their lives

every single day, and clinging to that hope...the positive belief

that He is indeed risen, compels one to also believe

that nothing happens by accident.

That every so-called misdeed and misstep is all part

of His plan, and is somehow, someway,  

all part of the bigger picture.

As wretched, fallible humans, we will muck it all up undoubtedly,

but Someone else has our back, thank goodness.

He will deal with us.

He will teach us.

He will correct us.

A do-over?

No thanks, I'll take a pass.

P.S.
I'll be off on vacation very soon,
so this will be the last post you will be getting
from me for awhile.
Have a great Summer. Be back in a couple weeks!