Lovely, Lovely Books - My Own Treasure Trove...

A wonderful package arrived via UPS in the middle of the blizzard yesterday.  Normally I make my online book purchases from Amazon, but thanks to the much appreciated gift of Barnes and Noble gift cards I was delighted to receive my order in time to hunker down during the storm.  It may be in poor taste to flaunt my good fortune, but I am so excited about the treasure trove of books that await my perusal.  I had to share them with someone!
 

When I first saw this book by Dinty Moore, all that came to mind was a thought of some kind of beef stew.  Once I was past that distraction, though, I was enamored by the subject matter of the "personal essay", one of my favorite types of writing to both read and write.  I was especially captivated by this line from the back cover - "the personal essay is an ever-changing creative medium that provides an ideal vehicle for satisfying the human urge to document truths as we experience them and share them with others - to capture a bit of life on paper."  That sums up what I love about reading and writing - the capturing of life on paper.  It is why I chose to read primarily nonfiction - for I so enjoy a glimpse into the lives of others. 

This book has been on my wish list for some time.  I'm not big on New Year's Resolutions because I am constantly resolving to make this or that change in my life throughout the year, but I thought the start to a brand new year would be the perfect time to find my purpose and "get over life's little imperfections" as the book cover says.  As the back cover states, something is constantly nagging most women.  I lay awake hours at a time worrying over any number of frivolous events.  This book claims to help resolve concerns in the areas of "memories, nearest and dearest, friendship, when work follows you home, body image" (a biggie for me!), "intimacy and relationships, nourishment and the division of chores, parenting, expectations".  Sounds like a lot of work, but it should be rewarding!

Janet Conner's premise is simple:  Show Up, Open Up, Listen Up, and Follow Up.  That's all it takes to find one's inner wisdom.  I'm always up for some serious soul-searching, and I can certainly use all the wisdom I can get!

The title made it impossible for me to pass over this one.  It's so hard for me to be authentic in my writing.  I cringe over many issues that others might not even give a second glance.  Written by a woman with experience in writing, editing and teaching, the book promises to be packed with insights and advice both "practical and irreverent".   

This is one I am most excited about.  I read scores of memoirs, and the craft and skill that they require is admirable.  We all have demons which we must at some point face, and I am no exception.  I look forward to using writing in a more productive and effective tool for scaring those demons away.

I'm a perfectionist to a fault.  In fact, I can safely say that perfectionism is certainly one of my personal demons.  It can wreak havoc on a life.  This book promises to provide guidance "from a place of worthiness". 

This is one I've wanted for quite some time, and I checked it out from the library repeatedly.  You can't borrow this one, though, you have to have a copy all to your own so you can annotate it and devour it and savor it.  Julia Cameron is a genius.  I look forward to owning more of her inspiring works. 

And finally, the book that holds the most promise for me.  One of my 30 Before 30 goals is to get something - anything - published this year.  Since I have no idea how to go about doing that, I will rely on this book to help me figure out the publishing industry, and where best to submit my writing. 

There you have it - my treasure trove of books for the New Year.  There can be no greater gifts than books.  

Who Rescued Who?

Yesterday I saw the PERFECT bumper sticker.  It was a large paw print and it said, "Who Rescued Who?"  Now, I didn't "rescue" Pip, so to speak.  He came from a breeder, not a shelter, though at the time I had checked the local shelters for Chihuahuas.  Even if he had come from a shelter though, that bumper sticker would be very meaningful to me; for it was Pip who rescued me, not the other way around.  He has brought such joy, delight, laughter and smiles to our life and I can't explain how much he means to both of us.  I watched Marley and Me before we had Pip.  Thank goodness.  I would be a mess if I watched it today.  Not that I've not had dogs before, but I've never had a Pip before.  I had yet to be rescued.

I don't claim to have any real ability to take good pictures.  However, since I love to scrapbook, and especially with the addition of Pip to our family, I end up taking a LOT of photos.  The great part of today's technology is that no longer must I wait for a week for a roll of film to return from the developer, only to be filled with blurred images and poorly lit shots.  I can review the hundreds of photos I take BEFORE I send them to the printer via my computer.  I then pick them up an hour later or choose to have them mailed to my door.  Ahhh... No more paying for pictures that don't turn out.  Except for the fact that photos of Pip are like Lay's potato chips - I can't just eat (pick) one. 

I have a REALLY hard time throwing out and deleting photos.  While any good scrapper or photographer knows, one good pic is worth a million poor ones, I have a hard time picking that one.  I really don't need 10 shots of Pip in his bed.  But how to throw them away? And if I'm like this with the DOG, how will I ever throw out pics of our future children?  Actually, I'm convinced that I'll have far more pictures of Pip than I'll ever have time for of our children.  Hopefully I'll get better at taking one good one and I won't need ten similar ones.  I can hear my future children wondering why there are more photos of the family pet than the "real" children. 

Today I was in the calendar store and trying to find a calendar with cute Chihuahuas, but none were as cute as my own!  (I'm pretty sure this isn't just because I'm a biased Mom - I am convinced I own one of the cutest Chihuahuas on earth.)  I'm thinking I may need to make my own calendar.

Anyways, without further ado, here are a few of my favorite shots of Pip from 2010 - our first year as a "family" with our little Pip.  

This was shortly after we got Pip.  The boys played too hard and promptly fell asleep.

Pip loved our stay at the Curtis, and gave the comfort level a 10.

I'm thinking Pip could model for Gap if they had a pet line.

Pip - clearly excited - about Halloween.

I call this one "Mighty Mouse".  Doesn't he look like Jerry from Tom and Jerry?

Our baby when he was still a little pup.

He loves to rest his head on Kyle's.  I wish this one wasn't blurry.

Yet again, overwhelmingly excited about the holidays.

Our dashing Little Man in his Christmas Sweater.

Tuckered out.

Ready for our first SuperBowl.  Go Colts!

Love the little tongue hanging out.

Keeping warm in Kyle's vest.

Oh. My. Heart.  Look at the pug nosed baby Pip!

My very favorite photo of us.

Peek - a - boo!

Where's Waldo?  5 Points if you can spot him.

 

Just Breathe...

Do you ever forget to breathe?  I sure do.  When I have many worries on my mind or more stress than I care to deal with I notice that I'm not breathing.  I have to remind myself to take big deep breaths and to "keep calm and carry on".  

With the whirlwind of the past month and a half - shopping, decorating, eating, spending, traveling, baking, visiting - I especially got into a bad habit of forgetting to breathe.  

I must admit I've been struggling a bit lately.  I'm depressed more often.  I'm overwhelmed almost constantly.  I'm riddled with anxiety and I'm certain that something devastating is just over the horizon, waiting to creep up on me. And I really hate feeling this way, so I have been trying to rethink my thoughts and frame them in a more positive way.  Perhaps the change I dread will really be the door opening to a lovely new reality.  It's just as likely that something good will happen as something horrible, right?


I want to start the New Year on a positive, cheerful note, so I keep hoping this mopey mood of mine will diminish.  I'm actively working on it.  


In the meantime, I just keep reminding myself to take deep breaths in - and don't forget to exhale.

 

Dear Santa...

I decided it might be fun to make a Dream Wish List of some of the beautiful items I've discovered lately while Christmas shopping for others.  If Santa were wealthy and I was on the Nice List, here's what I'd wish for...

I love this plum bag from infusion.   The color is yummy, and because I carry many notebooks/journals/planner/binders from place to place, I need a bag that provides a little more room.  Adorable!

 

 These postcard mugs from Uncommon Goods are pretty cute.  They would make a unique gift.

Love, Love, LOVE the color of this Day Runner planner. I am big on using my planner and though I have a blackberry, I prefer to stick to the paper and pen version of reminders.  I take my planner everywhere, and this one looks like the perfect shade of purple.

Notice a theme of purple/plum here?  I adore this hat from Laila Rowe, but I have a small head, so I wonder if it would slide down over my eyes.  Love the rose on the side.

Because I scrapbook constantly and have gotten into projects like Ali Edwards' Week in the Life projects, it would be super useful to have a home printer that prints pictures perfect for memory books.  This Epson PictureMate Charm is right up my alley.

If I had this luscious Rosette Quilt from Anthropologie I would never get out of bed - ever - again. 

This IKEA LIATORP desk would make paying bills a little more bearable, and would give me the perfect place to write.

These vases by Alyssa Ettinger would be perfect to hold blossoms of any color. 

So there you have it, Santa. 

Favorite New Traditions...

One of my favorite new traditions is decorating sugar cookies with my best friend and her four year old.  Last year we did that followed my hot chocolate and a drive around town to see the holiday lights.  This year we just did cookies, as life's been in a bit of an upheaval for my friend.  We kept it simple, but we still had a great time.  Here's a look at the fun.

You gotta taste the frosting, right??

Sometimes she's more decorated than the cookies...

It's not any fun if you're not covered in frosting...

The finished product...never-mind the pastel colors that are more Easter appropriate than Christmasy.

It's actually really hard to distinguish which cookies were made by the four year old and which were made by the two adults.  I'll let you figure it out...

Christmas Stockings...

Stockings have long been one of my favorite parts of Christmas Day fun.  My mom made my brother and me our own stockings when we were very young.  My brothers is Navy blue and has a little man fishing out of a boat.  Mine is red and has a Santa on it.  Both of our stockings still hang on the wall at my parents' house every Christmas.  I don't have a special one at my own house yet.  Kyle has his UW stocking, and Pip got a really cute one recently.  I am still searching for the perfect stocking.  In the mean time, I got to thinking about how much my stocking meant to me as a little girl. 

Mom always put an apple and an orange in our stocking, along with mixed nuts in the shell.  She would add a few candies - maybe some Reese's cups or Hershey Kisses, or solid little Santas and elves wrapped in pretty foil.  Sometimes they even had marshmallow cream in them, and I would save those to put in my steaming cocoa later.  We'd also get a few little treasures in our stockings.  My brother might get some shiny new fishing lures or a new pocket knife.  My stocking might hold a new pink nail polish or some Lip Smackers lip balms.  Our stockings never held big or expensive items, but nonetheless, I always looked forward to dumping its contents onto the floor to see what was inside.  It was sort of like opening a box of cracker jacks, anticipating the reward waiting inside.

As we got older, Mom didn't always fill our stockings anymore.  I'm not sure why.  I don't suppose she even knew how much I loved this part of the holiday.  I probably never told her.  I doubt my parents realized that I so appreciated those little baubles that showed me they loved me.  The fact that they knew just what to put in there let me know they cared enough to pick the very items that would please me most. 

I know that if/when I have kids, I will carry on the tradition my mom began 29 years ago. I will find the perfect little treasure to leave for my child in his or her stocking, and I will place the apple and orange inside along with nuts and chocolates.   Until then, I'm left with sweet memories of my own Christmas morning joy of emptying my stocking and delighting in the simple pleasures of childhood. 

A Special Gift for a Special Friend...

My dearest friend "A" has really been struggling with depression and bipolar disorder, especially since her brother died in a motorcycle accident in August, she broke up with her boyfriend, and her grandmother died.  She has experienced a great deal of loss in a short amount of time.  She's headed away with family for the holiday, so I had to get her gift ready early. I knew I wanted to do something a little more meaningful for her, so I decided to put together a basket of comforting items to remind her how much she is loved and to take care of herself.  Here's a peek at some of the items I included. 

First up, A. loves tea and coffee, so I had to find her a great mug.  I loved the sentiment on this one.  I filled it with some gum, chocolates and Bath & Body Works lip balm from . 

Next I found some yummy Timothy brand flavored teas to include in the basket.  I also added some Land O'Lakes hot cocoa mixes, (my personal favorites)(not pictured).

I had some great photos of her daughter I hadn't given her yet, so I made a mini-scrapbook.

The photos below were from when Daisy spent the night at our house late August.  She and Kyle were watching Pixar's Up, and I was blown away by how similar their expressions and gestures were while they were both absorbed in the film.

 

I tossed in some travel sized products since she's about to hit the road for 10 days.  I included some of my favorite products, including Tom's toothpaste, Dove mist, Caress body wash, wisp toothbrushes and best of all, some Burt's Bees shimmer lip balms.  

 

I included a copy of this book by Melody Beattie.  It has daily meditations that really helped me through my six weeks in Texas last summer.  I thought my friend would also find them uplifting and encouraging. 

 

The best part I saved for last.  I found this 2011 calendar called Seasons of Friendship.  

It has a separate line for each day of the year.  So at the top of each week's page, I wrote "You're my best friend because..." and then I filled in a reason for every day - all 365 of them.  She's a great friend, and I was able to think of many reasons why she is my friend.  Requiring 365 distinct and meaningful reasons she's my best friend meant I really had to dig deep and think about all the aspects of our friendship that mean the world to me.  It took several hours, but it was so much fun to do.   

Last, I added some lotions, chocolates and misc. travel sized items.  Once it was all placed inside a basket, I was pleased with how it turned out.  It was personal, meaningful, appealing and interesting.  

Hopefully she enjoyed receiving it as much as I enjoyed putting it together for her.