Space Fabric

Picture of the Day for 11/30/2015. I was at the fabric store today browsing for fabric that I will never end up using ever despite my good intentions and came across this space fabric. HAD to have it!

Vintage T-Shirt

Picture of the Day for 11/29/2015. My niece Corinne is in town. She looks cute wearing a t-shirt I wore when I was a teenager for a church youth event waaaaaaaay back when. 

Scandinavian Baby

Picture of the Day for 11/28/2015. My niece Michelle is in town with her daughter Hazel and husband David. I took this photograph of Hazel at breakfast. I swear the "perfect photo" planets were aligned because this has to be the cutest picture of a baby I've ever seen. She looks like a little Scandinavian child which isn't too far off the mark since our family has Norwegian/Swedish heritage.

Pine Needled-Covered Stairs

Picture of the Day for 11/27/2015. Woke up to my front stairs covered in pine needles from my yard. It's been windy, windy, windy. Guess I'll wait for the wind to blow them right back off the steps.

Odd Assortment of Creatures

Picture of the Day for 11/26/2015. I spent Thanksgiving Day at my sister Robynne's house. After dinner we lounged in the sunroom where I took this picture. This vignette made me laugh. It was just the oddest assortment of creatures- real and fake. 

Art Wall of Shame

Picture of the Day for 11/25/2015. I've decided to embrace what I'm now starting to call my Art Wall of Shame. I bought another picture to hang randomly on my bedroom wall. I kind of like the fact there's no rhyme nor reason to the display. It is dictated solely by the availability of nails already in the wall. 

Mel Robbins YouTube Video

Picture of the Day for 11/24/2015. I love watching TED talks on YouTube. The title of Mel Robbins talk, How to stop screwing yourself over, naturally caught my eye.  It's a fabulous motivational talk about how to quit hitting the snooze button on your life and start accomplishing the things you really want to. I recommend checking it out!

Worst Thanksgiving T-Shirt Ever

Picture of the Day for 11/23/2015. We celebrated my great-nephew Dane's birthday at my sister's house tonight. My brother-in-law David was wearing the word's ugliest Thanksgiving t-shirt. He proudly acknowledged it's garish. It's quite an accomplishment to find a t-shirt this bad!

MailChimp High Five

Picture of the Day for 11/22/2015. I'm trying out a new email service, MailChimp, for Teach Speech Now's marketing emails. We have about 2,000 people on our mailing list and our current email provider won't let us send out emails in batches greater than 100. That means it takes 20 emails to send a message to our followers. To say that's time-consuming is an understatement. I cracked up at this message I received once I hit the "send" button through MailChimp.

Pretty Sunset

Picture of the Day for 11/21/2015. Pretty sunset.

Bar Method Studio Open House

Picture of the Day for 11/20/2015. I attended a holiday open house at the Bar Method studio where I was going strong taking classes until the end of February. And then I left for Florida to attend a writer's conference and I never returned. Ever (until tonight). I meant to... but then life and excuses why I was too busy got in the way.

Everyone remembered me and they were all very welcoming. I need to resume classes there.

Message from My Mother

Picture of the Day for 11/19/2015 A couple of days ago I saw this picture on Facebook and shared it to my own timeline since I remember my mother singing this refrain to me.

Later that day I was listening to a radio program that said our loved ones that have passed on to the "other side" are always trying to communicate with us, but a lot of times we aren't paying attention. That's when it hit me that it was no coincidence I saw this picture. The girl in the picture looks like me when I was in first grade- down to my all-time favorite dress at the time (which was green with pink flowers and a white collar) and the ankle socks and the black Mary Jane shoes. I know most people will think I'm reading far too much into it, but I KNOW this was was a little love note from my mother.

 

Tacky Christmas Ornaments

Picture of the Day for 11/18/2015. I promise I have a sense of whimsy and I love kitsch, but I just can't go for pink animal print Christmas ornaments. Speaking of pink, I would love to decorate a Christmas tree entirely with pink flamingo ornaments someday! I guess that's not any less tacky than animal print ornaments...

Snarky Siri

Picture of the Day for 11/17/2015. I asked Siri on my iPhone to set a timer for me. This is the response I got. It was somewhat snarky!

R. Brownell McGrew

Picture of the Day for 11/16/2015.  I'm currently obsessed with the artwork of R. Brownell McGrew (1916-1994). He's known primarily for his depiction of the people and landscape of the American Southwest.  I was able to score a signed print (shown below in a really terrible photograph) on eBay for less than $50! 

Below are better example of his work. I love the vibrant colors.

 

DoItOnADime

Picture of the Day for 11/15/2015. I stumbled across DoItOnADime (Facebook/blog/YouTube). The woman behind this is Kathryn, a young mother and school teacher. I'm so not her intended audience, but I find her enthusiasm for organization and finding deals utterly charming. 

Peppermint HoHos

Picture of the Day for 11/14/2015. I love Hostess HoHos. I love mint. Peppermint HoHos. Oh man. Heaven.

Urban Sandhill Cranes

Picture of the Day for 11/13/2015.  There was a flock of Sandhill Cranes milling about the parking lot of a public park tonight. They seemed more irritated than alarmed when I got up close to them to take pictures. They must be so used to being around humans. This must be a common sight for Floridians, but as a Utahan I was so charmed by encountering wildlife I can't see in my native state. I love how the cranes blend in with gray asphalt.

I Could Star in a Mission Impossible Movie

Picture of the Day for 11/12/2015. I saw the new Mission Impossible movie today. Oh sure it was filled with great action sequences and handsome men, but what really struck me were the shoes worn by the femme fatale. Those look like my shoes! I could totally star in a Mission Impossible movie. All I need to do is track down that dress...

Writing Workshop

Picture of the Day for 11/11/2015. I like to attend events at the Murder on the Beach bookstore in Delray Beach whenever I'm in Florida. Tonight there was a self-publishing workshop taught by Gregg Brickman. Very informative. I bought a signed copy of one of her books.

Second Date

Picture of the Day for 11/10/2015. I went back for a second date tonight with the love of my life- penne Alfrredo. Our romance is going strong.

Reunion With My Old Friend Pasta

Picture of the Day for 11/9/2015. You know how I said just a few days ago that I miss pasta? Well, I was reunited with my favorite food tonight. I had the best penne Alfredo today at an Italian restaurant near my hotel. It was indecent the love affair I was having with this dish.

Veteran's Day Parade

Picture of the Day for 11/8/2015. I attended a Veteran's Day parade in West Palm Beach. This ended up being my favorite picture of the whole event- these two women rocking out to the marching band.

Space Shuttle Memorial

Picture of the Day for 11/7/2015. I spent the day at the Kennedy Space Center attending an astronaut autograph show. Saw my space buddies. Got to meet the commander of the very last space shuttle mission. Spoke with some astronauts I had never met before- including two who now work for ATK (the former Morton Thiokol) and live in Utah. It was all very fun (duh), but I have to say the highlight was seeing the new memorial to the Challenger and Colombia space shuttle crews. The panel is from the Challenger which broke up shortly after take-off and the cockpit window frames are from the Colombia which broke up during re-entry. Everyone warned me it was going to be an emotional experience but I still wasn't prepared for how haunting and touching the exhibit was. Pictures don't do this justice.

Multicultural Jewelry Day in Melbourne, Florida

Picture of the Day for 11/6/2015. I flew into the Melbourne airport and saw an ad for the Two Feathers Gallery in the historic downtown area. I decided to check it out before making my way to Orlando (my ultimate destination for the day) and was delighted to find these buffalo earrings. I love inlay work and I have a special affinity for buffalo ever since I worked in Yellowstone National Park in the early 1990s. I also do a great buffalo imitation (not many people can say that) if I have a headband on hand. That may have to be a future "picture of the day" for this blog. 

I also found myself in an Irish shop. The store had beautiful things, but I was just about to leave without buying anything when the owner mentioned she had Outlander rings. I love anything associated with the Outlander books so I asked her to tell me more. The sterling silver rings are made by a Scottish company called Hamilton & Young that produces jewelry based upon the books. She had me at the word "Outlander" so of course I had to buy one.

I Miss Eating Pasta

Picture of the Day for 11/5/2015. I miss pasta. It's been a long time since I've indulged. I used to have pasta with cream sauce at least once a week. And I was 25 pounds lighter than I am now when I was doing it. Go figure. I'm craving it so much I take screen shots of pasta recipes from Facebook posts. 

Amish Nativity Set

Picture of the Day for 11/4/2015. I saw this Amish nativity set at Deseret Book today. I need it!

Clean Windows

Picture of the Day for 11/3/2015. I actually washed the window panes in my front door for what I believe is the first time in the six years I've been back in this house. Don't judge me. I've got better things to do like go hang out with astronauts and the alligators in Florida. If I had known how life-changing washing windows was going to be, I would have done it sooner. I can see out the door! It's a miracle!

Just Add a Scarecrow

Picture of the Day for 11/2/2015. Time to decorate for Thanksgiving. I added a scarecrow to my Halloween pumpkin vignette and bam! Two seconds later I was done.

Door Repair

Picture of the Day for 11/1/2015. I went out my front door yesterday only to find upon my return that the over-the-door wreath hanger I had placed on the door shifted the lock out of alignment and I couldn't unlock the door. OK. No problem. I'll just go through the basement entrance. Uh oh. My key worked, but the chain was across the door. Sigh. I was so tired of this recent phenomenon of getting locked out of my house that I went all Rambo on the door and kicked it open. Today I nailed the door frame back in place. I'm strangely proud of the fact that I was able to kick a door open. Makes me feel the slightest bit badass.