Earth Empress

Picture of he Day for 3/31/2015. I heard about this woman, Earth Empress, on a podcast so I decided to check out her Facebook page and YouTube channel. I'm a little obsessed right now. She's just a couple of years younger than I am and wears long, flowing dresses out in nature and eats only raw, organic food and only uses natural skin care products.  This is totally who I would be- if didn't have a little obsession with chocolate. And Diet Coke. And bacon.

Merry Christmas from the Merrill Family!

Picture of the Day for 3/30/2015. My sister Paula had this Christmas card out on her coffee table the other night. It's circa 1974. Love my mom's and sister Robynne's big hair. I'm taller now of course, but my hair hasn't changed much (I still pretty much wear it long and straight) and those look like the glasses I wear now in the privacy of my own home- which is the home profiled in this picture. Maybe I should have my picture taken in front of the fireplace for this year's Christmas newsletter! Hey, that's a thought...

Ben the Cat

Picture of the Day for 3/29/2015. My sister Paula's cat, Ben, is ridiculously cute.

Fairy Garden

Picture of the Day for 4/28/2015. Hey look! An actual fairy garden!

Good-Bye Joey

Picture of the Day for 3/27/2015. Today was my brother-in-law David's dog Joey's last day upon the planet. He was 15 years old (unheard of in Beagles) and had a serious case of doggy Alzheimer's among other serious ailments so it was time to go. He couldn't have asked for a better life at my sister Paula's house. He was well-loved and well-fed (sometimes unintentionally-he was the consummate food bandit). He had an excellent send-off- one last big bowl of ice cream.

Gray Hair Fantasy

Picture of the Day for 3/26/2015. This is totally how I would look if I let my hair go gray. Uh huh. Yes siree. 

(Don't burst my bubble...let me have this little fantasy...)

Clown Road Trip

Picture of the Day for 3/25/2015. A friend of mine, knowing how much I love to torment my niece and sister with horrible clown pictures, sent this one to me. 

A clown in the backseat = worst road trip ever.

Chicken Neighbors

Picture of the Day for 3/24/2015. I looked out my kitchen window and saw that my new neighbors have chickens running through their backyard. I guess that's better than the previous neighbor's two snarling dogs who never stopped trying to jump the fence in a quest to destroy me for having the gall to step out into my own backyard. 

Trail of Starfishes

Picture of the Day for 3/23/2015. I had several poinsettia-shaped candle holders arrayed on my dining room sideboard for the Christmas season. I finally got around to packing them up and what remains looks like a trail of starfishes marching through the dust. No, I haven't dusted since before Christmas...don't judge.

The World's Best Baked Beans

Picture of the Day for 3/22/2015. I finally posted a family recipe on my Polly's Pink Kitchen blog. Only took me 15 months. The first recipe is a good one- the world's best baked beans. Check it out HERE!

Creepy Bunny

Picture of the Day for 4/21/2015. I've been going through boxes and trying to weed out some of my possessions. If I don't absolutely love an item, it's gone.

There are some exceptions to the rule. I don't absolutely love this Easter bunny decoration I recently stumbled upon, but I'm not getting rid of it.  Here's the scoring methodology I used to evaluate its fate.

Reasons to Give it Away
1. It's creepy! Look at the bunny's face. She has pink eyes and a dour expression.

Reasons to Keep It
1. My mother gave it to me. I'm probably overly-sentimental that way.
2. Having a creepy Easter bunny decoration kind of appeals to my warped sense of humor.

So, as you can see, it was 2-1 in favor of keeping it. 

I'm So Proud of My Family

Picture of the Day for 3/20/2015. I met my niece Chantal and her family for dinner tonight and the pictures below depict what eventually transpired. Yep, that's my family. I'm not totally blameless. I definitely encouraged this behavior since I'm a very bad influence.

 

I Have Very Specific Office Supply Needs

Picture of the Day for 3/19/2015. I have very specific office supply needs. I MUST use blue ballpoint pens. Not black or red or green. Blue. I was working late and the last blue pen in my possession ran out of ink. That meant I had to make a late-night run to the store to replenish my supply. It sounds like I"m overly finicky and high maintenance, but my eyes pick up on the blue better than any other color and I can read my notes more easily. 

Spring Flowers are Here!

Picture of the Day for 3/18/2015. Every year when spring arrives after three looooong months of autumn and three looooong months of winter, it never fails to surprise me to see those first flowers pushing through the ground and the first flowering blooms on the trees.

Northern Lights Quest

Picture of the Day for 3/17/2015. A strong solar storm hit the earth today which supposedly pulled the Northern Lights south to the point people in the middle United States could see them. After dark I drove up into the canyons away from the city lights to see if that were true. Sadly no. This is a picture of the Northern Light-less sky as I was driving back to the city.

That Doesn't Exist

Picture of the Day for 3/16/2015.So, a couple of months ago I went to an office supply store and asked if they had legal pads with 3-hole punched sheets. Here's the response I got:

Nope. Absolutely not. That doesn't exist. Sorry.

Hmm...look what I found at that very same office supply store. The very thing that absolutely does not exist. Sigh. This would have really come in handy a couple of months ago when I really needed it.

Mega Road Trip

Picture of the Day for 3/15/2015. I sooooooooooooooooooooooo want to go on this mega road trip. There's nothing I love more than going on road trips and exploring and seeing what's down that next road.

Pi Day

Picture of the Day for 3/14/2015. So, how did I spend Pi (3.1415) day, you might ask. Eating pie of course! That's a given.

The location is the real surprise in this equation (pun totally intended, hahahaha). My friend Suzanne and I were exploring old Draper City, Utah and ended up at the Draper City cemetery where we saw these two rocking chairs by the flagpole. 

If you see two rocking chairs in the middle of a cemetery, I say you have no choice but to go sit in them.

World War 2 Print Ads

Picture of the Day for 3/13/20015. I picked up these original 1944 print ads from World War 2 at one of my favorite vintage shops today. I love this kind of stuff. I'm determined some day to own an original WAVES recruiting poster by John Falter.

I Miss My Buddies

Picture of the Day for 3/12/2015. I usually meet my friends Mary and Kelly at a little coffee shop the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month. It's a tradition that goes back several years. Now that I'm back to work full-time and still trying to keep up with Teach Speech Now, I'm trying to cut back on my social activities until I get my act together (which my snarky readers may observe could be NEVER). They sent me a picture tonight while I was still hard at work. I miss my buddies!

Rosebush

Picture of the Day for 3/11/2015. About three years ago I blogged about the perfect pink rose I encountered in a walk through my neighborhood. 

Here's that same location today. It's amazing to me how much you have to cut back rosebushes in order for them to bloom during the warm weather.

Tie-Dye Stealth Photo

Picture of the Day for 3/10/2015. We all have our passions don't we? For me, it's space. For some people it's tie-dye. I don't want to make it sound like I"m making fun of this person pictured below. It just struck me when I saw this person how different we all are.

Mystery Package

Picture of the Day for 3/9/2015. I received this antique jar in the mail. I didn't order it. Hmm...

No Snow

Picture of the Day for 3/8/2015. It's been the oddest winter in Salt Lake City- no snow to speak of. It's weird to see the brown mountains rather than white mountains this time of year.

Space Skirt

Picture of the Day for 3/7/2015. Look what I found at one of my favorite little boutiques. A space skirt! I purchased it right away of course!

The Blind Boys of Alabama's Version of Amazing Grace

Picture of the Day for 3/6/2015. A friend of mine introduced me to The Blind Boys of Alabama. Their version of Amazing Grace (my all-time favorite song) sung to the tune of House of the Rising Sun is sublime. You can listen to it HERE. The rest of their Spirit of the Century album is great too!

Camo Jeans

Picture of the Day for 3/5/2015. I sooooooooo want to buy these cammo jeans. I know my family thinks I've gone off the deep end of the red neck pool with my newfound love of all things southern. This would just seal the deal for them.

Work Organization System

Picture of the Day for 3/4/2015. I keep searching for the "perfect" way to organize my tasks at work. I'm juggling several different clients. Some of them are manageable, but the others require the organizational skills and effort equivalent to moving an army of thousands from one end of the earth to the other. In my quest for the perfect system I've purchased binders and folders and index cards and color-coordinated pens and legal notepads, etc. So what is the big organizational winner? Sticky notes on my fridge (since I work mostly from home). Who would of guessed that, right? I guess I must be doing something right since I've been summoned to California tomorrow to meet with a new client who needs a project manager for a complicated project that will last for the next six months.  I guess I've got another "army" to manage for awhile.

Honeybell Orange

Picture of the Day for 3/3/2015. Flew home to Salt Lake today, but brought a bit of Florida with me. I've always wanted to try a Honeybell orange (it's an orange-tangerine-grapefruit hybrid) and I was delighted when I cam across a roadside stand selling them.

Florida Landscape

Picture of the Day for 3/2/2015. I was able to spend several hours in the Florida backcountry today. It was such a peaceful, relaxing day.  I'm soooooo not ready to come home tomorrow.

Meeting Dave Barry

Picture of the Day for 3/1/2015. Today's "guest of honor" author at Sleutthfest was Dave Barry, the humorist who writes columns for the Miami Herald and has published several books. He spoke at the morning brunch and he's just as funny in person as he is in his books. I got to meet him afterward at a book signing. 

I loved the inscription he wrote! Most authors have some predetermined greetings they can use at book-signings and I have to say this is one of the better ones I've seen.