I couldn’t think of something clever and witty to blog about tonight, but I have been perusing the web tonight looking for some inspirational pictures! I love doing that, it is very relaxing to me, so I thought I would share some pictures with you from my Style File!!!
What a happy place to wake up to every morning!
So French, so feminine, so CHIC!!
I STILL love all things Audrey!
This room just screams H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S!!!
I SOOOO want a set of these Penguin postcards!!
Happy orange!
I could move right in!
The Black Apple cutie is ALWAYS inspirational!
I LOVE that this plus-sized beauty is showing how to WORK IT!!
I just got finished spending an EXTREMELY FUN evening vision boarding with my sis and niece!!! I am a firm believer in the power of vision boards. I think that is because a vision board forces you to think about what you want, make decisions about what is important enough to actually make the cut (hee! hee! hee!), and it causes you to spend time cutting, designing, and gluing a board that is completely and totally focused on your dreams! I don’t think that vision boards are magical in any way, but I do think that it helps your subconscious remember what you want, and in turn help you see signs that point you in the right direction to get those goals! Ok, maybe that does sound a little magical, but I know for me – they work!!
Here are some sample vision boards (note: these are not mine, I have found these from various sources on the web.) As soon as my new camera gets in, I will take pics of mine and give you a play-by-play!! π
Aren’t they just interesting?!?
I just LOVE looking at other peoples’ vision boards. They can tell you so much about people. What they value, want to experience, learn, do, be, have! I think vision boards are highly intriguing!! That might just be because I am highly curious and people really interest me. It is amazing how much time and effort people are willing to put into these things (including me)!!! BUT it is EVEN MORE AMAZING how helpful these AWESOME TOOLS are!!! They are so unique, and ABSOLUTELY PERFECT to the creator of the board. I would highly encourage you to get out some magazines, scissors, glue, a sheet of paper, and see what you can come up with for yourself!!
I can’t wait to be able to share mine with you! Soon, soon, soon!!!
YAWN!!! I am soooo tired this morning!!! To say that I have not slept well, is quite the understatement! I am not sure what is wrong with me, but I have just been tossing and turning for a few nights in a row now! I am going to have to take something before bed tonight to help me sleep the whole night through!!!
As for today, however, I just KNOW that this is going to be a GREAT DAY!!! Today is the day my sis, Alex and her kiddos come over. Us girls are going to make VISION BOARDS, which you have to know – I JUST LOVE!!! WHOO!! HOO!! Being a visual person, vision boards help me bring my goals to my current reality, and they have been proven to be a great resource in helpingΒ you achieve your goals. My sis and I have gotten magazines out the wazoo, and I have been collecting pics seemingly FOREVER!!! I think we will have SOOOOO MUCH FUN TONIGHT!! Kind of like KIDERGARTEN FOR GROWNUPS!!! WHOO! HOO!! π
I am so excited! I have a camera ordered, and it should be here any day now. I MISS TAKING PICTURES!!! My old camera had some gotten itself stuck on macro, so that I can only take really, REALLY close up pics – NOT HELPFUL in my day to day life. Photography has become a hobby that I am absolutely PASSIONATE about!!! I just LOVE PICTURES!! Pics of all sorts of random things, moments, people, buildings, landscapes, creative vignettes, fashion, jewelry, shoes, books – it doesn’t matter – I just LOVE taking pictures!!! I sometimes even fantasize about getting an old Brownie camera and learning how to take pictures with that, or building my own pin-hole camera and seeing what kind of pics I can dream up! and the ULTIMATE would be to have my own DARK ROOM!!! Do people even have those any more?? Do people really even do actual film much??? I don’t know, and I don’t really care!! It just seems so mysterious and romantic!! I really need to get myself into a photography class of some kind. Anyone know of any good resources here in Salem??? If you do, please let me know in the comments, above. Thanks!
Well, I am getting ready to head out for work! I am praying that today is not too stressful! We are short handed and being asked to do a lot of work that really is not in our job description, which means there isΒ A LOT OF LEARNING GOING ON!! π Which, I always appreciate!! I just hope they don’t find out that I am making this crap up as I go along!! LOL!!!
Have you ever wanted to step foot right inside of a movie??? I watched Mamma Mia with my sis, Alex, and I have to tell you – that movie NEVER gets old!!! Every time I watch it I can’t help but want to join in all the fun!
I just LOVE all the bright colors in this movie!! I was wondering what my place would look like if I were to use this movie as my MUSE to decorate… this is what I came up with:
Here is that vision board I had told you that I was wanting to put together…
Sorry for the blurriness – I tried something new, that didn’t work out as expected!!! but the gist of this board for me is that I want a simpler life that I can share with my husband, with a small farm, a sweetly chic country home, a child (or 2), and a home furnishing/accessories business. I am loving the idea of long walks out in nature, planting my own gardens, lazy afternoons spent up in the orchard picking fruits for jamming, and pies, and such, and room for friends and family to come over, replenish themselves and make some fun memories together!!! Ok, so I may be dreaming of a slice of the Barefoot Contessa’s life, but I sure there will be enough room for everyone!!!
I can see my future as clear as a bell – the trick now will be figuring out how to make it come to fruition!!
My sister, Alex and our niece V just left for the evening! I ALWAYS have so much fun hanging out with Alex!!! She is sooooo much fun! Tonight we watched Amelie, me for the hundreth time and her for the first! I sometimes worry about letting one of my friends watch one of my favorite movies, in case they hate it and think I am crazy. Well, Alex is different, first off she KNOWS I’M CRAZY, so we are cool there!!! π and of course, she LOVED IT TOO!!! It is so much better to watch these movies and have someone to share the laughter with!!! It multiplies your joy!!!
After wowing audiences all over Europe, Amelie, the story about a young woman on a quest to make things better for the people around here, arrives here on domestic shores. The film’s straight moral compass and overreaching sense of whimsy and fantasy are what draws audiences to it.
It is a nice escape from both other movies and events in the real world. ThisΒ film is from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who always manages to make each film of his look distinctly unique. Here, Paris looks warm, inviting and welcome, matching to tones of Audrey Tautou, who plays the title character. Amelie is a shy young woman, who frequently delves into the world of fantasy. In fact, Amelie plays in a way like a fairy tale complete with narrator.
Amelie discovers a forgotten box in her bathroom. It contains the childhood mementos of a small boy who lived in her apartment years ago. She vows to find the owner and return the box, and if he reacts positively, she will keep doing things to help people. The man tears over with joy, and a new hero is born. She looks at the people around her and decides that she will be the person to make their lives better. Amelie concocts a plan to set up two lonely people, help an elderly painter who lives in her apartment, and help her father emerge from the cocoon he built around himself after the death of Amelie’s mother.
Along the way, she also has time to help a blind man across the street while describing to him the unseen world around him, and to fall in love with Nino, another dreamer. Nino collects torn photographs found underneath picture booths and reassembles them.
Amelie fancies herself as Zorro (in some amusing black and white sequences), which is a fitting description. One of her main projects is to wreak revenge on Collignon, the local grocer. He mercilessly mocks his assistant Lucien. She steals the key to his apartment and does little things to make his life miserable. All of Amelie’s actions, including this one, are to make others feel better. Granted, the actual things she does to Collignon are mainly for laughs. Jeunet and co-writer Guillaume Laurent play these events off more as pranks. Collignon is never truly hurt, only his pride suffers.
One of the reasons Amelie works so well is because of Tautou. She gives an engaging performance, and Jeunet frequently focuses close-up on her face. Tautou is a young actress with an elfin face and perfect alabaster skin, round, expressive eyes and a cute pixie cut. She has a slightly crooked smile that embodies everything that her character is about. Amelie also enters the mind of the title character, bringing forth her fantasies for the audience to see. The animal pictures on her wall talk about her with sympathy, and she turns into water when Nino leaves the room. All of Jeunet and Laurent’s characters are slightly off-kilter. These aren’t typical ‘movie’ characters in that they are not conventionally beautiful or perfect, they are normal people with normal problems. It makes them stand out in Jeunet’s fairy tale world, and it makes it easier to identify with them, and makes Amelie’s efforts all the more meaningful.
I would highly recommend, if you get the chance, to take an hour or two to watch this lovingly charming film – you will not be disappointed!
I have had a long day and am finding that I am having a hard time relaxing for the night, so I thought I would just post some pics that are inspiring me right now.
Enjoy…
Always chic!
If only we could all take this advice.
Whoever invented this is a creative genius.
I have always loved this rug!
Even asleep, Audrey Hepburn was always so chic!
Intriguing!
I would love to remodel an airstream!
You’ve always had the power inside of you!
Isn’t this just darling?
How cute are these?
I couldn’t imagine anything bad happening in these shoes!
I am sitting in my craft studio day dreaming about my ideal future. I dream about one day making a living doing what I truly love; being surrounded by beautiful home accessories and home furnishings. Ok, that may not sound very romantic, but I imagine working with all sorts of fun and creative people,Β who both create and are on the hunt for the perfect and unique treasures to help give their homes a special je ne sais quoi. Fabrics, textures, feathers, cashmere, all things sparkly, girly, and absolutely FABULOUS!!! I can hear the French music playing throughout the shop, and how I would ADORE taking a yearly trip to Europe to shop for new furniture and other home accessories! OH!!! Just the thought of it makes me SOOOO EXCITED – I wish I could just snap my fingers and make it my reality now!!! I am not sure exactly I am going to make this dream come true, or what it will ultimately be in the future, but, for now – it is such a beautiful sight in my dreams! I just have to stay focused on that, and ultimately it will be mine! I hope you will all be there to enjoy destination, as well as my journey!
With that, here are some pictures that are inspiring my dream business ideas!
I know these all seem very random, but to me they represent something like vintage girly, glam!!! Oh what a sweet life!! π
Ok, not that kind of hump day…hmmm…at least not YET anyway!!! LOL!!
I have had a pretty good day today! I just got home from work and finished some house chores. My sweetie is grilling some chicken out back and I have got the veggies all ready to go! YUM! We have some peppy music playing, and every once in a while, Jason will stop wherever I am at, and spin me around so we can start dancing! God, I love that man!!! π
Anyway, I will put my feet back on the ground – at lease momentarily!!!Β I have been doing some more research on Diane von Furstenburg, and I ran across some of her really AWESOME quotes, and I can see why I just LOVE her soooo much!!!
“Attitude is everything.”
“I design for the woman who loves being a woman.”
“I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are.”
“You’re always with yourself so you might as well enjoy the company.”
“Now is the time to become a myth.”
and my favorite that I ran across today:
“Absence is to love what wind is to fire. When it’s a small fire the wind kills it, but when it’s a real fire, wind intensifies it!”
As I sit here listening to “I Don’t Care Who Knows” by Catherine Russell, I realize that life is really GOOD!!! I am so blessed in my life!!!
This is isn’t the best video of this song, and I know the lyrics are really hard to understand, but it is basically saying that “I don’t care who knows, I love my man!!!” π Every time this song comes on, I just can’t help but dance around!!
As for dinner, I am cooking some onions tonight to go with dinner, and I LOVE them!!! They are my favorite vegetable right now!! now I must admit I don’t make them the most healthily, but they are sooooo freaking’ good! !!
Dice one over sized sweet Walla Walla onion, in thin slices. Add butter to pan, about 1 tbsp per 1/2 an onion – depending on size (I add one extra tbsp for good measure)! Cook on med-high until translucent, then turn heat down to low, and make sure the onions are evenly distributed in the pan. Next, this is key – DON’T TOUCH UNTIL BROWNED!!! then flip and do this again, until all slices are gorgeously brown – I do this about 4 – 5 times!!! and I am telling you, the onion is sooooo perfectly carmelized! The onion will have reduced by more than 1/2, so 1/2 an onion is perfect for one person (I can eat a whole carmelized onion as a meal all by itself!!!)
I received a book in the mail today, it is called “Junk Chic”. and so far, I am loving it! I also love that the book cost me less than $5, including shipping and handling! I have two more on their way now, they are both books by or about Diane von Furstenburg – SHOCKED??? No, probably not!! HAHAHA! π
I am also going through a bunch of new pictures from our camping trip with my sis-in-law and her family! Some of these are really GREAT!!! I will make it a point to post some of these for you tomorrow!!
Ok, so I realize that my thoughts are just wandering all over the place, but I think I am going to take this new found energy and go for a walk!!!