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appreciating design: eames

9 Jan

i’ve always loved the eames lounge (as it is officially known as)

but my husband revived my interest.  his father has one and it has always been something that ROF aspired to own.  they were first released in 1956 and used molded plywood and leather.  herman miller continues to produce the lounge and other eames furniture.

eames is actually a husband/wife team of Charles and Ray.

they met while studing at cranbrook academy in bloomfield hills, michigan.  i had some friends that went there too.  uncanny.

today, i’m appreciating the look of the eames lounge chair – at the top of the appreciator’s and ROF’s wish list!

i found this nifty slipcovered eames lounge at apartment therapy

every room needs a “signature” piece.  a huge piece of artwork, a different rug, a piece of furniture.  and i can picture his/her eames chairs in the future!

check out all these chairs and where i got them from and more here.

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appreciating this: sweet smelling sheets

6 Jan

fresh bed, fresh start

i am obsessed with my clean fresh bed.


first, good 100% cotton sheets, almost always white with a high thread count but not too high because i like them crisp, a little stiff. the sheets are washed and then hung to dry outside on my clothesline. then ironed, yup, i know that is crazy. then made just right, tight and smooth and tucked in perfectly so that they stay just where they belong all week. a cotton quilt tucked in with the sheets and a down comforter on top. oh and soft down pillows.

when i get in my fresh bed with clean sheets i say to mike, “ ahhh, clean sheets”. he smiles. sheets that have hung on the line to dry smell amazing and, like i mentioned, they are crisp. they make me feel so content, so pleased and comfortable.

thanks susan prendeville! by the way, i think that could be an awesome store – IRONED SHEETS. drop them off in the morning and pick them up in the evening. it would be a normal household chore – pick up some diet coke and drop off the sheets. i haven’t ironed MY CLOTHES in years let alone my sheets, but i have to say it sounds mighty comfortable and looks amazing.

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appreciating life: vulnerability & ted

5 Jan

i just watched the most amazing TED talk.

i’ve seen a lot of them, but this one was simply awesome.  please click on the highlighted links to watch.  she addresses in a very scientific, researched way our most important and fundamental need to connect.

that is what life is all about. 

our connection with other people.  from there she talks about being vulnerable is our best way to connect but how people don’t let themselves be less than “perfect” or open themselves up to their shortcomings such as the fear of not being loved or reaching out to connect and not connecting.  but this is based on years (6) of stories and common threads.

this is my gift to you – this video.  watch it.  i really got a lot out of it.

if you’re not familiar with TED, then read about it here.  if you travel a lot (or not) just download the TED podcasts on itunes and watch when on the plane.  that is what i do.  some of them i’ve watched 10 times.  here are some of my favorites.  watch out – you’ll get addicted! Just click on the underlined link to watch:

Caroline Casey: looking past limits (wow!!)

Sarah Kay – if i should have a daughter

Mark Bezos – a life lesson from a fireman

Seth Priebatsch – a game layer on top of the world (this is the company i worked with!!)

Eric Whitacre: a choir as big as the internet

Johanna Blakley  (this one i watched 10+ times!)

enjoy!

 

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appreciating me: new hope

2 Jan

happy new year!  don’t you just love new beginnings? 

i do.  i love a fresh start and january 1 is always a good time.  i used to love the first day of school too.  new shoes, new clothes, new teachers, new friends.  there is something about “new” that brings hope.

this isn’t going to be one of those negative posts that says “i always have good intentions with goals and resolutions but that goes away at the end of january”.  because i’ve really been looking forward to my resolutions/goals.  goals are one of the most important things that you can have in your life.  no matter how old you are, no matter how young – set your sights on something and go for it.  one thing i love about facebook is seeing people achieve their goals.  friends are running marathons, starting businesses, dating someone seriously, getting new jobs.

– oh, i started to tell you something –

i’ve been preparing for this time of year.  instead of joining a fad diet plan, i am digging into WHY i do what i do when it comes to food.  and i got myself an awesome accountability partner to talk to every week.  what else do i want to do?   i want to multi-task less.  also, i’m going to quit buying into the (quite dated) fad of being “busy”.  i don’t want to be busy anymore.  it sounds so tedious and mundane.  and we all know how much i hate that!  i want to live fully.  guess you could say i’ve had a bit of a jerry mcquire moment.  i’m going to nurture and take care of me – and my husband – and everyone else is going to benefit.  i’m going to learn how to savor life.  taste slowly, listen more intently, mentally capture moments and tuck them away for later.  oh, yeah, i’m going to organize my photos in a more timely manner this year.

one website i found/heard about is this one. 

it is creating 101 things you want to do in 1001 days.  these are not goals or resolutions – just little things you want to do.

i love the things people are putting on here.  see for example:

here are some of mine:

1. bake the perfect souffle  (thanks to my RISE book from sarah!)

2. create a book out of the photos i take in 2012

3. donate blood

4. pay for someone behind me

5. go to the old age home and play cards or talk with someone

6. go to all the “best” restaurants listed in d magazine

7. interview a famous blogger

8. learn photoshop

9. walk in the rain

10. learn backgammon and get real good

what would you have on your list?

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happy new year

31 Dec

here’s a toast to new beginnings, new jobs (susan/katie!), new friendships, new goals and resolutions. 

i hope you have a safe and happy evening tonight and you start the year with a BANG!

happy new year – i appreciate you!

down time

27 Dec

this is hands down the best time of the year! I’m still in new jersey with ROF and susan and the whole fam having a great time. I hope this finds you enjoying the season too!

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christmas from the east coast!

25 Dec

Merry Christmas everyone!!  here i am in beautiful new jersey!  once again, susan is going to tell us all about her family’s traditions and this year, i’m so blessed that ROF and i are a part of it!

another tradition i love

around the holidays is spending christmas day at ellen and bill’s house.  my husband comes from a large and wonderful family, he is one of 10 children, and ellen is mike’s younger sister.  she has a beautiful home that I have said many times is the perfect place to spend christmas.  ellen and bill’s home is spectacularly decorated and there is plenty of wonderful and delicious food and drink.  there are many lovely places to sit and visit with family and friends.  people talk and laugh, catch up or nap,  and watch the children or the tvs.  People gather around fires in the fireplaces, out back near the fire pit and of course in the kitchen.  ellen and bill are perfect christmas hosts.

more important then all of these things though, is the feeling of christmas.  it is warm and welcome and calm and secure. i am grateful to be part of this wonderful family and to have spent so many perfect christmas days at ellen and bills house.

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planted firmly in the ground

21 Dec

i’ve thought all night about what i wanted to say about my fascination with trees.

no, it didn’t keep me up at night, i just couldn’t sleep. think it has something to do with the flannel sheets we sleep in. i woke up at 1:30 feeling as if i were on fire, in a burning inferno (drama) and couldn’t go back to sleep. thinking about trees did not keep me up.

but back to trees…. for as long as i can remember, i’ve had a spiritual connection with trees. think of everything they have been through – how long it took them to grow so big, how stable and unmoving they are (for the most part). staring at trees when i’m laying in bed or snuggled on the couch makes me think of one of my favorite bible scriptures from John:

5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him,bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

specifically, i remember a tree that was outside my apartment on lasalle and chestnut in chicago. the apartment was huge and old and my room was all the way in the back down this long hallway. it had tall ceilings and old hardwood floors and got really cold in the winter. i loved that room. my bed was against the wall. i lived here when 9-11 happened and afterwards is when i started praying about moving to texas. i remember laying on that bed earlier in the morning and looking out the window at this huge beautiful tree and thinking about needing stability (roots) and wanting to bear good fruit. i knew i wasn’t going to get there in chicago doing what i’ve always done. so i moved.

i also like this poem by joyce kilmer

TREES

by: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

“Trees” was originally published in Trees and Other Poems. Joyce Kilmer. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1914.

all these beautiful photos are the efforts of a lot of awesome photographers i found on etsy. please click on the photos to make them bigger and click here to see details and how you can buy them

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appreciating disappointment

20 Dec

i appreciate my sister-in-law, Susan,  for being so honest:

every one of us has something that we hide, something that we are
ashamed of.  and every once in a while that thing becomes exposed and
we either lose something that is precious to us, or our self esteem
takes a serious blow or we hurt someone who we would rather die than
hurt.  sometimes it can be repaired and sometimes important things are
lost.

i have told my kids that it is fun to be their mother.  i can say, oh
yes, he won the election, was chosen,  plays D1 football,  has an
amazing job, is beautiful and smart and doing exactly the kinds of
things that mothers are proud of.  but obviously they have  
disappointments and do things that hurt themselves and others and of
course i talk much less about those things.

recently, i finished one job in order to start another and the
situation at the job I was leaving deteriorated in a way that i am not
proud of at the very end.  i was ashamed and exposed in front of my  
family but i did not hide it from them.  it has been so important to
me, every single day that i have had the privilege to have my
children, that i am a good mother.  i felt that this time, being a
good mother would be letting my kids see my mistakes and talking to
them about being human, which means not only triumph but making
mistakes, learning from them and trying with all your might to move
forward smarter, more humble, more ready for the next thing that life
sends your way.

this week, my child had a bitter disappointment and feels remorse, as
is appropriate, and my mothers heart is broken for everyone involved.
i must say… this is life, good and bad, you are human, you will heal,  
be humble, take responsibility, please God, learn from your mistakes.
and even in setback, appreciate.

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words words words

18 Dec

appreciating doing something other than work

17 Dec

so i started thinking

before i started writing this blog, that i’d write about hobbies and my lack of having one.  however, during the real in-depth research i do for every post, i discovered – HA! – i actually have several. i’ve also discovered that i do not like the word hobby.  maybe because it reminds me of holly hobby and i always thought she was stupid.  but also the word hobby doesn’t really do what it means justice.  case in point, if you like designing grand pieces of abstract art that demonstrates your radical existential viewpoint on life but you don’t make a living at it, is that your…hobby?   i guess so.

anyhoo

i guess a hobby i have is photography.  i don’t have the fancy cameras, in fact, my phone will work just fine.  i love capturing everything.  what i think is important is then transferring those photos to something tangible like a book.  i haven’t gone that far yet.  with my photos, i like to capture a city’s beat or pulse.  i like to capture moments and make them look pretty.  for some reason, this year, i love capturing in-flight photos.  maybe because i appreciate God’s ability to get me up in the air and give me a glimpse of the earth from 15,000+ feet. i also like ‘slice of life’ photos – for the same reason i like woody allen’s slice of life movies.

big boy

so that’s photography.  now

my other love, which kinda links into yesterday’s post on home offices, is to make collages.  and don’t use that term …what do they say?… can’t think of it now but it’s some french term.  who knows what i’m talking about?  DECOUPAGE (just thought of it) it’s not that.  i like collages because i liked ripping stuff out and blowing up pictures and putting it all together as one big thing I like made of small things that i like.  does that make sense?  here is my work i’m so proud of.  it hangs in our extra room…

these are two panels and include:

photographs taken when katie and i went to stay at the broadmoor resort in colorado after dad died – just to get away, photos of chicago landmarks for me, snippets from magazines and things that i like.  i need to do more and have been inspired by the work done by eva :

lastly, a hobby i want to be able to do – actually two – one is sew and another is knit.  i found some cool knitted stuff on etsy:

i love all of these – what a unique yarn scarf above and the mug warmer – adorable!  you can get more info here on all of these etsy finds.

so – what hobby do you do – or what do you want to do?  XXOO

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the best home offices…for me

16 Dec

if there was one luxury i’d want in a house it would be my own office. 

it is most important that ROF have his own office for all his boy stuff because let’s be honest here girls, the rest of the house is pretty much my playground for creative experimentation.

but ever since i can remember, i’ve loved my own little creative corner.  a place where i can hang up inspiring things, post them to a board and just be surrounded by things that get my mind going – quotes, color, design and just, me.  i read a great book by one of my favorite people luci swindoll called “i married adventure”.   

this is a book i would highly recommend.  luci is the most fascinating person to me.  she never got married but not because she didn’t like men or love but because she was such an incredible free spirit.  she sang in the dallas opera and traveled the world with them, she was a high powered executive at mobile oil a long time ago before it was even cool for women to be in high powered positions.  i love this book because she spills all her best ideas and finds.  for the purpose of today’s post, i bring her up because in her home, she transformed a walk-in closet to an office where she lined it with boards to pin articles and pictures that inspired her.  she collected things from her travels that she kept there.  one thing she did was send herself post cards from all her travels and she got them when she arrived home.  sometimes she would even have strangers write a note to her on a postcard (like a bus driver, or cafe barista) that she would then send home and post in this office.  i love that.  it’s like an adult playhouse!

i gathered from houzz.com some of these great office spaces i found. click on the image to make them bigger.

and then these you can see details on my pinterest board located here.  let me know if you need an invite to pinterest.

and then, of course, who doesn’t love office supplies.

these are also on my pinterest board, link above

vintage goods above c/o etsy, also on my pinterest board.

what would your dream room be?  (other than a pantry you could step into and shove food in your mouth and none of it would count!)

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around the corner

12 Dec

had to post a poem our minister read us yesterday

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone. And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell. And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.

“Tomorrow” I say! “I will call on Jim
Just to show that I’m thinking of him”,
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner, yet miles away,
“Here’s a telegram sir,” “Jim died today.”
And that’s what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.

– charles hanson towne
anyone you want to call?

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slumming it at the mansion

11 Dec

this time of year with all the parties is so much fun –

friends, work, family and i love it all. it’s fun to get cleaned up and be wined and dined and i got to do this last thursday. ROF and i were invited to the duke party at the beautiful mansion on turtle creek.

this was a party that ROF told me was one that couldn’t be missed- not only because it was in this historic, beautiful hotel but because the people were the best. and he was right. what a treat…

the party started with cocktails and hor d’oerves, which most do, and after everyone took their seats, i noticed a sweet little blue box at all the ladies places that was oh so recognizable…

everything was twinkly and gorgeous sounding

with a set of people playing the strings in the corner. the evening started with lovely jeff turner welcoming everyone. he had his guitar and everyone sang a couple of stanzas of ‘silent night’ together. it is always awkward … singing together in a place that isn’t church or at least there is another loud instrument (like an organ) to drown you out. people are let into the fact that you are clearly mouthing it or mispronouncing words (i tend to always say “wild” instead of “mild” in silent night) but nonetheless it started out the evening with a sense of comaraderie and i loved how it made me feel – all warm and fuzzy.

dinner was outstanding: famous tortilla soup (this was where it all started with mr. dean fearing) followed by salad, lobster and filet and desert. the merlot was flowing as well. i snapped some pics as i floated around in the fairy tale land that is the mansion. we ended up floating by the bar which – i have to say – is way cool. ROF and i decided we are definitely going back there. dark and black and white with little rooms and a live band…everything a good evening should have.

view from my plate

front lobby and restaurant

ROF and good friend tim

new friends at our table

looking down from the top floor

entrance to the bar

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holiday traditions

7 Dec

i’ve asked my family and friends to weigh in on their favorite or new holiday traditions and my bestest sister in law gladly participated.   unfortunately my other friends and family named joan, katie, rof and demian did not.  it’s my blog and i fully feel comfortable calling them out.  HA.

so back to my bestest susan.  i am thrilled to be spending a couple of days over the holidays with my east coast family this season.  even more excited now that i see how she has decked the halls!  i can’t tell you how in love i am with the prendeville house.  high up on a hill overlooking hills and hills and trees and rivers – this house is so warm and beautiful.  i can’t wait to be sipping coffee in pjs with all the prendeville’s and whipping michael and bill in gin rummy while looking out their massive picture window to the snow falling.  sigh.  can’t come quick enough.

thanks susan for participating – i appreciate you. 

one tradition i love around the holidays

is decorating my home for christmas!  i like to “deck the halls” during the weekend after thanksgiving and then enjoy my christmas house all season long.  i love to sit and look at the trimmed tree with my husband in the evening when it is dark outside.  i always use tiny white lights and like to squint at them and see them blur.  i took these pictures last weekend.  i appreciate the opportunity to share them.

5 lovely links: fire me up

6 Dec

i’ve got a secret obsession with candles.

i’m not sure when it started. 

might have been in my 20’s in chicago when i smoked non-stop in my apartment with my friends and hated the smell so would fire up the vanilla scented votives during our pre-party parties (that is when you get together at the apartment before going out to the parties).  the next day the room would smell like vanilla marlboro light with a side of lite beer.  nice.

or maybe it was

when i moved into the coolest apt on lasalle and chestnut in chicago and we’d have dinner parties and the candles played a big part in creating a real funky ambiance and warmed up the room that had a tall ceiling.

i don’t know what did it and quite honestly, who cares.  candles rock.  they are something that is alive and kicking, the flame signifying warmth and love.  and this is saying a lot from someone that also has an obsession with fire.  some people don’t like candles with a scent, but i like them.  i like smelling a holiday or a flower.  here are some links to all things that light:

1. i’m not too into “foofy” (pronounced foo-fee) candles but this is one i had to include in the gift bags we did for our guests who came in for our wedding.  i  got this candle for my birthday from a friend and the minute i lit it up i loved it.  it actually smells like my favorite perfume: angel.  it is pretty strong but i love it.  check it out here.

2. check out these creative uses for candles.  i especially like the one that uses a wine rack for votives .

3. my favorite place to purchase candles is anthropologie. you pretty much can’t go wrong with this selection.

4. it’s no secret that people who never go to church go around Christmas time.  and Jesus thanks you for that.  when talking about Christmas, you have to talk about the candlelight services on Christmas eve.  talk about love, twinkly candle lights.  my favorite part is when you have to light the candle from the person next to you.  if you are in dallas and looking for an great, welcoming church, check out ours.

last link #5.  napastyle has great candle things.  check them out here.  my favorite is the mercury glass votives.

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christmas lessons to learn

3 Dec

the holiday season while i was growing up

was always a lot of fun for my family.  we had many traditions and the sense of family was so strong that if i ever wanted to feel warm and fuzzy, i thought to this time of year.  it’s why 4Q (or 4th quarter) is my favorite time of year.

my family lived in several cities.  cincinnati, dayton, cleveland, troy, boston, grand blanc, brookfield, naperville and then southlake.  but in every  one, we had the same christmas decorations that followed us from place to place.  opening the boxes of stuff was like saying hello to an old friend and decorating the house was something that a busy mom with three young kids in a new house probably didn’t want to do but she did.

my lovely grandma always came during this time of year too.  i wish i could go back to the day she arrived and capture that excitement and anticipation even for a minute.  it was overwhelming!  i wish she was still around.  her hands were so soft and wrinkly and smelled like triple lanolin hand lotion.  she had a tuft of tissue peeking out from the bottom of the arm of her sweater.  grandma’s are so cool.  maybe i should go to the old age home and adopt one.  the great thing about my grandma was that she very much “told it how it was” but in a sweet way.   she had a very strong POV, which come to think of it – so do I and so does my mom.  thanks, gran!  having her around the house to talk to and have fun with was always a sign that christmas was near. 

one year,

my mom and grandma decided to wrap all our presents downstairs in the basement together.  i think they had some music set up, perhaps a little hit of chardonnay and a ton of gifts.  we were older – i was a freshman in high school and katie and jim in grade school.  my parents kind of went all out on christmas.  they were really generous.  we had a ton of presents to open typically.  so this wrapping job was intense and an all day affair.  well they didn’t get through it all in one day so they put one piece of scotch tape across the basement door at the top as a “safety” so they could tell if any snoopy kids went down there, and they left it for the night.  well, no one IS as snoopy (to this day) as my sister, katie.  however, i don’t remember her being a part of this escapade.  i knew that i was going to get some of the popular clothing for christmas- all the preppy stuff.  this is when preppy was really huge and i had my handbook and was following it.  izod, pappagallo handbags, topsiders, argyle, wide wale cords – you name it.  didn’t you read:

i truly thought it would help mom out if i were to try on some of the clothes before she wrapped them so that if they didn’t fit, she would have time to get the right size before christmas.  so that night, i peeled back the tape and slowly descended the basement stairs.  carefully i avoided the second to the last stair that had a creek to it when you landed on it.   and wouldn’t you know it – i was right!  clothes all over the place.  excitedly, i stepped in and out of pink, green outfits, tried on grosgrain hairbands and penny loafers.  however, the one benetton  sweater that i probably would have just used to throw around my shoulders was a bit too big.

i thought long and hard how to bring this up to my mom and gran.  i knew that i would be scolded for going in the basement but probably rewarded for finding out early that the sweater was too big and saving them time at the mall in that horrible post-christmas rush to return it.  so i approached it carefully.  both my mom and grandma had (and have) a way at looking at you – a bit sideways with upturned eyebrows – to let you know instantly that you made the wrong decision.  i got one – no two – of these looks.

needless to say, this did not go over well with gran and mom and come christmas day, there was no benetton sweater to be opened at all.  i learned my lesson but good.  it’s ok to look but not tell. 

 

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words to live by

20 Nov

you can see all these on my board on pinterest.com here

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appreciating bucknell football

20 Nov

last weekend when i was in new jersey i spent some good time with my sister-in-law susan.  she and i talked about her contributing to my blog.   one idea i liked that i’ve seen in other blogs is where they bring in other “voices” – other writers.  so i’ve asked susan to give us her viewpoint every now and then on “the appreciator” blog and weigh in from the east side of the country. 


saturday was the last football game of the season for bucknell  
university. it was a beautiful, cool, late fall day and the bison
finished the season with 6 wins and 5 losses.  it has been a good year.

coach joe susan is a great coach who is turning the bucknell football
program around, not only by winning games but also by building respect
and character into the program.  i have not met him personally but I
like the way he treats my son and I get email from him regularly and
he seems to be a very good man.

coach susan shaking hands before game time

my husband and I have been to most of the football games over the past
three years.  we drive the 2 ½ or 4 or even 6 hours to a game and
cheer for our team and see our son and his peers and friends.  i have  
lots of orange and blue in my wardrobe now and have learned to love
all levels of college football.  we have had an awful lot of fun being  
bison fans.


my son (#19)  has finished his third year as a bucknell bison kicker/punter.  
he has made good friends through football and feels good about his  
fitness level that is a result of practice and workouts.  he is a  
civil engineering major, has been social chair for his fraternity for
the past two years and is the newly elected recruitment chair for  
ifc.  his strong commitment to football including games, practice,
meetings and workouts in addition to his rigorous academic and social
responsibilities are teaching him what he needs to know to be a  
success both now and when he finishes college.

so what is my point?  appreciation, of course!   first, i appreciate
and feel proud of the bucknell bison football team.  i’m grateful for
the coaches and all of the people involved with the football team.  i  
am proud of my son and the work he is doing at bucknell.  nice job
bill!  go bison! ‘ray bucknell!

fresh eyes and new uses

15 Nov

boy have i missed writing this blog!

my trip to new york and new jersey was fab-u-lous and i can’t wait to share that with you here soon.

one of my favorite things to do is look upon things with fresh eyes.  my family has always done this when it comes to decorating.  i would say both my mom and my sister are the same exact way.  because we moved around so much growing up – 12 houses – we can get a little antsy with things looking the same ole same ole.  we’re always looking at mantels, rooms, drawers differently.  you know it’s happening when we are staring at something longer than normal and our heads are tilted and eyes narrowed.

we haven’t been to canton in a long time, but there is a whole lot of head tilting going on there. 

if you’re not hip to canton, it’s like the worlds biggest trade days or flea market – like miles big.  it’s got a very retail part and a major junk part.  nothing there is as it seems.  thus, the head tilting by mom and sis.  for example, i hit pay dirt at canton when i was decorating my first condo.  mom and i were standing there refueling with a bottle of water when mom’s head started to tilt “well, amy, now what do you think of this?” and she had uncovered behind me an old wooden mantel leaning against a wall with a bunch of lace and crap on it.

“oh mom!” 

and we were off.  mom held the lace back and we started planning where this would look perfect in my condo.  and it did look perfect.  first inside, then outside as an outside fireplace. this is what i love, love, love about my mom and sister.  creative, fun and something we really love to do together.

here are some things i found that are some new uses that were found with fresh eyes.


this is an writing on a shade with a pen!

these are door nobs

this is another use for a wine rack

old doors as a headboard – love this!!

mason jar lighting!

great, easy decoration with back yard branches and flower vases

i love this use for corks…trying to talk ROF into this as he has a massive collection.  says he wants to build a pier.  come on now, sweetheart.

credit for all these great ideas, you can find on my pinterest board here.

 

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nyc photo blog

11 Nov

too busy having fun and learning to blog this week. 

16 seminars and 4 keynote speakers down from the adtech conference in nyc this week – and all is firmly implanted in brain.  great thing to realize?  that we’re doing social media right.  great to find that out at the worlds largest digital and social conference.  here are some pics from this week.  more on my wonderful time (in progress!!) with the prendevilles later.  click on photos to make larger.  blessed to have been able to go to this conference and be able to spend quality time with partners.  ROF flew in Wednesday and we were able to have a great dinner together before a full day of seminars and classes on thursday and then – vacation day!  loved seeing good friend laura arnold at adtech too.

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more from NYC

9 Nov

what can i say, i’m speechless. 

today in a nutshell: woke up and worked at hotel until noon.   caught a cab with jeanie to lunch on our way to seminars.  opening day didn’t start until a little later.   lunch was right off bleeker street, one of my all time favorite streets in the whole world.  this was the cutest little french restaurant i’ve ever seen.  when i say little, i mean LITTLE.  i was like GIANT in this place, but it was ok because it was so cute.

speaking of cute, i was facing jeanie, crammed into the back of the restaurant staring at her when she said “boy this place is adorable” and i smartly retorted “yeah, all i see is you!”  and no longer did I say that and did the actor jake gyllenhaal walk in and sit in a little room right above and beyond jeanie.  ha.  now i had a better view.  his sister is actress maggie and he was in many movies, one was brokeback mountain.  this is what he looks like:

but here is how it went down on text (which i happen to think is pretty funny) and my quick pic i took trying not to look like i cared or like i was a tourist:

then we walked out and walked into cortney and robert novagratz from sixx design and the hgtv show she has with her husband and 7 kids.

then we heard some very inspiring speakers at the start of adtech – which is why I’m here.  tonight, we saw “mountaintop” with angela bassett and samuel jackson and it was one of the best plays i’ve ever seen.  this is how close we were:

can you tell how close we are?

here are some other snaps i took.  have to get to sleep – long long day tomorrow!

love my home but… love new york

7 Nov

not a big post today/tonight.  but so glad to be in the big nyc.  nothing beats this city – nothing.  the energy, the diversity – something i miss while in dallas.  i loved sitting at dinner tonight and listening to the folks next to us speaking some language i don’t think was spanish, french or german but definitely wasn’t english.  then going to the corner shop to the korean guy selling me my orange juice.  sounds real stupid to some people but feeling a bit land-locked in the ole big D.  so good to be here!

this is way out of my comfort zone to speak on but i think about how hard the kids work to get good grades and finish half of college before they even become a senior in high school.  that is very good and admirable (don’t get me wrong!) but think that also the lesson of life and travel is good too.  you see, you can stay in a place and do really well at school and see the same people and then leave and go away to college – anywhere – or say, NYC and find you’ve run a good race  but because your eyes are now open to different things, it was maybe, well… maybe the wrong race you ran! 

just sayin…

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around my home

6 Nov

i love being home.  and nothing beats saturday mornings.  to be more specific, it’s saturday mornings before 10am.  the air outside (now) is crisp, the sun is just starting to peek out and i just love the feeling of home.

yesterday morning i woke up early and tiptoed around our house with my new iphone snapping photos inside and out of things that caught my attention.  here’s what i snapped:

see if you can find the bulldog in the above picture!

then what i normally do is play on “pinterest” for at least 20 minutes.  it’s so inspiring.  if you still aren’t pinning, read my post on it here.  it is there that i found several design/decorating books i’ll put on my christmas or birthday list:

amazon.com

does anyone miss domino magazine as much as i do?  i actually know the answer to that is yes.  other than back issues of that magazine, this book above was written by the founding editor of the mag.  it is delightful as i flipped through the pages on amazon.

go buy the book @amazon.com

for some reason, i’m into the word “noble” shall save this for later

and then there is grace bonney’s book i wrote earlier about here

ok, well, i hope this finds you well and excited for the extra hour we got today!

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weeks and weeks in review

5 Nov

have i really been gone this long?  

did you miss me?  i miss me!  just kidding – i’m having a ball.  stressful but a ball.  you know why?  well, i’m going to tell you… i love what i do.  and i love my life.  is that cheesy to admit?

hell-o no.

because i’m the appreciator!  i can appreciate any damn thing i want. <you go girl!>   truly, i have the best job, work with the best people, clients, dealers and partners in the world.  i am married to the love of my life.  just when i thought i was doomed to a life filled with just a career (yawn) in comes my lovely, loving husband who is the most thoughtful person i know.  and he brings with him a sister and brother-in-law and niece and nephews too wonderful to describe (or they might get big heads. ha)  And then there is my family, mom & katie and my long lost brother whom i hope will come back to us someday and whom i love unconditionally.  but couldn’t ask for a better mom or sister ever.  i’m so happy.  on top of all that i get to go to NYC for a full week next week.

here are some pics from over the last two weeks i’ve been gone.  in case you don’t know, i’ve been traveling every weekend to events i championed with my agency with chevrolet called the chevy sonic adventure.  we’re hitting 27 cities in an “amazing race” like race around the city answering questions about city landmarks, the new chevy sonic and creating awareness for breast cancer too!  i’ve been to minneapolis, duluth and cleveland.  love all those cities.  here you go:

my best friend katie from college. haven't seen each other in 15+ years! we're in cleveland

two brothers who won the race in the rain in duluth. very exciting

crowd at chevy sonic adventure in cleveland

is this team prepared or what?

competitors playing together to win

cleveland winners. when asked who they are going to call first, they said "Facebook!"

katie and i went to lola in cleveland. raise your hands if you've had the beef cheek pierogis?

hope you’re all having a great weekend!

breakfast for dinner, “off-limits” tv shows & kat

3 Nov

breakfast for dinner – the ultimate comfort food

by kathrine glass – friend of the appreciator and wanna-be mayor of her house!

ever have one of those days when you want something for dinner that is really satisfying but not too high in calories; something quick and easy to make with an equally easy clean up; something to de-complicate dinner instead of adding to the stress of your really long day?  oh – and something that the whole family will love? of course you have!

while I fancy myself a pretty good cook, well, recipe follower, i love a good dinner that needs no real recipe and takes me back to my childhood days.  this one is a favorite! my grandmother evelyn use to make me this dish when i would stay overnight with her.  the two of us would sit around her huge dining room table, eat “breakfast for dinner” and watch “off-limits” television shows i wasn’t allowed to watch at home.  two things that felt a little risky and rebellious to me.  what fun!

not only does the dinner conjure up fond memories of being with my grandma, it also really makes me feel good!  kind of like a big bear hug does.  what could it be? grandma evelyn’s breakfast for dinner, of course!  basically it’s canadian bacon, hashbrowns, swiss cheese, eggs and some salt and pepper.  pretty simple stuff but when you put it all together i guarantee it’s an adult and kid pleaser alike!

what you need:

–       canadian bacon or ham slices. now days i often use honey ham thinly sliced.  i like the extra sweetness and think the thin slices of ham are better than it’s thicker canadian bacon cousin.  i usually use two – four slices per.

–       thinly sliced baby swiss, mozzarella, monterey jack or provolone cheese.  i prefer the baby swiss for the little extra bite and it balances out the sweet ham very well.  but it really doesn’t matter. just use whatever light, white cheese you have in the fridge. i usually get the pre-sliced kind and use one and a half slices per.

–       hashbrown patties. i prefer ore ida but i am sure any will do. i use one and a half per.

–       two eggs per.

–       salt and pepper to taste or use paula deans house seasoning, which i prefer. it’s good on just about anything.  that recipe to follow.

–       and feel free to make yourself a mimosa or go with your usual red or white wine.  it is dinner, after all!

what to do:

–       begin to cook your hashbrowns according to the package instructions. make them crispy so they can stand up to the layers of ham, cheese and eggs.

–       heat your oven to 450.

–       about 3/4ths through the cooking time of the hashbrowns start cooking your eggs. i like mine poached with the yolks a little runny.  i have these great little things called poachpods which have made my life super easy when cooking eggs. no more egg whites all over! and the more pods you have the more eggs you can cook at one time.  they won’t stick together!  love those little pods!

–        your hashbrowns should be done just a few minutes before your eggs.  take one of the hashbrowns and cut it in half.  lay one full hashbrown with the half hashbrown to make a supersized hashbrown. season to your liking.

–       take one piece of cheese, cut it in half and layer both pieces on top of the hashbrowns so that it connects the two pieces.

–       layer the ham on top of the cheese.

–       take the extra half of slice of cheese and layer on top of ham.

–       put into the oven until the cheese begins to melt.

–       gently place the two eggs on top of the hashbrown stack.

–       i usually pop it back in the oven for a minute or two just to make sure everything is heated up nicely.  seems like my timing is always just a little off so a last minute touch up works well.

–       season with salt and pepper and/or paula deans house seasoning.

–       add a bowl of fruit, apple sauce or other favorite side and serve! i try to always keep pre-packaged fruit in it’s own juices and natural apple sauce, both with no sugar added on hand for busy days and exhausted nights!

Paula Dean’s House Seasoning

–       1 cup salt

–       1/4 cup black pepper

–       1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months

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appreciating: style

28 Oct

doesn’t that sound a bit on the narcissistic side, that i’d want to lift up and appreciate my style on my own blog?

oh well it may not be what you think.

having a style is more than what you wear, it’s how you define yourself. notice how i said “define yourself” not how others would define you. it’s how you express who you are on the inside and that is what makes it so interesting. other people are involved in your style and the best way is when they recognize something that would be “so you”. it means you’ve defined yourself – your style so well, that people attribute something to be “so you”. it always makes me smile when someone says ” i saw this thing today that was so you… i know you would love it”. it can be clothes, jewelry, home decor – anything. i think i’ve already told you that a friend i worked with in chicago told me after i left that she went out to lunch and thought of me the whole time (ha ha – not because she wolfed down a burger) because she bought some tuberoses for her office and listened to jill scott in her headphones. i love that!

celebrities usually have a strong sense of style because well, they have someone help them. they are called a stylist. you should hang out with a stylist. they are the REAL ones with style – so much so that they can mold and shape you into someone who has a “look”.

but speaking of celebrities, diane keaton is my style hero. nevermind that she was a woody allen muse for so long but that girl has some style and always has.

she first came on the scene strong in annie hall. this look is so diane and always will be.

this is my favorite picture below and one of my favorite scenes from annie hall. she is so awkward and funny with woody and it just makes you smile.

no woman, except katerine hepburn wore mens clothes

look how young and cool she is!

her style from her movies expressed itself in her own style. she always rocked the hat, and still does

and along with hats – it’s glasses (being a glasses girl myself, i love this! lasik doesn’t have as much style, does it?

i started out talking about my style, and honestly (between you and me) i’m a bit depressed about my style. right now my style lives on a pinterest board i created called “when i am skinny”. i’m at an all time high and so down and out that who i am on the inside is not matching who i am on the outside. don’t get all sorry for me… things don’t stay that way forever and there is a thought of a plan… but that is frustrating, isn’t it? right now, stress has won the last few rounds in the fight to take over my ‘style’ but i have not been knocked down! style always prevails…

i’m off traveling again, so stay tuned (exciting…!) to see where i’ll pop up tomorrow. have a great day!

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similar but different: bookcases

25 Oct

i’m all for technology but sadly, the bookshelves could be a thing of the past. 

i love being surrounded by books.  even if i don’t read them much anymore.  just being honest.  i’ve read some really really good ones and i like having them close by.  i love the feeling you get when you start reading a good book and you read that line and just know right then and there – this – is going to be a good book.  and then you just dig right in and can’t stop.

how about the books that you can’t put down?  you’re reading laying down and your head is on the pillow and one eye is closed and the other one is tearing up because you can’t possibly really be still awake?   yeah, that’s a good book.

and here are some greatly designed bookcases.  let’s hope they stay around for a while!  this one is from lonnymag:

this one from houzz.com

another unique look from houzz.com

this one from freshome is invisible.  i love it.

a staircase shelf – sweetness

hope you have a great tuesday.  or if you’re up and reading this now… join the club.  been up since 4:30am.  what is my deal?

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appreciating: design sponge or d*s

23 Oct

i don’t know if you’re familiar with the nifty blog design sponge, but you have to check it out. 

so many times i have to explain in my business what a blog is (which is understandable, and if you don’t know, you are reading one right now) or exactly how popular blogging is.  now most blogs start out for non-commercial reasons.  but the reason is key.  it’s about passion.  you simply can not blog about something you’re not passionate about.  come on now, what would the purpose be?  just like any written word or story – if the writer knows what they are doing, then the inspiration or thought or simply appreciation comes across to the reader.

so now that it is properly introduced is grace bonney.  the girl behind the book and the blog that went over quite well.  her passion must have been portrayed wonderfully!  to get an idea of her, check out her video:

so that is grace.  here are some super fantastic things from her blog that can be found here.

she does “sneak peeks” at people’s houses all over the country.  you can search even by state or country.  so cool.  found a neighbor practically featured in here!

design sponge also is about entertaining and you can sort by holiday or food group.  many are guest recipes.

she has great “before & after” ideas like:

and even some inspiring biz ladies articles that can be found here:

this one in particular resonated with me:

MYTH 3: I do not need to make more money because I love what I do.

We’ve all said it. “I love this so much, I wouldn’t even need to get paid!” What comes easy to us — what is beautiful and fun — is downright ugly to someone else. What comes easy to you often represents the most valuable skill you bring to the world.

Your time, energy and circumstances (hello, work-from-home moms!) do not reduce the value of what you do or produce. Value is value. It’s your job to better understand the value of your work to your customers and clients and then constantly improve on how that value is perceived so that you can truly make (lots of) money beautifully.

What is the return on time or energy that your customers experience because of purchasing your product or services? What tangible results do your customers experience, and what financial worth does that have for them over time?

hope you appreciate design sponge as much as i do!

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week in review

22 Oct

what a fantastic week i’ve had

and how great that i have this blog to remember it.  today we launched the first of 27 chevy sonic adventures across the country.  this is a partnership between agency 720, SCVNGR and chevy.  this week – who am i kidding – this whole month has been completely surrounded with prep for what is coming over the next 7 weeks.

Michael Hagen and Sonya - the SCVNGR team

ROF, someone i appreciate a ton, made a full on fancy dinner thursday night before i left for the weekend.  steak, baked potato, brussel sprouts & some awesome jeni’s ice cream that our friends suzanne & bryan gave us a while ago.  we had a medley of buttercup pumpkin and amaretto cookies, black coffee and salty caramel ice cream.

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this weeks travels take me to the great twin cities

21 Oct

i love minnesota.

i’m not kidding when i tell you that everyone there is nice.  really – everyone.  i used to handle the minneapolis-st.paul buick dealers and lacrosse dealers too and they were so kind.  i used to fly there every single month for about 4 years.  this weekend i get to spend friday and saturday in minneapolis and saturday sunday in duluth, mn.   here’s minneapolis:

i wish ROF was coming with me.  forty degrees in duluth!  it’s God’s country though

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check out these houzzes.

19 Oct

i was slightly obsessed

with the brady bunch show growing up.

i thought that was how life was supposed to be.  smiley, happy, singing and a very clean house.  we all know it was alice that kept the house so clean.

i think that is where my obsession with houses begun. 

notice i said obsession with houses…not cleanliness…  but wasn’t their house awesome?  i could flip through house books forever which is why i’m so glad i found houzz.com. this website is very similar to pinterest.com but all about houses – inside and out.  it is fun to see what decorators put together and just how creative people get.  here’s some stuff…

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5 lovely links (you’ll love!) spooky desserts

18 Oct

halloween is right around the corner. 

that used to be my favorite holiday.  i loved getting dressed up and i especially remember the feeling when i was younger of pretending not to be afraid and then being really scared.  i loved the whole pumpkin carving thing, the trick or treating in the cold michigan weather with my dad holding our hands and making stupid ghost noises.

here are some fun desserts to make with your kiddos or loved ones…

all my goodies are on my pinterest page here:

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all anthropologie all the time

17 Oct

let’s say i rubbed a bottle and a genie came out

and told me that i could have a million dollars but it had to be a gift certificate to one store, what store would it be? 

of course, i would consult with ROF and we’d probably be practical and say something like nordstroms (ha ha we know ROF wouldn’t vote for that) but like, home depot or something like that.  but then…

the genie would say “no, appreciator, you need to pick one store just for you“. 

well, i’d argue and argue but then “anthropologie” would probably be forced out after a lot of thought.  who doesn’t lurve that store?  i love it so much i lurve it!  the in-store styling makes you want to pick up everything and ship it home.  shopping on-line – mey – not so much.  here are some of my favorite things.

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be who you say

16 Oct

these are some e-cards you can send people and i find them really funny.

 

week in review

15 Oct

afternoon, friends. 

quick review on the week as i am so glad the weekend is here. 

what an awesome weekend it is! 

this week we launched 24 more bloggers in chevy traverses’ in houston, texas.  that’s 59 pretty popular bloggers in some pretty cool cars.  on top of that, i have a partnership with SCVNGR that is a very hot mobile company out of boston.  we’re launching the chevy sonic adventure in 27 markets across the country.  it’s like a local “amazing race” type of deal where someone wins a brand new chevy sonic after 2 hours of racing around the city answering questions on their mobile phone. we’ll be in dallas, ft. worth and houston in texas in november.  we’ll also be in cities all over the country. it has been one of those wheels off kind of weeks.  didn’t know which way i was coming or going.  my sister also trained dealers in norfolk, va on social media which turned out to be a success.  you know what?  i love what i do.  i love being given the freedom to change what “experiential” means to brands and consumers.

didn’t like not being able to blog though.

being creative for business and being creative for fun are two different things.  so i’m going to change things up a little bit on my blog.  expect some fun to start happening right here. oh yea.

if you want to check out some of the stuff that we do, check out the buzz that happened in dallas/ft worth after we put ladies in their new cars… here is what some wrote on their blogs…
http://growingupinoz.com/2011/10/11/chevy-girls-on-the-go/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chevy-girls-on-the-go

http://www.thebutterflymom.com/2011/10/11/first-impression-of-the-chevy-traverse/

http://screweduptexan.com/2011/10/what-me-chevy-traverse-and-dr-pepper-all-have-in-common.html

http://www.crystalandcomp.com/2011/10/crystal-co-is-driving-a-chevy-traverse-for-2-weeks/

http://othersuch.net/2011/10/07/wherein-i-became-a-chevygirl/

http://heyitsjade.blogspot.com/2011/10/homeschool-recap-oct-7th-week-5.html

suzanne and angie @6am moving cars in houston.

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5 lovely links (you’ll love): appreciating

11 Oct

you know what’s hard? 

it’s hard to write a blog called the appreciator (that is me) when i’m so darn tired, worn out and just pain, well...grumpy.  it’s even harder admitting it to you.  many of you are going through a much harder time than me.  the appreciator can’t complain, can she?  harumph. 

it’s interesting that over the past few days, it has been hard to appreciate anything because i’ve been too busy being busy and stressed out.   you know when you get to that point that you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel or the break in the trees?

there is one thing you really need to do to re-center (next to praying) and that is start to appreciate.

todays links are to 5 things i appreciate.  and you’re actually going to have to click to see…

1. i appreciate these people who having a bad day for them probably means it is a lot worse than my bad day.

2. i appreciate this and the wonderful person that surprises me with it for dinner sometimes..

3. after the summer we had, i can’t tell you how long i’ve waited for this.  oh, yes, like 10 stinkin’ months!

4. i appreciate the fact that you, loyal reader, won’t mind when i beg off at this very very late hour to go to sleep.  Check out the cool links to the right…

talk tomorrow.  XXOO

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week in review

8 Oct

so appreciate this week. 

got to see a lot of people i haven’t seen in a long time! 

First, the geiger’s from wisconsin had a layover in dallas for a couple of hours, so we took them to blue goose and javiers for dinner.  so glad to see them – it has been since the wedding!

then i went to orange county for a meeting and could stay overnight and visit with my cousins britt & kirsten at kirstens house.  so much fun!

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i love my apples.

7 Oct

by now you know that steve jobs has passed away.   as a die-hard Apple fan, i must pay tribute to a very inspirational, brilliant man.  it is one thing to think he is that way – but i spend 90% of my time on his products!  his products reflect his brilliance.   on my work computer, my home computer, my mobile phone which has replaced my home phone.  on his products i discover the world in a creative, engaging way.  with apps and browsers, blogs and games.  i give work presentations that have gotten me promoted on Apple products.  a brilliant product is the product of a brilliant man.  just listen to what he says:

  • “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?” — Steve Jobs’ pitch to John Sculley, the Pepsi-Cola CEO Jobs brought on to run Apple (Sculley later pushed Jobs out of Apple)
  • “There’s an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ And we’ve always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will.”
  • “My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each other’s negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. Great things in business are not done by one person, they are done by a team of people.”

“None. It’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want.”

–– Jobs responding to whether he did market research for the iPad

“I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”

  • “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” –– Jobs commencement speech at Stanford in 2005

(these were taken from exception magazine, found here)

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bloggers, bloggers & chevy dealers

5 Oct

today was exhaustingly good.

deliciously crazy.

and so much fun.  i love watching an idea the size of a pea grow and grow and be batted around like an injured fly escaping the swatter. but then come out like a shiny rainbow all beautiful and lovely.

i’m so dramatic.

today was a social media breakthrough day.  we had 35 bloggers meet 35 chevy dealers and get a brand new white diamond chevy traverse to drive for 2 weeks.  it was a fun day watching the stereotypes break down as dealers chatted it up with mommy bloggers.  here are some pics. click on any one to make bigger.

 

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5 lovely links (you’ll love!)

4 Oct

so you thought i’d forgotten a post, huh?   not me! 

tomorrow, my team and i are putting 35 bloggers in 35 chevy dealer diamond white chevy traverses’!  and…at the texas state fair, no less.  who knew this idea which was created around a table at a cafe by the galleria (the name which escapes me) over 6 months ago would come to fruition?

only chevy dealers as bold and cool as the north texas chevy dealer (and next week, the houston chevy dealers) would do something like this.  i love that they are reaching out to connect with women in the local market.  this should be fun…

in honor of all the blogger power we will have going on tomorrow, I’m linking you to 5 of my favorite blogs to read.  have fun!

BLOG = web log.  web log of fun, that is.

link #1

for some amazing food recipes click here

link #2

just read their description of blog #2.  click here to go there…

link #3

hands down one of the funniest, oddest websites out there.  tell me you didn’t giggle.  click here

link #4

love this blog.  that’s it.  that’s all i can say. because it’s great (and i’m tired)

and last one…

link #5

forget everything else.  the photography in this blog is to DIE FOR.  i wouldn’t really die for photography but you get the point.  it’s good.  real good.

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early chilly monday morning

3 Oct

Ah… it was 55 degrees driving in to work this morning.

hello, my favorite month of october.

i love music that makes you feel something.   and in real anticipation of feist’s new album/CD being released tomorrow, i drove into the city, window down and turned up her new single called “how come you never go there”  that’s on spotify.  so good and perfect for driving in early morning, people just rousing from their slumber, smoke pillowing from towers and you can smell the chill in the air.

you can get a short glimpse here:  http://www.listentofeist.com/#vignette4

happy monday!

poetic sunday

2 Oct

dealers don’t care who they push to,
just so the victims are mute,
why question the method of delivery, or

means of injection;
the results are felt in the whites of their lie

– peace massacre

where are the ihop scholars
the truck stop wisdom walls, deceased;
trafficked for talking mouths with
sidekick of talking breasts,
afloat on rolling obituaries of red and green arrows

– peace massacre

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week in review

1 Oct

happy cool saturday in big d.

crazy week for us all, eh?  my week started with a day off as ROF and i headed back from a great anniversary mini trip to san antonio. 

i cancelled a trip to LA i had planned because work at hand required me staying put.

got together with bestest megen for delivery to me a very humorous anniversary gift and good talks and laughs at my fave times ten cellars.

couldn’t snap pics of our agency 720 dinner on thursday night at via real with our ceo, harold, who was in town.  it was so great to be with lindsey, jackie, angie (HOLLA!)  and folks as us “social” folks are isolated downtown away from the crew. (boo hoo)

last night, we got to visit with paul, kelly & their adorable lil sophia.  also tod, betsy and their 5 month old lilly who is as sweet as she is beautiful.  we went to mia’s on lemmon.

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all the rage: pinterest.com

30 Sep

seriously, life is too short not to pinterest.

WARNING WARNING:  RANT AHEAD:  if i hear one more person say something to me like “i’m just too busy for that kind of thing” i am going to puke.  you know what that is the equivalent to?  when you were 15 years old and CDs were the “new” rage and your parent refused to use them but wanted to use records because (and i quote) “those new fangled CDs will never catch on and i just don’t understand technology”.

remember how we used to giggle at our archaic parents?  

NOW YOU ARE THEM.  every time you say “i don’t have time to facebook or tweet or spotify” you are looking the current generation square in the face and saying “I’M OLD!!”  do you want that?  do you want to be irrelevant?  NO!!  plus, you want to be able to connect intelligently with your kids don’t you?  well – get with it!!

RANT OVER.  ok.  here is what pinterest is in their own words:

this, girls, is better than shopping, tv reality shows – anything!  not only can you check out and sort by:

but you can see what other people think is cool and then save it on your boards.  it is like a cool, way to save everything you like on-line.  so i have boards named “breakfast for company” – and i’ve pinned pictures of recipes that LINK to the original post.  i have a board that is named “gifts” so i can save to a place and remember where i liked that vintage cooler i wanted to get someone for christmas.    this is what mine looks like:

look at the buzzzz:

have fun and follow me  – i’ll follow you!

XXOO  hello weekend!

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the new black suit

26 Sep

my favorite movie, by far, when i was in my 20’s was…

you see, i was melanie griffin.  i aspired to be a “working girl”  boy, did i get what i asked for.

my first suit, i bought on credit at bloomingdales on michigan avenue.  it was an “urgent” suit because i was asked at the last minute to go to a dealer meeting in cleveland.  and it was an important meeting.  i made $1000 a month in my first job as an account executive at a chicago ad agency.  $500 went to the apartment i split with kerri antles and $500 to drinks.  what can i say – i was 23 years old and living in the city (pronounced SIT EEE). and i racked up some serious credit cards.

so back to the first suit i bought.  it cost me $1000 and probably 2 years of $25 payments and interest rates to pay it off.  i couldn’t tell my mom this until i was well into my 30’s and even then i got a talking to.  i remember at the time her saying “well, i’ll help you buy half – is $150 enough?”  sheepishly, i said “yes”.  this $1000 suit for a 23 year old (18 years ago) was just a lined suit coat and pants.  and i wore the shit out of it.  after year three, i cut the lining down and had the pants hemmed.  i would say i got about 10 years out of that suit or more.  it was really sad when i goodwilled it.  i felt a memorial service would have been the right thing to do.

black suits for women.  when i was in my 20’s – it meant power.  the closer we could look like men without looking like men was the spot-on look to have.  it was really stupid.  we were in the car business, it was all men we worked with so we needed to blend in and not stand out.  like “wow, those ideas came from a woman!”  i don’t really remember it being that bad, but it must have been.  my immediate boss was a man starting out but he reported to two women. 

back to the suits

when i moved to dallas and joined the leo burnett team and worked on cadillac, i was introduced to a woman who ran all the advertising for cadillac.  i remember seeing her on a telecast in a sharp blouse and skirt.  in that one bold move – i saw it as a statement.  it said ” the day of the black suit is over, girls.  we no longer need to look like men to be taken seriously, we can dress like women”.  she probably wasn’t thinking that big, but wearing what was comfortable but i never wore a black suit again!

here are some great suit alternatives for fall:

all of them can be found (with credits) on my working girl pinterest page here

happy monday!

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to make you think is a good thing

25 Sep

i’m mailing this blog post in

figuratively

because i’m enjoying being with ROF and our weekend.  so i found these saying i think make you think.

so think, why don’t you?

 

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how to not stress over a wedding

24 Sep

make it all about you

fortunately, for ROF and i, that wasn’t hard.  it wasn’t about all the little things, it was about the sum of all those things.  today, is our one year anniversary.  you know what surprised me?  it wasn’t “the hardest year of my life” it was fantastic. 

the whole weekend was magical! 

full of family we love, friends we love, steak dinners at mortons, showers at neiman marcus cafe, parties in the penthouse of the joule, bus rides to bbq place with live band, drinks and of course…bbq.  then a sunday brunch at our house to top it off.

i look back on that time and think about all the work my mom and sister put into the weekend as well as my wonderful aunts and can’t tell you how much i appreciate them.  i think about all the planning ROF did and i feel blessed.  i remember how wonderful it was to have susan, mike and michael all together with us.  loved having good friends chris and mark geiger, paul and kelly moser and of course the bolners (who cooked breakfast tacos on sunday) be with us.  what great memories.  and…

what a year! (click on pictures to enlarge)

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hey dad – start here

21 Sep

this weekend holds two momentous occasions for me.

saturday, is my one year anniversary to my wonderful husband ROF.  i’m going to give that it’s own post.  on the 25th it will be the anniversary of my dad’s death.  it will be 6 years on sunday.  it’s not sad, just i remember back to everything that happened that you can read here.

this story i found on-line on a flint, michigan website.  i’m in michigan now and i think of this with every coney place i pass.  it’s one of my favorite and something that was passed around on email FOREVER.  it so has my dad’s way of telling a story which i miss so much:

Famous Coney Sauce

 Passed on by Barbara Bacon Ewing

 From Jim Krause….R.I.P.


Good Evening folks! Since we all spent at least one afternoon in beautiful downtown Flint, this should bring back some memories.

This has been a secret of mine for years that I have been unwilling to share. However, in my present state, I am hoping that if I can share so much joy for so many people, the good Lord will say this man needs to be saved. OK, I know it is a long shot, but worth a try.


A LITTLE HISTORY:


No matter what you may have heard, I grew up in the Coney Island hot dog capital of the world. (Flint, Michigan.)  As a youth, a perfect evening would be taking a date home and then going directly to your favorite Coney island restaurant. In my case, it was the Original Coney Island located on Saginaw Street down from the Durant Hotel by the railroad tracks.  You could pull right up in front in the no parking space as long as you were just running in for “two to go”.  At 1:00 AM the place was full of drunks and hookers but that had no bearing on the Coney Islands.  I would get two with onions and head for home.  The plan would be not to ever try and eat a Coney in the car. However, about two blocks away the smell would be just too much. I would say to myself, I will very carefully eat one on the way home. No matter how carefully you tried, those onions and sauce would drop between my legs and sometimes fall on the floor. They were also known to ruin a great new tie. It didn’t seem too serious at the time, but the next day when you opened your car door after three hours in the sun, those Coney’s had a different smell.

Now, some people will tell you the key to the Coney island mixture is the Koegel hot dogs that are only available in Flint or online. However, you can still make a great Coney with regular hot dogs.
Before, I give you the recipe, this is the way to fix the Coney Island Dog on a soft hot dog bun, steamed bun would be best, mustard to taste, much Coney island mix, and then top with a generous portion of chopped onions.

Cheese is optional. If you are on a diet, do the same thing without the bun. (low carbs)


I can usually get about two dinners, four lunches and one late night snack out of a mixture. After six days and seven warm ups you sometimes get a little green tint to the meat. That tells you it is time for a new mixture. But DO NOT throw out the old mixture, just mix it in with the new and therefore none is wasted.

Here is the recipe:

1 tb butter
1 tb margarine
1 1/2 lb LEAN ground beef
2 md onions finely minced
1 clove garlic finely minced or equiv garlic powder
3 tb chile power
1 tb prepared mustard
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 6oz can water
10 skinless hot dogs
salt and pepper to taste

Do NOT brown beef before using!!!  Combine all except hot dogs and simmer until thick. Grind up the skinless hot dogs or chop in food processor.
Stir in and cook 15 min longer. The big secret in this recipe is the ground up hot dogs.

DO NOT SEND MONEY………………JUST ENJOY!

 

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i’m all green with envy

19 Sep

i curated

some great green THINGS for you.  green, along with orange, just makes me happy. you too?  all of this can be found on my green board on pinterest.com here and all credit for photos lives there too.

love, amy

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