!HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILLY!

HOPE YOU HAVE A BLAST!

.goodness gracious milly?.

.ummm? miss winter?. sorry, this is a scary creation of mine...

.{click on the image for detail of miss winter}.

.bows & beers.

.beers for me and bows for danny. HAHA.

.the evil rain gods have melted my snow. WHY? It's so unfair.

.les vacatione.

.les Arcs.


.Saint-Tropez.


.Xavier's house in les Arcs.

.COTE D'AZUR, August 21-31st, 2009. Fantastique! Thanks MOM!!! Joyeux Noel!.

.bee bee bee.

.Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!!!.

.{photo taken in my mother-in-law's famous garden}.

.happy meets happier.

.#3......S.N.O.W..................................

.i JUST took this picture 20 minutes ago....right outside my house. omg.

.little background, Dan & I met in Lake Tahoe, CA when we lived out there skiing...so there is NO day like a SNOW day. omg. so excited. i can't even deal. LOVE!!!!!!!

.MOM!!!!.

.so all night I've been staring at this box my mom sent....pondering, thinking, watching, wondering if it's more wedding presents that people have dropped off on her doorstep in NC (even though Dan & I were married 1.5yrs ago) OR maybe it's some old stuff of mine, like high school yearbooks, that she doesn't want to throw away but wants me to finally claim. And part of me was thinking, I shouldn't open the box until Christmas, but then I remembered that we decided to not exchange gifts this year.....so of course it couldn't be presents.

.WELL I WAS WRONG!!!! IT's PRESENTS!!! and LOTS of them. MOM!!!!!!.

.I guess I should've known better, my mom can't resist giving her children gifts. She's the best. Always thinking about us. And mom Meyer....same way, she already broke the no gift rule as well. Yall are so bad!! So yesterday, my husband made me happy and today I was reminded of how much my mom loves me...and I didn't need presents to know that, but it was just a sweet gesture and I love her for it. (mom, if your reading this....don't cry).

So this is what made me happy today and it is #2 in a series of 5 days of blogging about what makes me happy each day.

!!!!!!!! love you mom. xxoo

.to be happy.

.I've been tagged by DolceChic. So what does that mean? Well, “for 5 days you have to post something that made you happy that day and tag 5 people to do the same.” I'm pretty excited about this, not going to lie!

.So, today, December Sevententh, Two Thousand & Eight, my happiest moment was when Danny came home from work. So this is for you Danny!.

{.This is one of my more favorite moments. Those are rose petals all over him. HAHA. We wanted him to sleep well while we cleaned up the crazy party from the night before.}

.So who am I tagging? The blogs I frequent & love...in no particular order. Who will follow the rules? My $$$ is not on my friend at FOR.TOGG.ROW.FEE......Maxxxxxxx. Just do it. It's fun.

* ArtSpark Theater

* FOR.TOGG.ROW.FEE

* Faboolosity

* grrl+dog

* 14 Karat Blonde

.snowdrops & Pollock.

.inspired by Heidi's Moody Mondays, I wanted to take more artsy photos. So last night we had our first real snowfall and thus the perfect opportunity to capture the falling snow in a meaningful way and all from my front stoop. I love the last photo and how the buildings are crooked, sort of throws you for a lO0op.

Thanks for the inspiration Heidi.

.zero bound.

.in light of the FOMC's meeting today, the current fed funds target of 1% & the prospect the Fed will cut rates to 0.05%, I thought I would post a blurb from a 2001 Bernanke speech on deflation:

"Sustained deflation can be highly destructive to a modern economy and should be strongly resisted....Nevertheless, I hope to have persuaded you that the Federal Reserve and other economic policymakers would be far from helpless in the face of deflation, even should the federal funds rate hit its zero bound."

Source: http://www.federalreserve.gov/BOARDDOCS/SPEECHES/2002/20021121/default.htm

.sparky.

.this one neighborhood in Greensboro, NC (my hometown) actually puts these chicken wire light balls in the trees and it looks so cool at night. It's a bit of an eyesore during the day though with all the wires. For mine, I opted for the upstairs window. The neighbors may be appalled that I used colored lights, but I am not concerned!!.

.tis the season to decorate.

.the tree and some trimmings {click for a closer view}... Bows have always been a favorite in my family, my mom always had them on our tree. I prefer colored lights, but for now, my husband prefers the white lights, so until we have kids I suppose I can compromise! My tree is always somewhat of a hot mess though, never a theme....too many ornaments from when I was a kid to hang.


A before/after of my front stoop + the Munroe Diary box, I think I should put a bow on it :).

.wow, I feel like I have been neglecting my blog...I was out of town all week, ugh. I should have more time to post this week.

.Happy Holiday's to you all!!!

.the little lemon that could.

.our little meyer lemon. we loved you.

:(

.santa baby.

.Christmas Tree - check.

.Holiday trimmings & rum cider - check.

.40's of Ole E with Santa - check?

.milly art.

.painting I did last year. You know all those little alleyways in Europe?? That was my inspiration. This is a small 8 x 10. I love the colors.

.the winter view.

.The trees have lost their leaves, but they have given way to a great view of the R.I. statehouse. This was taken on the sidewalk across from our house. It's sad to loose the leaves, but the view is great!!

.bzzzzzz again.

.here is another bee photo I took in my mother-in-law's garden in Rhody. She has quite the green thumb so her garden is a favorite amoung the bee population. I can't wait to post something about her rose bushes. She has one rose bush that must be 10 feet tall!! It's insane.

.a la orange.

.this is what happens to an orange when it is cooked for 45 minutes in wine... It's a piece of art. {click on the image to see it up close}.

.dave's dog.

.THIS is my friend Dave's dog - Fenway....he's been asking me to post these for the past month of so. He's such a cute pup!! I particuarily love the photo on the right of him at Fenway Park. HAHA.

.oh, hello.

.I found this and I l.o.v.e. its simplicity. .......yes...

.milly art.

.I posted this a while ago and I needed to repost it as a reminder of the art I use to create. I did this before I really started painting. I actually picked dried paint off of a plate, pasted it on the canvas and painted over it with tons of layers. I need to start being more C.R.A.Z.Y again with my paintings....seriously.

.PS: this is sitting in my brother's basement in HOT-LANTA. awesome. haha, I might take it back.

.interesting fact.

.the LOW point in the S&P 500 from the last recession {after the tech bubble burst} was on October 9th, 2002. The BULL Market that followed hit its HIGH on October 9th, 2007.

.We are now 30 points or 3.7% away from hitting that low from 2002. Ugh.

.bzzzzzzz.

.I've been posting a lot of my photos lately and less design stuff...I promise to post some design stuff soon. I love this picture and the shadow of the bee in the left bottom corner. Doesn't the bee look so dainty with his legs crosssed! How proper.

.j`town.

.out and about in Jamestown, Rhode Island this weekend....dreary day, but I was able to find some cool photos.

.Thanksgivin' Menu.

.Thanksgiving Dinner Menu.

.Sooooo, looks like my cousin-in-law Mel and I are cooking part of the dinner this year...luckily, my mother-in-law isn't making me do the really important stuff like the Turkey & Stuffing...wise decision on her part!.

.Mel will be cooking the traditional Rhode Island dishes and I will be cooking the traditional Southern dishes. My mom has LOTS of awesome recipes to share on her blog....I'm finally getting her to post more before she goes back to France!.

.here is an old post I did of our Thanksgiving table at my parent's house in NC a few years back...

.Ziptrek in British Columbia.

.Danny - this is for you... Can we go back immediately??.

.milly pages.

.excerpt from the milly pages....I love this table, but I think I especially love the yellow painting. Not sure where I pulled this from, it has been in my book for a while and I still like it!.

.cloud theme?.

.when I was posting about clouds today, I remembered this picture that I took at my friend's wedding in upstate NY. So maybe crazy clouds are a Northern thing? This was an AWESOME day.

.Clouds in Rhody.

.There is something about the clouds in Rhode Island... I guess being this close to the water creates the perfect atmosphere for crazy clouds? I am fascinated with them!

.These were taken in various spots around RI ~ Smithfield, Portsmouth & Newport.
{click on the image to enlarge}

.new word.

.horripilation: {haw-rip-uh-LAY-shuhn}, noun: the act or process of the hair bristling on the skin, as from cold or fear; goose flesh.

.So this is what goose bumps are really called. WOW....who knew?.

.window boxes.

.Dan needed window boxes for his office, so I created these today.

.one is a combo of parsley, mint & rosemary (thought it would smell good & they are hard to kill) and the other is ivy & Orchids (little bit easier to kill). His window gets full sun on one side & partial sun on the other, so I thought this would be a perfect combo. Now let's just hope he doesn't kill them. HAHA.

.East Side, Providence.

.out & about on the East Side today... The first picture was taken at Prospect Park & the 2nd one is on Benefit Street. I love the black doors....so New England!

.then again.

.It also means that these days are coming back again...

.summer.

.Makes me long for days like these...

.rain drops.

.another picture taken around my work's campus. All of this rain is really depressing.

.politics.

.I refuse to comment on politics, but isn't this picture awesome!??!.

.chandeliers & velvet.

.this is a before & after from Brooke Giannetti (Velvet & Linen OR Giannetti Homes). I'm such a sucker for beautiful chandeliers and ummmm, VELVET. thx, Brooke!

.denial.

.I took these pictures last week ~ Fall in Rhode Island. I have this painful feeling that Fall has already peaked :( ....

.I am in denial.


.black spots = birds.

.EVERYDAY, as I leave work, they are always doing something ridiculous. There have been at least 2 occasions where I took a 'flying poo' to my windshield. BUT, nevertheless, they were there and NOW it gets dark three hours entirely too early so I bet I won't see them.

.still in denial.

.(click on image for a larger view, really cool, birds everywhere!! see the top of the tree? crazy, right?).

.custom candles.

.So I am pretty much in LOVE with this idea and while I don't currently have a dining room table (sad), I can still pretend.

.According to the article from Country Living, all you need is wax, wicks, putty & a candy thermometer, all of which can be found at a craft store like Michaels. The article has more detailed information on the process....

.Dusk on the 9th.

.one great golf hole...

.the fall peony.

.Danny hasn't posted anything, but I know he will find the time to visit the blog. So I thought I would post a reminder of my favorite fall flower - the fall peony, aka ranunculous. I posted about these not too long ago and provided a picture, then a week later they opened up (as you can see above). I LOVE THEM. So, anyway, now they have lost all their color and are dead....~sigh~...yet I still haven't removed them from the vase...~double sigh~.