Lush-ious

There was a good reason as to why I didn’t write a post yesterday. A very good reason.

This was my first trip to attend, and it was awesome! The Gruene Music and Wine Fest is considered a stepping stone for performers, and attracts people from all over the USA. Several well-known country music stars got the start at the Fest, including Garth Brooks. Gruene Hall is still a popular venue as well as a tourist attraction. But I wasn’t there for the music, as good as it sounded coming from the Hall. Nope, I had missed out on Clint Black, so I set my eyes on the prize.

WHOOP!! Your very own tasting glass. For a fee of $20 (which in retrospect, is pretty steep) you get a cheap tasting glass and five tickets for five tastings. Now, there were dozens of wineries featured. DOZENS!!!! Five tickets were just not going to cut it, right? Luckily for the gals, Hubby had volunteered to be our designated driver in exchange for videotaping our drunken conversations, and he divvied up his tickets between the rest of us. And by a strange quirk of fate, we got extra tickets, so we didn’t have to buy any more! I ♥ Fate. Anyway, we managed to sample some wines from several small wineries, finding some to be hidden gems in the rough, so to speak. Others….not so much. I do have to give a shout out to the best winery name we saw: Three Dudes Winery. I ask you: how can you go wrong with that?? And yes, their wine was very good. All in all, a great time was had by all, and I’m sure I will be making a return trip next year.

Next up on the fest roster: WURSTFEST!!

Because you can’t go wrong with German food and beer 😉

Sithy in the Rain

I couldn’t pass this up. Gene Kelly would have been 100 years old last week, and so, I give tribute to a great actor, dancer, and director.

Except for Xanadu. I’ll never understand why he consented to be in that atrocity.

Because of him, I always sing in the rain, dance on couches, and dream of a Brigadoon.

Have a great Wednesday!! 🙂

Accidental Tourist

I was reading my List of Things To Do Before I Die™, remembering why I had placed certain activities, places, and things on it, when I came across this one:

#53– El Hierro, Islas Canarias

I still have relatives that live in the Canary Islands (which are not named for the bird, by the way). El Hierro, also known as Ferro, is the westernmost island of the group, and for a time was considered the westernmost point of the known world, as well as being the prime meridian.

El Hierro has no beaches, only rocky shores. That’s the main gulf of the island above. As I read my list, I tried to think of why on Earth I wanted to go there. It’s stark and sparse in population, and remote from the other islands.

And that’s the reason I wanted to go. To stand there, facing the ocean alone and unafraid, looking at what ancestors considered the end of the world would be humbling to my soul, and inspiring to my spirit. Sure, I would love to see beautiful places in the world. Who doesn’t?? But to be there, on the edge of the world, facing a setting Sun…that would be a thrill of a lifetime 🙂

Dance the Night Away, Until 9 PM

This morning I woke up from a nice dream involving hippos and ice cream and a loud cotton candy machine. I had a slice of angel food cake before I went to bed, so that would account for all the sweets featured. The hippos remain a mystery. But the song that played in the background is now an earworm. Normally I hate that. I don’t want the same song playing in my head all day. Most of the time it’s very distracting. Who wants to keep hearing Call Me Maybe while trying to fold laundry? I certainly don’t. I would be too tempted to pierce my eardrums with the ice pick. But today’s offering is waaaaaaaaaay better!

I ♥ this song. I can do the dusting, the cleaning, the laundry, the vacuuming and it just fits!! Of course, there was a time in the distant past that I could stay up and dance the night away. Nowadays, I’m more apt to snore it. Age does that to one. But if the night started at 6 PM, after the Early Bird Specials, I would be very tempted. Of course, I would probably need a few painkillers afterwards, but it would be worth it 😉

If the Shoe Fits

I’m a woman. I love shoes. It is an Axiom of Life™, and one that is almost universally accepted. Even my cousin who goes barefoot through the jungle and seldom wears anything on her feet loves shoes. My sister is addicted to shoes, and I am but an amateur compared to her.

Yesterday, a friend linked a story at that-social-site-that-has-faces that made me covet, covet like I have never coveted anything in my life.

Christian Louboutin designs a slipper for today’s Cinderella

This is the juxtaposition of so many wonderrific things I want with the force of ten thousand Betelgeuses, at seven orders of magnitude. First, CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN, he of the Red Soled Shoes™ that caress and form to every curve of your foot, making your legs look as if they go on forever. I have wanted a pair of his shoes for years. Every time I see the red sole I salivate. Some women love Jimmy Choo, others love Salvatore Ferragamo, and still some worship at the heel of Stuart Weitzman. But they pale in comparison to the absolute poetry of a Louboutin heel.

Second, BUTTERFLIES, and I don’t mean just any butterflies. A masterful butterfly heads the shoe and a smaller one caresses the heel, bringing attention to the sensual curve below the calf. I have a thing for butterflies, in case you didn’t know. And they strike me as a sign of femininity, so I love to wear their likeness.

Third, shimmery, translucent LACE. The epitome of femininity and charm, used in lieu of glass or lucite (let’s face it: a foot doesn’t look attractive encased in plastic. It reminds me of hamhocks). But lace always makes skin look luminous and pretty, while hiding small imperfections. That’s what I read in a Frederick’s of Hollywood catalog, anyway.

Fourth, beautiful BLING. While the lace smooths out the skin, and crystals give the illusion of glass. Yes, some people may think bling should be reserved for weddings and evening attire, but not me. Bling is pretty and it makes people look, and after all, why go through life unnoticed??

Alas, they are not meant to be for moi. Christian Louboutin made them as part of a collaboration with Disney™ for the Blu-Ray™ release of Walt Disney’s Cinderella. The shoes were such a hit that he will be gifting one lucky winner here in the U.S. with a limited edition pair. And I know it won’t be me. But a dream is a wish your heart makes, when you fall asleep.

And I will be dreaming 😉

Curveballs When Least Expected

Normally, I have a post by 9 AM every morning. Lately I have been a bit preoccupied with other stuff around here. Kids are fine, and Hubby is fine. I thank the Good Lord for that. But sometimes Life, Fate, whatever it is, tends to throw a curveball to see if I’m paying attention.

Last week I found a hard nodule in the upper right pectoral milk dispensing device. No, not the one that was *ahem* bitten by my neighbor’s dog. The other one. Anyway, I was very frightened, and also very angry. But the anger was directed at myself. I know to check myself for these eventualities, but had neglected to do so for several months. My last mammogram had been clear and just fine and dandy, so I slacked off.

That is unacceptable. One simply cannot take chances at my age that things will be just fine. And the worst part is actually having close friends who are in treatment for breast cancer. I was lucky it was cystic. I have no excuse for my laziness, but I do hope that this inspires others to be more careful, and to check themselves often. We all get one shot at living on this rock, and we should take care to make sure we live it to the best of our ability.

There will always be curveballs. The trick is to plant your feet, watch it coming at you, and SWING!!!!

First Marble

Well, today is the first of my 1,545 Saturdays.

I have no idea what to do.

I have thought about it all week, but Life always intrudes and makes a mockery of plans. Eldest has a video project to complete with the aid of Hubby, so that puts a bit of a crimp time-wise. So, I’ll play it by ear and just plan on a nice dinner with friends.

Seascape not included.

With my luck it the weather will turn, the dinner will burn, and the cork get stuck in the wine bottle.

But if you can’t laugh with your friends, who can you laugh with? And don’t say “by yourself”, because I’m tired of doing that all the time 😉

Losing Marbles

I received a chain email from a friend this morning. I usually read and delete, since I really don’t like to send along “forwards”. This one actually gave me pause. It was about a man who had calculated the average amount of Saturdays in the average lifespan. In 75 years, you have 3,900 Saturdays (75×52= 3,900). That is the average amount of Saturdays a human being has to enjoy. Admittedly, when that human is very young, it has no concept of “enjoying a Saturday”, but then again that same human has only the responsibility to investigate his or her environment, so it is enjoying pretty much every single day of the week. The man went on to tell of how he only had 1,000 Saturdays left to enjoy, so he went out and bought 1,000 marbles. Every Saturday he would take a marble, and throw it away.

By throwing the marble away, he could see Time running, and focus on what is most important in his life. There’s nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.

By my calculations, I have 1,545 Saturdays left on this Big Blue Marble™. Now, I’m not going out to buy a bunch of marbles. If I did, the kids would end up playing with them. But I will concentrate on enjoying my Saturdays with my family, while keeping a journal of how I spent each one. That way, when I finish the 1,545th entry, I can then appreciate the little extra time I have been gifted on this Earth that much more 🙂

Just Breathe

Yesterday, though a milestone, was still a hectic day. I spent most of the day running to and fro, conducting errands and taking care of a sick kid. It used to be that I had time for me, but lately I have forgotten about that. I find myself saying that I can just do “that” later, or I can go “there” next week, or perhaps have “this” done at the beauty salon sometime…. but it doesn’t happen. Not because I don’t have the time, but because I don’t make the time.

As I was driving back from the post office yesterday, I was passing a local farm. Yes, we have farms within our subdivisions here. I was looking at the beauty of the field, when I suddenly stopped the car, put the hazard lights on, and stepped out to enjoy the view.

I must have stood there, leaning against the fence just looking, and enjoying the peace and serenity. I hadn’t noticed how long I had been there, until an older gentleman stopped to inquire if I were having car trouble. I told him no, just wanted to stop and look at enjoy the flowers. And then he parked his car, put his hazard lights on, and came to stand by the fence, telling me that as many times as he drives on that road, he had never noticed the field before. We chatted for a bit, until the cattle started to moo, and then we parted. But not without humor.

Me: Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Him: That’s very profound…. Hemingway?

Me: Nope. Ferris Bueller.

Him: HAHAHA!!

But it’s true, isn’t it? Life does move pretty fast. And we should always stop and look around, take a deep breath and enjoy it. 🙂

Eighteen to Life

It’s a funny title, because it’s our anniversary today!!!

And he was sweet enough to send me this:

Yep, and Edible Bouquet! I’ve never received one before, so it was quite a novelty. And Hubby was considerate enough to call them and ask that they NOT cover the strawberries in chocolate…

….but there was a slight miscommunication, and most of the strawberries were covered in chocolate, which made the girls ecstatic, but at least I got the plain fruit, so it was all good.

Eighteen years, going on eighty. This past year has been hard, but soon enough it will be over, and then we can both eat chocolate covered strawberries while sitting on the couch, watching some really awful movie on SyFy™ and laughing at the carnage.

What can I say? We enjoy the little things in life 😀