Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I've just had a few of those weeks where I have felt under attack by the universe. Somethings I have just brought on myself (being absent minded or careless at work) others have just been unfortunate (cars not working) etc. I have tried to refresh and reset with yoga and the occasional glass of riesling, but I decided to just let nature take me where it will.
I promise to feature a blog swap, with my 20something blogger blog swap partner. If you don't poke around on 20sb.net, you should really take a look. It's a great resource for bloggers. I am a bit behind...I prefer to think of it as fashionably late...but I'll introduce you to Angel soon!
Here is a good quote about rough times. I also need to apply it to forgiving myself!
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; FORGIVE THEM ANYWAY. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; BE KIND ANYWAY. If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies; SUCCEED ANYWAY. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; BUILD ANYWAY. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; BE HAPPY ANYWAY. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; DO GOOD ANYWAY. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU'VE GOT ANYWAY. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; IT WAS NEVER BETWEEN YOU AND THEM ANYWAY. -Mother Teresa
Monday, August 29, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
I'm a Featurette!!!
Sweet Bre over at Bre's Baubles did a very cool feature piece on her blog about me. You can read about it at her website!! 
She's an awesome, fashion savy chick with a great sense of style and a great wit. We go way back (all the way to high school) and she's a blogger I def. recommend you check out!
More blogging excitement soon! I promise!
She's an awesome, fashion savy chick with a great sense of style and a great wit. We go way back (all the way to high school) and she's a blogger I def. recommend you check out!
More blogging excitement soon! I promise!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
MissMandine Swavorski Jewlery
You know when there is a girl who is so beautiful and perfect (and in this case, French) who you want to hate but she is just so damned nice that it's impossible. Amandine is that type of girl. I haven't seen her in years, but I met her during a theatre production at the University of Kentucky where she was reading a copy of Vogue in the Green Room and I was sitting there wondering how she got her hair to lay like that.
In addition to teaching French to Americans who can't speak it very well, Amandine makes GORGEOUS Swavorski crystal jewelry. She made me a gorgeous pink and white ring, which I still wear to this day and I am planning to order a matching necklace from her website MissMandine where she peddles her wares. Obviously the items are in good condition because I *still* wear my ring six years later. And for Swavorski, they are reasonably priced.
Here are some photos of her work! She is AMAZING! Check it out for yourself!!
This is the one I am going to buy soon!
I hope you enjoy! Also, see if you can get her to tell me the secret of her perfectly coiffed hair. Enjoy!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Flavor vs Scent
I am not a perfect person. I make too many grammatical mistakes to count. In fact I could have written that sentence as "I make two many grammatical misteaks too count." I didn't, but I easily could have. I suck at proofreading. Also there are words I can't pronounce, let alone spell. So, I just want you to know I am not writing this to be condescending to anyone who reads this and thinks "Oh. I do that." I just want to improve your (not you're) life.
Okay.
Here's the definition of flavor:
fla·vor/ˈflāvər/
Noun: The distinctive quality of a particular food or drink as perceived by the taste buds
Here is the definition of scent:
scent/sent/Noun: A distinctive smell, esp. one that is pleasant:
Here is a conversation I have heard in a yankee candle store recently:
Salesperson: Can I help you find a candle?
Shopper: Yes. I am looking for that Clean Cotton Flavor.
What?? A 'flavor' of candle? My first instinct is to turn around and make sure the woman isn't eating the candle. I mean, granted, those cinnamon swirl candles do smell pretty appetizing, but as I learned from being the weird kid who ate my chapstick in school, wax does not taste good. I stop short of warning the lady that candle wax will not taste as good as it smells, but then I realize she isn't going to eat the candle. She is going to light it and enjoy the smell of clean linens without having to actually do laundry.
It's a mix-up I have heard my entire life and it's incredibly understandable. Our sense of smell and our sense of taste are intertwined. It's all right there in the mixed up anatomy of the mouth and nose. However, despite the important role they both play, one is specifically related to smell and the other is specifically related to taste.
Things may smell but they may not always have a flavor. I know this also, from being the kid who secretly licked her smelly sticker to see if they tasted good. They tasted like paper, so it may be from this "mouth-on" experience that I learned the difference.
But, perhaps the more normal people in the world didn't try my eating things that smelled good. So world, learn from my mistakes to improve your vernacular. Candles have scents...popsicles are flavored.
Don't eat these candles.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The Stories of Old Houses in Old Louisville
I made it my goal when I moved back to Louisville, to live in the historic section of town. I've always been fascinated by old victorian houses. One of my favorite destinations is Savannah, Georgia, home of the largest preserved Victorian Districts in the United States. Here's a pic of the Mercer House I took in 2005.
I finally got an apartment in one of the old Victorian Houses near historic Belgravia Walking Court. I love it. Occasionally you see the random ruffian making his way from the bad parts of town...but mostly the houses are owned by retired persons. Some are fully restored and others have been divided into multi-family apartments.
It came to my attention that one of the Security Guards in the museum used to own a antique business, which opened the door for him to restore some of the more beautiful older houses here. He was telling me that he was the person who restored the "Columbine" bed and breakfast here in town. This, coincidentally, is one of my favorite Old Louisville buildings. I have never stayed there, but the exterior is beautiful and the interior is other worldly.
Mike, the guard, loves to tell me about the days when he was younger and more able-bodied. When he talks about the houses he has restored (especially the Columbine) he tears up. It always so awesome to me to find someone who really loves what they do.
He told me about how he came to the restoration of the Columbine reluctantly. Apparently at one time, it was a wreck, as were most of the houses downtown. They sold cheaply, and were often occupied by drug dealers or occasionally squatting vagabonds. The city of Louisville became dedicated to the preservation of these homes, and investors flocked to purchases homes to restore and rent.
The Columbine was at one point a school for young girls at the turn of the century. It was fitting that it was purchased by a retired teacher and his wife ( a former nurse). They shopped around for someone to repair the Oak stairwells and eventually came across Mike. At first he was reluctant to do the woodwork (which had been painted over and was in disrepair), but he quickly changed his mind when he entered the building, because as he so nicely put it "I couldn't say no because I realized what it could be...truly marvelous."
And this is the part that is too technical for most of us to understand: the stripping of paint, inch by inch, The scrubbing, the plastic sheets on the floor. But what appeals to me most is the human aspect of his story. Mike was a young man, doing what he loved. And the he talked about the retired nurse, and how she made the best cup of coffee for him in the morning and how they would sit over the plastic covered table and talk.
It took about a year to finish everything. And a few months later the man's wife passed away. Heartbroken, he sold the Columbine. Mike said that "She was a gentle old soul and a damn good cook. I mean, Lord have Mercy." I think that's what I love most about historic homes, not the decor or the work that goes into the restoration, but the stories of the people who were there. Think of all those girls who roamed the halls, or the little lady who fixed coffee for the people restoring the house that her husband bought to please her. The people are the best parts of old houses.
Ye've got t' sing an' dance fer years, ye've got t' romp an' play,
An' learn t' love the things ye have by usin' 'em each day;
Even the roses 'round the porch must blossom year by year
Afore they 'come a part o' ye, suggestin' someone dear
Who used t' love 'em long ago, an' trained 'em jes t' run
The way they do, so's they would get the early mornin' sun;
Ye've got t' love each brick an' stone from cellar up t' dome:
It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home.
Edgar A Guest
I finally got an apartment in one of the old Victorian Houses near historic Belgravia Walking Court. I love it. Occasionally you see the random ruffian making his way from the bad parts of town...but mostly the houses are owned by retired persons. Some are fully restored and others have been divided into multi-family apartments.
It came to my attention that one of the Security Guards in the museum used to own a antique business, which opened the door for him to restore some of the more beautiful older houses here. He was telling me that he was the person who restored the "Columbine" bed and breakfast here in town. This, coincidentally, is one of my favorite Old Louisville buildings. I have never stayed there, but the exterior is beautiful and the interior is other worldly.
Mike, the guard, loves to tell me about the days when he was younger and more able-bodied. When he talks about the houses he has restored (especially the Columbine) he tears up. It always so awesome to me to find someone who really loves what they do.
He told me about how he came to the restoration of the Columbine reluctantly. Apparently at one time, it was a wreck, as were most of the houses downtown. They sold cheaply, and were often occupied by drug dealers or occasionally squatting vagabonds. The city of Louisville became dedicated to the preservation of these homes, and investors flocked to purchases homes to restore and rent.
The Columbine was at one point a school for young girls at the turn of the century. It was fitting that it was purchased by a retired teacher and his wife ( a former nurse). They shopped around for someone to repair the Oak stairwells and eventually came across Mike. At first he was reluctant to do the woodwork (which had been painted over and was in disrepair), but he quickly changed his mind when he entered the building, because as he so nicely put it "I couldn't say no because I realized what it could be...truly marvelous."
And this is the part that is too technical for most of us to understand: the stripping of paint, inch by inch, The scrubbing, the plastic sheets on the floor. But what appeals to me most is the human aspect of his story. Mike was a young man, doing what he loved. And the he talked about the retired nurse, and how she made the best cup of coffee for him in the morning and how they would sit over the plastic covered table and talk.
It took about a year to finish everything. And a few months later the man's wife passed away. Heartbroken, he sold the Columbine. Mike said that "She was a gentle old soul and a damn good cook. I mean, Lord have Mercy." I think that's what I love most about historic homes, not the decor or the work that goes into the restoration, but the stories of the people who were there. Think of all those girls who roamed the halls, or the little lady who fixed coffee for the people restoring the house that her husband bought to please her. The people are the best parts of old houses.
Ye've got t' sing an' dance fer years, ye've got t' romp an' play,
An' learn t' love the things ye have by usin' 'em each day;
Even the roses 'round the porch must blossom year by year
Afore they 'come a part o' ye, suggestin' someone dear
Who used t' love 'em long ago, an' trained 'em jes t' run
The way they do, so's they would get the early mornin' sun;
Ye've got t' love each brick an' stone from cellar up t' dome:
It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home.
Edgar A Guest
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