Somedays. This about sums it up.

Now smile.

And move on.

When I grow Up...

if you catch it in the moonlight

via Design Crush

A little sugar goes a long way

Find the theme:

"Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch. You know that I love you. Can't help myself..." or

"Sugar, Sugar. You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you..."

And my personal favorite Stevie Wonder's "Sugar" "Sugar, sugar, I want to be your main boy... All I got is good, good lovin."

Geez. Just typing those words makes me want to find an unsuspecting victim (or Fred Astair) and dance floor.... Anywho.

Baking for Good is an online bake sale with peppermint brownies, chocolate crackels, gingersnaps and many more (including vegan options), but that's not all... 15 percent of your purchase supports a cause YOU pick!

You can support nonprofit causes such as American Cancer Society, Action Against Hunger and Art for Change, or you can support community causes such as art.party.theater.company and the Red Swing Project. These are only a few of the manyyyy causes Baking for Good supports. Shoot, you can even e-mail them about adding a cause!

So, not only are you sending a beautifully wrapped, delicious treat to bake, you are supporting national and international causes.

That'll convict me next time I'm tempted to pick up that convenient pre-packaged, shake-and-bake cookie package...

It's a smart choice too. Manhattan-inhabitant and founder, Emily Dubner, grew up raising money for school projects with bake sales, and continued baking for fun while studying at Harvard. (Try to make a woman-in-the-kitchen-joke after that line) After working as a management consultant at a fancy NYC firm, she was inspired by a gift package delivered to her mom and started Baking for Good creating unique, gourmet treats, which support causes all over the world.

Call Barbara Walters. She beats Gaga, Kim K and Betty White for most fascinating woman in my humble, but pretty dang accurate opinion.

Where the Battle is Won or Lost

’If you will return, O Israel,’ says the Lord . . . —Jeremiah 4:1

Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world.
The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory.

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth. " Psalm 46:10

This was today's Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest

live in love, me

King of Anything

You’ve got opinions, man
We’re all entitled to ‘em, but I never asked
So let me thank you for your time, and try not to waste anymore of mine
And get out of here fast

I hate to break it to you babe, but I’m not drowning
There’s no one here to save

You sound so innocent, all full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset

Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

Have you taken your humble pill today... Happy Monday

Anyway...

People are often unreasonable, irrational, 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 unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.

Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.

Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.

Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa

original by Dr. Kent Keith

the girls are back and ridiculous as ever... sista-friends unite

I came.
I saw.
I conquered.
Before the first movie, I had never seen an episode of SATC. I thought it was about silly superficial ladies with dirty minds, and I could never justify watching something with the word s-e-x in the title if my family walked in.
But sitting in the Union Station theater in DC where I was working with my best friends who came to visit me, K8ie Gurl and Camil, I found myself weirdly connected to these soul-mate gal pals in spite of myself. It's not about clothes or shoes or even dream jobs at Vogue. It's the best friend part that gets me.
My friends too found each other, and plan on staying sista-friends through whatever the future holds whether it's weddings, adventures in far away lands aka London, cull-de-sac shindigs with our fams, etc etc etc. We'll always be sista-friends.
I constantly tried to analyze myself to pick which character I am. I am a journalism and poli sci major, so naturally I leaned toward Carrie. She's terrified of commitment, another notch for me, and she's a hopeless romantic seemingly oxymoronic. In the second movie, I could actually see myself having that conversation between she and Mr. Preston about her fear of being an old married couple. We need sparkle... But then again, what's so horrible about a sofa and takeout if you're with the one guy you prayed would love you too?
But just when I wanted to write myself off as a Carrie... The aspiring law student in me feels oddly attached to Miranda, the work-aholic corporate lawyer with a quirky husband who adores her and a red-headed kid. We all know I'm having red-headed heathens... She says her type-A personality is in full swing on vaca and plans an interFUNtion for a much neeed interFRIENDtion. Bec jokes with me, but I plan on being the sista-friend who plans all our BFF adventures when we're old and livin the dream. No red-headed kids allowed. When any of the ladies need to vent, cry or laugh, she's the solid one they turn to for advice and a cocktail. Work hard. Play hard. Love hard.
Ahh... Then I can't help but dream I'm as bold as Samantha. Hate her or love her. She's so sincerely Sam and confident to a fault, but that's not it. She's loyal to her soul mates. She turns down a literally and figuratively hot date in the desert because it's GNO as Miley Cyrus would "sing." And I'll Diane-Summers diet til I drop to have a body as rockin as hers.
The pearls and love for cardigans unite mine and Charlotte's kindred spirits... She believes in love like she believes in life itself. I envy her for her selflessness, and I hope I'll someday be that joyfully submissive not to mention baking in a vintage cream skirt with a beautiful adopted daughter.
I hope my soul-mates are ready for their movie debut because if you thought SATC karaoke was something, wait til you hear us sing GLEE's "take your bow" in harmony, the Spice Girl's "if you want to be my SISTER" in rush, Momma Mia with karaoke subtitles and "Fancy" by Reba at the AL Slammer.
Cheers.

the L-word

So I was passing through a little gem called Greenville, SC on my way back to The Plains from Charlotte when my chauffer asked me if I wanted to stop and see Holly one of my endearing, best and most-missed friends.
Elated upon meeting up, we ran into each other's arms and promptly found an IPA, stacked nachos with mango salsa and stools that encouraged our summer-sandal wearing feet to dangle.
As we sipped and stuffed, she asked me my opinion on saying the L-word.
We're girls, so of course boys come into convo all too often. But in my answer, I wasn't so concerned with that part of the definition.

My preacher once told me no one can look at my life and tell I love Christ with 30, 70 or 100 percent of my heart. The only way someone knows the extent of my love for Christ is by the way I love others.
When I heard this, I was just at the age when my head wasn't buried in my mother's lap, while she braided my hair or playing silent games with my dad. I was just old enough to feel the Holy Spirit gently tugging on my heart, and I knew then I'd never forget that statement. (If you ever see me humming when I'm frustrated, it's the muted version of "And they'll know we are Christians by our love," which I'm blaring in between my ears as I try to find my happy place...)
It was then I wanted to live in love with God and consequently his creation for the rest of my life as long as we all shall live.

So my take on the L-word is simple... Duh I say it. And I mean it.
I can't separate the L-word into compartments labeled boyfriend, friends, etc. etc. etc. It's all the same to me because it's all independent of... me.
There is this stigma in the church that we can only love the person we're going to marry.
Sorry. That may be true for some people, but it's not true for me, and I'd bargain to say it's not true for most people if they'd dissect the big picture down to it's smallest thread. I have loved and been loved so deeply it hurts, excites and encourages, but it never disappoints.
I'm one of those ridiculously practical people who sets out her oatmeal, bowl and spoon and pre-sets the coffee every night before I sleep, and I'm similarly practical in every aspect of life except when it comes to love. And i LOVE it.
I love friends, dogs, especially Traveler, running, camp, horses (not ponies), missions, short stories, wedding blogs, every member of my crazy family and mostly my first love, Christ, my groom. I love loving.
The above mentioned mindset in the church infers that God portions (or sanctions) a pre-determined amount of love for each of us to spend on His creation and Him for that matter. It misses the point.
The relationship we share with God isn't one that comes pre-packaged for portion control like a Lean Cuisine on the shelf at Kroger.
Because He sent Jesus to die and called us to die to ourselves, He rules our hearts with never ending love. I love all creation out of a cosmic consequence of a love relationship with my first Love. I call it consequence love: He loves me, and my cup is so overflowing that I can't help but love others.
If we were at Kroger, it'd be like a gift card with no limit or 'use by' date.

Now, I'm not saying go throw your heart and body at some good lookin' fella or gal at the next foam party you get invited to by some bar you rarely if ever attend. Don't twist this advice to fit some cockananny scheme you know is wrong and should run/flee from.
...Because you know all that matters is loving God and loving the people he created...

Disclaimer: when I want to do things my way or solve problems with my resources, they often come up short of even a Kroger pre-packaged dinner. They taste bland, smell questionable and leave me wanting more. I'm prone to this often, but I'm like a fat woman at Jenny Craig- trying.

Sooo you lovers and closet love lovers out there, live in love and love deeply... it's not yours, and it never was.

Finished

2.08...

Too tired to write anything else, but I am not too tired to check running my first half-marathon off my bucket list.

The flower SOLE train...

For Kelli's bridesmaid luncheon, my uber-creative mother and I, her mere shadow, decorated these wire shoes as table decorations.

Thanks Kathy G.'s for the perfect venue at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

"Whimsical" was our theme... Mission accomplished.

Feel free to copy and paste our whimsical theme at your own partays...

What you'll need...

base: wire shoe, purse, etc

colored ribbons of all sizes, styles and fabrics

moss

Green Vinyl Tie Tape

Oasis Floral Foam

FlOwErS: roses, carnations, gerber daisies, pom pom mums, snaps and lilies

We started with the simple wire shoes.

I wove ribbons through the wire starting at the toes and ending with a blushing bow at the heel.

Next, Tom Thumbelina and I filled the shoes with the moss and Oasis Floral Foam.

After the Oasis is fixed in place, use the green vinyl tape to secure it in the shoe's soul... or sole.

Last, but not least... We arranged the flowers into the Oasis.

Bride-to-be Kelli, the KWO charm cake from Olexa's in Mountain Brook Village and her Anthony-designed, whimsical-inspired shoe...

live in love,

grace

Everything I need to know...

I'm going to start a "Everything I Need to Know I Learned from..." section in this blog of mine... It's as much for me as it is for anyone who stumbles upon it.

In this first addition, I'm going start with "Everything I need to know, I learned from White Christmas."

On this rainy Christmas eve, I have watched this classic all day, and I find something more enchanting about it and something more to love with every viewing.

Phil Davis jokes with Bob Wallace about settling down with a girl and starting a family with nine kids, and Bob shrugs him off saying he'll get around to it. Phil wittily replies, "When what's left of you gets around to what's left to be gotten, what's left to be gotten won't be worth getting, whatever it is you've got left."

Brilliant.

Moral: don't pass on love. pass on rolls (save the calories and go for more dessert).

Maybe my favorite lesson learned is one that I already had a good feeling about, but Phil and Judy reminded me so gracefully in their first scene together.

The best things really do happen while dancing... Think about it.

How long do you stay upset once you start dancing, especially when you're wrapped in the arms of a great partner? It doesn't have to be Fred Astaire or J. Timberlake, but someone who can twirl you a few times and end with a great dip.

If you even get the least mad, just dance it off... Dane Cook might have made fun of us fussy girls for going dancing to forget about our bad days, but there's truth to that.

We should make Obama, Bernanke, Pelosi, McCain, Sarah Mclachlan, Osama and anyone else who has some drama with the world and host a huge dance party... We could fix health care, save puppies/kittens, clear up climate control and maybe straighten up some Middle Eastern policies.

Great quotes:

Phil to Judy: In some ways, you're far superior to my cocker spaniel.

Judy: Yesterday, she couldn't sleep. Today, she won't eat. She's in love.
Phil: Well if that's love, somebody goofed.

Bob: Miss Haynes, if you're ever under a falling building and someone offers to pick you up and carry you to safety, don't think, don't pause, don't hesitate for a moment, just spit in his eye.
Betty: What did that mean?
Bob: It means we're going to Vermont.

According to local radio hosts, Santa is coming soon...

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse prolly bc my cat, Sancho, is on my bed.
Our Mickey and Minnie stockings are hung by the chimney with haphazard care,
In hopes that St Nick soon will be there with nail polish, fishing lures and candies.
We children are nestled all snug in our beds- well couch,

While visions of sugar-plums dance in our heads and our annual viewing of the Griswold's Christmas.

I'll spare you all the lessons I have learned from that classic.

But I'll leave you with a final lesson...

"When I'm worried, and I can't sleep. I count my blessings instead of sheep..." Now if only, I could sing like Bing, I could peacefully drift off to sleep at the sound of my own voice.

Merry Christmas and God bless