April 19, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Past Cards: I Want Some One To Love Me

In keeping with my flashback to the past through old postcards (you can see the previous installment here), I thought I would share another vintage postcard from my collection. It appears to be sent in June of 1927. Making the front of this postcard kind of scandalous.

I like it all ready.

This is the front of the postcard. In the corner, you can see the sender has put a name on it. It says, “Lois.”

Lois was ScandaLois.

And I wish I could have known her! ; )

This is the back of the postcard:

It reads:

“I guess you will sure be crazy to get this card. How did you get over the party?

From Me”

But on the top right hand corner, the sender has also put the words, “ha ha” before he/she addressed the card to “Miss Lois.” There was obviously a last name, but I blacked that out. No need to embarrass Lois any further.

So, let’s do some guessing. Shall we? It is the most fun.

These are the things we know:

In 1927 Lois went to a party. I am not thinking that the woman in the chair is actually Lois, but we should examine her further.

She is holding an umbrella.

She liked to sit in a chair the wrong way.

In a dress.

She is holding an umbrella. I realize I all ready said this, but it bears repeating.

She looks like she is still at a party.

Or feeling the affects of a party.

And the chair is on a sheepskin rug. This, my dears, is my favorite part.

Or the umbrella.

Or the tipsy girl in the chair.

And then Lois’s world collided with “Me” and I have to wonder if she “sure was crazy to get this card.” Or if she all ready was crazy. Or if the sender was crazy. That “ha ha” inserted into the corner is kind of disturbing. Well, as is getting a card in the mail with two sentences sent from “me.” And the front of the card having an obviously demented woman with the only headline being, “I want some one to love me.” And then your name next to that line. Well, it is either a cute little joke or just plain creepy. The sender obviously wanted her to know it was a joke with the “ha ha” inscribed in the corner. But that just ends up being slightly disturbing as well.

I like it.

Did Lois ever really hold an umbrella, sitting in a chair backwards on a sheepskin rug while reading a postcard and getting over a hangover?

We will never know.

But I like to think, yes.

“ha ha”

April 18, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: Small Artwork And I Need Help

Okay. Not necessarily help. I kind of need you to take my side. In a disagreement.

With my husband.

It has been going on for over a month.

My daughter recently finished these two art pieces. I love them. I think they are so cool. They are pen on burlap. And I enjoy all of the details she put into them. When I look at them, I see the pure joy of a teenager.

However, I have a dilemma.

My husband wants to hang them askew. So that one is taller than the other.

Can you imagine what that does to my OCD?

You guys, it can’t happen!

They will probably go underneath the painting of the vineyard my daughter did in fourth grade.

There is so much detail around all of the sides, I do not know how to hang them.

But, I do know my heart cannot take unevenness. Especially since I would see these from ~~my place of worship~~ my bed.

What should I do? Is there any other way or place we can hang them? I think side by side is fine, but they have sat on that chest for over a month, because we cannot make a decision.

Please help!

It’s the little things: well, this painting has little things all over it. But really, I need some advice. I cannot keep walking by these another day.

The guilt.

It.

Is.

Too.

Much.

And also, he left the hammer in the corner until we could reach an agreement.

It’s been there for over a month!

Things are gettin’ crazy around here!

That hammer is no accident.

It is almost worse than paintings hung at an angle.

Folks.

He’s playing dirty.

And.

Hate.

To.

Lose.

April 17, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

The Winner Of The Giveaway, Cravings and Blog News

First, I want to apologize that my website has been wonky the past few days. It is the server and I am being told they are working on it. Fingers crossed it gets resolved soon! Again, I apologize!

The winner of the moon necklace is Jessica Wilhite! Congratulations! I really, really like this necklace. I hope you do, too! Enjoy! I am so happy for you!

My husband told me I should change the format of my giveaways to those easy ones. Those number-generated-generic-sterile ones. But I refused. I said, “But then I won’t get to read their cool stories!” Insert big pouty lower lip here. And I am so glad I didn’t, because you guys shared the coolest things this month! I love reading about your lives. Your beliefs. Your travels. Your loves. It honestly enriches my life so much, and I cannot thank you enough for that. But I will try.

Thank you! : )

There are a few new things going on on this blog that I wanted to share. I think there is always room for growth. And I always want to be my own blog. And not like others. So, I recently added in Past Cards and will be doing those once a month. The above picture is a peek at the next post coming up soon. : )

I am also going to be introducing my sister onto this blog. She lives seven miles from me and I love her to pieces. Plus, I am tired of just pictures of only me. Since I will not post pictures of my children and my husband does not want to be on the blog (which is smart of him because I have an underwear post of his coming up soon. I cannot imagine why he doesn’t want his picture on this blog). I figured I would ~~pimp out~~ put up my nearest relative. I think this will be a fun feature we can do together once in awhile. She has a completely different style than I do, so it will be nice to share a different look on this blog. However. And this is a biggie. She is younger, taller and prettier, so I am not going to allow her on here too often, though. Just kidding!…But seriously.

In other revelations:

I am shy.

Painfully shy if I don’t know you.

Shocking, right?

And it takes me awhile to come out of my shell. I feel like this last year, I have slowly been sharing myself. But I finally feel safe enough to share all of me. Or as much as the majority of the public can handle. I have made so many friends here, I feeI like I can just be myself. If you look at my old outfit photos, I look terrified. I was even scared to smile. But all of that is changing.

Kind of.

I am sick of pictures of me always in the same spot in my outfit posts. I went through my blog looking for ways to improve it and that is one of them. And I was ashamed of how bad some of my pictures are. Bad me! So from now on, I vow to try to take better pictures. This truly, truly hurts my lazy heart. But I am excited about a change. I still might resort to the fireplace if we are really in a hurry. However, the majority of the pictures will be different this month. Please let me know which ones work and which ones don’t (nicely. Please don’t make me cry. I hate spending money on tissues). This is going to be a series of experimenting. I pretty much have no idea how to pose.

But you can’t fly if you never jump. Off an imaginary building. Built from words. And pictures. Into a cloud. That I still do not understand.

All right. I think that is it on updates. Let’s move on to the stuff I am craving this month. Oh. The cravings. They hurt:

I want/need/can’t-afford-at-full-price the Vine Beaded Maxi Dress by one of my favorite designers, Vaneet Bahl. It is from Anthropologie. I am just hoping to get it on sale. So, save one in a small for me, would ya?

These whale-tale measuring cups.

Oh.

Just oh.

Um. Um. Um. Do I dare share these Concha Garden Planters? These will be at the top of my budget list for May. Again try to save me one… Or two… Or ten.

Seriously, how close to Otomi could these be?

Must.

Have.

Them.

All.

Nowhere. To. Put. Them.

Sigh.

Why? Why is the Plevna Top only available in petite sizing? My shirt is wet from the tears in my heart. And also, does anyone know what pants the model is wearing? They look great!

And last, but not least, the Needlework it Out Dress from Modcloth. This dress is so awesome. The price is perfect. The color is perfect. Again, my budget is gone for thirteen more days. And the dress sold out. However, I have clicked their “I NEED IT” button in my size. They will notify me if it gets reordered. I have never seen them not reorder if an item is popular and they can.

What are your cravings this month? Do you think I should do a monthly video on this blog ? Yes. I am also thinking of doing a video blog monthly or posting a video here or some sort of recording device/contraption… Whatever those youngsters are calling the talking pictures these days. Whatcha think?

April 16, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

A Day Of Falconry

Did you know that you can now take a falconry class (it used to not be available to the general public)?

Well, you can.

And I did.

In November, I found a coupon that was half price for a falconry class. I was intrigued. So, I purchased a spot in the class for each person in my family.

I knew I wanted to do it over spring break. The excursion is run by West Coast Sky Falconry out of Alpine, California (near San Diego). We got to do this amazing event two weeks ago.

When we arrived at the falconry class, they had three birds on low perches. The class of ten people was taught by the nicest falconers, Kirk and Denise.

They started the hour long class by teaching us some cool facts about hawks. We were going to be working with a Harris Hawk. I thought we would be working with a falcon, but it turns out the term falconry can be applied to any raptor. The Harris Hawk is ideal for falconry training, because it lives in a group. This is very rare for a raptor bird. Because of this, the Harris Hawk is used to anticipating the body language of others. The one we were privileged to meet that day was named, “Steam.” He looked huge, but weighed only two pounds.

We also learned that hawks tend to fly only fifteen to twenty minutes a day, so if you see one circling the sky, it is a rare moment. Now that I know this, it feels more special to me when I see the beautiful creatures in the sky.

We took turns having Steam fly onto all of our gloves. It was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. My son was terrified and asked if he had to do it. To which I replied, “yep.” Because that is the kind of mom I am. And because I knew if he always let fear win, he would never know the joy of success.

He loved it.

I mean, he loved it.

We all did.

If you have any classes like this near you, I highly recommend it. The class that we did was for ages seven and up. My friend did this with her family on another day, too. They all could not believe how amazing the experience was.

If you chose to, you could do tricks with the hawk. That was a bit more than my heart could take. But my husband threw food into the air for the hawk. And both of my children had the hawk walk quickly up to their foot and take food off of it.

At the end, we were able to pose over the beautiful valley and take pictures of Steam, the hawk, on our arm.

It was such a joyous moment. It was made even better by Kirk and Denise, who answered every question we had for them with passion and love for their birds.

During the summer, they also offer courses at the Torrey Pines location. I imagine that would make for gorgeous pictures.

I would love to do this again. It was educational. It was exhilarating. It was interesting.

I cannot say enough good things about it. What a fun way to spend quality time with a loved one that does not involve sitting or crowds.

Have you ever done this? Had you heard of it before? Aren’t those hawks beautiful?

I am enamored.

With a bird.

Just don’t tell my husband.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

Month: April 2014

Past Cards: I Want Some One To Love Me

It’s The Little Things: Small Artwork And I Need Help

The Winner Of The Giveaway, Cravings and Blog News

A Day Of Falconry