Oh Brother!

There’s a new guy in town…and he’s here to work hard!  If you know me, you know I print things.  I print ALOT of things.  And when you do what I do…well you need an amazing partner to make what you do the best it can be.  He isn’t very pretty but he’ll get the job done.   Introducing:

My new color laser printer!!!  Wait’ll you see what he can do!  The print quality is amazing.  And I’m hard to impress! 

Ok, enough of the Brother/he thing, I’m going to give him a girly name…and start calling him sister.   Any ideas?!

Have a COLORFUL weekend!

m

Time to get away…

There are times when we just need to re-charge.  We go about life staying busy, getting things done, that auto-pilot thing that we all get into that makes each day move forward with a full schedule who-knows-what that passes the time so quickly.

I find life as I know it invigorating, exciting and fulfilling...I love what I do.  Being a Mom, Wife, owning my own business, having family and friends I love…I like to say ‘it’s what I do’ and I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything.  But once in awhile I need to re-charge and this past weekend was IT for ‘09!  I did it like this:

On Friday we celebrated my moms 75th birthday with family at Megs:

I gave her a bag ‘o chocolates, with her favorite images:

And a card from Hadley, she LOVED it!

Saturday was spent getting ready for, and then celebrating my dear friend Micheles 50th.  She rides a Harley so I did these in honor of her big day:

And I was a surprize guest at the party, how exciting to remember a special time in our lives with a song that we stayed up ALL NIGHT trying to remember the name of  (back in the 70’s!).  She looks amazing at 50 – that is her on the right.  Hi Missy!

I mentioned in a previous post my Saturday visit to Paris to the Moon…a girl can never have too much of a wonderful thing so here it is again:

Well that would all have been enough to keep this gal goin’ for another year…until next summer when I’ll get away again.  But there was one more adventure in store…several miles out to sea with the two people who do more for my soul than they’ll ever know…we found a super pod (there were several hundred) of dolphins out on the ocean and spent several hours with them.

Breathtaking.  Amazing.  Thrilling.  Awe-inspiring.  An incredibly powerful moment in time…right up there with seeing Haleys Comet on Haleakala in the 80’s.  One of those things I will never forget.

Weekends come and weekends go.  All too fast…but this one will go down as the one that took me back to my roots, re-energized me and reminded me of why I love being me.  At the end of the weekend Herb and Hadley picked me up (of course I flew!), and after all I’d done…I was sooo happy to be home with them…and share my adventures.  You see, while I love getting away (‘recharging’), I love even more coming home to them. 

Life is good and we are so fortunate to have people we love that we can share it with…we can get caught up in the hum of every-day life.  It’s weekends like these that keep things fresh and exciting.

I hope you find your place to get away, whether it is out on the ocean, a celebration, or a bubble bath…time for YOU is what is important.

Cheers!
Mandi

Saturday in ‘Paris’

Pure eye candy.  There is no other way to describe Paris to the Moon.  Nestled in a little neighborhood in Costa Mesa, the windows  greet you with a festive theme that Proprietor Darren has pulled out of his magic bag of tricks.  The pink flamingos on the front yard give a hint at the whimsy that lies within.

Yummy pastels celebrate the feminine ‘Marie’ theme

The sweetness of cupcake toppers (scored by Darren on a shopping trip to an ‘old cupcake shop'!) made into fun jewelry.

Ohhhh La La, a feast of Parisian delights! 

Beautiful bridal items…

 

A splash of primary colors in the ‘gnome’ department…

Brilliant color and displays await you at every turn

…and it gets a little dark in the back of the shop…

Whatever your style, you are sure to find something you love at Paris to the Moon, stop in soon!

Mandi

It’s “Room” Time!

Ohhh how I love this time of the month! The shop (for you new followers…that would be Room With A Past…if you don’t know, you need to find out more asap!) is open this weekend.

Since last opening I’ve been up and down the west coast in search of treasures to share…some of them made it into this months sale:

More soon, have a wonderful weekend!

Flower baskets…

I’m in awe over the incredibly gorgeous hanging flower baskets I saw all over the northwest.  Just when I thought I’d seen the prettiest one…there would be another even more beautiful!

A few of them here…

“Gastown” Vancouver BC:

In front of “Annies On Main” in Snohomish:

In Stanley Park, Vancouver BC:

I’ll be hanging a few of my own in our backyard this weekend, I can’t wait to have some of that color hanging around!

Cheers!

Mandi

A girl has to do what a girl has to do…

And this girl had to do some shopping! Thanks to several amazing blogging ladies, I found some fabulous shops in the Pacific North West. I made a lot of new friends all over Oregon and Washington…and let me tell you, these girls are talented!

Special thanks to Lulu who went out of her ever junkin' way to give me the low down on what is IN for shopping in Washington! Next time I'm in town I'm definately looking Lulu up for a grand tour of the area!

And Debi at Garden Party...I love her blog and her sweet country style! She sent me to my new-favorite-shop-in-the-whole-world Poppyseeds! And the town Debi lives in, Snohomish, is the cutest 'lil town I've ever seen.

Annies on First (in Snohomish) has a delightful array of vintage-inspired decor for the home and garden and beautiful antiques.  Click on the photo to see the window…it is in a easy-breezy summer nautical theme of vintage boats.

Two doors down is Faded Elegance.  It felt like home when I walked in.  Vintage, shabby, chippy, chenille, garden decor, gilded, candles, crowns, florals…all the looks I adore…wrapped in one beautiful shop.  Owner Kimberly is really sweet, and has a great eye for beautiful home decor.

Last but not least, Linda, one of the "Funky Junk Sisters" rounded out the list of shopping pleasures with places to go in Puyallup.  I stopped there on the way home but it was the 4th of July and the shops were closed!    I've got the next FJS show on my radar for October, I know I'll see all of these gals there.  And I’ll hit the shops I missed…

THANK YOU ladies, you made the long trip up to Vancouver BC delightful.  I’ll think of each of you and the fun I had as I unpack all the goodies I found along the way.,.many of them will be in my July offerings at Room With A Past next week. 

Blessings!

Mandi

Happy Fourth of July!

I attended "Betsy Ross Elementary School" in Anaheim, CA. This sweet picture always reminds me of the celebrations we had growing up...always with fireworks, and ALWAYS grateful for being able to celebrate our freedom!

Hurray for the Red, White and Blue!!!

Mandi