"The Chunky Mermaid"

Hello all! I hope everyone is having a good day and enjoying getting ready for the holidays! In anticipation of gift giving, I thought I would put the spotlight on a fine little Etsy store: THE CHUNKY MERMAID. It's proprietor is my blogging buddy, Anne, who makes beautiful signs! Here's a little description of Anne's shop: "The Chunky Mermaid's handmade wooden signs are a delightful way to add a special touch to your home...a unique way of celebrating any special events...and don't forget, they even make wonderful gifts! Plus, they are all 100% handmade in the great state of Texas!"

Here's a beautiful sign that I purchased from Anne for my own kitchen. I love it!
And here's more examples of signs currently for sale in Anne's Etsy shop:

Here's a sign like mine, in green, that is for sale in Anne's shop:

CUSTOM SIGNS... Anne also does "custom" signs! How about a beautiful "name" sign for your daughter or granddaughter? Isn't the one below so pretty? She can also do a boy's name, of course, in the color of your choice. See more of Anne's custom signs below...

So head on over to THE CHUNKY MERMAID to check out Anne's signs! Please click on her logo below and you will be taken directly there!

Best,

Gloria

Christmas Decorations Revisited!

Happy Sunday to all! I decided to join Chari's Happy to Design blog for her 127th "Sunday Favorites" party. One can post a PREVIOUS post they'd like to share! And since I am NOWHERE NEAR having anything ready for Christmas, I thought I'd share this xmas vignette from last year. Hope you enjoy. And thanks, Chari, for allowing me to join your Sunday Favorites Party!

Best,
Gloria
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Post from December 2010:
Happy Holidays! I thought I would take some photos of my kitchen Christmas decorations. Hope you like the photos -- they came out in different "hues" so I figured I'd include them as they came out. Some of them look prettier than others!

Oh, and the little red house was made for me as a gift from Caroline from the "Shop Cinderella Moments" blog. She also made the clothespins that you will see in the photos below. (Visit her shop on Etsy - "Cinderella Moments." She has beautiful things, especially her doll houses.)

Here's beautiful clothespins again made by Caroline @ Etsy/Cinderella Moments -- and adorable little mini mittens, which I purchased from another Etsy shop (Etsy/ArtbyAna). Aren't they the cutest things??

I hope you enjoyed my little kitchen decorations!

Happy Holidays!

Gloria

Happy 21st Birthday to my Son!

Greetings -- I mentioned in a previous post that my son turned 21 recently, so I wanted to share a few photos! I took him out to dinner for his birthday to a local, casual restaurant, then we came home to a home-made cake that I made for him. (I am not much of a baker... I like to cook, but baking and cake decorating is not my forte! Which you will see below. LOL!)

Before his birthday photos though, I wanted to show you a couple of pictures of where he works. I had to bring him something recently, so I took a couple of pics as I waited for him. He works as a chef at the golf course restaurant in our town. The restaurant is open to the public too. It's a very nice place. (Sorry for the dark photos...)

Here he is, coming down the hill to meet me (he is in his chef's coat...)

Now here are the photos, where we ate at this other cute little restaurant for his birthday. Here he is having his first "legal" cocktail! LOL! He had Scotch on the rocks, I had a Manhattan straight up.

For appetizers, we ordered the Nachos and the Spinach-Artichoke Dip. And I MUST say that my son's spinach-artichoke dip that he makes is ten times better than the one that we had here! --His nachos are better too ;)

Here's one that he took of 'yours truly' -- I regret not thinking of asking the waitress to take one of us together! Oh well...

Do you like his shirt? (talk about dressing casual!) As many of you remember, we are originally from Brooklyn, New York, so I got this shirt for him. You can't see it, but in each letter, all the different 'neighborhoods' of Brooklyn are written in tiny letters!

This is a face that says: "Still with the pictures? OK, enough already..."

I forgot to take pics of our entrees... He had a steak, and I can't even remember what I had... isn't that sad?? Anyway, we both ordered Irish Coffee... The one we got is called "The Nutty Irishman" and it is SO delicious. It is made with Irish whiskey, Bailey's Irish Cream, Frangelico, and something else, I forget. I always get it at this place, I love it!

Here we are, back home and here's his cake!!

And here you can see proof of why I said that cake decorating is not my strong suit. :) I hope he made a good wish!

Hope you enjoyed the photos and thanks for visiting!

Best,

Gloria

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Friends:
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you all have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and that you are blessed to eat so much turkey, gravy, stuffing, and delicious side dishes that you will be ready to burst. :)
As we all think of how grateful we are this Thanksgiving, I wanted to share that my greatest blessing is my son... I always tell him that he is the best son in the whole world because I want him to always know how much I appreciate him every day. And how grateful I am that the good Lord has blessed me with giving birth to this wonderful, loving, generous child. (He had his 21st birthday recently, so he's certainly not a child anymore -- I will do a post soon with some photos!)
I also wanted to include this poem below that my cousin, Veronica, sent me. She has been so good to me over the years. Veronica, and her husband & sons, are a true blessing to me.
When I read this poem, I also include appreciating YOU, all of my blogging friends. I am grateful for your friendship and your visits to my blog, and for your kind and wonderful comments. God bless all of you and have a wonderful holiday!
Best,
Gloria

I’m Thankful for You
Thanksgiving is the appointed time for focusing on the good in our lives.

In each of our days, we can find small blessings, but too often we overlook them, choosing instead to spend our time paying attention to problems.

We give our energy to those who cause us trouble, instead of those who bring peace.

Starting now, let’s be on the lookout for the bits of pleasure in each hour, and appreciate the people who bring love and light to everyone who is blessed to know them.

You are one of those people.

On Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Joanna Fuchs

Note: Postcard photo courtesy of Karen at The Graphics Fairy (http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/)