This is why she's my friend. :)

Sooooo my mail just came, and I could see the new gal trying to force the mail into my tiny mailbox, and I thought, Seriously...maybe there's a birthday card in there that you're folding all up and that doesn't make me happy.  Well, there wasn't a birthday card, and at least no bills either, no biggie!  I'm good without all that stuff....but then she came back.  With a bag.  And dropped it by my door.  What!?!?

It is from CAMILLE!  I just love that I've been able to 'meet' her, she really is the best!  I knew the yarn was coming, but not all the rest!!! 

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  LOVE!  (please ignore the rumpled blanket in the back.....this is my couch blanket that is filthy!  haha)

This yarn is soooo fun!  And it sparkles!  Must.Find.Project!

Now this picture makes me laugh and tear up a bit.  This cameo pin is one I saw a million days ago on Camille's Etsy in a set of other pins/broaches.  Well, one day that whole set came down, so I sent a tweet asking about it and she said she would have to look for it...well she found it!  And guess what it is on!  A crochet chain!  I'm soooo proud of her and what she's teaching herself with crochet!

(isn't my guard kitty cute!  this is how he stands when I have just the store door open....)

It is my birthday, and I'll *GIVE* stuff if I want to!

So far today I've picked up breakfast for my old boss/close friend and took it to her at her new job.  I bought stuff for my swap with one of gals on Ravelry.  Oh, yeah, and I also picked up some stuff for a little package to be sent to Camille!  She and I have quickly become long distance besties!  I just love her attitude towards just about everything in life, she has the positivity towards things that I wish I had most days!  Everything I packed up for her quite literally made me chuckle a little bit and think of her so I hope she loves it all!!  I took a picture of everything before I sealed the box (but, sorry, I totally forgot to write a note to put inside!  haha!)

Wait, what?  You actually thought I was going to show you what I sent?  hahahaha I'm *NOT* ruining that surprise! 

Bookworm Wednesday! (v.1)

The Mitford Sisters fascinate me for some reason.  I think I'm amazed because for all of their closeness, they have issues, they have heavily disagreeing view points on some major issues....yet, they are still sisters.  In the Mitford family there were 6 girls and 1 boy spaced out over a very large window of time.  

The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate is written by Nancy Mitford.  She was one of a few of authors from the family.  This book is also the one that opened my eyes to the Mitford family since she draws heavily from them when writing the characters.  I went through a time where I wanted nothing but vintage books, and that's when I picked this one up.  If you like romance, if you like family stories, if you like the romanticism of writers from the early 1900's then definitely pick this one up!

Wait for Me! is a dear favorite of mine as it is written by one of the youngest sisters, Deborah; being the youngest myself, I can relate to quite a bit about her younger years!  She later became a duchess, and seriously, who doesn't want to be some type of royalty as a little girl?  She also ended up with close ties to "American Royalty" the Kennedy's.  A true autobiography, you really see how she felt about some of the more important times in her family -- her sister's attempted suicide, a sister running away from home to Spain to be married in secret, etc.

The Mitfords: Letters Between Sisters is a collection of letters from the sisters that is edited by one of their granddaughters.  She pulled together a very concise collection of them, again, a lot of them coming from the highly important times in their lives.  I adore this book because I can pick it up and put it down whenever I choose because the letters are broken up into sets that go along with the major milestones in the girls' lives.  

I *LOVE* the family even through all of the turmoil; I mean seriously, two stopped speaking for the rest of their lives because of differing political viewpoints....I highly recommend any of these if you like drama, family, love, and so much more!

oh!  And I just have to share what I had for lunch!  Camille will get a kick out of this! haha

My Birthday.

My birthday makes me nervous.  Hands down one of the most stressful days for me.  Not because I'm getting older, that isn't it at all; well, ok, maybe a little.  I hate being the center of attention.  HATE it.  And everyone keeps asking me what I want to do....and I don't have an answer for them!  My family doesn't really celebrate birthdays.  Not kidding, I only remember one of my birthdays celebrated with extended family...and even then the only birthday related thing was the cake that we always had after dinner was the one I picked for once.  That's about it.  When I was a teenager, we were not even home for my birthday.  My mom would take my sister and I to Florida for that week but not because of my birthday, just because the airfare is really cheap for that week for whatever reason.  We wouldn't celebrate while we were down there.  It was always just another day.  My mom never made us birthday cakes for us kids, we didn't get presents, it was just.another.day.

When I got older, I just continued the practice of not making a big deal about it.  When Heather was here, we would do a dinner and go out with the girls for our joint birthday bash, and she always made that day really special.  We were so close, we thought the same way about stuff, we were so close in age, we grew up in the same type of home/area.  So, when my birthday rolled around after she passed away, I didn't do anything.  I couldn't.  I stayed home.  Last year Tony took me to dinner but that was about it.  And this year, the girls are forcing me to go out but I was supposed to be in Maine for this whole week with my mom -- those plans changed real quick when I lost my job....I picked the restaurant and Elizabeth picked out the rest of the stuff.  I hope I can get through it without too much drama.  The weathermen are saying that will be the best day of the week, sunny and mid-60's.  Honestly though, I don't expect gifts from anyone, or cards even, it is just another day, right?

How did you celebrate your birthday as a kid?  How do you do it now?

Book Swap

I've sent messages to all of you that asked to be a part of the Book Swap!  Please let me know if you have any questions at all!!!

Giveaway!

Ok, so I've been thinking about giveaways a lot lately!  I adore all the readers I've gotten (all four of you are awesome haha) and I want to show my appreciation.....with that feeling, when I get to, oh, let's say 10 followers then I will do a drawing of those 10 for something special!  Maybe by then I have made something cute, adorable, sweet, and wanted!  Let me know what you think about that!

Book Swap!

I will be working on the round robin list when I get back to town tomorrow, so you have until then to email me about joining the book swap!  prajaline [at] gmail [dot] com :)