Another Pretty Thing

My Mom is a lampwork bead artist and she's really, really talented. She spends many hours in her studio creating things with glass that my mind can't even wrap around. She sells her beads in a couple shops and I've been trying to get her to open an Etsy shop...maybe someday. In the meantime, I'll dazzle you with one of her latest pieces, which happens to also be my birthday gift from her. Isn't it pretty?! It's kinda like that "ship in a bottle" thing - how'd she get that bead on that old key?

I'm Having a Bird Moment

I'm really in to Birds right now, which is a good thing because they're everywhere!  I've never seen so many choices of fabrics with birds on them (see soon-to-be post about some really irresistible spring fabric I have) and there are birds on everything from shower curtains to clothing to furniture.


Boy, would I love a piece of furniture with a bird on it for my living room...Oh, look! I found the perfect thing at my favorite haunt - Marshalls! Isn't it adorable?? It's so perfect I can't stand it. And, it was such a bargain, I won't even tell you how little I spent on it - you'd be too jealous.

Hmmmmm, now if I only had some really cute pillows to go in that room (ahem, Sara???)

A Mary Bag for Mary

Monday was my dear friend Mary's Birthday.

Mary and I met almost 19 years ago at my future husband's Grad School graduation. She was an alumni from the same school and was there for a mutual friend who was also graduating. We shared a few hours in a crowded college bar and I remember that I liked her immediately but never considered that I would ever see her again after that day.

Three months later, Steve and I had comfortably relocated to Madison and were busy getting the hang of our exciting new city. In a crazy moment of some type of divine intervention, Mary and I bumped into each other at the local mall and the rest, as they say, is history.

And what a history it's been. We are lucky to have the kind of friendship you read about in a really good book - two women who have shared hours of side-splitting laughter and buckets full of tears, only getting better with age and the wisdom we pass from one to the other.

Mary has become much more a sister to me than a friend. I am so thankful and so happy to be on this journey with her, where our story will most definitely have a happy ending.

Happy Birthday, my friend!

Girly Cupcakes, For Me?

Tomorrow is my birthday and Steve will, sadly, be out of town. Concerned that I won't have a proper celebration in his absence, he trekked through the snow to find beautiful girly cupcakes. I'm so happy! The boys are hoping I'll share but I don't know...