i bought some old school flags a few weeks ago at my favorite antique shop. this weekend i scattered them about in different places around the house to remind us of the holiday. this one on my front door is still hanging on despite the many door slams and one hard hit by a water balloon. i hope you all had a great long weekend!

i had a friend ask me recently about paint colors. she is painting her powder room. if you read back in my blog's archives, i've listed most of my paint color favorites. some may be found in the comments, but i'm pretty sure they are all covered. i really love paint. i would even start my own paint line if i knew how to do it. sadly, some of my favorite paints are no longer in existence :( martha stewart is no longer at sherwin williams and french general no longer carries their paint on-line. you can, however, still find my powder room paint. it is called relaxed khaki by sherwin williams. i think it is a great color. just basic, like a good pair of khakis. hey, what a perfect name :)

i got tagged by lovely denise. :)
here goes...

1. i was born on memorial day weekend, so i am thinking when i die, i will be really remembered.
2. i like to go karaoke on my birthday. i feel people have to let me sing the most and put up with my voice since it is my birthday (thanks, friends).
3. i have been addicted to rosie.com for a good year. i love her. but, girl, don't mess with my elisabeth.
4. i e-mail my grandmother most every night.
5. my grandmother, my daughter, and i share the same name.
6. i was a teacher before i had children.
7. i have chronic back pain.
8. i like anything with jalepenos.
9. my son is obsessed with puzzles. right now we have about twenty puzzles completed all over the upstairs. i just cleaned them all up yesterday. he started over. and these aren't "kid" puzzles, most of them have 100-200 pieces. he is four. i am tired (see #7).
10. i hate peanut butter.

- i missed sewing class yesterday. i was sad to miss it, but i had to attend a kindergarten field trip. so no new shams. bummer.

- my husband has the stomach flu. i am totally paranoid that i will get it. or worse yet, one of the children will get it - yikes!

- it is getting hot outside. i am a summer person, but i am not quite in the mood for a swimsuit.

- tomorrow is my daughter's last day of kindergarten. i'm trying to deny it, but the truth is, it makes me very sad.

- my refrigerator is a northstar for those of you who asked.

- my birthday is coming up. i am still 33.

- have you been watching the view? my goodness.

- i am charging my camera right now. i want to show you something i got at target.

- hey, i just noticed my flickr is gone. where did it go? and all of my links are different too. ugh. computers. now what do i do?


** camera is charged: here is what i got at target. a utensil pack with four different designs. totally cath kidston, aren't they? fun fun :)

i play bunco. i play with a group of women in my neighborhood. we take turns hosting out of our homes. two weeks ago, i went to a beautiful home and while i was sitting at the kitchen table i started laughing out loud as i looked around. i turned to the lady next to me and i said, "sometimes, when i go to other people's homes, i feel like a little kid." let me explain. the hostess and i are about the same age. her home is amazing and grand and castle-like. her husband is a builder and they use their home as a showcase in many respects. it is stone and brick and her front door weighs more than a small car. her kitchen island is about thirty feet long. there is dark wood and granite and gorgeous heavy draperies. all of the chairs are oversized and the dining room table is so slick and polished that when i set my coaster down, it went flying across the table like an air hockey puck. i appreciated the beauty of this fine home, the builder really does nice work, but i felt very small in it. and i got the giggles when i thought about what i wanted for my birthday to put in my butler's pantry:





what will the bunco ladies think when i tell them i buy things to decorate my home at pottery barn teen?



...

this is minnie's refrigerator, as in minnie mouse. have you seen her house? it is everything a cottage should be...fun, colorful and happy with unexpected little delights around every corner. i took this picture several years ago. i was really impressed with minnie's taste. i wonder if she knows what an inspiration her sense of design has been to me? maybe i should send her a cheese basket.

some people like fancy cars and diamonds...okay, i do too, but more than those kinds of things, i like things like doors. and this weekend i found the perfect door. and i mean i got it bad for this door. when i saw it, i got all woozy over it. i took twelve pictures of it. i did not want to leave it. when i got home, i inquired about it and i found out this particular door costs $10,000. i am accepting donations. if you are interested in sponsoring me and my door, please contact me. all sponsors will receive pictures of the door at holiday times with its festive adornments, you will get immediate notice if/when any famous people knock on the door, and you will also receive updates on big milestones, anniversaries and achievements met by the door. this is a fabulous opportunity. my door and i thank you in advance for your support. :)

did i forget to tell you about these?

i'm sure you've heard/seen that yellow is "the color" this spring, but i'm kind of a rebel when it comes to the style gods telling me what i'm supposed to like. so in this non-conforming spirit, i declare my spring color to be: fruit punch. kind of orange, kind of red. maybe that's so two years ago, but it is looking good and happy against my blues, so i'm sticking with it. i even got this shirt today to celebrate.

my grandfather and my son have this special little bond. i don't know how it happened, but they make each other laugh like mischevious school friends. i love this picture of the two of them.

remember when i wrote that i cried at the aj/b&d concert? this is why:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jLA06UmFg0s

they played this song. i had heard it before, but it hit me out of nowhere that night. i sobbed a good healthy sob, then i did the boot scootin' boogie :)

i learned a good while back that in monochromatic design, messes just don't look that bad. :)

my friend, meg, inspired me. blue! i'm shocked.

this is it. my very first ever homegood. it is an oversized sham that can be removed and laundered (i think). my dear little teacher allowed me to use some antique buttons from her back closet.




i have class again tomorrow. working on my next sham. i might start a sham business.



my name is bethy, i am a seamstress.
hehe :)

i met two friends for lunch today at a delightful little cafe with the kind of food that makes you feel at peace with the earth. fresh, sprouty food. one friend i have known for ages, the other is a new one. she is friends with my friend. get it? sometimes that doesn't always work. different people bring out different traits in each other, so these things have been known to be awkward at times. but this meeting was not like that. it was peaceful and wonderful. these ladies are busy ladies...moms, entrepreneurs, movers and shakers. but this monday lunch was as pleasant as a lazy day on a porch swing. i felt honored they took the time to relax with me. :)

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

i don't want to hurt your feelings, but last night while brooks and dunn were singing, i thought to myself: if you don't like country music, something might be wrong with you. really, i just love it so much. jolene, i did dance ( a lot), ashley, they did play 'my maria,' and sle, you are going to have a great time tonight! not only did i dance, i sang, i cried, and i probably annoyed a lot of people during aj's 'living on love' when, yes, i sang every single last word as loud as i my voice would let me. sorry, section a peeps :)

yippee! look what came yesterday!!



just in time for the weekend! we are going out tomorrow night. but i will not be wearing these new bonanno's. no sir-ee, y'all!

look what i will be wearing:



any guesses where i am off to?

thanks, kellie. i will play. :)

1. my favorite color to wear is brown. i have always favored brown shoes to black and i am sure i always will. i like it when my children wear brown clothes and i love it when my husband wears it.
2. i haven't grown up when it comes to mcdonalds happy meals, crayola crayons, or hide and go seek. one time right before i was married, i flew to maui and i took a barbie coloring book along and colored during the whole flight with my own big box of 64 colors. it was wonderful.
3. my mom calls me teeny bean.
4. if i had another daughter i would name her frances or francina.
5. when i got married, my bridesmaids all wore ivory satin just like i did.
6. i grew up just outside of dc. when i was in high school, i used to ride the metro into the city by myself to go shopping. i would never do that now.
7. right now, you know what is bugging me? i have this great big sheet of a glass mirror in my master bathroom and since we moved in i have wanted it gone. we have hired someone to come remove it, but he is taking too long to start the job. i am about to go in there and start whacking at it, but i am afraid i will get hurt.

**since this post was all about random-ness, i thought the picture i took tonight would suit. these were all things clustered on my kitchen counter at dinner time and i thought, oh, that looks kind of pretty. it's the little things in life :)

when i was a little girl, i sang a solo in front of my whole church. one of those BIG churches. it was a total surprise to my parents, they didn't know i had been practicing this old hymn with the choir director. and i didn't know what i was singing, i was just eight years old. the song, "standing on the promises," was just a bunch of words to me. in my third grade brain, i remember imagining myself literally standing on something. i had trouble with the promise, how do you stand on a promise? well, i have since learned.
i grew up in the faith. i accepted it blindly. but through the years, i have actively sought it, questioned it, and received it. i used to think of my belief system as a set of rules. that was easy for me, i am good with rules - i follow them:) but i know now faith is not about rules. it is about an attitude of surrender. it is accepting the gift of life realizing i am not in control and being okay with that. it is about saying thank you for my freedom, now what can i do for you?


when my nephew died, my heart broke. in the unbearable sadness, i have come closer to the God i always trusted and i am so grateful for the promises i was raised to stand on. the promises that include how we are precious to the one who made us and that he is with us always. in grief these things are tested, and i know they are true. God has held my hand.


someday this world will end for me. but i believe. and that means i have been promised more than i can imagine.


"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe." Ephesians 1:18-19

not long ago i won a contest over at the grosgrain garage. lisagh wrote that there was a prize involved. i'll admit, as an admirer of her needlepoint fobs, i was secretly hoping that would be the award. but i was not expecting what i received today. she made one specifically with me in mind. in my favorite colors, dotted with daisies, with my monogram! do i sound sappy if i tell you it brought tears to my eyes? i just love it. and i love her too :)

my internet is still working, so i thought i would share one more thing. do you have a crate and barrel? i used to throw the catalog out, so when a store opened here i did not run to the grand opening. but when i did finally pop in, i was very pleased. it has some great stuff! i got this pitcher. they have a large variety of slipcovered furniture too in nice tickings and blues. it was a very soothing store and a very nice surprise.

this is the kind of weekend we had. no trips, no events, nothing. just rest. it was very pleasant. :) my internet is very moody these days. on and off. mostly off. so i am going to post while i can. i am off to look at some retail space for another whimsical idea i've had. i'm full of ideas, we will see if anything comes of this one. :) sewing class tomorrow. i think i will make another euro sham. i am on a roll. okay, so i will be checking in with you as this machine allows. happy tuesday!!

i added some party lights to the screened porch. it seems so summer, doesn't it? we have had the perfect porch weather. i know it will get too hot soon, so we must enjoy while we can. :)