Shows, Baby Shower, and 6 hours of standing still in traffic with Black Ice on the Roads

Well, the Home Show and Bake Sale were successful. I was pleased , considering the economy. I thought that I'd have time to relax, but NOOOOO, it's been a whirlwind!

Serge and I visited my darling niece and her hubby, the wonderful Jason. What a' head on the right way' couple! They're due with No. 1 in January, and we are all soooo excited!!! Their new house was 2 hrs. away, so we stopped in at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, so I could check out Urban Outfitters, which my kids like so much. I liked it, but would've preferred less of the 'In your Face' descriptives. I guess I'm an old fuddy-duddy. I just like my language a little clean , thank you. But , it did have interesting goodies. Then it was on to their new house. It is sooo nice in a lovely neighborhood, kind of' in the country' a bit. It is a 6 yr. old home that looks brand new. They surely lucked out! This super couple play Santa and the Mrs. and go into the poorest areas in Baltimore, and bring toys and gifts, and dinners to some of the poorest there. They are truly Amazing and Inspiring. I could write a whole book on them.

After coming home late I wrapped gifts til even later!

Well the next day was Tina's surprise Baby Shower. Jason had her going til the end when they drove up to the restaurant, and Tina saw the cars. She's no dummy folks. She's got a basketball in there, and is doing a super job taking caring of the baking! The shower was fab, as Mom/sister-in-law Ana always manages to do, and to do with great ease. She is sooo talented. But, more on her later. The food was great, and the cake was from Sugarbakers, so if you are Baltimore area/Catonsville area folks, you'll know how great it was.

It started to snow before we left, and when we hit Rte. 70, we heard of all the accidents and cars were off to the side of the road, all over the place. Too bad the news didn't tell us about this major road being CLOSED. We sat 35 min's away from home for 6 HOURS!!!!! It took 7 hrs. all together, for a trip that should've taken 1 hr. 15 min. at the most!!!EHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Then the battery went - but I was lucky to flag down a tow truck who just happened to be going in reverse. He jumped us, then ran off. There were 4 of us in the car. There was quiet, there was yelling and screaming, there was laughing and finally giddiness. There was NO ONE to say anything, to help , or ANYTHING!!! Today, I heard of a few people who also were stuck in this mess. They said that they couldn't get salt trucks to us. What a load of crock! There was a multiple car pile-up. Somebody's rear better be on the line for this debacle!

We made it home fine, and I found out my battery was good and strong. We're lucky we didn't get in the crash. You have to count your blessings when these type of odd situations happen. Everything for a reason! We had leftovers from the party, so we ate a yummy dinner in the car at 9:30 at night. Lucky us. We held a blanket when us girls used the 'facilities'.

I just vegged yesterday.

Well, here are a few pictures from the Home Show. I forgot my camera both days for the Kris Kringle Show, where I met wonderful people and artists. More later.

First picture is of the outside- not a great picture, but it did look very nice. Next is above our front door. Before Ken went in for brain surgery, Tina and Jason held a surprise party for Ken at my brother's house with his lovely wife and great friend, Ana. Tina and Jason made these power cards , which are in different rooms around the house-Faith, Strength, Courage and Risk, Love, and the final one is above the front door-KICK ASS- to remind Ken of his job with this lung cancer. :) There is a great definition that goes with it. I'll have to share it some time.

Then there's a poor picture looking into our living room, but you get the picture. Nice and creamy light. Then the stars hanging in the dining room, and lastly the mostly jewelry table in the kitchen, near the delectable Bake Sale goodies(the latter are not visible here-suffice it to say that they were scrumptious, and looked fabulous:) )

Later Aligator! xo

You're Invited!

WINTER WONDERLAND HOME SHOW and BAKE SALE! If you're in the neighborhood, Please Come! Just email me for particulars:) at: lydiaohlydiaart@yahoo.com

See you at the Show!

xo Lydia

PS- The goodies are so delicious! We're talking, all homemade by WONDERFUL Greek, Serbian, Russian, etc. Bakers! Tarts, Russian Tea Cakes, Cakes, Baklava.... and we can take orders for certain items. ..and there might be a free, yummy, sample or two:)

Oncology & Anthropologie & Misc. Pictures Too

So after driving 1 1/2 hrs. to my husband's oncology appt. , I went to Anthropologie to get a little Eye Candy. Their sale eye candy was fine for my kids' bathroom cabinet knobs. The oncology situation for later.

What was even better than 3 beautiful ceramic knobs at a couple bucks each, was the conversation I struck up with 2 women at the sale table.We were oohin' and ahhin' over a few items and immediately started to talk. Terri and Stephanie, if you visit, the plates ended up being half off of the price listed :) What a deal.:)

We had the nicest time! Stephanie was getting her 25 cents worth of eye candy while her very well behaved 3 younger children were within view.Terri's kids are out of the house and shared with us some artsy ideas with the Anthropologie goodies . And I asked if they blogged. Stephanie does, and Terri's being persuaded to get an Etsy space by a friend for her artwork.We shared info, and what a nice time we all had, at a sale table.

I actually found THE perfect work table there for my as yet unfinished studio in my basement. It was exactly what I envisioned, a ten foot long vintage counter height 'farm' style table with great legs, a shelf underneath, and it even had 4-6 drawers! It was so perfect I had to text my oldest daughter and my hubby.Trouble is, it was $12,800.00. Yep- you read that right:) I texted them the price to give them a laugh. Ah, well, it's amazing what one can do with plywood and a bunch of nails:) I actually have one beautiful old oak table that I picked up from a church . It's not counter height, only 5 ft. long, has no shelf or drawers, but it's a great table to start 'til I find what I need/want. And it only cost $25- , my kind of bargain.

The funny thing is, I think I was supposed to meet these fine ladies and have a nice talk. You see, I always come in (the 2-3 times a year that I visit) and go straight to the right where the household section is -cool knobs, neat books, vintage remade display pieces... Instead, I went to the left where the clothing was, saw the great table, admired some of the clothing, and landed upon the sale table, Stephanie, and Terri. When we finished our conversation, I turned to the back to see what was there for the bedding. I observed a beautiful white comforter that was gathered all over with these little flimsy wooden(?) buttons, and thought, "How in the world do you wash this thing". I turned around to say something to the other 2 women, and they were gone. And I thought, if I had come in the other side, I probably would not have met them at that moment, and had that friendly encounter. Makes you wonder.

The little red plastic shoe is vintage. It was my Mom's and I love it. It looks like 2 different backgrounds, but it's just the lighting. I like the red and white look picture better, although neither is a really good picture of it. I have these new little ones that I want to paint to mimic. One of those little things that I may make into some party decoration or something.

The collaged little notebook, (not the best picture), is actually pretty cute with my polka dot girl, as we call her. I had to drill into the cover to get the flowers through, and then, covered the inside cover with paper and more flowers that actually hold down nice and flat. It's all tied with a pretty velveteen ribbon. I make things like this when I don't have much time. It keeps my hands busy, and my mind settled. And they make nice little gifts. My girls come 'shopping' when they need things in a pinch.

My Mom could never go anywhere without bringing something, and she would always say, "Ya nye mogu ityee s golami rukami", which in Russian means, "I can't go with naked arms/hands". (..ie- empty handed).

My Dad would always want to be on time, and my Mom would always do this last minute, holding things up. I have 1 offspring who's very similar. The girls and I almost never go empty-handed. Funny how some things get passed down from one generation to the next.

And the Andy Warhol style pic is of my son -forever the ham.It's on my Mac with its Web Cam. The mess on the table is some artwork leftover from the home show/bake sale that I had last Dec. (bake sale portion to benefit our little church-btw-it was gorgeous and delicious!).