From Chaos Comes Happiness

Oh, dear . . . look at the time!!! I'm so sorry for being so late. It's been such a crazy busy day. I could go on and on and tell you about my wonderful shopping adventure at both Ikea and Costco today, or show you a picture of the new coffee mugs I bought. I could tell you about the traffic I was stuck in earlier this evening, or talk about how nasty rainy the weather was tonight. I have just about a million things I could write about... Oh, but let's get to the real reason we are here today, shall we?  It's Time to Announce the Winner of my  "Happy Day Give-Away!"  Yes, I've plugged in the names of those who left a comment on the give-away post in that handy dandy little Random.org site . . . hit the button to put them in random order . . . and here she is . . .   Congratulations Jen!!!   Here is what Jen said in her comment . . .  Oh, I think she sounds just lovely, don't you?  Jen, I am so excited that you wi...

There are moments in this life when I feel the breath actually come out of my body. When I gasp, and have to inhale deeply, then hold it for a few seconds as the air fills my soul. Moments when I stop, FOCUS, and actually feel my place in the universe. Moments when I am not bothered by the hustle and bustle and chaos of life around me. Moments when I can stop it all . . . and just . . . BE. As part of my "Word of the Year", FOCUS , I am doing a great deal of that lately. These moments, the ones that take my breath away, are so important right now. They are exactly what I need. Moments like . . .  . . . when I am driving down my favorite road and I look at the beauty around me. Even in freezing temperatures and on cloudy days, the snow covered trees looked painted on by the angels in heaven, and it took my breath away. What a beautiful world.         . . . when I catch a tender moment between a man and his daughters, it takes my breath...

Oh, what a Happy Day, my friends!!! The weather is crazy here in Chicago . . . we're talking CRAZY. I've been stuck in the house for about three days now. (Did I mention, WITH MY CHILDREN?) And right now, they are driving me about as crazy as the weather is. PG is on a business trip, and I'm starving for some adult conversation and creative time. I did manage to do some major organizing of my art studio today, hence the give-away (which I'll get to in a minute). But before that, I have to tell you about something absolutely fantabulous! Today IS a happy day . . . because a dear friend of mine wrote a book!! Did I tell you? Of course I didn't. Not yet. Because I didn't have it in my hot little hands yet. But I do now, my friends. I have the book. The very book that my dear friend wrote. MY friend. It just arrived late last night, and I just opened it. I can tell, already, that it is going to be fantabulous (which is sort of a joint "fantastic" and...

I bet you thought I forgot, didn't you? I bet you thought I'd never be back to announce our winners for the two picture frames I told you about last week. Well, never fear my friends!!! WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! The winners were selected from the  Random.org list generator. (I'm getting a  little fancier in my old age, aren't I? For those of you who have been around for one of my give-aways in the past, I have finally graduated from pulling names from a hat!) I received 12 comments on the give-away post last week, and one of our commentors (Lynn) mentioned that she also tweeted, facebooked and blogged about my giveaway, so she was entered twice! (I need to hire her to do my P.R., don't you think?) And please keep reading this post, even if you didn't win the frame. There is a special surprise at the bottom of the post for everyone!!! So, without any further delay . . . . can I have drumroll, please!!! The winner of the "Life is so much better with Love...

My friend Peggy told me last week that she doesn't like when I am quiet; when I don't blog; when I don't vlog; when I don't update facebook. All of that kind of stuff that used to happen like clockwork for me. She's right, you know? She knows me so well. Usually when I am quiet with my words, that means I am internalizing something or working through something in this dangerous mind of mine. Sometimes I feel as if I need to retract. It's ok. Really. It's all good. SO don't worry about me, ok?  Just know that I am working through some things. I'm here . . . checking in with all of you . . . reading all of your blogs (even though I am not commenting). I just need to be still for a little bit. Quiet. Breath. Focus. Dream. Believe. All of that. Now, to some GOOOOOOD stuff. This has been a really exciting week for me! Did I tell you? This May, I am participating in a really inspiring project with some WONDERFUL and amazing souls. You can read mor...

Oh, dear. Oh, me. Oh, my. I had a moment. You know. An ugly Mom moment. And while I'm sure that Halloween passed us by well over a month ago, I swear my head spun around and some green stuff flew out of my mouth. What brought it on? My children, of course. Well, not them . . . directly. More like, their actions. Well, not their actions . . . directly. More like, the mess they left in the basement. And the family room. And the living room. Oh, and the hall way. Yep. They were everywhere. And I could tell, you see, from the mess. I love these children. I really do. But 30 minutes before three mothers from the "Room Mom" group were expected at our home, I lost my cool. Yep, I did. Then, I had an epiphany. A realization, you see. That . . . I am not perfect. Who cares if the house wasn't "perfect". I am NOT perfect. Nope. I'm not. I'm actually far from it. My house? Nope. It's not perfect, either. And it's ok. All of it. Becau...

Wow . . . what an exciting time of year! Like all weeks, I've got lots of great things to share with you . . . lots of lessons learned this past week . . . lots of things to think about as the holiday season is upon us. Do you have your coffee (or tea) in hand? Pull up a chair . . . it's time to chat . . . Now . . . leave me a comment below, so you can win THIS pendant . . . I'd love for YOU to have it in your lovely hands as soon as possible! SO, leave a comment TODAY! (The winner will be drawn and announced on THURSDAY, December 8th!) Tweet it, facebook it, tell your friends to leave a comment on THIS POST to be entered!  Have a Magnificent Day! 

Hey Friends!!! Time for our weekly vlog! Before we begin, I actually have a couple corrections to announce . . . because my brain, quite frankly, has no idea what day today is!  I actually begin the vlog by saying it is Vlog #4 . . . when it really is Vlog #3! AND, at the end of the Vlog, I state that I will be back next week with Vlog #5 . . . when I'll really be back with Vlog #4! (Remember when I told you once that I was really bad with numbers? Here is proof that I was telling you the truth!) So, let our Magnificent Monday begin . . . Now, it's time to enter the GIVE AWAY!!! What am I giving away? Well . . . if you watched today's Vlog, you already know! But  . . . . in case you didn't see it, I'll share it with you. Leave a comment and you will be eligible to win this ORIGINAL Annalee Canvas piece: This piece is one of my very first Annalee sketches, and has great sentimental value to me as it was a bit of a pers...