Christmas & Disneyland

{my family in 1958 at Disneyland}

{me at Disneyland for my 53rd birthday 11/25/09, this was before my daughter told me my birthday buttons looked like pasties...I moved them! LOL}

Growing up in the late 50's, Disneyland was every child's dream. If you were lucky enough to have grown up in southern California it was often more then a dream. If you were really lucky, your parents saved their nickles & dimes & once a year would pack up the kids, throw them in the back of the station wagon {without seat belts} & drive to Anaheim to go to the Happiest Place on Earth & if you were really, really lucky, your Daddy worked there!

{excerpt from a past post}

I was born in Long Beach, CA because my Father joined the Marines right out of his High School in Illinois & was stationed in Oceanside. With the VA Bill he was able to go to college & buy our 1st house, but he worked 2 jobs to support his family & we never went without, a gift. One of his jobs was working at Disneyland as a janitor back when Disneyland & the idea of amusement parks was brand new. My brother & I kept empty mayonnaise jars on our dresser. Every morning when we woke up the jars would be filled to the brim with shiny pennies, nickles & dimes. I would find a Disneyland pen light in my jar, while John might find a pop gun or giant pencil in his & of course we would always get TICKETS! Long after the rides had closed for the night & the smiling, sleepy children & worn out parents left the park, my Father swept Main Street. He cleaned the bathrooms & the shops & arcade that lined the street. He worked through the early morning hours while we were home asleep in our beds & at the end of his shift the work crew would divide up the remnants of abandoned toys & lost change & take them home to their children. Every morning when we awoke it was like Christmas!

{Susie 51 years later at Disneyland with Courtney}

Disneyland has always been the Happiest Place on Earth to me, it still is! So when I leave this earthbound form & finally, truly have my wings, scatter a few of my ashes in the flower beds surrounding Disneyland...I'll be smiling in heaven, wearing my Micky Mouse Ears!!! ;)

Lambs & Ivy Boutique, My Other Home

{texture provided by me & graphics by The Graphic Fairy}

If you've been following along with me for a while, you already know I own a small boutique here in Crestline high atop the mountains of Southern California. My shop is many things to me. It's my home away from home, my art studio, my business, my job & my pride. {I am a woman entrepreneur trying to make it in an economic environment that would intimidate even the most seasoned businessman.}
Don't you love these vintage Christmas ornaments I have in the shop displayed in un-polished sterling silver serving bowls?
I decided to put all my sterling silver out un-polished this season, I'm just loving the pure shabbiness of it all!
My dear friend Lucy of 'by the hill' makes some of the most gorgeous domino pendants! Here is a small sampling of the ones I was working on today at the shop. {we had our 1st snow last night, so it was a lovely day for creating} Yes Lucy, I was proud of myself...I even got my fingertips really dirty!
The pieces below I made just for me, an altered composition book to keep all my consignee's information in & my new pocket, 2010 calender. If I'm going to be using it & looking at it everyday, I want it to be lovely & represent a piece of who I am. I want it to bring me joy, because friends...I believe to find joy in the smallest of things is simply put, the road to a happy life!
Now, I haven't completely conquered this philosophy myself, LOL, but I try everyday to appreciate the gifts in life that I do have. Oh yeah...the whole reason I wrote this post in the 1st place, how do you like the little logo I made in Photoshop for my shop 'Lambs & Ivy'? I wanted to create something in black & white just for fun & then I'll make another 1 in color too...it's good practice for my new acquired Photoshop Super Powers!:) Have a Wonderful Sunday Friends!!!

An Early Thanksgiving with Warts & All

This Thanksgiving is going to be a little different then the usual. My daughter & grandson will be off enjoying the day with friends & my Dad has decided to take the rest of us out for our Thanksgiving Feast. That sounds yummy enough, but a bird must still be cooked & some stuffing must still be stuffed & a pumpkin pie must still be cut, right! 

With all this in mind, I hatched a plan to make my traditional dinner here at home with just the 4 of us a weekend early. A simple affair, with no extra fuss. Easy Peasy was my thought, as Jenny Doh always says on her blog.

All morning I have been working on the turkey & stuffing & my famous Cranberry Jello Salad. {it really is soooo good} For years I've been collecting Johnson Brothers dishes & even though I know better, I mainly use them for the holidays or when I want to create an extra special dining experience. But for this occasion I had planned to just use our regular, everyday 'stuff'. As the morning progressed, my beautiful dishes in the cupboard & plate rack were calling my name. My turkey platter was looking down at me from atop the cabinets & asking "Why?" So, in mid game, I changed gears & went for the 'Half Monty'.

I washed & dried all the dishes by hand, set the table as quickly as possible, grabbed my camera & thought, "This could be a wonderful post for my blog. I will document the beauty of this family moment for all to see & later, I'll be able to look back at this day & cherish it always."

Not so much...

The house was smelling fabulous, the turkey was brown, the mashed potatoes were mashed, Robert was busy making gravy, all was right in the world. I was thinking about the pictures I would take of my glorious meal with images of my loving family surrounding me. "What kind of blessing should I say?" I thought, "I want them all to know how very much they mean to me." Now I gotta tell you, at this point I'm starting to feel a little exhausted. I had been watching Kai all day while I was preparing this feast & my back was starting to ache just a tad.

As we gathered round our holiday table I asked Robert to come over & carve the bird, but since he was doing the final touches on the gravy he told me to "crave it myself." OK, suddenly my perfect little 50's moment was starting to come unraveled. I said, "But, the man of the house is suppose to crave the turkey." in my sweetest 1950's June Clever voice. To which he replied, "The woman of the house is suppose to make the gravy, but it doesn't work that way here, right." Now, I assume that comment came from the fact that I really don't cook & therefore couldn't make the gravy even if I wanted to. Kai, who hadn't napped all day, is now tossing his chips into the other plates. As if in slow motion, I watch as everyone sits at the table & without as much as a 'thanks', starts chowing down. In my mind I thought "But what about my special little blessing? You're all ruining it, how can I take pictures of this glorious meal, if it's all hacked up?" Still standing & doing my very best to keep it together, I continued to try & carve the damn bird. My technique sucked & because it was so damn moist, it's fallin apart as I try to get it from platter to plate. Robert announces, "Don't forget the stuffing.", which of course I had forgotten. He kindly left the table, got a spoon & a bowl & came over to help empty this poor turkey's stuffing, bloated belly. I softly murmur to him, with teeth ever so slightly clenched, "Get away from the bird!"

 I LOST it! I have no idea what came over me! At this point my daughter starts laughing hysterically & says "Grandma always said, it isn't Christmas 'til somebody cries." We had just bought Kai, 'Shrek's Christmas' & this was one of Donkey's words of wisdom. Out of the mouths of babes, right! {ok...she's 27, but she's still my baby} I know, I know... it's not the turkey or the platter, it's not the place settings or the photo ops, nor is it the special little blessing that give us the glow of the holidays. It's the love & imperfections of our own families that fill us with joy & laughter & makes this life so rich & so worth living! I'll try my best to remember this lesson for the next time & for now I will laugh & learn to love myself, warts & all!

I Can't Believe I've Written 100 Posts, A Yippeeee Give-away!

{image by flickr Ted Reynolds}

Yippeee, I can't believe I've written 100 posts...Congratulations to me!!! When my journey into blogland began, I had no idea that this would feel so much like home. I had no idea that the friends I would make here would end up, in many ways, knowing the real me better then many of my closest friends & family do. 100 posts ago, I had no idea I would feel comfortable enough to reveal so much of myself & I could never have imagined the generosity of spirit that I've found here within my 'blog family'! In celebration of my 100th Post, I will be doing a small Give-away...

A framed 5"x7" limited numbered print of my original digital art piece made for the Mad Tea Party Mail Art's, 'Mad Hatter's Yuletide Soiree'. {this is an 'Alice in Wonderland' themed site, as you can probably tell} To enter this Give-away all you need do is comment to this post any time between now & November 25th {my birthday, another yippee}. I will draw a name from a hat Thanksgiving morning, talk about old school, and announce the winner in my Holiday Blog. Thank you friends for making this one of my favorite places to play & I hope you have a weekend filled with family, friends & laughter!