Saturday, September 26, 2015

Too Pretty To Eat? Nah...

"That's it cupcake, you're going down."

~Rick Riordan
The Lost Hero

Dangerous? Yes! Necessary? Yes! Worth it? You bet!

Need I say more?

Go... skidaddle...Get Thee To A Bakery And Buy Yourself Something Delicious!

That's my advice for this weekend!

You're Welcome!





Leaf Of The Day
September 26th, 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)


Friday, September 25, 2015

Hoot... Hoot Hoot

"You are Mr. Owl. I am Ms. Hummingbird.
 We may be from different species but as long as you're a bird,
 I'm a bird too."

~Glad Munaiseche

Isn't this owl basket adorable? I found it at Michael's for 50% off, so I purchased two of them. Right now they are sitting in the living room, on the cubby stands we bought recently at IKEA. They bring a whimsical touch to the room, but let's face it, the add that autumn flavor as well. LOL. I have been becoming a fan of owls in the last couple years or so. The new key chain I treated myself to, after purchasing my Chevy Spark, has an antique-like owl on it, and over the summer I purchased a set of owl figurines, which I thought were just too dam cute to pass up! Also on the list of new owl objects is a set of four mugs which have different colored owls sitting in a rather bare tree. Okay. Yes. I guess it's official, I am now an owl person, which kinda makes me sound like I perch in barns late at night, and hunt small rodents. LOL. How about instead we say I am an owl enthusiast!



Leaf Of The Day
 September 25th 2015

 Mood: Happy

~Me :)



Thursday, September 24, 2015

Knowing When To Stop... Decorating

"Behind every attractive room should be a reason."

~Sister Parish

Okay, this is going to be one of those posts where you might go away thinking to yourself... sometimes Carly is not a nice person. Okay, so be it. I get it. It's not nice to make fun of people. Not even ones self. But there does come a time when a little harmless venting, which might be at someone elses expense, just feels good! Now you know me, for the most part I am a positive person, well, accept for the occasional Sarah Palin jab, but come on, when I shoot an arrow her way, she usually deserves it! And also, lets be honest, she is on the public stage, at not just on a whim, but rather her chosen ambition! She knows the arrows will be coming, so how sorry can one really feel about it? Especially if the jab isn't so much of a jab, but rather a calling of, well, bullshit! Right?

Well, okay, Sarah Palin, and her mean-spirited minions occasionally have it coming. Lord knows I take a knock, now and then, from folks on the right who think my opinion, usually expressed over Twitter, is nothing but hooey. Fine! Hooey it is! Hooey, if decided in honesty, what can you do? People feel the way they feel, and when it's that black and white it's best not to try to argue, but rather let them go on their merry misguided way. Again... right?

Well, once in a while, I tend to meet in real life, someone who rivals Sarah Palin on the stupid scale. There, I said it. An actual, card carrying, stupid person. This past summer I did just that. AND SHE KNOWS WHO SHE IS! This person hurt Alan and I. Financially, and in morale. She made a decision to lie, knowing what the consequences would be for us. She had only her own needs at heart. She had an agenda and she did all she could... whatever it took... to meet those ends. In the end, when I looked back over what happened, I have to remind myself that it really did happen, otherwise I tend to think of this past summer as a cheesy Lifetime movie.

The one thing I have, late at night, that keeps me from crying myself to sleep is the knowledge that she was a genuinely stupid person. A moron. A simp. How and why do I form this opinion? Well, one day she invited me to "her place" for a lovely afternoon of wasted time. She went on and on about mostly useless subjects, then invited me to take a look around "her place" to see how busy she had been the previous weekend. A weekend she spent decorating. 

Olive drab isn't really my thing, but it's not absolutely tragic either. I like earth-tones, so you can find it among my decorating touches. She had it everywhere! Okay, fine, if that is your deal, who cares? There were lots and lots of... well... pictures of wine, and wine glasses. Which again... who cares? Apparently her favorite flower was the Bird of Paradise, because she had them in every single room! Curtains. Drapes. Carpeting in the second bedroom. Towels. Dish cloths. Dishes. Glasses. Refrigerator decals. Oven decals. Wall tiles in the bathroom. Wall tiles in the kitchen. Bird of Paradise flocked and roosted everywhere!

EVERYWHERE!

But it was the sign she had hanging over the toilet in the guest bathroom that made me double over in pain and laughter. There it was... a sign.. made of wood and glitter, which read...

"And They Lived Happily Every After."

Hanging over the toilet.

So.. what? They pooped "And They Lived Happily Every After?"

He pooped?
She pooped?
They pooped?

Or was it they flushed poop "And They Lived Happily Ever After?"

I know there have been times when I needed to poop so badly, that I couldn't imagine not pooping, and when I did, I actually did live happily ever after, at least until my next urge to poop anyway! So in that light I get what she was saying! But the other side of my brain just found it amazingly funny that in all the places that sign could have been displayed, she chose to hang it over the toilet in the guest bathroom!

Oh well. I am going have to admit it. I had already came to the conclusion this lady was stupid. Not because of her decorating skills mind you, but because she was probably one of the most mean-spirited, narrow minded, racist assholes I had ever had the misfortune to be in the presence of. That day she shared her personal feelings about who she wanted to live around, and how relieved she was that I was her kind of people. When she finally revealed her true feelings about anyone who didn't look like her, I just felt covered in the crap she slung. It was disgusting and unnecessary. I never thought I would meet a true racist in 2015, or at any other point in life, but I did. And it's not something I will not forget soon. The scars that were inflicted this past summer may not ever heal. But I am going to try my best to try to heal because the pain is useless. It's complicated, but one thing I know, I will NEVER ASSOCIATE MYSELF WITH RACISTS!

It wasn't the birds of paradise everywhere. It wasn't the over use of glitter. It was her. She can decorate her life all she wants, in the end, she is a racist. End of the story.

She was, and as far as I know, stupid by choice.

But you know what they say...

Ignorance Is Bliss.

And I am sure she and those she surrounds herself with will be fine in their awful little worlds.

And Will Live Happily Every After.


Leaf Of The Day
September 24th, 2015

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Autumn Begins

"I cannot endure to waste anything,
 so precious as autumnal sunshine, by staying in the house."

~Nathaniel Hawthorne
The American Notebooks

Can you smell the pumpkin pies and cookies baking yet? How about the cinnamon scones and cranberry/pear tart-lets? I know... it's the cinnamon/maple pecans slowly roasting in the oven that has your mouth watering! Yeah, I know, it's still hot as blue blazes outside as summer continues to inflict it's opinion on the world, but a girl can turn up the air-conditioner and dream can't she! 

Today, Alan and I are going on a little trip down to the Bay Area. It will be a blend of chores and leaf peeping in some of my favorite leaf peeping places, because who could spend a glorious autumn day in the house when the first day of autumn comes but once a year! And besides, it's time to pop down to Berkeley and grab some cheese, from the Cheese Board Collective. Yum!

Go out today and say hello to autumn.
Grab yourself a pumpkin latte.
Watch the early leaves dance along the street.
Photograph something beautiful.
Take nothing for granted.

SMILE!
It's Autumn!

Leaf Of The Day
September 23rd 2015
Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Surreal Of Summer

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer."

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

Summer and I are not friends. We never were. I do have to admit, however, that we have understood each other from time to time, and for the most part, found enough in common that we could tolerate each other. For example, who doesn't love a long summer day at the beach? Who doesn't love all the flying winged creatures of summer? Butterflies. Dragonflies. And then there are all the summer fruits and veggies. Oh my... delicious! Yes, I have come to understand that summer is one of those necessary parts of life. One quarter of the year. And summer must be accepted and dealt with, so in my old age, I finally made my peace with it.

This past summer, which ends mercifully today, was surreal. While most of what happened to us, happened in the summer share of the year, it wasn't the season's fault. No, the fault for the last few months lies solely with one person! She knows who she is. I will disclose the full story in time, but it is still hard for me to deal with on a public level. And unfortunately, I still have some pending decisions to make about how far legally I want to take things, so discretion is best at this point.

A part of me wants to put the whole thing behind me. We have found our home. We are settling in... very slowly... and with $12,000 less in the bank then we should have, thanks to that person, but we are getting by. We even have moments of amazing joy, so it's not all bad. Not at all. I guess you could say we are just tired. And we just finished a 4 month stay at a hotel in Turlock, which believe me, was it's own kind of HELL. 

How is staying in a hotel for 4 months HELL? Glad you asked, I will be sharing about that later this week. For now, I am going to say GOODBYE to Summer 2015 as quietly, and as gently as I can. The last few months were not the fault of the season.

A little side note: When I checked with the board of tourism for Turlock, California, about what there was to do in Turlock, in the summer, for fun, it suggested... 

Go To Santa Cruz!

So, it's not like there wasn't a joke or two along the way.

If I NEVER SEE TURLOCK AGAIN, 
PARTICULARLY IN SUMMER, 
IT WILL BE TOO SOON!
 Wherever You Are, Go And Enjoy The Last Day Of Summer
And Never Take It For Granted!

Mood: Okay

~Me :)