Pity Party and Plans for the Future

Sometimes it takes a pity party to reboot your life.

In the last month or so, the following things have happened to me, and they resulted in my spending a lot of solitary and moody time on the couch reading and watching movies and television.

  • My son told me that I was never going to get anywhere with my blog if I didn’t focus my topic. He’s a social media expert, so I imagine he is probably correct.
  • My physical therapist told me that my knee probably isn’t going to get much better and that I’m going to have limitations with my range of motion in my surgical knee no matter how much I exercise it.
  • I realized that wearing a Fitbit has positive and negative aspects. On one hand, I love the documentation of one’s life because I’m a born and bred social historian. On the other hand, the Fitbit also hands up my failures on a social media platform for me and my Fitbit friends to see.
  • I blew up at a party when a friend made a political “joke” that hit a nerve.
  • A dear friend told me that I have to get off social media and stop worrying about what other people think – including the comments sections of political posts on Facebook. I encounter so much hatred and ignorance that it makes me frustrated, and resulted in my rude behavior on Easter.
  • I missed seeing two annual flower shows that I love because I really didn’t have anyone to go with. My friends are all busy and interesting people with their own lives and it’s very hard to schedule activities together. Having active lives should be a good thing, but not if I have to wait to do something because we can’t schedule a time.
  • I read three books with bloggers as the primary characters. They were well written and the authors clearly had knowledge of the blogging world, but it made me look at blogging success through different eyes.

So, I’m declaring the pity party to be over, and this is what I’m doing to change my perspective. Continue reading

Favorites of the Week

I’m back again with a bunch of totally disconnected bits and pieces that piqued my interest this week. I hope you have as much fun as I did!

Home decor
  • While looking for wire plate stands that hold more than one plate, I discovered this gorgeous plate holder at Bed Bath and Beyond. I don’t need it, but it’s beautiful and someone among my French decor friends must have to have it to complete her look!
Click into photo for source.

Click into photo for source.

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Book Talk: Tidying and Memorizing

Today I’m going to talk about a book and about a family story. The book made a real impact on me, and it cleared the way for me to memorialize a family story without keeping the artifact. That’s what this book is all about.

Tidying Up Book

Click into photo to connect to my Amazon Associates link.

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It’s Time for a Holiday Photo Op!

We’ve been really busy around here with holiday decorating, entertaining, and house guests. All that exciting activity meant that I didn’t have a whole lot of time for blogging, but I have a few photos to share as we go careening into 2015.

Got My Reservations -- Christmas Pudding

We enjoyed a traditional British Christmas pudding.

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Share: How to make dish flowers

I ran across the tutorial on Facebook and it’s really a good one. I’ve always loved the look of the glass flowers I see at markets and in other people’s gardens.

http://www.fleamarketgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Louise-Yuncks-flowers..peek-a-boo.jpg?e768a3

Click into photo for tutorial and image credit

The article from Flea Market Gardening makes it seem pretty easy to make garden ornaments out of old dishes. I’ve never done this since I never met a dish I didn’t want to put on my table, but this tutorial makes me hopeful. Enjoy!

GotMyReservations Coffee Thank You Sign Off

 

The Saturday Review: Wine and Cheese

downloadWhen I’m traveling in my car, I usually choose light cozy books in which I’m unlikely to be shocked by overt sex and graphic language, since one can hear my speakers outside of my car if I’m at an intersection or in a parking lot. That was one of the reasons I chose The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby; it looked interesting but also safe. I was also intrigued by the idea of a book based in Virginia’s wine country, rather than California or France. My choice did not disappoint; it’s an easy murder mystery with enough intrigue and surprise built into the plot to keep me guessing. The book is the first of a series about Lucie Montgomery and her family’s winery, and I was encouraged enough by the first book to go on to the second. The Chardonnay Charade was just what I expected — another cozy murder mystery with a little romantic spice built into the story. Thank goodness my library has the books so I don’t have to keep buying them; I just put holds on the other four titles and will enjoy spinning through them over the next few weeks. Continue reading

Summer at the Seashore

For our last summer hurrah, many of you spend Labor Day weekend at the seashore. Here in the Midwest, we call it going to the lake house.

GotMyReservations Summer at the Seashore Tablescape

You might find a few shells on our inland shores, but for this tablescape, I used my son’s collection of shells that I found in the garage with some of his other treasures. He’s thirty-six years old; I think it’s time that I considered that collection mine to use! Continue reading

R&R

It’s that time of year — time for a little R&R and a focus on some personal goals.

One of my goals is to learn to use photo apps more effectively, and this photo demonstrates my first attempt at using my iPad to directly edit and watermark a photo.

GotMyReservations Yellow Rose

I’ll be doing a few book reviews and probably posting some new photos, but I need a little break from tablescaping and researching vintage finds. Stay with me — I’ll be back!

GotMyReservations Coffee Thank You Sign Off

Photostyling Using Vintage Finds

Vintage pieces are everywhere and are the perfect backdrop for interesting blogging and photostyling.

GotMyReservations Lucky Junk Display

This display was taken at Lucky Junk with my cell phone. Interesting blog photos are everywhere!

While I’m still learning about photography and photostyling, I’ve figured out a few pointers that might help people who are starting out in blogging. I’m not a professional photographer, but the difference between my old and new photos is noticeable. Continue reading

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