Alaska!
Next Sept. this is where my husband and I hope to be, in the middle of the ocean on a cruise ship viewing the glaciers.
With all the heat we have been experiencing lately in northern calif. I just thought this little glimpse of coldness
would help alleviate the heat exhaustion for a bit.
Someone commented to me the other day "why in the world would you want to be on a ship in the middle of the ocean for a week? All you see is ocean." And my reply was "exactly!" lol.
Give me a book, a comfortable chair and a view of the sea and I'm a happy woman.
Can't wait,
deborah

A lovely walk on the first day of 2013!

Starting the new year out right with a lovely walk in the outdoors with the fam.

Doesn't get much better then this.

Happy 2013 to you and your families too.

shot from the bridge overlooking the Yuba river, love how you can see the people's shadows

Hope your 2013 includes times of enjoying the outdoors as well.

blessings,

deborah

Art for a good cause

Hi all,
There's an event happening in our town on October 25th called "Paint The Town Pink" that raises funds for the advancement of breast cancer care and they were calling out for artists to donate art for the silent auction and I answered the call! 
I had a blast creating a collage canvas for the event and hope that whoever bids on it will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Of course it's all in pink and I just love the Maori proverb I added "Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you" It is a proverb that the Maori Indians used during times of adversity. 
We all face adversity at various times in our lives and having a life threatening illness must be very scary and difficult. I pray that this event brings hope and inspiration to people facing this adversity and that the artwork donated by all the artists helps bring some of that hope to all who need it.

 Talk to you all soon,
deborah
 

Shopping with sea breezes swirling at your feet.

Hi everyone,
My last post raved about the quaint little town of Astoria Oregon which I still am talking about 2 months later lol,  but I cannot leave out the other wonderful ocean town that we visited on our trip up north as well. The beach town of Bandon Oregon. Next time here I'd like to stay for a few days because just a couple of hours was not enough! It was a bit foggy the day we visited which was a treat actually because our next stop would be to Redding Calif where that day was forecasted to be 100 degrees, so fog was a welcome friend while there. As we leisurely strolled through the town I happened upon the cutest, creative shop called "Patina" that I must tell you about. One of the owners was in the store that day and we had the best conversation about vintage repurposed treasures and the joy they bring as they are brought back to life with a bit of artistic resourcefulness and creativity. Hope you enjoy the photos and that they bring a bit of creative thinking to your day and give you your own ideas and how to turn trash into treasure. And make sure to stop by this darling shop when ever you visit the beach town of Bandon. You will be happy you did.
Talk to you soon,
deborah

Pure joy

Hmmmm, what could I make with these?

Old chair with new charm

Oooohhhhh, treasures!

Love, love, love this wall. Old book pages glued onto wallpaper background.

Vintage dresser drawers used as shelves, genius!!!

Patina owner pulled this out of a garbage pile and turned it into beauty!

Imagination and creativeness is all it takes

You have to visit Vintage Hardware in Astoria Oregon!

Hi all,
A few weeks ago my husband and I took a road trip to Idaho to visit friends and thought we'd make a vacation out of it at the same time. Idaho, Seattle Washington and Astoria Oregon were our stopping spots.
 We loved it all but my fav was Astoria, it's a quaint little town right on the border of Oregon and Washington right along the Columbia river. It's the last stopping point that the explorers Lewis and Clark took while making their way west in 1805. We stayed at the Cannery Pier Hotel, which used to be the old cannery and is now a gorgeous upscale hotel, if you ever are in the area, you must stay here!!!

Our view every day and night

sunset view from our balcony

so romantic

mural art on old cannery building in Astoria

This was our view every day!

While enjoying this sleepy historical town, I discovered one of the most amazing stores I've ever been too, I'm not kidding! I could of hung out for hours in this place and would of if I hadn't run out of funds lol!
It is called "Vintage Hardware" and it is a crafter/artists dream! Every old rusty piece of hardware you can think of resides within this historic vintage buildings walls. Along side of vintage tin, ancient blueprints, old door knobs, peeling painted wood columns and much more then I could ever list, resides wonderful new home decor, lamps, pillows and furniture. I probably looked like a complete fool as my mouth hung open in awe as I perused each room. But I didn't care because this place caused my mind to be blown with it's reclaimed and repurposed treasures and gave me ideas galore of things I could create at home. The store creators are Paul and Becky and I declare them super amazing for creating this beautiful, unique venue!
If you are ever in this neck of the woods (sea) you must stop in and shop and take in the cool architecture.

Make sure you visit this place! if you are in Astoria

treasures....

more treasures.....

the architecture in this bldg is amazing!

a recyclers paradise

I'll take one of each

Vintage beauty

this is the ceiling, covered in burlap with added window panes and doors!

who would of thought? so cool!

Hope you enjoyed all the photos, as much as I enjoyed taking them.( the store clerk was so friendly and let me click away)
I'll talk to you all soon,
deborah

Rusty, chipped, old stuff! I love it!

Roses and Rust vintage flea market heaven!
I'm telling you, when we walked through those shabby chic, rusty doors I was in heaven. My daughter and I spent 4 hours there and that was going at a pretty good pace so we would get it all in. It was a little overwhelming somewhat but in a good way lol. I did go away with some goodies but not enough! Also, the vibe was super great, just to be around people who love all that rusty, chipped, worn stuff was truly fun.
It was wonderful knowing that there are other kooky people who think rust and chips are treasured marks on an item. The ladies who put this event on really know their stuff, and did an amazing job on choosing the vendors and artists.  Enjoy the photos, and maybe I'll see you at the next rust and roses event in Oct!

this says it all, and I love it!

Main floor fun!

More fun!

Two floors of pure bliss

Tina from My favorite things

Tina and her mom, sooo cute!

Tina's booth of glitter fun.

Sacred river designs, loveeee that ruffle tablecloth

PB & J, the cutest clothes!! Shabby chic, bohemian style

My daughter Juliet, purchasing a vintage camera.

Sera bella, I bought the french window frame chalkboard in the back!!!

 I found out that Sera bella has a shop in Redding, so next time I visit there guess where I'm headed!
Talk to you all soon,
deborah