Hazel's Vintage Pretties

Vintage Bella Studio is Having a Giveaway!

Hi Gals...The very talented "Andrea" of Vintage Bella Studio is having a giveaway...Lots of truly beautiful things...Stop by and check it out, and wish her a happy 100th post anniversary...Take care, Katie

My Litte Sweetheart, "Sylvie"

If you've read my blog recently you know that I had to say goodbye to my beloved fourteen year old cat, "Goldie" in March.  I miss her so...That said, my family and I have adopted/rescued a little one year old cat named "Sylvie"...She has so much energy!  She's a joy to have around...Very playful and very affectionate...You can hear her purring from across a large room...Here's a photo or two...Thanks for stopping by my little  old blog...Katie

Preparing For Summer Fairs

Hi all...I've been sewing as much as time allows, in order to stock up for a few summer fairs I'm doing...If you live in or near Seattle, convo me, and I'll tell you where I'll be pedaling my wares :)...Here's some of what I've been working on:

These are some children's aprons in progress...One of my favorite things to do is put different fabrics together.

 

This is a shot of my booth at a recent smaller event that I participated in. I've been having fun making these decorative banners (You can see one hanging in the front of my booth...I'll be making more of them as soon as I finish the twenty-two baby bibs I'm finishing up... Well, that's it for now...I wish you all a good weekend...Remember to do something nice for yourself today!...Katie

Another Inspirational Book to Recommend to You...

Hi...Here's the second of four wonderful books I want to show you...Perhaps you can get some inspiration from this book, as I have...It's a good one! ("Fabric Inspirations" by Kate French and Katherine Sorrell with photography by Lisa Cohen)

Dreaming of Wailea

This past April my family took our first "real" vacation in quite sometime.  We went to Wailea on Maui.  We stayed here.  We had such a great time.  My husband and I are both "worker bees", and tend not to relax as much as we should.  In Wailea all we did was have fun and relax...Well, there was a lot of walking done too, but it didn't seem at all like exercise.  My son, Andy, who is eighteen now, spent a lot of time on his own at the gorgeous beach, playing his new ukulele.  He learned how to play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (The faster, upbeat version), and it kind of became the theme song of our trip.  I'll always think of Wailea when I hear that song.  

My daughter, Anna really enjoyed the pools (The resort had five pools, one especially for kids) and the ocean...She would get a bit homesick at night when she was tired, but it was manageable.
The people were so nice to us, and they upgraded us to a suite for only $75 more a night...Two bathrooms, two lanais, a separate bedroom, etc.  It was by far the most gorgeous place I've ever stayed. 
Here are some photos from our trip:  (Aloha!)

 

 

Speaking of "Going Down"...

     Life has taken another unexpected and not so pleasant turn...My Mom fell this past Monday, backwards.  She has three broken vertebrae...not clean breaks, but more of a crumbling they say...They injected "bone cement" on each side of the three crumbling vertebrae...She's home from the hospital, but needing someone there 24/7...I'm taking most of the weekdays, daytime, since everyone else has "real" jobs, and I sew and do fairs. 
     All I can say is, take your calcium supplements, gals!!!!!...Katie

I'm not going down without a fight

Today is my Mom's eighty~eighth birthday.  She had me when she was forty~two years old, which makes me forty~six.  I've been thinking and feeling a lot lately about ageing.  If you're middle aged like me, you may have noticed that people treat you differently...You feel like you're staring to become a bit invisible...Starting to fade perhaps.

Heads don't turn when you walk into a room, people call you ma'am or don't call you anything at all.  I've actually been feeling like I'm less than I used to be; envying younger women their perfect legs and beautiful skin.  I've been feeling bad about where I'm at.  I've put on about twenty pounds in the last few years (Luckily I started out a bit underweight, and I actually like the weight I've landed at.)

I've talked to elderly people a lot over the years, as I have a big place in my heart for them...They seem so vulnerable...Some of them have told me that they feel invisible because no one talks to them or notices them...This has helped me to be sure to engage them in conversation or just smile at them when I am near them. 

What's the point of this post?  I'll tell you.  I'm not going down without a fight.  I'm not going to think less of myself because of my age.  I'm going to respect and take care of myself, and do my best.  I don't have to adopt someone else's negative view of me, and I won't.  I don't have my youthful looks, but I do have my not so youthful looks, and I like them.  I also have some wisdom I certainly didn't have when I was young.  If you're in the same boat, grab an oar and let's get going!...Katie

(The above photo on the left, is of my Mom when she was thirty years old.  The one on the right is of me when I was forty~four years old, taken a couple of years ago.)

Need Some Inspiration?

     One of my favorite things to do in my spare time (what spare time?), is to sit down with one of my many interior design books.  I usually have to be very careful not to drool all over the pages :)

 Sometimes quite a bit of time will pass, when I won't really find any books to add to my collection, but in the last couple of months, I hit the interior design book jackpot!  I've found four wonderful books--real beauties...I thought I'd share them with you in my next few posts, so you could decide whether or not you'd like to add them to your collection also. 

    This first one is called, "Living With Light, Decorating the Scandinavian Way" by Gail Abbot; Photography by Mark Scott.  What a jewel this book is!  I never like to decorate with dark colors...I find the lighter, neutral colors really calm me.  I do love color, however, so I like to have some of that too...just not too dark.  This book gives the reader many wonderful ideas for decorating with lots of light, but also texture, character and some soothing colors...Here is a small selection of some of the incredible photographs from this book: (Enjoy!)

 

I've Been Tagged...

     Well, I've been tagged by sweet Rebecca. So, here goes:

Eight things I'm looking forward to:
~A trip to Maui coming up soon
~Easter dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant
~My birthday in May
~Mother's Day
~My lawn being mowed and edged next week (not by me)
~Eating a dessert crepe sometime next week, along with a latte (Don't tell anyone)
~Getting my hair done next week.
~The Open House that I'm attending next week with my son, at the college he's going to attend in the Fall

Eight things I did yesterday:
~Made ten baby bibs
~Sold some sewn items
~Had a gin and tonic (A rare event for me)
~Ate a coconut/vanilla cupcake (It was exquisite)
~Played "capture the flag" with my daughter
~Got ready for a fair I participated in today
~Pet my neighbor's cat "Joe" whom I dearly love
~Talked with my Mom on the phone (twice)

Eight things I wish I could do:
~Fly (without an airplane)
~Snap my fingers and make food appear
~Go on vacation, but be able to sleep in my own bed each night
~Make enough money so my husband could retire
~Have a gorgeous garden
~Press a "pause" button, and stop life for awhile, and no one would notice that any time had passed
~Get toned up
~Stop all the suffering in the world

Eight things I'm currently watching:

~The Grand

~The Office

~30 Rock

~Pride and Prejudice (With Keira Knightly)

~Medium

~Friday Night Lights

~Ghost Whisperer

~Brothers and Sisters

I think I'm supposed to tag eight other people, but I don't think I will...If you'd like to join the fun, leave a comment here, and then do a post like this one...Take care, Katie

Bedroom Makeover

    

Hi all...I think I'm going to get myself a shirt that says, "I survived Spring Break"...I know you Moms know what I'm talking about :)...I spent Spring Break helping my nine year-old do a makeover on her bedroom.  This involved painting the entire room (including the floor), with two coats of paint, removing shelving from the closet, so that it could be turned into a workspace with her desk, etc, new door latches, a new rug, a new curtain rod (not in photos, because it's not up yet), a new dresser, etc.  My daughter is thrilled with the finished result.  The room had become a hodge podge of colors,etc, and really needed to be designed, with an overall plan...My daughter is very opinionated about how she wants her room to be, so, other than the actual painting and installation of things, we really let her be in charge of picking out furniture and soft furnishings, and where they would all go...I think she did a great job...Here are the before and after photos:  (Thanks for stopping by!)...Katie

 

 

 

Here's her new work space: