My Bebe's got a brand new, beautiful dress....

Titles can be soo misleading.... no ?

When Dawn of The Feathered Nest first made my blog for me...I thought it was the MOST beautiful thing I had ever seen! Even now, I still love it ! Well...When Dawn had her own beautiful blog treated to a gorgeous new look recently, thanks to the lovely and talented Karen of My Desert Cottage....Who just launched her wonderful Web Design business called Valentine Design Well.... I, like so many of you ooh'd and ahhh'd and then I wanted something "new" for my blog too.....The changes I was thinking about were more along the lines of changing to 3 columns, a pretty followers button and a gorgeous new signature to close out my posts. (Did I ever mention I have a hard time with change?? I figure if it looks beautiful...don't mess with it!)

Then I talked to Karen and Dawn about my ideas for my lil blog and they had some great ideas for a "new" look for my blog and were so excited about how beautiful it could look and all I could think is....But...I LOVE my pretty lil blog and you guys are talking about it like my bebe is ugly lol ....kinda hurt my feelings...my poor lil bebe blog :)

When I mentioned this to Dawn she said..."hunny, we're not calling your bebe ugly...we're just trying on some pretty new dresses on her, to make her much prettier"....now...HOW...can you argue with that lol

Well, Karen and I talked a few times on the phone and this....Look all around your screen....is the BEAUTIFUL new blog that Karen created for me...Don'tcha just love my bebe's brand new dress! I sure do, I think it is the perfect fit! Beautiful, elegant, old world, frufru and gaudy...Rose frufru and gaudy style :) did I mention I love beautiful things?....

Yes, I am that woman....that when I see that gorgeous overly ornate, gaudy antique gold or dark wood frame..I gravitate to it...like a moth to a flame! Then when I bring it into my home...I think it is perfect...don't get me wrong...I quickly visualize it cream with antiquing glaze...but that thought I will be honest, last just a few seconds, as I look at all that beautiful gaudy loveliness before me...and I realize how much I love it just as it is :) My daughters call me ..."Fru Fru, Gaudy Girl" I wear that name with pride....cause that's how I roll :) lol

So when Karen sent me this blog mock up...I was literally jumping up and down because I was soo happy that this is exactly what I wanted...and didn't even know it lol

Thank you so much...Karen, Dawn and Lisa of Tarnished & Tattered , for listening to my rants of what I love and understanding my visions...that I didn't quite know how to put to words, that were easily understandable... But some how Karen did and gave me this beautiful "brand new" beautiful dress for my lil bebe blog...my own lil piece of heaven in this big...beautiful Blogland of ours!

If you want to completely redo your blog, or just add a few special lil somethings to it and like me....have no clue how to...Then go visit Karen at Valentine Design and I know she will help you achieve a look that you will just love!

Please let me know what you all think of my lil bebe's beautiful new dress...because my dear friends...your opinions do matter to me :)

Until next time dear friends......

Earthshakes (quakes), Sunshine & Giveaways.....

This morning...just minutes after 4 am we were awakened by a strong, HARD & loud jolt to our home, I actually thought either a car hit our house or the 3 story tree on the side of it had come crashing into out home....Thank goodness it was neither....like so many of you out here in So Cal, we were awakened by an earth quake or as my kids always call them...Earth shakes :) The epicenter was about 5 miles or less from us, so we felt it pretty strong...nothing broken or no new cracks that we can see, but then again, our 1916 home seems to be pretty solid :) I did jam my knee hurrying down the stairs though...theres alot to be said for not having a few extra minutes to let your achy joints get ready for the day and a quick jog down the stairs lol

But all that being said...

I did want to thank everyone for their wonderful comments and emails :) I am coming back with some new posts, but I did warn you guys I would need a vacation after SOOO many posts in such a short time...ha!!

Actually...I took a lil break for the week, March 14th was the 1 year anniversary of my dads passing and I needed to focus on my family...and well to be honest me....the colds that I had been getting and the gloomy weather were kicken my butt both physically & emotionally...I can't tell you how amazing a B12 shot can be lol So every 3 weeks or so for 3 months, I will be getting one to replenish what I am missing...but the best medicine....besides all your caring visits :) Has been SUNSHINE......truly, it feels sooo good, I stand outside and literally let the sunshine warm my face...it warms me from my eye lids thru my heart and down to my toes :) Infact I am about to paint my toes hot pink in hopes that I will stay in this feeling for awhile longer :) I know so many of you are having such terrible weather, I wish I could send you all, our So. Cali sunshine, well....not all of it...but definately some to warm you and make you smile too! :) You know, our beautiful weather is a trade off for our earthquakes, you.... that get tornados, hurricanes and tons of snow, know what I mean....

Now I want to share some amazing giveaways with you all...

Please visit all these lovely blogs and enter to win...I know you will love them too...I will be back tomorrow to share some beautiful mail love I have received....cause you know,I don't want to start posting a ton and then have to take another vacation lol Seriously, have a beautiful day, and if it is full of snow and rain, look for that lil bit of sun shine I am sending your way!

Stefanie of Rose Petals and Rust is having a giveaway here!

My sweet & dear friend...Rebecca Ersfeld for Vintage Living is having a giveaway here!

Linda of Robin's Egg Blues is having a giveaway here!

Donna of Brynwood Needleworks is having a giveaway here!

Another dear friend...Anne of Fiona and Twig is having a giveaway here!

Until next time dear friends....

Besos,

Rose~

March giveaways & a giveback love....

Oh my stars....say it isn't sooo....4 posts in less than 3 days....that is more than I sometimes posted in a whole month!!!....I may have to take a vacation after this :)...but first... let me share these wonderful giveaways with you.......and.....your welcome :)

First....I just want you to know how much I care for all of you and your wonderful caring hearts...Thank you so much for all the love you sent to my dear friend Kolleen...she feels your love and thoughts...THANK YOU....

Now that I am awake at 1 am from my meds stupor and looking so...so...well.... let me put it to you this way...during one of my naps...one of many today...I woke up to find pudge against my legs sleeping, when I woke her as I moved she looked up annoyed cause I woke her...and errr...she had the funniest look on her face, her fur right now is kinda long and it was all tweaked and smashed on one side of her face...she look like a sad...kinda pathetic...but much loved lil raggamuffin....and yes...I will admit it....I laughed.... so hard infact...that....I started to wheeze....lol But the payback was when I went to the rest room and caught my face in the mirror......my hair was all tweaked...kinda smashed into the side of my face, I had pillow and blanket lines all over my face....yup you got it....I looked like a pathetic... sad... raggamuffin.... I started to laugh and then the wheezing started... and needless to say...my inhaler was my best friend today :) lesson of the day....don't make fun of a lil defenseless dog....unless you look cuter than it does at the time.....Ha!

But I digress...back to more important stuffs.....

***UPDATE....I just added another giveaway by Jill of Gypsy Brocante, I was too sleepy last night to add it and have it make sense....and I also wanted to thank you on your get well wishes...this is just a cold that keeps on giving....I am good for a few days and then someone sniffles around me and bam....I am sick again :) see how talented I am :)

Lesson here...take your vitamins...keep your immune system strong!!!

First....the lovely Tracey of French Larkspur is having a wonderful "Pick me up " giveaway for March...it is a beautiful and as always generous giveaway... please visit her beautiful blog and don't forget while your there to enter....Ends Sunday, March 7th at Midnight......Good Luck!

click here to leave a comment for a chance to win...

Second....The lovely Jill of Gypsy Brocante is having a Count down to Spring giveaway , 1 each week. spread out over 3 weeks! How bad ass is that :).....( I mean that in a totally hot & good way :) Jill has a beautiful online store, make sure you visit it also when you visit her beautiful blog and don't forget to leave a comment to enter! Final part of her giveaway ends March 21st!

Click here for a chance to comment and win!.....

Third.....The lovely Debra of Common Ground is having a March Celebration GiveBack....how cool is that :) She is celebrating some great things this month incl. her Birthday! Happy Birthday Debra! :) Much love to you amor....Now go visit her beautiful blog too and while you eat some of that delish cake she is sharing....don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win...her giveback ends Tuesday March 9th...Good luck!!!

Click here to leave a comment for a chance to win....

Well my meds are kicking in again its once again 2 a.m. and I hope I can stop coughing enough to get some sleep....making a mental note to go get a B12 shot tomorrow.....

Hope you all are well in your neck of the country....

Until next time dear friends,

Besos,

Rose~

Such heart breaking saddnes, anger and disbelief....

Yesterday my heart broke for a sweet and dear friend...I have been in my own world for a bit, not even watching the news...just going about lifes everyday routine...My dear friend Kolleen of Heartwingssisters had posted about a member of her family that was missing...a beautiful, vibrant and much loved young girl....I saw her picture and I said a prayer...that she would soon be home with her family...but my life went on and I focused on that and nothing else..hence my earlier woewaysme post...And then a WAKE UP call went off in my head...being sick and taking cold meds that make me sleep, I woke up the other afternoon to the news and to a picture of a young lady that was missing....for a few days now...my heart froze...I suddenly felt nauseaus and shaky and knew it wasn't my cold...the picture that they were showing was the one Kolleen had shared with us.... I won't lie, the tv in our house is on 24/7 but mainly as background noise...we watch ALOT of movies and in the back of my mind...I remember hearing days ago of a missing girl....but when I glanced at the tv as I walked thru the living room, the picture was different from the one Kolleen had shared...so I didn't make the connection.....

On that day that I realized who she was....it was REAL...too real...my family prayed for her return, we asked each other all the time..."anything new? have you heard anything? Is she home yet?" but it was always asked with hope that she would soon be back in her families loving home...Yesterday that hope was broken....when we heard the news that she had been found....the way she was found...The look on our daughters faces as we told them...broke my heart....I saw fear, anger, outrage and disbelief....as a family, our hearts broke...for Chelsea...her mama, her papa, her family and friends that so loved her and my heart hurt for my friend Kolleen....

Kolleen is one of the loveliest woman I have had the pleasure of meeting here in Blogland...I don't just mean she is lovely in beauty...although she is...she has such a beautiful heart...she always visits with me, encourages me, laughs with me, at my silly comments or posts...but she is truly a friend of the heart...we were planning on getting together as soon as we can...see...as much as I would love to meet any and all of you....your are all mostly so FAR away :) But she and I are not...so we were both so happy that we have the chance to meet face to face....can you imagine??? yes....I know many of you can...I have seen your awsome posts of meeting blogging friends for lunch and shopping dates and just to spend time visiting and creating....how I wish to do that here with friends....you lucky ducks :)

Kolleen is a person with a huge heart....when you visit her blog and read her posts...you get that instantly...she IS her family...her family IS her....she lives and breathes them...her love story... she shared with us of the love of her life, how they met and later married....inspired me to not only read all the way back to her first post, but to write to her personally...I felt I knew her...we emailed and became fast friends....Her artwork reflects her love of life and those she holds close and dear....We found each other through a mutual friend named Kelly of Kelly Berkey Designs another amazingly lovely woman...I hope to meet her soon too, she moved from Manhattan Beach...my old stomping grounds to Egads...another state...Kelly come back...we miss you...don't you miss our warm Cali sunshine :) I know...shameless....

But what I am trying to say in all this is that...meeting all of you that I have visiting your blogs, emailing back and forth...we become a part of each other...we know each others hopes, artistic desires, life's dreams and it's heartbreaks...lets face it...whether or not we have had the pleasure to meet face to face or not...we have become friends...and we care about each other...we feel each others hurts, pains, joys and not only cheer each other on...we hold each other up when we are called upon to do so...

So please if you get a moment...go visit Kolleen and leave her a note...today her and her family sit in saddness and disbelief that their beautiful Chelsea King, was taken much too soon. And I know you are not supposed to wish evil on anyone...but today I pray that the monster that did this gets everything that is coming to him and more when he faces the judge....I pray that he doesn't get to walk among the innocent like Chelsea again...EVER and that his life will be something that if God truly is merciful will be soon extinguished and forgotten.

Kolleen... like I said has a huge heart...she says in todays post that she hopes to one day find understanding in all of this...Kolleen amor, you are a much stronger and forgiving person than me...God watch over you and your loved ones, please know my family is thinking of you and yours amor....Chelsea knows how much she is loved...it was evident in the thousands that showed up last night to offer support for her, her parents and loved ones...

Stay strong amor...

My favorite & most treasured cup....

First I have to give much love to my mr wonderful for running to the store for me this morning and getting me a card reader so that this and many more posts would be possible :) Thank you papi! te quiero mucho :)

I had to take all my "beautiful" pictures again cause...goober that I am...I forgot to use a flash and at 11 pm apparently I need one lol I hope you enjoy my first try at new pictures...these are all me...can't blame anyone for my booboos....so be nice lol I promise I will keep practicing and I am even going to read my manual so that I can actually know what the thingys on my camera are for :)

Like I said in my earlier post today, the lovely Mira of Belle Blanc is having an active giveaway...you get to share you favorite cup and let her know you are participating, she will then visit everyone and then choose her favorite... I might be too late to have a chance to participate in the actual giveaway....but I still wanted to participate because I think it is such a lovely idea :) Go visit her blog and see who else is participating...

These are some of my favorite cups, I started collecting cups & saucers with roses on them when I was 13, starting at my neighbors yards sales...I think I have about 50-60 sets and maybe another 30 just cups and I can honestly tell you most were in the dollar or under price range :) although when I got older and my tastes got into the prettier ones...the prices weren't so pretty...still I tried to keep it under $5-7 :) My favorites are the tiny ones...I love tiny things...but that is for another post :)

The littles came out to play Vanna White and show off some of my lovely cups for you...To give you an idea of how small some of my cups are, the lil bebe dolls are about 2 1/2 in. tall whenever I take out my tiny lil bebe dolls, my daughter says this to me..."they're coming to take you away..ha! Ha!, they're coming to take you away" cheeky lil munkey isn't she :)






Doesn't everything look better under glass...always makes me smile...
excuse all my stuff on the table I was also taking pictures of some thriftin treasures :)






This is my everyday cup...made of china and has my very own cheeky lil munkey given to me by my cheeky lil munkies :) sorry for the picture quality...I took this late last nite...no flash.




But of all my cups...I must confess...I have only one that is my most favorite & treasured cup...it is this one below...it may not be gorgeous, with handpainted roses or some fru fru name on the bottom...although I gotta admit...I love those fru fru names especially of far away places :) This lovely little cup is one of my most treasured possesions and if we were to have a fire or an earthquake, I would make sure it is one of the things that I take with me when I ran out the door...see it has a beautiful history...it belonged to my great, great grandma and she gave it to my uncle when he was a lil boy...he died when he was 3 years old of an illness that in those days killed so many...my mama thinks maybe a common cold he was the eldest of 10 children...but my mama and I figured that this lil treasure of ours is over 100 years old and it comes from Germany...My great, great grandma bought it with her and it was her favorite cup....see I think I shared that before...I am kind of a lil mutt...I am Mexican, Italian, German & Spanish all that wrapped up in a 5ft 4in American package :)


Isn't she beautiful..her history still can bring me to tears...





This is a close up...notice all the dirt and cracks...I haven't been able to bring myself to clean it, I am so afraid to break it or damage it even more...all the petals from the little flower have long since broken off...But I think she is more beautiful and more valuable than any of the beautiful cups I have collected in my lifetime so far :) My mama and aunts gave this to me, trusting me to be the care taker of many of our families heirloom treasures....aren't I blessed to be trusted so....I think I am :)






Now, that I have shared my favorite & most treasured cup with you, make sure you hop into the Cinderelli coach and go see everyone else favorite cup post too and enjoy them as much as I have...just don't be a goober like me...and forget to leave a comment...I know...my bad :) Now I need to go revisit everyone and tell them what I think of their lovely cups...cause you know in my world...my opinion matters lol

Mira, thank you so much...I am so excited because this is my first time participating in something lovely like this in Blogland :) Grazie!!!

Until next time dear friends....

Besos,


Rose~

A little disappointment and a big Thank you!!

I was all set to share a new post and all these gorgeous pictures that I just took tonight with my new camera that I got with my scratcher ticket winnings and come to find out that our reader (I think that is what my husband called it) won't work with my tiny new lil Sony memory stick....UGH and yes...if you know me you know most of this statement was a total fib....the pictures aren't gorgeous....but in my defense they looked really pretty on the camera screen lol Sooo I am hoping that these pictures will at least look alot prettier than what I normally shared before....(I hope...I hope)

I was intending to take part in My Favorite Cup..an active giveaway that the lovely Mira of Belle Blanc is having...I thought that the idea was so lovely...she is asking that you share your favorite cup and let her know you are particpating and she will pick her favorite picture for the winner. The Giveaway ends March 2nd... Maybe if I can get a new card reader in the morning, I can still join in :) Heres to hopin...

But in the meantime, if you get a chance, visit her beautiful blog, the pictures and posts are beautiful and I really liked the song by Billy Clyro called "Many of Horror" (I believe that is what it was called) that was playing when I last visited her, infact I liked it so much I kept her blog open while I wrote this post to listen to it over & over :) I also wanted to say how much I have enjoyed visiting everyone that has shared their favorite beautiful cups :)

You can clik on Mira's beautiful button
to see her post on this...


Now for that big thank you....THANK YOU!!!! to all of you that have sent me emails and left me such lovely comments asking if I am ok and probably wondering if I fell of this earth :) Well amores...I am still here...I have so many excuses...let me see...1. life is just taking over what is normally "my time" and although I am not happy about that...life is what it is right? :) 2. add in worries...financial...health...my families, friends....you name it...I think it...sometimes I know I think too much...I just can't help it...my mind seems to be forever going...one thought after another....3. then getting sick again...sounding like froggy of the little Rascals' is not my idea of a sexy throaty voice lol but right now....tis what I sound like....my friend who is a nurse said...stress...low immune system all can lead to not being able to fight all these lil colds....yeah like that can be helped right now ;) 4. And then feeling blue...what is that all about anyways??? I know I have sooo much to be thankful for.....I have a roof over my head, my kids, hubby, mama, sister, nieces and nephews are all well thank God, but still....I feel blue even when life is sometimes so overwheming....I am so ready for warm sun and gardening, working on our home....and that is one of the reasons I don't post or visit right now too much...GUILT....that I feel like this...when things are so much worse for others and I see on the news how they are snowed in, no heat or electricity, and yet I complain....I think Myrna of More Than Heirlooms hit it dead on with her post about Gratitude Journals....I think that is a wonderful idea to help me put things in perspective....In fact I just bought one of her beautiful Gratitude Journals that she made....I can't wait to get it and use it :) Anyways amores, enough about my woeswaysme tirade :) I will be back as soon as I can with pictures...lots of pictures of wonderful things I have to share with you....like gifts I got in the mail....lovely thrifting treasure hunt finds, Etsy finds and just sharing my wonderful... long posts that I know you all miss so much lol :)

Until next time, my dear friends.....

Besos,

Rose ~