Girls’ weekend

Well HELLO there! I’m back, I’m back! It was a whirlwind of a weekend, for sure. We had a BLAST in the city that never sleeps. I’ve told you before how much I adore NYC, and this trip was special because I brought two friends with me who are now in love with the city as well.
It is now my mission to make every single person I know a NYC lovah. :)
We were there for three days, which translates to about 300 pictures. I’ve seen it all a million times but I never tire of the sights.
It was HOT, but it was a beautiful, sunny weekend. Times Square was hopping Friday afternoon:

We stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square (to the left by the Bank of America and Kodak signs above). We used to stay there ALL the time – in my opinion it’s the best spot in the city for a tourist. We don’t stay as often anymore because the room rates have gone up so much – ours was $350 a night!
But divided by three, it was way affordable for a Times Square view!:

Geez, I am SUCH a goober.
That first night was the main reason for our trip – the last NKOTB concerts ever (at least that’s what they say now.):

There is something really special about going back in time like this – we felt it at the concert last summer and at this one as well. You are in space with thousands of women, all who grew up having so many of the same experience you did. And when you get together again 20 years later, there is such a wonderful feeling of camaraderie that is so sweet:

Of course, just like last year’s concert, we followed the instructions on our tickets and DIDN’T take in our cameras. WHY do we listen and follow rules? WHY?!
Um, every. single. person. had their cameras. We had our camera phones.
Translation – crapola pictures:

Actually that one isn’t so bad. ;)
Radio City was a an absolutely fantastic venue – amazing! Even though our seats were closer last summer, this seemed more intimate. At one point Joe and Jon came up to the side we were at:

Of course I ran down there. :) I may or may not have been screaming. I will never tell.
Back in the day, Jon Knight was my fave – something about that tall dark and handsome – I married one of those. ;)
So I figured this was going to be the closest I would ever be to him. But I was WRONG my Squeezies!!
After the show, we went around the side of RCMH and found a gaggle of women and decided to see what we could find. There were many large men walking around with walkie talkies, and barricades up everywhere.
We waited around for a while and then were about to take off, but I had a FEELING. A white van pulled up, and all the sudden there’s SCREAMING and who walks out but Jordan, his son and JON.
This is the part where my eyelids flutter and hearts fly out. :)
The crowd rushed them, of course, and the bodyguards were SERIOUS. (I don’t blame them.) I pulled back a bit (I was about five feet from the van) and then my smarty little head was a thinkin’ – and I realized they would pull out and have to drive away, so I ran down the street about ten yards and waited.
I’m smart. :)
And as the van drove my way, the gaggle ‘o women came with it, but I was in the perfect spot to put my hand right on Jon’s window as they drove away.
And he LOOKED at me. And smiled. SQUEAL!!! :)
Let’s ignore the fact that there were women all around me, umkay? Whatev.
Did I mention, I didn’t have my camera?! Good Lord, when will I learn?
So I walked away a happy camper. I checked one off the bucket list folks.
The next day I took the girls to Ground Zero (more on that in a later post!), Little Italy, and Chinatown and the shopping commenced! HA!
There is NOTHING like the shopping in NYC – the variety of stores is one thing. The street vendors (especially in Chinatown) are another.
Want (cheap, really cute) earrings?:
   Pendants?:

Blingity bling?:
 
Purses and scarves?:

Belts?:

:) Those New Yorkers are funny.
The prices are great, and you can usually get them down even more if you try. Some of my favorite jewelry pieces are from NYC – they are the cheapest I own and they’ve lasted years.
I thought of you all as we walked down 6th Avenue and saw M&J Trimming. You’ve NEVER seen such a selection of buttons:
That was just one wall!
Nailhead trim:

Ribbon:

And trim:

Isn’t that insane?? It was GORGEOUS! :)
If I had only thought to bring my fabric swatches for the office redo, I would have had it made!!
Oh my goodness, we smooshed a LOT into three days – I can’t even begin to tell you all of it! Well, I could, but I got 14 hours of sleep in four days, so I need to get to bed. :)
We truly took in the sights and had a blast – our last night there, we were up till 5:30 a.m.:

That’s me at 5 a.m. See the sun coming up in the background? CRAZY!! (Notice the pic of Sean Hayes to the right? We saw that show last month and this time I came within feet of him as he left the theater that night!)
We weren’t even that tired – there’s something magical about New York City. It has my heart.

That’s the view from the Top of the Rock, all the way up there…

:) Sigh.
I love you New York!!
I am so glad to be home sweet home though – and looking forward to getting back into my crafty mojo with a fun item I got last week.
And I’ve got a little surprise for you tomorrow! Whoohoo! Stay tuned!

Full of thanks

This post was supposed to be written last week, in preparation for Thanksgiving, but life throws you curve balls that interfere with plans. And that was precisely the point I was going to make. It's how we deal with those curve balls that matter.

I'm one of those -- an optimist, through and through. :) I can't help it. I think it stems from my teen years, which I've mentioned a bit on this blog. I had enough sad days then, and since then I just can't stand to be sad or depressed. It makes me physically uncomfortable, I hate it so much.

That's not to say I don't deal with the bad things in life -- I do. I realized a long time ago, when things are at the lowest, doing something, anything helps -- it gives you power and control back. So when things go bad, my control is to look at the good.

I was going to write about some trivial things in this post last week. Things like when the sitter cancels on your night out with friends or the hubby, and seeing that as a good turn of events -- looking at it as a chance to spend unexpected time with your children. And how many, many people in this world would do anything to have children to spend time with.

Or when the car breaks down and you can't get where you wanted to go -- I rationalize things like that by thinking it was probably best I didn't go. Would you call that fate? I just feel when something like that happens, I wasn't supposed to be in that car, at that time, on that road. I think there's a higher power at work and we often forget that, especially at the annoying times.

I was also going to talk about the more serious circumstances, like when I fell down half a flight of cement stairs a couple weeks ago -- holding my son. It was probably the scariest moment of my life. He hit his head, and I could barely walk afterwards. Within seconds he seemed fine, and after a trip to the ER, we found out he was indeed OK and my ankle (that was triple it's normal size) was only badly sprained.

I felt sorry for myself for about two seconds, and then I was overcome with thankfulness that it was just me that was hurt -- and it was just an ankle. How incredibly fortunate that my son was not hurt worse. The what ifs ran through my head and they were not good. So as I've hobbled around for the past two weeks, I've been reminding myself how thankful I am that that's all it was. I can handle with a sprained ankle any day of the week.

This is the way I deal, and it works for me. But my optimism was tested last week. We got news that my father-in-law was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer. I simply cannot put into words how I feel. I won't even try. For the first few hours after we found out, I could barely breath. It was like someone was sitting on my chest. Then, there were the tears, and tears. And tears. My heart is breaking for my husband. It's breaking for my stepdaughter, my sister-in-law, my nephews, for me. For my son.

And now, this bad, horrible news, has yet again taught me to see the good. It was confirmed today that his doctors think he has at least six months with us -- maybe even a year. My heart is heavy. I want to cry again and again. But I also can't help to think how fortunate are we to be able to spend this time with him over the next year. To do special things, take pictures, to create new memories.

For our son to get to know his Grandpa even better.

Every year my father-in-law cooks an authentic Mexican fiesta meal for us and our friends, usually in the fall. He obviously hasn't been feeling great, so we skipped it this year. But now, we're going to have the fiesta the week before Christmas. We will gather around him to cook our Mexican feast with him, and it will be something I'm sure none of us will ever forget. (And yes, it is as good as it sounds!)

I just can't focus on the bad. It's against my nature. I have to look to the good, and there will be much good that will come over the next year. I am sure of that.

If I can, I am asking a favor of all of you. I would really appreciate your prayers. For my father-in-law, that he feels as good as possible for as long as possible. And for my husband and his sister, that they feel comfort and peace right now. I really, really appreciate it. I am so thankful for all of you.

** I am reposting this in Live Writer since Blogger wasn’t picking it up for some reason. I apologize for the two posts!

Full of thanks

This post was supposed to be written last week, in preparation for Thanksgiving, but life throws you curve balls that interfere with plans. And that was precisely the point I was going to make. It's how we deal with those curve balls that matter.

I'm one of those -- an optimist, through and through. :) I can't help it. I think it stems from my teen years, which I've mentioned a bit on this blog. I had enough sad days then, and since then I just can't stand to be sad or depressed. It makes me physically uncomfortable, I hate it so much.

That's not to say I don't deal with the bad things in life -- I do. I realized a long time ago, when things are at the lowest, doing something, anything helps -- it gives you power and control back. So when things go bad, my control is to look at the good.

I was going to write about some trivial things in this post last week. Things like when the sitter cancels on your night out with friends or the hubby, and seeing that as a good turn of events -- looking at it as a chance to spend unexpected time with your children. And how many, many people in this world would do anything to have children to spend time with.

Or when the car breaks down and you can't get where you wanted to go -- I rationalize things like that by thinking it was probably best I didn't go. Would you call that fate? I just feel when something like that happens, I wasn't supposed to be in that car, at that time, on that road. I think there's a higher power at work and we often forget that, especially at the annoying times.

I was also going to talk about the more serious circumstances, like when I fell down half a flight of cement stairs a couple weeks ago -- holding my son. It was probably the scariest moment of my life. He hit his head, and I could barely walk afterwards. Within seconds he seemed fine, and after a trip to the ER, we found out he was indeed OK and my ankle (that was triple it's normal size) was only badly sprained.

I felt sorry for myself for about two seconds, and then I was overcome with thankfulness that it was just me that was hurt -- and it was just an ankle. How incredibly fortunate that my son was not hurt worse. The what ifs ran through my head and they were not good. So as I've hobbled around for the past two weeks, I've been reminding myself how thankful I am that that's all it was. I can handle with a sprained ankle any day of the week.

This is the way I deal, and it works for me. But my optimism was tested last week. We got news that my father-in-law was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer. I simply cannot put this into words how I feel. I won't even try. For the first few hours after we found out, I could barely breath. It was like someone was sitting on my chest. Then, there were the tears, and tears. And tears. My heart is breaking for my husband. It's breaking for my stepdaughter, my sister-in-law, my nephews, for me. For my son.

And now, this bad, horrible news, has yet again taught me to see the good. It was confirmed today that his doctors think he has at least six months with us -- maybe even a year. My heart is heavy. I want to cry again and again. But I also can't help to think how fortunate are we to be able to spend this time with him over the next year. To do special things, take pictures, to create new memories.

For our son to get to know his Grandpa even better.

Every year my father-in-law cooks an authentic Mexican fiesta meal for us and our friends, usually in the fall. He obviously hasn't been feeling great, so we skipped it this year. But now, we're going to have the fiesta the week before Christmas. We will gather around him to cook our Mexican feast with him, and it will be something I'm sure none of us will ever forget. (And yes, it is as good as it sounds!)

I just can't focus on the bad. It's against my nature. I have to look to the good, and there will be much good that will come over the next year. I am sure of that.

If I can, I am asking a favor of all of you. I would really appreciate your prayers. For my father-in-law, that he feels as good as possible for as long as possible. And for my husband and his sister, that they feel comfort and peace right now. I really, really appreciate it. I am so thankful for all of you.

Perfect.

I've been toying around with this post for quite some time now. I have held off because it shows a side of me I'm not so proud of. I decided to write it today because especially lately, more than usual, I've seen comments and posts here and there from bloggers about their home not measuring up...not being as beautiful as the next...not as perfect.

This big bloggy world is one that has brought much joy to my life. Much creativity. I have loved "meeting" all of you because of blogging.

But there are times when I click through some blogs and am not proud of my reaction. First, it's awe and glee from a great reveal or project.

Then, maybe a bit of wishing.

Then, do I dare say it...

Resentment? Jealousy?

I'm not proud of that. Not one bit, but it's the truth.

Let me be clear here -- I big fat LOVE our home. I would not trade it for any other. Because it is truly where our heart is. I have put my blood, sweat and tears into this house. We have raised out kids here and have created so many wonderful traditions and memories.

I cannot stress enough how much I adore it.

So maybe it's not the homes I see that give me the tinges of jealousy. Maybe it's the time some have to dedicate to their homes. Maybe it's the money some can spend on their homes. Maybe it's the way they describe their lives that seem so...perfect?

Maybe you have felt that way about this blog at times? I know it's possible and probably true, but I hope it's a fleeting feeling.

Our home is not perfect. Our life is not perfect. And a couple weeks ago, I got a big (soft) slap upside the head from God when I found out something about a blogger I visit every so often. It's a little known fact about this person, and let's just say I felt like a big fat ARSE after finding out the information. ;)

It was a message in flashing red lights that no one's life is "perfect." It may appear to be, but it never is.

And really, who wants perfect? Seriously, perfect is BOR-RING. Just like a house, it's so much more interesting with imperfections...the squeak on the floor that drives you crazy every time you step on that spot. The crack in the wall no one sees but you (but it still drives you mad). The dings in the drywall and baseboards from kids living in a home. All of us have squeaks and cracks and dings in our lives that make them not perfect.

I will spare you the details of my life, but because of my experiences, HOME means so much more to me than a building or a place for stuff. Most of my childhood was filled with wonderful memories and traditions. I never noticed the dings in the drywall, the creaks in the floors. (And your kids won't either.)

Then in high school, a series of events occurred that changed my outlook on life. I didn't have a home for quite some time. I lived with my best friend and her family for a summer. When it was time to go back to college, my dorm room was my only home. And that Thanksgiving was spent in an old, gross motel room, just my Mom and me.

It was one of the lowest days of my life.

At that time, Sarah McLachlan's song "Elsewhere" brought me comfort. I listened to it constantly. Part of the chorus from that song that still sticks with me:

I believe this is heaven to no one else but me.
And I'll defend it as long as I can be...

That song still makes me cry. ;) I am thankful for every moment of my life, because it's brought me where I am today.

It's not about the stuff or the house being perfect. It's about it being a home, in the emotional sense. Because of my past, a place to put down roots and to create memories for our kids means so much to me. So if you ever take anything away from this blog, it's that your home should be YOUR haven. I don't care what it looks like. I don't care if it's your dream home. Make it your dream home with what you have.

Even if that is just baking cookies, carving a pumpkin and playing with your kids on this Halloween weekend. Remember even those that feel they have very little are envied by someone. Be proud and love what you have and make it what you love and are proud of, in whatever way you can.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend with your family. Thanks for listening to my deep thoughts today. :)

SURPRISE!!

Well hellooooo there!!

Isn't it FAB?? (If you are reading this in Google Reader you may want to click over.) I've been thinking about my redesign for AGES and am so totally, completely giddy with how it turned out!! Shannon at Eightcrazy Design is fan-freaking-tastic!

She took my inspiration -- my business card I had made up about six months ago -- and ran with it. It is so absolutely cool I can't stand it. (Squeal!) It's a perfect mix of sophisticated and fun and I'm thrilled. If you need any design services, I encourage you to check out Shannon's site.

Let me take you on a tour!

All the old stuff is still here, it's just organized better. (OH goodness, you know how I love organization!) Many of the items that were along the side are now up in the tabs along the top of the site.

I added specific tabs about advertising and consults -- check them out if you are interested! I highlighted some of the rooms in our house under the Our Home tab.I made the FAQ post a tab, so if you are new to TDC, many of your questions on projects I have completed are answered there.

Get Connected has links to my e-mail, Twitter and Facebook accounts and my Etsy site. Because you can't click the header to get "home" -- you can click the house button or go to the "Home" on the tab on the header to get to the front page of my site.

You can get my new blingy button (seen above) along the side as well. Isn't it awesome? (If you grabbed it early, the link is corrected now! I have a dot com address I haven't switched over yet.)

Some of my labels I had highlighted on my old site. Shannon has organized them so nicely all together along the side under Popular Catagories. These are some of my favorite labels, things like holiday posts, window treatments, beadboard, etc. I may add to these in the future, but you can still search my blog under What You Missed or check out past posts and my labels way down on the bottom left.

You can still see fellow bloggers in my blogroll down on the left as well. :)

I'm still tweaking some things but for now, it's done! And I'm in luuuuurve!! I hope you love it too! Thanks so much for the sweet comments!

P.S. And thanks to Beckie from Infarrantly Creative for introducing me to her BFF! :) (That would be Shannon.)

Fall favorites!

**My beadboard island was highlighted at One Project Closer a couple weeks ago (they are raising awareness of the Habitat for Humanity program) and now I'm up for the grand prize -- a $150 gift card to the home improvement store of my choice! Do you know what I could do with $150? :) If you get a second, I would really appreciate your vote! http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/before-after-2009-vote-for-the-best/ Not sure sure if you can vote daily or not, but I'll find out. You are all the BEST!!**

I was going to do a post about my various pumpkin decor tonight, but the daylight was gone before I could take good pictures...which is yet another reason I love fall.

My son was born in December, and that first winter, let's just say, I didn't care for the winter, notsomuch. The reasons were obvious -- new baby, cold, snow, dark most of the day. I didn't let those things stop me from getting out to Target of the house, but that winter I believe I had every lamp and light on in the whole house, all season long.

Every year since, I am loving when the days get shorter more and more -- call me crazy. I'm a night owl and it makes the evenings seem even longer. And it's just cozy. More excuses for candles. More reasons to start up the fireplace. More opportunities to sit out by the fire pit outside. Can't you just smell the roasted marshmallows right now??

This past weekend was one of those that included about every one of the reasons I love this season. So in honor of my favorite time of year, I though I'd share a few of my fall favorites...

Wooly worms, and a two-year-old who isn't afraid to touch them:

Pumpkins and gourds of all shapes:

Sizes and colors:A few more cold nights and this burst of magic will appear -- every year it seems to happen overnight:
(Click for source. Isn't that a gorgeous picture?)

Marching band:

And a little guy so excited to see the band and Daddy, he can barely stand it:

The fireplaces turned on:

Our new tradition of picking our own pumpkins:

And apples:

Nighttime temps like these:

That is what I'm talkin' about!!

High school football games with just a bit of chill in the air:Mums in bloom:

The burning bushes firing up!:

What are your favorites of fall? Did I miss any?

Oh yes, yes I did. I'm off to heat up my apple crisp and cider for my bedtime snack. ;)

My favorite place on Earth.

There is only one place I'd ever rather be than home. That place is New York City. If you've read this blog for a while, you know of my love for New York.

Today is always hard for me, every year. I know it is for everyone in this country. I have a love for this city that I can't really explain. It was love at first sight, and I fall in love more every time I'm there. It's electric, it's alive, it's beautiful, it's serene, it's amazing.

In late August of 2001, my husband took me to NYC for my first trip. I loved it like I knew I would. If I lived another life before this one, I know I was a New Yorker.

We went to the top of the Statue of Liberty, and got shots with the skyline as the background:
This is a picture of a picture because our scanner isn't working today, so excuse the quality. I still find it eerie how you can barely see the towers behind me. Less than two weeks later, those towers were gone. I treasure this picture so much!

Today I thought it appropriate to share a few of my favorite pictures of NYC with you. The first (above) was a makeshift cross created by the workers at Ground Zero.

My favorite shot of Lady Liberty (again, sorry about the quality):
A view of the city from to top of Rockefeller Center (the best views are seen from here), from my most recent trip in January:

The city is so big, you just can't fathom it until you drive up to the island and see it...breathtaking. (This view is just half of it.)

In my opinion, Times Square at night is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen:

ALIVE!

My husband took his band there the January after the attacks. We were supposed to go to Japan and cancelled that trip for obvious reasons. Instead, we thought the best place to go would be our favorite city. We thought it was important the students be there at that time.

This is just some of what we saw at Ground Zero:

Absolutely, positively heartbreaking and heart-filling at the same time.

People would stop us on the street, seeing all the students, and thank us for coming to their city. I don't care what anyone says, New Yorkers are some of the best people on Earth.

You don't think of natural beauty when you think of New York, but Central Park is hands down one of the most gorgeous places I've been:

I know it sounds cliche, but we can't forget. I know it's getting easier to, but we just can't. We need to remind ourselves every year, we need to teach our children about it. We need to keep praying, healing, loving. On a trip a few years after 9-11, this was written on one of the walls around Ground Zero, and it still makes me cry:
God Bless America.

All I know about blogging.

If you haven't already, check out the Before and After Party below! I think I'll make this a monthly shindig. I'm highlighting some of the projects on my Facebook page, so join me there if you want to check them out. (You can find my button to the left of my site.)

So a few days ago, Thrifty Decor Chick hit one million hits. Wowzers. I still can't even believe that. I mean, that's a lot. Especially considering a year ago, I had about 1,000. And those were probably just from my four friends who read my site. I've learned some things along the way that I wanted to share with all of you. I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I know about one million hits worth. So let's start from the beginning!

Starting a blog:

I went with blogger because it's so incredibly easy to start up and operate. I am pretty computer savvy, but not overly so, and blogger is very user friendly. And it's FER-REE. Score!

When I was creating the name for TDC, I wanted something fun but that perfectly described what I was going to write about. (I had Thrifty Decor Girl at first. Chick is so much more caaute.) I think my name helps bring folks to my site, because they know exactly what it is I write about. So if you want to start a blog about a certain subject, I recommend creating a title that alludes to what you are going to write about -- if it's a cooking blog, include words about food or cooking in the title. If it's a gardening blog, the same. If you have a family blog and want to start making it more specific to something you love, I suggest starting up a separate blog just for that.

Your site design:

Make it easy for people to read your site! I have a background in marketing/journalism, which included a lot of graphic design. I know white space (empty space) is a good thing, serif font is a good thing (the one with "feet" -- easier to read), people read left to right (meaning their eye travels across the page that way) and the average population reads at an eighth grade level. (Not sure if that is still the case but it was back in the day.) Please don't think I assume you all read at the eighth grade level folks -- it's just a standard writers use and it works!

This one is very important -- make it easy for people to COMMENT on your site. I like my comment form because it opens a separate box for comments, and commenters can still see the page they are commenting on. I highly recommend you go to your own site, while you are logged out, and try leaving a comment. See what is the easiest for your readers. There is one blogger comment form that seriously takes me four steps if I'm not logged in. Many times I've almost said forget it. :)

The comment moderation (where you are required to enter the "word" they give you) is a big topic of discussion among bloggers. I don't find it necessary. It's just another step your readers have to go through to leave you a message. In almost a year I've had mine off, I've only gotten about four of five spam-type comments I've had to delete. It's worth it to me to have it off.

Bringing people to your site:

I didn't even realize there were many decorating blogs out there for the first three months I blogged. I did it for my friends and family to see what I did around the house. When I discovered this big, beautiful bloggy world, I quickly realized how important commenting was to getting my name out there.

I did it a LOT. And often. And I was sincere. And when I realized I could add a "blog roll" to my site, I would comment and let people know I was adding them, then ask them to stop by if they had a chance. Some did, some didn't. It did help bring people over to see what I was doing. (If you ask me to come by your site, I ALWAYS do, it just takes time.)

One big tip I have is to change your name you use when commenting to include your blog title. So instead of "Sarah," mine says "Sarah @ Thrifty Decor Chick." If people see my name in a list of comments, they also see what kind of blog I have, and if they are interested in decorating, they may click over.

There are many sites dedicated to highlighting bloggers -- I am so fortunate that I have been highlighted by a few of the big ones, including Tip Junkie, Today's Creative Blogs and The Secret is in the Sauce. I recommend you go to these sites and check them out (see my blogroll on the right.) Most of the time you need to submit to be featured on these sites, so please do so!! They will drive an insane amount of traffic to your site.

Keeping them coming back:

When things started to get busier around TDC last fall, and just because of the time of year it was, I was posting a LOT. Almost every day. That is the nature of this time of the year for me (it's going to get crazy here in about a few days folks!) but I also wanted to have something new to keep people coming back.

I think this is important to do to drive traffic to your site, but I also want to warn you -- blogging gets addicting. You will quickly get obsessed with it, both as a blogger and a reader. PLEASE do not let it interfere with your life. If you have the time, post every day. If you don't -- DON'T. I got so busy with it last fall, I realized I was letting it take over my life just a bit, and I didn't want that, and I don't want that for any of you.

Stay true to you. If you are goofy, funny, sarcastic, crude, whatever -- don't CHANGE. People that love your site love it because you are goofy, funny, sarcastic, crude, whatever. Don't think you need to change because more people are visiting. Don't stop being funny. PLEASE. And whatever you do, don't stop saying "cauuute" and "lurve." No matter what.

Extra little tips:
I succumbed to the Twitter bandwagon and really do love it (thought I would NEVER do it). My "hits" went WAY up when I started really using it. It is a fun, unique way to get your site out there, and I recommend it if you are interested. There are some spammers within Twitter that you have to watch for, but otherwise I've found it really enjoyable.

This is a big one -- YOU WILL NOT PLEASE EVERYONE ALL THE TIME. You will also offend someone, no matter how much you try not to. It's just the nature of the beast. You can't please everyone, and even though the disgruntled comments hurt, you have to move past them and stay true to you.
Speaking of not pleasing everyone, you will most likely never hear me discuss anything controversial on this blog, my Facebook page or my Twitter account. For example, I am a VERY passionate, opinionated person when it comes to politics. As hard as it is for me not to discuss it at times, it would take something really big for me to break this rule. I want this site to be fun, stress-free and enjoyable for everyone -- no matter if they share my views or not. I don't like seeing it (unless I agree -- hee!!) and I never want to make anyone mad or uncomfortable. I mean, this is a decorating blog. If you have one about politics or where you are sharing your opinions on a regular basis -- that's what people expect.

ALL of this being said -- these are MY thoughts, and what I follow on MY blog. As with your home, you can do whatever, whenever, however you want!! It's your blog. (Whateva whateva, I do what I want! Who says THAT?)

Just wanted to thank you all for visiting, reading, commenting, and inspiring me! Here's to another meeeeeellion hits!!