Morning Notes

This is what waits for me each morning,

well,
most mornings,
well,
mornings that hubs heads off to his
highly secretive,
national security,
very intense navy work.

He gives himself weekends off.

Notes.
From the Hubs.

I look forward to these notes.
I revel in these notes.
Sometimes I pour my coffee, sit down and
get comfy before I read my note.

Can you say delayed gratification?

You see.
My guy is a man of few words, a quiet guy.
Most who know him would agree.

Me.
Not so quiet.
Yes, it is true.
Opposites attract.

I guess that's why I feel like we are approaching veteran married-dom
with going on 19 years under our belt.

Anyway,
Mr. Man has written me notes since the day we met.
I fell in love with my man because of these notes.


This is the hand written letter, not even a note,
when he asked me for a second date.

I guess he thought it was easier to pen a letter
(on fancy, shmancy yellow stock legal pad),
stick a stamp on it and send it through
the good old US mail service than pick up the phone and
have a little chat
with miss chatty (that's me).

Regardless.

It worked.

Oh, I got that letter and you better believe
I went out on that second date.

You see.
Mr. man is gifted with the pen.

He is funny, witty, sarcastic and charming.
He was the guy for me.

Little did I realize,
the notes would not stop.

Look at all these notes.
I've saved them all.
Years and years of them.

This is the note he asked me to marry him with.
I was complaining about being chilly on top of the
Space Needle. I wanted get out of the cold.
That is when he pulled out the note...
and the ring!!!

On our wedding day,
the pastor says,
"You may now kiss your bride,"
I went in for the kiss.

Not so fast soon-to-be Mrs. Brookes.
Another note.
I had no idea.
But what about that kiss?
I read my note.
I think I cried.

Then I went after that kiss.
It was even better after I read my note.

So this was the note this morning.

Much like the rest,
although now there are two notes.

The girls get a note now.
How cool is that?
(Mr. Man started writing them once they could read.)
It's usually a limerick.

The second note,
the one below,
is for me,
little old me.

So why am I telling you all this?

The Navy takes Mr. man away from us at times.
Sometimes it's on a boat.
Other times it's to far away dangerous places.

Mr. Man is a good Navy man and goes where they tell him.

I will miss my notes when he is away from us.

Emails aren't the same as my morning notes.

I will
miss
my
morning
notes.

sniff
sniff

Thanks for letting me share this special
little thing we do in our home.

Eye Candy Friday: Garden Stools

I am buried in snow,
looking ahead at Spring.

This is what I'm drooling over...


Apartment Therapy


Decor Pad

Veranda

Traditional Home

These are on my radar.

Is there room for a pair of these bad boys in your spring space?
Do tell...

Special Thanks to Thriffty Decor Chick!

Holy Cow!

Someone pinch me.

The most wonderful Thrifty Decor Chick
is showing off new bloggers and
guess what?



She highlighted my little old blog!

Yes.
Me.

I'm still in shock.

Let me put my shock aside to offer the most humblest of thanks.

TDC you rock!

I thank you from the bottom of my little bloggie heart.

5 Friends

Five Friends

Yes.
Five friends I think about every day.

Let me give you a little background here.

I have decided these five items have become my friends
because I have a goal, you see.

I am very goal oriented,
if you want to know the truth.

Hence,
let me tell you about my goal.
Retract, let me show you my goal.

This is the new
NOOKcolor

Normally, I'm not the most gadget-y gal.
But I made one mistake, one fatal mistake.

I went to the Nook station at
Barnes & Noble
to take a little looksie.

Uh oh.
Danger zone.
Turn back!

Too late.

I was sold.

And when I found out that the Nook has an e-reader contract
with all Public Librarys across our great nation.
That's right all my fellow readers out there.
Translation: FREE E-READER DOWNLOADS!

Not to mention this little e-reader is in FULL color
AND
it has wi-fi.
Need to check email? Facebook? Your fav bloggie?
You have arrived, my friend.
This has it all.

Needless to say, meet my new goal:

NOOKcolor.

So,
why haven't I up and bought it yet?

I've got to save for it.
(remember that goal oriented part?)
This bad boy ain't cheap,
but I do believe it's well worth the $249 (ouch!)

So, back to the reason I'm telling you about my 5 friends...
These 5 friends are going to be good to me to meet my goal.
They will make me money and save me money.

Friend #1:
The public Library
I've mentioned this guy before but I can't deny my love affair with him.
This guy will help me utilize my future new e-reader without breaking the bank.
I will save money and prevent from spending money when I spend more time here.
Who doesn't love that deal?

Friend #2:
eBay

This is the greatest invention since sliced bread.
I'm sure most of you know the value of this bad boy.
If you have not met him, please, please, please
familiarize yourself with him.
He will not only make you lots of moolah,
but de-clutter your cabinets, closets and life.

Hint:
Anything that is easily shippable AND has a brand name
is even more friendly to this guy.
Get to know him!

Friend #3:
Mr. Craig and his famous list

See Friend #2 for easily shippable items.
This guy is for the big, bulky and "too much hassle" to ship.

Think:
furniture, appliances, wall mirrors.
You get the picture.

Smaller audience than Friend #2 but just as valuable for
making and saving money.
Plus, it's environmentally sound
(ahh, you can sleep a little better knowing you are
recycling good stuff to people who need it for cheap prices.)

Friend #4:
Home Made Lunches

Paying for lunches out can be a serious money pit.
If small people in your house pack lunches,
and big people in the house pack lunches this
can add up to oodles and oodles of money saved.

*Just make sure you've got good and healthy stuff to pack in those lunches.

Easy!

Finally,
Friend #5:
Still thinking about this one.
Thought you people out there in cyberland
might be able to help me out.

What is your favorite friend (method)
that helps save or earn you cold hard cash-ola?

Spill.

I'm all ears.

Can't wait to hear your ideas.

What Would Wendy Wear? aka: WWWW

WWWW
aka:
"What Would Wendy Wear?"

Yes,
I do realize no one is actually asking me this question...
I just liked the alliteration,
and it's a new section of the blog.
Work with me, here.

Ruffled sweater-Steinmart
Black skinnies-consigned
Boots-DSW
legwarmers-H&M

The mister and I went on our regular day date.
This is definitely one thing I like about his coo coo Navy schedule.
Time off in the day
(yes, this means working during nights,
but we won't talk about that part)

We saw The Fighter.
It's my personal pick to sweep the Oscars.
I do realize no one is asking me my opinion on this, either...


Okay, back to the day date.
Unseasonable chill chill in DC right about now.
That's cold for us San Diego natives.

Had to get out the big guns:
leg warmers.
That's right.
I'm going Jennifer Beals on you.
2011 style

Here I am with my Gap coat,
to prevent frostbite.
I do love me a good toggle coat.

So what do you think of the new
wwww concept?

Tell me what you think...

Furniture on Wheels

Chic

Modern
Edgy

That's
furniture on wheels

Remodelista


Wisteria

Don't think I'm not loving the painted white flooring, either.
I'll be posting more on that later.

Remodelista

Who would have thought
investing in a few pairs of
casters would be so design forward?

Are you in?
Let me know your thoughts.

Favorite Freebie - PICNIK

Just discovered this.
Love.

I think you will, too!

Peeps, meet Picnik

This website allows you to do really nifty,
cool things with your photos.

Oh.
And it's absolutely FREE.
Who doesn't love FREE?

Check it out...

Original Photo

After applying 'BOOST'
(what did I tell ya?)

*Home pics of our pad left behind in San Diego

Original Photo

After applying 'HDR-ish' effect

Original Photo

After applying 'CinemaScope'

Cool, huh?

One more for the road...
Original Photo

After applying 'Cross Process'

You can even add text and symbols.

Makes me a better "photographer".
Don't you think?

Do we not love modern technology?

Take a sec.
Stop on by and play around a bit.

Let me know what you think.

Stripes, Wide legs and a Flower

Friday

Haircut
(this is the before, btw)

Volunteering at the middle school

Can you say, "layer up"?
I'm off...

Quatrefoils-Coming to Interiors near You!

You've seen them.

Think about it.

They're everywhere...

...hiding in furniture

Thom Filicia

...in the ground

Elle Decor

...definitely on the wall

House Beautiful


Belle Maison



Heidi loves them.
Even made a jewelry line highlighting them

Quatrefoils!

I'm desperate for a splash in my own home.

Looking for the right splash.

Hmmm.
Pillows?
Rug?
Drapery?

Still thinking...and looking.

I could always start with
this:

Found on Etsy

Thanks for visiting...