A Derby Hat

If you don't know, I live in Kentucky. Friday starts the big celebration of the derby, with the Oaks and Saturday is the Derby. It is so wrong but I am working all weekend! My Mom is headed off to a Derby party and needed a hat to attend. Last year I held a derby hat swap on my old blog. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed creating a lovely hat, knowing this my Mom called on me to create a hat. While this vintage wool felt hat is out of season I chose to use it. I have been wanting to use coffee filters for a project for so long and this was the perfect opportunity. I dyed coffee filters with tea bags and starting working. I added ribbon, a vintage horse ribbon and a poker chip from the Kentucky Club. I hope she enjoys it~

The Name Game Winner

So G and I read all the wonderful comments yesterday. Thanks for leaving them! So we came up with a winner........ The lovely Maija from http://maigirlz.typepad.com

"Can you imagine being born Maija Neibergs?? Try saying that! It's pronounced My-ah Ny-burgs. People would get all confused when I even spelled it out. When I was in elementary school and junior hign we changed the spelling to MYA thinking it would be easy to pronounce- no. I got Mia, Myra, Myna and even Mary. In middle school the boys used to say "mya mya pants on fire" Finally I went back to the ethnic spelling since no one gets it right anyhow! Now when I say my name Mya Lepore (say it out loud now) people think my name is Myla. It never ends! But I do embrace the uniqueness of my name!"

The Name Game

I loved a post that Kasey did over at http://lolabboutique.com/ she wrote a wonderful post of how her kids names came to be. It got me to thinking about my wonderful unique name BRISTOL. How so many times I am asked as to where my parents came up with that name. I always wish I had some wonderful story to tell. When I end up telling it I think well that is a great story. To answer the first question often asked. Your parents must have been hippies to come up with a name like that in 1969? Uh, no so far from it! So I have two brothers 7 and 9 years older than me. There names were easy. My dad told my Mom some fabricated story that all men in his family had to have the initials JDW. So my brothers got two strong common names John and James(Jay). My Mom always longed for a girl. When she became pregnant for the last time she thought for sure she would have another wild boy. So she picked out one girls name, Lucinda. Thank god for the cousin who took the family name first when her child was born. So after that no other girls name was chosen, not one. So, on September 2oth the stars aligned and a girl was born. We had a problem there was no name. So here you go this is our wonderful story behind my name. My Mom's friend said Sandy's friend in California has a neat name. So right there in a flat second it was decided. Bristol would be my name and then enters Lucinda again as my middle name. So I have hated and loved my name throughout my life. I have to spell it 20 times a day but it's my name and I love it. So what's the story behind your name. Send me a comment with a your story. My son Griffin and I will pick out the best story

and the winner will receive two vintage horse ribbons. Pass on the news of the giveaway, the more the merrier! Leave a post before Monday at Midnight.

~Almost Time~

I always dread this time of year. My Mom is getting ready to head to our family cottage in Michigan. She leaves the first week of May and does not head back until October. I see her one week of that time when we make the annual trip up north. Oh how I wish I could spend more time up there. My grandparents purchased this cottage and their best friends lived across the street. My Mom grew up with their kids and it continued on to the next generation. Our cottage sits on the cove of the river and the lake is across the street, it is just perfect. I love this place~

Sweet Finds

Two fashion finds I am in love with at this moment in time. The sandals I found at Target for 17.99. I purchased them in gold, blue, black and tortiose. Oh yes when I find a good thing I buy several. And to tell you a little secret I bought two black because well I wear black everyday. That way Iwill have a new fresh pair to take on vacay. These little puppies are as comfortable as a flat sandal can be. I actually wore them to work today with a pair black slacks. I did a huge floor move and I was not happy by the end of the day but I still looked down and said I love these sandals!

My other new find is Henry. Brown Bags. I got together with some college friends and when my friend Jenn walked in with this bag I went ballistic. The canvas, quality and color is out of this world. The monogramming is wonderful. http://www.henrybrownbags.com/. They are located in Lexington, Kentucky. All of their product is made right in the heart of horse country.

A Brand New Day

Since I started blogging I have not been one to get to personal. But I have been wanting to post about this for a couple days, so here we go. For me it is a Brand New Day. I have been in a rut for the past couple years since my Dad died. I was eating whatever I wanted, I stopped taking the medication that controls my insulin, and not working out. I have been making excuses for it and just shopping in the larger womens' section. So one can only shop at Lane Bryant for so long. You really have to be creative there to find my style. Not that it is a nice shop, I'm just sayin'. I have not tipped the scales too bad, I venture to say I am in a larger 14 or 16. Wander why there are never any pictures of me posted on the ol' blog, because not to happy with the appearance lately. I have been talking about dieting, but never had the right frame of mind. So for whatever reason I woke up the other day and said that's it, I am doing it. For one reason we are headed here in 10 weeks. My in-laws are taking the whole family on a Caribbean cruise and Lane Bryant is not going with us this time! The lovelies below are. I have been coveting this tunic and top from Sis Boom http://sisboom.com/. If you have not stopped by Jennifer Paganelli's site please do she is so talented, her fabric and products are beautiful and she is a all around sweet person!

So I headed back over here. I have struggled with my weight since my mid 20's. Not finding out until my 30's that it was mostly caused from and insulin problem. Anyhoo, I went to Weight Watchers at one time and had the most success there. The thing that was holding me back was the meetings. I found a couple days ago you could do the program online, today I started back on my insulin medication. And as soon as I finish typing this I am going to go walk.

It was so important to post this challenge and get on with it. So bare with me as the shop may open later and you may see more weight loss posts~

Bristol

Inspiration

Where do yo get your inspiration? I got the inspiration to make these pedestals from the most talented Holly at http://hollydoodledesigns.com. The pedestals she made are so gorgeous, go check them out. I decided to do my own spin on them~ I used sheet music and an old attendance certificate of my Grandads. They are so easy to assemble. All you need are paper mache boxes, candle sticks, wood bases and some acrylic paint. Simply use a glue gun to attach the already painted wood pieces to the paper mache lid. When securely attached start your embellishing. They are not intended for food use, but add a punch to my buffet table in the dining room

I have two other super talented ladies that have inspired me to create two fun projects, check back next week for the finished projects.

~Next~

Next project please~ So I have a few things to finish in the bedroom, all those little finishing touches. I will post pictures of the finished project in the next couple weeks. So now on to the next project my craft area and opening up http://honeybendvintage.com/ . I am going to open back up on the 15th with just a few categories (Vintage horse show ribbons, a few vintage finds and some unique supplies. So to get there I need to get my space in the basement cleaned up and organized. Hopefully by Sunday I will have some vintage pretties on the site.

~Almost There~

I still have loose ends to tie up in my bedroom. Still looking for some vintage artwork to hang on the walls. We decided on bamboo blinds to go behind the drapes. With them not up yet it is hard to see how cute these drapes are. When I am 100% done I will share some more pictures. I need to purchase the quilt that matches the shams to finish the bed off. But so far I am liking the new look. It is difficult to see but the wallpaper looks like fabric linen on the walls~

This and That

I had ideas of posting pictures of my almost complete bedroom. My lovely camera is not cooperating so I hope to have them up Sunday. I thought I would show you a couple things I am dreaming about. I have been dreaming of this chair and sofa from IKEA. I would love to do white. But in my house it would be destroyed in 5 minutes flat. I would be sure to spill a glass of wine on it, Grace is not my middle name! My hats off to all the girls who can keep those creams and whites stain free. Now how to convince my husband on the great bargain that lies ahead~

And this sweet pillow I just purchased from Katie's Etsy Shop. Pop on over to her blog http://www.saseaboutique.blogspot.com/. for the link. Check back on Sunday for the reveal of my bedroom. I finished everything on my list!! I put painting the floors on hold. I am off to search for a large area rug, wish me luck!!