Sad Goodbyes...

Hello Everyone!

First I want to thank you all that have contacted me to express their sincerity of the passing of my Grandmother Hazel. Many of my friends have heard the stories of my grandmother and her sometimes crazy and eccentric ways. I love her for all of those memories and will truly miss her. I was blessed with the chance to have one last conversation on the phone with her the night before she had passed. I thank God for that chance.

Another goodbye that makes me sad, though doesn't EVEN COMPARE, is the farewell to Domino magazine. This is old news by now, most of you probably found out about this news while I took last week off. It is true though, Domino will run one more issue before they forever close their doors. I am shocked that this happened since I know how so many people love this magazine. It is the only American magazine that is focused on realistic budgets and great decorating ideas, not like Elle Decor or Metropolitan Home, which have VERY HIGH DECOR BUDGETS. I have been a huge fan of Domino from the very first issue, and I haven not missed one single issue. I would get so excited when my Domino showed up in the mail every month. It was always a "good mail day". Sadly, with this weakened economy, Domino just could not get the advertisers they needed. Hopefully, with this door closing, another one will open soon.

Sorry For Missing This Week...

I will be back to normal next week.  I took this week off to spend time with Parker and to reflect.  My grandmother, Hazel, passed away last Saturday, so I have been a bit sad some days.  Hope you all have a great weekend.

What I Have Been Up To This Past Month...part 2

Over our Thanksgiving holiday break, my little family flew down to Sacramento, California to spend the holiday with Phillip's parents, Ray and Theresa. They live in a little town outside of Sacramento called Placerville. The weather was beautiful (as it always is in California) and it was great to spend some time with family and old friends. Of course, the main event was not the actual holiday, but rather the Grandparents spending time with Parker. This was their second time visiting with him since he has been born. Needless to say, I hardly got any time with him for a whole week. Parker ate up all of the attention though and absolutely loved it.

(Grandpa Ray and Parker. Grandma Theresa and Parker.)

I have never been one to get too excited about Thanksgiving. I feel like the day is wasted because it is all about one meal...big whoop. However, I do have one long time tradition...the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I watch it every year (I just love the parade banter) with a platter of Pillsbury Orange Rolls and coffee. One year I actually got to see the parade in person while I was visiting Kelly in New York. I remember that it was very cold (this was before I lived in Minnesota, so I didn't know what cold could really mean.) and wet. It didn't really hit me that I was watching the parade until I saw the Big Bird float go by my face. At that time, I looked up at Kelly and he and I both had such silly grins on our faces. That Thanksgiving was my favorite by far.


(Parker and I watching the parade together. Parker fell asleep.)

Even though the week flew by pretty quickly, we managed to drive down to Sacramento to meet some of our old friends from the Bay area. One of the couples just had a sweet little baby girl a few months ago, so Phillip and I were very eager to meet the new addition, Sophie.

(The old gang out to dinner. Our waiter rocked! He was so patient with us and the kids. Of course, we left him a good tip.)

(Parker meeting Sophie for the first time with Nick. Shannon, Parker, Sophie and Nick.)

I think I might have to plan on an arranged marriage for Parker and Sophie. She was definitely a cutie!

We had a great time and miss all of you guys!