Day 20 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge-What Makes Me Happy

What Makes Me Happy?

1. 80 degree days in Phoenix
2. Puppies
3. Globes
4. Growing things
5. Chopped salad (that I didn't have to chop)
6. Planning vacations
7. Freshly washed sheets
8. A dip in the pool
9. Freshly washed car
10. Salon hair
11. Chalk paint
12. Getting a deal
13. Snorkeling
14. Chocolate
15. The smell of freshly cut wood
16. Haboobs
17. Fitting in the next size down
18. Tortilla chips and guacamole
19. The smell of rain in the air
20. Fireflies
21. When my hubs gets "that grin" and I see the 8 yr old boy in him
22. When the Puppers snuggles with me instead of dad
23. Photos of my daughters
24. The smile on a client's face when their home makes them happy
25. When "my song" comes on the radio at the perfect moment

Day 10 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge-The Best Trip Of My Life

The Best Trip Of My Life (So Far)

I've been tremendously fortunate in my life to have had amazing travel adventures. I'd rather travel than eat(but it's a close race) so I'm always planning the next getaway. But if I MUST pare it down to my favorite, I have to pick my cruise through the Panama Canal, Caribbean and Mexico with my kidlets. 

It isn't just the trip that was my favorite, but the time in my life that contributes to it bringing such fond memories. All told we were gone 18 days and to say that it was the trip of our lives isn't exaggerating. It really was a blast. Please don't judge the photos...this was 2001 and they are pilfered from my scrapbook. Yes I used to scrapbook...religiously...but that's a topic for another day.

Yep...that big ole ship was home for two weeks!!

Best time ever with the kidlets!

My little one lost her tooth in Aruba....tough life that one...

Livin the life...

Now they are all grown and have lives of their own but I know that they look back as fondly as I do on that trip. It was when we were a family and all together and experiencing things for the first time all at the same time...

Ft Lauderdale

Aruba

Curacao

Costa Rica

Panama Canal

Acalpulco

Cabo San Lucas

San Diego

Time of your life? Huh kid?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's topic My Ten Favorite Foods

Day 7 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge-My Five Favorite Songs

My Five Favorite Songs

I have to pick just five? That's nearly impossible!!! That's crazy! Do you know how many songs I have on my IPod? It's 8 GBs!!

Ok here goes nothing:

1) Anything Anything-Dramarama

This song clearly represents a time in my life. A somewhat carefree time when all was fun and light and a little aggressive. That was all denial.....it wasn't real but I was danged determined to pretend that everything was all right and that I wasn't lost and foundering. I was having fun! I was I was I was!!! I do appreciate the Buck Cherry version as well

2) Time After Time-Any Cindy Lauper version

In my humble opinion...which matters not a whit, this is the best song ever written. It makes me FEEL...in the real, authentic way that so few songs do anymore. It's a real song that really matters and although it's been covered a bazillion times I think it doesn't get the credit it deserves.

3) Bella's Lullaby-Carter Burwell

I know..I know...it's on the Twilight soundtrack. But this song I think is so lovely. It makes me want to play piano again. It's haunting and has a wonderful internal energy to it that swells my spirit. Listening to this song is almost a spiritual experience for me.

4) Rhiannon-Fleetwood Mac

Do I even need to justify this one? It's Stevie for heavens sake! I've never been a huge Fleetwood Mac fan growing up but in my forties some of the classics have grown on me. That rasp though!

Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night and
Wouldn't you love to love her?
Takes to the sky like a bird in flight and
Who will be her lover?

All your life you've never seen
A woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win?

She is like a cat in the dark and then
She is the darkness
She rules her life like a fine skylark and when
The sky is starless

All your life you've never seen
A woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win?
Will you ever win?

5) The Thunder Rolls-Garth Brooks

This song is such a good quiet brooding song. It's the best crescendo song I can think of with a huge build and an amazing delivery. I realize sometimes that I forget to breathe during it and it leaves me gasping for air a bit. I'm realizing that this is the only "country" song on the list despite the fact that I generally listen to country music these days...Interesting?!?



Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog on My 5 Current Goals

Day 3 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge-My Favourite Quote

Well this topic seemed to be very easy and straightforward. My favourite quote is easy and comes to mind immediately. I've told everyone I know that I want it etched somewhere permanent when I'm gone. It meant so much to me at one time in my life and still holds importance today. But how to explain why it is my favorite. It for sure is not profound. It for sure is not smart. But it for sure IS wise!

"Time of your life, huh, kid?"- Guido the killer pimp (Risky Business)

**warning...colorful metaphors and adult content in this video**

This quote represented so many things to me:

• Personal accountability
• Cause and effect
• Play and pay
• Tangerine Dream
• And most of all that "morning after" feeling of "oh *&@$ what have I done"!!

Now don't get me wrong! Most of it was entirely worth it....but that sinking feeling in your stomach when the panic and consequences set in.....that was the magic moment. The moment you ask yourself whether or not it was all worth it. Make sure the answer is YES!!

Stay tuned tomorrow to hear about My Dream Job

Day 2 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge-20 Facts About Me

20 Facts about me!?! I'm not sure I have 20 interesting facts but here it goes!

1) I love travel! I would go anywhere for just about any reason. And I get wanderlust really quickly. I usually am planning one trip while on another. I can fool myself sometimes by just going somewhere for the weekend to reset my "impulse" button.

2) I don't drink alcohol. Although I frequently find myself in bars since hubby is a musician. It is way more fun watching people drinking and being idiots than being the idiot myself! 

3) I love my dog! Probably not a surprise to many of you since he has his own hashtag. #puppersthejunkyarddog . His name is Puppers and he absolutely rules the roost here. The other truth is that I love him way more than he loves me. He is totally my hubs dog....totally. I just beg him to love me and he tosses a bone my way every now and again!

4) I am a book fanatic. I only read at night now and I frequently lose track of time and read into the wee hours than feel regretful and remorseful the next day while I'm trying to haul my tired butt out of bed!

5) I'm a goofball. I accept and embrace my goofiness however hubs who is a closeted goofball thinks he's hip, slick and cool...He's not. As evidenced by this photo...he's a total goof too. It's one of his finest qualities!

6) I was a mighty cute kid! And I was raised in San Diego. Both of these facts are equally important to "who I am". I did, however, have no hair which I'm sure you are all kind enough not to point out! 

7) I have ZERO patience! Waiting in line? Nope! Holding on the phone? Absolutely not! Filling out forms? Are you kidding me? I'll be tapping my fingers and fidgeting and swearing under my breath. The photo below is one that I IG'd waiting in line at the Post Office which was making me seriously Cray-Cray (As if taking a photo at the Post Office isn't crazy enough)! I just have people to see and places to go and if you are in my way....YOU ARE IN MY WAY!!!

8) I'm a warm weather gal. I've lived in three locations in my life. 

• San Diego
• Hawaii
• Phoenix

Get the picture? I am one of those that throws on a light jacket if the temps plummet into the 70's. You get it, right?

9) I like to color my hair. Alot. Different every time. I'm not one of those that you can call a brunette, or a blonde or a redhead....I'm more like all of the above...and then some. Who knows what's next? Red?

10) I have amazing, talented, beautiful, kind, ingenious daughters. Two of them! They challenge me, and fill me with love, and drive me crazy, and love me to pieces. I never thought of myself of the nurturing kind of parent...and they would probably tell you that I'm not, but they sure changed my life and I can't imagine a minute without either of them!

 11) I live in Arizona. This is quite a fact. I never thought I'd live here but I've actually been here 10 years August 1st! It's been a long strange trip! In my time in Arizona I've come to the following conclusions:

• I love monsoons...they are super cool. And saying the word "haboob" is even cooler!
• I've developed an appreciation for the desert landscape. All cacti are not created equal
• Spring and Fall here are absolute Heaven. Summer is Hell personified. Winter is cool
• Misters are awesome. Pools are awesome. And the people are the best

12) I love old stuff. I often wonder if I were born in another time or another place. It's possible! But I am so drawn to the gentility of another time and the lifestyle of another place. Since I can't be there....I try to fill here with as many old things as I can that speak to me or lift me up!

13) I'm adopted. That's just kind of a fact...not terribly interesting. I was adopted by an amazing couple when I was 3 months old and I always grew up knowing that I was wanted and adored and took a journey to find my family. Then several years ago I got the chance to meet and get to know my birth family and they are amazing people too! I just couldn't be more blessed!

14) I adore my girlfriends. I have the best and the most beautiful girlfriends on earth. I love them fiercely and they are my family. That is all!

15) I am very sarcastic. I speak it fluently. To a fault. Not everyone appreciates it. Sucks to be them....Ok but to be honest it is not just my defense mechanism but also evidence of my sparkling personality and quick wit. If I'm not sarcastic...how do you know how smart I am? I do try to close my mouth and only be sarcastic in my head but see #18

16) I suck at fishing and camping but I actually like both. I'm a terrible fisherwoman (see #7) and I don't like to get dirty or have worm guts under my nails but as long as someone will plop me in a chair with my toes in the water and help me cast so that no one loses an eye when I try it....I'm 100% in! As far as camping...again....do the setup and give me smores. I'm your girl!

17) Coffee is a non-negotiable. I've tried...I've cut back...It's not pretty. I need coffee in the morning and I need it bad. In fact, I can't really make coffee without coffee first so it's preferable that you hand it to me in a steaming mug while my feet are still in slippers. For you that is.....

18) I have resting bitch face. I have exercising bitch face...I just have a bitchy face. And I can't hide my emotions....my every thought comes right through my eyes. Whether or not they are rolling. I can't hide one single tiny thought....it's all right out there for the world to see. Dang it! 

19. I like to write. Probably comes from having a father that's an English professor and a mother that's an attorney. Words and wordsmithing comes easy to me. I guess that's the blogger coming to life, huh?

And finally......If you've held on this long....drum roll please!

20. I love Bravo. It's my biggest dirty secret. My hugest shame...The housewives, the yachties, the cooking shows...i love it all....I watch it in the middle of the night or Sunday mornings when hubs is still asleep (he won't tolerate the nonsense). I just love it. There...it's out!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post: My Favorite Quote

Ok...Ok...I'll join in! Day 1 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge

I've seen this all over the blogosphere and I've never really been tempted. Most of all because I always think my clever ideas are better than other clever ideas. I'm sure you agree, but here I am trying to get into better blogging habits rather than being STRUCK by brilliance and then emoting all over the darned page. So here I find myself with a challenge to blog every day for 30 days. Can I really follow directions? Conform to the masses? Find something quippy to say every single solitary day? Access both my keyboard and my brain every day for 30 days (successively)? Well here goes nothing!

Day One: Your Blog's Name

This one should be easy. I've always been about a bargain. I've always seen beauty in the "broken, battered, or bruised" pieces of life. About 5 years ago I started to develop a love...no...an obsession with vintage and vintage-inspired decorating. I loved the recycle-renew-reuse concept and felt the pull towards the past. Living in Arizona as a transplanted San Diegan I truly missed the value of the historical. San Diego as a city is not as old and historic as places back east and down south and I really felt drawn towards them. Almost overnight I developed wanderlust.

Unfortunately I did it alone. Not with my husband and partner. Coming from Philadelphia, he has a much more dismissive approach to anything old. In fact, to him, new is much more desirable and is inspirational. So I found myself at odds with this and struggled to include him in my journey.

So Junkyard was a natural for me....I love everything rusty and dusty, metal and wood. Shabby to industrial and everything in between.

Jezebel to me represented everything forbidden, secretive, and felt...well...a little bit wicked! I wanted to be the "bad-girl" of junking...so what better name?

It was then that Junkyard Jezebel was born!

Stay tuned...tomorrow will be 20 Facts About Me

Whole New World

It began about 4 years ago. Sort of like a hum.....which graduated into a buzz...which based on my actions turned into a full fledged roar. It was a desire to change my life. Not entirely...because I still like the basic creature comforts like a home, an automobile, food to eat and a Puppers to cuddle with at night. In truth though, I became discontented with my life. Call it a mid-life crisis, call it a gratitude deficiency...whatever it was although painful did start the ball rolling that would allow me to make some changes in my life.

I don't want to get too much into the whys and what fors but I have always been a workhorse. I might be considered a work-aholic. I might just have been dropped on my head as a child but I've always loved work and defined myself by my work successes and failures. I've also been very fortunate to love what I do. This life upheaval however prompted me to want to go in a new direction and forge a new path.

Is it scary? Yes. Is it gut-wrenching to leave my cohort and fellow trouble-maker and pot-stirrer? Absolutely! Did I spend the last two plus years trying to prepare for this moment? You bet your @%$!!!

So here goes it as I take a deep breath and leave my comfort zone and branch off to do my own thing!

Since I refuse to say/admit that I'm leaving (I'll still be hanging around but in a new capacity) and I can't believe my good luck at finding a top-notch "new me", the gang threw me a little "rite of passage" from my old life into my new!

Geez!! Do they think I'm going to the moon? Each handpicked goody came with a story and a lot of laughs. 

1) Crossword puzzles-For standing in those long estate sale lines

2) Bandaids (no tetanus shot included)-For those unfortunate rusty nail incidents

3) Sales Book-Assuming I ever sell anything!

4) Ropes and tie-downs and Bungee Cords-For strapping the junk to the roof!!

5) Glitter Notebook and Glitter-Because you can never have enough sparkle!

6) Sunscreen-For long days out in the sun at the Vintage Markets

7) A whole pile full of glamorous goodies like Foot Spray, Aspercreme and rubber gloves

8) Love......a whole mess of hugs and well wishes and warm fuzzies to carry into the impending days of the unknown.....

Look out world.....here I come!!