to spread love around the world, lisa oceandreamer, is hosting the 2nd annual one world- one heart giveaway today. each participant is offering up something to give away- something handmade, something special you don’t want to keep anymore, or even a charity donation in the winner’s name- all you have to do to win is leave a comment here and at all the other participants/blogs who have fabulous things to giveaway- the list is here

”chocolate doesn’t make the world go around … but it certainly makes the ride worthwhile”- anonymous

i am offering 3 pieces of delicious chocolate bars- a german, an austrian, and a swiss (not pictured above)-  click here  check out what else there is to win- have fun!!!

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my giveaway contest is closed. it is not fair and not very nice to do this without warning but i will not be available after today- feb 10th in order to announce on the 14th- i apologize. 

at 91 comments i decided to pick 2 winners instead of one which i did using a random number generator that my darling husband programmed for me-  : )

the winners are number 9 and number 73!

congratulations to angie of quillysillys vintage paper boutique (too funny, she lives in my home state of texas) and melissa of altered faireys -   i will leave you with this quote- i wish i could remember who said it-

strength is breaking a chocolate bar into four squares and eating just one

enjoy your chocolate bars ladies!

 work of the sun                                              and the moon

here are some staying warm inside fireside creations- i present the first of the winter 2007-2008 masterpieces by the sun and the moon.

and……… 

better late, than never- i was tagged by somepinkflowers a couple several weeks ago and never got around to it- but i did not forget! here are my answers

four jobs i have had

i waited tables- which was a lotof fun- not to mention the biggest lesson: how to treat your waiter/ess. everyone should wait tables at least once in their life!

i then was a kindergarten teacher’s assistant until

i landed a research analyst position at an executive search firm where i conducted corporate research and did the foot work for recruiters

which propelled me into a technical recruiting career throughout the nineties until we started our family

today i employ myself- i provide new business development and marketing communication services in english. i incorporated myself last october and started the new year with 3 clients- not bad for a one woman show!

four places i have lived

dallas, tx

athens, greece

jeddah, saudi arabia

asmara, eritrea

four favorite foods

pico de gallo. that’s all i can think of right now- probably because it’s hard to get your hands on fresh cilantro in the winter here.

four places i have been on holiday

montafon, austria

south tyrol, italy

guadelupe mountains national park, tx

ocho rios, jamaica

four places i would rather be

nowhere. there is absolutely nowhere that i would rather be!

i am tagging traute, over at spirit’s soap art and amy at petticoatlane

artist clint scism

collision::a night of art & music::presented by creative south

december 15, 7:30pm - 12:30

the continental gallery::3311 elm street::dallas texas 75226

featuring dallas artists::clint scism::mark nelson::ange fitzgerald

live music by::miss cj & lovie

more information::214.801.4650 or 972.3424567

everyone in dallas, arlington, denton, austin, houston, or even jefferson! everyone, go to the continental gallery in dallas to experience collision, an evening of art and music this saturday night.  this really makes me wish i was home. please go and show your support for my dear friend clint who will showcase his work….you will be mesmerized by his art . plus, you’ll be treated to live music by lovie, a fresh, 30 somethings-all girl-indie-pop-rock-band. trust me, you don’t want to miss them! i so wish that i could be there!

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embelished with flowers on both sides on white silk dupioni, the flower bouquet pochette is a fine piece of art

with choice pink and gold aisian brocade lining on the inside <i am in love!>

this, my newest treasure is handmade by constance muller of boutique rochambeau

put a wow into an outfit, go ahead and treat yourself!

bette davis

my love for the great gatsby ignited into a love of many things from this bygone era: the clothes, the silent films, the music, the dancing,  and the hair!!! ever wondered how to get 1930s fingerwaves? new zealander amy over at petticoat lane posted a “how to” last week (which i will definitely try on my big hair).  you can see more of her “i love everything retro and vintage” collections here. she also features wednesday whispers every week, my absolute favorite! it’ll take you down memory lane for sure (recently brought me memories of my holly hobbie tin lunch box i carried to school as a kid!)

word storm::tinker art

tinker serenades her art with her writing, or vice versa. which ever way it is, she is one hell of a creative writer….deeply wise, wonderfully insightful; and delightfully humourous.  i especially love what she would do if she were queen of the world.  she is also currently working on the next great american novel and i know, it will be great!

dreaming paris::shin of a mermaid

thanks to constance helping me override my blogspot problem, i was one of the three winners of a mermaid’s challenge. woooohoooo!!!  i will recieve a handmade gift prize! the challenge is to pick three people and send them handmade surprizes. so much fun!!

shin of a mermaid is a dutch artist of korean descent (very interesting) and a mother of three that currently resides in england. check out her beautiful art , and must, must, see her daily blips- no dissappointments here, she is a wonderful photographer too.

natural historie::jenny vorwaller

last but not least, queenthings is now natural historie.  wear a slice of nature! jenny in beunos aries has updated her online boutique,  you can now buy direct. one of my favorites is the geometric necklace, truly one of a kind!

the highlight of my week: receiving mail art from somepinkflowers!!!

i did not expect this at all so it made the recieving even sweeter. thank you from the bottom of my heart somepinkflowers, you made me and my heart smile so very big!!!

if you have not yet discovered this witty, funny, unbelievably entertaining, fantastic 21st century writer and photographer called somepinkflowers, please go here and treat yourself. be amused, get some pleasure, learn something new,  or better yet form new opinions of your own.  you will for sure smile (i often laugh out loud), sometimes maybe cry or even both! you will love it ! you will love her!

there is a mini rose vine/bush in my gift garden that i inherited from the lady of the house before me.  aside from the marigolds, it is the only thing still alive and kicking out there in the cold and sometimes freezing weather. i was happy to see it doing well as i thought it was fitting to use it to show you her wonderful photography and my mail art.  fitting because it was never really my favorite until it started to remind me of somepinkflowers everytime i walked by it.  really does! i say to myself, there are my somepinkflowers!

somepinkflowers photography/greeting cards, also featured at stolen moments

fan deck palette of photos from somepinkflowers photography

teabag holder and saint augustine postcard from the lightner museum

my personal spf greeting card inserted in my new favorite purse which i will wear on on my hot date out with my honey tomorrow night!!!!

angel card: 

the lightning and thunder, 

they go and they come;

but the stars and the mystery

are always at home.

-george mcdonald

entrance 

it is a rush to stand at the entrance of the national museum in stockholm, to be surrounded by something greater than yourself

even better

to walk through visiting the collections, the masterful arrangements and displays of paintings, sculpture, and objects gives  a genuine feeling of walking through and peeking into 100 mini time capsules.  it was my favorite day in stockholm.

marketing revolution: milk products packaging design, thicker stripes=more fat, thiner stripes=less

located on the peninsula blasieholem in central stockholm, it is reffered to as the national gallery of sweden. it was founded in 1792 as konglig mseum (royal museum) and exhibits an impressive art collection due to its benefactors, king gustav III and carl gustaf tessin. the current building was opened in 1866 with a new name, national museum. 

stoneware/tile, designer sylvia leuchovius

the museum owns about half a million drawings from the middle ages to the 1900s with a collection of porcelain items, paintings, sculptures, modern art and an art library that is open to the public.

built 1844-1866, the current building is inspired by north italian renaissance architecture and the design of the german architect friedrich august stüler, who also designed the neues museum in berlin.

here i am! and so delighted to finally be at the bloglandia ball!  the rochambeau chauffeur was supposed to pick me up but i was so busy in the kitchen that i missed my ride!

i was preparing h’orderves when i heard  what leslie and jack were bringing. i thought to myself screw this! i would rather eat that!

i almost settled on flowers until i suddenly remembered  they were being provided by rodrigvitzstlye!  

.

but i could not leave behind the bigger- than- my- hand pink flower that i had picked for somepinkflowers this afternoon.

i already knew that jill was bringing refreshments so i figured i’d bring some coffee in my jebena (the coffee pot) and fingals (the cups) to compliment my dress.

who doesn’t enjoy coffee after a good meal? or a fine essprsso which is what good eritrean (or ethiopian, we share everything but language) coffee tastes like.

i’m wearing my favorite eritrean dress and notice that  i’m wearing my netsela (the shawl) as i should, to the right to show that i’m a married woman. or was it to the left? i can never remember. 

i honestly can never remember but this is my favoritre way to wear my netsela and because i don’t like symbols that mark people or myself . besides, it’s just hard to keep it in place swung over to one side or the other.  but i guess in a conservative and reserved culture, there’s gotta be a way to let them know if you are available or not!

after dancing all night until my feet hurt, you’ll see me walking out with my netelsa over my shoulder becuase it will be  just  way too hot in that ballroom and i’ll be too tired to care. 

+++thank you eb. this was so much fun. i had a blast recreating my dress. i cannot wait to do this again!+++

malia handbag set  from the 2007 collection and mackintosh’s  toffee

jonah, the woman behind maluhia desgns is a former resident of germany. when we first met she told me that the two things she missed about living here were the required and sophisticated trash recycling system (bless her heart) and the one of a kind, delicious german chocolate. since i am not one to just stand by watching someone deprived of heavenly chocolate, especailly german chocolate i figured i could help with the latter.

and look what she sent for a thank you! a set from her 2007 malia collection!

handmade using high quality medium weight  canvas (from her assortment of  japanese fabrics  available in stock)  and heavy canvas on the inside. it is definitely designed with convenience in mind for a woman like me: phone, sunglasses  and a key holder. the first class  stiching is pure perfection. i am just amazed that she makes these by hand. check out her shop to see more.

i love the set and and i cannot wait to try the mouth-watering mackintosh’s toffee marshmallow puffs recipe that came along with the toffee!

thank you jonah for your kindness.

this, his first painting is hanging in the dining room.  he says that he will never sell it and has tried to replicate it with no success countless times for many that have been interested.

in austria we stayed at the home of artist koni bereiter that he shares with his glamourous wife yolanda.  they are both so kind, warm, and friendly that we sincerely felt welcome in their home. 

every morning koni served breakfast and would give us the weather report for the day. soon after yolanda would come in and they both (having raised three kids there), would give us suggestions for what to do for the day. each day we took their advice and at the end of each day when we arrived, we told them how great and wonderful their suggestion was and how much fun we had.  and it’s true, we had a fantastic time. we climbed every mountain that accomodated our kinderwagen and took cable cars up when it was not possible.

here are some photos of our wonderful vacation in the beautiful valley of montafon located in the amazing alps of austria.

i brought home with me the wild flowers piece on the far left side of the wall. his studio was right across the hall from the dining room. each morning i would peek inside to see what progress he had made on his current project. his paintings are hung all over their house. we were the only guests staying their the first three days so they let me wander throughout the entire house to see all of his wonderful work.

this is their house. our balcony was the very top one on the right. the workout room, tanning room, finnish and infared saunas are one the first level which actually is the keller or basement. on the first level is their living quarters, guest dinning room, and where his atelier are located. on second level are rooms for rent and the third and top are tiny vacation apartments. 

a fantastic five star chef, his first love is cooking. he told me of the first day that he picked up a paint brush just to play because he had seen his father paint his entire life and how surprised he was that it came so naturally to him and how he loved it so much, and even more surprised that other people loved his work too!

we had no idea when we made our reservations that we would be staying at a painter’s house but it was so wonderful to meet him and his lovely wife yolanda. this is the view and his depiction of their village of gaschurn from their home. he does not want to sell it either but promised he would recreate it for me to pick up next summer.

this painting along with four others, hung in our bedroom.  he told me that he prefers oil paint instead of acrylic- no one has ever said that to me before! i personally believe oil paint is more challenging but i loved to hear him say it with conviction. 

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