Greetings & Salutations

this is the foreigner of my dreams:)

I have been dreaming of starting this Blog for ages.  Time and fear prolonged fulfillment.  But, finally... finally, here I am, blogging. I have gone over and over in my head what my first blog post would be about... how do I 'break-in'? What do I say to start?  I feel like I'm on a first date with the man I'm hoping will finally be the man of my dreams; tall, dark, Spaniard with loafers and a yacht *giggling*.
Having come to no great conclusion on how to open what I'm hoping will be a long-term relationship with the each of you, I'm going to do what I would do if this were my first date with that handsome foreigner; I'm going to let you just get to know me, by just being myself.

This blog is so much to me... it's an opportunity to inspire and encourage... to challenge and redefine... to revel and savor... to express myself thru rich and colorful language and pictures and this enigma we call the Web. I hope to share with you a glimpse of the beautiful World I see and that through this, you might stop and think or even rethink about some things. I want to embolden you, my audience, to enjoy the lovely things around you more, or maybe even, for the first time.

i LOVE Gap dresses!

I am a lover. I am a lover of many things, particularly beautiful things, whether that be food, or fashion, or hair or poetry or really great music, I just love loveliness... rich flavors like dark chocolate oozing from the center of a souffle' or the smell of Chanel No5, the bright colors of spring and summer seen in so much of Gap's clothing, the feel and look of hair treated with Redken's Diamond Oil or a Baroque painting  I can't get enough of texture and smell and taste and sight. I am thankful that God created us with five distinct senses and I love to celebrate them all!

It's so easy in the culture, the times, that we live in (as I am sure it was with others) to limit our preferences simply because we are told to do so.  We conform. I am not a fan of conforming.  I dare myself, challenge myself, to live outside of anyone's conformity besides that of my God. It's a tragedy to let an invisible panel of people limit what we find appealing; thru advertisement brainwashing and useless Hollywood news, we overlook so much of what the World around us has to offer.  We often overlook ourselves, our own beautiful and unique contribution.  We decide we don't measure up to the, let's get real, impossible standard. WHO DOES?! *shaking head*

there really is an art to eating these...

That's why I am here... that's my goal, to challenge you to open your eyes a little wider and see- REALLY SEE. Too often we are too quick to judge and write things off.  Again, especially ourselves.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you have been uniquely made. You are the
only you.  Forgive my camp, but it's true. It's simple and true.  And the you of who you are should be embraced and appreciated, first by you, because if you aren't doing it, few others will.  I would like to, via this blog, encourage you and cheer you on in that endeavor.  And I'd also like to show you how you might dress, eat a strawberry, prep your hair for a picnic in July, dance unashamedly to Steely Dan, and just... stop. smell the roses. pick them. eat them. wear them in your hair.

isn't this just wonderful?!