<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563</id><updated>2011-12-01T13:09:15.049-06:00</updated><category term='Introduction'/><category term='Help'/><category term='Going Green'/><category term='Recipe Box'/><category term='Marlo Noel'/><category term='Stress'/><category term='And I quote'/><category term='Traverler&apos;s Notebook'/><category term='Not An April Fools Joke'/><category term='Drumroll'/><category term='Progress'/><category term='In the Cover of Night'/><category term='Steal'/><category term='Surprise Nesting'/><category term='Purchasing'/><category term='Calligraphy'/><category term='Paper'/><category term='Coffee'/><category term='Moving'/><category term='Identity'/><category term='Tons of Gluten'/><category term='Currently Lovin&apos;'/><category term='Baby'/><category term='Pity Party of One'/><category term='Whoas Me'/><category term='Banner'/><category term='Inspiring'/><category term='Inspired'/><category term='Work'/><category term='Treasure'/><category term='Hiatus'/><category term='Winner'/><category term='Procrastination'/><category term='Chocolate'/><category term='Kitchen'/><category term='Baking'/><category term='Vote'/><category term='Closing'/><category term='Curb Check'/><category term='Thriftin&apos; Thursday'/><category term='Soap Box'/><category term='Nesting'/><category term='Fabulous'/><category term='Find'/><category term='Anxious'/><category term='Slump'/><category term='Future Plans'/><category term='Home Buying'/><category term='Fonts'/><category term='Staging My Home'/><category term='Sip N Meet'/><category term='Party Planning'/><category term='Wordy Wednesday'/><category term='Finale'/><category term='Lillian Ray'/><category term='Inspiration'/><category term='The Pebble Collection'/><category term='Spring is Here'/><category term='Limitations'/><category term='Etsy'/><category term='Ceramics'/><category term='Party Plannig'/><category term='Decorating'/><category term='Silverware'/><category term='Resolutions'/><category term='Etsy Beauties'/><category term='Entry'/><category term='Housing'/><category term='Saturday Well Spent'/><category term='Journal'/><category term='Notebook'/><category term='Monograms'/><category term='Recipe'/><category term='Branding'/><category term='Fabulous Friday'/><category term='Easter'/><category term='Fab Freebie'/><category term='Free'/><category term='First'/><category term='Thrifted'/><category term='Invitations'/><category term='July 4th'/><category term='Super Sale'/><category term='Bag of Tircks'/><category term='Shower'/><category term='MIA'/><title type='text'>Crossing In Style</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>32</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-9124641498085163640</id><published>2011-11-30T12:14:00.008-06:00</published><updated>2011-12-01T12:44:10.152-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Notebook'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Currently Lovin&apos;'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Traverler&apos;s Notebook'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Paper'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Journal'/><title type='text'>Currently Lovin'...Traveler's Notebook</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.resorshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Resor-Shop-Give-Away-1024x768.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 736px; height: 552px;" src="http://blog.resorshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Resor-Shop-Give-Away-1024x768.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;Not only do I find the aesthetics appealing, the functionality and uses are enchanting.  This notebook instantly transforms me into a mindset that I need to capture not only the daily nuisances as well as my life adventures.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;“Capturing the moment matters most when you capture the heart of the moment.” Angelo Jorge&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;This quote sums it up the most. I would be so inspired by this brilliant notebook to capture the adventure my heart takes daily.  To jot down the simple pleasures in life – my baby’s new ability to belly laugh, grab things, and smile – as well as the DIY projects I am constantly finding inspiration for throughout the happenings of my daily routine. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Even though I may not be the typical Traveler’s Notebook type of person…this notebook is perfect for my day-to-day working mommy life, as well as for the dreamer and idealist in me, always looking for the good and beauty in everyone and everything. Capturing the inspiration in everything that I always seem to encounter in those things that may seem mundane.  With the customization options being endless, the notebook can be as ever evolving as I am throughout my life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;It will also work perfect for those spur of the moment trips darling pilot husband and I seem to take.  The flexibility it offers to  slip in a new notebook quickly makes it the perfect travel book  – new notebook per city, trek, or hurdle I may encounter.  If you peruse the flickr group seen &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/travelernotebook/pool/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and you can see how much individuality it has as well as the character age brings the Traveler’s Notebook.  Mind you, I have been lusting for a while now, but now I am Ob-Sessed at this point.&lt;/span&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yldQy0UQVC4/TtfFO7Khb3I/AAAAAAAAAS8/Nh9A2EaOfpE/s1600/TN%2BCollage.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yldQy0UQVC4/TtfFO7Khb3I/AAAAAAAAAS8/Nh9A2EaOfpE/s400/TN%2BCollage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681226315141836658" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"&gt;Sources:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.flickr.com/photos/56974122@N04/6323777614/in/pool-travelernotebook&lt;br /&gt;http://www.flickr.com/photos/ycc_ladolcevita/6291469197/in/pool-travelernotebook&lt;br /&gt;http://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketman3/6276448570/in/pool-travelernotebook&lt;br /&gt;http://www.flickr.com/photos/rei_relish/1594835412/in/pool-travelernotebook&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Previously hard to locate in the US, you can now easily obtain one of your own from here &lt;a href="http://www.resorshop.com/index.php?route=common/home"&gt;Resor Shop&lt;/a&gt;.  Naturally, I am drawn to both the brown and black due to my deep love of leather and the patina it gains, but black would blend nicely into my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;color palette (although brown ages to perfection).  Hurry and grab one from the &lt;a href="http://www.resorshop.com/"&gt;Resor Shop&lt;/a&gt; (they are also doing a giveaway to one lucky person right now too...wink, wink).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;Not that the notebook was not enough on its own – did you see the brass accessories?  I have always been a bit of a fan of the brass look, as it is classic and refined – but it has even gained popularity in home décor as of lately.  The &lt;a href="http://www.resorshop.com/index.php?route=product/category&amp;amp;path=65"&gt;brass number markers&lt;/a&gt; are D-IVINE!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;One last bit to gush – did you see their &lt;a href="http://www.resorshop.com/image/cache/data/Products/IMG_2777-400x400.jpg"&gt;Mason bags&lt;/a&gt;?  I have been ever searching for this style of bag ever since I saw Ms. Martha Stewart's customization of one. (tut &lt;a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/275339/sewing-projects-tote-bags-and-purses/@center/326405/sewing-projects"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).  I had a Klein tool bag years ago but got lost two moves ago…these are so much better!  No logo and the perfect pairing to the Traveler’s Notebook.  I have been seeking the source of these bags for years and must thank Resor Shop for finally answering my quest to the ultimate bag! And if you buy enough (the Traveler's Notebook, brass accessories, the bag, et al) - free shipping right now!  I digress…will have to post about the &lt;a href="http://www.resorshop.com/index.php?route=product/category&amp;amp;path=61"&gt;Mason&lt;/a&gt; another day. &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-9124641498085163640?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/9124641498085163640/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2011/11/currently-lovintravelers-notebook.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/9124641498085163640'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/9124641498085163640'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2011/11/currently-lovintravelers-notebook.html' title='Currently Lovin&apos;...Traveler&apos;s Notebook'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yldQy0UQVC4/TtfFO7Khb3I/AAAAAAAAAS8/Nh9A2EaOfpE/s72-c/TN%2BCollage.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-304454121377344260</id><published>2011-11-24T06:30:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-12-01T08:39:25.232-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Resolutions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='MIA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Work'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Baby'/><title type='text'>Now and Then</title><content type='html'>Wow....last post was 2009...long time ago.  How embarrassing!  I could give you the play-by-play of everything that has happened since then...but I'll spare you the details.  Highlights of the time that we've missed together:&lt;br /&gt;-New Work assignment - gone B-A-D.  Crazy hours, even 60 some weeks for almost a year and a half;  to say that is occupied my time would be an understatement...&lt;br /&gt;-Pregnancy - well I don't know anything more than pregnancy that is a motivation killer, blogging was just not gonna happen.&lt;br /&gt;and then comes - B-A-B-Y&lt;br /&gt;He is the most lovely consumption of time that I have ever met...&lt;br /&gt;Then back to work.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Luckily, this project isn't nearly as C-R-A-Z-Y as the last...so as part of my 2012 goal I will get back in the swing of blogging.  So bare with me as I get my footing back and fabulous content to post early next year!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-304454121377344260?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/304454121377344260/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2011/11/now-and-then.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/304454121377344260'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/304454121377344260'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2011/11/now-and-then.html' title='Now and Then'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-1848729693078313369</id><published>2009-06-15T13:08:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-06-15T13:16:09.307-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Etsy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ceramics'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Coffee'/><title type='text'>Fab Way to Start the Monday Morning</title><content type='html'>Just had to share my little bit of happiness from my corner of the world this morning.  A cup of Joe in my new mug that a fab friend created herself.  How amazing is her work!&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SjaPmfDeBAI/AAAAAAAAASQ/qvMkumOugaU/s1600-h/Cup+Of+Joe.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SjaPmfDeBAI/AAAAAAAAASQ/qvMkumOugaU/s320/Cup+Of+Joe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347619498882892802" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I finally encouraged her to open up an &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6638432"&gt;etsy shop&lt;/a&gt;.  Check back this fall as she enters her final year of Ceramics schooling and adds more advanced, amazing pieces!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-1848729693078313369?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/1848729693078313369/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/fab-way-to-start-monday-morning.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1848729693078313369'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1848729693078313369'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/fab-way-to-start-monday-morning.html' title='Fab Way to Start the Monday Morning'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SjaPmfDeBAI/AAAAAAAAASQ/qvMkumOugaU/s72-c/Cup+Of+Joe.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-7053681893122095811</id><published>2009-06-12T00:23:00.011-05:00</published><updated>2009-06-12T00:48:24.973-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Decorating'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Procrastination'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sip N Meet'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Staging My Home'/><title type='text'>T-2 plus 6?</title><content type='html'>The Sip N' Meet looming in the near future (two days).  Literally 62 hours away &amp;amp; I am scrabbling to accomplish the mile long to-do list.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am the epitome of a procrastinator.  (I'm such a big procrastinator - that when I read this &lt;a href="http://theinspiredroom.net/2009/04/23/project-procrastinators-unite/"&gt;Inspired Room&lt;/a&gt; Procrastinators Unite challenge, immediately got excited, focused on my goals, made my list  - only to push off the imaginary deadline so far, that I missed the challenge all together.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So this evening, I was racing around like a crazy woman trying to finish up as much as possible to surprised DH when he arrives home from a long week of travel.  With the help of Mum, I "staged" my own home.  In moments of clarity, swapped 4 pieces of furniture from one room to another, takin' this, swapping that...here's a snapshot of the journey my furniture traveled tonight:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;Added the fab chaise, moving arm chair from master to living room.  Wooden table went from living to dinning.  Small table moved to Master (hold DH's suitcase when home), Chairs moved about, occasional tables swapped, "refreshed" and antiqued pieces finding a home...&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The house had evolved in the course of less than two hours.  I have a theory on decorating styles (will blog about it later), but my instant itch to get it done hit me, and poof - I saw where the pieces of the furniture puzzle should all fit in my house.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, T-2 - party being 2 days away had to change the plans.  I talked to the fab friend of the Sip N' Meet tonight.  Long story short, RSVPs are low, regrets high, meaning the party would be better if we moved it ahead 6 days.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Never what a procrastinator wants to hear, "You have more time"...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pleasant Dreams!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-7053681893122095811?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/7053681893122095811/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/t-2-plus-6.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/7053681893122095811'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/7053681893122095811'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/t-2-plus-6.html' title='T-2 plus 6?'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-9029595017377058536</id><published>2009-06-08T10:11:00.015-05:00</published><updated>2009-06-08T11:09:16.813-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Invitations'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sip N Meet'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Party Planning'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Drumroll'/><title type='text'>The Big Reveal</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si00n7PFNlI/AAAAAAAAASA/2sD9z7deMsc/s1600-h/Invite+Reveal.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 42px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si00n7PFNlI/AAAAAAAAASA/2sD9z7deMsc/s400/Invite+Reveal.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344986193279137362" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;After much ado, here are the Sip N' Meet invitations that I sent out last week.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:75%;"&gt;(Sorry that portions are blurred - for protection of course - but, I hate the way it makes the pictures look!)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;The first picture depicts the unjazzed-up invite, the second the final product.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Click To Enlarge.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si0yRw9TxcI/AAAAAAAAARg/UTCGezI47qs/s1600-h/Invite1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si0yRw9TxcI/AAAAAAAAARg/UTCGezI47qs/s400/Invite1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344983613539861954" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si0yiaM8NqI/AAAAAAAAARo/DFoy5npJEC8/s1600-h/Invite2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si0yiaM8NqI/AAAAAAAAARo/DFoy5npJEC8/s400/Invite2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344983899489187490" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The breakdown of the invites:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The base paper is from the Martha Stewart wedding collection boxed invitation set. I luckily found it on clearance at our "&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Wal&lt;/span&gt;-Mart of the future" for $3.50 a box.  I picked a paisley paper up at Joann's and found inspiration for the invites colors from this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10097955"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 215px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si0w0-QPaRI/AAAAAAAAARQ/fPu2vr0PjW0/s400/MS+Invites.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344982019381094674" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I struggled trying to decide if I wanted a graphic design/picture, or just fancy letters.  To keep the event less theme oriented and more friendly gathering at the wish of the new mommy, I thought avoiding the typical, darling baby illustrations was best.  Also, with my recent obsession with fonts and the impact a great typeface can have, the picture-less path was the way for me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After designing the invites in &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;photoshop&lt;/span&gt;, I took the basic invitation and sent it through my canon printer at home.  Once printed, I trimmed the bottom of the invites along the embossed scallop Ms. Stewart's invites provided (this turned out to be my favorite part!).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Using the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;paisley&lt;/span&gt; paper, I added a strip to the back of the invite, allowing the new scallop edge to really pop out against such a graphic paper.  Used the remaining paper to line the envelopes - and Voila!  Sip N' Meet invitations were born, stamped with the new LOVE stamps, and send to find their happy guest-to-be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si02vrEd7BI/AAAAAAAAASI/9iSq0XzzNnw/s1600-h/44cent-love-stamps.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 149px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si02vrEd7BI/AAAAAAAAASI/9iSq0XzzNnw/s320/44cent-love-stamps.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344988525401861138" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(P.S. - The sweet little baby's older sis just happens to have the middle name &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Paisley&lt;/span&gt;!)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-9029595017377058536?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/9029595017377058536/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/big-reveal.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/9029595017377058536'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/9029595017377058536'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/big-reveal.html' title='The Big Reveal'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Si00n7PFNlI/AAAAAAAAASA/2sD9z7deMsc/s72-c/Invite+Reveal.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-4746478525467113845</id><published>2009-06-04T09:02:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-06-04T11:42:20.658-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Invitations'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Calligraphy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Saturday Well Spent'/><title type='text'>A Saturday Well Spent</title><content type='html'>Calligraphy-ing the day away...&lt;br /&gt;Last Fall, Mums and I took a calligraphy class from &lt;a href="http://www.calligraphicarts.com/html/Home.htm"&gt;Susie Melissa&lt;/a&gt;.  Her work (pictured below), is divine and is used by biggies – even note, she has created menu cards for past presidents.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SiVtJoq_D7I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/clK_TmMBF1Q/s1600-h/SusieMelissa.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 210px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SiVtJoq_D7I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/clK_TmMBF1Q/s400/SusieMelissa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342796545248923570" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I loved the class, the overall “concept” of the class &amp;amp; what Susie Melissa was preaching.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m die hard for calligraphy.  The class did however, bring me to the realization that traditional calligraphy, while gorgeous, is not in the cards for me. I cannot begin to travel down the road where I critique every letter that I write.  I am already teetering the line of OCD/perfectionist, and I can-not open myself up to that amount of critique with regards to my handwriting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I do, however, LOVE the way handwriting can look in a casual, calligraphic manner using simply their fancy pens.  Striving for perfection is second nature to me, so realizing that the flawed rendition is still just as fabulous takes some coaching and reassurance from the mum.  Pictured below are the works of three women I find very inspirational and blessed up to their ears in talent.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SiVyWQt5MaI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/wTBlR33ofk0/s1600-h/love+jenna+3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SiVyWQt5MaI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/wTBlR33ofk0/s400/love+jenna+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342802259715109282" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SiVyZQfkYFI/AAAAAAAAAQY/mkcsURn7-qY/s1600-h/b+dunlap.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 277px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SiVyZQfkYFI/AAAAAAAAAQY/mkcsURn7-qY/s400/b+dunlap.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342802311194632274" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SiVyjkY2kGI/AAAAAAAAAQg/HXav4aBivPw/s1600-h/Dreamland.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SiVyjkY2kGI/AAAAAAAAAQg/HXav4aBivPw/s400/Dreamland.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342802488333865058" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;1. &lt;a href="http://lovejenna.blogspot.com/"&gt;Love, Jenna&lt;/a&gt; 2. &lt;a href="http://bdunlap.blogspot.com/"&gt;B Dunlap by Betsy Dunlap&lt;/a&gt; 3. &lt;a href="http://www.richinnerlife.typepad.com/"&gt;lettergirl by Gina Sekelsky&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;style&gt;--  /* Style Definitions */  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal  {mso-style-parent:"";  margin:0in;  margin-bottom:.0001pt;  mso-pagination:widow-orphan;  font-size:12.0pt;  font-family:"Times New Roman";  mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1  {size:8.5in 11.0in;  margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;  mso-header-margin:.5in;  mso-footer-margin:.5in;  mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1  {page:Section1;} --&gt; &lt;/style&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; &lt;style&gt;  /* Style Definitions */  table.MsoNormalTable  {mso-style-name:"Table Normal";  mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;  mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;  mso-style-noshow:yes;  mso-style-parent:"";  mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;  mso-para-margin:0in;  mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;  mso-pagination:widow-orphan;  font-size:10.0pt;  font-family:"Times New Roman";  mso-ansi-language:#0400;  mso-fareast-language:#0400;  mso-bidi-language:#0400;} &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I worked on my dear friend’s invites this weekend.  (Sidenote - My hands look like those of the guy down the street at Firestone, as the ink has stained the nail beds and nails of my right hand – by stained, I mean black).  But, I am overall happy with the end result.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I keep telling myself, “Self, one day you will look back and say, wow look at what you use to claim was calligraphy – you’ve come so far”.  So, in this line of thinking, looking at this as practice, and leaving the flaws will only aid in giving the appearance that I have improved years from now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sorry for the blurring – but here are a few snaps.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sif4p-2b_EI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/PSb9yJL-Sus/s1600-h/2009+-+215.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sif4p-2b_EI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/PSb9yJL-Sus/s400/2009+-+215.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343512883028032578" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sif4uitxiHI/AAAAAAAAARA/3HnsdYFN7S8/s1600-h/2009+-+218.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sif4uitxiHI/AAAAAAAAARA/3HnsdYFN7S8/s400/2009+-+218.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343512961374849138" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sif44p41v-I/AAAAAAAAARI/gCHs18VjKYQ/s1600-h/AB2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sif44p41v-I/AAAAAAAAARI/gCHs18VjKYQ/s400/AB2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343513135099002850" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;(Does anyone know the word for the act of calligraphy?  Webster is not fond of calligraphying)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-4746478525467113845?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/4746478525467113845/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/saturday-well-spent.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/4746478525467113845'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/4746478525467113845'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/saturday-well-spent.html' title='A Saturday Well Spent'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SiVtJoq_D7I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/clK_TmMBF1Q/s72-c/SusieMelissa.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-981783778209907648</id><published>2009-06-03T09:55:00.008-05:00</published><updated>2009-06-03T15:10:39.476-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Party Plannig'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Shower'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sip N Meet'/><title type='text'>Sip N' Meet</title><content type='html'>A dear friend of mine recently gave birth to the sweetest little girl!  I am throwing her a “Sip N’ Meet” (really a sip n’ see, but I had a cute rhyme for the invite.  I will have several posts over the next couple of weeks as I prep.  The up-side to the quickly approaching deadline is I am a procrastinator.  Loud and Proud – I need that date looming over my head, holding my feet to the fire, to accomplish most things.  Including actually decorating our home.  This means, lots to do, little time.  Whew – I’m tired just thinking about it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No specific colors or theme, this way I will be able to utilize what I have.  I'm thinking ,various soft, muted tones and pastel colors, giving off less of "baby shower" notion (not her wishes) and more of a gathering of friends for a joyous celebration of baby girl.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will be serving drinks and sweets - cakes, cheesecakes, sangria, etc.  It will be on a Sunday, mid-afternoon to allow everyone to go to lunch after church before coming over.  Boys were not invited - sorry guys! - making the lighter fair acceptable.  Her guest list included about 2 dozen ladies - give or take a few.  I dropped them with the postman yesterday.  I will have pictures of the invites (I'm thrilled with how they turned out.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; A girl's gotta start somewhere - so I scoured my coveted photo collection.  Here is a inspirational photo collage...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SibWSSxnG-I/AAAAAAAAAQo/igL6Hft7kbY/s1600-h/Shower+Palette.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SibWSSxnG-I/AAAAAAAAAQo/igL6Hft7kbY/s400/Shower+Palette.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343193617687583714" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Click to make ridiculously large.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:65%;"&gt;Top to Bottom,Left to Right:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:65%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://decor8blog.com/"&gt;Decor 8&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://concretehoney.blogspot.com/"&gt;Concrete &amp;amp; Honey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:65%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23881660"&gt;Kristybee&lt;/a&gt;, No Idea (sorry!)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:65%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://sunday-suppers.blogspot.com/"&gt;Sunday Suppers&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://sweetpaul.typepad.com/"&gt;Sweet Paul&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-981783778209907648?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/981783778209907648/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/sip-n-meet.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/981783778209907648'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/981783778209907648'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/sip-n-meet.html' title='Sip N&apos; Meet'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SibWSSxnG-I/AAAAAAAAAQo/igL6Hft7kbY/s72-c/Shower+Palette.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-4190805691089421630</id><published>2009-06-02T08:07:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-06-02T08:11:57.743-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Lillian Ray'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Etsy Beauties'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Entry'/><title type='text'>Lillian Ray's Lovelies</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FWlqe1UPYnU/SiBKEfAJKII/AAAAAAAAFOI/IXpjBO_cCac/s400/il_430xN.68765829.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FWlqe1UPYnU/SiBKEfAJKII/AAAAAAAAFOI/IXpjBO_cCac/s400/il_430xN.68765829.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have long loved the look of &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6827707"&gt;Lillian Ray&lt;/a&gt;'s work - and when I spotted on the &lt;a href="http://christanandallegra.blogspot.com/"&gt;lovely blog&lt;/a&gt; of this fab lady (and hubby)- I couldn't resist passing the entry along.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Click her name above to peruse her etsy shop.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Besos!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-4190805691089421630?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/4190805691089421630/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/easy-peasy-entry.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/4190805691089421630'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/4190805691089421630'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/easy-peasy-entry.html' title='Lillian Ray&apos;s Lovelies'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FWlqe1UPYnU/SiBKEfAJKII/AAAAAAAAFOI/IXpjBO_cCac/s72-c/il_430xN.68765829.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-2334796412494214692</id><published>2009-06-01T08:07:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-06-02T13:49:30.967-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Hiatus'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Slump'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='MIA'/><title type='text'>Hiatus….</title><content type='html'>Sorry for the long departure from blog land.  I have no excuse.  No real good reason – except, it just wasn’t there.  The magic, the finesse – whatever it takes to blog on a steady basis.  That must be something I have not quite acquired.Have no fear – I’m gearing up to jump back in with lovely photos to boot!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-2334796412494214692?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/2334796412494214692/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/hiatus.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2334796412494214692'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2334796412494214692'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/hiatus.html' title='Hiatus….'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-2486154402837007698</id><published>2009-05-19T13:19:00.019-05:00</published><updated>2009-05-19T14:07:39.254-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Chocolate'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Recipe'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Tons of Gluten'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Baking'/><title type='text'>BtB</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/ShMBQ1-9k2I/AAAAAAAAAPI/whrI-8HVyAE/s1600-h/Header+Bundt.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 42px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/ShMBQ1-9k2I/AAAAAAAAAPI/whrI-8HVyAE/s400/Header+Bundt.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337611372244865890" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/ShL5U_H5DpI/AAAAAAAAAO4/w_I5M6kGF28/s1600-h/P1020118.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 264px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/ShL5U_H5DpI/AAAAAAAAAO4/w_I5M6kGF28/s400/P1020118.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337602647324692114" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;After an invite to friends' home for dinner and 4 drop-in guests on their way, I was forced to break open the reserves in the pantry, get crafty, and create a new recipe working with what I had.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I love to experiment with new recipes and tweak them to be my own, however, being gluten-intolerant, I do not get to be the guinea pig.  There is no dress rehearsal on my recipes...only an Opening Night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I baked the evening away, making 26 baby bundts.  and one large bundt (Center of Cinnamon Roll Recipe) Bundt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;Cinnamon Honey &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;strike style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Rum&lt;/strike&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt; Fudge Bundt Cake&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"&gt;&lt;meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"&gt;&lt;meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSusan%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:worddocument&gt;   &lt;w:view&gt;Normal&lt;/w:View&gt;   &lt;w:zoom&gt;0&lt;/w:Zoom&gt;   &lt;w:punctuationkerning/&gt;   &lt;w:validateagainstschemas/&gt;   &lt;w:saveifxmlinvalid&gt;false&lt;/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid&gt;   &lt;w:ignoremixedcontent&gt;false&lt;/w:IgnoreMixedContent&gt;   &lt;w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext&gt;false&lt;/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText&gt;   &lt;w:compatibility&gt;    &lt;w:breakwrappedtables/&gt;    &lt;w:snaptogridincell/&gt;    &lt;w:wraptextwithpunct/&gt;    &lt;w:useasianbreakrules/&gt;    &lt;w:dontgrowautofit/&gt;   &lt;/w:Compatibility&gt;   &lt;w:browserlevel&gt;MicrosoftInternetExplorer4&lt;/w:BrowserLevel&gt;  &lt;/w:WordDocument&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"&gt;  &lt;/w:LatentStyles&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;style&gt; &lt;!--  /* Font Definitions */  @font-face 	{font-family:Wingdings; 	panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; 	mso-font-charset:2; 	mso-generic-font-family:auto; 	mso-font-pitch:variable; 	mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;}  /* Style Definitions */  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal 	{mso-style-parent:""; 	margin:0in; 	margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:12.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p 	{mso-margin-top-alt:auto; 	margin-right:0in; 	mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; 	margin-left:0in; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:12.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.il 	{mso-style-name:il;} @page Section1 	{size:8.5in 11.0in; 	margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; 	mso-header-margin:.5in; 	mso-footer-margin:.5in; 	mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 	{page:Section1;}  /* List Definitions */  @list l0 	{mso-list-id:1149900882; 	mso-list-type:hybrid; 	mso-list-template-ids:1711320494 780169114 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;} @list l0:level1 	{mso-level-number-format:bullet; 	mso-level-text:; 	mso-level-tab-stop:.85in; 	mso-level-number-position:left; 	margin-left:.85in; 	text-indent:-.45in; 	font-family:Symbol; 	color:windowtext;} ol 	{margin-bottom:0in;} ul 	{margin-bottom:0in;} --&gt; &lt;/style&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; &lt;style&gt;  /* Style Definitions */  table.MsoNormalTable 	{mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; 	mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; 	mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; 	mso-style-noshow:yes; 	mso-style-parent:""; 	mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; 	mso-para-margin:0in; 	mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:10.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-ansi-language:#0400; 	mso-fareast-language:#0400; 	mso-bidi-language:#0400;} &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;Cake:&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;Box of Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;1 1/3 C. of Milk &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;1 stick of Butter&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;3 Eggs&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;2 tsp. Instant Coffee&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;3 TBSP. Honey&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;50 g of Dark Chocolate (if available, Hersey's 60% dark with espresso bits)&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;Glaze:&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;1/3 cup water &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;1/2 cup sugar&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;6 TBSP butter&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="margin-left: 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;!--[if !supportLists]--&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;·&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;1 tsp. cinnamon&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;!--[endif]--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span class="il"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"  style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p  style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;Chop chocolate into small bits.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Combine all cake ingredients and chocolate and mix thoroughly &lt;span style=""&gt; &lt;/span&gt;for 2 minutes. Pout cake batter into bundt pan.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Place batter in cake pan. Beginning checking cake for doneness after 50 minutes.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p  style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;Remove from oven and cool cake in pan for 10 minutes. (Very important!) &lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;While cake is cooling, combine glaze ingredients over low to medium heat in a sauce pan, stirring occasionally, until butter and sugar have melted.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p  style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Once cooled, flip cake onto wire rack or cookie sheet.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Using a skewer or chopstick, poke holes in top of cake.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Evenly pour glaze over warm cake.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Can use a spoon or pastry brush to completely cover cake with remaining glaze.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;Combine glaze ingredients over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar and butter are melted.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;  Do not cover cake while still warm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;Wonderful served warm with coffee.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;The bad news is, Rum Chocolate Cake mix was discontinued - so I have opted for fudge to replace the rum.  (Chocolate to alcohol is not TOO big of a concession).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have to apologize for no after shot.  I am re-doing this cake this weekend for Memorial Day Cook Out and will take PLENTY of pics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Besos!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-2486154402837007698?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/2486154402837007698/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/05/btb.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2486154402837007698'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2486154402837007698'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/05/btb.html' title='BtB'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/ShMBQ1-9k2I/AAAAAAAAAPI/whrI-8HVyAE/s72-c/Header+Bundt.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-1109766374169123626</id><published>2009-05-13T15:41:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-05-13T15:42:37.461-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='And I quote'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Wordy Wednesday'/><title type='text'>Wordy Wednesday</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SgswjPtwaaI/AAAAAAAAAOw/DfYdxzb60ks/s1600-h/Change+Mealoncholy.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SgswjPtwaaI/AAAAAAAAAOw/DfYdxzb60ks/s400/Change+Mealoncholy.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335411565622487458" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-1109766374169123626?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/1109766374169123626/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/05/wordy-wednesday.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1109766374169123626'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1109766374169123626'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/05/wordy-wednesday.html' title='Wordy Wednesday'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SgswjPtwaaI/AAAAAAAAAOw/DfYdxzb60ks/s72-c/Change+Mealoncholy.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-7248804646786897689</id><published>2009-05-07T06:35:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-05-07T06:35:00.753-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='July 4th'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Recipe Box'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Silverware'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Thriftin&apos; Thursday'/><title type='text'>T.T.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9kova7fUI/AAAAAAAAANE/24dE-CrlHcE/s1600-h/Thriftin+Thursdays.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 75px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9kova7fUI/AAAAAAAAANE/24dE-CrlHcE/s400/Thriftin+Thursdays.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327587535289548098" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A recent jaunt I had to make as a sorority advisor, an hour and half drive after work I was &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;not&lt;/span&gt; looking forward to, left me a few spare moments to hit up a new thrift store.  In record time, I scored a few treasures! In and out with less than $4 spent and a "need" fulfilled always brightens my day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9lD2IE3cI/AAAAAAAAANM/VNUBK8mpoHg/s1600-h/TT+1.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9lD2IE3cI/AAAAAAAAANM/VNUBK8mpoHg/s400/TT+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327588000945987010" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9nKj1PioI/AAAAAAAAANU/W-uwCxe0oqg/s1600-h/TT+1+-2.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9nKj1PioI/AAAAAAAAANU/W-uwCxe0oqg/s400/TT+1+-2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327590315317496450" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Besos!&lt;br /&gt;S&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-7248804646786897689?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/7248804646786897689/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/05/tt.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/7248804646786897689'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/7248804646786897689'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/05/tt.html' title='T.T.'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9kova7fUI/AAAAAAAAANE/24dE-CrlHcE/s72-c/Thriftin+Thursdays.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-8861804932179808507</id><published>2009-04-29T15:42:00.008-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-29T16:15:16.843-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Fonts'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Bag of Tircks'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Inspired'/><title type='text'>lifl</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfjBIq7NXAI/AAAAAAAAAOg/J0nnvPFVNKY/s1600-h/Lost+in+Font+Land.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfjBIq7NXAI/AAAAAAAAAOg/J0nnvPFVNKY/s400/Lost+in+Font+Land.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330222513698724866" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I read this &lt;a href="http://4designerd.blogspot.com/2009/04/up-up-creative.html"&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt; yesterday by the lovely Kelly at &lt;a href="http://4designerd.blogspot.com/"&gt;Design Crush&lt;/a&gt; - and then...the world stopped.  (Well, not entirely).  But, my OCD-ness did get the best of me and I fell in love.  I fell hard for the font used to create this beauty of a card by &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6270796"&gt;up up creative&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20964100"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sfi_sKrrQPI/AAAAAAAAAOY/K7TQhnhbaoQ/s320/i+love+you+even+more+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330220924495675634" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A little sleuthing &lt;a href="http://new.myfonts.com/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.dafont.com/"&gt;there&lt;/a&gt;, the &lt;a href="http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/larabie/euphorigenic/euphorigenic/"&gt;font&lt;/a&gt; was identified.  Then, one thing lead to another, and I am now the proud owner of an additional 300 new fonts to play around with.  Now that my repertoire has grown extensively, I feel powered to tackle any font hurdle that may come my way!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;                     A few more beauties...&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfjC7K90abI/AAAAAAAAAOo/YYAhywTihMs/s1600-h/Fonts.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfjC7K90abI/AAAAAAAAAOo/YYAhywTihMs/s320/Fonts.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330224480804694450" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;(Do not start the font-snowball-effect unless you are prepared to spare a few hours)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-8861804932179808507?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/8861804932179808507/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/lost-in-font-land.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/8861804932179808507'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/8861804932179808507'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/lost-in-font-land.html' title='lifl'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfjBIq7NXAI/AAAAAAAAAOg/J0nnvPFVNKY/s72-c/Lost+in+Font+Land.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-3834258340341062464</id><published>2009-04-28T11:11:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-28T11:13:13.424-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='And I quote'/><title type='text'>And I quote....</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfcrEzMFiNI/AAAAAAAAAOI/oeLAFrFuHiY/s1600-h/And+I+quote+2.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfcrEzMFiNI/AAAAAAAAAOI/oeLAFrFuHiY/s320/And+I+quote+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329776045476645074" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sfcqr9rwnoI/AAAAAAAAAOA/nvK-XqPiJOU/s1600-h/And+I+quote+2.png"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-3834258340341062464?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/3834258340341062464/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/and-i-quote.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/3834258340341062464'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/3834258340341062464'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/and-i-quote.html' title='And I quote....'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfcrEzMFiNI/AAAAAAAAAOI/oeLAFrFuHiY/s72-c/And+I+quote+2.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-1991912870775131207</id><published>2009-04-27T16:11:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-27T16:20:15.416-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Vote'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Help'/><title type='text'>Self-ish-less Help Please</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;Well, I guess really self-less (sorta).  My friend's hubby needs your votes to win his own jersey night!&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://iowa.cubs.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090422&amp;amp;content_id=568170&amp;amp;vkey=news_t451&amp;amp;fext=.jsp&amp;amp;sid=t451"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 189px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfYgjfNYwVI/AAAAAAAAAN4/tMsP23xO2Zc/s320/iowa-cubs-logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329483003084718418" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Please follow the &lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20%20http://iowa.cubs.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090422&amp;amp;content_id=568170&amp;amp;vkey=news_t451&amp;amp;fext=.jsp&amp;amp;sid=t451"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; and vote for &lt;span style="color: rgb(225, 21, 61); font-weight: bold;"&gt;Kevin Hart&lt;/span&gt;!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;How fabulous would it be to have your own jersey night?!?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-1991912870775131207?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/1991912870775131207/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/self-ish-less-help-please.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1991912870775131207'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1991912870775131207'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/self-ish-less-help-please.html' title='Self-ish-less Help Please'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SfYgjfNYwVI/AAAAAAAAAN4/tMsP23xO2Zc/s72-c/iowa-cubs-logo.gif' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-2258426975197173423</id><published>2009-04-27T13:00:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-27T13:11:01.335-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Fabulous'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Treasure'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Find'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Thrifted'/><title type='text'>Treasure</title><content type='html'>Months ago, when I was way deep into planning my wedding, bride-obsessed zone, I stumbled across this beauty below.  What a perfect way to sort my response cards as they came in, or better yet, after my wedding, create a new “retro” address book that would allow for easy Christmas card distribution.  A lovely design limited edition creation  - only 1,000 crafted.  I knew I needed it – but, didn’t have the $70 cash to spare.  And like lighting – they were sold out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lovelydesign.com/lovely_products_address.html"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 218px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9p7rgEnoI/AAAAAAAAANk/UbDfoIEXocE/s400/From+Lovely+Design...need+it.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327593358213029506" border="0"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have searched for months and months to find a noble stand-in, but couldn’t find one that was just right.  (Martha Stewart even tortured me by featuring the lovely design version in MS Weddings weeks after being sold out.)  I also struggled with plopping down any cash for it, as I was afraid I would lose enthusiasm half-way through, and succumb to the wonderful digital address keeper my Macbook has to offer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then, in steps our heroine.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Heavy, Cardstock tabs – check;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Pretty Patina Wood – check;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;$1.99 – Winner!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9qcssLgKI/AAAAAAAAANs/ZEPTFZY_Ntc/s1600-h/Heroine.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 302px; height: 285px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9qcssLgKI/AAAAAAAAANs/ZEPTFZY_Ntc/s320/Heroine.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327593925467930786" border="0"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While it may seem silly to you, this was a victory in my book.  Now all she needs is a few extra up-cycled cards added for a personal touch. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;Nothing like a successful bargain hunt to brighten any day!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-2258426975197173423?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/2258426975197173423/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/treasure.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2258426975197173423'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2258426975197173423'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/treasure.html' title='Treasure'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se9p7rgEnoI/AAAAAAAAANk/UbDfoIEXocE/s72-c/From+Lovely+Design...need+it.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-2960845449717406117</id><published>2009-04-24T07:23:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-24T07:34:26.082-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Super Sale'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Etsy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Currently Lovin&apos;'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The Pebble Collection'/><title type='text'>C.L.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeyvmClugYI/AAAAAAAAAL8/dwDOrF__HOQ/s1600-h/Currently+Lovin%27.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeyvmClugYI/AAAAAAAAAL8/dwDOrF__HOQ/s400/Currently+Lovin%27.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326825527337451906" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=61774"&gt; &lt;onblur="try href="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/iusb_760x100.5634335.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 366px; height: 48px;" src="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/iusb_760x100.5634335.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt; &lt;/onblur="try&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am in SUPER love with this Etsy shop!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She is having a secret sale and you can find out what it is after registering for her newsletter (I promise you – SO worth it.)&lt;br /&gt;I think I am about to go kid-in-candy-store on her shop.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These are just a couple of the pieces my heart desires!&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_430xN.63253728.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; height: 200px;" src="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_430xN.63253728.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;The Verna Necklace in&lt;br /&gt;Sterling and Pearls.&lt;br /&gt;(Can choose to be in gold or&lt;br /&gt;colored cultured pearls as well)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=15412042"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sey2cE-pF-I/AAAAAAAAAME/Lzq1awdxsyc/s200/thepebblescollection+-+reserved+for+vanilla+baked+goods+jadite.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326833052761528290" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: right;"&gt;This was a custom piece for&lt;br /&gt;another customer. I adore the delicate&lt;br /&gt;green color the "leaves" have contrasted&lt;br /&gt;against the sterling.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23778760"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sey32QcWaWI/AAAAAAAAAMM/_1krQRUZTZw/s200/thepebblecollection+-+for+esther+p+multicolored+moonstones.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326834602027149666" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22347439"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sey4WGlMX3I/AAAAAAAAAMU/yrIk4xwIcF4/s200/thepebblecollection+-+sweet+pea+in+moonstones.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326835149135699826" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;These pastel moonstone colors would&lt;br /&gt;be incredibly flattering!The subtle&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;hues are neutral enough to be&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;versatile for daily pairings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-2960845449717406117?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/2960845449717406117/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/cl_24.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2960845449717406117'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2960845449717406117'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/cl_24.html' title='C.L.'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeyvmClugYI/AAAAAAAAAL8/dwDOrF__HOQ/s72-c/Currently+Lovin%27.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-5179127272402261132</id><published>2009-04-22T14:15:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-22T15:07:27.066-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Fabulous'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Monograms'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Steal'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Going Green'/><title type='text'>Swoozies - Oh My!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://swoozies.com/shop.asp?action=cat&amp;amp;catId=17870"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 367px; height: 261px;" src="http://swoozies.com/graphics/earth_day.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am racing (yes, racing) over to stock up on a few of these essentials!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hurry - the $9.95 tag with free monogramming is only good this week.  A perfect Mother's Day and MIL's (mother-in-law's) Birthday gift, if you ask me!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-5179127272402261132?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/5179127272402261132/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/swoozies-oh-my.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/5179127272402261132'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/5179127272402261132'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/swoozies-oh-my.html' title='Swoozies - Oh My!'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-7235155121198369454</id><published>2009-04-21T23:17:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-22T09:38:36.409-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Etsy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Winner'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Marlo Noel'/><title type='text'>Marlo Noel Jewelry</title><content type='html'>I was fortunate enough to win the Wedding Chicks &lt;a href="http://www.marlonoel.com/"&gt;Marlo Noel&lt;/a&gt; giveaway and shop my hearts content in her amazing Etsy store.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se8rI9eJbEI/AAAAAAAAAM0/o_X1noHu9Pc/s1600-h/marlo+noel.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 53px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se8rI9eJbEI/AAAAAAAAAM0/o_X1noHu9Pc/s400/marlo+noel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327524317142543426" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Her work is even better in person!  I had such a hard time deciding what I wanted to purchase, and I added several additional pieces to my "Honey-I-Want" wish list I keep for the DH to be &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;inspired&lt;/span&gt; by at special occasions.  Keep in mind this talented Ms. Marlo will customize anything you'd like.  I received the adorable box in the mail yesterday, with a sweet note and a beautifully wrapped box.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se8pegwumkI/AAAAAAAAAMs/ngHXEpVT_mY/s1600-h/P1020042.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se8pegwumkI/AAAAAAAAAMs/ngHXEpVT_mY/s320/P1020042.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327522488369715778" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:75%;"&gt;Excuse the poor photography - picture here is the Mary 1&lt;br /&gt;(I couldn't resist and am already donning the Anna)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I ended up selecting the &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22580844"&gt;Mary 1 Long Necklace in White Topaz&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21948380"&gt;Anna 4&lt;/a&gt; - but customized it by replacing the Mystic Pink Topaz with the Champagne Citrine.  I ordered both in sterling and am going to layer it with the wedding present from DH.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21948380"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sey8iqrJhzI/AAAAAAAAAMk/XkoYwzNFd9I/s200/marlo+noel+mary1+necklace.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326839763029296946" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21948380"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sey77lA7bSI/AAAAAAAAAMc/fQEOY_9tpAA/s200/anna+4+marlo+noel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326839091495136546" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please head over to her &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6246369"&gt;shop&lt;/a&gt; and check the beauties out - you will &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;not&lt;/span&gt; be disappointed!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-7235155121198369454?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/7235155121198369454/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/marlo-noel-jewelry.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/7235155121198369454'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/7235155121198369454'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/marlo-noel-jewelry.html' title='Marlo Noel Jewelry'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Se8rI9eJbEI/AAAAAAAAAM0/o_X1noHu9Pc/s72-c/marlo+noel.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-9051154753629842424</id><published>2009-04-17T12:27:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-17T13:17:45.872-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Fabulous Friday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Monograms'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Currently Lovin&apos;'/><title type='text'>C.L.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SejGCTfsFcI/AAAAAAAAALk/f0w-3UrZB7M/s1600-h/Currently+Lovin%27.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 80px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SejGCTfsFcI/AAAAAAAAALk/f0w-3UrZB7M/s320/Currently+Lovin%27.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325724302260835778" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SejFZbtokEI/AAAAAAAAALU/_7UjUagHuvk/s1600-h/Monograms.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 43px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SejFZbtokEI/AAAAAAAAALU/_7UjUagHuvk/s320/Monograms.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325723600092172354" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fridays will be "Currently Lovin'..." days and Today is:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not a novel idea or a far departure in the slightest, but I do love a good monogrammed item any day of the week! Luck has it - I spotted a plethora this week - here couple of pretties I found.  Enjoy!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.laplates.com/v/vspfiles/photos/0098-2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 351px;" src="http://www.laplates.com/v/vspfiles/photos/0098-2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.laplates.com/default.asp"&gt;Melamine Plates - Custom Ordered&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_430xN.59309420.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 342px;" src="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_430xN.59309420.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Dress you can customize (embroidery, color, trim)&lt;br /&gt;at &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5608041"&gt;Baby Thread's Etsy Boutique&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 410px; height: 260px;" src="https://cottonideastudio.com/catalog/images/Cotton_11-15-07_0578.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Monogrammed note cards on sale - 10 for $6!  So fabulous&lt;br /&gt;Available &lt;a href="https://cottonideastudio.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&amp;amp;products_id=203"&gt;here &lt;/a&gt;at Cotton Idea Studio&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_430xN.30116646.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 430px; height: 286px;" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_430xN.30116646.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Even Baby gets their own monogram at this Etsy boutique,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5935809"&gt;Tiny Tots Greetings&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_430xN.63915230.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 351px;" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_430xN.63915230.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;5 Custom Monograms for $20!&lt;br /&gt;at &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5511145"&gt;MTKDesigns&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SejHqTnVABI/AAAAAAAAAL0/KdzT-tXZfOY/s1600-h/Have+a+fabulous+Friday%21.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 55px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SejHqTnVABI/AAAAAAAAAL0/KdzT-tXZfOY/s400/Have+a+fabulous+Friday%21.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325726088999272466" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-9051154753629842424?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/9051154753629842424/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/cl.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/9051154753629842424'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/9051154753629842424'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/cl.html' title='C.L.'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SejGCTfsFcI/AAAAAAAAALk/f0w-3UrZB7M/s72-c/Currently+Lovin%27.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-6399711103962458859</id><published>2009-04-14T11:07:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T15:20:46.100-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spring is Here'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Easter'/><title type='text'>Easter Festivities</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;     Our first Easter as a married couple was wonderful.  We spent the morning with our friends at Sunday School opting for an Easter brunch instead of our lesson; then the hubby and I headed home to enjoy a meal at our house prepared and brought over by my parents.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;      I was slightly disappointed and not being able to find the time (or items) to decorate for Easter, but I did continue the tradition of giving the DH an "Easter" basket (it was a little sparse this year - the grass was edible!) and Mums gave us a basket together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeH4OwI06I/AAAAAAAAAKs/OYxvuaLqC50/s1600-h/Easter+Baskets.bmp"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeH4OwI06I/AAAAAAAAAKs/OYxvuaLqC50/s320/Easter+Baskets.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325374484491326370" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:65%;"&gt;Mum's basket to us and DH's on right&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-6399711103962458859?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/6399711103962458859/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter-festivities.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/6399711103962458859'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/6399711103962458859'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter-festivities.html' title='Easter Festivities'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeH4OwI06I/AAAAAAAAAKs/OYxvuaLqC50/s72-c/Easter+Baskets.bmp' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-5398250649796226571</id><published>2009-04-10T10:57:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T15:20:14.938-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='In the Cover of Night'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Fab Freebie'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Curb Check'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Free'/><title type='text'>Secrets Out...</title><content type='html'>My DH was pleasantly surprised by the family room furniture last week I &lt;a href="http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-surprise-additions-to-house.html"&gt;surprised &lt;/a&gt;him with.  Surprised because: 1) it was already moved in with none of his muscle 2) he had never seen it before.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Susan/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-14.jpg" alt="" /&gt;&lt;img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Susan/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-15.jpg" alt="" /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeSb6e7ryI/AAAAAAAAALE/pljxWNIT2ok/s1600-h/My+Pictures+191.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeSb6e7ryI/AAAAAAAAALE/pljxWNIT2ok/s320/My+Pictures+191.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325386092642021154" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Thursday before he arrived, my mother and I were out late galavanting productively at Wal-Mart, only to get lost on the way home in my new neighborhood.  What a blessing that was!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We spotted our new couch and chair sitting on the side of the road.  Perfect condition, neutral colors (my fave), and F-R-E-E, which just so happens to fit our shoe-string budget.  All they needed was a little cleaning, and to retie the springs below!  While I would not marry the pieces, it will help us save up for the fabulous ones we want and put off the purchase process to a more doable time.&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedhpP2HOMI/AAAAAAAAAJc/iLeuwpTnsMM/s1600-h/Free+Couch+1.png"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedhpP2HOMI/AAAAAAAAAJc/iLeuwpTnsMM/s400/Free+Couch+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325332445644929218" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedjDnbeddI/AAAAAAAAAJk/5Ki0WBsq6X4/s1600-h/Free+Couch+2.png"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedjDnbeddI/AAAAAAAAAJk/5Ki0WBsq6X4/s400/Free+Couch+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325333998163883474" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedlSZomAVI/AAAAAAAAAJs/6J81huDIt94/s1600-h/Free+Couch+3.png"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedlSZomAVI/AAAAAAAAAJs/6J81huDIt94/s400/Free+Couch+3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325336451182100818" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;When informed - DH's immediate response was, "What happens when we invite our neighbors over?!?"  He was more calm when I explained that they weren't a street over (wink, wink)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-5398250649796226571?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/5398250649796226571/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/secrets-out.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/5398250649796226571'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/5398250649796226571'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/secrets-out.html' title='Secrets Out...'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeSb6e7ryI/AAAAAAAAALE/pljxWNIT2ok/s72-c/My+Pictures+191.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-4265640517051122084</id><published>2009-04-08T09:04:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T15:19:02.363-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Kitchen'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Progress'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Inspiration'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Future Plans'/><title type='text'>What's Cookin' In My Kitchen</title><content type='html'>Our new kitchen is absolutely marvelous.  It has everything I could ask for - huge pantry, tons of cabinet space, granite, and a low island perfect for entertaining.  While nothing is "wrong" in every technical sense of the word, it does not fit the mold on the perfect kitchen I have always envisioned.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sed0ErJlqmI/AAAAAAAAAKU/C5p2D1eKN-A/s1600-h/What+we+are+working+with.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 39px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sed0ErJlqmI/AAAAAAAAAKU/C5p2D1eKN-A/s400/What+we+are+working+with.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325352708040141410" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeCcPYYd1I/AAAAAAAAAKc/xGnET9qmjkE/s1600-h/Our+Kitchen+smaller.bmp"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 370px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeCcPYYd1I/AAAAAAAAAKc/xGnET9qmjkE/s400/Our+Kitchen+smaller.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325368506065647442" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wishin' &amp;amp; Hopin' for:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;White, Antiqued Cabinets - on hold for funding&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strike&gt;Farm Sink&lt;/strike&gt; (DH said its a no-go - cannot alter/cut cabinets or granite)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Taupe Walls - not a fan of the current rusty, brown&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Silver and Ironware Filling the soffits above cabinets - will have to create the look&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Copper accents throughout&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedzLhN7L6I/AAAAAAAAAKM/-B1q9FfrL9c/s1600-h/Inspiration+Header.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 42px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedzLhN7L6I/AAAAAAAAAKM/-B1q9FfrL9c/s400/Inspiration+Header.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325351726121430946" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sedw71TfBnI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/eF3wLphyQ8g/s1600-h/I+Kitchen+1.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sedw71TfBnI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/eF3wLphyQ8g/s400/I+Kitchen+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325349257612297842" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sedw8YD8xeI/AAAAAAAAAKE/ovubYwlMTls/s1600-h/I+Kitchen+2.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sedw8YD8xeI/AAAAAAAAAKE/ovubYwlMTls/s400/I+Kitchen+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325349266942379490" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hurdles - there are always hurdles...budget - is painting perfectly fine oak cabinets worth pausing other necessary items, i.e. a new mattress? Painting the walls is just a matter of me lacking time.  The appliances will be black and the refrigerator is almond (for now).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:65%;"&gt;Disclaimer - Please forgive me for not knowing the source of all these lovely pictures. &lt;br /&gt;I had collected them months and months ago, before I'd given a thought to noting the info.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-4265640517051122084?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/4265640517051122084/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/whats-cookin-in-my-kitchen.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/4265640517051122084'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/4265640517051122084'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/whats-cookin-in-my-kitchen.html' title='What&apos;s Cookin&apos; In My Kitchen'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/Sed0ErJlqmI/AAAAAAAAAKU/C5p2D1eKN-A/s72-c/What+we+are+working+with.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-1748332943247097665</id><published>2009-04-07T10:34:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T15:11:55.186-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Moving'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Whoas Me'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Pity Party of One'/><title type='text'>Lacking</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpopp/112758449/" title="My Life in Boxes by Mpopp, on Flickr"&gt;&lt;img style="width: 289px; height: 193px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/112758449_b681742c35.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:60%;"  &gt;photo courtesy of Mpopp's flickr&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;My house is lacking accessories which is a direct correlation of me lacking time.  I would love a few moments here and there to actually "move-in" the accessories so our home does not reflect that of a bachelor pad.&lt;/span&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;Empty table, empty cupboards, empty - I have no one other than myself to blame as I was adamant not to be surrounded in boxes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(149, 149, 255);font-family:georgia;" &gt;Which is better nothingness -OR- a box maze?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;   &lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpopp/112758449/" title="My Life in Boxes by Mpopp, on Flickr"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpopp/112758449/" title="My Life in Boxes by Mpopp, on Flickr"&gt;&lt;alt="my life="" in="" boxes=""&gt;&lt;/alt="my&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-1748332943247097665?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/1748332943247097665/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/lacking.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1748332943247097665'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1748332943247097665'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/lacking.html' title='Lacking'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/112758449_b681742c35_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-7561727603993516716</id><published>2009-04-05T15:33:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T14:47:51.041-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Surprise Nesting'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='First'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Nesting'/><title type='text'>First Surprise Additions to the House</title><content type='html'>I gave myself a challenge as we settle in to our new home.  My DH being a pilot allowing me several days a week while he is out of town to make aesthetic "home improvements".  This is fabulous for two reasons - 1) I love surprises and 2) what person whom is home 48 hours a week wants to spend those previous hours in their new home unpacking and nesting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The (secret) added bonus is the art of surprise allows decorating peace between us.  I absolutely believe men fall into three categories of decorating: those that care, those that don't like change, and those that cannot envision.  My DH is type three - and cannot envision how fabulous the end result will be, leading him to be hesitant when my bandwagon passes by.  (To compat resistance in decorating see this &lt;a href="http://www.thisyounghouse.com/2009/03/email-answer-have-husband-will-decorate/"&gt;article &lt;/a&gt;on &lt;a href="http://www.thisyounghouse.com/"&gt;This Young House&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is a quick tour of the decorations made with DH away this week.  (I did not get a massive amount done - but, still impressed that Mums and I were able to do all this heavy listing ourselves!)&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeK9qA2-KI/AAAAAAAAAK0/WET_Zm2C2CM/s1600-h/My+Pictures+191.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeK9qA2-KI/AAAAAAAAAK0/WET_Zm2C2CM/s320/My+Pictures+191.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325377876243445922" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeK97tuB6I/AAAAAAAAAK8/ediYr-o1EQU/s1600-h/My+Pictures+192.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeK97tuB6I/AAAAAAAAAK8/ediYr-o1EQU/s320/My+Pictures+192.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325377880995006370" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-7561727603993516716?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/7561727603993516716/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-surprise-additions-to-house.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/7561727603993516716'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/7561727603993516716'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-surprise-additions-to-house.html' title='First Surprise Additions to the House'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SeeK9qA2-KI/AAAAAAAAAK0/WET_Zm2C2CM/s72-c/My+Pictures+191.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-8355888148689667003</id><published>2009-04-02T09:00:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T14:43:02.259-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Closing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Finale'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Not An April Fools Joke'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Purchasing'/><title type='text'>Welcome to the H.O.C!</title><content type='html'>&lt;meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"&gt;&lt;meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"&gt;&lt;meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSusan%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:worddocument&gt;   &lt;w:view&gt;Normal&lt;/w:View&gt;   &lt;w:zoom&gt;0&lt;/w:Zoom&gt;   &lt;w:punctuationkerning/&gt;   &lt;w:validateagainstschemas/&gt;   &lt;w:saveifxmlinvalid&gt;false&lt;/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid&gt;   &lt;w:ignoremixedcontent&gt;false&lt;/w:IgnoreMixedContent&gt;   &lt;w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext&gt;false&lt;/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText&gt;   &lt;w:compatibility&gt;    &lt;w:breakwrappedtables/&gt;    &lt;w:snaptogridincell/&gt;    &lt;w:wraptextwithpunct/&gt;    &lt;w:useasianbreakrules/&gt;    &lt;w:dontgrowautofit/&gt;   &lt;/w:Compatibility&gt;   &lt;w:browserlevel&gt;MicrosoftInternetExplorer4&lt;/w:BrowserLevel&gt;  &lt;/w:WordDocument&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"&gt;  &lt;/w:LatentStyles&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if !mso]&gt;&lt;object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"&gt;&lt;/object&gt; &lt;style&gt; st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;style&gt; &lt;!--  /* Font Definitions */  @font-face 	{font-family:Wingdings; 	panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; 	mso-font-charset:2; 	mso-generic-font-family:auto; 	mso-font-pitch:variable; 	mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;}  /* Style Definitions */  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal 	{mso-style-parent:""; 	margin:0in; 	margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:12.0pt; 	font-family:"Georgia"; 	mso-fareast-font-family:"Georgia";} @page Section1 	{size:8.5in 11.0in; 	margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; 	mso-header-margin:.5in; 	mso-footer-margin:.5in; 	mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 	{page:Section1;}  /* List Definitions */  @list l0 	{mso-list-id:1599753925; 	mso-list-type:hybrid; 	mso-list-template-ids:1163983972 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;} @list l0:level1 	{mso-level-number-format:bullet; 	mso-level-text:; 	mso-level-tab-stop:.5in; 	mso-level-number-position:left; 	text-indent:-.25in; 	font-family:Symbol;} ol 	{margin-bottom:0in;} ul 	{margin-bottom:0in;} --&gt; &lt;/style&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; &lt;style&gt;  /* Style Definitions */  table.MsoNormalTable 	{mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; 	mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; 	mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; 	mso-style-noshow:yes; 	mso-style-parent:""; 	mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; 	mso-para-margin:0in; 	mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:10.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-ansi-language:#0400; 	mso-fareast-language:#0400; 	mso-bidi-language:#0400;} &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;We did it!&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;We closed on our house and are now officially members of the H.O.C. - &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Home Owner's Club.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SdTFSlIhybI/AAAAAAAAAIs/CM_PGR5HN14/s1600-h/Fannin.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SdTFSlIhybI/AAAAAAAAAIs/CM_PGR5HN14/s320/Fannin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320093982827596210" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Our fabulous realtor asked at closing when we were moving in, and I promptly replied – “Tonight!”.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Who could stand to wait any longer? &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;    &lt;/span&gt;To be a foreclosure – the house is in pretty immaculate condition.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Tasks accomplished tonight:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"&gt;&lt;li class="MsoNormal" style=""&gt;Vacuum      entire house&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="MsoNormal" style=""&gt;Change      Door Locks (from Freddie Mac’s master key)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="MsoNormal" style=""&gt;Assemble      Bed&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="MsoNormal" style=""&gt;2&lt;sup&gt;nd&lt;/sup&gt;      &lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:placename st="on"&gt;Vacuum&lt;/st1:placename&gt; &lt;st1:placetype st="on"&gt;Pass&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="MsoNormal" style=""&gt;Replace      all 11 batteries for Smoke Detectors (insane amount of beeping)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;I met a neighbor, who happens to be 8, and he was kind enough to inform me “that beeping noise is soooo loud; it’s been going on since &lt;i style=""&gt;before &lt;/i&gt;they left”.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Duly noted and fixed!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Sidenote: The DH was slightly disappointed to learn, unlike on HGTV, they &lt;i style=""&gt;do not&lt;/i&gt; hand you keys at closing.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;You then must wait an additional 3 hours while they procure the funds.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Definitely more anti-climatic then we were prepared for.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Blessings and Hugs,&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;S&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-8355888148689667003?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/8355888148689667003/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/welcome-to-hoc.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/8355888148689667003'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/8355888148689667003'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/welcome-to-hoc.html' title='Welcome to the H.O.C!'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SdTFSlIhybI/AAAAAAAAAIs/CM_PGR5HN14/s72-c/Fannin.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-1603456695768382087</id><published>2009-03-28T14:11:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T14:40:41.149-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='And I quote'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Inspiring'/><title type='text'>Magic in Hard Times</title><content type='html'>&lt;meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"&gt;&lt;meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"&gt;&lt;meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSusan%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:worddocument&gt;   &lt;w:view&gt;Normal&lt;/w:View&gt;   &lt;w:zoom&gt;0&lt;/w:Zoom&gt;   &lt;w:punctuationkerning/&gt;   &lt;w:validateagainstschemas/&gt;   &lt;w:saveifxmlinvalid&gt;false&lt;/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid&gt;   &lt;w:ignoremixedcontent&gt;false&lt;/w:IgnoreMixedContent&gt;   &lt;w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext&gt;false&lt;/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText&gt;   &lt;w:compatibility&gt;    &lt;w:breakwrappedtables/&gt;    &lt;w:snaptogridincell/&gt;    &lt;w:wraptextwithpunct/&gt;    &lt;w:useasianbreakrules/&gt;    &lt;w:dontgrowautofit/&gt;   &lt;/w:Compatibility&gt;   &lt;w:browserlevel&gt;MicrosoftInternetExplorer4&lt;/w:BrowserLevel&gt;  &lt;/w:WordDocument&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"&gt;  &lt;/w:LatentStyles&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;style&gt; &lt;!--  /* Style Definitions */  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal 	{mso-style-parent:""; 	margin:0in; 	margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:12.0pt; 	font-family:"Georgia"; 	mso-fareast-font-family:"Georgia";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink 	{color:blue; 	text-decoration:underline; 	text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed 	{color:purple; 	text-decoration:underline; 	text-underline:single;} @page Section1 	{size:8.5in 11.0in; 	margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; 	mso-header-margin:.5in; 	mso-footer-margin:.5in; 	mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 	{page:Section1;} --&gt; &lt;/style&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; &lt;style&gt;  /* Style Definitions */  table.MsoNormalTable 	{mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; 	mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; 	mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; 	mso-style-noshow:yes; 	mso-style-parent:""; 	mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; 	mso-para-margin:0in; 	mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:10.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-ansi-language:#0400; 	mso-fareast-language:#0400; 	mso-bidi-language:#0400;} &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;  &lt;p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"&gt;Recently in reading Mary Engelbreit’s sign-off letter as her fab Home Companion closes it’s doors, I misread a quote of hers, (I’m thinking subconsciously applying it to my current life) and have been clinging to it ever since:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedLH1gTEFI/AAAAAAAAAI8/JOS3q6obY7A/s1600-h/And+I+quote+1+by+lined.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedLH1gTEFI/AAAAAAAAAI8/JOS3q6obY7A/s320/And+I+quote+1+by+lined.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325307682382614610" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;It is funny how often time you only see or hear what you want to in certain situations.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;And I seem to have done it in this situation as well, however – I feel as though mine mix-up was one of optimism.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;You can see her quotes &lt;a href="http://www.maryengelbreit.com/MEHC/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, but I thought I would share my inspiring mishap of an adaptation as well.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-1603456695768382087?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/1603456695768382087/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/magic-in-hard-times.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1603456695768382087'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1603456695768382087'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/magic-in-hard-times.html' title='Magic in Hard Times'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F9xzW4DeVCs/SedLH1gTEFI/AAAAAAAAAI8/JOS3q6obY7A/s72-c/And+I+quote+1+by+lined.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-1857796081336026673</id><published>2009-03-26T12:31:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T14:39:15.057-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Closing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Home Buying'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Anxious'/><title type='text'>When 6 becomes 4</title><content type='html'>Well, we just found out that the closing date of the house was in fact the 31st not the 2nd as we had thought. [Do you hear that....it is the sound of my heart racing...] Just a little more freaking out as that moves the big day even closer - at literally a rapid pace!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Exciting, Stressful - but I'm sure worth it in the end!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-1857796081336026673?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/1857796081336026673/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/when-6-becomes-4.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1857796081336026673'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1857796081336026673'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/when-6-becomes-4.html' title='When 6 becomes 4'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-375438257231368726</id><published>2009-03-24T10:15:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T14:38:46.350-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Housing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Soap Box'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Stress'/><title type='text'>The Housing Process</title><content type='html'>Buying a house is fabulous - I'm sure after you close and are curled up on the couch coffee and magazine in hand.  I can honestly tell you up in to that point it is a roller coaster of emotions and down right it is exasperating!  Every step of the way there are pitfalls as a first time home buyer. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DH struggles most when we watch the fab shows on HGTV - "Property Virgins" or "My First Place", and these buyers walk up with no down-payment, 100% financing, and a mortgage far exceeds the necessities of your first house - having no financial uncertainties.  Obviously filmed previously, it infuriates him to know that our wavering with mortgage issues was caused by these types of home buyers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As I step down off the soap box, let me say, I know everything will work out in the end, but this overly structured lady is having a hard time just waiting with nothing finalized and we close in 7 days (craziness I know!).&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-375438257231368726?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/375438257231368726/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/housing-process.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/375438257231368726'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/375438257231368726'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/housing-process.html' title='The Housing Process'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-1683119398417473090</id><published>2009-03-22T11:29:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T14:37:58.148-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Branding'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Banner'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Limitations'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Identity'/><title type='text'>Envisioned Banner</title><content type='html'>I have always struggled with a facet of my personality.  I don't know what this trait is called - "a visionary with slight OCD".  I often picture what I want, with no real means to the end.  No path to get to where I want to be.  I have big dreams (always) - and my banner is no exception.  I envisioned a woman wearing a scarf, large sunglasses, a dress and pearls crossing the street or driving in an old school convertible across a bridge.  She is beyond put together, impeccably styled with a retro vibe. At least in my mind anyways...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the mean time, the crude banner of the DH and I dancing to Moon River at our reception.  Until more refined skills are acquired by me...it will just have to do.  The perfectionist in me is not happy, but a girl does have her limits, and sadly my capabilities are far outweighed by the  visions.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-1683119398417473090?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/1683119398417473090/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/envisioned-banner.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1683119398417473090'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1683119398417473090'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/envisioned-banner.html' title='Envisioned Banner'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-1806990313435441004</id><published>2009-03-21T09:46:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T14:54:20.361-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Introduction'/><title type='text'>Welcome and Hello</title><content type='html'>&lt;meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"&gt;&lt;meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"&gt;&lt;meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSusan%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:worddocument&gt;   &lt;w:view&gt;Normal&lt;/w:View&gt;   &lt;w:zoom&gt;0&lt;/w:Zoom&gt;   &lt;w:punctuationkerning/&gt;   &lt;w:validateagainstschemas/&gt;   &lt;w:saveifxmlinvalid&gt;false&lt;/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid&gt;   &lt;w:ignoremixedcontent&gt;false&lt;/w:IgnoreMixedContent&gt;   &lt;w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext&gt;false&lt;/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText&gt;   &lt;w:compatibility&gt;    &lt;w:breakwrappedtables/&gt;    &lt;w:snaptogridincell/&gt;    &lt;w:wraptextwithpunct/&gt;    &lt;w:useasianbreakrules/&gt;    &lt;w:dontgrowautofit/&gt;   &lt;/w:Compatibility&gt;   &lt;w:browserlevel&gt;MicrosoftInternetExplorer4&lt;/w:BrowserLevel&gt;  &lt;/w:WordDocument&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"&gt;  &lt;/w:LatentStyles&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if !mso]&gt;&lt;object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"&gt;&lt;/object&gt; &lt;style&gt; st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;style&gt; &lt;!--  /* Style Definitions */  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal 	{mso-style-parent:""; 	margin:0in; 	margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:12.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 	{size:8.5in 11.0in; 	margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; 	mso-header-margin:.5in; 	mso-footer-margin:.5in; 	mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 	{page:Section1;} --&gt; &lt;/style&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; &lt;style&gt;  /* Style Definitions */  table.MsoNormalTable 	{mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; 	mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; 	mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; 	mso-style-noshow:yes; 	mso-style-parent:""; 	mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; 	mso-para-margin:0in; 	mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:10.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-ansi-language:#0400; 	mso-fareast-language:#0400; 	mso-bidi-language:#0400;} &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"&gt;Hello all the lovelies of the world!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" face="times new roman" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;My name is Susan and I am a &lt;span style=""&gt; &lt;/span&gt;newly.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;A newlywed to my DH (Darling Husband), a new blogger, and soon-to-be new homeowner.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;I am hoping to use this blog to catalog the progression of my life as I settle in and find my rhythm, while sharing the beautiful style of life that surrounds us all daily. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;I named my blog, Crossing In Style, inspired by my DH’s and my post-wedding song, &lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:placename st="on"&gt;Moon&lt;/st1:placename&gt;  &lt;st1:placetype st="on"&gt;River&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt;.&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;I appreciate your kind patience with my blog and I work to find my stride and actually write something of interest and value – hopefully, sooner than later!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;Hugs and Best Wishes,&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;S&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-1806990313435441004?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/1806990313435441004/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/welcome-and-hello.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1806990313435441004'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/1806990313435441004'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/welcome-and-hello.html' title='Welcome and Hello'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437949264217397563.post-2439096315175828767</id><published>2009-03-05T14:42:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2009-03-05T14:42:38.577-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Thoughts on the Name?</title><content type='html'>I'm not quite sure about this name yet...something to ponder.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All the names I want are gone, so I am trying to not settle.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/437949264217397563-2439096315175828767?l=crossinginstyle.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/feeds/2439096315175828767/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/thoughts-on-name.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2439096315175828767'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/437949264217397563/posts/default/2439096315175828767'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://crossinginstyle.blogspot.com/2009/03/thoughts-on-name.html' title='Thoughts on the Name?'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08704179027009945872</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry></feed>
