a few encouraging thoughts, and you know you're in love...

The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places. ~Author Unknown

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. ~Newt Gingrich

It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer. ~Albert Einstein

There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream. ~Author Unknown

Don't be discouraged. It's often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. ~Author Unknown

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. ~Buddhist Saying

Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. ~Robert Schuller

When your dreams turn to dust, vacuum. ~Author Unknown

Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a little longer. ~Author Unknown

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." --Dr. Seuss

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far I've finished two bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already." ~ Dave Barry

Which one is your favorite?

You are all the best!! Happy Weekend!!

Dear Lovely Readers,

When my husband set up this blog, I never imagined how fun and joyful it would be... little did I know.

I just wanted to post about how truly proud of him I am; he is in his first class at University of Miami, finishing his second week. It's a semester long class, in summer session. Going through the application process was more challenging than we could have imagined, but he persevered and he is in class right now as I type from the University Center. Update: his paper was getting amazing feedback in class and he came home with two A's on quizzes... :)

When you see someone you love, tangibly doing something that you encouraged him to dream of and go for, that is something to celebrate... it has been a true joy seeing him start this class.

Cheers to you all, dear readers, and your celebrations of what truly matters!!!

Etsy round-up: picnic ants to daisy rings

How adorable are these bowls? Two of my loves: hearts and blues! Click on the pics for the Etsy links... what a way to have your morning cereal or a summer sorbet... I love the peaceful painting... and the floral rings, look at the intricate hammered details... and I don't want to picnic again without these adorable napkins!

Happy Summer!!! Do you have a favorite Etsy artist? I am looking for good suggestions! Thanks......

Fresh Blues for your closet...

This last beauty is from Banana Republic; the others are Bluefly: Voom by Joy Han, Design History, BB Dakota, and Single.

I love all things soft, blue, and beautiful! Oceans and clothing can be both...I insist... :)

Where is your favorite place to find deals on great fashion?

"hope has you covered" Nesting...

"Hope has you covered" found on shutter sisters, by photographer Jen Lemen.
Thanks to Jen for permission to use here!

These images are so powerful to me... I've never seen birds right out of the egg before like this. It made me think of my next youngest sister, and her children. The birds seem so ugly yet so beautiful! That's not why they make me think of family, though... ;) Somehow these bald and somewhat fuzzy baby birds immediately made me think of her... a tough "chick", yet super tender right beneath the surface. And, since her kids came along, showing more tenderness than ever... These birds and my sisters and I have/had a long way to go from that "hatching" stage, and lots of love was immediately formed at the beginning of our young lives.

Are these birds hugging??? Mr. Wonderful says, well, they are huddling together, they don't necessarily hug, but if they lean up against each other, they conserve body heat. How's that for the science answer ;)

When we fell in love, "Lean on Me" was one of the songs playing on what we think of as our magical soundtrack everywhere we went that weekend... "Lean on Me" played continuously... everywhere! The KIND Coffeehouse in Estes Park, CO, the sushi place by the Butterfly Pavilion he surprised me with going to... He actually made some jokes with me about doing the bright bits in his nest to say, join me, I am ready to nest, like birds do... when I went to visit on that fateful trip, he had Belvedere's Belgian chocolate, Lush, eucalyptus aromatherapy essential oil over the candles, Tea Tree Paul Mitchell shampoo... not to mention Harry Connick Jr. "For Once In My Life"... and the instantaneous beautiful snow fall as we drove up from Boulder to Nederland, well, you know it was all over... ;)


These little birds, my sister and niece and nephew, my Mr. Wonderful--we'll continue to lean on each other, and I hope you have wonderful people to lean on, too. Sometimes we just have to hang in there and do just that, swallow our egos, enjoy the ride and hold on to the important people in our lives....


Thanks to Jen for the beautiful and inspiring pictures!!! Check her out!!! Do you have a favorite photo or photographer??? What picture really resonates with you?

The Oprah "What can you live without-- Challenge!"

She is giving two families: a one week challenge--focus on each other and not screens... avoid being plugged in to tech and not connecting with each other...

-cut out all technology, including her show ;)

-no eating out at all, brown bag your lunch

-no spending except one budgeted trip to grocery store

-one family project to give back

-one date night

-no working late

What on this list appeals to you? What could you live without, for a little while? Do you find yourself or others needing to cut out tech usage in order to truly focus on friends/family sometimes?

See Oprah's letter here...

Her first family seems pretty devastated by the technology shut down so far... we'll see. I bet they are going to LOVE IT.... *update--they did!!! They even agreed to go a second week without their tech toys...

Yogi Tea, I LOVE YOU!!!

Dear Yogi Tea,

You have greatly improved the quality of my life with a few of your products:

Bedtime Tea--it's delicious, how do you do this? completely knocks me out as needed, and is frequently gone from the shelves in my store...we are not sleepless in Miami Beach, apparently!
Detox Tea
Sore Throat Tea
Kava Stress Relief Tea

I like your sampler boxes!!! Thank you for the cute little messages on the tea bags!!!

Sincerely,
Miss Bliss

how do you prefer your brownies?

Can you believe this? Brownies that are all edges!

I actually like the middles, while Mr. Wonderful likes the edges, so the normal pan works for us.

I love the creative mind that comes up with this kind of solution for the edge lovers.

Which one do you need?

Double Tagged!

Just Me at Back to the Basics and

BLC :o at The Company She Keeps

tagged me with the Queen of Awe-sumness. Thank you!

Isn't this a cute crown?




I am supposed to:
1.) share 7 reasons I am awe-summm
2.) tag 7 bloggers and 3.) link back to my taggers

so, enjoy my list:

1.) choosing to enjoy, even *luxuriate* in this journey of life
2.) persevering in each of my 35 years here
3.) being a creative, resourceful girl!
4.) developing and letting my own unique voice speak out...
5.) being supremely loving to those in my life...
6.) knowing to soak in the daily beauty around me, such as the gentle tropical rain outside my door right now
7.) remembering to nurture myself and add to my ways of doing so...

I tag the following lovely bloggers:
Completely Coastal
Lime and the Coconut lime in the coconut... oops ;)
Semi-Homemade Life
SeaLaura
Simpledaisy
VanillaSugar
Coastal Nest

and, now, for my bonus 7, (two tags :)

annechovie
nonpareil
pink maple
hookedonhouses
let go, laughing
miss e's adventures
coco bean

Bliss continues...a little soul nourishment!

Yesterday the gang stopped over at Key Biscayne, picking up sushi and fruit and drinks at the "hidden" Winn Dixie over there--the ultimate beach prep stop. Then we found the perfect spot to eat our picnic under a shady palm tree, read our books and luxuriate in the warm waters. I gathered some sea shells--Key Biscayne has some really cute ones...

After soaking up some sun and water and r and r, we ate at a must-stop for guests in Miami: Versailles Restaurant on Calle Ocho in Little Havana... bring on the mojitos!!! I love Versailles trips, you have to bring home some guava pastries for breakfast the next day.

Yesterday was my TWO year anniversary of being married to Mr. Wonderful. Time does fly when you are having fun... it only feels like two months, max!

The boys are taking one of them back to the airport in a little while, but we get one of them for a few more days, so the adventures will definitely continue.

Good Friends enjoying the beach life

Hit the road: Driving to Key West on Tuesday, May 12th...

We have two friends in from the east coast, and they are taking South Beach by storm!

Today one has rented a moped from the place on 9th Street, to tour the island, and the other is looking into snorkeling down in Key Largo...

They've been hitting the beach and soaking up the sun and blue-green waters... one day they rented a convertible and did the drive from Miami down to Key West and back... and apparently had some Pirate's Punch to complete the journey.

We are using lots of sunscreen and bottled water and other beverages and the guys didn't even seem to mind my post-family wedding, post-travel jet lag-exhaustion emotional lack-of-hostess state. I *really* needed the beach and we've gotten that in... including a shooting star over the ocean one night, gorgeous pink night clouds, and watching lightning over the Bahamas while we listen to our own surf and stretch out on the cool night sand.

It is so fun to have our friends here... 24/7 party, crash at the beach pad style!!! A parade of beach towels and bathing suits dry out on the back in the beach breezes and sunshine, the kitchen has champagne mangoes, limes, bananas, apples, peanut butter cookies, starbucks icecream- and all the makings for yummy lunches and dinners. Mr. Wonderful made a pasta with spicy meatballs and mushrooms in a delicious sauce last night. I've been watering the herbs each morning... watching them tower more each day.

Mr. Wonderful misses his good buddy from up north, (the one who went with us the day we got married in Colorado and took our wedding day pictures!!!) and the buddy tells us eventually he will live wherever we are, so Colorado or Miami or wherever our adventures lead, we have a good friend for life planning to ultimately join us there...

Back To School!!! Summer School, for starters!

Have I *mentioned* that Mr. Wonderful

got accepted into University of Miami?????

(where I earned my master's in creative writing?)

He is now a... 'Cane!!!

Have I mentioned that we went and got him registered for summer classes??????

Have I mentioned how happy we are about this????

For beautiful vintage postcards of the campus,

click here.... and Enjoy!!!

Happy Miami Beach spring!

Mint, Rosemary, Basil, and Cilantro right at our feet: oh the possibilities!

Any suggestions, friends? Thanks!

Guest Post :)

My lovely friend, Mrs. Real Life,
at the Reality of Happily Ever After
has me as a guest poster on her blog today:
click here to see the post.

Be warned, it contains life's truths about
this girl's journey...(may need Kleenex!)
of course, landing at a good spot!
--Miss Bliss

pic source