Friday, December 31, 2010

When The Midnight Bell Rings Tonight...



Hoping you find the beauty in each day's sunrise
and for the gift of today.

Surround yourself with the people you love, whom bring you the most joy.

Never forget who you are and and love yourself unconditionally.

Forgive yourself for your imperfections, as none of us are perfect.

Smile, it's a gift you can give a complete stranger, you never know
how many people you can touch with your smile.

Sing the song that is in your heart and dance, dance dance, for you
are truly beautiful!

Happy New Year!





Friday, December 24, 2010

What Christmas Means To Me...



Christmas has always been very special to me, it's a time to gather with family and friends and share yearly traditions. Each year I love to bake with my granddaughters, decorate our home and exchange gifts with loved ones. For me it has never been about the gifts, it's about creating special memories with my cherished loved ones. Making gingerbread houses with my mom, decorating her whole house, taking her, my children and the grandchildren to see Santa Claus, spending time together with a cup of hot chocolate, crafting with my nieces both when they were young and then as adults, helping them make gifts to give to their friends and families. I love Tree Night when we go house to house to see sister's and brother's homes decorated for Christmas, it's a favorite yearly tradition, but the most precious time for me is Christmas Evening when we gather together at my mom's house to have something to eat and drink, watch the children open gifts from their gram and their aunts and uncles. We all gather in the living room and dining room and sing the "Twelve Days of Christmas", not once, not twice, but usually three times. It's the funniest thing you would ever see but we all love it so much and it makes mom so happy. This year as we gather together it will be a bit different, we won't be at our mom's house we will be at Berkshire Medical Hospital. But the meaning and the spirit of the evening will be the same, we will eat, drink, celebrate, perhaps exchange a gift or two and of course we will sing. We will sing like there is no tomorrow because truly there is no guarantee of a tomorrow, we will laugh, cry and be so thankful that we are together for another Christmas Evening to celebrate with our mom, she is the center of my life and my family’s life, she is the most precious gift I have ever had and that is what I'm going to cherish this year, my "MOM" more than any other year.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that you are able to spend time with your loved ones as I will this evening.

Merry Christmas, I am also thankful for the gift of you, if you are reading this you are a friend of mine and I love you as much as my family!




Tuesday, November 30, 2010

CANDY CANE MANTEL...




Just a little glimpse of our Mantel decorated for Christmas last year. Since we are living between our old house and the new house there won't be much decorating done this year. My daughter now owns are old house so I can't wait to see what she decides to do for decorating.

To give my mantel added fullness I used two tear drop swags that I wired together and then I added lights, ornaments, candy canes and a few snow flakes. I love the lush look the swag gives the mantel. I can't wait to see how everyone decorates their homes. Wishing you all the best this Christmas "SEASON"!







The Lettered Cottage

Monday, November 22, 2010

BLACK FRIDAY...



Hi Dear Friends, Is it part of your tradition to shop on Black Friday? Do you love to hit the stores early for all the awesome sales or do you prefer to do most of your shopping online? I usually love to shop on Black Friday but I don't have that much shopping to do this year. I think I may just go out and look around and see if I happen upon any items for my new house.

Whatever your plans are I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and if you are brave enough to fight the crowds on Black Friday, be safe and go get 'em!




Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Honor Our Veteran's...

My brother Henry Daniel Phillips II; Vietnam Veteran...















































White ironstone dinner plates from JC Penney.
Red scallop plates also from JC Penny.
Blue and white Royal Stafford plates from TJ Maxx, a few years ago.
Blue wine glasses are from the Dollar Tree.
Glass compote's from GW, this week.
Glass basket from GW, this week.
Cupcake stand from Home Goods.
Napkins from Home Goods.
Uncle Sam figures from Michael's.
Tall white candle stick with red candle from Home Goods.
Blue place mats from Big Lots.


I hope you enjoy my table and take a few moments to reflect on all the sacrifices of our military, past and present. I also hope you have a wonderful Veteran's Day, thank you for visiting! Your kind comments, are so appreciated!





Tuesday, October 12, 2010

My Birthday Wish...


I have a very special "WISH" this year.

My WISH is that each and every one of you has a magical day filled with GIGGLES, LOVE and LAUGHTER...

A day filled with sunshine and simple JOY...with lots of HUGS and KISSES...

and a DREAMY PINK cake!


Hugz from me to you!







Friday, October 1, 2010

Mirror Lake Cottage...



Our new house is starting to feel like "home"! My honey and I have enjoyed picking out the paint colors, furniture, bedding, art, etc. While we still have a bathroom to remodel, flooring that needs to be replaced and other things that need to be done... we are enjoying this journey.

Since we purchased this home on a whim, and let the pull of the ocean draw us in we are in no rush to finish everything at once. All the little imperfections don't bother me at all, which if you know me... it is so unlike me. I have gone from having granite counters, cherry cabinets, tumbled marble backsplash, stainless appliances in my other home to formica counters, plain white applicances and oak cabinets in the new home and I just don't care. I love this house the way it is. It's not fussy, just a fun place to be and my little bit of heaven. Having the gateway to the Atlantic Ocean in my back yard is enough for me.

Everyday is exciting, I love having twenty ducks come swimming up to our dock begging to be fed. We also have frequent visits from the most beautiful swans, one in paticular likes hissing at our dog; Alexis, she is unfazed and doesn't even bark at him. We also have cranes that stop by, I'm amazed each time a crane takes off from the water, their wing span is unreal and it really is awesome to watch them fly!I hope you enjoy the pictures I have shared today, once we have more done I will post more.






























































Thank you for visiting, your kind comments are so appreciated!