Trip to California! Memorial Day weekend! 

I am spending the weekend with my daughter Cherise and her Fiance Michael. These kids are great! Michael is a Marine and Cherise is going to school for medical assistant and working too. They live on base in Camp Pendelton, in Oceanside California.

I drove out yesterday. I left late in the day so I didn't get here until about 11:45 pm. That was fine with me because I enjoy being up late as I do work the night shift, but the kids.. they were exhausted! That is funny to me. 

My dog Bogart (Bo) and I enjoyed our trip out. I made several stops at rest stops and in a little town called    . It is a rest stop off the highway with a church and a post office and a town of mobile homes. That is it. Oh, but it does have a museum.. yes a museum! The George Patton museum. Apparently the founder of the town served under him and was so taken by him, he created the museum. I didn't get to go through it, I think it was closed anyway, but maybe next time I can check it out. 

I was so taken on my drive by many interesting things. This was my first solo road trip! I loved it except for not having anyone to turn to and say.. "hey did you see that!?" The things that I saw were not too incredible, just people driving like fools mostly. I was very surprised at the stops that I made most of the people were very friendly. This is a nice change since most of the time the people I have been running into have not been so pleasant. Maybe I shouldn't run into them!

I thought it was interesting how the people started driving like crazy people when I got deeper into California. Not all of them of course but two especially were pretty out there! One guy was doing about 110 in TRAFFIC and weaving in and out like a crazy man.. no cop following him, he was just a jerk. Another person felt the need, on a fully open road, no traffic, to cut me off  from the right lane all the way to the left, just to see why there was traffic on the other side of the highway! really!

I did get a chuckle out of some of the street names, only in California could they get away with these names: Bob Hope Drive, Jean Autry Trail and my two favorites... Champagne Dr. & Lawrence Welk Blvd right next to each other.. only thing was missing was Tiny Bubbles Lane!

So far the weather is awesome overcast and cool. I am happy with that. I will be going to the beach even if it is pouring rain!! 

I hope to write more about my trip... I will be doing some thrifting while I am here.. hope i find something fun!

A new day!

A new year is upon us... heck it's started! I will have a birthday in a few days... not sure how I feel about that yet. I really don't want to get old, but do I have a choice? No matter how young I act or feel, the fact is.. I'm getting old.

Because of this it means there is no time left to sit and relax on the fur lined pitty pot. I am taking a new approach to life. What I have been doing the last 10 years didn't work, so I will try something else.. I call it, the Know... I know things, I know about stuff, I know who I am.. so I will live the Know.

I will take pleasure in ME. If it means that all I do on a weekend is play in my art studio, then fine, I will play.. but I will no longer wait for anyone else to make me feel worthy.
If mr. right, rather than mr. right now, comes along fine. If he doesn't, I can say I loved hard, lost hard and lived hard. He will have to match my passion for life, so far he has not shown up with that passion.

I fixed my art room. I love it! I will be spending more time in there. Alone, and that is okay...

I sew I sew..

I am SEW excited..

One of my very favorite shops MYSTIC PAPER is having a wonderful event!

I will be showcasing my aprons, pillows and bags!

Mystic Paper is a great shop with a wonderful owner! I love to stop in from time to time to chat and catch up on the latestest and greatest new items to create with! They were just voted BEST IN PHOENIX!!

I hope you that are here in Arizona can join us for this fun filled day of shopping, crafts and friends!

Time to get serious....

about my selling on ETSY (and sometimes Ebay).
I have TONS of things I keep picking up at estate, yard sales and thrift stores. I buy them and say OH! I can sell this... well it's about time I did! So I am!

My home is FAR from looking like something on Hoarders (THANK GOD!) but if I dont sell some stuff I can't go buy more stuff to sell! I have self imposed this rule. I will be able to buy one thing for every two I can sell. This way I will stay ahead of the "stuff' and not worry about a intervention from A&E! lol!!

So check out my ETSY shoppe:

A day of FUN!

I know I dont write as often as I should but I do try!

Today was a great day! I was going to stay home and not venture into the hot and humid (yes humid) Arizona day. BUT when I woke up I thought I would take the time to do something that I have not done in a while.. a trip to the GOODWILL Clearance center. I LOVE that place!

It is an amazing store that is the last stop for all things from Goodwill. After this they destroy or trash EVERYTHING! The saddest sound I have heard is all the glass things being broken. I dont know why they dont donate all those things to homeless shelters and such but Im sure there is a business reason.
BUT.. I do my part to save the things I can afford and the things I have room for. I also look for things that I can sell on EBAY. I dont have a store on Ebay but I do enjoy selling stuff I find.
SO today I was there from 10am until 3pm!! It only felt like I was there an hour!
I found some Johnny Mathis records that I think are sellable (I researched them on my phone before buying). I also found a cool waterproof camera sellable, and some cute vintage childrens aprons. BUT most importantly I met a very nice lady who enjoys thrifting and creating as much as I do! We talked for about a 1/2 hour and exchanged our information. I hope we can get together and have coffee or create !
Well time for me to hit the hay.

Easter Saturday..

Today is Easter Saturday. That is what my Grandma called it. Easter Eve is another alternative. Day before Easter works too. So does just plain ol' Saturday.

Well much goings on around here...

The older folks:

Mom has recovered VERY well (thanks be to God). Dad is still doing okay. We have gotten him to do less driving although he continues to insist he can drive fine.. with my mothers help! Yea, scary.

BUT.. the good thing is .. they (my parents) will be moving to Arizona! They will arrive here on May 22. Lock stock and barrell will follow on a moving truck. They will be moving into a beautiful senior living facility. The nice thing about this place (there are many nice things really) is they will have their own apartment. It is a beautiful 2 bedroom 2 bath patio home. A really nice big patio in back that is fully screened in. The patio is almost like another room. They should get great use out of that.

There is a great woodworking studio that has every tool you can think of. It is the size of a garage, all of the tenants can use everything in there.

My favorite part is ... A HUGHE CRAFT APARTMENT.. thats right a WHOLE apartment with nothing but crafts! Even in the kitchen! You can bake there! I am going to be volunteering there just so I can go play with all the toys!

The nice thing is they will only be 10 minutes away from both my sister and I. They are half way in the middle of the both of us! I am looking forward to having them here.

On the younger side of things...

My nephew Brian and his wife Lisa welcomed my 3 Great nephew into the world today (I have 3 great nephews and 1 great niece..so far). Samuel Anthony Coleman weighed in at 6.63 and 19 inches long. A beautiful little guy. So happy I was able to see him shortly after he was born. What a cutie. It was so amazing to watch the men that I remember being born, have children of thier own.

More to come with new pictures too!

Happy Easter!

Long time!

Hello!
It has been quite a while since I have posted anything. I apologize.
I really do want to be more organized and focused on my blog.. I promise I will try!

So many things going on around here!.
First ..

My daughter moved back home ..I am so happy to have her here! We are great friends. We laugh, giggle and talk like we are both in high school! But to have something we enjoy, sometimes we must give something else up. SO I gave up my craft room for my girl. Really nothing, and I mean nothing, is more important to me then my children. So with a little clever moving around, I now do my sewing in the living/dining area. I dont mind at all. I did put away all my "other" craft things, I will get to them another time.

I am very thankful that my Mom is doing okay. My parents were here for Christmas and mom was having some issues. When they got back home she talked to the doctor and has had triple bypass surgery. She is doig good. My amazing sister has been there with them since the surgery. I am so happy she retired and is able to be there with them.

As for me well... I am still working (yuck) and still creating. My latest kick are purses. I am selling them here and on Facebook and soon at my Etsy shop. I really would love to be able to stay at home and support myself with my craft. That is my goal and I will make it happen!

I hope you are all well and I will blog again soon!

Long time gone by...

It has been a while since I have posted. I have not intentionally neglected you my dear blog, it's just that life has gotten in the way.
I am still working at the job I had last year, since the economy is still bad I am told I should be greatful. It is hard to be greatful with having to drive 40 miles each way with gas at almost $3 a gallon, but life goes on.
I am still creating. I have made some very fun purses for gifts for Christmas. I saw these fun faux purses at a large department store and thought " pfft.. I am NOT paying $160 each, I will make them myself!" I did.. with a little help from my mom. They came out great even if one of the people whom it was given to, immediatley turned it inside out thinking that it was reversible! I will take that as a compliment to my craftmenship!
I am now working on anotherpurse and some baby bibs... NO not for my baby! Those days are long gone! (thank goodness!Lol).. these are for my 2 nephews, they are both having babies this year. We know one is a boy and still waiting to hear about the other. I hope it is a girl so I can make things for both!

I will update as soon as possible with pictures.

What an adventure!

I am not sure if it is a curse or a blessing yet but, I no longer have a car. I am okay with that...I think! The funny thing is I have lived in Arizona for 11 years and had never been on a bus! So yesterday I took the bus... TWICE! It was fun!

I went to an appointment and got there EARLY! That is not very usual for me I am either on time or a few minutes late. It was fun riding the bus. There is life in the desert! There were so many people on the bus.. on off on off. Cool!

Then later in the afternoon when my daughter was here, I said "hmm, I need some groceries" She said lets go.. "really?" "Yep" so off we went again... On the BUS!! Now I must say when I went out earlier in the day it was 104 degrees. At this point the clouds had rolled in and a nice breeze and it dropped to about 85-90. Not bad.

When we reached the supermarket, the clouds had thickened, the wind picked up and there was a smell of...you guessed it RAIN in the air!

Monsoons here in Arizona are either 5 minutes and gone or ALL night. Well this one decided to be an all nighter! We waited out side the store for the rain to let up. And waited..and waited.. well "we will have to make a run for it"... I DO NOT RUN! So I walked with the groceries in the cart and Cherise ran! We made it to the bus stop and waited..and waited.. FINALLY the bus came. We were soaked to the core. We giggled and laughed like school girls. It was an amazing ADVENTURE and I cant wait to have another!

I think I will like not having a car!

My how it seems that time has FLOWN by! I am sorry it has been a while since I have updated here.

I have been very busy working on me. I have let some things slide lately that I should have taken care of so now I am working on them. Nothing major but none the less things that I need to do to feel top notch! I am off of work until September 7th so that I can do what I need to.

Part of my "feel better plan" is blogging and writing more. I have several books floating around in my head and I know they will be fun reads when I can get them into paper or e-book! I promise myself I will work at least one hour every day on writing. I have also been busy sewing and making some Christmas presents. Since they are presents I wont put any pictures here cause you never know who is trying to see what they are getting for Christmas!

I hope everyone is having a great summer. I will be working more on my blog and hopefully updating it with some new pics soon!

Thanks for reading...
Arlene

Happy Fourth Of July.. I LOVE this Country..

My Awesome Daughter and her Renn and I are celebrating with my Sister and her family.

My son.. The Staff Sargent USAF and my nephew The Captain USMC will be sharing the day with us. SO So happy to have them both home and safe.

I hope your day is filled with laughter and fun and a THANK YOU and HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!

Anyone?

If you know ANYTHING about me, you know that I do mostly everything by myself. This is not to get anyone to go .. awww, or anything like that. I ENJOY most of my solitary activities. Truth be told there are time when I am doing things with someone else that I would rather be alone. BUT having said that it does NOT by any stretch of the imagination mean that I ALWAYS want to be alone. I LOVE having people around me. I enjoy chit chat and banter and good deep conversation. BUT I have found that since I work in the type of job I have (and not that I like it but it pays the bills *barley*!), a customer service position in a call center, it does not make for ease of making friends. When we are at work we are working. There is NO time to chat, not even on lunch. You don't have lunch time with any of your peers. SO...
My point in all this is.. If you like what you are reading. Have something funny to share, or are also into the types of things I am, please leave a comment, drop a line anything. I would like to reach out and befriend some people who like the same things that I do.
ALSO if you have ANY experience putting together a blog, let me know. I keep having issues with how this one looks. There has to be an easier way!

Well I am off to do some sewing.. I will post pics soon! :)
Thanks!
Happy Tuesday!

Fun!

I found this cute background that I think matches nicely with the banner. I am having fun playing with the blog and getting it just right.
If your reading my blog, please leave a comment. Follow me too! It's okay I won't lead you astray!
I hope your weekend is fun! I am going to do some sewing and fixing up in my studio. I hope to have the studio all done by Sunday night.
Stay tuned for updates..

What happened!?

I don't know what happened but my blog is "out of sorts".
Pictures are not showing up, background gone... I will work on this tonight (I HOPE).
Should look better tomorrow.

Listen to BLOG Tunes

Different.. I like DIFFERENT!

I can't believe it has been so long since I have written... I am so sorry!
I will try to be more attentive. I promise.

So an update:
hmm... not much...
Oh, I no longer have television. Well I have A television but no cable. I only get the weather channel. I figure, I am never watching it, if I do watch it, I don't get anything else done, and I am really not happy with the choice in programing... SO I gave it up! Not really much of a sacrifice I must say. It has been 2 weeks and my house is clean, projects (some) finished, and a bunch of magazines read. I read before I sleep, helps me to relax and much better dreams!
I listen to the radio on line! THAT is fun! I find new music and comedy and talk! So no reason to pay for cable.

I am sad that I did something to my blog that messed up my background! I will work on it this week and hopefully get it back to something pretty...

The title of this post is Different. Well as you can see I am different. I don't have cable tv. My blog is different (not intentionally) and I am unique! Ask EVERYONE who knows me. I think different. I just cant conform. It HURTS when I try to!! lol! I guess my brain is just "hot" wired and I LIKE IT!!

Notice in my artwork, aprons and writings.. its not cookie cutter. I like all the popular and common scrapbook items out there. The "branded" and designer (if you will) stuff is all great and good and even pretty but .. for me (YAWN) boring! Where is YOUR imagination? Sure you put your own color on something but that's about it. How about hunting for the items you put on your creations? Anyone can (and everyone does) buy the stuff prepackaged! I guess this is just my little boycott of SAMENESS.

Okay I am stepping off my soap box!

I went to Whole Foods tonight (some say Whole Paycheck) and got the most delicious spring rolls yumm!!

I will post more soon and I promise MORE PICTURES!!

Pictures are POSTED!

Hi!

Okay I did it! I posted the pics I have been promising!
Check them out by clicking the very top picture on the right side.
There will be a slide show of my pics!
Please let me know what you think!
Hope everyone has a happy Sunday!

DING DONG.. AVON CALLING!!

How exciting! I am now an AVON LADY! I know I know.. it's Avon REPRESENTATIVE but hey I love things old fashioned... I'M AN AVON LADY!!!

Check out my own personal website for Avon.. place an order, browse the catalog, see whats new (and there is a lot new!) order a valentine gift!
Avon has REALLY come a long way! Did you know that they have PATENTS on some of their skin care products? When those patents are up the MAJOR cosmetic companies (you know the ones that are in stores like DILLARD'S, MACY'S etc) they then take the formulas and recreate them and sell them as their own!! THAT'S how GREAT Avon products are! AND whats better .. they are not $120 a jar!
So check it out and thanks in advance for helping me become my own business!!

www.youravon.com/arlelneconklin

Wonderful! Simply WONDERFUL!
I am so happy to report that I was able to attend 2nd Fridays in Historic Downtown MESA! What a fun time! There was such great ENERGY in the air!
I got to Mystic Paper http://www.mysticpaper.com/ JUST in the nick of time! Of course I parked in the back of the store. Well not IN the back of the store, but you know what I mean. I went in through the back door and up to the front ... just as they were starting the ATC trade!~ Talk about timing! I made my 6 Elvis themed ATC's all in 45 minutes(this includes finding the proper pictures to use!) and if you know me then you know 45 minutes for 6 ATCs is FAST!
I was lucky to receive some beautiful cards in the swap! Such talented ladies we all are!
I am sad to say that I don't have any pictures. Some day I will get a camera that works!!!! Maybe for my birthday.. hint hint!

I was also able to make it into Domestic Bliss!! I have been wanting to go there FOREVER! It is a wonderfully girlie place! I just want one of everything they have.. well as I told the gal that was working there, I'll just move in there and that will be that! lol!

Such pretty things! But can the mere mortal that is I ever have a home that is all this? Yes and I will to the best of my ability! I WILL DO IT! I am thankful for everything I have and every opportunity I am given!
Are you?

Have a day that is full of blessings no matter how small (even if it is just the fact that you HAVE a DAY~!)

Fixin it up!

I am so excited! My mom and dad are spending some time with me this week. I was able to get some time off work to stay home and "play". SO I am fixing up my studio and my sewing room! THEN... I will be working on some projects! Im so happy!
I will post pics as soon as I get some!
Stay tuned