Milwaukee Art Museum

We took a sweet little stroll along the water's edge and stumbled upon a bit of art. Inside and out. Here are a few shots of the Art Museum of Milwaukee. Rumor has it that Chicago wanted the building to grace her harbor, but Milwaukee won out. And win she did. The "wings" of the building actually open and close. It's quite beautiful. It's quite unique.

Hats off to the architects that imagined and created this Masterpiece. Designed  to showcase fine art. And light. And love.

A quote from Degas greets all visitors:

"Drawing is not what one sees but what one can make others see."

Here's to the artist in you.

With love and hugs.

xo

Back Home

We're back in New Jersey after what was a whirlwind of a few days with our daughter and Matt in Milwaukee. I thought I'd share some photos of the city, and a few thoughts on our visit. We haven't seen Tiff since May. I had been counting the days until we met. My heart skipped a beat when she peeked around the corner at the airport! Her smile radiates love! Her engagement ring sparkles on her little finger!  And, on first impression, I loved the city. It is so clean. And sprawling and light. In spite of the fact of tall buildings, the sky is so visible, Lake Michigan looks like the ocean. The city is pretty flat, and holds unique architecural delights! Beautiful museums, restaurants, brew pubs, bridges, coffee shops, and, not to mention the Bridal Salons! It was Black Friday when we shopped for the perfect white dress! And I'm so happy to say...Mission Accomplished! What a great time, what a memorable Thanksgiving, and what a sad day indeed when we needed to say good bye. I Hope you enjoy some photos, I'll be posting some more soon!

Happy Monday, everyone! 

With love and hugs. 

And a view of Milwaukee!

xo

Happy Thanksgiving!

Blessings of Abundance.

Love, Joy, Peace.

And may you gobble 'till you wobble!

With love and hugs.

xo



Birthday Love



I'm grinning ear to ear!

My heart is bursting with

Gratitude

for all of the Birthday love!

Thank you, everyone, everywhere!

The cards are beautiful, the thoughts are heart warming,

the wishes are abundant, the Love is touching.

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday,

I am forever grateful for all of you!

With love and hugs.

Kitty :)

xo

Weekend Already!

I hope this Friday finds you well prepared

for a beautiful Autumn weekend,
Filled.


With
Love and  Hugs

and Gratitude.

xo

Started My Shopping!

Some of you may know I took a little motorcycle ride this past weekend. We went with a few friends up to Newburgh, NY to the motorcycle museum. There were photos to be taken for a story to be written. So we hopped on board. It was great fun, very interesting history of bikes from the early 1900's to the 60's right on through to present day. I'm so happy we did. Because with the Chrsitmas holiday approaching, I'm always stumped as to what to get my Mom. She's tough to buy for. She always says she doesn't need anything. She wants simple gifts like love and happiness.But in my heart, I know she'd love a motorcycle! But, her hair do. And, She doesn't like wind in her face. Problem solved! No worries!

Can't you just see "Dolly" sporting around Brick Town, NJ on this!!
No wind, no helmet hair, no worries!
Shhh!!

A Single Word

just a thought....
if your closest friends or family members
had to describe you...
in one word.
what would it be?


Happy Tuesday!
With love and hugs.
xo

Orchid in the Air

Happy Monday!
With love and hugs.
xo

To Our Birthday Girl

A  beautiful little blossom for our beautiful Birthday Girl!

You see,

Long distance separates us,

she is

living her dreams

in the far away land of

Cheese and Crackers,

Beer, and Packers..

but our hearts remain forever close,

our love remains forever true,

and,

Little Miss Tiff,

we are so very happy

and

 so very proud of you!

Happy Birthday, Tiff!

With love, hugs, and dreams come true.

Doubled!

xo

11.11.11

Once every one hundred years we see 11.11.11. Seems like once every hundred years I see my little sister. Today is her day, and it's a big one for sure! See's far from us, way down south in her new home in Southport, North Carolina. With her soul mate, her new pet fox, her new beach hang out, her friends, and for Christmas, her girl.
I see alot of chatter online about project 11.11.11. So, my project is my blog post dedicated to my little sister Nancy. Here's a Happy Birthday to you, Nan! I hope the lights remain bright for you throughout the coming year, that you enjoy your new digs, and that your heart bursts with Love and Happiness!

I miss you,
Happy Birthday!
With love and hugs.
xo

For Anthony

Today just might be a hard one at my office.
You see, it's the Birthday of my friend's son.
Who passed away, ever so quietly in her arms.
After 26 years. She's been talking about today,
and a part of her is pretty scared. It's that hole
in a Mother's heart when sad things happen to a child.
But Lynn is a member of a different kind of club.
It's the I lost my son club. Or, I lost my child club.
Fewer members than the PTA. Or the local Book club.
But the stronger part of Lynn is prepared. Head on.
Like a ship in a storm.
With love, with memories, and balloons.
Anthony was never able to speak words.
He was never able to walk,  nor did he ever play sports.
He was her angel. He entered our lives, whispered Hope, taught Love, and disappeared. Into the heavens. And Lynn moves forward.
With a vibrant self, a new found determination that will bring down walls. She demonstrated a dedication and Love to Anthony like you've never seen.

To you, Lynnie. And  to your little boy.
Peace.
With my love and hugs.
xo

11.9.11

A certain day became a presence to me;
there it was, confronting me-a sky,air,light:
a being. And before it started to descend
from the height of noon, it leaned over
and struck my shoulder as if with
the flat of a sword, granting me
honor and a task. The day's blow
rang out, metallic-or it was I, a bell awakened,
and what I heard was my whole self
saying and singing what I knew: I can.
   ~Denise Levertov, from Breathing the Water

Live Your Best Day!
With love and hugs.
xo

Back on Track...

...Well, sort of!
You all know by now that we loose power. Alot.
But, we're bright again.
Part of the annoyance of loosing electricity is that every single digital appliance we own goes down. And, then, it's sort of like re-boot.
Re-set. Clocks. Ugh. Just reset all of the clocks, and then, it's the end of daylight savings time. More clocks. The good thing about "fall back" is more sleep time in the morning. My husband gets up very early, so the fall back is a treat to him. Except this morning! I woke him up accusing him of not turning his clock back, but I was the one! I forgot to turn the other little bedroom clock back. Because...I just re-set the darn thing from our power outage! UGH. Small little pest annoyances.
Being woken up way too early! Sorry, Wes!

Happy Monday!
With my love and hugs.
xo

PS...Happy Birthday, Tom!
Bet you didn't mind getting up too early!!

Last Saturday...

Last Saturday morning I was playing around with this photo. This is my neighbor's tree. There were electric wires to delete. I painted the sky a bright shade of dangerous and I saved it. My plan was to post it on Mischief Night, with a little caption of "Painting the Town". Well,with an unexpected twist of fate from Mother Nature, instead of me deleting the wires, the wires deleted me! It has been one crazy mess here in Northwestern New Jersey, but today is different. Autumn is back with her blaze of color. In all of her glory.  The snow has melted. The mellow sound of the electric bass once again harmonizes our home, the lights are glowing brightly, it is warm, and all is calm.
I am forever grateful.
For water.
For light.
But mostly,
I am grateful
for Love.

Have a happy weekend!
With love and hugs.
xo

Long Days and Long Nights









Each day

 presents

 an opportunity

 of Hope.

And beauty.

And resolve.

And light.

And darkness.

There may be some light at the end of this dark tunnel.

I still could not drive on my road today,

it was too crowded with JCP&L trucks!

Fingers crossed.

With love and hugs.

xo



Hello, November!

Good Morning, World!
I shot this photograph on Sunday morning a short distance from where we live.
We've been treated to a new round of challenges by Mother Nature. Again.
A fury of a storm flew in Saturday morning, hung around most of the day and night, and on Sunday the sky was the most beautiful shade of blue that one could only imagine. There was an Autumn beauty like we've never seen. The kiss of color beneath a heavy snowfall. Only one problem. We're in the dark once more. The weight of more than a foot of snow has crumbled the land. And my spirits. It's another long journey until we see the light.
But, as Wes and I sipped some leftover coffee in front of the fire early this morning, we both agreed that it's just one more challenge that makes our bond  truly unbreakable.

Here's hoping we have a few milder days and nights.
And, Happy November, my friends!
With my love and hugs.
xo