<?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-8032378923614677393</id><updated>2011-08-22T06:09:14.940-07:00</updated><category term='Nature'/><category term='me'/><category term='Cell-ery'/><category term='Artwork'/><category term='costume'/><category term='dogs'/><category term='Watercolor'/><category term='Springs Preserve'/><category term='Greece'/><category term='Memories'/><category term='Mural'/><category term='Gardening'/><category term='dog clothes'/><category term='decorating'/><category term='Digital Scrapbooking...'/><category term='Mosaic'/><category term='Flowers'/><category term='One World One Heart'/><category term='building'/><category term='Halloween'/><category term='Beaded Jewelery'/><category term='Class Reunion'/><category term='pets'/><category term='Cat'/><category term='Zo'/><category term='Giveaway'/><category term='Dreams'/><category term='High School'/><category term='Sewing'/><category term='Painting'/><category term='bedrooms'/><title type='text'>Chrissiosity Cottage</title><subtitle type='html'>A cozy little place...</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>19</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-1745983779238463380</id><published>2011-03-04T23:19:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2011-03-04T23:37:57.943-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Twisted Perception</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"&gt;Wow!!.... It's been forever since I've composed a blog post.  Life continues, progresses, evolves, throws you curve balls, presents gifts, trips you up, slaps you in the face and laughs at you... All while you're away tending to your mundane life!!! Always changing, pushing you on your path!.... I can't begin to catch you up! I can barely keep up with myself.  Focus!!!!  Love&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;You might never know that someone has loved you, that you never realized did... What a gift that is.  But.... Had you known, it would not have had the impact that it does, much much later in life, after many heartbreaks, disappointments, challenges, and all the LIVING that it takes to truly appreciate the significance of this simple truth...  Amazing!!!   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-1745983779238463380?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/1745983779238463380/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=1745983779238463380' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/1745983779238463380'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/1745983779238463380'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2011/03/twisted-perception.html' title='Twisted Perception'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-3136966519485027645</id><published>2010-03-29T13:33:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-03-29T16:29:27.515-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Artwork'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Beaded Jewelery'/><title type='text'>The Red Queen's Delusion... Beaded Necklace</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S7EOzgI8TWI/AAAAAAAAAOA/llAF0JC1tNU/s1600/Red+Queens+Delusion.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S7EOzgI8TWI/AAAAAAAAAOA/llAF0JC1tNU/s400/Red+Queens+Delusion.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454156901685939554" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;I've finally found my true love!!!  Beading! Or, more specifically, bead embroidery.  I've have taken up and been intrigued by, most types of arts and crafts, ever since I was a little girl.  My Grandma Nanny had me sitting at her old Singer sewing machine, making doll clothes, when I was only five years old.  There have been many phases and incarnation's in my creative journey throughout the years.  I've dabbled in:  Sewing, wreath making, ceramic's, applique, crochet, macrame, candle making, soap making, doll making, broken china mosaic's, card making, collage, silver soldering, painting, drawing, watercolors, polymer clay, floral arranging, stained glass, and all different kinds of jewelery making... BUT now, I've found my true love... Bead weaving and bead embroidery.  The piece above is the very first one I've ever done of actual embroidery on Ultrasuede.  For someone who has no patience for crowds of people and HATES to talk on the phone... I have nothing but patience for this very detailed and precise type of craft.  I completely lose myself in the bliss of creating with tiny beads, picked up individually on a slender needle, and placed in a mysterious flow of color and texture.  Propelling into fruition an idea that only develops in my mind as I go along.  I don't like to follow patterns.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;I have so many ideas in my head now and not nearly enough time to devote to my new passion.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S7EOtZwmbeI/AAAAAAAAAN4/gcqDtVSQspc/s1600/Red+Queens+Delusion+Close+Up.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 386px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S7EOtZwmbeI/AAAAAAAAAN4/gcqDtVSQspc/s400/Red+Queens+Delusion+Close+Up.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454156796894014946" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;After seeing the new Tim Burton version of Alice In Wonderland, I was visually enthralled by the black/white/red/gold theme in the Red Queen's Castle, and I LOVED the dress Alice had on, made from the Queen's curtains, and so... My inspiration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Well I'm living for the weekend.... My next project is starting to percolate in my mind, I'm picturing the blues, whites, and soft gray's of my dream place, Santorini, Greece.... &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-3136966519485027645?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/3136966519485027645/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=3136966519485027645' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/3136966519485027645'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/3136966519485027645'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2010/03/red-queens-delusion-beaded-necklace.html' title='The Red Queen&apos;s Delusion... Beaded Necklace'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S7EOzgI8TWI/AAAAAAAAAOA/llAF0JC1tNU/s72-c/Red+Queens+Delusion.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-8786522976530218000</id><published>2010-02-05T18:55:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2010-02-05T21:51:15.561-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Dreams'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Greece'/><title type='text'>Dreams of Greece</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2z44ffZ0TI/AAAAAAAAANQ/OELUbGtRWkU/s1600-h/MedBlueWater.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2z44ffZ0TI/AAAAAAAAANQ/OELUbGtRWkU/s400/MedBlueWater.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434992499738923314" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;I can't believe that it's been over six months since my last post!  Whaaaaat?  Life just keeps fleeting by, and yet what have I really accomplished in the past six months?  Oh sure, big things have changed on the work front, and yes, I've faced some really big challenges there, and overcome them (I believe)... But personally?  Let's see...  Nope, not so much...  Where are all the drawings and paintings I should have made?  All I have to show are a few sketches and a handful of cards.  Hmmm, I did start fwirling and twirling  some beautiful yarn into an afghan but it's only about 8 inch's in length so far.... Singing! My other love!  I finally recorded a song and put it on my Facebook page...  That was one of the scariest things ever!!! I'm so afraid of rejection and I hate to make myself vulnerable to criticism...  But the bliss I feel when I sing is so profound that it's &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;worth putting myself out there....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Well if I can't live my dreams, I can at least re-dream my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;dreams...  Lets take a visual vacation, huh?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2zf3tbUBqI/AAAAAAAAAMg/WEHBYPskaBE/s1600-h/greekislands_0020.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2zf3tbUBqI/AAAAAAAAAMg/WEHBYPskaBE/s400/greekislands_0020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434964998509299362" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Ahhhhh Greece.....  Can you just imaging trekking through all those twisty turney little streets?... The scent of Olives and bouganvilla filling the air, brilliant blue shutters against the pristine whitewashed stucco, steps leading ever onward to ledged walkways with spectacular views of the Cyclades, soft lace dancing in the open windows?  Can you hear the music off in the distance?&lt;/span&gt;  &lt;object style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" height="405" width="500"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UpuH8bpvC1o&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;rel=0&amp;amp;color1=0x006699&amp;amp;color2=0x54abd6&amp;amp;border=1"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UpuH8bpvC1o&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;rel=0&amp;amp;color1=0x006699&amp;amp;color2=0x54abd6&amp;amp;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="405" width="500"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;  &lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Crisp white cotton slipped over bronzed skin....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2zxRF_XFQI/AAAAAAAAAM4/sYznx5OVkuA/s1600-h/white+dress+santorini.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2zxRF_XFQI/AAAAAAAAAM4/sYznx5OVkuA/s400/white+dress+santorini.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434984126297347330" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" height="405" width="500"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UpuH8bpvC1o&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;rel=0&amp;amp;color1=0x006699&amp;amp;color2=0x54abd6&amp;amp;border=1"&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;The sun has submerged itself into the ocean and it's time to go out and party!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2zyvxj_LQI/AAAAAAAAANA/RiVC2Z2tJl4/s1600-h/santorininight.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2zyvxj_LQI/AAAAAAAAANA/RiVC2Z2tJl4/s400/santorininight.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434985752901397762" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Cheers....  I mean Opa!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2zzCC_2fJI/AAAAAAAAANI/defmBCfec-U/s1600-h/Ouzo.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2zzCC_2fJI/AAAAAAAAANI/defmBCfec-U/s400/Ouzo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434986066819316882" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2z-X1KcpiI/AAAAAAAAANY/RSMZAo6805Q/s1600-h/pic01.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 318px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2z-X1KcpiI/AAAAAAAAANY/RSMZAo6805Q/s400/pic01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434998535690692130" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Dawn approaches.  Sleep, who needs sleep?.... A swim, perhaps?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2z_KRVtY0I/AAAAAAAAANg/o8kW9Qm2-yw/s1600-h/Fira.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2z_KRVtY0I/AAAAAAAAANg/o8kW9Qm2-yw/s400/Fira.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434999402247578434" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Is it even possible that some people are actually greeted with a dawn like this?  Are they blessed or what?   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S20AMxcOHVI/AAAAAAAAANo/q2hWv72Vycs/s1600-h/Greece-Blue-Angel-%2804%29.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S20AMxcOHVI/AAAAAAAAANo/q2hWv72Vycs/s400/Greece-Blue-Angel-%2804%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435000544736189778" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;A warm blissful cup of coffee in my quaint little cavehouse kitchen...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S20BJJRWMWI/AAAAAAAAANw/LCoelfkn7as/s1600-h/Greek+morning.jpg"&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/_DukjoBl9dM8/S20BJJRWMWI/AAAAAAAAANw/LCoelfkn7as/s400/Greek+morning.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435001581925183842" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Another day awaits....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Do you think if I dream this dream over and over it could come true?  It's okay, even if not, there is bliss and peace enough in the dreaming alone!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-8786522976530218000?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/8786522976530218000/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=8786522976530218000' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8786522976530218000'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8786522976530218000'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2010/02/dreams-of-greece.html' title='Dreams of Greece'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/S2z44ffZ0TI/AAAAAAAAANQ/OELUbGtRWkU/s72-c/MedBlueWater.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-4056744352783740010</id><published>2009-07-17T00:01:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-07-17T00:49:24.015-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='High School'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Memories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Class Reunion'/><title type='text'>Anticipation....</title><content type='html'>&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAi9gwSkWI/AAAAAAAAALo/YQaVBn33riA/s1600-h/Chrissi+Chrovian.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 172px; height: 223px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAi9gwSkWI/AAAAAAAAALo/YQaVBn33riA/s400/Chrissi+Chrovian.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359321996730732898" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;High School.... After thirty years, it's back...  My thirtieth High School Reunion is FINALLY coming up this weekend.  I've been soooo excited, and amping up with anticipation for the past couple MONTHS...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;  I really liked high school, and I was involved in the music program so that made it really fun with lots of extra curricular activities to be involved in.  My high school was "Valley High and we were the home of the Vikings" in Las Vegas...  The girls were called Vikettes&lt;/span&gt; and I even remember this silly song we all memorized and sang...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAlCD9ZVKI/AAAAAAAAAMI/FjSGyhGoO7U/s1600-h/img127.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 342px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAlCD9ZVKI/AAAAAAAAAMI/FjSGyhGoO7U/s400/img127.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359324273923675298" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Ala mem, ala mem, ala mem yock tempo, boom diddy boom boom, mendo mendo cocken fendo, ennie beanie pepsicinni, alla bolla booba weenie, archie barchie liberarchie and his brother George, a peach a plum a half a stick of chewing gum and if you want the other half this is what you say, a men a man a mandiego san diego, hocus pocus dominocus, sis a sis a sis coom bah, Valley Vikings, Rah Rah Rah!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAlCROOqvI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/1gAXMYyvi_A/s1600-h/img160.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAlCROOqvI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/1gAXMYyvi_A/s400/img160.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359324277483940594" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Isn't it crazy what you remember?  Here is a little vignette of some of my favorite things during my senior year...  How funny!! This picture was taken in 1979 but I wish I had those shoes still, they're perfectly in style again....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAi-FCEvRI/AAAAAAAAAMA/vdgSfIwHf_Y/s1600-h/img156.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAi-FCEvRI/AAAAAAAAAMA/vdgSfIwHf_Y/s400/img156.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359322006469000466" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;What an innocent face, youth...  So critical of myself at the time, wish I could have really processed and appreciated the fact that I'd NEVER look this good again...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAi982B6MI/AAAAAAAAAL4/9nsduMK4EL8/s1600-h/img151.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 265px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAi982B6MI/AAAAAAAAAL4/9nsduMK4EL8/s400/img151.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359322004270999746" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Always the flirt, if there was a cute boy to hug you know I was doing some huggin.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAi9xopEeI/AAAAAAAAALw/FaCi2WOhgDA/s1600-h/img135.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAi9xopEeI/AAAAAAAAALw/FaCi2WOhgDA/s400/img135.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359322001262055906" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Breakfast at Denny's, this was during our Reno Jazz Festival trip...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAijL0OFlI/AAAAAAAAALQ/pSZHpNsmoe4/s1600-h/img153.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAijL0OFlI/AAAAAAAAALQ/pSZHpNsmoe4/s400/img153.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359321544433473106" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;We were all piled on the bed for the leg competition....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAijBhnm7I/AAAAAAAAALI/1QtHlC3X4oA/s1600-h/img154.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAijBhnm7I/AAAAAAAAALI/1QtHlC3X4oA/s400/img154.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359321541671099314" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;One of my best friends, Deanna...  I miss her, we lost touch over the years.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAiiqzJf_I/AAAAAAAAALA/vcXD31XLYv4/s1600-h/img117.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAiiqzJf_I/AAAAAAAAALA/vcXD31XLYv4/s400/img117.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359321535570608114" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;This was taken on "Grad Night" at Disneyland '79...  My senior trip was so fun... BUT THAT PERM....  Hysterical!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAijcJRFmI/AAAAAAAAALY/yqsGnMktm5Y/s1600-h/img163.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 316px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAijcJRFmI/AAAAAAAAALY/yqsGnMktm5Y/s400/img163.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359321548816717410" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;This was a group picture of my twentieth reunion in '99, can't believe how fast the past ten years have gone....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;So here I am poised to party my butt off with all my old and new "old" friends...  Thanks to Facebook I've reconnected with other classmates  and I've even made a very special friend with someone who I went to school with, but we really never knew each other that well in H.S.  a shared history is an amazing adhesive in a friendship.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;The entire weekend is going to be so full of fun, 70's music, dancing, dining, hanging at the pool... It all takes place at Red Rock Resort.  Now that it's finally here I'm already worried that it will be over too soon.   It would sure be nice to meet some fabulous man to top it all off, but I'm going to have so much fun whether I do or don't...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;I'll take lots of pictures and will fill 'yall in after the big shin dig...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-4056744352783740010?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/4056744352783740010/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=4056744352783740010' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/4056744352783740010'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/4056744352783740010'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2009/07/anticipation.html' title='Anticipation....'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SmAi9gwSkWI/AAAAAAAAALo/YQaVBn33riA/s72-c/Chrissi+Chrovian.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-9021598505406366585</id><published>2009-06-13T21:46:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-06-13T22:54:27.610-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Facebook Graffiti...</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 5px; background-color: rgb(247, 243, 247); width: 580px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="580" height="370"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;param name="movie" value="http://s3.amazonaws.com/graffitiswf/graffiti_external.swf?random_name=385acc7a626de7e13176551ea997d7f2"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;embed src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/graffitiswf/graffiti_external.swf?random_name=385acc7a626de7e13176551ea997d7f2" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="370"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Hi everyone...  Sorry for the long delay between posts.  My "Crackbook" addiction (that would be Facebook to anyone who doesn't know) has been out of control and takes up a tremendous amount of my free time.  I really can't complain because it's been a lot of fun.  I've reestablished some friendships with people I went to school with.  We're having our thirtieth class reunion next month and so it's been fun getting reacquainted before the big get together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, on Facebook there is this cool application called Graffiti where you can draw pictures and send them to your friends or post them to your own profile.  I'm in love with it!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Raggedy Ann above is my latest creation.  I just finished her up right before writing this post.  It's cool because you can "play" the drawing and see how it all comes together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This next one is a strawberry that I drew this morning:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 5px; background-color: rgb(247, 243, 247); width: 510px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="510" height="370"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;param name="movie" value="http://s3.amazonaws.com/graffitiswf/graffiti_external_510x270.swf?random_name=b5527b70ba06133330106620451e8436P"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;embed src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/graffitiswf/graffiti_external_510x270.swf?random_name=b5527b70ba06133330106620451e8436P" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="510" height="370"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Then last night I drew this little mermaid... She isn't as good as I'd hoped, but I'll tell ya, it's really tricky trying to be precise when you're drawing with a mouse.  It's not exactly easy.  I really need one of those pen and tablet things that they have now for the computer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 5px; background-color: rgb(247, 243, 247); width: 580px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="580" height="370"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;param name="movie" value="http://s3.amazonaws.com/graffitiswf/graffiti_external.swf?random_name=419404fc20a22206b98842ff34423429"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;embed src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/graffitiswf/graffiti_external.swf?random_name=419404fc20a22206b98842ff34423429" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="370"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The very first drawing I did was this butterfly.  I like the quirky way it turned out.  It's kinda funny because it reminds me of a toy I had when I was a kid called "Shrinky-Dinks" you drew and colored on plastic and then baked the sheets in the oven and they shrank into smaller versions of what you drew.  For some reason drawings look better when you draw them bigger and then see them in a smaller version...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 5px; background-color: rgb(247, 243, 247); width: 580px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="580" height="370"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;param name="movie" value="http://s3.amazonaws.com/graffitiswf/graffiti_external.swf?random_name=fe3d6551600a2188082bd806d6b5a6f3"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;embed src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/graffitiswf/graffiti_external.swf?random_name=fe3d6551600a2188082bd806d6b5a6f3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="370"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;So anyway that's pretty much what's new... Oh I also started a new workout program with my Wii... I bought the new E.A. Sport Active for the Wii and I just love it.  I'm being really disciplined and working out 5 nights a week.  I feel myself getting much stronger and my stamina is returning.  It's really fun to do a workout where you feel more like you're playing a game rather than feeling like your actually exercising..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, that's about it for this post.  I'll try write again soon....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-9021598505406366585?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/9021598505406366585/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=9021598505406366585' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/9021598505406366585'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/9021598505406366585'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2009/06/facebook-graffiti.html' title='Facebook Graffiti...'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-8073876474589519259</id><published>2009-05-02T19:28:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-05-02T20:50:04.381-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Nature'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Springs Preserve'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Flowers'/><title type='text'>A lovely day with nature</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0FCBhO_oI/AAAAAAAAAIY/BWBqh44nLZ0/s1600-h/P5020017.JPG"&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/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0FCBhO_oI/AAAAAAAAAIY/BWBqh44nLZ0/s400/P5020017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331423066202242690" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Today I spent a lovely, peaceful day wandering around the Springs Preserve.  This Las Vegas hidden gem sprang from a strip of land known as "The Meadows", which I remember from my childhood as a cluster of mesquite trees, the tips of which you could just barely make out as you traveled on the 95 heading to either Tule Springs or Mount Charleston.  T&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;here really was no other reason to go that way, because nothing else had been built WAY out there when I was a kid.  I strolled around and took some shots of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;little vignettes that I found interesting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0FCZFeRWI/AAAAAAAAAIg/xUqURDiQS08/s1600-h/P5020001.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0FCZFeRWI/AAAAAAAAAIg/xUqURDiQS08/s400/P5020001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331423072528254306" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;When you walk in you trail along with a little flowing creek....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J5RdgcjI/AAAAAAAAAKI/WxbXOeNGC-4/s1600-h/P5020023.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J5RdgcjI/AAAAAAAAAKI/WxbXOeNGC-4/s400/P5020023.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331428413420892722" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;I loved this Horsetail Bamboo....  I need to get some of this...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0ISAG-uoI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/dDpEAu2SOXQ/s1600-h/P5020009.JPG"&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/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0ISAG-uoI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/dDpEAu2SOXQ/s400/P5020009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331426639236479618" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Then I came upon this lovely little creature all dressed in white...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0ISRkJvcI/AAAAAAAAAJY/H6K4avKGGfM/s1600-h/P5020010.JPG"&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/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0ISRkJvcI/AAAAAAAAAJY/H6K4avKGGfM/s400/P5020010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331426643922238914" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;But alas her cousin "Iris" stole the show...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J5DkwEkI/AAAAAAAAAKA/un0WgWW0teE/s1600-h/P5020018.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 376px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J5DkwEkI/AAAAAAAAAKA/un0WgWW0teE/s400/P5020018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331428409693180482" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;This was the fiery "Lady in Red"...  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J5yrnNnI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/YGz9OBvVeD0/s1600-h/P5020019.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J5yrnNnI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/YGz9OBvVeD0/s400/P5020019.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331428422338426482" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Then you have the "Mack-Daddy" Cacti dude....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0IS-y2DsI/AAAAAAAAAJo/XsrAADpMZa8/s1600-h/P5020013.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0IS-y2DsI/AAAAAAAAAJo/XsrAADpMZa8/s400/P5020013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331426656063459010" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J4Wbq8RI/AAAAAAAAAJw/HmLlqUkB0LA/s1600-h/P5020014.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 344px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J4Wbq8RI/AAAAAAAAAJw/HmLlqUkB0LA/s400/P5020014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331428397575500050" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;This was one of my favorite shots...  I adore paths...  Any kind of PATH!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J4iboq2I/AAAAAAAAAJ4/pqaWs8A9p4U/s1600-h/P5020015.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0J4iboq2I/AAAAAAAAAJ4/pqaWs8A9p4U/s400/P5020015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331428400796576610" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0IRyH2viI/AAAAAAAAAJI/woTYXkIhE7E/s1600-h/P5020008.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0IRyH2viI/AAAAAAAAAJI/woTYXkIhE7E/s400/P5020008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331426635482054178" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;You can't tell from the picture, but these were huge pots...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0ISmQIa5I/AAAAAAAAAJg/f7VeZqam-UY/s1600-h/P5020011.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0ISmQIa5I/AAAAAAAAAJg/f7VeZqam-UY/s400/P5020011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331426649475410834" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;At the rose garden section... I came upon this guy half buried in a rose bush with all his fancy pants camera equipment and tripods, taking close-ups of roses... I tried to strike up a conversation, but he was waaaaayyyy too pretentious to be talking to some amateur "point-n-click" girl.... Hmmmph.... &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0FCX6L0XI/AAAAAAAAAIo/LEpGN57r6wM/s1600-h/P5020003.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0FCX6L0XI/AAAAAAAAAIo/LEpGN57r6wM/s400/P5020003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331423072212472178" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Heading back towards the Wolfgang Puck restaurant for a little lunch...  I sat on the patio which is elevated above the amphitheater and noshed on a little Caesar Salad... Cool breeze wafting around... It was such a treat... I got to listen in on two "yackety-yaks" at the next table over as they gossiped about all of their friends...  (insert eye roll here)...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0K68PXCTI/AAAAAAAAAKY/1z0SPyPozUc/s1600-h/P5020006.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 348px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0K68PXCTI/AAAAAAAAAKY/1z0SPyPozUc/s400/P5020006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331429541595777330" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Finally I traipsed on down to the gift shop and bought this schmancy new ankle bracelet made in Nepal for only $3.00... Those poor Nepalese people, they work so hard and here I am having a wonderful enjoyable day, and I have the nerve to be depressed sometimes?  I should be slapped!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Over and out!!! Till next time...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-8073876474589519259?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/8073876474589519259/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=8073876474589519259' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8073876474589519259'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8073876474589519259'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2009/05/lovely-day-with-nature.html' title='A lovely day with nature'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0FCBhO_oI/AAAAAAAAAIY/BWBqh44nLZ0/s72-c/P5020017.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-3416953528263023579</id><published>2009-04-17T12:04:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-20T12:19:43.907-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Flowers'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Gardening'/><title type='text'>The Happy Gardener</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SejToEvNgqI/AAAAAAAAAHg/dVsjyEaHo80/s1600-h/yard9.jpeg"&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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SejToEvNgqI/AAAAAAAAAHg/dVsjyEaHo80/s400/yard9.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325739244785599138" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;I know...  I fell off of the blog sphere for awhile.  Well I thought I'd better get a new post written, since it's been almost two whole months. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Had to post some of my flower photos.  I just love to garden.  Can you imagine how happy I'd be if I lived in a climate where everything grows?  We have a short spring wind&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;ow here, where everything is lush and new.  My pink ice plants (one pictured above) are making a beautiful fuchsia spectacle of themselves.  In a couple of months though, everything&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt; will be suffering as if it went through a solar fire.  Luckily, my little haven of a backyard faces East, and my two story house protects most of it from the baking western exposure.  This weekend, I &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;have big plans for the backyard.  New annuals and maybe I'll finally build that redwood bridge that I've been storing the wood for, for two years now.  I finally finished digging trenches between all the flagstones on my patio and placing smooth river rock in between.  Then I pla&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;ced little turquoise, cobalt and clear marbles artfully among the rocks to simulate little glints of water.  My trumpet vines are reaching up and over my wall, and I'm jealo&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;us because my neighbors to the rear get all the beauty of them on their side. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SejTonMeTCI/AAAAAAAAAHw/hn7AlfyvTqI/s1600-h/yard8.jpeg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SejTonMeTCI/AAAAAAAAAHw/hn7AlfyvTqI/s400/yard8.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325739254035139618" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;This is my little "Chaste" tree.  I've been training it from a bush and I love the twisted branches.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;My lovely Mesquite tree (left in the distance) is still leafless so far, but believe me, when it gets it's foliage it will blow away all it's cousins in the neighborhood.  It's quite the underdog (kinda like me).  When I first got it two years ago, it was nothing more than a pitiful twig.  I remember my friend who procured it and planted it for me said "Sorry... it was the best one a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;t the Nursery".  Then about six months later, it got blown over by a terrible devil wind and I came home to find it laying across my driveway.  I'll never forget trying to stake that poor thing, with lodge poles and a three foot sledge hammer (on a ladder and by myself) in 30 mile an hour winds.  Well it's kind of like a rescued animal now, and it love's me by producing the most verdantly green leaves.  I feed it Ironite and no other tree can even compare to the color.  It may grow a li&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;tt&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;le bit crookedly but that just adds to the charm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SejaYb7wc6I/AAAAAAAAAH4/B1HmScqcTVg/s1600-h/yard5.jpeg"&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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SejaYb7wc6I/AAAAAAAAAH4/B1HmScqcTVg/s400/yard5.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325746672715723682" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Fuchsia Ice Plant, Morning Glory and Sweet Broom, make beautiful mounds around her. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;I know this is a short post, but after this weekend I'll have more photos to share (hopefully).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Update:  04/20/09&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well a full weekend of gardening and my poor body is screaming... Here ar&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;e&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt; a couple of new pictures.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SezJ4ycAp-I/AAAAAAAAAIA/8ZnF2N6ylCM/s1600-h/Picture+028.jpg"&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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SezJ4ycAp-I/AAAAAAAAAIA/8ZnF2N6ylCM/s400/Picture+028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326854436721567714" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SezJ5SO437I/AAAAAAAAAIQ/I2JyhUL6YWU/s1600-h/Picture+023.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SezJ5SO437I/AAAAAAAAAIQ/I2JyhUL6YWU/s400/Picture+023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326854445256466354" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SezJ5AkcOdI/AAAAAAAAAII/MbWHKKirpkM/s1600-h/Picture+029.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SezJ5AkcOdI/AAAAAAAAAII/MbWHKKirpkM/s400/Picture+029.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326854440515025362" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&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/8032378923614677393-3416953528263023579?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/3416953528263023579/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=3416953528263023579' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/3416953528263023579'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/3416953528263023579'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2009/04/happy-gardener.html' title='The Happy Gardener'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SejToEvNgqI/AAAAAAAAAHg/dVsjyEaHo80/s72-c/yard9.jpeg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-5153456090939450762</id><published>2009-02-20T19:49:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-02-20T20:38:24.240-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Baby Angel Pin</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ96OD2w9UI/AAAAAAAAAG4/shm0iRW0e9k/s1600-h/P2200004.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ96OD2w9UI/AAAAAAAAAG4/shm0iRW0e9k/s400/P2200004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305093268037498178" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;This little sweetie flew all the way from Indiana to come and live with me.  She is the lovely creation of a very talented artist named Pat from&lt;a href="http://www.patwintergatherings.com"&gt; www.patwintergatherings.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;.  I was the lucky winner of Pat's giveaway, during One World One Heart.  Thank you again Pat.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ98o2DI3FI/AAAAAAAAAHA/tKQCmeEacJo/s1600-h/P2200005.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ98o2DI3FI/AAAAAAAAAHA/tKQCmeEacJo/s400/P2200005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305095927211023442" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;I've decided that she should be perched atop the bow on the headboard of my bed.  It's always a good idea to have a little angel watching out for you as you sleep and to keep all your dreams safe and sound.  I've decided her name will be Claire (that name just popped into my mind this morning as I was driving to work, and so that must be her name!)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ9_Q_oPCaI/AAAAAAAAAHI/JFP2VSIkiAM/s1600-h/PA140097.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ9_Q_oPCaI/AAAAAAAAAHI/JFP2VSIkiAM/s400/PA140097.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305098816000559522" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Here's another little picture for you...  This is my little Doj and my original "Buddy Lee" doll.  He actually belonged to my momma Judi but she gave him to me many years ago.  He's just priceless to me.  Not too many years ago Lee Jeans made some new commercials with him as the wonder boy, who escaped all kinds of chaos (no silly, not my Buddy, but one of his clones).  There were a few versions made I guess, mine was the train conductor and he used to have a little conductor's hat, but that went missing over the years.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ9_QzZUsCI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/Q5NEmZlv-eQ/s1600-h/PA140100.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ9_QzZUsCI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/Q5NEmZlv-eQ/s400/PA140100.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305098812716789794" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;He usually hangs with Mikey and Min atop my hutch.  They love to have a few "laughs" around the old antique clock...  My Grandma Nanny made the Mickey and Minnie dolls way back in about 1941, she was an amazing seamstress and doll maker.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ-BrbH5tqI/AAAAAAAAAHY/g_bhuOYzpho/s1600-h/PA140102.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ-BrbH5tqI/AAAAAAAAAHY/g_bhuOYzpho/s400/PA140102.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305101469080991394" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;She made Pluto too, he lives above one of my kitchen cabinets.  Well I'll share some more treasures with you next time....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Until then...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-5153456090939450762?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/5153456090939450762/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=5153456090939450762' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/5153456090939450762'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/5153456090939450762'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2009/02/baby-angel-pin.html' title='Baby Angel Pin'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZ96OD2w9UI/AAAAAAAAAG4/shm0iRW0e9k/s72-c/P2200004.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-8552102633613458578</id><published>2009-02-18T12:20:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-02-18T13:39:08.547-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='decorating'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='building'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sewing'/><title type='text'>Ruffles</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZxuf7bBW9I/AAAAAAAAAGg/QJ6y7t3nymU/s1600-h/Bdrm+25.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304235955941628882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZxuf7bBW9I/AAAAAAAAAGg/QJ6y7t3nymU/s400/Bdrm+25.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;When I was about five years old my Grandma "Nanny" started teaching me how to sew... I would spend many days and nights with her making doll clothes and over time I graduated to making some of my own clothes. In the years since then, my sewing has been restricted to mostly home decorating projects. That brings me to my new little pillow. I made it out of the same sheets that I used for the curtains, bows and tablecloth in the "Princess Bedroom", plus I added a little double ruffle made from a plain white sheet. The gathering is always so tedious for me because I'm a perfectionist and I have to have everything even. I love how it turned out... I think my Nanny's spirit was with me, watching over my shoulder to make sure my stitching was straight. I hope someday we'll be sewing together again in the beyond.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304243856539641250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZx1rzcX5aI/AAAAAAAAAGo/PFWs3nE76s4/s400/Bdrm+19.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Aside from sewing the little pillow, I built this little bookcase job-ie. I used pre-painted shelving, and brackets for the middle shelf. Whipped up a little ruffle (of course) and also decorated the lamp shade. It was fun... Part of the fun of building things for me, is working in my garage workshop. I have my music blaring (I usually like to play classic rock that I loved from my high school days, like: Def Leppard, Van Halen, The Car's, Abba (I love Abba) Elton John, Earth, Wind and Fire, Heart... Well you get the picture. Anyway, I make sure my saw horse's are in the middle of the garage with the door wide open when I'm sawing and singing away. I love it when my neighbors are always driving by and I'm sure wondering "What is that girl up to now"... On a side note: Last Christmas I painted little wonderland images on the glass windows of my garage door and I remember counting over 30 cars slow down as they passed by me while I worked. It's kinda fun to be an exhibitionist. I especially loved it when I was out on a ladder in my front yard last summer trimming up my beautiful Mesquite tree.. I always feel strong and empowered when I'm able to accomplish all the tasks that most women feel they aren't capable of, like when I installed all the celling fans myself or... I bet not that many women can say that they've taken the tank completely off their toilet and replaced all the guts themselves.... (Go on with my baaad self)!!! :) Hey if you don't toot your own horn than it'll be awfully quiet. (I made that one up, can you tell?)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;And lastly:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304250220286301042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZx7eOPz03I/AAAAAAAAAGw/c2_3hAJpgmo/s400/Bdrm+18.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;The true princess of the house's new hiding spot. From the front of the bed you can't even see her when she's back there behind the pillows... She loves her new room, and I'm sure she thinks I created it just for her.&lt;/span&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/8032378923614677393-8552102633613458578?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/8552102633613458578/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=8552102633613458578' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8552102633613458578'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8552102633613458578'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2009/02/ruffles.html' title='Ruffles'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZxuf7bBW9I/AAAAAAAAAGg/QJ6y7t3nymU/s72-c/Bdrm+25.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-9015315624411571373</id><published>2009-02-12T13:27:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-02-12T13:48:56.678-08:00</updated><title type='text'>And the "Winner's" are...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZSV8tBav1I/AAAAAAAAAGY/xuUe07OQ9C4/s1600-h/hearts2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302027531432148818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 346px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZSV8tBav1I/AAAAAAAAAGY/xuUe07OQ9C4/s400/hearts2.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;One world one heart has come to a close but... For two lucky ladies there will be a happy little "Cell-ery" in their futures. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;I had a whopping 178 comments, and so many were truly "heart"felt and gracious... a very special thank you to Birgit from Munich, who was sooooo sweet and left me a comment on all of my posts. Birgit if you see this, I was really hoping for your number to come up, but alas it did not... so sorry :-(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;I used a random number generator program and...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;My lucky first winner (comment # 91) is the very sweet "Franny" from Picklebeans... Such a nice comment she left me. I will be in contact to get your mailing info...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;And my second winner (comment #15) is Miss "Trish" from MyCreativeJourney... I'll be contacting you as well.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;A very special thank you to everyone who took the time to write a comment and especially those who actually took a little tour around my blog, that was sooooo very nice.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Well I'm looking forward to next year....... See you then!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-9015315624411571373?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/9015315624411571373/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=9015315624411571373' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/9015315624411571373'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/9015315624411571373'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2009/02/and-winners-are.html' title='And the &quot;Winner&apos;s&quot; are...'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SZSV8tBav1I/AAAAAAAAAGY/xuUe07OQ9C4/s72-c/hearts2.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-4185285026501527402</id><published>2009-02-04T16:27:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-02-04T16:48:35.860-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='decorating'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='bedrooms'/><title type='text'>The Princess Bedroom</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Hiya.... I had a very creative burst of energy last weekend and completely redecorated my bedroom and bath. It turned out really wonderfully, considering that I didn't start out with a clear idea of what I wanted. So... I found some Ralph Lauren sheets I liked and just started cutting and sewing, and making about 4 trips back to the stores to find things to add or tweak. It ended up being so feminine and dreamy. Perfect for a lady who doesn't currently have to please a "Mister"... &lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299104976478011858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SYoz5nZ6AdI/AAAAAAAAAGI/mhMMpBkfHuU/s400/Bdrm+17.JPG" border="0" /&gt;Miss Zo, my cat, has adapted quite readily to resident princessdom. (my word).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299105629056102274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SYo0fmcpb4I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/AFa6cam3tG4/s400/Bdrm+3.JPG" border="0" /&gt;I think my lampshade is my favorite because I took an old basket shade that I had and spray painted it white, added two layers of beaded fringe around the bottom and sewed up a quick bow to match... I love it!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Also, things are still going strong on the O.W.O.H. caravan... WOW there are over 900 blogs listed, that's crazy!!! I'm thrilled that almost 140 people have come by my site for a peek. I'm listed at #502 and I can't wait to have my drawings and send off my little "Cell-ery's" to a couple luckies.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Well, I'll say so long for now... I'm yearning to crawl into my puffy blue and white cloud-of-a-bed and drift into some wonderful dreams.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-4185285026501527402?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/4185285026501527402/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=4185285026501527402' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/4185285026501527402'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/4185285026501527402'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2009/02/princess-bedroom.html' title='The Princess Bedroom'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SYoz5nZ6AdI/AAAAAAAAAGI/mhMMpBkfHuU/s72-c/Bdrm+17.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-8319883382127267514</id><published>2009-01-24T16:15:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-02-12T22:54:46.630-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cell-ery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Giveaway'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='One World One Heart'/><title type='text'>One World One Heart - Jumping on the caravan of creativity</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;***&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://oneworldoneheart.typepad.com/"&gt;&lt;img alt="Photo" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Love2/owohbadgeroundz-1.jpg" video="" sharing="" at="" hosting="" and="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"&gt;**Yipee... The winners have been drawn and notified... Wonderful Ladies... Please see my new post from 02/12/09 for details!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;***SPECIAL NOTE: Well it's almost time for me to pick my winners... I will close my comments tonight (02/11/09) at 9:00 p.m. pacific time. Tomorrow, I'll draw my two winners by random number generator. I'll email my luckies and will also post their names tomorrow, check back.... This has been a blast, huh!!! Much thanks again to Lisa for her coordination and guidance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt="" src="file:///C:/Users/Chrissi/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.jpg" /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Hi all my fellow creative hearts... I've finally gotten my butt in gear and prepared my "One World One Heart" post and giveaway...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;If you're not familiar with OWOH, www.oneworldoneheart.typepad.com, then here is the low down: One World One Heart was created in 2007 by Lisa Swifka of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/"&gt;A Whimsical Bohemian&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;. It is a fabulous giveaway event, which is always exciting and fun, but the best thing about it is the idea of bringing bloggers together from all over the world, to share our stories and inspire each other.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;NOW for my giveaways.... Oh before I forget!!! If you'd like to be included in my (two) drawings, please leave me a comment (on this post only). You need not have an active blog yourself, so anyone can participate. I will pick two winners on February 12th. Please include an email address or your blog name in your comment, so that I can contact you. Hope you have fun and enjoy my site...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;My giveaways are two of my handcrafted little baubles, which I call "Cell-ery". They are designed to hang from your cell phone, but can also attach to a purse, mp3 player, belt or many other places. I hope you like them.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;This first has a "beachy" flair... Yellow and Pink with a little sunglass charm at the bottom.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;It measures approx. 6 inches and has a lobster clasp.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SXu5oO6_6pI/AAAAAAAAAF4/PsHbrvmRuL4/s1600-h/P1240008.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295029887755610770" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 300px; cursor: pointer; height: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SXu5oO6_6pI/AAAAAAAAAF4/PsHbrvmRuL4/s400/P1240008.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;The second one is all about sipping on a relaxing beverage... Pink and Aqua colors with a little fun Cocktail charm at the end. Also about 6 inches with lobster clasp.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SXu66H7RkrI/AAAAAAAAAGA/4VJeF3-GRR0/s1600-h/P1240010.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295031294626992818" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 300px; cursor: pointer; height: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SXu66H7RkrI/AAAAAAAAAGA/4VJeF3-GRR0/s400/P1240010.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;You can click on either picture for a larger view...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-8319883382127267514?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/8319883382127267514/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=8319883382127267514' title='178 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8319883382127267514'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8319883382127267514'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2009/01/one-world-one-heart-jumping-on-caravan.html' title='One World One Heart - Jumping on the caravan of creativity'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SXu5oO6_6pI/AAAAAAAAAF4/PsHbrvmRuL4/s72-c/P1240008.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>178</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-1161249122367037296</id><published>2008-10-23T21:05:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-23T22:31:46.476-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Wonderful Fall...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFKgN44sVI/AAAAAAAAAE0/_EcNd0PkEj4/s1600-h/PA190004.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFKgN44sVI/AAAAAAAAAE0/_EcNd0PkEj4/s400/PA190004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260567757089976658" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;This is my little slice of heaven...  When you're a native Las Vegan like me, you relish the Spring and the Fall because it's the only time you aren't either freezing, or feeling like you're being fried over an open flame.  Personally, I love Fall the most, it's such a relief from the heat!  So... last Sunday I arranged my little sitting area in my backyard juuusst so...  An old soft and cool sheet on the lounge chair, with pillows (check), side tables with magazines, phone, ice cold beer (check), Tiki torches lit (even though it was still daylight... keeps the flies away) (check),  a few incense sticks poking out of the flower pots sending little wisps of fragrant air up and dancing around me as I sat in my chair (check) Oh and with my precious "Doja" and my little "Zo" scouting out the area (check-check)...  It's times like that when I am just so grateful!!!  To have my own home, to be appreciative of my surroundings.  I thank God every day!....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFOh5INOGI/AAAAAAAAAE8/HFVLVT0DJ14/s1600-h/PA190009.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFOh5INOGI/AAAAAAAAAE8/HFVLVT0DJ14/s400/PA190009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260572183923341410" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Zo is so happy to roll around on the cool river rock and look for crickets and grasshoppers... also, to snack on a few leaves....  She's such a beauty...  I especially love the picture of her below...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFTRuRObMI/AAAAAAAAAFk/Wed3iHTAaB0/s1600-h/PA110086.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFTRuRObMI/AAAAAAAAAFk/Wed3iHTAaB0/s400/PA110086.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260577403688611010" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFPUgHQbPI/AAAAAAAAAFE/0pk8J2NmDeo/s1600-h/PA190011.JPG"&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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFPUgHQbPI/AAAAAAAAAFE/0pk8J2NmDeo/s400/PA190011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260573053381799154" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;My Eggplant and Tomato Plants have taken over my tiny little garden plot... and to think I bought them on the half-dead clearance rack... I don't see any actual eggplants growing yet, but the leaves are huge and beautiful.  The purple trumpet flower bush (don't know what it's called) started out in a tiny little 4" pot and now look at it.  I'm very lucky with my green thumb....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFQyZ5haTI/AAAAAAAAAFM/eYpGfWJFaXA/s1600-h/PA190012.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFQyZ5haTI/AAAAAAAAAFM/eYpGfWJFaXA/s400/PA190012.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260574666621282610" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;This beautiful Bougainvillea is growing like crazy... I'm trying to train it to grow around my window like a frame...  I love it!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;My friends at work tease me that they expect to walk into my office one day and see me completely enveloped in my plants (like the book "Where the wild things are") I keep having to tack my plants to the wall...  They just grow and grow like crazy in my office... I love my office...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;See: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFSMbAemKI/AAAAAAAAAFU/WMNt7XFdLH8/s1600-h/PA130092.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFSMbAemKI/AAAAAAAAAFU/WMNt7XFdLH8/s400/PA130092.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260576213107120290" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFSvYhfHKI/AAAAAAAAAFc/66PNTxDeoy8/s1600-h/PA130095.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/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFSvYhfHKI/AAAAAAAAAFc/66PNTxDeoy8/s400/PA130095.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260576813735681186" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Well that's a pretty long post if I do say so...  Tired now, gotta go to bed...  It's Friday tomorrow!!! Yeaaaaa!  Always living for the weekend, right?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-1161249122367037296?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/1161249122367037296/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=1161249122367037296' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/1161249122367037296'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/1161249122367037296'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2008/10/wonderful-fall.html' title='Wonderful Fall...'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SQFKgN44sVI/AAAAAAAAAE0/_EcNd0PkEj4/s72-c/PA190004.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-9057727184155265527</id><published>2008-10-18T15:12:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-23T21:00:22.366-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='costume'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='me'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Halloween'/><title type='text'>Welcome to the Fanciful Twist Spin off Party!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SPpglZDvELI/AAAAAAAAAEA/WQqO8w0buBc/s1600-h/WitchyPoo.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SPpglZDvELI/AAAAAAAAAEA/WQqO8w0buBc/s400/WitchyPoo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258621710406455474" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"  &gt;Now granted this photo is ancient... but, it is/was me at one time (a long time, ago)...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;I wish I could be at Miss Vanessa Valencia's party (A fancifultwist.typepad.com) in person.  She is the most talented, cute, nice, eccentric (that's a compliment in my book) little sprite of a girl.  She lives in a fairy tale world near Tucson and has a beyond fantastic imagination.  She's so sweet that she even answered my emails (and she's like.. FAMOUS)... Well she has been published many times and in some of the most &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" &gt;prestigious&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt; mags  like Somerset studios.  I just love her art work so much it's a fantastic inspiration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;I didn't plan this post, because I was just going to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" &gt;sneak&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;in through the back door and be a fly on the wall and spy on everyone who was attending the big shin dig, then I saw that sweet little miss V. had listed my blog in her&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;"partyiers" list, and so I thought that if anyone linked to me, then I'd better quickly come up with a little something...    So that's it.  Gotta get back to the party now....  Happy days and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" &gt;shrieks&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt; and giggles!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&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/8032378923614677393-9057727184155265527?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/9057727184155265527/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=9057727184155265527' title='14 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/9057727184155265527'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/9057727184155265527'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2008/10/welcome-to-fanciful-twist-spin-off.html' title='Welcome to the Fanciful Twist Spin off Party!!'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SPpglZDvELI/AAAAAAAAAEA/WQqO8w0buBc/s72-c/WitchyPoo.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>14</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-3772394916594115446</id><published>2008-10-05T20:05:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-23T20:59:25.525-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Digital Scrapbooking...'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Zo'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cat'/><title type='text'>The Zo Zo</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SOmBrt2cpMI/AAAAAAAAAD4/rgKUOpffLLE/s1600-h/Zo+09_30_08.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SOmBrt2cpMI/AAAAAAAAAD4/rgKUOpffLLE/s400/Zo+09_30_08.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253873028346717378" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" &gt;Hello!!!!  (Deb)... Sorry that I've been so behind in writing a post.  I've fallen in love with digital scrapbooking and now I spend all my time trying to learn how to do it.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" &gt;This is my third attempt (at left).  I'm getting a little bit better.  This is my beautiful little cat Zo (well not so little, she weighs about 16 lbs.)  I love the color combo of black and red and she is such a pretty girl with her facial markings.  Don't cha just love her "Cleopatra" eye liner? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" &gt;The very first page I made was a collage of my mom and stepdad, now that I look back at it I think it's terrible.  I certainly didn't mean to do it at the time, but I added this pink photo prong at the bottom of a picture of my mom, and it just happened to land in her hand... It looks like shes holding some kind of phallic symbol or something... It's so funny, I didn't see it at all.  She and Cole both saw it, and so now I'll have to edit it and do a redo.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" &gt;Soooo sorry for a short post but I'm tired and tomorrow is a work day (YUCK)!!!  See ya!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-3772394916594115446?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/3772394916594115446/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=3772394916594115446' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/3772394916594115446'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/3772394916594115446'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2008/10/zo-zo.html' title='The Zo Zo'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SOmBrt2cpMI/AAAAAAAAAD4/rgKUOpffLLE/s72-c/Zo+09_30_08.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-8403373080486673470</id><published>2008-09-13T17:12:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-23T22:29:44.870-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Doja</title><content type='html'>&lt;table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;a href="http://smilebox.com/play/4e4459794e6a49314d513d3d0d0a&amp;amp;campaign=blog_playback_link&amp;amp;blogview=true" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img alt="Click to play  " src="http://smilebox.com/snap/4e4459794e6a49314d513d3d0d0a.jpg" style="border: medium none ;" width="386" height="303" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"  &gt;This is a "&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"  &gt;Smilebox&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"  &gt;" that I created about my little &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"  &gt;Doja&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"  &gt;.  I love making these quick scrap and photo books.  They're so easy and fun.  I've been so busy trying to learn how to use my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"  &gt;Photoshop&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt; 7.0 for digital &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"  &gt;scrapbooking&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"  &gt;, that I haven't been very diligent in keeping up my blog.  I just don't have enough time!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"  &gt;Well this is all for now...  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr  style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.smilebox.com/?partner=google&amp;amp;campaign=blog_snapshot" target="_blank"&gt;Smilebox" src="http://www.smilebox.com/globalImages/blogInstructions/blogLogoSmileboxSmall.gif" style="border: medium none ;" width="386" height="46"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr  style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.smilebox.com/scrapbooks" target="_blank"&gt;Make a &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;Smilebox&lt;/span&gt; scrapbook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-8403373080486673470?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/8403373080486673470/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=8403373080486673470' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8403373080486673470'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/8403373080486673470'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2008/09/doja.html' title='Doja'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-3353367587565154152</id><published>2008-08-21T12:35:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-23T22:31:23.184-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Artwork'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Painting'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Watercolor'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mural'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mosaic'/><title type='text'>A few of my favorite pieces...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SK3IJC2VcsI/AAAAAAAAADA/6p_UpV3G1R8/s1600-h/House11_19_06+001.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SK3IJC2VcsI/AAAAAAAAADA/6p_UpV3G1R8/s320/House11_19_06+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237061999410901698" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"  &gt;This is a mural that I painted on the wall above my bed, I'm pretty proud of it.  It was actually the first painting I had ever done on a wall.  I remember the day I painted it, I was standing on my bed with my music going and singing away, just so happy.  I started to lightly sketch it out, and then went straight to the paints.  I have no idea how on earth I got it to be symmetrical, and I was shocked that it looked pretty good.  When I draw or paint I feel like someone else is  really doing the work.  It sounds very weird, I know, but I've never taken a lesson or an art class and I didn't really start practicing my drawing until I was an adult, at around 35.  I'm sure that any talent I have came from my Gramma Nanny.  She was amazing and had a huge amount of untapped ability.  I'm going to publish some of her sketches in a future post.  They are hysterical.  She had a great sense of observation and humor. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"  &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SK3LE9pVXoI/AAAAAAAAADI/GB-zwthVq9g/s1600-h/Doja_Mosaic_10_29_07+014.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SK3LE9pVXoI/AAAAAAAAADI/GB-zwthVq9g/s320/Doja_Mosaic_10_29_07+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237065227829599874" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"  &gt;This is another piece (and form) of my artwork.  This is a mosaic that I made on one of those inexpensive press-board tabletops.  I used broken plates and china and had a blast working on it.  It took about two months to complete, because I didn't have very much time to devote to working on it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"  &gt;I like the way it turned out for a first attempt.&lt;br /&gt;I can't pass up a beautiful plate or saucer,  just so I can break it up for future projects.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"  &gt;&lt;img src="file:///c:/documents%20and%20settings/cchrovian/my%20documents/my%20pictures/chrissi%20pics/moms_july4weekend2008%20070_edited.jpg" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"  &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SK3Z7_NPidI/AAAAAAAAADo/naoQ7nJNWU0/s1600-h/Moms_July4weekend2008+070_edited.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 309px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SK3Z7_NPidI/AAAAAAAAADo/naoQ7nJNWU0/s320/Moms_July4weekend2008+070_edited.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237081566304242130" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"  &gt;This is my all time favorite painting (that I've done).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I first sketched it, then I added watercolor's, followed by an outline with a super fine technical pen.   It was done in 1997 and (of course) it was a gift to my Mom.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We've walked around her house and counted something like 35 or 40 pieces that she has, that are of my creation.  She's always been my biggest fan and supporter, so it's fitting that she should have the "Museum of Chrissi" in her home.  I photographed this image in the frame on the wall, so that's why the image quality is poor, and there is a glare.  I'll get a better scan made down the road and repost it then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well those are a few of my things.  Hummm, next time I think I'll talk about my garden.    See ya!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"  &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SK3V_oTu0PI/AAAAAAAAADY/moZqm4ZY79I/s1600-h/Moms_July4weekend2008+070.jpg"&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/8032378923614677393-3353367587565154152?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/3353367587565154152/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=3353367587565154152' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/3353367587565154152'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/3353367587565154152'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2008/08/few-of-my-favorite-pieces.html' title='A few of my favorite pieces...'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SK3IJC2VcsI/AAAAAAAAADA/6p_UpV3G1R8/s72-c/House11_19_06+001.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-2397199706201309308</id><published>2008-08-17T11:34:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-23T20:53:04.034-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='dog clothes'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='dogs'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='pets'/><title type='text'>"Speak-of-Nese"</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SKh1mCgAoKI/AAAAAAAAAB0/5RhjdV07g5g/s1600-h/2008_0706Moms_07_080018.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SKh1mCgAoKI/AAAAAAAAAB0/5RhjdV07g5g/s320/2008_0706Moms_07_080018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235563863184810146" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SKh1mVoDbJI/AAAAAAAAAB8/7fFtDijI2ww/s1600-h/2008_0706Moms_07_080040.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SKh1mVoDbJI/AAAAAAAAAB8/7fFtDijI2ww/s320/2008_0706Moms_07_080040.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235563868318821522" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Everyday I fall more and more in love with my little "Doja".  The miracle of how she came to be with me is that of a long and twisted journey, but that which I believe, was a destined path.  Every time I look into her little eye's I know that she was put here for a reason and she has the purest heart and spirit of any creature I know.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;A little bit about her wardrobe...  She's such a "girlie-girl" and has a ton of outfits.  They're all hung up in my closet on little baby hangers (in order of color, of course) but in the summer, which in Las Vegas in unbearable, she just runs around in her "nudelies".  These pictures were taken at her Great-Gramma's beautiful home in Utah, where the weather was cooler.  She's modeling her little pink racer-back tank a-la Walmart.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;More on my little "Peke-of-Sneeze" to come...   Bye!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-2397199706201309308?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/2397199706201309308/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=2397199706201309308' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/2397199706201309308'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/2397199706201309308'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2008/08/speak-of-nese.html' title='&quot;Speak-of-Nese&quot;'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/SKh1mCgAoKI/AAAAAAAAAB0/5RhjdV07g5g/s72-c/2008_0706Moms_07_080018.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8032378923614677393.post-7816364871289740848</id><published>2008-08-14T20:40:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-23T20:57:20.743-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Fumbling towards blogdom</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"&gt;Hello world...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"&gt;Just dipping a toe into the icy cold, unfamiliar, river of blog.  If by some serendipitous chance, anyone (other than myself) reads this, please forgive me as I try to find my way...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"&gt;More to come...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8032378923614677393-7816364871289740848?l=chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/feeds/7816364871289740848/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8032378923614677393&amp;postID=7816364871289740848' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/7816364871289740848'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8032378923614677393/posts/default/7816364871289740848'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://chrissiositycottage.blogspot.com/2008/08/fumbling-towards-blogdom.html' title='Fumbling towards blogdom'/><author><name>Chrissi</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02689111907515079705</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DukjoBl9dM8/Sf0THrryuZI/AAAAAAAAAKg/R7CL1sua68w/S220/P4280011.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry></feed>
