Mid-Week Fun!

My husband's birthday was on Tuesday. We celebrated by traveling to Clearwater to see one of our favorite bands, Wilco, in concert. We were able to sneak away during the middle of a Tuesday and hit the road (thanks to my wonderful MIL and our kick butt dog sitter)! Felt like a little adventure right there in the middle of the week! Our first stop was lunch at a place in Tampa called Datz...OMG...SO GOOD! It has a really cool vibe and the food is amazing!! That's where we're at in the photo above.
Here's the interior when you walk in the door.
and THIS is the best rueben sandwich I've ever had! In addition, the chips were homemade and truly not of this earth! Seated next to this wonderful-ness is a glass of Southern Pecan beer. Kick butt lunch for sure!!!
How cool are these handmade chocolates? They taste amazing too. I tried the Key Lime, Peanut Butter & Jelly and Creme Brulee. Yum-O!

My sister and her husband were meeting us and going to the concert too...so after connecting with them at the hotel, we hurried out to eat and then got to the concert just in the knick of time. I unfortunately do not have photos from the concert b/c they were crazy strict about cameras and cell phone pictures. I cannot say enough about what a great concert it was. They played something like 30 songs in 3 HOURS. It was amazing and I love them!

The next day my sister and I dragged our husbands around to hit a few antique stores.
Here they are. They are troopers!
Here are my sister, Betsy and her husband, Jeff...or as I like to refer to him "Jeffro". We hit one really good shop and the rest were just okay. Scored some great treasures though! Wish I would have taken photos of them...but I'll do that next time. Lots of sibling rivalry going on about purchases...generally our M.O. is: If you like it than I want it and vice versa...so we get fake mad at each other when one finds something good. :)

After antiquing we took Betsy and Jeff back to Datz and they loved it just as much as we did! The perfect ending for our overnight trip was splitting a huge piece of red velvet cake...again O.M.G.!

Today, it's back to the grind..but I have memories of Tuesday night to carry me through the rest of the week! :)

Barely Blogged Monday

Barely Blogged Monday. That's what I am naming today and possibly every Monday. I am usually dragging so bad and don't feel like I get in the swing of things until late afternoon...if at all.

So, I'll leave you with a little song. This one is by The Everybodyfields. I love them...A lot. Unfortunately they are broken up. Fortunately we still have their music. This song may seem to start slow...give it a minute. :)



and some words of inspiration:

"Use those talents you have. You will make it. You will give joy to the world. Take this tip from nature: The woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except those who sang best."-Bernard Meltzer
and the hope that you're Monday goes well!

xo, Kelley

Gift Ideas For My Girl From Etsy

My Etsy-loving daughter is turning 12 in less than a month. I thought I would showcase some Etsy items that I'm considering as gifts for her!

Eeeek! How cute is this tote?! Guess I better order today b/c it's coming from England!
By Gemmabear <---Click here to view the full listing I am in love with these! This listing is for a custom version. One of my favorite shops to visit! By Lemontreestudio <---click here to view the full listing My daughter has had 2 other kits from this seller and they are super cute!
By Fancytiger <---click here to view full listing Make your own Frustration Pencil Kit! By junepfaffdaley <---click here to view the full listing This is right up her alley! Nightmare Snatcher Journal by Spiderbite <--- click here to view the full listing My girl is very crafty so I think she'd love this! Remember making these back in the day? I think my loom was plastic.
By Craftsanity <---click here to view the full listing Cutest magnet ever! I have a stamp by this seller with a little monster and it says "I make stuff!" By Vozamer <---click here for the full listing This is Percy P. Monster. Riley put in her request for him as a birthday gift about a month ago...so I've already purchased him. This is going to be Riley's 4th "stuffy" by this seller. My son has 2. We are obviously big fans! By plantsandanimals <---click here to view full listing



I could go on and on because there are just so many cool things for kids on Etsy. I'm so glad that my daughter is such a fan!

Have a great day today! It's almost weekend! Yay!

Top O' The Mornin' To Ya!

Last night around 11:00 I remembered that today was St. Patrick's Day and it made me a little sad. Sad because when my kids were younger I would do little things like scatter gold coins and tiny leprechaun hats around the house to make it look like leprechauns had been there. Sometimes they got fun shamrock glasses to wear or necklaces. Well, I guess they're growing up because it didn't even enter my mind to do any of that. But I still thought my kids would appreciate something to make the day a little more fun...b/c that's really what holidays like this one are about for me. Day to day life can get pretty monotonous so it's nice to mix things up a bit. I hopped online and found these shamrock shaped crescent rolls.
They were really easy and guess what? My kids were over the moon about them! Now I want to come up with some other fun thing for dinner because I guess they aren't that old after all!
I thought I'd Leave you with an Irish Blessing for your day!

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.


Have a great day today...and Erin Go Bragh!

Friend Making Mondays

I am linking up to Friend Makin' Monday with Amber Filkins. She is asking us to complete the following:

I am.... really dragging today from DST

I think....DST is pointless

I should...run a 5K

I dream....of having my house decorated the way I'd like it

I want....a cleaning lady ;)

I know...things will always get better

I don't like....conflict

I smell...Reuben sandwiches that we had for dinner! Yum!

I hear....silence. My husband and son are at soccer practice. My daughter is in her room making things with clay.

I fear....something happening to my family

I usually...go with the flow

I search...for balance.

I miss....living near the beach...so much :(

I always...try to be positive

I regret....not finishing college

I wonder....what my children will be like when they're older

I crave...more active hobbies...like kayaking, surfing and hiking

I remember...my wild imagination as a child

I need.....to create to be happy

I forget...what it feels like to not suck in my stomach

I feel....like I need to start running again so that I can do this 5K that I keep thinking about.

I can....do anything!

I can't....stand it when someone says "I can't"

I am happy....when I am spending the day with my family on an adventure of some sort

I lose.....focus when I see something shiny ;)

I sing....a lot...b/c I love to....but I really shouldn't...b/c I can't

I listen...to music all through the day. It's my escape.

I shop.....smarter these days.

I eat....better these days.

I love.....my life!

Happy Monday!

Florida Pickers!

Are you familiar with the show "American Pickers"? I love that show and know for a fact that I could be the third member of their team! While I await the call from Mike and Frank, I'm going to do a series on my blog called "Florida Pickers". It was my good friend Vicki's idea. She suggested that I bring a camera along on our various adventures to document our finds.

We had an adventure just this past Saturday that was worthy of documenting. The four girls pictured and our husbands all headed to beautiful downtown Deland FL. There was a Beer Fest going on that the boys wanted to attend and there was a street of antique store that the girls wanted to scour. Perfection!
Here are the girls in our favorite 3-story antique store! From L to R: Vicki, Kim and Jodi.
Thought this little vignette of Mickey stuff was cute...and appropriate considering our proximity to WDW.
Me...scouring the $1 postcard section.
This is for my sister that loves all things circus and magic. The box on the stand is some sort of magic show prop.
The rats were swarming in ;)

The girls and some of our loot!
Here's the whole gang together after we picked the boys up from their fest! Then we headed back to my house for a dinner of corned beef and cabbage!
A good day was had by all! I hope you had a good weekend too! Thanks for coming by!

Have you seen Alice?

I went to see her last weekend with my daughter and her friend. Like most everyone else these days I'm a little Alice crazy. So inspiring! Here's some Alice-inspired creations from around Etsy:
By GigiManor <---click here to see the full listing By Elsita <---click here to see the full listing By Kittyrobot <---click here to see full the listing By Fairydustedmermaids <---click here to see the full listing ByDollyduds <---click here to see the full listing By Mishmashdesigns <---click here to view the full listing By Danitashop <---click here to view full listing By Pinkcherrymama <---click here to view the full listing

For even more inspiration pick up this month's Somerset Studios magazine. It's filled with Alice! Did you love the necklace above by Danita? She's featured in this issue too! Her work is very, very inspiring to me!
Thanks for stopping by! Happy Friday!

Who are Gongy & Squish anyway??

Do they both make what's sold in the shop? Or does one create and the other handle the business type stuff? Are they BFFs? Are they married? And where is that name from?? Well, I'm sure you haven't spent that much time wondering about these things....but I'm going to cover them anyway and also answer the question I really do get asked a lot: How do you pronounce "Gongy & Squish"?

Gongy is pronounced Gone-Gee (rhymes with bee) and squish rhymes with wish. When I was trying to think up a name for my Etsy shop, I wanted to find something "different". I mean, this is Etsy we're talking about. I finally decided to use my children's nicknames.

The Gongy part is for my daughter.
When she was younger she had a special cup that she called her 'Yongy"...not sure why. Anyhoo, she loved that thing and it was her special. Well, we love her and she is our special so we started to call HER "Yongy". Over time that name somehow evolved into "Gongy"...again not sure how!

The squish part is for my son.
One day he told me that I was his "Cutie Pie Squishy Bear"...yes, you read that right! Please don't tell him that I told you!! I thought is was the sweetest thing and we started calling each other that and it evolved into just "squish". He still lets me call him that but it has to be in private!

This is pretty much a one woman operation. Here's me :I am the one that creates...but I'm also the packing and shipping dept, advertising dept, customer service dept, etc.

Behind the scenes are the people that really keep this operation afloat with their support...my husband, family and friends.

Here's me and my husband Scott...my biggest supporter!
Me and My sister at Silver Bella in 2009. She keeps me on the cutting edge of what's hip and is always there to support me....and provide countless hours of counseling (really! She does have her Masters in family counseling). :)
My friends and I at our Fall open house. They inspire me in so many ways and I am so lucky to have them near by! We each have our own unique style and I love getting together with them to work on projects!

So, that's Gongy & Squish in a nutshell. Thanks for coming by and have a great Thursday! It's almost weekend! Yay!

Vintage Ticket Cloche

Somewhere out in blogland I saw someone use a big roll of vintage tickets as a base for a cloche. Yesterday I put 2 and 2 together and remembered that I have both! Here's the finished product:
I have been using this large cloche to display this bird project that I made at Silver Bella last November. D. Sharp is the artist that taught the class. Click ---> here to learn more about D. Sharp. She is amazing! I still cannot believe I made this because it was a very intricate project! Here is a closer look at the bird:


Here's another shot of the ticket/cloche thingy:
I'm digging this!

Thanks for looking and have a great day today!!

Treasures!

Today I decided to post some photos of little treasures from around my studio. I use the term studio VERY loosely. Basically it's really just a room in our house that I took over a year ago. I want it to be a studio SO bad. I love looking at women's creative work spaces online and in magazines, like Where Women Create. I aspire to have a room for creating that also looks great. Right now my room feels very utilitarian. Maybe one day I'll post photos and get your input as to how to make it fabulous!

On to the treasures!

I love this little gal! I bought her last spring from this F.U.N. Etsy shop called Magpie Ethel(<---Click here to visit her shop) She reminded me of this gal below...my daughter Riley. She is one of my very best treasures! She was in my "studio" yesterday sharing this:
Isn't she a great artist? I have her creations all around me...including these three little guys that she made last year. They live in my "Studio" too.


Okay, back to the other treasures. How great are these chenille snails from French General??? I love them and have been hoarding them for awhile now. I need to break down and use them but I can't seem to let them go! The velvet flowers behind them are pretty good too!


These are just a few of the vintage books/ephemera that make me happy. I LOVE the ship on the front of the vintage bridge score pad. I've been hoarding that for a while now too just awaiting the perfect project.




Kitchy and fun awaits you in the next photo ;)

Seeing a box of goodies like these is what makes my heart skip while out antiquing/junking!


Thank you for looking. I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!