Taylor Hicks rocks my world~~~~~!

Oh yeah.....what a gorgeous guy.

Susie and I went to see him in "Grease" at the Fisher this weekend.

The whole show was excellent but the part with Taylor in it was spectacular.

We sat in the third row in the center so we had awesome seats and up close viewing. What a treat!

Of course I had to buy his new album and have it autographed and make Susie take this picture with my iphone.

Taylor's my favorite American Idol of all time.

(Although I posted more than a few votes for Adam Lambert this year.)

I sure wish I could have taken Taylor Hicks home with me. Oh...should I be saying that?....mmmm.......but it's true....wouldn't tell a lie.

Cool 50's CENTERPIECES & Decorations

What a special party!

For a very special Mother for her daughter Shayna's Bat Mitzvah.

Hamburger & fries, jukebox, bowling, frisbees, Duncan yo-yo, paddleball, Bazooka gum, 50's cars, old style 50's TV, poodle skirt, black jacket, cat's eye glasses, gumball machine, rearview mirror fuzzy dice, foam hair curlers, makeup, saddle shoes, roller rink skates, 45 rmp records, acoustic guitar, diner, coca cola....ahhh...what fun the 50's were! I was there you know but I think I was too young at the time to appreciate how special and really unique it was.

This was a party that I will always remember.

Thanks Monica.

MY FAVORITE THINGS: PART 5: Porch Swings

I love these porch swings. I have 9 at the moment. My oldest one is over 15 years old. I take good care of it and don't leave it out in the rain. I got it at the Renaissance Festival and paid about $85 for it. It's pink but most of the rest of them are green.

My favorite one I got on Ebay for around $60. The bar at the top is wider and it is very closely woven in a soft cotton yarn. It is extremely comfortable. I liked it so much I bought a second one from the same guy.

I got one at a garage sale for $5. I threw it out. It tangled and no one ever liked to sit in it.

I bought 2 nylon ones at an art fair. They have clips to make it a chair or if you un-clip it, it becomes more like a hammock. Those are the ones that take alot of abuse....as well as being the site of lots of fun as seen here. Also, since they are nylon the rain doesn't affect them much.

I bought this air swing on Ebay too. It drove me crazy figuring out how to put it together. We have it hanging from a tree limb and it's fun to bang your feet against the tree to get you swinging. I had rocks around the base of the tree but I removed them just in case some wild ones fell off the swing. Some young folks think the swings are more a jungle gym apparatus than a swing.

I just love these swings. If I have a back ache, it helps. If I'm sleepy, they put me right to sleep.

I love reading in them or just sitting and having coffee. Or, we have a foot bumping game called "kaboom" we play.

I like them so much that I screwed a bolt into a stud in my work room ceiling so I could hang a swing in there in the winter.

If you don't own a soft swing you're missing a quick & easy retreat to your inner being.

Super Hero party sign

Here's a fun sign that went in the D.J. area.

In my scouting the interweb for an exciting and new font that

would work for a comic theme, I found one.

It's called "Damn Noisy Kids"....really...it is. You can check it out and you too can have it on your computer.

I'm going to put it in the same file as another of my favorites fonts called "Feast of Flesh".

If the goal is to make an interesting font easy to remember the name, I do think the originator has accomplished his/her mission, don't you?

Big foamcore GUMBALL machine for a Bat Mitzvah

Here's another really fun centerpiece from a 50's party.

Stacey made this really big and three dimensional faux gumball machine....well, sorta faux...there were some real gumballs in the bottom tray. (But they were hot glued in.)

The centerpiece had a hole in the bottom side and it slid onto the pole.

I've seen actual little gumball machines that would make great placecards or giveaways to match with this really big foamcore gumball machine.

This centerpiece was over 4 ft. tall. It was non-eye blocking for a dinner table because it was so tall but it would also work in other places in the room...like for a Welcome Sign or on the Sweet Table.

I think it would work for a candy theme too.

How about a picture of the party person inside with the all gumballs...like they were looking out at you and trapped inside the gumball machine....okay...am I getting carried away?

MY FAVORITE THINGS: PART 3: Plastic Safety People

I LOVE THIS GUY!

Believe me....he works. People do slow down.

I have 2 of them and I put one on each side of the street when the kids are riding their bikes around in the street since we don't have sidewalks.

If traffic is particularly busy or I'm feeling annoyed by the cars, I'll put them IN the street and kinda close together. A car has to slow way down to pass between them.

It amazes me how well they work.

I've had these
Step2 KidAlert guys for well over 5 years. I leave them outside in the winter in a side storage area and they've really hung in there. Must be some sturdy plastic.

They really are one of my favorite things because I am the Safety Patrol and I like easy solutions to annoying problems!

45 rpm RECORD Centerpiece...the 50's Rock!

Pull out those old 45's and make a cute retro centerpiece from them.

Add a record needle, some stars and musical notes and don't forget that "thingy"...what is that called??...that thing you put into the middle of the record to make it fit into the record player. If you've played 45's you know what I mean. If you only know about ipods, then you think I'm crazy.

Some things from the 50's are just the best....ipods might be cool but records looked cooler....sorry...just my opinion.

And if I put an ipod centerpiece next to this one....mmmm.....which do you think would have the most pizzazz? Of course the records!

Sunset moments

I was outside with my son-in-law and we were standing in awe of this view in our yard.

I had to run and grab my camera.

It was changing fast.

It was such a beautiful brief moment that I had to try and see if I could capture it so I could save it and hold it in my hand longer.

Ahhhhh.......Thank you.

Here's another one. July 2009.

Almost wickedly violent looking...yet calm and peaceful.

Stunningly beautiful.