Pickled Tink!

Just in case I'm not awake in a couple of hours to tell y'all so...

Happy New Year!

I raise my glass of pink Champagne for a toast to you from me.

Here's to 2013 being a shiny brite year for all of us...

and in the words of a sage old gentleman...may y'all be greatly blessed and highly favored throughout the years to come.

Muchos love from the Casita de Trash and I'll see y'all in the new year!
XOXO
Cat Daddy & Deb

Free From Want

Even with the extra weekend thrown in this year, Christmas came and went too fast to suit me.  Seems as if I barely got my house in a festive mood and now it's time to start putting it all away for next year.

I don't want to.

I'm afraid that when the lights and tinsel are put away, so will the true meaning be packed up as well.

I will be left with a drab house and a sense of melancholy knowing I can't really make a change in the world with a string of lights.

What I do want is to sit in the glow of twinkle lights, surrounded by the smell of pine with a slice of warm, chocolate, Mexican cake in my hand and pray for the time I can be assured others feel the same way...free of hunger, poverty and fear.

I want to shut out the outside world with it's harsh realities and pretend it doesn't exist.

No sickness, no wars, no hate...only peace on earth, good will towards man.

I want the season of giving to extend to all seasons.  I want the day to come where there is no want and the only giving required is that of thanks.

I want folks to stop the arguing about who is right or wrong and accept the differences that makes us unique and at the same time, all God's children.

I want folks to agree to disagree.

I want a world where one doesn't have to be reminded to speak or do good.  It comes naturally and from the heart because we know no other way.

I want the energy that is put into trying to change others to be put into trying to change the world.

I want the light that led the Magi to the Christ child to continue to shine and lead us out of the darkness that consumes us in our harsh judgements and lust for things.  Things that bring only temporary happiness, rather than everlasting joy.  That cannot be bought...neither new or used.  That joy can only come from the head, heart, and hands.

I want to honor not the tools of the trade, but the hands that once held them.  Hands that have gone ahead, but before leaving us, carved out their place in this world and in our hearts. 

I want to be like the old gentleman in our neighborhood.  Every morning, come rain or shine, he can be found at the local gathering place, a smile on his face.  At first glance this man, who owns no car and walks everywhere he goes, appears poor as a church mouse, but don't be deceived.  He is rich beyond imagination.  His pockets hold miracles.  His needs few, but always met.  He knows what is real and what is fool's gold.

He greets everyone with the same salutation... God bless you and how are you today?

And when asked about his day, this ageless man with his patched clothes, scuffed shoes and brilliant smile, replies with same answer every.single.time.

I am greatly blessed and highly favored.

Not just during December, but all year long, his words carry a hopeful message.  He knows a child was sent to become a king.  A saviour who would provide the way to a better world, a more giving world, a more loving world...Immanuel.

Through Him, by Him to a world without end.

And who doesn't want that?

~For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.~John 3:16


I'm linking this post to Debra's Common Ground Vintage Inspiration Holiday Review.

 

Jingle Belles

Crashing thru the house

Where's my ta-da list?

O'er the floors I go,

Swiffer in my fist.

Shoppers at the door,

slap some lipstick on.

What fun it is to play and browse

before the goods are gone.

OH-H-H!!!

Red.neck chic pocket-books,

Shopping all the way.

Oh what fun it is to buy

at the Red.neck chic Soiree!

HEY!!!

Saddle Tramps, spinach dip,

candles, cards and more!

Oh what fun it is to watch

stuff flying out the door!

A week or two ago

I thought that I'd be done.

Who cares about the dust?

C'mon let's have some fun!

Red.neck brought the goods.

I threw some hors d'oeuvres out.

What joy it brings to see my friends

primpin' all about!

OH-H-H!!!

Darlin' hats, gloves to match.

Hey, I saw those first!

Oh what fun it is to watch

Cat Daddy getting pursed.

HEY!!!

Red.neck Glam, pecan tarts,

white trash in a dish.

Oh what fun it is to see

friends checking Santa's list!

OH-H-H!!!

Talking trash, buying gifts,

Making Christmas Day.

Oh what fun it is to host

   a Red.neck chic Soiree!

A...RED...NECK...CHIC...SWAH-RAY!

BAY...BAY!!!

  

(Contact Jenn at Give Me Props for hosting information. Trust me...it's the hippest, coolest thing ever to hit the asphalt!)

Home For Your Holidays

Do y'all believe a home can have a beating heart?

I do.

I've been in the prettiest of houses that were stone cold to the core and I've been in the messiest of homes that wrapped me in warmth the minute I stepped through the door.

I like to believe our Casita de Trash falls into the latter...leastwises that's what I aim for...minus the messy part.

(Now before I go any further, let the record show I'm letting you know up front, this may will be a long post.  Consider yourself warned.)

Casita is the perfect word to describe a less than 1500 sq. ft. home...instead of the 3000 I like to pretend it is.

We've lived in this tiny home almost our entire married life and after 37 years, our roots run deep...way deep...clear clean to China.

We raised two kids here, fought here, cried here, but mostly loved here.  We've hosted a parade of folks through our front door and said goodbye to others we hated to see leave.  Sitting here alone, typing in my office, I can smell the perfume, hear the footsteps, and feel the memories that cling to every square inch of this hill I call home.

There's been birthday and graduation parties, wedding receptions, showers, and many-a-many just 'cause we want to parties.  We've also held countless Christmas open houses over the years...throwing open the front and back doors to greet family and friends.  These occasions are when I believe in magic.  See it's like this.  In my mind...fool that I am...everything appears larger than it actually is...including the size of the rooms.  I truly believed I could cram 150+ guests...in addition to 20 tubs of Christmas smoke and mirrors...into a mere 1500 sq. ft...and I always did.

(Trays of food would mysteriously be emptied on their way from the front door to the kitchen...while towers of donated canned goods, coats, blankets and toys would rise up in every corner of every room!  Christmas magic performed by the Houdinis and Houdini-ettes masquerading as our guests!)

The food, the laughter, every square inch dripping with lights and tinsel as high as I could reach.

These were the loveliest of times and some of my most precious memories are wrapped in those red tubs, but sadly we stopped hosting an open house in 2009, the year Bella was born.  Just too many other things needed tending to.

2009 was a memorable year filled with change...Bella's birth, setting up shop in Winnie & Tulula's and meeting Robelyn for the first time.  She's like a third child to me and a sister to my melon-heads.  She adores Graycie, Bella and her Kitty-Cat Daddy and would probably spoil them all rotten if she lived any closer.  She's also one of the most creative designers of products for women.  It's like she just knows what women want and goes ahead on and makes it.  And law...don't even let me get started on her packaging lessin' y'all are wanting to be here all day.

My Jenn is one smart cookie...she gets that from me!  She can spot cool and hip from a mile off and as a result, had this amazing brain fart.  I'm thinking her and Chickie Baby really are twins separated at birth, 'cause when Jenn approached Robelyn with her fart germ of an idea, it seems both of 'em had been farting thinking the same thing.  It was time to take Red.neck chic to another level and hit the road through home shows!

(~Comin' to you live from a single-wide!~Robelyn)

 (Took-ed)

Imagine a group shopping trip...in the comfort of your own home.  No need to go to the boutique...they'll bring the boutique to you.  Soaps, candles, lotions, towels, shirts, jewelry, handbags...the list goes on and on.  All green products, repurposed, redone, and R'POed, all displayed on vintage items and all ready to be purchased.

A rolling store with ever changing merchandise.  No ordering and awaiting shipment...cash and carry y'all!

BRILLIANT!!!

(Hey...if it was good enough for two intrepid Texas women, Mary Kay Ash and Mary Crowley, it's good enough for my two.)

(Tooken) 

They approached me about hosting the maiden launch of the R'POed Red.neck Chic home party and what could I say besides yes...'ceptin' maybe a big 'ol heck yeah?  After all y'all...my middle name is party.  I get to resurrect my Christmas Open House...mini-style.  AND...I get to be a witness to the true meaning of the spirit of Christmas...watching as one woman reaches out a hand to help another reach for her dreams.

Here is your chance to come be a part of the fun and magic this promises to be too.  If any of y'all would like to drop by, please send me an e-mail or contact me, Jenn or Robelyn on our facebook pages.  We'd love to have you and see you.

 (Gettin' my merry merry on and running like I stolt sump'n...which I did.. All the above photos from the artist-in-residence!)

So folks...the single-wide is about to become mo-bile...and just so's you know...

No games...

No pressure sales...

No fooling!

(Oh...and I promise up and down not to set anyone's Christmas sweater on fire with Robelyn's candles!)

Be still my beating heart.

Glimpses Into Christmas Past---And My Psyche

~Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.~Proverbs 27:1

Wise words that can be interpreted many ways depending on how you look at it or what you're seeking.  Reading it this morning, I found myself thinking wasn't it ol' Tommy Jefferson who said don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today?  For me---being the professional procrastinator I am---I was reminded of what my little mother was fond of saying when I was guilty of dragging my feet.

~Little girl, you best get after it. That tree ain't gonna decorate its self!~Helen Callahan 

I imagine myself sparkling and witty, but life has a way of shattering any delusions of grandeur I may harbor...'specially in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

I also happen to believe myself a calm, rational, and perfectly sane woman.  And I am for the most part---that is until those red tubs sneak into the house.  Once those crammed-jammed tubs make their way to my kitchen floor, any trace of sanity I might possess---after raising two kids I might add---flies out the window.

(EEK...look at the tops of those grungy boxes!)

Suddenly I start to drool (just a little y'all) and I get this tic thingy going in my left eye  As my teeth begin chattering and I start feeling woozy, I try to remain in an upright position.   Failing miserably---and before I slip into a fetal one---I dig out a brown paper sack from the wrapping paper box, take several deep breaths and wait for my vision to slowly return.

Now, one would think after 40 years of treeing, I'd have this down to a fine art wouldn't one?

Yes, one would think so, but no-o-o...not me.  I'm the pixilated relative you've heard tell of.

Don't have one of those in your family tree?

Obviously then you're not from the South, so let me enlighten y'all.

Let's start with a little quiz why don't we?

Which of these is not like the other?:
A. Decorating for the holidays
B. Putting out Christmas
C.  Decking the halls
or
D.  Bedazzling everything that doesn't move---leastwises not faster than a chubby lady with a handful of icicles---and doesn't require anything taller than a step ladder to get at or to.

(Wha-a-at?  Everybody doesn't decorate attired in Nick & Nora's?)

If you answered D, you would be correct.  You would also be correct in guessing D's an apt definition of moi getting her Ho Ho on.

SQUIRREL ALERT!
(Sigh!  Ho Ho's I shall miss you!)

My plan is...I don't have a plan.  I rarely do the same thing twice, but only 'cause I can't remember what I did the previous year.

(Santa may fly in a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer, but I fly by the seat of my britches.)

So there I sit on the kitchen floor, face in hands, glazed over eyes, sobbing softly to myself  and wondering where to begin.

My problem is simple.  I love Christmas.

I mean I really---really---love Christmas.

I love the smells, the sounds, the colors, and best of all---the shiny.

(The jewel encrusted box was a birthday gift from Carolyn Westbrook and one of my favorite things. Just a little shameless name dropping going on here y'all!)

Knowing there is a ton of shiny waiting to be released from it's year long captivity gets me up off the floor and shaking my tail feathers.

One peek in that first of many boxes y'all and Katie bar the door.  It's all ten lords a'leapin' and Gloriosky!

Bust out the hot chocolate and pass the marshmallows please 'cause I spy rhinestones!

(Everyone should have a cheesy, red felt vest with a plastic martini emblazoned on it.!)

I begin dressing the tree just like I dress me.  Y'all have heard me say on several occasions "If you can't see my bling from across a cow pasture,  it ain't big enough."   Well folks, I'm here to tell you---if you can see branches or the trunk of our trees, then there ain't enough sparkle on 'em!  I want my trees so fandangled, no one can look directly at 'em without Oakley's.  Heck...I want the whole house bright enough to land planes by.


(Twinkle, twinkle little star.  How I wonder which box I put you in. Hey---I never claimed to be a poet.)

I'll be running amuck, throwing glitter, snow and tinsel right up 'til the doorbell begins ringing Christmas Eve.  As I'm swinging from a chandelier, frantically cramming fresh greenery among the prisms, the Oldest Melon-Head will be dragging me down, yanking that last piece of cedar from my grubby little paws.  Instead of the sound of reindeer hooves and a hearty Ho Ho Ho (Twinkies, I think I shall miss thee most of all!)  and to all a good night, it's gonna be my voice y'all will hear ringing through the night----

(Just so's you know...the sign reads "Patient Parking Only".  'Nuff said!)

 "Wait...no...not yet.  Not.quite.finished.  There's still one last box of pink Shiny Brites left in the tub!"

Santa and his big ol' red bag is always full of surprises---and me?

Well...the Bella Mama says it best.

~Mom's just a bag full of crazy!~

Just remember my sweets...the bough doesn't fall very far from the Christmas tree!