25 Years!

Almost unbelievable to me, but 25 years ago today - almost to the minute - I married the greatest guy on Earth. He's the love of my life . . . my best friend . . . my absolute soul mate. I know those are all cliche, corny phrases people use over and over when talking about their significant others, but they're right on the money for me!

I really can't imagine my life any other way. He's been a terrific husband, a great dad, a wonderful companion . . . Really, to think back and "recap" the last 25 years of marriage, it's been a very good run!

Don't we look like children?! Guess we kind of are - 20 and 24 is young. And, apologies for the poor picture quality - no digital waaayyy back then! These are photos of photos (scanner on the fritz!).

Happy Anniversary, Dear. I love you more and more every day.

Fall is here!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. It certainly felt like fall here on the east coast this weekend. My BFF, Son No. 3 and his friend visited one of our areas most popular apple orchards. Every fall they have lots of kid's activities, apple picking, hay rides, corn maze, pumpkin choosing, etc.

Corn Maze

Pumpkin House

Hubby and I went out for a quick dinner Saturday night to celebrate our anniversary a few days early. We went to one of my most fave Asian restaurants, and I had my most fave meal - angry tuna sushi roll, pan-seared pork potstickers, and . . . of course . . . a cosmopolitan! I have to force myself to eat it all slowly, savoring every bite. I love the food . . . the atmosphere . . . the decor. It's truly one of my all-time favorite restaurants.

Obviously I'm new at blogging because, dummy me, should have taken my camera to get some snaps of the restaurant and our yummy dishes. Next time, I promise!

Thought I'd share a few new yummy goodies I purchased to "play" with! I saw a few of these items on another blog (can't remember whose) in very cute finished projects, and knew immediately I had to get me some! They are from The Pink Paislee, Twilight Collection, scrapbook line. Super cute stuff I can't wait to create with!

Canvas Tags/Patches

Die Cut Tags/Punch Outs and "Paislee" Postcards

I just had to get my hot little hands on Jenni Bowlin's Halloween Bingo Cards in both sizes.

I HAD to buy me some cute, new Halloween print fabric too! Even though I have a ton of Halloween fabric from year's past still waiting to be turned into cute little wall quilts, pillow cases, treat bags or candle mats.

But . . . like my mag addiction . . . I must constantly add to my "fabric collection" with hopes of using it someday!

Cute silver metallic prints. Shame the shimmer doesn't show up real well in the pics.

Some more cutesy prints. I just love the colors!

I'll be sure to post some pics of finished items. That's wishful thinking, now, isn't it!!!

Do I need help?

Hi . . . I'm Carla . . . and I'm . . . a . . . magazine . . . addict.

Not only I'm a an addict, I'm a hoarderer (geez, is that a word? my spell check says otherwise, but you get the idea). Not only do I buy, subscribe, inherit, steal (well, I don't "steal" I may accidentally walk off with them from my doc's office - that's not stealing, really, I just don't realize they're in my hand!). And I can't seem to throw the away when I'm done with them. Throw them away!!! Absolutely not! So I hoard them . . . all over the house.

Exhibit A: My craft room. Rows of back issues of scrapbook magazines, card making and paper crafting magazines.

Exhibit B: The family room. A huge, I mean HUGE, basket filled with BH&G, MSL, Women's Health, Racheal Ray, Country Living, Cottage Living, Coastal Living, Victoria. Then look, a small pile on the end table. Across the room a crate of "specialty mags". You know, the ones that cost twice as much because they're a "special issue".

Exhibit C: My bedroom. These are the back issues of distinction here. Their honorable resting place is in my boudoir under one of the bed tables. Among the chosen are Martha Stewart Living, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion (so sad that mag has ceased publication) and Country Living.

Then on the other side of the bed on the floor next to the other bed table are very old back issues of Quilt Sampler magazines.

Exhibit C: The basement. I even have back issues in the unfinished, storage part of our basement. I almost forgot they were there. They'd be like new reading . . . ooooo . . . .

Exhibit D. My kitchen hutch. Back issues of Cooking Light, Everyday Food and Kraft Food and Family.

Here's a perfect example of my hoarding problem. Check out these two issues of Country Gardens: one is published Summer 1994 and the other is Summer 2003. Their cover photos are almost identical. Gee, think my "archives" go deeper then theirs!

I have taken steps to at least help rid myself of my severe hoarding. I've been going through my beloved mags and removing the most inspirational photos, ideas, recipes, etc., and lovingly placing them in protective sleeves and adding them to pretty little notebook binders (WalMart).

Now, I have to be strong during this wonderous season of "Special Issues". The pretty covers, the amazing promises of having my best Thanksgiving and Christmas ever! Special issues for fall . . . special issues for Halloween . . . special issues for Thanksgiving . . . special issues for Christmas . . . ooooo, I'm in big trouble! Anyone know of an online support group for Magazine Addicts?

How can I choose??!!!

Well, here's my first decorating dilemma. Not sure if it's really a dilemma, but it's something that I find myself fretting about a bit from time-to-time. From what I understand (what little I understand, I should say), the rooms in one's home should have certain cohesiveness about them. An easy flow from room to room, uniting the rooms with color and style.

Please note that non of the following pictures are of any rooms in my home. I "borrowed" them from BH&G and Pottery Barn.

My major decorating conundrum is I love too many different styles of decor. Traditional, Modern Country, Cottage Style, Shabby Chic, Primitive, even a little Contemporary thrown in here and there. I think overall I'm most drawn to a relaxed Traditional style, but I get all messed up when it comes to color. I love the warm relaxing hues of earth tones and neutrals, but I can really get into the bright and fun oranges and greens that are so popular now. And I can so see myself sinking into a soft, oversized, comfy white slip-covered chair with lots of vintage pillows sipping a cup of tea from a dainty little flea market find porcelain cup (even though I prefer my morning coffee in a big honkin' mug!). But I also like the "safeness" of my brown leather family room furniture - especially since my family seems to think the kitchen table and chairs are just there to hold down the rug while simultaneously supporting my beautiful centerpieces, and constantly insist on eating in the family room.

Since I really like so many different styles, is it okay to decorate the rooms in my home differently? For instance, my living room is much on the "shabby-country-with-color" side, while the family room is more darker, traditional mix.

And I like lots of "stuff". I like having lots of collections, mementos . . . brick-a-brack, chachkees, stuff. I am so far from a minimalist as one can get, I think. My hubby calls it clutter, I call it my pretties!

So, as you can see from the snaps I've chosen, I think I have kind of a diversified taste. I do think there is some commonality to what I like, which is a relaxed style. I just can't pinpoint exactly what I want, or what I think I really like. I'm hoping some of you out there may have suggestions on how to choose, or maybe what I'm doing is okay. I guess in a future post I should share some pics of my rooms to get your opinions.

My Debut!

Hello all! First off, introductions are in order. I'm Carla, and I've been a blog reader for a couple years now, and have been wanting to start my own for quite some time, but never had the "nerve" till now. My main reason for starting my own blog was not so much like I felt I had a ton of great advice, decorating ideas, crafty tidbits, etc., to share, but so I could connect with all you out there. I need your advice and expertise at times - well a lot of times! I've always felt by not being a blogger, I didn't have a "voice" in the blog community. Have any of you non-blogging blog readers ever felt that way? So this blog will be mostly that . . . sharing some of my occasional brainstorms, but also getting advice and help from you all about decorating dilemmas, craft questions, life advice, stock tips ;o), etc.

And since all us blog readers love, love, love pretty pictures, in the post, I'll be throwing in some pics of random fall vignettes I've started around the house. The pic above is my kitchen table centerpiece. The wire basket was a steal - on clearance at K-Mart - Martha Stewart planter marked down to $5.00. The silks were on sale at JoAnn Fabrics - two bunches for $12.00. The clay pots I had. Not too shabby of a centerpiece for $17.00!!!!

About me . . . the blog title. Why CosmoGirl's Emporium? Well, plain and simple, I love my Cosmopolitans! All my bestest girlfriends know I'm a "Cosmo Girl"!!! I'll admit it started with my obsessive (I'm not kidding about obsessive - just ask my hubby!) love with Sex and the City. But it's also the glass, the pretty pale pink colored beverage, the little swirly bit of lime peel, or just the feeling one has of being so "cosmopolitan" drinking from a martini glass. I think drinking my morning Metamucil would even taste better if I drank it from one of my prettiful martini glasses! And Emporium . . . well, I choose that word because this blog will certainly consist of a large variety of topics. Mainly decorating, homekeeping, crafting, scrapbooking, quilting, gardening, baking, the meaning of life, . . . . you get the picture! I have too many irons in my little fire!

Now a few more personal factoids about me. I'm a 45 year old mother of three handsome young men ages 20, 18 and 11. I've been married to the love of my life for 25 years (we dated 5 years before getting married!). My two older boys are in college, while my youngest just started middle school. The love of my life is 49, and is a police officer going on 29 years of service now (yes, counting down the days until retirement!). I'm a semi-SAHM. The days I work, I'm here to see the boys off to school, and I'm home before they get home - usually. I actually clean houses going on nine years now. I sometimes like to say I have a "cleaning business" - sounds important and impressive, right? But it's just me. I'll get more into how I choose that "career" route later in the blog.

So, that's me so far in a teeny nutshell. I'm pretty much an open book with my who I am and what I'm about, so I'm sure through this blog y'all will get to know me pretty well . . . ooo, maybe too well!

I'll be asking from time-to-time for help with this blog on tweaking it's appearance. I am not computer-savvy at all. We all like to look at pretty blogs with pretty pictures, and I want mine to be as pretty as all the other girls'!!! Any of your suggestions and ideas on how to make the this blog better, please feel free to pass along.

Well, that's about it for now. That's enough, right!? I'll be anxious to see if anyone finds, reads and leaves comments here! It might be a little weird when it happens, actually! For the next couple days, I'll be furiously getting my Halloween decor out and about the house. Oh, I didn't mention how much I LOVE Halloween!!! I'll get pics posted as soon as I get the house transformed. I'll even share some of the cute hand crafted pieces I've created over the years.

The little quilt above hangs on the side of my frig with sticky back magnet tape. A simple, easy way to display little quilts.

Thanks for reading! Until next time . . . .