... hello, my preciouses-eseses...

“Purses are like friends…

you can never have too many”

After reviewing The Oxford Book of Death bag, Autumn from Bibliobags sent me a thank you message which included the offer of 20% off discount on anything in her shop including custom orders “if you ever want to shop again”… Clearly she knew that she had met an addict and all I needed was a little enabling.

You see, I have never had one go-to handbag that I use on a daily basis. Sometimes I even go out with one handbag and come home to change the bag for the next event. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that I haven’t found *the perfect bag*; it’s just that I find *the perfect bagS*. I would love to psychoanalyze myself to see from where my handbag addiction derives but it could go from my love of containers (faux books to other knickknack holders) to even having a few people in my life be copycats. I know, I know… imitation is the best form of flattery blah, blah, blah but one of them was a family member who at one point in my life bought the same planner and the same handbag as I had because she liked mine… or thought she could form her identity by taking mine noted my therapist but this is all another story. We all have skeletons and this one needs to stay in the family coat closet. Skeleton secured, my need for handbag options just may have stemmed from this… or at least that is the excuse I’m sticking with today.

 

I suppose my favorite book is Dracula. I read it annually; I teach it; I reference it all the time. I adore all things vampires and ol’ D is my boy! I already owned two Dracula book clutches before I requested this custom order. All of my book purses are quite different and as the Bibliobags bookmark reminds me, “every purse has a story.” Each of mine does. The exciting part of this custom order was that I helped create it. I thought Autumn was going to let me select the book binding (Reader's Digest version in purple) and then she would take over the rest of the design. Nope, she actually said it made her life easier that I was so specific in what I wanted. I thought I was being bossy; after all, she is the artist. I knew that I wanted a red and purple color combination. It’s always been my favorite color combo. I also wanted the bag to be fun. While The Oxford Book of Death bag and my Alchemy Bone-Casket Handbag completely make me laugh, not everyone shares my humor which is interesting since I tend to lean more toward the whimsically macabre look over anything else. I select the handles (red bamboo) and then I selected the fabric (I chose Vampire Movie Night because I find it funny that vampires are watching what I can only assume is Dracula on the big screen). Autumn even let me select the color of the zipper (red because it went with the stripes on the popcorn box). So here is the finished product and I absolutely love it! It’s silly and fun, and I can’t wait to take it to the movies!

The second bag pictured comes from Pinup Girl Clothing. It's called the "Coffin Up Some Cash" purse. I've been on the wait list for this bag for some time now so last week when I received the *back in stock* message I jumped on it even though the reviews noted that one couldn’t fit much in the purse because of the shape. I actually think it’s much more spacious than most of my bags so I’m delighted. I also adore, although it is hard to see in the picture, that there are red flecks in the patent leather.

... this gardener suffers from allergies and pays the price...

Keepin' gothy even when sick! ^o^

Always Do Your Best.

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

~Miguel Angel Ruiz

I have big fun plans this weekend which were mostly canceled because I’m sick. Most likely, I have severe allergies. While I wasn’t feeling so hot on Thursday, I was outside for 8 hours on Friday during the “extremely high grass pollen” alert helping my fella prep his yard so we can finally put his house on the market. Actually, he was inside and I did the yard almost entirely by myself. I scrubbed rust off of old patio furniture and painted the pieces along with some plant stands in bright colors in order to make his pretty darn dark backyard come to life. I like how it turned out but I’m not a fan of that teal in general so I only picked the color because it was listed as a popular color on HGTV. I do love that monster green/ lime color.

 

Then, I planted his front yard (not pictured) with hardy annuals because his front yard is full sun. You’ll see some cactus planted in pots. Those are actually the “ears” we cut off his 5 ft. cactus. 

I went to the local Lowe’s discount plant section that I affectionately call “death and dying” and picked up a ton of in-need-of-some-help potted flowers. Some fresh potting soil and some water helped these flowers become good as new.

Since Friday night, I’ve been sick in bed. Unlike those of you who enjoy the medicinal knock-out of NyQuil and codeine cough syrup, I get wired and can’t sleep. I asked my fella to bring home some Benadryl for me to try. After a hot shower to clear my head, I discovered my box of Benadryl being protected by Magic!, a little unicorn friend to make me feel better. Turns out that after taking the Benadryl, I woke up at 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep so that’s also on the don’t-take-this-at-night list. Sadly, I didn’t make the Spirited History tour/ paranormal investigation Meet-Up nor did I make tonight’s book club meeting. I’m also taking prescription cough medicine and some meds that were prescribed to me in May. I know! I know! I shouldn’t self-medicate but clearly this has been a post about what not to do.

The good news is that we met with a realtor team who basically said we didn’t have anything left to do except put the place on the market! Yay! And, while doing all the yard work, I got to see a beautiful black widow. My fella’s shed has always made the perfect home for black widow spiders and I’m pretty proud that I’ve taught him that they don’t exactly pounce on you; while it’s good to be aware of them, there isn’t any need to freak out.  I have also taught him the same thing about single wasps. Don’t flail about and they typically won’t sting you. A wasp’s nest is another story in which case, he goes inside and I take care of it. I seem to be somewhat of a wasp whisperer (shrug).

The "small" pumpkin

Tonight before it got dark, I went outside to snip off the hibiscus blooms (they only live one day) and took some pictures. The canna is coming up and looking beautiful! I have no idea where the elephant ears came from but that's a happy surprise. I haven’t planted them in three years! 

And last, my summer obsession is doing well. The larger pumpkin is turning slightly darker and both of them are growing like mad! I’m pretty sure that if I sat still and watched them all day, I would be able to see them increase in size. Growing a vertical pumpkin patch makes picture-taking a bit awkward.

Vertical Pumpkin Patch

The "large" pumpkin