no new or exciting pictures for today's post.

if i had taken some, they would have been from the inside of a store, helping look at pink things for a friend's baby's room.

one thing i'm very good at now is helping (and by helping i don't just mean shopping, but maybe...). i like to selectively help. i don't like to get dirty just to get dirty (and i don't literally mean dirty necessarily, but maybe...)but i'm not against it for a good purpose. and i see good purposes all around me. i know some good people. i was helped, and am helped, along the way. and i'm thankful i'm able to help and that someone would actually want MY help. and it's in helping others, selectively, that i continue to be helped. so great that it happens that way...

my mother-in-law has quite a green thumb. years ago she transplanted some of her ginger into a sunny spot in our yard. they have multiplied (good thing they are a very hearty plant) and the first bloom is something i look forward to as soon as the weather turns warm. the stalks grow to about 5 feet or so, unfortunately, not too many see this height as they grow in emma's favorite spot for hunting lizards, and therefore are often bent in half. this day, in fact, one pal was sunning himself on the leaf nearest the bloom, safely hidden from her view. they smell wonderful...sometimes the first blooming will catch me off guard until the evening i walk into the garage and that undeniable fragrance lets me know they have arrived. makes the summers feel so tropical...

using an old photo-me sad to be leaving nyc in march-cause we booked a quickie (sandwiched between busy days!) trip today! just a couple of nights in the city (2 nights in nyc is better than many nights just about anywhere else...)on my birthday. going to do some grandbaby shopping with our oldest son and his wife, this will be their first trip to there. my hubby booked us in a hotel directly between the 2 destinations i mentioned by name; bloomingdale's and fao schwartz, 2 blocks from each in opposite directions, how great is he? good times...

random happenings...got some much needed rain today. been several weeks since we had any. a young but large and unknown pup slipped out of his home during the storm, decided my pups were cute and set up temporary residence here-found a phone number, left a message, heard from the owners hours later, they were out of town, so loaded up "thibbadeaux" in my rav 4 and took him to his brothers and sisters, aka owner's pre-teen kids...

thinking a lot about anthropologie again...

making some of my homemade journals for goodies for some pals. good to be creative...

excited about a couple of days in nyc...

random and good...

just a thought tonight...

watched a family of birds this afternoon outside our bedroom window put on quite a show. two babies, as big as their momma, sitting outside the nest, obviously not enjoying their first flying lesson, hopping about the tree branches with their mouths open, while their mom flittered from tree to tree, hoping to set a good example. i wondered, do we look like this? appear grown on the outside, feathers full-sized but with our mouths opened wide hoping for another handout?

long days lead to not feeling particularly creative, and this gets me back to why i challenged myself to two weeks of fluffy blogging. it keeps my creativity on ready, lurking just below the surface as well as helping me to see my life a little more lovely-like even when it doesn't feel like it...

so...my iphone takes great photos. to me, the best part is that it's always available. i don't have to plan a photo, i just reach in my pocket and snap. goes back to the randomness of my life, too. i get to see something perhaps overlooked as mundane as beautiful because i've captured a moment.

and, cmon, doesn't get much more mundane than the chore of dishes...thus, the need for a photo of one of my ongoing collections, beautiful dishtowels! how can one think it drudgery to reach into this drawer and grab one of these lovelies to dry a dish or wipe our hands? i began this collection a while ago, mostly with vintage dishcloths. i think my first was an old vera one with hilariously bright 70s colors. however, upon discovery of anthropologie, my cloths from this lovely of lovely stores (and the website, anthropologie.com if you don't have one near you, as in my case, the nearest store is about 4 hours away...) have overtaken my drawer. actually, it's a bit hard to close. i buy them for gifts as well; one is on a ship on it's way to samoa, some are at my mother-in-law's house. i encourage people to use them, they are useful pretties. suppose it's time to begin paring the dishcloth drawer down. but i guarantee that my anthropologie towels are staying put...

these happen to be from our trip to new york, but i actually have quite an extensive collection of shopping bags.

i've collected them for years. some i might keep just temporarily but others will stay with me for awhile. some of my favorite bags right now are from mackenzie-childs and anthropologie. but i have some sentimentals from shops in south america. i think i've always been a bit of a collector. i remember once while traveling with my family as a kid, my very wise mother talked me into collecting squares of toilet tissue from various bathrooms along the way...or keeping my dad's souvenir swizzle sticks from flights he had taken. right now i've slowed down the acquiring just a bit, but not without at least once a month, while frequenting my favorite estate sale at a local antique store, adding a perfect piece of china to my collection of mismatched china. or really unusual bracelets. and old children's books, particularly really lovely reading textbooks. maybe really great kate spade bags. my rule is now that i must be able to incorporate my new find into an already existing collection. unless perhaps it's a piece of bunnykins baby dishes, which i think would look really lovely in a brand new stack in my kitchen...

technically, this is a thursday post since i am still up and working on my thursday. it's the end of a busy and rewarding day, yes, doing things completely uncomfortable! i think i wouldn't want it any other way...i am so thankful for every minute, don't want to waste a bit.

finished my activity by wrapping up a "new baby" basket, complete with the crunchy plastic bags that i've grown so fond of. had to post a photo because it begged to be photographed.

as i doze off to a peaceful night's slumber, visions of pink shall be dancing in my head. along with thoughts of this random life i lead...