Attention Kmart Shoppers and Martha Shoppers! Kmart has a new in store circular that features the 2008 Martha Stewart Everyday Garden line. This 8 page circular gives you an inside peek at the latest and greatest merchandise from MSE. My thanks to Mike for sharing this 'find.'

Beating the Newsstand Date

Are you anxious for new magazine arrivals? You can beat the newsstand date by checking out Target stores the Thursday BEFORE the listed newsstand date!

Target 'refreshes' their magazines every Thursday. If your favorite magazine is due the following Monday, you should find it at Target stores the Thursday prior.

Don't forget... the 2008 issue of "Martha Stewart Outdoor Living" is released next Monday, February 4th. Check your favorite Target store at the end of this week to pick up your copy a few days early!

Just a little tip I thought you might like to know!

Makin' it with Flor

I just placed my first 'real' order with Flor. I've been looking for a long runner rug that would fit across the entire 'work' area in the kitchen and would coordinate with all my recent additions of blue into the kitchen. It dawned on me: If you want to match "Martha Blue" then you need to look at some other "Martha blue" options!

When MSLO first introduced the Flor designs, I had ordered carpet samples. I found the box of samples and checked the color compatibility with the Martha blue kitchen items from the Macy's line. VOILA! Success! The Flor designs are a lighter shade of the same blue!

After some careful measuring to make sure I wasn't buying too much, I placed my order. I had the above picture as my inspiration. I'm using the velvet and the corrugated design, alternating the two textures. I think it will look great!

One of the great things about Flor: They recycle! Should I choose to change out my tiles for a different color I can send my tiles back to Flor and they will recycle them into new product. Now that's what I call a 'green' supplier! I can't wait until they arrive!

Favorite Finds

Thanks to Alexis Stewart and her blog on http://www.whateverradio.com/ I've discovered two great mail order companies for a variety of baking and packaging needs.

http://www.fancyflours.com/ is an on line baking supply store that is like a trip to the candy store! Nearly everything you could ever want is available at this fantastic website. Shipping is very reasonable too! I've placed an order for candy boxes, glassine bags, and colored waxed paper.

http://www.nashvillewraps.com/ is an incredible resource for nearly any and all your packaging needs. I recently went on line (it's a very cluttered website) and requested their print catalog. The catalog arrived yesterday and I'm having a hard time putting it down! There are so many types of packing available in an incredible array of colors, textures, and types. The one drawback.. Nashville Wraps is a wholesale operation and only sells to retail businesses. (You must have a tax number to order from N.W.) I've seen some of their products in craft stores (Michael's). If you have your own business or have access to a tax ID through your employer, this is an amazing resource!

Happy packaging! Just in time for Valentine's Day!

A Field Trip to Greenfield Village

There is a wonderful place not too far from me in Dearborn, Michigan. It's the Henry Ford Museum / Greenfield Village. It's a trip through American culture and history.

The Village is a wonderful place. There you will find interesting places like the Wright Brothers bicycle shop where they built their first airplane. Thomas Edisons laboratory is there. There are actual slave quarters from the south. Daniel Websters home is there. There are so many historical homes that have been moved there from all across the country. It's an incredible place to experience our history. All of the buildings are original; having been purchased or donated and moved to the village to be preserved. I remember going to Greenfield Village when I was a child in elementary school. Every building just smells OLD... It's incredible. When you walk through some of the buildings you can almost feel the spirits of the time move within you. The slave quarters for instance.. housed a couple families with bare minimum wood floors, brick walls, and small windows. When I walked in that particular building you could feel the 'angst' that lived within those walls... yet at the same time you could feel the hope of the spiritual people that lived there.

The picture above is of one of the slave quarters.

Before the Village, is the Henry Ford Museum. This museum 'documents' our American culture through the years. There are so many interesting things to see! Some of the favorites among visitors: This is the chair Lincoln was sitting in at the Ford theater when he was killed by John Wilkes Booth. There is a darkening at the top of the chair that is a combination of Lincolns hair tonic and blood from the bullet wound. The chair is now encased in glass.

This is the limousine that President Kennedy rode in on that fateful day in November in Dallas. For years the back windows had been 'fogged' so you couldn't see into the vehicle. They cleared the windows a couple years ago. You can't help but stand there and cry as they play the video of that day.

This is another view of the limo.

This is the bus Rosa Parks rode in when she refused to give up her seat. It was donated to the museum two years ago. They completely restored the bus back to it's original state at the time she made that wonderful decision to stand her ground. Go Rosa!

This is the original McDonald's neon sign from their first 'golden arches' restaurant. It's huge in person!

If you're ever in Michigan you really should stop in and see this incredible place of history!

For more information check out http://www.thehenryford.com/.

Monday Mumbles

Come on in.. care for a cup of tea or coffee? Glad you're here...

I saw the most unusual tea bags today. A girl at work who is an avid tea drinker found these triangular 3 dimensional tea bags that are vanilla and carmel flavored. They were very interesting. Perhaps I've lived under a tea bag rock for a while.. I had never seen a triangular tea bag before! I had to try the tea... it was quite delicious. While I tend to be more of a coffee drinker, a good cup of tea once in a while is great.

David had the day off for the holiday. He took Sirius to the vet. He's due for his next round of shots, but they postponed them. He was running a little bit of a fever. They drew blood to do some lab work, so I hope it all comes out alright. For some reason he had quite dirty ears.. he's an indoor cat, but his ears were very dirty. They cleaned his ears and now he is favoring his right ear a bit.. The vet said he had a lot of wax build up. I wonder if he has an ear infection? Hopefully his blood work will show something.. or better yet, show nothing! Maybe he's just a hot blooded cat! :-)

He was quite traumatized at the entire trip to the Vet thing. He didn't enjoy the car ride at all. David called me at work and all I could hear in the background was this 'howling' like someone was hanging him from his toes! Poor little guy. He was quite sleepy this afternoon, so I put out the heating pad (on very low) and put his favorite blanket on top of it. He was all snuggled in (covered up with part of the blanket) and he was totally loving the warmth of the heating pad.

I'm taking Thursday off this week. It's North American International Auto Show in Detroit and we take a day each year to attend. I'm by no means a 'gear head' but I do appreciate a nice car! I like to check out the concept cars of the future. The people attending the show are usually pretty interesting too! I'm an avid people watcher. I'm going to make sure I take my camera this year.

It's getting near my bedtime.. goodnight for now!

Retail Therapy

Just a couple things I picked up at Macy's today... these are website images.

How I do love retail therapy!

An Odd Thing: Part II - I Give Up

I give up.

There comes a time on the message boards when you just have to realize your beating your head against the wall when it comes to some sort of logic or understanding. People just don't get it.. or they don't have the ability to look beyond their own nose. It's frustrating.. but I can't change the way someone acts (or reacts).

It's pretty sad actually that when someone offers an explanation it's met with total ignorance. I think sometimes people read the first word in a paragraph and the last word of a paragraph, since there certainly is selective reading!

I'll now stop trying to be the peace maker or the voice of reason on the message board. It's not worth the frustration. I, like others, will just do what I want to do.. post what I want to post. I'm just thankful I don't live my life with my head in the sand.

Message Boards: They're An Odd Thing

I have been an active participant on the Martha Stewart Message Boards - Radio and Television for a little over 2 years. Sometimes I sit back and stare at the screen in amazement at what I read. It's been an interesting study in human behavior!

First and foremost, I've learned over the last couple years to not take the boards too seriously. It's quite a cast of characters! There are those that post interesting questions or comments, there are those that post gibberish. There are those that are 'over the top' enthusiastic about Martha, and there are those that seize every opportunity to critique Martha. There are those that share the excitement of new merchandise, there are those that can't seem to determine what their name is. There are those that use the space for their own personal agenda, there are those that use the board as their own social network. People arrive there, post there, and return their for their own reasons... all very interesting... all very different.

I've encountered people from the message board that have become friends. The common connection is Martha. (with the exception of one friend.. I think we were a genetic study.. we're so much alike it's scary!) It's been a great way to meet 'like/kind' people from all across the world. I've also encountered people that I've had heated arguments with. For the longest time the board was more about 'fussing' with each other than intelligent conversation. One thing I know for sure is that the message board world is very segmented and opinions run heavy!

It's human behavior 101 ... stop in sometime and check it out. I think you'll be amazed.

Kmart and Martha Stewart for Spring

During these darker, colder days I can't help but think of the warmer months ahead. While reading the message boards on marthastewart.com, I saw a post about Kmart and the 2008 garden line from Martha Stewart. I decided to take a peek at the Kmart website and much to my surprise it was loaded with great outdoor living items! I've already started making a list!

At the top of my list is this classic wooden pergola. I like the clean simple lines and it will look wonderful encased in thriving morning glory vines. I have the perfect spot already picked out in the side yard!




Next up is this classic outdoor chandelier. What a wonderful bit of elegance this would add to our outdoor eating area or even hanging inside the above described pergola! I love the clean lines of this outdoor lighting option.



This chandelier would look wonderul on a porch ceiling as well, providing sufficient light on one of those hot summer evenings.




























Martha does it again with this fabulous three tier fountain. Made of lightweight resin, this fountain will make you do a double take with its elegant form.

These are just three of the items that have caught my eye this year. These early items are not the only new pieces in the MSE line this year. Check out http://www.kmart.com/ or stop at your local Kmart store and watch the season unfold!

Now.. how many days until Spring??

The Great Outdoors

Just as winter settles in with the grey skies and cold temperatures, Martha Stewart teases us with what's to come this Spring, with "Martha Stewart Outdoor Living."

The ad for this issue was featured in the new February issue of Living. The cover alone makes you long for the warmth of a Spring day and the easy relaxed entertaining of Summer.

Scheduled for a February 4th sale date this will sure to be an enjoyable issue.

The 2008 issue of Outdoor Living marks the second issue of the special publication.