It looks like Christmas around here!

Can't believe it's that time of the year already!

Christmas for me  has always been so exciting and joyous!

I love listening to the music, seeing all the lights up around the neighborhood.

I love any excuse to eat drink and be merry

Unfortunately I sometimes get into the mode of being completely stressed out, wanting things to be perfect; never feeling like there is time to do all the baking  the decor and the entertaining that I want to do.

I do LOVE decorating the tree & I have an obsession 

with ornaments & decor

Almost every piece of decor that goes out has a story

I love telling the girls about the history of the person that gave me a Christmas trinket or the story of how it came to be in our collection of Christmas Favorites!

Here are some of the treasures we have collected 

over the years and the stories that go with them

This is a 2 Tiered Tray 

that I picked up at Suzanna's Antiques Store

I love that it is crazy green & not traditionally Christmas 

The ornaments are a hodge podge of vintage, pinks & silvers with some silver disco balls thrown it

Glitter santa hats

These were such a steal from Walmart last season (2010)

I don't think I paid more than a dollar for the hats ( all 4)

The "WISH" Plaque too

Precious moments Nativity

 since we have been married I have collected pieces to the 

Precious Moments Nativity

The first year we were married we were given Mary, Joseph & Baby Jesus.

over the years Ebay & Craigslist have helped my collection grow

Ballard Designs Stockings

These are from Ballard Designs (i think it was 2009?)

I want my house to be decorated in everything from their catalogue

I drool over each page

I love these stockings

They make me so happy!

My friend Debbie designed this plate & surprised me by sending me one

I love it so much

Contact Debbie at Debbies Doodads

SPCA of Wake County

Riley is our sweet pup

She is the absolute love of my life

We rescued her from the 

SPCA of Wake County 

in September of 2005

It was a few months after we put down our 

regal old man

Randy

I was so not ready to get a new dog 

but Joe dragged me against my will to the 

SPCA & when I saw this face looking back at me, 

I knew I found her!  

The SPCA has made a video

a lip dub

It is the best, check it out below!

If you are thinking about getting a dog or any animal

think about a shelter first

there are so many who need homes!

70's Playlist

I am a child of the 70's

I was born in the 60's

1966 to be exact!

Music has always been & always will be a major influence in my life

It is always playing in my mind

I can think of a song to fit most situations or events in my life

There is always a soundtrack playing for me!

Here are some that remind me of my childhood-

Maxine Nightingale

Jackson 5 

Check out Bill Cosby in this clip, nice du

Love the Jackson 5 outfits, stylin'

Kinda sad to think of how MJ's life changed so dramatically

Elton John & Ki Ki Dee

Bay City Rollers

The Carpenters...my first concert, yeah, that's right!

James Taylor

And of course, the Beatles

Let It Be

(don't just ignore the foreign writing, this is a great version of the song)

this is what is for dinner tonight

This is a recipe I found on

Pinterest

It is Mongolian Beef

It is delicious

Everyone in my family eats it

Winning

I serve it over brown rice & broccoli or asian style veggies

Love

Source: pinkbites.com via Tracey on Pinterest

Pinterest

  Pinterest

This is my latest obsession

It is crazy

It's like a virtual bulletin board for all things you love, want to create, dream about, eat, read, & laugh at!


It is a black hole time sucker
don't tell me I didn't warn you!


Have fun & happy pinning!

Teach Me How To Dougie

So I was having a pity party today

really nothing earth shattering

just really nothing at all

I sent an email to all my girls for moral support

In my list of complaints I listed that I was upset

that I didn't know how to Dougie

(this really isn't something to be upset about,

I was trying to be funny &

make fun of the list of nothingness that I was upset about)

to my surprise all my besties did not know what it meant

to dougie

so if my peeps don't know what it means

to dougie

then it is my obligation to show the

very small list of followers of

BellaSky Readers

what it means

to dougie!

So here is how the whole

Dougie thing happened in my world

This song started playing on the radio

at minute marker 0:44 ish is when bruno mentions

"...turn on MTV so they can teach me how to Dougie..."

Dougie?

I asked

what's that

I want MTV to teach me too

So then I found this

and this

And that's how learning how to Dougie became a life mission for me

And now you are all informed

you're welcome!

Best From The Blog World Wednesday

So it's been a while since I have written on here!

Just found this little clip of happiness!

I <3 the movie "Clueless'

It make me happy

Cher is the best

You're welcome!

Best of the Blog World Wednesday (or Thursday!)

Do yourself a favor

go here:

www.thebloggess.com

read

wet your pants

seriously!

"Vintage" Canisters

A gift from my aunt & uncle

These A-DOR-A-BLE

mushroom canisters

Can they be any more 70's????

So there is a story as to why these are now sitting in my kitchen

Growing up, we lived right next door to my aunt & uncle

These canisters sat in her kitchen for years

they were such a part of the backdrop of my childhood years

where we spent hours with her cooking, painting our nails, chatting and just being loved

Fast forward 30+ years

These precious treasures from my past were passed on to me!

My Aunt came to visit and gave them to me

"Honey, they have been sitting in my basement for years.

I knew you loved them so I wanted you to have them!"

They have a special place in my heart & now they have a special place in my kitchen

I {heart} them so much

I love you Aunt J!

Also, do you not love my curio cabinet?

It is a flea market find!

it is made from salvaged window frames!

{love}

Mod Podge + Goodwill=Pottery Barn Inspired

I saw this post on this absolutely awesome blog that i have been following

called

Mod Podge Rocks

I don't know Amy personally

But I worship her from afar

She has the best ideas

and she uses

Mod Podge for almost all of them!

She found it on another blog called

On the V Side

Anyway, I love these pears the minute I laid eyes on them

I have always loved to read even as a child

so I was inspired to create something using this look

I found this fugly chair in Goodwill for $.99

I gave it a base coat of off white paint

(did not take a before pic but you can still get an idea of its fugliness)

Using pages from an old hard cover book (also Goodwill) i started randomly mod podging

the snipped up pages all over the chair

There was no method here

I just slapped the pieces on all over the place

overlapping & changing directions

tried to keep it totally random

I sanded the edges with sandpaper

then I inked the edges with an ink pad,

I used a little bit of brown acrylic paint on my finger tip to get the curvy areas

Finished

so professional, the backdrop, right?

Here it is on display on another Goodwill find for $4.oo

Primitive Folk Star Shelf

In a previous life I was a first grade teacher

I still love teaching, though I will probably never go back to the classroom

I thought it all went together well-

and was all "teachery"

primative star shelf/folk art/apples/books/chair


***Updated Picture***

Dogs doing human things

I am totally a sucker for these things

I can't help it

This dog cracks me up!

Dogs Rule!

Best of the Blog World Wednesday

I want you to meet the person that made me start a blog

Her name is Elsie Larson

I actually "met" Elsie at Archivers

Her book

52 Scrapbooking Challenges

was on sale in the bargain bin at Archivers of all places.

I had seen some of her layouts in some magazines

and loved her scrapbook paper.

I was so excited to actually have her book in my hands.

I immediately started to search the internet

for all things Elsie

and stumbled upon

A Beautiful Mess

It is one of the very first blogs I have ever followed

Elsie is adorable & creative

edgy & sweet & innocent

all a the same time

Since then

I was hooked

& have been a loyal blog reader for about 2+ years now

She has followed a dream of hers to open a shop

with her sister & her friend

called

Red Velvet Shop

Since then she has expanded to a bigger store

that sells vintage as well as handmade decor & fashion

some of which she has designed herself

so eclectic & just magical

She recently got married so I am posting this video of her wedding

precious

Elsie & Jeremy | May 15th 2011 from Goodwin Films on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

Best From the Blog World Wednesday

I found this blog

Nice Girl Notes

pretty recently

I love it

Roo is funny & creative

She makes my day when there is a new post from her,

Almost every single post she writes makes me laugh or she makes me smile!

She found this on You Tube

It is so freakin cute I just had to share!

Speaking of funny You Tube videos

This is my family playing the Wii

I am not sure what is more funny

My husband's fancy footwork & the way her twirls like a girl

or me snickering & snorting as I watch them!!!

Excuse the technical difficulties in the beginning

At the 20 seconds mark is where the fun begins, the very last few seconds are the best!

Good times!

Best From The Blog World Wednesday

very "firstest" ever

Best From the Blog World

Yet again another direction for

Bell Skys Blog

I have become sort of a

blog stalker

I have a set number of blogs that I have to look at every day

(see right hand column)

There are so many great ideas out there

I want to share them with whoever is out there & reads my silly blog

These posts make me happy & inspire me

so I thought it would be fun to share some "blog love" with you!

I dont know who even reads my blog

But if you are reading, leave me a comment & let me know what you think!

I am going to try to feature a fave blog post that I have discovered on Wednesdays

It may be a recipe,

an inspiring story,

something

Hi-Lar-I-Ous or

something crafty & creative

Anyway,

the first post is from a great blog

that is named so appropriately

on a daily basis I have been

inspired

click here

INSPIRED BY CHARM

I dont know Michael personally but stumbled on his blog & have become a regular reader

He followed his dreams & opened this Bed & Breakfast in PA.

On his blog he shares lots of decor & recipe ideas

Someday, I would love to stop by & meet him in person

& stay in one of his pretty rooms

So, he posted this recipe for Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes that looks so

mmmmmmm

(insert "Casey growl" there)

I havent made them yet, but i plan too

funny thing is that i made pancakes earlier today for my girls before I saw this post

(trying to avoid buying all that processed food & have started making a lot from scratch

cause I am all happy home maker like that, ha)

Filing it away for next time

If you try this, let me know how they come out

Stop by Michael's blog & check out all the amazing stuff he has done

He really is so creative!

Chrome Commercials-Love them-Here is Gaga's

I love her

I love this commercial and now love this song

This pic made my Mother's day!

This was taken walking through Alexandria on Mother's Day

It made my day!

They were being so cute, holding hands & giggling

I hope they always stay like this

If that's the case then I will feel like I have done my job!

love my girls

(pic edited by instagram on iPhone)

Thoughts about world events

This is an actual picture of

The World Trade Center

My Dad worked for

The Port Authority for many years up until the late '90s

He was there on the day of the '93 bombing

We grew up knowing this building

this was the landmark to welcome me "home"

when we crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge

after our 10 hour trip up 95 North

When the news about Bin Laden came across I did feel joyful at first

but that just didnt feel right

It didnt feel right to celebrate someone's death

Yet it is hard to comprehend his purpose here on Earth

But hate is hate is hate, no matter how you slice it

There is no other person on the face of this Earth that is more evil than him

But hate is still hate

So it is relief

Maybe the families of the victims of 9/11 & all that have lost their lives protecting & serving

(there are too many, one life was too many!)

feel some justice

knowing the Earth is rid of such a wretched person

that he can no longer spew his filth & influence others

but there are more like him,

waiting in the wings

I am sure of that

So today,

when I found this quote I knew I had to share it.

(thanks S.H.S.)

As hard as it is,

Dr. King had it right!

"I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

-Martin Luther King Jr.

The Royal Wedding

Did you watch?

I woke the girls up to watch with me

We made tea and ate banana muffins

They asked a zillion questions

I wanted them to stop but it was kinda cute now looking back

She looks stunning, very Grace Kelly to me

One of my most favorite moments was when he first saw her &

turned to her & said you look beautiful

So beautiful, so regal

There is so much hope that they have what it takes to make it despite the scrutiny and pressure.

He seems to have many qualities that Diana instilled in her children

Wishing them many happy years together & many beautiful babies!

Also attended a "BIG GIRL" party at a friends house

complete with Bangers & Mash, Tea & Berry Trifle!

And of course our tiaras!

Fun!

Your Royal Name

In honor of The Royal Wedding

click here to find your Royal Name!

Mine is

Marchioness Tracey Lulu McCartneycock of Raleighport

wrong for so many reasons!

Family Fun My Ass!

I really am convinced that

Family Fun Magazine

is published to remind us of how boring we are & how we need to step it up and do fun creative stuff with our kids

I always do & then my kids lose interest 1/2 way....is it me?

I stumbled on this article

Carrot Patch Cookies

So I think, wow this would be so fun to do with the girls for Easter

I love projects

I always have so much free time that I can spend my leisure making things with them

then birds & flowers tied in ribbons will fly around us as we do them

NOT!

This project came out super duper cute & now that I did it, i know how to make it easier....

I would assembly line it

Again thats a

BIG HUGE IF I DID IT AGAIN

But here is how i did it

for those who want to know

I apologize in advance for the crappy pics

I was too lazy to take my ass upstairs to get my camera

So we started with

chocolate animal crackers

chocolate frosting

orange mike & ikes

green gummy candy

sugar wafers

So I beat the crap out of the animal crackers-

rolling pin in a ziplock was my method,

don't know if there is a better/easier way

Then we mashed in some chocolate frosting,

I didn't measure anything,

I kept adding frosting till it felt kinda like crumbly play dough

then my lovely assistants helped me sort out the orange mike & ikes

then start snipping the green gummy candies (rips)

I cut them in halfsies

then in quarteries

then snipped to make the stalks

then worked them into the snipped top of the carrot, really easy cause they are so pliable

You basically use the sugar wafers & frosting to make a rectangle shaped "flower box/planter"

So two are the long sides & 1 cut in 1/2 is the short side of the rectangle

the frosting is the glue to hold them all together

Then add in the "dirt" and "plant" the carrots

Funny thing is the girls had given up by then

the snipping had gotten tooo boring & they walked away

Hubby ended up taking pics for me and "planting" the carrots

There is a lot of extra "dirt" on the edges but they came out so cute!!!!!

Lot's of work

I ended up doing most of it

So, Family Fun?

Not so much!