Camp girl

 Dad was a teacher and every summer for most of my childhood the family would get loaded into the wagon (at this time there were 6 of us kids) and we'd head out to Wyoming making stops in the Dakotas and various other states along the way. Then we'd camp for a good 6 weeks straight. No hotels and not even fancy campgrounds. If I had a nickel for every time we had to do our "business" in a hole in the ground I'd have a dollar fifty! The fanciest we got was a weekly trip to the local laundromat to wash everyones duffel bag of clothes. I can truthfully say that as a kid I kind of hated these summers. I couldn't stand, dirt, pooping in the woods, excessive heat or cold, bugs, leeches, ticks (experienced all of these often) and I had so many allergies that I spent a great deal of time with itchy eyes and a scratchy body. I was the kid that dreamt of summers at home with my friends at the park district pool. I was kind of an anomaly within my family. The rest of my siblings loved roughing it. As an adult I've grown to have a much greater appreciation for the outdoors. But I do it my way now. No camping and no real roughing it. More like walks on the beach, nature hikes for photography, country drives, small town antiquing and stays in Lakeside houses with comfy beds and a nice hot shower.

The above photo is one that my dad gave me recently in the form of a slide. My husband surprised me by sending off a bunch of the slides to a place he found online (scanflurry.com) that makes them into photos on a disc.  You then  print as many photos as you like. They did a great job and it was not very expensive. 

I love that in this photo my siblings and I have a slight "help we're stuck in a commune" look about us. Especially Courtney in the yellow and Lara in the white. My brother Sean has a funny choke-hold on Courtney. And the way he has his arms around us you can see he is taking his role of brother/dude very seriously. Also hysterical is the full size playpen set up behind us, with the youngest at the time Adam inside of it. And my mom is behind us not facing the camera. She was probably thinking "I don't have time for photos.... I've got to make dinner for 8 people over a camp fire"

 That is 9 year old me tip toeing around the car to take a peek at a real bear sitting on the side of the road in Yellowstone National Park vicinity. Photo taken by my dad and given to me recently. I remembered the event but had no idea it had been documented on film. This was circa 1976.

Here is another one of the photos (slides) my dad gave me. This one dates to the early 70s as I think I look to be about 4 or 5 and was born in 67. Do you dig my striped pants. I did! I vividly remember this pop up van we had for a year or two as the WHOLE family crammed in there for sleeping and I'll never forget the night we were all awakened by a bear digging around our campsite looking for food. I think I remember it even coming right up to the van although maybe that is my little kid imagination at play. But it really was digging around our site. I had a hard time sleeping after that night. I did feel fear about a giant grizzly claw ripping thru the van and getting me.  If the fear of ticks and leeches didn't cement my feelings of despair about camping the fear of being bear dinner sealed the deal.  

It's been fun seeing the slides turned into photos and we've now framed the three shown here and since we liked how they turned out we are sending in another stack of slides to be converted.  Looking at these images makes me realize that I may not have loved camping and all that it entailed but spending all of that time with my family is part of what made me me and I really wouldn't trade that for anything. 

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39 again

I wish that I could just have stayed put right at 39 years old but no, time does keep marching on.  Saturday I turned 46 but I can honestly say I don't feel a day over 45!  I like a pretty low key birthday.  I'm definitely not into birthday parties or fancy dinners so this year as always I went out for breakfast (my favorite meal to eat out) with my sweet mister and then headed off to some estate sales and vintage shops.  The vintage pickins were not too good but the breakfast was yummy and the company divine.

I must have been a somewhat good girl this year because I was lavished with gifts from my beloved friends and family in a manner fit for a queen.

I received:

• a homemade, totally from scratch white cake with white frosting that was so delicious it made my stomach and my heart sing
• a fresh fig candle that smells of a lovely greenhouse.  smelling it is making me dream even more of spring
• super cute storage containers to keep my vintage buttons in.  my sister called them button bins and then I promptly shortened that to butt bins.  she set me up for that one ... what can I say, I'm pretty immature.  
• a hand carved stamp from India that was purchased by a friend in India and came with the tales of seeing similar stamps in use to create fabric
• a batch of the world's most delicious homemade red sauce that is prized in our house and hoarded until we make a batch of lasagna or some other delicious dinner
• a gift certificate to Townhouse Books cafe ... this is a favorite lunch getaway spot for me and husband.
• a hysterical and operatic singing of happy birthday via a phone message from minnesota ... an award winning performance that will linger in my mind for months!
• the cutest tote bag featuring a fit and flare illustration reminiscent of a Dior couture dress
• a scrump-dilly-ishous cheese souffle and corn pudding straight from the oven of the world's sweetest and kindest woman
• the funniest stuffed animal ground hog and ground hog's day book.  I laughed so hard I almost cried when I unpacked the stuffed animal from the shipping box.  It was so unexpected yet so appropriate for a girl who get's to share a birthday with the ground hog.
• the new Willie Nelson cd .... so fabulous!
• handmade bookmarks, itunes cards, a butcher shop gift card 
• a hand delivered piece of the world's most delicious tiramisu from La Dolce Vita in Lemont.  

After this embarrassment of riches I could only think and feel one thing.  I'm NOT worthy.  It's hard to feel worthy of the love and affection I receive on a daily basis from my friends and family.  I only hope and I literally pray that I can be half as good to them as they are to me.  My family and friends are the truest gift in my life.  Not only did they make my birthday great, but they make every day great. Pin It

hello old friends

Um, it's been a long time since I've blogged.  The holiday season blew thru Moxie like a confetti filled whirlwind.  It's pretty much the same thing every year.  It starts out with the set up in October and then moves into November which is busy but manageable.  We make it thru our two big parties and still keep on ticking and then December 15th or somewhere thereabouts arrives and I don't know what the heck happens. It's a combination of the shop being REALLY busy (thank you!!) and our own personal lives needing massive attention to try to get all of our own family shopping, baking, wrapping done and you mix in working schedules that are ill-advised at best and wham..... weeks go by with no time for blogging.  Or maybe there was time, but in my case there was no energy left at 10 pm to do it! I wanted to do it.  I told myself I would do it.  And yet, it did not happen.  I'll try to forgive myself for not accomplishing the task but it won't be easy as I'm famous for my die trying personality. (also ill-advised).

Here is a super simple summary of what happened over the last few weeks ....

• team moxie gift bagged their booties off
• lots of fun happened with cute and sweet customers
• re-decorated the shop daily to keep it looking good
• noticed that our downtown is really hopping lately ... more shops than ever before!
• managed to get all of my own gifts procured and wrapped in time.
• hosted Christmas Day at my house without any cooking disasters ... yes!
• snuck away for a 4 day New Year's retreat with mr. moxie to rest and rejuvenate before heading off to multiple back-to-back gift shows
• non-stop planning, dreaming, and imagining in order to start out 2013 in the best possible way!

I am currently sitting amongst stacks of my inventories thinking about the past year and making plans for the new one.  One thing never changes and that is the gratitude I feel for my family, friends, staff and customers.  You each make this possible.  I couldn't imagine doing any of it on my own.  I really have the best support team in the world.  Thank  you, thank you, thank you!!

A little photo I took while on my winter retreat.  I enjoy serenity and quiet as much as I love the color, lights and whimsy of the holiday season.  It is nice to rest the mind and body after such a crazy three month retail period.  Good for my soul too.  There is nothing like a quiet walk in the woods with my dearest to just breathe and think and listen to the wind thru the pines.  It was just what I needed.  And now, the gift shows are almost here and I'll be heading off to far and wide to procure what I love and hope you all will too.  Wish me luck!  And wish me loads of energy too .... those gift shows are grueling!  And you thought shopping was all pure fun .... oh no, when you shop with Mr. Moxie, you shop till you drop (literally).  But he carries all the catalogs and after 12 years I've finally convinced him it's ok to stop and eat lunch.  Especially after I told him how a hangry wife (hungry + angry) is not a happy wife and as we ALL know, happy wife = happy life!!!!!!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season and wish you all a healthy and happy New Year! Pin It

My sweet niece Brooke

One of the greatest joys in my life is being an aunt.  We used to sell a frame that said "Aunt ... like mom  only cooler"  and if that isn't one of my missions in life, I don't know what is.  I have a secret that I usually don't admit publicly but am going to now.  I'm not a "baby" whisperer like many I know.  You know the sweet people who love to hold and coo babies in their arms for hours upon hours.  My sisters Courtney and Lara are like that.  No amount of baby time is too much for them.  They will wait in line to hold the newest addition to the world and me, I'm the one who likes to feel their soft hand in mine and make them smile or giggle from a distance.  But then I've had my fill and seek out the age groups that can talk.  And my favorite age group is the one that some find difficult ... the pre-teens and teens.  Of course had I not suffered from infertility and had kids of my own, I might feel differently.  But my life is what it is and on this path of mine I find teens so much fun to be around.  And maybe because I work so hard to keep my "cool aunt" status going, they actually seem to like to be around me too!  Yay for that!!!

The beautiful girl / woman you see in the photos here is my darling niece and god-daughter Brooke.  She is wonderful beyond words.  Being her god-mother has over the years morphed into me being what I've begun to call her "Fairy God-Mother"  That is how I get away with spoiling her a bit extra and getting away with it with my sister.  I'm crafty like that.  One of the things we like to do together is look through my "vintage vaults."  That's what I call my storage supply of gorgeous vintage dresses.  Time permitting she models them for me so I get to see them on someone who actually fits in the tiny works of art. (darn those dresses are so small!) 

This past fall Brooke and Mackenzie (my nephew's fabulous girlfriend) asked if they could do a photo shoot in my yard.  Mackenzie is an excellent photographer.  She is currently studying photography and graphic design at NIU.  Of course I said yes.  Brooke came dressed in a vintage late 40s cotton dress she had previously found at moxie and Mackenzie did her hair and make-up which I thought turned out beautiful.  The smart Mackenzie scheduled the session for when the light would be gorgeous ... right around 6 pm.  I asked if I could also take pictures since I've been trying to teach myself how to use my dslr camera and could use more practice.  I promised to stay out of the way (which I'm sure I didn't) and   Mackenzie graciously said Yes!  

These are 3 of my favorite photos that I took that day.  The genius idea to snap Brooke thru the screens of the porch was all Mackenzies.  But I'm so glad she came up with it because I just love how it turned out.  If Brooke were a singer this could be her album cover.  Not that I'm saying my photo is great, but just that she looks like she could be on an album cover! 

This photo above makes me happy.  I think I captured her spirit here.  She has a little something in the eyes that reflects her upbeat and feisty personality.  She is no shy wallflower and I love that about her.  

Here is the photographer and her muse at play.  A little friendly mid-shoot fun never hurt anyone.  Glad I was there to capture it.  It's always great to capture the photographer too!   I so admire both my niece Brooke and Mackenzie.  They are both not just creative and artistic but really great on the inside too. I'm just happy they allow me into their young worlds every now and then. 

Please visit Mackenzie Maeder Photography and Graphic Design on her Facebook page.  

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