Thanksgiving is the day after tomorrow and we are having some of the family over for dessert and drinks in the evening. We aren't cooking a feast this year, and I don't want the table to look sad and empty. I'm thinking maybe a nice centerpiece will help to fill things in and lend a festive touch. Maybe I will... maybe not. These are my favorites of the photos I've been looking at for inspiration.
I love the use of the colored glass in the below image.
Grouping together a medley of candles in different colors and sizes is simple and pleasing to the eye.
A fun idea for all the wine corks we've collected.
Love the incorporation of pears in this one.
A pretty wide mouth vase filled with pinecones and mini squash is simple and elegant.
Or I could keep it country with a mason jar.
I like the clean crispness of the white pumpkins.
Enough surfing the net for inspiration. I better get started with my own creation! If you are going to make a centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table this Thursday, I would love to see a picture!
Looking in the mirror the other day, I noticed my newly brunette locks were looking pretty scraggly. I wanted to get a trim before the coming holidays but the salon I had been going to in Springfield was starting to disappoint. I remembered that I had seen a cute salon on the square in Oz when I was there the other day collecting photos for a recent exploration project. I pulled up the photos and found the one I'd taken of the salon window. There it was... RetroPolitan. I decided to take a chance and picked up the phone to make an appointment. The idea of finding a salon I like that is less than a mile from my house made it worth the risk of a not so great cut.
The owner, Tamywa Thurman, answered the phone. I made my appointment with her for the coming Saturday. Perfect. I would get my hair cut and styled before Mark and I went to see my sister in her high school production of Hairspray that evening.
When I arrived at the salon on Saturday, I was greeted by Tam as soon as I entered. No wait. She took me straight to the sink after I hung up my coat and bag.
Arriving at the salon
Tam Thurman Owner/Stylist at RetroPolitan Salon
Tam is super friendly and easy to talk to. After she washed my hair we headed to her station so she could begin cutting. From the mirror in front of me I had a good view of the rest of the salon. The exposed wooden beam ceiling is painted a light blue and the overall style is what I would call "retro-eclectic". Christmas music was playing softly and the other ladies who work there were bopping about cutting and coloring other patrons hair.
RetroPolitan Salon
Tam told me that come December the salon will have been in business for three years. She said that this past year has been really great and they have established a good base of regular customers. The conversation was nice and Tam is obviously an experienced stylist who seemed at ease and very comfortable cutting and then styling my hair. After trimming off the dead ends and cleaning up my layers, she styled my hair with natural looking waves. I liked the end result and felt the cut was totally worth the thirty dollar charge. I wish I had thought to take a picture of my hair that day to include in this post. You can look at photos on the RetroPolitan website and their Facebook page to see the stylists who work there and view examples of their work.
If you live in or near Ozark, do visit RetroPolitan Salon the next time you are in need of a cut, color, wax, manicure, or even a spray tan. RetroPolitan also offers wedding and prom packages. Treat yourself to an awesome salon experience right here in Oz. I promise you'll be glad you did!
Sit in a location for one hour. Document all the sounds you can hear and the times you heard them.
The sounds of rain, cars driving through puddles at the park, and birds calling were constant background noise so I didn't write down EVERY time I heard these things. The rain didn't really help with the assignment because no one was at the park.
Sound Log Page 1
Sound Log Page 2
I took the following short video to give you an idea of my surroundings.
Beautiful rainy day, but not a lot of sounds happening.
What is really amazing here on the river, surrounded by all the trees, are the birds that hang out. It sounds like a midwestern jungle. Cardinals, bluejays, chickadees, crows, hawks, robins, golden eagles, turkey vultures, finches, cranes, you name it, we've got 'em. In the next video I captured some of them singing.
I'm glad the task took me outside this morning. I probably would have stayed in otherwise, but instead spent time enjoying the rain and the birds. Well, I think I'll head inside and warm up now! Until tomorrow!
You might recall that in an earlier post I said I wanted to be more "low impact" and "green" this holiday season. Well, I think I might try to make my little nieces Christmas gifts this year. What I lack in craftiness surely I make up for with creativity. I looked around online for some inspirationan and this is what I found.
I'm just going to freestyle the pattern. Something like this maybe.
This is probably the most simple bear you could make, although the lack of eyes or a mouth is kinda creepy.
The hand stitched bear below is more along the lines of what I have in mind.
These pandas might be a little involved for an amateur like me but they sure are sweet.
Last is this super cute little dude. He is my favorite for sure!
If any of you have made a stuffed animal by hand before and have any advice to make the process go smoothly, I would love to hear from you. If indeed I do make t-shirt bears, I will share pics. Wish me luck!
PS Need a smile? Here is Jerry singing Teddy Bears' Picnic.
COLLECTING TYPE
Document lettering you find out in the world. Take notes about where you found the samples.
I headed to the square in Oz. There I found many different types of fun lettering. The following photos were taken on either Church or 2nd street.
The pole in front of the spot I parked is decorated with pine garland and red bows. I took a shot of the attached sign.
A sign still remains from the Christmas open house earlier this month. I really like the lettering on this one.
The High Falootin lettering makes me think about oompa loompas.
I'm a big fan of this OPEN sign. Love the colors, lettering, and the fans on either side.
Groovy plaque.
I can imagine that a house built from start to finish by the Amish would be a pretty kick ass house.
A lovely store, but this lettering is not my favorite.
The blue lettering in this Smoke Free Missouri poster totally has a 90's vibe.
I would expect to see this type of lettering on the entrance to a tattoo parlor, not a pastry shop. Cute.
This is just random and a bit disturbing. I know it's a song, but what it has to do with the shop is unclear?
Love the Retro Politan lettering. I am looking for a new salon...hmmhm.
The painted sign on the side of Mr. Dry Cleaners facing Church street gives a comfy old fashioned vibe.
Nice lettering at 2nd Street Coffee.
In this photo you can see ornaments hanging from the ceiling that have sheet music on them. Cool idea.
The Persimmon Tree is my favorite shop name downtown.
Funny story. My bestie, Alicia, told me that Ben's was originally called Ben's Happy Place, BUT Ben was not happy at all. As a matter of fact he was downright grumpy and even rude. Thus, the name was changed to Ben's On The Square.
In yesterday's post I had mentioned that I've gone back to brunette for the winter months and would include a selfie for you to see.
Also, on a completely unrelated note, I recently fell in love with a movie I watched on Netflix called Last Keepers. It is 100% my kind of movie. If you are into nature magic or the Goddess you would totally appreciate it. Here is the trailer for interested parties.
You don't have to bend like a pretzel to do yoga. Seriously! You also don't have to practice everyday. I mean, I'm pretty sure a lot of you only play football once a year on Thanksgiving Day, but it's still fun right? You can keep a few easy yoga poses in your back pocket for those extra stressful times during the year. Exhausted from gift shopping? Hosting one too many Holiday parties? Stop. Take a yoga break. Pull yourself together. Breathe.
The following video with Karen Fabian is an easy set of poses to help you de-stress through the holidays. Do yourself a favor over the coming months and make time to take care of yourself. Drinking plenty of water, short meditation sessions, adequate sleep, and some yoga are really simple, yet majorly beneficial things we can pencil into our schedule.
This blog post was brought to you by a brunette. Yep, I've changed it up again for the winter season. I'll include a selfie in my next exploration post. Until the next time!
Write down (or document) fifty things about one of the following: A trip to the library, a trip to the grocery store, a walk in your neighborhood.
I had done plenty of tasks that involved taking a walk and I needed to pick up a few things at the market anyway, so I chose the grocery store as my project destination.
Arriving at the grocery store.
In the following video I am trying to get audio of the tornado sirens I heard when I pulled into the parking lot. I realize you can hardly hear it.
The first thing that hit me when I got out of the car was the smell of BBQ. Apparently Oscar's ribs are famous. At least he says so.
Smoking in the parking lot.
When I got inside and propped my book up in a cart I began writing down my observations.
Page 1 Observations
First stop, the salad bar.
Source of my lunch most weekdays.
I remembered I was out of turmeric. I sprinkle it on my salad. Better get a jar. Red Monkey is organic.
Picking up turmeric for my salad.
More observing...
Page 2 Observations
These dudes make me sad every time.
Lifeless lobsters
Plastic toys. A must for any self respecting grocery store.
Plastic dinosaurs
He was so busy he didn't even notice the paparazzi.
Frito Lay guy hard at work.
Clear whiskey?
KANSAS whiskey
Produce man keeping it fresh.
Produce guy cleaning out old stuff.
More observing...
Page 3 Observations
I don't remember a turkey on Sesame Street.
How to get to Sesame Street
After one hour I finally pay for my goods.
Salad, macadamia nuts, turmeric, and cotton swabs
This project was pretty good. I can't remember the last time I spent an hour at the grocery store. Kinda depressing really. I went down aisles and looked at things I don't usually buy. Overpriced processed crap comprised the bulk of it. It's totally true that you should stick to the outer walls and skip most of the aisles all together when shopping. Produce, bulk bins, dairy and the meat department are almost never down an aisle. Anyway, thanks for reading. Until tomorrow!
Before familiarity can turn into awareness the familiar must be stripped of its inconspicuosness; We must give up assuming that the object in question needs no explanation. However frequently recurrent, modest, vulgar it may be it will now be labeled as something unusual. -Bertold Brecht
