11 Happy Things

For absolutely no reason (other than sharing happy feelings) are eleven (11) things that have made me really happy recently. Some are big, some are seemingly random, but all are important to me. These photos are all taken by me, concurrent with...uh...a little iPhone app called Instagram. You may have heard tell of it a time or seventeen.


Thing One: Mr. Bubbles by Tootsietoy. The logo of the bubble man with the magic wand is one I remember quite well from childhood (or at least some variation of this logo). Bubble man's little sailor-style cap makes me just as happy as the turquoise magic bubble wand inside. And the bubbles! So beautiful, and so hard to capture with an iPhone while blowing 'em yourself! Messy, silly, simple fun. 

Thing Two: This itty bitty succulent plant and this cool geode I found in a box in the upstairs hallway closet after the cat jumped into it. They look so adorable together, I think!

Thing Three: Random outings with my sweetheart (Thom) + Old buildings & signs around town. It's nice when your best friend can also be your future husband (17 days!) The photo on the top left is him looking at an Antiquing Texas circular. We were at the famous David's Barbecue for lunch after checking out some antique stores. Notice the sign behind Thom. It says, "Thanks, Y'all come back now ya hear." What else?!
Then we have Shipley Do-Nuts Established 1938. Cute building. 
The bottom left photo is my favorite pawn shop sign. It's got a big diamond and that's cool. I also really, really love the crazy magenta tinsel that flies year-round from the yellow lamp post. Such a great combination!
And then, of course there's IHOP. As many times as I say I'm not going to eat there ever again, we somehow always end up back there...usually around 3 am. Thank you, Thom for all of these adventures, which are the absolute tip of the iceberg that is our crazy fun times!

Thing Four: Spraypaint + the Try it Out board at Lowe's. It's beautiful! I wish I had a use for the pink neon paint. I'm sure I could think of one.

Thing Five: Palm trees + Sunglasses. Always a favorite. When I was a kid I used to fill notebook pages with words I liked and little pictures to go along with them, drawn in marker. Most pages were filled with words like tropical, sunglasses, ocean, and palm tree. I think my first dream career was California Dreamin' Barbie. Blue and white polka dot skirt, mall bangs, and pink roller skates and all!

Thing Six: Awesome Packaging. Case in point: Honey Boy Salmon. I wouldn't eat this stuff, as I was a mermaid in my former life and therefore cannot stomach seafood. However, the combination of the adorable little salmon and the name "Honey Boy" just kills me! Honey Boy is one of many pet names I have for my fiancee, as well as what my Grandmother once named her cat back when my mom was a kid...she says because he was so sweet.

Aside: This cute little Salmon with a snappy hat and bow tie reminds me of my favorite cartoon of all time! Here, just watch it. It'll be soooo worth it, I promise! For the animation alone, not to mention the songs and the tough guy, billiards playing, cigarette smoking fish!

"...You ain't the biggest catfish in the deep blue sea!"

Thing Seven: The Lake + my rear view mirror ornaments. Since we are selling our home in Texas and have showings almost every day, I have to vacate the house frequently. I like to go to the park/lake and watch the birds and the old men fish. My constant companion is this parrot that hangs from my rear view mirror. He and I have been through a heck of a lot together, and it is a little-known fact that if you pull his tail 3 times in a row you'll have good luck all day! The shell on the hemp rope is from Florida, made by and given to me by my brother.

Thing Eight: Coke + Pepsi in glass bottles. Reminds me of coming home from school to my Grandparents' house, positioning myself on the kitchen table (yes, on) to watch "The Brady Bunch" (reruns, of course) and cracking open a frosty bottle of Pepsi with the bottle opener. So delicious! I wish they'd still make them in those tall glass bottles. These are okay, but just aren't the same.

Thing Nine: Tramp + Thief. Our crazy cats. They hate each other, as you can tell from this photograph. They are probably my best friends in Texas, but that's another story! See how suspicious Thief looks of her sister? Ha!

Thing Ten: Family photos. I apologize that this is a picture of a picture, but the point remains the same. My fiancee was one adorable little boy! He still makes this face! I am absolutely smitten with him, past, present, and future. Don't you just love his little cowboy outfit, as well? 

And just so he doesn't kill me for this, here's an embarrassing one of me:

I think I still have pretty much the same haircut. And my stick pony goes with his cowboy shirt, so it's obviously a match made in...well...Texas. Ha!

Thing Eleven: Nighttime. It's cool, it's beautiful, it's relatively quiet. It means hanging out with my sweetheart watching Turner Classic Movies and eating amaretto cherry delight whatever ice cream. It means being in his arms, stars, cricket sounds. It means happiness.

I took this one about 2 hours ago when I went out to get the mail. I love it when the moon looks like a glowing fingernail mark up there in the sky. You say crescent, I say fingernail mark. 

Goodnight.

xoxo,

Ashley