what a pleasure...

What a pleasure to have Alisa Bangerter visit the shop today...I knew whom she was right after her mother walked in, as her mother has told me for some time now that Alisa was going to come in one day.

She is as delightful & cute in person as she is on tv. Do you watch her on Studio 5, she has the funnest segments...parties and gathering, and if you know at all about her she doesn't do just an average party. Her creativity shines. The days I am home, I always stop what I am doing and watch studio 5 at 11:00 a.m. Alisa says the days you can't watch then go to ksl.com and click on studio 5, or just type her name in search and it will take you to all her segments and they have more detail than her 8 mins. on the show.
That sounds like a helpful thing doesnt it, I mean, how many times do you want to do something fun and don't know what to do...well, let alisa take care of that for you and it will be a hit of a party.
So...one of our customers insisted on an autograph, then I couldnt let her outdo me, so I had to ask too. I had her do it on Jo Packams page in the new Where women create. It was her editors page where she talks about friends and how important they are to us. And...I hope alisa one day gets into this book...after all, she is a creator...alot in her kitchen possibly?
Do you want some inside scoop on what Alisa and her cutest daughter was attracted to? Lets say they are the proud owners of Jayna's altered art neclaces and each had to have a big purse!



Here my granddaughter Chloe posing at Rainbow Gardens in the mouth of Ogden Canyon, we snuck a quick get away up there to see what was happening...I always love window displays and with a cute granddaughter included had to be the best part.



Chloe, although a bit bashful wanted more pictures...kids now days are really use to lots of "say cheeses" arent they?

I'd be smiling too...

If I were standing next to Olivia Newton John I would for sure look as happy as my daughter is...Olivia and Her husband "Amazon John" has a company that is into nutrition and a whole LOT of Humitarian work.

Grease was Shellies all time favorite movie...my kids were always watching that video, was that the mid 1980's? So this is really a special experience for her to have a photo together. So... did you have a favorite song from the movie Grease?

What's that saying...about birds & hands?

The first person who comments on what that saying is...well...gets a prize! I'll think of something fun for you, okay?

You know, the bird/hand thing? Please tell us what it means too.

Jayna has the best bird altered art neclaces...we have some new ones in...and some really really funny ones, hurry they are selling faster than we thought! Good for Jayna!

Even our hats play "dress-up" in pearls & rhinestones

Even our little straw hats play "dress-up" adorned in pearls, rhinestones or fit for the season. Come pick one out that fits your style.
Our sale basket of vintage linens, pieces of fabric and partial pieced linens will be restocked with $2.00 pieces a super duper big deal for a Material girls projects.

Where women create...Mary Englebreit issue ...so fun!

Where women create autumn issue arrived Monday...its cover features Mary Englebreit...need I say more? It's full of wonderful decorating and stories.



Autumn issue of Blogging arrived too, when the cover says Artful blogging...that's exactly what it means. Alot of diverse and interesting blogging going on, makes life interesting. These books have the best eye candy pictures of any book I know of.



Today Framing this beautiful roses plate trimmed in 14 kt. gold and framed in the original frame that is trimmed in pale antique pink velvet also serving as the background. I've added vintage doilies and pearls.

Oh, Dad did not have a hernia, and mother is mending...yeah!

FALLS & getting elderly...OOPS, OUCH, DANG IT!

We all know someone close to us who have fallen, hurt themselves, some more severe than others, its really quite common isnt it?
A month ago Merlyns (who works tues/thursdays) father fell in the nighttime unexpectedly and hurt himself, nothing broken, thank goodness, non the less truamatic and painful(something tore) for him and their family.

Saturday evening I was anxious to call my mother as she was returning from her class reunion she is 78, and looks forward to this every 5 years, actually she gets alot of anxiety about it, but always goes (we think to see her old boyfriend!!!) My dad thinks that to!
So about 9:45 we have a nice telephone visit about the reunion and she says well I am going to have a bath and go to bed, hope I can sleep.

Next day my sister calls me on her way home from Nauvoo and she proceeds to tell me that mother was drying herself off and fell backward into the tub full of water and hit her head. She is yelling for my father for help...well, he has needed a hearing aid for MANY MANY years and too stubborn to get one. Finally he shows up and without going into details he takes her to the hospital where she has the cut on the back of her head stapled up.

My mother has high "hate dr. office and hospital anxieties" and her blood pressure was at stroke stage and the dr. did not want to release her...however she told him there is no way it would go down if she stayed there. So she went home. Oh mother. I am thinking. But so her.

She tells me the story and says she thought for sure she was going to die right there in the bathtub. She watches alot of tv and has seen alot of head bumps/death results lately. So she thought that this was it and she just couldnt believe that is how she would die.

She seems to be doing well, taking it very slow and easy in the comforts of their home. While my sister today takes my dad to the dr. to see if he has a hernia, as on their first cabin trip this season he fell and did the splits as he slipped on the rug going out the door carrying the cooler. Oh no!

Does this sound familiar to those of you whom are 50 and over with elderly parents?
New worries for us for sure...grandchildren & elderly parents, oh, lets slip in our children! And while we are at it...ourselves!

P.S...the picture shown is an antique metal dr.s cabinet on wheels...did you know we have one in the shop for sale? It's awesome shabby white and probably from an old Utah hospital from the early 1900's.

Sock monkey n around ...the shop

We have sock monkey toys now...monkey sleeping bags, suitcases, coin purses, and purses, wrist rattles, baby hats, and a multitude of colors and sizes of sock monkeys.







Speaking of monkey n around...we certainly did that with our grandchildren! The cute little monkeys! Even got to play with the new Cloe puppy...chiawauwa??? Will I ever get that right.

Shellie got to Monkey around with Olivia Newton John over the week-end...for real!

Hopefully we will have a picture to share soon. Her favorite show growing up...Grease!




Speaking of sock monkey n around, I have a friend CJ who owns an antique shop with that very name, you will find it next to Piccalo Pizza just south of 12th street on the west side in Ogden. We have a new flier at the shop with some Ogden shops and more. And the new country registar arrived.

Delivery fresh from Mexico...

Julie you were talking about the "dog days of summer" and all the pretty doggie friends you have and Cindy You mentioned this morning about a soft place...showing your orphan children that's such a special place for you and softens the heart and soul.

So here is an email I received last evening from my daughter, bet her children are in heaven...it's Chloe my new grandbaby puppy! I can spell Mexican, but I can't spell the last part! You know what it is.

I want one too! (except for now I will just enjoy my childrens dogs, if you know what I mean). Isn't she precious?

Jayna's Paris Neclaces...

This week a couple dozen of Jayna's unique neclaces arrived...showing some favorites here with the two big Paris delights.

The one I love is the green one on the second picture...it reads something like a nap will cure anything...not the right saying, but you get the idea. Her new ones will hit your funny bone for sure.

They came...the shipment of SOCK MONKEYS in smaller sizes, little sleeping bags, purses and coin purses, little suitcases all with sock monkeys in lively colors, affordable and something neat for summer play or to put away for that holiday that is only 5 months away, ouch did I just say that?

I will take a picture of them displayed on Monday...today I am going to go find the field of flags in Weber county hoping to get a patriotic picture and enjoy a moment in memory of our soldiers who have given their lives for us.

We may close around 4:00 or so today, so don't plan a late shopping trip to the store, stay cool!

Fabulous Furniture...in white

Big shabby chic chippy White painted Oak wall cupboard now at the General Store.



Fresh painted Cochrane Washstand or Layette with pink glass handles, very chic at General store.



White painted stand, opens for Plant stand for porch or place a beautiful mirror over the hole and display your pretty things on top, maybe a lamp on the side? Just sent to the General Store.
We also took a white antique head and footboard all white washed to Re-Creations in Roy along with a big wall display case...must see! Check out our other goodies and Re-Creations nice furnishings too this week.




Green apple chair and OTHER fun things arriving today at Just a Bed of Roses, lets put it this way...whatever will fit in the car! And today the sock monkeys must show up...I can't stand waiting for them anymore! P.S. Somerset has shipped, I have a feeling its the autumn LIFE and WHERE WOMEN CREATE...I can't stand it...can YOU? Lets hope they arrive Monday. You'll be the first to know if its sooner.

Learning to be Pro-active instead of Re-active

My daughter just posted an article I found very inspiring. Its found on the right side of this blog...click on her blog: brighteyes foundation. See what the difference your life can be by being Pro-active instead of Re-active...sometimes we don't know what we are until we see it in writing and then go "hey, that's me!"

We had a situation at the shop yesterday with a re-active landlord...he could have cared less about the cigarette smoke coming into the shop from the renters up above. Nor that the air-cooler was not cooling. He more or less smelled and denied, felt the hot room and said HE loved hot! Now that's handling a situation maturely.

Well today I chose to be Proactive on this situation...and it will be NO MORE denial mr. landlord! And the leaky ceiling had better be fixed for the final time.

Just a little shop talk...hey its not always a "bed of roses" at the shop!

The pictures are items we took into the General Store last evening. They are open all week-end, go have a fun shopping experience. North corner of Gentile and Main. We will be open today and Thursday, closed for the holiday week-end.

Dixie's quotes of the day...

There is one thing I cant live without and it's Dixie of Lavender houses' daily quotes...Here is todays:

"its not so much HOW busy you are, but WHY you are busy.
The bee is praised
The mosquito is swatted!" -mary o'connor

Thanks Dixie I look forward to them each and every day, some make me laugh, many make me ponder and rethink. Always a good thing, don't ever stop.

Pioneer Days week... Note our shop hours...

Shop will be closed July 24 & 25th over Pioneer Days. Opened: Monday Tuesday & Friday we will open 11:00-4:30 and Wed. 10:30-5:30

Come down and try this enormous steak burrito at Francisco's Grill on the corner.This baby must be 12" long and 6: wide and 2" deep, a bit spicy too. We had a customer from west Bountiful who comes to this restaurant faithfully and passed on her husbands love for all of their food and she also shops Just a bed of roses...she exclaimed "I would travel further for these two shops". We are thankful to customers who let us know.


And then there is Francisco's flourless chocolate cake...this west bountiful customer raved about it too, along with some of our regular customers last week...so I just had to try it...and what a pleasure! whoa...this cake is like a melt in your mouth fudge brownie with whip cream and chocolate sauce.

If you feel the need for a chocolate indulgence...this is it!(our pretzels help too!

Arrived in the shop Friday is a yellow decorative board, wouldnt it look awesome standing in a garden? Or just hangning on a wall, maybe add some hooks and hang quilts or coats or jewelry from it? The red items are a large wooden magazine holder and red vintage suitcase. Not pictured are some smaller overnight cases fun for display. They are in the front window waiting for the sock monkeys to be arranged on them. Hoping for Monday...then I can just Monkey around all day... for a change!

Other goodies coming in too...some antique perfume bottles and a rusty birdcage...two extremes. That's because our customers are EXTREME! (in a good way!)
See you soon...

Lloyd Newell...I found his door in Kansas

But where is HE?

Lloyd Newell is a gem in my eyes and a well respected man around the world. I watch him faithfully each sunday morning with Music and the Spoken word. He writes all his talks, he is a volunteer doing so and he stays true to what the purpose of this program is all about...giving HOPE and inspiration to people all over the world no matter what their religion is.

Actually I saw him all the time traveling around & practices, I just couldnt get to him. Only I was bound and determined to talk to him on this trip. Last July my daughter Shellie was on a Humanitarian mission in Guatamala with Enterprise Mentors and Mr. Newell and his 13 year old son were there to do his sons Eagle Scout project...which is quite amazing, he raised over 2,500.00 and was able to fit and buy hundreds of shoes, build wheelchairs and pour cement basketball areas for the villages.

He remembered Shellie and her husband and her mentioning that we were joining this upcoming tour.

He was the MC for the programs each night and was delightful, informative and quite entertaining, giving us many chuckles as he explained traveling with this large of group on a tour such as this. The audiences loved him as he told how we all wanted to get on the same elevators and how much luggage was handled everyday, and lets not forget the reststop bathrooms and our patience!

In my next post you will see that I DID meet up with him...another one of my favorite moments and he was congenial to let us have our picture taken with him (though blurry, I dont even care!).
Right after I took this picture of his name on this door it was time for dinner buffet...thats right...another wonderful delicious buffet, this one chinese.

We never watched television on this trip, but the room we happen to go sit to eat had the msnbc news playing and there was an important newsbreak that Michael Jackson had been taken to the hospital. Shortly news of his death. Rather shocking, as it was to all the world.
So, I don't think I will ever forget this moment either.

OKLAHOMA...such an unexpected favorite of so many of us...

In Norman Oklahoma there is a place called Bricktown...it's comparable to Gateway in Salt Lake City only bigger with a small river winding through with boat rides. A big gathering place for people to hang out. In fact it was the big Harley Davidson rally, with thousands of harley riders down there, quite entertaining, the bikes are awesome.
Because the Timberhouse pictured below had fed us such a big lunch we were not hungry when arriving at our destination. We walked to Bricktown and saw the movie: UP, if you havent already seen it...well its a great summer "must see" movie. Then how could we resist the ice cream next door afterward. we always went to bed exhausted.
The next morning we could sleep in and not board bus for the day until maybe 1:30 (thus meaning that we would arrive back at 11:30 p.m. and sitting in a cold air-conditioned venue all day), however I started whining to Carl, oh please lets stay here today all day and miss the concert and just sleep and shop.
Then we concured that we were here to be apart of this tour experience and were going to finish to the end. Not everyone did this, there were some who stayed there all day...some shopped and some were resting voices and had respiratory illness and required to stay in bed.
I was so glad we didnt give in to the shopping & resting as this turned out to be the VERY BEST RECEIVED CONCERT and this is when we met Lloyd Newell for a picture and a short visit.



The hospitality at the Kansas Timberhouse Restaurant was unbelievable...


Imagine owning two restaurants one each end of town and having 5-6 buses of hungry adults that you need to be prepared for on their schedule! They fed us late lunch the first time and then 2 days later we returned for lunch again.




This concert was so well received, standing ovations like crazy, the cd's had the largest amount sold, something like 23,000.00 of them that night.Even the choir said they could see and hear the crowd. Oklahoma, well, I have never seen anything like it and it really did suprise us. In the buses afterward the choir seemed energized more so than I had seen them after a concert. We love you Oklahoma.

I have privatly journaled some extra stories of the trials that was given to the organizers of this tour of getting this tour into Oklahoma, it had been the one place that was really felt that was needed to be and yet so many obstacles kept getting in the way.

Whats important is that the Lord prevailed and the work was done and it was exceptionally received reminding us really who is in charge.



Here is the Liberty Jail site which is Independence (forgot to post it previously), a visitor center was built around it. Inside the choir was asked to chose a song to sing there, they sang "Praise to the man". I held up just fine, until outside in the bus I called my sister to tell her about how the trip was going actually I was leaving a message...then I broke down and just hung up. Poor thing, she was at girls camp and I was crying and mumbling and she couldn't understand me and thought our father had died. Sorry for the scare sis!

Oklahoma does have beautiful fields and plains, huge farmlands and big open skies with fabulous cloud arrangements. We could not take our eyes off of the scenery as we rode all day and into the night to our next destination Red Rock Amphitheater in Denver Colorado. Just imagine Tuachan in St. George only 10 times bigger.
I will post about that this week and that will finish up the 13 day tour.

Independence Missouri...full of history

This is Winter Quarters Visitor center in Independence Missouri. Inside were sister missionaries several from Utah teaching many fun stories about some of the old things used during this era.
We learned many things. There was a shovel that was worn so badly, it had been used to bury the dead along the trails and touched me deeply.
While standing next to the story of how the song Come Come Ye Saints came about , the choir was asked to sing this song.I was in another area & Shellie had called to check on us right before they started singing and I totally could not talk when I heard their beautiful and unexpected singing...shellie kept saying "mom, mom, mom are you there?" I was too choked up to even talk and I was glad to be wearing some big sunglasses. It was one of the most beautiful experiences on the trip. Willian Clayton wrote this famous song upon learning that his wife he had left behind in nauvoo had just given birth to a son. It has been a favorite of mine since childhood and was sung at each of the 7 concerts. It's so appropriate since we were following the Mormon trail and then this is the week (as I write this) that we celebrate Pioneer Days.

Bronze handcart representing the Pioneer families leaving their beautiful homes, farmlands & city heading West to "This is the Place" Utah. I still don't know if I would of had the courage to leave. I thank them & respect them from the bottom of my heart for all their long hard suffering and losses.



Carl standing next to the LDS Temple right near the visitor center and cemetary, isnt it beautiful and its smaller than the ones we have here in Utah. All the states we visited were so beautiful with their wooded hills, so green...however HOT & HUMID. I begged Carl not to sweat...he did anyway!



Standing on the hillside where Joseph Smith had dedicated this spot to be a Temple one day. It is directly West of the spiral temple of the Community of Christ.




Inside the visitor center this world globe showed all of the book of Mormons printed in the different languages.




We took this very fun Mule ride & narration around this historic town...




You don't see old casket shops like this now days do You?

We got there so early that most shops were not opened, however we did hit an antique shop and Scandanavian shop and noticed choir members hitting the old fashioned ice cream shop.





Window shopping around town Independence.



Old Pharmacy shop window display arent the old bottles just great, Carl loved them!




The spiral temple built in this area built by the Community Church of Christ in which we toured the building.



This is a copy of the very first edition Book of Mormon in the museum at the Temple owned by the Community Church of Christ. They had a wonderful museum downstairs for us to enjoy. Had some beautiful antiques belonging to Emma smith.