My first blog award and great roof news!

Hi everyone!  We just got home this afternoon from a wonderful weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where hubby and I took a break from our soggy home to visit our adorable DS#2.  We found him happy as a clam, healthy, making A's in all his classes and thoroughly enjoying life in a 6-guy suite in one of the nicest dorms on campus.  It can't get much better than that for a parent, I'm tellin' ya.

Before I say another word I must share the fantastic news that our homeowners insurance IS going to cover the complete replacement cost of our roof!!!  We're also getting $$ for repair of our "injured" closet, and they're even giving me a little money to compensate for the loss of a silk Stuart Weitzman handbag that I've had (to be honest with y'all, but SHHH ;-)) for years.  The flooded garage is not covered because it was, as we suspected, a groundwater problem.  But the insurance payment might be enough to end up covering even our out-of-pocket garage costs.  Can I tell ya that after we got this news on Friday, my poor husband slept well for the first night in a week??  YAY!!!

And the good news for me continues!  I'm pretty new to blogging and so far have only a small band of loyal followers, so imagine my surprise and delight on finding that both AppGal and Kathy and Seashell have nominated me for my first blog award!!

Beautiful ladies, you've made my day!!  Thank you so much for thinking of me, and for making me really feel like I've arrived as an "official" blogger now!

The rules for receiving this award, I understand, are these:

• Thank the person who nominated me.  

Check!  MWAH to Kathy, Seashell and AppGal!!!  I'm especially pleased to have been nominated by these three lovelies, since I admit to having a soft spot for them all.

AppGal is a woman after my Tar Heel heart.  I'm a native North Carolinian and even after all my great years in Atlanta I'd move homeward in a heartbeat.  AppGal loves it, too, and I get such warm fuzzies from reading her warm and chatty posts about the happy life she and her DH are building for themselves in one of the prettiest corners of my beloved North Carolina.  AppGal, I hope I'll be reading about wonderful events in your life, big and small, for a long time.  If you're blogging, I'm following!

I discovered Kathy and Seashell after seeing their blog linked to many of your blogs, dear readers.  One quick read and I was hooked.  Who wouldn't -- who couldn't -- adore a mother-daughter duet like this pair?  They share an almost tangible (it's THAT powerful) bond that goes beyond just parent/child -- they are mutually-admiring friends.  Awesome to see that.  I'm always excited to find new posts from them both, because each has her own unique writer's voice and yet both are honest, witty and so vividly descriptive.  Such fun to follow along!  Girls, may you have another sixty years of fabulous adventures together, and may you share them all with us on your blog!!

• Copy the award and paste it here on my blog.  Check!

• Link the person who nominated me.  Check!  

If you aren't already, I invite you to enjoy AppGal's blog "Musings on the Mountain" and Kathy and Seashell's blog "Two Hands Full of Daisies". They're both must-reads for me!

• Name 7 things about yourself that no one knows.  

1. I was born in the same hospital room that my mother was born in.
2. My mother was only 29 weeks pregnant when I was born, and my birth was a shockeroo to the little town where my parents lived because they'd not told anyone they were expecting.  My mom hadn't even begun to show, apparently.  I weighed 3 lbs 2 oz and was so premature that the doctors advised my parents not to name me because, they reasoned, I wasn't likely to live and if my parents didn't name me my death would feel more like a "simple miscarriage."  (This is how the thinking went in 1955...  Neanderthal.)  I stayed in an isolator/incubator for 10 weeks and wasn't named until I struggled my way to a whopping 5 lbs -- 8 weeks after I was born.
3. I've always been (til menopause) kind of a string bean, but boy can I eat.  In college my sorority sister (also skinny, also a big eater) and I won a Greek Week ice-cream-eating contest for our house.  We ate 32 scoops, weren't the least bit embarrassed about it, and went out for beers to celebrate with our sisters.  Thinking about this now, I can only say:  Gross!!
4. My hazel eyes change color pretty dramatically when I cry and stay that way for about three days.  It looks like I'm wearing really fakey green contact lenses.
5. I've had two honest to goodness ghostly encounters.  I know how that sounds, but the experiences were real and quite dramatic and rather wonderful, because one involved my grandmother and one involved my dad.  My mother, her sister and I shared the grandmother encounter at the same time, and we marveled about it together for years.  (P.S.  Came back later to add this:  I've never publicly talked about this until choosing to do so now, and frankly, I'm sure it sounds nutty to some of you.  That's okay. :-)  I'm as sane as you are, and if I hadn't lived thru it I probably wouldn't believe me, either.)
6. I'm an accent mimic and my kids are, too.  We pick up accents quickly and easily when we travel and we can "do" them perfectly when we get home.  DH does not have this gene, at all.
   
7. I have a true love/hate relationship with movie theater popcorn.  I love it, but I hate the fact that I cannot cannot cannot attend a movie without buying it.  I don't like to share, and I eat precisely as much popcorn as I buy.  If I buy a tub, I eat -- and enjoy -- a tub. 
   

• Nominate 7 bloggers for this award and post links.  

This is the hard part for me, because I'm finding fantastic blogs every day, thanks to all of you!  But if I had to pick creative (Kreativ) favorites besides AppGal and Kathy and Seashell (who certainly are at the top of my list), I'd definitely include these jewels:

1. A Bigger Closet.  This gorgeous Canadian blogger single-handedly pulled me hook, line and sinker into the deep end of the Crewlade.  Hers was one of the first Crew-related blogs that I found last winter when I had recently rediscovered J. Crew while on a mission to begin rebuilding my tired, momly wardrobe.  I've never seen an outfit on ABC that didn't look fabulous on her and that wasn't creatively coordinated.  For all of our sakes I hope our ABC gets that bigger closet, so that she can fill it and we can all continue to enjoy her chatty, insightful and always on-the-money observations about the world of J. Crew fashion.  ABC, you're the gold standard and I can't imagine why J. Crew hasn't recruited (recrewted? ;-)) you for the catalogs yet.  They're missing the boat!
   
2. 3-Penny Princess.  3PP's classic post about her 2008 "personal best" bargains is so shrewd, so wise and so much fun to read that I bookmarked it, and referred back to it time and again as I started mentally constructing what I wanted to accomplish in my 2009 buying.  But by far and away my favorite 3PP post is the eloquent, beautiful love story about her mother that she entitled A Visit from the 3-Penny Queen -- the sweet tale of how 3PP's blossoming sense of her own Crew-inclusive fashion style led her to rediscover the many wonderful things about her mom.  3PP, your mama raised you right, honey.  MWAH!
3. Crew Crew 4 J.Crew.  I discovered Audrey's blog after I discovered Audrey under her Unbelievably Awesome eBay Power J. Crew Reseller name, natedac.  I've been slowly accumulating some choice past-season J. Crew items off eBay after reading rave blog reviews, and Audrey's become my hands-down favorite seller.  She's always got a great selection of pieces, she's responsive, she's quick, she's friendly and accommodating, she packs and ships beautifully, her pricing is reasonable -- there's not a thing not to love about her as a Seller.  But she's also secretly a fabulous J. Crew stylist, and I know I can count on her "What I Wore Today" blog posts and "matching" Polyvore sets for fresh ideas on using new and old J. Crew pieces.  Audrey, nothin' but love for ya, girl.
4. Fabulous Florida Mommy.  I've mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating that FFM was the very first JC blog that I ever read, and my introduction to the totally-addictive Polyvore.  I found FFM's blog after spending a rainy winter afternoon trying to Google-research J. Crew clothes and get some ideas for outfits.  I had no idea what a gold mine was out there, and I can distinctly remember the jaw-dropping feeling of discovering FFM's famous custom-designed Polyvore sets.  I still happily check in on FFM's blog every day, I still love her wonderful sense of style, and I've really grown to love and look forward to her weekly "Inspiration" posts.  Here's my 2009 personal favorite:  Brighten the Corner Where You Are.
   
5. Gigi's Gone Shopping.  You all feel the same way I do about Gigi, I know it.  There's no one in the blogosphere who casts a wider or more expertly-aimed net for great Crew-ish fashion finds than she does.  I've learned to check her blog before pushing the ENTER button on any order for a new and trendy piece at J. Crew.  More often than not I'll find that Gigi has found, tried on, inspected, photographed and reviewed the JC piece I'm considering and that she's also pointed out other vendors' similar pieces that might be better buys.  Her posts (and her e-mails, should you be so lucky) are honest, direct, thoughtful and smart as a whip.  Keep shopping, Gigi. I'll keep reading!
6. Sweet Tea in Seattle.  (A/K/A Sparrows and Sparkles).  I found STIS this summer and was a fan for life the first time I laid eyes on her blog with that amazing header picture of her three beautiful little towheaded children skipping at L'Arc de Triomphe.  It ought to be captioned, "The Personification of Joy".  Then I read her profile bio and grinned from ear to ear.  She says of herself: "I am a displaced Southerner, mom to three beautiful babies, married to a very kind, easily distractable, brilliant businessman of a husband. I like: sunshine, coffee, cute shoes, expensive handbags, inexpensive jewelry, European cities, doing laundry, eating out, fashion magazines, interior design, kate, Lilly, and Tory, and trying to figure out what is going on in the world of politics. I don't like: people who are mean or get in my way when I am shopping."  Her sense of humor, her innate Southernness (recognizable anywhere by another Southern gal -- it's like a secret handshake), her cheerful energy and her sheer joyfulness permeate her blog.  I especially enjoy her fabulously descriptive accounts of her busy family's travels.  Always a smilefest for me!
7. And last but only alphabetically, My Superfluities by the just plain wonderful Dina G.  Dina wears her big heart on her sleeve and a huge, contagious smile on her very pretty face.  I just love visiting with her.  I know her posts will be chatty, fun, filled with happy anecdotes about her family and friends and chock full of spot-on observations about J. Crew and Boden and other great clothes.  I love Dina's OOTD pics; few bloggers out there can say that they outfit themselves with as much confidence and flair.  She's just beautiful!!  Dina's started another blog, Mid-Century Mom, and I can't wait to see what she has to say there about her newest adventures.
   

• Leave a comment on your nominated blogs to let them know you've nominated them. Check!

So that's it for me, everyone.  I know most of you already follow the blogs I've nominated, but if there are any that you're not already familiar with I encourage you to click and read.  They're addictive!

Thanks again to AppGal, Kathy and Seashell for the fun award!!!