The Diva
Kae-Kae
May 22, 2002-April 14, 2013

Hello Blogland!! Everyone having a wonderful week thus far?? My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the tornado yesterday in Moore, Oklahoma. It’s just unimaginable.

This will be a photo-heavy post today without much “chatter”. I’m feeling really blue. Tomorrow would’ve been the Diva’s 11th birthday. You may recall we were planning a Super Fantastic Cyber E-Birthday Extravaganza as befitting the International Style Icon and Supermodel she was.

It was not to be. For those of you who are new to the blog, the Diva (aka Kae-Kae) became ill suddenly Sunday April 7th. She was diagnosed with congestive heart-failure. Her little heart was damaged from the 5+ years as a breeder in a puppy mill. The vet said they couldn’t “fix” her but we could manage it. She seemed to be responding to the medication but began having seizures early on the morning of April 14th. We had to love her enough to do what was best for her and let her go.

She is missed terribly. She was an 8 lb bundle of personality and attitude. Definitely the Alpha-dog in our house. It was ALL ABOUT HER!!!  I still catch myself looking for her.

I can never express how touched we are at the outpouring of love y’all have shown the last few weeks. It has meant the world to me and it’s made it easier knowing how many people her little bossy blonde self touched.

We buried her in the herb garden. I found this winged dog statue and of course I had to Diva-fy it. She loved her bling and outfits and attention.

I want to share some of my favorite photo’s of her. They really can’t catch the essence of her Diva-ness. She was quite the character and we can never replace her.

My favorite Diva picture. I love the smile on her face!! She knows she is the loveliest flower in the garden!!

Last picture of us together taken about a week before she got sick.

Surrounded in glitzy gold lame’ as a Diva should be!

One the last pictures of Kae taken the Friday before she left us. This breaks my heart now because you can see how ill she really was.

Love how she’s got her tongue out!!

It’s exhausting being a Diva!!!!

KaeKae in the patriotic mode!!

Accessorized with adorable Diva

It’s exhausting being cute AND supervising!!!

The Queen and MrBill

The always adorable DIVA in her new party dress!!!

The Diva rockin’ her tutu and tshirt!!

MrBill and KaeKae. He misses her so.

I’ll leave you with a view of the Diva I got on many an occaison.  This is how she expressed her displeasure with anything–just turn and show you the butt of disdain.

I’ll be back on Thursday with outfit posts and such. Hug your pets a little harder tonite and give them a treat for the Diva!

TTFN

Tamera, Lauren and MrBill

I spent part of the weekend replanting my pots and my veggie garden. The freak frost and freeze the beginning of the week really destroyed all of my hard work!! It will be so worth it this summer when I’m picking those juicy tomatoes and inundated with squash and cucumbers.

I stopped by a yard sale on the way to the garden center and picked up a couple of goodies. Pickings are slim if you’re not interested in toys or kiddies clothes.

Vintage tablecloth for $1- it’s in excellent condition

Pair of pillowcases for $1- these may become a blouse.

Vintage full sheet for $1 destined for a blouse or skirt

I brightened my pink hair a bit this weekend. I left it on for 3 hours so it’s a bit brighter. Got lot’s of compliments and comments!!!  When I’m asked why I say WHY NOT???

I pulled out one of go-to maxi skirts for church today. These are always a lifesaver.  I got the color scheme from the iridescent bracelet.

Skirt-JJill/Thrifted, Cardigan-Thrifted, Top-Retail, Purse-LizClaiborne/Thrifted

The baby peeking from the picture over my shoulder is our daughter Julie . It was taken the week after she arrived from South Korea (she’s 5 months old) Wow does time fly!!

I’m linking up with all of the stunning ladies strutting their stuff at Patti’s for Visible Monday. Stop on by to see REAL style on REAL women!!

Everyone have a great rest of the weekend. Keep MrBill and I in your thoughts. The Diva’s 11th birthday would’ve been this week. I’ll be sharing on Tuesday the tribute we made for her.

TTFN

Tamera

I’m going to be spending some time in the gardens this weekend. Even though I covered my plants, the freak late season frost/freeze killed about 8 tomato plants, my basil, my eggplants and my squash. BUMMER!! I’ll be replanting them plus I need to get some scented geraniums to pot up  and pineapple sage.

If you garden and can get it I HIGHLY recommend Pineapple Sage–it’s an annual but makes a shrub!! The leaves are a lime green and smell FANTASTIC–They make a wonderful tea. It gets these dark red spikey flowers in September. I plant it among my perennials and shrubs every year.

I’m glad everyone enjoyed those hunky hairy 70′s dudes!!! Those were the days!! today I’m feeling a bit snarky so I’m sharing ads that just make me laugh!

1. Look- a condom hat!!
2. Cockroach racing???
3. Prune Party–diapers optional
4. I want this lamp!

1. Oh yeah!
2. The Skipper from Gilligan’s Island and orgies?? YUCK
3. Dude looks skeevy to me.
4. For your orgy with the Skipper. Double YUCK!

1. Is that a condom on his head??
2. Prune party-diapers optional
3. Creepy babies in a plastic bag is just wrong!
4. There’s a whole lot of projecting going on here!

1. I have no words for Butt Bullets
2. Somewhere this is someone’s Saturday night date!

1. I must find this movie to watch-it looks trashtastically awesome!!
2. I so need this cookbook for my collection!

I’m gonna print and frame this!

And now to the invisible portion of our program.  Yesterday’s outfit turned out to be a DUD DUD DUD!! I felt uncomfortable and blah all day. It worked in theory but the dress ( a gauzy fabric) stretched really weird on the top and the armholes were down at my waist by the end of the day. It’s in the donation bag now. Here’s the evidence:

Maxi-Thrifted, Cardigan-Retail,

Today’s outfit was inspired by the always awesomely cool Reva of  REVASRAGS2ROSES!!  I took one look at this outfit and knew I had to recreate it!!

The amazing Reva!!

I didn’t have a pink blazer but recently thrifted a bright pink cardigan. What do y’all think??  I got tons of compliments on it and felt funky, comfortable and just so dang COOL!! Thanks Reva for the inspiration! Since my shoes aren’t blingy like hers I pinned a vintage brooch on pants cuff.

Cardigan, Jeans, Top-Thrifted, Shoes & Hat-Retail

Hat-Retail, Bracelets & Earrings-Retail, Pendant-DIY, Pin-Vintage

I’ve  got a pile of stuff to prep for some refashioning. I like to seam rip whilst watching TV. So I’m off to watch the American Idol (GO CANDICE!!!) whilst I rip away!! Everyone have a great weekend and I’ll be back Sunday!

TTFN

Tamera

The pink streak in my hair (soon to be a brighter more Krista/Desiree pink)certainly has evoked some odd responses. Other women seem to love it–even my daughter!! She’d have a pink streak if it didn’t involve having to bleach her hair and such!!

Male response–Lauren liked it (he was SCARED when I announced I was doing it). My male co-workers (who I think I baffle anyway) are a bit perplexed. One ACTUALLY asked me if I had accidentally spilt Koolaid  ON MY HEAD and it stained my hair. AND  he was SERIOUS!!! LOLOLOLOLOL

Today I want to share some vintage 70′s ads featuring some sexalicious MEN in all of their hairy glory!! Feast your eyes on these studs!!!

Boom-chicka-wow-wow!!!!

And last but not least:

Our VIX is a doll!!! I swear add a bindi, and some dangly earrings and it’s her spitting image!

I came home Friday to a fabulous package from Clare of MissSimmondsSays!!! I shed some bittersweet tears over the fabulous pin she made of the Diva. I was truly touched and thrilled with everything!!

Cute home-made dress. This will be getting a bit of refashioning for the boobage.

gorgeous scarf in my colors and an assortment of ephemera (Clare and I share a love of it)

Groovy card!!!

Adorable MrBill pin and Diva brooch made by Clare. I will treasure these!

I forgot to take a picture of yesterday’s outfit. Trust me you didn’t miss anything. I was bored with it myself!! Today’s outfit was simple and chosen to be WARM. It was 28 degrees this morning!! And it will be 85 degrees tomorrow. CRAZY!!!

Everything but the shoes is thrifted!!!

Tonite is the season finale of NCIS so I’m off to spend time with my TV Boyfriend!!! Everyone have a wonderful weekend and I’ll be back Thursday.

TTFN

Tamera

Our darling daughter and the grand-puppy came up Friday nite to spend the weekend while her hubby is away in Georgia at school. MrBill was VERY excited to see Noelle!! He just LOVES her!!

Julie and Noelle

Whilst I was waiting for her to arrive I pulled out this:

Party-Time Pinkl!!!

And here’s the results. I left it on for an hour (said on bottle 10-20 minutes) as my hair is natural grey as opposed to bleached out hair.  Grey tends to be a bit resistant to dyes. I like the light pink result. The next time I’m going to leave it on longer for a darker pink. My daughter LOVED it and I got loads of compliments as the Mother-Daughter Breakfast!

Here are some Noelle pictures. I couldn’t get any of her and MrBill together as she is QUITE energetic. Bill loves her but she wore him OUT!!! They just left and he is SOUND asleep! It did show us that when we adopt another dog we need to get one a bit older and calmer! He’s just too old to handle it! I made the zebra dress for her.

Friday was a casual quiet day at work. I got the glittery tshirt at Walmart for $7 and gathered the sides up myself to give it shape.

Purse & Shoes-Thrifted,
Capris-Thrifted, Top-Walmart

We had a load of fun at the Mother-Daughter Breakfast. They had a fashion show (pictures later this week) that was so much fun. Several of us “menopausal supermodels” have been recruited to work the runway next year!

Skirt-Thrifted, Top-DIY/Thrifted Fabric, Bracelets-Vintage, Sandals-Retail

I told Julie she had to have her picture taken for the blog, too!!

After the breakfast we got pedicures together and then I took her to the local consignment shop. Julie made out like a bandit. She has to dress conservatively for her job like Lynne of Good Will Hunting.

Julie made out like a bandit!!! she spent all of $27 for the following: (Sorry my pix don’t do them justice!)

Ann Taylor skirt-$4

The Limited sheath dress- $8

Calvin Klein sheath dress-$14

Although it seemed odd to buy two black sheath dresses, the Calvin Klein has pleats across the bodice and is a bit dressier. Both can be worn with cardigans or jackets. She plans on wearing the Calvin Klein at their first anniversary dinner later this month.

Here’s what we wore to church and out to dinner today. I got a REAL DEAL on the maxi dress. I had a $10 off coupon for Kohl’s. I found the dress on the clearance rack marked down from $68 to $16.99 as-is. It had some deodorant streaks on it. I figured it was mine for $6.99 plus the coupon. when I got to the register they gave me a scratch-off that added an extra 30% off. I got the dress for under $5 with tax!! SCORE!!!!

Cardigan-Thrifted, Dress-Retail, Necklace & Bracelet-DIY

Noelle butt photo-bomb!!

Well I’m off to say good-bye to Julie and Noelle. I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend and I’ll be chatting with you more on Tuesday. I’m linking up with all the fantastic ladies at Visible Monday!!

TTFN

Tamera

Hello Blogland!!! Seems like the consensus on the hair streak is PINK!!!  so pink it shall be this time!! Next time maybe I’ll go for turquoise or lime green!!!  The stuff I’m getting washes out in about 6 weeks so I can be a rainbow all summer!!

I have outfits to share in this post. I’ve been having a craptastic Fibromyalgia Flare the last couple of days and have been hanging out with MrBill and my tablet in the recliner. I’m starting to feel a bit better today.

I wanted to share some Groovy Sixties and Seventies era Mother’s Day Cards with everyone!

Doesn’t this look like our groovetastic Vix???? 

I love the bright cheerful colors on these cards!

We have a busy weekend planned. Hopefully if the weather holds and I’m able- I’ll get the veggie garden done. Our daughter and the grandpuppy Noelle are coming up to spend the weekend and we have a busy Mom & Daughter day planned for Saturday. Gonna take her thrifting!!! MrBill is excited to hang out with Noelle. He can’t wait to introduce her to cow poo!!!

Everyone have an awesome weekend and I’ll be back around on Sunday with loads of pix and a pink streak in my hair!!

TTFN

Tamera

Cute MrBill chillin’ on his poochie pad!!! He is starting to exhibit a bit more personality now.

I discovered after posting Sunday that somehow a whole paragraph about cucumbers got deleted. So if you were wondering what on earth Zen and cucumbers had to do with anything in the post……..

On Sundays after church we stop by the grocery store and I pick up the fresh produce for the coming week. I’ve found that we are more likely to actually EAT it as opposed to watching it become penicillin if I spend a bit of time prepping everything.  I mellow out on Sunday afternoons by playing some tunes on Pandora and chopping up veggies and such. I’ll chop, peel,  wash, spin-dry, and bag up lettuce, kale for smoothies, carrot, cukes and whatever fruit we’ve brought. I often will make up a pot of brown rice or other grains in the ricecooker (LOVE) at the same time. I’ll also haul out the food processor to chop and slice onions and such for later in the week. It saves time getting dinner together!! I’ll also pack up in individual containers my work  breakfasts and lunches for the week. It’s all rather soothing and Zen and does make life easier in the mornings not having to deal with all this crap!!

Now that y’all know my anal-retentive food-prep tendencies….. On to some more FUN stuff!! This week there will no taxidermied rodents to ogle but instead let’s explore Vintage mother’s Day Cards!! I’ll be starting off with sharing cards from the 30′s through the 40′s era. I always love the sweet images from this era and the pastel watercolor effect the artists used.

I’ve been somewhat ache-y from gardening this weekend so yesterday I pulled out an easy maxi outfit to wear!

Dress-Retail, Sweater-Thrifted, Necklace-the fabulous Vix!!

Today I started out in a thrifted patchwork maxi skirt I’ve worn before. I managed to trip over myself and RIP the skirt badly. I’m not sure I can fix it–it was rather delicate (chiffon) and it tore through the patches. So this was my planned outfit for Wednesday:

Cardigan-Thrifted, Top-Thrifted, Skirt-Gift

It’s turned into a rainy, dreary day today. We need the rain but ugh, 50 degree rain is just bone chilling miserable!! No gardening for a few days.

Of course I have to leave you with a bit of weird!

What they thought MJ would like in 2000 (circa 1985) and what he really looked like in 2000!!!

Tonite is my date night with my TV Boyfriend Mark Harmon. I’m off to finish up dinner and get ready for some MrBill and Mommy lap time! Have a great evening and I’ll be back on Thursday!!

TTFN

Tamera

Friday nite a bunch of us gals from church got together at Longhorn Steakhouse for a much-needed Girls Night Out!!! I brought tiara’s because of course tiara’s were appropriate for a steakhouse!! Sorry for the lack of pictures but we were too busy laughing and eating.

Joyce and Andrea rocking their tiara’s!!

I was dressed so I couldn’t be missed!! I picked the dress up at Burlington Coat Factory recently. It had sashes that tied behind the back. One sash was completely ripped out of the seam, leaving the seam open. I asked the manager if he would discount it. He gave me 75% off of $19.99 so it came to a bit over $5!!! I removed the other sash and sewed the seams up. The purple jacket is LaneBryant and was thrifted for $3. The purse is also thrifted. Took the photo out in my yard looking towards the neighbor’s house.

Here’s a picture of Daddy and MrBill snoozing and snoring at 7am Saturday morning!

Saturday we went to the nursery to pick up our plants and seeds. I spent the rest of the day planting out the pots in red geraniums and purple alyssum. The pots will look fabulous in a couple of weeks!!

Front walk with new purple coneflowers and blue salvia

Front porch pots. I made the red planter from an old chair.

Planter boxes and old chair with pot

Front porch seating area

MrBill worked really hard!!!

I finally got the tribal dress altered and wore it today for church.

Dress-Walmart, Cardigan-LauraAshley/Thrifted, Sandals-Retail

I’m off to visit with relatives in from Ohio!! Everyone have a wonderful evening and I’ll be back around Tuesday!! I’m linking up with all the fantastic ladies at Visible Monday!!

TTFN

Tamera

So many of you really enjoyed the taxidermied rodents in Tuesday’s post I thought I’d share some more. I truly HAVE found my tribe!!

A flippin’ mouse wedding party!!

Groovin’ chipmunks!

How awesome is an accordion playing beaver?

I decided to wear my troll earrings to work today (They will winging their way to our Pink- haired Circus-Queen Desiree next week!!) just to see if anyone noticed. Division secretary thought they were cool. Mostly I got raised eyebrows and a stuttered “Are they TROLLS???” Yes, yes they are and they are MAGNIFICENT!!

Troll awesomeness!!!

I’m Breaking out my maxi dresses for the warmer weather!! These will be my go-to summer outfits!!

Cardigan-Thrifted, Maxi-Retail, Necklace-Thrifted, Shoes-Retail

Today’s outfit was coordinated around my troll earrings!!

Skirt-WhiteStag/Thrifted, Top-Thrifted, Belt-Retail, Shoes-Retail

I’m going to be spending all my time outside the next couple of days gardening. Tomorrow nite a bunch of us gals are getting together for a ladies night out. There will be pictures!!! Hopefully not mug-shots!!

Everyone have a fabulous weekend and I’ll be back Sunday!!

TTFN

Tamera

Last year at this time we were knee-deep in wedding prep for our daughter. I made her wedding cake and tried to no avail to talk her into having THESE as her wedding topper!! BEHOLD:

Nothing says “True Love” like dead rodents in camo on a mildew cake–with BEER CANS!!

Isn’t this just ADORABLE??? Look at the details–the blaze orange nails, the camo necktie!!

I just couldn’t get her past the part where you eat cake that a dead rodent’s butt has been sitting on. Bummer!!

And while we are on the subject of rodents… I present to you:

How fabulous would this look on your mantel???

Now try to get these images out of your head. You’re welcome…my work here is done! do you know there is a whole website devoted to anthropomorphic taxidermy called Of Corpse?? Me, either!!!

I am so easily amused these days!

I’ve been featured as the inaugural “victim” (LOL) for The Good Will Hunting Paralegal’s Career Wear Challenge. Lynne is challenging folks to send her pix of you wearing a career outfit you thrifted for under $10!!! Let’s all see what you can come up with!!

Glorious Vix made an AMAZING jumpsuit out of a curtain this weekend!! I would have loved these as actual curtains!!

Is this FABULOUS or what???

Her curtain couture inspired me to make something of my own. Unfortunately the curtains at the thrifts were UG-LEY so I decided to use a vintage sheet for my project. The pattern is one I drafted several years ago.

Top-DIY, Skirt-Thrifted, Shoes-Retail

Here’s the blingage:

Bangles-Thrifted, Earrings-Vintage/Thrifted, Pin-Thrifted

I felt very boho/hippie. I wore stuff like this in high school. I have some lime gingham I thrifted that’s been cut out in the same pattern.

I found these lovelies at the thrift for $1!!! I am totally gonna wear them to work on a Friday and see if anyone notices! I’m also going to post them on Rite Shite Charity Plop page on Facebook.

I’m off to watch NCIS–it was amazing last week and left you on the edge of your seat!! Everyone have a great evening and I’ll be back on Thursday with more fun and frivolity!

TTFN

Tamera