The Happy Woman Blog

61 degrees and rainy….

Linda — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:14:51 +0000

Aren’t you glad, that in a time where almost everything can be predicted fairly accurately, the weather very often remains unpredictable? Especially in Michigan? Today’s prediction: rain all day, with a high of 61 degrees. The actual weather: sunny, breezy, and 72 degrees. So, our plans for a sleepy, nappy, reading kind of day turned into a let’s get out and do something day and we decided to go to the Old Town Art Fair in downtown Traverse City, which you can see in the picture above. Do you want to see my stash of purchases? Of course you do!
First up: a cute little garden daisy stake made entirely from recycled nails. I’ve already stuck it in my garden, in front of an astilbe plant. The price: 5 bucks!

Next up: a little package of 6 notecards, all in cherry designs made by an 11 year old girl named Char from Suttons Bay. They’re for my mom, but please don’t tell her, it’s a surprise. And the price? Why, 5 bucks of course.

The next thing was a bottle of all natural liquid laundry soap in a yummy citrus fragrance. Another 5 bucks spent!

A 5$ bar of homemade soap for my hubby. Lemongrass scent with tiny poppy seeds for exfoliation….yum.

A pair of really cool silver earrings. I love the amoeba shape and they are studded with tiny pieces of turquoise. They’re big, too. I’m really loving big earrings right now. (oh, and they weren’t 5$!)

My happiest find of the day was a pair of earrings by artist Lillie Wolff. I just happened to be wearing a pair of her earrings when I walked up to her booth, and like any true artist, she recognized them immediately! The designs are so simple, which is what makes them so sophisticated and chic: large chunks of gemstones on long earwires. I love them!

Here’s a picture of Lillie in her booth:

All I can say is: I can’t wait for the next rainy day!

Meet Mary Ann

Linda — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:11:07 +0000

My friend, Mary Ann, is the owner of a really cute home accessories boutique in uptown Suttons Bay called Anchor Cottage. Last year, she decided to expand and bought a very nondescript office building in town and transformed it into this darling little shop.>
Look at this super sexy mermaid sign that she has for sale!

She has wonderful products and is a great merchandiser!

Just look at all of the cool stuff on this table!

If you’re in the area, stop by and check out all of her cool stuff in person at 412 St. Josephs Avenue.

Heavy Petting - Coco Style.

Linda — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:48:44 +0000

Yesterday, Coco held court at our store in Suttons Bay. Basically, this entails Coco sitting on a pillow while each and every visitor to our store oohs and aahs about her cuteness.

She got lots of petting….all doggone day long.

The blur in this picture is Princess Coco — she’s all atwitter as she plays with sweet little Henry.

At the end of the day, Coco was EXHAUSTED and slept all the way home.

Meet Larry…the llama

Linda — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:30:59 +0000

Larry’s primary claim to fame is the fact that he has survived with his neck intact for about 6 months now. For some reason, Larry has escaped the grisly fate of all of Coco’s other stuffed toys: garrotting within 24 hours. With all of the other toys, Coco goes in for the kill almost immediately, ferreting out a weak seam like a Rottweiler going after a filet. But, in this case, Larry has received the utmost respect, even affection from Coco. She pulls Larry up onto her bed and rests her sweet doggie head on his little llama head. She chases Larry when he’s thrown, but not to tear apart lustily, instead she rather daintily brings Larry back to the thrower. If I didn’t know better, I might say that somebody’s got a crush on a little llama.

Necesssity is….

Linda — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:50:54 +0000

the Mother of Invention….

We bought this perfectly okay clock radio a few months ago so we could know what time it was in the bedroom when we needed to know what time it was while we were in the bedroom. All was well until I had a bout of insomnia wherein the gleaming green numbers felt like a strobe light piercing my brain when the lights were out. For a while, we heaped dark clothing upon the face of the clock at nighttime, but a faint glow still emanated from within. Yesterday, I walked into the bedroom to see this scenario: my lavender eye mask hooked gracefully around the face of the annoying clock face. The perfect solution, dreamt up by my always enterprising husband. And, I’m sure the clock radio is enjoying the aromatherapeutic benefits as well. Heloise, eat your heart out — he’s all mine!

May Newsletter is Here!

Linda — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:56:03 +0000

10% off so you can spoil your mommy!

Linda — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:46:34 +0000

Enter promo code ‘mom’ at checkout to get 10% off your order through 05/09/08. Spoil your mom — she deserves it!

Taa-Daa! (Our SB store is open!)

Linda — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:27:45 +0000

It’s like Christmas every day at our store in Suttons Bay as Pete, the nicest UPS guy in the Midwest (Coco loves him, but she’s always adored a man in uniform) drops off package after package to 309 St. Josephs Ave. Our tiny boutique is filling up with colorful clothes for spring (lots of spicy colors this year: think marmalade, raspberry, and coffee — sounds like breakfast, no?); sassy accessories & gifts, and my personal favorite: giant man-eating Gerber Daisies! (you can see them in the shot above). If you’re in northern Michigan (and if you’re not, you should be planning a trip here ASAP), please stop by. We are open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11am to 5pm. If you can’t manage a trip to our beautiful area, check out our site cuz we will be doing a mega add of new products in the next few weeks.

Where’s Coco?

Linda — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:16:04 +0000

Somewhere in the middle of this photo, you’ll see two sweet little doggie eyes, peering out from the flotsam and jetsam of our just out of the dryer jeans & socks. It’s one of her favorite things; in fact (dare I say it?) there is a Pavlovian reaction from our sweet girl whenever she hears the dryer door slam shut (and she knows the difference between the washer door shutting & the dryer door shutting). Whenever she hears that alluring pop, she’s immediately in the moment (doesn’t matter if she was eating or eviscerating her favorite toy), and ready to plop into the mass of HEAT. She’s probably wondering how she found herself in northern Michigan when she so obviously prefers the tropics.

March Newsletter — Hot off the Press!

Linda — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:00:29 +0000