Saturday, June 5, 2010

receiving

dear diary, part one

this year has been very good to me. it seems like i've been on the receiving end of life and i'm thinking hard how i can give back. in both cases i'm not just talking about material things, i'm talking about heart things. did i write it already that my favorite parts about my birthday (besides eating lobster, getting cards and comments and flowers), was that my 19 year old baked me a cake? (surprise mama!) and my husband sang the birthday song all by himself, alone, to me? and that i talked on the phone to each of my kids and gkids, parents and parentsbychoice before 9am (on the actual day!!). i felt surrounded, cradled, wrapped deeply in love.
and then the mailman came...






and brought WEE OWEN!

here is a materialheartthing made by my dear friend Geli. she made him! even drawing up her own pattern. my own Owen is not as happy with the newcomer as i am, since wee owen gets to do many things Owen does not...








like help me sort the sea glass i found this week...







again, in one day, in less than two hours! i've got to think of something to do with all this glass! and can you see the pottery shard with the leaf on it?, love that! :)






here is wee owen and mtoto chui, that's Chuck's baby leopard from his boyhood,
do you see that wee owen is already taking after his big brother, being a bit pesky,
oh wee owen...






i like that they are already good friends, these two.
thank you so much dear Geli.



dear diary, part two


one day this week at work two women came in our shop. i overheard them talking and noticed the lovely friendship they had. it turned out they were sisters. one of the girls came up to me and, after paying me a very kind compliment, we got to talking. when her sister came up, i noticed they were wearing the same necklace, so pretty! they decided that i should have one and the one sister took off her necklace and gave it to me. OH Dear! i didn't mean to imply, i mean, i was only saying... that's when the other sister said, i have a jewelry business, i make these.


the beautiful girl was Lisa Leonard. i know her! what i mean is i've seen her card on many MANY blogs, and in magazines too. i could hardly contain my excitement and said OH! i have a blog! we talked about that and how much joy it brings.

thank you dear Lisa, it was a pleasure to meet you and your twin sister.





if you would like to see more of her beautiful designs and her lovely blog go here...










it wasn't until Lisa and her sister and i exchanged cards, hugged and said goodbye that i got a good look at my new necklace (materialheartthing) and the word stamped on it : happy.


:)


♥ lori



35 comments:

  1. Oh how lovely. Glad you had such a wonderful birthday. Love the necklace. Wish I was close by to take the sea glass off your hands. You can use it to make jewelry. Or gift it in jars to friends. :)

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  2. lovely day, lovely presents and how wonderful to meet a new friend.

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  3. How wonderful indeed! I love the necklace, & wee owen too.
    Oh! and BTW~
    Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Lori~ Happy Birthday to you!
    ~love janis
    ps~ thank you for your kind words of wisdom on my recent posting. I love you you & appreciate your friendship!

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  4. Happy Birthday My Friend - happy to see you happy. I can't believe that your friend made wee owen - She is so talented. Also, I love, Love your necklace - going to browse their site now.

    Happy Birthday again!!!

    Bhavana

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  5. Happy Birthday Lori! You have an enviable collection of sea glass, lovely! And I love that necklace, i'm going to go check out her site now. x

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  6. Happy Birthday! And what a lovely story, to have met Lisa Leonard. I wasn't familiar with her jewelry until now, but I see gift to me in my future :-)

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  7. What a happy day! Bright smiles, new friendships and a new white owen puppy! Happy birthday, Ms. Lori. You are a charming inspiration. I love your stories and especially your creative connections! xx

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  8. Lori, you are a perfect example of receiving because you give. Your treasures to me sit on my desk and every so often I open one up (ah! Pogo!!) and I am just so glad to Lori, you are a perfect example of receiving because you give. I have your treasures to me on my desk (ah!! Pogo!!) and I just think how nice to know you.

    I so clearly remember holding the slippers you made for Renee. I could feel the love you knitted into them.

    Geli's wee Owen is so adorable. Two adorable Owens. One wonderful Lori. Friendships planted and sprouting with sturdy roots. It's gonna be a good year, Lori

    here I am, along for the happy ride

    love love
    kj

    ps I had to retype part of this so if it looks gibberishish, please blame ms . Blogger

    ps word verf is bedidu

    be
    did
    u



    love love
    kj

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  9. oh that is very pretty! i might have to get one as well!

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  10. See! If I weren't writing this on my iPhone I would copy edit paste. But I don't know how.

    So this just proves I can be redundant with alittle variation

    :)

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  11. coco,
    we could go hunting together, looking for seaglass is a lot of fun.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    mim,
    you are right, i forgot to say lisa lives in san luis obispo, we are practically neighbors.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    janis,
    you are so welcome, i'm grateful for our friendship too ♥. and thank you so much for the song!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    bhavana,
    did i tell you she even designed the pattern? geli is talented and i'm so blessed for her friendship. have fun at l.l. it is an absolute treat! thank you ♥

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    lilly,
    i have more than i know what to do with! and i can't stop collecting, it is so much fun to search the pebbles for the glass. have fun at lisa leonards!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    diana,
    i hope you do get a chance to look around, she is inspiring and her things are so beautiful. did i say she's the sweetest person too?

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    cynthia,
    thank you for such kind words, i was pretty excited to meet lisa, i was also so surprised to find out we are neighbors! good times indeed!

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  12. Aaah I totally understand the gesture and why you should be on the receiving end. You are a genuinely sweet and wonderful. People sense that. How beautiful are the sea glasses and how kind of Geli to send Owen to you. Have a great Sunday Lori. Thank you.

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  13. It was lovely to meet you, Lori. Lisa and I both agreed it was one of the highlights of our trip.
    You are beautiful and radiate kindness.
    Lots of love to you,
    Chrissie (lisa's twin)
    www.flipflopsandapplesauce.com

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  14. kj,
    thank you, i am so happy to know your treasures bring you pleasure, and i have my photo (gorgeous) and my inspiration cards, love them both.
    i'm most impressed you can post from that iphone, i am rubbish typing!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    kavita,
    you will want something after a visit to her website, it's really lovely!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    ces,
    thank you, i'm touched by your words, and by the fact that the world is so full of kind and lovely people, now i've met you too. it's really true. i hope you had a great day today ☺

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    hi chrissie!
    oh my gosh, i am just delighted to see you here! you are charming, talented, beautiful sisters, and it was my pleasure to meet you! thank you again for my necklace, i'll never forget your kindness. ♥

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  15. what goes around, comes around.

    well deserved xxx

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  16. Lori, you are such a sweetheart and you deserve all the love and the gifts you are getting, because you love life and your fellow people (and animals, real and stuffed, and minerals and plants as well) in the first place. And Life is like a mirror, you know. When you smile at it, it smiles back!
    I am so happy Wee Owen found a good home and even a pal to play with! And oh yes, such a beautiful necklace! Must look up thier website!
    And, I loved what you said to Miranda. Hugs to you, my sweet little sister!

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  17. Sounds like you had a fantastic birthday, Lori!

    How lovely! Wee Owen is gorgeous, and what a lovely necklace. How beautiful and wonderful, I have seen that company advertised over various blogs.

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  18. The adorable Geli strikes agin!
    I am so glad Wee Owen has found a loving home with you human peeps and furry peeps.
    How exciting for you to have such a lovely surprise in Lisa and Chrisy......Gotta love a synchronistic meeting. :)
    Such a lovely feel good post.♥

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  19. You're the best!

    I'm so happy for you.
    You're bursting with love Lori and it's wonderful for all the world.

    xxx Robyn :)

    PS... so much blue glass... awesome!

    Great post ;)

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  20. Beautiful gifts for such a lovely person! "Mini-Owen" is adorable!
    (Do not tell Owen I said so..)

    I love Lisa's jewelry....and it suits you perfectly. Don't you love magical moments like that? You meet, you bond, you receive a special gift - with a double message....HAPPY. I know this has been somewhat hard for you and your sister because of your Mum's current state....but, it was a message to go foward and live your life - with joy and happiness. Your Mum would want that.

    And...hey, your son baked you a cake! Now, that's a real gift of love!

    Sending you hugs and love....

    ♥ Robin ♥

    p.s. Be on the lookout for some lilac-coloured sea glass for "you know who"!

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  21. janet,
    thank you xxx

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Geli,
    x + ♥ times a million. and your right, life is not like a box of chocolates, it's like a mirror.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    sammi,
    check it out if you get the chance, i think you'll love it.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    natsy,
    i LOVE those meetings, it's like angels unaware... keep me smiling for hours. And Geli, and angel on earth.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    robyn,
    are you finding any blue there in perth? shall i send you some my gknitter b.f.f. ?? i just sent you a mail with a million questions.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    robin,
    you are so sweet and sensitive, and always speak right to the heart,i appreciate you so much. you are right about my mom, and the meeting also, when i looked at the word i yipped!
    oops, it was my girl that baked, and if i ever do find violet, i will probably faint, it must be the rarest of rare!

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  22. Lori you say you are on the receiving end of life and thinking hard how you can give back. know that you will remain on the receiving end of life because of just that: you are a loving and thoughtful soul who is always thinking about how to give back - so life will continue to be good to you, because that's the way the universe works!!!

    thank you for sharing Geli's adorable gift of wee Owen (i'll bet real Owen is a bit of a jealous jelly bean!!!) and the wonderful events of your birthday - (esp the lovely story about the twin sisters and their gift of that lovely necklace!) -- you deserve every delicious bit of it!!!! i'm so happy to have you as my new blogfriend!!! xoxo

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  23. So glad you had a wonderful birthday! How sweet that your hubby sang to you. Darling! The puppy is SO cute and I just LOVE the necklace.

    Happy Sunday!

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  24. amanda,
    i feel the same about you, and i want to thank you very much for all the kindness you show me. i am so looking forward to your empty nest adventures!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    sophia,
    happy sunday to you too! that acutally made my birthday having him sing(unexpectedly) to me , and of course my girl baking ♥

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  25. AH! It was fated to be! HAPPY on a bird. Happy Bird Day!

    What a fantastic string of events. The universe is smiling back at you, sweet Lori. Wee Owen is humongous on cuteness! And the neckless is so very attractive! It's no wonder you had to remark on it. I would have, too! Your sea glass is just begging to be made into a charm bracelet. And to be serenaded on your birthday is the ultimate of Happy!

    xoxoxo

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  26. I need one of those necklaces, too.

    Your life is magic, it really is. Thanks for sharing this.

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  27. It makes me want to cry with joy at all the treasures you received..I must admit that if hubby sang happy to me I would probably melt..after I inserted the earplugs of course LOL..and little owen is a treasure and to actually meet someone from blogland..wow I would have been blown away.So many artist go on these artist retreat and I always tell myself...one day Cat..One day.
    You have such a gift Lori..you bring us in lovingly and without limits,into your beautiful world...and I am truly grateful.Warmest Regards,Cat

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  28. you deserve it ALL and more! i love the necklace :-)
    i saw some jewellry once made from sea glass - it looked so pretty.
    wee owen is awesome!

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  29. what an awesome outpouring of love from all those who are near and dear and etc.

    I don't blame Owen for being jealous. And what a lovely necklace. Happy is such a wonderful precious word. I'm happy you had such a wonderful birthday.

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  30. Hello Lori, I had an accident with the "Delete" button and my incoming mail server, so if you sent me an email and have not received a reply, that is why. Note to self (an IT analyst) Server + Delete = DON'T!!!

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  31. happy Bird-day ;)
    That necklace is perfect for you and your special day. How sweet these folks are with their random acts of kindness. I'm sure you naturally bring it out in people!

    I can't believe the abundance of sea glass you find. Not once did I find a piece in my 16 years in CA. Odd. But I do find it here :)

    Your husband sany HB alone to you. That's love, pure and simple. Wow♥

    If I lived near you I would be tepmpted to "borrow" both Owens. How cute! And what a thoughtful gift from your friend.

    I hope your birthday was all you needed it to be!

    XX♥

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  32. Enjoyed your fun necklace story! I had to go see the nice jewelry at Lisa Leonard's blog, too! : )

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  33. Dear Lori, I am sorry for this late message , I ´ve been quite busy and I ´ve just got here today. Happy Birthday my dear friend and may all your wishes , dreams come true and all the happiness stay with you forever!!!And of course, that we celebrate this special moment many , many years !!! I love the necklace, and made by Lisa Leonard!!! She´s so inspiring and creative. Have a shiny day!!

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  34. Lori back in the ooooold days when I had an online diary and every day was taken up with writing it, responding to comments, chatting with people, leaving comments and reading other diaries all of my friends in 'real' life thought I was mad. I couldn't explain to them the inspiration, comfort, joy and friendship that I had 'online.' Even though the world has come a long way since then its still warms my heart when I hear these sorts of stories.

    (word verification today is 'the diso'- is it only me who thinks word verifications are great?)

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xoxo lori