All Things Terry Lee

hey y'all,

not sure where to begin with this post because there's so much to show you and tell you and share with you.

so yesterday was the most important day in the universe. did y'all notice that the earth stopped rotating? the moon had a smiley face on it? the sun and stars danced around my head and all living creatures ceased their activities so they could focus upon The Most Important Event of The Year ... My Birthday?!

yes, it's true! so in case you were wondering what was going on yesterday, what with the birds, the bees, the sun and stars and whatnot, it was all My Fault. what can i say? this is what happens when there's a terry lee birthday. it's a freak of nature. heh heh

okay, all kidding aside. the world didn't really stop for my birthday (oh c'mon, don't act all surprised).

it was a fun, sweet, lovely day spent with family and dear friends.

let me back up. i was born in a little hospital in downtown killeen ... okay, wait. let's not back up that far. about two weeks ago, birthday packages began showing up in my mail.

first one was from my dear pal mary valentine (sweet, sweet name, yes?). she knows me well. lots of pink, paris-themed lovelies and other goodies. what fun! thanks again, mary. love ya!

second package to arrive was from dear friend sue, over at vintagesue. she also knows my tastes very well. she sent all manner of vintage sweetness my way. thanks so much sue!

next, i received a lovely treasure box from sweet pal dana, of dana's chicken scoop. she had ordered a vintagesue box treasure for me. naturally, it was filled with more vintage loveliness! loved it all, dana! thanks so much. (nice work, sue!)

these ladies are terribly sweet and thoughtful ... love my packages. love y'all more!

isn't it fun to start celebrating your birthday early? it's like the whole month of april is BIRTHDAY love!

so, on to my actual birthday, yesterday. woke up to dear hubby, gifts and card in hand. oh, and a CHEESECAKE (!!!) for my birthday cake!! i think that's a first. for me.

hubby knows me pretty well too. loads of blistex (ahhh!!!), body washes and what i like to call the perfect gift: folding money. it's always the right size and color! thanks, DH! love the birthday poem, too.

before the girls (jannetta, bonnie and tara) and i took off to waco for The Birthday Blast, we had another round of birthday gifts. jannetta and bonnie, who are my closest friends showered me with lots of pink sweetness and love. thanks girls.

despite the rain (ack!!) we did have a blast. first stop: the treasure city flea market. we were all waco flea market virgins, and as such, we were a little unsure of the uncharted territory.

as it happens, it was quite interesting, with a fair variety of junk ... er ... merchandise.

yes. brassieres. at a flea market. now that's something i haven't seen before.

tara proudly displays her $0.50 treasure find. jannetta and bonnie share the joy.

the flea market (tara suggested it should be called a butterfly market ... as fleas seem so, well, unseemly) is set up in a U shaped pattern. we gave it our best shot, but could only hack about half of the U. the humidity, the crazy fuzzies flying through the air (what WAS that?!) making us sneeze, aching feet and low blood sugar got the better of us.

time. to. eat!

as planned, we hit ninfa's for lunch. ahhh! it felt sooo wonderful to be inside, sitting. drinking. eating. talking. laughing. junking is great, but sometimes it's nice to sit and chillax.

after filling up on mexican food and iced tea (okay, somebody had a frozen strawberry margarita) we were ready for round dos (that's two, for you gringos).

minor crisis: hit the sally stores (salvation army thrifts) OR go next door to The Shops, which are nothing short of eye candy heaven?

The Shops won. we were there. we already knew we loved it.

if you live in central texas, it's a must-see shop. instead of blah blah blah-ing about it, i'll just let the pictures do the talking. i took so many, i decided to make a slide show ... just too many to put in the blog. all i can say is: EYE. CANDY.

a couple of hours later, it was time to head home. after an hour rainy drive down I-35, i was ready for bed.

but wait! another surprise awaited me. a beautiful arrangement of flowers from my dear sis belinda. they'd been delivered whilst i was playing in waco. they are gorgeous, belinda! thanks so much!

lest y'all think i forgot my birthday cheesecake, i did not. tara put some candles on it, she and ben sang happy birthday and a worn out, half-asleep birthday girl blew out her candles ... in one breath i might add. which as you all know, means her wish will come true! :-)

later in the evening, while checking my email, facebook, bloggity blogs, etc. i got a text from my baby. okay, he's 16 but he's the baby.

"i'm comin' over to wish you a happy birthday, mom!" (he spends the weekends with his dad)

yea!!! i get to see my baby on my birthday!

within seconds (he must've text from the front door!) he's hugging me with his big ol' self (he's a big baby) and generally loving me up. how great is that? he proudly presents me with a card that includes a gift card to starbucks. very sweet ... but he didn't have to give me a single thing. just his presence fills my heart to overflowing.

he's gone before i know it. but for the most part, my day is complete. those of you who know me well, understand that statement. but it's okay ... life is good and i have been reminded once again how wonderfully loved and blessed i truly am.

love and hugs to all,
terry lee

hey y'all,

just a quick post to share some of my beauties with you.

i am so NOT a gardener, nor do i claim to have any sort of green thumb. but no matter, roses seem to grow and bloom under my care in spite of my lack of horticulture-ness.

some of you might recall my blog about filling in our backyard pool last year. it's now a garden space, a labor of love, a work in progress, blah blah blah. we planted three rose bushes last spring and they did very well.

a year later, they have begun to bloom and bloom and bloom ... and i'm just staring at them in amazement! gorgeous creatures, the lot of them.

at my yardsale last saturday, a couple of women approached me and asked what i did to my roses. whaaa?! i wasn't quite sure what they meant. for a moment i thought they were scolding me for not taking better care of them, what with the weeds and all.

"do you use cow manure?" one of them asked.

"haha! i wish," i replied. "i did put some miracle-grow on them last year," i added.

"oh, well that's good for them!" the other replied.

"what kind is the yellow rose?" the first one asked.

uh oh. i was getting over my head with these people. they must've been some kind of amateur-aficionado-rose-experts. how in THE hell was i going to continue on with this conversation without losing some of my rose-knowledge-dignity?!

thinking.

thinking.

"oh, those yellow ones? yes, they're called terry lee's yellow rose of texas," i blurted out, with a straight face.

jannetta and tara (my yard sale assistants) remained silent but i could feel their eyes on me. i shot them both a glance, which they immediately recognized as my "don't you dare say a word" look. y'all know the one, right? :-)

so the woman asked me to repeat the name of my yellow rose, which i did. she was so thrilled, she told her partner (not that there's anything wrong with that) what i had said.

"her yellow roses are called terry lee's yellow rose of texas!"

"hmm. i haven't heard of that one," partner responded.

if they would just move on and buy something already, i was thinking.

but noooo.

more questions.

"what do you call those pink ones? how big are they? do they open up in folds or is it more like the petals ... blah blah blah"

i finally broke down. i couldn't take the pressure any longer.

"i call the pink and yellow (hybrid) my strawberry banana roses. because that's what they remind me of. okay? i don't know the actual name of the rose. and i don't know how the petals fold out. this is only the second time it's bloomed."

sheesh.

lesson for the day: oh! what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive what we know about roses.

but i do know this: they are beau-ti-ful!! enjoy!