Mary's Place by the Sea

On Saturday May 9th, 1200 walkers turned out to raise funds for Mary's Place by the Sea, a house in Ocean Grove, NJ, dedicated to providing services for women with cancer. Team Michele, walked in honor of our dearly beloved and sorely missed friend, Michele Taylor Koehler. She passed away January 23rd, 2015. She raised funds herself for the home a few years ago, inviting all her friends and family to walk with her. It was a little sad to be walking without her, but nonetheless, we carried her in our hearts that day (and always).  I was proud to raise $2100 for the house through an art auction that I held online on facebook. The support was much appreciated. 

xoxo,

kecia

Wild Muse with Alena Hennessey

We were lucky enough to snag Alena Hennessey to teach a workshop here at the Jersey shore. She's on her way to teach at Squam, so it was great of her to squeeze us into her agenda. It was a wonderful weekend of laughter, some tears, good food, good company and amazing art. Although hot, the weather was gorgeous and it was wonderful to enjoy the yard. A couple of us even hit the Ocean Grove flea market early saturday morning before class. These are my pieces from class. 

dancing deer:

Koi pond: 

Cape May for the day

yesterday i drove down to Cape May (furthest southern point in New Jersey), a charming Victorian town on the water. Jane was staying there for the weekend with her daughter Claudia and her sister Jenn. We had a wonderful day (albeit a SWELTERING hot one at over 100 degrees). we spent alot of time in the water or under the umbrellas. we took a nice walk and even found ourselves a few heart shape rocks.

when we had enough of the heat on the beach, we headed back to their hotel to jump in the pool for awhile. the pool water was warm, but it felt good to cool down (since i won't go past my knees in the ocean - too cold for me!)

after we all showered up, we did a little shopping and then enjoy a delicious Italian dinner. Then it was time for me to head home (Jane generously invited me to stay over, but i am so anti-traffic that the thought of getting trapped in Sunday traffic persuaded me otherwise!) I got home around 12:30am, read for a little bit and then hit the hay.






















update - this is fun, i found one of my photos on this blog today:
http://bloggingcapemay.blogspot.com

flea market friday

here's some yummy eye candy of the treasures i procured from the flea market

love these Dresden ballerinas. i have 5 of them now.
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i think this little book was handmade for a dollhouse. it is really cool!
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these are curtains and i just love them. think i'll put them up in my bedroom
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nice linen haul today. i got this lovely curtain panel (left side sort of a faded torquoise/aqua color. it is very pretty and high quality material. also got a couple of really old table runners with exquisite patterns on them.

class with Pamela Huntington tomorrow

Jeff and i spent the day tidying up the yard, doing some last minute cleaning, cutting some lilacs and then at the last minute, i decided to throw a little trunk show during class, so then i got busy preparing for that. earlier this morning I ran to DMV for some "Kylie's Law" tags for Dillon's car. then i met jeff at the flea market for a quick look. we found something really cool, but i'll blog that later.

Pam arrived around 5:00pm. we did a quick house tour, met jeff, met dillon and tucker and of course, gracie and pepper. we unloaded her car and then headed out for dinner to one of my favorite local places, Pete and Elda's. I wanted to go early, because the wait there on the weekend can take forever! so we were the early birds and had a yummy dinner. After dinner, we took a little walk on the beach, near my favorite area next to the Belmar fishing pier. i wanted to see what was going on at the Least Tern colony (still very few terns there yet), but we got a nice surprise and got to see the elusive pair of oyster catchers!

So the classrooms are ready, cupcakes are baked and my new little dolly, Sweet Baby Jane, is ready to welcome our guests tomorrow. (i even made her cute little dress out of a vintage curtain)

Pam and i and jane (jane is meeting us there) will get up early and go to the Allaire flea market. it is a little market, which they have a few times during warm weather. it'll be perfect to hit quickly before coming back and starting class at 11:30. I'm looking forward to our fun class tomorrow!

behind the scenes during art opera

i hosted Ruth Rae and Traci Bautista here at my house during Art Opera. i also had my friend, Jane and another couple, Scott and Taryn of Navel Jelly Studios stay here. it was a packed house, but we had a lot of fun. i enjoyed the camaraderie and it was nice to have so many art people under my roof! it was fun to show off my home and receive such warm praise for my decorating style. One day after teaching, Ruth, Traci and i had lunch, hit some antique stores before heading home. i didn't tell them, but on the way home, i did a slight detour so that i could take these guys by the beach which is quite close to my home. the beaches here in NJ are very pretty and well maintained. When we arrived at the beach, it had gotten very windy and cold and we were all under dressed. but we braved the elements to get out, take pics and put our toes in the water (well, i did not put my feet in the water - i refused!) but it was a lovely way to end the day and i'm glad we ventured out.

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after we got back home and had some dinner, traci and ruth were kind enough to autograph their books for me. can't beat your own personal book signing party!