Iwanna Wednesday - Yes....it's back!!!

Those of you that know what an Iwanna Wednesday is are jumping for joy right? Those of you that don't, well hang on to your hats cause I'm about to rock your world! Ha! Well, maybe not exactly, but hopefully you will enjoy this post.

First...what is Iwanna Wednesday? Glad you asked! Iwanna Wednesday began back on December 3, 2008 and there have been 123 Iwanna Wednesday posts since. I bet most of you don't even own 123 items let alone lust after 123 random items...but I do.

My mom and sister started calling me Iwanna back in 2008 because it seems that I want everything I see! I can walk into any store and see an item and say, "Oh, I've always wanted one of these!" I can even drive by a random house on the street and say, "Oh, I always wanted a fish pond like that" or "I always wanted big rocks like that in the middle of the yard." What can I say, obviously something is lacking in my life!

My cousin Stella especially enjoys my Iwanna Wednesday posts. So much so that she found a pair of earrings attached to a sticker that said Iwanna and I told her I would make that my Iwanna Wednesday logo, which is why it's above, thanks Stella!

Recently I've found a new hobby...Art! I especially love painting in Acrylics. Love it! I feel like I've found my home! My calling, my special purpose in life. Not saying you're going to be seeing any of my artwork in the Louvre or the Met, but it soothes my soul and helps me to relieve stress.

I've always thrown myself fully into all projects and interests that I've found in my life. I always want to have all the gadgets and doohickeys that go along with said project and interest. So of course, when I started painting I had to have all the doohickeys. One doohickey that I don't have but Iwanna so bad is an art studio. A little spot in the world with lots of natural light so I can just paint to my little hearts content.

So for my first Iwanna Wednesday in a long, long time...Iwanna show you some of the Art Studios I have been lusting after! C'mon...walk with me, talk with me...

In my heart I am imagining a backyard art studio built just for me. With lots of space and light and flowers surrounding it. 

Photo Credit - The Owner Builder Network

But even an Iwanna has to be realistic. That beauty above is way beyond my price range, but it's so beautiful! *sigh*

My first art set up was like this. Just an art desk in one corner of my bedroom, but by the time I get home and have time to paint it's nighttime and there is hardly any light at all, even if I turn on every lamp in the room. I tried buying a nice desk lap but the light still didn't work for me. I'm not saying my eyes are getting worse as I get older...but you know how it goes!

So I ended up lugging everything into the kitchen where there was much better lighting and I used one end of the kitchen table. It was so much work getting up to go get a different tube of paint that I made this funky little set up in the kitchen. It's not pretty, but it works...for now. See all my tubes of paint hanging off of S-hooks?

But as an Iwanna I am never satisfied and while I know I will never have that beautiful art studio in the first picture, Iwanna something better than my funky little kitchen set up. Probably something that I can set up in a spare bedroom. Something like these two.

Photo Credit - My Home Decor

Photo Credit - My Home Decor

Just look at all that amazing natural light! And I love the simplicity of plain white walls. I've never been a lover of color on my walls. In my home right now every single wall is a bright, beautiful, cheerful white!

I absolutely love this next Art Space. This is a brand new space for Artist Kristie Moore who is one of the members of my art group on Facebook. It's a great group of artists from beginners to experts and I am learning so much and feeling so inspired from such a great group. Thanks Kristie for sharing this beautiful space and I wish you happiness and love on your art journey!

She also shared this beautiful picture of her blooming Magnolia tree. Who wouldn't be inspired by this view. I have to admit I am green with envy!

I would also love a space where I can hang artwork, whether it be mine or someone else's, just to find inspiration. A space with lots of wall space like this!

Photo Credit - Bella Daze Blog

So for now I will continue working at my little corner of the kitchen table, but someday...someday....

Because Iwanna it!

Iwanna Wednesday - I Need a New Chapeau!

Hey all...another Iwanna Wednesday post! Wow! I'm amazing even myself. I thought I was all done with wanting things but I'm backkkkk! 

So a little update on what an Iwanna Wednesday is. To make a long story short, I want everything I see, whether it's in a store or on someone else or in someones front yard or on TV. My mom and my sister Lisa started noticing that the second I walked into a store I would see something I wanted and I would say, "Oh wow, look! I always wanted one of these!" So they nick-named me Iwanna because I wanna everything!

My Iwanna cravings got so strong that they started involving others. My daughter April bought me many of the things I would post. My sister was constantly looking for things for me to post. Even my cousin Stella, all the way over in San Diego got in on the act and on one of her road trips she found this!

She told me that when she saw it she knew it was meant for me. She mailed it to me letting me know she wasn't sending it to me for the bracelet attached, but for the little cardboard sign which is perfect for me.

So perfect in fact that it's going to be my Iwanna Icon/Banner for my Iwanna Wednesday's! Cute right?

So for a long time I did a post every Wednesday of things that struck my fancy and that I wanted. I did a bazillion (94 to be exact) Iwanna Wednesday posts. I had kind of strayed away from Iwanna Wednesday for a while because of a bunch of things but lately I've been noticing I'm getting that Iwanna bug back.

This weekend I took a little road trip with my sister Lisa and her friend Lupe to the Morro Bay Avocado and Margarita Festival! Doesn't that sound like fun? It was!

Here's a picture of my sister and Lupe and me of course. See anything missing in this photo? No? C'mon...look harder. All right, let me just tell you. If you look, my sister and Lupe are both wearing Chapeaus! Hats! Lids! Headgear! Millinery! Toppers! But not me...nope, no hat for me, which is why I'm sunburned today!

So I was telling my sister that I really want to get a hat for our next trip and she told me big, floppy hats are in! But...um...I don't see her wearing a big floppy hat. Nope, I see her in a cute cowboy-ish kinda hat. So I went shopping online to see if I can find a cool hat!.

I knew kinda what I wanted, which is what I call a Mennonite Straw Hat. We live in a small town that has a pretty big Mennonite community and they all wear these hats, especially when they are out gardening!

Courtesy of Shoebuy.com

Here's another one that caught my eye. I really like this one but I would want to be able to change out the hatband to something more colorful when it suited me.

Courtesy of Shoebuy.com

But I'm thinking Iwanna one like the one my sister and Lupe are wearing, kind of a cowboy-ish kind of hat. So I found this one which I love! 

I love the way it's rolled up like the one my sister had. I love the color of the headband and the ribbon that hangs off the back. Really, really loving this one, but at close to $85...I don't know!

Courtesy of Shoebuy.com

So maybe it's best to look for a floppy hat, since my sister says they are coming back into style. I found a site that had some really cute ones at a reasonable price. This one is $7.90 American Dollars!

Courtesy of AliExpress.com 

So I am seriously going to be searching for a hat. I've never considered myself a hat person but everyone seems to be wearing them! And Iwanna be just like all the cool kids.

Do you wear hats? What kind? What would you recommend?

Hoping all your Iwanna wishes come true!

Wait...wait...wait...hold the presses! I think I have found the perfect hat! My favorite color, green, it's cowboy-ish and Iwanna this one with my whole little pea-picking heart. *sigh* Isn't it dreamy? Sad thing is it's out of stock but I'm entering my email so they can let me know when it's back in stock!

Courtesy Overstock.com 

 

Martinis anyone? Iwanna Wednesday!

The other day while out on a little shopping excursion I found these pillows and had to take them home with me! And I knew once I did that a friend of mine would love them as well. He's a big lover of the Martini. We will call him The Martini Man or TMM for short. The pillows had some smudges, but the cover is removable and I knew they would come clean in the wash.

I posted them on Facebook and I was right, TMM loved them and wanted to know wherever did I find them? I told TTM that I found them at TJ Maxx but they had been clearance priced at $12.99 each and I didn't know if he would be able to find them at his local TJ Maxx (I don't even know if they have TJ Maxx in Arizona where he lives).

So I let my fingers do the walking and figured I would combine TMM's love of Martinis' and my new pillows and created an Iwanna Wednesday post because the amount of Martini pillows and other paraphernalia out there is astonishing!

This pillow was my favorite! Something about it just speaks to me...lol. I think I love the simplicity. It's price is not simple though, this one was $63.95! You can find it at zazzle.com.

This next one is so cute, but I doubt TMM would like it as he's a guy...but maybe he would like to display it so female friends that come over can gush over it. I know I would! This is another zazzle.com pillow and it can be yours for a mere $105.00!!! Yikes!

Alright! I think I found the perfect one for TMM and even I would like this one! Goes with everything! I gotta be honest with you though, I think I would be 1 Martini, 2 Martini...floor! I wouldn't even need the 3rd one. This one comes from Pillow Buy and is definitely affordable at $12.99!

Here's another one that I love! Just adore the little penguins in the background. Another inexpensive one also from Cafe Press for $19.99.

And once you find the perfect pillows to put on your couch and you are ready to invite your friends over for cocktails you need the perfect Martini Glass right? And TMM would probably love any of these that follow, I know I would. They are fabulous!!

Aren't they fabulous? The third one down is my favorite. It's called "Hookers Delight"...hahaha! There's a gold fishing hook that you hook your olive on. Now that one is truly unique! Oh...and the 5th one is not a real Martini Glass, it's a $50 dollar bill folded into the shape of a Martini Glass and it's only $85. Yep, buy a $50 bill for $85...this guy is a genius!

So that's it. I think that gives TMM much info on where to find the perfect pillow, although honestly I'm thinking I should send him mine as house warming gifts. We'll see if I feel as generous tomorrow.

So happy Iwanna Wednesday and may all your Iwanna Wishes come true!


 

Iwanna Wednesday

Bet you thought I would never do an Iwanna Wednesday post ever again right? I have to admit I kind of got away from wanting everything in the world. The last one I did was November of 2012, seriously...I checked! It was an Iwanna post about wanting Pilgrims for Thanksgiving. I still don't have any!

A little background on what Iwanna Wednesday is in case you forgot. Ok...so I want everything I see. I mean it! I can walk into a drugstore and see something and say, "I want one of those." I can walk into a hardware store and say, "I want one of those." I can even drive by someone's house and say, "I want some decorative rocks like those!" My mom and sister finally started teasing me and saying, "Oh yeah Iwanna...you want everything!" That is how Iwanna Wednesday was born...a day when I can Iwanna anything my little heart desires. 

Well today I was running around on the net and saw something Iwanna...this!

Photo Credit - Stupid Dope

So do you know what this is? Care to take a guess? Have no clue? Well if you guessed bathtub...you are correct. This is a bathtub! Seriously! See...

Photo Credit - Stupid Dope

I love it and would love to have something like this someday! I think I would be a little scared that the thing would stay on the wall filled with water and me!! But just love it, love the clean lines and the way it sits off the floor, no plumbing. This is how you drain it...cool right?

Photo Credit - Stupid Dope

Well that's it for this Wednesday, here's wishing all your Iwanna Wishes come true!




 

Iwanna Wednesday - Looking for a few good Pilgrims!

This weekend I put away my Halloween decor and started putting out Thanksgiving stuff, but alas...I didn't have much. I have three ceramic turkeys and one little horn of plenty or Cornucopia.

I've been looking around for a while now trying to find Pilgrims, last year they were everywhere! Lurking around every corner, at HomeGoods, Goodwill, The Dollar Store and Walmart, this year they all went AWOL!

So what Iwanna for this Iwanna Wednesday is to show you some that I found online. Some wonderful and beautiful, some crazy funny and some that are just crazy! Follow me...let's see!

This one falls in the wonderful and beautiful category! I just love it, the cute little iron arms and the little basket and lantern and the base they put it on, looks like little, tiny, baby tiles! There is nothing about this one I don't love! Oh...well maybe I don't love the price too much, $34.50 for just one Pilgrim?  That's a bit too steep for me, but if you can't live without this little gem, you can find her at Jim Shore Heartwood Creek Collectibles at Main Attractions.

And this one also is wonderful and beautiful. It's the Pilgrim couple and an Indian couple. I love the little saying on the apron of each of the women too. Iwanna this set and they are on amazon.com but unfortunately they are currently unavailable *sigh*! What a surprise!

Here's a crazy funny one. These little guys are just so cute! I love their big feet and they are very patriotic with their little flag. This is Pete and Prudence Pilgrim and these are not too bad at $5.95 each...very affordable. These are from Designed to Be Sweet.

I don't know if these are crazy... crazy funny... or wonderful and beautiful. I can't quite make up my mind. I think the beaks give them that crazy vibe but the fact that they are squash make them crazy funny and the fact that they are such perfection and so unique makes them wonderful and beautiful in my eyes! And the way the little one is gazing up at the big one, can you say ahhhhh! This one is from distinctivedecor.com and it runs $14.50, another affordable one but out of my budget for trinkets. If it's not from The Dollar Store or Goodwill I won't usually buy it.



This next one is what I would just call crazy, what say you? I found these on ebay at $50.99!!! These are troll dolls, remember these? These were huge in the 1970's you could find them everywhere! But to make them Pilgrims??? Crazy, crazy, crazy...but cute. To a collector I'm sure $50 for them would be nothing. I'll have to keep an eye out for these guys at Goodwill!

And do you love Nesting Dolls? Who doesn't right? Well I love these Pilgrim Nesting Dolls, so cute and so easy to store. These I found on Etsy for a mere $65.00! You can actually customize these anyway you want.

And this last one is my absolute favorite, Iwanna this one cause it's so darned cute! I know it may be a little bit macabre, the Pilgrim lovingly kissing the sweet little turkey on the head when behind his back he has the hatchet ready and waiting and you know he's getting ready to swing it. But times were tough in Pilgrim days and you had to be brave enough to kill your own turkey. I'm really glad that now we can find them easily in the refrigerated aisles of our local grocery stores (sorry to any vegetarians). This little guy was also on ebay for $13.79 and "bonus" he's a salt and pepper shaker!

But I will keep searching in the after Thanksgiving sales and throughout the year and hopefully next year I will have a whole little Pilgrim Kingdom!

Happy Iwanna Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!

 

Iwanna Wednesday - All Things Bright and Beautiful!

I am obsessed lately with anything India. It all started with a bedspread my daughter April gave me that's silky and has bright colors, orange, pink, green, blue and yellow, mainly orange though, that's the dominant color. When I see it, it makes me happy. So even though I think that I should have an adult bedroom with bedding that's brownish, beigish, tan-ish, greenish...Iwanna bedroom with bright beautiful colors.

My bedspread alas has seen better days, and even though I love, love, love it...it's time to start shopping for another one. And is it just me or a bedspreads, comforters and sheets outrageously priced! Yikes!

Today for Iwanna Wednesday Iwanna pick out some things for my bedroom. Now some of them I may end up with and most of them I probably won't, but that's what Iwanna Wednesday is for, a day I can Iwanna anything I want, but that doesn't mean that I will be buying them.

To start with, I love ottomans, but the one I have is a drab olive green and even though I mean to re-do it someday, wouldn't it be nice to just have something new? Something bright and beautiful? Something like this...

This is exactly what I mean when I speak about being obsessed with the colors of India! Isn't this gorgeous? Not only do I love the colors, but I love the style, the way the ends curve and the see-throughness of the legs! This little beauty came from India By Design and is made out of recycled materials.

Also from that same website is this beautiful lamp made using a wire hanger and Indian Bangle Bracelets. I have tons of Indian Bangle Bracelets and I love them. The lamp might not provide a lot of light, but it's beautiful just as a display of art, don't you think?

So if I had that beautiful bench above, I would want to place it at the end of my bed and wouldn't it just look perfect if I were to get this bedding? What do you think? Too much? Hmmm, I don't know, I'm kinda loving it myself! This beautiful bedding is believe it or not from walmart.com

Now what Iwanna is some curtains. In my bedroom I have a beautiful bay window and a huge sliding glass door so curtains really make the room since most of the room will be curtains. And in keeping with the India theme, how about curtains made from Saris? I swooned when I saw these! They would bring out the blue in the bedding don't you think? These are from Indian Selections.com.

And I was thinking since I now have a beautiful place to sit at the end of a beautiful, colorful bed with gorgeous windows and the glow of the light through those colorful bangle bracelets what else could Iwanna except for a beautiful Sari to wrap myself in, but then I watched this video of how to wrap the Sari and while it's mesmerizing to watch how they wrap it, I just don't think that I can do it.

 

 

 



So maybe just a nice kaftan instead? Something colorful and comfortable like this?

And lest you think that Alicia has finally gone off her rocker or is losing it in her old age (since my last post was about all my gray hair), I think it's just that I've gotten to that point in life like the little old lady that shall wear purple.

When I am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

by Jenny Joseph

 

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple

with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired

and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

and run my stick along the public railings

and make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

and pick the flowers in other people's gardens

and learn to spit.

 

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

and eat three pounds of sausages at a go

or only bread and pickles for a week

and hoard pens and pencils and bear nuts and things in boxes.

 

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

and pay our rent and not swear in the street

and set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

when suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

 

 

So that's what I'm doing, I'm just practicing just a little bit now, before I grow old...so I don't shock anyone. What about you? What's your dream bedroom like and has it changed as you've gotten older?