Where do I begin?

Here, apparently.  Begin, that is.  I started setting up this blog quite a while ago, but never really knew what to say for the inaugural post.  I had lots of ideas for things I wanted to say and show you once we'd finally made contact, but I could never figure out how to say Hi.  Then I realized I just needed to start.  I didn't need a reason or a topic; just beginning would be enough.

So, HI.  This is going to be the place where I talk to you about what I've been doing and what I am doing and what I plan to do (the latter always seems to encompass way more than the first two).  I'll empty my brain here so I can get it to leave me alone at night and get some sleep.  I'll probably spend a lot of early mornings pushing out all the thoughts that wake me up.  See, I like to ramble.  Figuratively and literally.  But, my goal is to share some things I've learned along the way and hopefully provide a little direction to someone in need, and not to take up too much of your time doing it.

Here's the first thing you need to know about me -- the reason I like to ramble is because so many different things interest me.  Some would call that being easily distracted (which would most likely be accurate), but it's just the way my brain works.  Tomorrow I may be in photography mode; the day after that could be about decor and organization; and somewhere in between might have glimpses of fashion or food or folly. 

Here's the second thing to know -- I may be a complete newbie to the blog scene, but I'm far from new to this planet. My only child is twenty-five years old and my husband and I just celebrated 30 years of marriage.   I've lived a lot of life, asked and answered a lot of questions, and feel like I've picked up a lot of  valuable lessons along the way.  

And that leads to the third (and for today, final) thing -- I'm starting out on a new (ad)venture.  I love the trend of vintage vibe that is happening right now; burlap, old clocks and cameras, tarnished silver, rusty things.  I also love to make things, and take photographs of people and things, and decorate and move things around in my house.  And I'm lucky enough to have a best friend (Meschill) who shares most of those same interests.  So she and I have decided to make a go at being Vintage Vagabonds.  We hit estate sales, garage sales, flea markets and thrift shops looking for lonely and forgotten items into which we can breathe new life.  We also love mixed media and altered art, so there'll be a bit of that too.  Being a natural rambler, (aka easily distracted), I find that I also enjoy putting together gift items, from wedding/hostess/housewarming gifts to simple girlfriend gifts, as well as making jewelry and pillows.  And Meschill has fabulous Christmas ornaments and makes the cutest pin cushions ever!  We're starting small with local fairs and festivals, but we'd love to open an etsy store and grow into our own shop one of these days.

I'll leave you with a small sample of some things we've put together for an upcoming Sami Show in Belton, Texas this weekend (October 27-28, Bell County Expo).  Hope you can come by and introduce yourself.  We're looking forward to meeting you - in person or just in the blogosphere!

Thanks for stopping by! 
deb