I wanna be Irish!

Yay!  It's St. Patricks Day!  No, I'm not Irish but I sure would like to be!  Like a lot of people, there's just something about the beautiful land of Ireland that holds such special appeal to me, especially this time of year!

DUNGUAIRE IRISH CASTLE

Photo By: Karolos Trivizas

  Combine the allure of all that mystic beauty with the legends and lore then throw in some green beer and I'm in!   Albeit, my green beer of choice lately is Bud Light Lime, though. LOL!  Stay with me here now,ehh!  Still, who hasn't wanted to be Irish for a day, especially on St. Patty's Day?    Soooo...I set a little table scape for the Irish dreamer in me.

I sure do wish I had some of those gorgeous shamrock dishes I have been seeing out here in blog land, but I do not, so alas, what's an Irish girl wanna be to do?

Well, she creates her own there laddie!

Just add a few gel shamrocks to some green apple plates, along with Fransican Ivy and Butlers Pantry and I'd say your looking rather festive there. 

Don't forget the dark green Libby glassware...

....and some gold chocolate coins to entice the wee little leprechauns to come out of hiding! 

And with a bit o' Luck....

...you might enjoy the mystique...

...of being...

...Irish for a day! 

 Care to join me, ehh?

Special thanks to Kathleen of Cuisine Kathleen for inspiring me to use the gold coins.  I just loved this idea from one of her previous year tablescapes. Thank you so much for the inspiration!  Be sure and stop by Tablescape Thursday for more inspiring and memorable tablescapes.

  I hope each of you have a wonderful and happy

St. Patricks Day! 

Mary

St. Patty's Day Blog Crawl fun!

It's Take A Look Tuesday here at The Decorative Dreamer again and I am joining Kathleen for her
 St. Patty's Day Blog crawl!

  What, you say?  I know, I know!  I did say I was not joining linking parties anymore except for a few and this falls into the catagory of a few.  It's a very special event though and I did recieve an invitation.  Now how could I turn it down when Kathleen is also too credit for my St. Patty's day tablescape this year.  Sooo....

maybe just a few snippets...

to entice ya to come back on Thursday!

Sorry!  I am not going to show you my St. Patty's Day tablescape yet...that would just be too easy!  LOL!  But I will show a little more green.  I guess I must have a wee bit of the spirit in me because I'm rather enjoying acting like those naughty elusive leprechuans.  LOL!

On my mantle I have this plate displayed.

I purchased it last year on clearance at TJ Max for $1.00.  Can you believe that?  Seriously!  It was in a box too and part of their St. Patricks day decor.

I just love the knot details on the plate!

Speaking of knots, let me show you a pewter necklace I purchased at our Christmas Classic last year.

I bought several slides to go on this chocker and this is one of my favorites.

It is a celtic knot!  I just love it!  I think I'll wear it this week for good luck!  LOL!

And here's a few more of my favorite greens.  Nothing really Irish about these but they are green and it's Take a look Tuesday at my place so I'm showing ya!

I just adore the raised flower and the footed design on my favorite coffee mugs.  The pattern is from American Atelier.

On my coffee table I have a splash of green too.

One last teaser here, I used this green hydrangea in my St. Patty's day tablescape...but you'll have to come back for that one now, okay?

Have a great day everyone!

See ya!

Mary

Controversy and Business!

Hi Ladies! I hope you had a beautiful weekend!  I certainly did!  What a busy and fun weekend too!

It's Mary's Meditating Mind Monday and I've got lots to share so let' get started.

First off, I want to thank each of you that offered up your comments on my post about "Apathy".  I really do appreciate hearing from each of you and really did seriously meditate for a bit on each of your points of view.  I purposely did not reply to anyone of you other then the one comment I made myself on my blog.  This post was not published with intentions of debate but to share what "I" believe to be a growing issue in our country.  I left comments open because I wanted to hear your thoughts and believed it was important for others to see them as well.  Mainly because, we do not all see things in the same way or even handle things in the same way and other points of view are interesting.  Your comments certainly reflected that and for that reflection of introspect I am very grateful!

  I want to also remind my readers about the new direction of my blog.  I know in the past, you have been used to seeing mostly decorative, creative, sailing photos and similar posts.  In February, I introduced a new format for my blog that is more tailored to reflecting me, shown here.

  It is not my intention to stop sharing my creative and decorative side, or my sailing side when ever possible.

See, this is what I did on Sunday!

  However, I would not be true to myself (and my blog now) if I did not also share those other aspects of my life that are important to me.  I do not intend to shy away from controversy just to keep this blog "only" a happy place any longer.  It did not work for me, as it did not feel "real" to me.  I am full of many thoughts and compassion and when something is weighing on my mind I will probably share it.  I have no problems with those that choose to keep their blogs a happy place only, especially if you enjoy it!  I am blogging how I choose to, just as you do! 

Now for what's really been on my mind this weekend!  Business!  Woohoo!

  I hosted my first "launch" party this weekend and am happy to say it went much better then I anticipated.  I had about 10 ladies attend out of 45 plus invites sent out. A bit disappointing, but I understand now that is about average.  As I knew would be the case, those who came were very interested and excited about our products and their orders reflected that!

These photos were taken after the party as I forgot to get pics before with all the great food and was too busy during.  I will work on that in the future!

I am even going to be hosting two more shows from this event and hopefully more in the future.  I have also been in contact with a few ladies who are interested in having me hosting shows for the schools they work at.  Since I am only interested in selling to teachers and staff at this time I am trying to work out the logistics with that.  It is a busy time for me as I am sharpening my marketing skills.  Fortunately, the company I work for has oodles of resources available I just need to make the time to use them as I balance my home life.

I highly recommend this company if you are interested in a direct sales business!  I would love to add you to my team if you love our products and this is a great time to start as we have so much going on this month.  There are many levels you can purchase to begin but they have offered up a special March package at the lowest level if you are interested.  It is quite a bargain! 

 Wouldn't it be great to have a team of online bloggers in the same company across many states sharing tips and supporting each other?  I think so!  

Please contact me at mlkeels@sc.rr.com for more details on how to become a sales consultant for Initial Outfitters. 

I added a few more photos to my blog tab under Decorative Dreaming with Initial Outfitters.  I do apologize for not updating that as often as I had hoped, but will definitely keep doing so. 

Please go here for more details on these items and continue to check it out from time to time.

I want to share one last shout out for my new business.  Since my launch party was NOT hosted by anyone other then myself I get to enjoy the hostess benefits earned on this party.

  I am so excited about the amount of cash back I earned to purchase more products for my displays.  I cannot tell you how generous the rewards are!  Not only do I have cash back to spend, I  also have several half off items I can purchase, and several "hostess specials" available to purchase all based on my sales.

  These deals and rewards are through the roof exciting!  I get to use these all myself for this party,woohoo, but I cannot wait to share these benefits with others who host party's for me!  This opportunity is just to good to pass up, seriously!

  Oh I almost forgot, we had a conference call on Thursday announcing many great things going on including our closeout blowout sale!  COBO!!!  Look for this sale going on now online with unbeatable close out prices.  We have "LOTS" of new merchandise coming in and it's time to clear out the old and bring in the new!  So, stop on by my website at

www.initialoutfitters.net/marykeels

and check out the sales!  It's a great time at Initial Outfitters and I'm so happy to have jumped in when I did. 

As you can see, there is much on my mind lately!  Thanks for taking the time to visit and catch up!  I'm not sure how many posts I will get in this week but I do have a St. Patty's Table scape to show you later in the week and am looking forward to that!

Happy Monday Yall!

Have a great day!

Mary

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  – John 3:16

This verse is so powerful it brings the entire focus of the gospel into perspective for us.  In this verse both God and Jesus demonstrate a self sacrificing love that is not self centered but given for all.

In this verse you are assured that you are loved, but it doesn't stop there you are given a gift of eternity.

  When you think of Jesus, do you truly grasp the extent of his love?  Is there any greater love then one that would sacrifice it's self for another?  When I deeply think about this I am so humbled and awestruck at the same time it hard to describe.   This is the character of Jesus I want to share with you most and one that I want to keep close in my heart always.  

Please pray for those in Japan who are enduring such hardship and loss from the Earthquakes and the Tsunami.  Pray that many will share and feel the love of Jesus from those who go to help out during these devastating times.

Thank you for joining me today for

Sharing Jesus Sunday!

Have a blessed afternoon!

Mary