Updated pretties!!

Been a busy bee! Sooo many Christmas decorating jobs! Many more to come!
Wreaths for fancy job hung up! Soooo gorgeous! I love these!


For one of my clients - several arrangements and a wreath!










Hope you likey!

Ciao for today...

Another GEM by Lisa Bloom. As stolen from the Huffington Post!

By Lisa Bloom.


I'm in the makeup room at CNN, getting mascaraed and blow dried by two hip young makeup artists. And I do mean artists: women who can paint on perfect Cleopatra eyeliner faster than you can say Wolf Blitzer; who can morph my frizzy hair into ready-for-my-closeup sleekness while simultaneously de-shining Piers Morgan.

Each of these women is her own amazing art project. One has an entrancingly shiny, swingy copper-hued bob; the other, a tiny, twinkling nose ring and elegantly pencilled brows. Style? they've got it in spades. I gawk.

We talk about the news stories I'm there to cover today, and I tell them I appreciate the attention they're lavishing on me, so that I will look presentable on Dr. Drew. I throw out that I'd be delighted if they made me look half as beautiful as them.

One looks at her sweet little face in the mirror, frowns and says, "ugh, I look like crap today." Another rolls her eyes, then looks down. "I have twenty-five pounds to lose before I can even look at myself."

Stop the airbrushing! Stop the flat ironing! Alert! Alert! We have just entered the can't-take-a-compliment zone. Please, ladies, can we evolve to a higher consciousness on this issue?

I can't stand it when women can't receive kudos properly. And in my humble opinion, that's about 95 percent of us. Most of us elect to find fault with ourselves when someone is sincerely pointing out something positive. Girlfriends, can we learn once and for all to absorb the loveliness of a compliment? Don't trash the moment. Bask in it.

This may take practice. Because knowing how to receive kind words is a skill you'll need throughout your life, and this weird habit of insulting ourselves when someone is praising us has got to stop. Now. (Especially if you're doing this in front of your daughter.)

Let's role play. I say: "You look beautiful today!"

Beginner Level: Acceptable response: Swallow the no-I-don'ts, the flaws list you're ready to rattle off, and say this and only this. "Thank you." Practice this in the mirror. You can do it. I know you can. "Great sweater!" "Thank you." "You been hitting the gym?" "Thank you." "Nice hair cut!" "Thank you."

That's it. No more. After "thank you," button it. I can't stop you from mentally putting yourself down, but please, don't verbalize it.

Because where does all this self-hatred come from? The multibillion dollar beauty-industrial complex, which programs you to feel ugly and deficient, constantly, so that you spend money you don't have for bogus "problems" they've created to profit off your insecurity. Like, say, for those new pills that will supposedly give you thicker eyelashes. Swallowing chemicals designed to grow thicker hair around my eyeballs? Can't imagine THAT having any weird side effects, right? No thanks, Big Pharma. Or Ped Eggs. Really? I will not be cheese-grating my feet today, tomorrow, or any day, sorry. I earned those callouses climbing mountains. They stay. (Can you imagine anyone trying to sell Ped Eggs to men? Hah! Men complain about shaving, for heaven's sakes.)

You don't need this garbage. (And when I'm not on TV, I go easy on the cosmetics, because life is short, makeup and hair and nails are time-consuming, and I would rather be reading a book or Tweeting. Apart from the expense, this stuff consumes our valuable time, time better spent thinking, dreaming, imagining, connecting with our world, as I advocate in my book, Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed Down World.)

You don't need the self-deprecating attitude about your face, hair and body our culture drums into you. It doesn't serve you. Release it. You just need a girlfriend's genuine go-girl words praising one of your strong suits. When you're lucky enough to get a compliment, drink it up, because there are enough bad moments in life without your creating one when something kind is going down.

So let's move up to the intermediate compliment-receiving level. I notice a tattoo peeking out of your tank top. "New ink? Wow! Love it!" Give me a nice smile, taking in the compliment. "Hey! Thanks!" Gin up some authentic enthusiasm for this bit of girl-love that's been tossed your way.

Expert level: I say: "Oh my God, look at you! You are just glowing today!" Stop. Look in the mirror. See yourself through my eyes. See the beauty that I am seeing. Ignore the rest and focus on your best feature: radiant skin, bright eyes, that vintage scarf you wrap just so. I'm right! You are rocking it. Pimples or extra pounds or too small this or too big that -- whatever. Who cares? Be present in this moment. Let it feed your spirit. (Yes, I am a yogi.) Repeat to yourself the words of India.Arie: "What God gave me is just fine." Feel beautiful. Because you are, girl. In twenty years you'll look back at pictures of yourself today and see this. Why not choose to see it now?

And for extra credit: how about we compliment our girlfriends on something besides their appearance today? "I love how you handled your toddler. Whew! I wish I had your patience!" "Your report was so thorough. I learned a lot from reading it." "Great creative problem-solving. I really enjoy how you think outside the box." "You worked the graveyard shift AND you're still smiling? Damn girl, I don't know how you do it!"

This holiday season, let's give praise for our sisters' brains, efforts, compassion, sass, grace and verve.

Now that's beautiful.

For more tips on how to reclaim your brain from our appearance-obsessed culture, check out my new book, Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World, www.Think.tv.

Follow me on Twitter! I post frequently. www.Twitter.com/LisaBloom

"Tis the Season to Make Moolah, fa la la la laaaa

I have about 7,864,952 things to do this week and next week...Luckily people are utilizing my business left and right this year! Why? I have no ideeearrrr, but i am VERY VERY thankful! I've gotten twice (or more) jobs than I did last year - and BIG ones, to boot - flower boxes, garlands, wreaths! Everyone is in the Christmas spirit this year!

Yahoooo!

Here are some beautiful wreaths I and my adorable partner (in business) Adam did up on Tuesday:



I showed these pictures to a friend, and she ordered TWO of the same for her door and her boyfriend's door!! Yaay!

I will leave you with some silliness to give you a good giggle! Enjoy! : )

REDNECK MEDICAL TERMS
Benign.......................What you be after you be eight
Artery........................The study of paintings
Bacteria.....................Back door to cafeteria
Barium.......................What doctors do when patients die
Cesarean Section........A neighborhood in Rome
Catscan......................Searching for Kitty
Cauterize....................Made eye contact with her
Colic...........................A sheep dog
Coma..........................A punctuation mark
D&C...........................Where Washington is
Dilate..........................To live long
Duct Tape........................Suture on a roll
Enema........................Not a friend
Fester.........................Quicker than someone else
Fibula..........................A small lie
Genital........................Non-Jewish person
G.I.Series....................World Series of military baseball
Hangnail......................What you hang your coat on
Impotent......................Distinguished, well known
Labor Pain...................Getting hurt at work
Medical Staff................A Doctor's cane
Morbid.........................A higher offer than I bid
Nitrates.......................Cheaper than day rates
Node............................I knew it
Outpatient....................A person who has fainted
Pap Smear...................A fatherhood test
Pelvis...........................Second cousin to Elvis
Post Operative..............A letter carrier
Recovery Room............Place to do upholstery
Rectum........................Damn near killed him
Secretion.....................Hiding something
Seizure........................Roman emperor
Tablet..........................A small table
Terminal Illness............Getting sick at the airport
Tumor..........................More than one
Urine...........................Opposite of you're out
Varicose......................Near by/close by

Wet Doggie

This is a poem written by a dear friend of mine about Dallas' recent adventure into the ocean!

Here's the cutie patootie in action last evening! CUTE!



Dallas thinks he’d like to swim
It’s simple, right? You just jump in.
It’s not so simple, Dallas-doggie
You’re not a spaniel, or a froggy

Your leap of faith was quite impressive
But before you consider it successive
You’d best prepare and learn to float
Or take a trip or two by boat

No more scares for owner-person
Who was frightened by your rash immersion
Practice makes success more likely
Or perhaps you’d rather learn to bikely?

Too beautiful not to share

Just got back from walking The Fearless One!
He spent this walk attached to my hip, for obvious reasons! He had no interest in being anywhere but safely next to momma this time!! : )

We walked down to the Salem Ferry landing. And it was stunningly beautiful.

Fog was rolling in from the open ocean, sun was bright and sky was blue blue blue.

Pictures speak for themselves, and a short video at the end:

Dallas The Fearless Flying Doggie

Oh, boy.

I've got my HANDS FULL, kids. Really full.

Mr. Dallas, the cutie patootie?

Well, yesterday morning we were walking on the dock where we keep our boat in the summertime. Of course, at this time of year there are very few boats left in the water, so the dock is all but empty right now. We've been down there a number of times before, as I deemed it a "safe" place to let him off the leash - he can run about without fear of cars or him bolting up a street (which he has done before!)...

Oh, boy.

Well, turns out Mr. Dallas has a "chase" instinct. He saw a duck take off and head out toward open water. So, what did he do? He took off toward open water.

And then?

PLOP! SPLASH!

Into the drink he went!

HOLY SHITBALLS!

Well, of course, Mr. Dallas spent the first two years of his life chained outside in Tennessee. He has then been in foster care in Tyngsboro, MA for the last 2 1/2 months and then? With me.

He has never swum before. So, it was a very scary moment for me. I saw what was going to happen, and there was NOTHING I could do to stop it....

So, I ran after him, fearful that he was going to drown! I was sooooo scared. And so was Dallas. He was treading water, but barely. Not really swimming so much as just trying to keep his head above water.

Luckily his instinct to get back onto the dock was strong, so he stayed near the dock. I was able to grab his collar and then drag all 70 of his pounds right up onto the dock on top of me.

I was soaked. He was soaked. We were both in total disbelief!

Dallas, of course, took off like a shot again, going the opposite direction toward home...I was screaming for him to come back. And I couldn't run - the adrenaline shot that went through me to be able to lift his dead weight from the water had died off and I was left basically in a puddle on the dock. I couldn't run after him, and luckily, he turned and saw that I wasn't playing...

So he came running right back to me. He fell on me and we stayed there for a minute so I could gain my composure to walk him back home...

He kept looking up at me and then wiggling and shaking off the water! He wanted to run and run, but he knew I was spent!

What an ordeal.

Needless to say, I will not be walking him there again this morning or anytime soon. Good GOD!

So, that's the story of Dallas the Fearless, Flying Dog! : )

Now, I will leave you with a pretty video...Click HERE.

Enjoy!