you make me smile

I definitely have a magazine addiction. Not just any magazine - mainly ones relating to home, house, garden, decorating, shopping for the home, etc. I don't really feel bad about my addiction because I inherited it from my mother.....it is genetic. Both of us subscribe to various magazines. Sometimes a magazine will thrill us and sometimes it will fall out of our favor. Maybe a couple of years will go by and then we "rediscover" that same magazine and resubscribe. We also buy from the news stand but that can be risky - as evidenced one time when my mother bought the same magazine three times! Sorry Mama.

Anyway, when living overseas, it is difficult doing without. But my mother (and now my mother-in-law) are saving magazines for me to look at when I get back to the U.S. for a visit. I read some of them while home and save some to take back to Korea to savor on those days that I really need a good magazine. I know that I could get overseas subscriptions. However, I know from past experiences that it can not only be expensive, but you are lucky if you receive the magazine at all.

With the advent of the Internet, I can now log on to the magazine sites and read about some of the things I am missing. But it is not the same as sitting in a comfortable chair with a cup of coffee and relishing every page of a magazine. But it will have to do sometimes. As you can see from my site, I have numerous websites that I visit that make me smile and make my heart sing. One site that I am enjoying right now is doe-c-doe . She devotes a day for different passions, such as books, fabrics, embroidery, etc. Please take time to look at her website and enjoy, I know I certainly do!

Back to the point of this post! She was discussing the magazine Marie Claire and renewing her subscription. I remember when I lived in France and bought the magazine periodically to gaze at the new products and home interiors. Unfortunately, I was not fluent in French, but I could sometimes get by with my reading of the language. Anyway, when I saw her post, I remembered that I had bought that magazine here in Korea a while back. And as every magazine addict knows, you do not throw a magazine away for a good long while. You read it over and over and memorize every little object in the pictures that make you happy. I don't know about other addicts, but eventually I go through my magazine and scour it one last time. I will tear out the pages that I want and I paste it into a notebook that I keep (actually several notebooks). Then I might throw it away. However, there are some magazines I keep forever...!

I guess I keep regressing. Here is the magazine cover I bought almost a year ago when I was yearning for some inspiration. For some reason, I haven't seen it since. Unfortunately, I haven't picked up Korean the way I picked up French. Thus I can't read too much of this magazine. But I did enjoy the pictures. I really like this bag.








And these rabbits you could paste onto the wall.....















And the back splash in her kitchen.....

















And the clock on this page........















That probably has to do with this page that I cannot read......

Thank you to everyone that makes me smile - whether it is my mother or my mother-in-law, doe-c-doe, my painting teacher, the images I see in Korea every day or the many websites I enjoy.

happy birthday kipperman!!!

Today is Kip's birthday. I wish I could be there for a celebration with him. Usually he gets a McDonald's hamburger and some ice cream. I am sure that this year will be celebrated appropriately with his foster family (my parents). I can't believe he is only 14 years old, I feel like he has been with me my entire life. Anyone that knows him, knows that he is really an a little angel in a poodle costume.


It was a hard decision not to bring Kip to Korea with us. We miss him terribly but know that he is in a home that loves him (in fact, my mother has taken all these pictures of Kip and sends them to me!) and caters to his every whim such as..... he gets up way early, eats and goes back to sleep; he just stands at the door to be let out and expects you to be watching and know that - no barking for him!; he sometimes likes to be hand fed; he can't hear very well anymore so you have to take that into consideration; he likes Sunday morning breakfast (actually, he likes any breakfast...., or lunch, or dinner); he likes to sit at the table with the family whenever invited, whether it is for food or games;
he doesn't like to be outside much anymore; I could go on and on! We just felt the flight would be too long for an older poodle that was set in his ways. Plus, I would be going back and forth from Korea to Texas a few times a year and that would mean more trips. I do miss him terribly though, especially whenever I see a dog in Korea.

There are stories about dogs in Korea and how they serve dogmeat at some restaurants, and unfortunately it is true. The way it is done is a cruel practice and hopefully it is on the decline. I really don't want to get into specifics because it upsets me so. On the other hand, you do see an awful lot of pampered dogs on the streets.

And there are several pet stores in town that have the little ones in the window with all their clothes and dyed ears!



Yes, those are shoes....!







To close, here are a few more pictures of some of the little ones I have seen around town that are hopefully loved and appreciated for their companionship and loyalty.