My Lovely Little Pink Suitcase :)

Hi All :)

I hope your week is off to a great start :)
Although I can't believe it is Wednesday already and the last day of July at that; where does the time go?!?!

I think I had the idea for this blog post about a year ago but as you will see I had to take a trip, by plane, to actually bring the story to fruition :)

The story starts a few years ago when I was in an airport and I saw a Woman walking along with 2 suitcases gliding along beside her in one hand and her handbag in the other. "How does she do that?" I thought; it wasn't like they were little suitcases they were "check - able" size suitcases - I noticed that the man accompanying her, was also maneuvering 2 suitcases, with ease, in one hand. These suitcases were vertical and not like the rest of us, dragging our "Two Wheelers" behind us. I had to find out where they got these "magical" cases from and I wanted one :)

And so, one day when I was in the Portland Airport saying "Goodbye" once again, to one of my children (you will have to excuse me for not remembering which one or when it was, because they come and go so much, I sometimes think the Airport is my second home, lol :)

Anyway, I digress, as we were walking along thru the shopping area in the Airport, I glance up and I saw one of the "Magical" suitcases on the shop floor of Brookstone. 

I have been into a Brookstone Store before but usually following a male who was goo-goo eyed over the electronic devices available :) I had never really taken much notice of anything else in the store, it seemed a gadgety store that didn't really cater to me, until I saw My Lovely Little Pink Suitcase :)

Pink is my Fav. colour (just in case you haven't noticed, lol :)

The only problem was they didn't make the Pink "Magical" suitcase in a size bigger than a "carry on" and even though I try to pack lightly when I travel, you know you don't get much in a "carry on" (and don't get me started about people and their "carry ons" because that is a WHOLE other Blog Post, not so lol :(

I stood in the store and ummed and ahhed; it was a rather expensive  suitcase but oh so cute :) I kept taking it for walks around the shop and it was so easy to maneuver, it really felt like "Magic" :)

The assistant assured me that within 2 years I could return it, no questions asked if it got scratches on it or anything ever happened to it they would switch it out, so I went ahead and bought it :)

Here is my lovely Pink Suitcase :)

Some of my Fav. places to visit :)

She has a wheel at every corner that swivels in any direction I need; they create a fluid motion for very easy movement :)

 I have always been a fan of the old fashioned shipping trunks with all their stickers on from far off lands and so I put stickers on my suitcase from places that are close to my heart (I guess once I did this I knew I would not be returning the suitcase, so I was placing a lot of faith in it hold up :)

I used it a few times on overnight trips locally but it didn't get an outing to the Airport until we took our Son to Ohio in 2009 for him to start college :)

We arrived at the Toledo Airport pretty late, around 11pm or 11.30pm and I was pretty exhausted. My Hubby went off to find someone to get our rental car from; the place was deserted and then it was back to pick up our luggage and that is when I saw my lovely Pink Suitcase all scuffed up :(

I have to say, I was really sad, silly really, it is only a suitcase after all, but it is MY suitcase, it stands out in a crowd, it is easy to spot on the luggage carousel, it has all my stickers that I have collected from my trips. I know I was tired and I was a little stressed but it really got to me :(

So, when I got home, I decided to scrub my lovely suitcase and sure enough all the black scuff marks and messy stuff came right off and apart from a few scratches that were hardly visible it was my Lovely Pink Suitcase again :)

And so, for the past 4 years, several times a year, me and my Lovely Pink Suitcase go off to the airport, knowing full well what will happen but also knowing once we are home again she will be looking almost as good as new :) 

I Hope you enjoyed the story of My Lovely Little Pink Suitcase :)

Have a wonderful Day :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

My Son's Graduation from BGSU, Ohio :)

Hi All, 

I hope you are all having a lovely day :)

The Sun is Shining here in the Pac. Northwest and all is well :)

Well, I know I haven't been around much and that is because I was on an extended road trip that ended up in Ohio to celebrate my youngest Son's graduation from Bowling Green State University, in Ohio :)

All our family was able to get together for this very important milestone in our family's life and I am truly grateful :)

Here are a few photos of the Grad & his Sibs & Dad :)

(before you ask where am I??? I am (hiding) behind the camera, LOL!!!! :)

My College Graduate :)

Before the big event :)

BGSU Grad. Ceremony :)

"O"

Sam, Charlotte, Mark and Keith Chipperfield, my lovely family :)

After; BGSU Grad. Ceremony, tassels to the left  :)

The 4 Chips :)

Our Proud Grad :)

The Boys :)

My "Children" Young Adults, all college Grads; off to make their way in the world & hopefully have lots of fun on the way :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

As Summer Comes to an End...........

Hi Everyone! :)

I know I have been MIA but as my youngest headed back to school in Ohio and then on to Boston for a college internship, my Daughter packed up and when back to live in San Fran (where her heart is.......thanks Tony Bennett, LOL!! :) My Hubby went on his 3rd business trip in 6 weeks to China and the Darling came back and gave me a cold which led to a really bad case of Bronchitis which took 3 weeks to clear up and totally wore me out (so I have asked him kindly not to bring anything back to give me this trip, LOL!!!:) 

My eldest son is still living at home for now but I think he would like a place of his own now he has a job, YAY!!! (only took 2 years after college to get a job, who said the economy is bad............)

It was wonderful to be able to spend the Summer all together, even though everyone was working crazy hours and sometimes not even on the same continent (I'd add, not even on the same planet but that is just rude, LOL!!! :)

So, as the house empties, once again, and no, it never gets any easier, this coming and going, sometimes living here, sometimes not; I know I raised my children to want to go off and spread their wings, I have raised a band of Nomads, I know that, but I think there is a little (actually a lot of :) Gypsy in me too, I always had Wanderlust, so I have no one to blame (well, except my Hubby, He! He! :). 

I am sharing photos of our time spent all together on our Oregon coast vacation during the Summer and remembering what a wonderful time we had :)

I hope you enjoy them too! :)

The first morning we woke to this view looking south, it is a pretty typical Oregon Coastal morning and there is no predicting if it will burn off or not but it is beautiful in its own right :)

But slowly, the sky started to clear :)

Looking North towards Cape Kiwanda started a little overcast and then.......

it got brighter and 

Brighter as the day progressed YAY!!! :)

If you missed the post of the photos I took of that massive sand dune and would like to see how big it is because the people on it look like ants, LOL!!! You can check it out HERE :)

These 4 photos are of the "Dory Days" procession thru Pacific City, we have never been there to celebrate this before, it was so much fun, true Americana, LOVED IT :)

We had some beautiful days and beautiful Sunsets but this night we sat out on the deck facing the Ocean, eating and drinking and I took photos all the way thru the Sun setting, it was absolutely gorgeous, not sure my camera did it complete justice but I LOVED the changing light :)

Just in case you didn't see this on FB, here is the Chipperfield Clan (sans moi), Sam, of course, doing his impression of "Blue Steel" :)

The Beautiful,

Majestic,

Powerful,

Mighty Pacific Ocean :)

Tierra Del Mar, such a gorgeous beach :)

It was quite windy this day I took these shots at a view point on 101 and this seagull was having trouble launching, I didn't like to mention that she really had too much eyeliner on, seemed like she was having a bad enough day, LOL!!! :)

Last night, at the Pelican Pub at Cape Kiwanda, watching the sun set, not too shabby :)

If you've ever had a bad day, think of this poor women she has been like this for as long as I can remember, LOL!!!!  Thru all weathers and it is part of our family tradition to check she is still there every time we visit Pacific City on the Oregon coast, we call her the "Lady in the Loo" but we do not know anything about her or how it came to be :)

I hope you enjoyed these and it is good to be back :)

Have a lovely Thursday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.