Who are the O'Connors and why the chickens?

Personalization has always been the fashion in cocktail napkins among the genteel happy hour crowd but I did not know QUITE what to make of these unsullied dozen chicken napkins I discovered when I was treasure shopping the other day. Don't you wonder what the circumstances were that these were an appropriate gift? Prize winning poultry at a competition? World's best egg recipie contest? Somebody's nick name was "chick"? They are quite well done and on a lovely grade of linen as well. I guess some mysteries will never be solved.
My hubby sure knows how to pick 'em. Roses that is. Today is the twentieth and my ubiquitous red Valentine roses are looking as fresh as if they were cut yesterday. Bob normally scorns the red in favor of the peach roses he favored me with while we were courting but no Oceanas to be seen so the lovely red this year. A girlfriend tells me that I am lucky my husband knows not only the difference between roses but the actually date of Valentine's Day as well as my birthday and our anniversary too! She's right. I am lucky.

Speaking of lucky, my lovely friend A got too lucky for words the other day when she was driving down the road on trash night (yes, yes I take things off curbs too) when she spied an old fashioned trunk amid a mountain of house debris. Hearing her husband's "what do we need that for" voice in her head she nearly didn't stop but her treasure hunter instincts prevailed and she pulled over. Thr trunk was sturdy but nothing special. She lifted the lid and the trunk was crammed full of vintage and antique linens!!! (I'm trying very hard NOT to be bitter at this point in the story.) A lot of things were in fine shape but apparently "old" and "out of style" in the eye if the beholder so they landed on the curb. A few items were lovely but in shreds. "A" passed on a bagful of those lovely items for me to use in my collage work. Here is the piece I finished yesterday. The camisole was all hand sewn with fine stitching and the minute pleats. Even torn up I still think it is lovely. Kind of like I feel about my husband!

But the fire is sooooo delightful

How deep can one bank ashes in a fireplace before it becomes a health hazard? Not sure but will soon find out. Think the ashes in my fireplace are a good 4 inches deep. Where's that honey do list? The asthmathic one here is not the best one for that chore. But I do love my fires! A lot of folks are shocked that we use our firplace so often but I must say I think it is a habit. Once you get set up and started it is easy to put it in into your routine. It so peaceful and comforting. And there is no tv in the living room so we sit around and just read or talk or wax philasophic as a family. all good things. So how come I never feel that way about exercise so THAT could become a habit.


Bob has been very diligent in doing his stretching exercises and just got a new set. Presurgical one for his hip replacement. March 25th is now "the day". I am hoping that everything goes like clockwork and Bob can back to being "Bob the rehab star" and "Look mom , no cane" Bob and "waddaya know honey I am not in constant pain" Bob. Here's praying!

Here's my cute as a button niece with her birthday pillow (and her lovely mom as well!). Shame on me I didn't wrap her gift because I had it in the shop window at Stifel & Capra. Shameless self-promotion! On both my proud auntie self and my custom pillow self!

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so stop by the farmer's market in Falls Church and come across the street for a cup of coffee and to see what is new. We are here from 10 to 2 tomorrow.

Fairfax County is experiencing a 2 hour delay

We had a nice steady day at the store on Saturday. Thank you to everyone who came out!
Sunday was a day of complete rest. I decided I was taking a "mental health day" and hanging out in my pj's for awhile. No "public appearances". I stayed home from everything. Church, shopping, neighbors, friends everything. What did I discover?
The concept doesn't work if there are 3 other people in the house and you have a doorbell and a telephone. Nice try. I did however get nine hours of sleep for I am SURE my family is profoundly grateful (if only because I wasn't nagging them about something when I was comatose!).


Monday I spent all day in the studio. I finished my niece's personalized birthday pillow (I will post a pic once I have permission from her mama.) and designed, planned and executed an entire collage. I was so excited to start and finish something in the same day! Doesn't occur often in my life. For example Tuesday: I am not sure WHAT I actually accompished but I did do a little treasure hunting and shifted my family's "piles o' stuff" from one side of the house to the other. Tuesday night brought an ice storm so Wednesday morning brought school delays (of course!) and me chipping the side walk and stairs so Bob didn't have to feel like he was taking his life in his own hands by leaving the house!

We have set the date for Bob's hip replacement. March 18th. So keep your fingers crossed, say prayers for patience and healing and send some good juju our way as the date nears! Peace.

What kind of flower is that, anyway?

I have vowed to spend at least a few minutes a day "shopping" my studio downstairs. It is amazing the stuff I am pulling out! Wednesday night's search and rescue mission came up with this beautifully embroidered tablecloth that sadly had a hole and a couple of really gnarly stains on it. That didn't stop me from turning it into the pillow you see here at left. Looks "spring-ish", eh? The minute the temperature's climb over seventy once in the season I say "that's it all done with winter, on to spring!!!!" Of course my kids are still lobbying for to use all their snow days. Heck the teachers I know are doing the same thing!

I spent so much time on the computer today playing "Suzie Shopkeeper" at Stifel and Capra that I think I am about to seize up! I am looking forward to tomorrow (I'm open from 10 to 2) to chat up the Saturday shoppers from the Farmer's Market. We have LOTS of new stuff out. New linen, more jewelry from Ting and Pixie, and a new line of stained glass items from Conley's Glass. Jack and Bette Conley were in yesterday and brought a nice cross section of their products to display. It is a bright sunny day so they are really shining bright!
On the "what's up with Bob?" front he is scheduled to meet with his orthopaedic surgeon on Monday for a pre-surgery consult. Assuming that goes smoothly I suppose he will come home with a surgery date. Fingers crossed!

Talk about a motley crew!

Well, other than Super Tuesday, other than the one year anniversary of Bob's illness, yesterday was also Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, the day when we break out the good china and the good wine and serve cajun food and make a few select friends take goofy pictures before we feed them! Luckily our friends are patient. These folks were on the guest list from LAST year but we had to postpone until Bob was home. Happily Bob is home, the jambalaya never tasted as good and we are ready to move to the next step in his recuperation: a complete hip replacement. A scary concept but a necessary one if Bob is to walk with out pain. And booooyyy are we looking forward to that. It is hard to see someone you care about suffering and not being able to do much about it.

I was not shocked by Bob's emotions during this anniversary time. But I will say I was shocked by mine. Stress and waves of trauma washed over me as I sat on the couch Friday night thinking of how that was pretty much what I did for a month was move from hospital to couch to bed to chores to hospital... I still am grateful for all of the love, prayers and support we received and still receive. Thanks be to all. And pass the hot sauce.

"I thought when you opened your place there would be LESS stuff in the house..."

"Less stuff? Are you kidding?" Actually I kind of thought that there would be less stuff as well. But um, hasn't really happened that way. I find the best thing is if I go treasure hunting (estate sale, whatever) and head straight to the shop. But seeing how I am super mutil-taking mama I tend to shop on family voyages and things tend to get tangled up in each other as we try to shove everything into the back of the explorer! This first shot is our dining room being used as a staging area without me taking into consideration that I needed to serve birthday cake to eight people. oops.

Marina and Monica came into the store and I was shamed into actually sewing some new items out my mountainous pile of goodies back in my studio for when they come back this weekend. (You are coming back aren't you? I hope. Please.) Must say, had a lovely time designing and putting things together. If you don't count the 14 times I yelled through the heater vent to tell my kids to stop bickering with each other. Note to self: next time turn the radio up or close the vent.

These valentine pillows are actually NOT what I was working on this week, I made these up almost a year ago in January of '07 and found them when I went back into my studio 2 months later for the first time after Bob's illness. Hard to believe but it will be a year on Tuesday since my husband had to have his leg amputated after being in septic shock from strep throat and having fasciitis attack his leg. As you can imagine it has been a rough week emotionally around the Stifel household as we mentally relive the whole experience. I keep telling Bb I am still in the profoundly-grateful-he-is-still-walking-the-earth phase. Albeit he is walking on a blown hip and an artificial leg! He still looks good to me!

As Valentine's Day approaches may you appreciate love and beauty in whatever it's form. If you are feeling brave, venture out tonight for FIRSTFriday celebrations in Falls Church. Refreshments and fun here from 5 to8pm ! Tomorrow is my "long" day as it is the first Saturday of the month so the shop is open 10 to 5 on Saturday.

Trees - 2 ways!

Here are 2 versions of trees from our resident watercolor artist Debby Conn. I think it is great how she can take the same shapes and create two entirely different moods with her brush. Of course I just think Debby is great (but I could just be sweet talking her into working for me some Saturday...).

Am more than just a little overwhelmed by how many balls I am juggling at the moment. I haven't dropped any except the clean house ball and laundry-put-away ball and those are not the most vital are they? Unless of course one wants one's children to wear clean underwear to school .

Have got my working shoes on (Chuck Taylor's) so I can get started rearranging the store. My kids have a teacher's work day off from school so they will be "helping" me on Monday. Yippee! Actually to give them credit my beloved offspring were AWESOME when it came to helping decorate the store for Christmas. They must have hung 300 Christmas ornaments and you would have never know an eight and eleven year old had had their hands in the room. So I am sure they will do the same again. If you come in on Monday and you see 2 kids glued to a movie eating pizza you will know I was wrong!

A quick reminder that this Friday is FIRSTFriday and I am COMPLETELY paranoid that I will throw a party and that no one will come so if you have been contemplating stopping in please do. I know it is hard to get motivated when it is cold and dark outside but it is warm and fun here at the shop! Friday Night 5 to 8pm.

320 miles in 17 hours is 36 mph...

Leaving on a Friday to drive to Connecticut is probably NOT the best way to break land speed records but we made it there and back in one piece! My beloved sister Robin covered the store for me on Saturday so we could go visit my husband's family. My kids had a non stop play fest with their cousins, we got to visit some of our favorite relatives, ate and drank too much and turned around and came home. And to think I delayed the trip so we wouldn't get stuck in holiday traffic!

LOTS of excitement in the past week. I am working on a corporate bid that if it works will see 60 pieces from Stifel and Capra artists will get installed in one day. We are in the preliminary stages but it seems positive. I know I am biased but when I saw the space AND the colorboards I just knew it would be a good fit. Hopefully the client will agree!

I am very excited about my other big spring project. I will be sponsoring a charity art show to be held on May 30th and 31 at Vienna Presbyterian Church. We will be a two day show and sale with part of the proceeds going to 2 local charities. More details on that soon!

The shop is open 10 to 2 through Saturday and then Ashleigh and I will do a BIG rearrangement of merchandise and furniture. Call it spring cleaning if you will. I had a blast treasure hunting in New England so will have lots of new things to show you!

Husband Bob had his second opinion on his hip situation yesterday. The doc basically said "oh yeah, you are a mess. But we don't do surguries based on Xrays. We do them based on quality of life." As Bob is not real happy with his daily pain levels I suspect that the operation will be scheduled soon...

Bob Irwin - Professor - Portrait

We recently delivered a portrait comission to Will Irwin of his late father, Bob Irwin. Debby Conn painted this remarkable likeness and it will hang at the University of Iowa where Bob taught for many years. Will was a pleasure to work with. He provided a biography, many photos and antecdotes about his dad which really made him come alive to me. I must admit though one of favorite shots was Bob in full fencing gear. Apparently when his school decided to start a fencing program Bob decided he wasn't too old to learn a few new tricks. Nobody commented on his fencing prowess however I will attest he looked quite dashing in his white ensemble!

My Bob went to visit his orthopaedic surgeon yesterday to learn more about his hip replacement procedure. Looks like he will be out of work for about a month. Considering the extent of the surgery I don't think that is TOO bad. Bob should be able to do some work from home via the phone and internet so he will still contribute to his practice. I, of course, managed to drive my husband insane as I asked him 20 questions when he got home that were NOT the same twenty questions that Bob had discussed with his surgeon... If looks could kill!
Everyone tells me "oh the recovery time is so fast nowadays" and "oh Bob will be up on his feet in no time". And of course all I can think is you mean "foot" don't you? and how does one throw a prosthetic limb if you can't bear weight on our "good leg"? And how does one do stairs and, and , and... I am certain all will be revealed. Some day. Soon.

But what IS news is that hopefully there will soon be an end to Bob's pain and he can progress in his rehab. The big thrill for the quarter is Bob's physiatrist gave Bob a perscription for the famous "C" leg. That is the limb that has a micro-processor in the knee that takes direction from a radio band that straps to your "good" ankle. It's kind of like power steering for your leg. The 'c' leg's signals help mirror the gait from one leg to the other and it has functions that enable you to squat, kneel or walk up a slope. All these things are virtually impossible now. Honestly I think it was a bit of a carrot to remind Bob what was waiting for him after the surgery. A reason to move forward. Works for me!

Move forward with your day. There is much to enjoy!

If you wait until you are ready...

First thought: if you wait until you have time to do something it never gets done. Thank you to the folks that nudged me to update my postings. It is out of shame that I am here today. Yes, my name is Theresa and I suffer from "grand gesture-itis!" always wanting things to be "just so". You might think as I haven't wriiten nothing has happened but that can't be further from the truth! Lots of excitement. I will attempt to play a bit of catch up and tell you all about it. But not right now. Right now I am finishing up cataloging my aunction item for our local school's fundraiser www.haycockpta.org, writing up an estimate for a corporate art proposal, writing the newspaper ads for the shop and drawing up a plan for the art show I am sponsoring on May 30th.

I am proud of the angel here to your left. She was comissioned by a friend for her mother-in-law (also a client and friend of mine) and I incorporated fabric & trim remnants from sewing Maurine's luscious great room pillows into this beautiful creature! Tomorrow: photos and story on the portrait comission we just delivered...

Happy New Year!

Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Mine seem to be the same pretty much every year, usually involving keeping my temper, losing weight and organizing my ever expanding "stash" of art supplies. This year my thoughts are headed down the same path with the added thought that if I actually follow my already carefully crafted plans from last year that I should be in great shape for 2008!

Last New Year's Eve I remember my friend Kristin asking me what my plans were for 2007 and I replied that for once I actually hadn't made any formal goals as of yet. The next day as we were packing to go to the beach I kept going out the door with arms full and not accepting help from my friends. Kristin and Judy reminded me that NOT accepting a friend's offer of help created inequities in friendships and that I should quit being so darn independent (from my frontier western upbringing, I suppose) and ask for favors occasionally. So the Joke of New Year's 2007 was that I was going to be a "taker" and say yes whenever anyone offered anything. Of course 2 weeks later my husband was in the intensive care unit at Fairfax and 2 weeks after that he was recovering from having his leg amputated from complications from a blood infection. I learned that accepting --prognoses, prayers, food, help, yard work is as much of a blessing as giving.

I also discovered that when you are open the world opens up to you. After deciding to take the path to open the shop I have been overwhelmed by the positive response from the community to the business path I have chosen. Funny how my passion for vintage "treasures" is considered trendy and "green" now and the whole "think globally, act locally" ethos extends to not only the glorious produce at the Farmer's Market across the street but embraces the local artists and artisans that are humoring me my letting me show their work at my gallery. Before I never would have asked....

Here's to a riotously successful, robustly healthy 2008!

Remember FIRST Friday January is this weekend! Cookie Bar is open Friday 5 to 8pm and we are here all day Saturday from 10 to 5. Stop by I'd love to see you!

Merry Christmas!

Aunt Vilma still rules but I must confess Natalia's pierogies were right up there! Yum! Stop by her bistro and get some before they are gone! www.nataliaselegantcreations.com

We spotted friends in church yesterday that we usually don't see as they normally teach Sunday school (poor souls to my son!). Passing a note down the pew we ended up all together at that famed local institution, the Vienna Inn. 2 chili dogs and a cold beer is not my normal lunch during the holiday season but I have to tell you it really hit the spot and fortified us for our day ahead!

We basically wandered the neighborhood eating, drinking, telling stories and caroling. First an open house at Susan and Paul's where the fireplace was roaring along with the laughter. S & P have a great tradition that I wish I had heard of 20 years ago. When they shave the bottom off their tree before they put it up, they save the stump and write the date on it. So displayed on the Christmas mantle are 20+ years of tree trunks; all different sizes and widths. It's sentimental in the best sense of the word...

Then we went home to rest up for the neighborhood carol sing. I got my miles in. Bob here's your coat. Oh do you need your crutches out of the car? Honey you will never make it around the block, I'll go get your wheelchair. Oh you wanted the foot rests? Ok I'll take the crutches back. I DID catch up with them before they turned the corner but barely.... The kids have so much fun with caroling. Mostly I think they just like pummeling the doors of neighbors they don't know well and jangling the sleigh bells. A little annoying if you are singing "Silent Night" but you have to take it in the spirit it is intended! We finished up the night at Sheila and Phil's for hot soup and fondue and mountains of cookies. Evan, their son (and the kid's favorite baby sitter) was VERY generous and let the little kids play with all of his musical instuments. I thought he was very brave. (I don't THINK any thing got damaged). I have a great memory of our little buddy Andrew trying out the accordian for the first time. Pretty hysterical I must say!

We are at the shop until 2 today and then working on finishing our to-do lists.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the season great. I wish you and yours a blessed and peaceful Christmas.

Are YOU Ready?

Ready for Christmas that is! I know I am not. There are things in the shop destined to be Theresa Stifel Christmas gifts unless someone decides to purchase them first! (That is working on the theory that My mom and sister would think that is far more important!) That theory was put to the test on Wednesday when I thought heck I will take home this (fill in the blank) for my sister Robin and the phone rang just as I was walking out the door and it was a customer asking if the lovely (fill in the blank) was still in the shop! I confessed that it was in my bag and told client Jennifer the story where upon I told her that I would be delighted to remove said item from my bag and it will soon be Jennifer's and not Robin's. Sorry Sis! I promise you'll like what you are getting. Really.

Speaking of lovely sister Robin she helped me do the drawing for Stifel and Capra's December gift basket raffle and Susan Sullivan is our big winner! I had a hysterical time trying to write her a congratulatory email this morning because I figured it I wrote "you have won" or "Congratulations" in the subject line the span filter would toss my message! Hmmmm, maybe I should CALL her, eh?

This am has been busy. I started the morning with a visit to my doc as I am working on round 2 of a bronchial infection (Merry Christmas to me!) so more meds for me! Then I stopped into our neighborhood bistro, Natalia's for coffee and a muffin and found to my delight that she has homemade pierogies! For those that don't know Pierogie are little eastern european stuffed pasta (like a ravioli) that are traditional holiday fare among Slovaks like my husband. And as we are not attending the annual Cousin's reunion this year I am thrilled to offer them as a consolation prize. Will let you know if they are as good as Aunt Vilma's!

Tomorrow is the last Saturday that we are open from 9:30 to 5:30 so do stop in if you need any last minute gifts. Avoid the mall, we have hot coffee and free parking! I'd love to see you!

Tick, tick, tick

I know I have used that for a title before but that is sure what the month feels like! We had a really nice time on FIRSTFriday. A festive crowd, a chatty crowd, a crowd of men buying things for their wives (YAY!).

I am excited because people are understanding what Stifel and Capra has to offer that is NOT on the walls or the shelves. In the past few weeks I have received print orders out of our artist portfolios, a portrait comission, custom pillow orders and I just finished an angel this morning. I can't post her picture because she is a gift but I will put it up right after Christmas!


My friend Laurie was back from travels to Malaysia and Thailand and brought wonderful jewelry and silk items for the shop. They are going fast. I am sure we will both be sorry that she didn't buy more!

My son just experienced the heady feeling of a large group of people laughing at your jokes. The occasion? Being comic relief in his third grade play! All the kids did a great job but I will say with maternal pride that George does have good timing!

We are staying very close to home for the holidays this year. Bob is bemoaning the loss of attending his family reunion this year (he has 27 first cousins, most are married with kids so it is quite a shindig!) so if you want to come hang out by the fire with my pathologically social husband, do call, we could use the company!

I am at the store the rest of the week from 10 to 2 and on Saturday from 9:30 to 5:30 so stop on in! We have new items arriving daily. I will post some new photos of the shop soon!

Christmas Library

The tricky thing about being a collector is not knowing when to stop! Case in point our Christmas Book collection. It has overflowed the alloted shelf in the family room. So I decided to make a Christmas Library in the dining room! It's been enjoyable. The kids will take their after school snacks and hang out with the books and read. Of course the standard after schhol snack of cheese and fruit doesn't quite compare to sugarplums dancing in your heads so I have received many more than normal requests for cookies. But heck it's the holidays!

Speaking of sweets George went to a fun party this last weekend. His friend Luca's brave parents had a gingerbread decoarting party for 10 kids! The kids did a great job with the candies and frosting to make quite lovely centerpieces to bring home. Although I must say George's looks more like the "before" picture for a home renovation at this point. I think he has picked off all of the trim!

Ashleigh and I have swapped all hours all around this week; the kids and spouses are taking turns being ill. Ugh. We seemed to have escaped so far. Must be those Mommy vitamins we take!

The shop is open 10 to 2 during the week and 9:30 to 5:30 on Saturday. We are announcing the winner of our Christmas themed gift basket raffle on Monday, so stay tuned for the winner's name!