Dear Reader...

There is always a lot of talk about resolutions in the New Year. It would seem most have something to do with losing weight and exercising more. That's not my plan. My goal is to  be intrepid. Isn't that the greatest word? It means to be without trepidation, to be assured, courageous. Not necessarily without fear, but acting despite it. 

Intrepid. One of the things I plan to do this year is put myself out there more. I love dressing in vintage. I love wearing retro outfits that I put together  from thrift shops. I would love to show these to you, but...trepidation. I take really terrible photos. I always have a goofy look, or an eye closed, and my mouth is crooked so my smile is too. I have a real fear of people judging my insides by my outsides. There's also the niggling thought that someone out there would think I was trying to brag. Look at my clothes, my hats. Look at what I have. Sigh. That is not what I would mean at all. There's the old saying- If not now, when? When will I be brave enough? This year. This year I will try.

My Christmas present from my Hubby, two vintage dresses! Okay, he told me to buy them and give him the box to wrap and put under the tree... but that didn't make me any less excited :)

I want to show you more things that make me happy and see if you enjoy them too. I have stacks of old recipe books, from the late 1800's on. I love to thumb through them and always put a finger on at least one recipe that I think would be fun to try. Well, Dear Reader, I resolve that this year I will show you one of those books a month. You'll get to ogle at the sweetness of them, look at some of the pages of recipes, and then I will bake one of the recipes that I have had earmarked for so long. It will encourage me to try new recipes and to share the successes and not-such-successes with you. Win/Win!

Just a small selection of my beloved cookbooks from all ages. Aren't they fun? Can't wait to cook from them with you!

Another thing I intend, nay, resolve to do is offer giveaways. Yes, you read that right. Even if it is just a scrap of antique ephemera, a bit of lace, or a Valentine handcrafted by me, I want to give you something to be excited for. So keep your eyes peeled, because the first one will be this very month...

Last, but certainly not least, I plan to do a weekly quote. I have loved doing the Monday poems. It causes me to pause and reread them, as well as offering you the chance to savor a bit of poetry when you might not ordinarily do so. But words have such power for me- to uplift, to inspire. At the small restaurant where I work on Fridays, there is a lovely gift shop. She sources the most unique and fun items that you don't see anywhere else (at least in my tiny neck of the woods). One is the packs of quote cards by Sugarboo Designs. 

You can either buy them in packs, or Ms. Jane puts out baskets of them to buy individually as they appeal to you. I could look through them for hours! As such, I have gathered quite a collection. Once a week I will share one with you. I debated on what to title the posts so you would know what they were. I fell on Live Inspired, because I hope that, at least every now and again, you read one and are inspired. That you feel a nudge in your bosom that the words were just for you, right at that moment. That your life will be inspired because of it.

A chipped glass dish sits in the pass-through above my kitchen sink. It holds a revolving selection of quote cards for me to ponder while I wash dishes. Between them and my rude monkey I can't help but smile!

So why all this? I want you to come visit me. I know it is a virtual visit, but my offer is to come in and sit down and chat a bit, just the same. I want you to be excited to come and see me, to find out what I've been cooking, to be tempted to try dressing vintage. I want you to pop in to see how the house is decorated for the next holiday and be waiting to be "invited" to that month's party. I'd like to be good friends, Dear Reader.

As my Grandma Tommy would say, Ya'll come. Let me know what you think about the changes, what you wish you would see.  Come for  visit and know that when I am baking up goodies or laying a place at the table, there is one set aside just for you...