Civility, I Miss You

Forgive me a mini rant. Lately I feel like an alien in America. The yelling and screaming, the ranting and raving, the threats and actions of a very vocal ill-mannered few have me very unsettled. What has happened to civility?

I've always been proud to be a citizen of a democratic nation where free speech is allowed even encouraged. Usually the debate is lively but respectful. Lately respect and civility have been missing. It's been a long, steady deterioration of manners and a slow rise of distortion of facts delivered in a hysterical tone. The reasons for acceptance, even glorification, of such behavior are many. Personally I count among them the 24 hour news cycle - in the constant search for something to report news writers make bad behavior newsworthy. The rise of the reality show has celebrated the ignorant and glamorized the obscene. The rational that the end justifies the means has encouraged the selfish behavior of everything from the large financial corporations to politicians to celebrities and sifted down to be accepted by too many Americans. One of my least favorite phrases is "it's not personal, it's business." Sorry if it affects me, it is personal.

People we are better than this. I know there are many others out there who feel as I do; who decry the tone of the debate, particularly from the so called leaders. I watched on the Today Show this morning where John McCain was given ample opportunity to call for a stop of the outrageous threats and violence against some Democrats who voted for the health care bill. He wouldn't make a simple statement denouncing such behavior. Instead he used the opportunity to trot out the some of the same old tired political say-nothing blather. Come on, we should all be saying NO to hysteria and acting out.

Please, let's keep it simple and respectful - bring back civility. Insist on civility from our leaders, educators and friends. End the hate talk.

PS. Let me state quietly and unequivocally to the Republican leaders who claim that they represent the majority of Americans, the majority elected the Democratic administration and Congress. If these elected officials don't measure up, they will not be re-elected. That is the way the majority talks.
I'm proud to have voted for the men and women who finally voted for a health care bill. It may not be perfect but it is a step forward, finally.

Wearing the Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! May everyone experience a lucky day.

So it's not a lot of green, but as I'm a touch Irish I'm featuring something with a touch of green.

My workroom is humming with special orders. Below is a dress designed to be worn with a really cute orange sweater from Old Navy. It is very bright and springy.

My posts will be short for the next week as I catch up with sewing and creating the flowers for the leggings. I'm also on the search for aqua blue capri leggings in small sizes. I've used the limited supply I had, and still have customers who want them. If anyone knows of a brand, please email me.

Computer Woes

Love 'em, hate 'em....but can't live without 'em. Just got my computer back from the "hospital." Should be all healthy now. Tomorrow I should be able to post a real blog!

Spring is Coming!!!

I live in a community where the main entrance drive is lined with Bradford Pear trees. These are among the early blooming trees. They are flowering!! This means that the wildflowers are nearly here - only days away. My heart lightens. I feel a smile coming on. Usually these tree blooms only last for a short time. A stormy day with rain and wind will bring the end. But for a few precious days the ride to my home is filled with snowy white blossoms. A glorious sight!

Spring flowers bring back warm memories of my parents. They loved nature with all her colors, textures and wonders. They tried their darndest to teach their children to notice all the glories of nature. Riding in cars they would point out animals, flowers, mountains etc. I'm not sure how I reacted at the time, but if I was anything like my kids I pretended boredom tinged with a heavy dose of cynicism.

I repeated this whole process with my children. Much pointing out of any and everything I found unique, beautiful or interesting. From my kids, much boredom and cynicism. Yawn, yawn. Is any of this familiar to all of you?

As they age and have their own offspring, I'm getting a secret thrill as I catch them engaged in the same rituals. Parents point out. Younger generation yawn. But now I recognize that this is one of those dances performed by each generation. We all have our roles. Observers, noters, ignorers.

I hope that after I'm gone the following generations will remember me fondly as I pointed out every horse between here and Houston, every bird in my yard, all the beautiful bluebonnets lining the roads. May it bring them a smile and warm memories.

(Help! Why can't I move my pictures? Why do the last 3 paragraphs not have a space between them? Why, oh why?)

Business Report

Its been a busy, productive week (aside from my computer issues earlier). Above you can see what my new promotional handout will look like. All my contact info will be on the other side.

My etsy page, annarellagirl, is being updated. Its fun to have pics of the clothes on the girls and then product shots also. So far 7 items posted with more to come in the following days.

If you look at bottom right corner of photo, you can see Kendall sporting a headband with fabric flower. I've started making bands to go with some of my clothes. I haven't listed any on my etsy store and won't for a bit. If you want one or more info on them, email me on my etsy page.

I hope you love the clothes. Spread the word. Pass along this blog or a link to my etsy page, www.annarellagirl.etsy.com .

A special thanks to my models, Havana, Julia, Hannah and Kendall, and their moms and dads who helped with the photo shoot. They were all super!!!

Tomorrow is First Friday in downtown Georgetown. Come see me at The Exchange. In honor of St Patrick's Day they are serving green food and drink. Sounds interesting!! See you all there 800 S Austin Ave, 6-8.

Computers - work of the devil

I had a whole post ready to go called wishing and dreaming. It was upbeat.

My computer ate it!!

AARgh!!!!!!

Sometimes it takes all my self-control to not just fling this machine out my window!!

Tomorrow will be another day. I'll try again.

Pretty Girls

Had a fun Sunday. Photographer, Sarah Havard, did some new promotional shots for Annarella Girl. The girls were beautiful and so good. This is a peek of them waiting for instructions. Despite the wind and slight chill there was not a complaint between them. Soon I'll have some of the shots to show you. In the meantime take a look at Sarah's website. She is very talented!!!! I'm so pleased to have photographing my clothes.

Good news for The Exchange, Angie and Carly are now accepting kids clothes. The children's section will open in 2 weeks. They've done so well with the adult clothing - keeping quality high and pricing low. So go through the closets for your kids outgrown clothes. As long as they are clean - no stains, in good repair - no rips or missing buttons, and good brands, bring them in Monday, Wednesday or Friday to consign them.

I will still have a small section of Annarella Girl in the atrium. Stop in anytime to see all my new things!