Keys to Happiness

Great

Art

Friendly People

Lovely

Gardens

Good Music

Six Toed Cats

Beauty

And

Color

Everywhere

                                                                         Key West!

Inspiration Avenue

One of my favorite things to do in any city is to take the day to explore, shop, eat, and snap photos. On Saturday, while making deliveries, I puttered around Decatur, a bit. and found that it is the perfect place to spend the day Christmas shopping.




Here's my Christmas window at Donna Van Gogh's Artist Market on Inspiration (I mean, McClendon!) Avenue. The Candler Park area is a fun, funky, walkable neighborhood, full of ingenious little shops. You can start your day with orange scented French toast or gingersnap pancakes at The Flying Biscuit Cafe. DVG's also shares the block with Full Moon Records, home to classic vinyl, $1 records, and a current, popular CD selection. Down the street is Kelly's Closet, a frame shop, a flower market, and a belly dancing studio. If you run out of steam, you can stop in Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party, a tiny book-lined tea shop for a cup of Earl Grey or a latte.





Not too far away is The Decatur Market and Gallery. The Decatur Market is a cooperative gallery, run by an eclectic group of talented potters, mixed media artists, painters, photographers, and jewelers. We even have our own glass blower. On any given day, if you stop by the gallery, you will be greeted by one of the artists, since we share "floor duty" and all work one day a month. The gallery itself is a beautiful space and is located a block off the courthouse square, near Dancing Goats Coffee Bar and Taqueria del Sol, my absolute favorite place in Atlanta to get a fish taco and a margarita.



This is my November installation at the gallery. If it's jewelry or art, you're looking for, you can find it here, but there are also boutiques nearby where you can you can find gifts for most anyone on your Christmas list. There's Heliotrope for unique tableware, bath and body products, and toys, and there are Boogaloo and Squash Blossom for creative clothing and accessories.




I'll be heading back to Decatur today with my own shopping list, so maybe I'll see you there!

Zabar's Incredible Journey

I've been waiting for the right opportunity to share my New York pictures with you, and since the The Three Muses' new challenge is about journeys, I thought I would let Zabar the Amazing Tour Guide, seen on the journal page above, take you on an Incredible Journey of the city, starting with Central Park, continuing through the Upper East and West Sides, Greenwich Village, Soho, Harlem, and ending with a view from the Top of the Rock. I made this page in about an hour (One Powerful Hour) before the trip and journaled about the highpoints of the trip on the ride home.

Alberta's Big Adventure

for Saturday Surprise

Belize It or Not

Mr. Alberta and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary last month with a trip to Ambergis Caye, Belize. Well, I finally got around to downloading the pictures from the trip, and I thought today I'd share them and the anniversary card I painted. In the new challenge this week, Laura at Layers of Color asked what yellow means to each of us. To me, yellow looks like love: warm, safe, and happy. The inside of the cards says, "Belize it or not, you've made me the happiest woman in the world!" I know, pretty sappy, but that's how we roll!

Road Trip!

Tomorrow Ava and I are heading to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with Susan for our Third Annual Girls' Trip. (This journal page is about as girly as you can get, so I thought I'D use her today.) Actually, it's the third for Susan and me and the first for Ava. I don't think Ava's had a child-free vacation in years. While we're there we plan to act in a way that would most certainly embarrass our children, if only they knew. But they won't because no children will be there! See, that's the beauty of it, only the girls (and I use that term loosely) go on a a girls' trip. If you get my drift. We're going to stay until Wednesday, and, then, on Thursday, Mr. Alberta and I are off to Belize to celebrate our 25th anniversary! I have no idea if I will have internet access either place, but I do plan to take plenty of pictures and share them when I get home. See you when I get back!

Love,
Alberta