COLOR BLOCK Rocks! My new Monogram PBT!!

I love COLOR BLOCK and am thrilled to see it's everywhere this Spring. I noted in my Etsy store that this Tote was inspired by an episode of The Lucy Show(the ones with Mr. Mooney). She was wearing a gorgeous Navy Coat (over a shell and skirt of same color of course) with bright green lining. Her handbag was the same shade of Navy with green trim. Gorgeous! Don't know why I love that but I do. So feminine and classy. I immediately saw this PBT in my head and made it the next day. I adore Hot Pink and Black!

And, NOW I can offer MONOGRAM too! I'm working on various color combinations (including Lucy's Blue & Green) as we speak and I'D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR IDEAS. What favorite COLOR COMBINATION would you want to "get the Word out" in? Whether it's the WORD, your WORK, or WEIGHT WATCHERS, my Color Block Monogram PBT will serve you well! It's super sturdy and LOVES BOOKS so load 'er up! LOL.

Either way, I'd love to hear what you think. Have a great day!! And, stay tuned for more fun COLOR BLOCK Totes from Penny Bennett Totes.

This HOT PINK and BLACK is in my Etsy store now! ($32; $42 with Monogram)

Have a "colorful" day! It's FRIDAY people!!!!

www.PennyBennett.Etsy.com

13 going on 30! Where's that Little Girl within??

Ever seen the movie "13 going on 30" with Jennifer Garner. Watched it last night and was reminded of how I lost myself in the Corporate crazy life...more importantly I lost the little girl within me who loved to laugh and have fun and viewed life thru a lens of joy to be had. Many insecurities and fears as all little girls have, but the capacity for great laughter and joy and got pushed farther and farther down with every climb on the Corporate ladder. Strange how that works, isn't it? All the validation and rewards and satisfaction for work well done, while all the while getting farther and farther away from the person you were born to be.

Now, in Jennifer's case (in the movie) she was just in too big a hurry to grow up and got her wish. As life (and God's wisdom) would have it she should have just taken her time and enjoyed the moment. There's plenty of time (God willing) for growing up so why are we in such a hurry??

The best part of the movie is watching her re-discover all the joy and creativity she had as a young girl. After losing it (or giving it away) she is given a second chance to be the woman she was born to be. And, it's delightful watching her do it. I just GET her! So cool.

And the moral of the story is...don't forget that little girl within that is begging us to view life thru the lens of a child. A lens that is full of wonder, and joy and excitement and possibility!!! Ah, those are the days.

Why not do something today you haven't done since you were a girl. Buy a Lollipop, Play with your dolls (you know you still have them). Color!! I love coloring books. Go to the park and swing. Just do something that brings you joy and reminds you that life is short and oh so sweet.

Have fun!!!! And, let me know how it goes!

"Words on Paper"

Surrounded by books! That's my "sweet spot"! My heaven on earth. My comfort zone. When I'm surrounded by books I feel the MOST like ME. When I'm holding a book in my hand I feel a sense of exhileration and excitement...like something awesome's about to happen. Actually, it doesn't even have to be a Book! I'm just as excited with a magazine, a Notebook poised to capture some insight or wisdom I'm hearing on Tv or the Radio, or an article I printed out from the computer. (Somehow I feel like I'll lose it if I don't print it out. LOL) In short! I just am in love with "WORDS ON PAPER."

My Mom sent me this article from Southern Living Magazine because she also has a love affair with books and thankfully passed it on to me. We're not particularly high minded in our love of books. I have lots of Classics in my library but confess I haven't read near about all of them. I dearly love Jane Eyre and equally love the ENTIRE Jan Karon Mitford Series. And, don't even get me started on the Bible!! LOL I just LOVE TO READ!!!

In this Southern Living article, Rick Bragg writes:

"I know that the world of reading has forever changed, that, in this cold winter, many people who love a good book will embrace one that runs on batteries. I know that many of you woke up Christmas morning to find that Santa graced your house with an iPad, or a Kindle, or a Nook, or some other plastic thing that will hold a whole library on a doodad the size of a guitar pick... Someday I may have to read The Grapes of Wrath on the side of a toaster, myself...

But I hope I will never have a life that is not surrounded by books, by books that are bound in paper and cloth and glue, such perishable things for ideas that have lasted thousands of years, or just since the most recent Harry Potter. I hope I am always walled in by the very weight and breadth and clumsy, inefficient, antiquated bulk of them, hope that I spend my last days on this Earth arranging and rearranging them on throned of good, honest pine, oak, and mahogany, because they just feel good in my hands, because I just like to look at the covers, and dream of the promise of the great stories inside...

It is not just the stories, but the physical book, the way I feel when I see the spines, when I read the titles, the very feel of the paper under my fingers as I turn the pages...Every book comes alive in my mind. I like to be in that company. Cicero said a room without books is like a body without a soul, but I don't know about that. I just know I like to have them close, when the sun goes down. (excerpt from "Words on Paper" in Southern Living January 2012)

I (literally) couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you, Rick Bragg, for putting into such beautiful words exactly how I feel about "words on paper." Oh, and thanks for "All over but the Shoutin'!! An amazing book that I absolutely could not put down. (If ya'll haven't read it I highly recommend it.)