Happy New Year!

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve!

I really appreciate all of you who have found Joy De Vivre this year and those of you who have been loyal readers since the start. It has been great to get to know all of you through your thoughtful comments. As 2010 rolls in I have some fun things in mind for new features that I hope you all will enjoy!

Best of luck in 2010! I look forward to sharing it with all of you!

Out With the New and In With the Old?

I love digital photography. Being able to retake a photo on the spot when you see that it didn't come out perfect is very helpful. Being able to crop out your thighs because you ate one too many pieces of cheesecake for Christmas is very kind to our self-esteem.

For all of the wonders of the digital world, I do miss the retro appeal of the Polaroid. Of course they are not as vivid as their new counterparts. I remember, though, as a child taking photos, having to shake them to get them to develop and then anxiously waiting as the picture begins to appear. It was so fun to see the final project once the colors all came into place.

I have found for you the best of both worlds:Poladroid. This website uses the best of both worlds. You begin by choosing one of your digital photos, all cropped and ready to go! Next you just click your photo into their Polaroid camera. Just like its original version, this Polaroid slowly develops and then...voila:

You have your very own new fangled version of a Polaroid!

Have You Seen This Etsy Shop?

Our Etsy shop this week is brought to you by a mother daughter team, Dorothy and Brandi.

B Doodles brings together the talents of both ladies to create bags, wallets and aprons. The items in their shop are made from some of the cutest fabric combinations and I know you all will love them!

Blackberry Gadget Cozy Window with Key Fob Lily Pond Frogs

The perfect fit for your Blackberry or other electronic gadget, this bag also comes with a key fob. Custom orders are welcome as well.

Apron Reverse Me Dotty Andalucia Kiwi and Fire Mod Dots

You will put June Cleaver and those other perfect moms to shame when you are cooking it up in the kitchen wearing this too cute apron! Mundane tasks always seem better when you are wearing a cute outfit!

Just click on the link for photos of the reverse side of the apron.

London Hipster Burnt Orange Mod Traditions and Dots

This burnt orange bag features a button closure and comes in the most perfect fabric combo. The not so often seen burnt orange-love! Polka dots-love! So just to recap, if any of my friends or family would love to buy me this for my 29Th birthday coming up in March please feel free! ;) Yes I did say 29. This is my blog and if I want to turn 29 six times then gosh darn it this is my forum to do so!

So it may not be your 29Th birthday my wonderful readers, but it may be your lucky day this Friday. Start the new year off right by winning a prize!

This week B Doodles is giving one of the lucky Joy De Vivre winners a bottle cozy like the one pictured above. There are multiple fabrics used in their shop to make the bottle cozy, so the winner this week will choose which design they would like to receive.

You gain entries into the drawing by:

1. Visiting B Doodles shop and then leaving a comment here about which item is your favorite in their shop. If you can't choose a favorite, just come back and rave about them all!

2. Become a follower of Joy De Vivre. Not only will it be a reminder to check back and see if you are the winner this week, but you also never know what topics will come up!

Good luck everyone! Check back Friday afternoon to see who the lucky winner will be!

My Poor Barkley!

My poor fuzzy boy looks like a cone head!

Barkley had to have surgery yesterday to remove a growth on his stomach. He is still a little out of it and taking pain pills, but he is doing much better today. Now we just have to wait until the diagnosis on the growth comes back before we can take a deep breath!

Get well soon pup!

I Just Squealed a Little!

The official trailer has been released for Sex and the City 2. I know some people have snarky remarks about how the ladies are no spring chickens and should have settled down by now, blah, blah, blah! I shall ignore that negativity! :) For I on the other hand can not wait until May 28th when I can once again live inside of Carrie Bradshaw's imaginary life. A life in which the shoes are more fabulous, the apartment is fantastic and the drinks are always beautiful!

Big Apple Adventures

I have always wanted to see New York City with all of its Christmas glitz and glitter. My mom had never been to the city at all and had always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. So on December 18Th mom, Gabe and I were off on our journey.

With a blizzard looming in the forecast we decided that the Statue of Liberty should be one of our first stops. Lady Liberty certainly is beautiful, but she is a much better host in the summer months. It is a good thing that the diet I kept saying I was going to go on never made it to fruition or I may have been blown straight into the Hudson!


There are so many gorgeous Christmas decorations adorning the entire city. Many of them are concentrated on 5Th Avenue and around Rockefeller Center, but many other neighborhoods offer holiday cheer as well.

Rockefeller Center tree at night.


There are several displays scattered around the city in front of various office buildings. These giant red ornaments were some of my favorites.

At night those pesky tourists, as if we were not some as well, bombard the streets which makes taking awesome pictures completely impossible. We found it easier to get our pictures in the morning before it became so hectic.
Mom trying to fit in with the angels at Rockefeller Center. ;) Just kidding mom!


Gabe and I wishing that we were brave enough to get over our fear of frostbite and join the ice skaters below.


The Time Warner Center was so pretty with stars hanging in the entrance. The stars changed colors every few seconds.

Then came the blizzard.....
Gabe took this photo as he was hanging out of our room on the 29Th floor. Of course he took the photo while I was changing clothes in the other room as he knew I would have had a heart attack at the methods he was taking to get his prize shot!



So most sane people would have bundled up inside during a blizzard with some hot cocoa and a lovely book. Well, never make the mistake of confusing us with sane people! We, meaning me with a very disgruntled mom and hubby, decided that we were only in New York City every now and then and we should not let a little snow keep us in our room all night! Our room was adjacent to Grand Central Station so we could just take the subway for a few seconds and be in Times Square. Once there the snow should not be a problem at all! Boy does this southern girl have a lot to learn about snow storms!



When we arrived in Times Square and got out onto the street I thought that we had stepped into a snow globe. A snow globe that was violently blowing ice at us. We were so covered in snow by the time we had walked a block that we looked like snow men/women. We, like many of the other crazies, decided to take refuge in the M&M store.

If you have never been here before it really is a cute place to check out, albeit preferably not in the middle of a blizzard.

On the upside if we were snowed in we had plenty of my favorite food group on hand-chocolate!


The next morning the wind had stopped blowing and the snow was left blanketing the city.

Central Park was so busy with everyone taking in the white stuff. Children sledding, families going on horse and carriage rides, but we just took in the sights.

My mom loves Mary Poppins so we went to see the Broadway take on the classic. It was such a good show. I am always amazed at theater actors. They really are the most talented people in showbiz, because they only get one chance at perfection.

Walking around the city is always a treat. The architecture is amazing and you just never know where you will end up.

The former Radiator Building, now the Bryant Park Hotel. If you are a fan of Georgia O'Keeffe you may recognize this building from her New York series of paintings which happens to be my favorite of her work.

Two lions, "Patience" and "Fortitude", guard the Humanities and Social Science Library. Located on 42ND street and 5Th avenue the public library is a Beaux-Arts masterpiece. It is also, for you fellow Sex and the City fans, the building where Big stood up Carrie on their wedding day.

The Apple Store with the Plaza Hotel in the background.

Whomever designed this Apple store was certainly thinking outside the box by creating this glass box. It is a clever concept being that all that is visible of the store on the street level is this cube, the simple apple and a stairwell in the center that leads to the store that is underground.

Even though we were all just a few years over the age of frequenting toy stores, I wanted my mom to see the legendary FAO Schwarz.

Gabe got into the holiday spirit!

I would not even want to know how much this huge dragon would set you back!

St. Patrick's Cathedral is simply amazing. The inside is breathtaking! Whether you are of Catholic faith or not it is certainly worth paying a visit to if you are ever in NYC.

The lobby of the Empire State building was all done up with Christmas cheer. We did not brave the wind and cold to go up to the top, though.

The Chrysler building is my most favorite building and it is at its best at night.

From the Rockefeller Center observation deck you can see wonderful views of the entire city. The Empire State Building was lit up for Hanukkah.

We went to see a taping of Good Morning America.

Gabe and I had been on one of their shows before so I pretty much knew how it worked. Here we are with anchor Sam Champion who was so appreciative of everyone being there. Very nice guy!

While I was sad that we missed seeing Diane Sawyer as she was starting the nightly news that same night, it was cool getting to talk to the other anchors, Robin, George and Juju.

One of the most memorable parts of my trip was finally getting to meet someone who I had only known online. Dorkys and I have been blog friends for quite some time so we asked her to meet up with us when we were going to be in her hometown.

Dorkys, the very talented lady behind Dry As Toast, met up with us on a very lovely day. I am using the term lovely day in place of a 18 degree day with wind that would knock you down and snow blowing in your face despite the fact that Dorkys was very prepared with an umbrella! Thanks Dorkys for not bailing out on us and instead staying home in the heat with Toby!

Dorkys was such a great tour guide and a gracious host. She even showed us to the nearest cupcake bakery,(a girl after my own heart)! After knowing Dorkys online I knew she would be an awesome person to hang out with, and of course I was right! :) It is so funny that you can meet someone through a blog that you have so many things in common with and so many things to talk about. Dorkys-thanks so much for the wonderful afternoon! We all had a great time!



So after a blizzard, a Broadway play, city lights, Christmas sights, perfect maneuvering so that my father could see me on television waving at him and meeting a wonderful new real life friend, it was time to say good bye to the city once again.

New York, you may have frozen me to death this time. You may have spit snow on me. You may have made me think that I would never again be able to wear cute sandals as I thought it was huge possiblity that my toes would have to be removed from frostbite. But despite it's frosty exterior I once again leave agreeing with it's popular slogan, "I Love New York". As I waved goodbye to my favorite building I am already counting down the days until I can once again return to the greatest city in the world.

And Our Winner Is...

K. Rock you are the weekly winner which means you will get your choice of pendant from Izzys Place!

Thank you to everyone who entered and a special thanks to Pat for offering her shop up for the feature! Best of luck Pat with your shop in the New Year!

Merry Christmas Eve

I have so been neglecting my blog this past week! I promise to update you all really soon on all of the adventures of the week: going to NYC, meeting my lovely bloggy friend Dorkys, seeing the Rockefeller Christmas tree for the first time, being an extra on Good Morning America, etc., etc.

First thing first though and Christmas, as we all know, is tomorrow. I am so not prepared this year as I have bags of things that still need to be wrapped. I am using the term wrapped loosely this year as everything that I have bought since leaving for vacation will be thrown into a Christmas gift bag!

So off I go to the store and back to finish things for the Christmas festivities, but I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! May Santa bring you everything on your list this year!

Have You Seen This Etsy Shop?

Are you looking for original inexpensive gifts? And yes, as a shopaholic myself I think that it also counts if that gift is for yourself! Well do I have a great place for your to buy said gift-Izzys Place.

Izzys Place, owned by Pat, on Etsy is a shop specializing in glass tile, altered art pendant necklaces. Each necklace comes with a free 24 inch silver plated ball chain and gift box. Pat is also throwing in free shipping! Gift giving couldn't get any easier than that!

Let's check out some of Pat's whimsical creations:

Bird Cage

This vintage bird in cage pendant is made using 7/8” Clear Glass Tiles. Note that this is the same size for the other pendants featured here as well.

Wild Flowers

Don't these beautiful wild flowers make you long for spring? Oh for the dreary days of winter to be gone!

Color Blocks

I love the modern look of these color blocks. The variety of colors used in the pendant also makes it wearable with so many things.

Butterfly Duo

The contrasting colors of the pink and blue butterflies give this pendant such visual interest.

So here is the part where I usually post the weekly giveaway and you all enter to win. This week, as you can see, there is no picture for the giveaway. Am I holding out on you all this week you may ask? Of course not!! This week you choose your gift! That's right. If you are the winner this week you can choose any item from Izzys Place as your prize.

How to Enter:

1. Check out Izzys Place and tell us about your favorite item there. Make sure to check all of the pendants out since you may be winning one! This week entries will be taken through Saturday, since I know many people will be busy with festivities!

2. You also receive a second entry for being a follower on my blog.

Best of luck to all of you!

And Our Winner Is...

Congratulations to you!

So sorry for the delay in announcing the winner this week. Turns out when a hotel says free Wi-Fi it doesn't always mean free Wi-Fi! What did our forefathers do without the world wide web?

Back to the blog at hand! Thank you so much to everyone who entered this week.

Thank you to Cindy from CinLynn Boutique for being a part of my blog this week! I wish you continued success in the new year with your wonderful shop!

Have You Seen This Etsy Shop?

Now and then in life something will spark a new desire. You may find you have a niche for something that you never new existed. This very thing happened to Cindy when her daughter-in-law gifted her with tools to begin creating jewelry. From there Cindy became so hooked that she started her own shop on Etsy to showcase all of her creations. CinLynn Boutique was born.



Here are just a few of the selections from Cindy's shop:

Pumpkin and Brass Earrings

The antique brass globes and orange beads make these a perfect accessory long after your real pumpkins are gone. Not only are these perfect for fall, but the neutral colors make them a great choice for the rest of the year as well.

Yellow Teardrop Necklace Set

The yellow Quartz, wire wrapped brass wire and bronze faceted beads on this necklace set make these so easily wearable. This would make a lovely gift for someone!

Simple Amethyst Earrings

These dainty earrings are made from amethyst beads and sterling silver wires. What a popular color this season also!

So I guess you all want an early Christmas present, huh? ;) Well, let's see if we can make that happen!

This week our giveaway is this pair of turquoise with sterling silver bead balls and white Swarovski bicone beads. Hung on sterling silver ear wires they hang 1 1/4 inches.


As always you have two ways to enter:

1. Post a comment here about your favorite item from CinLynn Boutique.

2. Be or become a follower on Joy De Vivre Design and you will get a second entry.

Friday is going to be super busy for me this week, so this means you guys can enter to win our weekly contest now until Saturday. Best of luck to all of you!

Rich vs. Poor

I haven't posted any comments on my blog about what's-his-face! I refrained from making comments when his wife went all Lifetime movie on his butt and beat him down, (allegedly), with his own sports equipment. I kept mum about it all, because well...what is the point when every waking second that is all we are hearing about these days.

I have noticed one thing through this whole ordeal, though. The lines between rich and poor are very apparent in situations such as the one Mr. Woods has found himself in. When a poor man cheats he is a sorry piece of crap. When a rich man cheats he is a sex addict. Doesn't the term sex addict sound much better? It sounds as if the person has a sickness that they could not help. Maybe if he would have had an antibiotic for his addiction he would not have cheated with half the population of the world! It sounds as if they came up with medical terminology to justify such a selfish behavior. Whatever!

Since I refuse to post a picture of what's-his-face I would like to leave you with this adorable tiger:

Instead of being a pig this tiger is helping to take care of them.

If Christmas Has You Frazzled....

pop over to flickr and type in Christmas in the search box. Sometimes we forget to stop and see the beauty that comes with the season as we are rushing from store to store.

And Our Weekly Winner Is...

Kelly you are going to be receiving an awesome pair of earrings from Heather at Beaded Boutique Box.

Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to enter the weekly drawing.

A special thanks to Heather for offering her shop to us for the feature. I am sure that I speak for all of the Joy De Vivre readers when I say we loved getting to know your shop!