...and then....it was Friday....and all was right with the world

It's not very often (thanks to the Internet) that an actual letter arrives in our mailbox. Imagine my surprise when yesterday, I found this....waiting for me.

The person it came from is someone that I truly admire. She has been a bit of a "creative muse", if you will, for me. Her excitement to try new things inspired me to do some experimenting of my own....and I am having a great time!! The Goddesses that I am making to send to people are...almost liberating...plus, they are helping me to re-discover some creativity that has lain dormant for many years!!

Go to her place and see some of the truly fun and interesting things she has done.





Anyway.....inside the package, I found this....

Eh? Chocolate? Godiva, even!!!


But, no....her note..

"Sorry...no chocolates"....I have to admit, made me a bit....well...sad.....I do so love Godiva chocolates!!!

and then I turned over the card and found another message.


Okay....presents are good.
Feeling better.....



Carefully taking out the tissue paper....




Look at what I found.......
















Michelle is an artist and a few months ago was involved in a "charm giveaway"....she makes some incredible origami cranes....coats them with a glaze and then makes charms....and whatever else she can think of.

I showed these to a couple of my Japanese friends and they were very impressed by how incredibly small they are!!!

(Don't you think those pink ones look a teeny little bit like flamingos?? Right? That's what I was thinking!!!)


Here is MY charm!!



Taking the picture with it hanging like an earring gave me a great idea......hmmmmm...those pink ones.....the flamingo-looking ones....would look great as earrings!!

A good friend who makes jewelry is going to see what she can come up with.....I told her what I was picturing and we'll see what she can do!!! How fun is this!!

The blue charm? Is now hanging from the light next to where I am sitting right now....it's beautiful. It's also a great reminder of the truly wonderful people there are out there.

Michelle....thank you so much!!

And speaking of fun friends.......

Have you ever been going through blogs, just from one to the other, trying to get caught up because you have so many that are just sitting there, waiting for you to read?

While you are clicking through the ones to "quickly read" or "save to read for later", have you ever come across a blog post that has your name in the title....in really big letters? And then you see that,yep, that really is you that she is talking about because it says something like "My Friend Debbie In Japan Is Going To Love This" and even though "Debbie" is a pretty common name, that whole "Living in Japan" thing kind of clinched the deal.

My friend, Hula (Can't imagine at all how I ever found her, can you?!?! Du-uh!!) was having lunch at the bakery that her young'un, Teen Angel, is working at for the summer and she found something in the cookie case that, gosh, made her think of me!!

Take a look......

Okay....so...now...take a closer look.....

Oh...did I mention they were shortbread? Lordy, Lordy. Just a little piece of heaven right there slathered in pink frosting!

Thanks so much Hula, my luv....you certainly helped make this Flamingo Friday a bit nicer.....and about a gazillion calories richer!!

Flamingo cookie cutters. Who would have thought? Just one more thing (three or four more things) to put on my list of "Important Items I NEED To Buy In the States"!!!)