Blog Description

A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

An ALMOST Amazing Sunday

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

{disclosure: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. provided me an Advanced Reader Copy of a new book, So Close to Amazing by KariAnne Wood. All opinions, comments, and my amazing Sunday are my own.} 



Some days I barely get my clothes thrown on, let alone any jewelry or make-up, and out the door I dash rushing to the appointed time and place with only seconds to spare. Nothing amazing happening on those days other than arriving in one piece, almost close to the time I should be there. 

But Sunday looked like it was going to be an AMAZING day, an amazing Sunday.  


A Sunday with French élégance, a day in which events slowly and smoothly evolved full of joie de vivre... 




an-almost-amazing-sunday-outfit-sunglasses-gold-buckle-belt-gold-hoop-earrings


Everything came together as I dressed for church. I wore a beautiful white blouse with diagonal R U F F L E S  and my cotton and silk blend navy pants. The pants that fit at the waist, not the current style of wearing pants below the waist. 
T R È S  C H I C 

Oh, how I long for the days of finding pants I want to buy and to wear. That dropped waist style on pants and skirts does nothing for my looks... only accentuates a flabby tummy, not a flat abdomen seen on models. 

My hair looked its best in 10 days with a nice shine and a little flip at the ends... not stuck to my head or hanging in strands on my forehead. 

My gold hoop earrings matched the gold buckle on my navy pebbled leather belt...

that went through the belt loops on the cotton and silk blend pants that fit at the waist 

and camouflaged my tummy.  



Yes, this was an amazing Sunday as I attended church services in my amazing pulled-together très chic Sunday outfit.

The day became even more amazing. After church, I went to the mall to pick up my new prescription sunglasses, after stopping in Macy's first to use their ladies room.  

When I walked in the eyeglass store, the clerk said, "Did you just come from church? You look dressed up," and she gave me a big smile. Oh, yes, Sunday was amazing.





prescription-sunglasses-an-almost-amazing-sunday
This was the third attempt by the eyeglass store to get my prescription right. The first time there were three problems.
  1.  The prescription from the ophthalmologist was not right. Rectangles looked like quadrilaterals with one side slanted. Don't know about you, but that would drive me crazy every day. Being a former math teacher, I like my rectangles to have FOUR right angles, not two right angles, one obtuse angle, and one acute angle.
  2. The bifocal line was too high, and cut right across the focal points of my eyes. Up, down, where do I look?
  3. The polarization feature made it impossible to read the LED panels on my car's dashboard. A real problem. Sure polarization would protect my eyes, but not reading the dashboard made it a moot point if I had protected eyes on a dead body. 
The second time I attempted to pick up my new sunglasses, things were better (#1 and #2 corrected), but there was still the problem of protected eyes on a dead body from polarization blocking my car's readouts.

But, Sunday? Amazing. The glasses fit, the prescription was right, and I could read the car's dashboard.

Third time's charm. Off to lunch feeling on top of the world, experiencing joie de vivre.



Then when I was buckling my car seatbelt after lunch, I saw... 

My pants zipper was completely unzipped from when I went to the bathroom, 
way earlier in the day at Macy's. 


Yes, this day was 

#soclosetoamazing. 


The only thing to do was... LAUGH. So close... but not there. 


And, no this is not the first day in my life when the day was #soclosetoamazing. Is there anyone who has not experienced those so-close-days? 





so-close-to-amazing-book-cover-karianne-wood

My good friend, KariAnne of Thistlewood Farms blog, has written a new book, So Close to Amazing, where she shares...  
Stories of a DIY life gone wrong... and learning to find beauty in every imperfection 
Like unzipped cotton and silk pants... 


When you read her book, you will feel an immediate kinship to KariAnne who says, "You, too? Come sit next to me." She will be your good friend from page one. When I shared my #soclosetoamazing Sunday with her, she said, "If I had been there, I would have giggled with you." Yes, she would have. She has a way of making everyone feel amazing no matter what happens to you. And, she has a way of making everyday events into a revelation of how amazing life is. 

I am thrilled and honored to be part of KariAnne's So Close to Amazing Launch Team for her book, So Close to Amazing, that will be released in September 2017. 





You can pre-order a copy of So Close to Amazing that tells KariAnne's story of jumping by faith with her husband and children, leaving extended family and friends, and moving from the city lights of Dallas to the firefly lights of rural Kentucky. Read her journey of learning to find beauty in every imperfection, told with love, fits of giggles, and DIY creativity. 

Pre-orders on credit cards are not billed until the book comes in. 

For right now, hop over to Thistlewood Farms to read the latest DIY and amazing story from KariAnne. You will be entranced at how KariAnne turns everyday events into AMAZING stories... like making wooden plate chargers from the tree that fell in her yard during a teeth-rattling thunderstorm complete with lightning. 


*****

And you may also enjoy a few more of my soclosetoamazing stories...