RX for the winter blahs...

Every year, at this time of the year, I start to feel blah... The cold starts to get to me...I can't seem to motivate myself to do much of anything...Half the time, I think I may have some kind of serious disease (God forbid). Maybe, just maybe...I have the "Winter Blues". Symptoms include tiredness, sleepiness, lack of energy, imaginative aches & pains, always hungry, always cold...

My cure...a cozy throw (like the one above "Luxemburg" from Manual Woodworkers & Weavers available for sale in my eBay Store: http://kathleenrosescollection.com, something hot to drink (my fav "Hot Chocolate), my computer (shopping online), a television, a good book (my pick right now chick lit..."Savannah Blues" by Mary Kay Andrews), and of course...my bed.

Maybe the bears have it right...hibernate and..."Wake me when it's Spring."

At my store...Spring is calling & new items are arriving daily.

Here's a sneak preview of the 2010 Byers' Choice Caroler® figurines that will be arriving at my store Town & Country Gifts or in my eBay Store: http://kathleenrosescollection.com

Valentine Girl

Wedding Party



Time for Tea

Looking forward to Spring...

Warmest Regards,
Kathleen Sforza

Town & Country Gifts,
1213 Castleton Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
718-447-8237

Websites:
http://kathleenrosescollection.com/ (an eBay Store)
http://lorrainesfavoritefinds.com/ (an eBay Store)

Love is in the Air...2010 Annalee Valentine Dolls have arrived at Town & Country Gifts

Throughout history there have been many a poet who spoke of love...Yeats, Browning, Tenneyson, Shakespeare... My favorite quotes are more whimsical.

A few of my Favorites...

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!" Lucy Van Pelt, in Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz

Soooo True....

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." A. A. Milne, from Winnie the Pooh

Soooo Sweet...

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love." Author Unknown

Soooo I don't know...

All this...to let you know that Annalee Valentine Dolls have arrived at our store. They are soooo cute & are selling out fast. Here are a few of my favorites...

Thinking of You Mouse

Victim of Love Cupid



Sweetie Pie Chef Mouse


Sweetie Pie Girl Mouse



and finally...I Love You Mouse

Happy Valentine's Day!

Warmest Regards,
Kathleen Sforza

Town & Country Gifts
1213 Castleton Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
718-447-827

Websites:
http://kathleenrosescollection.com/ (an eBay Store)
http://lorrainesfavoritefinds.com/ (an eBay Store)

Accessories the Show 2010

My first show of 2010...Yaaaaaaay...

I always get excited when January comes around...Time for me (the shopaholic) to do what I was Born to Do...SHOP!!!

The first show of the year is one of my favorites. WHY??? HINT...What two items always fit?

Handbags & Jewelry, of course! (Unlike JEANS...I've never found a handbag or a piece of jewelry that didn't fit.) So, the Accessory Show, is "My Favorite Show".

My personal likes & dislikes for Fashion Accessories for 2010...

I'm loving...Pearls, Pearls, & more Pearls. Mixed with some crystal strands in shades of cream, pink, grey & black. Add a little lace...Long & Short. Although...I think that Long is the way to Go! Think Chanel!!!

Headbands, Headbands, & more Headbands...Feathered & Jeweled...very important this Spring! How do I know??? My nieces and their friends all seem to be wearing headbands.





Personally, I do not like handbags that have a designer's initials all over. I like designer bags, but I do not want them to shout who they are. I like a subtle approach, perhaps an initial charm alla Michael Kors has M & K. And I do love his bags!

I also like a little bling...Not surprisingly, people might say it is because I come from Staten Island, NY. So check back to soon to see some of "My Favorite Bags for Spring".

Warmest Regards,
Kathleen Sforza

Town & Country Gifts
1213 Castleton Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
718-447-8237

Websites:
http://kathleenrosescollection.com/ (an eBay Store)
http://lorrainesfavoritefinds.com/ (an eBay Store)

Making Moments...New Year's Resolution

Make each moment special...



Make each moment count...


For happiness comes from... a lifetime of moments.

This year I've decided I will make only one New Year's Resolution.

I will focus not on myself, but on others.

Simply said...

I will live by God's Golden Rule....

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."



Happy New Year!

Warmest Regards,
Katheen Sforza

Town & Country Gifts
1213 Castleton Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
718-447-8237

Websites:
http://kathleenrosescollection.com/ (an eBay Store)
http://lorrainesfavoritefinds.com/ (an eBay Store)

Time to Decorate the Gingerbread Houses...mmm Good!

It's Gingerbread Time!!!

Another family tradition...Every year around the first or second week of December, Sunday night becomes the night to decorate...Gingerbread Houses.

First we eat...

Thanks to my cousin Jimmy, proprietor of Jimmy Maxx, we had a little bit of everything and...pizza(of course). After we stuffed our faces, we got down to business...

Busy, busy, busy...Artists at work!

Ashley asks...Do I have to eat that?



Alyssa's "Masterpiece"


Kayla puts the finishing touches on her "Masterpiece"


Mark's "Masterpiece"


Emily's "Masterpiece"


Stephen's "Masterpiece"



Alexis is this "Your Masterpiece"???



Happy Birthday Liam! How old are you now?


If you don't have time to make your own Gingerbread House, Byers' Choice offers a few houses that are perfect...

These are available in my eBay Store: http://kathleenrosescollection.com/
or at my store "Town & Country Gifts".

Merry Christmas!
Kathleen Sforza

Town & Country Gifts
1213 Castleton Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
718-447-8237

Websites:
http://kathleenrosescollection.com/ (an eBay Store)
http://lorrainesfavoritefinds.com/ (an eBay Store)

Now we have to clean up the mess!

"Holiday Brain" Too Much Going On, that we can't keep anything straight...

"We call this “holiday brain” around here…

Too much going on, that we can’t keep anything straight..."

Quote by Stephanie at Gallery Graphics.

"WOW" Now I know!!!

Too much shopping, too much decorating, too much baking, too much working, too, Too MUCH!!!

Okay, I love Christmas, but sometimes...I just can't motivate myself to decorate my store windows. I have to a lot of decorating to do. At the store, I am the janitor, the stockman, the bookkeeper, the decorator, the buyer, and the seller. So sometimes...my creative juices get bogged down with the everyday chores that need to be done. I thoroughly enjoy decorating, but after the 4th tree things get a little foggy. It is December 6th & I still have one tree left to decorate & one tree to redecorate because the lights blew out :( and one store window (I did one the day before Thanksgiving). PLEASE GOD GIVE ME ENERGY TO START...Oh I mean FINISH...

Progress So Far...





Annalee Mr. & Mrs. Chef Santas...



Vintage Barware...



A Fan Favorite the Chic & Shabby Tree...



Bethany Lowe Snowman...



Playful Kittens & Seashell Ornaments...



Vintage Aprons & Tablecloths...



Vintage Ornament Tree...



Butterflies & Stockings...



Vintage Glass Candy Dishes...Remind me of my Grandma's



Love these OWLS...



Warmest Regards,
Kathleen Sforza

Town & Country Gifts
1213 Castleton Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
718-447-8237

Websites:
http://kathleenrosescollection.com (an eBay Store)
http://lorrainesfavoritefinds.com (an eBay Store)

My Favorite Christmas Carol...Mary Did You Know?...Clay Aiken

My Favorite Christmas Carol...

"Mary Do You Know" sung by Clay Aiken

[Originally written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene]

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Mary did you know...

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

Warmest Regards,
Kathleen Sforza

Town & Country Gifts
1213 Castleton Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
718-447-8237

Websites:
http://kathleenrosescollection.com/ (an eBay Store)
http://lorrainesfavoritefinds.com/ (an eBay Store)