Retire In Style Blog Too

Shopping without spending any money is hard for me...especially if I am in a bricks and mortar business. But I love to keep up with trends and see what is beautiful for every season. I think that is why I love Polyvore.com. It allows me to shop for items, put them together in a display and then post them on my blog. I spent yesterday even putting this group together. If I were going to spend winter in Oregon, I would definitely want ALL of these things. Just because. I found a similar knit coat on Amazon so most of these items can be replicated for a lot less than what my dream collection might go for. Winter Staples by barbblogtwits featuring ivory jewelry

Have you watched the Tiny House Hunters on HGTV. The show is a new version of their House Hunters series with a twist...it is all about people that want to live tiny houses. I have watched every episode very carefully because this is the way we live in the winter. We traded an RV for a small space home. Our tiny home still has the wheel fittings underneath so it can be moved but is in fact fixed in many many ways. Extreme Tiny Home from HGTV  This probably has around 100 sq. ft. Our Small Park Model...12x34...less that 400 sq. ft. Our living area. Our porch area. Arizona Room cleaned for company. Still unfinished. Most of the homes that HGTV are showing are a lot smaller than what we have. We live in less than 400 sq. ft. and we do have a covered enclosed area that we call an Arizona Room. Our Arizona Room is not finished in anyway so I use it as a utility area and we have a twin bed that grandchildren can sleep in when they visit. We also have a porch my husband built that serves ...

Visiting Tucson (The Old Pueblo) in Southern Arizona is a very unique experience. Located in an area surrounded by mountains in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, the city looks very small but boast a population nearing 1 million. Even though there are areas that a extremely rich, most of the population is lower middle class or even classifies as below the poverty line. It has hung on very tightly to it's wild west roots. Now things are beginning to change slowly but surely. It is as though it is just beginning to join the 21st century. I did not believe that the city would ever be anything but a relic crumbling in the desert. I was wrong. We have been living half of the year in Tucson for around 7-8 years. When we came here, the city's core was dying even though there were several minor league baseball teams that played for large crowds of tourist for a period during the winter. The city also boasts a very large gem show in February every year that attracts thousands. And...

New Year's Eve 2014....what a wonderful year it has been! Merry Christmas to all of you out there in blog land. We are having dinner with the old folks today. That would be here in our 55+ community. In fact, I love this annual dinner every year. When we first came here over 6 years ago I was one of the youngers. Now I am beginning to feel like an elder matriarch in a large family...needed and loved. I hope your day is beautiful and all your dreams come true. b+

Aging is not a choice. But we do get to choose how we want to feel about it. Do we make our world smaller or do we continue to grow and learn? You get to decide. I don't think anyone told me how many choices I would have as I grew older. No one told me that our lives can shrink down to nothing if we are not careful. I was talking with a friend today about some of the choices he has made as he ages. I listened patiently as he explained how he was backing away from technology, had decided to get rid of his cable TV and didn't have a cell phone. He laughed when I told him he had better be careful...watching The Cisco Kid on what he has left of TV might leave him a little out of touch with the rest of the world. Yeah, he admitted, that could happen. Then he took a left turn and told me he had just bought a ChromeCast for his TV.He was very excited because it was something new to play with and had some wonderful features that he loved. If anyone had told me the role that all our gad...

We had a little party last night...at a Chinese Restaurant...with a dance in the RV resort. I wasn't chic or even exciting but it was perfect for us. We are very lucky to have 6 friends that we can count on for table partners and shared experiences. AND we know each other so well, we are always able to find the perfect gifts for each other. Here are a few we have exchanged this Christmas Season: I originally found these at World Market. They are just gorgeous and the perfect gift for a friend that loves to cook. CERAMIC OWL MEASURING SPOONS, AQUA, SET OF 4 Signature Housewares Global One Collection Nested Measuring Cups, Set of 4 Last night I received this knife from a friend. IT is shaped very much like my large butcher knife but is simply smaller. I fits so perfectly in my hand. I am a little arthritic so that is important. I absolutely love it. Norpro KLEVE Stainless Steel 8-Inch Chef's Knife I do not collect chickens but what kitchen is complete without a nod to such a won...

It occurred to me as I was getting ready to finish up some Christmas gifting that this is the perfect time of year to say "Thank You" to some of those people you might overlook. I know it has been a tradition to give the postman and your hair stylist a gift but what about all those people that actually did something for you without being paid. Wow, what a concept. Here are a few ways that I think you should go about doing this. First take a minute to reflect on the year that has gone by. Were you sick or needed some help from a friend or family member? Did someone take the time to stop by and visit on a rainy day? What about the small acts of being nice that happen every day? Can you remember someone that really made you feel special? I know, you say thank you at the time but what about just going the extra mile to make someone feel like you felt on a Tuesday when a small gift came? How about we make this Christmas mean something more than it does. Have you received gift card...

Okay, here is the deal. It is not only frustrating, it is not good business to let money be lost because you cannot get in contact with a business either by email or telephone. Snail mail is just too slow. Therefore, public media websites like Facebook may be the quickest way to get the a reply from an unresponsive business owners. Our Story: This is what led to my discovery of the  real  value of using  Facebook. Fedex called us telling us that they had attempted to deliver a case of wine to our Oregon address and we are in Arizona for the winter. My husband and I could not figure out why our wine seller would send us a case of wine now. They knew we were gone. How? In an email to them we said, "We will be gone from December to March. Do not send any shipments to us during that period of time." They responded that they would follow our instructions. Pretty clear don't you think. What part of that email didn't they understand? We did not know what to tell Fedex to d...

Apple Wireless Keyboard - second generation, aluminum slim profile - side view (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I have been out of touch for a few days. My computer had slowed down to the speed of a turtle and then my wireless keyboard decided to quit working altogether. It was very frustrating for me. My solution was to turn the computer off and go golfing. That should fix everything...right? But now I know what to do if the keyboard slows down to nothing and that is something. The computer is another thing altogether. I will see how it goes in the next few day. If your wireless keyboard does not respond unless you hold the key down for an extended period of time you will find the fix in the Accessibility page of your system preferences.  Right there on that page is the Keyboard on the left. When you click on it this is what shows up. See where it says Slow Keys adjust the amount of time between when a key is press and when it is activated ? Turn that off. Trust me you do not want that ...

We actually celebrated our Christmas before we left for our winter home and it absolutely rocked! I think the things that appealed to my husband and I might be the things that would light up the eyes for any age group. As I began to deconstruct the whole experience several things became evident that I had not thought about. So how can you make you Christmas rock? Here goes. Ice Ball Maker Mold Everyone got t a gift, even the grandparents. It does not have to be big but the thought is very important. We shared our talents...I love to cook so I gave the ingredients for a favorite dish with a piece of cooking equipment to make it with plus the recipe. I even considered giving a coupon for my favorite hairdresser. We received a gift certificate for a photo setting from our professional photographers daughter-in-law and son. ( @ABlissPortraits on Twitter ) We didn't struggle with gifts for the little children. They may love toys but they also love toy accessories...a storage bag for le...

The truth about being retired, traveling and living in the sunshine in the winter is surprising. I know. You are dreaming of all that freedom and exotic living and tan line in places on your body that have never seen the sun. I understand. But SURPRISE...life happens, even in retirement! He thought we were here laying in the sun but.... My morning started with a call from our stock broker. Now, if you had told me when we were young that I would actually have a stock broker let alone one what I actually liked and calls to just chat as well as take care of business, I would have said you were nuts. No way! But call he did. He is in awe of the life we lead (maybe because he knows how much money we really have and cannot figure out how we manage it.  ☺ ) We talked about the weather here in Tucson and I commiserated with him about the Oregon rain. This what we were really doing. Then he asked what we were doing today. I hated to burst his bubble but the answer was "The toilet is broken...

If you think it doesn't get hot in the desert I've got some information for you. Here is a picture of a poinsettia that survived the summer with our sprinkler system on. It looks like something that Charlie Brown would have or maybe the Adams family. I don't have any idea how. Above it you can see the picture of the thermometer that hung in the sun this summer.  Blogging with my phone: This is the most unhandy thing I have ever done. Blogging with my phone is not a good way to get things done. I am still waiting for Cox Communication to install our Internet. I'm not sure if it was their fault or if it was mine but whatever the case may be this Techie is not happy. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be back doing what I love to do, maybe. Hang in there with me please.

Okay, we are in Arizona. We thought that we had made arrangements for the Internet to be hooked up but it seems that there was some glitch in the system and we don't have any Internet and probably won't have any until day after tomorrow.  So how do you live without the Internet?First of all you've got to have a wonderful smart phone that will allow you to talk into it so you don't try to type with your big fingers on that teeny tiny little keyboard. Then your figure out how to post a blog just talking into your phone. I did not realize how hard it was to actually talk out loud even though no one is listening. So I will be posting using the audio on my cell phone again and posting pictures from my iPhone. It actually works pretty good! Hope you're having a wonderful day. b+

Traveling and blogging is hard I am afraid I will forget about you and you will forget about me. We're driving down I-5 in  California. It's rainy and chilly but I'm having a hard time sitting still. But other than that I'm loving every minute.  I am I sing my iPhone spoken text function. It makes it a lot easier than trying to type on my little keyboard with my big finger.  I've always loved taking pictures as we travel down the road.There's always that blurred foreground. Today is no different. It's foggy but the sun is up there somewhere waiting for us. Have a wonderful day.