The Bow Belle

The day after the Fourth...usually this is when we start seeing back-to-school crap.  Sooooo... Fooled ya!  Summer still lives!  Shop is Addi Mae's Bowtique .  Mama and I put ourselves on a diet, no ifs, ands, or buts, but she said we can still have a small cone of ice cream every now and then.  So this Saturday that's what we're gonna do.  Sometimes won't nothing do ya but plain ol' vanilla.  Do ya...LOL, do ya, do ya want my love ???  Ice cream and Electric Light Orchestra...what's not to like? Cheers, RagingMoon1987

According to multiple sources, the titular Blue has a birthday today.  Etsy shop is JoyJoeyKangaroo . I was WAAAAY too old for Blue's Clues when it started airing, but I loved and still love the innocence of it.  Basically you had Steve, a dopey young man who owned Blue, a not-so-dopey blue dog.  Blue would want something done, and she'd make Steve (and the viewing audience) guess what it was by marking clues with her pawprints.  Each show incorporated three clues and featured a number of side routines like receiving the mail and helping a friend out with some task.  For the most part it was just simple crap; Blue wanted a special story read for her naptime, or snow was falling and Blue wanted to do something particular, or Steve had a cold and Blue knew something special that would help him recover.  I loved it...except that in the beginning Nick Jr would show the same episode all week.  I'm pretty sure I understand why; there was probably a limited ...

The colors for down syndrome are blue and yellow, so the St. Louis Blues bow makes a reappearance. I've never known anyone with Down syndrome, but I've known OF several folks.  The only bad thing I heard about any of 'em was that a couple of 'em had sick hearts.  That unfortunately goes with the territory for Trisomy 23; some of 'em don't even make it out of childhood because of heart defects.  Others have to have surgery early on, and still others have their lives cut short even with surgery.  So Down syndrome isn't for wussies. As for the Blues, as with last year I haven't paid an iota of attention to the hockey games so I have no idea where they rank.  Hockey and other sports aren't much fun without someone to watch them with.  Hell, I don't even watch NASCAR anymore, and I used to love that.  Daddy was the family sportsfan, and when he died, that died too.  But I still love my Blues. Love, RagingMoon1987

Today's bow is a turkey bow, one that came in the Right Box.  Shop was AdoraBowsStore. As I'll elaborate on my doll blog in a few days, Thanksgiving is not the holiday for my family that it once was.  Indeed, this year I'd prefer to have a pot of spaghetti and be done with it.  Mama is good company, but when you're with someone every day you run out of things to talk about after awhile.  And Uncle Man-Child is NOT good company.  So I'll load up a few books and my favorite American Girl doll, and while that man-thing talks about himself all the livelong day I'll read and take pictures...after I'm done helping with meal prep, that is.  We're not gonna do the full turkey thing since there's only three of us, but Mama will still need my help.  I'm usually the "gopher," LOL.  Go for this, go for that, etc.  I don't mind that, though...unless I'm reaching for something just out of my grasp and do a face plant, like I almost did a few ...

On this day in 2016 the movie Trolls was released here in the U.S., so I figure now is as good a time as any to wear this bow. This one showed up in the Wrong Box from AdorasBowsStore last summer.  The flash caught on the bottle cap bit, so here's a better look at the center. Princess Poppy, who made several appearances this past Halloween. Sigh...these Trolls are a LOT different from the ones I collected as a kid.  Between the Cabbage Patch craze and the Beanie Baby bonanza there were trolls.  Mama called 'em Wishniks because that was what they were called during her youth, but I knew 'em as trolls.  I had one in just about every color and just about every size.  I had Treasure Trolls, Magic Trolls, generic trolls with no special gimmick, and the guardians of my fleet, two Battle Trolls.  LOL, yeah, Battle Trolls probably the most ridiculous of them all , but they were a thing.  Battle Trolls were geared towards boys, but I liked 'em too.  Since ...

As I noted on September 22nd , my first Razorback bow fell apart.  I bought another one, and five days later it's here already.  Etsy seller is CraftsForAPrincessUS . I won't be going back to the shop that used such shoddy glue for that first bow  (that shop was KnottedBowtique ).  I shared a picture of that bow on August 4th, but the bow I ACTUALLY wore that day is a teeny-weeny blue and white number with an image of the TARDIS on it.  My "auxiliary" bow, as I call it, since it goes with everything I've got. But this new Razorback bow...now it feels sturdy in my hands, and in places it has...maybe a bit too much hot glue???  Better too much than not enuff, I guess.  All this and I don't even know how long Sister is gonna STAY at University of Arkansas!  She likes the work, I know that much, but she's only contracted for two years as far as I know.  I don't know what'll go down after that, but I pray it won't involve another damn cross-countr...

Too bad I stopped being a child eighteen years ago.  Won't stop me from wearing the bow, though!  This one is another Wrong Box bow . I never have been a huge fan of animal print, but in this case I'll back down because it's got its place here.  But prints like that were fairly popular when I was a preteen, and I thought they were ugly as sin. Now plain old brown, I like a lot.  I was Malden High School's resident free spirit, and my wardrobe consisted of just about every color under the rainbow except gray (I had a complicated relationship with gray back then).  But for some weird reason, one of my favorite colors to wear was brown.  Brown complimented my hair (it's brown), it looked nice with my skin, and it went with everything.  I could wear any accessory I wanted, and when just my shirt was brown I could wear jeans or a skirt or what have you.  I thought brown was awesome, and apparently God agrees because a lot of the things here on Earth ar...

My bow today was rage-purchased when the character on it became controversial.  Etsy shop is RnRshairbowsandmore . For the uninitiated, that's Chase from Paw Patrol .  Paw Patrol is a children's program about a little boy and his team of search and rescue dogs.  Fitting considering the mess in Florida and Georgia this morning.  Anyway, each of the dogs has a special job to do and a special appearance to go along with said job.  Chase is second fiddle to the boy and is a police officer.  In recent years backlash against the Fuzz has been strong due to a handful of bad cops doing bad things, and some on the left wanted Chase written out of the show.  That was YEARS ago now, but...well, I've got the bow so why not continue to wear it? Long live Paw Patrol !  They got picked up for another season earlier this year, so it doesn't look like Chase and company are going anywhere. Love, RagingMoon1987 

My sister actually began her job at University of Arkansas last month, but classes there begin the coming Monday, so... ...a Razorback bow!  My family has never been a group of Razorback fans, but I guess we'll have to change our tune. Sister is excited, because she prefers research to teaching, and at University of Arkansas she'll be able to do research.  I'm not at liberty to say what she's researching, but it's interesting.  Brother-in-Law is happy too, as he's already got a bunch of job offers and they're all decent jobs.  Louise, their cat, is happy...well, as happy as Louise can be.  She's got a 'tude. Louise is a special needs cat, and she only loves Sister and Brother-in-Law (particularly BiL).  Moving houses is hard for any critter, and Louise REALLY hates it (particularly if it's a long ride), but once she's settled in she's a happy puddy tat.  Until Sister starts tickling her, that is; Sister loves animals, but she does like to...

Today is Chick-fil-A's Cow Appreciation Day, and y'all know what that means!  Pity that the nearest Chick-fil-A is eighty miles away.  Etsy shop is LittleBowsJust4you . Ah, Chick-fil-A, going strong despite controversy!  I like the place myself, but at the end of the day it's really just another fast food joint, albeit one with an amusing memory attached to it.  Doesn't EVERYTHING in my life have a story???  Anyway, this one begins the summer before Sister and Brother-in-Law became engaged.  Pert near ten years ago, in other words.  Sister's apartment was in a dangerous area, Brother-in-Law's apartment was out of Cape Girardeau's city limits by quite a hair, and the rent for both was ridiculous.  Thus Sister and BIL were moving into a safer apartment that was right across the street from SEMO campus.  One wicked hot day I volunteered to help do some moving, mayhem ensued, and by the end of the day we were all tired and wanting something to ea...

I refer y'all to my post yesterday for my opinions on ice cream.  I love the stuff, but it doesn't love me anymore.  But today is National Ice Cream Sundae day, right on the heels of Strawberry Sundae Day.  What can I say, July is National Ice Cream Month.  Thus I finally get an opportunity to wear this. This is the last of my bows from AMWBowtique ...for now, at least.  As I've said several times before, the proprietor does have a new shop where she sells things, so I probably am not done with this crew.  I've always loved the little figurine on this bow, by the way. Those eyes are inset, y'all!  They are not painted.  I don't have anything against painted eyes, but when the eyes are inset and this straight, it shows someone gave a crap about the quality of their product. Now...regarding ice cream, I think I conjectured yesterday that I've developed a mild sensitivity to milk products, since milk and ice cream tend to sit on my stomach like a bri...

Hockey season is a long way off...and then I'll turn around and it'll be here.  Behold, my favorite team.  Etsy shop is JoyJoeyKangaroo ; they are currently not selling anything, but have not completely closed up shop. My father watched just about every sport except for golf and pro-basketball.  LOL, he liked both sports, but he didn't get much enjoyment out of watching.  But during the spring it was St. Louis Blues hockey.  Of course part of hockey is fistfighting, and after I saw my first fight I too was hooked on the sport.  Hell, even when they're NOT fighting they're rough on each other, and they do this all on skates! One of my favorite memories is attached to hockey, albeit tangentially.  I was fifteen and having to put together a picture board for a school report on comets, and in order to do so I had to lay out the pictures before placing them.  I'd done this on the living room floor so I could watch the hockey game while I worked, but it...

With Fourth of July over, the next closest big event is...dare I say it?  Back to school time.  I think this one is from AdoraBowsStore , but I'm not for sure; as is often the case, my mom gave me this one. I included "rhinestones" in the tags, but they're carefully concealed.  Both of them are located in the little bows on the sides, like so. Yep, it's getting to be that time.  Just a long, dull stretch of hot weather with no holidays even remotely in sight.  My family always found ways to have fun, but it wasn't always easy because three of the four of us had school hanging over our heads.  Sometimes we had fun at school, believe it or not.  While Mama got her room ready my sister and I would roam the halls, exploring the unlocked classrooms, playing hide and seek in the cafeteria, chatting with any other teachers we ran into (Mama was friends with most of 'em).  Sister and I made a verbal agreement with each other:  no stealing, no making ...

On this day in 1994 one of my favorite Disney movies was released.  For that, I present my sister's childhood friend, Simba. Oh, The Lion King is special to me for so many reasons.  It was the first movie that made me both laugh and cry, because who DOESN'T cry when Mufasa gets killed???  I was used to death and loss in Disney movies, having seen both Bambi and Dumbo , but one doesn't actually see Bambi's mother get killed, and Dumbo eventually gets reunited with his mother.  So that was a first for me.  Then there's the music, done by the one and only Sir Elton John, whose music I love.  Had no idea who the guy was when I was little, but when "Circle of Life" kicked in my attention was captured.  I loved the whole score, and I even waltzed around the playground more than once singing "Hakuna Matata" (I read once that Elton John HATED writing music for "Hakuna Matata"), but " Circle of Life " was and still is my favorite son...

Not to be confused with Guys and Dolls, LOL.  In honor of World Doll Day, today's bow has my other love on it. If you don't like dolls, kindly swipe left, because this post will contain much geeking out over the various American Girls.  SouthernClassicBows made this puppy.  Her bows are usually based on kids' books, so when I saw this bow with the honest-to-God dolls on it I knew it had to be for me.  I call bows like this "bottle cap bows," because the bit in the center looks like a bottle cap.  Decorated bottle caps were all the rage a few years back. The center shows Addy Walker , Rebecca Rubin , Caroline Abbott , and Kaya'aton'my in their BeForever clothes.  For the uninitiated, BeForever was a reboot that was...kinda divisive among AG fans.  Most of the existing historical dolls got new clothes (Caroline and Kaya were the exceptions), and the books were redone to eliminate illustrations (and as it turned out, parts of the stories).  Some f...

Today's bow has a humorous story behind it, one that I can't tell in full here because the story is not yet complete.  But the full story WILL come!  Hopefully it'll be today.  Anyway, here's my bow.  I think the Etsy shop is AdoraBowsStore . Apparently I am now Mommy's main squeeze!  LOL, well, Mama and I ARE close, so I don't guess I'll object too loudly.  Besides, I love lemonade.  My best friend in high school HATED it for some reason, but I never found out why because she had a mondo seizure right after we talked about the lemonade.  Here we both were, solidly eightteen years of age, and she decides to develop epilepsy out of the blue.  That was insane! With summer just around the corner I reckon lemonade is the thing to have, though for me anytime is Lemonade Time.  I love the stuff that much.  But for some folks lemonade is strictly for summer.  I get that too.  Whatever suits ya! Cheers, RagingMoon1987