Today, as I was reading Chuck Green's ideabook.com newsletter, I learned about the FWA (favorite website awards). The 2009 winner is We Choose The Moon. Give it time to load and then enjoy the show. There are clickable links to videos, photos, and more.

And then to SoytuaireLabuat.com, the 2009 People's Choice winner. Give it time to load and then move you mouse to the rhythm of the music – I really enjoyed myself. The FWA site has links to other excellent sites – have fun exploring!

I'm home from Florida and getting ready to go to Asilomar in California to teach at the Empty Spools Seminars. More on that later.

I did a quick check of my favorite blogs as saw these on Design Sponge:

These are seed packets from The Balcony Gardener. This is some of the best packaging I have seen. The patterns are simple, well balanced, and thoughtful. The colors are striking and eye-catching. I would love to have some of these in fabric.

This photo from Weird Friends cracked me up! The quilt (is that a quilt?) is pretty, the clothes (especially the blue skirt and blouse) are priceless, and what's up with that pointy red hat? These women look busy and happy. I want to know them.

This looks like a close-up of a skirt. I love the stitched-on circles and the rickrack. Fun embellishments.

Victoria, my new friend in Boca, took me to dinner at the Old Key Lime House. It was great! We sat outside by the water and ate fish tacos. It was breezy and chilly for Florida but not bad at all after the cold in Texas. There was a big screen TV over the water showing women’s hockey – a sport I had not considered women playing. It looked a lot more civilized to me.

On our way out the door we visited the ladies room. This was painted on the wall in my stall.

And this was on the wall by the sinks:

The men in my life don’t make me cry, nor do they make me feel that I have to work twice as hard to get ahead, but I do recognize that these two statements are true for many women. They are statements that, if read at the right time by the right woman, could be empowering – and there they were, where I least expected them to be.

You just never know where you are going to run across something where you least expect to.

 Do you read the blog My Parents Were Awesome? I love this blog! I look at the people in these photos and I feel like I know them. I am reminded that while we are each individuals who lead very different lives, we also share so many of the same emotions.

Don't you wish you had this dress in your closet? Don't you know that she felt beautiful when she wore it.

These outfits are altogether different. I might have worn the dress in my much younger years, but I cannot see Steve in that outfit. Ever. This couple does look like they would be fun to know!

I leave for Florida today. I'm teaching in Boca Raton and I'm looking forward to warmer weather. In anticipation of that I want to share some photos I took the last time I was in California. These are girls on the beach. If I could ever find this outfit in my size I might wear it – good thing I'll never find it.

My toes are bad and I just don't run like this on sand anymore. I do wish I could!

I want to be this woman! She is probably in her 70s or 80s and still going strong. What a woman!