Today is a very special day. A day for a doll party. A day for thinking about what we love, what we believe in. A day for reminding ourselves who we are, and what we mean to ourselves…
(wowe, that's heavy, haha!)
The girls have gathered to celebrate Alienore's birthday over at Papillon Bleu UK.
They decided to close shop early and cut out a flag banner, hanging it just for the special occasion.
They even sat outside of the Patisserie early this morning…
Waiting to purchase the most perfect cake for Alienore.
Truth be told, when I heard about a party for a doll, I knew I had to join in.
Mainly because, I wanted to jump back into that kind of magic place. And Papillon Bleu is just the spot for mini worlds of delightment!
(She once made a mini Vanessa as a birthday gift. That was so funny & sweet!!)
I needed to remind myself about that place of fun and childlike abandon nestled deep in the imagination.
It's easy isn't it? To get swept up by life.
To forget about all the things we believe in.
Have you ever been bouncing off clouds, doing all the things you love, and then have someone ask you why?
Why are you doing this?
What is your point?
Why are you wasting your time?
I have.
I bet at some point you have too?
Minding your own business, happy as can be and then POP, someone or something just comes over and bursts your happy bubble?
Sometimes it's just life that kicks you, tarnishing the glow.
But, the question is…
How do you get it back?
How do you stay strong?
How do you crawl out of that place that makes you feel rotten, and makes you question everything you believe in and everything that you are?
Mister Lovee and I were talking about this the other day.
About being true to you.
How do you stay true?
It's not always so easy is it?
I think it comes down to a golden thread.
A tiny thread of youness, that you hold onto no matter what –
That makes you say, I love my life as it is.
I love the things I love, I believe in whimsy and magic!
My belief in what I believe in, has to be good enough for me.
And me alone.
We have to say to ourselves…
I can't live the life someone else wants me to live.
I can only live what is authentic to me.
Standing up for our own little selves, inside of our own brains can be so hard.
But somehow, we have to have the strength to do it.
We just have to.
And so, I felt it was high time I jumped into a doll party.
I searched every dollhouse on our parcel of earth for these girls, which I had made a few years back.
I was so happy when I found them.
I promptly dusted their dresses.
They reminded me of a few years ago, when I started blogging.
It was so exciting to find this place!
The blogosphere, so full of sharing dreams and goodness overflowing.
Sharing what we believe in, sharing magic really, truly.
In some ways it has changed a tiny but.
Life is busy.
It is sad to seem some go.
But then –
Some come back.
And some of us, are still here.
I am so glad to be here, and I thank you for being here too.
It inspires me to keep chatting and sharing, when you come here and visit with me, and say hello from time to time.
It's what keeps the flow going, you know what I mean?
I will always try to stay as true as I can to those beautiful imaginary worlds.
What about you?
They fill hearts up, don't they?
They fill our souls.
They do.
They welcome us.
Even when we close the door, all the creatures, stories, characters & tales –
they are still there, somewhere…
Waiting…
Waiting for a doll party for you, a doll party for me.
A day to say, oh, I almost forgot in what I believed!
The dolls reminded me yesterday, as I brought them out to play.
They reminded me to not lose sight of what I love.
What brings me joy.
And, to not ever let anyone rain on my parade.
Or, at least have an umbrella and a dry pair of clothes handy 😉
I have to remind myself of something I once typed, which was…
"No one can take away your childlike qualities, your love for fairy tales and dreams, unless of course you let them…."
Oh yes, I almost forgot, silly me!
Even if you do let a little slip away, you have the power to always get it back.
And that, that is the greatest gift of all, isn't it?
The gift to always find a way back to the land of believe…
What a gift!
A gift for you and me.
With that I shall say….
Have fun in Paris!!!
I have a giveaway grab bag of random tidbits, some even funny, as a party favor. Just say howdy in comments and I shall choose a name in my next post 😉
Love, V
Howdy!! 😉
“Comparison is the theif of joy.” -Franklin Roosevelt
I read that quote on another blog recently and it pulled me from the muck of which I think you’re speaking. I absolutely loved hearing you share what your Dad used to tell you, to live your life the way you see fit. How strong those words were when I read them- instantly dissolving years and years of judgmental residue I’d allowed to cling to me. But it needs reminding, so Thank You.
I love your little world. Thanks for allowing me to come be in it.
Happy Birthday Alienore!
Whenever I feel stressed out in the icky “real” world. I wander through your fantasy blogspace on my lunch break to escape and forget for awhile. Thanks so much Vanessa for all that you do and allow us a peek into your fantastical world!
Great thoughts, and fun doll party! every day could use a doll party i think!
xo
Vanessa:
It’s hard to imagine a world without your blog. Visiting you here has pulled me out of the darkness many a time!
It truly is so easy to get caught up in the harsh things in life…to forget the things that make us who we are and the things that we fell in love with. Fairy tales and secret gardens and watercolors and magic. Just because we grow older doesn’t mean we have to give up on the loveliness of life.
Thank you for reminding us that there is goodness and to hang on to it….no matter who tries to take us away from ourselves.
xoxo
Kim
Gerushia’s New World
Thank you Vanessa for reminding me to visit my childlike imagination. Your blog is magical. xx Kamala
Here is my howdy! I spent quite a few of my adult years with my whimsical side hidden in the closet. Lots of adult responsibilities were getting in the way, and alas, I felt like I needed to squelch it. NOT ANYMORE!!! Game on in my fifties!
xO,
Lisa
Ohhh what would I give to have such a wonderful party! Oh! and then flying to Paris! Just dreamy 🙂
Thank you for sharing & Happy Birthday to Eleanore!
xo,
Karla
SpinningMermaid
Your blog is my ‘fantasy world’ when I need a break from reality..thank you for sharing such a wonderful world..
As I wipe awAY THE tears, you have struck my heart on this eclipse day ( also my 60th bday)
At a cross roads of confussion, thankyou for reminding me what matters truly to me..🖤Debi
Big Hugs to you! You’ve done it again. Grabbed the soul and gave it a good kick! Loved your party. Thank you!
Its funny your post should be about the very thing I am tackling today… the truest form of me, and finally deciding to live my life doing what makes me happiest… and not what other people tell me will make me happy!
As always sweet V you have touched me with a bit of your magic!
Thank You!
Beautiful post!!! Bonne fete Aleonore. Please continue to be true to yourself..embrace freedom…the freedom to be your true self and follow your own journey.
Love your dolls, Vanessa! Love the buildings, too. I think that people who rain on other’s parades are sad, lonely, angry people whose own lives didn’t work out the way they wanted, so they don’t think other’s should enjoy their lives that they are happy with. Whew, that was a long sentence. : ) I can’t think of any other reason for people to say horrible things to others or try to make you feel bad for what you love to do.
Hello! I came here for the party. Oh my, what lovely little houses and dolls. I wish I had a patisserie!
And yes, isn’t it wonderful that this reclaimed childhood is possible? This is why the Internet is so great. Twenty years ago, people would have wanted to do this, but they’d be isolated, unable to share.
But we can join in a global birthday party for a doll and not feel foolish… We can do it and have fun.
New follower, too!
you always have such fun things going on here. And yes, Ive had my bubble popped many times, but I just blow it back up! Im thinking most of the people that like to burst our bubbles dont know how to play and have fun!
anyways.. heres a link to a dolly teaparty that I posted a couple years ago. I think you’ll like it!
xoxo and happy day!
vivian
whoops forgot to add the link..
doll party link..
http://vivs-whimsy.blogspot.com/2009/02/come-to-violets-teaparty.html
hope you like it!
I needed this today, Vanessa. Life is killing me right now, and I often think to myself, is all of this worth it? What I’m doing? Is it really? And now I know I have the strength to remind myself that yes, it is worth it, and no matter how life kicks my derriere, I can always come back here, to this safe little haven, for some whimsy and magic 🙂 Toodaloo!
Sweet Vanessa
When will you be stocking the shelves of your shop with your precious dollies and elves and such? Instead of calling my back bedroom The Fanciful Twist Gallery, I’ll give it the name The Fanciful Twist Boudoir.
I’ve already got the fixings for my gypsy tent….and just waiting for summer to come.
Teresa
Oh sweet little girls of golden curls, how true it is when the world spins and swirls. Then sadness comes, but you remind us that there are better days with dreams to keep and wishes born on ferns of green.
I for 1 am glad that you are always just a keyboard away…it makes for a much happier day ‘-).
BELOVED ONE!!! We love you!!!
Miss Vanessa, your little doll girls are so lovely! And the tiny paper flags make me smile. XD I completely agree with everything in this post – adults should remember how to be children more often!
Dolls and fairy tales and magical worlds make life worth living.
What lovely refreshing thoughts on this very hot hot day here in the Old Pueblo!
I am so glad that you listen to your heart. I always feel so refreshed after a long work day to be able to read your delightful blog.I never know what to expect next,and that is what makes it so magical(and your thought provoking words of wisdom) Anyway, thank you for keeping it up!!!
Fairy tales and magic are just a click away here….and I love that about blogging! Letting some of the infusion of make believe and reality seep into us through our eyes and find a cozy spot in our hearts. There is a wise old oak in mine with a sweet little sign that says “Vanessa was here” 🙂
Howdy Vanessa!
Vanessa,
as always I come back to your blog each week and am in love!!! Thanks for all the magic you make.
~~hugs,
Dena
Wonderful party to attend! All of the dolls are so great.
Howdy Vanessa. Thank you for the magical.
Hugs from Craftland
I totally needed to hear this today. Thank you!
Happy Party!
What a wonderful teaparty!
What a lovely tea party! I especially love the sentiment of remembering what you love, remembering yourself and a reminder of how to find our way back when we forget these things.
great doll party and post vanessa! such inspiring words!!!
thank you!
here is my link for my doll party
http://apinkdreamer.blogspot.com/2012/05/sashiraa-gift-and-birthday-party.html
LOVE YOU too Vanessa! Guess what my daughter gave me for Mother’s Day? An Alice in Wonderland Queen of Hearts doll…..she totally gets me! We get you too (and pooh pooh on those who don’t)….maybe they should run through a sprinkler to loosen up……..
It CAN be hard, can’t it? When they question your right to be happy? I often feel sorry, right alongside the self doubt that creeps in and stuffs it’s big black bag of self-consciousness and jealousy over my head and drags me to a river of despair, sorry for them, that person, who just has to make everyone else feel bad about themselves, just to make them feel better. Le sigh. . . I know just how you feel, miss V…
Thank you for your beautiful words! I really needed to read them today. It is so difficult when the one you love most is hurting. My sweet husbands life can get so overwhelming, with a difficult job, church responsibilities, and just the minutae of life. Being who and what everyone else expects and losing sight of who he truly is.
The weaker part of me wants to sulk,and wallow in self pity. But I know that is not what my sweetheart needs. I need to be the strong one. Love him unconditionally. And through my tender loving care, allow him the time and space he needs to re-find himself and the joyous life we live.
Thank you Vanessa for sharing your life with us, you truly make a difference in so many lives!
Tina
This post was written at just the right time, V. I needed this…..for me as well as for my beautiful, magical daughters. In life, I have learned fear & discomfort in the lack of control. These two are the WORST bubble poppers. It’s time for me to stop being a grownup for a while and just enjoy these fleeting moments of being carefree, silly, playful, and unashamed. I hope my children appreciate the tiny years when it’s “okay” to behave like a child. I miss it so much.
I love your sentiments, Vanessa, about always being true to yourself, and staying in that fairy tale world of childlike qualities, which helps to brush away the cobwebs of the nasties of everyday life. Hee! Hee! If I didn’t keep my humor up I’d go nuts!!!
I adore your dollies and your adorable pastry shop! This is what makes blogging so much fun!
Thank you for the magical and sensible fairy talk…fairy to fairy.
hugs,
Miss Teresa
Thank you for the beautiful birthday party post, I love getting lost in your words and images!
Happy (belated) Birthday Alienore!
I love whimsy and dolls and fairytale and you made me step back today into my growing up years of doll playing with my best friend Debbie Smith. We would play for hours and hours with our cardboard doll houses with mini fabric curtains and cardboard tables…it was so magical to create little “wonder lands” for our special little people/friends. I have to have whimsy in my everyday life and really try not to worry if others don’t understand my need for some silly stuff. Keeps us young at heart or forever young like Rod Stewarts song says. Thanks for sharing, your dolls are precious XO
Inner radiance weaving the magic of life,
Whispers to us all to awaken in delight.
A kingdom full of love and creativity,
Cosmic dances full of possibility.
Violet, indigo, blue,
Silver-sparkling blue, green, gold,
Yellow orange and red.
All theses colors calling forth,
The stream of dreams in gratitude.
I will jump on my pony
And fly far across the sky,
To have tea and cakes with you
In the early morning dew.
While the fairies and gnomes near by
Tickle our toes with new life.
Beauty Ms V. is you, surrounded
With truth and goodness galore.
Thank you for opening the door.
Dear V,
First I would like to say a simple thing; People who spend a lot of time asking questions such as “WHY THIS AND WHY THAT?” are people who spend way too much time asking things rather than DOING them. They are sooooooooooooooooo insecure. Well…this is my little theory anyway.
But MOST of ALL dear Vanessa….ALIENORE IS JUMPING UP AND DOWN LIKE CRAZY WITH HER NEW FRIEND ( a new French little friend).
She is saying hello and sending her love from her lovely castle. You are in our thoughts.
xxxxxxx
I was glad to read your thoughts today Vanessa. It was just the gentle nudge I needed this morning because I was asking myself all those non-useful questions about why wasn’t I different, better, more accomplished at this instead of that? etc.etc. It’s terrible when someone else treats us that way but even more awful when we do it to ourselves. Your blog is a lovely reminder that there are kindred souls in the world who find their solace in magic, beauty and whimsy and it always works to get me back on the track of authenticity. So, cheers to you!
Nothing more fun that one of your parties! I love the sweet dolls and I’m sorry I missed the grab bag of goodies! But I have cards coming to make me happy! Enjoy your day!
Oooops, Queenie’s tardy to the party *blush* It would be a sad if my world did not include flights of fancy and long bouts of silly inner dialog. I have often wondered about folks who burst happy bubbles with unsolicited yucky comment. I’ve come up with two thoughts… 1- they are totally clue free that their comments hurt mixed with a liberal dose of self centeredness… 2 – deep seated and unresolved unhappiness resulting in the mentality of if I’m not happy you won’t be either as long as I’m around. All in all I feel sorry for these sad folks for they don’t know the joy of pure play.
Queenie’s sending royal waves and hugs of happiness and joy a small token of all the joy you give to sooooooo many folks.
Have a great day.
Always, Queenie
Beautiful, beautiful doll party post. But your story really caught me. That quote you spoke of, well I have had it written down in my little magical book of things that inspire me for absolutely ages. There are a couple of quotes from you in there actually. You say some pretty amazing things. I really relate to that whole thing, of finding your way back to you. It’s hard being in college now… everyone is so focused on nonsense. Parties, and social stuff, and things that don’t really matter. It makes me feel bad sometimes staying home instead of going out all the time. And if I do go out and behave out of character, I feel as though I have betrayed little me. It’s tough stuff. Sticking true to your you-ness. I am working on it. Aren’t we all. I am just thankful to have a “me” to be true to, and know who that is. Thank you for being a constant reminder of the fact that the little things ARE the important things.
I absolutely LOVE this post! It’s a wonderful reminder…sometimes we get busy and kinda forget, don’t we? Your dolls are totally adorable! How in the world do you think of these and then make them so very real? 🙂 Seriously, we all need to step outside the box and be free, laugh more, dance, giggle, wear our pj’s all day, color outside the lines, sprinkle glitter, have tea parties and just remember to be ourselves, be real.
Thank you for sharing!
xo
Pat
I life by that qoute you wrote ( that rhymed) “No one can take away your childlike qualities, your love for fairy tales and dreams, unless of course you let them….”. In fact it’s so funny that you mentioned it because yesterday I opened a note I wrote to my future self in school at the begging of the year and in the letter I wrote that qoute (that I remember you writing a while back) to my future self and I am glad I didn’t because even the people like me and you who believe in fairy tales and dreams need a little reminder sometimes. Thank you so much for writing this qoute and this post and please wish dear Alienore a magical birthday.
Sorry I ment did not didn’t and beginning not begging and live not life. I have that silly auto correct !!!
What a fabulous DOLL party!!!! It’s so much fun to play, isn’t it? I spent many years living a life that wasn’t me. And now I am living a life that is me…or trying to. 🙂 It’s important to be yourself. As the good doctor (Seuss) once said: “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.†Isn’t that just fab? 🙂 xoxo
Hello you doll you… (get it?) I am slowly catching up on all my favorite blogs. I have been away for so long now. Life dealt me a hard blow lately so I dropped everything. In going back and reading some of your posts i was struck by this one. Folks have given me a hard time for my obsession with faeries and my child like ways, my insistance on seeing the good. I can’t change even if I wanted to, This is who I am. And thank God because it gets me through the hard times. Even when things are tough I try to see the magic and the beauty. Otherwise what is the point. Life should be about love and beauty and joy! I get such delight in your blog, your stories and sharing in your love of life. You keep it up and don’t let anyone take one ounce of your spirit from you. The world is full of not such great things. I choose to see the good and you are definitely a wonderfully good thing! Thank you Vanessa for helping to remind me of what is really important, precious happiness, joy, love and appreciation for the good in life. You are a gift!
XOXOXO
Tricia
I hope you and Matty are feeling like your fun furry selves again.
Désolé, je n’ai pas fait ment pas et ne commencent pas la mendicité et ne vivent pas la vie. J’ai que l’auto stupide corriger!