Sunday, October 31, 2010

Birthday MONTH: Day 31

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Do you want to hear a scary story?

I woke up this morning to voices in my head saying...

oooopen meeeee

oooooopen meeeeee

oooooooopen meeeeeeee

I rose out of bed all sleepy eyed and I looked around.

I saw a huge white box floating in the air...

(seriously! i really did!)

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It started circling my head and I heard voices again...

yooooou bettta...

yooou betttttta ooooopen meeeeeee...

yooooooou bettttttttttta oooooooopen meeeeeeeee...

ooooorrrr eelllllllllsssse!!!!

Could it be?

Oh no...

Could it be...

the voice of...

Lisa Marie?

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Without a second thought, I reached for the box in the thin air because I'm too chicken sh*t to wonder about what the alternative of "or else" would be.

For forensic sake, I grabbed my cell phone and I documented the whole ghost story~

(just in case I wouldn't be alive to share it with you)

warning: this is a long post.

Like SCARY LONG!!!!

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Trust me, it was SO scary.

Once I grabbed the box, my cell phone and my camera, the voices in my head had stopped.

I was the only one in the room...

but I felt like I wasn't.

(continuously looking over my shoulder)

With shaky hands and my heart pounding...

I sliced open the huge white box.

~ for the record, it's 9:12 and no sign of a ghost ~

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~ only sightings of beautiful things to come ~

I removed everything from the huge white box and this is what I was left with...

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Circumstantial Evidence #1

~ a French and English Dictionary ~

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I gently opened the inside cover and noted that  long ago, someone  had a wonderful sense of scary (but true) humor.

It reads:

Alice Catherine Word's

French Dictionary

If you have any use for this,

use it well.

If not my dear Mr. or Miss

Go to Heaven!*

*a woman always means the opposite of what she says

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This old French English dictionary is certainly in good hands with me...until I DIE!!!!

Circumstantial Evidence #2

~ a little white shipping bag full of love ~

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With my eyes closed, I nervously reached in the little white bag and pulled out the soft velvety contents...

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What's so scary about this is how much Lisa Marie loves me...

I could NEVER have let this perfume case go!!!! E.V.E.R.

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It's now MY favorite thing in the world...

buuaaaahhhahahaha!

(insert crashing thunder and lightning here)

(clearing throat) So how are you liking my scary story so far?

Grab you some tootsie rolls 'cause we're FAR from through!

~ for the record, it's 9:22 and no sign of a ghost ~

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Here we have a little gift wrapped in sewing pattern tissue...I just love that!

Circumstantial Evidence #3

~ Some Tim Holtz Love ~

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okay. This is VERY SCARY!

How would Lisa Marie know that Tim Holtz is my Rock Star?

...unless she stalks me every second of the day...hmmm

(looking over my shoulder again)

ooooh...we have another little blinged out sewing pattern gift...

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The house was quiet except for the crinkling noise of the sewing pattern tissue as I unwrapped this...

Circumstantial Evidence #4

~ A Vintage Atlas ~

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It is a beautiful old French Atlas once belonging to...

Patille Grady of 5 Rue Lion Dieux

I'm sure he/she is DEAD by now.

I LOVE DEAD PEOPLE'S STUFF.

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And it now belongs to MOI!

buuaaaahhhahahaha!

(insert crashing thunder and lightning here)

Every page is colorfully illustrated containing beautiful French script and perfectly aged edges...

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Perfect for planning my next trip!!!!

muuaaaahahhhhahahahahhaha!

*****

Part TWO: THE BOX

Circumstantial Evidence #5

~ THE BOX ~

Instead of doing the Monster Mash today, we are going to do the Les Sauterelles Polka which in English = the Grasshopper Polka

{wth Lisa Marie?}

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But first Ladies and Gentlemen:

I must have your attention!

Today is  Halloween and my story only get's scarier from here on out.

I must warn you that if you have a pacemaker, an artificial gut, or a metal plate in your head...

I advise you to stop here.

Symptoms of continuing on with this post may include, but not be limited to:

heart attack, cramps and severe discomfort, severe bouts of jealousy, loss of bodily functions, demonic intuitions, and Tim Holtz fantasies,  just to name a few. 

Are you with me?

We shall now OPEN THE BOX...

(insert freaky creaking noises here)

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it's about freakin' time you open me... 

Did you hear that?

It's that voice again!

I could have sworn it said...

It's about freakin' time you ooooppppen meeeee!

Lisa Marie...is that you?

(grabbing my garlic and crucifix)

All of the sudden, "things" started floating out of the box before me...

oh no!

It's a photo of Lisa Marie (in the center) and I hear the voices in my head again!!!!

They are saying...

Jooooodddddieeeeee...

"I should have given you a swift kick in the ass for not opening your gift while we were in Round Top.

You made me spend a small fortune at the Post Office. I'll get you my little pretty..."

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and...and...could that be...could that be Dawn and Anne standing behind her laughing at me???

(shaking my head and clearing my eyes)

I blink again and see...

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Whew!

That was a SCARY VISION there for a second.

I'm so happy to know that Lisa Marie wasn't haunting me.

She'd NEVER say anything like that to me.

I know she loves me too much to be mad at me  ;)

Besides, she made this just for me...

Circumstantial Evidence #6

~ The Hauntingly Beautiful Diary ~

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On the inside cover,

She cast a spell for our friendship to LAST FOREVER...

buuaaaahhhahahaha!

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oh wait. that's not a spell...my bad...it's just a sentiment! ;)

Inside of the back cover,

She made a secret pocket to hold all things SCARY...

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Lisa Marie is one talented WITCH.

She even sent me a noose to two...

Circumstantial Evidence #7

~ Beautiful vintage lace ~

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Circumstantial Evidence #8

~ Funeral trimmings ~

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Still secured inside the box were lots of potion ingredients...

such as DUCK FUR...

Circumstantial Evidence #9

~ Feather Plume ~

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Secret codes...

Circumstantial Evidence #10

~ Medals ~

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Mysterious Crystal Ice and Scalpels...

Circumstantial Evidence #11 & #12

~ Vintage Bling and Calligraphy Pen ~

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With "things" still floating in the air, I was surrounded by inspiration. It was then and there that I knew I had to document this paranormal experience as soon as I could.

(The scariest thing is that it's taking me over 7 hours to write this post so far!)

Circumstantial Evidence #13

~ Rubber Stamp ~

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Helping me write my Petite Histoire (little story) was this Tout-Petite Dictionnaire...

Circumstantial Evidence #14

~ Little French Dictionary ~

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I love the inside cover...I love all things French :)

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Trust me when I tell you that it's really SCARY petite!

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Speaking of petite...

I wonder which of Lisa Marie's triplets these cutie bootie belonged to????

Circumstantial Evidence #15

~ Vintage Baby Shoes ~

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Oh the Hell with the voices, the ghosts, the Halloween spookiness! I'm WAY to excited to be scared now!!!

All of these goodies are so awesome and there are STILL plenty I have to show you!

The only SCARY thing I can think of is...

How and Where did Lisa Marie find SO many beautiful things to send to me???

She must have a secret place that she's not telling the world about.

Is "Mummy" the word???

(can you tell that i'm getting delirious now?)

How much sewing pattern tissue does this girl have? ;)

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I unwrapped it and out floated all kinds of little goodies!!!!

I have NO clue what this is...but I love the packaging!

Circumstantial Evidence #16

~ Undetermined (1) ~

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Circumstantial Evidence #17

~ Undetermined (2) ~

This is an Elgin watch part.

The envelope is sealed and...

dared to be opened ~ muuuhaaaahahahaha

(insert crashing thunder and lightning here)

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OH MY GAWD!

Where does she find this stuff????

Circumstantial Evidence #18

~ Ghost Story ~

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(i'm about to faint...please call 911)

Are you having bouts of jealousy?

Cramping?

Loss of bodily functions?

I told you so!!

It's too late to go clean up now...keep on reading.

Look at the inside...

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It's written in one-on-one dialogue!!!! Sa-weet!!!!

(guess what I'll be reading tonight?) bahahaha

Circumstantial Evidence #19

~ Vintage Sympathy Card ~

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(love love!)

Circumstantial Evidence #20

~ Vintage Cemetery Photo ~

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(love love LOVE!)

Circumstantial Evidence #21

~ Fabric Image of a Funeral Cabinet Card ~

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(okay...I LOVE everything DEATH!)...except stuffed ducks

Circumstantial Evidence #22

~ Hotel Monteleone Correspondence ~

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(I LOVE everything New Orleans too!!!!)

It's postmarked 1925!!!

Circumstantial Evidence #23

~ Fabric Image of Hotel Monteleone ~

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{sigh...I'm just in LOVE with it all}

~ for the record, the box is almost empty and it's 10:01. STILL no sign of a ghost ~

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We're almost to the end.

After hearing all of those voices, I just better see a ghost in this damn package!

;)

Here's another little gift wrapped in sewing pattern tissue...

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Circumstantial Evidence #24

~ Paris napkins ~

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oh...did I tell you that I love everything PARIS too?

:)

Almost overlooked was this tiny little envelope, secured by a pearl stick pen...could the ghost be in here????

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Circumstantial Evidence #25

~ Fleur de lis and Moon and Star pin ~

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What an awesome combination...I'm loving this!!!! Just look how the fleur de lis has that perfect shade of "vintage" on it   ;)))

Circumstantial Evidence #26

~ Some more Tim Holtz Love ~

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I'm adding it to my wall collection containing HIS goodies!!!!

Circumstantial Evidence #27

~ Letter "J" Printer's Stamp ~

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I love ANYTHING with my initials...ANYTHING!!!!

One last gift in the box and guess what...it ain't no ghost!!!!

Circumstantial Evidence #28

~ Sheet Music ~

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Can a girl ever have enough sheet music????

:)))

Well folks.

Thank you for staying with me until the end.

No Ghosts.

Plenty Birthday Love.

Numb legs.

Dirty teeth.

Aching back.

Crossed eyes.

Starving husband.

Neglected dog.

28 gifts and 52 photos later...

I'm ready to go to bed even though it seems like I just woke up!

Do me a favor. Look at the time stamp at the bottom of this post and see what time I finished writing this.

Right about now...it's SCARY how much I love Lisa Marie.

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But it's even SCARIER how much she loves me!!!

I love her enough to sit at the computer for this long AND I'm wondering where the hell my day went!

The End.

of my scary (not so scary) story.

The End.

of my Birthday MONTH.

And tomorrow is the beginning...

of my POST Birthday MONTH.

I received some more packages over the weekend and I will open them throughout November. I'm sorry I couldn't fit them all into the month of October but you know me...I love to savor the moment and enjoy each gift...no matter "when" I open it  :)))

To me, every day is my birthday and I Thank You!!!!

I just need a break from posting almost every day and that will be my gift to MYSELF!!!!!

See ya again soon~

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

(what's now left of it!)

;)

26 comments:

The Feathered Nest said...

My goodness girl!!!!!!! YOU RACKED UP!!!!! I think Lisa loves you just a lil' bit!!!!! I hope you've had a great birthday month sweet Jodie and it looks like it's gonna carry over into November too :) You deserve each and every gift sweetie ~ and just so you know, I'm still looking for the perfect stuffed duck for you sweet friend!!!! hugs and love, Dawn

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

This ole girl needs a nap after all of that! Yummy for sure!

Jenny said...

Hi Jodie!

I´m just a Swedish girl (Haha...a 49 years old one!)who fall into your page here...
AND I LOVE IT!
Everything in here!

And this story you just tell, with all the scary pictures....(No!)
I envy you who has such a good sister!
My english is not so good, but I´ll do my best!

Just wanted to say "Hi" and tell you that I enjoy every minute of reading in here!

Congratulations to you, and warm hugs...from Sweden!
J:son

trash talk said...

Hellz bellz girl...do you have writer's cramp now? Lord love a duck...that gal is crazy for you (also she's just plain crazy!).
I told you...take the rest of the year...it's yours!
Debbie
P.S. Remind me to never attend a sleep-over with you where ghost stories will be told! I might need rubber britches.

Sissie's Shabby Cottage said...

I wish Lisa loved me as much as she loves you and I could get all those pretties!!!!!Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....that's me crying!
I just love that Lisa girl, she is the best isn't she!
I love your scary post too, I wouldn't want to sit around the camp fire with you girl.

Big ole hugs,
Sissie

Lisa said...

Oh Jodie,
You outdid yourself, that post is maybe longer than the one you wrote for The Myrtles & that was a longie. Ok, I need to take issue with you showing my pathetic chicken scratch cryptic scrawl all over this post! Thank God I didn't misspell anything, well I better check & be sure I didn't. A couple of things you may not know, & further evidence of my love for you. The Monteleone stationary....one of the love letters written to my Grandmother (remember the box?) The fabric copied funeral card....a copy of my great Grandmothers card. Did you notice the sheet musics title? Mardi Gras! Now who loves ya baby? LM

Suz said...

Jodie,
What an incredible gift! That Lisa is something else! What a neat gal! now take a nice break and I will have birthday month..heehee!
Hugs,
Suz

Debby said...

WOW!!!!! You are one lucky girl,love all the beautiful gifts Lisa sent you. What a beautiful friendship the two of you have. Fabulous post.
Debby

Beth Leintz said...

The story of the haunting by Lisa Marie is great...goosebumps great.

Lisa doesn't just love you, she KNOWS you- a Cajun sweetie who loves all things French, idolizes Tim Holtz and has a thing for funeral paraphernalia.

Catlyn Berry (Cizz) said...

That is awesome! Lisa is awesome, where'd she find all the goodies, I love all the books..I can't wait to see the post Nov. goodies!

Happy Halloween!
Catlyn

P.S. I'm doing a giveaway, please spread the word and drop by to register!

Julia @ Vintage with Laces said...

Our cat Cecil was hissing, so he could feel that there was a ghost around but then he realized that it was such a sweet and friendly ghost and he started to purr. He looked at all the pictures and couldn't believe what he saw. All those gift for just one girl? He said, if he would ever get so many gifts for his birthday, he would be super happy. He would just wish for something else like food, food or more food. I told him not to be silly. All those gifts from Lisa are so much better than food. He didn't agree but I don't care. I LOVE all the awesome gifts you got from sweet Lisa and I LOVE your fantastic post, Jodie! You know what, by the way? With the help of the two dictionaries Lisa gave you, you can learn some German now. First you take the large one and memorize some French words. Then you look them up in the Dictionaire Français - Allemand and voilà you can write me in German. In your advanced age you have to train your gray matter and that would be a great exercise, lol. C'mon, I'm just trying to be helpful. No reason to put a curse on me!
:-) XOXO :-),
Julia

HeARTworks said...

Hi Jodie, Give me a scary story like that any day! Thanks for sharing your wonderful gifts- I enjoyed it vicariously! Lisa Marie, I love you too! You are a wonderful, generous sister! Patsy from
HeARTworks

Sandi~A Cottage Muse said...

Happy Post Birthday Month!!

What a treasure box full of amazing wonderfulness!! She sure spoiled you rotten! I bet she had so much fun putting it together ~ and looks like she loves you lots!

Enjoy!

Heather ~Pretty Petals said...

what a great box of stuff Jodie!!! I love it all and what a pleasure to open that when you woke up!! Glad you had a happy birthday month!

Hope you had a happy halloween, your saints beat my steelers last night... uggg..

haha!

xoxo Heather

Pam @ Frippery said...

OK I need to find out where she came up with all of that wonderful stuff! Fantastic gift and fabulous post girl! I just want to know what the H... is an artificial gut and where does a duck have fur? Lisa Marie is the bestest gift giver who knows you like a book (make that several books!) Hope your post bday month is just as good. You will need a new room just to stash all of your loot!

Pierelantijntjes said...

Ooh Jodie,
I enjoyed all of your posts so much, but this last one is my favorite. I love this scary post, and you are really spoiled with all those lovely presents, but you deserved it Jodie.
Hope you enjoy your break, and have fun with unpacking all the other presents.
Hugs Ester

Lisa Phillippi llelsik@aol.com said...

Wowzers! You got the motherload for sure! I really wanna know where she found all those treasures. Glad that you are enjoying it all...and sharing the joy with us all!

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

Man oh man! That is one great box of loot! She done good! Happy post-birthday month sweet Jodie! :) Tammy

Dorthe said...

Jodie,
ohh I`m worn out reading every word in this long beautifull post :)-
You are sooo blessed ,having that dear sweet LISA as friend- and she equal, having you-
what a packet,what gifts, all so special, and full of love to the reciever.She is a most loving girl,
and I`m so happy to be her friend ,too.
Dear Jodie, even not comented on every birthday blog of yours, I have read all,-and I have to say you must be one of the most loved persons, --and being here visiting you, I totally understand why, sweet.
I can`t wait to follow your ongoing birthday in this month of nevember.
Sweet hugs, Dorthe
the word verification sayes : hective - :)))

Rose Brier Studio said...

Jodie, you are such a sweetie and deserve all this goodness from Lisa Marie (tho I'll admit i am jealous of the medals & small crown). Happy end of birthday month and beginning of non-birthday month!
~Marilee

btw, are you planning a trip to france in the near future?

Honey at 2805 said...

Oh Jodie! What a harvest October has been. Hope you don't go into withdrawal in November!

Heidi said...

I can only say, "Wooza! girl!"
Heidi

Katrina said...

What a fantastic post! How lucky you are and what a beautiful gift they were, so much work must of gone into putting that together!

The French Bear said...

Jodie, how fantastic, whew, what a birthday month, you must be exhausted!! Lisa Marie sent you the most beautiful and gorgeous gifts, how wonderful!!!!
I do hope the whole birthday month has been the best ever for you!!!! I love how you take the time to post so many photos and savour each one....that is just priceless!!!
Hugs,
Margaret B

vintage girl at heart said...

lurve your dead peoples stuph!!!
cackle inserted here!!
your wicked sister is the best!!

Unknown said...

What gorgeous lovely gifts! What a lucky lady to have someone whom loves you enough to part with all of those goodies! =) Hope you enjoy your treasures. I enjoyed reading all about them.