Practical Magic 2011

Welcome to my Practical Magic party:


Don't miss out on this years Practical Magic room sprays:
Visit my Etsy shop

Practical Magic Party 2011 - hosted by Frosted Petunias 

What a year I have had... what a month has just past.

I am so late to prepare for this party that there is little time to prepare... as a matter of fact I have only hours until some of you will be here so what should I write about ... well a love story of course...

A story of family, of a love that is made to last forever, of two people who met in unfortunate circumstances and fell in love. A story of magic...

I was to leave a clientele of over 300 patrons in a salon in Toronto, Ontario and start a whole new life in the movie industry doing makeup. It was risky and I was already older than most ... but something magical was pulling me and I, no matter how scared I felt could not hold myself from taking a chance.

I was in my Gillian stage: I was in a terrible relationship with a very difficult man who was a musician... He was bad news ~ my Jimmy Angelov "I'm feeling very into sisters right now" It was always all about him and I was ready for a change but didn't quite know how to get out. So I reached for the moon hoping to at least catch a star...

"there's Blood on the moon"

My classes were to start in only a month and all my clients knew I was leaving. They were hopeful for me and sad to see me go at the same time. I was scared and excited... then I received a phone call from the owner of the private makeup school I was to attend..." Hello Michele?" "Yes" I replied. "Hello, this is Nadia and I am the owner of Complections International Makeup School. I have some bad news... I cannot have you start your classes this coming month. I am calling to tell you that you will have to wait to begin your classes for another three months." I was quiet and saw this as a sign that I should not attend the classes. I already had my loan and thought ... with a heavy heart... I guess I should share the money with my difficult boyfriend and help him to help his mother? The conversation continues with Nadia enrolling me 3 months later but I am not convinced that I will attend... still believing this is a sign. I went to my boyfriends house that evening and told him the story and offered him the money... he did the only nice thing he had really ever done... he declined my offer. He said this was something I had always wanted and I should still go...


THREE MONTHS LATER:

The first morning of classes has arrived. I am nervous! I have not been to school in a very long time! I am early...as always. As I enter the school the lady sitting at the front desk tells me to go up to the student lounge and someone will be there in a while to take me to my classroom. With a smile and shaking hands I say thank you and head up the long flight of stairs. As I arrive at the lounge there is one other person there sitting reading a paper. I get settled across the coffee table from them and start to shuffle my bags around wanting to make sure that I have all that I need... I still have time to run out if I have forgotten anything. Suddenly the person across from me puts the paper down from in front of their face to take a sip of the coffee. A man... and I hear myself saying " Did you know you look just like David Bowie"... I am a huge fan of David Bowie or at least I thought I was ... when in reality I was ... from the time I could like boys... looking and waiting for this very moment. Yes, this man was my husband to be. Entering my Sally phase... he is my officer Gary Hallet.

In reality he looks little like Bowie... he is much cuter! He says from that moment in the lounge he knew we would be married. It was a long courting and very difficult as we were both in difficult relationships that we ended before starting anything serious with each other. We did everything right... and we still do.

So after we had gotten to know each other better and were students together we decided to move ahead and become a couple... you see it was a sign... if I had started my classes when I was suppose to I would never had met him. The owner of the school still takes credit for our love to this day... I think she can claim that... don't you?

My husband and I have lived in a lovely little river house for 6 years now and decided just a few weeks ago to look for a new home. We have been very blessed by our families and have managed to get where we are today because of their love and help. The first home we owned was a condo apartment in Toronto, Ontario ... is was sold to us by my father and he looked for a new home with his new wife to be...

We stayed there and worked hard... both working three jobs a piece and we were like two ships passing in the night... as a matter of fact I never saw him so my third job I took was as a hostess in a restaurant that he was cooking in. So each time I seated the next guests I swept myself through the kitchen and kissed his face... we were not married yet then.

While living in our little condo we tried to create all the magic we could! But every so often we would go to a small town outside of Toronto where his parents lived and it was so beautiful and peaceful to me that I asked him if we could leave the big city and move to this town. He was reluctant but after a few years past and we decided to be married... he agreed to take me to the small town that my heart desired. His mother bought our small river house for us and we packed up our bags and moved ourselves to Belleville. We all work together to this day a family business brewing wine!

It was a quirky little house but we are okay with quirky! As a matter of fact we are more than okay with quirky.. .we love quirky! We again worked and saved and eventually purchased the house from his mother and father. It was our second home together...

But after 6 years we were ready to start looking for a new home... our third and first home. You see WE have never chosen a home together until now. These houses, as lovely as they were, were chosen by our loved ones... our new home that we will move into October 28th... three days before Halloween... is our first home that we chose.

I should also mention that we have a thing for the number 3... our little river house was #3 and our new home is #234 and we move in 3 days before Halloween... It is our Magic House to be...

 Here was the house in the movie but I am sure if you look closely you can see the similarity in ours.... it's all in the magic... see past the veil...

We will need to update the kitchen in our new home and you know exactly what I will be aiming for don't you...

Of course it will be our version of this and fit in our space but it will definitely have this feel... I can already see it in my minds eye!

I have already mapped out where some of the important crystals and mirrors will be placed in our new home. I used a wonderful book purchased as a Yule gift for me by my Mother in law called "Magic House ~ practical magic for a harmonious home"

 

This book is absolutely amazing and I am so excited to move into our new home and create the world we long to live in...  a magical hallway with a round mirror on the wall just in front of our front door as it slightly faces the staircase... the mirror was left to me by my Mum's Mum and will hang in a real place of honour there... 

"Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder.  Keep rosemary by your garden gate..."

Our new gate will definitely have rosemary planed next to it and we even have this same beautiful white arch... here is the gate side of our new home at the present... well the fence that leads to the gate... but in a few years, it will be filled with flowers and magic... can you see it?

"Place a small piece of sandalwood under the stair carpet in several places, to keep the stairs safe."

"Keep a little jar of flaxseed and red pepper near the door to prevent evil entering your home"

I will be planting lavender in the spring... we have a beautiful new backyard and a lovely old maple grows on our front lawn. In the front I will plant the lavender...

" Lavender bushes yield up their scent when brushed, ensuring that all who come to your door feel calm and at ease." 

"Plant lavender for luck..."

A kitchen that is the heart of the home where magical meals will be prepared and a dining room to gather and share the food among friends.

Elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water will be present: Earth in the dining room , Air in the study or in our case the office and Seraphim Bears Studio , Fire in the kitchen, and Water in the bathroom.

A large piece of Carnelian in the living room which brings peace. This is the hearth of your home.

We have "art on the fence" in our backyard at present and in among the things on the fence is a horseshoe... this will be one of the very first things that will be placed on our new home!

Home Protection Spell:

Light a brown candle on your alter and relax

Cast a magic circle around you with your wand

Take up your horseshoe, holding it with its horns pointing upwards and anoint it with patchouli oil and say these words...

"My house stands firm, my fortune is far"  x 3 (there is that #3 again...heeeheee)

Place the horseshoe before you with the pot of salt within it's horns and relax again

Now visualize your circle expanding outwards from the pot of salt which is the center, further and further until it pops through the walls of your home and surround the entire house like a bubble

Affirm very strongly that this bubble is there, this it keeps out anything bad but magnetizes good things, such as friendship

Now imagine the bubble topped with your horseshoe, shining and pulsating... powerful

Take your salt and your horseshoe and go over the entire house placing a little salt on every external opening... windows, attics, toilets etc. anything that leads to the outside

imagine a smaller version of your horseshoe at each of these points

Now go around the outside of your home sprinkling salt wherever you can

Finally, fix your horseshoe over the front door, preferable outside.

Give thanks to any God or Goddess that is special to you and ask that they watch over your home

Affirm that any traces of your magic circle have faded from the interior and clap your hands to clear the air but leave the external bubble in tact.

When you are finished, toast your efforts and the powers that are helping you. Repeat this whenever you feel it necessary

From the book: Magic House by Teresa Moorey

So to end this post I will say that in relation to the movie Practical Magic... I will be moving into my Magic House in only a few short weeks...

My spell when I was a little girl as I never wanted to get married either... and I knew I could never marry Bowie...

" He will hear my call a mile away. He will whistle my favourite song. He can ride a pony backwards."
" He can flip pancakes in the air. He'll be marvellously kind. And his favourite shape will be a star. And he'll have one green eye and one blue."

I met the man that I drew pictures of my entire teenage years and fell madly in love... although I did not realize it was not Bowie I was drawing and although my J does not have two different coloured eyes... one blue and one green... he is the love of my life and there will be no beetles allowed in our house. We have two Siamese cats to make sure of that. 

I reached for the moon and caught the biggest star in the sky! And he has given me the moon!

I have a very deep connection to the story portrayed in the movie Practical Magic and I cannot wait to share more of our journey in this house with you... through both food and plants, exercise, relaxation and love... 

We have had so much fun in our little river house... but it is time for a new chapter and Practical Magic will most definitely be a part of that new chapter! (look at me with that short blonde hair... heehee)

And here are our boys all dressed up for Halloween.... 

And a most excellent Birthday cake for the man of my dreams this year... a day of the dead cake! Yummy!

May you always have the courage to be you! Live life large and make no apologies for who you are!

Thank you to Frosted Petunias for once again hosting this incredible party... I just made it in time!

I hope you enjoy all the other participants in this celebration of magic. Thank you for coming to visit me at my NEW blog this year!

To see my blog entry from last years Practical Magic party click the link below:

Seraphim Bears Practical Magic Party 2010