You like me!!!! You really, really, like me!!!

I keep thinking of that acceptance speech by Sally Fields at one of the Oscars -- "You like me -- you really, really like me!!"

Well, that's exactly how I feel. I cannot believe all of the kind words of encouragement and support all of you have offered me in these past few days since I entered the world of blogdom. In just a few days, I have met and made more friends than in all my years of schooling! All 20 of them if you count graduate and post graduate degrees.

Kit Golson -- you are beautiful, inside and out and please, please show me how you reply to each comment like you do in your blog. I've tried to do that but can't figure out how to do it! Believe me. I want to thank each and every one of you and I don't know how to do it!!!!! Kit -- you and your husband are delightful and you are welcomed anytime in your hometown of New Orleans. Next time, stay longer than 15 minutes and have a glass or two of wine with me at one of my farm tables at my shop which is quickly becoming the place to hang for all my new groupies. Seriously, I have women who have become regulars at my little shop and we just sit around my 19th century farm table and chat about everything. I think I need to keep some champagne splits in my little refrigerator for those moments.

Stephanie aka Bonjour Madame -- you are my inspiration. You are the sweetest, most kind, most sincere person in this whole world and I have been honored to meet you and help you turn your house into the beautiful nest it has become.

Ms. A la Parisienne (aka Mandy) -- thank you for the countless of hours you've spent making this blog so beautiful and thank you for the patience in teaching me how to navigate through it. For everyone who has absolutely no clue how to blog (yes, come on, you know who you are), Mandy is your girl. She can make a blank screen light up with magic and ooooze with all things french.

Claudia Strasser --- Ms. Paris Apartment -- as I mentioned yesterday, I believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship. You have a gift and you are willing to share that gift with so many of us. Thank you for being accessible to us novices.

Anya Caliendo -- Ms. Absolutely OMG Stunning Milliner of Milliners!!!! Your hats make me want to go back in time. As God is my witness, I will get your "Confidante" hat if it's the last thing I do ... and I shall never be hungry again. For all your hat freaks (and I am one of them, trust me), I have never seen hats more beautiful and more elegant and more Ooo La La than Anya's. Please visit her website. And not just to look at her amazing creations, but also to see the touching tribute to her Russian grandmother.

To everyone, thank you. I am humbled by everyone's comments. Please keep them coming. I was/am the nerd in high school that no one ever considered a popular girl. I was the valedictorian for Christ's sake. No one was supposed to be my friend.

I was the nerd who couldn't afford any sororities in college and so I spent my saturday nights studying at the library.

So to me, this is amazing. To think that there are people out there who want to hear my story and actually get my love for my furnishings. Wow.

I feel as though I've won the Oscar afterall.