create the life you love

The Graduate!

Two down ... one to go!

Connor graduated from Ole Miss this past Saturday.

Proud, proud moment as a parent!

We flew up to Nashville to visit friends (golf, as usual was part of the trip) for 2 days and then drove to Oxford, where we spent the next 4 days.

As always, such a fun, fabulous time. I am certainly going to miss our trips to Oxford and Ole Miss, but we are hoping to continue going to a football game each fall.

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked of our evenings / dinners out and other happenings, but me pulling out the camera is never a hit with my gang.

Our first evening (Connor had just finished up his finals late that afternoon) .. drinks on the balcony of The City Grocery and dinner downstairs.

Just pretending ;) ..

Connor & his room mate .. I love this boy!!

(bad photo-taker ... which would be my husband)

Another bad photo-taker (the room mate), but I love him!

On the balcony at Boure

Friday golf ..

Rebel baseball game .. in the student section!

Lunch with friends at Boure ..

Shopping ...

I need to get these boots! ;)

For my future grand children ..

Big Bad Breakfast ..


Graduation ..

Way to go CCal!

 

 

 

 

Mother - Son Weekend!

I just returned home from spending a long weekend in Oxford with C Cal, just the 2 of us ..

well, many of his guy friends too and a few girls.

So much fun!!

We ate at our favorite restaurants .. Lorena's, Big Bad Breakfast, Snack Bar, Boure, The City Grocery.

Also visited a few bars .. Burgandy Room, Proud Larrys, The Library (doesn't every college town have a 'library' bar??)

Ah .. college life!

And .. although it looks like all we did was hang out at bars, not so! Just good photo opportunities!

 

Saturday morning breakfast at BBB 

Saturday afternoon happy hour at the Burgandy Room on the Square .. bloody mary bar

 

Terrible photo .. but wanted to include it. With my good friend's daughter who is a student at Ole Miss also.

The next time I see Connor will be in May .. at his graduation!

Hotty Toddy!!

 

** more Ole Miss posts here, here, here and here!

HOTTY TODDY!!

Such a wonderful four days spent in Oxford, MS with our entire family! 

Bear flew in on Friday afternoon, a day after us, due to work, but he had such a great time .. his first visit to Ole Miss.

We rented the same house as last year and had a tent and food all ready for us in The Grove for game day. Of course, the game was - dare I say - pitiful! But, as the saying goes, Ole Miss never loses a party. SO much fun in The Grove!

Thursday lunch at Ajax Diner and shopping on The Square

Griff's lunch .. fried catfish (their specialty), fries, mac & cheese and corn bread 

Connor's house .. so nice, just a block behind The Square and actually neat & clean!!

Love the dining room 'table'

And, um .. the next day after a party. The house not so neat and clean

We walked to the cemetery, for a little field trip to see Faulkner's grave where there is always a bottle of Jack Daniel's or two

Also took Griff to see Rowen Oak (Faulkner's Home). I have been on a previous trip, but since Griff was playing 'hooky' from school, another field trip was in order.

He was thrilled ;)

Dinner at The City Grocery .. Our Anniversary (27 years!) Cheers!

Griff and 2 of Connor's friends that joined us for dinner

On to Friday ... breakfast at Big Bad Breakfast. SO good - Oxford has the best restaurants.

One of Connor's roommates joined us.

A cool morning .. Connor in his ear warmers!

 

Dinner at The Ravine Friday evening.

May just be one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at. So good and another fun evening!

With ALL my boys ...

Our friends from Nashville. Katie goes to Ole Miss and her dad went to UF with Dan

Katie, her boyfriend Michael, friend Allie and parents

Two of a kind!

At Boure on The Square after dinner

A new store opened on the Square, Pink & Proper .. a Lilly Store!

Connor was excited about it (well, not exaclty, but knew that I would be!)

And .. Christie Leigh Mueller was there on Saturday morning signing her new book, Gridiron Saturdays!

My lucky day .. I was planning on purchasing this book and how fabulous that I was able to meet the author - she is darling! - and get a signed copy. 

I had to include all our teams

On to THE GROVE!

LSU fans .. all were so nice and quite 'colorful'!

 

Look who I found .. Col Reb is alive and well!

Griff with LSU fans .. such handsome, nice boys!

NO Bear sightings at all in The Grove .. The Colonel has risen again!

 

Dan & B with a former player, Marcus Allen, I think?

Someone else took this picture with Dan's phone - too bad it is so blurry

And we actually went to the game and had great seats , about 10 rows up on the 50 yard line. Of course the game was painful to watch .. we only stayed for the first half.

Palm Beach Girl's Weekend!

Such a fabulous weekend trip down to Palm Beach with my friend's Kerry and Lisa (3 other gals meet us there too).

Lisa was so gracious to invite us to stay at her beautiful Palm Beach home .. complete with bedrooms decorated in Lilly style! I just wanted to move in for good (not having any daughter's, I have no girly- girl bedrooms).

Love the monogram head board ..

Gorgeous hand painted dresser and lamps ..

 

We started our weekend with lunch at Cucina ..

And a little shopping ..

Bracelets galore!

All set for Friday evening happy hour before heading out to dinner and dancing (to Motown!!) at The Polo Club at The Colony Hotel ..

 

Desserts for later ..

 

My party 'favors' ..

Dinner at The Colony Polo Club ..

Dancing to Motown music ... love this picture of Lisa and Carol. We had SO much fun!! 

My new boy friend .. and can he ever do the 'bump'!! He about knocked me off my feet. Ha .. thank goodness no pictures of that!

Saturday, we were off to the 80th Birthday Brunch at the Museum of Lifestyle and Fashion History  for Miss Lillian Pulitzer Rousseau!!

I am honored to have already met Lilly (just this past January) and have photos taken, so I did not get a picture with her this time. (I graciously allowed others to talk and have photo ops with her) ;). She is just as lovely as ever and looked so pretty and stylish in her pink sweater, murfee scarf and beautiful earrings.

My sweet friend Natalie and Lilly. Natalie use to work at the WP Lilly, but moved down to Palm Beach to work at the new Lilly store about to open in The Breakers Hotel! Miss her lots, but am so happy and excited for her!!

With Kerry .. it was so hard to get a good picture since I had to work my way through the crowd of Lilly-clad ladies waiting to meet Lilly!

Of course, I changed my mind (about 10 times over) as to what to wear, and ended up wearing a solid, navy lace Lilly (which I love), but now wish I would have worn a print. Kerry and I have many of the same designs, so there was lots of talk prior as to what to wear.

 

DCal needs this outfit for the golf links! ...

I donated a gift certificate to the silent auction ..

The Museum and event is in the Boynton Mall and right next to Sears! Ha, ..

 

On to Saturday night dinner at Echo. Another fun evening, but no dancing included .. we were all a bit danced out (although, I can not wait to return to PB and my Motown men)!

Beautiful Lisa (our Palm Beach hostess)!

And her sweet pup, Cory. Stylin' in Lilly ..

 

A year Ago ...

I was in Ireland!

 

Not so fortunate this year .. although my husband is currently in Scotland on another golf trip - the wives were not invited this time around!

 

And .. remembering that  this happened last year while I was away :( 

America's Coolest College Towns

Ole Miss . .. Oxford, MS!

             America's Coolest College Towns- Page 2 - Articles | Travel + Leisure

Lunch at Lilly!

 

Such a fun time at the Pink Palace .. certainly a dream come true for this Lilly lover!

 

My new lovely, Lilly friends

 

The Juice Stand

Peel & Eat Gals .. I should have worn mine to match!

 

Our day included a tour of the facility

 

Lunch!

 

With the very talented, Rebecca and our prints she created for us.

Mine has honey bees ... honey bee is the meaning of my name .. love it

Lilly Designers

 

We also were able to preview the fall collection, comment and make suggestions .. as well as see some of the designs for next year's collections (no photos allowed) ... so excited for what is to come!

After our day at the Pink Palace, we all visited the King of Prussia store

I also was able to visit the Ardmore Lilly the following day

 

An amazingly, fabulous experience!

Packing

Thank you all for your suggestions on what to wear for my day at The Pink Palace .. I am still deciding and may likely not know until getting dressed Tuesday morning. I am just like that .. and always pack way to much since I just never know what exactly I may feel like wearing. Um .. I will only be away for 2 nights .. and then there are the shoes too, trying to limit it to 6 pairs ;)

Memorial Day Weekend

We traveled to Baltimore this past weekend for our annual trip to the Men's NCAA Lacrosse Championships. 

While my older boys do not attend anymore, Griff brought 2 friends .. some things never change .. me and 3 boys!

A great time. 3 days of lacrosse games and a quick trip to Annapolis. SO hot in Baltimore - hotter temps than here in Florida, but were fortunate to have a suite at the stadium.

As usual with boys as unwilling subjects, not the best photos.

Griff, Kyle, Reid ..

Crazy Griff passed out .. or actually not wanting his picture taken ...

 

 

And yet again another day ..

 

Working on his whistle ..

And, here is a great picture of my unwilling son ...

A 

 

 

A trip to the Naval Academy ..

A 

 

 

Look what I found ..

L 

 

 

Field Trip!

We sent Griff off bright and early - 5am Monday morning with his 8th grade class. They are in the Black Mountains of NC all week, returning on Saturday evening. White water rafting, hiking, climbing, horseback riding. A fun and fabulous trip for sure. He has been able to call home at night and is having an awesome time. He sounds so excited and completely out of breath! 

Spring Break at the Beach

We spent the last week at the beach .. Griff and I all week long and Dan came for a just a few nights. A great week, with beautiful weather, sunny skies ..

and LOTS of teenagers!

 

{ Friends at Mi Mexico }

{ Griff and Casey }

At JB's

{Katie, Reid, Griff, Don }

{ Griff and I}

How did he get SOOOO much taller than me?!

 

Most of the following pictures where taken from afar .. either on my balcony or from the pool deck. 

Can not get to close!

 

Weekend Getaway

We had a nice Valentine's getaway up to the Ponte Vedra Beach Club. Dan was so sweet and planned it all .. including a day of golf at the Pablo Creek Club (rarely do we take a trip that does not include golf!).

 

Fine by me though .. I spent the day Saturday at the spa and had a lovely day being pampered.

I also did a bit of shopping .. and was thrilled that one of the resort shops carried both Lilly and Vineyard Vines :)

For the Love of Lilly!

I was thrilled to attend "The Authentically Preppy Lilly Party" this past Saturday evening at the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History.

 

I rode down to Palm Beach with my friend Mary (Lilly lover extraordiare!) and her friend, Fran. We had a wonderfully, fun weekend  .... lunch at Taboo, shopping on Worth Ave and C. Orricio, dinner at Bici.

The highlight of course being the party with Lilly Pulitzer!

 

 

Lunch at Taboo 

 

Jack & Rebecca at 23 Via Mizner ... the site of Lilly's first shop

 

The big orange door at Tory on Worth Ave

 

Some of the vintage Lilly collection at The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History

 

Original Lilly fabrics

Beautiful girls, Mary & Caroline 'Dripping in Jewels'

 

Lilly friend, Barbara

 

Mary and her vintage Lilly dress

 

7 year old, Willow ... amazing violinist

 

The beautiful, gracious and sweet Lilly Pulitzer Rousseau.

Such an honor to spend an evening with her!

 

 

Ole Miss Weekend - HOTTY TODDY!

What a fun, fun weekend we had in Oxford at Ole Miss and The Grove.

Griff and I flew up on Thursday morning (Dan went a day early to get in a round of golf with Connor). My friend Debbie was also with us and her son is a student at Ole Miss too. Another friend, Michelle flew in Friday night with her daughter and son and joined us. Katie is considering attending Ole Miss next year and we are hoping she will become a Rebel!

 

Our welcoming sign at the house we rented for the weekend.

And yes, we had to rent a house! The very few hotels in Oxford are sold out a year ahead of game days and it took me all summer to find this place. Very nice though and great location.

My sweet friend Debbie and I ..

Dinner at City Grocery on The Square 

Brothers ...

 

Another Connor, Griff, my Connor and Cameron ..

 

This sign was in the window at a bar. The new Rebel Bear mascot is not being well received! ..

 

 

 Debbie at our favorite store ;) .. I think were were in there for over 2 hours buying all the food for the tailgating party

We ordered some of the food, but Connor requested a few of his favorites (pigs in a blanket and the cheesy dip!), so we also did a lot of cooking the day before.

 

 

On to game day

Our table decorations ..

 

For those that are not familiar with Ole Miss .. they are famous for their tailgating parties in The Grove which is a beautiful area filled with trees in the center of campus.

Rebel fans go ALL out!

 

My sweet Connor, Brad and James (Auburn students). Connor and James were in school together K-12

Connor had 10-15 Auburn friends come for the weekend and they all 'crashed' at his apartment

 

 

The hostesses with our set up!

We actually (Dan was in charge of this) hired a company to set up the tent, chairs, tv, etc. Being that we traveled by plane (actually 2 flights plus and hour+ drive), we could not bring much with us

Michelle, Reid and Katie

The all-important TV.

The Gators were playing that afternoon!

 

Cute boys .. Reid & Griff

 

The southern dolls ;)

Connor and his War Eagle friends ...

 
 

 

My sweet Rebel ...

Monogram cups for the girls, um I mean 'southern dolls' ..

The Lyceum ..

 

 

 

The Grove

'holy grail' of tailgating

Lots of The Colonel still around

But, I did see a few bears. This huge one on the back of a pickup truck ..

 

Some tents even had Halloween trick or treating tables set up.

A very friendly Rebel witch!

 

A real goat we saw in one tent. He even had his own bed ...

Rebel cheerleader ...

 A couple of nice men we meet. They tried to convince us that they made their table clothes. The smiley guy said he did the 'embroidery'. Ha .. at least he had the lingo down.

 

Various table decor ...

Debbie and Cameron ...
 

The Rebel band marching through The Grove. We completely missed the football team walking through the 'Walk of Champion' arch in the Grove. Too busy Hotty Toddy-ing!

War Eagle friends ...

James and I .. 

 

No pictures of the actual game. Us girls did not go!

We just stayed in The Grove, as did many others.

 

"What happens in the GROVE, stays in the GROVE"

 

Hotty Toddy, Gosh almighty

Who the hell are we, Hey!

Flim Flam, Bim Bam

OLE MISS BY DAMN!

 

The Grove!

 

Getting ready for our big trip to Ole Miss and my very first game and Grove experience!

Can not wait

Beautiful Ireland!

 Such a fabulous time in Ireland.

This was most certainly a golf trip, but a wonderful time, none the less. My husband was there the week prior to my arrival with a group of 12 fellow friends / golfers. They traveled throughout Ireland, golfing everyday .. some days playing 36 holes. Dan and 3 friends stayed on and myself and the other wives joined them for week 2. A fun group for sure! Still plenty of golf, but we girls were able to visit many monuments, castles and quaint little towns. We had a very nice bus with the sweetest driver /guide. I got to know him quite well, since I sat up front with him much of the time (had a little problem with motion sickness and those winding roads). We girls even spent a day biking throughout The Killarney National Park (more like a bike marathon, since we got lost and had to push our bikes up hill for almost 2 hours). A day was also spent walking with the guys while they played at Old Head Golf Club. Such amazing scenery. The weather was crazy in Ireland - changing every 15 minutes or so. From sunny to rainy and windy in no time and than back again to sunshine. The food, not so great. At least for me and my limited diet. Good salads were hard to come by, but I did have wonderful grilled fish a few evenings. Potatoes galore with everything - fixed every which way for those lovers of spuds! ;)

 

I took hundreds of photos, but will just share a few  ..

 

Just having a little swig on the bus .. no wonder I was sick. Ha ... the guys made me 'pose' since I am such a partier ;) .. cheers!

 

The girls

 

 

 

 

 

On our bike adventure

 

I guy we met in a pub .. he liked me!

Dan and another pub friend. This guy was a boxer and had just won some big championship. We read about him in the paper the next day. So much fun in that Irish pub!!

 
 

 

 

Back to College

Connor and I left very early this past Friday to head up to Ole Miss ... a 13 hour drive! It actually was not as bad as I have envisioned and went by quicker too.  We had to stop in Gainesville on the way to pick up a few of his things, including his big TV. His car was packed full ... and not packed very well, as you can see (he loaded it all in). A long trip and uneventful, except for getting pulled over in Georgia. I was driving - I ended up driving 10 hours straight, since Connor was a bit tired from his previous night (week?) of goodbyes (parties). I was able to talk my way out of a ticket though and proceeded to drive the rest of the way through GA very carefully. I have never seen so many police on the roads as in GA.

We spent Friday and Saturday nights at The Inn at Ole Miss and then moved into his new, furnished apartment on Sunday. FOUR trips to the Super Walmart for me on Sunday! Thank goodness for the cute little boutiques in The Square I was able to shop on Saturday! ;)

{ dinner at The City Grocery in The Square } 

{ The Grove ... can not wait until we go back for a game and tail gaiting }

 

{ walmart trip #1 }

I highly doubt if the iron and ironing board will ever be used, or the little vacuum or broom, for that matter!  

{ got the tv set up right away - most important for sure and it was the first item loaded out of his car }

{ I ironed most of his clothes .. at least he will be looking neat his first week or so of school }

   

{ college boy .. already getting in some pre-studying before classes start?! }

I was even fortunate to spend my last night in the new digs and Connor was kind enough to drive me to the Memphis airport (2 hour round trip) on Monday for my flight home.

More Travels

What a summer this has been. So much traveling .. mainly (well, actually all I believe) centered around the boys. I have spent only 3 weekends at home since Memorial Day!

This past Saturday, Griff and I flew up to Richmond, VA. He was attending the UVA lacrosse camp. The camp was not held at the campus, but at the Graves Mountain Lodge, which was 2 hours away in the Blue Ridge mountains.

We spent the first night together in Richmond, then I drove him (in a little rental car in which his long poles barely fit!) to the camp. A beautiful drive through the mountains. It was SO hot that day .. 105 degrees! Although I was told by the sweet lady who worked in the dining hall that there was room at the lodge for me to stay, I had other plans, and quite honestly, glad I did! The 'lodge' was just not quite my style ;). Even the mention of nightly hay rack rides, camp fires and marshmallow roasting could not persuade me to stay ;) Oh .. and I can't forget the 'home cooking' (y'all know just how much I love fried food!) in the communal dining hall .. which by the way had no air conditioning!

So ... I left Griff, who was just fine with the accommodations, and drove an hour to Charlottesville, home of UVA. My fellow FB bloggers and friends made suggestions as to wear to stay/where to shop, and their recommendations were perfect! Thank you Margaret & Maggie!

I spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights at The Boars Head Inn and it was just delightful! Lots of reading and relaxing. Working out, a visit to the spa, and of course, a little shopping.  

Blue Ridge Mountains

 

My view at the Boars Head Inn

 

My room

 

The Downtown Mall in Charlottesville.

I loved the Caspari store!

  

 
 

  

Picking up Griff at camp. This was the lax players dorm .. slightly on the rough side!

 

Griff and friends

 

ipad!

My sweet husband bought me this while in NYC ...

It is so amazing! 

ipad 

NYC!

The entire family in NYC. 

Our oldest, Barret is now living and working in NY, so we took a family trip to visit him. 

(Still can not believe my 'little boy' is all grown up and living in the big city!)

Lots of fun. We had Bear pick out the restaurants and make reservations and he did a fabulous job! 

Lunches at Carnegie Deli, Shake Shake, and a meat ball restaurant (can not remember the name) that the boys loved.

Dinners at BLT Prime Steak, Mermaid Inn, and Blue Ribbon Brassier ... all fabulous!

Dinner at BLT Prime

Just call my husband 'Mr. Creamsicle'! ;)

Barret and his girlfriend .. who also happens to be living/working in NYC also ..

She's a sweetie!

   

St. Patrick's Cathederal

 

University Club

  

 

Dinner at Blue Ribbon Brassier

     

Griff's huge bacon & turkey sandwich at Carnegie Deli

 

Lilly Pulitzer on Madison Ave.

 

 

Love their dressing rooms

  

So ... I took more photos of the Lilly store than I did of my family. Of course, as you all know, my boys do not like my camera ... Lilly doesn't mind one bit ;)

 

Blog Friend 'Sighting'!

While visiting Ole Miss, I happened to recognize a fellow blogger in the campus book store ... the lovely Sharon and her daughter, Britton! They were touring the campus (they live in California) with their aunt who lives in Oxford and teaches at Ole Miss. We also had just been at the same restaurant (Ajax's Dinner) for lunch prior to visiting the book store. 

Sharon wrote a wonderful post (with fabulous photos) on her travels, visiting family and college touring. 

Visit her blog ... And Bai Li Makes 3.  Bailey, btw is just darling!! :)

So wonderful to meet you, Sharon!

 

This past Thursday, we flew up to Memphis and then drove to Oxford for the weekend to visit the campus of Ole Miss. Connor attended orientation and will be attending this fall (mid August) ... he's a Rebel!  

This was my first trip to Oxford (Dan & Connor have been in the past for a football game) and I absolutely love this beautiful, little town .. with fabulous shops and restaurants on The Square. 

The campus is so pretty and pristine

Lunch at the City Grocery 

Cameron (a friend and Ole Miss student), Connor, DCal and Griff

Connor missed the memo to wear a blue shirt and Griff to wear sun glasses! 

  

The Oxford Courthouse on the Square

 

Dinner at The Downtown Grill

 

 

Cocktails on the balcony of Rooster's Blues House 

 

The Inn at Ole Miss

 

Dinner at Boure'

Shrimp & Grits for D & C

It was so hot and steamy after an evening rain - foggy lens and bad hair!

 

We also had lunch at the Ajax Diner (no pictures though - I am lucky to get the ones that I did on this trip with boys who despise me pulling out my camera) ... real southern, comfort food, but I had a grilled chicken salad! ;)

 

The Grove at Ole Miss

 

On Saturday, we drove back to Memphis, spent the night at the Peabody Hotel and had dinner at the famous Rendezvous. Dan and Connor have been before and could not wait for those ribs. Griff managed to put down a full slab himself. I had a salad!

Peabody ducks (iphone photo) ..

 

Rendezvous!

 

Such a fun trip. I can not wait to return to Oxford in August ... 

Hotty Toddy!

 

Lacrosse Tournaments

This weekend was the first of 3 lacrosse tournaments in a row for Griff and his team, The Bravehearts. We traveled south to Boca Raton and it was hotter than hades! 

  

        

Baltimore!

This past weekend we traveled to Baltimore for the Men's NCAA Lacrosse Championships. This has become an annual Memorial Day weekend trip - I believe this is our 7th year attending the championships (the venue has alternated between Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore). We started back when my older boys were in high school and have continued on. Just about the same every year - 3 days of lacrosse games - but fun none the less!

I took very few photos due to a very unwilling son! ;) Griff''s friend Reid traveled with us and he was much more cooperative with picture taking. Thank you, Reid!!

We had a very early fight Saturday morning, so we spent Friday night at the airport Hyatt. Watching the Magic/Celtic game.

 

Reid & Griff (the uncooperative boy!)

 

'Sour puss', 'poker face' Griff

 

 

The view from our hotel room

 

 

Dining ...

    

Griff's new yacht .. lol ;). He actually was not at all grumpy on the trip, only when I pulled out my camera. Same ole, same ole with all 3 of my boys come the teenage years.

 

 

As for the final Division III game, it was a great game with Duke winning in over time. I was pulling for Notre Dame though ;)

Spring Break at the Beach

Back from our week at the beach, which was sooo much fun! The weather was simply glorious (all but the first 2 days) ... beautiful blue skies and perfect temps. A bit cool in the early mornings and evenings, which I love.

Griff and friends (taken from our balcony). 

He had at least 10 friends there to hang with and had a blast ..

Kyle, Reid, Griff ...

Sunset ...

 

sunrise ...

 

Griff and Katie ... just friends! She is his good friend's older sister. Griff has a bit of a crush on her ;) ...

 

  

Spring Break

Griff's spring break and we are off to the beach for the week!

A Quick Trip

Yesterday afternoon we traveled to Gainesville for an over night trip just to see the boys. They both kept asking what was up and why were we visiting for no reason - they had a hard time believing it was just because we had a free weekend, love & miss them, and thought they would enjoy a nice steak dinner! 

We meet Connor for lunch, then a trip to Publix to stock him up with food. Saturday evening we had a fabulous dinner at MT's Chop House. Barret and his girl friend drove down from Tallahassee, and one of Connor's roommates also joined us. A great time ... but no photos. I completely forgot to pull out my camera. My boys must have been elated over that!

Be sure to check back tomorrow. I will be posting about yet another giveaway.

And ... I just have to add that I am typing this post on Griff's mac book (my first time) and I am so getting a mac!! ;)

Thanksgiving Weekend

Such a fun weekend with all my boys. Barret and Connor were both home Thanksgiving day and then all of us traveled up to Gainesville for the weekend and the big UF/FSU game.

 

Celebrating Barret's birthday Friday night at MT Chop House. Terrible photo - the waiter had a bit of a problem with it!

 

 

 
Bear and his new friend ... dare I say girlfriend? She is just darling and sooo sweet!

 

Partying Brothers at Connor's house. Barret is sitting down, he is not that short, actually almost 6'3" and Connor ... um, he is actually that big! ;) 

Some new 'rules' posted outside at Connor's house. Glad that these guys are at least trying, but you could have fooled me. I cleaned for 2 hours (around lots of half asleep bodies - all those FSU friends 'sleeping over), Saturday morning before the pre-game party. In case you are wondering, we did not stay at Connor's. Ah ... thank goodness for the Hilton :)

Connor and his 'friend'. They went to the senior prom together, and last spring to the KA Old South weekend together, but ... 'just friends'!? Also, she is a 'Nole - Maybe that's the problem.

My Die Hard Seminole Fan. Lots of bickering going on over the Gators & Noles!

 

****

I failed to take any Thanksgiving photos, except for a photo of one of my desserts. I was a bit busy in the kitchen, as well as chasing a bad Westie boy who decided to run away from home (don't even ask where all the guys were), and then while finally back in the kitchen after my marathon dog-chasing run, I see a big, nasty, black snake right outside the kitchen window (of course, my screaming disturbed the guys and their football watching/napping) ... and to top it off,  I managed to almost cut my thumb off while chopping ham for a breakfast casserole to take to Connor's the next day for all those college kids at his 'sleep over'!

All just normal family life for this mom of boys! ;)

Still ... I LOVE having my boys home and our family together. Wouldn't change a thing for the world. I am blessed!

 

 
  
  

Go Noles

 

We are off to parent's weekend at FSU!

more of key west

 

 

Our friend, Robert was picked to chain up this 'escape artist' at Mallory Square - a dream come true for him - LOL!

Robert and Emma - so cute. Emma was there for only 2 days - wish she could have stayed all week. We had fun!

I made my husband pose outside the Lilly store. He wasn't too willing, thus the bad photo, taken quickly! I bought him Lilly shorts and a polo :)

Crazy bike on Duval Street

The Hemingway Days were taking place. This was the look alike contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar that I just happened upon the day we arrived. 100's of Hemingways!

This guy was asking me to ride the 'bulls' ... I was out of there very quickly!

The Little White House - President Truman vacationed here

The Hemingway House

Cats everywhere - some desendents of Hemingways

Hemingway's 2nd wife, Pauline had this large pool built for him but Hemingway was not all that happy about it - he annouced to all that the pool had cost him his last cent, and to make his point he had a penny stamped into the pool edge!

Hemingway's workroom on the second floor of the pool house

k e y . w e s t

 

 

I am back home from my 'adventure' and what an adventure it was! I joined Dan and Griff (the older boys could not go due to school) on their on their annual trip to Key West for fishing and lobster season. My husbands high school friend and his boys go every year also (they got Dan interested in the trip, years ago). I, myself have only visited the Keys one other time in the past and that was 21 years ago ... I now remember why!  LOL ... I really did have a nice time - sort of - at least there was a Lilly store ;), but Key West is just not for me. It may just be another 20+ years before I return!

That being said, I did make the best of it and no complaining from me. I Shopped at the Lilly store (stopped in just about every day to 'visit' the lovely store), visited the Hemingway House and Little White House, walked down Duval Street (A quick walk for sure! Yikes - so not me), rode around on a scooter, visited Mallory Square (again, not my kind of place, we lasted about 15 minutes there), and even went out on the chartered boat one day for the lobster diving (stayed in the boat though and thankfully the guys caught their limit -36 lobsters - in less than 2 hours). Other than that, we had a few wonderful dinners out and I did a lot of reading, mostly inside or on our balcony due to the extreme heat. Holy moly it is so hot down there! I could barely endure sitting pool side in the shade for a short period of time.

The guys, on the other hand had 2 days of fishing with 'Captain Jeff' and 2 days of lobster catching with the short-tempered captain. Jeez, that guy had a short fuse. He was nice to me (thank God since I was the only one on the boat while the others were diving for lobsters), but he switched gears quickly and was always yelling profanities at one or more of the guys. Of course, they all got a kick out of it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So .... can you tell that I am happy to be home?? Great 'adventure', but glad to be back home!

More photos tomorrow ... non-lobster photos! ;)

Pink Saturday

{ Lilly swim suit and tunic }

I am off to the airport bright and early this morning (5:30am) for a little beach vacation. I'll be sure to share my 'adventures' when I return. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a very happy Pink Saturday to you all!

 

{ monogram stickers }

 

{ another Lilly suit for a sweet little girl }

{ pink rose }

Please visit Beverly's blog to see more of Pink Saturday

 

Braveheart Lacrosse

This past weekend, we traveled to Tampa (Wesley Chapel) for the Sunshine State Lacrosse Tournament. This is our last tournament for the summer, I think. Three weekends in a row - not sure what's up with all the tournaments being scheduled this way - that is a lot of lacrosse!

 

The Team - U13 Bravehearts

  

 

Griff taking the ball down the field for a goal

   

Score - long pole defenders do not score all that often and when they do, it is a big deal ... Lots of cheering :)

 

 

 

  

A break in the shade with an icy

Schmap!!

My photo of Alcatraz Island was chosen for the Schmap online travel guide/map. This photo was taken while on the boat tour in San Francisco a few summers back and was found through my flickr photo stream. I guess just a random search - I did not submit it and was not familiar with this site. Kind of cool ;)

Griff loved visiting Alcatraz and was very into studying the history and the prisoners. Last year, he did his 5th grade oration on Alcatraz Island and made it to the finals - the olny boy (!) and after a few rounds, he dropped out of the competition! - it just was not his thing, especially with all girls ... although I though he was so good and his speech was awesome ;)

More Braveheart Lacrosse

This past weekend, we traveled down south to Boca Raton, FL for yet another lacrosse tournament. Whilewe normally stay at Marriot hotels for these sport weekends, this trip we stayed at the Boca Raton Resort ... such a beautiful place (we had a great weekend rate, too good to pass up). I wish we could have enjoyed all it had to offer, but with Griff's lax schedule we were not at the resort much. We did have a fun dinner Saturday evening with many of the team and parents. The hotel has a Serendipity restaurant (like the famous one in NYC) and the kids were served a dinner buffet and ice cream bar - fun evening.

 

 

Talking and waving to a team mate - I just noticed his shoe is missing?! ...

 

Edible Chocolate treasure chest filled with ice cream and 3 different types of cake - they served 6 of these for the kids ...

 

Look who is first in line, with the girls (sisters of team mates) ...

Griff's huge cone with a banana sticking out of it ...

 

A few shots of Griff in action (ok, a lot!) ...

  

 

 

 

 

 

Boca Blast Photos

 

On Sunday afternoon, we dropped Griff off at Florida Atlantic University, also in Boca Raton for a lacrosse camp hosted by the 2009 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Champions, Syracuse. He will be there all week, home just in time for yet another tournament this coming weekend! Obviously, so happy to pose for a picture in his dorm room - more like, ready for me to leave! ;) ...

 

Braveheart Lacrosse

 

This past weekend, we traveled to Jacksonville, FL for a lacrosse tournament - The Wounded Warrior Tournament -to benefit a great cause, The Wounded Warrior Project.

This summer, Griff's young league coach started a new select team called 'Bravehearts' - I love the name and the new uniforms. I had so many people (mostly moms) ask about and complemented the snazzy plaid uniforms. The tournament was both Saturday & Sunday, 5 games total, and hot! The Bravehearts won 3, lost 2.

We are off again tomorrow to another tournament in Boca Raton ... and yet another the following weekend, which will make 4 weekends straight, being out of town (or state) for lacrosse. Oh, for the love of the game ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Boston

While on my 'mom of the year' trip ;) to the NCAA lacrosse games, I did manage to get a little time to myself - about an 1 1/2 hours before we had to head to the airport for our flight home. A nice walk down Newbury Street and a little of the Public Garden.

 

I love taking architectural photos, especially old churches ...

  

 

 

 

 

Boston Public Garden ...

 

 

Copley Square Market ...

 

Boston Public Library ...

Newbury Street ...

  

 

 

Fairmont Copley Plaza Window Boxes - Gorgeous! ...

Catie Copley

While staying at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, we were able to meet a very sweet labrador.Catie is the 'canine ambassador' of the Fairmont and spends her days in the lobby of the hotel. She lives with Jim, who is the hotel's director of concierge services and he brings her to work every day (Sunday & Monday are her days off). Guests are able to take her for walks or just play with her in the lobby. Catie was trained to be a guide dog to the blind but failed her testing. She now has two bookswritten about her work and adventures at the Fairmont and the proceeds from the books benefit the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, where Catie was raised. I bought two of her books, one for myself and one for my god daughter ... both signed by her owner,  Jim and 'paw-printed' by Catie.

 

 

 

Thanks for all the kind comments about my trip and my mom 'awards'! I really can't complain, the boys are great kids and were so good, just typical 13 year old boys who happen to love sports.  And, I did manage to get a little over an hour to myself on the morning before we flew home. I had a nice walk down Newbury Street and the Public Gardens - took quite a few photos too.

My 'Adventure'

 

{ Walpole Train Station }

 

{ a bad rain and hail storm one day while waiting for the train - no coverage either! }

 

 Griff - with 2 black eyes! (PE, flag football injury) - and Jack waiting for the bus to take us to the train

 

Although we flew into and stayed in Boston at the Fairmont Copley Plaza (which was lovely, although I barely was there!), the NCAA lacrosse games were held at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro (I believe about 30 miles south of Boston). We purposely chose to stay in Boston since there is not much to do in Foxboro. In hind sight, I think we just should have checked into a 'motel' and walked to the dang stadium. We didn't get back to Boston until 6-6:30- pm every night anyway. So ... the travel to and from the stadium every day was quite an adventure. We rode the train (backwards!) into the Walpole station (about a 40-45 minute ride with lots of stops) and then hopped on a bus for another 10-15 minute ride to the stadium. After the games (5 total, 3 days straight), we did the same to get back to Boston. I'll be the first to admit that this just wasn't for me! Lots of waiting for the train and then waiting for the games to start, much less the fact that I had to take meds twice a day since I have very bad motion sickness. Believe me, the train going backwards did not help :(. But ... I sucked it up and had a good time. Okay, I really pretended to have a good time ;) ... all the while thinking about being back at the Fairmont, or shopping, or site seeing in the beautiful city of Boston! ;) LOL. I am not sure if I mentioned that it was just myself, Griff and his friend on this trip? We have attended these lax championships for 5-6 years now, all 5 of us as a family, but this years our plans changed. I offered to take Griff since my husband and older boys had a golf weekend planned (it ended up being canceled due to the non-stop FL rain). Since I was the only adult and in charge, I had no free time. These 2 boys only wanted to be at the games (hours early too!), with no interest of shopping or site seeing in Boston. To top it off, since the basketball playoffs were on TV at night, we had to go to a sports bar/restaurant, 'Champions', so they could watch. Two nights in a row - I could not talk them into watching in the hotel room, they wanted to be around some action and others who were hooping & hollering. Oh the fun!! ;)

 

The big win

Home

{ Gillette Stadium, Memorial Day }

 

Back home from our long weekend trip to Boston. While it was a good time, it was also a lot of work ... riding a train and bus every day to and from the stadium. Not exactly top on my list of things to do while 'vacationing', but this trip was all about the lacrosse games and not me! More later ...

School's Out

 

{ LHPS }

Griff's last day of school today and last day of 'lower school' at LHPS. We are starting  summer off right away with a trip to Boston. We leave bright and early tomorrow morning (a 6:25am flight!) for a long weekend and the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships. I believe this is our 5-6 year attending these games. Last year they were also held in Boston, actually the Gillette Stadium in Foxbough, but we are staying in Boston and 'commuting' by train to the stadium. I honestly prefer Boston and shopping, but being a good (boy/sports) mom, I will be at the games too ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

For Those of You Asking & Wondering ....

Yes, Mark C is very good looking in person. All smile, with very white teeth! He had just returned from a beach vacation, so he was even darker than usual with his tan, which in turn made his teeth even whiter ;)

If you watched the show on Friday, you saw O interview the 'Baconnaise' guys. I had never heard of this product, but it has become a big success. We were all given a jar of Baconnaise to take home and a Bacon flavored chap stick (!!). I even met one of the inventor's parents at the show and enjoyed talking to them, such nice people.

Tonight I made burgers for Dan & Griff so they could try out the Baconnaise. It was a huge hit, both loved it (as I am sure, Connor & Barret will too). As for me, I don't even like regular mayo, so no Baconnaise for me - it's not on my program either, although it is a vegetarian product and they do make a light version. Still, I'm a mustard girl!

I would like to try the Bacon Salt. Some of therecipes sound really delicious - especially the salmon and asparagus.

Also, for those asking what I bought while cruising the Magnificent Mile, I'll try to post this tomorrow ;)

Home Again

Back home from my trip to Chicago. I had a fabulous time in my favorite city (I grew up in the Chicago area and visit often). The weather was perfect. In the 80's on Friday (they had snow less than a week before!). All the tulips were budding on Friday and by the next day, many were in bloom - so beautiful.

So ... did anyone see me on the O Live show on Friday?? I was sitting in the front row, wearing a pink (fuchsia) JCrew jacket. I kid you not. My friend and I were pulled, along with 2 other girls and asked to sit in the front row throughout the show until the last segment and then we were whisked up to other seats during a commercial break and O and the others on the show sat in our seats to watch the 'surprise' guest. I have not seen a replay of the show yet, but  have been told that the back of my head was in a lot of shots - hope it was looking good ;) - and I believe once when the cameras panned the audience quickly, I was shown front on for a very brief moment. Needless to say, I was scared stiff during the entire time in the front row - so afraid to make even the slightest move, so I sat like a perfect lady (I hope!). Such an exciting and amazing experience. For those of you that asked how we got tickets, it was through a friend of a friend that has connections (sorry, but I can't say more than that).

And ... can you believe I didn't take a single picture? Of course, no cameras were allowed at the studio and we were just too busy running around the Magnificent Mile (shopping!)the rest of our trip.

Be Sure To Watch ...

I am off tomorrow morning with a girlfriend for a little trip to Chicago ...

and to the Oprah Live Show on Friday!

  

*I'll be in the audience, not on stage - thank goodness*

NYC

 A great trip with Barret - wonderful to spend time with him. He is so grown up, such a young man - where did the time go?! The weather was just perfect, in the high 40's in the day and sunny. We did some shopping (imagine that!), had dinner at Smith & Wollensky (a celebrity walked by us and sat behind our table) and Koi. Lunch one day at Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay's restaurant & Bear's pick - he loves cooking/chef shows) and drinks at the Oak Bar. Barret also chose to go to the Lion King, which I though was sweet being that he is 22;) I had just seen it in NY last March, but it was amazing the second time around too, and we had great seats - center orchestra. B really wanted to go to Madison Square Gardens to see a college basketball game, but the games were all scheduled for night and we already had plans/reservations. His FSU 'Noles did win big in some game, first time ever - sorry, I have no idea what it was?! He made sure to watch it all on tv though in an Irish pub (celebrating both St. Patrick's Day & the FSU win).

Bear also had a few friends in NY - two girls from college. They just moved up last week to do their internships in fashion merchandising. Another friend of our familygraduated from college in December and moved to NY 3 weeks ago for a new (first!) job. He had dinner with us one night and Bear spent the nights (late nights) with him and the girls. All after I was in for the night. Midnight was late enough for me ;). Night life for these 'kids' doesn't start until midnight and they go until 3-4am, 'clubbing'. A fabulous spring break for the bear boy and a fabulous time for me being with him!

More photos, taken by me and Bear - he has become quite the photographer, on my flickr photostream

Spring Break

 

The college boys are on spring break this week. Connor came home Friday afternoon for a few days and then headed down south to Key West with a group of friends. So, far no mishaps - a mother can only pray for safety with these college boys! Connor, by the way has lost 42 lbs and looks great. So proud of him.

Barret just arrived home this afternoon and tomorrow we are leaving for the weekend on a trip to NYC. Just the two of us! My husband was so sweet to suggest and plan this trip. I don't get to see Bear often and he will be graduating soon, so he thought it would be nice for us to spend some time together. This and the fact that I don't have a daughter to do these type things with. Barret is super excited about going to NY (even though it is with his mom!), he hasn't been since he was 12 years old. It also just happens to be my birthday this weekend, so I guess the two of us will do some celebrating ;)

~

Also, thank you all for your kindness regarding 'my' little Elise. I am so blessed be able to help this special child out in a small way. I can't wait to get updates and pictures of her ... and to send her gifts! :)

Good Thoughts

{ Christ Church, St. Simons Island, Georgia }

 

~ Faith is the ability to not panic.

 ~ If you worry, you didn't pray. If you prayed,
don't worry.

~ As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home
every day.

 ~ Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out
 of shape.

 ~ When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God
 wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.

 ~ Do the math. Count your blessings.
 
~ God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.
 
~ Dear God: I have a problem. It's me.

 ~ Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.

 ~ Laugh every day, it's like inner jogging.
 
~ The most important things in your home are the people.
 
~ Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.
 
~ There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.
 Come on in.

 ~ A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.

~ He who dies with the most toys is still dead.
 
~ We do not remember days, but moments. Life moves too
 fast, so enjoy your precious moments.
 
~ Nothing is real to you until you experience it,
 otherwise it's just hearsay.
 
~ It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now
 and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.
 
~ Surviving and living your life successfully requires
 courage. The goals and dreams you're seeking require
 courage and risk-taking. Learn from the turtle, it only
 makes progress when it sticks out its neck.
 
~ Be more concerned with your character than your
 reputation. Your character is what you really are, while
 your reputation is merely what others think you are.

~
 
No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's
 always a rainbow waiting. Leave gentle fingerprints on the
 soul of another for the angels to read.
 
I don't want you to get to the end of life and find 
you lived just the length of it; I want you to have lived
 the width of it as well.  So Write The Book!!!!!!

{ author unknown }

 

~ Happy March ~

 

The Bagpiper

I posted this photo of the bagpiper at The Lodge in Sea Island on flicker with my other pictures from the trip and the actual bigpiper saw it and commented - how cool is that!

Skeet Shooting

While at Sea Island, Dcal and Griff went skeet shooting - I opted to go to the spa ;). We are not a hunting family (no camping either!) and I do not like guns, but Griff loved skeet shooting. They had a private lesson since no one else was there.

They did not have the camera with them, but Dan bought a disposable. Not too bad considering.

    

 

   

 

Sea Island

We had such a wonderful time at Sea Side - one of my all time favorite vacations. Pure bliss! Gorgeous weather (except for Saturday - rain off and on). Dan and Griff played golf every day (I would have joined them, but with my neck issue that did not happen. I did hit some balls on the putting range). We rode bikes, exercised at the new spa, (which was the most luxurious facility I have ever seen) and did a little site seeing. Dan and Griff also went skeet shooting, which Griff loved. Lots of just relaxing with such impeccableservice. We were given a 'personal butler' upon our arrival and he was at our call whenever we needed anything, Griff especially liked this ;). He ordered dvd's, just a push of a button and the butler showed up minutes later presenting the dvd on a tray! They also served warm cookies and milk every night - to your order. And ... the butler prepared rose petal baths for me :).

I took tons of photos. Of course, Griff tired of the camera very quickly (why is it all my boys loath me with my camera?!), but I shot many shots of the grounds, decore, art work. One afternoon I walked around the Cloisters and spa and took photo after photo. Not a single person around! Since it is off season, the resort was almost empty during the week, but filled up with guests over the weekend.

The album can be viewed at flickr, but here are a few of my favorites ...

{ bag piper plays every evening at The Lodge at sun set } 

 

 

  

   

{ the solarium at The Cloisters - I absolutely LOVE this room }

       

  

  

{ St. Simon Light House }

  

  

       

       

{ BAD quailty photo - Dan was taking it ;) } 

  

  

    

{ Valentine's Day - Griff & Mom in pink! }

 

Well, I obviously posted more than just a few ;) Also, thank you all for you thoughts, prayers and concerns regarding my herniated disc - so, so appreciated!! While, I have received some relief in the severity of pain and have been able to take less tylenol and/or alleve, I am still experiencing of pain :(. I talk to my doctor tomorrow about going ahead with the last and final epidural injection and we'll see what direction I will go after that.