What a Fun Full Week!

Our whirlwind week began with Connor attending one of his "best dudes", Jamison, bday party... He had a blast!!! Monday it was Brit's turn, she hosted a girly sleepover with the bestie, Diamond. Tuesday we bid Diamond farewell then Brittany, Connor, & I picked Nana up and met Daddy for a delicious fun dinner out. After dinner Daddy & Connor had to make a hasty exit in order to attend a Boy Scout get together in which they launched rockets!!! Wednesday we met up with Aunt Amy, cousin Noah, Aunt Kristy, & Daddy❤ for a fabulous Italian lunch outing!! It was great to catch up over a delish meal. Thursday, it was time for Brittany to host a Tea party luncheon for a few friends, the "luncheon" continued until around 11 p.m.!!!! LOL!! That's what happens when girls get together! Friday brought about a day of planning our fall schedule, in my Lily Pulitzer planner natch!! ;-)

 

I can't believe summer is almost over & school is on the horizon. Brittany is continuing her psychology studies (year 2!) with The University of Edinburgh and Connor is going to be very busy entering 4th. grade!! We homeschool & belong to several homeschool groups, our fav group is Palm Beach County Homeschoolers Inc. which offers a HUGE variety of activities. Everything from clubs, field trips, stage productions, science fairs, to soccer, parties, and park days. We have quite a full calendar shaping up! Our week was capped off by tackling a patio/yard make over for the weekend, new outdoor dining furniture, umbrella, and seating group, also a new grill.  We have a beautiful stainless steel gas grill but I have been craving a good old fashioned charcoal cookout, so you guessed it!! Daddy surprised us with a new charcoal grill (to partner with, not replace his gas grill, I was informed LOL!!) a new trampoline & some pretty flowers then voila!! patio/yard makeover complete!!! We've really been enjoying our outdoor space redo, hope you have been enjoying all of your endeavors too!! TTYL ❤

Birthday Season... That's a Wrap!!!

When we last left off I was excusing myself in preparation of our daughter Brittany's birthday!!!Well let me commiserate with you a moment, I must confess that 19 is indeed a difficult year to plan a birthday party for. Brittany had decided that she did not want a large elaborate friend bash but rather a lovely quaint family party. Sounds easy enough, right?... Well now about a theme and decorations? After many days, weeks, etc. LOL!! of discussing several options Miss Brittany deemed appropriate. Our lovey settled on ... Alice in Wonderland MadHatter Tea Party!!! But no run of the mill mass produced paper party supplies would suffice for our princess ;-) soooo... with that we set about locating vintage china, linens, tea services, even a vintage Disney cookbook was used as decoration!

Hand made banners and special dining requests per the birthday girl came together with all of her fav people to complete a truly magical birthday party fit for Wonderland!!!!

 

After making all of her wishes, blowing out the candles on her coconut birthday cake (specially decorated by Aunt Kristy, Connor, & Nana), & opening all of her beautiful gifts, it was time for a fireworks extravaganza!!! Which was followed by a helicopter flyover!! After celebrating for hours with all of her favorite people including her "Bestie" Diamond Lewis ( the only friend who made the invite list!lol!!)  It was indeed time to retire.... Birthday complete?!?? Not yet, we were then off to a lovely weekend to Universal Studios!! We stayed at Lowes Portofino Bay Hotel ( magnifico!!)

 

lunched at Moe's in the new Simpsons Area, dined at Bubba Gump's (think Forrest Gump), then caught a late night showing of the Conjuring!!! (Very scary!!!!)

after a Moscato nightcap and a rickshaw ride back to our Villa we were indeed off to (a much needed) dreamland!! TTYL ❤

Kentucky Derby + Cinco de Mayo = One Great Weekend!!!

Derby day is always such a fun and exciting time!! We didn't quite make it to Kentucky but Gulfstream Park horse track, in Hallandale Beach, Fl provided a perfect backdrop for the "Race for the Roses".

Although there were no actual horse races on the track that day the endless supply of "off track betting", Signature Mint Juleps, Derby hat contests, prize drawings etc.supplied a wonderful ambiance in which to wear our Derby finery, sip our Juleps, place our bets and hope for the best!!! 

Leaving for the Track! In my "new" vintage 1970's suit!!! (never before worn I die!!)

Brittany, Connor, & I at our reserved seats for our day at the races! Poor Chris always gets elected to grab the Juleps, get the programs, place the bets, etc. etc. etc. lol!!!

We have a winner!!! Connor nearly fainted as we each cheered for our perspective horses and Connors choice won!!! After receiving his winnings enjoying all the fab races and celebrating with a wonderful dinner (to the victor go the spoils! Lol!) we happily retired home to rest up for Cinco de Mayo!!!!

We indulged in all the delectable treats that Cinco de Mayo has to offer. Chips, Salsa, Guacamole, Queso, various Mexican especiales, Sopapillas and Sangria!! Yummy, yummy.

 

The party was full of music, games, dancing, & prizes ,we took home Mexican poncho koozies, Mexican hat bottle openers, party favor margarita bead neck candy, and wonderful memories!! I hope you enjoyed your weekend endeavors as well!! TTYL<3

Lovely Weekend in Savannah

It all started with a bid on Ebay!! While perusing ebay Brit and I found an incredible lot of vintage clothing that we just had to have. We bid, crossed our fingers, hoped for the best, and in all honesty kind of dismissed the thought of really winning.....well... WE WON!! What a great feeling when you win on ebay (its all about lifes little victories!!LOL!!) now to pay and arrange shipping, here comes the glitch. NO SHIPPING! Only pick up soooo... we looked to see where our treasure was located and thankfully it was not so very far from us in Savannah! Needless to say our weekend trip to Savannah was born. When Diamond, Brit's "Bestie" learned of our planned sojourn she was quick to jump right on our band wagon and declare that she was also joining our brigade!! The girls immediately got out the old home videos of our Girl Scout trip to G.S. founder Juliette Gordon Lowe's Birthplace none other than .... you guessed it... Savannah!! We had such fun watching the video and laughing at our adventurous train ride, round trip between Palm Beach & Savannah, and how much all the girls have grown since that summer trip. They are all in college now!! Where does the time go?!? I must confess one of my fav parts was seeing Connor as a baby <3 it really puts into perspective how fast they grow. We quickly arranged a hotel and started to plan our weekend,we soon surmised that our furry family would also love to join the caravan so with that 5 humans, 4 dogs (our 3 and Diamond's pup also), and 1 rented (don't ask... air conditioning issues with my car and Chris's car wouldn't hold everyone) minivan departed ... Savannah or Bust!! We love a good road trip and this destination is one of our favs!! What is not to love about history, architecture, ghost stories, dining, shopping and all the southern splendor! Whenever I'm in Savannah I am in a Gone with the Wind state of mind!! I am Scarlett O'Hara even if only in my mind LOL!! We met up with the lovely lady selling our vintage goodies and had the transaction completed by 10:30 a.m. on Sat.!! We made a score to end all scores!! Two HUGE boxes of vintage clothing!! We love every single piece (how often does that happen?) with the rest of the day waiting for us to explore we headed straight to River Street! We lunched on the water, stopped at Savannah Candy Kitchen of course!! and shopped till we dropped literally!!! No trip to Savannah is complete without a tour of the historical landmarks, we hit what felt like all of them and in reality only touched the surface! My fav stop was the Cemetary, soaking up all the history and the beautiful flora and fauna surrounding this beautiful place, it's simply intoxicating. After heading back to the hotel to rest up, play with our puppies and all of our new found treasures!! We headed to Dinner and a late night Ghost Tour at the Sorrell Weed House- The most haunted structure in Savannah!! Arriving back to the hotel in the a.m. hours we were happy to hop in cozy beds and nod off to dream land (safe from the ghosts!!LOL!!) We awoke had a lovely breakfast stopped one more time at River Street {reads more shopping!!}then homeward bound!! I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as we did ours!! TTYL <3

Just a peek at all the vintage goodies we scored!!

 

Starbucks in hand, pearls on, sweater wrapped ready to ghost hunt!!

Jacks on Cobblestones not the best match but Lilly and Savannah a match made in Heaven!

Some retail therapy!!

Pralines, taffy, and peanut brittle natch'

Beautiful

Chris could not help but to break into JFK's "Ask not what your country etc."speech. Love my Hubs!

Found my family tomb "Hulse"

Stumbled upon a wedding in the square how romantic!!!

 

Sailboats passing by on River Street

Time for a coke and fresh taffy at Savannah Candy Kitchen.

Tugboats!!! My fav!!

These stairs are wicked!! But the shops located at the top are soooo worth it!!

Brittany, Connor, and Diamond making their way down to River St.

Horse and carriage rides around lovely Savannah.

Brittany and Connor getting their grits on!

 

Weekend Getaway

We "escaped" to Orlando for the weekend, always a fun jaunt! First stop Dunkin Donuts natch. Have you tried the Brownie Batter Doe~Doe's and/or the Dark Chocolate beverage offerings yet? If not... What are you waiting for?!?! Lol! *Warning these items may become addicting!! We checked into the Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, it is simply divine. This hotel is one of my fav hotels in Orlando, it's decadent yet comfy an awesome combo!! & the best part.... They love pets!! Our German Shepherd,Chiahuahua ,& a Valentines gift, our new Chipin (Chiahuahua /Miniature Pinscher DesignerHybrid) puppy <3 enjoyed our weekend escape too!! Universal Studios is always fun but this weekend there was definitely no shortage of fun pursuits, with a Demi Lovato concert and Mardi Gras Parade/Celebration taking place the attractions were endless!! We opted for a Dinner Show and decided on Medieval Times, needless to say we were not disappointed!! A fabulous time was had by all! Huzzah!! *cough,cough um.. excuse me LOL!! Next up was Islands of Adventure, & between Jurassic Park, Seuss landing and of course Wizarding World .... it was phenomenal!! I hope you all had a lovely enjoyable weekend as well. After this weekend vaca, I just may need a vaca from my vaca!! TTYL <3

Our "security system" 'Lord Darth Chad Vader'

Connor enjoying the sights

The "victor" our knight was the red one and much to our delight he won the tournament!

Congratulating his victorious knight

Discussing the evenings festivities with eyes on tomorrow

Always time for a quick checkers challenge with Daddy

T-Rex

The "longneck"

Had a blast looking through the eyes of Dinosaurs

Truly a Discovery Center, from scans & xrays of Jurassic giants to "hatching" the first Dino's in Billions of years!!

Hulk coaster, Spider Man , X Men and sooooooooo... much more!!

So much fun so little time... What to do first... Poseidon's Fury it was amazing!!

Seuss landing is full of fun endeavors from "The Cat in the Hat" Ride to the "Car-o-seuss-el"

On to Harry Potters Wizarding World

Shops,shops,& more shops!!

What Hogmead visit would be complete without Butterbeer.... yummy,yummy,yummy!!

Wonderful Pumpkin Juice!!

All aboard!!

What I wore, Chambray Oxford by Brooks Brothers, a vintage LLBean wool nordic cardi,Vintage Pearls,a vintage Dooney & Bourke bag, Chanel sunglasses, Dark wash skinny jeans by J.Crew, and Fur lined driving mocs by AirWalk.