thank you!

Happy Daily gave me an award!  I must list 6 things that make me happy and then pass the award on to six fabulous bloggers.  My six happy things are:

1.  spending time with my hubby and daughter 

2.  visiting family back home

3.  lunch & shopping with a good girlfriend

4.  watching a good movie

5.  enjoying a delicious meal

6.  blogging & meeting all of my fellow bloggy friends

I'd like to pass it on to:

Still Thinking,  Monograms and Manicures, Preppy Little Dress, Muffy Martini, A cup of thought, an ounce of sass, and just a dash of crazy, and I Pick Pretty !

friends

A good friend of mine recently lost her son, her only child, unexpectedly.  She is having a very difficult time dealing with it, and I have been checking in on her and trying to help, but what can one do, what can one say??  I feel so helpless, there are no words...  It is so sad.  Today she sent me this e-mail:

Time passes. 
Life happens. 
Distance separates. 
Children grow up. 
Jobs come and go. 
Love waxes and wanes. 
Men don't do what they're supposed to do. 
Hearts break. 
Parents die. 
Colleagues forget favors. 
Careers end. 
BUT......... 
Sisters are there, 
no matter how much time and how 
many miles are between you. 
A girl friend is never farther away 
than needing her can reach. 
When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you 
have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life 
will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, 
praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on 
your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the 
valley's end. 
Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk 
beside you...Or come in and carry you out. 
Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, 
daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law,Mothers,
Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended
family, all bless our life! 
The world wouldn't be the same without women, and 
neither would I. When we began this adventure called 
womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or 
sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we 
would need each other. 
Every day, we need each other still. 

~~ author unknown

iPhone or Blackberry??

Yep--that's what I look like with my dinosaur flip-phone that now sadly happens to be falling apart. I tend to resist new technology in the beginning (before diving head first into it).
So, my question is this -- which should I get -- the iPhone or the Blackberry?? I welcome any and all opinions!
I know that everyone loves their iPhone, but I would like to know a few things:

1. Honestly, how is the reception? Does the iPhone (AT&T network) drop a lot of calls? I am hearing this from a few people and it could be a major deterrent.
2. How difficult is the touch screen for texting? Would you prefer buttons? Do you hit the wrong key a lot of the time? This is important.
3. I've also heard the camera is not so good and only 2mp. Not so important.
4. How easy is it to deal with e-mails? I've heard that it jumbles all of your e-mails into one folder (sent & received).
5. Any other pros and cons of either would be much appreciated!

Blackberry Pearl

Apple iPhone

Samsung Instinct

Tag

I've been tagged by Madras and Martinis and All Things Fluffy, Fashionable and Famous to post seven random or weird facts about myself.  Here are the rules:

Okay, here comes some totally random randomness!

1. I am the youngest of six children.  I am the youngest by six years.  Hmmm...I wonder if that means that I wasn't planned??
   
   
2. I have situs inversus:   an uncommon condition in which the heart and other organs of the body are transposed through the sagittal plane to lie on the opposite (left or right) side from the usual.  Therefore, my heart is on the right side instead of the left, as well as the appendix, gallbladder, spleen, etc...  I have no side affects from this and usually forget that I have it.  X-ray technicians freak out when I forget to tell them this.
   
   
3. I do not drink coffee.  Blech!  It doesn't taste good.  I'd much prefer green iced tea or a Coke, please!
   
   
4. I do not drink alcohol.  Well, okay--I rarely drink alcohol.  I just don't like it better than a Coke or iced tea and it makes me too tired!  On special occasions I may have a drink and if so I prefer champagne or Pinot Grigio.  Sometimes I go a little wild and order a Margarita.  Have you ever had a Pomegranate Margarita?  
   
   
5. I was a very serious student at an all-girls high school and went to college on scholarship.  It took me one year of having a little too much fun to lose said scholarship.  I then wrote the University a letter explaining that my low grades were due to the fact that I had contracted Mononucleosis that year which had affected my studies.  This was kinda true, but not entirely true.  They extended my scholarship another year.
   
   
6. I  had so much fun in college that it took me six years to graduate with my bachelor's degree.  I drank lots of alcohol in college and really enjoyed it and it didn't make me tired at all. 

I'm going to tag (If you feel like playing along, that is!):

1. Pink Cashmere Cardigan
   
2. Looking Through The Lens
3. It's Mrs To You
4. A Belle and Her Beau
5. Peeptoe Pumps and Pearls
6. Chez La Vie
7. Darrin Defined

I love my bloggy friends!

Love this cartoon! (Mindi made me think of this.)

I had a very nice day today lunching and shopping with a friend. I hadn't seen this friend in about a year or so. She has had two babies in the last 2 1/2 years, so she's been a bit busy! She found me on Facebook about 2 weeks ago, we made plans to meet up and voila! How cool is that Facebook??! I love it.

Now for the bad news. I think I am coming down with the flu. As I was driving home today I started feeling achey all over and now have a sore throat and a headache. Boo! I'm supposed to be enjoying my days off. Why couldn't I have the flu on workdays and feel better by the weekend? I know I have some tags to acknowledge, but I just cannot think properly right now and would probably post some really weird stuff, so I'll do them when I am not loopy on the Nyquil! I am going to try to get some rest. Nite-nite!

the most wonderful thing about Wednesdays...

is that they are the end of my work week!

Woo-hoo, I made it through Wednesday. This has been an exhausting week. 

I have some simple plans tomorrow to meet a friend that I haven't seen in ages for lunch and shopping.  Just the kind of day I need right about now.

Hope your weekend starts very soon as well!

i hate mondays

Every other day, every other day,

Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time!

(lyrics courtesy of The Mamas and The Papas)

This is how I feel on Mondays.

I don't usually have that much to say on Mondays because it is the most unsatisfactory day of the week for me. I usually work Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday. Starting on Thursday I revert to a totally different schedule--my schedule--sleeping in and staying up late. I am a night owl by nature. Well, this night owl had to wake up for work this morning at FOUR THIRTY AM!!!!! Arrrrrgh! Blech! Waaaaaaaah! What Einstein thought that a 6AM staff meeting on Monday morning was a good idea??? I have nothing to say at 6AM. It is hardly normal to be awake much less at work at 6AM!

I had to wake up this morning at nearly the time I went to bed on Saturday night!! Well--I don't usually stay up that late, but as I was heading to bed just before midnight Saturday I noticed that Pride and Predjudice was about to begin on the Oxygen channel. I sat down to watch the beginning, and as they say...it had me at hello. I was so taken by this beautiful production that I stayed up until the very end at THREE AM. I had no choice--I was hanging on every word, every scene. What a movie!! I think I need to buy it and then hubby can watch it with me. He is going to love it!! (He may not admit that to you!)

Anyway, what does this all have to do with the stack of magazines above? Um,...nothing really. I just wanted to ask one thing.  All of these magazines were stuffed into my mailbox on Saturday. Now they are all piled on top of my nightstand and on top of the 2 Town & Country magazines that I haven't gotten to yet. My question is this--why do they all have to arrive on the same day???

high society

Lil Petunia attended the birthday/slumber party of one of her BFFs last night. Above is one of two mermaid mosaics that are at the outside entrance to her friend's home. They are so beautiful and, due to the fact that I love shells and I love mermaids, I tend to gaze at them every time I visit their home. Aren't they pretty? Now I want shell mermaid mosaics on the outside of my house, too, although it might look a teensy bit ridiculous. Perhaps on the back patio by the pool?? On this particular home right on the ocean they look splendid!
For dinner the girls were taken to The Breakers Hotel. While they were there, the birthday girl's mother called me to ask if it would be okay if the girls' watched "Hairspray" due to the fact that it is a PG movie. At the end of our conversation she asked me if I would like to speak with Lil Petunia. I said well, sure, if she wasn't in the middle of something, to which the Mom responded "Oh, no! She's right here--hold on!" So, Lil Petunia gets on the phone and the first words out of her mouth (much to my horror) are:
"Mommy! This place is SO GREAT! It is EVEN BETTER THAN CHUCK E. CHEESE'S!!!" .......

OMG. Did my daughter just scream that out loud in front of the birthday girl's mom in the middle of The Breakers?? Yes. She did. I am mortified. If you remember this post, then you know that I take my daughter to only the finest dining establishments in Palm Beach County.
(It turns out that what she meant is that The Breakers has a game room even better than CEC.)
When I went to pick her up today Lil Petunia and her two besties were still having so much fun being together that I took them out to lunch at Hamburger Heaven.  During the car ride there Lil Petunia suggested that we have lunch at The Breakers instead!  Ha!  Ummm...no.  We had to drive right in front of The Breakers on the ride to HH, so all three girls started squealing with delight when they saw the hotel.

{home decor continued}

Two weeks ago I finally found the perfect circular foyer table. It is made by Theodore Alexander of mahogany wood with a frieze and gilt & silvered verre eglomise decoration. I have been trying to decide what type of arrangement I would like on top.

I think this one is perfect because it has the height needed to fill the space and it adds a punch of my beloved blue color. (Don't worry, Jeanette, it does not block the view!!)

GG update

Well, it seems that the house is divided over which handbag is best. The hobo received 6 votes and the shoulder satchel received 8 votes, with the remainder simply voting "present" being undecided.

So, .......I went ahead and returned the hobo because if I'm not in love with every aspect of it then I figure it isn't a keeper. The SA assured me that the satchel was being ordered for me and I would have it by the end of this week. THEN I get home yesterday only to hear a message on my answering machine from another SA saying that they are "still trying" to find the bag for me! So here I am with no bag AND no money. It was very weird but they didn't give me a refund slip when I returned the hobo--they just went ahead and charged me for the new bag which was a little bit more. They said the receipt would be with my new bag when I picked it up at the end of this week. Now I feel weird about not having a refund receipt OR a bag. Hmmm...might have to call Mastercard tomorrow and ask them about this.

one word answers

playing along with Preppy Little Dress, and like her, I cannot stick with just one word.

Your hair? chestnut
Your mother? ballroom dancer
Your father? WWII veteran
Your favorite thing? (not including people) shopping
Your dream last night?  none
Your dream/goal? I'm living it.
Your favorite drink? Arizona Green Iced Tea
The room you're in? bedroom
Your ex? friends 
Your hobby? shopping and now blogging
Your fear? death
Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
Where were you last night? home getting an awesome foot massage from hubby!
What you're not? fake
Muffins? corn muffins or cranberry-orange
One of your wish list items? to have my house (decorating) completely finished
Time? never enough!
Where you grew up? Metairie

The last thing you did? brushed my teeth
Favorite weather? 70's and 80's
What are you wearing? silk nightgown
Your favorite book? many
Your TV? Bravia
Your pet? died
Your computer? Macbook
Your mood? exhausted, but happy
Missing someone? ...Mom, Dad, Madeline, Tommy, Jeanette, Alicia, Bruce, Kenneth, Anita, Lauren, Chris, Monica, and all of my nieces and nephews back in Louisiana!
Your car? rear-ended by a stupid girl with no drivers license, no auto insurance, & no registration. She got to walk away and I got to pay for my own damage. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!
Something you're not wearing? jewelry. I cannot sleep in jewelry even my wedding rings. I feel like my fingers start to swell and DEFINITELY never a watch or necklace or earrings--that would drive me nuts.
Favorite store? ...like asking a Mother to choose her favorite child!!!
Love someone? yes
Your favorite color/shade? aqua blue
Last thing you ate? California Pizza Kitchen avocado club eggrolls
Your life? good.
Your friends? best
What are you thinking right now? that I HAVE to go to sleep now!
What are you doing at this moment? duh... ;-)
Your summer? so much fun having houseguests & enjoying our new home
Your relationship status? happily married
What do you do when you can't sleep? blog or read
When is the last time you laughed? tonight 
Last time you cried? a few days ago when Steel Magnolias was on demand & I couldn't resist watching it again...

If you are reading this I tag you to play along!

patriotism

Wow!  Have you seen this video?  It really surprised me at the very end--shook me up a little!  I'm not posting Obama or McCain buttons on my blog because I feel that everyone has their own opinion  and as long as you VOTE then I'm good with that.  But as an American, this video really impacted me!  Over 7 million viewers have watched it in just a few weeks.  The sacrifices these young kids make for this country of ours is amazing.

i wuv you this much

Awwwww...isn't this the cutest?  It was sent to me by Preppy Little Dress!  Well, right back atcha PLD!!  There are quite a few blogs that I love to read, so I'm just gonna give this award to ALL of those in my Blogroll because I just can't choose!  I love you all!

Geez--too bad we don't get this much love and recognition in our JOBS!!  At least I don't.  Do you??  

I told hubby today that I could make blogging a full-time job and all I got was the eye-roll!  :-)

I won, I won!!

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it!  I won the adorable monogrammed umbrella in Belle's blog giveaway!  Yay!  Of course I chose PINK for my umbrella color.  I can totally use this because my current umbrella is boring old black and several years old--blech.  I will now be escaping downpours in monogrammed preppy style!  Belle's mom owns the boutique that sells these little cuties, so if you are interested in having one of your own then head on over to her blog -- A Belle and her Beau.

~~~~In the spirit of spreading the love I am now inspired to do a giveaway of my own.  Stay tuned for more info as soon as I figure out wth I am going to give away!!!~~~~

please help me choose!

Remember my new handbag below?  Well, I was passing by the store on Friday and another bag caught my eye!  It was in the window display and had just arrived.  I think I like it better than the hobo and my SA said that I could exchange bags if I wanted to!  I was already having second thoughts about keeping the hobo because it is so darned BIG.  I think that it may be too big for my frame.  Also, I think that it may be hard to find things in a bag that large and I hate digging around in a purse looking for my phone, or a pen, etc...

Which one do you like better...

the hobo:

or the new shoulder satchel with 2 straps?:

playing with Apple photobooth

Petunia does Warhol:

Ditto Lil Petunia :

Scary movie:

Getting radiated:

Toes taste good after bathtime:

Our Monet:

THE END.

Facebook

Okay, who here is not addicted to Facebook??  This is all I need--another distraction from actually getting things done around here.  I was up at midnight last night having an animated and completely entertaining FB chat with one of my friends who lives in the Northeast.  AND I had to wake up at 5:45am to get ready for work today!  Ouch--it physically hurt when that alarm went off this morning!  It was still dark outside.  ...and even on a normal day I am not a morning person.  

All four of my sisters are now on FB.  But one of my sisters is not convinced.  She used an alias as her name instead of the commonly used real full name.  I tried to explain to her that by doing that she defeated the purpose of FB--so old friends can find you and reconnect with you.  Nope.  She wouldn't hear of it and launched into a completely valid tirade against FB.  If you go to the bottom of the FB page and click on "Terms", then read their privacy policy (lightly called "User Content") it is a little frightening:

"When you post User Content to the Site, you authorize and direct us to make such copies thereof as we deem necessary in order to facilitate the posting and storage of the User Content on the Site. By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content."

...they RETAIN archived copies of MY content???  Wha???

This is no lie ~~ tonight I was checking in on my FB and went to wish one of my friends a Happy Birthday.  Well, on her wall another lady had posted that she was in town and to please call or text her and THEN she posts her cell phone number!  On my friends' wall!  This friend of mine has 156 friends on FB.  That means that 156 people now know that lady's cell phone number.  I thought it was really weird because the gal who did it is a society photographer at our local newspaper and why would she want everyone knowing her personal #?  My friend Tiffany is quite the socialite, but even for her I don't think people should be throwing out their phone numbers on FB.

This is what my sister thinks!:

hee-hee!

Well, whatever it is, I like it.  The only info they really have on me is my name, e-mail address, & what schools I attended and if they are really interested in my chats, then who cares?  A few days ago I was just messaging on FB with my Godmother who is in her 70's!  

If you do make yourself a FB account, just PLEASE go to your privacy settings (at the top right of the page) and change all of the DEFAULT settings to "FRIENDS ONLY".  And go to your application settings and change your settings there.  I changed all of my feed and mini-feed settings to private.  Everyone doesn't need to know every time you make a move.

worth the wait

I finally made it up to Stuart to pick up my Sunfest sale Bonannos!!  They took the full 15 weeks to come in and I had practically forgotten which combination I ordered.  Well, at least back in April I had the foresight to order them in Fall colors!  I will definitely be wearing them all year round down here.  They fit perfectly and I can't wait to wear them.

Back in April I wanted to have a pair made to match this handbag and I didn't have it with me at the time, so I guessed at the color.  I think I picked the right color!:

They also happen to match my new bag, which is an unexpected surprise!:

I drove up to SB on Saturay with bff and she liked my new pair so much that she ordered a very similar pair, same base color with slightly different whipstitch color.  They are in the midst of the big sale (runs through Sept 14th), which is the best deal you will ever get on the Emma Monogram sandals ($40 off!), sooooo....in about 15 weeks I may have something new to show you!  ;-)

For those who have asked, the colors are "Puma" base and "Brassica" whipstitch.

Memory Tag!

A cute idea from Still Thinking... 's blog:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember that maybe brings a smile to your face!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It will be fun to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. (But, you don't have to be a blogger to play.)

my favorite Little Black Dress

Actually I have discovered three candidates that are just out for the season:

How cute is this LBD by Nanette Lepore with pearl and ruffle adornment?

This David Meister LBD would be stunning at a Holiday party this winter:

For a more traditional take on the LBD, I give you this cutie by Milly:
All LBD's available at your local Saks Fifth Avenue!

P.S.  I am bringing BFF to the airport tomorrow.  Yes, it is officially the end of girl's week-extended stay (thanks to Gustav).  Waaaah!

jury duty

  I completed my civic responsibility today!  I  was called for jury duty and, like most people, was really dreading it.  I had never served before and was a little nervous about going to the courthouse and everything that jury duty entailed.

  I signed in at 7:45 am.  After checking in about 200 prospective jurors, they gave us a little synopsis of how the day would proceed.  Then, they popped in the movie "The Guardian" and announced that they would need 50 jurors right off the bat.  They called out names, and then more names about every half hour thereafter.  I was never called and watched the entire movie in a very comfy movie-theatre-like chair!  Then they dismissed us for lunch from 11:30-1:00.  I ordered some yummy roasted chicken for lunch at the Courthouse Cafe, then checked e-mail & surfed the internet on one of the computers available for juror use for the rest of my break.  At 1:00 I returned to the juror waiting area and watched "Monster-in-law" until 2:30 when they released those of us that were left.  How easy was that?!

  I have to admit that I was relieved not to be chosen or even called for the Voir Dire.  I had been trying to guess what types of questions the attorneys would ask me and plan how I would answer.  It must be hard when people get picked for a trial that lasts for more than a day or two.  But, if I were the defendant in a trial I know that I would want a jury made up of good solid citizens, wouldn't you?

Has anyone out there served as a juror on an actual trial??

girls' week part deux

I picked out this arrangement for the hallway and bff gave it her stamp of approval:

Bff said that these coasters HAD TO GO!  I really don't even know how I ever ended up with them in my house.  I guess I'll just have to blame hubby for bad coaster taste:

Bff proclaimed that I MUST purchase these new coasters immediately, if not sooner, and put the others away in a dark cabinet.  Hmmm...I like her taste:

Coffee table shellscape by bff:

Snack today provided by Kilwin's chocolates!  (I chose the dark chocolate covered potato chips.  They are to die for!!) :