{think pink}

This beauty also comes in white, but I really like this pink one!

{turquoise}

The McKim sandal

I seriously want these in every color.  I just received this turquoise pair today and looove this color.  My gold and silver McKims are getting worn out from so much wear.  They are so comfortable, and I am very picky when it comes to shoes (well, actually when it comes to a lot of stuff!).  I can wear my McKims ALL day long!  Initially I thought the little metal ring would hurt the top of my foot, but that is not the case at all unlike some other brands.  I do stick to the all regular-leather version, though, because I don't think patent leather is as soft.

The McKim comes in this cute Lilly box with a shoe bag in Lilly fabric which is very handy when traveling.

{happy memorial day}

Oh, gosh--the bougainvillea is so gorgeous right now! 

 

Lil Petunia and I heading out with the family to a BBQ & pool party.

Finally--a hot sunny day!  So hot, in fact, that we wimped out and ate our BBQ inside.

{Hope all of you had a splendid holiday, and a huge THANK YOU to all of our country's military without whom we'd never be able to enjoy carefree days like this!}

That is my hubby front and center.  He has fought in 2 wars for Israel as a paratrooper--that's his huge parachute strapped to his back.  He smiles a lot more these days!  :)

{rain, rain go away}

I think it has rained every single day for the last week.  At least it seems that way.

Here's a little tip I learned from some purse aficionados--

Always keep a plastic bag folded up in the bottom of each one of your handbags.  Then if you are ever caught in the rain and have to run to or from your car--just take the bag out of your purse and place the purse into the plastic bag.  Then run like heck!  (If only we could figure out how to save our shoes!)  You can always dry your hair or clothing but we all know that it is not good to get our favorite handbag dripping wet!   ;-)

This was a particularly good bag with a drawstring that came protecting one of my mail order clothing purchases--from I forget where--maybe Neiman's??  Any plastic bag will do, though as long as it is big enough.

{once again I need help...please}

Can any of my Apple/Mac experts tell me how to reduce/resize my pictures??

It used to be very easy to do with PAINT in my old Dell computer.  I have tried everything, and googled, and searched on the Apple website, and.......nothing!  I cannot believe that there is not an easy way to reduce the size of my pics before publishing them on the blog.  I am so frustrated!

{ready for Summer}

I am officially ready for Summer!

  

"From a popular culture point of view, in some areas of the United States, summer season is often considered to begin at the Memorial Day weekend (the last Monday in May) and end at the Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September)."

This is Essie "Forget Me Nots" on my toes.  I'm ready for the weekend already!

It also matches most of my favorite Lilly Pulitzer prints perfectly!

Hope you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

{this is embarrassing...}

....but I think I just bought old lady shoes today!

I was running through a mall on the other side of the county today because a friend had tipped me off to a sale(haha).  I had already run a few errands earlier in the day and my shoes were to the point of killing my little toes.  They were about to give me some serious blisters.  I still had several places to go and was far from home, so I stopped into a store called Easy Spirit.  I think that I thought I was in Aerosoles or Naturalizer which I have seen in my local mall before.  I don't think I have ever been in this store before, but they had some very comfy looking shoes on sale and I was desperate....so I bought them and put them on immediately.  I was on the phone with my sister and when I mentioned where I was she kinda laughed a little......

Have you ever done this before??  Are they that bad??  They have a funny-looking little wedge heel which was the perfect height to wear with these long pants.  Oh, well, you can't really see them under pants or jeans and they are soooooo comfy and I don't have blisters.  I might get used to them!

Even funnier--when I went to look for a website to link to--there are my shoes right smack on the front page of EASY SPIRIT!  Woo-hoo!  

{Daiquiri Pink}

I found a beautiful pair of heels that are actually comfortable, too!  Thank you Kate Spade!  Maybe it's because they are made of ALL leather materials......(J Crew are you listening???).

...and they are the perfect match for Lilly's Daiquiri Pink color this season!

{movie day}

No, we are not trying to be glamorous by wearing our sunglasses in the movie theater!  This afternoon Lil Petunia and I went to see Monsters vs. Aliens 3D!!!  Even the trailers were in 3D--pretty cool.  The guy at the ticket booth startled me when I said "One adult and one child" (for a matinee) and he responded "That'll be $21.00".  I exclaimed "What???"  Evidently 3D costs extra--like double extra!  Yikes!!!  That was before the popcorn and drinks etc.!  The good news is that it was pretty cute and we had fun.  :)

{sometimes I just have to laugh}

The Viscose ruffle sleeve tank looked so good on Vanessa here (as did the Sunray necklace).

Me--not so good.  

I think it is the slightly overdone combination of the ruffled sleeves, the bow on the skirt, the color of the skirt, and the pearls that I was playing around with~~BUT in this picture I think I look like a transvestite.  

Haha!  Aaaaaah---oh, dear.  Maybe the aqua skirt is a questionable piece after all...

{ideas needed!}

I loove the Double Serge Cotton Pencil Skirt.   In Bronzed Twig and in Aqua.  Can't choose.  The perfect little bow is what sold me on it.  My daughter thinks this Twig color is blech but hubby claims to like it.  I was thinking that it would be a good neutral.  Now I have to find tops that work with this skirt tucked in (because of the bow).

~~What types of tops & cardigans would you put with the Bronzed Twig skirt and in what colors?

~~What color tops/cardigans would you put with the Aqua skirt?

On another note, I was super excited to see these heels pop-back onto the sale section in my size!  The bad news is that I have a very hard time finding comfortable heels and sometimes have to purchase a half-size up just to be able to wear them.  Unfortunately this would have been one of those times.  Just like the Juliets and most other J Crew shoes, the toe box is a little snug and uncomfortable on me.  Yes, I know--everyone loves the Juliets, but not my little piggies.  BOO-HOO!!!  I have to return these to the store!    There are no more, of course.  Anybody have these beauties?  I think they probably run true to size--I just have very sensitive feet and need wiggle room.  sniff...

{thank you a trois!}

Thank you to BOTH Heather at Grace303 and to Emily at Champagne and Cupcakes who so graciously have bestowed upon me the Lemonade award! :)

Domestic Diva from Mermother of Identical Mermaids Blog has sweetly given me an award, too --

"Queen of all things awe-summm!!!"

Thank you DD!!! :)

{the new jcrew scoopneck tee}

Good news for those who loved the fit of the Corsage tee!  The new Perfect fit short-sleeve scoopneck tee is the exact same tee in terms of size, fit, and material.  So, if the colors of the Corsage tee bored you, there are many more choices in this online-only tee.  I think it is a great basic to have in lots of colors for only $24.50.  And free shipping on $100 with code SUNSHINE.  I am wearing it here in the color Salmon.  Below I paired it with the Sunray necklace in Bright Berry which arrived in the same shipment today.  What do you think?  I tried to link the necklace also, but it looks like it is now sold out.

{twilight termite}

Someone has been dying to read Twilight.

Don't freak out. I read the books first to "make sure" that they didn't contain any inappropriate content. (Actually, after the first book I was totally addicted and couldn't put them down until I finished the last one.) Anyway, she wouldn't stop asking when would she be able to read it?? and I couldn't really find a reason for her not to. She got the green light and now she's already on Eclipse. The first 3 books are fine, and even the couple of questionable scenes in the last book are not explicit and don't really say anything in detail. I think those Judy Blume books are more explicit. After all, when I was in grade school I read all of the books in our house--my teenage sisters' books, my Dad's books, anything I could get my hands on. So, I know how she feels.
The only stipulation was that I told her I'd buy her her own paperback of Breaking Dawn and I'd have to tear a few pages out and then she can read it!! (Of course now her question is -- how old does she have to be to read those few pages....LOL!)

{happy mother's day!}

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom!

Love you!

{bday party and stone-bead ribbon necklace}

This afternoon we went to the birthday party of our friend Hank at his home.  He is an incredible man (and wild and crazy) and I could do an entire post on him, but I won't.  ;-)

I am wearing my J Crew turquoise stone-bead ribbon necklace for the first time, and love love it.  I paired it with the corsage tee in Breeze and possibly the best-fitting pants I have ever found--the Premium Stretch Bistro Pant in Stone. 

Muffy, this is the straw bag I was telling you about.  :)

Hank's backyard is so pretty and it was such a gorgeous day!  This is a shot of the poolhouse/guesthouse.

There were pretty bouquets like these scattered everywhere.

Huge ficus trees!

Happy Mother's Day!!

{bleh....}

My friend B and I at an after-work function this Tuesday.  

Sorry for the lack of eye-makeup, but there were tears involved.  We were attending a celebration of the life of one of my long-time co-workers who died last Friday (probably why I haven't posted much this week...bleh) totally unexpectedly.  He passed away in his sleep--he was only 48!  He was single--no wife--no children, so when he didn't show up for work they sent the police to his home.  We were not expecting this.  He was an anesthetist at the hospital, very intelligent, and very very funny.  Everyone liked him.  I don't even know what to say....I am sick over it.

Anyway...here I just took a pic of the Light Pewter Rosette tee that is in some of the J Crews right now.  I was running in to return something today, saw it, and took it to go.  I already have the Shell color and think I really don't need another--pretty sure this one will be going right back where it came from.  Once again I am just BLEH over this grey and beige color scheme, but JC keeps persisting.

{good things}

Love this stuff!  This Restoration Hardware dish soap and gel hand soap set is practically invisible!  I like it because it helps to keep my sink area looking clean and uncluttered!  I use the "Fresh" because it is clear and it also has a nice clean scent.  But, of course I'll give you a hint...

When you run out of the RH soap, there is an alternative I discovered the other day.  My RH is not in a very convenient location and it is about 20 minutes away from my house, so when I needed to buy a refill for my soaps I checked out the Method brand at Target.  Well, the "Sweet Water" type is exactly like the RH soap in consistency and color.  It is naturally derived with no dyes or perfumes.  So, I just filled up my RH bottles with this.  Good things.

{JCrew corsage tee: color review}

I think many of the JCA's have agreed that the Corsage Tee is a keeper.  

It has a very flattering fit, nice detail, and great price.  I have been dying over here for a little color (...so much gray and beige this season--I am over it!--it's SPRING after all!!) so I ordered it in the Amethyst and Breeze colors.  I was a little worried because I had heard the "Amethyst" described as an ugly Post-it purple color, then today I actually saw it in this horrible color in my B & M!!  They were right--the shade that made it to some stores WAS pretty bad.  Fortunately my top showed up at my doorstep in the pretty pale lavender that is portrayed online.  I love it, and am wearing it here with my white Gap straight fit chinos.  I am also happy with the "Breeze" pale aqua color.  I wish J Crew would bring us a little more color for Spring and Summer!

Below are the Breeze tee and the Vintage Slim Jean in Antique Destroyed Wash.  The jeans went promptly back to the store.  I decide that they were too baggy and too trendy for me and couldn't find a pair of shoes that looked good with them (hence the photo-editing).  :)

{how did i never know about this before?}

I just discovered C.Orrico's sale site with Lilly Pulitzer & more here.

How did I not know that this one existed?  The intro is very cute!

LOVE this skirt! (I'd wear without the sash):

Love these dresses, too:

{a vacation fit for a princess....a disney princess that is!}

Yay!  I have our little mini vacation all booked.  We'll be staying here:

and visiting here:

and here:

Even though I've been there a few times, I learned some useful tidbits of information by reading and looking up topics on Disney's Q & A forum.  I hadn't even known that this existed!  I love being prepared, so this site reminded me to make advanced reservations for every single meal--even breakfast at the hotel!  Turns out breakfast was pretty booked up already and my choices were limited-- 7:55 am or 10:15 am.  I would have been quite upset if we had strolled down to the restaurant just to be told that we couldn't have a table for breakfast!

We also booked a Princess lunch in the castle in "Norway" that looks PERFECT for Lil P.  Evidently this is the 2nd most popular dining reservation after Cinderella's Castle (which we've been to a couple of times already).

Here's a link to the site (useful whether or not you have children) if you'll be planning a visit to Disney in the future:

Disney "Mom's Panel" Discussion Board

Anyone planning a Disney visit this Summer?

We haven't been to Epcot in ages---anyone have suggestions for not-to-be-missed attractions there?

Any other suggestions or hints??