Catching up

i'm putting into practice an article i read on posing for pictures. don't stand full on, lean forward and put a leg behind. whatdayathin? had appointments today and the boys ran with me... met an amish farmer on the corner of 68 in wilmington who sold us some tomatoes picked from the vine this morning and some corn. after talking to him for a few we realized his farm is actually closer to where we live! so another good contact since our garden is not producing this year.

i finished The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby for book club this month. not much rivals reading in a hammock on a summer evening. It was a good summer mystery and especially appropriate since we met at The Murphin Ridge Inn for our meeting and had such a wonderful discussion on the side porch. I need to finish up some other books I've been working on this summer but I'll probably go ahead and start The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney for the next meeting so I can pass it on when I'm finished. I already read Dead Until Dark our alternate choice. I'll be glad when our next meeting comes and we stop this two books a month nonsense. It leaves little time for reading independent choices.

i spend a lot of time at my sister's (and her fabulous pool) in the summer. she is a city girl so we lay out in the sun, go in and craft, lay out in the sun, go explore the city... last saturday we took our mom to Peachy's Health Smart cooking class, then ran around all day until the U-Swap that evening. the above picture is from a   tattoo parlor in Northside. how cool are those origami cranes? we stopped there on our way to check out Slim's restaurant. it was hard to find but once there it was packed and only running on prix fixe for $50. a person. we weren't that hungry so we went to Honey. Yum.  Honey Fries, Asparagus Salad, Sweet Pea Ravioli and liquid...

We had smoothies at The Loving Cafe in Silverton... they feature raw, organic, local foods. Nest is in Oakley and as much as i love their gift and decor selection these two guys were my favorite in the store. my mom was carrying popcorn from some salvage furniture place we stopped so they followed us begging. their eyes are so soulful... we made our usual stops at Anthropologie and DSW at Rookwood but nothing... oh! Nordstrom's Rack had Eclipse, Twilight and New Moon jewelry on clearance. i'm talking $3 for necklaces, bracelets and key fabs.. score! my students are going to appreciate these accessories :) We bought some loose tea at Essencha Tea House and Fine Teas...

ok the USwap... lots or blog postings out there about the first time event. i didn't take any pics inside but here are some of the Whirly Girl stand out front. I've been searching for macaroons for some time and these were to die for.. rose flavored. and lavender lemonade just so refreshing because it was a gazillion degrees in the swap room.  

as for the swap, it was fabulous. 

Pros: no line to get in (we got there at 7), some good stuff, everyone was civil, saw some bloggers, the organizers were pretty laid back.

Cons: it was hotter than hot, some really crappy stuff.

my sister and i brought the maximum 10 items folded in a bag. at the door they gave us hangers and didn't even look at the stuff. once in i realized i could have brought those boots and that hat but not a lot of info was out prior to so oh well. all that fretting over if my stuff was good enough or artsy enough. no matter. there were racks to hang your items then you just cruised around and checked out the racks. chose some items and tried on if you could peel your clothes off. seriously 110 degrees. there was a gorgeous selection of some vintage items that the bringer had pinned a story of his history to each item. honest. but then there was the girl who pulled her stuff out of the bag and it reeked of smoke. or some stuff i wouldn't give to goodwill. most people though followed unspoken etiquette and brought things on par with what they selected. my sister scored Cole Hann black leather boots. i found a few dresses, shirts and a cute skirt. i didn't take pics but later when i post pics i'll credit the swap. overall i really hope this becomes an annual thing. it wasn't in the best part of town but really we had no problems. i was driving the tank and parked on the street across from the art gallery it was being held in and it was still really daylight. i mean if Whirly Girl can pull her trailer up there and hang out without being oogled or a gang of guys stealing her lemonade then hey i thing we'll make it folks...

my sister got a new rescue dog. henry. he's 7 lbs of precious cuteness. his underbite is adorable. here you can see just how small he is compared to marina girl. bless her heart she loves the little firecracker. 

this is our lunch feast of grilled salmon, fresh tomatoes, salsa, and corn. whew. we eat. alot. too frequently actually... which may be the reason my summer slimdown isn't so much down...

i took some goodies to our book club out at Murphin Inn. my sister brought the liquid refreshments...

we stopped at Miller's Amish Bakery and Bulk Foods for some temptations. cherry sours. creme horns, apple turnovers, fresh soft pretzels (not pictured :) ), banana muffins, fresh peanut butter, oh my...

last week while on my monthly scraparoma

check out this cool display of old postcards...

i am such a sucker for a chandelier...

i have one of these old record boxes in the basement. I should bring it up and cover with pretty paper. 

I am in desperate need of a cake stand. I like these from oh hello friend made from old candle sticks and pretty plates. although what i really need is the glass top. 

a beautiful mess posted about marc jacobs new line. i love this vintage look. it reminds me of that old show the avengers. 

another cute pic from oh hello friend. this is a gorgeous creation of glued together old jewelry pieces.

from poppytalk a cute container garden....

off to bed~

Stop complaining...

short post today lots of running around...

sitting in the waiting room at the ortho this morning i started getting angry that they made the apt at 8:10 am and at 8:30 i'm still waiting so i go to the front desk, tell them i have another apt at 10 how long is this going to take... then i go back and the lady apologizes and explains the girl before me threw up all over the area having the same procedure done that i am about to get done. "believe me when i say lean your chin down and breath through your nose." done. no problem. sorry. no more complaining.

we finally got our custom mats back from Joanne's today pictures to come...

company is on the way here so i have to go cook!

bubs and i had breakfast at Panera between visits to the teeth guys. they were giving out asparagus quiche so i had that and bubs had a honey bagel and a choco cookie... oh and frozen strawberry lemonade. breakfast? yep!

by lunch we were running errands with hubs so we refueled at McAlister's Deli and drank insane amounts of arnold palmers and sweet tea~

Country Roads

i have a pool bridal shower today about an hour and a half away through country roads. appropriate outfit? i couldn't find anything to fit over my bathing suit with the little skirt so i changed there. bub found this necklace for me at the last yard sale we visited. strangely it matches more than you would think...

i'm reading Time Traveler's Wife and liking it ok. i'm not a huge fan yet but it is growing on me. i read for as long as i could this evening while it thundered until the lightening came...

i'm listening to My Life in France by Julia Child... we will be discussing at our August book club at Murphin Ridge



Eat, Pray, Love- ok i did like the book even though she was a bit whiny for me and i wanted to drop kick her from time to time. i am excited about the movie. i love Julia so surely this is a win win movie.

my monkeys

the park finally announces we should leave

the fam, my extended fam and a few of bub's friends went to the Beach Water park to celebrate bub's birthday. yes it is in the spring but he wanted to go to the beach so it was detained. let me tell you if you have body image problems you probably shouldn't spend the day hanging out with half naked teenage girls. anywho a good day of people watching, lounging and some screaming on water rides. bub's was happy so mission accomplished. the three boys were just so entertaining. 12 year old boys. funny. really.

yes he has an underbite.

henry not really realizing how much smaller he is than the big dog

my sister has a new addition to her family. Henry the 8th. a new rescued sausage dog. 7 lbs of sporadic. he was the perfect ending to a few days spent at my sister's visit.
we visited Main Strauss, Northside, every Borders in the area to find the Paperchase sausage dog snack boxes in my last post. didn't find them so i just split mine with her.

i visited a few places on my To Visit list. Chicken Lays an Egg in Northside, Julie's Inspiration and Europa (for Gelatto!) in Main Strauss. We also stumbled upon Bouquets in Main Strauss and ate there. Yum. it was beautiful. Beside Chicken Lays an Egg was another little thrift type shop. lady sitting by the counter. things just jam packed in the little closet shop. nothing marked. i picked up a $2 glass pitcher and a $1. Odille sweater. so for a little digging i found some treasures. i bought a red cashmere sweater at CLEgg but other than that this store is more vintage than consign.

tea at Europa's

some neat things to look at but i don't really dress that off the chart.
i love to eat at Melts in Northside in the summer so we picked up food since Marina was with us and wasn't allowed on the outside terrace (!?!) they have a new Picnic and Pantry Micro Grocer next door that is beautiful. you can purchase their items for take out.
the regular visits like TJMaxx- great find of Kate Spade sunglasses for $40. they are a little less garish than my Ed Hardy look alikes...
Jungle Jim's little side store with all the Life is Good goodies had a little sale going on so i picked up a long sleeve green number... Second Chance Consignment in Western Hills... we did make it to the Boutique Sale across from Kenwood Towne Center and wish i had more time to cruise around. great sales and a nice taste of boutiques in the area.

we stopped by a fellow stamper's house for a little get together and i was astounded by her organization of stamps etc... and then i saw this little gothic number by david something. i'll be looking for those at Stampaway in August. i did get some creating done while i was visited. i'm joining the stamp club in creating an alphabet book and i did the letters L and U. i'm still thinking they need some work though...

today i finally got to visit Brad's in Hillsboro for a gift. I've never been but I heard they carry lots of Life is Good items and yes they are a mecca for LIG and Natural Life. beautiful place. picked up the bridal gift (ceramic bird house placed in a Natural Life drawstring bag) and some LIG thermal pjs on clearance. Score!



i follow cozenimus on youtube and he(?) posted this video of Bic Runga... i like the variety of artists he posts that i would never see...

back from the pool bridal shower... i know the bride from graduate school. we get together once or twice a year at the convention and then usually meet for lunch during the summer. apparently this is enough to know as much about her as her everyday close friends and relatives because i scored better than them on the "Do you know the bride?" quizzes.

etiquette questions that have come up lately...
what is the appropriate etiquette for bringing in a pet's stool sample? double bag it? color bag so it isn't see through? bread tie? seriously i had to do this last week and i was worried.
today the bride told us she visited a nude beach on the honeymoon and people would be standing around talking. naked. what is the etiquette for how close (or far away) do two naked people stand? this i promise to never need to know.

marina making sure i stay put for awhile

The Haul

one of my favorite outfit combinations of the summer. found these little snack boxes at Borders today. Paperchase makes the cutest stationary, bags and little gifts. i was going to split these with my sister who has sausage dogs but once i got them home i'm thinking i need all four so tomorrow my sis and I will need to go buy another set. online i saw the design on this welcome mat and he is really cute too. don't ya think?

yesterday i leafed through several magazines and came across eponymous, as in "eponymous line of fashion"... I have a degree in English and i read constantly but i have a bad habit of reading over words without really knowing the meaning so yet another goal... look up those definitions! eponymous- self titled.


where's my hula hoop? that would be fabulous outdoor exercise wouldn't it? all winter i work long hours and vow to work out to videos when i have "more time" in the summer. all summer i only want to be outside from sunrise to sunset.


are fresh tomatoes from the farmer's market an appropriate breakfast? i hope so because these little tommy toes taste like candy. 








Saturday Bub and I went blackberry and blueberry picking. then we meandered down to the farmers' market to buy some tomatoes, herbs and such (including a fresh baked Harvest Muffin). we came across a yard sale on the way home, swung in and picked up some books, an old game board (I'm going to use it as a background for a collage), an souvenir Atlantic City mug, and two quilts! i talked the quilts down to $15. for both of them. and then i immediately felt guilty. they were worth way more than they were asking but i didn't have a ton of cash with me and i could not leave them behind. the girl's grandmother made them. by hand. the above goodies are from the Cupcakery we Had to stop by on the way home. 

i didn't feel the above picture did justice to the sausage dog snack boxes so here they are again on the quilts

I've been reading a ton this summer. you know the vacations, the driving, the riding, the boating, the lollygagging.... 

Dead Until Dark is one of our book club picks for August. The first in the Sookie series. as far as vampire chick lit goes it was ok. i wanted to pick it up and read it but i won't remember details or continue the series anytime soon. 

Amazing Gracie is the story behind Three Dog Bakery. Cute and i am a sucker for any true story than involves a dog and his pet. 

Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home. I have had this one on my list for a long time and it was on the trading shelf at the condo we rented in Fort Lauderdale. a good mystery but again i won't be continuing the series anytime soon. pretty dated to the '60's. not that that's a bad thing i love the Betty Cavanna books and they are so dated. but more nostalgic.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. a novella by Stephenie Meyer. the girls will devour this in a day in the fall. i'm glad i read it before going to see Eclipse.

Second Chance by Jane Green. I've been wanting to read something by here for awhile because... well... i judge a book by it's cover and i love her name font and covers! it was an ok chick lit book that i already can't remember the story line.

The Jane Austen Book Club. now this one i liked. of course i love Jane Austen and her name and books are the center of the book but still. good clean(ish) fun.

Victoria Beckham's That Extra Half An Inch. all about fashion and i wrote about this one already. ok. wouldn't recommend it to those of us who have followed fashion all our lives. but not a bad basic primer.

Shanghai Girls. I'm not a Lisa See fan. there i said it. sorry. I read it for book club. 

i went on a Goodwill tour sunday with my senior friend. and no i wasn't just using her for the 50% discount but it did help loads. i found this cute strawberry laminate bag, a vintage black wrist bag, the Limited gold light cardi, the Express brown skirt...

also this awesome delicate lace blouse, the brown silk jacket still had TJMaxx tags on it, the patterned silk blouse is Sunny Leigh, the peace on earth shirt is American apparel i think, the gold shrug is Betsy Johnson (!)

i bought $20 worth of books including some really current ones!

The Haul

we've been going to lots of gatherings this summer. and i haven't been doing such a good job of photographing outfits but here i am with two lovely ladies who accused me of not knowing i'm not a senior citizen. we were celebrating some recent retirements. S. and I both looked native in our outfit choices that evening. the hostess and her band played for us for hours singing bluegrass, folk and old gospel songs. the food was all home made and many dishes were right from the garden. the following night we went to some friends house to gather from their garden, feast together from the garden and book next year's beach vacation!