What I Learned This Week...

This week I learned...

1. I do not like making travel plans, searching for the best deals...and whatever else goes with it. I had a fabulous travel agent in the past who planned our trips (like we travel all the time anyway) down to the littlest detail. She is awesome and I am tired of doing it myself so Lisa...I will be calling you today! Lucky you:-)

2. Summer afternoon rain showers in Florida are so nice...such a welcoming break from the hot sun...unless you have DirectTV and the satellite goes out AND you have a dog...a BIG dog...that still needs to go out and who thinks that every puddle was sent just for him to jump in and drink!

3. It doesn't matter how good the yard sale buy is if you have to spend more money after you get it just to make it work. Case in point...a decorator friend I know is going out of business in this crappy economy and sold off all her stuff. I was lucky to get a sofa, chair and table from the Tommy Bahama line that sold for over $3,000 for only $350. (I knew my husband would love it if it was from the TB line...and yes, I'm blaming him:-) Anyway, it was in a model home and is beautiful. The catch...I need to get cushions made...and custom cushions ain't cheap, just in case you were wondering. Sooooo...my other neighbor is having a HUGE yard sale Sat. and I might put it out there...or maybe not. Stay tuned...

4. I remembered that I have a new "comfort" food to add to the list...strawberries on toast. Just imagine strawberry shortcake for breakfast! Seriously, don't give me any of that "it would be too sweet" stuff, okay? I wouldn't believe you anyway!:-)

5. I watched the sunset at the beach this weekend and took about 25 pictures, even though I have about 3,000 already...because how can you not see the sun rise or set in a beautiful sky and not be in awe???

6. As I sit in a house full of tutu's today, I think that every little girl should have one tutu in her lifetime, whether she is a ballerina or not. Just once, she should feel like the tiny dancer...and then go out and collect bugs if she wants...maybe wearing her tutu:-)

7. That I LOVE browsing through the home and accessory aisles at TJ Maxx and Marshalls. Somebody should do a challenge on decorating a home from these aisles. I found the CUTEST bicycle basket in the WORLD for only $7.99. Look at this...it was MADE for my bike, right?
8. That I will have more time on my hands next week since my guy Danny Gokey got voted off American Idol. Boo, hiss!!!!!!! The first time EVER my pick wasn't in the finals...and I am absolutely a poor enough sport to not watch ONE MINUTE of the final because i don't want the other two. Sorry...we all have our favorites...and yes, I am a big baby when my favorite team, contestant or whatever doesn't win! hahaha...sad but true:-)

9. I just learned that my memory is even worse than I thought. When I started this post, I had 2 other things to add to my list...and I can't remember them.
Happy Friday!

Top Ten Things I Said I Would NEVER Do...

Okay, so here it is Tuesday and my mind is spinning between trying to make cute tutu's to help save my daughter's old ballet school with a fund raiser to thinking about some fabulous way to decorate the refreshment and ticket tables at the recital this weekend (suggestions welcome...I'm thinking Martha here:-) Anyway, I was thinking about a few things recently that I said I would never do and thought I'd write about that. Think about it in your own life and have a laugh at yourself. Maybe soon I'll write about the 10 things I said I would do...and did. Hope there are ten!!! hahaha

1. I wear my pj's to drive my girls to school (I did) and I walk my dogs early in the morning in those pj's too. Of course, they are probably cuter than any clothes I own. Always a cute tank top and some sort of pink bottoms...maybe with hearts, polka dots...although today it was a pink nightshirt with a gingerbread girl dressed in pink and the words "Gingy's Gingerbread Gals". I wish I could say it was my daughter's but no such luck. Oh well...I'll brighten up this boring neighborhood!!!

2. I have short hair. Seriously short hair since I went for my latest "Meg Ryan" tousled cut. Hey, I get my dogs a summer cut so this is my summer cut:-) Besides, it makes it easy to wear a baseball cap if I'm having a bad hair day...but with a short messy cut, who knows it's a bad hair day????? I swore my long, layered blond "Charlie's Angel/Mall hair" would be around forever but I did move on when I saw Natasha Richardson in The Parent Trap 10 years ago or so. She was soooo pretty!

3. I am crafty. No, not sneaky-crafty but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my glue gun!!!!

4. I read magazines like Country Living, Victoria and Cottage Living...seriously. I mean, what happened to Glamour??? (I do sneak a peek at In Style once in awhile, though. ) And I love the shabby, comfy look in furniture rather than the sleek black and white mod look I was planning on living with the rest of my life...back in the day:-)

5. I love pink, wear pink and live in a pink house (well, berry-pink in the sunlight:-). How did this happen? I think it was when I gave birth to Ballerina Barbie and my life became all about pink. Now if it's pink, girly, glitzy...bring it on!

6. I drink coffee. NO, wait a minute...I should probably say that i LIVE for my coffee. And if I wake up in the morning to find someone used the last of my coconut cream to have an afternoon iced coffee the day before...look out! NOT a good way to start the day.

7. I cook...and read cookbooks...and watch the Food Channel religiously. AND...I love veggies...even okra, which if cooked right (unrecognizable) gets a bad rap:-)

8. I need to wear glasses or my contacts at all times. I know my mom wasn't right when she told me not to "strain" my eyes by reading in the dark all those years...was she??? Yet if I walk by my girls and they are reading in dim light...BAM!!! The nearest light goes on in the brightest setting...and yes, they complain about it like I did:-)

9. I actually wear sunscreen, sometimes sit in the shade and am a fan of fake tans. Yep...the sun worshipping goddess finally smartened up about ten years ago. Too late to avoid paying for those days of baking in cooking oil on the roof...but I can prevent any further damage and am actually fighting the good fight (I think) against wrinkles, so that's a plus, at least. I do consider myself an expert on the fake tan (thank you very much) as I have used them ALL...going back to the original QT and Sudden Tan. Remember those? My favorite today is L'Oreal Sublime Bronze. Not stinky, beautiful color, tinted so it's easy to apply, dries quick and doesn't make me feel creepy/ slimy. Go for it! (And always use face/body lotion with sunscreen.) I sound like my Grandma...smart lady:-) So if you see me with a golden tan, know that 98% of it is FAKE. (One time I even scrubbed with a white cloth on my leg to prove to my dermatologist. LOL)

10. I wear a beach cover-up at the beach. No, i NEED a beach cover-up. How did this happen? Wasn't I going to be prancing in a bikini my whole life, looking for shells, running down the beach? Please...that is not a pretty thought...or sight, trust me:-) Now I buy a suit...and that is painful enough...and a cute cover-up to go with it.

I leave you with a thought from one of my favorites...Yogi Berra. We should all look at life as simply as Yogi did. Smile...

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there." Yogi Berra

Faith...

Thought for the Day...
"Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith."

-- Margaret Shepard