Smurfin' new post

It's the second to last day of July. And. It is hot. We have been close to or over 100 degrees all week. Fingers crossed rain is on the way and some lower temperatures too. Tonight the girls and I went to see the Smurf Movie. So smurfin' cute. Steve was wavering about coming but he opted to stay home but I am thinking he would have liked it. It was funny. I am not smurfin' kidding.

So... let's see what have we been up to besides sweating.

• Ellie & I taped a St . Jude interview with our local ABC station.
• We talked about the upcoming Give Thanks walk in Richmond
• It airs sometime in August
• Ellie's last week of summer school is next week.
• Emma is having her physical on Monday so she will be cleared to play field hockey. JV & Varsity team tryouts are August 8th
• We leave for Hilton Head soon.
• I don't want to even venture out of the resort we will be in.
• It is an amazing place and I wish we were there now.
• Emma and I were talking about friends and I realized how lucky I am to have so many good ones.
• I am glad Steve is home from being away for a few days. I really miss him when he is gone (don't tell him I said that)
• Emma & I have been enjoying the Real Housewives series. Those ladies are messed up and we cannot get enough of them!
• Steve and I have been enjoying Weeds and the Big C on Showtime.
• I wish those two shows were on longer than 30 minutes. It's never long enough.
• Great writing on both shows. I love, love, love me some Andy on Weeds.
• Ellie's little friend from next door is back from her summer vacation.
• She went to China for a month.
• She brought her back lots of little Chinese presents.
• There is a nest of yellow jackets under one of our Leeland Cyprus trees.
• It makes me nervous but it is far enough away from the house and where we are when we are outside. If they wanted to relocate themeselves though, I wouldn't mind.
• The tall garden phlox in my front garden smells heavenly.
• Tucker pee'd all over my black-eyed susans that were around the mailbox and killed them all.
• Black-eyed Susans are were my favorite flower so I am sad.
• Sterling Jewelers releases their St. Jude stuffed animals at the end of August.
  
• Ellie is on their team this year and her artwork will be on all the hang tags.
• Buy a plush puppy at Jared - the Galleria of Jewelry or Kay Jewelers and support St. Jude
• We have a lot of fun trips and events planned in the next few months that we are looking forward to.
• Disney World
• Adele concert (I am BEYOND excited to have gotten tickets!)
• ALL of our birthdays are coming up and a few more events after that!
• One being a possible TODAY show appearance... stay tuned...
• I am busy with work and designing.
• Hoping for lots of back to school business.
• I scored a new account that has BIG potential. (so excited)
• I have learned this week that I have no tolerance for certain people anymore.
• Bad questionable behavior, no manners and having a false sense of entitlement when you do nothing to earn it is really... well... just wrong.
• It feels good to be honest.
• Our cat Kanye figured out he likes catnip this week.
• We learned he does not like to share his newfound love of catnip.
• Life is good and I have not complaints... well except for the weather.
• This a photo free post.

Catching Up

Wow...where has the time gone? Summer goes by way too quickly, it always does. Routines are off, days are lazier and my pace slows way down. Sleeping in an extra hour and staying up late at night. Going to the pool and enjoying margaritas and hanging out with the girls; I love it. The girls love it too (except for the margarita part). I wish it wasn't August in a few days.

As I mentioned last time, we headed north to Cape Cod for 9 days on July 8th. The girls and I along with Grandma Marilyn had a long, rainy and slooow drive on Friday to Connecticut. We had many laughs on the near 11 hour drive but I sure was so beyond glad to pull into the hotel parking lot and do a face flop onto my bed. Steve was already there waiting for us to arrive.

It was wonderful to have just a short 3 hour drive the next day onto the Cape. We rented a house in Brewster Mass which is part of the lower Cape. It is such a quaint New England town. Charm oozing from every corner and flower box. (which were everywhere) Hydranges, roses & daisies cascade over white picket fences which surround homes that are weathered and inviting. I fell hard and fast.

The house was very nice with lots of personality - it was open and had great light. There were lots of knick-knacky things here and there but it was done tastefully and above all else, the house was comfortable and spacious for the 5 of us. The bathrooms were on the small side and they seemed to have some plumbing issues. We didn't experience any during our stay but signs on the mirrors made it clear that when you had 'AN EVENT' you should flush midway through. Really? I guess we all followed directions carefully because there were no 'issues'. The sign provided us with laughs and running jokes throughout our stay. Really priceless. There also was an outdoor shower that got lots of use from all our company and from Steve too. The grounds were beautiful. Lots of big hydrangea bushes and bird feeders. You know I love the birds! It was really just perfect. oh...and we were just a 5 minute walk to the beach. Would have been really great to have been ON the beach but around the corner is good too.

Instead of boring you with all the details, I will let some of my favorite photos do the talking. It was a great family trip and I was so happy to have my mom with us. The girls just adore their grandmother. She has come full circle because when I was little she would take us up to the Cape and she has so many fond memories so it was nice to be able to take her this time. So, it was a great trip and it hurt to come back home to reality and to 100 degree weather but we will be back again soon. A little piece of my heart is there.

this is my favorite photo. just beautifully sums up what cape cod is about to me.

my favorite photo of ellie. she just melts my heart.

headed to crosby beach in brewster/orleans

♥

my mom was so happy to be at the beach. so glad she could come back to the cape again. love the happiness in her eyes.

ellie playing in the sand at saints landing beach

beautiful sunsets over the bay

my favorite photo of me and my mom
she looks great in this photo

random boy chasing seagulls photo but it is such an iconic image - i love it.

enjoying the relaxation part of vacation. the house was a great place to hang out.

gorgeous emma on the beach

enjoying chatham beach. there were dozens of harbor seals behind us on a sand bar

this is classic. we were in provincetown after the sunset and my mom so wanted to make it to the beach to put her feet in the water. this is one of her favorite places ever so we took a nice photo and then {crash} the waves slammed in. all our faces are priceless and the story about getting to the water is even better.

oyster beds at low tide

caught a crab. pinch pinch

steve and emmy. they look so much alike.

house along main street in chatham. love it.

view from the mudflats

some of my bffs came for a night with their kids. lots of laughs...way too many.

life is good on the bay.

final sunset. cannot wait to return...soon

rainy wednesday

It's been raining and thundering all afternoon. Which deserves a big woo hoo because one, we need rain badly and two it is now a pleasant (although rainy) 72 degrees. This morning it was close to 90 and humid. I love thunderstorms so long as I don't have any trees falling on my house and it's not in such a close proximity that I have to unplug my office. Printers, computers, laminators - they all have to be unplugged because no one likes a lightning strike.

They other night Steve was away for work and we had a thunderstorm that was pretty close by. The lights went off and on at least three times and I received a call from my neighbor who was stuck across town and needed their dog brought in. I was in my pjs. It was lightning. It was scary but I ran across the street and rescued their poor dog who did not look like he was having much fun. He was glad to be let into the garage. As I ran back, I saw the girls faces pressed into the living room window yelling to hurry up and then KABOOM! the loudest clap of thunder. Ellie hugged me tight when I sprinted thru the door and Emma told me I really should be wearing a bra. Did I not say I had my pajamas on!! So, I do love a storm but only when I can enjoy it from the comfort of my own home.

So the first week of July is almost over. Nothing too exciting happened. Ellie & Steve have been to the pool and over the weekend we all went out to dinner and to see Super 8. It was PG-13 and I thought Ellie could handle it but sadly no. It was too scary. Thankfully, Steve took her out and they snuck into a showing of Cars and Emma and I enjoyed the rest of our scary movie. We also re-subscribed to the cable premium channels (HBO/Showtime/Starz). Steve and I love to watch Weeds & the Big C which are both Showtime shows and they started up again last week. The deal for 3 months was just $45.00 and all the premium channels came with it. We'll cancel it again in September. As well as enjoying Weeds & The Big C, we are watching movies again. Last night the girls and I watched Jaws. The original 1975 movie. Ellie was scared silly about Super 8 but surprisingly, a large man eating shark attacking unsuspecting beach goers does not seem to bother her. We head to Cape Cod on Friday. Hopefully, they will venture into the water while we are there and I will not regret this movie choice.

July 4th was low key. We enjoyed a lazy day at home instead of going to our neighborhood shindig. It was a beautiful day that ended with a thunderstorm. Ellie and I watched the Macy's fireworks from NYC on TV. That was some display. You know when it translates on TV well that it must have been incredible in person. Ellie started her reading program this week and her tutor comes tomorrow for their first session. Fingers crossed she will have improvements by the end of summer. I know she can do it.

Sadly I have no photos to share. I have been working a lot getting ready to shut the studio down for 10 days. I can share some new halloween tote bags that I just listed. They are super cute and are going to sell well.

Puts me in the mood for Halloween! I ♥ them!

Next time I will have plenty of photos to share. Photos from the beautiful shores and sands of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Until then...