Watch for Summer!

I helped my friend, Cindy, with her jewelry business today. She needed some good photographs of her new fab line of watches. I mean, I was glad to do it. Who can resist these sherbet shaded beauties?

She gave me a blue one and I haven't taken it off in days! Love these in all the beachy blues.

I love the yellow and "cafe au lait" color. Very cool and all for $20.00. If you want one, let me know! Cinzia it would be cute on you! You can reach her at cindy.canavan@comcast.net

pretty in purple

things are blooming around here...oh and here is Bono enjoying the retractable awning with sun screen which costs as much as a trip to Disney for a family of 5. I..am...not...kidding. But it was better than using an umbrella to shield me from the flashlight in your eyes brightness of the afternoon sun on my back door.

My mother told me the old adage about perennials. I am impatient as I think most gardeners are "Daddy, I want it now!" however, I am now seeing the fruits of just waiting out these perennials and not spending money on lots of annuals every year. First year they sleep....

2nd year they creep....

3rd year they leap! Right now my salvia is jumping for joy.

wonderful thoughts from Tracy Porter

this is one of the blogs I follow http://tracyporter.com/blog. In fact, she is someone who I believe "has it all", really cool decorator, designer and artist, 4 boys!, insatiable zest for life... but I thought this post was worthy of passing along. Who of us hasn't thought "from where we are standing" that the lady with the great handbag must rule the world!

In fact, I think I am a pretty good mother. I try my best. I sometimes lose it. Last week I my teenage son was being, er, completely rude. I was giving him a ride and then I er, wasn't. I pulled over and er, excused him from my car. A little loudly. The window was rolled down and, er, the postman just happened to be crossing the street at the very same time I invited my son to walk the rest of the way home.

But see, Mr. Postman...I never do that. So in the spirit of everyone having a bad day once in a blue moon...please don't judge me ; )

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A healthy dose of dreaming can do us all well….and start you on your way. If you begin to consider what “living well” means to you…you may open your eyes to new opportunity, new possibilities, all sorts of things may come to light. Sometimes the art of dreaming gets complicated quickly with reality , it is the case for everyone….don’t be fooled. Never think someone else has it easy, has it figured out…has it all given to them…..they may have taken a bumpy path to get where they are…..which to you…from where you are standing may look entirely graceful…not usually the case. Living well comes in all forms…and I think the idea of it changes as we age…..what it meant to you when you were 20 is different than it is now…and surely it will continue to change….. embrace it, go with it…allow it to seep in…and find ways to explore the idea of living well for the rest of your life. I would love to know…what does it mean to you….has it changed…….so curious…I am!

Cheers and Happy musings!!
xxx,
T.
Tracy Porter

In my backyard....

the summer season has begun. Much cultivating, mulch, planting and 16 different shades of green.

Doesn't this remind you of the Country Time Lemonade commercials? "Here on California Road, the days are long and the nights
are short...." Memorial Day Weekend? I say... Bring. It. On.

I hope you find a hammock and put your feet up this summer.
I hope you get yourself a favorite iced tea glass that is all yours.
Make sure the kids know which one is yours.
Make sure they put a slice of lemon in it.
I am not kidding.
Put them to work, it's good for them!
Why did you have them anyway if not to get you iced tea?
Get a stack of books and decorating magazines.
If all you have is 10 minutes outside, you'll have your glass and magazine.
Most times, that makes me pretty darned happy ; )

disturbing his dinner....

All of this, rummaging around in the trash and I look over to see this bold one munching on what? chocolate cake?
No cake is thrown away in this house, I can tell ya that much.

Look at his face, caught red handed!

You human go eat your chicken dinner and leave me to mine please.

what you see isn't always what you get ; )

So, hey, anyone can make this mistake, right? Admittedly I didn't have my glasses on and did see a little bunny hopping around.

So I grabbed my camera and went out to the backyard to get a picture of the bunny. But something didn't seem quite right. "That bunny is a little blurry around the edges", the photographer thought...well it did make my whole family crack up when I pointed out what I did. In my defense, it rained all day and really brought out the contrast in the stone, so it wasn't just a case of too much wine ; )

Thankfully, I was right about seeing the "real" little guy.

It's Where The Pops Play!!

and on this day the RMHS Jazz Band was selected to play along with 20 other vocal groups and high school bands. How proud they were.

Imagine my own son playing at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade, home of the Boston Pops. Awesome!!

There he is doing his thing.

Getting to be a little rasta-man. I keep telling him to cut it, but what do I know? Maybe he's past the worst of it ; )

On A Clear Day in Beantown

You can be alone listening to music behind you along the Esplanade and watching the sails ahead. What's lonely about that?

Our pretty architecture has a little "Mary Poppins" thing going on. Can you hear the cannon now?

Do You Have A Pretty City?

'Cause we do. Especially on this most beautiful of days. When our gaze was not on our high school Jazz Band playing at the Hatch Shell in Boston we were taking in the 82 degrees, sailboats on the Charles, ducks walking about and just enough breeze to make a ripple in the water.

These are the days to come visit this fair city.

The backyard willow overlooking the Charles River. And even an empty bench for you to sit on.

Care for a sail? Take a lesson.

hook me up!

this photo is from the ballroom of the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas where my husband was an an IBM conference last week. And you
thought the wires at home look bad!

Silly Bandz

These are the latest craze taking over every kid from elementary to high school. They love them! They are Silly Bandz and come in themed packages of shapes like farm animals, sea creatures, fantasy and alphabet. Some packages are scented, glow-in-the-dark and
tie-dye. The have become very popular to trade.


At $6 a package, I'd say the inventor of Silly Bandz is doing quite well having created different shaped color elastic bands. We have given over about $18 bucks to the cause already. Now why didn't I think of that???
p.s. can you give an 8 year old a brow wax?

a "Burlington Bee"

On deck last week. Cute. Oh, sorry, handsome.

Revolutionary Road

I watched it a little by accident last night. You know how you click around on HBO and it's 20 minutes into the movie and you think you'll catch it next time and keep clicking? Well last night I clicked and I was right on time.

I can't say I liked the movie, although it's true that I can't stop thinking about it. Sam Mendes sure likes those dark suburban pieces that's for sure. I didn't completely buy the plight of married couple Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio and their bitter unhappiness with their house, neighborhood and social set. I think if they put down the booze once in a while things would have settled down.

It does get you thinking about "what if's", what if I moved before I got married? why do some people get to move to France or Italy? what if I broke free of the confines of daily rituals, car rides, soccer games, raking the yard? But at the end of the movie I realized that aside from a few minor details, I wouldn't change anything about my life. I wouldn't change the number of kids I had or what I have had to give up for them. Some of my plans got put on hold when I had my youngest, but he's a great joy to me and makes up for most of it!! And I will get back to all of those plans shortly.

(and I have to say HGTV's House Hunters - International has done a world of good for me in yearning to move to a different country. Small kitchens! Ancient bathrooms! Little living rooms! Ok, granted, killer views - but it's comforting to see that it's not perfect anywhere.)

And in true Sam Mendes form, much like the "paper blowing in the wind" scene in American Beauty, the last few seconds of the movie, although wordless, are very powerful and funny and thought provoking.

So it got 4 stars, I might give it 3.

Scenes from a May Day Wedding

The bride's niece. The cuteness of it all is too darn much. Little miss taking a break in front of the tulips which are bigger than she is!

She learned how to be cute from her big sister who taught her how to wear pearls.

The crowd cheered as they got out of the limousine and headed off to take their pictures. Everyone smiled. Who doesn't love a wedding?

The happy and blessed parents with their kids and grandkids full of joy today. (although they look so good, it's hard to imagine they are grandparents to 5!) Truly one big happy family.

The happy, glowing couple. I hope that this is just one of the best days of your life.

May Day continued....

Much primping, tailoring and beauty appointments have led to this moment. The question is "did we pull it off and do we look even reasonably cute even though we are not 30 anymore?"

Flowerpot from the Marriott Long Wharf, Boston.

A harbor setting, about 82 degrees. Fab.

A true historical treasure, the wedding was held inThe Old South Church, Copley Square, Boston.

The little ones made sure there were flower petals everywhere as the admiring crowd looks on.