when live gives you lemons....

as in ~ when they are replacing the sewer pipes on your street and the noise is making both your teeth and windows rattle at the same time...it's time to get out of Dodge.

Go North young men! We thought a day in Rockport would be nice. And it was, but very warm. I tried to convince them to go to the beach but without any luck. Usually sitting on the rocks you catch some sort of breeze, but this was just a still summer day, beautiful, but not very refreshing even by the ocean.

So we grabbed some hot dogs and fries at "Top Dog" and...

had a great time playing with their magnet board. Sometimes the day brings unexpected things and sometimes you can have a lot of fun for a little money. If I had brought them to some lovely canopied place for lunch overlooking the harbor they would not have enjoyed their lunch as much as getting to play around with these word magnets and watch the cooks grills the hot dogs and sing to whatever was on the radio.

After an hour or so we retreated to air-conditioned Nordstrom because my little artist had a handpainted tile right in the floor there. About two years ago the Stone Zoo worked with the newly built Nordstrom on children's handpainted tiles to be placed in the floor in the children's department. It was a fundraiser, (50 bucks!) but I loved the idea as it would be a permanent installation. I had to work on the day of the Grand Opening party and so all of this time later, I had never seen Ronan's tile. Little cutie has mom's sunglasses on. He won't EVER wear any....but if I bring an extra pair, he puts them on. It's cute, well, for me. Carter cracked up everytime he looked at him and Ro kept saying "what are you laughing at?"

Yankee Homecoming Day 1

For, I don't know...perhaps 20 years...we have been eating and enjoying our way through Yankee Homecoming in Newburyport. This year it runs from July 25 through August 1st. It is a week long festival of food, music, boat rides, arts and crafts all wrapped up in a beautiful setting. We used to live much closer, just a 10 minute ride away, and I'd just bring a cooler, some chairs and a blanket and wander about with the kids until Rich could join us for the concert at night. I also sold my handpainted shirts for 10 years at the craft fair, still held on the Tuesday of the festival. So it has nothing but great memories for me.

We now have a little routine of starting off at Abraham's Bagels in downtown Newburyport. They have the sweetest courtyard with tables and lots of shade. Ronan takes after his brothers...bring a book and it's all good.

The view of the Frog Pond at Bartlett Mall. It was "Old Fashioned Sunday" with you guessed it, food, music and fun. Thomas train rides for the kids, a Native American booth with costumes and dances, pony rides, antique cars and lots of hula hoops and penny candy. I am not sure how long the pond has been there but in my mind's eye I just can picture women from the turn of the century strolling along with their long dresses and parasols.

The always fun canoe-tilt. Who will get thrown in? It's like whack-a-mole on the water.

Right in the middle of my snack...

my kid checked the mail. Ooohh, a black envelope with pretty silver marker. A birthday invite? A wedding invite? What could it be?

What? Get in shape? As I am popping one peanut m&m after another in my mouth? Can't I just be left alone??

Guess the whole thing got a little out of control...believe me puppy, I would share with you if it were a pizza crust. But, hey, dogs can't have chocolate so am forced to finish the "Tear 'n Share" all by myself.

and the winner is....

my little Elvis and his newly-won bobble-head for theme day at camp! Go Ronan, go Ronan, go you, go you! Is the resemblance hysterical or what? Even the skin-tone on the bobblehead and the real boy match! And he is of me and from me and yet bears no resemblance to me; something which I think still surprises me all the time.

Blue Hawaii

At the drama camp Ronan goes to they are putting on a production called "All Shook Up" and it will include all Elvis music. Last Friday was Elvis theme day and since I personally love the movie Blue Hawaii and we pretty much had the makings of the costume without too much work...one little handpainted eukelele later and we had the perfect Elvis - right down to the sneer.

McGraw Me

It's summer concert season and "I LIKE IT, I LOVE IT, I WANT SOME MORE OF IT!" And what a way to kick it off with Tim McGraw. I, I almost can't put it into words...being so close to Mr. Tim with sweat pouring out of him. Deep breaths. Gotta go out and howl at the moon.

The seats were in the 10th row...thank you Julie. It never get old.

Tim along with his band The Dancehall Doctors, kicked it all night. Ballads to country rock, they worked hard we all loved every minute of it. He's my kinda rain, baby, like love from a drunken sky....

Grunge to Great in One Day!

Umm, perhaps the light is a little bright to give the viewer a great perspective on the utter grime and nastiness of this desk. Two teenage boys pawing the heck out of it for a few years. Only one knob left on the drawers. It was either try and make something of it or buy a new one. "Let's be resourceful" said the craigslist Queen.

So the boys and their dad sanded and scrubbed...mom picked out paint color and came up with a design that would not offend the finicky teenagers...

two coats of base, two coats on the stripe, fresh knobs and I am thinking it kinda rocks!!!

Not the most fun way to spend a 90 degree Sunday but we all have a great sense of accomplishment. May it inspire you, 'cause you know you have got some wretched piece of something somewhere and here is proof it can be saved!

the red white and blue

This 4th of July we celebrated on the roof of the Museum of Science. As members, we were able to buy tickets and sit on the parking garage roof for a beautiful view of the fireworks. The staff did a great job (largely volunteers) of making sure things ran smoothly.

The city sparkled as the sun set. Everyone just hung out and listened to music. Of course, as long as I have my decorating magazines I can while away almost any amount of time ; )

This sunset before the fireworks~! What a treat. Usually we are all running about and I, for one, rarely look up. So it was quite a lovely thing to have nothing to do but sit and watch a sunset so beautiful it could have been somewhere over Arizona.

And then the fireworks over Boston Harbor did not disappoint. They are a little later than I would wish because the Boston Pops Esplanade Concert has gone national and is now broadcast until 11 pm. Back in the "old" days the fireworks went off at 9ish so the little ones could still be home at a decent time. By the time they actually went off at 10:30 there were lots of tots already asleep.

Vegas, Baby, Vegas!

"Welcome to hot and steamy Las Vegas, girls. You've had a long flight from Boston, I know, but we are glad you're here. Sit a spell, relax, sip on a frozen strawberry margarita. Melt those cares away and rest up, gals, there are no clocks here. And the inside of our casinos are perfectly climate controlled. On your mark, get set.....GO!"

After we spent the afternoon in the pool, at lunch at the poolside restaurant where the umbrellas misted us and the palm trees kept us shaded so we would not overheat...we got dressed and ventured out to the other casinos. This is Caesar's Palace. Opulence like I have never seen. Upscale shop this, imported tile, that.

This is not the outside. It is a handpainted ceiling, full of clouds, lit to create the perfect illusion. Perhaps a metaphor for the city itself?

Still hot at night, but a soft glow makes the city sparkle.

Ah, the Bellagio. I felt every step of George Clooney's shoes the second I stepped into this place. Of course, it was even more glam in person.

The Strip at night. After seeing so many movies about Vegas...The Hangover, What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas, The Cooler, Oceans Eleven, etc. I thought I knew Vegas. But until you go there, you don't really know.

The view from my totally luxurious $88 a night hotel room. This is why people go to Vegas. You pay pennies for a gorgeous hotel room so you will spend your money in the casinos! But when I looked out the window I just kept thinking...boy, I am a long way from home.

Our last night. I had begun to feel like I was the last person on earth not to have visited this place and now it was almost time to leave. We all could have used another day. Linda (on the left) organized this trip to celebrate our shared "big" birthday. I just don't feel like saying the year. We all went to high school together, are still friends, and had a ball celebrating in the wild, wild west.

Oh the Cirque Du Soleil LOVE featuring Beatles music was to die for.
My jaw dropped open at the artistry, the music, the sheer physicality
of the performers. If you e-v-e-r get the chance to see this show don't
miss it.

Souvenir shop. Fabulous Las Vegas, indeed!