waka waka.

waka waka.

Kara is... africa bound!

We sent her off with an ice cream party and notes for her plane ride! She is headed with her church for a mission trip to Ghana. What a great reason to bring together a dear group of friends... celebrate and send Kara off in style... and ready to serve!

WAKA WAKA!

ps. make sure to click on the link above. if only we could all dance like shakira!

firefly

...on my gardening gloves!

I found the perfect gardening gloves at Target! perhaps the best 4.99 I have ever spent. They fit nicely, have the rubber coated fingers for waterproofing and no pricks from thorns... and they have a cute firefly design on them.

happy weeding!

surprise

sometimes people surprise you. sometimes it makes you happy... and sometimes not so much.

In the past two days I have had both.

surprise #1: (the kind that you dont like to have..)

ew. so I am at the gym in the express line at the weights. now, typically you go in order with this progression. so I start at the beginning bopping around. Well this man (in tight biker shorts... ew) hops in right behind me. Fine, no problem. I am easy going. Until... I then skip and go to the next machine and he GLARES at me. I state, "Oh I'm sorry were you about to use this." "Well I WAS going to use it but clearly not anymore." So I state in a very calm and kind voice, "I'm sorry sir why don't you go right ahead." ... and I marched my self right over to a completely different section. ew. he should really be a bit nicer at the gym.


surprise #2: (the wonderful kind...)

"tickets passes, tickets passes" - train conductor

"Crap. where is my train pass? in here? nope. in here? nope. in my lunchbag? nope. In my shoe? nope. crap." - me

"do you have cash? - amelia

"oh great... no I don't have cash. this is super." - me

"Here you go ma'am. I have an extra ticket" - extremely kind gentleman sitting next to me

"Oh no sir, I cant accept this ticket. thank you but I cant accept it." - me

"No no please. take it." - extremely kind gentleman

"Well then I will pay it forward. I will start keeping an extra ticket for the next person that this same thing happens to..." -me

"Sounds good. have a nice evening." - again extremely kind gentleman

and then... I saw him again today! we are now officially train friends. He is approximately 68 years old, very serious looking business man that helped a bee bopping little ole me in my cute flower headband get home. What a great surprise.

4th annual flip flop FUN

What a super FUN evening!!!! Already thinking about more fun ideas for our 5th annual Flip Flop Fun Party!!!

one word. cocodot.

i have a new love...cocodot. create and celebrate.

a wonderful way to create adorable stationary, notes, invitations, announcements... with fabulous patterns and designs... get excited for a year full of these lovely little "happies!"

4th annual flip flop fun party eve

It is the eve of our 4th annual flip flop fun party....

we are so excited for...

-flip flops
-super fun friends traveling for some flip flop fun
-hosting dear friends in our fun new house
-new recipes
-fun summer drinks
-decorations
-adorable napkins


F l i p F l o p p i n g F u n!!!

weeds.

let's be honest... I am new to gardening. I have attempted flowers and plants in pots in the past... however, with our fun new house I thought, HOW PERFECT I will plant flowers! "Dad boat shoes" was a great initial teacher... my mom or "mom flip flops" continued the lessons and then I was on my own.

Well ... the flowers have survived. However, I did not learn enough about weeds. Nor did I learn about vines and how quickly they grow!

Yesterday, two favorite gals were over and when we walked outside, Meaghan states, "Whoa, flip flops, you have some work to do!" As I started asking questions, everyone began weeding! We all just leaned over the disaster of weeds and started pulling! Before we knew it... 30 minutes had past and the bed of flowers was looking glorious once again! Well after Meaghan and Rob said their goodbyes, Kate and I continued for at least an hour. Neither one of us knew that her afternoon in the suburbs would be spent weeding in my garden! However, with that said, I now understand why girlfriends get together to garden. I understand the therapeutic value in gardening. Peaceful... Instant gratification....and just an all around relaxing time!

I think that I will keep up this gardening habit!

and now... I am in the market for a good pair of gardening gloves...any suggestions?!

If I could be anywhere...

I would be in Knoxville TN visiting my brother for his 30th birthday party! My brother, Jessica, my mom, his godmother Pam, and lots of other family and friends will be gathering to celebrate his bday! Wishing I could be there to celebrate!

happy bday big brother!

A perfect 4th of July

for the first half of the day... a little road trip to our dear friend Kate and fam's lovely "Time Out Cottage" in Orange, MA! we enjoyed time with her and her family... floating in the lake... chilling and a fabulous cook out! thanks again for our invite for some "time out!"

second half of the day...James Taylor and Carole King concert at Tanglewood in MA....with Julie and Peter... the lovely newlyweds, their families, and some other besties of the bride and groom! What fun we had enjoying yummy cheese, wine, a great spread of fried chicken and other cookout goodies... complete with wedding cake for dessert! what a wonderful night of fireworks, fabulous music and great memories!

a bride...a groom... a love story...

....and they shall live ...happily ever after.

Brunch... the Bridal type!

Bridal brunches happen to be one of my MOST favorite parts of a wedding weekend! What a wonderful concept to gather a group of women, ladies and gals that you simply adore... all in the same place!

Julie, the bride, wore an adorable Lilly dress very appropriate for the occassion with white on top and a lovely garden pattern on the bottom! Her precious flower girl Allie brought her Julie American Girl Bride doll with her to brunch. You can see Julie doll in the top right in her pretty wedding gown! Aren't flower girls wonderful?! It was a glorious meal with wonderful company!

cocktails for the bride and groom

what a wonderful way to start a 4 day wedding extravaganza!

dear friends. family. sparklers. yummy food. wine. bean bag toss. hugs. laughter. excitement. fun dresses. time to celebrate the MOH and her 21st bday! a lovely home tour. time with the bride and groom. FUN TIMES.

Wedding weekend begins..

We are Massachusetts bound!

We are headed to Lenox, Stockbridge and the Berkshires for some wonderful wedding fun and festivities! Cocktails by the pool will begin the fun tonight followed by many fabulous events planned by Fresh Basil and her groom to be!

Happy Wedding weekend Fresh Basil and groom!