Love Flowers? Love The Farm!

In my new quest to achieve blooming flowers all summer long, I have become a big fan of The Farm in Orleans. My sister and my mom have been big fans about this "farm" for a long time. They never would invite me to go with them because they knew the thought of planting something made me break out in hives. My sister asked my mom to go there on my mom's birthday a few weeks ago and I asked if I could tag along. After they got up off the floor, they agreed.

They have all sorts of trees, bushes, flowers and even FAIRY GARDENS there.

What fairies wouldn't love to rest their little wings on these chairs?

 See what I mean? LOOK at all these flowers! And that's only one greenhouse (they have a bunch!).

 So many different types of flowers.... I could have taken pictures all day.

Taking pictures of flowers has always been "my thing", way more than planting and growing flowers. This year, I am trying both. That's right, when my plantings start to bloom, watch out, there will be an explosion of flowers on this page! If you want your own flowers, then go check out The Farm, they are very helpful to newbies like me!

I wrote this on my own free will because I love my new found hobby and how it adds to my photo hobby. And one of the owners' name is Sassy.  Fantastic, right? The only thing that would make the place better was if they had money trees for sale. 

Cute Baby Phat

My niece, R, is the cutest baby around. I can say that because I am her aunt. And you can believe me because I have never led you wrong!

When I was asked if I would review an animal print ruffle tank from Baby Phat in a 3T, I couldn't say yes fast enough!

Cute top + cute baby = AMAZING ADORABLE BABY PICS!!!

This top is light and soft polyester, a little shorter in the front than the back and has a fantastic animal print. Baby R is a solely cotton girl so when we first put the shirt on her, she reacted in not the most favorable way. (Think crying baby in cute top not equaling adorable baby pics). So my sister put a tank underneath it, which made her happy and quite honestly still makes a cute outfit.

Baby Phat makes all sizes of cute clothes and even shoes! Go check them out! You can also see a cute hoodie that I reviewed for them here.

As always, these opinions are mine! I recieved this top for compensation.

Junk for Sale

Every house has a junk drawer or closet.

I liked to say that I did not have a junk drawer. I liked to believe that everything had a place in my home, but I was wrong. (Yes, even the mighty are wrong once and awhile.)

Yesterday, I tackled that drawer, aka "crowded drawer", but really was junk drawer. Once I got it open, I emptied it on the kitchen table.

Let's play ispy. I spy some candles, some purel, a stamp, an oven thermometer, markers and a tape measure.

I also found this.....

 I have no idea what that is. Do you?

Also, my girls have adopted my cheap sunglasses addiction. 5 pairs in that drawer alone. Ooops.

Now I have a drawer that is organized and half full.

Yeah, give it a week.....

Kentucky Derby: It's Not Just About the Horses

When thinking of the Kentucky Derby, one might think of horses first.

In our house, we think: HATS.

Not necessarily beautiful expensive hats like these...

We like to make our own and add our own flair.

First you need to hit up your local craft store, um, maybe a few times, and lay everything out on the table.

It's helpful to call all your friends before you start decorating.

Let's just say things can get crazy and some people get competitive. B and I were going for height. (and color...)

My sister went for the garden effect... Baby R thought we were all nuts, nothing new there.

It is important to give your sister an A+ for effort for attempting to make mint juleps. (They were yucky, all that good whiskey down the drain.) And a pat on the back to mom who made tacos to go with the Cinco de Mayo sub-theme. And a thumbs up to the extra guests who were part of the family by the time the sole man at the party (poor dad) took this keeper on the deck!

And wasn't it just perfect that the horse who won the race was named "I'll have another....".
Ole!

Happy Birthday to K!

K's 15th Birthday was yesterday.

All weekend we were crazy busy with activities surrounding her birthday including Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby and B's swim banquet..... On the girl's birthdays I usually write a post about them. Last night at 9:30 having just gotten home from the swim banquet, K says, "Hey, you didn't write my birthday post". It's funny when something is important to them and you truly have no idea.

So K, here you go....

Dear K,
You are growing up to be a beautiful young lady. You are gorgeous, unique and smart. (For once, just read these things and believe them ok?) I know how hard it is to be a teenager because I once was one in the non-techie dark ages. You want to like yourself, but it seems cooler and more natural not to like yourself. You will come out of the teen years liking, if not loving, yourself. Promise.

I imagine that it must be hard having so much technology at your fingertips. It makes you need to know everything immediately which is good, but sometimes it is good to wait. Don't ever forget that it is nice to actually smell flowers or cake baking. (Something you cannot do on your iphone.) Also, feeling the sun shining down on your head or running through rain drops is nice, too. Actually speaking with people face to face is more effective than texting.

I am not here to lecture you on your birthday, just giving you some gentle reminders that real life happens while you are on your iphone and I don't want you to miss it.

The passion that you show while you sing makes me cry. I know that is embarrassing to you, but you will understand when your own child is standing on a stage belting out a song or scoring a goal playing a big game. And, yes, I am a little jealous because I would love to stand on a stage and sing like that and I think we all know that I cannot. (Talk about embarrassing!)

So, my little fiery red head, I am blessed to be your mom. Yes, we disagree about some things, but try to keep in the back of your mind that I have reasons for my decisions. Sometimes they will not make sense to you now, but later (hopefully) you will appreciate them.

I could go on and on, but I am crying already and I don't want to pick you up with puffy swollen eyes. (More embarrassment.) I love your Wish, Hope, Dream motto.

Love you gabillions <3

Who Knew My Daughter Could Take Pics?

I am up early on a Saturday, nothing new there.

It is K's birthday Eve and we are having a Cinco de Mayo/Kentucky Derby/Birthday party tonight. I was looking for a pic to put on K's FB wall and found this one

We were at Disney and she took a fancy to Mickey's? car. Almost time for her to drive. Seriously?

I took the picture of the picture with the camera that she took on her solo trip to Florida over vacation week. When I downloaded the pictures, I realized that she took 2 amazing photos of the space shuttle flying over the Cocoa Beach area. Had to share, they are really cool!

Time to go make some cupcakes! Have a great day/weekend!

What To Write About?

All bloggers have those days where they want to write, but have no idea what to write about. Well, at least I am assuming this happens to all bloggers, not just me. Gee, what if it only happens to me?

So I sit and stare at the screen and look back on previous posts to spark some creativity. I get nothing.

I think I should be cleaning something, doing something and yet, I sit here waiting for inspiration.

What I really should be doing is updating my resume, but that excites me as much as deep cleaning the living room.

I thought I had a post going about grocery shopping. I seem to buy 2 of everything. Why is that? I don't know, but I couldn't think of an amusing excuse.

Maybe I am stuck because there is a lot of stuff I would like to unload and write about, but it would/might hurt people's feelings. I am really about being amusing, not hurtful.

I could write about the conundrum of teenagers......but they read my blog.

I could blame my lack of inspiration on the weather. I always seem to use the weather as a an excuse for something. But, hello, it has been GRAY all week. Gray is not a good color for me.

So, how do I get out of this lack of writing inspiration without leaving you all depressed?

I'll just stick in this adorable picture of a little girl who is going to be 15 in 3 days.

Oh, and hey, if there is anything YOU want me to write about or if you have any questions I could answer, just leave me a little message :)