The week ahead!

Originally, we had plans to head to the shore this weekend. Could be my only full weekend at the shore since I start working on Monday. But, we have so much going on and promised sleepovers for the girls. So, we decided to stay put. And I am glad. We have a BIG week coming up...

...lots going on! Work, plays, working out, meetings for next years music program, MBM is away one day, lots...oh, wait what is that on Thursday? Between "running/bodypump" and "Emma's play"...

THE LILLY SALE!!!!! WOO HOO!!!! WOO HOO!!!!

Have a great weekend!

Back from the Beach

We had a GREAT weekend! Lots to share....tomorrow!

Weekend

The girls, Roosevelt and I headed to the shore right after school on Friday! MBM was flying in from Seattle and went right from the airport to the shore. We had a great Friday night...pizza, beer, People magazine, and early to bed! I am a nerd, I know!!!! But, I have spent so many Friday nights peddling my goods it was so nice to get in my jammies and relax!
Saturday, we were up early and headed over to our house to clean and prepare for our summer tenants. Saturday night was basically a repeat of Friday...and I loved every second of it!
Sunday, we headed home. Well, actually directly to the lacrosse field as the girls had a "playday" to kick off their season. Thank goodness, Spring decided to make an appearance. The girls were great! They won, 14-10...Emma had four goals! And, Caroline doesn't let her size hold her back from being a fierce defender.


Emma, #59, going toward goal


Caroline guarding a girl a bit taller then her!


Emma passing to Caroline...I almost fainted! Emma doesn't really like to share the ball and with her sister...I was blown away!

What's in store for this week...more lacrosse, logging some hours at the gym, lacrosse, sewing, lacrosse, court, lacrosse, manicure and pedicure, lacrosse...

Spring Break

The girls were on Spring Break last week. We headed to the shore after lacrosse practice on Wednesday.
The highlights...my mother cooked EVERY meal...I read for HOURS under a blanket on Thursday while the girls played AND didn't argue once...MBM and I went to dinner and Target for last minute basket fillers...MBM LOVED Target...Nana and I took the girls to see Penelope, so cute...Saturday we went to a party for our niece, Lulu danced the WHOLE time, complete with jumping spinning and air guitar.







Caroline and Emma were SOOOO embarrassed that Lulu was dancing...they had the BEST CAKE EVER at the party...the Easter Bunny did not disappoint, books, bathing suits, Crocs, sweaters, magic markers...the Easter Bunny even showed up at brunch...



after brunch we had our annual Egg Hunt with our friends...







...we played lacrosse on the beach...I let my cousin cut my bangs, she is in a student at the Jean Madeline Aveda Institute...Lulu and I took Roosevelt for a walk...I took a nap...drank some wine...hung out with the family...headed home on Monday ready to get back to our routine!

Polar Bear Plunge

This past weekend MBM and I headed to the Shore, sans the girls...they were spending the weekend with my in-laws. Every Valentine's weekend our beach town host a Polar Bear Plunge. It is quite a festive event, costumes, an Ice Queen, and for a mere $25, to benifit a local charity, you can run into the freezing cold Atlantic.
We were spectators...here are some pictures from the day...the pics of the plungers is hard to see...Sorry!

Below, is a picture of MBM trying to recruit a racer for this, share this with the athletes in your life. MBM is working so hard on this race, his first as a race director, he feels so connected to the cause!

We capped off the day with a party at our friends house. Lots of food, drinks, and friendship!

On the Road

We are headed to the shore for the weekend...HOORAY! Of course, it is way too cold to get my feet sandy, but that is okay. I have a custom handbag "gig" tonight somewhere in New Jersey and a trunk show tomorrow at a Holiday Market in Sea Isle. Lulu and I are headed to the shore this afternoon. MBM and the big girls will follow tomorrow after lacrosse. My brother and his girlfriend are coming Saturday. My mother loured him with promises of Fillet Mignon and crab for dinner. Only my brother will drive an hour and half for a good home cooked meal. I will be contributing this yummy drink to our Happy Hour...



Have a great weekend!

So Long Summer!

So sad! This is the first summer in a long time that I am not ready for for the summer to end. We spent every second we could on the beach this weekend with our friends and families enjoying the sand, ocean, and ice cream!

Our beach friends!



Emma...beach bum!

The most popular guy on the beach...the ice cream man...

a.k.a. The Fudgy Wudgy Guy!

Lulu playing!

Aunt B and Lulu!

Caroline playing!

We also had our Annual Fish Fry...no fish anymore...we just order a bunch of pizza! Pizza, drinks and let the kids play! Great way to end the summer!

Tomorrow...SCHOOL! The big girls are all ready. Outfits picked out, school bags stocked with supplies, and lunches packed! The bus will be here in less than 12 hours! HOORAY!!!!!

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay

Cloudy day at the shore....

Lulu walking down the dock to see if the the girls had caught dinner yet

Hey, fishy, fishy, fishy.......

Emma reeling one in...nothing!

Caroline's attempt to cast...she hooked my leg!

We came home from the shore late on Friday...had to squeeze one more beach day in! We had a great week, most of our friends were their for the week, too! Three generations of friends... hard to explain, but here it goes, Generation One...my parents and their friends (actually my dad's friends since Kindergarten) there are roughly 6 couples/families in their "crowd" as they refer to themselves. Generation Two...my generation, all the children from GEN One, let's see, 14 of us, plus spouses, ranging in ages 30 to 40. And then there is Generation Three, our children, there is a lot, 25 and one on the way, between the ages 0-13...one of us got an "early" start! We spend every weekend in the summer together since we were children. This was Gen One's 44th Fourth of July together...the are old! Here are some pictures from the party!

Some of Generation Three

Some of Generation One

Lulu dancing to YMCA

Emma and Megan wearing the same shirt...they thought it was so funny!

Caroline and Erin on the dance floor/porch!

After the fireworks, Generation One takes Generation Three home so, Generation Two can stay and "play" there is karaoke and dancing and someone usually makes a complete fool of themselves! LOVE IT!

We are home this week, the girls have a camp called "Just Us Girls"...charm school! We can use a little reinforcement in the manners area every once and awhile!

At the Beach

We are at the shore for the week! In the past two days we have packed in A LOT of fun stuff including our friend Libby's First Birthday!

MBM did another Triathlon...finished in the top 40 out of 500!!!

And of course spending lots and lots of time playing on the beach!

More fun to come....

Spring Break?

More like Winter Break...the forecast here in Southern New Jersey is 2-3 inches of SNOW! Can you imagine? Snow on Easter? My husband and I got married the day after Christmas (1997) and I was 65 degrees and sunny! Snow on Easter is a problem for a girl who only packed opened toe shoes for church and brunch!

Well, all four generations are counted for..we are waiting for a few more family members to arrive tomorrow, my brother and his girlfriend included. My brother is a collegiate rowing coach and he has the Cherry Blossom Regatta in D.C. tomorrow. They will drive here right from the race. Good Luck St.Joe's!!!

MBM and I worked on our house today. I made a fun sign for the front porch (picture soon) and the girls dyed Easter eggs with their great aunts and great grandmother.

After everyone was settled/asleep, I got the urge to create some cheap "art work" for the beach house...I think these flip flops feel at home in the kitchen!

Today, I am grateful for concealer, as I walked into the bathroom door last night, cut my eye opened and today I have a shiner! I look as if I was in a barroom brawl! (No picture of that soon)

Naps for everyone!

This was the scene at 4:00 today!

The house was complete in complete silence!

My mom and I took advantage, we slipped out undetected

for some shopping and dinner.

The weather here is so cold and windy we needed to

spend most of the day inside. The girls helped me with

some "art" work for our beach house. If all goes well,

they should be dry and ready to hang tomorrow!

My Granny and two aunts arrived this evening.

The girls will be in for major spoiling tomorrow!

Maybe tomorrow i can squeeze in a nap!

Today I am grateful for sleeping children and 40% off at the Banana Republic Outlet!

Sorry about the pictures and spacing...just couldn't get them to line up right!

Who says you can't go home again?

Technically, this was never my home, but, when I arrive at my parents' beach house, I turn back into a little girl again. Sitting at the counter talking to my mom while she cooks, usually with a special snack she has prepared for me. So, the milk and cookies have changed to wine and cheese but, the feeling of comfort has not changed a bit. The girls and I arrived this afternoon, MBM met us here after a meeting at Princeton. We are here through Easter. The whole clan will be arriving over the next two days. Four generations... we will have a big dinner on Saturday night and out to brunch on Sunday. The in between time will be spent putting the finishing touches on at our beach house, the girls would like to go to the movies, big lacrosse day on Saturday, and I hope to squeeze in some shopping! I loved Libby's gratitude list last week and thought it would be fun to list something I was grateful for each day.... So, today I am grateful for my mom!

Let's Paint!

Well, we painted this weekend! Then we painted and then after that we painted! The beach house is just about ready for our summer renters. MBM and I enlisted his sister, brother-in-law(B and B) and brother (Uncle French Fry) to help us get the house opened up! Luckily too, because we ran into plumbing issues that would have cost lots of $$$, if B and B hadn't been there to save the day! Although we worked all day Saturday we had a lot of fun, too! We don't get a chance to hang out all that often without the our kids and grandparents! Oh, I forgot to mention the most important part we painted!
I forgot to take pictures...you'll just have to wait a little longer!

Today, the girls and I went to get our hair cut. Lulu and Caroline went with short bobs, love it!!!

Emma still holding out just got a trim! I was supposed to get color done but, there was an incident this weekend, my hair vs. paint! I lost! Anyway, I have to wash it with vinegar to try to get all the paint out! I ran errands all afternoon. Mainly for Easter Basket stuff! Picked up these dresses for the girls at Target!

The girls are on Spring Break this week...here is what is in my MomAgenda for Tuesday!
... waxing, can't wait for that!...manis and pedis for the girls, by me of course...client in the afternoon, a bridal party... laundry....pack for the shore...pick up the house for cleaning lady on Wednesday...finish and ship/deliver a few orders... finish priming the pergola...order Caroline's First Communion invitations...

I better get to sleep or should I watch the train wreck that is on at 10, aka The Bachelor?

Sea Shore...

What a weekend! Friday I had a custom handbag party...fun, fun, fun and late,late,late! I got into bed at 3:00 AM and had to be up at 6:00 AM to drive two hours to the "shore" ...Sea Isle City, New Jersey. I am NOT a late night girl...I NEED a full night sleep to function. To my surprise I was quite pleasant all day Saturday. My husband and I have flipped a few beach houses and our latest purchase we have decided to keep for ourselves. It is a 102 year old Victorian beach cottage. Sounds nice, doesn't it? We are the fourth owners, the couple that we bought it from was there for 25 years. We did a ton of work last spring...cleaning it out was the biggest job. They left EVERYTHING...all the furniture, dishes, towels, and even their tooth brushes. We took out 45 bags of trash. Not to mention the furniture, etc...We painted the every room, the kitchen cabinets, basically anything that wasn't moving got a fresh coat of paint. We rent the house for the summer and hope to someday build our dream house on the lot. The house cannot be saved. In the fall, we ripped up all the carpets to expose the original wide plank pine floors. We found 2 layers of carpet, padding, tacks, staple, and glue! So we sanded a few weeks back and this weekend we decided to paint the floors. Saturday morning we primed the floors. Saturday afternoon we put on the first coat of paint. Sunday morning we put the second coat of paint! I think it looks great. So fresh, clean, and cool! I did not take before pictures of the house but, will be sure to post some pictures of the "shack" as we call it when it is all ready for summer! PS...I can't wait for the summer!