What do you allow?

The smile of a champ!

Little Mia had a goal.

She set out to win a spot in the city championships.

And she did it!

So proud of her.

All The Preppies Holla!

I don't have a trendy bone in my body.

Sometimes I wish I could pull off the latest fashions

like flowy dresses

or neon backless tank tops

and then I remember

I'm me.

There's a picture of me at a recent book signing

I tried wearing this rayon brightly colored shirt.

It was horrendous.

I squint at the colors.

What was I thinking?

Some call me classic

or refined.

Heck, I have one friend who calls me "banana girl"

after Banana Republic, of course.

The word I hear most is "preppy"

and I suppose I'm okay with that.

So it does me very good to know that

in just a few weeks the guys and gals

who will represent this fine country will be completely

100%

without a doubt

totally preppified!

There's really nothing like a crisp pair of white chinos

and a navy blue popped collar polo shirt

Is there?

In the midst...

I don't know what I was thinking.

I decided I wanted to "get out a little bit."

Enjoy a dear friend.

A girl lunch.

So we walked.

Kinda far.

In very, very hot weather.

110 degree weather.

Uggh.

I was hot.

Blazing hot.

I was complaining.

And then in the midst of the heat

and the sound of my complaining

I saw this.

It was green.

And beautiful.

It reminded me that even in the midst of what some call hell

there's alittle slice of heaven.

T ues

The grind

It's good to be missed.

It should make me happy, right?

Some folks wanted me to be here, rather than there.

There being that fabulous place on the water.

Today I'm a little sad,  I can't lie.

It's back to the grind for me.

The kids are lucky little devils

at home

lounging

having a blast

for the last few weeks of their summer.

Good for them.

They're blessed.

And I'm blessed too.

I love what I do

maybe not as much as I like laying on the beach

but onward...

Cinnamon Sundays

There's something magical about Sunday mornings.

My three treasures sleep in.

And me, I like to wake up and enjoy the quiet...

while it lasts.

We're back to church and that's a really good thing.

11:30 mass makes it easy to be lazy

and do things like read the paper

catch up on Pinterest, Facebook and my favorite blogs

and of course there's the baking.

Baking things that make the house smell yummy

and things that wait in the kitchen for

the sleepy loves of my life.

I wish every morning could be like the ones

that meet me on Sunday.