Yesterday and today

The building that houses The Zone in Tarpon Springs dates back to the late 1890s and has gone through many transformations. The interior has been recently remodeled keeping the best (metal ceiling, beautiful etched glass, French doors to the courtyard and the wooden bar). We had a nice chat with the manager, Doug, who gifted us with a visit to the ball room upstairs and showed us the haunted area also up on the second floor. There are supposedly three or four such haunted buildings in our little town and it was kind of fun to get to view one of them.



Our season is not kicked off officially at our house until the Tiki god of beer dons his Santa hat. Now he is all decked out and ready to celebrate.

We're off to the botanical garden light display with the kids tonight...really looking forward to this! Hope your weekend has been a delightful one. We've been having a blast.

Food Truck Rally and Art Walk in Tarpon Springs

We can not pass up a festival here in our little village. We hit them all or most all and today, despite the intermittent rain and my restart on Weight Watchers, this was one festival we could not pass up. One of the organizers of the event is a friend of ours and he was a bit disappointed in that of the 18 food trucks who had signed up to attend, only 8 actually showed. The other ten sure missed out...the rain stopped, the sun showed itself, albeit weakly and the crowds arrived, spent money and ate. I am hoping the artists did well. There were some beautiful paintings and art works for sale.

E and I ended up having pulled pork sandwiches with cold slaw under the meat (I skipped the bun and we are only having veggies and shrimp for supper) and from, Macalicious, we got the Works Tater Tots: not your ordinary tater tots...something extra in the coating, mac and cheese, scallions and sour cream. I could only eat about 3 bites but each one was heavenly!
While we did not buy any sweets, these gals were wonderful about me taking their picture even offering to come out of the rain to better pose for my camera.
I love how the motorcyclist accommodated he and his side car rider with a beach umbrella!




We went into the Zone Bar for a beer and ended up chatting with the manager, Doug, for about an hour even getting a tour of the ballroom and the 'haunted' area upstairs. But that is for another day!

Since the rain has abated and we have dry wood, off to the lower lawn with a nice glass of Chianti Classico, the love of my life, E and a nice fire!

Sat. and the little guys half birthday!

That was then and this is now. Landon and Colvin are 18 mo. today and they are growing up way too fast for this Nana.
Happy Half Birthday to you both. We love you madly and forever!

Today E and I are off to a food truck rally and art walk here in Tarpon Springs. There is also a craft fair and the annual Christmas lighted boat parade but we have decided to forgo that event this year and are opting for a glass of wine by the fire pit before dinner.

Hope your weekend is a lovely one!

Happy Half Birthday to me!

I only learned about half birthday celebrations recently but you all know me, any excuse for a party. This party is for counting my blessings as I approach the second part of the year towards turning 65!

I am so blessed. I have a wonderous husband, two great kids and one great son in law and grandkids to boot all who make me laugh and enrich my life so very much with their love.

I am so blessed. I have some of the very best friends a girl could ask for. They tolerate my off days, enjoy my company and seem to like my quirky personality. They revel with me in my daily life and enhance my very soul. These women ( and you do know who you are) are the epitome of integrity and honor and have set a high standard that has moved me in a more positive direction in my life. And, besides, they are funnier than hell!

I am so blessed. I have my health and am back to Weight Watchers which is the only program that has ever worked for me. I have gained over the past few months not going to the meetings as we watched the twins that day and went over the weight I swore I would never go over...155...by 8 lbs. Since the meeting on Tues, I have already taken off 3 of that! And E and I are back walking or riding daily. We both want to be around to enjoy our grandchildren as long as we can and weight management and exercise are the best things we can do.

I am so blessed. Not long ago someone offered up to me a piece of her soul in the form of an apology. I had a choice: I could make her feel as badly as I had felt or I could give both of us some peace of mind. I thought long and hard and, after two years of anger and regrets, we both have peace. Recently I had a chance to pass this on so I did expecting nothing in return. And I got peace just out of the effort. Amazing how that works.

I am so blessed. I've been given opportunities lately and have taken a careful look at where I want to invest my time and effort. I have closed some doors in order to open one or two others.
We shall see what happens out of those doors both opened and closed.

I am so blessed! Happy 64.5 to me!

A Walk in the Park

We are fortunate to live close to the Anclote River that flows into the Gulf. The nature preserve is one of our favorite places to walk. Yesterday, it was too cool to bike ride so we bundled up and walked through the park out to the fishing dock and back. The birds were chirping, the trees filled with berries and color and the river shimmered like tinsel on a tree. Guess the park is getting ready for Christmas too.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Baby Leighton Kaye...who does she look like?

Colvin?
or her other big brother, Landon?
We think she got the best of both! She is now 1 mo. old and the twins will be 18 mo on the 10th and she is up to a tad over 8lbs. Poor Landon has another ear infection and is back on meds.
Chris, Kristen, Janette (Chris' mom) and all the kids are coming over for one of E's great dinners tonight. We had planned on going to see the lights at the botanical garden in Largo but, with Landon's ear infection and cold weather on the way, we'll wait til next week some time.

Hope your week is going well.

Another week in Paradise

Not the best quality pictures but the people sure were. And here is Michele and Gaylen reading the family/friend's annual Cajun Night Before Christmas.



And coming up this weekend: the Food Truck Rally and Art Walk in Tarpon's historical district and then the boat parade down on Spring Bayou ...all on Sat. Join us?

Holday Party Part I

Last night was our Holiday Party. We had some gals and their husbands from Book Club, our Dinner Club and the gals I scrap with along with our local friends (some of whom fall into the other categories as well). All in all, through out the night, there were about 25 of us kicking off the holiday season.

E cooked up so many wonderful treats: crab mousse, spinach dip in a pumpernickel round, his goat cheese in sesame seeds with honey and raspberries, a Tuscan white bean dip, and a few more. I'll be putting a few of these on his blog, He Cooks, later today.




We set up the wet bar in the kitchen, the food on a small buffet table beneath the window to the kitchen and on the dining room table. In years past, we have set up tables through out the house but this year, put them all outside...3 inside the gate to the pool and two outside. The weather was so balmy, we didn't even need to turn on the propane heater.

By quarter of seven, our house was filled with lovely people and lively conversation. Part II later today. Thanks for looking!

Grape Escape at the Garden Room, Palm Harbor, Fl

This was one amazing fund raiser for the YMCA SunCoast Greater Palm Harbor Branch. This was the 9th year for the event and, if this year's was any indication...ooh la la. We ate, drank, socialized and danced to lovely jazz that seemed to surround us in this winter wonder land that the designers and owners of the Garden Room Nursery created. The tables were like large blocks of ice, all lit from within. The out door rooms were warmed either by the propane heaters like the one in the Beer Garden section (see Suzie and I above) or by the fire places and fire pits.

Through out the venue, some sort of light threw these lovely green orbs all over. They also had machines that were red and white. The trees were all festooned with twinkling pretties and the food was amazing.


We went with Jason and Suzie and met up with Gaylen and Charo, who were celebrating their anniversary. We were later joined by Bob and Linda and had such a wonderful time.
The food was provided by Carrabbas Italian Grill, Mystic Fish, Mmmmm Delicious Cupcakes, Olde Bay Cafe (chatted with the owner and told him we have never been able to get in to eat at the place in Dunedin...and YEAH! they will soon be expanding ...the soup he served was to die for), JJ Gandy's and Co, Old Town Cafe, Tarpon Springs Yacht Club, MecaFresh, and Angel Cakes Gourmet. The wines were provided by Lueken's Big Town Liquors. Our all time favorite was one from Italy!

Watch this spot for updates on these places as I am adding them to the places to try list of local eateries.

Speaking of food. I have started a blog for E called He Cooks and put the first recipe up just this morning.

Happy Dec. 1

Our temps here have been cool and brisk which sure gets me in the holiday mood. I made an angel for the top of our tree (see my altered blog), decorated the house, picked out our Christmas cards (notice I did not say addressed them), helped the kids get their lights and decorations up and put the Christmas music on the blog.

I dug out my holiday shirts and jewelry and feel that holiday spirit! We've even been drinking our wine out of our new Christmas-y wine glasses.

Most of the shopping is done save for a few things and now all we have to do is wrap.

But, before all that takes place, here is what is going on with us

Tonight: a wine and food tasting at Garden Room Nursery in Palm Harbor, Fl. with several of our friends. Suzie reserved a table for all of us, hopefully near one of the out door fireplaces.

Dec. 3 is our Holiday Party for several of our friends. This is the third year we have held this event and we so enjoy having everyone over.

Dec. 8 Book Club at Glo's. Can't wait...our guest author from last year, Sophia, is returning with lots of goodies her Cambodian women make and it will be shop til we drop for sure.

Dec. 10 is a fair in Tarpon Springs and the annual boat parade

Dec 13 (evening) is Posh Scrap's ' Open House and a couple of us on the design team will be doing make n takes (this date is almost certain).

Dec 17 is the annual Santa parade here in Tarpon Springs. I have only missed one year since we moved here. I really think the little guys will enjoy it this year so asking Kristen if she'd like to go with me.

And...some time inbetween:
Gong to see the lights at the Botanical Garden in Largo with the kids

And a bit of sad news...those of you who know me know that the little green neon tree I have had for eaons, Lucille, is no longer with us. Her lights dimmed and I had to find a new tree. Now the new little tree is still neon green and has the green lights on it but
it is not as robust as was our Lucille. Thus her name is Lucy!

Have a great first week of December.

Giving Thanks

It was a chaotic, busy and absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving at our house this year. Rob swung by Kristen's, helped her load the kids in her van for the trip to our house. Chris had to work til 4:30 so we spent the remainder of the time playing with the kids, cooking (mostly E) and working on our printer and computers (mostly Rob) and chasing 2 little boys hither, thither and yon (mostly Kristen and me). Dinner was wonderful and E and I, despite sending home lots and lots of left overs with the kids, have been eating on turkey, apple pie, dressing etc ever since.

I hope to be able to post 3 of the 4 layouts I did at Posh Scraps yesterday but may wait til I put the finishing touches on the 4th one so it may be tomorrow before I get them up.

Hope your Thanksgiving has been a wonderful one.

Girls' Day Out

Kristen and I have a tradition of my taking her out on her birthday for lunch. This year, due to the early arrival of Ms leighton, this lunch was delayed until this past Monday. We took our favorite little girl with us as we figured that the earlier we got her in to the lunch, shop routine, the better. Besides, how often do I get to dine with two such lovely ladies?

Kristen had never been to Bon Appetite in Dunedin but had requested some where on the water and this place fit the bill. It is where Glo, Sandy and I go every year to open the holiday season. Kristen and I both had the 1943 salad and Leighton had some Mama's Milk. She actually slept through most of our outing...are we that boring? lol
Here we are...three generations. Do you see any resemblance? And what is that expression on my face. I mean, I know I don't take very good pics but really?
Kristen got her wish...this restaurant overlooks Honeymoon Island and to the south, Clearwater...so lovely and excellent food
After our lunch out, we hit Jo's and Mike's looking for the perfect first tree for our little lady. Now it had to be pink and it had to be glittery with lots of bling. And we found a hot pink tinsel tree that fit the bill . Hope our little lady likes it.

I am hoping your week is going well!