If I...

lived in a big city with seasons and had a fancy job, this is how I imagine I would dress:

(kate spade @ bloomingdales.com)

I love Kate Spade. Thankfully she has decided to debut her new line of fab clothing in the fall so I'm not too tempted to buy. I'll apologize to my AmEx in advance for the day when I see the spring line. Till then I will remain the casual sundress/flip flop wearing mommy that I am. Best uniform for this 90 degree inferno paradise. (would someone please tell me how to strikethrough?? i can't figure it out for the life of me).

Finished watching Duplicity last night. Wasn't too impressed. They tried to make it interesting by doing a series of multi city flashbacks but I thought the plot was rather blechk. Opinions??

Best get to the daily routine.

Smiles,

Elle

Edit: Thanks Llama!! Now I know how to strikethrough.

Is it just me

or have you noticed that there is a posting drought every weekend? On Sat am, I check my dashboard and find only a few if any new posts. I guess you all have fabulous social lives on the weekends while my life remains much of the same. Except Sundays when N is home too.

Anyways, it seems that the rest of the family is sleeping - husband [N] included. So I guess I will go and finish watching Duplicity. I fell asleep in the middle of the movie last night. This is no indication of my opinion of any movie. I have been known to fall asleep while others are on the edge of their seats. It's just me - I'm sort of narcoleptic while watching movies, at any time of the day.

Oh, I also made this chicken cacciatore (minus the peppers) tonight for dinner and it was YUM. The kids even ate the chicken and wanted more.

Hope you are having a fab weekend!

Elle

Here, there and everywhere.

That's where my thoughts are so this is going to be a post of random things so I can get a few of the "things to post about" off the list in my head!

First off I want to just send a little love to all you wonderful people that I've discovered through blogs. Thanks for the nice comments and for the fun posts. This little adventure takes up far too much of my time every day but it's so darn fun.

Next is a book review my-style. I'm no English major nor a reader of the classics which will be blatantly obvious once you read my review... I just finished Jennifer Wiener's Certain Girls. This was a fun, entertaining read. At times a page turner but generally just a fun book that I looked forward to reading. And for me that's about as good as it gets. My only requirement really is - please don't bore me. Plus the family in the book is Jewish so several things sparked good memories I have of my dear Jewish friends who introduced me to things like the menorah, dreidel, potato knish, cheese blintzes (YUM - I might have to plan a trip to NYC just to get my blintz fix) and one of my fave holiday songs by Adam Sandler.

Followed by a movie review. Adventureland. This is the best 80's movie I've seen that wasn't made in the 80's. The whole setting, wardrobe, etc... is so spot on. Just seeing the styles was entertaining enough, but the story was good too. Plus this is one of those movies that doesn't employ A-listers. I love seeing the new, young group of actors/actresses that are becoming more popular that haven't made it where they are just bcs they are physically beautiful.

And well I guess that's it for now. It's past my bed time and I was up reeeealy early this morning because my adorable son wanted to play at 5 am. I'm puzzled as to why I'm not tired yet. After all, the super early morning coupled with a day out on the boat would normally have had me nodding off hours ago... And this is another reason I have to stop and count my blessings - a Thursday on the boat, swimming in the beautiful blue sea that is a short drive from my home, with my babies.

Smiles,

Elle

Thanks

Tonight I just want to write a short little post. A few events in my life have reminded me to remain thankful. Sometimes we get so caught up in the trivial that we forget to look at the big picture. When I stop for a moment and look at my big picture, I think "damn, I'm lucky". Today a dear friend of mine underwent surgery to remove his thyroid and some surrounding lymph nodes as they have been invaded by the big C: cancer. He's a 30 something father of 2 and someone I feel blessed to have as a pal. This is one of those things that makes me stop and think about how blessed I am and how thankful I am for so many wonderful things in my life. I've had some tragic days, but through it all I remind myself that things can always be worse, MUCH worse. I've learned to remain thankful for all that I have.

Nighty-night

Elle

Have a cookie...

Had these babies baked by 10:30 this morning. Banana cookies. Not exactly what I wanted but yummy nonetheless. They are very soft and cake-like - I was hoping for a little crispiness but perhaps that's too much to ask of a cookie made with real banana puree.

My brain is so full of post ideas that I'm having trouble posting. I spent a while this morning reading all the new posts my bloglies (it's what I have decided to call the lovely bloggers I follow) have written then commenting. I took me a while and though I was thoroughly enjoying myself - there were several other things of more (?) importance that were not getting done.

August was supposed to be my month of major organizing/clutter removal and I've managed to complete one task - clean my desk. Not very impressive, I know. Well gotta go play :)

Elle

My Colors

I always enjoy seeing other people's homes and the colors they use inside. Today, I thought I'd share my interior color choices with you. What do you think? My camera isn't the greatest for photographing colors inside but these are mostly accurate. Ok the problem is probably me and not my camera but anyway....

Palladian Blue

Tarragon

Toasted Almond

Cream Puff (I didn't prep for these pics - this is real life people!)

Sweet Carolina

Parsley Tint

Bracken Brown

I am most often complimented on the Palladian Blue that is the main color we used in the house. It is a lovely pale aqua and I must say that nearly a year and a half later I'm still loving it.

Elle

Heartbroken

My anthem today was Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart. Here's the story....

Miss S is my 3 1/2 year old girl. Yesterday her Grandmother phoned me in the morning to invite Miss S to join them for the night at a beach house they were renting for a few nights. I spoke with Miss S and attempted to consult my husband [N] as Miss S had not spent the night out without us. N was not available so I decided to go ahead and pack her up and let her try it out. The house was about a 45 minute drive away so worst case I could collect her at bedtime when she decided she was ready to return home to her sweet mother.

So around noon her Grandma arrived to collect her and off they went. I called and called and called again to check on her. She was fine. When N heard she had joined them he thought it wasn't such a great idea and was not keen on the idea of having to drive 45 mins to collect her later that night. Anyways, our last call was at about 10 last night and still the report was that Miss S was perfectly fine playing with her cousins, etc (yes, my baby was still up at 10pm!).. I didn't speak to her because I didn't want to upset her and mess things up. We got off the phone and I had what I can only describe as "mother's pit". It's a feeling you get inside when you miss your babies. I haven't had it for quite a while. And actually I had the feeling for a few hours by then. So off to sleep for me. It was nice, I admit, to have no little visitors to our bed last night. I waited as long as I possibly could this morning to call. I couldn't wait to talk to my sweet angel. Well when I called Miss S had no interest in speaking to her mother. (stab knife in my heart). What? Did I hear you correctly? Did she just say no she didn't want the phone? You heard it right. My little independent girl didn't need to talk to me. I was crushed. She didn't want to speak to me for fear that I'd mention coming back home. I was heartbroken. N's response: "Now you know how I feel". She is a mommy's girl most of the time. "unbreak my heart, say you love me again..."

I felt sorry for myself for a while. Now she's back home and asleep. Exhausted from going to bed at 11 last night and up before 7 this am. I'm glad to have her home. Guess I missed her more than she missed me.

Elle

PS- I'm thrilled to have another follower and have had comments from 3 different commenters! YAY :)