VBS

I have such fond memories as a child of attending summer Vacation Bible School at the churchs' of my youth.  It was a fun time to learn stories of the Bible, participate in fun games, sing Christian songs and have a good ole' time.  Of course, Zsa Zsa was in the throws of it all coordinating carnival style games, themes and everything imaginable on a shoe string church budget. 

Well, have times changed.  The gals of my Sunday School class signed me up to help out at our recent VBS and boy was I in for a rude awakening!  Instead of popsicles ... these kids had a snow cone truck TWICE.  Instead of a sprinkler or water balloons ... these kids had a GIANT inflatable water slide.  Yep, my my how times change. 

Each night the sweet girls behind all this madness would give out treats to those of us doing hard time with the littles.  The theme this year was the camping and outdoors related and so this little treat was a great snack to tide over the hungry appetites that can only come from wrangling the wild ones after snow cones!

From the front ... a simple granola bar.... a fitting snack for our wilderness excursion....

On the flip side, a sweet note that fits with the theme.  Too cute! 

These girls made managing this many littles look like a breeze.  Loved every minute of our fantastic, service filled week!

M.I.A.

Hey y'all!  It's me ... your long lost diva.  I know, I know ... I've been MIA.  That's not intended to be the abbreviation for Miami's Airport (for which is one of what feels like only a few cities I haven't been in the past few weeks!) but rather I realize I've been missing in action and y'all I just must sincerely apologize. 

Over the past few weeks I've spent waaaaaayyyyyy too much time on pinterest planning for the babe's upcoming birthday fete and as a result I've found waaaaaayyyyyyy too many projects to start and not yet complete.  (heavy sigh).  Luckily, I've been snapping as I go and have a few recipes, projects and tips to keep us chockful of fun for the days to come! 

Here we go.....

Gone Fishin

Mid last week, Dear Hubs set off on his deep sea fishing excursion with some of the fellas around these parts.  They had a great time and caught enough fish for us to have more than a few fish fry events this summer! 

Well, while the boys were away, bestie P and I rounded up the littles and headed to the club for the annual crab boil.  Y'all... I anxiously wait for this meal each and every year.  The club rolls out the brown craft paper across what feels like miles of tables and spreads tasty crab legs, shrimp, crawfish, sausage, potatoes and corn for all of us to feverishly chow down on!  Let's face it, there's nothing dainty about eating crab legs!  But gosh, those crustaceans are just tops! 

We sat outside, listened to a fab little band and ate... and ate ... and ate.  When we finished eating more than our eyes and tummies could handle, the littles ran around and played on the lawn while bestie P and I sipped a nice glass of wine! 

Our drive home in the golf cart consisted of "bunny hunting" where we play a game of looking for all the little bunnies along the path and seeing how many jump away swiftly as we approach.  After a quick change into swim trunks for the older littles, it was off to the pool for "Dive in Movie" night.  While Baby B wasn't having it and was ready for bed, I understand it was a fab event filled with dj music, snow cones, popcorm and the Smurf movie.  Maybe next time, Baby B!

After our Friday staycation drew to a close, Dear Hub's notified us that due to horrible storms along the coast, he would be heading home Saturday.  His arrival home was met with "gone fishin" cupcakes.  We had so many that we shared a few with some of the littles down the street as a nice treat. 

To assemble the fishing rods, I used barber pole straws and tied a little baker's twine to make a rod and string.  Multi-color gummy fish were tied around the tail to make a cute catch!  Peach rings made the perfect life preservers and extra fish jumped around the waves of blue frosting on other cupcakes.  These were a smash with the littles that received them and Dear Hubs was impressed that we missed him enough to whip these up for his arrival.  Of course, we missed him! 

So, as the storms moved north on Sunday and the rain came down around these parts ... at least we had fishin cupcakes to keep us occupied and thinking of beachy times!

Divine Twine

Some days my crafty side gets so tired of being repressed that it just jumps out at the smallest opportunity and refuses to go back to being quiet until I've repurposed, moved, shuffled, glued, covered, you name it everything in site!  Saturday was one such day! 

What started as a simple bookcase decorating shuffle (more on that later) turned into quality time with my glue gun.  I just love those days!  Thankfully, Dear Hubs was missing due to an overdue haircut at his man salon and Baby B decided to nap like a champ; so I had a few good hours to rebuild and overhaul everything in sight.  Glorious!

For y'all who know this diva well, you know once I get going with that glue gun, I just don't stop easy.  Lucky for me it worked well this time and I've got a cute little accessory for my porch as a result. 

The twine covered pot topped with moss and oyster shells is a perfect trinket to round out a burlap covered table on the porch.  As a sidebar, I've recovered all the pillows, added a rug and a few other things that have me just giddy about the way this room has come together! 

The best part of this little trinket ... NO COST!  I know, right?  It was made with supplies that were onhand... can you believe that?  Between the price tag (none) and the fact this whips together super fast, it's a craft that just can't be beat.  I'll surely be using this process again!

To create a little twine accessory for yourself, it's simple so here goes.  First, you need a spool of twine (I found some in Dear Hub's tool box ...ssshhhh!), glue gun and flower pot or vase.  In this case, I have a ton of these plastic terra cotta looking pots from old orchids that have gone on to orchid heaven. 

Begin by securing the twine on the bottom of the flower pot with hot glue.  Since this is your anchor, don't be stingy!  Begin wrapping the twine around the very bottom edge (on the side).  Secure in 3-4 places with a small dab of hot glue.  

After the first row is in place, continue wrapping the twine.  Every 4 rows, I ensured that the rows were real tight to one another and the string was pulled taught.  Then, I secured that row in place with one dab of glue.  Continue this motion all the way to the top edge.

When you get to the very top, repeat the process (backward) that you did on the bottom.  In this case, glue the top edge in 3-4 places and then wrap the tail in the top.  Secure on the inside with glue.

For this vase, I filled it with trash bags to stuff it and then topped with some moss.  Once it was mounded up, I added 2 oyster shells for a little focal interest. 

I'm pleased as punch with the result!  This little gem is darling and I will definitely be crafting with some divine twine here soon!

Commence the Cookout

Summer is in full swing around these parts.  We are thoroughly enjoying lazy weekends on the porch (which included a leisure nap last weekend ... perfection) and great fun times with friends and family.  Santa brought Dear Hubs a Big Green Egg for Christmas last year and since that time, grilling has taken on a new meaning of event each and every time he fires it up.  The chicken is delish, the pork butt gets gobbled up, the turkey breast is divine and the brisket is to.die.for. 

Last weekend, word of mouth spread around these parts and what started as a casual get together became a cookout for about 40!  Yes, folks ... an impromptu par-tay ensued.  Fun was had by all.  Between great food, a rousing game of cornhole for the big kids, water blasters for the littles and some delish desserts; we certainly made a day of it!

Thanks to a lifetime with Zsa Zsa's mentorship and always ready "party drawer", I had some supplies on hand to serve up some southern hospitality.  Barber pole stripe straws, coordinating polka dot napkins, Mason Jars and wine glasses did the trick.  And, Lord thank that Toby Keith made the Red Solo Cup stylish again!  Those came in handy for this crowd!

No party is complete without sweet tea!

Once the food was served, people grabbed a plate and dished up a healthy portion of some good BBQ, tasty sides and lovely extras!

And just when we thought we couldn't eat another morsel, we passed individual strawberry shortcakes, fresh homemade ice cream and other tasty treats around.  Delish.  The shortcakes were compliments of moi.  They started as super cute push pops with teeny tiny cake layers.  But, when I caught wind of our growing crowd and the pop containers caused a fuss ... well, we went to plan B.  These worked just fine, if I do say so myself!  Baby B even took a few bites ... no complaints from him!

Remind me, I have to get those sauce recipes that Dear Hubs whipped up and share them soon.  Wow... they were just too good to be true!

Welcome to summer, ya'll fire up that grill!

Tiffany Styled Fete

I love my dear bestie M for so many reasons.  She's been with me through bad dorm experiences, first apartments, funny stories to no end, trips and vacations, bridesmaid duty and weddings, children and so much more.  One thing that I just love about her is how sneaky creative she is.  I am thoroughly convinced that her time served as an elementary school teacher has made her a very creative soul (how can you not be with all that energy running around your feet?).  Nonetheless, she never ceases to amaze me with perfect parties and thoughtful details. 

Recently, bestie M hosted a shower for her other bestie and my dear sweet old roomie C (are you following this?).  The party was a smash and she had so many great details I had to share.  When I was busted with the iphone taking pictures, she jokingly asked if this was for "the blog" and when I said yes, she gave creative authoring for many of her ideas to pinterest.  Oh, no ... no ... this was all you dear M.

Each detail was charming and left the guests guessing "how did she come up with that?" at every turn.  Sweet, darling and full of love for dear C.  Here's a few quick snaps I could sneak in ... hey, I was a guest so full paparatzi just wasn't appropriate :).  One of these days, I'll need to snatch M's camera so I can get the full download of pics!

Sweet treats displayed.  Champagne cupcakes, Tiffany package petit fors ... darling!

The buffet.  Love the cheese "wedding cake" featured in the center. 

Fruit filled waffle cones.  Divine.

A labor of love.  Big flowers and ribbon deck out regular plastic cups for design flare.

I'll be sure to remember to call bestie M before my next fete ... her creativity and sassy execution is one for the books!

Austria State of Mind

I've heard of a New York state of mind ... but after a fast work trip to Salzburg, Austria; I've been in an Austrian state of mind!  Why you ask?  Well ... one look at these pics and you just might be as well. 

While overdue since my trip, I finally gathered my thoughts and am happy to share my top five reasons this place is such a delight!

Beautiful view from dinner at the art museum.  It doesn't get much better!

• First ... it's a gorgeous city rich with history.  The streets tell the stories of those that walked there before.  The buildings walls speak to the tenants that lived and worked in the same place before.  The castle tells a story of protecting this charming hidden beauty from war and threats. 
• Second ... lush countryside and beautiful nature abounds.
• Third ... Mozart lived here and the city still sings for him.
• Fourth ... the food and beer.  Every bite from bavarian pretzels, big plates of schnitzel and did I mention the beer?  All so delishly tasty I came home with an extra 5 lbs.
• Fifth ... the Mozart ball candy.  It's a gem!  My local partners sent me this candy on special holidays in year's past and this time I took the opportunity to stock up on my own stash!
• Bonus number six ... bicycles are EVERYWHERE.  From my colleagues that bike to work (looking like the perfect J.Crew ad with a preppy blue sports coat, pink gingham button down with matching pocket square on a bike with the perfect market basket ... no lie!) to the townspeople out for dinner with their doggy bags in those big charming market baskets on the front of their bike ... I'm in love.