The Beach...Day One

Chuck and I just got back from Sandestin, Florida, where we spent the last 5 days with our friends from the good old days.  Every day was good.....even the days that were stormy.  We ate great food, spent hours on their screened-in porch drinking coffee or wine...depending on the time of day, spent time at the beach, on a boat, shopping and meeting up with their friends and family.  We've known these friends for 18 years but only lived down the street from them for 3 of those years.... yet our friendship hasn't skipped a beat.  Some things never change in an ever changing world. 

DAY ONE...Sunday, July 4, 2010

Just a golf cart ride away from their house to the beach.

The beach was crowded and the skies were overcast. 

Chip and Chuck (we call them the "ch's") 

headed out earlier that day to pitch the tent for us.

The young ones played....well, I don't really know what you call this....but it involved 2 paddles and a very small ping pong ball.  Paddle ball? Ping Pong Ball?  Beach tennis?  Tiny Tennis? 

Honestly, if it involves a ball, I do not get involved. 

 I got the camera out and took a walk down the beach. 

The water was gorgeous...but the last storm, Alex,

had stirred up a little seaweed. 

 We never saw any oil,

 but the crews of workers were out just in case. 

Debbie gave Chuck this hat and told him

it was his only job this week.

  If he forgot, all he had to do was look up to remind himself. 

No one had to tell me to relax.

  I spent the month of June practicing.

Twice, some quick storms rolled through...

but we took cover under our tent...

and hey, we were at the beach...

so getting wet didn't really matter. 

We did, however, have to get back home

 to start grilling our dinner. 

Back at the house I took a picture of a picture I had painted of our friends' beachouse...as a token gift for our stay.

And here is the L. Young art I ordered for them...

for the new home they are building in Atlanta. 

It is their initial with an Italian house blessing

printed on the canvas. 

What can you really give to someone

who means so much to you? 

This is just a drop in the bucket.

Because there were way too many cooks in the kitchen, 

I decorated the center of the table...and stayed out of the kitchen.

Some of Chip and Debbie's friends had joined us

earlier at the beach....and again for dinner. 

 Ribs, sausage, chicken, Tommy Bahama's Asian cole slaw,

 finger potatoes, fresh bread with herbs and olive oil,

chilled wine........

and Bananas Foster over Blue Bell ice cream for dessert. 

YUM.

This is Debbie on the right.....

with her good friend, Jodi, from Atlanta. 

Debbie is holding her baby.

 Pauly is quite possibly the sweetest dog in the world. 

I held Pauly as much as possible this week. 

I made the girls a flower pin with 4th of July ribbons attached. 

The guys were jealous, I'm sure.

Pauly.  Loving life and his mama.

For all my crafter friends out there.......this is for you.

  How stinking cute and easy is this? 

Take it and run with it. 

Right as we were making plans to head back down

 to the beach to watch the fireworks,

 a tumultuous thunderstorm hit. 

While it was a little disappointing,

there was no way this ruined anything. 

We had all seen fireworks before...

and most likely would see them again. 

This picture was taken on a

 different setting on my camera...the camera I keep on Auto. 

So this will represent the fireworks this 4th of July, 2010.

It's all Peggy's Fault

While at Peggy's house last week....when others were scrapbooking....Peggy was giving me a tour of her house.  She was asking for my decorating opinions here and there.  At one point, she pointed to some really cute art and said she really wanted to move the pieces to her kitchen eating area. 

To which I responded, "Let's do it." 

So Peggy grabbed the canvases off the wall, pulled the nails out, grabbed the hammer and we moved those babies to the kitchen. That's how it's done.  The art really caught my eye and I think I may have fallen in love ....at first sight, but certainly after I touched it and held it. 

After Peggy sent me the name of the artist........I looked her up on etsy.com.  I'm not sure if it would have caught my eye on etsy.com..........as it is absolutely so much prettier in person.  So I am doing all of you a favor here and telling you...it's way more beautiful than it looks on the computer screen.  Trust me.

We are heading to Destin to see our good friends and I just might be bringing her a piece of this great art.  And that's just how much I love this good friend.  She might be getting a piece of this before I even get myself some. And if she reads this and knows she might be getting one, she will not know which one until I give it to her. 

I am definitely putting this art on my Birthday and Christmas wish list.

The artist is L. Young....a southern girl who got her degree in Fine Art from The University of Texas...and lives right next door in Monroe, Louisiana.  Her website is http://www.lyoungstudio.com/.  She's been featured in Southern Living, Romantic Homes and Southern Lady.  The uniqueness of her art is that is has that classic botanical look but it's on canvas......with a high gloss resin look.  No need for a frame....and can be hung as one or as a collection.   

The hardest part is going to be picking which one I want first. 

Like I needed another want for my list.

And while I don't know this artist, I know she is nice and certainly knows how to treat her customers right.  I ordered something late Tuesday of this week and asked if she could be sure it was here....delivered to my door.....by Friday.  It's here.  It's Friday. 

Go look at her websight or on etsy.com for a much better view of her work.  She also sells in some retail locations in the Houston area as well as other cities and states. 

The Crazy...Good Old Days

This is circa 1992.  The two girls are mine and the two boys are my friend's. (Baby Will is not in this picture...but keep in mind there was one more critter.) This takes me back to this time in my life.....when I thought my life was crazy, my friend thought her life was crazy and we both lived for Friday nights.......when the husbands got home and we headed out for Mexican food but more importantly the margarita.  That was our paycheck back then. 

The mama of these boys is the best friend I have ever had.  In the "You Make Me Laugh So Hard"  category.  And other categories as well.  Too many to mention.  I say that because while I have lots of other very, very good friends and lots of them are best at something....this one I had in my life for 3 years down the street...when I was somewhat tied down with 3 small children and no money to burn shopping....and that made her just the best. She was right there. And perhaps it was the adult connection at a time in my life where everything was very YOUNG CHILDREN oriented.  I was starved for adult conversation.....and she fed me.  And usually it was funny.  I would start a sentence and she would finish it....with the punch line. 

The other thing that made her the best.......her husband and my husband really liked each other.  Like brothers.  And the kids?  Well, I think you can tell they got along like siblings.  It amazed me how well our families blended. 

When I hear the term "the good ol' days".........I think 1992 -1995.  Yep.  That was definitely the good old days.

Chuck and I are going to see this friend and her sweet husband for a few days soon.  They bought a beach house in Destin and after a few summers of talking about it ....we are finally going.  And now there's the oil spill and the weatherman is predicting rain, rain, rain. 

But guess what?  I do not care.  I will be within 5 feet of this funny friend and we could be in the middle of the ghetto for all I care. 

Okay....well ghetto might be a little creepy.  But I am not going because it's the beach.  I'm going because it's them.

And I should mention they are several years younger than us and weigh alot less.

But I am willing to overlook that.