Alice

Last night KJ & I watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Good God that was one jacked up movie. I was never a fan of the Disney animated version of Alice (hated that whole Jabawacky scene...WTH???) and Tim Burton's version was just as bizarre. The movie was visually stunning but I couldn't even appreciate it because the whole movie was just so over the top...the characters, the script, everything. I was totally over-stimulated.

Don't get me wrong, I luv, luv, luv Johnny Depp and have been a fan since his 21 Jump Street Days but I seriously think Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter need to stop working together. They just keep getting weirder and weirder. Johnny Depp is one of the most versatile actors of my generation and I generally like most of his movies (Benny & Joon, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Donnie Brasco, Platoon, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland) but I couldn't stomach Alice in Wonderland. Sorry Johnny!

Camp,Laundry and Bieber Fever

The girls had a GREAT time at lax camp this week. I was a little nervous about KJ because she gets over-heated so easily and gets wicked migraines but she did great! KJ & her little buddy Olivia shared a room in one dorm, T & Ellie were in another dorm right across the courtyard. Since it was KJ's first time away from home (other than staying w/ relatives), it was probably good to have her older sister practically right next door. Although they didn't have the same practice or scrimmage schedules, they did eat meals together so T was able to keep an eye on her. They brought home massive quantities of laundry -- two sets of sheets, two beach towels, two sets of bath towels and tons of dirty socks and smelly lax clothes. It's like having a bunch of boys in the house.

My little girl is definitely growing up. Last week Cosmo bought her a Go-Phone with the understanding that the more chores she does around the house, the more minutes she can have on her phone. Saturday morning T went on-line and bought Justin Bieber for the two of them for December. This will be KJ's second concert (the first being last summer's JoBro concert w/ her friend Gabi) and we figured T could take her to the concert so Cosmo and I don't have to suffer through it (I've been to Britney Spears w/ Tbone, 'NSYNC and several Aaron Carter concerts). In a few weeks KJ & T will be flying solo for a week up North. Yup. My little girl is growing up.

Granite & Stainless and other Stuff

One of my favorite websites, Hooked on Houses, has an interesting article on granite counter tops and other design trends that are "so" last decade. She has a link to another one of my favorite websites, Southern Hospitality.
http://hookedonhouses.net/2010/06/09/are-granite-countertops-on-their-way-out/

We've all seen a lot of decorating trends come ago. I remember one of our houses growing up in NY...my parents bedroom wallpaper was that flocked velvet kind of stuff. Fortunately, my mother used a lot of restraint and only wallpapered the wall that the bed was on. That house also had those "harvest gold" appliances (or whatever color that was!). One trend I never liked were those "European" cabinets from the '80's. The white ones with the wood trim? Mauve was also very "in" during the '80's (must have had something to do with Miami Vice) and I've never liked black lacquer furniture. It always screamed cheesy, slimy bachelor to me. I'm not a big fan of "contemporary" or "modern" furniture (just doesn't seem practical or comfortable with two kids). I do like shabby chic but I think my big hulking husband would look terribly out of place siting in a dainty floral arm chair. Nor would I be happy if my entire house looked like the men den and had sports memorabilia every where. If I had a magic wand, the first thing to go in this house would be the kitchen. I hate to cook and really dislike this kitchen. Don't like the white cabinets, do like the Corian counters we installed and do like the stainless appliances, that's about it. I think we're more of a Pottery Barn kind of family. That would probably be how I would describe our style.
I think a house isn't a home until you make it your own. If you're going to be in it for the long haul, decorate in a manner that is best for you and your family (i.e., I saw the most amazing chairs w/ pink & white zebra print cushions in the April 2010 edition of Portico; just can't picture my husband sitting in one! see photo above). If you don't stay in one place for too long, best to stick with neutrals and sought-after materials. So, if granite counter tops and stainless steel became the norm or "builders grade" during the last decade, I wouldn't have anything less if you're planning to sell anytime soon. If you live in a transitional, trendy or eclectic neighborhood, think outside the box. Just my take.

Icons

My dear friend LCM (aka the Godmother), luvs, luvs, luvs Grace Kelly. I came across an article on the Grace Kelly exhibit at the Victoria & Albert in London and had to share with her. Holy cow. I had totally forgotten how beautiful and utterly classy and elegant Grace Kelly was. She had that inner beauty too that so few people truly posses.


I know Christie Brinkley has had a series of really bad marriages but I've always thought she was a true beauty, the total package. She's not afraid to put herself out there, love unconditionally (she loves her kids and has set a good example....you really never heard about her partying hard during her modeling years), she cares about the environment, she loves what she does (she has a passion for art and design and has turned it into an extremely lucrative career in the Hamptons). Yup, she's got it all.


Back in the 70's at the height of Charlie's Angels popularity, everyone was nuts about Farrah Fawcett. She wasn't my favorite. I always thought she was a bit too obvious and cheesecake. I always thought Jaclyn Smith was the beautiful, girl next door, the girl you'd want to be friends with. Such a natural beauty.

While talking about icons, how can I forget Jackie O?? Cool as a cucumber. The woman had style and grace and composure during one of this country's darkest hours. She was so incredibly smart -- she attended Vassar her first two years of college, spent her junior year in France at the University of Grenoble and the Sorbonne and went to George Washington University when she got back to the states and graduated w/ a degree in French lit. I also read somewhere that she enjoyed lacrosse when she was a child. She is credited with the White Houses restoration and had a successful career as an editor. She also raised two wonderful children (the most respectable of all the Kennedy kids).
I simply ADORE Sophia Loren and think she's a vivacious and ballsy (I hope to be that sassy when I'm her age!). I just wish she'd get rid of the granny glasses; they remind me of Estelle Getty's glasses on Golden Girls. One of her most frequently-quoted sayings is about her famously-voluptuous figure: "Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." However she has denied ever saying it. I also love the fact that she met the love of her life, Carlo Ponti, when she was only a teenager (he, however, was in his 30's . . . a little creepy). They remained married until his death a couple of years ago. When asked if she would ever marry again, she said, "No, never again. It would be impossible to love anyone else." Now that's amore!

So, I started thinking about who my two girls would consider "icons"....Lady Gaga??? Britney Spears? Paris Hilton? God forbid a Kardashian?? Lindsey Lohan the Lunatic??

Horticulture 101

Although I usually do not enjoy summers in the deep south (nothing personal, I'm just not "heat tolerant"), I do love it when the crepe mrytles are in bloom. The one at the end of our driveway is in full bloom, the one at the top of the driveway isn't yet.

I love the different varieties of crepe mrytle and the vibrant colors. I really like it when crepe mrytles are planted in a row (like the photo above) and line a street.

So, this got me thinking about all the different plants and trees I associate with living in different states....different phases of my life.

When I was growing up, both sets of my grandparents had wonderful azalea bushes in Edison, NJ. There are many, many photos of different generations standing in front of those bushes. My dad's younger brother still lives in my grandparents house and although he has made many changes and improvements to the house over the years, those azalea bushes are still there.

At my parents house on Dogwood Lane, we had forsythia bushes lining one side of the driveway and a large lilac bush in the backyard (lots of prom pictures were taken in front of that lilac bush).

We had a large, dead crab apple tree in the backyard at our house on Adele Boulevard (our first home as husband and wife). Cosmo and my dad cut it down the spring I was pregnant with T and Cosmo received a wicked case of poison ivy in return. Not just a rash but nasty, oozing, open wounds. We had planted portulaca on a little hilly section at the end of our walkway and it thrived. As it rained and the seeds migrated down the hill, weird color combinations started to pop up. I think we had originally only planted white and yellow portulaca but ended up with shades of orange, peach, and pink. We had done some landscaping at our house in Saddlewood Place in Ohio (my favorite house EVER!) and Cosmo bought me a weeping cherry blossom for Mother's Day. The blossoms didn't last long (one strong wind and it was pretty much over) but I loved the way the white blossoms looked against the dark mulch we had put down.
Which brings me to this house (I skipped over the house in Annapolis because it was a rental and we were only there 50 weeks, not even a full year. However, the previous tenant had planted day lillies and we enjoyed them the summer we moved in). This house has a variety of flora.....crepe mrytles, gardenias, roses, baby's breath (I'm sure there's a Latin term for this bush, I just call it the baby's breath bush). My favorites are the GORGEOUS Japanese maple out our kitchen window and the crepe mrytles. Our Japanese maple isn't quite this tall, more like the bottom half of this photo. Cosmo luvs, luvs, luvs this maple. We've talked several times over the years about busting thru the breakfast nook and building a screen porch off the kitchen. Every time the subject comes up, Cosmo always says something about the tree. He wants a screen porch as much as I do, he's just afraid we'll kill the tree if we transplanted it.
So there you have it. Horticulture 101

Topsy Turvy

Had such a nice day w/ daughter #2 today. She slept in my bed last night since Cosmo & T are at a lax tournament in ATL. I usually don't like her to sleep with me because she kicks and tosses and turns very badly (and she's also a mumbler) but last night she slept pretty good. We slept in and I made eggs for breakfast. I had a desperately needed haircut appointment and from there I took her bathing suit shopping. She goes thru bathing suits like crazy. She's at the pool almost every day and the bottoms get ragged from sitting on the concrete edging and the steps at the pool. We ran into my favorite gift shop in the whole wide world and had one of T's dearest friends wait on us. It was a very weird feeling to see someone we've known since kindergarten all dressed up and so professional. She did a very nice job.

Yesterday I finalized invites for T's Sweet 16 and today we also ordered her cake (holy cow! who knew cakes were so expensive!! I had originally wanted one of those "whimsical" or "topsy-turvy" cakes but when she priced it out, the cake was over $500. KJ looked at the bakery salesperson and said, "that's out of our budget."). I wanted something like this but not as many layers: T had a good week @ UDA camp in Tuscaloosa. Cosmo & KJ drove down Friday morning to watch the girls one more time. They placed 3rd overall and won over 50 blue ribbons. I'm kind of new to this whole dance team stuff so I'm not sure what's up w/ the blue ribbons. John Carroll placed 1st but I honestly thought their dance was very boring. It was technically perfect but more like a lyrical, artsy, recital kind of number. Paul Bryant placed 2nd and while they were definitely not technical, they had a rocking hip-hop number. Hoover was very classy but they got points taken off for "loosing their energy" (again, not sure what all of this means). T said there was no drama during the week with the girls, everyone got along great, no problems at all. The poor thing was so exhausted from dancing 15 hour days and then drove to ATL with Cosmo last night for a lax tournament. I think they got in their room around 2 AM but her game wasn't until 1 PM today so she was able to sleep in. She's a trooper.

Catchin' Up is Hard to Do!

Had a very, very nice Memorial Day weekend. Monday is always the big NCAA lacrosse championship game so we met some friends out for wings and watched the game. KJ had spent the night at a friend's house so she was a little tired and getting a headache. We left the game a little early and took naps when we got home.


T had her last Buccanettes practice Monday night before they left for UDA camp Tuesday morning. They performed the dance for family and friends. It was good but Tuesday night at competition in Tuscaloosa, it was even better! The girls really did a great job. The crowd was really into it, too (as one mom put it, "you really can't go wrong with Michael Jackson."). I haven't personally spoken w/ T since 9 PM last night but she texted me around 7:15 AM this morning and said they had already eaten breakfast and were ready to start the day. I luv, luv, luv the costumes they wear for this routine!