Baby Girl Pink

What could be better with baby girl pink than pearls and glitter,
bunnies, butterflies, and bows..........
ribbons in rows,
lockets and keys.......
birds and cupid's wings.

And what if the glitter is pink, too?

Everything looks sweeter next to baby girl pink.
For more pink loveliness, visit Beverly at HowSweetThe Sound.

These boxes are on my Etsy.

Changing Wind

A change of seasons is usually thought of as a riot of color on trees in autumn, acres of pastel blooms in spring, or mountains of glittery snowflakes covering the ground in winter. These jolts to the senses shake us by the shoulders and say,

"Look at me!"

But sometimes there's a more subtle change; a slightly different angle to the sun's rays or a somewhat cooler breeze.

It brings a melancholy with it when one is reminded of the passing time and the happy recent days that will now just be fond memories recalled by fading photo albums.

As the leaves rustle and the sun spends less time in it's journey across the sky, let's have one last Hurrah! of summer. Hope you and your family have a fun and relaxing Labor Day.

It's A Man's World

It's that time again.......the season when our house becomes "male heavy" and I'm the only girl. We took Lucy back to school over the weekend and Emily's in her REALLY cute apartment (I'm not jealous!) so that leaves Number One Son, Son Jack, Hubby, and me. Me as chief cook and bottle washer, but I'm determined to be cheerful about the situation and look for positives around every corner. Those positive moments are going to be coming at me so fast and furious that it will be tough keeping track. The sons are handy and helpful so lots and lots of Honey-do items will be struck off the list. Think of all the times that a step stool won't be necessary.....just call a son. Kinda reminds me of when Jerry (of Seinfeld fame) had to go to his Nana's apartment to open the ketchup bottle.

I've got three big strong guys to open jars. Just call me Queen Bee.

Natty Nauticals

The first ever sailor suit was worn by the future King Edward VII when he was four years old. His mother, Queen Victoria, had it made for him to wear during a cruise through the Channel Islands in September 1846. By 1870 the sailor suit became normal dress for boys and girls around the world.
Here's Shirley Temple in her sailor suit.
Sailor suit paper dolls.

1930's Deco sailor suit pattern

School uniforms with nautical influence

Oooolala! Nautical looks on the catwalk look as fresh as ever.

And this was the winning design on Project Runway Wednesday night. It's a long way from little Prince Albert Edward.

Storm's Brewing

Downtown Tampa from Bayshore Boulevard

It's all over the TV.......undoubtedly your favorite show (or the Olympics) has been interrupted to show you the latest weatherman standing by a seawall in a rain slicker. Fay is on the way. Here in Tampa we pay little mind to the warnings. A major storm hasn't hit here for over a hundred years. It has something to do with the shape of the state or the prevailing winds or luck.

Anyway, I haven't bought three days worth of water and food for my family, not sure where our flashlights are, don't think we own a portable radio. Now before you think what an irresponsible mom I am, know that I have a foolproof plan in place.

The Official Minton Family Hurricane Plan is this:

• step one- get in the car.


• step two- drive to Georgia.

Florida's Not Like Where You Live

Here are just a few headlines coming out of Florida this week.

Two more decapitated goats found Wednesday morning

Man tells 911 slot machine stole his money

Grandma arrested for driving with child on roof

The calling 911 thing seems to go on all the time......last week a man in Jacksonville called 911 twice because Subway left the dressing off his sandwich. What kind of person would do this, you ask? Here's the video.

Too Cute

This blog post is getting a rerun because it fits in perfectly with Pink Saturday. This time I'm including photos of the precious pink slippers (or Babulay Slipelers, as Lucy called them).

I always hesitate to tell "cute little baby" stories about my children who are now adults, for fear of embarrassing them and thus not hearing from them until they start wondering about the will. But I'm going to make an exception because I just read Antique Mommy's story of her Sean starting soccer and it brought back all those signing up memories.

When I was a rookie Mom and getting all the hand-outs coming home from school saying "sign up for karate" or "it's time for soccer sign-up", they went straight in the trash because my daughter was born wanting to dance.

She started ballet at three and had the cutest little pair of pink slippers you've ever seen (they're in a shadowbox on the wall because anything that cute has to be displayed).

Anyway, I thought I should ask her about the softball paper she brought home one day just in case it was a secret desire of hers I didn't know about.
"Honey, do you think you'd like to sign-up for softball?", I inquired.

She paused........and looked very thoughtful.

Then she asked, "What color are the costumes?".
I had my answer.
Here's the shrine to ballet class up close. You can even see her name written on the inside so these wouldn't get mixed up with all the other tiny pink ballet slippers.

Queen For A Day

Today was the day to splurge on myself. Without going into all the details, just know that the last couple of weeks have been about being Mom and all the sacrificial Mommyness that goes along with that.
First, the fingers and toes got a coat of paint.

While there, the wax worked it's magic, too. No before and after pics, but take my word for it.....big improvement.


Next got the roots taken care of.


After a shopping trip to get birthday presents for Hubby's big day tomorrow, came home to find this on the porch.


Not only the fabulous tassel from Susie Harris, but look at the precious tags she included. See what's on top of that tassel? That's right........ it's a crown.

Before And After

Yes, this is my Pink Saturday post. I know it doesn't look pink up here at the top, but be patient, scroll down a bit and you'll get the pink payoff. The reason I'm not doing a big PINK SPECTACULAR today is because we're moving Emily into her apartment and that means lots of trips back and forth in the truck and unpacking. Now back to the blog.....

Thankfully BooMama postponed her Before and After extravaganza because right now my house is just a great big BEFORE. Between one daughter home from college and the other daughter moving out on Sunday AND me going crafting crazy in our dining room......well let's just say it's not a good time for company. countertops on the wishlist

My builder friends have been over twice to discuss the extensive updating my house needs and the list keeps getting longer. light fixture for breakfast room

Light fixtures, counter tops, moulding and trim work, caulking and painting are on the agenda for now, but I've also got Emily's cute little apartment on my mind.

The DeSoto, Tampa, Florida

It's an old brick building with interior halls and lots of old building charm like high ceilings, wood floors, and my favorite: black and white floors in the tiny kitchen. The windows are huge with wide glossy white trim that goes with the wide baseboard. She's got to settle on a color scheme, though, because it's only 650 square feet.
The bedroom is definitely going to be black and pink because she already had the linens and pictures to go in that direction. On her wish list is the fabulous Flamingo by John James Audubon. I think this would make a good house warming gift, don't you?