Travel Tuesday

So, you've already heard about my trip to the beach--with my friends. The day they left, Butch came in  and we had a few more days. This time, he caught fish for the first time. Pompano--5 of them--although he only landed 3.

He's a "catch and release" fisherman. I'm on board with that. You can get fresh fish so easily, I'm happy not to have the hassle of cleaning and cooking.

This travel Tuesday post is about our trip back home. As it turns out, it was due to rain on Saturday, so we decided to come home one day early. We got on the road about 5:30 a.m. Then I realized that Sandy and family were in Nashville this weekend for the Kid Rock concert. We remembered that they were having a pool party at our house. So I decided to have a little fun. 

The closer we got to home, the more excited I was getting. About 15 minutes away, I texted a beach picture to Sandy, Stephanie and Mindy with the caption, "It's a beautiful day at the beach!" I was chuckling at how surprised they were going to be. I think I'm so funny that I entertain myself! And yes, I laugh at my own jokes.

I told Butch that when we got home, we were going to hurry and put our suits on and just casually walk out to the pool! That plan was foiled by Justin--he came inside for something. I told him not to blow the surprise. We walked out and the girls were so surprised! Sandy asked if I had gotten their text!

Their caption was: "A beautiful day at the pool!" Now you might notice that Stephanie is not in this picture. She was up in Bloomington, IL helping Morgan with her move. 

Stephanie repsonded with this picture and caption: "A beautiful day in Bloomington!"

Well, if you know this family, we couldn't stop there. This was our next move!

Mindy sent this picture captioned: "A beautiful day with our mom!...

...and squad!" Stephanie just gave it a thumbs up--no response.

Now, I was supposed to be at the beach, remember? We were all laughing so hard because we know Stephanie! She hates being left out! We knew that she would be "fomo--ing" up there in Illinois. We laughed as we recalled a few stories of her getting, inadvertantly left behind--like the time she was napping on the balcony of the hotel room in Disney and we left her!! She's still mad about that!

Anyway, somebody got the idea that we needed to put Jordan--who lives in California--in the picture too. So, Elizabeth did it in about 2 seconds! I can't believe how easily she did it. This was the next picture we sent...

...which I captioned, "Even Jordan surprised us!" Steph reacted with an "LOL!" This time we added Jordan to the text. She thought it was hilarious! 

As you can tell, we have fun all the time with the goofiest things! A big part of that is teasing each other! Side note: we made Nicky be the "selfie" taker. In this one, his head blocked out Greg and Victoria who were in the pool. Oh well, sometimes that happens!

By the time we finished messing with all of this the pool day was just about over. Not really. I went in and pulled together some assorted cheeses and spreads for a snack. It was a lot of fun and we're so happy we came home for it!

Oh and then there's this:

Mindy started the whole pool thing with this picture and caption: "Even on his birthday, Justin can't resist being the pool boy!" Happy Birthday Justin!! I can't think of a better way to celebrate that with family! Even if it's just us!

Well, I wish Justin was here today. The pool's a mess from the storm yesterday and full of leaves. And, I'm having my first, friends pool party of the season! We'll see how that goes!

Friday Funnies

I Knew I'd Get Picked...

...but it was all for naught! 

So, yesterday was the day that Nancy and I went to the Antiques Roadshow. What an adventure! As Nancy said, "What else would we be doing on a Tuesday?"

It was hot! I lugged that chair. We had to park off-site and get on a shuttle. That meant, I had to climb up steps with the chair. A little tricky, but I managed. Luckily for me, Nancy offered to carry the punch bowl--which is heavier than the chair. The chair is more awkward and cumbersome. We were not allowed to use carts or dolly's. You couldn't drop things off either. Carrying was the only option.

We had quite a hike to reach the "triage" area (I always thought that word was related to medical things--I was wrong--looks like it means sort, classify, group.) We stood in line at the desiganted stations for our stuff: furniture, decorative items and jewelry. 

Nancy has the cute little English chest in the picture and I had the Marie Antoinette chair. Here's what we found out about them. Her chest is from around 1900 and is worth $800-$1000. The MA chair is a reproduction--around 1890-1900. It's been repainted which decreased the value. The guy valued it at $500-$1000. He pulled two similar ones up online--one was $800--the other was $1000. 

After furniture, we separated as she went to jewelry and I went to decorative items. She had two antique broaches. Totaled, they are worth a couple thousand dollars! As for my great-grandmother's punch bowl, it is pressed glass--manufactured between 1900-1920--most likely in St. Louis where she lived. Basically the guy said in the nicest way possible, people don't use or want punch bowls these days, so it's not worth much--$100-$150. My initial reaction was to argue with him! I use my punch bowl and so do Sandy and I think Stephenie. They might use them more for decorative displays (think ornaments at Christmas) rather than punch. I use mine at every party I have---maybe only once a year these days, but I used to have a lot of parties.

Anyway, it was something different to do. I met some nice people. Now I can chalk this up to one more experience in my life. When I got home, I asked Butch to get the chair as I could not move it one more inch! He happily complied!

Oh, and even though it's not worth thousands, I still don't want people sitting on it!

What I Buy Wednesday

I didn't really buy anything much this week. But this post is still about money.

I recently read an article about a new concept in weddings. Apparently, it is now acceptable for people getting married to ask their guests to pay $75.00 per person for their dinners. What??

My first thought is this is crazy! Yes, I know how expensive weddings are. And, I don't even know how you can do it in a reasonably priced way. Venues are expensive, food is expensive, liquor, the cake, floral arrangements, band, transportation and parking--the list goes on and on. Still, I think asking your guests to pay for their meals is a bit much. 

Paying $150 per couple for a mediocre meal seems like too much to me. We have our favorite restaurants where we can go for much less than $150 and can rely that we'll get a great meal. I know when it comes to weddings, it's not about the meal. But, it just reminds me of what my dad used to say: "If you can't afford to pay the babysitter or leave a server a decent tip, then you shouldn't be going out!" I agree with this. 

So, when it comes to weddings, I would say this: If you can't afford what you want to do, then you need to cut back on the guest list or any of the other items to reach what you can afford. Or don't do it. (Have you seen the Netflix show: Marriage or Mortgage? It surprises me at how many people will spend their 50K on a wedding rather than a mortgage.)

Really, I think about the only affordable way to do weddings these days is the way Butch and I did it--my backyard with a justice of the peace (got married in the church later), my mom and grandma did all the food (being Italian, pasta is cheap), the cake came from a reasonably priced local bakery, we didn't have any fancy flowers, champagne punch and beer for about 50 guests. Oh, and my wedding dress was the one I bought for my bowling banquet (side note:It was $45.00 and I had it on lay-away for 3 months. Little did I know it would become my wedding dress!) Our wedding was so much fun---more like a big party. I give my mom all the credit. She made it really nice for us.

We were such babes--me 19, he 20. 

Here we are 51 years later---we don't regret a thing!

Personally, I won't be attending any weddings where I have to pay for my dinner. Instead, I'll take that money, go to one of our favorite places and toast the happy couple! Yeah, that's it!

Travel Tuesday

We just spent the weekend in New Orleans. We arrived on Thursday, checked in to the hotel. Then we met our guide for our first tour--a 3 hour walking, history of food tour. We stopped at 5 restaurants for tastings that made for the perfect lunch. I like oysters (not raw), but had never had charred oysters. They are now my new favorite!

One of the stops was at Leah's Pralines. They also gave us a sample of the bacon brittle. Oh my gosh! It was all delicious!

We ended our food tour with muffalettas while sitting in Jackson Square. I love this photo--the composition is great! I plan to have it printed in a larger format to put in the guest room formerly known as Mindy's room!

The pictures are a little out of order, but I'm just going to go with it.

One of my favorite things to do---anywhere---is to have tea. We had reservations at the Windsor Court Hotel. They started us off with cocktails which were delicious. I considered getting a second one, but then I was looking forward to my tea.

Normally, all of the tea foods come on a 3-tiered plate. Instead, they served us in courses. The scones and Devonshire cream are always my favorite. These did not disappoint. I asked for a second black currant scone. They were so so good! 

This was a Mother's Day tea, so they had roses for all of us. We didn't take ours since we didn't really have any place to put them.

One of our favorite activities was the New Orleans School of Cooking. Butch and I had done that a few years ago with our friends. I knew our gang would love it.

The food was so good! We learned a lot of tips for Cajun cooking. We got all the recipes so we can make those same dishes at home. They started us with hot biscuits and Steen syrup. Next came shrimp and artichoke soup. Next up was crawfish etouffe with pralines and white chocolate bread pudding for dessert. We didn't have time to shop right then as we had to get to our swamp tour. 

They picked us up at our hotel. We were the only ones on the bus, so we decided to spread out! It was about a half hour ride.

As you can see, we saw tons of alligators. This was my third swamp tour. I don't think I need to do it again. But I wanted the girls to experience it. 

New Orleans is my favorite place in the world for food. We hit most of our favorites. Mr. B's Barbecue Shrimp is my most favorite dish. 

We went to Commanders Palace on Friday night. Everything is amazing there. We were in the room that makes you feel like you are in a treehouse. I love cloth tablecloths and twinkle lights! 

On Saturday, we went to Cafe Beingets for breakfast. We stopped back at the clooking school and bought all kinds of seasonings. Stephanie and Nicky's Mother's Day gift to me was souvenirs on our trip. I got everything at the store. I got the Steen syrup--which seemed like such a splurge that I would not get for myself. $12.50 for a small can. Now it's all the more special.

We ended our trip with a street car ride to Mandina's Italian restaurant. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a table, but it was worth it. 

Of course, there are some downsides to NOLA:

1. All the smells--mostly not good.

2. The heat and humidity.

3. The uneven, trip you up pavements.

4. The curb juice--as Mindy dubbed it. We actually saw a horse pee in the street--which of course, makes it's way to mix with the other liquids. Sandy was in sandals so had to be very careful where she was walking!

5. Worst of all was the pot smell that permeates the whole city! We hated that---everywhere you turned, it hits you. Obviously it's legal there. I used to say I didn't care one way or the other about that. Now I hope if it's legalized everywhere I hope  the keep it out of public places. Yuck!

We all agreed that the weekend was so much fun. I didn't even mention the geo-caching and happy hours. We certainly cram a lot in to our trips. We don't waste a minute! We're already planning our next trip!

Now, I'm off to the beach tomorrow with my friends! Oh what fun it is to be retired!

Monday Mystery

This "Monday Mystery" is really more about me. I'm having more and more "senior" moments. I hope like heck that it's nothing more than that.

Here's what's happenin'!

These earrings are some of my favorites. I found one in my jewelry box and thought, "Oh yeah, I lost one. I might as well turn this one in to an embellishement for a scrapbook page. 

And that's just what I did. I removed the wire and threw it away. Well, a few days later, I came across the other one in my jewelry box. That's when I realized, it was another, similar earring that I'd lost a long time ago. So now, I've ruined this perfectly good pair! Sheesh! On second thought, maybe Butch can fashion another wire for me so they can be salvaged.

And then there's this. Last week, Janet asked me if I'd mailed the AYM kits to them. I said I had. She asked when, and to who. I told her that I had mailed them the week before to Jeanne. She asked why I mailed them to her. I replied that I just wasn't thinking. I usually go back and forth. I texted Jeanne. She said she hadn't received them. I was concerned that they were lost. 

The next day, I was putting something away and found them. 

You know that saying, "out of sight, out of mind?" Well, it's the truth! I had moved them from the dining room because of a family dinner. I completely forgot about them. But what's worse, I would have sworn on a stack of bibles that I had mailed them! 

I don't have a problem telling these crazy things about myself. My friends assure me that they are doing the same sort of things. I don't know. I guess my brain is just over-loaded. At least I hope that's it. 

It's definitely a mystery to me!

Something for Sunday

So, we've been in New Orleans for the past few days. More on that on "Travel Tuesday."

What I want to share today is our "hotel habits." Let me start by asking a question. Do you close all the curtains in a hotel room? Do you prefer to keep the room all dark? Not us. We never close the curtains---well, unless there is going to be a clear view straight in to our room from the outside. Usually we are in an upper floor somewhere. We don't close the curtains. We enjoy the lights of whatever city we're in. Plus, we like to wake up to natural daylight. It's the same way at home. I don't want to feel that we're in a dark cave. I like everything light and bright---all the time. 

On the other hand, to some, this could be a little much.

I always get up some time during the night to use the bathroom. Each night here in New Orleans, I thought it was daytime already because of this. It's 3 a.m. in this picture, yet seemed like morning. That fooled me twice! I just had to take a picture to show Stephanie because I thought she liked a dark room. Turns out, she said she prefers daylight too. 

Really what's gotten me to thinking about this is that we have these beautiful shades at the beach. They do not block out the light. So, people try to close the drape panels that are just decorative and not meant to move. I've gotten a little tired of the drape panels getting messed up from people trying to move them---okay, one or two people. I've had to add a couple lines to my "welcome letter" to tell people that of the two bedrooms, one is naturally dark while the other is very light. They have to choose accordingly and leave my drapes alone! 

Where do you stand? Light or dark!