Making Strides

You may remember that las t summer we added a new fmaily member. His name is Dancer and he came to be CMB's new horse after she outgrew her pony. He's a registered quarter horse and quite sweet. He had never been out with hounds when we got him and last season was a bit of an adjustment for him and CMB and resulted in her falling off quite a bit. This summer though she has grown quite a bit and matured as well as working hard with him and I think we will see a big improvement this season which starst in Novmeber. In the meantime, great strides to be sure!

 

 

Birthday Bash

We celebrated CMB's 9th birthday recenly. It was the weekend before school started so several of her friends were out of town but we improvised. I took her and her two closest friends E and R to get pedicures and then out for ice cream.  It was super fun and I think the girls loved it

 

 

 

 Choosing polish

 

 treated like royalty

 

 Fancy Feet

 

Yummy!



Structure or Slouch?

I'm in the market for a new handbag this fall and these two from Banana Republic have caught my eye. They are pretty different and in someways personify the two different aspects of my life.

The first is is this structured bag called the Kylie bag. It aslo comes in a darker brown and navy. It's a top handled bag as well as having a should strap.  It's a stiffer leather and has alot of room inside. I imagine it would be great for comuting and likely some business travel that I know is in my future.

 Second is this slouchy hobo type bag.  It also is pretty roomy but seems more casual to me. I'm not sure how it would fit with my corporate side, yet I can see it at the ball park and soccer field where I spend my weekends.

So what do you think? Do you have a favorite? Right now I am leaning towards the more structured bag and thn switching to a casual canvas tote or something like that for the weekends.

Happy Anniversary

Today is my anniversary. It's hard to belive it's be 17 years since the day we got married. It hasn't always been easy, in fact there have been some serrious struggles and still are. But there is a sense of committment, of knowing that the waves will ease and the boat will keep sailing onward. Happy Anniverary!

A Great Resource

I'm always looking for great ideas for parties (especially for kids) and also for decorating ideas. I found this cools site called The Party Dress (http://www.thepartydress.net/). It has a blog, a magazine, tons of crafts and ideas as well as an online shop. Check it out. It's cool, I promise!

What I'm Feeling for Fall

I know it's only August but with the stores full of fall merchandise and all the fall fashion magazines hitting the stands I can't help but think about it. This season, nothing at J Crew is pulling me in.  But I am serriously drawn to these looks from Banana Republic. My colors store is navy, camel and ivory with touches of red and green thrown in. This fits pretty nicely and I think I can recreate this same feel with items I already own. What are you feeling for fall?

Embracing the South West

I've always been a traditionalist when it comes to decorating the home. I love the Ralph Lauren/Pottery Barn tartan and rustic furniture look withe needlepoint throw pillows, blue and white china accents, you get the picture. However, our current house is much more spanish bungalow than cape code in style. I needed new couches in the worst way and my parents had recently remodled so they offered me the leather couch, love seat and wicker chair seen below. The are great with the warm wood floors and other oak furniture I already owned so I said yes.  However, the them of the house looks different now.  I've always had some Mexican art work that was a wedding gift from a close friend of my parents who live in Mexico City and my parents gave me another two pieces that went better with this furniture than what they replaced it with. So we are decidedly Southwestern now. That's not a bad thing, just taking some gettting used to.