Happy Birthday to my Husband!

Today is my husband's birthday. Bless his heart, he went out to get the mail and there were two packages for MOI! He said "What?!" Oh my, I was busted. Oops!

We did what HE wanted to do...dinner and visited friends. That is what he wanted. I filled up a Bucs cooler with some goodies for him to open and then we went over to AT&T and got him a new iPhone upgrade. Here's his goodies...placed inside a tacky Bucs cooler--to used at the soirees in his "Romper Room".

"HERE'S WHAT I WORE"

Skirt: Target
Cardigan & Blouse: JCrew
Shoes: Revas, by Tory Burch
Pocketbook: 2.55 by Chanel
Monogrammed Sash: Annabelle Laroque
I carried my vintage navy Christian Dior umbrella...glad I saved this one! Love it:)
So now I'm off to serve dessert and coffee. Thank you for visiting with me today!

Brighton Love!

Last night was Book Club night. We read "The Help" and I cannot tell y'all how much I love this book. For a change, I was excited to read the book first, then see the movie. I'll be going later this week and I just can't wait to see the characters come to life on the big screen.

As it still blazing hot with a 150% humidity here in Florida, I wanted to be cooler than I was on Saturday. I found this cute little black and white shift at Target for about $14. Thank you very much Target people...I love gingham!
I accessorized with some of my cute Brighton loot. If you have read my "You Might be a Southern Lady if..." you'll know that Southern ladies LOVE Brighton--they just make the cutest stuff. The cute little red pocketbook and coordinating slides are Brighton, as is the choker necklace, three bracelets, the watch with the red band, the earrings, and the 'Love' cologne and body lotion. I used my black monogrammed iPhone cover, wore my roll ring wedding band by Cartier, and my lipstick was 'Star Red' by Chanel.

Actually, the necklace pendant is a keychain charm that I used on the choker!

"Merlot Hour"...Finishing up the book, which is marked by a Brighton bookmark, I enjoyed a glass of Merlot from a Brighton wine goblet...LOVE these y'all! Of course the wine cork is by Brighton as well:)

See the cute little Brighton shoes and pocketbook on the bookmark:)

Well y'all, this Brighton umbrella surely is the cutest umbrella that I own!!!

There's my little red pocketbook!

I don't have this straw pocketbook trimmed with black and white gingham, but I'm on the hunt for it all the time!

I have several Brighton nightlights throughout the house...love 'em!

Of course, this is my favorite one!

Here's another one...

I'm always adding to my Brighton collection and happy that a storeowner who sells Brighton opened nearby recently. Here's an agenda, a Brighton pen, Brighton hairclip {I wear these around the house all the time}, ponytail band, Brighton sunglasses, and another pocketbook that has shoulder straps.

The sweet thing about the Brighton stores...they package your loot in these absolutely adorable bags. Do y'all keep cute shopping bags? I do!

So, here I was off to Book Club...I promise y'all it had JUST finished pouring down rain! {Making for just another 'Bad Ponytail Day'}

Thank you for visiting with me and have a wonderful week. I'll report back later this week after I've been to see the movie!

5-Minute Face, Bad Ponytail Day...

AND a Golden Girls outfit! Today I broke one of my own rules, "If you can be ready to leave the house in less than 30 minutes, you probably shouldn't be leaving the house at all!" Mama is always telling me "Go put on some rouge and lipstick!" Well today I was just not in the mood to look chic. So, I put on my 5-minute face, dealt with my bad ponytail day by putting on a cute cap and black & white gingham ribbon, and wore my loose-fitting Golden Girls outfit. Lord have mercy y'all, it was so hot today, I liketa died in this outfit. What was I thinking?

Since we are planning on doing some painting soon, I ran in the paint store, Walgreen's, stopped in at Lowe's for some plants, and had a Fish Taco at Tin Fish. I sure hope that nobody I know saw me. I looked like I was about to melt!!!
To keep from looking totally sloppy, I jazzed up the lazy outfit with some cute accessories. A Bad Hair Day cap and the gingham ribbon helped to hide the frizzy ponytail! I wore my black and white gingham, monogrammed flip flops, a silver monogrammed choker and earrings, my roll ring wedding band by Cartier, and my 'Chameleon' watch by Rolex. My lipstick was 'Star Red' by Chanel and my pedicure was 'Love That Red' by Revlon. I wore my Chanel sunglasses, my iPhone cover was black with a white monogram decal, and my fragrance of choice for the day was Burberry.

Bad Hair Day...Lord that's an understatement, with all the heat and humidity!

My pocketbook...a black and white toile monogrammed tote.

Ready for the daily rain shower with my black and white gingham umbrella! {Cannot stop the matchy-matchy thing!}

Thank you for stopping in to visit. I hope y'all are having a great weekend.

'NANA PUDDIN' TO GO

My goodness y'all, I got so busy this week and forgot to publish this post. We went for Sunday Night Supper at the home of our friends Lester and Lane. I offered to bring the dessert...'Nana Puddin' to go.



I layered Jello banana cream instant puddin', vanilla wafers, and sliced bananas inside some tall Ball Jars. I embellished the lids with yellow and white gingham card stock, black polka dot ribbon, and a little gift tag. Easy dessert to go...keepin' it Southern and cute!

I found these new-for-Autumn special-flavored coffees at Cracker Barrel on Sunday and placed four packs inside a cello bag with some shred and tied 'em up with a black polka dot ribbon. This made a great hostess gift for my friend Lane. Even though she is the best Cuban Coffee Barista in South Florida, I do hope she will be able to enjoy these coffees on quiet mornings after her youngest child is off to pre-K in a few weeks.

"HERE'S WHAT I WORE" Keeping it very casual, I decided to wear black linen slacks and a white linen blouse..."Golden Girl-ish outfit!"

My "just in case it rains" umbrella is a cheery black and white polka dot!

The accessories...Black patent pouchette and matching slide sandals, by Ferragamo. The silver choker necklace has a monogrammed pendant. The earrings and charm ring are both by Chanel and the 'Return to Tiffany' bracelet is by Tiffany. The watch is 'Oyster Perpetual' by Rolex and Lord have mercy, I forgot to wear my wedding band! My ponytail was adorned with a white grosgrain ribbon, my fragrance of choice for the evening,by Ferragamo. My pedicure is 'Love That Red' by Revlon and lipstick is 'Star Red' by Chanel.

My friend Lane is the best cook evah! She prepared this fabulous appetizer...Bobby Deen's Hot Tomato, Jack, and Crab Dip. The recipe is below...y'all must fix it...it's delish!

Recipe for Hot Tomato Jack and Crab Dip:
1 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
1 cup (4 oz.) grated pepper Jack cheese
1/2 cup mayo
2 limes, juiced
1 tsp. hot sauce
1 lb. lump crabmeat, drained and picked clean of shells
1 cup seeded & diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. crushed black peppercorn
2 avocados
Crackers, crusty bread, or chips for serving (Lane used chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 1 qt. baking dish with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, pepper Jack, mayo, lime juice and hot sauce until smooth. Fold in the crabmeat, tomatoes, green onions, basil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Smooth the texture into baking dish. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Dice avocados and sprinkle them over the crab dip after it has cooled slightly. (Lane served sliced avocados--fresh from her Mama's own tree--with a fresh salad).

The hostess, Miss Lane, also prepared Paella, with fresh lobster, mahi, shrimp, and crab, and chicken. FABULOUS!

Of course, I enjoyed some of Lanes's homemade flan and Cuban coffee, while others chose the 'Nana Puddin'. After living in Miami for so many years, I'm a huge fan of flan and Cuban coffee. Of course, I didn't sleep a wink that night...after two cups of this caffeine fest!

Isn't it wonderful when someone else does the cooking? This is what entertaining is all about--making others feel wonderful and welcome in your home. People just want somebody else to do the cooking y'all! My friend Lane has it all down pat...she sticks with what she knows best and makes it special!!!

I thought I'd throw in a picture of their little Yorkie, Sissy...she's Miss Coco's little cousin. Prissy dog. Very prissy!

Oh, I almost forgot...one more thing. My friend Lane is into "Coupon-ing!" She is what you might call an "Organized Hoarder!" I'm not telling a story, she sent me home with a large grocery sack full of cleaning supplies and toiletries...hilarious and very much appreciated!

Thank you for visiting with me today!

It's Old...But It's Gucci!!!

Today...from Miss Janice's "Umbrella Collection"...A Gucci umbrella! It's old...as in 1980 old!!! Yes, this is one of my prized possessions. I wipe the raindrops off the cloth to protect it.

It has nice wooden end with a brass handle, and of course, the Gucci logo!

The other day, my husband took me out for lunch and to the movies..."HERE'S WHAT I WORE"

All it has to do is rain for 5 minutes and the humidity is 150% here in Florida. It felt like it was 1,000 degrees that day and I wanted to wear something loose {think stretchy pants for buttered popcorn} and cool! The white linen slacks and yellow linen big shirt was just perfect...comfy, but a bit put together.

To make it look like I didn't get ready to leave the house in less than 30 minutes, I wore my Gucci ballet flats, a silver choker with a monogrammed pendant and the matching earrings, my 'Oyster Perpetual' watch by Rolex, and my roll ring wedding band by Cartier. My ponytail was adorned with a white grosgrain ribbon, my lipstick was 'Star Red' by Chanel, and my fragrance of choice was 'Lauren' by Ralph Lauren.

I carried this cute little pouchette pocketbook also by Gucci.
Tomorrow on the blog...more vintage Gucci loot from the past!