It Was Like Paris In The Spring

Our 2 daughters surprised me one afternoon while we were visiting them last week. When Henri and I came back from an afternoon of fishing with a couple of the grandkids, this is what I saw sitting out on the kitchen table. They told me it was for an early Mother's Day celebration.

It was so gorgeous, I just wanted to keep looking at it. That's toile tissue in the gift bag.

Look what was inside the bag. Do they know me or what?

And then I realized this gorgeous hatbox even had something in it too!

Yes, they most definitely know me! A gorgeous glass cake pedestal.

I didn't have to think twice about where they would go.

They are the crowning touch to our basement studio redo.

What a lucky Mom I am.

About 2 Hours Into Our Trip Back Home

Blue lights suddenly appeared in our rear view mirror and after we pulled over the police officer slowly and rather tentatively crept up around the passenger side of the car where I was seated. When we pulled over, I was turned around toward the backseat trying to get Simon back up on his perch inside his backpack that he had fallen from when Henri had slowed the car down rather quickly in order to stop. As I saw the officer approach, I realized he may be acting cautiously because he couldn't see what I was doing, so I pulled both of my hands up in front of me and looked up at him and let him know I had a bird in the backseat. He eyed me rather strangely and then asked for Henri's license, registration and insurance. Now I really felt bad that the officer may have been momentarily a little unsettled, so as Henri produced his license and registration and the officer just asked who our insurance company was I tried to lighten the mood a little bit and gave him a big smile and kind of sing-songy said "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." Mind you, I noted he did grin a little too when I told him that reciting that jingle is the only way I can ever remember it. So as he walked back to his cruiser, I discreetly took a picture through the mirror in my visor. I wasn't quite sure if it would have been inappropriate to turn around for the shot, but at the same time, I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity for a potential blog post. Now I'm glad I did, because of what happened next. After a few minutes he motioned for Henri to get out of the car and walk back to where he was standing behind us.




The first question he asked Henri was something about what was the origin of our trip. Henri said we had just left to head back home from a visit with our daughters and grand kids. The officer asked Henri if we had any drugs in the trunk. Henri told him we didn't. Then the officer asked if we had any marijuana. (I guess that was just in case Henri didn't think marijuana was a drug.) Henri asked "You mean because of my ponytail?" The officer said "No, of course not." Henri assured him that we didn't have any marijuana. Then the officer asked if we were carrying any firearms with us. Again Henri told him no. After all the questions, the officer handed Henri a warning and explained that he pulled us over because he thought that Henri had been driving a little erratically.




If you're a regular reader, I'm sure you've seen Henri's ponytail before and a favorite tie dyed shirt that he always seems to have on whenever I take a picture of him. (I promise you, he actually has two of these, so it's really not the same shirt you see each time.) Well, of course he just happened to be wearing it again when we were pulled over. And, yes he's also wearing an earring in his left ear too. So I can see how the officer may have gotten the impression that we were pot smoking hippie freaks.

But here's something that may have helped give the officer a wrong impression too. Well, if you're reading this blog our license plate is self explanatory, but the good officer may have taken this as a brazen message of a criminal driving a flashy car. (This is the part that I explain that our Mercedes is actually 11 years old and we bought it used from a relative that gave us a really good deal on it. But it has become Henri's minor little passion and he takes delight in keeping it all polished up just like it was new.)

After getting over our initial surprise of this entire incident, after it was all over we actually had a really good laugh about it. We have great respect for police officers and realized that this officer was just following up on something that maybe looked a little out of place. And, the officer even had an excuse for why Henri's driving may have been a little erratic. It was because of Simon.

We didn't have the heart to tell the officer that Simon flies about as good as a lead balloon though.

Sure, why not blame it on the bird? After all, he's a free bird too!

Speed Decorating

When you're a busy mom of 3 you learn to make the most of your time.

Our daughter Jen and I always seem to get involved in decorating projects whenever we are together. This year, we were able to transform her master bath in just a few short hours (5) including the time it took to shop for paint and accessories. Here's a before shot of her bathroom.

The "after" shot.








The new chandelier was installed by her dad, after he was finished playing with the grandkids while we painted and accessorized.





Before, Jen just had a few of our raku pots atop a built-in cabinet.

Ooh la la, look at it now!

A before of the lavatory area. (That's the new chandelier we had stowed in the sink until we finished painting.)

Another after shot.

The fun dress form we found at Hobby Lobby suddenly became the whole inspiration for the room.

But to keep it from becoming too froo froo, we needed to have something in there for Jen's husband Joey too!

Jen already had this lovely engraved bracelet that she paired with some other jewelry in one of our small raku bowls.

Jen and I had so much fun with our little project.

Time is always of the essence, especially when you only get to see each other a couple times a year.

Our Favorite Spring Cookies

After we left NC, we headed North to our oldest daughter Jennifer's house near Columbus, Ohio. I love hanging out in Jen's kitchen and spring is a great time to bake our favorite dainty flower cookies using a cookie press.

And for a simple decoration we mix up a few spring colors for them.

We added some sprinkles to a few of them too.

They are so much fun to decorate.

It's just a basic sugar cookie dough that Jen makes and freezes until she's ready to use.




We just decorated one layer at a time.

And covered them up inside a cake pedestal to see if anyone notices.

Looks like someone found them. That would be Ava and Grace.

Ava really likes them too. Are those no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies behind them?

Noah just came in from outside.

Where's your cookie Noah? Sometimes a guy doesn't have a chance around sisters.

We Ate, We Toured, We Watched the Sunset

This is Henri's sister's dog, Roxie. Poolside. She is one of the two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels that Carla and her husband Bill live with, along with their chihuahua, Jazzy.

There's nothing like Thai food to make you forget to take 'before' pictures. It was soooo good.

A short tour of some recent renovations to Bill & Carla's house. This is Bill's lake view poker room. With a chandelier that I covet.

The foreground shows a peek of the poker table. My pictures just don't do it justice.

And here's the guest bathroom. I just love the egg shaped tub. And I heart so much the Moooi lampshade chandelier.

I wish I could take better pictures.

If I could, you would get to see the rest of this amazing place.

So I'll move outside and show you the cascading waterfall. That's Henri standing right there.

And this is the infinity pool above the cascading waterfall.

A Lake Norman sunset.

The porch and pool aglow at dusk.

It was such a great visit and we miss all of them already.

More later, on just what we're up to now!

Safe Arrival in Charlotte

We made it to Henri's Mother's house in Charlotte at 2:00am this morning. Here's Henri posing with his Mother, Meggie, after we got a few hours sleep.



And then Henri's sister Carla stopped by and I was able to get them all to pose for me, including little Jazzy, there in the pink.

Henri with his sister Carla and Jazzy.

The day went so fast and if my camera battery hadn't died, I would have shown you some of the fun we had. Carla gave us a tour of her gorgeous home on Lake Norman they just finished renovations on and I hope to show you some pictures as soon as my battery recovers.

A Stop In Virginia

Look at the beautiful blooming redbuds! Something we don't get to see in Maine.

Soon it will be my time to drive when it gets dark. Because I have practice staying awake late at night because I blog. We just stopped at McD's for coffee and wireless.

Simon travels really well and keeps us entertained.

Just a few quick pics from the trip so far. Destination Charlotte.