As I type this, I am sitting on my oldest daughter's landing looking out at the sun dappling on the beautiful water of the bay. It is almost my favorite spot in her house and one that I have occupied a lot the last few days. Of course, it is also the reason I am not flying through all of the work I brought with me, but the view is so serene that I can't seem to keep my eyes on anything else! Wish I had my camera with me and I would take a picture and show you. Yes girls, I know I could do it on my new phone, but thinking about how I go from phone (without a photo disc right now) to my computer is more than my brain wants to think about at the moment!
We headed this way on Wednesday with a stop in Tampa first. By the time my husband finished his meeting, we only had time for a quick stop at the International Mall. I hit Z Gallerie, Ballard Design and Williams Sonoma but only bought a few little Halloween things. Of course we "squeezed" in lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen! I so wanted to take a detour to Hyde Park (Pottery Barn & Restoration Hardware) but hubby was off to the Yankee-Rays game that night & we had to get to St. Pete. He had a wonderful time at the game even though the Yankees lost. He thought he was becoming a bit of a Ray's fan but after being there in person he decided he can only root for them when they're playing any team but the Yankees. Guess old loyalties run deep!
Yesterday we were able to eat lunch with one granddaughter (luckily she eats at 10:35) before heading to Julie's Provence Cottage in Largo. I love her stuff. She features her floral designs and truly uses only the best of silks, fauxs and ribbons. Her prices are pretty high but her arrangements last forever. I have so many of them at my house but found this Halloween centerpiece that I fell in love with and thought would fit right in with my vintage pumpkin head collection. After Julies, we had a fantastic lunch at the Wildflower Cafe. (No, we didn't eat two lunches. Even though the pull of the school cafeteria was strong, we chose to just have a drink with Olivia while she ate her lunch). We had been there before but forgot just how good it was. Even saved room for their yummy, warm raspberry scone and pumpkin scone - both served with fresh whipped cream. About the only time I eat dessert is at the Cheesecake Factory or when scones or fresh pastries are involved. Of course, we could have taken them to go but then we would have lost all of the yummy warmness. Did I mention that I was splitting them with my daughter - and they were small - and raspberry and pumpkin contribute to my daily fruit requirements? Or how about that I am on vacation? Any way, they were delicious and I would recommend them to anyone near the Wildflower Cafe.
My daughter and her husband headed to Tennessee last night so we are playing "parents" for the weekend. Really easy to do with 2 girls who are totally on top of everything they need to do to get ready for bed, school or this weekend and a mom who helped out by calling on her carpool so that we didn't have to do drop-off or pick-up. When the girls get home, we are off to Ocala. Will make a stop for dinner in Dade City - maybe with enough time to scope out the shops first - for dinner at Kokopellis - a favorite restaurant of ours. The kids love it because of the eclectic way it is decorated but we love it because the food is really good and different from anything we have in Ocala.
Never got this posted so I thought I would throw in a picture of my "new" black hutch. The girls were busy doing homework and Barbies for a few hours yesterday morning, so I got brush and roller in hand and before I could second guess myself, I was painting. I think I like it better now but know I will truly love it when Halloween decorations are up. I really think almost any decorations except autumn will look better against the darker color. Also, I used a satin paint so it doesn't look this shiny in real life.
We had a wonderful week. Lots of eating out and shopping, but the best was the time spent with family. We watched the Gator game on Saturday and then Caitlin asked to make a cake. She and her sister had taken a cake decorating class this summer, so I let her go to it. She chose a white scratch cake with butter cream icing and of course decorated it in Gator colors and design. I really didn't do much more than show her where I keep baking things and she did it all on her own. Of course, she was so proud of herself that she didn't want us to eat it until Mommy and Daddy arrived home from Tennessee so they could see it. Drats! Had my mouth set for dessert but it was worth the wait.
I will be home for 2 days before I get back in my routine again so I am catching up and then making my plans for the rest of the week when I WILL be putting up Halloween decorations and starting to sew costumes. Stay tuned!
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