Where do you live?

There has been a lot of traveling going on this summer. Recently, while on a 10 day trip to Louisiana, one of my friends in Texas said "you are never HOME, so where do you live?". Good point. I guess, based on my traveling adventures over the past 2 months, technically, I am homeless. I'm just a girl who lives in her car. That's how I roll...
Our whirlwind trip to Dallas for market is where the "vacancy" sign was first ignited. Less than two weeks later, off to Louisiana, 2 days following that trip, to Mexico, in the interim, Lexie turned 7 years of age. 
Soon, we will be in Austin for a reunion. Unfortunately, blogging hasn't been a passenger on these trips, however, my camera was a trusty co-captain. Below are a few of the festivities that we engaged in on our journey through summer. 

"The Parade".

A tradition that happens at Nan-E and Pay-Pay's house. "Here comes the Queen" is lovingly chanted as each child makes their way down the parade route. Every child is given the appropriate paraphernalia to attract their patrons.

This is what "JOY" looks like....Great Grandmother with her only Great Grandson.

And then, there is this kind of thrill seeking "JOY" that Lexie is demonstrating. Convincing.

Friendship.

The best woman for the job of raising the crazies below....no easy task.

What's a blog without some Eye Candy. 

Please deposit 25¢.

Happiest Birthday to my sweet precious "7" year old, Lexie. What a ride it has been to watch you grow and blossom into this wonderful, smart, funny, ENERGETIC, fun loving girl. None short of a gift to this planet. I love you and I wish I had a smidgen of your energy! Today, I celebrate you and thank you for all that you have brought into my life, you are a blessing....

Happy Birthday!

Cabo

Beautiful sunsets. 

A room with a view.

Great company.

Infinity Pool.

Loads of laughter.

Excellent food.

A good book and my iPod.

Sunset cruise.

I'll take a few days in Paradise for $500, Alex.

Keys in the Conch Shell

Believe me, if I knew where that conch shell was, Kenny Chesney wouldn't be singing "keys in the conch shell, come on in"...he'd be singing "Damn Girl" I mean, while we are at it, if I found the key to Justin Timberlake's conch shell, I would "come on it"....duh


Meanwhile, I will settle for seeing Kenny in concert, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. I found his tour bus right outside of the hotel where I was staying, but no conch shell....strange. I was SO tempted to knock on the tour bus door and flash my brown eyes boobs at the driver to swipe Kenny's hat underwear and run with it, but my better judgement lack of alcohol in my bloodstream kicked in. Don't worry, I saw him in my dreams.

A trip to the Art Festival in Fort Worth was necessary, when in Rome, right?

Check out this cool glass blown windmill yard art thingy (I'm quite the art connoisseur). It was super cool, I loved it and probably took a stalker approach to the amount of photos I actually took of it. I didn't bother looking at the price, I already had enough heartbreak over the conch shell, so I didn't want a violent shove into Prozac land.

Fort Worth is so cool. So artsy, Stock-yardish and they even have Indians, real one's. I bet she is hand weaving something out of animal bladder. Oooh, she is so vintage and authentic...and wait a minute, so with the times? Really? She is on her friggin' iPhone 4. That is messed up. I think they must have brought her over from North Dallas....

I'm not really sure why, how, why....the bagpipes? Nevertheless, it was a wonderful, fun filled, adventure driven weekend and I had a total blast!

(The concert attire) A little bit country, a little bit rock n roll. Thank you and Good Night!

Something to love.....

The girls made this heart out of bendaroo's and had placed it on the balcony of our beach condo. It was nestled up on a little mound of sand. I thought, hmmm, ironic, I DO love the beach. I also really love my kiddos and their creative minds.

Southern Fried

Tootie, Gran-P and Nona were having a good ole time at the party!

My sister in law (Mel)...first of all, let me say, seriously? she is pregnant and as it would happen, had the baby the morning after orchestrating this wonderful party. seriously? who looks this good at 9 months?

Anyhow, Mel (supermodel) makes the most insane, incredible paper mache' pinata's I have EVER seen in my life. This cow is no exception. A pinata people, isn't it somethin'?

Mel and Moose (my bro) had a real shindig of a party for "Tootie". She had a great birthday party and this was the 2nd year in a row that we were fortunate enough to attend. What a GREAT job Mel and Moose!

Then, as luck would have it, we got to meet "Bob the Builder" as Tootie lovingly called him. This was his first photo session....in preparation for the many years of Aunt Sassy snapping shots of him every millisecond for the rest of his life....

What a blessing to have spent such quality time with family and to experience the miracle of God in this sweet little boy.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Upstate New York

Duck Duck Duck, Daisy? I love the flowers that were in bloom this time of year in Upstate New York. I took a bunch of pictures of different flowers, but I loved how unique these little guys were. They look like duck-heads to me.

The Adirondack chair was originally called the Westport chair, named after the small town in New York. I loved the color combo and the little diva's that adorned these chairs!

About 9 years ago, T-bone took me to these falls and I really enjoyed the hike, the creek, the scenery, but I was freezing cold and just wanted a big blanket and a cup of hot chocolate.
This time, the falls were even more exciting to see because the girls really loved skipping rocks and sinking their toes into the chilly water. I could sit and listen to the sound of a waterfall for hours. It is such a beautiful and tranquil place in the Adirondack Mountains.

This carnival is in a town on a little beach somewhere an hour and a half away from Caznovia. The carnival remains in tact year round, but reminded me of a fair in Texas that is seasonal. The girls loved riding the rides and walking around, winning a prize for shooting a target on a duck, you know, eating funnel cakes, seeing the world's smallest unicorn and buying happy faced rocks. I'm kidding.

We had a great time, thanks Mary, Skyler and Jakers. We love you guys!

Paris - Chapter 2

Deux Paris. There are two versions of Paris, the one during the day, then, there is Paris at night (ahhhh, amore')
Yesterday, it was the boat tour and ooh la la, the Eiffel Tower.
Today, the red bus tour and a celebration of my 40th 29th birthday! It is indeed, my last day in France and I am thrilled to spend it galavanting around Paris.

Madame and Monsieur, à droite (on your right) is the Arc De Triomphe.....the largest triumphal arch in the world, sitting about 161 ft high and 144 ft wide. Do NOT step foot on the street to get to the other side, you must take the underground passage. Why? because you would be engaging yourself in a no win game of chicken, with about 500 cars. It is the busiest traffic circle in Paris. The Arc de Triomphe sits at the western end of the Champs-Elysees. I don't remember what Champs-Elysees means but, to me, it translated perfectly into "SHOPPING BABY!". Miles of stuff to finagle into my suitcase.

Notre Dame sat for centuries, 6 to be exact, as the Gothic masterpiece of the Middle Ages. Notre Dame was far more interesting on the outside than on the inside, to me. I sat at a bar and looked at it from afar, with a beer in hand, very interesting! haha~ On one side of the building, there was a carving of a woman holding a baby, but the baby was decapitated (weird, I thought, why don't they fix that, gothic satanic freaks, isn't this a church for Christ's sake!)...then, I did some research and found out that the woman was a 13th century Virgin, a unique survivor that originally adorned the facade. I was unable to find out more about her story, if you know it, tell me, please!

Um, Pardon, Madame, q'est your toilette f...d up? I need un couvercle, a compart-e-mente? Oui? Comprendre? You know (and I say it louder) something to SIT ON...(the public toilets are weird in France, I'm sorry, no disrespect, but weird nonetheless). One place had a box with a drain, that's it. Like the basin for a shower, but without the doors or a shower head. Squat and piss? UM, LIKE, HELLO, I'M LIKE TOTALLY A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N and I need fluffy tissue paper, a door with a lock and a clean lid to sit my purty little tush on. After all, I am 29 and I am a princess in my own right.


I went all the way to Paris to try escargot. It's French and if I had to potty in a non lid toilet, I should certainly be ok with eating snails, right? I was a little nervous, but they were so good. Buttery with a garlic basil pesto, on bread, with a mouthful of vin, amazing! I mean, what wouldn't taste great with French wine in your mouth? don't answer that.

This was the celebration of my birthday in Paris. I look scared, not because I am turning 29, but because I was terrified that with all of the hair product I had saturating my head, coupled with the wind, that waiter was going to catch my curly q's on fire! AND, I did not want to come back home to the USA with spiked hair and have to pass it off as the most bad ass hairstyle fresh off of the Paris runways.