WEDDINGS....WEDDINGS...WEDDINGS...

We are in serious, up to your ears, wedding mode here.  This mother is seriously BUSY! My calendar is overflowing, my checkbook, not so much.

Not sure what I've divulged on here, but, Jessica is getting married Aug. 11 and Scarlett is getting married Jan. 19.

 Now, in case you missed that point, that would be 2 WEDDINGS IN 5 MONTHS...

Gulp.

Jessica's wedding is a small ceremony, with a cocktail party following, at our house. Ah, yeah... here.. in Victorian Hell.  Victorian Hell, that I look around and think, really?  I need to do a little redecorating,  actually, maybe I need to do a LOT of redecorating. Ugh.

And, as we know, I work well under pressure, so the fact that I have 4 months until August doesn't make me nervous at all... haha, yeah, right.  I do have a ton of fabulous ideas, as does Jess... now, if only I knew a good landscaper...

....Corbin.... are you reading this???

Scarlett being Scarlett, is having her wedding in a repurposed warehouse in downtown Chicago.  EVERYTHING has to be brought in.  By everything, I mean EVERYTHING from the forks to the tables, to the staff.

Originally, I thought, I'd  plan this, what else do I have to do? Right?

Wrong.  I hired a wedding planner.

We've met with her a couple times already, and I think she's going to be great.  Monday, we checked out the venue, and gave her an overview of the 'look' Scarlett had in mind.  We got a feel for some placement and I came away feeling that this can be done and will be awesome.

Honestly, I am happy to dump some of this stuff in her lap and let her worry about the forks.... etc, so I can worry about the important things.. like what the hell I'm going to wear and how to convince Mark to spring for a little nip/tuck.

Yeah, right.

We have successfully dress shopped for the brides ... Jess got her's last week, and Scarlett got her's today.  They are both just beautiful,  not to brag, but my two girls would look beautiful in gunny sacks.  This is where the pictures come in...

Not happening...suffice to say, you'll just have to wait!

It's been a very expensive couple of weeks, and I have a feeling it's just beginning.  Now, seriously when you have a daughter, it's not just about the hair bows, ruffly pants and dolls ... you've got to factor in the dresses, from the little smocked ones with matching bloomers to the prom dress (a zillion times) and  the big finale... the wedding.  There is nothing reasonable about a wedding dress... but what the hell,  why not say 'YES TO THE DRESS'!?!

 I'll leave you with a picture from my kitchen window.  We've got a squirrel that's just a little pushy as well as being a window peeker.  He's out there looking at me way too much.....just a little creepy I tell you.

HOUSTON....WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM.....

We don't really.  Well, maybe we do, I'm not there.

But I was last week.  It was lovely, as usual.  It's starting to feel like home away from home, I know the doormen by name.  My driver hugs me hello and goodbye, and the waiter at my fave evening haunt knows what I drink.

This time, we broke tradition.  Well, 'we' didn't, Mark did. He actually took Thursday afternoon off!! Amazing.  This was huge.  I didn't notice the world stopped spinning, did you all?

I know, I know, snarkyness is unattractive....

Anyway, we went to the King Tut exhibit at the Houston Museum of Fine Art. It was AWESOME!  I'd always regretted not seeing Tut's treasures when they visited Chicago years ago.  And as much as I'd like to go to Egypt, I don't think the climate is right for American's at the moment, so that trip is unlikely.  But...last month when I was in Houston, riding the Light Rail to the Rodeo, the sign caught my eye, and now,  I've been.  And it was tremendous.

That Tut, (funky Tut) he had some extremely cool stuff.  Gorgoeus gold jewels, and some unbelievably cool gold sandals (we all know what a shoe girl I am).  Now, ladies, I'm not talking gold lame... I'm talking SOLID GOLD.  (they made an impression).

The carving in the statues was so tremendous. Their burial, was a major production.  They started LONG before they even thought about dying, preparing their tombs.   It's hard to fathom how old this stuff is, and how amazingly preserved it all is.  Tut's bed was there, with the woven rush bottom, still intact on his very thin wooden bed.   A bit of white paint still visible.  Actually a lot of things had original paint still visible.  I could go on and on...

Other than that, we did a dueling piano bar... always a good time.  Although, not everyone was having a good time, the couple at the table in front of us had a big fight, and she attempted to storm off... she was way wobbly on her too high heels, so it lost some impact.  Just saying'

I hit up Macy's - my only shopping venue within walking distance of the apartment.  Of course I managed to find a couple needful things.

Another great week in Houston,

 in spite of the fact that Steve Martin and 'that song' kept running through my head,  I was even humming it... da da da.......

AAARRRGGHHHH now it's starting again...


"now when I die...don't think that I'm a nut... don't want no fancy funeral...just one like old King Tut"...

I am, after all, a Funeral Director's daughter....





some pictures courtesy of Post Rice; Tut Exhibit

EVERY GIRLS' CRAZY 'BOUT A SHARP DRESSED MAN

..it's true. They are.

So dress up boys.

Went to Houston, it's Rodeo month, you know. Yes indeed, the whole month of March, Yee Haw...
Actually, went for not just rodeo, but also for Mark's birthday, and we hosted Mark's sister Lori and her husband Pete at the apartment.

And we had some kinda fun...

On the night of Mark's birthday, we headed to the Rodeo, (you know what a cowboy he is)... and ate dinner, and headed on in to our seats. We missed the bull riding...but caught the Mutton busting. That's just too cute, little 5-6 year olds, riding these fuzzy, fat sheep as far as they can.

But, that's not why we were there. We were there to see ZZ TOP!! They are Houston boys, you know, and they are old, but they can still rock the house, fuzzy guitar and all!

We had a great time.  Came back to my FAVE Houston place, Sambucca's for some more live music and dancing. Pretty much hit that place to end every evening! 

Saturday we headed down to Galveston to the beach. It was raining...so we wandered around in the Strand. 

That is the old down town area, some fun shops, we attempted to take a tour through one of the wonderful mansions, but, missed it by a few minutes.  

Here are my photographic efforts... 

I should live there. 

 

We discovered a 'new to us' drink in Galveston, Oh Galveston... 

It's a Beer-rita... deadly, I'm sure...

The rest of the weekend we showed them around Houston, ate and partied way too much, and ended with another concert on Monday night... the Zac Brown Band.  Mark and I didn't know them, but Lori and Pete assured us (as did Corbin) we'd like them. And we did.

Another awesome concert. We had a great time. Mark felt a little sick, and headed to bed early.... we should have taken our cue from our elders in this case. Pete, Lori and I stayed up, and maybe had just a wee bit to much fun... so packing and heading to the airport was a little difficult for the three of us, but we made it... leaving Mark in Houston.

Coming away from this weekend were many good lines... not all can be printed, so I'll leave you with the overwhelming Rodeo statement....

'GOD BLESS AMERICA, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS'

You betcha...


(ZZ Top & Zac Brown pictures from Houston Chronicle and The Strand from their website)

EXHAUSTION...

I AM.

EXHAUSTED.

I think it's because all I did in between running around last week was sit. At the hospital.

Waiting.

Long story short, my mom was sick, ended up dehydrated, and she hung out at the hospital, where they tested everything they could conjure up to test for, and found.....

an ulcer!!!

Good news! Except, the poor woman is on a liquid diet. Liquid diet for a week is nasty, it's either something you could drink through a straw or will melt on the counter. Everyday she has a new 'thing' she's craving... yesterday it was a Club Sandwich.  Interest in food = she's on the mend! Good news.

Anyway, my sister and I sat there playing on our iPads (thank god for cool Apple toys) obsessing on a word game. Every now and then, mom would pipe up with the answer.. she's good at that stuff.

Then on Friday night, Scarlett came out for her birthday celebration, and to see nana. We had a smaller than usual group, but fun none the less...

Among other cool things, she got a doll...she's like me, a doll girl. This doll came with some cool accessories... like hats.  Poor Jet, he got to try them on...

Honestly he didn't seem to mind to much...

Sunday, we headed into Chicago to a Bridal Show at the Paris Club. Since BOTH girls are in full bridal mode, we all went. The men hung out in the groom's room, and cruised around sampling tastes of potential caterers, while the girls and I gathered up info and even booked something for the wedding!!! WHoo Hoo... a decision....for some reason they are not easily come by lately.

So today, I am catching up on laundry and moving from room to room...in a foggy daze.

I'm just tired, maybe I should take an exercising walk...

nah,

instead I'll have a Cadbury Egg.. always invigorating.

WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE....

I spent the weekend either agonizing about color, or painting. Except for today.

A couple friends invited me to go somewhere I've wanted to go forever. So how could I turn that down to hang out here and slather paint on the kitchen walls? Right?

This place was so cool.  It's an Antique shop located on a farm near here.  I was always leery to go there by myself, as who knows... Ed Gein could live there.

Creepy thought.

So there's strength in numbers, I guess.

Ed Gein did not live there. A very nice lady and her two dogs were there, I'd definitely go back, even by myself.  I, OF COURSE bought something.  But I'll talk about that later, when I figure out exactly what I'm going to do with it.  I also saw something I'm going to go back and get for my daughter for her upcoming birthday, now that it's use has become clear to me.

Anyway... upon my arrival home, Mark was rolling paint in the butler's pantry and I let the doglets out of their pen.  They were totally excited to see me.

It's nice to be so loved.

Millie was jumping about, and jumped directly into the rather full rolling pan of paint.  Yes indeedy,  all four feet up to mid shin and her stomach fur, (she's sporting a typical long Maltese 'do at the moment) submerged in paint.  As quickly as she jumped in, she jumped out, on the drop cloth (thank you).  I jumped over there, (a whole lot of jumping going on today) and grabbed her, holding her away from my fave jeans and a sweater I quite like. I ran to the sink, and while waiting for the water to warm up she began to 'swim' with her legs. Further sending paint spattering about.

(this is an old picture, sadly we didn't snap any of today's debacle)

So what do I know?

I know that when you are painting, you should not put your roller pan on the floor.  And, if you MUST, keep your damn dog in it's pen.

Go ahead, laugh... we did.

SHABBY.....CHIC?

No, just shabby.

This is how I'm currently living.  I can cheekily look you in the eye and state that I'm going for a 'shabby chic' look.  I've always been a good liar.

I'm in a quandary. I can't decide what colors to paint my kitchen... I want something different and dramatic something to match my new sinks, countertops and backsplash...

Only one problem here.

Not getting them... I have not just ONE daughter getting married... I have TWO in the next year.  So, alas, not this year for the new countertops, sinks, backsplash and, what the hell, let's throw in a new stove and dishwasher too.  (on an up note though, our third kid is a boy)

So with that said, I'm sitting here with a bazillion different paint chips, some copic markers and paper trying to figure something out.

What I'm figuring out here, in this situation, is.... that I need a cocktail... or a highball...(still love that word), or maybe just a winning lottery ticket.

YOU JUST CAN'T STOP.....

.. this has oft been said to me by a kid or two, or my mother, sister, friend ... or even by Mark, my accomplice in many cases.

What?  You ask, can't I stop doing????

A project. A 'rip out the wall, move the door, redo the floors, redecorate kind of thing'.  Something this old house is always calling me to do.

I'm doing it again. And it's a real mess....

And....

I'm really bored with it, but only 1/2 way through it....

Gotcha on the edge of your seat, don't I.

Unfortunately, for you however, I don't have time to tell you about it now, I can't sit around blogging, I have work to do.

You are such a bad influence.....