Babies, sitting and gift getting...

Last night, Charles and I met Molly, John and Brady at Guadalajara for a delicious and fun Mexican dinner! We had such a good time, and afterwards we rode around Hernando for a while looking at new houses. Brady really enjoyed this and really, really enjoyed pointing out the trucks and tractors to us - he is too cute and too smart!

Today, I was in Court all day long...but I had a great evening!!
When I got home, I found that our new chairs for the living room had arrived!
They turned out great!! Charles already had them in their places, so I just had to slightly adjust their angles...
and add the finishing touches...
It took me long enough, but I finally found matching chair style and fabric that I was happy with.

Then even better, we met Matt, Mary Ann and Nathan in Southaven for dinner. We had a great time!! I can't believe how much Nathan has grown. He is such a little boy now! He is just too cute and such a happy baby. He kept us entertained throughout dinner with his smiles and giggles. He also really liked sharing his crackers and crayons with me!
During dessert Charles sat Nathan in his lap for a little play time - and try to convert Nathan into a Cubs fan time! He put a Cubs hat on him and began teaching him the ever important Go Cubs Go song - Nathan really got a kick out of all that!!

The Dillons surprised me with a birthday present - this bunny toile cake stand which I absolutely love and is just perfect!!


I can't wait to use it!!

Girl's Day in the Delta...

Mama and I traveled to the Delta for a fun day of shopping.
Our first stop was Peter's Pottery in Mound Bayou where I spent some of my birthday money on two white pieces for our bookcase and a piece for our end table...

Now I just need a boxwood sphere to place on the brown vase and the end table will be perfect! Peter had a few new pieces that have definitely made their way onto my wish list!!

Our next stop was McCarty's in Merigold. They had a lot of new pieces too. While I had a hard time deciding on what I wanted to bring home with me, I finally decided on this perfect shell piece...

I've already thought of a thousand different things to serve in it; I can't wait to have a get together so I can use it!

We then headed to the tea room for a delicious lunch where the highlights were the Merigold tomatoes and the chocolate cobbler a la mode!

We stopped at the Candle Shop in Batesville to exchange my garment bag, but my pattern has been discontinued, so Mama bought me a new Miller bag to go along with the exchanged garment bag... I love Vera Bradley's new Puccini print, so I just couldn't leave the store without this new purse!
It will be the perfect complement to my fall wardrobe!

Mama and I had such a fun day!!

Happy Birthday...

to me - and it was a wonderful one!!

My birthday fell on Saturday this year, but the celebration began a day early.
Friday started off with a birthday breakfast at my office with doughnuts and pastries from a local shop and delicious fruits - the strawberries and pineapple were especially delicious!
Then when I got back to the office Friday after lunch, I was surprised with these beautiful roses from Charles...Friday evening, Charles and I went to see The Sound of Music at the Orpheum. Since first seeing that it was part of the summer movie schedule, I have been telling Charles that I wanted to see it on the big screen of the Orpheum. It was great - and before the movie, the Wurlitzer organ rose from the orchestra pit for some pre-movie music and a sing along - what fun!

Before the movie, Charles took me to dinner at McEwen's on Monroe. It was delicious (Mahi Mahi and herbed couscous for Charles and beef tenderloin atop Yukon gold crawfish mashed potatoes for me - followed by a small molten chocolate cake with fresh raspberries and homemade vanilla ice cream) and such a nice birthday dinner!

Saturday morning, I began my birthday by opening my presents from Charles. He always goes overboard, but this year, he really did! He brought in a cute card and two presents for me to open. The first one was a white Peter's pottery rabbit for the new bookcase, and the second was two pieces of Peter's pottery that I had been wanting for serving dips...

Then he said that he was cooking a birthday breakfast for me - which was yummy! When I went into the living room, there was one more present waiting for me. This pink Kate Spade purse...

It is too cute - I just love it!!

Next I opened my present from Miss Jennifer. It has been at the house for several weeks now, but I waited until my birthday to open it. It was a Peter's pottery pitcher which I love!

I told Charles that it was too bad that we didn't have any orange juice because it would have been perfect to use the pitcher during my birthday breakfast! Not only did I like my gift, Toula really liked the box that it came in...

I had a wedding shower Saturday afternoon, so Mama came up late Saturday afternoon for my birthday. She brought me a cute Vera Bradley umbrella I have been wanting and a garment bag. The store didn't have my pattern, so they told her they would wrap this one up for me and then when the one in my pattern came in, I could bring it back and exchange it...
Mama also gave me a sweet card and money - either to use toward our new chairs for the living room - which hopefully will be arriving soon - or for a piece or two of white pottery for the bookcase. We are going to the Delta Friday for my birthday, so Mama thought it was best for me to just pick out the pieces I had envisioned for the shelves...

After opening my presents, we went to Memphis. Mama treated us to a wonderful birthday evening. It started with a delicious birthday dinner at Houston's. After dinner, we saw Mama Mia. It was wonderful! I have seen the Broadway show twice and loved it both times. While I really wanted to see the movie version, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't enjoy it as much, but I must say, the movie did not disappoint! I highly recommend it! My birthday night ended perfectly with a stop at Ben and Jerry's - what better way to end the evening!

The continuing saga of the bookcase...

So, we made a decision about how to get the bookcase into the house -- take out the back door frame, haul in the bookcase and then repair the door...
We lucked up and found that the worker who framed our house was doing a roofing job a street over from us. Charles stopped by and talked to him earlier in the week and brought him by the house to show him exactly what we needed. He measured the back door and the bookcase and told us our plan should work and that he and his son could come by Saturday morning.
Yesterday, we were up bright and early, and the guy and his son showed up right on time -- 8:00 a.m. sharp. Before they arrived, we cleared everything off of the back patio to allow them plenty of work room.
After measuring again, they began to work. After quite a while, the back door and frame were down...
As the son was finishing up the project, the father left to get 2 more workers to come by to help them move in the bookcase. I was nervous throughout the whole project just hoping that everything would work out as we planned, but when the other workers came, I became even more nervous -- it was the moment of truth, and if this plan didn't work, I didn't know what we would do.
So, Charles went out, they flipped the bookcase on its side, and all five guys carried it around to the fence gate. Once they got it to the gate, of course, they had to stand it back up in order to fit it through the gate. Thankfully, the guys were pretty resourceful and pulled some thick ropes out of their truck. They put the ropes underneath the bookcase at the both ends and then lifted up the ropes to haul the bookcase through the gate. Once they got it through the gate, they were moving pretty swiftly (trying to get this job over with) and just kept right on coming up to the patio. All of I sudden I hear Charles yell out "Watch the fan!" Thankfully, they listened and lowered the bookcase under the fan - although Charles maintains that it was almost a casualty...
So, the bookcase is now at the backdoor. The front two guys lifted up the front and made it into the house where a quilt was waiting to help slide it across the floor. After a little more lifting and pushing, the whole bookcase was finally in the house! Of course, the quilt wasn't long enough for the whole bookcase to fit on, so I ran to get the furniture sliders to put under the bookcase. As two guys lifted up one end of the bookcase, we slid the sliders under it, and after we repeated the process on the other end, we slid the bookcase to it home...

What a relief, it worked!! And let me just say that the sliders worked wonderfully! I was actually able to slide the bookcase down a few inches on the wall all by myself with the sliders under it.

After a water break, the other workers left, and the work on repairing the back door began...

By this point Charles and I were so relieved!! We collapsed on the couch and just took a minute to look at the bookcase in its new home. Looking around, Charles commented that it looked - and felt - like we were just moving in...

This was so true. We had removed the majority of furniture and decorations from the living room so it was back to pretty much an empty space... While our dining room and kitchen were packed with everything from the living room...

It took until early afternoon for the workers to finally finish. It, of course, took us a little more time to get the rug and furniture back into the living room. I am still working on the decorating. I have the tables back in order but am taking my time with the bookcase -- my birthday is coming up, and I've told Charles that a few pieces of Peter's pottery in white would look really good on the new bookcase!!

Eventful week

This past week has been eventful to say the least!

It started Saturday with a trip to Oxford to purchase the bookcase I saw and a visit with the Dillons. We had a great time visiting with Matt, Mary Ann and Nathan! Nathan kept us entertained the entire time. He is almost one and doing the cutest things!! Although he is learning to walk, he didn't want to show us; however, he was more than happy to show us everything else he had learned. He is just too cute and sweet - always smiling and laughing!
Then on Sunday my cousins Lance and Tamara stopped by the house for a visit and brought us the cutest fleur de lis happy! I am still deciding where the perfect spot for it will be. We had the best visit! It was great to catch up with them, and they always have the funniest stories to share!
Then Charles's adventure with the bookcase began Monday. He left Hernando right after lunch to pick up Jerry's truck and Matt's trailer and then the bookcase. Well as soon as he got to Oxford, it started raining. He was delayed an hour and a half thanks to the rain. After getting the bookcase out of the store and into the trailer (a job requiring several guys) he got it call covered with tarps and tied in tightly. After a very slow driving trip home, he finally made it.
Only after he got the bookcase home did we think to measure the door...
Of course, our door height is a little over 79 3/4 inches and the bookcase is 80 inches. We thought maybe we could take off the threshold, tilt the bookcase slightly and it would fit. Of course, then the dilemma became how to get the bookcase carried into the house. I found some movers who actually laughed when I explained the dilemma and said they would love to see this piece of furniture. They were supposed to come that night after dinner to move it in for us. We waited for the call and when they finally did call, they said that since it was late (almost 9:00) that they would just come the next day. So Charles backed the trailer into the garage for the evening.
The next day, they came a little after 11:00. Charles said they (2 strong guys, 1 scrawny guy and Charles) tried every tilt possible and ...
you guessed it, the bookcase would not fit. At least though they got it off the trailer and stood it up in the garage.
So for now, we have a really pretty bookcase looking really good in our garage.

We think that the best course of action is to completely take out the back door - jam and all - to get it in. We think we found someone to do this for us Saturday morning...everyone keep your fingers crossed!!

Independence Day

Mama and Jerry came up this morning and treated Charles and me to lunch at Corky's. Since it was the 4th, we had to have BBQ, and what's better than Corky's BBQ ribs? Lunch was delicious, and we had a great time visiting!

I decided that Toula should be a little festive today, so I tied a red and white ribbon and tried to tie it around her neck...
As you will see, none of our attempts were successful! As soon as the ribbon was even lightly laid on her, she started twitching and turning her head and tugging at the ribbon...

Once the ribbon was finally off of her, she had to chew a little on it...

She was so funny doing this! I must admit we kept trying a little longer than we probably should have, but Toula was a really good sport about it!
After her morning of mild torment, she more than earned her treats today!!

We had thought about going to watch fireworks tonight, but since the great American passtime - Cubs v. Cardinals - is on television right now, we decided to stay in to watch the game (and Zambrano pitch his first game back) and just check out the fireworks either on TV or around the neighborhood -- hope the neighborhood kids have some good ones!!

Happy 4th of July

Last night Charles and I put on our red, white and blue... and headed to the Courthouse Square for the 4th of July Parade!

The Courthouse was beautiful with a gigantic American flag unfurled from its balcony, and volunteers were busy handing out small American flags and fans with flags on them to the crowd.

It was a beautiful evening for the parade. The sun was shining but a breeze was blowing which made the weather very enjoyable. Charles and I arrived early and laid out a quilt, set up some chairs and enjoyed some people watching.

Molly, John and Brady met us there. Molly and I had a great time visiting...

while Brady showed off his patriotic spirit by waving an American flag...Then the parade got under way with a fire truck leading off the event...
Of course, all of the children in the crowd loved seeing the big, red firetruck!

Next came our Armed Forces presenting the Colors...

followed by trucks with waving children in the back and members of the Armed Forces marching behind...

All along the parade route, they were greeted with much deserved applause!

Then came the remaining parade participants who decked out themselves and their modes of transportation in red, white and blue to celebrate the 4th of July!

We enjoyed seeing the young children...

and the parents who joined in the festivities...and the young at heart...
We especially enjoyed seeing all the different modes of transportation and the cute decorations on each!

Bikes...
Wagons...

Strollers...

Little Rascals...
and even jumpy stilts...
We all had such a great time! We are so lucky to be living in America - the home of the free and the brave.

The parade was wonderful, and what a wonderful, Americana way to start off the 4th of July celebrations!