Ladies Who Lunch and Top Hat Special-Teas...

Is there anything better than a lunch with special friends?  When my friends and I get together there is always so much fun!  We laugh more than we lunch, and it is truly a time of rejuvenation on so many levels.    Although, I am "new" here, I have been blessed by so many new friends who have welcomed me with open arms and have kept me from feeling that loneliness that can often accompany a relocation.  It is so wonderful to meet all the wonderful new souls that God is bringing into my life.

 Last week I had lunch with 4 friends at a
new-to-me place here in town

(more of that being a tourist in your own town!).   

We met at Top Hat Special -Teas and had a great lunch. 

Top Hat is tucked away on a little street,right in down town,

but you could spot it easily with the cute pink exterior paint and flags flying (I love flags!).

It isn't a big, but had ample seating and made for a comfortable and cozy visit.

 So many lovely things to look at, which added to the ambience.

 I loved the extensive collection of Royal Albert's Old Country Roses and that it was actually used!  That is my sweet Mother-in-Law's pattern, so I especially love it because it reminds me of her (I think when she comes for a visit we will have to go back to Top Hat just so she can see it all). 

 Isn't this a fun way to dress up the base of a potted plant and make use of those chipped and broken china pieces?

I had a wonderful lunch and know I will be back soon, because there were a few (only a few) of the world's problems that my friends and I didn't manage to solve during our time....ah, next time! 

Monogram Monday

Monogramming is easy, for girls...not so much for boys (well, little ones, but when they get bigger they get more difficult about it!).  My boys start school this week so last week I headed to the monogramming shop with some of their things...after I pried them out of my 13 year old son's hands.  See, he is 13.  AND apparently 13+ boy+monogramming aren't too fond of each other...who knew?  BUT, I will say monogramming and things returning home to their proper owners mix real well! 

My oldest DS had to have a new backpack this year. His old one was worn slap out!  He started carrying his last backpack at the beginning of 4th grade and now he is going into 8th.  It served him well. I am a believer in buying a great quality bag and having it last for years and years. This is the 1st time we have strayed away from L.L.Bean or Lands End for Backpacks. After we discovered L.L. Bean no longer offered the great stone washed canvas pack like his previous one (yes, he wanted one just like he had before), he decided he was looking for something a bit more...I don't even know. So here is his new backpack.  I am curious as to whether it will hold up to the wear and tear that a Middle School boy throws at it like the L.L. Bean ones.   I had to assure him that I wouldn't get his name monogrammed in large pink letters before he would even grudgingly let me take it. His monogram is placed on top between zippers so I don't think it will even be very visible...but it will assure him of which black backpack belongs to him out of the mountain of other black sports oriented backpacks.

One item I don't spend a lot of money on is lunch bags for my boys. My experience has been that it doesn't matter if you spend a great deal or get the cheapest one. In the life of boys it is going to be yucky and destroyed by the end of the year...or sooner.  No wiping it off or keeping it off the floor for boys...nope, just battery. So, I bought $3.99 lunch bags at Target. I chose to be subtle and used tone on tone thread so as not to offend the Middle Schooler's sense of propriety and decorum...heavens forbid.

What are y'all monogramming for the new school year?

First Day...

Wow, another school year! I can't believe it. I especially can't believe it because today is the very first day of DD's Senior Year. This morning I am finding myself full of sighs...where have these years gone? I want to just stop time and hold them still.

My big, little man on his way to the 1st day of 2nd grade. He was so sweet this morning when I woke him. He reached up and gave me one of those sleepy hugs and said, "I wish we were born smart so I could stay home."
Here they all are....

It is probably silly that I took a picture of DD's lunch box, but I couldn't help but think this would be the last 1st day of school that I would ever make her lunch. Oh my....