Tommy Bahama....

What a couple of weeks this has been for me and my family.  First off, getting ready for our huge family reunion was a lot of work...I still didn't get all the family photos put on CD's for everyone, there are just so many photos...I told them, that I would (should) have them done by Christmas and send each family two CD's.  I had to do a lot of pictures for our family cookbook that my cousin put together, so that did take a lot of my time…but the cookbook is wonderful, what a beautiful family heirloom it is, a sweet remembrance of my Grandparents and each and every family member filled with the best recipes and photos, what a treasure she created.  The family reunion was so special, we had it at Ft. Desoto, here on the Gulf Coast…it rained for a few minutes, just enough to cool everything down…it was a hot day, but actually not uncomfortable for an August day…many people did however, go to the beach for a nice swim.  Though most of us live here in Florida, I have some that live in Texas, and a few in Tennessee, that came, how great it was to visit with them too.  I have a very large family, so you can only imagine what a special day that was.  And yes…I took over 250 pictures…

A few weeks ago my washer and drier went…gone, nothing…so we purchased new front loading pedestal units…love them…then, last week our air conditioner, on its last leg…so we had a new unit put in on Friday…then my cousin and her son, which is my daughter’s age, came over Friday evening before the reunion.  I made a taco bar, and we ate, drank and enjoyed some family conversation.  The next day was the reunion…and on Sunday…I did nothing, but rest.  I put some spaghetti on and let it simmer for most of the day, and had a nice quiet dinner…now it’s all back to reality and I’m ready to start taking it easy and preparing for the holidays.

I know, the holidays!?!?  We’ll I love to get a jump on things, and though here in this part of Florida, it still feels like summer until around October or November, just not as hot.  I wanted to show a few beautiful items from Tommy Bahama, to help us hold on to that last bit of summer.  As much as I love the tropical look, I am so ready for fall and winter to arrive.  My daughter and I already have a day picked out and are heading to Orlando for some early Christmas shopping…

It's so nice to be back on the "Blog" again, I really missed ready all the great posts, but still haven't fully caught up yet.  I would say it's time for some lazy days of summer here for me, and get back to "some" normality.  I love Tommy Bahama and hope you enjoy the pictures and what is left of summer no matter where you live.

Aloha Ceramic Sign $14.00

Beach Stones filled with images of nautical beauty $17.95

Ceramic Punched Luminary $45.00

Driftwood Leaf Tray $48.00



Etched Palm Martini Glasses $19.50



Etched Palm Martini Pitcher $58.00

Island Botanical 16" Square Pillow $55.00

Sips & Apps  $19.95

Laguna Sail Tote $168.00

Life is One Long Weekend Cookbook $35.00

Nautical Rope Wall Clock $98

Orange Cay Castaway Pillow $50.00



Palm Desert Wine Tote $38.00



"Relax" Collapsible Duffel Bag (variety of colors) $48.00

Seashell Appetizer Plates, Set of 4 $39.00

Starfish Bowl $128.00

Happy Sunday....

Though the weekend is over, and according to the calendar, summer is coming to an end soon (but not here), with temperatures still in the mid 90's and high humidity - I am always reminded of no matter the temperature and the humidity, there is so much to be grateful for living in the Sunshine State.  Last evening, as with every Saturday, my husband and I had our date night.  We went to the International Plaza in Tampa for shopping (yes, I actually bought a pair of Ugg's Caspia boots).   Yeah, I know with temperatures in the mid 90's what was I thinking...well, I love them, they are so soft inside it's like waking on a cloud.  They are super cute on, and believe it or not, I got the last pair, only one left in a different size, so I'm not the only one out there thinking and hoping for a super cold winter here.
       

After shopping for a few hours we drove over to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge for a little photography, it started to sprinkle a little as we arrived, but stopped as soon as we pulled over to watch the sunset.  Wished it was a little earlier so the water would have been more blue but it was getting dark   But the sunset was spectacular...after watching the sun go down we left for one of my favorite Southwest Restaurants called Red Mesa...ohhhh, so good.  If you live in this area, and haven't tried it, you really should, the food is fabulous and never disappointing over the many years we've been going there.  My husband is out playing golf, all three of the fur babies have been bathed and groomed and are sound to sleep like little babies, and I about ready to start making the Taquitos and Spanish noodles for dinner.  I must say, it's been a very nice, relaxing weekend - ready for the week ahead.  Hope everyone had a great weekend as well and the week ahead is a wonderful one.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Where I Blog and do my photography from....

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been working diligently on our family photographs for un upcoming family reunion.  Since I am the electronics and photography junky in our family, I was asked to compile thousands of old and new photographs of my wonderful family and put them on a CD for the entire family…we’re talking well over 100 CD’s, In the process of working on these photographs, which were given to me from my older family members, such as my Aunts, I’ve been assisting my cousin in Texas on our Family Cookbook.  To say the least, I’ve spent many of hours here in my “Relax” room, scanning, and editing some photos from the mid to late 1800’s…it’s been a challenge to remove scratches, bends, discoloration, etc., and make them as clear as possible,  but I’ve loved every minute of it.  The cookbook is a beautiful book of hundreds of recipes and some handwritten from my beautiful Grandmother and other family members and includes numerous family photos.  I still have three weeks to complete this project, though, I am starting to worry that it won’t get done, so many photos, but I know that it is very important to my family, so I will stay up late each night, and work on the weekends, until it is done.  I guess this is what some call a labor of Love!!! 

My Relax room is very simple, but I love the Ralph Lauren metallic paint in the brown tone, it reflect light, and shadows, though it’s not an extra-large room, it has everything I need right there.   Yes, I have two computers going at once, and even my iPad, for those quick e-mails, that I need to send and not get out of my photo editing programs.  I think I can call myself a multi-tasker for sure!!!  As you can see from the photos, there is an area that I did not take a picture of….well, that’s because that has one huge box of nothing but photos, and I must say, it’s not the neatest area of the room…with all the discovery of new photographs and sorting…nope, I’ll keep that hid for now – I really try to keep it organized, but that is almost an impossible task.

Well, back to scanning more photographs…wish me luck; I’m going to need it.

Plumeria after the rain....

We had rain, yah!!!  For us here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, that is great news.  Saturday night early Sunday morning, the thunderstorms came roaring in, some pretty severe, but we were so desperate for rain, it was such a welcoming sound.  Though we are in our rainy/hurricane season, we’ve only had rain twice in the last two months, we need more, no hurricanes, just rain…there has been a lot of hand watering going on to keep everything as green as possible.

After the rain stopped and the sun began to peak out through the trees in the woods behind our home, I noticed more flowers on some of my Plumeria trees had opened.  Camera in hand, I went out to capture the pictures with the freshly fallen rain.  The air was so clean and the fragrance of the tropics coming from the Plumeria was so nice first thing in the morning.  Though I have around 50 or so Plumeria trees, difference sizes,  with the hard freezes we had two years ago, and having to cut them way back to help them survive, the flowers have not been as abundant the last two years, this year, they are trying.  And since they only bloom here in the summer months, I have to take every advantage I can to capture their beauty.  The deep tropical pink, yellow and tropical red/coral, only had a few flowers, but one of my larger tropical pink trees are about ready to open, not a lot of blossoms but enough to enjoy.  Sadly, many of the multi-colored ones we had to cut back so far, they didn't bloom this year, but hoping for some next year.  For now, these all may look the same, but they are actually from three different trees.  Hope you enjoy them; they are my favorite of all tropical flowers.







left click to enlarge photos