School's Out For Summer!!

In our area school will get out at 12:30 today and it is officially SUMMER!!

I love. love. love Summer and it seems to take longer to get here every year!!

#hurryupsummer

This is what I would like to do ALL Summer!

Are you a beach person or a mountain vacation person?

   

This year's beach hat is fro the Dollar Spot at Target!

I'm Team BEACH all the way!

We are not sure where we are going yet!!

I can't believe I just wrote that! 

We have been waiting to see if perhaps, just maybe, our condo that was flattened

 last Fall by the hurricane might, just maybe, be ready by July.

Nope. 

I'm headed out to spend my June 

living out of a backpack on Mission trips but believe me - Mollie is on it!!

She is a researcher extraordinaire and she is determined to find our little July spot

 in a paradise somewhere. :)

We are going to (practically) throw a dart at Florida, 

find a place to hang our (beach) hats 

and have an adventure!

Maybe it will be as funny as the one I talked about here.

Where are you going this Summer? 

Like, I really want to know! 

I want to know about great places to visit!!

So dish!!

Tropical and Refreshing!

When I blogged about the amazing tropical bar cart set up from OKL last time I said I was off to search for some tropical drink recipes that would be refreshing and delish!

I kept my word!

First, I headed to a favorite tropical spot -

 The Florida Keys.

Yes, it really is that beautiful

Every time.

These photos have not been edited.

Just iphone pics.

 Then Mollie and I set off to find the "best in The Keys" of one of our favorite drinks - 

The Mojito.

There's nothing like it on a hot, hot day!

We did our due diligence. We sipped in several picturesque locations...

And then we discovered the best one ever!

We went back again - just to confirm and to be sure there was honesty in reporting.

#research

#wearethereforyou

For sure. 

The best Mojito was at Lazy Days in Islamorada.

And the bartender willingly shared the secret!

 She uses Parrot Bay Key Lime Rum.

Using this rum cuts out the need for simple syrup

 (which sometimes makes Mojitos too sweet and #calories)

And it is sooooo easy.

And light and refreshing.

All you need to do is:

1. Muddle fresh mint in the bottom of the glass

2. Fill a tall glass with ice.

3. Add Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay Key Lime Rum and fill with club soda.

4. Garnish with a lime.

via

And just so you don't think we just ran around sipping Mojitos all day long- we found an amazing Smoked Wahoo Fish Dip at the Zane Grey Lounge.

Delicious and look at that presentation.

If only going to Happy Hour and reporting back was a full time job!

#careergoals

PS. I am not affiliated or compensated by any of the companies mentioned in this post. 
I'm just happily sharing great finds!

from my iphone 2/16/2017

I think it's been a while since I've done a random iphone photo dump 

so here ya go in no particular order:

I'm all sucked in to Grey Gardens again since it's in the news.

The house and grounds are on the market. 

You cannot help but be intrigued by the story.

I'm already busy prepping for Summer travels and I am definitely ordering  Life Straws. 

I am excited to have this instead of other items I have used 

to make sure our water is safe in emerging nations. 

I love this technology!

We built water purification systems for homes in Honduras last Summer 

and I'm sure the filter situation was similar to this. 

Thank you to whomever nailed this!

I love this pineapple. 

I'm ready for warm weather and delightful drinks 

and this would make all of that even better.

I found this at GW this week. Yay me!

#nobambooleftbehind

Mollie has moved on from pairs to triplets :)

I love everything about this little alcove!!

Bamboo chair. Elephant garden stool.

Palm trees. Blue and white. What's not to love? Let's go there!

I'm a huuuuge fan of IG.

Most of this iphone dump is screenshots from my IG scrolling. 

Quick snippets of pretty. 

Usually no long commentaries - I just gloss over anyway.

 IG is my relaxing, fun "me" time so I don't stop for anything negative.

I'm looking for happy!

Doesn't this just make you happy?

That crusty fountain, spring-y blooms. 

I want to see more of that pink Chinoiserie pillow 

and the colors in that platter!

Have a great weekend! 

Mine is slammed full. Busy!

But we do have fish tacos and margs planned for Friday night!

from my iphone 10 20 2016

1. We had a Sole Hope Shoe Cutting Party at church last week after our  Missions Lunch.

This is one of the easiest and truly helpful projects I have ever helped with. 

You cut shoes pieces out of old blue jeans.

 Mail them to Sole Hope, they ship to Uganda and teach people there how to make shoes thus employing people and the shoes are given to children who are in danger of disease, being crippled, amputation or worse due to jiggers.

#zerojiggers.

You order a kit with all you need but blue jeans 

and it's great as a home party or with a large group. 

Watch the videos of children with jiggers.

 Really. Do it. 

And the quote by Asher Collie at the beginning of the video about who the problem belongs to is one of the best!!)

Then have a Shoe Cutting Party. 

And all ages can help.

 Look at Frank cranking out the denim shoe parts.

 If a retired doctor of mathematics can do it, so can you :)

A very kind person donated their coin jar(s) to Edu-Pack to help with Hurricane Matthew Relief efforts in Haiti.

 However, it needed to be rolled. The WCYouth Group spent hours rolling it. 

And we haven't finished. We are at $1500.00

That's a big coin jar!!

2. I spend a lot of time in this gym from October until March Madness. 

I don't know a thing about basketball. I played tennis.

Thankfully I have a great team of basketball loving volunteers. 

And they are all 2 feet taller than I am :)

 3.  I went river rafting on the Nantahala. 

We used Nantahala Outdoor Center for our group and it was a fantastic experience.
Beautiful day on the river.
 Do it. 
It's good for the soul. 
Take your kids. #nocellservice

Someone did have what they call an OOBE.

Out of Boat Experience. 

It ended well - so no worries!

#oholivia

4. The purple mums Mollie gave me for my birthday in September are still going strong!

5.  Mollie turned 25!! 

#howdidthathappen

6. Compassion Experience.

I went to a Compassion Experience program in Roswell a few weeks ago.

Well done!

You experience life in an emerging nation through the eyes of a child. I learned a lot.

  If you get a chance to go to one - do it. 

And take your kids. It's interactive and you use ipods so there's that!!

7. I have had some great thrifting luck lately!

I love it when you find a pair!

(I have a new favorite mustard yellow spray paint!!)

This lamp!!! 

Bamboo shelf in perfect condition. $20.00 

#loaditup

Vintage bamboo swivel chairs.

Going white.

8. I made this one pan lemon rosemary chicken dish from Southern Living. 

Seriously good. And easy. And one pan!!

#winnerwinnerchickendinner

And this is my picture - not the professional SL one. 

It's really that gorgeous!!

9. I want to live in a house that is situated just like this.

But someplace warm.

10. I'm all in on flamingos. 

11. Mollie and our friend, Handel, from Haiti. We had dinner a few days after Hurricane Matthew ravaged the end of the island. His family and friends are okay.

There are lots of ways to help if you are able.

12. We have had a few cool nights in Atlanta and the firepit has been in use.

 It goes well with red wine ;)

Well, if you are still with me I promise to "empty" my cell phone more often. 

This was a long one!

I was invited to link up at White Spray Paint Blog.

Check it out and that's a blog name I can relate to!

Concrete World...

Oh, how I love thee.

I was in Virginia visiting my parents and I found out about Concrete World.

What can I say? I love an artfully shaped chunk of concrete.

I have been looking for a concrete dog for quite a while. 

I live in Georgia so all I can find is a bulldog. 

I have 2 Goldens. I want a big, Golden-looking concrete dog.

 For a great price. Also not a possibility in Atlanta.

Thus explaining my fondness for concrete places on backroads and not near pricey Atlanta. 

If you know of a concrete place that fills these two requirements in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina or Tennessee, please share. Really. 

Anyway, I liked the pooch above but I didn't get him.

 Because... no good reason. Indecision.

 The thought of finding a better pooch down the road... 

(This would be a classic #firstworldprob. I know)

How about this palm tree fountain centerpiece?? 

It's taller than I am (which isn't saying a lot but it's like 6 feet tall!!)

They had these huge flamingos. About 4 feet tall. 

(That's my BIL playing in the fountain. Over 40.

Boys never change - water and they are in it!)

Here's the fountain. 

You can get it in this stained finish

 and the pump is moving the water around all the tiers. 

I love fountains like this. 

 But what I really fell in love with were the urns.

 They were fabulous.

 And huge - at least 3 feet tall.

 And a zillion pounds.

This is my absolute favorite one above.

I just love it.

And then they had about 4 styles of pineapples.

 All good!!

Concrete World - I will return.

 In a big truck. 

Globally Inspired

I love globes.

It's probably related to my desire to travel anywhere.
Really. Anywhere.

I've mentioned my wanderlust before.

I'm not picky.

Let's just go!

The picture below makes me feel like I need to
kick my globe display up a notch.
Ya think?

Want to see more?
Well, it will take a bit of the adventurer/wanderlust spirit to follow this path.

I start every.single.Saturday morning with Emily A. Clarks' "The Saturday Six."

This past Saturday "Number 6" sent me to this article about a beautiful home in Atlanta.
The article is amazing as is the homeowner,
who is a bit of a "hometown hero" in the design world.
You can check the article out on this fabulous blog, Cote de Texas.
From that blog you can probably track down the original source for all the pictures.