Goals for August : None

I have worked hard this year and have done most all I could to accomplish my goals each month.   Last month I slowed down a little but accomplished nearly everything on my goal list for July that I could and even some of those I hadn't gotten around to in June.   For August, I'm not making any goals.

July Diary: Week Four

Saturday:  In two weeks, Josh will be headed back to school.   He's looking forward to it, despite the very early mornings and long days away from home.   He's been asking to go back since June.  He's had enough of the summer vacation.  I think it's mostly because he's missing the companionship of other children his own age.  When parents work, friends do not get invited over to spend the day nor are play dates arranged if you haven't had time to assimilate into the community.  I get it.   My own children had a bit of a shock, too, when we moved from town to the country, and Mama and Dad worked long hours.  A little later, when I was at home, I couldn't afford to drive anywhere extra.   Katie was never accustomed to the town life.  She was more prone to make her own fun...still the long vacations palled for her, too.   Thankfully a girl she went to school with lived nearby and they became good friends and were able to visit often enough.

July Diary: Week Three

                             

                               The back porch looking spic and span in the early  morning sun.

Friday:  Listened to a tree frog located somewhere on the front porch last night calling up rain. I was mighty disappointed to find we'd had none when I got up this morning.  And despite the 99% humidity this morning we still didn't have rain any time this morning.

Outfits for July II

I surprised myself when I went to my closet to make up more outfits this week. I concentrated on my own print blouses and necklaces and how I might pair them to make outfits.   I had more prints than I'd realized.

First I want to share an outfit swap I made last week.   In the original post, I had paired the blue and white striped blouse with the khaki pants and the navy lace top with the white pants.  I switched tops.  I really loved the crisp summery look of the striped blouse with the white pants and felt the brown calf shoes and purse worked exceptionally well with the outfit.  I felt up to date and chic.

Here's a Pinterest photo to show my inspiration:

I liked the warmth of the gold with the calf colored accessories myself so went with the pearl and gold necklace.

July Diary: Week Two

Monday:  A long weekend behind.

Katie was here early Saturday morning and we had coffee and talking time.  I had slipped back to bed after a rather rotten night of not sleeping (NO MORE caffeine after 2pm!!) but I managed about an extra hour of rest before she called to say she was on her way out.  She was shocked I was still asleep.   I know that I have a reputation as an early riser, but you can pretty well bet that my family almost always is going to wake me and be astonished that I might still be in bed at 7:15...

Summer Outfits: Printed Blouses and Necklaces

When I posted my summer outfit blogpost last week someone commented that she mostly wore print blouses or tops and found them harder to accessorize.   I went to Pinterest this weekend and pulled up print tops.  I have two or three in my wardrobe and I'll show how I've chosen to accessorize those in the next wardrobe post,  but I wanted to give you all a better idea of how you might wear jewelry with a print blouse in a way that makes it look as though you'd taken it up a notch without adding a load of layers to accomplish the same thing.

July Diary: Week 1

Saturday June 29:  It was a Sabbath worthy meal today.  Grilled steaks, steamed baby potatoes with pats of Irish butter oozing golden down their skins, a glorious fresh salad with sweet onion, ripe tomatoes and tiny cubes of cheddar cheese, rich double chocolate Brownies with walnuts and a scoop of ice cream.  We groaned after finishing our meal.  John complimented me on every component of it.  We finished with coffee.

Summer Outfits Post

I've had so many requests to renew my wardrobe posts.  I put together a set of new outfits the other day, based upon a series of Pinterest photos that I'd pinned to give me cues.  I choose these photos based upon a resemblance between some element of my wardrobe and the pinned photo.  For instance, in the photo below I was looking at this outfit because I have two similar color tops in my wardrobe.  

Outfit #1

One of the tops is as flowy as the one in the photo but it's a dressier looking chiffon fabric.  I'd just picked up a similar color one in Goodwill, but it is more casual.  I felt the thrift store purchase best suited the more casual feel of the outfit above.

Favorite Finds: May and June

I like Pepperidge Farm cookies.  I seldom ever indulge in them but Publix offered a buy one get one free deal on these cookies in May.  I thought the Maui ones sounded especially good, so I got a package.  Oh my word.  Crisp, delicate coconut flavor, chocolate chunks and just a hint of crunch from the almonds.  So good.  I haven't seen any since and there's good reason why I haven't gone to look for them but boy oh boy...Vacation splurge food?  Here it is.  Special occasion treat?  Right here.  Oh yeah!