THIS APPEARED ON MY PHONE THE MORNING OF JULY 22 FROM MY FRIEND Mary Ann WHO I MET AT Bryn Walker. THAT CLOTHING STORE I USE TO FREQUENT A LOT!WE WERE GETTING FOOT MASSAGES IN Walnut Creek!HAVE YOU EVER DONE THAT?SO FUN AND RELAXING…………..don’t expect to get ANYTHING DONE AFTER!
THIS OF COURSE WAS TAKEN A FEW YEARS AGO!
DESCRIPTION of body AFTER FOOT MASSAGE?
LIMP NOODLE!
THIS CARD CAME WITH A GIFT THAT WAS MAILED TO ME BY MY DEAR FRIEND PATRICIA!
THE CARD COULD HAVE BEEN THE GIFT!
THESE DRESSES WERE FROM AN OSCAR de la RENTA EXHIBIT!
I JUST LOVED IT!
On July 21st I made myself a cake!LICKED THE BATTER OFF THE BEATERS and ALL JUST LIKE I DID WHEN I WAS a KID!
I then iced it and decorated it on the morning of my birthday.
I figured I could eat it morning, noon and night!
Of course due to diet restrictions I was Not suppose to EAT the CAKE!
It has SUGAR as does ALMOST EVERYTHING WE EAT.
I NOW LOOK AT LABELS……….which I find TIME CONSUMING!
I put out a few plates JUST IN CASE I HAD A VISITOR OR TWO!
THE ROSES WERE FROM THE ITALIAN!
To be HONEST I was NOT feeling TIP TOP that DAY.
I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH MY CAKE!
I then MADE MYSELF GET DRESSED IN MY GOWN I BOUGHT FOR MY BIRTHDAY.
I BURST A BUTTON PUTTING IT ON THEREFORE THE BROOCH!
I HAD MY HAIRCUT THE DAY BEFORE!
I didNOT SLEEP A WINK THE NIGHT BEFORE!!
WHY?
WE HAD LEFT THE FOUNTAIN ON AND I CAN HEAR IT……..WHY DIDN’T I GET UP AND TURN IT OFF?
ONE REASON. BANKSY WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT WAS MEAL TIME AS HE GETS UP WITH THE ITALIAN IN THE DARK SUPER EARLY!I DIDNOT HAVE THE HEART TO TELL HIM NO NOT NOW!
THE PUPPY BETTY MAY HAVE THOUGHT IT WAS UP TIME TOO…………THE LAST THING I WANTED TO DO WAS WAKE THE ITALIAN WHO CANNOT HEAR LIKE ME!
SO I STAYED IN BED TRYING HARD TO FALL ASLEEP!
IT JUST DIDNOT WORK!
I WAS SO UPSET WITH MYSELF ON THE DAY OF MY BIRTH!
I BOUGHT THE SHOES TOO AT LA BELLE FIFI CALIFORNIA in LARKSPUR, CALIFORNIA.
BY THAT INCREDIBLE TALENTED LADY AT COAST & KOI!
I ADORE BROWN AND GREEN!
HAS ANYONE SEEN A ROOM DONE IN THOSE COLORS?
MY MASTER BATH IS THIS GREEN MAYBE I NEED A BROWN CARPET AND TOWELS NOW!
ALWAYS HELPING OUR ECONOMY I AM!!!
HERE YOU CAN SEE HOW TIRED I AM AND IT’s LIKE 11 am!
SO I HAD TWO VERY SMALL PIECES OF CAKE AS I HAD SIX VISITORS THROUGH OUT THE DAY!
I ADD ONE CUP OF MAYONNAISE TO THE INGREDIENTS SO ITS MOIST!
NOW WHAT IS FUNNY ABOUT THIS PHOTO IS I CANNOT MOVE AS BANKSY BOY IS LYING ON MY GREEN GOWN!
Plus the TURKEY NAPKINS!
I TOLD YOU THERE WAS ZERO PLANNING THIS YEAR!
AS A BIRTHDAY TREAT TO MYSELF I BOUGHT A BOOK ON PETERSHAM NURSERIES…………
AS A FEW OF YOU MIGHT RECALL I WAS THERE THREE YEARS AGO MEETING UP WITH MY TOUR FOR GARDENS IN ENGLAND!
THANK GOODNESS I HAD ANITA & PAUL HELPING ME DOWN THE DIRT LANE WITH MY LUGGAGE!
THIS NURSERY REMINDED ME SO MUCH OF MY COUSINS NURSERY IN Southern California!
BOTH NURSERIES HAVE RESTAURANTS.
I CANNOT THINK OF A MORE ENJOYABLE SETTING TO EAT LUNCH OR DINNER OR JUST HAVE A COFFEE BEFORE SHOPPING FOR THE GARDEN!
THEY COMBINE ANTIQUES WITH THE NEW AND ESSENTIALS FOR GARDENING.
I WAS IN HEAVEN THERE AND ALWAYS AT ROGERS GARDENS!
MY MOTHER WORKED THERE FOR A FEW YEARS AND JUST LOVED IT!
2301 San Joaquin HILLS ROAD CORONA Del Mar, CALIFORNIA
I WAS GIFTED THIS JAPANESE KIMONO WHICH IS VINTAGE!
WE COULD NOT GET OVER HOW WELL IT WENT WITH MY GREEN GOWN!
LOOK AT THE LENGTH!!!!
PERFECTION!
A DEAR NEIGHBOR WHO KNOWS ME WELL!
GOING TO DINNER AND I SAID,” WE HAVE TO TAKE A SELFIE!”
AS he had pants on to match my GOWN!
THE TWO MUNCHKINS!
A JULY GROCERY SHOPPING EXPERIENCE!
I LOVED HIS OUTFIT…….I ACTUALLY SAW HIM IN THE PRODUCE SECTION BUYING A HUGE BAG OF CARROTS!I SAID,”BUNNIES OR HORSES?”HE THOUGHT A MOMENT AND SAID HUMANS!I saw him again at check out and that was the ONLY ITEM he bought!
THE BAG WAS HUGE!
HERE IS THE PAVLOVA I MADE for ANOTHER SOIREE!
WELL, here I AM ON TO ANOTHER PARTY THE WEEK AFTER THE BIRTHDAY!
SAME DRESS A BIT COOLER SO ADDED THE VELVET COAT by
AND OF COURSE THE MISS AMERICA SWAG!
ANOTHER DEAR FRIEND HAD MADE FOR ME ON MY 50th BIRTHDAY!
(I’ll do the MATH for YOU!IT is 11 years old! WELCOME!I CAN STILL SUBTRACT!)
JUST SO THEY WOULD ALL REMEMBER WHO THEY WERE CELEBRATING!
THE CROWN WAS MADE FOR ME LAST YEAR BY TAMERA BEARDSLEY A WOMAN WHO HAS TOTAL COMMAND OF HER WARDROBE!
TALK ABOUT DRESSING WITH FLAIR CHECK OUT HER INSTAGRAM HERE!
YOU COULD SAY I MATCH MY HOME WITH THIS PHOTO!!!
THE LAMPSHADE IS THE SAME COLOR!
AND THERE IS A BROWN LOVESEAT.
THE BOARS HEAD WAS A VALENTINE DAYS GIFT FOR THE ITALIAN BEFORE WE HAD BANKSY!
AS THE ITALIAN LOVES HIS PROSCIUTTO.
GOOD THING BANKSY CANNOT LOOK UP!
TWO OF THE GIRLS PICKED ME UP AS MY CAR HAD BROKEN DOWN!
THEY WANTED PHOTOS SO HERE IAM IN THE FRONT YARD THAT NEEDS SOME MUCH NEEDED WEEDING!
I have NOT worked in MY FRONT YARD FOR A FEW YEARS.
I HAVE TO SAY LETTING THINGS GROW IS A REAL ENJOYMENT!
WE HAVE DEER AND WILD TURKEYS SO CREATING A GARDEN IS NOT AN EASY TASK HERE!
OF COURSE I WOULD LIKE TO GATE IT ALL IN SO I COULD HAVE A BUNNY AND MAYBE SOME GUINEA PIGS FROLICKING……..and BANKSY could step OUT THE FRONT DOOR AND JUST BE!
I WOULD LOVE THAT!
A GIRL NEEDS SOME DREAMS!
Plus ,this GIRL NEEDS TO BE A BIT MORE ECCENTRIC!
MUST WORK ON THE ITALIAN!!
His FAVORITE ANSWER TO ME is ALWAYS NO!
THEN HE COMES THROUGH……
JULIETS TABLE
IT was a perfect DAY IN THE HOOD!
NOT TOO HOT!
A FEW PEOPLE YOU MAY KNOW FROM THE BLOG AND INSTAGRAM WORLD!
LEFT TO RIGHT…….Mary Ann Pickett OF CLASSIC CASUAL HOME. Mary Ann is FROM Southern California. THEY LIVED ON LIDO ISLE FOR MANY YEARS WHERE I SPENT MY SUMMERS GROWING UP!I recall reading her blog when they had just moved to San Francisco thinking,”OH BOY this is not going to be an EASY TRANSITION FOR HER!Well, she proved me COMPLETELY WRONG!SHE TOOK TO THOSE HILLS LIKE BEES TO HONEY WALKING HER DOG CHIEF and snapping Golden Gate Bridge PHOTOS!SHE ALSO IS A TALENTED INTERIOR DECORATOR!
ME………The GIRL from MARIN COUNTY who so desperately wanted a FARM GROWING UP AND IN ADULTHOOD AND EVEN NOW!Who studied Ballet FOR YEARS only NOT TO BE GOOD ENOUGH!SO, she fell for FASHION and worked in RETAIL and The WHOLESALE INDUSTRY where she met the newly imported ITALIAN!THAT WAS IN 1984!
HEIDI WOODMANSEE…….who use to have a blog, but NOW PAINTS and gives WATERCOLOR CLASSES FOR BEGINNERS!SHE started her career in 2015, I believe………and is 63 if you can believe that!I’ll have whatever she is HAVING!She gave everyone a PARTY FAVOR!Those BIG GLITTERED SUNFLOWERS……I am the ONLY one who had NOT gotten mine as it was attached to my GIFTS!HER WEBSITE HERE.
One of HER GIFTS TO ME WAS A PORTRAIT OF WINSTON MY CARDIGAN CORGI WHO HAS LEFT ME FOR THE STARS ABOVE.YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT………….I CRIED!
Juliet Russell who was OUR HOSTESS of MAKE MINE A SPRITZER fame.SHE HAS TAKEN AN OLDER RANCH HOUSE AND MADE IT HER CAPE COD NEST.HER BLOG DESCRIBES THE RENOVATIONS AND THE CHOICES SHE HAD MADE.IT TURNED OUT BEAUTIFULLY!AS KIM SAID ,”I COULD STAY HERE ALL DAY I FEEL AS IF I’M ON VACATION!”IF YOU LIKE ROMANTIC GARDENS JULIET’s IS HEAVEN.THE GARDEN IS NOT EVEN A YEAR OLD AND ALREADY DOING SO, SO WELL.CHECK OUT HER BLOG BY TAPPING HERE!
KIM WHEELER THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA STYLE BLOG lives in Los Gatos and has a HEART of GOLD.She organized our day by sending an email to the other gals saying LETS CELEBRATE THE CONTESSA!I had sent KIM to WISTERIA another wonderful little nursery in SOQUEL to fetch a hat I had bought a few months ago!She was to bring to me one day as well as lunch.( Never mind HEIDI went and FETCHED THE HAT and took to KIM!)TEAM WORK at it’s BEST!Kim too has recently remodeled an older home and as her decorator quit on her she TOOK OVER!IT’s the EPITOME OF CALIFORNIA LIVING!
HUMMUS APPETIZER MADE BY JULIET!
I LOVED THESE!
SO, EASY AND TASTEY!
SALLY YOU OUT THERE READING?
REMEMBER WHEN I LEFT ITALY AND YOU MADE ALL THAT HUMMUS!
I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT!
I HAD NEVER HAD IT BEFORE!
I NEED TO START MAKING IT!
JULIET AGAIN!
MAGAZINE WORTHY!
WATERMELON, FETA,MINT AND BALSAMIC GLAZE!
FABULOUS COPY HER!
I have my crown on SIDEWAYS!
WHY DIDN’T MY LADIES IN WAITING TELL ME!
SHAME ON ME!
THE HOSTESS WITH A GREAT LAUGH!
ADORABLE MASK GIVEN TO ME BY KIM!
MASK UP PEOPLE!
HERE WE GO AGAIN!
MY OWN CARD TO ARRANGE MY FLOWERS!
THEY ARE REMOVABLE!
MADE BY HEIDI!
APRON FROM KIM!
I KNOW YOU ARE JEALOUS!
I TOLD HEIDI TO GET A PATENT ON THIS CARD ASAP!
PAVLOVA MADE BY ME!
Mary Ann IN JULIETS GARDEN!
BIRTHDAY GIRL & THE HOSTESS
LOOK WE BOTH WRINKLE OUR NOSES!
FLOWERS FROM ME YOUR CONTESSA ARRIVED JUST AS WE WERE ALL DEPARTING!
TO SAY THANK YOU FOR A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO OUR JULIET!
THATS IT FOR ANOTHER YEAR FOLKS!
SHE MADE IT TO 61………….
XXX
BE WELL AND STAY HEALTHY!
FIND JOY IN DAY TO DAY ERRANDS AND ROUTINES.
I had this thought yesterday before cell phones we rarely took photos, but now MOST of us DO AND SHARE THEM.
Technology made us find THE BEAUTY THAT SURROUNDS US!
TAKE A MINUTE TO THINK ABOUT THAT FOR YOURSELF.
JUST THINK CHRISTMAS WILL BE OUT IN STORES THE END OF THIS MONTH!
YOU READY FOR THAT?
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