should children be guests at a wedding?

When they are this cute and well behaved... I say Yes! We went to a family friend's wedding this past weekend and there must have been 7 children under the age of 7 in attendance. I never heard one peep out of any of them during the ceremony. And then at the reception, they made it all that much more fun! 

 Here is my grandson Carter and I walking over to the gift table. Doesn't he look dapper in his seersucker suit?!

  new best buds 

 the little flower girl was too shy to perform her duties so C thought he'd give it a go

Makes you wonder what's in that cup...

my three beautiful girls and handsome Carter

my married daughters and their families

all the gals and little Nathan. He was so good he slept almost the entire time

posing with Hattie and Poppy

giving my little man a squish!

It was such a great weekend with all my kids and grandbabies together! We had so much fun hanging out all weekend and then also at the wedding itself. All the children at the wedding were so well behaved and fun to be with... and cute to boot! I was saying good bye to one little girl who was 3 and a half, and she asked me for a hug... what's more precious and heartwarming that that?! 

how to host a wine tasting

Have everyone bring a bottle from their home state. Wrap the bottles in brown paper bags and number them to remain secret. We had 14 different wines from... New York, Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Cape Cod Ma., Rhode Island, South Carolina and Georgia. 

It was a family reunion "hoedown wine tasting throw-down" to find the home state winner.

We rated the wines on color, aroma, taste and finish.

It was serious business as you can see!

Some aromas were better than others!

We tasted and tallied until we came up with the winners...

Pennsylvania came in first, New Jersey came in second, and New York came in third. 
(if I'm remembering correctly?!)
Looks like the north beat the south once again! 
My wine from Georgia came in 6th out of 14, not too bad for never having tasted it before!

We had a great time and we're so glad we could make the trip. 
I got to see cousins I haven't seen in years. Thanks to my brother and sil for hosting us all!
Family fun is the best fun of all!

Patio reveal

The weather here in ATL has been so.stinkin'.hot. you sweat doing nothing. But determined and feeling better, I managed to get outside early one morning and wash my slate patio. I used a product called Eco-Wash from HD. With a bit of scrubbing and rinsing, it took the mildew off and didn't harm the surrounding grass or plants. 
Hooray it's finally clean!

Remember my reversible outdoor rugs? Well, I had to try out both sides with my current cushions just to see, 
so I'll ask you to vote again on your favorite side up. I can't decide!

Unfortunately, it's way too hot to enjoy sitting out there right now. Maybe September?! I hope so!

Reversible... so which side up?

My outdoor rugs from Overstock.com came today! I ordered two 5x7's to go on my patio since that was the largest they had. But... I've not washed the slate yet, so I'm not really ready to put them out there. I think they are going to be great though, as they are woven of soft plastic and feel comfy and yet very water friendly to stand up to the weather. 

They are totally reversible... so which side do I face up? Navy or White?

Here are the rugs with the chair cushions I already own. The chaise cushion is a solid spa blue/green that's in the stripe too. I figure the navy and white rugs will be very versatile and I can change up the cushions and put red with it for a nautical look or even yellow for a crisp look.

The navy is dark but I think outside in the sunshine it will lighten up a bit.

I want to get out there and scrub that patio! But I have to be patient... I'm still healing, still very sore in fact. I tried cutting back on the pain pills today but my pain told me it's too soon. At least it's almost the weekend and I can get some help from my sweet hubby!

So tell me.... what side up?

my recovery buddy...

...our seven week old grandson Nathan. When my daughter heard I had to have surgery, she was here asap. Although I haven't been able to hold the sweet little bub, it's been great having them here for the week keeping me company. A baby is always a great distraction! All my girls have been very attentive and I greatly appreciate it. xoxo
I went to the doctors twice this week, first to get my staples out (ouch) and second to get the pathology report. It came back that this was a metastasis of my original cancer 4 years ago. The same that's hit my right lung twice already. They took out 2 lymph nodes that also had the cancer. We'll be going for a consultation to Dana Farber, to talk about radiation. While the surgeon was in there he marked where the beam should go. Worth a go I think, to hopefully rid it from my body for good. Praying for that.

designing my outdoor room

We have a patio out the back door... it's an okay space, a decent size with a good view...
but it could be so much more. 

I've always wanted the coziness of an "outdoor room". 

Hangin' out recovering all week has left me with lots of time to browse the blog world and shop online. I've recently been inspired by Centsational Girl's Patio Cabana post. 

For our space, we are thinking to add a pergola type roof or maybe even a completely covered roof over the patio. Even though we currently have an awning, I really want to install a fan or two for comfort, so a more sturdy roof is in order. The pergola we can do ourselves, the roof would be a hire out project and cost more, so I'm leaning DIY.

This is the inspiration piece to start my outdoor room design, an environmentally friendly rug to anchor my space. It's made out of recycled plastic bottles... what could stand up to the elements more than that?!

 I've already got cushions for the chairs and the chaise that will coordinate with this rug. I ordered it today from O.com. So now while I wait for it to arrive... the first chore is to clean the slate patio and seal it.