School's - Out - For- SUMMER!

School's out so we're headed off to Kiawah for the week. I'll miss you!

Summer Must Haves

I thought I'd list a few of my must haves for summer. Oprah finally came out with a summer favorites show, so why not? I'm also adding a delicious Margarita Recipe at the end. You will not believe how delicious and light it is! Enjoy!

SKIN SO SOFT Bug Guard Plus IR3535® EXPEDITION™ SPF 30 Aerosol Spray



Who can argue with an all in one spray? I love Skin So Soft. It really is the best bug repellant ever. My Grammy used to sell Avon and I was so embarassed. Ha! If she could see me now...hoarding bug spray.

Coach Sari Sandals in Gold Lamee



I never thought I'd use the words gold and lamee in the same sentence. Maybe gold and LAME, but not lamee. At any rate, these sandals are adorable and I covet them. I just need to figure out how to swing it credit-wise.

Pottery Barn Personalized Beach Towels



For whatever reason, everyone at my pool seems to have the same beach towel. Of course, I have the same one as well. It's great to have them personalized...it helps the kids (and the moms) remember which towel goes home with which kid. Cause ya'll know I am NOT gonna be someone else's laundry bitch.

Anything SCOUT!




I LOVE these bags, totes and boxes. Love them at the beach, in the car, at the pool...you name it, I love them. You can find them on sale here.

This adorable swimsuit from La Blanca



Ya'll know I love me some animal prints. I got the top and paired it with a little brown skirty thingy. I'm sporting a little more junk in the trunk than I'd like so the skirt is a necessary evil for now.

Tennis Racquet Cover from Lilly Pulitzer



LOVING this cover. I'm not totally sure about the white...seems like it would get dirty. Do love the inside print, though.

Cotton Stretch dress from Lilly Pulitzer



Speaking of junk in the trunk...who doesn't love a little cotton knit? This dress is adorable! I feel like you could wear it to the beach during the day and to the club at night for dinner. So comfy!



And now...the moment we've all been waiting for. This is by far THE BEST margarita recipe I've ever tried...

1 bottle Corona Light
1 can Sprite Zero
1 can frozen lemon lime juice mix (the frozen kind that's like orange juice. DON'T get the frozen Margarita mix from Bacardi, just the plain old lemon lime)
8 oz. Cuervo Gold tequila (or tequila of your choice...you can add more or less depending on your taste)

Mix and serve. Delicious!

The Crip and the Convict

BabyBoy finally acquiesced and allowed me to take some pictures of his sling. What a stud, right? He and BabyGirl played a nice game of red light/green light in the front yard the other night. The game seems to have gotten much more complicated since I was a kid. Yellow lights and black lights?

I went to my Junior League Annual Dinner the other night and they gave away the most adorable star shaped cookies. I brought two home to the kids. BabyGirl ate hers immediately (no surprise there...she's a sugar freak just like her mommy). BabyBoy was waiting on his and not sure if he even wanted it. He took it into the den and left it on the floor where BabyGirl was watching TV. About five minutes later I found BabyGirl devouring it. Her rationale? "He brought it in here and left it right in front of me and then he left the room. What did he think I was going to do?" Are you kidding me? Off to her room she went for 45 minutes. I'm still not quite sure she got the message.

All seemed to be better later on. They actually posed for a picture. Together! This never happens...



And then she allowed us to see her beautiful calves, which I'm hoping will pay off in the way of a gymnastics scholarship down the line...



She is SO lucky she got her Daddy's body!

Happy Memorial Day

They fell, but o'er their glorious grave
Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.
~Francis Marion Crawford

Sippycup Bizaar

So, I didn't get to finish my EBay listings but I really do want to give those of you who had bid an opportunity to go ahead and purchase the adorable items you wanted. I'm going to list each item with a picture and a price. The price is a Buy It Now price. It's first come, first serve. You leave a comment on the post giving me the name of the item and the price and I will send you a paypal invoice. Be sure to send me your email address!!!! I will mail everthing the day after it's purchased. As each item is purchased and paid for I will remove it from the post. Let's get shopping!



Jeweled posy patent-leather flats 7.5 Black $100.00 ($6.50 shipping)




Classic-fit Larchmont patchwork madras pant 32x32 $45 ($5.50 shipping)



Whitney silk faille dress Black Size 4 $90 ($5.50 shipping)



Reed leather wing tips 10.5 Brown $100 ($8.00 shipping)



Harrison plain-front leather oxfords 10.5 Black $90 ($8.00 shipping)



Madras Bikini Set Wildberry $32.00 XXL 10 ($5.00 shipping)



Seersucker Mini Ruffle Bikini Set $25 Mosaic Blue 6-7 Large ($5.50 shipping)



Seersucker Mini Ruffle Bikini Set $25 Persimmon 8-9 Extra Large ($5.50 shipping)



Madras Bikini Set Wildberry $32.00 XS top 3 XXS bottom 2 ($5.50 shipping)



Patent Leather Peep Toe Mary Janes 8.0 $100 Black ($5.50 shipping)

Better hurry, before blogger shuts me down for copyright infringement, too! :)

What a Week!

Things have been slightly hectic around here. Sorry for the lack of posts this week! The beginning of my week was filled with end of school activities and a bulk mailing for my physician's spouse organizations. I absolutely dread bulk mailings. Stuffing, labeling and sealing 700 envelopes is a major pain. Luckily, I did have a little help this time.
Yesterday we had a little ER excitement. That's right! AGAIN. I was sitting in the sunroom when I heard a blood curtling scream from BabyBoy. By the time I was out the door and down the driveway, BabyGirl had met me halfway sobbing that BabyBoy was hurt. This was not good. If she was concerned, it couldn't be good!
I found him on the other side of a four foot chain link fence that is behind our 9 foot wooden fence in the backyard. He was trying to climb over the chainlink fence to get to his friend's yard. God forbid he actually use the opening between the fences at the side of the yard!
He had fallen on his shoulder. Only four feet, mind you, but onto some type of wooden platform. I could tell just from looking at him that either his shoulder was dislocated or his collarbone was broken.
One trip to the ER, two hours, and surely $1,000 later it was confirmed. A greenstick fracture of the right clavicle. (that's the collarbone for all of the non medical folks out there!)
He'll have to wear a sling for about four weeks. No swim team and no baseball camp. (do I hear a Hell Yeah?) Seriously, though, I feel sorry for him that he won't get to do swim team. As much as I was dreading the daily practice, he really was looking forward to it. BabyBoy asked me if he would throw it up. I said "What? You need to throw up?" (going into panic mode because he was standing on his new bedroom rug) He said "No, I mean will I throw up the bone? Since it's broken?" Sweet boy. He figured the bone must have broken off somewhere in his body and it would have to come out one way or another. "Kind of like when you swallow a penny", he said!
Then last night I got an email from EBay that almost all of my J. Crew listings had been removed because J. Crew contacted them and complained I had violated copyright laws by using their website photos. Snitches!
SOOOOO, I really don't have time to relist everything before we go to the beach in the next week. I'm going to do a second post today and list all the things I didn't sell. If you're interested, they'll be available. Stay tuned...

Tennis, Anyone?

Just picked up these adorable tennis sets from Athleta. They're so cute! If you're into sports this is a great company. I have loved everything I've gotten from them in the past. My favorite is the Textured Muscle Shirt. Don't love the name...muscle shirt? Anyway. They're on sale right now for $19.99. I'm playing in a member guest tournament this Friday with my best friend and she's much better than me. So, I figured that if I couldn't play as well as her I may as well look cute!
I know some of you out there have posted about great places to buy tennis bags. I need a new one. Any suggestions?

Why Didn't I Think of This?

For the longest time we've had a running joke here in sippycup land that we should have one of those pet finding chips implanted in each of the kids. The rate at which I lose things is ridiculous. Why not safeguard the kids against my total flakeouts? Well it seems the folks at Safety Tat beat me to the punch.


What a great idea!!! Say you're going to Disney and you want to make sure you have a way to help others locate you if you're child is lost...without writing on them with a sharpie! These are so cool. I've just ordered ten of the "boy" designs and ten of the "girl" designs. I think they'll be great for the beach, summer trips to the zoo, etc. They have lots of cute designs for boys and girls, and designs that alert to other health issues too. I have a friend whose child has a severe nut allergy, and these will be perfect for her. I just can’t get over what a fantastic idea this is - it’s odd that nobody ever thought of it before! I'll be keeping these in my purse from now on.

So Very Audrey

In the event that you live on Mars you may not know already that Tiffany & Co. has come out with a line of sunglasses.

They are gorgeous! I'm so bummed that I just spent all my money on Botox. Well, not really that bummed, but I do wish I could find a way to make these happen. Maybe for my anniversary? Is that a weird anniversary gift?

Fund my Botox collection...

I got my Botox today. I know, I know. Don't start. SOOOOO, Aaron and I went to Lynchburg to the J. Crew clearance center and I got tons of stuff at great prices. I'm offering them on Ebay. You can check it all out here. I have tons of stuff for the entire family. I'll keep listing for the next couple of days. It's gonna go quick so get on it folks! Here are a few pix to peak your interests...

Fun Tag

Impoverished Preppy tagged me to list my favorite summer vacation spot and six things I love about it.

Hands down...Litchfield Beach. We go there every summer with my family and all sorts of various and asundry (sp?) friends. Here's why I love it:

1. The location. We stay in a section of Litchfield called Charlestowne Grant. The homes are magnificent. The beach is right there. There's a community pool down the street. It's quiet and secluded, yet you still have the luxury of being at Litchfield.

2. My family. We are insane, crazy, obnoxious, lazy, eating and drinking pigs all week. We have SO MUCH FUN. We laugh at each other and gossip about everybody. We watch movies, ride bikes, take long walks, and cook great food.

3. Our friends. My brother Aaron always brings the most fun friends to the beach. If you haven't "met" her already, you'll need to check out Little Southern Sister. She always comes to the beach for a few days. She truly is my little southern sis! Love her. Even though she almost got me killed at a karaoke bar last summer. I can't wait until my kids are older and we get to corrupt their friends at the beach as well.

4. The food. Good God. We eat and eat and eat. By the end of the week NOBODY wants to get into a bathing suit. Except Aaron. He always looks beautiful. Bitch. Anyway. By August, which is when we always go, we always have tons of homegrown tomatoes. We LIVE on tomato sandwiches with lots of mayo on delish whole wheat bread. We also do a Low Country Boil as our "last supper" each week. We usually try to have an adults only night at our favorite restaurant, Louis's. The food is always fantastic.

5. My sitter. My sitter, Kathryn, always joins us at the beach. It used to be her sister, Lauren. Lauren was great, but a little emotional. High maintenance, if you will. Kathryn is like a drill sergeant. She has the kids either in the pool or at the beach 24/7. I never have to ask her to do anything because it's already done.

6. The location. I know that was #1 as well, but there is more to Litchfield than just the house! It's close to Myrtle, but not TOO close. We can still drive in to the aquarium for a day if it's cloudy. There's a great outlet mall about 40 minutes north. The beach is pretty quiet, but you don't feel like you're in the boonies, either. The drive sucks, but it's kind of like childbirth. With time, you forget about the pain and you're ready to do it all over again!

Good Stuff

I've just finished reading this book. It's a quick read and exactly my style. Juicy, gossipy and a little mystery. It definitely reminded me of a Desperate Housewives episode. If you're looking for a light read that you can focus on whilst listening to SpongeBob in the background...this should do the trick.

A synopsis:

While their husbands are out making money, making deals, and making . . . whatever, the trophy wives of New Falls are slipping not so quietly into middle age. Lauren, Bridget, Dana, and Caroline pretend to each other that their only problems are parties, plastic surgery, and which Mikimotos to buy. But behind the closed doors of their gracious homes there are broken hearts and broken promises . . . the stuff that gossip is made of.

And the newest dish du jour is a whopper! The husband of one of their oldest friends, who dumped his wife for a newer model—a sexier, flashier, sleeker hairdresser—is found dead, his ex-wife, Kitty, standing over him . . . holding the smoking gun.

Kitty claims she's innocent, and there are plenty of women around town who might want the rat dead. Now it's up to the women to discover where in their high-priced suburb a killer is hiding, and which good little wife has done something very, very wicked.

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for...

Well, maybe not everyone, but certainly Dr. Daddy. He is ecstatic that I FINALLY have one complete window treatment for our bedroom. It's only one out of three, but it goes up and down properly and shields the light in the morning. (not that he ever gets to sleep in, bless his heart)
So, here it is! I decided to do a relaxed London shade. It ended up being a little more work than I thought, but I'm happy with the finished product and that's all that really matters...

Lib Wilhelm's Cheese Slaw

There was a request for the "famous" Junior League Cheese Slaw recipe. It is truly a hit whenever I serve it.

Cheese Slaw
1 pound Swiss cheese, shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cup mild banana peppers, finely chopped
1/4 cup pickled jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
Mayonnaise- enough to bind

Mix it all together and place in a hallowed out head of cabbage. (or, for all the slackers out there...a bowl)
Serve with crackers or corn chips.

Your Questions Answered

A bunch of you asked where I got the Tory Burch dress. I looked all over online and couldn't find it and then I checked Ebay. Of course, there it was!

Happy Mother's Day...and the rest of the week.

Whew! I know I've been off the radar this week. Sorry bout that. It's been a leetle busy around here, as I know it is for most of us during this time of the year. With school ending it seems like we have something kid related every day!
This week was filled with tennis lessons, tennis socials, swim warm ups, birthday parties, and mommy and me days at school.
Speaking of the mommy and me day...here's the thing. I love BabyGirl. Duh. LOVE spending time with her. So glad she has a good time at school. However, the reason she goes to school three days a week is so that Mommy can have Mommy's Day OUT...not Mommy's day at school with BabyGirl. Oh, and teacher...if you're going to have them sing adorable songs for the Mommies, could you atleast wait until 9:05am to do it? God forbid some of the Mommies be a bit late for the whole Mommy Day thing. And I hate to be a nag, but could you also not plan to have Mommy Day the day before I'm hosting a brunch for 25 people? I know, I know, you were trying to make it coincide with Mother's Day and all, whateva. A little common courtesy would be nice. Because as we all know...it really is ALL ABOUT ME.
That being said, it was cute getting to see BabyGirl in action and I was lucky that my baby brother had come to town to help with the kids so I was able to ditch her with him afterward and get some errands done.
The brunch went swimmingly. We had about 25 people. Here was the menu.

Brie and Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Tomato Pesto Breakfast Strata
Fruit Salad
Spinach Strawberry Salad with Smoked Gouda
Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
Bacon Twists
Bagels and Cream Cheese
Creme Brulee
Cheese Slaw

The Brie and Sausage Breakfast Casserole is delish. It's probably better for cooler weather events, but it's a can't miss dish. Here's the recipe. Definitely an old stand by in my house.

Brie-and-Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) round Brie*
1 pound ground hot pork sausage
6 french bread slices
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
7 large eggs, divided
3 cups whipping cream, divided
2 cups fat-free milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Garnish: chopped green onions


Preparation
Trim and discard rind from top of Brie. Cut cheese into cubes; set aside.
Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until crumbled and no longer pink; drain well.

Cut crusts from bread slices, and place crusts evenly in bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Layer evenly with bread slices, sausage, Brie, and grated Parmesan cheese.

Whisk together 5 eggs, 2 cups whipping cream, and next 4 ingredients; pour evenly over cheeses. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Whisk together remaining 2 eggs and 1 cup whipping cream; pour evenly over chilled mixture.

Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until set. Garnish, if desired.

*Substitute 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese, if desired.


Yield
Makes 8 to 10 servings

Southern Living, FEBRUARY 2003

The Tomato Pesto Strata has been posted on Happy Housewife's Blog, which is now private. I'll throw ya'll a bone and repost.

Tomato Pesto Strata



1 cup milk

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 loaf French bread (cut into 1/2 inch slices)

2 cups loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 lb. regular or smoked Gouda cheese

3 tomatoes, thinly sliced

1/2 cup your favorite basil pesto

4 eggs

pepper

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream


Coat a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix the milk and white wine together and dip the bread slices in the milk mixture and then place in 9x13 pan covering the bottom.

Cover the bread with cilantro and drizzle with olive oil.

Layer half the cheese, half the tomato slices, and half the pesto. REPEAT cheese, tomatoes, pesto.

Beat eggs, add pepper. Pour evenly over casserole. Drizzle cream.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
Place pan on cookie sheet (just in case it bubbles over)
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Enjoy!

It's delish.

The brunch went great. We served Mimosas and opened gifts and then everyone was off to Virginia Tech for the graduation. I was off to bed for a NAP!



The roses, daisies and belles of Ireland were store bought, but the peonies came from my garden. I LOVE them.



The graduate and her mom (my aunt)



The graduate (Emily) and BabyGirl. You may remember Emily from BabyGirl's third birthday. She was Cinderella. It's been true love between she and BabyGirl ever since.



Another hydrangea purchased from SAM'S CLUB, thankyouverymuch!



The pink and green dining room couldn't have been more perfect for our "Lilly" theme. Purse from To Bee Named, natch. I gave it to Emily last year as a thank you for dressing up as Cinderella at the birthday party. I was so glad to see that she uses it!



Girlfriend scored big with a complete set of Vera Bradley luggage complete with monogram. Perfect for travelling to all those Tech football games! (gag)

All in all, a great morning. We're so proud of Emily! I passed on my Mikimoto pearl earrings to her. They were a gift to me in college and I thought it was fitting to pass them to her. Every girl needs a good pair of Mikimoto's!