Goodbye September.

A look back at my September.

Homemade birthday cupcakes for a friend are the best,

so are homemade obstacle courses.

The Cuban enjoying her freedom of speech....

hockey boys enjoying a locker room makeover...

(before and after photos coming soon)

Soccer in 100+ temperatures.

Thankful for...

cool hockey arenas,

friendships,

kids making their own school lunch,

Mr. Anderson,

free from pancreatic cancer...

and no more braces!!!

My heart is singing....

Goodbye September,

hellooooo October!

The Princess Sleeps Here

I love to take tours of homes, don't you.

I'll just find myself walking around checking out furniture, fabrics, mementos and then I'll snap a few pictures here and there.

Some call it nosey,

I call it walking around taking pictures here and there.

I showed you Kendall's chic bedroom.

It is the perfect hangout for a hip teenage girl,

which totally describes Kendall.

Now, I'll share some pictures of another fabulous bedroom.

This room belongs to my friend, Michelle's daughter,

Alexa.

Over at Michelle's house, they've had a bit of musical chairs in the form of bedrooms.

Musical bedrooms.

Alexa was moved into her brother's old room and the redecorating began.

Michelle wanted furniture that will grow with Alexa

until it is time to send her off to college.

I think Michelle did an excellent job finding items that express Alexa's style

while keeping an appearance that is not too mature or too young.

Sometimes, it is hard to find that balance.

Michelle chose this bed.

Feminine.

Timeless.

Take a look at this rounded, distressed dresser.

It is unique.

I love the details.

Speaking of details,

even the ceiling fan was selected with care.

If you like that jewelry,

take a look at the chandelier that adorns Alexa's adjoining bath.

Love her.

She's so sparkly and perdy.

Now, the bedding.

Oh, the bedding.

Doesn't this look luxurious?

Believe me, it is as soft as it looks.

Not that I laid on it or anything.

Okay, so I did lay on it but it was all for the blog.

I don't want to misrepresent.

Alexa's desk area,

complete with a pink telephone.

Another dresser and a beautiful memo board.

Wall art...

Accessories...

Bling...

and a sign.

"The Princess Sleeps Here"

She certainly does!

Thanks Lex,

for sharing your beautiful room!

You too, Bella.

Side Note: Alexa is a bit of a neat freak, so her room really is this clean and she can work wonders on toy rooms too.

I mean,

I'm sure she can work wonders on toy rooms.

Like, who would do that to a 12 year old anyway?

Cousin Rochelle.

Don't even think for a minute that the above photo is me.

If you thought for a second that, maybe? Could it be?

Curse you.

I haven't been gone that long.

I'm sure you've been wondering where I've been, right?

I've been fighting a cold for a few days and it slowed me down, for just a bit.

I'm back in the game now, and have been trying to play catch up ever since.

While Shawn and Cody were in Detroit for a weekend of hockey,

I had a guest.

My cousin, Rochelle.

She was traveling to Scottsdale for a work related conference

and made her way to our house.

Throughout our childhood, we spent many hours together,

riding horses,

playing with Barbies,

swimming.

You name it, we did it together.

She now lives in the D.C. area

with her husband and 2 year old daughter.

They are awaiting the arrival of a boy in January.

I had a great time listening to her stories about her husband and daughter

and their life in the city.

It's all much different from my life in the suburbs.

One subject that came up was how I skipped kindergarten

because I wanted to go to school with Rochelle.

You see, I'm a couple months younger than her and missed the school's cut off date.

My mom took matters into her own hands

and erased my birth month from my birth certificate.

She replaced October with August and I was admitted.

I went directly to first grade with Rochelle.

(I still have the original birth certificate with worn paper in the birth month section. )

Mother's will do anything for their children.

(Just to get them out of the house.)

When I mentioned this to Rochelle,

she didn't remember the story.

What?

I skipped a major event in my life for you

and you don't remember?

I just attributed her poor memory to her current physical state

and vowed to remind her of the sacrifices that I made

to be in her presence when we were five.

Remember the book,

"All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum?

It stated such things as:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Put things back where you found them.

Share everything?

Are you kidding me?

Play fair?

I don't think so.

Milk?

No way.

Put things back where you found them?

That's it!

(Light bulb moment.)

Since I didn't go to kindergarten,

I missed the major rules in life.

Honey, I'm cured!

Cancel the therapist!

I have to thank Rochelle because without her visit I wouldn't have experienced this breakthrough.

Not that I'm exactly walking around saying, "what's wrong with me?"

I say, "what's wrong with those people?"

I did enjoy growing up with her

and I have wonderful memories.

A vivid memory,

is of the time I offered to pay her a quarter

if she'd let me paint her lips with nail polish

and she obliged!

I probably still owe her the quarter and

I might have tried to hide the nail polish remover too!

I was howling with laughter.

Play fair?

What's that?

If you don't see me share,

play fair,

or forget to clean up my own mess,

please give me a free pass.

Remember,

I didn't go to kindergarten

and I owe it all to my Cousin "R"

and my slick mom.

Talk to them.

Detroit Hockey

Last Thursday, Shawn and Cody flew to Detroit for a hockey tournament.

Remember I said that I was immersing myself in all things hockey?

Since I have 2 other youngster's to manage on the home front, I turned to my Northern correspondent, Dianne, for hockey pictures from the tournament.

Dianne and Joe, the Canadian's parents,

traveled from Ontario to Detroit, to watch their grandson and our team play.

This is Beau, #16,

with my Northern correspondent, his granny.

I can count on her to get the hockey action shots,

like this one of my boy, #29, scoring a goal.

Or a shot of #29 and his opponent, in a face off.

She also captures shots of my unsuspecting husband,

just like I would.

Busted texting and drinking a Diet Cherry Pepsi.

You're a good woman, Dianne.

So Monday, when I picked Cody up at the airport,

I was ready to talk hockey.

You know, get the stats, talk offense, penalties.

After studying the pictures in depth, I was ready.

I asked him, "so how was Detroit?" (meaning hockey in Detroit)

He said, "Oh, it was good.

It was green in Detroit.

I've never seen it green.

I've only seen dead, brown grass or snow."

"Remember when we went? It was cold."

"Not this time, it was great weather."

I should have been more specific

because it all came crashing down.

All thoughts of hockey went out the window,

and thoughts of snow and ice came rushing in.

Thoughts of me lying on a sheet of ice

and a frantic woman (Sheila) clapping and saying, "get up, get up!"

I've told that story here, before.

How can I ever immerse myself in hockey if these thoughts are roadblocks in my mind?

Therapy?

I'm going to have to immerse myself in popcorn to get over this block.

Until then,

I'll rely on my Northern Correspondent to bring me the latest in Detroit hockey.

Is it green in Detroit right now?

Really?

This is all I recall...

Hockey Season Has Begun.

I can't believe it is already Friday.

I'm still trying to get things together from last weekend.

You see, it is that time of year again.

Hockey season.

We spent the entire weekend watching Cody (29)

and his team play in a Labor Day Tournament.

This year will be an exciting one. The boys have gotten bigger and faster.

My plan is to immerse myself in hockey by taking many action shots.

That may come as a shock to some of you,

but that's what I'm going to do.

My plan has started out with a bang!

This happens to be one of my favorite shots.

One of the goalies on our team.

#34, Al.

Goalie Al and his family host two players from out of state.

One of those players, #88,

is from Colorado.

#44,

calls Alaska, home.

Alaska to Arizona?

To play hockey?

It's true.

#93, from Seattle,

has been welcomed into the home of

"The Canadians."

It was an action packed weekend.

I've got a lot to learn about photographing action shots

but I managed to grab this one of #19.

It a whole new level of hockey.

The testosterone gets flowing and temper's flair.

Players get knocked around.

Referee's intervene.

They get caught in the scuffle.

Player's are separated.

Initiator's are escorted off the ice.

Helmets are left behind.

Like I said,

it's a whole new level of hockey and I'll be there,

immersing myself in all things hockey...

and

you won't want to be caught with your pants down!

Sushi To The Max

Continuing with the happenings from my recent girl's trip, I want to share some highlights from a "theme" night supper.

Sheila, Vicki, Sandi and Ms. Iowa volunteered to host theme night this year.

The title was

"Sushi, to the max!"

Dinner attire: Maxi Dress.

(Wikipedia:A Maxi dress is a floor or ankle length informal dress. Maxi dresses are formfitting at the top and loose flowing at the bottom, cut to flow over ...)

Sushi and a maxi dress = Sushi to the max!

Is that clever or what?

The title was the brain child of Sheila.

She is the ultimate, theme night aficionado.

Often imitated, but never, ever duplicated.

No detail of the table presentation went unnoticed.

Irresistible little wasabi and soy sauce tray's.

Paper Lanterns.

The dining chairs were dressed for the night.

Delicate bird shaped, chop sticks holders.

Oh my.

Authentic Japanese pouches, directly from Japan,

holding napkins and chopsticks, graced each place setting.

Every seat had it's own sense of personality.

An impressive tablescape.

When I first laid eyes on the presentation,

then heard how the items were acquired,

I thought about the depths of their friendship

and the extraordinary things they do

to make us feel special.

Me and sushi, we will never be the same.

A special thanks to Vicki's Mom, Beth, for the use of her Japanese items, which she acquired through her relationship with a Japanese Sister City.