A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

I told you in my very first post that my blog would be a

"little bit of this and a little bit of that"

Well, that is exactly what my day has been like

I have kept a journal for many years (on and off)

Mostly it has been a gratitude journal, writing five things

I am grateful for each day

This way I would only dwell on the positives and not the negatives!

Now that I am doing this blog there is just not enough time

to do both, so I decided that I would print out each day's post

and keep them in a journal

So this morning I decorated "My Blog Journal"

I have been putting in all my posts

I had this great notebook and took a bunch of letters I had and

leftover ribbons and now my book is complete!

It made me happy and put a smile on my face

I did a few more things in my "room" but I had promised Michael that

we would spend some time together

The last five out of seven Saturdays have been spent

devoted to either teaching or something to with crafting

It was definitely his turn

First we went to Toys 'R Us to buy birthday presents for

our great-niece, Avery and great-nephew, Luke

They are sister and brother born eight days and two years apart

Usually I feel "lost in space" when I go to Toys 'R Us

but my niece Christine made some suggestions

So this is what we ended up buying

This is Avery's present...

Christine said she is going to LOVE it!!!!

and this is Luke's gift...

I know this made Michael happy

Let's hope Luke loves it as much as he does!!!!

I always include the gift receipt because I would much rather

they return they gift for something else than end up

never using it!!

Then it was time to eat (remember, I was with Michael)

Michael had read that a new place opened in New Brunswick that he

thought I would like

He had eaten in one near his office in New York

If you have never eaten in one you must see if there is one near you

It is called Maoz Vegetarian (YES - MICHAEL SUGGESTED THIS)

(http://www.maozusa.com/)

It was awesome, great, delicious, fabulous!

I had a falafel salad with two add-ons (feta cheese and hummus)

I was not blogging when Michael and I went to Israel, but I was

known as "The Falafel Queen" because I ate

falafel EVERYDAY on the trip!!

I am trying to lose some weight so I had the salad,

which comes with FIVE falafel balls

I only ate two of them (Michael had the rest)

Michael ordered a regular falafel and loved it

I highly recommend this place

Everything is fresh and it all looks great

Then we came home

Michael is reading

I am blogging and then I am going to do some work on the

Inspiration Book

Then we are going to rent a movie on "On Demand"

Dinner - who knows!  who cares!

We have a great day planned for tomorrow

so stay tuned for tomorrow's post

Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend

Until next time I leave you with this...

"When you follow your BLISS

doors will open where you would not have thought

there would be doors!

Hugs and More,

Peggy

"Backtracking" Continued

My birthday month celebration continued the following weekend

Jared worked the weekend of my actual birthday so we

celebrated the following weekend with my children

and grandchildren and Michael

My family planned a "surprise" day in the city

Jared drove up from Delaware in the morning and then me, Jared

and Michael drove into New York and this is who we met

along with their parents

and this is where we were going

a cruise around Manhattan complete with lunch and entertainment

it was fabulous!!!

This is me with my "boys"

and the whole family

Noel, Michael, Me, Ellie, Jared, Danielle and Marlie

"Me" on the boat - decorated!!!

The weather was one of the nicest of the summer

and the views were spectacular

Lady Liberty stood in all her glory

and the girls were loving the day!!!

They were being very cooperative with pictures

the Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Where I lived growing up in Brooklyn I actually saw the towers of the

bridge "go up" when it was being built

Some Verrazano Bridge facts....

The bridge opened in 1964 and took only five years to be built

At that time the toll was 50 cents in each direction

(a toll increase was just approved last week -

as of 12/30 it will cost $13.00 to cross the bridge both ways)

When it opened it was the longest suspension bridge in the world

(we took that title away from the Golden Gate Bridge)

In 1981 The Hummer Bridge in the UK took that title from us

It still remains the longest suspension bridge in the US

When the planning of the bridge was being done,

Staten Island was thrilled - Brooklynites fought it desperately

Over 7,000 people had to be displaced from their homes

in Fort Hamilton (I never knew this)

Each of the towers has 1,000,000 bolts and 3,000,000 rivets

Because of the curvature of the earth's surface the towers are

1 5/8" farther apart at their tops than at their bases!

and the Brooklyn Bridge were just a few of the sights

there was LOTS of dancing

(and they played "Dancing Queen"!)

We all had a wonderful time - it was a fabulous surprise

After, we walked around outside Chelsea Piers and took a ride on...

We love carousels and this was a fun one!

Afterwards we walked all over Chelsea Piers

These cupcakes were in "Eleni's" - a great cupcake place

Eleni's (http://www.elenis.com/) is now a nut-free bakery

Then we walked over to Chelsea Market

We also walked underneath the "High Line"

This is 1.45 miles of NYC park built on a section of the former

elevated freight railroad spur called the West Side Line

Eventually it will go up to West 34th Street

We all came back to our house and everyone slept over

I taught the kids how to play "left, right, center" - a really fun game

The celebration continued on Sunday with a family barbeque

My brother, nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and

Michael's family all came over

It was another great day

This picture is Noel, Michael and my brother Philip,

cousin Jonathan is in the background

at the table is Sari and Jeffrey (Sari was 8 1/2 months pregnant

in this picture and the baby, Addison, is 7 weeks old, today)

the person's back is my sister-in-law, Liz and then my

brother-in-law, Alan

this is my niece, Christine and my great-niece, Avery

and great-nephew, Luke

this is my nephew, Jeremy and his son Luke

my girls just playing

a delicious dairy queen blizzard cake and

"my" homemade chocolate chip cookies topped off the day!!

we all blew out the candles and ended a month-long celebration

that I will cherish forever

As I look back on my celebrations there is not one thing I would change

I am blessed with family and friends that showered me with

good times, laughs, parties, gifts, accolades and more than that -

they showed me love, respect, friendship and so much more.

I am a lucky "girl"!!!

Hugs and More,

Peggy

P.S.  My celebration really continues next year when we go on

our "family vacation" so stay tuned......



How I Spent My Day

Today I met my niece, Sari, and my brand new

baby great-niece, Addison, for lunch

Sari lives in West Orange so we met at

Short Hills Mall

Addison is an absolutely beautiful baby

I left my camera home if you can believe that!!!!!

Sari did take a picture but she has to send it to me

We had a delicious salad for lunch

and then Sari fed the baby and I got to

hold her which was just "delicious"

Sari is beyond happy and I am thrilled for

her and Jeffrey (her husband, my nephew)

I also returned a pair of shoes and bought

a pair of new boots

they are uggs and are totally different (for me)

you can wear them this way too!

I bought Addison a present for her baby naming which

I cannot show you in case Sari reads this

I also found some good ideas for holiday gifts

So it was a great day

Then I met Regina for dinner before our "Event" at

Scrapper's Cove (http://www.scrapperscove.com/)

They were having a "Quickutz" night

I always have fun when I am with Regina

We never lack for conversation

Here are a few photos I took last night

I wish you could really see what Lynn was wearing

She is just the cutest...

Her barrettes are witches hats

You can see her earrings - they are pumpkins

Her sweater and all her pins are too cute just like she is!!!

Her costume for Friday is a big artist's palette and she made

a gigantic stuffed paint brush

How perfect for an art teacher!!!

This is the new "Martha" circle cutter

It cuts circles from 4" to 12"

I HATE circle cutters but had to have this one

because it actually works!!!

Regina doing some shopping

Retail therapy is the best...

Sue, one of the owners and Donna,

a great customer and student/friend

copic markers make for great eye candy....

this picture of "tim's" stuff does it no justice...

I actually won a prize and had some great fruit and

just had a nice time

I will be back there tonight teaching my

"Prima Necklace and More" class

When I got home I did not know what to watch

There was Grey's - Project Runway Finale and

the World Series (I know the Yankees are not playing but....)

Guess what - after ten minutes I was asleep

I woke up for two minutes in the top of the ninth inning

to see the score - 9 - 0 Giants - Yippee!!!

So I was up bright and early this morning (Friday)

and watched the Project Runway finale

I will not say who won in case some of you did not

see it yet, but I am very happy about the winner

I think the judges picked fairly and for the

right reasons

Grey's was awesome - this is turning out to be one of

their best seasons

I am home today do some creating

Hope everyone has a fabulous day

I leave you with this...

LIFE should not only be lived...

it should be CELEBRATED!

Hugs and More,

Peggy

"Backtracking"

This post was inevitable!

If you read my "about me" you know that I promised myself

for my "60th" birthday I would finally start a blog

So, I figured before it's too late, I have to tell you all about

my "60th" birthday celebrationS!!!!!

It was a month full of wonderful times spent with family and friends

The month began with a cruise with friends!!

I flew down to Florida with my dear friend Judy who has been

a friend for over thirty years

From the minute Kathy ("BFF"), Judy P. and Cipi picked us up at the

airport the partying began

Originally we were staying at Kathy's house overnight but the plans

changed the week before

Two hotel rooms were booked for all of us

Annie was picking up lunch and she was meeting us at the hotel

She was there when we arrived and it all began with

not one, but two bottles of champagne!!!!!

We had a fabulous lunch with awesome cupcakes

I then gave all the girls the gifts I bought (and made) for them

(only Debbie was not going to join us until

the next day at the cruise ship)

Here are some pictures from the hotel....

These are the flip-flops I made for everyone - how cute?!?!?!?

Left to right is Kathy, me, Judy P., Cipi, Judy R. and Annie

We are all holding our tambourines for the theme of

the cruise which is "Dancing Queen"

After lunch Kathy and Judy P. did some whispering and we all

climbed into Kathy's car and we were whisked away to....

The Boca Raton Resort (you know that famous pink hotel)

where we were all treated to the "Ritual Baths"

What a fabulous, luxurious, relaxing experience

Here I am sprawled out in all my glory....

That night Michael (my husband) treated us to a fabulous dinner

which was topped off by some awesome karaoke

led by none other..........

I started "Dancing Queen" in the hotel room in the afternoon

It continued in the evening and stayed the theme for the

entire cruise..........

Then it was time to leave the next day...

Here we are at the cruise ship...

notice to my left - the partying has begun!!!!

and finally Debbie arrives!!!

(by the way - the bag she is carrying is the other part

of the gift I bought for everyone!!)

We sang "Dancing Queen" again on the ship

Johnny Rockets made this special "gift" for me

It was a fabulous cruise...

We laughed until we cried

It is a celebration I will NEVER FORGET

I am lost in thought on one of the nights.........

The flight home was perfect and having some alone time with

Judy was special.

Then I had a couple of weeks of "down" time which was good

because it gave me time to prepare for....

I decided to make myself a birthday luncheon

I wanted to do it all myself and invite who i wanted

It was awesome...

FOUR friends flew in from out-of-town

My friend Annie flew in on Wednesday night and she was

a HUGE help

Here is Annie with one of the flower arrangements

She did all of the flowers....

While I cooked .... and cooked..... and cooked!!!

Marlie and Ellie had a fabulous time and I am so glad they were

there to help me celebrate

By the way - the luncheon was actually on the day of my birthday!!

Here are a couple of "food" pictures

Chilled Gazpacho with Jumbo Shrimp and yes, I made all the umbrellas...

Strawberry Salsa - yum-o!!!

Fresh mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil...

a view of some of the salads...

there was much, much more....

I included this picture because Jared sent me these flowers!!

the "BFF"

the "BFF" with Michael (he took the day off)

other very dear friends....

and then there were speeches

mine....

Cipi took this awesome picture (she took most of the pictures...)

Kathy's...

Danielle's...

Annie's...

and the girls never left my side....

and Lois using an alliteration with my name...

then it was Melanie's turn...

and Alli...

and finally Judy....

I was moved to tears, I laughed and was amazed at the things

my friends and family had to say about me

I was overwhelmed at the accolades they bestowed upon me

Then finally it was time for dessert...

There were many more but I have "bored" you to tears already

I leave you with this final picture of the day

My granddaughters made me this beautiful frame

I will cherish it forever as I will the memories of this day

I also received incredibly beautiful and generous gifts

more celebrations will follow....