your beautiful

beautiful, and i'm so in love with you"..james blunt

here daughter fariba w/ baby jordan..
you can take the girl out of florida...
but you cant take the beach sand out of her toes!
bye bye for now sweet girls!

thru new eyes...

baby j goes to sea world for first time! what a delight to see her excitement. she
loved watching the dolphins and other fish in the aquariums...we took a leisurely view of the park, mostly in afis arms. no hurries-no worries!

dewitt court

baby j visits at cousin ians new house for first time after our beach trip.
alex made beer chicken on the grill! very yum! we viewed all our beach pics...and ian shared his fun toys and showed us how to dance.
chels and alex have a very cute place in downtown eustis...newly renovated 1918 home. their key west style cottage has upper and lower porches and stain-glass in everyroom. it suits chelseas beach loving style!

something fishy...

had a nice family dinner at PJ's Sea Shack, our favorite eats in new symrna.
afterwards, babies tucked in for night...we relaxed over drinks and yukked it up over a hermit crab alex brought in from beach...guess you had to be there.

ps. no hermit crabs were harmed in the production of these photos.

tigger woods

please meet "TIGGER" WOODS...here ian enjoys the putt putt amenities outside our condo..

beachin it...

we got the condo at sandpiper in new symrna that we renovated 2 years ago and had the whole family together for the weekend! what a good feeling and fun times! i felt it another "full circle of life" moment... Baby j crawled right to the ocean and ate sand. Ian is cautious of the ocean, but jumped in the pool and attempted real swimming. Both babies loved all the birds...and ate breakfast on the porch overlooking the ocean in side by side highchairs. The ocean was gorgeous and calm..good for talking and jumping big lazy waves.

baby j in the house!

baby j,mom n dad arrive from TN!!! yeah, baby j is on her first summer vacation at amma and afi's. first a family gathering to get the hugs and love from aunties and uncles and cousin ian...totally worth 8 hours of screaming in the car seat, right mom?

good times, sunshine and summertime!

“heyyyyy, that’s the way we do it”
new friends and blue skies that never end.
“Heyyyyy, that’s the way we like it”
Good times, sunshine and summertime

(ck back shortly for a nice surprise)

happy to announce...

the completion of one (of two) condo renovations for summer...
this 1/1 is loaded with upgrades and luxuries..lots of ohhh and ahhh factor.
it did turn out very "handsome" as we hoped!! now you know what we have been doing with ourselves this summer in our hometown!!!!

we are about 10 days out on the completion of the second unit...then travels..but first....(see next entry)

candle lites...

only have one thing to say about this new candle i bought...
mmmmm....mmmmmmm...MMM!!! it is grapefruit-ginger from target.
also has lime, pepper and anise hints. i love the citrus!

summer nites...

...are riding motorcycle, dropping in to hear music around town, street festivals w/ fireworks and bands, family dinners, more trips to nordstroms (more clothing and dinner at bistro),fun times w/ grandson...this week he's into bandanas, putting bread baskets on his head, watching drummers w/ awe and still hiding from fireworks.'hello! whats a guy gotta do to get some bread up in here!"

lunchtime...

went to tulas in eustis for lunch. a quiet n' quirky little place in historic district we like for hot tea and lunch w/ greek style eats. town is disturbingly still, hopefully for shop owners it will pick up when the new condo developement matures. chelsea lives nearby!

celebrating friends...

met jean and cybil for lunch today, to celebrate jeans birthday. found my new favorite restaurant..seasons 52. what an beautiful healthy meal, my whole self felt happy to have had such a wonderful new dining experience. loved the dark, classy decor w/ vases full of tropicals including red ginger!!! i was in a happy glow all day from having such a good time! the desserts served in shot glasses were....perfect!

nordstroms again....

gee and i had a nice sunday at nordstroms...enjoyed a relaxing lunch of asian chicken salad and hot tea and relaxed shopping for travel clothes. left blissed out, and happy for the few (more) things i found.

summer sleepovers....

this is our cute overnite visitor ...here ian is drying off from playing in his little wading pool. hearing his chubby feet run all over is a precious thing!

bliss....

ohhh-ahh time at nordstroms today w/ chels and ian...went for chanel luxuries and for some sweet underwear. nordstroms still my favorite pampered shopping experience. chels and i had a nice lunch in their bistro and we took ian to the childrens play area in mall. we have ian overnite and then hubby is taking me back to do some more focused shopping tomorrow for our upcoming trip...ahhhhhhh nordstroms....smile, smile! heres what i got today!

sunday in atlanta

after a productive week of rennovations, we took our sunday off to ride to atlanta again. needed more tundra flooring...it gave us opportunity to revisit west elm and walk the atlantic station area. last week was texture, painting, installing crown, laying wood flooring, tiling, installing cabinetry, caulking...in between which i helped chelsea with ian at a lab appt...and accompanied britt to see a home for rent...so much of summer has been spent in lowes, i find myself contemplating my next nail polish color in the paint dept., and finding the next inspiration from the magazines i look thru while pushing carts..inspirations like hip west elm in atlanta...ck it here

save yankeetown

went to west coast on sunday via motorcycle...
hot ride!! stopped in crystal river (known for crystal clear waters, manatees and the nuclear plant) wanted to see inglis (ok, seen that...now where?) rode thru yankeetown and found a tiny town freshly taken over by gov. jeb bush...battles over land development left the city government in wreckage. stopped to talk to a local businessman along water...he explained city hall as run by "good ole' boys..the kind that make you disappear" yikes! development will come folks...you can hardly stop it...

overheard at crackers resturant in crystal river:
customer to waitress: i'll have the turtle soup.....and make it snappy!

dangled up in blue...

been waiting to use those dylan lyrics!
looks like someone got dangled up while fishing at new symrnas dunes park this sunday!!! ha!
and of course, no beach trip is complete without the
icecream boat....p-file ALERT!
and what about this crab gee made friends with...everyone else brought their dogs on leashes...no, not gee..he just invites crabs up outta the ocean to talk with.
we saw lots of gopher turtles moving about in the dunes on our walk back to car.
and stopped at breakers on flagler for cold drinks afterwards....

ikea idea..

we went to atlanta to pickup "kitchen" at ikea...
fariba, eric & baby j met us there!
we visited over a lunch of swedish meatballs...
jordan LOVED the apple cinnamon cheesecake...
much to our amusement!!!!
every time the fork went to afi's mouth, baby j had her mouth open and ready!
jordan loved looking thru ikea w/ afi! he stopped at all the fun stuff!
here are the cabinets we ordered...alot of the condos in atlantic station are outfitted in ikea kitchens too!

happy feet!

we took ian shopping for a new pair of shoes today!
he was adorable running around in his new little reef sandels.
here ian is running around the fountain at Paneras after lunch!
he and mama are wearing skull and cross bones..ARGGGGGH!

red, hot, boom!

went to naples for 4th of july weekend. shopped for red ginger at local nurseries. naples is paradise for tropicals!
the guys worked on thors roof....hot, hot, hot!
thor came back w/ us to install security systems in
recent projects.
saw fireworks with kids on 4th!!!
we celebrated the anniversary of our engagement!

more random acts of summer

help neighborhood by refreshing entrance sign...
thanks to all who gave generously for lettering!

random acts of summer

lunches at atlanta ikea...after purchasing for recent projects
new summer chairs and fresh paint...
some of the renno's at home...shhhh! the rest is a secret!

my two cute boys!!!!

i have been waiting to post pics of my way adorable grandson ian.
i couldn't resist showing todays fun with afi....we'll call it
"supervised running on drywall"...ian had a blast!
that drywall sure did make for a fun afternoon!
now you've met ....(back to title)

allman joy

another 6 days to chattanooga....
hopefully helped fariba...got to love up on jordan, visit her daycare, went for pedicures, celebrated Sarahs' bday w/ tropical b-b-q and to Riverbend music festivals last night concert..Greg Allman!!! Fair and i lay in grass listening to our favorites while sarah and friends yukked it up w/ flashing green sunglasses! We trekked to mountainside overlooking all of chattanooga to see the fireworks afterwards...beautiful! Next day we toured several new townhomes in coolidge park area...nice to know we are building to the same tasteful standards! This officially marked the beginning of our secondary home search! we celebrated Erics first fathers day...and faribas gift and sentiments to Gee brought tears!
On return home we stopped in Dalton to purchase carpeting...and in Atlanta ...in the new Atlantic Station area, to visit Ikea. We bought our flooring & lighting, ordered cabinets and appliances.
Links to Atlantic Station and our favorite shops:
www.westelm.com
www.atlanticstation.com
www.zgallery.com

red, white and blue!

6 fun days to tennessee to see our girls! this was baby j's first memorial day..her smiles were worth the miles! we visited dear aunt ruth, her humor and mind so clear at nearly 85 is amazing. i see my fathers face in hers....we had a nice evening downtown chattanooga on the riverfront, such a family freindly place. gee and i rode the motorcycle to Chickamaga military park by way of many charming small towns, all dressed up in red, white and blue...Fariba is our hero too, such a good mama to jordan! hard working, ever on duty...sacrificing for what is important to her.
heres to remembering what keeps us safe...p.s. jordans little white bear is "vik"..short for rekjavik, where he came from thanks to gees mom, unnur.