An Evening at the Crystal Palace

Forty years ago I didn't care for country western music at all, but that all changed when the girl from Beverly Hills married the boy from Bakersfield. Over the last thirty eight years I have acquired a real love of country music and it's almost all I listen to anymore.

Mr. Honey had a great idea when he heard two of his brothers and their wives were coming to town for a visit. He thought it would be fun for us all to go to dinner at the Crystal Palace and listen to music played by Buck Owens Buckaroos. (Sorry my flash was on for the photo above)

The Crystal Palace is a great place to celebrate any occasion or to just have a good dinner and fun night out.


This mural is at the entrance to welcome in the guests.

Diane and Marjolein dance right on up to the statue of Merle Haggard and smile for the camera.

The Crystal Palace is like a plethora of Buck Owens memorabilia. Buck's Cadillac displayed for all to see above the bar. Old black and white photos of famous celebrities line the powder room walls. I wish I had taken more photos. Old stage costumes and mementos are encased in glass windows that line the surrounding walls to the restaurant.




Once the music starts, the line dancing begins. It's as fun to watch as it is to do.

My sister in-laws wasted no time getting up and giving it a whirl. I'm too much of an introvert and too shy give it a try, but that didn't damper my enthusiasm!






Photo above: my brother in-law Jay and his wife Robin

My brother in-law Forrest and his wife Marjolein.

My brother in-law Dave and his wife Diane.

My sister in-law Sherree and her husband Fred.

Yours Truly and Mr. Honey

Happy Birthday Vicky! September 2

Today my friend Vicky turns 60. For my sixtieth birthday she sent me this darling Chatty Kathy ornament. I was born August 20, but my actual due date was September 2. It is uncanny how many things Vicky and I have in common. We have very similar taste when it comes to decorating and Vicky actually owned the very same dress I wore for my wedding. Though we live miles apart we have remained close all these years.

Vicky and I became friends when I was pregnant with my eldest daughter. We lived in the same neighborhood for many years, until Vicky's husband, Howard, took a job in South Carolina as a professor at the University.

Happy Birthday Vicky! I hope your day is filled with joy. Know that I will be thinking of you with fondness as you celebrate this very special birthday.

Celebrating 60 Years

August 20Th I celebrated my 60th birthday at the beach with my girls. I considered having a big party. The thing is, having a big party isn't really my style. I'm more of a one on one kind of person, who enjoys intimate gatherings with just a few. I'm not the kind of woman that would want to exclude anybody either, so having to limit the guest list due to budget constraints would never do.

Photo below: left to right, Amanda my eldest, Lindsay my youngest, myself, and Brook my middle daughter.
I decided a weekend at the beach with my girls would be just the ticket. I decided that months ago before I knew that my daughter who lives in Boston would be in the midst of moving and would not be able to afford a trip to the west coast.


Imagine the smile on my face when Mr. Honey flew Brook home to be my birthday surprise. That was the best birthday gift he could have possibly given me.

We spent Saturday in Santa Barbara having lunch at Pascuccis and then headed to Restoration Hardware to check out the latest trends in furniture. Lindsay was particularly enchanted with this somewhat space age chair.

Amanda and Brook sweetly posed for a photo. You really can't deny your mother a photo opportunity on her birthday, right?

Lindsay thought her boyfriend would love this lounge chair.

My favorite chairs were these linen upholstered wing backs with the fabulous map of Paris as the backdrop. Brook was quite smitten with the dress forms.

I insisted on one more photo before leaving the store.

On Sunday Mr. Honey brought my grandsons to join us for the day to make my birthday weekend picture perfect!



Below is a photo of my youngest grandson.

My eldest grandson smiles for me.




Below is a photo of my middle grandson with his Auntie Brookie. Mr. Honey teased him mercilessly for wearing his Auntie Lindsay's kitty cat sweat shirt. Being the confidant boy that he is he didn't let his Papa's teasing bother him at all. Shame on you Papa Honey!



At sixty, I wasn't going to let putting on a bathing suit scare me. I've really matured, L.O.L.

A Gift to Treasure

My dear friend Veronica gifted my youngest daughter this German-made figurine after decluttering her china cabinet last year.

While watching the HGTV show Cash & Cari, my eldest daughter and I were encouraged by Cari's love of antiques and unusual objects, as well as ordinary everyday objects, to re-examine this beautiful figurine.

What we found out was that this treasured gift was made by a German company called Hutschenreuther Selb Kunstabteilung. That's a mouthful, isn't it?

All of my girls, as well as Veronica's own daughter, took dance lessons while growing up. My middle daughter danced when she was little, but lost interest and went on to pursue other artistic endeavors. My eldest danced until high school, then chose piano and voice.

But my youngest daughter's interest in dance continued to become more serious as she grew up, so it was natural for my friend to think of Lindsay when looking for a new home for this beauty.

Lindsay danced from the time she could walk. As a young woman, she minored in dance at Sonoma State. After college she moved to San Francisco to dance in the modern dance world. Now she works mostly off-stage, both behind a camera, filming dancers and editing dance films, and in the studio teaching young dancers.

She actually lives in the building in which she teaches and has performed, but the living area is very small, with little safe space to display such a delicate figurine as this one. And so, she has entrusted it to my care, leaving these lovely dancers to arabesque together on a shelf in my living room, awaiting the day Lindsay has just the right place for them.

For now, it is a constant reminder of all the years of pride and pleasure I experienced at each and every dance performance -- not to mention all the hours of driving to and from dance classes. Ah... the memories.

Do you have an object that brings back your happy memories?

Dress Form Bliss

I have an old fashioned style, but I don't ever want to be thought of as old and out dated, so I love it that dress forms are so timeless. I found this darling dress form at Home Goods and I was delighted because it was very reasonable and added just the right touch to my cottage style bedroom.

I love that I can not only display some of my favorite necklaces, but I can keep them organized too.

I also love the little touch of Paris romance that it adds to my boudoir. Oooh la la!

The Big Kitchen Remodel

This is the before photo of my daughter's kitchen. I doesn't look like this anymore. My daughter Amanda , her husband and three boys live right next door to me, so when she mentioned they were going to remodel their kitchen this summer, I knew exactly what that meant. It meant that my house would be turned into grand central station while the chaos unfolded at her house.

The drawing above is the vision my sweet girl has for her remodel. They are in the thick of it now. The book shelves that lined the wall before are gone and the new wall where they will have a breakfast bar is being dry walled as I write this post.

In the meantime, my three grandsons play happily in my once untouched living room with their beloved Bionicles. Life has grown messy at my house. Presently there is more noise, more dishes, more toys, more clutter and more life at my house.

I wake up to my eldest grandson's knock at the door at about 6:30 a.m., because he is an early riser and loves coming over and watching National Geographic or Animal Planet in my sun room, while everyone at his house is still asleep. I'm usually up putting on the coffee and his Papa is busy getting ready for work. My normally quiet mornings have been turned into happy chatter about wild animals with my little magpie named Franklin. This boy can light up the room with his smile.

When I get home from work in the evening I'm greeted by my happy (sometimes not so happy, depending on their blood sugar levels) clan, and my daughter wearing one of her various adorable aprons, cooking dinner in my kitchen.

I think Mr. Honey and I will miss all the commotion once their kitchen is finished and we go back to our respective routines, but for now we are enjoying the chaos!

To see more photos of the work in progress and future updates you can visit my daughter's blog
by clicking here.

Happy Fourth of July!

The morning started off with getting the kids bicycles decorated for the neighborhood parade. This has been a tradition for at least the last 30 years. My girls enjoyed it when they were growing up and now my grandsons look forward to it too.

Green plaid with red madras shorts...really? Our middlest grandson had to endure a bit of teasing from his Nana and Papa. You will notice in later photos Grant has an appropriate red, white and blue T on.









I always enjoy seeing friends that I haven't seen for a while at the parade.



There was music and dancing at one house along the way.


While passing the house that I raised my girls in, I met the new owner and she was so sweet to invite me in to see the changes she made. She just finished remodeling the kitchen and I loved what she did. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to pull my camera out of my pocket. Oh well. Anyway, the new owner replaced the old cabinets with bead board cabinets and the tile with granite counter tops. She also added a bathroom where the old laundry room used to be. She also redid the wood floors where there used to be carpet. I always wanted to do that. The porch swing is still there, still being a favorite spot to rest.

The houses that dotted the parade route were dressed for the occasion.

I miss my dear friend Nancy, who is spending the summer with her husband and eldest granddaughter at their summer home on Lopez Island. Below is Nancy and Richie's son Mark with their daughter in-law Misty, and their granddaughters Eva and Ella.