Tag Archives: spring

Style

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Oh my goodness. Or, as my 23-month-old grandson Capt. Adorable says with a huge grin, “Oh my cookies!” When I was wandering through our local mall and spied this window display of new spring things, I had two thoughts: 1) Those are so cute! 2) Too bad I’m about 30 years too old to wear them. and 3) These are psychedelic T-shirts? Kids today don’t know the meaning of the words! And, okay, I know that’s three thoughts. That’s how disturbed I was at seeing these versions of what I spent my teen-age years in. I means, we were the ones who pioneered the statement T-shirt! We were the ones who liberated the humble T and turned it into cool! We were the ones who unleashed the power of Peter Max on the fashion industry! Well, you’re right, it was really our older brothers and sisters — I always say that I would have made a great hippie in the 60s but my parents made me go to bed at 8. By the time I hit my teens in the early 1970s, the hard work had been done and jeans and Ts were the uniform of the young and all I had to do was reap the benefits. Before the flower-power fashion revolution, “new clothes for spring” meant white gloves and pillbox hats. Today, thanks to the Love Generation, it means light-weight groovy T-shirts. Young people today have no idea. Oh my cookies!

Food

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Strawberries

With a day-long break in the rain that's been attacking north Alabama for the past two weeks, it was dry enough to get some strawberries today. This bowlful smelled so fresh and sweet it was as if summer came to my kitchen.

Spring Gardens

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Spring gardensThere is nothing like a gorgeous spring day in Spring landscapingAlabama, especially if you can enjoy it in a backyard such as this one. My friend Evelyn and her husband love digging in the dirt — and it shows. They created this backyard paradise from scratch, and it’s the perfect spot for some peaceful reading and bird-watching — two of Evelyn’s favorite pastimes. (She is one of the few people I know who gets excited about seeing things such as a broad-billed hummingbird, which is why I love her so much.) There’s also a lovely screened-in porch perfect for relaxing. In fact, I think I need to go over to Evelyn’s house right now for a dose of stress-free garden serenity. Y’all come, too!

Easter

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Easter dessertsEaster is one of those easy family holidays that Easter treatsgives you lots of bang for your buck — if Christmas is the stress-inducing standard then Easter falls somewhere above Valentine’s Day but below birthdays. Well, that’s my opinion today anyway, when I’m a few years past midnight hours of frantically finishing Easter dresses for my two daughters and managing the Easter-morning chaos of baskets and eggs before church. At least the food is still easy, with Easter bake sales everywhere. I found these goodies at the Empty Bowl luncheon this past week sponsored by the Salvation Army Auxiliary in Florence, Alabama. From works-of-art cakes worthy of Easter dinner to peanut-butter fudge for munching as you did more shopping, there was something for everybody. Hope everyone has a stress-free and photo-op-filled Easter weekend, with chocolate bunnies for all!

A Week of Spring — Home Decor

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Spring decorWelcome to the weekend wrapup for A Week Spring decorof Spring. Thanks for coming along with me as I’ve discovered a week of cute and must-have spring things. I think this final find is the best of the bunch! I fell in love with these twig- and dried-flower baskets the birds’ nest as soon as I spied them at Downtown Books in Corinth, Mississippi. The baskets are supposed to be planters, but I’ve already put the dried lavender in the one with the handle and I’m pondering what to do with the others. My favorite, though, is the birds’ nest. It just says “spring” to me — in a very soft, whispery, spring-like voice, of course. And the bonus? All of this was $30.  But I left plenty, so if you’re in Corinth go to Downtown Books and pick up some more spring bargains.

Want more spring? Visit these blogs:

http://www.leciawphinney.com/ — At A Day That is Dessert, photographer and mom Lecia Phinney posts wonderful photos that will make you think spring no matter what the weather outside is.

http://www.winosandfoodies.com/ — Winos and Foodies has yummy and creative recipes for spring classics.

http://www.omiru.com/ — The stylish folks at Omiru show you how to waltz fashionably and frugally into spring. They focus on what to pull out of your closet to combine with the new season’s trends for totally chic ensembles.

A Week of Spring — Fashion

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Spring fashionWelcome to day No. 4 of A Week of Spring. Before I Spring fashionbecame a grandma to a darling baby boy, I thought little girls’ clothes were the cutest. Not so! Little boys are right up there fashion-wise, especially when it comes to spring style. I absolutely adore these pink and green madras shorts with the pink grasshopper-print polo shirt and the blue and brown board shorts paired with the colorful T-shirts, all in size 18-24 months from Baby Gap. I can’t wait until it’s warm enough for my 1-year-old grandson, Capt. Adorable, to run around in these. He is going to rock the playground. Come back tomorrow for day no. 5 in A Week of Spring.

A Week of Spring — Easter Candy

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Easter candyWelcome to day No. 3 in A Week of Spring. I love Easter Easter candycandy! Well, not really the candy part — I’ll take a bar of deep rich dark Green and Black’s over a milky chocolate bunny any time — but the oh-so-cute and whimsical spring-time packaging always makes me smile. And who wouldn’t? Fresh Market has an overflowing abundance of Easter candy this year and I can’t help but picture adorable Easter baskets filled with Easter Candyall sorts of sweets and treats. I think it’s the fascination of boxes and wrappings and what-wonderful-things-could-be-inside that’s so intriguing. And I probably have passed that on to my Easter candydaughters, who are in their 20s but still delight in candy-laden Easter baskets … although they rarely eat it all.  Since they’re vegetarians, we’ve banished Peeps but anything with caramel, fudge, peanut butter or vanilla creamy goodness at least gets a nibble. We’ll see if my 1-year-old grandson carries on the family tradition — I’m betting one bite won’t be enough for him! Come back tomorrow for day No. 4 in A Week of Spring.

A Week of Spring — Pink and Green

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Spring shoppingIt’s day No. 2 in A Week of Spring and we’re taking a look Spring shoppingat those wonderfully fresh and pretty spring colors that make us smile. I spend most of winter in black turtlenecks, so as spring approaches I’m definitely ready for something different. I love finding blooming spring colors in unexpected places, like this gathering of pink, green and yellow at Harrison Brothers Hardware in Huntsville, Alabama. On the city square since 1879, Harrison’s is part museum, part antique shop and part gift boutique. These spring gotta-haves were between the massive old safe and the tempting candy aisle. Sweet! I’d take everything, from the pink and green toile trays to the mint-green glasses. But my favorite is the pink-and-blue paisley ice bucket. For some reason I cannot resist cute ice buckets. I’ve got a gazillion, including washtub-sized ones we’d need for my daughters’ high-school parties and smaller sizes like this one that are perfect for book-club night. I mean, really, how many ice buckets do you need? But that’s what spring does to you — makes you start planning parties out on the deck. With plenty of pink and green. Come back tomorrow for day No. 3 in A Week of Spring.

A Week of Spring — Entertaining

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EntertainingHere in Alabama the tulips and dogwoods are in full Spring dinner partybloom with the irises close behind, so it must be spring! No matter the weather — mornings are still chilly around here — we’ve all got lighter and fresher on the mind. So this week I’m taking a closer look at spring things that have caught my eye. First in A Week of Spring is this beautifully set table my friend Cheryl surprised our four-Spring decorwoman book club with this past week. Although it really was no surprise — Cheryl’s one of those gracious hostesses who makes you feel so welcome and special, like she’s waited all day just for you to come over. (I’m the one who answers the door with, “Oh, hi. Was tonight our party? Well, uh, come on in but watch out for cat hair.”) Cheryl also is one of those smart shoppers who knows where to find bargains and stocks up when the price is right so all she has to do is pull things together. The butterfly-print tablecloth and napkins, the china-flower napkin rings and the pretty floral plates needed only a few spring blossoms for Cheryl’s menu of fresh green salad and a light pasta salad. And since we read “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortens0n (we liked it both for the history and culture and also for the inspiring story of the difference one person can make in the world), we had plenty of tea. And wine. Come back tomorrow for day No. 2 in A Week of Spring.

Shoes

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Spring shoesOh, yes — come to mama! Never mind that a recent Shoes for springFacebook quiz pegged me as classic ballet-flat-wearing.  (Read “boring.”) When I saw these shoes at our local mall earlier this week, I had the classic symptoms of shoe lust: Sweaty palms, increased heart rate, rapid breathing. Or maybe that was from the Spring shoesburrito I’d just eaten. Doesn’t matter. I fell in love with almost every pair of these totally inappropriate and probably wildly uncomfortable shoes. And actually, I believe I had a pair exactly like the bright and shiny pink pumps about 20 years ago — didn’t we all? Sadly, common sense prevailed and I moved on empty-handed. But I can’t get those purple python platforms out of my head. And those brown strappy sandals. And the animal-print pumps. So take that, stupid classic-ballet-flats Facebook quiz.