Boat Drinks

We are packing up and heading out to the lake with some friends for our last horrah with all the kids before school starts back next Thursday. Fingers crossed we'll have great weather!

All the food has already been prepared and packed up by one of the families coming along, so all the rest of us have to do is bring our kids, our stuff, and drinks for our families. Mr. Monogram and I have packed all the necessities we need to enjoy Arnold Palmer's all weekend (a preppy classic, as you know), and alcoholic Arnold Palmer's mean 3 things: Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, Lemonade, and lots of ice. Oops! Can't forget my Tervis Tumblers!

Have a great weekend, everyone and I'll see you on Monday when I'll have a NOT TO BE MISSED product review for you by none other than the Mini Monograms.

Two Words..

A-MAZING. The wedding was phenomenal and my bff couldn't have looked more gorgeous or happy. No time to post pictures today, but I promise to share tomorrow!

xo-MM

Wedding Weekend in the Mountains

This weekend my bff since childhood is getting married. I'm beyond thrilled for her! She is marrying a great guy who went to one of our rival prep school's and was actually bff's with a guy I dated in high school. Crazy how small the world is, right?
On Friday we are hosting the Bridesmaids Luncheon at The Inn at Millstone where we will be dining outside on the lawn.
Friday evening, the Rehearsal Dinner will be at The Library Club Restaurant, the oldest structure in Sapphire Valley.

On Saturday, the wedding is being held at The Chattooga Club which will be amazing with the gorgeous mountain backdrop.
And here is the Bridesmaids dress that I will be wearing (ugly orange backdrop not included!). The apple green is a gorgeous color in person, and the dress is super comfortable and light. Perfect for dancing!

Sunday morning Mr. Monogram and I will have to get up early and head back to TN as his dad and step-mother will have to fly back to FL after taking care of the mini's for us while we are at the wedding. But we do have a little bit of down time. If anyone is familiar with the Highlands, Cashiers, Sapphire Valley area and there are any shops or sights I simply must see, let me know!

What I've Been Up To

Forgive me for abandoning you these past 3 weeks. I've been doing a lot of this...

a little of this....

and then there was this...

which was followed up with this...

It's been a loooooong and exhausting three weeks with lots of travel for the Monograms, but we're back and the suitcases are unpacked. I'll pick back up with my regularly scheduled Monogram Momma programming on Monday.

Pinky swear.

Old Friends & the Hope to Meet Some New Ones

This week, bff Kristi and her daughter, Lydia came in town to stay with us for their annual visit. I love having them here and as always, the visit was much too brief. Kristi and I have always sort of completed each other for lack of better words, so even doing nothing together is always lots of fun.

Kristi (left) and I (right) at school, in, i *think* 10th grade here which would be circa 1991. Our Fall/Spring uniforms were so cute with seersucker skirts, white peter pan collared blouses, and navy vests w/ our school crest.

Anyhow, now I'm busy packing up for 9 days of visiting w/ my in-laws in Florida. Mr. Monogram and I have never in our entire 10-1/2 year marriage spent an entire week visiting his parents soooooo............

While I am down there I will be co-hosting a Paper Concierge Party on Monday evening the 22nd to help a new Concierge get her feet wet. So if any of my fabulous readers are in the Clearwater/St. Pete/Tampa area and want to come hang w/ Monogram Momma, share a beer or glass of wine *coughOrtwoOrThree* with her and chat up all things preppy, monogrammed and paper, drop me a comment w/ your email address or email me directly and I'll send you the details.

National Stationery Show Recap

What a great 3 days in New York! The NSS was fantastic, although from what I've been told, slightly smaller this year due to the economy, and some popular companies such as Boatman Geller were no-shows. However, it was still great. And if you've never been to Javits Convention Center in NY, then let me just tell you how big it is. HUGE. No, ENORMOUS.

I wasn't there five minutes when I literally ran smack into the talented Kristin Pearce. I mean, LITERALLY we ran into each other and started screaming like schoolgirls we were so excited to see each other. We've "known" each other for the past 3 years but this was the first time meeting in person and it was like we'd known each other forever. We met up for lunch later in the day where The Preppy Princess and the Princess Consort met up with us as well. Talk about FABULOUS! I can not wait to see PP and her husband again and get to spend some more time with them. Another person I finally connected with in person was the fabulous Grove Gal K and her partner Grove Gal E. LOVED THEM! I wish I'd gotten to spend some more time with them but hopefully I'll see them again soon (Atlanta, perhaps?).

It was also fantastic to finally meet all the designers that I've been blogging about for the past 3 years (Hello, Whitney English!) and to also spend a delicious dinner at a fun little Irish Pub with another preppy blogger, Suz. Suz is another blogging buddy I've known for years so she was so sweet to come pick me up at Javits after working all day, then take me out and make sure I got got on the correct train as well. We had a fun dinner mixed with a few beers so I can't wait to see her again too! Oh! Probably the most important person I finally got to meet in real life, was Caroline, owner of Paper Concierge. We talk every other day and although I've been with Paper Concierge since October, we've never met. Crazy! Anyway, she is as awesome as I knew she would be and I loved getting to spend time with her at the show. We had a great time and I look forward to seeing her again.

While I think my feet are still trying to recover from all the walking and I do have some funny NJ Public Transportation stories (as in a very nice Asian family taking pity on me and helping me with my luggage on the first day and then taking me all the way to Ridgewood, NJ where my bff lives), I would do it again a million times over. It was so amazing being in one place with so many creative people; it was truly inspiring!

Start Spreadin' the News

I'm leavin' on Sunday! New York, here I come!

Sunday morning I am leaving at o'dark thirty to head to New York for the National Stationery Show. I am SUPER excited about seeing and meeting all the fabulous designers out there that we carry at Paper Concierge and whom I've also been blogging about for the past three years.

I'll be staying with my bff who just had her first baby all of 4 weeks ago, so I'm beyond excited to get to see her and get my hands on that sweet baby girl of hers. It's been killing me being so far away from her during this exciting time in her life. However, that means I'll be commuting from Ridgewood, NJ into the city and that makes for one very nervous Monogram Momma! YIKES! Transportation tips are welcome!

Monday evening I will be meeting up with Suz for a bite to eat and a drink or two, so if you're in the city, we'd love to have you join us! Email me if you're interested!

There Once was Girl from Nantucket...

**UPDATE** YAY! Great news for MM readers! See this comment left by Maria of Charlotte Carey Photography & book your summer session with her now! MM, Thanks so much for your lovely post about Charlotte Carey Photography. I would love to extend to your readers a 75 dollar discount off their session fee if they mention "monogram momma" upon scheduling. Discount will be available for June-September, 2009.Thanks so much for being one of our biggest fans and I hope to meet some of your other readers very soon out here on Nantucket!

So, as I was saying... There once was a girl from Nantucket, who was fabulous and talented and cared for sick people in her day job but took pictures of slobbery canines in her free time. What? Did you think I was going somewhere dirty with this little poem of mine?

This fabulous woman of whom I speak is my cousin, Maria Carey of Charlotte Carey Photography on Nantucket Island. And since many of my readers regularly summer on Nantucket, I thought some of you might be interested in having some professional photography done while you are there. Don't think twice about it, just call her. After all, you know you've been putting off doing this for a while now, right?

A mom of two golden retrievers (Zach & Sophie), she is wonderful and personable and very talendted and gifted. And no, I'm not the least bit biased as her work speaks for itself (why just look at this picture of adorable little Hazel!). While her focus is on pets, she does photograph children as well. She shoots in natural light and will even travel to New England if you find yourself doing more of a staycation in lieu of your regular vacation and thus can't make your way to Nantucket this summer.

You can also keep up with Maria on her blog, Pups on a Sandbar. Tell her I sent you and you won't be sorry!

10 Years Later

No time to post today ladies, as I'm frantically trying to get my orders in for Paper Concierge from the Holiday Market I participated in last week, going over the mini's schedules with my parents, packing, and then I'm off on a fabulous 5 Star vacation to Playa del Carmen to celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary with Mr. Monogram. Yippie!! Have a great week and weekend while I'm gone and I promise some projects and discounts when I return next week!

XO-MM

Vacation (again!): June 6-20th

Hey guys! We're headed back on vacation this morning to our beach this time so I'll see you in a couple weeks when I return.

Have a great couple weeks!
MM

Finally, The Trip...

So finally, I have a few minutes to chat about our trip. This was the first resort type trip we've taken with the children since they are now "of age" where I feel like it's appropriate (typically we leave them behind for these types of trips). When they were younger, Mr. M and I just couldn't see how that would possibly be fun for any of us and I have to say, I'm so glad we held out. At 6 & 4-1/2, they are now at the age where we can really start to travel more with them and not have to tote along a million things that they need. It was really very easy!

We flew down on Friday, May 2nd in the morning and returned home the following Friday night. The resort was really beautiful with lush landscaping and beautiful waterfalls everywhere we turned. There were multiple pools, a lazy river (they boy's fave), hammocks in little tiki huts, shuffle board, bike trails, golf, pink pong, a playground, an arcade, and more. It was a great family vacation. What was also really nice was all of Mr. M's family from Boston and Nantucket were there as well. It was fun to be with everyone when it wasn't on the occasion of a funeral (or wedding)!. I'd be lying if I said there weren't a couple incidents initiated by one person in particular, but that is neither here nor there and I don't think it's completely appropriate for me to go into the on my blog. Let's just say it was very surprising and I was very hurt. It was very interesting taking a vacation with family since that isn't something we ever do because we always just travel as our family of 4. All said though, it was a great week.

Anyway, as I was saying, the boys had a really great time. Mr. M and I really enjoyed the time relaxing and playing with them. My poor fair skinned mini #1 got so so sunburned no matter how much and often I lathered him up with sunscreen! The sun was much stronger than at our beach (but on the plus side for me I got a great summer base for my tan!).

Sadly, I did not get to hook up with the famed Ashley, but we only left the resort one time all week. I did leave her message though so Ashley if you're reading, you owe me a phone call!! ;-)
Okay, I'm off to figure out how to entertain the mini's today. Here are a few pictures from our trip for you guys to enjoy. Consider yourself lucky you are only getting a "few" because let me just tell you I took 439 pictures! If I get around to it, I'll add a few more pictures later today.

Vacation Notice: May 2-11, 2008

Hi everyone! I'm only hopping on for a few seconds. As I type this Mr. Monogram is literally loading up the car and we are on our way to the airport for eight sunny days of rest and relaxation at the Hyatt Coconut Plantation in Bonita Springs, FL (right outside Naples). While there I'm hoping to drag the famous Ashley out of her closet for a few hours but I'll have to let you know if I was successful when I return (however I'll have to drag myself out of the "lazy river" first). Even though I'll be gone, I've got a FABULOUS discount set up from one of your FAVORITE stationery designers, which is a real treat because it's been two YEARS since she offered a discount to anyone. See, I told you you guys were going to be getting some great discounts headed your way!

Ok, the horn is honking so that's my que! Have a great week and I'll chat with you when I return.

Xo-MM

CoCoBlu Studio (& oh yeah, we made it back from Disney in one piece albeit completely exhausted)

To quote Celia Rivenbark, “Studies say that children don’t remember all that much, and certainly nothing good, until they are at least six years old. So there was no way we were going to waste hundreds, perhaps millions of dollars on a family trip to Disney World until [our children] could remember in minute detail what wonderful generous parents we were.” Which explains why Mr. Monogram and I refused to give into the drug that is Disney until the boys were pottytrained and old enough to really enjoy it. There was NO WAY we were changing diapers at Disney or waiting in line with a crying, crabby, baby or toddler. Thank God we held our ground too because the trip turned out great with a 4 & 5 year old (with great help from the double stroller). Yeah us!

I will admit, is has taken us through the entire weekend to recover from Disney, and we’ve already had to watch the home video three times since Saturday night alone, but we are glad we took the boys and won’t have to do Disney again for at least another 2 years. Was it worth not making our regular October beach trip to SGI? Ummm, not so much. Don’t be fooled. Disney is NO vacation. In fact, you need a vacation FROM the Disney vacation. But as I said, a great time was had by all and I feel confident the mini’s now think we are the worlds greatest parents so mission accomplished. And yeah, in case you’re wondering, you do end up spending what feels like millions of dollars at Disney.

But it’s a new week now and with a new week comes a couple great new discounts for all my wonderful readers. Sarah from CocoBlu Studio was very kind to leave a discount for Monogram Momma readers in comments last week during my absence. She has a great online specialty boutique with papers and invitations and such that she herself designs. They are so beautiful that I know you guys are going to love them as much as I do. So head over there, take a look around, and receive a 25% discount on holiday greetings with the promo code MONMOM As a bonus, you’ll also get a FREE SET of MOMMY cards with purchase! Just think... you can even have the cards done as a holiday gift for someone. FREE!

Destination: Disney (yep, the Ibuprofin is packed)

Simply put, this week has been insane. I left the house yesterday morning at 7:20 a.m. and didn't return until almost 4 pm. The boys were in bed by 6:30 and I followed behind them at 8. This morning I've been rushing around here trying to remember everything I need to pack for Walt Disney World but you know how that is. I'm sure I am forgetting something important!

Anyway, we're off to see Mickey after school today, and will return next Wednesday night. Pray for us that we make it back in one piece!

XO-MM

2 Week Notice

Gimmie A Break

We’re headed off on a nice long 12 day vacation and simply put, I can not wait. St. George, here we come! So it probably goes without saying that I will not be blogging from the beach. Don’t get me wrong, ya’ll know I love you and all, but this momma needs a break (and some fresh ideas!) and preppy puppy needs some much needed aqua therapy in the Gulf. So since this will be my last post for a couple weeks, enjoy taking a sneak peek into my coveted little beach bag (which in truth, really isn’t so little).

Now, my preppy little pals make sure you play nice out there while I’m gone! You never know when I'll be checking in!

Flight 001, Ready for Take Off

I just returned home from our little road trip today and due to the non-stop pouring rain, all 6 kids, and 3 moms were so drenched that we looked like drowned river rats due to the fact that we mom’s weren’t quite prepared for the bad weather and did not have a single umbrella between us. For some reason, we thought we knew more than Stephanie Abrams and Jim Cantore and as it turns out, we were wrong. And while I’d love to just say “Oh well, live and learn!” I’m afraid that, knowing us three, it is pretty likely that we will find ourselves in this same situation again sometime so I won’t even humor myself with that little clichéd remark. Note to self: Reclaim large golf umbrella from Mr. Monograms golf bag and hide in my car again.

But speaking of little road trips and nifty little things we need to travel, to encourage you all to be better prepared than we were today, hop on over to Flight 001 if you are looking for some great travel accessories and bags …"to be the best accessorized commuter in coach.” Enter the code DAILYCANDY at checkout to receive 25% off your purchase. So if you’re thinking ahead to the holiday’s as I am, this is perfect excuse to shop for yourself or the commuter in your life.

Vacation Misadventures: by Preppy Puppy

Greetings from monogram momma's favorite (coughONLY) girl, preppy puppy. Please excuse my rude delay in getting my post out this week, but it appears that my mom returned from the beach only to catch a bout of the flu/cold combo. It's meant a big sacrifice on my part, you know, laying around in bed with her all day, but I'm pretty selfless like that. Also, this typing this is a lot more difficult thatn it looks! Opposable thumbs are highly underrated if you as me (because I don't have any!). Now, since you're all inquiring about our vacation last week, I've stepped up to the plate to give you my own version of events and misadventures. It's high time a preppy canine had a voice of her own if you ask me, so now it's my turn.

Here I am and we haven't even left the driveway yet, but you can see the enthusiasm in my face for the 6-1/2 hours that lay ahead of me. You know, I used to have the entire car to myself before the mini monograms, and now I have to worry about a pack of diapers or a ridiculously large Tonka Dumptruck falling on my head en route. Of course, there also used to be room for my toys and my bed to come along too, but you can see here all I got was this lousy towel. *sigh* Oh well, at least they had the good sense to leave the double jogging stroller behind so it doesn't attempt to open and decapitate my pretty little head mid-trip as it has in the past (I swear that thing has a mind of it's own. Really.).

I swear, I just do not understand why we always vacation at this beach. It is always so crowded and littered I can't stand it. Geez. I sure wish we could go somewhere more remote and relaxing! he he he

Do you have any idea how hard it is to try to keep up with the mini's and take pictures at the same time? This is me running after them from the house onto the beach. Looks like mini #1 got stuck pushing both the dumptruck and the digger onto the beach. Sucker!

Now this is what I'm talking about! Peace and quiet. Me and mother nature. My mom said it was "adult swim" only since the waves were too rough so that meant I had to sit out too. But that's okay with me; it sure beats being left behind at home any day, and I had a great time watching the unusually large waves!

Here is my mom's favorite reading spot. She spent everymorning and evening, before and after the beach, reading on the back porch of the house, listening to the waves and watching for dolphins. You can see that the edge of the water is only about 50 yards from the back deck so it makes for optimal dolphin watching! We had a couple unusually windy days, so she really took advantage of this space.

Sometimes a girl has got to jump in and be aggressive when there's something she wants. Such as this chair. You know they say that pink and brown is a popular color combo these days so how else is a girl to keep up with current preppy color combo's?

So we aren't a real adventurous family, no matter what you've heard. I think my mom explained that the biggest adventure was sitting in the window, shutters open, legs horizonal with laptop on top of two pillows, and she really wasn't kidding. Here she is trying to get a connection before actually sitting in the window (this is the feet against the wall approach, just facing out the window, which, sadly, was unsuccessful, btw). Although they were successful in driving down the street like super sleuths, sitting outside another house to use their wireless connection, and when my dad said "hey, you think they'll think we're just CIA or Secret Service in your car with the computer in our laps?" and my mom replied "uh, well, I think the car seats are sort of a giveaway," the adventure was over and we turned around to go back to the house again.

Well they might not be very adventurous, but how many other 90 lb dogs do you know would sport these preppy crab goggles in public? That's confidence for you, loud and clear!

On Thursday the 19th, it was mini #2's birthday. Since we vacation on a small island, there isn't a cake to be found closer than an hour and a half away, so my mom, being the Martha Stewart that she is, whipped up this little cookie cake for mini #2. It's not that pretty, but it's all she had to work with. I don't know about you but I quite like the preppy whale. However, worthy of noting (AHEM) is that I did NOT get a piece of the cookie cake.

You see what too much cookie cake will do to you? They need to make PSA's about this. WARNING: ingesting too much birthday cookie cake may require one to needlessly streak down the beach. Trust me, by the time we caught up the little bugger he was half way to the next county!

Try as I might, I could not catch this seagull. But at least it provided some good entertainment for me and sometimes, it's just all about the entertainment factor.

I was having a grand 'ol time with MY ball that MY mom and dad were throwing for ME, until....

...these two hoodlums came and stole my thunder. Being the polite and proper preppy that I am, I was a great sharer and didn't even get crabby at all when my dad even threw the ball for these two escapees; but do you know what they did? They actually heisted my ball and ran off with it! Rude I say, just plain RUDE!
Go learn some manners! I want my ball back!

Uhhh, seriuosly guys. I want my ball back now.
Don't make me come after you!
I know where you live so you better be sleeping with one eye open tonight.

At the end of the week, we hung up our suits to dry one last time before packing them away until next Spring (Well let's get real. My mom did it because otherwise my dad would have just left them in one big wet heap in the outdoor shower). All in all, we all had a great time as we always do here. Twice a year just isn't enough so my mom is working on my dad to do a third week. I'll keep you posted on that as I think I heard the word "crazy" and "spoiled" mutter out of the corner of my dad's mouth. Everything just seems better here. Even the mini monograms bickering and shenanigans don't seem to bother me (or my mom) as much because we are all so relaxed.

REMINDER!!
Show Me Yours, I'll Show You Mine
PREPPY PUMPKINS
(ok, just pumpkins in general)
Due by Monday!!!

Prizes Sponsored by
Three Chickadees!!

Email entries to:
monogrammomma@charter.net

Lessons in Connectivity: Still on Vacation though!

Still on vacation and having a great time! The weather has finally started cooperating with us and today couldn’t be more beautiful so we’ve spent the day sunning nd watching dozens of dolphins just swim on by. It’s like being at Se World or something (well, sorta. Only the dolphin part). I know I promised you an adventure while I away but so far the only adventure has been trying to connect to the wireless modem, which currently consists of me opening up the plantation shutters in the back guest bedroom, and literally sitting in the widow, legs up horizontal, two pillow shams balancing on top of my legs, and the computer sitting on top of said pillows at a very precise angle. If I breathe even the slightest bit heavy, that’s it and I get kicked off. That’s an adventure, isn’t it (well if it isn’t it’s at least a good thigh workout)? So if you’ve emailed me and not heard back or tried to post and don’et see it, don’t worry. The sun hasn’t gotten to my head and made me forget my good manners; I just quite simply, can’t reach you all from the island, and will respond Sunday or Monday when we return.

In other important news today, Happy Happy Birthday, Mini Monogram #2!
Today my little Prince is 3 and I can hardly believe it. Like every birthday my children have, I will spend the day being misty eyed and emotional, reliving their birth stories, kissing them until they can no longer stand it any longer, and sitting down to write my pensive little birthday letter (more on that later). It’s so nice to be here at the beach, our favorite place, really enjoying the day and watching him roll around in the sand (even if he also happens to be hollering at his “brudder” at the moment). He comes up and tells me he wants a kiss while grabbing my face, and then asks for a hug, and then before running off to wallow in the sand tells me I’m his love bug. And all I can think at this moment is that I hope he remembers I’m his love bug when he’s 16 and he’s in trouble for not making curfew. As Mr. Monogram says on their birthday’s, “Well, he made it another year.” What’s that supposed to mean? Just because I once left him strapped in his infant carseat/ bucket seat sitting on the kitchen counter as mini #1 and I drove off down the street, “forgetting” there was another baby in the house to be loaded up? Gheesh. Give a girl break!

So anyway, I trust you all are playing out there while I’m away as you know I’ve still got my eye on you, expecting you all to be on your best behavior and using your best manners! Until I hit the mainland again next week, Ciao!

Time to Say Goodbye

I’m hopping on real quick, coming to you live from my parent's house in Atlanta with more bad news (I know I have been full of bad news lately what with my not winning the Martha KB Home giveaway and all). But it looks like this is it.*sniffle* *sniffle* The end of the line for monogram momma. I’m leaving the blogging world, bidding you all farewell. Actually, I’m just kidding, but I probably really had you going there, didn’t I?! Don’t worry, you can’t get rid of me that easily. I am, in fact leaving, but not to worry, I’m just taking a much needed vacation. We always head back to the beach for a second week in October with the mini monograms and preppy puppy (and I can't forget my Hawaian Tropic #4), and considering the boring and extremely uninteresting posts I’m afraid I’ve been putting out here lately, I think it’s fairly obvious I can use another week at the beach (see #6) to refuel my severely lacking creative writing ability.

So we head out in the morning, and the plan is for me to come back with a dark tan, having read all 3 of my books, nice and rested, and ready to *wow* you all. And while I’m away at the beach this week, throwing the ball for preppy pup, watching her ride the waves in and watching the mini’s push dump trucks through the sand, I expect you all to play nice in your own sandbox’s out here in the bloggersphere. As my mom used to say, don’t make me come back and have to separate you.

Oh, and if you’re really lucky, I might pop on from time to time to fill you in on our vacation mishaps and adventures (honestly, I really don’t “do” adventure very well, as I’m more of a sit in my chair, work on my tan and read my book type of gal, but I’ll see what I can do about that this week).

But in the meantime, if you need me, I’ll still be accessible via email (assuming we have wireless at the beach house), relaxing and enjoying my view.