All The Ladies In The House Say "Yea!"

A few of my "now over 40" friends and I were talking the other day about the "changes" we were warned about but didn't believe before we were actually 40. My one friend said she started noticing those changes about 20 minutes after she woke up on her 40th birthday.

So, in honor of all of my beautiful friends, (and yes, each and everyone of them IS beautiful) and because it is a very rainy day here and I'm in this kind of a mood, I share with you this:

Soup's On!

A few weeks ago, Maria and I did the "DuPont Estate Tour" (as named by me). On Day 1, we visited Longwood Gardens, as I shared here. On Day 2, (one week later), we visited Winterthur, as I mentioned in my last post.

Winterthur is a musuem and "country estate" with both beautiful grounds and period furniture within the home...



Look at this WALLPAPER!!!

I just love soup tureens.

And as luck would have it, the museum was having a special display of soup tureens while we were there!

Here are a few of my favorites...

maybe a sweet, cold strawberry soup in this one?

Chicken and Wild Rice I'm thinkin'

How about creamy lemon artichoke soup for this one? oohh or lemon asparagus!! Both so springy!

Minestrone?

This one is different!




Frogmore Stew? (Actually, I don't even know what is in frogmore stew so scratch that)


These little individual soup tureens really had me:

Yes, I suppose I could eat soup out of rabbit -


But this?

I'm thinking Ham and Bean.



And this one?

I think I'll order out!

Name the Movie

"Donkey, you HAVE the RIGHT to remain silent. What you lack is the CAPACITY!"

Sometimes people say hurtful things. Sometimes those hurtful words come from a person who claims to be your friend. It could be just a fragile moment for the friend - or maybe that person just has a different definition of what being a friend means.

Recently, I had a friend say some things that were completely untrue about the essence of who I am - in front of me, and other people who didn't know me as well as I THOUGHT she did. I actually believe that she didn't even think there was anything WRONG with what she said. Because I tend to handle things very differently than she, I didn't react to what she said in front of those other people. Overthinking the whole situation (something I tend to do), at first I let her words make me feel all knotted up and twisted inside.

But then I realized, her words don't define me.

My life and who I am is defined by the One who created me. That is something that this friend doesn't get about me. My motivations are different than hers. So my actions - and reactions, are different.

Sometimes, I need gentle reminders of that fact. And once I wrap my head and heart around that again, I can see the forest through the trees. And the view is beautiful from there.

These pictures were taken at Winterthur - yet another DuPont estate in the area. I have more pictures to share of this blissful day, which I'll share, along with a recipe, tomorrow! (or next week...) In the meantime, I have a friend that I need to go talk with.

PS: The words of wisdom are from the movie......SHREK! Did you guess that? What a smart audience I have...

The Weekend of My Getaway

AKA: "Celebrating My Soul Sister's 10th Anniversary of Her 30th Birthday" AKA: "Five Days of Adult Conversation Without Interruption" AKA: An Awesome Time!

We touched down in the Grand Canyon State on the Thursday before Palm Sunday.


We stayed at a swanky ALoft Hotel that first night...

Very Mod. Somewhat Masculine.

I Loved the Alarm clock. Instead of a buzzer, it had a light that lit up over and over. But it was the color and shape that really got me. Am I really going on about an Alarm Clock? There are much bigger items to cover. Sorry.

After picking up our smokin' bright blue rental car, we headed for Mesa for some lunch and shopping.

While it was about 2pm our home time, it was still morning there, so we went to Mangos Cafe and Bakery for Huavos Rancheros. Maybe it was because we were starving, but more likely because we were in Mesa, Arizona, but it tasted AMAZING.

Then we did a little shoppin' on Main Street - Domestic Bliss, Sweet Cakes (for cookies - YUM!) and The Glitter Box. Crys found a few things...

Then we hot-rodded it over to Scottsdale...

Old Town first to check out some Art Galleries... (and find a bathroom...)

And then to 5th Ave. District Shops (or something like that) for some more serious shopping...

I went all out and purchased - cupcake liners. Cute ones. What can I say. We were trying to go home with just "Carry-Ons".

I went to Z Gallerie for the first time. Boy, it's a good thing there isn't one of these near home. That would be dangerous. And the shop in the background is where we spent alot of time: Anthropologie....

After a very full day of shopping, we needed to refuel, and did so at the Green Restaurant in the same shopping plaza.

Day 2: Time to head to Tuscon. Along the way, we can across this delightful little cafe. All organic, vegan, and "raw" foods on their menu. It was so delicious we made sure to stop back on our way back to Phoenix the next day!

Have you ever experienced this tea?

I say "experienced" because from brewing to drinking is an experience. The teapot actually sits on top of the teacup and releases the tea into the cup from the bottom. It was so fun!

Our purpose for heading to Tuscon was THIS amazing woman:

Beth Moore.
The Event:

Bible Study Beth Moore style, my favorite kind. Music with Travis Cottrell...

And energized, intense, wonderful study of 1 Corinthians 15 with Beth.

Yes, studying the Bible with Beth Moore is FUN. For real. I wouldn't joke about that.

(okay, not the best selves portrait - let's just move on.)

So when we weren't being inspired by Beth Moore's teaching, we were here:

the Westin La Paloma

Doing a little of this...

On Sunday, we headed North. To Sedona. Is there anywhere else in the world you can meet a person named Journey? Just askin'.

Something about this mountain really scared me. I guess the awesomeness of it. I wonder if people who never see the ocean feel the same way when they finally go to the beach....

We did some shopping here

Tlaquepaque Village...

There was a couple getting wedding pictures taken here. A beautiful location for it!

We didn't shop here:

But Crystal did a bit of Birthday shopping here:

(That's our bright blue hot rod!!)

We also spent some time here - It was Palm Sunday, after all.

Chapel of the Holy Cross.

And then it was time to come home.

I think we are all caught up now!