Pretty is

...My Life and Style

You are here: Home / Archives for family first

There’s No One Like A Sister

There IS NO ONE like a Sister

and that is why when my baby sister reached the age of 50, I traveled nearly 3 hours to be with her on her birthday.

I believe it was Clay’s idea.  He texted me one evening to tell me about the plan to surprise her while she was away on her Disney birthday adventure and asked if LB and I would be able to get away to join in the fun.

My response was “We can make it happen”.

My first thought was that we would leave work early on Monday, August 17th, then make our way to Orlando’s Disney Springs where we would meet up with family, and surprise Gina.  That was a pretty good plan, but LB had other plans.  He decided we should head to Orlando on Sunday, spend the night, and enjoy Monday away from work/home.

So we did.

We went to Universal CityWalk on Sunday and spent the day sight-seeing, but making sure to follow all the rules. Then later had dinner at Antojitos.Before making our way to the Residence Inn, we made a stop at Target… just because I like to

SHOP~

On Monday LB and I took our time getting ready, but eventually we were out door and headed to Disney Springs.  For the next 5 hours we would…

SHOP SHOPSHOP

You cannot tell by my expression, but I was having a good time.

 

To wrap up the Orlando event, we followed my sister and her crew to Sprinkles.

We walked up behind her and SURPRISE!

And she was surprised!  It brought tears to her eyes.We each ordered cupcakes at Sprinkles and found a place to sit and have a little visit.  It was a nice time together with family.We ate cupcakes and Gina opened her birthday gifts…I’m very lucky to have Gina in my life.There is no one else like her!

~

There’s no one like a sister…

’cause she’s known you all along.She gets your jokes, shares your folks, and likes the same old songs.There’s no one like a sister…

’cause she’s there no matter what –To talk, check in, see how you’ve been, and sometimes save your butt.There’s no one like a sister…

she’s a friend your whole life through.And none could be as good to me or loved as much as you!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

It has been 3 weeks since I published a blog post!  I have drafts that I’ve started and not found the motivation to finish.  Even my Friday Favorites, which is a fairly easy post, has been missing.

I wonder if it is because every day feels like the same day?

via GIPHY

Occasionally it is a bit depressing.  There are moments when I know that ‘I’ve got this’ but  sometimes it gets me down.  Typically on Mondays.

But today is Friday and I don’t have to work for TWO days so I’m going to celebrate!  Starting with

Favorite # ONE

another

CAKE

I’ve made several recently, but this cake was for a special occasion

Favorite # TWO

Lydia’s birthday celebration

She came to Florida so her extended family could celebrate her. There we are… social distancing.

~

Glammy got some extra celebration time when Lydia and Rory came to spend the night; we FINALLY got to have our long awaited Barbie pool party!

~

Before bedtime we watched

Favorite # FOUR

Trolls World Tour

(also Lydia’s favorite)

via GIPHY

It was actually Lydia’s idea.  And a very good idea… such a cute movie!

~

Favorite # FIVE

Sleepovers

LB and I pulled the mattress off of the bed in Richard’s old room and set it up in front of the television to watch Trolls World Tour.

The sleepover began like thisAnd ended like this

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

This Little Book

Right now there seems to be no way to watch television without being faced with some sort of doom and gloom.  To get a really good dose, listen to talk radio.

I am so ready for peace and for things to be happy in the world again.

During our extended stay at home, I’ve have been cleaning [a lot] and going through cabinets, closets, and drawers.  During one of these cleaning sessions I came across a little book…

The Mother’s Topical Bible.

Yesterday, in an effort to manage my thoughts, I picked up that little book.

Inside are specific bible verses, for specific needs.

When you need to forgive…

When you need personal comfort…

When you need inner peace.

I was looking for something that would speak to my current state of mind, and any of these would have been good.

But one topic caught my eye:

When You Think People Are Weird

Being that I do, I turned to page 317 and began to read 1 Corinthians 4:5…

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God” (KJV).

As I continued reading, the topic title caught my eye once again.  I had misread.  The topic was actually

When PEOPLE Think YOU Are Weird.

Well… that works too.

This is The Mother’s Topical Bible

This is a special little book that was given to me by Mama and Daddy…. “signed” by both.

I’m glad that it is back in my hands.

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

 

 

Friday Favorites

Today is my Favorite kind of Friday as it is the beginning of a VERY long weekend.  An appropriate ending to a VERY long week.  Although it was a long week, it provided some great

Friday Favorites

Favorite # ONE

Hair Therapy!FINALLY!

Can you believe I actually published this pic?

On Friday May 15th, Demetra sent a text asking if I would be able to come in on Tuesday May 19th.

Are you kidding me???

via GIPHY

Demetra and Stacy have rearranged their salon to keep their clients safe and socially distant at the

Blush & Ivory Salon

And I’m happy with my new hair DO!

~

I’ve been shopping online for an outdoor rug to liven up my patio, but haven’t been able to find anything that would arrive before Memorial Day.  So on Sunday LB and I made a visit to Costco to see what was in stock.  We left with my

Favorite # TWO

A Patio Rug

and it looks great with my patio furniture.

~

Also from Costco

Favorite # THREE

Guacamole

Everyone loves guacamole, right?  But as soon as you make it or open a container, it begins to turn brown.

Here is the solution to having fresh guac all week long

Only 90 calories per serving, perfect for dipping celery or carrot sticks, cucumber slices, or any other raw veggie that needs flavor.

This stuff will make anything taste good.

 

~

Favorite # FOUR

Stickers

From the Talented Kitchen

Now I’ll be able to tell which container has what kind of flour.

~

Favorite # FIVE

Seniors

via GIPHY

Sydney is graduating from high school this year!  She is my sister’s baby girl.

She recently had a photo shoot and this is one of my favorites from Gina’s pictures of our 2020 graduate.

We are SO PROUD of you Sydney!

and you’re cute too!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Quarantine Week SEVEN

Has everyone in your house gone stir crazy yet?

via GIPHY

When a home body like myself is ready to get out of the house, I know everyone else must be!

With the exception of taking a couple of drives, LB and I have stayed in the house for six weeks, working from home, having groceries delivered, and enjoying evenings by the pool.

There has been a lot of shopping online, Pinterest pinning and baking.  Most recently I made banana bread.  Next on the calendar is cream of coconut cake.

We have watched a few movies and sort of started following the series Bosch on Amazon Prime.  I’m not a fan of homicide programs, but this one was recommended by Rush, so LB thought it was worth checking out.  We may have watched all of season one.

This past week we started venturing out, following social distancing guidelines and trying to be as safe as possible.  Mostly.

On Sunday I visited Mama’s house for a Mother’s Day Tea Party that I shared in this post.  It was a sweet time with the girls.

Stephanie and Amanda always make me feel special.  Later that day, Richard made me feel special too. He is a faithful face-timer and my most serious child.

And so my Mother’s Day was complete.

~

On Friday evening LB and I both went out to celebrate a milestone.

We met at Olive Garden with our friends Wayne, Laurie, Debbie and Ray in honor of

Laurie’s 60th birthday!

I’ve never seen anyone enjoy spaghetti as much as LB did that night!

Every last bite!

He saved the chicken parm for later.

We had such a good time, we’re planning another get-together real soon.  I’m looking forward to it!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Mother’s Day

I had no idea that I would enjoy a tea party as much as I did!

My sister planned a Mother’s Day gathering for the ladies in our family.

 

On Sunday afternoon, we met at Mama’s house, for the first time in MANY weeks.

The table was beautifully decorated with a place for everyone.

Set at each place was a pair of Mickey Mouse ears to wear.

Each place was chosen (or chosen for us) based on matching headdress color (your mouse ears much match, or at least coordinate with your outfit).We donned our ears and posed for the group picture.

No doubt, we were meant to be together!

~

The MENU

was exceptional.

There was avocado toast…

charcuterie at its finest

on a dachshund cheese board, of course

a cheese laden salad

and

British scones with clotted cream and assorted preserves.  Prior to today I had never tasted British scones or clotted cream, but I am now a convert.

~

Dessert included an assortment of cookies

including a family favorite…

Raspberry Almond Shortbread.

Then the

pièce de ré·sis·tance

 

a strawberry lime cheesecake trifle…

which looked better than it tasted (I’m allowed to say that because I made it).

As I mentioned previously, I had no idea I would enjoy a tea party as much as I did.  I think it is because I love these people so much.

Picture time was a bit of a circus, but quite entertaining.

Chynna is a trooper, managing babies of every shape and size.

I’m impressed!

Happy Mother’s Day!

~

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Happiness

“…lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” – Franklin Roosevelt

Today, March 10, 2020 is a day to celebrate as it marks three years since I began this creative effort.

Happy

BLOGIVERSARY!

  It seemed like a good idea at the time, although I no idea what I was doing. I supposed if other bloggers can do this, so can I.  My intention was to ease my way into fashion blogging because that’s what I like, so I registered with WordPress and came up with a name for my blog.

Prettyis.me was registered because pretty is dot net and pretty is dot com were already taken.

Also it sounds cute.

The title “Pretty is” came to me from a quote my Mama enjoyed repeating:

“Pretty is as Pretty does”

And apparently she heard it often from her mother, who would have celebrated a birthday today.

My first post was short and sweet and included nothing about women’s fashion.

After beginning my blog, and as the weeks passed, I realized that fashion blogging isn’t as easy as it looks.

Rather than posts about fashion, I found that I was posting more and more about what I do and the people in my life, which is perfectly fine.

That said, on this day in 1925, Bettelou Ellen McCarty was born.

Although my brother-in-law can tell the story much better, I believe little Bettelou started her journey in Buffalo, New York, eventually moving to Muncy, Pennsylvania, and much later to Florida where she met George S. Duckworth.

And she loved him.

And so she would become Bette Duckworth

My Memaa.k.a.

Mema Duck

~

Mema went to be with Jesus on January 14, 2010.This is another sweet face that I look forward to seeing again.

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Connect