Sorry... about being away... :(

I am such a terrible blogger. I think of all these great things that would make interesting blog posts and then I never find the time to actually post them. Sad, huh? So, here I am again when I have been away for quite a while. So much has happened or not happened depending on how you look at things.

Work is well, work. If it was not work then we would call it something else. It’s not bad at all to be honest and getting better every day.

The Diva is well THE DIVA, she will never change. And, secretly that makes me happy. She may have her wild antics but I love her just the way she is.

Kevin is still Kevin. He still tells me I spend too much money on shoes and too long in the bathroom getting ready. Although he loves me just the way I am, so that counts for something.

Independence Day came and went. We had all these grand plans to play at the beach and watch fireworks. Well, Mother Nature is a (b)itch and she had other plans. About 20 inches of rain, so no beach for this royal family.

And now it’s the end of July and we are gearing up for August and back to school. Sunday we made our pilgrimage to Target and gave them their payment for school supplies. For the record school supplies are ridiculously expensive and they do not make half the stuff on the list in the quantities required. So either you buy way more than you need or you don’t buy enough.

I am still reeling with the fact that the Diva is starting her second year of Middle School. I can’t possibly be old enough to have a middle schooler. Seriously, not too long ago myself I was hanging out at Walton Middle School, trying to decide what boys were cute and whether I should tight roll my jeans. I am blocking out the big hair and the balloon suits with sam and libby flat bow shoes…  Terrible fashion of the early 90’s. Terrible.
I leave on Sunday for a conference in Tampa, so I am sure I will have a few new things to report. Until then… kiss kiss, hug hug. XOXOXOXO


Oh! I also cut all my hair off... in wild fit. Whatev- it's hair it grows back.

Shorter hair.

Digital Graffiti

Well it seems like the weekend just flew by. They (whoever they are …) always say “Time flies when you are having fun.” And, that it did.

Friday night was reserved for family. The Diva demanded we have pizza for dinner and I certainly was not going to argue with her. No cooking for me… umm WIN! However, I have discovered Angry Orchard Beer and much to the demise of my diet, I adore it. I mean, it’s basically adult apple juice. Apple juice, my friend is so good; apple juice containing alcohol even better. It does have a downside, though. In no time flat you have drank six. So not good for the waist line or the fact that I am so a light-weight, when it comes to drinking. If you see it and you are not the biggest beer fan, you should try it. I like the blue and the green. And, if you buy it and don’t care for it, it makes a great marinade for cooking a pork roast in the crock pot.

As I said in an earlier post, Saturday was Digital Graffiti time and we all know a good time is to be had while there.

Off and running the Diva was excited to stay for the 1st time with Uncle Ricky and Aunt Wendy. They are building a house and living in a small camper, so she said she was camping with all the necessities of MeMe’s house next door. But since Baby C was staying there as well she knew she would have a good time. I really wanted to have straight hair but the humidity level outside was “worse than hell” and torturing my hair into submission was not high on my list of things to do, so natural waves it was.

Kevin who stayed on my ass… I mean reminded me that we were to meet Jason (a total cutie who happens to be my cousin and a successful attorney… YO) at 4pm, managed to get me out of the house on time. Yes, this is one of the things I struggle with. Grabbing him, our next stop was Seaside, where we grabbed Baby C’s parents AKA Ches and Makenzie. It’s their 2 year anniversary and they wanted to have some dinner somewhere… We chose The Roof at 723 Whiskey Bravo. Dinner was so good. I ate entirely too much.

The View from The Roof at 723 Whiskey Bravo

Our seats, sweet!

Kevin's Dinner

My dinner

Finally making our way to Alys Beach, it was red carpet time. What Princess does not adore walking the red carpet?

Looking Good Carley!!

2 redheaded Kelli's ... scary huh. Yes we are both Princess'

Ches, Mak, Jason, Kelli, Kevin

Then off to the show. As usual it was fun. I love seeing all the different art shows on the white walls.

Red Palm Trees are all the rage, ya know. 

Then we got into the act... Shantelle Martin had an interactive display that was astonishing! Here we are being part of the art.

The boys watching us being silly! 

Stanley, Jason, Ches, Kevin

Finally we make our way to the pool and the VIP lounge. Cause every Princess belongs in VIP. 

Caliza Pool

Caliza Pool

Caliza Pool

And no party would be complete without a trip to the Facetime Photobooth... Although Kevin was a little concerned that I may party entirely to much when the Photobooth guy knows you by name. Yes, he does know me and yes he said "Hey Kelli, how's it going it's been a week since I saw you." What! This Princess is FAMOUS. LOL

The Princess and the Handsome Attorney

The Princess and her Prince

The best 2 dates any girl could have.

Hotties

That's Cricket with the beer... Yes I said Cricket!

The gangs all here. 

All in all it was a pretty amazing night! Good friends, cold drinks, amazing art and fun times. XOXOXOXO

Just another week...

It's Wednesday and I have some doctors appointments and other assorted errands to take care of for me and the family so I took a day off from the office. It's early morning and I am still enjoying my coffee waiting for The Diva to wake up and Kevin to show back up. He is either having his oil changed or riding his BOTE board. He will be home before it's time to leave I am sure.

You may remember this post from last year: Rain & Digital Graffiti, well believe it or not it's time for that again. Wild huh? I really do love this event. It's so completely different and interesting and Alys Beach is perfect for it. So that is what I will be up to this weekend.

Isn't the entrance beautiful? 

As for the past week and weekend, more of the same. Beach of course, but then we realized The Diva desperately needed a new suit. The 2 she said she liked and we ordered them, they arrived and her words were "I hate them now." So back to Lands End they go and the torture began. After quite a few stores (Target, Dillards, Justice, Old Navy) we found something she liked at none other than Jc Penney. I knew it was meant to be when I saw the pink peace sign on it.

See that little peace sign! 

Of course I can't talk about last week with out mentioning Girls Night Out! Umm a-mazing! As always. The wonderful and talented ladies of Proffitt PR Whitney and Jessica!

Some of my favs! :) 

Absolute Silliness

kissy face

All in all a great week. Now off to Digital Graffiti tomorrow night. Update to come soon. :) Excited to not have rain in the forecast this year. :) FUN!  XOXOXOXO

Holiday weekend

What an amazing holiday weekend. It started off with Friday being the Diva's last day of school. Excited does not even begin to cover her emotions. She tried everything she could to get me to pick her up early. In the end I made her stay at school all day. She was not pleased but hey, she had already missed 11 days this semester. The last thing we needed was the school to point that out... again. Yes, yes, yes, I know. She should go to school more. BUT everyone needs a day or two off. And who would have thought she would get so sick after missing a week for a vacation at Disney. We may have to actually go during Spring Break this year. THE Horror!

Anyway back to the weekend. Saturday and Sunday of course we spent it all the beach. The gulf was so beautiful on Saturday it did not look real. Here are a few photos...

My view from my chair

Ali playing in the surf, Kevin on his paddle board

Just beautiful... Ali in the tube

Sunday was more fun on the water, only we parked at the lake because some family was joining us and they have a small baby. Much easier to watch the baby in the lake than in the Gulf. It was yet another beautiful day and Ali was so excited to have her baby cousin Campbell join us. Here are a few photos from Sunday. 

we had a few toys...

COUSIN LOVE... SMOOCH

Play with me Ali!

Funny story... the guy next to us rents stand up paddle boards. So... a group that liked Bud Lite maybe too much decided to try their hand at paddle boarding. "It can't be that hard," said the guy who drank 2 beers while waiting to get his board. After he fell off for the 5th time in about 5 minutes and still had not managed to stand up, Ali decided she would show his how it was done. 

My girl on her board!

After about 15 minutes he gave up. He told her, that yes she was the master and he would go home to Alabama... her reply... "I knew you were a Bama fan" and shook her head! (We all know how she feels about that) then she could not resist smiling at him and saying "War Eagle!" Love my girl. 

My sweet little BFF

Monday morning, I woke up to a little cutie in my bed and we watched My Fair Lady. She loved it. But then my girl is a big fan of Musicals. I was also amazed that she recognized Rex Harrison. A few months back we watched Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor. (She loves all things Egyptian) And, she asked if he was the same guy that played Caesar. Smart girl, my Ali. Anyway Monday was a great day and I hope each of you had a great day. 

Memorial Day is more than the beach and barbecues, it's remembering the sacrifice men and women make every day so that we can have beach a barbecue. It's also their families that need a prayer as well, they also sacrifice much for me and you. Happy Memorial Day and thank you, United States Armed Forces. 

Weekend update

Monday has appeared and even though I am not the biggest fan of the day, it does mean a new week. And a new week means a weekend will be here before we know it. I love weekends, it’s a time to recharge and spend quality time with those that mean the most to me.

Friday night, was a good night. We spent the evening just the 3 of us doing errands but it was a fun time.

Saturday we kicked it around the house until it was time for Walton’s graduation. Shyann is my first cousin. Her dad is my mom's youngest brother. However he is only 6 years older than I am and we are more like siblings than uncle and niece. I love her so much! She has grown into a beautiful young woman and I am proud of her. Here are a few pictures from graduation.

The Graduate!

The Graduate and The Diva

Ali, Kelli, Shyann, Jordyn

The Graduate and her Dad

Uncle P-nut (Yes, it's his name), Kelli and Ali

 Now my cousin Peggy's son Brent graduated as well. We are 2nd cousins but due to the age difference he call's me Aunt Kelli and Ali calls her Aunt Peggy. And Ali and Brent just say we are cousins. He is an avid soccer player and Ali looks up to him. He plans to go in to the military and well I just love that boy too.

Ali and Brent

The Princess and the Graduate

The 3 of us

And I had to add these last two because they are funny! 

Look how small she looks compared to those 2.

Uncle Pnut being a master photo bomber!