Suburban Adventure: To Those I Cherish The Most- My Friends

Suburban Adventure: To Those I Cherish The Most- My Friends: " Friendship is not something that is learned in school, and if you have not learned it- You have learned Nothing At All. " ...

Best Friends Forever- Dear Paola

Sharing youth, Sharing dreams, Sharing fears, Sharing secrets, Sharing laughter, Sharing tears, Sharing triumphs, Growing closer over the years. A friendship that will never die. This is how I feel about Paola.

I spent the day yesterday with my best friend Paola and her family.  I love all of them and have known them for most of my life. The connection that I have with this beautiful family is extraordinary and Im reminded of that every year at their annual birthday party for their daughters, Hannah and Emma.  The Garelick family have the most amazing party every year to celebrate their daughters. It is not simply a birthday party but something much more symbolic to me.

Im sure many of my local readers have had the pleasure of visiting their gourmet stores named appropriately Garelick and Herbs.  They have locations in Westport, Greenwich and New Canaan. The food is exquisitely prepared and their staff is courteous and extremely knowledgeable.  They also have a very cosmopolitan club called Mora Mora which is located in South Norwalk.  Everything that Paola and Jason touch is done with elegance, detail, sophistication and perfection. The party at their house yesterday was magnificent with a variety of gourmet food to delight everyone. My children were enamored with the ice cream sundae bar that was complete with an unlimited supply of delicious treats. It was pure culinary heaven.

Friends and Fun !

My summer truly has been about friendship and simplicity. I have been in such a relaxed mood that there are days where I don't even bother straightening my hair. For those who know me, this is a big deal. I usually blow dry and flat iron and put a little Morrocan Oil in and Im good to go. Lately I have been going au natural and Giavanna is digging my curly wild hair. Im assuming this is because she despises the brushing process, and she is starting to look like Bob Marley's daughter. I printed out a photo of Bob to show her what her hair is going to look like by the start of school and she laughed.

My next move will be to print it out and tape it to her mirror. I too disliked getting my hair brushed as a little girl so I get where she is coming from. My Mom gets a kick out of the similarity- after she reprimands me for not brushing every tangle out of her hair. Perfectionism runs in my family and my Mother is patient enough to apply that to every area of life. Patience is not my strong suit except if Im waiting for my Vineyard Vines Pocketbook to get marked down. Anyhow...

Divorced Women Only

I have not written in two days and I truly miss it. People always told me that if you love what you do, it doesn't feel like work. I have finally arrived at that place in life. I never thought it would happen so Im thrilled.

Last week was incredibly busy and filled with difficulty as well as fun. The night after Joe's wake I was invited to my friend's birthday party. When I got home from the wake, the last thing on my mind was going to a party. I was emotionally spent and physically exhausted. I sat down for thirty minutes and then forced myself to change out of my dress and into jeans. I was going to a party- even if I didn't feel like. I promised my friend I would be there and Im a girl of my word.

I Don't Do Casual

Last night was a very special night. We were celebrating the birthday of a great friend and it was so much fun. I smiled upon arrival at Osiannna and noticed that we all had gold pocketbooks. All three of us had fancy, beautiful gold pocketbooks. My two friends had very similar Tory Burch bags while mine was purchased in an Italian shop in Downtown Westport. We were all fancy- from head to toe- we are fancy girls. It's fun being a fancy girl- not that I know what it's like to be plain but I have a feeling- this is more fun. Shoes, fur coats, clothes, makeup, Louis Vuitton, nice cars- bring it all on.

We have all had to cut back but we still appreciate the joy that these simple things can bring us. A little glitter in your body lotion goes a long way...

People always think Im all dressed up- this dates back to grammar school days. When I attended Northeastern, I scheduled all of my classes for the morning. My 8:00 am class was filled with guys who just woke up, threw a cap on and scrambled to class, many of the girls arrived in the same fashion. Not me, I showered, did my hair and makeup and put on a nice outfit- every day.

Of course my sense of style and enjoyment of nice clothing lead me to seek out the wealthy foreigners who only dressed in Armani. My college boyfriend owned a Benetton store off of Newbury Street and I worked at Bloomingdales so fashion and style were always important.

This runs in my family, My father always dressed well as did my Mom and my Grandparents as well as my Great Grandparents.
I remember wondering why my Mother had to apply Revlon- Love That Red lipstick- every morning before she drove us to the bus-stop. She always looked great even at 7:00 am. She always wore heels and beautiful clothing. As a little girl- I didn't get and remember telling my Mom that I hated lipstick and would NEVER wear it. Clearly that reversed itself very quickly.

I don't do casual- it's just not my style. My friends laugh as they know that my idea of casual is different than most. Let's just say if we are going to a Yankees game- I will wear jeans but I will be wearing heels, a funky belt and I could easily go to a nice restaurant afterwards. Im all about preparedness.

I like sexy clothes as well- I want to look like a woman. The L.L. Bean look is not for me. Another reason why Im a city girl- I don't stand out in Manhattan or Boston or any other city. I can also pull off my look in Westport but Easton is slightly more conservative. It makes no difference to me as Im very confident in myself and tend not to be affected by those around me. Also, no one is fazed by me anymore- it's not like I dress like Lady Gaga. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder and so is style.

One of my friends from Lauralton Hall describes her wardrobe as fancy and homeless. Most of her clothes are glamorous but she wears her homeless clothes for lawn work and house putzing. I don't have homeless clothes thus the gardening in my sparkly flipflops.

So this fourth of July please forgive me if Im overdressed- you say Fireworks at the beach and I say- Can I wear my high heel flipflops and rhinestone tunic? Bring on the fireworks- Im ready to light up the sky. xo Happy Fourth.

The Glamorous Life

I thought summer was supposed to be relaxing, no schedule- wasn't that me who just quoting a favorite song of mine "summertime and the living is easy"... was that me or some other crazy Easton mother who thought there would be no schedule.

We are on Day 7 of summer break and I need to check into a Spa and Im not the Spa type. Don't get me wrong, I love a massage and a beauty treatment here and there but I could never ever check into a Spa for relaxation purpose. If I have time to myself, I want action and I could never be in a relaxed state for longer than two hours. In fact, by the time an hour massage is up- I can't wait to get up and go as I feel like Im wasting time and I have a million things to do.

The past few days have been ridiculously busy and have been jam-packed with kids and friends which is wonderful. I have emphasized to both Christopher and Giavanna the importance of cultivating friendships on a one to one basis. I also love seeing the friendships blossom as it is extremely endearing and I know that these connections will be life-long.

Yesterday I actually had a total of five children with me most of the day. I took them to my mom's pool and we all had a great time. We ordered pizza and had ice cream- the kids worked on their tans as they chatted about crushes and i-phones. I love all of my children's friends and feel blessed that they have chosen to surround themselves with bright, happy and kind-hearted people.

All five of them took great delight in watching me tend to the pool and then squealed with laughter as they watched me clean out the gutters. This is not glamorous by any means. I have to stick my entire arm into the gutter and pull out the strainer and there are two strainers- one on each side of the pool. Sounds easy however it is filled with bugs, frogs and anything else that may have been poisoned by chlorine.

Yesterday the daily feature was a large hairless mouse that had been soaking in the water for days. Most of his hair was off and floating around him and he was indeed covered in bugs as a toad jumped on his back. Ewwwwwww I said as I jumped back in my new colorful wedges with cork heel...
In my head, the song Glamorous Life by Sheila E. is spinning around and I can't help but laugh. The lyrics are as follows and I had been singing to myself all day. It's catchy and the words are so funny and it's so 1985. Love that Sheila E....

"She wears a long fur coat of mink even in the summer time. Everyone knows from the coy little wink, the girls got alot on her mind. She's got big thoughts, big dreams and a big brown Mercedes Sedan. What I think this girl, she really wants is to be in love with a man.

She wants to lead the Glamorous life, she don't need a man's touch, she wants to lead the glamorous life without love, it ain't much. She saw him standing in the section marked if you have to ask you can't afford it lingerie. She threw him bread and said make me scream. In the dark what could he say.

Boys with small talk and small minds really don't impress me in bed, She said I need a man's man baby, Diamonds and Furs- love would only conquer my head.
She thought real love was real scary, money only pays the rent. Love is forever that's all your life- Love is heaven sent, it's glamorous.

Needless to say I was completely grossed out as I prepared a faux pair of gloves out of garbage bags. I hastily stuck my hand in and picked up the mouse but he slipped through my hands and I dropped him and screamed. The kids roared with laughter as I ran away from the gutter screaming. I regained my momentum and with great determination I picked up the mouse and the frog and all the bugs and disposed of them. If anyone ever ever calls me jappy they better be prepared to tussle.

Again, I am often judged by my cover- no one would ever imagine me doing half the things that I tend to and the annoying/humorous aspect of this is they often don't believe me when I tell them. I guess if you like to look nice - your'e not supposed to get your hands dirty. I get my hands dirty, I just don't look like I do....

I thought that all of my ruined sundresses sprinked with chlorine spots were bad and now I have to deal with rotting mice. Very unappealing yet a girl do what she gots to do.... Mission was accomplished very quickly and the hysterics ended. I retreated to my loungechair with my Nancy Friday book- The Power of Beauty- and was happy to wrap up that pool session. Oh and brother Anthony, if you ever tell me I don't pay enough attention to Moms's pool- I will send you a wet mouse in the mail..Just kidding- maybe...

So am I leading the Glamorous life- sometimes yes and sometimes no... the important thing is that I find humor and enjoyment in the chores of life. I truly am delighted spending time with my children, laughing with them and their friends and know that all of these silly adventures will be the imprinted memories of my children's summer. Laughter, friendships, sunshine, no schedule and a little Sheila E.. What's better than that. xo
"She wants to lead the Glamorous life"....