I'LL SHOW YOU MINE IF YOU SHOW ME YOURS--CHINA THAT IS!

Ok, I am a little obsessed with china and porcelain. While some have wish lists of purses, shoes and clothing, I am looking for Antique Pots De Creme for 12 or Oyster Plates in white and gold, or Demitasse cups in french blue and this is just my china list...I have a long list of sterling silver items too.

My inventory....when I as married a 15 years ago, I registered for Spode Sheffield with Stafford Flowers salad plates. I purchased Sheffield as my primary set and Wedgewood White for more casual dinners. Since a former president's wife registered for Stafford Flowers when she left office,(Tickled Pink and Green knows who I am talking about) I have never felt the same about this pattern. To spice things up, I have purchased several salad plate options including a Limoges fish set, Lynn Chase Winter Game Birds in Chestnut and Spode Lancaster in Crimson for Christmas. I also also collect Limoges, Paris Porcelain and Bavaria white (my great grandmother's pattern) all in white and gold trim. I strive to find antique Limoges with a Monogram A. I have several Herend pieces too. Love it!

Please let me know your pattern...it says so much about someone and the time period in which they were married.

FUNDRAISING FUN!

Two weeks ago we had is our annual school fundraiser. As always, it is pretty crazy and loud.

As many of may agree, school fundraising is always a challenge. Many of us can relate to selling pizza kits, cookies, gift wrap, etc. Because of our busy schedule, it seems like we are usually purchasing these items that our kids are suppose to sell to neighbors and relatives.

Several years ago, I took the plunge and was PTO Co-President for our public elementary school. Luckily, fundraising is pretty easy here. We have a very generous neighborhood; last year parents donated over $100,000 to put astroturf soccer-field on the playground. Even though parents are generous, they were tired of always being asked for money here and there, so we decided on a new strategy.

We set a goal to consolidate our fundraising activities and have one big fundraiser for the school as well as give parents to write a check. We estimated that we spent $100 per child on enrichment activities so you could write a check and not have to participate in any other fundraising activities for the year. The second was initiative was creating a Bingo Night and Basket Raffle. We raised about $5000 in one fun evening.

For the basket raffle, classrooms pick a theme and families donate items for the themed basket. Raffle tickets are stuffed in buckets in front of each basket and tickets are drawn for each basket between bingo games. A basket raffle make it possible all children to win and is more fun than a silent auction. Families pay $25 to play bingo and there are prize for winners of each bingo game.

This is my friend JL wonderful basket she put together for a Movie Night Basket. She did a beautiful job.

IT GET'S BETTER:

For a University of Michigan Music Society Fundraiser, instead of a silent auction, we are going to have baskets for adults. Our auctioneer suggested that we have a buy-it-now price.

I think we may donate a scotch basket which will include a scotch tasting and 5-6 single malts, plus glasses, etc. The value is suppose to be approximately $500-600. Anyway--this should be a fun evening in the Fall.

I would love to hear any ideas you may have for fundraising. We are always looking for new ways to raise money.

I HEART RUGBY!

Always in search of suitable clothing for my teen, we stumbled across Rugby in Georgetown last April. Traditional clothing with an updated twist. Expensive, yes...but worth it. My daughter purchased an adorable pink & green bathing suit and a pink and blue rugby shirt. For those who live in one of the cities below, you are lucky. For those who live in DC, you can even eat at the Rugby store in Georgetown. The website is limited so all you get is an impression of this line. Hopefully there will be more from this company in the future.

Rugby Stores in USA:

• California Palo Alto • 369 Stanford Shopping Center • 650.566.1053Mon-Fri 10-9, Sat 10-7, Sun 11-6 San Francisco • 2071 Union Street • 415.771.8714Mon-Sat 11-7, Sun 11-6

• Connecticut Greenwich • 195 Greenwich Avenue • 203.861.7053Mon-Sat 10-6, Sun 12-5 New Canaan • 115 Elm Street • 203.966.2035Sun 12-5, Mon-Sat 10-6

• Washington D.C.D.C. • Georgetown • 1065 Wisconsin Avenue • 202.298.5928 Sun 12-6, Mon–Wed 11-7, Thu-Sat

• Illinois Chicago • 1000 West Armitage • 773.525.4627Mon-Sat 11-7, Sun 12-5
• Massachusetts Boston • 342 Newbury Street • 617.247.2801Sun 12-6, Mon-Sat 11-7
• New York New York • 99 University Place • 212.677.1895Sun 12-7, Mon-Sat 11-8
• Texas Dallas • Highland Park Village • 4200 Mockingbird Lane • 214.599.7872Mon-Wed 10-6, Thu 10-7, Fri-Sat 10-6, Sun 12-5
• Washington Seattle • University Village • 4618 26th Avenue NE • 206.526.2626Mon-Sat 9:30–9:00, Sun 11-6

Sorority Girls Today

My daughter's went to visit their cousin for little siblings weekend at Michigan State University. My niece told my daughter B that she dressed like all the sorority girls. Being a sorority girl from the1980's where I wore kelly green pants, kelly green and blue duck boot(see Tickled Pink & Green) , a frog belt and matching headband, and a monogrammed navy blue sweater with turtleneck that had frogs all over it ( I remember this outfit like it was yesterday) and I also thought I looked great! I have a hard time imagining that what my daughter wears (thought it was just Ann Arbor thing) is the attire today. Get ready all you preppy girls for your hearts to break! 1. Ugg boots

2. North Face Jacket (fleece) --one daughter is pink (above) the other is light olive green.

3. Leggings or skinny jeans

4. Headband that does not hold your hair back, it just sits on your head.

Please confirm this Canadian Preppy, Red & White Preppy or Nautical by Nature or others that are in the college scene. Maybe it is just in the north or I guess I am just out-of-it.

I AM STRANGE TOO!

Ego Alienous ("I Strange"in Latin): Tagged by Nautical By Nature

1. Since we are sharing bed making stories, I have a hard time getting into an unmade bed or a bed that does not have white cotton sheets.
2. I like Peeps (sugar coated marshmallow chicks or bunnies).
3. I do not like tomatoes...my husband does not like them either.
4. I kiss my dog on the top of her head at least 5 times a day.
5. I like Michigan in the winter.
6. Where I live, my political affiliation makes be a weirdo! People even steal our political signs off our lawn. Someday, I am going to live-wire the signs to teach these people a lesson.
7. My kids think I am a strange because I was a dance team member at a Big 10 school. They are not impressed at all. According to them, the dance team is not a real sport.
8. I spend hours and hours agonizing over the perfect invitation for my children's birthday parties. I have even had a friend bring back 25 Chinese dresses to deliver as invitations for an Asian theme party.

Thanks for tagging me "Nautical By Nature". Tag to "One Fabulous Mom" and "Red & White Preppy".

Flies in the Buttermilk..Shoo Fly Shoo

cleaver cupcakes

NAME THE PARTY THEME

Here a really cute little cupcake..I love the rolled fondant and yellow and black color combination. In terms of executing "a fly on butter", this is the best! I am struggling with a party theme in which this cupcake would be appropriate. To help me my quest, here is a little contest for you who like a challenge :

Name the Party Theme in which you would serve this cupcake. Prize...pure gratification of being the cleaverest person on my blog. Good luck!

WONDERFUL CRAZY DAY

Well, I just returned home from my second trip to the airport. My husband was heading off to London for a few days so being the loving wife, I decided to drive him to the airport (20 minutes) so I could bring home his Merrells (lots of snow here and yes, what was I thinking). Earlier to day, I went with two girl friends, my daughters, and a set of twin girls (my friends daughters, age 4) to meet our friends new daughters they had just adopted from Guatemala. Their intention was to adopt a daughter, but when they found out their little girl had an older sister, two little girls were heading to America. I loved seen Mr. W's face as he held is new daughters...nothing is better in the world than those first moments of holding your new child. There were about 20 people at the airport greeting the girls with balloons, stuffed animals, signs in Spanish, etc. It was pretty exciting. Our neighborhood is organizing two showers, a month's worth of dinners, etc., etc. They also have two other children from Guatemala plus a large group of friends with children from the same country. What a beautiful thing!

I learned that google has a great calender which allowed us to sign-into an account and self schedule our dinner for our friends. You can see which days are still available. We have new breakfast at our school where families bring in breakfast on Friday mornings and children read the newspaper while having breakfast. I guess this class used the same google calendar to for parent sign-up. I wonder if you can program automatic reminder emails?

Anyway, what a wonderful day.

Perfume For the Rich & Famous

Being a perfume lover, I am always at the fragrance counter and the duty free shop in Amsterdam is paradise. Perfume is so personal and people have their favorite scent and can tell you exactly why and when they selected it. For example, ever since I was given Chanel No. 5 for a high school graduation present, it has been my favorite. My sister wears No. 5 too. My good friend ML wears Chanel Cristalle (given to her as a child) and for her 40th Birthday we even found a Chanel shaped bottle invitation and put the word Cristalle on it. My daughters are interested in the new, more trendy brands..B received LAMB for christmas and C received Grace. Most of our perfume is purchased though duty free because there is nothing else to do in the Amsterdam airport for 8 hours. I also love to collect antique crystal perfume bottles, mostly clear or cut crystal with silver tops. Now there are so many beautiful new bottles on the market that look beautiful on a vanity table.

I was doing a little research for my bookstore (because I wanted to include a perfume that Audrey, Grace, Jackie and Coco wore or that was created for them), I came across this little blog, PERFUME SHRINE which illustrates the scents of famous celebrities and dignitaries. Of course most of these stylish women wore more than one scent and here are their favorites:

Audrey Hepburn: A Life in Pictures

Audrey wore: L'interdit (original vintage, made for her), Joy, Chamade, Femme Rochas, Spring Flower Creed (made for her) Le De Givenchy, Aqua di Parma original Colonia, Ivoire Balmain.

Pink Preppy Party Girl Pick:

(made for her by Givenchy)

Givenchy L'Interdit

The Grace Kelly Years: Princess of Monaco

Grace Kelly Wore: Fleurissimo (commissioned for her by Rainer for their wedding day), Joy, Mrs. Lauder said she gifted her with Private Collection before launching it publicaly because she admired it so much on her, Estee

Pink Preppy Party Girl Pick:

Fleurissimo by Creed For Women Millesime Eau De Parfum Spray 2.5 oz

Chanel and Her World

Coco Chanel Wore: Chanel No. 19

Pink Preppy Party Girl Pick:

Chanel Coco By Chanel For Women, Eau De Parfum Spray, 1.7-Ounce Bottle

Jacqueline Kennedy : The White House Years: Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum

Jackie Wore: Fleurissimo, 1000 Patou, #5 Chanel, Jill Sanders #4, RI, Bal A, Versailles, Jicky

Pink Preppy Party Girl Pick:

Bal a Versailles by Jean Desprez for Women 0.25 oz Parfum Classic

CHEERS TO FRIENDS!

Photo: la crafiteira

Well, one thing I must say, where I live, there are a lot of really great women.... kind, compassionate, hardworking, loving, great moms, great leaders, charitable, and smart.... women. When someone gets sick, there is a month of dinners ready to go. If you need help on a school activity, there you have it, ten helpers. It is nice to be in a place where there are so many people to love your family and your children.

I am fortunate to have some wonderful friends that I have known for many years. Several live far away and I miss them...especially those who I know read my blog...JP and KL (which this picture is of us from KKG). This year, I have become friends with some really other wonderful women: CJ, JL and RM...thank you for your friendship!

I even had some great advice from a fellow blogger who doesn't know me and spent time discussing an issue with me.....what a wonderful person. Sometimes objective advice is just what you need to understand life.

In summary, I believe character and integrity in a person are very important. Many of these qualities are best displayed through a person's ability to be a good friend.

"My friends are my estate."- Emily Dickinson

PS. I love my family too!