We will not forget,

When I think of my boys and their friends, how much fun they've had, the memories they've made together...

It makes me realize that the men pictured here were once boys and that their friends may have perished in war. That all their happy boyhood memories might be tarnished by their memories of the time they served our country.
I wonder what they witnessed as young men. I'm sure they feel lucky to be alive, but I also wonder what comes with that.
Do they feel guilty that their friends died in battle and they didn't?  Do they wonder how different their life may have been had they not been soldiers?  Do they wonder if it was worth it, does anyone even care or remember?

We do! Thank you so much to all that have served, to those who sacrificed their lives and to those who sacrificed their time, energy, and boyhood.
We will NOT forget and will always honor you.

New Scout bag designs! www.preppyplayer.com!

I know I have shown you these before, but I thought I would remind you....
Now that Summer is officially here.
www.preppyplayer.com

Do you want to smile? my Saturday night gift to you!

Baby With Cochlear Implant Hears Mom for the First Time

Summer=Baseball=watching my boys...

Still watching this kid,

"The Westchester Rockland Wood Bat League (WRWBL) is an 18 and over all-wood bat baseball league serving the New York metropolitan area with teams from Westchester, Rockland, Manhattan and Fairfield County, Connecticut. The league's mission is to provide a safe, centrally organized and highly competitive environment for current collegiate baseball players, as well as recent graduates and former professional ballplayers. Currently the league operates 15 teams with approximately 375 players competing each season. Nearly all are active or competed in an NCAA Division I, II or III baseball program. In addition, a growing population of former minor league players including those who competed on Major League Baseball affiliated farm teams, as well as various independent league teams are now finding homes on our rosters."

 And this kid too, of course!

                 

My Friday gift to you- PS22Choir

Happy Birthday Dad/Pop Pop!

Dear Dad,

From baby,

to little boy,

From little boy,

to young husband,

to father of all these girls

to beloved Grandfather of fifteen...

You have been much loved and appreciated. All those years your head hit the pillow each night knowing that you were loved.  What a lucky man, rich in love :)
You must have done a lot to deserve that!
I wish you many, many more years filled with love and good health.
Your favorite daughter,
Patty
ps- it's my blog so I get to be the fav here!

lacrosse pinnies- the hot brand?

The hottest brand of lacrosse pinnies?
Jimmie's pinnies!

What will you want to wear over your sports bra or bathing suit?
Jimmie's pinnies!

What will your guy want to wear with board shorts or cargo shorts?
Jimmie's pinnies!

They are the insider, behind the scenes, must have pinnie.
Stay tuned for a peek and for news of when they become available!

Bungalow Scout Bags-Four Boys Bag!

Bungalow Scout Bags
The Four Boys Bag!


This IS the bag of Summer.
As I always say, "perfect for Beach, Boat, and Barn.
And let's not forget college girls!
I sell them. Contact me for price and shipping :)

Behind the scenes at the Saddle River Designer Show House

Saddle River, NJ Designer Show House-

I was a vendor there for three weeks and had a great time...

Would I do it again?

Not sure.

Thoughts-
I now realize that most people who attend these things are- 

gay men, 

women w/friends, 

or women w/reluctant husbands. 

NOT good for me, as gay men and women w/husbands (especially reluctant) do NOT buy from me.

I still would do again as I made some great connections and found a lot of new ideas from house and people I met there.

One great idea? Have a double closet in your front hall that is just a catch-all for stuff? Consider turning it into a wet bar. Take the doors off, mirror the upper portion, install a cabinet below and Voila! 
You have a counter ( sink is unnecessary) to serve drinks off of, taking pressure off main entertainment area. 

There was a great feeling of community among the vendors at Show house boutique.

Although there were awkward moments. Such as, when two vendors came to buy from me and asked/demanded 10% discount. Wouldn't have been a big deal, but I had bought from one of them at the beginning of the week and no discount was offered AND I am not one to ASK for a discount. Pondered bringing that up... and I did. The one vendor was shocked and denied that that could have happened. Really? I have the receipt WITH tax included. 

I would predict more awkwardness if I bring that in. So, I won't.

The designers were awesome and available to anyone on the tour...most days.

Brad Boles, Jill Zarin's designer/gay husband ( She often jokes on the show, Real Housewives of New York City, that Brad is her gay husband,) designed a jewel box of a powder room off the kitchen. He is truly talented, although VERY flamboyant and full of himself. Let's just say, he needs A LOT of attention. I had three weeks to observe and although he wasn't there everyday like most of the other designers, we knew when he was!

The two women who ran the showcase, Judy and Kathy, were amazing. They kept their cool under some tense situations. Such as the morning the famous author showed up at 10am to give a lecture and do a book signing. She wasn't supposed to be there until 1pm and Judy had to be the one to deal with the author, her publicist, and assistant. Thanks to Judy, the author was pacified and all was well.

 Kathy kept the vendors happy, although even she couldn't create customers out of thin air. That was the main problem, there just wasn't a good showing of customers for the tour OR us.

Maybe next year?

Nice address, Old Salem Farm

Yes, this was my home last week,
not bad.
I shared it with Annie and Emily of Combined Closets. We were great roommates. They sold Lily, Milly, and other high end/preppy clothing. I provided the jewelry and accessories with a huge dose of Scout bags and a dab of home accessories.

I chose "beach house" as my theme. I brought beach cover-ups, flip flop buckets, travel jewelry, and tons of beach totes all in BRIGHT colors.
A truly happy looking booth!
N'est-ce pas?

As for the other vendors/traveling gypsies...

Let me see, we have the folks from Der-Dau, Pucci Manuli, and Herringbone Interiors
playing blackjack in the sponser's tent. Not a shabby group!

And here's my friend from the last 3 horse shows. She is hysterical. her boss, Charlie Ancona plays techno/house music in their tent and she is all about hip hop. She survived.

Anyway, that might be it for me. I've been invited to one other show in Ct. next month but it might be too pricey for me to vend at- plus Lacrosse starts in June!

Dubarry Galway boots, the next HOT (expensive) boot!

So, at first I thought that these boots were ugly. My booth was next to this poor fellow, Stephen, for the first week of the Horse Show. Most of the day he stood in a tub of water to show that the boots were waterproof. he explained to me that they weren't just for barn and country life. That they were great apres de ski boots, winter boots, rainy day boots, or boots to wear to your kids games. ( think muddy, wet fields.)

He was a very good salesman. As the week went on they started to look good to me. So many people at the show had them or were buying them. Including him:

 Here is what they are about :

"The original Dubarry knee length waterproof breathable leather wellington boot

Constructed with water resistant crushed leathers and lined with GORE-TEX.

This Dubarry leather absorbes 60% less moisture and requires 70% less time to dry than other types of leather, ensuring that your Dubarry boots will always stay soft and comfortable.

The secret of Dubarry boots is the GORE-TEX inner lining. GORE-TEX makes the boots 100% waterproof but wicks away perspiration keeping your feet dry.

The Galway boot is also surprisingly light in weight - much lighter than a rubber boot, and most other leather boots of a similar height and build."

And here are my choices:

or

Thoughts?

TOMS, Spring/Summer Shoe choice

I had read about TOMS
and
I had seen my niece out in Utah wearing them. Then My niece in Germany wearing them.
I thought they were cute, but not sure how comfortable they were.
I bought some for my daughter for Easter.
But, I still wasn't sold on a pair for me.
Until the Horse Show.
I saw a ton of moms wearing them with jeans and tanks or tunics
and
they looked great. Kind of a modern espadrille.
So here are my choices:

Are they still together? This answers your ?'s!

big Fat Liar.

I really am.
So, here it is.
I have been a vendor at The Old Salem Horse Show for the last two weeks.  A beautiful farm that I hear used to be owned by Paul Newman.

All week I watched the very talented Jessica Springsteen ride and qualify. Although I don't know a lot about the equestrian world it isn't hard to see that Jessica has an amazing seat and that she is quite talented. It doesn't hurt that her horse is probably the best that money can buy...

By all accounts on the horse show circuit, she and her famous parents are very well liked. She is a highly respected equestrian that may qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

OK, so I knew that her Dad comes to most of her "big" stuff and I expected to catch a glimpse of "the boss."

But, I became so busy that I kinda forgot about any sightings. I was working with a customer when I noticed that everyone outside by booth was turning and staring as someone walked by and I realized that it was BRUCE! He was walking how celebrities do- fast and not making eye contact. Everyone noticed him and they all left him alone. Very cool. I figured he was on his way to the warm-up ring to see his daughter.
But no, he was checking out the shopping!  All of sudden, mid sentence with my customer I noticed that he was in my booth! He picked up a hat and looked at some leather bracelets and then...
He moved on.
Normally, if anyone comes in my booth and touches anything I engage them in conversation. BUT, I didn't want to be rude to my customer  AND I didn't want to be "uncool" and bother "the boss."

I may see him again this weekend. I am determined to sell him something because...
I am not so cool :)

I've left you hanging!

I know! I know!
BAD BLOGGER!
I swear tonight I will fill you in on my Jill Zarin's gay husband/Brad experience and BRUUUUCCCE!
Stay tuned.

Where have I been?

Yes, I have been busy.
But aren't we all?
My busy-ness/ business included selling at:
 Old Salem Horse Show ( not good, )
 a lax tournament in South jersey ( VERY good, )
 and a designer show house in Saddle River New Jersey for the last three weeks ( sometimes good/sometimes bad.)

As usual, the success of my endeavors can't be measured by the dollars earned,
It's the intangibles...
Like, how many new people I met, connections I've made, info about future gigs, and things I've seen.

I will post tomorrow about some funny details of last three weeks.
Here are two hints-
Jill Zarin's gay husband
Springsteen

everything old is new again...

I believe this painting was about 400 years old. All that's missing is a pedicure!

Why reinvent the wheel!

 And a daughter rolling her eyes at her mother?

Never grows old. Unless you're the mother.

louvre lullaby

Yes, the Louvre.
In 3 hours.
That's all we had!
So we did a speed tour.
The main focus was finding the Mona Lisa.
But we were tired, so we sat whenever we saw an empty bench.

And I mean whenever we saw an empty bench!

Did I mention we were tired?

But patient. We knew the Mona Lisa was near by...

SCORE!!!

Lacrosse gift time!

Lacrosse gifts for your lacrosse coach or how about the senior lacrosse players?
my web site, www.preppyplayer.com has gifts, gift wrap, and cards perfect for coaches or players.

Because I sell at all the major girl's tournaments I feel as though I have a hand on the pulse of what most players, coaches or fans of lacrosse like.
Check out my site!

Tales from Europe...

I know I have been missing in action.
Working at a designer show house in Saddle River, NJ AND a horse show out in Sussex, all good.
In fact, I actually have tons to write about and am very backed up.

So I thought I would spend the week telling little tales of our European adventures. As you know we were stranded in Europe for six extra days. luckily we were at my sister's house.
However, my son ended up missing an entire week of school.
But not quite.
that's because he went to school in Germany- for a day.
He loved it.
Here is the pictorial

Eating breakfast the morning of his first day of school. He was a bit nervous. It may have been because i kept asking him how much German he knew...

Lucky for him he had his cousin/German sister to show him around school and introduce him to all the kids/um alle Kinder

They rode their bikes to school, a new experience for him. His cousin uses mass transit to get everywhere.

They looked so cute AND European!

 He enjoyed his day at school ending with a visit with The Bremen Town Musicians. I think this experience had many levels of learning.
1. he was able to see how it felt to be "the new kid," something he has never experienced.
2. A volcano teaches us who really is in charge.
3.He learned to make the best of a difficult situation.
4. And most of all, he learned that kids are similar where ever you go. He noticed the same teen drama that occurs at his school :)

Pure talent

My daughter has wonderful friends. They all have talents and characteristics that make them special. However there is one girl who really impresses me and has since she was very young. The young lady in the middle of this photo, standing with my girl and another friend, has been an artist all her (not so long) life!  I love that a sixteen year-old can paint a self portrait so fearlessly and honestly with out a hint of ego. 

Isn't her self portrait amazing?

S