feelin' lucky

Sometimes things just fall into place and it's like instant stress relief.  After closing on the new bay house 2 weeks ago and closing on the sale of the surf city house today, we could never have planned the timing better and it's an emotional 'happy sad happy sad' thing.  It was so hard to leave the 'old' house, no matter how good the new one is, because the memories are irreplaceable.  Watching my beach babies grow up there, getting entrenched in 'the block' with all the special people on it, and knowing all the sweat and effort Tom put into it to make it our little 'zen place' just made it soooo hard to say goodbye.  When we had our family moving day with the kids all helping, we were each a little emotional in our own private way, Tommy and Juli especially, Jonathan surprisingly not so much, though he tends to be more emotional when it comes to people vs places or things.  Then on my last trip down there,  I left a card and some little surprises for the new owners, and I just cried my eyes out trying to convey in writing how much good karma the house has in it. (tearing up again as I type this).  But on we go to the next chapter in our incredible new haven.  Hard to believe that we will enjoy the sunset EVERY EVENING right out our bay windows or strolling out on our deck or sitting in the sand on our little private bay beach.  How did I get so lucky????  Then this past weekend we celebrated my mom's 75th birthday which was such a happy day for her with just our immediate family together for brunch.  She didn't want a surprise party, which I can totally relate to, but last weekend we blew her mind with a little 'guest room make-over' while she was away on vacation.  She came home and was  shocked to find a new queen size bed, complete with bedding, side tables, lamps, a wall hanging and a special dressmakers mannequin in the room and on the day of her party, we presented her with some of her old dress sketches which we had matted and framed to complete the room.  Even the 'blue monster' (aka ugly unwelcome computer cabinet) that needed to find its graceful exit is leaving the zone this week so the room will be lovely at last.  And as if that is not enough, even work has brought me joy today.  Though it started off rocky as I dropped my phone in the toilet before heading out, I dove in after it and the i5 is truly a prize and worked like a charm after the little dip in the pee.  Sigh of relief and off I went (after washing my hands, and yes, gave the phone a quick rinse too!) to shoot in Fort Lauderdale with pretty young models for a temporary tattoo commercial and I marveled at how much they ate for lunch - big sandwiches, mac and cheese and giant chocolate chip cookies, and then later, cold pizza, potato chips and chocolate!.. while prancing around all day in itsy bitsy teeny weeny bikinis showing off the tattoos all over their perfect little bodies.  That might sound depressing to some, but I truly enjoyed their youth, beauty and spunky personalities without resentment.  One of the models had the most unfiltered responses to everything all day which was so funny but is hard to recap - you had to be there.  Midday I enjoyed a wild ride in crazy eddies batmobile which was right up my alley being a coaster fanatic - I had a momentary feeling of being on Kingda Ka but then realized I was on a local florida road.  oh my.  enough said.  Following the mostly enjoyable shoot, I enjoyed a long run along the beach path at dusk as I watched the full moon appear over the beach... came back to the rock star W Hotel to check out the other elements of it that I hadn't yet seen (pool, gym, restaurants, etc) and enjoyed dinner in my room with my beach view (awesome) and I'm looking forward to waking up to see the sun rise over the beach from my balcony - yes, I promise I'm gonna get up for it - and then spend a few hours poolside before heading to the airport.  I'm hoping for a clear day, but if not, oh well.  It doesn't really get this good with so many happy things in a row too often, so I will consider it my lucky few days and not miss appreciating it with or without the good weather tomorrow.  The sun has pretty much been shining spiritually, so that is good fortune enough for me.  Photos of it all below....

Goodbye Surf City :(

Hello Harvey Cedars!  :)

Backyard paradise

New neighbors

Killer sunset

Happy family

Surprise guest room decor

Seamstress's corner

Tattoos and bikinis

Krazy Kayla

Yes, they do eat.... A LOT!

Batmobile

W Hotel room

There's an alligator on my bed!

View from my room

Breathtaking balcony

durbo nyc

Today is the official 1st anniversary of muthership, so it's fitting that I take the time to write about the big celebration bash, which was the next phase of the durbo party - taking it to manhattan and adding DJ Sharri, bartender Kelly, coat check Georgette, security guards Bob and Steve, catering organized by Debbie from Between the Bread, food server Katie and muthership-hand-stamp delivered by Zaineb upon arrival to get into "the club".  With different guests than all my previous parties, this was a first time for almost everyone and I don't know if they were ready for what unfolded.  It started off nicely with some socializing, cocktails and appetizers, and then the disco ball lit the loft, the music kicked up and there was no looking back.  We danced.  We durbo'd.  We brought down the muthership.  Thanks to all the awesome dancers that totally embraced it and made it great!  Check out photos below and yes, I danced all night in those crazy shoes...