here we come.

just booked my tickets to the beach! can't wait to see my sis charlotte and her awesome BF john! click here to see a video of kelle hampton's adorable girlies on the beach where the boy and i will be frolicking come june.

look out gopher tortoises, here we come!
xoxo

summer vacation!

we've scheduled vacation!

that's right. we're going back to the lovely land of gopher tortoises and sunshine – naples, fla.

i can hardly wait!

check out my 2010 trip (aka "sister-palooza") here:
part 1
part 2
part 3a
part 3b
part 4
and our 2011 trip here:
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4

random lovely images for friday.

rupe and twinnie. so cute.

what a treat it was that my fantastic brother-in-law rupert brought along his most amazing camera to our family vacation. he is such a dear.

and isn't beautiful photography a gift?

rupe, you're the bomb.

if you missed reading about our fantastic trip to central illinois and south florida, you can see photos here and here and here and here and here.

in the meantime, here are a few more photos from that trip that never made it to my blog. happy friday, my lovelies!

pasta night in naples.

lucky for all of us, sis's BF is italian ... and a great chef.

so during our naples trip, we had a homemade pasta night.

it was educational for the kids. and needless to say, delicious.

he made the fresh pasta and a delicious herb ricotta filling ...

... and showed us how to form the perfect tortellini.

then he topped it with off fresh basil pesto, extra virgin olive oil and toasted pine nuts.

and that was just the appetizer.

then he made pappardelle, a wide ribbon-like pasta.

and thin capellini noodles.

molto bravo!

and then there was a putanesca sauce, and something with acorn squash ... i thought i'd died and gone to ... well ... naples.

here's sis, suggesting maybe one more dash of something would make it even better.

overkill, after all, runs in our dna. we can't help ourselves.

notice john's wry smile.

and the secret ingredient?

love, of course.

lots of love.

PS: thanks for indulging my use of the "posterize" feature in photoshop. it's kind of addictive.

we're on a boat, y'all.

one of the highlights of our south fla. trip was riding on sis's bf's boat.

we took an excursion from naples to isles of capri, about a 90 minute ride.

here's captain john. what a sweetie.

along the way we went tubing in the gulf and basically luxuriated in the piercing blue skies, gorgeous waves, cavorting dolphins, and lady gaga tunes (we're on the edge of glory, baby!).

the kids were over the moon about it.

twinnie's hubz rupert was the bravest rafter of the bunch. the boy and i opted to stay portside.

here's capri fish house from the boat's vantage point. they have a buffet on sundays. you run a tab and just basically eat all day long, whenever you're hungry.

i like saying "put that mojito on my tab." it has a nice ring to it.

this is twinnie with her older boy and mine.

grouper fingers. the best in south florida.

maybe the world.

i think i ate about a million and a half of them.

the noted blogstress kelle hampton was there as is her custom (see her weekend recap here), and i couldn't help snapping a shot of her sleeping nella-bean.

here's sis and her older boy.

we sure do have a lot of boys in this family.

kelle hampton sighting: she's right behind them. love her.

and speaking of boys, there was a lot of co-bro love being spread around.

gotta love the cousin-brothers from L.A.

i'm ready to go back. seriously.

more tomorrow, my lovelies.

bits of my weekend, vol. 57, part 2.

i am back in nashville but my time away lingers with me.

my skin is peeling from languid days in the south florida sun, bronzing, floating, boating and shelling.

i'm still savoring the fantastic meals my sisters cooked up with sis's BF john: hearty stewed mulagatawny soup, spicy-hot thai dishes brimming with ginger, garlic and tamarind, and home pressed pasta noodles swimming in olive oil, pesto, herb goat cheese and toasted pine nuts ... insanely delicious. (recipes to come!)

i am still reveling in the first part of the trip in my home state of illinois: it was a bittersweet melange of childhood memories, farm fresh foods and feeling the love of family.

the whole thing started as a dream. to bring together the family, as we always do each summer for granny camp, but add to it an extra five days in naples, fla., so the boy could bond even more with his cousins on the glorious beaches.

it was a series of miracles. from the perfect weather at my parents' home, to the glorious sunset revealed after a rainstorm blew over and clouds cleared away just in time on closing night.

i'll share pictures this week. there are too many to post at once. for now, enjoy these.

oh! and without my brother-in-law rupert, these photos wouldn't have happened. thanks for capturing these precious moments, "g."

the boy flanked by his co-bro's.

this silly grin never left his face all week long.

my formerly terrified-of-water kiddo is now a fearless fishy.

sunset (and sunburnt) at barefoot beach, july 4.

me, cousin sooz, twinnie and sis.

it's the obligatory bikini shot. we'll keep doing it as long as gravity allows.

twinnie's boys, twinnie, me and the boy.

monster sunburn. the little booger fought the sunscreen like it was the plague. you'll be glad to know it's healed up nicely now, so please don't call child services.

more pics to come, my lovelies. i missed corresponding with you daily.

life is good.

bits of my weekend vol. 57; and it ain't over yet.

a few snaps from south florida. the boy is hanging with his co-bro's (cousin/brothers) and having a ball.

and i have sun burn on my sun burn.

pure heaven.

oh! i was able to spend some beach time with the amazing kelle hampton today at the isles of capri. be sure to check out her blog at kellehampton.com.

my amazing cousin sooz and family also were at the isles. visit them at buddybrew.com for the best coffee ever, or if you're in tampa, stop by.

by the way, the last shot is of my twinnie with the boy and her boy.

more to come, my lovelies.

Barefoot beach

Heaven, I tell you. Updates soon. Well, not too soon.

going home.

can't wait to fly home tomorrow to see my family.

there's also going to be an impromptu facebook-driven grade school reunion, as in anyone who ever went there, so that is going to be something.

then next week we're all going to my sister's in south florida for some beach time.

i can hardly believe it's finally here.

this image, by the way, comes from my 1970 yearbook, the year my twin sister and i were in the first grade.

can you tell which one's me?

i will try to post as i go, but i may be having too much fun to do daily updates. i'll do my best!

peace and love,
joan (the one on the right)

caribbean blue.

yes, it's a car and yes, it's blue.

but it's not vintage, it's new.

still, it caught my eye.

my friend tex and i ran into a nissan executive who was driving this pretty 2011 murano convertible.

only a limited number will be produced in this color, and they are being marketed to the coastal cities.

the color, he said, was caribbean blue.

i'm loving that.

the inside is huge.

and i love the light interior.

it's a two-door with a cloth top.

don't you just want to drive it to the beach?

note: nissan didn't provide me with any perks for posting this. but if they wanted to loan me one of these sweet babies for a couple of weeks, i wouldn't say no. just sayin'.

ONEderful nella.

remember this little pumpkin?

i met nella last year on a trip to south florida to spend time with my sisters.

well, little nella is turning one and her mom kelle is raising funds for the national down syndrome association in her honor.

the response has been overwhelming so far. her original goal was $15,000 and in just a week or so, donations are more than $50,000!

donating is quick and easy. do it now!
visit kelle's gorgeous and inspiring blog here.