Coffee, Coffee, Ice Ice Baby

Our favorite spot in the morning; CAFFEINE!!!

The only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is the fact that I'm now having cappuccino, espresso, Latte, Moch-choca-latte's...you get the gist. I'm amped up. 

LIFE IS GOOD WHEN YOU'RE AWAKE. Sorry to scream, must've been that extra shot of espresso.

My lovely Latte Machiatto. (steamed milk, espresso, frothed milk)

When we were planning our renovation the Coach decided we should have a built in/plumbed in coffee maker. We have one at our design studio for clients and it's super cool. Way back in 1997 when we built the house, this area was originally our laundry room. It's the connecting spot between our garage and the house. We put an addition on back in 2002 and that's where our laundry room is now....this room has been our 'mudroom' since the addition in '02. You know, where you drop your stuff when coming into the house. No, not our snow boots and jackets; more like our keys, phones, purses, beach towels, sand and mail.

We've now made it an extension to the kitchen as well as a good spot to drop your junk.
It houses our ice machine, microwave and the coffee machine.

But literally, this room has gone to the dogs. *snicker snicker* I hang my purse and keys on dog butts....and I'm not even ashamed.

Our collection of boxer paraphernalia; I purchased the custom Boxer Coffee pic from this site on Etsy. 

Our house has now become a "smart house"; I'm SO hoping that smart part will rub off on me. 

We've got buttons/keypads for this, that and the other thing. We installed security cameras during the renovation...which is great for when I want to watch Harley drink out of the pool. Weird cat. 

Guess who watched my every move while taking pics of the mudroom.....she was most likely waiting for a handful of the best ice on the planet.

People, we've GOT SONIC ICE. And if you don't know what that means, you're not an ice person. But if you do know what that means, you're in good company. 

I can pretty much live out of our mudroom these days. I was never much of a coffee person; just a cup or two in the morning....folgers or whatever was on sale. Now? Well, I still only have one or two cups, but it's extra special with some frothy milk mixed in; pretty soon I'll start demanding people address me with my Proper name. (Miss SuzanneFancyPants)

I'm hoping the Coach will learn how to make some of these for my Sunday morning Joe. 
Hey, it's not like he has anything else to do.....

Happy Friday my people!!

HoeDown

No matter how many times I write hoedown, it just never looks proper.
But then again, when am I really proper?

Way back in December when we thought we'd soon be done with our renovation, (who knew we'd have 3 more months?) the Coach decided he wanted to have a big party. Mostly to celebrate our reno survival (there were some iffy moments) and also to showcase a great local country band that we've enjoyed seeing around town.
We tried to book the band in February (hoping it wasn't yet SUMMER weather, which comes quick around these parts) but they were busy until late March; we booked them. I'm not exaggerating when I say the renovation was done on Friday at 4pm (painters were finishing up the front interior rooms)....we had guests arriving for the weekend at 5pm and the party for 60 the next day.
*whew*

We are lucky enough to have a lot of really good friends who love to jump in and make stuff happen. Several of our good friends from the East Coast arrived Friday night and got busy. Saturday's forecast was calling for rain, so the Coach decided we needed a tent on the lanai for the band; the guys headed to Costco for a tent.
They went for a tent, but came home with a garage.

Who does that?

They laid it out on the upper lanai area by the chikee hut. Lo and behold the chickee had to get a mullet cut for the darn garage to fit.

#thatsembarassing

We had a lot of great family and friends prepare good ole' southern cooking. Pulled pork, ribs, BBQ chicken, cole slaw, collard greens, cowboy beans....SO much good grub!
The Coach and I wisened up this time though and hired some hands to help serve and clean up. Quite possibly the best idea yet. We're usually stuck in the kitchen; slaving or pouring drinks. We had three guys helping us; two with the food and one manned the bar.

 The band was fantastic....lot's of dancing and laughing; everyone had a great time.

 Some of my people.

BTW: it never rained on our parade or the newly installed garage. 

We expected 60-70 people...but when I went through my list on Sunday, I realized we had 91 people throughout the night. And the house was still standing; well, most of it.

I had to borrow Lolo's boots and dress for I had nothing proper to wear!
There was much fun to be had and a lot of it was because of the Coach. He was dancing up a storm and getting everyone around him to join in.

Coach and my wonderful MIL

Lolo and Linds with G'ma Sue

At one point the Coach was actually NOT dancing, he was just walking near the edge of the pool when he toppled into the pool; back side first.
I was on the other side of the lanai, so I didn't get a first hand look at the situation.

The next thing I saw was other people jumping into the pool with him; about 6 followers.
He said: "why are you jumping in the pool?"
Them: "Because YOU did"
Coach: "no, I fell into the pool....I didn't jump!"

So, it turns out it wasn't Coach's fault for falling into the pool with his good boots and cellphone....our pool coping had come lose in several areas and just gave way.

Luckily he wasn't really hurt, just bruised up a bit. Thankfully it wasn't one of our guests that fell....lord knows, who might be living in this house right now. Damn it with the SueHappyPeople.

The next morning I woke up to this sight:

Lindsay took care of her Daddy's boots by drying them in our tub. FYI: they did survive....his cell phone? NOT.So.Much.

It was quite the party and we had so much fun; it was lovely to host friends at our house again.


I don't think I recovered until Wednesday afternoon though.

Has anyone else been crazy enough to have a large party at their house?

XOXO

A Major(s) Milestone

So, I'm not so great with keeping up with my blog or my favorite bloggers. 

YOU are on my mind by the way.

We're still trying to get acclimated into the house after the renovation. I consider myself the MOST organized person (that I know) and I spent 30 minutes tonight looking for Coach's blood pressure cuff.....hell if I can find it. Hopefully he'll be ok though. *fingers crossed*

Guess who graduated from college?

I'll give you two guesses.

Nope.

and Yes.

You're so smart.

Our Lolo!!!

It took her five hard years, but she's walking away with two degrees; psychology and criminal justice.

We're so proud of her. She's worked hard at school and hard at work. Our Lolo is a smart cookie with a goal in mind. 

Of course, that goal has changed a few times. *sigh*

From her facebook: 

Thank you to everyone who's supported me through this crazy adventure. Especially my parents for dealing with me changing my career path 3,476,168 times. 

Ready for the next chapter 

 What else can you do? Support, support, support. 

 Her commencement was on Sunday morning May 1st at 9am. We had a lovely Mexican fiesta at the house that afternoon. 

 Lots of good family and friends in attendance. SO.Much.FUN. 

 Lolo had a few of her friends over; two of her friends also graduated that morning. 

 And of course all the proud grandparents were in attendance. 

Of course, my Mom was there in spirit. Hey, we had Margaritas in her honor....she would have been thrilled and I know she's beaming at her first granddaughter doing good stuff. 

I swear to buddaa that I'm gonna blog more....I've got a lot to say.

XOXOXO