Meet the matriarch of our family – my great Aunt Cele.  It goes without saying that I am her favorite niece.  😀  

At 5:00 p.m., Aunt Cele pours herself a glass of bourbon, raises it to the sky and declares it a “Brand New Party!”  She just turned 88 years old and has no signs of slowing down.  I love her so much.

We had a great turn out for our family reunion.  That’s my cousin Caryl and her husband Bob’s house and the last party in this house because they are moving to a retirement community.  So many memories in that house!  They built it when my cousin was 2 years old and I think he’s 35 years old now?  I didn’t notice how many people were wearing blue until I saw this picture!

There is no particular order to the rest of the pics – this is my cousin Kim’s two kids Rilee and Jamar – so cute.

I spent my mornings down by the dock, sipping on coffee and feeling the breeze on my face.  It was glorious.

We joked that Jamar will be taller than my Mom next summer – he’s just about to turn 8!

I went to my first auction!  My Aunt and her boyfriend have two galleries where they sell stuff.  It all goes by so fast!  There was a whole collection of WW II memorabilia – isn’t that crazy that I was holding that?!

Off the auction room there was a tiny diner, for lack of a better word.  The auction started at 1, but people were lined up at noon on the dot for their lunch.  I never found out what a cold plate was.  My Aunt bought a bunch of desserts to bring to the house – the coconut cake was pretty delicious.  Although my Mom and I handed out all the desserts as people were leaving and forgot to leave something for my Aunt – doh!

This is Kaleigh.  I can’t remember what kind of dog it is, but she’s a doll.  Total lap dog and loves being near people.

This is Deacon, my cousin Brian’s dog – also a lap dog and follows Brian everywhere.  

My Aunt bought this peanut butter and it was love at first lick.   My 10 year blog anniversary is coming up and I may have to add this to my giveaway.  I can’t wait to get mine in the mail – this would make amazing pad Thai at home. 

Have you guys heard of The Christmas Tree Shops?  It’s kind of like a Big Lots on steroids – so much stuff!  I pretty much wanted one of each of these dishes – most were only $1.99.

We stopped at Pie Five Pizza on our way out of town for lunch.  You guys know what a pizza snob I am, but this was really delicious.  Similar to Blaze Pizza, but I loved this crust better than Blaze.  Super crisp!

Chicken and spinach pizza with mozzarella – yum!  

This is my cousin Pam’s husband Weare.  My cousin Pam died exactly one month after Tony did.  They were together nearly 30 years before she died and I am happy to say that he’s started dating, even taking a trip to Amsterdam with her where she was giving a talk – so happy for him!  Every year he asks me if I am dating, and every time I tell him “not yet.”  

Richmond Virginia peeps – have you tried this granola?  They sell them at various farmers markets around town, but this is my favorite – clusters that are not too sweet – I bought one bag on the way to the river and bought another on the way out of town.

I loved this picture of my coffee on the dock.  I need to refer to this picture to remind myself to slow down every once in a while and sip and savor – not only the coffee, but life!

I made my blueberry galette to take bring to the reunion.  Riley informed me that she was a “good cooker” and was my assistant – she’s just so damn cute!

Love you Aunt Cele!  Cheers to a Brand New Party!

This is Pike – he used to live in the house my Aunt owns now, but comes back to visit often, even coming inside to get food and water.  We are convinced he probably does that to every house between the mile from my Aunt’s house to his new one!

Now trip would be complete without shopping, and if this didn’t cost $48 I would have bought this. 

I’ll leave you with this . . .make it a great day!!

Xxxxx