Ms. Toody Goo Shoes: April 2014

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

My Photo Diary: April

April Photo Diary --- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Did the month of April fly by in a nanosecond, or what?

I can't get my arms around the fact

that tomorrow, it will already be May 1.

There are months, and there are months.

April was SUCH a month.

After March being as dull as dull could be,

April was one of the best months I've had...

well, in months!

The weather warmed up,

Flowers started blooming,

I did a bit of traveling,

and Mr. Goo Shoes and I celebrated

our 20th wedding anniversary!!!

I hope that you are going to link up
with Claire (a little CLAIREification) and I
starting tonight at midnight for our
Show Us Your April Party!
Don't worry, if your not quite ready tomorrow,
the party will be open for about a week.
We'd love to see what you've been up to
this past month...

Every day has a story, after all.
What's yours?

Here's some snaps from my April.

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April 1
Remember I told you I saw these wacky soaps? I decided I had to have this, and put it in Junior Goo Shoes' bathroom for an April Fools joke. Aha! I can make him laugh in the morning!

April 2
Flowers from Mr. Goo Shoes...because.

April 3
Spotted outside Harney and Sons tea shop in Soho, NYC, on the way to my hair appointment.

April 4
A weekend in Boston with my sister and girl cousins for a wedding!
SO many laughs -- Can anyone say "Depends?" We had a view of
Faneuil Hall from our hotel room.

April 5
Our cousin and his beautiful bride! What a wedding! Glorious views of Boston from the 33rd floor of The State Room. My way overdue post about Boston is coming soon.

April 6
So much fun walking around Boston. Yes, those are sneakers filled with flowers in the window boxes. Love the reflection of blue sky in the windows with the white curtains.

April 7
Coming in for a landing at Birdbath International.

April 8
First blooms of the spring season!

April 9
I can't believe that one of the Faberge eggs on display at Rockefeller Center has a picture of ME on it!

April 10
I think this cardinal knows I've been stalking him.

April 11
Three years ago this week, we were in Bruges, Belgium. This has to be one of the most picturesque spots ever, even waterlogued.

April 12

A little pre-Passover breakfast. I am a bottomless pit when it comes to matzoh brei.

April 13
Cruise Day 1: Ship departing out of NYC. The Statue of Liberty is balancing our police escort on her torch. I cannot believe I got this photo!

April 14
Cruise Day 2: At sea, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of the Carolinas, maybe?

April 15
Cruise Day 3: Excursion to Kennedy Space Center at the Atlantis space shuttle exhibit.

April 16
Cruise Day 4: Remember The Kids In The Hall? - I'm crushing the cruise ship!

April 17
Cruise Day 5: The tip of Paradise Island.

April 18
Cruise Day 6: Taking a cake decorating class! So much fun! Wait till I show you my cake!

April 19
Cruise Day 7: "G54."
BINGO!!!
HOLY CRAP!!! I won the Jackpot! What a way to end the cruise!

April 20
Beautiful blossoms are a perfect "welcome home" from our cruise.

April 21
In need of a little spring on the front porch.

April 22
I'm all conflicted. It's Earth Day and Jelly Bean Day. I'm stepping up
my conservation efforts with a mouthful of jellybeans.

April 23
Shopping mall ritual: Frozen yogurt for lunch.

April 24
Happy 20th Anniversary to us! Junior Goo Shoes made us this cheesecake, because he wanted us to have something special on our anniversary. We do -- him.

April 25
Beautiful fabrics at Pearl River Mart in Soho, NYC. If only I sewed...

April Photo Diary --- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

April 26
Friends catching up at the local bath.

April 27
Are you kidding me? Skateboarding on my hardwood kitchen floor? Wait -- let me take a picture before I yell at you!

April 28
Pre-lunch photo shoot in Columbus Circle, NYC, flanked by Time Warner Center towers.

April 29
My friend Jacky, a 62-year old fashion model, on the Today Show this morning!

April 30
Closing out the month with a cold, rainy day...but it's warm inside with my sweet Sadie girl.

********************************

See you at the linky party starting at midnight tonight!

Linking With:

Show Us Your April
Let's Get Real
Weekend Bloggy Reading
Sunday Showcase
Mosaic Monday

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Spring Break-Away: Our Cruise Ship Departs! ( Part 1)

Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Ship --- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Have you ever been on a cruise?

People seem to have very strong feelings about cruises...

They either love them...

or think they'll hate them.

Last week, we went on our second cruise.
The first one, two years ago, was only four nights,
and on a "small" ship --
Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas --
which held about 2,000 passengers.
We wanted to get a feel for cruising and see if we liked it.
Verdict? We LOVED it!
Yes, even landlubber Mr. Goo Shoes,
a cruise-skeptic of the highest order, enjoyed it.

This time, we went on one of the largest cruise ships in the world --

the Norwegian Breakaway.

If you knew Mr. Goo Shoes and I, you'd understand
that this is totally out of character for us...

well, at least it was in our "Before Junior Goo Shoes" days.

We always went to the smallest, most remote hotels,
where seeing as few people as possible was the goal.

But, everything changes when you have kids, doesn't it?

Planning a vacation with 4000+ other passengers
didn't really float our boat,
but one thing we realized on our first cruise
was that the smaller ships did not have
all the cool things that kids like to do.

Junior Goo Shoes was relentless in persuading us
to join his friend's family on this cruise.
He really honed his sales skills on this one.
We weren't biting.
The ports-of-call didn't really appeal to us,
and we were concerned about how we'd like a ship
that held half the number of people who live in our town.

As his last desperate attempt,
he showed us the Norwegian Breakaway's promotional video.

I thought, wowza, that looks like a boatload fun!
Junior Goo Shoes finally heard
the three magic words he'd been waiting for...
"Go show Dad."

When Mr. Goo Shoes asked how much the cabins cost,

I knew that for our Spring "Break-away,"
we'd be cruising like Norwegians!

Aside from the fact that Junior GS would have a friend to hang with
(Happy Kid = Happy Parents),
another huge plus for us was that the cruise left from NYC.
No planes to catch!
No worrying about liquids in our carry-on bags!
Just a 30-minute ride from home to the ship terminal on 56th Street.

We were so lucky that it was a beautiful, warm day when we left.
I'd had visions of us yelling "bon voyage" in our parkas and earmuffs,
but it was 70 degrees and sunny.

NYC Skyline from Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Ship --- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Mr. Goo Shoes

JJ and Junior Goo Shoes

Aunt Goo Shoes was spying on us from
the Jersey side of the Hudson River as we set sail from NYC,
and snapped this awesome photo.
That's us on the tippy top deck in the front...
I mean, the "Bow."
(I need to get my cruise-speak on).
Can you see us? LOL!

Photo by Aunt Goo Shoes

It was pretty spectacular leaving from New York...

We had a great view of The Intrepid...
(the large gray naval ship in center)

The Statue Of Liberty waved us off...

Statue of Liberty from Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Ship --- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

and we passed by the southern tip of Manhattan...

The Freedom Tower rose to the occasion
to give us a proper send-off.

Photo by Junior Goo Shoes

Everyone cheered as we sailed
right under the Verrazano Bridge.
It looked like we weren't going to fit,
but we made it without the aqua slide
scraping the bottom of the bridge.

Verrazano Bridge from Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Ship --- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Once we left NYC behind us,
it was time to explore the ship.

To Be Continued...

You May Also Like:

Spring Break-Away: Touring The Cruise Ship (Pt.2)

Spring Break-Away: Cruise Excursions & Activities (Pt. 3)

LINKING WITH:

Our World Tuesday

Travel Photo Thursday

Weekend Travel Inspiration

Take Me Away

Friday, April 25, 2014

A Little Bit of Spring on the Front Porch

Spring on the Front Porch --- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

If you could pick one feature that you really want in a house,
what would it be?

I'd like a fabulous porch...
one that is big enough for some rocking chairs,
or wicker furniture...or maybe a porch swing.
Yeah, definitely a swing.

There would be a railing, flower boxes, and an overhang
so we could sit outside even when it rained.

As much as I love my house, the front porch is meh.
It's got nice columns, and a fabulous front door,
but it's not symmetrical, so I find it hard to decorate.

Summer 2013

I'd really like to redesign it,

but there are more important things to spend money on.

And even if I did, it could never be a porch sittin' kind of porch...

you know, the kind where I could sit there, and fan myself, and say,

"Honey, could y'all be a dear and go get me some lemonade?"

I don't really "do up" my porch for spring

like I do for fall.

It's because I'm too cheap.

I don't want to spend lots of money on spring flowers,

only to replace them a month or so later with summer flowers.

I prefer to let the azaleas and rhododendrons do their thing,
and take center stage..

But I do need just a little bit of spring on the front porch.

And by little, I mean...
Little.

I bought a flat of pansies...

...and put them in my big flower pot.

I added a topiary form that I picked up on clearance at Target last fall.

It looked a little bare, so I wove a strand of faux ivy around it.

Last fall, I had some leftover daffodil bulbs,
so I stuck them in a pot
and left them in the garage over the winter.
Whaddya know -- they grew!

I added a pair of Hunter rain boots...
to have an "April Showers" thing going on...
but when the FedEx man came to drop off a package,
he gave me a "Lady, why do you have a pair of boots
on your front porch?" kind of look,
so I took them back inside.
What do you think?