This Might Be a Little Bit Crazy But ….

I just celebrated my birthday yesterday.  Yes, it was fun and no I refuse to

admit to any age over 29 :-)  However, I have lived long enough to know that

right after July 18th, August is beating a path to our doors and fall fashions

are everywhere, and summer is pretty much over!

This morning my sweet hubby took off for the club with some buddies to

play 18 holes.  Trust me, he passed up a day in front of the telly watching

the British Open ~ the holy grail of golf in our house, to spend the day

on the links telling tales and trying to keep cool in our really oppressive

south Texas heat.  As I stood in front of my kitchen window over the sink,

I swear I could see a hint of fall headed our way :-)

Of course this is a gross exaggeration because it is blazing hot out there and

I have been running around in my Lilly Pulitzer pinks for weeks now,

but I think I could see it coming!

Bentley and I are at home watching the Hallmark Mystery Movie channel 

while I am on the laptop looking at kiltie loafers.  I must say, I am thrilled

to find so many available because I am a real traditionalist and the kiltie style

loafer is a real favorite of mine.  

I am a fickle person.  When winter has hung around long enough, I am

shopping for spring.  Then summer is on it's way and I am looking at

shorts, sundresses and flip flops.  Honestly ~ I am the queen of flip

flops and sandals.  My beloved "Jacks" are on my feet every day.

But ….

Today I started to think about loafers and sweaters and tweed and

football games and tailgating ….

A little bit crazy I know, but that's just me!

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Let's Go Shopping for French Antiques!

We took a quick trip to Houston because we needed to stock up at

Costco and of course go to a favorite restaurant for lunch and stop

at a favorite antique shop too.  I will just let you browse.  Let me 

know your favorites and I will tell you mine.  Enjoy!

Although I love everything, my absolute favorites are:

The Oak Dresser

The Staffordshire Dog

The French Market Basket

Pair of Crystal Sconces

Okay, now let me know what you love.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Sneak Peek Guest Bath

I am still removing wallpaper in the guest bath, but wanted to show you

a little bit of progress I have made with a shade for the window.  I

always get excited about the accessories in a room.  I love, love, love

to layer them on.  I must be channeling Charles Faudree ;-)

I am trying to get as much done as I can before I leave for Chicago

for my Aunt's service.  Bentley will be staying behind in Texas with

his daddy.  

Thank you for all your kind words of sympathy.  It's been a difficult

time.  Her passing was sudden and very unexpected.  My cousins

and I are coping with her loss and are planning a nice way for us

to say goodbye for a while.  It all makes me think we are just

three kids trying to wade through our sorrow and not the three

adults we actually are.  

Wow Us Wednesday

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

My Mystical Vision

On Friday, after finding out my Aunt Susan had just passed away,

I felt such great pain and shed great amounts of tears.  I truly felt that 

my heart, soul and body could not withstand another loss just when 

I had felt the mourning period of the loss of my Mom was coming

to an end.  If ever there was a time when I felt that my very soul was

being ripped out of my body, this was it.  

I cried so hard my body shook uncontrollably.  I kept thinking to 

myself, do I fight against this heartache, or do I just give in and

allow it to engulf me?  I started to believe that if I gave in, I 

would surely die.  

At my very lowest moment, when the pain was so severe and

the choice before me was imminent, I looked before me and had a

vision.  I could see a group of people before me, unrecognizable at 

first, but then their images started to become more clear.  

At first I saw a man, who I recognized from photos, was my

maternal Grandfather.  I had never met him because he died long

before I was born.  Next was my maternal Grandmother who died

when I was quite young, yet I still could make out the image of her

that I remembered.  Then followed three young children who I 

realized were Mary, John and Elinor.  These three were the children

of my grandparents who all passed in their youth.  Then I could 

see my Mom and all of them were welcoming my Aunt to stand with

them.  They all stood in a big group in front of me as if they were

having a family reunion.  They all were saying cheese and smiled

at an invisible camera.  Then suddenly the image just froze.  I felt

a calm come over me.  My body stopped shaking and my tears

started to dry.  Despite my sadness, I knew that I would be okay

and that life would go on and I would make the most of what time

I have left on this earth.  

Then somewhere in the distance I heard a voice whisper to me:

Watch MeGrow

That was my Aunt's motto and I realized the torch was being

passed on to me.  Now it's time for me to carry on that torch

and be the best I can be in their memory.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

My Heart is Broken ~ I Lost My Aunt Susan

On July 10, 2015 at 11:06 am, I lost my favorite Aunt.  We were so very close.

I was named after her and she was my Mom's youngest sister.

Aunt Susan was always a larger than life figure to me.  She was a cross

between an Audrey Hepburn and Auntie Mame.  So very, very pretty and

always so stylish.  She was a model in New York City in her early twenties 

and she learned to always stay slim throughout her life because of her 

training.  When I was a little girl, I wanted to be exactly like her when I

grew up ~  just as elegant and just as beautiful.

One of the reasons Aunt Susan and I were so close is that when she 

decided to leave New York City, my Mom and Daddy invited her to

come to Chicago and stay with them while she looked for a job

and a place to live there.  My Mom was pregnant with me at the time.

Aunt Susan was living with us when I was born, and stayed there to help 

my Mom.  She would dress me up and play with me and take me for

strolls in my pram.  She was "Big Susie" and I was "Little Susie".

Those names stuck and even after I went to college, everyone 

in the family called me "Little Susie".  

Aunt Susan was very artistic and got a job working as a designer at

the Chicago Merchandise Mart.  Although she had moved out and

found her own apartment, she came by every weekend to see us.

We were a tight knit little group.  My parents, me and my Aunt Susan.

She started dating a fellow who owned a high end dress shop on

Michigan Avenue.  His name was Bill.  Bill was quite a bit older

than Aunt Susan and although my parents loved him and my Mom

thought he was a really good "catch", Aunt Susan was just

not smitten.  She broke up with Bill, but everyone loved him

and they all remained good friends.   He asked me to call him

"Uncle Bill" and I loved him too.  When Mom and Aunt Susan 

and I would go shopping on Michigan Avenue and I was a bit 

older, we would always stop by Uncle Bill's shop to say hi.

I did that until the day Uncle Bill died.

Aunt Susan did finally meet a fellow who caught her eye and

it happened in such a memorable way.  Aunt Susan was on

her way to work and she had borrowed a friend's car to

drive to the Mart.  She had her arms full of drapery samples

and somehow she dropped the car keys down between the

door and the window and was struggling to get them out when

a man named Joe happened to be driving down the street and

offered to help.  Well, it must have been destiny because they

started dating and then married.  

Like Bill, Uncle Joe was a bit older than Aunt Susan, but 

this time she had lost her heart to the man who rescued her

on the street that day.  Uncle Joe was a wonderful man who

was a very intelligent and extremely successful businessman.

He showered my Aunt with luxury and he did that for me too.

Uncle Joe used to pat my Aunt Susan on the head and say

Here is some money.  Have fun, but be a good girl.  And

then he would go off to work.

Well, Aunt Susan would shop and buy clothes for herself

and my Mom and me and for her new baby boy, Bennett.

But Uncle Joe gave her so much money every week that

she couldn't spend it all, so she didn't say anything to him 

about it, but she started investing the money he gave her.

And you know what?  She was really good at it!

She started playing the stock market.  She earned enough

money to buy an apartment building on Chicago's very

pricey Gold Coast.  She was a dynamo and was becoming

a business mogul on her own.  But it didn't end there.  She

fought for what she believed in too.  She went to board

meetings.  She fought for the rights of minorities.  She

was unstoppable.

She was my beloved Aunt Susan.  I will miss our

hours long phone conversations.  I will miss her voice

as she would call out to me Hi Susie!  She was the very

best Aunt anyone could ever ask for and I just can't 

imagine my life without her now.

Rest in peace Aunt Susan.  Until we meet each other once

 again, know that your "Little Susie" loved you very much.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley