Palm Beach Playland

Sis & me on Worth Avenue today at 1:30 p.m.

Note the beautiful bougainvillea.

Ta-boo Restaurant has been a star-studded favorite since 1941. [JFK ate here.]
Pretty wicker chairs and glam ceiling lights! The Bloody Mary was said to be invented here.

The public beach, a glorious gift,
all wrapped up in clouds and rolling blue waves.

Please forgive my formatting on this hotel biz center computer!
Oh, Palm Beach. Quite the opposite of my beloved, rustic Cape Cod, with its
 scrubby pines,
towering dunes and lighthouses that dot the shifting, hook-shaped coast.

No, Palm Beach is privileged, polished and very, very pretty. Birthplace
of fresh-squeezed
 Lilly Pulitzer colors, still visible on the women passing on the sidewalks
and on the mannequins in the shop windows.
The melons, lime greens, true sailor blues.

My Sis--who was in the Peace Corps for two years in Western Samoa and
does not tend toward the frivolous--agreed to spend our Sunday there.
I had been there only once, on an afternoon with Dan a few years ago,
and never forgot the beauty, the tall,
sculpted privacy hedges, the stunning beach, the hot pink bougainvillea.

I drove our little silver Thrifty rental car 1 hour and 15 minutes from the
Miami Airport area....and felt like I was on a raceway. These Miami drivers
don't fool around. But as I learned on long drives with Dad, these
 times in the car
are important, golden hours to talk and reminisce.

First stop [after nabbing free street parking up to 2 hours on Worth Avenue]
was a
 luxe restaurant I will be writing about for the
ASPIRE DESIGN AND HOME website.
We sat and sipped and sampled and talked. It was lovely.

Then we walked around...most stores were closed, it being Sunday
 afternoon and off-season, but not Stubbs and Wootton. We admired
embroidered slippers that started at about $500 a pair for women, $525
 for men.
We did not buy them.

We liked the vias, the quiet courtyards, the window shopping.

Then we headed for the public beach. Siri helped us find it. It was
 so lovely.
We are so lucky to have ocean water in our veins, along with blood.
Our parents took their 1951 honeymoon road trip to Cape Cod,
New Hampshire
 and Maine, and then took their four kids in the white Ford Falcon
to summer
 weeks on the Cape or days in the Rockaways. They loved the water.
 So do we.

You can't help but be moved when your eyes settle on that sea, that rolling,
 moving beauty.

Well, I've been down in this hotel business center for a while.
The most time-consuming part was downloading the photos from my
 iPhone--and now this disastrous formatting and ragged line breaks!
That's not Palm Beach perfect!
Sis is upstairs in the room, and I will go up now.

Signing off thankful for the beauty we saw today and for my
 generous sister,
 who treated me to this four-day, three-night trip!!!! She leaves from
 Miami
Wednesday for a weeklong tour of Cuba.

Good night to you.

Maiden Voyage to Plato's Closet!

J.Crew Velvet Peplum Top. I found it in GRAIN [white],
size XL, NWT, for $8 yesterday.

My Figgy, now 22, is a big fan of Plato's Closet, where you can turn in gently used or new/unworn clothing or, more importantly, shop for it. Yesterday at 6 p.m., we went with her dear friend [nickname Boaty, long story, a proud Smith graduate] and friend's mom, Rachael, who has become my close friend, too.

On past voyages, Figgy has scored awesome black ankle boots and strappy, dusty-blue crushed velvet shoes that I love! I need sneakers, the treads are flattened on mine, and though they were good prices, didn't find any great ones in my [big] size. [You have fine understanding, my Irish grandpa, Jim Mahon, used to joke, a twinkle in his blue eyes. Under standing, big feet. He liked a good riddle.]

Anyway, I saw a short, tweedy Michael Kors skirt [I would wear over black leggings], but too small. I was happy when I found this J.Crew Peplum Top. Originally $59.50, it's in the jcrew.com sale section now for $14.99. I paid $8 and it's in pristine condition. I will not wear it with jeans, as the model is wearing it, above. I rarely wear jeans now, but will again one day. They are uncomfortable in many ways.

The peplum part is soft cotton velvet, really feminine. I will likely pair it with a black skirt, and perhaps a black tank underneath.

Figgy found some teetering-heel shoes, a flowy, floral skirt and a crushed velvet dress. Rach scored a beautiful sparkly top and lovely straw beach hat that looks so pretty on her. Boaty got shades and two black tops.

It was a successful style voyage. Until later.

Here is the top in white.