Maui!

I cannot believe how long it's been since we've posted....UNACCEPTABLE and INEXCUSABLE!  Just returned from a family trip in Maui for my hubby's 60th...fabulous on all accounts.  While golfing at the Wailea Emerald Golf Course, I was reminded of what a great family sport golf can be!  I golfed with my wonderful husband, my daughter, Avery, and her boyfriend, Matt.  Between the four of us, three of us are "golfers" and could not pass up the chance to play 9 holes while enjoying the fabulous ocean views.  Even though we didn't pack our own clubs and opted for the rentals instead (or as I like to refer to them..."THAT'S WHY MY GAME WAS AWFUL" clubs), I was very happy with a 50 on the front 9.  

For any of you who know me, I am rather tall for a woman...almost Amazon-like to some.  Years ago, acting on a tip from one of my petite friends, I purchased senior mens' clubs.  I put aside what could have been an offensive remark, since I am neither a man nor a senior, and for the first time in my life shopped in the men's department! 

This always reminds me of an event that happened years ago at Nordstrom while I was shopping in the Petite department for a family gift.  A young salesperson came up and said very quietly and slowly (while pointing at the department sign that reads PETITES) "Ummmm, excuse me, this is the Petite department".  I simply responded in the same quiet, slow voice, while pointing at the letters overhead and said, "Yes, I know...I can read".  (This is a true story...not a blonde joke!)

Well, even though my game is still a work in progress, I have to say that my oversized, masculine, non-pink, husband-look-alike clubs have made a difference in my game!   So tomorrow morning I am off to golf for the first time at Park Meadows with the big girls.  After a two week break that included non-stop eating and zero exercise, my inside voice will be screaming "MAN-CLUBS...don't fail me now!"  

80 and 60!

80 and 60...no...not our golf scores...birthdays!  Since neither of us are golfing this week, me due to the persistent bad weather here in Utah, and Patti due to the fact she is in Chicago with family, we thought we would write about something off the beaten path.

Patti's wonderful mother, Ruth, turned 80 yesterday.  So she spent the day with the family in downtown Chicago doing architectural tours via boat, eating and celebrating with 2,000,000 of their closest friends (who all happened to be drunk and wearing Blackhawk shirts).  In all seriousness though, Ruth is a woman of grace and class who still golfs several times a week with her friends, and whose score is almost the same as her age.  Happy 80th, Ruth.  And remember...80 is the new 60!  Which is a perfect seque to what I have been doing this week...

After throwing a 60th surprise party for my fabulous husband, Charlie, complete with food, friends and a life-size cutout of himself, I have been packing for the family as we head to Maui for his favorite kind of celebration...one involving sun, surfing, sand, snorkeling, diving and relaxing.  And we are going to squeeze in a round of golf at the Wailea Blue Course that sits on the lowest slopes of Mt. Haleakala, so I will hopefully have something golf-related to write about next time!

Well, Patti, since 80 is the new 60, and 60 the new 40...that makes you and me 34 and 23 respectively.  So at our new young ages, this now gives us PLENTY of time to become fabulous golfers.  And when we're celebrating our "big ones", I'm convinced we will have lowered our handicaps to a number we'll be proud of!

Golf, life and friends!

So today I thought I would begin my blog with a couple of appropriate golf quotes:

"I've had a good day when I don't fall out of the cart."  -Anonymous

"The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing." -Phylis Diller

"Sometimes things work out on the golf course and sometimes they don't.  Life will go on...you try to understand what happens, but maybe today I don't want to know."  -Greg Norman

Golf can be best defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle."  -Anonymous

For all of our golf blog followers and friends, I want to make it perfectly clear that these quotes are referring solely to my golf day and skills (or lack thereof), rather than my sweet friend, Patti's.  She had a great golf day (97), while I golfed more like someone with a blindfold on playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey (114).  My husband and I were invited guests today at Jeremy Ranch, which is always bitter sweet for us since we were former members.  Unfortunately, with our frenetic, unpredictable schedule, we had to jump ship.  So today we were reminded of what we were missing...an amazingly beautiful course, wonderful staff and pros and so many friends and acquaintances that we have missed since we left!  The weather was perfect for a day of golf, as was the company. 

So here it goes...one final, cheesey quote before I head off to ice the back and take my final dose of post-golf medicine (800 miligrams Ibuprofen):

"A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be."  -Douglas Pagels

Thanks for always keeping it fun, Patti!  xoxo

  

Bonjour de Provence!

One of the benefits of getting older is getting to spend more time doing the things you only dreamed about doing when you were younger. I have just spent the last two weeks touring the south of France and living in the villa, Les Murets, outside the beautiful village of Gordes in Provence. There is something very special about this part of the world - the food markets, fabulous wine, road side artists, quaint hill top villages, the golf courses... what?  Golf courses?  Yes, there were beautiful country side golf courses waiting to be played! I couldn't help checking them out.  The view from the course Golf des Baux de Provence is dominated by the the amazing hilltop village and the medieval Baux Castle perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the fairways, vineyards and olive groves of Provence.  Golf is surprisingly casual in Provence without the stuffy reputation that some have of the French culture.  I, of course, had to check out the pro shop and found, true to the French, that they were light years ahead of us here in the golf fashion department with haute couture golf wear for women.  The Provence County Club is another course raved about here adjacent to a four star hotel.  Here there is a British style bar and gourmet restaurant where breakfast is included with your green fee (leave it to the French to include Provencal cuisine with their golf!). I found everything in France to be generally more expensive with the exception of great wines and green fees which is a bonus for most of the women I know.  I predict a girls golf trip to Provence in my future.  Anyone interested?

Adieu mes amis,
Patti