Girls just wanna have fun.

And I’m using the term “girls” loosely here, because the “girl” I’m referencing is myself…I am the “girl” of whom I speak. I just wanna have fun. To people who know me, that’s no surprise. Nobody loves to laugh, joke, and have fun more than I do. Well, there are probably some people who have so much fun that they don’t “tend their knitting,” so they’re more fun than I am. I take care of business, but I make time for plenty of fun too. And there are lots of ways to make life a little more fun.

Before Mother’s Day, I ordered some fun pool rafts and called them some of my Mother’s Day gifts. They are both Barbie-themed (as in the Barbie brand made by Mattel) but made by a cool company called Funboy. One is in the shape of a convertible, and the other is in the shape of an inflatable golf cart. They are both cute. Yesterday, I wanted to get in the pool, and while we have lots of different pool rafts, I opted for the Barbie convertible, because well, it’s more fun than a regular pool raft. My husband laughs at me every time I use the raft. Granted, he might just be laughing at me climbing on it, but whatever. It makes him laugh, and it makes me happy! Floating in the pool is a lot more fun on a Barbie convertible raft. To see what Funboy offers on their site, click here. Or you can look at Neimanmarcus.com or Revolve.com to see Funboy offerings.

A couple of weeks ago, I had lunch with a friend in Knoxville, Tennessee. After lunch at Not Watson’s in Market Square, we strolled around the block to Mast General Store. For info on Mast General Store, click here. I wanted a Knoxville hoodie, and I got a cute one that looks a little 70s-ish. I also wanted to peruse their vintage candies. I was so glad I did. I have great memories of buying candy cigarettes as a kid. Now they don’t even call them candy “cigarettes.” They call them candy sticks, but the packaging still looks like cigarettes, so every time I see them somewhere I buy them and hold them between my pointer finger and tallman finger to mimic smoking, just like I did as a kid. It makes me happy to remember! If only I had thought to take those out on the raft with me yesterday! What a fun photo op that would have been! Mast General Store also had other cool vintage candies: Chick-o-Stix, Pixy Stix, and one of my personal favorites…Zotz. Lots of people don’t remember Zotz, but when I was a kid, I loved them…and I still do. They also make me think of my friend, Wendy, who passed away three years ago. She and I loved our Zotz. During the summer, when we would vacation in Maine, we would always go to the candy stores in Kennebunkport and York, and we would always load up on Zotz. I smile just thinking about it. My Knoxville friend and I walked down to Cruze Farm Ice Cream after we left Mast General Store. We got swirly ice cream cones…making us feel like kids again (except when I was a kid, I likely would have dropped the ice cream off the cone). The girls who work in Cruze Farms all wear red/white gingham dresses with aprons and kerchiefs, and their bright red lipstick matches their dresses perfectly. For more info on Cruze Farm, click here.

But when I’m in Charlotte, there is a surefire way to feel like a kid again: Carowinds Amusement Park. I haven’t been this summer, but I can hardly wait to get on a rollercoaster again. My friend, Jenn, and I are planning a Carowinds visit soon, because we both love rollercoasters. Most parents, I think, dread taking their kids to amusement parks, but when our daughter was a little girl, I took her almost every day of the summer. It was an easy way for us to spend time outside, and she was happy to see all the action…and ride any rides she was tall enough to ride. Now that she is almost 18 (how did that happen?), she would have no interest in going to Carowinds with me, but my friend and I plan to go soon. We are waiting till some of the schools are back in session, so the crowds are smaller. We can hardly wait to get back on the Fury and the Intimidator…great coasters! I learned when I was in my 20s that going to an amusement park can make you feel like a kid again. And what’s more fun than remembering how it feels to be a kid? For information on Carowinds, click here.

I just walked into the kitchen, and my husband found my candy cigarettes. He smiled and said, “I loved these when I was a kid! My cousin, Glenn, and I would get them and pretend we were smoking.” Yep. It was the 1970s, after all. And as much as smoking is taboo now, it was fun to pretend when we were kids in the 70s. Just having candy cigarettes now makes me feel like I’m six years old again. It’s fun to reminisce. And “girls” just want to have fun.