image: horse with no name via here

Get your lovely hats and mint juleps ready, because Saturday, May 2nd 2009 marks the 135th Run for the Roses - The Kentucky Derby! I don't know what's better, the lively colors of the jockey shirts, or the amazing array of ladies in fanciful hats - never mind the heart-palpitating race!

My Mom has said she's always wanted to attend America's most famous horse race - hopefully, one day she, my sister and I will get the chance to head to Churchill Downs for the Big Event.
In the meantime....I'll be dreaming of stunning thoroughbreds,one minty-sugary drink, killer chapeaus...and Kentucky-looking traditional interiors!

Watch it! These babies can be S.T.R.O.N.G!

Don't you wish women still wore hats (you know, other than baseball caps) as a regular item of apparel? {sigh}

I really have no idea whether these homes exist anywhere near Louisville - or even in the South for that matter, but somehow they remind me of genteel classicism - the hallmark of hospitable, Southern interiors.

pics via xJavierx - click on pic for more deets

Yes, I realize Eliza Doolittle attended Ascot, not The Derby, but I had to give some props to the original, fabulous race-hat maven (and one of my all-time fave movie characters!)