Seashells and Silver

Weekend Recap

2010-09-13T09:31:00.004-04:00

Busy Weekend!

Friday night we had dinner with the neighbors. They shared delicious halibut they caught on their recent trip to Alaska. We also had mac and cheese and caesar salad, and I brought Cherry Pineapple Dump cake and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Saturday we loaded up the neighbor's truck with tailgating supplies and 6 of us headed to the K-State/Missouri game. We snagged a parking spot in view of the jumbo tron, set up the canopy and enjoyed the game from the comfort of our camp chairs with plates full of smoked brisket (oh yes, even the smoker came along), potato salad, spinach and cannellini bean dip, guacamole, taco bean dip, sugar cookies shaped like footballs and Powercat heads, chocolate chip cookies and smores bars.

This was my second tailgating experience ever with last week's catered meal at Walt's company's tent being my first, and I must say I'm hooked. There is something so festive about sitting under the tent watching footballs flying through the air and seeing so many people out enjoying themselves. I am quite enjoying K-State's signature purple. It makes this girl happy to see the parking lots, people, vehicles and everything else you can imagine blanketed in such a lovely color as purple.

Stadium, jumbo tron and lots of purple visible in background!

Sunday Walt went fishing with a neighbor (can you tell that we landed in a great neighborhood with fun people?), and I used the morning to relax with some tv. In the afternoon I walked the 2.6 miles to Radina's in Aggieville for a fancy coffee drink. Only when I got there I was so hot and thirsty that I couldn't stomach the idea of a coffee drink, but water and a raspberry lemonade granita sounded just right. I pondered the idea of walking 2 miles any time I feel the need for a treat; this could be the beginning of a great workout plan. Walt picked me up on the way home for a total of 4.86 miles walked.

We rounded out the day and the weekend with a couple German beers with the neighbors to start our Oktoberfest mini tour at Old Chicago and pizza and pepperoni rolls from Hy-Vee's Italian Express.

Summah-time

2010-07-12T22:48:00.002-04:00

It's July. In Kansas. Which is not as hot as July in South Carolina yet, and for that we are extremely grateful.

Here's a quick update:

We moved to Kansas. Manhattan, Kansas, in fact. January 26 we loaded up a U-haul and hit the road, pulling over long enough to drop a sweet pup at the cargo area of the Atlanta airport, so he could fly to his new home in Tucson, Arizona, where we hear he is extremely happy playing with his new doggie friend Oscar the boxer mix (I think!)!

January 28 we pulled into our new driveway in frigid Kansas. The wind blows a whole lot in Kansas during the winter, by the way, which we did not realize until we moved there. And it makes it significantly colder than a South Carolina winter. Brrr.

Almost 6 months later here we are still in Kansas and loving it. We miss our family and friends and church and small group, but we feel like we are right where we need to be right now and that is a blessing.

Oscar, the dachshund, had to be put to sleep Wednesday, March 10, 6 weeks after we moved. It was so very sad; he had a tumor that kept him from eating or drinking and there was nothing that could be done to improve his quality of life. It happened very quickly; the tumor was suddenly big enough to bother him and he was put to sleep the next day. I still hadn't found a job, so it was very hard to lose my little shadow who kept me company every day at home. I am thankful he didn't languish and suffer.

We have since gained a cat, Molly. She is very fluffy and quite affectionate, and while she isn't Oscar she is lovely to have around. I quite like her.

The girls we were caring for last fall went home December 22. I enjoyed the peace and quiet, but I missed them! They are with us this summer; we are going on our fourth week of summer fun and, boy, now I wistfully dream about the peace and quiet sometimes :) But we are so glad they are here! We have been to the splash park (free! I love Manhattan, KS!), several playgrounds, the recycling center (anything can be an adventure, right?), the farmer's market and the Hawaiian ice stand several times. We still need to visit the zoo and the new city pool with the big slides. And we need to eat a lot more ice cream.

Tonight I made an amazing dinner. Not necessarily because I am amazing, but because I had amazing recipes to use. We had:

White Bean and Mushroom Ragout over polenta; I used the instructions for polenta from this recipe. I just used some whole grain corn meal I had on hand, and it worked wonderfully.

Oh. my. goodness. It was delicious. The girls loved it. Hubs and I loved it. It was flippin' delicious. I will be making this again.

I miss you bloggy folks. I gotta get my bloggy mojo back.

Happy Summer!

Birthday!

2010-03-31T11:45:00.000-04:00

Wow...if I wait 3 more days then I can say I took a 5-month hiatus from my blog whereas blogging after 4 months and 20-something days makes it totally obvious that I was just a slacker.

Now you know the truth.

Stuff happened, and I'll blog about that later, but first here's a post that has been languishing in my drafts folder since about November 20.

------------------------------------------------

7 weeks ago we added 2 younguns to our house. And we're all still alive to tell about it.

One morning last week during the rush out the door to school I reached the zenith of my desire to inflict bodily harm on a certain 7-year-old, and I don't just mean a simple spanking. I wanted to hurt that kid. You will be proud to know that I didn't.

Really I don't know that you should be proud; I'm an adult, so giving in to my desire to inflict bodily harm cannot be an option...unless I'm inflicting my own bodily with harm by eating a cone full of ice cream for lunch...which I did today (*bliss). You will be relieved, maybe, or less likely to call the authorities if I go on to say that instead of inflicting bodily harm I dropped her off at school...ha, take that, kid.

And I simmered down and that was a good thing.

November 6 was my 28th birthday! 28...sounds so weird. Its been 10 years since my age had an 8 in it. And a lot has changed since then. But I don't feel so different, you know?

Hubs decided to make me a birthday dessert. You may remember the picture perfect chocolate cake he made last year. I had forgotten all about it until I saw it again on the blog. That's why I need a blog. So I can remember all the sweet things hubs does for me.

He asked what I wanted; I produced the recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake pie from my way-too-extensive recipe file (recipes go in, but do they ever come out...).

He made it happen! It was SO good!

Yes I shared it with the girls.

But only the tiniest slices ever.

Refined sugar is not good for our kids, folks. I had to eat it all...for the good of the children...

Because he made it I let hubs play with a piece...

Poor scared pie.

"They" say that you should photograph slices of things with the point facing you, as if the food were looking at you (do I want my food looking at me?), so that the viewer feels connected with the item in the photograph.

This piece of pie is almost looking at you...its looking at something over your left shoulder.

A Kinder, Gentler Halloween

2009-11-03T11:22:00.004-05:00

Bank situation solved: 2 empty Polaner All Fruit jelly jars (it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in it...can you send sypathetic thoughts to hubs? sometimes I think I drive him crazy when the grocery list has more do-not-buy notes on it than actual items I'd like to purchase for us to eat) washed out, de-labeled, slots punched in the lids. I decided I wanted the girls to see the money in their banks and thereby perhaps be motivated to save it. Homemade banks working for now!

Actual conversation between...um...our "friends" this weekend. Yes, our friends related this story to us. This in no way, shape or form happened in our car...you believe me, right??

Person #1: You do realize you put a plastic bag on a 7-year-old's head?

Person #2: You do realize you left a 7-year-old with a plastic bag on her head in the car while you picked up the hot-n-ready pizza and Crazy Bread at Little Caesar's?

Person #1: ...shutup...no more pizza for you

So what had happened was...S was Snow White and we used some of the Halloween hair color in a can to make her red/orange hair black. And, while this hair color seems semi-permanent on skin and bathtubs, it sits on hair like a fine powder threatening to "poof" off at the slightest provocation.

So in order to keep it under control on the car ride home from the fall festival at church one of the adults in her life may or may not have given her a Bi-Lo grocery bag to put over her hair.

And the other adult may or may not have left her and her 5-year-old sister (a red and yellow sunflower) in the car while picking up dinner at Little Caesar's. I have it on good authority that they were alone all of 10 minutes...and that they are both alive and well today...

Please don't call whoever gets called about kids alone in cars with plastic bags over their heads...my "friends" would be so bummed.

You're 3 feet tall and still pick your nose; you don't scare me...much

2009-10-20T13:39:00.001-04:00

(Note: We want to get the girls started on an allowance, so they are going to need a bank of some sort for saving their quarters. These are $5 at Old Navy and are serious contenders, but then I start to think about it:

Ooo! Sparkly piggy banks! They'll love these!

Wait a minute...they are both going to want pink...and it's going to be a pain to try to keep up with whose pink bank is whose. Hmmm...maybe I make the pink one a special reward?...no, that could totally blow up in my face.

Ok, I'll get the pink sparkly one for myself, and I'll get silver and green for them...or would they like silver and gold better...

Why is this so hard! If only they had a purple one! Then I'd be set! Yeesh, this parenting thing is hard.

I still don't have banks for them.)

Oy, what a two and a half weeks it has been.

Friday, 10/2: S and C move in.

Monday, 10/5: S and C go to their new school and hubs and I suddenly become responsible for two little girls with HOMEWORK...I thought I was done with homework when I got that diploma a few years back...

Friday, 10/9: We celebrate one week with the girls with dinner at Pizza Hut! This is the first meal S and C have eaten outside of school or our house all week...this makes me happy! We are meanies and only give them water to drink, not the requested Mello Yello and pink lemonade...can you imagine?? Now relax, there will be plenty of time for sodas later...

Saturday, 10/10: We eat lunch at Sonic where they have their weekly desserts. S has a chocolate sundae and C has a strawberry sundae. We visit mom-in-law in the hospital. Her best friend is there and offers to watch the girls while we get more clothes from their house and buy school supplies. $84 later...we are appalled. C really needs 20 glue sticks?! Are they eating them for snack or something?!?! We buy 6 glue sticks, with 3 going with each girl. And when we get back to the hospital...C proudly brandishes the Dr. Pepper she's been given. See, I told you sodas would show up somewhere.

Tuesday, 10/13: I realize that I am reaching a breaking point. I haven't yelled or snapped at anyone yet, but I can feel its not far off. I start to take everything personally...I'm SURE S is taking 4 hours and 92 gallons of water to brush her teeth because she KNOWS how much it irritates me. C interupts me while I'm talking to the neighbor because she KNOWS steam will come out of my ears. I tell everyone who will listen that my full-moon transformation is about to happen and they better stop me or stand back. I pray...a LOT. I truthfully answer the woman who has been in the hospital for 3 weeks (mom-in-law) when she asks me how its going. Woman in Hospital is so comforting and encouraging...I feel like a selfish, whiny, brat. Dang it...

Wednesday, 10/14: I pour it all out to my mom, and she talks me down from the ledge. Lets me know it's ok to feel annoyed. Tells me not to beat myself up. The girls get in the car after school, and I am, very unexpectedly, a new woman. Go ahead, say my name 327 times, challenge each and every boundary I've given you, tell me a few fibs and definitely tell me how, since you've eaten chicken livers before and you don't have good taste, you really can't eat the mushrooms in the lasagna...I can take it.

Wednesday is not a breeze, but hubs and I handle it. Thursday morning is not a breeze, but hubs makes the lunches and has them waiting in the fridge, and we got to school early enough for me to walk C in...she'd been asking me to for 2 days.

Sunday, 10/18: We are finally ready for church only to look at the clock and realize we'd have to take the girls to their classes late as the current sermon series isn't appropriate for them (The Elephant in the Pew; this week's focus: pornography). I've done the late thing and its one thing for me to do it to myself, but I really really really want to avoid doing it to them, so we decide we aren't going. I'm feeling grumpy and guilty about this and I tell hubs I'd like for us to do something together to enjoy the beautiful fall day. Being the amazing hubs he is, he finds a local hiking trail all of 15 minutes from our house, and we spend a lovely couple of hours throwing rocks in the lake, picking up leaves, looking at colorful mushrooms and hiking through the woods in the gorgeous sunshine. My soul is recharged.

Can I just be a witness that God is good? Talking to wise people, praying like crazy and working together with my man results in postponed full-moon transformations and much happier Insta-Temporary Parents.

WE (using our huge network of support and leaning on God) CAN DO THIS!!

The ball is rolling...

2009-10-01T14:30:00.005-04:00

Mr. Bouncy Ball!
Originally uploaded by moiht

...or bouncing, as it were.

We met with the guidance counselor at S & C's current school earlier today. The meeting went so well! She was very helpful:

--C is in montessori which has limited spots, and we wanted her to be able to return to montessori when they move back in with mom-in-law. Counselor said she didn't see that being a problem; yay!

--We wondered about the best way to ease them into living with us and going to a new school. I wondered about driving them an hour one way to their old school for a few days after they moved in with us. Counselor said since they know hubs and me and have stayed at our house, they would probably be fine starting in their new school right away. We'll drive them by the school this weekend to show them where they'll be, and they should be much more comfortable Monday morning. Yay!

We talked to the new school today, and they will be ready for the girls to start Monday. We meet with the counselor at the new school tomorrow afternoon to make sure everything is in place.

And tomorrow evening we'll be moving two little girls into our pink guest bedroom (the one with the snot on the walls).

Looking forward to the adventure!

The Ghost of Christmas (Presents) Yet to Come

2009-10-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

(Picture: aMacHan)

I've been thinking ahead to Christmas...which is only 84 days away!

We don't always get S and C stuff for their birthdays and Christmas as they have so many toys already. In the past we have avoided giving stuff by giving experiences. One year we took them to Monkey Joe's; last year we took them to the Georgia Aquarium; I still owe S a trip to a tea room for her 6th birthday...and she turned 7 this past August...it's official: I'm the worst sister-in-law ever.

Anyway, I've been brainstorming what to give the girls for Christmas, and I think I've got it: a trip to see The Nutcracker Ballet!

Its in early early December, and it might be just the thing for S & C! They love all things pink and princess-y and The Nutcracker has all that plus some excitement, too.

(Picture: daviduweb)

I mean, just look at this picture. What pink-princess-loving little girl wouldn't be beside herself with delight at a night of ballerinas in tutus?!?

I was introduced to the story of The Nutcracker very early in life, and I love the story, the ballet, the music, all of it to this day. I can see us getting all dressed up for the ballet and going somewhere for hot chocolate and dessert before...I would have loved that as a little girl! Shoot, I would that love that now as a big girl.

On the other hand the SC Children's Theatre is putting on the play Dear Santa, and it sounds pretty cute...and it could give the ballet a run for its money...

...

But I'm just so excited about the Nutcracker!!

Great Expectations and other fantasies

2009-09-30T14:37:00.006-04:00

(Picture: lovedaylemon)

Thank you so much for your encouraging comments on my last post. It's so cool to send something out on the web and have other people respond; it makes my day!! Thank you!

My mind has been racing making plans for the time S and C come stay with us.

I have such GREAT expectations for their time in our home. Here is a list of what I want to do:

-Set up routines: morning, after school, bedtime

-Cook together

-Let them choose a couple recipes each month to make.

-Give them household responsibilities appropriate for their ages (5 and 7).

-Read aloud a chapter per day from a chapter book most days of the week.

-Read them a bedtime story each night.

-Watch very little tv.

-Pray with them everyday.

-Learn about God every day.

-Feed them healthy foods for the majority of their meals with us (I'm expecting there to be a pizza night or two...or three).

-Engage them in some sort of physical activity most days of the week--walks around town, trips to the park, tossing a ball around...got any ideas for me??

-Encourage their creativity and their desire to learn (this is a bit vague...I need some concrete strategies).

-Listen to them.

-Chill out and enjoy them.

I feel somewhat hesitant to share all this with anyone because I hear parents so often say things like, "You'll see when you have kids of your own, " and giving the impression that its foolish to have expectations of doing much more than shoving food in mouths and playing chauffeur. I don't want to resign myself to the idea that there will be no time to have fun (like the kids in the picture above are having)!

Do I need a reality check? Do you have some advice or wisdom regarding day-to-day life with kids? I need it!!

God is good: Or "Seeing his hand in the crazy times"

2009-09-28T11:52:00.006-04:00

(Picture by caity sparkles via Flickr)

So you see that last post, there? Where I talk about what a great weekend we had with some precious little girls? Yeah, that one. I wrote it last Monday and had it set to auto-post Tuesday morning. Ummm...

Those little girls may be coming to live with us for the next few months.

Their mommy broke her leg Monday evening. She is also Hub's mom and single mom to these two girls she has adopted from within the family.

When she got to the hospital she found out she was diabetic.

Surgery to put a plate and pins in the leg on Tuesday evening went very well. But they didn't like how fast her heart was beating. So Thursday they sent her to the bigger hospital nearby for a heart catheterization.

Friday during the heart cath they found blockage in the heart and immediately sent her in for emergency triple bypass surgery.

Her birthday was Saturday (see festive picture above).

She is doing very well. She got to talk to her girls by phone yesterday for the first time since that eventful Monday night.

When a leg is broken the patient walks using crutches or a walker, putting much of the weight on the arms and none of the weight on the broken leg for 8 weeks.

When a patient has their chest opened up for surgery they cannot put more than 5 pounds of weight on their arms for 6 weeks.

Her unbroken left leg needs to seize the day and really come through for her. I'm believing in YOU, left leg!!

Thankfully my God is a very big God, way bigger than the problem of figuring out rehab with only one weight-bearing limb.

My God takes the very bad situation of a broken leg and uses it to help doctors find diabetes and heart disease lying in wait, undetected, ready to do their worst when least expected.

My God prepared hubs and I for the possibility of taking care of two of the cutest little girls you'll ever see. I was driven to find out ways to make their weekend stay the best it could be. Now I know who was the Driver.

My mother-in-law, Hubs and I have been surrounded by love and support from our friends and family. So many people have been to the hospital to see her or wait with us during surgery. More people than we can count are praying for her. She'll need every prayer she can get.

She'll need a lot of fight in her to get through the coming weeks. But she can do it. Her God is bigger than everything she's about to face.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I see God working the crazy things that have happened these last few days to Mom-in-law's good because she has given her life to him, put her trust in him, and she loves him.

So the girls might be staying with us until their mom can take care of them again by herself.

By the way, yesterday I discovered snot wiped on the wall of my pink guest bedroom right next to the futon bed where the girls slept...the futon that has a full box of tissues on the arm next to where their heads were. Bless their hearts; I will be discussing with them how that will never happen ever again.

Close Encounters of the Kid Kind

2009-09-22T07:00:00.002-04:00

S and C in their Easter dresses April 2009. Picture by me.

Be warned: this post is definitely of the rambling discussion/analysis type.

This past weekend Hub's little sisters came to stay with us: S is 7 and C is 5. It has been over a year since they stayed last, and that last visit was more of a battle than a fun time with cute little girls. I was determined that this visit would be better.

I did my homework. We really like Supernanny Jo Frost, and we take notes for the future when watching her show; we used her house rules, naughty seat and bedtime routine. I went online and found some strategies for getting kids to eat food that is good for them. I also wanted to spend more time with them than I did last time, so I decided to involve them in whatever I was doing: meal prep, chores etc. I felt armed and ready.

And the weekend was great!

We went over the house rules as soon as we got home on Friday, and I only had to remind them once or twice about the rules the rest of the weekend. No one had to sit on the naughty seat all weekend. The bedtime routine worked very well, though I think I'd like to have a very small nightlight in their room next time and an option for separating them if they won't settle down and go to sleep.

When it came to mealtimes I used the philosophy I found in a comment on this Momversations blog post: We (the adults) decide what and when, they (the kids) decide if and how much. I also resolved to have them as involved as possible in making our meals because I know my palette expanded once I started working with ingredients and cooking for myself.

We made black bean and cheese quesadillas, hummus and pasta salad chock full of veggies. They helped cook on the stove top, practiced their cutting skills (supervised of course), used the microwave, used the food processor, tasted the ingredients. They were excited to be involved, and I was glad we could spend time together in a way that made all of us happy (I have forgotten how to enjoy the fine art of playing dolls, so a lot of time spent that way would be very hard on me).

There were zero mealtime battles this weekend. They were given a plate containing one or two bites of each of the foods we were having with the meal and told that they could eat if and what they wanted to, but anyone wanting seconds of anything had to present a clean plate. And there was no bribing with dessert because there was no way we were subjecting ourselves to those little cuties hopped up on sugar. They had about 3 ounces of chocolate milk Sunday morning and that was it for the sweet stuff.

Last night when we met Hub's mom to hand them over she said, "Kimberly, why are they wearing mismatched clothes!!" I told her that was one area I left to them; we were so strict otherwise we had to at least let them decide what to wear. And we were strict as far as I (a women who has no children of her own) can tell, but the boundaries resulted in a fun weekend in which they knew what was expected of them, and we were all free to enjoy each other.

Was it a perfect weekend? Goodness, no. Someone (I'm pretty sure I know who) drew on the car seat with white crayon; someone blew her nose on Hub's towel (after being told repeatedly to use a tissue, not her bare finger), lied about it and only admitted to it after a very calm, yet serious, heart-to-heart about trust and responsibility (as in once you blow your nose on someone's towel you need to put it in the clothes hamper and get them a new towel); they poked and bothered each other etc. Basically they were 5 and 7-year-old kids.

Was I perfect? Goodness, no. The one time when the naughty seat was not an option and the situation was particularly intense I threatened spankings on bare behinds unlike any spankings they had ever previously received. Hubs let me know later he thought that was a bit extreme. I agreed. I was very calm and spoke in even, measured tones when delivering this threat and thankfully they did not test me, but I'm sure I can come up with a better alternative should that particular situation come up again.

I told Hubs that while they have certainly matured since we last spent a lot of time with them, I'm pretty sure I have changed more than they have which was key to us having an enjoyable weekend.

As enjoyable as it was Hubs and I were definitely beat when it was all over...glad to see 'em come and glad to see 'em go :)

Baby Pictures

2009-09-18T12:11:00.008-04:00

I've mentioned my brother before. He's a pretty good guy and doesn't deserve what I'm about to do. But am I going to let that stop me?

While in Arizona last month my grandma scanned a few of her pictures for me:

There's little bro with dad and me. That wrinkled forehead tells me he's thinking away on something important. Maybe the formula for world peace.

See that woven couch we're sitting on? When I was little I loved to take my safety scissors and cut threads and pull them out of the woven pattern. It did not occur to me that I was vandalizing property. It was just something fun to do! Right along with the scratches little bro and I put on the hood of car using metal poles (I have no idea what they were from) to scrape off the ice one winter...we just knew we were being the most helpful children ever.

Brother's face here says, "Oh god, grandma...why are you standing there taking pictures? This maniac you left me alone with put a bow on my head. Save me...please...for the love of all that is good". Circumstantial evidence points to me planting the bow, but that bow looks way too perfect to have been made by a 6-year-old...could there have been Mom-involvement here?

"Mom, I know I'm just a fat little baby boy and I can't talk yet, but please tell me you see the desperation in my eyes. She's making me look at her jewelry!! I should not be subjected to this torture just because I can't walk away." You can see just to the left of my arm a section of upholstery that had an encounter with me and my safety scissors.

And here he is some 21 years later, graduating college. So proud of you bro!

I am very blessed that we are close. I guess he forgave me for the hair bows and the jewelry and that time I dressed him up in my dance class outfit...he was just the prettiest little 3-year-old in that ruffly skirt, I couldn't resist. :D

A little of this, a little of that

2009-09-16T14:37:00.005-04:00

I'm here today with a meandering post of pictures taken with my phone.

Here we have Oscar. He is an at-least-6-year-old dachshund (we got him from a shelter and couldn't be sure of his age then and people are always saying he looks older, so maybe he is). Here is Oscar's morning routine:

-Get out of little dog bed beside people bed
-Follow Kimberly to see if food will be immediately served.
-Sit and stare at Kimberly to see if this will induce her to immediately serve food
-Give up; find the softest possible place on the couch
-Move only when food is served

When he's really full of himself he likes to make a small complaining "uhhhhh" sound just under his breath if you disturb him when he is in such a state. Like, if you ever so softly stroke his silken ears...he goes "uhhhhhhh...uhhhhhhh...." with each breath to make it clear that you are surely causing him mental and emotional, if not actual physical, pain. He is spoiled, and its a mystery to me how he got that way.

I love me some Oscar.

We saw this product in a store that was going out of business. Anything look strange to you?

How about the 4-year-old with the mustache? Maybe he's in some sort of a costume, but that isn't readily apparant to me, so I rate this picture "Weird".

My favorite colors as a little girl were pink and purple. Can you imagine the hyperventilating had I seen this car way back when? (On the right just behind The Pink and Purple Wonder you can see the front quarter panel of my beloved light blue Blazer. Aren't you glad I told you?)

This was enjoyed by Walt and me this past Saturday at the delectable Grits and Groceries. This is:

Miss Linda's Scallops: Pan Seared in a Lemon Caper Sauce with Cheese Grits, Mushrooms and Chopped Bacon.

Yes, all those words need to be capitalized in order to convey the delicious-ness of Miss Linda's Scallops. They were preceded by Hattie Mae's Tomato Pie and followed by a slice of chocolate chess pie. Can I please go back next Saturday and every Saturday after that??

How 'bout them Cowgirls...

2009-08-05T10:33:00.005-04:00

Despite my daydreams of being a cowgirl that title really has nothing to do with me or what I'm doing except that I am in...

(This is my grandma's purse)

the Wild West visiting my wonderful grandparents for a week.

They live in the honest-to-goodness desert: sand, saguaro cactus, cholla (pronounced "choy-uh") cactus, all manner of other cactus, bunnies, quail, javalinas (wild desert pigs), coyotes and a high yesterday of 111 degrees. I love the desert, even in August!

I've been tagging along with Grandpa on his 6 am two-mile walk. This is not stroll, folks; we were pushing a 15-minute mile pace. Don't think that sounds fast? Go outside and try it, and then let me know what you think. And then turn 79 and tell me what you think. He is in better shape than I am!

Here's a bit of what we see on our walk...

And a bit of our dinner last night...

And here's Aflac.

He earns his keep bobbing around the pool dispensing chlorine to keep the water nice and sparkling clean. He was up for a performance review, so we went for a post-dinner dip to conduct research. He's doing a great job.

Yes, I could get used to life in the desert. Except they did tell me the power was out for 20 hours a few weeks ago...so as long as I had a generator on hand to keep the AC running, I could get used to life in the desert.

Viva Las Vegas!

2009-07-20T10:32:00.008-04:00

I recently ran away to Vegas for almost two action-packed days. A college friend got married at the Flamingo hotel, and I had to be there! From her pink save-the-date card to her pink invitation (pictures to come!) to our stay in the Flamingo Hotel (how much more pink does it get??) it was a wonderful love-filled weekend.

I left my house at 4:06 am to head to the airport where a pirate was waiting at my gate. I am not kidding you. Here's the only picture I had the nerve to take with my phone:

From his black hat complete with jaunty pheasant feather over his long red hair in multiple braids to his slouchy leather boots he was a PIRATE! We finally started boarding the plane, and as I got closer to my aisle seat (18-D) who do you think I spied sitting in 18-F? Have you ever flown to Minnesota with a pirate two seats over?? Someone sat down between us otherwise I might have actually worked up the guts to ask him if he was a real pirate or only pretend.

My connecting flight to Vegas had me next to a grandfatherly Asian gentlemen who used to go gamble in Vegas 5 times a year...but now he only goes once a year or so...can you say HIGH ROLLER. (Although, why was he flying coach...) He was very nice and bought my lunch for me (you know those airplanes charge you to for everything now...pretty soon we'll have to put in a quarter to use the bathroom on board), and he and his son had the driver from their hotel drop me off at the Flamingo which saved me $12 on a shuttle van. Ladies, I promise I was on high alert and didn't just go with these guys without really making sure I felt ok about it...I was praying under my breath the whole time, and I didn't feel God trying to warn me it wasn't safe.

I got to the hotel and met up with the bride-to-be and a couple other friends around 1:30 pm VEGAS time, and we got lunch at Burger Joint right there in the Flamingo.

I had the salmon burger with cucumber dill relish and sour cream on a homemade pesto bun...yes, it was sooo good.

Then it was time to lay around one of the Flamingo's pools--there were at least 3--all of which were crammed with TONS of people hanging out. And the water was FRIGID. Of course the high temperature for the day was over 100, so in comparison to the air temperature warm water would probably have felt frigid. After we waded around and lounged on our chairs for a while it was time for dinner. The bride and groom treated all their wedding guests in town Friday night to dinner and cocktails at Bahama Breeze just down the street from the Flamingo. I can't even tell you how much fun we had combing through the extensive cocktail menu, reading about all sorts of fruity concoctions, picking what we wanted and then passing each around the table for samples. I had a caipirinha, a lemon hurricane and half of a mojito. They were SO good! The buffet dinner was also delicious, and by the end of the night I couldn't eat another bite.

We hung out with the bride for a while after dinner. I know what you're thinking: bachelorette craziness in Vegas, right? Wrong. I for one was pretty much less than zero fun for the bride. A bunch of us ladies took her to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville (also in the hotel) for drinks on the patio overlooking the Strip. I was still full from dinner, so I didn't get anything to drink, but the tiredness finally hit me and I felt like such a zombie that when a friend ordered chips and salsa I ate some to see if they would help me wake up/actually be fun. Incidently the chips and salsa were very good, and I highly recommend them if you ever find yourself at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. They did not help wake me up, so about 10:30 two of my roomies and I headed back up to the room to rest for a bit. We rejoined all the ladies in the bride-to-be's room around midnight and then about 1 am I had to call it a night. As I dragged myself in bed around 1:15 am it dawned on me that with the 3 hour time difference it was now 4:15 am at home, and I had been up for 24 hours (minus a 1-hour nap at 11 pm)!! I am just not fun enough to do that kind of thing anymore.

Wouldn't you know my eyes popped open at 6:56 am Saturday morning...our room full of 4 ladies was up, dressed and ready to go by 8 am. We were SO proud of ourselves. We went with the bride to the Paris hotel for breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi and oh-my-gosh it was SO good. I definitely want to go back when hubs and I make our Great Las Vegas Adventure Trip of a Lifetime.

I had the eggs benedict special which consisted of a perfectly toasted, chewy english muffin topped with lobster, roasted yellow pepper, poached egg and tarragon hollandaise sauce. Oh. My. Goodness. So good. Even the hashbrowns which looked pretty normal tasted fantastic.

I got to have some of this lusciousness, too. I can't remember the exact description but the words "carmelized" and "berries" were used along with a couple other seductive adjectives. And there was creme fraiche involved, too.

These were the Skinny Pancake special to supplement the other types of Skinny Pancakes on the menu. Wonder how skinny I'd be if I had these with any sort of regularity.

While we digest our delicious breakfast I'll take a break and bring you the rest of the Excellent Vegas Vacation very soon. Fun stuff!

Summer time, Beach time!

2009-07-09T08:19:00.007-04:00

Between the craziness and the laziness my blog is suffering from major neglect. I still love you, blog! I still love writing and reading!

Here's a little update: We went to the beach! Last week was a furlough week for us and what better to do during a week when one is not being paid than to go somewhere and spend money!?! Not much is better, that's what! We tend to go to places where there are lots of things to see and do (Savannah, Seattle, Chicago, Asheville, etc), but this year we decided we wanted to go somewhere warm where we could sit around and not be pressured to see/do/eat everything. We settled on Myrtle Beach after we went to Priceline, bid on and won four nights at the Sheraton Convention Center hotel 2 1/2 blocks from the beach for $55 a night!!! Can you believe that deal!!!

We swam and sat under a big beach umbrella and watched people and watched the Wednesday night fireworks at the 2nd St. pier and ate and hit TJ Maxx and Ross on the way in and went to MagiQuest (I read about this online and, being a Harry Potter fan, SO wanted to go...hubs humored me, bless him...we were definitely the only people over the age of 12 without kids in tow)...

The 2-story castle at MagiQuest

(Photo: lickyoats)

...and went clubbing one night (we discovered techno music makes for super fun dancing; for real!) and cruised Ocean Boulevard looking at all the hotels and houses and got "HOT NOW" Krispy Kreme doughnuts and went shag dancing at Fat Harold's...it was such fun, and we can't wait to go back. I have lived in South Carolina my entire life and have never been to Myrtle Beach that I know of (except a 2 night stay 9 years ago at Garden City Beach just down the road). I'm glad I've remedied that problem.

I really enjoyed driving along Ocean Boulevard looking at the larger fancy houses and smaller fancy houses and cute beach cottages on the north end and hotel after hotel afterhotelafterhotelafterhotel (really, its crazy) on the south end, many of which have that kitschy-retro vibe and have been around for years. My favorite was the...

(Photo: Cary Scott Photography)

Cutest sign!

This trip only increased my love for the beach. I just know that someday I will have my own dreamy little cottage by the sea, and until then I will fill my house with shells and sand and these beauties that I can make with my own two hands...

(Photo and wreath: Paint, Decorate, Design on the Cheap)

(Photo: Heather Bullard)

Cindy has a tutorial for making a shell wreath like hers.

(Photo and wreath: Cindy at My Romantic Home)

In other news I'm very excited to be going to Vegas(!!) for my friend's wedding this weekend. Yay for weddings! I've never been to Vegas, and this will be a very short trip, so I will definitely have to go again and take hubs with me.

Here's hoping you are having a lovely summer time!

In the Good Ole Summertime...

2009-06-25T23:46:00.004-04:00

Ah, summer.

Time for a little bit of this...

from our local strawberry patch sliced, sugared and eaten with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream (the only vanilla I've ever wanted to eat plain).

Perfect time for this...

Squash that hubs grew (yay, hubs!) and grilled with olive oil, salt and pepper; and fennel rice salad I made (the leftovers were great; I didn't have scallions so I left them out). What a lovely summer meal.

The other night we realized it was time for this, too...

Green tomatoes and squash from our garden fried up just right by the Mr. YUM!! Hubs, have I told you lately you're the best hubs ever?

This plate is ALL hub's doing: squash and green tomatoes he grew and then turned into fried green tomatoes (with some jarred marinara sauce), fried squash, grilled squash and squash casserole.

Is this man good or what??!

Summer + Hubs makes for a very lovely time indeed.

Blog posts I've enjoyed

2009-06-18T08:59:00.008-04:00

(Picture: ___Ally via Flickr)

Where does the time go? I have so many projects to do and pictures to take and posts to post...for now I'll share a round-up of some posts I have really enjoyed recently:

Surprise benefits of an uncluttered life -- this is hub's and my goal in housekeeping. We want to have a comfortable house for us and one that is ready for guests whenever they should appear. We are still working toward this!

Do you have a big 'But...'? -- there are excuses for anything and everything in life. Nothing changes when we use excuses, but the potential for great things to happen when excuses are let go is just too big to ignore. I am working on getting rid of my big 'But...'!! Literally and figuratively!

Everyone can learn to be organized -- there is hope for me! Actually I've come a long way from where I used to be, and this post is very encouraging as I continue on my quest for organization in all areas of life.

Are you an unclutterer? -- not fully, but I'm working on it! Clutter can take on many forms, and I don't want to fool with any of them.

(Picture: Country Living via My Sweet Savannah)

~for the birds~ -- Oh, how I love bird cages! This post has some great eye candy.

You never know what will inspire you next. Keep your eyes open and notice the little things!

Oh, the conviction

2009-06-02T08:44:00.008-04:00

(Photo credit: fensterbme)

So I got on the scale several weeks ago after not getting on the scale for several months because of a dead battery. The scale's dead battery, not mine. And I was NOT pleased with what I saw. And I already knew I'd been eating too much and that my clothes were feeling tight, so the number shouldn't have been a surprise, but don't we hold out hope that things will be different than we know them to be? In so many areas of life? I do. I still walk in the door after work hoping my fairy godmother has dinner all ready for us.

So I'm back to weighing in once a week, monitering my portion sizes and my calorie intake and fitting in exercise where I can. I still eat pretty much whatever I want; I just have to pay attention to how much I eat.

Several weeks ago I signed up for daily "Devotion for Dieters" emails from Crosswalk (they have all sorts of daily devotionals), and today's was REALLY good. Let me share it with you:

June 2

1 John 3:2-3
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Sometimes we fool ourselves into believing that to be like Jesus means to act like Him or think like Him or pray like Him, and we ignore that we should try to look like Him, too. We don't know that Jesus was thin, but we can be confident that He was not overweight, because He preached moderation and denounced gluttony. He cared for Himself, and He called others to care for themselves, also. How wonderful it would be to be able to stand face-to-face with our Lord and to mirror Him in both His spiritual and physical perfection!

Today's thought: When people look at me, I want them to see Jesus!

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Yikes! Is that clear and specific or what!

Here are some sites that I've found to be very helpful in my journey to learn about health and proper nutrition:

My Pyramid website
What Would Jesus Eat by Dr. Don Colbert

God, help me to drink my water today and savor my food and partake of the proper amount. I want people to see Jesus when they look at me!

1 Year of Pink Saturday!

2009-05-30T09:12:00.007-04:00

Happy 1st Birthday, Pink Saturday! Beverly made Pink Saturday a group event one year ago, and aren't we glad? Check Beverly's site How Sweet The Sound for tons more posts on pink!
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I took a stroll through my archives to see what I could find...

June 2007: Pink suitcase, estate sale near Cross Hill, SC. I love how the light reflecting off the suitcase is turning the concrete pillar behind it pink. The lady who owned this suitcase also had...

A pink and purple kitchen! What a fun lady! This part of the house was closed to the public, so I got the best picture I could from a distance, and I'm pretty sure I got fussed at :)

Sunday, August 19, 2007: Orchids at the Palo Alto, CA farmer's market.

Thursday August 16, 2007: Glads (I think) at the Medford, Oregan farmer's market.

November 2007: The Birthday Queen, I mean, hubs trying out a wonderful pink product at Swoozie's in Greenville, SC.

May 30, 2009: Hubs will have his revenge in this life or the next when he finds out I've posted this picture.

What a wonderful Pink year its been! Thank you, Beverly!

Easter Egg Garland Swap

2009-05-26T22:31:00.000-04:00

Jennifer of Artrageous Afternoon hosted an Easter Egg Garland swap several months ago, and after a great and yet-to-be-posted experience with a Valentine card swap I jumped at the chance to trade more paper art. We each decorated 5 eggs and sent them to Jennifer who shuffled them up, put them into banner form with a ribbon and teeny clothes pins and sent them back.

By Amy Wald

Who made this one?? It wasn't signed! And they went all out decorating side 1 and...

Side 2; lovely!

By Melinda of Melinda's Fabric Fancies; here's her post about some of the eggs she made.

By Joanna of Sweet Finds; here's her post about the eggs she made.

Who made this one??

Here are the eggs I contributed to the swap.

I had to make a 6th one for me to keep of course! As you can see I tend to be pretty precise in my paper art; I'm working on being a bit more relaxed and free form. It's a process, and I'm excited to see where I end up!

I wish that all the artists had labeled their Easter eggs; as you can see there are couple that were blank, so I have no idea who to thank.

This was such a fun swap and now I have a wonderful piece to add to my Easter and spring decor. Thanks to Jennifer and to each of the talented ladies whose lovely Easter eggs I received!

Pink Saturday/Majestic Feathers Tag Swap

2009-05-23T10:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Pink Saturday! Beverly has the full list of bloggers posting about pink this Saturday, so check it out!

Jenny of Fated Follies hosted the Majestic Feathers Tag swap calling for tags, and I quote, "decorated with fancy birds, royal hues, crowns and majestic notions." Oh that sounded fun, so I had to sign up!

I envisioned deep purple tags decorated with peacocks in royal blues and teals, sporting real feathers in their tails. I bought a bundle of peacock feathers on Ebay and was so excited until I noticed the (not so) fine print: they would be shipping from Hong Kong...and would arrive in about 2 weeks. Plan B! I found some fluffy white feathers and sparkly pink crowns had me envisioning bright yellow and pink tags featuring white birds. Of course these tags evolved in the creative process as art projects do and I ended up with these which I really like:

A little pink castle on the back of each tag livens up my contact info (written in pink, of course).

I can't wait to receive the tag booklet of 12 tags each done by a different artist!

These tags show that the inclusion of other colors can actually serve to enhance our beloved pink. Doesn't it look even happier and more vibrant next to the cheerful yellow and the snowy white? I think so.

Happy Pink Saturday!

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-22T18:34:00.004-04:00

Before I start this Mother's Day post I need to recognize today, May 22, as a very special day and say Happy Birthday, Mom!

Now on to the Mother's Day Brunch 2009 recap!

The brother, the mother, me

This past Friday saw another yummy Mother's Day brunch and a very fun day for my mom and me.

We had:
Half and Half with Lemonade Ice Cubes
Blueberry Maple Breakfast Bake
Cardamom Citrus Fruit Salad
Kale with Pinto Beans and Roasted Red Peppers
Sage-Mustard Breakfast Sausage
Ricotta-Mascarpone Mousse with Balsamic Strawberries

It was all delicious! My notes for next time:

--The lemonade tea was a bit tart for me, so I would increase the simple syrup by another 1/4 to 1/2 cup. I didn't leave enough time for the ice cubes to freeze, so they were a bit liquidy. Next time I will make the lemonade and the ice cubes a day ahead.

--The blueberry maple bake was SO easy, SO delicious and looked very impressive; I assembled it the night before and put it straight into the oven an hour before lunch. I want to try it with whole wheat bread next time.

--Instead of cutting up all the fruit for the citrus salad I took a shortcut and mostly used drained canned fruit: citrus salad, red grapefruit and mandarin oranges. I did actually section one navel orange myself. The salad was great; yay, canned fruit! Next time I would make the salad the day before.

--This kale dish is SO good. I made it for dinner a couple weeks ago and both hubs and I liked it. I am always looking for ways to make our vegetables interesting and yummy, and this recipe is GREAT. Mom likes veggies, so I thought she might like this (she did!).

--Sausage was easy and yummy. I used powdered sage as my local store didn't have fresh sage. Next time I will either make the meat mixture a day ahead and cook the sausage right before lunch, or cook the sausages a day ahead and heat them up before lunch.

--OH MY GOSH...ricotta-mascarpone mousse + balsamic strawberries = HEAVEN. Absolute heaven. I had some of the left over strawberries and mousse for breakfast Saturday AND Sunday...so ridiculously good. This is a simple dish, and it looks all frou frou and impressive. And in case I didn't say, its delicious.

--Each time I host a dinner I see myself improving. From absolutely wigging out and darting around getting not much of anything done to this time working steadily without wigging out, I'm getting closer and closer to having the food on the table when I want to with an absolute minimum of stress. This time I made a timeline detailing when to do each step in the whole process, but I didn't plan enough time in for prep work (chopping things, etc...I chop really slowly), so I will give myself more wiggle room in my next timeline. I also left myself too much to prepare the day of the brunch. Next time I will prepare as much of the food as possible the day before, so that the day of I have very little to do and can spend more time on the details (presentation, table decoration etc).
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The little brother ("little" as in he turned 22 this year) came a bit early and hung out as he had to race back to work. Sadly Dad had to work, so he didn't make it to lunch. Hubs, mom and I had a relaxed time over our lunch talking about all sorts of things. Hubs took mom on a tour of our two vegetable gardens. Mom and I talked and looked at my blog; I let her read the entire first page before I told her no more, she could read my blog at her house, we had to go have fun now :) I presented her with a little gift bag containing a Mother's Day treat, and she wanted me to take a picture before she opened it, so we ended up outside on the front stoop. She wanted one of the pots of begonias I had planted to be in the picture, too (I swear, she's just about the cutest woman you will ever meet...she really takes delight in the small things like a pot of begonias her daughter managed not to kill), so she ended up sitting on the front stoop next to the pot. After a couple pictures I came and sat down as she opened her little treat (chocolate covered cherries from Italy! she loves choc covered cherries).

There we were sitting on the stoop looking out over the yard that is luxuriously shaded with not 1, not 2, but 3 of the cutest trees you'll ever see. The sky was blue with a few puffy white clouds, the birds were singing and a breeze was blowing. Cue another one of those moments where you just have to feel grateful for all God has given you.
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After we tore ourselves away from admiring the lovely day, I introduced her to Schwartzentruber's Bakery here in Abbeville; we left with danish for dad, wheat bread and slices of homemade cake (I got pound cake with lemon icing...it was soooo good). Then we trolled through our local video place and after much consideration we came away with Twilight (she hadn't seen it and wanted to). After a short drive around Abbeville we made one last very important stop: the ice cream shop. Can it really be girls' day without ice cream present? Ice creams in hand we headed home and settled in for the movie before she headed home. It was a lovely, lovely day! I don't remember the last time we spent time doing whatever we wanted without much of a deadline. I think she really enjoyed herself, and hopefully she felt very loved and celebrated.
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Here we are; and the begonias, too :)

Animal Abuse

2009-05-21T13:18:00.004-04:00

Why is this dog wearing a chain and padlock around its neck?

This dog was playing with another dog in the parking lot at work as hubs and I left for lunch today. It was not a very big dog, maybe 30 pounds or so, and the chain was big. It looked to be a Pit Bull mix and the other one, who seemed to be wearing an actual collar, looked like a Beagle mix with a smidge of Basset Hound. Both dogs came right up to us when we whistled and were only too happy for us to love on them for a couple minutes.

Of course my mind jumps to dogfighting and assumes that this chain is evidence that this dog is being trained to make its owner money, because that is something that I have learned recently does happen in our area. I just don't understand how someone could treat an animal with so little respect. Gabby of Sweetest Pea recently talked about her soft spot for animals, and I could identify. It really hurts to think of animals who suffer at the hands of those they should trust to care for them. This type of activity happens when the rest of us do nothing; please check out the Humane Society's website to find out if there is anything you can do to help prevent animal abuse in your area.

Maybe this dog's owner simply thought it would be cool to replace this sweet pup's collar and tag with a chain and padlock. Again I ask, why?

Pink Saturday: NYC Blooms Pink

2009-05-16T10:37:00.004-04:00

Happy Pink Saturday! Beverly has a round up of all the bloggers participating, so go check out more Saturday pinkness.

In April 2008 I visited New York City for the first time for a very short weekend business trip. My colleague and I arrived early on Friday so that we could squeeze in a few hours of sightseeing, and walking down 5th Avenue to make our lunch reservation at Gramercy Tavern (absolutely delicious, can't WAIT to go there again), we stumbled upon Madison Square Park just across the street from the Flatiron Building. And we found these lovely trees in bloom:

Huge branches of light pink blossoms were hanging right over the sidewalk, so we both had to stop and take pictures.

This picture doesn't show it, but the sunlight coming through the branches was SO beautiful...I had one of those moments when I am so full of whatever beautiful thing I'm looking at and so happy to be alive.

Just around the corner from Gramercy Tavern we wandered into this florist shop. They had so many interesting and gorgeous flowers and, to their credit, they had their bases covered with some amazing pink blooms.

A peony, maybe?

Are these ranunculus? Whatever they are, they are gorgeous!

Have a wonderful Pink Saturday!

Mother's Day 2008

2009-05-13T23:29:00.004-04:00

This will be the 3rd year that I will have a Mother's Day brunch to honor my mom. I say "will have" because this year it hasn't happened yet. We spent Sunday with the hub's mom, and Mother's Day Part Deux will be this Friday.

Two years ago I made all the food, packed it in an elaborate system of insulated bags with cold packs and hoped it would make it through church (I was helping with the children's service, so I couldn't skip it) and the 35 minute drive to my parents' house. It did! And it was delicious. I took much of the menu from Food Network's suggested Mother's Day Menu 2007: Strawberry Bellinis, Fresh Fruit and Mint Salad, Orange Glazed Blueberry Scones, Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Frittata, green salad using lettuce hubs grew, maybe roasted asparagus (can't remember...) and I think there was a dessert, but I don't remember what it was...in any case Mom felt very special which was the point of the whole thing.

So this past year I thought, "Why not run that play again!" except this time I worked it out for Mom to come to me...it was a huge endeavor to transport all the food, and thankfully she didn't mind making the hour drive if it meant she didn't have to cook, wash the dishes, or wait in line for 2 hours at her favorite restaurant.

I had recently discovered Tracy's delightful blog Notes on a Cottage Industry, and I just loved all of her tablescapes and cute banners, so I set out to do something really cute a la Tracy for my mom.

I set the table and printed the menu and place cards the night before, because I knew having the table ready would be a great comfort when I was freaking out trying to get all the food done (not to mention all the last minute house cleaning) the next day. Pretty much I dealt with the food and hubs scurried around getting the house all squared away: THANK YOU, BABE!

My inspirations were two pink scrapbook papers from the Martha Stewart collection at Michael's: a cream and light pink toile and a sparkly, deep pink. From those I pulled together a pink, white and silver table color scheme punctuated with plenty of sparkly glass. I used a plain white table cloth and white plates as the backdrop. The bouquet of gorgeous pink tulips (Mom's favorites) at the top of this post was the main attraction with candlesticks, silver Christmas ornaments (use what you got!), silver votive cups and a collection of vintage pearl and rhinestone earrings providing the rest of the table decoration. I rummaged through my jewelry to find several bracelets that fit the color scheme to serve as napkin rings and put placecards printed on that gorgeous sparkly pink paper at each place.

Even Mom's gift had a dash of fuchsia.

The menu card was printed on the toile paper.

We had:

Champagne Lemonade

Tuscan Salad

French Toast Casserole

Chicken Sausage (although I think I used turkey instead of chicken...)

Strawberry Salad Ring (It's actually called Strawberry Mold...and I just couldn't type that on my beautiful toile menu card. And of course I decided at the last minute to make it in a square dish instead of the ring, and no way was I reprinting that menu card :) )

Chocolate Mousse

Cause I'm mean and want to show you pictures that will make you drool, take a look at the French Toast Casserole.

Oh, yeah...it was even better than it looks. It's a Paula Deen recipe, so you can be sure it is going to be sinfully good. After it was all said and done the dish was scraped CLEAN.

The final touch on the whole shebang was this cuuuuuute (if I do say so myself) "Mother O' Mine" banner fashioned after one that Tracy made for her mom. I alternated the two inspiration papers and strung the letters on a black ribbon.

Mom loved her event! She is just about the most gracious guest you will ever find, and she oohed and aahed over everything and just made me feel so good. We two plus Dad, brother and hubs had a great time eating some great food (thank you, Food Network!) and celebrating our mom/mom-in-law/wife.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!

Vintage Spring Sweetness Swap

2009-05-11T20:11:00.001-04:00

Linda at A Swap For All Seasons has such fun swap themes, and I was so excited to participate in the Vintage Spring Sweetness Swap she organized recently. Thrifty Homemaker Angela was my partner, and she absolutely spoiled me!

She sent a box stuffed full of sweet spring goodies: candy (chocolate, marshmallows and Chick-O-Sticks), vintage goodies (detail below), lace ribbons, spring tags and sticky notes, Easter ornaments and a potpourri sachet.

Love the little vintage towel, saucer and postcard!

Angela, thank you for such a great box of surprises!

Here's what I sent Angela:

Vintage homemaking magazines, pink Peeps (Peeps have been around since the 50's, so they fit the vintage theme quite nicely), vintage spring-themed playing cards, a vintage hand towel from the Etsy shop Lilly's Cottage, an ornament that looked quite vintage to me and a spring banner I made for Angela. Our challenge this time was to try not to spend more than $10 and I had such fun searching for just the right items that I thought Angela would enjoy while sticking as close as I could to the swap parameters (total spent, vintage, spring).

Angela mentioned that she likes vintage homemaking magazines, so I thought she would enjoy these magazines from the 70's and the old farm cook book.

I found these vintage playing cards in the Etsy shop Frivolous Whimsy...and they were so cute I almost kept them :)

I am pretty proud of this banner; is that vain? I really enjoy making these, and I hope it adds some spring sweetness to Angela's home.

Linda had several drawings for cute spring-y vintage items for those of us in the swap and look who got the very last one!

I can't wait to find just the right use for this little charm.

Thank you, Linda, for a great swap and thank you, Angela, for my wonderful goodies!

Mission Skydive #2: Accomplished!

2009-05-10T22:40:00.002-04:00

I did it again! Jump-out-of-airplane #2 happened on Saturday, May 2 at about 5 pm. Aaaiiiii, it was FUN!!!!!!

Here's the video!

When my feet were back on the ground after my first jump in November I knew I wanted to jump again, and I couldn't pass up the chance to buy my second jump at 50% off original price if paid for before I left the drop zone that day. Those skydiving people are crafty ones.

It was imperative to jump before hot, humid summer arrived. I don't like to sweat and there would be nothing but sweating going on were I to be wearing that long-sleeved jumpsuit on pretty much any day in June, July, August, September or even late May for that matter, thus May 2 was chosen. My friend Jill, who has wanted to go skydiving since she was 16, was very excited to accompany me for her first jump...jumping with a friend is so fun!!

I did notice that in the weeks leading up to May 2 I felt oddly nervous when I thought about jumping for a second time. I got to the point where I avoided thinking about it. I don't like to feel nervous...it can lead to sweating. I started checking the weather about 10 days out: scattered thunderstorms for Chester, SC. Oh no! Except the closer the day came the more I noticed a tiny little part of me that thought, "Maybe they'll have to cancel and reschedule...", a tiny traitorous part that actually sort of hoped for a reprieve to give me some time to work out my nerves. The weekend arrived and so did Jill (bearing lemon cake, bless her heart! Jill, you come back anytime now, y'hear!) and I started to think about all the fun things Jill and I could do with our day when we wouldn't have to make the drive to and from Chester, PLUS Jill could come back for another visit the weekend of the rescheduled skydive...perfect!

The morning of the EVENT weather.com was calling for storms to start at 3 pm in Chester...we were scheduled to jump between 4 and 5 pm. It didn't look good/it looked great! (dang traitor in my head) Maggie, the very sweet woman at Skydive Carolina who talked to me every time I called to ask what the weather verdict was, finally admitted that they couldn't be sure what the weather would do, and it was our call...and darn Jill and her excited yet rational self...she pointed out that this could just as easily happen again when we rescheduled the jump, thus we should take our chances and go. Sigh, ok, here we go.

Don't you know the sky was sunny and blue with puffy clouds floating lazily along when we got to the drop zone around 1 pm. At one point during the afternoon there was one ominous looking dark cloud that hung around for about 15 minutes and then drifted away. I began to realize that I wasn't going to be getting out of anything...except for an airplane at approximately 14,000 feet. I was so nervous! And I still have no idea why! I had no worries about anything bad happening, so I really don't know what my deal was. My tandem instructor did tell me later that it was common for people to be more nervous about their second dive. Ok, so I'm not a lone weenie at least; there are lots of weenies sort of like me!

We hung out and watched several plane loads go up: I was nervous.
We sat around and watched a team practice their freefall formations before going up: I was nervous.
We watched people repack parachutes: I was nervous.
We watched the "you can't sue us if you die" video and went through the training with Chuck, my instructor from my last jump: I was nervous.
We suited up and I met Robert West my tandem instructor for this jump: He was so nice! I was still nervous.

Oh and remember how that small suit didn't work out for me last time? Um, the medium suit was MIGHTY SNUG this time...sigh...so, eating too much + not exercising enough really does have the effect they say, huh. Well, I'm working on that now. (I should say I'm relying heavily on God to help me work on that now and stick to it. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (And so can you if you let God help! Grab a Bible and read Phillipians chapter 4, verse 13)) We got on the plane, and BOY WAS I NERVOUS.

Even my hair looks nervous.

Honestly I don't remember the last time I have been so swamped with fear. I was praying as hard as I could and just deciding that I wasn't going to let the fear overwhelm me. It was a struggle, and I clung to God the whole time. I watched my altimeter on the way up so I'd be prepared when the instruction came to put my little diving hat on and get ready. We goofed around for the video, got all hooked up and suddenly that plane door was sliding up and people were falling out left and right...on purpose...and my turn was coming.

My goal for this jump was to keep my eyes open during freefall, and I was determined to follow through. I even paid for another video plus still pictures to encourage me to make the expense worthwhile. That's why I got them...not because I love to see myself in pictures or anything (haha...ha, ok, that was sarcasm). So I was thinking, "Keep your eyes open keep your eyes open, Kimberly, YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!"

I did actually help with the scooting down the bench this time (as opposed to last time when I wasn't actively resisting, but I sure wasn't helping Chuck get us closer to that gaping hole in the side of plane), but only because I was practicing wearing my big girl panties. Oh, look, there's my dear friend there by the door about to--oh, there she went...we're at the door, Robert says, "Ready, And, Arch!" and out we go. And I am staring at Terry my video flyer with all my might. And my eyes are open! And it is AMAZING! I am immediately really excited and proud of myself and trying to take it all in and mug for the camera, and did I mention I was proud of myself? These big girl panties sort of fit, don't they! (And that is no comment on my slightly too-snug, size medium jump suit)

My only issue this time is that I can't figure out how to breathe with all the wind in my face...so I'm gulping like a fish the whole time. If you watched the video you may have noticed this strange behavior. Gulping results in pictures like this:

Yeah, not cute. But that just means that I have goals for next time! (That and my atrocious form...arms were supposed to be bent 90 degrees, not straight in front of me Superman-style, and I was supposed to arch so that my legs were pushed up behind me, not dangling down in front) Terry offered the mid freefall spin just as video man Pete did last time, but I wasn't ready for that yet, so you can see me in the video try to let him know a couple times I'm not up for the spinning. This gesturing resulted in pictures like this:

But gorgeous pictures skillfully taken of me making horrid, unflattering faces aside, THE JUMP WAS AMAZING! Keeping one's eyes open adds SO MUCH to the experience! Duh, right?? Makes sense...I was absolutely overwhelmed by the sight of the clouds and the sky and the ground and the tiny trees and Terry falling right with me, and the loud rush of wind. So overwhelmed and absorbed that I forgot all about checking my altimeter at any point. In the plane Robert had showed me the rip cord attached to me and said, "If you get scared or you see that we are at 3 or 4000 feet and I haven't opened the chute, you pull this", and I said, "Ok!" I am very glad Robert was awake and on the job because I was having such a good time I didn't think anything about how many thousand feet up we were at any given moment.

Once he pulled the chute and we slowed down I couldn't help but yell, I was SO excited about the amazing freefall. Bless Robert's heart, he's trying to do his parachute thing and I'm all, "OH MY GOSH THAT WAS AMAZING! WHOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WOOOOOOOW! THAT WAS AMAZING!" I was so full of the amazing thing we had done I just couldn't keep it in. He said it was a great jump as we had been stable (falling on our stomachs) from the very start without any flips or rolls. Cool! I like to think I helped with that in some way. I didn't, but I still like to think that.

The canopy ride was of course absolutely fun and amazing; I could even see Jill and Chuck below and in front of us. The wind was right for Jill and Chuck to do a stand-up landing while Robert and I scooted to a very soft sit-down stop. Jill has actually written up her experience here, so you can see what it was like from her perspective.

What an amazing adventure it was. It was SO much fun to share this experience with a friend, and I can't WAIT for my next jump!

Pink Saturday: First rose

2009-04-25T07:48:00.004-04:00

Happy Pink Saturday! Doesn't Beverly do a wonderful job hosting this event? Thank you, Beverly!

Hubs brought in the first rose of the year off of one of our rose bushes yesterday.

And how to describe the scent...light and sweetly citrus like fresh lemonade. How blessed we are that the right plant + sun + soil + water results in such beauty.

Have a wonderful Pink day!

Adventures of a goat wrangler or my life in crime: Part 1

2009-04-21T09:24:00.000-04:00

(Photo credit: chromatophobe on flickr)

I feel a need to share some of the situations in which I've found myself during the course of my life. Maybe I need to clear my conscience. Mainly I hope to make you laugh. In any case here we begin one of those stories.

Hubs and I had been involved with a community organization that helps animals (I'm leaving all names out to protect the innocent) for about 4 months when the group received word that, through an unfortunate turn of events, a herd of goats in a neighboring town found themselves with no caretakers. They had broken through their fence and periodically wandered around the neighborhood wreaking havoc, and I guess eating things that didn't belong to them. Our group was led to believe that the town would appreciate our help with the goats. We decided to see what we could do, and hubs actually located a family, we'll call them Dave and Leeane, with pasture land who would be glad to have a free herd of goats. We told the family where to find the goats; they borrowed a trailer and met one of our group members at the site one morning a day or so later (a Wednesday I believe and the day before Valentine's 2008) and between them got 14 of the 30 or so goats loaded up with the idea to drop them off and return for the rest of the herd. That's great! We were so excited to have helped so quickly!

Evidently when Dave returned later in the morning for the rest of the goats some person stopped to talk to him; the details of this are fuzzy, but whatever happened it kicked off a day full of more entertainment than strictly necessary. Just after lunch I received a call at work that there were policemen waiting for Dave and he was told if the 14 STOLEN (!!!) goats were not returned by 5 pm that day he would be LOCKED UP! I should stop here and say that I was highly suspicious of the lock-up story, but had no way to get to the bottom of things before the 5 pm deadline (I was at work for goodness' sake). Later I heard from a different source that some member of the police department lived down the road, noticed the trailer go by, and dropped by to inform Dave that these particular goats were wrapped up in a probate court case and could not legally be removed from the premises. Supposedly this guy was off duty and just informing Dave of the facts of the situation...which wasn't quite the SWAT team scenario I was first given, but who knows what really happened. In any case it turned out that our group had been misled as these goats had not actually been eligible for assistance. Antics ensue.

I felt strongly that hubs and I needed to help Dave and family get those first 14 goats returned since we were the reason they knew about the goats in the first place. Just shove the lot in the trailer one more time and dump them back in their field, right? Wrong. I guess Dave in his panicked state imprudently shared the story with the owner of the trailer who, fearing some sort of trouble for himself through indirect involvement, decided his trailer had best stay safe at home with him. Now needed: one trailer.

I have lived in small town South Carolina my whole life, so you might assume I know something about livestock. The sum total of my involvement with farm animals consists of driving past pastures containing horses and cows and goats (and maybe rolling down the window to moo at a cow every now and then. Don't lie, you've done it). I hope to own some goats and chickens one day, but at the moment the approximately 160 pounds of dogs running around my yard is as close as I get to the barn yard. I don't have a trailer, and I don't know anybody who has a trailer. I called any and everyone I could think of. I called our local farm supply store to ask if they knew of trailer rental places and was told "No..." in a tone that suggested the employee felt there was something wrong with my brain function. What was I thinking asking the farm store if they knew where to find some farm equipment?!?!

I was at the end of my ideas, so I called hubs (who had taken the day off work) and said, "I can't find a trailer anywhere; what are we going to do..." And my man came up with it: U-Haul. So simple, so unexpected, yet...it just might work! When he said that magic word all worry went out of my head. Hubs can do anything, so I knew once he settled on a plan our lock-up fears were over.

Crisis management team Hubs and Co. sprang into action. I called various members of our group to see if anyone could help us return the "stolen" property. I called Dave and Leeane to coordinate when we would arrive (hubs and I had to plan around the play practice we had immediately after work. We were Auntie Em and Uncle Henry in our community theater's production of The Wizard of Oz...we may not be farmers, but we play some on stage...God has a sense of humor, people). Hubs secured the truck. Yes, truck. 14 ft moving truck to be specific. I wondered if we could fit 14 goats in the truck...I felt royally stupid later when I saw the goats and realized that even though these were BIG goats we could have fit about 50 of them in there.

To be continued...

And they say there's no hope for our young people...

2009-04-20T16:54:00.006-04:00

(Photo credit: nbklx17 / Sandy)

Argh: so much to blog and so little time. I'm sure none of you out there have that problem...

My 22 year old brother just called to apologize for seeming short when I called him yesterday to ask him an important question. The facts:

1) The important question: "So I'm in Marshall Homegoods, and I'm trying to decide between the fig and cocoa spread from Croatia or the walnut preserves from Armenia. What do you think?"

2) He may have rolled his eyes or thought, "Are you kidding me..." but he didn't let on and instead gave me his opinion: fig and cocoa spread.

3) He is a senior in college (I swear he was 4 years old yesterday...where has the time gone!?!) and has an avalanche of papers and projects due. I knew this and only expected to be on the phone for about 30 seconds.

My thoughts on this situation after his call today:

1) Could you ask for a sweeter 22 year old, male or female?

2) His future wife will no doubt greatly benefit from this level of thoughtfulness.

3) I love this guy!

I assured him that he was so sweet to apologize, but that I knew he had a lot to do and I hadn't thought twice about his hopping off the phone after solving my crisis situation.

What a great kid. I have a lump in my throat right this very minute.

Pink Saturday banner

2009-03-29T09:54:00.004-04:00

Good Sunday morning! Let's relive a bit of Pink Saturday, shall we?

I made this pink banner for my swap partner Angela for Linda's Vintage Spring Sweetness swap over at A Swap For All Seasons. I'll be posting the rest of what I sent and what I got soon. Linda is a great swap hostess and she'll be announcing her summer swap in the next few days, so check it out!

See those pink and white curtains behind my banner?? Those are part of my pink room that will someday make it to Pink Saturday. You'll love it!

Perfect today

2009-03-20T14:33:00.007-04:00

Today is my perfect kind of day. Happy sun, blue sky, no clouds. There's the slightest hint of a nip in the air, and its a little chilly in the shade, but in the sun my black tee can soak up the rays until I'm pleasantly warm. The breeze gives me a little shiver, but a good one.

It's like this...

(Photo credit: Sascha Corti)

or this. I don't know her but she's enjoying my perfect day.

(Photo credit: lesamonster)

This is the kind of day that makes me glad to be alive, proud to be American (I can't explain this one...I've experienced gorgeous weather in other countries, too), humbled to be a child of God and thankful that I let myself delight in something as simple as the weather (we don't need to talk about how much of an impact bad weather has one me...this is a happy post). I want to be close to nature on a day like today. And, ask hubs, I am NOT a nature girl. He likes to ask me how long its been since I've set foot in the back yard. I try to explain that there is nothing for me in the back yard, and what's the point of his question anyway. Then I pull a dirty trick like asking him when was the last time he ran the dishwasher :D (Its a dirty trick, because hubs often rescues me from the piles of handwash items that I let languish for embarrassingly long periods of time...I tell him I've been busy in the back yard)

Today I would like to run away with hubs and lay in a hammock in the sun. Or lay in a pile of squishy pillows on a window seat in the sun. Or ride a horse in the sun. Or any outdoor activity that results in perspiration on a normal summer day, I would like to do that today in the sun.

Weather.com has crunched the numbers of my perfect day and here's what it looks like:

-Sunny

-61 degrees F

-UV Index: 7 High (ok, I have to be careful with this one. I'm white as a sheet, and I'm on acne medicine (27 and on acne meds, yay!) that makes me sensitive to the sun...puts a damper on all my "in the sun" activities, huh)

-Wind: From NE at 10 mph

-Humidity: 20%

-Pressure: 30.26 inches (what the heck does that mean?)

-Visibility: 10.0 miles

God is so good to give me a day like this.

Butt cheeks

2009-03-13T10:50:00.007-04:00

I am not your typical person. I don't say this in an "I'm sooo amazing" way...more like a "wow...I'm so weird..." way. A way that makes hubs shake his head and wonder sometimes...and be SO glad that he'll be entertained for the rest of his life, you know it!

Example:

Conversation between hubs and I as we left Wal-Mart several weeks ago:

Hubs (holding out little tin of saddle soap): "Know what that's for?"

Me (having absolutely no idea but deciding to throw something out there) : "Um, your baseball glove."

Hubs: "Nope! My butt cheeks!"

Me (somewhat surprised hubs was divulging this information as he tends to keep subjects such as this fairly private, but not wanting him to feel like he shared more than he should have): "Awwww, babe, are they chapped?"

Hubs (pause, furrowing brow and looking at me in the "What the...?" way): "Ok...what do you think I said?"

Me: "Butt cheeks"

Hubs (feeling like he shared more than he should have): "I said BOAT SHOES!"

I doubled over in the Wal-Mart parking lot and laughed hard for quite some time. Hubs shook his head and wondered at the fact that he had all this to himself for the rest of his life.

"My Deodorant Failed Me" or "Danger: Too Much Information Ahead"

2009-03-10T22:53:00.003-04:00

You read the title, right? There is definitely TMI ahead, so consider yourself warned.

Um, today was rough. I guess mostly the end of it where I smelled worse than I've ever smelled in my life. And I really had no good reason to, like running 10 miles or even just 1.

I am trying to save the world. I have reusable grocery bags (which I actually remembered to take to the store for the first time on Sunday! I've had them for months), natural dishwashing paste (mixed reviews on that one...it left my stainless silverware cloudy), whole wheat pasta, lots of tofu and the chemical-free deodorant alluded to above.

There are lots of chemicals in most of the mass produced soaps and cleansers we find in stores; these additives are harsh on our skin and bad for the Earth. I've found great natural soaps that perform beautifully, so several months ago I embarked on a mission to switch to a chemical-free deodorant. I first tried out Tom's of Maine in one of the scents...I think it was Lemongrass. That worked pretty well if I really put it on heavily, but it was a bit harsh and burned a bit after a while and actually made the skin around my armpits (can you believe I typed THAT word on my blog?!) peel a little bit. So next I tried Tom's of Maine unscented which didn't irritate my skin, but every once in a while it would fail me a bit. I remember the first time I noticed it I was reaching for a paint sample in Lowe's and got quite an embarrassing surprise. I had had a dinner date with my brother earlier that evening after which I definitely hugged him, so I had to call him and apologize for any...offense. So embarrassing. So I redoubled my efforts to apply plenty of natural Earth-saving Tom's.

In light of the ok results with the Tom's products I decided to audition a new player: Kiss My Face Active Enzyme Fragrance Free. I think I started using that this past Sunday. Monday went pretty well. Than came Tuesday.

Its late afternoon today and I'm washing my hands after a bathroom break. While reaching for the paper towels...yes, you guessed it, another embarrassing surprise. I was like, "Shoot! I'm just trying to save the Earth here!" I had sweated a tiny bit while running errands at lunch time (to clarify I didn't run at all...it was pretty warm today, though), but not enough to warrant an embarrassing surprise. We were done for the day just a couple hours later, and I decided to wait and shower after the 30 minute walk (2nd one in two days...we're trying to save ourselves along with the Earth!) with hubs. It was just a walk! But by the time I got back the situation had gone from bad to horrendously worse. I couldn't help but LAUGH really hard at the horrendousness. It was CRAZY! Kiss My Face let me DOWN! Absolutely the WORST I have smelled in my life. I don't know if I've EVER smelled another human being as offensive as I was.

What am I going to do? I want to save the Earth, but I also want hubs, with his ridiculously keen sense of smell, to want to be around me. And friends are nice, too. Sigh...there are a couple other brands I can look into. I shall continue the mission, but I might have to smell like a man tomorrow...the only other deodorant in the house is hub's, so hopefully he'll let me borrow it.

Stick Figure Family

2009-03-03T16:48:00.007-05:00

Haaaaa! I just found a link on Tracey's blog to this website where you can order those family stickers for your car. I couldn't resist mocking up this sticker for us. This sticker would cost me $47.25...I gotta lose a couple random animals or something.

Please note! Hubs wears a helmet when riding his motorcycle...the site only offered a head with a football helmet or a hockey helmet...and then you would have laughed and mocked him for wearing the wrong kind of helmet. Don't say you wouldn't.

The Way Men Are

2009-02-25T15:59:00.007-05:00

(Photo credit tanbob)

I have permission from hubs to share this; you all gotta know I do whatever I can to keep my hubs happy including asking his permission to post his business. I love to see my hubs happy!

Hubs set up a Google document for a guy at work we'll call Tim. The document was empty so that Tim could populate it when he got a chance. A few minutes later hubs sent the link to the document to several people so they'd have access to the work sheet when Tim finished with it. Within a few minutes a guy, we'll call him Michael, called hubs.

Michael: Hey man

Hubs: Hey, what's up

Michael: Hey, that document you sent is empty.

Hubs: ...did you read the email? I said the document is blank until Tim populates it.

Michael: Oh...yeah, ok, I see that now. Thanks man

A few minutes later hubs heads to a meeting and when he gets to the room another guy we'll call Dan says:

I looked at that document you sent; it was empty

Hubs: Did you read the email?

Dan: I never read the email!

Hubs: In the email I said the document is blank until Tim populates it.

Dan: Oh! Well that makes sense then.

Haaaaaa! Michael and Dan both opened a document entitled "Tim's document" with absolutely no knowledge as to what could be in Tim's document, but they were not concerned by this. They felt pretty confident they could look over Tim's document and figure out what they needed to know.

If we called hub's email "instructions" and Tim's document "something complicated" then it all becomes clear, doesn't it. How many men do we know who would rather eat dirt than look at the instructions? On the other hand, I let the big new camera hubs gave me for Christmas a few years ago sit in the box for weeks because I was intimidated by it and thought I needed to read through the instruction booklet first which I just never got around to doing. Finally hubs took the camera out and fiddled with it for a few minutes and showed me a couple things, and I got over myself long enough to play with it a little bit and get comfortable with it. There's a happy medium between "ignoring the instructions" and "death grip on the instructions", but that's a sermon for another day.

Here's to Michael and Dan, fearless conquerors of blank documents belonging to Tim!

TWD: Caramel Crunch Bars

2009-02-24T20:38:00.006-05:00

This Tuesday with Dorie we made the Caramel Crunch Bars; sooooo-weee, these are good! Crunchy and sweet and buttery = YUM.

This fairly simple recipe came together pretty quickly (I am slow as molasses in the kitchen, so "quickly" is a relative term), sat in my oven for about 18 minutes and then got some chocolate chips poured on top to be melted for the top layer. Ah, how to say this, THEY NEVER MELTED...those bars probably spent a total of another 30 minutes in the oven as I put them in, took them out, tried unsuccessfully to swirl the luscious should-have-been-but-wasn't melted chocolate into one luscious layer...instead the spoon sort of skipped around digging the non melted chips into the shortbread base...this process was repeated at least 3 times before I decided that now that they were sufficiently ugly I would quit, knowing at least they would taste good. Ooo, I was frustrated. I have heard that chocolate chips are engineered to hold their shape when warm, but I didn't realize they just will never melt...Annoying things. Should have just chopped up bar chocolate like Dorie said...you haven't always followed Dorie's instructions to the letter; don't judge me!! >:[

In any case these were delicious. I took the majority to work and people were so gracious and just cleaned them right up. One taster declared they were 4-star worthy...then later decided they were just "ok" and I needed to practice my technique 2 or 3 more times and let her evaluate the results :)

I'm glad these were yummy, especially since this is my first TWD assignment completed in a long time...my kitchen has turned into a mad science lab with parts and pieces of previous Dorie recipes laying around...the cake layers from the last assigment are done, just not iced...the dry ingredients for the ginger chocolate cake were mixed...and not another thing was done for that recipe. It feels good to actually finish something. Ahh, commitment.

Whitney of What's Left on the Table picked these yummy bars and has posted the recipe. You should make these!

Pink Saturday!

2009-02-21T09:15:00.003-05:00

Happy Pink Saturday once again!

Today I bring you a save-the-date card I recently received for a friend's wedding. How considerate of her to include some pink!

From a pink envelope...

To a pink playing card with all the important info...this is a cute nod to the fact that they are getting married in Las Vegas! The card is 3-D and sealed so the confetti shakes around in front of the info card, but doesn't get loose.

Soooo cute!

Have a lovely Pink day and check out Beverly's post today at How Sweet the Sound for more pink fun!

A Pair of "Favorite Things" Swaps

2009-02-20T23:27:00.002-05:00

In my state of obsession with swaps I signed up for a whole slew of 'em in the last few weeks. I was really excited to come across a couple "Favorite Things" swaps. One was hosted by Sarah of It Might Seem Crazy But We Call It Life who paired me with Anna of One Day at a Time.

Just what are some of Anna's favorite things, you ask??

All wrapped up...

Look at it all!

-Spatula with hearts on it!

-Her favorite recipe for Soft Gingersnaps...cannot WAIT to make those!

-Mary Kay Eye Primer

-Philosophy's "Amazing Grace" perfume oil

-Choxie's Milk Chocolate Hazlenut Biscotti Truffle Bar...um, yes, it was just as ridiculously yummy as it sounds
-Breakfast at Tiffany's dvd

To top it all off she included a sweet note in the "strawberries & cream" card. I love this assortment of things!

And I sent her...

-Reading material: The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman by Louise Plummer, Better Homes and Gardens magazine and "Piggies", a childrens book by Audrey and Don Wood (I love me some childrens books). Please go read all of these right now. You'll be glad you did.

-Ocean themed file folders: I read on Anna's blog that she is very organized, so I had to include a couple of these gorgeous file folders. I LOVE ocean themed items.

-Purple pens: don't you enjoy writing more when you are using a pretty pen? I love these purple gel pens, and I'm sure making that grocery list will be that much more fun for Anna when its in purple!

- Lotion: Dry skin is a major pet peeve of mine, but so is greasy lotion that won't soak in. Aveeno is very rich yet it soaks right in and leaves your hands all soft, not residue-y (I hate residue).

- Candy: I love candy. I went to the All Candy Expo last year (heaven). I just can't get enough, so I had to include a selection of my favorite candies: Cinnabon Cinnamon Caramel Pecan Cluster (oh my gosh...these are sublime), Atkinson's Chick-o-sticks and Peanut Butter Bars, and some sort of something from South Korea. I have no idea what they are called, but they are like little pieces of super fried dough with a bit of a honey taste, and they are GOOOOOD.

Yay for all the swapping! The Winter Blues Swap, in which we sent our partner 5 of our favorite things, was hosted by Josie of The Poor College Students Guide to Raising a Baby who paired me with Selissa of All Palmer.

Here are the items Selissa sent me:

- Apron that Selissa made!! (I LOVE aprons!)
- Cutie long socks! With a bit of bling, no less (that top heart is a little plastic crystal!)
- Cuuuuute headband that Selissa crocheted
- Sweet Pea bubble bath
- Peanut butter M&Ms

We each told our partners one of our favorite things; mine was the color pink and you can see that Selissa spoiled me with all sorts of pink!

And my favorite things sent to Selissa:

- Reading material: The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman and Better Homes and Gardens magazine. You still haven't read these?? Get to it!

- Bookmark: I love a fun bookmark (used to collect bookmarks when I was a little thing) and Selissa loves spring, so I couldn't resist this cutie to go with her new reading material.

- Lotion: I told you I loved that Aveeno.

- Candy: I'm just proud I had two sets of this collection of candy, and both sets made it out of the house intact. I wanted to eat them...it feels good to admit that out loud.

- Monogrammed throw: I am cold much of the time, and I love snuggling while watching tv or reading, so we have quite a collection of throws and blankets. Also I have a weenie dog and, man, do those dogs like to burrow...gotta have a blanket for the dog to burrow in, for goodness sake. Selissa loves the color red, so I had to bust out my button monogram sewing skillzzz and personalize a throw for her.

"Favorite Things" swaps are pure fun minus the pressure because you pick what you like and send it; regular swaps (while still lots of fun) can involve obsessing about whether or not you are picking things your partner will like. A favorite things swap is great for everyone, especially first timers who are looking to get their swapping feet wet.

Thank you Sarah and Josie for hosting these swaps, and thank you Anna and Selissa for great packages of goodies!

Valentine's Swap

2009-02-20T09:03:00.003-05:00

A Thrifty Mrs. hosted a Valentine's Swap and paired me up with Rosey from Agapanthus and Goldsworthy. Rosey lives in Australia and makes the cutest softies which she blogs about at I Cant Sew and sells in her Etsy Store I Cant Sew Creations.

Look at these lovelies Rosey sent me!

- Penelope the softie bird (bigger picture below)...look at the beautiful pattern and colors of that fabric (um, yes she can sew)
- Softie heart (more evidence of ability to sew)
- Sweet cherub
- Dressed up chickie
- Candy and vegemite! The hearts (there were more...that have been consumed already) were made in Melbourne, Australia, and the other chocolates have been made since Rosey was little. She said they used to be wrapped in foil, and the kids would try to collect all the designs. And vegemite! I was so excited to see this as I've heard of it before ("Land Down Under" by Men at Work, anyone??) but never tried it. Rosey recommended a very thin layer spread on buttered toast, so that is what we did for part of our breakfast this morning.

Verdict: It reminded me of a beef buillon cube: salty and meaty (yes, I have eaten one of those before...in middle school I was curious and went through my mother's spice cabinet trying all manner of things; she was gone at the time as I'm sure she would not have condoned the wanton eating of random spice cabinet items. Yummy = packet of Equal poured into a spoon with a chocolate syrup layer on top. And Fruit Fresh crystals are yummy all on their own. I bet she wondered where stuff was disappearing to). Hubs sampled the Vegemite and said, "Very salty" and "If I didn't have any meat to put on my sandwich...".

Look at cutie Penelope! She came with a little card telling her story. You can get a wee softie like Penelope in Rosey's Etsy shop, I Cant Sew Creations. You can't see it, but Penelope has a ribbon attached to her back for hanging in some cute little nook.

This little bird makes me laugh...I pecked at hub's cheek with it when I took it out of the box. So CUTE!

Click here to read Rosey's post about the swap. What a sweet box of lovely items; thank you so much, Rosey!

I sent Rosie:

- Softie kit: Sewing tin, fabric, thread, ribbon, buttons, crochet hearts (from Etsy seller Annie Design)
- Edible love notes: edible paper and edible ink...how fun is that!
- Stained glass hearts from Etsy seller LdyIsis
- "Love" banner I made: Rosey's favorite color is yellow and for Valentine's she chose pastel pinks.

I have to share my adventure with this package. When I took the package to the post office it weighed 4 pounds 3 ounces and the lady said, "Postage will be $45." It was like one of those cartoon moments where your head whips around and your eyes bug out...

"$45...seriously?!?"

"Seriously!" she said all cheerful like.

"I-I-I can't DO that...", so I found out how much postage would be at 2 pounds and 3 pounds and I went home and ripped open my snug little box and took out a big ole vanilla candle that weighed over 2 POUNDS! I know this because my repackaged goodies weighed 2 pounds 0.7 ounce and postage was under $20: I can DO that. Learn from me: research international postage rates before you get all attached to everything you've packaged up...it hurt me to take that candle out of that box. Rosey likes flowery scents anyway, so I think it was all for the best.

Thanks to Thrifty Mrs. for hosting this swap and thank you, Rosey, for my lovely Valentine's treats! They are so sweet!

Fancy Hot Dogs and Duck Fat Fries

2009-02-17T21:30:00.004-05:00

Oh yes...you read that right: strips of potato fried in duck fat.

**NOTE: I didn't take all the pictures in this post...I have labeled the pictures taken by other people and linked those pictures to each person's Flickr account.

People, I love food, I love food, I love food. I used to read Slash Food and Serious Eats religiously every day, multiple times a day. Since the list of blogs I read has gotten stupid huge something had to go, so now I use these blogs for reference purposes only, but still...I love food.

Which brings me to Hot Doug's. And the fact that I really love variety and new riffs on classics. Most of the time I would rather have 2 bites of 5 different things than one big serving of one thing, even if I like that one thing a while lot (mom's macaroni and cheese, Paula Deen's corn casserole (which we double by the way, except the butter...1 stick is plenty. AND I recently replaced the sour cream with fat free Greek yogurt to great success), etc).

I think I first read about Hot Doug's, the self-described "Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium", on the Chow message boards (GREAT resource for finding good food) while doing research for our 2008 Chicago vacation. I am absolutely driven to find the best unique food while in new places, and Hot Doug's sounded like it fit the bill.

So we went on our first day in Chicago, exhausted as we were (we tend to procrastinate on the packing until we are forced to stay up shoving things in bags the entire night before we leave). We figured out the bus map, rode the bus and walked the block with scratchy eyes and hurting feet, and we waited in the HOUR AND A HALF line. And people, it was WORTH it. We went back the day before we left town...we do NOT repeat places when in a new city because that means I miss an opportunity to try something new, so now you know Hot Doug's is truly special. Hot Doug's has great regular hotdogs that most would find pretty exotic. But then you come to Today's Specials.

For some reason one morning recently I found myself reminiscing about my time at Hot Doug's and thought I'd check out the day's specials. Oh, my heart aches (because I'm sad, not because its clogged with duck fat or anything), to read the list of "encased meats" I'm missing:

------------------------------

Today: February 6, 2009
The Game of the Week:
Spicy Smoked Alligator Sausage with Creole Mayonnaise and St. Pete's Blue Cheese
$8.00

The Erick Lee Purkhiser (Today's Celebrity Sausage)
Gyros Sausage with Spinach Raita, Kalamata Olives and Haloumi Cheese
$7.50

Other Specials

Saucisson Alsacienne: Bacon Sausage with Creme Fraiche, Caramelized Onions and Pepper Affinois Cheese
$7.50

Smoked Applewurst Sausage with Lime-Ancho Mayonnaise and Cotija Cheese
$7.50

Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Sauce Moutarde, Foie Gras Mousse and Sel Gris
$8.50

The Atomic Bomb: Spicy Pork Sausage with Sweet & Spicy Curry Mustard and Jalapeno-Havarti Cheese
$7.50

Smoked Mexican Chorizo with Tomatillo Mole and Habanero-Jack Cheese
$7.00

Jack Daniels and Fennel Smoked Pork Sausage with Lemon-Pepper Dijonnaise and Marieke Fenugreek Cheese
$7.50

The Teuben: Corned Beef Sausage with Russian Dressing, Sauerkraut and Swiss Cheese
$7.50

Cherry Pork Sausage with Spicy Citrus-Apple Salsa and Chaubier Cheese
$7.50

Smoked Cajun Pork Sausage with Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise and Smoked Gouda Cheese
$7.00

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Maybe to you these sound weird or gross...to me these sound exciting and compelling and like I MUST TRY SOME OF THESE!!!

My limit is 2 hot dogs at a time, and at first I thought the Game of the Week would definitely be one of them. Words like "Smoked alligator", "creole mayo" and "blue cheese" make my heart go pitter patter. I've never had alligator, and I LOVE trying things I've never had; creole mayo fits the bill as a "riff on a classic"; and blue cheese makes everything better.

(Alligator Dog Photo credit: dwfree1967)

(Mmm, look at that St. Pete's Blue Cheese...yes, I would like some of that)

But then I saw the Erick Lee Purkhiser (sadly found no picture of this one), the Saucisson Alsacienne...

(Saucisson Dog Photo credit: emyduck)

...the Foie Gras and Sauterne Duck Sausage (though the tree hugger in me is pretty opposed to the idea of foie gras...get ready for some gross video if you google that one)...

(Foie Gras Dog Photo credit: santheo)

(Are you kidding me...I am drooling right this very minute)

... the Jack Daniels and Fennel Smoked Pork Sausage...

(Jack Daniels Dog Photo credit: ehfisher)

...the Teuben...

(Teuben Photo credit: ::bianca::)

and the Cherry Pork Sausage (no pic of this one either)...what is that, 7 total?!?! Oh nooooo, what to do??

Hubs probably wouldn't be much help because he loves the Italian Sausage dog. Sometimes he'll accompany me into the food frontier and have me order 2 dishes I'm interested in so we can share them, but sometimes he's the guy who eats vanilla ice cream (as in by itself...nothing on it...*shaking head) and orders the Italian Sausage dog that you can get at any of a number of other places.

But that makes him happy which makes me happy, so I don't give him a hard time, I just silently curse the fact that 7 must be whittled down to 2.

So what'll it be? As hard as it is to leave any behind I think I'll go with the Foie Gras (if I'm gonna be party to torturing a duck just this once, I guess I'll make it part of a hot dog-nirvana experience) and the Teuben...or the Jack Daniels/Fennel Smoked Pork? Honestly I'd probably ask Doug or whoever was taking orders their favorite between those last two. Food people can largely be trusted to steer you in the right direction, so don't be afraid to ask the worker's opinion.

And speaking of, its Hot Doug himself!

(Hubs said he didn't think Doug was that hot :D ) Thanks, Doug, for taking the time to take this picture with me! There was a LINE of people at the counter, and yet he was so nice to smile for a picture. (I hadn't slept in approximately 24 hours by the time this picture was taken. And my contacts dry out when I fly so I stuck with the had-em-since-8th-grade glasses...nice.)

Care to see what we enjoyed during our two trips to Hot Doug's??

Brandy-Soaked Portuguese Chorizo with Saffron Rouille and Queso Arico Cheese

Smoked Shrimp and Pork Sausage with Cajun Tarter Sauce and Blue Cheese

Bacon-Infused Duck Sausage with Morello Cherry Mustard and Venison-Cognac Pate

Bell Pepper Wild Boar Sausage with anchovy goat's milk butter and Saint Rocco cheese

Oh, and don't forget the duck fat fries on Friday and Saturday...I don't need my usual Heinz 57 sauce for dipping, and I'll even eat the non-crispy ones. These things are WORTH EVERY CALORIE (I say that having no idea just how many of those are in these babies).

2009-02-14T10:55:00.002-05:00

Pink Saturday AND Valentine's Day on the same day...swoon!!

I wish you each a lovely day...

(Photo credit: mysocalledjunkylife)

Full of thoughts of lovely things...

(Photo credit: remembermeemily)

Glitter and lace and angel wings...

(Photo credit: kandeland)

And most of all,

Love...

Circus Treats

2009-02-13T14:20:00.006-05:00

This cup freak anybody else out?

This is just one of the wonders we saw at the circus this past weekend. I could not in good conscience buy that for a small child...I am just juvenile enough to laugh nervously every time I look at it and say, "You're eating out of a pony's head" and no child should have to go through that.

We took hub's little sisters and his mom to the circus for Muffin's 5th birthday (no, no one named the child Muffin; I just can't put her real name on here). Meanies that we are we didn't buy them any pony brain snowcones or whirling light up sticks or clown hats or anything. I grew up lamenting the fact that my meanie parents NEVER bought me anything at the zoo/circus/ball park, and now I see why!! A bag of cotton candy with a cheap wizard hat was $12!! Insane!! Good job, Mom and Dad! I'm glad you stuck to your guns! I had too much stuff to play with anyway. (Note: Here I use the word "never"..."never" is a strong word and I'm sure they got me something at some point at a place like that, it just wasn't the norm.)

Asia the elephant gave a painting demonstration before the show and you could enter a drawing to win that painting. Who won the painting you ask?? Have I ever told you that hubs leads a charmed life?

How cool is that!! We have a piece of art painted by an elephant! Hubs keeps saying, "Really? Are you sure?" whenever I tell him I'm excited we got it. Art by an elephant! That's cool!

Pink Saturday via Pink Monday

2009-02-09T13:35:00.016-05:00

Update: As Heather pointed out in the comments I should have reminded everyone about the pink dress I got married in. Check out this post; the dress is gorgeous!
---------------------
Happy Monday! The wonderful Beverly of How Sweet the Sound hosts Pink Saturday in which we post about all things pink. I signed up and let time get away, so I'm having a Pink Monday.
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I'm a tad obsessed with weddings and even more so with the color pink, so I am sharing some gorgeous pink dresses I've found. Photo credits and links are all included.

(Picture by xjojox on flickr)

Love those fuchsia pink bridesmaids dresses and that gorgeous sash on the bride! Click here for another gorgeous fuchsia dress.

(Picture by geokin 2000 on flickr)

This is a fairy tale dress if I've ever seen one.

This was my favorite dress of all, though its a bit more of a prom dress. Love that color!

Can't get enough of pink. Have a very pink week!

Very Vintage Valentine Swap

2009-01-28T19:08:00.006-05:00

Heidi of Foxgloves, Fabric and Folly organized another in her line of Very Vintage swaps, this time of the Valentine kind. My partner was Lisa of Antiques and More.

First up, here's what Lisa sent me.

Sewing pattern used as packaging: such a neat touch!

Ooooo, what's in there??

Check it out!

-Love puppy

-2 sweet tags

-Chocolate covered raspberry sticks

-Heart doily

-Delicious earrings (Look at them! They are DE-licious)

-Button heart wreath

-3 mercury glass ornaments (swoon!)

What a cute display idea! Lisa sells lots of different styles of earrings in her booth. She made the display card! Already wore these to work and got a compliment!

What a sweet wreath!

Lisa, thank you so much for a great box of goodies!

Now for what I sent Lisa:

-Red mercury glass-look candle stick with plain candle

-Red mercury glass-look votive cup with cinnamon candle (Lisa likes cinnamon scent)

-Red vintage-look rhinestone brooch for wearing or crafting

-Rhinestone heart picture frame

-Red heart ornaments

-Little set of cherub wings

-"Love" banner (I made it!)

-Irresistible Valentine cherub card (It was...just wait, you'll see)

Here's the banner I made...I love making these things! Although I always want to keep them...

I like to include a card listing the package contents and any explanation I feel is needed. Here's the card/booklet I made for Lisa. I used two cardboard hearts that came covered with red glitter on one side (got a package of 6, different sizes, at Wal-Mart). I covered the back side of the hearts with magazine pictures of roses (Lisa's favorite flower), traced the heart shape a couple times on white paper using those as pages in the card, punched a hole through the whole booklet and tied it together with a strip of tulle. Sweet!

Can you resist this little guy?? Now you see why I had to buy this card?? I didn't want to use it because the message says something about "From all of us", but I had to include it in the package. I have one in a little frame as part of my Valentine decor.

Heidi set a $20 limit (before postage) for this swap which I really enjoyed. I didn't feel self conscious about whether or not I sent enough, and I had a GREAT time seeing what good deals I could get for my money. I can't even tell you how excited I was when I totaled up my expenses and found that everything except the card and the banner (I already had the materials for that) totaled exactly $20. Hey, its the little things and life, you know...Also, while none of this is actually vintage I had a lot of fun gathering things I thought looked vintage.

I enjoyed this swap SO much; thanks Heidi for a great swap and for pairing me with a great partner. Thank you, Lisa, for all my goodies!!

Hmmm

2009-01-26T07:43:00.000-05:00

Saw this in a feed and seed store...

I live in small town South Carolina, so there's a lot of huntin' and farmin' that goes on around us, but I have never in my life seen a product like this, and it amused me greatly. "Wild BEAST Attractant"...have never heard that combination of words in my life. And I love that hogs can't resist "crushed berry and molasses flavors". Heck, berries and molasses sound pretty good to me. Hubs, please keep tabs on me next time we're tromping around the woods. If I start sniffing the air and running around scratching at the ground you'll know I'm looking for the "BEAST FEAST".

Lemonade Award

2009-01-25T14:07:00.006-05:00

Lisa over at Antiques and More has given me the Lemonade Award; thank you, Lisa!

This award is about bloggers who show great attitude and gratitude.

Here are the rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 8 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

What a great award! I think a good attitude just makes life easier. Things aren't always going to go my way, so if I just accept that and decide to have a good attitude I think I'll be a lot happier as I travel through this life. Try it! Decide to have a good attitude and see if you aren't happier in the end!

And the gratitude: I am so thankful for each of you who drops by and checks out my blog and for each and every comment left. It is so exciting and motivating knowing that actual real people, some who know me and some who don't, are reading what I write!

I am breaking the rules (rebel that I am) and challenging each of you who read this post to take me up on my challenge to have a good attitude and also to think about the reasons (big and tiny) that you have to be grateful. I do recommend Tracey's blog Notes From A Cottage Industry. She has the best attitude, and her posts are so sweet and uplifting. If there is someone who jumps out in your mind as a blogger with a great attitude and full of gratitude, shoot this cute little award his or her way!

Thanks again, Lisa!!

Completed: Winter Whimsy Mitten Swap

2009-01-24T18:41:00.003-05:00

So have I mentioned: I LOVE SWAPS!! Yes, I do worry every time that I picked weird stuff or didn't send enough stuff, but every swap I've done thus far has turned out so well that I end up forgetting the worries and being so excited to sign up for the next one. Jenny of The Red Bulletin Board was my partner for A Swap For All Seasons' Winter Whimsy Mitten Swap. As the title suggests we were to swap mittens we had either made or embellished along with some "wintery/whimsical" goodies. First up: the loot I got from Jenny!

Look how cute everything was wrapped! She could have wrapped up bricks and empty paper towel tubes, and I wouldn't have been too mad because they came wrapped looking so CUTE! (For the record: Jenny, I appreciate the lack of bricks and paper towel tubes :P )

Once I could bring myself to actually mess up the wrap jobs, here's what I found:

--not 1, not 2, but 3 pairs of mittens! You can see Jenny embellished one pair with my initial in pink buttons (favorite color!). Which made me laugh out loud (for real, not just saying that)...when you see what I sent her you'll understand. The black pair features a gorgeous white button on the cuff and I do believe the blue/pink/white pair might be vintage?? I say that because the cute stripes remind me of 80s running shorts. LOVE my mittens!!

--Mitten ornament
--Mitten stuffed with Sugar Cookie bath goodies (YUM)

--Nutcracker Sweet holiday tea (Jenny's favorite)

--January magazine with mittens on the cover

--Vintage crochet booklet with instructions for making all sorts of winter projects (hats, gloves etc)

--Pink reindeer ring

--Pendant that Jenny made!

She used part of the swap button graphic; how creative is this! I was so impressed when I opened it.

She included a little nod to the pink reindeer I posted about several weeks ago; how cute!

I really enjoyed going through this box and felt so special; it was obvious that Jenny put a lot of thought into each item. I really liked how she carried the mitten theme throughout so many of the items and added those little touches that showed that she read my blog. Thank you, Jenny!!

Here's what I sent her:

--Mittens with red (a nod to her favorite color, fire engine red) buttons in a snowflake/star design

--Scarf with a "J" and another snowflake in red buttons...we had no idea that we were both doing button initials; great minds think alike!
--flying pig suncatcher (Jenny loves flying pigs)

--big, green forest scented candle (Jenny likes pine scent)

--hot chocolate

--Peppermint Peep marshmallows for floating in the hot chocolate (What...you've never had peppermint peeps? Oh, you gotta get some of those. GREAT in hot chocolate)

--"Whimsy" banner (I made it!)

--Snowflake stickers for Jenny's little boy

I was quite proud of these! I've not done much sewing, so I was very pleased when these turned out so cute. Let me tell you (and, Jenny, you know this now, too) sewing inside of a mitten is hard! I finally found a method that worked, but goodness it stumped me the first few tries.

Wintery whimsy banner.

I love this fat little pig with its teeny, tiny wings. This came from Maggiegirl's Etsy shop.

What a great swap! I really enjoyed getting to know a little about Jenny through this swap, and I think that's the main point. The fun stuff is just a nice bonus :)

Go check out A Swap For All Seasons' Vintage Spring Sweetness Swap open until Feb. 7 for signups; you gotta get in on this swap fun!

TWD: Berry Surprise Cake

2009-01-20T08:04:00.001-05:00

Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen laid down the berry gauntlet ("berried" the gauntlet??) for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie assignment, and we had to answer. We fought long and we fought hard, and I hear that a bunch of our cakes sunk, but we bakers are nothing if not resourceful and thankfully we had a decadent cream cheese filling with which to disguise any disappointing cake foundations.

The base of this recipe is a fairly simple mixture of the usual suspects of flour, eggs, sugar and a couple sidekicks, but oh the fuss that had to be made over those eggs! Dorie actually encourages the baker to treat the eggs "like the divas they are", and she is not exaggerating. First there was the warming of the eggs and sugar over simmering water, then the mixing for a very long time and sifting and folding in some things and then melting and folding in other things...it was a good thing I started the whole process the day before I actually meant to serve the cake.

You see here my short, bronzed cake. I don't have the 8 inch pan called for, only a 9 inch pan, and I forgot to cut down the cooking time to accommodate for the thinner final product. As a result the cake was a tad dry, but the syrup brushed over it, the cream cheese filling piled into it and the whipped cream topping slathered on the outside made up for all that. My cake did sink some and the top layer was really just the top ring of the outer 2 inches of cake that were tall enough to cut. I was able to cut out 1/4 inch or so depth of the inside of the cake to make the well for the fililngs.

I used Grand Marnier as I couldn't get my hands on any of the other liquers suggested in time and it worked just fine. I used frozen berries, so by the next morning there were little pink tear drop trails running here and there down the sides.

Hello, breakfast. The light sweetness of the filling and the topping was tempered by a tart zing of raspberry every now and then, and the spongy texture of the cake set off the creamy filling very nicely. It was quite tasty!

It was SO much work that unless I knew of someone who was wild about berries I'm not sure I would want to do it all again. The cake recipe was the most tedious to make of all the parts, and I could see myself using the filling for something else...homemade danish or some other filled cake perhaps...or just in my bowl. I'm glad I went through the whole process at least once.

Pink Saturday: Ornament Swap

2009-01-17T00:42:00.001-05:00

This weekend I am bringing you pink in the form of an amazing ornament.

(Photo credit: Gillian of I Heart Crafts)

This is the non-pink ornament I sent Gillian of I Heart Crafts for Pampering Beki's Ornament Swap. Gillian mentioned she liked robins, so I was very excited to find this vintage postcard to send her along with her ornament. Update: Here's a link to Gillian's post about the ornament

For this swap I sent stuff to Gillian while Peggy was assigned to send stuff to me. I knew it was going to be good when I opened the package to see my surprise wrapped with this beautiful pink ribbon and tag.

Look at this ornament! It is beautiful! Thank you so much, Peggy! (Peggy, do you have a blog??)

This ornament was perfect for my first ever pink tree...TA DA!!

Love it!

Oh, the pink stuff on this delightful tree: garland from a yardsale, starfish from Pom Pom Interiors...(a green strand of white lights, but we're going to ignore those until I can get a white strand, aren't we)

Flamingo!!

Ice cream cone!

Pink crystals!

That pink tree made me so happy! Happy Pink Saturday!

I've been tagged!

2009-01-14T08:52:00.001-05:00

So I feel quite silly (that would be a picture of me looking silly). I thought I got a message a while back saying I had been tagged, but later when I went back through my email and a bunch of the comments on my posts, I couldn't find the note anywhere, so I thought I must have imagined it...on Monday I was reading through Jenny's archives over at The Red Bulletin Board and saw in one of her posts that she tagged me! Sorry it took me so long, Jenny!

Here are the rules:
* Mention the rules on your blog.
* Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
* Tag three others
* Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they are tagged.

Ok, here goes:

1) Chaotic movies have always freaked me out. Could NOT handle Alice In Wonderland as a child...to me it didn't move in a logical linear storyline. The pink elephant scene in Dumbo? Pretty much gave me nightmares.

2) I just found the recipe for some candy strawberries I had at a church potluck when I was about 4. I've been dreaming of those delicious strawberries (made of ground up nuts among other things) and trying to find the recipe for years. I was given a huge stack of old magazines a couple weeks ago and guess what I found in the December 1977 issue of Southern Living...so excited to make these things, I can hardly stand it.

3) I have eaten very few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my life. It was just never my thing.

4) I do the majority of the cooking in our house, and I very rarely make the same meal twice. It bores me. I have a couple standbys (mom and dad's spaghetti, etc) that I love, but other than that I prefer to try new and different stuff.

5) I've been doing the majority of the cooking for 3 1/2 years and have yet to make a macaroni and cheese casserole...I was born and raised in South Carolina and LOVE mac-n-cheese. Is there something wrong with me?? Part of the reason: my husband and I get home from work too late most nights to make dishes that take a long time to cook. Someday though I will make up for lost time!

6) I love pizza. I love it so much. I told my husband earlier this week that I wished I could eat pizza for every meal. Sigh...pizza, my love. Incidently if you haven't tried Pizza Hut's The Natural pizza, GO TRY IT!! Its supposed to be made from slightly less processed ingredients, and I can personally vouch for the Rustica version...YUM. Add some peppers, onions, black olives and mushrooms in there, and its practically good for you, right?? :)

Since it has been over 2 months since I was tagged (spaz that I am) I am going to let sleeping dogs lie...or dead tag cycles be...or something.

Thanks for my first tag, Jenny!

TWD: Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

2009-01-13T09:10:00.001-05:00

Note 3:14 pm, 1/13/09: Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake picked the corn muffins for this week and has the recipe on her post.

This Tuesday we made Dorie's Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins. I do not like spicy foods, so I was scared of these for the 1.5 teaspoons of chile powder and the entire jalapeno pepper they had in them. But I soldiered on and, boy, am I glad I did.

Pretty! Note: there should be flecks of red in there, too, but my grocery store didn't have any red bell peppers, so I got a green one. These would be quite festive with the red, green and yellow (corn kernels) flecks. Mine were only moderately festive.

I worried in vain. These were so good...SO GOOD. I ate 4 of them...maybe 5. Mine were slightly crisp on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. I like a sweeter corn bread but the peppers and corn in here made these more than just corn bread, and I didn't miss the extra sweetness I usually need.
-

I paired these with Kim Bensen's Bean Chili. It's healthy and so easy to throw together quickly; fairly inexpensive, too. Its also forgiving as it sat 40 minutes or so instead of 20 while it waited on me to make the muffins. Hubs commented that it was quite tasty which he didn't expect of something that came together so quickly and largely from cans.
-

Make these muffins! They are easy and yummy!

MommyHolly's Snowflakes and Sparkles Swap

2009-01-12T12:11:00.002-05:00

One of the most fun perks of blogging is the opportunity to participate in swaps. I love getting boxes full of stuff for me!! (Wow, does that sound selfish...keepin it real, as they say) Mommy Holly hosted the Snowflakes and Sparkles swap in December; thanks Holly!

Here's what my sweet partner Britta of Marky Mark's Funky Bunch sent me.

Look how cute the outside of the box is!! I am going to strive to make the outside of my boxes look fun like this one. Thanks for that added touch, Britta!

I'm so excited!!

Look at all the loot!

-Canister of cinnamon hot chocolate (um, yes, that is definitely almost gone)

-body glitter roller

-bath beads

-yummy lotion

-cashmere fragrance candle (don't know what cashmere smells like?? Me either, but this candle is heavenly!)

-glittery "Peace" word decor

-garden decor stake shaped like a present

-snowman door hanger made of jingle bells

-huge glittery snowflake ornament

-Christmas music DVD

-little Christmas hand towels (forgot to get a picture of those)

You can see a bit of the silver tinsel that was part of the packaging; love it! Thank you so much for a great box of goodies, Britta!

Here's what I sent Britta. She mentioned that her Christmas decor is mostly red and white with touches of silver; well I took that red and silver and boy, did I run with it:

-red glittery cone tree

-silver tinsel tree

-red tinsel garland (I almost kept that one...)

-silver wire garland, disco ball ornaments

-glittery silver "Merry" sign hanger

-glittery red "Merry Christmas" sign hanger

-red mercury glass-look candle stick

-peppermint candle

-"Jar o' snowflakes and sparkles"

-garland of 6 felt and fabric paint snowflakes I made (one each for Britta and Mark and their kids)

-some candy treats

Shiny!

This was full of confetti (red and silver stars and white snowflakes) that I thought Britta could use for craft projects.

Yes, I did realize after I made this banner that my snowflakes had 8 arms while real snowflakes only have 6...Britta, I am truly sorry that I stuck you with anatomically incorrect snowflakes :)

Gotta have some chocolate!

What a fun swap with a great partner. Thanks to Holly for hosting and to Britta for all the great goodies!

Pink Saturday: January Flowers

2009-01-10T07:03:00.004-05:00

Happy Pink Saturday, all!

Today I am sharing some of the hot pink camellias that are currently in bloom in our front yard.

Love those two little perfect leaves on the left side. This flower is all, "What! The best flower brooches on Etsy got nuthin on me!" What a luxury to have flowers out in January.

And this little bud is trying to hide out from the rain under a little leaf hat.

Have a wonderful Pink day!

Tardy Pink Saturday or Sometimes You Wake Up and It's Monday...again

2008-12-22T14:00:00.004-05:00

Beverly and Pink Saturday ladies, I have to apologize. For the second Saturday in a row I have eagerly signed up to add my pink two cents and not delivered. I am so sorry. I have excellent pink items waiting in the wings: a white tree covered in pink stuff complete with a handmade pink ornament (Thank you so much, Peggy!). I let all the hubbub get the best of me and just didn't get it together. I will have to trot that post out for my next Pink Saturday.

I would like to leave you with something pink in remembrance of Saturday...and pink on Monday is good, too. I saw this glittery pink reindeer in Marshall's this past weekend. It stopped me in my tracks with its fabulous-ness; my jaw dropped...it's my favorite shade of pink, too! My husband saw the picture when I got home and said, "You definitely should have bought that!" He's so sweet; now I wish I had bought it! You can bet I'll be back in that store as soon as I can to see if its still there. FAB-YOU-LUSS...it better still be there...

Thoughts on simplifying

2008-12-17T10:10:00.005-05:00

Dearest Crafty Cousin Overseas (yes you, the one who sews) and Smarty Cousin Who Works and Goes to School (yes you, the one who loves lamp) I was going to write this to you in an email, but I thought it might make for good blog fodder. So this one's for you two!

It it weird to think that we are so deep in the Christmas season that we are beginning to see the other side (only 8 days!). I've been wondering why its weird to me, and I think that a big part of that feeling results from the fact that I have yet to embark on an all-day get-everything-at-once shopping haul like I usually have to do this time of year. I am one of those procrastinators who, without meticulous planning and constant calendar-checking and list-making, just lets time get away until deadlines are looming over me sapping my peace, joy and sanity. I LOVE creatively wrapping gifts, but when I have to wrap all 27 NOW so we can load the car and drive 3 hours to Family Get-Together #1, followed by a few hours sleep and a 4 hour drive to Family GT #2...well its just not so fun anymore.

How did I arrive at this point in the season further ahead of the game than I realized?

As look back I realize I actually started thinking about the people on my gift list earlier this year. Hubs and I are pressing on in our war with our clutter which carries over into our gift giving as we want to give gifts that will be delightful and truly useful to the recipient. With this in mind I had to start earlier than usual thinking about what to get that would meet those criteria. Just reminding myself who all I wanted to give to kept my brain working on the possibilities and ideas for what to get popped into my head when I least expected it.

I've allowed myself to go with my first instinct on gifts whereas in the past I have agonized over whether or not this item would be that person's most favorite gift of all time. Realistic goals, anyone? I've come to believe that its all about telling the recipient that I thought he or she would like this item and that it comes with my love, no matter how large or small the gift. Am I right, people??

For example, and I'm only telling you this because I don't think he reads the blog, I bought 2 bars of soap for my grandpa. These weren't just any soap; they were of the handmade variety from Dennis Anderson's Etsy shop, and they were made using beer! Grandpa enjoys a beer now and then, and I'm pretty sure he uses soap. This soap will be better for his skin than many of the varieties in the stores which contain harsh chemicals (for real; google it), and its a bit of a novelty. Maybe it will take the mundane task of showering and put a little zip into it. Maybe he'll open it and think I've very weird (I did feel the need to put in a note letting him know this was not a hint; he's a feisty one and I'd never hear the end of how his supposedly loving granddaughter let him know she thought he smelled bad). :) Like it or hate it, he'll know that I put some thought into the gift and that I love him, so its wrapped and under the tree and I'm not worrying about it.

One of the most helpful tools that has simplified the gift giving process is our budget. Hubs and I have a strict budget for Christmas gifts. I LOVE seeing just how much I can get for my money; not much makes me happier than snagging something fabulous that's perfect for one of the people on my list and getting more than seems possible for the money allotted.

I've been much more creative in sourcing my gifts this year:

--Thanks in large part to all you fabulous lady bloggers out there (I'm sure there are fabulous men bloggers out there, I just haven't found any in my home decor/craft line of interest yet) I've been thinking more and more about what meaningful gifts I can make for those I love. A couple people on my list will indeed be receiving gifts I personally have worked on.

--I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with Etsy, the web marketplace for all things handmade (and that would be thanks to those two cousins mentioned at the top of this post). I log on every weekday and some weekends to check my favorite sellers and see which of my favorite items are still hanging around tempting me. A couple people on my list will be receiving wonderful items handmade by some talented person out there.

--A few people will be receiving items I scoured the internet to find, often at better prices than I could get from a store and some items that would be impossible for me to obtain at all otherwise.

--We even found one of the best gifts we'll be giving this season on Craig's List! How green is that!!

Yes, I have ventured to the stores for some stocking stuffers, and I have a couple more things I need to pick up, but there is no list that I have to knock out in a 6 hour marathon. Now if I get a chance to go to a store I can stroll through and look at all the shiny stuff for my own enjoyment. If I see that perfect item, great! If not, no big deal!

It's been an adventure to arrive home from work this last week or so to a new package (or 3!) sitting on our front steps. Packages are just plain exciting even if the contents are a gift for someone else. Plus they come in their own handy box which means I don't have to scrounge up my own box or wrap an oddly shaped lump. Its been great!

Next year I hope to make the majority of my gifts. That means I'll need to learn some new skills and get comfortable with some new tools in 2009, but it'll be worth it to see the smile those gifts will bring.

I just have to remember that it's a love thing, not a card to be punched or an ordeal to be endured.

Special Report: Man Invades Tuesdays with Dorie

2008-12-16T21:04:00.007-05:00

Please welcome hubs, my guest poster today. You can find the recipe for these Buttery Jam Cookies over at Heather's blog Randomosity and the Girl. Enjoy!
~Kimberly

Yes…I said it. I am over six foot tall, over two-hundred pounds, can tear phone books in half and lift small cars…..but today my task was no feat of strength or bravery. It was a simple request to help my wife by baking a pan of Buttery Jam Cookies following the detailed directions from Baking: From My Home to Yours. While my sweet wifey….who dominates the kitchen…was narrating the Christmas cantata for the elderly in our church, I was navigating the rough flour dusted waters of cookie making.

I started by pulling out the hand mixer and briefly considered how I could speed up the process by inserting the beater into my power drill (yes, it has happened before during a bet involving organic peanut butter). After mixing the butter that wifey left out for me, I added the sugar and egg. I got a little lost on the word “satiny” that Dorie used. I don’t know that my mixture was “satiny,” but I did want to use it as a moisturizer and then lick off any leftover residue.

After adding the dry ingredients and more beating I found that the cookie making process wasn’t as hard as I thought. Indeed, reading directions and following them has been my downfall and the downfall of my gender, but in this case things were going well. The only difficulty I had was spooning out teaspoon sized balls of dough onto the cookie sheet. I’m sure that my “spooning process” was no different than most, but it was a sticky mess that took 25 minutes.

The only change I made to the recipe was to use blackberry jam as that was the first jam I could find. The blackberry jam was very good, but did result in purple cookies which I find unnatural.

I did enjoy my morning in the kitchen baking, but I know that it would be best if I stuck with tearing phone books.

Heidi's Very Vintage Christmas Swap

2008-12-11T23:55:00.006-05:00

One of the best parts of this blogging thing is the swaps you can sign up for! I LOVE getting mail, and getting boxes full of stuff is even better. I was very excited to be a part of 3 different Christmas swaps this season. Heidi of Foxgloves, Fabric and Folly hosted the Very Vintage Christmas Swap and boy, did I rack up the goods!

My partner was Mommy Holly and she hooked me up.

With a box this festive you know the stuff inside is gonna be GOOD!

First up: a cute little Christmas card!

Everything was hidden by tissue paper and packing peanuts, and it was such fun to dig through and pull things out. Like this gorgeously wrapped package. Red and white toile-like paper printed with Christmas scenes, topped off with a luscious wribbon, a bling bling snowflake and a little bell...this girl is too much! In the best way possible! Inside that package was a glitterly gold "Happy Holidays" banner that is being showcased on my living room wall at this very moment.

Look at all these goodies! I was so impressed with how pretty everything looked together. Holly, you totally get the prize for most visually harmonious group of swap goodies.

And here's what I sent Holly!

Look at that precious wreath! Totally looks vintage. That postcard in the middle is actually vintage, complete with handwritten message, cancelled stamp and postmark from the early 1900's (I think...I didn't take a picture of the back before I sent it!).

Holly doesn't get snow where she lives so I included the snowflake stickers to help her imagine piles of snow all over the place. I don't get snow either, Holly, and I am severely jealous of those of you who do! I just want one good white Christmas and then I'll be fine.

The little house on the left is a box of chocolate covered graham crackers from Germany. It was called the Witch's House or something like that...how did that merchandise order go? "Yeah and uh, send us 500 of those Christmas Witch treat things. Americans love Christmas Witches"...I'm a sucker for treats made of real ingredients (none of that hydrogenated stuff, please) and from other countries. You know I have about 5 more of those things at my house right now. We'll see if they actually make it to all the stockings I bought them for...

Here's a close up of the "VINTAGE" banner. Made it myself! These are definitely not traditional Christmas colors, but that snowman paper was too cute to pass up, so I let it dictate the color scheme. Holly says it is on her tree. Holly, you need to post a pic of your tree so I can see what else is on it!

The sparkly white stars were made from wool blankets from the 1930s. The reindeer is a vintage wax figurine that I think used to hold a think red taper candle; there's a spot in the back just the right shape for a skinny candle; its even got bits of red wax on the edges. Aren't those little snowpeople so cute! You can buy these and other chenille characters at Country Route Prims on Etsy. No connection; I just like to share the good news about great products!

I had such a great time putting together Holly's swap box and getting to open the one she sent me. Thanks to Heidi for hosting such a fun event. Join the fun and go sign up for Heidi's Very Vintage Valentine Swap!

TWD: Grandma's All Occasion Sugar Cookies

2008-12-09T23:25:00.007-05:00

Update: 12/16/08

I actually did get up early last Wednesday morning 12/10 and bake up a batch of the cookies. I just fell asleep right after that and just now woke up...in time to post pictures of the results! There they are up there all sliced up. I cut that first batch too thin, so you'll notice some brown edges in the next photo. This batch was definitely a bit crispy for my taste. They weren't burnt, but definitely crisp.

Ah, but the second batch. I cut them wider and they were just delightful. They didn't smack you in the face with a "Wow! These taste amazing!" yet they were completely irresistible. I seriously ate the majority of both batches...if only my goal was to gain weight, how successful I would feel right now. Even the uncooked dough was just so YUMMY!

Ahh, yeah...show me a little bit of that right there (Viewer discretion advised).

Good stuff. Make these cookies. And then eat a bunch to make me feel better.

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This week in Tuesdays With Dorie we are making Grandma's All Occasion Sugar Cookies. You can find the recipe and Ulrike who actually chose this week's recipe over at Kuchenlatein; you might have to scroll to the very bottom of the page like I did to see the picture and the link to the recipe.

So far this has been a simple and straight forward recipe.

Creamed butter: check

Sugar and eggs added: check

Some vanilla, flour, salt and baking powder finished off the dough. Dorie cautions against over working the dough, so I tried hard to stop mixing before I wanted to and get it shaped and in the fridge as quickly as possible. These could be rolled out and cut using cookie cutters or shaped into a log for slice-and-bake cookies. I chose the slice-and-bake because that sounded like the quickest and easiest way that these cookies could get done and find their way into my mouth. This was still a bit tricky as the dough was very soft and slightly sticky. I'm a trooper though and didn't give up. Let that be a lesson to you. Whichever method is chosen the dough has to chill for at least 2 hours before being baked.

I've got my plastic-wrapped cookie dough logs chilling in the fridge and in a perfect world I will get up and bake a couple dozen to take into work. We'll see if I wake up in a perfect world tomorow.

Beaters, spatula and any other dough covered surface I can find for a late night snack: CHECK!
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I'll post a picture of my cookies before work. Because I'm going to wake up early enough to not only slice and bake these babies, but to finish out a witty and informative post, too. Goals, people! Always set goals!

Good Eats

2008-11-26T00:26:00.008-05:00

Before we rush headlong into the Christmas season after the turkey leftovers are put away in a couple days I have to share a delightful dinner Hubs and I had one fall evening at a great little place called Grits and Groceries.

First, take a look at this menu:
Starters:
Butternut Squash Soup
Stuffed Oysters
Roasted Pears with Prosciutto
Celery Root and Beet Salad

Main:
Pumpkin Muffins
Cornbread
Broccoli
Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Stuffed Pork Loin
Beef Ribs

Dessert:
Pear Walnut Cake with whipped cream and caramel sauce

Welcome to Grits and Groceries, a little restaurant in the middle of NOWHERE. Seriously. And so worth the drive.

Oh, the memories...of food so ridiculously good. There's the celery root salad in the back on the left, the stuffed oysters in the back on the right and right up front there are some luscious roasted pears with some luscious prosciutto...luscious, I tell you.

Just one more look...

I went back for seconds on this soup, and that's a big deal because I was rationing myself big time so I'd have room for dessert. It sounded so simple, but it was so warm and fragrant and comforting...yummmmm

I think this was called something much more fun than "Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples", but I can't remember...all I remember is that it was GOOD. There are some raisins in there, too. So simple and lightly sweet.

The ribs, oh the ribs. I even skipped the pork loin because those ribs demanded my attention. They were lightly spicy and tangy and tender.

This is Tephanie! She waited on me the very first time I went to Grits and Groceries almost 2 years ago, so she is my favorite of all the great waitstaff. She's so sweet, doesn't meet a stranger and is not shy with the menu recommendations. (There is a bit of a funny shadow on the right side of her face because the sun was setting off the left side of the frame when I took this picture.)

And here is Six Chickens and A Beer "THE Upstate Band for Celtic, American, Honky-Tonk and Swing"! They were GREAT and added so much to the evening. The music was easy to listen, too and you couldn't help but tap your toes or bounce your leg or something. At some point during dinner I looked around at my sweet hubs, my plate full of delicious food, my ears full of music and was so glad to be alive.

You can listen to a little bit of the great music and see me chowing down in this video and this one, too (which is a little dark as the sun was almost gone).

I am so grateful to Grits and Groceries for creating such a relaxing and inviting atmosphere. They don't just feed us full of yummy stuff; they make the soul feel nice.

Pink Saturday!

2008-11-22T16:11:00.005-05:00

I am still pretty obsessed with skydiving since I did my first tandem jump 2 weeks ago, so what better than some pink stuff for jumping out of an airplane??

I'd like to start with a moment of silence to thank that parachute over Chuck's shoulder there, the very one that brought me floating back to Earth just minutes before this picture was taken.

Here's a sweet parachute on Flickr.

Ooo, and I like this one, too.

And if I'd been wearing this pink jumpsuit I feel sure I would have been brave enough to keep my eyes open during freefall.

Happy Pink Saturday!

Zombie Swap!

2008-11-22T11:39:00.007-05:00

Halloween has come and long gone, but I have to share the goodies that Tan of Enchantments and Giggles sent me for my very first swap.

What a haul! There's a roll of orange and black crepe paper festooning (I haven't been able to find anything like that in any of the stores near me...can't wait to use it next year!!), a bracelet, a tag, a cute card and unfolded there in the background is a little Halloween themed scrapbook that unfolds to be about 2 1/2 feet long. Its lined in several cute Halloween papers and just waiting for me to fill it up with little bobs and bits and my scariest pictures.

Tan made this toggle bracelet; how cute! The charm with the menacing eyes has a set of scared eyes on the other side. The large dark green bead on the upper left has a little black glass spider on it. Have you ever seen a more loveable Frankenstein?? Love that Jack O'Lantern!

Check out this tag! It is SO cute!

Tan has been recovering from an injury for several weeks and has had to stop crafting until her doctor gives her the OK. She was so sweet to send me these goodies.

Thank you so much for these wonderful gifts, Tan! Get well very soon!!

TWD: Arborio Rice Pudding

2008-11-18T10:27:00.012-05:00

Update 11/21/08, 11:36 am: This is the most updated post ever. Abby committed to holding her back feet up with absolutely no part touching the floor until the pudding thickened. She's got the strongest abs ever, I think.

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Update 11/19/08, 6:17 pm: Breakfast was GOOOOD this morning! Hubs and I split the chocolate bowl, and both agreed it was a very good thing. The pudding was just on the soft side of set up in my opinion, but it certainly wasn't chocolate rice soup. I tend to like to have something to chew on, so the rice added just the right note for me to really enjoy the pudding.

I snuck a bit of the vanilla batch just now, and it was quite yummy, too: milky, sweet, just right. It seemed a little less set up which is weird. Breakfast tomorrow morning will be GOOOOD, too :)

Next time I will probably use a little less milk and have the mixture simmer somewhere nearer medium heat than low for the entire 50 minutes. I think that'll give me a bit more of the set pudding I'm looking for.

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Update 11/19/08, 1:36 am: Answer: it takes milk a long time to boil. But boil it finally did, so I got the parboiled rice in there and set it to simmer for a while. By the way, my Wal-Mart is obviously stuck in non-foodie land because I could find no evidence of arborio rice among the scads of rice items. I got a bag of basmati (which I found was a reasonable substitute when making risotto, so I figured I'd try to make it work for pudding), but when I got home happily discovered about half a cup of arborio left in the pantry from my last Whole Foods run.

Now, one advantage of my complete slackness in regards to my TWD duties this week is that I got to learn from my fellow (responsible) bakers' mistakes as well as Dorie's own tip concerning the cooking time. I used closer to 1/3 cup of rice and set my timer for 50 minutes. At the end of 50 minutes I had this:

This just was not enough for me so I let it go for 10 more minutes at least twice, if not 3 times until I got this:

I figured I shouldn't push my luck (I've nicely burnt caramel with TWD; I'd like to keep milk off the list) so I poured it up into two bowls. Of course I had to do this to one of them:

These babies are now chilling in the fridge and if the lick I snuck off the stirring spoon is any indication, tomorrow's breakfast should be quite a treat.

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Update 11/18/08, 11:22 pm: Good grief, how long does it take the milk to boil??

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TWD: Don't kick me off yet! I have been slack in the last few weeks, I know, but I'm back, honest I am! I bought the rice last night and everything!

When I got home I got in a funk because the house is all messy and it was 9 pm before we got home (1st job ran long, 2nd job just added to the fun) and there wasn't time to do all I wanted to do (clean, blog, cook, shop, buy, wrap, snuggle, watch Dancing With The Stars, get to bed on time) so I went and got in bed and put the covers over my head. Best-hubs-ever came and hugged me and rubbed my back and told me I wasn't a complete slacker bum like I said I was. I really meant to get up and play the laundry relay he suggested we do (tackling mountains of clothing is much easier when there's a game involved) and get that pudding boiled and in the fridge, but I just wanted to pout a few more minutes...and the next thing I knew I woke up and it was midnight...sigh...

But today I'm making that pudding! And I'll post about it! And then tomorrow I'll eat some of it and post about it!! Promise!!!!

SKYDIVING!!!

2008-11-15T19:06:00.016-05:00

This picture is NOT me, but it will give you an idea of what I did recently!!! This photo was taken by Les Duggins, Jr. and is part of this article on skydiving. The guy wearing shorts is Chuck Hammond who was my tandem instructor.

This past Sunday, November 9, I went skydiving!! Here I have posted a VERY LONG second-by-second account for any and all who would like to know every single thought that went through my head during this experience. Get out now while there's still time.

SKY DIVING!! OH MY GOODNESS!! Hubs surprised me with this for my 27th birthday. It wasn't totally out of the blue; we'd seen a bumper sticker when we were dating advertising a skydiving drop zone and agreed that we should "do that someday". I think I'm the one who suggested it because I honestly thought it was right up hub's alley; he was always up to new adventures (still is). Then a delightful lady moved into the office next to mine at work, and she suggested we get a group together one weekend to go skydiving! I was a tad surprised she'd said skydiving (I guess I figured she was going to say "go hiking" or something), and I said, "Yeah...Cool! Let's do it!" I found out she has jumped over 35 times and just loves it. Here Hubs had someone to grill for info on all things skydiving; he's so good to do his research. Wednesday night, Nov 5, at about the stroke of midnight, so that technically my Thursday birthday had begun (why in the world were we still awake??) he couldn't wait any longer, so he handed me a piece of paper that turned out to be the confirmation email from Skydive Carolina in Chester, SC. I couldn't believe it!

Come Sunday afternoon I was at the drop zone; I had filled out all my paperwork, signing things like, "You understand that this is dangerous and it is possible that you could die?", and was outside watching as each plane load of people went up and floated back down. We could just barely make out the plane about 13,000 feet up. They would announce when the jumpers were in the air, but we couldn't see anything for a minute or so until parachutes started popping open out of thin air.

In the time since hubs had revealed the surprise I had watched several You Tube videos of tandem jumps at Skydive Carolina and, boy, were they exciting. Except I could not help actually squealing out loud in a very nervous sort of way when seeing people actually leave the plane. I was not ever scared for my life, just slightly nervous as I thought about the actual jumping out of the plane part; I figured falling through the air might challenge my sense of self preservation.

Our training seemed to last all of 15 minutes and consisted of us first watching a video of Skydive Carolina's attorney making sure we understood that we had signed papers saying we couldn't sue if something happened and if we did sue we couldn't win; and then one of the tandem instructors describing what would happen during the jump, how we needed to hold our bodies in the air, etc. He said we'd actually need to hold the toggles that steer the parachute for a minute or so as our instructors readied the harnesses for landing and that we might need to steer toward a certain point. I was like...what? Steer "toward a certain point"? What point? So I raised my hand (why did I do that? There were 2 of us in there with the guy...and I raised my hand??) and asked, "So...they'll tell us where they want us to aim??" The instructor's all cool and like, "Oh, yeah, it'll be no big deal". I worry A LOT about not knowing what to do in an important moment...I did not feel it was not a big deal :)

I was still calm after getting the jumpsuit on over my clothes (the guy who got us our suits suggested I should wear a small, bless his heart...I can't believe I went through the motions of getting the jumpsuit legs down over my jeans and getting my jeans all situated only to confirm that, um, no this behind is not fitting in a small, thankyouverymuch...thankfully the medium was fine).

Look at that; picture of coolness right there.

I was still ok when Chuck got me all harnessed up.

Boarding the plane: no big deal. That's Chuck in the white sweatshirt holding on to the back of my harness.

However the higher we got the more my stomach fluttered at the thought of that first step.

When we got to a certain elevation Chuck connected our two harnesses together with me facing out strapped to the front of him so snugly I couldn't draw a full breath, and honestly, it was reassuring. Around 14,000 feet they slid up the clear plastic door panel and people started sailing out...into thin air! There were a couple groups of solo divers that were doing formations or something because they jumped with their arms linked together. As people jumped and space became available Chuck scooted us down the bench (seating consisted of 2 benches, one running down each side of the plane's interior). I was getting more and more nervous and was not helping with the scooting, but Chuck was not giving me a chance to pause.

Much quicker than I would have liked we were crouched in front of the door looking out. I was absolutely freaking out in my head. Chuck had me lay my head back on his shoulder, so that when we jumped my head wouldn't snap back and hit him in the face, and cross my arms over my chest until he gave me the signal during freefall to put my arms out Superman-style to help keep us stable. We rocked forward into NOTHING ("Ready!"), backward into the plane ("And!") and then ("Arch!") WHOOSH Chuck launched us out the door. I was seriously going, "Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod" in my head...freaking out. I feel safest when I'm all curled in on myself, so even loosening up enough to open my mouth to scream was not an option. My teeth were clenched and my eyes shut TIGHT. I barely peeped maybe twice during the freefall part before Chuck opened the parachute. Saw a glimpse of someone else near us in the air and saw part of the ground and just could not handle it mentally, so I kept my eyes closed.

I didn't feel my stomach drop like on a fast elevator ride or on a roller coaster. You really don't have a sense that you are falling. You just hear and feel the overwhelming rush of wind (like if you stuck your arm or head out the window of a moving car) from beneath you. And you know that there is NOTHING HOLDING YOU UP! CRAZY!!

I was just holding on to my sanity long enough to get to the canopy ride when the chute opened. I wondered afterwards what would have happened if I had kept my eyes open. Obviously nothing would have happened to us, but I guess mentally I just couldn't do it. Maybe I would have really freaked out and by keeping my eyes closed I kept myself calm...dunno. Also I was congested already and was trying hard to pop my ears, but not being successful, and I HATE the feeling of full ears. At one point I could feel us spinning and knew that Chuck was doing it. He couldn't see my face or know that I was freaking out; it was just one of the fun things the instructors can do to make the experience even more exciting. I was not excited. I felt that last little bit of control I had ahold of slipping away so I waved my hands back and forth in a, "No more of that!!" motion hoping he'd see, and I guess he did because we stopped.

FINALLY Chuck opened the chute; he had said there would be a weird dropping and then jerking sensation after he deployed the chute. It takes a beat to open thus the little drop before the jerk. At that point we were about a mile up, going nice and slow, and we could talk. He asked me how the free fall was ("TERRIFYING!!") and how my ears were ("Bad") and told me to hold my nose and blow gently. Since I had come that day with head congestion, the normal ear clearing tricks weren't working (my right ear finally started to open back up around Tuesday night) but I did try and just decided not to worry about it. There was a lot of pressure on my eardrums though.

But there was no fear. The canopy ride was AMAZING!! I guess it would have been frightening on its own had it not been for my sheer terror during the free fall. The canopy ride felt like the safest thing ever. The view was gorgeous! Green trees and fields as far as I could see. Chuck pointed out the field where the final battle scene in The Patriot was shot. He pointed out the sunset over my shoulder (we were the last plane load of the day right near sunset) and the faraway glint of light off the buildings of Charlotte, NC. He pointed out the runways of the drop zone. They looked so short, yet they were each a mile long. He had me take the toggles, and it really wasn't a big deal...I get so worked up over nothing sometimes. Pull on the right strap to turn right and the left strap to turn left. He had me put them both all the way up and then pull them all the way down, and we came to a virtual standstill in the air which was weird. We did a practice landing while we were way up high where he had me pull my legs and feet up in front of me (oh why haven't I been working on those ab muscles??) I guess so they wouldn't drag on the ground and make us face plant. He took the toggles back and did a couple deep swoops one to the right, one to the left and those made me a little nervous. I asked him if, after 12 years (you know that was one of my first questions to him! And sir, just how long have you been doing this??), this ever got old and he said not with tandem students.

If you click on this picture to enlarge it you can see about 11 little tiny parachutes. One of those is probably me!!

2 of the tandem jumpers from my plane load. The one on the right could be me, but I can't really tell...I don't remember being this close to another chute, though.

Before I knew it we were coming in for our landing which was flawless! Tandem landings tend to be of the sit down variety, sliding to a stop unless the wind is right for a stand up landing. We did do the sit down landing, but it was so smooth. I had seen a couple earlier in the day that definitely seemed to land with a "whump!" that didn't look too comfortable on the behind.

We had paid to get a video (got to have me a video!) so Pete the video guy who filmed the freefall and then boogied down to the ground to film my landing came over and helped me stand up. Chuck started undoing the tandem parts of the harness and then my legs started shaking. It reminded me of January 12, 2007 when I was laying in the chair at the dentist's office waiting to be sedated to get my wisdom teeth cut out. I was so nervous and my legs were shaking so much as the doc probed that darn needle around in my arm to find a place to put my IV that my shoes were making this very loud "SLAPSLAPSLAPSLAP" sound on the vinyl chair. And I couldn't control it! That's how my legs were shaking after the dive. Though I wasn't scared, and I was actually having a great time doing my post-jump interview. The lady at work told me it was the adrenaline dump and that makes sense.

Chuck, me and Pete after we landed. There's my parachute on the ground! Love that piece of fabric!

Pete did ask if I actually opened my eyes, and I confirmed that, no, that had not been an option for me. He had told me before the jump that he would come up to me in the air and offer me a hand and if I wanted to take it I could and we would spin. He told me afterward that he never offered me his hand because my eyes had to be open for that part. I assured him that I was not the worse for missing the opportunity.

Here's hubs, me and Chuck. Please ignore the ridiculous face I'm making. I was laughing at something and the fellow taking the picture seemed a bit tipsy, and I wasn't sure I could impose on him to take another...sigh.

It was all amazing!! I definitely plan to do it again. My goal for my 2nd jump is to keep my eyes open during the freefall. I'll probably be a sucker and pay for a second video, because I want to be able to compare the two jumps. I would include a link to my first video, but a copyright violation issue surrounding the Tom Petty song used as part of the soundtrack is currently keeping us from posting it to You Tube. Hopefully I can get Skydive Carolina to send me another video with a different song in the background. Click here to see some random guy jump at the same place with my instructor...that's what my video is like! Except with me!

I highly recommend a tandem sky dive at Skydive Carolina! If you ever happen to be in Chester, SC let me know and we'll go :)

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Update: Here's a link to the video of my skydive! http://www.viddler.com/explore/waltyates/videos/1/

Pink Saturday! (There are a few hours left!)

2008-11-15T19:00:00.002-05:00

These lovely roses were the last of the season to come off our rose bush just a few weeks ago. And by "our rose bush" I do mean the one that the Mr. brought home from the plant company we work for. The one that he then planted and tended and the one that I forgot existed. I get to enjoy the gorgeous roses though! And they smell sooo good.

Thievery

2008-11-10T15:02:00.006-05:00

NOTE: 11/12/08 I should point out that the card in question was my debit card. Don't think I said that.

Well we've just had something weird happen to us.

Yesterday while waiting to be tossed out of an airplane (TERRIFYING!! AMAZING!! Post coming soon) the Mr. had his laptop going using their free wifi (what, your local drop zone doesn't have free wifi?? How gauche), and he says, "Hey our bank account has this much in it...does that sound right? I heard the single number he said and assumed it was an abbreviation to indicate how many of the base units of money were in the account. "Yeah, that sounds right," I say scanning the sky as the most recent plane load of jumpers starts sprouting parachutes. It actually sounded high, but we'd just been paid and hadn't had time to fritter it all away yet (just kidding! We are very responsible with our benjamins...retirement accounts, emergency funds, the whole bit). He must have noticed I wasn't paying the closest attention so he started looking around and found several charges to gas stations that were hovering around an amount we might use if we were gassing up the H3 and commuting to work 2 states away every day. We do not own an H3 and thankfully the gas prices around us have come down to around the $2 mark so unless we were gassing up every 4 wheeled item we own (cars, lawnmower...gas powered radio control trucks??) plus the leaf blower, electric chainsaw, refrigerator, DVD player and those little light up earrings I got at Christmas last year there was absolutely no way we could use that much gas...or buy that many snacks.

Then he notices a couple major shopping sprees at Publix. The nearest Publix is an hour drive...and those commercials might make me weak in the knees, but they sure don't make me want to drive an hour (of course that's what I was doing wasn't it...I was filling the car up before AND after driving to Publix to buy 2 months worth of groceries...I just forgot to tell the Mr.!!!!).

I went through my envelope of receipts to mark the legitimate charges and hubs heads to the bank today. After an hour with a most wonderful woman at our bank he comes back with news of a total amount taken that would go a long way toward making not one, but two very Merry Christmases for us and our families. One of the late breaking charges in the "Point of Sale" category turned out to be a $200 spree at Bath & Body Works; he eyed me suspiciously when he told me that one. Just kidding! He was with me the last time I went to B&BW and saw the $7 candle holders I got at 50% off. Turns out the charges are coming from somewhere in Florida.

The strange thing is I did not lose my card, and I shred all mail with personal info on it. Maybe a waiter or someone else I gave my card to during a trip we took weekend before last wrote down the card number?? Who knows.

So weird! I thank God that he alerted hubs to all this before charges started bouncing. Our bank is filing some paperwork, and we should get the money back in the next few weeks. Also THANK GOD that we are in a secure enough financial position that this will not devastate us. We'll have to watch what we spend, but we'll be able to pay the bills and eat.