The Muddy Truth

Book Review: The Weird Sisters

2012-02-09T17:44:00.001-06:00

I've completed another book for the BlogHer Book Club. This book was titled The Weird Sisters, written by Eleanor Brown.

The title is a reference to Shakespeare's Weird Sisters in Macbeth. And, in Shakespeare the word "weird" actually means something closer to fate. So the titled could be The Fated Sisters or Fate Sisters.

The family in this book quotes Shakespeare to each other to communicate. Not every word or anything, but a lot of the honest, life lessons are quoted through Shakespeare. The story takes the reader through three sisters and their quest to figure out what to do with their lives. Their "fate."

It's a nice story, but I found a few things odd.

1. The novel is written in first person plural. We hear the story as if "The Sisters" were telling it together as one voice. For example, "Our mother was one to get lost in her thoughts, and Rose often had to make dinner." Rose is one of the sisters. See how that's strange? It's an unusual voice to write it, and it made it unique, but a little strange.

2. The mother of these sisters is battling breast cancer throughout the book. We're told that when the sisters were young, she would often get consumed in her own thoughts and burn dinner or leave the girls unsupervised somewhere. So we know she's kind of aloof, and with her illness, she plays in the background. However, she is never named. We don't ever find out her name. Why? I don't know. We learn of the sisters' father's name through interactions with other people, but never her mother. Is this some statement about the lack of mothering and how that leaves the girls wandering through life looking for a purpose?

Maybe.

To be honest, I'm not sure. I didn't feel like I got to deeply know any of the characters so it is difficult to know what I was suppose to learn.

I will be following the conversations over at the BlogHer Book Club this month to see what other people thought about the oddities in the book.

If you're interested, click here for more information and to see if I just missed the point entirely.

"This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club, but the opinions expressed are my own."

A Blue Moon Evening

2012-02-08T13:14:00.001-06:00

Recently, I invited Jenny and Darrin over for some snacks and drinks. And I thought, hmmm. What should I make? I remembered seeing a recipe for Blue Moon beer cupcakes, and I knew Jenny was a fan of Blue Moon. Then I thought, what goes with it.....what about an evening full of Blue Moon beer recipes!

Of course!

You'll see here:

Blue Moon cupcakes

From Miss Make

Beer Cheese dip

From Tidy Mom

Mangria (Blue Moon Sangria)

From 20 Something Cupcakes

I think it was a hit!

My husband can build stuff

2012-01-30T11:08:00.001-06:00

Look at my new bookcase!

Chris made it for me. He got a fancy air compressor thingy with tools for Christmas from his folks, and he's been busy.

I had a sad brown bookcase in my office area, but it was falling apart. Doesn't this look better?

It matches the desk that Laura made for me. Aren't I lucky to have people who make things?

Chris also made this silverware drawer insert. It's way better and makes a whole lot more sense than the little plastic one we had.

Yay! I can't wait to see what I get...I mean, what Chris makes, next.

What are your 2012 Fashion Resolutions?

2012-01-13T07:49:00.000-06:00

What are your 2012 Fashion Resolutions? How do you plan to feel great by looking your best this year?

This is the latest question in the Life Well Lived BlogHer program. I've shared my answer and you should too!

Click here to s ee what I said and what others are planning to do.

Be sure to enter for a Kindle Fire/Amazon Gift Card here!

Book Review: Why Women Need Fat

2012-01-12T09:46:00.000-06:00

Why Women Need Fat by William D. Lassek, M.D., and Steven J. C. Gaulin, PH.D., is one of the most interesting books I've read in quite some time. It's definitely one of my favorites from the BlogHer Book Club. It's not a diet book like you might think. It's a historical, sociological and medical look at how women's bodies work and how the American diet has changed to work against them.

I'm a strong believer in real food. No fast food, processed cheese, soda or other junk foods in my house. This book supports my beliefs, and it also goes into detail about how and why those foods are harmful and make women fat. The book describes the anthropological history of women's bodies in supporting pregnancies and producing health babies. One of the most interesting facts is that the American diet since the dawn of processed foods and vegetable fats has been reduced in omega-3 fats. Did you know that in women's bodies omega-3 fats are turned into DHA, stored around the hips and thighs and this DHA is solely responsible for nourishing a growing baby's brain in the womb?

To me that is fascinating. And, what this book explains is that the American diet has transformed, thanks to vegetable oils like soy and corn, into a diet that is depleted of good fat and high in bad fat: omega-6. This bad fat actually lowers the good fat, omega-3, you ingest and may already have in your body.

I'll stop giving away the book, but there's plenty more to learn. Whether you're heavy or skinny, this book isn't going to make you feel bad. It's purpose, in my opinion, is to enlighten you as to how your foods affect you, your body and even your children. Even if you don't read it, remember as Michael Pollen says, "You are what you eat eats."

Click here to visit the BlogHer Book Review site, get more information on this book and talk with others who have read it.

I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review, but all opinions expressed are my own.

Quick kitchen tip: Freeze in measurements

2012-01-10T12:29:00.000-06:00

I've developed a kitchen tip that I want to share.

I am freezing foods in measurements. I have been making stock for a while, and I would freeze it all together in one large container; however, when I would need just a cup, I would have to deal with thawing the entire container.

So now I freeze in measurements.

For example, this ramekin is 1 cup. I know because I took a measure cup filled with water and poured it in the rameken to confirm.

Each individual hole in this ice tray is 2 tablespoons.

Now, when I make stock, I pour it into these different sizes and freeze the containers. When the stock is completely frozen, I pop it out and put it in a labeled bag in the freezer. It's super easy to then grab a cup or tablespoon when I need it.

I have also used this method with tomato paste.

Tomato paste comes in 6 ounces, but most recipes I use call for just one tablespoon or so.

I take the remaining tomato paste and using a tablespoon scoop out individual tablespoons onto a cookie sheet. I place the cookie sheet full of tablespoons of tomato paste in the freezer.

When everything is froze, I throw them in a labeled bag. Easy to grab a tablespoon's worth!

You could use this method with a ton of other things I'm sure. Any other ideas?

Also be sure to take my purse poll after reading this post.

Purse talk

2012-01-09T18:28:00.000-06:00

So I think I want a satchel purse. Am I old or out of touch with fashion?

According to lovemypursenality.com, a satchel is usually defined as: What makes it a satchel is the handles and the shape of the purse. The handles are smaller and is typically worn by the elbow, the shape of the purse is a typically shallower with rounded edges. However, a true ‘satchel’ has an additional shoulder strap.

Here are the reasons that I think I want a satchel:

1. I want to carry my wallet, phone, earbud case, checkbook and new touch Kindle. All of these things are very small and very flat. I think they would be easy to find in a satchel purse due to its shape. They would all just sit right there and not roll around in the extra room, right?

2. My current purse is too big. Is that possible? Maybe. I love my current purse. It's a hobo, and while I love the look of it, I'm constantly swishing my arms around in it trying to find stuff. So aggravating!

3. I must have a shoulder strap option. I don't really care if my purse has small handles, but it has to have a shoulder strap. I need my arms free to do things like buy groceries, swipe my credit card and live in general.

Okay, those are really all my reasons, so what do you think?

Here are some examples of satchels from Endless.com:

HOBO INTERNATIONAL's Blanca satchel in Cognac

Cole Hann Avery in Poppy

Co-Lab by Christopher Kon Katie-864 Satchel in Cognac

Melie Blanco Lana Satchel in yellow

Out of these, I'm leaning toward the HOBO because it looks the smallest in width without being too roomy for things to get lost.

Because I love you all, my readers, I'm asking for your vote. On the right-hand side of my blog is now a poll you can take. Please choose your favorite. Rock the vote!

Life is better on the beach

2012-01-04T10:34:00.000-06:00

I think life may actually be better on the beach, and I think the beautiful skies we saw during our recent vacation confirm my suspicions. Enjoy.

Top 10 Photo List: Christmas and Beach Vacay

2012-01-03T10:24:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year!

Before I embrace 2012, I have to finish out 2011 with a report on our holidays. Chris and I spent the holidays traveling and had so much fun seeing family and vacationing on the beach.

Chris and I both took lots of photos.

Instead of boring you with every detail, and make you totally jealous, I've decided to do a Top 10 Photo List.

Here are the top 10 photos from Christmas 2011:

Fun times, right?

If that wasn't enough, here is the Top 10 Photo List of Beach Vacation 2011-2012:

Happy holidays!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T04:00:00.000-06:00

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Shooting Guns and New Phones

2011-12-17T08:34:00.000-06:00

Previously, we discussed how I broke my phone.

And, how I was able to get the cost covered. Well, I've been living with my now, free and broken phone for several weeks. The crack bothered me less and less, and who doesn't love a free phone? But then I had a revelation. If I continue to break my phone, the Apple Store won't give me a trade-in value on it. That means I could be left having to purchase my replacement phone at full cost. No ma'am. I went right out to the Apple Store and swapped out my phone. I wasn't going to leave there without a case. I don't want to tempt fate twice. Say hello to my new case!

I really like it, and Chris says it looks like my style. Here are some important points about it. It's a hard case, not make out of silicone, and it snaps onto the phone.

The case covers the front of the phone too, adding padding if you set your phone face down on a surface.

The case covers the edges of the phone completely. This is very important if you drop your phone on its corner edge in a parking lot...just saying.

And finally, this case covers a crack-free phone. Yay!

In other news, Chris, Jenny and Darrin and I went to Tunica last weekend for some time at the shooting range and some time with the slot machines.

These photos are at the skeet shooting range. The gun is Chris'. Here Chris shows Jenny how to work the gun. He had already given both Jenny and Darrin a gun safety lesson at the house, but you can never be too careful. Don't place with guns, kids!

Jenny was already getting the hang of it.

Darrin pulled the button for her first clay/first shot.

Seriously a natural!

The happy gun couple.

Then it was Darrin's turn.

He was breaking clays right and left!

And then it was my turn.

Why yes, that gun is twice my size. After my obligatory shot, I called it a day and kept score.

But Jenny kept right on shooting! At'a girl!

Darrin continued to hit clay after clay. Chris and he were neck and neck on my scorecard.

I pulled the button for Jenny.

Don't we look like we belong?

An action shot of Darrin being the button guy for Chris.

Manly men.

After our shooting, we hit the casino and found this festive Christmas village. It was all made out of gingerbread!

And someone came out the winner for the weekend...I wonder who?

In final news, I sold my old, new dining room chairs on Craigslist! Remember the pretty slip-covered ones that Porter scratched to death? Well, I finally sold them! The couple came and picked them up, paid in cash, and hauled them away all on the same day. I'm so happy they are going to a good home, and the woman plans to sew new slipcovers for them. Everyone wins!!

Porter goes screwy and Grace sleeps

2011-12-14T16:19:00.003-06:00

I've been trying to get this on a video for some time now. Chris and I find the tops to our sink plungers all over the house. They make a fun noise as they slide across the hardwood floors, according to Porter. I knew no one would believe me if I didn't have proof on video, but Porter unscrews these tops. Unscrews them, I tell you!

And what does Grace do while Porter is working his magic on the sinks? She dreams of a better life.

And the winner is....

2011-12-07T18:14:00.001-06:00

Laura is the winner of the $50 Snapfish gift card!

Happy Holidays!!

**And the update on our Christmas is that it's still standing! Porter hasn't tried to climb the branches or pick off all the ornaments. Success!**

My view from the finish line

2011-12-04T20:27:00.001-06:00

Saturday, Chris ran the St. Jude Marathon.

While he was running all over the city, I was volunteering at the finish line at AutoZone Park, giving out space blankets and medals and generally helping out. The greatest part was that I was there when Chris came across the finish line, and I got to "medal" him.

After spending time at the 5K, half marathon and full marathon finish lines, I learned some lessons.

1. You can not determine a person's running ability based on weight, height, gender, creed, religion or color. I saw all kinds of people come across those finish lines, and the length of the race did not correlate with any of the above-mentioned factors. Pregnant women in the 5K, dads with kids in backpacks in the half marathon and hefty men in the full. Tall lanky men stumbling in the half and petite women throwing up after the 5K.

2. Most people are very generous. There I was just standing around at the finish line doing minimal labor, and people who had run for miles and miles and raised money for St. Jude were thanking me for my time. It was consistently amazing and reaffirming that most people are inherently good.

3. Marathons are emotional events. Now for obvious reasons, the St. Jude marathon is especially emotional. People are wearing t-shirts in memory and in honor of patients. Some families are running in thanks and others in pain. There's no getting away from that. However, I think marathons in general are emotional. I think it's something your body seeps into after hours of running. At the full marathon finish line, I medaled a girl, probably about my age, and she was weeping. I told her congratulations and asked if she needed help. She said she had no family there, and she asked me for a hug. I wrapped my arms around her and held her for several minutes while she cried. She said it was her first marathon. I continued to congratulate her and tell her how proud she should feel of her accomplishment. Marathons are emotional.

4. Marathons make you delusional. Not all, but a whole lot, of people coming across the finish line, mostly from the full marathon, were completely delusional for several moments. Their minds just weren't there. I'm sure it's a side effect of the places your mind has to go when you're running for more than 20 miles. I'm sure it takes it a bit of time to get back to reality. But seriously, marathons make you delusional. I had one person thank me for the pillow when it was clearly a big long blanket. One person kept running at full speed through the finish line and when he reached the water station, a true dead end, he stopped and looked completely confused. I think he couldn't tell his body to stop running. Another person, whom I have known for some time, didn't recognize me when I medaled them, gave them a blanket and then walked them to the water station. Thankfully, Chris recognized me immediately. That would have been a bummer. Thankfully marathons don't make you forget your spouse.

5. Marathons make you sweat. I know this is an obvious one, but after putting medals around runners' necks and wrapping space blankets around runners' shoulders for several hours, I was covered in other people's sweat. Which is grosser than your own sweat. It's just a fact.

Christmas tree update and a giveaway

2011-12-01T23:03:00.001-06:00

So our live Christmas tree has been up for several days now, and it's still standing! No cat climbing the trunk. No dog knocking it over with her behind. Last night we added the ornaments, and we have our fingers and toes crossed that the animals in the house will continue to leave the tree alone.

In other news, who wants $50? Everyone, right? Who wants $50 at Snapfish? Everyone, right? I'm very excited to announce that Snapfish has offered a $50 gift card to one of my readers. It's very exciting because Snapfish has just launched a new line of home decor items, created by Genevieve Gorder, host of “Dear Genevieve” and judge on “Design Star,” both on HGTV. Don't you love her?

I've got my eye on a canvas print.

It's the holidays. You want to freshen up your house for parties and/or the new year. You want this gift card. How do you get this gift card you ask? Leave me a comment on this post telling me what is top on your wish list for Christmas. A new purse? Peace on Earth? A car with a big red bow on it? Tell me all about it.

You can leave your comment until December 7th at 6pm. After that, comments will be closed and a random winner will be chosen. Yay!

Happy holidays!

Trimming my first real tree and taking bets on my cat

2011-11-29T19:27:00.001-06:00

Say hello to my first live Christmas tree. It's in the midst of being lit.

It's a real tree!

With tree stems, seed looking things and everything.

Grace doesn't seem to think much about it. She sniffed it a bit while it was drying out in the garage, but she seems kind of over it.

But what about this guy?

What's he looking at? Is he eyeing the tree? Does he have a plot to take it over and climb to its very top?

We're not sure either. So the tree will sit, lit and waiting, two days before an ornament touches its branches. If the tree survives two days, surely Porter will no longer care. Surely.

So what's your vote? Will the tree survive a cat's curiosity? Leave me a comment and tell me your vote. Happy holidays!

The Thanksgiving Grind

2011-11-28T16:39:00.001-06:00

This Thanksgiving, Chris and I traveled home to see my family. The night before Thanksgiving lunch, my mom and I set out to make cornbread dressing, and we discovered we didn't have any corn meal. You know, the corn meal to make the cornbread that goes into the cornbread dressing?

I offered to drive to Kroger and fight the fight of everyone else who had forgotten one ingredient the day before Thanksgiving, but before I got in the car, Mom said that she did have polenta. Polenta is just a larger grind of corn than corn meal.

So you know what? I ground (in the food processor) the polenta to get it closer to corn meal.

And it worked! The cornbread came together perfectly. I felt very pioneer-like doing this successfully.

But I didn't get a photo of the finished cornbread dressing. I was much too busy eating. I was able to get a group shot, thanks to my new remote control for my camera.

A pretty good looking group.

And, yes. I did cut my hair again. It's even shorter than before, and I'm loving it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ceramic magic

2011-11-21T17:59:00.001-06:00

A few Saturdays ago, I met a group of women at a paint-your-own-pottery shop in Germantown, Paint A Piece.

I've visited shops like this, mostly in SeaSide. You pick your ceramic piece and paint it. Pretty simple. The nice thing is that the shop has all the paints, and they fire the pieces in the kiln for you.

Last year in SeaSide, I wanted to make a ring holder, but they didn't have the piece. I don't know if you think about a ring holder a lot, but I do. I always think how I would use one by my sink so that I could put my ring and small jewelry on it while I'm washing my hands/face/etc.

Paint A Piece did have a ring holder, so I was all over it!

I decided to try one of their pottery glazes. It paints on a totally different color than it fires in the kiln. The nice thing is that they have some built-in textures and colors. I chose the glaze called Robin's Egg. We have brown and blues in our master bedroom, and I thought the ring holder would fit in well in our bathroom...next to my sink.

This is what it looked like when I finished it at the shop:

Questionable I know. The white inner ring you see if a white treatment that I was told could lighten the area you put it on but the other glaze color would remain.

My ring holder was ready in just a few days, and it looked like this!

Can you believe it? I'm really happy with it, and I find the pottery glaze amazing. How did it transform so completely? You can see the lighten inner ring too, which I'm really happy with.

I also did the bottom because you have to cover the entire piece with the glaze, and I added an A initial with the year.

I had a fun time at the shop, and I'm really happy with the results. I could see doing this again!

Book Review: Sea Change by Jeremy Page

2011-11-17T14:00:00.000-06:00

I just read Sea Change by Jeremy Page. I found this book to be very intriguing. The overall premise is sad: Guy loses his wife and child. There you know. By the way, his name is Guy, not just a descriptor.

BUT, he keeps them alive in his mind and grows their lives' stories in his diaries. He continues to write about his family as if they are all still together for five years while he lives on a boat at sea. As a writer, I found it interesting that you could keep someone alive by writing about them. Could you really keep your life as you knew it going in your writing? I enjoyed the idea that his writing took on a life of its own, and there were times that even he was surprised by the outcomes, as if some other force was really writing the story...much like real life.

If you are a writer, I highly suggest you reading this book. If you're not a writer, you will still learn some life lessons from Guy, his diaries and his life on his boat. If you read it, come back and tell me the significance of the bird in the box....just wondering.

Go here to learn more about the book and talk to people who have read it.

I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

My iphone, American Express, Charlie Sheen and me

2011-11-16T22:29:00.001-06:00

Right about the time we moved to Memphis, I got this guy.

He's the original 3G iphone. He changed my life. I used him when I got lost in Memphis; I used him when I needed to find a restaurant; and I used him to call people and ask for a job. Basically, he was my best friend.

Recently, he had gotten old. He just wasn't running as quickly as he once had, and he seemed to be forgetting things. I had strong feelings for him, but my eye wandered.

It wandered right into this guy.

New and improved, sleeker and with the boost of Siri. It was like a better powered, more personal and faster partner. So I made my move. The first day available, I pre-ordered a brand new iPhone 4s. One week later, the very day it was available in stores, my new friend arrived, and he changed my life. Maps were faster; he reacted to my voice commands; and he knew things about me like where I lived and what time I usually set my alarm.

28 days later, this happened.

iPhone 4s and I were getting out of the car, and it slipped.

It slipped from my lap onto the pavement. Serious damage occurred.

I didn't know what to do. It still worked okay, but the disfigurement was terrifying. I knew it didn't feel like itself. I visited the Apple Store. They said they could fix (replace) it for $150. I spent $200 to get iPhone 4s just 28 days ago. I couldn't stand to shell out that kind of money again. So I left the store.

The next day, I realized I purchased iPhone 4s on my American Express card. I knew this because the bill for it just came in. It wasn't even officially paid off, and it was broken. American Express...they have a Purchase Protection guarantee. I did my research, and they cover damage to items paid for with an American Express card within 90 days of purchase. So.......would this include iPhone 4s??

Yesterday, I filed an online claim on the damage to my phone. This afternoon I received an email from American Express:

"Thank you for choosing to use your American Express Card for your purchases. We are pleased to inform you that payment has been approved for your Purchase Protection program claim. Your payment of $218.49 has been processed as a credit to your American Express Account."

Y'all that means my iPhone 4s is paid for. Seriously paid for. Because I dropped it and broke it. Now, meaning tomorrow, I will go to the Apple Store where they will replace my broken phone for $150. You do the math. I'll also be purchasing a new iPhone 4s case....to prevent breakages from falls and scratches.

I think this scenario is actually what Charlie Sheen was referring to: winning!

Get your Bounce on

2011-11-10T17:29:00.000-06:00

Thanks to BlogHer, I'm trying out the new Bounce Dryer Bar.

I got to choose with variety I wanted, and I definitely wanted the dye and scent free. I don't like added chemicals on my skin, thanks.

When I took it out of the package, it said Bounce.

According the package, when it's time to change it, it will say Replace. Pretty cool.

It sticks to the side of the dryer.

I have run three loads of laundry since installing it, and so far I'm really happy with it. There is no scent and the clothes come out well fluffed, soft and not sticking together. It's also awesome not to have those pesky dryer sheets that end up everywhere when you're folding and putting away the laundry. Does that happen to you too? I find them everywhere!

I'll keep you updated as I use the bar up. How is it going to change the words on it? Crazy!

Showering Sarah

2011-11-09T20:17:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, Jenny, Laura and I co-hosted a baby shower for Sarah. We held it at ArtJamN, a paint-your-own canvas studio. We were able to bring in our own food, and we had a spread of confetti rice krispie treats, lemon drop cupcakes and caramelized onion dip with veggies and chip.

We also had rainbow fruit skewers and pasta salad skewers. We wanted everything to be hand-held for easy painting. You can also see the cute invite, and the table runner, which matched.

Here's the mom-to-be as her friends began to arrive like Dana.

Jenny, one of my co-hosts.

There was some serious conversation going on here.

But Kendra was still all smiles.

Someone tell me to stop crinkling my nose when I laugh!

Before we began painting, each of us signed a note to the baby, and the instructor told us how everything was going to go.

I think Sarah enjoyed herself.

We played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who would start the painting.

The group began with the sky.

The canvas was so large that several of us could paint at once.

We painted the sky blue all over the canvas.

The instructor had already outlined a design with a texture.

Laura and Kendra worked on the grass area.

Fun times!

All of a sudden, the painting really came together.

Dana was in charge of the red leaves.

How pretty is this?!?!

There's a heart cut into the tree, and there's a little bird on the branch.

Sarah is going to hang it in Baby's nursery. I kind of want it to hang in my house!

Here's the group in our aprons.

And one without aprons.

I think everyone really had fun, and Sarah got a one-of-a-kind piece of art out of the deal.

I made fire!

2011-11-07T20:46:00.001-06:00

I worked with a group to make a Halloween display for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The theme was the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. We needed a flame for our fireplace, and I offered to make it. I make fire!

I took our house fan, and created tissue-paper flames.

I placed the flames so that when the air blew, the flames blew and made a fire-log sound. See it on this video:

Here's the completed scene with my flames!

Listen to it one more time:

Rocking the scarf

2011-11-02T11:55:00.001-05:00

I'm a big fan of scarves. Especially in the fall and winter, and I'm always looking for new ways to wear them. This is a great video showing 25 ways to wear a scarf. This girl is great, and you will be amazed by all the looks you can make.

Fashion Trends for Grown Ups

2011-10-27T09:03:00.000-05:00

As I'm approaching another birthday, and a change in seasons, I'm wondering how I should update my wardrobe accordingly. I'm not a big fashionista because I think runway trends are mostly silly. But, I understand how something completely overdone on the runway, can end up in my local store as something normal and cute. However, with age and in a work environment, it's difficult to stay up-to-date on fashion trends and not look like a teenager, wearing four trends at one time. I also don't want to purchase an entirely new wardrobe every season because everything I have is "so last season."

How do you stay in fashion while dressing your age?

There is a great post on BlogHer: A Life Well Lived discussing this very issue. I've added my two cents, and you should to. There are also great ideas from other women, and I will take all the advice I can get!

Click on over to read my comment and everyone else's. Even add yours too!

And, you must enter the $250 sweepstakes! You could use the money to update your wardrobe :)

A Foggy Monday

2011-10-24T09:59:00.001-05:00

This morning I woke up to fog, and it really felt like fall was here! I love fall!

Yesterday, we participated in a very fall event here in Memphis, the River Arts Fest.

We went with the Jenny and Darrin.

We saw some art.

Lots of people turned out after the morning rain was gone.

There were some delicious looking food vendors, but we were strong and refrained.

The neat thing about the festival is there are lots of different types of artists: glass blowers, painters, photographers and jewelers.

The sun seemed to be at eye level, but that didn't stop Darrin from photo bombing our picture!

We took a little rest from walking around and found a patio.

I walked past this life-sized poster of a Grizzly's basketball player, and I had to have my photo taken with it. That dude is huge...and I am short.

In other news, Chris and I came home to find this

I had left a bottle of dry mustard out, and apparently Porter thought he needed it. You can see that the cap has been popped open and there is a hole in it. Thankfully, the bottle wasn't very full, and no dry mustard spilled out that I could tell. He was just curled up with it in his bed. So strange, little kitten!

**Thanks to Chris for taking all these photos!**

Our weekend according to my new iphone 4s

2011-10-17T11:38:00.002-05:00

We had an eventful weekend!

Friday afternoon, I received my new iPhone 4s. I was using the original 3G, so this was a huge leap forward for me. As an ode to my new phone, all of the photos on this post were taken with it, using the Instagram app.

Friday night we saw these guys.

Saturday morning, we met up with Chris' sister and her family for Bryce's baptism. We were thrilled to be asked to be his Godparents.

On our way back from Little Rock, we decided to take a few detours. I had seen a cemetery in Carlisle, AR, that looked really interesting. It may sound weird, but I enjoy visiting cemeteries. I think roaming through the old graves and learning bits about people's lives is interesting. Here are some interesting shots I took in Carlisle.

We even found some possible family members.

Then we decided to head south just a little bit to Slovak, AR. Chris was baptized at the church there and his grandmother is buried there. On the way, we ran into this guy.

Thankfully, he didn't run us off the road, and we arrived safely.

Here's Chris' grandmother's headstone.

I like this shot. It feels very southern to me.

Here's the front of the church. Unfortunately, it was locked, and so we weren't able to get inside.

Finally, after our wandering, we made it home, and this guy was happy to see us.

Weekend visitors of the baby kind

2011-10-10T16:40:00.000-05:00

Guess who came to see me this weekend? My nephews and Cook family!

Here is two-week-old Colton.

I love those cheeks!

Turns out my couch is also good for infant napping, not just adults.

Big brother Bryce wanted to join in on the napping time.

But he was just pretending to sleep.

Grandma got some good love time.

While the boys spend some time outside.

Colton woke up and decided he was hungry. The next few shots really tell the entire story.

"Seriously, yo. I'm hungry. Don't just sit there and take pictures of me."

Momma made it better,

while Grandma prepped the bottle.

I think he knew what was coming.

Everyone was happy again.

After a big lunch, Bryce decided he might need a little cat nap on Chris' leather chair.

And, finally it was Grandpa's turn to hold Colton. Now that Colton wasn't crying and hungry anymore!

While Colton was awake, we all made sure to get our hands on him. He studied Grandma for a long time.

And, I got to talk to him for a bit.

By the time it was Chris' turn, Colton was getting a little tired of being passed around.

But, Uncle Chris made it okay again.

Colton just needed a different perspective.

He hung out on Chris' legs for a bit and showed off his smile.

And in closing, Bryce took this last photo. I think the composition and focus are right on. Maybe we have another photographer and blogger in the family!

How to be an American Housewife

2011-10-06T09:19:00.004-05:00

No, this isn't some tale of my marriage or advice for the land. It's a book review!

I just finished Margaret Dilloway's How to Be an American Housewife: a novel. The basic story line is that Shoko decides to marry a U.S. Army man and leave Japan after World War II. We get an insight into her life and her adjustments to American life. But, the story line that I really found interesting was the one between Shoko's daughter Suiko, or Sue, and her own daughter, Helena.

Sue's relationship with her daughter Helena offered more depth and realism to me. It's the story of a single parent in modern times trying to do the best for her daughter. I found their story easier to connect with and follow as it evolved. As you delve further into the book, you discover that Sue's and Helena's relationship provides a foil to Shoko's and Sue's mother-daughter relationship. Shoko wasn't that great of a mom to Sue (in my opinion), and you can see the ramifications of that in how Sue raises Helena--both the good and the bad.

The only complaint I have about the book is that I wanted to know more about Shoko as a mother. We see pieces of that time, but most of those instances show her failing to be compassionate and not having the patience to teach Sue how to cook. I wanted to see deeper into Shoko instead of measuring her based on the others around her. I wanted to know more about why she made the choices she did with her daughter.

Overall, this was a very interesting and touching multi-generational story, centering around mothers and daughters discovering more about their past, each other and their heritage.

I suggest reading it, and let me know what you think!

To learn more about the book and the author, and to join in further conversations on BlogHer, click here.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Washcloth lollipops: Easy Baby Gift

2011-09-29T16:20:00.001-05:00

As I've shared, I got a new nephew recently! I decided I needed to find something cute to make for him. I got inspiration from here to make washcloth lollipops.

The first time I rolled them up, they looked more like flowers. I added two more washcloths to make the ring larger, and they looked more like a lollipop.

The sticks are baby spoons!

I took step-by-step photos as I made these, but they have disappeared from my camera. I thought I uploaded everything before I cleared my memory card, but I didn't. Sad. Anyway, I ended up with three extra spoons, so I wrapped them together as one stick.

I printed out an image of real lollipop and taped it to the cellophane sack around the three-as-one spoons.

I really did take several finished photos, but I don't have them. Thankfully Crystal, my sister-in-law, took this photo of the finished product.

I wrote, "Happy Birthday, Colton! We're a sucker for you already!"

Get it? Sucker....lollipop.

I was pleased with the project, and it was the perfect hospital gift. Small and cute, but easy to get home. And useful!

I got another nephew!

2011-09-25T09:55:00.001-05:00

Chris and I were anxious to travel to Little Rock to meet our new nephew, Colton.

When we got there, Colton's big brother, our first nephew Bryce, was holding him.

Bryce was taking to his big brother role pretty well.

Colton seemed to like him too.

Bryce even gave Colton some brotherly love.

Bryce and I have always been buddies, and he's almost as tall as I am these days! You can see photos from Bryce's birth by clicking here. You can also see when I took Bryce to the zoo by clicking here.

Finally it was my turn to meet Colton.

He's a pretty good looking guy.

And he smells wonderful! Just like a baby.

I'm a proud aunt.

Here's Colton's proud uncle.

He was pretty tired from being born, but he was just a precious as can be.

As part of my auntly duties, I brought Bryce a Big Brother basket full of goodies like Airhead candies, cotton candy, foam animal tablets that grow in water, a magnetic erasable drawing board and glow sticks. The glow sticks were a bit hit!

Bryce pieced all of the glow sticks together to make a monster glow rope.

Chris even got roped in on the glow stick fun.

After some glow stick fun, Chris and I went back to say goodnight to Colton, who was awake!

He looked a little questionable about this big world.

He figured it was easier to just go back to sleep for the time being.

We went back in the morning to get some more baby love. Colton was sleeping in his bassinet.

But I quickly resolved that issue.

Another proud aunt shot.

The next few shots are the best I got. Isn't he the cutest?

Happy birthday, Colton!

Dining Room: Take 2

2011-09-17T09:13:00.000-05:00

For our anniversary this year, we redid our dining room. New table, new chairs, and then I redid the wall art.

Well, the slip-covered chairs didn't fit our lifestyle very well. And by lifestyle, I mean this guy:

Porter loved the fabric on the chairs so much that he couldn't keep his claws off of it! I continue to use the claw covers (see here), but as soon as one of the covers would fall off, he'd head straight for the chairs. The slipcovers just got picked to death!

The chairs underneath are perfectly fine, and they are now for sale! Check out my Craigslist page.

But, we had to make a decision: Continue to purchase new slipcovers every few months, or just buy four new chairs to replace the fabric ones. I headed back to the same antique store where we bought our table and wooden chairs, and in the back of the store, he had four wooden chairs for an absurdly low price. I took their photo, sent it to Chris and left the store. I promptly returned and purchased them.

They are a similar ladder-back design to the other two wooden chairs we already have.

I like that they don't match our Head of the Table chairs exactly, but I think they complement each other nicely.

New dining table: no fabric!

While I was finishing the dining table and chairs combo, I also decided that it was time to finish up that last empty frame on the wall.

I used paint chips from Low's and the flower paper cutter from my tray project. I cut three flowers from the same color, and I positioned the three flower shapes on top of each other to make a full looking flower.

It took a while to make, but I really like it!

A finished dining room. For real this time!

**Don't forget about Chris marathon page. Please help us raise money directly for St. Jude. Thanks!**

Be a hero for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

2011-09-12T13:02:00.000-05:00

Hello lovely readers!

My husband is running his second full marathon and his first St. Jude marathon this year. He also works for ALSAC, the fundraising foundation of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Christopher is part of the Heroes marathon program, and he is raising money directly for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through his run.

Here are some amazing facts about St. Jude:

It costs $1.7 million a day to operate St. Jude, and public donations through fundraising efforts provide more than 70 percent of the hospital's funding.

St. Jude families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance, and no child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay.

Donations also cover other costs a family would typically incur while their child is being treated, including travel, housing and food.

St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and around the world. Every child saved at St. Jude means children saved around the world--a direct result of cutting-edge research and treatment that set the standard in treating childhood cancers.

When St. Jude opened in 1962, the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer, was 4 percent. Today, the survival rate for this once deadly disease is 94 perfect, thanks to research and treatment protocols developed by St. Jude.

St. Jude was the first institution to produce a cure for sickle cell disease with a bone marrow transplant and has one of the largest pediatric sickle cell disease programs in the country.

St. Jude is the first center to receive government approval for a unique transplant procedure that makes it possible for parents who are not exact matches to be bone marrow donors for their children.

St. Jude is very important to my family and many thousands of other families, and I would be so appreciative if you could donate to Christopher's run. You can donate directly on his Heroes page: http://bit.ly/ChrisHeroRun

Any amount is truly helpful!

It's time: 10 years!

2011-09-11T13:22:00.000-05:00

My BFF (best friend forever), Kathy, and I have always celebrated our Friend-versary. We met at Hendrix College on September 8, 2001. To commemorate our friend love, we give each other the appropriate anniversary gift per the year. Ten years is tin and diamond.

I found this clock here, and I was inspired to make a "diamond encrusted" clock for Kathy.

First, I found a clock at an antique store, but it was too shiny.

So I decided to spray paint it.

With glitter! I mean, diamond dust.

Once it was dry, I began adding the jewels: "diamonds."

I had two different sizes of diamonds around the sides and on the alarm bells.

For the face of the clock, I used a "diamond" trim from the fabric department.

Happy Diamond Year Anniversary, Kathy!

Faithful Place book review

2011-09-11T08:47:00.001-05:00

Are you looking for a good mystery book to read? Have you ever thought about how the Internet can help but also hinder someone from truly becoming lost?

Read my book review of Faithful Place by Tana French. Click here.

Me and my ponytail

2011-09-08T10:03:00.000-05:00

The first 18 years or more of my life I had a bob.

I loved that bob.

I mean, come on. It was stinking cute!

Photo by Nancy Nolan

Then, one day, Chris let it slip that he preferred long hair. Dang it! Then I was on the quest to grow it out. And grow I did.

But, do you know what evidentially happened? I began wearing ponytails all the time.

And some costumes with my ponytail.

Even pigtails.

My hair is so thick that by the time I would get it dry, I would be ready to be done with it. And, why waste all your time in the morning, if you can pull your hair back? I'm no hair stylist, and the round brush and Chi are my only weapons.

Soooo, I thought it was time to shake things up!

Hello Bob 2011.

What do you think? It was amazing how quickly I was able to get ready this morning, and no falling back on a ponytail do!

Happy House Anniversary!

2011-08-23T20:35:00.000-05:00

Today is the anniversary of our house! We moved in on this date in 2009. You can read the saga with us purchasing this house here, and here, and here. But the bottom line is: We got the house!

This is a photo I took when Chris and I first saw the house. I think we were talking about what an amazing chandelier we would hang there one day.

This is me on move-in day with our key. Note: those are the denim shorts from here.

This is a photo of me with our SOLD sign.

The day we moved in, we had incredible friends, Sarah and Charlie, who drove from North Little Rock and Matt and Laura, who we had not met until that day. Everyone helped us move in and then went to dinner with us at Gus' World Famous Fried Chicken. Shockingly these people are still friends with us. The dirt, grim and sweat from moving did not deter them. Good peeps.

This is move-in night, and the first time Chris sat in his Man Chair in its new spot.

Porter discovered he loves carpet. Even though this is blurry, you can see he loved his new home.

This was our first weekend in our house. A fancy brunch on our balcony.

I can't believe all of this was three years ago!

Dear House,

We love you. We have taken our time working on you (mostly because Air Conditioner has been taking all our money) and making you ours. We especially like your balcony and fenced yard. And your kitchen and your high ceilings. Thanks for three great years.

Love, Allison, Christopher, Porter and Grace

A Good Hard Look book review

2011-08-16T06:59:00.002-05:00

I've got another BlogHer book club review up. It's on A Good Hard Look. See why I judged it on its cover. Right or wrong.

Click here to read my review.

Tray rehab

2011-08-15T18:51:00.001-05:00

Chris and I have had this brown tray for years. I thought it belonged to his family or something because I couldn't remember where the tray had originally come from.

It was a fine tray, but there was a part of me that really wanted to modernize it. I would see trays in catalogs and think, "That's such a cute tray!" But, see I already had a tray, and so I didn't buy a new one. Again it was fine. Just brown. Finally one day I asked Chris about it. "It was a hand-me-down from your folks," he said.

Perfect! I then knew I was free to mess it up in the hopes of making it better. First was a coat of red spray paint.

I painted over the gold metal edges too.

Yeah for pretty and red!

But I knew it needed something more. So I started searching for inspiration, and I found Martha Stewart's tray here. I immediately went to Hobby Lobby looking for cork shelf paper and a punch. But there was no cork shelf paper. I figured I could improvise with a roll of cork and double-sided adhesive paper. I could punch the shape in the cork and the adhesive paper and then put them together on the tray. Perfect.

However, when I got home, I realized my punch (which was not a Martha Stewart brand, but I liked the shape better.) wasn't tall enough to accommodate the roll of cork. So I went to Michael's thinking (1. it was closer) and 2. they would have different punches.

Michael's didn't have cork shelf paper, but I did buy two different brands of punches. One of them was a Martha Stewart Punch All Over The Page punch. Neither was strong enough to punch through the cork.

At this point, I got on Amazon.com to find the cork shelf liner. I found it and ordered it. When it arrived, I immediately tried my two punches on it. Neither would cut through it!!

Back to Michael's to return the two punches. I took a square of the cork shelf liner with me, and I decided I would find the exact Martha Stewart punch shown, and test it before buying it. I usually don't promote using products before you buy them, but this "easy" project was getting out of control.

Thankfully, the punch I chose worked!! And it was on clearance!!

Here's the cute shape I chose:

I first thought I would do lines of the flowers, but it just didn't look right. I played around with it for a bit and decided on this:

Here's the finished tray with Grace's nose in the pic.

The theory is that the cork will absorb any sweating and condensation from drinks we put on the tray.

And, the cork makes it a non-slip surface.

After all of that time and effort, I do think it turned out pretty cute. The lesson from this is to purchase exactly the products your inspiration project used. Thanks, Martha.

Mary Kay try out

2011-08-14T09:53:00.001-05:00

I was lucky enough to be a part of a trial program through BlogHer and Mary Kay. I signed up; they sent me some makeup to try. Pretty cool, right?

Here's the loot.

It was a magnetic compact,

three shades of eyeshadow and a blush

They all fit perfectly into the magnetic compact.

I wasn't sure that blue was my color, but I followed the instructions on the packet, which showed which areas of the eye to place the colors.

Here's the shadow on my eye. I like the two brown tones, but with my green eyes, I really need a purple hue instead of blue. The makeup did go on well though. I used their little brushes that were included, but I always prefer a real sized brush. The small ones would be nice on the go, but they just can't compare to real brushes.

And, here's the finished eye.

I normally use Bare Minerals, which I do love. However, the Mary Kay sample was really nice with the magnetic compact. I could see that it would be nice having everything you needed in one compact instead of several loose powder tubs like I have now. I think I may look into purchasing a purple hue to replace the blue, and I'll keep the compact in my travel bag. You never want to find yourself without makeup!

Thanks Mary Kay and BlogHer for the samples!!

My book review of The Kid

2011-08-11T15:19:00.003-05:00

I've been busy reading with BlogHer Book Club. My latest review is published, and it's on The Kid by Sapphire.

Click here to read it.

10 things you'd never think to ask

2011-08-11T07:38:00.000-05:00

I've been on a small blog break, and I thought it would be fun to get back in the swing of writing by sharing a few quirky things about myself that you all may not know.

1. I love to write with pencils. For some reason I think my handwriting looks better, and I just like the feel of pencils.

2. I use a Caboodle as a jewelry box, and it still has the price tag on it. I purchased it after my jewelry box was stolen during the Robbery of 2009. I have no idea why I haven't taken the tag off of it. Maybe I thought I would return it some day, but no. I'm still using it.

3. Every morning around 4:30 a.m. Porter jumps on my side of the bed and lays on my chest while I scratch his face. Yes, it wakes me up, but I just don't care. He's so cute.

4. I've created a spice mix that I add to my coffee each morning. It's a blend of sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder and cayenne pepper. I was inspired by the Mayan cappuccino at Cafe Eclectic. Delicious! And, it's a whole lot cheaper to make it at your house.

5. I have a pair of Gap denim shorts that are more than 10 years old. I'm wearing them right now. They are the ideal weekend, grocery shopping, working around the house, shorts, and they are still as good as when I--or probably my mom--purchased them.

6. I don't listen to music. If I'm driving in the car, I either listen to NPR or nothing. I like silence. When I'm working, I often have NPR playing on my computer. There are not many instances when I think, " Man, I need some music on!" I've been known to have the occasional dance party or crank up music in the house once in a while, but most of the time, I like silence. I know, I'm weird.

7. I love lists and calendars. See, this post is a list. Lists get me through the day and keep me sane. My calendar has every important fact and reminder on it. I get it from my grandmother. She knows the exact days my family purchased cars, homes, boats and moved to different houses. She's my calendar idol.

8. Basil is my favorite herb.

9. I cook from scratch everyday. I don't believe in processed or ready-made foods and ingredients. It's okay if you do. I just don't.

10. I was the tallest person in my Kindergarten class. Then I pretty much stopped growing. It's cool. 5'2" looks good on me.

Dining room wall updated

2011-08-06T11:03:00.002-05:00

I've been updating my dining room wall, filling in some of those empty wall spaces.

This is a photo I took at our farm. Doesn't it look like some hidden secret liar?

I created this piece myself. I was inspired by a WestElm catalog that showed a similar work of "art" in one of their room scenes. I used a blue pencil and a black marker from my art box, and I traced various sizes of bowls from my cabinet.

Here's my pea pod hung on the wall.

I took this photo at our farm, and I really like the vibrant colors.

This is also from the farm, and I turned it black and white when I printed it.

So this is the updated wall. I'm pretty happy with it! You can see there's still one empty spot between the black and white road photo and the olive photo.

I'm waiting for inspiration to hit me for that one. Suggestions?

Farm Food: Kansas City Steak

2011-07-31T14:56:00.002-05:00

This is a Kansas City Steak from one of our grass-fed black angus cows. The steak is the same cut as a New York Strip, but this guy was huge and thick.

I marinated it for about 30 minutes in a little bit of Dales marinade and a sprinkling of a Grill Seasoning on both sides. Then I handed it off to this guy:

And, it came back like this!

Yummy grill marks.

Placed on a bed a Gruyere cheese grits and alongside roasted asparagus, this was certainly a fine dining meal in!

Cookies and cream health cake

2011-07-29T11:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is actually a cookies and cream cake with Heath candy bar icing. Here's the inspiration.

It's a basic cake batter, I used this one, with Oreo cookies mixed in the batter. A lot of Oreo cookies. Then, I used this icing recipe and added broken up Heath bars to part of it. That part I placed in between the cake layers. The rest of the regular icing was used on the outside of the cake.

It was delicious. Just eat it and enjoy.

It's Friday: Tear something up!

2011-07-29T11:00:00.001-05:00

My art box

2011-07-26T13:48:00.000-05:00

When I was much younger, I was given this:

Inside is this:

My mom gave this art box back to me several weeks ago. Do your parents and/or grandparents do this to you? They've been holding on to all your old stuff, and they plot to reunite you with things you had long since forgotten about? So re-entered my art box into my life.

As I'm working on my new wall in the dining room, I determined I would attempt to make a piece of art. I'm really no painter at all, or sketcher, drawer, sculpture or the like, but I figured worse case would be just throwing my art away. I already had the supplies!

For my project, I focused on the watercolors. I have no idea why. They just spoke to me.

A few days ago, Google's homepage was pea pods that spelled Google. Pea pods are special in my family, relating to a baby counting book I would always want to read involving a pea pod with one falling out.

So I saved the Google homepage.

I enlarged the image and focused on one pea pod. Then I outlined the edges so I could trace them.

I played with the watercolors on a scrap of the same paper I was painting.

And then I painted a pea pod.

It dried a little brighter than I planed on, but for my first water coloring attempt, I find it to be a keeper.

I've added it to my dining room wall; however, I'm waiting on a few more prints before I unveil the completed wall. For now, I'm just focusing on the fact that I painted a pea pod with water colors from approximately 1987.

Saturday project

2011-07-18T12:40:00.003-05:00

After my anniversary gift of a new table and chairs, I knew the next step in our dining room was the walls. They were blank and boring

and the large mirror didn't make as much sense in its place anymore since the table was moved.

So I contemplated ideas. And, I contemplated some more. And, then I decided I wanted it done.

I used this as inspiration, from House Full of Pretty:

I checked Hobby Lobby's web site, and they had all their frames half off this weekend! I ran to the store and purchased a ton of different sizes and styles of frames. Then I came home and hung them on my wall. Some of the frames I already knew what I would put in them, but others I still don't. I wanted them all hung on the wall so I could then live with them and decide what should go in each frame.

You may ask if I drew out the design I wanted before hanging them. No.

You may ask if I arranged them on a table or the floor to find the perfect shape. Nope.

I hung them on the wall. And I got this:

I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and I have room to build on it over time.

The mirror got a new home on the opposing wall, and it fits the space much better.

The view from the front door. I think the dining space looks much more open and spacious.

You can see that several of the frames still have their pretend image inside them. And, I got a few items that weren't and won't be framed artwork to mix it up a bit. You can see a C tile here.

The green photo is a photo I took at an olive orchard in Austin with my BFFs Kathy and Anna. The sunset is a photo Chris took in Taos last year, and the wooden saint piece is a work of art from my mom from Santa Fe, and it depicts the saint for writers, journalists and editors, Saint Frances de Sales.

I'm leaving this wooden frame empty to help break up the textures.

And, some of the frames are actually boxes.

This is a piece of scrapbook paper that I found; really liked the print and colors; and covered the photo box filler with it.

I'm really happy with how this project turned out, and I'm excited to fill in my frames. Stay tuned!

Chicken pot pie ice cream

2011-07-14T09:34:00.000-05:00

This is not a joke.

I made chicken pot pie ice cream.

Through Blogher, I entered a recipe contest using a new product from Knoll: chicken stock concentrate. It's like chicken stock jelly, in a good way. The contest was to create an original recipe with the concentrate. Now, I must have been watching too many Iron Chefs or something because I thought, "That jelly-o-chicken would melt perfectly into an ice cream custard."

So off I went to make chicken ice cream.

I make plenty of ice cream in my KitchenAid attachment ice cream maker, so I knew the basics. I figured I'd wing the rest.

Here are the ingredients. Half & Half, a little butter and the tub-o-chicken-jelly.

I used four eggs.

I heated the half & half, butter, chicken jelly and some fresh thyme from our garden in a pot.

Then, I tempered the eggs and cooked the now-custard mixture until thick. Next, I strained it and completely chilled it in the refrigerator. Then it could be processed through the ice cream machine. Then it stayed in the freezer overnight.

To make this chicken ice cream, chicken pot pie ice cream, I baked off a square of puff pastry.

And topped it with a scoop of the chicken ice cream.

Chris and I each took a bit of this one. It definitely tasted like chicken, and you really needed the puff pastry to cut the chicken-y flavor. I'm not sure I'll ever make this again; however, it was a fun process to create something so unique.

I'll let you know if I win the recipe contest. Who knows? Maybe they are looking for the perfect chicken pot pie ice cream recipe!

Veggie night

2011-07-12T15:52:00.002-05:00

We have been lucky enough to attend several parties the past few days. A wedding and a surprise birthday party. They were both amazing and had delicious food. But, you know the thing with party food? Even with a fruit tray, party food usually isn't the healthiest. So, Chris and I wanted a veggie night.

Here you'll see my finished product.

A veggie-infused, organic pasta with pesto that I made from our fresh basil. I added asparagus, green bell peppers and onions and yellow squash from the farm.

So delicious, and we felt revived with our veggies!

Farm food: Rump roast

2011-07-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

In my continued series on our farm food, the next on my list was a rump roast.

Say hello to our grass-fed rump roast.

I made a dry spice rub of a chili con carne spice mix, red pepper and ground mustard. I combined them to make probably 2 tablespoons of rub. I could probably have used a little more.

I rubbed the roast with the spices, and put it in our slow cooker.

I set it on low for 10 hours. Because our meat is so lean, it actually didn't need all this time. I took it out around 9 hours, and it probably only needed 7-8. Also, next time, I'll put a little beef stock in the bottom of the cooker to get the juices started. Again, since our meat is lean, it didn't produce a ton of au jus. I could always use more!

I threw together a salad with lettuce and cucumbers from the farm. I made a red wine vinegar dressing that my grandfather recommended, and it was delicious!

The meat was tender and delicious.

Underneath the roast was a bed of red new potatoes that I boiled and smashed. They were perfect with the au jus drizzled over them. Another healthy and delicious meal from the farm!

Migas my way

2011-07-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention in my farm food post that we also got eggs from our pretty chickens!

Usually I make frittatas, but I got us a little burned out on them. Instead of frittatas, I made migas my way. Traditional migas contain scrambled eggs into which you crumble tortilla chips into. Yum. But, I wanted to kick it up a notch.

Here, you see a bell pepper from the farm sauteing, a bag of already-cooked sausage, tortilla chips and eggs.

Looks how pretty our eggs are. You won't see that kind of color in a store-bought, corn-fed chicken egg.

The next step is to throw it all together and cook through. Top with salsa, and you're good to go!

Farm Food

2011-07-07T10:07:00.000-05:00

We spent the Fourth of July weekend at the farm. And, instead of showing you more photos of alpacas, llamas and dogs, I'm going to show you food!

Right after I show you one photo of a dog.

And a photo of a sad, trapped down.

A dog who chooses to trap himself by the fan by squeezing through the fence.

Now, back to the food.

This is the bounty of food we brought back from the farm.

Lots of lettuces, onions and cherry tomatoes.

Yellow squash, green bell peppers and cucumbers.

And meat! The best part about having an all grass-fed black angus cattle ranch is the beef. Let's just be honest. Pretty cuts of beef.

Ground beef too!

So, what am I to do with all of this fresh food? Here's what I did Monday night when we got home. I had two chicken breasts that were already grilled. I chose these veggies and chopped them up.

Then I threw them in a skillet with some cumin, chili powder and cayenne for fajitas!

Stay tuned for my next dish with my farm food!

Homemade cocktail treats

2011-07-04T21:53:00.000-05:00

I was inspired by Martha Stewart's pickled cocktail additions, and I decided to try one of hers and one creation of mine. I chose her pickled radishes, perfect for martinis, and then I researched homemade maraschino cherries, perfect for manhattans.

First I pitted the fresh cherries.

Perfect little holes.

I then filled two jars with the pitted, fresh cherries. I left the stems on them so they would look fresh and pretty.

Then I took a bottle of cherry liqueur....

and poured it over the cherries.

Hello, deep, dark mysterious cherry jars.

And, I made custom labels and tied cute bows around the jars.

I followed Martha's recipe exactly, and put the radishes in a jar with a fun clasp.

They got custom labels too.

These made perfect gifts, especially for someone who likes martinis and manhattans! I made these for Jack for Father's Day.

The cherries were just as beautiful in a drink!

My latest book review is up!

2011-07-01T16:57:00.000-05:00

My latest BlogHer book review is up.

Click on over to read it!

Go to trade school: Don't get tricked

2011-06-21T22:09:00.002-05:00

So it's summer, and that means our air conditioning stopped working. Of course!

Please read our last summer's report here: click here for the AC troubles. Click here for last year's July report. And, click here to see what happens without air conditioning.

Once you're up to date, let me tell you our current story.

Two weeks ago, I called Landmark AC to have someone come out to do a diagnostic check of our system. Is it working? Does it need freon? Tell me if I really need a new cooling coil like the guy said last October, etc., etc. It had been working pretty well. It couldn't keep up with the most recent really hot days, and so we wanted to know where we stood with the unit.

A new guy came out. Let's call him Tim. He said our system looked great. He said it was a little dirty, and he asked for bleach. He opened up part of the interior workings and poured in it. He also did a chemical rinse on the outside unit. I specifically asked him about the freon and any other issues he saw.

He said our system was perfect. It was at least half a ton too small for our square footage, but we knew that. He said that the unit was practically as good as new (it's about 8 years old), and he said he had no recommendations other than the cleaning, which he performed.

Should I mention that I loved him already?

To recap, two different people from the same company had separately told us we needed a new cooling coil and a new transformer. One of the previous people told us we needed a cooling coil because our freon was leaking. According to Tim, we didn't even need to be topped off on our freon....so no leak from last October.

I paid Tim for his time, and we felt great.

This Monday, two weeks from Tim's visit, our upstairs stopped blowing air. Totally stopped. Our downstairs still blew air, but upstairs, not so much.

I called Landmark AC, and requested someone to come back out. I reminded them that Tim had just been out and said our unit was in perfect condition. The lady on the phone said, "well, our computer shows that you need a new cooling coil from last October. Have you gotten that done yet?"

"No," I said. "Because, Tim said everything was fine two weeks ago." {Said not in a nice voice}

The lady said she would send Tim back out that same day.

I called Chris and begged him to come deal with this. My entire summer last year was defined by dealing with the air conditioner. I just couldn't handle it any more. Thankfully, he was able to oblige me.

I had a late evening client meeting that day, and so the rest of this story is told according to Chris.

Tim inspected our system, and he observed that the upstairs was not blowing.

He did some investigating, and he told Chris, "It may be your damper."

We replaced that last year.

Hmmm, okay let me look more. It could be your circuit board.

We replaced that last year.

Well, let me check your freon again. Nope, there's no leak.

So, that 'you need to buy a new cooling coil for $1600' from your colleague was a lie.

Finally, Tim said, I THINK IT'S FAULTY WIRING.

Tim says, "The faulty wiring would mean that the unit isn't getting the right information from the thermostat, and so it doesn't always know when to shut the dampers and blow more air."

OOooooooohhhhhhh

Tim stripped the corresponding wire, plugged it back it, and cold air blew upstairs.

Seriously?

Chris asked Tim why the previous people would have basically "made up" issues with our unit.

"We get paid on a percentage of each house visit," he says. "The more you need us, the more we're paid. And, they probably didn't think about the wiring."

OOoooooohhhhhh

Tim charged us a tiny fee for his time (he actually spent 2 hours at the house, but charged us for much less), and we still have cold air upstairs.

Could this be true? Could our air conditioning be just fine? Could this be over?

Dear Tim, make it true!

Girls paint the town

2011-06-19T21:20:00.001-05:00

Last week, my girls group got together to go to a guided painting class. Thank goodness for the guided part because I'm no painter. There were several paintings to choose between, but all the girls chose the same one. This one was painted by the director as the example:

We could each change the colors to what we wanted. I decided I wanted to paint it to match our guest bedroom. Here's mine in process.

When we finished up, we took a group picture. I love how they all look so good, but so different.

Here's my finished one hung in the room. (I didn't work hard enough on this photo because you can see the reflection from the glass-top dresser on the wall.)

I painted that!

It even has fancy texture on the trees.

One final shot of the room. Sorry, with glare again.

Furmination

2011-06-16T18:13:00.001-05:00

No one has been terminated or begun their own country. I'm talking about The Furminator.

It's this amazing deshedding tool that we use on Grace and Porter. Porter is the best illustrative subject because he loves to be furminated.

The Furminator brushes all the hair that would eventually fall on our floor and furniture and be picked up by our vacuum.

All that hair is just from a few swipes through his coat. I love this thing!

In other Porter news, he's taken to our new dining room table and chairs.

It's Porter approved!

**This is not a paid promotion for Furminator. I just love it!

Ode to old friends

2011-06-13T10:18:00.001-05:00

So long old friend.

You've been with us for six years, and you've held many an important person.

But recently, you've given out a little, and that's okay. You're getting older.

And, truth be told, you and your friends never really fit in well with our new house. I'm not saying it was a color issue but...

And, so while we're sad to see you go, we'll remember you like our friend Charlie did: "I've never seen a table foster so many long conversations." So true, my friend.

As you and your friends are leaving to go live in the attic (except your truly broken brother who is out by the trash), please pass along some wisdom of the ages to the new folks.

We want to be sure they keep your memory alive and host lots of long conversations and delicious meals.

We think they'll fit into the family nicely because it appears we found a long lost cousin of Coffee Table. They both seem to have similar features.

So here's to you, six-year-old dining room set from Sam's. May the attic treat you kindly, and may your replacements uphold your honor.

Six years ago

2011-06-11T09:34:00.002-05:00

What were you doing six years ago?

Me?

I was getting married!

My readers have spoken

2011-06-07T19:05:00.000-05:00

Never say I don't listen to you, dear readers. We purchased a Dyson!

Recently, I put out an all-call to my readers for input on vacuums. Who loves their vacuum? Who wants to throw it down a flight of stairs, etc.? And do you know what? The only people I heard from were people who own Dysons. They really love their vacuums, and they wanted me to know that uprights are okay; bagless is cool; and Dysons are worth the money.

This really caught my attention. So Chris and I did some research, and we decided to take the plunge. We basically purchased exactly the opposite of what we had: we had a bagged, canister vacuum.

Once we decided which Dyson we wanted, I went and did what I do best: find a deal!

Turned out that Sears had the Dyson the cheapest, and if you ordered it online and picked it up at the store, it was even cheap. DONE!

That was Sunday.

Monday night I had a work event, and so I put together the Dyson and let Chris have the first go with it while I was gone.

I wished I had asked him to take photos. He reports that he filled the dirt canister twice. Once from the upstairs and once from the downstairs.

So today when I got home, I had a go with it.

I vacuumed the upstairs and then the down. Then I saw this:

What is all that?

So I did what any normal person would do. I took the dirt canister outside and investigated it.

Here's the first thing I saw as I slowly opened it. Dirt. Real, actual live dirt.

A lot of it.

Then hair. Brown hair. Wonder where that came from....Grace.....

A lot of it.

Now remember that Chris had vacuumed the entire house just yesterday evening. There was a whole lot more in the dirt canister but I didn't want to dump it all out because I didn't want to pick it all back up. Nor did I want it wafting through my backyard. So just imagine. There was more.

Then I looked around the filter and saw a ring of dirt and hair. AHA! I thought. What a terrible design. I'm going to have to clean that out with a chopstick or something.

Then, I took it to our big trash can, opened the dirt canister and gave it a little whack on the side of the can. The ring of hair? Yeah, it just fell out. Oh. Cool. So, no chopsticks, then? That's cool.

I think what you call us is converts. Thanks, Dyson. We'll leave the dirt to you.

A Compromise

2011-06-02T13:12:00.003-05:00

If you'll remember, I redid the guest bedroom with new bedding and a lamp. You can see the entire post here.

The finished project looked like this:

We lived with it for a while, and Chris mentioned that maybe we could tone it down a bit. So I went on the hunt for a woven blanket or quilt that I could use to break things up a bit.

Finally, I found one from Peacock Alley that was tremendously discounted, and I snatched it up!

Here you can see the sheets, blanket and comforter.

I think the added layer really works.

Porter still likes it too.

A Compromise

2011-06-02T13:12:00.000-05:00

If you'll remember, I redid the guest bedroom with new bedding and a lamp. You can see the entire post here.

The finished project looked like this:

We lived with it for a while, and Chris mentioned that maybe we could tone it down a bit. So I went on the hunt for a woven blanket or quilt that I could use to break things up a bit.

Finally, I found one from Peacock Alley that was tremendously discounted, and I snatched it up!

Here you can see the sheets, blanket and comforter.

I think the added layer really works.

Porter still likes it too.

How do you suck it up?

2011-05-25T17:09:00.000-05:00

Vacuuming is big business in my house.

We vacuum every day.

This is not an exaggeration.

If I don't vacuum the downstairs by the time Chris gets home, he does it. The upstairs gets vacuumed at least once, or twice, a week.

So, vacuuming is a big deal. Almost six years ago, when we got married, we chose a canister vacuum. It looks like this one:

Before we purchased it--actually it was a gift. Thanks!--I did my due diligence in research. At the time, we lived in a one-story, all-wood-floors home. From my research, canisters are the best vacuums for hard-surface flooring.

Today, the vacuum is slowly falling apart. There are tears in the electrical cord, where we've run over it with the canister. The carpet-rolling part only works when you turn the handle all the way to the right. And, Chris took off a piece of the handle cover so "it would work better."

Now that it's falling apart, Chris declares it a piece of crud and says we should buy something totally different. Just for the record, this vacuum has vacuumed approximately 2,190 times. It's survived 3 moves, and it DOES still work. SIX years later!!

With that being said, I agree it's time for a new one. But what should we buy?

I may be the only person left, but I love bagged vacuums. I really don't think I want to dump out all the dirt and hair. It seems like it would make another huge mess. Also, remember, we have a lot of hair in our house: a cat, a dog and me. Doesn't all the hair get tangled up in those "filters"? Currently, I like just taking the filled bag out of the vacuum and throwing it away in its nice, contained package.

Chris thinks an upright would be easier to manage than chasing around the canister and cord. I don't entirely disagree. However, most of the uprights I've seen weight a minimum of 25 pounds. I can't imagine lugging that up and down our stairs almost every day! And, most uprights are bag-less.

So this is where you come in, dear readers.

What vacuum do you use? Do you like it? Are bag-less vacuums gross?

I'm up for any and all suggestions!

Oh, and I don't want to pay $500 or something crazy.....so go!

A place for everything

2011-05-20T06:08:00.003-05:00

And everything in its place!

I've been after Chris for quite some time about the sideboard in our dining room.

I knew in my heart that it actually belonged in our bedroom. The wood and lines would go with our bed perfectly.

However, the only kind of change Chris likes is the kind in his pocket.

The movers had put our dining room table facing into the window. In Chris' mind, the table was put in glue. Now, we couldn't turn the table without moving the sideboard. Soooo...we just lived with it.

The really good thing about the sideboard in the dining room was that it offered incredible storage and a nice place to serve or place cakes and presents.

Finally, I broke. I wanted to purchase new chairs for our dining table, and I knew the table needed to be turned to make that happen, AND the sideboard would finish out our master bedroom.

SO, I cleaned out the sideboard. Turned out that if I reorganized my other cabinets, all of our things would fit.

Empty sideboard...minus the cat.

With the sideboard empty, I asked Chris to move it into our bedroom. And then I left the house. Somethings are better done without me there.

When I returned home, I asked Chris to help me move the table 180 degrees. He obliged. Then he said, "that looks better already."

Yes, sir. Yes, it does.

Now, we just need a small cabinet of some kind for the space on the right. And we need to rehang the mirror to be centered. And we need new chairs and really a new table. And we need some more art.

Maybe this is why Chris isn't a fan of change?

Then Chris went out of town. So I went shopping.

I found these two canvases for our bedroom and the box lamp. I wanted two of the lamps, but there was only one. I think it looks good, but I may hunt for a matching one. With a few more touches, our bedroom may actually be finished!

Now back to shopping.

Practice makes perfect

2011-05-19T09:02:00.000-05:00

Our neighbor, Amy, had her birthday party last weekend, and she asked me to make her a cake. I was so flattered and happy to do it.

She requested the strawberry cake and icing from Nicole's shower...you know, the cake that almost killed me?

But, instead of the crazy vertical layers, she just wanted strawberry. Piece of cake!

And, for the icing that speckled my entire kitchen last time, I decided to make the batch in two parts. I made half the batch of icing, and then the other half. This technique changed the entire experience! The icing was easier to manage and mixed better, making a nice consistency. It didn't overflow the mixing bowl, and we won't be finding specks of it until Christmas. Miraculous!

So it turns out that The Cake That Almost Killed Me actually taught me something.

I feel like there is a life lesson in there.