Pretty Ballerina

A few months ago my mom gave me a list of songs to download and make into a mixed CD for her. Every now and then she will just march over with a ream of paper FULL of old obscure songs, forgotten songs or songs no one even remembers. Sometimes she doesnt know the name of the song or who sings it. She only knows snatches of words. So I will have something written like "show me a man...good woman??"

WHAAA?????

WELL, Perusing the list I see tham many of them I own personally or know someone who does.
Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. Ok no problem.
Bernadette by The Four Tops. Again , pretty easy.
I heard it through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye.
So far, so good.

THEN she started throwing in stuff like Kenny Ball's Midnight in Moscow,
The Village STompers Washington Square or My very favorite SHRIMP BOATS by Jo Stafford.
Ever heard of that one?? It took me FOUR MONTHS to find that song for her. You're welcome Mother. "The shrimp boats is a comin' there's dancin tonight!"


Then further down the list past Brooks Benton, Glenn Campbell, Gordon Lightfoot and Dionne Warwick was a song I had COMPLETELY forgotten about. This song by Left Banke.
I remember my mom listening to it when I was a kid. It is one of those songs that gets stuck in my head for a week at a time. Kind of like "It's a small World" or "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat.
But in the past few weeks it has since become one of my favorite songs, again.


Hope you enjoy!

An Utterly FABULOUS give-away

Sew Gracious is having a giveaway.

Be sure to check it out!!

You can win THIS tote bag.

Just go to her blog post HERE, read the directions and leave a comment.

I already own one of her tote bags and it is FABULOUS. This is a giveaway you dont want to miss.

I get compliments on it just about every day.

I also have my eye on her BUDS tote.

So get on over to Sew Gracious and check out her blog, her etsy shop and her giveaway. You wont regret it.

She is amazing!!

My Precious

I am so in love with Amy Butler. Let me just clear that up and get that out in the open. I am ADDICTED to her fabrics.

Her lines are just so amazing, and I love to go to the quilting shop that carries them and go have a look. Here is her "NIGELLA" line. Couldnt you just dive in and drown in the beauty that is Amy Butler Fabric?? (In case you can't tell I am COMPLETELY addicted to Fabric. It is a sickness, really)

Here are some of my favorites from her LOTUS collection.

This one is Tea Box:

This one is Damask Rose:

Well the other day I was at Michaels with a 40% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket when I stumpled across THIS :

It is K&Company Specialty Paper scrapbook Pad with AMY BUTLER PAPER! It is from Nigella Collection and is the Tea Box set. It is 24 sheets of Double sided paper. (2 pages of each type). So there are 24 designs in this set. So at 40% off it was a mere 9.00. You can get a yard of her fabric for $9. But I got 24 pieces of her glorious paper. It is so crisp and beautiful and sparkly and "purdy". Oh Amy Butler how I love you.

This paper is so scrumptious and beautiful. I am absolutely infatuated with it. I dont know whether to save it for a rainy day, or get busy cutting and creating!! I have an itchy paper cutter finger and am feeling antsy!! I keep looking through it, touching it, stroking it and calling it "My Precious".

So moral of the story: If you see me with scraggly hair and a wild look in my eyes, throw me into Mt Doom and let me perish with My Precious.

Happy Independence Day

Today is My Country's Independence Day. Today is the day we celebrate living in the land of the free and celebrate the men and women who have sacrificed their lives making that possible. In the United States Independence Day commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. Of course the King of Great Britain was not happy about these turn of events and thus began the American revolution and the war for Independence.

The opening paragraph of the Declaration is so beautiful and moving:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness..."

Some of my relatives sailed over from England on the Mayflower in 1620. Others sailed as poor German immigrants at the turn of the century. They sailed into Ellis Island and saw the Statue in the Harbor. They felt that thrill of knowing anything was possible in the land of opportunity. I can only imagine the hope and optimism that ran through their veins as they disembarked, and set out to start their lives afresh.

To quote Lee Greenwood, "And i'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me. And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today. "cause there ain't no doubt I love this land. God Bless the U.S.A"

So Happy Birthday my dear country. God Bless the USA.

Cook it. Blog it! First entry

I joined the blogroll of Modkidboutique cooking club. Basically you cook something, and blog about it. So here is my First Entry since joining. It is a grilled dish, perfect for summer, yet budget friendly and super easy to do.

The zucchini and squash and peppers were from my own garden and I used the Chicken tenderloins, which cook faster and are much less expensive than Chicken breasts. If you have Chicken Breasts, you can cut them down into strips for quicker cooking.

GRILLED CURRY CHICKEN WITH ZUCCHINI AND MIXED PEPPERS

For better flavor let marinate a minimum 2 hours in the fridge. You can let them soak all day if you want. The longer you let them marinate the better your chicken will taste.

You can also use olive oil on the vegetables for a lighter option.

GRILL TIP: Before turning on your gas grill or lighting your charcoal, whichever grilling method you prefer, make sure your grill is clean. Then spray the grill with a light coating of PAM. This will keep everything from sticking.(trust me on this) And yes, put on everything at the same time! You want the chicken to finish cooking first so you can take it off while the veggies finish cooking up. This really is an important step in the process. If you cut into it right away all the juices will run out and leave you with dry chicken. But if you let it sit while the veggies finish cooking(about 5 minutes) you will have the most tender, tasty and moist chicken.

The peppers will get spicier as they roast. The jalapenos raw were spicy.(ohh, my mouth is hot, I need to take a drink)The jalapenos roasted were REALLY spicy. (as in sweat under your eyes and crying for no reason spicy). So just be careful. Don't be roasting scotch bonnets or Habaneros if you cant tolerate the heat when they are raw. Don't want any spice? Use bell peppers. I used a Poblano which had a nice mild burn when roasted. It was a pleasant slow burn which really wasn't bad at all.

Serve with couscous or brown rice for a nice healthy light meal.

You could also do this under your oven broiler.
Want to make it "kid fun"?? Thread your marinated chicken onto soaked skewers and grill them that way. Kids think it is more fun when they can eat off of a stick.

Please try it, and let me know how yours turns out. I really think this will be your new favorite grilled chicken recipe.


Bon Appetit Mes Amis!

On the cover of a Magazine

The Promise Pages Newsletter came out, featuring Peter and the other Patient Ambassador, Shiquoa. This is the UNC Childrens hospital magazine/newsletter that comes out every few months and this is the one announcing the Patient ambassadors of the year.

On the inside cover is a little blurb about Shiquoa andPeter with a condensed version of their stories and their likes and dislikes.

In case the scan didnt turn out, here is what it says:
"Shortly after birth, Peter McBride, was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart, a congenital condition where the left side of the heart-including the aorta, aortic valve,left ventricle and mitral valve-is underdeveloped. Despite three corrective surgeries at a hospital in Charlotte, Peter had a heart transplant at N.C. Childrens hospital on September 26, 2005.
Now an active first grader, Peter is a natural ham and a favorite with all the nurses. He remains under the care of Pediatric Cardiologist Blair Robinson, and loves to play chutes and ladders with his mom while staying at the hospital."

Of course on the inside is the picture of "Peter with his parents" and they picked THE WORST picture to put in there. They sent me a disk with all the pictures from our photo shoot. There were PLENTY of perfectly NICE pictures of me to choose from. Charles looked good in all of them, as did Peter, so WHY oh WHY did they have to pick the ONE PICTURE that makes me look like a big fat weenie?? Oh well. I M not the star of this show I guess. Only the mother who has had to endure 8 years of anguish and torment. Why should they be nice to me??

(I am guilt tripping the editor)

I will get the other pictures uploaded and post some down the road.

Happy Hump Day!

July Specials and Steel Magnolias

Wow, July already. I can't believe it.

This month my July Bracelet will be available in my shop.

Ruby Red czech glass with swarovski pearls, sterling silver and cast metal. A Bar and Ring Toggle Clasp replaces the springing clasp as seen here in the picture though. That is the only difference.

Great for any July Birthday.

The Lip Balm Flavor of the month in my other shop is RASPBERRY LEMONADE.

What a great flavor. It is so sweet and tangy and refreshing, like a tall glass of ice cold lemonade with the perky flavor of ripe red raspberries.

Available in Beeswax or vegan.

Perfect for those summer lips. Keep them smooth and kissable!!

I took this picture in Chattanooga. My cousin, Leslie, brought these in to put on the table.

The Magnolia is one of my favorite flowering trees. They are so beautiful and creamy white against the dark green waxy leaves.. If you go to Mt Vernon, the Magnolia Trees there are GIGANTIC. They can grow to be humongous.

They smell so good and unfortunately dont last as long as I wish they would.

Reminds me of "Steel Magnolias". You know how some women identify with one of the Sex and the City characters? I identify with the Steel Magnolias.

I am a Ouiser. (Wee-zuh as Clairee called her) Ouiser Boudreaux was grumpy, hard and complaining. Always finding fault, never liked people to see her real emotions and hid her real self behind a scathing tongue.

However I am trying to be more like Dolly Partons Character, Truvy. Sweet, kind, loving and helping those in need. Besides I am much more Buxom on the Dolly Parton side...

Happy Tuesday