Gifting

Hope everyone is ready for Christmas! It will be here in just four more days! I have to say that I am officially done with my shopping. I finished up two weeks early this year.

I have two brothers with kids and wives and a sister. Nick has two brothers with wives. We used to all exchange gifts. That was really hard. I love to give and wish I could give everyone something special but each year it would get more stressful trying to find the perfect gifts. Half of the gifts were left unneeded or unwanted. We finally decided to only buy for the kids and our parents and that made things a lot easier and more fun. The adults now enjoy time together sharing recipes and stories. It’s also more fun to sit back and watch the small kids open gifts. Teenagers, not so much. Haha.

Me and Nick do not swap gifts anymore. We spend it all on our daughter. It’s not much, but since our monies are usually tight, we would rather give her the things she needs and we enjoy doing something special together after the Christmas bustle.

Our daughter is twenty seven but at Christmas shes twelve. Haha. Ever since she moved out after college, at Christmas she will come home and spend about five days with us. She still has her own bedroom and walks in the door as if she still lives here full time. We will do some baking, and get our nails done for Christmas. On Christmas morning she will wake up to presents under the tree and gifts scattered from Santa. I told Nick that the first Christmas we have after she gets married (someday) will be sorta heartbreaking. I already made it through her driving away, going to college, and living out on her own. Now I have to go through her being someone else's joy on Christmas morning one of these days (soon I think). Meanwhile, I'm gonna enjoy it while I still can. 

Do you swap gifts among a big family or just buy for a few?

Do you and your spouse swap gifts or go out instead?

If you are alone this Christmas, my heart goes out to you. I pray you can find peace, joy and love in those around you and in yourself. 

If you know someone who is alone, I hope you will share the joys of Christmas with them. 

Merry (Almost) Christmas.

Fine Dinning

Where I come from, fancy eating is dinner around the dinning room table instead of the kitchen table using cloth napkins instead of paper.

As a Christmas present from my daughters boyfriend. He insisted on taking us out of our comfort zone and into a fancy swanky restaurant in uptown.

We did not know where he was taking us but we trusted him and agreed to go. 

We met at his house and he drove us uptown where the buildings were tall and the town was full of lights and action.

This is the first time Nick had ever let anyone drive him. He never lets me drive him anywhere and if we go anywhere with a group, he will drive his own car. So this was a pretty big shock to me and my daughter. 

Upon arriving at the restaurant we were met with a valet driver at the front door of none other than Ruth Chris Steakhouse. I have always heard about this place, but knew I’d never go unless taken there by surprise. Ha.

Our table was waiting and we sat down to dinner. After the price shock from the menu, I ordered my meal. I chose the Salmon, while everyone else had steak or chicken. We snacked on calamari while we waited. I almost forgot where I was as I reached in using my fingers. Nick tapped my hand and pointed at one of the two forks. 

Sides were ordered separately so we ordered four to share. I also enjoyed a glass of wine and It was not the cheap stuff.

I leaned over to my daughter and asked “are you not concerned about where your car is or who has it?” She responded with “well yea, I’ve never used valet parking before”. 

The wait staff worked hard to make every ones dining a pleasurable one. They kept our glasses filled and clean silverware by the plates. If we put our fork down, they immediately would replace it with a clean one and wiped any crumbs off the table ( I was seriously waiting on a back rub). 

The food was delicious. I think that is the best fish I ever had and Nicks steak was so tender you could cut it with a fork. We finished the meal off with a couple desserts. They said they were sharable in size. (Maybe for an elf). 

After dinner the car was waiting for us at the door, unharmed. 

This was definitely a nice treat and something different for us. We are very thankful and blessed to have such a good boyfriend in the family. 

You may be laughing at my excitement of fine dinning but in my town, we usually will eat a meal for two under twenty bucks. 

It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas

Finally, It’s beginning to look like Christmas in the house. I usually do not do a lot of decorating because sadly, no one ever visits. Of course, I could cook or have a party and they would come but no on ever just “drops by”.

When my daughter was in for the weekend, I turned on the Christmas music and we decorated the Christmas tree and did a little cooking. While she finished the tree up, I headed to the den to decorate the mantle. I looked for black and white buffalo plaid to use with my accented reds throughout the house. I could not find what I was looking for, so I grabbed a table cloth, pot holders and a couple ornaments in the red and black gingham. It will have to do for now. Again, who's gonna see?

After we settled down for the night, we painted a couple cookie cutter style ornaments that she brought home for us to do. She always liked to paint ornaments since she was little. I will hold on to that as long as I can.

It was fun catching up on drama and giggling a bit. Nick was somewhere in the house hiding. I tell ya, we wear his ears out when shes home. It’s like having a best friend in the house. 

We skipped the black Friday mobs and headed out early Saturday morning for some shopping. First stop was to the restored Loray Mill for “shop small business Saturday”. There were lots of craft vendors. Here is my daughter checking out the breads and pastries. 

I purchased a tomato pie to try. After the small shopping at the mill, we headed to the mall and a few other places before eating lunch at McAlisters.

I had the half turkey ruben with tortilla soup. It was so good and just the perfect portion.

It was a busy weekend and its not going to lighten up anytime soon. There seems to be something going on every weekend from now until Christmas. 

But on a good note. I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. If I can just stop buying myself something every time I go out, then maybe I’d be better off. 

Black Friday

It’s the day after Thanksgiving. I said I wouldn’t do it, but I did it. I over ate yesterday and woke up to a splitting headache and puffy eyes. I am regretting  the loads of desserts I ate tasted all day long. I am simply not used to eating one BIG meal, much less two! But I am thankful.

My daughter came home to stay a few days with us. I kissed my husband and told him I’d see him again in a few days. haha. That is our joke when she comes over because once she hits the door, the girl talk starts. We jabber the whole time about friends, fashion, recipes and work. He gets put on the back burner while I give all my attention to her most of the time. 

She came in bringing goodies from Trader Joe's. We do not have a TraderJoes store in my town, so its always a treat when she brings the goodies. 

We stayed up late Thanksgiving Eve and decorated the Christmas tree and started the cooking for Thanksgiving. 

Today is the day that everyone rushes out before the sun comes up to grab a great black Friday deal. This is something I have never had any intentions to do. I would rather pay ten dollars more for an item than to get into that mess. Better yet, There are black Friday special going on all over the internet too. I will probably be in cyber world all day. 

Below are a couple black Friday sales going on today that I just so happen to be partnered with. I am happy to have the opportunities to share good things from honest companies. 

Rice Love Bags. - SHOP HERE  Use code: BLACKFRIDAY

Get 40% off til Noon 

Get 30% off noon-6 pm

Get 20% 6pm - midnight.

For every bag sold, a family is fed. Each bag is hand made from recycled rice bags so there are no two alike. 

Attached to each bag is a number to enter to see and read about the family you just fed. 

They are all so appreciative and grateful and the bags are adorable!

Goose Creek Candles- SHOP HERE
Large Candles are only $9.99 Today! 

These candles are absolutely wonderful. They burn clean and full of fragrance.

I’m really enjoying my peppermint candle. 

Nutrisystem: SHOP HERE 

Shop A La Carte with 50% off! 

Nutrisystem is the only diet that worked for me. I lost 50 lbs and it was so easy. 

The food is delicious and satisfying. 

They have plans starting at 249.00 a month. 

That's a great deal considering what you spend at the grocery store a month where most food goes to waste or waist. 

Clio Snacks - SHOP HERE.

OK there is no black Friday sale for these delicious yogurt bars but you can find them at most Walmarts and Harris Teeter stores. They are my new favorite snack. They absolutely taste like and have the texture of little cheese cakes dipped in chocolate. New flavors and ideas are in the works for the new year. You can find them on the Yogurt isles and they are only a dollar each! You will fall in love with them. 

Up Town Brunch

My daughter invited us to come have brunch with her in her living town. I told her we would. After all, I have never had “brunch”.

Well, neither has Mr.D. 

Let me start by saying my husband is a creature of habit so taking him away from his 8:00 bowl of oatmeal in the mornings can ruin his whole morning. 

“Brunch?” He says with a gruntle look on his face. “What the heck is brunch? You have breakfast then you have lunch.” Why can’t we meet her for lunch instead?, grrr those city folks!”

I explained to him that brunch is the “thing” around town and she wants us to do one with her so I said we would. “I told her we would be there at 10:30am and by the time we walk to a place and order, it will be around 11:30 and then you can just call it what you want”. 

It takes us about 30 minutes to get there (and somebody was not in a hurry). We got there around 10:45. We walked about two blocks to a little place called Leroy Fox . It had outdoor seating and the weather was perfect for sitting outside. We found a place and took a seat. The waitress brought out regular lunch menus and brunch menus. 

We started off with some fried zucchini spears which was their specialty.  

My daughter and I ordered from the brunch menu. She got a pimiento cheese egg and chicken biscuit smothered in gravy and I got the Bacon and Egg Sammie loaded with cheese and Avocado with sweet potato tots on the side.

Then there was Mr. D. He ordered from the lunch menu and ordered the black bean burger wrap with a side of fried Brussel sprouts. (I think this was my payback for making him eat brunch). 

Everything was so delicious. 

After we ate we took a longer walk through town to walk the food off. There were festivals going on, and lots of people out walking their dogs and riding bikes. It was just a beautiful day. On the way back to her place, she suggested we all try a “Acia bowl”. So we went into this place called Clean Juice and got a smoothie in a bowl. We ordered the “beach bowl” made with lots of healthy stuff and topped with fruit, granola and coconut. 

We left in time for her to meet up with her friends and headed home. Our eating schedule was a little off the rest of the day but it was worth it. 

I love time I get to spend with my daughter. I still have issues with her being away from home on her own but It gets easier every day. She’s lived on her own since she graduated college which has been about 4 years now and I still miss her in the house. But she has a great job in uptown and loves the city life. 

She works in the tall building on the right. What a life!

Easter Run Down

Saturday my daughter came home to spend Easter. We spent the morning doing a little shopping until the crowds started getting on our nerves and we ended up coming back home. Nick took us up town for some ice cream and coffee. Yep. I had ice cream and she had both. Seriously, even the jingling ice cream trucks around here sell ice cream and coffee. I find it weird, but whatever.

After ice cream we met up with a neighbor and purchased some fresh eggs from her lovely hens. I just love how they look in this vintage basket that mom gave me last week. Just look how colorful they are by nature.

Me and my daughter dyed eggs later. I boiled some regular store bought ones and some of the fresh ones. I decorated a few of the fresh ones and she dyed the white ones using the dyed rice method. Its so easy. You just drop some food coloring in a small bag of rice and shake the egg around to create a unique look. 

While I made a cake with the some of the fresh eggs and will eat some of the eggs for breakfasts. While I made a cake, my daughter made some marshmallow Easter fluff. The recipe can be found HERE.

Sunday morning it was rise and shine at 6 am to make it to church in time for sunrise service on the church lawn. This is one of our favorite things to do on Easter. After the service we all headed into the fellowship hall for a hot breakfast that included biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon and grits. My oh my was it good! My mom and dad made the breakfast so that made it even more better. I love my moms gravy. She makes it dark and so thick that a spoon will stand in it. 

When we came home from church, My daughter had an Easter basket waiting for her. Did I mention shes 26? I mean, your never to old for an Easter basket are you? She also surprised us with our own basket full of goodies. 

After a short rest, we put on our Easter outfits and headed out to regular church services .

We did not do our usual Easter dinner with Nicks side of the family. Instead, we headed to my moms house where my Sister in law created a large delicious meal. It was a change from the normal but it was great to spend time with family. 

Now it’s late and I'm typing this blog with one eye open as I’m about to fall asleep. (or coming off a sugar high). So excuse the rambling. 

It’s back to work tomorrow and the morning will come quick. 

Happy Easter! 

Getting Prepared for Easter

I really miss the days when Mom stayed up all night making me and my sister a new Easter outfit. She let us pick out a pattern and material from a local Mary Joes cloth store. We never went without a new Easter dress and shoes for church.

Now that I'm older its up to me to get my own new outfit. I'm sure if I asked her, she would still make me one but I think she enjoys her freed up evenings before Easter. After all, her and dad have to be up early Easter morning to prepare breakfast for the church that will take place after our sunrise service.

My daughter will be home this weekend and I'm sure we will end up at some Mall or Target store looking for her a last minute Easter outfit. I gave her some money a few weeks ago to pick her out something new whether its a new church outfit, work outfit or something fun for Summer.
I don't sew.

All the new outfit stuff is just a tradition. It celebrates "new" beginnings. After all, a girl needs an excuse to take advantage of getting something new. I mean, a girl always needs new shoes!!

A while back I picked up a purple dress from the Good Will. It fit so I'm wearing that. Its sleeveless so I hope the weather will break and give us some warm air.

Since I only spent 3.00 for something different to wear for Easter, I decided to spend some play money and have my hair done. I usually just get it cut or trimmed. I use a root touch up every so often to keep the gray from showing my age.
This time I decided I wanted something different. I wanted to go with some mushroom colored highlights.

Two hours, a box of foils, and several dollars later, I have some new color in my hair. It did not turn out nothing like the color I wanted. The mushroom color is a taupe, khaki or light brown tint. My hair now has Orange highlights. I'm going to go hide under now.  I wish I would have gotten more cut off too but I was tired and just wanted out of the chair. I was hungry and I wanted to get home.

The new highlights do not look bad, it's just not what I expected, but with my hair being dark, it was hard to lighten. I mean, she is not a magician, she's a beautician. Sometimes I forget.
Give me time. It will back to one color as soon as its safe to add it.

Now I have some baking and making to do.

Acrylic Pour- JojisArt

Today I want to share with all of you some new art in town. My sister has opened an Etsy shop to sell her new found talent. “Acrylic Pour canvas art”. I get to see each one before she post it on her site. She will text me a photo after each one. We both will oohhh and ahhh at the turn out.

My sister is sort of like me in being creative. Her taste is a little more expensive than mine though. I am more of the thrifty and resourceful one. 

She is talented and a great artist. We get this from the women in our family. Our grandmothers always were crafty and always making things. Our mother was and still is crafty and a professional seamstress.  

With these pantings, she can not plan an out come as each one turns out different. They are all a little surprise as she does her magic. I dont know how she does it, but since it’s called “acrylic pour” I assume she pours it on their somehow. 

Here are few of her pieces. 

These will look great in a home or office. She makes different sizes. Each painting is one of a kind made with Acrylic Paint on a light weight cotton canvas then topped with a seal of thin varnish which also adds shine. The paint rolls over the edges so it does not need a frame. 

If you would like to own one of these original peices of art,  You can purchase one at JojisArt . She is always adding new ones as she creates them on her time away from her regular full time Job. Her talent does not stop here. She also makes beautiful wreaths which you may see added in her shop soon. 

So stop by JojisArt and take a look around. 

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Just Mommying

I got to mommy this weekend. I miss mommying.

I am proud of my daughter making it out on her own. She started working since she was sixteen and hasn't stopped. She currently makes more money than I do and enjoys living with a sorority sister about 30 minutes from home. She has been out of the house for four years now and thats not counting four years of college before that. She is now 25. 

But not a day goes by that I do not miss her in the house. Other than getting on each other nerves, we get along like best friends. We still text or talk every single day and she visits a couple times a month. (Used to be once a week). I’m getting better with that. 

Sometimes she will come over just to sleep because she misses her room. 

For the past week, she has been fighting a nasty chest and sinus cold. I made her go get checked. If she had been home, I would have had her in the doctors office at the first rumble in her breath.

This is the kind of things I’ve heard from her every day this past week:

“The doctor said It was not the flu but just a bad cold”

“What can I take for this?” 

“I have to do this and that, but I dont feel like it”

“The doctor told me not to go to work, but I did anyway”

“But I wont breathe on anybody”.

“I can’t taste anything”

“My chest hurts”

“Do I really have to wait four hour until the next dose?”

“Whats the temperature for a fever?”

“ I can’t relax”

“My arm hurts like it has been shot”.

“Whats this goo in my eye?”

“Now my boyfriend is sick”

“I can’t sleep and I can’t seem to fight this off”.

“Im going out with my friends even though I dont feel like it”

“Is a whisky sour the same thing as a hot tottie? 

I finally said ‘come home, you need your momma!”

So, she did and I got to mommy her all weekend.

When she came in the door Friday night, Nick had his homemade chili waiting for her. Then I made her a warm lavender salt bath to relax in.

I took away all the cough syrups and cold medicine she brought home. (I kid you not, she had a bag full).

I handed her the vicks vapor rub, had eucalyptis misting from the defuser, made her that hot tottie and sent her to bed. 

She had a good night sleep and felt better the next day. 

I made sure she had a nice warm breakfast each morning including avocado & egg toast and homemade fun fetti waffles.

We took her out to dinner Saturday night and since she was feeling better, I took her to church on Sunday. 

She left here feeling about 80 percent better. Now she can go back to adulting.

I hope next week is more comfortable for her.

I think she just needed to slow down and get some rest. 

But most of all she needed her MOMMY!

Cow Baby Blanket

I'm excited to announce that I get to be a great aunt in December to a little boy.

My Nephew and his wife have been married for two years now and decided to add a baby in the mix. Baby Colton is suppose to arrive on Christmas Eve according to the due date given by the doctor. 

They held a baby shower at her parents home. It was a fun drop in to shower. The theme she chose for her nursery was farm animals. This fits them perfect. They are about as country as you can get. the mom works for an equine vetenary. It's not odd to see her tending to a cow or horse weather it be a calm petting or helping one give birth. 

Putting all of this in perspective, I found it fitting to make baby Colton something farm related. I recently learned to crochet a corner to corner stitch and wanted to create a blanket for the new baby. 

I made one with a “cow” print. 

I like how it turned out but wish I had made it a little larger. This one measures about 30x30. It will make a great lap or stroller blanket. With the nursery theme, it will look good draped over the crib as well. Ok, really, I'm just in love with the "black and white" of it all. 

This was the only crochet blanket I saw in all of her gifts. It was a party hit. 

It was crazy in the making. I had yarn everywhere as I had to keep starting a new color. I got tangled several times. I had no clue what I was doing or what I had gotten myself into. 

It finally worked itself out. It was an absolute challenge. 

This is another one of those things I probably would never make again.

I added some extra things to go with the blanket.

I found a cute onesie and loved how well it paired with the cow blanket.

I also added one of my crocheted wooded baby teethers. You can find more of these in my Etsy shop if you want a natural handmade teether. 

The shower was nice. There were lots of goodies and cake to snack on along with lots of fun and laughter with family and friends.
I look forward to meeting my new Nephew. I hope he comes before Christmas so we will have a new baby around at Christmas gatherings.
The wait is on.

The pattern I used for the blanket was actually a pattern for a dishcloth. You can find it HERE. 

Using the same graph, the corner to corner stitch multiplied it by 4 then I added a few extra rows in the center to make it at least 30x30. 

  

Birthday Baked Apples

My daughter has gotten to celebrate her birthday all week! Her birthday was September 23rd. She turned 26. We went to her town and took her out to breakfast on her birthday. We also gave her a couple gifts and a cheese cake. She was booked up with plans with her friends the rest of that weekend and the next. The soonest we could get family together to celebrate her birthday was this past weekend.

The birthday girl complained that she got every kind of cake for her birthday except her favorite. We asked “what kind of cake would that be?” She answered, “birthday cake!” She likes white cake with white buttercream icing. Of course, as her mom, I knew that. 

The family piled in after church for a birthday dinner. Me and Nick spent all morning in the kitchen preparing the food. The menu consist of bbq chicken, macaroni and cheese, slaw, squash casserole, green beans, rolls and baked apples. The apples were a last minute decision as I wanted to have a Fall themed dinner. 

There is something about the aroma of baked apples. They were a treat that went over good and made my house smell like a country bakery. 

I grabbed some New York apples because they were cheap. 

I would have much rather had honey crisp apples but they were tripple the price. The New York apples worked just fine.

I carefully cored out the centers and removed all the seeds and any hard stuff. Then I trimmed the peeling from the edges. Usually this will keep the skin from splitting and keeps the apples in tact. That didnt really work by the way. 

Next I stuffed each hole with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins and pecans and butter.  I baked them until they were soft. They are great as a side or add ice cream to make it a delicious dessert. 

We were expecting twelve people for dinner but ended up with only eight. Needless to say we had lots of leftovers. We are those people that over prepare so nothing runs out. We make sure everyone can have as many helpings as they want. 

The food was great and YES, the girl got her Birthday cake with plenty to take home to share with her friends.

Sun Flowers and Burlap

This past weekend I attended my nephews wedding. It was a cute little wedding out in the country on lovely Lin-Way Farms. These two kids are some of the sweetest, and most down to earth people I know. They are also as southern as you can get and will have you rolling in stitches laughing when your around them. They have known each other from church since they were little and grew into best friends that will last them a life time.

Being an outdoor wedding there was always the fear of rain. We have not had rain for weeks but today, it rained. However, It didn't affect the wedding at all except for a slight delay while they redressed the tables for the reception. The little bit of rain that came down gave us a break from the hundred degree weather we were about to endure as we all sat anxiously in a field waiting on the wedding to start.

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As the wedding began, the bride came in on a horse and carriage. She was just beautiful. When the Father gave the bride away, there was not a dry eye around. It was so sweet. 

Once the marriage was complete they rode off on a John Deer Tractor. It was so funny how they put it all together to surprise the guest as they jump on and rode off while the song "She Thinks My Tractors Sexy" played in the air. 

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The farm was made up beautiful, yet simple just like the bride and groom. They did a lot of the decorating using their own ideas. Just check out this bouteneer the grooms and groomsmen wore. A bullet tied with a burlap. The bride made these herself.

The isles were decorated with mason jars on shepherd hooks filled with wild flowers.

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The tables were simply decorated with the wedding colors. The center pieces were made up of sliced wood rounds cut by the father of the bride.

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I'm sure that a lot of family and friends had part in all the decorations. It was perfect. Look how they did the guest cake table. That was unique.

In the barn, we enjoyed visiting the horses while we visited the guest table and suggestion table.

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And the food?? Oh man, the food was delicious complete with venison stew, BBQ, slaw, potato salad, a chocolate fountain and more. It was all so nice and Lin-Way Farms fit this couple perfect, and the owners were the sweetest couple and did everything to make sure the day went smooth.

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After a trip to Tennessee, The couple will continue living happily ever after the way God has planned..