Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

One of our local radio stations has been playing Christmas music nonstop since a week before Thanksgiving. And you know what...I love it!

I love Christmas songs. They remind me of my childhood and easily transport me back to those magical moments of Christmas when I was a little girl. The excitement of pulling out all of those boxes loaded with decorations. Searching for the sweet little cardboard church covered in glitter with the red bulb inside to make it shine. And the choir of candle boys and girls to place around the church. Hanging the red and green stockings my mama crochet for each of us...including a little one for Gigi. She used a fuzzy white yarn for our names and I thought it was so fancy. Oh, how I could not wait to hang those stockings!

We always had a big bowl of nuts in the shell out to enjoy too...almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans and walnuts. I would always dig through the bowl looking for the Brazil nuts...they were my favorite. Why this was a Christmas tradition, I have no idea...but to this day, it says Christmas to me. And I'm bringing it back this year in my home. I may even try to sweet talk my mama into letting me have the nut cracker set from way back then...it's got to be vintage by now!

Oh, and how I loved when my dad would come home with yet another client gift of Hickory Farms...the go to gift of all businesses back in the 70's. All of those cheeses and beef sticks and the little strawberry candies nestled in the shredded green paper would make my heart race with delight.

Then there were the Christmas specials on television...Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown, and It's a Wonderful Life. I can remember when HBO first came out, and I watched Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner and Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas...still one of my favorites. There were no dvd's to watch over and over again. It was a one time shot to enjoy...well, except for It's a Wonderful Life which seemed to come on twice a day every day. And I wanted to watch them all...to snuggle up and know Christmas was finally here.

So I say, enjoy all the Christmas music! And have yourself a merry little Christmas with wonderful memories...old and new!


Wednesday, December 8, 2010

I Need Help!

I need some serious help here.

I am looking for a certain necklace that I saw via another blog. And I can not, for the life of me, remember what blog I saw it on or who made the necklace. I'm pretty sure this was a giveaway post...and I clicked on the sponsor (not the blogger) to see what type of jewelry she made so I could go back to the original blog to comment about what I would get if I won the giveaway. This was a couple of months ago!

Have I lost you yet?

Anyway...

The necklace looked vintage (but was not), had a "glass" charm that said Daddy's Princess and another little charm (maybe a crown) hanging from it.

I do remember the person who made the jewelry specifically had a kid's section to click on and view items available...which is where I found the necklace.

I hope someone out there can help me! My daughter saw the necklace and said to me, "Wouldn't that be great if Daddy got that for me!" I should have bought it right then and there, but I didn't! Bad Mommy!!!

If you have any idea where I can find this necklace...any idea at all...please leave a comment. I appreciate any and all ideas!

Thanks!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Pilgrims and Indians

Crazy title for a December post...right?

Well, before I transition into Christmas, I wanted to share our Thanksgiving table centerpiece. We were out of town so a big to-do wasn't an option but I still wanted a special, little something...and with my sweet daughter's help...it was.

While the turkey cooked, we created our own Pilgrims and Indians.

We went from this...



To this...



To this...






We had so much fun creating this. And now, our Pilgrims and Indians are safely tucked away until next year.

I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving too!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

Can you believe it's almost here? Time to welcome family and friends from near and far. Time to crank up the oven and cook your little tush off. Time to figure out where you are going to put everyone and everything.

And then there is the table. To decorate or not to decorate...that is the question.

Do you decorate your Thanksgiving table? Does your family sit down to a gorgeous Thanksgiving table with the good china and all the appropriate glassware? Is the table filled with hues of red, orange, and brown...pumpkins, turkeys, fall leaves and creative place cards?

Yes or no...here are a few ideas to inspire a change.





country living



country living



all you



amandaparkerandfamily



Too much? Something simple can also inspire that Thanksgiving spirit.


better homes & garden



store&style



courtney russell



better homes & garden



unknown



Here's to a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with warmth and love...and a pretty table too!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Delish Nutrish - Pumpkin


I know, I know...another pumpkin recipe. This is a good one though! My kids absolutely love it, and it's got some healthy goodies in it too.

Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins are perfect for breakfast or a yummy afternoon snack. The kids love all the sweetness and chocolate while I love all the nutrients secretly being devoured. It's a win-win!


Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins-makes 2 dozen

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 (16 oz) an pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups applesauce and/or mashed riped bananas
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon salt
12 oz dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and the applesauce/mashed banana until smooth.




The applesauce/mashed bananas is used in place of any oil. Sometimes I use just applesauce when I don't have any ripe bananas. And sometimes I use just ripe bananas when I don't have any applesauce. My favorite is to use a combination of both. Do what works for you!

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Pour the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture and blend. Gently fold in the dark chocolate chips.

FYI...before folding in the chocolate chips, I coat the chocolate chips with a tiny bit of flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins when cooking. Sounds crazy, but it really works! Pour chocolate chips into a little bowl, sprinkle a little flour over the top, about a 1/2 tablespoon, and stir to coat.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.




Bake for 16-20 minutes. Let sit for 1 minute, remove from muffin tins and cool on a wire rack.




And guess what...these freeze great! And if you forget to add the chocolate chips...which I did with my last batch, much to my children's chagrin...no biggie. My kids still gobble them up, and I just had one for lunch and it was delish!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Born to Re-decorate


I have always had this need to re-decorate. Even as a child, my bedroom was in a constant state of re-arrangement. I would wake up in the middle of the night with a new brilliant plan to change my room around. It didn't matter that I had just re-arranged my furniture a couple of months ago or that it was 2 o'clock in the morning. And it didn't matter that I would spend the next couple of hours behind closed doors pushing that heavy furniture inch by slow, agonizing inch while sweating my tush off...praying I didn't wake my parents. All that mattered was turning my vision into reality and creating that perfect place that was all my own.

Nothing much has changed since then...except the middle of the night furniture re-arranging waits until my help wakes up. I am still creating that perfect place for me and now my family. I look for inspiration and ideas in magazines and blogs. And just recently I discovered Houzz.

O.M.G!!!

I know, I know...where have I been, right? But still...how absolutely perfect is Houzz for a born re-decorator like myself. It's like playing dress up with your house. It's...just...amazing. And soooo much fun!





















And don't forget about the outside...










Oh man...so many ideas...not enough rooms!

If you haven't discovered Houzz yet...go. If you're already in the know...well, you know what I'm talkin' bout.


*all photos retrieved from Houzz

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A Perfect Day To Play Outside

It is always such a surprise on that first cool day. Summer is pretty hot around here...and don't get me started on the humidity...so that first true Fall day is somewhat of a shock. A very welcome shock for sure.




Go outside and play. Have some fun...be adventurous. Enjoy the beautiful weather. Build a pyramid...break out the puzzles and the sidewalk chalk.




Or paint a pretty picture!


A beautiful Fall day is like a breath of fresh air. You didn't know you needed it until you were right in the middle of enjoying it.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Back In the Day - Grilled Salami & Onions



My mother used to make me this sandwich back in the day as a special treat. Of course, I thought it was a big to do, but it really is simple and quite yummy! It also reminds me of fall...but I have no idea why. Just one of those quirky kid things.

Grilled Salami and Onion Sandwich-makes 1



2 slices of bread (use white if you are living on the edge)
salami slices (amount completely up to you)
1/2 small onion, sliced in rings
mustard, to taste

Saute the onion rings in a tiny bit of olive oil. When the onions are just about done, scoot them over to the side and add the salami slices. The salami cooks quick so be prepared to flip them a few seconds after you added them to the pan.



Once the salami is done, I transfer them to a paper towel just to soak up some of the grease it produces.

Slather both slices of bread with mustard. Stack the salami and onions on one piece of bread and top it with the other piece of bread.

Voila! Fast, easy and soooo good!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Around the Town


There is so much gorgeousness around my hometown. You can't help but stop and drool over all the lovely homes. Columns, wrought iron gates, plate glass windows...and if legend is correct...a ghost or twenty.

I live in a small town that played a major role in the Civil War. As a matter of fact, my hometown is actually mentioned in Gone With the Wind...by Margaret Mitchell, in case you didn't know.

There are houses that are Pre-Revolutionary War and houses that are Pre-Civil War. Lots and lots of history here. And with history comes beauty.








Now...how often do you see something like that!







See the black plaques located near the front doors? These are historical foundation markers for houses that are over 100 years old. Each plaque tells when the house was built and it's history. How cool is that!





This Pre-Revolutionary War home was built in 1770 on the foundation of an old jail. In 1781, Lord Cornwallis occupied the house as his headquarters shortly before his defeated surrender at Yorktown, Virginia.


There are many underground tunnels in our historic district which lead to the river. The tunnels were originally constructed as a viaduct to keep the flow of creeks and streams off the streets while the water ran towards the river. In this house is a little hatch door that leads to one such tunnel. Legend says the hatch was used as an escape route to hide from the British soldiers during the Revolutionary War and the Union soldiers during the Civil War. As the story goes, the tunnels throughout the city were also used as clandestine meeting places for forbidden lovers, slaves running towards freedom, and the occasional murder victim.





A gorgeous Greek Revival style house built in 1841 by one of the city's most prominent citizens. It was designed by the nation's first great architects...Latrobe, Strickland and Walter. It's sits atop a hill in the heart of downtown overlooking the river known for it's pirates and later, it's blockade runners.


The owners of the house loved to entertain, so the architectural plan was designed with this in mind. I can only imagine the southern gentleman and southern belles who danced the night away in this beautiful home.





Now this house...this house is my dream home. As far back as I can remember, I had big plans of buying her. And as much as I still love her today, I can truthfully say that I am glad THAT dream did not come true. First of all...can you imagine cleaning her. And second of all...she's haunted. And me being the world's biggest chicken...I just don't think it would have worked out.




She was built by free and enslaved black artisans beginning in 1859. Her family, a physician, his wife and nine children, moved in on the eve of the Civil War. In 1865, Federal troops commandeered the house as their headquarters during their occupation of our city. Once the war was over, the family had to petition the government to re-gain their house back which remained in their possession until the death of the last surviving child in 1946.




There have been numerous ghost sightings at this grand home. A Union soldier has been spotted wandering the grounds...once during a Civil War re-enactment. Another uniformed figure and a lady wearing an antebellum gown have been seen peering through the windows at night. And the daughter of the original owner has been spotted several times since her death at the home in 1946.

Can you imagine the stories she can tell!






Even my church contributes to the history of my hometown as well as to the beauty of it.

The first two buildings, both destroyed by fire, were built in 1818 and 1821 just a few blocks from the present site. The third building was constructed at the present site and dedicated in 1861...just a few weeks before the start of the Civil War. It burned on New Year's Eve in 1925. The present building was completed in 1928.

In the chapel, displayed on the front of the Lectern is the Lectern Bible. It is one of the few physical links left to the original congregation. It was the Pulpit Bible of the 1861 church and thankfully escaped the 1925 fire because it was stolen during the city's occupation by the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1928, a descendant of the Union Officer who's hands the Bible ended up in, returned it to our church.

Neat, huh!

And this is only a small sample of the amazing history and gorgeous homes around my town.