Southern Lady Surprise!

Picture #1-Kimberly and I speaking with editor in chief Phyllis Hoffman

Kimberly called this morning and said I needed to check out the new issue of 'Southern Lady' magazine.  I picked up my copy and flipped through the beautiful pictures to almost the back and there is a write up of the 2nd annual Southern Lady brunch put on by the Junior League of Birmingham, Alabama!

I was looking at the pictures and saw Lord Wedgwood of Wedgwood China in England. There was another photo of some beautifully set tables we saw and then I noticed Kimberly in her coat speaking to Phyllis Hoffman, the editor in chief of the magazine...and then I thought, hey there's my coat and purse!  Our backs are to the camera and you just see my coat and purse. Isn't that cool?  

Kimberly told me to check out online the 'Southern Lady' magazine website and the picture was there also with both of us whole! 

I've never had my purse and coat in a major magazine before! And the back of Kimberly's hair looks so pretty!  

We had such a blast driving down, shopping and visiting together that weekend. This was like the cherry on top!

Yes, We Claim Him

Okay, this is truly my real brother in law/Cousin Eddie.  I posted the impressive pictures first, and now the real deal....isn't my sister a saint?!

Whoosh!!

Here are a couple pictures of my brother in law "whooshing" down Copper Mountain. Impressive huh? He even used to ski in Europe in his younger days! Go Todd go!

Some Silly Fun

Last night Savannah, Jodie and I had a girls night out in my bonus room!  We had our favorite quesadillas, fish tacos and Jodie brought key lime pie.  Yum!

We had been waiting and waiting for the perfect night to get together and watch the movie "Mama Mia!!"  Jodie had seen it before and got it for Christmas, but wanted to see it with me so she could jump around and dance with us!  And we did! Savannah loves seeing us old folks get silly and dance around. Ha! It's one of those movies you need to see with a close friend or family member. (Les and Mom, you needed to have been here!)

We sang along with the songs from Abba and I could not believe how great Meryl Streep was! She is amazing and the girl who plays her daughter was adorable and has a great voice too. Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth weren't too hard on the eyes either!

Just some silly fun!

Beautiful Monhegan Island, Maine

Sublime Stitching

These are adorable embroidery patterns from "Sublime Stitching".  I think they are soooo cute! 

My favorites were 'Bon Voyage!' and 'Forest Friends'.

Savannah's favorites were 'Chinatown' and 'Vital Organs'.  We got a big laugh out of 'Vital Organs'. Can you imagine stitching one of these organs on an apron? Bizarre humor!

On their website they claim, "This ain't your gramma's stitchin'!"  

Warm, Cold, Warm, Cold, Windy, Sunny, Windy, Cold......

I am ready for Spring!

The Countess of Columbia

On Thursday night everyone around here is rushing around like crazy people!  I ask Savannah, "Did you pick up your room? Your bathroom?" I ask John, "Did you put your things away? Did you carry those boxes upstairs? Did I unload the dishwasher? Have you replaced that bulb?" "Uhhh, no...uh oh...you're going to get it!"

I scurry around to every room checking to see if I did the tasks she asked of me last week...did I get what she wrote down on the list? I cleaned out this closet! She'll be so proud of me!

DH calls this morning from work. "Is the Countess of Columbia there?"  

When Friday morning rolls around, we have got to be ready!

Inez is coming!

She is like a happy hurricane. She blows in and you don't know what just hit you! She keeps everything including us ship shape!

When I first met her, she had a two year old on her hip and I had a two year old on my hip. Now our girls are grown and our friendship has grown also. I don't know what I would do without her! 

As DH and I are about to hang up, he says, "Ya'll try to get a little work done between all the visiting you girls are going to do!" We'll try!

Taking a Break to Read With James

Years ago I read the book The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer, the wife of the famous theologian Dr. Francis Schaeffer. 

She encourages reading of all kinds, but made an excellent suggestion.  For as many pages you read of a book, read an equal amount of pages from the Bible.  Stay in the Word daily.  I have tried to take her advice.  It is easy to get lost reading for pleasure and I always want my reading from the Bible to be pleasurable too.

Anywho, you know how much reading I do.  I am working my way through the Bible already for this year and I am to Leviticus.  I love the historical parts of the Bible, but I thought if I read one more thing about a leporous pustule or if a woman was clean or unclean from her cycles, I thought I would be sick.  It is truly like a medical journal in places.  Nothing is left uncovered! Don't get me wrong, I am so amazed at the detail that is there and it is just another example of the proof of a higher power.

I had to take a break from Leviticus!  I am happy to say that I have enjoyed reading from the book of James today.  I look forward to meeting the brother of Jesus one day. His book is so encouraging and he seems to know how hard things can be for us in this world. "...knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."

Latest Reading

I am reading a new Edwardian mystery series by Clare Langley-Hawthorne and thoroughly enjoying it.

I also found the enchantingly titled Jane Austen Ruined My Life.  You know I can not pass anything up when it has to do with Jane!

I have found a whimsical and really artistic blog.  It's called 'The Hermitage' and it is like nothing I have ever seen. 

The artist is a nomad in Scotland and travels around in a gypsy wagon!  The truck/vehicle/gypsy thingy is so charming!

And on top of the charming and interesting way of life she lives, she is EXTREMELY talented! Her art is like a cross of The Hobbit meets the hunchback meets medieval forest folk.  I am enchanted by it!

This is a person I would like to sit down with, have a cup of tea and share thoughts!

www.intothehermitage.blogspot.com

Lunch Next to Vince

Today DH (darling husband) met me for lunch at Green Hills Noshville restaurant.  I love their matzo ball chicken noodle soup and DH loves their BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato).  

Sitting directly behind me and facing DH was Vince Gill!  I tried calling my friend Cleo on her cell phone, but I had to leave a voice mail.  She is crazy about country music and country music stars! I was going to hand my phone to Vince and see if he would talk with her.  He was by himself for a little while and it would have been the perfect time! He is such a nice, laid back kind of guy.

Sorry Cleo, I tried!

Les Heads to Copper Mountain

Les, Todd (cousin Eddie/yahoo brother in law) and the kids are at Copper Mountain, Colorado for their yearly ski trip.  A huge group goes every year and they stay in this HUGE house where they can ski/in ski/out.  It sleeps 22 people!

Les and some others will ski in the morning and the other half head out again in the afternoon. She is, of course, pretty much in charge of the dinners in the evening.  The kitchen has four ovens, so she is in 'Top Chef' heaven.

They look forward to this trip every year with some of their best friends.  Have fun and no broken bones please! She has promised lots of pictures.

Hercule Poirot is Back!

I am so excited that Masterpiece Mystery! is bringing two new episodes of Agatha Christie's suave detective Hercule Poirot back this summer! The great David Suchet reprises his role on June 21 & 28. No titles are out as of yet.

Happy Birthday to You Today Dad!!!!!

     I Love You!

He has taught me how to:

whistle loud enough to hail a cab

shoot a rifle

identify jet airplanes in the sky from far away (this blows the husband away every time)

drive a stick shift

bait my fishing line and usually Leslie's too

make a bed where you can bounce a quarter on the fitted sheet

jump a car off with jumper cables

check the oil in the car

ride a bike, ride a lawn mower

serve others

taught me how to ride a motorcycle and get a motorcycle license at 16

drive a 4-wheel drive on soft sand and what to do if I get stuck

not to be fearful (like when I ran out of gas by myself in the boonies, before cell phones, 

         walked up to a house and asked the lady to drive me to town for gasoline)

talk to anybody, anywhere in the world, at any time

sing all the time, whenever we were in the car

pretty much do anything, for any one, at any time

how to fix just about anything

love travel

love

do tricks with a yo-yo

He can stop you in your tracks with "The Look"

scared our boyfriends to death

loved to brush our hair when we were little

He can make the best beignets in the world

Never gave me a spanking ever

has watched every Western movie and can quote lines word for word

never could say no to us

will do anything for me

Who could this be?

I'll tell you tomorrow!

Your Last Supper

Last night we all went out for a delicious dinner and we all got to talking about what we would have for our "last supper."  On 'Top Chef', the cooking show on Bravo TV, they had visiting famous chefs who requested their "last supper."  The contestant chefs were supposed to prepare it perfectly for them.

Sav says her last supper would include:  clam chowder, risotto, poppy seed chicken, fried okra, and molten chocolate lava cake.

DH would have: Chicken wrapped with prosciutto & a cream sauce, risotto, parmesan peppercorn mashed potatoes and molten chocolate lava cake.

I would choose Garabaldi's diamond scored crispy flounder with apricot shallot sauce, roasted asparagus, my moms turnips and bread pudding.

What would you choose for your last supper?

Oooooh! Love this! Tea party lamp from Anthropologie...right up my alley!

Coming to DVD in May!  Sheer bliss!

...still reading everything I can get my hands on with a French theme! I tend to pick mysteries.  I do have one non-fiction coming up soon! Great cover on this one.

Leslie would love this for Valentine's Day! 

Tom Ford's Private Blends from Neiman Marcus.

We tried these out in New York and the scents were incredible!

I LOVE this series!  This is Ms. King's latest Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery that will be out in a couple of months.   The Beekeeper's Apprentice is the first in the series that is a must read!

Pretty Please?

Just finished this beautiful book with its lovely photos!

"If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed.

 If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed." 

                                          --Mark Twain

                   

Currently Reading

Domesticity

I love being a domestic!  I would not go so far to say that I am a domestic goddess, but I do like to putter around my house.

I am not anywhere close to being as great of a domestic goddess as my Nonnie and mother!  My Nonnie ironed ALL her bed linens, prepared breakfast and a large dinner at lunch time WITH a dessert every day.

My mother had supper on the table EVERY night when my dad came home from work! I truly understand and appreciate that more now! No one is allowed to gobble their food up and leave the table at my house!  Savor my food and the time I put into it please! 

I learned how to iron by ironing my dads handkerchiefs and boxer shorts.  I loved to iron THEN! Now I am a whiz at catching the clothes just after they damp dry and I hang them up quick so I do not have to pull the iron out.

Sav had to decide on her schedule for next year and she and her friends have decided to take 'Foods' and 'Sewing', one semester each.  I am thrilled!

I started making Sav do her own laundry. I was washing 7 pairs of pajamas a week and too, too many towels.  Now that she does her own laundry, I think she is wearing pj's more than one night.  Definitely a lesson of 'learn by doing!'  She is on her way to becoming a little domestic too!

"Oh there's Sunshine, blessed sunshine in my soul, while the peaceful, happy moments roll...!!"

A French Connection

I absolutely love it when authors have google alert contact them when their name or book is mentioned on the web.  DH called and said Vicki Archer had left a comment on my last blog.  I have her beautiful book A French Life right smack in the middle of my coffee table right now.  

The book is a beautiful pictorial of the authors love of all things French.  She is an excellent writer and has put an exquisite book together. I just oooh and aaah at the beautiful scenes!

I am trying to read all things French to get ready for the trip to France in June. The last time I spent a week in Paris, I was in the 10th grade and 16 years old.  It was magical!  We have since stopped through on flights with mom, dad, DH and Sav and we have literally run full out through the Charles De Galle airport trying to make a flight.  That was quite an afternoon. 

The world becomes a much smaller place because of the internet.  With people from around the world able to read your words at the touch of a button is amazing to me!  And to know Ms. Archer is in London right now reading mine is quite nice.

Daddy Used to Be Smart?

Today Sav came home from school talking about seeing her high school counselor.  They are working out her schedule for her final year.

I  can't believe I will have a Senior next year! 

Anywho, she came home and told her daddy that she has a 3.97 GPA (grade point average) and was listed as 25th in a class of 137.  Of course we are very proud!

DH told her he was 11th out of his class of 200 himself.  She couldn't believe it!  She thought he was joking!  Poor old Dad!  With as much as he goofs off with her, it is his own fault that she is shocked her Daddy was/is actually smart!

Teenagers!

Restaurants, Cooking and Julia

DH (my dear husband) and I enjoy watching the restaurant shows on television. They tend to come on BBC America, food network or Bravo channels.  Chef Ramsey goes to a struggling restaurant, discovers the problem and tries to fix the menu, managing, chef and wait staff.

We have discovered that a lot of unsavory things go on in the restaurant business!  I am amazed at the poor cleaning that some do! Eeeeek!  Yuk! On one show, the waiter dumped left over tortilla chips BACK into the drawer for someone else!

It's very interesting to say the least!  It has definitely made me more aware of how little fresh food the restaurants serve.  Of course, there are the exceptions.  We have discovered that you usually get what you pay for.

So, we have been eating at home much, much more.  

All that is to say that I have been reading and enjoying a new book.  The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Finn.  The blurb reads "Love, Laughter and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School."  Ms. Flinn fulfills a dream to go to Paris and enroll in the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.  

I always wanted to know what went on in one of the cooking schools and Ms. Flinn writes in detail on the menus, Chefs, students and living in Paris.

Growing up I would watch Julia Child with mom and Les on PBS on Saturday morning.  We would laugh along with her as she made French cooking fun!  I think I might see if the library has any of her video/dvd's that I could get my daughter to watch.

 Bonjour Fevrier!