Sunday Toppings

Once again my daughter is the creative genius in the family. She is going to make decoupage eggs today. She saw them on the cover of the Martha Stewart magazine. I can't wait to see how they turn out.

http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/easter-eggs

I went to buy the traditional Easter chocolate bunnies for my kids at Le Petit Prince. It is a French bakery in Birmingham, Michigan. They hand paint the bunnies. My daughter gets the girl bunny & my son gets the boy bunny. The insides are hollow but filled with individual chocolates in the shapes of bunnies, eggs & chickens. (The chickens are a French thing). Plus they made my wedding cake so many years ago...

http://www.yelp.com/biz/le-petit-prince-birmingham

I can't wait for Easter. It is my favorite holiday. What could be more fun; chocolate, candy, & the ever popular holiday tradition, cheesy potatoes. And I always put extra cheese in it!

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1746,133188-253193,00.html

I could shop at this web site all day. They have the cutest clothes. I love their jackets.

http://www.tulle4us.com/
http://www.tulle4us.com/style/jackets_and_coats/

Have a good week! Have fun getting ready for Easter.

Send a child to New York & all you get

are these great photos! Last week, 1/2 of our family visited friends & family in New York. They had a blast. They met our new niece who is a smiling, "cheeky" baby. I have not met her yet. Is it possible to fall in love from a photo?

Random days, random photos

Only Tuesday!? What a long week. Maybe these photos will help us all...Spring in my yard. Spring in my heart!

Sunday Toppings

I have nothing. There was not much to this weekend. I drove my kids around lots.

I took my daughter shopping & scored a few good buys. We received our annual Victoria's Secret "Get $10 off a bra & free pantie offer". That worked out well. I bought her a bra & pantie for $23.00!

I guess my Sunday toppings are coupons. Find them & use them. The key is to wait especially with food coupons. Typically what you see in the Sunday newspaper gets marked down in the store a few weeks later. So hold onto them until you find a sale then you get way more off!

Hope you are having as nice a day as we are here. Save, save & save!

Quiet

We have had so many different kinds of quiet here this week. With only two of us, the house echos. Tonight it will be filled again with 4 voices that need to be heard. I also long to hear the clip of my dog's paws on the flow. But it has been a month since he has left our family.

I also have a steady humming that quietly goes on in my brain. It is a sound that does not stop but is filled with "what ifs" and "hows" and "whens" and "whys". There are no answers right now & that silence is deafening. I long for a time when the quiet actually is filled with calm again. I have also found through all this thinking that the nights (when I am awake at 3) are filled with a quiet all their own.

The weather too has been quiet and wonderful. I am trying to fill my soul with sun. I can only hope for the next few weeks to go sooooo quickly & quietly. I long for the hum-drum quiet again.

Another good quiet is being with someone you love & not having to fill the void. I had those moments with my 11 year old son. Although we had many discussions, there were moments of absolute quiet but full of togetherness.

Perfect parfait of a day!

Two of our family are out of town. They got to go have "fun". The two that stayed got to have ice cream for dinner. Delicious ice cream with butterscotch topping on an outside bench! Then it was a drive through the neighborhoods just chatting away enjoying the sun.

As we passed the nature preserve, my son wanted to stop & walk. With beautiful weather, good company and nothing to do, why not? He walked around with a great big stick that looked like a club. He hit dead trees. He left a mark where he could claiming we would need to find our way out. But who wanted to do that?

I had all the time in the world with an 11 year old boy who mind was full of creative ways to pass the time. We left the nature preserve & on the way home, I dropped him off at a neighbors to play basketball.

This is a perfect parfait of a day!

Sundae Toppings

What could be better than spring?! Finally green grass, blooming things & being outside & warm at the same time. I can even see my frog tiles in the garden. I have photos of my indoor tulips in full color & my poor outdoor tulips that you can barely see BUT they are there! Say yes to spring!

I must say my spring is going to be very springy since my life & job status are crazy but I have already started to add pieces to my wardrobe to help me through these springy times.

I ordered this skirt from Boden & hopefully it will fit right. It is a skirt for all occasions. I wanted a pair of pants too but they are already sold out.

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-us/Womens-Skirts/Knee-Length-Skirts/WG320/Womens-Casual-Flippy-Skirt.html

I have a new love that I met yesterday at the library. From my favorite magazine, I found my new favorite cookbook: Southern Living Cookbook. I am ordering a used one from Amazon.com for $9.97.


It has croissant French toast with strawberry sauce. Decadent! I also want to try Greek garbanzo stew & orphan's rice. The secret is out that I am a Southerner at heart & also want to cook muffulettas & Hoppin' John.
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Southern-Living-Cookbook-Hardcover/dp/084873114X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237147384&sr=8-1

What else came about over the weekend? My son's birthday party with beautiful weather. So seven 11 year olds played outside most of the time. His favorite present was slingshot rockets that go really high. Warning: do not be near any roofs, as we found out the hard way!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Slingshot-Rockets,-3-Missiles-%26-Launcher,-Brand-New!_W0QQitemZ220361344733QQcmdZViewItem

Have a great week. Hopefully I can blog twice this next week but it may have to be from outside sitting in my deck chair. Such a hardship!

Why do these people have to eat?

I am here not over there. I have no idea what to cook and why I should be cooking it. Why does everyone need to eat? I am happy with a few carrots, a wedge of cheese, Cheeze-Its and umm, I don't know. I hate being frugal too because I know Senora Taco bell or Mr. McDonald's could help me out. But seriously, why do they have to eat? Who invented these meal rituals? My kids don't need a meat, a vegetable and a starch. They can make it on a bowl of cereal with a handful of Cheeze-Its thrown in. O.k., I'll go make dinner but I am not going to like it.

Old times, good times

Once in a great while you get to meet somebody from your past. Saturday I met a few somebodies from my elementary school years. We are all *&^ years old now but still look good. It was fun to reconnect & see what's new after 20 plus years. And to know we still got it!

Where is my groove?

Has anybody seen it? I have to catch up on sooo much. I did not even do my Sunday toppings so here are Monday's leftovers.

My daughter is reading Nicholas Spark's. She started with The Notebook and loves it. Kudos to him for writing such good books. I can't wait to watch the movie with her.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notebook

We had fun walking the streets of Royal Oak on Friday night. My daughter really likes this little store on Main St. called Pitaya. Pitaya always has cute dresses for girls & fun tops.

http://www.pitayaonline.com/

Had a great time perusing the aisles of TJMaxx all alone sans kids on Sunday. Wish I could show you the sundress/skirt that I bought! Love TJMaxx on a rainy day.


Hopefully this week I can blog more & find my groove!

360 cupcakes

It has come. I can't believe it is here. I am frosting the last cupcake of the last birthday of the last elementary year. Tomorrow is my son's birthday and I made the traditional cupcakes for his last elementary birthday.

I am sad. I knew this day would come but it came so fast.

I am happy. Elementary school is hard for kids and for parents. There is so much to do & so much to make like the dreaded 2nd grade castle project or the highly detailed 4th grade geometry poster project and lots and lots of cupcakes.

What is an elementary school birthday without cupcakes?!
I have made 30 cupcakes for 6 years now just for my son. Plus 30 cupcakes for 6 years for my daughter. That is 360 cupcakes!

I have made chocolate ones, vanilla ones, rainbow sprinkle one & red velvet ones. I have frosted them in vanilla & chocolate and made vanilla 1 year into a really bad shade of pink. I have put rainbow sprinkles and chocolate sprinkles on them and made them into faces one year I have done Barbie themes, animal themes and sports themes. I have made them in cones too.

I may have eaten almost as many "mistakes" too!

If I Could Talk to the Clothes (sung to If I Could Talk to the Animals)

I was just reading the blog C Jane Enjoy It. She mentioned that she wants some shoes. Not only did she mention it but she talked to them directly. That is me too!

I am a clothes horse! (Yes, you can continue humming If I Could Talk To The Animals - it is appropriate for a clothes horse) There are pieces I love like my new yellow coat, my new boots and my orange sweater. I always tell them that they are delicious. I apologize when I forget about them like I did when I found my orange sweater stuffed in the back of the drawer today. I have promised my yellow coat that I will wear it soon.

I have been anticipating putting away the winter clothes and pulling out my spring ones. Hello blue top with the bow on front and green coat that I just love. Spring is here!

I will continue to welcome you with each season & say a short adieu to you when the seasons pass. Plus I will introduce you to the new pieces that come. And don't we look good.

p.s. my yellow coat was $12 at a resale store in Houston. What a deal & yes, I do love ya!

Sunday Toppings

What to say? It was both a long week & a quick week with little time for myself.

It was the start of Lent so my daughter & I are giving up meat again & sugar. It is a fun challenge & I enjoy trying new veggie meals.

Tonight we are having linguine & clam sauce. I substitute the chicken broth with veggie broth. Yum.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1758,132190-252195,00.html

This week, we will also be having crepes with ricotta on the inside & tomato sauce on the top. This is a first time recipe but it sounds pretty good. Dare I say an easier lasagna?!

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,195,145169-246205,00.html

We are also eating lots of peanut butter. And with peanut butter comes Nutella - Yum! If you have never tried this tasty spread, look for it next time in your peanut butter aisle at the grocery store. Target even has it! I wish the web site had a coupon for ya but didn't see one. Plus this could really be a sundae topping!

http://www.nutellausa.com/


Lots of food today but its good food.