Pink, Green & Southern

Bib Necklaces

2009-11-14T08:43:00.004-05:00

Bib necklaces are everywhere right now. These beauties can be purchased for a song at Sam Moon.

I'll take one of each, please.

The Country Music Awards

2009-11-12T08:31:00.003-05:00

How great were they?!

And how cute is Taylor Swift?! She definitely deserve to win Entertainer of the Year. What a great role model for young girls everywhere.

Click the following link to watch my favorite moment of the night: http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20316530_20319261,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

I love me some Little Jimmy Dickens and think it is poetic justice that he was the one to finally put Kanye in his place! And how funny was it when Brad Paisley asked, "What kind of security do we have that a 4 ft., 9 inch, 88-year-old man gets by it?"

Miss Priss' best friend from our time in Nashville has LJD's old cell phone number and says she gets calls for him all the time--how funny is that?!

Where was Trace Adkins last night? Semi-Slacker, I know you missed him. He was our neighbor in Nashville; talk about a true Country gentleman. One morning I went to pick up Miss Priss from a slumber party and as I stood at the entrance to the little girl's home I heard this deep, Southern drawl behind me say, "I am here to pick up McKenzie." It was like 9:00 in the morning, he had performed at the Opry the night before and there he was doing Daddy duty. My kind of man, for sure.

Tim's performance was a real treat too! I love the words to his new song, "Southern Voice":

Hank Williams sang it
Number 3 drove it
Chuck Berry twanged it
Will Faulkner wrote it
Aretha Franklin soul-ed it
Dolly Parton graced it
Rosa Parks rode it
Scarlett O' chased it

Smooth as the hickory wind
That blows from Memphis
Down to Apalachicola
It's, "Hi y'all! Did ya eat? Well?"
Come on in child
Sure glad to know ya
Don't let this old gold cross
An' this Allman Brothers t-shirt throw ya
It's cicadas making noise
With a southern voice

Hank Aaron smacked it
Michael Jordan dunked it
Pocahontas tracked it
Jack Daniels drunk it
Tom Petty rocked it
Dr. King paved it
Bear Bryant won it
Billy Graham saved it

Smooth as the hickory wind
That blows from Memphis
Down to Apalachicola
It's, "Hi y'all! Did ya eat well?"
Come on in
I'm sure glad to know ya
Don't let this old gold cross
An' this Crimson Tide t-shirt throw ya
It's cicadas making noise
With a southern voice

Jesus is my friend
America is my home
Sweet iced tea and Jerry Lee
Daytona Beach
That's what gets to me
I can feel it in my bones

Smooth as the hickory wind
That blows from Memphis
Down to Apalachicola
It's, "Hi y'all! Did ya eat well?"
Come on in child
I'm sure glad to know ya
Don't let this old gold cross
An' this Charlie Daniels t-shirt throw ya
We're just boys making noise
With a southern voice

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Southern Voice
I got a southern voice
A southern voice

What was your favorite part of the night?

I Have Died and Gone to Heaven!

2009-11-11T18:41:00.001-05:00

Please tell me you have heard of the Pioneer Woman and her amazing blog?! Well, if you haven’t, shame on you! Click on the above link and get there NOW!

My favorite part of the Pioneer Woman’s blog is the cooking section. As a matter of fact, you may have seen Ree on T.V. lately because she has just published her first cookbook and has been making the talk show rounds to promote it. It was even reviewed in the NY Times and People Magazine (Go Ree!)! Her blog is chock full of great recipes, many of which I have tried with many more I plan to try! Well, today when I was outside preparing my vegetable garden for the winter, I harvested this HUGE bunch of parsley

and I instantly knew just what I wanted to use (some of) it for—Ree’s Baked Lemon Pasta!

Well, I am here to tell you that you must try it--STAT! It is super rich and super amazing and just may be my new favorite dish. Make it; you will fall in love, I promise! (And P.S., if your hubby won’t eat a meal without some meat in it like Mr. PG &S , throw some sautéed chicken in—Ree won’t mind!)

I also harvested some carrots from the garden today. Aren’t they cute?

Eloise over at Weasel’s Journey just posted the most divine sounding Pasta Fagioli recipe that I plan to make using these bad boys! (Thanks, Eloise!)

Don’t forget to watch the CMAs tonight—this fine specimen of man is rumored to be making an appearance

Okay, you can breath now…and don’t forget to click here to read this awesome Men’s Journal feature article on my next husband; you won’t regret it!

When were house hunting in Nashville, our realtor shared the best story with me. She told me that once her teenage daughter was at a local gas station and was struggling to get the gas cap off so that she could fill up her car when she heard a voice behind her say, “Let me get that for you, sweetheart.” It was Tim McGraw. Would you just fall down DEAD if that happened to you?!

Oh, have you discovered Alice.com? Alice is my new best friend! Alice (like the Brady’s maid) is a website that allows you to order all the products you use ever day keeping house, like toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, coffee, etc. and it finds coupons for you, applies them to your order, then ships your items to you FREE! Alice also keeps track of your items and reminds you when you are running low. And the best part? The prices are really, really good! I cannot tell you how psyched I am to find this website; we live kind of out in the boonies and the closest real grocery store is almost 20 minutes away. Invariably, I am always out of something, whether it be coffee or tp or deodorant, etc. Going to the store multiple times a week is just not my idea of fun. Plus, it’s not like time grows on trees around here, if you know what I mean. Now, Alice does all the leg work for me leaving me more time to blog—what more could a girl ask for?

Happy Fall Y'all

2009-11-08T16:19:00.004-05:00

Now that Halloween is over, the bar in our kitchen is ready for Fall. I used some of the same things I used with my Halloween decorations like the dollar store leaves, gourds, and apples as well as the orange damask runner trimmed with black tassel fringe that I made. Then I added in some candles on dollar store pillars, Pinkie's pumpkin from our family trip to the pumpkin patch wrapped in a beaded garland and placed on a wooden cake pedestal, the pumpkin picture holders I showed you several posts back, a twine wrapped dollar store vase, and the letters F-A-L-L printed out on decorative scrap book paper and framed in various dollar store frames. For years, I did not decorate for any holiday other than Christmas because I said I did not have the extra money to buy all those (unnecessary, in my mind) decorations, but this display just goes to show you how you really can decorate on a shoe string by hitting up the dollar store and/or thrift stores and using what you already have around the house. And I cannot tell you how happy these decorations make my children--the just love seeing the place all decked in festive swag!

We had Pinkie's 5th birthday party here yesterday so look for a post to come soon detailing all the fun we had!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T10:10:00.006-05:00

Sadly, Pinkie woke up on Friday morning with a fever of 102.2 and a barking cough so we headed to the pediatrician's office instead of to the school Halloween parade where she was diagnosed with croup. After seeing the precious Halloween bat candy bars Laura at the Horton Family made for her Alise to take to school to her friends, we had decided to do the same thing for Pinkie's friends--thank goodness Daddy was around to drop them off at school for us! So at least they made the school Halloween festivities!

Saturday was a yucky rainy day and Pinkie was still sick so after rolling Miss Priss' hair for Sunday's State Cheer Competitions the girls dressed in their costumes for a few quick pics (in the drizzling rain!), then Miss Priss headed over to a friend's to hang out and hope that they rain would stop so they could trick-or-treat. It stopped just long enough for us to take Pinkie to a couple of the houses on our cul-de-sac (the pediatrician said we could as long as she didn't touch anyone!) and Miss Priss and her friend got to go to a few houses as well. We only had a few visitors at our house. Now I have a ton of left over candy staring me in the face--not good!

Scarlett O'Hara (Miss Priss wore the same costume when she was 4! We decided to save the peacock for next year when it will hopefully not be raining!)

The Cat in the Hat (her curlers are under the hat!)

On Sunday we drove to New Haven for the Sate Cheer Competition and the girls won first! Regionals, here we come!!!

My Little Witchie-Poo!

2009-10-25T08:00:00.002-04:00

We are counting down the days until Halloween here at the PG&S household! Are you?!

Hot Sauce

2009-10-24T08:00:00.004-04:00

Many of you know that I am a Louisiana girl and us Louisiana girls, we like our food seasoned, and by seasoned I do mean ON FIRE.

Well, ON FIRE can be kind of hard to come by here in Connecticut. It is even hard to find some of my favorites in my local grocery store so that when I get an envie (Cajun for "a hankering") I can cook up some of my favorites at home!

And if you have read my blog before then you may now that often times I have had to resort to buying some of my favorite Southern Delicacies at the Dollar Store because for some reason this is the only place they can be found up here in the "Nath East." I am not completely comfortable buying food at the Dollar Store; my brother and I use to roll our eyes at our mother every time she brought home some kind of foofy-sheshe vinegar or dip from TJ Maxx. I mean, who does that?! Well apparently, I do! Truth be told, I have bought Moon Pies at the Dollar Store, Tony's (Cajun Seasoning) at the Dollar Store, Rice Dressing Mix, etc, etc. Desperate times, desperate measures, you catch my drift...

I trust you then understand that my quest for food from my home land is never ending.So, imagine my sheer and utter delight when I saw this at the Dollar Store the other day...

I think the seas parted and angels sang when my eyes landed on this bag settin' there on the shelf. WOW, I didn't even know such a product existed. And to be honest with you, I am not even sure I have ever had a Fun-yun or OnYum or whatever in the hell it is, but the package has Louisiana Hot Sauce on it for crying out loud and since I think I may be the only person from Louisiana to ever set foot in this particular Dollar Store, I had to buy it. I mean if I didn't then who would and wouldn't that be kind of like the ultimate act of betrayal to the place of my upbringing? And since I am pretty sure that I am the only person that is crazy enough/homesick enough to buy such a thing, it kind of made me sad to imagine the fate of this bag if I left it behind, and so, after much deliberation (possibly a whole 45 seconds), I threw the bag of On-Yums in my cart.

You still with me? Great because THEN I turned the corner and saw this--

Holy Ka-mooly! Can you tell how big that bottle of hot sauce is?!

Wait...

Does this help?

This bottle of hot sauce is 32 fluid ounces!!! The traditional size bottle of Tabasco that you see in restaurants is a mere 5 fluid ounces. This bad boy weighs like 14 lbs--I kid you not!

And the really sad thing? It will probably last the PG&S household three weeks!!!

P.S. The OnYums? To.Die.For.

Fun Fall Craft

2009-10-23T12:45:00.000-04:00

Twice a month I attend MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) at a local church. This faith based group has been a part of my life as long as I have been a mother. I cannot tell you how much the relationships I have forged with other mothers has meant to me over the years. This year, I am in charge of the crafts for my MOPS group. Most meetings include a yummy breakfast, an informative speaker, and a fun craft. You know how much I love all things crafty, so this job is the perfect way for me to be involved and give back at the same time.

Last Tuesday, we made pumpkin picture holders and the ladies loved them so much that I thought I would share them with you--they are so fun and easy to make!

First, grab some of these adorable Styrofoam pumpkins from Walmart. They have a great selection--all sorts of colors,some plain, some sparkly and they only cost a dollar!

Here is another shot to show you some of the other kinds of pumpkins they have (I also bought some to place in the antique dough bowl on my kitchen island).

Next, simply go outside into your yard and gather an assortment of sticks. Pull the stem out of you pumpkin, push the stick of your choice into the hole that is left behind then simply hot glue mini wooden clothespins onto the stick (you should be able to find the mini clothespins in the craft section of your Walmart).

And voila, instant picture holder!

Use them to showcase pictures of your children in their costumes from Halloween's past! (This picture shows Miss Priss as a purple princess when she was 3.5--doesn't she look like Pinkie?!)

Or you can use them to display other fun fall photos.

You could even use your pumpkin as a recipe card holder--how cute would it look showcasing a copy of your grandmother's handwritten pumpkin pie recipe?!

Another fun idea--when you are outside collecting sticks, pick up some leaves. Use a sharpie to write your family members names on the leaves, clip them onto your pumpkins and use them as place cards on your dining room table at Thanksgiving. Your kids will love doing this with you!

Christmas Cards

2009-10-22T08:00:00.001-04:00

I know, I know, many of you think that it is just too early to think about Christmas cards but I am here to tell you that no it's not! Momma Henley posted about this exact same thing last week and she and I are on the exact same page here--we both believe that it is never too early to order your Christmas cards! I love having this over and done with when the craziness of the holidays hits and boy does it seem to hit me (upside the head!) earlier and earlier each year. When my cards are ordered, I have one less thing to worry about come December. I can even take my time addressing them and sometimes I am even able to stick them in the mailbox the day after Thanksgiving!

Below is the card I chose:

I ordered it from Shutterfly and if you order by October 28 you will get free shipping when you spend over $30 and when you order 50 cards you get 25 more free! See, it pays to be an early bird!

The hardiest part about ordering Christmas cards is picking one! Shutterfly has cards designed by Whitney English and Stacy Claire Boyd, among many others! There are so many cute cards out there. Tiny Prints, Snap Fish, Fine Stationery, and Etsy also have great options.

This is the picture I chose for our card:

It is so hard getting a good picture when there is more than one person in the shot. I took almost 100 pictures of the girls and I am telling you this was the only possibility. Good thing you only need one!

P.S. I was at the post office yesterday and the Christmas stamps are already out so hop to it!

Pink M&Ms

2009-10-21T18:14:00.003-04:00

Normally, during the month of October--breast cancer awareness month--these bags of pink M&Ms are in all the stores and I buy gobs of them to put away (they freeze great!) for parties here at the PG&S household, but this year I cannot find them anywhere! Has anybody seen them? If you have, please let me know where!

I've Been Tagged...

2009-10-20T12:50:00.002-04:00

by two of my favorite bloggers, Henley on the Horn & Biscuits Are Never Boring!

1. Where is your cell phone? pocketbook

2. Your hair? dark brown

3. Your mother? amazing

4. Your father? smart

5. Your favorite food? fattening

6. Your dream last night? good

7. Your favorite drink? Diet Coke

8. Your dream/goal? patience

9. What room are you in? Kitchen

10. Your hobby? crafting

11. Your fear? death

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home

13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something that you aren’t? thin

15. Muffins? lemon poppyseed

16. Wish list item? see #14 or #8

17. Where did you grow up? Baton Rouge

18. Last thing you did? had my MOPS group over for coffee

19. What are you wearing? pink tee & navy pants

20. Your TV? off

21. Your pets? Boudreaux

22. Friends? The Best

23. Your life? Incredible

24. Your mood? happy

25. Missing someone? yes

26. Vehicle? Yukon XL

27. Something you’re not wearing? watch

28. Your favorite store? Target

29. Your favorite color? pink

30. When was the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? Sunday (happy tears, watching MP perform & WIN!)

32. Your best friend? too far away

33. One place that I go to over and over? Walmart

34. One person who emails me regularly? Catherine

35. Favorite place to eat? Acme Oyster House

I tag Loving Blakely, 40 Pink Piggies, Hoots Mom, The Horton Family, Pink Cashmere Cardigan, & Weasel's Journey.

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-11T23:28:00.003-04:00

Last Sunday, we followed PG&S fall tradition and went to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard after Miss Priss cheered for the undefeated eight grade team--GO WILDCATS! Our girls love the pumpkin patch and I love fall so we always have a ball!

Driving a John Deere Tractor

It took us forever to find red apples--there were green ones everywhere but we prefer the red! Somehow we still managed to come home with way more green than red?

Miss Priss auditioning to be one of the Desperate Housewives

Pinkie found the perfect pumpkin right away! It took Miss Priss a little longer to find a keeper.

After picking out their pumpkins, the girls indulged Momma by posing for some pictures (and yes, MP did change halfway through our trip!)

Check out Pinkie's sassy shoes--they have bows on them and I can switch the colors or even add flowers to them! They are from Bella Nova Boutique.

This seems to be Miss Priss' new pose--she has been doing it in all her pics lately--PEACE Y'ALL!

As soon as we got home, Pinkie decorated her pumpkin with a cute Black Cat decorating kit I got last year on clearance after Halloween at the Christmas Tree shop for like 69 cents! Can't beat that!!!

I know I have been a slacker blogger lately but I have been listing the girls old fall/winter clothes on eBay and it is quite time consuming. Check out my listings if you want--I love children's clothes/shoes and have over 200 items listed in a wide variety of sizes. I even have some little boy items that are new with tags!

Miss Priss has her first cheer competition of the year this weekend--keep your fingers crossed that they place and we get to go to state in two weeks!!!

We Made It!

2009-10-06T14:49:00.002-04:00

We are back from our white water rafting and biking trip and we had a great time!!!

The rafting was a blast! The 15 mile bike ride? Not so much. I am not sure why anybody chooses to partake in something that hurts your rear soooo much! But the weather was lovely and the leaves were gorgeous and I was with my precious daughter so what more can a girl ask for?

I had a massage yesterday but I am still recouping--ha, ha--so more later. My projects for this week include listing fall/winter clothes on eBay and planning Pinkie's 5th birthday. It is not until December but we always have it early so Nana can come for both Halloween and the party. This year's theme is Pampered Pooch/Pink Poodle. What fun it is going to be!

Please Pray For Me...

2009-10-01T11:54:00.003-04:00

I am going on a white water rafting and biking trip with Miss Priss and her Girl Scout troop this weekend and although I am excited, I am not sure I am going to make it back in one piece! We are leaving at 6:00 am on Saturday morning, driving 3.5 hours to Pennsylvania, then white water rafting all Saturday afternoon. On Sunday we are biking 15 miles. Yes, you read that right--15 MILES!!! This is what scares me! After biking 15 MILES, I then have to drive back home for 3.5 hours! Then probably make dinner, do laundry, pack school lunches, etc, etc. I really don't think my old body is up for this. The things we do for our children...

Like making home made Halloween costumes when there are perfectly good store bought alternatives out there. When the Halloween costume catalogs started coming in the mail way back in like MAY, Pinkie decided she wanted to be the peacock in the Chasing Fireflies catalog. Although the costume cost like $700, it was adorable and I agreed to order it for her. Well, silly me, I waited until AUGUST to place my order and whatda ya know? They were all sold out! So she asked me to make her one--here is what we came up with:

It's kind of a peacock meets princess look. Pinkie is calling herself Queen of the Peacocks. I am still nursing all 5 of my fingers on my left hand where I burnt the ever living daylights out of myself hot gluing all those peacock feathers on to that silver sequined belt!

Still No Car...

2009-09-28T12:17:00.005-04:00

It has been two weeks without a car. Hopefully, I can get it today. While I have been stuck at home, I've been sewing.

I got this cute coordinating corduroy fabric from Hobby Lobby and used it to make a tiered skirt using Grand Revival Designs' tutorial.

I made this outfit for her to wear during the holidays. (In case you can't tell from the pic, the skirt is covered with crowns.) This skirt, along with the next

This is obviously a Halloween outfit--I love the black damask skirt; she will probably wear it some during the Holidays. This skirt, as well as the next three, were all made from dishtowels purchased at World Market (I posted this tutorial on here back in the spring.)!

More damask!

And floral with a damask trim!

I appliqued this Cinderella slipper on a plain white tee (Walmart has some adorable plain tees right now with grosgrain trim at the neckline!) using some of the Sis Boom fabric I got at her last show.

I also used some Sis Boom fabric to dress up these sweatsuits. I know old school sweatsuits like these are sort of dorky but Pinkie loves wearing them around these house during the depths of winter when the snow is on the ground and it is like 47 below! They are fleece lined and so warm and cozy!

I am waiting for one more item to come in the mail so I can finish her Halloween costume. Hopefully, it will come today so that I can share her costume with you SOON!

P.S. Laura, I don't think my MOPS' girls were all that impressed with the Moon Pies I gave them; one girl didn't even take hers home with her--she left it on our table!

I Am Still Here...

2009-09-21T08:52:00.003-04:00

I just have nothing interesting to say. My car has been in the shop since Tuesday and I am on diet so to say that I am miserable is putting it mildly! Maybe I'll get my car back today, maybe I won't. I am not holding my breath.

I have been busy with cheerleading with Miss Priss and dance, choir, and swimming lessons for Pinkie. Thank goodness we can walk to most of our activities because, did I mention, I HAVE NO CAR?!! I drove cheer carpool (in Mr. K's car) the other night and was struck blind, deaf and dumb by all the "Oh my Gods" and "Likes" that come out of these pre-teen girl's mouths.

I started a new Bible Study with my Wednesdays in the Word group. I have not decided yet what I think of this study or its author. Let's just say, she is no Beth Moore. She is more like a new-agey Muppet. I suppose she has something important to say but she talks so fast that after watching her video message, I feel like I have run a marathon.

I have MOPS tomorrow. I am in charge of the crafts this year. For tomorrow's craft we will be decorating journals. The leader's idea, not mine. I wanted to do something more original, but I'm flexible. I am also acting as a Discussion Group Leader for one of the ladies who is out on maternity leave. Our theme this year is "Together on Planet Mom." I found some chocolate and banana moon pies at the Dollar Store (pathetic, I know) and packed them up in clear cellophane bags tied with silver metallic star ribbon to give to the ladies at my table as a little happy from their Southern substitute DGL. They will probably hate them. I will be eating mine with a RC. No wait, I am on a diet, so I will probably just be eating the cardboard box they came in.

School is going well for the girls. Miss Priss has like 27 hours of homework a night. Seriously, why do they have to give the kids so much homework? If she is not doing homework, she is cheering. At least she does it without me having to get on her case. Pinkie loves her school and her class and teacher. She likes the other little girl in the class and completely ignores the boys. They are assigned little chores around the classroom and her greatest desire is to be the "sponge person"--the sponge person gets to clean the tables after snack. So far she has been the water pourer and the calender girl, but not the sponge person. I'll be sure to let you know when her wildest dreams come true.

Two things I feel like sharing:

1.) My new favorite blog--People of Walmart. Check it out; it is quite possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen.

2.) I am reading Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum (yes, I know you are supposed to underline the title of a book but I can't for the life of me figure out how to underline in blogger)--it is amazing; if you like to read, check it out too.

And a question: How much of a tool is John Edwards?! He just makes me want to hurl.

Happy Fall Y'all

2009-09-15T18:23:00.003-04:00

The PG&S house is all decorated and ready for Fall! It is in the 60s here today and I am loving it--the cool, crisp weather, the changing leaves, going to football games, getting to wear my jean jacket...What is your favorite thing about fall?

My Mutant Corn

2009-09-13T12:09:00.000-04:00

Well, the day I have been waiting for since I planted my vegetable garden finally came--it was time to harvest my corn!!! This is what I found:

Mini corn! Any one know what happened/what I did wrong? Although they taste good, each ear is only 2-3 inches long!!! I am so bummed!

A Blast From My Preppy Past

2009-09-12T19:08:00.001-04:00

Tickled Pink & Green recently posted a pic of her preppy self circa 1981 and asked others to "play along." Fun, right?!

Here goes...

In this pic I am about 11 and am wearing a lovely preppy Kelly green sweater with sailboats circling my neck. I also had on navy blue corduroy Bermuda shorts and white (!) tights!

I think I am about 10 in this pic and I am wearing a short sleeved (!!) light blue Polo oxford shirt with khaki twill Bermuda shorts. I also have a madras sash tied around my waist. I probably have on white Bass sandals. I also wore this outfit on the first day of school that year, but with white knee socks and penny loafers. That's my brother in the Kelly green shorts and white Sun-San sandals. I could just eat him with a spoon, he looks so cute in this pic!

And last, but certainly not least, is a pic of me on Bid Day my junior year of college. In my opinion there is nothing more preppy than a sorority/fraternity jersey. I am not sure if you can tell, but I also have on my gold Chi O lavaliere and a pair of gold monogrammed earrings. I have no words for the scary sunglasses I am wearing.

GG's 87th Birthday

2009-09-11T12:10:00.004-04:00

Wednesday is my maternal grandmother's 87th birthday. Her 11 grandchildren call her Grammie and her 14 great-grandchildren call her GG for Great-Grammie. She loves the Lord and is a true Southern Belle.

She is very special to us all so when I saw this fairy princess collage that Michelle made at Vintage Grace, I knew I had to make my own version and send it to GG for her upcoming 87th birthday.

Isn't it too stinkin' adorable?!

Well, here is what I came up with...

(The precious little "fairy" is her in the 1920s when she was a very little girl!)

I hope she loves it as much as we love her! Happy Birthday, GG!!!

Life Changing I Tell You, LIFE CHANGING

2009-09-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

I read all of my blogs in Google Reader and I adore it, except for one small problem--new posts show up in my reader and I could read them all there, but in order to leave a comment I have to click a link to be taken to the blog to actually leave a comment. Why is this a problem, you ask? Well, I'm lazy and I don't comment as much as I'd like to when I have to click that second link to do it!

Here's where the life changing part comes in. Last week, I found out that you can put a "Next" button on your browser? Clicking the "Next" button will bring up the next unread post from your reader in the actual blog. Now, I can quickly go through and read brand new posts by my favorite bloggers and leave a comment with no extra work on my part!

Want to try it out? Log into your Google Reader (or sign up - It's FREE!) and go into Settings. Click the Goodies tab. Then, click and drag the "Next" button to your bookmarks toolbar.

Directions from Google Reader.

(I use Mozilla Firefox. If you are using Internet Explorer, right click on the upper gray part of your browser. A little box should pop up that shows your different menu bars. Make sure the "links" one is checked. Once it is, checked, just drag and drop the Next link in Google Reader to the gray area called "Links," right below the File/Edit/View/Favorites/Tools/Help menu bar. That should be all you need to do!)

You can click "Next" and go through each blog at your leisure. In the week that I've been using this, it has changed the way I read blogs tremendously. Now, I am commenting sooooo much more and every body likes a nice comment, don't they? I love this trick and thought you might like to know it too!

(Thanks to Living with Lindsay to tipping me off to this amazing trick!)

And They're Off...

2009-09-03T08:46:00.003-04:00

First Day of School!!!

Miss Priss, grade 7

Pinkie, pre-K

Meet the Teacher

2009-09-02T10:55:00.003-04:00

Well, I decided to go ahead and send Pinkie to Pre-K even though there is only one other girl in the class (not 2 others like I was told); I just can't bear to send her off to "big girl school" any earlier than I have to.

Today was Meet the Teacher Day. Pinkie loved her big, new classroom and says she is very excited to go back for a full day tomorrow, which is music to my ears because yesterday she told me that she was feeling "a wittle nervous." We even made plans for her to play with the other little girl in the class after school tomorrow!

With her new teacher

Creating a masterpiece

An Interesting Day at the Beach

2009-09-01T10:10:00.001-04:00

The other day the girls and I were at the beach. The town we live in is the "sister" to a town on the coast so we have beach rights in said town to a very nice, yet very staid New England family beach. Although you can pay for a one day pass, the prices are quite high' I guess to keep the riff-raff out. Well, I think it is time for someone to rethink this plan because the other day the girls and I were there, minidng our own business when lo and behold the woman sitting behind us takes off her bikini top. In broad daylight. In front of everyone. I wonder if she saw my jaw hit the sand.

When I was able to think straight again, what did I do? I grabbed my i-phone of course and promptly updated my status.

KK is at C**** beach with the girls & there is a lady behind us sunbathing topless! Is that allowed here?!

The remarks started flying in.

Julie, a sweet Bama belle from The Primrose Princesses
For the love of the lord

Jessica, from The Entertaining House
really?! LOL

Andrew, a friend of mine from high school, class clown and current single TX lawyer
Post some pics!

Cookie, my 18 year old step-daughter
okay EW. did Pinikie notice? :)

Barbara, longtime resident of said beach town
I don't think so!

Erin, my independent minded yet quite practical niece
I don't have an issue with avoiding tan lines, but sheesh...have some self-respect and respect for others and use an appropriate venue!

Tracy, an old friend of mine from our time in Ohio
The question is..should she be topless?

Jessica, again!
I was going to ask if they were real! LOL

Fil, another old friend from Ohio who is originally from Portugal
I didn't think they did that in the States?!

Kathy, Miss Priss' sage Girl Scout leader
OMG! No! People down there go nuts if a toddler is nude! Maybe she was visiting from Europe?!

Betsy, my 4th grade teacher!
BET she's wasn't 67!!! :-0

Me
If they weren't real then she should ask for her money back because she was as flat as a board, which is why I guess Pinkie didn't notice THANK GOODNESS! Still, Compo is a family beach--COVER YOURSELF UP WOMAN!

The funniest thing was when I asked the 16 year old BOY working at the lifeguard hut (are there NO adults employed by the town of W?) if this kind of thing is allowed at this beach, he said "I don't see a problem with it." No, I didn't think you would!!!

(Thanks to Jessica for giving me the idea for this post, to see her FB post click here!)

Refreshing, Make Ahead Meal

2009-08-31T10:20:00.000-04:00

I love any meal that I can make ahead of time. I absolutely adore making dinner in my crock pot so when the witching hour rolls around, I am not asking myself "What am I going to make for dinner?". All this month Miss Priss has had cheerleading practice from 5:45-8:15 and it is about a 40 minute round trip ride. So, I need to have dinner made ahead and it needs to be something that requires no fuss when I get home at 8:30! I tried this recipe the other day and it was a HIGE HIT in our house. It is served cold so I was able to make it after lunch then just pull it out of the fridge when we were ready to eat!

Mediterranean Rice Salad

Ingredients:
3 cups cold rice
1 cup Zesty Italian salad dressing
salt and pepper to taste
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 small cucumber, halved & sliced
1 container feta crumbles
1 lb. cooked, deveined shrimp

Toss together all ingredients in medium bowl. Cover and chill for 2 hours or more to blend flavors. Serves 4-6.