He’ll Be Here All Week

8 October 2010 by

Yesterday afternoon the little man greeted me with a joke when I picked him up from school:

What did Tarzan say when he saw the elephants coming over the hill?”

*dramatic pause*

He said, “Hey! Here come the elephants!”

I laughed until I cried. Clearly we share an appreciation for the obvious in our family.

I’m heading to Nashville today to do a little dekky-ratin’ with Sister, which means there are a whole bunch of trips to Home Goods, TJ Maxx and World Market on the immediate horizon.

And that reminds me.

A couple of weeks ago when Alex and I were in Nashville, we ended up staying in World Market for somewhere between four to sixteen hours. The seven year-old was DONE after about eleven minutes, so I told him he could sit down a few feet away from Sister and me and play Doodle Jump on my iPod.

Here is how I found him about fifteen minutes later.

Oh, he’s a card.

Oh, I love him.

Hope y’all have a great weekend!

Filed Under: Family Fun, Rambling

Fun Finds

6 October 2010 by

In the mood for some perfectly random information?

Well. YOU’VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE.

– Several of you have sent me links to stories about the demise of the EXCEEDINGLY NOISY Sun Chips bag. POWER TO THE PEOPLE. Or at least to snack food-consuming people. I’ll celebrate small victories whenever I can, and furthermore, I WILL EAT MY SUN CHIPS IN PEACE.

– There’s a new Kellogg’s $100 gift card giveaway over on my giveaways page.

– This past weekend at Merritt’s house I discovered a new shampoo, and when I got home I promptly bought some for myself. The conditioner was a little much for my hair in the soft Houston water, but now that I’m back in Birmingham, I have conditioned to my heart’s content and loved the results. It smells great (Rosemary Juniper, anyone?) and adds lots of shine. Love it.

– My church has a new CD of original music:

The God We Praise | Brook Hills Music

If you listen to the clips, don’t miss “Hallelujah,” “Praise His Name” and “In Your Arms.” They’re my favorites right now. Until I change my mind in five minutes.

– And speaking of music, have y’all heard NewWorldSon? I hadn’t until today (I have been WAY behind on music lately), but when I listened to the link that a friend sent me, I thought their sound was so fun. Gonna download their CD from iTunes tonight.

– I’m sort of addicted to cashews. And by “sort of,” I mean that I’M ALMOST NEVER WITHOUT THEM. Anyway, when I was in the grocery store a couple of days ago I picked up a package of Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper cashews, and OH SWEET MERCY THEY ARE DELICIOUS. Such a treat.

– Jon’s post called “At least faith” is a must-read. I think I even said “MMM-HMMM” out loud while I was reading.

Have a great Thursday, y’all!

Filed Under: Daily Awesome

They’re The Best

5 October 2010 by

Warning: this post is obnoxiously long. If you’re going to read it, I’d suggest grabbing a water and perhaps a light snack before you get started. Feel free to take breaks as needed, and by all means, pace yourself.

A few months ago my friend Merritt suggested that I might benefit from a 40th birthday do-over.

Please don’t misunderstand: there was nothing wrong with my 40th birthday. My little family made the day super-special for me, and I enjoyed every bit of it. But way deep down – and I’m not telling you anything that my husband and I haven’t discussed a thousand times – that particular birthday really made me miss my high school and college friends. I missed them like crazy, in fact. And when missing-the-friends on the birthday got compounded with missing-the-extended-family on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s (sometimes life doesn’t cooperate with my holiday plans), I pretty much hobbled into 2010 carrying a big ole bag of lonely.

If not for the Lord, The Proposal and seasons 1-3 of Friday Night Lights, there’s not a bit of telling what would’ve become of me.

So when Merritt suggested the do-over, I remembered the early 2010 sadness and immediately agreed. I thought it was a FINE idea, and if nothing else it would be a great excuse to get together with some of my closest friends. After a few rounds of emails, we decided that we’d all meet at Merritt’s house in Houston the weekend of my 41st birthday. I couldn’t wait.

Now I am well-aware that there are times in life when anticipation can overtake all reasonable expectation, but let me tell you: there is no way I could have ever anticipated how much this past weekend was going to mean to me. OH MY WORD YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I mean, being able to hang out with eight people I love with all my heart? And laughing until I hurt? And feeling safe to share the silly stuff and the deep stuff and everything in between? I don’t even know how to describe it, but “grateful” would probably be a pretty good starting point.

It was the best. THE BEST.

I flew to Houston late Thursday afternoon and met my friend Daphne, who was on a different flight, at baggage claim. The thing about Daph is that it usually takes us four seconds to start laughing about something, so we laughed as we waited for Daph’s luggage, and we laughed when Merritt’s hubby (true story: I set up Merritt and S. in college, and they’ve now been married for approximately seventy-four years) picked us up from the airport, and then we laughed all the way to Merritt’s house.

This pattern didn’t vary very much over the course of the weekend.

My sweet friend Melissa – who I’ve known since we took ballet together when we were six – was waiting at Merritt’s, and the thing about Melissa is that she is sunshine. It made me teary-eyed to see her and Merritt, and as soon as Daph and I put away our suitcases, the four of us headed to supper. We went to Ruggles Green and had what was probably our most healthy meal of the whole weekend (believe me – once we introduced Mexican food into the equation, the healthy factor went downhill and fast). We had to SCREAM to hear each other because the restaurant was packed and the ceiling was about 20 feet high (and, if the acoustics were any indication, MADE OF TIN), but we still managed to laugh ourselves silly. It was a great kick-off to the weekend.

Friday the rest of the crew rolled into town (we missed you, Liz!): Melanie and her new bangs, Emma Kate, Elise, Tracey and Wendi. The last three were getting to Houston a little later than the rest, so EK, Melanie, Daph and I went to lunch while Merritt tended to some stuff at home. As some of y’all know, Melanie and I have a horrendous track record of finding the absolute worst Mexican food imaginable (huevos rancheros in Atlanta, salsa made of fire in Charlotte, lettuce-y nachos in Perdido – I could go on and on), but after our trip to Escalante in Houston, I can say with great certainty that THE STREAK HAS BEEN BROKEN.

I mean, it’s always a good sign when you order guacamole and this happens:

We also shared some nachos, and the steak was divine. DIVINE. I think the marinade must have been made in heaven and then exported to Houston. So good.

And the company wasn’t bad, either.


Melanie and her bangs, EK, Daph

I thought over and over about how brave Melanie was to show up for a weekend with a bunch of girls who have known each other since they wore bows in their hair and Battenburg lace collars on their dresses. But let me tell you: she did not miss a beat. She was instantly adored by all, and it made my heart so happy for her to be there. It was also very convenient, because if she hadn’t been there we would’ve had to talk on the phone for at least two hours every night to catch up on everything that happened. It was a lot easier to just lean over and talk to her at the table or in the den or wherever.

Late Friday afternoon Elise, Tracey and Wendi got to Merritt’s, and I was so happy to see them because 1) I love them and 2) they CRACK ME UP. Friday night we went to Brio, and here was my view from the end of the table. As Martha would say, they are all just perfectly beautiful. PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL!


Tracey, Daph, Wendi, Merritt, Melissa, Elise, Mel and her bangs, EK

I should probably take this opportunity to apologize to the patrons of Brio, because y’all, we were loud. LOUD. REALLY LOUD. It wasn’t deliberate – it was just the natural outcome of a table full of girls who haven’t seen each other in awhile. Oh, it was big fun.

We didn’t stay up too late Friday night, and I’m glad because Saturday may have been the most perfect day of my life. Mel, Merritt, Melissa and I got pedicures that morning, and then we all headed over to a place called Beck’s Prime Sportatorium to watch the Mississippi State game. Melanie told me that the burgers there were delicious, and SWEET MERCY she wasn’t kidding. It was such a great place to watch a football game. The MSU alumni chapter was actually having a little gathering there, and about ten minutes after we sat down, the guy who was Student Association president our senior year at State walked in. I don’t think he was expecting to be bombarded by a bunch of people he hadn’t seen in a sweet forever (in my defense, we are Facebook friends, so I felt perfectly comfortable SCREAMING HIS NAME ACROSS THE RESTAURANT), and we even got him to join all the State girls for a picture.


Elise, Wendi, Kelvin our former SA president, me, EK, Tracey, Daph (where’s Merritt?)

And the star of the afternoon was this guy:


MSU coach Dan Mullen – we don’t know him, but we love him to pieces anyway

After lunch we did some fun shopping at DSW (the booties were all the rage there, and we tried on LOTS of them), Nordstrom Rack and Marshall’s. We’re a diverse shopping bunch because some of us enjoy it and some of us have a low shopping tolerance, but we shared a unified shopping vision on Saturday afternoon. My lone purchase was a $12 pair of flip-flops, but I had a ball just looking at stuff. I wanted a cute pair of wedges for fall, and Melanie found them in Marshall’s – but they didn’t have my size. A strawberry Crave cupcake cured my disappointment.

And for the record, Crave cupcakes are also made in heaven. Right next to Escalante’s steak marinade.

We saved Lupe Tortilla for our Saturday night supper, and it was hands-down one of my favorite nights ever. It was perfect, really. We had to wait a good while for a table, but we kept ourselves occupied by talking non-stop. We even sang a little bit. And when we finally sat down for supper at an outside table on a perfect early fall night, we had an incredible meal. We sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (I have no idea why). Merritt and Daph serenaded us with some classic Dixie Chicks (I have no idea why). We re-lived some of our favorite memories. We laughed until we wheezed.

And I treasured every. single. second.

There were several times this past weekend when I looked around at all those sweet faces and marveled at how God not only brought all of us together – He has kept all of us together. It’s a wonder, really. And for a hundred different reasons, I’ll never forget this past weekend. Just thinking about it makes my heart smile.

The food was wonderful. The weather was great. The shopping was fun.

But the people? The sweet friends?

It probably goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: they were the very best part of all.

Filed Under: My Friends Rock, Rambling

Kellogg’s Love Your Cereal – Post 9

5 October 2010 by

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kellogg’s.

I try to be organized. I really do.

But sometimes life conspires against me. And sometimes I don’t do so well with the whole “being organized” thing. And sometimes – especially in the mornings – I tend to run around our house like a chicken with its head cut off while I put our seven year-old’s snack in my purse and my wallet in his bookbag and the shoes, OH MY WORD THE SHOES, I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE SHOES ARE.

Needless to say, our home is a calm oasis of tranquility on weekday mornings between 6:00 and 6:55.

Just this morning, for example, I had the best intentions. I’d made my way through about a third of my early-morning routine by 6:15, and when I woke up my sleeping child, I felt pretty good about the direction of the morning. I didn’t feel hurried. I didn’t feel crazed. THERE WERE EVEN CLEAN CLOTHES.

But while I was fixing my hair and putting on make-up, the seven year-old decided to set a record for the world’s longest steaming hot shower. I didn’t realize this, of course, until I walked out of my bathroom and realized that he was still singing and showering up a storm in his. Long story endless, he sat down to breakfast 10 minutes later than usual, and any hope of a hot breakfast was shot.

Thankfully I always keep a few things in the pantry that will work for breakfast when we’re in a hurry. Cereal. Toaster pastries. Granola bars. Peanut butter. Granted, I really prefer to serve a hot breakfast on a school morning, but I also recognize that when we’re in a hurry, those go-to items? ARE MY FRIEND.

They ensure that my little man actually eats breakfast (as opposed to sitting at the table and listening to me wonder aloud if we have time to run through a drive-thru), and because they’re not everyday items in our morning routine, he always smiles when he gets a “special treat” for breakfast. A bowl of cereal with a scoop of peanut butter on the side is one of his favorites, and on mornings like today, I’m more grateful than I can tell you for a simple breakfast option.

So what about you? What kinds of foods do you keep on hand just in case you’re pressed for time in the mornings? Leave a comment with your answer, and you’ll be entered to win a $100 Visa gift card (and come back next week to enter again – because these giveaways will continue for the next 3 weeks).

And be sure to visit the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page – you have 24 other chances to win $100 every single week that this program is running!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

This giveaway is now closed.

Filed Under: BlogHer Reviews

Giveaway Round-Up

4 October 2010 by

– Kellogg’s Love Your Cereal Giveaway #8 (for a $100 Visa gift card) ends in just a few hours. Giveaway #9 will start sometime tomorrow.

– I just posted a new Ragu giveaway ($100 gift card prize) – and I included a recipe, too.

– The Laughing Cow $150 Visa gift card giveaway is up and running for one more week.

– I’ll be notifying the winners of the Initials, inc. giveaway and the Juicy Juice giveaway sometime in the next couple of days.

– I believe that’s all.

– Except that I made veggie tacos for supper tonight, and they were delicious.

– Not that you asked, of course.

– But I live to share. I share to live. I type words without having any idea what they mean.

– You’re welcome for that.

– Sweet dreams, y’all.

Filed Under: Giveaways

Ragu Giveaway

4 October 2010 by

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Ragú.

When I was but a blushing young newlywed, I made my own spaghetti sauce. Now I certainly don’t mean that I grew my own tomatoes and herbs and spent endless hours planting and tending and harvesting my garden so that I could serve my husband the freshest possible tomato sauce, because the fact of the matter is that I’ve never really grown anything successfully. Except for maybe weeds. But those don’t really count, now do they?

I loved going to the grocery store, picking out all my favorite ingredients, then combining tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil and oregano in a big ole pot and letting the heat work its magic. My next door neighbor, Ann, taught me to grate a little carrot in my sauce to add a little sweetness. And don’t tell anybody, but I added a little sugar, too. The sauce could be time-consuming, but it was good. And I figured I’d make my own sauce forever.

After I became a mama, however, I started looking for shortcuts in the kitchen. Making my own spaghetti sauce wasn’t really high on the list anymore, and I’ll never forget the first time I made a spinach and spaghetti casserole with the sauce from a jar. IT WAS A REVELATION. It was simple and delicious and fast, and if you’ve ever tried to cook a meal while keeping one eye on a toddler, you know that fast cooking can be your friend. I was hooked.

A few weeks ago some folks from Ragu asked if they could send me some samples of their new spaghetti sauce. Since we eat spaghetti sauce in one dish or another at least once a week, I happily agreed. Truth be told, I’ve only bought Ragu a handful of times – we have typically preferred Another Brand – but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try, especially when I saw that the new recipe has two servings of vegetables in every half cup. If you’re someone who tries to make sure your little ones eat nutritious meals, you know that those two veggie servings per half cup are SOLID GOLD.

A couple of nights ago I decided to make lasagna with the Ragu sauce. I actually opened a jar of the old recipe and a jar of the new recipe so that I could compare the taste – and do you know what? I really could tell a difference. Since there are twice as many vegetables in the new recipe, the sauce is thicker, and the flavor is great. GREAT.

After the taste test, I assembled all the ingredients on the kitchen counter so that I could take their picture. And also so that I could remember how I made the dish because I wasn’t following a recipe. I’m all cuckoo and devil-may-care that way.

Don’t they look cute?

I browned my ground beef, cooked my noodles (our grocery store was out of the whole wheat lasagna noodles, so I improvised with whole wheat rigatoni) and mixed together the ricotta and cottage cheeses. Then I started layering. And here’s how it looked before I cooked it.

But do you know what’s even better? How it looked right before we ate it.

It was DELICIOUS – a huge hit with the whole family. Our seven year-old practically licked his plate, and it made me feel good that the sauce was chock-full of vegetables. I mixed cottage cheese in with the ricotta and he had no idea (he would not touch cottage cheese under normal circumstances), and I loved that our one dish hit four of the five food groups: dairy, veggies, protein and whole grains. OH, HAPPY DAY.

Here’s the recipe:

Riga-sagna

2 lbs. ground chuck, browned and drained (seasoned to taste)
1 jar Ragu
1 lb. whole wheat rigatoni, cooked
16 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese
16 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup mozzarella cheese, freshly grated

Preheat oven to 375. Combine cooked ground beef with Ragu sauce and let simmer on stove while cooking and assembling other ingredients.

Boil and drain pasta. Set aside.

Combine ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, basil, oregano and eggs – then set aside.

In a 9×13 baking dish, lightly coat the bottom of the dish with sauce. Put a layer of noodles on top, then ricotta mixture, then sauce, then noodles, then ricotta mixture, then sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella over top, then bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

You may have a few noodles left over if you cook the whole box – just FYI.

If you’d like to enter to win a $100 Visa gift card courtesy of BlogHer, leave a comment that answers the following question: what’s your favorite way to use spaghetti sauce when you cook for your family? Old fashioned spaghetti and meatballs? Chicken parmesan? Lasagna? A great family recipe?

For a second entry, you can:
· Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)
· Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)
· Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.

There are ten other chances to win a $100 gift card, so be sure to check out the BlogHer.com special offers page. And by all means feel free to check out the official rules.

By the way, if you’d like to be one of the first to sample the new Ragu recipe, check out the Ragu Facebook page. They’re giving away some tremendous goodie baskets filled with Ragu sauce, pasta, a colander, a box grater, cookware and all sorts of kitchen gadgets via the Ragu Facebook Sweepstakes.

Happy Ragu-ing, y’all!

This giveaway is now closed.

Filed Under: BlogHer Reviews
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