“Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.” -WTP

1. I forgot about Westie Wednesday this week.  Please don't tell Louis.  I'll just hope he doesn't bring it up.

2. I am so swamped at work.  In a good way.  I just can't even look at the computer to blog, or read blogs, when i get home.  I'm sorry :(

3. The City Boy has tagged me this week.  I haven't forgotten :)  I like to give these things some thought.  And to not rush.  So it's coming.  Soon!

4. TEN and I made paella last night.  It was a successs.  Like really, really a success.  Thanks to Daisy who let us borrow her paella pan.

5. WIMP and Mr. WIMP have organized a little dinner party for Saturday night.  I am so looking forward to it :)

6. Tonight is MY night.  As in T TIME!!  Blackberry powered off.  Front door locked.  Book on my lap.  I am soo very excited.  Is that pitiful?

7. I ordered this hat for The Real Baby of Delaware.  The green one.  Only I've ordered it in hot pink.  I know I said she was just getting that rattle, but I couldn't help myself.  I feel like she needs 101 hats.  100 just wasn't enough :-o

(http://www.etsy.com/shop/bekimaknits?section_id=6750835)

I love Winnie the Pooh.  I wish we were friends.  Everything is so simple for WTP.  Don't you agree?  Not that things are bad here.  Just busy.  And overwhelming.  I guess we should be careful what we wish for :)

“You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count.” 

-Winnie the Pooh

T

Hera, Athena & Aphrodite Are in The House

Last night "the girls" got together for our weekly cooking class.  This group started with two of us (me and Marilyn Monroe) wanting to learn how to cook.  Daisy was already pretty proficient, but she was open to learning new things too.

Our little class has evolved into not only a cooking class (themed with decorations and wine pairings), but now themed outfits have joined the show.  And trust me...a show it is!

Mediterranean Chicken was on the menu last night.  Specifically, Greece was what we were after.  Daisy instructed us to wear "togas".  TEN pointed out that togas were Roman, and I gave him the stink eye.  Because really, who cares.

Marilyn Monroe didn't have a toga, so she wore her Cleopatra outfit.  Yes, Cleopatra.  As in Egypt.  As in Africa. 

I didn't have any type of outfit, so I wore a lavender sheet.  As a toga.  Marilyn felt I was "under dressed", so she gave me her grandmother's nightgown to wear over it.  And a metal belt to tie around my head.  And two bracelets. 

At one point I looked in the mirror at myself and was transported back to the dress up days in the mother's closet.  When I was 5.  I'm not kidding!  Here, let me show you what I'm talking about:

(that's Marilyn Monroe in the middle.  she's wearing a black wig.)

(yes, Daisy is wearing a cape.  it was purple.  this was to signify her as royalty.  i thought it was to signify her superhero status? bwahahaha..)

Have you ever seen such nonsense?  What is that written on our wine glasses you want to know?  Here...let me show you....

(Panhellenic means of or about uniting Greek peoples, technically.  We weren't quite sure how to do that, so we threw out our favorite sorority letters hoping that qualified)

  

(Martini's dad is skiing, so she is staying with Daisy for the week.  she wanted to be in a sorority as well.  we told her that she could be a KKG.  she was pleased)

(Louis announced that he was a Sigma Chi.  he's a legacy.  that's just how it is.  Martini looks a bit shocked! i take it she's not a Sigma Chi fan?)

(provolone cheese chunks...)

(baked in the oven...)

(with a wee dram of brandy on the top to catch it on fire!  the fire didn't photograph very well.)

(mmmmmm....absolutely delish!)

(Daisy having a snack while she tells us about the main course we will be making!)

(Martini feels that the pups should have a taste too!)

(Daisy gathers the pups in the kitchen for a "pup safe" taste test)

Dinner was again...DELISH!  I am thinking of "borrowing" Daisy's new Gumbo Cookbook, and trying out a recipe to teach at the next class I host.  We haven't done anything like Gumbo before.  Wouldn't that be fun?  As we were discussing what we would be doing for our next class, we received notification that WIMP and her husband were at a local dive bar.  Just down the way from where we were.  And we felt compelled to go.  In our toga-ish attire. 

Yes.  I'm serious.

(i had a wardrobe malfunction on the way down the street)

(and here we are!)

The funniest part of it all is that we walked into the bar dressed this way.  And everyone looked at us.  And they asked why were dressed that way.  And we replied:

"Oh, we had cooking class", and smiled.

AND EVERY SINGLE PERSON ACTED AS IF THAT EXPLAINED IT. 

I kid you not.

So, the next time someone asks me about the most bizarre thing I've done lately....I'm pretty sure I'll know exactly what to tell them :)

T

I Don't Know About Babies...But I DO Know About Cocktails

It took me a while to get the pictures together from The Real Housewife of Delaware's Baby Shower.  I didn't take any pictures.  I was too busy "doing".

I am also going to have to change TRHoD's name.  She and Mr. Delaware are moving.  To Charleston.  Let's all slit our eyes and snark at them.  I'm so jealous!

But, before I knew she was moving to Charleston (and became insanely jealous) I put on this baby shower of sorts for her.  And I've told you all about it, but now I'm going to show you.  Because I've got a few pictures.  And I know you want to see them.  Right?

Humor me.

(the diaper cake i made.  not to be confused with the other diaper cake.  don't get me started.)

(onesie & baby bottle cookies)

(bib and bottle mints...i think?)

(pregnant belly cake...not gonna lie...this made me a little sick to my stomach.  imagine when people CUT INTO THE BELLY TO EAT A SLICE!!!  blech.)

(baby in a blanket cupcakes)

(more baby in a blanket cupcakes)

(chicken salad croissants...lovely if i do say so myself :)

(cucumber and fresh dill sandwiches)

(fancy ham biscuits fresh out of the oven.  best. things. ever.)

(me with the "poopy diaper game"....vom)

I thought I would share some of the extravagance with you.  I can't say I've seen anything quite like this before.  This is just a smidge of a sampling.  For reals....

(one of 2 diaper bags)

This is going to be the best dressed baby I know.  By far.  She already has an outfit for every day of her life, through the age of 18.  A hat too.  Seriously.  I gave TRHoD 60 Thank You Notes that matched the invitations.  A silly little book.  And the shower.

When The Real Baby of Delaware is born I will give her what I give all of the new babies in my "inner circle":

And I'm going to drive down to Charleston for a week.  To help take care of this baby.  Which is a joke, because I don't know sh*t from shynola (as Babbo Natale would say) about babies.  But I'll drink a lot, and have TRHoD smiling and laughing and feeling like she's had a vacation.  And there is no gift better than that. 

Right?

Tell me I'm right :)

T

I CANNOT BELIEVE WHO WON MY GIVEAWAY...CAN YOU?!?!?!

I have a confession.  I forgot to figure out who won my giveaway last night :(  I remembered this morning when I came to work.  So I checked to make sure no one had entered after 5pm EST last night.  They hadn't.  I put everything into a spreadsheet.  I opened up the True Random Number Generator.  I entered the numbers.  I hit generate:

Yay for number 31.  Whoever that is.  I toggled back to my spreadsheet.  I scrolled down to number 31.  EGADS....could it be? 

For those of you that don't know, mrs.mfc sits in the office beside mine.  We have never won each other's giveaways.  It just doesn't happen that way. 

When I saw her name next to number 31 I screeched.  And then I thought "SHE can't win my giveaway.  SHE sits right beside me.  that is soooooo SUSPECT!"  But you know what...she did.  And that's awesome.

And for those of you that didn't win, don't fret.  There is another chance to win a $45 gift card on mrs.mfc's blog right HERE.  How's THAT for coincidence?  Now, if I win HER giveaway that will be really creepy :)

And in closing....don't wander off too far, you hear?  Because T may or may not have done a little shopping at the Kate Spade Sample Sale last week.  And she may have bought something to give away.  I'm just sayin.....

T

ANOTHER CSN Stores Giveaway?!?!?

Yep.

And this one is for a $45 Gift Card.

Hurry over to mrs.mfc to enter NOW!

Good Luck,

T

My Weekend Was....

Friday night I got home after work, only to find out that one of my neighbors had passed away that morning :(  This woman was nothing short of amazing.  She was the type of person who dropped by with some "left overs" when she knew that you and your boyfriend had broken up.  And you probably weren't eating.

She always called to say she had the most recent trash pick up schedule if I wanted a copy.  And she taught me how to spray my bushes for bugs, so I didn't have to keep paying True Green gobs of money.  And gave me all of her husband's left over wood from his woodworking to use as kindling for my fires.  Because she knew I loved to have fires. 

I was devastated when I heard the news.  So were the other neighbors.  We spent all of Saturday cooking.  Lasagna, cavatini, manicotti.  Her family is Italian.  We wanted to be sure they had plenty to eat when all of the out of town family arrived.

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Saturday night was just what I needed to put a smile on my face :)  Dinner with slively & his wife.  And I FINALLY got to meet their new baby boy, Clifford the Big Red Dog.  He is absolutely precious.  I rocked him in my arms for a long time, and quite honestly...I didn't want to let him go.  He is so handsome.  And happy.  And I think I need one.  Well, maybe not right this sec...but you know....

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Sunday I took Louis Wellington to the Dog Park!  We were supposed to meet BFF & her Labradoodle, Buddy, at the park on Saturday...but with all of my neighbors over to cook and such there wasn't enough time. 

I didn't end up taking any pictures because I STILL HAVE THE 8-TRACK FLASHBACK FLIP PHONE THAT VERIZON WIRELESS GAVE ME WHEN MY BLACKBERRY BLEW UP ON FRIDAY AND I AM NOT PLEASED, CAN YOU TELL?!??!?!?! 

But, I will tell you that Louis had a lovely time.  And he is now a very dirty pup. Again. 

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Sunday was also TEN's birthday.  I had all of these plans that included cooking dinner (paella...yummm!!) and other such things.  He said he wanted a "low key" evening.  I planned for low key. 

He came over and opened his gifts.  He then declared that he wanted to eat mexican and drink margaritas. 

Ummm....what?? 

So that's what we did.  We laughed bunches.  We drank too many margaritas.  We watched a movie, and both fell asleep before the end of the movie was over.

We are getting old.

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Monday we were both off for President's Day.  Shopping was on our agenda, and we started by picking out some new Zumba shoes for me. 

I love them, and I can't wait to wear them next week!

Next up, the TJ MAXX Le Creuset section.  My favorite!!!  I ended up with:

8" square baking dish

(i am slowly replacing my clear Pyrex=BORING baking dishes with Le Creuset.  finding great deals at TJ Maxx is making it so much easier!)

12" rectangular baking dish

(this is the IDEA of what i bought.  the blue was more royal.  the inside is apple green.  and it is HUGE!!  most importantly, it was $9.99.  i haven't a clue what to do with it.  but i love it.)

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We decided to try Cheddar's Casual Cafe for lunch.  It is somewhat new in Smalltown, VA, and neither of us had been.
 

 
Let me just say...if you go to Cheddar's...bring you appetite. 
 
TEN ordered the Buffalo Chicken Wrap.  When the server brought it out TEN exclaimed "my gosh!  i only ordered one!"
 

(what they brought TEN was actually BIGGER than this.  seriously.  i wish i had my bb and i could have taken a picture!)

I ordered the Chicken Fajita Quesadilla. 

(what they brought me was actually BIGGER than this.)

We also split an appetizer.  TEN got a salad.  And we had a few beers.

Our bill was UNDER $30.  Next time I think we will split the Buffalo Chicken Wrap with 3 others and call it a day.  The food was delicious, and super reasonable.  I would definitely recommend Cheddar's Casual Cafe if you are looking for an inexpensive lunch from a chain restaurant. 

 

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Next we were off to Old Navy.  TEN doesn't wear a lot of jeans.  But, those that he does have were getting a bit frayed and ratty.  He decided Old Navy should have some jeans for him.  He had success, and so did I!

(we decided I couldn't pass this up :)

(i thought this would probably be more acceptable than the OTHER SHIRT I wanted to purchase)

(oxford shirt dress for $15.  it had work written all over it, and it came home with me!)

(as did this one)

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Last night I had got together with the girls for a few drinks, and then TEN and I watched Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.  I liked the movie.  I never saw the original Wall Street, I know...shoot me, so I didn't have anything to compare it to.  I think that perhaps I should order that on Netflix to see :) 

Today it is dreary and cold in Smalltown, VA.  I'm trying to keep a smile on my face though, because we were truly blessed with a BEAUTIFUL LONG WEEKEND!  And...hopefully I will have my new blackberry (and will actually work) by this afternoon.

Life is good,

T

P.S.  My $40 CSN Stores Giveaway ends TONIGHT at 5pm EST.