Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Easter!

And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. Mark 16:6

Anything special planned for today?

I was told that he will take care of everything today, so I plan to just sit back and enjoy! Are you doing anything special?

'Twas the day after Christmas...

and all through the house
No sewing had been done (for days), not even a blouse!

With all of the cake I have nibbled,
And eggnog lattes,
I may be changing my measurements
If they've gone to my waist!

ROFL! How was your Christmas? Ours was fabulous. Saturday and Sunday, I ran around doing the last minute shopping. On Monday, I baked the Southern Comfort Cake (again)... this is turning out to be a family favorite. I also baked a fabulous Red Velvet Cake. I made Gumbo for Christmas Eve and with the help of my loving husband, we started the prep work for our Christmas meal. Later that night, we utilized the wonderful cutting table and finished wrapping presents.

By the time I got up Christmas morning, the kids were already up and it looked as if FAO Schwartz had exploded in the living room! We all got plenty of loot and we're very happy! Oh, my menu:

Standing Rib Roast
Potatoes Gratin
Green Beans with Shallots
Gumbo
Red Velvet Cake
Southern Comfort Cake

We caught the 3:50 matinee for "The Great Debaters". This movie now holds the title for THE BEST MOVIE I've seen this year!

How was your holiday?

How was your Turkey Day?

Mine was excellent... fantastic family time. I started prep work on Tuesday evening... all of the chopping and dicing. Started cooking on Wednesday and finished up by midday Thursday. Michael left work early on Wednesday and worked a couple of hours on Thursday... the retail life. He made all of the many trips back and forth to the store and picked the wine... a Coppola Chardonnay, a Yellow Tail Riesling and a Clos Du Bois Pinot Noir (he has excellent taste). It's amazing that no matter how you organize and strategize, make the lists and check them twice, you always manage to forget things. The kids helped out A LOT! They were fantastic. My son kept the kitchen clean... the poor baby did nothing but washed the dishes and swept the floor. The girls mixed and stirred. I must give special recognition to Mikaela... she made the Southern Comfort Cake. We all ate quite well and slipped into Tryptophan-induced comas!

So... anybody shopping today? I plan to make my trip to Hancock for notions at 8 a.m and THAT'S IT! The one in my area is located directly across the street from the Riverchase Galleria -- the largest mall in Alabama. Hopefully, by 7:45 a.m. traffic will not be *too* bad. I plan to come back home and spend the rest of the weekend finish up the couture jacket. Honestly, I'm tired of looking at it half-finished on the dressform and I'm ready to start a new project. So, what are your plans for the rest of this holiday weekend?

Happy Thanksgiving!

No sewing today! I'm up to my elbow (literally, LOL) in turkey!

The Menu

Roasted Turkey

Southern Cornbread Dressing

Bourbon Glazed Spiral Cut Ham

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Green Bean Casserole

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Dessert:

The Southern Comfort Cake (from CreoleinDC)

Homemade Brownies

Happy Halloween Y'all!

More Videos

FO's coming soon...

Happy Independence Day!

"Thunder on the Mountain", Birmingham, AL

Happy Father's Day...

to my guy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Easter!

And Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." - Luke 23:43

How was your Valentine's Day?

Mine was pretty nice. This is Valentine's Day #16 for us and he's still just as thoughtful as ever. this is what he

gave me:

this is what was in it

We went to seewhich was by far the best Tyler Perry movie as of yet!

Just a couple of the many reasons that

Movie Review: Dreamgirls

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Christmas. To top off our great day, the family and I went to see Dreamgirls. This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time, not to mention the fact that the cast provides a stellar performance. Contrary to belief, this movie is not the Beyonce' Knowles (Deena Jones) show that many people felt it would be. In my opinion, Jennifer Hudson (Effie White) stills the show. Her performance as Effie was so passionate that it is difficult to even comprehend that she is a novice to the silver screen... she is an absolute natural. Even though Beyonce's acting abilities have been questionable in the past, her acting lessons paid off and she can now consider herself an "actress". Jamie Foxx (Curtis Taylor, Jr.) is like I've never seen him before: a slick-talking, used-car salesman willing to do anything and step on anyone to make his mark in the music industy. Eddie Murphy (James "Thunder" Early) is fantastic and does his thing in delivering comedic relief... he has the funniest scene in the movie. Anika Noni Rose (Lorrell Robinson), who won "Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical" at the 58th Annual Tony Awards for "Caroline, or Change", has been an underrated star. Her character is kind of the cute, bubble-head member of the group that eventually finds strength and character. The movie also starred Danny Glover (Marty Madison), Sharon Leal (Michelle Morris) and Keith Robinson III (C.C. White). There were also small parts and cameos by John Lithgow (Jerry Harris), Loretta Divine (a jazz singer), who played Lorrell in the original and Dawnn Lewis (Melba Early), who suprisingly didn't have a speaking part, unless it ended up on the editing room floor. I highly recommend this movie to anyone wanting to see mindblowing performances!

Tied one on for Thanksgiving!

for the Domestic Goddess in us all!

Project Details

Pattern: Butterick 4945
Fabric: 100%cotton

Description: Patterns and instructions for five aprons in sizes small, medium and large. Apron B has contrast flaps. Apron C has contrast pockets and bands.

Since there is no way around the daily household drudgery, why not look cute while doing it? Who would have thought that aprons could be such a chic little accessory? I think I want to make more! I've never quilted and believe it or not, I stared at all of the beautiful cottons in Hancock's for what felt like an eternity trying to find a fabric I like and one for contrast.

I used Apron D in the large size. I chose this view because of the adorable 50's-styling. I omitted the bow and added the facing from Apron C. When I pinned the facing to the top front of the apron, I didn't like the size. I cut 2" off of the bottom. I also added a pocket from Apron C. For the flounce, I used the contrast fabric. BTW, here's the back.

More Looks...For the "sewing disabled", here are glamour-girl aprons from Kitsch'n Glam. Their prices range from $39.60 - $61.60.

~ Gratitude ~

• I'm grateful for the health and well-being of my family and I.
• I'm grateful that I was able to wake up this morning with inclination and ability to walk into the kitchen to "put my foot" in our Thanksgiving meal!
• I'm grateful for being able to afford ALL of the food and everything else I bought this week!
• I'm grateful for Michael Richards reassuring me that racist assholes are not only still alive and kicking, but thriving.
• I'm grateful that Clay Aiken chose Kelly Ripa's mouth to be on the receiving end of his hand because Erica B. would have slapped him off the stage for that one!
• I'm grateful for Rosie O'Donnell to remind us all that when we say something that a gay person does not like, it's due to HOMOPHOBIA!
• I'm grateful that I'm here to experience all of the good stuff and the garbage.
• I'm grateful that even though my husband has to work on Thanksgiving, he has a job to go to.
• I'm grateful that I have you guys to read what ever I put on this blog!
  

So, how was your 4th?

Mine was fun, you know, lots of family time. We did the BBQ thing, DH did babybacks early in the a.m. to avoid the rain (and the heat) that we were sure to get. Next we were off to movie #1 - The Devil Wears Prada. This was an excellent movie! I think my favorite line from the movie was:

Andy: Wow, you look so... skinny.
Emily: Really, oh thank you! I'm on
this new diet. I don't eat anything! When I feel like I'm going to
faint, I eat a cube of cheese. I'm only one stomach flu away from my goal
weight!

After that, came back home to eat, again! Then off to the "Thunder on the Mountain" fireworks celebration. Next, movie #2 - Superman Returns. Another great movie. It ends with a cliffhanger -- I won't give it away.

As you can see, my day was pretty full, no knitting or sewing.

The summer Knitty is up. I'm rather disappointed with it. This issue is accessory driven, not a single cute cardi or sexy tank in sight! However, I have to admit that I do like, O.K. love Fetching. I never got around to making a pair of fingerless gloves last Winter, since I started my adventure in knitting in January and I was totally focusing on Spring. Also there are theses cute skully type hats that DH loves to cover up the bald head with when it's cold out.

Happy Father's Day

I hope everyone and their significant others had a great day. The DH slept in until 11 a.m. which is quite unusual for him. We presented him with the annual pair of slacks and a golf shirt and took him to dinner at Stix, I didn't even take knitting... you know it had to be a holiday!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone especially mom's are having a great day. I know I am. I woke up to this surprise waiting for me on my dining room table! Yeah, another hobby! I had been screaming hinting that I might have a major slight interest in sewing again. I've been reading a lot of blogs of knitters that also like to sew. I haven't sewn in years but I've dug out all of the sewing books and plan to make a trip to the fabric store this afternoon. If I find something easy and cool, you know I'll show you!

Back to knitting

This is the progress I've made so far on my Picovoli/Tivoli.

I'm right at the point of beginning the decreases.

To prevent rolling, I decided to add a row of single crochet.

Happy Easter!

And Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." - Luke 23:43