Housekeeping

(Casa Seersucker "decked out" for Halloween)

(Louis reminded me to turn on the lights on the ghost.  I forgot, of course!)

(I attended another wedding.  It was lovely.)

(you know how I feel about the bouquet toss...)

(here I am being "full of myself".  imagine that.)

(I love when Kroger has those $1.00 per bunch flowers)

(I made this little arrangement for $4.00!)

(I hosted BUNCO last night.  I made a taco ring for the occasion)

(and cheesy chorizo bean dip)

(and a Tuscan Cheese Ball)

I have better pictures of all of the tasty treats, as well as the evening...but I actually took them on my "real" camera.  Not on my blackberry.  And I forgot to bring it with me today.  Hopefully I'll remember to bring it to share them tomorrow :)

Until then,

T

Westie Wednesday - Halloween Safety Tips for Pets!

Louis will be entering the Halloween Costume Contest at day care tomorrow.  In case you don't remember, he will be a bumble bee.  Have a peek:

I found the following article, and Louis and I have reviewed it.  Word for word.  I asked him not to eat any part of his costume, for his safety.  He agreed.  He asked me to remove the skirt, for his pride.  I said no.  He pouted.  I believe we are in agreement as of last night.  Anyway, here are some tips if you plan to dress your pup and lead him/her around town this Halloween!

Halloween is a great time to dress your furry friend in adorable costumes and parade them around in all of their outfitted glory. But, we must remember that while they may be Count Dogula, our best friend is not always thinking of safety. There are several Halloween safety tips that will ensure a fun Halloween for you and your stylish pet.



1. Ingestion. Your dachshund may be sporting a hotdog outfit, but that still means that their costume is for wearing only! Let them become accustomed to their costume slowly. You don't want them to spook you by swallowing something they shouldn't!


2. Observe. Make sure your pet is comfortable. Also, with constant opening and closing of doors for Trick-or-Treaters, make sure your pet doesn't sneak out through the door or go after the candy! A helpful hint is to add reflective tape to their costume, so if they run outside, they can easily be spotted. Remember, the best accessory is a pet identification tag!


3. Fitting. Make sure the costume isn't too tight. Remember, pets are sensitive to ear infections, so avoid costumes that require direct ear contact, no matter how cute!


4. Vision. Make sure the costume doesn't obstruct your pet's ability to see. We don't want Frankenpup to run into anything!


5. Make-up and paints. Putting make-up or paints on your pet isn't smart. They could eat it or it could irritate their skin. Even make-up that is non-toxic could cause stomachaches or worse. All dogs are natural beauties anyway!


6. Candy. There obviously will be candy on Halloween. Remember, chocolates can be toxic and pets can choke on lollipops. This doesn't mean your pet has to miss out on Trick-or-Treating; give your pooch their own Halloween candy by treating them to their favorite doggy treat such as Simple Essentials dog treats by Hills Science Diet which are both healthy and are guaranteed to make your pooches mouth water!


7. Safety. With all the carved pumpkins and the burning flames inside them, it is important to make sure your pet and their costume stay safe from the flames. Instead of lighting a candle inside your pumpkin opt for a Scentsy candle! These are so great, they have light bulbs that burn a wax filled center, so no wick, no flame, but an unbelievable smell! Check out the Jack O'Lantern Scentsy Candle for a safe and spooky Halloween!


8 . Etc. If your pet is uneasy around children or loud noises, you may want to keep them indoors during the festivities. The sounds of screams or haunted houses could disorient your pet, so make sure they have a quiet place to relax and are safe.

See the actual article HERE.

T

Fun Food Tag & Beautiful Blog Award!!

Little Miss Can't Be Wrong from How I Met Your Father has tagged me in a Fun Food Tag!  How appropriate is this, as I'm on my way to become a gourmet chef.  Well, okay, perhaps I'm exaggerating a wee bit :)

Anyway, let's see what the questions are shall we?

1. What is your favorite dessert?  Hmph.  Not a very good question for me to start things off.  I'm boring when it comes to dessert.  Like BORING.  Seriously.  I like apple pie.  Plain.  I like cheesecake.  Plain.  That's about it.  See.....I told you.  Boring.

2. Ever tried to cook something and fail miserably?  Ahhhh...hahahahhaha...hahahahaha....where shall I begin?  Let's talk about pork fried rice, shall we?  Senior year of college I decided that there was absolutely no reason I should continue to pay the Hunan King $8.95 for a little box of pork fried rice.  I found a recipe for it somewhere, and I had a wok.  I was ready!  At least....I thought I was.  Those chinese restaurant peeps have a secret that they are NOT about to share when it comes to their rice.  Fried rice.  What is that anyway?  How does one make that happen?  I ended up with pork, peas, egg, bean sprouts, carrots and white rice that burned :(  EPIC FAIL.  Hunan King is still on my speed dial.....

3. Is there a dish you haven't made yet but really want to?  I would like to make a turkey.  For Thanksgiving or Christmas.  All by myself.  And I would like for it to be tasty :)  I have attempted to do so in the last few years, but somehow someone else always takes over.  I am sent off to make the stuffing.  One day....







4. What is your favorite food?  Filet Mignon.  Made even better if it is Oscar style ;)  Mmmmm...now I'm getting hungry.

5. What is your least favorite food?  Brussel sprouts.  My mother used to attempt to force me to eat them as a child.  She would not let me leave the supper table until I ate them.  On some nights I would sit at the table late into the evening, until my daddy would tell me to go ahead and do my homework.  One time I fed our westie, Piper, a brussel sprout.  He promptly vomited.  I showed my parents.  It was a small victory for a little girl, but she has never...to this day...eaten a brussel sprout.

6. Do you have any seasonal meals you like?  I'm not sure it's really "seasonal", but a pot roast in the crock pot has always signified the change of seasons for me :)  When the cold weather is here to stay, I make a pot roast.  Until that first pot roast is made, I don't truly consider it to be Fall.







7. What is your comfort food?  Chicken Tenders & French Fries.  Mmmmm....

8. Chocolate: milk, dark or white?  I don't really like chocolate.  I know, I know...I'm a weirdo :(

Now that I am terribly hungry (even though I have just scarfed down a quesadilla from a little shop downtown), let's change gears a bit.  The charming Screen Door Prep from A Note on the Screen Door has awarded me the Beautiful Blog Award.  I'm blushing.  Really, I am :)  I am so honored every time someone tags me or gives me an award.  It never gets old, does it?  Well, it doesn't for me.  Thank you, love.  You and Little Miss Can't Be Wrong have made my day.  And I needed that :)

Rules...

*Share seven things about yourself.


*Tag three blogs with the award.

1.  I wish I had studied abroad in high school or college.  I was so worried about missing some stupid party, or some nobody girl "stealing" my boyfriend, or some other completely ridiculous thing that I never did it.  I was far too worried about what I may miss HERE, to realize what I would miss by not going THERE.  I will force my children to study abroad.  They will hate me, I'm sure, but one day they will thank me :)

2.  I am all about wearing the Old Navy cotton dresses with leggings and ballet flats I told you about last week.  Yesterday's outfit was fabulous.  Today I feel like I'm wearing a smock from art class.  Clearly I made an irrational purchase when I bought like 20 of these dresses.  Sometimes I do that.  I get really excited about an idea, and run with it.  I am so excited, and set on it working, that I sometimes fail to stop and realize that it isn't so much working :(

3. I wonder, on a regular basis, if I have ever really been "in love".  Because if I have been, why didn't it work?  I have thought I was "in love" 2 or 3 times.  But, I can't shake the idea that perhaps I was wrong.  Because if I was "in love", how could I have walked away?  Or...was I actually "in love", and I wrecked it?  By not giving it enough of a chance?  Love confuses me.  Bunches.

4.  I have always wanted to be a dancer.  Not like a classy ballerina (been there, done that), but more like a Fly Girl from In Living Color.  Have I told you this before?  I feel as if I have.  But I'll tell you again.  I have always wanted to get up on stage and dance as if I was born to do so.  And to shake my money maker in front of a crowd.  And to not look like a fool.  And that is exactly why I am taking Zumba :)  Because I do exactly that, and I pretend I'm a Fly Girl and it makes me happy.  Shhh...don't tell anyone.

5. I am struggling to hear what God is trying to tell me right now.  I have a terrible time determining the difference between what he actually IS telling me, and what I WANT him to be telling me.  And I acknowledge this.  But, I'm still trying to figure out what he wants for me.  Because I'm not sure that what he and I want at the moment are the same thing.  And heaven knows, he's the one who knows what's best :)

6.  I am truly, madly, deeply in love with my puppy.  And I worry sometimes that it is unhealthy...how much I love him.  I would rather spend time with him than with many other people I know.  Is that bad?  I think it might be.  He's just so charming.  And clever :)  And he never gets on my nerves.  Well, that isn't true.  Most of the time he doesn't get on my nerves.  And he pretty much thinks everything I do is awesome.  And he just wants to be with me.  How could I not be in love?

7.  I am tired.  Really, really tired.  I'm okay.  Just overwhelmed.  I realized, after my blog post Tuesday, how lovely it is to have blog friends that notice when you are gone.  Or worrying.  And it felt like a HUGE hug every time I got an e-mail from one of you.  Thank you for that :)  I am okay.  I am just fine.  I found myself in the middle of something that I felt somewhat responsible for.  And I found myself trying to "fix" everything.  Which isn't my job in life.  And I'm just trying to find a happy middle ground.  And it's a lot of what is on my mind right now...so it's hard to talk about anything else.  But I don't really want to talk about it.  Wow...that sounds ridiculous.  Anyway...thank you for listening.

Now, who to tag?  You know how much I love finding new blogs, and then share them with all of you....so, please meet the following new-ish (to me, anyway) bloggers and stop by for a visit. 

I'm going to do this like I've done before.  There are two tags/awards above.  Please select the one that you would most like to have.  If you have already been tagged with one of them, please take the other :)  Or...if you like them both equally...congratulations...you've been tagged twice!  Just have fun with it.

Except for mrs.mfc.  She MUST complete the food tag.  Because I said so.  And this is my blog.  So there :-o hehehe....

Elizabeth from Blogging Blondie

Daisy from "Story of My Life"...  (this is my IRL friend Daisy y'all!!)

Elizabeth from biz and the bungalow

Bronwen from Bronblog (okay, so she's not new to me...but her blog name change is!)

Deviled Megs

Laurnie from From Orange County to Country Road (another blog name change)

mrs.mfc

Twenty Something Blonde from Growing Up Blonde

Hev & Farley from Life with Farley

The Wifey from Love Cocktails and Puppydog Tails

Cinderella from My Hebrew Name is Cinderella

The Preppy Pre-Med from My Preppy Pre-Med Life

Caroline from PNOS (pink and navy oxford stripes)

T

Breathe....

Hello loves.

I'm here.

Just taking a few deep breaths.

The last few days have been surreal, and I'm not quite sure what to say just yet. 

So, I think I'll just ponder it a bit. 

Thank you for understanding :)

In the meantime, Louis says "hey y'all! i got my hair did.  whatcha think?"

T

Kirkland's Perfectly Plush Throw Giveaway!

Hop over real quick like, and enter mrs.mfc's giveaway for the Kirkland's Perfectly Plush Throw.  It's super warm and cozy, and just what EVERYONE needs to stay toasty this fall and winter :)

Be sure to enter HERE by midnight on October 31, 2010!

T

Tag - I'm It!

Elizabeth from Biz and the Bungalow tagged me earlier this week to answer a few questions.  I've been putting off actually answering them because I've been so overwhelmed with this stupid red hair situation.  BUT...now that we've resolved all of that I'm going to tell you a little story....

If you could be fluent in any foreign language, which would it be and why? 

Italian.  I would sell my home, and my car and pack up Louis and my favorite frocks, and move to Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy.  Never to be seen again.  However, I would probably go to the internet coffe shop in town to write on my blog every day.  So no worries.  I would keep you in the loop :)

Are you a dog person or a cat person?

Need I say more?

Pretty shoes or practical shoes?

Pretty.  Always.

If you could have your own version of Eat, Pray, Love, what three places would you go and what three verbs would you pick?

Italy, Bali and Prague.  Only I would reverse the order.  I'd end in Italy.  And I'd never come back :)  Probably Eat, Drink, Love.  Although I think the idea is to change things up a bit.  And that's pretty much what I do now.  And it doesn't seem to be working very well.  Hmmm.....

East coast or west coast? 

EC BITCHES!  Obviously.  Please excuse my French.

(disclaimer: i have no clue who this person is.  i googled "east coast hand signal", and this is what popped up)

Do you regularly go to worship services?

Eeehhhh.....please don't make me answer this :(  No.  No, I don't.  I did!  And then I didn't.  And I've no excuse. And I miss it.  Truly, I do.  But I don't.  Bad, bad T.

How do you feel about betta fish?

I don't. 

If you could change your hair color to any shade and have it look totally fabulous and natural, which would you pick?

Red.  Which I recently discovered is probably not gonna happen.  Ever.

 
 
Thanks so much for the tag Elizabeth!!  This was fun :)
 
T

Shhhh....Secret Sale!

This is the e-mail that just arrived in my inbox.  "Shhh...Secret Sale!"

So, clearly that means I need to share it with all of you...right? 

Yes, I thought so :)

Gather round....this offer expires tonight at midnight!!

Calendars.com is offering 50% off of select 2011 calendars, AND....FREE SHIPPING on orders over $15.  What a great deal!  Calendars also make great gifts, and fabulous giveaways (wink, wink). 

To see which calendars are on sale, click HERE.  Be sure to realize there are bunches on sale.  I got confused and thought there were just 14 on sale, but then realized those 14 were just the "cover calendars" for that genre.  So click through!

I have decided to purchase the following:

($6.99)

($6.99)

(pocket calendar - $2.99)

Happy Shopping!!

T