Category Archives: blogging

Flippant Friend Friday: Things I Can’t Say

Today I’m hanging over at the sweet and sassy Shell’s Things I Can’t Say.  You all have been by her blog, I know, whether it’s for her heartfelt Pour Your Heart Out Wednesdays or some of her uber popular and fun memes such as Rockin the Bump.  And if you haven’t been by, you need to go there right now.

Things I Can't Say


Things I probably shouldn’t say (or write): I hate children’s birthday parties. Being trapped in a melee of screaming kids running around with pinata bats or priate swords while on a massive sugar-high is bad enough. But having to host my own beloved Kiddo’s party nearly gives me a panic attack.

Make sure you head over to Things I Can’t Say to read all about how I am Martha Stewart’s worst nightmare. Maybe you can relate. Or maybe you really are the hostess with the mostess and thrive in a throng of kids. Chime in on the conversation.

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Now, as a little sidebar, I have to share a MAJOR DISCOVERY that may change your world.

Aldi sells their own version of Girl Scout Cookies.

{GASP!}

You no longer have to wait for the cookie booths to appear in the spring or your coworker to hit you up at work to buy some of her daughter’s cookies. You can get them anytime.  Well, at least a generic version of Thin Mints and Samoas (or Caramel Delights, depending on where you live).

This is NOT going to be good for my waistline. Or hips. Or self-control.

I’ll admit…I haven’t tested them out yet…I’m afraid once I take a bite I’ll go back and buy a case. But I do feel it is my responsibility to let you know if they are any good, so I’ll keep you updated.

Summer Smashed at the Shore

The prompt:

Your blogging Tribe is visiting you for ONE NIGHT out on the town. Write a post with a pre-game drink recipe (alcoholic or non) and tell us where you’d take your blogging friends for a good time!

The response:

My recipe for a perfect {blogger} friend night on the town is actually more of a night in…

Instead of trying to yell over music and chatter of local restaurants and clubs we are going to take it nice and easy. We are meeting up at the timeshare condo on the beach.

It will be a night to let our hair down, kick off our shoes, and dig our toes in the sand.  No dress code. Swimsuits encouraged. Lounge wear is perfectly acceptable.

We’ll meet down by the pool where some cool mango bellinis will be waiting in chilled glasses.

 Mango Bellinis

1 tbsp fresh mango puree (or mango nectar in a pinch)
4 oz. chilled champagne or proscecco
chilled champagne flute
sliced mango to garnish

Add the mango puree/nectar to the bottom of the flute. Add champagne and stir to combine. Garnish with fruit. Chill out and enjoy.
 
The second refreshing glass of tropical paradise can be transferred to a plastic cup before we wander down the beach. The balmy ocean breeze blows away all our stresses and we forget about our hectic week, work, and family obligations. Computers are off and the kids are with dad/the sitter. We are officially off duty.

As the sun sets,  tiki torches glow and the pool bar and restaurant start gearing up. We dine poolside, our table overlooking the ocean so close we can nearly dangle our flip-flopped feet in the tide. The reggae band begins to play, a gentle, relaxing groove, and we laugh the night away.

After dinner and perhaps a few more drinks the band starts jamming and it’s time for dancing. Or maybe you may just want to chill in the hot tub. Life is full of tough decisions.

And yes, the indoor/outdoor pool has a swim-up bar (with a rather hunky bartender). This is the good life.

What does every girl’s night need next?  Why some dessert of course. Beside the beach-side fire pit is a buffet set up for grown-up gourmet ‘smores.  Yeah, you read right…

Grown-Up Gourmet ‘Smores go so far beyond just some dry, old graham cracker squares and a Hershey bar.  As we have matured, so have our tastes. Just some ideas to salivate over:

  • Nutella, thinly sliced French bread & marshmallow
  • Sugar cookies, raspberry-filled dark chocolate square, fresh raspberries & marshmallow
  • White chocolate, coconut-covered marshmallow, thin slice of pineapple & shortbread wafers
  • Gingersnaps, marshmallow & caramel-filled chocolate square
  • Peanut butter cookies, dark chocolate & marshmallow
  • Cinnamon graham crackers, Reece’s peanut butter cup & marshmallow
  • Pretzel chips, dark chocolate square with sea salt caramel filling & marshmallow
  • Chocolate wafers, caramel & marshmallow
  • Chocolate wafers, mint filled dark chocolate square & marshmallow
  • Coconut-covered marshmallows, banana, dark-chocolate caramel square & shortbread wafer

Are you drooling yet? Yes, we will be keeping Ghiardelli in business that night. And we will be oh so thankful we are wearing comfy, expandable lounge wear and cover-ups.

We will sit around the fire pit with a marshmallow roasting stick in one hand and an umbrella drink in the other.  After we stuff ourselves with these gourmet delights we can sit back in our Adirondack chairs digesting, watching the moon rise over the ocean, and savoring our escape from our hectic everyday lives.


Since we are hanging by the condo we have a built in crash-pad — no designated drivers and no bedtime. The party will go on until dawn and there is always time for some more dancing…

So when are you coming down to the Sunshine State?

Cheers, Ladies…


Link up at Adventures in Mommyhood or at My Time As Mom now until Sunday, August 28th

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Layouts and Lockdown

Today has been just a bit ridiculous. I now have only 35 minutes before I have to pick up the moppet from school and I feel I have accomplished absolutely nothing even though I have been working at the computer all day. I have my dirty breakfast and lunch dishes still sitting here next to me on my desk. The dryer’s annoying end of cycle signal is screaming at me to get up and attend to it. And I’m still in my pajamas. What gives?

First of all, I have been trying to discover a new layout for the blog. I never realized how many friggin layouts there were to choose from. And they are all downloaded differently . And they can massively screw up your layout. I think I have wasted over an hour trying to figure out how to get my dashboard back–unsuccessfully, I must add. Why was I not granted the gift of understanding computers? I consider myself pretty good at layout and design (I was editor of my high school yearbook eons ago) but the thought of html just makes me queasy. I know the look I’m going for, I just don’t know how to achieve it. It would also help it my computer wasn’t elderly and sluggish. Hard to believe something only 5-years-old can be ancient–I suppose in that case I must be a fossil.

Meanwhile, I am supposed to be writing. More ideas keep flooding in at all hours of the day and night. My husband is starting to think I am loosing it when I grab my slip of paper on my nightstand and jot down another detail. He asked last night if I was going to start building monoliths out of mashed potatoes or writing on walls. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Hon. You just compared me to a obsessive UFO hunter and an insane sadist. All I want to do is write a readable, sellable novel. Perhaps I am just as crazy as those two characters, if not more…

…Two hours later and I am finally home. My lovely little suburban paradise is on lockdown. Literally. There are police at all entrances to my neighborhood and major intersections turning cars away. The sound of a chopper circling overhead is NOT music to my ears. Don’t we all escape to suburbia to escape this crap? They better catch this “armed suspect” soon. I currently have no husband, weapons, or wine in my house. Just another day in paradise….