I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream...

FOR ICE CREAM!

My birthday is coming up and I am getting one of these! I have wanted an ice cream maker for awhile now, but just never broke down and bought one. My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I was so glad I remembered to ask for one. She ordered it and it should be here in time for us to break it in on my actual birthday.

When I was a little girl we used to celebrate 4th of July at my uncle's house- and there was always homemade ice cream. It was made in an old fashioned ice cream maker and I remember it being pretty labor intensive and taking a looooong time to be ready (it sure was good though!) From the reviews on this machine, we will be eating the same yummy ice cream in 20 minutes and with MUCH less work. I am looking forward to trying lots of new recipes, I have found plenty of them to keep me in ice cream all summer.

Licorice...Is it a DO or a DON'T For You?

I am an avid reader of Serious Eats and this article got me to thinking. I just love black licorice! Licorice is one of those things that it seems like you love or you hate; there's not a middle ground. As I said, I am a black licorice girl. I don't mind the red, but to me, it's just not licorice. I have great memories of going to Silver Dollar City for family vacations. One of our favorite spots was the candy store where my sister and I could watch the candy makers in action. Then, we could go into the store and sample ourselves silly. I still always ended up with my old standby, black licorice pillows. MMMM, I can almost taste them.

So, are you a red, black, or no thank you?

Herbal Festival

Last weekend we went to a little herb festival in Jenks. I was hoping the weather would hold out so we could go. It was the sweetest little festival in downtown that spilled over onto Main Street. There were flowers, plants, and herbs galore. Festival foods and little knick knack stands rounded out the scene. I have a black thumb, so wandering around looking at all the beautiful plants caused me some anxiety. Luckily I stumbled upon a couple that was so helpful, they were an older couple with more herbs than I could believe. Varieties of things that I didn't even know existed. This woman looked like someone out of a storybook. She had long dark hair pulled into low pigtails. Her face was tanned and had lines that spoke loudly of her years. She was so kind to answer all of my questions about each of the plants I picked up. She never made me feel silly and even offered little tips for uses of uncommon herbs. I ended up getting 3 varieties of basil, 2 different mints, lemon verbena, anise, and rosemary. I hope all my new plants make it!

Jamie is YuMmY

I loves me some Jamie...

Spring Fling

I am loving all the new clothes out for spring. I am having an especially torrid affair with Loft and Gap right now. I rarely buy clothes for myself that aren't on sale and I am almost NEVER loyal to one particular store. I have been called the "queen of separates" on more than one occasion. I just know what I like and will buy things that I see on sale and figure I have something in my closet that I can put it with.

I'm sure my mother takes great pleasure in knowing this. As a kid, I was always so irritated with her because we didn't go to the store and buy an outfit, we scoured the sale racks. We didn't do this out of necessity, we did this out of my mother's aversion to paying full price for anything. I thought this totally sucked when I was growing up. Especially since my bestie was know for her fabulous shopping sprees where she would come home with COMPLETE OUTFITS (gasp) ready

to wear. In my case, the old adage "I am my mother" proves true. She taught me an invaluable lesson in not only saving money, but knowing how to throw an outfit together. I am particularly loving the look of romantic flowers and bows paired with ripped boyfriend jeans. Here are a few of the things I am loving right now...

There's just something about the juxtaposition of the sloppy "boyfriend" look paired with the sweet ruffles and flowers that I can't seem to get enough of. I've put a dressier style top with my ripped boyfriend jeans. I've worn a necklace like the one below with a boyfriend t shirt and jeans with a dressy shoe. Those crinkle flower sandals up there are from the Gap, I got them in gray and navy. They are so comfy and have elicited more compliments than you can fathom. Go getcha some and see what I mean!

So, what are your favorite spring/summer trends?

Happy Easter

from our family to yours!

I hope you had a blessed day, we did.

Not Just For Easter

We love to color eggs around this time of year. Sure, they're pretty and they make me nostalgic. But that's not why I do it...

I loves me some egg salad. As a kid, my mom would make the best egg salad. I used to love it when she would pack me a yummy egg salad sammy. That is, until the other kids would not stop talking about how bad my lunch smelled. I even started to pretend I didn't like egg salad! Now that I'm a big girl, if anyone makes fun of my stinky lunch I don't let it faze me!

Another reason to love Easter eggs is deviled eggs! I love them any way I can get them. Everyone seems to have their own variation of these little beauties. The only way I can't eat them is if the filling is too thin. A creamy, thick filling is the ONLY way to do a deviled egg.

Of course I also love to just peel a couple of eggs and eat 1 whole and only the whites of the other. This makes the perfect portable breakfast too!

Do you all color eggs? Do you eat them or are they just for fun?