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Friday Favorites

I think it has been a week since I published a blog post!  The last time I posted even a photo on social media was April 10th when LB and I went to see Rock Of Ages at Alhambra Theater and Dining.  I’m not sure what is going on with me.  It isn’t like I have too much to do!

Anyway, something has prompted me to create a Friday Favorites post today, so here it is:

Favorite # ONE

Spring is in full bloom and so are my

Amaryllis

Wendy (my friend from the office) gave me the bulbs from her Nana’s garden several years ago.  She told me that there were some red and some white, but I’ve only seen the white ones.  They have a faint pink stripe on each petal.  I’ve been lucky enough to see them bloom every year.  I’m not always this lucky with plants so I’m enjoying seeing these beauties every day.

Favorite # TWO

Coloring Easter Eggs

These 2 little peeps came by to help.

After they left I got busy setting up for

Favorite # THREE

Easter Sunday surprises

Rory let me know right away that she owned the same Barbie Puppy Party that she found in her Easter basket.  She knew that it was very expensive… “at least 30 or 45” (LOL!) but she already had one just like it.  Apparently I’m not the only one buying Barbies for the Glambabies.  The Barbie Puppy Party will be exchanged asap.

Favorite # FOUR

Seven Layer Salad

We made short work of this salad.  I think it was the 2 cups of mayonnaise on top that made it a hit.

The recipe that I used can be found here.

Favorite # FIVE

Easter Sunday with Family

Happy Easter 2022!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Happy Blogiversary!

Today is my BLOGIVERSARY

Happy Blogiversary to ME!

It has now been five years.  My blogging skills haven’t changed but my world certainly has.

My first post The Journey Begins was published on March 10, 2017.  I was obsessed with shopping and clothes/fashion.  The obsession with clothes goes way back and I thought it would be fun to be a fashion blogger.

After beginning my blog, and as the weeks passed, I realized that fashion blogging isn’t as easy as it looks.

Rather than posts about fashion, I found that I was posting more and more about what I do and the people in my life.

And speaking of people in my life, on this day, March 10th,  in 1925, Bettelou Ellen McCarty was born.  Years later Bettelou would become my Mema.

Although my brother-in-law can tell the story much better, I believe little Bettelou started her journey in Buffalo, New York, eventually moving to Muncy, Pennsylvania, and much later to Florida where she met George S. Duckworth.

She was a good Mema

I dedicated this previous blog post to her.

I believe she would have been 97 today.

~

Now I am a Glammy

which is much like a Mema, but with added drama.

I have 2 of the cutest Glambabies and I’m a bit less obsessed with fashion. 

Most of my attention is focused on what is going on in the world.  I’m praying every day that God will let the darkness be brought to light.  It isn’t looking good for the U.S. and I am concerned about the impact it is going to have on the little girls who call me Glammy.  We’ll keep hoping and praying.

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

A February To Remember

February 2022 is developing into a February to remember!

The weekend before Valentine’s Day was especially memorable.

On Saturday we celebrated Rory’s 4th birthday.  She is the sweetest little thing you ever did see.

I was privileged to meet her on the day she was born. 

And I’ve been privileged to make each of her 4 birthday cakes.

For her 1st birthday, Emily aka Rory’s Mama, requested a Valentine [conversation candy/heart-shaped] cake.

When she turned 2, Rory was very much into “Toy Stoy” and Emily requested the Forky cupcakes, which were a hit.  For her 3rd birthday I attempted to make a Sleeping Beauty/Briar Rose cake, but I wasn’t sure how to make it look like it was being held up by a broomstick.  It wasn’t an exact replica, but Rory liked it anyway.

This year Rory is loving Paw Patrol.

Her Mama called it “the cake of Rory’s dreams”. 

And it was pretty cute!

While I’d love to take credit for the “artwork” I cannot.  I ordered the “frosting sheet” from CAKES FOR CURES and simply placed it on top of my beautifully constructed pink and white cake.

~

While the family sat together in the living room chatting, Mama took the opportunity to read us a story.  She had written the story herself and did a very good job.  It was well-written, entertaining, and mind-blowing.  I won’t be able to share it myself, but will leave that to her.  Maybe she will let me include it in my “Mary’s Musings” section of this blog

… some day.

~

Sunday was Super Bowl 56.  While I am not a follower of football, LB and I will get together with 2 other couples and watch while we parttake of the best tailgate food you can imagine.  This year there was just 4 of us, but the goodies were still plenteous

Not pictured are the ribs, wings, and pizza rolls. Mmmm Mmmm

We were hoping to see a victory for the Bengals, but it wasn’t meant to be.

~

Since it is typically a late night, LB and I usually take the day off after Super Bowl.  This year that day happened to be Valentine’s Day.

We spent our Valentine’s Day together running errands, but later that evening went out to celebrate!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

Guess what day it is?

And the first weekend of February 2022!

I saw a post on social media this week that read: “Have a good weekend because Monday will be here in 30 minutes.” LOL

Tuesday was Groundhog Day and as per usual, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter.  I think I’ll be able to deal with it as long as there are no more freezing conditions.  Although they were protected, that last hard freeze took out a couple of my plants.

in the last week of January we celebrated some birthdays.

LB enjoyed his day, and I enjoyed having some fun with him…

Favorite # ONE

HE is the one who chose the candles!

National Carrot Cake day is observed on February 3rd.  LB wanted his carrot cake early!

~

Our family got together on Saturday to have a festive Italian dinner.

And in case you didn’t know, there is only one way to eat spaghetti…

(One of these days a few kids are gonna come after me LOL!)

Little Thea celebrated a birthday in January and so did Mama…

Favorite # TWO

Here they are singing “Happy Birthday” to each other.

not a word about how I couldn’t get the pound cake out of the pan.  It was too hot!

But the cupcakes were just right.

Notice Elvis in the background hoping I would save one for him.

It looks like I did a lot of baking in one week!

~

Favorite # THREE

These wraps from COSTCO

they make terrific BLT wraps!

~

Favorite # FOUR

This blouse

 

Black peplum with tiny little daisies.

It was in my Amazon wishlist and I saw that the price dropped to $11.

I know that I didn’t need it, but it is so hard to pass up a good deal.

~

Favorite # FIVE

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

Christmas gift giving can get very expensive… so we draw names in my family.  Using the website drawnames.com, each is assigned a secret Santa with a $50 limit.  This year some people did not follow the rules.  One person in particular bought presents for EVERYONE.  It was a nice gesture, but defeated the whole point of drawing names!

Throughout the year, LB and I will go shopping.  Sometimes he will buy me something, typically an item of clothing that I like, and save it for Christmas.  It is amazing how quickly I forget about these things.  I’m always surprised on Christmas morning when I open gifts from him, but I soon remember picking the item and the the fun memory of shopping on that noteworthy day.

If I never bought another item of clothing again, or received another gift, I would still have too much.

One particular gift comes to mind.  It is a box of teas.

One box, containing nine small boxes, each containing ten bags of tea.  Yes, I now have ninety bags of tea.

I’m trying out each of them, because that’s just what I do.

And if you get a hankering for flavored tea, please stop by and I’ll share a cup with you.

A few other gifts stand out as well.  I’m going to call these my

Friday Favorites

Favorite # ONE

I LOVE THIS TOP!

It was on my Amazon wishlist for a long time and 2 different people noticed it.  Now I have 2 of them!

~

Favorite # TWO

This top was a Christmas gift and also part of my New Years Eve 2021 outfit.  It too was on my Amazon wishlist and I also received 2.  You can’t have too much of a good thing!

~

Favorite # THREE

This is a tiny little eyeshadow pallete.  It used to be on my Amazon wishlist.  I received 3 LOL.

 

~

Favorite # FOUR

This one REALLY surprised me!

Thank you LB!

~

Favorite # FIVE

ALL The People

in my family…

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in my family.

You are the best family anyone could ever ask for!

I love each and every one of you and the Christmas morning chaos we enjoy every year!

 

 

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday and Happy Summer!

Today is the First Friday of summer 2021!

Let the rain begin!

Yes the season officially changed on Sunday, which was also Father’s Day.

I didn’t write a new post about Daddy this year, but I’ve written a lot about him in the past.  You can read some of my other posts here and here.  Needless to say, I did think about him on Father’s Day.  LB and I stopped to leave flowers Sunday afternoon.

~

Favorite # ONE

I thought they were very summertimey.

~

Something else that I did on Sunday took place in the kitchen…

Favorite # TWO

A one-pan recipe from RuledDotMe

 

Roasted Chicken Thighs in Red Pepper Sauce

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 4 ounces goat cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
  • 4 ounces roasted red peppers
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup heavy cream

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F. At the same time, preheat a skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
  3. Add coconut oil to the preheated skillet. Once the oil has melted, place the chicken  into the skillet. Sear for 5 minutes on each side or until the chicken is browned.
  4. Puree the roasted red peppers, garlic, and olive oil in a blender. Pour the heavy cream into the pepper mixture, then blend thoroughly.
  5. Remove the skillet from the stove, then pour the sauce over the top of the thighs. Flip them over to ensure that both sides are coated.
  6. Crumble the goat cheese over the top of the sauced chicken. Transfer the skillet to the oven then bake for 10-15 minutes.
  7. Garnish with parsley and enjoy!

 

 

~

My son and his family came to town this week.

On Wednesday night we got together with the whole for dinner and birthday cake.

Favorite # THREE

Artwork and personal notes, addressed by Lydia are one of the many perks of being a Glammy.  Or a Glamme.  However she chooses to spell it.

~

At my family gathering on Wednesday evening, it was insinuated [once again] that I am a conspiracy theorist.  Lucky for me I’m not the only American “guilty” of this.

But in my defense, I feel that if you live above ground in the Unites States of America, you should know that there is a forensic audit being conducted in Arizona (Maricopa County) because there was massive election fraud in the November 3, 2020 election.  I mentioned it in this post.

Favorite # FOUR

Conspiracy Theory or NOT

Somewhere between 3 and 4 AM on November 4th, I woke up, looked at my phone, and saw a dramatic change had taken place.

Michigan totals revealed added votes for Biden, which is typical when counting votes, but votes for Trump were SUBTRACTED.  How could the tally show a reduction in the number of votes?  That was when I began to question our electoral system.  I found out that I am not the only one with questions.  I’ve included an example below.

As you’ll hear in the following video, “votes are always additive and should never go negative”

There are other videos, but you won’t likely find them in a Google search or on YouTube because Big Tech is complicit.  Check out Rumble

~

Favorite # FIVE

Rockin’ on the River

with LB at Azaleana Manor in Orange Park.

Rockin’ on the River was the name of the event.  We attended on Thursday evening for dinner and entertainment by two bands.  One of the bands was the 77ds.  The other was The Chris Thomas Band.

This is Chris Thomas and his band.

Mr. Thomas is fabulously talented.

We had a great time!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

WHERE DID I GO?

You might think that since I’m working from home and finished with college courses I’d be blogging NON STOP.

But alas, I have been unmotivated.

I’m not sure if it will get better anytime soon.  We’ll see how it goes.

On the subject of college courses, I mentioned that mine have been completed.  Finally.

I got this in the mail

Favorite # ONE

A box of trinkets from Liberty University.

Now, one of those trinkets is special… it is a cord that is meant to be part of a graduate’s regalia.  This one is red.  It means I am a Cum Laude graduate.  Sadly, it is the wrong color.  It should be BLUE!

 

I’m so tired of dealing with them I’m not even going to protest.

I’ll hang it around my neck and pretend it is blue while I watch my virtual graduation this weekend.

~

Last weekend LB and I went to the St. John’s Town Center to return some items that I ordered from LOFT.

Favorite # TWO

I’ve said it many times… LOFT is my favorite.  LB is too.

I also like Express and we stopped in there as well.

Favorite # THREE

I really like this outfit.

Off The Shoulder Ruffle Top//Super High Waisted White Button Fly MOM Jeans

MOM jeans?

 NVM… I need another outfit like a need a hole in the head.

~

The Glambabies are in town this weekend and I’m looking forward to a visit.  They haven’t been to Florida since February.

Today they went to the Caddyshack with their Mema.

Afterward they rode along to pick up Levi and Thea from school.  Then they all went to Mema’s house for a fun time together.

I took some photos the last time they visited earlier this year, but never posted them.  I came across these photos recently and they are my

Favorite # FOUR

When Lydia and Rory came to Glammy’s house, they found the My Little Ponies that had magical color changing tails.

 

And now I’m going to walk next door and get them!

That will be my

Favorite # FIVE

~

By the way…

Happy Friday!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

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