Most fabulous shower ever!

Seven of my dear friends banded together to throw a beautiful shower for Mary Grace and Ryan. They all have talents in many areas and it certainly showed. Since the honeymoon will be in Italy and Greece, they decided to serve Italian fare. Pam's over a century old farmhouse was a beautiful backdrop. Here is the food table.

 

 

From antipasti, cheeses, marinated olives and veggies, cheese spread with pesto, gorgeous fruit, rosemary cashews to decadent desserts, it was wonderful.

 

Check out those little velvet pumpkins. I told Pam I wanted to take them home and sleep with them!

 

Here are the sweets.

 

See the little mice.

 

Candy was the bartender on the porch and found a short cut.

 

They had lemoncello and lemonade and a punch that is MG and Ryan's favorite. It is made with champagne and elderflower liqueur. Yummy.

 

It was lovely in Candy's mom's Croatian punch bowl.

 

 

Look at the surprise guest!

 

 

Sophie, Vick, MG and Cary on the porch.

 

Presents.

 

Mary Grace suggesting that Ryan stay in line or this skillet may come in handy.

 

They loved the shish kebab skewers I gave them. It was a bit humbling when I wanted to get them some just like I got from my sister Linda early in our marriage. They were listed as "vintage" on ebay. Ha ha.

 

Ivy hard at work on the bouquet made of ribbons and bows. Will be used by the proxy bride.

 

They were so happy  !

 

















Got it!

 

Yes , not much more than 24 hours after release...we have iPhone 6s. I was skeptical when we were told we had to stand outside in the sun to wait. But it went quickly.

 

 

They had someone at the door taking orders. We told her what phone we wanted and then received a text when our turn came.

 



Look , there was even an armed guard to keep us from storming the store, I guess.

 

 

 

 The next employee scoffed a bit at our ancient iPhone 4s ( we decided to skip 5). We were then ushered on to meet our kind employee who brought us the actual phones.

 

 

At home with the magical bag. We chose the 6 not the plus. I couldn't hold the big one.

 

It seemed a little mean to make my old phone take this pic, but oh well. He will be headed for resale tomorrow after we get the numbers changed. I'm ready to communicate without breaking up. Yay

 

Oh hey check out the cute bridesmaid's shoes.

 



 

something out of nothing

I have to admit that I am a disorganized meal planner and shopper. This results in numerous Kroger visits to grab a few things. It also results in not wanting to grocery shop when I need to. I had been scraping the barrel grocerywise for a few days. Determined to make do with what I had, I started digging. Leftover brown rice became pilaf with sesame seasoning, chicken broth and toasted almonds.

 

 

That seemed to call for teriyaki chicken.

 

Found some eggplant in the fridge drawer, lurking about threatening to go bad.

 

Mary Grace looked so cute in her new scrubs yesterday. She is starting on the clinical part of her training. Of course she would not cooperate for a good pic.

 

Saw this sign at Arby's yesterday.

 

Not sure how to feel about a meat mountain.

 

Oh, and here is to show that Ryan was ahead of his time with his kilt.

 

Lucy sent this shot of Colbert joking about the Scotland vote. Have to admit I was sort of sad they did not decide to become independent. But I guess it is none of my business since my ancestors, both McNeil and McBeth left the country over 200 years ago.



Succulent failure

Sad state. Over the last few weeks my Jade plant (the little man) has been dropping off in chunks. It started when a tree limb fell on it and broke off part of it. I thought that was what was wrong, but it continued until this pitiful stump is all that is left. I have been rooting some of the pieces so there may be hope.

 

 

There is however very little hope for my little succulent bunch on the back porch.

 

I thought cacti were easy to grow. Sigh.

 

At least I know how to raise happy dogs.

 

Harms bath project is done! I didn't get one of the master vanity because touch up was happening.

 

Healthy red beans and rice. Brown rice and turkey sausage. Don't tell Ed. Browning the sausage in the broiler before adding to beans helps the taste.

 

Speaking of taste...this is the best. It is even better than Tabasco. Yes that bottle is empty. I need to borrow some from Ryan. He loves this kind too. Mary Grace gave him a huge bottle for Christmas. It must have been a quart or half gallon. Just saying.









 

Lagging behind on posts

Sorry it has been so long between posts. Busy on many fronts. Mary Grace, Ryan and Candy enjoyed Celticfest recently. MG and Ryan learned an Irish dance. Candy bought him this kilt in the Patrick tartan. He is threatening to wear it to the rehearsal dinner, so beware family.

 

 

Sophie used to call these squish a bobs when she was little.

 

Our book club read The Perfume Collector this month. We all loved it.

 

I had everyone bring their favorite perfume. Aren't they pretty? My mom sent some she enjoyed from the 40's...Chantilly and Tabu. I represented the 70's with Azure and a classic Channel No. 5. That is mom's old perfume tray that holds Ivy's current Juicy Couture collection. I even had an old tiny bottle that mom's grandfather had given her. Pam brought her favorites and Sue brought a treasured bottle of French perfume. Witty Priscilla offered a gin bottle as her scent of the summer.

 

Bathroom is complete.

 

Ed and I hit Belk's early Saturday morning for deals.

 

Here he is, wedding ready. He got a beautiful charcoal suit with white shirt and yellow tie. We are so excited about the wedding.

 

Gorgeous colors from the yard fresh eggs.

 

Oh and happy 21st birthday to my baby (Miss Baby), Ivy , today. No longer a child , but will always be my baby.

birthday boy

 

Lucy's bridesmaids dress came in and she wanted a picture.

 

 

Closing in on the finish of the Harms bath project.

 

And what a happy day. Brody's first birthday!

Cary made everything so cute and special. These are pictures from each month of his first year.

 

the gifts.

 

the great lunch

 

oops, how did that slip in there?

 

Presents. He got lots of musical presents. David filmed it all for his parents.

 

his candle and cupcake.

 

He made short work of it!

 

The window was hung with these cute burlap letters that she made.

 

See his high chair all decorated. They are such good parents.

The Beautiful and the Ugly

First the beautiful. We celebrated my lovely friend Pam's birthday this week.

 

She and her birthday dessert were sights to behold.

 

Interestingly enough this dessert was mentioned in the new Find it in Fondren issue a day or two later. It is the chocolate silk tower. Be sure to read the new fall magazine at finditinfondren.com or pick up a beautiful copy.

 

Now for the ugly. I've commented before that I have a love / slightly squeamish relationship with quinoa. I made this salad for church pot luck.

 

Hmmm. What do y'all think. Gray pasta just seems a little weird to me. It tasted great with lime, cumin and cilantro. People must have braved it though, because it was consumed. We had a great day at Broadmeadow. We were back in the newly painted sanctuary and I didn't hear anything but positive comments. Maybe I can come out of anonymity as one of the color selectors. Of course I took no pictures but you can see it all on Broadmeadow's facebook page. Mom I'll show you how to look at it later.

 

While I was typing this post, I got a text from Mary Grace.

 

Their first blue green egg. I want that as a paint color.