a good read,cool mom points & the mystic

i finished whistlin' dixie in a nor'easter & thought it was a sweet read.

i think the sequel is due later this year.

 the main character is a southern belle who moves up to vermont & opens a b&b.

something dan & i have always talked about.

when leelee mentions her favorite song is 'into the mystic' by van morrison 

& then later has an impromptu dance with her man in the snow,

it totally sealed the deal for me. 

in honor of madison's upcoming 16th birthday

i'm reading her absolute favorite book,

Pride and Prejudice 

( embarrassingly for the first time).

have i mentioned she's read it over 4 dozen times?

honestly, i think she's trying to reach the 50th marker before her birthday on wednesday.

she is a hard core fanatic when it come to her favorite literature.

i love to collect different versions of my favorite classics,

especially when they featured deckle edge pages.
here is a few from our pride & prejudice collection.
madison had 2 copies with her at school when i photographed these.

savannah told me about a conversation her buddies had at school.

they were saying , wouldn't it be great if your parents were cool.

savannah, coming in on the tail end of the conversation 

didn't realize they meant cool as in CIA cool or witness protection program cool

( as if)

so she chimes in that she thinks her parents are cool.

she said mom, i told them that you were cool.

that you have a photography blog

& you run long distances.

i didn't ask if her peers were impressed with my status or not

i chose simply to enjoy the fact that my very cool 18 year old

actually thinks i'm cool

& declared it in public.

i'll take it!

so i'm a roll~

i scored a few points by surprising emi.

she didn't think i'd ever heard of eminem.

imagine her surprise when i began singing the lyrics to one or two of his songs.

( not the explicit versions. of course)

only to quickly loose of few of those earned points

by mispronouncing the group named Flo Rida.

which incidentally i've already forgotten the correct pronunciation.
one step forward, two steps back. right?

 

of course i'm well aware that

if any of my older girls read this post

they'll roll their eyes.

however,  i'll take any affirmation i can get

even if it's only a fleeting moment,

while raising a 14 year old, 16 year old & an 18 year old!

remember, little one is only 9

she has a few more years of thinking i'm cool 

before she goes to the dark side

also known as middle school age

:)

 

& for you van morrison fans......

{my two march birthday blue eyed girls}

charlie & the date request

 about a month ago, little bit came home with some important 4th grade information.

well i'm here today to tell ya, 

"charlie" made his move

( charlie's real name has been changed to provide the little guy some anonymity)

caroline had heard rumors that he had big plans to "ask her out".

she had planned out her sassy smack down,

which incidentally i forbid.

she might not be allowed to date until she's 25 , but she still needs to be kind.

so charlie had sent a note via one of his posse

telling caroline to meet him alone, no less,

by the stairs at recess.

poor fella

he obviously has no idea that women now and forever more

will travel only in a large group.

friends i wish i had a little video to share caroline's reenactment of how it went down.

hysterical!

 after he asks her if she wants to go out

( are you loving this?)

she's all in the middle of her very eloquent refusal,

something along the lines of not being old enough

well before she finishes her reply

he bounces off into the horizon

saying something like , "well ok caroline"

before she even got the actual "no" word out.

she told me, "but mama, i had more to say!

don't we always baby girl, don't we always.

 clearly the little guy has a resilient spirit.

she says there is rumor he's gonna ask her again

you know, in case she's officially old enough now.

 funny thing, her favorite guy friend in her class has offered her

his protective services. in the event they're needed of course.

it's moments like these that validate the reason

why i blog.

in a few years i will be tickled to go back & read this post.

especially if charlie ends up asking her to prom one day

:)

 

a recipe & a thank you

the last several days we have been blessed with gorgeous sunny weather,

a tease that spring is just around the corner.

i grabbed some herbs for the kitchen at my local grocery store

& they smell so fresh & fantastic.

i have rosemary planted just off my back porch

( that survived the septic tank saga!)

but until it's time to plant them i'm thoroughly enjoying these inside with me.

i was chopping some of the fragrant basil this afternoon

for our chicken tortilla soup & thought i'd share the recipe with you.

 a sweet friend brought this along with some homemade salsa years ago

& it's been a family favorite ever since.

i slice flour tortillas into thin strips, drizzle with evoo, sprinkle kosher salt,

broil for a few minutes, and then grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top,

& serve along side.

yumminess

~Chicken Tortilla Soup~

2 packages chicken tenderloins

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 can tomatoe puree

2 cans chicken broth or approx 28 oz broth

1 medium onion

2 cloves minced fresh garlic

1 small bag frozen corn

1 bay leaf

1 T cumin

1/2 t oregano

1/2 t basil

salt & pepper to taste

i cook the tenderloins with a little butter on top, minced onions and s/p for 45 min at 350.

my girls prefer the texture of small bites verses shredded but cut to your preference.

i then add my fresh garlic & seasonings and saute these in evoo.

then add chicken to broth & tomatoes and corn mixture.

bring to a boil

 simmer for 30 minutes

remove your bay leaf

& serve

also, instead of canned chicken broth i use 'better than bouillon'

a little high in sodium so take that in to account

ps, thank ya'll for the all the encouragement regarding the half.

i set out to run 9 yesterday but decided to go for 10 when one of my favorite songs came on.

it felt so great to get to that double digit milestone!

anyway,

ya'll are the best!

xo

psyched out. maybe just a bit

 

 found

in 13 days dan & i head down to seaside,

my favorite place ,

for a quick breath of salty air

a quick dipping of our toes in the perfect white sand

eating shrimp at favorite restraunts

shopping at favorite stores

 and

oh yeah, 

running a half marathon.

in the next few days i have 72 miles to put in.

 i'll be honest,

today i'm feeling a tad psyched out.

i don't mean to be

i don't want to be

but the more i think about running that distance

the more i get a smidge 

well...

psyched out.

i have several friends who run half marathons.

they run them well

& seem to run them somewhat easily.

the last time i ran one,

i was half my current age.

i've been hearing that voice that says

what if this is it?

what if this is as good as i'll ever be?

what if i can't do it?

i know with any challenge 

much of the battle is a mental thing.

right now i'm just in a little mental slump 

& all i need is a giant dose of the "i can's!"

two weeks from this very moment

i'll be driving home,

hopefully with a big medal around my neck

a new vera tote ( all the marathon runners get both)

a funky new race t-shirt

  maybe a little sunkiss on my cheeks

& hopefully one jean size smaller--ha!

i'm hoping i wake up in the morning

all fired up

& back on top of my game again, 

trying not to look at the big picture

the big number

the total distance,

but just taking it 

one mile at a time.

period.

please come & visit

i posted my 365 update here today

& i'm guest posting today for tara over at Between You & Me!

would love for you to come visit me here~
i'm sharing a little bit of my love story today.

thought i'd share my current favorite song

enjoy your weekend

a few favorites, the gold edition

 we're expecting temps up in the 70's this weekend!

i'm hoping the sunny warm weather will help me kick this head cold that i've been fighting all week.

dan & i will be heading to seaside for this in just a couple weeks

& i don't have time to be bothered with sneezing & a runny nose!

all this sunshine has inspired me to round up some of my favorite shiny things~

1. Michael Kors Horn Show Stopper Glitz watch

i went for years without wearing a watch-

until recently.

i  love a large watch that wears more like a bracelet

& this one is my favorite ever!

savannah & i both have the oversized version and love the fit.

2. Metallic tote from Gap

i've been on the look out for a great metallic tote

& i absolutely love this one

i went with the rose gold

currently on sale

3. Lilly Pulitzer charmed bracelet

always up for a new charm bracelet

4. Chanel fine art print by Teresa Sheeley

fabulous...

both the classic fragrance & the print.

print found here

5. EmersonMade gold monarch necklace

gorgeous.

seriously

6. women's faux gem flip flops from old navy

excuse me.... $7.50?

sold

here's to the hopes of bright shiny days ahead

&

beautiful weather heading your way too!

eighteen candles & first love

dan's mom always baked our birthday cakes,

usually yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.

after she passed away i had hoped to keep up her tradition.

thankfully i am blessed to have madison

who is wonderful in the kitchen.

she whipped up not only savannah's cake

but she also made cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for all her best friends.

i love celebrating valentines day

not only because it's smk's birthday

but any excuse to love on my people

& overuse the colors pink and red is ok by me.

 

 

 i love picking up little happies for the girls.

this year they each got a little something fun

(jeweled flip flops for smk, hair flower for mgk,

itouch cover for emi, and a lilly notepad for little one)

some candy and a bottle of nail polish.

 chocolate and a button down for my sweetie

 

i've always encouraged the girls to pass on the boyfriend thing.

at least until they're sixteen-ish (or better yet-thirty!)

trying to encourage them to pass on all the drama between girl friends it can cause,

messing up friendships with their guy friends

& plus....i would love to spare them the potential heartbreak as long as possible.

savannah has always been a tough sale,

so i really didn't have to preach it to her.

her standards are mighty high.

she & trevor started dating last year

& let me tell you, she knocked the ball out of the park with him.

of course, i think he did too.

he was her first guy friend when she changed schools in 7th grade.

she always talked about what a great friend he was

.....well, now they are just too sweet together.

 he set quite the precedent for all future first boyfriends for my other girls

in how he handled their first valentines day together.

i hope they don't die a thousand deaths

but i can't resist...

after school she ran in & told me to come look at her car

she was beaming!

he had filled it with all her favorite candies, cards, stuffed animals

and balloons. lots of balloons!

 

 

can you stand it?

what a happy day!

madison came in with her cute valentines~

later that day, a little visit from one of my favorite girls

who made the most amazing red velvet cupcakes.

love you sweet abby!!

caroline with her blowpop turned elephant with googly eyes

valentines craft

hand hearts with sweet emi

 

 we had a special guest join us for dinner,

while the sweethearts headed out for their special evening together.

& because nothing is sacred, i'll tell you

that he gave her the prettiest ring.

sweet child of mine

i am so thankful that you were blessed & loved on by so many people 

this is such a wonderful time in your life.

hold these memories & tuck them into your heart!