20 Years.........What?!?!

Twenty years. It's hard to believe even seeing it in print. How does time fly by like that? Really?! I still feel like I am in my 20s, so it's super hard to convince me that the postcard that arrived in my mailbox announcing my 20 year high school reunion was actually intended for me. Well, I guess the inclusion of my name alongside my overly eye-shadowed, senior year photo helped, but still I deny.


After a lot of back and forth, yes I will, no I won't, I finally decided that yes, I will make the leap & attend.

In a unique twist, my husband and I graduated from the same class. No, we are not high school sweethearts, rather, we hardly knew the other existed back then. My husband did remind me we sat at lunch together (amidst a group of people) for an entire year, which somehow I forgot? Seems strange now, considering I am married to the man and have borne his children.
Oh well.
In all honesty sometimes I still forget that we've had lunch together, but now it's more likely due to early-onset Alzheimer's.

Apparently that same year we "lunched", I must have asked him to sign my yearbook. Back then I had a pair of riding style boots that had a vintage-y o-ring harness type detail. Think vintage Frye with a bit of an English riding twist. Quite cool. I'd still wear them if I still had them.

Evidently my now-husband had a thing for them (but not for me). He went so far as to comment on them in my yearbook? Strange for a sixteen year who is purportedly straight, yes?!? I concur.
But, what I didn't think strange was when I read this comment aloud, courtesy of some fairly lousy penmanship: "Well, chemistry has been a great class and so has lunch, talking about your boobs and all."
Boobs?? How forward! Maybe he did notice me after all!!
Funnily enough, it was less weird to me for a teenage boy to comment on my (non-existent then & now) boobs than my boots.

So now here we are, 20 years later, together, boots, boobs and all, gearing up for our 20th reunion. Any other "Class of 88-ers" here? Would love to hear if you are going or not, or if you already went and how it was?

I am tempted to sign up as a temp banquet worker for the night so I can go, but be a fly on the wall...or maybe a disguise..bearded lady anyone?
August 30th is the big night. I'm excited one minute and filled with dread the other. :-)
Wish me luck...(in other words, please don't let me have the smallest boobs and biggest butt).

Older, yet wiser.

Ode to Jell-O

So, Jell-O. That's where it's at.
Can you tell I am a product of the 70's?
Actually something about summer gets me all hopped up on Jell-O.
It doesn't have to be crazy, fancy, swanky Jell-O like that which bedecks this hipster scene-
Oh, to only look 1/2 as glam as the lady in the striped dress.

Actually, I'm a simple girl with simple dreams. Just Jell-O, with fruit mixed in, pretty much rocks my world.
My all-time favorite is orange Jell-O with crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges.
Oh heavenly, fruit juicy goodness!
Lime with pineapple is pretty up there too.


Recently I picked up this Jell-O cookbook, less for me, and more under the (false) impression that it was worth something. Usually I have a good eye when thrifting, and a fairly good memory, which typically likes to serve me correctly. Not in this case. This book can be found pretty much everywhere for a couple of bucks, at the most, which is what I normally would have thought. But, for some bizarre reason I had this lightbulb flash while thrifting that I had seen it go for $15-$20 bucks on ebay recently. Not true. Maybe I confused it with "The Old Joys of Jell-O".
So now I am its proud owner indefinitely.

After having made fruited Jell-o, devouring it, only to make it again for three days straight, I realized this book is really where it truly belongs, not by chance, but perhaps by divine intervention.
I have to admit I've thought many times of hosting a retro themed party with a largely "molded" party spread...you know aspics and congealed salads galore.

With fabulous guests like this-
But with one caveat, it should be kitschy, but also good tasting. I am not into wasting tons of food just for the humor. The guilt is too great.

After thumbing through a few pages, I am now all giddy for this book. I want to experiment and see what retro food fare is worthy of a revival.

I do have to say upon first glance this recipe scared me. Barbecue Jell-O? I was almost certain it was going to contain meat, which freaked me out. Thank goodness I was wrong.

This is one I really will try-
Actually the fun & frothy little recipe above reminded me of my one time childhood fave, Jell-O 1-2-3-
Do you remember it too? The Jell-O dessert that magically separated into 3 distinct layers?
Then I realized that you can no longer buy Jell-O 123. Sad. And sadder still that it probably hasn't been on the market for 20 years or more, and I just noticed. I guess that's why they stopped selling it, customers like me. You can't quite make a killing on a product people think to buy once every twenty years or so.

But, wait!!!!

Now you can re-create it in your very own home--
Homemade Jell-O 1-2-3
What you need:

3/4 cup boiling water

1/2 cup cold water with enough ice cubes added to equal 1 1/4 cups
1/2 cup whipped cream
3 oz package any flavor Jell-O

What you do:

In a blender, mix the gelatin and boiling water together. Add the ice cube/water mixture and mix until the ice cubes are melted. Add in the whipped cream & mix for 30 seconds. Pour into dessert/parfait glasses. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Voila! Serve & enjoy!

Peace, love & Jell-O!

p.s. Does anyone else think one of those kids in the very first photo at the top looks like Quinn Cummings of "The Goodbye Girl", or is it just me?

Easy, Yummy Homemade Ice Cream in Five Minutes Flat!

So, what to do on a hot summer day?
Make ice cream of course. But not just any ice cream...
Five Minute Ice Cream
**The best kind of ice cream for toddlers to make, hands down. No patience required!**
Actually, this version allows young and old alike to be instantly amazed at the simplicity of forming their own ice cream without a machine or even the aid of a freezer.
I am sure there is some sort of science property being demonstrated here, but I am not entirely sure what it is....something to do with the salt and the ice (thermodynamics?). Sorry while technically I do have a Bachelor of Science, it is in Clothing, Textiles & Design, so I can't help you too much here. I did find this link though, which should help you understand the hows & whys.

Wanna try making it yourself?

Gather up the following:
* ice cubes
* 1/2 cup kosher, sea or rock salt
* 1 cup half-and-half or milk or whipping cream
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 resealable sandwich size bag
* 1 gallon-size resealable freezer bag
* dish towel

Now here's what you do:

1. Fill the gallon-size bag half full with ice. Add in all the salt.

2. In the sandwich bag, mix half-and-half (or milk or cream), sugar, and vanilla. Seal tightly.

3. Place the small bag inside the large bag. Seal the large bag tightly so it won't leak.

4. To protect your hands from the cold, wrap the dish towel around the outside of the large bag. shake for about five minutes, or until the milk mixture turns into ice cream.

5. Grab a spoon and enjoy! *Makes about one serving or one regular scoop.*



It's yummy! Can you tell?



Oh, and for a visual treat. This is my new fabric I thrifted in L.A. (that's Lower Alabama 'round these parts.) I love this fabric so much that I want to marry it..which is perfectly fine with 3.5 year old Amelia, as she's been begging me to let Daddy marry her instead of me anyways. We can't even hug lately without her bursting into tears. Talk about an Electra Complex---yikes!

A FUN, FUN Weekend Jaunt

So we took advantage of a three day holiday weekend to take a short trip three hours down the road to our state capital, punctuating our journey with little comma rests at state parks along the way. A simple trip, but quite fun indeed. And reasonable with regard to affordability both dollar and travel time wise (keeping in mind we had two toddlers in tow).
I have lots of great photos to share but until I can carve myself out a bit more time to post them, here's a "tide me over"....

I found this sign to be rather ironic. I mean, I'm all for safety as much as the next guy, but this seemed to be a bit of overkill...and then the "have a FUN, FUN time" afterthought? Who can even think of having a fun time, much less a doubly all caps FUN, FUN time after reading this party-pooper, buzzkill of a sign?
Believe it or not, while it looks like they have covered all the bases and then some, I managed to spot a few rules they somehow managed to overlook....

1)Don't even look at the swings. Feasting your eyes on these devices of fun could cause injury (eye or otherwise).

2)Don't smile, laugh, run or play. Any of these actions is enough of a distraction to become a sure death trap.

3)Don't even think about having too much fun. Setting yourself up to be too hopeful, you're sure to just come crashing down. Better to set the bar low. (Not to mention the risk you run with all those thoughts of folly racing around your head. You're bound to give yourself an aneurysm).

But remember, have a FUN, FUN time, nonetheless!!!!!!!

Hope you all had a Happy 4th!