Happy Mother’s Day everyone! I know that you may not BE a mother, but chances are you know someone who IS a mother! So, Happy, Happy Day to all!
Happy Mothers Day
Easy Easter Egg Tarts
I was on a mission to find something simple and easy to make for dessert for the neighborhood picnic this year. Well I found a a delicious looking fruit tart recipe. It has a sugar cookie crust and is topped with a yummy cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit. Because I’ve been short on time I’m using a store bought refrigerated cookie dough that I just have to slice and bake and a tray of fresh fruit. The cream cheese frosting has just a little vanilla and powdered sugar mixed in with whipped cream cheese. This is just the type of thing I was looking for. Simple, fast, easy, and will still have the crowd oohing and ahhing.
To make it festive I thought I’d bake it in the shape of a giant Easter egg. Then, I thought it would be fun if I made them in individual sizes. I’m going to bake a few dozen egg shaped cookies and then bring the frosting and fruit with me. Of course I’ll decorate a few to give people an idea of what to do.
I bet the kids will LOVE to decorate their own tarts. It’s a great way to get them to eat fresh fruit and have fun doing it. I’m excited for them just thinking about it.
I can’t wait to dive into these yummy Easter Egg tarts!
Sick on New Years
I tried to stay up last night with my husband but I just felt awful. I woke up this morning puking up my brains. I hope this isn’t a sign that I’ll be having a yucky year. This definitely isn’t my idea of a great and happy new year. If I’m lucky this will just be a twenty four hour bug and I’ll feel terrific tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the Rose Parade in the morning!
Christmas Traditions Can Differ a Lot
When I was a kid, we had Christmas on just one day – Christmas Day – and it was a very busy day for us. We always woke up early and tore into the presents under our tree in the living room. Then we had brunch, got dressed up and visited my Grandmother at her house. We always took gifts to her house for her and she always had gifts for us waiting under her tree. We visited for a couple of hours and then left her house and went to my other grandparent’s house for a huge family party.
I am amazed to learn that many people open their gifts on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas morning. Some families hang stockings and some don’t. Some families don’t even have Santa come visit – I think that is sad. Even when the kids are grown, everyone still likes to get a little gift from Santa!
The Yule Log
I am always interested in historical information about Holidays. When I saw the Yule Log for sale at department 56 dickens village I was interested to read the description that explained that it was thought to be good luck to have a large log burn during the twelve days of Christmas, which ends on January 6th. Supposedly if the log would burn that long it would bring prosperity and health to the household.
I never knew that was the thought process behind it! I wonder who created that story!
Any Big Sales This Weekend?
But for me and anyone else who works in retail, Columbus Day means one more holiday to have an excuse for a sale and it is the last holiday before the big Christmas rush. I think the Columbus Day holiday has lost some of its shine in modern years and people are no so much interested in any sales during October unless it means they can get an early start on their Christmas shopping.
Do you know of any sales going on this weekend that will be worth going to the mall to save money on something you really need? I can’t think of anything, and I’m not willing to start my Christmas shopping yet, either!
Happy 4th of July
It’s kind of a bring your own fireworks type display and everyone brings a side dish too from the community. Watermelons are in the river getting good and cold and so is the beer. We always have the best time, and the house is booked solid for the whole 3 day weekend.
Ethnic Festivals
This whole area is a melting pot of America. There are so many different ethnic groups and neighbors here that we get to have tons of fun exploring all the customs and foods of a different country every weekend. The summer brings a lot of great ethnic festivals. I’m looking forward to the festivals with music, dancing, great foods and all kinds of bazaars.
Saving and Spending
So I decided that I wanted to take the family on a nice vacation this year but, realized I needed to take a look at our finances first. I’ve always had an idea of how much we spend on everything, but never really had a budget that was written down. In order to get a realistic idea of what we’re saving and spending, I thought maybe I should track everything.
I looked up free budget software online to get started. After all, I’m trying to save and I don’t want to shill out more money in all of this. At first I thought I would be overwhelmed. I watched a few video demos on how easy the software programs are to use. Some programs wanted a ton of information and others looked just like a spread sheet. I already have spread sheet software… that’s not what I was looking for.
I looked at reviews for best budgeting sites to get opinions of what other people thought worked and didn’t for them. I’ve narrowed it down to three different sites. I think just to get a good idea of what each site can do for me I’ll use them each for the next two months. At the end of the two months I should be able to tell which software will work best for me in the long run.
I can’t wait to see where our money is actually going. I wonder if I’ll find that it hasn’t been going where I thought it had been this whole time. No matter where it’s going I want to save so that we can afford a nice vacation. Budgeting here we come!
Caring For Floral Arrangements
It’s always nice to get flowers delivered to you. I love getting a big bouquet with a nice vase and a little card. I usually always get a bunch on Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. If I’m lucky I also get some flowers on my birthday. This year, for Mother’s Day, I got a lovely bouquet from the kids and my husband. I love the arrangement. It has gorgeous yellow lilies and violet and lavender additions to compliment the yellow.
I want to make sure that my flowers last for awhile so I’m taking special precautions as I care for them. I’ve given them plant food and fresh water. Once the water gets dirty I’ll change it and refill the vase with clean water. I’m making sure to keep the arrangement away from any heat source as well. So even though they might look great above my television set, I don’t want the heat to age the flowers prematurely. I sprayed the flowers with a floral preservative to help keep them as fresh as possible.
I know that if I follow these precautions, my floral arrangement should last awhile and I’ll be able to enjoy them for a few weeks.