December 31

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaappppy New Year

to all my bloggy friends!!

FOUR

Amazing what I can do when on vacation..even Memes!!

Four things to do before I die:
1. Visit the Great Wall Of China
2. Hang glide (with a trained professional)
3. See the great American Monuments and sights, natural and man made (Mt Rushmore. Grand Canyon et al)
4. Travel, travel, travel.................

Four things I love about my spouse:
1. His generosity in every way
2. He is an art savant..I have never known anyone who can recall artists and their works on a dime..no matter how obscure..if he has seen it once..he can rememeber it...It's rather amazing.
3. His sense of humor
4. He dances like no one else...I mean NO ONE

Four things I say:
1. I love you
2. Hi Honey, it's Mom (phone)
3. Sure, I can do that
4. Have a nice day

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Gone With The Wind
2. Almost Famous
3. Casablanca
4. All the Lord Of The Rings films

Four jobs I've had:
1. Worked in a mail room
2. Travel agent
3. Electronics store
4. Art & Antique dealer

Four places I've lived:
1. Bloomfield, NJ
2. Montclair, NJ
3. Miami, Fl
4. Hollywood, FL

Four TV shows I like to watch:
1. Amazing Race
2. The Office
3. 30 Rock
4. Hardball

Four places I've been on holiday (vacation):
1. Paradise Island, Bahamas
2. Cancun, Mexico
3. California
4. Turk & Caicos

Four favorite dishes:
1. Sushi
2. Veal Francese
3. Rigatoni with meat sauce
4. Aged Filet Mignon, Baked potato, salad with gorgonzola dressing (ok so that was a meal...

Four places I'd rather be:
there is no where I'd rather be right now

Greetings from the Keys

A few days ago my husband asked if I wanted to spend the New Years Holiday in the Florida Keys...my answer..BUT OF COURSE, who wouldn't!

It's only a 2.5 hour drive southward...our business is on hiatus this week. I could really use some R & R as we had had such a hectic fall, what with my step daughter getting married....a trip to Disney with our 6 grandchildren. Those same 6 plus their parents spending some time with us in our small but comfortable home. A 13 hour drive to NC for Thanksgiving. Somewhere in the middle of all that I found time to actually work, go Christmas shopping, wrap presents and decorate our home. Bake 12 dozen cookies, wrap and deliver them to friends. Then cooked for 2 days prior to Christmas for our annual Christmas party on Christmas day for 25 of our closest friends and family. Can you say EXHAUSTED? well I can...but in a good way.

So here I sit in beautiful Key Colony Beach, FL..in a lovely home, on a canal, steps away from either the Gulf of Mexico or the blue Atlantic. We stopped at Alabama Jacks on the way down, which serves the finest conch fritters anywhere...and just spent the evening visiting with friends. The stars are out in plenty tonight and the temperature...a balmy 77 degrees (and its after 10!!) My biggest dilemma over these next few days should be nothing less than, shall I have the blackened grouper or grilled?? Should we spend the morning at the Beach? or pool? Shall we fish for mangrove snapper or yellow tail snapper...decisions, decisions... ;-)

Happy New Year My friends!! Wish You Were Here!!

BIG HUGS!!

Holiday Eating

Eating Tips for the Holidays

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can and quickly. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an "eggnog-aholic" or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it!!!! Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand-alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello???

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, pumpkin and mincemeat - have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?



9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips: Start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

A gift of a goat, a pig and a sheep

This year I gave gifts in the name of our children to Heifer International. It is an organization that gives gifts of livestock to families in need around the world including the US.

Heifer International is a non-profit organization whose goal is to help end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance & sustainability.

When a family receives the gift of, say a goat, they can raise and breed it, use the goats milk for food and to sell the milk to provide for their families. They then give it's offspring to other families in their village, thus paying it forward.

I researched many charities this year and as you probably know there are many that could use support.

Take a look at their website, it can be a perfect last minute gift that will surely enrich the lives of those who surely could use it.

Merry Christmas to you all!!

Holiday Snowglobe Part Duex

I posted this about a year ago....I don't care...I'M posting it again..it's fun..and I love it!!

It's took some doing but..

I finally got my Christmas tree up

burp!

Bruce!

The email reads:


You purchased 2 tickets to: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street BandBankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, FL


Fri, Apr 18, 2008 07:30 PM





Got online yesterday just prior to 10:00am, when tickets went on sale. I was happy to get decent seats on the lower level (no general admission floor..I'm not into squuezing down there...I wanted reserved seats).

Once a Jersey girl, always a jersey girl. Bruce is dear to me..YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY