I found these lovely little appetizers on Pinterest and made them last weekend for a dinner party. The picture doesn’t show the final product, which was drizzled in olive oil and balsamic reduction, but it does the little beauties justice. In addition to adorable, they are delicious! Little basil leaves wrapped around mozzarella balls and grape tomatoes…bite sized caprese salad!
Oh, and I made the cake plate – more on that in a later post 😉
Friday night we joined good friends Ryan and Lisa for dinner and the George Strait concert. It was the second time I’ve seen him and it’s honestly one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. The man may be getting older, but man can he still entertain! He hit all of my favorites; Run, Blue Clear Sky, The Chair and Amarillo by Morning – a favorite of both PW and I. We especially like that we have been in Amarillo, in the morning while listening to Amarillo by Morning. We’re nerds, we know.
The Iphone did not capture just how good our seats were…
I think the best part about George is he plays a ton of old stuff with a few new songs – so the result is a lost voice from singing along all night. We also had fantastic club level seats thanks to Ryan. Although when PW is enjoying himself, he is all. over. the. place in those rolling chairs…
I think my favorite was the encore. He opened with Fireman and then did a 10 minute long rendition of Folsom Prison Blues. It was really amazing.
The last time I saw him was about 7 years ago. My entire family was there and we had a box. PW was still in law school and completely annoyed because we kept calling him and singing to him despite the 2 hour time change. The best part was Mame was there and being a life long George fan, she was in heaven. And a little drunk. Which made for a lot of screaming and cheering. It was hysterical. It didn’t quite feel the same without her this time.
When we were kids, my favorite songs was All My Ex’s Live in Texas and (which we heard on Friday). The reason it was my favorite was because I thought it was about tic tac toe – like x’s and o’s. I would always ask Mame “Where do the O’s live?”. Her response varied from trying to explain that it wasn’t about tic tac toe to just responding “Tennessee – where his hat lives”. I was also a little baffled why he sang a song about Ocean Front Property in Arizona when we didn’t have an ocean. It was then that she would explain that there used to be an ocean, but not any more. Because trying to explain sarcasm to a 3 year old is just too much work … as I am learning myself.
Yesterday afternoon, B and I ventured out to a new farmer’s market with cousin Zoe and Christane. It was a great little set up with just a few booths selling local produce (at awesome prices) and a lot of vendors with jewelry, honey, hair clips, baby clothes, all kinds of thing I don’t need and yet feel the need to purchase.
One of the jewelry makers is a company called Tangerine Jewelry Shop. Even from far away the stuff was gorgeous. When I got up close, I was shocked to see how reasonably priced everything was. Some of the jewelry has real stones, which makes them a little pricier. But a lot of the stones were really colored and cut glass making for a lovely alternative for the financially challenged.
I picked up this little bauble for $30!
I’m seeing Christmas 2012 for all the ladies in the family coming together….! Check out what they have to offer on either their website, Etsy shop or at a farmer’s market. I will say, they have tons more a the markets than they do online so find out where they are going to be and bring your wallet, but don’t worry, it will still be full when you’re done.
It’s not my dog, but it is my kid and I can’t get over how cute this pic is!!
PW dreams of the day when we will own a home that has enough space for him to have his own office where he can hang whatever dead animal on the wall that he wants, watch ESPN all the time and smoke cigars. Until then, he’ll have to make due with his newest creation; the outdoor TV:
I bought this armoire at a neighbor’s yard sale like 3 years ago. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I knew I had to have it. I envisioned it on the patio full of pots of succulents – the pots never materialized, but three years in the elements gave it an awesome finish.
The finished product looks a little rough, but it wasn’t quite finished when I snapped this pic. I’m planning to put some pots around it to add a little greenery – right now you stare at the gas main and the grill (which PW thinks is AWESOME, because what man doesn’t like staring at his grill?). But unlike the succulents, a pot with a vine trailing over the side of the armoire is GOING TO HAPPEN.
I have to say, it is pretty cool. Peter also got to show off his manly man skills by removing the two shelves from the cabinet, sanding the inside to make the paint a little more even and then reusing the shelves to make a box to set the TV on. To say he is thrilled with his creation is an understatement. If it hadn’t started raining Sunday afternoon, he would probably still be out there. I think it’s greatness has yet to be realized but it’s coming during March Maddness. A little sun tan, a little beer and no waiting for a table at a sports bar? Priceless.
What am I going to do with 8 silver champagne coupes? Aside from sitting pretty in the hutch, I don’t have a clue…and yet for $20, I couldn’t leave them at the store. They were crying out for a good home. Fancy drink vessels need homes too.
Christmas is always a whirlwind of family parties, church, food and wrapping paper and this year was no different. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family – we were missing a few members this year to their in-laws, but we managed to adjust tradition and make it a beautiful holiday.
We kept with the tradition of the family sneaking all their gifts to one house so that the kids awake/arrive to a sea of presents. This year we hosted gift opening and it was a blast. PW and I both went to Bay’s room when she woke up and the first question out of her mouth was “did Santa come?”. We told her yes and that he had eaten his cookies and milk and that the reindeer loved their carrots. Her response? “did he put his dishes in the sink?”. Clearly she is my child.
She got to open one gift first thing – her new backhoe scooter – complete with a tool kit. What? Not everything has to be pink and pretty! She loved that she would have something that she could get around on quickly (she hasn’t quite mastered her trike yet) when she plays with Britain down the street.
She beeps when she backs up
“rip and tear!!”
Once she was done opening her presents, she asked for a “time out” in her crib. Which I think was a nice way of saying “overloaded”
“Boots like Morgan!!!”
We switched up our usual schedule a bit which left Christmas day afternoon open – which meant plenty of mimosas at brunch and a nice long nap for the whole family. The best part was that we had several friends stop by. Normally getting together with friends means much planning and coordinating of calendars, but the shared day off by all meant lots of very welcome impromptu visitors. We got to catch up with a great friend and best man from our wedding, Ryan and by Baylor’s Godfather Joe and his fiance Brandy. There was also a convoy of new bikes, scooters and cars with the neighborhood kids while the parents sat on the patio and sipped champagne. It was a perfect holiday.
After Bay had gone to bed last night, PW and I enjoyed our gift from my parents, a 2007 bottle of Cakebread Cabernet (we typically by wine base on the fact it’s under $15, not so much on the year). We were snuggled on the couch when PW looked over at the coffee table full of new Legos and said:
“Your Lego tower is pretty wonky”.
“It’s a tree” I replied.
“Wow. That’s a pretty crappy tree.”
“Listen, I don’t work at Lego Land, ass. Use your imagination!”
Thank you all for reading The Goon Room, for all your comments and words of advice. I’m grateful for all of them! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with family, friends, memories and much happiness.
Hand print Santa by Baylor Wand
I love looking at all our friend’s smiling faces!
It wouldn’t be Christmas without torturing Bear with some antlers.
1. Boots like Morgan (her best buddy has a rad pair of green galoshes)
2. Presents.
Well said little lady!
Baylor had her first Christmas play last week and to say it was adorable is an understatement. I have been hearing bits and pieces of Christmas songs like Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Angel and Are You Sleeping? for weeks so I was excited to actually hear the songs in their entirety.
Room 1 was lead in by their fearless (I think that’s actually part of her job description) leader, Teacher Jackie. They sang three songs with no tears and only a few wiggles. If there was a picture of Peter, me, my mom and his mom, we would have all looked like giggling idiots – my face hurt from smiling.
Ready to belt it out
Finally spotted Mom, Dad, Grandma and Noni
Hand motions for the “like an angel in the sky” part
Proud of their performance
I love this – they hold hands when they walk somewhere – B and her buddy Morgan know the drill
Growing up, we had the most beautiful nativity scene. It was all carved wood and was incredibly detailed and had so many people – it was like a religious Barbie house to me. I loved playing with it. I like staging all the figurines, hiding baby Jesus and enjoying every minute of it.
As an adult, I had a hard time finding an equally beautiful manger scene that was kid friendly. But then I came across a hand-made set at a silent auction for Circle the City charity (amazing amazing amazing. If you don’t know, find out). I was stalking a bid I had made on a bedding set for Baylor and noticed the adorable figures. They are all knitted and include the three wise men, shepherds and sheep, a donkey, camel and of course the holy family and an angel. The auction was closed for it, so I asked the lady collecting the cards if she could give me the information for the person who made them. The lady said she didn’t have it, but if I would give her my info, she would have the lady contact me.
Flash forward 3 months and I got a call from Sister Joan. I had no idea who sister Joan was, but when a nun calls you, you listen. She explained she was driving to Arizona from California and that she had my manger scene for me. Huh? I confirmed that it was for me and not someone else since I had only been interested in knowing how much one cost…and yet now I apparently owned one. Or at least I was going to own one, once I knew how much it cost. To keep it brief, I almost drove off the road when Sister Joan told me what the winning bid was for the nativity scene at the silent auction. But she then told me that the lady who make the scenes donates them to Circle the City so whatever amount I wanted to donate was perfectly fine. I decided on a number that didn’t make me want to choke and handed over the check and collected my goodies.
Bottom line? Worth every penny. The best part about the figurines is that there is not much that could destroy them so Bay is free to play to her heart’s content. She had baby Jesus in her baby buggy and was pushing him around because “His mommy Mary said it was ok”. Just love it.
The whole gang..happy at home in the hutch.
The wise men
The shepherds and the camel
The Fam – I love the donkey hiding behind them!
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