Getting To Know You Thursday - Back to the Future... or Past

My SIL mentioned a few days ago that posted on her Facebook page was a reference to Back to the Future.  It was supposedly the day that Michael J. Fox was to travel 25 years into the future.  I did find out that the date they mentioned in the movie was actually in October, but the mistake got me thinking - if I could travel to another decade in the past for just a day or two, which decade would I choose?

Some of you may know that I grew up in the 80's, or was a teen in the 80's.  I love the 80's.  I love the big hair, neon clothes and jewelry, the cute baggy jeans with the boxers sewn into the top of them.  I love my pink marbled Guess jeans and pink sweatshirt, sweater vests, leggings with long sweaters and the music and movies.  Love, love the 80's!  But, been there, done that. 

If you know me very well, you know I have a love for Little House on the Prairie and all things Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The pioneer days are very intriguing to me.  While I hate history in class, I am very interested in how people lived their every day lives.  I love the idea of living off the land, but I'm not interested in having to kill my supper.  I love the horse and buggies, but I'd miss Big Red (Hubby's SUV).  I love that the food they ate wasn't processed, but I'd hate to be without a drive-thru in a pinch.  Don't even get me started on the lack of indoor plumbing, the hot dresses and the pantaloons (I'd miss Victoria's Secret too).  I love the idea of the pioneer days and while I'm not necessarily a high maintenance kind of girl, I do know my limitations.  Nope.  The pioneer days wouldn't be my choice either.

I think I'd have to choose the late 50's or early 60's.  Somewhere between Happy Days and Mad Men.  The times just seem to be simpler back then.  Women were women and men were men.  Women stayed home and sent their husbands off to work.  They kept the kids at home and could let them out of the backyard into the neighborhood without the worries we have today.  Families ate dinner together most nights and there didn't seem to be such an emphasis on extra curricular activites that take away from family time.  Things were more wholesome.  You could sit down and watch TV with the whole family at night.  Shows like Leave It To Beaver, I Love Lucy, and my favorite The Donna Reed Show and Father Knows Best and of course favorites like Bonanza and The Rifleman. 

Cast of Father Knows Best

Who can resist the music of the 50's:  Elvis, Bill Haley and the Comets, Bobby Darin, etc.  Travelin' Man by Ricky Nelson is one of my favorites (it was released in '61, I think).  My dad, who has an awesome voice, sang it once at one of the Disney Resorts where they were doing kareoke and it stuck with me.  I can't hear it without thinking of my daddy.

I love the fashion of the 50's too.  I do love the poodle skirts, sweaters and saddle shoes, but also the haute couture of the day. 

Dress by Jonathan Logan, circa 1954

Baker Sportswear, John French Photographer

Seventeen Magazine, 1954.

Granted, the swimsuits left a little to be desired, especially for a girl like me with a bigger bottom half.  That middle suit would've made a girl like me look like she was wearing a circus tent. 

The movies of the 50's are some of my favorites too.  I love Sabrina ('54), Roman Holiday ('53), An Affair to Remember ('57) and one of my VERY favorite Christmas movies, White Christmas.  Looove these movies!

Anyway, the 50's would definitely be my decade of choice.  Which decade would you choose?  Would you pick a decade you haven't already lived through or would you go back in time to a decade you really enjoyed?

Fleur De Lis Plate

I found two plates on clearance at Wal-Mart a few months ago and bought them for a couple of bucks, knowing I would use them eventually.  They were just simple white melamine plates.  I knew I wanted some plates to decorate the walls or possibly the top of my cabinets. 

I decided to use the green spray paint I bought a few weeks ago on one of the plates.  Then I found a picture of a fleur de lis on yahoo images and traced it from the computer screen (don't tell my Hubby I did that).  Then I used graphite paper to trace it onto my plate and went over the lines with a Sharpie. 

Then I filled in my lines with black craft paint.  Easy peasy!  It doesn't look perfect if you examine it, but up on the cabinets, it looks fine. 

                                       

I'd say that's good for a couple of bucks.

I'm linking this project to: 

    

 

Country Club Squash

As I have mentioned before, my Southern Living Cookbook is my favorite.  It is stained with bacon grease that popped out of the frying pan and pancake batter that splashed out of my mixer.  It is dirty and gross and I love it.  The recipe I am sharing today is from that cookbook. 

Growing up, I hated squash.  Funny how things change.  Now, I love squash and zuchini and will eat it just about any way you cook it.  But, this is one of my favorite recipes.  I made it at my Mom's for the 4th to go along with that awesome port tenderloin and Jamie's version of Crash Hot Potatoes (which totally rock) as well as Mom's Broccoli Casserole and Hot Corn.  YUM!

Country Club Squash

Ingredients

2 lbs yellow squash, sliced

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup water (I skip the water since the squash holds so much water.  I've never missed it.)

1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1 cup soft breadcrumbs

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2 teaspoon paprika

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled



Directions

Cook squash and onion in 1/2 c boiling water until tender; drain and mash.

Combine squash with sour cream, salt, pepper, and basil. Pour into a greased 2 quart casserole.

Combine breadcrumbs,cheese, butter, and paprika. Sprinkle over squash mixture. Top with bacon.

Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.
 

It doesn't look so appetizing, but it's really very good.

I'm linking up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace.

The 4th At The Lake

Family.  Food.  Fireworks.  Fourth of July.  It doesn't get any better than that.  My brother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece came up from Houston for a few days.  We have had a great time catching up and visiting with them.  We've stayed up into the wee hours of the mourning talking, laughing and eating.  C and my niece M are only a month apart in age and have such a good time together. 

On Sunday, we all loaded up and headed to Mom and Dad's.  My aunts and my favorite cousins were alrady there, as well as my sister's family and my brother.  We spent the day eating, boating, swimming, tubing, sunning, etc. 

The kids on the dock timing their jump into the water.

The temperature was perfect, not too hot and humid, which is a miracle for July in Arkansas.   E was a little upset because she couldn't swim, but she was very good overall. 

E on the dock with her cast wrapped in a Wal-Mart bag - just in case.

We watched fireworks from the deck while we visited, which was really great because it was pretty, but not loud.  It was a great day. 

Today we are super excited to go to my MIL's house and see Hubby's grandmother and "Aunt" Kathy, who is in from Quatar.  Kathy is a teacher at an international school and only comes back to the states once or twice a year.  It's gonna be great to catch up. 

How was your 4th of July?

We Had A Little Accident

No, I am not pregnant.  Not that kind of accident.  E had a little accident Thursday night.  She was on the top bunk when J reached up to tickle her and she reacted and fell off the bed and landed on her arm.  Her elbow was swollen to twice the size of her other arm.  We went to the E/R and after a few hours, the doctor told us she had a broken humerus.  It's broken right above her elbow.  This broken bone stuff is whole new territory for us.  Neither Hubby or I have ever broken a bone, nor have our brothers and sisters or our kids...until now.  My poor baby!  They put a splint on it in the E/R and we got her real cast Friday morning.  She will keep it at least four weeks.  She has been a very big girl through this whole thing.  She barely cried at all. 

Sweet little girl with her big ole pink cast!

SHOW US YOUR LIFE...WHAT DO YOU MAKE?

Kelly and Kelly's Korner blog is hosting Show Us Your Life...What Do You Make McLinky and I am linking up.  For those who don't know me, I make children's clothing as well as bibs and burpies.  I admit to being a bit of a fabric snob.  I love designer fabric.  Some of my favorite designers are Heather Bailey, Amy Butler, Jennifer Paganelli, Sandi Henderson and Paula Prass.  Feel free to check out some of my favorite outfits on my Flickr page or join my Facebook page.  See this post for my latest outfit.

I am currently on a three week break while my kids are out of school.  Check back with me or contact me for more information about custom clothing.  Thanks for stopping by.

Getting to Know You Thursday, Movies

All of this media coverage on the Twilight series and the release of Eclipse last night at midnight got me thinking about all the young 'uns (and not so young 'uns) that are obsessed with these movie, myself included. Movies are my favorite form of escape. Some people drink or do drugs to escape, but my addiction is the cinema.

Of course, my favorite type of movies are romantic comedies. I looooved The Proposal. I love to laugh and I'm a hopeless romantic so romatic comedies are my go to genre. I also love just straight romance chick flicks. I have seen The Notebook probably fifty times and I cry every time.

I do enjoy action/adventure as well, like all of The Bourne series. Jason Bourne rocks! Also, The Last Samuari was WONDERFUL! There are some movies that really make me want to be involved in making movies in some form or fashion. Lots of people know that I wanted to be an actress, but this movie is so beautifully shot, that being any part of it must have been amazing.

I love movies that tell a good story. I think I'm a little more open-minded about some movies that a lot of people I know. I haven't seen a lot of foreign films, but the few I've seen, I've really enjoyed. Rabbit Proof Fence is the movie that comes to mind. Very good film.

Suspense/mystery/crime movies also fascinate me , but I do not like horror movies. I am a chicken butt! I am a scaredy cat. I don't like to be scared. I have nightmares. It's not fun for me or Hubby when I have nightmares. No thank you! I can't even get through the first minute and a half of Halloween because the music is so scary. No way Hosea! I don't enjoy blood, guts and crazy psychotic/sociopath killers.

I do enjoy a few musicals, namely Grease, Grease 2 and South Pacific and of course The Sound of Music. In fact, Hubby gets tired of watching them with me, because I recite the words and sing the songs. He says, "I want to hear Olivia Newton-John sing. I can hear you sing anytime." I have been known to break into "High on a hill was a lonley goatherd, yodelady, yodelady, yodelay hee hoo" while driving down the road. I'm pretty sure my kids think I'm nuts, not to mention that guy at the redlight whose windows were rolled down. And seriously, can anybody watch Grease without doing The Handjive and The Stroll? I think not!



I will admit, I'm not a big fan of sci-fi. I don't generally like aliens and space ships and stuff. Although, Avatar was excellent!!! It was the exception for me. I don't get in to superhero movies either. Not my thing.

One thing you may not know is that I looove old movies. I love Doris Day. The Thrill of It All (with Doris Day and James Garner), That Touch of Mink, Pillow Talk, Send Me No Flowers, With Six You Get Eggroll, the list goes on and on. I also loved the original The Women and Yours Mine and Ours. I think I was born in the wrong era.
On the rare occasion that Hubby and I get to have a date, you will almost always catch us at the movies. Sometimes we will go see two or three in a row. I am soo thankful that Hubby is so open-minded about movies. He has no problem watching "chick-flicks". He loves The Notebook as much as I do. Although he does make fun of me for watching too much Lifetime Movie Network.

When Hubby was growing up, his mom would go and rent four or five movies and get lots of junk food (ice cream was her fave - Blue Bell, specifically) and they would have marathon movie days. We love to do that too. The few times we have gotten to go away for our anniversary, we spend at least one day in bed watching movies. I looove sitting in my favorite jammies with a big ole bowl of Movie Theatre Butter popcorn and a Dr. Pepper and watching a few movies together. The only thing that would make it better would be watching them without having to pause them fifteen times per movies because of the kids.

So, what type of movies do you like? What's your favorite? What snacks are a must during movie time?

Just for the record, I'm team Jacob. I'm old enough to be his mother, but that boy is beautiful!