2014 Gift Guide

It's the Friday after Thanksgiving. For the love of God, do not leave your house to go shopping. Please do not support the craziness that is Black Friday. Stay home and shop in your pajamas like normal people.

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For the stylish yet fitness obsessed female in your life, you cannot go wrong with an Athleta or Lulemon gift card. Or any one of these training journals would certainly be well received.

And for that dirty hippie in your family, soaps from The Tiny Farm Company. You can make up a basket full or just stuff their unwashed wool hiking socks with them.

Got a beer loving man, budding craft brewer, or whiskey distiller? Check out this stoneware growler, mini-beer pong set, or whiskey rocks.

Shopping for a foodie? Well how much do you want to spend? A great set of knives perhaps? A Cuisinart Food Processor?  A new cookbook? How about this super stylish cookbook/tablet holder for the home chef who already has a million cookbooks?

This sweet print would be perfect for child or gardener.

And for the person skilled in fiber arts. A gorgeous handmade yarn bowl.

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Gift giving doesn't have to involve stopping by your local Voldemart (the store which must not be named) and grabbing the first gift set that you see. Put a tiny bit of thought into your holiday gifts or at the very least just give a gift card to ensure that your offering isn't re-gifted or stuffed in a closet for all eternity. 

Blog It!

I'm 11 days post-op and doing great! I'll be back with an actual post pretty soon. For now, have some yummy links...

Allie really enjoyed the last decent snowfall we had. Which was oh...two years ago. Here's hoping Arkansas gets an actual Winter this year.

Children playing around the world.

Unschooling at its best.

Hilarious comparison of back to school then and now. I literally couldn't quit laughing.

Was Steve Jobs really a low-tech parent? This article says so, but I'm on the fence.

Homeschooling numbers in North Carolina surpass those enrolled in private school. Surprised?

Die responsibly.

July

This morning I went out to tend the animals and check the garden. I toted my iphone along to snap a few photos of the first of July. Welcoming another hot hot Summer month in the South.

I posted the following sunflower picture to Instagram along with the caption, "Happy July."

What I didn't post was a picture of the dead hen I found in the chicken pen. I don't know how she died, all I know is that it was a very unexpected portrait opportunity of death that I was not willing to document. I don't share a lot of the things that go wrong when raising animals or plants for that matter. For all the gorgeous garden pictures there are a thousand I could have taken of half eaten plants, flooded gardens, sick or dead livestock. But I don't and you probably don't either. People want to see the pretty. They want to keep that ideal of homesteading, tiny farming, large scale farming, CSA, etc. etc. etc. in their head. So we fill our Instagram and blogs and Twitter with the lovely filtered view of living in the country or wherever we have chosen to eek out a simpler way of life.

Just remember that the screen provides a pretty narrow view of reality.

A Few Things

 

 

Can Christmas Break last forever? Time to get back in the groove.

I might be a bit behind on this one but oh man I do love some Ryan.

More getting in the groove. Homeschool resolutions for 2014.

My daughters homework is killing me.

Homeschooling and frat houses. They have some similarities.

Three words for the critic in your head. Hands Free Mama nails it again.

The true cost of stuff.  Refer to this often. Think before you buy.

And finally. Colorado made history.

Favorite Things: The Guy Edition

Time for another gift post!

This one is for the main man in your life. Husband, boyfriend, father, brother. Once again, all gifts are from Etsy. Buy handmade! Support artisans!

 

Engraved Beer Growler $19.50

 

 

 

Waxed Canvas Artisan Apron $150

 

 

 



Wood Guitar Hanger $35

 

 

 

 

Men's Shaving Kit $25

 

 

 

 

Men's Knit Slouchy Hat $38

 

 

 



Looky

A few links for your Wednesday evening...

I would love love love to do this. I'll be on the lookout for the perfect journal for our family.


This looks like a great art project for our homeschool. Watercolors are my fav!

Gypsies!

Tara Stiles is a wise one. Her thoughts on competition and getting sucked in.

And a few of my favorite YouTube finds from this week:

 

Favorite Things

I'm already thinking about Christmas shopping.

Sorry.

I can't help it. October just does it to me. And I like getting my shopping over and done with quick so it can all be under the tree and out of the way while we are cooking and drinking and playing during the Holiday Season.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to be showing you all my favorite Etsy finds. This first list is for your wife or super awesome mom or best gal pal. I didn't search for these particular finds. I just scanned my favorites list that I have been compiling for years and pulled my favorites that were still for sale. Let's hope they find a home.

Guitar Pick Necklace-$24

I guess you have to be a KOL fan to appreciate this one.
Kings of Leon Original Illustration - $55

Jack Johnson Lyrics - $17.50

Mudpuppy Moonchimes - $68

Coral & Turquiose Earrings - $18

Japa Mala Prayer Beads - $40

Any and all phone cases from this shop.
NotAScratch

Arrow Ring- $18

Stacked Bracelets - $37








 

A Few Things...

Some days I just cannot tear myself away from the screen. The Internet can be a wonderfully entertaining place.

A few things I've seen lately....

Poor Jennifer...why won't they just leave her alone already?

Hands Free Mama - a new to me blog. The author had a great article on HuffPost about slowing down and practicing patience with children.

Are you a fellow primal/paleo/grain free eater? These are hands down the best grain free chocolate chip cookies. I bought her cookbook because these cookies were so amazing. The book is as well.

If I had the guts and the bone structure, I would chop off my notoriously long locks. These girls can pull it off, why can't I?

Wondering about the funny squash in the picture? Wonder no more!

Happy Happy Friday!

This is what I've been saying! Why are other countries so ahead of us when it comes to the safety of our food?


Bees. How they feed us and what we would lose if they were to go the way of the dinosaurs. Plus a Whole Foods giveaway.

We are headed on vacation next week and this will be one of our stops on a 2000 mile road trip. Who's been here? Any suggestions on navigating the huge park?

The Inverse Power of Praise. Just one among the hundreds of homeschooling gems by Heather Sanders.

And y'all my baby is reading! That is a whole 'nother post in itself but Sugarbaby loves her some books and when I saw that our favorite ranch dog has a series of I Can Read books I got really excited.

A few Design Mom gems that totally fascinated me. How We Shop and Eat in France & French Schools - One More Report.

She's Not Convinced

Hey y'all! I got a pre-nomination in the Best Parenting Blog category for Nickeloden Parenting Picks. I'd put the nifty little badge on here for y'all to vote if you like but I couldn't get the darn thing figured out. So for now if you are so inclined to vote, try this link and scroll down to the S's. I'll try later tonight after a jar of wine. Always helps me think better.

Wonder what my kids think of my "parenting" and this blog? I think this picture explains it just fine. The Monster can't make up his mind whether to smile about it or frown. Cashman loves me no matter what. And Sugarbaby? Well she is totally not convinced.

Eureka!

This! This is genius. This is what my next kitchen will look like, come hell or high water. I do not care what it takes.

I have come to the realization after seeing this that I hate cabinets on top. Hate them. And seriously y'all...I try not to say hate anymore. But really, I do. I have serious dislike for upper cabinets. I will not except anything less than a kitchen modeled after this one in my next home. Just think of the money you would save on cabinet design and installation. And the drawers! Oh my...the things you could do with drawers. Drawers for dishes, customized for whatever you needed.

I am in love.

And also, may need to win the lottery.

The Huge Gigantic Really Long Kind Of Boring Remodel Reveal Post

Well folks here it is. The moment all one of you have been waiting for. It took nearly a month to complete (and hell it's really not even done yet) and almost two weeks for me to get off my rear and post about it. It was hard y'all. I'm not even kidding. A major major disruption to the SugarBritches household and blog. I know I lost some lovely readers along the way but I swear on my cast iron skillet that I will ignore you no more. Now let's get on with it.

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I had originally planned on refinishing an old dining room table that belonged to SUMS's parents. It was without matching leaf but I was determined to have a table big enough to seat my family. I took the problem to our neighbor, an older gentleman you builds furniture as a hobby. He and his lovely wife sold us our house and are the perfect neighbors. He told me that turning the leaf I had scavenged into a leaf for the table wasn't going to be easy but it was doable. Then he turned to his wife and said, "Well, we have a table. We're downsizing to a smaller one. Why don't you come up and look at it." So I did. And then....they just gave it to me. Loaded it up and hauled it to my house. The kindness and generosity of true Southerners gets me every time.

It seats six without the leaf and 8-10 (in a pinch) with the leaf. I was blown away, speechless even. They wouldn't accept money, just kept telling me it was nothing. So I did what any good Southern woman would do...I baked. This Upside-Down Caramelized Apple Cake was the perfect choice.

recipe courtesy Southern Living

1/2 c. chopped pecans

2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided

3/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

1/2 c. butter, divided

2 tsp. brandy (which i didn't have so I used Rum, of course)

1 c. packed light brown sugar

3/2 c. granulated sugar, divided

2 large eggs, separated

3/4 c. milk

1/2 c. sour cream

2 c. all purpose baking mix (I used Bisquick)

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350. Bake pecans in a single layer in shallow pan 8-10 minutes until toasty and yummy smelling. Increase oven to 375. But remove pecans first. Okay?

Toss apple slices with lemon juice, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.

Melt 1/4 c. butter in a CAST IRON SKILLET (this is important y'all) over low heat. Remove from heat, stir in brandy or rum (mmmm RUM). Sprinkle with all of the brown sugar.

Sprinkle pecans over brown sugar and butter and RUM then arrange apples intwo concentric (wtf?) circles over pecans.

Beat remaining 1/2 c. butter with 1/2 c. granulated sugar with mixer until blended. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition. Add milk, sour cream, and remaining 1 tsp. vanilla, beating until just blended.

In separate bowl whisk together baking mix and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and nutmeg. Add dry mixture to wet mixture beating until just blended.

Beat egg whites in another damn bowl at high speed until soft peaks for. Gradually add 1/4 c. granulated sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter. Spread batter over apples in skillet.

Bake at 375 for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool in skillet 10 minutes. Then run clean sharp knife around edge. Invert cakeonto serving platter and enjoy the yummy goodness that is RUM, I mean Upside-Down Caramelized Apple Cake.

And for those of you who wish to submit yourselves to my amateur videographer skills, check out the vlog below. I sincerely apologize for turning you on your side part of the way into it. I really wasn't thinking as I was shooting and only after watching did I realize. Also, I'm too lazy to re-shoot. And if it makes you a little queasy then I am really really sorry. Otherwise, deal with it.

I really must learn how to shoot better video. The quality is so poor on Blogger, it looks much

better in my media player so again...sorry. I'll try to learn some tricks or get some better software before I attempt anything like this again.

I'm Super Busy So Here's Some Stuff...Cause I Love Ya

I have an old square dining room table to refinish, and I think I'm going to do this to the top of it.

This dude is talented. You know your kids would love this.

I'm a bad thrifter. I need to get better. Here's some tips.

Looks simple and Cash would flip over this for his birthday.

Not That I Would Ever Be On Death Row.

I'm cameraless. Being that the Nikon bit the dust, is taking a dirt nap, will no longer be with us anymore. Surely its not that bad. Nothing that a grand couldn't fix, except the little sucker keeps corrupting memory cards. Anyways...its humble replacement should be here tomorrow as long as the impending doom of the ice storm doesn't stop the UPS man. I do love the UPS man. Or men. As I have several. They deliver lots of packages to me. Oh yes...they do.

Being without proper photo fodder to blog about, I'm stealing an idea from another blog today. Now this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm on a strict "eat no more than 1200 calories a day" diet, because HEY! I'm down to 150lbs and that is totally worth all the self deprivation I'm putting myself through. I swear. Except ya know, losing weight is expensive. I need new clothes. Don't hate.

So here goes. What would you eat as your last meal on death row?

Here is my fantasy meal. Doesn't matter if I had hours to live or years. I would consume all of this without a morsel of shame.

Medium rare ribeye. Yummy juicy meaty goodness.

Loaded baked potato. Bacon and sour cream? Better than milk and honey.

Stuffed portobello mushroom. I prefer mine without tomatoes. I don't do tomatoes. Please include sausage and brie.


Dozen after dozen after dozen oysters. With lots of horseradish. And cold beer.

Fried crawfish tails. I could eat numerous baskets of these with that yummy roumalade dipping sauce from Cafe Rue Orleans.

Boiled shrimp. I will pretty much founder myself on boiled shrimp and crawfish.

Eggs Benedict. The BEST BREAKFAST EVER hands down. No arguments. I make a mean EB.

Cheesecake. If you don't like cheesecake I'm not sure we can be friends.

Chocolate cake. If you don't like chocolate cake there is something very very wrong with you.

And finally, chocolate milkshakes. Refer to the cheesecake and chocolate cake disclaimers.

And you dear readers?

Here We Are. Just You And Me. Alone. All Alone.

Well hellllllooo there friends!

Welcome to our new more private place. Some of you have asked about the back story on White Trash Barbie. She really is nobody important and hasn't caused me any problems, but she has caused a world of trouble for my sister. So this going private thing isn't so much because of her but more stemmed from some New Years Resolutions. One of them was to be more unplugged. I can't promise I will write everyday or every week even. But I know you guys will be here to listen when I do and I really do appreciate that.

So lets do a quick recap of the last few weeks.

Christmas came and went. The kids got mounds of toys. No pictures because my memory card crapped out and I'm too lazy, er broke, to buy a new one. But just imagine happy smiling SugarBritches babies surrounded by mounds of shiny wrapping paper. There you go. Good.

I got a gorgeous necklace with the babes names on it from The Vintage Pearl. I also got my bedroom remodeled. That one is still in progress. It is currently a lovely shade a grey and awaiting a new bed frame and light fixture. I'm sure the window treatments will be hung next week. Hopefully. Please lord let him get them up cause I'm tired of having to wear clothes in my room. I like being in my birthday suit.

New Years came and went. This we have a few pics of thanks to my friend J. I pilfered these off her Facebook page. This was the first New Years Eve night we've gone out since Cash was born. It was great fun as indicated by my glassy eyed state in the following photographic evidence.

And yes, that is a cigarette in my hand. I smoke when I drink, but no other time. I don't want to hear a word about it folks!

I'm still running. Not as often cause in case y'all are living in the tropics and don't know...baby its cold outside! I'm doing the treadmill as much as I can AND... AND...we got a Wii and Wii Fit for Christmas! Thank you so much GG! I've been doing the Wii Fit every day and I didn't gain a pound over the holidays and I'm now below 155lbs which hello! is a damn miracle. So the exercise and eating healthy is going well and I'm pleased to say that my resolutions are just as doable as last year's were so I've got a pretty good chance of succeeding. Maybe I'll share them with you. More on that later.

Okay so we've got another Girl's Night coming up weekend after next. This time it's a Mexican Margarita Fiesta! Tacos and tequila. Here's hoping I get my ass in gear and secure a new memory card so I can record all the fun for ya.

Also SUMS is having a birthday and I'm trying to plan a surprise party. We'll see how that goes.

Until next time....love ya, glad you're here, don't get mad if I don't post often enough. Also, remember when I'm private I won't show up in your reader so you might just have to come here and check in to make sure I'm alive. Make sure to check in on Friday nights cause that's when I get all tipsy and think I'm a brilliant blogger and one funny biotch. Which I'm not. But I think I am. So there.

Today

I am over here. Guest posting for my Bloggy BFF. See ya there.

Sharing Is Fun

Red wine makes me want to share the wonders of the Internet with you.....cause I love you all sooooooo much!


People of Wal-Mart - cause it just keeps getting better every time I visit.

Bubble Wrap Calendar - OMG I freakin love popping bubble wrap. Now it has a purpose.

Crazyoleez - great party favors. keep them away from people on an acid trip.

Triple Chocolate Sour Cream Brownie Bites - i'm totally making these for Cashman's Birthday school party. his teacher is going to luv me.

Night night Internetz.

Ummm ya. Okay.

So this day be speak like a scurvy pirate day. 'n no I don't normally speak like 'tis, but I typed 'tis into th' scurvy pirate tavern 'n 'tis be what I got. I find 'tis hilarious. Now watch 'tis. ye mama wears combat boots. ye rubber 'n I be glue whatever ye shout bounces 'o me 'n sticks to ye. me mama told me to pick th' extra best one 'n ye be not it. hardyharhar, no? Did ye understand a damn ta hell thin' I was sayin'? oh me god 'tis be fun 'n I don't think I can stop. What be th' word fer sex in scurvy pirate shout? Oh it appears to be sex. Darn. I was hopin' fer somethin' a wee wee bit more entertainin'. hi-ho grandma! don't worry folks, I be goin' to message a recipe 'n maybe some Sugarbaby Saturday photos. We've got some dress up planned 'n I be makin' yummy shrimp salad. Stay tuned. I promise th' next message won't be in scurvy pirate speak.

Anniversary Links

Today is my anniversary.

Even though I won't be participating in any anniversary type activities with my darling sweet husband, I also won't be blogging. It's kind of a present to him.

Oops.



Nest Treehouses

Floating Campground

The Most Beautiful China Ever

Hello My Name Is Heather

Crafty Book

Carrie Bradshaw's Tutu

Dear Seth Rogen,

Bravo my good sir! You are quite funny. Sidesplitting even. Your repertoire of slapstick stoner comedies is growing and catapulting you to comedic stardom.

I like you. I really do. I particularly enjoyed Knocked Up and Pineapple Express. But I'm afraid I have to share something with you.

I only have room in my heart for one cute, goofy, silly curly haired Jewish guy.
You know his name. He's had my heart since SNL 1994. Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore only sealed the deal. All movies after that were immediately added to my favorites. How sweet was Mr. Deeds? Winona Ryder ruined the whole thing, unfortunately. More recently Click and Spanglish showed me his more mature side. Oh baby he was hot in The Longest Yard and I just so happen to have Bedtime Stories in the Netflix queue right this moment.

You, Mr. Rogen are no Adam Sandler.

I realize you just finished filming a movie with Mr.Sandler himself, but let me assure you it is all about him. You are just a bit player.

Oh and by the way. Adam, if you are ever in Arkansas, call me.

Sincerely,
SugarBritches