Friday night, I was lucky enough to be sitting 6 feet away from Martha Stewart.  She was doing a talk about her new book, Martha's Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations, put on by Rainy Day Books in Kansas City.  I was feeling terrible, did not want to go at all, but I knew that I needed to get it together and just go.  The ticket was $75, and when was I ever going to be in the same room with Martha Stewart ever again?  I took a shower, threw some makeup on, got in the car (by myself!), … [Read more...]

Today I am participating in “My 7 Secrets”, started by Tripbase, and it is explained as follows: “The idea is simple: bloggers publish 7 links from their blog to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.” I was nominated by Heather Clark from Cloggie Central.  I like this idea.  I think that it is always a good idea to go back and see what you have published with fresh eyes.  I normally do not … [Read more...]

Tonight I write with a heavy heart.  I had planned on sharing Ava's Tea Party with you, but on top that that terrible tragedy, there was another.  A fresh one.  One that hits hard.  I'll get to that in a moment. If you have never been a part of a close knit online community, I cannot really explain what it feels like.  How can you develop a closeness with people that you cannot see in person?  How can you identify with people that you have never actually had a coffee or dinner with?  … [Read more...]

Welcome to the August edition of "Things I am Loving".  First up is my new Keurig coffee machine.  I like coffee, but I hate making it.  I can make most anything from scratch, but I have a very hard time making a decent cup of coffee.  The Keurig cups solve this problem completely.  You put a cute K-Cup in the coffee machine, press a button, and two minutes later, you have a perfect cup of coffee.  Or tea, hot chocolate, chai latte, whatever strikes your fancy.  The K-Cups come in a ton … [Read more...]