Valentine's Day Dinner

First I started with dessert because life is short and nothing is certain so I believe in having the best first.

I took a cupcake stand and embellished it.

All it took was a little ribbon and some hot glue.

Then I made a chocolate ganache that I dipped my cupcakes in

I decorated the cupcakes

Then I stacked them on the cupcake stand



The guests all brought a dessert too. There was Kaluha Cake,
Truffles
and cookies galore.

And that was just the dessert.

The table was set with chocolate roses for the ladies,
Pop Rocks and Conversation Hearts for the men.


It was a wonderful evening filled with good food, fun and friends. What better way to spend a holiday - celebrating Valentine's Day!

Show a Little Heart

My son wants to do a fund raiser for the American Heart Association. So, he said, "Why don't we make some Danish Hearts?"

"Okay," I said, but "then what?"

He's planning to sell them on the street and donate all the money to help fight heart disease.

I think this is a great way to Show a Little Heart and really celebrate the day of Love by giving back a little Love.

I'm thinking of putting a little candy inside and letting him see what he can get for them.

It's fun crafting and even more fun when you know it's for a good cause.

Pinterest. . .

Have you heard of it?

I hadn't until a few days ago, when Jovan told me I needed to check it out. So, I did. And I think you should check out this article.

If you're on Pinterest tell me how you use it, what you like about it, your favorite use of it.

I'm just now seeing what it's all about and I can use all the help I can get.

Being Human - UK version

I've been enjoying the UK version - not so much the American show - now I hear that (SPOILER ALERT - DON'T READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW) Mitchell, George and Nina are all on to other things. Now I love Annie, but how's she going to carry the show all on her own?

This is depressing.

I'm glad for Mitchell going off to Australia to do The Hobbit but why does Nina have to get killed.. . ?

I read all this on accident...well, to tell you the truth, I was warned by a spoiler alert but I didn't heed the warning. And, now, I'm :(

Anyone else out there watch the UK version?

I think the acting is better and the show less predictable. But, if you haven't been watching it, you can Netflix it and watch a few episodes to see what you think and, if you do, let me know what you think then we can commiserate together :( :( :(

The Oregon Book Awards - April 23, 2012

Literary Arts and The Oregonian Invite You to Make Your Choice!

This year's Oregon Book Awards finalists have been announced! To see a complete list, visit www.literary-arts.org and read the works. Don't forget to cast a vote for your favorite.

The Oregonian will calculate the votes and the winner of the Readers' Choice Award will be announced at the ceremony in April. It's a great opportunity to read amazing literature by Oregon authors.

Don't Forget: The 25th Oregon Book Awards ceremony takes place April 23, 2012 at the Gerding Theater at the Armory.

Movie Review Monday - The Grey

My husband picked this film because he has a man-crush on Liam Neeson (well as an actor) he thinks he's the Cats Meow or at least the epitome of what an actor should be. And . . . that may be all well and good and even true but The Grey took more than a few liberties in the name of entertainment.

First off, when they say in the film that wolves are the only animals that hunt for revenge, I'd say right away you have to think of humans as the only animal who hunts for revenge. I'm not saying that a wolf or even a dog won't remember that someone has committed an act of abuse against it, it will and it might even get mad enough to turn on its owner if it continues. But, I've never heard of one hunting for revenge.

Next, with all the dead bodies laying around, those wolves would have been feasting for weeks - and since the bodies were buried in the snow partially they wouldn't have rotted too quickly. Why would the wolves waste precious energy and risk wolf lives to go hunt people who were going to fight back with fire, sticks and knives, when they had a cache of easy picking food available? They wouldn't have.

And when they swung across the crevice, I doubt anyone would have made it (and if they had made it across the great divide) I'm not too hopeful they would have survived the impact . . . had the clothesline been able to hold their weight.

But the worst offense of all to my survivor girl instincts was when John and Pete plummeted into the icy water, they would have died of hypothermia within a couple of minutes...at the most. And where the heck did Liam get the dry clothes? Because if those weren't dry clothes he would have definitely died for hypothermia.

All in all I have to say this was a suspenseful fantasy more than fiction. I think the acting was good but . . . and this is a BIG but...I wouldn't recommend the film. It was too fraught with fantasy for my liking...

I know, I know, I love zombie, vampire and werewolf movies so what the heck am I talking about? Well, this movie was compared to ALIVE - and meant to simulate real life, no vampire, zombie or werewolf movie makes that claim, at least none that I know of.

Sew Simple Valentine's Day

It's less than two weeks away so we'd better get busy if we want to create any homemade gifts.

Here's one we all can make and even the kids can do it with us.

Take some felt and cut a simple strip.



Then take some red yarn and a needle with a large eye.


Simply thread the yarn back and forth through the felt.

Use whatever heart shape you have around the house, to cut out a red felt heart (I used a keyring) then glue or sew a red heart piece of felt on the white "bookmark"


WAH-LAH! A homemade gift from the heart ;)