Lazy Saturday ... Bliss

We decided to "check out" of Saturday and forego everything from mani/pedis, shopping, parties and football watching at the sportsbook, to just be lazy ... it was awesome, I can't remember the last lazy day we had. Shhh .. I haven't even cleaned once and there are dirty dishes in the sink ... The dogs enjoyed it too Rebel is famous for his sleeping style.

Welcome home Kate Spade ...

We decided to check out the San Gennaro festival ... (aka Italian festival) in Summerlin last night, it was a great deal of fun with so many types of food on a stick ... frozen cheesecake on a stick, fried hot dogs, fried pb&j, italian sausage and peppers ... and Limoncello shots, which Alex was not thrilled with ...

Friends Alex and Shane joined Stephanie, Jim, Steve and me ... we had cocktails (mojitos) and guac at the house while Pickles entertained us with his classical piano playing ...

I made the MOST delish homemade guacamole, thanks to Mary's guidance ... I have now discovered that this, combined with hand muddle Mojitos is the way to Jim's heart, meanwhile his other half picks fun ...

I guess the festival was a good idea ... look at that traffic!!!

Meet Kate Spade, the newest member of our family - despite what others might say, she is not an overpriced fish, nor did I pay off the toothless carnie to get her, dammit i got the ping pong ball in the vase and won my designer fish fair and square! Kate Spade is really a doll, can't wait for you all to meet her.

Stephanie loved the festival, she used phrases such as "Holy Wow" and "I feel like I am going to have fun!" .... However, she was a little overwhelmed by nights end and not enjoying italian-americans as much as she had anticipated when the adventure began.

So we decided to ride the Ferris Wheel, it was a bit high for me, but nonetheless it had a nice strip view and was a fun relaxing carnival treat ... Look at all the people down below noshing on italian delights ... who knew there were so many people off strip ...

After seeing how disgusting I look (thanks Prednisone for the 20lbs weight gain), I decided to spruce my self up with a tatoo ... I was drunk enough to take the pain ... so for those of you that said it would happen 'when pigs fly' ... well theres one flying on my ankle now ... my clearly water retaining, puffy ankle ...

While I got tat'd the crew played some checkers, from the looks of it, it was quite the intense game ... I wonder if Shane is used to Ferrell style competition?

My favorite carnival trash can ...


Alex is so vogue with her 'blind' style sunglasses and tiger like poses ..

Jim, always a good uncle, made sure Kate Spade made it safely to the car!

Prepare yourselves ... Stephanie has landed

To give you an idea of my weekend, here is MY itinerary, kindly detailed and emailed to me by my sister, I love how she plans my weekend out:

Hey, thanks again for letting us come visit and stay w/ ya'll. We appreciate it. We are excited about see ya'll and celebrating xxxx's 30th birthday. I can't wait for you to meet her, she's one of my best friends and is an absolute hoot.

Thursday night: 6:30pm: Flight # Delta xx- Jim's flight. 9:43pm: Flight # Delta xxxx- Stephanie's flight. (Note how smart Jim was to take a separate flight, genius I tell you)

We MAY go meet xxxx and her husband but I am not positive about that, I'd love for ya'll to join but understand you have to work on Friday. Not sure if we will do that or not, we will just have to see how we feel and if they are out of Cirque du Soleil.

Friday: 7:30am: Jim and I will take you to work. (Note this is because they are taking Patti Pathfinder) Then we are headed off to the Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon and Death Valley. (Wow! Has she looked at a map, that is more than a day trip) I think we will be back by lunch if you want to do lunch together, we can play that by ear. Otherwise, we may get a bite at the house or Chipotle (Jim) and head to the strip to do some cheezy sight seeing. 5:00pm: Pick you up from work Cook out at your place or go somewhere for dinner, whatever you want to do. I really would like to go to old Las Vegas that evening.

Saturday: I kind of have to adhere to xxxx's schedule, b/c this is her birthday day. I know her party is from 4-7 in some room at the Treasure Island hotel. She is having an open bar and hours de vours. At 7:22 or somewhere around then, she wants to go to the front of Treasure Island to see the ship sink. After that, I know she wanted to play the crapps table and go dancing. Whether this actually happens we will see. Jim said no exception he wants to be at the sports book at noon for the GA game. No matter what we do I will need to change before her party into some fun clothes.

Sunday: Steph's flight leaves at 9:42am. (whew, thank goodness for morning flights) Jim's flight leaves at 10:46am. (again, note the intelligence of separate flights ... she says it was b/c of sky miles, I think Jim needed a bit of peace in his life)

If you don't mind we would love for you to take us to the airport. We probably should both be there by 8:00am. If you don't want to wake up or you are hungover we can take a cab. Just most hotels offer complimentary shuttle rides, HA HA HA HA HA! (Really, has she stayed at a hotel in Vegas lately, hello yellow cab ... I shall hail her one, ha ha ha ha)

As far as what we need in the house: we can get most of it when we get there, maybe go to the grocery store and pick up some eggs, bread and turkey for breakfast and lunch stuff, plus alocohol. If you have toothpaste and some shampoo that would be awesome. If not let me know, so I can go buy the minies. (We did provide toilietries)

Thanks again, we are super excited! See you Thursday night!

Stephanie is amused by the exercise equipment in the backyard ...

The poor man who married her

Note where Simon is ... he's not stupid ... would you get in her lap ... a little scary isn't she

This is so me ... right?

This screams me ... the coy look, the tire swing ... real sugar and real tea ...

I have an entirely new outlook on life today

Note: Sweet Tea Vodka is not sold in Nevada ... can anyone ship for me?

Alcoholism has never been so good ... southern inspired vodka, its like they know me

Firefly Distillery - Wadmalaw Island South Carolina: "Firefly Distillery products currently include:

Firefly Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka
Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka is the distillery's newest product on the market. The product is an infusion of American Tea and Firefly Vodka. Firefly Distillery is proud to bring true southern products to the marketplace. (70 proof)

Firefly Muscadine Wine Flavored Vodka
The inspiration for a muscadine wine flavored vodka came from the 11.5 acres of vineyard where the distillery is located. As the muscadine grape is native to the South, Firefly is a southern distillery. The muscadine infusion creates a smooth sippin' vodka that is easily imbibed. (80 proof)"

So last night I purchased the Muscadine Wine Flavored Vodka ... I mean really the only thing that would have make my cocktail better would have been to enjoy it on an indoor/outdoor carpeted front porch of a double wide somewhere in South Georgia with purlah ... mmm mmm, watching Nascar or my tank topped baby daddy fixin' our truck.

Now, to find out about this sweet tea version, it's pure bliss I tell you.

Even better, with their limited distribution, they have it in Nevada ... again, its like they know me.

Drink up deer friends, drink up. I would suggest mixing with a Wal-mart brand lemon lime beverage to keep the authenticiy ... no name brand tonic or uppity martini mixers ... no sir.

This pairs well with SPAM, bologna, hot dogs, any style BBQ or fried pork chops ... fried catfish would make a nice pairing as well.

Qualifying Your Lowe's Paint "Expert"

Crackle shouldn't be hard, it looked so simple yet professed to yield such great results. It might have if my Lowe's paint consultant knew what she was doing ... my friends, if you learn one thing from this today ... check the background of your Lowe's expert, it will save you gobs of time, money and paint.

I should have a "weathered" look on two dressers ... you be the judge

This didn't turn out quite as planned, thanks to a color-blind Lowe's 'expert' ... oh well, I can alway do it all over again - Martha would!!!

This is the guest room dresser - linen ended up beign green but darn it if I didn't weather the top well!

Martha's Little Helper - observing so he can do his own projects later

After a long night of painting, no one really wanted to get out of bed this morning ... such sleepy creatures they are.

Etta Mae is always lounging, even when she doesn't stay up late! She's also a bed hog!

Your money and your life: The cost of living to 100 - Sep. 8, 2008

Your money and your life: The cost of living to 100 - Sep. 8, 2008\


Fiscal Fitness can show you how ... www.mattandjack.com

Your Money - Fannie, Freddie and You - What It Means to the Public - NYTimes.com

Your Money - Fannie, Freddie and You - What It Means to the Public - NYTimes.com

What the Candidates' Proposals Mean for Consumers (Bank of America) at SmartMoney.com

What the Candidates' Proposals Mean for Consumers (Bank of America) at SmartMoney.com

Sunday ... Dead Pools, Paint and BBQ

Well, we are almost unpacked and life should go back to normal ... if we know what normal is around here ... I picked paint colors today - for those concerned the guest room will be "lettuce" by Eddie Bauer :) Steve chose Jade Bath for the master ... it actually is really nice.

In my trip to Lowes I decided to embody Martha Stewart and take on the task of "weather crackling" the dresser that is now in the kitchen ... I am so not Martha and that dresser is so not crackled ... I will put another top coat on it and see what happens. I was so motivated to do the desk and the guest room dresser, now, not so much.

Do you see crackling?

I came home from Lowe's to find our trailer park blow-up pool (don't laugh, it comes in handy) was leaking. Apparently my Big Lots bargain was no match for the railroad tie it was resting on ... so armed with a roll of duct tape Steve and I embarked on a VERY unsuccessful patching journey ... sadly, she didn't make it.
For those of you visiting soon, room rates have gone down, as we can no longer offer swimming as an amenity here. The duct tape did make a flood a slow leak, so I suppose it could be a successful attempt.

So we grilled some burgers ... well charred them (I think a new grill is in order), and Etta Mae cleaned up the grill for us, she's so good at that ...

Pickles lounged ... i.e. he was "makin' bacon" ...

Here is the living room, minus the "wicker basket" paint color that so needs to be applied ... anyone out there up for painting? Oh yeah and that 500 lb mirror needs to be hung ...

Since the loss of the pool, I decided to spend the evening with a refreshing Mojito, so my friends, here is the recipe for the most rewarding cocktail around ...

1 Lime

6+ Sprigs of Mint

1 1/2 - 3 TB of Sugar (depending on taste

1-3 oz of Rum (Depending on Stress level)

Soda

Muddle the juice from the lime, mint, sugar and a splash of soda in a glass. Muddle until you can distinctively smell the mint ... a muddler is best, but the back of a spoon will do. Add your rum and pour over ice (crushed is the best), top with soda water. Garnish with a mint sprig and a lime quarter ... put your feet in your fast fading pool and enjoy the 10% desert humidity and cool night air.