And the BLUE RIBBON goes to (drum roll please)...

My mother, Linda J. Faulkner, the world's greatest arstist that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting as well as the great fortune to study under has completed the first in a series of family portraits! May I have the pleasure of introducing you to...

"American Condo"!

Now that the intoduction has been made please take a moment to soak it in folks...

Have you REALLY soaked it in or are you still reading? That's what I thought. I'll give you a moment!

Okay, now that you have truly soaked in every detail and nuance, here are the proud owners and models of said Wonder Portrait!

If you don't get it, then let me help give you a little nudge...

"American Gothic"

I think that this concept is just fabulous. I can't wait for the second in the series! Which one of us will it be and as which famous painting? Send in your votes folks!

Linda, please take a HUGE bow and accept this award! You deserve it!

Christmas Eve and Thoughts of Home...

I think sadly that my overly cheerful holiday spirit, and giddieness (is that even a word?) wore off a few days ago. I have really been struggling to find Classic Holiday Christmas Shows on tv. It's bumming me out that I can't even settle in on the couch wrapped in a blanket and watch The Nutcracker Ballet on PBS like I did as a kid. Can someone tell me when did they take it off the air? Aw, how time flies and cherished things just fall by the wayside. I am finding myself sitting here on my couch on Christmas Eve working on my blog as I envision my loved ones all snuggled together in my Aunt's home eating Ham and the famous Awsome Potatoes! Ariel you know if I was there that we would be fighting over the last spoonful! Not sure who would win but it would be a bloody battle for sure!

Instead of any Christmas movies on the tv The Bear and I are watching Monty Python's Holy Grail. That movie never fails to give me belly laughs no matter how many times you watch it.

So my lovelies, each and everyone of you have a Wonderfully Merry Merry Christmas Eve. Raise a glass of Nog and toast to all the loved ones near and far.

Enjoy these photos from my mother. They are from Quail Hollow State Park. I just couldn't resist throwing up a photo of Casper the wonder snow dog.

Merry Merry! I hope Santa visits you all tonight and brings you exactly what you wish for.

Far Away Loved Ones and a Christmas Train...

As promised here are some more photos that my mother has sent me. Again here are my lovely Grandparents along with the Bear and I. My mother took this lovely photo of us while the Bear and I were in Ohio for Thanksgiving. Aren't we sucha cute group? Well as my mother was discussing one evening with my grandparents about putting up their Christmas decorations, she suggested to my Grandfather that he get a train for under the tree. Well he thought long and hard about it, did some research and low and behold there is now a train in the family! See, here's proof!

I'm just sorry that I can not be there to see it in person. This is the first year that the Bear and I are not traveling home to Ohio for Christmas.

Enjoy that train my lovelies!

Photos by Mom!!

Okay, here's the thing. I sometimes go home for a visit and take tons of pictures and sometimes I seem to even forget that I own a camera because I'm so busy having fun with family and friends. Well we went home to Ohio for Turkey Day and it seemed to be one of those I forgot about the camera visits. Thankfully my oh so wonderful mother had her camera out at every chance. Therefore I have enlisted her to pass along her photos. She is slowly sending me some pictures that I will keep adding to my blog here. So for now here are two pictures she took while I was home.
Of course you will no doubt recognise this couple. No the Bear is not tipsy, he's just a little squinty due to the flash. He's not used to such fansy camera equipment!Here are my lovely grandparents. I just love this picture. My grandmother rarely smiles in pictures so this is just a treasure of a photo for me. I just had to share them with the worls. Aren't then the cutest?

I promise I will post more photos from the holiday as they are passed on to me. I hope you all had a wonderful Turkey day and that Christmas is even better!

Saturday Night Supper Club...

Okay, due to the Holiday I have been slack in posting. I have kept these wonderful new friends of mine secret for too long now. Here below are S on the left and J on the right. These are my two fabulous new friends. We all met through a local book club that I have previously mentioned I joined. Through lots of emails and light luncheons we have all discovered that we LOVE food. Yep, so much so that we felt the need to gather and cook dinner. S very graciously offered up his home for us gals to take over and cook with him. Both J and I have apartments that have NO counter space for chopping more than one carrot at a time so we were grateful to have a lovely open kitchen to move about in.

We had SOO MUCH FUN! We sat around, drank hot yummy cinnamon water, while stealing bits of chicken while S wasn't looking! I think he cause us once or twice though. We aren't very good sneaks.

Here is our spread. Isn't it so yummy looking? We had the most scrumptious chicken veggie soup (friends make everything taste better), tomatoes with salt and olive oil, zuccini chips, toasted baguette with cheese and I made a from scratch apple pie for dessert. Yep, that's even pie crust from scratch!

We all had so much fun chatting the evening away that we are gathering again this Saturday to bake cookies, play with the icing and eat pizza. It's gonna be great! When was the last time you laughed with friends?