happy weekend!

happy weekend!

boone and i are spending this dreary saturday the perfect way. we're going to be inside vegging on 1st season law and order episodes, blogging at mess of greens, and sermon-writing and then heading out to see an old fave band of mine tonight.  i hope your weekend is filled doing exactly what you want to do, as well. (or maybe filled with magic and fun, like this perfect photo from dara scully i stole from my friend's pintrest page)

Happy New Year!

 boone and i are spending the new year in austin, tx with some of our dearest. when i think of nye, i think of sparkly clothes, champagne, and streamers, so we've not only packed our dancing shoes but also i'm thinking of packing my very own vintage champagne saucers because they feel SO old world and glamorous.

i hope YOUR new year's eve (and more importantly, your new year) is magical, glamorous, and filled with the ones you love.

cooking ahead...

last year for new year's eve, our sweet friends from ATL came to visit the delta. to celebrate, we had a fo-real dinner party and then went to ground zero blues club for dancing and (just a teensy weensy) bit of drinking. NYDay we vegged out, watched football, and ate the lucky foods for the new year. 

we'll be in austin ringing in 2012, but even though we'll be away from home, that doesn't mean i won't get to do a little new year's cooking.

champagne jello shots for NYE, anyone?

found this recipe on pintrest and definitely want to try it: Boil 1 cup of champagne and mix in flavorless jello then add an additional 1 and a half cups of champagne distribute into cups a viola you have champagne jello shots! (if you want them to stand on their own then just use less liquid...like 3/4 cup instead of 1 and a half)

and then black eyed pea hummus for good luck new year's day!

if time (and my hostess) permits, then we may even get some cabbage or turnip greens for money, and pork for progress. what are you cooking for the ny?

thanksgiving traditions...

i think i've told you before that boone's mom is a big tradition-maker and -keeper around the holidays. there's always the soup supper at Christmas, and the harris poll after thanksgiving dinner. there are always beignets christmas morning, and we always make peanut butter balls (buckeyes) together as a fam.

my side of our family, though isn't really big on the idea of "traditions" for the holidays. as a child, i tried to instigate an all-family macy's thanksgiving parade watching tradition, but that devolved into "biz turns on the TV to the parade but no one watches it because they're in the kitchen drinking bloody marys and cooking" tradition. ;) as an adult, it turns out that i like this "tradition" much better.

 and although we don't call it a"tradition" we are ABSOLUTELY, FIERCELY loyal to the foods we eat each thanksgiving day. if you try to change the family cornbread dressing in ANY way, someone will DEFINITELY have a hissy fit. and oyster gravy, two kinds of cranberry sauce, my grandmother's  yeast rolls, and the most amazing smoked turkey must be SOMEWHERE on the table, or someone's getting shanked (or anviled?).

we're going to be with boone's family this thanksgiving, and i'm planning on keeping my own personal holiday tradition of adding fordhook lima beans to the menu, and i'm really excited about the harris poll. I've been thinking though, now that we're all adults, maybe we can make our very own tradition of watching the parade with bloody mary's?

what thanksgiving traditions does your family religiously, ferociously keep? what ones do you want to add?

vintage photos of the macy's thanksgiving day parade from macy's, google, and life magazine.

happy happy happy weekend!

this is our first real weekend to relax in a long, long time...AND we're taking the entire week off to celebrate the holiday. i hope your weekend and your thanksgiving is as full of joy as this sweet photo...

love,

biz

it's time to play the music...it's time to light the lights...

i'm excited times a billion.

almost everyone i know is up in arms about the twilight movie that comes out this week, but i can't stop thinking about amy adams, jason segel, and THE MUPPETS--three HUGE crushes I've had for some time now because they seem so good natured, honestly nice, and truly funny... and they're ALL in one place. Enchanted and I Love You, Man were two of the movies where I've laughed the most AND laughed the hardest in years. I mean, they were so sincerely, sweetly funny, and were like the only comedies that weren't even a little bit ironic, mean spirited, vulgar, awkward, or sarcastic.... and if this movie has those main characters AND adds in kermit the frog, how can it be bad?

honestly, i can hardly stand it. who else is with me? if you're not sure, watch this trailer (or this even better trailer) and try not to squeal with glee.

love is in the air!

here's something i ran across on a friend's gmail that she found at huffingtonpost to make your day... an original, super sweet proposal.

(if you're a crier, grab some tissues before you click on the link!)

it takes two...

some coworker-friends and i are in a "super secret mix tape club" which isn't really secret and involves making mix cds, not mix tapes, but eh... semantics.

we make a mix once a month and pass them out to the other 3 in the group (it was 5 people total for a while, but apparently the 5th didn't really have time to devote to the hobby). ANYWAY, this month my mix is a compilation of my most favorite duets and two-person harmonies... here's a little visual taste for you..

 

tammi terrell and marvin gaye singing "if I could build my whole world around you"

 

stevie nicks and don henley (of fleetwood mac and the eagles) singing "leather and lace"

 

rodrigo y gabriela playing "hanuman"

 

she and him "why do you let me stay here?"

 

kenny rogers and dolly parton (sigh...) singing "islands in the stream"

 

gram parsons and emmylou harris duet "love hurts"

 

the avett brothers singing and playing "november blue"

  

lucinda williams and elvis costello on "there's a story in your voice"

some of these folks sang together ALL the time..and others just connected for one incredible duet. if you leave me a comment with YOUR favorite duet, and I choose your number on Friday, YOU can have a copy of this mix. 

you know you want it.

springtime sno....

last weekend the delta had a break in the dreary, bleak skies and had two and a half days of sunshine.  there's no way I could have anticipated how positively a little vitamin D would have on my mood...my outlook...my personality. i was more optimistic, more energetic, and just generally more fun to be around.
maybe this had something to do with the fact that we went on walks by the bayou, played yard games with friends by a lake, and drove with the windows down...but no matter.

this week has been pretty dreary, by contrast, BUT the sunshine of the weekend was just enough to tell me that spring IS on it's way. (that and the fact that the daffodils have started blooming in the yard!)
then i got an email from my friend anne today. anne lives in atlanta and reminded me of the fun we used to have in the summer walking from my teeny apartment in the highlands to the orlegian snocone stand on ponce that was only open one day a week for a few hours. in fact, i walked there so many times only to find it was closed..which ruined my day. what made her think of it was today's scoutmob deal (atlanta's answer to the groupon).

apparently in atlanta there's a place where you can get snocones ALL year long! inside a building! with air conditioning!

in the 'sip new orleans style snocone stands don't start appearing until after spring break or Easter and last until Labor Day. and even then you have to stand out in the hot sun waiting for someone to take your order. this revelation made my mouth water and made me looooong for spring even more. thank goodness it's on it's way.

what makes you excited for the beginning of spring?

mardi gras! (a little early)

 my WHOLE life (well..my whole adolescent life) i had mardi gras themed birthday parties. last year, i went all out and made a king-cake from scratch, and so this year i thought i'd bring back the old b-day tradition JUST SO i could make a kind cake. ridiculous? yes. fun for me? yes. with this in mind, THIS WEEKEND we're throwing a big b-day mardi gras soiree at our house, complete with king cake, beads, gumbo, red beans and rice, and hurricanes (plus wii karaoke and a bonfire) jealous? well, don't be! you're invited! as long as you dress like this:

 

we're starting to cook tommorrow...and i decorated monday night. when was the last time you had a themed party? what kind of party would you have?

images from imgspark.

and the winner is...

laura!

congratulations...if you'll email me @ wilsonec@gmail.com your address i'll get transitions and transformations in the mail to you ASAP!

golden birthday.

well y'all....i turned 28 today. :)as an official, for-real, no-way-around-it adult, i have to say that i still REALLY love birthday cake (just like i did when i was 2) and apparently never outgrew the ridiculously high ponytail phase (wearing my hair this way, as i type). anyway, boone has made the day really special and been extra sweet to me and my coworkers made funfettie cupcakes...my favorite, and we're heading down south to see my folks right now so I can celebrate with the ones who made me.

what all this tells me that if the rest of my 28th year is like today, it's going to be a pretty good one. hope you have a birthday that makes you feel as special as i do right now. :)

see you on monday when i post the winner of the mix giveaway! it's not too late to enter!

a little koolickle...

i told you i'd share more about my folks' visit last weekend but it's been so crazy i've hardly had time to breathe, much less blog...
anyway, probably the highlight of the weekend was when we went fun driving around these teeny delta towns looking for local potter's studios, antique stores, and delicious regional delicacies.

all the pottery studios were closed, but we did find a delicious new restaurant by the ms river and i introduced everyone to the "koolickle." it's a pickle steeped in kool-aid until it turns a bright color and tastes like a combination of dill and grape (or dill and cherry). when i first moved to the delta as a teacher 5 years ago, my friends and i were welcomed with little sandwich bags of koolickles... and then a year later, john edge wrote a story about them in the NYT. anyway, it seemed only fitting that while on a delta adventure everyone try a famous delta treat. so they did...

boone HATED it..but he also thinks dill pickles are the most disgusting things in the world, so i should have expected it. my parents said they were "interesting" and "really unique." i don't think that means they want another one anytime soon, but at least now they can say they tried one!

i took the photos above of my dad in the Great River Road state park, but here's a photo from the professionals...

to 2011!

happy new year! we've been celebrating it with our wonderful, sweet friends from atlanta. we danced the night away friday night and yesterday i made sure we all ate blackeyed peas, pork, and cabbage for good fortune in the new year. plus we watched all the football in the world (or all i could stand)... it was such a perfect weekend and has put 2011 off to a great start. how did you celebrate NYE?

did you get a new year's kiss?

i hope so. :) hope 2011 is a lovely year for you!

haaaarrrrrryyyyyypotttteerrrrr!!!!