A Mint Julep Please!

If there was ever an occasion to drink a mint julep, it is this Saturday-the first Saturday in May or the day of the Kentucky Derby! I have always, always, always wanted to throw a Kentucky Derby party. I have so many party ideas running around in my head including one activity involving betting on paper horses. Oh, and who could forget the sundresses and hats! You would have to wear a fabulous sundress and hat.

However, April, May and June are super busy months at work for me, so I have yet to throw my Kentucky Derby party. I won't be hosting a party this Saturday, but I might just try my hand at making the drink most often associated with the Derby-a mint julep.

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Below is a great mint julep recipe found in Southern Living. You can also find it here.

Yield: Makes 1 (8-ounce) julep

Ingredients

• 3 fresh mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon Mint Simple Syrup
• Crushed ice
• 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) bourbon
• 1 (4-inch) cocktail straw or coffee stirrer
• 1 fresh mint sprig
• Powdered sugar (optional)

Preparation

Place mint leaves and Mint Simple Syrup in a chilled julep cup. Gently press leaves against cup with back of spoon to release flavors. Pack cup tightly with crushed ice; pour bourbon over ice. Insert straw, place mint sprig directly next to straw, and serve immediately. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Mint Juleps are traditionally served in a silver julep cup (as pictured above). Amazon has a great selection of julep cups varying in price. (Don't forget to check to make sure the julep cups you purchase are meant for drinking. Some are just made for decoration and are not food or drink safe.)

Don't have julep cups. Don't worry-Just be creative! Serve your mint juleps in a mason jar or in any other fun bar glasses you might have! After all, mint juleps are quite stout, so after one you really don't care what kind of glass you are drinking out of! ;)

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Shoe Dazzle

Have you heard of shoedazzle.com? It is a company founded by Kim Kardashian. I just discovered it a few weeks ago, but I have to admit that I am often behind the times.

To put it simply, it is like a shoe of the month club. For a little less than $40 a month, stylists pick out a selection of shoes they think you might like and add them to your on-line gallery. You then choose the shoe you would like to purchase that month and they send it to you. You can also opt to skip a month and not receive a shoe (and not be charged).

I have an account, but I have not ordered my first pair of shoes. (You are not charged until you order your first pair of shoes.) I also haven't decided if I am going to order a pair of shoes at all. However, I do love shoes, and these cute babies are currently sitting in my on-line gallery.


I need your help! What do you think? Have you tried Shoe Dazzle or heard of someone who has? Should I give it a try?

I Was Late For Work...

Update: I went home at lunch and both the dogs and the kittens were doing great! I couldn't resist a close-up look at the kittens, so I knocked on my neighbors door and told him about the kittens. He was surprised and went with me to look at them. (By the way, this is a very sweet neighbor not the creepy one.) I discovered that there are 3 little gray kittens. They are tiny and their eyes have just opened. I snapped a couple of photos with my phone. One of the pictures looks like I am choking the kitten, but I promise I am not. I was just holding him up so I could get a picture of his cute little face. Without further ado, here are the kittens.


...but I have a really good excuse! I found kittens! Now if kittens aren't a good excuse to be late for work I don't know what is. Although the time I got trapped in my garage was a pretty good excuse, but that is a story for another day.

This morning the dogs were barking and hanging around one certain area of the fence. After many failed attempts at trying to quiet them, I headed outside to see what all the fuss was about. That's when I spotted two tiny gray kittens sleeping in the recycling area in my neighbors back yard (just on the other side of the fence). I wanted to run over to my neighbor's house and tell them that they had kittens, but I decided to be a polite neighbor and wait until a more reasonable hour. Translation: I'm going to pounce on my poor neighbors as soon as I get home from work. I ultimately settled the dogs down, and when I left this morning my chocolate lab was lying right beside the fence like he was guarding the kittens.

I am headed home for lunch to check on my dogs and the kittens. If I get a chance, I will take a few photos. Did I mention I needed an extended lunch break to do this? I think kittens also serve as a great excuse for a long lunch! :)

Creative Wrapping

As most of you know, I love wrapping gifts and making them extra special. Today on my lunch break, I ran out to buy a gift for my nephew who has a birthday this week. His gift is an odd size, so I had to opt for a gift bag. The gift bag was $4.00, but I happened to spy a reusable tote (decorated with Buzz and Woody from Toy Story) for $1.99. I opted for the cheaper and more useful (and cuter) tote bag.

I'm not sure why I have never considered (until today) using a reusable tote bag instead of a gift bag. There are some super cute reusable totes out there that are very reasonably priced, and who couldn't use a cute tote!

Toys R Us has some really cute totes for the kids in your life for around $1.50. I'm not a kid, but I wouldn't mind receiving a gift wrapped in the pink elephant bag. :)


I can't find a picture, but Michael's also carries some really cute reusable totes for under $2.oo. I purchased a brown one with colorful dots. It is super cute and would be a great gift bag.

Just remember the next time you need to wrap a gift quickly, and you still want it to be cute-Check your local store for a cute reusable tote! Where have you spotted some cute reusable totes?

My Inagural Trip to Taylor Grocery

This weekend Michael and I packed our bags and hopped (or drove) a couple of states over to Mississippi. Why a trip to Mississippi? -To visit a friends of course!

We had a wonderful time visiting our friends (Melanie and Adam) and meeting their sweet and absolutely precious little boy. They are such wonderful and treasured friends. I wish they lived closer or we got to see them more often.

On Saturday afternoon, they treated Michael and I to a trip to Oxford, MS. Oxford is home to Ole Miss, where Michael went to law school. Melanie and I had fun shopping on the square while the boys went to a bar, watched sports, and drank beer. If you have never been to Oxford, it is a charming town with a beautiful downtown area. The downtown area or square (as they call it) also has great little boutiques.

Saturday night, we went to Taylor Grocery. Taylor Grocery may be the most amazing place on Earth. It is a restaurant in an old general/dry goods store. It serves wonderful Southern food. It is most famous for its fried catfish. I don't really like catfish, but even I like the fried catfish at Taylor Grocery. If you go, order the catfish and make sure to get fries with a side of rotel. Yummy!

Taylor Grocery oozes charm and seems to take you back in time a little. There was live music, signatures all over the wall, and a crowd of people. I left with a full tummy and a t-shirt. I didn't have a chance to sign the wall, but you better bet that on my next trip to Taylor there will be a sharpie in my pocket!

Revamping Your Jewelry

I love making jewelry, but lately I have been more interested in revamping jewelry pieces. For example, I might take pieces of an old necklace and turn it into earrings or just rework a necklace to make it a different style. Even if you don't know the first thing about making jewelry, you can still have fun revamping your old pieces.

My favorite trick is to shorten a long necklace by doubling it and securing it with a broach. I love doing this with my long pearl necklaces! Of course this is a horrible picture, but you get the general idea.


I had fun wearing this gray pearl necklace joined with a sparkly broach to add a little pizazz to my black sweaters this winter. For spring, I think a necklace secured with a flower brooch would be adorable and very similar to some Stella and Dot necklaces that I have seen.

Oh, and just for fun here is a picture of a pair of earrings I made from a bracelet. I don't wear bracelets much, so I turned a $4 bracelet into two pairs of earrings. I gave one pair to a friend and kept the other for myself. Again, please forgive my poor photography skills.