Oh' Honey...

I am OBSESSED with honey right now. Not just any honey, but a jar of local honey that I bought from a gentleman. He brings this fabulous treat to our shop for us to sell....honey, honey, honey!!!!

It is so good...I can't stop eating it.....

Today alone I have had....

Several slices of toast with honey

Oatmeal with Cinnamon and honey

Green tea with honey

spoon with honey....

Butternut squash roasted with a drizzle of honey

I am obsessed! Yet another reason why I love the fall....Mr. Hazen brings me his honey!

Fried Chicken and Chocolate Cake

I started my day out making Fried Chicken and Chocolate cake for my grandfather at 6:30 AM today. I have to say that was a first....never had my house filled with those two smells so early in the morning. It was all for a great man and I was happy to do it, I hope that he enjoyed it.

It was one of those meals that is made with heart and soul, and makes you feel good cooking for someone else. I am sitting here reading the blogs of some of my favorite ladies and thinking how much I would like to have dinner with them and eat food prepared from our heart and souls. Reading blogs can give you a peak into the lives of so many - and the ones that I favor really do share their souls with you, sometimes without realizing it....I feel so connected to them without even knowing them. I end my day with these women almost 7 days a week!

I decided that I want to sit around my table filled with candles and the beautiful faces of my blog favorites and share Fried Chicken and Chocolate Cake with them. I assume that these women are all beautiful because they have such amazing, beautiful spirits. I want to hear laughter and wisdom filling the air around us and soak up every minute of it!

Anyone who knows me also knows that half the fun of this would be planning the entire evening. The menu, the table scape, the invitation, everything! Obviously it is time for me to get some sleep because I am dreaming with my eyes wide open here, this dinner party can only happen in my dreams.

Good night all I have got a party to plan!

Complete Indulgence

I am not a selfish person...


Sometimes I just need to take a break in the midst of the chaos I call my life....


This evening was one of those times...


No full dinner for the family....a frozen starter and fruit slices for the kids.....







And for me....



A slice of Brie with walnuts and dried yummies, a few crackers and a new found favorite French white table wine.

Served to myself on the back deck, on a cute little antique plate, a beautiful piece of pewter cookware received as a wedding gift and my ultimate favorite....a footed antique jelly glass filled with that wonderful white wine.

OK....back to the reality of life.....

Who Loves Ya Baby??

Alright...I am going to try and not post something too sappy tonight....the last post was a little sappy....sorry, was having a Mom moment! I thought I would show you what a good little wife I had been lately!!

Now, I confess that there is still a PILE of laundry threatening to take over our house - a BARE minimum of Halloween decorations throughout our house (one of my husbands favorite holidays) - and the biggest confession.....neither one of the two previous confessions are keeping me up at night! Sorry honey, but I do love you!!

BUT....what I have done is.....be very "supportive" of my husband who works like dog for our family.....has recently QUIT "dipping" aka, snuff (you know that disgusting stuff they put in their mouth and then spit out the nasty spit...) AND...my biggest act of Love....

Eating this..... look at that lovely bowl! Even though it resembles a doggie bowl, it isn't...so close though!!

He really enjoys making bread, an obsession of his I haven't yet figured out.....this one was a complete failure, but I (and those poor little children of ours) choked it down...literally. He blamed the failure on the new organic yeast I bought for him. I don't buy it!

I love ya baby, but please don't make us eat those bread sticks again!!!

Let's talk GREEN...

I have this REALLY exciting - REALLY fun - REALLY cool news!! Maybe you picked up on it in my post from yesterday???? We have a new business!!! We bought a coffee /Antique Consignment Shop! It is going to be more like a coffee lounge/Antique consignment/retail of handcrafted items shop by the time we get it open. I am so excited - I haven't been able to sleep in days....When I say "we" I am referring to my mom and I. We make a good team...she has a great eye for the antiques and merchandising, and I can do all the other stuff!

So, why green you say???? Well, did you know that coffee beans are actually GREEN before roasting??? If you did know, good for you! lol.. I didn't, I am certainly NOT a coffee expert, just your regular coffee, little splenda (or Agave) and a dash of milk kinda girl! I really don't like that "St**bk's" kinda coffee - too bitter, but I will drink it if the caffeine is necessary!! Anyway, back on track here....We went today and toured the Roaster, and sampled this great brand of coffee, Cafe Pronto, it is such a nice coffee. The people were awesome, and so supportive of our new venture - really exciting!!!

We also are being GREEN by bringing in local artists, recycled goods....aka Antique Consignments! The good stuff people, not the dusty crap we pull out of grammies attic! LOL. I have been on Etsy, shopping away...making wholesale arrangements, consignment arrangements for jewelry pieces and larger items. It is so much fun, I love it! We are going to bring in as much "talent" as possible. I love the idea that we can use handcrafted items to fill our shop! I could go on for hours about this, it is a concept that I really love! I have one girl who is making "shopping" bags out of old vintage/recycled linens! Talk about cool!!!!

Miss L is going to be the smallest Coffee chick ever!! I am going to try and get some aprons made before next week....o yeah, did I mention that we take over on May 1st???? Talk about being on the fast track! She is going to be part of the working class before she even gets to her first pre-school class! She can remind me of it daily when she gets older, the same way I remind my mother that she let me man a produce stand on a major roadway at the tender age of 10 - all by myself!!!! Hello People!!!! Although, I get much more mileage out of the "I fell out of the car and you kept driving...." reminder. No pun intended!

I am going to start a NEW blog for the shop - I will hopefully get it up and running by the weekend. Check it out at here.

I have been tagged....

I literally jumped out of my seat when I clicked the Heather link on Jen's blog....boy do I love her!! I enjoy stalking/reading her blog on a regular basis!! I have never been tagged before - so this is my first time...I hope that I get it right! Oh, yeah...and I hope that somebody actually reads it, lol!!! 6 quirky/non important things...pretty much my whole life falls into this category, but I will try to shave it down some!

1. My mom and I just bought a coffee/antique shop....neither one of us know the first thing about using the BIG espresso machine!! And, really I would not be one of those moms who has lots of free time on their hands..lol..4 kids, 11, 10, 7, & 2!

2. I fell out of the car when I was about six, my mom kept driving...for about a block....felt like a mile! I tease her to this day about it!!

3.I am never caught up on laundry!

4. I secretly long to be "June Cleaver" from Leave it to Beaver and make lunches, bake cookies and have dinner for my hubby and children - WITHOUT - all the modern day stresses!! Let's not forget vacuum in heels!!

5. I loved waiting tables! It was fun, even when you have jerky customers!

6. I am pretty sure that I have adult ADD....I can produce the unfinished projects to prove it!

ONE MORE FOR GOOD MEASURE....
I sweep obsessively when I get nervous or stressed or their is dirt on the floor....no wonder I never complete any projects!


So....the rules:
1: link to the person that tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. 4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. 5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Here are the victims of my tag....they don't all know it yet, but we are friends....lol!! OK...I can only do four...I don't have that many cyber-friends!
Betz, Jennifer, Jaime, Crop Girl

Let me go warn them....lol! Thanks Jen, I really enjoyed being tagged!!!

All the little PEEP's...

are tucked in and waiting for the morning egg hunt! Who doesn't love a big scavenger hunt first thing in the morning to get your day started off with a kick!! However....there might be a mist of disappointment in the air, cause Mama forgot to get "filler" candy! OOOOPS!!!! With the Sugar-ban in full effect, I forgot about filling the eggs! So with minimal coins lying around and a small bag of sugar free chocolate eggs and a few left over gold coins from the Lucky Leprechaun...we made do :)

My last post was a little "deep" compared to my normal posts, it must have been the full moon that made me so inclined to share.....

Today the house was FILLED with activities; egg dying, garden building, Babka bread making and furniture moving, and more cupcake experimenting!! It was busy and tons of fun!! + add one extra to the mix and we had a house full of "crazy" going on!! Here is a quick run-down of how "it" all worked out for us today!!

• Garden building....need more dirt, the girl shovels more than the boys...
• Furniture moving....went really well, and I am almost GIDDY about working in my new space!!
• Babka Bread...not so good, that was the husbands mission to bring his Ukrainian heritage to the table.....it was not a success! I am going to try and sneak a picture in when he isn't looking!
• Egg dying....was hysterical...we have never had so many smashed dyed eggs!! Miss L had a unique style, I will be posting on this soon - Quote of the evening; "MOMMMMMMM - there is an egg in the toilet!!!!"
• Cupcakes....success! Sugar-less to boot!!

And I signed up for this very cool "swap"...I love this concept, and I totally love the inspiration for the project from one of my favorites... Amy Karol!!

OK, that is it for tonight! Have a beautiful EASTER!!! ~ Heather

You thought I ran away didn't you???

....You thought I ran away??....I am sorry...as much as I would like to someday it just too crazy around here for that to happen!!

I have lots of catching up to do! I have been "making" all sorts of crafty creations recently, Nice change from the past month! Have you ever crafted out of desperation??? Any good crafter has! So here is my "desperation" craft AKA my brothers Birthday Gift! LOL. It was his 21st birthday (yes, there is a BIG age difference between us) and I am sure he would have loved some cold hard CASH, but so would I....so he is going to have to get a job, OOPS, I mean be happy with my craftiness!! This is not an original idea, I actually give him a picture of my kids for every holiday :) He loves his Nieces and Nephews so I am sure that he enjoys and appreciates it.

My craft desperation, I mean my lovely thoughtful gift, took about 30 minutes - yes I knew his birthday was coming...I was just procrastinating!! And I already had supplies on hand as any good hoarder, again I mean good crafter, does. I grabbed a few photos from my files, printed them in the 3x5 size, got a few pieces of paper, and a scrapbook size (12x12) frame that I actually had on hand. You could also do it with an 8x11. I didn't even have time to clear off my work desk, so I sat down on the ground and had a little "circle time" with my materials.

TA-DA!!!

I thought it turned out really cute!! Not a masterpiece, but for a 30 Minute project, not too shabby!

Then....on another crafty little adventure we decorated these cute little "Piggies" for our church. Our church is participating in the Heifer Project so the kiddies each decorated their very own piggie that we are planning on "fattening" up and then donating the money at the end of the Sunday School year. After the piggies are emptied, they are going to auction them to other church members, or if you can't bear to part with your piggie - take pictures of them to make into note cards also available for auction. I plan to get involved in the picture taking, can't you imagine how fun it would be to take the piggies "on location" and put them in a fun setting that matches their personality!! Fun, and charitable!! Love it!! I think they came out pretty cute! There are only 3 of them here, the other little piggie has gone missing! He is actually hiding from the big Big Bad Wolf...otherwise known as Miss Lil' who is in love with the Piggies! Oink, Oink...she loves to talk to them and oink at them. It is too cute! Anyway, I am rambling...

And on more for today's post...we made these yummy cupcakes last night...which you will be shocked to know are not only VERY YUMMY, but they contain a spinach/blueberry puree and are basically SUGAR FREE!! Which I PROMISE you - you can't even taste!! One of my guy's can't have sugar & carbs in the "simple" form so I am always looking for yummy treats that are sugar free or darn close. You can find the recipe for these little yummies here. My daughter made the cute little cupcake toppers and picked out the icing color.

There you have it...all the cards on the table! I am on a mission to finish the cutest little apron set for the me and the kids. I will show em' off as soon as they are done!