Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice is my new series that spotlights exceptionally sweet bloggers! This week is Casey from Noir Girl. Casey is one of the kindest, most generous people I've ever known. I haven't met her (yet!), but you get the impression that a little group of butterflies and hummingbirds accompany her wherever she goes, or that the air would smell sweeter when she's around. She's just that incredibly nice! She is also exceptionally talented (just check out her blog header for starters!) and her drive and creativity inspire me to work harder myself. I'm so incredibly lucky to call her my friend, and I'm so glad that she agreed to share some of her sweetness here today! :)
Hedy Lamarr (my favorite classic film actress) with a contestant in a children's costume pageant.
On a recent daytrip, my family and I discovered an adorable custom in a local historic town. All along the sidewalk downtown, shop owners put out water bowls for the dogs walking along the street. Whenever a dog feels thirsty, they just pause a moment and gulp. It is the cutest thing ever!
Even though summer is in full swing here in the southern US, I have been dying for pumpkin scones recently. I'm planning to whip up a batch today! I like this recipe from A Dash of Sass because it uses whole wheat flour. Not only are these scones delicious, but they are actually kinda good for you too! ;) I always eat Pumpkin Scones slathered with apple butter. There's no other way.
Recipe link: http://adashofsass.com/2009/10/04/whole-wheat-pumpkin-scones/
On a recent daytrip, my family and I discovered an adorable custom in a local historic town. All along the sidewalk downtown, shop owners put out water bowls for the dogs walking along the street. Whenever a dog feels thirsty, they just pause a moment and gulp. It is the cutest thing ever!
Even though summer is in full swing here in the southern US, I have been dying for pumpkin scones recently. I'm planning to whip up a batch today! I like this recipe from A Dash of Sass because it uses whole wheat flour. Not only are these scones delicious, but they are actually kinda good for you too! ;) I always eat Pumpkin Scones slathered with apple butter. There's no other way.
Recipe link: http://adashofsass.com/2009/10/04/whole-wheat-pumpkin-scones/
Helen Forrest is my favorite 40's big band singer. The heartfelt, simple way she sang each song makes me fervently wish I could sing like her. Happily for me, she was amazingly prolific and has a huge library of tunes. She sang everything from silly novelties to sweet ballads to peppy jives. Check her out if you like this song!
Some of my favorite childhood memories involve the games my brother and I played together. They weren't games in the truest sense of the word - more like creative endeavors with ordinary objects. One of our best pastimes was creating pillow forts in the living room. We are big believers in nap time in our house, so our sofas have always been covered in a wide array of pillows and blankets. Steve and I tossed every soft object we could find on the floor, watching the pile of materials grow with each drop. When the couches were uncovered, we borrowed the seat cushions and turned them on their ends for the walls of our fort. We gingerly laid blankets on top of the cushion walls to enclose the space. Sometimes the structure became unstable if we piled on too many blankets too soon, and we ran to fetch every tall, slender object within stealing distance to secure our creation. Steve lost interest in the fort design as soon as the blankets went on, but I continued tweaking and securing until it was just right. Once we had it complete, we absolutely had to sit inside and enjoy it. After all the hard work of hauling blankets (do you ever stop to think how heavy blankets are?), I was exhausted and wanted to nap in the fort. Steve, always the dynamo, insisted on dragging every one of his favorite toys inside and demanded we play instead. Of course, he won (little brothers always do, you know) and I would match wits with him in a heated game of Memory, Star Wars style. He always won this, too.
In the end, our mom rewarded our hard work with little bowls of homemade cookies and milk in special lidded cups with straws. We chomped away on chocolate chips while trying to figure out the latest mystery on Ghostwriter. And when Steve wasn't looking, I hid the Star Wars game under the couch.
Some of my favorite childhood memories involve the games my brother and I played together. They weren't games in the truest sense of the word - more like creative endeavors with ordinary objects. One of our best pastimes was creating pillow forts in the living room. We are big believers in nap time in our house, so our sofas have always been covered in a wide array of pillows and blankets. Steve and I tossed every soft object we could find on the floor, watching the pile of materials grow with each drop. When the couches were uncovered, we borrowed the seat cushions and turned them on their ends for the walls of our fort. We gingerly laid blankets on top of the cushion walls to enclose the space. Sometimes the structure became unstable if we piled on too many blankets too soon, and we ran to fetch every tall, slender object within stealing distance to secure our creation. Steve lost interest in the fort design as soon as the blankets went on, but I continued tweaking and securing until it was just right. Once we had it complete, we absolutely had to sit inside and enjoy it. After all the hard work of hauling blankets (do you ever stop to think how heavy blankets are?), I was exhausted and wanted to nap in the fort. Steve, always the dynamo, insisted on dragging every one of his favorite toys inside and demanded we play instead. Of course, he won (little brothers always do, you know) and I would match wits with him in a heated game of Memory, Star Wars style. He always won this, too.
In the end, our mom rewarded our hard work with little bowls of homemade cookies and milk in special lidded cups with straws. We chomped away on chocolate chips while trying to figure out the latest mystery on Ghostwriter. And when Steve wasn't looking, I hid the Star Wars game under the couch.
