Friday Finds on Etsy: Pretty as a Peacock

Yes, I realize it's once again Saturday. My Fridays have been so busy lately that I just can't always find the time to sit down and blog. I sorry.

Anyway, I am loving all of the peacock feather I'm seeing everywhere now. The colors are so beautiful and vibrant. So once again I perused Etsy to see what unique peacock items I could find, and here they are.

This first one is a great wreath from Knock Knocking. I just LOVE the different hues. They make me happy. Next up is this fun pendant from Analiese Designs. I have a handful of her items and everytime I wear one I get compliments from everyone. She's a great assest to Etsy! And lastly is this stunning infant headband from Lilly Bella Bows. This is another shop that I frequent and her quality of items is just perfect. KC is truly a sweetheart! This headband would be so amazing on any little princess...especialy for a wedding or special occasion.

Sorry that there's no giveaways lined up. Again, if anyone owns an Etsy shop or knows someone who does and may be interested in letting me do a review/giveaway of their items, please contact me and let me know!

Call me old-fashioned...

...but there are a handful of things I read/witnessed today that I just couldn't get over. And that I don't agree with AT. ALL.

*School dances for kids younger than middle school. Jonah came home today with a flyer for the Open House on Thursday, and then a dance to follow. Ummm....whaaaa?? My son is in FIRST GRADE folks. First grade. Not sixth or tenth. And it's for the whole school....which means Pre-k through second grade. NOPE. Not gonna happen. (Noah's school is having a dance later this month as well, and no, my fourth grade son will not be attending his school dance either.)

*People driving down the road outside of the school parking lot with their kids unbuckled/hanging out the window of the car. Where is the common sense people??

*A mother sending her 9/10 year old son into the Dollar Store with a $5 bill so that he can pay for her three pregnancy tests. I dont care how bad your English is, don't send your son in for your dang tests. Let him be your interpreter, but don't send him in on his own.

*This one didn't happen today, but rather last week. And I wasn't witness to it, but it happened to my hubby's neice, so I heard about it from my sister-in-law. Schools should NOT suspend a student for showing up to school wearing a shirt that reads "Virginity Rocks". (Yes, sadly this happened to my neice on her first day of school.) You allow people to wear their gay pride shirts, wear various other awareness items, but you suspend a teenage girl for taking a stand and being smart? Not cool, public school system. Not cool at all.

Okay. I'm off my soap box for now. But be prepared...this may become a series for me. Because lately I'm realizing that there are way too many things that are considered "okay" for our youth that shouldn't be.

Mmmm Mmmm Monday: Southern Sweet Tea

When we found out we were moving to the South, my hubby couldn't stop talking about how he couldn't wait to drink sweet tea all the time. Until now I haven't had much success with making it myself, but I found this recipe in Southern Living* and I'm sure it'll be a hit!

3 cups water
2 family-sized tea bags
1/2 to 1 cup sugar
7 cups cold water

Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a saucepan; add tea bags. Boil 1 minute and remove from heat. Cover and steep 10 minutes.
Remove and discard tea bags. Add desired amount of sugar, stirring until dissolved. Pour into a 1 gallon container and add the 7 cups of cold water. Serve over ice.

I plan on making a big pitcher this weekend for the hubby and sis to taste test...I'm hoping for good results!

*Confession: I may or may not have ripped this recipe out of the Southern Living magazine in the waiting room at Sophia's ENT appointment this morning. And I may or may not have yanked out another equally good and can't-wait-to-try-it recipe from another periodical at said office. That's what they get for making us wait 45 minutes past our appointment time to be seen!

Never Forget

Friday Finds on Etsy: The Kitchen Diva

I love cooking, and recently in the last few years, I've begun to enjoy baking. So I was perusing Etsy for some fun baking/cooking items and found these gems. I want ALL of them.

First, you need some recipe cards. These GREAT ones are from Wide Sarcasm Sea.I've been married to my hubby for 9.5 years, and up until a couple of years ago, my mother-in-law really did think that I couldn't cook. I have lots of lovely stories. *Insert eye roll here*

Next you need the proper cooking/baking attire. Tell me that this shirt from The Bold Banana isn't awesome. I dare ya.

And of course, when you're done with your tasty creation, you always have to clean up. Do it in style with these dish gloves from ImagineAprons. Even I wouldn't mind doing the dishes with these babies!

Ever have one of those mornings?

I drove the kids to school AND went to Walmart like this today. Didn't even notice it until I got home. Thank goodness Walmart is virtually empty at 7:30 in the morning.

Friday Finds on Etsy: End of Summer BBQ

Yes, I realize that today is Saturday. I had this post half done and then my dang computer froze up on me. Technology is so wonderful, ain't it? *Shakes head.*

Anywho, with it being Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end to summer, I thought that I'd do a post about everyone's favorite holiday weekend pastime: the barbecue. We were pretty bummed in our house this summer when the hubby had to go to training starting in July, because it meant that we couldn't have our usual weekend bbq's. True, he has been home most every weekend, but we try to save it for family time and so bbq's went by the wayside this year. But the ones we did have were always a blast!

So of course I had to go check out Etsy to see what great bbq ideas they had. And look what I found!

First up are these CUTE invites from The Zesty Desk. These are perfect for those organized bbq planners...which I am not. Our bbq's are usually planned the morning of, and we send out a mass text to all our friends and hope that no one's busy. But if I could ever get my weekends under control, THESE would be the invites I'd buy! Next up is this great platter from Lenny Mud. I really want something like this for the hubby, so that he doesn't have to use the flowery platter that we currently have for everyday use. I'm sure he gets a good ribbing from "the guys" every time he grills. And a Southern bbq wouldn't be complete without a rousing game of Cornhole. These great boards are from Beverly's Butterflies. There are other sets to choose from, but I picked these out to celebrate the start of college football (Hooray! Let's go Noles and Let's go State!).

Doesn't all that make you want to fire up the grill and throw on some burgers & dogs?

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Labor Day weekend. Bring on Fall!!