Tuesday, April 22, 2025

After a year of a new puppy, winter, and just a busier than I’d like schedule, I haven’t hosted much. This past week reminded me of how much it fills my cup to have low maintenance friends over and to do what I think of as a low maintenance spread.

I have a better entertaining space for warmer weather, but I need to be reminded that people really don’t care what your space consists of. And, when we look at the much smaller spaces of Europe, it seems silly to not invite people over more.

For the last year I have been going to coffee shops, restaurants, and bars more than I have been having people over. And, I only have a couple of friends who host in their homes. It’s funny to me that my friends who have the biggest homes host the least. So, that is something to put in your pipe and smoke and ruminate on, no?

There are seasons in your life where you do it more and less, of course. Friends who work from home want to get out.

I like to always have some cute cocktail napkins and small plates on hand. I really need to update my glassware. All I had for our recent guests that matched were jam jars but they really liked them and said they use them in Vermont, too!

I want the pretty hobnail style! I can be really weird and take a long time deciding on something small like this but I want the right size – not too short and not too tall and I am thinking about going with a very light mulitcolor set. See? I haven’t found that exactly right one yet. If you click on the red font, you will see it comes close, but it’s not quite right.

These were what I had for my guests last week. I found the cute napkins at Marshall’s on spring break.

Sometimes simple is best, you know?

Our drink was tinto de verano which is red wine with lemon lime soda and a lemon slice. I used a Rioja Tempranillo that was around $10.

Ordering a pizza and making a salad is great if you are crunched for time.

It’s always been easy to come to my house for after school happy hours since I live so close. One time I did something unexpected for Erica and Elizabeth and make tater tot nachos in the air fryer.

You could even Door Dash some bar food and it would still maybe be cheaper than going out.

You can have people over for coffee or tea and cookies or cake. Who wouldn’t love that?

As I have an idea, I type it in my phone memo.

There are so many things you can do – have some girlfriends over (or just one friend) and make and decorate a summer bucket list. I think Erica and Elizabeth would love to do that! You could get some nice paper and markers and stickers – why should only kids get to do that?

I think you know this topic is close to my heart. I love feeding people and I love connecting with people.

Here are some posts I have written:

Entertaining at Home – Why you should even if your space isn’t perfect

Spanish Lunch

Summer Hospitality

Hodgepodge of Borrowing from Other Cultures

Mexican Homemade To Go – I need to do this again!

Sound off in the comments! What are your best hosting tips for any type of hosting?

Amy

Monday, April 21, 2025

It’s Monday and that means it’s time to link up with Sarah and Holly. Let’s go back to Thursday. I was off Friday so Thursday was like my Friday and I treated myself to an Egg McMuffin – no butter, no cheese, add an extra egg. I didn’t miss the cheese and butter as much as I thought I would.

We had houseguests coming and I snapped a picture of my baby. My hall bath has not been this uncluttered for some time so it deserved a moment of appreciation. I still love the stuff I chose. Oh, and I added a funeral plant after I took this photo.

I got home from work at 4:00 on Thursday and they were coming at 5:45. So, I decided to finish cleaning and do tapas instead of trying to cook a full dinner. I had strawberries, lemon slices for the drink, Easter kisses, jellybeans, manchego and havarti cheese, serrano ham from Spain, little crackers shaped like baguettes, olives, pistachios, potato chips, and stuff for pan con tomate. They have been living in Vermont this year so I think they appreciated the Spanish stuff and they ate it up!

Rafa and Pili are the parents and they are 43. Gabi is the little boy and he is 7 and in first grade.

We sat on the patio from 6:30 to 9:00 and it was lovely. When they first arrived we all walked around on the playground with Eddie Otis and they could stretch their legs from being in the car for a couple of hours. They drove from Vermont, but made stops to visit friends along the way.

While we were sitting at the table chatting, I ordered pizza for our dinner. They had not had pizza recently and love it so they were really happy.

Rafa taught Spanish at my school in 2007 with a special program from Spain and we instantly became friends. He is exactly 10 years younger than me. We kept in touch all these years and this is the first time he has visited since!

Friday morning we just ate breakfast at home. They were super easy houseguests. Then, we drove around, looked at the river, went to my sister in law’s boat business, saw waterfront park and talked about how high the flood had been and saw remnants, saw some places of interest in the downtown…

ate lunch at a hot chicken place in NULU and then shopped and looked around. Gabi couldn’t wait to get back to new best friend Eddie Otis (it was mutual!). We found out Eddie is good with kids.

We shared these and they loved them!

We visited Clayton & Crume because he also taught one of the founders!

We got a special tour of the upstairs which used to be Ali’s gym!

If you are a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fan, Clayton and Crume just visited Kemosabe in Aspen and are selling some goods there!

I talk about this a lot, but it’s such a cool story. Clay and his roommate from college started making those leather embroidery fraternity belts while in college and now it’s hit the big time!

We asked a passerby for a group photo!

We came home and Gabi got to play with EO again and then we walked to Ballard and it was time to say goodbye.

EO says, “don’t leave, new friend!”

It was time for me to put my feet up. For dinner we had leftover pizza and the salad I forgot to make for the company! Oops!

Saturday morning I started a new book. It’s kind of like Eleanor Oliphant if she were an air traffic controller.

I took my iced coffee with protein (proffee) out to do errands with me. I also took a baggie of Fiber One cereal. This was several hours after my breakfast and I think it’s good to be prepared in case you get hungry. I find it very hard to get my protein in without a 30 g shake.

One of my errands was Easter baskets!

Tom’s:

Mason’s:

My sister Molly said it looked like a basket for an 80 year old man. What can I say? Mason is an old soul.

Jack’s:

I filled my bird feeders and had lots of visitors when I sat outside in the afternoon. It was going to rain and the air was nice and cool. I spent a few hours reading.

Then, it was time for three of us to go see the other one in Macbeth! It was in a really cool old chapel and was BYOB so I brought red wine – communion vibes. But, Tom and I ate a baggie of jellybeans, too. I just don’t enjoy Shakespeare. There I said it.

We got home really late and I got up later than normal. We woke up to a beautiful Easter day. I had lots of thoughts of my mom.

I started a brisket. I also bought a ham.

One of my Saturday errands was a Kroger pick up.

I sent this to Tom Saturday – forgive me in advance.

Hope you had a nice weekend and a happy Easter if you celebrate!

Amy

P.S. – I think WordPress (my blog host) had a commenting problem on Friday. When I still had no comments by 8:30 a.m. I started thinking I had offended someone and I felt very unloved. I have my regulars that comment first and I started to be worried about them, too. Are they ok? Anyway, sorry about that! I think it is working again!

Friday, April 18, 2025

It’s Friday! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some favorites. Today’s post is short and sweet because I just worked and got ready for my houseguests coming this weekend.

My first favorite is the comment section of my Tuesday post about cleaning out my mom’s house and the lessons I’m learning. Thank you for your kind words and your stories shared with me. I am going to go back and read them again this weekend.

Last weekend was a lot and then I went into a very busy week and I needed this…

One of our counselors sends a Wednesday Wellness slide show each week.

So, to do this for myself, I ordered take out for dinner one night and I decided my houseguests would rather me be relaxed and able to talk to them so I am making Spanish tapas when they arrive and a salad to go with pizza we will order. I am making the salad with romaine, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, strawberries and Brianna’s blush dressing. It’s delicious.

I brought home my mom’s vintage mah jong set and then I got a notice that an acquaintance that I have only met once or twice but I am Facebook friends with is now a certified mah jong instructor. I am going to learn how to play in a few weeks and then maybe that will become a new hobby if I like it.

I sent my niece some lip stuff and she and her boyfriend tried it – lol – and sent me a video review. I couldn’t figure out how to flip this around. I used to know how to edit in WordPress and now they have changed everything. It’s on my list to learn.

Aren’t they cute? It makes my day to get texts and videos from my nieces and nephews. Isn’t it great to be an aunt?

Speaking of aunts… my mom’s sister has been so helpful and we have called and talked to her several times about family furniture pieces and to get advice on the estate sale. Aunts are great!

I brought this for lunch one day and it was so good! Coleslaw mix, rotisserie chicken, Skinnygirl poppyseed dressing, blue cheese crumbles, apple pieces – the flavors are so good in my opinion!

The other day I brought “sub in a tub” using my snackle box. Erica had to to the other lunches – one was a salad with grilled chicken. We are really eating a lot of salads this year.

My best dinner this week involved three sheet pans. Easy! Roasted peeled Yukon gold potatoes – I boiled them a bit first, salmon, broccoli – all cooked on air fryer setting at 400. I need to get more 1/4 sheet pans. The size is great. I only have one right now.

I know it’s over, but this Master’s cocktail sounds good.

I bought another Fiona Ferris. This one is 10 years old and it’s not my favorite. Many of her points are repeated in the newer books I have. But, still – she has nice reminders of ways to live well.

I checked this out from the library and took some study hall time to read it this week. It’s a bit different than the title suggests – “Die with Zero” – you do need to read the subtitle. He talks about finding that balance between working just enough to have rich life experiences and not working too much for money you will never get to use. This is going on in my brain a lot as I prepare to retire and think about what work I will do next and as I clean out the possessions that my parents spent a lifetime accumulating.

So, what tops your list of favorites this week? I hope you had many! Thank you for being here! You are always a favorite of mine.

Amy

Thursday, April 17, 2025

It’s Thursday which means that it’s Fashion Files day with Kellyann and Jill.

My favorite thing to wear right now is Halara flare jeans and blouses. Still!

So, we are going to be a bit out of order, but here goes…

Saturday night in my hometown I wore my lighter Halara jeans (my fave right now) with this tropical blouse I bought maybe 3-4 years ago at TJ Maxx.

I was able to wear these and they are actually quite comfortable! I think they look good with flare jeans.

For school Monday I wore my older Dillard’s Westbound jeans, my J.Crew clearance $12 blouse from a few years ago and my J.Crew consignment cardigan. This is an easy Monday combo that I can throw on. Yes, the sneakers ruined it. Oh well. We can wear whatever we want to my school. We have no dress code. Many teachers wear jeans everyday. A lot of them wear them with our school logo shirts and sweatshirts so even though I am in jeans, my top half is usually more “dressed up” than many.

Tuesday I wore my blue gauzy pants and I let the dogs out in gold Birks. These are not that comfortable to teach in. Maybe they aren’t fully broken in? I have had them for several years, though! I wore an old blouse that is kind of scratchy and might need to go bye bye and my Old Navy cardigan.

After school Tuesday, my replacement Aerosoles arrived. They are surprisingly comfortable, but the straps are a little loose for the top one and fine for the second one. I will have to try them on at different times of day. Does anyone know if they stretch out? That might not be good.

I love the look of cork!

Look at these that showed up in my Facebook feed! Should I exchange again for these? Lol!

I found a new IG follow – a style guru named Susie Wright. She was talking about the need for neutral shoes and how black shoes can ruin an outfit. She showed maybe 5 outfits where she switched black to neutral. It’s shocking! So, you can see that I need more neutral shoes!

Want to see something funny from my mom’s house? This is my bestie and roommate Heather and I at college orientation. She is on the left with the impressive bangs. Oh to have those unfreckled un-sun damaged legs back.

I only had two days last week but I broke out my new dress for one of them. I bought this back in February. I bought this one and the one I wore to Erica’s bday dinner around the same time. They are both from Tunie’s outlet.

Tanya influenced me to buy this under $10 Amazon sweatshirt and I wore it the other school day last week.

School selfie with readers:

What have you been wearing? I am trying to be content now and not shop. Famous last words, no? But, when I am super busy like I am now I just really don’t have time to shop. I did realize I needed some jockey shorts to wear under dresses. I think I donated my two pairs in the last donation drop off. Oops. So, Amazon to the rescue.

Amy

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

It is Wednesday already! That means it’s time to link up with Joyce for Hodgepodge. Sorry for the salmon photo. It’s kind of gross!

1. Do you complete your own taxes? Besides actual taxes, what’s something you’ve found taxing lately?

Tom does our taxes using Turbo Tax. I guess if ours were more complicated we might have to hire someone. I am very appreciative to Tom for doing this. We always start at the end of January or whenever we have all of our documents. We don’t wait until the last minute.

Sometimes I forget how you can pay someone to do basically everything for you. We do most of our own stuff around here. It’s exhausting sometimes!

2.  What are three values you treasure most in a friendship? 

Communication – that you text me back when I text you, that you “check” on me from time to time, and that you can have a good conversation with me

Sense of humor – that you can laugh with me

Shared values/interests – I really don’t care who owns what or who knows who. I do have some friends that talk about this kind of stuff but it’s not the only thing we talk about

3. Do you meal plan or do you mostly wing it? Share your dinner menus for this week. 

I try to meal plan but it’s a lot – I plan dinners, my two to three lunches that I do with my meal prep partner, and my own weekly breakfast. This week it was rotisserie chicken, baked beans, taters for one dinner, salmon, roasted broccoli, roasted potatoes for one meal, and sub in a tub for one lunch. The other dinners will be thrown together from what needs to be used up. A dinner or lunch will be a Cobb salad. I also have stuff to make the rotisserie chicken, cole slaw mix, Skinny Girl poppyseeed dressing, blue cheese, and apple mixture. Breakfasts this week are three Amylu chicken sausages and a couple of eggs scrambled each morning. I threw the plan together while out of town so we will go with it!

4. Thomas Sowell is credited as saying, ‘‘There are no solutions, only trade-offs.’ Agree or disagree? Discuss.

I do think life is about choices. Sometimes I have my work life together but my home life suffers. Is that what this means? Life is a series of trade-offs. I can stay up later to watch this silly show or I can go to bed and have a better morning. I can sleep an extra 30 minutes or use that 30 minutes to tidy my house in the morning. This week I am choosing to go to bed and the benefits I am getting are worth it. One morning I did two loads of laundry before work. One morning I decluttered a few areas of the kitchen.

5. What’s the best perk you’ve enjoyed at a job?

There are literally no perks in teaching! Ha! I guess I have gotten into sporting events for free? I’m lucky if they throw a bag of Cheez-its at me every few years.

Don’t come at me and say I get “summers offs” because I also don’t get paid. They spread out my pay to make it seem like teachers get paid in the summer.

When I worked at Pizza Hut I got a free personal pan on my break.

When I worked at Talbot’s Surplus store I got a discount on clothing and I got to unpack it and see the clothing first. Hi Jennie! Remember my little stints there?

You realize that I am being satirical with this question to some extent I hope!

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

I want to start wearing dresses but my legs are so cold in the mornings and in my classroom. The AC is on full blast. I also think it’s time to say goodbye to some of the dresses I wouldn’t buy today. I also have some several years old palazzo pants that I would no longer buy. They seem dated to me. So, I am having a hard time figuring out what to wear this week.

I wore this one day:

Yes, I know the sneakers ruin it. My feet and legs are barking when I am teaching full sail standing up all day.

What about you?

Do you have any hodgepodge thoughts for me?

Amy

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Happy Tax Day!

I really didn’t know what to write about today so this idea came to me. Please know I mean it as no disrespect to my mom, but that I have a desire to learn something from every experience in my life.

My mom was pretty organized but had a lot of stuff. Her house is over 3000 square feet and it is a full house. My Dad was pretty minimalist and let my mom have control over the stuff for the most part. My Dad was an avid library goer and reader like me so he didn’t buy or keep books very often.

We filled two giant reusable shopping bags with OTC medicine, vitamins (never opened) and prescription medicine (not much). The OTC stuff had expiration dates as far back as 2005. I hear that was a good year for ibuprofen? I took them to the medicine drop off at CVS. This is a lesson to go through your meds once a year.

I found 8 curling irons!

We found the spices of our childhood. The realtor actually heard me say, “those spices were a big part of my childhood!” They came from a decorative spice cabinet and just never got replaced/changed out.

We found countless things with the tag still on them. I desire to use/wear anything I buy immediately and not keep tags in my closet. I feel like if I keep a tag on too long the purchase was a mistake.

We found scissors in almost every room of the house. We found emery boards in almost every room of the house. Marie Kondo says to put like things in the same place so you can see how much you have. It’s clear my mom had no idea how many of these items she had, like many of us. She had them in several drawers, bathrooms, the basement, desk drawers, little tiny drawers of stuff in various places.

Her freezers (one in the kitchen and one in the garage) were stuffed and many of the things were expired. The pantry items held many expired items as well.

We keep buying things when we have too much and can’t see what we have.

We found gifts we gave my mom that she never used. It hurt my feelings a little when I found a box of monogrammed notepads that I gave her. What do we save these things for?

We found bins of gifts that my mom planned to give us and other people. She loved buying and giving gifts. But, she had so much that it was clear she didn’t know what she had or remember for whom it was meant.

We also found boxes upon boxes of photos in addition to all the photo albums. My mom took photos and printed them out and labeled many of them. I am so grateful for all the photos that she took. It is so clear how much she loved us by all the things we found. We also have her Storyworth account and it will be such a blessing to have the words she has written and the photos attached to turn into books.

I wouldn’t change the two intense weekends my sisters and I have spent together remembering and honoring our parents by going through their things. But, also, I think it would be a missed opportunity if my sisters and I didn’t reflect on what we are learning.

Amy

Monday, April 14, 2025

It’s Monday already? It’s time to link up with Sarah and Holly to share our weekends!

We had a strange week last week due to the flooding. Monday through Wednesday were online and boy do I have a case of tech neck. I am not usually on my computer that much for my work. Thursday we had a two hour delay, and Friday was normal. So, Friday I came home from school with no plans. The weather was gorgeous and I sat outside and then I “doubled dashed”. Have you ever done this on Door Dash? We ordered our favorite Thai food and I got a wild hair to order the Kardashian Crumbls. Krumbls?

The cakes were for Saturday and just the perfect size.

I don’t get it. I don’t think Crumbl is that good. Anyone?

We have never had a dog that likes to “hug” so much. Don’t tell Tom I showed off his bald spot, ok? They were locked in an embrace when I came in the room Friday night.

Also, Tom told me that he had to stop to give EO hugs multiple times on Saturday while trying to do his backyard project. Lol.

So, Saturday I was up and at ’em bright and early for a hometown re-do. We canceled going to our mom’s house due to the flooding the Saturday before so we rinsed and repeated. My first job was to go sign my mom’s tax return and send in her money owed. Tell me that doesn’t suck to be deceased and still owe money. And, then, I feel like this was kind of full circle. I accepted my first teaching job in my hometown and I mailed my retirement docs in my hometown.

I’m getting really excited. I haven’t told my students yet. That is coming soon.

The view from my mom’s house…

Again, we worked and worked and found energy from somewhere. We took two trips to the dump and our biggest priority was to go through sentimental stuff. We stopped at 3:00 to talk to our realtor. This was not our childhood home but my Dad lived there for 13 years and my mom for 19 years and they really loved it. It feels wrong to sell it. It feels wrong to box up 76 and 82 years of life. So, when I tell you what we are doing please know that this isn’t easy. Those of you who have done it understand and most likely we will all have to do it.

After the realtor left we worked again for another hour and a half and then we revealed to Kate that we were celebrating her 50th birthday again but with sisters! We had a scavenger hunt with 5 clues. It was pretty silly and thrown together, but it turned out great.

The first stop was melancholy but we were so happy to see my parents’ gravestone back in place. So, the way it works in the veterans’ cemetery is that the service person is on the front and the spouse is on the back. We chose my mom’s quote to match my dad’s. My mom’s one big passion was art and learning about art through travel. So, “art is the journey of a free soul”. It encompasses art and travel.

My dad’s ended up with a small error. His passion was flying. He spent almost 56 years flying with the Air Force and then with a private local company. It says “The engine is the heart of a plane. The pilot is the soul.”

We liked that they both had the word “soul’.

Is it gauche to do a gravestone selfie? We toasted and talked to our mom and dad and it was really quite special. We told them what we were doing and we told them we were celebrating their 50 year old middle baby!

The clue had said, “Of you they were always in awe. Go to where you can toast your maw and paw.”

The next clue said “Go to where you can see the flood” and I can’t tell you all the parts of the clues – sorry.

The next one was a inside joke from our family European trip when we were 17, 20, and 23. And it told Kate we were going to the new duckpin bowling alley. But, we were just looking at it and instead going to the wine bar!

There is a basement speakeasy with a secret door.

There were no phones allowed in the speakeasy!

We decided to stay up top at the wine bar. Isn’t it gorgeous? We ended up in one of the round booths.

We then went to a live music venue for a bit and then we ended the night at this dive bar…

and had dinner!

We had plans to go through more stuff after we got home, but that didn’t happen. We had a little too much fun out and stayed out until 11!

We got up yesterday and worked, worked, worked again. We went and got breakfast of sandwiches and coffee.

Then, we got Culver’s grilled chicken sandwiches – yum!

I got home around 4:30 and Tom had made progress! Look at his assistant! He has a scrap of wood in his mouth.

I’d like to say I sat around when I got home but I had my work to do!

Maybe I’m glad to go to work today so I can rest? Just kidding!

How was your weekend? It was glorious to have no rain and 60 degrees!

Amy

Friday, April 11, 2025

It’s Friday! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika to share my favorites of the week.

The sun came out! Monday was warm enough to sit in the sun next to my deconstructed back deck; Eddie Otis looked like Mufasa from Lion King!

I had my laptop open and was working and he was like, “what do you think you’re doing?”

The historic flooding in my area was definitely not a favorite. We did online school from home Monday through Wednesday, went back on a two hour delay yesterday and then today will be back to normal schedule.

Tuesday I decided to work from a coffee shop because it would be something different. It was great!

When I returned home somebody was a little clingy. Eddie Otis loved online school!

Mason enjoyed the tea at the high tea we went to over spring break so much that he found and ordered it off of Amazon:

The little leaf sticking up from the tea bag is so cute. We enjoyed a cup of it this week.

I had more time to walk with Eddie Otis. He pulls on the leash but when I walk him off leash he stays right by me.

I finished this book this week and loved it! So cute!

Anyone else watch Clinton and Stacy back in the day? I am super excited about their new show! I love a makeover show and seriously learned so many style tips from them.

Is anyone going to try to see the pink moon this weekend?

I got out one evening this week. It was Erica’s birthday and she had a girls’ dinner Wednesday night at an Italian restaurant called Ciao. I met some new people, too.

I got an Aperol Spritz and a beet salad and some manicotti.

I shouldn’t tell you about my favorite thing I baked this week:

They were delicious!

Eddie Otis doesn’t do this with me but he does it with Tom. Look at him curled up and sleeping like a baby. He weighs 80 pounds. An 80 pound lap dog!

I found some great lounging shorts at Target and you can read about them here. Wednesday I did my hodgepodge post, Tuesday I talked about spring goals, and Monday I recapped my weekend and second half of spring break.

What were your favorites this week? I hope you had many! I also hope spring comes for all of us once and for all!

Amy

Thursday, April 10, 2025

I almost didn’t participate in Fashion Files today because I didn’t have much fashion in my files. Alas, here I am – linking up with Kellyann and Jill.

I think this was the last day I got dressed in a decent outfit. I wore my Aerie yellow button up on Friday. It was cold so I added a cardigan.

I am having trouble editing photos again – ugh! So, the reason why I have not been getting formally dressed for the day is that I have been on spring break, then it rained and flooded, and now I have been doing online school from home all week so far.

If you are a regular reader, here is the river view of Captain’s Quarters where we eat from our boat a lot in the summer:

This is a local news reporter. It made national news for its approach to protecting the property. They flood the interior with fresh water to keep the dirty river water out:

News Link – click on the red words to see the story.

Too funny not to share!

I wear lounge shorts around the house and found these Wild Fable by Target shorts for $14 in the store the other day. I have washed and worn the and I am super pleased. They have pockets! I saw they are down to $11. 20 so I ordered the yellow and grey and already have the light blue and a light mauve color.

I also ordered this clearance sweatshirt.

I feel like I only want to wear sweatshirts lately. It’s cold outside again and I am not going out much.

I have always loved cork and I ordered these on a whim. While I love them, the back strap is too difficult and tight to be honest to work for me.

They were going to charge me $10 to return them so I exchanged them for these, less practical, but fabulous shoes!

I am not getting to wear my spring clothing right now, but hopefully I will get to soon!

Sorry for such an unprofessional post, my editing wasn’t working on my phone, either.

What have you been wearing?

Buying for spring?

Amy

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

It’s Wednesday and it’s a weird week around these parts! I am linking up with the creative Joyce for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

I am writing this on Tuesday from a coffee shop. I am on my second day of online learning and I promised myself I would come to a coffee shop if I had another opportunity. I didn’t leave my house yesterday! I was outside for about 3 hours so that was great, but I probably should have gotten out after work hours. It was finally sunny and about 57 degrees. Today it is sunny again but it’s winter again! Seriously! We had a freeze warning today and another one tomorrow. And, we’ve had a historic flood. Mother Nature, what did we do to make you so mad? Are you also going through menopause?

1. What’s a lesson you’ve learned from a mistake? 

Gosh, how much time do you have? I sometimes have diarrhea of the mouth. I am consistently giving people more information than they need or want. Say less, Amy. I am working on it. I think I sometimes get too enthusiastic about things and need to tone it down.

2. Do you salt food while you’re cooking or let diners add their own?  What’s a food you think must be salted? Do you like pepper? 

I do season food but try to go easy on salt. I hate over salted things. If I use Cajun I don’t put much salt because it has it in the mixture. I like pepper but try not to go overboard. I try not to go too crazy with any seasoning. Potatoes always seem to need more salt than I think. My favorite seasonings are Tony Cachere’s cajun and the Cavender’s Greek seasoning blend. I also love ranch powder and taco seasoning and I think you can add them to more than you think. Have you tried taco potatoes? Ranch potatoes? Do it! Do it!

3. What was the last gathering you attended and what did you do there? 

A friend’s 50th birthday party. They had great food and we just stood around and chatted. It was the day after my mom’s funeral so I didn’t feel like myself, but I thought it was important to show up. We didn’t know anyone but everyone was so nice! People need to gather more and have more things at their home.

I saw something funny on Facebook talking about in the midwest every gathering was in your garage. I can remember many garage gatherings! Can you?

4. Your favorite shade of purple? What’s your favorite purple flower? 

I would say lavender. My favorite flower is probably clematis because we had some on our fence. I don’t wear a lot of purple because I don’t think it’s one of my colors and ever since Barney came on the scene it’s been a fear that I will look like him.

5. Share a favorite spring travel memory. 

My freshman year of college spring break was pretty crazy. 3 girls and I rented a car and drove to Clearwater, FL and stayed at Heather’s uncle’s condo. We met up with some fraternity guys from our college and got to know them better – as friends. We have some funny stories and photos.

With my kids and my little fam, we had an epic Florida road trip through the Everglades and Keys and to DC and several times to Great Wolf Lodge. We tried to go somewhere every year.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I had an extra long winter break this year due to snow and I’m having an extra long spring break this year due to flooding. Did I cause this because I needed more breaks?

Amy