Thoughts

My opinions, my thoughts

by

Friday Dance Party – My Whitney Tribute

This is another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen.  It’s the time where we give thanks for making it through another week and for being alive and present here on Earth.  How do we celebrate another week of living?  We dance.  So, are you alive this Friday?  Are you and your family safe and sound?  Take a few seconds now to be in the moment and realize what a great life you truly have.  Did you give thanks for that?

Good, now let’s dance.

As most of you know, Whitney Houston was one of my favorite singing stars ever since I first heard her in my senior year of college.  I can pretty much say without hesitation that I have played her music about every week from the time I discovered her through today.  I wouldn’t feel right if I did not take this opportunity to pay my respects to this wonderful singer.  If my life ever becomes a movie (which I doubt, but let’s just say), Whitney’s music would surely be on the soundtrack.  I remember hearing her in college during my senior year singing ‘The Greatest Love Of All’.  I then traveled to New York City for the first time shortly after and heard her sing it live on Governor’s Island for a celebration of the re-opening of the Statue of Liberty.  There would be four other times I heard her sing live in concert.  I remember begging my friend to dance with me at the clubs to ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’.  That was when I was young and thought going out to a club was a good time.  I remember a big break-up and listening over and over to ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’.  Feeling proud to be an American from her ‘Star Spangled Banner’.  You really couldn’t turn on a radio when I was on the West Coast and not hear ‘I Will Always Love You’ during ‘The Bodyguard’ era.  It always makes me smile today when a contestant on ‘American Idol’ tries one of her songs from ‘The Bodyguard’ era and the judges criticize the contestant because no one can sing ‘Bodyguard’ Whitney better than Whitney.  I discovered gospel music after buying the soundtrack from ‘The Preacher’s Wife’ and the song ‘I Believe In You and Me’.  Happy to hear her voice again when ‘I Look To You’ hit the airwaves.

So thank you Whitney for always singing when I needed someone to sing.  In your honor, we dance with you today here on Acorns On Glen.  I hope all of you who are reading this will join us.

by

Fun And Light Stalking In East Hampton

We were invited to spend the weekend with our good friends at their house in East Hampton, Long Island, New York. Our friends are part of a small percentage of people who actually spend the Summer and Winter at their home in the Hamptons. The Hamptons are mostly known as a Summer destination where people travel there to relax and enjoy the heat of the Summer in their home or at one of the many beaches that are on the Atlantic Ocean. Many people have never been to the Hamptons in the Winter, but it is actually a great time to go because there is no crowds and, better yet, no traffic in getting there.

From a history perspective, the Village of East Hampton is a village in the Town of East Hampton, New York. It is located in Suffolk County, on the South Fork of eastern Long Island. The population was 1,083 at the time of the United States 2010 Census. Founded in 1648 by English farmers, East Hampton remained a quiet farming community until the late 19th century, when it became a resort for the wealthy upper class. It became an artists colony in the mid-20th century, popularized by the Abstract Expressionists, most notably Jackson Pollack. Today, it has become a premier weekend destination during the Summer season.

Winter has another benefit in East Hampton as well. Besides no crowds and little traffic, finding your favorite star’s cottage is much easier as well. Yes, I admit that I enjoy finding famous people’s houses and staring at them from the car or from the road that runs in front of their places. Winter is the best time for a light stalking adventure because you can see through the vines and shrubs that are in front of the houses because they have lost their leaves.

My latest trip centered on finding a few homes of my favorite FOODIE people. Enjoy a few of the shots I took on my East Hampton adventure:

Come out, come out Martha Stewart. Here we are in front of Martha’s East Hampton home on Lily Pond Lane. The front yard was filled with burlap covering various shrubs, bushes and small trees for the Winter. The burlap is sort of her Winter trademark. Since I am a civilized stalker, I only go as far as the front gate! If you want to see what the inside looks like, visit here.

Are you there, Barefoot Contessa? Yes, here is a shot of Ina Garten’s East Hampton home. See how the hedge in Winter enables you to see right through?

Another shot of Ina’s home as the car creeps down the roadway.

Remember the season that Ina moved from filming in her home’s kitchen to a look-alike kitchen in her new studio? Here is a shot of the studio which is on the lot right next to her home.

Don’t think less of me because of my stalking. I like to think that it shows I have a high level of curiosity versus stalker-like tendencies. I can’t believe I am the first person to do this, so I feel secure in the knowledge that there are others out there who are like me and understand. Now I just have to figure out how to get one of them to invite me in for a little bite and some tea without getting arrested.

by

Bringing Romance Back To Valentine’s Day

I’m on a mission today.  I want to bring romance back to Valentine’s Day.  Remember when you were young and you watched how Valentine’s Day and LOVE were expressed?  People bought a dozen roses to give to their loved one.  You bought a beautiful card and wrote a lovely note or a little poem in it and signed it with “With Love” in your own hand writing.  Do you remember in grade school when you would decorate a small paper bag with red hearts and paper lace, tape it up on the chalkboard ledge and all of your fellow students would drop little Valentine’s Day cards into it addressed to you?  Remember when couples celebrated with a great meal staring at each other over candles and champagne flutes?

Most people today seem to have lost the skills to be emotionally intimate.  Dating has become less about meeting someone face to face and going on a first date and more about hooking up on an online dating website.  Lovely cards replaced by short texts saying “143” (I Love You–one letter, four letters, three letters).  Romantic dinners replaced by dinners were you arrive late because work was crazy and you have to be home by 10 because there is something on TV you want to watch.

Enough already.  Today I want everyone who has a special someone to tell them ‘I Love You’ by spoken word versus a text.  Bring home some flowers and a hand written card.  Maybe a romantic dinner?  I want people to express their love in a personal and tender fashion.  I want people to show their love in an old-fashioned manner.  I want romance to come back to Valentine’s Day.  Will you help me?

by

Friday Dance Party – Give Me All Your Luvin’ Madonna

Guess what?  It’s time for another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen.  It’s the time where we give thanks for making it through another week and for being alive and present here on Earth.  How do we celebrate another week of living?  We dance.  So, are you alive this Friday?  Are you and your family safe and sound?  Take a few seconds now to be in the moment and realize what a great life you truly have.  Did you give thanks for that?

Good, now let’s dance.

OK, who watched the Super Bowl?  Maybe it’s easier to ask who didn’t watch the Super Bowl?  Me, like most Americans, watched the game during a Super Bowl party surrounded by pigs in the blanket, sliders, pulled pork, chicken strips and nachos, to name a few of the things that were there to eat.  While I thought only the fourth quarter of the game was exciting and was happy that the New York Giants won, I thought it only right to give big props to Madonna who I thought put on quite a fun and lively half-time show.  Like her or not, you have to admit that at 53 years old, Madge still has it.  At 48, I can’t:

  • Run around and dance for 13 minutes,
  • Round up fifty gladiators to pull my throne and me around,
  • Stretch my leg straight and pull it above my head.  Even if I could, I would need an orthopedic doctor to be present to help re-attach my leg to my hip bone!, and,
  • Keep hip and understand who Nicki Minoj, LMFAO, CeLo Green and M.I.A. are and where they come from.

So I give Madonna an A for her half-time show.  Since it’s Friday, turn up your speakers and enjoy her two ways:  I put her new song at the beginning of my post and her actual Super Bowl performance here.

Pick your poison and dance.  You’ve made it through another week and you deserve to celebrate.  Just don’t let me catch you trying any moves from ‘Vogue’….I’ll have to laugh at you.

by

Oprah’s Words Of Wisdom To Roseanne (And Me)

I remember in 1998 when Roseanne announced on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that she was going to do a daily syndicated talk show to air during the daytime hours.  Oprah looked at her with a wry little smile on her face and then told Roseanne that doing a talk show sounds easy in theory, but come January and February, she would see how hard it is to try to think up bright and exciting show topics to air in the dead of Winter.  14 years later, Oprah’s words of wisdom are speaking to me here at Acorns On Glen.  You see, blogging is a great way to document your life and let people read about the interesting things you do in it, until you feel that you have become the saddest person in the world and there is not one thing that you do in the dead of Winter that would interest somebody.  During Spring, Summer and Fall, there was almost never a week/weekend that went by where I didn’t do four or five things that I thought would make an interesting post.  I was always cooking a new recipe, there was always news from my garden, nature was in full swing and doing things worthy of writing about and I was traveling to here and there and able to share my finds in the places that I had visited.  All that comes to a crashing halt when the dead of Winter takes over.  I mean, I have become the most boring person who has ever written a blog this last month and I don’t see much improvement going into February.  I mean, take a look at the possible titles I could have written about for events happening with or to me over this past weekend.  Would you want to read stories like these?

  • My Adventures With Bed Sores After A 12 Hour Sleep,
  • New Ways To Avoid Taking A Shower Until 6 PM,
  • What To Eat When You Have Absolutely No Food In The House,
  • Fun Things To Do While You Wait For The Quarterly Exterminator Visit,
  • How To Open Frozen Car Doors After You Take The Car To Be Washed,
  • How To Hire Young Teens To Pick Up Tree Limbs That Fall Into Your Yard After Strong Winds,
  • Shock After Realizing You Have Used The Brush On Your Clarisonic Toothbrush For Over Six Months,
  • Flushed With Excitement – “The Good Wife” Airs A New Episode,
  • Howard Hughes Has Nothing On These Toenails I’m Clipping Now,
  • Can a 3 1/2 Hour Sleep Really Be Termed A Nap?,
  • The DMV – New Ways To Meet Weird People!, or
  • The DMV – Their Technological Advances Since My Last Visit (NOT!)

I swear to God that each of these titles could have a story behind them in minutes, but I don’t think there would be too many hits.  There is a direct correlation –  the colder it gets, the sadder my life becomes.  I’m thinking March will be my turning point.  I will begin to go out into the world more and do interesting things once again.  Until then, if you see Oprah, can you tell her to call me with some ideas she used for topics during January and February?  I really need them.

by

Friday Dance Party – Fun. We Are Young Featuring Janelle Monáe.

It’s time for another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen.  It’s the time where we give thanks for making it through another week and for being alive and present here on Earth.  How do we celebrate another week of living?  We dance.  So, are you alive this Friday?  Are you and your family safe and sound?  Take a few seconds now to be in the moment and realize what a great life you truly have.  Did you give thanks for that?

Good, now let’s dance.

January, 2012 has been typical of all the January’s I’ve experienced over the last ten to fifteen years.  We go to a New Year’s Eve party where everyone complains the next day on how it could have been better even though I had a good time.  Within a week or two into the new year, I decide that I am too heavy and I decide to go on a strict diet.  Towards the end of the month, I always buy a self-help book and begin reading it and then decide that I don’t really want to work on being (pick one:  more loving, more caring, more honest with my partner, better able to read my internal body signs, able to pick healthier foods, ten years younger in ten days).  The list goes on and on.  This year the self-help book I’m reading says that a common trick to looking and feeling younger is to act like you are young again.  It says to pick a time in your young life when you were the happiest and act like that for a period of time and you will feel better and look younger.  So I ask, does this make any sense to you and do any of us really want to go back and act like we did when we were young?  I’m not sure I do!  Granted, if I could go back and be 25 or 30 again, but with the knowledge I have now, then maybe I would do it.  However, without my 47 years of wisdom, I’m not a fan of going back to those days.  Even at my youngest and happiest, I still did some really stupid stuff:

  • Relationships – I remember during a break-up, I went and laid behind the back wheels of the person’s car so there was no way the person could leave without either dealing with me or running over me.
  • Work – I made people at work understand that I would most likely be hung over every Monday because there was a bar that I liked that had Sunday night beer blast when bottles of beer were only $1.
  • Finances – I took out cash advances on three credit cards and borrowed money from my parents to buy my first apartment.  Savings at that time totaled $0.

I think you get where I’m coming from.  Acting like this again just isn’t in me these days.  How about I just stick with something I know and think I’m getting really good at –  being 47 and proud of it.  This week’s dance number comes from a group named Fun. with their song ‘We Are Young’ featuring Janelle Monae.  So let’s dance this week and be proud of earning our stripes over the years.  It’s another week down and we’ve made it through.  After we’re done dancing, I’m off to find another $1 Beer Blast.  I think this beer blast from the past should really come back in style, don’t you?

by

Friday Dance Party – Beyonce’s Countdown

So here’s another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen.  It’s the time where we give thanks for making it through another week and for being alive and present here on Earth.  How do we celebrate another week of living?  We dance.  So, are you alive this Friday?  Are you and your family safe and sound?  Take a few seconds now to be in the moment and realize what a great life you truly have.  Did you give thanks for that?

Good, now let’s dance.

It’s strange what makes the news nowadays.  It seems we hear more and more celebrity drama reported right up there with the European debt crisis, the war in Afghanistan and the Republican primaries.  On a recent newscast I watched, Mitt Romney’s win in New Hampshire was followed by an in-depth story on Katy Perry’s divorce and the reaction it has gotten from her very Christian parents.  Was this newscast for real?  Do people really care?  I guess they do or this type of reporting wouldn’t exist.  Is it that there is so much going on in the world to depress people that any chance to show someone fall down who seems to “have it all” makes the masses a little happier?  Case in point, the birth this week of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s baby girl, Blue Ivy.  Can you imagine how you would feel if you got your contractions down to a few minutes apart, you rush to the hospital, you deliver your child and at the same time you are creating an international scandal.  Here are some headlines across New York City newspapers this week:

“See The Room Where Beyoncé Gave Birth”

“Beyoncé Gives Birth On Saturday”

“Beyoncé And Jay-Z Welcome Blue Ivy”

“Name Blue IVy Centers On Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Infatuation With The Number 4″

“What Kind Of Name Is Beyoncé’s Baby Blue Ivy”

(Picture courtesy of 50 Cent on Twitter)

“NYC Hospital Under Scrutiny After Beyoncé Birth”

“Hospital Investigating Beyoncé Birth Allegations”

“NYC Mayor Weighs In On Beyoncé Birth”

“New Mother – I Couldn’t Breast Feed My New Baby Because Of Beyoncé Security”

Enough already.  Just let them enjoy the birth of their daughter.  Yes, I know that people say they make a lot of money and sign up for this type of scrutiny, but really, does this mean intense scrutiny even in the most private of life events like the birth of a child.  I just don’t agree with that theory.  So here’s my headline:

“Beyoncé Gives Birth –  Let’s Dance”

We made it through another week.  Let’s celebrate with “Countdown” by Beyoncé.  Go on, you deserve it.  Get up and dance (just don’t let any paparazzi take your picture).  Don’t even let me see you on the cover of the National Enquirer.

by

Happy New Year 2012 – Two Ways

There are many ways to bring in the New Year.  So whether you want to bring it in all sweet and sentimental or you bring it in rowdy and crazy, the choice is for you to make.  Whatever way you choose, please know that all of us here at Acorns On Glen want to wish you, your family and your friends a very Happy New Year 2012 and may even your wildest and craziest dreams come true.  We look forward to spending more time with you in 2012.  Our best to you in the New Year…………and where is the Advil for our friend below?

by

2011’s Top 11 – Decided By You

JoJo the Yorkie and I curled up yesterday to pick the top 11 stories that we posted during 2011 here on Acorns On Glen.  Some of us curled up a little too much.  Can you see where JoJo starts and the faux fur blanket ends?  We started this blog in February as a way for us to realize and then give thanks for all the great things that happen in our lives.  You just can’t take life for granted and this blog is a great way for us to reflect and cherish the fact that we have great family, great friends and now a whole group of great people that visit Acorns On Glen on a frequent basis.  We’ve been blown away by the number of people that stop by and read our posts.  Thanks to all of you who have welcomed us into your lives this year.  The posts that have been visited the most are varied, but the majority of the top 11 seems to show that all of you, our readers, like good food and how to cook it.  Here are 2011’s top 11 posts:

1.  Funky Italian Stuffed Peppers

Our Notorius B.I.G. (Brooklyn Italian Grandmother) heads the list with her great recipe for cubanelle peppers.

2.  South Carolina’s Unbelievable Angel Oak

You liked our sight-seeing trip down in Charleston, South Carolina.

3.  Time For Tuberous Begonias

The story about the begonia tubers I’ve had for years is our most viewed gardening post.

4.  Lots Of Bling – Christie’s Important Jewels

You like jewelry, eh?  Yes you do, big stones with lots of sparkle is what you like.

5.  The Man Behind The Curtain

My bio….you like me, you really like me.

6.  A Toadstool Birthday Tea

Our first guest blogger shows us how to throw a great birthday tea for the little ones.

7.  Luna Moth Or Not – You Be The Judge

A truly magnificent discovery that landed on the back side of our house and stayed for a few days so that we could marvel at it.

8.  A Field Trip To Le Farm Restaurant

Just like us, you enjoyed the cooking of Bill Taibe at his Westport, CT restaurant, Le Farm.

9.  Chocolate Caramel Tart With Fleur De Sel

Who can resist this sweet-salty flavor combination?  We can’t!

10.  Thinking Of My Citrus House Guests

Our little orange and lime trees impressed this year and even gave us a few pieces of fruit.

11.  Meatball Mania With Sauce

Finishing off just the way we started, another hit dish from Notorius B.I.G.

So here’s to everyone who has helped make Acorns On Glen a success.  We are truly humbled by the response, along with your words of encouragement, and can’t wait to share 2012 with you.  We want to wish everyone a Happy New Year (wish I could pass everyone a glass of champagne now) and may 2012 bring you great joy and happiness beyond your wildest imagination.

by

Friday Dance Party With Some Extras – It All Starts With A Christmas Without You

This is another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen.  It’s the time where we give thanks for making it through another week and for being alive and present here on Earth.  How do we celebrate another week of living?  We dance.  So, are you alive this Friday?  Are you and your family safe and sound?  Take a few seconds now to be in the moment and realize what a great life you truly have.  Did you give thanks for that?

Good, now let’s dance.

It’s our last Friday before Christmas.  I hope everyone has purchased all their gifts and have wrapped the majority of them.  Unlike me, that has not even sent one box to my family back home in Iowa, does not have all their presents purchased and not one single package wrapped.  I may be in trouble, but as a woman at work told me there is always money.  It always fits and is always the right color.  I think this week it is only right to dance to another Christmas carol.  Last week, we listened to one of my favorite Christmas songs sung by Judy Garland in “Meet Me In St. Louis”.  Here is another favorite but we will need to travel from 1944 (the year last week’s song was released to the masses) to 1984 (when this week’s song was released to the public).  Yes, 1984!  I can’t believe that it was over 25 years ago that I watched the Christmas special “A Christmas To Remember” with Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.  O.K., their names may make you snicker a little, but back in 1984 these two were hot, hot, hot.  They were just coming off the success of their smash hit “Islands In The Stream” and so naturally when you have a big hit you immediately turn around and do a Christmas special with some new Christmas songs to introduce.  Are you thinking Justin Bieber right now?  The same trick is being used over 25 years later.

I don’t know what it was then, but my friends and I that watched this special loved this song.  We bought the album (yes, it was an album) and have listened pretty much every year to this song (from album, to cassette tape and now to CD).  We have actually used it to tease several of my divorced friends.  What better way to tease someone divorced than to play “Christmas Without You” over and over and over.  Call us cruel, but this “inside joke” has helped keep the song alive for us over all these years.

This week, I’ll admit finding that one perfect Christmas song for us to dance to was tough.  I have a lot of favorites.  Let me share with you some of my runner-ups.  If Dolly and Kenny aren’t your style, here are a couple of alternatives:

I love me some Amy Grant!

A Nat King Cole classic.

I still have the original album in my collection.  It’s the same album cover as in this little goodie.

I hope you liked this little Friday Dance Party with a twist.  Pick your favorite from the music above and just dance.  It’s the holidays and we’re still alive and kicking.  Here’s to us!!  I wish all of you a happy holiday season and let’s pray for peace on Earth.  What are your favorite Christmas carols or other holiday music?