Easiest Apple Pie Recipe

Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1 stick of butter - in small pieces
a few drops of ice water
Mix in a food processor until it starts to "ball up" a little.
Refrigerate it for 1 hour.

Filling
4 or 5 large apples - peeled and cut into thin slices
1 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of cinnamon

Toss the apple slices in the lemon juice. Combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Coat the apple slices in the rest of the ingredients. Roll out the crust, using a pie plate as a guide. Press the crust into the pie plate and fill with the apple slices. Trim the crust and use the pieces to make little leaves for decoration.
Cover the crust with foil, and bake the pie on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 1/2 an hour. Take the foil off so that the crust can get a little color. When the apple juices are bubbling a little bit, the pie is done.

DIY Necklaces Under $5.00

Here's a necklace trend that's hard to miss. Rhinestones, pearls, gold chains, vintage brooches & earrings, all thrown into the mix. What you wind up with is a statement piece that can be worn dressed up or down. The examples here range anywhere from $18.-$300. My DIY cost $5., max. I purchased vintage necklaces and earrings at the flea market for 50 cents to $1. Then I simply hung the earrings onto the necklaces, and layered at will. Can you tell the difference between mine and the expensive ones? I didn't think so.
The black necklace was a present from Cute Hubby, I added it into the mix for interest.

Would You Like a Little Color With Your Tea?

It's photos like these that make me love the site the cool hunter, a very hip blog that never, ever gets boring.

RECIPE FOR SIMPLICITY

Living simply can make us happy. Happiness studies through the years show that what makes us happy isn't stuff.

RECIPE FOR SIMPLICITY

1. Don't bring any material thing into your home unless you absolutely love it.

2. Live in a home with a cozy environment.

3. Live a balanced life: daydream, relax, prepare a leisurely meal or take a walk.

4. Work no more than 30 minutes from home.

5. Limit your children's extracurricular activities so they don't grow up addicted to constant stimulation.

6. Travel. Living in a different culture fascinates us, excites us, and vitalizes us. It teaches us to live in the present.

7. Spend at least an hour a week in a natural setting. There is nothing more basic than the natural world.

8. Cultivate a practice of silence or solitude, even if it is just 15 to 30 minutes a day.

9. Practice saying "No" to things that don't bring you inner peace and fulfillment. Live consciously and deliberately.

Rear View

Since I'm a big believer in giving the people what they want, in response to the comments from the ladies on Vogue's *ss Man, here's a little something for you fellas.

It's All For You, Enjoy.

Dominica, of Faces and Places of Antwerp, has graciously given me the Splash award. Thank you so much Domi! I thought I would combine it with an award passed on from Deanna, of Dooder City. Thank you Dooder!
My version is:
Awarding 7 people, including links that take you straight to one of my favorite posts that they've done.
And posting 7 random photos, that appeal to me for whatever reason, from my blog.


1. Dr. Zibbs, of That Blue Yak, because not only are his posts funny, his comment section is hilarious.

2. Kate, of A World So Small, because her sense of humor is edgy in spite of the fact that she's very much a lady. She is also MIA lately, and I wish she would come back to us.

3. Drollgirl, for her thought inspiring pictorials. I love her taste in art.

4. Moannie, of The View from This End, for her beautiful writing style and wonderful illustrations.

5. Vic, of What Were You Thinking?, because she makes me laugh so hard that milk comes out of my nose.

6. Miss Yvonne, of Yo Mama's Blog, because her posts are so funny, that I will go back and re-read them.

7. Pru, of Prunella de Ville, because she makes me want to be funnier. Her honesty combined with humor is a killer duo. She is also MIA lately.

Be sure to click on their links if you have a minute, it's fast, and you're guaranteed a good time.

Happy Birthday Babyzilla

I will never take for granted my beautiful little grand daughter. She was born two months early, taken from the womb because she was dying inside her mother. Her intestines were not attached and she was filling up with fluid. Over the course of the next year she lived mostly at the hospital, hanging by a thread. She had 5 surgeries, to my recollection. Her mother rarely left her side, sleeping on a cot in the hospital. When she was home, she still had a bag for poo that my daughter had to change, and she had a feeding tube inserted into her chest. It's been a long road to recovery. Where the bag was, is now a long scar across her tummy. Where the feeding tube went into her chest, is a little "dimple". We still have to be very careful about what she eats and drinks, but she is healthy and active. Today is her 3rd birthday. It was a good day.

Walking on the Thin Ice of a Dusky Dawn

Usually we hang out at the park, on good days, or chill at the house when the weather's crappy. Last night we got to go see Disney on Ice, it was great!
It was good to get out of Dodge City and see something new.
In case you haven't noticed, my blog has morphed from a fun, witty, fashion page, into a daily photo shoot with Babyzilla. I hope to find a balance between the two, but in the meantime, them's the breaks, babycakes.
I will just take one moment here to inform my loyal bloggy chums that I do still try to read your posts, but can't always comment. The reason for this is that Cute Hubby is the Computer Commando as of late, and for some reason I can't comment from his "page".
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go change out of my thermal p.j.'s & bathrobe, Babyzilla's on her way over, and she's spending the night.

No, You Can't Have My Slippers. Or My Super Cool Pajama Pants.

I was just sitting here thinking about how funny Miss Yvonne is. I keep going back and looking at the "after" photo in her last post. Don't make those sad little faces at me, I still love you too. But right now, it's all about Miss Yvonne being hysterical at work. She's my hero. Go read her blog. (I know my slippers are just too cool for words, aren't they?)

Husband Banned From Target

This story was passed on to me:

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse.

Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from our local Target.

Dear Mrs. Samsel,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Samsel, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice,'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money.

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he would invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called.

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 2: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.

12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through,yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but not least:

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, and then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' One of the clerks passed out.

A Piece of Advice from Frederic Fekkai

Too often we hate the frozen reflection we see in a mirror, and so we make rash decisions to correct flaws that don't even exist.
Don't just stare at yourself in the mirror in the morning. It's the least flattering moment of the day. To get an impression of how you look in real life, catch your reflection all through the day. You'll be pleasantly surprised. I have never been surprised at my own reflection, I can't believe he said that. Anyway.....
When scrutinizing your image, run a hand through your hair. See how it feels. Notice what your hand does- it will naturally go to the problem spots:

*Are you fluffing your hair or patting it down here and there? You can probably use a good trim.

*Are you stroking your jawline up and down and rubbing your cheekbones? You feel tired and should try to get a good night's sleep.

*Are you straightening your posture? You need to exercise more often.

*Look into the mirror before leaving your house to figure out what to eliminate- not what to add.

I thought the rest of his advice after this was stupid, so I didn't include it.

Oh Deer!

They never stop moving, do they? I tried in vain to get a clear shot of this shirt for Dominica, who's shop is called Oh Deer!. As I'm putting this to post, Babyzilla's shoving a chair across the kitchen floor and yelling at me. Gotta go. : )

My Sentiments Exactly

I love Diane Keaton. Anyone who is already of fan of her, knows why. If you're not a fan of her, I'm not going to explain it. In her November interview with More magazine, Keaton talked about her mother. As I read her words, I had a revelation. She was certain that her mother had artistic ambitions of her own, however quiet or unrealized. Dorothy (her mom) was an obsessive journal keeper, cramming scores of brick-thick notebooks with thoughts, photographs, doodles and collages. "My mother had that fantasy of more, a bigger life, expressing herself. You don't write all that unless you need to get the story of your life out. You're saying, 'I'm here. I want to express what it meant to me.'" OMG, if her mother was alive today, she would have been blogging! The idea of saying "I'm here. I want to express what it all meant to me" is exactly how I feel. I've never seen anyone put it into better words than Diane Keaton.

I Used to Live in a Haunted House

So, zibbsy asked me for more details on my haunted house experience, and since it's all too big to leave in his comment section, here it goes:

Cute Hubby and I moved into a house in Lambertville, New Jersey, when our kids were all still in school. The house was on Swan St., on a little hill two roads over from the cemetery. It was not an old house, built in the 60's mostly of wood, backing up to some trees and Swan Creek.
As I was unpacking alone in the house (CH at work, kids in school), I would hear little girls voices whispering/laughing from other parts of the house. I assumed that since it was a town house, I was simply hearing neighbors through the walls. No one else in my family ever heard the voices, and I found out that there were no children living on either side of us. Then I started hearing them on the phone line. My family said it was just the lines getting "crossed" and that they had all heard other people on the lines too. Eventually, the voices stopped.
Then Hurricane Andrew came through our area and left a muddy mess in it's wake. We had muddy water coming through the basement wall on one side of the house and running out of the sliding doors on the other side of the house. It was a nightmare. After we got all of that cleaned up was when the fun started. The following examples are unrelated to each other and took place over the few years that we stayed in the house:
Oldest daughter came out of the kitchen and her friend who was watching her from the living room said "I thought there was someone in the kitchen following you around".
Youngest daughter ran up the stairs and said "Don't you just hate it when it sounds like someone is running up right behind you?".
High school aged son demands that I buy him a "big" night light, ever since he saw a "white" man come down the stairs to his room.
CH and friend distinctly hear a woman laugh in the living room. I love this one, because up until then, CH didn't believe that there was anything strange going on.
I woke up one night to see a blurry image standing at the end of the bed. CH said he didn't see anything, but by that time the image had moved along my side of the bed. I had asked "What do you want?" and I think it was coming over to tell me, but CH put the light on and it disappeared.
I used to always feel like someone was standing by my right shoulder whenever I was putting on my makeup in the master bathroom, of all places.
There were lots of other little instances: things being moved from one place to another, hearing loud "thuds" from other parts of the house, ect. We moved after 3 years, to a house that was built in 1925, and never had one weird instance in the 5 years that we lived there. Now we live in a house that was also built in 1925, and have had only one weird instance: Babyzilla watches the corner ceiling of the living room sometimes, and laughs. She hasn't done that for a few months though. The last time she did it, she watched something go along the ceiling from the kitchen through the middle room and to the spot on the living room ceiling. I asked her if her little friend was back, and she just ignored me.
Since living in the house on Swan St., I have found out that the Lambertville-New Hope area (the Delaware River divides them) is one of the most "haunted" areas in the United States. No joke. My theory is: the dirt from the cemetery gets washed down hill to the town. Oh yeah, it's a silly theory, but that's all I got. I have a theory about our little "ceiling" visitor, too. We live in an old mining town, and birds were not uncommon pets back "in the day". They were used to detect poisonous gas leaking from the mines. I think our little visitor might be a bird.

If anybody else has a story to share, please leave it in the comment section.

Dress Up