Poor boy can't pronounce Po-Boy

Who?  MR & I

What?  Oak Street Po-Boy Festival

When? November 13, 2011

Where?  New Orleans, Louisiana

Why?  Because Po-boys are delicious, that's why!

Just in case you're from some alternate(and very sad) universe where good food is most often enjoyed in your dreams:  A po-boy is a traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana.  Don't call it a poor boy or I will laugh at you... I promise. It almost always consists of meat(often roast) or seafood(usually fried) served on baguette-like New Orleans French bread, known for its crisp crust and fluffy center.

Soft shell crab po-boy with sriracha mayo... I'm drooling just thinking about it!

MR and I split everything so we could try a few things... the way to go, for sure!

I never would have been able to choose just 1!

We tried an oyster rockefeller po-boy, a shrimp remoulade po-boy and a soft shell crab po-boy.

Hubigs Pies.  A staple here in New Orleans!  My favorite is cherry, but you can't always find those, so apple is a happy fall back.

Second lining down Oak Street

Blue Plate Mayonnaise was one of the sponsors at the fest and they had a "Blue Plate Pong" game set up.  MR won a year's worth of mayo...

but opted for a tee instead!

The Grinch who stole Po-boy fest.  Hehe ;) Seriously, that look was permanent... she wasn't just giving me the stink eye.

A perfectly delicious day with my love!  I'm aready looking forward to going again next year!

Oak Street Po-Boy Festival

Lacey's Thanksgving Day Parade

What a better way to celebrate some folks coming in and doing a little "tradesies" with the Indians oh so many years ago.  Lovely lush land for smallpox infested blankets... totally even trade!  Let's celebrate by stuffing our faces and watching football.... oooooh and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!  I love it, don't you!? [MR does not, but he will be watching it and not complaining... isn't that right, MR?]

In honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd do a pinterest parade of Thanksgiving recipes!  Juuuust in case there are some kitchen snafus or your Great Aunt Bunny's recipe suddenly goes missing and you basically ruin Thanksgiving:

No fear, I'm here to help you totally redeem yourself!

Let the delicious parade begin :)



asparagus & ham crescents

Turkey

Cranberry sauce

Cornbread dressing

Green bean casserole

Sweet potato casserole

Mini pumpkin pies

Pecan Pie

Happy Thanksgiving!

On a totally serious note, I am oh so thankful for mine & MR's family, for my friends, for all of you who have become friends & for all of you who quietly visit without ever saying a peep(though I wish you would peep, so I could respond :)).  My heart is full because of you.  I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving! xo

A modern day kinda old fashioned love letter

Dear MR,
    I roll over in bed to find your photo staring back at me. I smile and feel like the luckiest girl in the entire world. I wouldn't trade you for anything. I feel an inward giggle creep upon me when I think about what it took me to get to this place... (the place I belong) here, with you. Then out of nowhere I feel a tear making it's way down my cheek. I am truly happy. You make me feel every emotion, sometimes all at once. If I could package that feeling up and give it away as gifts, I would. It would be the greatest gift ever, much like you have been to me. I promise to try my best to show you every single day that I love you, that I'm so proud of the man you are, and that I will always be here for you... because, to me, you are everything. There are an awful lot of people searching for what we've found in one another. I'm so lucky to call you mine.

Yours,

Lacey 

        

My Grandpa, the stranger

You know those old photos you see in other people's homes of some dear loved one & you think, "What an awesome picture.  I wish I had a great old photo like that."  Well... this is mine. 

This is my Grandpa Bubba.  My Mom's Dad.  A man I never knew but have always felt so genuinely tied to.

I once had a dream where I ran into him in his old barn that I often played in as a child.  He looked down and smiled and said, "Well, hello there stranger."  I always liked that dream.  It has stuck with me and makes me smile.

He unfortunately passed when my Mom was only fourteen, but has lived on through stories and great photos such as this.  I love the smile on his face, the grand horse, the rickety fence, the looming crowd, the pennent flags... it's all so simple and lovely.  I think what I like the most about this photo is that he looks so much like my Mom when making that face.

And as a girl who looks like her Mama... maybe that makes the ties between us feel just a little tighter.

Linked with: 5 minutes for Mom Wordless Wednesday Angry Julie Monday Seven Clown Circus



Shine Project Winner!

The winner of The Shine Project necklace is Michelle S., whose comment was oh so sweet!

"I would give this shine necklace to my daughter because she is the light of my life and I want her to "shine" in her own right."

Congratulations, Michelle!

A QUICK Giveaway!

I am having a Quick Giveaway on my business facebook page!  Enter to win a cute personalized holiday children's tee!  All you have to do is share my page on your facebook wall or mention @Laceyinthesky in your facebook status!  Giveaway ends at 8pm central!

The Shine project giveaway also ends tonight @ 10pm!  Get your entries in!

Fiddle Faddle is for the birds! Easy Caramel Corn Recipe

DIY Caramel Corn

Ingredients

• 2 bags microwave popcorn
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200 degrees

Pop your popcorn and lay it out on baking sheets.

Combine corn syrup, brown sugar, salt and butter and bring to a boil.

Boil for 4 minutes, stirring contantly.

Remove from heat and quickly stir in baking soda and vanilla.

Pour over your popcorn and then stir it all around on your baking sheet to make sure it's coated.

Pop in the oven & let it bake for 1 hour.

You will need to remove it from the oven every 15 minutes and give it a good stir!

When it's done, pour it onto your counter on some waxed paper and separate it.

Once it's dry, store it in air tight containers or ziplocks.

Now, nom nom nom!

Or, ya know, portion it into bags or containers to give to friends and family.

The choice is yours :)

Dollar Store DIY: Studded Shadow Frame

Dollar Store DIY: Studded Shadow Frame

Hey Y'all!  Today I'm sharing a project I am just plum tickled over!  I grabbed a few things in the dollar store without a clue of what I was going to do with them & when I went to work on them, this just kind of happened.  Love those moments!

 1- Grab these items from your local Dollar Tree.
(or similar items from wherever you please)

2- Take that boring blonde wood frame to a new level by liberally applying a coat of paint!  
No need to be neat!

3- That paint you just applied?  Rub it in with an old cloth for a stained effect.

4- Cover up that sweet little rainbow with a few coats of paint!
(If you don't have a steady hand to paint around the edges, just tape over the edges and go crazy.)

Looking better already, right?

 5- Pin the thumbtacks into the wood around the entire frame.
  I didn't line mine up perfectly because I'm okay with a little imperfection!

6- Grab a roll of tape to create a stripe pattern. 
To get even stripes, lay your strip of tape down and secure it.  Lay the second strip down and just press lightly at each end.  Once your third strip is down and secured in place, move the second strip down under the third one and so on and so forth.

7- Once all of your tape is secure, get to painting your stripes!
I did two coats.

8- Pull all of your tape strips off & then touch up any boo-boos! 

You can't belive how much better this thing is looking can you?  Me either!
9- Now set it aside and go dig in your desk drawer for one of those handy dandy paper/binder clips.
Now, you could certainly leave it plain, but I wanted to jazz it up a little so I decided to paint and glitter it.  I started off with craft paint but quickly figured out that spray paint was the way to go. 

10- Give your clip a few sprays of paint, let it dry a bit and then paint the body of your clip with glue and sprinkle over with the glitter.

11- Once everything is dry, hot glue your fancy schmancy clip onto the newly striped back of your frame...

and you're done!

Now clip whatever your heart desires in there & find a perfect space on your wall to hang it!  I went with a leaf to bring the outdoors in a little, but completely plan on changing it up as much as my heart desires!

Love notes, reminders, photos, a countdown... the possibilites are endless!

linked:
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/   http://www.alittletipsy.com/  http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/
* http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/   http://www.sugaranddots.com/   http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/
 http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/   *http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/   http://delightfulorder.blogspot.com/
http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/   http://vanessascraftynest.blogspot.com/   http://www.familyeverafterblog.com/    * http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/   * http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/
* http://www.whipperberry.com/   http://www.kojodesigns.blogspot.com/   http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/   http://www.icantstopcrafting.blogspot.com/

The Shine Project Giveaway

Hey there!  I was recently contacted by the sweet & lovely Ashley of The Shine Project to do a giveaway for all of my wonderful followers!  I love a good giveaway, don't you?  Let's get right to it!

Ashley created The Shine Project to motivate others to go after their goals and spread their light to others. Money from each necklace sold goes into a scholarship fund to help inner city high school students go to college. You can read more about that HERE.

Each necklace is handmade, and you can add personalized charms to them that represent a significant date or initials.

Today's giveaway winner will receive a SHINE necklace

and ALL of you will receive 10% off of your total order!

Go HERE to see more shine necklaces and order information. In your email order, write InLove10 for your code.

Here's how to enter (Leave a comment for each!):

1. Comment below who you'd give a shine necklace to in your life

For extra entries:

2. Follow The Shine Project blog HERE

3. Like The Shine Project on FB HERE
4. Pin this giveaway on Pinterest!  [Leave your pinterest account name or a link so I can find it!]

Ashley also owns a sweet vintage clothing shop call Vintage Shine... go visit :)

**The WINNER will be announced on Monday, November 14th!  Please make sure you leave a contact email if you don't have a blog or your account is not linked to your email!  Also, please be sure you're following this blog so that you will see when a winner is announced!**

Go on with your good self...

Good morning, y'all!I wanted to pop in bright and early to spread the word about an event Nikki is holding over at her blog Everything Under the Moon!
Nikki says:"From November 13th - November 19th, I challenge all of blogdom to complete just ONE random act of kindness (or more if you like). Do one thing that you know will help someone other than yourself and blog about it.  Then on Saturday, November 19th, we will have a weekend linky party and everyone can link up there Random Act of Kindness and we can all see the good that was done in the world for just that week.  With all the pain and suffering we see everyday on a very regular basis, wouldn't it be beautiful to see a linky party filled with nothing but good?"
I will be linking up, will you?

Qs & As- Writers Workshop Style

Create a FAQ page for yourself that answers frequently asked questions if people were to frequently ask you questions. People make those up all the time. YOUR TURN!


I like this question because I've often read blogs and thought "Who the heck asked them that?"  Anytime I've answered questions[uhm, I'm not sure I've ever done that now that I think about it!], I straight up ask you to ask me questions! haha :)  Well, except one time when I had a cold and rambled on about makeup & got two random questions about the kind of makeup I use.  Doesn't count though, right?
Anyway!  Here are the few questions I've gotten or randomly get!


Q: Do you dye your hair?  
A:  Not so much.  I think anytime I've been asked about my hair it is during the summer when I post pictures and my hair has a reddish tint to it.  That is usually thanks to the sun!  I have "tinted" my hair(aka: the color washes out after 12 washes or something) in the thick of winter when my hair seems to be jet black & my skin is snow white.  In that case I used some kind of Herbal Essences color mouse.


Q: This is more of a common misconception than a question! Comment: "You and your husband are so cute!"
A: Thank you so much!  I just adore him... but he is not my husband.  Don't worry... I don't HAVE a husband so I'm not jeepin' behind my hubs back or anything.  MR is my boyfriend.  His initials just happen to be M.R., so I call him "my Mr."  I fully intend on making an honest man out of him someday though! ;)


Q: Where do you live?
A:  Deeeeep in the South.  I live about 20 minutes outside of New Orleans, LA in an over populated suburban area :)


Q:  How do you get your post titles to be in that cute font?
A:  What do I look like, a web genius?  Ask my blog design/setup guru, Steph! [To be clear, Steph did not create that sorry excuse for a banner up there.  That was all me and it's just temporary until i figure out what I want! She is much more skilled than that!] I did try to figure it out the whole title font thing myself before begging her to squeeze me into her schedule, but clearly that didn't go so well!

Uhm... that's it!  Sheesh, you guys need to ask more questions!  Bring them on!  I will even video blog(you know I hate the word vlog) the answers for y'all!  You know how talented(cough cough) a vlogger I am.  BRING IT!

Nobody likes a NO REPLY blogger

 So, odds are if you don't know whether or not you're a "No Reply" blogger, YOU ARE.  Don't worry... all of us had to be told to go fix this little situation at one point or another in our blogging lives.  The majority of bloggers receive their blog comments via email so that responding to comments and questions is much easier.  This way, all we have to do is click "Reply" and shoot them an email instead of going back to our blog, finding their comment, clicking into their blogger profile, clicking into their blog and either a)commenting on a post with a response that has nothing to do with said post or b)searching for a contact button. 

 Lately, I've been getting lots of new commenters who ask questions that I'd like to respond to via email, but when I click "reply" in my inbox to answer their question instead of there being an email address I can send the response to... it says "NoReply@blogger.com"  WOMP WOMP WOMP!  So, if you think this might be you, then let's get that pesky problem fixed!

Head over to your blogger dashboard & click into your User Profile.  See your itsy bitsy profile picture & username with an arrow up at the top right of your screen?  That's a quick way to get to your User Profile.  Click the arrow and choose "Blogger profile".  You will be taken to this screen...

Click "Edit Profile" & you will be taken to this screen...

Click "Show my email adress" in the Privacy section & enter your email address in the Identity section.

Then scrolllllllll down & CLICK SAVE!

Bing Bang Boom, you are no longer a "no reply" blogger!  I bet you will start getting a lot more responses from comments you've left now!

Me Want Cookies- A wrap on Halloween

 Halloween is over and "The Holidays" are in full swing!  Before I start talking about Turkey[when have I ever talked about Turkey here?], fall crafts or Christmas goodness, let's wrap up Halloween, shall we?

MR and I were Cookie Monster and Cookies for Halloween this year!  I made my little fur Cookie Monster dress, headband and all of MR's felt cookies on his shirt.  It was pretty simple, super cheap and the kiddos liked it!

Speaking of kiddos, how cute are these?  We stopped by MR's sister's house first so we could see his nieces all dressed up!  Pinkalicious and a bumble bee!  You can't not love those faces!

Then we headed to my Sister in Law's Mother's where my nieces and nephews all trick or treat!  After the trick or treating was done for the pink crayon, Captain America and pirate girl these cuties were all very interested in cozying up with MR and I on the swing.  You would have thought WE were giving them candy!

 Mine & MR's pumpkins ready to greet trick or treaters! 

[If you can't tell what's going on with MR's pumpkin, it's a skeleton ripping the pumpkins head open and busting out!  He wanted to use a lopsided pumpkin, but unfortunately we couldn't find any!]

How was your Halloween?  What were you & your kiddos?