Happy Birthday Sparky!

GW Little, an adorable shop for small dog breeds, just sent me an email to remind me of my dog's birthday coming up. To help celebrate the big day, they suggested I bake him a cake. It is kind of ridiculous, but awful cute! So move over Betty Crocker, there is a new dog birthday cake in town! Your small dog can now have their cake and eat it too if it is Fifi’s Favorite Carob Cake mix. Made of whole wheat flour for energy, carob powder for healthy flavor and honey powder for sweetness. Just add water, egg and vegetable oil then bake. Did we mention you can microwave this delicious doggy treat?! This birthday cake is paw licking good!

Click HERE to go to the GW Little site and shop around. They have adorable clothes, leashes and all sorts of cute accessories! Have a tail waggin' good day!

The Divorce Entrance...

If you have seen the internet crazed wedding entrance video...you can't miss the divorce!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Honey Pecan Chicken Salad

A round of applause for our guest blogger today, can't wait to try this recipe she recommends!

Krerica:
I have eaten lots and lots of chicken in it's many forms over the last 19 years...no, I'm not a food critic nor am I an executive in a major corporation...I am a military spouse.:)

This is by far my absolute favorite chicken salad recipe!!! You cannot go wrong with this. For special occasions put the salad inside a puff pastry or between a croissant...so yuummy!


Honey Pecan Chicken Salad Serves 6-8

1 cup Mayo

1/2 cup relish

2 Tbs. Minced Onion

1 Tbs. honey

1 1/2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. white pepper

3/4 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

1 1/2 lbs. chopped cooked chicken (4 cups)

Combine Mayo, relish, onion, honey, sugar, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Stir in celery & pecans. Fold in the chicken. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Chill, covered.

Fat Tax

Should the Government Impose a "Fat Tax" on Junk Food?

by Barbara McCuen
Thursday, June 15, 2000

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. More than half of the population is overweight or obese and 300,000 Americans die each year of obesity-related causes. The public health cost is enormous: about $71 billion is spent annually on treating diet-related diseases.

Is the answer to start treating junk food like tobacco?

# 300,000 people a year die from obesity-related health conditions including heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

# Currently, 17 states and the District of Columbia levy taxes on soft drinks, candy and other foods of low nutritional value.

# The National Cancer Institute spends $1 million a year to publicize its 5-A-Day campaign urging people to eat more fruits and vegetables.

# McDonald's spends $1 billion on advertising, and soft-drink companies spend more than $500 million.

READ ON...

(by the way the picture above is the biggest in the world...click here to see more)

Party in the Bathroom???

Who said you can’t bring the party into the bathroom?
Garnet hill sells this adorable streamer shower curtain that is just perfect for a little ladies bathroom. You could certainly make your own if you are the crafty type, or click here to link to Garnet Hills site.

OH MARTHA!!!!!

The craft queen has some good ideas for keeping kiddies entertained on the beach so you can relax for, 60 seconds or so. Check it out, I love this tic tac toe towel from Martha Stewart Living!

This towel isn't just for drying off at the beach. It's crisscrossed with grosgrain ribbon for a giant tic-tac-toe board that's sure to produce hours of enjoyment in the sand. There's plenty of room for sitting on each end and no complicated cleanup: Just shake the towel out, and fold it up. What will you do for the Xs and Os? Send the kids to collect two different kinds of shells or rocks (five of each).

Start with a solid-color towel, and choose ribbon in a hue that will stand out. We used a 35-by-66-inch bath sheet and 1/2-inch grosgrain ribbon cut into four 24-inch strips. Center tic-tac-toe pattern on towel; each of our squares is 8 inches. You can use a transparent ruler to ensure ribbons are straight and boxes are square. Pin ribbons in place, turn them under at the ends, then sew down centers using thread in the same color as the ribbon.

Here is a link to her page with 59 other good beach ideas!

Iron & Wine

This is one of my favorite Iron & Wine songs, "Naked as we came". It's a morbidly romantic song in my opinion that makes you want to bear hug your loved one and not let go. Samual Beam released his first Iron & Wine album, "The Creek Drank the Cradle" 2002. Beam wrote, recorded and produced the album at his home studio. There have since been two other albums and many EP's. Beams albums are heavy on acoustic guitar, banjo, and the slide guitar. His music has been compared to that of Nick Drake and John Fahey.

NOT YOUR GRANDMA'S APRON!

OVER 50% OFF!! CLICK HERE!

This Shabby Chic apron makes time in the kitchen fun. Cooking never looked so good. Matching child size also available and currently on sale.

I NEEEED IT!

This economy keeps most of us from out of the stores and spending our disposable income. However, it still amazes me how the right marketing can make you throw all of your good sense out the window. What is it that taps deep into our subconscious and makes us NEEEEDDD what ever is hanging in the store window? It seem as though if they surround anything with lights and sparkles I'm drawn to it with googely eyes. They have even made an entire line of furniture, accessories and clothing to look old and ragged so you appear to be thrifty and people run out in droves to pay extra money for it! Just yesterday I was watching a program that had an "expert" in make-up, sharing all of her tips. They highlighted a particular lip gloss that was "affordable". She declared that if you put this on at night before you go to bed your lips will stay moisturized all day long. My first reaction was to run to get a pen and write down the name of the "affordable magic lip gloss". Then suddenly I felt like I was hit with a brick in the back of the head. They got you! I thought. I literally have about 3-5 sticks of lip gloss in my night stand right now, and I'm about to run out and get more because of this "expert". It's hard to save, especially when you are bombarded by pretty pictures and pretty people and you feel this standard that you think you have to live up to. That your house needs to look like a show room and you need to dress for the runway. My goal this week is not to let good marketing get to me and to be happy with what I have. A roof over my head, a warm bed to sleep in and amazing people in my life! The truth is, people will always love me...shriveled lips and all!