Thanksgiving Highlights.....

I thought I'd share a couple of Thanksgiving highlights with you! This lovely arrangement was our Thanksgiving centerpiece for our table! I decided to keep it simple since we are limited on space.

I created this centerpiece for just under $15!! Publix had a wonderful selection of Autumn bouquets to choose from for $9.99. I choose plums, oranges, and yellows to work with. I purchased the vase from a thrift store for 80 cents. (Got one around the house? Use it and save even more $$) Finally, I attached a vintage Thanksgiving postcard that I bought from ebay a couple of years back for about $3.00. The results - simply stunning!! Most of the finished arrangements at the grocery store were priced between $20 and $30, the savings are big!! ~;o) This fun arrangement can be done for any holiday. Have fun, be creative!!

Another favorite of the evening was this delectable delight!! This berry tart was super easy to make friends!! Wanna make one for Christmas dinner or upcoming party? Feel free to click on the link under the photo for the recipe!! Got any thrifty holiday decor ideas? Recipes?? Feel free to share them!! I'd love to hear them!! Until next time friends ~;o)

Click here for recipe!!

A Day in Downtown, Tampa

(Lykes Gaslight Park in Downtown, Tampa)

(Details of the Cascading Fountain.)

(I didn't even know about this fountain, what a refreshing surprise it was!)

(City Hall Downtown, Tampa.)

(Taking a break for some yummy Gourmet Pizza!)

(Bumble Bee, enjoying the warm weather.)

We took my dad out for pizza this past weekend in Downtown, Tampa. And we stumbled across a bonus!! Apparently the Gasparilla Art Fest was going on ~;o) I didn't bother to try and get pics of the vendors at their booths because I wasn't in the mood to ask them if I could or for being rejected, yes that happens sometimes ~;o) But I did manage to snap a couple of pictures in Old Downtown Tampa for your enjoyment! For those of you who share a love of photography, there are some excellent points of interest! Just be sure to start early and be prepared to make a day of it!! Until next time ~:o)

Waterfront Dining in St. Pete!!

(Appetizer -- Lamb ribs -- YUM!!)

(The Pier in St. Pete, Florida.)

(We have plenty of these to go around~;o)

(The usual crowd, waiting for a free meal~;o)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day and got to spend it with someone special! Isabella spent the afternoon visiting with her Grandpa and Grandma while my sweetheart and I drove to "The Pier" for some waterfront dining at The Columbia Restaurant! There are several Columbia Restaurants here in Florida and I have visited two. My favorite of the two is in St. Petersburg. I love this one because of the view, it is surrounded by water. There are also many shops, an aquarium for the kids (and young at heart of course~;o) fishing, stunning parks, and of course the beach near by. Stop by for a visit sometime, well worth exploring~;o)

Baby Shower!

(I just adore this little Kewpie Baby!! It reminds me of my own~;o)

(All in the details baby.....~;o)

(A beautiful diaper cake, handmade by the Grandma-to-be!)

(And of course the mama-to-be and I stop for a pose~;o)

(Yes, even "You know who" joined in on the festivities~;o)

Yup, still catching up on my blogging~;o) So this past Saturday I went to my good friend Iris's Baby shower!! She will be a first time mama like me! Her shower was just lovely!! And of course I jumped at the wonderful opportunity to practice my amateur skills~;o) Family, friends, and great food!! What more could you ask for? Thanks for having me mama!! And enjoy this very, very special time!! It goes by so quick!! Until next time friends~:o)

Ruskin Seafood Festival 2009

(Picture courtesy of Daddyo~;o)

(Salt water marshes on the beach.)

(Yummy fried food!!)

(More serenity.....)

(A single palm tree graces the beach.)

(Isabella enjoying some fun in the sun~;o)

So we went to Ruskin a couple of weeks ago to attend their annual Seafood Festival. It is actually a lovely little family friendly, recreational area! To my surprise, it was right by the beach and E. G. Simmons Park! The park kind of reminds me of Picnic Island only better~:o) It was a busy festival! Some of the activities included: Various artsy vendors, moon walks, games, the Mote Aquarium and some of their fantastic sea animals, a live karaoke band, multiple raffles, and the food of course~;o) And the beach was a bonus!! If your in the area and looking for a diamond in the rough, visit E.G Simmons Park and Beach in Ruskin, Florida. Until next time friends~;o)

YUM!

This is one of the many sweets I received for my 30th Birthday!! One of the children in my class told her mommy that it was my Birthday and that she wanted to surprise me with cookies! So her sweet mommy brought in Nestle Toll House cookies for the whole class, and she had one especially decorated for me! It was too beautiful to eat without getting a picture~;o) A special Thank you to Emily and her mommy Melissa for spoiling me on my day!! My actual Birthday was this past Sunday and we spent the day in Orlando Florida at Epcot! I will post pictures soon!

And I have been wanting to mention this one sooner but have been hesitant because of other circumstances. We are expecting a baby sometime this September. We are very excited and nervous! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for a smooth pregnancy and delivery and I will do my best to keep you posted~:o) Until next time friends~:o)

It's Almost Here!

(We ate here.)

(My signature favorite.)

(The locals kept us company while waiting for our meal!)

(Longboat Key Beach.)

We went out of town for the day on Sunday. We ended up going to Venice Beach, (by accident~;o) Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, and beautiful Longboat Key Beach! We had lunch by the water. I wanna move to Sarasota lol! I thought I'd share a couple of pictures I took while we were there. I am so glad that it is almost spring! I can't wait to wear shorts, skirts, and sandals again!

I call her Betty.....

(Blackberry and Strawberry Tart)

No not the tart, that would be the sewing machine lol~;o) I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Day celebrating with family and friends! I spent the day cleaning shop to make room for one of my new best friends! So then today after waiting for a week, I went to Walmart and got my new sewing machine! Complete with how to cd and everything! I actually surprised myself at how quickly I was able to thread the bobbin and all that good stuff...I was able to even sew a couple of things! A tote strap and in the picture above, a little pouch with roses on it! Although both came out totally amateur, I was just thrilled to be able to work the thing! I have a couple of works in progress and I'll drop ya'll a hint soon~;o) For those of you wondering how the tart fits into this post I just thought I'd share with you what I recently baked for our company New Years Eve potluck. My blackberry and strawberry tart was a huge hit at our luncheon! Want the recipe? CLICK HERE. Until next time darlings~:o)

Christmas Baking

A busy day of baking, baking, baking! I just finished seven jars of homemade caramel sauce. Now I am getting ready to make a pineapple cake! Fortunately I have only had to go into work this week for about a couple of hours a day. This has really helped me to catch up on things. I am certainly looking forward to some down time though so that I can relax and enjoy stitching a few new sets of cookies~;o) And finally, I did decide to have a quiet grand opening of my new etsy store last night. Please stop in for a visit when you get a chance: http://southernbliss.etsy.com I hope you all are enjoying the Holidays! Until next time!

More Cookies!

I'm getting good at this~;o) Time to change these up a bit. Perhaps some scallops, hearts, and other lovely embellishments? We'll see~;o) Stay tuned!

A Midnight Snack~;o)

It is way past my bedtime and I should be sleeping but I just couldn't resist! The creativity juices are kickin in at high speed and I just had to share! Although I'm sure that pretty much the rest of the southeast is in a lovely little slumber right now. (insert giggle) I saw a cute little pink felt sprinkle cookie on etsy and thought about purchasing it. Then I remembered the oodles of felt I bought during the summer and a light bulb went on in my head. Why let it go to waste right?! For those of you shaking your heads at me right now please realize I'm half awake~;o) What a time to get inspired huh!? Happens to me all the time. So anyways I plan on adding these into the new shop too.....yes that would be the one that I still haven't added anything into yet. I will most likely open it sometime in January after the holidays, until then stay tuned!

Tampa Bay Brewing Company

I chose a Burger and Fries.....

I should have chosen Shepherds Pie.

( Practicing my amateur skills with Miss Lilac)

Snugglebear and I met up for dinner with My Brother (The Smiler) and his Wife (AJ) at Tampa Bay Brewing Company this evening. This was our small way of celebrating Christmas together~:o) Because it is so hard to try and visit everyone on Christmas day, we meet a couple of weeks sooner. This was also another great excuse for me to bring along my new slr digital and test my skills~;o) I am most pleased with the results. Snugglebear surprised me with a Camera Bag complete with a CD video on how to use my new Nikon! This video saved me the hassle and struggle of trying to figure out the directions in the manuel. I am a hands on learner when it comes to electronics people~;o) The video made my practice this evening easy as pie! The last picture shown I took yesterday evening and is a random one of Lilac, a.k.a. "The Pterodactyl." She is a feisty little Amazon Parrot in these parts, but to my surprise, she is quite "The Ham" in front of the camera.

Dinner on a Trolley

I wonder how they got it into the restaurant??

We ate in here~:o)

This was our appetizer.....

( I had Fettuccine Alfredo~;o)

I guess we can say that I have become somewhat of a camera fanatic these days.....in a recent post I mentioned that I was in search of an upgrade. After much research and the help of a good friend (Thank you Aimee~;o) I have decided on the Nikon D40. <----- Go here if you want to learn more about this camera. Because I use my camera so much I have decided to kick it up a notch for more professional results. Yes, I think I'm ready for an SLR! (Key word here friends, "She Thinks") With that being said, I will be looking into purchasing one within the next couple of weeks. So today we decided to go to one of snugglebear's favorite restaurants. Now "The Spaghetti Warehouse" is a franchise Restaurant.....but does yours have a Trolley in it?? The one in my neck of the woods does. We went around late afternoon and to my surprise it was quite empty. I insisted upon sitting in the trolley to dine, and to snugglebear's delight, it was empty. Usually he doesn't like to sit in the trolley because he complains that it is too stuffy and crowded with people. He was in a rather cranky mood so for us to have the trolley to ourselves was a plus for both of us. He concluded that most people were out shopping this weekend, so we enjoyed a nice quiet lunch in the old wooden streetcar~;o)

This is Upper Tampa Bay Park located just outside of Oldsmar.

This is the canoe launch in the park.

These beauties were lit throughout the entire park.

Much happier after eating, he posed for a picture, unusual for him~;o)

This is all salt water!

After a delicious afternoon meal, we headed into Town and Country where snugglebear had recently learned of a nearby National State Park and Wildlife nature trail. We love these because they are free, they are great for exploring and for taking pictures~;o) We stumbled across a bonus....they were having a "Holiday in the Park" event for families, the festivities included Christmas lights throughout the park, cookies, games, and a hayride~:o) To my knowledge the Christmas Lights display will be going on till the end of December. If your in the vicinity I recommend a visit, you'll certainly be glad you did~:o)