Wordless Wednesday....Red,White, and Blue

Please join Dixie at http://frenchlique.blogspot.com/ for a red, white, and blue-themed Wordless Wednesday.....'nuf said!

A Reunion and Celebrity Author

Last week I had a really special treat. I went to a book signing for this book by Sam Haskell. This book would have caught my interest under any circumstances--it's the story of "southern boy made good" as my grandmother would have said. However this author and this book hold special appeal for me. This book is by a very old and dear friend.

Sam, who was actually a fraternity brother of my husband, sang in our wedding. (Don't you love the ruffled tuxedo shirt and Farrah Fawcett hairstyle?) But it was Sam and I who shared the same interests. For two years we co-produced the Miss University (MS) pageant and he eventually came to entertain at the state pageant in my home town. We watched old movies in the bottom of the fraternity house. When it came time for me to practice teach, I went to his hometown to be mentored by his mother's best friend and his high school English teacher. Sam moved to the big city and eventually became head of television for the William Morris Agency and agent to many superstars.

I recently received an email from Sam telling me he'd written a book that was on the L.A. Times Bestseller List and would be in my area to promote it. That's his PR lady on the right ----yes, the other soloist in the wedding picture. She was a sorority sister of mine and on the pageant circuit herself. We had such a good time catching up. Nancy had Father's Day dinner with us and the newlyweds. I've read Sam's book now. The introduction is by Ray Romano, a client and friend of his and that alone was worth the price of the book. I enjoyed the anecdotes about celebrities and the stories of the many fascinating people he has met during his career, but what I enjoyed most was the story of this small town boy who has achieved remarkable success in a dog-eat-dog environment and yet kept the simple truths and lessons from his mother close to his heart and the standard by which he lives his life. Promises I Made My Mother is a good read and would make a great gift for a young graduate about to make his or her own way in the world. Sam is going to about 90 cities. He is a truly gifted speaker and generous with his time. I hope you'll visit my old friend if you get the opportunity!

I thought I would link this to Diane at A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words--For me and my friends, this is definitely the second time around! Visit Diane at http://diane1876.blogspot.com/ for more encore performances!

Metamorphosis Monday....Wedding Day

I want to thank Susan our gracious hostess at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Metamorphosis Monday and thank you if you are reading this for indulging me! Some of you have asked to see pictures of the recent wedding of our daughter. One of the definitions of the word metamorphosis is " a transformation as if by magic". This day truly fit that definition. It was a transformation for me from fear to peace and from mother of the bride to mother in law. For the bride it was a tranformation from glowing bride to radiant wife; from being one to being half of one.

The Thursday before the wedding I began as I begin almost every day--reading my devotional. This particular day the verse from Matthew 7:25 was: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock. Little did I know at the time that the verse must have been meant just for me! On Friday night a powerful storm with some winds up to 80 mph blew through our city leaving 90,000 people without power. Although the lights were on in the church, the reception site was dark. We had planned what we hoped would be a magical reception in the courtyard of the zoo. It was to be a wonderland of lit trees and soft lights. The band would, of course, need electricity. I prayed and asked God to help me accept whatever was in store for us, I vowed to keep the secret from the bride, and I waited.

These are skies on the morning of the wedding. We spent a happy day watching "Father of the Bride" and having our hair and makeup done. Strangely, the peace I had prayed for had come over me.

This is what the sky looked like as we headed to the church. Do you see that sun peeking through? Still no power at the reception site, but no rain!

The next couple hours were a blur of dressing and pictures. No word on the power. And the bride remained blissfully unaware.

Beloved got his first look at the little girl he has always called "Sunshine".

Here is the bride and her bridesmaids before the wedding. Do you see that sunshine coming through the window?

We headed to the zoo after the wedding. All I can say is that it looked like Disneyland to me. Candles around the reflecting pool and a few soft lights...the band playing thanks to a generator! About one hour into reception, the bride and groom came to me. They said it was all perfect. They never knew we were on generators!

Beloved and I are no longer just parents--we've morphed in to "in laws"! And the final "tranformation as if by magic" is complete and "the house fell not, because it was built upon a rock".From now on, Beloved and I will share our Sunshine

Thank you so much for letting me share this. I hope you will zip over to see Susan at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/. I promise, next week I am back to decorating and planting!

Pink Saturday..Bridesmaid Bouquet

One thing I love about Beverly at How Sweet the Sound--she's consistent. No matter what is going on, I know that Pink Saturday will be ready for me and SO many others to join in and peek into on Saturday. Thanks Beverly! We're glad we can count on you!

If you read thoughtsfromovertherainbow at all, you probably know we have recently had a wedding. Our one and only daughter got married two weeks ago! These are the bridesmaids' bouquets filled with pink roses, white roses, green hydrangeas and bells of Ireland. I do not know why the picture is so small!

Here are two of the bridesmaids in the church before the wedding. You can see the bouquets just a little better. The dresses were a beautiful shantung silk in a color called "mermaid". Our daughter has always loved pastels. She's a pink kind of girl! Someone remarked that it looked like a Lily Pulitzer wedding, but that was not our intention. We just used the bride's favorite colors. Now I thought that once the wedding was over, I could put my feet up (or my body on a raft in the pool) and get back back Blogland on a more regular basis. Wrong! The past two weeks have been a blur of moving the bride in 100 degree weather into her new home, sorting and returning duplicate gifts, and transforming the house from a bachelor pad into a nest for two. I'm not complaining---they will still live just on the other side of town!

Thanks again to Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ for letting us into her pink world each Pink Saturday . Now click and see what everyone else has to offer!

Foodie Friday...Salmon Two Ways

Hallelujah! I'm back at my computer after the wedding. Life as we knew it has almost returned. So I am glad to be joining our gracious hostess Michael for Foodie Friday. Beloved is happy not to be eating things that come in styrofoam or bags. But I confess; I am still tired! Enter the thirty-minute meal! Rachael Ray doesn't have a thing on me!

About a year and a half ago Beloved was diagnosed with Type ll diabetes. Since that time we have drastically changed our eating habits (and his exercise habits) and he has lost over sixty pounds! He is now svelte Beloved and has his diabetes under control. One of the things we eat more of is fish--all kinds. I love salmon; Beloved, not so much. This recipe is his favorite and it works for us both. He eats it on romaine; I eat it as an entree with sides.

Here is the way I make honey-glazed salmon. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees (don't worry, not long enough to heat up the kitchen!). Season the salmon with sea salt and place in a oven-proof dish flesh side up. Mix 1/2 cup honey, 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic. Drizzle this mixture over fish and roast for five minutes. Drizzle again! Roast about 3-5 minutes until salmon is firm when pressed at its thickest part. Top with your favorite dressing and eat!

This is how I prefer mine! I'm not a huge salad lover so I like a few carbs with mine! This salmon is easy enough for post-wedding Thursday night and delicious enough for company. These are twice-baked potatoes I am taking to our youngest son tomorrow. His birthday was Wednesday and he lives 3 1/2 hours from here. I think he could use a little pampering after all the festivities of the weekend ....he is the baby :). I can hardly wait to see what everbody has cooked up this week. Click on the Foodie Friday button on the sidebar and you will be magically transported to Michael's party at Design's by Gollum!

Outdoor Wednesday and a Porch and Patio Party

I am so glad to be back at my computer after a whirlwind couple of weeks with our daughter's wedding. In fact, I am so happy that I am going to link this to Susan's Outdoor Wednesday and to Barb's Porch and Patio Party. This is my first time to contribute to both. You can visit Susan at http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/. Barb is having her Porch and Patio Party at http://gritsglamour.blogspot.com/. I hope you'll take time to visit them both!

I was really late getting my bedding plants in this year. Later than usual cool weather, frequent trips out of town, and wedding plans got in my way. The one thing I could not let slide was planting my pots! I love pot gardening! It is such an easy way to incorporate lots of different colors and textures into your outdoor living space. Another thing I love is the wide variety of plants and flowers it allows me. Most of my beds are shady, but I can move pots around to accomodate the needs of almost any plant. Another advantage is that I can try out new plants without as much labor or financial investment as flower beds require.

This is a very large pot filled each year with a tree form hibiscus. Unfortunately, hibiscus will not live year-round here. They are too big to move, so I am forced to replace it each year. I do keep variegated monkey grass (lariope) in year-round as a grassy backdrop and the variegated trailing ivy lives from season to season. I experimented this year for the first time with angelonia. That is the blueish purple plant as the base of the hibiscus. It is surrounded by pink and green polka dots and the green and white polka dots. Of course, these do not bloom, but the foliage makes a colorful and impressive show. Hot pink impatiens and dark leaf begonias with white blooms are also tucked in. With pots, I think the more, the better! I always add a trailing plant and sweet potato vine with either the green or dark leaf does well. Be careful; it will trail all over your patio or deck!

You may remember my 10 dollar flower boxes from Big Lots. The geraniums, verbena and impatiens have really taken off. I do have to make sure the impatiens gets enough water since this usually gets a lot of sun.

In the middle of all the wedding plans, Beloved decided we should completely "redo" the deck furniture. I have plans to show all of it to you later, but I wanted you to see this pot of caladiums. I love the red stripes of the leaves with my new cushions!

This wicker chair has been more colors than I care to remember---ahhh, the magic of spray paint! A good friend found this cute red polka dot pot and thought it was perfect for my deck. I think so too!

Finally, I just had to show you the newest member of our family and he IS outdoors! This is Charlie. Charlie, a springer spaniel is a gift for our youngest son from his girlfriend. Tomorrow "the baby" will be 23!! Charlie will not live with us, but I am sure he will be a frequent visitor.

Now head on over to visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer and Barb at Grits and Glamour! I know there is a lot more to see!

Metamorphosis Monday..Gift Buckets

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting Metamorphosis Monday once again to start all our weeks off with lots of fun and creativity. I had not planned to "play" with you today. Ahhh, but then I started looking at the posts of my fellow bloggers and I couldn't help myself!

Our daughter's wedding is this Saturday...We are down to the wire with just a few details left to take care of before the big day! One of our last things on this now-dwindling list of things to do (thank goodness!) is a gift basket for out of town guests. Our groom is not "from around these parts" as they say, so we are expecting a considerable number of guests to drive or fly here. We wanted to thank them for coming, welcome them to our city, and make their stay just a little more comfortable. One day I found these little buckets on the dollar aisle at Target--I just love that aisle! We purchased a split of champagne (just right for a toast for two), some assorted crackers, and the bride's favorite- peanut M&M's. Memphis is known for its barbeque. We wanted something uniquely "Memphis" for our guests and our caterer, a world-class "pit-master", just happened to have written a little book on barbeque. Off to Hobby Lobby for yet another roll of ribbon, and we were in the bucket business!

The bride and groom composed a personal note of thanks, a list of their favorite places to hang out or eat, and some tourist attractions. Of course, Graceland is on there--thank you very much(she said with an Elvis accent :) We printed directions to the church from the hotel on the back. Our matron of honor came to help fulfill her duties and a couple of hours later we were done!

We made about forty of these based on hotel reservations. Thank you all for indulging me and sharing this happy time with me! I promise NO MORE WEDDING!---after the pictures, of course :) Susan has some expert advice on how to create those large pictures and tweak your own blog. Visit her and all our creative friends at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ Wish us luck!!

Pink Saturday--The Pink Palace Museum

Beverly at How Sweet the Sound is once again hosting Pink Saturday! She had a tremendous response to her one year anniversary last week. I can't believe it has taken me this long to post a picture of one of my city's and the entire region's largest pink attractions!

The Pink Palace Museum and Planetarium is an elegant home built in the 1920's by Clarence Saunders founder of Piggly Wiggly Supermarkets (remember those ?). The huge stately manor was referred to by the locals as the pink palace because of the pink Georgian marble covering the facade. When Mr. Saunders lost his fortune because of reversals on Wall Street, he donated the mansion to the city of Memphis. Today the Pink Palace is the home of one of the Mid-South's major science and historical museums and a planetarium. Each year the palace museum hosts thousands of school children, tourists, and native Memphians. I have personally chaperoned field trips to this site and the children loved it! Perhaps the most interesting to me is the replica of the first Piggly Wiggly store. The interactive and hands-on display enthralls both children and adults! In addition there are exhibits ranging from archaeology to chemistry. Recently one of my friends served as a guide for the traveling exhibit "The Scoop on Poop". Now I ask you-- what elementary age child could resist a parent-sanctioned educational tour with this title?

The Pink Palace grounds are beautifully landscaped and a popular wedding and charity event site. I hope you enjoy my big pink offering for Pink Saturday and visit if you are ever in town! Now head over to visit Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ for a Saturday filled with pinkness!