A Week of Spring — Fashion

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

Welcome to day No. 4 of A Week of Spring. Before I became a grandma to a darling baby boy, I thought little girls’ clothes were the cutest. Not so! Little boys are right up there fashion-wise, especially when it comes to spring style. I absolutely adore these pink and green madras shorts with the pink grasshopper-print polo shirt and the blue and brown board shorts paired with the colorful T-shirts, all in size 18-24 months from Baby Gap. I can’t wait until it’s warm enough for my 1-year-old grandson, Capt. Adorable, to run around in these. He is going to rock the playground. Come back tomorrow for day no. 5 in A Week of Spring.

Michelle Obama

Posted on April 1, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

Oh, Michelle! Thank you for being such a class act in representing American women as you accompany your husband to London for the G20 summit meetings. You understand that in your position image is so important and you wore your favorite creative and entrepreneural American fashion designers — Isabel Toledo and Jason Wu — and fresh and springlike sparkles and mint green from classic icon J. Crew. You have been graceful and gracious, respectful and confident, strong and kind. You combine high-style with American frugality and your own sense of playfulness. You embody the best of what we want to be — what we imagine we ourselves could be … if only. You inspire and motivate. We have only one question: Can we go shopping with you?

A Week of Spring — Easter Candy

Posted on April 1, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

Welcome to day No. 3 in A Week of Spring. I love Easter candy! Well, not really the candy part — I’ll take a bar of deep rich dark Green and Black’s over a milky chocolate bunny any time — but the oh-so-cute and whimsical spring-time packaging always makes me smile. And who wouldn’t? Fresh Market has an overflowing abundance of Easter candy this year and I can’t help but picture adorable Easter baskets filled with all sorts of sweets and treats. I think it’s the fascination of boxes and wrappings and what-wonderful-things-could-be-inside that’s so intriguing. And I probably have passed that on to my daughters, who are in their 20s but still delight in candy-laden Easter baskets … although they rarely eat it all. Since they’re vegetarians, we’ve banished Peeps but anything with caramel, fudge, peanut butter or vanilla creamy goodness at least gets a nibble. We’ll see if my 1-year-old grandson carries on the family tradition — I’m betting one bite won’t be enough for him! Come back tomorrow for day No. 4 in A Week of Spring.

A Week of Spring — Pink and Green

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

It’s day No. 2 in A Week of Spring and we’re taking a look at those wonderfully fresh and pretty spring colors that make us smile. I spend most of winter in black turtlenecks, so as spring approaches I’m definitely ready for something different. I love finding blooming spring colors in unexpected places, like this gathering of pink, green and yellow at Harrison Brothers Hardware in Huntsville, Alabama. On the city square since 1879, Harrison’s is part museum, part antique shop and part gift boutique. These spring gotta-haves were between the massive old safe and the tempting candy aisle. Sweet! I’d take everything, from the pink and green toile trays to the mint-green glasses. But my favorite is the pink-and-blue paisley ice bucket. For some reason I cannot resist cute ice buckets. I’ve got a gazillion, including washtub-sized ones we’d need for my daughters’ high-school parties and smaller sizes like this one that are perfect for book-club night. I mean, really, how many ice buckets do you need? But that’s what spring does to you — makes you start planning parties out on the deck. With plenty of pink and green. Come back tomorrow for day No. 3 in A Week of Spring.

A Week of Spring — Entertaining

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

Here in Alabama the tulips and dogwoods are in full bloom with the irises close behind, so it must be spring! No matter the weather — mornings are still chilly around here — we’ve all got lighter and fresher on the mind. So this week I’m taking a closer look at spring things that have caught my eye. First in A Week of Spring is this beautifully set table my friend Cheryl surprised our four-woman book club with this past week. Although it really was no surprise — Cheryl’s one of those gracious hostesses who makes you feel so welcome and special, like she’s waited all day just for you to come over. (I’m the one who answers the door with, “Oh, hi. Was tonight our party? Well, uh, come on in but watch out for cat hair.”) Cheryl also is one of those smart shoppers who knows where to find bargains and stocks up when the price is right so all she has to do is pull things together. The butterfly-print tablecloth and napkins, the china-flower napkin rings and the pretty floral plates needed only a few spring blossoms for Cheryl’s menu of fresh green salad and a light pasta salad. And since we read “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortens0n (we liked it both for the history and culture and also for the inspiring story of the difference one person can make in the world), we had plenty of tea. And wine. Come back tomorrow for day No. 2 in A Week of Spring.

Birthday Parties

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

Grandson Capt. Adorable celebrated his first birthday in style, with even his Grandad John taking a break from sports news to wish him a happy one. In keeping with the whole dragon and little prince theme, the birthday boy got crowns on his T-shirt and bib, a dragon cake and a soft purple crown for his precious baby head. The hit of the party, however, was Capt. Adorable’s discovery of balloons — or “oons” as we had to call them to avoid setting off a frenzy. To celebrate the first-birthday occasion, balloons were everywhere — even festively tied on to his high chair. It was the first time he’d ever seen balloons close up and he was fascinated. When his mommy gave him one to hold, he clutched the ribbon tightly and would not turn loose as he spent almost a half hour tracing a joyous route from room to room. The joy stopped, however, when the balloon would drift up to the ceiling and the Capt.’s desperate wails brought the nearest tallest adult running over for retrieval. His smart mommy realized that getting him into his high chair for lunch amidst all the balloon decorations would not work at all, so she took him into another room while the co-conspirators removed all “oons” and when he came back in distracted him with — what else? — cake. Success! “Oons” forgotten — for the time being, at least.

Weather or Not My Husband is Right

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

Do weather terms befuddle you? Did you ever wonder what “40 percent chance of rain” really means? Me, too! So I asked a weather person to define and explain. Find out what he said — and why my husband, drat it, is right after all — at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090327/ARTICLES/903275000

First Birthday

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

Happy first birthday, Capt. Adorable! My grandson, Nolan, is 1 today. Everybody told me how much I would love being a grandmother and what a precious gift grandchildren are and I said, “Oh, yes. I know!” but it takes being a grandma to really know and now I can say with all the conviction in the world: Being a grandparent is the best thing ever! We’re partying all weekend, but Nolan already got his best present: A rocking dragon his daddy made him from a rocking-horse pattern. As always, I am overwhelmed by my son-in-law’s talent. He put a “B” on the seatback, handtooled the leather trim and made a lightweight sword to complete the ensemble. Nolan loves it. It was Jason’s first woodworking attempt, and now I’m making up my own want list: coffee table, bench, barstools …

Food

Posted on March 26, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

Thai food is one of my favorite things to order when eating out — I love the spicy-sweet combination of flavors — but I’d never tackled it on my own. Now I’m inspired to try Thai at home after my cooking club recently did a Thai night. Everybody was amazed at how easy it was to recreate our favorite restaurant dishes. Recipes included crab-fried rice, pad thai, shrimp soup, marinated cucumber salad,Thai-style chicken and beef with broccoli. We also had wonderful coconut ice cream served in a hollowed-out pineapple — a super idea that impressed us all. The tablescape was impressive, too, with tealights and floating lotus blossoms on a blue pashmina wrap. How creative was that? As always, I am in awe of my talented and skilled friends. I think they keep me around for comic relief. They even forgave me when I inadvertently admitted to using frozen mango instead of fresh for my Mango Passion Cocktails and mango/lime salsa. “But I did it for you,” I said, trying to convince them I was altruistic and not lazy. “Since I didn’t have to spend time peeling and slicing fresh mangoes, I had enough time left over to make this peanut dip for you, too. And please, have another Mango Passion Cocktail. There’s plenty.”

Note: I got my recipes from about.com, where you are clearly given permission to use frozen.

Shoes

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Coffee with Cathy

Oh, yes — come to mama! Never mind that a recent Facebook quiz pegged me as classic ballet-flat-wearing. (Read “boring.”) When I saw these shoes at our local mall earlier this week, I had the classic symptoms of shoe lust: Sweaty palms, increased heart rate, rapid breathing. Or maybe that was from the burrito I’d just eaten. Doesn’t matter. I fell in love with almost every pair of these totally inappropriate and probably wildly uncomfortable shoes. And actually, I believe I had a pair exactly like the bright and shiny pink pumps about 20 years ago — didn’t we all? Sadly, common sense prevailed and I moved on empty-handed. But I can’t get those purple python platforms out of my head. And those brown strappy sandals. And the animal-print pumps. So take that, stupid classic-ballet-flats Facebook quiz.

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