Unabashedly Prep

This guy was featured in Lonny (pages 217-218), which I just got around to skimming today. Maybe his blog is not exactly your style, but he's got a strong point of view and I like it. Plus, coincidentally, Fred lives right here in Fort Worth! So he's got that going for him...

Leah and Troy

My sharp friend Leah works for a PR firm in Dallas and does publicity for, among other clients, Wing Stop. Troy Aikman is the ... I don't know the right word here... spokesman for Wing Stop, and Leah just spent two weeks in Mexico for the first Wing Stop opening, some might even say Wing Stop premier (She used to do entertainment PR. Hello, Johnny Knoxville.) in Mexico. It was like they were honeymooning together down there. Just kidding. Not really at all.

I have been told that Mexico loves Troy. And now, thanks solely to Leah, they love wings, too.

Look at everything she did! I think it's really impressive!

http://www.televisadeportes.com/fotos/troy-aikman-nfl-vaqueros-mexico/18002

http://www.televisadeportes.com/futbolamericano/143555/troy-aikman-esta-visita-mexico

http://www.nfl.com.mx/noticiacompleta/index.php?news=201003048254

http://www.cronica.com.mx/celular/nota.php?id_nota=491657

http://www.nflatino.com/dallas-cowboys/2304214_troy-aikman-visito-la-ciudad-de-mexico.html

http://www.record.com.mx/tmf/aikman-quiere-a-los-vaqueros-de-nuevo-en-mexico-03032010.html

http://elmanana.com.mx/notas.asp?id=168906

http://abctlaxcala.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=52%3Adeportes&id=3441%3Adesea-aikman-que-vuelva-nfl-a-mexico&Itemid=121

http://www.prensalatinalasvegas.com/2010-03/03-6784.htm

http://video.mx.msn.com/watch/video/aikman-de-visita-en-mexico/t2bok6xs Este es un video

http://www.terra.com.mx/galeria.aspx?galeriaid=22796

http://nivelcanchablog.aldiatx.com/archives/2010/03/exalta-aikman-a-tony.html

http://bieninformado.com/?c=136&a=67036

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/663056.html

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=es-mx&vid=757ad7a9-8264-4961-b671-a678fe1b8a20

http://www.record.com.mx/tmf/cree-aikman-que-mark-sanchez-tiene-gran-futuro-03032010.html

Sun

from Design Dump



from Urban Grace






Design Sponge post

Maple Syrup Scones

I've made scones a couple weekends lately. I love scones, but sometimes they can be a little crumbly. These scones weren't. I stole my recipe directly from Alton Brown, but the first time I made them I had to make a few substitutions because we didn't have everything his recipe required. Here's my adjusted recipe, but I also halved this to just serve two or three. I try not to make too many of them--scones don't improve with age.

FYI, that picture is just a stock scone shot, not my actual scones. I didn't add a drizzle, but I would imagine it would be tasty.

Ingredients

• 2 cup flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1/4 cup cream (or milk or half-and-half)
  
• 1/2 cup sour cream
  
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
• Pecans or walnuts
• Extra melted butter for brushing on
  
• Turbinado sugar for sprinkling
  

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Cut in butter and shortening and toss in nuts if you're using them.

In a separate bowl, combine cream, sour cream, beaten egg, and syrup, and then add to dry ingredients.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Roll dough out and cut into biscuit size rounds. (I usually roll it into a thick flattened circle and then use a sharp knife to cut wedges.) Brush on melted butter. Sprinkle on your sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown. Brush on more butter.

Dancin Mood

"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance."
-Japanese proverb

One of Carter's favorite things to do is to tell me to "sing it" and then hold an imaginary mic to my face. Sometimes I react well to this and oblige him by singing (and sometimes I don't).

An offshoot of this request is to coerce me into making up dances to go with whatever song we're listening to, as well. And, well, sometimes I just make up those dances on my own volition with no coercion needed.

What can I say? I like to dance.

I used to be a good dancer. Now, I mostly feel like a corny mom dancing over the meatloaf. I don't even make meatloaf, but nevertheless, the point is my rhythm isn't what it used to be, but the springtime weather has put me in a dancing mood, so to speak. I guess what I'm trying to say is aren't you glad it's warm and we can put our selves in the sun and plant things and go sit on patios?

"...Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful." Jer 31:4b

Deck Dreams

I made a sketch for an idea for our back yard porch.


My sketch makes it look like you can only fit one person on the deck at a time. This is not necessarily true. I just ran out of paper space. Anywho, I like the idea of patio curtains... or a pergola like this one.




Something to make it feel more room-ish. We don't need shade because the tree back there is so dense that hardly any sunlight gets through. It's a problem for laying out types and also a problem for grass. However, it is not a problem for out of control weed growth.


Rosemary via Urban Grace

I'm ready to start planting things back there, and Mom has volunteered to help one day next week! I would like the following: rosemary, mint, basil, tomatoes, hydrangeas, honeysuckle, impatiens, hostas, and irises. Some people might be questioning if I will kill it all, and this is certainly possible... but I am ready to try really hard not to.

Oscar 2010

Best #1

Best #2 (I know who it is, and I don't care.)


Best #3 (and my favorite)


Worst (If you are this pretty and unbelievably thin, why would you try to look like a homecoming float?)