I bought this outfit at a consignment sale early this spring.  It is obviously home made but well done.  After putting her in it and putting the hat on for our walk, I suddenly had the urge to start singing “Doe a deer, a female deer…”  It has a rather play clothes from curtains feel to it.  But I think she can pull it off.

A random mish-mash post because being coherent and cohesive is overrated.

On our Memorial Day road trip, I was horrified by the number of people I saw texting while driving.  And I don’t just mean teens.  People of all ages were doing it.  If you want to put the whole “survival of the fittest” theory to the test, can you do it somewhere that won’t result in you taking several families out in your blaze of glory?

Between the texters and the truck drivers** who seemed to think that we were in their office so if we don’t want to get hit we should just stay out of their way and my husband who doesn’t believe in the principles of defensive driving, I was a nervous wreck.  I wish people appreciated that they have a lot of lives in their hands every time they get behind the wheel.  Nothing makes me angier than someone endangering my children because they are being careless.

**I’m not condeming all truck drivers – most are good drivers doing a job…but the ones who are wreckless are frightening.

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I don’t pluck my eyebrows often for the same reason I don’t get tattoos – it hurts.  I don’t like pain.  (Because seriously, I’m going to pay someone to repeatedly stab my skin with a needle?  That seems like something I would pay someone to stop doing.  And I’m not talking pay them a couple of bucks – tattoos are expensive.  The people who tell you that they don’t hurt are lying.  Some people just think the pain is worth it.)  Anywho, back to my eyebrows.  I don’t do them often but the impulse hits at bizarre times.  Usually when I really don’t have time to be doing it so I get one finished and then realize I don’t have time to do the other.  Not a good look.

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I ordered a few things from e.l.f. and was happy with my purchases. You can’t beat the prices – many items are just a buck.  I am really happy with the nail polish to make my toes look pretty in my summer sandals.  But what I liked best was the mineral glow.  In my continuing efforts to be frugal, I haven’t replaced my Bare Essentuals Mineral Veil.  It hurt to spend $19 on it.  But the shimmer mineral glow from e.l.f. for $8 is a very satisfactory substitute.

I will warn you that if you order from them, your inbox will be flooded with offers from them.  They email me at least once a day sometimes 3 or 4.  I was joking last week that I felt like they were stalking me. But the sales are pretty tempting – lots of 50% or free items when you buy.

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A little Sabrina cuteness.  We made brownies last week when Steve was out of town.  She thought it was fabulous.

Tessa started pulling up yesterday (I know!) and Sabrina is so excited that Tessa is getting more fun to play with.  She kept asking Tessa yesterday to play hide and seek with her.  It was incredibly cute.

The thing I miss most about summers where lived for most of my life is the festivals.  Every little town had a festival to celebrate something: First Town Days, Canal Days, Corn Harvest Festival, Italian-American Festival, the county fair, Clay Week, Railroad Days, and I am sure I forgot some.  And of the course the best thing about the festivals is the food.  My personal favs are fair fries sprayed with vinegar, DiRusso’s Italian Sausage sandwiches, and fresh lemonade.  Most of the festivals I’ve encountered in my new town are either way over crowded with few food offerings or they offer all sorts of foods I don’t associate with fairs (who wants to eat chicken fried rice at a fair?)  or just plain too hot to eat while you are there (hello? county fair in the south in August? Ugh!)  I’ve been missing the fair food the past couple of years.  So I decided to try and make some Italian Sausage sandwiches worthy of the fair.  Stupidly simple but I was pleased that I got the flavor right, I thought I would share.

(You  know my recipes are flexible so feel free to make changes. I’m just sharing what I use and like.)

Italian Sausage Sandwiches

1 package Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage

1 sweet yellow onion

1 green bell pepper

1 15oz can tomato sauce (not spaghetti sauce)

3/4 Cup lager beer (Yuengling works well as does Sam Adams)

2 cloves garlic, minced

oregano

crushed red pepper flakes

Shredded mozz cheese

Buns

Grill the sausages for 4 or 5 minutes on each side to brown.

Slice onion and pepper.  Saute for 5 minutes.  Then add tomato sauce, beer, garlic, a couple of shakes of oregano, and a couple of shakes of red pepper flakes (if you are new here, we don’t measure much).  Add this to simmer on med-low and finish drinking the left over beer.  When sausage comes off grill, put them in the pan with sauce.  Cover and allow to simmer for another 10-15 minutes – until sausage is cooked through.

Cut buns and put some shredded cheese in the bottom.  Add sausage, peppers, onions, and  a little of the sauce.  Then pretend you are eating in the shadow of the ferris wheel.

Head over to Southern Fairytale for lots of Mouthwatering Monday recipes.