Tie One On Tuesday!

Whoa Nelly! Is it H-O-T! Just yesterday is was fall like weather in Portland and today it is super summer hot. As I try to get OMP to fan me, I thought I would make up some special popsicles to sweeten the deal. These are adult pops but I'm sure you could leave the booze out and they would be just as good, but you probably wouldn't get as lucky.

I love a good Margarita and one that is on a stick is even better!
Margarita Pops (courtesy of the food network)
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons tequila
2 tablespoons orange liqueur 
Kosher salt, for garnish
4 small  wax paper cup ,(think Dixie cup) 4 popsicle sticks
Combine sugar, lime juice, water, lemon juice and orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool. 
Once cool transfer to a blender with tequila, orange liqueur, and lime wedge and process until smooth. Pour into the cups and cover the top of each cup with foil. 
Place the popsicle stick in center of cup (down through foil, which will hold it in place). Freeze until hard, preferably overnight. 
Remove from freezer and run cup under warm water to loosen popsicle. Garnish with kosher salt and serve. 

This one sounds SO good, my mouth is watering just typing about it. 
Tangerine Rum Popsicle 
Ingredients:
2 oz. Dark Rum   
2 ¾ cup peeled Tangerines  (If you can't find Tangerines, Mandarin oranges would work, just a little sweeter)
1 oz. Juice of  Lime            
1 oz. Simple Syrup    
Splash of Lemon-lime soda
8 Popsicle Sticks
Into a blender, add peeled tangerines, lime juice, simple syrup and soda.  Puree mixture into a liquid.  Strain mixture into a measuring cup and add rum.  Mix well and pour into Popsicle molds.  Add Popsicle sticks and freeze for 8 hours. If you don't have popsicle molds, you can use the trusty Dixie cups.

Since it's strawberry season, I thought a great Strawberry Daiquiri popsicle would satisfy your sweet tooth and keep you refreshed.
Strawberry Daiquiri Pops
Ingredients:
3 cups hulled strawberries
1/3 cup rum
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup water
Combine all ingredients in blender, and puree until smooth and sugar is dissolved.>
Pour into popsicle molds and insert sticks. Freeze until firm - at least 4 hours or overnight. One more time-you can use Dixie cups if you don't have molds

There ya go, three frozen pops to wet your whistle and cool your jets. All of these recipes can be altered with different fruits. Get creative! Surprise your sweetie or your guest with yummy frozen cocktails-just keep them away from the kiddies. Now where is OMP with my fan? Honey! I have a special treat for you!

Scrappy Dog Sunday!

Happy Independence Day! 

Hope it's filled with lots of yummy things to BBQ

  Lots of fun activities.

And lounging around

I hope everyone enjoys today and has a great time but please remember to be careful and take care of your pets. Fireworks are scary to our little furry friends so if you are going out, leave the TV on loud and give them something to chew on. Make sure that they have plenty of water and make everything as comfortable as possible for them. Maybe take them out earlier to wear them out for the night. Whatever you do, make sure you and your little beast are safe. Happy 4th everyone!

Feel Good Friday!

YAHOO! Welcome to the weekend! Time to tune up your air guitars and rock out! Here in the US we have a long weekend for the 4th of July. What does that mean? Lots of grilling out, blowing stuff up and mosquito bites. While you are applying Calamine Lotion to your bites, enjoy these little tidbits of feeling goodness.

I LOVE these embroideries. It combines my new love of gardening with my love for vintage images. They are absolutely amazing!

You really need to check out Joey's blog Anonymous Works. How much cuter can "Don't forget your gasmask" get?

I think by now you know that I love lots of old things; pottery, patterns, OMP. Old Picture of the Day satisfies my intense need for history and beauty in everyday life.

I adore whimsies. Tiny Little Things are Cute feeds my need for little charms and doodads. Hello! Doesn't everyone need a Climbing Monkey toy.

Last but not least, you REALLY need to go and check out my interview on Mr. XStitch. You will be shocked an amazed by the inner workings of my mind-mostly shocked, maybe a little amazed.

 

Okay my lovelies! I am off to enjoy some ice cream and cowboys at the rodeo. I Hope everyone has a wonderful sparkly weekend! 

Swirly Birds

I love these flowers and birds. The bold lines mixed with delicate swirls create a wonderful pattern. I am not sure where these are from, I got them in a big box of unmarked patterns. They were very faded and worn, thus the lightness of the picture. Nonetheless, ENJOY!

Things I've Learned Since Turing 40

 Big thanks to Yotam.Hadarr

It's been almost 2 weeks since I turned 40. What kind of wisdom have I learned within this time? Well, come closer my young whippersnappers.....

One of the most important things that I have learned is to be yourself and be happy with that person. That is, unless you are a jerk. Which if that is the case, stop reading this blog and go get some help to stop being a jerk and go yell at your parents for raising such a jerky kid. If you are not a jerk, then remember to love yourself and know that you are the best in this world. There is nothing wrong with thinking that you are the coolest kid in school. Just don't get a big head - then you become a jerk (see comments above).

Which leads me to the second thing I've learned. Stop saying WHEN. Oh you know what I am talking about. I'll be happy WHEN I lose 10 pounds - no you won't. You will find something else wrong and start worrying about that body part. Or how about-I'll be happy WHEN I have a boyfriend/girlfriend. Really? How about loving yourself right now and being happy that you can eat chocolate chip cookie dough in bed, fart and not blame it on the dog and not have to explain your Pez candy dispenser obsession to someone. STOP SAYING WHEN and live RIGHT NOW!

Another thing, being grateful for what you do have. This one is certainly a hard one to remember. Just think to yourself, am I in a Turkish prison? Am I dead? No? Then you should be grateful for the day ahead of you. I know that there will be rough days and trust me, I am not always happy and positive but I know that I am truly blessed for what I do have and for the people in my life. I definitely need to thank those people more & you should too.

Stay positive! Positive thoughts yield positive results. No one likes to be around a negative person. You just aren't fun if you are constantly complaining and being a downer. Besides that, your positive thoughts are contagious.

Last, it's okay to fail. It's okay to fall down but it's not okay to stay down. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again. I have fallen many times. Some of those times were caused due to the bad decisions I made (okay, most were due to bad decisions) but I didn't give up. I tried a different way - went another way around and cruised on. Learn from your mistakes and try again. Just don't give up. If you give up on yourself, everyone else will too.


Those are just a few things I've learned. I've also learned that dogs love strawberry champagne cake but they really shouldn't eat it, blaming your burps on OMP in the middle of a store will get you dirty looks and cotton candy for breakfast is an excellent idea. Take these and do what you will with them - they are just a little life lesson from your Aunt Pam.

Tie One On Tuesday Wieners!

Drum roll please.........

The winner of the Tie One on Tuesday syrup giveaway is.....

BECKY! Go Becky! Gonna have a good cocktail! Getting funky!


Please email me at v1313@hotmail.com with  your address so you can start making yummy cocktails. Thanks to everyone who entered. There will be more giveaways in the future. So stick around for some fun times and great cocktail history.

Doggone Great Movies!

I am such a sucker when it comes to movies about animals, especially ones about pups. I will even watch those horrible talking animal films. As long as it has a cute little animal in it-I will watch it and cry at the right times-just like the director wanted. Yep, I am a SUCK-ER for sappy animal movies.

The most recent movie that had me in tears and wanting to adopt every dog on the planet is Hotel For Dogs. I know what you are thinking-Seriously Pam? Really? Let me explain why I was in tears. We had just lost Kato and I made the dumb decision to rent a dog movie cause the lead pup looks like Lola. Well, that alone made me think of Lola and Kato playing together and thus the waterworks started. The movie is a kid friendly movie about two orphans and their little Jack Russell Terrier. One dog leads to another and eventually an abandoned building turns into a hotel for strays. Waterworks will follow in this sweet "No Dog Left Behind" movie.

I remember seeing Benji as a little kid and crying my eyes out because he didn't have a home. Then he got one and then he became a stray again. As a 4 year old, I knew I was the only person who understood Benji and wanted to take care of him. Benji is a stray dog who helps two kidnapped kids escape from their captors. Of course this movie started a whirlwind of Benji movies and TV shows, then then the lunchboxes followed. I never got my Benji lunchbox, instead my mom thought a Donnie and Marie lunchbox would be better. Thanks for the therapy mom!

My friend grew up in a family that participated in dog shows and swears that Best In Show is a true and accurate portrayal of the business. As everyone was laughing it up, she was shaking her head and screaming, "If you only knew!" The story is a mockumentary about several people heading to the biggest dog show in the United States. This is a classic Christopher Guest movie with the wonderful cast of characters that we have come to know from his films. There have been many times that I will walk up to OMP and say, "Pine nuts, Macadamia nuts." He loves me.

There are SO many more dog movies out there. Some great tear jerkers are-of course Old Yeller, My Dog Skip (I can not watch this movie at ALL). Some classics that have been updated-101 and 102 Dalmations (I have seen them so many times, they are banned in the Casa de Pedersen) and then the great buddy movie with Turner and Hooch, Homeward Bound and Eight Below.  No matter what your style is, grab your best furry friend, snuggle in on the couch and enjoy a doggone great movie. See what I did there? Doggone? Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? Lola thought it was funny.