This and That

For the First Time Ever:
I had stuffed peppers for dinner. Trust me, it will not be the last time! Stuffed peppers are delicious. Truly. I got the recipe on allrecipes.com (which is a wonderful site:-) and I was not disappointed at all with the end result. This is the recipe.
That is all in the way of' first timers' for me. It's been a pretty mellow couple of weeks. However, since I already am on the subject of food, I made really amazing peanut butter bars for St. Joseph's day. I am slightly addicted, I think. Let's just say, it's a good thing it's Lent otherwise there would be far too much peanut butter bar eating to be healthy. :-) I am thinking about making a big old batch to bring to my cousin's house on Sunday. Here's the recipe, also from allrecipe's. If you like peanut butter, you really should try these out. They are super yummy and super easy to make! Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture of the ones I made, or I'd share it with you. Oh well. You'll just have to see for yourself.

I have a 'bucket' list of things I want to post on this blog (speaking of which, if any of you have requests, let me know and I'll see what I can do. :-) one of which is give you the link to this blog, Rapunzel's Resource's. This is a wonderful site for girls with fairly long hair. I use it a lot just to get some new ideas and inspirations. There are some really beautiful styles there, so please, go take a look. This page is the 'style index' so you can get a quick glimpse of some of the hairstyles look like.
 I will try to get myself together and do a few hair tutorials of my own. I have been experimenting with my hair lately and have a couple styles I find myself wearing quite a lot. (It is hard to do a tutorial, though, when there is no one to take pictures for you!) I have been making some of my own 'hair pretties' too and I'd like to show them off to you with a tutorial on how easy (and inexpensive) they are to make! :-)

Now for the song! Anthony Warlow is probably my favorite broadway singer. He has a wonderful voice and he's a fantastic actor. Just check him out in Pirates of Penzance.(He's the pirate King.) Or listen to him sing, "This is the Moment." Ah, he's just amazing! I recently discovered him singing this song, "Now" from a new musical "Dr. Zhivago" which has yet to be released to the public (as far as I know.) I don't know what the musical's about or if it's any good, but this song is just beautiful! (Ah man! Why can't I be that girl singing with him? LOL)



Take care, everyone. God Bless,
Amy

Oh, Glorious St. Patrick!

May you always have walls for the winds,

a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,

laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,

and all your heart might desire

Happy St. Patrick's Day, all my lovely readers!

I love this feast day. St. Patrick was an amazing man and it's a shame that the world has, in its own annoying way, ruined his day. I simply can't stand all the cheesy, generic 'lepricons and pots of gold' stuff that has become St. Patrick's Day. *Sigh.*

Anyway, I don't want to go off on a long rant and ruin this post for all of you! That would be sad. Instead, here's a link to a really great site with the story of St. Patrick and explanations of why we associate things like the shamrock to St. Patrick. Go Here! It's always good to remember why we celebrate what we celebrate!
And speaking of celebrating, are you having corn beef and cabbage? Are there some lovely sweet things handy? I made some very, very nice peanut butter cookies. I was planning on shortbread cookies, but I am a sucker for peanut butter. :-) And I'm trying to think up some fun movie that would just be the perfect end to the day...(did you know that 'The Adventures of Tin Tin is now available on DVD?)

May the saint protect ye-

An' sorrow neglect ye,

An' bad luck to the one

That doesn't respect ye

t' all that belong to ye,

An long life t' yer honor-

That's the end of my song t' ye!

This song doesn't really have anything to do with St. Patrick's day...but it does deal with Ireland. So I am posting it! It's a really awesome song.

Ta-ta! God Bless.

 Amy

Think green

I've been away from my blog for a while...I apologize. What with family visiting and my new flute, I have been keeping busy and ignoring my writing a bit. Shame on me.
But here we are, two days before St. Patrick's day and I thought it would be fun to give you some links to crafts for St. Patrick's day.
If you have loads of time on your hands, this shamrock garland is rather nice. I might just have to find loads of time. It would definitely make a fun accent.
If you don't own any green cloths, try these beaded pins. Aren't they fun? I love the shamrock one. And it looks fairly easy to do.

For some reason, I feel like a real Irish tea-party is in order for my St. Patrick's day. Maybe a lunch tea? With freshly baked short-bread.

Sounds lovely right?

(For the record, I really want to get one of these shortbread plates. :-)

And there should be a real shamrock on the table, because it just makes everything prettier. See?

If you're wanting something bigger and prettier, craft wise, look at this wreath! I love it! And I bet it could be easily modified later for an Easter wreath... Check it out

Whatever you do for St Patrick's day, it should end with and Irish Coffee. Seriously. Just look at it! Recipie here. :-)You've gotta! If you are under-age or just don't like alcohol, there are non-alcoholic options. Go to google! Or go HERE. You have to scroll past the normal recipe and then it tells you alternatives. Looks yummy!

Here's a video of how to make a traditional Irish Coffee. It's so pretty I had to share. :-)




I will try and post a few more things soon.
God bless and take care!
Amy

Oh Joyous Day!

So, For the First Time Ever
I made a purchase from Craigslist.
Which just so happens to be a Yamaha Flute!
And that is another 'first timer' for me. A Yamaha flute!
Flor those of you that don't know, Yamaha makes really wonderful, quality instruments and even their beginning student flutes are very pricey. I got a intermediate level, open holed flute for $175! I am beyond happy. It's such a wonderful instrument and it has beautiful tone. Really beautiful. My old flute was...well, old. At least 25 years old, and that's being kind. :-) My new flute is so  much easier to play. *Happy sigh.* And if you're wondering, 'what is an open holed flute?' well, it's exactly what it sounds like! LOL. It just means that a few of the keys, instead of being completely solid, have a whole in the top. It actually improves the sound but it does make fingering a little more challenging. I just have to make sure I cover the hole. :-) Here's a picture showing a open holed flute next to a normal, student flute.

My flute is in the shop now, being cleaned and all that good stuff. I miss it! I want to show it to after I get it back when it's all shinny...but I did snap a picture before I parted with it so that you can get an idea of it's wonderfulness. :-) I had a really hard time getting a good picture.

I am so happy with this purchase! Everything just fell into place for me. I have been really wanting a new flute for quite a while now, but I was hesitant about making the buy. I always get nervous with 'big' purchases. But my brother told me to look on ebay and craigslist to see what they had. And craigslist had this wonderful flute! It had gone from $300 (which is still very good for a yamaha) to $200. I e-mail her and she dropped it to $175! So we met up and yes, I did test it out before I bought it. :-) It's in excellent condition. I was careful to inspect it. But it is pretty hard to go wrong with a yamaha. A special thanks to my brother for giving my the push I needed to buy it and for helping me with the 'negotiations.' And for driving my a good hour and a half drive away just to 'see' if I wanted it! Thank you. :-)

Well, ta-ta, People! I hope you all have a wonderful day. And tomorrow is Sunday! Here meaning a brief respite from Lent. :-)
God Bless! Cheers!
Amy

Oh, and no blog post is really finished for me till I post a song for you all to enjoy. You know that by now, surely. :-) I'm not a huge fan of Celine Dion or Barbara Streisand, but this song is really lovely.