Reminiscing about the Royal Wedding Party

MFD beat it soon after this photo. He did not want to be the sole man at the Royal Wedding Party.

Did you have a party the day Prince William married Kate Middleton in April 2011? I did. No, I am not related to the royal family, and I'm not even really a royal watcher. The party was conceived over 176 bottles of wine with Gail one night, and we ran with it for the following reasons:

1. Theme parties are awesome.  

2. Hoopla and novelty are fun as hell.
3. A party that requires hats? Sign me UP.
4. A party that takes on a life of its own in the months leading up to it and earns an acronym - RWP - is bound to be fabulous.
5. It was a good excuse to take the day off and day drink. 

To celebrate the two year anniversary of an awesome party, I thought I'd recap it: 

Decor: the queen and Keep Calm signs; RWP stickers that say Hats Required, bitches; I replaced my photos with royal family photos, paper wedding bells out front, fresh flowers, British flags, cutout Will faces

Food: Quiche, brie bites, smoked salmon crostini, crab salad in cucumber cups, roasted asparagus pasta salad, tea sandwiches, veggies and dip, cheese plate, fruit salad. Dessert: red velvet cupcakes, British candy & cookies, Walker's shortbread, lemon cookies, bread pudding, petit fours, personalized royal cookies. Drinks: mimosas, kir royals, frozen grape sangria, wine, beer

We caroused, watched the wedding, scared the shit out of my UPS man and sent him running for cover when we all barged out of the front door in wedding dresses with glasses in hand, provided a spectacle for the school children and neighborhood parents as we stood in front of my house in our wedding gear boozing it up before noon, then when school let out, and then when soccer practice started, and basically all day.

We got fake Kate rings, traded hats, took photos, got drunk, painted wine glasses, and turned it into a garden party out back in the early evening. Even Gamma got involved. 

I love day long shenanigans with Framily.

Laura won for best costume. Her parents are off the boat from England, for god's sake. It was expected of her. I think Geege gave her a run for her money though. 

Lounge clothes were donned, naps were taken. It was a glorious day-long festivity.

We had a blast. I love when everyone really gets behind a fun idea and runs with it. Theme parties usually inject themselves with that type of vim and vigor. 

Cheerio loves.

Linking up with Steph at Bourbon & Glitter and Chelsee of Southern Beauty Guide for The Party Don't Start Til I Walk In.

Here's a tip: salt, baking soda, and vinegar

During my spring hausfrauing, I came across helpful household hints books for salt, vinegar, and baking soda. I'm planning a potions post soon - I make a lot of my own cleaning products - but I wanted to retain this info and figured I'd share it here in case you guys could use it too. I don't typically use salt, but I use baking soda and vinegar a lot (even though MFD is constantly complaining about the smell and comparing it to a Summer's Eve, if you catch my drift).

I hope you can save yourself some cash and incorporate these tips in your regular routines!

Thanks to Geege for being a photo prop.

• Any spill on the stovetop will come up more easily if sprinkled with salt first - the abrasive quality of salt removes the stuck on food but won't hurt the surface. 
• Those casserole dishes that won't come clean? Add boiling water and three tablespoons of salt. Let stand until the water cools, then wash as usual. 
• Exfoliate! While skin is wet, sprinkle salt in your hands and rub all over skin. Ain't nobody got time for dry skin. I am a very bad exfoliater. I need to do it more. 

• Keep baking soda in fridges and freezers to absorb odors. Change every three months. 
• Once a month, sprinkle carpets with baking soda, let sit overnight, then vacuum. I should do this. Dogs stink. 
• Remove mineral buildup and improve performance of your showerhead: Mix 1/2 cup baking soda and 1 cup vinegar in a sturdy plastic bag. Secure the bag around the shoewrhead with a rubber band so the showerhead is submerged in solution. Soak for one hour. Remove and run very hot water through the showerhead for several minutes. I am totally doing this this weekend. I pinned it eons ago. 
• Face scrub: make a past of three parts baking soda to one part water. Use as an exfoliating scrub. I do this and love it. 

• Sinks: Pour 1/2 cup baking soda through a funnel followed by one cup of vinegar. When the foaming subsides, flush with super hot tap water (I normally fill from another sink or the tub). Wait five minutes, then flush again with cold water. This clears blockages and washes away odor causing bacteria. For slow drains, pour in 1/2 cup salt followed by 2 cups of boiling vinegar, then flush with hot and cold tap water. 
• Keep frost at bay: Spray the outside of car windows with a solution of 3 parts white vinegar to 1 part water. I haven't tried this, but I will be trying it this winter. 
• Microwave: place a glass bowl filled with 1/4C vinegar and 1C water inside. Microwave for five minutes. Once it cools, dip a cloth into the liquid and use to wipe interior. Splatters will be loosened and come up quickly. I add a little squirt of lemon juice to the bowl too. 
• Pour 1 cup undiluted vinegar into the bottom of your dishwasher once a month and run the machine through a full cycle without dishes or detergent. 

I know there are 459,872 uses for each. How do you use them, or what on this list will you try?

Readers wanted? Anyone? Bueller?

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Every day this week, I've been jolted into reality as the doors open at my stop. I scramble to gather my things and exit the train without dropping anything, tripping on myself, or bumping into anyone. I'm in a fog, shaking my head a little to clear it.

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I'm not on drugs. I haven't been sleeping on the way in, although god knows I could use it - I've been averaging six hours a night, and they haven't been quality. I've been reading. I've been so immersed in worlds other people created that I have not been present on the 45 minute train ride into the city. I haven't noticed who's gotten on or off the train, or if the lady across from me is still plucking her eyebrows and discarding them on the lap of the person next to her left. No, I'm not shitting you. That actually happened on Wednesday.

Getting lost in a book is such a wonderful feeling. It's almost like coming out of a deep sleep, which ideally is done slowly and not in the manner I mentioned above. I'm trying to dodge angry commuters in Suburban Station while in my mind I'm still sitting next to Anya on a cold bench in the winter garden.

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If anyone knows of a job where I can just read all the live long day, let me know. I'm exceptionally qualified.

What have I been reading this week?

Insurgent by Veronica Roth, the follow up to Divergent. I am dying for the next one...which I just found out (thank you Google, as always) will not be out until October. WTF! Patience is not my virtue.

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. I want to get to the end so I'll know if I still one to kick one of the main characters in the crotch or not.

Remember that you can always keep up with what I'm reading by clicking on the Let's Talk Books page on the navigation bar.

What are you reading?

The last lesson my grandmother taught me

This is the first year I didn't celebrate my birthday with my Grandmom, who was a St. Paddy's baby and loved her birthday as much as I did. I know, impossible, right?Last year we celebrated her 80th straight through June! She definitely had me beat.

This year felt really weird without her - no joint birthday dinner where she gloried in picking the meal or the place because of her elder status, no admonition to not get sick from too much rich restaurant food consumed around our birthdays, no phone call on my birthday that ended with her saying, "And you call me in two days for mine and we'll do it all again."

She passed away the week before Christmas 2012 from pancreatic cancer. I'm truly thankful that while the last year of her life was painful for her physically, it was good for her emotionally - some of the walls she kept up her whole life came down, enabling her to love and be loved more freely. Those walls kept a distance between her and a lot of people. You always knew that she loved you, but she was guarded. With her guard lowered, she was more willing to talk and connect. I made the most of the time I had left with her: we really got to know each other and explore our similarities and talk about things we never talked about before. I didn't leave anything unasked or unsaid. That wouldn't have happened otherwise. While that makes her not being here now harder than it would've been if we didn't connect like that, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Learn a lesson: take down your walls. Let people in. You won't always know when it's too late.

There's always a silver lining, even to terminal illness. Happy birthday in Heaven, Grandmom. Cheers.

I'm dedicating this year's Relay For Life to you. I thought it was appropriate since Relay's goal is for there to be a world with more birthdays - less people dying from cancer = more birthdays. Let's do it.

Anyone local who would like to join my team, please click the link and sign up! We'd love to have you.

Happy St. Paddy's day to the rest of you. Don't drink and drive, you hear?

For us, it's Guinness roasted corned beef and cabbage round two. 

See you tomorrow for TWTW.

When Irish Eyes are Smiling, they're eating Guinness Roasted Corned Beef

If you don't like one pot corned beef where everything is boiled together, I urge you to try this version. It's delicious.

You need: 

• 4 lb corned beef, flat cut
• 12 oz Guinness stout or a can of coke
• 1 cup brown sugar
• Cabbage, red potatoes, and carrots to complete the meal
• Salt, pepper, minced onion
• Butter (optional)

Preheat your oven to 300. Get a roasting pan with a rack and spray with cooking spray. 

Open your corned beef, rinse it and pat it dry. Cut about two inches off and throw it into a pot. Do not discard the little seasonings packet. 

1. Rub brown sugar into the corned beef - on the bottom, top, sides. 

2. Pour the Guinness into the bottom of the roasting pan, then gently pour it over the corned beef.

3. Cover tightly with tin foil and cook for two and a half hours.

4. Add the little seasonings packet to the corned beef in the pot. Cut up carrots, quarter red potatoes and cabbage and add those as well. Season with salt and pepper and minced onions. Add a tablespoon of butter to the top if you wish.

5. Pour a little Guinness in there, just for some taste. Fill the rest with water. Bring to a boil and then turn it to low, and simmer for two hours.

6. If you don't like boiled cabbage (I don't), saute some in butter with salt, pepper, and minced onion until it just starts to brown.

When the corned beef is done, remove and let it rest for five minutes before slicing. 

I grew up eating corned beef and cabbage every March. I love the meal. We went to my Grandmom's the week of St. Patrick's Day and lapped it up like good little Irish-Americans.

When I started to make it in my own kitchen, I was frustrated. I couldn't replicate my Grandmom's version even though I followed her directions explicitly. So I took to the internets, and on Allrecipes.com I found Guinness Roasted Corned Beef. I've adopted it as my own and now do a hybrid corned beef meal.

Guinness roasted corned beef and light later into the evening after Daylight Saving. Just two more reasons March rocks.