The cutest family I know....

Love y'all, Raleys!

Louisiana Swamp Stomp...

Have you seen this? Have you heard about this?

Dr. Paul McCarthy just dropped of my copy of the newly released Louisiana Swamp Stomp. Dr. McCarthy is (pretty much) solely responsible for the project. Through his great effort to gather the featured Louisiana based musicians, this collection of LA Blues also benefits a good cause!  All proceeds go towards the Northern Louisiana Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Foundation which seeks to raise public awareness of brain and spinal cord injuries.  This project was inspired by Buddy Flett and Carol Fran, two Louisiana musicians who have recently had neurological injuries.

The CD includes artists such as:

Percy Sledge and the Aces Band

Larry Garner

Dewayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers

Lil Buck Sinegal

Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr

Little Freddie King
Henry Gray

Carol Fran

David Egan

Charlene Howard

Buddy Flett

Omar Coleman (w/ Billy Flynn, Bob Stroger, Kenny Smith)

&

Sonny Landreth

Interested in learning more??

Visit brain help for more information.

 

I am listening to it now and I gotta tell you- It is making me want crawfish and hush puppies!

pumpkin shine on line...

What:

 Pumpkin Shine on Line

Come view nearly 1,000 jack-o-lanterns

as you stroll through the park

When:

Today- October 27th

from 5:30 pm- 8:00 pm

Where:

Betty Virginia Park

3901 Fairfield Ave.

Shreveport, LA 71106

Why:

Proceeds from the concessions,

donated by the parents of Southfield School,

go back into beautifying and updating Betty Virginia Park.

W-how much:

FREE!!!! For all ages!

For more information visit

 http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20101020/SEVOICES/10190377/Pumpkin-Shine-on-Line-planned-for-Oct-27

and

http://www.shreveportbossierfunguide.com/event.php?id=3806

pumpkin tricks & treats...

 {You are such a great host Daci!! Everything was wonderful.}

 {loved those homemade cinnamon rolls}

 {found a carving idea in the October Martha Stewart Living magazine that I thought would be fun}

 {Natalie and Kanishk are hard at work on their pumpkins}

 {Daci painted hers gold and Diane is carving her design- good job!}

{Martha's witch proved to be quite the project. Tison had never carved a pumpkin before...maybe I should have stuck with something easier!!}

{I finished her up last night- not exactly as I had planned it, but it works :) }

ps- the inside of pumpkins STINK!

Is you or is you ain't at the Pub & Culture Crawl?

Visit http://www.shreveporthappyhour.com/Unwind/ 

for the next Pub & Culture Crawl!

Blogger Love

Oh no - No photos
Since my computer is acting up and not letting me add any pictures to the blog at the moment - my scheduled J'Adore Pretty Things post will have to wait until tomorrow.

I will have to send you elsewhere to get your fix- haha.

Here are a few of
my favorite sites
 to visit for beautiful and inspiring things:

http://taza-and-husband.blogspot.com/

http://www.designlovefest.com/

http://ohjoy.blogs.com/my_weblog/

http://www.hikinginstilettos.blogspot.com/

http://bleubirdvintage.typepad.com/blog/

http://cupcakesandcashmere.com/

http://www.theblackapple.typepad.com/

http://juliaspoppies.com/blog/

http://printpattern.blogspot.com/

http://www.mintdesignblog.com/

http://www.littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/

http://chrisandstaceysargent.blogspot.com/

http://www.puglypixel.com/

http://muchlove-anna.blogspot.com/

http://twoellie.blogspot.com/

http://thatshappy.blogspot.com/

http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/

http://grainedit.com/

http://www.abeautifulmess.typepad.com/


{ If you can believe it- these are not even all my saved favorites!! I am telling you these sites are pure gold! Have fun and come back tomorrow :) }

"Life as I Know It"

by: Justin Tison

Where am I supposed to be in the world right now? How many people ask themselves this question? Is life a constant struggle? When are we happy? Are the dead the only people that feel the warmth of true happiness?

Image via WikipediaI am a directionless arrow right now. I am a wind vane swirling around in the wind storm of life. I point nowhere and everywhere at the same time. I am lost. I am confused. I feel as if I have nothing to show for 27 years of life. If this is all there is in the universe, am I going to die happy? Are the people who are afraid of death the ones who have done nothing while they were alive?

I want to give so much of myself to the world. I want to be successful. I want to be proud of myself and what I do. I want those closest to me in my life to be proud of me and what I have accomplished.

I swirl around in the wind pointing towards nothing and everything at the same time. Where do I go? I am burdened with these questions now more than anything else. It’s not as if all my life is bad, it is just the professional aspect that tears at my heart and burns my gut. I fear the future because I do not see where I am going. I do not see my purpose.

When do people find professional success? Am I supposed to be at a certain place by a certain time? The societal burden of being successful, the measures that we as Americans use to determine our self-worth, leave me wanting so much more. They leave my heart feeling empty and unsatisfied. Why cannot I live off the love I give and receive each and every day? I would be one of the wealthiest people on the continent if that measure of personal success was used by those around us.

My life is brimming with love often to the point where I run out of places to store it. It is a career and the prestige that supposedly comes with that I am missing. Why does this leave me longing for so much?

With a life filled with so much love, laughter and happiness I should want for nothing. Yet I sit here, self-worth diminished because I cannot figure out where I belong in the rat race.

I wonder how many people experience the opposite of this. How many people have nothing in their lives but their jobs and experience no love or personal happiness? Are those people happier than I am right now? Is there unhappiness greater? Is it just different but no less stinging and uncomfortable? Do they long for what they do not have? Is it as obvious to others?

I have a lot of questions right now and am searching for the answers. Probably like most people in this world. The struggle continues. The struggle continues to make me stronger. I want more for me in this life and I plan on getting it.

Image via Wikipedia

I just have to figure out the last part a little bit more. Or at the very least get a hold of the wheel a bit better and steer the ship forward, releasing myself from the ropes that hold me down.

lovely weekend

What my weekend usually consists of...

Friday nights are super low key. I feel that Friday is technically still a work day, therefore I refused to do much more than dinner and/or a movie (most of the time at home.) This Friday was no exception. However, I did have a mighty interesting guest that shared in the weekly "sud pup and tube" extravaganza. My sis, Les, was in town for the weekend. Guess I was too lazy to take pictures of that, but I think you get the idea.

If we are talking about usual weekend activity, I wouldn't have been out of bed on until 10-10:30, but I (surprisingly) got up on Saturday morning at 8:00am! Shocking honestly... this allowed enough time for me to get ready for the 10 o'clock yoga out at the temple. I was happy our instructor, Kate, decided to hold the class outside on the patio. It was such a gorgeous morning.

Saturday afternoon Tison and I went on a little date to the second annual beer tasting festival called Shreveport Brew at the Festival Plaza downtown where we tried a few new and interesting beer flavors... and ran into our friends Ross and Lauren.

{my IPhone pictures from the weekend are purrdy blurry...sorry}

After the tasting, we went home to change our outfits for a costume party! We had a lot of fun with Natalie, Cory and Shelley (aka Tha Situation and Snooki). I love dressing up!!

{Can you tell what we are?}

{Leslie came up with her outfit on the fly- I would love to know if any of you can guess what she was!? *hint- she has one horn and wings...}

On Sunday I typically lounge around- maybe clean something- maybe i just cuddle with the dogs....this particular Sunday Tison and I attempted to make an Alfredo sauce for our whole wheat pasta and crawfish.... it smelled so delish, but the texture reminded me of grits (not what we were going for.) *note to self: when you don't have enough parmesan cheese to add to the dish, DON'T use the stuff in the green container- it does not melt down- eww!!!

I did watch one of the cutest cartoons I have seen in a long time on Sunday- The Princess and the Frog. The story was set in New Orleans and I just loved it!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

ps- duh- of course I watched the season finale of Mad Men!!!

goodbye lunch for ann...

cafe hours

monday - saturday

11:30am- 7:30pm

318-795-9006

an intimate night with...

{alex and jade- i heart you! If you are unfamiliar- GET WITH IT!

jk- you probably recognize this song HOME}

{or from JANGLIN}

{here they are in CLACKIN HEALS}

I love going to see live music!!!! It could be my favorite thing in the whole entire world!

Mama Said:

Two of my favorite things are: (1) the privilege of sharing that special moment when two people proclaim their love and commitment to one another in their vows of holy matrimony. And (2) the look on the face of a new mom and dad as they peer into the face of their newborn baby.

This past weekend I had the honor to experience the first at the wedding of two very special people, Jill and Andrew (the new Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Hoffman).

The ceremony was performed in St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Old Town, Virginia. It was followed by a reception at Collingwood Museum, which is located on the Potomac River. My rose colored glasses did not obscure my view of this beautiful young bride with her handsome groom in the perfect setting, surrounded by friends and family that love and wish them well. Gives you goose bumps doesn’t it?

From the rehearsal dinner to the wedding, the reception, and finally the LSU/Florida game party (and LSU win!) - the weekend was wonderful and a good time was had by all!

Perhaps weddings are the perfect opportunity to reflect on priorities...times to remember the ones we love...times to look around and know how blessed you are.

The fact that two middle-aged (I refuse to say “old”) people can still look at each other after almost 29 years and say, “I’d do it ALL again.”- that, dear Jill and Andrew...is what it’s all about!

Enjoy the journey!!