I know, I know. You are wondering what a gecko, my pug, and crab legs have to do with Thanksgiving, right? Well, they do. I promise.

See that gecko? That is my aunt, Linda's, gecko, Toby. We had lots of fun with him.

See those crab legs? That's what MG ate at Joe's Crabshack on Black Friday.

See that pug? Well, he's just cute. As you can tell by the scarf, he likes to accessorize.

I am here at my aunt Linda's house in Memphis. It's become a family tradition of sorts to go to her house, but the bigger tradition involves David Letterman. If you have ever watched his late night show on Thanksgiving, you'll know that he guesses each year what pies his mom has cooked. There normally are about two or three and usually include a weird pie (rhubarb, blackberry- ones you wouldn't see in the South). So, for almost ten years now, it has become a tradition for our family to each guess pies and see who can get the closest. We shall see!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had a bit of a fall yesterday. Ok, flat out fell face down. Seriously, I am one of the clumsiest people on the planet and in high school I feel down the stairs at home on a regular basis. However, those stairs were carpeted. Yesterday, I wasn't so lucky.

(Sigh) I was helping my friend Erin move some of her stuff from her dorm because she is moving into the dorm where our friend Deidre and I live. Well, her hall has very steep front steps (it's one of the original buildings on campus) and somehow I misjudged the steps and fell a good 3 to 5 feet to the sidewalk. Thank goodness the plastic bin I was carrying broke my fall, because I probably would be scheduling some sort of rhinoplasty right now if it hadn't been there.

But, now I have the nastiest bruises I have ever seen on my arms and legs. It's quite embarassing. I was thinking of taking a picture and posting it but I wasn't sure the faint of heart wanted to see such ugliness.

So, watch out where you are going. It's a dangerous world out there.

I am absolutely in love with these glasses from Etsy. If I was crafty enough, I'd be making some right now. Alas, I don't have a glass cutter and I certainly don't have the tools to fire polish the ends. (Sigh)

Happy Early Birthday Ashley!

MOM...

I found this bag while shopping today and I thought of my little sister Ivy. Come to think of it, this probably could go for my middle sister, MG, too. Hmm...

The Farmer's Market and THOSE Tamales

This year, I have started going to the Farmer's Market downtown on Thursday evenings. I love the atmosphere, the free samples, and all of the good food and friends there. However, there was one booth I never dared to try- the tamale booth.

The tamale booth is a crux of the farmer's market. EVERYONE gets the tamales. Behind a plain plastic table loaded with arsenals of tamales (ok, huge industrial size pots), is a spicy Latina woman saying, "Hey mama, come get some tamales! Try the free salsa! Hey papa! I know you want to try too." However, I have been too scared to buy any. Somehow, between the big pots, "mama," and the cakes (Oh, those cakes, I'll get to that later) I have been too intimidated. Today, I decided to try it.

My, oh, my. I've converted. I'll always buy her pork tamales as long as I shop at the Downtown Hattiesburg Farmer's Market. They are perfect!

After closer examination of this picture, it looks somewhat like what I picture a huge joint looking like. NOTE: THIS IS NOT MAR-I-JU-ANA.*

At her table you can choose between pork (what I got), chicken, vegetable, and cheese. I have to say, I think I am going to stick with the pork.

Oh, did I mention that the tamales are only $2.50 each? Sold!

Now, what I think I might conquer next week is her CAKE. I can't even accurate describe to you how huge her cakes are. She makes these huge cakes the size of an 18-wheeler tire (no lie) and sells this by the slice. She is known for her almond cake but she also has (as I am told but other vendors) an awesome chocolate and coconut cake. I will have to see about that.

I also got a loaf of carrot blueberry bread. Yum! Last week I bought muffins from this table that were orange, carrot, and blueberry that were really very good. I'm not a huge citrus fan so I think this might be even better! I'll let you guys know.

And last but not least, I got some goobers.

I do love some boiled peanuts. Though I love my tamales and bread, boiled peanuts have a special place in my heart.

Have a great end to the week and visit your local farmer's market this weekend!

*Maybe as addictive.

Happy 18th Birthday big... err... little sister!

Hallo-Happy-Ween-Birthday Weekend

I hope you guys had a happy Halloween this weekend! I had a great weekend, which happened to also be my sister, MG's, birthday (well.... tomorrow). I thought it would be fun to give her some mustaches, since she always seems to be preoccupied with "my mustache" (she swears I have a moustache and makes fun of me like the mean sister she is... just kidding!). So, I gave her these from Etsy...

And this one from a costume shop in Hattiesburg...

Needless to say, it was a big hit. Spike, on the other hand, was Count Pug-ula for a good minute in a half. The dog was never really good at costumes anyway. Don't get me wrong, Spike LOVES thinking about wearing costumes, but he gets so darn excited he ends up destroying his "clothes." He also had a hot dog outfit that was just too big for him and wouldn't stay on. Oh well, I guess dogs aren't meant to wear clothes...

BUT, MG thought it would be a good idea for her to wear it since Spike wasn't using it. We sat out on the front porch to give candy to the (very few) kids who came up our street. Our neighborhood offered a hayride around the whole neighborhood and when it was time, they came to our street. Once kids had gotten their candy and were on the hayride circling our cul-de-sac to go down the street, some kids yelled "Look it's the hot dog!" We laughed.

(Here is MG waving at the people on the hayride)

On Saturday we had a bonfire at Candy's house in celebration of MG's birthday. This is Lucy (on right with her friend, Rachel), my godsister. I know, godsister doesn't sound real to you but it is. My mom is her godmother so she is my godsister, Chris (her brother) is my godbrother, Candy is my godmother, and Bill is my godfather. Anyways, Lucy reads my blog and requested it be put on the blog, so here it is. Hello Lucy!

We brought tons of goodies that we had found that day. There was a fun crafts festival/show at the Cultural Center where we got BLT dip mix (YUMMMMM) and the Belhaven Market where we got shrimp dip (YUMMMMMMMMMM). We also had hummus, fruit, apples, chicken and corn chower, baked apple dessert... you get the picture.

Oh, and the quinessential black olive.

I like to think that these plates were in honor of MG and her feather hairclips she is making. How cute are these plates? (Don't answer, it's sad enough that I take pictures of the appetizer plates)

(Singing) We didn't start the fire, it's been burning since the world's been turning. We didn't start the fire...

Have a great week!