Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ...

This month has been a bit crazy for me, thus ... my blog has suffered some.  However, I have been able to keep up with my Facebook page, so if you haven't signed up for that, please do!  That way, no matter what, you'll have access to all of my freebies, updates, and info.  I have actually posted quite a few Freebie Fridays there, but you can find all of them on my Pinterest page, so I encourage you to follow me on Pinterest so you can look back through all of the Freebies I've given over the past months.

This month we are learning from Katharine Hepburn.  I have had a wonderful time getting to know her.  She was something else, and quite an inspiration regarding the strength of women.  Her mother was a Suffragette and her father a physician (urologist) who tried to promote awareness of sexual disease and health.  With this type of liberal and strong background, it's no wonder that she led such an influential and extraordinary life, filled with fortitude and lack of concern for what "normal" women were supposed to do or not do.  She had no idea that there were boundaries that couldn't be crossed, or barriers that couldn't be broken.  And because she believed in herself, she became the number one top screen legend of all time by the American Film Institute in 1999 ... quite a tribute!!

So, in honor of Katharine, here is tomorrow's Freebie Friday (click for the full size, and then right-click to save to your computer ... personal use only), I hope you enjoy!!

One of Katharine's four Oscars (out of 12 nominations) was for the movie "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" - and it is easily one of my favorites, hands down.  So, without further ado, and with Memorial Day (for my American friends) in mind, I thought I'd share a recipe with you that is one of my favorites for summer and cookouts.  I'll be sharing several recipes over the next several days.  What do you usually have for your Memorial Day or Outdoor gatherings?  Here's one of our family favorites:  

TOMATO BASIL FETA SALAD, 

courtesy of Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa:

Ingredients

4 pints grape tomatoes, red or mixed colors
1 1/2 cups small-diced red onion (2 med. onions)
1/4 cup good white wine vinegar
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 1/2 pounds feta cheese

Directions

Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a large bowl. Add the onion, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, and parsley and toss well. Dice the feta in 1/2 to 3/4-inch cubes, crumbling it as little as possible. Gently fold it into the salad and serve at room temperature. 

*In a pinch, because, let's face it, sometimes we just don't have time, or are lacking some ingredients, I have done the following with the same spectacular results:

1. Parsley is not imperative, but you will want to add more basil instead.  I will have a stronger flavor, but in my opinion, you can never have too much basil (personal preference)
2. I have used a vidalia onion or green onions in place of the red.  I do not recommend a white or non-sweet onion.  It will be too strong in relation to the other flavors.
3. I have used Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette when I realized I didn't have enough white wine vinegar from the last time I had made the recipe.  It was still heaven!!
4. I have used flavored feta with great results.  My favorite:  feta with sun dried tomatoes in it.
5. I have tried not cutting the tomatoes when I was in a hurry ... wasn't nearly as good, I promise it's worth the time, otherwise the flavors of the dressing just don't do their "thing well enough."
6. It is CRUCIAL that you let the salad sit at room temperature for least 30 minutes, if not 45 to an hour.  When serving this for a Barbeque, I make this salad first, cover, and just let it sit on the counter until we are ready to eat.

Bon Appetit!!

**For more recipes by Ina, please feel free to go to www.foodnetwork.com

Creating our Lives

Well, mes amies ... how did your weekend go? Did you have time to take a look at your wardrobe and see if comfort still equaled elegance? I hope you did. I have to admit that this is something that I have been working on for the past several months. I happily hauled several bags of clothes off to either the battered women's shelter, the homeless shelter, or to women in my Church who needed the clothes more than I did. In return, I "had" to get some new clothes. LOL! I then proceeded to only purchase clothes that either:

1) I could foresee myself wearing 5 years from now (unless a miracle happened and I lost weight ... and then, Quelle Horreur!!! I'd have to go shopping again!!).
2) They were good quality clothing. They would actually last 5 years. With that being said, I refuse to not get a bargain, so this didn't mean that I've been spending all my money on clothes either. More about that later ... I have some great tips for you clothes horses, but that's another day.
3) They were truly "me." They accented my body type to its best advantage and they were colors that looked best on me.
and lastly,
4) They passed the "Do I LOVE it, not "just like it" test.

So ... if you're like me, you probably didn't finish the challenge I gave you over the weekend. That's okay. I still have drawers I haven't gone through. So, let's keep going, shall we? Only, now, let's add the four (4) new challenges I've just given you to the mix.

If you did try my challenge and looked for comfort and elegance (you can even change that out to excellence if you can't perceive yourself as elegant yet, but we're going to work on that, I promise!), then I congratulate you, and I also hope that you'll share your experiences. Please, when you have a moment, share your triumphs, challenges, and stories. We can all learn from and help each other!

In the meantime, I'm giving you another Coco's Pearl. It's a graphic I created for the Graphic's Fairy's Brag Monday party that I always participate in. I used her "freely given" label at the bottom of the graphic to highlight Coco's pearl (you can find her link to the right). I hope that you'll really take her wisdom to heart. Let's go forth and create our lives!!

Bonjour mes amies, and have a wonderful week!!!



P.S. As always, please feel free to click on the picture and then right-click to save to your computer. No mass production, please. However, please feel free to share via Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus so that others can get their own copy and join us in our quest.

Happy Pre-Easter!!

Well, it has been a little bit since I posted. In the meantime I drove to Albuquerque and back to help my son and his lovely new wife move here to live in the town where my husband and I reside. They will be starting school again in the fall, and so decided to get a head start on finding employment before the rest of the college crowd try to compete for summer jobs.

AND ... yesterday was my birthday, and I will admit that I turned 49 ... my last year of my 40's. So I plan to enjoy this year as much as possible before I roll into my 50's. And, while aging might be a problem for some women, it truly doesn't bother me at all ... at least not yet. Now while that's being said ... I still color my hair, so I guess the correct response would be that aging without gray hair doesn't bother me! The most wonderful part of my birthday was realizing that ALL of my children were here to celebrate it with me. That hasn't happened in years, and it truly was the best present I could have asked for (besides the homemade lemon cake that my husband made me!).

So ... here are my juicy updates that I have waited with bated breath to share with you!! Many of you (my lovely and much loved facebook followers) have asked for tutorials on how to use some of the graphics that I create. Well ... they're coming, they're coming, they're coming!!! I'm so excited. I have been working on the evolution of my blog for several months, and spent hours upon hours working on what I wanted to share with you. All of the effort is finally paying off. So, I'm going to give you a little teaser ... you will definitely want to check in the beginning of April (and this is no joke, mes amies) as it will be the beginning of all of my plans coming together. I can't wait to share them with you.

So ... here are some teasers:

* Coco Chanel
* Life's Lessons for Women
* A Craft for Beginners (or those who think that they can't make anything ...)
* A Craft for Crafters (something to tempt even those who think they've done everything)
* Give Aways
* Contests
* Reviews about things that we all want, know, or love!
* A continuation of Freebie Fridays, but most of all ...
* Motivation that you ARE beautiful. You ARE special. You HAVE value. You ARE WORTH IT!!!

I hope you know that I care for each of you who reads my blog. I want you to feel what has taken me so many years to discover for myself: life is too short to spend any more time feeling doubts about your own unique beauty or self-worth. So, if you'll stick with me ... we're going to make sure that you do!

In the meantime, I created a graphic for my Brag Monday. For those who are new, I create something each Monday using one of the Graphic Fairy's beautiful vintage images. You'll find her link to left. I wanted (SO BADLY) to jump the gun and share next week's graphic, but I restrained myself and focused on Easter so I wouldn't fudge and ruin my surprises.

I hope you enjoy this graphic. Please feel free to use it in a non-commercial way. You are more than welcome to click on the picture and then right-click to save to your computer. You might use it as a desktop wallpaper, print it out to frame and decorate for Easter, or even create cards or crafts with it. I only ask that you not mass produce it. You may, however, send anyone my way to get their own copy.

And while we're talking about sharing ... if you haven't signed up for my facebook page, please do so. That is where you'll find past Freebie Fridays, some that weren't shared here, although you can always click on the Freebie Friday button to the right for the ones that were posted here. I try to switch things up between my followers. So, to make sure that you don't miss anything, you'll want to follow me in both places. I promise, some are truly treasures (at least that's what I think, as well as many of my followers). Last Friday's ... well ... does the name Audrey Hepburn mean anything to you? I don't think I need to say more! LOL!

Mes Amies ... have a very lovely week. I hope it is filled with beautiful thoughts and wonderful happenings for you and your life.

Warm Regards,

Lorraine



Im also linked to: Mosaic Monday

Bravery

I thought I'd share some thoughts about bravery today. As we are getting ready to watch the Olympics, I'm always reminded of the bravery of those who dedicate their all to perform at such a superior level. It's almost mind-boggling to think about how many hours the athletes have spent preparing for (in some cases) just a few minutes of a performance.

It truly is a fascinating thought. But, every 4 years, these athletes will attempt once again to break their own personal best record, and hopefully beat all of the other participants in their own field. And in so doing, they bring honor, pride, and joy to their homeland.

While I will be watching along with everyone else, I have to admit that while I find these athletes most admirable, there are so many other people who are brave in their own way, of whom I admire even more.

I love the thought of all of those who perform quiet acts of bravery every day. The child who stands up for their friend. The mother who gives her all, so that her children will not go without. A husband who goes out every day looking for a job to take care of his family, even when the economy is slamming doors in his face. The teenager who says no to peer pressure. There are so many brave people in the world, but we don't always honor them. To me, bravery is beautiful. It is never out of fashion. It is always something to aspire to.

So, for my Freebie Friday, I've created a printable by Alphonse Much. He was an incredible artist and illustrator, who pretty much created the Art Nouveau movement. I hope that you enjoy this printable. I love the quote by William Makepiece Thackeray.

As always, please do not reproduce this printable en masse or for commercial gain. However, you are more than welcome to send anyone to my blog to download their own copy.

Now ... create your own beauty by being brave ... in whatever small way that you need to.

Au Revoir,

Lorraine

Perfectly Imperfect

Well, Mes Amies,

It's time to face the fire and make a big confession:

I AM NOT PERFECT.

There, I've said it. Now, I can rest easy knowing that you know I am not perfect, nor will I ever be.

I just wish the small person inside my head would get the drift.

I had every intention of getting all of my jewelry listed in my Etsy store oh, say, last Friday. However, as much as you want to do some things, sometimes the reality is just not, well, realistic. And that's another theme that runs through my life ... setting unrealistic expectations of myself. I have to admit, I do this in every arena of my life. Unrealistic expectations of where my weight should be, what my fitness level should be, what my home should look like, what I should look like, what I should get done in a day ... the list goes on and on.

So, What does this have to do with beauty? A lot I think. How can we ever see the beauty around us, inside us, and even our own external beauty if we are constantly having unrealistic expectations? It just isn't possible.

Last month, my husband and I went to Las Vegas for a little R&R (rest and relaxation). I was pretty apprehensive about getting out of my swimsuit cover-up and getting into the pool. I felt like the largest person there. Especially when I saw all of these very scantily clad women sauntering around, as though they had all the confidence in the world, because their bodies were "perfect." And when I say perfect, I can honestly say that most of the perfect ones were artificially created!

I shared my hesitation with my husband, and he stated, with his wisdom "don't you think that every person here is probably self-conscious about their bodies? Even the women who look "perfect" are comparing themselves to someone else and finding something lacking." That was an aha moment for me. Why should I allow others to determine if I bake in the Las Vegas sun, or enjoy a swim.

So, I gathered my courage up, took off my cover-up and went into the pool. And there, I saw a bunch of women who were much larger than me, and, to be quite honest, too large to be in bikinis, but they had the guts to do it, so I have to give them kudos for that.

In other words, my fears were real, but not reality.

So, with this in mind. I will be continuing my give-away until this Friday (July 6th, 2012) at 12:00 midnight, U.S. Eastern time. This will allow me plenty of time to continue to upload my jewelry, and plenty of time for you to decide which one you would like as your freebie. And, since I didn't hand out my Freebie Friday printable, I'm sharing one with you today as an apology for my not being perfect.

The printable I've created will also be posted to the Monday Brag submission over at the Graphics Fairy (her link is over to the left in my blog list). I've used one of her free vintage backgrounds as a starting point for my printable. And, in light of this post, I found a wonderful quote by Salma Hayek, who I think is pretty much considered to be one of the most beautiful women in the world. I hope you enjoy her insight as much as I do.

So, here is my Printable. Feel free to click on it to get the full Size (8 1/2 X 11). You are welcome to use it for personal use, but not to make multiple copies for distribution or profit in any way. Of course, you may certainly direct anyone to my blog to download their own copy.

Once again, here are the parameters of the Giveaway:

1) Subscribe to my blog, so you can participate in the fun of discussing beauty, fashion, all things French, and also have the Freebie Friday Printables to decorate your life.
2) Go to my Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LorrainesOoLaLa

3) Heart your favorite item (no sets please, just a single item).
4) Come back and post a comment telling what you like about it and how you create beauty in your life. I'd also welcome any other comments you might have about sharing beauty as well. Also, tell me if you have "social networked" (is that a verb?) the item.
5) For each social networking method you also use, you receive one additional entry. For example, if you tweet, pin, like on facebook, or Stumble,Tumble, LOL, etc., you receive an entry for each social network. You just need to let me know how you have done so, in order for me to give you credit.

I will be using Random Picker to choose the winners:

First place will receive the jewelry piece of their choice.
Second place will receive a $10 gift certificate to my store.
Third place will receive free shipping from my store.

In order to guarantee fairness on my part, I will be using RandomPicker.com to import all of the entries so that we truly have a random drawing. Closing of the drawing will be Friday at midnight, U.S. eastern time. I will then announce the winners on Saturday morning.

Good luck to you all!! And, as a little taste of a piece of my jewelry, here is one of my favorite items:

Bon chance every one!!