like a girl

Encourage one another and build each other up.,
Donna

One more dress and Onion Dip.

One little thing about the beautiful long sleeve dresses.
When I choose dresses, I NEVER think about them for me.

Here is what I would be wearing.

And I assure you, that I would not look this slim.

But the hair.  I could probably rock that! :o)

********

Let's talk about food now, okay?

Will you be watching the Super Bowl and will you be making snacks?

We will be at a volleyball tournament all day so I won't be cooking that day.  I think I will make some of Amy Theilen's French Onion Dip and we will probably have pizza in some form.

But that's it for this year.  Following is the link to the recipe including a video.

It's easy and delicious. 

French Onion Dip

Encourage one another,

Donna

Let's hear it for sleeves!

I saw a news story last week about how women can not find dresses with long sleeves.
I never really thought about it.  Then I looked back at Oscar dresses from the past and sure enough 95% of dresses were sleeveless.

So I went looking for pretty long sleeve dresses.  Some of them I have actually posted on this blog before...funny enough.

I'll tell you up front which one is my favorite.

This gorgeous Elie Saab.

The perfect dress. 

Certainly sexy enough for those sexy gals.

Elie Saab dresses.  

You don't have to be old to wear sleeves.

More Elie

So gorgeous.  Oh Oscar.  You were the best.

Very young.  Very hip actress in Valentino.

Elie.  Could this be prettier?

I posted this a year or so ago.  Love it.

Really lovely Carolina Herrera.

Oh my. Valentino.

It can be done. Long sleeves can be found and they can be utterly gorgeous.

Which is your favorite?

XOXO

Donna

Downton Abbey: Love and Marriage

This post will contain spoilers about the current Downton Abbey season.
You've been warned!  :op

What the wah???

I am not the Queen of the big picture.  You all see it long before I do.  But this episode was clearly about love and marriage in the time of Downton Abbey.  

That picture above...In that scene Katie and I looked at one another and said "AWWW"  at least five times.  It was so sweet.  

You must all tell me.  Why does she not want to marry again?

The Dowager's comments about her husband.  So telling.  

Mary and Lord Gillingham's frank discussion at the Peter Pan fountain.  Oh my gosh!

Cora and Lord Grantham.  Rocky...but solidly of the times.

Cora is not really fretting and thinking about leaving (like women of today would) she is in it for the long haul and doesn't expect her marriage to be 'happy', I don't think.

Shrimpy divorcing, and what a scandal that will bring.

Rose saying she wants to marry for love.

Bates giving Anna a quick kiss.

Edith loves her baby.  

Tom loves the family.  I think they love him too.

Tom and that awful woman.  (I HATE that people other than Tom keep inviting that awful woman to dinner.)  Please let him be done with her.

The downstairs stories were not about love and marriage were they?

Is Barrow a drug addict, sick or taking medicine to stop being gay?

Did Anna or Bates shove Green?

Daisy becomes a revolutionary. (Just go run your farm Daisy.)

Lord Grantham hears Patmore and understands. 

Mr. Carson is stuffier than Lord Grantham...again.

Oh! How marriage is a very different thing in our times.

I liked this episode and I think Isobel should say YES!  Why on earth not?

What do you think?

Donna

CBS this Morning is the best morning show.

CBS This Morning is simply fantastic!
I got so sick of the Kardashian, Bieber, trashy stories on the other morning shows that I started watching CBS.
To my surprise, it was wonderful.

CBS has long been the least 'famous' morning show but they are making it very much like CBS Sunday Morning now which is GREAT news because I have loved that show for as long as I can remember.

The hosts, Charlie Rose, Gale King and Norah O'Donnell are smart, serious enough and funny.
This morning another host was on and he is very talented too!
Here are two clips from this morning.

I know you will enjoy both of them!












Encourage one another,
Donna

Cherries in the snow.

I really had no idea the light would be this bright.

It was cloudy and late in the afternoon.

I thought the snowflakes would be fun.

Katie thought the lipstick would be fun.

I wanted something with a bright color in the picture and thought the blue would go nicely with the red lips and white skin. 

I forgot to take an out of focus picture.  I have Katie in a green jacket and red pants that are both out of focus.  I intended to get one more.  I am going to try to blur one of these in photoshop.

That should be doable.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

It's finals week at school.

Things are going great.

Now, who wants some Oreos and milk?

Encourage one another,

Donna

Milk: Regular

This morning I had to pick up a few things from the store.

I texted Patrick to ask what the items were since I had forgotten the list.

(He loved this)
So he wrote;

crackers
paper towels
milk regular

Got it!

Or did I?

crackers equals Saltines
Paper towels equals Bounty full sheets
Milk regular means whole milk.

Or does it?

While I was standing in line I wondered, "Does he mean whole milk (for his coffee) or
1% (our daily drinking milk).

Both are used regularly.
Whole milk is regular milk before it is thinned out for skim and 1 % and so on.

What do you think?

What did my husband mean when he said 'regular'?


Vote in the comments, if you can.












Donna Elsie

Downton Abbey: Excuses

My title has a double meaning.
My excuse and Baxter's.
Hers is much, much, much more compelling.
Mine is lame.

I watched Downton Abbey after nearly having a stroke due to the Green Bay Packers.

I was out of sorts and missed the first 15 minutes.

Then I just listened and relaxed and didn't think much.

I caught Baxter's excuse for stealing and it was not so shocking.

Dumb but not shocking.

I remember that and the Dowager lecturing Mary.  

But really.  Remind me of why you liked or did not like this episode of Downton Abbey.

I forget.

Seriously.  I was in shock.

*****

Jep shared this in the comments.
Another wonderful quote from our friend.


"No matter where life takes you...the place where you stand at any moment is holy ground. Love hard and love wide and love long, and you will find the goodness in it." 

~Susan Vreeland 

Encourage one another,

Donna

Superman

Just after Christmas my sister Cindy came to visit. We went to the mall.
We saw this policeman walk slowly by.
Holding this little boys hand.

They were both serious and calm and our hearts went out to the little fellow.
And his mother.

Five minutes later I saw the reunion.
I had to hold back the tears.


******


Yesterday Katie and I were on our way home from school.  As we neared a stop sign we saw
a slightly chubby boy of about eight waiting and watching us.  He was wearing a superman coat and he was watching carefully to make sure we were coming to a stop.
When my car bumped stop, he nodded a bit and started running across the street.
After two or three steps he threw his arms back behind him just like he was flying!

We nearly died.
It was the cutest thing.

He made our day!!!


Encourage one another,
Donna

Red.

Katie tried on numerous red lipsticks at Sephora last weekend.  She came home with one color and instantly did not like how it looked at home.  We immediately drove back to the mall so she could see if there had been a mix up.  There was no mix up. But Sephora lets you return items.
(thanks for the gift card big brother patrick :o)


She eventually chose one called tannin by a company called bite.
She put it on this morning to wear to school.
And then she chickened out.

It's a pretty big statement.

I think she looked great!


Are you a fan of red lipstick?

XO
Donna

Felicity

I saw this list on Pinterest.  Thought you would like to look it over.

It is compiled by Dr. Robert Beard

   

eiderdowns

another pretty word

:o)

have a lovely wednesday

donna

Downton Abbey: understated hilarity

You know, people who don't care for costume dramas like us would think we are quite mad for
finding Downton Abbey as funny as we do.

This week was a perfect example of this.

As I watched it a second time I thought the whole radio discussion was very clever.

It's a fad.  Never catch on.
(This was me and the internet, I confess)
Miss Patmore wondering if the King could hear them.
(No, he can't)

Lord Grantham is being especially silly and I don't mind it
while I wonder if you all think it is a flaw.
The whole flirting with his dog part was funny but made him seem
very unaware and rude.  They have made him loving from time to time and when he is an aloof Brit it make me sad.

Violet is a big tease.

Mary and Lord Gilliam (sp).  I liked him less this week than
every before.  Why is that?

Oh yes. And the unspeakables that Anna had to go buy.
I loved that she told Mary she felt so judged she wanted to go back and buy a dozen.

I really do adore Cora's maid.  She is a fine actor and written well.
Cora shoved her robe at her this week and that bothered me.
Now I better learn her name.

Anna was sweet to Barrows.  I wonderful if that will come in handy.

I like Rose and Tom.   Together.  But don't see it happening.
I want Tom to be content at Downton.

That Edith's family does not catch on is ridiculous.  But they rarely
pay any attention to her.

Mary telling Edith that she was an idiot was just plain nasty.
Poorly done Mary.

Carson and Hughes.  Sweet.  Carson does not like to be at odds with her.
Mrs. Hughes is wise and steady.  I like that quality.  I want to be like her.

Abbeyschool.
I'm a fan of that.
:o)


Oh...and the big cliffhanger....
Eyewitness.
Not funny.  Dramatic!


What did you think?
Does Downton make you smile like it does me?

XOXO
Donna

The Globes. Awards that is.

hahaha.  funny title.  

not so many 'globes'.

We were at a volleyball tournament until eight o'clock last night so I did not get to see the red carpet of the Golden Globes.  I watched what I could when I got home and jotted down the pretties...and this morning I googled to see what I had missed.  Here are my favorites from last night.  

While I know many of the faces,  I did not know MOST of the shows.  I mean... are these television shows on in American TV?  I'm disappointed that television has become PAY TV. You need to buy HBO and Showtime and Netflix and Amazon Prime to watch the shows that were up for nominations and winning.  It's really crummy.    

So that's how I feel about that.  It bugs me.

So pretty.

My favorite red dress.  OH! YES.  I don't care for the hair and make up because Allison is so beautiful...but not in this picture.  In fact, the hair is too harsh for this feminine dress.

This is elegant and really works for me.  And you should have seen that necklace sparkle.  

Big winner in my eyes.

I always choose a dress that has this very deep V.  I think this look is just gorgeous on Sienna.

This may be my favorite.

This dress was really spectacular when I saw Juliane walk up to get her award.  Very cool.

I love how Lupita looks. The texture of the bodice is neat!  If I was the designer I would have done a different print on the bottom.  I don't like the gold splatters.  But who am I?  

Newly married.  Newly pregnant.  They look so in love.  Not.

I would guess most people hate this dress. (Keira is expecting.) But you know me.  I love it.

I love every weird part of it.  It's Chanel.

Which dresses did you like?

I have a worst dressed in mind but decided to let it go....

I don't want to be mean.

Look who won a Globe!!!  Anna.  She is so tan and happy.  And isn't it nice to see Edith looking so beautiful!?

Notice Julian Fellows with the photobomb....kind of.  :o)

I watched Downton Abbey this morning but am not really ready to talk about it.  I have Golden Globes on my mind.

TTFN. 

Always happy to hear your opinions,

Donna

She's back.

Dear Shelby,

These are for you.  I know you missed the daily Katie.

Love 

Donna

p.s.  she is back at school....now all I have is groceries and snow and ginny.

Oh yes.  Her birthday picture.

Happy Friday!

Thanks for all the well wishes.  

Encourage one another,

Donna

get well soon

With the fourth child...there can still be firsts.

 Katie is home for the third day from school due to a mild stomach flu.
Every time she eats she gets very queasy.
I think she could power thru it....
and I think she would go if I made her go...
But then what about the other kids.

Ah.  The otherness principle.

And so.

She stays home.

I have requested her homework from the school.
Missing three days is a lot, don't you think?
Her book for English class is on the ipad.
To Kill a Mockingbird.

I still think it is easier and better for your brain to read from a paper book.
I have read reports to this effect.

The experts agree with me.
Bam.



Get well Katie Gracie.

Love and...keep your distance.

Mom

Baby it's cold outside.

This is our thing, we take turns taking Ginny in and out.
We don't have a fence so she needs to be hooked up to a lead.
She meaning Ginny.

As you can tell from Katie's hair, these pics were taken a few years ago.
Ginny has not changed.

Today Katie is home for the second day with a mild case of the stomach flu.
I am on doggie duty on this below zero day.

Ginny does not like to dilly dally when the temps are so low.
It's not so bad.





Encourage one another,
Donna

The Instagram days

I love Instagram.  I like better than twitter and facebook.
It's easy to take selfies with your phone.
It's not easy to take a selfie with your big camera.

So I can get in the picture with my friends and family and that makes me super happy.



I pretty much refuse to take pictures in gyms.
Except with my phone.





And as with the fancy camera....it's all about the light.




This is how we celebrate Fat Tuesday.
Pop. cheese curds and onion rings.  You know you want to come to our party!




Ooooo..I'm driving my life away....





A most wonderful awful picture.











I love this picture.






You may pet me.





dog park



our pretty state capital




yup. taken with my phone.




























Little lost guy.






I'm really thankful for my camera phone...and Instagram.
(With Instagram I can edit and send the pictures to my computer AND send them out immediately to my friends and family.)
It's just the best!


Thank you for stopping by!
It's so much more fun with friends.

Love
Donna Elsie