God Bless the Brave

God bless our military families as we honor and remember the sacrifices so many have made for our freedom, our security, and our hope. Thank you, GC, for the time and sacrifices you made (before I met you) to make sure your family's world was safe and secure. Today is your day, and we remember.

Looking for today's guest post? Click here.

Shake, Rattle & Roll

Do you ever feel creatively stifled when you can’t wear EXACTLY what you want? Usually I love a challenge, like taking something ugly and incorporating it into an interesting outfit but when you have to dress a certain way almost every single day I almost want to give up! Last summer, I worked an office job and I had to dress ‘business casual’. Sometimes I managed to come up with cool outfits, but most of the time it was subtle variations on button-down shirts and black pants. The problem is, it didn’t feel like ‘me’. Now that I have to dress myself entirely in one brand for work, it’s even more difficult to inject bits of my personality into daily outfits. I bought this scarf in hopes that weird tie-dye will jazz up my outfits a bit more, and inspire me back into the blogworld.

Speaking of blogworld, last Friday I attended the Worn Fashion Journal Issue 10 launch party! It was a ridiculously excellent time just jivin’ on the dance floor to all the 60s music, as well as meeting so many familiar faces (Hi Anna, Hannah, Kevin and Stephanie!!) I wish there was a good picture of my outfit but I look like a crazed swamp creature in every single one.

Guest Blog: Food for Thought

Happy Memorial Day!!! I'm on vacation, so Julie from Mommie Cooks is taking over my blog today. You first met her on Friday, and she tantalized your tastebuds. Now she's back to talk about life and food. Enjoy!!

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Food. What does it mean to you? Do you eat to live or live to eat? Being the self proclaimed foodie that I am, I definitely live to eat.  I love trying different tastes and textures.  I enjoy the thrill of mixing new and different ingredients together to create unique and yummy dishes.  I love to challenge myself in the kitchen.  While I do draw the line on a few edible bites, the sky is practically the limit as to what I'll try if it's put in front of me.  Part of the reason I feel the way I do is because of the importance I place on food in my life.  It's so much more to me than just a simple nourishment for my body. 

Do you have any dishes that stir memories of a particular event from your past?  Leg of lamb is one of those foods for me.  A good friend of mine invited us over for dinner the other night and she served it up from a sheep they had organically raised on their family farm.  As I ate it, I was vividly reminded of the holidays at my grandmother's house where, every year, she would make the most amazing leg of lamb I'd ever eaten.  I remember how excited my brother and I would get waiting in anticipation for Christmas Eve night; for the presents of course, but also for the special meal that had become such a cherished tradition in our home.

If you love to travel like I do, then you know that there is nothing more exciting than the adventure of exploring a place you've never been before.  New sights, new smells, and most exciting to me; new foods. Whether you're visiting a different country or just crossing the state line, there is always something new and different to try.  And chances are, when you try a new food from a different region or country, there's a history and a story behind that food that's almost as interesting as the dish itself.  Did you know that in Louisiana, the Créoles learned from slaves how to use okra to  thicken soups and that is how it became an essential ingredient in Créole Gumbo?  How about the fact that prickly pear pads have been used by native American Indians as a food and medicine for hundreds of years?  And yes, I have had prickly pear in jelly form and it's delicious!

Food is such an integral part of our world and it's so much more than  just a means to survive.  It's what ties us all together as a society.  We celebrate  with food and we comfort ourselves with food.  It's a way to make  memories and a way to meet new people.  We use it to connect with old  friends and to learn about new cultures.  I can't imagine a world where food didn't play an integral part in our day to day lives.  Can you?

Thank you Drama Mama for letting me be a guest blogger on your site.  I really enjoyed the opportunity to write for The Scoop on Poop and I look forward to reading more from your upcoming guest bloggers.

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Everything is Illuminated

Someday I'll read that book...








Shout outs to The Selby, Dear Diary, Silence Sweetheart, tulletulle & Knight Cat for the pixxx.

Best Scoop of the Week-A Little Spice is Nice

Happy Friday!! Today puts me one day closer to the blog party!! Woot! woot!! I hope you brought your appetites today. You are gonna need it.

Today's featured blogger spends a lot of time in the kitchen. She is the Rachael Raye of blogland. She has Roasted Lemon Tarragon Chicken to make you drool. She has a salmon dip that is company worthy. She's got a yummy healthy Chicken Stir-fry that will make your tastebuds get up and ask the chef for more. She's got everything from potato soup to Dump. (Dump sounds like something that belongs on a blog called The Scoop on Poop, doesn't it?). Meet Julie from



I'm so excited to have Julie visiting my blog. I love to cook, even have a side cooking blog I haven't updated in awhile (shame shame!), so I'm always game to create something new in the kitchen, and Julie definitely does NOT disappoint.  I just had to ask her "If you could only use one spice for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?"

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When Drama Mama asked me this question, my first thought was, "I really have to pick just one?" How in Hades am I going to do that? Salt seemed like the obvious answer to me, but that kind of felt like a cop out. I mean, is salt even technically a spice?

So I decided to dig a bit deeper into my culinary psyche and think about another spice that always seems to be in my repertoire when I prepare for the daily ritual of stirring, cooking, and tasting. Garlic came to mind (love, love, love the stuff), but when I read up on it, I learned that it's only considered a spice if it's dried; if it's fresh it's a vegetable, and while I do use dried forms of garlic on occasion, I'm much bigger into the fresh variety. Ixnay on the arlicgay.

I was about at the end of my spice rope when it hit me over the head like Bam Bam's club on the Flintstones; Ginger!

Yep, that's right, ginger. I love this stuff. I do use fresh quite a bit, but dry is equally as enticing. You can use it in sweet dishes as well as savory, Asian inspired as well as American. The stuff is versatile, inexpensive and delicious to boot. I've marinated meat with it, created salad dressings using it, eaten it along side sushi (yum!) and made oh so many delicious cakes, breads and cookies with it. I even used ginger when I was pregnant to help with morning sickness. It's also helpful in treating motion sickness and as a cleanser for the body. The stuff has uses for everything.

So if you haven't added ginger to your repertoire of spices yet, be sure to try it out. I promise you won't be disappointed. Thanks so much, Drama Mama, for letting me inhabit your blog for a day. I'm looking forward to guest blogging on Monday and getting to know all you Scoop on Poop ladies and gentlemen a bit better!

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I promise your tastebuds will not be disappointed. Go now and tease your palate with her deliciousness. Come back and tell me what new dish you are dying to fix from her blog. You know you want to.

I participate in Friday Follow. Link up with Tami at Hearts Make Families, Harriet at Harriet and Friends, and Ian at The Daily Dose of Reality  and let the blog hopping begin.

Top 10 Biggest Volcanic Eruptions in History

The recent eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland were a stark reminder of nature’s ability to bring human activity to an abrupt standstill. The cloud of smoke that drifted over Western Europe made aviation travel untenable, returning European skies to a quietude not felt for decades. Yet, while the effects of the eruption were frustrating for would-be travellers, they paled in

Babbling at the Mouth

For some reason, it seems like Thursday rolls around and I have a block. It seems like all the good blogging material was used up in PINT and WW, and Thursday kind of washes up dry. I'm thinking about next week, or the weekend (we are actually going AWAY this weekend, WAHOO!!), and sometimes I use prompts, and sometimes I don't. Today I am foregoing any prompts and meme's (even my own) and just letting it go. I have NO idea what is going to come out in the post today. Sometimes life is fun like that. Enjoy my babbling...

Sometimes I worry that I am losing sight of what I originally started blogging for. It's like I get caught up in all the fun meme's and forget to get down to the nitty gritty of why I started blogging in the first place. (I will touch more on why I started blogging during my blog party), even though the meme's I partake of tend to be about my family. I feel like my readership is down, as some who used to comment all the time are no longer coming around. I'm sure that's the nature of the beast, but when your blog is fairly new, it can make you wonder just a little bit if you lost some of that magic from the beginning. I suppose that's fairly normal too as you get into your writing synch and find your niche.

I wonder, when exactly is a blog not considered new anymore? I haven't even quite reached my 100th blog post yet, though it's edging on the horizon...

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Just to touch some on the upcoming things...my blog party will start on June 7. I've got 2 great prizes lined up, a fabulous guest, and tons of blog features for you to explore. You'll get to meet my very first follower, my inspiration to blog, and my 200th follower. You'll get to meet some fabulous designers. You'll get to read a very special post about a life changing event from my past. You'll get to see some of the blog designs I have been working on (simple stuff). You'll find out lots of things that will make you party your blog off. I'm still working out all the details, and well, some things have to be kept secret. You don't want to miss the party of the year! ;)

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Last week I started a new meme. There's a button over there -----------> you can snatch up for next week when I officially get it going. It's called The Poetry Hour and will happen on Thursdays. I will offer some prompts to get your poetic juices flowing. All you have to do is link up your own poem. I think it will be a lot of fun, whether you are a poet or not. Agree?

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As a final note to my beautifully random post today, I want to know what you want to know about GC. I've talked about him on here some (in humorous "Oh No He Didn't" style), but I don't really put our married life out there. You got to find out about me but you don't know much about GC. Post your questions here, and I will answer them during the blog party. Anything else you want to know? Ask, and I will answer during the blog party. 

Ready, set, go!!! Let your voices be heard!

P.s. I leave you with Bucket Head...

Parochial Morning

Frankly, my fashion mojo hasn't been sizzling lately. Something about "summer" renders me utterly incapable of putting an outfit together that involves anything more than an old t-shirt and jean shorts. Today I was about to walk out the door in that age-old combo until I took the extra time and actually put some thought into my clothes. So if you're feeling rather uninspired these days, have no fear you're in (questionably) good company.

Wordless Wednesday-Bumper Boats

Do you think Scooby liked it?

For more Wordless/Wordful Wednesday posts, be sure to visit Seven Clown Circus, Live and Love Out Loud, and  A Beautiful Mess.

PINT/ONHD-Random Musings

Click the button, get the details, play along, and link up. You know you don't want to miss out on this fun...

And, just to keep up the GC bashing (because it's oh so fun to do!) and since my car was in the shop this week...

*This probably isn't significant other then the fact that he has his own vehicle he uses for work, but he has been double booking himself lately because of the rain so, here we sit (despite promises that it wouldn't happen).

You got an Oh No S/He Didn't Moment you are just bursting at the seams to tell? Head on over to Live and Love Out Loud, and link up your own story.

And the results of all your voting is in!!

Thanks to all your wonderful votes, Jellybean won the school age division. Woot!! She will be loving the books and magazine subscription she will be receiving! As for Scooby, he had the 3rd highest votes overall. One of the other children that had the highest votes above him was in his category so he didn't win, but WOW, 3rd highest points overall?!? How awesome is that?!? If you want to see all the winners, just go here. Stick around for awhile while you are there because Dumb Mom is awesome.

And we have you, my dear readers, to thank for that.

I know you have heard about my upcoming blog party. It's for my 200th follower (which has already happened) and in celebration of my 100th post, and well, just because I like to party. I have an awesome guest poster lined up for you, 2 super fantastic items to give away, plus we are going to party our blogs off.

I know you want all the goods on this, but I am keeping it secret just a little bit longer. Buttons soon to appear in blogs near you.....

I do need your help though. I need you to tell me what you think would make this party awesome, perhaps some questions you want answered, or something you want me to talk about or do? I have my limitations, but they are few and far between, so if you really want to see me in a monkey suit singing The Star Spangled  Banner while eating a bowl of spiked jello....well....maybe SOME things are best left unseen...

So let's hear it. Leave me some love and your ideas.

A Post of Epic Proportions: Club Kids

It all started when I was 16. I was in a friend's basement doing questionable things, and watching a movie called Party Monster. This movie was my first introduction to that crazy period of New York City nightlife during the 1990s and is the 'based on a true story' account of the downfall of Michael Alig, one of the scene's most important 'club kids'.

Last week I picked up the book 'Clubland: The Fabulous Rise and Murderous Fall of Club Culture' by Frank Owen from the public library. Though I didn't really like the book very much, as it mostly focused on the 'murderous fall' bits, it did re-spark my interests in club kids and all their outrageousness. It's really fun to watch these kids in bizarre get-ups parade around on daytime television, shocking the hell out of Middle America with their perceived narcissism. The club kids claimed their lifestyle was all about having fun, and who can blame them? I really appreciate their dedication to confronting cultural norms by looking as weird as possible.


But watching their appearances on Phil Donahue and Joan Rivers wasn't quite enough. In order to satisfy my craving for more club kid shenanigans, I had to go back to where it all began: Party Monster. I took about a zillion screen shots for your viewing pleasure. Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green can really rock the 'outrageous homo' look with plenty of sequins to spare.









I love how they featured a parody of all the talk shows that the real club kids appeared on.


Not to mention the movie featured everybody's favourite, CHLOE SEVIGNY.




I must start dressing like this on a daily basis.