Merry Christmas Eve!!!!

 

Our first Christmas in the great state of Tennessee.  It’s been a wild ride so far, I’ve barely come up for air.  The house is starting to look like an actual house instead of a warehouse, thank goodness.  The downstairs is 90% done, next week we tackle upstairs.

It may seem like a strange thing to feature Dish Washing Detergent in a Christmas post, but there’s a message here.

I discovered Method Clementine Soap at the greatest Kroger’s I’ve ever been to, less than a mile away, but that’s for another post.  Let’s just say I’ve never been a fan of Kroger, but this store just knocks it outta the ballpark.  But back to my story...

So I buy this dishwashing detergent on a whim because it has a pump, come home, take it for a spin and oh my, I’m in love.  The clementine smell is so fresh, it’s just amazing.  Apparently they make this in many different scents, so Jan the lemon lover will be trying that one, soon.  I then go back to Kroger several times, thinking I will pick one up for Deanna (daughter-in-law)  and this product is totally sold out, so apparently I’m not the only fan.  A couple of days ago it was restocked, I picked up a couple of more bottles and gave her one.

I talked to her yesterday, the subject came up and she, too fell in love with it.  But here’s the Christmas part of this story, she said to me, “It’s the little things that make a difference.”  She gets it, she totally gets it, it is just the simple little things, a note, a phone call, a simple little joy gift that can bring pleasure to someone’s day.  So this Christmas season, give the gift of yourself.  Pick up that phone, send that email, take a minute to make someone’s day special.

Merry Christmas to you all, I’ll be in touch soon.  People have been asking for pictures, It won’t be long.

Huge hugs from our 73 degree weather here in Florida, um, no, it’s Tennessee, Jan, Tennessee.

XXO XXO 

Moving for Seniors 101

 

We’re IN, we moved last Saturday, however, we are STILL awash in a sea of boxes. It takes a long time to unpack 5,932 boxes!   I do have one piece of advice, if anybody that’s over sixty is reading this and even contemplating a move, do it... NOW!   If we were older, I don’t know how we would have done this.

Here are a few insights for any of you that are thinking of relocating...

1.  This is holy grail, HOLY GRAIL, PEOPLE.  I know better, hubs and I have moved countless times in our forty-six years of marriage, PACK YOUR SHEETS AND KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!  So, did I follow my own advice???? Oh hell no, we’ve been sleeping between two blankets since Saturday night.  I counted  twenty-nine boxes in our bedroom this morning that haven’t been unpacked.  Now why, tell me, would anybody have TWENTY NINE moving boxes in just their bedroom???  I’m clueless, but somewhere in those boxes are multiple pairs of sheets, SOMEWHERE!  On a happier  note, we both do have our own pillows.  Whoeee, life is good!!!

2.  Pace yourself, you will be exhausted, both physically and mentally.  Moving is a daunting task at any age, but when you’re in your 60’s, it can be overwhelming at times.  A couple of nights ago, poor LC was asleep in his recliner, I didn’t have the heart to wake him since he was curled up in the fetal position, sucking his thumb ;) and instead I went to the bedroom with the intent of going to bed.  Well, the bed was totally full of stuff, so what did I do.  I just sat and cried for a bit, had a little pity party, blew my nose and cleared the bed.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely thrilled with the move, love the house, but I never could tap dance and chew bubble gum at the same time, so I’m just a little overwhelmed with the chaos.

3.  Know where the tools are that you will need when you start unboxing and getting your house in order.  Apparently ours are buried somewhere in the 3,572 boxes that are stacked to the ceiling in the garage.  And no, this isn’t stuff that goes in the house, the house boxes are in each individual room, it’s just who knows what, important things, I’m sure, that LC has in his garage.

4.  Laugh, OFTEN!  It helps to have a sense of humor about all of this.   Hubby and I should be ashamed of ourselves, but last summer this older couple, I’m talking late 70’s moved into our condo neighborhood.  These people had their house and garage completely full of boxes and for weeks and weeks and WEEKS, day after day after DAY, these poor old people sat in lawn chairs in their driveway going through boxes.  We would go by on our golf cart and wonder if they were ever going to get unpacked.  SHAME ON US, because NOW, WE ARE THOSE PEOPLE.  Poor old things, they looked like they had just had it, and in retrospect, we should have stopped and offered our help.  Trust me, next time we see older people struggling, we WILL do something, a casserole, a hug, a smile, anything would have helped them, but we were oblivious.

5.  So here were are, DAY 5, and still aren’t finished putting the kitchen together.  We’re working on it, steadily, and I don’t feel as exhausted as I did earlier in the week, I just have too much stuff!  I have five sets of dishes, FIVE, and this is after I got rid of some of them.  Oh, and I have Christmas dishes, too.  Arughhhhh… But luckily, this is the largest kitchen I’ve ever had, lots of cabinet space, lots of counter space, I’m really going to love it.  I’ve actually cooked a few times, I made a pot of chili, baked a ham yesterday, and even though things aren’t completely put away, I’m able to function.  And somewhere in the garage, I have a new French Door Refrigerator, the very one that I’ve drooled over every time I went to Lowes.  

We visited our friends Diane and Jerry a few years ago, she had an LG French Door Fridge and I fell in love with it because it had the extra drawer, it was just da bomb!  Somehow I just couldn’t justify buying a new fridge, because mine was perfectly good, but when we sold the condo, we left it.  I promptly went out and bought the Samsung that I had wanted forever, and someday, hopefully soon, it will be in the kitchen.  Our house came with a fridge, but it was a side-by-side, so it’s in the kitchen until we unbury this one in the garage.  The sales manager is buying it, and I’m finally getting the one I want.  Moral of this story, all good things come to those who wait.

And speaking of good things,  hubby just walked in the door with this box of donuts from The Donut Palace.  OMG, OMG, HOW I LOVE THIS MAN!!!!!!   They are still warm, and they are just DECADENTLY DELICIOUS!

Old(er) people love donuts, and when we left Heavensville, I thought nothing could ever replace our beloved Donut Bank.  Well, I’m wrong!  People kept telling us about this Asian couple that own a donut shop called The Donut Palace.  It’s in a strip mall, a mile away, so when LC went to Home Depot this morning he came back with this box of donuts, still warm.  Yes, people, they are as good as they look, they actually blow Donut Bank out of the water.  *gasp*.  Just another reason to love Tennessee :)  V, I know you are checking these out, we will hit this place up when you visit!

And that’s my life so far.  The kitchen picture was taken a few days ago, it looks much better now.  More pictures coming when I get it together.

Just checkin’ in, people have been emailing, wanting to know if I’m still alive.  I am, alive and well in the hills of Tennessee with this big grin on my face.  The sun is shining, Christmas music is playing and I’m on a mission!  

Back to it, that pantry is calling my name this morning.  ~ Jan

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

 

Today, I’m thankful for family and friends, and i’m especially thankful that in six more days hubby and I won’t be homeless….

We close early on our house next Wednesday and then the work begins.  We have 937 boxes to unpack.  Okay, so I’m stretching that a bit, it’s actually 652!

Anybody wanna help???

So we loaded up the truck and we moved to Tennessee..

 

Country Music Stars, Steel Guitars...

Hubby turned 71 this past August, and it was a wakeup call for us.  We’re getting older, and we've had several conversations this summer about why we are in living here when our family is in Lexington and Nashville, Versailles and Franklin to be exact.  We love the Lexington area, it’s a beautiful place and we always enjoy our visits there so much, but this old country girl’s heart has always been drawn to the hills of Tennessee.  Mild winters, southern hospitality and beautiful scenery, everything I love. Well, the diners with sweet tea, beans and cornbread are an added bonus, too.

So, after a trip to Florida in early September, we came back thru Nashville, hooked up with a great realtor, looked at houses and on Labor Day, we bought a home in Spring Hill, just a stone’s throw from Franklin, twenty minutes or so down the road from John, Deanna and Lexi.  Then we came home and put a for sale sign in the yard at our condo, and sold it on the same week on Thursday.  It’s been an absolute whirlwind, but we feel that we made the right choice for our golden years and we are so excited about moving to Nashville!  Every time we tell people where we’re relocating to, without fail, they break out in a huge grin and start telling us how much they love Nashville, too.  People are moving to the area at the rate of eighty-five per day, we love that Spring Hill is more rural, and we have easy access to shopping without having to fight traffic.

We’ve decided to abandon the condo life and the pricey HOA fees, and instead we bought a model home in Spring Hill that will work well for us.  Everything we need, including the master bedroom is on the first floor, but the upstairs has a loft that we can use as a sitting area with media center, a bedroom with en suite, two more bedrooms and another bath.  We’ll use one bedroom as a playroom for the grandkids, another bedroom with twin beds for them and the bedroom and en suite for family and guests.  It will be so much fun when Ryan and Lindsay visit, we were always so cramped in the condo, we often stayed at our neighbor Marti’s, so now we’ll have plenty of room for everybody to spread out.

 Foodie Jan is excited about having a big kitchen again, our family always gathers in the kitchen and now we will have plenty of room without being cramped. And since it was a model home, it has great landscaping, too, well, maybe a few changes will happen cause that’s just the way I roll. :)

We won’t be able to move into our house until December, so everything is in storage and Ryan and Lindsay invited us to stay with them, so we’re relocating to their house for a short time.  We’re looking forward to spending extended time with Abby and Ben, giving Lindsay a break so she can get her holiday shopping done, and before you know it, we’ll be Nashville bound.

We didn’t expect this late(r) in life relocation, I always just assumed that my next home would be Shady Acres, but we’ve been here fourteen years and you think differently in your 50’s than you do in your 60’s and 70’s.  I’m excited to get to decorate another house, we’re both excited about exploring the hills and hollers and the country life and we’re glad we didn’t wait any longer to do this, moving is always stressful and this has been quite a challenge., 

 

 

Totino's Party Pizza, what happened???

This is the Pizza of my boy’s childhood, they loved and still do.  It was always $.99, and it was a classic.  Mother was a fan as well, she would bake one and scarf down the entire thing.  Well, the guys still love it, Ryan has Ben eating it now, Lexi isn’t a fan yet, John is hopeful, but what happened to it???

Gone is the familiar red box, the 10.9 ounces of pure processed delight.  It’s been replaced with a cellophane bag and it’s now a rectangle.

WHAT, WHAT???  A RECTANGLE!!!!!!  Pizza is supposed to be ROUND!!!!!

This just isn’t right, you don’t mess with holy grail.  It’s still $.99, the price hasn’t changed, but c’mon Totino’s, it’s just not the same anymore...

 

Wendy's Chili Dupe

I love Wendy’s Chili, and yes, I know they use their leftover hamburger to make it, that doesn’t really bother me, and it tastes closer to homemade than other chili I’ve tried in restaurants.  It’s surprisingly low in calories and I’ve always loved it over a baked potato.

I make really good chili, but I wanted to try a Wendy’s Dupe, and I found my way to MamaLovesFood.  Her adaptation looks good and the comments were positive, so I’m going to try it.  I'll cut it in half though, this makes a boatload and hubby and I can’t eat that much chili and I don’t want to freeze it.

So hop on over to her site and check out her recipe, looks like a winner to me...

MamaLovesFood.com

Picture from MamaLovesFood website

Five Favorite Fall Things...

I was watching Mellistin YouTube videos about fall this afternoon, and I thought about all of the things I love about it.  So here are my 5 favorite things.

1.  My birthday, it’s in November, but as soon as crisp weather arrives, I know that it’s coming soon.  Why at this age I still get excited about my birthday, I’ll never know, but it’s the one day that I get my favorite meal, and it usually isn’t something my family likes, but it’s something I always look forward to.

2.  This is something I never get to experience anymore, but I love, love, LOVE the smell of burning leaves.  But because of burn ordinances, burning leaves just don’t happen.

3.  Boots and wraps, love both of these, it’s so nice to cover up this old body after the summer months, and there is nothing better than a great pair of boots, I’ve always been a boot girl, mostly Uggs these days, but they work for me.

4.  Chili, Vegetable Soup, Apple Pie and Beef Stew, not necessarily in that order.

5.  Wiener roasts, s’mores and hayrides.  We went on a hayride last weekend, and had s’mores, so all that’s left is the wiener roast and I’ll be a happy girl.

These are my favorites, I bet you are thinking about yours now, too

Fall Foliage Train Ride Through Kentucky

My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, oh this is perfection, a 37 mile train ride through Kentucky complete with fine dining.

I would book in a heartbeat, but not this year, too much going on in my world to make it happen.  But next year?  Sign me up, this on the top of my bucket list.

You want to check it out, too - here’s the link, enjoy...

Apple Upside Down Pie...

 

 

I just couldn’t resist posting this.  It’s apple time ladies, and it doesn’t get better than this...

Ingredients

 

1

cup chopped pecans

1/2

cup packed brown sugar

1/3

cup butter, melted

1

box Pillsbury™ refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

4

medium Granny Smith apples (about 1 3/4 lb), peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks

2

large Jonagold apples (about 1 1/4 lb), peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks

1/4

cup granulated sugar 

2

tablespoons all-purpose flour

1

teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2

teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

• Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, mix pecans, brown sugar and butter. Spread in bottom of 9-inch glass pie plate. Place 1 pie crust over pecan mixture, allowing excess crust to hang over sides. In large bowl, toss apples, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon apple mixture onto crust, packing tightly and mounding in center. Unroll second pie crust over filling; press edges together, fold under and crimp. Cut slits in several places
• Place pie on cookie sheet on lower oven rack. Bake 50 minutes. If necessary, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning; bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until juices are bubbly and crust is golden brown. Cool on cooling rack 10 minutes. Invert pie plate onto heatproof serving plate. Remove pie plate; replace any pecans in pie plate onto top of pie. Cool completely.

Doesn't this get you in the mood for fall...

My buddy, V sent me this picture last night.  It was too good not to share.

Isn’t this everything that’s just perfect for fall?  I’m always ready for the season changes, apples and pears, jeans and sweaters and boots and crisp fall air.

It’s coming soon, I’m ready, aren’t you???

Melissa55 and her Aging Woman Series

 

I am totally in awe of Melissa55 on YouTube.  This woman is sixty-one years old, has never had botox, lifts, fillers, nothing!  I’ve talked about her before but if you haven’t watched her, I think you will enjoy her.  

She is just amazing, how does she look like this at her age???

As for Vitamin C Serum, I use it, but I buy directly from Timeless Cosmetics, very, reasonable, but I don’t have issues with gluten so I don’t have to spend as much money as she does.

Just thought you might all enjoy watching her this morning, all of her videos are so good, but then I’m a huge fan of charming southern women, and Melissa is the cream of the crop.

Abby's Annual Summer Visit

Abby’s summer visit was last week.  She’s almost seven now, and it’s all about silly faces, giggling and nicknames.

P-Pa is now “Peeps"

Grammie is now “Grams"

Maggie is now “Mags"

And finally, Boo-Boo Kitty is now “Boobs"

We had a great visit, she built a horse at Build-a-Bear, we went to see The Secret Life of Pets, which was a huge hit, we went to restaurants, she played in my office and was on the computer Googling everything she could find out about horses.  She now drives the golf cart by herself, with Peeps behind her, those little legs are so long she can work the gas and of course that was an absolute thrill for her to be able to do it.

She’s also brutally honest, here is a snippet of one of our conversations:

Abby: Grammie, you look really pretty today
Me: (warm fuzzy feeling) Thanks, Abby
Abby: Ya know all those wrinkles around your eyes?
Me: (warm fuzzy feeling quickly evaporating) Oh-oh, here it comes...
Abby: When you smile your wrinkles are really, really deep and they kinda turn up and it looks like you have extensions on your eyelashes
Me: Uhhh....
Abby: You really should look in a mirror Grammie, you have lines all over your face, not just around your eyes

I just cracked up when she said this,  there is no filter at this age and it’s so refreshing.

Visits are too short, families live too far apart, but we appreciate every single moment we have with our grandkids.  They are all amazing little souls and the joy of our lives...

Frozen Candy Bars...

A little nostalgia this morning for a favorite summertime treat.  I always ate frozen Snicker Bars as a kid, probably because there was no air conditioning and the chocolate would melt.  I remember them being so hard, you practically broke off your teeth when you bit into them.  I also loved frozen Baby Ruth’s and my all time fave, Zero Candy Bars.

Update to 2016 and my old(er) age, when I avoid sugar 80-90% of the time.  Frozen candy bars have been on my mind lately, so I went to CVS yesterday,  bought Mini Sugar Free York Peppermint Patties, came home, stuck them in the freezer, and oh, my...

These are just as good as if not better than the frozen candy bars of my childhood.  Something about the frozen mint, it just does it.

So, bring out the kid in you, pick up your favorite candy bar of choice, freeze it and dig in.  It’s a cheap thrill.   ~ Jan

So this is the family...

I have such a nice family and we had a long overdue family picture taken Mother’s Day.  Our favorite photographer, Adam Brennan, took great photos of the kids and grandkids.   I’m a firm believer that nobody over fifty should have their picture taken, we are always our worst critics, but Little Miss Merry Sunshine should reboot and just be glad that hubby and I are still kicking!

And now it’s July 4th weekend, the days fly by, my sweet little grandkids are growing so fast, family is coming home today and life is good.  Have you had a family picture taken lately?  Carpe Diem, one of my favorite sayings.

And by the way, another favorite Judy Dench got her first tattoo at age 81.  Yep, she put “Carpe Diem” on her wrist.

I personally would have chosen a better font and maybe a better tattoo artist, this looks pretty blurry to me.  But kudos to this lady for doing it her way.  I’m not a fan of tattoo’s, except for that Tweety Bird I always wanted on my butt in my younger years, thank goodness I didn’t do that!  At this age poor Tweety would probably be hard to even recognize.

Enjoy your holiday ladies, wherever it takes you, and Carpe Diem, seize the day! ~ Jan

Jaclyn Smith at 70

 

The woman looks amazing.  Still fresh and natural, she just doesn’t seem to age, and she doesn’t look like she’s gained a pound since high school.  Wow...

Atkins 40, this sounds pretty good...

I’ve been a low carber for a few years now.  I’ve floated in and out of it this past year, but find that when I live in the moment, eat pasta, pizza, sugar, of course it’s wonderful, but then I have to take Nexium because I get heartburn at night, I feel sluggish, I gain weight, my face gets totally blown up, so then I revert to low carb again.  Do I lose weight on low carb, not really.  I lose maybe ten pounds and then I stall out, it’s age, metabolism, inactivity, it all works against me, but the payoff is I feel better when I eat this way.

And then last year Atkins rolled out their 40 carb program, I haven’t tried it, I’ve always stayed between 20-25 carbs, but this looks very doable, so maybe I’ll see how my body responds.  It makes more sense, more vegetables, a bit more fruit, all things good.

This morning I was reading in People Magazine about how that self absorbed Kim Kardashian has lost 60 lbs. eating Atkin’s 40, and while I can’t handle the woman, I did think her food journal was interesting, I’ll link to it, some of you might enjoy the menus.

A little food for thought about a new approach to Atkins, not as restrictive, it might appeal to you...

Here’s the link to her menu’s, lots of other 40 carbs menus online as well, just Google it...

Bon Appetit!  ~ Jan

Tent Dresses of the 60's

I was browsing fashions of the 60’s and found this very same McCall’s pattern that mother used to make me a tent dress with a front pleat.  She made it for my senior after prom and used rust and white hopsacking polka dot fabric.

Talk about a walk down memory lane.  Wow...

June Garden

We’ve had so much rain in May that everything has filled in nicely.  The hostas in the background are huge this year and hubby installed underground irrigation for me, so hopefully it will keep things looking good when the dog days of summer arrive.  I have so much shade on the patio these days that I can’t grow herbs, so I just tucked them in among the flowers, along with a cherry tomato plant in the concrete pot.

I bought a new rocker from Grandin Road for the area by the front door.  I love to sit in the morning and watch the horses in the field in front of us, and I’ve had a iron bistro table and chairs sitting there for the past few years.  There is nothing more uncomfortable than those darn hard chairs.  This is comfy and It reminds me of a bentwood rocker I had in the 70’s.  

Just a peek at what things are looking like this month in Heavensville.  The back patio is thriving, too.  I’ll post patio pictures soon.

I remember as a child, mother would take me to her friends houses in the summer to look at their flowers.  Fast forward to 2016 and we just post pictures on the Internet.  

It’s a gorgeous day here, low humidity, temps in the high 70’s, oh if all summer could only be like this.  It’s always fun to see other peoples gardens, just thought you might enjoy this… ~ Jan

Tom Ford Spanish Pink Lipstick Dupe

 I’m a huge fan of nude lips with just a little bit of color, and I’m a peach, not a pink girl.  I love strong colors on everybody else, but on me they just look harsh, and everytime I apply a strong color, I immediately wipe it off and apply a nude tone, those deep shades just don’t work with my complexion.

The Mature Ladies of YouTube are loving Tom Ford’s Spanish Pink lipstick this season, but ouch, it’s pricey, $52 at Nordies…  It’s such a great color, a peachy, slightly pink natural lipstick, everything I love except for the price.  So I was on the hunt for a drugstore dupe and I found it!  Rimmels Notting Hill Nude!  And it’s under $10.  Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!!!!!!

It doesn’t have the fancy packaging, or the embossing that Spanish Pink has, but it’s a great dupe and the color is dead on.  I ordered it online, and I love it.

 

I also bought Revlon’s Apricot Fantasy #120, which is a pearlized lipstck, it’s similar as well, but a bit lighter and it’s so pretty, the apricot is softer than most peach lipsticks, it’s a winner for me as well.

 

And, I was watching LisaLisaD1 review lipliners on YouTube, she is really liking Revlon’s ColorStay Nude Liner - and since I’m a big fan of the ColorStay line so I bought it as well.  Another winner!  It’s dark enough that you get a nice outline, but it doesn’t say, “oh, you lined your lips."

So that’s it from Heavensville this Memorial Day weekend, just sharin’ the good stuff.

~ Jan

 

 

Good Seasons Italian Dressing, Revisiting an Old Friend...

I grew up on Good Seasons Italian Dressing.  It was mother’s favorite, so we had it weekly.  Finely chopped lettuce, diced celery, onion and tomatoes, all tossed with Good Seasons Original Italian Dressing.

Fast forward to now, we have a favorite Italian restaurant, Angelo’s, we go there often and they immediately bring you their house salad, black olives, lettuce, onions and tomatoes, tossed with Italian dressing.  Oh, and a basket of warm garlic knot rolls, can’t forget those!  Anyway, I love their salad, and my buddy V and I decided that it tasted like Good Seasons.  

A few weeks ago when we were there, I asked them if I could buy a bottle of the dressing, and they poured a wine bottle full of it and gave it to me, which was very nice. Then the server proceeds to tell me that it’s just Good Seasons Italian Dressing!

I knew it, V and I were right!  No wonder it tasted so good!  And now that it’s salad season, some of you might like to revisit this great dressing as well.  Sure you could add some fresh herbs to it, chives, parsley, oregano, but I think it’s perfect just the way it is.  They have several varieties now, but I like the original Italian.

Fresh made salad dressing is always better than bottled I think, so pick up a cruet kit when you’re at the grocery, give it a try, I think you will enjoy it, too.  

It’s a good thing ~ Jan