I’ve really been trying to make a big effort to steer clear of  chemical filled diet sodas and make better choices about the drinks I put in my body.  In doing so, I’ve discovered something that I love!

La Croix sparkling water is delicious!  I have to admit… I’ve only tried Berry and Grapefruit and I love Grapefruit so much, I can’t take a break from it to try something else!   These little cans are full of calorie, sugar and sodium free bubbly fun!

I just checked out their website and found some interesting recipes that I can’t wait to try this summer when I need something cold and refreshing!

My other go-to is Glaceau Vitamin Water Zero.  I haven’t found a flavor that I don’t love.  They’re all so good and you can find them most anywhere !

Thank you, St. Croix and Glaceau for creating delicious healthy alternatives for our drinking pleasure!  Chemicals, be gone!

If you’ve tried other flavors of St. Croix that you love, please let me know… I need to break out of my grapefruit rut!

Ever wonder which Girl Scout Cookies score the most sales?

via wired.com

My favs are Tagalongs… which has me wondering how wonderful homemade Tagalongs would be!

This recipe for Homemade Tagalong Cookies looks delish!

What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie?

I don’t own a bread-maker and I’ve never even considered making homemade bread because I’m petrified of trying anything with yeast.  I usually buy Spelt bread from Whole Foods, so this recipe from Anja’s Food 4 Thought caught my eye.  I immediately looked for the yeast in the ingredients and there was none!  That means I would actually try this recipe!  It’s quick and easy…just like the name of the bread!

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Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Line loaf tin with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine spelt flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Stir in mixed seeds (keeping 1 tablespoon aside). Form a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Add buttermilk and gently stir until well combined. Transfer batter to prepared loaf tin. Level the top and sprinkle with remaining seeds. Bake for 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan, then cool completely on wire rack.

image and recipe via Anja’s Food 4 Thought

I have some exciting news to share!  I will be participating in the latest temporary venue at Dallas Market Center this weekend with three of my most creative friends…Dana Pugh (Tattered Style), Gloria Burson (A Modern Glo) and Lisa Johnson (Cut and Paste).  This creative temp show is called Vintage Home FINDS and you don’t want to miss what we have in store for you!

We will be showing under the name of my vintage line’s name, Stash {vintage finds} and you’ll find us in the North Hall, along with other vintage dealers and Trailer Cakes in their vintage airstream!  We hope to provide interesting industrial pieces perfect for you to use as display in your store, as well as art to resale.  We’ll be available to help you come up with one-of-a-kind display and styling to give your space a facelift for the new year!   If a personal consultation is what you need, just ask, and we can arrange a visit to your retail space.

To make FINDS even more fun, all buyers are invited to participate in the “On The Road To FINDS Giveaway”!  Participants can pick up FINDS “Road Maps” at information booths, Red Rooms and registrations areas to start on their journey though the Temp Show. To qualify, buyers must visit three different FINDS locations (one must be FINDS in Market Hall) and drop their completed forms at a FINDS information booth for a chance to win great prizes. Highlights of prizes include: a Stella Scooter; Kindle Fire Full Color 7” Multi-touch Display with Wi-Fi; Bose QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones; Garmin 4.3” Portable GPS Navigator with lifetime map & traffic updates; Flip Video Camera; Sofia Cashmere Travel Set; Gift Certificate towards a luxury luggage set; Agloves, mobile device friendly gloves; and a “Build Your Own Road trip” including rental car, gas, restaurant gift certificates, and hotel expenses.

We can’t wait to share our finds with you!  Please share this exciting information with your friends that have a retail store and may be coming to market this weekend!  (Talk them into bringing you with them!)

We have your shopping bags ready to be packed with ‘Stash’!

Some of our favorite friends will be part of FINDS too!  Bud Royer is bringing his pies, candles and latest hit, Royers recipe card box!  Would this collection of over 100 of the cafe’s recipes make a nice addition to your inventory?

Our friends from Dwell With Dignity will camp out right next door to us!  They’ll have a space full of donated goods that will be professionally styled much like we saw at last year’s Thrift Studio!

Will we see you there?

I must have these!

Fred and Friends LetterPressed Type-Style Cookie Cutters/Stamps, $18

You’ve got stuff you wanna get rid of and so do our friends at The Gypsy Wagon.  Why not bring your retired goodies to The Gypsy Wagon’s first ever Outdoor Swap and Flea!?

Sunday, January 29th is the day for peddlin’! Come hang out with their Airstream, Gertie A-Go-Go, her food truck friends, and customers-turned-flea market vendors, as they take to streets for an old-fashioned flea sale and swap meet. Between 11am-5pm, folks can peruse the booths of 20 hand-selected vendors who are looking to get rid of treasures, junk and whatever else they want to swap/sell. It’s a 6-hour long, take-it-or-leave it, bargain-hunter’s paradise!

The Gypsy Wagon’s booth will be set up inside and out of Gertie A-Go-Go. Prepare for crazy massive deals on winter clothing, retired store displays, clearance items, a mess of sussies, and whatever other randomness they can find!

Be on the lookout for the exceptional Ruthie’s Rolling Café and Trailercakes food trucks who’ve been invited to come out and sling the best honest-to-goodness, melt in your mouth grilled cheese sandwiches and cupcakes to the crowd, from 11:30-1:30pm. Show up hankerin’ for Ruthie’s artisan breads and spreads, and Trailercakes’ frosted cake bites!

Interested in becoming a vendor in the Swap-N-Flea? Download an application from the Gypsy Happenings page here. $30 gets you a spot at the Swap-n-Flea (and you get a cute tee)!

One of my new favorite blogs is Yummy Mummy!  She recently posted a detox salad that I can’t wait to try and couldn’t wait to share it with you!  Cleanse away, my friends!

It’s time to drink champagne…

dance on the table…

sing Auld Lang Syne…

wear something sparkly and accessorize with big bows or stars in your hair…

toot your horn…

and kiss the one you love at midnight!

Oh, and don’t forget to eat something sweet, because we’ll all resolve to be skinnier next year!

I can’t wait to do 2012 with you!!

Images via (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9)

I’m so excited to share this recipe with you!  This is my friend and neighbor Amy’s (of the blog, House of Wentworth) mother’s recipe.  Her mom makes this every Christmas for her family’s friends and these rum cakes have become well known, and highly anticipated, in Odessa.  I’m so glad that Amy is starting that tradition here in Dallas and I’m especially happy that Amy lives three doors down and I get mine warm…fresh out of the oven!

I couldn’t believe it when I found out that this recipe is made with a box cake mix!  It’s so moist and tastes like it took all day to put together…

Amy’s Mom’s Famous Rum Cake

2 loaf pans

1 box of Duncan Heinz butter cake mix

Pam for baking to spray pans (oil & flour)

1 package of Jello instant vanilla pudding mix (smallest size box)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil (Crisco pure vegetable oil)

1/2 cup light rum (not dark)

4 eggs

pecans (optional)

Glaze:

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

1/2 cup of rum

Mix all ingredients with mixer and add eggs one at a time.  Beat for 4 minutes after eggs are added.  Spray loaf pans with Pam and flour.  Optional:  Chop pecans and spread a thin layer at the bottom of the pans.  Pour in batter.  Bake at 325 for 1 hour.  When done let stand 3 minutes while you heat glaze on the stove.  Poke deep holes all over the cake.  Pour glaze over the cake and let stand 20 minutes to soak.

Prep time:  1.5 hours

Makes 2 cakes.

You will not believe how moist this cake is!  I swear you could literally squeeze rum out of it….mmmmmm….it’s delicious!  Your friends will love it!  I think I’ll start my own rum cake tradition!

Do you have a recipe that you make every Christmas for your friends?

What’s the next best thing to sitting down at Royer’s Round Top Cafe and eating a delicious piece of Bud’s pie?  Having 100+ of the Cafe’s recipes on laminated cards in a handy little box right in your own kitchen, so you can whip that pie up yourself!

Just in time for that last minute Christmas gift, these recipe boxes will be ready to ship on Monday, the 19th.

Order now and receive the pre-sale price ($23.50) through Dec. 31st. You even have the option of receiving your recipe card box gift-wrapped for an additional $3.50!  Let the southern Christmas cookin’ begin!