Lilacs & Lace

"Does anyone have a band-aid?"  A fairly common request from mothers of young children.  And what we mean is, "Does anyone have a bandage?", not "Does anyone have a Band-Aid brand bandage?".  Somewhere along the way, Band-Aid became synonymous with bandage. Or how about Coke.  "Do you want to go have a coke?"  Somewhere in time, Coke became the catch all word for soda. In these instances, I don't see any harm in calling an item something it is not.  Whether it is a Band-Aid bandage or some other brand, the point is made and whatever brand that is available is handed over.  But some things should be called exactly what they are. I heard a story from someone telling me about a couple that weren't married but living together and had a kid.  This person said that after a while, people just acted like they were married.  It got me to thinking about how things get labeled something they are not.  After a while, we get so used to the erro...

One Sunday afternoon, while I was sitting in a cafe court, I overhead someone at another table say "We went to a Padres' game last night and were out really late, so I didn't make it to church this morning."  This got me to thinking about how our choices reflect the priorities in our lives. Something can be important to us but still not be at the top of our list of priorities.  For example, I may want to lose weight, but when it comes time to make my food choices, are they conducive to weight loss?  Is my highest priority, when it comes to choosing what I put on my plate, the food that will help me be healthy, or maybe the tempting chocolate cake sitting in front of me? What about when we get some sort of health scare and are told we have to change our diet?  Maybe we do really well for several weeks because we are scared, but after a while the fear fades and we forget that our priority is our health. It can be a good idea to look at our choices and see what th...

Yes, I said it, breakfast and cookies...together...for breakfast. I don't know about you, but sometimes I just want a quick breakfast.  I don't want to spend a long time fixing it, I just want to grab it and eat.  So, a breakfast cookie appealed to me. I found this Oats & Pumpkin Breakfast Cookie recipe and gave it a try.  I replaced the sugar with date sugar, but was having a hard time getting it sweet enough to make me happy.  However, I also didn't want to use a ton of date sugar either, so I added some raisins.  We were happy with the results, but I kept thinking about that recipe.  The thought came to me, use some banana.  Of course, that sweetens things up nicely, and so I did, and I am happy with the changes I made.  I altered the initial recipe in other ways too, so I will include the altered recipe below. First, some notes.  I don't know about you, but when a recipe calls for a partial container of something, I am not alwa...

Recently a sister in Christ sent me a video on how to make this recipe : Cucumber, Ginger, Mint & Lemon Lemonade.  Now I don't know about all the health claims this site makes, but it was a hot day and this recipe sounded good to me, so I got the ingredients and gave it a try. Source I cheat on recipes sometimes.  This one calls for juicing 3 lemons, but I didn't want to take the time.  So, bottled lemon juice to the rescue, about 3/8 of a cup worth (2 T lemon juice per lemon).  Also, I don't have or care to use stevia, so I threw in a handful of raisins (remember my post about raisin water ?).  I also used only 1/2 a cucumber. I enjoyed the flavor of this recipe, and have made a second batch since then.  For me, 1/2 a cucumber was about right.  I don't notice the ginger, but the mint, cucumber, and lemon make their presence known in a nice way. Do you have a favorite beverage recipe for those hot summer days?

Being the mother of a daughter, I have been given bragging rights, just like all other parents that have come before me (as well as those that have come after).  😁 When my daughter was little she informed me she wanted to do a book.  I asked her what part of the book did she want to do and she said "the whole thing".  She didn't really stand a chance, her parents are both book lovers.  She was being read to right off the bat.  Until she was old enough to care, I got to read her my books, but then somewhere along the way that wasn't good enough. Today she still loves books -- reading and writing.  She has had her own blog  as one of her creative outlets.  You should check it out. In fact, today is a really good day to check her blog out because she is not only interviewing an author, but has two, yes TWO, giveaways.  That is two chances to win something!! So head on over to her blog and show her some love.  I plan to be back on...

Since I have gotten into decorating my planner, learning to write with fancy lettering has interested me.  I played with a felt tip calligraphy pen some, but for me it wasn't coming real easy, so I set it aside. Yesterday I ran into a free online calligraphy class by The Happy Ever Crafter .  You need to hurry up if you are interested though, because the deadline for signing up is tomorrow, September 3, 2017. Source I signed up and have received a supply list with recommendations.  You only really need a couple of things, a pen for calligraphy and smooth paper.  She also recommends an Instagram account so she can see your work and give you feedback. She recommends 20 minutes of practice a day, and the class runs 4 weeks.  She has videos and drills she will provide. If you want to join me and chat about it as we go along, let me know.