Going to see The Martha Stewart Show

Tomorrow, I'm off to see The Martha Stewart Show.  I got tickets online to be in the audience.

I always call my sister Martha she started reading about Martha when no one even heard of her(well, I never knew who she was).   Her meals look like something out of Martha's magazine.

Not just holiday dinners this is the every night dinner and it started before Martha was a household name.

Every meal is complete with linen tablecloth and napkins and long stem glasses.  Fresh flowers and all.

I won't even tell you about the food or desserts.

 So how can I not try and get tickets the her show for her as a surprise.

When I first recd the response I was so excited.

It was fun reading the email......directions to get there, where to park.  What time to be there. Not later than 12:30 (if after 12:45 no entry) don't forget a picture ID.   

Then the DRESS CODE leave it to Martha to have a dress code to get into her audience.

Of course mini Martha has a great wardrobe that would meet Martha's standards. (she is a manager at a country club) and all the shoes and accessories to match.  

But, my clothes are the stay at home grandma style.  Yes , flat shoes and all.

I'm totally about comfort!

Sleepover with the Sisterhood

I just returned from a sleepover with my Sisterhood.  

The Sisterhood of Shopping was started about 15 years ago by my sisters friends aunt.

Aunt Barb as she is know to all of us started going to Vermont about 15 years ago with a few of her family pals.  They rented a condo at a ski resort in October and stayed for the weekend. It was a great time of bonding and eating and SHOPPING. 

The condo hasn't changed in all these years same deer head same 70's decor. But, the group has changed what started out as 2 or 3 pals has now turned in to a wonderful group of 12

The Sisterhood usually gets together every October and goes to Vermont.

They stay at the same condo its great there are 3 bedrooms a big loft and living room with fireplace dining area and kitchen. Luckily, there are 2 bathrooms.

Its right in a big ski area.  

So from Friday to Sunday its all about eating, and bonding and of course major SHOPPING!!

the weekend has really evolved over the years and now there is a theme for the weekend.

I have only been going for 3 years. I was asked to go for years but, always resisted Vermont was always a special place for my hubby and me.  We went there on our honeymoon many, many years ago and visited often over the years since then. I finally realized the reason I always declined was I didn't want to go there with anyone but him.   We did break down a few times and took our best friends once and our kids once, but for the rest of our visits it was just the two of us.

We stopped going about 5 years ago so I thought it might be OK to go with the Sisters.

What a great decision that turned out to be.

Every female should belong to some kind of sisterhood.  The special bond women share can not be explained.

I was quickly taken in by this great group of women.  From the fun of shopping, to sharing meals, to the late night chats.  It was great having other women to share it with.

I have been going with the sisterhood of shopping for 3 years now. 

On our last trip 2 of the sisters daughters were inducted into into the elite group.  They are both college students and have been hearing about the fun for most of their lives.

We had so much  fun planning a special induction ceremony. 

As soon as we all had our Jammie's on the girls came down dressed as old lady's in vintage flannel gowns with fake rotten teeth.  A good laugh was had by all.

After the induction ceremony the girls were presented with their SISTERHOOD OF SHOPPING shirts (oh yes we all have matching shirts brown with white letters on the back)

the letters SOS are on the front and The Sisterhood of Shopping on the back.

When we are all out shopping on Saturday we wear our shirts they get lots of attention and many shoppers ask how to get one. Of course they are not for sale and are only for our elite members.   We are now pictured on the wall of the Vermont Country Store.  They look forward to our yearly visit and we are greeted by the manager and staff with announcements over their PA system to announce our arrival.

 We also have silver antique pins with tiny SOS letters hanging on it, and this year we got mugs with our logo on them.

The girls were given a baby diaper pin with the same letters.

They were good spots and went along with all the craziness.  I think they actually enjoyed it.

Saturday is a marathon shopping day at the outlets.

The girls took a break from shopping and talked some of the older sisters into going to the alpine slides.   

Saturday is usually movie night you would think at least one of us could have gotten the VCR to work but, not.  Well, the popcorn was great and lots of sharing was had.

It was amazing to see the multi generational group all having a great time.

Well, back to our latest sleepover Aunt Bard recently purchased a large home that she only gets to spend the weekends at and invited the Sisterhood to spend the night.

We had a great time of pigging out and bonding.  We were supposed to watch a movie since we missed it in October.   Finally, after have lots of cheese fondue with veggies and chocolate fondue with fruit we started to look for a movie nothing was appealing so we finally settled on a real oldie   Roman Holiday a 50's classic.   It was kinda nice no violence and tragic romance.

Most of the sisters were asleep before the end.

Sunday morning we woke up to a leisurely breakfast of muffins, fruit, eggs, bacon, and bagels etc.

Some of us thought hey this would be great why not just have our annual getaway here.  sounded good to some of us.   Until husbands, boyfriends, and kids started showing up and cell phones kept ringing.

That's when we realized why The Sisterhood was formed you need to be out of state and have bad cell phone service to really get away from IT all.

So goodbye beautiful house and short drive and hello old condo in the mountain and peace and quiet for all.

Update on The Forgotten America

Tonight on 20/20 was an update to the show I was talking about in my post Being Thankful. (The forgotten America.)  I was excited to hear that there was an update on the show from last week.

After the show things are changing for some of the people highlighted on the show.  One young mom age 30 who lost most of her teeth is getting new teeth from a dentist for free.

One young boy who takes care of himself and lives in his car and really wants to change his life.

He dropped out of college after 8 weeks because he couldn't afford to stay even with a scholarship.

A college reached out to him and accepted him in, and will also help him with his school work.

The State is also going to benefit from The stimulus package and it will help out the area.

Pepsi the makers of Mountain Dew that is rotting the teeth  and causing other health problems  has donated dental equipment and is trying to get in more dentists to the area.

It was nice hearing that people are helping out and donating to these families.

Maybe things will start to get better for them.  I hope so. 

Today I am thankful that the media can make a difference to people in need.

Thankful for My Mom

Today, I went to the hospital to visit one of my favorite Aunts.  She is 97 and was admitted to the hospital and wasn't doing so well.  Today while I was there visiting with her, her daughter was with her taking care of her.  Giving her drinks and making her comfortable and just stroking her head.  It made me realize how thankful I am to still have my mom and that she is healthy at 82.

Being Thankful

I was just watching a show on TV about Diane Sawyer and the Lost America.  The really poor of Kentucky, The Mountain people.  Bobby Kennedy tried to help back in the 60's he tried to draw attention to the area and the people.

Not much has changed in all these years.

The drug addiction in the area is unbelievable, who is given the people who have nothing prescription drugs.  There is no work, so no one can afford cars, safe housing, or food.  The children interviewed want to escape the poverty.  They know the only way our is through education.  But, even education is impossible for many of them. Even with a scholarship one young boy, the first in his family to graduate High School, had to drop out because he couldn't afford to stay at the school or to be able to keep up with his classes.

It was also amazing to see the dental problems that plague the area. One of the main reasons the problem is so bad is everyone even unborn babies are drinking Mountain Dew. Most of the people interviewed had lost most of their teeth and have stomach problems, even children as young as 12 had missing adult teeth.

Coal mining is still a way of life.  One of the only good paying jobs in the area.

But, it's still very dangerous.  Most of the miners have medical problems from the job, but, it's hard to get any statistics on the medical problems.

It was amazing to hear the faith that the people interviewed had, the young children singing beautiful hymns and praising the Lord.

I found it so sad to think that people are living this bad in our country, one of the richest countries in the world.

Who will bail out these people.

It really brought me to reality.  I'm truly thankful for all I have.

I think I will post daily on something I am thankful for.

Today I am thankful for the wonder life I have.

 

 

Special Bonds

I think I will just let this picture speak for itself.   It says so much, if you think about it.

Pictured are my 3 grandsons Nikko in the shopping cart he's 11 1/2 Mikey behind him  11 1/2  is a cousin, and the twins looking on are 2.

It's hard to tell who is having the most fun with all the toddler toys.

  Is it saying your never too old to have fun? Or is it saying there is no difference between 11 and 2.

Is it saying boys will be boys.

Maybe, its saying boys don't mature until they're 35.

What ever it is saying I just loved the pure joy in their faces.

It's great that the older boys will play with their young cousins. Maybe, they are forming a bond that will carry on with them forever.

I hope that they will always stay close and look out for each other.

When I was growing up we always had lots of time with our cousins, now families are so busy that they don't always get to see each other. 

It's important to find time to get together so these bonds can be formed.

Special Day

Having 3 grandsons now I have to be fair and pass the love around.  I found that having one on one time with Nikko was so much fun, so I thought I would try it with Vincenzo  and Luccio.  At first it was great having one baby all to my self so Ree, started taking Luccio to a baby gym so he could get more   exercise for his low muscle tone.  She would drop off Cenzo for a vist at Stregga's.

We had so much fun just playing with toys and backyard fun.  Now I try and do it on a regular basis.

Its such a treat for both of us. We go to Barnes and Noble our favorite book store and play with the trains, or to the library.  We have gone to visit the horse farm down the street and to Toys R Us. Its always an adventure.

His favorite thing to do is take a nap in my king size bed.  He loves to hear me sing NeeNaNoaun.

Its just a little song that I sing to him I think its from my childhood, but I don't know the words so I just make them up and keep repeating it over and over for a few minutes until he falls asleep.

One day Luccio was crying when I took Cenzo and I said "Oh brother is so sad" he said "I happy".

I try and be fair now and take Luccio for special day but, Cenzo says"No I go special day."

It's hard to just take one of the boys knowing the other one is sad, but I think it's important for them to have their special day with Stegga alone.

I started taking Luccio so he can have a chance to talk.  He doesn't get much time to say anything because his brother answers all questions.

 I call him the ventriloquist.

I hope we can contine special day and make some great memories!