Tips on some great blogs, an award and seven things you didn't know about me, or maybe you did!

One of my favorite bloggers in the whole blogging world is JarieLyn from Write Place! Write Chick! From the very first day I started reading her I was hooked. Her photographs are amazing and she lives in the City that Never Sleeps...Las Vegas! She shares lots of information about Vegas and the surrounding area. She's fun,funny and goofy at times. Other times she's sad and pensive and can make you cry, but regardless, she is always JarieLyn! One day I hope to get together with her since she's from my neck of the woods and I visit Vegas at least once a year, so I'm sure it's just a matter of time until we sync up our calendars and make time to meet.

JarieLyn recently started another blog. How she does it I don't know as I can barely keep up with one. The new blog is called dancewithwords, very fitting for JarieLyn as she loves to dance and she does have a way with words! I'm going to explain the idea of the new blog using the  explanation off of the blog itself:

"This blog is a collaboration between two women who live in two separate countries. One lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, the other one lives part time in two different cities in Brasil. The reason we created this blog is to improve our writing skills while developing discipline in this medium. Our concept in writing entries for this blog is to each contribute a paragraph or two on one topic. Two perspectives, one post. It is our thought that writing this way will challenge us to write out of our comfort zone and to think more creatively. Each post has both of our writing styles within the entry."

Isn't that a great concept? I hope all my readers...all three of you, run right over there and check out one or the other or both of these great blogs.

The reason I'm mentioning these blogs and JarieLyn is that she has honored me with a blogging award on her dancewithwords blog! She's given me the award but even better she's given me the gift of her beautiful words by writing this about my humble blog: "Alicia over at Titere Con Bonete is my favorite blogger. She is so talented in her personal storytelling. Her blog is fun and never boring. I just love Alicia because she is so down to earth."

Isn't that so sweet? High praise from someone I respect and have such affection for. Thank you again JarieLyn for my SISTERHOOD OF THE WORLD BLOGGERS AWARD!

Now I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself and since I love talking about myself this should be easy...let's see if that's true.

1. I was very shy in high school so I forced myself to try out for the cheer leading squad in order to not let my shyness defeat me. I made the squad and had a blast and have always been proud of myself for not giving in to my fears!

2. Like JarieLyn I love, love, love to dance! My favorite dance music is Mexican music, especially Cumbias, Rancheras and Cha-cha's! Of course, I usually need to get my rhythm going so I always start with a shot (or two) of Tequila and then sip the rest of the night on a Long Island Ice Tea!

3. I'm a recipe cook...meaning I can't just throw things together and come up with a meal. I have to have a plan and a recipe and all the ingredients that go with it or I can't cook.

4. When I first got my computer back in 1994, I got hooked on chat rooms. After hanging out in a chat room for about a year with the same group of people, we all decided to meet one weekend in Chicago. I flew from LAX to Chicago all by myself to meet a group of 20 or so complete strangers. I had the best time and was so proud of myself for being so brave!

5. I really don't think I have much of an imagination. I think of myself as an "in the box" individual. I don't stay in the box because of fear, I just stay in the box because I don't have the imagination to get out of there. But I do so admire people that are creative and think outside the box.

6. I'm not a dog person. I know you wouldn't think that because I love my daughter's dog Chorizo to little itty-bitty pieces...but that's cause Chorizo isn't really a dog. And how can you not love this little face?

7. I enjoy sweet and salty foods together. The other day I added strawberries to my salad that had bacon bits and ranch dressing and mixed them in and they were delicious! I love Kettle Korn for the same reason, cause it's sweet and salty...plus crunchy!

So there you go....7 things about lil ol me! I'm supposed to pass the award on to two other bloggers that I feel are worthy of being in the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers.

The first blog I would love to offer the award to belongs to Paula over at Sweet Pea. Paula is one of those "out of the box" people I admire. She's a 7th grade school teacher and that right there would leave me exhausted. But not Paula, she's very active and enjoys keeping fit and sharing fitness tips and secrets with her readers. She's also a wonderful Crafter and believe it or not she can show you how to make a wreath out of a tennis racket. But my absolute favorite thing about her is when she shares here family heirlooms with her readers. She's a lot like me in that she is very sentimental about items from the past; things like vases and pots, old sewing patterns, cookbooks, jewelry, crystal...just tons of stuff. She posts much more regularly than I do and I guarantee if you check out her blog daily you will learn a lot plus be thoroughly entertained!

The second blog belongs to DUTA over at Places with Character. I have given DUTA an award before, and giving her another one is just further proof of how much I love her blog. DUTA lives in Israel and shares so much of her world with her readers. She posts amazing pictures and visiting her is like being given a tour by a professional tour guide. And she is so amazing because no matter how many comments she receives she personally responds to each and every one! She travels often and shares video about the places she has been.  Reading her blog helps me to realize that even though she's in a completely different country there are startling similarities in our life in spite of different cultures and beliefs. Did you know that there is a Global Seed Vault in Norway? I didn't know that either, but thanks to DUTA I now do. My dad has been a farmer all his life and when I told him about the seed vault that I read about on DUTA's blog I was amazed to find out that he knew all about it. And that is why I feel DUTA is deserving of a Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. I hope that you visit her because I'm sure you will love her blog as much as I do.

I couldn't give a Sisterhood of the World Bloggers award to another blog I really enjoy because that blog is written by a brother...not a sister. But I do want to mention him on my blog. He is Sextant of the blog Navigating the Finite. Sextant has the most interesting blog and he writes about so many different topics. I love that he does so much research when it comes to writing his posts. He writes about politics, electronics, retirement, the military and he does book reviews. One of his funniest posts recently was about a bird pooping on his head, it was hilarious. I wish I could make him an honorary sister and give him the award but I don't want the awards police to come after me. So Sextant know this...if I could give you the award I would but you have the Alicia of Titere con Bonete Award of being one of my favorite blogs!

We Must be the Cleanest Family on the Planet

Remember the Great Bee Invasion of 2009? If not then you can read all about it HERE.

Not since the Great Bee Invasion of 2009 have we been plagued by an infestation of any kind...until now. Now we are suffering through the Great Ant Infestation of 2012!

There are these little tiny black ants everywhere!

We can't leave even one breadcrumb on a counter. We can't leave any cookies or chips, no matter how tightly we seal them in the kitchen cupboards because they figure out a way in!

We can't leave dirty dishes in the sink or on the table. We can't leave any trash at all in the kitchen trashcan over night.

The little guys seem very friendly, although both my mom and my son say they have been bitten. I've found them crawling on my arms and legs and I haven't been bitten once...maybe my blood is not as sweet?

Well because of these little ants, we have had to clean up after ourselves every time that we make a sandwich, or eat some milk and cookies or chips or ice cream. Not that we don't normally clean up after ourselves...but c'mon everyone makes a sandwich and leaves everything on the counter until they finish eating, then you clean up, right?

During the summer months we love to eat ice pops. You know those little tubes of colored sugar that you stick in the freezer? I know, I know...they are full of sugar, but they are so refreshing and delicious! And they're just a summertime treat! And I only eat maybe 7 or 8 at one sitting...so give me a break ok?

Because of the little black ants, when we eat one we immediately go to the kitchen sink, put in a drop of Dawn and wash out and rinse the little plastic tube before we put it in the trash. We do the same thing with our cans of Pepsi and Diet Pepsi. We have the cleanest trash on the block!

Unfortunately because of the ants I have not eaten my quota of ice pops! It's just too much work to go and rinse out the little tube each time! And all because of "them ants!"
We been spraying Raid Ant Killer and their masses seem to be dwindling. Yesterday I purchase some Ortho Home Defense Spray and today I cleaned thoroughly and then sprayed the inside of the house thoroughly and we plan to spray the outside tomorrow. So hopefully soon the Great Ant Infestation of 2012 will be just another moment in history, just like the Hippy Bees!

Iwanna Wednesday - A Sitting Place

Ha! Bet you thought I forgot about Iwanna Wednesday right? No...actually I had this post all done but for some reason when I hit publish post on my work PC it kept giving me an error message and wouldn't let me post or save. So anyway...here you go!

It's Iwanna Wednesday again...see, I told you guys I was gonna get back to posting about things Iwanna. I still haven't found the perfect finials I want, as I posted about last Wednesday. I also haven't tried making the fabric-covered tennis ball finials, but I did show them to my mom, the craft queen, and she said they would be easy peasy to make. If you want to see how to do them please visit Dianne at In My Own Style.

So anyway....I'm going to be doing a bedroom makeover in the near future and there is one thing I have always wanted...a bed bench. I always thought it was called a Settee, but a Settee is something totally different.

This is your Basic Bed Bench...

This is a Settee...

Courtesy of Anthropologie 

As far as I can tell a Settee has arms and a back and a bed bench doesn't. I've always wanted a Bed Bench at the foot of my bed that I could sit on and put my shoes on in the morning. I've never really had a bedroom big enough to allow for it, but now my new bedroom is going to be huge and I'll have plenty of room so Iwanna one!

I've been reading lots of DIY blogs and seeing that a lot of people find really nice ones on CraigsList or Goodwill and then just re-do them. So I've been haunting CraigsList in hopes of finding one. But Iwanna share with you all the one's I've been seeing online that I love!

I love this one! It's a Bob Mackie Classics Bed Bench and you can have one for a mere $1,207! It's a little steep for my budget but I just love the legs on it, like a big square turtle! And I am so jealous of whoever owns this house because if you look to the upper right of the Bed Bench, this person also has a Settee!!!

I am so in lust with this next one. Look at the drawers for storage! You could put quilts or comforters, extra pillows...even your shoes once you take them off, or socks even! Plus the fabric and the detail on the drawers!! *sigh* Iwanna this one so much! This one you can see at Coleman Furniture, and the pricing is a little bit better at $435.00.

This one reminds me so much of Santa's Sleigh! Just read the description on this one, "adorned with ornate hand applied decorations covered with the beautiful glazed bisque color. With diamond inlay stone veneer tops on dresser and night stand and dark bronze color metal hardware, the "South Coast" bedroom collection captures the true elegance of traditional styled furniture." This is a piece of furniture that you would hand down to generations to come. I love it...and at $489.00 for a family heirloom? I think that's a bargain...although still quite a bit out of my price range, c'mon people...I'm looking on CraigsList and Goodwill!

So here's another one that I love even though I'm not a huge fan of blue (my sister Lisa would love this, she loves all things blue). I guess I love it because I love neutral colors, white, off white, ecru, beige, tan, brown, chocolate brown and this splash of blue would really make a room...don't you think? This one though is custom made and I'm sure it costs a pretty penny...my pennies are only cute.

But I think this is the perfect one. If I can find this one on CraigsList or at Goodwill then baby...it's coming home with me! As long as it's not over $100. I believe this place also custom makes them! Iwanna this one for sure!

So when I find one I'll be sure to let you all know. So Happy Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!

Sister Wives

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 4 or 5 television seasons, you’ve probably heard about a television reality show on The Learning Channel (TLC) called Sister Wives. The show is about this guy named Kody Brown who has a gaggle of wives. Hmmm, I think a gaggle is five and at last count there are 4 wives and around 16 or so children, so maybe he doesn’t have a whole gaggle, but I just like the term gaggle.


They all live in Vegas now, but I believe when the show first started they were living in Utah. They are a polygamist family, meaning Kody is married to one wife legally and the other wives are a “spiritual union”. The women are known as Sister Wives. I guess not only are they wives but the spiritual union makes them sisters to each other or something like that. I’ve never watched the show, just know about the show because of snippets of the promos for the show and what I’ve read online.

So what does this have to do with me? Well I believe a spiritual union may be in my future. You see…this morning while just doing my job I contacted a client about renewing his insurance policy. He seemed very worried that I get all his paperwork to him right away as he was heading out of town tomorrow. I told him not to worry; I would be sending all his paperwork today. Then I reminded him that he doesn’t have to renew this policy until June 30th which is when the existing policy will expire.

He then exclaimed, “See Alicia…that is why I love you! You keep my life straight!” (I only insure his vehicle…how is that his life?) Then he says, “Are you married?” Before I could answer, he goes on to say, “I know I’m married, but I have room in my life and in my house for another wife and I would like you to be that wife. I’m a really good husband and would treat you well.”

…… Say what?

The only thing I could think of to say was, “It sounds to me like you don’t want another wife, you just want a bookkeeper!” Thankfully he just laughed and didn’t take offense to my thoughtless declination to become his wife…Whew! I let him down easy... although I wouldn’t just be gaining a husband, I would also be gaining a sister, a Sister Wife.