National Tequila Day has come and gone...but the memories linger!! Sister Night Margaritas!

Bet you didn't know that last week on Thursday it was National Tequila Day? Well it was. Did it pass you by?

Luckily, thanks to all those sweet people on Facebook, I was reminded all day long! I never realized so many of my friends love Tequila the same way I do! Maybe that's why they're my friends? So I immediately got my sister Lisa on that Tequila bandwagon and we planned to get together after work to celebrate.

A little history on me and my sister Lisa. When her son Sean was in high school, he played football. So every Friday found us two sisters sitting in the bleachers either sweating up a storm or wrapped in blankets freezing to death watch Sean play football! Through thick and thin, we were there.

After football season ended during Sean's Senior year we felt a little displaced and out of touch with each other. So we said "Why does this have to end?"  Thus was born the tradition of "Sister Night". A night during the week when we get together to just catch up on our lives, to joke, to cry, to share memories, but mainly a night devoted to "sister love"!

Sean has now graduated college, he's completed the police academy, he's a dad...and my sister and I continue to get together one night a week for Sister Night!

Well National Tequila Day fell on our sister night, so we hit one of our favorite watering holes for Happy Hour! And, we got Happy! With these little beauties! On the left, a Watermelon Margarita for my sister Lisa and on the right, a Raspberry Margarita for me! Don't you love the colors? Tell me your mouth is not watering right now!

Since it was a special holiday, we threw caution to the wind and decided to order some of their delicious appetizers. An order of Chicken Taquitos with Guacamole and Sour Cream, and an order of their Chorizo-Bean Dip with Flour Chips. Plus Chips and Salsa? We were in Tequila Heaven!

Our poor little waitress kept coming by wanting to know how the Chorizo-Bean Dip was since she had recommended it and we had to keep sending her away as we were busy taking Selfies!

Love the way we match our drinks, like we dressed for the occasion! We did eventually put down our phones to dig in to our appetizers and they were delicious! The Margaritas were super yummy and our little waitress tried to talk us into having another, but with age comes wisdom and we know when we've had enough.

Another Successful Sister Night for the history books!

The Book That Made Me Realize I Was Going to Love Books and Reading

Do you know that this year marks the 50th Anniversary of a book that my children loved when they were little? Well I say a book they loved, but actually, I don't believe they ever read the book, they only saw the movie. The book is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

Do you know this book? Have you read it? Or maybe you have only seen the movie? The one starring Gene Wilder in the role of Willie Wonka or maybe the one with Johnny Depp in the role?

Most people probably only know this book because of the movie, which is a bit sad because the book is so much better! All books are so much better! You never hear someone read the book and then watch the movie and say "the movie was better"! Nope, you always heard them coming out of the theater and saying ''that was disappointing, the book was so much better!"

Which is why I am glad that I never got to see movies as a kid. We always lived out on the ranches my dad worked at and usually they were always 20 or so miles from the nearest towns, making it crazy to go just to see a movie! So I read books instead. Tons of books! I devoured them like they were M&M's!

Great Expectations, Little Women, Little Men, Charlotte's Webb, Alice in Wonderland, The Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Wizard of Oz, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Heidi, Swiss Family Robinson, Black Beauty, I could go on and on!

But my very favorite, the one I still remember to this day, the book that made me realize I was going to love books and reading forever was The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney.

As I remember, this was the cover of the book I had. The Five Little Peppers had such great adventures and they were so kind to each other and they always did things together and even though they were poor they were happy. I would read it over and over again.

I didn't realize it but this was not the only book written about the Five Little Peppers. After this one there were 11 more books about the Peppers, 12 all total. Sad to say I only knew about this one. I'm think I need to keep an eye out at my favorite used book store to see if I can find the rest of them.

I hope that parents continue to read to their children and that they let their children see them reading. My mom read a lot, and we followed her lead. Turn off the TV and hand your child a book and just let them spend some quiet time getting lost in a another world, another time. Nurture a love of reading and books. Maybe go out and buy the 50th Anniversary copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and read it with them!

What book was your favorite as a child, or which book do you remember reading most?

This post was inspired by the classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. To celebrate, Penguin Young Readers Group, in partnership with Dylan’s Candy Bar, the world-famous candy emporium, and First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides books for children from low-income families, is launching a year-long international celebration.

Head over to From Left to Write to learn how you and your child can have a chance to win the Golden Ticket Sweepstakes where the grand prize is a magical trip to New York City plus much more! For every entry submitted, Penguin Young Readers Group will make a donation to First Book. Then, join From Left to Write on July 24 as we discuss Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As a book club member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.

 

One New Thing a Week and I'm Already Behind! Low-Carb Strawberry Shortcake and a Birthday Girl!

So on June 29th I did my first post of my new plan to cook and post one new low-carb dish each week instead of eating the same old thing every day. Here is the link to the post and if you want to see my yummy Jalapeno Deviled Eggs it would be well worth the visit, they were fabulous!

Well...here it is July 17th and I believe 2 weeks have gone by and I didn't post anything new! I'm really not very good at this planning stuff I think.

But today I'm going to share something pretty special. I was blown away by it. Check it out!

Does that not just jump right out at you and say "EAT ME!"

Now before you all start applauding and telling me how wonderful and creative a low-carb cook I am, let me tell you that this is not my creation. Nope, this delectable dessert wonder is the creation of my co-worker and dear friend Angelica.

Every year for each other's birthday we try to create a Low-Carb dessert or meal as a surprise for the other one, and this year she made this Low-Carb Strawberry Shortcake. The cake is made with almond flour and the vanilla ice cream is also home-made. Not sure with what ingredients because my mouth was too full of ice cream to ask!!!

My birthday will be this Sunday and I'm taking the day off from work tomorrow for a road trip with my sister Lisa. Our plan is to go SOUTH and see what we find. I love not having a plan and just going! My dad used to love to do that as well, that must be where I get it from!

So here I am...not bad for 30 right? Hahaha, yeah right. Well not bad for 56 if I do say so myself!

Thank you Angelica for the great Birthday treats, my Low-Carb Strawberry Shortcake and my Sugar-free Iced Vanilla Coffee from Starbucks, you're a doll!