And what better way to celebrate a weekend of eating and being outside and loving BEING FREE (God Bless America!)

than with FREE ICE CREAM ON THE 4th!!

The Cooking Channel’s ice cream truck is on a cross-country tour this summer and is scheduled to make its stop in the DC Area to serve free ice cream on Summer’s biggest holiday, the 4th of July (how appropriate !!!

The truck will make its stop Sunday, July 4th from

11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Annapolis Farmers Market located at 2002 Annapolis Mall (Westfield Annapolis Mall), Annapolis, MD 21401.

In keeping with the spirit of Cooking Channel, they are partnering with a different local artisanal ice cream shop in each city. In the DC Area, Dolcezza Artisanal Gelato will be the ice cream crew on hand to serve up FREE scoops.  Dolcezza is a favorite,  making hand-made gelato every morning using fresh ingredients from local farmers, creating a gelato with a perfect texture and exquisite taste.

BY THE WAY- I TRULY LOVE THIS GELATO !!!

Go Enjoy Annapolis and Your Free Ice Cream!

Happy 4th of July Weekend!!

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people,

promptly announces she never did care for pie.”

~Tenneva Jordan

Irish Blessing-

‘May the Good Lord take a liking to you… but not too soon!’

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

]]> http://bananablueberry.com/index.php/2010/03/may-the-good-lord/feed/ 0 http://bananablueberry.com/index.php/2010/01/getting-back-to-new-years-eve-has-anyone-been-in-times-square-on-new-years-eve/ http://bananablueberry.com/index.php/2010/01/getting-back-to-new-years-eve-has-anyone-been-in-times-square-on-new-years-eve/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:13:54 +0000 Nicole http://bananablueberry.com/?p=1016      Have you ever been in Times Square on New Year’s Eve?  Do you know anyone who has?

   Being in Times Square on New Year’s Eve seems like it would be about as much fun as a toothache… during childbirth… seriously.

   I’m not trying to be negative or anything- I just don’t get it…

   Why would you want to be OUTSIDE, freezing, with hundreds of thousands of strangers… for hours?!

   Where do people go to the bathroom?  Do they set up port-a-potties?  Where do people even sit down?  Do you stand for hours?  And not that alcohol is vitally important to New Year’s Eve… BUT- you don’t even get to ring in the New Year with a glass of champagne??!!

Or do you?  Do the police just kinda ‘look the other way’ that night and everyone has thermos containers of alcohol?  What do you actually do for HOURS??  I saw people arriving at Times Square at 3:00pm in the afternoon- that means they were prepared for at least  9 hours of standing in the cold?!  That’s kinda dangerous even…

What about kids?  I’ve seen kids on TV there- oh, that’s right- every mother knows- KIDS DON’T GET COLD

I’m serious- if you have been to Times Square and are reading this- please leave a comment to tell me what it is like.  What is fun about it?  Are there vendors giving out little prizes and stuff?  Is there entertainment all day long?   Do stores even let people in- to get warm and stuff?  

I’m writing this because my husband and I say every year, when we watch the ball drop…

“Those people look so cold!”

Maybe it’s just- very young adults, like 20-year-olds, who are like,

“Let’s go to Times Square, let’s see the ball drop, let’s just bring a scarf and gloves, it’ll be fine… it will be SO COOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

And- do you have to ’stay in your spot’ to make sure you can see the evening entertainment?  

Maybe people get rooms at hotels in Times Square on New Year’s Eve (I can’t imagine this is cheap, though) (or that they aren’t booked months in advance), then they can just go and get warm, get some food…

That’s another thing- where do you eat?  McDonald’s in Times Square must be mobbed on New Year’s Eve, every food establishment must be… what about water, even?  Does New York City hand out water bottles to people??!!

Anyway,

these are my questions…

They are not pressing matters-of-state…

Just questions.

MAYBE I should just pack up my husband and 6-year-old son next year and go…

NOT!

Okay, so this isn’t an ode.  Maybe it’s a tribute… acknowledgment, applause, appreciation, citation, commendation, compliment, encomium (what is that? I’ve never even heard of that word before?!), honor, laudation, panegyric (I’ve never heard of that word either, wow, all of a sudden I feel very ignorant, vapid even…), recognition, recommendation, respect, accolade- (wow, I like that one)!

Yes, this is an accolade, basically, a salute to ‘December Babies and their Moms’

If you were born in December or have given birth in December- you are part of a very special club.  I gave birth to my son a week before Christmas, so I’m a full-fledged member of this club. 

*If you’re just reading this out of curiosity, club members get extra-cool-mom points for giving birth to babies during Hanukkah if they’re Jewish, and on Christmas or the week before, if they’re Christian.

*Why the bonus points?  Because they learn to juggle everything and are bastions of organization !!!!!

So without further ado-

Click Here to continue reading my accolade to December Babies and Moms 

over at DC Metro Moms, because they rock …

It was cool!  I’m doing again next year-

in fact, I’m making it a Christmas tradition!!

Read all about it here, at DC Metro Moms…

Well, right now it’s been raining for 2 days so it doesn’t look like a lot of anything outside my window.

BUT- THIS WEEKEND is a different story!

My FAVORITE Holiday Bazaar is on Saturday.  It’s the St. Jane de Chantal Holiday Bazaar from 9-6!

This is the Mac-Daddy of all holiday Bazaars, and I kinda consider myself an expert…

I love holiday bazaars and have gone to many.

Note:  My son goes to school here; that being said, this holiday bazaar is just ‘known’ for being great.

They start lining up vendors in JULY!

So here’s the info- Great shopping, great parking, food, chances to win decorated Christmas trees..

WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE?!

Check it out- I start my Christmas shopping here every year and always find great, unique stuff!

___________________________________

The annual St. Jane de Chantal Holiday Bazaar will be held Saturday, November 14, 2009, from 9am-6pm at

St. Jane de Chantal school,
9525 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, conveniently located off Beltway exit 36.

Admission is free and there is plenty of off-street parking.
This Holiday Bazaar features over thirty independent vendors selling unique, quality merchandise including original art, personalized items, jewelry, stationery, glass, children’s clothes and much more.

New this year, our Bazaar will feature sihlouette artist Anne Leslie, who will be available to create timeless, handmade portraits. We are also pleased to announce the return of American Plant.

Come check out their gorgeous decorations and shop their boutique!

I’ll see you there!

But in a weird way, that is kind of appropriate, in a ‘this could not really be happening’ kind of way-

Yesterday, it did happen.  The day started off like any other, a nice morning, a day off school, a pleasant breeze, the fresh Fall air…

and my son and I were walking through Sears… and he stopped in his tracks…

There, before us, were twinkling lights, Christmas decorations, ornaments and 7,

Yes, 7, Christmas Trees.

 I’m not ready for Christmas yet, repeat: 

I AM NOT READY FOR CHRISTMAS YET.

Let’s enjoy Halloween, Thanksgiving, my son’s birthday… and then we can celebrate Christmas.

Post Script:  We then went to a Halloween store to pick out a costume for trick-or-treating…

weird.

My Mother-In-Law’s birthday falls on Mother’s Day or just around Mother’s Day every year.  This year we went to the beach for Mother’s Day weekend, so we weren’t around.  And everyone was fine with that…

I even got my Mother-In-Law a birthday/mother’s day present, which I’m not supposed to do- because my husband takes her out to a very nice restaurant every year for her birthday/Mother’s Day. It’s a nice tradition and they both enjoy it!  He is taking her to dinner this week.

So, I tell her I got her a present and that My son and I are bringing it over… I took a GREAT picture of my son and his twin cousins who are all about the same age- you know: an unbelievable picture where everybody has a cute smile on their face, they are all kinda-hugging each other, everyone is looking at the camera and not picking their nose… one of those, great, pictures.  So I blew it up into a 5×7 and framed it-

Nice, huh?

So, we go over to their house, and are having a nice afternoon.  My little guy, me and my mother-in-law- we’re sitting around talking.  And then she asks my son if he wants a piece of cake…

“Sure!  Great!”  

And I’m thinking, ‘Why does she have a fancy little cake out on the counter… what’s the occasion… Is it left over from Mother’s Day?’

And then I look at the calendar- and it’s her birthday!

“Happy Birthday!”  I said very loud, I think because I was so surprised by my lack of tact and awareness/trying to cover up the fact that we had been over there for half an hour and not actually wished her a happy birthday…

So, I went over to my mother-in-law’s house, WITH A PRESENT in hand, forgetting it was her birthday…

Can anyone top that?  No, I didn’t think so…

Thank God my Mother-In-Law has a sense of humor ~

To the North-

And to the South-

These were taken Friday afternoon.  Saturday turned out to be beautiful, so there were a few more people on the beach- but that’s it

We played on the beach, went out to dinner, visited FunLand in Rehoboth on Saturday afternoon (opening day- it’s open for the season now), played some more and had a great time.

We ‘cut a swath’ through the outlets on the way home on Sunday too!

If you’ve read below, you know that my son woke up bright and early on Monday morning with Strep Throat, but he’s been on antibiotics since Monday morning, feels fine now, and life is back to normal.

And a good weekend was had by all !

On a lighter, navel-gazing note: It doesn’t matter how long you go to the beach-if you go for a month or just a weekend, you still need ‘all the stuff’: beach toys, all the beach stuff, etc. etc.