• Celebrate

    A Kentucky Derby Soiree

    Kentucky Derby Festivities underway! Here in the Hickey home, we have never attended the Kentucky Derby, or a Kentucky Derby soiree, but with a little bit of research and creativity we have cobbled together our own little version of the festivities here at home. My fear was that it would end up looking too much like a Christmas party in May, but I think we actually pulled off a festive Derby look! The only things we knew would definitely be part of the table design would be lots of plaid, silver, horses and red roses.  We used some dollar tree…

  • Celebrate - Holidays

    Are you an Easter Feaster?

    Are you a Easter Feaster? Did you have an Easter Feast? We did! It is my sincerest hope that nothing I ever post on this blog ever comes across as bragging in any way. It is my wish that that the only thing this blog does is spread joy and serve as a reminder to celebrate every moment. I can clearly recall past Easters where life had not been so kind and we could not fit an Easter Feast into the budget or I had simply lost the ability to celebrate or appreciate much of anything — we just skipped…

  • Celebrate - Food

    Key Lime Rainbow Cupcakes

    Welcome Springtime!I am always up for a cupcake party, and the First Day of Spring is a perfect excuse for one!We had intended to make these cupcakes as a St Patrick’s Day treat — sort of an end-of -the-rainbow pot-of-gold Leprechaun thing — but the time got away from us and we didn’t make that deadline.Instead these cupcakes are in celebration of the first day of Spring (even if it does look like Springtime on the North Pole right now outside).They are Key Lime cake with a cloud of Vanilla frosting swirled high and a candy rainbow on top.The taste is light and…

  • Celebrate - Food

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Top ‘O the mornin’ to ya!Here’s hoping that you don’t get pinched, and that you find your pot of gold!This year we pulled it all together for a St. Patrick’s Day feast! We kicked around lots of ideas for St. Patrick’s dinner that would be outside the box of the traditional corned beef and cabbage, but the old standard came back by popular demand.I had a hard time convincing Peggo that we should try corned beef one more time before giving up on this St. Patrick’s day staple. A sale on corned beef and the fact that…

  • Celebrate

    Magically Delicious: Lucky Charms — Living in the Moment

    If I shocked you when I said that I had never tasted classic Halloween cereals like Boo Berries,  Frankenberries and Count Chocula, then you’d better sit down.This year is also the first time I have ever tasted Lucky Charms.My only explanation for this lack of holiday themed cereal in my childhood would be that I was a Cookie Crisp girl, and my love of cookies surpassed even my love of holidays! *gasp* For anyone with an acute fear of leprechauns, marshmallows, or all things magically delicious, look away now.My inner child and I finally tried Lucky Charms this year and of course I…

  • Celebrate

    Leprechaun Clips

    Top O’ the Mornin’ to ya on this fine March Day!  It’s almost St Patrick’s Day so I thought I would share a fun and free St. Patty’s Day activity. When I was a little girl, I made a paper leprechaun (to the left)in school for St. Patrick’s Day. The arms and legs are attached with paper fasteners so that they are movable, and you can make him leap and dance an Irish Jig. The only time I have ever used this type of paper fastener was in the construction this leprechaun.For my entire life I have always called those fasteners “Leprechaun…

  • Celebrate - Decorating

    Birthday Party for Feather

    A Very Merry Birthday Party for Feather!We had a small birthday party for Feather on his birthday this Sunday. There are no pictures of the Birthday Boy, or the guests because we were able to keep the Paparazzi at bay for the entire event.Sometimes it’s nice to just live in the moment and see things through your own two eyes rather than on a tiny screen while you snap pictures! In the afternoon we had a small family get together and had some delicious home-made ‘mud pie’ (his absolute favorite) — my aunt makes this for him every year on his birthday.This yummy pie…

  • Celebrate - Decorating

    St Patricks Day – Decorating

    A Leprechaun has come through our house and doused it with a healthy dose of green!This looks a lot like the Valentine’s Day pictures with a photo filter to change the red to green, but I promise it’s not.In the past, whenever I would try to decorate for St Patrick’s Day, I would have a very hard time getting things to match. The look would come out as a sort of “Fifty Shades of Green” — which I can only assume is the story of Christian Green, a kinky leprechaun who grants wishes, but only if your wishes are to be spanked by a kinky…

  • Celebrate

    Chinese New Year Celebration

    Happy Chinese New Year!  Is it the year or the sheep? ram? goat?  Nobody knows! The Chinese word for all three of the above is “yang” which translates to ‘horned animal” so nobody is really sure which one it is!  That won’t stop us from celebrating the new year though.  Late last night the decorating fairy came through the house and transformed our Mardi Gras themed dining room into Chinese New Year!  There is something a bit odd about eating left-over King Cake for breakfast in China, but I guess this is what it would feel like to be a…