Do Pets Go to Heaven?

I am pretty sad today. We woke up yesterday and our beautiful collie, Nikki, couldn't walk. Dave rushed her to the vet and they quickly hooked her up to machines and told us her blood pressure was very low and she had a temperature of 105.5 degrees. She was in critical condition and told him to go home and come back a little later while they did tests and x-rays. When we got back there, she lifted her head a little when she heard my voice, but they told us basically she was very very sick and we had to send her to Jesus. She was THE sweetest animal I've ever owned...except for maybe Belle, my cat, but even she gets a little snooty sometimes and Nikki NEVER did. Yesterday was a hard, hard day. Today is better, but my other dog, Mopsey, is VERY depressed. All she wants to do is mope around and curl up with us, especially with me. She is so used to being with Nikki all the time and she doesn't know what to do. I think Belle and Pokey Doodle are a little in shock, too. They keep looking around trying to find something, which I think is Nikki. Dave and I were supposed to go out with another couple for dinner last night but we just couldn't manage it. I really can't believe she is gone...seriously. I keep thinking she's gonna walk in here any minute for a nudge. I do pray that all dogs go to heaven. I'm sure they do...cause I know cats do. I just couldn't imagine a heaven without my animals. Could you? My sister, Wendi, whose baby, Whitney died of SIDS when she was only 2 months old, reminded me that her dog passed away last Christmas and they talked of how Whitney must have wanted a dog for Christmas, so Jesus brought her theirs. She told me that Whitney must have wanted another one this year. How sweet a thought is that? Happy New Year, my friends. love you, Shari

The Tree is Decorated...Finally!

I finally got my tree decorated. Yesterday. Yes, that's right, yesterday. I know, I know, we are only 5 days from Christmas but I finally got the decorations out of the attic and voila...the tree and house are finally looking pretty! I do have to say that much of the lateness is due to my husband's neck and back problems...he has been in so much pain lately I hated to ask him to climb the ladder. However, he would tell you it is due to my party schedule! heheh! I said in an earlier blog that I couldn't believe how many parties there were this year and happily (sp?) I was invited to them all! heheh! So, I guess we'll both take a little of the blame. But, honestly, I'm having so much fun looking at my pretty tree, it was worth the wait! We also did the Un-Christmas thing (in our family, that is) of buying a fake tree this year with lights already on it. Wow, is that nice! Dave and I went to 3 different stores until we both agreed on the same tree...that was it! And best of all, it was 50% off! So, we have a tree I don't have to water, lights I didn't have to string and now decorations I get to look at that remind me of lots of things of the children from the past....why we gave this one to her, why he got that one...etc, etc, etc. My dogs are clean and fluffy, too, after a trip to the groomers with matching scarves and bells on. Now if only I could get a scarf on my cats, we'd all be lookin' pretty!
I hope you are all having a wonderful season....we decided to send Christmas cards with a letter and pictures this year, too...of course, the letter isn't written yet, the disc with the pictures are not here yet, and we haven't chosen a card to send...however, we did decide to do it! I am committed to getting them out...before Christmas! We'll see! No, I am not baking, as I am hoping some of my Martha Stewart friends might take pity on me and drop off some homemade goods, anyone need my address?...hint, hint. Happy Christmas! Shari

Gemstones, Ballet Flats and Empire Waists

Question: What do you wear to a Sunday School Christmas party for adults or a party where you are seeing old college friends? Here's my advice...for the adult christmas party, wear nice slacks with a festive sweater...yes, it can be the Christmas decoration kind. But you can also wear a pretty sweater that has some bling on it...you know, a bit of gemstones that are embellished on it or something sparkly. Gemstones around the neckline is really popular now and they are out there on sale. A pretty knee length dress that has an empire waist is also a great choice. Get this in a silky fabric in gray or black. For that party with old college friends, get great fitting jeans, ballet flats and an embellished top with that empire waist I told you about with the dress. If you'd rather wear a silver or gold knit top, that works well, too. Don't go too wide legged on the jeans if you are wearing the ballet flats. If your jeans have a wider leg, then wear a skinny heel with it with the peekaboo toe...no hose.

Drumroll.....for the winners of the workbook this week.....Melissa Sabin and Dawn! Congratulations...you'll be sent a copy of the workbook either via e-book or paper book....just let me know by e-mailing me at Shari-P31@earthlink.net The workbook will be ready for the public very very soon! Christmas Blessings! Shari

Holiday Attire...More of it!

First of all, a BIG hello to all the women from Central Christian Church in St. Petersburg where I spoke at their Christmas Tea yesterday. Wow, was it fun to be there! They had a sold out event and each table host decorated her table so beautifully! (And Jan, yes, yours looked wonderful!) A big thank you to all of you for making me feel so at home....I love Florida events...I'm just such a florida girl in my heart...I also LOVE the way florida smells! Mmmmm...salt water in the air!

I had a comment last week from Margaret asking about what to wear to different holiday events. Let me address a few today. For a Country Club event, I would wear a dinner suit...preferably a skirted one. Wear one that is in a heavier fabric that has a pattern...although black, ruby, emerald green or any other gem color is always beautiful. Wear with nude hose and sleek pumps...either in a metallic or shade to match the suit.

Next, for a holiday party at the office...look snappy! Wear something that you feel good in, yet is definetly dressier than you'd wear during the day. (Just don't wear those holiday sweaters you get at Cracker Barrel...you know the kind...my sister Wendi LOVES those....hehehe...(sorry Wen!) Wear a beauiful silk blouse with full leg pants and a decorative belt if it suits your body type. If a belt doesn't work for you, make sure to add a beautiful necklace...and gorgeous earrings always with any outfit. Try not wearing so much black...everyone else will be in black and you'll all blend in together. If you have your color swatches, then choose one of your POP colors to buy your blouse in. If you are wearing full slacks with a blouse or knit sweater, then add ballet flats with it if you want to be really comfy. Hope that helps a little. By the way, I will have my workbook finished this week! I'm so excited about it. I think we are going to offer it as an E-book (so you can download it) and as a paper book we can mail you. So, Post ANY comment today and I'll draw 2 winners to send my workbook to! (And Central Christian, you'll get a winner from your group, too!) Post away all! love ya, Shari

My Baking Fiasco

Last week I volunteered to bake 3 dozen homemade cookies for the teachers at Luke's school. Nice offer. Problem is I don't cook...at all. I'm not kidding. When Dave and I married, the cooking just seemed to fall to him mostly because he is so much better at it than me. It works for us. I do bake every now and then but mostly from a box mix...especially brownies...yummy. So when I offered to bake the cookies for this week the person who requested it stressed the word "homemade". She even gave me this great idea to get these small pretzels, a bag of rollos, and walnuts. She told me to put a rollo on each pretzel, put it in the oven for just about 2 minutes to get soft, then stick the walnut on top and press in. Sounded easy enough so I figured I could do it. But then I forgot about it. The day the cookies were due (yesterday) I decided to look at my calender first thing in the morning and see what was on for the day. Strange thing is, I usually don't look at my calender till after Luke leaves for school, but this day I looked before he left. OH MY LAND! I screamed to myself...well, a little out loud. I waited with Luke to get picked up by my neighbor as she takes him on her way to work. When she arrived, her son stepped out of the car and brought me the 3 dozen cookies she had made the night before...she remembered. The minute Luke took off, I ran to find a cookbook. I pulled one out that I had received as a gift from an event coordinator in Indiana where I spoke last winter. It was full of recipes the church members had contributed. I found the cookie recipes and picked one that had the fewest ingredients and said "great to do with children." Yes! I might be able to do this. I checked to make sure I had most of the ingredients (they sounded basic I figured Dave would have them on hand.) So I began. First, 1 cup brown sugar...dump in bowl. Next, one cup margarine. Hmmm....well, I found a green tub that looked about the size of what one cup would be so I dumped that in the bowl. Good. Next, one cup flour...got it...dumped it in. Next, 2 cups oatmeal...another, hmmm moment...is that like dried oats? Found that...I dumped it all in because it seemed like more than the amount of butter, and looked like it would be about 2 cups. Finally, one tsp. of baking soda. I looked and looked in every cupboard (obviously Dave was still asleep) until I remembered that baking soda is the stuff that makes your fridge smell good....so I looked in there and yep, there was one opened box so I figured that's what everybody else used too, so I put some in the bowl! Finally it said to mix it all together, mash it, knead it, mix it again with your hands until you could make little balls out of it. Well, it didn't mix at all. It just kept falling apart. I figured it was butter (it was a weight loss vegetable oil kind) so I found a stick of butter in the fridge, melted it a little and dumped it in with the rest. Voila! It worked...it started sticking together and I made little balls and put them on the ungreased pan as it called for. And then the kicker. Here is what the next sentence said, "Butter the small, then roll the balls in sugar and flatten to bake." Excuse me? What is a small? I had no idea. I re-read it. Butter the small....I wanted to cry. It was 7:40am, my husband was sleeping and these were due at school in less than 2 hours. Where was my cell phone? I sneaked into my bedroom very quietly so as not to wake Dave and grabbed my purse with my cell phone in it. I knew just who to call. MaryBeth Whalen...or as Lysa Terkeurst calls her "Gourmet". She is the closest thing to Martha Stewart I know....seriously...not kidding AT ALL. She heard my desperation..."what's wrong?" Me, "are you up?" Her, "ah, yeah, I have 6 kids...what's wrong?" Me: What is a "small"? Her: What? Me: "A small, what is it?" Her: "Shari, what are you talking about"? So I read her the recipe. Her: "There is no such thing as a "small"...that's a typo." Me: "Are you sure, cause it says to butter the small"....and I have tears of desperation in my voice (if there is such a thing). Whew....no such thing as a small....I felt better. That is until Gourmet had me tell her exactly what I had done with the butter and all and she told me I should just dump it all out and start over. Well.....I didn't. I hope there are no sick teachers today. Yikes. So, my husband AND Marybeth said I should just stick to helping women look better....cause I just didn't get the cooking gene! Happy Baking....and do NOT use this recipe unless you butter the small! On a personal note, my son turned 13 this week...and he shaved on his birthday for the first time...I took pictures of Dave showing him how...it was a sweet moment. I am off to St. Petersburg in the morning to speak at a Christmas tea on Saturday...I get to spend the weekend with my dear friend, Mary...so this is gonna be a girls weekend, too! love ya, Shari

Oh My Aching Feet!

My feet hurt so much today I can hardly stand it. Seriously, Aleeve has become my friend. Last night was Dillards annual Christmas event...it's a beautiful party where you get to go and shop with a discount and eat at all the lovely buffets and just have a plain ole good time doing it! The best part is the excuse to get all dressed up (twice in one weekend!) and see my husband in a suit and tie! Okay, it's hard enough to get a man to go to the mall, let alone making him wear a shirt, tie and dress shoes...but, he did it! And boy was it fun! All the sales staff was wearing glitter and gold....with lots of red, green, black and silver, too. I wore this fabulous gold top (a different one from Friday night) that Dillards gave me to wear. It's so much fun being a personal shopper cause the stores treat you really nice cause you bring them lots of business! So I had this amazing gold top on and when I first showed my husband he sort of eyed my up and down with that "hmmm, not sure something looks right look". I shrugged it off and then walked into the living room where my almost 13 year old son (tomorrow is his birthday) gave me the same look. He told me he just didn't think it looked right. I looked in the full length mirror again and decided they were...well...WRONG. Sometimes you just gotta go with your own instincts! I think I was right cause I got lots of compliments. But let me tell you about the shoes....oh my goodness I think I want to die the shoe death today. My feet are KILLING me. I don't think they've ever hurt so bad in my life. I totally forgot that the floor in malls and department stores are HARD. And so my pretty gold decorative pumps about ended up in the trash. I actually took them off as soon as I walked out of the store door and walked barefoot through the parking lot in the shivering cold last night. So, my advice today is....get a pair of those cute ballet flats if you are going to go to a party on a hard floor OR if you're going to the mall! Happy shopping and party-going! Blessings!

What to Wear to a Holiday Party!

I can hardly believe it is December already! Oh, what to wear, what to wear to all the holiday parties, teas, and outings this month! I don't ever remember being invited to so many, but it seems this is the year of lots of them! I'm excited! Last night was the kick off for me and I went to a Christmas tea with 7 of my friends. It was 5pm when I realized I had 20 minutes to freshen my makeup, re-spray my hair, and pick out something festive to wear. I ran into my bedroom, looked in my closet and realized most everything was in the laundry...oops, busy week and just hadn't gotten to it...so, what to wear? I pulled out a new top that still had the tags on it that I was planning to wear for my teen events cause it has kind of "poofy" sleeves, an empire waist (as it seems everything does this season), and has shiny fabric with a bit of glitzy gold....very pretty for a holiday event. I pulled out my jeans and thought I'd wear them with it but then realized I needed to dress it up a little more, so I added brown full slacks and leopard high sandals with it. I then pulled out a cute gold evening bag with beaded handle and a little fluff around the edges. I put a little more makeup on than usual, for evening, and used a little more hairspray. All this to say how important it is to have a few staples in your wardrobe. I know so many of you feel like you have nothing to wear and yet have a closet of full of clothes...right? And you also run to the mall every time you get invited to something because you can't find the right thing in your closet. It's important to have the basics. Some of these include a good evening purse that matches your hair color, or is in your favorite accessory color, gold or silver. Also, you should have at least 2 basic pairs of pumps or sandals for evening or holiday wear. I would suggest having a top in either gold or silver, not cheap looking gold or silver, but buy something in the better women's department that is on sale. This can be a pretty blouse or a knit sweater. Then you can pair this with jeans for a more casual look (and still wear it with your evening sandals or pumps), or you can dress it up with a dressy pair of slacks in winter white, black or tan. These dressy slacks should be in a fabric like velvet, satin, or silk. I have a gold pair of slacks by Reba (yes, McIntire!, you can find her collection at Dillards...great fit, too) and I wear them alot...no, more than alot...seriously, I love them. Anyway, hope this helps a little with your holdiay dressing dilemnas! Would love to answer your questions as to what goes with what, so if you are in need of some advice in the holiday clothing department, post a comment and I'll answer! Love ya, Shari www.ShariBraendel.com