Big Hit at our Dinner!

On Christmas night, we had my Father's family over. I knew this would be a great way to show everyone our new house. My Mummy and Daddy brought a ham and a homemade chocolate cake. LC and I served the following appetizers: rotel dip with scoops (my absolute fave dipping chip!), bacon wrapped sugar smokies, and bacon and cream cheese pinwheels with ranch dressing for dipping. Sides to go with the ham were green bean casserole,  english peas, and mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top so redneck, but so good. yum yum. And of course, the homemade chocolate cake for dessert. Everything was delish, but the hit of the night was the bacon wrapped sugar smokies. Seriously, these little things are like crack. You literally cannot stop eating them until they are all gone, and even after they're gone, they leave you wanting more and more and more and more. I figure that must be what crack is like. I dunno. Anways, it's super easy, and here's the recipe straight from where I got it, picture and all!

Bacon Wrapped Sugar Smokies**

Prep Time: 45 Min

Cook Time: 45 Min

Ready In: 1 Hr 30 Min

Ingredients:
1 pound sliced bacon, cut into thirds
1 (14 ounce) package beef cocktail wieners
3/4 cup brown sugar, or to taste


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Refrigerate 2/3 of the bacon until needed. It is easier to wrap the wieners with cold bacon. Wrap each cocktail wiener with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle brown sugar generously over all.

Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the sugar is bubbly. To serve, place the wieners in a slow cooker and keep on the low setting.

My own personal suggestion to this recipe is to use a roasting pan. It really cuts down on the clean up time and is LESS messy. Also, I like to put brown sugar in a bowl, dip the wiener it sounds so weird to say dip the wiener. yes, I'm third grade. I'm aware of this. dip the wiener, dip the wiener, dip the wiener. ok, I'm done and dip the bacon in brown sugar before securing with a toothpick. Then, after this is all done, I still sprinkle brown sugar on top of the smokies. That's just what I do. This little appetizer is great because the combination of the salt in the bacon with the sweet from the brown sugar works amazingly well. I don't even serve them with dipping sauce. They're so good by themselves I figure they don't need it. Plus, these little boys and yes they are boys because they are wierners. duh are good even at room temp. So, you might try these next time you're asked to make something for a party.
**recipe and picture are from allrecipes.com located here.

My Holiday Snuggielicious Giveaway!!!!

I absolutely love my leopard snuggie! So, I thought you would like one too!

Ways to enter:
*1 entry for leaving a comment
*1 entry for becoming a follower
*2 entries if you blog of post on your sidebar (leave link in a comment)
*2 entries if you tweet this giveaway (send the tweet my way @southernbellejm)
*2 entries putting my button on your blog (please let me know you did so)
*1 entry for each new person you refer to Tale of a Southern Belle who enters this giveaway (make sure they reference your blog name when signing up)
*1 entry for letting me know the site that referred you to this giveaway.
The giveaway closes Thursday, December 31st, midnight PST.

Sending you my warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a very happy new year!

Simple Inspirations

I read this tonight and had to share! It is taken verbatim from my Woman's Day magazine (less the lol cat).

For daily words of wisdom go to womansday.com/wisewords

"Nothing is impossible; the word itself says, 'I'm possible!'" -Audrey Heburn

"Luck is when an opportunity comes along and you're prepared for it." -Denzel Washington

"I always say don't make plans, make options." -Jennifer Aniston

"The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself." -Benjamin Franklin

"I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon." -Ellen DeGeneres

"The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." -Lucille Ball

"Who begins too much accomplished little." -German Proverb

Cah-razy, with a capital C.

Dearest Ex, future/possible SIL, whatevcr you are, boyfriend's brother's girlfriend,

Calling me on Saturday afternoon to inform me that your drunken whatever, my possibly future brother in law, called and told you I said really bad things about you, is not the way to stay on my good side. If you haven't already figured out, I am not going to rat out my boyfriend's brother, wanna stay in the family, there's a little thing called loyalty look it up nor am I going to tell you anything. And most of all, I do not say anything to him that I wouldn't say to your face. Hello, I'm no dummy. I'm staying out of y'alls issues; because, well, let me quote you a little Jay-Z, "I got 99 problems, and a b!tch ain't one." Did I tell him about the things you've done or told me when you were drunk? No, I have not. However, after this phone call, it is very tempting. Would I do such a thing to be catty? No, because, I'm classy. Would you? Of course. As far as these so-called "really" bad things I said about you, if you think that me saying that you two fight too much is mean, well, then, bless your little evil delicate heart. You are going to have a long road in life I'm afraid to say. Oh, and darling, I didn't volunteer this information. I don't meddle in others affairs. LC's brother asked my opinion. But alas, I forgot that today you told me that even if my opinion is asked for I am not to give it. It is not my business. My, I must have not gotten the memo that free speech is no longer a right in the States. My bad homegirl! I'll have to go read this bill for myself. Obviously, I had no clue that we are not to have opinions any longer. Does that mean I am no longer able to talk and converse with him either? If that is the case, I do not know how I am to explain to his parents and grandmother why I cannot answer his questions at the dinner table on Sundays. Please advise. Or, do you just mean I am not to have an opinion about you. I'm sorry you weren't really clear on my rights. And, I do apologize for causing you frustration by not volunteering any incriminating information towards myself or LC's brother. I realize you were trying to use the scare tactic by making that "scaaaary" phone call. Mission: FAILED.  Just to let you know something, I am far too clever to fall for such elementary tricks. Silly girl, tricks are for kids. However, I must complement you on your quick wit and jabbing skills. Throwing the quick jab "You have no right to say we fight too much. You and LC's relationship is far from perfect. Y'all fight all the time" was well pretty original. Oh dear, I don't even know where to start with this one. I'm sorry I laughed at you when you said this. It's absolute ludicrous thinking. No relationship is perfect. LC and I sure we get into a fight from time to time, but it is rare in occurrence. We bicker like any other couple, but at the end of the day, we are happy. We are blissfully happy. It's kinda scary and sick actually. I'll break this one down to your level my child, sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words can never hurt me. Saying things like that to make yourself feel better doesn't solve your problems.  For instance, LC and I have never broke up in the 16 months we've been together. We haven't even come close to, not even once. You and LC's brother on the other hand, well, I won't even go there. We'll leave that for you to ponder on. But, I am sad to inform you, that calling me and going off due to the insecurities you are feeling in your own relationship or lack thereof with my beloved boyfriend's brother, is just pathetic and downright bat-shit crazy. Oh, my dear, do you know what bat shit crazy means? I'll just go ahead and define it for you via urbandictionary.com,

bat shit crazy: Crazy to a degree bordering on complete insanity. The state in which one makes decisions which make the exact opposite of sense Now, that you are aware of the definition of bat shit crazy, please STOP calling me. You are acting PSYCHO. I'm little, but I'm feisty. If you'd like me to say mean things about you, believe me, I'm as snarky as they come. I can make that happen. Unfortunately, it's just not worth my time. I'm just trying to help a girl out. STOP BEING CRAZY, STOP BEING CRAZY WITH CAPITAL LETTERS CAH-RAZY. Sincerely, Your ex-boyfriend's brother's girlfriend. PS-In case, I don't respond to your calls or voicemails immediately or EVER, I have changed your name in my phone to "Don't Answer". So, I will automatically assume that I should not answer and will screen your calls. Then, I will see Don't Answer's left me a voicemail and will delete without listening. Well, this is because if your name is "don't answer", then, there is probably a pretty good reason why your name is listed that way in my phone; so, listening to a whiny voicemail about not being able to voice my opinion is just not something I'm diggin. Ya hear me. Love ya to death. Xoxo kisses and hugs=)

My Xmas Present from LC

After asking for a list of things I wanted to which I complied, the boy still asked me what I wanted off the list.  Hmph! Well, what I really wanted, was there to be some element of surprise left to my gift. You know you picked the items out, but you don't know which you'll get. That makes it still kinda fun. To make it easier on him, I picked these off of my list for him to get. It's the least I could do. [insert sarcasm here] The picture is kinda blurry due to it being from my Iphone. They have sterling silver cable around the 7mm pearls. There are four tiny 14K gold balls on the cable that are positioned almost making a square around the pearl. Sorry for the bad quality photo. I need a new camera!!!!



This is just part of my Christmas present. The other part was the furniture that LC ordered that I picked out for the house. The furniture is beautiful. Once, we get moved into the room and everything situated, I will do a post on it. Can you believe it's only one week til Xmas?!?!?!?!!

I would post what I got LC for Xmas, but, he let it slip the other night that he is a subscriber to this blog. Sneaky Sneaky. Ha!

Guess what I got today!!!!!

I have a warming blanket which works wonders and is really pretty. Thank you LC=) BUT....you can't wear it everywhere in the house; because, it has to be plugged into the wall. I've wanted a snuggie since last Christmas season.

We're going to a Tacky Christmas Sweater party on Friday, and the hostess said we had to bring a gift for Dirty Santa. I remembered the discussion on Twitter about the Snuggie being the perfect dirty santa gift. So, I had two 20% off coupons for Bed, Bath & Beyond; so, I figured one for the party and one for me. I can't wait to try this bad kitty out!!!!!!

#USPOSTOFFICEFAIL

I ordered these delightful Lilly Pulitzer Holiday Cards from The Preppy Princess. And believe me, the cards were tres cute in person and of great quality. But then again, Lilly never fails me!
So cute!!I could have purchased them locally, but the customer service that preppyprincess.com offers is top-notch. I am all about supporting other bloggers and small businesses. I highly recommend purchasing products from her, not that the cute pink and green polka dotted tissue paper it was wrapped in, the pink and green bow, or the handwritten note card thanking me for my business and that she loves my blog didn't help!!!! Well, you know what, I love Preppy Princess too!

But, I hate sending everyone the same exact cards. I picked up this boxed set of Anna Griffin cards at Walmart of all places. I'm a Target girl, but Walmart really stepped up their holiday line this year. I knew these cards were perfect when I saw them. You might not be able to tell by the picture, but the card is a lovely pinkish salmon color and green, and pink and green is my fave color combo. Like y'all didn't know that! It's adorned with ribbon, and the center is a small circular diecut that is attached and says "Merry Christmas". I went to the post office with all of my cards. Luckily, I had cash on me for once (which I normally never do); so, I had to go through the line. The machines only work with debit cards. I get up to the line, and the postal worker starts looking at my cards. She tells me that she can see some of my cards are bulkier than the others. Upon further inspection after molesting my envelopes, she started telling me that I would have to pay 62 cents per each Emily Griffin card. All because they have the stupid diecut/applique on there. Then, she explains some stupid BS that if I mailed them with a regular stamp the machine the regular stamped letters go through will rip it off. I was NOT a happy camper. It took me almost 7 dollars to mail 8 cards. 8 cards. Ridic! Not only was I irritated at the fact that I was having to pay that much to mail freaking Christmas cards, I was being lectured on invitations. I'm trying to spread joy to friends and relatives and not to be reminded that once again I am NOT engaged. Yes, the post office lady was explaining to me that before I finalize my invitations to bring them in to the post office; so, that they may determine how much it would be to mail them due to all the frilly stuff that people put on invitations now. I wanted to shove my left hand in her face and be like LOOK LADY DO YOU SEE A RING? BECAUSE I SEE NADA. I SEE NOTHING SPARKLING ON THIS FINGER THAT WOULD INDICATE TO YOU THAT I AM ENGAGED AND NEED INVITATION ADVICE. MERRY FREAKING CHRISTMAS. But alas, I listed to her chatter and wished her a Happy Holiday...