New beginnings

Happy New Year!

Since I settled into taking the holidays off from blogging and slowed down my internet activities, I'm finding it difficult to get back into the swing of things.

LaBelladiva.com will be shutting down today and this blog is the new homepage for my blogs.  Why pay for something that you can get for free?  I had lots of ideas for the website, but it was difficult to make it happen at the same time the Etsy jewelry shop was in the planning stages.  

Last year was an overwhelming year in many ways and having way too much on my plate has resulted in dampening my enthusiasm for working on my internet projects.  

The political season was so brutal and I had already had enough of the Clintons before it started.  I feel like our country has ended up knee deep in BS, although I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  As a serious Trumpster, I am thrilled with the results.  Yes, I am deplorable and proud of it.

Our holidays sucked since The Captain spent a big chunk of it in the hospital.  He's on the road to recovery and we are praying for a healthy new year that does not include hospital stays.

All of my web spaces have been neglected and hopefully will be getting lots of attention soon.  I'm slowly getting back into it at the moment!

In all honesty, I am battling another bout of depression and trying to pull myself out of it.  This time I have not really written about it, but trying to pull myself out of it.

I'm so grateful for a new year and new beginnings!

Domestic Goddess?

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 2014

IN LABELLADIVA.COM

Ranting alert about cable television food, home and gardening programming!

I long for the days when Martha Stewart was the domestic goddess and the emphasis was on making our house a home.  With the exception of the food channels, it seems like the tide has turned to real estate, demolishing homes and rebuilding them.  While I enjoy seeing how they turn a disaster into beauty, I really miss the gardening shows, the crafty kind of shows and the interior decorating shows. Remember Christopher Lowell or Debbie Travis?  Loved those shows that taught us how to make such awesome stuff for our homes.

The food channels have even ventured away from “normal” programming of good old fashioned cooking shows that I love so much.  Now it is mostly about game shows and a combination of travel and food . . . finding a great place to eat (if you are into travelling).

At least I have the internet for all those homey kind of things that I love.  There are many websites and blogs online dedicated to the home.  In fact, I have a website page dedicated to those websites.  That page will be undergoing a major renovation to include all the new discoveries I have made, but you can find my old favorites like Christopher Lowell and Debbie Travis on that page.  Click on the graphic to go there . . .

Cinco de Mayo 2014

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MAY 2014

IN LABELLADIVA.COM

Got plans for the big party day?  The Captain and I will prepare a special meal and spend a quiet day at home.

We have continued planning and working toward our economical grocery plan which will include freezer meals.  It will be fun getting this all together with marathon cooking sessions to make other days easy and convenient.

Some of the recipes I have posted in the past couple of days . . . Roasted Red Pepper Pasta which is a basic recipe with lots of variation possibilities, Refried Beans that we will use for making lots of taquitos and burritos for the freezer, Linguine With Shrimp and Artichokes which is a total departure from the usual shrimp pasta dishes I make since The Captain keeps telling me how much he knows I will love artichokes that I’ve never eaten before.  Pasta dishes have been and will continue to be great grocery budget stretchers in our kitchen!

Blue Cheese and Chive Dip from Tyler Florence sounds like a dip that I will really enjoy since I love blue cheese dressing so much!  And a totally decadent pie I found that we will be enjoying very soon,Kentucky Chocolate and Walnut Pie . . . that is my treat!!

As more and more time goes by, we are all looking for ways to stretch our precious dollars.  One way is by doing our own home maintenance and repairs. Click here for an awesome website with tutorials for every type of DIY project you can think of!

My crafting friends will love the cute DIY Jeweled Clear Clutch I found online with a great tutorial!

As much as I hate to admit it, I wrote another “blah” post since I still haven’t completely shaken that ugly monster.  This too shall pass as all the other blah times have, but this one has lasted way too long!

Hoping you all had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to a productive and fun week!  Whatever you do . . . be safe.