Review: Rolando's Nuevo Latino Restaurante

I don't have anything interesting to report on projects today so I will turn to a stall tactic. If you are ever blessed to be in the Fort Smith or Hot Springs areas of Arkansas, a trip to Rolando's is a must! Both locations are equally tasty even though I am a little partial to the Ft. Smith location on Garrison Avenue.

I was fortunate enough to capture the front room when it wasn't buzzing with people. The decor is eclectic and the atmosphere is casual and friendly. Rolandos is fabulous for lunch or dinner - or both on the same day (don't think I haven't)!

Unsweet iced tea is the best choice for drink - it has a hint of raspberry and served with lime!. I also highly recommend starting with the made from scratch Guacamole.

BFF says the guacamole is delish!

You really can't go wrong with anything on the menu but for me I always go with one of my two favorites: Quesadillas de Chivo w/chicken - grilled flour tortilla stuffed with chicken, goat cheese, green vegetables, topped with Argentinean sauce OR Lulu's Enchiladas - corn tortillas filled with chicken and cheese with a tomatillo sauce.

Both are served with rice and black beans which are awesome. They also serve each dish with pickled red onions and cucumbers which blends nicely with the flavor explosion!

I was so caught up in the yumminess of the moment that I forgot to photograph the food before it was devoured. The presentation is pure art and the flavor is unique and unforgettable. Mmmmm - now my mouth is watering but I'm an hour away from the Hot Springs location. Maybe I need to drop a hint for Mother's Day!

If you are ever in the area give me a shout. I would love to meet at Rolando's!

Fungus Among Us

I found these cute little fungi at a local store and "planted" them in the front bed. It makes me so happy and sometimes I even clap when I pull into the driveway and see them. I picked varying shades of green and yellow for this area.

This was my inspiration. I took this pic at Chas' home last fall. I like all the bright and cheery colors and will probably do something more like this in the back yard.

Remember how I like to obsess? I picked up this a couple of days ago at a local garden store. It looks natural especially at the foot of this oak and tucked in a patch of fern.

On a funny note, DH hates them. He thinks they reflect poorly on his yard keeping abilities - ha!

Saturdays With Southern Living at HOME - Beautiful Buffet

Welcome to the third edition of Saturdays with Southern Living at HOME! This week let's look at components needed to set up a beautiful buffet!

This picture was taken at a gathering in a friend's home. Isn't it inviting? Does it make you wish you were there? So what makes this buffet setup so beautiful and interesting? Three components - height, texture, and color.

Height: Notice the Elegant Stone Serving Stand (pg 9) to the back right. This product is also great for small kitchens to add extra counter space! In this setting, it brings height to our centerpiece - Cathedral Luminary and Parisian Luminaries (pg 29). Next to it you will find the Galveston Two-Tiered Stand (pg 6). This comes with food safe glass shelves so it is great to take to a potluck or just to leave on your counter for added storage and interest!

Texture: The two things I love most about our product line are the pottery and the iron! Nestling our pottery in an iron stand mixes up the textures and adds interest (Hand-Painted Serving Set in Siena pg 54, Tuscan 9x13 Baker pg 23, Clairmont Casserole Caddy pg 9). You can see even something as simple as serving warm brie on a dinner plate layered on a metal charger adds an extra layer of interest!

On the back side of the buffet you find glass and silver added to the mix with our gorgeous Astoria Flatware Caddy (pg 51). If you look closely to the back left, you will even find a bit of rattan in our Abingdon Rattan Caddy (pg 53). This holds the plates and napkins.

Color: You can see how color was brought into the mix in previous pictures by mixing pottery. But what about this colorful drink station? I love how she mimics the colors in the Siena Hand-Painted Pitcher (pg 56) in her drink choices! (Fruit punch served in Southern Sippers Pitcher pg 40 and orange juice served in Savannah Beverage Server pg 21).

Bonus tip: I really like the way she displays the contents of each container using place card holders!

I hope this week's installment has given you ideas for hosting your next gathering. If this has inspired you please let me know by leaving a comment!

To view the online catalog please visit to my personal website and click BROWSE. Like the products you see? Why not get it for FREE? Host a home, catalog or blog party! Let's chat to explore the possibilities!

Wanted: Your Opinion - Makeup

Today's post is totally random. I have finally come to the realization that my skin is no longer 20 something. I'm 30 something and have to deal with it. I've been enjoying my 20 something makeup thinking I looked all cute until I had a closeup taken of me the other day. I have clearly been deceiving myself. I'm leaning toward giving BareMinerals a try.

Have you used this makeup and if so how do you like it? Would you recommend another brand of makeup and why?

I value your input - gotta put my best (30 something) face forward!

Related Posts - Mid-Design Crisis

Image courtesy Bare Escentuals Beauty, Inc.

Come Together

This post is centered on a couple of things
that are coming together in our home.

Like this combo. What is it you ask?

It's the sword in the stone, silly!

(Active imagination, eh? And yes those are full on flannel pajamas in the middle of April. When we are home he insists on wearing a pair. Even if we go out as soon as we get home he strips down and puts these on. I pick my battles...)

And finally the den is really coming together! I painted the thin strip of molding around the perimeter of the room (it is just primed in this picture) and painted the back of the shelves (just one coat in this picture) the wall color and it all is working for me now. I'm so excited! It is such an improvement! I need one more coat on the built-ins, one more on the crown, the doors for the lower built-ins and then touch-ups and this paint job will be a wrap. I can't wait to start putting the room all back together! I'm glad we decided to take our time and get a little more involved.

How are your projects coming together this week?

Gorgeous Flowers

Yesterday we had a corporate guy in town. Several consultants traveled in from all over the state to hear him speak. It was so exciting to hear all the great things he had to say about the future of our business!

He also did a little overall recognition and my wonderful Star Director announced my promotion and blessed me with the GORGEOUS flowers! She also blessed me with a purple feather boa - ha!

I was tired after a long day of meetings and running around so when I came home I opened them up, quickly snipped the ends and plopped them in this glass cylinder. Can you see all the fun I'm going to have with these today?

Update on the den - DH painted the mantle and it was a little bit of a system shock for me when I walked in. I think to break up all that white I'm going to paint the back of the upper shelves the same color as the wall.

On a side note I jokingly mentioned having my floors mopped while I was away and when I came home DH had the floors sparkling! I should have more all day meetings - ha! I really am a lucky gal! OK - gotta get to work...

Den Update

New Window Treatment! Fabulous, eh?

The main reason for the delay is that I decided to go ahead and paint the built-ins. We have sanded, primed, and applied one coat so far. I decided to go all white to match the rest of the house. Boring, I know, but clean and classic.

DH is off today while I go to meetings so he is going to clear all this junk off the mantle to prep it. DH thinks I may end up painting the bricks but I hope not. I hope I can live with them at least for a while. See how we have beams on the ceiling? I want to try and keep these brown but I may end up having to go white on those, too.

Which makes it hard to figure out what to do with the tiny crown. I tried to keep it brown to stay in keeping with the beams but it is not going to work for me like that - sorry, DH! I will be getting these to white this week. I pray the beams look OK brown because if not I will have to eventually go white. Which means I will need to paint the ceiling. Which means I will have to scrape the ceiling and that is such a mess. I really hope the brown beams can work at least for a while.

Do I obsess, absolutely! But DH has an obsession as well. It is the switches and covers. He took these from ecru to clean and crisp white! I love it when he obsesses!

Why can't I ever just half-way do something? I'm so excited, though. The room looks so fresh! Can't wait to get it all completed. One perk to having a blog is having the sense of urgency to complete! What projects are you working on?

Saturdays with Southern Living at HOME

Welcome to the second installment of Saturdays with Southern Living at HOME. Today I will be focusing on our Jackson Square Tray. On page 60 in our catalog you can see it used as a breakfast tray.

I've put together a sweet little trayscape (like my new word?). The focus is our Jubilation Cross (pg 69). This is a great way to show your faith! I've added a white candle wrapped with a springy ribbon and 3 Jamestown Votives (pg 9) with grass. To add height, I sat the tray on top of one of our dish stands.

For the next look I glued magnets to the back of card stock cut to fit the center square, glued a magnet to the back of a coordinating Gerber daisy, and added a coordinating ribbon to hang on the wall. The center initial is on card stock as well. I did this quickly but you see how you could scrap a cute page and then frame it with the tray...

OR you could just use as a magnet board in the
office, kitchen, or child's room!

What about using it as a frame for your favorite vintage print from the Vintage Moth! I did this quickly with a print I had used for another project so don't look too closely at how the edges are not squared up. Instead of hanging I've displayed in our Bountiful Collection Iron Stand (pg 69).

So you can see how versatile this tray can be! Like what you see? It's not too late to get this tray for FREE in April! Simply show the catalog to your friends and collect $250 in orders*. They can save big this month with our Gift Giving Sale and our Customer Specials and you can earn this tray and other freebies in the process.

*Want more details, contact me today - j (dot) fryar (at) comcast (dot) net!

Blooms

Check out this gorgeous Clematis that is blooming in my back yard!

And my dogwood blooms are still hanging on!

What about this bloom?

I have always been a little weird when eating M&M's because I sort them by color and then eat them in groups. That proved educational yesterday because BBC was able to practice sorting, counting, and picking out most and least. Then we started creating pictures with them. I made the flower and we did the cloud together. We had a sun until BBC decided it needed to rain so the flower could have water. So he hate the sun and added pink drops of rain.

Other than playing with our food we have been working on the den and bought more fabric for another project or two. Look for a post on Monday!

And don't forget to check out my next installment on Saturday's with Southern Living at HOME tomorrow!

What are your plans for the weekend?

J-O-Y-!

JOYful Memories!
(Had to slip in an Easter Picture!)

BBC will begin school this fall so we have been working on his writing skills. His latest thing is if I have something written on the whiteboard he will try to copy it - which is actually pretty cool!

We went through a bit of a rough patch in the winter with overtime, health issues, and the totaling of our car. I was a little bummed out and I decided I needed a reminder so I wrote out 2 Corinthians 7:4b - "...in all our affliction, I am overflowing with JOY!"

BBC decided he wanted to practice writing JOY! but it totally cracked me up because after he finished he said - J - O - Y - upside down i. It took me a while to put two and two together and then I giggled for a good long while...

Slow Cooker Beef Brisket for Soft Tacos

UPDATE: I'm dusting off this post and linking up with the What's In Your Crock Pot party over at Smockity Frocks and with Dining with Debbie's Crockpot Wednesday Party. If you are looking for other easy and yummy crock pot recipes please also check out my Green Chicken Chile Chicken recipe and then head over to the parties for even more ideas. Happy cooking!

I have been craving this scrumptious recipe for a month now so I decided to dust it off and share! It is super easy and very flavorful. I have served it for several gatherings and it is always met with rave reviews. It is truly a fix-it-and-forget-it main dish with lots of WOW factor. For entertaining I usually buy a bigger brisket and up the spices accordingly. I don't adjust the veggies and it turns out tasty. Please enjoy!

Slow Cooker Beef Brisket for Soft Tacos
Prep: 15 min., Cook: 8 hrs. Select a brisket that is uniform in thickness to make shredding the meat easier.

Yield

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 (2- to 3-lb.) beef brisket
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground chipotle powder
• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• Flour tortillas
• Toppings: shredded Mexican cheese blend, sour cream, salsa, chopped fresh cilantro
• Lime wedges

Preparation

1. Place first 3 ingredients in a 6-qt. slow cooker.

2. Trim fat from brisket; cut brisket into 3-inch pieces. Rub brisket pieces evenly with 2 tsp. salt and 1 1/2 tsp. chipotle powder, and place on top of vegetables in slow cooker. Top with 1 cup cilantro.

3. Cover and cook on HIGH 6 to 8 hours or until brisket pieces shred easily with a fork.

4. Remove brisket from slow cooker, and cool slightly. Using 2 forks, shred meat into bite-size pieces. Serve in flour tortillas with desired toppings and lime wedges.

Picture courtesy MyRecipes.com
Recipe courtesy Wanda Jensen, El Paso, Texas, Southern Living, AUGUST 2006

Reasons to Celebrate!

I just wanted to take a moment and share a few of my reasons to celebrate!

1. Taxes are complete!
2. Laundry is almost caught up!
3. Business is growing!
4. Family is healthy and happy!
5. Most importantly, my Savior is ALIVE!

Sorry I didn't get to post a Happy Easter message yesterday but hope you had a wonderful day. What reasons do you have to celebrate today?

Saturdays with Southern Living at HOME

If you have read my blog much at all you know Southern Living at HOME is one of many blessings in my life. So I'm going to start a new series for Saturdays to share some product ideas and what we have going on as far as specials and incentives.

I'm excited to share the first installment this week. Our April Titus 2 Women's Ministry meeting was Thursday and I styled the centerpieces using Southern Living at HOME products! Here are a couple of my favorites!

Peeps n' Tulips

This is probably my favorite centerpiece. I got the idea from All You Magazine (pg 79) this month. The base is our Barley Twist Pedestal (pg 69) with the Covington Accent Tray. (pg 12). I centered a glass cylinder in the middle (with a smaller glass cylinder in the middle). Then I layered jelly beans in the bottom and up the sides a bit followed by the peeps bunnies. Next fill the center cylinder with water and add your favorite flowers. I love tulips. They are so expensive so I grabbed a small bunch from Wal-mart for $5 and folded the larger leaves back into the cylinder to add fullness.

Finally, to complete the look I scattered jelly beans around the tray.

Crosses and Bunny Topiary

This is my second-most favorite centerpiece. I turned the larger Trellis Plant Holder (pg 72) upside down and added a few sprigs of greenery. Then I placed the bunny topiary I had previously created on top. Finally I hung small crossed on the sides of the larger plant holder.

You can view the details of these products and more on my SLAH website - www.southernlivingathome.com/carmellafryar. Click Our Products to the left and then BROWSE.

Love the products you see? Why not host a home, catalog, or blog party with me to get them for FREE! Be sure to contact me and ask how you can get our Jackson Square Tray (pg 60) FREE this month!

In the Weeds

Have I mentioned that we have a weed problem this year? We put out pre-emergent. We sprayed weed killer. We pulled weeds. I swear the weeds are just laughing at us and taunting us with "Is that all you got?"

There is a bothersome patch of dandelions in the back corner of the yard. They were sprayed last week and DH and BBC were back there pulling them last night. BBC discovered this sweet little surprise in the weeds...

The poor thing was then totally tortured by BBC - not in a mean way but in a sweet way. It sat still the entire time we were out there. BBC kept going on in a high-pitched baby-talk voice - "Aww - he's so cuuuute!", or "Poor wittle thing", or "Where's your momma and daddy?". BBC even touched it (against my strong urging) and let us know "Awww - he's so so soft."

We went in for dinner and when we came back out it had moved on - thankfully. I'm glad curiosity didn't kill the bunny. I was afraid BBC would cause it to have a stroke or something.

Speaking of being in the weeds...I am supposed to be finalizing my taxes today and I'm out here stalling. You all are so much more fun! OK - back to work I go...

Hours of Fun

I'm wrapping up taxes which is a lot of office work so to keep BBC occupied all I have to say is "Wanna Paint?"! This boy will paint twelve ways to Sunday. One of his favorite ways to paint is with...

Marbles!
See how he meticulously places them on the paper.

(BTW, like his studio? I figure I'm going to have to scrub in here anyway so might as well let him go crazy - right? I do take up the rugs before turning him lose!)

Shake!

Voila - Masterpiece!

I Caught It

And yes it is still probably contagious. I bet if you hold out long enough you can even catch it at a discount. What am I talking about? The Pier 1 Bunny on a Stick Fever, of course!

Can you believe the adorable little things are just $2 at Pier 1 this year? I've been back multiple times and will probably try to hit them up on clearance as well. They are so cute you can even find a whole party in their honor over at Grits and Glamour!

This was the first, lonely one I bought. He makes such a cute topiary, don't you think?

And then after finding inspiration over at Between Naps on the Porch I decided to craft this for the front door. I wanted to keep it on the cheap by using items that I had on hand for the most part. I did get the flowers on sale at Michael's last week. I still like hers a little better so I will either be tweaking this or replacing soon after Easter.

Slow But Sure

We made a decent amount of progress in the den over the weekend. I sanded and primed trim work in there thinking I was going to go with a deep brown but I really like how the white looks so I think I'm going to play it safe and consistent with white. Still undecided on built-ins and beams. Those will be addressed later.

We also got the walls painted. DH and I make a great team. He prefers to roll and I prefer to cut in. A match made in heaven! DH doesn't think it is much of a change but it is so much lighter and brighter in there!

The walls were a Ralph Lauren Suede treatment which is flat with a sandy texture that mimics the look of suede. The new color is Martha Stewart's Welcome Mat in satin finish. I love the soft sheen and it seems to give the walls more life. PLUS it is easier to clean up after our very active and creative boy! What finish do you prefer on your walls?

Confessions

Let me first start with a pretty picture. Aren't spring blooms one of the best gifts from God? And they are a picture of one of the best gifts of all - new life! This is my attempt to capture the beauty of my neighbor's red bud tree without the fence and I think it turned out kinda artsy - don't you?

Anyway, have you noticed I haven't posted a single thing about my project progress from spring break? That's because I don't have anything to report back, yet. The fabric is still leaning - against a different wall - but still leaning. The closet is still a mess. And forget about the dining room project.

And since I'm confessing I have even been behind on housework. I found my counter tops and breakfast table again today. They were buried in clutter as well.

I could give a list of excuses as long as my arm but decided instead I would just confess, repent, and move forward - ha! Planning for a productive weekend and lots of fun stuff to share next week!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Exciting News!

This blog is about my life and the fun things along the way. So how could I not share the fun and excitement I experience through Southern Living at HOME?

March was just an amazing month for business for my team (thank you, LORD)! We promoted to Director team - woo hoo! We added 5 new members to the team. And we gave away over $5000 in FREE products to our March hostesses!

And now it's official - DH and I will be vacationing here in June for FREE! Our tab will be picked up by Southern Living at HOME!!! Isn't that exciting? The General Incentive trip is so much fun!

Want to learn more about how you can earn some of those FREE products? Or take a look at our fabulous opportunity and earn your own FREE vacation? Check out this post to learn more about the benefits and then let's chat to see if this is a good fit for you!