Pretty Little Boxes

My biggest order yet on etsy!! One of my favorite things that I offer for sale in my store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/moonstonecircle

The customer had this to say, "...they are for a special event - I am the President of a women's organization that is having our end of year banquet soon and I needed gifts for my board members. I attended a banquet last year in Phoenix and saw dream boxes there in several stores but they all had a dark carved wood with an indian feel. I love the beachy feel of these and thought they would be a great end of year gift and to remind the ladies to "Dream Big". They are perfect and I can't wait to give them. Thanks so much!"

Hiking at Graveyard Fields

Blueberries EVERYWHERE!!

The cutest Mouse I have ever seen!

One day I found teeny little droppings on my kitchen counter. Well, needless to say I was super grossed out and proceeded to spray everything down with bleach. That night I was watching TV, David had already gone to bed. it was pretty late and all the dogs were sleeping. All of a sudden I see something scurry by. It scared me at first but I grabbed a big heavy blanket and went over to the ottoman that was in the corner where the small dark shadow had run underneath. I pulled it away real quick and there he was. The cutest, sweetest looking tiny mouse I had ever seen. He looked up at me with these giant, disney character looking eyes and my heart melted. He paused only for a second and scurried away.

After that, instead of being grossed out by the occasional found dropping, I was filled with a feeling of "Aw, I wonder if that cute little mouse is hungry?". Finally, yesterday morning Roxy was obsessed with the spare bathroom in the hall. I peeked inside and behold the little mouse had gotten into the bathtub and couldn't get out. I gave him a little dog food pellet and all fear of me disappeared as he happily chewed. I went into the recycling bin and scooped him up with an old plastic container. I couldn't believe how teeny, tiny he was. As you can see in the photo his body is not larger than my thumb! For a second I considered keeping him as a pet, but what an awful existence - to not be able to run free. Instead, I walked him all the way to the end of our property and set him free in a big field of grass. He hesitated for a second and then took off. I miss the little guy!

This morning I found a fresh batch of teeny droppings, even smaller than what I was seeing last week..... could there be a whole teeny mouse family living in my house? Are they wondering what the heck happened to their little brother? OMG I am a horrible, kidnapping, mouse family home wrecker!!!

Shrimp Ceviche Recipe

The tricky thing about this ceviche recipe is that a lot of the ingredients are put in to taste, no real measuring. But I will do my best to give the closest measurements possible.

2 lbs cooked shrimp

1 bottle of Tomato Juice

1 bunch of cilantro

1 large red onion

crystal hot sauce (or any louisiana style red pepper sauce) to taste

salt and pepper to taste

can of diced tomoatoes

lemon juice

lime juice

olive oil about a table spoon

Slice the onion as thin as you can and let it soak in very hot water for about 10 mins. Chop the cilantro very fine. In a large bowl pour in about 3/4 of the tomato juice, add the diced tomatoes, about one cup of cilantro, add the shrimp and onion. the rest is really to taste, I like it very citrusy so I add about 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1/4 cup of lime juice. You can add the rest of the tomato juice if you are feeding a big party but you must compensate with the rest of the seasonings so that it isn't bland and all you taste is the tomato juice.

There is one other ingredient, but it must remain a secret. Leave me a comment with your best guess, I will let you know if you are right......maybe.