I’m a girl who loves a great party! Yes it’s true, and I have a pair of children’s roller skates to prove it. A gift given to me by the class of ‘93 (go easy on the math) when they voted me class Social Butterfly!
Parties are a big part of Gracious Living and tonight I take my love of entertaining to the virtual world where I will co-host a twitter Partay, during Oprah’s Oscar Special (ABC 10/9CST), with one of my favorite tweeps @Hoo_dee_Hoo (In the carpool line, Meredith Sinclair). For me and Meredtih, this is our first time hosting a Twitter party and we’re loving the planning process!
The Oprah Store has generously offered to give these adorable jammies to the winner of the Oscar Special Fashion Award for Best Jammies . Yes, we’re asking you to take a quick pic. of you watching the show in your favorite jammies (twitpic is great) and send it to @monthlymanner, @hoo_dee_hoo or using party #Ooscarspecial.
Aside from the fun Oprah Store giveaway, we will also be joined by some fun and funny Harponians, two of the special’s producers Jon Sinclair and Sheri Salata, who will be sharing cool behind the scene tweets about the filming of the special!
So pour yourself a glass of vino, slip into your jammies (take a pic) and join us in the twitterverse for sO (get it O) much fun!
Here’s how it’s going down…
Time: Tune it on ABC and Twitter At 10 P.M. EST/9 PM CT (if you’re local Eugene, swing by Taylor’s Bar and Grille where we will be watching it at 7:00 PST… come ready to tweet!)
How: login to your twitter account. We will be streaming under the hashtag #Ooscarspecial!
What’s a twitter stream? I’ll do my best to explain… When you tweet you use the #Ooscarspecialhashtag. See how I put it in my tweet below? The tweet being the white box under “What’s happening?”
To join the party and read all of the tweets, click on the #Ooscarspecial hashtag. See it where the arrow is?
That will take you to the party, or the page where it’s all going down. See the hashtags? This is how you know you’ve arrived at the party!
If you swing by the party, please say “hi!” we would love to know you’re there! I totally understand the whole wall flower thing, but really jump in and join in the fun! And, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!
So my boyfriend is coming to town (well not to my town) on Sunday and I can hardly wait. I call him Tall, Gold, and Handsome. You may know him by is given name, Oscar.
We kick off the award week tomorrow night with Oprah’s Oscar Special where we are co-hosting a twitter party with Hoo-dee-Hoo, and will be joined by Harpo Producer, Jon Sinclair, for a behind the scenes look at the special. Join us 9 PM Central Time or 10 Eastern Standard Time for the fun party. Your invitation to the event is #Ooscarspecial! We look forward to seeing you there!
Then on Sunday our family will enjoy dinner and a lot of movie awards! Traditional Academy Award’s cuisine calls for the “finer” things such as caviar, champagne and a beautifully cut filet. At our house, we take the finer tradition and make it a bit more down home, with a great cut of beef slow cooked to make a fantastic French Dip with a kickin’ horseradish twist!
Before Church or your Sunday morning festivities put the following in your slow cooker…
4 pounds all natural Chuck Roast
4 cups organic beef stock
2 onions sliced thin
4 cloves of garlic pressed
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 beer
4 TBS Steak Seasoning (Montreal Seasoning)
And cook on high for 6 to 8 hours.
An hour before Take the meat out of the slow cooker and set it aside. Carefully strain the juice from the slow cooker into a pot so to remove small pieces of meat and onion. Let the juice simmer for about 30 minutes on the stove top. Season with salt, pepper and or Montreal Seasoning.
With gloves on, shred the meat separating the good meat from the fat. Transfer the meat with a cup of juice back to the slowcooker . This will keep your sandwich from being too dry.
While the meat is stewing in the sauce make the horseradish mayo:
·2 Tablespoons grated horseradish
·1/4 cup mayo
·1/4 cup non fat Greek yogurt
·1 clove of garlic pressed
·Juice from 1/2 lemon
·4 - 6 drops of hot sauce
Assemble the sandwich start by toasting a fresh roll, spread on the kickin’ mayo, with tongs add the yummy beef and
Dip
Dip
In the juice that was simmering on the stove top. Enjoy! Happy Oscar Night everyone, enjoy every golden moment.
In three weeks my wonderfully adventurous friend Lizzie and I will set off for a 2000 mile road trip, there and back, to sunny Southern California.
I can almost feel the California sunshine,
taste an afternoon–I mean five-o-clock–cocktail and…
hear the howl of the Santa Ana winds.
Oh, wait. I thought that sound was all too familiar–that’s not a coastal wind–that’s the howling sound of our collective five children from the back seat of the S.U.V…
Because you guessed it. They are coming too.
This little adventure is going to be like Thelma and Louise with children. Well, sans the whole driving off the cliff thing (let’s hope) and the tryst with a rugged, very fit, Brad Pitt aka J.D.–Oh dear, did the pang of disappointment come through? No? Nevermind.
Anyway, the Lockard ladies are going to be brushing up on our trip manners so that I don’t have to ask my dear friend Lizzie sign a pre-tripial agreement. You know, the agreement where she promises to be my friend after the trip despite emotional outbursts from the Lockard ladies–I mean Elle and Maggie–excessive talking about Barbie Diamond Castle or in the unfortunate case that we encounter the perfect storm: me in the morning, miles of empty highway, and no a Starbucks in sight.
Travel sometimes brings out the best and the worst in us, and figuring out those trip manners is very important–yes that means packing Starbuck’s VIA. Every year, March’s ManneroftheMonth.com (available 3/15) covers travel etiquettes and the simple ways to make the most of getaways. Perfect time for our family, and I’m pretty sure, Lizzieand her entouragewill be most thankful! So will you help me with this manner and take a quick moment to fill out the following…
In the spirit of this Month’s Manner “Dudes with Decorum” I bring you some tales from the trenches. And by trenches I mean elementary school cafeterias and Fraternity houses. Over the years I’ve come to learn that there is a misconception that boys/men don’t care for etiquette the way girls do.
BEEEEEEP! What’s that? Why that’s my Gracious Living game show buzzer.
Or another way of saying, I strongly disagree. I actually find boys and young men to be VERY receptive to the information–that is when it’s presented in a way that engages them. Yes, fifth grade boys will still ask “What If” questions like, “So, What if a man doesn’t have any legs, then does he have to stand for an introduction?” and you do have to be careful not to explain how to seat a woman in a chair, to a room of 5o fraternity men, by saying, “You slide it in and then she will take it from there…” WHAT? Did I really say that? Yes. Way back when, I unintentionally described “pushing in a chair” THAT way. Needless to say, I quickly brought the topic back above the waste line–not without several glazed over eyes, and a lot of lower octive laughing– and moved on to less risky topics. Like, eer, the napkin.
No, but really. I beg you! Don’t give up on the dudes small and tall in your life! And most importantly, please don’t be afraid to make manners fun - even if it means going a little Arsenio Hall fist pump on them… Who’s Arsenio? Oh you sweet young thing… here you go!
And if you don’t believe me that dudes will engage and learn from manners? Well, then, take it from them…
From a University Student. Name and details not important.
My name is XXXX XXXXX and I am the new Member Education Chairman of XX XXX XX Fraternity at the University of XXXXX. One of the best educational pieces that I can recall during my sophomore year occured when I had the privilege of attending your lesson on etiquette.
I was hoping to have you come back to our chapter once again in the future.
You can contact me by e-mail at…
Best,
XXXX XXXXXX
This isn’t in any way a post to say, “They like me, they really like me!” but to say “They like manners, they actually really like manners! So GO team, let’s get our arms out for a little WOO! WOO! WOO!
Oh and we’d love to have you join in the fun with February’s Manner!
Lately there has been a common theme with many of my clients: dealing with situations where they have been offended. In my programs and one-on-one instruction we have worked very hard to find the manners to approach those who have wronged them and delve into building self confidence to rise above the noise of repeated unkind (or what I call unhappy) behavior.
With this on my mind, you can imagine how my ears perked up Sunday when our church sermon was on the word Magnanimous. Magnanimous–not to be confused with another important (at least in our house) word Monogamous–was defined by our pastor as the power of the rising above pettiness, living noble in mind and spirit, and being generous in offense.
What a gracious word. Not to mention, I like how it rolls off the toungue Mag-na-ni-mous! Just imagine how beautiful the world would be if we all lived with a spirit of abounding grace and generosity of mind? Although the journey to Magnanimous isn’t easy, once we arrive it’s a wonderful place to be. I’m heading there. Can I swing by and pick you up?
