Lessons from the farm and garden

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / February 18, 2018 /

I used to think the worst chore in the world was helping Daddy with his garden, so now, using the rule of what goes around, comes around, I’ve decided this is the year I’ll make a garden of my own. All these years, I’ve had the tiny required Southern lady small containers of tomatoes, a…

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Back to Birmingham!

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / February 16, 2018 /

  Its back to Birmingham for the second weekend in a row! What better place to be than in one of my favorite cities? It’s a BIG city to me, and I sound like a complete country mouse when I talk about the traffic there— although, I’ll have to say the drivers may be numerous,…

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Banging the bladders — a Mobile tradition!

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / February 5, 2018 /

Now admit it, isn’t this the cutest picture you’ve ever seen of me with cow bladders drying over my head?   Let me just say, I loved biology class, so this story didn’t bother me in the least. I also love the pageantry and tradition of Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, so to be invited…

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Birmingham, finally!

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / January 16, 2018 /

Not to bore you out of your gourd with more book things, but this is such a crazy learning experience for me and I have such good news!  Writing a book is totally different from marketing and selling a book. A publisher only does so much and I have to do the rest, which of…

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College — what are you going to do about it?

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / January 12, 2018 /

I’m starting to gear up mentally and otherwise for sending my youngest off to college next fall, so I’ve been thinking about when we dropped our oldest off (wasn’t it just last week?). We were truly shocked to learn other parents were hanging around the campus for days helping to “decorate.” Then, on social media,…

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Atlanta bound? Home of the best greens ever!

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / January 5, 2018 /
Collard Greens recipe

Who would have thought the home of Scarlett O’Hara would give us the best-tasting collard greens ever . . . courtesy of a Mexican restaurant? I hate to admit it, but I haven’t always like collard greens. They were always too slimy or too bitter. I know, my Southern-ness is questionable now because I’ve also…

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Organized or Obsessed? New year’s planning.

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / December 29, 2017 /

Speaking of the new year . . . here’s a photo of my neatly organized drawer of calendars from over the last few years. Okay — over the last 14 years to be exact. Snuggled in the drawer next to my hankies (see the Christmas hankie?), they sit, year after year, records of meetings, parties…

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Follow the Star party

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / December 20, 2017 /

  The year I thought I would definitely win the Mother of the Year award, I decided to secure the trophy and crown by throwing a little Christmas party for my boys. I convinced my husband to dress up in an old Mardi Gras tunic and tie a folded tablecloth around his head to make…

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A real Charlie Brown tree

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / December 13, 2017 /

I can freak out over a Christmas tree like no one else. Other things may get (literally) swept under the rug, but for some reason, my tree has to be perfect. I poke and fluff each branch daily up until about 11pm on December 24th to make sure it is the loveliest tree of all.…

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All the details and a sparkly goat

By Leslie Anne Tarabella / November 17, 2017 /

  Finally, the weekend before Thanksgiving, and its just now cool enough to feel like fall. I was able to wear my boots to the Lighting of the Trees last night without feeling weird.  Actually, Bob and I avoided the (pushing) masses of the tree lighting and instead attended the very exclusive lighting of the…

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