Thank you

Thank You,

It's another new year for me. Happy Birthday! And a full moon to boot...I got some new gel nails, a new hair color and a new pedicure to start me off right.

You see at the beginning of the year I said "this is going to be my year." Of course I have said that for, hmmmmmm, at least, one, two, three...OK, a lot of years now. Not just these past four with the 5 surgeries because there have been many struggling times in my life to go along with the good ones. But today, I've decided to change the day that I say it...

"THIS IS GOING TO BE MY YEAR!"

But you know...just being here and making it through the last 4 years, because they rank right up there at the top of difficult times. OK, be truthful here...these last four have been the toughest of my life. There, I said it. And making it to another birthday really says something to me.

You can use all the sayings, hang in there, keep your chin up, etc. but to continue on...to get past the moments where you just want to crawl under the covers and never come out...to have the guts to kick adversity, and yourself in the ass and say "GET GOING" is what it's all about for me.

So today, on my birthday, I thank you God and all your helpers above and on earth, who continue to nudge me along in life and give me the courage, strength and blind faith to live life to the best of my ability, with what I am and what I have, with no regrets!

Thank You!

Love, Tia

Red's Rockin' Shore's Red

Hey Everyone, I just had to include this fabulously fun color that I did today at Tia'Spa in the Belle Isle Inn.

The owner of this color, her name is Red, is fabulously fun herself so the color fits her to a t! We change the colors up with each color to keep things fresh.

5 generous sections were pre-lightened with bleach to a level 10, separated by papers.

The pre-lightened hair got a semi-permanent magenta color and were again separated by papers.

On the rest of the hair I use a combination of three bold, low-ammonia reds to give Cabernet depth, cranberry brightness and copper flash and believe me, the pictures don't do the color a bit of justice.

Not every color has to "jump out at you" but every color needs to work for the client's needs and remain healthy and shiny. Low ammonia color, like the one I use, allows the hair to remain healthy during deposit and is only productive for use when the color company's molecules are extremely tiny and able to fit within the cortex after the cuticle has been opened. Chemistry...

Anyway, visit Red and her husband at Red's Rockin' Shore Pub for great fun, food, friends and music. Red even plays her guitar on a regular basis.

I love Macaroons

So I got up this morning before my hubby. Sunday morning, the only morning to sleep in in a looooooong time, and I'm up at 6:00 am. Seriously... So I make some amaretto coffee, check my farm (one of my clients needed a neighbor, Cindy, and now she's way back in the dust)and realize that I'm pretty darned hungry. I celebrated my Green Bay's Tia'Spa expansion with hubby last night. Had some Caberaz, my own decanted blend of Cabernet and Shiraz, and my killer guacamole, but forgot to have dinner.

Getting back to hungry! Hmmm, what should I make? It's one of those mornings; nothing that I see looks good. So I want to just "make something up." Great ideas seem to come to me when I wake up in the middle of the night or when I'm hungry and can't find anything I want to eat!

I scrounged around the cupboards and the only thing I saw that tripped my trigger was coconut. It mad me think of macaroons. But what, at 6:30 am, can you make with coconut, to eat for breakfast?

But of course...Macaroon Bread Pudding!

I got to mixing up the ingredients as follows

Place into a small oven-safe bowl
4 slices of whole wheat bread torn into small chunks
1/2 cup of sweetened coconut

Place into a microwave-safe bowl
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
Microwave the following until the butter is melted stirring often

Beat together
2 jumbo or 3 medium eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract

Pour the egg mixture into the milk mixture, stir well, then pour over the bread and coconut.

I popped the dish in the toaster oven on convection at 350 for 30 minutes (yes the toaster oven.) The smell of almonds and coconut filled the entire Inn, waking up my husband.

I decided to make a Rum glaze and put into my Pampered Chef sauce pan
1/4 Cup Sailor Jerry spiced rum
1 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
2 Tablespoons butter
Bring to a boil, stir until thickened and clear then pour over the bread pudding.

I figured this recipe would serve 4 but it was so good it only served two. We sure enjoyed it and I hope you do too!! I can hardly wait to serve it to the guests at the Belle Isle Inn!