State of Grace

grace noun \ˈgrās\
a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification
b : a virtue coming from God

Webster Dictionary

"...the strength that lifts us when our tiny walls merge with that stream of being is the sacred luminosity we experience as GRACE." --- Mark Nepo

This is a page from my journal that I created for YOU to print and add your own "State of Grace" statement in the lower right hand corner. Write your own or use a lyric from your favorite song. In my current situation, I am trying to come in to my own as an independent, adult woman and I felt drawn to this song:


"I am unfinished,
I am diminished,
With or without you."
~Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

What lyrics speak of GRACE to you ?

xoxo
Her LadyMess

Wine-Down Wednesday: Fusion Red

Happy Wines-day, Winos!
I have to give props to a St. Louis wine boutique Garland Wines for introducing me to this little beauty!

The Trinity Ridge 2009 Fusion Red
It is smooth, JAMMY, berry-licious, with a hint of smoke! It smells divine on the nose and finishes richly on the palate.I can't find a grape breakdown but I certainly pick up a Syrah/Merlot/Zinfandel friendship in there. I would buy a case of this wine if I were you! The last time I felt this strongly about a California red was the Fess Parker Syrah I bought a case of in back 2009. I love a red that punches me in the face and lets me know it's there. The Fusion Red does this, and yet goes down so smoothly. I was UBER impressed.

To order a case, contact Garland Wines at http://www.garlandwines.com/eMerchantPro/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=199&idproduct=698

To Joy and Jesus Juice!
xoxo
Her LadyMess

Holiday Greetings from Her LadyMess!

What is it about the holidays? I play Christmas music 24 hours a day, baking is suddenly a must-do, and the dark nights are lit up with little lights that glow with warmth and magic. My inner child comes out to play during this time and I am constantly tickled at seeing what she has to have to make her holiday season BRIGHT!

1) Everyone needs a tree! I don't care if it is a baby tree for your coffee table... it doesn't even have to be real! I also have a cool wrought iron one with antique decorations of the twelve days of Christmas (Okay, it's my mama's. She let me borrow some classy decorations for the apartment I am currently residing in because it looked like Beetlejuice's apartment when I moved in - everything was black and white and I mean EVERYTHING. So, if you can change it, DECORATE it!)





2) Baking! Now, I am not much of a cook, but I do love to BAKE! During the holidays, everyone seems to say "I care" through yummy treats! Let's do a combination of naughty and nice, shall we ?

NAUGHTY: My Mama's Chocolate Sheet Cake
It's great frozen too! My personal favorite way to eat it! Make it the day before so that the icing soaks into the cake and then freeze it. It's ridiculous! Oh, and you have to lick the spoon! I used to love cleaning that bowl when my mama was done. Ah, memories :)

Joan’s Chocolate Sheet Cake

1 cookie pan with sides – spray with Pam and set aside

Sift 1 and 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Bring just to a boil:
1 stick margarine
1 cup cold water
6 tablespoons of Hershey cocoa
Remove from heat
Add to dry mixture blend well and add
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Add ½ cup sour milk (*Add 1 teaspoon vinegar to ½ cup milk (use 2 % or whole milk)
Mix well

Pour onto prepared cookie sheet and tap cookie sheet a few times on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake @ 350 for 30 minutes. Check cake after 25 minutes. Middle should spring back when touched.

Prepare icing 5 minutes before cake is done. Pour over cake when cake comes out of oven. (Icing will set up fast)

Icing:
Begin making the icing 5 minutes before the cake is ready to come out of the oven.
Melt 1 stick margarine
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 box (1 lb) of C&H powdered sugar
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix well with portable mixer
Should be smooth, not gritty J and be ready to pour over your cake.

NICE: My love affair with Trader Joe's continues! This gingerbread cake is DIVINE! It's rich in ginger and a hint of molasses. All it calls for in addition to the mix is water, eggs, and oil. So, to cut the calories, I exchanged the 1/2 cup of oil (BLECH!) to a 1/2 cup of applesauce. It also added to the moisture of the cake. Yum Yum Yum.







3) Lights ! Lights! Lights! I love coming home from rehearsal and plugging in my Christmas light! I enjoy keeping little white lights up throughout the year. It's ambiance, people! A lot of places sell CHEAP white lights or colored strands - and the ones that are attached to garland are even better! I have them draped over my giant mirror and one framing my free standing kitchen cabinet. You can also put them around window, doors, etc. Just PUT THEM UP! (Sorry...I'm yelling. I just get excited!)

4) Christmas Jammies!
Remember footy pajamas as a kid ? Or, if you are my sister, you will remember them as an adult. (I bought her some a couple of years ago for Christmas. Yes, Virgina, they DO make adult footie pajamas! If you are looking for some check out : www.jumpinjammerz.com)
I myself have been slipping into a bright cherry red Victoria's Secret flannel baby doll nightie. I got it last year and it's cozy! I just can't give over to a t shirt and boxer shorts. EW. I like feeling like a lady at all hours of the day. (Shocking, I know!) :P

5) Sounds of the season! My two favorite Christmas songs :

"I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" It might sound like a midget or creepy child is singing it... but it makes my heart happy! Never heard it? Take a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5vQgKRmnuU&feature=related

And the other would be Karen Carpenter's "Merry Christmas Darling". Too sentimental for you ? Will you enjoy it as a hilarious music video? You're welcome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR1ujXx2p-I

Let out your sillies and bring some holiday joy to your life and to those around you. It's NEVER too late to decorate. I tend to leave decorations up until my birthday... in February... I will not apologize for trying to prolong the holiday magic well after the new year!


xoxo
Her LadyMess

What's that I see?

Where?

Why! It's Her LadyMess on Twitter!

Debauchery to follow :)

Wines-day : Trader Joes

TRADER JOES!

If you are lucky enough to have one of these stores, you had best be utilizing them! Especially if you are a recession wino, like myself! This is the best way to taste some new things! They carry a plethora of different varietals that are totally affordable. I know people training to be sommeliers (fancy speak for wine stewards ... must I break it down MORE?? Okay, people that know the "Jesus Juice" up and down, in and out!) that buy a variety of wines here weekly just to train their palettes at an affordable rate!

Currently I am doing a show in St. Louis, and their location here sells some of my favorite labels at a GREAT price. (Ex. Bogle, Cupcake, Toasted Head, Mark West, etc.) They have some interesting new and diverse labels as well. Here were some new wines I tried this week :

The 2010 Honey Bunch Chardonnay It tastes just like it sounds... smooth honey with a vanilla finish. It does not bring oak nor butter to the table. It is a chardonnay that I think my sister and I could agree on! For $5.99 at TJ's I was skeptical, but it is a chardonnay to be tested. Especially if you are trying to expand, teach, and challenge your palate.

2006 Reves Priorat I was excited to try this red blend. It sounded like it was right up my alley. A blend of Carignan, Garnacha, and Syrah. YUM. Seems like it would be the "punch me in the face" red that I love... And when I check out, the gal said, "Oh! This is a good one not many people know about yet." So, I saved it as a special bottle to open ... wahWAH! Upon smelling it there was nothing rich about it - then the taste was nothing but tannins! It opened up eventually, but still not a wine I would buy again. After it was dacanted a bit I could pick up some chocolate and wood, but still rough. Previous to this bottle, I had only seen carignan giving a small percentage to the blend. In the Priorat, it holds the most weight. Safe to say, my taste buds would rather the Carignan as an chorus girl : There to support, not to lead.

One that I did fall head over heels for this week was the Spiral Wines Cab Sav! Rex and Goliath used to be my favorite "bang for your buck cab" around, but I was TICKLED with this! It tastes like a blackberry velvet cake. Oh, have you never had a dessert like that before ? Neither have I until this wine! AND I didn't have to waste a billion and a half calories when I devoured it. During the holidays, we have to make choices. I would rather enjoy a GREAT glass of a jesus juice with strong characteristics, than a mediocre dessert that leaves no impression! Unless it is my mama's chocolate sheet cake, my friend Aaron's gooey butter cake, or Graeter's ice cream ... then all of my rules go out the window :)
xoxo
Her LadyMess

Once!

I am obsessed with this new show on ABC. I am a Disney princess at heart. My ten year old girl self has never left me and this show is appeasing me as an adult! GET INTO IT!

It inspired this collage in my journal :

The excerpt is from Goldie Hawn's autobiography "Lotus in the Mud". I judged the cover of the book, but her message is lovely.

Lady Reads: Journey through Womanhood

"This book celebrates our multilayered lives. Imagine a family or a group of women all the roles represented in this pages relaxing around a kitchen table. What an enriching scene for all concerned. The energy and innocence of one generation interacting with the maturity and wisdom of the others, feeding each other, nourishing each other, the women interrelating to create a richer, better whole. And then envision all the roles represented here being naturally internalized within each person present. This is not a vision of an ideal world. The experience is here and now. All we have to do is look for it, recognize it, and work toward it." ~ Tian Dayton, Ph. D.

This is what I want for all women. To stop the caddy, back handed judgement that can go on between us, and sit across from each other, differences and all and
DISCUSS. SHARE. SUPPORT.

We all have our own experience, baggage, outlooks, etc. Why not LISTEN to each other and RESPECT each other. We can't experience everything in one lifetime. So, why not share with each other with open ears and open hearts and live through each other; with each other? Wouldn't that be a nicer world to live in ?

This book breaks down every role we meet as women into prominent archetypes: The Virgin, the Huntress, the Warrior, the Lover, the Wife, the Mother, the Martyr, and the Wise Woman. Then, the book gives a meditation/affirmation to work with. Each allow you to face, greet, and be at peace in the encounter. In the same way that this generation posed, "Am I a Carrie/Miranda/Charlotte/Samantha?" Thanks to "Sex and the City" women were able to feel validated their thoughts and emotions because they were able to relate to those characters at different points/situations in their lives. These archetypes in this book go further with that and it is fascinating! You will find inspirational and challenging messages no matter the path you are currently on. This book is KEY for every female and Her LadyMess says to put it on your Must-Reads this year :) xoxo

Lady Quotes

We've all heard the phrase, "Stop and smell the roses."


I'd prefer it to be, "Stop and put on your lipstick."

Lady Quotes