Go Sweet 16!!!! Michigan State Basketball

MSU is a 2 seed the Midwest Region and all signs are pointing to a final four showdown at Ford Field for the NCAA Championships. The Spartans defeated Robert Morris Thursday (77-62) and USC in a bit of a nail biter on Sunday (74-69). Led by Travis Walton and his season-high 18 points, the Spartans put on a staunch unforgiving defense in the final four minutes of the game, holding them without a field goal.

Will the Big-Ten Champs be able to defeat powerhouse Kansas in the third round? I think Coach Tom Izzo has them pumping all on cylinders and the green and white fans are hoping that depth and experience are going to matter down the stretch.

Here is a stat that I love: "During his 14 years as the Spartans' head coach, every one of Tom Izzo's four-year seniors have advanced to at least one Final Four."

Here's hoping we'll be partying like it's 2000 again when all is said and done, those seniors and underclassman will be carrying on that tradition.

GO GREEN!

Fabulous Scallop Recipe!

Ok I have been hounded by my facebook friends for the recipe here it is. Simple, quick and tasty, ENJOY!

2 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. oil (I use olive oil)
4 tsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. grated lime peel
1/2 lb. bay, calico or sea scallops (I think we had about 14 large scallops)
Lime wedges for serving

Combine honey, oil, lime juice, lime peel. Pat scallops dry with paper towel and add to marinade.
Marinate, stirring occasionally, from 1 hour up to 24 hours. Preheat broiler. Arrange scallops and marinade in single layer in a glass baking dish. I used foil on the bottom.

Broil 4 inches from source of heat 4 to 7 minutes, depending on size of
scallops or until opaque throughout and lightly browned on top. Serve with lime wedges and if desired, and or hot crusty French bread to soak up the juices. Makes 2 servings. Recipe can be doubled, tripled, etc.

We used basmati rice and green beans any veggie would work well on the side.

New Ebay Templates in March

2 BRAND new template from the*pink*tulip! Click on the logos below to take you to the auctions.

Bras for a Cure

One of my boutique friends showed me this website. Members of Quilters of South Carolina have created one-of-a-kind bras for Breast Cancer Awareness. The exhibit consists of 49 original works of art which are unique, entertaining, humorous, and beautiful to make the public aware of breast cancer, to memorialize those lost to the disease, and to honor survivors.

I think my sewing friends need to do something similar. Click
here to see the rest of the fabulous designs!

Hooked on the Bachelor

Ok I remember the Trista and Ryan season years ago and have not watched in a while. I watched some last year with Deanna and Jason (whom she did not choose). Well since I heard ABC choose him as the new Bachelor, I have been waiting for the start of this season. He is a good looking single dad, and I married one of those, so I am sort of rooting for him to find true love. He seems like such a nice guy, has a three year old son, and has been unlucky in love so far. Will he meet the woman of his dreams? Only time will tell! So far I really like Jillian from Canada....I hope the cheerleader doesn't win! You can see the show and clips at ABC.com.

January busy month for the*pink*tulip!

January is one of my busiest months of the year as a graphic designer. People want to turn over a new leaf with fresh me pages, one of a kind store fronts, and I started to offer a new product in December, blog designs. I have done about 5 so far and they are a lot of fun to create.

For 25.00, you get a nice, fancy logo, two interchangeable backgrounds and complete blog set up on blogger with matching fonts and headers. Sounds like a steal right?

Here is the listing on Ebay :) You can click on the listing and see the samples I have done. Thanks for looking!

Lipstick Jungle No More?

Lipstick Jungle is the story of three working women in New York City. It's from Candice Bushnell, from Sex and the City fame. I am trying to figure out if this has been cancelled, NBC seems to keep changing it's mind...it was my new favorite show and I am a little ticked! Ok off to mail some lipstick to the NBC execs now!

If you like American Idol, check this out...

She is the 2008 winner of the X-Factor, which is the UK version of Idol. Alexandra Burke came out the winner and she blew everyone away the last three weeks of the competition. Her version of her hero Beyonce's Listen in the semi's made her the stand out to take the crown. To everyone's amazement, Beyonce joined her on a surprise duet for the finale and I bet there was not a dry eye in that venue. Look for her in the near future, she has an amazing voice.

Here is the semi-final performance:



The finale with Beyonce:

Snow fun!

It's all snow all the time in Chassell, Michigan. Alexa is thrilled with the ability to make snow angels on a whim, chase her brother and sister on the ice rink out back and have hot cocoa three times a day! Natasha and Trey are also spending lots of time shoveling and plowing with Kory.






We had a dazzling light and fireworks show over the pond also......

Meet Emily Dawn!

This is Kory's neice Emily, she is 15 years old and lives in Ishpeming, Michigan. She is a singer, actress and musician. She is trying out for American Idol this summer, and she has a quite a following on youtube.com...... and here is one of her renditions by Nelly Furtado which I just love.

The 12 days of Christmas Michigan style!

One the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me:

12 slices of bacon
11 glitter glue pens
10 Dr. Suess books
9 recees cups
8 rice krispie treats
7 candy canes
6 christmas cookies
5 golden barbies
4 hackey sacks
3 pair of pajammas
2 dancing care bears
1 13 foot tree!

MERRY Christmas from Chassell!

We had Kiril and his family up for a couple days. Trimmed the tree last night and Alexa got up at 6:00 to see what Santa Claus brought!

Trip To Dubai...Desert Getaway...

Here are some photos from our trip to the desert...we stayed in a wonderful resort called the Jumierah and got to go on a desert safari, camel rides and all. it was 85 degrees all week and a perfect little getaway from the rain in Holland. I highly recommend this place for any type of traveler.

Veggie Tales!

Kory built a nice little garden in our backyard and it yielded some big vegetables. Now we need to make salsa! Alexa loved pulling all the tomatoes off the vines.

Wine Tasting 101

We had the chance to go to a great wine tasting party Sunday in Wassenaar at an old Castle. They had vendors from Spain, France, South Africa, Italy and many others promoting their tasty vino. There were about 200+ varieties of wine to sample. Kory likes the reds and I like the whites. My favorite was a fruity white from France. We went with our usual group of friends. Then we went back to my friend Kelli's house and had Italian food. Enjoy the photos!

Halloween 2008

Alexa had her party on Wednesday at school, and they we went out trick or treating Friday night. I helped organize the class party with a couple other moms. She was Cinderella and Aurora.

Addicted to Oilily!

I cannot get enough of these clothes! Kory took me again to shop at the outlet mall in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. I bought a lot in Alexa's size, and I have some women's also, but I will list most of it on Ebay and see how I do. I should have over 40 NWT items in my store around Christmas, maybe in November if Kory goes home for a few days.




If you have any interest in anything before I list it, most everything is in a 4.5.6 (116, 128) size range. Email me at bspiroff7070@aol.com.

See my current OILILY LISTINGS HERE.

Learning Flash!

My husband has been helping me learn Flash, it's a very complicated graphics program. It takes a static logo and turns it into a moving, "breathing" entity. It uses animation and each specific action take several steps to create it. This is my first attempt, I also designed the Ebay store front. Just click on the logo to see more.

It's Fall!

Kory went home for a few days and took these amazing shots on our property in Michigan. I have never seen such color before! Too bad the leaves will be on the ground by the time we get there mid-December for Christmas. Had to throw the trout photo in also....enjoy!

What's Cooking?

We had a cooking class at a local restaurant call Me Gusto! on Monday night. We made Spanish tapas. Our chef led us to prepare 3 dishes in teams of two or three and at the end everyone got to sample our creations. We made Albondiagas (meatballs in tomato sauce), Little Ribs with Pimenton and Mini-Goatcheese Pies.