Remembering

Remembering and thanking God for all the heroes and heroic acts that were born of hate 10 years ago. As we move forward as a country, let's us respond to hate with even more love and support for our fellow citizens, families, and friends. Take a moment today to pray, love one another, and do an act of kindness or service to honor those that gave their lives and lost loved ones 10 years ago. God Bless Us All!

Are You Ready (for a commercial)?

This past Monday was a perfect day for me! I spent the entire day filming a commercial and that evening I attended a reception for a textbook release as a contributing author . Surreal day because both dreams were being lived all in one day - acting and writing!

The commercial opportunity came up when my supervisor popped in to my office last week and ask if my Alma mater would be terribly upset with me if I was cast in a commercial for Ole Miss.  All I heard was commercial audition and I was grabbing my purse before she could even really finish explaining what the commercial was about.  On Sunday I learned I was cast in the commercial and when I arrived on Monday I learned I had been cast as a student.  I feared all day that they would eventually realize that I was 32 and tell me that I was too old to be in my role. But it didn't happen. I guess they knew what they were doing after all and I got to be in five scenes. I figure I have a pretty good chance of being in the commercial even if four scenes land on the cutting room floor.

Being this is the first time (hopefully not my last!) that I have ever participated in the filming of a national commercial, I allowed myself to be a little starstruck and my camera phone was a huge help in documenting the experience.   I am told it will air during every televised Ole Miss Game - I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Sona (make-up/wardrobe) working with an actor on clothing choices. In the past, she has worked with Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line and Emma Stone in The Help. And now she has worked with Casey Cockrell in the Ole Miss Commercial (yes, that would be me!!!)

Director in front of the classroom scene. 

Director giving instructions in front of a very hot crowd (about 100 degrees at this point) in the Grove scene.

Setting up to film The Grove scene.

A commercial takes a lot of people!  Every location came with a team of people including security, make-up/wardrobe, production assistants, a producer, and directors along with a flurry of other people doing a variety of important things like driving "the talent" around on golf carts so we wouldn't get sweaty.  Yes, we were known as "the talent" which cracked me up along with my fellow actors. Oh, but we got use to it.....probably a little to use to it by the end of the day!

Not quite tailgating season yet....set for The Grove scene.  Beautiful display!

Fellow actors waiting between scenes.

Just had to take a picture of this centerpiece. Isn't it cool? Roses immersed in water!

More waiting....

This little girl was such a pro!  She isn't sleeping although she fooled all of us.  They filmed her as a sleeping child so they ask her to pretend. She didn't move for several minutes as they got the footage. I think they may have promised her a cupcake...

Isn't he cute?  I couldn't resist getting a pic of this little guy in his very stylish monogrammed outfit. He was one of many Ole Miss babies running around the scene.

Happy Birthday to My Sassy, Southern Mother!

We are very big on birthdays in my family. Honestly we are very big on any reason to celebrate.  Monday?  Let's celebrate!  You finished a mundane task at work? Let's go out to dinner and celebrate!  Friday? Oh yeah, definitely a cause for a celebration!  You get the idea.  We love an excuse to have a party, even a small one, so when real reasons for celebrations present themselves we happily embrace them.

This week is my mother's birthday week.   That's right not just a day, we dedicate a whole week to the holiday.  In the past I have tried, unsuccessfully, to get people to celebrate my birthday month but for some reason people get tired of telling me Happy Birthday every single day for a month.


With this week being my mother's birthday week, I have to really brag on how she inspires me. Not only has she instilled a love for life and celebrations in me, she has also given me a great perspective on age.  I have never once heard my mother say that she was getting old nor has she ever lied about her age.  She loves life at the moment she is in because this is her life at every stage and she doesn't want to miss a moment of it.  She sets news goals for herself every year and seems to only get better with age.  My mom laughs when she hears people complain about getting older because as she says, "There is only one alternative to getting older and that is death....so stop complaining!"  This year, my sassy mom and best friend turns 59 years young.  And her goal this year?  Well she has quite a few but all are aimed at making herself even better as she prepares for her sensational 60s!  Thank you Mama for your great attitude on life and for teaching me that youthfulness is an attitude and an energy - not a number.  You are an inspiration to me and others!  Happy Birthday and I love you!

Cake + Drinks= A Very Happy Birthday Cake!

Birthday Roses!

This napkin clearly expresses how the ladies in our family feel!

The Shrimp Alfredo Pasta I made for Mom's Family Birthday Dinner

I come from such an expressive family!

Two strong, amazing women in my life!

The chef for the night!

Don't bother me, I am thinking....about everything!

Faulkner borrowed Boyfriend's sunglasses

Recognize the title?  I love the movie The Christmas Story.  A week doesn't go by where I do not hesitate to find a good place to insert a line from that movie. I am constantly finding a poignant time to borrow a quote from Ralphie.  For example, I love's Ralphie's seriousness when he is trying to politely get rid of the childish characters who are bothering him while he waits for Santa Claus.  He tells them, "Don't bother me....I am thinking."  Like Ralphie I am constantly thinking. Unfortunately unlike Ralphie, it is rarely single focused. I wish for a moment that one thought, like Ralphie's quest for his dream toy, could consume me.  Okay so maybe a thought does consume me for a moment but then the clock ticks to the next minute and I am on to the next idea. Supposedly things are slower in the South but my thinking does not match the easy lifestyle. My brain is like a race car and my thoughts are constantly whizzing by. And sometimes I wonder if I forgot to get in the driver's seat!

Hanging Out with the Cool Kids

This summer I have had the opportunity to work with some seriously cool people.  Cool is a word use to describe many things and often a misnomer but not with this group.  They are counselors and live up to their occupation.  This group oozes calmness, reflectiveness, and insight.  I asked after our project was done would they please let me continue to "hang out with the cool kids."  They have no idea how much I have learned from them.

They are really into meditation and mindfulness.  Being in the moment is the way they live their life and they teach others how to do the same.  I am listening to them but I have yet to master their technique of being in the moment. As much I protest that multi-tasking is a cliche term made up by overworked, mindless professionals, I fall victim to trying to multi-task myself. This is a shock to me because I thought I was focusing on one task at a time.  I just didn't know that you were suppose to focus on one task more than 30 seconds!  Oh and my thoughts are even worse.  Boyfriend usually struggles to keep up in a typical conversation with me.  I start off with W topic but it naturally leads to X topic which then leads to Y topic which of course ends up at Z topic.  So while Boyfriend is still talking about the W topic I bring in Z without mentioning all the others I have thought in between.  Boyfriend just gives me a blank stare making me then have to go back and explain, "No Z is not random and here are my very logical sequence of thoughts that got me there."  However, blank stare continues as Boyfriend realizes confusion is a normal state of being when conversing with me.

My Scattered Attempt at Mindfulness
 
Another example, I was pumping gas the other day on my way to work and then thought about my cool kid friends and their mindfulness talent. I forced myself to focus on pumping gas. Surely, I can focus for the time it takes to pump gas!  I noticed the morning traffic and saw the yellow bug drive by with black smoke puffing out the back.  And thought, quite proud of myself, I would not even have noticed the black exhaust if I had not been practicing mindfulness. Not sure why I would need to notice pollution but at that moment I was feeling particularly deep in my acknowledgement of the small things in life.  I then looked over at the little flowers in the garden shop across the street. And then I thought how I have always wanted to go to that little shop especially in the Fall because I love Fall. Oooh, maybe I will go there this Fall and buy some mums. Then I can decorate my patio with mums and pumpkins and it will be so cute. Then that idea led to work events which were coming up in the Fall and  all the work I had to do for those events. But after Fall comes winter and I haven't quite recovered from my winter blues so then I thought I am not ready for winter let me focus on summer....and the thoughts continued. Boyfriend says my mind is a scary place. But can't you see how the topics are all connected? It makes sense to me. Faulkner was known for his stream of consciousness style of writing. Maybe I should just starting writing down all my thoughts in their sequence and I will win awards for my avant garde writing style.

But I really do want to become more grounded and focused. I decided a week ago to write about mindfulness because by writing about it, I would be forced to learn about it.  However being pressed for time, I decided I could  Google it and find a fast tip on how to quickly because a careful, deliberate thinker.  However, I don't think mindfulness and fast fix really go together do they? Therefore some time in the near future, I will be more reflective and steady my fast moving thoughts.  Maybe then I will be able to write about the topic with deep insight about how such discipline changed my life or even better maybe I will just become the next great writer like Faulkner.  Lofty goal, but these racing thoughts need to be put to work for me after all!  Blog post done...on to the next topic!

Deep thoughts with Faulkner

Me with my other racing thoughts friend

We talked about everything...he followed me from W topic to Z!

4 Lessons on the 4th

The Cockrell Girls at our 3rd Annual 4th of July Bash

After a long winter and many blog posts lamenting over the fact that I had cabin fever, I will say once again I am having a fun filled perfect summer.  It started off with a couple of beach trips and lots of family time to weekends either on the boat or in a pool.  So here we are at the half way point of the summer and while I can't say that I am quite ready for the weather to turn chilly any time soon, I can say that I am getting satisfied from my long list of summer activities. 

This past weekend was the third annual Cockrell Girls' 4th of July Bash and with a house full all weekend, it truly lived up to its name. We started off the weekend with the pre-parties with my family and friends heading to the Square for the Street Dance.  In between events, we spent lots of time at the pool, cooking, eating, laughing, and re-telling stories over and over like Southerners do.  Then on Monday, our home and sidewalk welcomed a party of 24.  We again cooked, ate, laughed, dodged the monsoon of rain outside, and created memories for more stories to tell (and re-tell) later.

4 Lessons I Learned During the 4th

4. A little or a lot of rain doesn't stop a party especially when the party has tents and laughter with good food waiting inside!

3. Give people a few drinks and party karaoke is born!

2. We live in an amazing country.  This weekend during many deep, philosophical conversations over wine, the topic would turn to current events or my favorite, politics!  In these friendly debates of various opinions we all agreed several times that our country is not perfect but it is a beautiful one and we are so fortunate to get to live here.

1. And most importantly, in my amazing country, I am incredibly blessed with countless family and friends. I am so happy that I got to celebrate another great 4th with so many of you!

Jessi, Jimmy, and Mom on the way to The Square

Me with my love on the way to the street dance

Pool Days!

Supplier of party karaoke

Party-goers Billy with grandson, Jackson

My beautiful mother laughing

One of many deep conversations

Party karaoke

Sweet friends

Being typical us...silly

Homemade ice cream!

Grown-Up Wine

The other day I mentioned to two of my colleagues that I enjoyed doing the blog posts on food so much that all I can imagine for future posts now involve food and recipes.  They suggested that I do my next few blogs on one of my other loves...wine. 

I responded, "Then people will really think I am a wine-o!"

Beth then replied, "Well it isn't like you are hiding your love of wine.  There are pictures of you and your mom with wine. You and your boyfriend with wine. You and your cousin with wine. You and your family with wine." I had to laugh at her very true observation.  I guess she had a point.


While I could care less about any other types of alcohol, I love wine because of the stories behind it.  I appreciate the experience of discovering a new bottle.  The process of selecting it and tasting it. You really savor wine and it is its own culture. However, I am far from an expert. I know what I like but why I like it and what I know about it would probably make most wine experts cringe.  But my friend, Josh, who is far more a wine expert than I am, explains to me that the wine world is embracing a new attitude.  Now it is more acceptable to just drink what you like and  not so much of sticking to the old rules. You know the rules, red with red meat and white with fish or poultry.  I never eat red meat but I like red wine so out with those rules! I will have my spaghetti with meat sauce (turkey meat) and red wine, thank you!

Still, writing on wine is an intimidating subject. People study wine for a lifetime and spend hours developing a heighten sense of taste to truly enjoy every aspect of wine. There is a language for wine and I just don't know all the words but I do know what I like.  And hearing this, Marla, encouraged me to write such a blog on just what I liked because she would love some new ideas of what to try.  Her sister recently told her that she needed to discover some "grown up" wines.  I am not sure that I would classify my taste as sophisticated enough to be grown up but I can make some suggestions. I am probably in the later adolescence of my wine development thus far so I can tell you what I like and why but don't expect the expert touch.

What I would fill my wine rack/wine refrigerator with if I had one: (feel free to buy one as a gift for me if you would like)

Barefoot Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc - This brand of  wine is always my good, inexpensive standby.  This brand has even won numerous awards and it is always consistently good!

Middle Sister Drama Queen and Rebel Red - I am really getting into the blends of wine lately and these two have quickly become my favorite! I would love to try the other ones but right now I think these are the only two in Mississippi. The website is a lot of fun too so check it out: http://www.middlesisterwines.com/

A to Z - I first tried A to Z Pinot Grigio at The Waltz on The Square in Oxford. I thought part of the reason I fell in love with this wine was from the atmosphere. I love The Waltz bar because sitting in the cozy yet cosmopolitan and artsy environment makes you feel as if you are about to walk out on a busy NYC street. You just feel happy...then again maybe it was the wine.  However, when I tried a bottle of A to Z at home, it was just as good and it was my introduction to how amazing Oregon wines are. Now this region is the home to my favorite wines. The only thing I don't like about A to Z is missing the cork experience.  It has a screw cap and I love the sound of opening a new bottle of wine. 

I recommend trying any of the Oregon wines. I haven't found one yet that I don't like.  Here is a website that I came across on the Oregon wine regions:
http://www.oregonwine.org/Discover_Oregon_Wine/About_Oregon/

Others I like and ones you can include when you buy me a wine fridge are:

Kendall Jackson

Yellow Tail

Hob Nob

Liberty School

Cupcake

Beringer

Francis Coppola

Eco Domani

Mirrassou

Naked Grape

Of course all of  the above is an inexpensive selection but I haven't reached the point in my wine development or my career development where I can afford much more expensive. If you would like to send money so I can review more expensive wines, feel free to do so.  Until then I will keep trying out the more inexpensive varieties.  I do have a lot more to learn and that means more to try!  I think I might need to go read a wine magazine with, of course, a glass of wine.  Cheers!

Weekend Breakfast

There is something special about weekend breakfast.  I love to plan a bigger breakfast to lazily enjoy on a Saturday morning. The weekend breakfast is a luxury that the rush during the week doesn't allow.  I know other families feel the same.  I have been in the grocery store on a Friday night and once overheard a father ask his children what did they want for their Saturday breakfast.  I could tell that the weekend breakfast was a special tradition the way the children excitedly responded with ideas. Although my favorite example of the weekend tradition has to be my good friend.  When he was living an hour and a half away from home during law school, he was known to wake up early and drive home on a Saturday morning. He would walk in to the kitchen just as his dad was starting the breakfast.

The following recipe has become my favorite go to recipe for breakfast or tailgating.  If you are having a large crowd this dish goes a long way and it seems to please everyone.  So much in fact that after I made it for my boyfriend's family they declared it a tradition.  Have a great weekend y'all!

Sausage Sin
1 pack of regular Jimmy Dean sausage
1 pack of spicy Jimmy Dean sausage
2 blocks of cream cheese
2 cans of crescent rolls

Brown sausage.  Drain grease after the sausage is done and then mix in the cream cheese.  Spray non-stick spray into baking dish and unroll the first can of crescent rolls on the bottom creating a bottom crust. Spread the sausage and cream cheese mixture on crescent roll dough.  Top with a the remaining can of crescent rolls. Bake at the temperature on the crescent roll package until top dough is done.