Give Me My Traditional Holiday Foods!

October 31st was a very exciting night.  No, not because of cute children dressed up in adorable costumes stealing, I mean asking for, my candy. In fact, we did not have even one trick-or-treater!  So now you are thinking October 31st was an exciting night because I still have the candy I bought!  Actually, no, I need to give it away so I don't eat it. 

I was excited that night because as I laid in bed  watching TV (yes, I have to have the TV on to go to sleep) the first holiday commercial came on!  I know, I know...it doesn't take me much to get excited. But why not love and celebrate life's little things? There are sooo many of them!  And that first holiday commercial announcing the holiday season has officially began is exciting.  If it doesn't excite you then you may have Scrooge in your family tree.

And while it doesn't take me much to figure out a reason to be excited and celebrate, it also doesn't take me much to get fired up.  Just ask Boyfriend...sometimes he pushes one of my hot issue buttons just to see if I will get into a debate.  I haven't learned my lesson yet because I always take the bait.  But I am good at debating and I defend my topic, no matter how small, with great passion.  Today, I defend the topic of traditional holiday cooking!

The holiday commercials that will be flooding our televisions in the upcoming weeks will have two main topics: gift ideas and FOOD!  And not just any kind of food, they will be advertising holiday food and the ingredients to make stated food.  We are talking pumpkin, whipped cream, cream cheese, green beans, potatoes, turkeys, hams, chocolate, nuts, dressing, cranberries....ohhhh I can just smell Thanksgiving morning now!  And the reason why I know what Thanksgiving morning smells like is because it always smells the same because of the traditional dishes.

But recently I am hearing from many of my friends planning anti-holiday meals.  Apparently the latest trend is to eat something different for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Supposedly people are sick of the traditional fare and want to do something different.  I don't know what they are eating all year but I only get these kind of meals twice a year at these two holidays.  How can you get sick of something just after eating it twice or even several times during the holiday season?  

Be warned though, if you are coming to my house for a holiday be prepared to eat the traditional meal. Because y'all, these foods go way beyond just eating them, it is the family history that these dishes represent.  To us Southerners, and hopefully to y'all Northerners too, the stories of family members present and those that are passed are in those dishes.  Being a family of story tellers, those dishes evoke memories and stories around the holiday table.  My family has my grandmother's cornbread dressing, my mother's gelatin salad and deviled eggs, my Aunt Martha's pumpkin pie, my Uncle Tommy's turkey and meat carving ability, my cousin Jenny's corn dip, my green bean casserole, my cousin Christy's broccoli rice casserole, my Aunt Margaret's ambrosia...the list goes on and one. Of course we add new dishes regularly but many of the basics make their yearly appearance sometime during the holiday season.  Even the new dishes are in line with what is traditional. These dishes are just a part of the holiday season that for me is part of the formula that brings up the feelings of home, warmth, comfort, and family.  Breaking tradition for BBQ or Chinese food just wouldn't be the holidays for my family.

Of course, do what you would like to do but there is something to be said about the peace that tradition brings especially in the upcoming months.  I, for one, am looking forward to these familiar smells and repeating the same stories with enthusiasm.  As for serving other types of foods, I will save the other 363 days for being different. And as for commercials,I am still waiting for the Hershey Kiss Jingle Bell commercial...another great tradition!

My Perfect Pamper Day

I dropped Magnolia off for a "spa day" today.  And even though her name tells the world that she is a Southern dog, Magnolia does not enjoy a day of pampering the way most Southern Belles do.  But then again if someone put a muzzle and harness on me to shave me and then lock me in a cage until I was suppose to go home, I probably wouldn't appreciate a "spa day" either. Thank goodness human spa days are not like that, otherwise, spas would go out of business.

Lately I have been on full non-stop go mode so it is definitely time for a little restoration time which is evident by my constant viewing of salon type websites.When my friend John would get stressed out, he would have a "Be Good to John Day" and fill the day with his favorite activities. The activities did not have to be elaborate, it could be just drinking a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop but it was a day of low stress and no commitments. I loved the concept and during grad school would do a few of those days for myself when things would get hectic.  I still try to make sure I do these days often but lately I have fallen behind. No worries, I have the best day planned!

This morning as I got ready for work, I created my dream pamper day.  Even just thinking about my "Be Good to Casey Day" made me feel more energetic.  You know you want to read what I am talking about! So here it is and it will be coming to yours truly very soon!

Dream "Be Good to Casey" Pamper Day

Start the day lazily waking up and drinking coffee on my patio.

Head to Cafe Salon for hair wash, cut, and style (I want it all)

Light lunch somewhere (a salad at Newk's or something similar)

Make my way over to The Nail Shop for a mani/pedi (hard day right?)

Still have time to get a massage...but where?

End the day with a glass of wine on the patio....ahhhhh....don't you love my day? What is yours? You know you want to plan one!

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!