An Old Timey Thanksgiving

This year I’m thinking of doing Thanksgiving dinner the local, seasonal way. Trying to simplify these days…. So I started searching for the best farmers’ markets and local tucked-away co-ops and gardens using Local Harvest, and I found all of these really interesting food items located at markets across the country.

If you live near Buckeystown, Maryland, you should enjoy Nick’s Organic Farm that raises cattle and poultry and harvests vegetables such as white sweet corn, English peas, Acorn squash, white potatoes, basil, and tomatoes. Yummy! Can you imagine turning the clocks back to the Pilgrim days and trying to eat a little more like they did?

If you live in St. Louis, Missouri, there’s a “city farm,” the Villarreal Family Farm, located in a backyard that has grown into a booming business. From heirloom tomatoes to fresh eggs, this farm adheres to the “true growing seasons” and to “simple, traditional farming techniques.” Buying from this farm could resemble a little how the pilgrims did it in 1620. (By the way, the Villarreal family is trying to expand their little backyard farm – check out the article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.)

Unless of course you just can’t shy away from the other beloved American past-time. Stuffing yourself silly with turkey and pie (and, no, the Tryptophan in turkey is not the only sleep-inducer: that’s a myth!), then lying down on the couch for some football, has equal merit in my mind. This Thanksgiving, November 24, you can catch the following NFL football games on the tube:

  • Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
  • Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys
  • San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens
While on the couch, exercise your thumbs by emailing Thanksgiving ecards to far away loved ones. We love thise-card about Thanksgiving Golden Retrievers playing in the autumn leaves and pumpkin patch of an adorable farm with replete with cutesy red barn. I’d love to take a stroll on a breezy autumn day with these pups and eat a pumpkin pie afterwards.

No matter where you live or what you eat, we here at DoozyCards wish you a warm, loving, and happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween 2011

Halloween will be here in 4 days. I know getting my kids ready for their costumes can be overwhelming. My littlest is being a half dracula/half mummy, and my second oldest son is transforming into Iron Man for Halloween. There’s some great costume stores in our city, but I also like doing a little homegrown costume creating of my own.

Click on this link to see one of my favorite Halloween costume crafting tutorials. From Kermit the Frog to Winnie the Pooh, this crafting mom blogger, “BigDandMe” is such a creative mom. She gives some great tips on how to use ping pong balls for Kermit’s eyes, colorful felt feathers for a parrot costume, glued-on turquoise beads for a baby girl Sacagawea get-up; this mommy has got great tips!

How do you like to decorate your house for Halloween? I think it’s fun to turn my house into a full-blown spooky haunted house.

Fake cobwebs outdoors, sheets hung from the ceiling to look like ghosts, and spooky music playing in our study. When the neighborhood kids come trick or treating, I love to dress like a witch. This ecard basically breaks it down, how I like to do things at my Haunted Home on Halloween.

Mother-in-Law Day 2011

This Sunday, October 23, is Mother-in-Law Day. That means it’s the special day to celebrate your spouse’s mom. These women often get a bad rap. It’s a common theme to not enjoy time with the in-Laws, but I would say deep down most of us actually really love our Mom-in-Law. She’s that lovable woman who is a great cook. She is a good wife and mom. She loves your kids. You go to her home and talk about furniture or crafts. Whatever you enjoy doing with her, this is her day to send her a card to let her know how you feel.

There are many different types of Mothers-in-Law:

  1. The ones that think they still change their son’s diapers.
  2. The wealthy and aloof woman who is never to be seen but always sends postcards and exotic gifts from Kathmandu and Paris.
  3. The warm and friendly Mother-in-Law who is right there to help around the house and with the kids and brings over a casserole once a week.
  4. The lady who insists “I’ll run your house for you.”
  5. The real battle-axe.
  6. Your best friend with whom you get along swell!
  7. The Mom who has some kind of a bizarre relationship with her son where he washes her underwear for her. (We’re afraid to ask much more about this one.)
  8. There’s the Gorgon, aka the Dragon Lady, whom we hate to mention and who has given this holiday a bad name.
  9. And lastly, there’s the type of Mother-in-Law who is a moral compass and a pillar of strength. Think Barbara Bush crossed with Mary Tyler Moore and a splash of Hazel.

Doozy has a category of cards dedicated to this holiday – a day which was commemorated only nine years ago in 2002. Here is a beautifully animated card for your Mother-in-Law featuring white doves and red roses:

Click on this link to be directed to another card, this one humorous, for your spouse’s Mom whom I’m sure deserves some laughter. Though we can’t all afford the full spa treatment – cucumbers on the eyes, steam from the sauna, mud wraps – we can still send her an e-card with a pamper-yourself sentiment.

A Doozy Love Story

We got the most wonderful email from our customer Pam. Her story begins in February of 2010 in Swansea, England. Pam met a man, Ira, through an online dating service, and it just so happened it was Ira’s 50th birthday.  She took a courageous step and emailed him our Dumptruck Full of Candles ecard:

Reaching out to this new love interest proved to be very lucky for her! Pam told us he was really amused and touched when he received the card.  Well, the pair continued talking, eventually met in-person, and began seriously dating.

A year later, Pam and Ira were engaged. She recently reached out to us and relayed her story, and when we heard it we were all really touched! Pam wanted a digital image of the ecard so that she could give it to Ira as a memento they could both hold onto and cherish for life. Pam was nice enough to tell us that the Dumptruck Full of Candles ecard “no doubt contributed to the formation of our initial friendship and romance.”

We couldn’t be happier with the outcome of Pam’s and Ira’s story. Here is a picture of their wedding and the happy couple in present day.

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations Pam and Ira on finding love.

 

 

 

Champagne and Cake: The Joys of Summertime Weddings

Ahhh the joys of summer weddings. Wedding Cake, champagne, and dancing. I love diving into a chocolate groom’s cake with a glass of bubbly! At New England weddings I wear a hat and enjoy the boats in the marina. In the South, I fan myself and drink a mint julep.

There are, of course, downsides to summer weddings. Mosquitoes, sweltering heat and not to mention expensive plane tickets, gift registries, and cocktail dresses! When I can’t afford to fly across country to wish my friend her best on the big day, I send her one of our animated wedding ecards.

Summer weddings make me think of some great old timey wedding songs, like Going to the Chapel by the Dixie Cups, or Today I Met the Boy I’m Going to Marry by Darlene Love. Here’s a great link to a 1967 video of Dionne Warwick singing Burt Bachrach’s Don’t Make Me Over. There’s nothing like a black and white video from a bygone era with a swooning voice! Puts me in the mood for love!