Thankful.

So very thankful.

When I woke up this morning, I thought....no, knew it would be a wonderful day, for I finally have the means to catch up my few bills so that I can be sure they stay paid on time, and replace my tires which now have 85,000+ miles.

It goes without saying that I'm ALWAYS thankful for my family and their continued good health, and the time I get to spend with them. But on the less obvious side of things, it is nice to be able to breathe a bit financially!

Song for today:

Volbeat: "Lola Montez"

So what did YOU think about when you woke up this morning? Come chat about it with us over at Coffee Chat!

Come hell or high water

I am getting a #MusicMonday post up in time this week!

Actually, does snow count? Because over the past week, we were under about THREE WHOLE INCHES of snow (but there was ice underneath that), causing me to miss a few days' work and therefore, not stay caught up on anything I needed to get done outside of the house. Which is kind of why this is late-ish (only it's not truly late because it is still Monday).

So Spank contacted me a few weeks ago about Motley Crue's Farewell Tour (for this decade) coming up this summer. Seriously, I thought they'd already done that back in the late nineties, but I guess I was wrong.

This was my absolute favorite band of my teenage years. I always made it a point to go see them whenever they were in town, I had all their albums, and had my walls plastered with their posters. Until recently, I had all my tour shirts from eighties (but that's another story for another post). I'm sure you get the picture. I used to be a pretty huge fan. My "fanship" of the band may have wavered over the years, but it wouldn't be right for me to not see them on their farewell tour. So I will be going. I believe the date is in August.

The song I'm sharing today is one of my all-time favorites by them. It wasn't one of their hits or singles and it's not off my favorite album, but I really loved this song because to me it seemed more bluesy and stripped-down than their others had been. I played this repeatedly throughout the entire summer of 1985:

Motley Crue: "Raise Your Hands to Rock"

Will you be seeing Motley Crue on their farewell tour this summer? Who WILL you be seeing this summer?

MUSIC MONDAY

Be There 2Day
My So-Called Chaos
Run DMT
X-Mas Dolly

I've been waiting for a long time

to gush about coconut oil, so today is the day I will do that via coffee chat!

(Photograph © Keira-Anne via Flickr's Creative Commons)

How do I love coconut oil? Let me count the ways!

• Health: heart-healthy, lowers cholesterol, boosts metabolism, fights infection, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, oil pulling for oral health, diminishes pain and appearance of spider veins, helps alleviate itching and heal insect bites, restores moisture to dry, chafed, chapped skin and lips
• Cooking/baking: dairy-free butter substitute, as an ingredient in power snacks, and COFFEE CREAMER!
• Skin Care/cosmetic: all-purpose makeup/eye makeup remover, moisturizer, ingredient in homemade lotion bars, homemade deodorant, homemade body butters and scrubs, in homemade sunscreen, homemade lip glosses/chapstick, etc., heals dry, cracked, calloused feet and heels

There's really so, so, so much you can do with it and I recommend checking out Wellness Mama's entire Uses for Coconut Oil post. It's very informative, and I love learning so much about natural and holistic alternatives for everyday items. I have already used it as a moisturizer on just about every part of my body, as a lip emollient, in a body scrub, as a mouthwash (oil pull) - I know it sounds CRAZY, but it will leave your mouth feeling so fresh and clean! - and also helps break down and prohibit tartar/plaque.

For a fun and decadent homemade pick-me-up, head over to The Glitter and Glam and try her homemade Honey Coconut Oil Mask. It will definitely make your skin feel amazing!

Coconut oil is relatively inexpensive, too, for all its uses. I was able to buy a 16 oz. jar of the Earth Fare brand organic extra virgin coconut oil for $9.99. If it's only one beauty and holistic item that I think every household needs, it's coconut oil.

What about love?

Well....it's certainly inspired lots of music over the years, and even I have a few favorite love-inspired tunes.

Here's a sappy one from the mid-80s:

Survivor - "The Search is Over"

And two that are a little more my speed::

The Scorpions - "No One Like You"

Blink 182 - "Rock Show"

But my FAVORITE of the bunch? This super-amazing cover of a super-amazing song...and it doesn't hurt that I was absolutely in love with early-nineties Mike Ness!

Social Distortion - "Ring of Fire"

That's all I'll post, but I'm pretty sure any song by Journey, Chicago or Air Supply would fit, too.

MORE MUSIC MONDAY

Be There 2Day
My So-Called Chaos
Run DMT
X-Mas Dolly

With the release of The Great Gatsby, do you think penciled-in brows will become a thing again?

Because I personally hope they do! Not only do I love the style, fashion, and decor of the roaring twenties, but the ladies were not afraid to pencil in some skinny brows! (though in the movie posters, the brows don't look all that skinny) And I have to pencil my own brows in. I always have. I may have been blessed with a head full of thick, coarse hair enough for four people, but what God giveth, God taketh away.

In my case, that means I got some thin, fragile, transparent lashes which point straight down and will not stay curled, and some sparse brows with baby-fine, colorless hairs towards my outer eyes. I've gotten to where I can pencil mine in and have them look semi-decent, but I would love to be able to use a heavy hand and obviously non-natural brows again without looking bizarre. The last time I was able to pull this off was in the late 90s when I hung around with mostly goths, many of whom also loved a drawn-on brow.

Since it's Music Monday, I headed to Amazon to check out The Great Gatsby soundtrack. Lo and behold, Jack White's "Love is Blindness" is the only song I really liked off the soundtrack, but it's already been featured on someone else's "Monday's Music Moves Me" post. Well, any excuse for Mr. White's music to grace my page again is valid, so here it is again for those of you who didn't catch it the first time:

So much for featuring a few songs from the soundtrack. Instead, I'll go to the actual 1920s for a few selections....and I'll also carry on with last week's theme of remakes. This was so much fun for me!

First up is "Wildwood Flower" by The Carter Family. I always assumed this was the original, but it's not. According to the song's Wikipedia page, it is "a variant of "I'll Twine Mid the Ringlets," written in 1860. The Carter Family recorded it in 1928.

Now, here's an AMAZING cover by Mike Ness of Social Distortion (from 1999's Under the Influences.)

And here's "Corrine Corrina" by legendary Delta bluesman Bo Carter (1928)

That song's been covered by everyone from Bob Dylan to Floyd Cramer to Bill Haley and His Comets - even Rod Stewart recorded a version! But my favorite is by Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded a few decades later in 1965.

And lastly, "Ain't Misbehavin'", as recorded by Fats Waller in 1929:

Hank Williams, Jr. covered this in 1986. I saw it performed on some awards show, and loved it!

Happy Music Monday! For more, be sure to check out these links:

X-Mas Dolly
Run DMT
Be There 2Day
My So-Called Chaos

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Never judge a book by its cover.

We've all heard that expression before, and that brings me to one of my favorite things about music: the remake. Or cover. However you say it, I'm talking about when a band performs and/or records a song previously performed and/or recorded by another artist.

Now before you get all aural elitist on me, keep in mind that I already know many of you can't stand covers. But, you see, I am the exact opposite! I love it when a band or artist takes a song that is already familiar and makes it their own. And I could talk about covers for DAYS. I'm not even joking. So naturally, I jumped ALL OVER this week's them at Dolly's: remakes.

Here are just a few of my favorites:

Motley Crue - Smokin' in the Boys Room
(originally recorded by Brownsville Station)

The Power Station - Get It On (Bang a Gong)
(originally recorded by T. Rex)

Dwight Yoakam - Suspicious Minds
(originally recorded by Mark James but obviously made famous by Elvis Presley)

Type O Negative - Cinnamon Girl
(originally recorded by Neil Young)

Like I said above, I could literally post hours of covers that I love (maybe one day I will link to my Spotify covers playlist), but I think I'll conclude my selections with this one since it's probably my very favorite cover ever. ::sniffs:: How I miss TON! Especially this era TON. Peter Steele's been gone over three years now and I still can't believe it.

I may just take this theme and run with it, since I love so many cover songs. If you love the remake as much as I do, what are some of your favorites? Perhaps there are some out there that I haven't heard - yet.

Music Monday
X-Mas Dolly
Run DMT
Be There 2Day
My So-Called Chaos

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Summer, summer, summer........

If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you already know how ready I was to stop complaining about the cold weather and start complaining about hot weather instead. Well, that time has finally come, folks! It seems like we went straight from winter into summer here in the good ol' south. Actually, this is just our spring, since we still have low temps in the 60s and highs in the mid to upper 80s. Down here, our summers REALLY scorch.

This brings me to this week's Coffee Chat: the 'chat is taking the summer off, so this will be our last one before September. This week, we're dishing on what we'll be doing over the course of the summer. Whatever shall I post about on Tuesdays from here on out?

As for me, I have plenty to do. And I shall give it to you in bullet form.

• Finish laying new floor covering in my home. I have had floor covering for the living area, at least, for a few years now. I have also been walking around on subfloor for a few years now. As it turns out, it's been quite difficult to finish with a schedule that generally only allows for one day off here and there, and the room itself is one that sees more traffic than any other place in the house, even the kitchen.
• Finishing furniture projects. And other projects. Hopefully at least one, anyway. I still have the utility cart from a few years ago. I still have the fabulous vintage dresser I'm turning into an entertainment stand. And the chair from last year, which I can not seem to locate online. Hm. And also tons of cleaned milk jugs which need to be cut for my version of this faux capiz chandelier.
• Find more thrifty treasures. I've already started a wish list of both needs (well, as much as you can need something from a thrift store, anyway) and wants. It's fun!
• Keeping up with goals. With some of my Earth Day goals, I'm already off to a decent start. I have been saving newspapers, clean cardboard, and aluminum cans for recycling. I've been using far less electricity (having no central AC helps!). And I'm mostly all-natural, chemical-free with house cleaners. My fitness goals leave much to be desired, but I'm trying. And out walking again in the evenings.
• Filling my ears with the sounds of great music. And there is so much of it this year, from older favorites like Rob Zombie, Alice In Chains, Slash, Soundgarden and Filter to Stone Sour, Deftones, Black Veil Brides, Imagine Dragons and Thirty Seconds to Mars. So, so much to get excited about!

So what are YOUR plans for this summer? Vacationing? Tell me about it. Home improvement plans? I want to hear about them. Traveling? I'm jealous, but I'd love to hear about it all the same.

And to the Coffee Chat regulars - it's been nice getting to know you, and see you again in a few months! In the meantime, feel free to come on back anytime you like!

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Memorial Day and music for your Monday

Today is the day where we here in the U.S.A. honor those who have fallen in service to our country. I am so thankful to each and every service man and woman who risks their lives so that we can be free. And having both grandfathers, my father, an uncle, an aunt, my stepfather, and numerous relatives of my sons' on their father's side of the family (including him) who have served, we are very lucky that we never lost anyone while they were defending the nation.

So while I'm not into politically charged patriotic music, this video is a great live performance of a rock song with a patriotic message:

Don't Tread on Me - Metallica

Never forget those who have died serving this country, keep their loved ones in your heart and prayers/thoughts, as we honor their sacrifices.

Music Monday:

X-Mas Dolly
Run DMT
Be There 2Day
My So-Called Chaos

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I'm so ready for my vacation I could scream.

And no, I'm not just saying that for dramatic effect. While I'm enjoying my job, there is just SO. MUCH. to do these days. Or rather, these last few days leading up to my trip this weekend, and I do not have a day off to get them done. Which means I am running around after work trying to do stuff.

I need a skip day! If I could skip, I'd have my tires rotated, dye my hair, and make certain the clothes I'm taking with me are clean and ready to go. I'd clean some more in my house, so I wouldn't have as messy a house to come home to. But first? I'd sleep in. These days I'm a big baby without the right amount of sleep, and I don't feel like I've been getting enough of it most nights.

I know, I know. Really exciting stuff, yes? Too bad it's not like the days I'd skip school. Those were the best. My best friend and I would either hang out watching tv at home if we just needed a mental health day. Or sometimes there would be a real reason for skipping, like a concert after an orthodontist appointment.

Yep. Skipping out these days is nowhere near as exciting, relaxing, recharging, etc. as it was to skip out back in the day.

What are YOUR skip days like? Head over to Leslie's for coffee chat and tell us.

Participating:

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