Give and You Shall Receive ...

We have some new neighbors in our 'hood. So, my little helpers and I whipped up some giant blueberry muffins to bring over. Since I knew "they" consisted of a mom and son, I thought 4 would suffice ... and allow me to keep 2 behind as bribery to encourage good behavior during our meet and greet ... :-) ... Well, it went well. My little guy gave the mom a few "gotchas" to her legs, but hey, her son is 16, so I'm sure she's used to getting "gotcha'd" every now and again! :-)I'm sure all you way-more-talented-than-me gals could pull off a better presentation, but I'm all about keeping it simple ... and I didn't want to come off too Bree, right? :-) (Well, that's what I'm telling myself! I have used fun dish towels before in place of paper napkins but all I had on hand were white and like I want to give someone a new-but-now-blueberry-stained towel to wash while they're busy moving in? And my leftover fuschia hula girl birthday paper napkins were not going to cut it either.)

Blueberry Muffin recipe link. Note: I add a crumb topping to my muffins, which isn't in any of my recipes, but my sweet tooth requires it. I mix approx.: 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2T flour, 2T butter, dash of cinnamon, and some uncooked oatmeal for texture. Sprinkle over each right before baking.

My little tip, that you probably already know, is to write everyone's name down with your phone number for the new neighbor. I have moved a number of times and both my husband and I are TERRIBLE with names. No sooner do we close the door and turn to each other with a "what was his/her name" and neither of us remembers! It goes in and out! I've read all those name/word association tips and actually, once or twice even tried them, but for the most part I'm horrible with names. So that's my little suggestion for welcoming newbies to the 'hood. Please add your tips in the comments!

AND ... I received ......an AWARD!! This was so fun! The Arte y Pico award is to honor creativity, design, interesting material, and contributions to the blogging community. A big thank you to Misty at Rainy Day in May for giving it to me! Please visit her great blog! And now I get to pass it along to 5 bloggers of my choosing!

http://www.heatherbullard.typepad.com Heather is a fabulous source for "pretties" with her unique "modern vintage" style.
http://littlemommaandcompany.blogspot.com Emily has the best pictures!
http://www.barbarajacksier.blogspot.com Barbara is an uber-talented book editor/decorator!
http://mabelshouse.blogspot.com Liz's writings are fun and reel me in!
http://fleamarketstudio.typepad.com Lilia's posts are jam-packed with gorgeous photos ... just the way I like to "read" a blog!

Check them out and enjoy!!