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CÔ BÉ ĂN KEM ỐC QUẾ Này cô bé ăn kem ốc quế Kem ngon không sao bé cứ ăn hoài? Bé có thấy mùa xuân về trước ngõ Giọt nắng bỗng hờn rớt nhẹ qua vai. Này cô bé ăn kem ốc quế Xin hãy ngừng nhai để nói một lời Ta đã đợi từ mùa đông giá buốt Đến bây giờ rét lắm bé ơi! Ta chẳng dại ước thành kem quế Sợ bé nhai gặm mất hình hài Ta chỉ muốn làm cây quế nhỏ Để bé cầm nâng nhẹ trên tay. Này cô bé ăn kem ốc quế Bé quá xinh, còn ta quá dại khờ Bé chỉ thích ăn để ta đứng ngóng Hạt bụi nào trong đáy mắt bơ vơ... Này cô bé ăn kem ốc quế Bé ăn xong sao lại đứng im thầm? Ta muốn nói bỗng bàng hoàng chết lặng Khi tay bé cầm cây - kem - quế - thứ - năm! 1995 (Tập thơ Hạ Nhớ - NXB Tổng hợp Đồng Nai 1999) Thanh Trắc Nguyễn Văn Lúc đầu bài thơ có tên là Cô Bé Ăn Kem Chuối, một món kem đặc sản làm từ chuối nổi tiếng ở Sài Gòn những năm 90, cuối thế kỷ 20. Sau đó do có quá nhiều người suy diễn "kem chuối" thành những từ "nhạy cảm" nên tác giả đã chỉnh sửa bài thơ thành Cô Bé Ăn Kem Dứa ...

Do you SEE this BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS cover??? (By the way, this is the cover of the very latest issue just being released). If you haven't yet become acquainted with  VAKRE HJEM & INTERIØR magazine, you are in for a Nordic-French TREAT! I have followed and gotten this magazine for several months now (I think my first issue was the Christmas issue, below ) I am IN LOVE with this magazine! By way of "review", let's just first have a little visual tour of the last couple of issues ....  I've devoured them all and let me show you just some of the  Nordic-licious beauty there has been: This was issue #1 for 2010 -- just the cover image alone is enough... This was issue #2 for 2010 and has been the "current" issue until now (well, technically tomorrow is the formal release date of issue #3)... The two covers shown below are from 2009 issues,  but I included them just for fun -- and to show you how exceptional each & every issue is:    Some pages fro...

Sweet Mel from the The Musing Magpie tagged me to play in the blog game where you go back in your blog post archives and find the 6th photo you ever uploaded on your blog  and show it, link back to the post it was part of and then sort of speak to that photo in a new way -- a way that perhaps it was not used in the  original post... My 6th picture is the colorful bird eggs in the pretty  cast iron urn... It originally appeared as part of THIS POST back in  March of 2008, and I had been to visit the daughter of a friend who was in Moffitt Cancer Center being treated for leukemia --  and it did not look very promising for her. I was contrasting her life to the lives most of us live -- and how she would have given anything to be back in what we might easily call the "drudgery of life" (daily chores, chauffeuring kids around, etc.). I'd included just some various pretty photos from around the house in that particular post, and the 6th image was of the fragile eggs i...

I'm so excited about tonight!   Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is on ABC Family channel at 8PM and I plan to cozy up on the couch and watch it. When I started blogging two years ago, my 8th post on this blog was about that movie.   Click HERE to read it. I'd just watched it for the first time and was CAPTIVATED! For me, it was a real dreamer's movie. Perfect for me then, and I suspect it will be just what the doctor ordered as I watch it again tonight. If your dream(s) are feeling a little "stalled out" or even grounded right now, I beg of you, WATCH THE MOVIE! It just might re-infuse you with that sense of wonderment and belief again that you really  CAN do it. I cried -- but what's new? I cry in almost all "kid's" movies.   Sometimes those kinds of movies speak loudest to me. Hmmm... not sure what that says about my maturity level...  Anyways.... So don't be put off by thinking "What can THAT movie say to ME?  Isn't that a kid...

Congratulations to one sweet lady!! CATHY! Cathy, from Breathless Expectation , has won the six decorating books that I'm giving away this time (I say "this time" because there will be a lot more to come in more giveaways!).       Research Randomizer Results 1  Set of  1   Unique  Numbers Per Set Range: From  1  to  59  --  Unsorted Job Status:        Set #1: 17 I am so, so happy to be sending Cathy her books on Monday! Cathy, enjoy them with your feet propped up and a cup of tea or coffee in hand (or iced, as it gets warmer outside). YAY Cathy!! And, as I said, I already have many other fabulous coffee-table-style decorating books set aside for "round 2" of the book giveaways, so chances are if ya didn't win this one, you'll have loads more tries at it!    Once again, congrats to Cathy!! ~RUTH~

Overstock.com --- what's not to love???? Check out these splendiferous barstools!!!!!! They have that fresh, almost vintage, almost industrial, almost Swedish look that so many of us are loving now -- what a wonderfully, relatively inexpensive "facelift" for your kitchen! They are $99.00 for the set and I think shipping is less than $3.00 for regular ground shipping  (WAY, WAY more if you want them expedited). If you do an online search for Overstock.com coupon codes, I'll bet you can turn up something to even waive the shipping cost! These TWO metal bar stools (30" tall) are available through Overstock.com by clicking HERE! Just thought you'd like to know about  this "steal".  You know, one gal watching out for her blog pals and all.  Happy Wednesday!! ~Ruth~ :)

TIP: YOU'LL WANT TO BE SURE TO PAUSE THE MUSIC PLAYER ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN BEFORE PLAYING THIS CUTE VIDEO.

Ohhhh, decorating books... fabulous, big, shiny, wonderful decorating books. They are my downfall. Well those -- and SHOES.  ;) I can't even count how many  such books I have around the house -- mostly French-style and of that, mostly the Provencal French style (country French). Of late, though, the books I've been ordering have been of the Swedish decorating ilk. And I have stocked up quite nicely on them.    SO, I wanted to play nice and share some of them with you. Now...let me say this right up front... I AM A DIE-HARD PRE-OWNED BOOK BUYER. I mean, come on, how bad could a pre-owned decorating book be? The original owner obviously has good taste and style (wink-wink) and isn't likely to trash her books by reading them with one hand while she knocks back a peanut butter and jam sandwich in the other. And if she did, she'd SURELY do so with a dainty napkin, right? (wink-wink, again). So, I only choose "pre-loved" books that are rated as...