Winning and Losing the Game of Love

* The guys are proving very insightful, thus far ...
Remember my dying-laughing-affair with the movie "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days?"
Well, I ran with that for my column a couple of weeks ago by surveying a bunch of women as to what they felt women tended to do to "lose" and to "win" men. I found that we pretty much don't have a clue. This time, I am surveying the men as to what men tend to do to "lose" and to "win" women. Maybe the men know a little more?
If the answers turn out interesting, I'll put the women's and the men's answers together for you all to read. I can tell you already we could get a good laugh!

Shake That Laffy Taffy

I have had a good Thanksgiving weekend so far. I went home to the big C.S. (College Station.)
Thanksgiving night my sister, my sister-in-law, my sister's friend, and I went to Yell Practice for the Aggies at Kyle Field. It was a lot of fun. On the way back home, we did the whole music-up-loud-with-the-windows-open thing. It made me flash back to when I was younger. I started wondering when the heck I grew up so much. ?? I don't ever "Shake That Laffy Taffy" anymore (... big sigh ...)
I watched the game, of course, between A&M and t.u. and wondered -yet again- why we always are underestimated. If you look at the wins historically, the Aggies and the Longhorns are equals. Just because we're re-building our team right now doesn't mean we can't play a good game of football! Anyway, the game got me really excited for next year. I can't wait for that!! :)

Beautiful on the Inside

Let us reflect for a moment on the death of Sam, who was named the "World's Ugliest Dog" during his lifetime - twice.

Art Party

Here is a picture from an Art Party hosted by my friend Anthony. In the picture, it is Jay, Ellen, April, Volel, Prabhakar, Mona, Me, and others.

Recipe Time

This time of year I start to get a lot of requests for the recipes I have created. I encourage you to browse through my "Recipes" and use the links to request any recipes you would like for your personal use. (For publications, re-prints aren't expensive.) I usually am able to send the recipes to you that day.
For Thanksgiving, I highly recommend the Cranberry Pumpkin Bread.

Hallmark Moment

* I just found out A&E has the entire first season of "Murder, She Wrote" on DVD. It's a three disk set, complete with the original pilot movie. Hint, hint for anyone who might be Christmas shopping for me!*
Who knew about this Hallmark Channel gem? I've been here working because of an early deadline this week and have been glued to the TV because of the movies they have on today.
I watched "That Darn Cat" first - not the new one, the original, and then I watched "Pollyanna." "Parent Trap" will be on later. I'm a huge Hayley Mills fan; I grew up watching her movies. Now, "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" is on, and I am an even bigger fan of Angela Lansbury. I loooove "Murder She Wrote!" I want to be Jessica Fletcher when I grow up so I can go around solving mysteries all the time!! :)
The only thing about the Hallmark Channel is they keep showing those Hallmark card commercials - there is one in particular that is making me cry every time. It's about a four-year-old girl whose father had died. She bought him a Hallmark card and tied it to a balloon. Then, her and her mom, hand in hand, released the balloon in to the air so it could bring the card to her Dad in Heaven with the angels. Now, tell me that wouldn't make you cry!

Oh, Really!?!

Did you know you don't have to type in the blogspot address?
You can reach this site at CandidlyCaroline.com or CarolineShearer.com.

How to Lose a Guy

* Another gentleman just mailed me (as in the real kind of mail) a thank you card for hosting my game night. Maybe I've been a little too hard on the Austin men ...

I just watched "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days," and I am telling you, that is one the funniest movies ever! What Kate Hudson does is so crazy and so TRUE! (photoshopping and scrapbooking their future children's pictures, judging Matthew McConaughey's relationship skills by how well he takes care of their "Love Fern," inserting herself in to "boys' night.") Oh, my goodness! And, he still manages to suggest Couple's Therapy!

I heard he might be named "Sexiest Man of the Year," btw. There is nothing wrong with a good ol' Southern gentleman earning that label - there aren't nearly enough of them these days!

The gentleman who took this picture kissed my hand as he bade me farewell ... I miss those kinds of things - Austin men seem to be either too weird or too laidback to bother with gentility, but I know there are still some men out there who believe in it! :)

Men's Humor versus Women's Humor

* I just posted my column on humor differences between the sexes in "Single and All That Implies." If the scientific findings the column are based on are indicative of my reader's preferences, the women will find it quite entertaining, and the men will wonder why they have to read through all that mess to get to the point. ;)

This week for my column, I am going to write about humor and the differences between men and women's taste for it. Think: "The Three Stooges" versus "Desperate Housewives." Which one requires a little more brain power to appreciate? Hmmm .... My inspiration came from this article on Fox News.

Pics from Party

Here are some of the pictures from the Saturday night party. It's Erin and Ellen and Prabhakar and me. What a fun night! I had some great conversations there with really awesome people!

I just heard from one of the girls who came to my Game Night - Marianne - that she ate a piece of my Chocolate Mousse Torte for breakfast the next day. That is the best kind of compliment someone can get on her baking! That - plus the fact that all the girls asked for a piece to take home in the first place!! :)
What is it with us and chocolate anyway? ~ ~ I'm not even going to try to analyze that one because there is no sense in messing with a good thing!

Fantastic Weekend

Oh, wow! What a fantastic weekend! I just dropped my friend Erin off at the airport so she can head back to San Diego, and all the fun we had is just now starting to really sink in for me.
On Friday, I hosted Game Night at my house. The game we played the most was Scattergories. It was great because people started getting really competitive, and it was hilarious to watch everyone trying to get as many points as they could. It was so loud with everyone arguing their cases that you couldn't hear any one person speaking - it was a blast!!
Saturday, Erin and I went shopping at the mall and at By George and found some fantastic items. Then, we checked out the Boiling Pot because I had a gift certificate there I wanted to use. It was definitely not something either one of us would have initiated on our own, but it turned out to be pretty cool. Erin particularly liked whacking the crab claws with the mallet! ;)
Saturday night there was a party at my friend Volel's house. We had a little bit of dancing, a lot of really nice and fun people ... We stayed until almost 4 a.m., which is very uncharacteristic of me, and then, Erin and I came back to the house and watched Meet the Fockers until we crashed around-about sunrise. Fun, fun, fun. Needless to say, we slept in a little bit this morning. Then, we took a trip over to Double Dave's since San Diego sadly is lacking in one of our favorite blasts from the pasts - pizza rolls.
I am really glad we had such a great weekend together. I should have some pictures e-mailed to me soon that I can post from the Saturday night party. No Twister pictures from Game Night, though! ;)

Syndication & Accepting $500k in Donations

I am thinking about syndicating my weekly column (which is where the name "Candidly Caroline" came from.) If anyone knows any editors who might be interested, e-mail me. It's a lifestyles/women's issues/recipe column. There are lots of examples through my links. I'm always interested in freelance writing assignments, also.
Plus, I'm still working on creating a magazine for teen girls that will enhance, not tear down, their self esteem so if anyone happens to have half a million laying around ... ; )