Saturdays with Southern Living at HOME It's a Wonderful Life!

Welcome to this week's edition of Southern Living at HOME. Our National Convention is coming up this week in Dallas and I am beside myself with excitement and thankfulness. Southern Living at HOME has been a major blessing in my life in so many ways.

Images Courtesy Southern Living at HOME

When I first started I just wanted a way to get out of the house one night a month and spruce up the decor in my home in a cost-effective way. I wanted at least one of everything! Our catalog is gorgeous and chock full of high quality products that fit into any design style. So for the first two years I did just that - I held at least one party each month and turned my profit into products.

I always saw myself as a career gal and never really thought direct sales was my thing. When my son was almost three we realized that we needed to take him out of the daycare he was in. The waiting list was LONG at all the reputable centers in town. After lots of prayer, we believed it would be in our best interest for me to leave my corporate job and stay home with him. It was super scary but I knew I had been given a gift in Southern Living at HOME and I could increase the number of parties I was doing each month in order to supplement our income. I still had the flexibility to stay home with my son during the day and I would have something to call my own to fill that void of leaving corporate life. I increased to about 4-6 parties each month.

Last year I attended my first Convention with these beautiful ladies. They are friends that have been added to my life through this business - another wonderful and unexpected perk!

It was at Convention that I truly realized what a gift this business is. There were so many inspiring testimonies of how this business has enhanced lives. That made it easy to share with other women and begin to build a team over the past year. I have found even more joy in helping others succeed. Some members of my team are hobbyists (1-3 parties a month). Some are part-time (3-6 parties a month) and some are career (6-8+ parties a month). Some are even growing their own teams!

I am about to enter a new season in my life. My son will be starting kindergarten this fall. Our original plan was for me to re-enter corporate life. I am thankful to report that instead I will be working my Southern Living at HOME business with a goal of 8+ parties each month.

Right now (through July 31st) we have a $99 mini-starter kit and a Success Start program where new consultant can earn an additional $500 in products as well as an additional cash in their first 60 days. Plus, we are about to enter our busiest selling season. It's a great time to try us out with little to no risk.

Zig Ziglar says "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want." May I help you take a closer look at this wonderful business to see if it is a great fit for you, too?

Vacation Pics - Finally!

Yes it has been two weeks since we returned from vacation and I am just now posting pictures. I had technical difficulties in that in the last minute mad-dash packing rush I left my camera here. SO we had to rely on friends, shared pictures, and disposable cameras to piece together the story. Here are a few (quite a few, actually) pics of our FREE vacation to Cancun with Southern Living at HOME!

This is the view from our room - loved waking up to this!

Me and my sweet DH!!

Welcome Party with Live Mariachi Band - very cool!

DH went deep see fishing on day two. This was his best catch of three for the day - a Bonita. The boat caught a black marlin and the guy he went with angled it in but when they told the crew they weren't going to have the fish mounted they cut the line. I was sad that he didn't get a picture of that. There were some cool shots of the water when they were bringing it in but you had to use your imagination on the actual fish...

While he was at sea, I had girlfriend time on the beach. It was so relaxing and fun. I thought I did such a great job with my sunscreen but my skin thought otherwise! I am STILL peeling!

Most of the trip we just hung out at the resort. The R&R was much needed! On the last day we went into Cancun to shop and have lunch at Senor Frogs. We sat out on the deck over the lagoon and this sign totally cracked me up!

Our last night we had a Swanky Farewell party. They spared no expense throughout the entire trip and this party was the perfect ending to the week.

After dinner we Hit the Flo'...

We had TOO much fun and stayed up TOO late. It was so hard to get up the next morning to leave. We had a GREAT time and these pictures really don't do the trip justice. This was the second trip for us and we sure don't want to miss any in the future. Come go with us for FREE next year!

Monogram Banner

For the past few months every time I go to one of my favorite thrift shops I rummage through the TONS of fabric samples in one booth and buy one or two here and there. They are relatively inexpensive and I just can't help myself. I keep thinking I'm going to have a braniac moment on what to do with them. I think that moment finally came this week!

The idea to make a banner out of this sample popped into my mind earlier in the week. So my supplies were the green fabric sample, a skewer, a monogram template (yes, homemade), black bias tape, black sharpie, and black ribbon.

I couldn't quite figure out how to make it hang correctly at first. I thought about fabric stiffener but hated that idea. I thought about gluing cardboard to the back - yuck. Then this idea came to me - not a bad idea!

So I glued the bias tape around the edges. I mitered the corners (reminded me of making a bed). Then knotted ribbon in the grommets (they were already there - genius) to make a hanger. I taped the home-made stencil to the fabric (after measuring twice - remember my OCD tendencies). The thought of paint scared me so I decided to use a black Sharpie for the monogram. How's that for country? Are you surprised I didn't use duck tape?

Turned out even better than I pictured in my mind! As I am writing this post I have stopped to admire it at least a half-dozen times! I can't wait to get back to the store tomorrow and pick up some more samples. Ideas are buzzing in my brain! I may even try to go Etsy with this and a few other projects I have up my sleeves - maybe.

I'm linking up with Kimba's weekly DIY Day over at A Soft Place to Land so hop over there and show off one of your projects and be inspired by many others! UPDATE: While visiting links at Kimba's found another party to link up with over at The Shabby Chic Cottage!

Nana's 'Nana Puddin'

I made Nana's 'Nana Puddin' for my boys over the weekend. They both love it! I used my mom's (aka Nana's) recipe. I'm not sure of her source. I just know we've been making this recipe for many, many moons. It brings back fun memories of summer church socials as a kid. People couldn't wait to see what Mom brought. She usually made a double helping of this and her dish would be completely empty shortly after the food line opened. It's yummy and in true Southern Fried Gal fashion it is super easy as well!

I figured I would find the recipe on Kraft.com but I didn't see one exactly like it. So here ya go...

Nana's 'Nana Puddin'

1 large box Jell-O instant vanilla pudding mix

2.5 cups of milk

1 small tub Cool-Whip topping, thawed

1 bag/box vanilla wafers

3-4 bananas, sliced

Pour milk into pudding mix and stir with wire whisk for 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set. Once set, fold 1/2 tub of Cool-Whip into pudding.

In medium size dish (I used my slah Cinnabar Baker), arrange a single layer of vanilla wafers. Add a generous layer of sliced bananas. Cover with half of pudding mix. Add another layer of vanilla wafers then sliced bananas over pudding. Stand vanilla wafers along edge of dish. Pour in remaining pudding mix. Spread remaining Cool-Whip on top of pudding. Garnish with crushed vanilla wafers and banana slices. Cover and chill before serving. Overnight is best. Enjoy!

Saturdays with Southern Living at Home Easy Outdoor Entertaining

Welcome to this week's edition of Saturdays with Southern Living at HOME. Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July. We sure did! I just love to pull out my Southern Living at HOME pieces to dress up my outdoor entertaining. It's an easy way to dress up a table AND cleanup afterwards because most of our pottery and dishes are oven, microwave, and dishwasher safe.

Check out our spread! Our party size was small but that doesn't mean we should skimp on style! It was fun to mix our Cinnabar and Tuscan pieces for a twist on red, white and blue! Cinnabar is my absolute favorite line because it can be used year round (think Valentine's day, 4th of July, Fall, Christmas, and so on)!

I used several current pieces as well as a few retired items. Speaking of retired items, be sure to check our our awesome Summer Sale to save on items currently retiring from our product line.

Another very functional and stylish product is our Estate Caddy. It has a detachable handle and I filled one section with napkins and silverware and the other two with condiments.

If you are a SLAH lover, this trick is an oldy but goody! Pop a tea light in the bottom of our Large Rosedale Plant holder and nestle the Tuscan Everyday Baker into the planter. The tea light keeps dip and other warm appetizers warm throughout your party! To complete the look I lined the Jamestown Tray with a towel and filled with chips.

Contact me at j.fryar@comcast.net for details on how to save big with our summer sale! To view the current online catalog, please visit my personal website and click Our Products to the left and then BROWSE to view the fall catalog. Want to be one of the first to get the new Fall 2009 catalog? If so, please shoot me an email with your name, address, and phone number!