Southern Chicks.......

First of all, we would like to say our Welcome Mat is laid out for you at all times!!!  Thank You for taking time out of your busy day to read our blog. It means the world to us!!



We want to tell you more about us and how we ended up here in blogland.  We have a business/hobby on the side called Southern Chic (pronounced Sheek).  We emphasize that because people in the south like to say "chick."  We are not offended, after all, we are southern chicks...North Carolina born and bred!

We love, love, love a flea market, yard sale, auction, roadside(not road kill) or just plundering through junk at a chicken coop!  Yes, a chicken coop.  We can find a gem in the least of places (and have). People ask us all the time where we find our stuff.  Here, there and everywhere!  Sometimes we take our finds and consignment pieces on our own personal "road show" to the fairgrounds at the Raleigh Flea Market.  Man, what a good time that is!  Hard work, yes, girls weekend away, yes, margaritas at our fav Mexican restaurant two days in a row, yes,yes!!!  That’s worth the trip right there!  Here's a few pics of how we roll at the market!

This "hobby" is not for the weak or faint-of-heart.  We load the trailer, pull the trailer and have one heck of a time getting the trailer in our space!  But we're working on that.  The guys at the market are fantastic and somehow show up like a God-send right in the nick of time!  No kidding, it's like an angel appears and has out-of-this world strength, lifting the trailer and moving it around on a dime!  It doesn't take much to impress us to start with, but this my dear is quite a feat!  The people that work these flea markets and shows earn every penny they make!  Words can't begin to tell you.  And if you love to people watch, then pull up a chair!  Oh the people you will meet!  

These are tough, long days.  Sometimes hot, sometimes cold, sometimes windy or wet.  You can't predict what's gonna happen. Our last weekend...."zero chance of rain and highs in the 60s."  It rained the entire weekend and lingered around 30 degrees!!!  What tha...it was cold as you know what, like being in the mountains in January!  We'll take the hot over the cold any day, thank you very much!  We are coastal chicks too ya' know.  This last miserable adventurous weekend is what made us check out other venues to peddle our wares.  

We hope this blog will serve as a journal of past and present re-creations and restorations. If and when we find something good along the way, we're gonna tell you about it!  We're among friends right?

As you'll see soon enough, we'll have to see what Dave (as in Ramsey) has to say about how often we take these trips to Raleigh! We've signed up for a course in January and will be on our way to "dumping debt, building wealth and changing the family tree!"  It’s all a journey and we're taking you along with us!

Please share with us any comments, suggestions or experiences. We would love to hear from you!!!

And let them eat cake.....

OK...we know if you read our last few posts it seems that we are all about eating and drinking (not that there's anything wrong with that).  But the weather outside is frightful...and not conducive to any sort of picking.  So before the holiday spirit is completely gone and our lives get back to normal, we wanted to share a Christmas moment.
  

Connie is an only child but married into a big, (10 siblings) Irish-Catholic family.  Talk about culture shock!  Anyway, it is tradition that when the Brooks clan gathers for their Christmas celebration, we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.  This year we even had a birthday cake for Him.
   

The Symbolism of Jesus' Birthday Cake

The cake is Devil's food cake..which represents our sins.

The white icing represents Jesus' purity which covers our sins. 

The angel reminds us of the first good tidings brought to us at His birth.

The red and white candles represent Jesus as the "Light of the World" and the blood that He shed for us.

The evergreens represent life everlasting for whosoever believes in Him.

Our family gathered around the dining room table......just say the word cake and we're there.  My nephew (shout out to Brooks..) read aloud the Symbolism of the cake as the candles were lit.  We sang Happy Birthday and the little ones blew out the candles.  It was a reminder to us all of the true spirit of Christmas.  And the cake was delicious!!! (Thanks, Mikki)

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!  We look forward to sharing in 2011!

Connie and Marie 

Christmas Morning Muffins!

From the Brooks Family kitchen...

My husband bakes...yes you read that right...he bakes.  He literally won my heart through my stomach.  Other husbands on other blogs are handy with their circular saws and look hot in their little toolbelts...but nothing turns me on more than a man with a Kitchen Aid mixer.  His latest concoction....Pumpkin Muffins.  (Try saying that 5 times...I keep calling them pumpkin muffkins!!!)

These are not too sweet so they make a great breakfast for the family on the run and...they are low-fat. :) They will keep fresh for days so you make them today and enjoy Christmas morning!

Now, I am intimidated by recipes...so this scares me.  But my husband swears this is easy...so here it is:

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 can (15 oz) canned pumpkin

3/4 cup fat-free sour cream

1/3 cup fat free milk

1/4 cup veggie oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 lg egg, lightly beaten

1 lg egg white, lightly beaten

Cooking spray

Topping:

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 tsp brown sugar

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2)  Combine flour and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.

3)  Combine Pumpkin and next 6 ingredients in another bowl, then add to the well in flour mixture and stir until moist.

4)  Spoon mixture into muffin pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil.

5)  Sprinkle topping mix over the muffins and bake for 25 minutes or until the muffins spring back when lightly touched in center. 

6)  Remove from muffin pan immediately and cool on wire rack.

We like the oversized muffin pan and I like raisins added to mine!!!  Nuts can be added as well.  The top will be crunchy which contrasts perfectly with the moist center. Yummmmmm.....see why I love my man???

So our Christmas will start with Pumpkin Muffkins and end with The McManus Family Pomegranate Wildberry Wine... Thanks Marie!  

Merry Christmas from Connie and Marie!

The making of...McManus Christmas Wine 2010

Since it's sooo cold outside, there's not a whole lotta sister picking going on (did I mention I hate cold weather).  But we are happy to share with you our first ever batch of our McManus Christmas Wine 2010!  We are super new to wine making and having a blast drinking making it. As a matter of fact this is the very first bottle we have labeled and foiled. We can appreciate our own imperfections, such as the wine bottle isn't exactly level in the picture, but I wanted to share with you the process. I'm working on this. Please forgive me :)

It's a fairly easy process. We purchased this wine making kit from a local winery.

Included in the kit...

Along with a wine mix of choice. For the Christmas wine we chose Pomegranate Wildberry Zinfandel (makes me smile on the inside just thinking about it).

Followed the instructions provided and in 28 days, you can have 30 bottles of your wine of choice! Nothing makes me happier than to cut the middle man out! We can do this ourselves......thank you very much! We consists of my husband, Kenny and we enlist family members along the way for the bottling process (btw,thanks mom).

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Soon I'll have more pics of the brewing process to post. I think I'm gonna have to go for now and see if it's safe for others to drink...:) Marie

Best of....

We know most bloggers are posting about Christmas and adding how to's and tutorials. Since we're just getting to know one another, we would like to start with some things we know to be the best of the best, must haves, and  things we just couldn't live without! This short but increasing list has been proven through years of clinical trials and studies through the two of us. Not listed in any specific order, as they can't be compared to one another. And we would like to say we receive no endorsements from any of these items or companies (and we would like to say we're not opposed to that either).


Rainbow flip flops! You can't live in Wilmington without owning a pair or two or three of these. Seriously. Everyday wear in the summer, comfortable and worth every penny!!

Hampton Inns! No matter where we go, especially when we sell at the Raleigh flea market, we have to stay at the Hampton. We could do commercials for them!!  We can't say enough, from the customer service to the best coffee you've ever had. Even the hair dryer is the best (in Cary location).We could go on and on!



Trader Joe's reusable bags! These have become our luggage as sad as that may seem. We do have luggage that we could use, but the durability and convenience of these bags are unreal!  Not to mention cost $1.99. Truly tha bomb!

These new round flat breads for sandwiches. You can make all kinds of cheese breads, olive breads, individual pizzas. Not to mention, they don't expire as soon as regular breads.


Coupons. No matter who, what, when or where we are, we try to use a coupon whenever we can. We are frugal as the days are long. This is because we have no choice. Our husbands are self-employed (it's their fault, just kidding) and this is another way we try to compensate. This topic could go on for pages, and I'm sure it will in the near future. Don't get us wrong, we don't compromise for quality, within reason, when we can!


Believe us, there's more best of's to come. Do you have things that are scientifically proven like ours? We would love to hear from you.