One more minute.

One more memory.

One more laugh.

But on this, the eve of her 100th birthday, I’ve decided to change my tune. It’s time that I make a wish for her benefit, and not for mine because in the 95 years she spent on Earth she damn well earned it.

Grace Maeda Brown was born in Savannah, Georgia, less than a month after the Titanic sank. Heredity gave to her the two most important things bestowed by genetics upon every Southern woman: a wicked sense of humor and a spine of steel. In her darkest hours, when those two things were all that she had, she was fortunate to find that they were all that she needed.

Anyone born with anything less could not have lived the life that she did, surviving poverty, wars, childbirth, and men who were undeserving of her love. She filed for a divorce in 1942 and raised her two children a boundless strength, working up to three jobs at a time to give them a life better than she’d ever known. She bought her own house in 1950 after making a year’s worth of rent payments to prove to the men at the bank that she, a single woman, was capable of owning a home. Little did they know that she was capable of so much more.

Of all the gifts my grandmother gave to me — my upturned nose, my narrow feet, my Curse-Like-a-Sailor Days and my insatiable sweet tooth — perhaps the greatest (aside from her unconditional love, of course) was a sense of perspective.

The last few years have not been easy for me. I have struggled emotionally, physically and financially to find my place in this world. But when I think about what my grandmother not only survived but found a way to truly live through with her head held high and a smile on her face, how can I complain? How can I do anything but honor the sacrifices she made by turning my face to the sky and soldiering on in the face of my adversities just as she taught me to do?

Lately. I’ve found myself getting sucked into “Long Island Medium” on TLC. Though I bring a high degree of skepticism to the idea of mediums and their ability to speak with the dead, I can certainly identify with the desire to know that your loved ones are still a part of your life even after their passing.

But the same part of me that knows it’s selfish to wish that my grandmother was still here also knows it’s selfish to hope that she’s spending her Heavenly eternity trailing me through the mundane days of my life. What I truly hope is that she is living every adventure she was unable to take during her time on Earth.

I hope she’s white water rafting through the Grand Canyon on the mighty Colorado. I hope she’s sitting in the front row of every Broadway play in New York. I hope she’s sharing a meal with a handsome man at a sidewalk cafe beside the Seine. I hope she’s climbing to the top of Everest so she can see the whole world.

I hope that her father taught her how to drive on a quiet country road. I hope her brother took her up in his plane to watch the sunset. I hope she takes long afternoon walks with her grandson. I hope she finds time every day to laugh with her sisters. I hope she gives her mother a hug each night.

Mostly, I just hope she’s happy.

And maybe, if I could have just one selfish wish, I would hope with all of my heart that every once in a while she pauses in the midst of her adventures to smile and think of me (even if it’s just half as often as I stop to think of her).

I hope she looks forward to the day when we will see each other again as much as I do.

I hope she knows how much I love her.

I hope she enjoys her 100^th birthday.

I miss you.

Not only did I throw a Super Mario themed baby shower with some friends last weekend, I also helped with some of the preparations for my pseudo-nephew’s Super 6th Birthday Party in January. But even if we are a little worn out on Mario and Co., it was actually very fortunate that we wound up using the same theme for two parties so close together so we were able to use some of the decorations and such twice (saving some money in the process).

My favorite part of the shower decorations were these sewer pipe flowers that I made at the last minute for table decorations. They were fairly easy to put together and for fans of the Super Mario games, they were a dead ringer for the real deal.

I picked up all the necessary pieces from Michael’s including:

• Small terracotta flower pots
• Green spray paint
• Wooden popsicle sticks
• Oval and circle shaped wood cutouts
• Multi-colored paint markers
• Small styrofoam balls
• Shredded green filler
• A sheet of green felt
• Glue

Step 1: Paint the pieces.

I spray painted each of the flower pots inside and out with the green paint. It took a few coats to get a strong, sewer pipe green. I should have spray painted the popsicle sticks as well, but due to time and weather constraints I wound up hand painting them with the paint markers. I also used the markers to freehand the flowers. You don’t have to be an artist to handle these, the design of both types of flowers are pretty basic.

(Hint: For the Venus fly traps, paint the circles and lips in white first, then fill in with the red to avoid messing up your paint markers and/or doing 27 coats of the white over red)

I chose paint markers instead of regular paints because they’re less messy and easier to control. I’ve used them for a few projects now and I swear I’m NEVER going back to using paints for anything.

Step 2: Glue the parts together.

While the paint was drying I cut out leaves from the sheet of green felt, then attached the leaves and flower heads to the painted popsicle sticks with a few drops of Aleene’s tacky glue (my personal favorite crafting adhesive). I let everything dry overnight.

Step 3: Installation and finishing touches.

The next morning I took the popsicle sticks and drove them about a half inch into a styrofoam ball that wedged perfectly in the bottom of my flower pot. This kept the sticks firmly upright in the center of the pot. To cover the white ball, I added the green paper filler.

(Hint: About halfway through making these I realized it was easier to take an unused popsicle stick and pre-punch the hole in the styrofoam so I didn’t have to apply pressure on my glued together creation.)

I made eight of these for party, plus some simple stars (Michael’s has precut stars on pretty thick paper/cardboard that are easy to paint, highly recommended) for our clothesline. Since there’s so little available in the way of Mario party decorations, these were pretty handy and very easy to put together.

They also make great keepsakes for party guests!

Yesterday, I posted an overview of a Super Mario themed baby shower some friends and I recently through for a great couple expecting their first baby. I couldn’t cover all the details in one post, so I figured I would highlight some key parts of the party in case anyone else is taking on a Super Mario themed event.

Our menu for the Super Mario shower started small and (as these things always do) ballooned into enough food to sustain a post-apocalyptic colony for half a decade or so.

The final spread included:

• Spaghetti with meat sauce (prepared the night before and baked in a big pan)
• Salad with optional dressings
• Fruit & veggie trays
• Stuffed mushrooms
• Buffalo chicken dip
• Cookie dough dip with pretzels and graham crackers
• Dark mint chocolate mustache pops (get the mustache mold here)
• Vanilla star pops
• Mushroom cupcakes (Funfetti cake with homemade butter cream icing)
• Creamy Carnival Cups

We also made two types of punch to serve that were both well received. First was our “Peach Punch” which was made from equal parts Hawaiian Punch lemon berry squeeze, lemonade and ginger ale. For the adults, we made “Marioritas” from my mom’s favorite margarita recipe. I’m not a big margarita person, but I definitely had one (or ten) glasses of this stuff. Even the guys liked it!

“Mario”ritas

• 1 can (12 oz.) of frozen limeade
• 12 oz. of Corona Beer
• 12 oz. of Sprite
• 12 oz. of Tequila

We scaled up the recipe and made a triple batch, which is easy to do since all four ingredients are added in equal parts. If you’re looking for a more calorie friendly version, we’ve made it before with sprite zero and Corona Light. It’s a definite crowd pleaser for any event!

We definitely had WAY too much food for 30 people, but I don’t think anyone complained about eating the leftovers the next few days (I certainly enjoyed a cupcake..or two…for breakfast!).

Especially when the entire event is forced on the expectant parents-to-be because they’re painfully shy and loathe being the center of attention (to the extent that they eloped and got married in front of five friends on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean).

But while we accepted the tiny wedding and obliged the requests to skip a traditional wedding shower and bachelor/bachelorette parties, we could not allow them to skip over a baby shower in honor of their firstborn.

First lesson of parenthood: You don’t turn down free stuff. Ever.

So with the wishes of the happy couple decidedly pushed aside, we jumped headfirst into planning an uber-trendy soiree featuring an oh-so-hip-and-Pinteresty yellow and gray bumble bee theme. We were up to our eyeballs in bumble bee stickers, yellow napkins, black plates and adorable invitations when it suddenly occurred to us that we had made a terrible mistake.

Our guests of honor are not uber-trendy soiree kind of people.

This is the couple who decided to make their daughter’s nursery theme chemistry & astronomy. The couple who met online, who both work in computer programming, who have shelves filled with books by Carl Sagan, H.G. Wells and Douglas Adams. The couple who spend their spare time playing video games and watching Discovery channel.

In short, this baby shower was being thrown for a couple of adorkable geeks.

So six weeks shy of our shower date, we changed the entire theme.

Enter: The Super Mario Super Shower.

As soon as we changed the theme, ideas started flowing like the waterfalls on Yoshi’s Island. Mustaches, mushrooms, rainbows and Italian food became the centerpieces of our event for 30 of the couple’s family and friends (because women-only baby showers are for Mad Men, it’s 2012, everyone should be involved in the celebration!)

Our main table featured the diaper cake (created with fantastic attention to detail by my friend Tori who so included not only diapers, but fun hairbands and hair clips for the baby as well), mushroom cupcakes, chocolate mustache pops and a few other desserts.

(More pictures under the cut!)

The cupcakes were Funfetti (from the box… a favorite of the Mom-to-be) with homemade butter cream icing dyed red (using two containers of Wilton’s red). We added the spots with vanilla candy melts (the kind they use to make formed candy pops and such) pushed into the icing with the pointy side down.

Tori also made these delicious chocolate mustache pops (with some of the aforementioned candy melts–she used the dark chocolate mint variety). These were a HUGE hit with the kids and grown-ups alike.

We had three games and three main prizes — a spaghetti basket (we used a pasta strainer for the basket), a gardening gift basket (including a small chive plant, gloves and watering pot) and a Dominoes gift certificate (taped inside a small box we got for free from Dominoes).

Genius idea from one of my friends–forget the useless paper streamers! Put up a clothesline (with push pins or 3M hooks) and add colorful onesies, bibs and in this case a quilt made just for the real guest of honor. We also added the stars to go with our Mario theme.

This is SUPER easy. A container of fruit from the grocery store displayed in rainbow order, looks great, tastes great, takes five minutes and costs under $5. (The “O” toothpicks were picked up on sale at Hobby Lobby for Baby Olivia).

My friend Jaime and I hand painted (hand painted!) these plastic punch glasses with all four types of Super Mario mustaches (Mario, Luigi, Waluigi and Wario). We filled them with a sort of gelato we made combining Jell-O and vanilla ice cream (delicious and a big hit with the kids!)

We made two punches — Peach Punch (non-alcoholic for the kids and the Mom-to-be) and “Mario”ritas for the rest of us who were there to party (Note: The men are more likely to get interested in a couples/family shower if there’s alcohol involved, just a suggestion).

I made these sewer pipes and flowers with little flower pots, popsicle sticks and wood cut outs from Michael’s.

Everyone raved about the party, including the guests of honor, so I think we can chalk this one up to a success! Over the next couple of days I’ll share more details in case anyone else would like to take on the Super Mario theme for an upcoming baby shower or kids’ party.

This is mostly attributable to my lack of a social life and my very (very) short attention span. I go through these phases where I pillage Michael’s and Hobby Lobby for supplies only to go home and get halfway through a project before I shove the remnants in my closet with a promise to resume my progress at a later date.

But recently I’ve taken up a new hobby that might have some staying power on my list of long term interests (right next to writing, snowglobe collecting and movies about baseball).

I’ve always had a knack for special event decor, but it’s been fueled as of late by too many episodes of My Fair Wedding with David Tutera and the planning of a baby shower for my Duolit co-founder, Toni. It occurred to me that I have some knowledge about not only creating great pieces for events, but designing on a (writer’s) limited budget.

So if you’ll indulge me, I’ll be adding some ideas (and lots of photos) to share my successes and failures with this new found hobby.

(And if my ADD kicks in, just disregard this post and resume your normal daily activities, I promise I’ll resume my progress at a later date…)

What kind of horribly debilitating disease is that, you ask? Why it’s the kind where a person becomes unable to enjoy any other kind of music except the sweet harmonies and soulful melodies of contemporary folk music.

It started with Ray LaMontagne and has blossomed into a loving obsession with all thinks folk-y including (but not limited to) Mumford & Sons, Swell Season, Amos Lee and the duo of John Paul White and Joy Williams more commonly known as The Civil Wars.

iPhones are miserable at capturing indoor images in poor light, but trust me that's The Civil Wars.

Don’t let their recent association with Taylor Swift and The Hunger Games fool you — these two musicians are the genuine artifact. They are true artists with their beautifully blended voices and perfect mix of Southern Rock, Appalachian hymns and folksy blues. Swift is the crown princess of country music, but she’s using her powers for good to introduce her lesser known (but incredibly talented) Nashville counterparts to a new generation of music fans.

(I wish the boybands I was obsessed with liked as a teenager had made an effort to extend my musical interests to new artists with powerful talent. I guess *NSYNC inadvertently did this with their fellow MMC alum and old tour partner Tony Lucca [now a contestant on The Voice] but they weren’t pulling him onto popular soundtracks and blasting his praises to their fans. Of course they didn’t have Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google + or MySpace back then either…)

At any rate, The Civil Wars grabbed my attention with “Poison & Wine” and held it from start to finish on their first album, “Barton Hollow” (pronounced Barton “Holler” for you non-Southerners). When I heard they were coming to the recently renovated, 900 seat Ponte Vedra Concert Hall I couldn’t get to Ticketmaster’s website fast enough.

The show did not disappoint from the opening act (The Bellow–more on them later) to The Civil Wars’ covers of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Disarm” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” I didn’t think it was possible for them to be better in person, but their stripped down, acoustic vibe in that old church with the wood beams and cathedral ceilings was spectacular.

(A respectfully quiet crowd also made it an excellent show, save for the girl in front of us who sang along to the first few songs until someone kindly informed her that no one in the theater paid to hear her sing. This is why I’m not sure I could ever see Adele in concert.)

Their personalities also shined in their charming banter — even when John Paul responded to someone’s request for “Freebird” by raising his middle finger and shouting “No charge!”

My only complaint for the evening was the seating. I can understand wanting to squeeze as many seats as possible into the tiny venue, but in a nation known for its obesity, tiny seats smashed together make for uncomfortable, airplane-type seating that gets very hot and very uncomfortable very fast. Especially for my very pregnant concert buddy who was so close to the woman beside her that when the woman took a pack of gum out of her purse at intermission, she offered us some (Toni’s response: “Not unless you think I need it.”) Seriously, PVCH, take one chair out of each row and put a little breathing room between the seats, it will make for a much more pleasant experience.

Other than that, I really can’t say enough about how incredible The Civil Wars are and how much you NEED to buy their CD and see them in person. If I need any more reason to convince you, watch my video of their “Billie Jean” performance below or check out the other videos from the show on YouTube.

On second thought…maybe I’ll leave them on the bucket list for a second go around.

The apocalypse is drawing near–no, not the Mayan one in December, the one that’s going to rain down on all of us if Tebow somehow manages to pull out a victory against the Steelers on Sunday. If that happens, I can only assume the rapture will soon follow (an event I look forward to if only because the world will be relieved of short-sighted ill-informed right wing fanatics so the rest of us can stop denying the existence of dinosaurs and get down to business cleaning up our planet so that we can have a place to carry out our sins for the rest of eternity).

With the imminent possibility of a total end to the world as we know it, I’ve decided to forgo the traditional New Year’s Resolutions and instead invoke three new credos I plan to live by in 2012 (yes, that’s right, I said credo, because it sounds way cooler and more Karate Kid-ish than those icky new age words like philosophy, goal or plan):

1. Be Honest: This applies to many facets of my life and is not intended to imply that I am a liar. My honesty focus in 2012 is not so much about being honest with others (I’m pretty sure my dad would still take off his belt and whip me today if he caught me lying to someone, that lesson will not soon be forgotten), but about being honest with myself; about who I am, what I am capable of, and what I really want out of life. To all my excuses, I advise that you lace up your sneakers and take a hike.

2. Be Positive: Too often lately I’ve found myself wrapped in a heavy, sticky coating of negativity. Whether it’s getting absorbed in a friend’s drama or sulking over the state of my life (job, living arrangements, relationships, etc.), I’ve had enough of it. Life is too damn short to be angry all the time. I’m donning the rose colored glasses and on the days when they get clouded I’ll find rose colored wine glasses, fill them up, and rediscover my positive attitude. Act happy and you’ll be happy.

3. Be Pro-Active: Last November I began contemplating a major change in the direction of my career (and subsequently my life). I asked the universe for some guidance and shortly thereafter came across the card on the right. This is going to be the primary theme of 2012 for me–I’m going to get in the driver’s seat and start moving myself toward my goals instead of waiting for the universe or fate or chance or coincidence to take care of the hard work for me. I’m packing up, I’ll let you know when I’ve reached my destination.

Sidenote: What’s with the title of this blog?

Today I witnessed a woman who could have been a cast member of Real Housewives of St. Augustine: Senior Edition forget to put her Mercedes in park in front of Chili’s, leaving her husband seated helplessly in the passenger seat as their powder blue, ridiculously expensive vehicle rolled across the parking lot and slammed into another (cheaper) car.

Rather than reacting like a normal person would have–ashamed, embarrassed, apologetic, etc., this woman argued with her husband (after he re-parked the car while waiting for the cops to arrive), ripped her knee-length mink coat from its hanger in the backseat with a flourish and donned her priceless warm dead animal fur (which, now that I think about it, might have been rabbit or monkey or whatever other kind of fur they make coats out of, how the hell should I know? My coats are made out of synthetic fabrics and sold at Ross.) After the ten foot walk from her car to the restaurant’s entrance (she would have frozen to death were it not for that coat I tell you), sat down at a table by herself and ordered a vodka tonic (it was her lucky day–Chili’s serves two for one drinks all day, score!).

No joke.

That happened.

I am not making up even one small detail of that story. There was an accident with no driver, a mink coat in 40 degree Florida weather and a woman drinking alcohol at 1:00 p.m. while her husband exchanged information with a Flagler College student (who I can only hope will sue Mr. and Mrs. Mercedes for enough money to pay off all of her student loans) in the parking lot.

This incident led my friends and I to contemplate a series of important questions that we will never have answers to including (but not limited to):

- Why didn’t the husband pull the emergency brake as the car began to roll backward?

- Do Mercedes Benzes (Benzi?) not have emergency brakes? (For all we know they might have replaced them in the design plan long ago in favor of a mini bar, it IS a Mercedes, come on).

- Did she order the vodka tonic so she could cover up for the fact that she’d already been drinking?

- Can you get a DUI if you are not technically behind the wheel of your vehicle when it gets into an accident?

On the whole, it was a delightful experience that I was happy to witness (I’m allowed to say that, nobody got hurt) and will most definitely use in a future novel.

Alas, I am now off to locate my iPhone which I can hear but can’t seem to find…

Later days,

- Shannon

Last fall, while cruising the Caribbean with friends I got the idea for a sequel to I’ll Be Home for Christmas. At the time I was participating in my first NaNoWriMo, working on a separate (still unfinished) novel called Fried Pickles. As a result, I was only able to scribble down my ideas for the sequel before returning to my other project. Fast forward to a few months ago when I stumbled across my notes again and decided to pick it up and run. Originally intended to be a short story, it grew into more of a novella at just under 25,000 words.

If you loved the antics of Bailey’s enormous family and her complicated relationship with childhood friend Memphis, you’ll love this sequel, A Complicated Christmas. I plan to make it available as an eBook around Dec. 1st (it might take a little longer depending on their review process) but in the meantime, here’s a little excerpt for you to enjoy:

“What about you? Are you coming back for Christmas?” He asked casually.

“I’m not sure,” I replied honestly. “I was planning on it—I’ve already taken the time off from work—but after this weekend…”

“You’re a little overwhelmed,” he finished. (See? I told you he understands.)

“It’s not like last year or anything,” I said, remembering the four excruciatingly long days I spent at home for Christmas last year that nearly resulted in me cutting ties to my family for good. “But I feel like if I don’t take them in small doses, it could escalate pretty quickly.”

Memphis nodded. He’s been around my family tree long enough to know that it’s a massive botanical mess precariously perched on a ledge and held together in places with duct tape and twine. That’s what happens to your family tree when your parents divorce, leaving you and your two whole siblings dangling from forked branches while they remarry, procreate and divorce with reckless abandon. After all that, I have a total of 11 brothers and sisters including the aforementioned whole siblings (Becca and Brandon), three step-brothers (Simon, Mark and Josh), one step-sister (Lauren), four half-siblings (Robbie, Taylor, Maggie and Eli) and my adopted African brother (Ukembe). It makes for some interesting family get-togethers, to say the very, very least.

“So what will you do if you don’t come home? Just hang out in Boston by yourself?” Memphis asked. My response tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it.

“I guess so…Unless you want to come up and hang out with me.” He smiled as I tried to keep the blush from building beneath the collar of my sweater.

“I don’t know about that,” he drawled, exaggerating his slow rolling Southern accent. “I’m not sure the big city and all that snow is where I want to be.”

“Oh yeah? Then where you would like to be?” Just as I said it, the football game flashed to a commercial of a family on a white sandy beach in the Caribbean. Behind them, floating high on sparkling emerald waters, was a massive white ship.

“That looks pretty good right there,” said Memphis, sitting up straighter in his chair.

“You want to go on a cruise?” I asked incredulously. “You live in Florida!”

So far, with each Christmas season (prime territory for my holiday-themed novel) I’ve taken one step in the right direction. Last year I was all about creating the eBook. This year, I’m all about the reviews. Through Twitter, Facebook and tips from other author friends, I’ve been recruiting reviewers online. My first review came in over the Thanksgiving holiday and (to my great joy) it was a glowing proclamation (perhaps unearned) of my debut work.

Not gonna lie, I definitely read it out loud to all of my family members around the dinner table. I think they were impressed, but it was hard to tell if it was with my review or the array of delicious Thanksgiving foods they were inhaling.

At any rate, here’s a quick excerpt from the review:

What is immediately obvious a few pages into this novel is that author Shannon O’Neil has quite a way with words. ”My grandfather would sooner have seen his youngest son in full drag carrying a Jimmy Carter campaign sign than…” The whole story is punctuated with snappy little punchlines that make you laugh out loud and cause those sitting around you to eye you with suspicion and move away. Definitely better to read this when you are alone or out of earshot.

Comedy is tricky and weaving comedy into a serious story that has a great message is not a challenge for the feint hearted writer. So I think O’Neil has done exceptionally well in maintaining the comedic flow of the book whilst delivering a credible and compelling piece of dysfunctional domestic drama for us to enjoy.

«Click here to read the full review»

Thanks so much to Dale Cusack, author of the Grace trilogy of books (great for tweens!).

What’s that on the horizon? Looks like a cruise ship…

In addition to begging for reviews of my book, I’ve also been working on a sort-of sequel to I’ll Be Home for Peacemas. It started as a short story about Bailey taking a little Christmas cruise with her pal Memphis, but it has turned into something closer to a novella. I hope to have it ready for eBook download by December 1st! Check back for details.

Later days,

- Shannon

Peacemas Excerpt of the Week

Slowly, I scooped a sampling of the green goop onto my plate. Surprisingly enough, the blind orphans of Malaysia were not sticklers for detail when it came to their pottery pieces. As everyone else helped themselves to dinner, I watched my own meal sluggishly slide across the sloped surface of the plate.

Eventually, I felt everyone’s eyes encouraging me to take a bite. With tremendous hesitation, I dipped the tines of my fork into the substance and brought it to my lips. The smell made my eyes water. I touched the tip of the fork to my tongue, thinking to myself that I would rather have licked Fred’s face than tasted that stuff. To my horror, it tasted almost exactly like it smelled.

“Mmm…” I said quietly.

“I told you it was good!” Olivia mused. I turned my gaze on Maylene. Certainly she would make a bigger scene than I did.

“You try it, Maylene,” I insisted.

“I ain’t never had nothing like this,” she said. To my surprise, she scooped out a healthy serving and swallowed at least half a pint of it before coming up for air. “It’s delicious!”

“Don’t forget to save room for dessert!” Olivia mentioned between bites. “I made my famous Ayers Rock cake!” My stomach churned at the mere thought. I’d forgotten about Olivia’s favorite Australia Night tradition—a massive block of vegemite sculpted to resemble Australia’s famous Ayers Rock. It’s every bit as delicious as you would expect a cake made of solidified vegetable paste to be.