Happy New Year!

Ten . Nine . Eight . Seven . Six . Five . Four . Three . Two . One . . .

POP the bubbly. And BelieveYouMe, I'll be sabering my cork this year. In case you missed it, try this one. Do NOT try this one.

Partay! And now ... the FIREWORKS!

Happy New Year everyone! To all my readers: Thank you for visiting with me at KitchensAreMonkeyBusiness. I so appreciate your reading, your staying with me, your comments. I hope you've enjoyed my recipes, maybe some interesting stories, perhaps a bit of history thrown in, and a few laughs. Well, hopefully, a lot of laughs. This is my home. This is our kitchen. Our dining area. Our living area. Our family room. (All are the same.) By writing these self absorbed ramblings, this Cyber-Version of a Diary, I have maintained a good quality of mental health. Immona try Yoga next. Please get in the kitchen and cook and share. That's love. Wishing you all a wonderful, safe, healthy, happy, and prosperous 2010 and ...

raising my glass in a toast to you all . Happy New Year. Love, Rosie

Here's looking up your old address! It's been real.

Happy New Year!

Ooooh. I Almost Forgot. Happy Kwanzaa And Happy Hannukah!

I would be terribly remiss if I didn't recognize my readers who celebrate Kwanzaa. From the kulturally katastrophikalkoholik visions of Sandra Lee, I present to you Sandra's Kwanzaa Kake. The Food Network site is designed by crack-smoking monkeys, so just sit tight during the commercial and wait for Chef Lee's Kreation. And for my Jewish readers, don't you worry. You didn't escape Sandra's sights. Sandra Lee is nothing if not pan-kulturally offensive. I present to you Sandra's Hannukah Kake. And since it's going to be a whole year before I can post Sandra's Kocktail Tree again, there it is. Cause nothin' celebrates the birth of the Baby Jesus like booze and barware. Check out my original post here. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays!

The Hawthornes And Maxine Visit The Poulos House In Kill Devil Hills To See Their Annual Amazing Christmas Display.

We're still celebrating Christmas. After leaving Michael Coley's decorations in Manns Harbor, Mr. Hawthorne, Maxine, and I headed back home to Colington, stopping in Kill Devil Hills to see the Poulos' house. The Poulos' have been doing this for almost 30 years I think. And each year there's more. I believe they start decorating in August. Here's a recent article on Jim Poulos. And this:

Famous Christmas House on the Outer Banks

November 10th, 2006

If you watch the Today’s Show with Al Roker, you may have seen last year that Mr. and Mrs. Poulos of Ocean Acres Drive in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, won the National Christmas Decorating context. Mr. and Mrs. Poulos are expecting another visit, but this time it is the crew from HG TV, on Friday, November 10^th broadcasting live from 3:30 p.m. well into the evening. The crew will focus on how the Poulos’s decorating year after year has brought such yuletide excitement to so many. They will be interviewing people on the Outer Banks that stop by that evening willing to express their appreciation and memories of this wonderful Christmas experience. We are very fortunate that Mr. and Mrs. Poulos provide all of us with a wonderful place to go to experience Christmas present and past. Their hard work and attention to detail is so very appreciated. If you have questions, call Jim and Ann Poulos at 441-1618.

Posted in Outer Banks, North Carolina, Outer Banks Real Estate | No Comments »

Found here. We took Maxine there several years earlier and we all wanted to check it out again. The Poulos' Christmas Decorations have outdone decorations throughout the Nation. They gained national fame several years ago on The Today Show when they out-shone, out-blinked, out-twinkled, out-Noeled, out-Kitsched, out-lit, out-sparkled, out-did, out-you-name-it. They out-did it.

EGADS!!!! It's freakin' Bjorn! Shades of Sandra Lee!!

Imonna have nightmares now.

I left you wanting more. Didn't I?

Merry Christmas and Thank You, Pouloses!

The Hawthornes And Maxine Visit Manns Harbor Christmas Displays.

As I wrote earlier, after we finished eating Sunday afternoon at Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe, we had time to kill so we went sightseeing in Manteo.

Our destination and goal was to be in Manns Harbor at a certain time - sundown. Our timing was awkward. We'd just finished lunch. If we headed back North to home, we'd arrive just in time to go inside, pee, turn around, and come back South where we were, and then go some more South to Manns Harbor. It made sense to continue South from Basnight's to Manteo and take a little sightseeing tour through a wonderfully quaint, eclectic, and, dare I say, Bohemian town. Thusly, we ended up going to see the Elizabeth II, the Freedmen's Colony, Fort Raleigh, the Waterside Theater, a drive by of the Elizabethan Gardens, and the North Carolina Aquarium.

Our destination was a Christmas light display at a home in Manns Harbor and the display at the Manns Harbor Post Office, which was decorated by Michael C., the decorator of the home. I'd heard about him from the message boards at obxconnection.com. See here. There was also another mention of him in the Red Drum Tackle Shop Forums. Seems there was a contest at WAVY TV 10 in Norfolk and Michael was in the running. He didn't win but he was in the top 5.

I'll just shut up now and let you take in the pictures and videos. Words aren't needed.

The following video is of the Manns Harbor Post Office. It was decorated by the same gentleman who did the above decorations.

Merry Christmas To All and Thank You To Michael Coley of Manns Harbor! Stay tuned for the Poulos' Christmas display.

The Hawthornes And Maxine Visit The North Carolina Aquarium.

The Hawthornes are giving Maxine a whirlwind tour of Manteo on Sunday afternoon. Our next stop is the North Carolina Aquarium.

A fish sculpture greets us at the entrance to the aquarium.

I always have fun at the aquarium. Lots of neat exhibits. Check out the layout: Unfortunately, both the alligators and the otters were hiding so I didn't get any pictures of them.

I got turtles though.

Maxine checking out the fishies.

They have live web cams filming the osprey nesting platform outside. These are re-runs since the ospreys have already migrated to South America for the winter.

Baby osprey testing his wings.

Enjoy the different tanks.

Spiny Lobster. Here's some more.

This is a shallow "touching" pool for the kiddies.

Shark tank.

This is the largest tank at the exhibit.

That's Mr. Hawthorne and Maxine watching the fish.

I worried that the tank might crack and a gazillion gallons of water gush out like a tidal wave and wash us away. Because my mind goes to places like that.

Looks like a fish is swimming up Mr. Hawthorne's nose.

The following pictures are from The Oceans Revealed: Powers of the Planet Exhibit. North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island on June 8 — See the amazing new exhibit, "Oceans Revealed: Power of the Planet," with programs at 9:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Animated images of atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperatures are displayed onto a six foot diameter sphere, analogous to a giant animated globe. All visitors to the aquarium on this day will receive a free Oceans in Motion poster. For more information about this educational program, call 252-473-3494 or visit www.ncaquariums.com. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

Maxine escaping the clutches of the giant crab. Into the sunset.

Enjoy.

We've done enough sightseeing and killed enough time. Now we're off to the main event. Stay tuned.