Saturday, April 20, 2013

And Introducing.... The Newest Co-Manager of the Yankee Belle Cafe...

I first met Julie Hilton Steele in Seekerville and fell in love with her warmth, her wit, her total honesty in a state of grace.

(She paid me to say that and I took the money GLADLY.)

So as she's worked her writing magic, re-joining the world of aspiring authors, we realized that not only is she hard-working, funny, poignant and intelligent, Julie has a different take on the world of food, fun and home....

And she'd be the perfect complement to our fun, down-home, "Let's Get it Done" cooking/home-making/livin' with kids and men group!

Julie will take over the Saturday shift at the cafe, bringing all sorts of East Coast notions along with her personal panache and a decided air of almost Southern civility.

(Which flies in the face of this Yank's lack of sensitivity, but hey, no one ever said Yanks are sensitive. I mean:  WHATEVER.)

So for today, I'm going to ask you to welcome Julie next week , our new GAL on board! And I want to ask you to join me/us in prayer for the people of Boston and it's quaint suburbs... a place that's been rocked by ongoing violence this week, a place where the toughest rivalry is usually the Red Sox vs. The New York Yankees.

At sports arenas around the country this week, they honored the people of Boston, one of America's historic cities, the place of John and Sam Adams.... with signs like these:

This was at the Brooklyn Academy of Music...


And at baseball stadiums around the country, teams made it a point to play Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline (a Boston tradition!) while fans stood and cheered, wept and prayed for our sister city in Massachusetts. Here's a clip from the CBS news coverage of Sweet Caroline in Yankee Stadium:

I love baseball... I love the New York Yankees.... But I love God and America even more and when someone attacks one of us...

He gets us all.

So united we stand:


Together as Americans:


Regardless of race, color or creed... or baseball affiliation.

God bless you... May God bless us.... And may God bless the United States of America...


13 comments:

  1. I think I know that person. Thanks, Ruthy.

    As for today, we can be thankful and pray for physical and emotional healing for everyone affected by this tragedy. One of my good friends ran the Boston Marathon this week and still can't talk about it.

    The events of Friday bring a bit of closure but healing will be a long time coming. So I am praying for one and all.

    Peace, Julie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amen.

      I didn't mention it here, that my youngest son, "Finance Boy" was just up the road from the finish line (on Boylston Street) a half-hour before the bombs went off... and lived within a mile of these brothers this past year if reports are correct...

      Were we shaken?

      Yes.

      And while we celebrated that Luke was all right, he'd headed off for a sandwich and a beer after his friends finished...we grieved for the parents who got different phone calls.

      We'll continue to pray for Boston.... for healing.... and for whatever turned this 19-year-old's head into thinking killing innocent people was a choice.

      One of my daycare dads said, "He's nineteen. He's not old enough to be mad."

      And that simple truth makes us wonder how a kid who was raised her for years... turned against the same country that afforded family members a new opportunity, a new chance at freedom and prosperity.

      JULIE!!!! I can't wait to see you take over the reins next weeeeeeek!!!!!!! :)

      Delete
  2. Boston. I have no answers. I don't know what to say. So I pray.


    And JULIE!!!! Welcome to the craziness....um, fun!!!! Looking forward to your Saturday offerings!

    My adult children invited other people from their generation over for a game night tonight. Fun stuff, right? Their father and I will decline adding our wisdom to the event and go out to a movie or something.

    We do feel welcome to stay, but I know what a wet blanket old people can be when you're trying to take over the world of Cataan or Carcassone.

    Fun Saturday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. World takeovers rock!!!!! Grab me a Geek hat and count me in!

      (I actually hide when my kids play games because they are over-competitive snots and they all seek total world domination.

      I do not know where they get this from!!! :)

      Delete
    2. Total world domination!

      Bwahahahaha!!!

      Delete
  3. Hi Julie!
    I don't understand what makes some people snap and do the things they do.
    Jan, I have a boardgame meetup today I'll probably go to later - Catan is fun! (haven't found anyone to play Carcassonne with me yet though someone brought a game called wooly bully where you do tiles like carcassonnne but try to get all your color sheep in a fenced off pasture - cute little guys - all the sheep are the same color but have a sweater or something in green, red, yellow or blue and white checks seems like. has a wolf and a hunter to make things more interesting...and we play with all ages and I don't think anyone cares though I"m in the older group now so who knows! but so far we've had an 11 yr old up to Neil in his late 60's/early 70s I think and everything in between.

    Susanna

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susanna, won't it be fun to have Julie on board?????

      Do you think Julie's a game-player?

      We could all go to supper together and talk BOOKS.

      I know how to have a good time!!! :)

      Delete
    2. yep fun to have Julie! don't know if she's a game player but we could definitely talk books and food!:-) who needs games when we got books and food?! but games are a bit more talkative than books - takes a fellow read-a-holic to think spending the day curled up in a chair reading with others is fun! with games you get to yell at your friend for blocking your move! :-)

      still haven't gone to the game meetup - it meets at a chinese buffet and we're forced to pay for the buffet and drink whether we wanna eat it or not -and I'm not wanting to eat it (besides being back on weight watchers I'm just not 'feeling' chinese today...)
      I DID get a wild hair and started working on my kitchen clean up - have a 'happy' view of a clean stovetop :-)(and yes unfortunately that's not a common site - kinda like a cleared off table around here or any flat surface for that matter- you will probably never see me post pics set in my kitchen!)
      Susanna

      Delete
  4. Wow, Julie! Cool news. Can we sit out on your new porch???

    Do you all have any idea how much I wish the Yankee Belle really existed in my real life world? Such a wonderful place it would be to hang out.

    Ruthy, sharing your thoughts about Boston. As you know, my husband grew up there. This past week has been surreal for him as TV news flashed scenes from his youth. Most of the events yesterday unfolded blocks from where he worked summers. The home town boy in him was so obvious. No matter how long he's been down here, he's still a Bostonian through and through.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Welcome, Julie!! We're so glad you joined us!! Can't wait for you to start sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, everyone. I have been outside building rock walls on a day that is full of blue skies, dogwood blossoms and low pollen!

    I have a glider, a rocker and a dining table. Perfect for game night.

    Looking forward to next week.

    Peace, Julie

    ReplyDelete
  7. How great to have another talented writer/cook in the Yankee Belle Cafe's kitchen! Welcome, Julie. Looking forward to your contribution next weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I didn't even though this went up!! I thought your first week was next Saturday! WAH!!!!

    But beautiful post. I have no idea what 'Sweet Caroline' is, so must go check.

    Also, what is 'almost Southern civility? Is she almost Southern? Or almost civil??

    ReplyDelete