HAPPY MAY DAY AND RUN FOR THE ROSES!

Tomorrow is May Day & The Kentucky Derby...a huge day in the South! However, there will be no pretty 'May Day Baskets' or mint juleps in my day! Beginning at 6:00 tonight and ending tomorrow at noon, I will be participating in the Cancer Society's Relay for Life to honor and support my friend Jan Taylor, who is battling liver cancer. You can read more about this story here. This time tomorrow, I will hopefully be resting my poor ole feet and snoozing!

I thought I would show y'all a previous blog post I did about 'May Day Baskets' and the Derby...

~May Day Basket~
I think it's such a sweet tradition (bringing in May) to create a May Day Basket and leave it on someone's door handle--just ring the bell and scoot! You can give them to friends, family, or elderly neighbors. The basket can be of any shape or style and contain flowers, cookies, candy, or maybe even tea and scones. For my basket, I used a green toile container, added some fresh spring flowers, and a green gingham ribbon to tie the basket to the door handle...very simple, very Southern.
~ Run for the Roses~
And they're off! Tomorrow, at 6:24 p.m. E.S.T. it's post time for the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby. In the world of sports, there is not a more moving moment than the one when the horses step onto the track for the Kentucky Derby post parade and the band strikes up "My Old Kentucky Home." Those ladies decked out in their spring outfits and gorgeous hats, what a fashion parade!

On Derby Day it's time for mint juleps*. It's not surprising that mint juleps are popular in the South, mint is a symbol of hospitality and this drink brings forth the ideal image of genteel gatherings sprinkled with that sweet Southern drawl...

It is considered proper to drink mint juleps with a sterling mint julep straw/spoon. Simply use the spoon to stir the julep and sip your beverage through the tiny hole at the end. This is one of the very few times a lady should use a straw to drink a beverage. It's also acceptable to use a straw when you are drinking a coke out of a can or when you've "taken ill and are in the bed."

A sterling mint julep straw/spoon...stir with one end and sip from the other...Could you possibly get more Southern?

*Recipe for Miss Janice's Mint Julep
1 tblsp. granulated sugar
8 mint leaves
1 tblsp. water
4 oz. Kentucky bourban
Crushed ice
Sprig of fresh mint

Place sugar and mint leaves in a small bowl. Bruise mint well and muddle with sugar until they form paste. Add water and stir well. Add bourban; pour into julep cups (which have been frosted in the freezer) and fill with crushed ice. Insert sprig of fresh mint and silver straw. Each julep should be made separately.

~Derby Party Hostess Gift~
Y'all know Miss Janice always likes to take a gift to the hostess. I found this Mint Julep mix at TJ Maxx. I kind of like the package, but that thing attached...and that tacky ribbon. No ma'am, it's cute, but not cute enough for moi...
I took the julep mix out of the package, placed it inside a silver mint julep cup, made a gift card with several recipes printed on the back of the card, and attached a silver mint julep straw/spoon with a green dotted ribbon. I wanted it to be Southern...and Memorable.


Thank you so much for stopping by today. I'm off to get ready for the Relay for Life event. If you are my friend on Facebook {Janice Sessums Gibson} or Twitter {www.twitter.com/socialgraces101}, please chat with me tonight...I'll be UP ALL NIGHT, y'all!

Remember, it's the little things that you do for others that makes the day special and memorable.