What Would Suzanne Sugarbaker Do?

All the pageant drama this week has me thinking of one of my favorite episodes of Designing Women, with Suzanne Sugarbaker...in real life, she got to keep the Miss Florida crown.

Delta Burke, Miss Florida 1974
My favorite Miss Florida ever!

Do y'all remember this episode?



There She Is

From Designing Women, 1989

While preparing for Charlene's baby shower, Julia, Mary Jo and Charlene are surprised by a visit form Audrey, the Director of Pageants for Miss Georgia U.S. Audrey has been trying to reach Suzanne to tell her that an error has been discovered in the balloting for the 1975 pageant. As a result, Suzanne was not Miss Georgia U.S. 1975, and she now must give her crown to the rightful winner, Donna Jo Carnes. Audrey tells the women to be sure Suzanne attends the ceremony the following day so that she can give up the crown to Donna Jo.

Knowing how important the Miss Georgia U.S. title has been to Suzanne, the women are worried about how to break the bad news to her. Trying a gentle and indirect approach, they begin to ask her questions about the pageant and specifically about Donna Jo. Suspicious about the questions, Suzanne wonders what is going on. The women are forced to tell her that not only is she not Miss Georgia U.S. 1975, but also that she must personally hand the crown over to Donna Jo, her archenemy from the pageant. Suzanne swears that under no circumstances will she give up the crown and title. Crediting Julia with instilling in her the confidence to win the title 15 years earlier, Suzanne insists that this same confidence will, somehow, help her retain her title now. Just to be sure, however, Suzanne has her maid, Consuela, put curses on both Donna Jo and Audrey.

Having successfully brought Suzanne to the ceremony, Charlene and Mary Jo meet Donna Jo, a very bitter first runner up whose life went nowhere after the pageant. As the ceremony begins, Audrey announces that she has managed to find one of the original judges from the 1975 pageant, an 80-year old Jim Cline. A confused Mr. Cline realizes then and there that Donna Jo was not the original winner and confesses that she had bribed him with the best night of his life. Amidst the ensuing chaos, Suzanne is once again crowned Miss Georgia U.S. 1975.

The scene where the ladies finally tell Suzanne about having to relinquish her crown takes place off-camera. She then sits in shock during most of Charlene's baby shower.

 Anthony is running errands for the ladies to help them prepare for Charlene's baby shower. 

CHARLENE: I'm sorry you can't stay for the shower, it's just one of those all girl times.
ANTHONY: Believe me, Charlene, I understand perfectly. It's absolutely alright. I go to all-boy parties sometimes, and we have those little tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off, and then we play word games where the prize is a biscuit cutter, so I've had my fill.

SUZANNE: They can have that crown when they tear it from my cold, dead scalp!!

CHARLENE: You do know that we're here to take you down to the hotel for the ceremony...
SUZANNE: Yes, of course. I'm almost ready. Just let me touch up my makeup.
JULIA: (suspicious) Ok, Suzanne. What's going on?
SUZANNE: You know, Julia. We're going down to the Marriott to see those pageant people.
CHARLENE: (relieved) Oh, Suzanne, this is great. Yesterday, when you said that stuff about your cold, dead scalp, y'know, and then you ran out to the parking lot and threw yourself on the ground kicking and screaming, and then you crawled to your car with dirt and saliva all over your face, and then you drove away peeling rubber.......we thought you were upset.
MARY JO: Silly us.
SUZANNE: Yes, well I talked to Consuela, and I'm better now.
ANTHONY: Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that.
JULIA: I'd like to think that this means you and Consuela had a soul-searching chat, and you re-evaluated your priorities and realized crown, or no crown, you are who you are -- but I have a feeling I'd be disappointed.
ANTHONY: I have a feeling it's more like little dolls, straight pins and chicken parts.
CHARLENE: Did Consuela make a Donna Jo Carnes doll?
SUZANNE: Yes, and she also put a curse on that Audrey woman too, and I wrote down on this piece of paper a hundred times It will not happen, so you all can just go ahead and laugh, but I know in my heart it's just not going to happen.
JULIA: Suzanne, you're just making this harder on yourself. Now I've talked to Reese, and apparently there's no statute of limitations on this thing, and there's nothing we can do here.
SUZANNE: When I was a little girl, you told me, "Suzanne, if there's anything in this life you want to be, you can be it. All you have to do it want it enough." That's how I won that contest in the first place -- I wanted it more. All those other girls were running around saying, "I don't care who wins. I just enjoy the camaraderie and meeting all the other girls from all over the state of Georgia." I didn't give a flip about meeting other girls. I can meet other girls any ole time. And maybe they didn't mean it, but they said it, so a little tiny bit of them did mean it. I never said it. Basically, I just said, "I want that crown to be on my head." So I'll just go down and talk to these people and explain it all to them, and they won't take my crown. They can't because......because you told me I could be whatever I want to be if I just want it bad enough. And I want to be Miss Georgia......for the rest of my life.

The group is waiting on the ceremony for Suzanne to relinquish her Miss Georgia crown to Donna Jo Carnes when Bernice comes into the room dragging a portly woman behind her.
BERNICE: Look what I found in the ladies room.......
CHARLENE: Oh Bernice, put her back!

Miss Florida Crowns the Wrong Miss Florida

The new Miss Florida is gonna have to give up the beautiful crown she has worn for less than a week.  She didn't get caught posing nude or anything like that.  No ma'am, she didn't do a thing wrong.

Final Five at the crowning last week
Victoria Cohen, Chloe Lopo, Kalen Dennis, Keiko Osumi
Elizabeth Fechtel, Miss Florida

But now she has to give that coveted crown to the pretty girl on the far left...

Fox 13 in Tampa is reporting that "a scoring error in last weekend's Miss Florida pageant crowned the WRONG winner, causing organizers to announce a new Miss Florida today..."  Lord have mercy!  What happened here?  How in the world?  This is pageant drama nightmares are made of.
This is the statement from the Miss America Organization:
Today, the Miss Florida Organization announced that 1st runner up, Victoria Cowen, was awarded the title of Miss Florida 2014. Yesterday, the Miss Delaware Organization crowned their 1st runner up, Brittany Lewis, as Miss Delaware 2014.

The Miss Delaware release stated “it was determined that Amanda Longacre exceeded the age requirement in order to be eligible to compete.” Once the Executive Director was made aware that the winner was ineligible to compete due to her age, action was taken to uphold to the MAO rules and crown their 1st runner up, Brittany Lewis. Both Amanda and Brittany will be award the Miss Delaware Scholarship.

In Florida, upon the realization that a tabulation error resulted due to a judge making a change on their score sheet that was not caught when the scores were tabulated, the Miss Florida title was wrongly awarded to Elizabeth Fechtel. Action was taken with an independent CPA to thoroughly review the judges scores and it was determined that the named 1st runner up, Victoria Cowen, was actually the winner of Miss Florida 2014.

We understand the impact that news of this type may have on these women and each of these state organizations and the great concern that goes with it. The Miss America Organization ensures there is compliance with the rules set forth among our state organizations to assure the integrity of our program and especially the judging process.

Talk about a nightmare...this really is sad.  I feel terrible for Elizabeth Fechtel.  Her dream has been squashed big time.  I just hope that she's surrounded by loving people tonight, bless her heart.  This will be a true test in grace for this young lady.

And what now?  The new Miss Florida Victoria Cowen gets the crown and will go on to compete in the prestigious Miss America pageant in September.  Bless her heart, this error was not her fault.   I wish her the best!

Miss South Carolina 2014 Pageant

It's pageant season and I've been been having so much fun watching one pageant after another.  This week I've been watching the preliminaries of the Miss South Carolina 2014 pageant--via the live feed.

There are so many beautiful young ladies competing for this scholarship pageant and a chance to represent the state of South Carolina at the Miss America pageant in September.

The finals will be held tonight for Miss South Carolina Outstanding Teen and the finals will be held Saturday night for Miss South Carolina.

These are the ladies competing for Miss South Carolina.  Of course, I have chosen my favorites and they are {in no particular order}:

Miss Hilton Head
Miss Chesnee
Miss Fountain Inn
Miss Orangeburg County
Miss Greater Hartsville
Miss Greater Greer
Miss Spartanburg
Miss Greenville Scottish Games
Miss River City
Miss SC Sweet Potato Festival

These young ladies are competing for the title of Miss South Carolina Outstanding Teen and here are my favorites {in no particular order}:

Miss Boiling Springs
Miss SC Sweet Potato Festival Queen
Miss Greater Easley
Miss Laurens County
Miss Landrum
Miss Fountain Inn
Miss Simpsonville
Miss Columbia
Miss Duncan
Miss Mount Pleasant

Good luck to all the ladies who are competing.  They are all beautiful, talented, and incredibly fit!!!

Edited:
Congratulations to Miss Anderson, Lanie Hudson, the new Miss South Carolina!
Congratulations to Miss Greater Easley, Hope Harvard, the new Miss South Carolina Outstanding Teen!

Sweet Tea On The Go

I'm always traveling back and forth to Georgia and love to make sweet tea stops.  So who has my favorite sweet tea?

I confess that yes, I do go to McDonald's.  Nobody has french fries like their french fries!  And their sweet tea is delish!

The price for their sweet tea is $1.00, plus tax, refills allowed.

It's no secret that I love Cracker Barrel and nothing goes better with their Southern style vegetables than sweet tea.

 At $2.19, plus tax, this sweet tea is the real deal.  Refills are poured and I love that they always ask if you want a cup of iced tea to-go!

Oh Lord, have y'all ever tried the sweet tea at McAlister's?  It's phenomenal.  Since McAlister's started their deli in the Southern town of Oxford, Mississippi, I would expect their sweet tea to be good.  They won't share their secret recipe, but they do say that it's black tea, steeped with filtered water in every restaurant several times throughout the day.  Their tea is sweetened with pure cane sugar.  LOVE LOVE LOVE their sweet tea.

 McAlister's sweet tea is $1.89, plus tax and includes refills.

I grew up eating at the S and S Cafeteria.  It's one of Mama's favorite places for lunch and mine too.  

I love everything they serve, but my favorites are their deviled eggs, squash casserole, fried okra, macaroni and cheese, custard pie, and sweet tea.  Their fabulous sweet tea is $1.49, plus tax and of course, they pour refills. 

I'm totally in love with Chick-fil-A.  To begin with, I'm always impressed with the customer service I receive at this fast-food restaurant.  The servers wear clean uniforms and are so friendly and helpful. 

 I have to say that at $1.59 plus tax {includes refills}, I think that Chick-fil-A sweet tea is the best tea on the planet!  Their tea is steeped each day with a premium blend of tea leaves and sweetened with real cane sugar.  The chicken minis are by far my favorite item on the menu...second to their sweet tea!

If all else fails...take your own sweet tea to-go in a mason jar with a cute mason jar sweet iced tea koozie from Incredibly Charming Paper and Gifts.

Dinner Party Etiquette

What Not To Say At A Dinner Party

Unless you are gathered at the table with very close family and friends, there are taboo subjects that should be avoided while dining:

Bragging on and on about your perfect children...No. No. No.

Asking the hostess "Did you make this cake/pie?"...This is a pet peeve of mine.

Asking the host/hostess how much they paid for something...This is just tacky.

Asking for seconds...Lord have mercy, no!

Telling off-color jokes...Definitely taboo!

Talking about your health issues...Don't!

Arguments over religion or politics...This is a real no-no!

Make pleasant conversation and try to keep it positive.

National Wear Your Lilly Day

It's the first day of summer and "National Wear Your Lilly Pulitzer Day."  Well, I pretty much wear Lilly all the time, but today I'm wearing one of my favorites.  It's the Lilly P Worth shift in 'Not So Crabby.'  I LOVE this shift and it is definitely part of my "Pulitzer Prize" collection.  I'm also carrying my pink Lilly P monogrammed Bermuda Bag and wearing my pink and green Bonannos.

Miss Georgia Pageant 2014

Carly Mathis, Miss Georgia 2013, will relinquish her crown this Saturday evening in Columbus, Georgia at the Miss Georgia Pageant.  Carly was one of my favorites at the Miss America 2014, where she placed in the top ten.  

I've been watching the preliminaries via the live stream from WRBL.  The girls vying for the crown will be judged on fitness, talent, and on-stage questions.  The winner will represent the state at the Miss America Pageant on September 14, 2014 in Atlantic City.  Here are the contestants for Miss Georgia 2014.    See more about the pageant and the contestants on the Miss Georgia Facebook Page.

My favorites are:

Miss Atlanta

Miss Conyers

Miss Georgia Southern

Miss Gwinnett County

Miss Macon

Miss Warner Robins

There are also girls competing for the title of Miss Outstanding Teen Georgia and I just love Olivia McMillan, Miss Warner Robins Outstanding Teen.  She won the preliminary talent contest with her vocal performance. Good luck to her on Saturday night.  The winner of the Miss Outstanding Teen will go on to compete in Orlando on August 2nd for the title of Miss America's Outstanding Teen.


Miss Warner Robins Outstanding Teen

The girls in the pageant have so much talent and poise.  Good luck to all of them!

Sitting Gracefully

I've been watching the preliminaries of the Miss Georgia and Miss Florida pageants this week.  This photo of the Miss Outstanding Teens of Florida came up on my Facebook feed this afternoon and I wanted to share it with y'all.  These ladies are all so perfectly poised and sitting so properly.

Your posture and the way you carry yourself is important and is as much a part of your image as your wardrobe. If you slump, it gives others the impression that you are lazy.

Standing gracefully:
~Stand with your feet slightly apart.
~Hold your head straight, with your chin parallel to the floor.
~Balance your body's weight evenly over both feet.
~Hold your shoulders up, back and relaxed.
~Keep your stomach pulled in and your bottom tucked under.
~Let your arms fall freely at your side.
Walking gracefully:
I learned to walk with a book on my head...Head up, shoulders back, bottom under, stomach in...and glide y'all...
Sitting Gracefully:
Sit straight down on a chair, remembering to sit up straight and lean slightly forward on the chair. Cross your legs at your ankles and move your legs to the side. {If you move your legs to the right side, then the left leg should be tucked under the right leg} Keep your knees together as if you were holding a pill between them!

Place your left hand, palm down, just above your knee and place your right hand on top of your left hand.

National Iced Tea Month

The lazy days of summer are almost upon us and since it's National Iced Tea Month, I'm featuring my favorite teas during June.

This afternoon I'm serving Peach Iced Tea from Harney Teas.  Harney and Sons explains the difference between loose tea, tea sachets, and tea bags here.

Like most Southerners, I began drinking iced tea at a young age. Iced tea is considered the beverage of hospitality, the table wine of the South, and sometimes referred to as the champagne of the South.

Slow down and join me in sippin' some great iced tea! 

Tybee Island Tour of Homes Photos

Last week I had the pleasure of being a Docent for the Tybee Home Tour.  This  was the 17th year for the tour, all  for charity.  This year the money raised went to the Tybee Island Maritime Academy, the food pantry the Rising TYde, and the summer sleep-away camp for children, the Fresh Air Home.  I was excited to greet the visitors to The Oyster Gardens, home of Diane Kaufman.

"HERE'S WHAT I WORE"  The Bermuda shorts are by Lilly Pulitzer in the 'Cabana Pink Sunnyside Chipper' pattern, with a Lilly P polo, Augusta National pony cap, Lilly P bow belt, and Lilly P pink mules.

Diane has a fabulous home {it's really a compound with a main house, guest house, dock house, and double garage} on Tybee Island...where the Atlantic ocean meets the back river.  The property was originally an old oyster house {used for receiving, shucking, processing, and packing oysters}. In 1895 the Goette family of Savannah bought the property for $7.50 on the courthouse steps. Mr. Goette signed the property over to his wife.  After Mr. Goette died, the mother raised their four children--the two sons lived in the main house and the two spinster daughters lived in the guest house. Mrs. Goette left the property to her spinster daughters. The spinsters then left the property to their nieces. The nieces left the property to their children and those children sold the property to Diane Kaufman.

This is a photo of the main house, which has a kitchen, den, bar service area, 2 bedrooms, full bath, and laundry area.  The main house has a screened-in porch and overlooks the water.

This is the guest house.  Of course, guests are welcome here but Diane also uses this home as her winter home, because it's all warm and cozy!  The guest house is two levels--the first level has a screened-in porch, a kitchen, laundry area, and a den/dining area. The second level has a bedroom and bath. 

I could go on and on with tons of photos of Diane's home...it is all perfectly restored and decorated in a classic vintage, coastal style.  I'll just feature a few...

The first two photos are of the kitchen in the main house at Oyster Gardens.  This is where Diane prepares the meals for her fabulous soirees!

Diane's den overlooks the back river through a screened-in back porch.

This is one of  the bedrooms in the main house.

After working at Diane's, it was time to visit the other 8 homes on the tour.    My friend Joy drove her golf cart on the tour for easy parking options...

Porch living on Tybee is a full-time activity.  We saw so many fabulous porches, but these were my favorites:

This homeowner has a fabulous ocean view and their back porch is the perfect spot for porch entertaining and  porch sitting.

Of course, all the beds were fluffed up for the tour and here's a few cute ones:

A Bed and Breakfast was on the tour and I snapped photos of their fabulous kitchen, parlor, and dining room.

After a long day of looking at fabulous homes, Oyster Cottage friends were treated to a fabulous dinner at Diane's.  Roe shrimp, fresh off the boat was the main course.  Oh my goodness y'all, these were the best shrimp ever.  Diane and friends are all relaxing at sunset on the porch of Diane's dock house.

I hope y'all have enjoyed the tour.  If you didn't make the tour this year, I hope to see you there next year.

Peach Juleps

It's happy hour and I decided to prepare refreshing Peach Julep cocktails using some of the ripe peaches I got in Georgia.  Okay, honestly, I used the peaches as a garnish for Martha Stewart's recipe.

Martha Stewart's Peach Juleps:
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 cups store-bought peach juice
1 can (12 ounces) club soda
1/2 cup bourbon
Crushed ice, for serving
Georgia peaches

In a medium bowl or pitcher, combine mint and sugar.  With a wooden spoon, mash leaves until bruised. Stir in peach juice, club soda, and bourbon.  Serve over crushed ice, garnish with mint, and add a mint julep straw/spoon.  Of course, I added a Georgia peach wedge.  Serves 6

If you have never used a mint julep straw/spoon, there is etiquette to be followed:
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 is 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?

Paula Deen is Back Y'all!

Y'all know I love Paula Deen, so I was excited when she announced the news about her own network...The Paula Deen Network!  I have already signed up and you can too.  It's a paid subscription-based online offering and you can read more about it at her website.

I recently was invited to attend a private taping of her upcoming show...at the kitchen inside her home!  It was beautiful and Paula was her same down-to-earth Southern self!  I enjoyed watching her prepare her trademark comfort food, assisted in the kitchen by her son Bobby and his wife Claudia.   I love that Bobby and Claudia bring lighter-side options to Paula's recipes...so that you can choose--traditional comfort food or the lighter options.  Paula has such a bubbly personality and the news of her upcoming show gives me a renewed interest in her Southern recipes.


 

I was on stage with Paula and Bobby and came away with a gift of these chopping knives.  Of course I am happy to add these to my collection of Paula Deen kitchen cute loot! 

"HERE'S WHAT I WORE"  The shift is the Lilly P 'Ten Ton Bouquet' pattern, with pearls and a J Crew Jackie cardigan, Kate Spade summer purse, and Tory Burch summer Revas.

Paula is also on tour with her live shows...check out the schedule here.