Hello Lovelies. I hope you are all healthy and excited to enter the holiday season. I have been battling a sinus infection for the past week and have barely been able to get out of bed for the past few days. Yesterday I wandered downstairs for a little while to do some crafting with my girls.
I came across this YouTube video on Pinterest the other and thought we should try it.
Originally I was going to make my own reel, but that seems like it will take more energy than I currently possess.
Aly really got into the paper cutting and made 3 snowflakes.
Hannah was in perfectionist mode and not particularly interested in having her picture taken. She had to have the paper flowers in a pattern on the windows.
The flowers are pretty, but my favorite part of this project was that the girls got along for a while.
Aren’t they pretty? I think I’ll leave them up until after New Year’s. They can be our fireworks.
I would love to see the winter crafts you’re making.
I’m so annoyed. I started this post a couple days ago, and then somehow deleted everything that I had written.
So let’s get in our time machine and go back to 1923, where I will introduce you to Stephen Sanford. He owned the first American owned horse to win the Grand National Championship in Liverpool. I know nothing about this race. I only know the Kentucky Derby.
The horse’s name was Sergeant Murphy. His story was the inspiration for the 1937 Ronald Regan film with the same name. Unfortunately, I was unable to find it on any streaming platform, but if you come across it, let me know.
Stephen Sanford went on to become a championship polo player, winning titles in 1926, 1929, 1930 and 1949. He married actress, Mary Duncan, in 1933. He died in 1977 and was inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame in 2015.
I’ve been in a funk lately. I feel overwhelmed at work at by the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is make dinner. Between lack of time and energy along with nothing sounding good, I’ve been in a kitchen funk.
Then I started smelling my seasonings and came across the Achiote powder. It is a little spicier than paprika but has a similar smokiness.
I rubbed it onto some chicken legs and thighs. Then I sprinkled some minced garlic on them before throwing them into a 400 degree oven for 50 minutes.
When I pulled them out of the oven I had these crispy skinned beauties that were served with Spanish rice and peas.
Dinner was simple, easy and tasted wonderful. So if you are in a rut, smell your spices, or go buy some Achiote powder and give your taste buds a little something different.
I was looking through my Goodreads yesterday and came across Poison Candy, The story of Dalia Dippolito. If you aren’t familiar with her criminal case, I am a little shocked, because it’s kind of wild. It involves a love story, the mob, a hitman and even reality TV. Let’s get into this.
This case truly fascinates me, so I decided to look her up and found the SNAPPED! episode about her (season 8 episode 2) on Peacock.
This is Michael Dippolito. He’s a bit of a cutie, but what’s with the boxing action figures on his desk? He is a former bad boy from Philadelphia who was previously incarcerated for fraud and had ties to organized crime. When he met Dalia in 2008, he had been on probation for 6 years with no issues. Suddenly 1 months after they got married, the police started to receive anonymous tips that Michael was selling steroids and drugs. Nothing was found until the 3rd incident when his vehicle was searched outside a restaurant and they found cocaine under his spare tire. It wasn’t enough for the police to believe he was actually dealing drugs, and they believed his confused reaction so they didn’t arrest him for the drug violation. I have never moved my spare tire, so lord only knows what’s underneath that thing.
When having her husband arrested didn’t work, Dalia upped the ante and asked an old friend to help her find someone to kill her “abusive” husband. Her friend was freaked out by their discussion and contacted the police, who set up a sting operation. Dalia told the undercover officer that she was 5000% sure that she wanted her husband killed. She even suggests a public murder outside of the bank where the killer could use his withdrawal for payment. On the day of the expected murder, she was called by police and asked to come home from the gym. When she arrived, her home was surrounded by crime scene tape. A detective told her that Michael was dead and Dalia began to sob. I’m pretty impressed with her acting abilities. Listening to her cry gave me that heartbreak feeling in the pit of my stomach. She could have won an Emmy with that performance.
Her acting skills continued to shine in the interrogation room. She tried to point the police toward his former mob connections and the people he had stolen from. When confronted by the “hitman” and told everything was on tape, she played dumb and kept insisting that she didn’t do anything. When she learned Michael was still alive, she tried to get him to believe she was innocent, even calling him from jail to plead her case.
It took a year and a half for this case to be presented in court. That’s when we learn that her defense was Reality TV. Her attorneys claimed that her friend who turned her in, and Michael both wanted to get on reality TV but things went too far and Dalia got arrested. Her attorneys questioned Michael on the stand for 3 days asking about reality television once, but bringing up his probation so many times that Michael called her attorney a parrot who just repeated the same thing. Dalia’s trial also brought a new person into the picture. She had been sexting with a guy called “We’ll Hung Kevin”. 😂🤣😂 Is this like when you call the guy built like a refrigerator “Tiny”? Was she hoping to live with this guy after Michael was dead? So many questions. Of course, Dalia never takes the stand. Her team does bring out a computer forensics expert who claims Michael was looking up casting calls for reality TV in Florida and for VHI, but did he click on any of those, or was it just part of the junk that comes up if you look up a show? MTV was filming The Paper in Florida in 2008.
Dalia was found guilty of Solicitation to commit murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Michael was granted a divorce from Dalia in 2011. Dalia appealed her conviction, and was granted a new trial based on the belief that the judge should have questioned each juror individually about their knowledge of the case through the media. While awaiting her 2nd trial Dalia was living with her mother under house arrest and gave birth to a son. Her 2nd trial ended with a hung jury, but her 3rd trial lead to a conviction and 16 year prison sentence. She is not expected to be released until 2032, the same year Michael Dippolito’s probation is set to end.
