When I was a little girl, I spent a lot of time at my grandma’s house. My parents divorced when I was three and my dad lived with my grandma for many years. When I visited him two days a week and almost every weekend, I was visiting my grandma, too. She was an amazing woman: kind, tolerant, funny and strong. She spent much of her time cooking delicious meals for our large, extended family, who always seemed to congregate at her house. When she wasn’t in the kitchen, she was caring for my cousin who suffered from Muscular Dystrophy.

She was, and still is, the first person who comes to my mind when I think of generosity. Unless you were trying to eat her HoHos®. In her breadbox, my grandma kept a small stash of cookies, Twinkies®, HoHos®, and King Don’s® (that’s what Ding Dongs® were called in my part of the country…many, many years ago) (yes, I’m old). My cousins and I had to be really good if we wanted to get something out of the breadbox. Either that, or really sneaky.

Fast forward 30 years (see that? I really am old), and now I’m the one buying Hostess® products. The latest favorite, in our house, are the New Frosted Devil’s Food Donettes®. When we need a quick and easy breakfast, the moist, devil’s food cake and chocolaty coating go perfectly with some fresh fruit and yogurt, and we always take Donettes® with us when our family goes camping. The last thing I want to do after crawling out of a tent is to make breakfast on a campstove. Have you ever tried to wash cooked-on eggs out of a pan at a campsite? Yeah.

Hostess® has been around since 1930, since before my parents were born. They grew up with Hostess® products; I grew up with them, and now my kids are enjoying them, too. I think my grandma, in particular, would have loved the New Chocolate Crème Twinkies®! Though I have no doubt my 10 year old self would have tried extra-hard to sneak one. I know this because my daughter loves them. She takes after her mother like that.

Now BlogHer wants to know your favorite Hostess® memory and by sharing you can be entered to win a $100 Visa gift card!

SWEEPSTAKES/GIVEAWAY RULES No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. This sweepstakes runs from 2/29/12 – 3/31/12 Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

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In roughly nine hours my family and I were going to embark on a family vacation.

My kids have had a lot of things happen in their lives that most kids don’t have to deal with, and right now they have an aunt and a grandmother fighting cancer. Things have been kind of heavy around here. We planned a trip around fun life experiences to show them that things don’t always have to be a bummer.

We were going to go to Key Largo with trips to the Everglades and Key West. We were going to go parasailing, swimming with dolphins, and tour the islands on wave-runners. We were going to have a picnic on the beach.

My nine year old son, who has a map of the world on his bedroom wall and who sleeps with an airplane, was so excited for his first plane ride. He has been counting down the days.

But, irony? It bites hard! Because the kid with all of the medical problems is now too sick to go.

Sigh.

This afternoon, I had to make massive, last-minute cancellations through my tears as my son slept fitfully on the couch. I cried for an hour straight. When my son woke and found out we weren’t going, he shed tears of his own.

We may not be headed to the beach, but there is certainly no shortage of salt water around here.

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I received an email yesterday that contained lyrics from a Salt-n-Pepa song. No one pointed them out to me and for all I know it was unintentional, but I knew they were Salt-n-Pepa lyrics because I used to look like this.

That’s me, circa 1986, the year Salt-n-Pepa released their first album. I was 15 years old, which was prime hip-hopping age. Of course, I went to a practically all-white high-school, but technically you’re still allowed to be white and hip-hop as long as you bite your lower lip.

Unfortunately, back in 1986 you couldn’t dance because of the risk that your bangs would go flat. This meant spraying a half-a-bottle of Aqua Net directly on your curling iron, teasing your hair with great force, then applying more Aqua Net. Afterward, it was imperative that you not stand near an open flame.

These ladies know what I’m talking about.

The overabundance in the 80’s took a lot of work. You had to shred, bleach and peg your jeans, you had to destroy your hair, stack bracelets up your arm, and you had to make room in your closet for a bag of shoulder-pads. Sigh. The best shape my body was ever in was completely wasted on 80’s fashion.

Thank goodness the neon, lace and crazy clothing shapes are gone for good! What? They’re back? That’s okay. My teen daughter will look good in big, baggy tunics.

I, however, won’t be wearing those clothes again. And as for my poor, poor hair; I will never again tease my bangs unless it’s for Halloween. The styles of the 80’s are gone for good.

But, as shallow and corrupt as the music was, I can’t seem to shake it. Or, Push It. Same difference.

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My oldest sister has always had an incredible knack for decorating. She lives a few hours away and one time when I was staying with her, I actually got out of bed extra early just so I could surround myself with her pretty stuff. True story.

I visited her home this past weekend and, though I wasn’t there for a happy occasion (same city, different sister), I had that same urge. This time, I actually fought the desire to fill up my car with as much as I could grab. True story.

Her living room. Swoon.

See that white sofa? SHE HAS A DOG. A big one, who runs freely in the rolling fields surrounding her house. First born overachiever!

This is her mud room. What you can’t see is the gorgeous, heavy, antique door that marks the entrance. What you can see? That she has forced bulbs in February and I can’t grow plants in June when I buy them from the nursery already in bloom.

Doesn’t everyone have leaded glass over their kitchen sink? Oh, look! More bulbs!

A nook for when one of her guests picks up the guitar and plays. True story. It happens every time I’m there. Also, look at her phone! Who has a cute phone? Oh yes, that’s right…she does.

All I know is that I’m 40 years old and I still want to be her when I grow up.

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