D is for Diva

Sushi and Ice Cream

2011-12-20T13:54:00.003-05:00

Last night I got a surprise from Danny telling me that he was off and wanted sushi. You don't have to mention sushi twice to get me craving some! He also said he didn't want to go far so I suggested Akira which is like 15 minutes away.

I love their 80's logo on their mugs!

This is us trying to cut back! My roll was the bottom left. It was called Cloud 9 and had mango, sour cream and shrimp! Yum!

The server at Akira gave us a "secret gift" card where we would have to bring back unopened and could be worth $10, $15, $20, $50 or $75. Danny and I thought that was a nice touch even though the suspense is killing Danny as to what amount it is. We said even if it is the lowest amount, $10, that's still not a bad deal. That covers two small rolls!

I also have been reading quite a bit about a new ice cream at Mitchell's Ice Cream. It's an ice cream made with the popular Great Lakes Brewery Christmas Ale, called Christmas Ale Ginger Snap. I guess the ice cream is made from residual from the end of bottling runs of Christmas Ale. Since that was across the street we headed there as well. The first two bites tasted like beer and then the rest tasted like gingerbread. Which isn't a bad thing!

Danny got Key Lime pie flavored ice cream which he had before and remembered it being good.

Then we had to crank the heat up because we were cold from the ice cream but it was worth it! I love impromptu nights like that! How did Christmas come up so fast this weekend? So crazy!

New ornaments for tree

2011-12-01T19:40:00.007-05:00

I think this is the earliest we've put up a tree! I've been using the same ornaments for the past 5 years and was not looking forward to putting them on the tree so I went to my favorite store, Target, to buy some new ornaments to inspire me. I knew I wanted a Hello Kitty ornament and I used target.com's "find in store" feature to see if I should bother at the Target that is right up the street from me. And I was right, they were out of stock. But the Target two cities over was in stock so I decided to take a trip out there. Once I got to the Christmas section, I found the Hello Kitty ornament and it was THE LAST ONE! Hooray! Here is the cutie

Then I got a duck to represent the carnival ducks we had at our wedding (and keeping with the red and pink theme)

Whenever I see this ornament, I think of Lil Wayne's Lollipop song, totally inappropriate!

Whole tree and Meatball

Thanksgiving weekend

2011-11-28T11:38:00.009-05:00

Thanksgiving was great this year! Danny and I hosted for the first time and he did all the cooking. We did two turkeys - one roasted in the oven (with lots of butter)

And one in a smoker

The reason the only two pictures I have of the turkeys is when they are raw is because hosting is exhausting and I was running around non-stop the rest of the day.

Then I decided that I wanted to try Black Friday shopping for three items - two ipods and a Mr. Coffee Keurig maker. If we bought all those items, we would get $85 back in Target gift cards and I go to Target all the time, especially for groceries, so it was worth it to me. After passing out at 8 pm after our hosting duties, Danny and I headed to Target at 12:15 am and saw the craziness that is Black Friday for the first time. We waited outside the doors for only 15 minutes, but once inside the line for the electronics section was about an hour. I got to see the people pushing carts with the huge flat screen TVs and discovered that the hot ticket item that many people were there for was the Dr. Dre's Beats headphones! Who knew? Those sold out while we were waiting in line. We managed to get the two ipods at the counter and pay for the coffeemaker and get outta there so it was a successful trip. I rewarded Danny and our other friend who met up with us with slushies on our way out. I don't think the slushie machine was meant to be on at 1 am at Target because Danny managed to overflow his like a geyser, probably because it was too soft!

Saturday night my friends invited me over for game night. I jokingly asked if we were going to play her original 1990s game of Mall Madness because I know my friend M has it and when I got there, look what was set up waiting for me

I didn't think they would take me seriously! Yeah I realized I'm not so good at Mall Madness. I kept running out of money!

Then to add more to the weekend, I promised my friend who is a comedian we would see him perform at Hilarities in downtown Cleveland. I was wanting Chipolte earlier but Danny and I wanted to go somewhere downtown so we settled on Zocolo, a Mexican grill with the menu designed by food network chef Aaron Sanchez.

I've been wanting to try it and I liked the little fundido appetizer we shared and the mango avocado margarita I got.

I would love to go back get the goat cheese quesadilla, that sounded amazing! The comedy show was just what Danny and I needed. It felt good to laugh. We also drove past some Christmas lights in downtown Cleveland.

I love action packed weekends like that! Makes the days off stretch so much longer!

Free movies part 4, Hugo

2011-11-22T11:23:00.002-05:00

If you love free movies like me, the best thing is to do is get an account at gofobo and you will get surprise emails from time to time offering you movie passes. I usually get all excited and request every single movie offer I get and then get too tired or lazy to go. Last night I forced myself to go and I'm so glad I did. The movie was Hugo and just reading that it was directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Johnny Depp told me it would be great. Also, this was my first experience with 3D glasses! The movie split itself between showcasing the cool 3D effects and paying homage to the origin and history of cinema. It was also interesting to see how they depicted the 1930s train station in Paris. I'm rooting for this movie to do well during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend!

Thirsty Dog and Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bet

2011-11-20T19:01:00.004-05:00

I'm lucky I have a friend who's husband goes out of town probably the same amount of time that Danny works. Last night she promised her coworkers she would go to somebody's birthday party at the Thirsty Dog Brewery in Akron and she needed me to take her husband's spot who was in Chicago. I was by myself with no plans so I was excited to go. We pull up and wonder if we're in the right spot because it looks very industrial but then we realize that her coworker rented out a room in the brewery not open to the public. I just started to tolerate beer within the past few years so I was ok with trying some. I tried the Pumpkin Ale and the Raspberry Ale which were both very good. I'm lame and have no pictures.

This year we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house! Danny and I have a bet going on right now regarding dessert! I found a pumpkin pie cheesecake recipe with a pretzel crust on the Whole Foods website that I was going to make. My mom asked me what to bring and I forwarded the recipe to her and she said she would make it. Well Danny has never seen my mom make a home made dessert in the 8 years we've been together because she likes to buy stuff from the bakery. So we bet $5 - I win if she makes the pumpkin cheesecake recipe and he wins if she brings store bought bakery. I'm putting my faith in her, I hope she comes through and I can prove Danny wrong! Just for fun, even though my mom doesn't have a facebook, I posted this:

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North "Poll"

2011-11-17T11:45:00.004-05:00

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

Editor's Note: I have a niece to buy for this Christmas and I've read so many good things about Melissa & Doug! I like so many toys that I can't make a decision!

Sweatin to the Homies

2011-11-17T11:17:00.007-05:00

I like Zumba but latin music is not my favorite. I have the best time when the instructor plays Britney or another non-latin song. There's also a joke within my group of friends that I'm the only one out of the group that likes hip hop and I get made fun of constantly. When I found out there was a hip class near me, I was really interested in going, but scared at the same time. For two weeks I had something going on on Wednesday nights (see last post), but last night I finally trekked up there in the dark and went to see what this was all about. I felt bad that there were only two other people besides me. The instructor was really energetic and did the steps slow, which was great for me. At first I was thinking, this isn't doing anything...but by the time we were done, I was soaking in sweat! Even more than after Zumba! I'm going to try to get the word out and get some more people to go with me because I'm addicted now and I'll be sad if the class gets canceled due to no interest.

In other random news, I bought the dunkin donuts strawberry shortcake coffee that the Healthy Diva posted about:

Since I only have a Keurig and not a regular coffee maker, I had to bust out the Keurig reusable coffee filter that we got at our shower. Wow what a hassle! You have to take the little filter, scoop little teaspoons of coffee in it, and then wash the whole thing! I just started on the coffee train a year ago so I'm not used to cleaning grounds, but I felt like I was doing a lot of work for 8 oz of coffee, haha! No, I take that back, I was messing with coffee grounds at age 15 when I worked at McDonalds. The strawberry flavor was really good :)

Trying to be healthy

2011-11-14T10:46:00.003-05:00

The wedding was wonderful but the stress surrounding it was overwhelming. I was really surprised how some family members acted. I guess a wedding brings people's true colors out. Everyone loved the carnival theme though and danced the night away. I'm so grateful to have been given a nice wedding by my in-laws, but I'm happy it's over and life is back to normal.

My new obsession is what I call "healthy living blogs". I've been introduced to the world of Whole Foods, protein powder, overnight oats, chia seeds, almond butter and a lot of other things that excite me. I've been trying to incorporate some of these ideas into my diet in these past few months. Another one of these cool blogger buzz words is kale. On hungry hungry hippie, I read how she tried this kale from the Pasadena Whole Foods made by a chef AJ. That rung a bell in my head and I searched my deleted emails from Whole Foods and saw that chef AJ was coming to my Whole Foods the following week for a demo and book signing. What are the odds that she would be in Cleveland?

The demo was very informative and explained why we shouldn't eat processed foods. Chef AJ used to be a comedienne and that really showed because she was very energetic. She said Cleveland is the farthest she's travelled so far. She also made fun of my Cleveland accent when I told her I visited Santa Monica and Hollywood on my honeymoon. I hate when I get nervous and that comes out!

Here she is in action:

Anyway she demoed a Nutrient Rich Chocolate Smoothie. The main ingredient is spinach but she used cacao powder and dates to sweeten it up.

Next was the famous Hail to the Kale salad that the hippie talked about. She used a whole jar of raw almond butter to make that dressing! So cool to actually be able to taste it!

Next was a black bean based soup.

And for dessert an amazing raw chocolate truffle (and a nice shot of my black work pants!).

I'm going to try to attend more demos like this in the future to keep learning about "healthy living" topics!

The asking my maids fiasco

2011-02-19T16:53:00.005-05:00

I went back and forth with Danny whether we wanted a bridal party or not. In the end, we decided that we would regret if we didn't ask our family and friends to be in a bridal party and to go all or nothing. So all or nothing meant I had 5 girls to ask (plus my sister who I had already asked). I wanted to do something special like a card and a gift but couldn't decide on anything. Then I went to the weddingbee boards and saw that a post on how a girl asked her maids by sending them all flowers to their jobs. I loved that idea, knew it would be expensive but figured this is the only time I would ever get to do this.

I decided to use teleflora because the website let me send the flowers to multiple addresses and put it on one invoice. It let me pick each local florist based on the location I was sending it to. So here's how it went:

Bridesmaid D: She's a stay-at-home mom so I had to send the flowers to her house. The florist sent them a day early!!!! Then she starts writing on facebook that she has a secret admirer! I had to email her and tell her to keep it on the down low because everyone else would be getting the flowers the next day.

Bridesmaid G: I'll just let her email tell this story: OMG! I just got a special delivery at work; Flowers : )

My answer is ABSOLUTELY YES!! I am sooo excited and nervous. I have never been an official bridesmaid.

I do have to tell you when I first opened the little card I had a mini panic attack because I thought is was someone sending cards to their wife or something and they gave them to the wrong person because the card is signed Deanne. Then when I calmed down and actually read it again, I figured it must really be Deanna, and then I was giggling with excitement.

So they spelled my flippin name wrong!

Bridesmaid A: I find out that her work sent her to Columbus at last minute and she would be out of her office for 3 days! In a panic, I called the florist who was no help. I ended up calling her work and asked if they could just put the flowers on her desk for her to get when she gets back. They ended up putting them in the fridge so they were perfect when Bridesmaid A got them.

Bridesmaids M and B got theirs at their respective places of employment no problem.

Whew, right? I have to say it was fun getting the emails and phone calls from everyone saying yes and telling me they were excited. Oh and I asked them to send me a picture of these flowers so I could at least see them! Here they are. I picked two different designs and alternated between the girls:

Photographs - Check!

2011-02-17T17:16:00.006-05:00

Since I had such a problem booking halls, I realized that I had to get on the search for a photographer too. I emailed a bunch of local photographers and got a few emails that were set up like this:

Hello Deanna - thanks for contacting me. Unfortunately, I'm booked on xx. However, I would like to suggest the following photographers. They do amazing work.

The photographer suggested 7 photographers' names. What was really weird was that I emailed one of the suggestions and I got another booked letter with the original photographer on the list! They must have a little club or something.

One of my favorites, Hunter Photographic, emailed me back almost instantly and was open on my date! I loved that he had an updated blog and was so fast to respond. He even wanted to meet with Danny and I right away! We met at a Caribou Coffee at my suggestion and I was sold on the fact that he brought an ipad (I'm a mac nerd) a cool portfolio. Included in the package were the engagement photos and I said I wanted to wait until spring because I hate winter and snow and don't want to see it in my photos. So we're looking forward to that in a couple months!

Hotel vs. Banquet Hall

2011-02-15T16:45:00.001-05:00

My next natural inclination was to get a guest list number to see what we were dealing with. I knew it would be a big number. After going back and forth between both sets of families, the estimate was 378! This new information knocked out about 70% of the venues that I had bookmarked or liked.

Since my future in laws were helping to pay for the reception, we devised a system of booking appointments to look at venues on Saturday mornings. The first venue we visited lied on their website on how many people it could hold. Or you could probably hold 400 with tables set up in a completely different room. Fail. After about 5 visits, we narrowed it down to two choices - the hotel vs. the banquet hall.

I honestly fell in love with the hotel. It was built in 2009. Everything was sparkling new. The bar had a flat screen tv. But it was at the tip top of our budget. Also, Danny loves Jim Beam and their house brand of bourbon was Jack Daniels. We would have to pay extra for a longer bar time. We knew we wanted our carnival theme for appetizers and it just seemed like we would have to work so hard to fit our theme in these food and drink packages.

Enter the banquet hall. I wanted so much to hate it but each feature was better than the next! We could bring in our own alcohol! The dance floor was huge! They were flexible with food options! What really sold me was that the dj that we had excitedly booked too early had played there before and was familiar with how to set up their equipment there. The one catch was that we had to change our date to the weekend before. At this point, I was fine with the date change. I had a heart to heart with my future FIL and decided on the banquet hall! Yay! Now we can move forward!

Our first vendor!

2011-02-14T21:55:00.001-05:00

Is probably not the first vendor you should book, haha. It was our dj! Danny had heard about Rock the House Entertainment by word of mouth and booked an appointment. We went to their studio and waited an obscene amount of time past our appointment because of the couple that was scheduled before us going overtime. When that couple finally left, the marketing manager came to get us and apologized. He brought us in an office and didn't say a word about the dj company. He asked us to tell him our engagement story. We were a little taken aback! He listened patiently while Danny told our engagement story and then asked a few more questions about how we envision our wedding. It was such a great meeting and I was convinced that we needed to book them that night! So I signed our first contract and deposit. I do not recommend booking the dj before your venue because we ended up changing our date and had to resign a dj contract, but the excitement of meeting with our first vendor was definitely fun!

Why are you so dressed up?

2011-02-12T11:17:00.003-05:00

So a little background on Danny and I...Danny is a chef. I met him while taking on a waitressing job right out of college and ended up asking HIM out. We lived about 20 minutes apart in two different suburbs so I planned our first date in my neighborhood and chose a gelato place that had a private upstairs which I thought was really cool. We hit it off right away and have been together ever since, 7 years later!

Yeah 7 years later. I was getting kind of anxious (and so were our families) whether we would get married or not so I was not completely suprised by the events are are to follow.

Mondays are Danny's only day off in the week so we try to do something fun like go out to a restaurant (our fave) or movie or whatever. Danny does not dress up on his day off and definitely doesn't shave so when I saw him doing both I got a little suspicious. He suggested that we go back to the gelato place for our day off activity. Mind you, we haven't been there since our first date. We arrive at La Gelateria, get our gelato, and go upstairs to the seating area. We were the only ones there. I scarf down my gelato as I always do with frozen treats, and Danny started fumbling around in his pockets. He asked me if I had his keys and I said no. Then he pulls the ring out and says something like, "I had to bring it back to where we started" and asked to marry me. All I could say was "I knew it!, I knew it!". Very romantic, haha. But it was perfect for us because luckily no one was there so it was a completely private moment.

personal photo

I wasn't completely shocked by the proposal, but the after party is where Danny got me. He suggested we go to one of my favorite restaurants, Melt Bar and Grilled. I was so out of it, I said I just wanted to go home. We went anyway and I walk in and the whole restaurant starts clapping! Then I see a table of our closest friends....then my aunt, mom, sister, etc. etc. He invited 30 of our family and friends! That's when the tears started falling for me. People were giving me cards, gifts, flowers. It was a night I'll truly remember. Melt was especially great at dealing with such a large party since they are known for having long wait times and being crowded due to it's popularity.

personal photo....I think I broke every Anne Ruthmann rule with this shot!

Did you have an after party after your proposal?

Triumphant Return!

2011-02-11T10:32:00.003-05:00

source

I'm making my triumphant return to blogging because of this post by Mrs. Penguin on Weddingbee. After a horrible and depressing 2009, Danny proposed to me in August 2010 and we are getting married in September 2011! And we plan on incorporating carnival food and elements in our wedding! It was meant to be!

I've been reading weddingbee since 2006. I stumbled upon it in the craziest way. I was searching for ideas for a wedding shower for my (now) FSIL. I found this thing called a blog that described a bridal shower they threw and was fascinated by it. Back in the day almost all blogs used to link to their other favorite blogs on the sidebar. I clicked on a blog and this person kept referring to herself as Mrs. Lime and wouldn't show her face. I then discovered these were monikers for brides-to-be on weddingbee. I added it to my google reader and have been reading non-stop for the past 4 years.

I will have to say, reading about other people's weddings and actually planning your own wedding is totally different! Nobody talks about how frustrating it is when your date is booked everywhere! There have been some angry tears shed on my part already regarding difficult wedding decisions. But at the same time I am incredibly happy to have all this support from friends and family!

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

2009-02-24T09:50:00.002-05:00

I have to admit, I borrowed this book from the library for it's title and cover. It was a little slow moving at first, but towards the end I was reading until 2 am to finish it! Sometimes I like stories about small town folk and this book about a girl yearning to move to Atlanta from Ringgold, GA fit the bill. For example, Catherine Grace saves money to move to Atlanta by starting a homemade jam business! The book is set in the 70's and I guess it was a simpler time back then, especially in the south. The fact that the Greyhound bus stop is at the Dairy Queen that she goes to everyday is really symbolic and the story does get better after she finally steps on that bus.

I finally found my pin-up sweater!

2009-02-23T11:38:00.002-05:00

This past Halloween, I was searching for a pin-up sweater to wear for my pin-up girl costume. I settled on a bright blue leopard print wrap around sweater that I wasn't really comfortable in. This morning, I bought the most darling grey with white polka-dot cardigan at Target! It was fresh on the rack that they use to bring the clothes out that are new shipments. I don't usually buy clothes at full price but I just couldn't pass it up! Isn't it cute just to wear out? I am so excited! :)

Cards!!!

2009-02-09T11:35:00.008-05:00

I've been stalking a few crafty blogs and decided I wanted to try to make homemade cards. Kelly from The Sunset House was so helpful when I emailed her and turned me on to the world of Stampin' Up. Weddingbee is hosting their second annual Valentine's Day swap so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. P.S. Making cards is harder than I thought! There were multiple trips to Pat Catans in the making of these cards!

I also got a new rug at Target for 50% off! It was originally 30 and I got it for 15. I saw it sitting there in the global home section and just couldn't pass it up.

Doesn't it look like it came from Urban Outfitters? Awesome.

Sabotage

2009-02-06T10:17:00.004-05:00

When I was pulling out of my driveway this morning, the opening chords of Sabotage by the Beastie Boys was playing on the radio. I felt so cool! Like my life had a soundtrack for a minute.

Hardcore Arts and Media recap

2009-01-20T10:31:00.006-05:00

I knew RENT couldn't hide from me for long. The show came back to Cleveland Jan 6-11. Guess who got to go opening night? MEEEEE!!! (Danny surprised me with tickets) Guess why I was so excited to go? Cause original cast members Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal and Gwen Stewart were in it! The first half of the show I was in awe that I was actually watching these actors live and grateful that they agreed to reprise their roles 10+ years later. Then the second half I was able to enjoy it. Gwen Stewart plays many roles including the homeless lady, but her amazing gospel solo in Seasons of Love is what I was looking forward to most. She didn't disappoint me by sounding exactly like my RENT CD. I walked out of the theatre on a goose pimpled RENT high and promptly bought at $20 poster that had Anthony and Adam on it. The next day I looked at the poster and kind of second guessed that purchase, ha ha. It will look good framed though.

source

Because of all the annoying snow and single digit temperatures, I had no desire to go out so I was able to read Anthony Rapp's biography, Without You. It satisfied my urge to learn about how Anthony got involved in RENT and the early productions, but a huge chunk of the book was dedicated to Anthony's struggle with his mom dying of cancer. Which was sad! I almost cried. I also commend Anthony for being so honest about his early sexual experiences which are really interesting.

In my self-imposed seclusion from the outdoors, I also watched the first season of Big Love. I have never done that before, watched a whole season of a show all at once on DVD. It was intense, but good. Danny's parents have HBO so I told him to tape the first show of Season 3 for me which aired this past Sunday. I really like Chloe Sevigny after watching her in the movie Gummo in my Motion Picture class in college. She plays the part of pioneer hardcore Fundamentalist Mormon perfectly.

Danny and I ALSO saw Revolutionary Road in the theaters last Monday. We have never seen an Oscar worthy movie together (hey, our first movie was Boat Trip!) so that was different for us. The story line was "heavy" as I like to say but the acting was really great. And I secretly loved the fact that Leo and Kate Winslet were together again after all these years since Titanic. Now only if Britney and Justin would get back together, ha ha.

Only in Cleveland......

2008-12-22T09:11:00.004-05:00

6° today and next Saturday is supposed to be 54!?!?! How is that even possible???????

I can't wait till the next episode of Top Chef!

2008-12-19T07:13:00.004-05:00

Fabio (in the previews for next week): All she (Jamie) cooks is scallops! This is Top Chef, not Top Scallops! Hahahahhaa, I laughed so hard! I love Fabio!

BONUS*** His bio says in addition to his restaurant, he is also William Shatner's private chef!

Give poop for Christmas!

2008-12-16T15:52:00.004-05:00

Are you like me and have coworkers that you really could care less about but feel obligated to get them something for Christmas? I found a really easy and cheap idea at Organized Christmas. Fill up a plastic baggie or decorative bag with malt balls and attach this cute tag with a poem about reindeer poop and you're set! Done and done!

Scrapblog Badges

2008-12-09T15:12:00.003-05:00

I am trying to create some kind of printed photo book for Danny for Christmas and I'm running out of time. I created a digital scrapbook at scrapblog and now am in the process of ordering a book. If you post their badge to your blog you get 15% off! Yay!

Update 12/11/08:

I received the book and it looks exactly like it does on the computer. I will definitely be using them again! Awesome.

Awesome Corn Dip Recipe

2008-11-30T21:59:00.002-05:00

Last January I had a party for some important OSU game (I don't know, Danny planned it). One of Danny's friends made this amazing corn dip that I couldn't stop eating. I emailed her for the recipe and made it this Thanksgiving Eve where we had a get together at a friend's house. It was a huge hit, and next time I will definately double it because it was gone in literally 10 minutes. This is my transition into making savory foods because generally all I know how to do is bake.

Awesome Corn Dip
2- 15 oz. cans yellow sweet corn (I use organic)
1- 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with chiles (I use Rotelle)
1- 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teasp. each: chile powder, garlic powder, cumin
salt and pepper
fresh cilantro

Mix all ingredients except cilantro together and put into a casserole dish. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Stir in cilantro, and serve with tortilla chips and Fritos Scoops.

So Wrong...

2008-11-30T11:36:00.001-05:00

Source

How to avoid Christmas shopping

2008-11-29T16:13:00.005-05:00

Christmas shopping is stressing me out this year. I just want to buy everyone gift cards and call it a day. I felt very relaxed today because of this much needed 4 day weekend so I decided to drive around randomly and avoid any mall or buying any type of Christmas gift. Here's what I did:
-Went to Plato's Closet to return a shirt that I didn't feel like trying on and was too small.
-Went to the thrift store (The Salvation Army). I haven't been to one in many years so I decided to look at sweaters for myself. When I was looking in the housewares section I tried to find something cool like a hip hop tape or sword like Napoleon Dynamite at Deseret Industries, but no luck.

Source

I ended up with a powder blue Celebrity Cruises hoodie, a striped Gap shirt, a maroon Reebok long sleeved workout shirt, a nice mug and a rolling pin. Random, huh?
-Went to Giant Eagle and bought toilet paper, toothpaste and aluminum foil.
-Went to a pet store to look at the puppies. These two chihuahua puppies wouldn't stop staring at me! They were so cute! I bought Meatball some rawhides and peanut butter biscuits.
-Went to Dunkin Donuts and got a Coffee Coolata. It was yummy.

I can't wait to see how the thrift store finds look after a good washing, which is what I'm doing right now. I'm going to make an effort to look at thrift stores more often because it will save me money and is good for the environment by wearing recycled clothes and using recycled goods. For every 10 shrunken sweaters there's at least a couple barely worn nice ones to buy.

Overdue Halloween recap

2008-11-05T09:40:00.003-05:00

This is a much overdue Halloween post. I actually did a lot of Halloween related activities this year, kicking it off with going to a haunted house (or more correctly, The Haunted Yard). I was flipping through the radio and heard some guy raving how awesome this haunted house is, how they've been doing it for the past 20 years, and how the characters are played by a local metal band. I dragged Danny to go and we waited in line for 45 minutes in this residential neighborhood. It was only a $3 donation per person and all the proceeds went to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation which I believe affects someone involved. When we finally got in, I was SCARED! I screamed the whole time, especially when people came at me with a real chainsaw, sans chain! They also recreated scenes from horror films such as Hellraiser, The Ring and White Noise. I definitely want to get a group together and go next year!

This was my third year going to a Halloween house party with all of my friends. I got the grand idea to be a pin up girl and then started obsessing over what I was going to wear, the hairstyle and makeup. I found a great wrap sweater at Forever 21, a black pencil skirt and fishnets with a backseam at Victoria's Secret. What really made the costume was my hair and bright red lipstick. For hair inspiration, there are some great videos on youtube detailing step-by-step instructions on pin up hair. I spent a little too much time and money but I had fun and that's all that matters, right? Without further ado, me as a pin up girl:

Video I used for my makeup:

Video I used for my hair:

I've got nothing

2008-10-14T13:02:00.005-04:00

I don't know why I've been in a blogging slump. Over the past couple weeks I've watched Last Holiday, Rumor Has It, Juno, But I'm a Cheerleader, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I also saw My Best Friend's Girl in the theaters. That's pretty much more movies than I will see in 6 months. Don't know why I'm on such a movie kick. Out of all of those, Juno was my fave! I have a crush on Michael Cera as Paulie Bleeker, but I have a thing for awkward dorks. I loved when Paulie said

"Like I'd marry you! You'd be the meanest wife ever, okay? And I know that you weren't bored that day because there was a lot of stuff on TV, and then 'The Blair Witch Project' was coming on Starz and you were like 'I haven't seen this since it came out and if so we should watch it' and 'but oh, no, we should just make out instead la la la"

Anyway.......Here is a meme I'm stealing from Michelle with one of my all time favorite subjects, food!

Bold if eaten, RED or strikeout if you'll never eat it. (Commentary optional)

1. New York pizza - I've had Ray's in New York a little past Times Square. The dining area was a little questionable.
2. Hoppin' John - Never heard of it
3. New Mexico green chile
4. Homemade buttermilk biscuits - One of the first things I was taught in Creative Foods Sophomore year in hs!
5. Tasso - Yep in gumbo!
6. Whole Maine lobster - I've never had a whole one myself, just bits and pieces. Prefer crab legs over lobster. Maybe cause I used to serve tons of them at Mitchell's Fish Market when I served there.
7. Calabash-style shrimp and hush puppies
8. Kansas City barbecue ribs - Not sure what KC style is.
9. Hot glazed Krispy Kreme - Yep, in Columbus right off the conveyor belt!
10. San Diego fish tacos
11. Cheese curds - if this means ricotta, yes.
12. Key lime pie - I've had key lime pie in Key West.....amazing!
13. Philly cheese steak
14. Memphis pork barbecue sandwich
15. Low country boil
16. Huckleberry pie
17. New England clam chowder
18. Boiled peanuts
19. Buffalo (Bison) burger
20. Eggs Benedict - This is Danny's fave.
21. Pastrami on rye
22. Corned beef and cabbage
23. Pancakes with maple syrup
24. Everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato - yes, but too much stuff to get in your teeth.
25. Thin Mints
26. Frito pie
27. Potato knish with mustard
28. Silver Queen corn on the cob - had so much corn this season!
29. Soft pretzel from a street cart
30. Fresh-picked blueberries
31. Sourwood honey - No, not in OH.
32. State fair funnel cake - I love carny food!!!! Unfortunately I didn't get to one this summer :(
33. Chesapeake crab cakes
34. Candied yams
35. Oyster dressing - Sounds yum, would like to try!
36. Snow cone or snowball
37. Wild Alaskan salmon
38. Sautéed more - Never heard of it.
39. Persimmon pudding
40. General Tso's Chicken - I heart American Chinese food!
41. Frozen custard - I'm a conasiour of frozen custard. Rosati's and Rita's.
42. Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hoagie bun - Being Italian, of course!
43. Chili dogs
44. Buffalo wings with blue cheese
45. Spam musubi - I want to try this! Read about it on the blogosphere!
46. Saltwater taffy
47. Fluffernutter sandwich on Wonder Bread
48. Black and white cookie
49. Frybread - I love the Najavo from Cheesecake Factory on Frybread
50. BLT with thick-cut applewood bacon
51. Baked beans
52. Pumpkin pie
53. Collards with vinegar and Tabasco - not with vinegar and Tabasco
54. Tex-Mex fajitas with skirt steak and sautéed peppers
55. Fried green tomatoes
56. Succotash
57. Shrimp and grits - I had this in Charleston, SC!
58. Hot water cornbread
59. Barbecue chicken pizza with red onions
60. Chicken fried steak
61. Carnitas burrito
62. Apple butter
63. Geoduck (pronounced: Gooey-duck) - Eww!
64. Soft-serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate shell
65. Pecan pie
66. Catfish supper at a church or fire station - How about Fried Cod?
67. Oysters Rockefeller
68. Homemade cranberry sauce
69. Pimento cheese
70. MoonPie washed down with R.C. Cola - I've seen this on the Food Network.
71. Pickled watermelon rind
72. Cracker Jacks at the ball game
73. Smithfield ham
74. Meatloaf and mashed potato blue plate special at diner
75. Chicken and waffles
76. Po'Boy with many napkins - Had a homemade one courtesty of Danny!
77. Green bean casserole with French's fried onions - Thanksgiving
78. Stuffed sopaipillas
79. Turducken
80. Shad roe on toast
81. Sweet potato casserole with or without marshmallows
82. Cioppino - No but I've had tripe.
83. New York cheesecake
84. Pan-fried river trout - In Cleveland we do pan-fried walleye and perch
85. Jambalaya
86. North Carolina pig pickin'
87. California rolls - LOVE!
88. Burgoo
89. Penuche fudge - No, sounds good though.
90. Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich
91. Scrapple or livermush - I had Scrapple in Ocean City, MD
92. Elk medallions in red wine reduction
93. Muscadine grapes
94. Cheeseburger at backyard barbecue - YUM! Cheeseburgers taste the best at a backyard BBQ!
95. Open-face turkey sandwich
96. Chicago deep dish pizza - Danny and I had one in Chicago. Didn't care for the cornmeal crust.
97. Cobb salad - One of my favorite salads!
98. Peach pie a la mode
99. Macaroni and cheese
100. Root beer float

Update on Etsy sale for Nie Nie

2008-09-23T13:56:00.007-04:00

Well, that sale is pratically sold out. There's 3 items left. When it was going on, I clicked on a reversible apron to buy as a Christmas gift, but talked myself out of it as it was $43. A nanosecond later someone scooped it up. Just out of curiosity, I searched for reversible aprons in Etsy and found an amazing apron with a damask pattern on one side and a solid grey fabric with stitched flowers on the other side. For only $18 dollars! I bought it immediately!

From seller DreamState

I'm still going to do something for Nie Nie, that sale was just at too fast of a speed for me!

Buy on Etsy for Nie Nie

2008-09-23T11:31:00.005-04:00

I recently found out about this blogger, Stephanie Nielson (aka Nie Nie), who was in a plane crash this August in Arizona. Stephanie suffered burns over 80% of her body and her husband suffered burns over 30%. The flight instructor passed away in the hospital. This story just makes me so sad, especially a blogger who shares her life story in print for everyone to read. Stephanie's sister is posting updates on her own blog, c jane enjoy it, and there is a recovery website too with more information. Today at 10:00 am PST (1:00 pm my time) there is going to be a sale on Etsy where the proceeds will benefit the Nielson's. Check it out, I'm sure the goods will go super fast because their story has spread to and touched so many people. They have even been featured on the Today show and I believe a blurb in People magazine. I'm definitely gonna buy something and keep up with c jane (Courtney)'s blog as she updates almost daily on their condition and surgeries and whatever else. Goes to show you how powerful blogging can be to spread the word and help support this amazing family.

Step away from the fast-food!

2008-09-22T15:34:00.006-04:00

Danny and I did something that neither of us have done before. We went to two fast food restaurants in one day! For lunch Danny met me at a free-standing Chick-Fil-A which opened a couple of months ago. That was a nice break to my work day since I'm always alone on my lunch break. It was a little stressful in there though with small kids running around, two disneyesque characters dressed as cows, balloons everywhere and a play land. And the kids were deathly scared of the cows! I asked Danny to get me some honey mustard sauce and I guess they wouldn't give it to him unless he hugged the cow character. Where's my camera at times like these!

Then in the evening, we decided to go Sonic which was in it's opening week. I thought it was so unfair to be tempted by those Sonic commercials on cable and not have one around, so when Danny and I found out one was being built in Cleveland we were so excited to go. He only gets one day off a week so two fast food restaurants in one day it is! I personally wanted to go not for the food but for those cool slushies. This place had much of the same as Chick-Fil-A with craziness, kids and this time a Sonic character dancing around. Danny does this thing he calls "shotgunning it". Basically he has no idea what he wants to order and when prompted at the speaker orders a crazy combination of food, this time a corn dog, chili dog, double cheeseburger, tater tots and jalapeno poppers (for me). And we got my beloved slushie, a lemon lime concoction, plus a fried ice cream Sonic Blast that was staring at us the whole time on our personal menu board and loudspeaker. Yeah, my body felt like I betrayed it for a day. But it was so much fun!

Kiss My Face Product Giveaway

2008-09-10T14:18:00.005-04:00

The economy is BAD and I am really starting to feel it because my paycheck isn't covering the things it used to. Luckily there's a plethora of "frugal" blogs to give me ideas on how to save money and they all link to one another. I stumbled upon this blog today, Stretching a Buck. They are giving away some children's products from a company whose products I have been buying online since 2001, Kiss My Face. I think that was the first time I used my credit card online! Anyway, their products are all natural, organic, smell great, etc. I especially love the Moisture Shaves because they are unlike any other shaving cream I've used with all the natural ingredients and you can feel good about not buying a metal can! I can only imagine how good their new kid's line is great to be. Check the contest out!

Target saves the day!

2008-08-21T10:35:00.004-04:00

I've had a bit of writer's block but leave it to me to do something dumb as fodder for new blog material. I was driving to work today and I look down at my feet and see I'm wearing flip flops! I wear the flip flops to take the dog out and never changed into work shoes. It was too far for me to turn around so I planned on stopping in the Target I pass every day. I frantically went to the shoe section and searched for something cheap and most importantly, that fits. I saw the new fall stuff and everything was so dressy and not my style. Where was the sale section? Finally, 3 aisles down I find the sale section and after almost settling on ugly Cherokee mom shoes I find these:

On sale for $5.74! And leather, which my feet deal so much better with. That was some hard-core shopping right there, I was up against the clock and found something cute and on super sale!

A facial and a concert...

2008-08-10T11:28:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I had a long awaited facial appointment at the Brown Aveda Institute. I wanted to get the facial in June and they only had a Saturday opening yesterday so I just booked it. A little background on the Brown Aveda Institute - they are a beauty school that strictly teaches their students the Aveda products and philosophy. All services are performed by students supervised by their teachers, the prices and stupidly cheap and there's a no tipping policy! I went for the essencial facial ($27!) and the girl worked on me for an hour. She put two masks on my face and while the first mask was setting she massaged my feet, the second mask she massaged my arms and hands. Definately very relaxing and worth it! I rebooked for October.

source

My next event of the day was to go to the Rod Stewart/Bryan Adams concert at Blossom Music Center. My aunt had gotten free tickets on the lawn and invited a ton of people. Blossom has a pavillion with assigned seating and then lawn seats which are general seating and far away. When you sit on the lawn you bring your own blankets to sit on. Beach chairs are permitted but they have to be 9 inches from the ground, those low ones. After the facial, I went crazy trying to find a beach chair because I didn't want to sit hours on the ground. ( I had only sat in the pavillion before). I found one at CVS for $11 after 25% off which was great. Bryan Adams opened and sang all of his hit songs. Then the raindrops started. Luckily before the concert, I filled out this survey and "won" a concert emergency kit which included a poncho. Well, I ended up using the poncho along with putting the blanket over my head and was drenched!!!!!!! We had to leave after Rod Stewart sang his 3rd song and lightening boomed in the air. I'm glad I went, I'll probably never see Rod Stewart again. But that soaked, drenched feeling took a little while to go away after I got home in my warm, cuddly bed.

True Life: I'm Deaf

2008-07-21T10:19:00.004-04:00

I have been a huge fan of MTV 's True Life series, partly because it first aired in 1998 when I was the same age as the subjects in the documentaries, and also because they touch on really interesting topics. 10 years later and I will still catch an episode and watch it when flipping through the channels. Yesterday I happened to catch True Life: I'm Deaf, and it was one of the best episodes ever! The one kid, 16-year old Chris, was born deaf but decided to get a cochlear implant. There is a scene where they turn the implant on in the doctor's office and Chris hears for the first time ever. It was so emotional, I cried! He hears his mother's voice for the first time and all kinds of ambient sounds that we all take for granted. It is amazing to watch his expressions as he is discovering new sounds. Very inspiring and makes you rethink what you're doing in your own life.

Water for Elephants

2008-07-12T07:30:00.004-04:00

This book was more HYPED up than what it was worth for me. Every time I went to amazon.com and searched for a book, they were like "Do you want to order Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen with that?" Well, not really but I had seen it on the internet many times with raving reviews. I get how the story is unique: the setting is behind the scenes at a 1930's Ringling Bros. type circus. But if you are an animal lover like I am, you will grimace and put the book down for a minute at the animal abuse that goes on against the exotic animals in the circus. I understand that's what went on back then, but it is hard to read. That being said, I am glad I read it because it is one of those books where you will always remember the characters and take it with you. Now onto the next book, any suggestions?

[picture source]

*sidenote: when I was searching for an image I came across this blog, Foreword, a weblog community in the service of book design, books, art, photography and design. Very cool, although it seems to have stopped being updated since December '07.

Wedding Shower NYC Invite Design

2008-07-05T21:09:00.003-04:00

My friend Gina is getting married soon and her maid of honor emailed me in desperate need of help in designing her wedding shower invitations. I helped her out and it got me to design something creative, which I haven't done for a while. Here was their idea:

Since he proposed to her in NYC, the invites are modeled after a NYC subway Metro Card.

Her colors were an antique purple and ivory so this is what I came up with:

Front

Back

The very bottom blurred line is the address of the location of the shower. I think they came out well and the bride loved them so that's all that matters.

Free Products!!!!

2008-07-02T09:27:00.005-04:00

Last week, a FedEx box was waiting at my doorstep. What could it be? I didn't order anything. I open it up and low and behold, it's a Glamour bag full of full size products! I literally squealed! I signed up to try to "win" a bag full of products from CVS and Glamour magazine by seeing people talk about it on a message board on slickdeals.net, a site I sometimes check out for free samples or deals. All you had to do was buy a product from CVS from a list of products and mail in the receipt to this address in New York. After a month passed, I chalked it up as a dead offer, but I actually got it!

Here's what was in it (Note: All the products were hand selected by the editors of Glamour):

Essence of Beauty Body Mist 5.1 oz
John Frieda Clear Shine 6.5 oz
Essence of Beauty Deluxe Beauty Set (3 brushes for foundation,concealer, etc)
Essence of Beauty Shower Gel 8.5 oz
Skin Effects Sunscreen Lotion 4 oz
Biore Triple Action Astringent 8.5 oz
Curel Deep Penetrating Foot Cream 3.5 oz
Biore Blemish Fighting Ice Cleanser 6.7 oz

From what I have used already, I can say that the brushes are amazing, I have used them every day. The body mist and shower gel are a great smelling fig flavor, love those. I was just about to buy face wash and astringent so the Biore stuff came in handy. I tried the John Frieda Clear Shine hair gloss this morning and have found no difference so that was a dud. I haven't tried the sunscreen or the foot cream yet. I think I outdid myself this time with winning some free stuff!

I have a craving for......

2008-06-27T14:31:00.002-04:00

Anthropologie!

Aren't these shoes so cute! I wish I had another $88 hanging around.

People who know me know I hate long dangly earrings but for some reason I am drawn to these. Maybe it's time for a change?

40 Things

2008-06-18T11:57:00.023-04:00

Since none of the things I've been doing lately warrant a whole blog post, I'm going to copy Slice of Pink and list 40 things that happened so far to me in June.

As of 6/18/08 I have:

1. Gone to a bridal shower at Danny's work where my lasagna pan was one of the favorite gifts.

2. Gone to an Eagle Scout ceremony for Danny's little brother where I missed the actual ceremony because I was at #1 (they were both on the same day).

3. Consumed TONS of ice cream

4. Bought a skirt and two shirts off of EBay.

5. Gotten highlights put in my hair by my sister which took 3 hours.

6. Worked out twice (that's bad!).

7. Dined at an awesome Chinese American restaurant.

8. Worked a shift at the pizza shop where the air conditioning was broken and nobody would eat there because it was 90°. I made $20 that night.

9. Helped a friend design her wedding programs.

10. Sat out on the patio at two different bars.

11. Gone to the Cheesecake Factory and spent $33 on just myself. Thank god for a $25 gift card!

12. Had two Malibu Coladas there.

13. Seen Sex and the City at a theatre I've never been to before.

14. Gotten pulled over right in front of my house for a light being out illuminating my license plate.

15. Gotten the above light fixed at Walmart Auto Center.

16. Made Chai muffins.

17. Tried to buy honey at Giant Eagle to go on muffins and was amazed at how expensive honey is ($5 for a little honey bear!)

18. Found honey cheaper at CVS.

19. Gone on two interviews.

20. Watched the original cast of RENT perform on the Tony Awards.

21. Looked up lyrics to Levon by Elton John for Danny.

22. Started reading The Road.

23. Signed up for free samples.

24. Used a free sample of shampoo and conditioner.

25. Signed up for a dog walk.

26. Bought clothes from Burlington Coat Factory, Fashion Bug and Target.

27. Gone on many walks.

28. Worn my pajamas on a couple of those walks.

29. Watched Bend It Like Beckham for the first time.

30. Met up with Danny after he went to Cedar Point at the Winking Lizard.

31. Opened up the presents he got me at Cedar Point - cotton candy, a snoopy pen, and a snoopy key chain!

32. Used lotion non-stop on my hands, elbows and knees (I never use lotion).

33. Sweltered in the heat.

34. Froze in the cold.

35. Danced at McNulty's and realized I'm too old to be there.

36. Watched some college kids do the dance to the song Superman.

37. Found out what the alledged meaning of the song Superman is (gross! Disclaimer: Don't click if you are easily offended).

38. Researched dumb things on the Internet.

39. Talked to someone running for State representative who knocked on my door.

40. Chased Meatball down for 10 minutes after he slipped out the door while I was talking to above candidate for State representative.

Fashion

2008-06-13T13:14:00.004-04:00

Me trying to explain to Danny what Bermuda shorts are after telling him I wanted a pair:

"Um they're shorter than capris, usually hitting the knee. They're really popular right now!"

Danny: "Are they made from triangles?"

The dog days of summer

2008-06-09T17:43:00.006-04:00

The dog days of summer
Click to enlarge
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/10147154@N07/

Yeah, it's 93°F right now, Ohio finally got it. Record high temperatures for the beginning of June and it's been like this for the past 3 days. It's so hot the air conditioners can't keep up. One great thing about having a dog is you can give them ice cream cones to cool them down (vanilla, not chocolate!). I swear, Meatball eats ice cream cones like a human as demonstrated by this mosiac. He licks the top and bites around the cone evenly. Now wouldn't you expect a dog to chomp the cone whole? How does he know how to eat it like that?

My homemade B-Day dinner

2008-06-06T08:36:00.005-04:00

For my birthday, in lieu of going to a restaurant, I requested that Danny make me homemade ravioli. His specialty is mushroom and goat cheese.

Sorry for the shadows, I sucked at taking pictures that day. I was too excited to be artistic.

The finished product:

Detail of the filling:

Yummy! Me eating awesome food in my favorite Banana republic sweater. Danny even paired this dish with wine, Evolution from Sokol Blosser Winery. It was perfect, of course! Great job!

Only I would do this

2008-06-05T09:53:00.002-04:00

I left my workout pass at an ice cream store. Rita's Italian Ice and Custard to be exact, where I've professed my love before here. I was in a panic yesterday morning, emptying my purse looking for my workout pass and getting angry at myself because I never lose things. Then I had a vision in my head of me leaving the pass on the counter to pay for mine and Danny's custards and never putting it back. It was slightly embarrassing when I picked it up on my lunch break, but I joked that I should be working out and then I would know where my pass was. The lady asked me if I wanted to donate a $1 to Alex's Lemonade Stand that benefits kids with cancer and I said sure. I never usually donate but I've been hearing about this charity everywhere and it's really a great cause. I'll end with some pics of my fave, gelati make with Alex's Lemonade flavored Italian ice. I don't know if it comes through in the last picture, but the sandwich board sign they had outside was HORRIBLY pixelated. As a graphic designer, this infuriates me that the printer would even let this go through.

You can cure anything with Wonton Soup!

2008-06-02T11:20:00.005-04:00

Last Wednesday I got sick with a really bad cold (sore throat and fever) and have been taking it easy ever since. I'm still not 100% better. Danny got me some wonton soup from a Chinese restaurant and crumbled plain white rice in the broth to help me feel better. I never tried that before and it was really good as well as soothing!

Ironically, the same day I'm almost cured by Chinese food, I get an email from the library telling me a book I ordered, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles was in! I ordered that book 3 months ago after reading a review in The Plain Dealer's Sunday book section. Once I was well enough to get the book in my possession, I spent the entire weekend reading it and could not put it down! Each chapter is a little vignette explaining the mysteries of American Chinese food because of the author's extensive research. Jennifer 8. Lee (she added the numeral 8 as her middle name because it is similar to the Chinese symbol for prosperity and good luck) speaks fluent Mandarin and was able to go to the town where General Tso hails from, recalls the history of chinese takeout boxes, and even goes into subjects as deep as human smuggling of Chinese immigrants. Each time I got to a new chapter I was pleasantly surprised by what I learned about how Americanized Chinese food really is. Also, you gotta love an author with a blog.

Bad Tattoos

2008-05-22T16:48:00.002-04:00

Not only bad tattoo jobs, but bad ideas as well! Includes this gem which claims to be a result of a lost bet. Here is the rest of the gallery.

My Birthday Week!

2008-05-20T17:01:00.004-04:00

My favorite holiday of the year is tomorrow - my B-day! I have some good things planned with my lovely friends which I will talk about soon. As for this past weekend, I had a wonderful day on Saturday dozing off with Meatball on the couch while watching Bob Ross.

His voice is so soothing, it lulls me to sleep! And I want to pet his afro. What I did watch reminded me that I have to draw or paint something. It's been two years since I touched an art supply and my art college education is going to slip away if I don't practice soon. My action-packed, 4 wedding summer started with the first bridal shower on Sunday. I gave her this off her registry,

Pyrex Prepware 13-pc. Set

which I secretly coveted for myself. One down, 3 more showers to go, along with bachelorette parties and the actual weddings. Oh boy.

Service project

2008-05-06T12:50:00.004-04:00

I went to a catholic high school that has an alumni association that does a good job of keeping in contact with the alumni. I got an email back in February that the alumni were doing a service project to help an inner city school in downtown Cleveland. I emailed them back telling them I would volunteer to help. I have been feeling sorry for myself lately still trying to deal with the effects of the breakup of my family from 4 years ago. I knew that helping these kids would help me see how nice my life really is and get me out of my funk.

Here's how the day went: The events planned for the kids (grades 3-6) were a "field day" with different events. The event that I was in charge of was the long jump. There were other events including hula hoops, an obstacle course, free throw basketball, etc. I had to measure how far each kid jumped, record it, and write down the best boy and girl from each of the 5 teams. I literally bent down 50 times to measure and by the end of the day my thighs were burning! But it was worth it to interact with and help these underprivileged kids have fun. At the end of the games, there was a pizza lunch and a surprise talent show that even the volunteers didn't know about. The group I was with came up with a dance and original lyrics in 10 minutes. When it was time to perform, the volunteer "judges" gave my group a high score. Then, the last group of the day went up and did the exact dance to Soulja Boy and won the talent show! My group was so mad that they didn't think of that!

When the day was over, I went up to the principal and gave her my name and number and told her that I would love to help any time in the future. I told her I was a graphic designer so I could help with art or anything. I hope she calls me. Here is a pic with me on the left and my group. The girl who's arm I'm linked with is ChaNautica. She is in 6th grade and was telling me how all the kids have cell phones because of how dangerous the neighborhood is when they walk home from school. I wish all the best for these kids and hope they enjoyed hanging out with me as much as I did with them.

Yeah I read teen books........What?

2008-04-30T23:15:00.007-04:00

Teen books have come a long way since I was a teen in the 90's reading Babysitters Club and R.L. Stine. Sick of reading Chick Lit and other adult fiction, I recently discovered teen author E. Lockhart. I read The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book (which are a continuation of each other)in a weekend. The main character, Ruby Oliver, is so awkward and worries about the craziest things. Yet she and all the other characters speak in this dialogue that is very adult and witty. I'm dying for the next book in the series that Lockhart is completing right now. To tide me over, I picked up Fly on the Wall, also by Lockhart, and it was SCARY how similar this book is to my life! Gretchen Yee goes to art school where they take drawing class (me in college, check!), parents dropped the bomb that they were getting divorced (me in 2004, check!), is reading The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka in school (me in Mr. Manley's English class in college, CHECK!). I mean the first two instances could happen to a bunch of people, but I think the Metamorphosis is not fodder for a teen novel and that is one of my all time favorite books! Because of all of the above, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, mostly when Gretchen was a human and less when she was in the fly on the wall of the boy's bathroom sequence looking at naked boys and discovering her hormones. I guess that's the part for the teens.

Hudson & Downtown 140

2008-04-24T19:37:00.005-04:00

Hudson, OH is one of my favorite places to visit. It has a cute Mainstreet USA type of vibe. There is a plethora of dogs being walked by their owners all along the streets and the city in general is dog friendly. You will see water bowls for dogs outside the shops and signs stating that a portion of the proceeds of the items for sale in the store will benefit the humane society.

Last Saturday, Danny and I went to Hudson to visit Downtown 140 for lunch.

I had a spring vegetable tart because I LOOOOVE veggies. And this had plenty - fresh peas, fava beans, asparagus, and morel mushrooms.

The best part of the day was going back for a second time to Main Street Cupcakes! I blogged about the first time here.

Clockwise starting from top right: Lemon Drop, MSC Mojito, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Pineapple Coconut Dream.

And the winner of the best cupcake out of those four......

Lemon Drop!!!! Tasted like a lemonhead candy rather than natural lemon. So good!

Blurbs

2008-04-18T13:50:00.002-04:00

• My work is moving to a new building, and it SUCKS! They prematurely took down my cubicle so for this past week and next week I'm all out in the open for everyone to see. It's also a drag to pack office stuff that's been sitting here for 14 years.

• Last night's The Office was hilarious when they were talking about parking in the auxiliary lot. I loved when they called the meeting with all the big shots. Totally reminds me of my work. And I cheered when Jim got down on one knee! I didn't think the Jim and Pam storyline would move so fast. Meanwhile Danny was looking at me horrified that I was so excited about a proposal.

• I won a Mariah Carey prize pack including her new CD E=MC2 from the Cleveland Free Times by entering the contest by email. I had to get it on my lunch break because they are only open M-F, 9-5. I probably would have saved money just buying the CD then by driving to downtown Cleveland and paying for parking though. Oh well, it was adventurous to drive downtown at least.

Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

2008-04-14T23:53:00.005-04:00

With the help of JustJenn's recipe and Danny's suggestion to use maraschino cherries in the centers.

It's OK, Devon Sawa is alive!

2008-04-08T16:49:00.002-04:00

I was watching the movie, Casper, the other night that I had saved on my tivo since November (sometimes I like to watch kid movies, OK?) My favorite part of the movie is when Casper, played by Devon Sawa, comes alive and kisses Kat (Christina Ricci). The whole movie I was sad because I thought Devon Sawa was dead, but I was mixing him up with Jonathan Brandis! Opps!

Sensory Overload

2008-04-04T13:24:00.016-04:00

Some of you may wonder how I met Danny, a chef who works 80 hour work weeks. Right out of college, I kind of got thrown into the restaurant business as a server. I was looking for a way to make money while I searched for jobs in my profession and a new restaurant, Mitchell's Fish Market, was being built close to my house. I applied to be a hostess, not wanting too much responsibility, and the manager convinced me to be a server. I went through an extensive 3 day training (not unlike brain-washing!) where I learned about every type of fish, tasted bites from the entire menu, and learned how to be a server and use the computer. I feel sorry for the people I waited on the first month because I was so terrible, but towards the end I was really knowledgeable about all the food on the menu and they were sorry to see me go. Within the first month of working there, I met Danny, asked him out, and we've been hanging out ever since!

(The above picture of the lobster sends chills up my spine. We used to have "Lobster Mondays" where a lobster dinner was deeply discounted. Needless to say, there were people who were not regulars who just came in for the discount and created tons of problems!)

Last night we were in the area and I decided it would be fun to revisit Mitchell's Fish Market. We hadn't stepped foot in there in 2 years, not even to eat. It was fun to see everything again, and two original servers that we worked with were still there and remembered us. We just sat at the bar and ordered two of our favorite appetizers, BBQ shrimp wrapped in bacon and seared Hawaiian Ahi Tuna with an apricot ale sauce. They were both amazing and brought back tons of memories. The bread service was the same too, a warm sourdough bread brushed with butter.

Then, Danny ran into a chef that he had worked with who was done with work and heading next door to Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar.

Anywhere with rum in the title and I'm there!

I had a Horchata-Tini, which was made with house prepared Horchata, Captain Morgan Spiced Rum and Dark Rum Float. Horchata is a Latin rice milk with cinnamon that I used to love to get at a local Mexican restaurant that recently closed. It was a little different drinking an alcoholic Horchata spiked with rum though! I enjoyed it immensely. I'll definitely be back at Paladar to try their Latin infusion food and a different specialty drink!

Nose shot

2008-03-30T22:11:00.006-04:00

I'm tired. I worked this whole weekend waitressing. I'm a bad pet parent too, bribing my dog with treats and sneaking out to work the whole weekend. It had to be done though since I was given the opportunity to get these extra hours and I still have tons of bills to pay this month. In my whole 2 hours at home, I did manage to get my first nose shot of Meatball. Not too bad for a first attempt.

I love nose shots of dogs, especially Golden Retreivers. It makes them look so silly! Thank god dogs are so understanding when you ditch them for a weekend.

Sublime Stitching

2008-03-26T11:37:00.006-04:00

I'm slightly pack-ratish. I have no problem throwing out junk mail and clothes, but there are a couple of boxes of stuff I have that I just can't let go. Love letters. 18 and 21st birthday and graduation cards. Ticket stubs from my trip to Europe in '96. Old Diaries. Of course when I try to "clean" all this stuff, I just end up re-reading everything and putting it back. It was during this attempt at cleaning that I found an old stamped cross stitch embroidery kit of roses still in the package. I decided that I wanted to start this project since I had such good memories of doing embroidery as a kid.

I went to Michael's and bought 8 colors of embroidery thread, a hoop, and embroidery needles. Threading the needle took a little time to remember, but as I started making small X's in the rose petals, the familiarity of holding the needle and the technique came right back to me. After this project, which is just a small piece that you frame to hang on the wall, I want to order something from Sublime Stitching. Wouldn't it be cool to stitch this on an apron?

Or further express my love of sushi? I would wear an embroidered shirt that said I heart sushi!

I'm very excited about my new hobby! Maybe I'll just have to quit my job and sell my embroidered wares full time. That is if I can complete them....

Vegas Part 4: Nobu

2008-03-21T12:40:00.006-04:00

Well, how did the Nobu dinner go that I was so excited to make the reservation for a month in advance? Things got off to a kind of rocky start between Danny and I, which was probably both of our faults. I had researched Nobu extensively and I knew I wanted these two dishes: Rock Shrimp Tempura and Cod with Miso Sauce. Our waiter gave off this very friendly vibe and I instantly liked him. He also recommended the Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno and I trusted him and ordered that as well. I told him we would probably order sushi after we ate these three things. When he left, Danny looked at me like an evil crime just took place. He said he didn't even get to order, and he hates jalapeno and cod. I tried to assure him that these would be small plates and he could order all the sushi but Danny was still upset. I guess it was a control/chef thing because I never ordered for him before. The end result of the three dishes was fabulous (thank god!).

I didn't get a pic of the yellowtail because I was a little upset, but here is the Rock Shrimp Tempura.

The sushi -Tuna roll, California Roll, and Spider Roll. The Spider Roll was wrapped in a Daikon radish, something Danny and I had never seen done before.

Mochi ice cream for dessert, AMAZING! I can't remember all the flavors, but the greenish one was green tea and that was my favorite!

Warning: Once you eat here, you'll never want to eat sushi at a mediocre place again! That's how fresh the fish was. After the initial drama, we really had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed everything.

Vegas Part 3: In-N-Out Burger

2008-03-20T09:11:00.007-04:00

This is why Danny and I go perfectly together. We were both dying to go to In-N-Out Burger, but for very different reasons. He wanted to go because his chef friend from California highly recommended it as one of the best burgers you'll ever eat. I wanted to go because Britney Spears loves it, and I actually watched a video online consisting of Britney ordering a number 2 from her car at the speaker at an In-N-Out Burger. Lame, I know.

They also have a secret menu, and we both wanted to try the burger, "Animal Style" where the burger is grilled with mustard and grilled onions. THEN, I find out on wikipedia (which has an extensive entry on In-N-Out burger) that there are hidden bible verses on the packaging! We took a cab there our second day.

Round One: Two double doubles, one animal style and fries.

Close up of "Animal Style".

Round Two: Two more burgers and the fries "Animal Style".

And a Neopolitan shake (Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry mixed together) from the Secret Menu.

I found the Bible verses!!!! Since they are a family owned company and have not franchised, they can put anything they want on their wrappers.

Vegas Part 2: How I Formed My Blisters

2008-03-19T16:31:00.005-04:00

I really have a serious foot problem whenever I go on vacation. I get massive blisters and end up limping by the end of the trip, no matter what shoes I wear. Danny actually forced me to get a pedicure at the Flamingo Spa midweek to try to help which was very sweet. The girl who did my feet, Carrie, was super cool too. When I asked her if she ever met any celebrities, she said she did a pedicure for Vanessa Williams and Pink! I tipped her $20 because I was getting a $95 pedicure, and she only charged me for the $55 one! I would go back to the Flamingo Spa just to have her give me a pedicure again.

Now here's what caused all the pain - sightseeing on the strip.

The Venetian

Tao (I am obsessed with celebrity hangouts)

Here's a closer look into these tubs.

This was inside the shops at the Venetian, fooled ya, huh?

Gelato at the Venetian. It was lemon and vanilla creme, a great combo.

A shot of the gondolas. It was truly a beautiful day, especially since there was a severe blizzard going on in Cleveland.

Hi!!!!

This next shot looked cooler in my head, but I think it came out OK.

Across the street to The Mirage.

I'll end with Danny in front of a bronze sculpture of Siegfried & Roy, which I think Danny was a little TOO excited to take his picture in front of.

Vegas Part 1: The Flamingo

2008-03-14T12:48:00.004-04:00

Deciding to stay in the Flamingo was all Danny. He had been to Vegas a year ago and liked the central location on the strip. Also, the rates weren't that bad. Upon walking into the hotel towards the check-in desk, you are hit with the smell of pina colada/suntan lotion. They actually spray this scent into the air to create the ambiance of being in the tropics. Can you imagine? Only in Vegas will they go through the trouble to spray a scent into the air. While at the front desk, I found out that Danny suprised me and upgraded us to the newly renovated Go Room, a vision in modern furniture, technology and pink.

Here's Danny in the migraine inducing hallways.

Our bathroom had a TV in the mirror! Which I only used about twice. In real life, I guess a TV embedded in your bathroom mirror could be good for watching the news and weather while you get ready in the morning. (Notice my M.A.C. makeup!)

I loved the stripes and ultra modern vinyl white headboard.

Last but not least, a view from the comfy bed.

I'm still here!

2008-03-10T22:38:00.002-04:00

Extremely tired, sick and jet-lagged, but I'm still here. Expect multiple posts about Vegas in the near future. I missed one of the most brutal snowstorms in Cleveland which cancelled our flight coming home on Saturday. They were booked for Sunday so we flew in all day today. Two extra days in Vegas away from the snow!

In the words of Danny, "We doubled down on our vacation and won!"

Free movies part 3, Charlie Bartlett

2008-02-20T09:51:00.009-05:00

Let's talk about what happened before I even got into this movie. These two security guards were giving me a hard time about my cell phone when I was walking in. I turned it on silent and they
wanted me to turn it completely off. I'm like what's the difference and the guy said you can't get into the movie unless you turn it completely off, that's what the ticket says. I was so pissed, I never had to do that at a free movie before and get harassed about it. Did they honestly think I was going to tape the movie with my cell phone? I put it on silent as soon as I got to my seat.
Then these 2 girls came in late and sat next to me and they reeked of Red Bull. One of the girls pulls out a hot dog with mustard! It stunk so bad! I felt like I was sitting next to Britney Spears.

Onto the actual movie. One of the reasons I was excited to see Charlie Bartlett was that it is one of my favorite types of movies - ones that are set in high school. While watching it I kept thinking that this is what we wish high school was like, where the kids rule the school. The new dorky kid, Charlie Bartlett, becomes popular by partnering with the school bully by selling pharmaceutical drugs. How does he get these prescription drugs? By going to multiple psychatrists, lying to them about his symptoms and getting prescriptions. Charlie then pretends to be a psychatrist by listening to the kids' problems in the boys bathroom and dispensing meds. The movie plays this off as cute, not really dwelling on how dangerous it is to abuse prescription drugs. Sure there's reference to a kid overdosing and getting his stomach pumped, but I don't think that's enough. The movie does have a point, that Charlie has been treated like an adult his whole life and should be treated like a kid, but it seems like it takes forever to get to that point.

Delmonico's

2008-02-19T13:44:00.002-05:00

One of Danny's friends said all he wanted for his birthday was for Danny and I to eat at Delmonico's Steakhouse with he and his girlfriend. How could we not oblige his birthday wishes? I started with a $12 glass of wine, a Sauvignon Blanc from Cakebread Cellars. Not a huge steak fan, I had Seared Sea Scallops over butternut squash, brussels sprouts, purple potatoes, pancetta and hazelnuts. Pretty much everything I love in life (yes, I love brussels sprouts!).

Danny had a steak which was basically a huge piece of meat on a plate so no pretty pic. I have never heard him say such wonderful things about a steak, and that's amazing coming from a guy who makes steaks all day. He had truffled cream corn on the side and said it lacked the "truffled" part.

We were able to use a $25 gift card from Christmas, which makes me happy because gift cards burn a hole in my pocket. All in all a great time!

Great Eye Makeup Tutorials

2008-02-15T16:26:00.012-05:00

I stumbled upon this site, temptalia.com, that shows you step-by-step how to apply eye makeup that looks amazing! The girl who does this, Christine, uses some of my favorite M.A.C. makeup and innovatively uses painters brushes to apply the eye shadow instead of expensive makeup brushes. I learned a lot from reading a few tutorials. The makeup looks intense zoomed in but when she zooms out to her whole face it looks really pretty. The common theme in all her tutorials is to BLEND!

You may ask, why do I like makeup so much, especially the expensive department store brands? When I was a teenager, my mom became friends with the manager of M.A.C. Cosmetics at Nordstrom. She dressed like a rocker chick, but was one of the nicest people I have ever met and was an artist, so I connected with her. She would always do my makeup for free and never pressure me to buy anything. In fact, she dissuaded me from buying anything, instead offering to give me samples. M.A.C. has "events" where they introduce their new lines of makeup and she would always put my mom and I on the list to attend. The M.A.C. events are so fun! The makeup artists wear theatrical makeup all over their faces, music's pumping, and a makeup artist does a makeover on you using all the new products. As a teen, it really boosted my self-confidence to learn how to do my makeup and especially cover up pimples and oily skin. So I guess I'm trying to capture those good memories of being with my mom and feeling special getting my makeup done with my continued obsession with M.A.C. makeup.

Nobu Reso, Check!

2008-02-13T16:32:00.005-05:00

Today I made a reservation for one of the most expensive restaurants Danny and I have been to to date, Nobu Las Vegas in the Hard Rock Hotel. Nobu is owned by celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa and also Robert De Niro, which is interesting. I was so excited, I even had to time it just right when I made my phone call because of the time difference. The girl was very nice who did my reso. She informed me that the dress code was business casual. I never had a restaurant tell me a dress code before! Now I'm all nervous on what to wear. I'm thinking you can go a little funkier than business casual because this is located in the Hard Rock Hotel after all.

Action Packed Weekend

2008-02-11T14:15:00.000-05:00

Friday night I had free tickets to the Cleveland Home & Garden show. I used to go with my parents when I was kid so I was excited to check it out. The theme was Bella Italia and there are celebrity gardens and sample decorated houses. It's funny, when I was little I dreaded going into these houses, it was like torture. Now I'm kind of interested in the decorations and furniture and such. I ended the night with dinner at Olive Garden which I always seem to go to on Fridays during Lent and have 3 things to choose from.

Saturday night I worked and then went out to Coventry, a former hippie commune turned college bar hangout to meet up with friends. I hung out with one of the funniest guys you'll ever meet, who also is a fellow blogger about relationships. So between laughing at his jokes and dancing at the bar/club, McNulty's, I had a great time living vicariously through my younger single friends. We stayed till CLOSE, which I haven't done in forever.

Sunday I paid the price for my trying to-be-22-again non-stop Saturday by sleeping on and off all day and going to bed at 9:30.

Animal Attractions

2008-02-07T22:15:00.000-05:00

Danny got invited to Animal Attractions at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Rainforest exhibit because his restaurant was participating in it by giving out samples. I was all for going to this because a) free food and drinks, b) I love animals and c)It would be 85 degrees inside the rainforest exhibit. Here are some pics:

(Note: I couldn't take pics of the food because I couldn't juggle the camera and eat while standing, sorry. The food was just OK.)

frog

piranhas, Danny's fave

Let's pretend we're really in the rainforest.

Red Velvet cupcakes from The White Flower Cake Shoppe . They were really yummy, I had 2. (I took this pic for you, Nanette!)

Aww, how cute. Apparently this is going to be posted on Cleveland's Scene Magazine website.

Superbowl Gross-Out

2008-02-04T11:41:00.000-05:00

Danny and I watched the Superbowl with another couple and between conversation we were halfway watching the game and commercials. In the post Janet Jackson boob era, the commercials were very safe, oddly many involving animals. This is the only commercial that got a reaction out of me and it totally grossed me out. Blood makes me feel queasy, even CGI blood. The best part is that it's from careerbuilder.com! Follow Your Heart - CareerBuilder.com

What the Font!!!

2008-01-31T14:04:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's a graphic designer thing, but I think fonts are awesome. The font I used up there in my new header is called Carpenter, and I love it because it looks eerily similar to my handwriting. I write really, really small and I make my "D's" exactly like that!

Fonts can also be frustrating when I need to copy a logo or something and have no idea what font was used. I discovered this website that has a feature called What The Font. You scan in a portion of the font that you need and the website instantly finds the closest matches in their database. Pretty cool, huh? If I don't find out the exact font, I usually get led in the right direction by finding close matches. I've used this about 5 or 6 times so far and it's saved me some time and aggravation.

There is one font that I absolutely hate with a passion - Comic Sans. If I see a website, business card or a restaurant menu printed with comic sans, I immediately think less of that person or establishment! It just looks so amateur, like the company just doesn't care about it's image. The name of the font says it all, that it's supposed to be used in comics! I know there are other people who feel the same about this because there's a website called bancomicsans.com!

Blurbs

2008-01-30T09:05:00.000-05:00

• This is the first year I did my own taxes. Unfortunately I make less than 54,000 a year so I could do them online for free via the IRS website. From there you can choose whatever program you want so I chose H&R Block and it was pretty easy. Dumb state of Ohio still charged me $30 though!

• Danny and I decided we are going to go to Vegas the first week of March! I'm still in shock that I charged $500 to my credit card for the plane tickets! I've started researching restaurants and things to do online and reading reviews on Yelp, and there's just so many options.

• Turkey Hill Duetto Two Delicious - This is a very good substitute for Rita's. I tried the Lemon Ice with Vanilla ice cream. Don't ask why I'm eating ice cream in the dead of winter.

• Speaking of dead of winter, the gusting winds knocked over my neighbor's trash can sending garbage all over the yard. Of course there were grapes in there and of course Meatball ate some. Grapes are toxic to dogs! Now I'm going to be worried all day that Meatball is going to be sick.

They're finally collecting the RENT

2008-01-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make. I'm a RENThead. I've seen RENT 5 times - once in Columbus, 3 times in Cleveland, and last February I finally got to see it at the Nederlander theatre in New York. Last week I received an email that RENT would be ending June 1, 2008. It had a 12 year run and ticket sales are 50% and below so they decided to close it. I am so sad, I just assumed RENT would go on forever. The worst part is, I definitely can't make it to New York this year, and the tour isn't coming to Cleveland either! At least I was fortunate to see it as many times as I did.

Why do I love RENT so much? Even though there are gay characters, lesbians, a drag queen, characters who have AIDS, a stripper and drug addicts, I somehow relate to them in the fact that they are trying to live life to the fullest and love one other. The play is loosely based off the opera, La bohème. RENT'S most famous song, Seasons of Love, gives me chills every time I hear it because of the meaning and the incredible voices that sing it. All the other songs in the play are more pop than typical broadway songs, too. Every time I've seen RENT there have been different actors and it's cool to see how they interpret the characters, especially Maureen who has a crazy performance artist piece at the end of the first act where she involves the audience.
I have a feeling as popular as RENT is, it's far from over. Thank you Nikki, wherever you are now, for introducing me to RENT in Columbus and everyone else who I dragged with me to go see it.

Make Me a Supermodel

2008-01-25T09:32:00.000-05:00

I really tried to like this show as a filler until the next season of America's Next Top Model. It just doesn't compare. Niki Taylor and Tyson Beckford don't have the charisma that Tyra has in terms of coaching and inspiring the models. Both guy and girl models compete against each other and live together causing MTV Real World style temptations and problems. As far as the judging goes, Niki and Tyson don't even have the final say as to who gets kicked off! You have to call in and vote American Idol style. Plus, this show is a spinoff of a British version starring Rachel Hunter! This show has a huge identity crisis, trying to incorporate too many reality TV elements.

Now let's talk about Niki Taylor for a minute. I found out on one of my favorites websites, The Vanishing Tattoo, that she recently got inked with a HUGE tattoo from just above her wrist to the middle of her forearm. I understand that she probably got it for personal reasons since she has had some turmoil in her life including the death of her sister, divorce, addiction to Vicodin and surviving a bad car accident. The thing is, she HIDES it! She is always in long sleeved shirts and dresses. At the beginning of last night's episode, she was wearing a red three-quarter length sweater which would have revealed the tattoo, but she had on a BLACK CUFF to hide it! My theory is, if you're going to get a tattoo that is permanently on your skin, especially in a spot like your arm where everyone can see it, then show it off. That's just my two cents. If you're ever bored at work, check out the celebrity tattoos at Vanishing Tattoo. You'll be suprised at how many celebrities that you would never think have tattoos have them. Angelina Jolie alone has 4 pages!

Sour Cream Raspberry Loaf

2008-01-22T21:28:00.000-05:00

I have been trying out recipes since the weekend (Cardamom muffins - gross, Beer Bread - sour!) and my third attempt has given me something good. It's like the lazy man's version of putting butter and jam on some bread. It's all baked right in. I got the recipe from here, but I omitted using walnuts, and grated lemon rind because I didn't have any of either on hand. The recipe is very well written and easy. Yum!

Look Me in the Eye

2008-01-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

It's cold here in Cleveland. 10 degrees. No, that's not the wind shield, that's the real thing. Since all I wanted to do was snuggle up with a blanket, I finished the book I was reading, Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison. I became obsessed with Asperger's, a mild form of autism, after watching my favorite model, Heather, on the last season of America's Next Top Model. Robison explains that as an Aspergian, he has huge problems making conversation and interacting with people, but over the years has learned what is "normal" and is happier now than in his childhood before there was a diagnosis. Another characteristic of Asperger's is that they learn as much as possible about a particular subject that interests them, making them an expert in that area. Robison became an expert at electrical engineering which led him to make special effect guitars for KISS and later work on electronic games in the 80's for Milton Bradley. It's interesting to get into the mind of someone who is mildly autistic; his writing is very logical and complete. And how many people can say they toured with KISS?

For more info, here's his blog, where you can see pictures of his family who are characters in the book. I love that he is so open about his life in the quest to help others with Asperger's.

Melt Bar and Grilled

2008-01-16T09:12:00.001-05:00

Cleveland has cool little neighborhoods surrounding it and one of these is Lakewood. Melt Bar and Grilled opened in 2006 in Lakewood, and after reading rave reviews in the free magazines and Cleveland.com, Danny and I decided to check it out. Who wouldn't want to go to a place that served all different kinds of grilled cheese? Upon walking in the bar/restaurant, I immediately felt like a hipster. The place was packed with ecclectic people and the servers had piercings and wore their own clothes. Having moonlighted as a server myself, I would be overwhelmed by all those people in there but our server was very nonchalant and calm. On the walls they were hawking pretty handmade purses from crafter syrupskin, who has an etsy site. As casual and cool as the place was, the food was on point! I had the special for January, a homemade meatloaf melt sandwich with spicy chipolte ketchup and muenster cheese. Each slice of bread was about an inch thick and I asked to get their vegetable of the day, sugar snap peas with a spicy coconut sauce, instead of fries. Everything was amazing! Leave it to Danny to get the Parmageddon, a potato and cheese perogi sandwich! On the same thick bread was a huge, stuffed perogi with cheddar cheese. Talk about carb overload! They also offer appetizers and desserts including fried twinkies, but there's no way you have room for anything else since the sandwich portions are so big. Today I'm eating the rest of my sandwich and am back to being a dork. At least I was cool for a couple hours last night eating at Melt!

Grrrrr!

2008-01-15T15:42:00.000-05:00

I've been ordering off the internet ever since I got my first credit card at age 18 and haven't had too many problems. I recently ordered 4 pairs of underwear from Victoria's Secret using a $20.00 giftcard and a $10.00 coupon code. I ended up only putting $1 and change on my Victoria's Secret credit card for the balance. Great, right? Well my first mistake is I did this the day after Christmas. I couldn't help it, I had received all gift cards for Christmas and wanted something tangible!!!! The next week I received a package from VS in the mail. I excitedly opened it and received a tan henley sweater. I was so dissapointed! On the outside it had my address (of course) and on the inside bill it had a woman's address in Georgia. I called Victoria's Secret customer service and told them what happened and how some lady in Georgia has my underwear and they assured me that my order didn't ship yet and to wait until January 10. Well, January 10 came and went and I didn't get anything. On my 4th call back to customer service, I said I need to get this resolved. The guy only wanted to refund me $9 because they said I used a $10 coupon. No, I told him, the bill would have been 30-something if I didn't use the coupon, I paid $21! He said he would refund me the difference. THEN, I get an email saying I was still being charged for shipping! I was so pissed. I wrote them a gem of a letter:

SUBJECT: Fix my refund!!!!!!!

I never received my order. I talked to customer service 4 times trying to resolve this. Now I get an email saying I'm being refunded 19.85. That's not right. I used a $20.00 gift card and I had $1.45 charged to my VS card account. I want $21.45 refunded to me. If you have to refund it to me back in the form of a $20.00 gift card and $1.45 credit to the VS card account, that's fine. I received NOTHING so I don't understand why I'm being shorted money on my refund. I am very weary about shopping at Victoriassecret.com in the future because of all this hassle. Here is a copy of my first email way back on Dec 26, 2007.

copy of email

Please do the right thing and credit me my full refund. The $20.00 gift card was a Christmas gift from my sister and she will be upset to learn that I'm being shorted for something that wasn't my fault.

Thank you,
Deanna X

I basically had to create a sob story in order for them to listen to me! The next day I got the whole $21.45 refunded. I know it was only a couple of dollars, but why should I have to pay any money for a mistake I didn't make?

Lesson learned: Don't order online the day after Christmas!

Balls and Blueberries

2008-01-14T09:07:00.000-05:00

This weekend I had the honor of being invited to two formal dinners by Danny's parents. On Saturday, I attended an Inaugural Ball because Danny's parents are friends with the mayor. It was a black tie affair with a four course dinner. I ended up finding a dress at Target to wear to this, on sale! The dress flowed nicely and I loved the lace back! Danny's dad made a speech introducing the mayor and numerous congressmen (and women) made speeches as well.

Sunday Danny's parents were inducted into their high school's hall of fame and received an award for the service they give to the community. This included another, more informal dinner and MORE SPEECHES because 8 athletes were also inducted for their athletic accomplishments. I'm glad his parents received this award because they truly do donate their time and energy to their community and church out of the kindness of their hearts. They are really nice people and I'm lucky to be associated with them through Danny. Wow, this blog post is turning into a speech.

On a totally unrelated note, I'm on a huge blueberry kick right now. Here are some things I've tried that I love!

Celestial Seasonings True Blueberry Herbal Tea - It tastes like you're drinking a warm blueberry muffin.

¡Hola Fruta! Pomegranate & Blueberry Pure Fruit Sherbet - I never had these flavors together in a sherbet and they really compliment each other. I ate half the carton in one sitting.

Trident Wild Blueberry Twist - Yep, a blueberry gum! This one also has a hint of pomegranate and is good when you want to change it up from mint gum or whatever.

Randomness during the week

2008-01-10T16:03:00.000-05:00

This is the longest week for me EVER!!!!!!!!

It started out with a bang with me hosting a party for the OSU vs. LSU college football game Monday night. This was the second party I've ever hosted, the first being New Years Eve 2007, and this was my best turnout! At one point we had close to 20 people. I think it had a little to do with the beautiful weather we had, 67°F in Cleveland in January is unthinkable! Someone brought an awesome corn dip, someone else brought a buffalo chicken dip, and I have a new interesting assortment of random alcohols in my fridge now. OSU lost, but we still had fun!

I was on an energy high Monday night from all the people and excitement and didn't get to bed until 1 am. The next day I was sooooo tired at work. Tuesday night I watched The Wedding Date on TiVo by myself and crashed.

Here's a funny scenario from last night:
Setting: Danny and I on the couch eating Dairy Queen and watching the new American Gladiators on TiVo

Me: Did you use the Fresh Pineapple body wash that I got you for Christmas?

Danny: Yeah, but not today.

Me: What did you use, just soap?

Danny: No

Me: You took a water shower!?!

Danny: Yeah, it felt amazing.

Me: That's why you smell moldy.

Danny: I knew there was a reason you asked if I used the body wash!

So today he wrote me an email and signed it "Moldy Danny". I couldn't stop laughing at work, I had to play it off like I was laughing at something on the radio.

Cupcake Mosaic

2008-01-06T23:31:00.001-05:00

Cupcake Mosaic
Originally uploaded by dddd89@sbcglobal.net

Here are 16 pics of cupcakes to screw up your diet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click for larger image. Mosaic made with Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker, a flickr toy which was new to me but fun!

Blog Love 3

2008-01-06T22:02:00.000-05:00

Here are some blogs that were sent to me to check out!

Kellypuffs - a public diary blog about randomness. I love her sense of humor and pictures of her crafts.

Just a Hot Dog - Warning, her blog header makes you have a serious craving for hot dogs!

Life Muses - It always amazes me when I log into sitemeter and see someone who read my blog from a far away country. Here is a blog from Malaysia! Very interesting stuff!

Shabby Jules - Another blogger from a country I would love to learn more about, Australia. Check out her fantastic Christmas decorations!

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T13:52:00.000-05:00

I had pretty much one of the worst new year's eve's in history. I worked at my day job and I had agreed to waitress at night at the pizza shop so I worked all day and night! Then, I went over my friend's house to watch the ball drop. Her sister had some people over and everyone was talking and completely missed the countdown to midnight! I looked at the TV and it said 30 seconds and I looked over again and everyone was saying "Happy New Year!". Lame. THEN, I went home and slept on the couch for a little bit and woke up with massive stomach pains and felt like I was going to faint. I walked over to my bed and felt light-headed and the room was spinning. Thank god that went away when I woke up the next morning!

I did start the new year off right with fresh makeup from M.A.C. I had a giftcard that was burning a hole in my pocket for Nordstrom's, so I used it to buy two new eye shadows and mascara. Even though they usually do your makeup like a drag queen, I recommend getting your makeup done at the M.A.C. counter. The makeup artists are always really creative and hip, and they teach you how to apply the makeup every step of the way. When I was there on Saturday, they were blasting Britney Spears' new CD. I've never had a makeup artist pick a bad color for me, and when you get home you can put the makeup on more "normal" for everyday life. There really is no comparision to drug store brands when it comes to M.A.C.'s quality and longevity!
Also, happy one year anniversary to me of blogging!

Balthazar

2007-12-30T22:42:00.000-05:00

A first time trip to New York City last February was one of the most memorable trips of my life. I am a obsessive planner when it comes to trips because I want to make the most of a short visit and see and eat as much as possible. Trying to plan New York was on overwhelming task. How can you possibly choose where to eat when there are so many choices and you are unfamiliar with the area? At home, I scoured guidebooks and asked for recommendations from people who visited NYC. I created a list where I wrote restaurant names, their address (and cross streets when I could find them), and phone number.

Someone recommended a French restaurant, Balthazar, to us and that was on my trusty list. Danny and I had gone to Greenwich village and went to some amazing hole-in-the-wall record and clothing shops. We found ourselves on Spring Street and had no idea where to go. A light clicked in my head and I remembered Balthazar was on Spring Street, but we couldn't find any addresses on the buildings to find out where we were. We ended up taking a cab up Spring Street and it dropped us in this area in Soho where we would have never found on our own. And there in all it's glory stood the huge restaurant Balthazar.

Yes it was extremely expensive for an impromptu lunch, the waiters were snobby and I think the iced tea was about 5 bucks, but I ordered one of the best salads I've ever had, the grilled brook trout over a warm spinach, walnut and lentil salad. Danny had a beef stroganoff. After our lunch I felt like I had truly visited a New York restaurant!

I just got my hands on the Balthazar cookbook, and after reading it cover to cover I feel like I had just eaten there again. The intro is a very well written description of the bustling restaurant from open to close and well as bios of the executive chef and managers. The food pictures are beautiful even though you know you're not going to make any of the highly difficult recipes in the book. Blurbs about technique and explanations of French cooking terms are interesting and at least the sauces and desserts look doable.

Cars and Crack

2007-12-26T21:43:00.000-05:00

Today I had a much needed day off to myself. I love Christmas and all but Christmas night around 9 pm I was on family overload, especially since they decided to engage in a roaring loud game of Catch Phrase.

This morning I decided to do some errands that I would never get to do during the work day. My car is a 2001 Chevy Malibu which has been really good to me (knock on wood) but it has the most annoying lights and bells that alert you on the instrument panel. Every so often my coolant light goes on and won't go off until you add more coolant. My coolant light has been on for months and now my windshield wiper fluid light was on so I bought a bottle of each. I read on the bottle that your engine has to be cool to pour in the coolant so I popped the hood in the parking lot of the store and tried to open the cap of the antifreeze thing in the car. I unscrewed the cap and it seemed to be broken because part of it was in my hand and part of it was still snug inside the hood! I could not get this cap off! A nice older guy saw me struggling and tried to help me but he couldn't get it off either. I thanked him and told him I would have to take it somewhere. While driving home, I kept getting mad at myself that I couldn't get a dumb cap off. I went inside the house and grabbed a screwdriver and rammed it down the side of the opening until the cap was loosened and I could twist it off. It was the best feeling in the world to get this cap off after struggling for so long! There was barely any coolant inside of there and probably was dangerous that I was driving around like that.

After the car drama I got hooked on this show about Keyshia Cole on BET. They were doing a marathon and I couldn't stop watching it, not even to change the channel during commercials! I've always liked Keyshia Cole's music, but I never knew her life was like a soap opera. Her mother ended up in jail because of a crack addiction and Keyshia was raised by foster parents who essentially gave her a better life. We later learn that her biological mother had 7 children with multiple fathers. Keyshia bails her mother out of jail and invites her mother and her older sister Neffe to live with her in Atlanta. Neffe was married but learned that her husband cheated on her with her cousin. Great stories....I can see why this show is the #1 series telecast in BET history.

Christmas Survey

2007-12-24T10:06:00.000-05:00

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? both

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. Some people know this year my tree fell down and the tip broke off because SOMEONE didn't put it in the stand right.

3. When do you put up the tree? Sometime in December.

4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years Day, or whenever I get sick of it, whatever comes first.

5. Do you like egg nog? Yumm

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A huge CD/radio boombox

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes

8. Hardest person to buy for? It's hard to buy for everyone when you're short on cash.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My mom and sister because they tell me what they want.

10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mail...I had to buy the special ugly sweater stamps too!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? My great-grandma Ferritto used to make us knitted bootie socks with balls. That was a downer when you were a kid!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Thanks to Danny and Neal: Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? This year I started in August when we picked up a gift on vacation.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes! But always something I would have wanted to keep.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Biscotti cookies

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Both

17. Favorite Christmas song? Joy to the World when church is over.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay in beautiful Cleveland! I usually slip and fall on my butt at least once on the ice because I stubbornly wear high heels.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes. When I was 3 or 4 years old (before I could read), there's a home video of me reciting the entire "Twas the Night Before Christmas" poem from memory.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Usually a star but right now nothing because I have a wobbly TIP!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Danny, mom and sister Christmas Eve. The rest Christmas Day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? No parking anywhere and amateur shoppers.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have a plastic from Target theme going on right now.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I really don't care. Probably the side dishes.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? For it to be relaxing for everyone and NO BLIZZARDS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Meatball = Love

2007-12-22T11:42:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture I took of Meatball when he was 4 months old with a point and shoot camera and black and white film. I was cleaning my desk and found it and thought I would scan it in and share.

Special K Chocolately Delight

2007-12-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

This stuff isn't good. At all. The flakes taste like cardboard and you never get a flake with a piece of chocolate because the chocolate pieces sink to the bottom. You end up eating a bowl of flakes and then a bowl of slimy dark chocolate logs. I just want to get the truth out there about this. When I bought it I thought the chocolate would be like chocolate shavings a la french silk pie and melt in your mouth. Boy was I misled. I can't believe I just wrote a whole post about Special K.

Yays and Boos, Numbers Edition

2007-12-20T21:08:00.000-05:00

Boo for the electricity going out at work at 11:00 am.

Yay for getting dismissed at work at 1:30 because some construction workers hit a power line and the power wouldn't be restored until 4!

Yay for getting paid for all 8 hours!

Yay for moving my hair appointment up to 3:15 from 7pm!

Boo for the traffic and awful parking situation because people are NUTS at Christmas.

Yay for getting my mom's present done before my hair appointment at Victoria's Secret.

Yay for 40% off VS gift sets and a $10 off coupon!

Boo for the 3 hours it takes to color and highlight my thick hair.

Yay for only paying $5 because my sister is the hairdresser!!!!!!!!!!

Browns Blizzard

2007-12-17T21:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a blizzard in Cleveland. A time to snuggle up at home, drink hot cocoa and watch movies, right? Well I didn't get to do that. This was me yesterday.I accompanied Danny to the Cleveland Browns vs. the Buffalo Bills football game. Which I must say was an experience. One that I will try not to ever repeat, but an experience. The most frustrating part was standing in line to get IN to the stadium. We waited almost 20 minutes outside with gusting winds blowing in our faces and my makeup actually ran! I did get to stay warm once inside as we had club seats which have a little indoor bar area. The Browns ended up winning 8-0!

Pan fried Perch Po' Boys

2007-12-15T22:14:00.000-05:00

The question I get asked almost immediately after I tell people my boyfriend is a chef is "Does he cook for you?". He does.....on occasion. He usually works 80 hour weeks and barely has enough energy to make Chef Boyardee. But today was a rare day that he had off so here is what he made me for lunch - Pan fried perch Po' Boy sandwiches. This is my favorite preparation for fish, pan fried with panko breadcrumbs!

DJ's Po' Boy Bangers
2 cups Panko Breadcrumbs
2 cups Cornmeal
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 lb perch fillets de-boned
Shredded cheddar cheese
Romaine lettuce
Hogie Rolls
Tartar Sauce
Bread and Butter Pickles

1. Combine Old Bay, breadcrumbs, cornmeal, salt and pepper in a bowl.
2. Lightly salt and pepper perch fillets.
3. In a medium saute pan, heat 1/2 vegetable oil on medium heat.
4. Lightly toss perch in breadcrumbs mixture, coating both sides and pressing down to make sure it sticks.
5. Carefully lay the fish in the pan. Cook 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Flip and cook other side 2-3 minutes.
6. With tongs, gently take out perch. Place on baking sheet and bake for 4 minutes at 350°.
7. Assemble sandwiches with fresh romaine, cheddar, tartar sauce and pickles (the pickles are for, as iron chefs would say, acidity).

Christmas is not cooperating this year!

2007-12-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

This is my third Christmas living in this apartment and my third real tree that Danny has gotten and set up for me while I was at work. This year, the tree lasted a day and decided to fall right when Danny walked in the door at 6pm! The tip even broke off! The tree is back up with the tip ducktaped in, but I haven't had time to RE-decorate it yet.

On a happier note, here is my Meatbally Pooper. He hates wearing any type of clothing. Note the spit mark where he tried to bite the scarf off!

Columbus!

2007-12-11T19:05:00.000-05:00

On Saturday I was asked to go to Columbus with my friend J and her friend to go shopping and see BODIES...The Exhibition. I lived in Columbus for 4 years in college and was so excited to go back for a visit! Unfortunately we only had time to go to the suburb where the mall and exhibit was and not get into downtown where I lived and went to school. I'll save that for next time I guess!

Onto the pics!

The Apple Store. The computer nerd in me had to take a picture of giant nutcrackers with ipods!

Lunch was at Cosi, a bistro famous for homemade flatbreads and salads. I had the Signature Salad which was mixed greens tossed with red grapes, pears, pistachios, dried cranberries, gorgonzola and tossed with shallot sherry vinaigrette. I was so happy eating that salad, I could have turned around and driven two hours home and would have been satisfied.

Ruehl No. 925. This store is owned by Abercrombie and Fitch geared toward the 25-35 year old crowd. The storefront is decorated like a brownstone in Greenwich Village, NY and the rooms with the clothing are set up like a cool, modern loft. Having just visited NY for the first time this year, I was really excited to check this place out. I found two shirts to buy and I actually got lost in the store trying to find the register! When I found it, there was no line and they had bar stools set up so you can take a rest while paying. The best part is when you get home, the shirts smell like cologne! Abercrombie really gets it right with store ambiance and I'm glad this store exists because I can't fit into Abercrombie clothes anymore.

I also did really good at The Limited buying two shirts for $22 thanks to a 25% off sale they were having throughout the whole store and a extra 30% off coupon I found online. I was very suprised since I usually find nothing I like there.

The extreme shopping turned educational with BODIES...The Exhibition across the street. I don't think it was worth $20, but it did give me a new perspective on how I should be exercising and taking care of myself in regards to the food I put in my body. We ended the night with dinner at McCormick and Schmick's where I had pecan crusted catfish with a marmalade sauce. No pictures because we had to bust into the bar with no reservation and were starved! I definately want to go back soon!

Christmas Blurbs

2007-12-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

• Finished my Christmas Cards. I don't know why but it's taking me forever for me to feel "Christmasy" this year. After writing out 16 cards, I feel much more in the spirit. I HAD to buy the dorky Christmas sweater stamps to go along with them!

• Watched the Top Chef Christmas Special. This was a pleasant suprise to see some of my favorite chefs come back to compete. I thought it was genius to have the chefs prepare 3 courses and eliminate 2 chefs after each course, leaving some chefs with dishes that they weren't able to use. The addition of the on-the-fly dish encouraged the chefs to pick and choose from the eliminated which created even more tension.

• Kind of Christmas related because I always make my doctor's appointments around Christmas. I filled out the rebate form I got from the eye doctor to get $30.00 back for ordering a 6 month supply of contacts. While doing this, I kept staring at the bag they put all my receipts and rebate in. This bag just annoys me.

Get it? It's googly EYES because it's an EYE doctor. ha ha.........no.

Bye Bye Bianca!

2007-12-06T00:59:00.000-05:00

I'm very pleased to see this little brat get kicked off this week's ANTM! She is bad at posing, has a mean face and a cocky attitude. It was good TV when they shaved her head though, I always enjoy a good tear-filled head shaving. To give her any sort of credit, she IS only 18 and still has an enormous amount of growing up to do. I know when I was 18 I was extremely shy, starving myself, and scared to go to college 2 hours away. Definately not the case now! The three girls that are left are on even ground on terms of looks, obeying photographers, etc. The judges are going to really have to split hairs to determine the winner.

Giant Eagle Secret Spy!!!

2007-12-04T09:33:00.000-05:00

I was bored yesterday so I decided to register at Giant Eagle's website, the midwest's huge grocery store chain. While playing around on the site, I found out you can see how much money you are eligible to get off your gas via their fuel perks program. Cool. Then, I click on another tab called Shopping History. There is a list of all the shopping purchases I made for the last 4 months. No big deal, right? Well Danny and I share a Giant Eagle card partly because of his laziness to sign up and partly so we can get a bigger fuel perks discount. So now I can spy on what he buys!!!!!!! Muhahahaha!!!!! I found out he mostly buys Gatorade and Red Bull, but I also discovered some reacurring themes. Reese Sticks? Those fattening fried cherry pies? Bad, bad Danny!

Blog Love 2

2007-12-02T16:20:00.000-05:00

A shout-out to all the people with blogs I sent my blog link to:
suffix.abuse - That amazing picture of sushi is making me crave spicy tuna rolls right now!
Anodyne Design - Shannon describes her Etsy shop as something that soothes, calms, or comforts and her blog conveys that soothing feeling too! Beautiful handbags.
The Quilterhood - and her puppies Buddy & Beulah.
mona millefiori - Love your new logo, very pretty!
nicole20 - I wish you the best for your newborn and you are in my prayers.

And also the blogs that were sent to me!
Toilet Roll Art - love, love, love the shoes you posted!
Kentucky Girl - I also share your love (opps I mean hate) for shopping.
Tina Lynn - thanks for introducing me to live journal! Cute cherry blossoms!
Mirawyn Crafts - I've always wanted to do ATC's and just never do them. Maybe your blog will inspire me.

Last Day!

2007-11-30T11:36:00.000-05:00

Of NaBloPoMo!!!!! This was my first time participating and I truly had fun posting every day! Now onto December! I just convinced a guy I work with to go and pick up a pizza for me so I know it's definately going to be a great Friday!

Way Back....Back Into Time

2007-11-29T22:15:00.000-05:00

Wouldn't you know my December is filling up faster than any of my other months this year, while November is still boringly plugging along. So today I give you pics of a sushi making night Danny and I had a while back. The lesson of the night was less is more as we put too much rice, fish AND cream cheese in these babies. Still very very tasty!

Blurbs

2007-11-28T21:44:00.000-05:00

Here's what I did today:
• Woke up on the couch with Meatball with no alarm set. Thankfully I wasn't late! I was a little panicked when I saw it was light outside.

• Ate a Fizzix fizzy yogurt snack that I bought on a whim while grocery shopping at 10 pm. It's like a Go-Gurt without being horribly sweet, although you only feel the fizz in the first bite or slurp or whatever.

• Started reading a new book on my lunch break, Running With Scissors. So far it has been a fast read which is good when you only have 30 minutes.

• Watched ANTM. A part of me was really hoping Heather could manage her go-sees, but in reality she just couldn't do them. Hey, I would flip out if I had to find places in China, too! I don't even want to watch anymore that Heather's off, it's either going to be a stereotypical blond or black girl who wins. Hopefully she'll get some modeling gigs out of the exposure of being on ANTM.

London Ink

2007-11-27T23:29:00.000-05:00

I tried to like this new tattoo spin-off that aired tonight on TLC. There's just no comparison to Miami Ink and LA Ink regarding quality of tattoos and personal stories of the customers. The narrator is dull and pronounces it "tut-oo". Louis Molloy is shop owner and famous for the huge backpiece on David Beckham of an angel with his head bowed. Along with him is grafitti style artist Dan Gold, japanese style New Zealander Nikole Lowe, and New Yorker Phil Kyle. After watching the premiere episode, I really like Dan Gold. He has had some hardships in the tattoo industry and his personal life and is striving to get better which I admire. He's somewhat of a ladies man, managing to tattoo a koi fish on a hot Britsh model. He's pretty cute with his glasses, spade neck tattoo and matching spade earring. Just disregard the teeth!

Blog Hunt

2007-11-26T10:17:00.000-05:00

Here is my Swap-bot blog hunt. I had to find a blog that deals with:

Health issues - About.com:Women's Health

Children - Here in the Bonny Glen, blog by Melissa Wiley, author of The Martha Years books about Laura Ingalls Wilder's great-grandmother, Martha Morse Tucker, and The Charlotte Years books, about Laura's grandmother, Charlotte Tucker Quiner.

Spiritual issues - Roman Catholic Blog 12 years of Catholic school, baby.

Food (recipes, diets etc...) - Quarter Life Crisis One of my favorite blogs. It's not necessarily a food blog but she does post about food often and takes great pictures of food porn!

Free stuff - Mommy Saves Big I heart free samples!

Links to swappers:

Tamiknits Adventures in Crafting
Helenkosings's Weblog
Simone's Butterfly