I really really do.
I have a ton of them. Sara at WhoBakesCupcakes can verify this for you if you don't believe me.
I have been drooling over the aprons over at Flirty Aprons.
THEN I came across this awesome giveaway over at AubutFamily.com and I had to enter. Please don't hate me for "spamming" your feed. In fact, instead of hating me why don't you go over there and enter yourself.
Sara here is some motivation for you and everyone else.
Hello blogosphere.
I have missed you. It's been a long few days and I'm glad to be back in front of my computer.
Are you ready for a delicious recipe/photo post? Good. Stay ready b/c this is not that post but it's coming later today I promise.
I spent yesterday working in the office. For those of you who don't know, I currently work remotely from home so it's a big change working in the office. It was good. I was productive and got to spend the day with my coworker Hannah who is also my friend. At least, I hope she is!
It was free icecream day at Carvel yesterday. Fabulous! I enjoyed a low fat vanilla with a shot of pistachio flavoring. It was quite yummy. The day before was 31cent scoop night at Baskin Robins and I enjoyed that as well. Hey, it was for a good cause! They were donating to the fire departments. I definitely need to go back to the gym after all this ice cream though.
Today I spent the morning at a funeral and I'm spending the afternoon/evening working on my day off but at least it's from home. Tango and Petey are happy that I'm here. They must have missed me yesterday b/c they've spent most of the afternoon either on my lap or at my feet.
I have a week's worth of chores to catch up on but it's not so bad b/c this week the Flylady program is focusing on the Living Room and I keep that room on a pretty tight schedule so I guess I picked the right week to be a slacker.
Tell me about your week. I'm trying to play catch up and read all your blogs but in the mean time tell me one thing good or bad that has happened to you since Tuesday.
Okay, so first of all, I went to the gym yesterday. Go me! I did the 30 minute circuit training thing for the first time and then did another 30 mins on the bike in "personal trainer mode" WOW am I sore today. In a good way though, at least mostly.
Tonight I cooked a fabulous dinner that was quite delicious and inspired by my Cheaters Meat Pies from the other night. Pictures and recipe coming some time this week.
Lord Hill just downloaded the new DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 and I'm totally stoked. Yes, I said stoked.
Tomorrow I get to go to a Mets game with my dad. Should be super fun.
Glee tonight! GLEE! Oh man. I cannot wait till next week. One thing you should all know about me is that I am this man's biggest fan... Seriously. You have no idea how much I love him. In all his glory.
Ice Ice Baby is my ring tone, The Ninja Rap was my old ring tone. I actually own a copy of the vhs of just the Ninja Rap music video from TMNT II b/c a fabulous online friend mailed it to me. I cannot even express how exciting that day was for me. I have seen him live (recently not back in the 90's) and am one of "those" fans and kept his towel, drumstick, and water bottle after the show. I adore him. Mock me all you want, but mock him and you will face my wrath. I mean seriously, look how adorable he was, and look how sexy he's become. Mmmm. My hubby even gave me Cool As Ice as a gift one year before we were dating.
Okay...so enough about Vanilla Ice. I shall give him his own personal entry another time. This was just supposed to be a "Quick Stop" and now my keyboard is covered in drool and you're all sitting there making fun of me.
I'm now going to go and shoot zombies with my fabulous husband. I hope you all have a good night and have sweet dreams. (As long as they aren't about MY Vanilla Ice. He's mine. Sorry ladies...and gents.)
Okay, so remember back on Thursday when I made a quick stop post and said I was working on a new recipe? Of course you do, because you all love me so much and remember every word I write. Right?
Well...
It was okay. It wasn't fabulous. It was definitely edible and good. Lord Hill had seconds which is always a good sign. It's great for a quick meal when you didn't really have anything planned and it's really good for kids. I'm sure my nieces and nephews would love it. So without further ado here is the recipe with some photos.
Lady Hill's Cheater Meat Pies
Ingredients:
1 Package of Pilsbury Biscuits. (I used Grands but would probably use original in the future)
1 lb of ground beef (you can of course substitute this with any kind of ground meat)
Your favorite BBQ Sauce
Salt (optional)
You will also need a cupcake pan and a skillet.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or whatever your package of biscuits tells you to do)
Lightly grease the cupcake pan (I always use my misto sprayer thingy)
Brown the ground meat in the skillet.
Press each biscuit into one of cupcake spots. Form a little basket.
When meat starts to brown add about 2 table spoons of BBQ sauce and mix well
When meat is completely browned, DRAIN the meat.
Add a "good amount" of BBQ to the meat and stir. (This will depend on how much you like BBQ sauce and how saucy you want your meat to be in general.)
Add a dash of salt to taste. (This step is optional)
Spoon meat into the little biscuit baskets you made earlier. (See first photo)
Bake for the amount of time on the biscuit package. I found that 15 minutes was perfect.
Remove from oven, let stand for about 3 minutes. Serve!
(the one on the right has cheddar cheese melted on top.)
What is your quick and easy go to recipe when you haven't planned anything for dinner and your family is "starving" ?
This week's Friday 5 is brought to you by the fact that I have been slacking on my chores this week.
Lady Hill's Least Favorite Chores (and ways to defeat them):
The Dishes. I HATE HATE HATE doing the dishes. It's one of the only things Lord Hill and I ever disagree or argue about. I have this weird thing with my OCD where plates cannot be stacked or touching and inevitably once they end up in the sink they are stacked. Ugh.
In order to defeat this chore I bought myself a cute pair of rubber gloves that actually fit me (I have notoriously tiny hands) and antibacterial dish soap that smells fabulous. I wish I had these gloves, they are super cute!
Making the Bed This is something I'm just too lazy to do. It also happen's to be the Flylady habit of the month. That's how I realized that it's not that I hate this chore, it's that I'm just to lazy to bother doing it. I can proudly say however that I have made my bed (with all the fancy pillows and everything!) every single day this month. Yay ME! I find it helps to have a bedding set that I really like and an assistant to help.
The Litter Box does this one really need an explanation? I didn't think so. My solution to defeating this chore is actually quite simple. Lord Hill does it! If we had a ton of money to spend on things we don't need and my kitties weren't neurotic and afraid of everything this cool contraption called the Cat Genie would be my solution. It actually scoops, and washes itself. It's amazing. Hey cat genie people, if you're reading this and you want someone to blog a review about it, I'm the gal for you!
Returning soda cans and bottles I wouldn't say that I'm too lazy to do this chore, I just can't seem to find the time to do this on a regular basis. In order to help change that I recently set up a new rule in our home. We have a garbage can that is for cans and bottles only. When that bag is full it must be returned within 48 hours. No whining, no complaining, it just has to get done.
Sweeping I hate sweeping b/c I feel like it always makes a bigger mess. The "stuff" always just gets pushed around and I feel like it just spreads the dirt around and it takes forever. My solution? Stop sweeping! I have 2 great sweeper vacs that I just adore. One I got as a shower gift back in 2008. It's the dirt devil broom vac. I love it. However, I lost the charger for it and now it just sits in my closet. For our anniversary this year my mother gave us the Swivel Sweeper G2 thing that is in the infomercials on tv. I LOVE IT! It's seriously amazing. It picks up everything including stray pieces of kitty litter, dog kibble, and the rest of the random stuff that somehow ends up on my floors. It's easy to clean, easy to use, and is cordless. It even gets under my fridge and around chairs and tables.
What are your least favorite chores and how do you deal with having to do them?
On my journey to earning the title I already hold of Lady I have taken it upon myself to become a bit more... polished. I've always been a bit of a tomboy and spent most of my time hanging out with the neighbors who were boys rather than learning how to curl my eyelashes and blowout my hair.
Lucky for me one of my friends is a fabulous makeup artist and has been super helpful with this aspect of my journey. On Sunday she hosted the makeup/brunch that I had mentioned in my last entry.
The purpose of this party was to "launch" the fact that she is now selling a makeup line for her clients to use as well as doing their makeup for special occasions like weddings and what not.
I will admit I was a bit hesitant at first because I've never had any luck at these things...Mary Kay, Avon... it was all "old lady" stuff and things I just didn't like but always felt like I had to buy b/c the woman was so nice.
Well, let me tell you, this was totally different. Linda is amazing and super nice, but it defnitely helped that the product was great! It's nice quality and the price is amazing. I got a tinted foundation, a cover up stick, and a hair frizz balm all for under $20 including tax.
The best part was getting to sample and try out the makeup while Linda did a demonstration on me for the rest of the ladies. She was great with answering all of our questions and didn't try to push the product on us at all. She just showed us what it did and let it speak for itself. I was thrilled. I know most of my readers happen to be women so I'm going to share the
link to her online shop. Linda has no idea that I'm writing about this, and has not asked me to review her products or her services.
I am in no way being compensated for any of this. I just really liked the product and the price. Right now there is a special on her page that you get free shipping on orders over $25 if you use the code MARKFS25
Just for fun here is a photo of me after Linda did my makeup a few months back. You can't really tell in this photo but I'm wearing my tiara. Photo credit goes to Sara over at Who Bakes Cupcakes.
Did I mention that I got to wear my "skinny jeans" on Sunday? They hadn't fit in almost 3 years. Go me!
Linda is also helping me learn how to dress more like a grown up by giving me her old clothes that I am in love with. With a friend like her to guide the way I'll be a lady in no time!
On Sunday a friend hosted a recipe swap/makeup party. I tend to dread these things b/c I don't really cook or make things so I'm never comfortable with what I choose to bring and never bother bringing a recipe.
Well, this time was different. It was a brunch. I jokingly said I was going to just bring a box of cereal and some milk. Then, I remembered that while Lord Hill and I were away for anniversary we ate a Chinese buffet that had these delicious little treats. I went looking for a recipe and didn't find one that quite worked the way I wanted to.
THIS one over on Laura Rebecca's Kitchen would have been great if I had a bowl that would work in my microwave.
So instead I played around in my kitchen late Saturday night and this is what I came up with. They were a hit and there were no leftovers at the end of the party.
½ Stick of Butter (you can also use margarine as a substitute)
10.5 oz bag of mini marshmallows
6 cups of fruity pebbles
wax paper
9x9 pan
Non stick spray
Line your pan with wax paper so that all the sides are protected. Lightly spraying the paper with non stick spray will help as well.
-In a large pot melt the stick of butter on medium heat.
-Mix in mini marshmallows slowly making sure to coat in butter.
-Stir the mixture continuously (grease your spatula/spoon before hand)
-Once all the marshmallows are melted and are in a liquidy state slowly start to mix in the fruity pebbles.
-Once all of the cereal is evenly coated spoon into the pan.
Spread it out evenly. Place a sheet of wax paper on top so that you can press the cereal into all of the corners and evenly throughout the pan.
Let Cool. Cut into squares. You can also roll into balls or shape by hand once the mix has started to cool but has not hardened.
laurenrosedesign is hosting a fabulous contest on her Etsy page. I LOVE cameos and just couldn't pass up this contest. In order to enter all you have to do is either blog about or retweet about the contest.
Here is a link with all the info! Good luck! (sort of, after all, I'd like to be the winner)
This is a 10K Solid Rose Gold Cameo Pendant c. 1930 made with a hand carved shell and a natural diamond set in 14K white gold. Retail Value: $135. Cameo measures 22x18mm not including bail.
I had entirely too much sugar today and as a result have had too much time on my hands. I just created a fanpage on facebook with a discussion board and would love for all my readers to check it out and give me feedback.
Are there topics you'd like to discuss on the discussions tab? If so either let me or start one yourself! I'm all about getting everyone involved.
As you may or may not know I am domestically challenged. This is the reason for this blog after all...
Well the area I suffer the most is in the kitchen. I cannot cook. Or rather, I DO NOT cook, b/c as it turns out I can cook pretty darn well when I put my mind to it.
Lord Hill has been asking me to make one of my signature dishes for a little over a week so this Saturday I finally got around to it. It's Sausage and Peppers and I thought I'd share my recipe with some step by step photos.
Be sure to let me know if you give it a try!
INGREDIENTS:
7 Sweet Italian sausage links
3 Green Peppers
1 or 2 large Spanish onions
extra virgin olive oil in a misto sprayer... you can use PAM or another cooking spray or just plain olive oil if you choose.
Salt
Spray pan with olive oil.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Slice peppers and onions into thin strips and place in pan. Mix well and sprinkle a dash of salt.
Bake at 350 degrees.
Brown Sausages in a pan.
After sausages are browned take out the peppers and onions and mix well. Place back in oven and continuing baking until peppers and onions start to soften.
Chop up sausages into bite size pieces and continue to quickly brown all sides of pieces.
Add sausage to pepper and onions. Mix well. Add another dash of salt and lightly spray with olive oil.
Bake for 20 minute or until peppers and onions are the texture you desire.
I sat down to write all about the fabulous meal I cooked for dinner complete with recipe and photos only to totally get distracted and sidetracked while editing the layout a bit more.
Oh well it looks like the fabulous step by step description of my fabulous saturday night will have to wait till after the brunch/makeup party I'm attending tomorrow.
In the meantime, did any of you catch the Mets/Cardinals game tonight?!?
Crazy game dude, crazy game.
Since I have nothing interesting to say right now why don't you go check out my other blog (yes, I'm a bit of a blog whore) and have yourself a chuckle. http://itsnotatuber.blogspot.com
Starting this week I will be doing something I call Friday 5. Every week I'll post 5 things I think will interest you. This week it's blogs b/c most people do follow friday and I like that idea. So without further ado here are 5 blogs I think you should all be reading/following.
I had hoped that I'd be able to write about all the stuff I got done around the apartment yesterday. I had plans to go out to dinner and thought I'd come home and write about it as well as all the chores I managed to get done.
Instead I spent the night in the emergency room b/c my dog thinks he's a ram. I swear he's having an identity crisis. First he thinks he's a cat and now this. Do you see a resemblance?
Well, he may not LOOK like a black faced ram but his head sure felt as hard as one when he excited charged at me and headbutted me in the face. Crazy little thing got so excited and I put my head down at just the right wrong moment. I would have bet $1,000,000.00 that it was broken. It's a good thing I didn't make that bet though b/c fortunately for me, it is not.
This does not mean that it does not hurt. To quote the doctor, "You got clocked in the face. Of course it hurts." He also said it'd take a few weeks to heal. Lucky me. Combine this with the fibromyalgia and let's just say that it is going to be a struggle to keep up with the plan.
In the meantime it's like the worlds worst sinus headache and I do not plan on spending more time than needed in front of the computer. So please forgive me if I do not comment on your posts, I promise to read them all when I can.
