Weekly Menu (3)

Sunday:  baked chicken
Monday: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/crispy-southwest-chicken-wraps.html
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/2011/07/pasta-with-mascarpone-and-roasted-grape.html
Thursday: leftovers
Friday:lasagna

Updates!

Well, I think it's time for an update.  This won't be an exciting one but whatever.  I just want to do it.  So I am. 

 I went to another book signing.  It was for Tomie DePaola and I won the door prize!  I never win anything!  The millions of kids were going nuts and I wanted to smack them or their parents but luckily, I stopped myself.  My friend Kate was there and I don't often hang out with her.  Not really sure why, but it was nice to see her for a little bit (though it was sort of hard  to concentrate on our conversation because of the little girls nearby who were running around like wild beasts while their parents looked on and ignored their behavior.  Well, okay then!)  So I now have 2 signed copies of Strega Nona's Gift thanks to Kate who got to the B&N at a normal time and got a good spot as opposed to me who arrived just before the event began and would have had pretty much the last spot in line.  So, she had the books signed and we went to eat in the food court.  I still got to talk to Tomie for a second because he congratulated me on winning the door prize lol that was the extent of our conversation.
Tomie: Congratulations!
Me: Thanks!

Still, I talked to him for a second and honestly, I looked like a hot mess than night so I didn't really need to immortalize our meeting in digital form for all eternity.

Okay, what else?  I bought a really cute apron a  long time ago.  I never wear it.  It's really cute though.  Maybe I should start wearing it?  Maybe I'll wear it when I make my contribution to Thanksgiving, these Red Velvet Cakeballs from Bakerellla.  I made them once for some family event and now they are apparently my specialty.  Well, that's all well and good except for the fact that they take quite a long time to make because of the steps involved.  It's like making 3 desserts in one!  Seriously, it's a time commitment.  But when my Aunt Joyce asked me to make them, how could I turn her down?  She's like 70 (wow, seriously? I didn't really realize that til just now) and she's mostly blind and partly deaf and she doesn't ask me for very much and makes a delicious chicken soup that I'm already looking forward to.  Well, anyway, I'll survive.  I'll make those cakeballs and they'll be delicious and maybe I'll even wear that apron when I make them.

Um, I kind of have a book area.  I have like 5, plus like 56 million kid books in the attic.  So does that count?  No, I need to organize things better.  Why doesn't it get done?  Because I'd rather be reading my books than organizing them.  Maybe one day it'll be better organized.  I keep saying when the damn basement apartment is finally done I'll get everything organized but honestly, when I have to live with the living room looking like such a freakin mess, how can I bother with the little mess in my little office area that I hardly ever use.  Why is that?  Annnnnyway, I need some more book shelves.  Maybe that's what I'll get for Christmas.  That'd be a good thing to get, right?  I also sort of cleaned my closet, but I haven't called anyone to come pick them up.  I don't actually know where those cleaned out closet clothes went to.  Probably threw them in the mess in the living room.  Ugh, seriously, who has a refrigerator in their living room?  Apparently, we do.  And I walk by the stupid thing every day.  So frustrating.  I just have to stop thinking about it.  Grrr

We are SO close to getting the stupid certification thing finished.  My school is just as much of a mess and a pain in the ass as the stupid state ed office apparently.  None of them know what the hell is going on.  NONE OF THEM.  And that's not good because it's not information that's easily accessible for me.  FRUSTRATION I've only been working full time as a teacher for FOUR YEARS now.  But, who needs a certificate anyway.  Riiiiiight

Book reading goal of the year, not looking good. I think I set my sights too high and I didn't read enough this summer.  I picked some real stinkers for my prime reading time and I just couldn't get through as many books as I should have.  Plus working summer school threw a wrench in my prime reading time too.  Blah

I DID finish a Book Club Challenge though!  And I think I should finish this latest one too!  Hooray for me!  I'm no good at picking tasks though so I just want to finish but not pick a task.  That, or have a strike of genius or something. 

I watched the Replacement Bureau with Matt Damon.  God, what a good actor, seriously.  Anyway, it was pretty good.  I think I gave it 4 stars.

I saw Water for Elephants with Reese Witherspoon.  Not as good as the book.  But I do still love Reese.  The Help, now that was a good movie adaptation.  Read that and then go see the movie if you haven't already.

Haven't looked at the 1001 books list in forever.  Probably should take a glance at that seeing as I said I was going to read 20 of them.  Enh, whatever.

I'll update the movies I've watched because then I can check of the 20 new movie thing soon.

Also I think we'll be visiting a new country sometime soon if I get my wish and figure out what island nation I'd like to visit during my Winter break in February.  Suggestions welcome.  I think a US Virgin Island will be most likely though.

I've been thinking of starting to do some sit ups.  So I think I'm going to make that my goal for right now.

I think I might have lost 5 pounds but I'm not sure because my scale's been without a battery for quite some time.  That's totally Cliff's job but it's not looking like it's going to happen anytime soon.

I sort of grew a garden, but the deer were not kind to it.  Damn deer, I have my coyote pee ready for you next year.  Seriously.

Um the painting thing is going to get going again very soon now that the drywall is finished downstairs.  Hooray.  I already did this like 2 months ago, and just can't get over how much fun it was.  UGH

I didn't have to paint my parents' rooms because my mom paid a painter.  Hooray!  It's no longer the blue house of doom!  Still, it needs some more work.  But whatever, not my problem as much as her problem...

Ha it's sad how many things I know I'm not going to do at this point.  Oh well, such is life I guess!

Weekly Menu (2)

Sunday: Breaded Chicken Cutlets and Parmesan orzo
http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/2011/05/parmesan-orzo.html

Monday:   french onion soup with salad--never got to this one last week

Tuesday:  Chicken Pot Pie
http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/chicken-pot-pie.html

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: pizza

Friday: dinner with the Shaws!!

easy meals

crispy-southwest-chicken-wraps
creamy-chicken-and-wild-rice-soup
slow-cooker-french-onion-soup
slow-cooked-london-broil

yummm

Sunday: Tuscan Garlic Chicken
Monday:  crockpot southwestern corn soup

Tuesday: pizza
Wednesday: Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Thursday: pasta concoction
Friday: something or other

6. Vacation at a lake house 5. Girls only vacation

So, I did vacation at a lake house this summer.  I also don't have any pictures of it.  Let's just say, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.  It was okay, but not nearly as fun as my time with my sister-in-law and niece!  Being around her for so long was totally giving me baby fever.  Oh brother. 

Weekly Menu

Sunday: Cheddar Cracker Chicken
Monday: Dinner out
Tuesday: Turkey Croquets
Wednesday:  Leftovers
Thursday: Roasted Vegetable Stromboli
Thursday: Chicken Caprese
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Renaissance Faire
Breakfast for the week!: Baby Quich Breakfast

Weekly Menu

Saturday: dinner out
Sunday: Crispy Yogurt Chicken
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Black Bean Burgers
Wednesday: Leftovers/Cliff is on his own
Thursday:  Chili-Lime Grilled Pork Chops
Friday: Leftovers

House Before and Afters

FYI: All of these old pictures are from the MLS with the other people's furniture.

Old Exterior

New Exterior!  New shutters, power washed front and green grass make it look like a different house.

Old Backyard

New Backyard with a hammock, husband and dog, and a tiny pool for me to jump in when I'm hot from reading in the backyard.  I'll get my built-in pool one of these days!!

Old Dinning Room.  Still need a REAL dinning room table before I can post the new.

Old Family Room.  Note the random bell.

New Family Room with blue couch which will be going back to the living room once we buy another couch.  Note the cute dog.

Old Master

Old Master Bath.  I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of the new master yet.  There aren't any really big changes yet anyway.

New Master.  Needs new bedroom set and a picture or something over the bed. Ugh $$$

 

 

Old kitchen

New kitchen

This took FOREVER to redo the grout.

Cliff's office

My office

David Sedaris Reading!

I'm going to see David Sedaris again! Yay yay yay!
October 13th at 8pm and this time it's close to home in NJ!  We won't have to travel all the way to Baltimore, although that WAS fun.  This time it won't be nearly as expensive!  There are a lot of ! in this.  Can you tell I'm excited!?!?!?!?!

David Sedaris!

46. Watch 20 classic movies (3/20)

Breakfast at Tiffany's

I enjoyed it but now I want to read the book and compare them.  Not really sure what to think of it because I feel like it is one of those movies that people always talk about and love and whatever.  I am having trouble forming an opinion of it because I feel like it should be this amazing movie to me, but it was just a movie.  I don't know if I explained that well but whatever.

Watch 20 classic movies (2/20)

I watched Gone with the Wind a while back. Actually, my mom bought me the movie because she apparently loves it.  She also forced me to watch it with her.  She loves watching movies together.  She has things that she wants us to do together that she arbitrarily chooses and then obsesses over.  Kind of takes the fun out of it for me.  But anyway, the movie was good, if not really REALLY long.  We-had-to-watch-it-in-two-sittings-long.  Anyway, I don't know how many times more I'll be watching it because it's not one of those movies I'll just be throwing on when I do some ironing, but you know, I'll probably break it out again some day.  But, frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.  Ha that was dumb.

Watch 20 new-to-me movies (14/20)

Into the Wild-3 stars (innnteresting but maybe I should have read the book instead?  it felt slow and also I can't really relate very well)
City Slickers-2 stars (expected so much more, couldn't wait for this to end, maybe I should give it 1 star?)
The King's Speech-4 stars (really, really enjoyed)
Precious-3 stars (a little too "real" for me though I knew what I was getting into)
Easy A-4 stars (ha I enjoyed this random find on instant watch)
The Fighter-4 stars (really enjoyed)
Unstoppable-3 stars (this has been done before)
Inception-4 stars (glad I finally saw this. interesting concept)
Larry Crowne-3 stars (though funny, the characters were not well-developed)

Kick-Ass-4 stars (loved this and thought I'd hate it.  When Cliff picked it, I was all ready to turn it off.)
Grown-Ups-2 stars (too stupid to enjoy)
The Other Guys-1 star (also waaaaay too stupid to enjoy)
No Strings Attached-3 stars (enjoyed way more than I thought I would)
Black Swan-4 stars (I'm having flashbacks of this movie right now--creeeepy)

29. Get a regular doctor 30. Get an OB/GYN

Appointments next week! Hopefully we won't find out that I have some rare diseases or common diseases.  I'm glad I finally got this off my list.  It's been in the back of my mind for quite some time.

16. Attend at least 3 book readings

On May 23, 2011, I went to see Sarah Dessen in Staten Island!  I started going to author readings during college.  I even got to see John Irving who is one of my all-time favorite authors.  I felt like I really got to understand the books on a deeper level and that really strengthened my appreciation for the author and their books. 

I LOVE reading.  I always have.  I can't explain how much I love it.  If I have kids who don't love to read one day I'm going to be insanely sad.  So, it was really exciting to me to get to meet an author of books that I love.  I've read 3 (or 4?) of Sarah Dessen's books so far and though I've loved some more than others, they have all been really entertaining.  I own all but one of her books and thanks to paperback swap I'll be remedying that shortly.  Anyway, I really enjoyed the reading, though I did NOT enjoy the traffic or the fact that it was on a Thursday (whyyyyyyy).  Anyway, I was glad I went and I'll be on the lookout for some more awesome author readings in the near future.  At least 2 more, anyway!

Maybe not the greatest picture the world has ever seen, but Sarah Dessen really does look like her book covers!  That is a woman who ages well, my friends!

12. See a Broadway show

For my cousin Jon's graduation from 8th grade, we went to NYC to see Phantom of the Opera.  It was actually my parents' gift, but somehow my brother, husband, and I were roped in as well.  I've actually already seen Phantom and while it's good, if I'd have had my choice, I wouldn't have picked this show.  I would have picked Wicked or Jersey Boys because I've wanted to see them for like 2 years now.  I'll get there one day.  It's just so expensive!  Anyway, everyone enjoyed the show (although I was in the middle of having a 2 day allergy induced (I think) headache).  Jon was hooked and loved New York City.  I told him I want to see Wicked and when I saw him yesterday he was asking me when I'm going to take him to it.  The tickets for that show are RIDICULOUSLY expensive.  I told him he better start saving his money!

 

There have been better pictures of me taken but I had a wicked headache and I've never really been that photogenic =)

It's What's for Dinner

I'm going to attempt to use this blog more.  Hopefully it will keep me more organized (or rather keep my organization in one place) and help me keep track of that list I always have in the back of my head.

I'm trying to do more cooking because it's summer and I'm not working full time and Cliff deserves a break.  He usually does a lot of the cooking because he gets home before me and because I am often exhausted when I get home from school!  Here's what we're planning on eating this week!:

Sunday: Baked Chicken Chimichangas
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Zippy Summer Shrimp
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Crispy Yogurt Chicken
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Grilled Pizzas


We eat a lot of leftovers because there are only two of us and we always end up making way more than we actually eat somehow!

46. Watch 20 classic movies (1/20)

A few days ago, I finally sat down and watched It Happened One Night with Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable (awesome names btw).  I'd had it from Netflix for probably a month, or two.  Wow, that's a pretty expensive movie if you think about it...Anyway, I just didn't feel like watching it and I don't actually watch that many movies or that much tv so I just hadn't been getting around to it.  But I'm so glad I did.  It was so cute and I loved it.  Cliff even watched it with me.  When it first came on he was like oh man, it's in black and white!?  But in the end, I think he really liked it too.  I decided to watch it because it was mentioned in Anna and the French Kiss and I knew I was trying to watch more classic movies, so really I went into it knowing nothing.  It was not exactly what I thought it'd be since I hadn't really known what it was about, but it was definitely a very good movie.  There's a reason they're called classics, I guess! 

47. Watch 20 new-to-me movies (2/20)

I've recently watched two movie theater movies, both with Natalie Portman.  Let me start by saying two things: first, neither of these are really the type of movie I usually go to see and secondly, Natalie Portman is an awesome actress.  She really outdid herself in both of her roles. 

So, Black Swan.

Wow.  Black Swan was something of a mindfuck.  Yes, I just used that term, and no, I don't usually use it.  But wow.  Just, wow.  I didn't know what I was in for when I agreed to go and see the movie with my mom.  Yes, with my mom.  Somewhat uncomfortable during certain parts...Anyway, I don't even know what to say about it besides the fact that she was amazing.  I don't think I'd want to see it again, but it was definitely worth going to see just because it was such...a mindfuck.  Yes, I said it again.  But really, I don't quite know how to describe this movie.  It was uncomfortable to watch but also amazing if you thought about how well Portman performed.


The other movie I recently saw was No Strings Attached. 

We had wanted to go see Just Go With It but of course, that was sold out since it was opening weekend...err, opening Tuesday?  Anyway, who doesn't love Jennifer Aniston?  And, I used to love Adam Sandler back in his Happy Gilmore days...ah well, maybe next Optimum Card free movie Tuesday!  Anyway, No Strings Attached was a really cute Rom Com.  I enjoyed it although I really was not on board with the premise of the movie.  I've never really liked movies or tv shows that just show mindless sex or worse, promote it.  I just don't go for the idea that you should just have sex with whomever seems to be around regardless of whether you like them, just met them, etc.  I always felt that it should be within a relationship of longer than a month...but then again, maybe that's just me.  So, anyway, even though it was a Rom Com and you basically know how it's going to end, it really was enjoyable and well done.  I ended up liking Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman's characters and was rooting for them to get together.  Anyway, for free, I'll go see a movie any day.  For $12, I'm not so sure...but that's why I love free movie Tuesday, I don't have to decide!

19. Own a house

On February 3 we became the proud owners of our own house once again!  We got to finally move out of Cliff's parents' house after 3 months!  Boy, is it nice to have a place to call our own again. 

Unfortunately, we have lots to do to make the house more to our liking/livable.  This house was in pretty sad shape in some ways--like the kitchen! 

Happily, this weekend we were able to get out to PC Richards where Cliff showed off his amazing haggling stills and we bought ourselves an entirely new set of kitchen appliances from GE Cafe collection. 

Hopefully we'll have them for many years.  And our kitchen will start looking more like the one on the GE website haha

And let's just say the previous owners' color choices left a lot to be desired...

There was a lot of green and yellow.  The green actually doesn't look that bad in the picture, but trust me, it had seen better days.

So we've been working like crazy to get this house into a livable state and while it's fun in some ways, it's quite tiring!  Luckily we had a lot of help over the last few weeks to help us get started...I'll get picture of our helpers up at some point...but for now, it's back to regrouting the kitchen floor.  Fun times!

#55 Start Taking Vitamins

Now that I've finished one of the things on my list I need to pick something new to do!  So I'm going to go with an easy one: start taking those vitamins.  That'll make my mom happy.  And my doctor (if I had one...eek, there's another one on the list that needs to be taken care of...)  Now, I just have to find some time to get to Target and buy these:

I hear that they are quite good so I'm sort of looking forward to them.

#38 Read Gone With the Wind

Well, I did it!  I finally finished Gone with the Wind.  It was really hard for me to get into this book and as a result I was reading it on and off since about the first of the year.  Actually I was about 17 pages in at some point before Christmas, but returned it to the library because I started reading something else.  That is something I NEVER do, so you have to realize just how hard it was for me to get into this book!  

I just hated Scarlett and I can't take it when authors go on for paragraphs and pages with descriptions of land and other boring things.  And that's exactly what Margaret Mitchell does in the beginning of the novel.  And then she picked a completely unlikeable heroine which is really gutsy but didn't make starting this book any easier.  It took me around 300 pages or something like that to really get into the book.  I think when Rhett Butler first appeared I began to like it.  I kept thinking to myself, why does everyone love this book?!  It's so boring and reading the black vernacular was KILLING me!  I couldn't even figure out what they were saying half the time.  Plus, I would only read at home because I wasn't about to drag around a thousand plus page book around with me everywhere.  

Anyway...with all that said, I'm really glad that I read this book!  I kept thinking about Scarlett and Rhett when I wasn't reading and even after I was finished reading.  This is really amazing historical fiction.  You really got a sense of what life was like during the Civil War and Reconstruction.  I loved the characters and the character development.  I especially came to love Rhett, Melanie and Mammy.  

As I was finishing this book, I thought to myself, there's no way she's going to be able to wind this book up.  How will she do it?  No, this can't really be the end.  But it was.  And she finished it in the perfect way too.  So I was actually pleased with the ending.  I can't wait to watch the movie now!

At Home Facial!

At home facial and epsom salt bath from Metamorphosis of Me

This should be nice to do when I'm attempting to keep my nails painted.  I'll have my own little spa.  If my house EVER closes...not looking too good right now =(

To get started you will need:

• Epson Salt
• Chamomille Tea Bags
• 1 Lemon
• Coconut Oil or Mild Facial Cleanser
• Organic Honey (regular will work too)
• Granulated Sugar
• Plain Yogurt or Sour Cream
• Moisturizer
• Washcloth or Facial Sponge
• Hand Towel
• Large Towel

Let's start with the Epson Salt Bath First:
Make your bath experience as peaceful and relaxing for you as possible. For some this may be a book and a glass of wine. For others it may be calm music and scented candles and for some it may be nothing at all. Heck, for some it may be rocking out to Metallica :) I chose scented candles and a cup of chamomille tea.
Before filling your bath, place about 4 cups of Epson salt into the bath and fill the bath with warm water. Let yourself relax and enjoy your bath!
Epson salt is believed to withdraw toxins from the body, relieve swelling and relax muscles. This is just a time for you to sit back and relax.
Once the bath is complete move on to the facial.
At home facial:

1. First start by cleansing the face. I prefer coconut oil (coconut oil is actually a solid and needs to be warmed in the microwave). Typically you fight and oily face with oil. If you have makeup on or have a naturally oily face- your typical mild cleanser will work. Rub oil or cleanser all over face and rinse with warm water/ you can use wash cloth to remove oil. Pat dry face with hand towel.
2. Take 3 cups of water and place in pot on stove with 3 chamomille tea bags. Cut the lemon and squeeze the juice into the lemon and let it boil. Once water is boiling remove it from stove and let sit for about a minute. I placed the pot on a towel and sat at the kitchen table for the next step...
3. Taking the pot, sit at the table and place your face over the pot with the large towel over your head. Let the steam absorb your face and breath in the chamomille tea. Sit under the towel for about 10 minutes. (Yes, you will sweat...you want to sweat :).
4. This step can vary for some people....but after you dry your face from the steam take 2 of the wet teabags and place in the freezer, you can either move forward to step 5 or you can take a pimple extractor and extract the blackheads on your face. This works best freshly after the steam.
5. Next, time to exfoliate!! Take about 2 TBSP's of honey and about a teaspoon of sugar and make it into a paste. Take the paste and scrub it over your face sloughing up the dead skin cells. Use the washcloth or facial sponge to wipe away paste.
6. Now on to our mask! Take the yogurt or sour cream and place it all over your face, take the teabags out of the freezer, go lie down on your bed or couch and relax for about 5-10 minutes.
7. Come back, wet the washcloth with warm water and remove the yogurt or sour cream. Once your face is clean of the mask, pat dry with a towel.
8. Lastly, moisturize your face with your favorite moisturizer.

Picking Out Pictures

Well, I've succeeded in narrowing the pictures down from over 600 to 374.  That means I still need to delete 314 pictures.  But how can you get rid of pictures like this?

 

or this?

 

I'm just having such a hard time picking one picture over another!

#47 Watch 20 new-to-me movies

Well, I can update the blog already.  Cliff and I watched a movie last night/this morning (happy new year, by the way).  We decided to watch The Bounty Hunter.  A little Jennifer Aniston never hurt anybody.  Hubs was even the one to suggest it!  It was relatively painless but it was also much too long...1hr 50 mins...so, about 40 mins too long for me.  Cliff fell asleep and I don't even remember most of the conclusion because I was just waiting for the movie to end.  Funny thing is, before we picked the movie, Cliff said it was rated a 3.4 for me and we were talking about how Netflix usually knows me pretty well and I'd probably end up giving it a 3.  Well, when he looked at it, instead of looking at what Netflix thought I'd rate the movie, he looked at what the average rating for the movie was.  Guess what?  It said I'd give it a 2.  And yeah, I gave it a 2.  Man, Netflix, you just know me so well!  Anyway, it wasn't a bad movie, it just wasn't a great movie, or even an okay movie...it was a meh movie.  Oh well, at least that's one more movie that's going towards my total movies watched!  

I put #47 on the 101 list because even though I have a Netflix account, I tend to end up watching TV series instead of movies or movies I've already seen and know I like.  So 1 down, 19 to go.  Oh, and I decided that if I reach this goal really early this year, I might have to up the goal to like 100 or something.  Who knows, only time will tell!