Leading Lady

I love this time of year. The lovely Spring weather and extra hours of sunlight brings the entire neighborhood back to life. I love running into our neighbors nearly every night as they go by - walking, running, playing, jogging, riding.

I've been itching for a bicycle of my own so I could get out there on the days that I really don't feel like running. Running = necessary evil. Riding = Ton o' fun and a lot less sweating.

My birthday served as the perfect excuse to fulfill my wish! Meet Penelope:


Isn't she beautiful?!

Nate thinks I'm crazy for naming my bicycle - and I didn't even really plan to - but she just kind of spoke to me. I fell in love the minute I spotted her lovely orange frame! And somewhere between pulling her off the rack and wheeling her to the cash register, she christened herself Penelope and who was I to argue?

Welcome to my world, Penelope. I think you and I are going to be very good friends!

I wonder as I wander

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SPOILER alert - If you aren't up-to-date on LOST (um, why aren't you?! isn't the suspense killing you?), you may want to stop reading now.

I don't know about you, but last week's episode blew my mind! All the dead people seem to think Locke is still Locke, FLocke pushes Desmond down a well, alterna-Desmond hits Locke with his car, the Whispers turn out to be trapped souls! It was an hour chock full of ten kinds of crazy but I loved every single minute of it.

It's hard to believe that there are literally only a handful of hours of LOST left. As thrilling as every episode is, I am still completely and utterly lost as to where this is going. Someone please tell me that I am not the only one wandering through the morass of final episodes wondering what the heck is going on? Every single week I think 'This is it! This is the week I will finally figure it out!'

Um, yeah. Not so much.

Although we've been parcelled out an answer or two each week, I feel like I have more questions now than I did back in February! Which means my expectations are epically high for the next few weeks. Here's hoping Team Lindelof doesn't let me down!

What do you think of the season so far?

Play On

Guess where I'm going tonight?!

To see Carrie Underwood!

And I can't wait! There are very few artists who make CD's that I want to listen to all the way through, over and over. Carrie is one of them! Her CD's are in constant rotation in my car and nearly half the songs in my ipod's 25 Most Played are hers. I can't wait to see her rock in concert tonight!

Happy early birthday to me!

She shoots, She scores!!

Every year Nate and I compete in a little March Madness Bracket competition. Most years, of course, one or both of us is competing other places too (school, work, Facebook, wherever) but the ultimate competition is always the one we're waging against each other at home.

Now I know little to nothing about college basketball. I might watch a Volunteer game or two, possibly the Duke v. UNC matches, but that is about the extent of it. My strategy for filling out my bracket goes something like this:

1. Duke - always wins.
2. Tennessee - will make it one round further than they made it last year.
3. Gonzaga - It has a 'Z' in it. Must be a winner.
4. Syracuse - I think that's in New York. I like New York. Must be a winner.
5. Kentucky - Their color is blue. I look good in blue. Must be a winner.
6. Butler - Their mascot is a bulldog. I have two dogs. Must be a winner.

And so on and so forth.

I choose my winners mostly at random. I know enough to know not all #1 seeds will go all the way and that there will be three or so upsets per section (branch? division? whatever), but the rest of it's just blind guessing on my part.

So it really burns Nate up that I beat him by 10 points this year! My method, or lack thereof, actually chose several of the early round upsets and put me out to an early lead that he could never overcome.

I couldn't care less who actually won the tourney, just so long as I won the war at home!

The Fantastic, Magical World of No Calories

I was happily eating inhaling a Qdoba Naked Burrito the other night when I thought to myself: I could eat this every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly content.

Which got me thinking - if I could only eat five meals for the rest of my life what would they be? Assuming calories are no object, of course!

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1. Qdoba Chicken Queso Burrito & Dark Chocolate Brownie - I was reluctant to try Qdoba when we first moved here. It seemed weird to me. Who wants to build their own burrito? Turns out, THIS girl loves to build her own burrito. Like, at least once a week. When Nate asks where I want to go for dinner on a weeknight, 9 times out of 10 the answer is Qdoba.

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2. Petro's Chili and Cornbread - Petro's specialty is chili over Fritos with all the fixin's. OMG. Best stuff ever. Too bad for me, we now live six hours away from the Knoxville-only chain. Probably good for my waist-line though.

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3. Chili's Triple Dipper Platter with a Frozen Raspberry Margarita - Many Friday nights you will find my happy butt parked in a booth at Chili's. I never get tired of that place, even though I order the same thing every.single.time - Triple Dipper Platter with chicken fingers, sweet buffalo boneless wings and the oh-so-scrumptious Southwest eggrolls. I split it straight down the middle and eat the second half for lunch on Saturday. Two for the price of one!

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4. IHOP Stuffed French Toast w/ a side of pancake - Yet another place I don't get to visit nearly often enough. Their french toast is stuffed with vanilla cream cheese. Makes me go all gooey on the inside just thinking about it. But no trip to the International House of Pancakes would be complete without at least one pancake. A short stack of 3 if I'm feeling really ambitious.

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5. Starbucks caramel macchiato and a cupcake - Because in my world, coffee is a meal. And a cupcake is just, well, icing on the cake.

If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

LOL(a)

I would just like to say that this episode is in no way indicative of how often I do or do not vacuum.

Tuesdays at the Table

One of the ladies in my bunco made these ridiculously easy treats for a bunco party a few months ago. She made them with both chocolate and golden Oreo's and she left off the chocolate dipping completely - just made the 'truffle' part and chilled them in the fridge. They were insanely good. I absolutely could not stay away from the golden ones.

Word to the wise: Make these only if you have a party to take them to, otherwise things will note end well for your waistline!

Oreo Truffles
Via allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 package Oreo cookies
1 package (8 ounces) Cream Cheese, softened
2 packages (8 ounces each) Semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

Instructions:
1. Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor; reserve for later use. (Cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin.)

2. Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs; place in medium bowl.

3. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended.

4. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.

5. Dip balls in chocolate: Place truffle ball in melted chocolate to coat; roll if necessary. Lift truffle from chocolate using 2 forks (this will allow excess chocolate to run off) before placing on wax paper.

6. Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.

7. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator.

This way to Crazy Town

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Nearly three months after the drama began, I finally got my permanent crown the other day. And the whole time I'm laying there, all I can think is that I am a failure. I couldn't even brush my teeth and floss correctly. They whittled my tooth down to nothing and now I have a fake one. Loser, much?

Cue the tears.

I don't know why I have had such an extreme reaction to this tooth drama. I am not normally so emotional about silly stuff.

Anyone else have this reaction to dental work? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Crazy, Party of 1.

Hello, Lover

It is entirely possible that I have died and gone to heaven.

It's no secret around here that cupcakes are my kryptonite. But really, it's not the cupcake that gets me - it's the icing.

I don't know what it is about icing that makes it impossible for me to resist. I will eat it by the spoonful straight out of the can, squirt it directly into my mouth from the tube, and I've even scraped the icing off and ditched the cake just to 'save' a few calories (HA!).

Nate thinks this makes me a weirdo.

But now I have proof to the contrary! Clearly there are others in the world just like me. Others who would like nothing more than a spoonful of gooey, sugary goodness sans the crummy cupcake part.

Icing lovers of the world, UNITE!

Who's up for a trip to Miami?

And the Oscar goes to.....

Who watched the Oscars last night?

I watch every year, and by 'watch' I mean I have the TV on while I am surfing the internet/reading/scrapbooking and tune in only when someone I like is on the screen. Clocking in at 3.5 hours last night, Oscar is a little on the overkill side.

But for the first time in history (well, my history at least), I watched the entire thing. Normally I watch until 10 or so and DVR the rest. Even the year Reese Witherspoon was nominated didn't keep me up til the end. I'm not sure if that is a function of the show being slightly more interesting this year (young stars! funny hosts! no singing!) or the fact that I didn't have to get up and go to work the next morning.

But considering I thought this commercial was actually the funniest part of the entire show, I'm going to guess it was the whole sleeping in thing. I died laughing when this commercial came on. And then I rewound it three times and watched it again.



If there was an Oscar for 'Coolest Wife in the World', Jennifer Garner would win hands down.

Don't Blame Me...The Bookstore Made Me Do It

It's no secret that I love to read. It's one of my favorite ways to unwind and pass a lazy afternoon. I found a kindred spirit in my bloggy friend Cole from All the Small Stuff. I thought I read a lot, but that girl could out read me in a New York minute!

Our friends and family are always asking us for book recommendations - 'What good books have you read lately?'

Now you'll never have to ask again. Why?

Introducing....

That's right! You asked and we answered - with a brand new book review blog called 'The Bookstore Made Me Do It'! We'll review the good, the bad and the ones we couldn't even finish.

To kick off our new blog, we're having a giveaway. You know, 'cuz we're just nice like that!

Each of us will be giving away a book by our favorite author. I'm giving away the latest book by one of my all time favorite authors, Jodi Picoult. Want to know my thoughts on it? Guess you'll just have to check back here in a few days!


Here's how to enter:
1. Follow us on the new blog! (1 entry)

2. Let us know what you think of our new setup by commenting on each of our first book reviews. (Up to 2 entries) We're looking for constructive feedback here. Did you like what we covered? Did we miss something you would have liked to know? Do you want us to keep it shorter and sweeter? Or give you more detail?

3. Share your favorite book or author with us. (1 entry) What book could you read over and over again? What author are we totally missing out on?

Contest runs from today through Friday, March 12 at Midnight (EST). Winners will be announced next week on The Bookstore Made Me Do It.

And don't forget to check out Cole's book giveaway at All The Small Stuff, too. It's double the giveaway fun!

All Aboard the Fit Train

LAZY (adj) averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion

That would be me, when it comes to working out. Ugh. Hate.It.

It's amazing to me how I can be so highly motivated in every other area of my life, but just can't seem to get my self together when it comes to exercise. I having a treadmill in my basement, a loft area perfect for Tae-Bo and every mat, weight and exercise video a girl could want. And yet, I sit like a bump on a log, lamenting the fact that I am so freaking lazy.

It usually goes something like this: I lay in bed at night, fantasizing about how smoking hot I will look by our beach vacation in May. I vow to work out for at least an hour a day, starting tomorrow morning. I will do it first thing so that nothing can distract me. I can do this! I will do this! I fall asleep with visions of Victoria's Secret swimsuits dancing in my head.

Cut to the next morning. I jump out of bed, throw on my workout gear and head downstairs. I'll just check email really fast because maybe I got an email about a job overnight (yeah, right!). Now since I'm already online, I might as well see what everyone is up to on Twitter. Oh look, so-and-so linked to their blog post. I'll just read that and then go downstairs for a run. I wonder if so-and-so posted that link to her fabulously cute shoes? I'll just log into Google Reader and check really quick. Oh, crap! It's 9:30. If I don't go to Starbucks soon, I'll be past the time when it's appropriate to show up without makeup on. Better go now. Well, dang. I can't run for at least an hour after drinking a Venti. Think I'll sit down and read a book until my 'breakfast' settles. Well, would you look at that! It's time for lunch. Can't run on an empty stomach! I might pass out and there would be no one around to find me for hours. I'll straighten my hair and do my makeup while my lunch settles, run my errands and still have time left to run before Nate gets home. Dang. My hair looks awesome! How often do I have a great hair day like this? Can't ruin it by sweating it all flat! Okay. No run today. But tomorrow. For sure tomorrow!

And then I lay back down again a few hours later, berating myself for not working out, fantasizing about how smoking hot I will look by our beach vacation in May. I vow to work out for at least an hour a day, starting tomorrow morning. I will do it first thing so that nothing can distract me. I can do this! I will do this! I fall asleep with visions of Victoria's Secret swimsuits dancing in my head.

And the cycle begins again....

Surely I am not the only person who so completely and totally lacks in motivation? What do you do to keep yourself motivated to work out?

There's no crying in baseball on Saturdays

 

Dear Lola,

Perhaps you did not realize that today is Saturday or, as I like to call it, The Day Mommy Sleeps In.  Because surely if you had remembered, you would not have felt compelled to start up the Death Howl at 7:30am, causing Mommy to startle suddenly awake and race downstairs in a panic to make sure that someone was not dying down there.

Seeing as how you are both very much alive and well, let's go over the rules for the Death Howl, shall we?  The Death Howl shall only be used if:

1. You are actually dying.

2. Your brother Oliver is dying.

3. Your daddy is dying.

4. Someone is breaking in and we might all soon be, well, dying.

Do you notice a theme here?  While I appreciate your desire to 'help' your Daddy shovel the driveway at 7:30am on The Day That Mommy Sleeps In, you are not actually dying to get out there, so let's keep the Death Howl to ourselves next time, okay?

Sincerely,
One Grumpy Mommy

You know you're married to a chemist when...

...you drink your coffee out of a mug that celebrates the wonder that is Hydrogen gas.

Guys, where who are we?

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ETA: If you aren't caught up on LOST, you may want to stop reading now! Spoilers ahead.

You remember a few weeks ago when I said Nate and his penchant for nicknames would be my island's Sawyer? Well, the lovely Cole, turned the question around and asked me who I would be. Hmmmm. Good question.

My first impulse is to say Kate because, heck, who doesn't want to be that beautiful (even after three years running around a jungle with nary a hairbrush in sight!), with two handsome fellas fighting over you? But upon closer introspection, I decided Kate is entirely too dependent on men and their opinions of her. Plus, she's wanted for murder and I'd never make it in the slammer.

So maybe Claire? I've always wanted a cute little accent and Aussie is about as cute as they come. Plus she got to make out with Charlie and who wouldn't want to get on board that Hunky Man Train? However, it seems that Baby Mama has gone a little loony tunes running around in the jungle the last few years, so maybe not.

Juliette? While heroine-ism seems appealing, it also got her killed, so I'm thinking no.

Sun? Married to Jin? No thanks.

Locke? I like my hair, thank you very much.

Jack? Too wishy-washy. 'Nuff said.

Sawyer? See reference to 'Hunky Man Train' above.

Richard? As much as I'd love to never need eyeliner again, the thought of living forever makes me tired just thinking about it.

With the list of castaways quickly dwindling, it finally came to me.

I would want to be Hurley. Except maybe slimmer, with less frizzy hair and, um, female. But other than that, dude has the best lines in the show. Who else gets to say stuff like this?

• You're just jealous my power's better than yours. [to Miles]
• I think 'Leslie' is a bitchin' name. [to the sensitive-about-his-girlie-name Arzt]
• So, Seoul? Is that in the good Korea or the bad Korea? [to Sun]
• You just totally Scooby Doo'ed me, didn't you? [to Kate]
• Dude, are you a zombie? [to Sayid]
• So, the hatch, like, blew off your underwear? [to Desmond]
• Dude, you've got some Arzt on you. [after Arzt blew himself up]
• Dogs can find pot and bombs, so maybe they can find water. [to Jack]
• It's not so bad [living on the island]. I mean, sure the Others are like coming to eat us and all and every once in awhile someone blows up all over you, but we do get to sleep in every morning. [to Jack]
• So Rose's husband is white. Didn't see that one coming.
  

So if we were on The Island, who would you be and why?