for the love turns 1

I couldn't let this day pass without acknowledging a certain little milestone.  One year ago today I started writing this blog.

When I started writing, I never intended to tell anyone about my blog. I wasn't sure I would stick with it.  But I have.  And I'm so happy that I did.  It's been so much fun having a place to document my life and share my silly stories and recipes.  I've "met" so many wonderful people through writing this blog and you all are truly the reason I'm still writing.  I love reading your comments and learning about your lives through your blogs.  If you're reading, I hope you'll leave a comment and say "hello."  For any of you lurking out there, I'd really love to hear from you.  {LNG - that means you!} 

Thanks for reading!

*p.s. The Mister's suggestion for my 1st Blogiversary post was just to write "One year bitches!"  I've got to say, he nailed the gist of it. Pity he doesn't have a blog, isn't it? 

keepin' it klassy

I did something tonight that would make Martha Stewart cry.

After dinner, I had a very specific craving for Peanut Butter Blossoms. 

One problem - I didn't have any Hershey Kisses in the house. 

So I improvised.

While I didn't have any Hershey Kisses, I did have fun size Hershey's bars.  I'm sure you're thinking to yourself "That's not that bad.  It's still chocolate."  

I'm not finished. 

The Hershey's bars were left over... from Halloween. {Hopefully Halloween 2009.  I'm really not sure.}

I'm sure I should be ashamed.  Not only did I have 9+ month old candy in my house, I ate it.  But you know what, I'm not. The cookies were delicious.

Sorry, Martha.

*I've been test driving names for these.  I was thinking "Klassy with a 'K' Cookies".  Or maybe GHPBs (GHetto Peanut-butter Blossoms). Suggestions are welcomed.  

menu planning FAIL

I was feeling super ambitious on Sunday. A byproduct, I suppose, of spending Saturday night on the couch instead of in a bar.

After knocking quite a few things off my to-do list, I decided to really swing for the fences.  I sat down with my recipe binder, cookbooks and the latest edition of Cooking Light and planned a menu for the week. Yeah, I know some of you do this every week but I can't manage to make it to the grocery store on a weekly basis so this was big for me. 

{As I type this, I can't help but think of Billy Madison's high school graduation speech:  "Well, it's over. I graduated. I did it. I know most of you are saying, 'Hey, any idiot could do that.' Well, it was tough for me so BACK OFF!"  What, you don't have Billy Madison memorized? Just me?}

Here's the menu I so carefully planned and grocery shopped for:

Sunday - Chicken Caesar Salad (Dressing Recipe here) & Parmesan Garlic Toast

Monday - PW's BBQ Chicken Pizza

Tuesday - Black Bean Burgers and Sweet Potato Oven Fries

Wednesday - Balsamic Marinated Flank Steak with Salad

Thursday - Sun-Dried Tomato, Basil & Goat Cheese Chicken Roll Ups and Orzo

*Friday through Sunday - out of town

Things started off well enough. I got home from the grocery store last night and made the Caesar Salad.  It was tasty, didn't require using the oven and The Mister didn't say a word about the fact that we were only having salad for dinner.  Day one - success!

Day two is where the wheels came off the wagon. 

I was supposed to make the Pioneer Woman's BBQ Chicken Pizza, which is delicious but requires homemade pizza dough that must be made a few hours in advance. The dough is simple enough to make but I was too lazy forgot to do it last night.  I didn't get home until after 6 tonight, so waiting two hours for pizza dough was not in the cards.  Instead, we threw together chicken soft tacos with some left overs from the fridge.  {Do I get points for making homemade guacamole? Or is that cancelled out by the use of canned refried beans? Let me check my Martha Stewart handbook on that one...}

The Mister, who was aware of my meal planning aspirations {perhaps because I spent 20 minutes on Sunday bragging about what a kick ass wife I am}, asked me what was on the list for tomorrow. When I told him Black Bean Burgers, I got a sad face.  Day three - FAIL. 

As for Days 4 and 5, well those are a bust too. I'm going to play trivia with the girls on Wednesday night so I probably won't have time to go home for dinner before I meet them.  And Thursday is spinning class until 7pm. Not a prayer I'll have the patience to cook a full dinner after an hour of spinning.

One night out of five?  That's pretty turr-ible. How do you meal planning ladies do it?  What's the secret? 

I may suck at meal planning, but I do know better than to do an entire post without picture or video.  {You've got to be far wittier than I to get away with such things.}  So here you are friends.

much ado about nothing

I had the most wonderful, relaxed, no obligation weekend. Sometimes, those are the best kind. 

On Friday night The Mister went golfing and I went out with the girls for some drinks.  I took pictures but I look like an ugly toad in all of them. So, no pictures of Friday night.

On Saturday, the weather was pretty crummy so I decided to run some errands. I stopped by the mall to pick up some foundation at M.A.C. and look for some clothes for work. The mall was a big mistake.  Apparently I was not the only one who thought the mall was a good idea on a rainy day.  The place was packed. It was wall-to-wall tweens and tourists.  My stress level went from zero to twelve before I even found a parking spot. {In BFE} I grabbed my make-up and got the hell out of dodge. I'm sure I set a personal record for shortest mall trip.

After the mall I stopped by HomeGoods. I've been looking for lamps for our master bedroom for months and haven't been able to find anything I like. {At least not at a price I was willing to pay.} Kate of Elefantitas Alegres recently posted about the great deal she scored on lamps at HomeGoods, so I figured I'd take a look at my local store.  Jackpot!  I found the perfect lamps for our bedroom. 

These lamps were a total steal at $49 a piece and the shades match my silver sage RH bedding perfectly.  The shades alone from RH would have cost more than my HomeGoods lamps! 

I do think there's a little too much silver sage going on, between the walls, the bedding and the lamp shade. I think this headboard would help.

You like?  I've been eyeing it for a while but I think I may finally pull the trigger and order it. My only concern is that it's a custom upholstered piece from Ballard Designs, so I can't see it before I order it or return it if I don't like it. I've always had good luck with Ballard though. Has anyone ever ordered an upholstered piece from them?

Anyway, back to my HomeGoods trip. I also found this adorable little cupcake stand. I can't wait for an excuse to bake cupcakes to put in it.

Saturday night The Mister and I drove out to the 'burbs to have Outback for dinner and then had a lazy night cuddled up on the couch.  It was heaven.  Cheese Fries & 48 Hours Mystery = bliss.

This morning I made a quiche for brunch {bacon, asparagus and cheddar - yum} and then B and I started in on our very long to-do list. We cleaned out the garage {and nearly melted in the process}, changed our A/C filter, cleaned the house, went grocery shopping and recovered all my music from my laptop that crashed 18 months ago.  I am so glad to have my music back.  I've been without iTunes for so long that I had no idea they raised prices from $.99 to $1.29.  Talk about out of the loop.  My first purchase:

I preordered Sara Bareilles' new CD Kaleidoscope Heart. I love the first single "King of Anything."  I played her first CD Little Voices on repeat for months so I really hope this new CD is just as good.

I think I'll spend the rest of the night reading because The Mister has the remote and I am not a fan of most of his Sunday night shows. {I like True Blood but Entourage, Hung and Mad Men - yawn.}

Hope everyone else had a relaxing, fun weekend!

me, lately

eeek! It's been a week since my last post!  How does that keep happening to me?  I swear it's not for lack of things to say, I just can't seem to get anything written down.  Bad, bad blogger.

So, maybe I should tell you what exactly I've been doing lately instead of blogging. {...and the only people still reading are my parents. Hi Mom & Dad!}

I've been spending time with friends

and loving on sweet babies.

This is Tyler. Isn't he a doll? He's such a sweet happy baby and unbelievably strong. His daddy says it's because he's going to be an athlete. I think his daddy is right. Tyler was born on the night of the NFL draft, so I'm pretty sure he's destined to be a QB!

This is baby Brooks and his beautiful mama, Kristen. He is as precious as can be! And he's already got his mama's dimples. {His dad has them, too!}  The ladies are going to love this little guy! {Full disclosure, this picture was taken a couple weeks ago. But I couldn't leave out sweet baby B!}

I've also been doing a decent amount of reading.  I finished this

(very good)

and this

(hilarious - loved it)

and have moved on to this.

I saw Inception

(I liked it. It was good but long.)

and made cookies.

(note to self: get thee to the gym)

And I've been working.

{not pictured}

Hmm...in reflection, none of that seems exciting enough to excuse my lack of posting. I need to seriously step up my game around here. I used to be funny. I think we can all agree - notsomuch with the funny anymore.  I'll work on it. 

Until then, well.... laugh at this.  I did.

do not fear the bacon grease

Holy potatoes! I made the most delicious dinner tonight.  {Not potatoes.}

I forgot to take something out of the freezer this morning to defrost for dinner, so I found myself at the office wondering what I could whip up.  As I putzed around on Twitter worked diligently, I was reminded that today is Bastille Day. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I could not for the life of me remember what the hell Bastille Day is all about.  Wikipedia to the rescue!  Yeah, I still have no idea.  But that's beside the point.

Bastille Day got me thinking about French food. And the first French dish that popped into my head was quiche.  {Thank goodness it wasn't coq au vin. That's a butt-load of work.} Quiche was the perfect solution.  One, I had most of the ingredients on hand and two, it's one of the few French dishes I thought The Mister wouldn't dismiss as "too fancy."

I didn't have a recipe in mind, so I googled around for a bit and put together a list of ingredients. From there, I just winged it and hoped it would work out.  And boy did it!  I'm going to toot my own horn here, but I think this is one of the tastiest, simplest things to come out of my kitchen in a long time! I'm pretty sure The Mister agrees because he ate three pieces and didn't try to put ketchup on it.  High praise around these parts!

A word of warning for the healthy eaters among you: If you're not in the mood for an indulgence, pass this one by. The words "saute in bacon grease" are ahead.  And, if Julia Child is reading from the beyond: I'm sure I've disappointed you greatly by using store-bought crust. Please forgive me. I know making pie crust is easy-peasy but I didn't have time to make a crust and allow it to chill and still get dinner on the table before 9pm.

Bacon, Mushroom and Spinach Quiche

9 in. store-bought pie crust

1/2 lb. thick cut bacon

1/2 med. white onion, diced

1 c. sliced baby portobello mushrooms

2 c. fresh spinach, roughly chopped

2 c. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

6 eggs

1/2 c. fat free half & half

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Press pie crust into a tart or pie pan.  Place a piece of parchment paper over the crust and fill with dry beans or pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove the beans/pie weights and paper and return the crust to the oven to cook uncovered for 5 more minutes.  Remove from oven. 

Cook bacon; crumble and set aside. Reserve enough bacon grease in the pan to saute the onions and mushrooms.  Saute onions and mushrooms in bacon grease {I know, I know. But please don't skip this step. It makes the dish} on low-medium heat until soft, about 3-5 minutes.  Drain any excess grease and set aside.  Add spinach, bacon, mushrooms, onions and cheese to the pie crust.  In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, half & half, salt and pepper.  Pour mixture into the pie crust, over the filling.  Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes until the center of the quiche is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.   (The deeper your pan, the longer it will take. I baked in a shallow tart pan and it took approx. 35 minutes.)

This quiche made a fantastic dinner served with a spinach salad, but it would also be great for brunch.

Sorry for the crummy food pictures. A fancy food blogger I am not.  Don't let it discourage you from trying the quiche!

Oh, and just for fun, here's a picture of a major kitchen fail I had this week:

These coffee cake muffins were a bust. Just thought you all should know that not everything that comes out of my oven is a success.

my favorite

"When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does." - Nora Ephron, You've Got Mail

Typically, I'm a blubbering mess of indecision.  If you ask me to name my favorite movie, favorite song, or favorite meal, I'll flounder about for an answer, then rattle off a list of "favorites." But to narrow it down to one choice, one favorite above all others? It's an impossible task for me.

 

There's just one exception.  Ask me my favorite book and I will tell you without hesitation, "To Kill A Mockingbird." 

I first read To Kill A Mockingbird when I was about 11 or 12.  While I loved it immediately, I know at that age I didn't fully appreciate all the novel had to offer.  In high school, I picked it up again and was transported back to Maycomb with Scout, Jem, Dill and Atticus once more.  Reading To Kill A Mockingbird for a second time was almost like reading it for the first time. So many layers and lessons that had eluded my younger self on first reading were revealed to me. 

Since then, I've probably read the book 2 or 3 more times and with each reading, I've taken something new away from the novel.  I know I'll read To Kill A  Mockingbird many more times throughout my life and I'm confident it will never be the same experience as the last.

Fifty years ago today, on July 11, 1960, To Kill A Mockingbird was first published. Since then it has been adapted into both a play and a movie, won a Pulitzer Prize and has been taught to school children in thousands of classrooms. 

Aside from the attention the book itself has garnered, Harper Lee has received nearly as much.  To Kill A Mockingbird remains Lee's only novel.  She has lived in near seclusion since it's publishing and never grants interviews.  There is much speculation about Lee's life and the degree to which the book may be autobiographical.

Southern Living did a great feature this month on Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, which many believe is the inspiration for the novel's fictional setting of Maycomb. 

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of To Kill A Mockingbird, I plan to re-read the book this month.  I wonder what new things my favorite book will reveal to me this time.

Have you read To Kill A Mockingbird?  What did it mean to you? 

say it ain't so

Could it be?  Will Damages be cancelled?

Rumor has it, Damages will not be returning to FX for a fourth season. While FX has not confirmed, it's speculated that the high cost of producing the star-studded series in Manhattan, coupled with its low ratings, has sunk this critically acclaimed show.                 

I could not be more disappointed!  I love Damages and think that it is one of the best shows on TV.  I understand the network's predicament - while you want to keep quality, award winning shows on the air, television is a business. You can't justify high production costs without equally impressive ratings to bring in advertising dollars. What I don't understand is this: Why aren't more people watching this show?  The cast is phenomenal and the story lines are enthralling.  In my opinion, Glenn Close's Patty Hughes is one of the best characters ever created for television. 

If we're lucky enough to get a fourth season of Damages, I really hope it's able to find an audience large enough to sustain it for many more seasons.  Unfortunately, I fear Damages will end up like so many critically acclaimed, award winning shows with small but fervent followings - cancelled.  Fans of The Wire, Arrested Development, Friday Night Lights* and Studio 60, I know you understand how I feel. 

Please excuse me while I go cry in my Cheerios and try to imagine a world without Patty Hughes. 

A sad, sad world indeed.

*I know it's on Direct TV now, which I suppose is better than nothing. 

take out the trash day

Have you noticed most people don't read blogs on Fridays?  I've found that of all the posts I write, those posted on Fridays tend to receive the least comments by far.  Apparently we're all too busy making weekend plans to catch up on blogs. 

Knowing all this, I'm really not motivated to come up with anything particularly witty or deep to share with you today.  I think I'll just phone this one in.  {I wish I were kidding.}

For the two of your reading, I hope you don't mind if I do this one stream of consciousness style. I'm too tired for transitions between thoughts.

The Mister and I are having 25 people over for a 4th of July BBQ on Sunday.  We decided this today.  Eeek. The house is a bit of a mess, the fridge is bare and I haven't yet figured out what the menu for 25 will be.  Oh well.  I've got two days.  And if all else fails, there's always plan B: give people enough margaritas and sangria and they won't realize your house is a mess and that you haven't fed them anything.  Don't believe me? Try it. 

I am loving the new show on ABC called Boston Med. The show is essentially a documentary that follows actual doctors, nurses and patients at two Boston hospitals. I could watch this show for hours.  I just find their lives so fascinating.  Sometimes I wish I had gone to med school instead of law school.  And then I remember that I can't function without sleep. I'd be the crankiest doctor EVER.     

It seems my "Seriously celebrities?" post came a day too soon.  Today's celebrity "WTF?" is a doozie.  Kate Gosselin wants to release a Christmas album of religious songs sung by herself and her children.  Like the dancing wasn't bad enough.  If she wants to ruin Christmas, why doesn't she just tell her kids there's no Santa Claus?

Hubs and I bought new ceiling fans for our bedroom and living room.  The box says they're "Five Minute Fans" and easily installed, so we took a shot at it.  Massive fail.  We couldn't even get the old fans down.  The electrician will be out next week. 

On a related note, for you long time readers - the infamous mirror is STILL on my bedroom floor.  We're going on a year here people.  God I'm ashamed to even admit that...  I NEED A HANDYPERSON. Man. Woman. Transgender with picture hanging ability.  I don't care.  I just need someone who's not on the sexual predator list to come to my house and properly install a 75 pound mirror on my wall.  Is that too much to ask?

I got a new color on my nails last time I went to get a mani/pedi and I'm loving it.  It's OPI's My Chihuahua Bites.  Stupid name. Fun color.

The library delivered The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo today!  I'm so excited I'm thinking about putting aside the book I just started to read it. 

Wow, that was all over the place.  If you hung in there for all that randomness on a Friday, you're probably related to me.

Hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing and safe 4th of July weekend! 

*10 points and my respect to anyone who can correctly identify the source of today's blog post title.  {J & J, only 1 point for you. It's way too easy.}

in memory of cohen