What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm playing along with Jamie at littledaisymay.blogspot.com on this very cold Wednesday.  I'm having to think hard today about what I love, as I have caught myself focusing a lot today on the negative.  It has to do with the weather, the freezing cold, my motivation, or lack thereof to workout this week, and my house needing to be cleaned.  So bear with me, as I have plenty to love and need to put that into perspective!
I am loving:

My precious pups:
They are adjusting to me now being full time once again, and have just been such good boys!!

I am loving my Tyler Candle Company Candle in Pineapple Crush. 
Even after a long day at work and a messy house, I can come home, light this candle, and it makes my house smell clean, and makes me happy. I love it!

 I am loving that this coming weekend is going to be just a fun, relaxing weekend. I am getting a makeover with one of my best friends on Friday night followed by dinner, and then a lazy movie marathon with Kevin on Saturday. They are predicting snow on Saturday so it sounds like the perfect way to spend the day.  The two movies that we have planned are "The Town" and "Case 39"

and

 I'm loving my shoes that I got for Christmas. I have been wanting them literally for two years now and my mom got them for me for Christmas.  I wore them for the first time this week, and think they are adorable!
What do you think?

 I'm loving that January is over and February is a short month.  I hate to wish away the first two months, but something about March gives me a burst of energy, being able to see the sunshine more, and knowing warm weather is ahead!

And last, I am loving these warm, vanilla scented socks that a friend gave me for Christmas. They are perfect for cold winter nights like tonight.  They are from Bath and Body Works and filled with Shea Butter.



Hope everyone is having a great hump day!!

7 therapists, brunch, and a baby

My grad school cohort and I met up at Bravo's for brunch on Sunday.  It had been a long time since we had all gotten together.  Rewind three and a half years ago and we were together everyday; whether in class, watching each other conduct therapy behind a one-way mirror, in group supervision, or eating together.  We saw each other everyday for more than two years.  It was a great time in my life, and it is always good to catch up on where everybody is in their lives both personally and professionally.  It was a group of 12 of us in graduate school,  three members of the group have moved out of state, one about to move out of the country, and another one was absent today, leaving seven of us doing what we do best: Eating!

                                           Above (left to right) Bridget, Heather, and Andrea

                                           Above (left to right) is Jenny, Me, and Kate

                                                         Kate, Lisah, and Bridget

                                             The group that came for brunch

                                           Andrea's Precious Baby, Sadie.  She did not join us for the brunch, however Andrea's husband was nice enough to bring her up so that we could meet her.  She is just a few days shy of 8 months old, and was such a happy and sweet baby!

Thanks to all of  you for a fun time together on Sunday!! Until next time....

I have an award--my first one!!

I have my first award today given to me by a friend of mine, Kelly!  It is the stylish blogger award. I don't know much about awards or blogs for that matter, as you can tell, but I am honored and excited to play along!! Thank You Kelly!!! Check out Kelly's blog at http://meandyougirl.blogspot.com/

Here are the rules for acceptance of the award:


1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you the award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award other bloggers.

4. Contact bloggers and tell them about the award.

Seven Things About Myself:

1.  I love Showtime and HBO shows, but refuse to pay for them so I have to always wait until they come out on Netflix, and then I get OBSESSED, watch them all very quickly, and then get extremely sad that they are over!  The shows that you need to check out are:
CALIFORNICATION--Good ol' David Duchovny as Hank Moody

TRUE BLOOD--Bill and Sookie (or Sookay) as Bill would say

UNITED STATES OF TARA--I have talked about this one before.  Dissociative Identity Disorder or Formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder is the main theme.. That alone makes it a great show plus hilarious storylines and fantastic actors. 

WEEDS--It has been FORREVVEERR since I saw this show.  I am hoping Season 6 comes out soon. I have always been a fan on Mary-Louise Parker, but that is just an added bonus to the crazy stories on this show.
(I cannot get this picture of Mary-Louise Parker to center, ugggghhhh!)

SEX AND THE CITY (I know it is over, but I can watch reruns over and over--Regardless what mood you are in, or what stage of life you are in, you can relate)
I can go on and on about the writing on this show, and think that it is brilliant!

2.  I am a nail biter. A gross disgusting habit which is crazy for me to have considering I have a phobia of germs and go through hand sanitizer like it is nothing.  Right now my nails are actually pretty long (long for me), and I am loving them.  Painting my nails helps for me not to bite them, but if I get something I am worried about in my head, hope is all lost and the nails are gone.

3.  I love to read blogs about remodeled homes and renovations. I can spend hours on the couch with  my laptop and dream about owning some hard core power tools and doing something creative. Takes me back to my advanced shop days when I used to ask for a bandsaw for my birthday.

4.  I love to cook and read recipe books. If it has too many ingredients though then I skip right over it. But more importantly I love to eat.  I am always thinking about my next meal, what it is going to be, and when I can get it. My favorite foods are nachos, pizza, Mexican food, and ice cream...mmm, my stomach is growling!

5.  If you have read my blog, then you may recall my first post about my New Year's Resolutions, and the one about flossing.  I am embarrassed (not really) to admit that I have only flossed once since January 1st, but proud to say that I went to the dentist this past weekend, and got an A+ on my teeth. The question about flossing was not even asked, though of course I would have responded with my stand-by response of "Not as often as I should"  Take that flossers!

6.  I love to go on vacation, but I think I love the anticipation of going somewhere even more.. Right now though nothing is on the calendar (insert tear and pouty lip)

7.  And last, but not least. I am in love with my dogs!!.  Here is Oscar and Reggie coming in from our last (and  hopefully last of the season--yeah right!) snowstorm.  A snowstorm in Kentucky qualifies as a few snowflakes that stick to the ground.  We've had a few of them this year...back to the pups--here is a picture.

Now, my job for receiving this award requires me to send this to other bloggers.  Here is who now will receive this award for their STYLISH BLOG:

http://pinkloulou-confessionsofa20something.blogspot.com/

http://smartandsassywithsprinkles.blogspot.com/

http://lilacsandavocados.blogspot.com/

http://www.flythroughourwindow.com/

http://vintagesparklechic.blogspot.com/

Hope you all play along, and thanks again Kelly!!Stylish Blogger Award

Packing your lunch/Yummy recipe!!

I pack my lunch everyday. I work in two different schools so that is the best option on my wallet, waist, and taste buds! I usually pack a sandwich, goldfish, and a drink, however after a few weeks of alternating between turkey, ham, or roast beef I become sick of sandwiches!  So last night I had the idea of making a meal (large meal) to get my husband and I through the week and something different than what we usually have.  I have made this meal many a nights for dinner with an extra night of leftovers but decided to make a lot of it and have it for enough meals for the week.  Here it is....Chicken Fried Rice.  It is easy to heat up, easy to store, and tastes good for the entire week!

Cook some rice in water.  We use brown rice to make it a little healthier, but it will work with any rice.  Then the recipe calls for the rice to be cold once you stir-fry it so after it is cooked I stick it in the fridge while I am making the other parts of the meal.

Meanwhile, you can cook the chicken. You could also use beef, pork, or shrimp as well.  We have only used chicken.  It just has to be cooked so whatever method you prefer.  I just boiled some chicken so that it could easily be shredded.

Wash some green onions and begin to slice them.  Notice the end of the green onion.  He reminded me of this little guy...

           

This has nothing to do with the recipe of course but I just couldn't help including how much it resembled Mr.  Pepe the King Prawn from the Muppet Babies.  Okay now back to the recipe....

As I was saying, chop the green onions. This has got to be my favorite ingredient in the whole meal.  Love green onions!!

This is the seasoning packet for the rice meal.  You can find it in th asian/oriental section of your grocery store.

And to save you some time from having to write this down, the recipe is on the back of the seasoning packet!!

You will need some peas. I have used both frozen and canned. I can't tell a difference in taste, but the canned peas make it easier when cooking all of this at once. Just stick them in the microwave for a minute and they can then be added to the rice mixture. Easy peasy (no pun intended!)

Eggs are also a good addition to this meal.  FYI:  the recipe says to add the raw eggs to the rice mixture and they will scramble within.  That grosses me out. It might be fine to do that, IDK, but I just quickly scramble them in a skillet to the side...

Saute the green onions in olive oil over medium-high heat.  Then add the rice.

There is a lot of rice in this pot, but remember I doubled the recipe...Then add the seasoning to the rice.

During this process, the smell is wonderful.  It smells like sitting in front of a Hibachi grill, yum!

Add soy sauce.  I have to get less sodium, since soy sauce has TONS of sodium I can justify doubling the amount, plus a few more shakes of the bottle.

Add the eggs to the rice...

Add the peas to the rice...

And last, add the shredded chicken to the rice. And there you have it: Easy lunch-for-the-week Chicken Fried Rice!

Go ahead and place in tupperware containers for the week and your life has just become easier!  Again, if you want the entire recipe and the how-to in a more detailed fashion, pick up a seasoning packet by Sunbird.  They also have other good seasonings as well like beef and broccoli and sweet and sour chicken.

Hope you enjoy!  If you make it, come back here and let me know what you think.  Also, give me some ideas on what else to make for lunches when I'm tired of the usual, or meals in general!  Have a good Monday!!

Valentine's Day--My Love/Hate Relationship with this day...

I have never been a fan of Valentine's Day.  Well, I take that back. I loved, LOVED Valentine's Day when I was little and at school we would get the little cards from everyone in the class, and give out ours to the class.  That was usually my favorite day of the year.  I would always hand out Barbie Valentine cards. I had so much fun addressing them to every classmate of mine.  So back to my not being a fan.  Since those days are long gone, I have never enjoyed this holiday and think it is kinda silly.  A day on a calendar that tells you to be sweet to your significant other.  Well that takes the fun out of it.   I want my husband to bring me flowers or candy, tell me he loves me, or whatever, but not because some date on the calendar tells him to be sweet to me.  Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but it seems kind of forced and not from the heart to me.  I would rather go out to dinner on any other night and not wait 5 hours for a table because couples are trying so hard to impress...okay enough about that! 
However, now that I am into making things a little has changed.  Still not a fan, but decorations can be cute, huh?  Yeah, I think so too!  So with some leftover MDF board that I had in my garage I decided to make 2 cute Valentine's Day signs to go on my mantel.  They are both 12x12 so fit perfectly to scrapbook paper.  Here are the details below:
I first spray painted a piece of wood red, then let dry:

Letting it dry is a hard part.  I never realized how impatient I was until I started making things: Once I start it, I want it done!
Meanwhile, while it was drying I found some stencils to help me recreate the statue that I love on Microsoft Word, I then printed them out, and used an exacto knife to cut out the stencils...(The statue is above:  The love Statue in Philadelphia--never seen it in person, but love it!)

I then placed them on the wood, and taped them down so that it would stay.  I should have taped them down stronger because you'll notice some holes in the paper leaving a gap/space from the paper to the wood, allowing some glitter to seep through.  You learn through experience, right?!

Yep, too much room as you can see above. Oh well, I am pleased with the final product.  Next I added Modge Podge.  I used the gloss kind so that it could have a shine to it at the end.

Then I added some silver glitter...

And then immediately took off the white paper/stencil.  I was afraid if I didn't then it would stick.  It came off just fine!

I then let it sit for about 15 minutes, and probably should have waited longer, but again I want to see it and the part I enjoy is doing, not waiting around.  So I got impatient and applied another coat of Gloss Modge Podge to seal it.

Then let it dry...

A little messy, but I like it!  I did end up cleaning it up a bit by adding some more glitter to the O and then the V where it hadn't coated evenly.  Did not take a pic of this but you'll see the final version on my mantel....but first you have to wait and see the other piece going on the mantel

Started out with another piece of MDF board, again 12x12.  Perfect size for scrapbook paper.  But first things first, I had to spray paint the sides, and used this satin knickel finish:

Proceeded to spray paint the sides...then let dry....and Modge Podged it, this time using a Matte Finish.

Next step included putting the scrapbook paper down on the wet Modge Podge.  I tried to smooth out all the bumps, but didn't manage to get them all, oh well!

Let that sit for awhile, then modge podge that to seal:

Then let that dry, see you do need a lot of patience.  I'm working on mine!

And Voila!  Now they sit on my mantel.  I am pleased with my work if I do say so myself!  Here they are up close...

....and....

Not too bad, eh?  Give me some more suggestions as decorations I could use!  Hope you enjoyed this!