Lefting Over: T-Day Ramblings

What do you do with your holiday leftovers? Be it Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or any other day you have turkey and stuffing and lots and lots of other food? We (my family) usually have a TON of leftover turkey, and just like in everyday life, I'm always the one to take home leftovers. This year, however, we had Thanksgiving at my mom's house and we had a ton of family there for a couple days, so in addition to actual Thanksgiving dinner, everyone was snacking on leftovers and lunching on leftovers. Which left not so much left over by the time I was venturing home. Usually we make turkey soup (and apparently I'm the only one in my family that cares to do this), but this year *someone* threw out the turkey carcass so it couldn't be soup-de-fied. (Side eye to you, Mom.) So this year we had a couple new leftover ideas I thought I'd share with you fine people.

The first was the basic turkey sandwich, but my mom mixed up pieces of turkey with gravy so we had hot open-faced sandwiches (including mashed potatoes and stuffing). I also highly recommend dabbing a little cranberry sauce on top. Trust me, it's good.

Next up was the Thanksgiving Shepherd's Pie. I found an idea for this online a week before Thanksgiving, and I must say it's a new favorite. This is my first try at any kind of shepherd's pie because *someone* never gave me their delicious shepherd's pie recipe (Sorry, MIL, but you have to get side eye too on this! Lol.). This uses all kinds of leftovers! I layered peas, cut up sweet potatoes, turkey/gravy mixture, stuffing, then topped with mashed potatoes. Tim told me it wouldn't be shepherd's pie without cheese on top, so I added some swiss I had in the freezer, too (and, ok, I'll admit I had to cook up some peas to add because we didn't have any leftover veggies). Popped it in the oven on 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until cheese starts to brown). YUM.


As good as that was, I have to say this next one was my favorite:
Sweet Potato Pierogies

This was my first shot at pierogi (pierogies is apparently NOT the plural form, FYI), and I have to say, it wasn’t pretty, but it WAS delicious, so whatever. I’m not up for a food plating contest or anything. I was sitting around my house yesterday trying to figure out what to do with the 4 sweet potatoes we had left. I was going to just have mashed sweet potatoes on the side of some frozen pierogies, but Tim was like “That’s too much potato, can we add some chicken to it?” The last part of that question I ignored, because what you probably don’t realize is that what he wants me to do is pull grilled chicken out of the freezer, dice it up, and just mix it in with the potatoes. Not like he wants me to roast up some delicious chicken or anything.

Anyway, I focused on the “too much potato” part, because, yeah, it was true. And then I went to one of my FAVORITE websites, Gojee.com and typed in sweet potatoes. This website is so cool because there are spots to type in what you crave, what you have, and even to connect your grocery rewards card to the website so it can see what you bought and figure something out for dinner that way. So I typed sweet potatoes into the "I have" area and one of the first recipes to pop up was this one, which is what I adapted for our dinner last night. And let me tell you – YUM times 10!

The recipe even made so many that we’ll at least get one more dinner out of it (I froze the remainder before boiling them). I also obviously had more than two sweet potatoes, so now have at least another batch of pierogi filling that I need to figure out what to do with. Do I wait until I make more pierogi or is there something else I can do with it? I can’t quite figure it out. Other than just sticking a spoon in and eating it. Which I may or may not have done last night. Sweet potatoes + cream cheese = heaven. In case you were wondering.

Last, but not least, I made pumpkin muffins. I’ve done this the past few years, but I feel like it needs to be included with the rest of the leftovers. Does anyone ever use a whole can of pumpkin for pumpkin pie?? I never do! Why don’t they make smaller cans or something? To be fair, maybe it’s because I make pumpkin cheesecake every year, so maybe it uses less pumpkin? I don’t know, I haven’t made a straight up pumpkin pie in years because the cheesecake is just.that.good. Anyway, I even made two pies this year and still didn’t finish the can, then made pumpkin muffins and STILL didn’t finish the can, so I froze the rest. Maybe I’ll figure out something to make with it in my spare time. You know, like, when I’m actually home on a weekend or something. Oh wait, that’s right, I’m not... until 2012.

I also finally perfected the onion chop! As in, the right way to chop an onion. I had read how to do it on a blog, but it was written by someone like me who says things like “cut it down the middle but not down the middle, you know what I mean” and I totally didn’t know what she meant.

So I saw the method in a magazine, with pictures, and finally figured it out. Basically you chop off the end that’s not the root, then make slices into the onion going towards the root, but not cutting all the way through, so it stays intact, then turn the onion back on its’ side and slice down. Ouila, chopped onion! Easy. (Surely I can't be the only one who never knew this before??)

Anyone got any other unique leftover recipes? I have a "leftover" section in one of my recipe folders that could use some filling.

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 11/21

I used to think that a carpetbagger was just anyone that carried around a bag made of material that looked like carpets. Like so:

via google image search

Why was I even thinking about carpetbaggers on more than one occasion? Because Meamaw and I used to watch Gone With the Wind a lot. And when we weren't watching it, we were looking to buy the dolls. The dolls that I wish I still had and weren't sold at a yard sale... *cough* *cough*

Speaking of GWTW, I recently realized that this photo:

Hughes Fioretti Photography

reminds me an awful lot of this photo:

via google image search

and I know Meamaw would have said as much, and that makes me love it even more.

Know what the best thing is about the weather getting colder? Hot showers.

Have I ever told you how amazing salad cream is?


Too bad it's not sold in the US. HOWEVER my pantry is currently stocked due to some lovely English folks I know! I think we have at least 10 bottles in our pantry. I seriously can't believe we don't have it here. It's made by Heinz, for christ's sake. You know, makes ketchup, cocktail sauce, vinegar, etc.?? And it's delicious! And a close cousin to mayonnaise (no, it's not like Miracle Whip), so it's gotta be fattening, and the US is all over foods that make us fat. So... I don't get it. Well, at least I know I can get my fix from my connections in England. The rest of you are SOL.

I've been having some strange dreams lately. And of course I remember them when I wake up, but can't remember them now. The one thing I remember from last night is that my car died. Sooo... here's hoping that doesn't really come true.

Have I told you that my dreams come true sometimes? It's like I'm psychic... or something. When I was little I was having a really hard time figuring out how to tie my shoes. I'd get really frustrated, because apparently it's hard to learn to tie your shoes. Then one night I had a dream that I could tie my shoes, and it was so easy. The next day I woke up and could tie my shoes. Freaky, I know. I also had a dream once that my mom got cancer and died really quickly after being diagnosed. I realized afterwards that I hadn't actually seen my mom's face in the dream, and that it very well could have been my Meamaw. Not even a month after I'd had this dream she was in the hospital where they found out she had colon cancer and died not long after. One was a good dream, the other obviously the opposite. My point is, sometimes my dreams come true and I hope my car doesn't decide to die on me anytime soon. I really don't want to buy a new car while we live in Manayunk with no driveway! Hopefully it can hold out until we move (fingers crossed that will be next summer).

Oh, I remembered something else from my dream last night. My friend Cassie no longer just had the two cats I knew about, but now she had 4. She and her fiance also belonged to what they were calling the "kennel club" (which refers more to dogs than cats to me, but whatevs), and the other members didn't get the memo that they weren't going to be hosting it in their apartment while I was visiting. This meant like 30 cats roaming around the place. Um. I'm not really sure which I'd rather not come true - the cat stampede or the car death.

via google image search

So who's doing some Black Friday shopping this week? Anyone going out Thursday at midnight? Because apparently that's the thing this year. Nordstrom’s has come out saying they're going to be "traditional" and just open at 6am on Friday like normal. Apparently "traditional" is a diss to those opening on Thursday. Obviously they just don't want to pay their employees holiday overtime. Not that I blame them, but nice try on the excuse. I'm pretty sure your friends opening on Thursday won't be hurt (from a sales perspective) by being "untraditional".

Happy early turkey day to all! Except those in the UK. Then it's just happy random Thursday in November.

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 11/14

Soo... holy crizzap. (That's crap times like 20, in case you were wondering.)

I just realized I'm pretty much not going to be home for a weekend, after this weekend, until, oh, December 31st. That's only sort of a lie because there will be one weekend just before we leave for England (we leave on a Sunday, so the weekend leading up to that), but obviously that time is going to be spent packing! Wow. Where the frick did 2011 go?? Also, crap. I need to finish my Christmas shopping!! I've been Christmas shopping since, like, August, but I'm still not done. Tim makes fun of me, but I think of Christmas presents year-round! If you see something and it makes you think of someone, I say buy it and give it to them at Christmas! Otherwise, come November you're stuck racking your brain trying to figure out what to get everyone, when you could have at least picked up a few small things along the way. AMIRIGHT? Plus, they may be on sale. Plus, I'm totally down with returning things 6 months after the fact. Store credit? Sure!

I am doing pretty well on the present front, due to my year-round shopping, but it just hit me yesterday that I need to order stuff, like, now. Considering that A - I'm seeing Cassie next weekend (NEXT WEEKEND IS THANKSGIVING - CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!), and if I don't give her her presents then, I'll have to cart them down on a train the weekend after when we go visit her (yes, we're going to DC the weekend after Thanksgiving). That doesn't sound like fun to me. Especially considering they are considerably heavy. B - Since this year we're doing Christmas in England, we're doing Christmas with my mom the weekend of December 10th (Ma - are you even gonna have your tree up by then??), soooo I need to finish shopping for her STAT. And also anyone else in my fam I'm sending presents to. C - We're leaving for England December 18th, so any last minute shopping for the in-laws and hubby will be done in England - which kind of freaks me out because, well, I don't know why really. I guess I'd just like to have it all done by then in case I can't find anything over there? HA - Do you have any idea what I'm like when I go shopping when I'm in England? I'm like, "This is toy money, I'm going to buy everything!" And then I end up with a 3 foot Union Jack pillow in my suitcase. But anyway, it would make me feel better if I had it all done before I left.

PS - I don't count week days as shopping days because I'm pretty much a slave to whatever stores are in downtown Philly since that's where I work and I refuse to move my car in the evenings, lest I lose my parking spot. So weekends are the only time counted for anything really.

Also, I have no idea how we've been so busy for the past couple months, but yet I have friends I haven't seen in months?? How does that happen?? I was trying to think of when I could see people who have been texting me "When are we getting together?" "Happy hour, soon??" and other such things I apparently have been ignoring (Not on purpose, I swear! I usually find these texts like 3 days after the fact for some reason. I think it's because I like to clear my text notifications and assume it's my twitter feed and not actual texts because that's usually all I get.). So I was trying to think of when I could see said people and it brings up another "Crap!" because, oh, next week is Thanksgiving so that's pretty much out, then I'm in DC for work most of the next week, then possibly New York, then NJ, then... ok, you get the picture. I'm really having a hard time finding time to see my friends. Seriously, where did this year go? Will 2012 please be a little bit slower?? The answer is no because I already know in the cards is a trip to Kansas (City, MO), a camping trip in the spring, and at least one wedding, but POSSIBLY two... or three, and *hopefully* moving. So... yeah. I'm complaining to no avail. I realize this.

SO - last weekend, I made bread. Apologies to those in my family who got together and bought me a bread maker as my wedding gift, because, yes, it took me a whole year to finally take it out of the box and use it. In my defense (a few points here): It never went into the pantry, or anywhere I was actually putting it away. I always wanted to use it and was SOOOO excited when I got it. So it has literally been in the corner of my kitchen for a year. I opened it at one point and read the directions and recipes that were included. Does that count for anything?? Also, I know I talk a lot about being busy, but for real, it's been a busy year. It's not like I sit at home every weekend going "I don't want to use my bread maker." It's more like I'd look at it longingly and wish for time to learn how to use it and enjoy it. My final point will be that it is ungodly hot and humid in Philadelphia from, like, April to October, so I wasn't using anything that produced an unnecessary amount of heat during these months. BUT - now I made bread. And it was super easy, and it turned out delish, and now I want to make it all the time. I should probably figure out how to make healthy breads or something so we don't gain 50 lbs. because of my now bread obsession.

I'm super excited because I found the solution to my pants (TROUSERS, SUSIE!) problem. But I can't tell you what it is yet because it involves something I got someone else for Christmas. I know a couple of you out there are actually interested in this!!

Do you use Pinterest? I...AM...OBSESSED. Along with everyone else who uses it, of course. I mean, I seriously could spend days on there just pinning stuff. (Is there a career involving pinning for a living??) However, I do have a small part of me that fears someday Pinterest will die and I will lose all of my pins. I really, REALLY hope that never happens. The whole point of pinning stuff there is so you don't have to save links in your email or print everything out all the time! Where the HECK was this website when I was planning my wedding? I had like a 30 page print out of just wedding ideas. I could've just pinned them and A - not wasted so much paper and B - not carried around a stack of 30 pages for a year.

For those who don't know (I'm looking at you, Mom), Pinterest is a website where you basically just "pin" ideas, photos, recipes, whatever, to online "boards" so you can come back and look at them when you need them. So, for example, like you would do with pictures from a magazine, pinning them to a bulletin board. Pretty much the same thing except when you pin the pictures, you also pin the original link so if it's a recipe, you see the photo on your "board" and if you click on it, you will be directed to the original link where the recipe is located. Then others around the web see your pins (it's random, they kind of recommend things for you based on what you pin and who you follow), and if they like them they will "repin" them.

If you have a year to waste and want to see my boards, they're here. If you're already on there, follow me so I can follow you back!

Fun fact: My most repinned Pin is the duct tape whip tutorial! Ha! By the way, it turned out pretty awesome. Even Tim and his friend said so. They were like "Whoa, you just made that just now... with duct tape?" Or something along those lines. There was awe involved. Although Tim wanted to throw it out after Halloween. Psshh. As if.

It'll probably get stuck to everything in my Halloween box and I'll regret it. But for now, I'm saving it.

My friend Bonnie started a blog. You should probably follow her. She doesn't bog you down with long rants like I do. Just pretty pictures.

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 10/31

Halloween was fun. It even lasted two whole weeks for us! But Tim, aka party pooper, wouldn’t let me wear two different costumes. :( I say “wouldn’t let me” because he refused to wear two costumes and I told him without me he’d be nothing! Nothing! No, really, he would’ve been nothing for Halloween without me. Or so people would’ve thought. He'd be a man in a tux with a whip. (Oh yeah, the duct tape whip turned out great!) So what were we? I opted for me to be a circus performer/showgirl and him to be a ringmaster (a la Water For Elephants).

I was mistaken for Shawn Johnson.

A lot.

via google image search

I suppose I could've been mistaken for worse.

I guess it wasn’t a total fail, but I wasn’t super pleased with the outcome. Probably mainly because I had to wear white tights, and was told that they were very unflattering…

It was so freaking cold the day/night we were going out for Halloween this year. Really, snowtober? Not necessary. I love snow and all, but stop trying to jip (gip? gyp?) me out of fall Mother Nature. I guess I shouldn’t really complain considering we only ended up with super slippery roads with ice and slush on them… and my mom (2 hours North) got at least 18 inches of snow and lost her power for about 10 hours. So… yeah. I guess I should feel lucky.

I don't really want to go into the whole story, but Sunday morning we woke up to a broken window on our front door. It wasn't a burglar. We spent Sunday fixing it. Not how we wanted to spend our Sunday morning, but it is what it is.

In case you live in a cave and haven’t heard by now, and care in any way, Kim Kardashian filed for divorce this week. Her wedding was a TWO PART special on E! just a few weeks ago, and people are speculating that the whole marriage was a publicity stunt. I have to think that it’s not, because what kind of person would broadcast HER ($10 million) WEDDING (albeit, her 2^nd), and not be completely and utterly embarrassed to file for divorce 72 days later? I would be MORTIFIED. Shoot, I have a $300 wedding video I’ve shown a handful of people, and I’d be embarrassed to have shown that if I were her, let alone televise it to millions of people! Tim said to me the other night, “Hey, we lasted longer than Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries!” When I gave him a look he told me he thought that was romantic...?? Funny, yes, romantic, no. There's your SMBHD for this week. Lol.

I have this weird problem with our building’s cafeteria. I get so indecisive when I get there. I’m indecisive all the time, so this is like times 10 I guess. There are wayyy too many options. Sometimes I just decide to hit the salad bar, but apparently I’m inept at picking ingredients that taste good together?? I guess I pick things I like, without thinking what they'll taste like together, and then I’m like oh crap none of this goes together at all. And it’s not like I can put it back. Then I slap the wrong dressing on and have the worst salad ever. I think this is why I rarely go to our cafeteria.

Does anyone know what to do with Pumpkin Butter, besides putting it on toast or any kind of bread? I read a LOT of food blogs, and I swear in the past couple months I've seen people talking about Pumpkin Butter all over the place, and when I finally get a jar I have no idea what to do with it. I stare at it like something will come to mind, and I've got nothin'. "Use instead of regular butter ON things." is all I see. So if you've got anything else for me, I'm all ears.

I just made the observation that in a year I have gone from reading a million wedding blogs to reading a million food blogs. I think it's because I really didn't discover the blog world until I, myself, was getting married (and subsequently started my own blog), that even when I found food blogs I never had the time to read them because I obviously needed to spend all my blog reading time on looking at pretty wedding stuff. Don't get me wrong, I still read wedding blogs, but now I don't just read any wedding blog I come across, I only read my favorites. And food blogs. Obvi.

WELCOME NOVEMBER!! aka hibernation month.

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 10/24

I was in DC for a hot minute yesterday.

I'm pretty sure I walked 80 miles yesterday. I'm pretty sure my legs are going to fall off. I'm pretty sure I need a leg massage. I'm pretty sure you don't care.

There was a guy on my train yesterday who sounded exactly like Nucky Thompson. If you don't know who that is, watch Boardwalk Empire. If you don't watch Boardwalk Empire, watch Boardwalk Empire. I purposefully didn't look at him so I could make believe it was Nucky. I guess that's kind of weird.

He also refused to sit down and just loitered by my seat neighbor's seat for half the train ride. You paid how much to stand for 2 hrs?? Idiot. Plus he and my neighb were like scientists or engineers or scientific engineers or something and their conversation made me feel like the blonde chick on The Big Bang Theory. Don't get me wrong, I love that show, but I don't love being Penny in real life. Their conversation was painful, their engineering jokes were not funny, and they were not geek cute like the guys on the show.
via Google Image search

Fantasy football is dead to me. It seriously has been so unfair to me this year it's not even funny. It has passed the "funny, haha, I'm losing every game but trying to be a good sport about it" point. I don't want to talk about it.

Even when I tell Tim this, he's like, "Aww, don't give up." And then I say, "I'M ONE AND 6 AND LOST TO SOMEONE WHO HAD ONE PLAYER ON A BYE AND TWO ON INJURED RESERVE, BUT DON'T GIVE UP??" and then he's like, "Ok... so I'm doing really well this season. My team is awesome. I beat this guy and this guy and, boom, I'm going to take my dad down this week." And them I'm like, "Do you remember the conversation we just had where I said fantasy football is DEAD to me? That doesn't mean I want to hear how well YOUR team is doing." and then five minutes later it happens all over again.

Tim has been getting up before the sun comes up for the past couple weeks in order to go into work and make up his hours (taking days off to visit with his friends, leaving early to go to AC, etc.). I have no idea how he does it. I would die if I did that every day.

As much fun as it is having his friends visit, we're both very much looking forward to November. We're calling it our relaxation month because the only things we have planned are a concert and Thanksgiving. NO PLANS IN NOVEMBER. That needs to be our motto. I think we should just hibernate for the whole month. It's funny because this summer we were looking forward to October, since that's when all of our traveling was supposed to end and we could have a normal weekend at home. Um, yeah. October has been crazy. Nov...em...ber... al...most...here...

Speaking of November being almost here. Where has 2011 gone? I'm just finally getting used to writing 2011 instead of 2010 on things and now it's almost time to start writing 2012?? Crazy. Also, I've been Christmas shopping since, like, April, but we only have a few more weeks to shop! We do, not you. I basically have to be done and wrapped by December 10th, when we have Christmas with my mom, because this year is England Christmas year and we leave December 18th!

Also, I can't even fathom the fact that I just got done decorating for Halloween and Tim is going to kill me when I want to start decorating for Christmas over Thanksgiving weekend. I normally try to resist the urge until December 1st, but it looks like we're going to be in DC that weekend, and there's no point in decorating December 17th if we leave the 18th, is there?? Tim convinced me to have a fake Christmas tree for our England Christmas years (every other is the plan) instead of a real one. I GUESS he's right about it making more sense. Seeing as how we'll be gone for quite a while and a real tree would die without us there to water it... I'm going to miss the real tree smell, though. And I refuse to buy this.

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of The Week 10/17

So... I really don't get this whole "Occupy Wall Street" thing, but I will admit that I have put zero time looking into what it's all about.

via Google Image Search

All I see is a bunch of people "occupying" the space in front of City Hall (in Philly), chanting with megaphones and saying something about 99%. I think it means something like 99% of the population isn't rich? Or something? I'm going to go out on a limb here and hope nobody yells at me for it, but I think the whole thing is stupid. Like I said, I haven't really looked into it so I know my opinion is ill-informed, but it seems to me like there are a bunch of people hanging around in their tents, playing music on their laptops (no, seriously), and claiming the government can't silence them because of their first amendment rights. As far as I can tell, what they're doing isn't going to actually change anything and as soon as it dips to 40 degrees I think they'll figure that out REAL QUICK. What do they really think is going to happen??

Just my 2 cents…

Also, I think this is weird:

via Google Image Search

I missed the BARKS garage sale this weekend back home, and it makes me sad! I'm pretty sure I missed one in April, too, but it always makes me sad when I can't go!

We were in AC for a minute and a half this weekend. Ok maybe a bit longer, like a night and a morning. We went to an awesome concert (Tim got me tickets for our anniversary)! Tim kind of had big expectations for "Atlantic City", since he kind of loves Boardwalk Empire a whole lot. Also, I'd never realized before how British people say "Atlantic City" like it's some city washed over with gold. Here we're just like "... AC". And no, it's not just Tim. I actually noticed it when the singer (also British, and Northern like him as well) said it. So now I keep making fun of him whenever he says it because it's funny. He disagrees.

I've been refusing to wear pants to work. I mean, like, full length pants, not like I wear nothing on the bottom... I don't wear pants in the summer, and I wear pants aaaaalll winter long. Well, pants and skirts with stockings. It gets cold in these parts. So wearing pants is like conceding to the fact that WINTER IS COMING.

via Google Image Search

While I wish that meant the Starks were back on my TV, it doesn't. That, I know, isn't happening anytime soon. But I digress. I love the fall, I love snow, I love having all 4 seasons. But I just don't really like wearing dress pants. I like skirts, and capris. You know what it probably is? Because my pants are so long, they get dirty and ripped up on my walk to work. I seriously have had zero success with finding a solution to this. I wear approximately 3 inches of heel every day once I'm actually at work (flats/sneakers on the way in), so I can't hem my pants any shorter just for my commute. I've tried folding, but they always come unfolded. When it gets absolutely cold enough, I wear (f)uggs and tuck them in. Which, I am highly aware, looks incredibly stupid. What's a public transportation lovin' girl to do? I know it'd be a whole different ball game if I drove to work every day instead of taking public transportation, but, alas, I do not. Nor do I really want to.

I'm very proud of myself at the moment. Last night I figured out how to hook up cable in the guest bedroom! Woo hoo! Long story short... we moved our stereo into the bedroom because we didn't have room for it in the living room and that meant we had to move the TV that was in the bedroom which meant it had to go in the guest bedroom because that's where everything goes so the guest bedroom now has a TV WITH CABLE. Who wants to visit?? I announced my success to Tim last night by telling him that if NBA ever came back he could watch it in the guest bedroom. :) Anyhoo - as awesome as this is, it may also spell disaster since I can already see myself watching reruns of 30 Rock (the first thing that came on when I hooked it up last night!) in there while he watches something downstairs. So... we may end up seeing less of each other than we already do, lol! But I think our guests who are coming to visit for the next two weeks will enjoy it!

Oh, right, we're having guests. After the busiest 3 weeks of my life I had one breather week and from this Thursday til November 1st I will have multiple British men in my house. Two (um, maybe three, but that has still yet to be determined) of Tim's friends decided to come visit back to back, oddly enough. I'm back into "guest" mode, like I was when my in-laws visited in the spring. Guest bedroom made up, cleaned, WITH CABLE, toiletries restocked, oh yeah, and the rest of the house had to be cleaned too. Did I mention I'm tired? I really am looking forward to them getting here, though. A - I like guest mode. B - I like cooking for people. C - I like cooking for male people because they eat anything.

Plus it should be interesting to see what they all come up with for Halloween costumes since we're going to two different parties while they're here. Not gonna lie, I have high expectations. After all, English people love their fancy dress parties. Not to mention I've seen one of his friends (who will be here next week) dress up for, like, a Thursday, so Halloween should be no sweat for him.

Speaking of... Operation Halloween Costumes is in full effect. Tim's is almost done, except I need to find or fashion him a whip. I'm pretty sure I'm going to make him a duct tape whip. He is so uninterested in having a costume it's not even funny. I'm hoping a few years of good ole American Halloweens will get him in the spirit. BTW, he claims that English people don't "do" Halloween. I have yet to determine if this is one of his "English people" really = only him and he tries to play it off like his whole country doesn't do it, kind of things. My costume, I'm kiiiind of sweating over. I know what I want. I FOUND what I want. It's perfect. I even got the ebay seller to take it off auction and send it to me. I just need it to GET here in time. Like, before this Saturday since we're going to a Halloween party that night.

Oh, you want to know what we're being for Halloween? Sorry, Charlie. You'll just have to wait.

PS Have I mentioned how much I love Halloween? Have I also mentioned we're doing Halloween this weekend and next weekend, and Tim is making us wear the same costume for both and it's killing me?? He refuses to wear two costumes (how dare he!), even if the second would cost $0, and it would look pretty lame without his other half to the costume if I did attempt the other costume I want to do. I'll have to hold onto that one until next year or until someone has a fancy dress party...

PLEASE someone have a fancy dress party!! Come on America, jump on this idea, stat. Birthday parties at the very least should = fancy dress parties. Whose birthday is coming up?? Oh, right, Tim's... ok, um... who else's birthday is coming up?? Do it. I'll dress up, I promise.

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 9/26

Yeah, I know I missed last week... I guess I had no random ramblings to report. Ha. Just kidding. I always have random ramblings... But really things have been just a tad busy around here. On to the ramblings...

We went to Cape May for our anniversary. It was so pretty, but of course it was cold and rainy. More on that trip soon, I promise.

We had our frozen wedding cake on our one year anniversary! And yes, it was still good. Someone told me they were surprised I could get my husband to eat year old cake. 1- Have you met my husband? Do you know his obsession with food? 2- Here's the full story of our cake: I don't like cake. I like cheesecake, ice cream cake, and this one super awesome strawberry cake recipe I found in high school sometime and my mom has been making me every year on my birthday since. Most of the time I wouldn't finish it all and then I would freeze it, because I freeze almost everything. The obvious ones like veggies and meat… but also cheese, eggs, herbs, etc. So why not cake? My mom was skeptical, but the first time I defrosted it and tasted that strawberry goodness, yum. So now I always freeze it, and Tim got a chance to taste it thawed out when he was visiting one time before we got married, which is how we picked our cake. And also that's why he was cool with (and excited about) eating our 1 year old cake. Moral of the story: Freezing your wedding cake can be done and can taste delicious. As long as it's super awesome strawberry cake.


I wish I had seen this idea before our anniversary. Like people do with their babies, you have something with the number of anniversaries you've had - like a framed number 10.

via Derksen Photography

Maybe I can photoshop a "1" in one of our pics somewhere and remember to do it for real every year from now on... or I'll just photoshop numbers in every year because odds are I'll probably forget.

We were in Denver for under 26 hours this weekend. jet.set.ters. Rosie's wedding was BEAUTIFUL! And I'm pretty sure I'm finally starting to understand how to use my fancy camera so I should have some pretty sweet pictures. Be on the lookout. Although who knows how long it'll take me to get the pictures off my camera, so you may be on the lookout for quite some time… Here's a sneak peak:


I hate it when people say "You welcome." It's "You're welcome." It's like nails on a chalkboard for me when people do this. When we were at TJ Maxx in Denver this weekend (oh yes we did), this one woman who worked there kept helping people and saying it over and over when people would thank her and I just wanted to shake her.

When I was putting my suitcase away last night all I could think was FINALLY! I don't even know the next time I'm going to have to bust this baby out. As far as I know it's not going to be before December! We've got a couple small trips between now and then, but no flights involved and only overnight so no need for my suitcase.

My mom got me a luggage set for Christmas in 2008. I was just going to say how it's definitely been put to good use in the short amount of time I've had it, but then I realized that's almost THREE years ago, so I guess what I should say is I'm surprised it hasn't fallen apart yet with all the traveling I've done since then!! But I love my luggage set. Guess what - it's green. :) I'm going to be sad when it dies someday.

I just realized how awesome jewelry polishing cloths are. I've had one forever. I don't even know where I got it from. I feel like Meamaw might've given it to me in my teens and I never knew what to do with it. In the past few months I've noticed a ton of my silver jewelry being tarnished. I'm really not sure if it's because I never noticed it before, or if there's something in the air in my room that makes them tarnish?? Maybe because it's so hot and humid up there? Anyway, I've never polished my jewelry before a couple months ago. Last night, while I was unpacking, I sat down with my polishing cloth and went to town on a couple bracelets Meamaw gave me and, I mean, it's like new jewelry. Then I couldn't put the cloth down. I was walking around looking for things to clean. The only problem is I have to wash my hands after because they get all the tarnish on them from the dirty side of the cloth. Ok the only other problem is that my cloth says not to wash it. Since I'm pretty sure this thing is at least 10 years old… where on earth do I get another one? There's no website or anything on the case. I'm a polishing fiend now.

I got a negative ion watch last week. I really just wanted one because I've been seeing people with them on and they looked cute. Turns out they're more than just skinny, cute, watches. They have "negative ions", aka tourmaline, which supposedly helps your mood, helps you sleep better, aids in weight loss and detoxification... amongst other things. I hope it works, but if it doesn't, it's still cute.

Skinny Watch on Amazon

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 9/12

I hate when cab drivers honk at you to see if you want a cab. HATE. Like, I kind of want to run over and punch them in the face when they do that. It's like, "Oh, look at that person walking down the street - she shouldn't be walking, who walks?? She obviously wants a cab even though she's not looking around trying to flag one down! Let me just do this short, obnoxious, one honk thing that all (Philadelphia) cab drivers do, then she'll want to get in my cab!" If I wanted a cab, I'd be looking for one. I'm aware this isn't an issue in New York, since you can't get a cab to save your life. Sorry for complaining about the inundation of cabs in Philly.

Which makes me also think of construction workers and random men in cars. When you whistle or yell things at us (females), what exactly do you think you're going to accomplish? Do you think we're going to run right over and make out with you? I mean, seriously. Do you really think that? Because sometimes I think you do since I can't figure out why else you would do it. NEWSFLASH: That's not going to happen. Ever.

Tim decided last week that he wanted to put some pictures up on his desk at work. I told him I had some frames he could take. We got this nice frame from someone for our wedding that on the inside had a heart shaped jewel thing attached to some matting. He went to put his picture in and took it off. Which left a hole in the matting. I asked why he took the heart off. He said it was girly. So I said, "But you'd rather have a hole in it than a heart?" Yes, he said. Men! Turns out that frame was only for vertical pictures (like, wouldn't stand horizontally), so I ended up not letting him take it anyway and put the G-D heart back on. Now I have to go get him some frames at the store today, because the thought of having to go to the store and purchase frames is clearly too much for him. He'd rather just pester me about needing them.

This made me realize that I have ZERO wedding pictures on my desk at work. Well, had. I brought one in today. You know I love my wedding pictures, so why did it take me a year to bring one in?! Lol. Probably because I already have so much crap on my desk... including non-wedding photos... But now this has gone from zero to 60 and I want like 15 wedding pictures on my desk - of not just us, but fam and friends. Because they're probably the best pictures I'll ever have of anyone in my life (including myself)! Now I need frames for me, too. And space on my desk. Maybe I need one of those big collage frames like I had in college.

Sorry no SMBHD last week. I've been mondo busy. I know I told you I have a million drafts, and I do, trust me, but they're drafts, and they need to be finalized, and finalizing them means I need time to do so. I don't have that kind of time at the moment. I like these random ramblings posts because I can just jot down a random thought at any time during the week and then compile them and boom, post done. WARNING: SMBHD this week is probably not going to be funny. Sorry. This coming weekend will mark our one year anniversary (seriously?!), so I should probably be nice.

Football started this weekend!! And I randomly realized that I enjoy listening to it on the radio??? Not that I'd pick radio over HD TV, but I was driving home from my mom's house, listening to the game, when I suddenly realized it's not that bad. Listening to baseball on the radio is kind of bad, but that's because they don't really paint the picture for you. They're like "*Silence. Silence.* Ball 4." But football you hear, "To the 40, to the 30, to the 20 - TOUCHDOWN!!" and then you scream and clap and the people in the other cars look at you like you're a maniac. It's awesome.

PS - I LOVE football. I don't know why it took me 20 years to get into it (I started watching it in college).

PPS - When I first met Tim, he hated football. Well, "hated". He'd never watched it, but had the mentality that a lot of Brits seem to have, which was that it's not "real" football (soccer), and that in "real" football they don't wear pads and helmets and they don't stop so much. I explained to him that it was a different sport altogether, but he wasn't having it. Eventually he changed his mind and now loves it as much as I do (um, if not more). His mates mock him for it.

That's enough for today.

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 9/5

Red sox were disappointing this weekend, but, nonetheless, it was still really great to be able to watch them on NESN and with other sox fans to boot.

Laura made three pies this weekend and now Tim has decided that I need to make him pies. Thanks a lot Laura! Lol. (Not doing it, though.)

Margaritas are delicious. Especially when you have them in Maine.

Lobsters are delicious. Especially when you have them in Maine. ESPECIALLY when Laura makes tater tots with them.

My Pampie is the best bartender ever. Your glass is never empty and happy hour starts at the very latest at 5pm every day. Saturday it started at 4. Sunday it started for him at noon, for me about 1.

Saturday's happy hour also doubled as pregaming for church. Well, a church dinner. Tim and I aren't really church goers. But we enjoyed their food! And pregaming for church is funny.

I want to retire and live in Maine. How many years do I have left?

Got to go look at a bunch of Pampie's mementos (including yearbooks, old letters, diary from when he was in the Navy) this weekend. Really enjoyed that! And now have a poster to hang in our house with his name on it from when he was a "sensational trombone playing 13 year old" and playing with a dance hall band (I guess that's what you would call it?). Framing it!

Not ready to go home... and can't.stop.taking.lake.pictures.

Oh right, Happy Labor Day.

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 8/29

Why do they make toilet paper rolls so hard to start? I always end up just ripping it in the middle. Frustrating.

I really hate the "Let's go eat" phrase the Phillies have adopted. I'm sorry if you like it, but I REALLY hate it. It makes absolutely no sense to me, and honestly I think once the rest of the country gets a whiff of Phillies' fans saying this ridiculous phrase, they're going to mock you, and they're going to mock you hard. Also, now that I have shared my hatred for this with my husband, he has kindly taken to saying it to me aaaall the time. Great.


We finally made plans to go check out one of the free Philly public pools... this past weekend. If you don't live on the East Coast (or in the U.S.), we had a hurricane this weekend. A pretty big one. That = lots and lots of rain. Oh yeah, and I had volleyball on Thursday at the rec center of the pool we were planning to go to... and it had already been drained for the summer. We finally decide to go to the pool and not only is it DRAINED but it RAINED. Yup, that sounds about right.

via Twitter

Also last week, along with the rest of the East Coast, I witnessed my first earthquake. Yes, yes, I know. It's nothing like the ones the West Coast gets like everyday of their lives. But come on, this is big news! No, there was no major damage done, but it's still a freaky feeling to feel the earth shake. I was actually working from home that day and was sitting on my couch when it started shaking like crazy. In the 30 seconds that this quake lasted for I had a lot of thoughts go through my head. OMG there's an animal behind my couch. Ok don’t put your feet on the floor. Wait til the shaking stops. Wait. The walls are shaking, too. I can hear the guinea pig cages rattling. Ok, it's obviously not an animal, what is it? (I get off the couch and walk into the laundry room, where the cages are.) Ok… should I stand in this doorway? Hm, that's what they do on TV shows when there's an earthquake. Not that this is an earthquake, but it still seems like a safe spot. I'll stand here. Must be some pipes in the walls, I should call my landlord and tell him about it. I wonder if this happens every day while I'm at work?? OH, that must be why my curtains fell down randomly the other day. Ok it stopped. Weird… ok, time to put Jem on in the background. Wait… I know that tune - it's the breaking news tune. EARTHQUAKE?! WHAT?! You're joking. Seriously? Omg. In Virginia - and I could feel it all the way in Philly?? Man, I gotta post something on Facebook. Wait, my friend all the way up in Boston posted that she could feel it, too?! That's crazy talk. I need to call people. Not really to make sure they're ok - more just to be like OMG EARTHQUAKE. My bff was not amused. Nor concerned. Nor anything. She was like, "Yeah, whatever, you can't get through to me, I didn't even feel it. No big deal." Did I mention she lives in MD (geography lesson - borders VA)?? My mom and aunt were equally as freaked out about it as I was, so that was assuring. Tim also didn't feel it. I'm glad I wasn't at work that day, though, because our building will randomly shake (Maybe when the wind gets crazy or something? We don't really know.), and we're on the 20th floor, soooo yeah. Glad I was home.

Side note: I think it's interesting that TV networks have totally brainwashed us into recognizing "breaking news" tunes. I could be walking down the hall and I would RUN back to the TV if I heard it. Nice work TV networks. Mission accomplished.

We had an earthquake, a hurricane, and a tornado in less than one week. Mother nature is PISSED. What did you do?! I recycle, so it wasn't me.


I often ponder what makes us choose "our" bathroom stalls at work. Don't tell me you don't do it. If you work in an office with 3 or more stalls in the bathroom, you automatically gravitate towards one. Sure, it may be no big deal to you if you have to go to another, but you definitely gravitate toward one, even if you don't realize it. Now you will. I know it's not just me either because I see other people coming out of the same stalls all the time. For example, I know for a fact that if the handicap stall is full, it's one of two people. So my pondering is what makes us choose that stall? Important life question, I know.

via Google Image Search
eeny, meeny, miny, mo...

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 8/22

I haven't bowled in for-ev-er. We're going bowling this weekend for a friend's birthday/The Dude Hates Cancer. So excited! Oh, I'm terrible, but that doesn't mean it's not fun. Hopefully my bowling bag (complete with ball and shoes) will intimidate the other team. At least until they see me bowl... My family is a family of bowlers. I'm pretty sure my parents met while bowling. At least that's the story my father used to tell. This means that bowling isn't just from one side of my family - it's from both. We all have our own balls and shoes... even Tim has bowling shoes now! Which, I'm not supposed to tell anyone about. In his defense, it wasn't by choice. We kind of made him take my cousin's that were still brand new in the box. He was probably going to get them for Christmas from my mom at some point anyway. But he still needs his own ball... (although he very much objects to that...)

I'm not sure how I feel about Google+. If it had come out before Facebook, that'd be great. But I feel like I've got too much invested in Facebook to convert now. The features are great and all on +, but I'm not about to convert all of my friends and posts over there... I mean, think about it. There are some people who finally got on Facebook, do you really think they'll hop on over to +? So basically you'd have to keep both until all your friends converted, which I don't see happening. I'm not saying it's a bad invention whatsoever, I just don't see the need for it really. To me, it's duplicative.

I've been using "duplicative" a lot lately. Funny, even spell check doesn't recognize it.

I love Jem (the cartoon). I wish I could be home every day between 1 and 2:30 so that I could watch Days of Our Lives immediately followed by Jem. In case you didn't know, she's truly, truly, truly outrageous. I had all of the barbie-like dolls and car and Keytar stage when I was little. I also had all the NKOTB dolls, and, like, every other doll any little girl would ever want. That's what happens when your Meamaw's a doll collector (but one that lets you take them out of the box). But back to Jem - when I watch the episodes now all I can think is how all they do is get into life-threatening situations every day and don't even seem to blink about it. They're like, "Oh no the misfits again... oh well, now we're safe." Not, "OMG WE SHOULD PROBABLY GO INTO HIDING BECAUSE THE MISFITS ARE PSYCHO KILLERS. Maybe we SHOULDN'T do this photoshoot on top of a cliff because, oh, wait, the Misfits showed up and scared the bats out of caves at us and now the cliff is breaking and we have to get rescued by a helicopter! No biggie, we're safe now. Let's go model somewhere else dangerous." I also think it's weird that Jem and Jericha, who are actually the same person, are both dating Rio. Wouldn't Jem/Jericha be at least a little pissed that her boyfriend is seeing someone else behind her back... even if the other woman is really her? ESPECIALLY if the other woman is her?? Oh 80's cartoons, how I enjoy analyzing you now that I'm old enough to look past the pretty colors and catchy music.

Oh yes, it is a Keytar - it comes with a strap and everything.
via Google Image Searches here and here

I also love Jem (the real live singer), probably just because her name is Jem.

I hate pencils. If I HAVE to use one, it has to be mechanical. I can't stand the feel of normal pencils and I hate the feeling of lead writing on paper. I feel the same about chalk. The feel of it in my hand, the scratchiness on paper/chalkboard. *shivers*

It never fails - if I write "gym" on my calendar, I don't go. Guess I have to be more spontaneous to trick myself into going.

Have I shown you this amazing cup? I love it. I think you know why.

Also, it was on clearance. I use it every day of my life now.

Why can't they make claw clips cooler looking? I love claw clips - what's easier than that to put your hair up?? NOTHING. But feel like I'm stuck in the 90's when I wear one. I wish I didn't care, but I really just wish they'd come back, and stay, in style. Are the 90's retro yet?

via Google Image Search

Ok so that picture's a bit extreme. They don't look THAT bad. Also, Lela, doesn't she look like someone we know??? Hmm...

-C
xxx

Random Ramblings of the Week 8/15

These are just some random thoughts that go through my head that I know you all want to hear:

I'm pretty sure my favorite song of all time is "Tuesday's Gone" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. When I hear it it automatically makes me happy, and kind of makes me want to hippie dance. I don't think I'll EVER skip it when it comes up on my ipod. And I may play it 3 times in a row while I run because, yes, I can even listen to it when I run. It's that good. PS I'm pretty sure no one noticed, but I had the DJ play it at my wedding. He played it during dinner since that's as good a time as there is to play a 7 minute long slow song.




I AM SO EXCITED FOR PUMPKIN BEER.

Yes, I know that summer isn't over yet and it's almost like wishing it away... I can't help it. When we went on the Harpoon Brewery tour in Boston and I tried their Pumpkin Ale and then almost died it was so good, I asked the guy (you know, the guy) if it would make it down to Philadelphia. It was their first year distributing the Pumpkin so he said he wasn't sure, but that I should email them when I got home and suggest it so they know there's interest in the area. I did just that, and I even recommended two beer distributors in my neighborhood that I know have sold pumpkin ale in the past, and sold OUT of it. I got an email the other day saying both places were getting it and that I should call and reserve a case or 5. Reserved. I can't decide if it's sad or awesome that I have this much of an obsession with pumpkin ale. PS Tim won't kiss me or even come near me whatsoever when I've been drinking pumpkin ale. This, coming from the man who "hated" pumpkin pie before he even tried it, but now loves it. Whatever, he's not coming between me and my love for pumpkin ale. We'll just sit on opposite sides of the room until all 48 of my beers are gone. *shrug*
via Google Image Search



I miss 3D doritos. Who's with me??

via Google Image Search







Apparently I'm allergic to Burts Bees chapstick. Apparently I'm also not the only one. There are like 1,000 forums out there of people who are allergic to something that's in the BB chapstick. I have yet to figure it out what it is yet. Ok, I'm also allergic to this one pomegranate flavored Gap chapstick, so it's not just BB. How do I know? My lips sting and get red itchy bumps on them and the only thing I can do is use Vaseline or Blistex medicated chapstick on them. It's not fun. Tim was not sympathetic and told me that maybe I just use too much chapstick. Pssh. Is there such a thing?

PS - You may not know this, but I'm addicted to chapstick. For realz.

When I was at a wedding in England recently I busted out my Vaseline chapstick and this guy (who was drunk, and a little odd...) says to me, "Do you have cold sores?" in front of everyone at the table. I told him "No." with a weird look on my face like why would you, a stranger, ask me such a thing, and in front of so many people? (I think Tim was a little pissed, too.) Then he proceeded to stick his finger out and ask for some of my chapstick. I'm not big on sharing chapstick, especially with strangers, but he insisted and got all weird about it, so I gave him some. At least it was the Vaseline one, so it's not like a stick. If it was a stick I wouldn't have given it to him. Or I would have and then thrown it out. I don't know this guy!

I'm excited for Tim's friend to visit this weekend... but oddly it's because I want to cook for him. Well, for both of them, but I like cooking for people, and it's a chance to cook for more than just us for the first time in a while! Is that weird? Probably. Oh well. As soon as Tim mentioned "he's a student" so maybe I could cook instead of us going out the first night, I was like, YES! Tim has requested my lasagna. Works for me.

I love Jersey Shore an unhealthy amount. I laugh out loud so many times when I watch it. Plus it makes me want to have Sunday dinners. Also, I really related to the first episode this season where the girls were having issues with their hair dryers and straighteners (because of the voltages). I brought my curling iron with me to England and the barrel melted! Yes, melted. I picked it up and the barrel moved separately from the handle. Scary. The smell wasn't great either. I mean, it was pretty old... I stole acquired it from my mom years ago and have had it as long as I can remember (probably age 11). Anyway, I bought a new one last weekend that says it "works worldwide" and "automatically adjusts to different voltages". We'll see!

-C
xxx