Recipe of the Week

In my every effort to be the best possible housewife on the block a couple of months ago I decided to start trying some new recipes. I have a ton of cookbooks and I hit them up from time to time but since Pintrest came into my life I have such a convenient new way to find new fun yummy treats. So let me give you a quick rundown of the highlights.

The goal has been to try one new recipe per week. And Patrick has been a pretty good sport about the whole thing. To be honest Patrick is kinda a picky eater. He calls himself a "texture eater" and they are lots of textures he doesn't like.. ex: mushrooms, most of vegetables. So you can see this has been quite a challenge for him.

Things that were good:

Taste like Lasagna Soup- This is a knock off a Paula Dean recipe and it is totally delish. The first time I made it I followed the recipe as written, but the next couple of times I made it with ground turkey and it was still totally banging.

Overnight-Crockpot French Toast Casserole- I made this for a staff breakfast at work. It is a super yummy filling breakfast.

Crockpot Chicken Tacos- This was freaking awesome. Really simple and quick and totally yummy.

Things that were bad:


Crock-Pot Chicken Cordon Blue- I have a feeling that this recipe would have been really yummy... except I burned the tar out of it. I believe it should have been cooked about 4 hours in the crockpot. I left it in about 9... While I would classify it as still edible... I cooked a frozen pizza for Patrick that night.

Baked Apple Pies- Not a bad idea and it didn't even taste bad. The problem was it was tricky to eat so tricky it really isn't worth making. Save your time chasing a baked apple around your plate and just cook baked apples into pie form

Grocery Store Epic Fails

I have spent a lot of time lately at the grocery store and I have noticed quite a startling and terrible trend... products that just look gross or disgusting.

So lets chronicle some of the worst of the worst from the grocery aisle:

Coconut Wave soda: I wonder who out there in soda land though that anybody should make a soda like this. I like to imagine that the "soda inventor" (using this term loosely) was eating a Almond Joy and thought coconut let make a soda out of that... well this was not and could never be a good idea. Give it up bro.

Spam Microwave Meals: unless you live in Hawaii there is no reason to eat Spam on a regular basis unless you absolutely have to. So who thought you know what would be good, "lets take the spam and add other salty and preserved ingredients and make it microwavable"... that is a terrible idea and I don't even want to think about the salt content.... pass me the water please.

Fudge Pops: Lets call a spade a spade... this looks like poop. POOP. Then to make matters worse the title of the products is 1 "O" short of actually being called Fudge Poops. I like fudge and I like freezy-pops but this seems like one product that didn't need to be combined.

Angry Birds Jewelry: or Angry Jewelry as I like to call it. When I think of fine jewelry obviously Angry Birds doesn't come to mind... but who in their right mind thought this was even necessary to produce. Literally if I ever see anybody (including a child) wearing this I will laugh out loud.

Furby: My mom bought me one of these years ago and it scared me. I wondered why these were created years ago and I continue to wonder. I hope these aren't popular when I have kids because they will never get one...Sorry not sorry

Lady Gaga Toothbrush: call this the Lady Gag Toothbrush, the idea of this is that it sings to you for the length of time that you should brush. When the toothbrush stops singing you are done brushing. I hate to state the obviously but what exactly is wrong with counting to a pre-designated number and you brush until you get to that number. Where are we as a society that it is needed for us to be entertained during the 90-120 seconds that we are brushing our teeth. (PS: What song does the toothbrush sing? ... Poke-R-Face????)

Red Solo Cup Halloween outfit: This is just crazy stupid. I am sure that ever 21 year old male thinks, "What is that perfect Halloween outfit?, maybe I can dress as a giant cup, that is sexy right?"... No it is not and this is just stupid. This may or may not have been invented by the same genius that devised the Coconut Soda....crazy

X Hose: have you seen this commercial. This is not the worst idea in the world, but it might be the worst name for a product in history. What Don Draper-wannabe thought X Hose was a good marketing name for anything... Congrats sir, you are officially a idiot.

Well as per the usual I am nearly constantly absent from my blog... oppsie I have been busy but hopefully if you have been crying daily about my absence from the blogosphere. I hope this will help you get through. Heaven knows when I will post again.

Like most of my friends and family today I have seen snow... lots of snow (don't get me wrong I have seen more snow in the past) but seeing as I view snow as a unnecessary nuisance. I believe that any snow is too much. Snow and weather should stay where it belongs... Colorado.

Snow's Natural Habitat

Not Snow's Natural Habitat... Home

But we had snow and it got a bit dangerous today so my work closed early and I got a ADULT SNOW AFTERNOON!!!!! Until not that long ago I worked for a resort (that happened to make a large portion of their yearly profit from skiing.) When you work for a ski resort, even if you don't work for the ski part they kinda expect you to show up even in bad weather. In 7 years working for this company I never got to leave even a hour early due to bad weather.

So what did I do with my ADULT SNOW AFTERNOON???

I was lazy, I sat on this sofa with this blanket... (there was a cat there but she got scared of the camera and ran away.)

Then I watched a couple hours of Gossip Girl (you know you love her XOXO.) I have watched so much Gossip Girl lately I think Serena and I are now besties... call me S for some latte, xo K

Now I am waiting for Patrick to get home from work and then the plan is to make some waffles for dinner and since we both have to work in the morning it will be off to bed to face the treacherous roads tomorrow.

Hope everybody is safe and warm and had a great holiday. (Since I have been so absent the holiday I am clearly referring to is of course... Halloween, Vetern's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas)

My Next 30 Years.

I have been talking about this for a while and it finally happened people as of this past Saturday September 15th I turned 30 and I am not going to spend this entire post talking about all the awesome things I have done in my 30 years, (partially because I did that in a post last year.) I want to spend this post talking about some of my hopes and dreams for the next 30 years. So here goes.

In the next 10 years I hope to:

1.  Start a family with my husband.
2. Buy another house, especially now that we really know what we want in a house.
3. Take part in another triathlon (without getting a concussion and forgetting the whole thing... because that happened.)
4. To finally visit a Caribbean island.
5. To cook a souffle perfectly.
6. Feel confident that I can actually work my alarm clock without screwing it up.
7. Go to a NFL game. I would obviously prefer a pilgrimage to Lambeau but  I am not picky, as long as the Redskins are not playing.

In the next 20 years I hope to:

1. Work for myself... if I haven't won the lottery yet.
2. Have a extensive collection of seasonal bathroom accessoriies. (Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick Day etc.)
3. Blog as often as I should
4. Write a book. Even if nobody ever reads it I want to be able to say that I did it.
5. Consider myself a decent housewife, like the kind of wife that actually cooks and cleans daily.
6. Become the kind of person that wears heels regularly.

In the next 30 years I hope to:

1. Retire
2. Spend my days studying wines and culture around the country.
3. Actually complete a scrapbook. ( I have started 7 and completed 0)

In the everlasting words of Tim McGraw... "Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers, Maybe I'll remember my next 30 years."

Me 30 Years Old with a Lamb.... Forshadowing?

I think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years I’m gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I’ve done
Maybe now I’ve conquered all my adolescent fears
And I’ll do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years I’m gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I’m doing here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, I’m gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I’ll remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here ,In my next thirty years

In my next thirty years

MTV's VMA's ...Virtually Miserable Awards

Well as usual the MTV's Video Music Awards had some highs and lows. I have divided some of what happened during the show into several categories. These categories shall be: AWESOME-SAUCE, I don't get it? But I Am Willing To Try, and Crap I am too old for this.
**I need to forewarn all my faithful readers, that I will be turning 30 next week. Obviously this is a issue that we will get into later, so there is a chance that I am not as young and hip as I used to be.**

AWESOME-SAUCE

• In my opinion the first real highlight of the show was the  Andy Samburg/Rashida Jones combo. That is mainly personally since I love love love them..... (cough cough Parks and Rec is my fav show/ Hot Rod is my fav movie cough cough)

 

•  There is no world where I normally listen to One Direction, but since I was raised during the heyday of New Kids before they were NKOTB and came of age loving Backstreet Boys and N'SYNC. I honestly have a boy band soft spot. That being said their song is really catchy and fun to sing along with.
• I have been listening to Green Day since I was in middle school and it makes me sad how old they look now. I have loved their music for 15 years but seriously dudes stop the drugs.
• THE FAB FIVE!!! THE FAB FIVE!!!! There are awesome and trust me awesome readers you will be hearing more about how much I love them later.

I Don't Get It (But I Am Willing To Try)

• Frank Ocean-He is clearly one of the most inspiring artists performing right now, but whatever the song was the he performed was one of the most boring experiences of my entire life. He seems like a nice guy, I like his message but geez could you pick a slower, less energy song. #Yawn
• Alicia Keys/Nikki Minji, ok MTV I will play your little game I am not usually a huge fan but you 1000% redeemed yourself by adding my girl Gabby to your little ditty.

Crap I am Too Old For This

• Rihanna just might be the worst singer to become popular in years. I have long held a theory that some singers are continually popular because they are interesting and pretty and not at all based on talent level. Rihanna has a gift for consistently proving my little theory correct.  She legit can not sing and I wish I could convince the rest of society to turn her off, stop listening, and more importantly vote her back to her island which she could actually buy.

 

• Lil Wayne!!!!! What the heck man, seems like there are some occasions when it is rude to be listening to your iPod with headphones. I would consider one of those occasions when you are actually on stage accepting a award with your buddy. I don't care who you are, but I do know that his mother would not be very proud of that behavior.
• Lil Wayne (cont) and 2 Chains... ok I have so many problems with this whole situation. 
• 2 Chains??? Um is that a name? Is this really happening right now?
• Why does MTV let these grown-up-juvinile-deliquents curse so much on TV. 
• Do you think these rappers hired stylists to help them pick out their "good boxers" since they fully intend for the entire world to see them?
 

•  Taylor Swift, 2 things. 

1. I am not sure if the message of your song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" is clear. I guess it wouldn't hurt to write a follow up song called "For Real We Are Broken Up"
2. I absolutely never ever ever ever ever ever want to listen to that song. Sadly for Taylor the only part of the show that I couldn't watch was her little ditty.

I believe the real star of the night was ....... drumroll please......................

THE COMMERCIALS 

I went back and counted. By my unofficial numbers there were 82 commercials during the 2 hour show. If you average 45 second per commercials that is 61 1/2 minutes of commercials which is officially more then half the show.

My overall impression and review of the show: It was horrible, I suffered through it the first time and I couldn't wait to delete it off my DVR. If you had to watch the show with commericals you deserve some kind of a metal. Don't waste your time.

Kristin/Patrick and the In-Laws in the City... The Conclusion

On our only real day in the city Patrick, the in-laws, and myself really hit the town like you wouldn't believe.
We got up early at the crack of 9:00ish and grabbed some breakfast.

 First up on the agenda was a stroll through Central Park on our way to the Central Park Zoo. Ok well if you were expecting "Madagascar" you might be in the wrong place but...... it was amazing, there were great animals like:

Next up was a scavenger hunt through the city for a little known New York landmark that Nicole L's bf told us about: the Ghostbusters firehouse. Now this was a little tricky to find as it was on a funky off street, but because we are great at our map skills we figured it out and found the place. This actually might have been one of the highlights of Patrick's whole life. I am not sure if you can really imagine his joy.

After conquering the ghostbusters, Patrick's parents left us to roam the city on our own for a while, they trusted that we would be careful and safe and make good decisions.... sadly for them they were only partly right.

Patrick and I made our way to the World Trade Center Memorial Site. This is a truly amazing place and I could talk for a long time about it. I was very moved by being in this special place, kudos to the designers and architects for finding a way to take a busy, noisy, hard city and creating a place that is quiet and peaceful for people to reflect and grieve.

After spending time appreciating all our gifts in life at the WTC Memorial, Patrick glimpsed the closest thing to a celebrity in his world, a motorcycle from Orange County Choppers, he wanted to make sure I include this in my blog.

Patrick purchased a new camera in the city, so while we were down in the financial district and so close by Patrick really wanted to get some good pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge. I am not so sure that either of our mothers would have been really happy with us hanging out by the docks and under the bridges just to get some pictures, but since we didn't get mugged, or raped and killed... no harm no foul plus our next stop was Chinatown. And not just the pretty part of Chinatown with lots of neat shops, nope we are talking about the sketchy/ kinda scary/ gangsta movie part of Chinatown. There we were, 2 people from central Virginia where things are quiet and gentle in kinda scary Chinatown we walked through and took a bunch of pictures, it was super cool.

After all of that, and trust me that is a lot of walking for one day, we both got Starbucks (in very NYC fashion) and headed back to the hotel. We met up with Patrick's parents and went up to Times Square for some dinner on the town. After a lovely dinner Patrick and I hit a souvenir shop to pick up a Christmas ornament. (Because I try to pick one up on every single trip) and we were back to the hotel for the night. The next morning we got up, packed up, and we were on our way back to Virginia. (Last couple pictures)

Kristin/Patrick and the In-Law in the City Pt 2

I promised you a multiple blog series about our trip to New York, since I am not in the business to disappoint here you are.......

Once we got off the train and into the city we had a pretty easy time finding our hotel and getting settled, since we had a couple of hours we decided we would walk up from our hotel in Chelsea and grab some dinner, tool around Times Square for a while and find our way to the theatre right off Broadway... that was the plan and to be fair we started off right, we stumbled upon a cool looking Irish Pub (seeing as though I married a Patrick and my in-laws just got back from Ireland last year this definately appealed to us) The restaurant was great, I had a Reuben because I have a soft spot for New York Reubens (I am well aware of the fact that if I keep eating them, that soft spot is where I will likely have a heart attack, but one sandwich will not be the death of me right)

While we were eating our yummy food minding our own business outside was a absolute downpour. Rainstorms are a little different when you are in a city and you are walking. I would say the word "pandemonium" would be actuate to describe what was happening on the streets. People were running into stores and bars just trying to get out of the rain. But we were prepared so we donned our ponchos and hit the streets.

We walked around for a bit and hit some stores mainly Toys R Us Times Square. If you haven't been there it is a real treat, they have everything, EVERYTHING.  Like.....

Barbies

Dinosaurs

and a Ferris Wheel!!!!!!!! I mean lets be real, that is just awesome.

Finally it was time to go to the show and since you are not allowed to take pictures inside the theatre I have no pictures but, the show was amazing. As somebody who is the employer at work it seems so very "anti-establishment" for me to go a show about a newspaper boy strike at the turn of the 20th century. I did a little bit of research before we left for NYC and I learned that the strike really did happen and helped lead to the establishment of child labor laws in the state of New York. (that is your tidbit of knowledge for today)

The singing was phenomenal, the dancing was out of this world. It was just great 100% worth the trip to the city. If you have the opportunity to go, do it, don't hesitate and buy the ticket immediately.

All in all.... Newsies was great!!!!!!!!!!

Next up in the thrilling conclusion of our trip to NYC: Free day in the city and I bet you will be a bit surprised where Patrick and I ended up.

My Ode to Bridgewater... Go BC

So I know I promised the next part of my trip to NYC with Patrick and his family update, but I got struck by such inspiration that I felt it necessary to post about it before I got distracted or forget about it. So don't worry avid followers I will post part 2 very soon (with a little luck it will be later this week.)

I notice as I scan my Facebook newsfeed that it seems like just about everybody is going to school these days. Lots of friends returning to college and sadly for even more of my friends their children are heading to school (some even for the first time) So I wanted to take a moment a dwell on my time at Bridgewater and tell a little story.

I wouldn't call myself the best of students. I had a hard time keeping up my motivation to finish projects all the time and truth be told I would have much rather spend time hanging out with my friends then go to class or do work and so that is what I did. Overall I had a awesome college experience I would say I did just about everything you are actually supposed to do while in college we ate, we drank, we had road trips and spring break, we skipped class to play old school Nintendo, attempted to steal street signs unsuccessfully, and spent entirely too many nights driving to Sheetz... but most importantly I graduated.

One of the things that Bridgewater College asks of all students is that they require you to attend 7 convocations or symposiums every semester. They are at the same week and there are no classes scheduled at the time to give all the students plenty of time to attend without class distractions. Nobody really liked going to convos but I hated going to them and so I just didn't. For the longest time my convo truancy was no big deal to anybody else but me and my roommates, it was a bit of a joke. Turns out though that if you do not attend all required convos it is printed on your semester grades and after a couple of semesters my parents finally figured that all out. Needless to say my parents were not too excited to know that I have just been not attending something that they paid for.

Now that you know the backstory, let me tell you what happened last week.

In my office the administrative assistance (lets call her B) her daughter is off to Bridgewater this week for her freshman year, we will call her daughter, A. A is super duper excited to start off at college, even though we are close to Bridgewater she is moving on campus and can't wait to start her classes and experience. Every once in a while she comes in to the office to visit with her mom during her lunch. Last week I walked into the office A had come in and while visiting during lunch they were looking at some of her Bridgewater information and talking about convos, A was trying to pick what she thought might be interesting to attend and as I walked past them in conversation B says words she would later come to regret,
        B: "Kristin you went to Bridgewater, tell A about how the convos work."
                 ... I couldn't help but laugh
       Me: "I might be the worst person to ask about convos."
       B: "Why, is there something wrong with them?
       Me: "Yeah they are terribly boring and I never went and I still graduated."

Turns out I probably should not have said that in front of her daughter A. #oppsie

Good luck A, have a great time at Bridgewater and take it from me, go to class, it actually makes cramming for tests easier if you have an idea what they talked about it class in the first place.

And just in case you need a little proof that I actually did graduate,  well here you go.