List-less

Until I discovered the finer points of BuzzFeed, I must admit I thought it was a ridiculous entertainment site used only to publish inane lists on completely random topics.  Of course, once I started reading the inane lists, I quite liked them and kind of found them hilarious, which was disappointing to me as well.  So maybe that's where the real problem began.  I've realized, I've been relying quite a bit lately on lists to write these blog posts.  Why is that?

Why are blog posts or stories easier to write in list format?  It may be this need of mine to categorize something instead of stringing together a workable narrative.  It might also be, that it's just easier and less taxing to compose a list instead of writing a complete story from A-Z.  Just ask BuzzFeed, their reporters seem to have that down to a science.  Of course, it might also be that my life's not that interesting right now and due to a lack of something fun to write about, it's a bit simpler to give you the rundown on some other random topic of conversation that's floating through my mind.  Hoping that Life in general will pick up soon with the return of that big bright yellow thing in the sky this spring that's been missing all winter, mind you.

In any event, I'm going to try not to do that so much.  I read so many great authors and writers each day, and would very much like to be at least a little like them.  That requires practice and focus and something interesting to happen, of course.  Aside from Friday Five, I'm going to try very hard to focus the posts a bit and be the writer I wish to be (with a little BuzzFeed-iness thrown in for good measure here and there, because honestly, who doesn't care about the top 15 hottest Catholic men in Holloywood?  I didn't until I learned number 3 was George Clooney.  How did I not know he was Catholic?  That makes him officially perfect but I digress... : )

Currently

I read an article today about a Project Lifer who does one of these each month (usually on the same day each month, but I'm most definitely not that organized) to show at a glance what she fell in love with or enjoyed each year.  Seeing as there's only 2 more days in February and I haven't done one yet this month, I'll give it a shot.

Enjoying: Crafting.  I've so many ideas lately that I just can't emboss or stamp fast enough. By this time next month, my stock will be well and truly full.

Thinking: About Etsy.  My goal was, before my birthday, to have a shop open.  The more I think about it, the more excited I get but I also start to ponder all the crazy things that go along with it - at least go along with it in my head anyway.  Shouldn't all the things I make, go together in some sort of theme?  I mean quilters, usually just sell quilts.  But I like to do lots of different things so should I stop being a scattered-scrapper and only focus on one thing?

Wearing: Warm and Cozy fleece pjs

Drinking: English Breakfast Tea by Cuppa Tea.  Yum!

Weather: Flipping Freezing!!! It was supposed to snow quite a bit yesterday so I had my heart set on a snow day today, but the lots of snow that was forecasted only turned into lots of wind and dropped the temperature dramatically. Brrr!

Wondering: If the next snow storm that's predicted for Sunday into Monday will get me a snow day so I can stay home and craft.

Wanting: A rainbow of Stayz On Stamp-Pads.  I'm getting tired of my boring black one.

Listening: An interview with Simon Pegg.  He's talking about the terribly hilarious prank he pulled on the cast of Star Trek.  Hearing what all sides thought of the prank never gets old!

Needing: To stop sneezing.  Before I got home, I didn't have a cold but ever since I stepped in the door, I've been sneezing or nearly sneezing which is even worse.  Annoying!

In the Kitchen: Breakfast Pie

There are a few recipes that I love to make and tend to make quite often.  This breakfast pie is my specialty and I make it probably a great deal more than I should.  It's good for breakfast, but I usually have it for dinner with lots of salsa.  The salsa is a special recipe so I can't share that, but I will share the pie - it's so simple and is the perfect dinner for a busy week night!

Before:

 After

PS: I've seemed to figure out the blogging, the cooking and the crafting but not so much the photography just yet.  It may not look appetizing but I guarantee it's delicious!

Kristen's Breakfast Pie
Makes 2 Pies

Roll of Breakfast Sausage
One Green Pepper
One Onion
8-10 eggs 
Pillsbury Pie Crusts 
Grated Cheddar Jack Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
And any other yummy ingredient you'd like

Preheat oven to 375 and lay out pie crusts in 2 pie pans,  
Saute onions and peppers until soft.  Remove then fry up the sausage.  When sausage is fully cooked, add the cooked onions and peppers and mix well.  While they're warming on the stove, crack and scramble the eggs and add cheese as you like.  Add the sausage mixture to the egg mixture then dump the whole mix into the opened pie crusts.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.  In the last 5 minutes, sprinkle some cheese on top if you'd like. 

Enjoy with your favorite salsa or accompaniment!

Monday, Monday

Did you ever get the feeling that the universe is playing a cruel joke on you?  That it's really not Monday at all, you've just dreamed it and it's actually Friday afternoon around about quitting time?  It's been that sort of dragging my rear, just can't get up the energy for the week Monday. But there's still time for craftiness - if brightly colored paper and glitter can't wake me up out of my post-weekend funk, I'm not sure what will.

 For months, I've been wondering where all the crafters on Pinterest found a punch that looked like a speech bubble and was able to punch in the middle of a card.  Then, today, on what's quickly becoming my daily trip to Michael's, I found these cute little PRE-punched cards.  Love it when things are easy!

Scrappy Sunday

A Christening and some scrapping.  All around a pretty good Sunday.  If I could do this every day I'd be a much cheerier person : )

                    

Crafty Saturday

Every few months, I get super-crafty.  I have lots of ideas that seem to pop into my head (or get there from Pinterest - let's be honest) and I just have to get them out.  I love these times because for most of the year, I have to struggle to come up with ideas.  I'm hoping to stick with this mission to crafty town and really increase my inventory.  I'm not guaranteeing anything but it's worth a shot.

 Jewelry box for a Christening gift 

 Loving my new hexagonal punch and embossing folder!

Friday Five

1. I was hoping to do a whole Olympics Friday Five again this week but unfortunately, not a great deal of fantastic news has been coming out of Sochi.  However, there's always some good.  Like the women winning the Silver Medal in hockey!  Woohoo! It would have been awesome to see them win a gold but a silver is pretty amazing too.  Ted Ligety winning gold was also something we could be proud of.  There have been rumours too of a tribute to a ski cross skier that passed away last year bringing all the ski cross athletes together.  I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds pretty touching.  (I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to say - Hooray for the US Men making it to the gold medal round in Hockey - that remains to be seen...)

2.  Ali Edwards: I may have blogged about her before but my love for her blog knows no bounds.  She has made herself into a scrapbooking expert and has somehow created a whole business around something she loves.  She's also super creative and I get loads of ideas from her blog each week.  After coveting Photoshop for months and months, I finally received it for Christmas.  Now all that's left is to figure how to use it so I can start buying up some of Ali's Designer Digitals.  (Apparently, it takes a while to learn these things and it doesn't help that I'm often computer stupid...)  I'm not sure I could leave my beloved paper and stickers behind totally, but I can't wait to dabble in Digital Scrapbooking like she does.  She's pretty much amazing and anyone who's into scrapbooking should know she is!

3. "Hector and the Search for Happiness"  by Francois Lelord: A few weeks ago I was browsing Anglophenia and they had an article about and the trailer for Simon Pegg's new movie adaptation of "Hector and the Search for Happiness".  I had never heard of the book but I'm a Simon Pegg fan so of course the movie looked great.  I made a mental note of the name and went about my business.  Then a few days later I was in Barnes and Noble just browsing and this little book was hanging out randomly on the shelf. The book looked and sounded even more fabulous than the movie (don't they always?) so of course I had to get it.  I was definitely right.  It is the perfect quick fairy-tale for grownups involving travel and love and questions we're all asking.  Of course, now I'm even more excited because there are at least 2 more in the series.

4. Once again, I find myself getting lost in the land of Project Life.  I've said before that I don't really have a life that warrants daily photos and observations.  It's not really that exciting, and I'm the one that's living it.  I can't imagine having to read about it from the outside.  However, since most scrapbookers have evolved into this, it's pretty much all over Pinterest all the time.  All the albums, and cards and kits are so appealing I find myself craving for the opportunity to use them.  Seeing as I'm an OCD scrapper, I must have a theme; a starting point for any album I create.  So I'm giving myself until July when I hit the open road to the Northeast into Boston, Mystic, Salem, and Nantucket.  (Though, I've already bought a few card kits - what can I say, I have no self control...)

5. Organization!  It's taken a bit to get here (assembly of wooden objects - totally not my thing!) and I'm far from being done but I'm hopeful this new found craft room re-do will help in the creativity department.

Bummer

Fresh off the heels of my new-found love for hockey, this had to go and happen.

I have to admit that Canada did play well, but what made this game so heartbreaking was the fact the US was in the lead all the way up to the 57th minute.  Up until that time, the US had shut out the Canadians.  The Canadians hadn't scored a single point but then managed to score 2 in the last 3 minutes to tie the game and go into OT where of course, they scored the winning goal.  So sad!  I suppose the US women should be grateful that they'll still be walking away with a medal. But it's most definitely not the one they were hoping for.

Of course, when it comes to US sports, today has been a topsy-turvy one all around.  On top of the US Women's hockey team failing to gain gold, the US was also shutout of medal contention in Women's figure skating.  While Gracie Gold fell, Wagner did not but still managed to wind up below Gold, which I still haven't quite figured out.  The whole medal round seemed to be a little off-kilter anyway, without even accounting for the Americans.  A Russian won gold, but not the one they were counting on.  The Gold medal favorite won silver and an Italian who wasn't even in medal contention won bronze.  While it's sad to see the Americans off the podium, the 3 that won skated flawlessly and deserved their wins.  Way to go ladies!

Goal!

For someone who understands nothing that happens on a hockey rink, I've found myself quite obsessed with the US Hockey teams (Men and Women) this Olympics.  Luckily I have a hockey fan dad that puts up with my inane questions like, "What's icing mean?", or "Why didn't they get a penalty? or my most common question "Where did the puck go?".  Thank goodness he loves me or I feel he'd throttle me : )  In hockey though, I feel they get the short-end of the stick sometimes in the grand scheme of things.  Most events like figure skating or luge finish up within a day or two so those competitors are able to go enjoy the rest of the Olympics experience.  But hockey (and in the summer, soccer) seems to go on forever.  I've lost count of how many games each team has played but I have to say they've all been thrilling.

This weekend's game between US and Russia was awesome.  The overtime rules were a mystery to me but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.  Today's game with Czechoslovakia wasn't nearly as thrilling as that one, but they had some good plays (from what I can tell - what do I know?)  and grabbed the win to go onto semi-finals (still not the gold medal game- ugh!) While the women finally get to play in the big game tomorrow.  As tired as I am of snow, I'm hoping for a snow day (seeing as it's 55 degrees right now, I'm highly doubting it) tomorrow just so I can stay home and watch the game.  It'll be awesome and I just know it'll be next to impossible to avoid the darn scores all day.

All I have to say, from one clueless fan is Go USA!  Do whatever it is you do with the little puck and the big stick to grab those golds. You all deserve it!  And maybe in 4 years, I'll finally understand what the heck is going on...

Things on a Tuesday

~ I somehow managed to put dinner on the table with relatively no stress and managed to nail all 3 components (thanks to some additional chef-y help).  The corn muffins were the best I've ever made even though I had no sugar and was forced to open about a billion Splenda packets.  And both new pans worked perfectly.  Gotta love non-stick!

~ I'm having some serious restless leg issues at this moment and am squirming like worm. I hate when this happens!

~ In the midst of my new craft room upheaval madness, this article hits a little too close to home.  I'm pretty sure at least 3/4 of these fit me to a tee!

~ Speaking of crafty upheaval, I discovered about 40 different shades of embroidery floss amongst my supplies this evening.  For someone who doesn't really know how to embroider, that's a lot of floss. Also, I have no recollection of buying that much so I'm not sure where it came from exactly...

~ When I woke up this morning there was a new 1 inch of snow covering the old 6 inches but when I left work this afternoon it was 55 degrees outside.  And yet, there is a possibility of a few more flurries this evening.

~ Even after a long weekend and a snow day last week, I'm hoping and wishing for another snow day on Friday.  Mostly, so I can watch the Women's Hockey Gold Medal game.  Is that wrong?

Craft Room Redo

I'm not sure when I got it in my head to re-do my whole craft room but I'm sure Pinterest had something to do with it.  Below are the pictures of a person whose craft supplies are slowly drowning her. It's all my fault of course - I've never met an AC Moore or Michaels (or especially Hobby Lobby) that I didn't like.   But seeing as the supplies have quite overflowed the space, it's almost impossible to use the room for actual crafting.  So that means the craft supplies get carried to the living room which just makes a bigger mess.  Do you see the dilemma here?  Anyway, the ribbon glass jar from Saturday (which has already reached capacity mind you) was the first step in the grand master plan that really hasn't been thought out yet.  Step 2 is the stack of cubes you see below.  While annoying as heck to put together (Side note: I have no feminist tendencies therefore if some great big strapping Prince Charming would like to stop by and help me put these together - he'd be more than welcome!) they're fairly helpful in the grand scheme of things - provided I figure out what that is...

Romeo, Romeo...

It would seem that Broadway has finally taken a cue from the British theatres and started filming some of their shows.  Ok, maybe not some of their shows, as this is the only one I've noticed so far, but I'm hoping for a trend.  In this case, I'm thinking since Orlando Bloom is such a big name, they decided to appease all the Legolas-lovers.  The show itself was pretty good.  I've never been a big fan of Romeo and Juliet but I've never actually seen it produced live.  Orlando Bloom was quite good but you could tell that the producers knew who the audience was going to be due to the random shirtless scene thrown in for good measure.  

Hopefully, if they continue with this, they'll learn a bit more from their British counterparts.  I'm not sure if they had an interval originally, but you never saw it in the filmed production.  There was most definitely a space that looked like it was going to be the interval (which would have been helpful seeing as I had much too much Hot Tea before the movie started) but the show went on. During the few British filmed shows I've seen, they've always had interviews during the intervals and a host to help the evening along.  But other than that, it was quite well done and I have my fingers crossed that we'll be seeing more.

Crafty Cleanup

You could say I have big plans.  Pinterest has inspired me to clean up the utter craziness of my craft room. But when I say I have big plans, what I mean is that I've pinned about 30 ideas- all of which are meant for rooms much larger than mine.  However, Michael's had their craft cubes 50% off today so I jumped on the cleanup train with no particular plan and plunged on in. Hopefully, after the next few weeks, there will be a set plan or at least a direction of where I'm going.  That usually makes organization just a bit easier.  But for now at least my ribbon is pretty and organized (Pinterest idea #1).  One craft supply down, about 452 to go...

Friday Five: Olympics Week One Edition

1. Justin Wadsworth: While everyone else at the Ski park watched Anton Gafarov struggle on a broken ski after a fall.  Justin, a coach for the Canadians, ran over and gave him one of his own skis so that he was able to finish the race.  Wadsworth showcased everything the Olympics represent and worked his way into the hearts of millions.

2. The US Slopestyle Boys:  Seeing as this is the first year Slopestyle has made it into the Olympics, we've heard quite a bit about it.  We assumed that Shaun White would bring the US a gold in the snowboard slopestyle but that wasn't to be when he was forced to withdraw to focus on his other event.  But after the hoopla from that decision died down, it was time for ski slopestyle.  The US had 3 competitors in the event and they somehow managed to sweep the medal stand.  It was awesome to see 3 US flags raised over 3 of the coolest guys around.  Way to go boys!  

3. Noelle Pikus-Pace:  While the last 2 runs of the Skeleton event haven't been shown in primetime yet, I unfortunately know who won already.  I say unfortunately because I was hoping to watch it this evening and keep it a surprise, but MSN spoiled it for me again. Anyway, it's still awesome to see (spoiler alert!) Noelle was able to grab silver!  She and her adorable family (2 kids and a husband and about 20 other relatives) are pretty amazing.  I was hoping she'd be able to grab gold seeing as she's been racing fantastically and has been so positive the entire way.  But I'm just happy she was able to take any medal - she most definitely deserved it! (Anyone who chooses to propel themselves down an ice luge at 90 miles an hour head first deserves any medal they receive!)

4. US Hockey: I'll be honest here, I have a very hard time following hockey.  I don't understand everything that happens and the puck is very, very small and therefore I lose it quite a lot.  But that doesn't make it any less thrilling.  It's great to see the Men and the Women doing so well.  I know they have a rough road ahead seeing as they have to play Canada and Russia yet, but I'm hoping for some medals for them.  Once again, anyone who is willing to play such a rough sport deserves all sorts of acclaim and recognition.

5. Scott Hamilton: I know he's not competing anymore.  That doesn't stop me from loving him!  He's been doing this commentary for years and years now but it's so nice to have his voice explaining all sorts of triple sowcows and toe loops each Olympics.  He seems to absolutely love the sport and of course he knows his stuff.  But he's also (from what I can tell) just about the coolest person ever.  He's just one of those guys you want to have dinner with.  Love me some Scottie!

And one thing that I have to complain about: 

Dear MSN and all other news sites,

If you're going to spoil tonight's primetime scores, add a spoiler alert.  Don't just splash the headline all over your front page. Some people would still like to watch them this evening.

Sincerely,
A disgruntled fan

Snow Day!

Isn't it pretty?  I happen to hate snow usually, but based on all the news reports that were guaranteeing the blizzard to end all blizzards, I was very much counting on a snow day.  Had it not snowed, I would have been quite grumpy, but thankfully it did.  Of course, there was lots of eating, lots of warm beverages, lots of Facebooking and the one thing I hadn't thought about (for some unknown reason) lots of shoveling. Aside from the shoveling, it was a perfect snow day! Now only one more day of work, then a 3 day weekend.  Woohoo!

Four Me

Seeing as how I was much too busy today wishing and hoping for the impending snowstorm that I fear I've jinxed by wishing and hoping for it so hard, I didn't really get much accomplished that would make for an exciting blog post.  But lucky for you, I did some reading today and found this lovely idea, so I thought I'd give it a shot. (For the record, I have no idea why it's 4 but that is my favorite number so I'm going with it ; )

Four Movies I Watch Over and Over:
1. "Love, Actually" - How can you not?  It's a classic!
2. "Mama Mia"
3. "Dead Poets Society"
4. "The King's Speech"

Four Places I've Lived:
1. My parent's house in Maryland
2. College for a miserable year with the world's worst roommate
3. My house in Maryland
4.  Since I've only ever lived in 3 places, I'll go with wishful thinking and say London England

Four TV Shows I Watch:
1. Sherlock
2. NCIS
3. The Big Bang Theory
4. Doctor Who

Four Books I've Read:
1. The Harry Potter Series
2. A Cook's Tour by Anthony Bourdain
3. Bookends by Jane Green
4. The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Four Places I've Been on Vacation:
1. Ocean City, Maryland
2. London, England
3. Phoenix, Arizona
4. San Francisco, California

Four Website I Visit Daily:
1. Anglophenia (BBC America's Blog)
2. Pinterest - There's a strict regimen here.  Main page then Geek, Food, DIY, Home Décor in that order, then Repeat as necessary.
3. Huffington Post
4. Facebook - I'd love to say I don't but I'm on there entirely more than is healthy.

Four Favorite Foods:
1. Chocolate in all forms
2. Eggplant
3. Tea - Not really a food but I do consume an ungodly amount of it so I'm counting it.
4. Pasta

Four Places I'd Rather Be
1.  London England - Did you really expect anything different?
2. On a beach somewhere with my toes in the sand and my nose in a book
3. Nibbling a waffle as I walk through the Grand Place in Belgium
4. Seeing a show in Stratford Upon Avon at the RST

Snows a' Coming...Yet Again

Things that make me sad about the impending Snow Storm:

It's even colder than the usual cold which increases the number of blankets and layers I'll need to stay warm.
I'll have to use my PTO to get the day off rather than get a free day off like when I was teaching.  Seeing as though I'm still making up time from the last snow day, this is irksome to say the least.
Shoveling will be necessary and required.
My car will once again change colors from Sizzling Crimson Mica to a fairly ugly shade of gray due to salt from the roads.  And will most likely stay that color for weeks based on the darn car wash not being in service because of the temperature.


Things that make me happy about the impending Snow Storm:

A day off, is a day off no matter how you shake it. This means lots of warm drinks and fun foods, a chance to play with the new laminator  and watch all sorts of Olympics coverage.


Snow sucks but now that I think about it, bring it on!  Warm and cozy, beats boring and busy any day!

Happy 50th Fab Four!

Admittedly, seeing as though yesterday was the 50th anniversary of their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, I should have posted this last night but I was a little too caught up in the Olympics fun.  I love and have always loved the Beatles.  I've never understood the question: The Beatles or The Stones?  The Rolling Stones are no where near as prolific as the Beatles and have never put out the sheer number of songs and albums the Beatles had in the few years they were together.  (Also, Paul will always be cuter than Mick!) I only wish John and George were still here today to see the trail they blazed all those years ago.

While I can probably sing each and every song they released, this one is by far my favorite. It's been my ringtone for years now.  It is basically on a constant loop in my head.  I don't know why of all the amazing music, this one is at the top, but I just can't resist belting it out when I hear it - which as you can imagine, makes phone calls in public slightly awkward : )

                            

Thanks Fab Four!  You created quite the soundtrack that pretty much everyone can appreciate and we're eternally grateful!

Olympics Rehash

Surprising: 
I have to admit after all the opening issues that were mentioned last week, the bar was set pretty low for these games, which is sad.  However, having an American bobsledder bust out of a bathroom because he was stuck inside is just a bit over the top on the embarrassing scale if you ask me.  More power to the guy, because I'd still be stuck in the darn bathroom.  But I guess that's why he's there and I'm here writing about him.  

Also, the story making the rounds from the Daily Currant regarding the man responsible for the Olympic Rings light up mishap being found dead is umbelievable.  Apparently, the Daily Currant is a fake news satire site.  And if people would have read the story, they would have noticed it was much too ridiculous to be true.  However, that didn't stop it from making the rounds of Social Media.

Uplifting:  
As usual, the spectators that have gone to Russia to see their athletes compete are doing their best at cheering them on.  I know there's a huge Russian contingent there, so it's a bit quiet when the Russians aren't competing.  However that doesn't stop family members, teammates and friends cheering their hearts out and supporting the athletes 100%.  It was great to see the ski jump competition earlier today when 2 of the 3 athletes from Poland, lift up their teammate and carry him through the crowds after he won gold.  That's what the Olympics should be about: teamwork.

Seeing athletes from all different age groups compete is pretty awe-inspiring as well.  Just today, I've watched ice skating, ski jumping, hockey and ski triathlon.  The youngest athlete I saw perform was 15 and the oldest was 42.  In sports, that's a pretty big spread.  It's cool to see the older guys showing the younger ones how to get the job done, but it's also neat to see the future of the sports in the younger one's performances.

Confusing: 
Multiple times today, I've thought I was watching different coverage than the announcers. Usually, I can count on them to tell me exactly what the scores are going to be but for some reason, they seem quite unreliable this year.  Penalties they think are going to be called, aren't and scores they think will be high, are low, or vice versa.  I'm not sure what's happening with the judging or the commentating, but it just seems a bit erratic.  

The time difference is also a pain in the neck.  I watched 3 different events today and in all 3 events, the commentators were remarking that if the Russian won, they'd be the first Russian to medal in these games.  I realize they're making do but seriously, I felt like I was in Groundhog day...

Simply, Saturday

I feel like other people's ideas of a nice Saturday are much different than mine.  Mine consisted of trips to 3 different arts & crafts stores, Barnes and Noble and Hallmark, celebrating that this was here:

Ta- Da! (Now what to laminate first?)

 Relaxing in my new super snazzy pjs and reading this.

Along the way, I ate out twice with 3 different people and discovered this site which will only be dangerous for my wallet.  Yep, now that I see it in print, it's a fairly odd way to spend a Saturday, but all the same, it's also the best way.

Friday Five

1. Billy Joel in the Soviet Union: In the summer of 1987 Billy and his family and band all went to play multiple concerts in the Soviet Union. At the time he was the first American to do so in the communist country.  I'm not sure if it was older or just made this year, but I caught a documentary on the tour this week on Shotime.  It was fabulous.  In my mind, Billy Joel can already do no wrong.  But to see footage and hear his thoughts on the whole experience was pretty amazing.  Seeing the country full of optimism, brings hope for the country now, which seems to be back to where they started these days all those years ago. 

2. The Olympics: Every two years, without fail, I get caught up in the hype.  It's quite hard not to.  The stories behind these amazing athletes are just so inspiring.  This year, admittedly, it's hard to have that same sense of wonder and optimism, when you hear about the (let's call them) "issues" they're having in Russia.  Let's hope that the world coming together in solidarity will open the eyes of the Russian government a bit to easing up on the crackdown on people who are different and unique.

3. Sherlock Q&A at the Apple Store in Covent Garden, London: Apparently, in London, one of the many awesome things they do is have Q&As with HUGE movie stars at Apple Stores on a random Tuesday night.  Seriously?!  I'm definitely living in the wrong place. You can catch the whole Q&A on iTunes for free if you have a free 45 minutes.  It's well worth it and completely charming - as usual...

4. I love that major corporations (Google, The Guardian, BBC) are standing up to the Russian government and telling them they won't stand for hate and bullying. Way to go Google!

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." (Olympic Charter)

5. This one might be just a bit shallow but I'm a pretty happy camper that George Clooney is in a new movie.  That means he's all over the talk shows promoting.  He's always charming, always smart and always hilarious.  Not to mention, he's pretty darn cute as well : )

Blurgh...

There is nothing that I hate more in this world than going to the dentist.  It's only compounded by the fact that mine is a not nice lady who thinks I'm a big old ninny because she terrifies me.  It's not fun and it's never pleasant.  However, I secretly exacted my revenge today by sneaking out after she told me to make an appointment at the front desk for a cleaning.  I may or may not make that appointment (I'd need some serious Xanax first) but I am most definitely not making it with her. 

I'm not sure why this issue exists or where it came from but I know it's not going away.  I feel ridiculous, mind you.  But if anything, it's only getting worst.  Someone at work was describing a particularly unpleasant visit the other day and I had to physically leave the room.  It's pathological and hard-wired and if I could stop I would but it's impossible to.  Thank goodness it's over for now and I can go back to ignoring it and crazy dentist dictator lady again.  

I suppose things could be worse.  This will be the only time you'll ever hear me say this in a negative light - I could be in London right now while this is going on.  I was there when they did this 9 years ago and I know exactly what it does to the city.  I only had to put up with it for a day before going home and that was enough to put me over the edge.  Poor London! Hope they're back on track(s) again soon!

Sochi 2014

A few months ago, when word first got out about the crackdown on the LGBT community in Russia, there was a huge movement to revoke the Olympics from Sochi and move them to another country.  I'm sure the thousands of people arriving this week, are wishing that actually happened.  I'm sure it would have been difficult and arduous and completely impossible seeing as plans for the Olympics start years in advance, but it would have shown a solidarity to that community and proved that the IOC and the world as a whole won't stand for hate.  However, it didn't happen.  I'm sure some adjustments have been made and some "restrictions" loosened but the show must go on I suppose.

But back to the thousands that wished it happened.  These thousands, including journalists, athletes, families of athletes, spectators and leaders are arriving in a country that's seemingly completely unprepared for an event of this size.  Rumor has it the Russians have spent $51 million on the games but the state of their Olympic site is by no means reflecting that cost.  After seeing a number of journalists on Twitter today, I have to admit, even if it was the job of a lifetime for me, I'm not sure I'd be staying in the country.  In my head I know, I'd be high-tailing it back to the US.

Some of the things these athletes and journalists are reporting would be funny in any other context.  It's comical to hear these calamaties while I'm safe and sound in my own city, but if I were there, I know for a fact I'd be far from laughing.  You can read the best bits on the Bleacher Report, but so far journalists have complained about having unfinished rooms, no working doorknobs, having contractors asleep in their rooms when they arrived, no televisions in journalist or athlete rooms, no WiFi, no running water that may or may not be dangerous anyway, and a raw-sewage bathroom(I'm not sure I even want to know what that means).  Of course, just in case you were wondering, I've heard that the workers most definitely had time to include photos of Vladimir Putin in most rooms, so there's that. Joanne Barnas even shared this photo which you just have to see to believe.  Apparently some manholes are just coverless.  That shouldn't be dangerous at all...

I know that the Olympics is supposed to be a time for community spirit and optimism, but I can't help but feel badly for the athletes who have been waiting for this moment their entire lives.  They finally reach the pinnacle of their sports and they're told not to leave the Olympic Village because it's unsafe due to threats, but if they stay inside the village, there's no WiFi or television or safe computer access (and in some cases running water).  If only we would have taken the initiative and moved them a few months ago, now the rest of the world is stuck trying to clean up their mess. 

Kitchen Pinning Tuesday

I am by no means a fan of Sloppy Joes.  In theory, they have all of my favorite things going for them, but they're just not my thing.  I'll eat them, but if I can avoid it, I will every time.  So it came as a surprise to me as well, when I found one on Pinterest that actually sounded yummy and that I wanted to try.

So glad I did!  These Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes were delicious!  I've never actually bought A1 before so when I opened it and it was pretty thick (like ketchup as opposed to the soy sauce consistency I was expecting) I was a bit worried.  Also, the beef mixture smells a bit funny, so I was sensing yet another epic fail.  Thank goodness, I was very wrong.  It tasted 100x better than it smelled.  These little babies will most definitely go into the regular rotation.  I recommend using a soft roll though as opposed to the toasted roll.  I was skeptical that a soft roll would be good seeing as it's all sort of mushy  but somehow it all worked together.  

PS: I am about the worst blogger ever and therefore took not a single photo of my delicious dinner, which is why I was forced to steal the original blogger's photo.  Hers is much better than mine would have been anyway.

Super Bowl Recap

~ Despite not loving (ok, strongly disliking) Peyton Manning and his Omaha-shouting ways, I had picked him for a win.  It turns out that I'm just as unreliable with my picks as the Broncos were in that game.  Though based on uniforms alone, I had to go with the Seahwaks - gotta love that green and blue!

~ After finally learning what "Super Bowl Squares" were, I tried my luck and bought one square for $10.  Mostly because I'm much too cheap to spend money on something I still don't really get and too much of a pushover to not buy at least one.  After receiving the numbers 8 and 5 for the first quarter, I wasn't feeling too optimistic.  But somehow in the first 12 seconds the Seahawks pulled out a Safety and a field goal to actually get me a 5 which I thought was impossible (seeing as I have no idea what a Safety even is...).  But, as in most of my attempts at gambling, it was all for naught since the darn Broncos decided to not show up for the Super Bowl.  Seriously, all I would have needed was 4 touchdowns!  Was that so much to ask?!  

~ As in most years that the Ravens aren't playing, the half time show was definitely the highlight of the evening.  I don't really get the whole Red Hot Chili Peppers crashing the awesome Bruno Mars spectacular, wearing no shirts and baggy pants, but I suppose it's a choice.  Thankfully they weren't there long, and Bruno continued to rock out after they left. I only know 2 of his songs, but I have to admit, he was amazing!

~ The commercials, which are usually the highlight, were even so-so this year.  The Doritos winner (Ellicott City native created this one for $300.  Woohoo!), the Budweiser Best buds (cutest ad of the year, hands down!) the Cheerios family (Way to beat the haters from last year with the same super cute family!) and Ellen's Beats headphones were the best.  Outside of that there just wasn't much there.  The Coca-Cola commercial was sweet too. Though I can't believe that so many people are up in arms over them showing a diverse America.  Isn't that why America is so great?  People are allowed to speak different languages, practice different religions, believe in different ideologies.  Grow up people!  (Maybe Coke will beat their haters from last year like Cheerios did this year : )

~ While it was all around boring and the Seahawks truly deserved the win.  They were most definitely the best team and their 12th man should feel proud.  I'm assuming they're half the reason they won anyway.  Before the game, John Harbaugh was talking to a reporter saying that fans aren't usually an issue in a Super Bowl because the stadium is pretty evenly split.  I love John, but for yesterday's game I disagree wholeheartedly.  That stadium was rocking and got considerably louder when the Seahawks took off.

Super Bowl Sunday

Last year on Super Bowl Sunday, there was this to look forward to.  All of Maryland was bathed in purple and the Ravens came out on top which was about the best thing ever. Though this year, Super Bowl Sunday just isn't that enjoyable. Especially seeing as though Peyton and the Broncos have decided not to actually play in this game and my Super Bowl Squares have turned up some truly hideous numbers (5? 1?, Really?!).  

However, there's always food so, you know, that's exciting : )

Brr!

This article is entirely too accurate.  At one time or another I've done all of these things. People don't understand how I can be cold in July but I can.  I've always been this way and the sad part is I'm starting to get used to it.  After this winter where we've seen temperatures plummet to 9 degrees (with wind chills feeling a bit chillier), I'm actually starting to appreciate the 40 degree days.  You know it's a sad state of affairs when you walk outside and feel 38 and think "wow, it's quite warm out this morning."  But just when I think, maybe I've gotten over my freezing-ness, I sit next to a closed window at dinner (as I did this evening) and deal with gossebumps from appetizer to dessert.  Yep, I know I'm strange, but at least, it would seem, there are other consistently shivering, constantly bundling, and always whining people like me out there too.