2016: The Year of Ridiculous Politics

As we get closer and closer to the election, and the candidates go farther and farther off the rails - I've come to a logical conclusion.  They're just too crazy to win.  I think this is the first election in history when I haven't wanted a single candidate to win. Most of them are crazy and the others that aren't completely crazy, I've decided I'm just not a fan of due to some issues with their previous work.  

Take Trump for instance, he's been off the wall, cuckoo for cocoa puffs this entire election.  But this week alone, he swore he didn't see his campaign manager grab a female reporter - which is clearly caught on tape - , hire that campaign manager a lawyer that was arrested himself a few years ago for biting a stripper, and lastly he stated that some sort of punishment is in order for women that have an abortion.  And that's just in the last 48 hours.  And yet, he's still running, still making money and still has votes. What is wrong with America?!  I pick on Trump a lot, but Cruz is almost as bad.  He's just not as big a blow-hard as Trump is. 

With all these feelings, I'm ready to just jump ship, not vote and head to Canada. The issue with that is, if I don't vote, then apparently I'm not allowed to complain about who wins. Also, I'd never forgive myself if Donald Trump managed to win by just a few votes and my vote could have tipped the scale in someone else's direction. It's a running fear I have - a fear that has no basis in political system reality but a fear nonetheless.

Secretly, I have this hope that in about a week, the lovely Joe Biden and the rational Mitt Romney (who would have thought 4 years ago, I would have been wishing for a Mitt Romney race?) are going to come out of their self-imposed non-race, and say: "Just Kidding! We're actually running!"  Then the political establishment of the United States will go back to being, at least mostly, civilized. And we'll have a chance of electing a serious President who won't embarrass the US in front of world leaders or provoke a war over some ridiculous macho talk.  A girl can hope, right?

52 Lists: Week 11

In honor of turning 29 + 4 next week, this week's list is all about me.  This is me right now...I feel like as an addendum to this list, I should mention I know this is a terrible photo.  It's the only one I have that's been taken in the last few days. : )

• Managed to actually grow out my fingernails long enough to have a manicure twice but I am still biting them
• Have very very dark hair for the very first time in my life and am still shocked when I see it in photos or the mirror
• Find it difficult to have to talk a lot of people.  I love being with friends and chatting, but after a while I need some time for me, and not talk.
• Don’t want a pet.  Too much work!
• Actively looking for work outside of Maryland in creative agencies and companies
• Am not nearly as religious that I once was and I’m ok with it.
• Totally obsessed with Twitter and Facebook and can’t go the day without checking multiple times – I’m also ok with this.
• Cycles through loves – cities, countries, jobs, books, etc. Currently, it’s all NYC all the time – though I certainly wouldn’t turn down a trip to London and Austin any time soon.
• LOVE to eat!  Any and all things.  I will literally travel to new places based on restaurants alone. 
• Am socially inept even when I try not to be.
• Totally overwhelmed by Netflix – there are way too many things I want to watch that I just wind up looking through the list without making any decisions
• Have a hard time “sticking the landing.”
• Am snobbish when it comes to food, travel, and grammar.
• Needs just a little bit of chocolate or something sweet after a meal.  I don’t need a HUGE piece of cake, but a small bite of chocolate will make me eternally grateful.
• Hate the taste of Beer, Wine and all alcohol that isn’t tequila in my margarita.
• Use the words “skeptical”, “cool beans”,“thanks a bunch” and “I’m sorry” way, way, way too often.
• Am unabashedly happy when I buy a new book and even happier when I get to sit down and read it. 
• Clueless about makeup and actually doing something with my hair or putting together an outfit – it has everything to do with not sticking the landing.
• HATE pedicures.
• Will randomly decide to teach myself (with the aid of Pinterest) all sorts of crafty endeavors – Crochet, photography, watercolor, project life, etc. 
• Can sing showtunes quite loudly and quite badly at my desk forgetting when others are around (Dance moves included)
• Am angered by rudeness and people being mean
• Am enthralled by creativity and new ideas
• Love dresses in the summer but avoid them with every ounce of my being in the 9 months that aren’t summer due to always freezing my butt off
• Am unable to argue effectively
• Am fairly judgey
• Can’t resist biscuits, anything that comes with a soft-boiled/soft-fried egg, tacos, and banana anything
• Can make a mean scrambled egg, and Green Chile Corn Soup
• Will only drink Iced Tea, Hot Tea, Milk and Water
• Can define complex processes for cooking and baking, listing ingredients, chefs and restaurants, but am often stymied by simple math problems
• Will choose tickets to a live show or a plane ticket to somewhere new over just about anything
• Have a current business plan for the future - winning the lottery
• Have a complex future plan in my head that relies completely on luck and me being not me.

Trivia Tuesday

~ Sitting in a booth rather than a high top table just seems weird after so many weeks of sitting up high.  I'm choosing to go with that as the reason we managed second to last place tonight...

~ Having a stand-in quizmaster is also strangely unsettling.  Especially when the guy sounds like he's auditioning for host of The Price is Right.  Though I must admit he's faster than the usual dude, which I did appreciate.

~ The 1970s is an impossible category for a team that was born in 1980 or after.  We knew not a single answer to any of the 3 questions.  It was sad, really.  I mean we had no idea the Gibbs were responsible for a quarter of the top 100 hits or that Star Wars was the top grossing pic of the decade. 

~ When I couldn't admit knowing the answers to the first 3 questions (thankfully the rest of the team knew them), I assumed it was going to be rough.  I mean, the first question at least is a softball - and I didn't even know that one! 

~ When you get a category called Famous Ladies these days, you're always hoping for the best and expecting the worst.  It was lovely to see the question be about Sandra Day O'Connor rather than a Kardashian.

~ Cheese apparently pre-dates the written word.  My issue with this is, how do we know if people were eating cheese before they were writing if no one was around to write about it?

~ Black Treacle is Molasses in England.  That's a Britishism I had never heard - what's happening to me?

~ Seeing as the Science Teacher of the team wasn't able to come this evening, we of course got questions on anatomy, astrology and the periodic table.  And seeing as the grad student that had just taken a course on Game of Thrones, wasn't here either, we also got a question on that...

Jack & Louisa

I'm a big fan of children's books. I always have been.  Of course I loved them when I was little.  Once a reader, always a reader.  But I still have a soft spot for them - the ones I read when I younger, and brand new ones.  Don't get me wrong, I really do appreciate all the good grown up books as well, but the kids books seem to have the best messages. There are so many children's book authors out there that just get it.  They can write a great story, with beautiful pictures, and spread an awesome message - whether it be a message of creativity, acceptance, or just to have a little fun now and then.

Lately, I've been reading a lot more of them - stemming from the fact that I went to a lot of used book sales and bought quite a few and realizing that there are some major classics (like James and the Giant Peach) I've never read. So add to this my love of theatre, and out pops "Jack & Louisa" - a set of books by some Broadway peeps about 12 year old Musical Theatre Nerds.  And I'm loving them!

Both books are just a fabulous mix of fun, theatre and an awesome message to be yourself. Oh and the book is adorable too - great cover art and each chapter is told from either Jack or Louisa's point of view.  It's a great story of any little theatre lovers out there, or just theatre nerd parents who want to share the love with their kids.  I'm hoping in a few years, I'll have a mini-theatre lover and I just can't wait to share the story with them!

Happy Easter!

Hope your holiday is full of all sorts of wonderful things - family, friends, good and fun! 

Smash-ed

I may be a few years late.  And it may be completely unrealistic.  And it may be completely cliche, but I'm totally falling for Smash.  I can totally see why real theatre people hated it. It's a little melodramatic, and a little - ok, a lot! - but it's very Broadway-ish, which is also awesome! 

You can't deny a show about Broadway, that includes tons of actors that have actually been on Broadway. And the music is just absolutely gorgeous!  I can get behind Katherine McPhee doing something like this.  She's not so hot on Scorpion but on this she's fantastic.  She and Megan Hilty are beyond talented - what I wouldn't give to have their voices. 

My only complaint is that Debra Messing is playing a horrible person.  I know she's supposed to be the main character - isn't she supposed to be likeable?  Why is she such a terrible human being?  She has a lovely husband, a great writing partner, works on Broadway and lives in NY - why does she nag and complain so darn much?!  But other than that, the show is just so darn good.

I thought people at the time that were going on and on about actually creating Bombshell for the stage, were a bit mad. But after hearing the music, I'm sort of hooked.  I'd totally buy a ticket in a heartbeat!

Friday Five

1. "The Real O'Neals": I had my reservations about it, but seriously, it might be the very best comedy to hit television in a while.  It's hilarious!  Just so good!

2. I totally could have written this list on BuzzFeed about how awesome Hamilton is.  Of course, since I haven't seen it, I have no idea if I'll even like it.  I mean, let's be honest here, everyone LOVES Hamilton so it's a good chance I will.  But I've definitely done every one of these things : )

3. Fish are Friends, not Food: This just makes me smile.  I love Bruce in Finding Nemo, so I happen to think this shark is adorable - well, as adorable as a shark can be.

4. After having today off to shop with the mama at the outlets, I've come to the conclusion that if I could have off every Friday, I'd be a much happier human being. However, I'd prefer to happen without having to work 10 hour days Monday-Thursday...

5. My new most favorite Twitter account is @Pres_Bartlet.  I know he's a fictional president created by Aaron Sorkin, but he's the most entertaining character on Twitter.  This week alone, he's chatted with Lin Manuel Miranda, spoken intelligently on how terrible Trump is (always a great way to my heart) and has shared the love for his beloved Notre Dame in the NCAA playoffs.  All the while being hilarious!  

Interviews are Never Fun

Interviews are weird.  Sometimes you sort of want the job because you see it as a means to an end and then you bomb the interview spectacularly like I did a few weeks ago.  And sometimes, you don't actually want the job very much at all, and you rock it.  And then you walk out thinking, well if the interview was that easy, maybe taking the job wouldn't be so bad. What's up with that!?  

I have no interview skills.  There is no rhyme or reason why sometimes I have an out of body experience and watch myself saying ridiculous things that I should never say in an interview and sometimes I'm funny, and witty and charming and delightful.  Absolutely no reason at all.  My thoughts on interviews are always if you're given the chance, take the interview. Even if you walk out hating everything about the job you've just interviewed for, the worst that happened was that you gained experience.  And as someone who goes down in flames terribly about 60% of the time, I'd say experience is never a bad thing!

Of course I say all of this on a day when I was turned down for one job for being "qualified for the position, just not qualified enough" and completely rocked an interview, that I now have to fill out yet another resume for justifying everything I told them in the interview just so they can assure I fit the job requisition.  So basically, what the heck do I know about interviews? : )

52 Lists: Week 11

Seeing that in my life, these shoes pass as snow-worthy footwear, you might already know this, but I'm not a big outdoorsy kind of person.  However there are definitely things I do love to do in the great outdoors - not many, but a few.  None of which take place in the snow, so I have an excuse for not owning snow boots of any kind...

~ I'm a big fan of walking around and taking pictures outside.  Usually in Annapolis but all the time while I'm traveling.

~ I'm not crazy about boats, but I do like kayaking.  I'm also a big fan of really big sailboats - not little ones that look like they'll sink if you look at them funny - but big ones that go fast.

~ Finding restaurants where you can eat outside is my favorite thing to do outdoors.  How can you go wrong with food and sunshine or moonlight?

~ Reading in the sunshine is another favorite of mine.

~ Swimming at the beach or in a pool are fabulous!

~ And while I hate any and all forms of exercises per se, I love taking walks, while I jam to showtunes. 

Trivia Tuesday

~ My extensive knowledge of the Cain and Abel storyline - from watching Supernatural not from attending Catholic School for 13 years mind you - didn't help at all with answering a question regarding Adam and Eve's bloodline. 

~ For some unknown reason the half time question was about world's deadliest animals according to Bill Gates.  While we were able to come up with 2 of the 5, I'm still mostly curious as to why we care what the 5 deadliest animals are in the world according to a tech guru.  Shouldn't we care more about what the World Wildlife Federation has to say than the dude that created computers?

~ It is possible to jump from about 38 feet into a pool of 12 inches of water.  I would not want to be the person to test out that theory.  

~ I'm in a small minority of one on my trivia team that doesn't have any allegiance to Full House.  You would have thought the Super Bowl was on the way my team reacted to Full House coming on in the bar this evening.  I just don't get it.

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald must be the only American writer the question-writers know because every single time we have an American Writer question, the answer is Fitzgerald, so much so that we guessed and wrote Fitzgerald before the question was even asked. 

~ The International Space Station is the second brightest object in the night sky, travels at 5 miles a second and was captained for the longest time by Scott Kelly.  Unfortunately, we only know Scott Kelly.  Also, seeing as this was a Mystery Category, our complete lack of knowledge of anything NASA related, didn't help.

~ But for some reason we did know that the army in China is called the People's Liberation Army - what exactly does that say about us?

~ Who knew being able to correctly list all the 7 dwarves and put them in alphabetical order - the best kind of order! - would ever come in handy?

~ Seems kind of snobby of us but our team only knew when the Maryland leg of the triple Crown occurred.  Yay for pulling out a total guess and Yay for the Derby being in May! 

Pinteresting Dinner

One thing I love about living in the 21st century is being able to go online when I have no idea what to make for dinner and be shown hundreds of photos of yummy meals. It really is a time saver.  Once again, I'm proclaiming my love for Pinterest.  And this time around, I'm also throwing in Pillsbury into my most favorite things list.

These are Baked Egg Crescents and they can be found here. And they are awesome! Unfortunately, I cooked them a teensy bit too long which meant the eggs weren't ooey and gooey like they were supposed to be.  Other than that mini flaw, I'd say these things were an absolute success.  

You used to be able to do this recipe searching in cookbooks before the amazingness of the internet, but I feel it's just so much easier with Pinterest.  Afterall, a cookbook doesn't also have craft projects, travel planning ideas and all the cute dog pictures you could ever want : )

She Loves NY

Every day in New York is lovely, like I said last night.  But when things work perfectly, the trip is just so much better.  I'd had high hopes that the weather would be lovely seeing as it was a day before the first day of spring. Even though it was a bit chilly, I suppose I can't complain too much since it was sunny and not raining - or snowing like it was doing here in Maryland.  That right there, made the beginnings of the day special.

After hemming and hawing for a few days, we decided it would be a great idea to hit the library since neither of us had ever been there.  Unfortunately the gorgeous reading room that everyone thinks of when they think of the NYPL was closed for renovations, but the good thing is the rest of the building is just as beautiful, so it was a great way to waste a little time.  Onward from there, we walked a few blocks down to a pizza place someone recommended.

I have to say, based on the brown lemons, nasty tea, thumping music, and greasy pizza - oh and the complete lack of another single customer other than us - I have no idea why it was recommended.  It was not really the best place to have lunch but lucky for us right around the corner, Baked by Melissa with their glorious mini cupcakes and macarons were there to save us from the awful food.  So delish!  Then it was off to the Drama Bookshop (so dangerous - I bought 5 books, and that wasn't even everything on my list...) and down to Studio 54 to see She Loves Me with Zac Levi and Laura Benanti.  

While it wasn't my favorite, I have to say it was pretty cute.  The best part was the gorgeous set.  It looked like a doll's house full of beautiful bottles and glass.  I loved every piece of it! The bestie of course wanted to wait by the stage door for Zac, which we did.  She got her picture and I managed to embarrass myself in front of a famous person again.  Needless to say there isn't a picture of me and Zac.  Then off to dinner at Playwright's Tavern; then home.  All together just a great day in NYC - full of fun, not the most wonderful food, and friends.

Another Lovely Day

There are definitely days in NYC when everything just goes perfectly.  No snags are hit or plans are changed.  Everything is just lovely.  Know that today was one of those days.  I'll have much more to say after I've had a chance to think about all the wonderful things that happened.  But this evening I will definitely go to bed with a smile on my face, that may or may not look like this one...

Friday Five

1. Because the current election cycle is what it is, I'm just going to keep on dreaming that President Bartlet is actually running and will one day be the actual President of the United States, especially when he says such dreamy things.  Somehow, I doubt this President ever called for wall around the US...

2. If you're a fan of Harry Potter, or a fan of Hamilton or just a fan of smart people saying delightful things, you owe it to yourself to watch these 4 videos of Emma Watson interviewing Lin Manuel Miranda for HeforShe.  It's a fantastic interview full of smart things being said, Hogwarts house sorting and even some freestyle rap thrown in for good measure. Such a great use of 40 minutes!

3. This little guy courtesy of the Baltimore Sun is about the cutest St. Paddy's Day leprechaun ever!  Of course he also looks like he's silently cursing his owner for putting him in this outfit...

4. Super excited that the James Beard Nominations came out this week - not only did Isaac Toups and Kevin Gillespie get nominated but Jonathan Waxman did as well.  And in the food media category, my personal favorite food blog - Serious Eats - did too!

5. I love creative commercials, and while these aren't groundbreaking, they are super cute.  I think my fave is Arnold Palmer - though I'm always up for Phil and Jordan too.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

I'm not Irish.  I'm not a fan of beer.  So I've never been a huge fan of St. Patrick's Day. It's a lovely holiday, don't get me wrong. But I'm never out there partying with the green-wearing revelers at the bars until late into the night. 

I do admit to loving me some corned beef though.  So that's why I was pretty darn happy to see Slainte - the Irish food truck - visiting my office today.  Yum, Yum, Yum! I had planned to get Potato Leek soup, but the sales lady was very, very good at her job and talked me into getting an Irish Cheesesteak - made with Guiness Cheese sauce and corned beef.  So very unhealthy, but so very, very delicious!  

Hope your holiday is full of family, friends, and lots and lots of green!

52 Lists: Week 10

While compiling the list of the sites I visit EVERY day, I've learned 2 things.  One, I'm quite predictable in my site visiting as well as the order in which I visit them.  And two, the sites I visit are ridiculous.  No deep thoughts there...

There's the serious addiction to Social Media.  To be fair, I hardly ever post, but I do love looking at everyone else's posts. I'm quite partial to Twitter and Pinterest...

Then there's the requisite email check - usually full of stores wanting me to buy things.

Then I head over to Feedly Reader to read up on all the blogs that were post over night.  I have mostly crafting, food and entertainment blogs. I usually gravitate to articles posted by BuzzFeed, Studio Calico and TV Line. 

                                                                                                           

Then I actually start reading intelligent articles.  I like to check the news overnight and since the NY Times and the Baltimore Sun require you to actually pay for a subscription, I tend to go to the Huffington Post for the big headlines - the big headlines that is, that I didn't see already on Twitter.

Lastly, if I find something fabulous on Twitter, I head over to Broadway.com, NY Times Arts section, NY Times Travel section and Serious Eats.

Oh and last, but not least, it's most definitely a trip to YouTube - usually while I'm reading to listen to a loop of about 20 music videos that are my faves.  It's a pretty great playlist - wish there was a way to get it on my iPod!

 Like I said, there's not a lot of big thoughts happening on my daily internet searches.  However, there doesn't seem to be a lot of big thoughts happening in the hard news these days, so why not enjoy myself? 

Trivia Tuesday

~ Clarence Thomas is a Supreme Court Justice.  Clarence the angel is not.

~ Even when I love a category, I may not be able to answer the question.  So happy to finally get a Shakespeare question but so not happy to get a question on Julius Caesar...

~ Sometimes only knowing one of something helps.  Jose Cuervo is the most sold Tequila in the world.  It helped that Jose Cuervo was the only type of tequila we could name.

~ Our team really, really, really sucks at Geography.  Turns out though the question-writers really, really, really like geography questions.

~ The way actresses like Paris Hilton, the Kardashians and Zooey Deschanel speak has a technical name - Vocal Fry.  I'm 100% sure I've never heard that term until tonight.  I wouldn't even say the actresses sound the same so that's going to require some serious research.

~ Stupid pharmaceutical ads that run during every single commercial break finally have a use - helping teams guess the answer to a question on the common name of Loratadine. (Claritin if you don't watch as much tv as I do)

~ Equating a question on a manx cat to Friends is not a smart idea.  We were sure the ugly cat that Rachel loved in that one episode was a manx.  Not so much... Also, the category of "Cats" is disappointing when a question on the musical is not asked.

~ I finally know what a scratch golfer is! And we got points for guessing it.  

~ I won't be disowned by my mother since we were able to correctly answer a question on diamonds.

~ Things unrelated to trivia I learned:
    ~ Whether shots are pink, green or some mixture of them both, they will still be horrible.
    ~ One of my team-mates and her friends dressed up as the Addams Family one year for 
    Halloween then the 7 Deadly Sins the next, and incidentally Lust was sent home from 
    school for being inappropriate.
   ~ A teeny tiny ice cream sundae at the Green Turtle is only $.99.

Happy Pi Day!

As someone who is categorically anti-math, there aren't often math related things that I celebrate.  However, when those math related things correlate with pie I'm all in. Who doesn't love pie?  However, this year was a little less impressive than last. 

Last year I was so organized and together, this happened:

This year - not so much.  For some reason this time change is killing me.  I'm a big fan of it being light in the evening, but waking up to darkness and driving to work in the dark is totally for the birds.  I can't make myself do anything, including remember to make pie for the only math holiday I celebrate.  I did manage to make a sort of pie-baked item hybrid.  

But that item was completely off book and we all know what happens when I decide to go off book - madness. The filling was made from chicken, chiles, corn, spices and green enchilada soup which was just a little too thick.  Then the "crust" was made with bisquick biscuits. And quite honestly, it was beautiful (if not ridiculously heavy) when it came from the oven. Until I had to scoop into it and realized the biscuits weren't cooked all the way through. Seriously!?  Nothing a few more minutes in the oven wouldn't fix, but by that time I was so over it.  

Oh well, at least it didn't taste terrible.  And I had Hamilton #BamforHam clips to watch to drown my sorrows.  All in all a productive pi (pie-less) day.

Let Your Freak Flag Fly

I never really got the whole Shrek thing.  I mean, I loved the movie.  It was original and sweet and had a great message.  But out of all the amazing animated movies out there, I never really got why they decided to make it into a Broadway musical.  There had to be easier movies to translate.  The Scottish accent alone was going to be a bear, not even factoring in dressing an actor in 25 pounds of ogre-ness.  But they made it and I avoided it. Until today.

Earlier this week, as I said, I was so inclined to paint Shrek for no other reason than it popped into my head. And to my own surprise he turned out quite cute (even if I do say so myself). But he needed something a little extra so I searched some Shrek quotes and found an absolutely perfect one: What makes us special, makes us strong.  How great is that!?  It was then that I realized it was from the show and not the movie.  So since Netflix is so kind to provide, I decided to watch it.

And I have to say it was so much better than I could have thought.  Honestly, it's most definitely geared toward kids so if fart jokes aren't your thing, you're likely to not fancy it. However, if you can look past that and focus on everything else you'll fall for it. Because of the challenges the costuming department had, I was most focused on what the characters were wearing and how they were changing.  They did an extraordinary job!  Every fairy tale character looked exactly as I'd imagine they'd look.  I can only hope the creatives behind the scenes picked up a Tony for their hard work.

And even with 25 pounds of ogre costuming for Shrek, needing to dance on one's knees for Lord Farquad and wearing donkey suit for Donkey, the entire cast managed to give really funny and really beautiful performances.  After all the singing is the best part of any musical, and these actors managed to do it through all the craziness and costuming.  And they were good.  No, not just good, they were outstanding.  You couldn't have asked for better actors to take on those challenges.

I was so wrong about why on earth anyone would have made this into a musical.  The creators, cast and crew decided to let their freak flags fly, and I'm so happy they did!

How I Spent my Saturday

Today I discovered Heaven on Earth.  Ok, maybe not Heaven but it certainly felt like it.  These super cool ladies and I drove hours and hours (just 2.5 but it felt like forever!) to Green Valley West Virginia to Book Fair.  Book Fair is a glorious place chock full of books - but not just books, books at a super discount.  We're talking 1.00 for some paperbacks and 3 or 4 dollars for hardbacks.  And they aren't even used, they're brand spanking new.  It was fabulous!  I may or may not have bought tons of books - some adult books, loads of food books and some kids books that I've been eyeing for a while.  My one and only minor complaint is that the travel writing section was about 6 books.  Other than that, this place is my new most favorite place in the East!

Friday Five

1. Someone posted this on Twitter on International Women's Day and I just fell in love with it.  Such a cute message for girl power!

2. I like pink as much as the next girl, but I'm not sure why pink is the international color for girls in general. What I really don't understand is why women need a pink pen specifically for them.  Apparently Bic thought they did and proceeded to introduce Pens for her.  Yep, they're as ridiculous as they sound, however when this company accidentally received a box of them, they replied perfectly.  I love it!

3. Supernatural is getting a 12th season!  Woohoo!  I was a little worried, but the CW made my day today by making the announcement.  I have to say, the DC Con I'm attending in just a few weeks would be quite a sad affair if that hadn't been the case. 

4. Some people have a soft spot for the Disney classics, while others love Toy Story.  But my very favorite Disney movie is Finding Nemo.  I just think it's the perfect movie from start to finish.  The stories, the characters, the graphics - everything is just so beautiful.  That's exactly why I'm so darn excited to see the sequel revolving around my favorite character, Dory!  I'm pretty confident based on this trailer that it will be every bit as fabulous as the first movie. 

5. I have this dream that I won't need Match.com to meet Prince Charming afterall; that this in deed will happen to me.  Though no news yet...

Living in the Future is Not Always Awesome

I haven't talked much about the presidential race lately, mostly because it's too depressing. It's like watching a terrible reality show play out night after night.  Between the rallies and the debates, the name-calling and back-biting is completely out of hand.  None of these candidates deserve to hold the title of President.  To think the same Oval office that held the likes of John Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt is going to see one of these candidates as its next resident is just unfathomable.

I like to say that I can't stand to live in an America where I would have to say the words President Trump.  It's my current reaction to every political story I hear - mostly because every single news outlet treats Trump as the only candidate. And while I also equally don't want any of the others to win either, the rest of the candidates don't hold a candle to the ridiculousness of Donald Trump.  They are equally bad in their own ways.  They're just not as pompous and in your face about their crazy.  And the fact that they all seem to take out their hate for each other daily on a national stage is just making this race so hard to watch.

Most opponents tend to not like each other.  It's par for the course. But in the past, they've at least showed the other side some respect.  But respect seems to have gone by the wayside in this race, along with dignity and intelligence.  So, that brings me to what I find so darn confounding, then in the current race for the presidency.  These candidates have spent the last 6 months dragging each other through the mud.  And when I say each other, it mostly refers to the other candidates slinging mud at Donald Trump while he slings it right back. Why focus on the issues you claim to hold, when you can just focus on how much the other guy sucks?

So, why then, once certain candidates have decided they don't stand a chance, do they decide to endorse the candidate they've been warning everyone about for the last 6 months? Exhibits A and B are Governor Chris Christie and Ben Carson, who have both decided to endorse Donald Trump.  Carson was one of Trump's biggest denouncers.  You could tell how much he loathed the man just by what he said, and yet now he's jumping on the bandwagon. What?! This is why he keeps getting votes.  It's like Trump is just handing out the kool aid and these people are drinking it right up.  

At some point I'm thinking Lorne Michaels is going to jump up and say "Just kidding! This was all an elaborate sketch for Saturday Night Live." And at that time Joe Biden and Mitt Romney will announce that they're actually running for president, and America will become civilized again.  Right?  I mean, a girl can dream, can't she? 

Shh! It's a Secret

One thing I do love about Baltimore is its thriving food scene.  We have tons of great restaurants and loads of fun food events like the Emporiyum or the Food Truck Gatherings. This year yet another awesome event has been added to the roster: Baltimore Secret Supper. Sponsored by the Baltimore Sun, diners reserve a seat and pay a set price.  Then on the very morning of the event, diners will finally find out where the dinner will be held.  And not until you're actually at the restaurant, will you find out what you'll be eating. It's a risky concept if you're picky, but my friend and I were up to the challenge.

We were quite lucky to find out that the supper we would be attending this evening was being held at Aggio (also known as one of the restaurants in Bryan Voltaggio's fleet of restaurants, and the one I've been dying to try!)  When we first arrived we were given a signature cocktail (something with carbonation, vodka and mint - not my thing) and shown to a communal table.  From there, we were served the best food of the night.  And these were just the appetizers. The Parmesan funnel cake and the foccacia with whipped burrata and mortadella mousse were out of this world. I literally could have been content to eat nothing else but more of the same for the rest of the night.  But there were 4 more courses with wine pairings to come.  Well not wine pairings for me, I stuck with iced tea (as usual...)

First up was fluke marinated in beet juice, with chile, lime juice and wasabi burrata.  I was willing to go with them on the fluke but the beet juice and wasabi were just a little too much for me. 

Then it was on to more beets - roasted this time with burrata, grape leaves, and pistachios.  Way too many beets for me - in that the entire dish was one big warm beet.  When did beets become the next big ingredient?

Finally the pasta dish - now you're speaking my language.  This dish was handmade pasta boiled in red wine (instead of water) with chicken sausage and a 63 degree egg.  My favorite of the evening.  Runny eggs just make everything that much richer and more delicious!

Last up was a dessert of pannetone, pistachios and gelato.  Good, but where's the chocolate?  Every dessert needs chocolate in my opinion.

Even though I wasn't crazy about the menu, I have to admit it was quite fun getting a chance to try these fancy schmancy dishes.  I never would have ordered them myself but I loved getting a chance to see how beautifully plated and conceived they all were.  All in all, a great event and I'm anxiously awaiting the next to see where it will take us.

Trivia Tuesday

~ Sitting in an entirely new section of the restaurant, in an uncomfortable table facing the wall, increases the intelligence of the team 10 fold.  Who knew?

~ I'm the only person - in the history of the world - that doesn't feel better after "crying it out."

~ Seeing as I live so close to DC and Fort Meade and work in Technology, I should really have known who the Secretary of Defense is.  Also, seeing as we had this exact question just a few weeks ago, I should have remembered the answer.  Nope! (Ashton Carter in case you were wondering - a name that doesn't even sound the faintest bit familiar)

~ When given the option of 4 answers, and then narrowing it down to 2 - always choose one of the other 2 you didn't narrow it down to.  That's the way trivia logic works.

~ Not only were we finally able to get a spelling question correct, but we actually knew what the word was going to be before the definition was fully read. Usually we guess an entirely different word before the question-asker says what word it will be.

~ The inventor of the Pringles can had his ashes buried in one.  An event I have never heard about (I don't even like Pringles) but somehow managed to correctly guess. 

~ It's better to order your chicken fingers in a cone and then order your french fries separately just to make sure you get a plate instead of a basket for your food.  The rest of the team will laugh at you a great deal if those fries come in a basket anyway!

~ There is a tunnel in Brooklyn NY that is longer than the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.  I don't know about you, but almost 2 miles in a tunnel seems like my worst nightmare.

~ The President Pro Tempor is the 3rd in line for the presidency.  I'm fairly certain that this job was created specifically for the Trivia game, because I know I've never learned about any such position in the government. No recollection whatsoever.

~ Even with limited Harry Potter knowledge, I can still differentiate my squibs from my mudbloods. 

52 Lists: Week 9

This week's list is going up a wee bit early for 2 reasons: One, today is Monday and nothing good ever happens on Monday to write about and Two, I'm going somewhere super cool later in the week and I'll want to talk about then, not my list.  Therefore, this week's list is my Pet Peeves. 

I don't have many pet peeves, but the few I do have are felt quite strongly.  Remember how I said I was judgey in last week's list? It's most often because people do one of these things: (BTW, this photo is a perfect representation of my "I'm not so silently judging you" face)

Rudeness - There's no excuse not to be nice to people.  It only takes a minute to say please or thank you or just smile.  Don't be a jerk.

Bad grammar - Oh, grammar, I love you so!  People go to school and learn grammar rules for a reason. You just sound like a moron when you don't use them properly.  (This was posted on Facebook a few weeks ago, and no truer statement has ever been written : )

Close-Mindedness - You don't always have to agree with everything I say (though things would be a whole lot easier if you did), but don't just shut down when you hear another opinion.  Listen to it, then if you still aren't convinced, agree to disagree.  I'm not an idiot because I don't agree with you and you're not an idiot for not agreeing with me.

Snobbish Behavior and/or Arrogance - We're not all perfect, so get over yourself.  I promise to not look my nose down at you, if you'll promise to do the same.  

General Not Nice Behavior - I will agree that I'm often a little too nice in situations where I should be a little angrier.  However, I'm all for people being nice.  I just don't understand the attitudes some people have.  It's so much easier to be nice.  Compliment others.  Smile at them.  Ask them questions about their day.  I promise you'll be a happier person.

Isn't She Crafty?

I'm one of those people that walk around stores and think "I could make that." Then I spend hours upon hours and 3 times the amount of money it would have cost to just buy the item, to make it.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  You wouldn't believe the number of half made projects I have laying around my house.

So when the whole watercolor craze kicked up, obviously, I decided " I can do that." And based on my first attempt, this is one of those times when I actually can do that.  The best part is, it's actually quite fun.  Don't ask me why I decided to paint Shrek. I was on Etsy last night. There were cute typographic quotes from movies.  One thing led to another, and out popped Shrek.  

What I now have to figure out is how to print on watercolor paper, so I can add some super cute quote to it.  I mean he's fairly adorable, but right now he's just half a head.  It definitely needs something else. But thanks to Pinterest, I have quite a few ideas of what to add.  

Long live craftiness!

Rock and Roll is Here to Stay

Every year, the local high school stages a Rock and Roll Revival.  It's the largest high school production I've ever seen consisting of a full student band, hundreds of costumes, intricate choreography and dozens of students participating.  And every year I'm blown away by the sheer talent of these kids.  They're amazing!  The songs range from classics from the 40s and 50s all the way up to the 90s now.  

There's a wide range of songs too, all perfectly chosen for the kid or kids that sing it. Other than one mis-step (I hardly think Barbie Girl is a good song or an appropriate song), the song choices were fantastic.  It must be a blast to go out and sing and dance these awesome numbers for 2 weekends.  I can only imaging the amount of time and energy that goes into staging this show.  I only wish my school would have had something like this and that I would have had the guts to try out.  

Such a fun night and one that I look forward to every year!

Friday Five

1. Giving something new a shot, like, for instance, dyeing my hair super dark.  I can't quite pick myself out of a line up yet, but I am most definitely loving it!

2. Girls night out with dinner and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.  Such a great movie!  Who doesn't want to be Tina Fey?  With the added bonuses of a girl power message and cutie-patootie Martin Freeman.  I highly recommend it!

3. I have always felt that Miranda Hart is just a taller, more British version of me.  After reading these quotes, I feel even more strongly that this is true.  I suppose if you're going to be socially inept, you can't pick a better role model. 

4. Such a sweet story (that you may only be able to read on your phone, thanks to the WSJ's stupid subscription service!) on behind the scenes Broadway.  Such a fun little "inside baseball" look at the families that are built inside long running shows. 

5. If you're going to be forced to deal with the ridiculousness of this year's election cycle, the worst being the Republican debates that are quickly turning into a carnival side-show, then at least you need to be able to laugh about it.  This review of last night's chaos so eloquently points out the "most important" moments for anyone who may have missed it.  Serious journalism here...