Monday, September 6, 2010

Jewels & Sandwiches

Why I became a Stella & Dot Stylist...

When I was in college I was told that as soon as I graduated I would be making $40,000 a year.

That didn't happen.

Recently, I have filled out several job applications. While doing so I realized that every position I have held since college has been eliminated due to budget cuts. Thank you economy!

I have also just given birth to my first child, Collin, the most precious baby in the whole world! I acquired a job a few months after staying home with him. About 2 weeks into that job I found myself miserable and missing my baby terribly.

This is where Stella & Dot came in!

My lovely friend Blair introduced me to the company. I am very excited about the opportunity to work from home, dictate my own hours, and most importantly spend more time with Collin! It doesn't hurt that Stella & Dot jewelry is so fun and stylish! It practically sells itself!

As I grow my business I hope to have a lot of fun, meet new friends, make a living to be proud of, and look good doing it!

In conclusion I'd like to thank my savior Jesus for continuing to provide for my every need, my husband Brad for his loving support of my new adventure, Collin for his patience with mommy, and YOU for your support!


Recently I've made some yummy things: spinach dip, honey orange glaze, and Philly cheesesteaks sandwiches.

Spinach dip:
1 10 oz pack frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cans artichoke hearts
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup parmesan cheese grated
1 cup monetary pepper Jack cheese grated
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Butter bottom of 9x13 pan, preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients except pepper Jack cheese in large bowl, spread into 9x13 pan. Top with pepper Jack cheese. Bake about 30 mins. Serve with tortilla chips. So freaking delicious!!!!

More later!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Hello.

Why didn't anyone tell me how pasty I had become? Since acquiring a suntan I realize how gross my complexion was prior. I feel much better now, thank you.

My picks from our netflix account have finally started to arrive. My first pick: "Amelia" was one of the worst movies I've ever had the misfortune of viewing. It wasn't the story, because I already knew the general gist of it, thanks to attending the second grade. It was terribly edited and was inconsistently narrated. It made little sense and was long and BORING. Don't waste you're time.

My second pick I watched this morning while going about my morning routine. "Miss Potter" starring Rene Zellweger was delightfully charming. I've renewed my desire to own a B&B. The Victorian interiors are so interesting and the English landscapes breathtaking. I'd definitely want a home there as well as one ON the Florida beach, or any tropical beach really. I digress. The movie was very sweet. I highly recommend adding it to your queue or picking it up from Blockbuster. I won't go into further detail as to not give any of the story away.

My little sunshine has begun to babble. Lots and lots of babbling. He has such a look of desire in his eye when he "speaks" I almost feel bad that I can't interpret. I'm very excited to hear what he has to say when real words and sentences start to come together.
He has also discovered himself. He kicks his legs just to watch them move. He stuffs his entire hand in his mouth. I've had to remove it due to his gag reflex kicking in and his sense of cause and effect not... Silly!

If the Today Show does one more segment of bed bugs I'm going to scream!!!

Gross!

Brad and I honeymooned in Jamaica at Sandals Ocho Rios. That's a story for another time, but while we were there I decided that jerk chicken is delicious. A few weeks ago I prepared a similar chicken dish that I hope to execute better tonight. I put a package of Publix Green wise drumsticks into a ziplock with molasses, a bottle of beer, some chicken stock, Whole Foods Caribbean seasoning, garlic powder, and some kosher salt. That is still sitting in my refrigerator. This evening I will bake it covered in the brine at 350 for 30 mins-ish. Next step is to pat the chicken dry and then slather it with a mixture of butter and the Caribbean seasoning. Onto the grill it goes until it has some delicious grill marks and is NOT burned this time :) hehe! YUM!!!!

"Jeggings" are an abomination. That word is like poop coming out of your mouth, disgusting! The mixture of the words "jeans" and "leggings" to express the thought of leggings that resemble jeans, obviously. Duh. I don't have much to say of the style of these silly new additions to the world of fashion. I don't particularly care for them. I believe you must possess the "right" body type to look right in them. Perhaps the same body type that is REQUIRED to look good in Capri pants. Skinny. Little to no butt or thighs. Pre-pubescent. Period. If you're a mom, you pretty much have no business ever, EVER wearing capris. They make your butt look like an explosion. Wear full length pants or longer short with a wider leg. Nothing should cling to you tookus. It's unflattering. UNLESS you are blessed with skinny-ness, then by all means. Wear capris.

I've started Christmas shopping. I have a lot purchased so far. I'm very proud. I would rather buy nice things now while they are on sale than to buy crap later because I couldn't afford something decent... Or worse break the bank just to avoid feeling like a junk gift giver. Give it a try! There are tons of clearance sales right now. And when you live in Florida you can buy end of the season "summer clothes" because we can wear those outfits pretty much year round :)

Brad and I visited the dermatologist yesterday. No big deal. I was recommended this particular doctor by a friend's mother. She gave me his name, Igor Chaplick. She explained that he is a Russian Jew, so my imagination immediately went to: Older gentleman that might resemble Quasi Moto. With a name like Igor, what do you expect my imagination to...imagine? I looked on my insurance website to see if he took it and he was one of the first doctors to pop up on the list. I called and made an appointment. I was going for a simple checkup and Brad was going to have a couple of warts treated. I didn't have time to drop Collin off at my mom's prior to the 1:30 appointment due to having to feed him and get ready (bc I had been lazy with getting ready earlier in the day, I'm a new young mom, lazy is ok sometimes.) I put on a button up navy top and shorts over my bubbly-polka-dot-ish sports bra and bleach stained black underoos. As I was locking my front door, on the phone with Brad discussing the location of the office, holding my child, I look down to realize that several of my buttons had popped open....UGH!!!! BACK into the house to find a more appropriate top (dark to conceal my silly sports bra). I ended up with a too tight black tshirt, grumble grumble, post pregnancy body, grumble grumble. We arrive at the office after making a long uturn :p fill out the forms and are ushered into an exam room. I was given a paper robe to change into. No biggie, I've done this several times at the obgyn in recent times. My obgyn is in his late 50's, very sweet German man, lo es yoga and Sting, and I'm very sure he wears hair piece. Lovely gentleman. Well after putting my blue paper robe over my teal dotted sports bra and bleach dotted black undies, the Doctor Igor Chaplick enters the room. Doctor Igor Chaplick, the young, early 30's, what some would call awkwardly handsome, tall, fit, DUDE, enters the room. Not the professional older gentleman of all my medical needs dreams. Not to say he wasn't professional. He was. But he is young. And you remember what I'm wearing. All of a sudden I am terribly embarrassed. I'm embarrassed of my underpinnings. I'm embarrassed of my post pregnancy body. I'm embarrassed in front of my precious hubby and child and Dr. Dude. WHY did I feel I needed a full body dermatological exam? I didn't really NEED one!!! I just wanted to make sure everything was ok, and since Id met my insurance deductible, it would be free. It was a wise decision. But UGH!!! Doctors should not be young! They should not be at all, even on the verge of, attractive. These things should be mandatory things that are taken care of in all those years of med school.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

What you want - baby I got it

Want to read a steamy love story that is completely clean and entirely online?
http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2007/09/the_night_ree_drummond_met_marlboro_man/

Want a delicious rub to put on your meaty meats?
Www.fromthewoodsbbq.com

Want an inspiring way to uplift other ladies?
Www.operationbeautiful.com

Friday, July 30, 2010

That's amore

Today I went on an Italian adventure. I've been craving an authentic Italian meaty spaghetti sauce for some time now. The first time I had some was at my friend Christie's aunt's house and then again at her cousin's. I know how Italians can be about their sauce recipes so I didn't even bother to ask. So I did a little research online and found Tony Danza's recipe on foodnetwork.com. I fed Bruiser Bear then hopped in the car to gather ingredients from Publix. On the way home I figured I should pick up my prescriptions from Walgreen's so I got pulled up to the drive through. What A Joke!!!! There was one car in front of me. Over the course of 30 minutes 4 cars pulled in behind me and all bailed out of line because it was taking such a long time. I finally followed suit thinking of the huge ice cube that was forming from my bag of ice in my trunk :( it made me very grumpy!!!!!!! What terrible awful rotten customer NON service!!!! All that time wasted and nothing to show for it!
Finally at home I started to get ingredients put together. I was squishing plumb tomatoes with my hands through a colander when my mom walked in the door. She decided it was her day's mission to clean, THOROUGHLY, my laundry/pantry/utility room. I continued making sauce, completely surprised by the am out of garlic I kept having to chop for each step of the recipe. After chopping for at least the third time, I left the knife on the cutting board covered with most of the garlic I had just finished. Well, as you can tell by the set up, something bad happened. I bumped the knife off the counter and not thinking AT ALL I tried to catch the knife...to no avail. The blade landed on my finger before coming to its resting place on the floor flinging tons of fresh sticky garlic bits ALL OVER my floor. BIG bummer! I examined my fingertips and found I had cut the side of my left middle finger. Why is it that if you are going to injure a finger it always seems to be the middle one? Perhaps because it's the tallest. Whatever.
Cleaned and bandaged, I finished my sauce. Delicioso!!!!! I'm taking it to Mike and Kara's house tonight for dinner. We are planning next year's family reunion to Dallas, Texas.
Then I heated up pulled pork and mashed potatoes for lunch for my mom and myself. I made the pulled pork over the past 2 days. I used Alton Brown's brine recipe and a delicioso rub that I bought in Oklahoma last Christmas. After the pork butt bathed in brine over night I popped it in the oven alllllllllllll day long. It was way more moist than I'm used to, but that made it that much more scrumptious.
Last night Collin and I went to Cheesecake Factory with my mom, Keeley, her nannyee Ryan, and Bethany. We got coupons for $1.50 slices of cheesecake for being Facebook fans. We got a slice the new Reese's cheesecake, red velvet, tuxedo, and Godiva. The Reese's slice had so many different layers that you had to take a HUGE bite to get the full experience. It was very yummy! I really like the red velvet one also... And the tuxedo... Godiva is good too but very very rich so I can't eat more than maybe 2 bites.

Three time sensitive shopping tips:
1. TODAY: 1/2 price cheesecake at Cheesecake factory
2. Ends Saturday: An extra 40% off all sale items at Dillard's
3. Buy One get one free: lots of fun things at Publix. I like to use bogo as an opportunity to try different varieties of my favorite items. Velveeta shells and cheese is on sale a
So I got one box of the original flavor and one box of 4 cheese.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Butt

I'm roasting a Boston butt for pulled pork. I've been spending a lot of time watching food network since I found out I was pregnant with Collin (which triggered heartburn through the screen). More recently I've been spending time combing through recipes on food network.com. While my buttis roasting I'm going to visit Publix to buy the ingredients for Tony Danza's recipe for "Sunday sauce." That will be taken to Kara's house for us to enjoy while planning next year's family reunion trip to Dallas, TX.

I hate the Billionaire song.

The old people who hang out at Blue Martini should be ashamed of themselves. Out to have a good time? Sure, fine. Go out to have fun with your girlfriends. Out on the prowl? Gross! And for the senior citizens there... Get a grip! You can't even pretend ton enjoy the music being played, the flashing lights, and you're wearing a full suit...uhhhhhhh..... But the affliction shirt wearers with hip replacements...never mind. Just never mind. That whole scene is just not at all where I belong, haha! But it's fun to go dancing with the girlies every once in a while :)

Monday, July 26, 2010

Nightmare of all nightmares

My cat Kiki earns her keep in my house by killing roaches. I hate roaches. Today I found 2 of Kiki's conquests. I found the first one and had to finish it off with some Raid, then I tosses him in the toilet. I flushed. It did not go down. I flush again. Still a floating roach. No matter, I will surely need to flush again later, no purpose wasting more water. Well I found roach #2. Tossed him in the potty with his friend. Flushed. Still floating. This time I prayed, Dear Jesus, please make them go down the drain. He said, No. There are two dead roaches floating in my toilet. Ugh!!!!!!!!!!

2 down, 10 to go...

Months of breast feeding that is... I don't know if I'm going to make it. Of course I will, but I will whine about it along the way. I feel like a year of anything is a long time. A year without margaritas for instance. I had two of my own delicioso concoctions last night. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! I've had several margaritas since having Collin, but only one at a time. Two was too much! I had enjoyed them over a few hours time accompanied by a potato cake (an experiment with left ofer mashed potatoes from the night before, panko bread crumbs, oil and my non stick skillet) and chips and salsa. All very scrumptious yet the perfect ingredients for a belly ache. By the time I went to bed I was feeling fine, praise the good Lord :) however... I think perhaps my enjoyment may have lead to my little precious urping up 15 mins worth of breast milk all over himself, me, 2 pillows and the couch. I couldn't help but laugh at the terribly gross situation. There was no rewind button to push and being puked on is what early mother hood is all about right? I got up slowly and gathered at many soiled items as I could, including Collin, and toted it all to the bathroom for a good wipe down/toss into the tub. There is still crap in the tub that I will get to laundering after I turn my prerecorded Today show back on and do some exercising. Or perhaps it would be more efficient to put the laundry in first as to do two things at once...

I need to shave my legs.

Tomorrow Collin gets his first round of shots. He is a very sting boy. I know he'll be fine. Anytime he gets bopped accidentally he starts and stops crying by the time I've counted to 5. So masculine! I love it :)

And on a slightly different note, I have several hundred size 1 diapers that Bruiser Bear has out grown. There is a place called "baby posh garage" (a consignment store) that will do an even exchange for the size you need. It is in Aventura though. I really don't want to drive all the way down there to find out that they don't have enough size 2's for me to dump all my 1's. Plus I'd feel a little weird going in there just for that but I currently am on a spending lock down and really haven't a need for anymore baby items. My house is overflowing with crap already.

Which brings me to my next subject: prayer. I constantly pray for hurricane season to ramp itself up so that my wonderful hubby can go clean up the aftermath. Bottom line is I pray for opportunities for the business to grow so that I might have the chance to stay at home with my Grumpy Bumpkin. Yes, after my first birthing experience I still think I want 4 kids. I think I want to homeschool those kids. Of course I have nothing against the traditional school system, but as a wise homeschooling mother once said, and I paraphrase, "I want to teach my children because I want to be there when they learn new things and see the light in their eyes when they grasp a new concept." I get that now. Ahhhhhhhhh Mrs. Kalehoff. I bet none of you who know her or me would have ever have guessed that I would want to follow in her footsteps. Obviously I don't want to be exactly like her.... But I will leave it at that.

Now onto laundry....meh.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

There is a very strong difference between Walmart in south Florida than perhaps anywhere else in the U.S. Here, Walmart is disgusting. Only the grossest of people shop there and it seems like all of the gross people from around town are always there. The place is like a roach nest. I was once walking down an aisle in the grocery section, minding my own business, when I passed buy a female and two younger males. The girl spit on me. For. No. Reason. I was literally just walking down the aisle. I don't even know that I made eye contact with her. Gross!
I visit Oklahoma more frequently than most due to it being where my grandparents reside. They live in Enid. They have a Super Walmart. It's pretty much the same size as their mall... Ok, the mall isn't that small, it has Dillard's and Penny's, Sears, a food court a 4 (or maybe 6) screen theatre, and a few other smaller stores to fill in the rest. Anyway, you go to the Walmart there just as you would go to the mall, to hang out and waste time and to shop around. We were in Enid one visit for about a week. I'm pretty sure we were at Walmart every single day just for something to do. That doesn't happen here in Fort Lauderdale. I avoid the place like the plague. Especially since getting spit on.
There is however a new Walmart grocery store that I've been to a few times. I received several WM gift cards after having Collin. I went there to try to use them all up in one trip. Its not the closest grocery store to my house and I still don't prefer going there... It's still a WM. Unfortunately after filling my cart with magazines, booze, and cleaning supplies I still have about $17 to use...

Friday, July 23, 2010

In the beginning... Ziplock

Product review- zipper storage bags
Naughty list: target brand and hefty
Love list: Publix brand
To be used soon: Ziplock

I made the mistake of buying Target brand zipper bags. It's near impossible to get them zipped on the first try. I have them in gallon and sandwich sizes. I keep diapers, wipes, breast bars, and a burp rag in a gallon size in my purse. I can't stand carrying around a huge diaper bag and my purse is plenty large to fit my essential baby needs. Although in no way attractive, the zip bag keeps these few items easy to grab. Well, when it won't zip, it's just more junk floating around my purse. Aggravating!

Hefty: the slider falls off. Enouggh said.

Publix: inexpensive and zips. It does its job. Praise the Lord!

Ziplock: I bought these because of the "Ziplock" reputation. Let's be real: who calls these things "zipper storage bags." No one. They're called ziplocks. Just like a tissue is a Kleenex and a Coke is a soda. Synonymous.
The box is still sealed because I have to use up my crappy target zip locks first, grrrr! There aren't many things that I will try, hate, and instantly dispose of. Which brings us to another product review.

"sharp cheddar" flavored cheese product in a squeezy bottle. Not much else needs to be said. I should have known. But I bought it when I was in the throws of my cheese cravings while pregnant. I just pulled it out last night. I thought better of it while I was pregnant but figured I should give it a try. I had made curly fries and though they'd be good dipped in "cheese" like at Wings Plus. Nope! Not at all the same! I threw the bottle right into the garbage can, and that was that! No guilt in that waste. Except I should have known. I should have leftist sealed and donated it to a food drive. Surely someone who like that stuff... Would have been excited to have it.