I LOVE polka dots. So I bought this t-shirt in hopes that it would be cute fun and casual while being able to go with the print drape vest. It's perfect for everything. I can wear it casually with jeans or dress it up the the vest and wear it to work. It's soft and feels GREAT!
By Fashionably Challenged E from Santa Cruz, CA on 9/14/2010
5out of 5
Pros: Great Color, Lightweight, Comfortable, Attractive Design
Best Uses: Casual Wear, Travel, Work, Going Out, Layering
Describe Yourself: Casual Dresser
I'm not one to follow fashion but I have loved the way these vests on people so I decided to buy this one. I wasn't sure what to expect. When it arrived I was skeptical but once I tried it on, WOW, it's so cute!!!! I can dress it up or down.
1. One of my favorite people in this whole world, who has been like an aunt to me was given 18 months to live with the stage 4 breast cancer that has metastasized to her bones.
2. Good friends of ours were told that their baby who is still baking in his mommy's tummy has down syndrome and cerebral palsy and they had to terminate.
3. A sweet dog died in July, and now my friend is heart broken because one of her girls is no longer with her.
4. I've given up on having a baby.
5. And our nearest and dearest friend has moved away to Oregon.
I would LOVE for things to just be normal and easy. I hate when things are upside down and just don't feel right anymore.
I saw an advertisement for a show called HUGE...it was presented as a show about kids that were sent away to a fat camp. I thought it might be offensive but I took the chance at watching it on Hulu. I have to say this show is very well done. The writers are great and address so many common teenage issues that apply to all teenagers and has some very awesome adult dynamics. If you haven't watched this show, please check out the above video while it lasts. This is episode 4. Here are the things that have been missed in the first 3 episodes....
1. The kids had to be dressed in their bathing suits for a "before" picture. 2. Will (short for Willamina) decided she would start selling her candy stash to make money 3. Will was ratted out by her friend, Becca, about selling her candy stash. 4. Another character that was only on for a couple of episodes was ratted out by her friend Amber because she has bulimia. No one thinks Amber should be at this camp because she's the thinnest girl at the camp. Amber is pretty and doesn't know it, and seems to have a good heart that she's afraid of showing. Amber also likes the guy fitness trainer, George. 5. A new girl in the cabin replaced the girl who was suffering from bulimia. Her parents wouldn't leave because the girl got home sick easily. These same parents were a support group for Will while she tired to learn basketball. With their encouragement, Will learned she could play and get better with practice. 6. My favorite episode before the one posted above was mainly about an activity my favorite character Becca wanted to start. Becca wanted to get others to participate in her LARP. Larping is basically taking your imagination, creating a whole new world with different new races of people and doing a live action role playing game. It reminds me of the movie Role Models and the game the one kid liked to play called LAIR. 7. I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with the main character Will. So draw your own conclusions about her. :D
Anywho...I give this show 5 STARS of course out of 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep up the good work HUGE!!!!
Please read the news story if you have a chance. The link is below but for a summary from my point of view of what is occurring keep reading....Marvel and the good folks at NBC Universal don't want to spend the money on Edward Norton to come back as the Incredible Hulk in the Avengers movie. I don't have a lot of comic book knowledge. I'm a girl that liked Barbie and making grandpa mud pies in my fisher price kitchen. So from what my husband has told me, the Avengers are Captain America (or someone like that), Iron Man, Sam Jackson's character from Iron Man and a girl character. Now I didn't see the movie The Hulk that came out in 2003 because all I heard about it was how horrible it was and that it wasn't worth spending the money to see it. I also did not go see the 2008 version in theater because I was worried that it would be awful as well. I should have known better. Edward Norton is a great actor and did a wonderful job as Bruce Banner. Now with this movie, they refuse to come to an agreement with Ed Norton. So now they'll recast the part and it will suck again. Way to go on this decision...kill any hope there was of keeping the Incredible Hulk cool
Marvel: Norton Won't Return As Hulk For 'Avengers'; Norton's Rep Responds Source: Access Hollywood
In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, poppy seeds, salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to dress the salad. This can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place the chicken breasts in one layer in a baking dish with 1/2 cup water. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes until completely cooked through. Remove cooked chicken breasts from pan, cool at room temperature for 10 minutes, then cover and refrigerate.
When the chicken is cold, dice into bite-size chunks and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in pecans, grapes, celery and dressing.
So our baby story continues...Den always reminds me that the first time we got pregnant I was 7 weeks before the home test came out positive. He always wants me to be reminded that this has happened for us before and it will happen again. I am all ready 6 weeks late so I took a pregnancy test the other morning because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Unfortunately I had been low that morning and somehow had all ready gone pee twice. So I wanted to kick myself for not doing it as the very first thing. The test said “No.”
I told him that how I feel now is how I felt then. If I’m hungry I can’t sleep. I feel super hungry for no real reason. My body feels odd. There is one difference from the first time....I literally feel nauseated all of the time. When we went to the doctor Monday he gave us his plan of getting my cycle figured out so that we could get pregnant.
Step 1 – take a hormone to start my period. Step 2 – get an ultrasound to make sure there are no ovarian cysts that will be amplified by the drug that makes a woman ovulate. If there isn’t... Step 3 – take ovulation medicine.
So since the home tests said no, I decided to take the hormones. The fact that the home test said no made me worry that something else is wrong. I worried that I’ve been wanting this so badly that somehow I tricked my body into behaving this way. I don’t want that to be the case. Taking the hormones should make my period come so I can start taking the medication to make me ovulate. I have been trying my hardest not to worry about all of this and that's very hard. I mainly want to focus on just being healthy, working out, keeping my blood sugars low and eating right. I figured with changing those things, a baby would happen at some point.
Recently I saw the movie, Did You Hear About the Morgan’s, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant. And I hate that movies make me think about random crazy things. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil it but I decided then that I didn’t want trying to get pregnant to ruin our marriage. That’s not a big part of the movie but it is an underlying cause of some of the things that happen. But here I am again wanting a baby so much, hoping that it happens but deep down inside, worrying that it will never happen for us. It would be so nice for someone to just randomly give me their child...I would gladly find the money for court fees to pay for an adoption. I just can't imagine trying to find the amount of money it costs to have a surrogate or to do an adoption through an agency.
I swear sex education in school is officially worthless. The whole class makes it sound like it's an easy process to get pregnant. If that were the case IVF, and surrogates wouldn't exist.
I should have warned you readers out there, I was overly neurotic the week all of this happened. I’m sure I drove my husband insane.
Our baby story....So the main obstacle that is keeping us from getting pregnant is the Poly-cystic WHOOZIE WHATS IT. It's actual called Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome. To explain what this is.....It’s basically that my ovaries have a scaring over them that makes timing my ovulation harder. I found out recently that this used to be a death sentence for a woman's reproductive system. Today with modern medicine, it's not so much. I can take medication that will regulate my ovulation. We debated the side effects of the medication. One would having more than one baby at the same time. Yea that might be a problem but would take care of our kid needing someone to play with also. The doctor said the scaring would improve with time and really low blood sugars (60-70s) and I’m usually around 130-140, which is normal but not in the lowest range. So we’re trying to keep my blood sugars pretty low, which is sucking. I have had some really low blood sugar mornings which have been bad but I’m trying to get the scaring to improve. So in a couple of weeks I’ll have another ultra sound to see if the scaring is getting better. We’ll see. I’m not stressing about it and I know we will get pregnant when the time is right.
The last month has been a bit crazy. A lot has gone on, so I have not kept up with things on the interwebs and have neglected my blog. I have not made any interesting things for dinner lately....we have been eating out more than any one couple should. We tried the Hind Quarter in town for a steakhouse. While very tasty, I wish there were more menu options for appetizers. I guess that is my fatal flaw of being an Outback Steakhouse girl. We have slowed slightly in consuming food at Phil's Fish Market, even though my husband suggests going there every weekend I am able to keep him at home a lot of the time. We have had Tlaquepaque once during the month of April and it was on the Furlough Wednesday. I picked it up on the way home from visiting Celine. I decided that pastor soft tacos are the way to go. I had a pastor burrito also but the corn tortilla is what makes the flavor profile amazing. Luckily this week we have cooked two wonderful meals that turned out fabulous. We worked together on Sunday to make apple cider marinated pork chops, spiced apples, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. Yesterday I made pot pie but with biscuits as topping instead of pie crust. Tonight I will probably make chicken roll ups in honor of Cinco De Mayo and this weekend I am making mac and cheese to take to grandma's house on Mother's Day. I will make ribs tomorrow and I have no idea what I will make on Friday....maybe a pasta with salad. That's it on the food front.
Health issues...my grandma passed out a few weeks ago. Apparently her blood sugar was too low but she didn't know it. Having a low blood sugar for someone that doesn't know what the feeling is has to be the oddest experience. So for my little 87 year old grandma this was probably the worst feeling and experience she could have had. Her medication should be in perfect harmony by now, taking care of her insulin needs for the minimal food she eats. I bought her a purple one touch mini meter in hopes that if she ever starts feeling odd that she tests and realizes that her blood sugar is low before anything bad happens. My uncle from San Diego London, my aunt Cookie, my cousin Sabina, my husband, my mom, grandma, and I were all together on mother's day. It was so sweet. My grandma cooked her butt off and LOVED having everyone together. The main thing that sucks is that no one listens to her. She doesn't like being at home alone all day. That means....someone do something so she's not alone all day. I'm trying my hardest with Den's help to get her to move in with us but she thinks it will hurt my mom's feelings. At this point I don't really care about her feelings because I don't want my grandma in an old folks home and I don't want something bad to happen to her when no one is home.
On another health issue...we've been going to the doctor a bunch to make sure we're healthy. We are also trying to make sure that all of our medication is perfectly done so that everything is perfect as we try to get pregnant. Yes that's right people...hopefully this Blog will also be about a 21st Century mom with 2 dogs that might as well be children and the insanity that ensues. Unfortunately it's going to be a little harder for the 2 of us than it is for other people to conceive. I have a condition called poly cystic ovarian syndrome. Apparently this used to be a reproductive death sentence but now with modern medicine and drugs having a baby can be done pretty easily. So we'll see and maybe in a few months we'll have news.
I think that's pretty much it for April and the beginning of May. I promise to try to be better about recipes and writing something on the blog. It might become baby hysteria or frustration or rants...be warned!
I am in LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With Jamie Oliver. No I'm not planning on leaving my husband to go hunt down this awesome married chef but I am challenging myself today....I plan on making a change today. I am going to take Jamie's Food Revolution to heart. I LOVE cooking but sometimes with how busy I don't feel like I can make the time to cook and exercise. NO MORE!!!!!!!!!!!! Even if I have to make dinners for the week all day on Sunday, we are not eating out as much as we do currently. I absolutely LOVE what Jamie is doing for this town in West Virginia and he's just one person changing thousands of peoples lives. If he can work hard to do that, I can work my hardest to change my little family's life.
Last night I went shopping at Nob Hill. I purchased food for the week...chicken, spices, veggies, fruit, and bread. I cooked last night and made what my husband requested, which is VERY healthy.
I made turkey meatballs, with whole grain pasta, and a HUGE salad. Yesterday started my own personal food revolution. I need to change our lunches....that's the next thing to tackle.
As I was grabbing my purse to walk out of my office for lunch today, I saw the printed picture I have of my dear friend Tim. I had to stop myself from falling back into my chair. I had forgotten that the picture was with some other items from my EPC office. I printed it for our day of the dead at my former office. I wanted Tim and his family to be blessed and prayed for. I still think of Tim often. He always liked the same silly stupid stuff I did, and it's hard not to think of him when I used my video iPod. Tim was the first person I knew who had one. He was the person who showed me video podcasts and he was the person that told me changing the cover of an iPod could be done. I was not video iPod savvy. I still had my little 4gig iPod mini that was awesome for my car. Tim was a great friend and I wish I would have had more time to spend with him. More than anything I wish he were here to see his boys grow up and to be there for his wife. Having Tim die so young makes me so scared and nervous of things to come. Missing him just makes my heart ache and makes me sad.
I try not to worry about all of the "what ifs" but it's hard not to. I want to see my little family grow and flourish, but what if I can't....what if Den isn't here to see those days. It's getting harder to live in the "NOW" because we are getting older and we aren't the healthiest people in the world. I am determined to grow old with my husband and to see my fair share of the days ahead. Change is coming, and even if the change is too late....at least the change began.
Over the weekend, the husband and I went grocery shopping. $150 later we had food for the week and a bunch of other necessities. Save Mart was having a kick ass deal on meat, so we got ground turkey for chili, chicken drumsticks, ground beef and a pot roast. Sunday night we decided that Monday we'd make the pot roast. I checked out this Tyler Florence video and recipe. It turned out wonderfully!!! Please feel free to try it because it's wonderful.
Pot Roast with Vegetables
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence
Ingredients
* 1 (3 to 4 pound) piece beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat * Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper * 3 tablespoons olive oil * 1 can crushed tomatoes * 1 cup water or wine (we used a shiraz) * 2 yellow onion, halved * 2 garlic cloves, chopped * 1 bunch baby carrots * 2 celery stalks, sliced * 1 cup button mushrooms, stems removed and sliced in half * 2 sprigs fresh rosemary * 4 sprigs fresh thyme * 2 bay leaves
Directions
Season all sides of the beef with a fair amount of salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot that has a tight cover; heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately high heat. Brown the meat on all sides, taking the time to get a nice crust on the outside. Pour in the tomatoes and the water. Scatter the vegetables and herbs around the pot roast, season with salt and pepper; and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Braise for about 3 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the pan juices, until the beef is fork tender.
Slice the pot roast and arrange on platter surrounded by the vegetables. Serve with the pot juices.
So on most Thursdays I try to post a new recipe that I have tried on my Wednesday night at home. I did that on Tuesday so I thought I'd share something that I absolutely LOVE!!!!! I found this show randomly this week on hulu. I like the actress that is the main character Edie. And the show portrays an interesting dynamic of a relationship. Enjoy the pilot...and if you like it, there are 6 more episodes on hulu. I'm so sucked into this show that I have not watched Modern Family or Cougar Town.
Since I will be off from work Friday-Monday....I will be swamped Thursday with work. So below is a recipe I adapted last night. I sauteed the yellow onion with mushrooms and I used a ham steak from Costco and other cheese. I also used 2 tubes of thin crust pizza dough and it seemed to make the dish lower in carbs. I also used more broccoli because we need our veggies. Please ignore all of the tools that are mentioned in the recipe. I used a cookie sheet to bake the calzone. I mixed all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl that I all ready have. And I just chopped everything with a knife. I also just folded the bottom edge over the top. My husband LOVED it and the dog (YOGI) tried to drag the left overs off the stove. The other dog (SMOKEY) is too good to do such things. :) Enjoy the recipe!!!!
Ham & Cheese Calzone
2 tbsp (30 mL) mayonnaise 2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard 1 cup (250 mL) fresh broccoli florets (about 2 oz/60 g) 1 8-oz (250-g) slice smoked deli ham (about ½ in./1 cm thick) 1/2 small onion 8 oz (250 g) Swiss cheese, grated, divided 1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil, divided 2 pkg (13.8 oz/283 g) refrigerated pizza crust 1 oz (30 g) Parmesan cheese, grated
1. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Combine mayonnaise and mustard in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well with Small Mix ‘N Scraper®. With Utility Knife, cut broccoli into small florets; dice ham. Using Food Chopper, coarsely chop onion. Grate Swiss cheese with Ultimate Mandoline fitted with grating blade. Combine broccoli, ham, onion and half of the Swiss cheese in batter bowl with mayonnaise and mustard mixture; mix well.
2. Lightly brush Large Bar Pan with 1 tsp (5 mL) of the oil using Chef's Silicone Basting Brush. Unroll one package of dough onto bottom of bar pan, gently stretching and pressing dough to cover bottom. Sprinkle with remaining Swiss cheese to within 1 in. (2.5 cm) of edges; spoon ham mixture over cheese. Unroll remaining dough directly over filling, matching edges of dough and shaping to fit as dough is unrolled. Trim 1/2 in. (1 cm) off sides of dough with Utility Knife. Press edges to seal with Mini-Tart Shaper. Brush remaining oil over dough. Using Utility Knife, make 12 slits, in three rows of four each, into top crust.
3. Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, grate Parmesan cheese using Microplane® Adjustable Grater; sprinkle over calzone. Return calzone to oven; bake 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is deep golden brown. Slice with Pizza Cutter; serve with Mini-Serving Spatula.
I LOVE the show Modern Family. If you haven't seen it, you should watch it. It's a great story of a family in this day and age. In certain ways it reminds me of my own family. Check it out and let me know what you think.
So I haven't posted a recipe for "Recipe Thursday" since I tried to start this theme day of the week. But last night I changed and adapted a recipe I made Monday night and now it is time to share it with the world. I have been trying to do a Meatless Monday because we both need more veggies in our lives and I'd like to know how to make more vegetarian dishes for Chris. So Monday I made cheese tortellini with a roasted tomato, spinach and white wine sauce. Last night i took the left over sauce from Monday and added more veggies and chicken to it. Den loved it and I thought it was good. I didn't want to make pasta twice in the same week but we were supposed to have friends come over last night and with the limited food in the house, pasta was easiest. We're attempting not to over shop as we have been known to do in the past. So big meals for more than the 2 of us are hard especially when you have someone with food allergies coming over for dinner.
Here's the recipe
1 qtr cup chopped mushrooms 1 qtr cup diced yellow onion 1 qtr cup diced frozen multi color bell peppers 1 frozen package of spinach thawed and water drained 2 cans of roasted tomatoes 1 qtr cup favorite white wine 1 package Penne pasta
Cook pasta to al dente Reserve one cup of starchy water from pasta for sauce Put a little olive oil in cooked pasta to keep it from sticking
In a separate saute mushrooms, onion and bell pepper. Once veggies are soft, add spinach and tomatoes. Do not bother to drain the tomatoes. Once veggies are combined add white wine. Simmer and let wine reduce in veggie mixture. Once the wine has reduced, pour in half of starchy water. This will thicken the veggie sauce mixture. Continue adding water until the sauce has the consistency you want. Mix sauce and pasta together. Add to a baking pan and cook for 10 minutes. The baking will help the sauce flavor infuse into the pasta.
Feel free to add chicken or other meat to the dish to make this meal not vegetarian.
I'm not the best recipe writer, especially because I do most of this on the fly while I'm in the kitchen, so if you have questions, feel free to ask.
I get random questions about what I think about our first black President in my small community. I realize that there are not a lot of black people in this area....Yes, I'm making this specifically about black people because there are many people of color in this area but that color is usually derived from some background of Hispanic or Latino. I understand that people want some perspective from someone of a different background...so I don't mind the questions. I don't even mind national budget questions even though I think it will take a miracle to fix the mess we're in now.
So here is how the media has offended me today....I'm not one of those easily offended people but today it may seem like I am. Michelle Obama, who I believe is an amazing first lady (mainly because the things she cares about and tries to change are important issues that need to be addressed) is under fire today for discussing her daughters weight when addressing the nations child obesity rate has tripled. I was sure this statistic was coming out since we used to have talk shows like Maury Povich with toddlers who weigh more than some 4th graders. That's insane. Michelle Obama is a concerned mother trying to relate to regular people in the US. A lot of mothers take their children to the doctor and hear the same information from a physician. They have the same thought process as the first lady "My kids are perfect. How are they becoming overweight?" Being overweight the majority of my life I was not really supported in any efforts to slim down. I was harassed to loose weight as a child for my diabetes. As a teenager, I took on working out to get in shape for myself but the effort put forth was never good enough. I never slimmed down to a size 10. Today I look back at how I felt then and wished I felt that good today. My stomach wasn't perfectly flat but it was closer than it is now. Now that I'm almost 30 I work out to try to live longer, to be apart of my family longer.
Ultimately I think if Michelle Obama has a great parenting relationship with her girls and can talk to them about how they feel and how they're handling all of the publicity, they'll be fine. No one really chastised the political group that used images of the Sasha and Malia in their campaign to get better school lunches for hungry children. But now it's not ok for the First Lady to relate to mothers everywhere about their children and their weight problems. I'm offended. As a woman who is dying to be a mother, I would think that the first lady talks to her daughters about body issues (weight being one of them) because I would want to talk to my daughter about body issues. I would want to make sure that my children understood how to work towards change and provide them with all of the support in the world. I commend Michelle Obama for trying to be a First Lady who helps people and changes their lives. With the many lists the First Lady has been named to, I love how it doesn't phase her. She is still just being herself, a married woman supporting her husband, doing her thing, being a mother and loving her children. Mrs. Obama, You Are Inspiring!
Is it okay to talk about your daughters’ weight if it’s for the national good?
Two weeks after announcing the unnerving news that childhood obesity has tripled over the last 30 years, and unveiling her own initiative to combat it, Michelle Obama has offended critics by discussing her own “wake-up” moment—when the family pediatrician told her that daughters Sasha and Malia were becoming overweight.
“In my eyes I thought my children were perfect,” Mrs. Obama said at the January launch of her initiative. “I didn’t see the changes.”
While innocuous to some, this comment has set off both valid and not-so-valid criticism in the blogosphere—everything from calling the first lady well-intentioned-but-misguided to hinting that she could be tipping off her daughters’ future eating disorders. Even with one-third of American children classified as overweight or obese, several critics are far more concerned with Michelle Obama’s anecdotal use of her daughters.
Jeanne Sager, a writer for Strollerderby who admits to reading “everything through eating-disorder glasses” says she feels worried for the girls because their mother has “taken an extremely touchy subject out into the open.”
She goes on to say, “On the brink of teenagehood, Malia Obama is at an especially precarious position. With a naturally changing body, the idea that she has to face the world debating her fat puts her at higher risk for an eating disorder.”
In a post that delineates the difference between what is accepted in “the eating disorder world” vs. "the outside world," Laura Collins Lyster-Mensh of the Huffington Post writes, “I am sucker-punched to read that our First Family put their daughters on a 'diet' because they feared 'obesity' and no doubt will be lauded for it…This is not an eating disorder issue, however, and it should not be only us who know this and speak out about it. These are medical, social, and ultimately self-defeating errors in thinking that do harm to all children and all of us. I am very sad today.”
Jezebel brings up the fair point (via Fox News Channel contributor Michelle Malkin) that perhaps in “revealing that her children have had weight issues too” Michelle Obama is “exposing her children to scrutiny at an early age.” Judging from the over-scrutinized lives of other White House daughters—from Amy Carter to Chelsea Clinton to the Bush twins—that’s one fate the Obamas might want to avoid whenever possible.
Mrs. Obama also sat down for a revealing interview on “The Today Show” (see clip below), where she talked about keeping Sasha and Malia grounded, finding time for dinner, and handling the pressures of being a style icon.
