Happy Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day!!
So what’s your talent? You know, the one thing that makes you unique. The one thing that no one would ever guess you’re able to do.
National Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day
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My House is a Mess
And it’s freaking me out. Seriously.
I’m currently working on the holiday gift guides for ConstantChatter. That means, I have a LOT of boxes, envelopes, folders, papers and packing peanuts coming into this house. And like last year, it seems that I’m just stacking the sample products on top of other sample products. Which really means I just have boxes filled with other boxes and envelopes and papers and stray packaging peanuts.
Add to that my husbands standard mess (socks, ticket stubs, guitars and guitar paraphernalia, CDs, magazines, work crap that I’m afraid to touch in case it’s important, etc.) and well, we’ve got ourselves a bit of a giant mess.
It might not have been too bad if the landlords hadn’t also decided that this is the perfect time to manure the yard. And just the right time for that cat to do some massive shedding.
Yes, we’re a mess I tell ya! And I’m still working on the gift guides, so I’m still a few days away from being able to do anything about it.
The sad part is that we decided that this semester, a portion of my UCLA money would go towards getting a cleaning lady. Thing is, before I can even consider getting a cleaning lady, I need to actually clear the piles of clutter (or in the bedroom, clothes) off of everything or I’ll just be wasting the money.
Next year I’m starting those damn gift guides in September!
More Trader Joe’s Love: A Recipe
I know, I know, I only just went on and on about Trader Joe’s and my new I ♥ Trader Joe’s cookbook the other day. But I’m telling you, it’s some good stuff.
We had book club earlier today and I made a super quick and easy pear and brie galette and it was a big hit! And considering it only required four ingredients I thought I’d share in case you’re looking for something super yummy, super easy and well, impressive looking for an upcoming holiday event.
1 Trader Joe’s frozen pie crust (thawed)
4 ounces of brie, rind removed and cubed (I went a little overboard here, but it was still good)
1 pear thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used the sugared ones since it was a smaller package)
freshly ground pepper (which I forgot)
Preheat the oven to 375. Scatter half the brie in the center. Top with sliced pears. Top that with the remaining brie cubes. Sprinkle with the pecans. Fold in the edges to “frame” it. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
That’s it. Your friends and family will love it and think you slaved away for hours on something that took mere minutes to assemble.
Enjoy!!
Alton Brown Talks Thanksgiving Survival Secrets at Google
I heard that this Alton Brown, Thanksgiving presentation at Google was an amazing experience.
Hopefully, listening to Alton talk about his Thanksgiving Survival Secrets will be the next best thing.
Chritmas Trees: Live or Artificial?
I think the last time I had a live Christmas tree I was in high school back in New Jersey. Though come to think of it, I believe once we moved, we went to a large artificial tree. So it must have been even longer still.
Since moving in with my hubs, I’ve been using a smallish, table top artificial tree. I figured if the cat decided to attack (or climb, or pull down, or whatever) that it would cause much less havoc and damage. Last year we didn’t even decorate since we were away for early November and then I had to focus on the 50 Days of Giving giveaway promotion when we got back.
Since then, I’ve been toying with the idea of either upgrading the size of my artificial tree (as the cat has been leaving it alone from day one). Or maybe going real this year. But now that we’re talking about moving next summer when classes let out, I’m not so sure I can bring myself to making the big purchse.
Enter the folks at Living Christmas (they’re located in Redondo Beach). I’ve mentioned before that it turns out you can rent just about anything…well, now you can even rent a LIVE Christmas tree! They carry different sizes and species. And all things considered (if you go real on a regular basis), they’re not all that expensive. Very cool.
And if you want a chance to win your live three this year, then head on over to JessicaGottlieb.com and enter her giveaway. I’d wish you good luck, but well, I know I’m going to win it this year!! 😉
And speaking of giveaways…don’t forget to enter for your chance to win $60 worth of grub at NORM’S
Raise Your Hand If You Love Trader Joe’s
I mentioned the other day that I seem to have a bit of a control issue when it comes to magazines and the winter holiday season. I think that it’s the part cookbook and part gift guide that attracts me so. I’ve also mentioned my love of cookbooks in the past.
This week, my two loves have joined together. Squee!!
While working on the upcoming holiday gift guides for ConstantChatter, I was offerred a review copy of the I ♥ Trader Joe’s Cookbook. And let me tell you, as much as I love Trader Joe’s (and I do love Trader Joe’s) I think this cookbook is going to make me love Trader Joe’s even more. Just giving it a quick looksee, I found something to make for book club on Sunday (pear and brie gallette), something to make for our Thanksgiving side dish (but first I need to pick one of many), and an easy soup that sounds so yummy. Good stuff I’m telling ya.
And if you too love Trader Joe’s, I’d also suggest that you check out the gals behind Cooking With Trader Joe’s. They have a blog, a Facebook fan page, a newsletter and their Twitter feed. And all chock full of yummy recipes. Check out this yummy pumpkin oatmeal recipe.
What’s your favorite Trader Joe’s product or recipe?
My Favorite Part of the Winter Holiday Season…
Starbucks’ cranberry bliss bars and peppermint mochas. Booyah!
Now if only we could get Starbucks to make the dark cherry mocha I had in Dublin last year available here. Man, that was good.
If you want to try making the cranberry bliss bars yourself, there are plenty of copycat recipes online (here’s one here). I haven’t tried it yet, but this year just might be the year.
Share & Tell: My Ringtones
I’ll admit it, I’m kind of running out of things to say on a daily basis. Between teaching and working and setting up the upcoming gift guides, I don’t seem to have much time or energy left. So, I think I’ll hit up my stockpile of blogging drafts and see what I can come up with.
I started writing this post a long time ago. I mean, long enough ago that I actually still used songs with lyrics for my ring tones. Long enough that Push It actually WAS my ringtone. But hey, I’ll still share and tell if that’s okay.
But first, the original post (as I see fit to edit)…
I was trying to get some new ringtones to upload into my phone but for some reason, I couldn’t get the damn downloads to work right. So I’ll just have to share what I have on the phone right now…
I’ve got Trisha Yearwood’s That’s What I Like About You for hubby* (a Trisha concert was our first date).
I have Rilo Kiley’s Portions for Foxes** for my unknown callers (so I know when it’s not worth running into the other room to dig through my purse to answer the phone.
Trouble by Pink for my old roommate and closest friend. I just think it’s cute, you know, her being a bad influence (ha!) and all that.
The heavy guitar intro to U2’s New Year’s Day for our good friend (though she rarely calls from an unblocked call most times).
I’ve always wanted my default ringer to be Salt & Peppa’s Push It, but since my phone always went with me to client meetings, I didn’t think it was appropriate. Once these other two expire, I’ll upload Push It. Yeah, that’s totally old news.
Currently, I have the musical intro to Kirsty MacColl’s US Amazonians (you can give a listen below). It’s fun, it’s loud enough, it has no lyrics attached to it (perfect for when the phone rings when I’m teaching or with clients) and I know it well enough that it makes me smile and hum along when I hear it.
Now it’s your turn…what is your current ringtone? Something with lyrics or without?
* I still do since he rarely calls my cell when I’m out with clients.
** I don’t use anything for unknown/blocked numbers any more. Then again, since I can see who calls and listen to their message online these days, I don’t rush to answer the phone anymore either.
Congratulations! You Won A Buttload of Money!!
Okay, you really didn’t win anything (but have no fear, you are indeed a winner!). Instead, I wanted to play a little game of what if.
Imagine if you will, that you just won a lottery of sorts and you walk away with $10,000 free and clear. Or if you’re not comfortable with the money for nothing sort of thing, then let’s say it’s work bonus after taxes.
So my question is, what do you do with your winnings?
Do you invest?
Pay off bills?
Go shopping?
How about going on a fantastic vacation?
Pay down your student loans?
Enjoy a little spa time?
Buy a car? A boat?
Put it towards your kids’ college fund?
A new surround sound system?
What do you do with your prize money?
What if it was $100,000 free and clear? Would it make a difference? Would you use it towards your down payment on a house? Buy something nice for your parents? Donate to charity?
Now let’s say that you’ve won $500,000 or a million free and clear. Do you do the same thing? Maybe buy or start a business? Or do you have a little more fun with it since there’s more?
When do you decide to share a little of your new found wealth?
I don’t really have a point with any of this. I just noticed today that when I entered an online giveaway they asked a similar question. In their case, they only gave 4 options and then an other. So it got me thinking…
While I’d love a super fantastic vacation or a new car, I also can’t seem to look beyond the fact that I have some massive student loan debt and we’d love to get into a house of our own. In which case, I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t be spending it on something frivolous like a vacation, spa time, electronic toys or a new car. As much as it might pain me to do so, I think I’d have to save it or apply it towards my student loan debt or to our house savings.
And well, while that seems like quite the responsible thing to do, it also seems a little sad. I mean what’s the use of winning a big’ol lump sum of cash if you don’t have a little fun with it, right?
So I guess if there is a point to this post (outside of being curious about how others might handle the situation), I think it could very well be that it’s made me realize I might have a couple issues yet to deal with around money.
Guess I know what sort of work is on my plate to deal with before the end of the year…
My Trip to Ireland Remembered
This time last year we were heading home from our 10-day trip to Ireland.
My apologies…in my rush to get something (let alone something relevant) up on time for my NaBloPoMo post, I wound up using a tool with a pretty crappy randomizer that apparently sucks in a HUGE way. I’ll fix it tomorrow.
I just gave up and posted some pics manually.