Fill in the blank FRIDAY

 

1.  The best thing to do on a hot day is hang out under an umbrella somewhere on a beach. Not that I've ever been able to do this....yet. Or somewhere with one of those spritzing fan things. You know, the ones that lightly spritz water on you as the fan runs?

2.   The best place to be on a hot day is   inside my house. 

3.  The best thing to eat on a hot day is  raspberry sherbet.

4. Hot days    make me sweat. Especially my face.  And that is sooo not pretty. Not to mention it means I get to have yet another cystic acne breakout--woo hoo!

5. My go to uniform on a warm summer day is  depends if I am at work or home. If I'm home its just a tank top and running shorts. If I'm at work I don't get that luxury and usually have to wear pants or capris and my work shirts are polos but such a bad fabric for hot days. Yuck. Lately I've been really missing being able to wear whatever I want (within reason) to work.

6. The scent that reminds me of summer is  sunscreen or hawaiian ginger-themed smelly stuff like lotion/body spray. Fresh cut grass. Coconut.

7.  My favorite thing about summer is  laying out on my Ostrich at night and looking up at the stars. I did this the other night with the meteor shower and it was sooo nice out. Are you wondering what the crap I'm talking about laying out on an Ostrich? These things are the BEST. You can find them here. Well worth the $$$.

Its OK Thursday

Had some AWFUL storms roll through here just after I got home from work. I don't mind storms, but its the tornadoes and tornado watches/warnings that get me. And of course that's what we had. Luckily, no touch-downs (hah, made me think of football there). Anyyyyyyway....

Its OK...

To skip out on the gym for a day (or two) and take a much-needed nap instead....

To let The Real Housewives of New Jersey auto-record all episodes INCLUDING the social media episodes just to be able to watch whenever I want and prolong the inevitable end of season....

To ignore my wifey duties for awhile longer because (OMG) Season 2 of Laguna Beach is re-playing on MTV....

To chow down on shrimp poppers instead of eating the rest of that salad....

That I have to get up early and get to work early tomorrow and then drive for an hour....

BECAUSE TOMORROW IS FRIDAY.

.::Sunday Social::.

1) If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

 

Probably pasta. I could definitely eat it everyday and, sometimes I do. Very filling, yummy, and versatile.

 

2) What's your guilty pleasure/comfort food?

 

Cake. But not chocolate cake. If it was between eating chocolate cake and no cake at all, I'd probably choose no cake at all.

 

3) What's the weirdest/craziest thing you've ever eaten?

 

I don't go too weird with food. I mean, I've had sushi and that was okay (salmon sushi--tasted like mandarin oranges to me.) I had frog legs once--really did taste like chicken. But that's about as far as I'll go. 

 

4) What foods do you avoid at all costs?

 

Pet animal foods. You know, like rabbit, squirrel, horse. Ew.

 

5) What meal reminds you of your childhood?

 

Just basic comfort food like chicken and mashed potatoes or chilli--things like that.

 

6) Share one of your favorite recipes and the story behind it.

 

From: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-roll-ii/

Pumpkin Roll

This isn't the exact recipe I use, but its pretty close. I make these every year. People LOVE them. The only real difference in how I make them and this recipe is that I don't use nuts or dust the roll with confectioner's sugar or use parchment paper. I have one of those silicone non-stick sheets that I sit down on in my tray beforehand instead. This is the only type of roll I've successfully made. I've tried to make a chocolate yule log before but that ended disastrously because the house we were renting at the time had a SLANTED kitchen floor (which I didn't realize at the time) so the roll tilted to one side on the baking sheet in the oven and was burnt on one side lol. But these pumpkin rolls are really so yummy and I make them every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas and even made a few for gifts last year because so many people look forward to them. Enjoy! I feel like making one now....

 

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• confectioners' sugar for dusting
•  
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs on high for five minutes. Gradually add white sugar and pumpkin. Add flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle walnuts evenly on top.
3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately turn out onto a linen towel dusted with confectioners sugar. Peel off paper and roll cake up in the towel, starting with the short end. Cool.
4. To Make Filling: Mix confectioners sugar, vanilla, butter or margarine, and cream cheese together till smooth.
5. Carefully unroll the cake. Spread filling over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar, if desired.

 

.::Sunday Social::.

1) What's your favorite fall activity?

Oh..can I choose just one? I LOVEEEE fall. I love sweater weather and all the other fun clothes. I love the football starting back up. Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Lattes. The return of boots and scarves. The trees changing colors. (Although, we've had a drought here for awhile so that's been kind of going on now...) The kids going back to school (although, I do detest school zones starting back up lol...not the concept of them, just getting used to not having to slow down and then BAM school back in session). That crisp smell in the air. Fall Festivals. Pumpkin Patches. Fall scented candles. Fried Apples from Cracker Barrel. Oh, I could go on and on...(and on).

2) Do you follow a football team? If so, which one and why?

I follow the Pittsburg Steelers--go BIG BEN. But I also root for the (home)team--the Chicago Bears. However, as of late I've noticed I also tend to follow the Giants and Eagles...always have the Eagles, not sure really why. Now don't get me wrong, I don't sit and watch every game. I have my husband for that. Its just another fun part of fall to look forward to.

3) What is something fun about fall in your area?

We have a great Pumpkin Patch somewhat nearby. I mean, its amazing. Mazes, gourds from all over the world, great prices. And then we have some really great fall festivals, too, and a pioneer town area that does special events in the fall. I just love all that. I think this year we are going to hit up an orchard, too, and I know if we do I'll pick up some apples to make apple cake and DUN DUN DUN...FRIED APPLES. (Yeah, I know I keep mentioning those in this post...they are sooo good, though, and the mention of fall is getting me excited...if you are interested, I think I posted the recipe on my blog before. You can also make them in a cast iron skillet, which I have now so I may have to try--before I always made them in a crock pot.)

4) Fav Fall outfit staples?

Sweaters, cute light jackets/blazers, scarves, boots, cords. Browns and oranges.

5) Thing you are looking most forward to this fall season?

Probably just the influx of things to do. Its been so hot and dry here this summer that we've avoided really doing anything. I'm looking forward to things cooling down. Although, someone told me they heard it wasn't really supposed to do that here until October. Boo :( But I am definitely looking forward to all the fun autumn activities on the calendar. Have a few baby showers and weddings and reunions coming up, too so that's exciting. Can't believe its my ten-year class reunion this year! And my five year wedding anniversary! We always go the traditional gift route--the 'leather' year was interesting! This year its 'wood' lol.

6) Favorite fall holiday? Traditions?

I love how so many people look forward to the Starbucks red cups and Pumpkin Spice lattes--they are really the best. I usually save up all my rewards for this time of year and cash them in for free Starbucks gift cards. Cuz I'm cheap lol. No, THRIFTY. I honestly love so much of the fall season, I don't know if I could choose just one holiday. I usually take off a day in late August or early September and spend the day decorating for fall (and enjoying one of those precious lattes) and I put on the Charlie Brown and Garfield Halloween/Thanksgiving specials. That's kind of the start of the season for me. And hitting up Michael's for craft ideas. Making Pumpkin Rolls for family events. Coming home to that fall smell everyday--it really just makes me giddy to even think about, lol. I'm such a dork! Wait til Christmas comes, people, you'll stop reading altogether! Also gotta put a plug in there for fall season premieres on TV!

.::Sunday Social::.

1) What is your dream job?

Stay at home mom. No, really. Would LOVE to be able to do that. Actually, I COULD do that, we just live in a society (and I, in a family) that disagrees with the concept. But I'll leave it at that and not prolong it :)

2) If you had just won the lottery and didn't need to work for money, what would you do with your time? 

See #1. Or, if that couldn't happen immediately or at all, I would probably travel the world....slowly. So I could take as much as possible in and enjoy it. That's the key word..slow. I would slow things down.

3) When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A singer. Still do some days. I grew up on/with music. And I'm not too bad if I do say so myself :) But I would have awful stage presence. I'm a skeerdy cat like that.

4) What piece career advice would you give to someone just starting out in your field?

Listen. (I work in social services).

5) Biggest Pet Peeves either in life or in blogging or at work:

 People who are in such a big hurry that they make things dangerous for the rest of us. People who've always had everything handed to them and think it should continue as that once they are out in the 'real world'. Cooing and cawing and cackling when you are trying to work. People who let their kids run wild and do whatever they want and don't say anything or do anything or even apologize for it. Case in point: went out to dinner yesterday and a lady let her kid spit on ME and in my DRINK and didn't even bat an eye about it. HELLO. What kind of people are these kids going to grow up to be? (That's what I need to be a stay at home mom LOL).

.::Sunday Social::.

Yay! Time for another Sunday Social! Of course, well, that means tomorrow is Monday :( But one day at a time, folks!

What is your favorite store to shop at?

Body Central; Target; World Market; Gap

If you could afford anything and everything, which designer brand would you covet?

Victoria Beckham

Must have closet staple?

Shoes? Hah. Right now I'm a flats kick. Especially the sparkly ones...really, anything sparkly. I'm not too old for some sparkle!

Favorite kind of shoes? (brand or type)  

Louboutin der. Not that I could ever afford them. Jessica Simpson has some great shoes, too. As for type, lately its flats. Used to be all about heels but with my current job I don't get to wear them as much so they've sorta lost their appeal :/

 

Best clothing deal you've ever gotten? (sale or amazing find)

I got this great trench-style winter coat at Wilson's Outlet for 70 or 80% off. 

Style you'd love to try?
I have to say I'm not afraid to try new styles--that said, I've pretty much tried them all. I have everything from punk-rawk to country to preppy styled clothes in my closet so I can't say there's a particular style that I haven't tried yet that I want to.

Dang, I've been quiet lately?

What I've been up to:

• Put a bid in on a new house and they accepted our offer
• Put our current house on the market
• Pulled out (for a valid reason!) on a contingency on our buyer's contract and took our current house off the market for now
• Now we're still looking for another house and are going to try selling our house "by owner", so we'll see how that goes....
• Have been training for our annual hometown 5k (have been working on getting back in shape for awhile now, and so far, so good)
• A bunch of stuff has been going on at work, but I won't go there
• Have been trying to "go through" some things so I can feel a little more relaxed...you know, when you have so much going on and you let things slide and get behind on some of the dumbest stuff, you don't feel 'normal' again until you catch up with some things and get rid of some stuff? I'm about 2 weeks behind on reading our newspapers and have magazines stacking up, so I'm working my way through those and trying to enjoy the summer weather sitting outside on the patio furniture and reading. I've started going through my recipe pile, too--you know, recipes I cut out or bookmark, thinking, oooh that sounds good I'm going to try that, and then they end up overtaking a kitchen drawer, etc. I've found a few keepers and a few I just threw away. I tried "Shrimp & Glitz"'s Tomato Pie recipe the other day and, YUM. Hubby is a meat-eater and said I should add some meat next time (which I plan to do tonight), but really its just so good with out it. Kudos, girl!
• I've also been on a quest to "get healthy". I don't think I've really talked about this on here, but I've been struggling with symptoms for the past 10+ years. I'm getting to the point in my life where I'm hoping to have kids soon, so I just want to get this straightened out and figured out before then. I mean honestly, I've been 'ick' for so long it just seems normal to me anymore. I was taught to be a trooper, too, so I really don't go around complaining about how I don't feel good and say I can't do anything. I just carry on as usual. But anyway, I finally switched doctors because I was tired of my doctor not listening to me, being arrogant and mis-diagnosing me. Its bad, too, because my parents both go to him and he about killed my mom, no joke. Actually, he sorta did, they had to 'pound on her chest' as she says. It started off with my leg and he said it was nothing, that it was probably from wearing heels (turned out to be hereditary neuropathy), then I started having heart palpipations and he said I had tachycardia (a heart arrthymia where your heart beats way too fast sometimes) and sent me to a heart specialist and the heart specialist said he didn't think it was tachycardia at all, it was something else (which I can't pronounce, let alone spell) and that I shouldn't have to worry about it or treat it unless I started having other symptoms. So then about a year passes and I don't have any heart palpipations but then I start having a few here and there. So I go see another doctor and she says I need to start taking vitamins, so I do, and they literally make me throw up. So then someone says you should try taking gluten-free vitamins. So I do (gummy variety, too, by the way..yum), and since then I haven't have any heart palpipations or gotten sick with them and I've started looking/feeling a little better. So I started doing my own little research and I come across how malnutrition can cause heart palpipations and how that can be a sign of celiac disease, among other things (because you are consuming something that your body is intolerant of so its not letting your body absorb the nutrients/vitamins it needs). So I've been researching celiac disease and gluten intolerance quite a bit lately, and turns out many of the symptoms I've been experiencing are symptoms of celiac disease. I have another doctor's appointment coming up soon, and we're going to start off with an allergy test. I do hope I do not have celiac disease, because it would mean I would have to give up many of my favorite foods and it can cause infertility, miscarriages and intestinal cancer. But if I do have it, I would be more than willing to give up my favorite foods if it means I could be or at least feel healthier. But who knows, I could just be allergic to something really simple and that's what is causing all of this to happen? Very excited to get this finally figured out! 
 

Wow, way longer post than I intended, folks!