Fashion Cent$ Sunday: C'mon everybody

let's participate! I'm not an official OOTD blogger and normally don't like to participate in things but for some reason this seems really fun. It's called Everybody Everywear and it's a once-a-month thing where everybody wears a predetermined item of clothing on a certain day. For example on March 8th, everybody everywhere is supposed to sport their polka dots. For February it was blazers and so on. I participated in February but forgot to take a picture and post it. So let's see if I can actually remember the date, dig out my polka dots and take a picture to post. Make it a hat trick ;)

Here's the outfits I wore the past week (good and bad* ;)

Mon:
jeans: Hydraulic-ross-10
t-shirt: gap-thrift-3
sweater: hand me down-?-free
socks: ?-.99cent store-.99(obvi!)
boots: old navy-ebay-5
scarf: ?-thrift-2
TOTAL: $21


my obligatory heart pic....so i guess this was v-day



see? i finally did the socks-over-the-jeans thing



whooops! leaned too far forward

Tues:
sweater: high sierra:thrift-4
jeans: sweetheart-oldnavy-20
boots: oldnavy-ebay-5
TOTAL: $29

the headless turtleneck wearer is coming!! (ok. it was late and I was tired ;)

Did that mess my hair up?

nothing special on the bottom, just black and more black

Wed:
sweater: puritan:thrift:3.50
jeans: delias:thrift:4
boots: chadwicks:chadwicks:10
TOTAL: $17.50

pop a squat or ewww...crotch shot! (sorry peeps!)

are those rain clouds I see?

it is! and i'm wearing wool! hurry!

Thurs:
sweater: ?:styles for less:5
tshirt: danskin:walmart:5
jeans: delias:thrift:4
shoes: converse:gift from The Hubs:free
scarf: ?:thrift:2
2nd sweater: designers originals:thrift:$.99(!)
snuggie: biglots:5 (ok it's actually a fuzzy wuzzie)
TOTAL: $22

may be sunny but it's freeeeezing!

okay warmer....

now too hot, too hot!!

Fri:
coat: rafaella:church rummage sale:$1.00 (!) (background: I got there right when it was closing and they gave me a grocery bag and said to fill it for $1. I was able to put this and three other things in that bag!)
dress: ?:handmedown:free
shoes: capelli:walmart:7
TOTAL: $8

trying to look suave in my peacoat

awkward stance because i'm not too sure about this 'fit.

last time i wear this thing...don't really like it

lastly:

don't you just love a big 'ol snuggie?? (or fuzzy wuzzie as it were)

relax,
paulina

*p.s. so for the bad...I got rid of the purple dress and the red turtleneck, I'm still waffling on the tan turtleneck...

Friday's Best Of: End of month wrap-up

I haven't done a best of for a while so I got a ton of stuff to share! It shouldn't be so cram packed next time :)

best station/website for lounge music: http://www.lounge.fm/play/ I can't stop listening to it. So what if the commercials are in German...music is universal, right? Besides the lyrics are mainly in English :) If you like lounge, kinda jazz music, this is for you. I listen to it to clean house, cook dinner, etc..

best news: Cupcake had a check up with her dentist and he said she was doing so good that the braces would be off this summer! It went down to a year and a half from the 4 that we originally told, Cupcake is quite happy :)

best buys on Ebay: truth: I have now become eddicted to Ebay! (ha,see what I did there?) I had a taste years ago but after my first buy or two I lost interest but now I'm back with a vengeance baby! okay...maybe not a vengeance but you know what I mean. I found these two to many little numbers right away and have already bid on lots of other stuff...mwahahaha!! <rubs hands gleefully>

Here's my January finds: (not to be worn together)

Rayure jacket: 8.99 spooner by prague skirt: .99 old navy boots:5.00. my purse got lost in the mail :(

February finds:

rayure jacket: 9.99 prague vest: 6.99 nickels shoes: 8.99 and purse below:

Etienne Aigner handbag - .99cents- yay!

best night of the week: Saturday. The Hubs and I finally got a night out. Our last time on a date was back in October so this was well needed. We went out with some friends to a couple of new places. I really dug The Lasy Eay (get it? no, seriously that's the name) they had one of the best cover bands I've heard in a long time, The Mach 5. The site doesn't do them justice they are really rocking live (plus it looks like they haven't updated it in a while). The drummer has tons of energy and I thought the singer did a good interpretation of the songs. I'll probably keep checking 'em out.

best freebies: I got these in the mail the past few weeks:

head & shoulders shampoo/conditioner, dental picks, dog food, vitamin c, cover-up and Pantene shamp/cond.

crest white strips, and another pic of the cover-up (?)



priority usps boxes, slim coffee, and omega 3's



Maggi soup mix and there's that coffee stuff

also can you believe the advertising for this one?!

8 pages for one lil shamp/cond. sample!!

best article: http://www.cracked.com/article_18544_how-the-karate-kid-ruined-modern-world.html This is so, so true...funny...but true ;) It makes one wonder, when things take too long do we stop because we thought it would be easier than it is? Well...you'll see

best mouthwatering site: http://foodporndaily.com/ everyday there's a new tempting, yummy, luscious, lip-smacking (you get the picture) picture.

Happy Birthday: My Little Monster turned 3! (whoa, I see I last updated last month, now Picky Pants birthday came too. Happy Birthday to Picky Pants!) (and no, The Hubs and I haven't gone out since then...)

best podcast: considering my new thing to eat healthy and start really exercising I like this podcast by DJ Steve Boyett called PodRunner: workout music. It's good foot-moving music. I started down at the bottom and am going to work my way up with a new one each week.

best pictorial: I came across this pictorial via another website (sorry whoever you were I should have bookmarked it!) These pics are really, really stupendous! I am a Scorpio so here's mine:

courtesy fashionologie.com

But please go here, fashionologie, for the all the signs. Aries kinda creeps me out a little. ;)

relax,
paulina

p.s. whoop i did it! I finished this post! and so did you, thanks for staying!! <big clap on the back>

Tasty Thursday: It's hip to be square*

Hmmm....what's been going on in my household, foodwise?

I've done some baking. Thanks to Andrea over at Get your feast on! for some yummy recipes. I made her eggless cookies and banana bread. The banana bread turned out awwwesome! It was very kid friendly, as Little Monster helped pour and stir and all the kiddies liked it; so much so that it was gone in two days. As for the eggless cookies...(big sigh)...they turned into hockey pucks. I don't think it had anything to do with the recipe but that my oven tends to run hot and if you turn your back on it and go read a blog (cough, cough) then, well...burnt city. The recipe sounded yummy and her picture made them look mouthwatering, so I'm determined to make them again. Sometime.

I also made Picky Pants a strawberry cake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles for her birthday. That turned out great! Picky Pants doesn't normally like strawberries but she really, really liked this. Sorry for no pics, my hands were pretty full that day and I didn't remember till the cake was half-eaten already.

I did eat this. Haven't had Wendy's for a while and a huuuge craving so swung by one day and got this:

Yuuuumy!! It didn't disappoint! The produce was fresh and I actually remembered to tell them "no mayonnaise" this time so it wasn't all gooped up either! Although with two pattys this is definitely an indulgence.

The Hubs and I have been wanting to try out this friendly neighborhood German delicatessen. Finally, we did. I didn't like the smell of the place when I walked in and it seemed kinda deserted. They had some German specialty items on the shelves and beer in the fridge, but at 20.00 or so for a 6 pack I passed. Even the singles were like $4-6 but I did think "some other time". The Hubs and I looked over the menu and I ordered a bratwurst. The menu said sausage with bread and it had 5 different types of sausages to choose from. Now to my brain I was thinking roll when I saw "bread" but instead I got this:

Hmmm...a shriveled up sausage with two pieces of bread and some really wet potato salad. Oh, and some spicy mustard. Not what I was expecting. The brat was actually alright, the casing had a nice snap and it was mildly spicy. I cut the sausage in half and rolled each half in the bread. Which really didn't work, the bread broke in half, of course. What was I supposed to do with it? Do I cut the brat length wise, spread some mustard on the bread then put the sausage on the bread, a la sandwich? (I actually just thought of that, dang it!)  The potato salad was not very good. A little wet for my liking. I picked out the bigger chunks of potato and ate those, it did have a nice dressing with big pieces of parsley, but I wouldn't have it again. The Hubs had a veal bologna sandwich on rye bread (no pic). He said it was outstanding! I don't know...veal? My meal was $5.99 and his $6.99. For that price I might as well just go to Togo's - now that place I like!
The kiddies and I swung by a little hot-dog stand that we only go to like once a year. The line is always long and the prices are very reasonable. "Where's that?" you ask. Would you believe me if I said Costco?! Yes, that's right kids, Costco. They have a food stand out in front of their warehouse with hotdogs (polish or beef), pizza, sundaes, coffee and...hmmm, I think that's about it actually. We went and got this:

A polish dog on a nice sesame bun with a coke for....$1.50!!  Can you believe that?! What a great deal and the hot dogs are always fresh never just sitting for hours. I add onions and mustard to mine. But this place is sooo out of the way and since I'm not really a member of Costco I have no excuse to go more than like once a year.

Wow. I just ate a lot of meat the past two weeks or so. Hrmmm....maybe I should change Tasty Thursday to Go On a Diet and Stop Eating Like a Kid Thursday!!

relax,
paulina

*ps. couldn't stop myself from singing this song as I left Wendy's...

Huey Lewis and The News

Wednesday's Reads: Like A Comfy Blanket

My Wednesday's reads have been a bit lacking. All because I can not find anything good to read. I pick it up, I put it down.  I have not been satisfied with anything lately. I haven't even been able to finish an audio book.


Case in point:

goodreads.com

Although funny, quirky and kind of interesting (like when the main character meets up with Sigmund Freud on the same night that he falls in love at first sight with a girl he sees at an opera. Freud happens to know the girl and, really, chaos ensues). But at 500 pages I felt like I was really committing to something every time I picked it up and I just wasn't ready for that yet. So at about 150 pages in I closed it for the last time. Maybe another time..

goodreads.com

So this one...I think I'm over the whole V.C. Andrews dysfunctional families stories. I read the Flowers in The Attic series when I was younger. I saw this on the shelf and thought "why not?". At about 35 pages I realized why not. It sucks. I left it on the kitchen table for about three days then right before writing this I took about 20 minutes to skim through it. It's basically about two sisters from a wealthy family in Kentucky. One's good and one's bad of course. There's a tragic event which then seems to make the bad sister even crazier and she sets her sister up in an even crazier scheme. It's all very...well, crazy. And not very good.

When this happens, when I can't find a good novel to turn to. Who do I turn to? George Lucas that's who. Or rather Aaron Allston, Karen Traviss and K.W. Jeter. These are the writers (among others) who make the Star Wars universe come alive, who make Han Solo, Leia Organa-Solo and Luke Skywalker seem like old friends. I pick up one of these novels and I know that (most of the time) I'm not going to be disappointed. I open one up and the words curl around me like an old comfy blanket. I always finish one of these novels.

Who I turned to this time was Aaron Allston. He wrote Outcast which is the first in a nine-book series called Fate of the Jedi.  This one has Luke Skywalker being made an example of by New Chief of State Daala for failing to foresee and prevent Jacen Solo's descent to the dark side and the subsequent havoc that caused. Luke Skywalker is then banned from Coruscant for 10 years. He chooses to use that time to follow the path of learning that Jacen Solo took to discover what went wrong. For those of you who may not be in the know, Han and Leia had three kids and Luke has one. This story is set when Jaina Solo is about in her early thirties (I think) and Ben (Luke's son) is about 16.

aaahhh...comforting, familiar and funny. Slam dunk!

relax,
paulina

Tunes on Tuesday: Rain Rain Go Away

It's been raining off and on here the past week and we even had a freak 5-minute hail storm. Unfortunately I was outside in my wool sweater when it started. I thought I dashed in the house pretty quickly. But evidently not quick enough because later on when I got into my car I was like "What is that wet dog smell?" (I don't have dogs bytheway). I sniffed and searched until I discovered...it was me! My sweater had gotten damp! eeewwww!! so...long story short...I had to go change.

anyway...had the first song in my head and from there I came up with a few more.

Phil Collins


Gotan Project/Blossom Dearie


Peabo Bryson


of course

Prince


if purple, why not red?

Peter Gabriel


How's the weather in your neck of the woods? Please tell me I'm not the only one who got a case of the wet woolies.....
relax,
paulina

Tunes on Tuesday: Sappy love songs from movies

Who doesn't like a sappy love song every now and then? I woke up with one of these in my head (guess which one?) and it brought to mind other ridiculously corny songs. Yes, there's two by the schmultzmeister himself, Bryan Adams. He had quite the thing going in the '90's didn't he? Speaking of the '90's, have you seen this for the new show Portlandia?

How funny was that?! And how sad am I that I wouldn't mind living there?! (don't answer that!)

OK...on to the tunes....10 points if you can guess which movie they came from... ;)

Bryan Adams


Celine Dion


ok those were easy...how 'bout these...

Bryan Adams


Linda Ronstadt


Phoenix



relax,
paulina

ps. did one of these get stuck in your head too? mwahahahaha...

Movie Monday: Be who you wanna be

Happy late Valentine's Day! You'll excuse me if this is a day two days late. My Little Monster got sick Monday night before I had a chance to clock in blog. He is finally feeling better, just a 24 hour bug with a lingering cough. Right now laying in bed with daddy, maybe watching Madagascar or Herbie or Star Trek: TNG...

Made these for Cupcakes valentine potluck. She wanted red and blue krispies. The red looked good but the blue....I thought they looked like a sick Smurf.  Cupcake said they were a success though, so that's all that matters. (but I think a bunch of hungry teens will eat almost anything)

Haven't really watched much this past week. Finally got a movie in on Sunday - in between krispies the kiddies and I watched The Iron Giant. It's about an iron giant from outer space and the adventures of a boy trying to hide him from the town and the government.  Its got a great cast with Jennifer Aniston, Tim Allen, Harry Connick Jr. and Vin Diesel as the voice of the giant. (which I didn't know until I watched the credits on Sunday)

I had seen it before, my two little ones hadn't. Everyone really enjoyed this movie! It's funny with a good message. You'll laugh, cheer and cry.

This is one that I'm going to have to add to my collection - don't know why I hadn't yet.

Well...that's pretty much all I have to say.

relax,
paulina

Tunes on Tuesday: Feelin' Frenchie

I think that if I listen to enough songs and watch enough movies in french that I will just absorb it and one day out of the blue i will wake up saying "bon matin j'aimerais quelque café s'il vous plaît". But alas, every day I wake up saying "what?! it's 6 o'clock already?" and in english, nonetheless. But now for your listening pleasure four songs I have found that really tickle my frenchie fancy. (click on names for english translations)

Gregoire


Olivia Ruiz


Tom Frager


Coeur de Pirate


relax,
paulina

p.s. How Little Monster got his name:

His fave shirt. He always points to the monster and says "me!"

Little Monster had to take a pic of me too! Hey, it's not always glamour city around here...                                                             

Movie Monday: I'm not that impressed

Maybe I should change the name of this to French Movie of The Week, because that is exactly what I watched...another romantic french comedy.

I also had a Netflix movie on the counter waiting to be watched.

Now, what these two movies had in common is that both main female leads, although actresses in their own right, are both more famous for whom they are now attached to.

  HeartBreaker was the romcom. It's about three people who run an un-matching-making business. See, people hire them out to disentangle their sisters, daughters, friends from boyfriends that they think are creeps. With Romain Duris as the dude who does the actual dirty work, so to speak, it's easy to see why these ladies fall for his standard shpeel. 

imbd.com

Good premise, actually and pretty funny for the first 20 minutes or so. But....then it kinda falls to the wayside. Pretty much at the part where Alex meets Juliette - played by none other then Johnny Depps wife/girlfriend Vanessa Paradis! I have heard her singing before and actually like this one song:

Link:

But when it comes to her acting....bleh! Let me repeat...I wasn't that impressed. She pretty much had this same expression throughout the whole film:

imdb.com

Reading some reviews beforehand (which I don't usually do) someone had wrote that Jennifer Aniston could have done this part. About 45 minutes into the film I thought "they're wrong, Madonna could've done this part"....5 minutes later Juliette turns to Alex and tells him to run next to her because she feels like Madonna, funny huh?

Near the end of the film Juliette abandons her car and takes off running. "Running where?", you ask. I have no idea where she thought she was going to go, I even yelled "Where are you running to you silly twit?"

The saving grace of this film were the two characters that made up the rest of the trio, Melanie and Marc, Alex's sister and brother-in-law. They were what kept the movie laughable otherwise this would dragged on and on and been really stupid.



with a face like that he's gotta be funny.
imbd.com



The second film was Mr. Brooks, starring none other than the Countess of Cougartown, the dirty dancing dame (check out vid below), Demi Moore!

is that Elaine?!

With this movie I was so not impressed that I didn't even watch it. Just the back of the envelope made it sound snooze worthy. It sat on my counter for three days as I told myself to watch the damn thing. Eventually I tired of it's mocking red envelope and finally sent it back.

So if you've seen this one, is it as snooze worthy as I expected or were you pleasantly surprised by Demi Moore's oscar winning performance? (strike that last comment it was unfair)

But, seriously, who doesn't love this little gem?

really, I wuv this film. weren't those guys too cute!!

relax,

paulina

ps. c'mon i know you're still laughing over that video... :)

Tasty Thursday: Plan B or C?

I don't have anything tasty to share.

I thought I would go ahead and get that out of the way. I haven't tried any new restaurants (although I am thinking I might have time today scratch that, I didn't have time).

The Hubs did cook up hamburgers for dinner twice. One had cheddar cheese and sauteed onions and one was plain with avocado slices, as Rachel Ray might say, "It was delish!".

So at times like this it's a good thing I always have a plan b and c and d and...

My plan b:

truth: I pick up old discarded grocery lists. I then like to imagine what the discardee would be cooking with the various items. Like this one - what are they gong to make? I went to my handy dandy Kraft site (i use kraftcanada just to be different)...and couldn't find a recipe that incorporates these ingredients, probably because these are pretty basic. I guess one could make egg sandwiches or put grapes in their cottage cheese...do bananas and cottage cheese go together?
I don't think so...I just made myself a bit queasy thinking of the combination. (after having kids my queasiness threshold is very low)....What recipes can you come up with? What is the person like who wrote this? What can you tell by the handwriting? Do they put their left shoe or right shoe on first?  Let your imagination go wild, people!

My plan c:

I like globes. I like to travel. I want to go everywhere. Seriously. There is no place that I don't want to at least visit. My plan C involves Picky Pants and a globe. I had her spin the globe, stick out her finger and where it stops nobody knows. Whatever country her finger landed on we would research what that country's "specialty" is, so to speak. Oh, I forgot to mention that I am not food adventurous. I stick to the tried and true. I'm afraid of seafood, strange meats, strange smells. So, this globe thing is my way of being an armchair traveler and researching dishes. Maybe this will take the mystery out of things that I would normally wrinkle my nose at and I will be excited to try out these strange new foods!

First up is North Korea (thank you Picky Pants!).

Pyeongyang Manduguk, a dumpling soup, looks delicious! These little dumplings are packed full of everything I like and only a little bit of what I don't - tofu. (never been a big fan - but i've only had it once, so....)


 Look...fried mandu! Looks yummy :) my stomach is growling. (maybe because I haven't had lunch yet). 

aside: Doing the little research that I did, it seems like NK is suffering a major food crisis (by the way, can that article be any shorter?) so now I feel like a fat uninformed American (ok. a little harsh..that's just how i personally felt) stupid worrying about my food quirks when 24 million people are worrying about getting food (any food) on their plates.

relax,
paulina

(by the way, can I be any less uninformed?! Damn I need to read more world news!)