Taking Chance

 You will rarely see a movie review from me.  However, on the off chance that I see a movie that moves me so much that it chokes me up the following day or affects me in some deep way, I will tell you about it.  Last night I watched Taking Chance.  I told a coworker that I was planning on watching it and she said she cried through the whole movie.  I cry at movies anyway (well, not at Star Wars like the hubs), so if *she* cried through the whole movie, I knew I was going to be a wreck.  By the third scene, I had tears rolling down my face.  By the middle of the film, I was crying.  By the end, I was sobbing.  The thoughts of it today still bring tears to my eyes. 

Taking Chance is an HBO movie based off the events of Lt. Col. Strobl escorting a fallen Marine, Cpl Chance Phelps, to his resting place.  The movie (1 hour, 18 minutes) follows both Strobl and Phelps' journey "home", the policy and procedure each goes through and the reaction of people around them.  I respect our military.  I respect the fallen.  I never knew with how much respect the fallen soldiers were treated.  These people made the ultimate sacrifice protecting our way of life.  Whether or not you agree with this war we're in, you will never look at another service person the same - especially the ones who have served over in Iraq - after seeing this movie.  And you'll definitely listen with a heavy heart when you hear that somebody in your town has become a casualty in the war.  I *almost* turned off the movie about 1/3 of the way in because I was having a hard time watching, not that it was bloody or gory or anything like that.  This movie was mentally draining.  Even though I'm telling you how hard it was to watch it, this is definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen.  It's not a movie that you'd want to watch over and over again - it will stay with you for a long time.  I appreciate each and every person involved in preparing/escorting/finalizing a fallen soldier's body.  I never realized how one solider could affect so many people - known and unknown to them.  The thing that got to me the most is how dedicated Strobl was to helping Chance make it home.  He rarely left his side and was on-duty the entire trip (which lasted a couple days).  I don't know if every escort is as strict as he was, but if they are, I have a huge amount of respect for them as well. While you're waiting for Netflix to deliver your disc, take a look at this interview by Kevin Bacon about the film.  Watching this today after watching the movie last night, I get a lump in my throat.  There are so many gripping scenes.  "Colonel. Whenever you're ready."

Interview with Kevin Bacon

I've rambled enough about this.  I highly recommend this movie - just have a box of tissue with you while you watch it.  Last night, I almost (not quite, but almost) wanted to track down my ex to tell him I appreciate his service in the Air Force.  Please, if you know a member of our Armed Forces, thank them.  They are the reason we enjoy such freedoms in the United States.

Challenge Accpeted - Part 6

Happy weekend! I hope everybody is enjoying theirs. It's been cloudy all day but no rain in Rio Rancho. It rained cats and dogs up by the mountains this afternoon, but nothing out on the mesa. I was up by the mountains because my bestie, Wendi, got her nose pierced and it looks great! A couple days ago she mentioned she was thinking about it, and then another friend and I egged her on and she decided to do it today. She did so good - not even a squee nor a tear did Ms W shed!

Today I give you the weekly Polish Hoarder Disorder challenge - Color Accent. We are to use black, gray and white with one accent color of our choice. I had a hard time with this one. I wasn't feeling very inspired all week and though I ended up submitting two looks, the first wasn't my strongest work.  Here's a LINK to the challenge gallery.  There's a lot of great entries this week!

This is my first entry.  The hubs and I sat down at lunch one afternoon and he had this really great idea.  Have the white as the base color to be the daylight sky.  The gray would be twilight and black would be the night sky.  The accent (ring) finger would have a setting sun with rays of light shining up.  It looked great in my head.  It looked great on the sketch.  On the finger?  Notsomuch.

In this one, you can see  I added just a touch of holo glitter at the very tip of the ring finger - it's supposed to be the stars.  If you click to make the image bigger, you can see the "stars" better.

Here's what I used.  Pure Ice Black Rage, Finger Paints Easel Come, Easel Go, Finger Paints Papier Mache, Sinful Colors Let's Meet and a couple different brushes. 

In theory, the idea was good.  I don't know if I was just feeling so uninspired that it didn't come out right or if I just lack the skills in execution, or what.  Either way - meh!

Now, the second look I like much better.  It was rather slow at work on Friday and I was by myself.  So, while surfing the internets, I decided to look for black and white nail art designs.  I came across a couple good ideas and then I found my inspiration.

I did all my nails black except for the accent finger (again, the ring finger) - that one was white.  On the white I used my dotting tool and made silver (aka: gray) eyes and whiskers and a red nose.  Then I painted on a red bow: my splash of color.  This came out much better than the first submission and I'm quite happy with it.  It's cute. 

This is my submission photo.  I was really hoping for sun today for a no-flash outdoors picture, but there was no sun to be seen all day!  You still get an outdoors picture, just not sunny.

Here's what I used for this one.  Pure Ice Black Rage, Finger Paints Papier Mache, Finger Paints Easel Come, Easel Go, China Glaze Vertical Rush, a striping brush and a dotting tool.

I realized from this challenge that I don't like all white fingernails.  They're distracting.  Way more distracting than black fingernails.  However, black is a bigger PIA to clean up.  Oh, and so is that sparkly silver polish.  I did what I could, but you can still see it on my fingers in that second picture.  And one more thing - I waited longer than usual to put topcoat over the design because I didn't want the red to drag.  Well, even though I waited, it still drug the red a little.  A little side note about Pure Ice Black Rage: in the direct, bright sun, this isn't just your run-of-the-mill black creme.  It has little tiny sparkles, almost holo particles.  I've only seen it once or twice, but it's so pretty.  OK - one more picture...just for fun.

Finally I can rest with a design I'm happy with.  I can't believe this one was so difficult for me!  I had a dream early this morning that I had painted over my black fingers with pink polish - but I didn't remember doing it.  And then when I went to touch it, the pink came off in big flakes.  WTH?!  I guess I need to let go of this for a little while.  LOL

Coming up in the next week or so, you can expect some recipes (including strawberry cake, serloin and potatoes and pork chops) and some more nail art.  And beginning August 4th, the bestie and I will be posting in Workout Wednesdays - our struggles through an intense 30-day workout program.  FUN!  Speaking of the bestie...take a look at my banner!  She made that for me!  I love how it combines all 3 of the things I post about in the blog (family, recipes and polish) and she included a skull, too - makes me think of her. :)

Well, I'm off to watch Taking Chance.  My co-worker told me she cried from beginning to end - just great!  Good thing the hubs is out playing with his bestie tonight.  But that's not until I put the frosting on the strawberry cake - yum!!!

Listening to: Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Mood: Inspired

Do the Funky Chicken!

TGIF!! I have been feeling rather uninspired the last couple days, and today is no different, really. It IS Friday and that's about as good I get today. Let's hope it gets better because it's only 9:00 and if it's like this all day, I'm gonna have a sad.



Anyway...I told the hubs that I need to make something from a new recipe some time this weekend. I'm about out of recipes and nails to show you. Can you believe it? I really need to get out of this funk and get to it already! So, here's my question. What do you want to see? Recipes? What kind? Dessert? Main dish? Any specific type of food? More nails? What colors? Art? More kid pics? Etc, etc, etc. What do YOU want to see? Drop me a line in the comments or shoot me an email to megharmeyer@gmail.com. Help me get out of this funk!!!

Now. For the matter at hand. Last week I tried a new slow cooker recipe. I love hot wings, but I *hate* to eat food with my hands. I really don't like my hands to get dirty and I think that's from the years and years of working in a medical office - do you know how many times I wash my hands throughout the day? Crazy. So, when I found this recipe, I jumped on it. It didn't photograph very well...it's only chicken and sauce, after all, so you only get one pic. Funny story with this one. This is the dinner that almost wasn't. My coworker asked me what we were having for dinner and the thought of OMG did I turn the crockpot on?! hit me like a slap in the face. I *hate* that feeling. I was either going home to a house full of yummy smells or a pot full of spoiled chicken. Usually I turn the crockpot on with a light timer, and I remember turning on the timer, but I didn't remember setting the time (I was in a hurry that morning). Luckily, in my haste, I bypassed the timer altogether and plugged the crockpot into the wall. So, it had been cooking for a LONG time by the time we got home (like, 12 hours). It wasn't horrible, but the chicken was a little dry. Here's recipe that almost wasn't.

Buffalo Chicken Breasts

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup hot sauce
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp melted butter
Paprika

Place chicken in crockpot. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Sprinkle with paprika. Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

NOTES: I did a few things different for this recipe, based on the suggestions of others who had tried it. I used Frank's Wing Sauce for the hot sauce, but you can use whatever you want...as long as it's hot! 1/4 cup? That's not even enough to cover 1 chicken breast. I don't know where they got that. I used however much it took to cover all the pieces. I think it ended up being at least a cup. And with the increase of sauce, I increased the other ingredients accordingly. Instead of vinegar, I used Worcestershire sauce. I didn't use Paprika - it's already that wonderful orangey-red color - why add more? Before I took it out of the slow cooker, I shredded the breasts with a fork. Served on burger buns with bleu cheese dressing.


I really liked this. The hubs had cheese on his because he doesn't like bleu cheese anything - I shoulda put some on his and not told him because he kept saying that it was missing *something* but he couldn't tell me what that *something* was. Thanks, hubs. Thanks. LOL I wasn't shy on adding meat to the buns and we still had a bunch leftover. I think it would easily make 6 sandwiches.

Enjoy your Friday, dear readers. I'm off to get some work done (I think my boss would appreciate that).

Listening to: What About Love by Heart (chick rockers ROCK)
Mood: Uninspired

What now?

We made it half-way through the work week, Kitschies!! I hope this week has been treating you well. It's raining tonight - FINALLY! I have a weather barometer for a knee so the rain is a very welcome relief.

A little bit of a different post for me tonight. As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I've hit a sort of a creative road block. It's not horrible - I can still be creative. I'm just in a permanent block with this week's nail challenge. However, in other areas, I've been rather constructive. I had a notice pop up on my blog this afternoon that said my background from www.thecutestblogontheblock.com will disappear after Friday (and I can't even access that page to see what the heck is going on there). That sorta lit a fire under my butt and I went searching for a new background. Obviously, I've found one, but I don't *love* it. It'll do, pig. I found this one (and many other possible choices) at Simply Blog It Backgrounds. All their backgrounds and headers are free - that's my kind of deal! Like I said, I don't *love* it, but I had already made the header (all by myself, I might add), so I was on a mission to find something that worked with that. Speaking of banners, my BFF told me once upon a time that she'd make one for me. I know she's busy, so I decided to try my hand at it. Like the background, I don't *love* my header, but it'll do, pig. It'll do.

And so I don't run out of things to post, I decided to take a pic of what my road block looks like.


There's a bunch of polish sitting there - taunting me. Those little boogers are Zoya Trinity, Pure Ice Black Rage, Finger Paints Papier Mache, Finger Paints Easel Come, Easel Go, Diamond Dry top coat, Zoya Mimi and Seche base. That's in addition to various nail art tools, a big bottle of acetone and a black and white pic I printed that had "inspired" me earlier in the day. *sigh* It'll come back soon enough, but it's like something that you just can't quite remember and it's right there on the tip of your tongue. Frustrating!

And a couple randoms. This is what happens when the hubs gets the camera.


The hubs snapped this rather unflattering pic of me while I was doing research for a new recipe. See the In 'N Out shirt? He got that for me when he was in Phoenix in February. I loves me some In 'N Out, but the closest one to Albuquerque is Phoenix - not going there *just* for a dang double-double. LOL Especially not in the Summer.


Another rather unflattering picture. *sigh* Hey, hubs...if you're reading this, I'd really appreciate it if you'd warn me when you're going to take a pic next time. LOL Anyway, he said this is *proof* that I'm somewhat domestic. I don't see how getting a bag of grapes out of the fridge for the little one is proof of my domesticity, but whatever.

There ya go. That's what I've been up to this evening. Now I'm going to go read some of my book (A Change of Heart by Jody Picoult, if you're wondering) while I wait for the hubs to finish his workout. Speaking of working out, the BFF (here's a linky link to her blog if you want to check her out ahead of time - and you should) and I are going to start Jilian Michaels' 30-Day Shred on August 1st. We'll be blogging about our experiences in a weekly installment titled Workout Wednesday. Be sure to tune in to both our blogs and cheer us on - I have a feeling we're gonna need all the help we can get!

Listening to: Optimistic by Radiohead (hmmm...is Pandora trying to give me an attitude adjustment?)
Mood: relieved

Cue Garfield

Ah...Tuesday evening, Kitschies. What are you doing tonight? I'm trying not to melt and I'm arguing with my nail polish. Why? No. I'm not insane. I'm having a creative block that was induced by PHD's latest weekly challenge. I know I'll have a breakthrough at some point, but right now, I'm arguing with my brain and my polish because it is just not coming out the way it's *supposed* to. Do you ever have moments like that? Maybe it's my brain telling me I need to sit this one out. But I refuse!

Enough of that. Time to let things be for a bit. On to the post at hand. The hubs and I usually like to plan out our menu for the week so we can try to prevent multiple trips to the grocery store. Last week, he asked me what my favorite pasta is. That's easy: lasagna. Specifically, MY lasagna. But, HELLO!?! It's flipping hot! The last thing I want to do is spend a bunch of time in the kitchen in front of a hot stove/oven. But that's exactly what I did. It ended up being a good thing because we had a bunch of leftovers and that means I didn't have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen putting something else together! I don't remember where I found this recipe, but I have yet to try any other lasagna recipe.

Lasagna with Meat Sauce

8 oz lasagna noodles
2 Tbsp salt for cooking noodles
1 Tbsp olive oil
16 oz low fat ricotta cheese
8 oz sliced Mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Sauce
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground chuck or round
1 large can (28 oz) tomatoes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 tsp salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp dried basil
1 bay leaf
2 cups water

Start sauce about 30-45 minutes in advance (or the day before).

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are soft; add ground beef and brown. Pour off excess fat. Add remaining sauce ingredients; stir well. Simmer slowly, uncovered, for 1 hour.

Cook noodles in boiling water with 2 Tbsp salt for about 25 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Drain; add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Arrange noodles in a shallow 2 1/2 qt baking dish. Make 3 layers each of noodles, ricotta cheese, Mozzarella cheese, meat sauce and Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered at 325* for 45 minutes.

NOTES: I use a 9x13x2 glass baking dish. This really seems to be the perfect size. I always spray the bottom of the baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. I don't know if any of you have any helpful tips to spread the ricotta cheese, but I usually just use my fingers and glop it on and then try to spread it out as evenly as I can. It comes out ok in the end, but it sure is a pain in the butt. This was enough to feed both the hubs and I for at least 3 meals.

See...so hot in the house - you can see the steam in the picture!

Ready for the oven.

Fresh out of the oven

Ready to enjoy!

I have a question for you, my beautiful readers. When you have a case of creative block, what do you do to unblock? When you have a great idea in your head but it just doesn't come out right, what do you do? Do you just keep at it, hoping that it'll work itself out or do you do it once, realize it's not working and then move on? Where do you go, what do you do, for inspiration? Do you have a sure-fire, go-to thing that always inspires you?

Listening to: Spotlight (Twilight Mix) by Mute Math
Mood: frustrated

Why I heart blogging

Happy Monday, Kitschies! It's that dreaded day of the week again. I always have a hard time getting back into the swing of the routine, but today wasn't so bad. I didn't have to get up *quite* as early as I usually do because Nate had a doctor's appointment this morning. It was nice not having to rush around the house, but I'm not willing to get up earlier just so I can take my time in the mornings. I like sleep. Know what I mean?

I heart blogging. Really. It's been such a great creative outlet for me. On top of that, I love to stalk the other blogs and see what everybody else is up to. I love each and every blog I follow - they area all unique and they've provided such inspiration. And even better than that, I've "met" some awesome people. One of those people is the beautiful Annie from Nailstah. Not only does she give awesome swatches, her nails are perfect AND she takes the time to respond to each and every comment on her posts. I love when a blogger takes the time to mingle with her followers. Anyway, a couple weeks ago, I commented on one of her posts about a ChG holo. I mentioned that I didn't have any ChG holos and that I'd had my eye on one of them forever. She responded that she could send me one of her holos, if I wanted. OF COURSE I WANTED! LOL How cool is that?! Then early last week I got a bubble mailer delivered at work. My coworker brought it back to me and told me I had to open it *now* because she wanted to see what colors I got. COLORS?! I was only planning on 1 and she gave me 3!! AWESOME!! I tore in to the package and look what I got!


Branding Iron and Divine Inspiration. Branding Iron has been on my lemming list from day one. Seriously. This is a gorgeous, deep red shimmer. SOOOO pretty!!! Divine Inspiration is a pretty rose creme - this is my kind of color. *sigh* If only there were more days in the week to try out all my polishes! And then...the one I was drooling over...


China Glaze holo in BFF. It's SOOO pretty and SOOOO holo! I don't have a swatch for it yet, but you can check out Nalistah's original post for a good swatch. In the shade, it's a pretty rose color. In the sun/direct light it's so holographic - it's hard NOT to look at. I wore it over the weekend for a trial run and I loved it. It's a little persnickety because that's just the nature of holo polish, but the end result is worth the trouble. When I wear this for a real mani, I'm definitely going to have to take my time because it's an eye-catcher and I don't want people looking at my tips and thinking "well...I could've done better than that!". LOL I'm sending a BIG thank you to my dear Annie at Nailstah. I love the holo and you NAILED (heh - get it?!) the other two colors. YOU ROCK!!!

Now it's your turn. Take a gander at Nailstah and tell her Megan from Kitschy Suburbia sent you! Oh, and if any of you are interested in a swap, I have more than a couple I could trade with you. Just leave me a comment or send me an email at megharmeyer@gmail.com and we'll see what we can do. Ah...I love blogging.

Listening to: Lounge Act by Nirvanah
Mood: Kitschy!

Challenge Accepted - Part 5

It's the weekend!!! I hope it's cool where you are, because it's not here in Albuquerque. I'm hiding out in the house with all the shades drawn and the cooler on high and it's still super hot in the house. All I want to do is lay on the couch and veg, but two little kids make that a little more than impossible.

Today I bring you Polish Hoarder Disorder's weekly challenge. This week, it's Fashion Inspiration: Betsey Johnson. She gave us a link to Betsey's collection and we had to pick a dress we could replicate the pattern or style of one of the dresses. Hmmm...for me, this was going to be a little more difficult that the others because I don't have a Konad. After going through page after page, dress after dress, I finally decided on a dress. I *almost* didn't want to do this challenge because I loved the mani I had on at the time. But once I got into this one, I really liked it. The dress and the resulting nail design really remind me of the 80's. So do most of Bestey Johnson's designs. LOL

I started with Loreal Waters Edge as the base on all my nails. It's a pretty minty blue creme that applied really easily. I had initially tried this over white because I felt the blue wasn't quite light enough, but with all the decoration on top, I think it really was the perfect blue.

To make the splashes of color, I used a fan brush and randomly brushed on acrylic paint in Canary Yellow, Licorice and Valentine Pink. Since the dress is made of jersey material (ie: t-shirt material), I opted to use ChG Matte Magic to dull the finish. I had just gotten that in the mail from 8ty8beauty.com earlier in the week, so of course I had to play with my new toy!

And here's the finished product. I was really happy with this one. It's actually a design that looked just as good on my nails as it did in my head (that doesn't happen often).

This is my submission collage. After seeing all the great entries, it made me realize that I need to take a little more time with the collage because there are some great ones this time around. Like every week, I'll be anxiously anticipating PHD's next polish challenge - they're so much fun!!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.