I loves me some grilled pork!

Another Monday is upon us.  I hope everybody had a good weekend.  Mine?  Well...we didn't do much of anything.  However, I got a bur up my booty yesterday and decided to do some Spring cleaning - totally cleaned the dining room and part of the living room.  It needed it so bad...and there's still more to do.  Nate was a turd yesterday - he actually took a nap but he woke up in a horrible mood.  Mason slept half the day away which was kinda nice.  I took him on a walk yesterday evening and I saw a baby horned toad - it was light brown and only about 4" from nose to tail.  The hubs asked why I didn't pick him up - ummm...didn't want my finger pierce, thankyouverymuch!  LOL

I have a tasty pork recipe for you today.  I did this one last week and we really liked it.  I'd say that Nate ate it, but I really don't remember if he did or not.  That kid is so hit and miss when it comes to eating.  Mason, on the other hand, is such a good eater - he'll eat pretty much anything.  Nate *used* to be a good eater - I'm sure it's just his general turdiness.  Yes.  I just made up a word.  LOL

Balsamic Pork Chops
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp fresh rosemary, sage or thyme
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 pork tenderloins
salt & pepper to taste

Combine oil, vinegar, and garlic with rosemary in a self-sealing bag. Add pork tenderloins and marinate them for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. 

Remove from marinade and discard remaining marinade. Season tenderloins with salt and pepper. Grill over medium-hot fire, turning occasionally, for 15-25 minutes, until meat thermometer inserted reads 155-160 degrees F. Slice to serve.

NOTES:  I used 4 boneless loin chops instead of tenderloins.  If you use dried rosemary, use half as much as fresh (I used the whole 3 Tbsp and it was TOO MUCH!).  I let the chops marinade all day in a zipper bag.  

 

YUM!!  And, just a random pic of Nate-the-Turd.  We had our besties over for dinner last weekend and to keep Nate our of hair, we connected him to the Wii.  I came in from chatting with Wendi and this is how Nate was playing...

He wasn't very happy that I snapped a picture of him.  The pic immediately after this is him jumping off the couching yelling at me to not take a picture.  Anyway, this one made me laugh.  Can you say "Hi - You're Nate's girlfriend?  I have a couple pictures for you to look at."  LMAO!!

Just a reminder...I'm hosting a giveaway for a $40 gift card to CSN Stores.  Check out the original post HERE - you have until August 21st, but go enter now so you don't forget!

Listening to: Come on Get Higher by Matt Nathanson
Mood: disinterested

Giveaway time! **NOW CLOSED**

Saturday!!  What a wonderful day.  You're separated from the work week and you have one more day of the weekend left.  It's been pretty warm here today, so we haven't done much outside other than to sit in the shade while the boys are in the kiddie pool.  I hope we get some thunderstorms tonight, but it doesn't look very promising.

As the post title mentions, it's GIVEAWAY TIME!!!  What am I giving away?  Well, my dear, dear, Kitschies...the good folks over at CSN Stores have been awesome enough to let me offer to you a $40 gift card to use at any of their 200+ online stores.  What can you get?

How 'bout a table lamp?  

Or maybe a little something to make your weekend mornings a little sweeter?

Or something for your little ones?

I've got it!  Get something just for YOU!

As you can see, CSN Stores has a bunch of different things to chose from.  I had a hard enough time trying to chose just a few items to show you.  Now I know you're wanting to know how you can get your hot little hands on this $40 gift card.  Here's the rules:

1.  You must be a follower of Kitschy Suburbia through GFC.

2.  Leave me a comment in this post with your GCF name, email addy and tell me something you'd like to get from the CSN Stores.  To be fair (and to make it easier on me), only one entry per person.

3.  Entries must be received by Saturday, August 21, 2010, at midnight CST.

4.  The only catch: Open only to US and Canadian residents only.

The winner will be chosen by random.com and will be announced on my blog either on Sunday, August 22nd or Monday, August 23rd (my b-day).

Good luck my dear Kitschies!!  

Listening to: Yeah, Whatever by Splender

Mood: kitschy

Challenge Accepted - Part 8

WOO HOO!!  It's Friday!!  And I'm not at work!!  WOO HOO!!  I've done a whole lotta nutin today and I'm okay with that.  I take it back.  I met up with the hubs at a park for a picnic lunch.  But other than that, absolutely nothing.  Now you know what that means, right?  I have a lot of stuff to get done this afternoon before everybody gets home.  Either way, it won't be that because I'm by myself!  *sigh*  What did I ever do before kids?

I don't usually like to do the same topic posted back to back, but I wanted to get this one in there.  Today I bring you PHD's weekly challenge: Nature.  This is a little more unrestricted than usual - the instructions are to pick something, or some things, in nature that inspire you.  I didn't want to do the regular flowers and such, so I mixed it up a bit.

I started with ChG 2nite from their OMG collection.  I got this gorgeous holo from Nailstah's blog sale for a pretty good price.  I can't find this collection in stores around here so I jumped at the chance to pick it up.  I wore this mani for a day before I did anything with it.  I was a little afraid that the wear wouldn't last until the next day without chipping (holos are notorious for bad wear), but I didn't have any problems.  Both photos are indoors with flash.

 The next morning I decided to put a diagonal rainbow on my ring finger on my right hand.  I liked it, but it needed more.  Either way, I wore this all day on Wednesday.  Even with all the work I do with my hands at work (not to mention making dinner and giving both boys a bath), I didn't have any chipping.  I'm pretty impressed at this point. 

And this is more.  I grabbed my acrylic paints and striping brush and applied a line of each color on the other nails.  The end result kinda reminds me of a prism.  OK - so maybe *technically* a prism isn't found in nature, but rainbows definitely are.  I'm anxious to see the other submissions - we'll see how out of sync I was with this one.  The top photo is outdoors with cloudy skies.  The bottom photo is indoors with flash.  Today (Friday) is the third full day of wear for this holo and even though I do have some chipping on my right hand, I have *very* minimal wear on the left with no chips at all.  I'm pretty impressed with the wear of this polish, especially considering the fact it's a holo. 

While we're on the topic of nature, we had a beautiful sunset the other night.  This is one of the reasons I love New Mexico.  Click on photos to make them bigger.

This photo was taken looking northwest from our backyard.  I played with the filters a little in Photoshop, so that's why it has that grainy appearance.  I like the filter because it gives it a sort of "old" photo look.

This second photo was taken looking southeast from our backyard.  I didn't adjust the colors or apply any filters with this one.  This was one gorgeous sunset!  Incidentally, we had a pretty good thunderstorm around 12:30 that night.  It was a long one - it lasted about 45 minutes - and I have no idea how Nate and Mason slept through some of the crashes of thunder.

I hope you are all enjoy your Friday night and weekend.  We don't have any exciting plans for the weekend, but I hope to get out to the park at least a couple times to run out some of the boys' energy.  Anything exciting planned for you?

Oh, and before I forget - keep an extra keen eye open at my blog over the next week.  I'll be hosting a giveaway!!

Listening to: Well Thought Out Twinkles by Silversun Pickups (appropriate given the topic of this post)
Mood: relaxed

*Almost* Nekkid

It's Thursday, Kitschies!  Do you know what's great about today?  I only have a half a day here at work AND I'm off tomorrow!!  Don't know what I'm gonna do with myself all day tomorrow.  I'm sure I could come up with a million things to do though.

Today I bring you a duo of manis.  The first one is what I wore late in the weekend and Monday.  I was *almost* going to wear it on Tuesday, but there was some chipping at the tips and I just couldn't bring myself to wear chipped polish to work.  That would be just plain sacrilege!  LOL  So, this is Zoya Shivon.  I got this beauty with my second Zoya exchange back in June. 

This color is very pretty - it reminds me of Fall.  The Zoya website describes Ms Shivon as a dark rose gold with hints of purple and bronze and strong gold duochrome shimmer. This color flickers and changes with light and movement so you'll never be bored.  Yep, they're right.  How do they come up with these descriptions?  Do you think a bunch of people sit around a big table and throw out ideas and then they pick the best one?  LOL  However they do it, I'm glad I don't have to do it.

Sorry about the quality of this mani.  I took this late in the second day so you can see tip wear and kind of an uneven finish.  I'm fighting with my FDTC - it made the finish all rough.  Booooo!!  I really do like this color - darkish rose with a gold duochrome.  You have to see it outside for full appreciation.

Oh.  You're wondering about the title of this post, are you?  Well...as I mentioned, I almost wore Shivon to work, but just couldn't do it.  At the last minute before I left for work, I took it off but I couldn't wear nekkid nails to work, either.  That's even worse than wearing chipped polish! 

Instead of being all-out nekkid, I slapped on a coat of basecoat and pulled out my trusty dotting tool and two nail art polishes for some quick flourishes.  Once that dried, I added a coat of Orly Glosser and I was out the door!

Quickest. mani. ever.  LOL  I got lots of compliments with this one.  People are always so impressed that I did this myself.  With the right tools, nail art really is rather easy!  I don't think my designs or my art are all that original or that great, but I usually like the end result.  And if people are impressed by my "abilities", that's fine with me!!

So, there ya have it!  One fully-dressed mani and one *almost* nekkid mani.  For those of you who obsessively polish your nails, do you ever go out without polish? *gasp*  That's kinda like going out without makeup!

One more thing - I almost forgot!!  The wonderful Becky at From The Kitchen of: Mrs Bettie Rocker was cool enough to tag me as a Blog with Substance.  How sweet is that?!

 Rules for award recipients:

• Thank the person for the award
•  Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five  words.
•  Pass it on to 10 other blogs which you feel have real substance. 

My five words:

1. creative
2. food
3. sharing
4. family
5. love

And the 10 (10?  Really?) blogs I'm passing this out to:

Linda at More than Quilting
Debra at Housewife Eclectic
Chris at Lacquer Ware for Tips & Toes
Annie at Nailstah
Wendi at Makeup Zombie
Jacqueline at Purple Chocolat Home
Amy at Baking and Mistaking
A Family of Shorts
Ms B at Elevation of Purpose & Desire (and it's her birthday, too!)
Lisa at Rugby Beauty

I love each and every one of these blogs for one reason or another.  Please go check them out!


Listening to: Dreaming with a Broken Heart by John Mayer (what's up with him not doing videos?)
Mood: I'm outta here! 

Workout Wednesday - Part 1

 Welcome to the first installment of Workout Wednesday!!

Ugh!  I feel like I'm stuck in a time warp today.  I got in to work late this morning because Mason had a doctor appointment and then I've had to play catch up with everything.  I hate days like this, though I liked having extra time at home this morning to get caught up on some chores that are hard to do with two excitable kids around.

Anyway.  On Sunday, I started Jillian Michaels' 30-Day-Shred program.  This is the second time I'm doing The Shred.  This is a series of circuit training that lasts 20 minutes.  There are three different levels, each lasting 10 days.  The program consists of a warm-up, 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of ab work, all repeated 3 times.  20 minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but if you're out of shape, like me, you'll be panting within 5 minutes of starting the DVD.  By the end of 20 minutes, I am dripping sweat and my whole body aches.  The first time I did this program, I was really sore.  REALLY sore!  Like, I didn't want to sit down in a chair because my thighs would burn so bad.  The second time around has been a little easier...I think it's the whole muscle memory thing.  My legs and butt are a little sore, but nowhere near as sore as the first time around.  Let's get on with the less than flattering BEFORE pictures.  Shield your eyes. 

YIKES!  I can't believe I'm posting these.  These are more for my reference than for your benefit.  And if you all want to point and laugh at me and say "OMG I can't believe she looks like THAT!", you go right on ahead and do that.  I can't hear you so it's all good.

I'm not going to share sizes and measurements with you.  I will, however, give you *some* information.  I started this program at 180 pounds.  Today I weighed in at 179.6.  The last time I did this, I didn't lose a single pound.  Yep.  That's right.  Not a single pound.  BUT...I did loose body fat.  I'll be measuring both.  How many times have I heard, or even told my patients, that muscle weighs more than fat.  It's true.  And it's frustrating because that means the number on the scale might not move much, but I'll be losing fat and gaining muscle.  With the increase of muscle mass, my metabolism will increase, making my body more efficient.  I started out at 35.1% body fat.  The goal (eventually)?  26.0% body fat and 156 pounds (for those of you - myself included - who are math challenged, that a difference of 9.1% body fat and 24 pounds).  This is going to take longer than 30 days, but if I stick to exercising and decreasing my portion sizes, I'll get there.  As with many things, slow and steady wins the race.

Why am I doing this?  I want to get rid of the wonderful expanded tummy courtesy of two little boys (whom I love very much).  I want to tighten up the waddle under my arms.  I want to get rid of the dreaded back fat and cottage cheese thighs.  I want to look better.  But, there's more to it than just the aesthetic.  I want to feel better.  I want to see myself in pictures and not cringe because OMG I look so fat.  I want to have more energy.  I want to sleep better.  I am doing this for me.  If people think I look better or that I'm "losing weight", that's just an added benefit.  And if the hubs notices...score.  LOL 

Every Wednesday I'll keep you aprised of my progress (or lack thereof).  I'll bring up a topic dealing with exercise or diet or the like.  If there's something you have a question about or something you'd like me to research, lemme know.  I'm an information whore - the more information, the better!!

Listening to: Vampires by Godsmack
Mood: pumped

Coocoo for Coconuts

Happy Tuesday, dear, dear readers.  I hope the beginning of your week is going along smoothly.  I didn't go in to work yesterday, so it's basically my Monday, though it hasn't been as bad as the usual Monday.  *whew*  I'm also on the late shift at work so I don't have to be here at the crack of dawn...so...YEA!!

Anyway...Saturday was game night with the bestie and her hubs (which also happens to be bestie with my hubs).  I don't know what it was about Saturday, but I just wasn't feeling it.  It was probably because I was stressed after a little trauma involving my little boy (he's ok, but it stressed me out).  Either way, I didn't have as much fun as I usually do.  I'm getting sidetracked.  They came over for dinner and since we usually have them over to our place, we told them it was their turn to bring dinner.  They brought delicious potato soup (I'M STILL WAITING FOR MY RECIPE BEN!) and Italian bread.  We provided the salad, some protein (the hubs insisted that bacon in the soup was not enough protein) and dessert.  After dinner, and after the kids went to bed, we played my new Trivial Pursuit game: Bet You Know It.  We had a lot of fun with that - it's a *little* different than the typical TP games, but it was still full of great questions.  Once we'd had enough of that, we went on to Rock Band - good times were had by all - except for Ben.  He slept on the couch.  What an old man!!  They didn't end up leaving til about 2:30.  Let me say this: I am too old to stay up past 2 in the morning!!  Maybe without the kids, but with the 1- and 4-year-old waking up at 6:30, notsomuch.

I wanted something different for dessert so I went surfing my fave recipe site: Allrecipes.  After much searching and tossing a couple recipes to the side, I landed on Coconut Cream Pie.  My mom isn't a fan of coconut, so we didn't ever have this pie around the house.  My sister and I really like coconut, so I did this for her (even though she lives 800+ miles away). 
  
Coconut Cream Pie 

3 cups half-and-half
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (9-inch) pie shell, baked
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed 

In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the coconut and the vanilla extract. Pour into pie shell and chill 2 to 4 hours, or until firm. 


Top with whipped topping, and with remaining 1/4 cup of coconut.

To toast coconut, spread it in an ungreased pan and bake in a 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. 


NOTES:  I took the suggestions from some of the reviews and instead of flour, I used cornstarch, a can of coconut milk and half-and-half to make up the 3 cups. 

By the time we got around to having pie, I didn't feel like toasting the coconut to put on top.  I don't think it made that big a difference - it just made the whole pie kinda boring to look at.

 

This was really good - especially for my first time making a cream pie.  I think next time I'll try banana cream pie. Mmmmm!! 

Speaking of my mom...she started her own blog yesterday.  It's called More Than Quilting and you should go over there and take a look!  What can I say?  I'm just a bad influence.

And while we're on the topic of pimpin' blogs, go check out one of my favorite cooking blogs: From the Kitchen of: Mrs Bettie Rocker.  She's hosting a giveaway of a $40 CSN Stores gift card.  This place has it all: furniture, cooking tools, clothes, fun stuff for the house.  So, stop on by her blog, follow her (if you want) and tell her I sent you.

Sorry for the blah pictures.  The pie was better tasting that the pictures suggest.  I'm off to get some work done.  Imagine that!  Have a terrific rest of your Tuesday.  See you tomorrow for Workout Wednesday!

I am *fighting* with Blogger today.  Is anybody else having issues???

Listening to: A Bad Dream by Keane
Mood: Monday?

What Happened?

To my weekend?!  Friday seems like a distant memory.  Saturday is a little hazy.  Sunday was too busy to count as a weekend.  It was a busy, stressful, fun weekend for me and the family.  It was back-to-work-Monday, but the MIL is sick and the hubs couldn't miss work so I get to stay home with the boys.  It's not even 10 and we've had breakfast (ham and eggs courtesy of the hubs), walked to the park, played a little, walked back home, and played out back while Nate had an Otterpop and Mason threw his ball in the kiddie pool.  Now Mason is down for his morning nap and Nate is (quietly) watching TV.  I better get this post in while I have a moment.

This weekend I did a bright mani because I'd been stuck in dark mode the last couple times.  Between the Vampire challenge and black, white & color splash challenge, I was over the darks.  To counteract those dark colors, I had to go with something BRIGHT!  Thursday night I painted my nails and that stayed on til Sunday morning.

Zoya Trinity.  This reminds me of the 80s!  Bright pink with purple sheen.  This is one of my favorites.  I threw this one in with my second Zoya exchange at the last minute and I'm glad I did.  This color is described as a lighter shade of bright hot fuchsia pink with strong blue-violet duochrome shimmer. Extremely eye-catching, a pink shade that's sure to mesmerize.  I think this is the perfect Summer pink.

And to add to the fun, I decided to do a cheery pedi.  Pardon the toe pictures - while I don't think I have the ugliest feet in the world, I definitely don't think I have cute toes.

Zoya Lianne.  I picked up this pretty summery orange with my first Zoya exchange order.  This color is described as a juicy medium tangerine fused with fine gold shimmer. A cheerful and stylish way to accent any outfit.  I'm on the hunt for the perfect orange/coral for my toes.  While this isn't quite it, I still like it.  I don't see myself using it for a mani, but I do like it for my pedi.  I wasn't happy with just plain polish, so I grabbed my trusty dotting tool and striping brush and did 3 little flowers on both big toes.  Cute!  If I do say so myself. :)

One more picture for the heck of it.  While the hubs was out doing something (and the boys must've been otherwise occupied), I played around with Photoshop.  I love that program but it overwhelms me because there's so much you can do with it.  And it doesn't help that I know *just* enough to frustrate the heck out of myself!!

Well, Nate wants me to watch Action-maniacs (Animaniacs), so I better get to it before he throws a fit!  Coming up this week: recipes for a main dish and a dessert, the first installment of Workout Wednesday and another challenge mani (though I don't know what the theme is yet).  Have a magnificent Monday, dear readers!

Descriptions of Zoya Trinity and Lianne were per the Zoya website.