Another Monday is upon us. And it's definitely a Monday - I loaded up my flash drive with pics this morning and guess what? I left it plugged to my computer at home. Bummer! So...looks like this will be a random kind of post.
I saw this little game on Scandalously Polished's page, and you know I had to play... My life according to Google - Type in the following and choose from the first description found.... Be honest, don't just pick one out to be funny!
1: Type in "[name] needs" in the Google search:
Megan needs a very quiet home in a place with few or no thunder storms and lots of sunshine. I disagree - the more thunderstorms, the better!
2: Type in "[name] looks like" in Google search:
Megan looks like a watermelon and I want to eat her. Ummm....no....? 3: Type in "[name] hates" in Google search:
Megan hates her diaper changed. At this point in my life, I'd have to agree.
4: Type in "[name] goes" OR "[name] has gone" in Google search:
Megan has gone to Heaven to be with God. Nobody told ME!!!
5: Type in "[name] loves" in Google search:
Megan loves Cleo. How does *that* work? I don't even *know* a Cleo...
6: Type in "[name] eats" in Google search:
Megan eats at Friendly's. SURE I do. 7: Type in "[name] has" in Google search: Megan has developed a passion for breast cancer awareness since her sister, a 2-time breast cancer survivor, was first diagnosed at age 27.Nobody told me about this EITHER!?!
8: Type in "[name] works" in Google search: Megan works for Zipper Mart where she earns a monthly salary plus 3.5 percent commission on her sales. Zipper Mart?! So much for liking my job.
9: Type in"[name] lives" in Google search: Megan lives a compelling life!Ummm...I think you must have me confused with somebody else.
10: Type in "[name] died" in Google search: Megan died of very sudden and unexpected, unknown natural causes.AGAIN!?! What's with the whole not-telling-me thing? I hope I didn't suffer too much.
11.Type in "[name] does" in Google search:
Megan Does A Good Deed. FINALLY! Somebody noticed. :)
12: Type in "[name] will" in Google search: Megan will always be the victim. I ended that cycle long ago!
13.Type in "[name] is" in Google search:
Megan is crying while eating. I don't think I've done that for a long time, but it's always a possibility. LOL
This is my thought on most of these
LOL!! Anyway, thanks to Ange for posting that so I had something to post about today. Now I have a great giveaway to tell you about. Jess over at IROCKSOWHAT (love her blog!) is giving away a $50 gift card to Urban Outfitters. You KNOW you want it! The entries are only open til THIS Friday, so run on over there and sign up.
Guess that's it for me today. I'll be back tomorrow with a recipe. Mmmmm!! Hope you survive your Monday.
It's a lazy Sunday for us. Mason, the 1-year-old, woke up at 4:45 (!) this morning because he went to bed super early yesterday. Luckily, all he needed was a bottle and diaper change and he was good to go for a little more crib time. Nate, the 4-year-old, got up at 6:20. The hubs had a feeling he'd get up early, so he pre-set the TV so when he turned it on, it would already be set to the Disney Channel. Good thinking! The hubs and I rolled out of bed around 7:30. After we had breakfast (pancakes and bacon - yum!), we headed to the park. Can I say that I am tired of the summer already? Today it's supposed to get to 92* and it's already hot. We have a chance of thunderstorms tonight, so I'm really, really hoping that comes true because it cools the air temp down a little.
Today I bring you my 9th submission to PHD's weekly challenge. This week's theme: Just Tips. The instruction for this week is to create a design using just the tips of your nail. This was *perfect* because late last week I was wanting to do a French-type mani! The submission deadlines have changed a bit, so she won't be posting the gallery until Monday, but when she does, I'll post a link to the gallery so you can check out all the cool entries. You can link to the challenge gallery HERE. On to the pictures, shall we?
Here's what I used: Orly Blue Collar, ChG Spontaneous, Orly Fifty-Four and white acrylic paint with a dotting tool. I've used Blue Collar before (see the post HERE) and it's a great bright blue creme. Almost Smurf-like. I've used ChG Spontaneous before also, but only as a French mani (coincidence?) - there's something about this color that I just don't love. It's a medium purple creme but it's lacking something that makes me wear it by itself. Needs a Konad, perhaps? Orly Fifty-Four is a very subtle pink/purple shimmer top coat. I used this on top of the finished look to give it just a *hint* of shimmer. I really wish the shimmer showed up more because it's so pretty in the bottle.
This is my submission photo. I am really happy the way this one turned out. I looked through quite a few pics online before I came up with this design. I had different colors in mind, but when I went digging through my collection, these two colors popped out at me.
Another view. You see what looks like a gash out of the side of my thumb nail? That's a little tear that's been hanging out for a couple weeks. Usually I just cut off the nail once I get a tear, but this one started below the quick so I let it grow out a bit before cutting it off. I ended up trimming it on Friday - I feel like I'm missing half my thumb!
Another view. I think you can just *barely* see the shimmer of Fifty-Four on some of those nails (if you click on the image to make it bigger, of course). My nails are kinda stained, but I don't think it was as noticeable to other people as it is/was to me. I love doing French-type manis. I don't like the run-of-the-mill white tips, but I love funky French tips! I asked the hubs if he liked French manis and he said "What's the point of having all the white just at the tips? It looks horrible." He was pretty surprised when I showed him this after I told him it was a "just tips" challenge.
Before I leave you today, I wanted to let you know that my mom started a blog a couple weeks ago and she's already hosting her first giveaway. You can check it out HERE. AND...my current giveaway ($40 CSN gift card) is still open. You have until August 20th to enter. You can check my giveaway out HERE. I've reached 100 followers (thank you to everyone who follows me) and I'll be hosting a 100 follower giveaway sometime soon after my current giveaway closes.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, dear Kitschies. It'll be over before you know it!
Yay! It's Friday! But I can't get too excited about it being the weekend because I'm not feeling all that great this afternoon. Headache and blah stomach. BUT - it's the weekend, so I'm sure I'll start feeling better as soon as I head out of the office toward my car.
I was digging through my polishes last weekend after my previous HT polish disappointment and found a pretty little bargain I picked up at the Dollar Tree a while back. I think I remember having this polish once upon a time and I really liked it. But as I was applying it, I remembered that I didn't like it all that much, either. We'll get in to why in a moment.
This is Plum Motion from Maybeline - it's one of their 60-second dry formulas, which is a BIG FAT LIE! This is a shimmery, almost frosty, plum/mauve duochrome. It is nowhere near dry in 60 seconds. And it dents and smudges horribly even after a coat of FDTC.
I tried to get the duo to show up on the camera, but I couldn't. Maybe if I had gotten a picture outside? Doesn't matter. This didn't stay on my fingers long enough for an outdoor picture. Good thing I only paid a buck for this! Oh...and it came with matching lipstick, but the color is much too dark for me - it makes me look like a clown with purple lips. LOL
Now...on to a bit of a redemption, but not involving this polish. A while back (a long while back, now) I won a giveaway from Libby's Pink Vanity. In the box 'o goodies, I received Milani's Dot Com. It's an interesting shade: royal purple with irregular copper flecks. It's really kinda pretty in the bottle, but I didn't care for it all that much once it was on my fingers.
So, to see if I could redeem this kinda blah polish, I grabbed my bottle of Hidden Treasure. I brushed a good thick coat on top of Dot Com and I got a really pretty golden effect - it made the copper flakes show up more, too.
I'm not totally in love with this, but it was a lot prettier than it was initially. You know Hidden Treasure - depending on the light, it shows up gold, green or pink. I need to use Hidden Treasue more - I think I'll start slapping it on top of a mani I've been wearing for a day or two to see if I can create something I totally love. Who knows? Maybe I'll find that one color that I've been searching for but never knew it.
So there ya go: one FAIL and one notsobad. I hope your weekend doesn't have any FAILS and it's better than notsobad. Tune in some time this week - I'll be sharing my PHD Just Tips challenge mani (love it!).
I just saw that I've reached 100 followers!!! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!! You guys make this whole blogging thing worth it. You know what this means, right? I'll be announcing my 100 follower giveaway in the next couple of weeks. :)
I can not get motivated this afternoon. Good thing it's Thursday because I don't know that I'd be able to make myself come in to work more than one more day this week. I hate days like this.
Despite the blah I'm in this afternoon, I do have a good recipe for you. I found this while trolling one of my favorite online recipe sites: Allrecipes. I like that you can type in an ingredient and they'll give you a bunch of recipes based on that one ingredient. You can also narrow it down by cooking method (BBQ, baked, steamed, etc) or type of food (breakfast, dessert, etc).
1 cup white sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp lemon juice (optional)
4 tsp hot chile paste (optional)
In a medium saucepan over high heat, whisk together the sugar, soy sauce, water, onion powder, and ground ginger. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 5 minutes.
Remove the mixture from heat, cool, and whisk in lemon juice and hot chile paste. Place chicken in the mixture. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 4 hours before preparing chicken as desired.
NOTES: Even though the lemon juice and chile paste were optional, I added them anyway. I marinated the chicken for the whole day.
This is SOOO good! And it's even delicious cold the next day. I made this last week and we're already having it again for dinner tonight.
Hmmmm...after reading the recipe, I realize that I didn't do all of it. Let me rephrase that. I added all the ingredients, I just didn't boil/simmer them all together. I hope it comes out as good as it did the first time. We're having it in salad with mandarin oranges so the flavor probably won't be quite as important, but I'll let you know either way.
Enjoy!! Please let me know if you try any of my recipes and what you thought. If there's a certain type of recipe you're looking for but don't want to try it yourself, let me know and maybe I'll try it out for you first. I'm always open to new recipes!!
I know this is a little off subject, but does anybody watch Project Runway? I missed last season but I'm back in to the show full-force. In the words of Tim Gunn: Make it work!
No, you're not seeing things my dear readers. I'm actually posting twice in one day! I did Workout Wednesday earlier and now you get a polish post. Why? Because I love you. LOL It's just after 8 pm, the kids are in bed, the hubs is off at Planet Ego (read: a place where he and his bestie go to "work" on their comic book) AND I just finished day 10 of the 30-Day Shred!! Nate, my 4-year-old, actually joined me for a little bit of it. You should see him try to coordinate himself enough to do a jumping jack. FUNNY!
On to the polish! A while back (feels like forever!), the bestie and I had a girl's afternoon. We went to lunch and the usual shops in the mall. Of course I had to stop by Hot Topic to see what they had. And of course I went directly to the polish section. I found plenty that I wanted, but as soon as I saw these two, I grabbed them! Neither of these polishes have names, so I took the liberty of naming them.
I present to you Poison Plum and Super Bad. Poison Plum is a *super* dark purple. The clerk who sold it to me rang it up as black, but I *knew* it was purple. Sweet!! But, it's a little bit of a disappointment because it's SO dark that it just looks like black when it's on the nail. Super Bad is just that: super bad. Little holographic stars and teeny tiny holographic glitter in a clear base.
I had a hard time showing off the holo goodness of the stars on my nails, but of course they show up nicely in the bottle. If you click on the pictures you can *barely* see that the polish is, in fact, dark purple, but only around the very edges near the cuticles.
You can almost see the holo and the purple outside, but not really. I really liked this mani but it lasted less than 24 hours! And not only did it chip, it came off in half-finger chunks!! Well, I can't just let that slide. I had to take it off then and there. I was so disappointed about that, but the show must go on, right?
The last picture. I promise. I threw this one in because I like how the star on my pinkie is glowing. And actually, you can just barely see the purple on the pinkie, too. LOL I love dark vampy colors, but if it's supposed to be a vampy color other than black, it would be nice if there were a bit more of a hint of color. Did I say that right? In other words, I love dark jewel tones, but I like it to come across a little bit more than just black.
I almost forgot!! While I was trolling my blogroll earlier today, I rolled across Imperfectly Painted. The wonderful Stephanie tagged me for a Sweet Friends award. Awww - thanks, Steph!!
The Rules:
1. Post who gave you this award
2. State 10 things you like
3. Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment
10 Things I Like (in no particular order):
1. Nail polish. Did you have any doubt?
2. Work. Really. I work with the best docs and the best co-worker!
3. Music! As long as you don't give me country or rap, it's all good.
4. My hubs. He's a great guy who is supportive of my workouts and my blog.
5. My family. This includes my kids (of course), my sister (and her hubs) and my parents. I hate that I live so far away from them.
6. Makeup. I don't do a whole lot with it, but I love the colors and the possibilities (thanks, Wendi).
7. Rock Band. I had to come up with something that didn't start with M. LOL But really. We have so much fun with this game!
8. Peter Krause. *sigh* Ever since Six Feet Under, I have been in love with this guy. My first son is named after his character in that show. I can not wait til Parenthood comes back for its next season.
9. Red, white & blue AND stars. My kitchen is painted RW&B. I have a bunch of flag shirts. I have a tattoo that's RW&B.
10. Kittehs. I have 2: Sol and Luna (sun and moon in Spanish). Sol is a 20+ lb lover who always has to sit on top of you even though you can't breathe when he does. Luna is a pretty little girl who isn't a lap cat, but manages to squeeze herself between your legs when you're sleeping so you get all tangled up in the covers.
Happy Wednesday, Kitschies! I hope this day finds you well. I'm kinda...meh...today. What's meh? Meh is where you don't feel great, but you don't feel bad, so you're just...meh. I think it's just that it's Wednesday. Or it could be that I was taken a little out of my normal routine this morning because the hubs had to be at work early so I had to take the kids to grandma's house - in his car. I used to jump at the chance to drive the hubs' car, but now that I have a better, nicer car, I'd rather be in mine. It's funny how the littlest things can throw you out of your routine.
So, today is day 10 of the 30-Day Shred. It's supposed to be day 11, but I took Sunday off. I just was not feeling like working out on Sunday. I got right back with the program on Monday, so a day off doesn't kill me. I'll just adjust it to the 31-Day Shred. LOL The workouts are still pretty difficult for me. I'm pretty out of shape (wait, round is a shape), so I'm still working on my endurance. I'm dripping sweat by the end of the workout and that's a good thing, or at least that's what I keep telling myself. I'm not as sore as I was at first, but I can still feel it in my legs if I have to squat down for something. I do enjoy the workout, but it's a struggle to get to that point. When I get home and the kids are *finally* in bed, all I want to do is crawl in to bed or veg on the couch. But - I make myself get up and get the workout done. It's ONLY 20 minutes and I know I'll feel better afterward, but still...it's a struggle.
And to augment my weight/fat loss, I'm lucky enough to work for a group of physicians who prize health as a whole. We offer a physician-assisted suicide program weight/fat loss program. The company is Cornerstone Wellness - the program was designed by a physician (who happens to be friends with one of the docs I work with) who comes in and trains the staff who in turn train the patients. This program is so interactive - there's no way you can fully participate in this program and NOT lose weight/fat. Here's the gist of it: a protein shake with milk and some fruit in the morning; a protein shake, a little bit of lean protein and some fruit for lunch, some high protein/high fiber snacks mid-morning and afternoon and a "sensible" dinner (lean protein, low-ish carbs, fruit and veggies). Along with this program is a fully interactive database where you enter what you eat so you can track exactly what you're putting in your face. It gives you a daily goal of calories and breaks it down in to fat, carbs, fiber, etc. Check out THIS PAGE to get a better description of the meal planning part of the plan. You also can track the amount of exercise - you pick from an expansive list of exercises and plug in the amount of time and it gives you the approximate number of calories burned. In addition to all the work the patient does, you get your BMI tested every 2 weeks for two visits then once a month to check progress. I'm due to have mine tested next week. This is what I like the best. Why? Because I've been really sticking to this diet for the last week and doing The Shred and I haven't lost more than a half a pound. Seriously. I know - muscle weighs more than fat - but it would be nice to see that number on the scale go down, too. I know you know what I mean! I know it's not just about the number on the scale, and now that I've been with this program for 10 days, I do notice that my tummy is going down and my legs are starting to tighten up. I'll be measuring this weekend I'll post my progress in next week's Workout Wednesday.
And now I'm linking up with A Family of Shorts and her Journey From Muffin Top to Skinny Jeans.
I "met" Ms Amanda through my first online swap. She has a great blog that centers around family and the daily ins and outs of holding it all together. This week's JFMT topic is: Support.
Pretty much everything is better with support. Why should weight loss/exercise be any different? My hubs is my biggest supporter through this. He tells me he notices "improvements" and encourages me to keep it up. My bestie, Wendi, just jumped on the Shreddin bandwagon last night, so I know I can go to her when I need a little shove encouragement. And then there's Miss B - she's been doing The Shred for a couple weeks now and she's kickin' butt! I don't actually talk to her, but I get little pump ups from her via email. I also have my coworker, Loretta, who has done The Shred with me before and tells me when I look good or that she notices an improvement. And last, but not least, my Mom. She lives 800 miles away, but through the words of encouragement in comments on my blog and weekly weekend phone conversations, she is supportive of me, too. So often, people view weight loss as a solo challenge. Though you are the one who's actually doing the work, it's always nice to hear a compliment or feel a pat on the back. If you know somebody who is working on something for their betterment, pat them on the back and tell them GOOD JOB!!
Now...I'm headed to Sally's to see if I can break my August no-buy. Wish me luck!
Happy Tuesday, Kitschies! I'm waiting around for the doc to finish with the last patient of the morning so I can go to lunch. I'm HUNGRY! Making this post probably won't help the hunger much because these burgers were GOOOD, but it'll give me something to do other than pace up and down the halls waiting for her to finish up. LOL
I was not planning on doing two recipe posts back to back, but apparently I have some pictures to edit because I know I have two manis I have yet to post. I thought I had loaded up my flashdrive on Sunday night or Monday morning, but I guess not. Guess I know what I'll be doing tonight after my workout. Anyway...doesn't matter. I have a good recipe for you, so it's a win-win.
1 lb ground beef
3 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
salt & pepper to taste
Preheat grill to high heat. In a large bowl, combine beef, ground cumin, cumin seeds, corn, and salt and pepper. Mix together and form into patties. Lightly oil grate, and place patties onto grill. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through.
NOTES: I didn't change any ingredients with this recipe. I didn't grill these over high heat, but I did oil the grate. We topped ours with American cheese and I used regular yellow mustard on top. These were so good!! I was afraid the cumin flavor was going to be too strong, especially with both ground and whole seeds, but the taste was really more of an afterthought than a slap in the face.
Formed patties. I could've made 4 out of the pound of ground beef, but we like our burgers big. The smaller third patty was devoured by the hubs the next day for lunch. He said it made good leftovers.
The hubs also said there needs to be more pictures of the chef on my blog. I don't necessarily agree, but this picture wasn't half bad. LOL
The finished product. I toasted buns to go with this - which is a good thing because they would've gotten kinda soggy. These burgers are so juicy. Now that I think about it, I think I might try Mexicorn next time.
And one more pic for good measure. I think I've got to work on presentation. This one looks a little lacking. But lacking what? I have no idea. LOL
In other news...PHD announced her weekly challenge this morning. She usually posts them on Monday morning so every time I checked Blogger yesterday, I was disappointed to not see the post. She posted this morning and, like every week, I got excited (how pathetic am I?)! This is perfect because I've been wanting to do a French mani look - now I get to! Oh, and if you haven't had a chance to check out last week's challenge gallery (nature), HERE'S a link. Great submissions - as always! AND...if you haven't heard, I'm hosting a giveaway of a $40 CSN Stores gift card. Entries are open until August 21st, but enter now so you don't forget (I usually forget). AANNDD...I'm planning a giveaway for when I hit 100 followers...so invite your friends and get my followers up - I'm almost there (I'm at 96)!
Thanks for stopping by today. I know your time is precious and I appreciate all people who come by and I really love the people who comment on my posts. You girls keep me going!! Remember to check back in tomorrow for Workout Wednesday!
I am a 30-something wife and mom to two adorable boys. I am doing this blog to comment on my day-to-day trials and tribulations as a mom, my love of pretty things, my obsessive collection of recipes and all things in the above and beyond. Characters welcome. :)
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