I'd like a drink please.

Happy Birthday to me! A haul of sorts.

2012-01-10T18:26:00.000-06:00

Actually it was yesterday. Again, with the day-lateness. But it was good! Want a rundown of the loot? Let's start with Christmas first, since I totally forgot I haven't gone over that yet:

North Face Masonic Hoodie

Canon Remote for T1i

Zeikos Tripod

Barnes & Noble Gift Card - $25

Sperry Rubber Boots

Wilton Giant Cupcake Pan

The Bell Collection Western Bell

Kohler "Vault" kitchen sink (this is not my kitchen, but I have the same faucet too)

Tickets to see Eleven Hundred Springs on Friday the 13th

And now on to birthday (some of which I bought myself, b/c that's how I roll):

3 cookbooks, Super Solano Original hair dryer, Tory Burch Reva flats, 3 gator clips for a professional blowout

Vera Wang Lavender "Lara" flats - b/c the only good snake is a dead one, made into shoes

Adissage Sandals - or "chanclas" as they're referred to in my house

Flowers from my boys (yes I know this is a crappy picture)

A mocha cupcake from The Cupcakery in The Woodlands. Another crappy picture; it was late and I was tired.

So, I've been practicing with my tripod and remote, but only in my office which is painted red and puts a red cast in all my pictures even with a custom white balance on my camera (see birthday haul picture #1). Basically, my self-portraits suck so far so y'all won't be seeing any of those for a while. I used my Solano dryer for the first time today and thought about doing a before/after, but then I got lazy and didn't want to put on makeup...another time.

I feel like I'm forgetting another gift but I can't remember...anyway, pretty good haul dontcha think?

See Ya, 2011...Hellooooooo 2012.

2012-01-02T10:41:00.002-06:00

OK, I'm a little late. Story of my life - I was once told I'd be late to my own funeral. But y'all, I was having fun yesterday! Having fun flying kites with my boy, eating Mexican food, and taking a nap. It was glorious.

Anyway, resolutions. I don't think I've made any New Year's resolutions in the last 10yrs, mostly b/c I didn't believe you could improve on perfection ;) However this year, perfection could use some tweaking to keep up with the times.

And I give you Amy Drinkie's New Year's Resolutions:

Give my appearance a little more effort. Now that I work from home, I have gotten really lazy in this area. Most days I don't even brush my teeth until after lunch and I stay in my PJs all day. And let's not talk about keeping up with things like eyebrow shaping. Anyway, this year, I'm going to shower every day (I know, I'm ashamed to admit I don't these days), get dressed, and fix my hair. And if getting dressed every day means I need to shop more and pick up a few more things, that's OK. I won't commit to applying makeup every day, that's a bit of a stretch considering there isn't anyone to see it!
Meal plan better to reduce waste - wasted food and wasted money. I shop for produce weekly and freezer/pantry items less frequently, but even with meals planned for most weeks I throw out a lot of food. Celery goes limp before I use it all, peppers turn wrinkly, cucumbers get soft spots...blech. Then after every shopping trip, I throw out at least 1/2 a trash can of food that's not fit to eat to make room for the new stuff. I'm pretty sure I can trim more than $50 off the monthly grocery bill just by planning better. To do this, I'm not only going to select certain recipes to make over the course of the week and make a shopping list for any missing ingredients (I already do this), I'm ALSO going to write out when to make what so that I use up fresh ingredients first, instead of letting them get pushed to the back of the fridge and then finding they've gone off when I'm ready to use them. Noting what days to make which meals will also help me remember when to take meat out to thaw so that I don't have to make alternate plans for dinner.
Get back to exercising. I don't need to lose weight, just tone up. And yes, I hate excercise - I've mentioned it numerous times, but Dance Dance Revolution on Xbox is fun and gets me sweating. I just have to make time to do it...which brings us back to the 1st bullet point.
Go to bed at a decent hour. No more watching Netflix until 11 and then reading a book until 2am. I need my beauty sleep. I need to be "lights out" at 11, at the latest.
Clean and organize our closets.

Closet in my office - DONE, son. It now holds office supplies (duh), board games (which probably should relocate to my son's closet), gifts bought in advance for others, and my coats (our coat closet is already reserved by the vacuum, picnic stuff, and my husband's coats).
Drinkie Jr's closet is a work in progress, I've washed and hung up all the new 3T clothes he got for his birthday and Christmas, and am pulling out the 2T stuff as it goes through the laundry for donation. It should be done in about a week.
Linen closet in hall bathroom just needs all the mismatchy things relocated to the garage for shop towels, and all the matchy things refolded. No big deal.
Gut renovation of my master closet - it's a weird L-shape, and while technically a walk-in, you still can't fit much in there b/c of the poor layout. The goal is to move everything around to make room for shoe storage (right now they're hung on the back of the door, in boxes on the upper shelves, AND in piles on the floor) and bath towels, since there is not much room for linens under the vanity. The towels unfold themselves and get all jumbled around when you reach for toilet paper and I HATE IT. We're still in the planning stage but I'll post progress pics when things get moving - estimated completion, April 2012.

I think that's about it! Nothing that requires too much effort, right? B/c if it requires a lot of effort, I'm not going to commit to it.

You may notice, I don't have any resolutions that are blog-related. That's b/c lately, my life hasn't been all that interesting so I felt like I didn't have anything to write about. I thought about adding "blogging more often" to the list, but if there isn't any worthy content, I'm not going to post filler crap. You're welcome. :) Although, if you have any suggestions for things you'd like me to write about, I'd love to hear them - like that time I went on a date and my date got arrested and I didn't know how I'd bail him out b/c I'd never had to do that before (I actually said "does jail take credit cards?"), or the time I flipped my Monte Carlo in a ditch on the way to work (that car was crap anyway), or the time my horse bucked me off in the middle of a barrel race, OR the time my girlfriend and I had some Aussies stalk us on a night out and we had to slip out the back door to lose them...those are funny stories. It's just that none of them happened recently! My dad has even better stories - like the time his stock contractor buddy backed a trailer full of bucking bulls up to the front door of a bar and let them out IN THE BAR. THAT is an awesome story. Maybe one of my resolutions should be "have better stories?"

Happy New Year! Make it good.

I have a confession to make.

2011-11-20T18:33:00.002-06:00

I started running.

Yes, me - the girl who would rather gouge out her eyes than exercise started running.

The girl who would rather do reps of 12oz curls than lift weights...started running.

The girl who would rather eat Chee-Tos and drink wine sitting on her ass watching Real Housewives on Bravo TV...SHE started running.

I'll be real with you, I've only done it a handful of times. :) But I DID IT. And I did not die or even hurt myself. And, I haven't been this skinny since before the freshman 30 I put on at Sam Houston. I still can't run a whole mile w/o walking a smidge, but I'd say 3/4 of a mile running is a decent start, right? (you better agree here, folks)

I am told runners often keep journals, so I bought a spiral to start my running journal. My first entry goes a little something like this:

DATE: (I forgot what date, so let's say it was 11/1)
TIME: afternoonish
WEATHER: cloudy and kinda cool
ATTITUDE: cranky (no surprise there)
CONSUMPTION PRIOR TO RUN: 1 Panera jalapeno and cheese bagel smeared with 1.5oz add'l cream cheese, 2 Tassimo cappucinos, a couple of glasses of water
PERFORMANCE: ran with dog. He got winded first. VICTORY IS MINE. Also, bra is too tight and restricts breathing - shop for a better one.

The other times, I forgot to make entries in the journal. LOL

Moving right along...

My kid ate spaghetti for the first time last night. This is not the first time I've given it to him, mind you, just the first time he actually ATE it. Kid Drinkie subsists on a diet of chicken strips, fries (regular and sweet potato), fish sticks, cheese pizza, sandwiches (grilled cheese or PB&J only), scrambled eggs, applesauce, and assorted pastry items (breads, cakes, etc). Notice the lack of green vegetables and meat that hasn't undergone some sort of processing. And last night, he whined and whined about not wanting spaghetti until I basically forced a noodle in his mouth. Then he turned to me and said "Ian WIKE sketti!!!" Aaaaand, at lunch today he would not eat the sketti. Oh, well.

I spent too much during the Sephora Friends & Family and VIB sales. I returned a couple of things; reviews to come in another post soon. I've been taking lots of snaps lately, which I promised I wouldn't bore you with here b/c this is not a photography blog, but you can check out my Flickr photostream if you want.

And I guess that's about it for now!

Drinkie's Chicken Salad - 2 Ways

2011-08-25T00:58:00.002-05:00

I've had a lot of emails asking me where the hell I've been and why haven't I been blogging. Well, I just gave y'all a tiramisu recipe, so THERE.

No, really. I apologize for being AWOL, and to make up for it, I'm going to share not one but TWO go-to recipes in my house - the coveted chicken salads.

Chicken salad is a southern staple, and if you don't have your own spin on it, you can just get the f*ck out. Kind of like King Ranch Chicken - any Texas chick should be able to make this with her eyes closed. If you can't, please don't admit that, just play like you can and dig up Lady Bird's recipe from the LBJ Library. You're welcome in advance; I won't tell anyone.

Y'all will either love me or hate me for passing these along. I am fine with that.

Gammommy's Chicken Salad

Gammommy was my great-grandmother, Lula Pearl Collerain. Nothing is really measured, it's more of a ratio thing. She would be so pleased I am sharing this with you!

Ingredients:

1 fryer, cut up (or you can cheat and de-bone a rotisserie chicken. Gammommy will roll over in her grave, but this is modern times)
2 stalks of celery, minced
2 green onions, sliced
1/4c green olives with pimiento, chopped
1/2tsp garlic powder
Mayo - the real full-fat kind (do not under any circumstances use Miracle Whip. It is of the Devil)
Salt and pepper to taste

If you're cooking your own chicken, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Throw in the chicken pieces and turn the fire down to low, poach for 20mins. My stove runs hot so 20mins is fine, my mom says hers needs 30mins. So check yours at the 20min mark and use your best judgement.

Debone your chicken and place on a cutting board. Roughly chop the chicken so that it's smaller than bite-sized. Or, you can pulse it once or twice in a food processor. Throw chicken in a large mixing bowl. Add the celery, onions, green olives and garlic powder. Add mayo a dollop at a time and mix until the chicken salad is as "dressed" as you want it (I like mine pretty mayo-y). Taste, add salt and pepper to your preference.

I usually serve this chicken salad on Pepperidge Farm Party Breads Dark Pumpernickel or Very Thin Breads White.

Drinkie's Husband Catchin' Chicken Salad

There is a long-running joke about this recipe. The first time I made it, I was probably 22 and still living at home. I didn't know how to cook anything besides Hamburger Helper, and this was the first thing I remember making that didn't come out of a box. My dad took one bite and said "Damn Ames, I reckon we could git you married off if you'kn cook like this."

Ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken, deboned
1 bunch green onions, sliced
3 stalks of celery, minced
2 tart-ish apples (I usually use Pink Lady or Braeburn) cored and chopped
1c pecan pieces
1c Mayo - the real full-fat kind (do not under any circumstances use Miracle Whip. It is of the Devil)
1/4c sour cream
1/2c champagne vinegar
1tsp dried tarragon or thyme (tarragon smells sweet, thyme smells earthy. Pick your favorite)
Salt and pepper

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Place chicken in a large mixing bowl, add onions, celery, apples, and pecan pieces and toss to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the mayo, sour cream, vinegar, tarragon/thyme and taste. Add salt/pepper as you see fit, whisk to combine, pour over chicken mixture and toss before serving.

I serve this chicken salad on King's Hawaiian Sweet Sandwich Rolls.

And there they is, y'all! A savory and a sweet version to please everyone. I know the olives are kinda scary in Gammommy's recipe, but let me tell you - last year for Easter lunch, I made both versions and Gammommy's went quicker. So try it, you might like it!

I hope you can forgive me for being gone so long. Maybe someday I can quit my corporate job and become a personal chef or yoga instructor. So if you're lookin' for anyone... ;)

Quickie Tiramisu

2011-08-24T22:33:00.000-05:00

I had this delusion of grandeur that I was going to make tiramisu the last time I was grocery shopping, and it happened to be that there was a recipe on the package of ladyfingers I bought and I thought "OH! I'll just buy the stuff to make this one."

Well, that recipe involved separating eggs (which I don't do), and the sugar was measured in grams...I threw up my hands in exasperation and did my own thang:

Ingredients:

4 eggs (really, I think I should have used 2-3. It was pretty runny)
1/2c sugar
4-8oz tubs of mascarpone cheese (my store had plain and flavored; I bought coffee flavored just 'cuz)
1 package ladyfingers (my package contained 5 sleeves of cookies, and I needed 3 to make this recipe)
2c cold coffee
3tbsp cocoa powder

In an electric mixer, combine the eggs and sugar until foamy. Fold in the mascarpone cheese until the mixture is smooth.

Pour the coffee into a shallow dish. Roll a ladyfinger in the coffee, coating it, and lay in a 9x13 pan. Repeat until the entire bottom of the pan is covered. You may have to break some ladyfingers and fill in some holes to get the whole bottom covered.

Pour half of the mascarpone mixture over the first layer of ladyfingers. Repeat w/ another layer of coffee-soaked ladyfingers, and another layer of mascarpone mixture.

Smooth the top, dust w/ cocoa, chill 4+ hours.

Pic to follow, I want y'all to see it after it comes out of the pan!

I am in Hell.

2011-07-06T21:26:00.001-05:00

Potty training hell, that is. I will not go into all the dirty details with you, but I will tell you this: be prepared with lots of M&Ms for bribery, towels to spread all over the floor and plenty of disinfectant. I prefer Lysol liquid that you dilute with boiling lava hot water. The hippie-chic vinegar and baking soda "green" cleaners are no match for a 2yo's accidents. Or, just do what I'd planned in the beginning and avoid having children altogether, m'kay? Much easier (and less germy and gross).

On a lighter note, I made sangria tonight. However, since it didn't surpass my favorite sangria at Pappasito's, I will fine-tune before I share the recipe with you. It does look pretty though, doesn't it?

Drinking out of the Waterford; so fancy tonight!

And now, before I step out to smoke a Nat Sherman like I'm not supposed to do and don't you DARE tell my parents, I would like to share with you what came today.

I think it's safe to say, I like my job again.

At last...my love has come along...

2011-06-13T22:50:00.000-05:00

In the furniture arena, that is.

For years, I have lusted after the Herman Miller Aeron chair. I first sat in one in July 2005, when I went to Dallas for work training - the desk chair in my hotel room was an Aeron. I remember thinking that particular one was too big for me, but the curvature of the seat and back was awesome. It was the most comfortable desk chair I'd ever sat in (let's face it, most are not comfortable).

Also, for years, I have only had cheapo crappy Office Depot/Office Max desk chairs b/c I figured that was as good a place as any to buy office furniture. How wrong I was. The padding didn't keep its shape, the armrests didn't adjust low enough, they didn't have enough lumbar support, and they just didn't stand up to the light-to-medium use they saw when I was in college. When my office suite was downsized and I started working from home, I swiped my old desk chair for my home office, thinking I was such a smarty! They were going to throw it out and get all new furniture for the new suite, and it seemed like a perfectly good chair to me at the time...

I HATE THIS F'ING CHAIR. I don't know what brand it is, but it kills my back. The lumbar support is too low and too small. The upholstery is ugly. The arms run into my desk and tear up the woodwork. It doesn't lean back. HATE IT. Soooooo...I finally ordered my Aeron.

Photo courtesy of Herman Miller

Ahhhh, my Aeron. Titanium base with smoke frame, Zinc classic weave pellicle fabric, Tilt Limiter with Seat Angle Adjustment, adjustable arms, PostureFit support, and carpet casters (hopefully I can get rid of the fugly cracked plastic chair mat underneath). Made with over 50% recyclable materials and is 94% recyclable. Won gobs of awards for being 1) cool looking and 2) ergonomically correct. It'll go into production June 30 and hopefully be at my door in 4-6wks.

My husband hit the roof when I told him how much it cost, but really - I spend 9hrs a day in my desk chair, M-F. I only spend about 7hrs a day in bed. And how much more did we spend on the bed? And how much more did we spend on the living room furniture that I only get to sit on about 2hrs per day?? How's that for inequality??? Makes no sense. If I spend 40-45hrs a week in a chair, it's damn sure going to be a good one, and I am kicking this raggedy old piece of shit to the curb!

Where have you been, Drinkie??

2011-05-26T14:35:00.000-05:00

Where have I been? Well, I'll tell you.

I started a new job May 6. Same place, just moved to another team. And, I'm getting KILLED at work. My old job was pretty cush, and this job, I have to actually THINK. And WORK. And EARN THAT PAYCHECK. I'm told I'm just overwhelmed b/c I'm new, and b/c we just had a reorg and it's like everyone is running with scissors around here, and maybe that's true - it's hard going from a job where I knew all the answers to one where I don't know a damn thing. But, one of the reasons I was brought to this team is b/c I'm supposedly skilled in making sense of things that don't make sense, so I guess it will calm down but it sure is stressful right now.

I haven't been shopping lately b/c everything is fug. The Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale started yesterday and nothing on my wish list got marked down - not a damn thing. I'm very disappointed. There are a couple of things I've had my eye on there and at a few other places but I don't think they're worth full price, so I continue to wait. On the beauty front, I'm feelin' kind of like a hag these days. My hair still looks decent thanks to the keratin treatment I had done, but my face is zitty, my eyebrows look like Chewbacca's and I need fresh polish on my toes.

And don't even ask me about cooking lately. We've been living on takeout for about a month and I'm getting fat. So much for looking hot at the beginning of swimsuit season.

The cat threw up on my bed this morning, and of course got it all over the dry clean only duvet and insert that requires washing in a commercial washer, so that was fun. And of course since I'm chained to my desk, I haven't been able to take that stuff to the cleaners yet. I'm pretty sure that puke pile is going to cost me about $50.

This weekend I am going to check out Friday at 4pm and head straight to the lake for some much needed relaxing, and I'm not taking my laptop or anything else techie with me. Maybe my Nook so I can read on the boat dock, but that's it! There, I will be able to paint my toes and pluck my eyebrows in peace, cook something from scratch (well I'll be forced to b/c the restaurants are either too far away or crap), lay out, swim, read, and I don't know what else. But I can tell you, it won't be work. :)

Sorry for all the bitching, but I had to get that out there! I feel better already. Next time hopefully I'll be back to my regularly scheduled program.

In Review: Eau de Cartier Essence D' Orange

2011-04-19T16:29:00.000-05:00

Sephora is offering 15% off through April 21st with code CHICWEEK (go forth and shop, my children - I will wait here). I placed an order last week to get a couple of favorites that needed restocking, and also a new fragrance. I know, I know - how can anyone in their right minds shop for perfume on the internet, smell unsniffed? Well, I'm not in my right mind, duh. Just kidding. ;)

I find it hard to shop for fragrance in stores b/c they don't have the room to stock everything I'd ever want to smell, plus the air is already perfumed with various scents from other people sniffing and spritzing, and I think it confuses my nose. A lot of times I buy fragrance and decide it doesn't smell the same at home as it did in the store, and I end up giving it to a friend or my cousin anyway, so what difference does it make? At least if I bought it online I could probably shop in my PJs drinking wine instead of getting ready, burning gas to get to the mall, and so on.

So, I knew I wanted something that smelled fresh, clean, and kind of woodsy - cedary. I LOVE the smell of freshly sawn cedar, but don't necessarily want to smell like a fencepost, know what I mean? So I searched Sephora's site for "cedar," drilled down until I was in women's fragrances, culled out the ones I'd already had before or dismissed (which was about half of the search results) and started comparing the descriptions. I tend to like fruity/citrusy fragrances rather than floral, and I didn't want an oriental b/c they're asphyxiating to me in the warmer months.

Eventually I'd narrowed it down to 3, but one was described as "soft" - "soft" makes me want to go night-night. It was immediately ruled out. I don't need anything making me wish I was napping during the workday. The other one's reviews made it sound like people only bought it for their boyfriends/husbands. Well, I didn't want to smell like a man either, so it was out too. The last remaining choice was Eau de Cartier Essence D' Orange.

Essence D' Orange at first spritz smells quite masculine. The first things I smelled were cedar and patchouli (which smells like wet dirt to me), and immediately I thought I'd made an awful mistake. I did not want to smell like a dirty hippie, I wanted to smell like cedar and citrus. Now that I've reached the drydown stage, it is love. I smell orange zest, clean clothes, and outdoorsy-ness. It's not sweet at all. It makes me think of the Hill Country. :)

Oh, Cartier, you never do me wrong do you? I love you so. Your panther link bracelets, your big honkin' sparkly diamonds...not that I possess any of these lovelies, but maybe someday. Until then I will have to be content with your Eau de Toilettes - and for now, I am.

In Review: Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy - Express Version

2011-04-17T16:53:00.001-05:00

Well, I did it. After all the trials and tribulations I've been through with my hair, product purchases/tries/returns/exchanges, my stylist friend Kharissa finally convinced me to do the Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy (she did the express version on me - faster and less costly).

The whole process took less than 90mins. I walked in, she shampooed me and then applied the solution to my hair with a brush, much like painting on highlight bleach. After that was worked through my hair she blew it dry and flatironed it in sections. I was instructed not to wash it for 8hrs, not to clip it, no sunglasses on the head, nothing that would crease the hair. I slept on it that night and washed it the next morning.

It's pretty awesome. My hair is smooth and shiny like Kyle Richards's only not so dark. And it doesn't take as long to blow dry and I don't have to use a bazillion products in it to make it look smooth. Usually smoothing products also take the volume out of my hair, which isn't really want I want - I want bounce and movement that's not frizzy. Mission accomplished.

Here is a "before" pic of my very ill-behaved hair on a humid day, after it had unstyled all of my moussing, blowdrying, hot rolling and hairspraying.

The 70's called, they want that look back.

Here are some pics after I blowdried and hot rolled it yesterday. The only product used was Tresemme heat protecting spray:

After a half-assed blowdry job

After rolling with jumbo hot rollers. YAY! Sorry about those towels in the background.

And my hair stayed like that ALL DAY. Big, bouncy, no fuzz. I am very happy.

The express version of this treatment is supposed to last 6-8wks. I'm hoping that by skipping a shampoo here and there I can stretch that out longer since I usually don't get my hair cut more often than every 3mos, and I kind of want to do both things at the same appointment, but we'll see. Kharissa said it would change my life, and so far it has...I may not be able to wait so long between treatments!

Schilleci's New Orleans Kitchen

2011-04-15T10:47:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I had lunch at an awesome new(ish) restaurant near my house. It opened in December and I'd walked by it a couple times and thought that I'd like to try it, but we don't get to eat out much with the munchkin and it's not on my list of take-out places. So yesterday I wanted to have lunch out but I didn't know what, and I figured I'd just drive until something looked good. I ended up near the mall thinking I'd have a sandwich at Potbelly, and right before I walked in I thought "HEY! I'll try that new place around the corner!" Sorry Potbelly.

It's called Schilleci's New Orleans Kitchen. They have outdoor seating as you walk up, and when I went to the host stand he asked me if I'd like inside or outside. Since it wasn't hot as blazes yesterday I picked outside (plus I wanted to test drive my new Keratin Complex treatment, more on that later). To start I ordered a glass of Moscato and they brought me some spicy potato chips (pretty sure they were Zapp's Spicy Cajun Crawtators, which are damn good chips). For lunch I ordered one of two specials they were offering - 1/2 a fried shrimp po'boy, dressed, with a cup of seafood gumbo.

And here are some phone pics for your viewing pleasure, since I didn't figure I needed my fancy Canon to go out to lunch - wrong. Anyway:

View from my post on the patio


Cup of seafood gumbo and shrimp po'boy

The fried shrimp po'boy is a difficult animal to get right. I've had many, and at least half the time the shrimp are overcooked and chewy, and the batter is greasy so it doesn't stay crispy and the grease transfers to the bread, and hot grease + lettuce and tomato = wiltiness which is gross. Not this one. The shrimp were tender, the batter was light and crisp, the veggies were cool and crisp and the bread was lightly toasted. Wonderful.

The seafood gumbo was excellent. A little spicy but not too much, with a good amount of shrimp and lump crabmeat. It did contain okra, which I love but I understand some don't - if you don't like okra get the chicken and sausage gumbo instead. Notice the lack of crab claw; I'd eaten it before I took the picture. Sorry!

The bread pudding that changed my life...I wanted to rub it all over my body.

The bread pudding...DAMN. AMAZINGSAUCE. Normally I don't want bread pudding b/c a lot of places put raisins in it which are of Satan, but this was like eating hot praline-soaked French toast in a ramekin with melty whipped cream and pecans. Heavenly. Seriously, it was like a religious experience.

One of the owners stopped by and chatted with me a bit; super nice guy. He said that he and his brother (or maybe 2 brothers?) owned the restaurant with his parents, and they were all from New Orleans, and that they really appreciated me stopping by and my business meant a lot to them. Good food, appreciative owners - I'll definitely be back.

Mmmmm, Canneloni.

2011-04-07T13:55:00.000-05:00

I tried my hand at making what I thought, all these years, was called manicotti from scratch last night. Imagine my surprise, when during my recipe research I discovered that I actually had a hankering for canneloni. I thought manicotti was meatless and canneloni had meat - wrong! The difference is that traditional Italian manicotti is actually made with crepes and rolled up like enchiladas, and canneloni is made with pasta tubes and can contain meat or not. Go ahead, Google it. And I didn't want crepes! Crepes are breakfast food in this house! Stuffed with cheese and topped with fruit (oh, how I love you, cherry pie filling) to make a blintz, mmmmmmmm...

Wait - where am I? Anyway.

Back to the canneloni. It really is not complicated; though stuffing the pasta tubes was awkward. A couple of mine split open b/c I suffer from "more is better" syndrome, and since shell shapes are already split on one side I will probably use those next time and not call it canneloni. It will taste the same anyway. Here we go:

Ingredients:

1 box manicotti tubes (I used Barilla - although I don't know why these are called manicotti, based on the above description...)
2 eggs
1-15oz container part skim ricotta (since swimsuit season's a-comin')
1-10oz package frozen spinach, thawed and wrung out
3/4tsp salt
1/2tsp pepper
Quart-sized Ziploc bag
3c your favorite marinara sauce (if it's jarred I won't tell)
1/2c freshly shredded Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Start a large pot of salted water to boil. Spray a 9"x13" pan with cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, crack the eggs and whisk to break the yolks. Add the ricotta and stir to combine. Fold in the spinach, salt and pepper. Load this mixture into the Ziploc bag, seal and set aside.

Back to the water which should be boiling, throw in half of the pasta tubes and cook for 7mins. Fish those out, set aside, repeat with the other half. Spread about 3/4c of the marinara in the bottom of your pan.

Snip a corner off the Ziploc bag (just a little snip, you can always cut off more if needed), and starting with the first batch of pasta tubes, squeeze the ricotta mixture into the tube. Here is where I messed up b/c my snip was too big and the filling gooshed all out of the top of the tube. Whoops! I got it all back in, but I could have made it a lot easier on myself by cutting a smaller hole in the first place. Lay the filled tube in the pan, repeat with all the others.

Pour the remaining sauce over the top of all the filled tubes, spread that around, top with the Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30mins.

Soooo, I was supposed to save this for our family dinner tonight but I couldn't wait, and I had some for lunch. DAMN it was good. But I didn't take a pic b/c my kitchen's messy so I'll add it later tonight. :)

Look how cute!

2011-03-31T09:33:00.000-05:00

Blogger released 5 dynamic views this morning! You can go here and pick from the 5; I think my favorite is the Mosaic view.

Really, all these do is convince me that I don't post enough pictures, b/c some of the squares are just words...hmmmmmmmm.

Steamed Mussels in White Wine Butter Sauce

2011-03-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

Steamed clams/mussels always seemed like a very glamorous dinner to me. They seem hard to prepare properly, they're drenched in some kind of buttery sauce on a bed of pasta, and restaurants charge a lot for them.

One day while I was shopping at Hubbell & Hudson, my very favorite grocery store, I trolled by the seafood counter more slowly than usual and saw they had lobster salad on special. HELL YES, I bought a pound of that right quick. Yum yum, gimme some! As the seafood dude was weighing my little tub I noticed they had clams on special. I asked the guy if they were as intimidating as they looked, and he said "Oh no, they're SO easy." Here's how he said do it and they were PERFECT. Unfortunately I ate them before I remembered to take the photo that night, but tonight I did mussels the same way and got a decent pic (meaning, I'd already started eating before I remembered).

Aaaaaaand a few monster crab claws for garnish.

Ingredients

1lb fresh clams or mussels
1/3c cornmeal
1/2 stick of butter
1 shallot, diced (you could use a garlic clove and some diced onion instead)
1c white wine, I usually cook with chardonnay
Fresh parsley, about half a handful, chopped
8oz linguini

Rinse the clams/mussels in cold water and scrub off any grit. Fill a large bowl with ice water, stir in the cornmeal, add mollusks, and stick in the fridge for a couple of hours (or overnight). They will suck up the cornmeal and spit out the sand, so they won't be gritty when you eat them.

Start the pasta to cook. While the water's heating up, rinse the mollusks again and discard any that are open. If using mussels, pull the beards off.

After you've added the pasta to the boiling water, melt the butter in a large skillet, add the shallot and saute until soft. Add the clams/mussels, pour in the wine, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low, let simmer for 5mins. Discard any that don't open, divide the rest between 2 plates. Also divide the pasta between the plates. Stir the parsley into the sauce, pour over pasta.

Be sure and have some bread to sop up the remaining sauce.

Drinkie's Potato Salad

2011-03-25T13:06:00.000-05:00

I will start off by saying that I am prejudiced against most potato salads. I've never had a storebought variety that was edible; they all taste like Miracle Whip which is atrocious - tangy in a bad way. Restaurant potato salad, while marginally better, is still disappointing. German potato salad, while delicious, just isn't what I'm looking for with all its bacon and lack of mayo. Up until recently, two ladies in my life have made my absolute favorite potato salad - one is my aunt and the other was my ex-fiancee's mother. Both recipes are tangy in a GOOD way with yellow mustard, green olives, and I think they both put boiled eggs in theirs too. However, neither would disclose their secrets so I've been left to my own devices to some up with something suitable, and while mine's a lot different than theirs I'd say it gives them a run for their money.

Bison tenderloin with horseradish sauce, steamed asparagus, potato salad

Ingredients

2lbs New or Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed
1.5c mayo (NOT Miracle Whip, as it is of the Devil)
3tbsp stone ground or creole mustard (you want the grainy kind. Grey Poupon is my favorite but not in this case)
Salt and pepper
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
1 bunch green onions, sliced (you could use 1/2 a diced red onion instead)
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped

Cut the potatoes into 1"-ish cubes. I like to leave the skins on. Put them in a pot of salted water, bring to a boil, cook for 10mins. After 10mins, try to cut one with a fork; if you can't give them a little longer. If you can, drain them in a colander for 15mins or so.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayo and mustard. Add salt/pepper to taste (I like a lot of pepper). Add the potatoes, celery, green onions and parsley to the bowl, toss to coat. Add more mayo/mustard if it looks too dry; season with more s&p if you like. Refrigerate 3+ hours before serving.

One thing my potato salad has that theirs doesn't is lots of crunch from the celery, and more aromatics than just mustard. While different, I love mine just as much as theirs...plus mine is prettier.

It's not you, it's me - er, wait. It's really you.

2011-03-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

For probably the past 10yrs or so, J. Crew has been one of my favorite stores. I don't remember the first thing I bought; probably khaki capri pants or something equally preppy. Maybe the ones with the turtles embroidered all over, remember those? They were called Critter Capris? Anyway. I remember the favorite thing I bought there - a pink and orange paisley shift dress, which I paired with wooden Sisley shoes I picked up at Benetton the same day. I wore that dress until it literally fell apart, and then I was sad, and longed for the days when J. Crew had cute, kind of quirky clothes that didn't cost an arm and a leg b/c they were long gone.

I still flip through the J. Crew catalog every month when it comes and dogear a couple of pages, but decide in the end that the shipping cost is a rip. Even if they have free shipping with a minimum order, I usually can't find enough things worth buying to get it - stuff is either in ugly colors or not worth what they're charging. Then the catalog goes straight into the recycling. There is a brick-and-mortar store near me but I think I've bought 2 things there. I used to drop a couple hundred bucks a month at J. Crew back when I had gobs of disposable income (before I had a mortgage) and now, it's more like a couple hundred a year if I can snag a couple cashmere sweaters on sale.

Then I discovered Boden.

I placed my first order last week and the goods came today. Here's what I got:

Breton Top WL590


Graphic T-shirt 21429 (for the munchkin)

Metropolitan tee WL585 and Santorini Skirt WG396

The skirt is my favorite. I see myself walking along the cobblestones in Capri, heading back to my villa after shopping at the farmer's market for dinner stuff, hair blowing in the breeze. Or sitting at an outdoor cafe with my big black "go away" glasses, sipping an espresso and eating ladyfingers while reading Italian Vogue.

These clothes remind me of what I used to love about J. Crew in olden times, when the clothes were in colors like "pool," "grass," and "flamingo." When I could pick up a whole outfit for $150 instead of just a sweater. When I used to enjoy getting the catalog instead of muttering "Gah, more junk mail" to myself. Like I said, olden times.

So, J. Crew, I think it's over between us. It was over way before it ended. When you got all conservative with your color palette and shot your prices out of the stratosphere, I started spending more time at Nordstrom and Anthropologie, and it helped me to see that we just weren't right for each other anymore and there were other stores out there. It was fun while it lasted, and I will look back on those days and remember them fondly. You will always be my first love and if we end up together again one day, I would love that...

...but...

I'm Boden's bitch now.

I guess Grandma was right.

2011-03-21T16:27:00.000-05:00

I was running low on my was-Holy Grail makeup remover - Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm. Clinique didn't have any gift-with-purchase promos going on near me and I didn't really want to shell out another $27.50 for makeup remover, b/c let's face it, $30 is ridonkulous for that kind of thing. It works well, but I don't know if it works $27.50 well, especially when I switched mascaras and still had black between my lashes after washing up before bed. So I was out to find better product for hopefully less money, and after a few trials and exchanges, betcha can't guess the winner winner chicken dinner...

I must say, I'm ashamed that I've dropped loads of dough over the years on fancy skincare products only to circle back to Grandma's Old Faithful. There was ALWAYS a tub of this next to her bathroom sink, and as soon as I opened the jar and caught a whiff I was transported back in time to the mid '80s, sitting on a stool in her pristine mid-century bathroom with the white terrazzo tile floor and fluffy pink fingertip towels (who else but grandmothers have fingertip towels? Come on). She only had to wipe it off with a tissue, but I'm a greaseball and apparently a harlot b/c I wear a lot more makeup than she did, and I require a follow-up with some foaming cleanser to remove any residue.

Grandma Mills, I'm sorry I ever doubted you. Other pearls of wisdom, which I've finally come to realize had merit:

Put a bra on!
You'd better wear sunscreen, or you'll have cancerous cells frozen off when you're old like me.
Fried chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs are perfectly acceptable dinner options - sometimes.
Eat fruit and/or veggies at every meal.
You don't need a man, they're just handy to have around (she was SO right, and also divorced. LOL)
Stop sniffling; carry Kleenex in your purse (and if I didn't have any she would give me about 5 of her 10,000 pocket packs she kept in her linen closet)
Quality over quantity.
Always carry some cash.
Go play outside (a nice way of saying "go get some exercise").
Sit on waxed paper going down the slide, you'll go faster (this, I have passed down to my toddler. He thinks I'm a genius).

I hope that one day I'm as smart as she was. :)

In Review: Paul Mitchell Quick Slip Styling Cream

2011-03-16T23:05:00.000-05:00

I have been struggling with my hair for a long time now. I don't have a lot of time to spend on it these days, and the less time I spend on it, the worse it looks to me. I'm always on the lookout for products that promise to speed drying time, protect from future damage, smooth w/o looking flat or greasy, or even better a combination of wonderful things.

When I was in high school I had waist length hair that only required blow drying with a paddle brush for about 15mins with no product to look smooth, shiny and perfect. Maybe some Static Guard in the winter to keep the fuzzies away. 15yrs later my hair is shorter, no longer has even texture, is more porous and generally all around ornery, I can only accomplish the same result by using at least one product (more like 2-3), blowdrying for as long as I can stand it with multiple brushes, (usually 20mins and the roots in the back are still damp) and ironing or hot rolling it into submission. Here was my hair about a month ago at a Saint Arnold pub crawl, and it took me 45 MINUTES to fix:

Someone must've said something thought-provoking. Or disgusting.

45 MINUTES FOR THAT, y'all. That should take 15mins. Not good, and it's damn sure not the way I want to spend my time when yummy local craft brews are calling my name.

So the other day I got an Ulta ad in the mail and Paul Mitchell products were buy 2, get one free. One of the things I've seen advertised and on message boards was Paul Mitchell Quick Slip from the Express Style line.

The pitch: per the company's website,

Provides flexible hold and definition (mmm hmm)
Shields hair from the sun (mmm, ok)
SPEEDS UP DRYING TIME WHILE IT CONDITIONS AND PROTECTS (yes please)
Leaves hair LOOKING and feeling healthy (good, b/c I don't like the feeling of a bunch of crap in my hair)

The verdict: WIN. I barely towel dried my hair, just enough so that it stopped dripping, and blow drying time was reduced by nearly 5mins. I'm sure if I'd towel tried it as much as I normally do that it would have taken even less time. I didn't have to work as hard with the brush either. I did use the flatiron to smooth the ends, which I expected to do, but I didn't have to go over the same sections over and over again b/c my hair was more responsive with the first pass. My hair feels like it has something in it, but when I run my fingers through it's smooth and not grabby. It doesn't feel greasy or sticky, which both of those will cause me to return products.

To almost achieve the 'do pictured above, it took me 20mins instead of 45. Like I said, if I'd toweled my hair off better maybe I can get that down to 15, plus I was in a hurry so I was kind of halfassing the ironing. So far, thumbs up for the Quick Slip (bonus points for the sassy name).

10 things you probably don't know about me.

2011-03-09T22:09:00.001-06:00

Gah, y'all. I have been w/o internet at my house for 6 DAYS. If I never have to endure that again, it will be too soon. I never realized how dependent on the Web I was until I didn't have it anymore. What's the weather going to be like tomorrow? Can't check. What happened in local news? Can't check. Let's watch something on Netflix Instant! Whoops can't do that either. We don't have cable anymore, not even local channels, so there was NOTHING to do around here. It's sad when you go to Starbucks for a skinny Toffee Nut Latte just so you can jump on their WiFi from the drive thru. I'd have been a shitty pioneer on the open prairie with no internet on which to shop and otherwise goof off. I'd have had to do things like (gasp!) churn butter w/o a KitchenAid mixer! Make my own ammo! Split logs with an axe instead of a hydraulic log splitter! WARSH CLOTHES IN THE CRICK OWN A WARSHBOARD!!! THE HORROR!!!!!!!!

And now I am singing "Coal Miner's Daughter" in my head.

Anyway. In my state of unplugged-ness, I got to thinking, and I thought maybe y'all might want to know more about the girl who is cooking up all these yummy things from whatever happens to be in her fridge, who sucks at gardening, who likes shopping at Nordstrom, Anthropologie and J. Crew, who likes wine, margaritas and live music, and buys gobs of beauty products she only really uses 2 days per week b/c she works from home. So here we go!

My favorite bread on most sandwiches is pumpernickel.
I never had a single cavity until I was 29yrs old.
My hair is naturally curly.
I hate gourds, including but not limited to pumpkins in pie.
Meat cooked over charcoal makes me seriously, violently ill. It tastes good going down, but not so much coming back up. Breathing the smoke makes me feel gross too.
I learned to drive on a Massey Ferguson tractor, pulling a trailer full of hay.
My iPod contains gangsta rap and rockabilly. I call it "eclectic."
I don't enjoy talking on the phone - I'd much rather email, text, or talk to you in person.
I didn't leave the state of Texas until I was 21yrs old - and it was only to go into Louisiana to gamble.
I had never been on a plane until a few months after that, when my then-boyfriend and I went to Lake Tahoe to ski. Turns out I'm not a half bad skier, considering I'd never done it before.

And there you have it! 10 things you probably didn't know and are surprised to learn. I mean who grows up in a major city and never flies on a plane?!?? Me, I guess.

Bobbi Brown Event @ Cos Bar (Rave!)

2011-02-28T14:39:00.000-06:00

So, a while back I'd mentioned this cute shop near me called Cos Bar. They had a Bobbi Brown event and I had an appointment to get made up by a BB makeup artist. I'd never tried their stuff before but all the magazines say it's good stuff!

When I first got there, the same sales associate who helped me last time recognized me and offered me something to drink - water, wine? Of course I'm going with the wine! And of course I'm pleased that she remembered me, and has every time I've been in since (YAY for customer service!). So I sat in the chair and the BB artist greeted me and invited me to have a seat at her station. We talked for a minute about my morning routine (harried working mother of one) and asked me what skincare I used (little of this, little of that; kind of a product whore). And we began.

She started off applying a gel-creme moisturizer and an eye cream, which felt pretty much the same as what I'd been using. I might consider them for future purchase depending on how the price compares with my current products. Then she applied concealer that also had a setting powder that came with it. I really liked the concealer; it covers a lot better than the pen-type one I've been using. Then she asked me what kind of foundation I usually wore, but I don't normally wear it unless I'm being photographed b/c I hate the way it feels on my face. She said I had such pretty skin that I hardly needed it anyway! Score one for the MUA.

She did apply some stick foundation around my nose where it's a little red. At the time I was just kind of "meh" about the foundation, but I recently went back to buy it b/c I'd been using more and more concealer to cover discoloration and I was blowing through it like nobody's business. After the foundation she applied some loose powder and some blush - I've been wearing the same Nars Orgasm blush for the past 5 or 6 years. It's a pretty color, but all the shimmer in it looks a little juvenile on me now, I think. She said this shade of blush (Nectar) was in the same color family, but I think it looks fresher and less orangey. It was a better color for me than the Orgasm.

Then came the eye makeup. She applied a metallic creamy eyeshadow in kind of a golden sparkly color that was pretty upon application, but didn't wear well for me - the shadow creased a few hours later. Maybe my lids are too greasy or maybe it was the eye cream that went on first; I don't know. I do know that I prefer powder shadows. Then she busted out some BLUE eyeliner. I know, I know - it sounds crazy and totally 80's! But this was a navy blue, and then she layered some smoky gray shadow on top of it to tone it down a bit, and then to finish things off a vanilla ice creamy powder shadow and some black mascara. The mascara was supposed to be smudge proof, but I've never used a mascara that didn't smudge, so I won't hold it against Bobbi. I bought the liner with the liner brush and have been pleased with the performance.

Last came some lipstick topped with a shimmery gloss, which I loved. Pricey at $22 a tube, but so pretty I couldn't pass it up. I went back later to buy the lipstick b/c I couldn't stop thinking about it.

In all, a good experience with Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and Cos Bar. When I was checking out they threw in a travel Face Blender Brush which I LOVE. Since my visit to Cos Bar I've also purchased another BB lipstick, 2 eyeshadow brushes, another lip gloss, and I want to get a couple more brushes and lip colors. Which I'm sure I'll be able to do at Cos Bar's next Bobbi Brown event on March 19th - my appointment is already made! :)

Fukuda Japanese Restaurant

2011-02-27T11:26:00.001-06:00

Sushi is my very favorite food. I could eat it every day. I have all the tools to make it at home, but it's so labor intensive and after I buy all the groceries for a sushi dinner I've spent more than it costs to go out for it, so I gave up long ago.

Where I live, there are 5 Japanese restaurants, 2 of which specialize in Hibachi, within a 5mi radius of my house. Fukuda is the only one that keeps me coming back, and here's why:

Fresher fish, more pleasant music, and more attentive waitstaff than Chi down the street. I used to go to Chi all the time, but the last 2 times the fish tasted off and now they've got a live DJ on Friday and Saturday nights which I feel is out of place at a restaurant.
Better pricing, more raw roll variety, and shorter wait times than Uni
Fresher fish and less crowded than Kobe, which is also Hibachi
Skipped Benihana altogether b/c the one I went to in Houston was disappointing, and I was told Kobe was better

Last night, 3 girlfriends and I descended upon Fukuda to celebrate one of them moving back to the area from Denver. We got some spicy edamame (a little hot for me), crab and salmon nigiri, an assortment of rolls, and a couple rounds of plum wine.

Fresh and tasty, with attentive service and also free fruit at the end - compliments of the sushi chef for the "pretty ladies." :)

I like that they have happy hour pricing on Saturdays as well; a lot of places only have it during the week. So for 4 people our bill was only about $110, I don't think that's too bad since we had 2 drinks each. I love going there for lunch too b/c their specials are good and it's only about 5mins from my house! I went there for lunch earlier in the week and they were playing the Pixies, and the waiter told me my shoes (the infamous CK flats) were cute, AND gave me free tofu cheesecake at the end.

Domo arigato, Fukuda - see you next week! :)

Drinkie's Belgian Waffle

2011-02-09T19:57:00.002-06:00

Honey, sit down and let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time when I was pregnant, all I could think about was this breakfasty-desserty hybrid at Katz's Deli in Houston. It's called Lisa's Belgian Waffle. It's a huge waffle, big as a dinner plate, topped with fresh and pureed strawberries, whipped cream, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I don't remember exactly when I discovered this, but I'm sure it was on a Friday night after a Classic Numbers dance session. And I was probably drunk. So that would put the timeline at about...9yrs ago? That sounds about right.

Anyway, that waffle, along with a bottomless cup of coffee (perhaps with some Frangelico in it) sets my soul on fire. And I wanted it BAD when I was pregnant - meat aversions and fruit cravings will lead girls to do crazy and desperate things, like drive to a deli 35mi away from her house, and waddle across 4 lanes of traffic on Westheimer at an intersection with no traffic light, for a f*cking WAFFLE. One morning I needed it RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW, and the grocery store was closer (and safer) and I was feeling creative. Here is the resulting gloriousness:

Ingredients

1 Belgian waffle (I used frozen. If you have a fancypants Belgian waffle iron, knock yourself out. Starved pregnant girls don't have time for such frivolities)
1 can cherry pie filling (I like Lucky Leaf Premium Cherry best)
1c heavy whipping cream
1tsp vanilla extract (or bourbon, if you're not with child)

Toast the waffle if frozen, throw it on a plate. Open pie filling, spoon onto waffle. I like to get a cherry in every square if possible. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream and vanilla extract (or bourbon) together until peaks form. Don't be dumb and whip by hand, you'll go into preterm labor. Unless of course you're overdue, then by all means...anyway. Next, top the waffle with the whipped cream. Shove in mouth, repeat if necessary.

I used cherry b/c it looked better than strawberry pie filling. I actually like it better than the original model at Katz's - I know, I know. Sorry. Sometimes I would ditch the plate altogether and just kind of fold the waffle in half like a taco (only apply cherries to half the waffle in this instance). This is how I gained 42lbs when I was pregnant. Be warned.

Shrimp Burrito Bowls

2011-01-24T12:20:00.004-06:00

Originally uploaded by amydrinkie

I will start by saying that I am a Chipotle loyalist. I love that they offer ethically raised meat in their restaurants, and I just really like the flavor of their Burrito Bowls - I usually do barbacoa or the straight veggie. This particular evening I was craving a Burrito Bowl REAL BAD, but I also had some thawed peeled cocktail shrimp that I needed to use up or they'd go off. Here is the result.

Ingredients

1c rice
1 can Rotel, drained
1tsp Caldo de Tomate
2ish tbsps olive oil
1 celery stalk, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2tsp cumin
Cilantro - 1tsp dried or 1tbsp fresh (chopped)
1c chicken broth (or 1tsp chicken bouillon + 1c water)
1/2lb boiled shrimp, peeled
1 avocado
1 lime
Shredded cheese (I didn't have any on hand, but it would have been good)
Sour cream
Green onions, sliced

Prepare the rice according to package instructions, incorporating the Caldo de Tomate and Rotel. In a skillet, saute the celery in some olive oil, about 3mins. Add garlic, stir and give it another minute. Add the black beans, cumin, cilantro and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer about 10mins. While that cooks, peel/seed/dice the avocado. Toss with juice from 1 lime, salt and pepper. Assemble in the following order: rice in bowl first, then beans, cheese, shrimp, avocado, sour cream, green onions.

Sorry Chipotle, you may not see me around as much in the coming weeks. Even though my rice was closer to the traditional Spanish rice, a lot of the same flavors were represented in my dish and this only took about 20mins to throw together! It takes me longer than that to order the takeout online and get back to the house with it. Plus I got to use up stuff I already had on hand, which is always pretty bueno.

Closet Purge and Resulting Inventory

2011-01-18T12:39:00.000-06:00

I did my biannual closet cleanout not long ago, and have made the Goodwill donation. I inventoried the closet (below) and still feel like I have nothing to wear, which is senseless – I mean this looks like a ton of clothes to me, now that I’ve written it all down. A lot of the items below are classic pieces that are still in good condition so I want to hang onto them, but I feel like nothing goes together, and the pieces that do are boring.

Dresses

LBD, Catherine Malandrino
LBD, Leifsdottir
Olive green knit w/ swingy skirt, Bailey 44 from Anthropologie
Navy poplin shift w/ ruffled collar, J. Crew

Tops, by color

Pinks

Cotton cowlneck sweater w/ short sleeves, The Limited
Cashmere 3/4 sleeve boatneck, J. Crew
Silk cami with lace trim, Anthropologie

Reds

Social Distortion concert tee (yes, I am expecting giggles here)

Corals

Satin trim cami, Brass Plum (Nordstrom)
Featherweight cardi with floral detail around the neck, J. Crew

Greens

Light olive tee with ruffles on front, Caslon (Nordstrom)
Olive tunic-length top w/ a watercolor floral pattern, Anthropologie
Liberty of London button down w/ little birds all over, J. Crew
Wrap sweater with zipper, J. Crew

Turquoise

3/4 sleeve v-neck w/ gathered detail on the chest, Anthropologie
Peasant looking top with white braid detail, Anthropologie

Navy

Jackie twinset, J. Crew
Silk kimono-looking top that I don't love but everyone compliments, Nordstrom
Long sleeved navy/white striped boatneck tee, J. Crew

Purple

Sleeveless top w/ gathered front, Bailey 44 from Anthropologie
Featherweight cardi with ruffle down front, J. Crew
Sweater coat with ruffled front, Anthropologie

Brown

Silk blend sleeveless shell, Tesori (Nordstrom)
Zebra patterned blouson top, Michael Kors
Long sleeved tee, Caslon (Nordstrom)

Black

2 camis, Caslon (Nordstrom)
Silk blend sleeveless shell, Tesori (Nordstrom)
Black and white splatter print empire waist top, Kenneth Cole
V-neck with knot detail at bust, Anthropologie
Long black open weave cardi, Moth from Anthropologie
Cashmere 3/4 sleeve boatneck, J. Crew
Merino black and white striped pullover, J. Crew

Gray

1 satin trim cami, Brass Plum (Nordstrom)
Cashmere 3/4 sleeve mock turtle with jeweled detail at collar, J. Crew
Tee with sequined design on front, J. Crew
Black/gray striped tee with draped front, Karen Kane
Gray/white striped boatneck tee, J. Crew
3/4 sleeve merino cardi with sparkly detail on front, Halogen (Nordstrom)

White

1 cami, Brass Plum (Nordstrom)
Silk blend sleeveless shell, Tesori (Nordstrom)
White tee with side ruching detail, Anthropologie

Jeans: 4prs.

3 dark bootcut, varying lengths
1 dark skinny

Skirts

Black pencil with kick pleats, Semantiks (Nordstrom)
Black A-line with pleats around bottom, Limited
Black lace, Kenneth Cole
Gray tulip with black piping, Semantiks (Nordstrom)
Gray A-line w/ box pleat in front, J. Crew
Red plaid kilt-looking mini, L.A.M.B.
Brown suede A-line mini, Old Navy

Slacks

Black brocade, Banana Republic (these are my Christmas pants, I always wear them to holiday parties)
Black tuxedo, Banana Republic
Black wool with cuff and crease, Anthropologie
Gray sharkskin, Banana Republic
Gray chino, Gap
Khaki chino, J. Crew

Blazers

1 black velvet pinstripe, J. Crew
1 flax linen 3/4 sleeve with gold threads, Charles Gray of London
1 charcoal 3/4 sleeve, Rag & Bone
1 brown corduroy, J. Crew
1 military-cut denim, I forget the brand but came from Nordstrom

Suits

1 glen plaid pantsuit for spring, J. Crew
1 charcoal pinstripe for winter, Semantiks (Nordstrom)

Shoes

Black patent slide w/ silver logo on top, Tory Burch
Black flat w/ silver speckles, Calvin Klein
Silver flat, Ecco
Turquoise wedge, Kenneth Cole
Black suede and patent heeled Mary Jane w/ wingtip detail, Nordstrom
Red peep toe with black grosgrain bow, Marc Jacobs
Black knee-high heeled boot, Sofft
Black knee-high motorcycle boot, J. Crew
Brown knee-high heeled boot, J. Crew
Brown mid-calf heeled boot, Born
White tennies, Converse Jack Purcell

Coats

Red peacoat, Kenneth Cole
Camel mid-calf coat, J. Crew
Black leather mid-thigh length coat, Jones New York
Black herringbone jacket, J. Crew
White down coat, Gap

WTF is so wrong with me that I can't make an outfit out of all this? I can't think of anything missing that I have to have, plus when I shop lately everything either looks like stuff I've already got or like rags. I must need my head examined.

Mushroom Mascarpone Toss (with some other stuff too)

2011-01-09T21:49:00.002-06:00

Originally uploaded by amydrinkie

Tonight I was in a "clean out the fridge" kind of mood, because we had a few things that were getting close to the expiration date and I didn't want them to go to waste. We're also trying to recuperate from Christmas spending, and the less often I go to the grocery store and use what's on hand, the better off I'll be. Here is what I came up with.

Ingredients

2ish tbsps olive oil
1lb mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2c white wine
1-8oz tub mascarpone cheese
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1lb hot cooked pasta
3 cooked chicken breasts, sliced (you could omit the chicken and use 2lbs of mushrooms, but my husband thinks meat must be included at every meal)
Half a handful fresh parsley, chopped
Wedge of Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet on medium high heat, saute the mushrooms in the olive oil. Season with salt to help sweat the mushrooms, add a little pepper (I use 2-3 turns from the grinder). After those are soft, add the garlic, stir, cook for a couple more minutes. Add the white wine, bring to a boil, simmer 5-10mins (don't let the liquid reduce by more than half). Remove pan from heat, add mascarpone cheese, stir to incorporate. Add the mushroom mixture, green onions, and chicken breast slices to the hot pasta, toss, and plate. Sprinkle each plate with parsley. Using a vegetable peeler, peel 3-4 curls of Parmesan off the wedge over each plate.

Just pretend my picture has the Parmesan curls on it; my peeler broke and I had to use the Microplane instead. Which is fine, it just looks prettier with the Parmesan curls.

I faked King Ranch Chicken today.

2011-01-03T22:44:00.003-06:00

Originally uploaded by amydrinkie

I wanted King Ranch Chicken so, SO badly, but I didn't want cream of mushroom soup in it (for once) or tortillas. A more fancified, gourmet version if you will. Well I don't know exactly how this rates on the gourmet scale, but it was pretty damn good.

Ingredients:

2c rice
1 can Ro-tel, drained
2tsp Caldo de Tomate bouillon
Olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2c chicken broth
1/2c heavy cream at room temperature
Fresh cilantro, about 1 handful roughly chopped
2lbs cooked chicken (I went with roasted in a mesquite marinade)

Prepare the rice according to package directions, incorporating the Caldo de Tomate and Ro-tel. Set aside. Heat up a large skillet on medium high heat, drizzle with olive oil, and add the onion and celery. Cook about 5mins or until softened, add bell pepper and garlic. Cook about 3 more minutes (don't let the garlic burn). Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil, then turn down to low and simmer 10mins. Stir in the cream, add the prepared rice mixture, toss to coat. Throw in your cilantro, stir a little more. Now with the chicken - since my chicken was roasted and looked pretty, I sliced it and placed in on top of a bed of the rice mixture. If you were using poached and shredded, you could mix it in with the cilantro here.

I'd debated using wagon wheel pasta instead of rice, but pasta and Ro-tel just didn't sound good to me today and in the end I thought I wanted a more Mexican rice-y thing. I was right! It was delish.

Project 365

2011-01-03T02:12:00.000-06:00

A week or so before Christmas, I bought a new camera - a Canon EOS Rebel T1i. I missed being able to monkey with settings on my point-and-shoot like I could on my old Canon AE-1. It is a nice little p&s and did the job until I wanted more creative freedom again. So when Mr. D said he needed a camera for his new job I handed it over and used that (and my bonus from work) as an excuse to buy something else!

I know, I know - every new mom buys a new camera at the earliest opportunity, takes a bunch of pictures, decides that camera does a crap job, and ditches it in favor of a DSLR and goes all "momtographer" on everyone.

Well, I promise I won't do that to you here.

You'll just have to go here instead. To get back in the swing of shooting with a manual camera I started the 365 Project, but since I can't rotate photos there I'm putting mine on Flickr. One photo per day for the next year is the plan, we'll see if I stick to it (along with my resolutions of not cussing as much, being more patient with my kid, and putting a bra on when I work from home). Wish me luck!

Happy New Year, Bishes.

2011-01-01T02:11:00.001-06:00

'Memmer how I said Urban Cowboy was one of my favorite movies?

Old skool meets cosmopolitan.

Happy New Year, bishes. Make it good. :)

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

2010-12-28T23:56:00.005-06:00

Originally uploaded by amydrinkie

This recipe came to me from a girl my mom used to work with. It doesn't look all that special in the pan but damn it's good - a nice change from mashed or twice baked which appear regularly around here, and less work than scalloped or au gratin.

1 bag Ore-Ida hash brown potatoes
1 stick butter, room temperature
1-8oz block cream cheese, room temperature
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can milk (use can from soup)
2c shredded cheese, whatever you like
1/2c diced onion
1tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. In a microwaveable bowl, heat the butter and cream cheese until you can combine them easily (they don't have to be boiling lava hot). Mix in all other ingredients, spread in the greased pan, bake for 50mins-1hr.

Hallelujah, holy shit! Where's the Tylenol?

2010-12-27T15:15:00.000-06:00

It has been a National Lampoons-esque Christmas for sure. Here is a condensed rundown of the order of craziness:

Brand new roaster pan I received as a gift in which to cook Christmas Eve dinner didn't fit in the oven. Of course I didn't find this out until the tenderloin was oiled, herbed and in said pan ready to roast. Had to throw it in a Pyrex at the last second, thankfully it turned out fine.
Forgot to make one of my planned appetizers altogether.
Woke up Christmas morning to cat puking on my bed.
Heard Mr. Drinkie hollering from kitchen - after puking, the cat had nibbled on my pecan pie that was supposed to go to his family's Christmas dinner.
Attempted to make Christmas morning pancakes on my newly gifted griddle. The griddle warped on the cooktop, the Teflon bubbled up and melted to my nonstick-safe spatula, ruining the griddle, spatula AND the breakfast. Lucky me, I had a box of muffin mix in the pantry.
Received call from my dad to lecture me about being ugly to a crazy in-law 2yrs ago, even though the other in-laws said she deserved what she got.
Get to Mr. Drinkie's family's Christmas to discover that he'd cut off the part of the pie the cat had eaten from and brought it anyway after I told him not to.
Mr. Drinkie's aunt and 2 cousins got in a fight right before the gift exchange. One cousin ended up in tears.
Baby D was a crankass due to too much excitement and staying out past his bedtime.

And on to a review of the loot:

Diamond ring from Mr. Drinkie, which was LONG overdue. The man has never bought me a present that wasn't practical and cheap (hello, knobs for our crusty old washer and dryer). I'd say he's about 1/3 of the way caught up in the good gift dept.
Roaster and griddle from Mom and Dad, which must be exchanged. I'm so bummed about these. However the pistol ring I got from King Ranch Saddle Shop was awesomesauce.
Lighted makeup mirror, flashlight, candle and warmer, and some other doodads from my aunt and uncle
Tealight holder from Paris and fancy Hanky Panky knickers from my friend Jen
Camera accessories for my new Canon from SIL and BIL
Silver bracelet from Harrods in London, some Cadbury chocolates, and a Texas flag from MIL and FIL
Pink rhinestoned Tweezerman tweezers from the white elephant gift exchange. Now I can pluck my eyebrows in style!

Pretty good haul I think. Wonder what I'll get for my birthday in 13 days? I'm wishing for Anthropologie gift cards, a sushi dinner with champagne, and an epic Burday Gras. :)

Stolen from The Nerdy Katie: Favorite Movies

2010-12-10T15:53:00.011-06:00

My friend Katie posted several days ago about her favorite movies. So I'm stealing her idea. A fun li'l Q&A for those who think they know me, and those who are just nosy. :)

In no particular order:

Sex and the City (2008): the best gut wrenching scene I've seen in a movie to date - the showdown in the street after Big doesn't show up to the wedding. Then when he advances toward Carrie in the middle of the road after she hits him with the flowers, and Charlotte snatches her back and hollers "NO!" I bawl my eyes out every time - the look on her face is deadly. I can't find a pic of the exact moment but this one of her giving Big the ojo is close. Every girl should have a friend like Charlotte.

Urban Cowboy: filmed near where I grew up, and put Pasadena Texas on the map. Gilley's was a very famous dance hall in the area, and actually competition for my family's own ice house which is still in business (Gilley's isn't). I rarely go home, b/c the Sissy in me comes out.

Julie & Julia: inspirational, and made me remember why I love cooking. Amy Adams watching cooking shows and trying to duplicate the recipe at the same time was exactly how I started. Her face in this picture expresses exactly how I feel about boiling live lobsters. Also, I had no idea Julia Child was such a cutup before I saw this movie.

Moonstruck: Olympia Dukakis lecturing Cher after her "Walk of Shame" is one of my favorite "Mom" moments.

Legally Blonde: this used to be my very favorite, but was edged out in recent years. Still love it and can recite every line, though. I didn't like Reese before this movie came out, but you can't help but root for her in her battle to win Warner back (or show him what an ass he is).
Ocean's Eleven (2001): Brad Pitt cleans up nice. And it's in Vegas. The first time I went to Vegas was during the NFR in '04 (maybe it was '05, can't remember), and when I watched the fountains at the Bellagio I felt like I was in the movie. It was magical.
Pulp Fiction: my favorite Tarantino flick. Samuel L. Jackson really IS a Bad MF'er. Plus Quentin always picks the best soundtrack material.
Great Balls of Fire: are you serious? Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis? God damn he was good.
My Best Friend's Girl (mostly b/c I can't get that scene where Dane Cook walks down the aisle to the altar smoking a cigarette out of my head. Tres sexy)
Tombstone: one of the best repositories for lines EVER. My family drops Tombstone references on the daily. "Law don't go 'round here, savvy?" "I guess I'm just not a lady," and my personal favorite when I'm about to get bajiggity on someone, "You tell 'em I'm comin', and Hell's comin' with me!"
Driving Miss Daisy: Morgan Freeman's performance as Hoke Colburn was phenomenal. He's phenomenal in everything, really, but IMO this is his best performance to date (however, I have not seen Invictus yet).
Fargo: Frances McDormand's accent is a household joke. And no, I haven't spent much time in the Midwest.
The Royal Tenenbaums: I love the vintagy feel of this movie - like you can't tell if it was supposed to be present-day or set in the 70's.
The Godfather: really, does this need an explanation?
Casino: see The Godfather
Seabiscuit: he's like "The Little Engine that Could" in equine form. Gotta have a horse movie in the list.

Oh Happy Day!

2010-11-09T12:01:00.000-06:00

Oh, hai. You know the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale for Women and Kids is going on right now, right?

I placed an order Nov 3, the first day of the sale - I wanted first crack at the goods and double Fashion Rewards points! In the order were:

MICHAEL Michael Kors 'Parker' Wedge Pump in black suede
Jessica Simpson 'Jessica' Pump in Cheetah (tackalicious, yes - but I couldn't resist!)
Worn Jeans 'Willa' Slim Leg Stretch Jeans (yes, I am giving skinny jeans a try AGAIN. I'm prepared to hate them.) Not to be worn with aforementioned cheetah pumps, so as not to look like Peg Bundy.
Halogen® Pleat Shoulder Cardigan in black
BP. Stretch Camisole in cream, to go under Bailey 44's Sidespun Tee at Anthropologie, in Green Motif (have worn this alone. Not a good idea; tee is too low cut)

On Nov 5, I got an email saying the black suede wedges were canceled - unable to fulfill. Damn. I'd wanted those to wear to the annual meeting at corporate in December, and I had to find something else - because believe it or not, I only own ONE pair of closed toe black pumps, and the heel on mine was too high and hurt my back since having a kid. They never fit properly anyway. So imagine my surprise today when I saw the wedges were back in stock on Nordstrom's website! I just got off the phone with them and they're fulfilling the order, and I had them throw another one of those camis in grey in the order too. Plus I got the shipping waived, got to use a $20 Nordstrom Note I just got in the mail, and they'll be here by Nov 19 - in plenty of time for my trip. Wheeeeeee! I love you Nordstrom! :)

Also, the Sephora Friends & Family promotion that just ended on Nov 3 took a lot of my money. Here is what I got:

Acqua Di Parma Blu Mediterraneo - Arancia Di Capri fragrance

Verdict: WIN. I sniffed it at Neiman Marcus a while back but didn't buy it b/c I wanted to use up what I was already wearing. I've been wearing it for a week now and feel like Sophia Loren.

Philosophy The Microdelivery Purifying Peel One-Minute Purifying Enzyme Peel

Verdict: WIN. My skin has been a wreck since having Baby Drinkie and this cleared it up overnight. I'm not joking. I plan to use it twice per week.

Bobbi Brown Concealer Brush

Verdict: OK. I like using a brush better than my finger to apply, but I don't know that a cheap one wouldn't have worked just as well. For $25 it better last me until I'm dead.

Frederic Fekkai Travel Brush

Verdict: OK. I like this brush better than my old one because the longer bristles have ball tips and don't scratch my scalp, however I think they could be a smidge longer. I do like that the boar bristles make my hair shiny and smooth though, so I'll keep it.

Too Faced Naked Eye Soft & Sexy Eye Shadow Collection - will arrive today. VERY excited about this.
Bobbi Brown Shimmer Lip Gloss - Rose Sugar

Verdict: WIN. Doesn't feel tacky, applies and wears nicely. Love this color; doesn't look like icy Barbie pink or purply on me. Polished and pretty.

VIB 100-POINT PERK - Sephora Collection Colorful Mono Swimming Pool #37 - will arrive today. Not available for sale individually, but is included in this palette.
SAMPLES

Jurlique Balancing Day Care Cream

Verdict: HATE. I felt like I was spreading butter on my face, and I felt greasy all day. Won't buy full size.

Narciso Rodriguez for her Eau de Toilette

Verdict: OK. Smells kind of dryer-sheetish, or soapy. Don't like enough to buy full size.

Tocca Giulietta Eau de Parfum

Verdict: OK. Doesn't smell unpleasant; floral but nothing special. Don't like enough to buy full size.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch in Luminous Radiance No 1 - haven't tried, but am prepared to think it's overpriced for the performance.
Pucci Sole 149 Eau de Toilette

Verdict: STINKS. Smells like bug spray; won't buy full size. Sorry Pucci - love your clothes, hate your fragrance.

Murad Oil-Control Mattifier SPF 15 - will arrive today
Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Revealing Mask - will arrive today
Prada L'Eau Ambree Eau de Parfum - will arrive today

Did you hit up Sephora F&F or Nordstrom's Half-Yearly sale yet? What did you get?

I'm it!

2010-11-03T23:56:00.000-05:00

My friend The Nerdy Katie tagged me in this Q&A game. She came up with 8 questions which I'm supposed to answer, then I come up with another 8 for 8 of my friends to answer. Here goes:

Q: You have a $100 to spend just on you whatcha getting?
A: Clothes, accessories or makeup. I also like cooking utensils but have too many as it is.

Q: Mac or PC and why?
A: MAC. Lower frustration level. Plus it just looks pretty.

Q: What is your favorite book of all time?
A: Bridget Jones's Diary. I read it long before I ever saw the movie. It's hilarious and I see a lot of myself in Bridget.

Q: Do you speak any other languages?
A: Spanish, sort of. I used to be quite fluent, but if you don't use it you lose it.

Q: Are you a Monica, Rachel, or Phoebe?
A: Probably Monica. I know when people move my shit around.

Q: What album can you not live with out?
A: I don't know how I can ever pick just one. If someone held a gun to my head though it'd probably be Waylon Jennings - Greatest Hits. It's the only CD I can immediately think of that has all songs I like and none I don't.

Q: Favorite non-mommy blog?
A: It used to be Miss Doxie but she's only updated about twice in 2yrs. She was so funny and I miss her stories. My 2nd pick would be The Mid-Century Modernist.

Q: How would you survive the zombie apocalypse?
A: "Blend in" as George Lopez says.

I'm sorry I don't have 8 people to tag, but how about if I let people tag themselves and link back or answer in the comments? Here are my questions:

Emeril Lagasse is coming to dinner. What are you making?
What is your favorite alcoholic drink?
If you could trade in your car and drive out in anything else, what would it be and why?
Beach or mountains?
Salty or sweet?
If someone were going to punch you, would you prefer face or gut?
What is your favorite TV show, past or present?
What is the best concert you've ever been to?

Drinkie's Bolognese Sauce

2010-11-01T14:18:00.001-05:00

We're supposedly getting a cool front later this week, and since I'm making a grocery list I thought I'd share one of my favorite cool weather recipes...pasta with Bolognese sauce. It's rich, makes my belly feel good on cold nights, and goes great with Parmesan garlic bread and copious amounts of Cabernet.

Of course my husband moans and groans when I make it because he doesn't liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike spaghetti, but I guess if he wanted something different he would've gotten in there and cooked it, right? ;)

Drinkie's Bolognese Sauce

1lb ground beef or turkey
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
4 (yes FOUR) cloves of garlic, minced
1 28oz can San Marzano tomatoes, or

3lbs Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, or
2-14.5oz cans tomatoes - diced, crushed, or combination

1 6oz can of tomato paste
1/2c red wine
salt and pepper
1/4c room temperature heavy cream
2tbsp fresh parsley
2tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
1tbsp fresh oregano leaves
1tbsp fresh marjoram
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (buy a wedge and grate it. It's better, I promise).

In a large pot (I use a Dutch oven or stock pot) combine the first 4 ingredients, cook until the meat is browned, and drain. Add to the meat mixture the next 4 ingredients, season with salt and pepper (probably about 1/4tsp each). Break up tomatoes with a spoon and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for about 45mins, stirring occasionally. Add heavy cream and herbs, heat through, season with more salt & pepper if desired. Serve over hot spaghetti and top with freshly grated Parmesan. Serves 4.

Accidental Desinsitization Therapy - FAIL

2010-10-04T12:12:00.000-05:00

If you know me, you know that I am petrified of reptiles and amphibians. Whenever I see one of these critters - live and in person (or dead for that matter), or even if it's just a picture, I am frozen in fear. It comes complete with cold sweats, shakes, and shortness of breath. Roaches and death are my secondary and tertiary fears, but reptiles and amphibians beat the shit out of both of those. For example, as much as I fear death, I would seriously rather die than have to touch a lizard or frog. I'm not joking either. If someone held a gun to my head and said "touch the lizard or I'll shoot" I'd ask for a cigarette and a blindfold.

My first run-in with a lizard was eleven years ago, I was a freshman at Sam Houston State University (God that makes me feel old to see in black and white). I pretty much lived with my boyfriend because my roomie in the sorority house was a dirty hobag and sneaked a different guy into our room every night. And he had roomies already so we had a full house over there. One afternoon we were sitting in the living room talking and one of those creepy-ass pink geckos got in the front door. Here is the disgustingness I'm referring to:

OMG, I am short of breath just seeing that, and I think I'm going to throw up.

ANYWAY. I jumped up on the couch like the sissy girl I am, screeching, and the boyfriend's roommate grabbed it to throw it back outside. Right before he got to the door, he turned around, smirked, and threw it at me. The lizard went down my shirt and I went BALLISTIC - screaming, crying, trying to get my shirt off but I couldn't do it...it was bad. I just knew that lizard was going to get squished and I'd have guts on me, or it would bite me! And the motherfucker was laughing! It was not funny. I don't remember what happened after that; I must have passed out.

Here's another incident involving a frog. A couple of months ago, I was working away, and my cat started meowing and jumping around like she had a bug or something (I work at home). I shooed her off, and noticed a dark spot on the carpet. As I crouched down to get a closer look, just at the second I realized it was a frog and was trying to figure if it was still alive or she'd killed it the fucker jumped up in my face!!! I jumped back screaming and fell on my ass, as the thing hopped all over the place. I was wondering how in the hell I was going to get it out of there b/c a dustpan wasn't going to work; it would just hop out. Then I got a Tupperware bowl to try to get it into, and it hopped in and right back out. Then someone told me to trap it in a glass...I thought, "hmmm, that does sound better..." I went to get a glass and when I came back it was stuck on the wall. So I'm holding a Saint Arnold pint glass in my hand, psyching myself up to clap this glass over a goddamn teeny tiny frog, sweating and shaking. And I'm thinking to myself "OK. I can't hit it too hard on the wall, or the glass will break and the frog will get on me." Oh no, I'm not afraid of cutting my hand! I'm afraid of the frog touching me. So finally I got the guts up to do it, and then the frog wouldn't jump into the glass. I had to scoot the glass along the wall in all different directions before he finally hopped into it. Then I clapped a coaster across the top and threw his ass outside.

Fast forward to this morning. I came back from dropping the kid off at daycare, and couldn't pull into the garage because the door wouldn't open. I parked in the driveway and went to the front door. I know my front porch is lizard central in the warmer months, so I always do a visual scan of the perimeter before I open the storm door. If I see any lizards, I go around to the side door to the garage b/c they don't hang out there. Well, I didn't see any this morning so I opened the storm door and stuck my key in. As I turned the key in the lock, the storm door swung back and bounced on my butt, and I felt this weird rubbery PLOP on my head. I FROZE. I knew it had to be a lizard - it just had to be! I heard my heart beating in my ears, broke out in a cold sweat and started shaking, as per usual. Finally I had sense enough to flip my head upside down and sure enough, there he was on the doormat between my feet. I let out a yell that would curl your hair, and I'm sure the neighbors thought I was being attacked. I don't know how long I danced around shrieking on the porch like a lunatic. Finally I went inside, headed straight for the shower and washed my hair 3 times. I still feel like any second I'm going to feel another rubbery plop on my head. I keep envisioning that scene from "Magnolia" where it rains frogs. MAJOR HEEBIE JEEBIES.

Surely I am not the only person who reacts in this way when face-to-face with scary things. What are you afraid of? Would you consider therapy to overcome your fears? I won't, b/c that means I'll have to be exposed to them even more - not no, but HELL NO!

Amore Pacific review and new store rave!

2010-09-13T11:55:00.001-05:00

Lately, I've been test driving some new skincare (yes, I'm cheating on Clinique again). A couple of weeks ago I went to Sur la Table to pick up some cake decorating tips, and after that I walked across the courtyard to this newish makeup/skincare/fragrance boutique called Cos Bar. It opened a few months ago and I hadn't been yet and wanted to check it out. Really I just wanted to see if they carried Acqua di Parma fragrances, b/c I sniffed one at Neiman Marcus a while back but didn't want to buy until I ran out of what I was using, AND I wanted to avoid going back to the NM cosmetic section b/c it's a zoo. Turns out Cos Bar does have the one I want, and the lady who helped me gave me a sample vial to test drive before I make the final decision! She was very helpful and sweet, and I didn't feel pressured at all (if you know me, you know I detest pushy salespeople - probably b/c I work around a lot of them). I'm going to a Bobbi Brown event there on Sept 17th so I'll be sure to come back and give you more of the scoop on this place. So far, I like it.

Anyway, after the perfume sniffing we got to talking about skincare, and she asked me what I used but I didn't want to tell her b/c compared to the stuff this place carried, Clinique was like...lowbrow. They had La Mer, La Prairie, ReVive, Sisley, ALL brands I would never buy b/c they're ridonkulously expensive. I ended up kind of waffling, and telling her that I'm not really loyal to anything and use a variety of drugstore and department store items and have a bit of an acne condition. She said I might like this line called Amore Pacific, and that the formulas are very concentrated (they do not contain any water) and are at a friendlier price point than the other luxury brands they carried. It sounded interesting so she gave me some samples of eye cream, an anti-aging cream for night and this other moisture masque, and said if I liked it to come on back, and if I didn't to come on back for samples of something else! And I love me some samples.

So I went home and started researching online b/c I wanted to make sure this wasn't going to aggravate my acne, and supposedly it's some cult-status line from Korea? And Molly Sims uses it? The price point wasn't as friendly as I'd assumed after talking to the sales lady (just wait...) but I gave it a go, and here's what I've decided.

Moisture Bound Vitalizing Masque, $60 for 3.4oz

The pitch: this product is meant for overnight use in place of your regular night cream, and you wash it off in the AM. Supposed to form a protective barrier to allow skin to repair itself overnight (this would explain why it doesn't soak in immediately).
The verdict: WIN. I like the gel-creme texture, it felt cool and soothing going on, and it smelled AWESOME - light and floral but not grandma-y. I used half of the sample on Sunday night and half on Wednesday night, and it didn't appear to clog up my face. It does form a barrier, which I wondered how that would go over (would it clog my face, would it be more barrier than moisturization) but I could definitely tell my skin was soft and refreshed after washing it off in the morning. I bought this with the intention of using it as a night cream, every night (up to this point I'd been using the same moisturizer AM and PM). Low cost per ounce compared to Clinique's night treatments (Youth Surge, to be specific), too.

Moisture Bound Intensive Vitalizing Eye Complex, $125 for 1oz

The pitch: this product remineralizes (I don't know why that is important) and hydrates the eye area. Effectively fights puffiness, dark circles and fine lines. For day and night use, also has the same gel-creme texture as the vitalizing masque.
The verdict: FAIL, based on price alone. Nice texture and fragrance, very similar to the masque. I don't have issues with puffiness, so I can't comment on that. I got 4 applications out of the 2 sample packets, and in that time I didn't notice any change in my dark circles and crow's feet. Maybe if I used it longer I'd see results, but I guess I'll never know since I refuse to spend $125 on eye cream!

Future Response Creme, $195 for 1.7oz

The pitch: supposed to combat the first signs of fine lines and wrinkles - a baby anti-aging cream. I guess she gave me the sample of this b/c I'll be 30 in January and need to get a leg up on the anti-aging bandwagon.
The verdict: FAIL. It feels like any other greasy anti-aging cream I've tried and can't wear b/c of the acne issue, and the price is laughable. It has the same floral fragrance I like in the masque, but that's about it.

In my research over the years, I've learned that many of the acne treatments I already use have anti-aging qualities (retinol, and salicylic acid which is beta hydroxy acid), so I figure as long as I keep using those types of products I don't have a need for these overpriced anti-aging creams. If I want something more high powered, I'll ask my dermatologist for the stronger Retin-A - it sure won't be any more expensive, even if my insurance doesn't cover it!

Weekend shopping haul

2010-09-13T10:46:00.001-05:00

Last week sometime I'd placed an order on Ruelala which is one of my favorite discount shopping sites. On Friday, half of the order came in - a black Michael Kors dress with a drapey neck and side shirring (pictured here on Overstock). When I put it on I thought it was a little dressy for everyday use, but it's a very forgiving cut and I think it'd be cute dressed down with my patent Tory Burch slides. Entire outfit on one hanger and I only paid $49? Score one for me. The other half of the order's a secret; you'll just have to wait!

Then on Saturday, my friend Jen and I went to Nordstrom so she could look at boots and I could return the 2nd pair of CK flats (2 exchanges-by-phone later). On the 3rd try I decided a 6 was the winner winner chicken dinner and I'd had the 6.5 floating around my office for several weeks. We'd also visited a couple other departments so she could look at pants, and since I had $100 in Nordstrom Notes at my disposal I looked around too.

I ended up getting this cute black dress from Leifsdottir. It was marked $198 but after my NNs I decided I couldn't pass it up. I don't really have anywhere to wear it right now, but it was the kind of dress that fit so awesomely I'd have regretted it later if I hadn't gotten it. This brings the LBD total to 2 (the first being a Malandrino I scored at 70% off last fall on Ruelala).

I also picked up this necklace, which is actually a single strand but pictured doubled. I'd been looking for a long silver necklace for a while now...I'd bought another long silver necklace a couple of months ago at Anthropologie, but it's not nearly as long as this one and has some dangly beads and silver flowers on it. Wasn't quite what I'd had in mind initially, but I've decided to keep both of them b/c I have things that will go with each one nicely.

So, I think I did pretty decent for the weekend! I went for so long w/o shopping that it felt weird to buy things again. I have been wearing the same 4 or 5 tank top and shorts combos since summer began, and I'm sick to death of them. Who wants to put any effort into looking cute when it's too hot to wear anything at all?? Not me, that's for sure. I've retired most of my tanks and tees to the PJ drawer b/c they were faded or not keeping their shape, and I haven't really made any effort to refill their places in the closet so it looks pretty sad in there. I'm about to do the same with my flip flops before one of them has a blowout. I always look forward to the changing seasons so I can purge the old and breathe new life into a lackluster wardrobe.

Drinkie's Chicken 'n Dumplins

2010-09-01T10:17:00.001-05:00

Yes, there is no G in "dumplins" b/c I'm kuntry like that.

I threw this together yesterday in the crock pot b/c I had some chicken and veggies I had to use up. Here's how I did it.

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
2 carrots, scrubbed and sliced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1tsp dried thyme leaves
1c frozen peas
3 chicken breasts, thawed
1-ish quarts chicken broth
1 can buttermilk biscuits (NOT the flaky layers type - these come all apart)
flour

Instructions: combine first 5 ingredients in crock pot. Lay chicken over the bed of veggies. Add chicken broth and cook for about 4hrs on low. As you approach the 4hr mark, prep the biscuits. Cut them in quarters, coat them all with flour and shake off the excess. Put them in the crock pot, kind of pushing them down so they get wet, but don't stir - stirring breaks them up. After all the biscuit pieces are in, cover and let cook an additional 30mins or so.

I love how the thyme leaves contribute an earthiness, but they don't muddy up the sauce like you sometimes see with ground dried herbs. Plus I like seeing the little flecks in the broth. And making the dumplins with biscuits is just too damn easy not to do. It turned out perfectly and I'll definitely make it again!

The Alice Experiment continues

2010-08-11T17:22:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I've dropped the ball on this. I admit that I haven't been ordering from Alice the past couple of months because the siren song of Walmart sucked me in. I'm happy to report that each time I regretted going - didn't get everything I meant to b/c they were out of stock, bought things that weren't on the list and spent too much, etc. and I finally got fed up so I placed another order with Alice today! I'm expecting the following:

12pk Fancy Feast canned cat food (sure do order a lot of cat food; she's a fatty)
Secret antiperspirant
3pk Puffs tissues
Barbasol shaving cream (yes, I use the manly kind)
Listerine
Febreze air freshener
Finish Automatic dishwasher detergent (the tablet kind w/ the red ball - it RULES)

For a grand total of $51.18. I am seeing that the prices are a smidge higher than Walmart and Target, probably more in line with what Kroger charges, but we're talking less than a dollar's difference on pretty much everything I'm buying here. Plus, I don't usually shop at Kroger anyway and my goal here is to pare down the number of errands I run. So let's say I spent $7 more (if that) ordering from Alice as opposed to going to Walmart, which suits me just fine. I didn't have to leave my house, didn't have to stand in line, didn't have to load/unload my car in the broiling heat, and I didn't buy any impulse purchases. And that deserves a big ol' YAY!

Calvin Klein flats whine

2010-07-29T15:08:00.000-05:00

Boo hoo, poor me! Remember the flats I bought at the Nordstrom sale? Well my exchange by phone finally got here and they STILL DON'T FIT. This shouldn't be a big deal, b/c really I'll be sporting flip flops until October, but seriously? I have to do YET ANOTHER exchange by phone, gah! What a pain in my ass.

And also remember that Simon Sebbag necklace I bought? Returned it. One strand in the necklace was kind of yellowish tinged and threw the look off for me. I already have a short strand of hematite beads anyway, maybe I can find another strand of gray freshwater pearls to twist with it and accomplish something similar. Or, maybe just blow that off altogether and get something a little more versatile, such as:

Isn't that pretty?? My anniversary is in October, maybe I should kind of casually leave a magazine/catalog open to something like that. Flagged with a Post-It. Encircled with a big, black Sharpie circle. Think that will get my point across? I sure hope so.

Money Tree

2010-07-28T15:19:00.001-05:00

I need one.

I have been spending money like nobody's business lately. First, the A/C went out weekend before last and had to be fixed. At this point we're just wringing everything we can out of it until the fall when we can replace it w/o the install crew dying of heatstroke. Then, the drain line from the A/C drip pan was clogged which required a visit from a plumber. You may have seen our temporary ghetto drain line on Twitter:

That husband sure is handy, isn't he? Good thing this was in our garage so I didn't have to look at it much.

Then, I discovered the iHeart Organizing blog. Oh My Lanta. The first day I saw it, I was up until 3am reading. The next day, I dropped almost $100 at The Container Store to help straighten out my master bath vanity, chest of drawers and garage freezer. The pantry is a work in progress, and next on the list are the buffet in the dining room and the home office. I can't wait to have a place for everything and everything in its place (which probably will never happen, but if she can do it with 3 little boys and I only have one?? It's in the bag).

Then my friend reminded me of the Manolo Blahnik Mary Jane. She bought them. Damn her! I've wanted these shoes for years, but where the Hell am I going to wear them?? I don't have an office to go to anymore. Maybe I could put them on with my pearls and vacuum, a la June Cleaver? Wear them to the grocery store with my Under Armour running shorts and Senior Frog's t-shirt with a cranky toddler in tow? Le sigh. I love them, and ALMOST charged them on my Neiman's card in a Buy Now/Reason Later frenzy, but they just don't make sense for my station in life right now. It would be money wasted. Maybe someday. . .

Oh, Nordstrom, you complete me.

2010-07-21T15:59:00.000-05:00

If you are my friend, you know I love Nordstrom. I may love Nordstrom more than I love you. OK, just kidding (. . .well, maybe).

Anyway, Nordstrom's anniversary sale started July 16. And those of you who know me probably figure that I stayed up until the online sale went live at 2am Central to buy everything my heart desired for the Fall 2010 season. Well, I tried, and failed - I was sleepy! For shame, I know. But I was able to log on after getting the tot to daycare in the morning and snapped up all the lovely little things I wanted. Here's the haul:

Calvin Klein Lillian Flat in pebbled anthracite - sadly these were too big, and an Exchange by Phone was in order. In 4-9 business days, we'll see if a 6.5 works better.
Halogen crystal sunburst cardi in heather gray
Karen Kane cowlneck striped top
Puma "Hawaii" kicks for the young'un - I normally don't buy expensive kid shoes, but I couldn't pass these up. They're TOO DAMN CUTE. Plus I had Nordstrom Notes! So I really only paid $5 for them in the end. How's that for justification??
Born Crown Collection Yolanda boots - though now that these are here, I'm wondering if they're not a little to "Pirates of the Caribbean." I'll sleep on them.
Simon Sebbag triple strand slide necklace

I thought about getting this bag too, but ended up passing in the end. I already have one black studded Michael Kors, and just bought a gunmetal metallic Coach, and I didn't love it enough to add it to the list.

Yes, I like gray. Gray metallic and sparkly things are even awesomer. And yes, I probably run the risk of looking like Liberace every time I step out of my house, wearing metallics and sparklies and my Betty Bird Crash headband. Don't hate.

So what do y'all think? Especially about the Born boots. I feel the need to solicit some input on those.

Hair, or lack of.

2010-07-03T01:29:00.000-05:00

I had an appointment for a trim booked on my lunch break today. For several months I've been bored with my hair b/c it just kinda hangs there, and fro's out toward the end of the day w/ the humidity. For it to look decent (not pretty, just decent) I have to spend at least 20mins with the hairdryer, even if I section it off, b/c my hair holds water like a sponge. Plus I sweat to death during the drying process, which defeats the purpose of the shower I've just taken. Then after that, it's still damp in the back so an hour later it frizzes up, gets all flyaway b/c it's so fine and looks like shit. If I want it to look pretty, I have to dry it for at least 30mins, hope it's really dry, then either flatiron (which looks nice but I get tired of it) or roll it. Then an hour after I take the rollers out, my hair's own weight pulls the curl out. Awesome! All that effort, only to look like I didn't even bother brushing it that morning.

So, as I was driving to the appointment, I just kept getting more and more agitated about what I was going to ask K to do with my hair. When I was in the chair and we discussed my concerns, she told me I had 3 options:

Take a little off the length, and I think thin it out some (I can't remember exactly, but I remember liking whatever she said).
Taking off a little length and cutting more layers. This I didn't like, b/c when layered hair is flatironed it just doesn't look as slick as hair that's all one length, and I was kind of in recovery from having lots of layers before. So I nixed this one.
Cut off a considerable amount to make it easier to deal with in general.

I was about equally divided between options 1 and 3. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought long hair just really doesn't suit me at this point in my life. It's hotter than Hell outside and I can't stand hair sticking to my neck - I don't really like it on my neck at all, and end up pulling it up most of the time. It sheds all over the place. It's heavy and won't hold a style other than flatironing, even with a lot of product. I don't like using a lot of product anyway b/c it tends to make my hair feel dirty and exacerbate my acne, which we all know is super attractive (that shit is finally under control and I'm not going to wake it up again).

So I had 6" cut off.

You like?

So, wanna hear about the time I met Giada de Laurentiis?

2010-06-25T00:13:00.001-05:00

Because I wanna tell it! Mostly b/c I don't want to forget exactly what happened. :)

So a couple of months ago, Williams-Sonoma hosted a book signing in Houston for Giada de Laurentiis's new book, Giada at Home. I got an email invitation for this book signing, OH, about 5 days before the event (WTF W-S??). That was on a Thursday. I called my closest W-S to get a ticket, and they told me I had to get it from the store hosting the signing. Well, I live about 35mi from that store. So on Friday, I hopped my happy ass in my car and hauled it straight to the Town & Country W-S to purchase my cookbook and get my ticket. Success! There were 350 tix available and I got in the 320's somewhere. And then there was some waiting, that lasted all weekend long. . .

And then the weekend was over! I actually took off that day at work, saying I had some *ahem* PERSONAL BUSINESS to attend to. Hey, at least I didn't cry off sick, right? Anyway. I got up early, dropped the young'un off at daycare just like any other day, whipped through Starbucks drive-thru to get a red-eye and hustled home to get cleaned up. I was meeting my friend for lunch at Bistro Alex (sister restaurant to Brennan's, where I had my wedding reception) before the signing, so I had to get moving! After I got cleaned up I put on the cutest navy cotton shift dress with a ruffle around the neck, my cork wedges that make me about 5" taller, and some awesome wooden jewelry. Fixed my hair, a little makeup to make me look fresh and well rested, and I was on my way!

I met the friend at lunch, that was great. We drank wine and hashed out the big fight I had with the mister that weekend, and spent lots of money. THAT was fun. So after she went back to work I went to stand in line at the book signing. At Williams-Sonoma. In 90 degree heat and at least 90% humidity. Let me tell you, my hair was falling fast. At least employees were coming by with snacks from the cookbook and drinks every so often. I must have looked like I needed more wine, b/c when someone came by with a water pitcher I said "Oh is that water?" And they said "yes, sorry it's not more exciting than that!" LOL whatever, it was so hot I gladly took the water. So this line I was in - I was outside for at least an hour, get inside the door, and am told NO PICTURES with Giada. BUMMER. Pictures can be taken of her, but not WITH her, and no flash can be used b/c it's distracting. Then there was the matter of the book - you had to buy your book at W-S and get a ticket to be able to get it signed, b/c Giada's got to make a living, you know. Well the woman in front of me in line just heard about this event in the paper, latched onto the lady in front of her, and brought several different books from home that Giada had written - NONE of which were the new one she was promoting. And she was totally obnoxious, crowing to everyone in line about how she's gone to all these celebrity book signings. . .ugh. I wanted to drop kick her in her stupid head, except I thought it probably wouldn't hurt much being that my shoes were cork. So we get up to this table at the front where a girl is writing our names down on Post-Its and sticking them in the covers of our books. After that, we had to go BACK outside to another line coming in the side door of the store, and snake all around the inside of the store before we get to the signing table. I guess they wanted us to pick up a bunch of stuff to buy on the way to the table? Yeah right. My kitchen is stuffed to the gills with cooking utensils and I sure don't need any more. Well, maybe I do, but I can't think of a single thing right now.

So FINALLY, at long last, the lady in front of me got up to the table. After Giada had finished signing her books, this lunatic grabbed her hand and kissed it - not just once, like she was the flipping Pope or something, but over and over - like, practically mouth f'ing Giada's hand. And Giada looked panicked, and was looking around like "uh, is anyone seeing this?" I felt really bad for her. Finally that nutjob left and it was MY TURN!!!!!! I put my book down and she said "So, Amy Drinkie!" And I said "yes that's me!" and all the witty things I planned to say went right out the window. I just stood there, awestruck. She was so pretty, and her hair, makeup, clothes and manicure were all perfect - nothing out of place. I was so jealous that even with the humidity, her hair looked OK while mine looked like total shit. I remember she had this very cool ring on, that was a dark colored metal that had moonstones or something similar in it and it was kind of dome shaped. So then she passed the book back to me and said "well Amy Drinkie, enjoy it" and smiled really big, and then I realized I'd just been grinning like an idiot and said nothing the whole time I'd been standing there, and all I could muster up was "thank you, I will! It was lovely to meet you!" And she said it was a pleasure. And just like that, the conversation was all over, and I was suddenly a little sad.

I took a couple of pictures after my book was signed. They came out pretty crummy b/c my camera takes crappy pics with no flash, even if the shutter is adjusted. Oh well. I was there, I met her, and even if I didn't have anything good to say I still got a book signed by my favorite celebrity chef, and a day off work. As I drove off I thought to myself, Damn, I should have asked her if that ring was from Anthropologie!

HOV lane and interpretation (or mis-interpretation) of the law

2010-06-22T13:10:00.000-05:00

Should children count as passengers to use the High Occupancy Vehicle lane, or does the law insinuate that passengers=licensed drivers only?

I am embroiled in this argument on a parenting message board today. Our city's HOV lane law refers to car passengers as "occupants" and "required number of people in vehicle." The people who are the most stirred up about this say that people who drive in the HOV using their kid as a passenger are cheating. Cheating what, exactly? Children are passengers/occupants too. One person accusing others of cheating says that the general purpose of the HOV is to take cars off the road, and her kids won't be driving for another 15yrs. Another said if you're driving people around who otherwise wouldn't be on the road, you're violating the spirit of the law - if not the letter of it. Well. . .the letter of the law is stated in the link above, which isn't that specific.

I defected further and stated that I wish people with kids in the car WOULD take the HOV instead of contributing to congestion on the mainlanes. Then someone countered with " the point of the HOV is to reduce emissions" and some other stuff. Yes, yes it is, but it's ALSO to reduce congestion in the main traffic lanes, and that is the boat they're missing. And the law states:

Any vehicle meeting occupancy and weight restrictions may use the HOV, with the following exceptions:

No single-occupancy vehicles.
No vehicles towing trailers of any sort.
No trucks with more than two axles or a gross weight capacity of one ton or greater.
No bicycles (motorcycles are allowed).
No pedestrians.

"Any vehicle." And nowhere in the exceptions does it state "children and/or unlicensed drivers do not count toward occupancy minimums" or anything similar.

So, am I missing something here? I said in the thread it seemed like we were splitting hairs, and the people accusing others of cheating insisted we weren't. Well, OK then - suit yourself. Don't drive in it if you believe you're going to get in trouble or it's wrong when you clearly meet the requirements. I for one would rather see cars that meet the minimum requirements in the HOV instead of the lane going unused, since the city/county/state/whoever paved over all the grass that used to be there just so people could drive in it.

Black Thumb

2010-06-17T01:22:00.000-05:00

As in, not a green thumb. Eleventy billion years ago I posted here and here about my herb/vegetable garden and other things we've planted around the yard. Well, I'm sorry to say, that not everything has been a success.

The herbs are great - they grow like weeds, and I use the crap out of them in my cooking. I use parsley and cilantro faster than it can grow, so I'll have to plant more of both of those. And my rosemary bush is HUGE so I need some more recipes using that (ahem, reader, this is where you step in and suggest stuff). We're pretty burnt out on roasted chicken w/ Herbes de Provence, and that's about all I know of that calls for rosemary.

The flowering shrubs are doing OK, except for the hydrangea that roasted in the drought last summer, and the azalea we lost to frost this winter. The frost almost got my lime tree too but it came back. No limes, but maybe next year! We have planted some Formosa azaleas in the front yard around the birdbath but I don't like them as much as the ones in the backyard - they're spindly, not bushy and dense. I am told Formosa is the hardiest version but it looks pretty wimpy to me. They haven't grown a lick in the 2mos they've been in the bed either. We also bought some oleanders when we bought the azaleas but they're still in their cans on the side of the house, waiting. I love oleanders but have no idea where they're going to go.

The veggies have been a big fat FAIL. I thought I'd save money by growing my own veggies - wrong! Last year I got 5 cucumbers but left them on the vine too long b/c I didn't know when to pick them and they turned yellow. They tasted nasty. The tomatoes and peppers never even flowered. This year I've got some teeny tomatoes but they keep falling off the plant before they get big enough to eat. My peppers are another disappointment. I also got an eggplant and that hasn't done anything either.

Come on Zone 9! We're supposed to have a freakin' long ass growing season! Grow me some food already, I've watered and fertilized like I was supposed to!

Gardening is stupid. I ought to just buy my stuff at the grocery store like normal folks.

Memory Loss

2010-06-11T12:47:00.002-05:00

I talked to my dad earlier today, and he told me that he ran into an old classmate of mine from high school the other day who asked how I was doing. He said they're going to rope together later this week. I told him the name sounded familiar and I thought we might have had an Ag class together, but other than that, I have no idea who this guy is. I'm pretty sure that if we did have Ag together, we had some of the same friends, and there's even proof on Facebook that we even have mutual friends. . .one of them being my own brother. but after going through the bro's profile and checking out his 2 pictures, I still can't place him.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me. Once in a while someone will ask me if I remember so-and-so, or mention that someone from back in the day asked how I was doing, and most of the time I can't remember them. If I had a yearbook lying around I'm sure I could figure it out, but damned if they aren't AT MY PARENTS' HOUSE. I'm 29yrs old, you'd think I'd have gotten all my crap out of there by now, right??

Does this happen to anyone else? I feel bad that I don't remember these people since they cared enough to ask about me. But really, if they cared THAT much wouldn't they have looked me up somehow?

***UPDATED 6/24/10***

I got a hold of my yearbooks, and nope, don't remember the guy AT ALL. Apparently he graduated with my brother who's nearly 3yrs my junior, and they weren't even good friends then. No wonder I don't know who he is!

You are The Devil, Shopstyle.

2010-06-09T16:38:00.000-05:00

I ran across a Shopstyle Style Book on another blog I read, and it's wonderful. I'm afraid it will contribute to my downfall, however. I can pull merchandise from gobs of different brands and stores together to form a complete ensemble, then save it or email it to potential gift givers, while I sit my ass on my couch stuffing my face with wine, cheese and crackers. No burning gas driving all over town, no fighting mall crowds, no scouring each and every favorite brand's website for hours on end, no more scramble at Christmastime to produce a list. It's like an interactive Vogue magazine that I didn't have to buy in the checkout line at the grocery store. I can also save a list of brand names which I buy repeatedly, so I can pull them up lickety-split - I already have a database of repeat offenders and I just signed up this afternoon. It kinda reminds me of The Alice Experiment, but for clothes and accessories.

I have a feeling my Visa's about to get a workout. Thanks Shopstyle!

I'm conflicted regarding Chick-fil-A's Spicy Chicken Sandwich.

2010-06-04T13:56:00.000-05:00

I got an invitation to try it for free before it's made available to the general public on June 7, and it is glorious. It's everything I dreamt it would be. It's got a little kick but not so much that you can't taste the chicken or the other flavorings in the breading. The free one was built just like the regular chicken sandwich; no lettuce or tomato (which I missed, but it was free. Beggars can't be choosers). I just put a little mayo on mine, since you have to dress your own sandwiches at CFA, and it was perfect. Perfect except for one thing. . .CFA serves factory farmed chicken.

Several years ago I considered going vegan, and read The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals thinking it would make up my mind for me. It did, but not in the way I expected - I still eat meat, however reading that book completely changed my food shopping and consumption habits. I cut out all - and I mean ALL - restaurant dining, except for Chipotle because I knew they procure from local area farms. Watching movies like "Food, Inc." just pumped more energy into my efforts. I even quit my beloved Whataburger, which I used to eat about twice per week. I haven't eaten there in almost 3yrs now, because I just can't do feedlot beef anymore. It's disgusting, and makes me feel guilty. Dirty, even. It got to the point where if I couldn't trace what was in my shopping cart back to an origin of which Michael Pollan would approve, we weren't eating it.

Gradually I loosened up and decided that my main issue was with mistreated meat - meat that comes from Commercial Animal Feeding Operations. I started adding restaurants back to the list of acceptable places to eat, or just ordered something meatless if I got dragged to one that was on the "shit list." Sure I prefer to eat produce from local growers to support the little guy, but things happen - drought, pest infestations, blights, unfavorable growing conditions, etc. that can affect crops, and if produce isn't available it's just not available and you have to branch out and look elsewhere. Fine. Then one day the three of us were out on the road, starving, and it was 2 against 1 in favor of CFA. Well, there isn't a single main dish on their menu that doesn't include factory farmed chicken, and I succumbed. Hunger and panic will make people do things they normally wouldn't. I justified it by using a coupon for a free sandwich, so technically my money wasn't going to support a CAFO. . .I know, I know, that's not a good way to justify it, but that's how it happened. And it was delicious, but again, I was sad thinking about what a horrible life that poor little chicken I was eating must have had before he ended up on a bun, and I was kind of freaked out thinking about what exactly was in that sandwich that was going into my body.

Anyway, my point is this: I really wish Dan T. Cathy would consider is offering free-range, locally farmed chicken at Chick-fil-A restaurants. We all know Chipotle does it successfully, so why don't other restaurants? Also, CFA is a Christian organization, is it not? Wouldn't God frown on CAFOs and their practices?

So, Mr. Cathy, will you consider it? Please? I love your food but feel very conflicted about eating it these days, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I have a package!

2010-06-02T20:21:00.002-05:00

Did you get that "Legally Blonde" reference?

Anyway, the Alice delivery came yesterday via UPS. Inside my blue box emblazoned "Everyone needs an Alice," were the 2 cases of cat food, shampoo, Kleenex, contact solution and granola bars - just as expected. After distributing the Kleenex to the bedrooms in my house, I thought "hmm, better keep some as backup" and started my next order (but haven't placed since I don't have the 6 product minimum yet). I'm sure I spent a couple more bucks than I would have at Walmart, but I didn't have to walk to/from a store and load my car in the blazing hot sun, or stand in line for ages, OR pick up any impulse items! So that was nice.

I've started a price list to compare the regular price of all the items I normally buy at the different stores where I shop. I'll fill it in as I visit these stores and enter the data afterward. Then after I see how much money I'm saving (or not saving) I'll make a judgment call as to whether or not it's worth making an additional trip to get something cheaper someplace else. If it ends up that some of these items are a lot cheaper at one particular store, at least the price list will help me to better plan my errand trips so I don't have to run around as much. I had this discussion earlier today with my friend who's already ordered from Alice several times - I said that my time is worth money too, and she totally agreed. She said the only things she can't justify getting from Alice are gelcap ibuprofen and contact solution, which are cheaper at Costco. Well, I don't have a Costco nearby so that's not an issue for me! I kinda wish we did, b/c they have a good wine section. :)

So far so good on the Alice Experiment! Stay tuned for more time vs. money analysis.

Maybe we'll get a cat. Or a baby!

2010-06-02T00:32:00.000-05:00

Today when Baby D and I got home, my husband's best buddy and his wife were over returning some camping stuff we loaned them. As I produced new toddler sandals I picked up at Target, hubby says "They're getting a cat. Or a baby!"

Uhhhhmmmmm. . .come again? There is a huge difference in workload associated with a cat vs. that associated with a baby. I know, b/c I've done both.

Then I thought to myself, maybe they're better equipped to have a baby than I was. Having a baby is a major life change, and one that I wasn't expecting. I was committed to never having children, because I was convinced it was not for me. I had planned on it just being Non-Daddy Drinkie and me, livin' it up and being big corporate guns at our respective employers, rolling in dough and stuffing it in our mattress, and traveling the world. And he had too. And I miss my old life often - living in the city, spending all my disposable income on myself, going to the trendy restaurants and clubs, seeing live shows every day of the week, and travel.

I'm still not convinced that it is for me, but even so my son is my single greatest joy and I would do it all again (even though I don't know what the hell I'm doing and am just winging it most of the time). I just wish we'd saved up more money first, and I hope our friends are doing just that, especially since her parents live out of the country and they'll want to travel to visit them. I guess it doesn't matter all that much; I know people who are a lot worse off than the four of us and they're making it just fine; so why shouldn't we, right?

I just hope they don't think that a baby is as easy to care for as a cat. Oy vey.

Ahhhhh, June - you're finally here. :)

2010-06-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

For many years, I've looked forward to June's arrival. School's out, public pools are open, summer vacation season is getting off the ground, and everyone's atwitter about everything they have planned between now and when school starts again. We don't have any big vacation plans this summer, but that just means the possibilities are endless. Maybe we'll take a road trip to the Hill Country for a few days, or hang out at the lake floating on inner tubes, or just stay inside in the air conditioning! I don't know. Whatever we end up doing, I'm sure I'll enjoy it, and be sad when fall comes around again.

As much as I want to love you, Alice.com,

2010-05-25T21:24:00.002-05:00

I'm scared to. And it pains me to say this, b/c the concept is SO COOL.

Alice.com is a shopping website that deals in household items you buy on a recurring basis (yes, I posted my referral link; more on that later). Think of all the products you are loyal to that you buy repeatedly - toothpaste, toilet paper, pet food, paper towels, diapers, trash bags, foil, whatever. On this site, you can arrange for these items to be automatically shipped to you on a schedule you specify so you don't have to bother with the extra errand. I am a huge proponent of outsourcing chores so that I can spend more quality time with family and friends, and as I already grocery shop several different stores for food (one regular grocery, one locally-owned gourmet grocery, farmers' market) and a 4th for household items, to be able to drop a store from my list of errands is very attractive to me.

The problem is this: I buy all of my household stuff at Walmart because there's a new one right outside my subdivision. It's clean, spacious, and the parking isn't all that bad. The checkout lines, however, are atrocious - there are never more than 6 lanes open at any one time, and 2 of those are "10 items or less." Each one will have at least 8 people in it, and the 6 that aren't express will have carts heaping with stuff, so you know it will take forever for them to ring up. Anyway. Most, if not all, of these household items are more expensive on Alice.com than they are at Walmart, as they're coming directly from the manufacturer who specifies the suggested retail price. Walmart and other stores like it negotiate lower prices with vendors due to their bulk buying power. The price difference isn't all that much, and sure Alice advertises free shipping which saves me the cost of a trip to the store, so which is the better deal?

Where does one draw the line when considering convenience vs. cost effectiveness? And what other factors should be considered when making decisions on where to shop? I know people who clip gobs of coupons and run all over town getting the best "deals," but when you consider the opportunity cost and fuel burnt in the car driving from place to place, do they come out ahead or behind - or is it a wash in the end? And does having items set up on a recurring shipment cut back on the number of impulse purchases made in the store, thus saving money that way?

I haven't tried ordering from Alice due to my proximity to a nice new Walmart, but I think an experiment is in order. Especially since I've already referred one friend to the site through the link above who's placed a couple of orders. Every time she orders during the year, I get 3% of her purchase amount in a cash back account, and when that reaches $50 Alice will send me a check! Isn't that nice of her?

So the experiment starts tonight. I'm getting my list ready and will amend this entry with details after the order's placed.

**********AMENDED**********

Just placed the order, which contained the following:

2-24ct cases Fancy Feast cat food, $12.99ea (I know these are $10-something at Walmart, but we're experimenting here)
1 Suave Clarifying shampoo, $1.99
1-3pk Kleenex, $5.79
1 double pack Opti-Free contact solution, $16.99
1 Fiber One granola bars, $3.06 after mfg. coupon

Grand total after tax was $56.59. Not bad, and the impulse buy factor wasn't there. One thing I like about the order process is when you're adding an item to your cart, you have the option of adding it to your list of products, and choosing a reminder interval to prompt for reorder. I like that you're not automatically held fast to a schedule and have the option of not being automatically charged, or just not adding the item to your list if you don't want to.

So far so good! I'll update again when I receive the order.

"Sex and the City". . .it's back.

2010-05-23T02:13:00.000-05:00

And thank goodness.

Yes, some will argue that it's unrealistic, unbelievable even. Or cheesy. Or packed with subtle (or not so much) marketing propaganda designed to draw us to the nearest Gucci store and rack up gobs of credit card debt. But hello, aren't there lots of movies guilty of these things?

Now that we've established that I have a sense of what IS real, I can honestly say that I'm excited about the new release. "Sex and the City" has long been one of my favorite TV series. I don't remember when I got HBO but it was several years after the series had premiered, and I didn't want to jump right in - I wanted to see it from the very beginning. It's a very good place to start, after all. :) I was thrilled when the old episodes started on TBS, but even then, I still missed the beginning. I watched the odd episode here and there, thinking I might as well, and then one night. . .

Christmas of. . .2005 I believe? I ran into Best Buy with my (then) boyfriend and another couple to pick up something or other for someone's gift, and THERE IT WAS. The "Sex and the City" collector's edition, in all its pink and shiny cellophane-wrapped glory. I remember being told "that's a good way to get that for Christmas" as I carried my intended purchase to the throng in the checkout line. No matter. It is one of my very favorite things, and it's provided hours of escapism entertainment for me and my friends.

I love seeing the cast's fashions. I love Samantha in all her bawdiness (she's my favorite). I love Charlotte's naivete. I love that Miranda tries to find the logic in everything. And I love Carrie because she is a romantic. I do think though, that the relationship between she and Big is hard to take. When he didn't show up to their wedding, it was awful. The worst part was when he tried to walk toward her when they were all standing in the street, and Charlotte grabbed Carrie and hollered at him and they were all crying - I cried my f'ing eyes out. Had to pause-the-DVD-and-go-decompress cried my eyes out. I can't even watch that part with others in the room b/c I'll embarrass myself. A few years ago I wouldn't have cried over a scene like that, but every time I see it, bring on the damn waterworks.

I really want to see part 2, but I'm torn. I love watching movies at home because my food is better, I can pause it if I have to get up and pee, and my house is definitely cleaner than the theater. But, I'm afraid if I don't see it in the theater I'll miss out when everyone else is talking about it, or be on the receiving end of a spoiler before it comes out on DVD.

I love my girls. I'm so glad they're back. :)

An open letter

2010-05-18T01:01:00.001-05:00

Dear ____,

It has been about 3.5yrs since we parted ways. I find it odd that you keep turning up like a bad penny - whether it's sending me a friend request on Facebook, borrowing my Twitter update to post as your Facebook status, or tweeting lyrics from breakup songs for me to be referred to and get weird over.

If you've got something to say to me, stop with the passive-aggressive BS and come out with it already. If you're too scared to tell me directly, then just drop it altogether, m'kay? Because honestly, I'm tired of feeling like I've been kicked in the gut every time your memory pops up.

-A.

I feel a new bag purchase coming on.

2010-05-17T16:01:00.000-05:00

I have been searching high and low for months for a new bag. I have lots of bags (and some I need to unload), but only one I truly love - my brown leather Gucci hobo with the horsebit handle. I carry it often, and now it's starting to show wear on the corners, and I want to move it from heavy rotation to the "when an occasion warrants" category, to make it last longer. It's probably the only couture bag I'll ever own and I want to be able to carry it until I'm dead. Also, let's face it - not every occasion calls for carrying a Gucci purse. It's a bit overkill-ish for say, dinner with a screaming toddler at the local cheapo Mexican restaurant.

So in my quest for another "everyday" bag, I came across the Coach style 14820 - Leather Brooke tote in Parchment/Silver. Biggish but not too big, not covered with "look at me" logos, can be slung over shoulder or carried on the forearm like a satchel, and in a neutral color. I can't really think of a good reason not to buy this bag, except that some may say it's too plain to spend $358 on. However, plain is kind of what I'm after. I wonder if it has enough room to stash a sippy cup and Goldfish?

Sometimes it's very discouraging, being "green."

2010-05-13T14:18:00.000-05:00

Tell me how this makes sense:

Replacement tops for 4 sippy cups costs $17.48 from Playtex or $24.83 from Amazon after tax and shipping. I can go to Target/Walmart and get 4 brand new cups w/ lids for $15.

I can totally see why people give up being green and dump stuff in landfills rather than buying replacement parts. Not that I'm going to dump these cups in a landfill, b/c I'm not, I'll just use them for water and get different cups for milk and other stuff, but still.

And why is the shipping so damn expensive??? Stick 'em in a Tyvek envelope and drop them in the mail. It doesn't have to come UPS. I mean really.

I now shall retract my prior statement about L'Oreal Sublime Bronze

2010-05-13T00:37:00.000-05:00

being craptastic. I tried my 3rd coat yesterday morning, and I have to say, it's not all that bad. Maybe it's trial and error with that formulation; who knows.

Yesterday after I got out of the shower and dried off, I sprayed just my shins, calves, and front and back of thighs with a circular motion to make sure I coated them sufficiently. They were WET when I stopped spraying. Then I just did a quick swipe over my knees and tops of my feet to try and make things even. I thought after this time if it didn't work, I was going to try and get a refund! But at the end of the day yesterday I was pleased. I think my problem the first couple of times was in trying to get an even, light coat all over - I should have been more heavy-handed all over except for the knees and feet. And it's not orangy now that I have good color either (still not as brown as a salon airbrush, but for the price, not bad).

So, L'Oreal my old friend, I am sorry I doubted you. I am happy you did not let me down, as your mascaras and lipstick/gloss has never disappointed me. I heart you again.

Scones. For the Brit in everyone.

2010-05-12T11:14:00.004-05:00

Originally uploaded by amydrinkie

Do y'all miss me talking about food? Because I sure miss me talking about food. I think food (GOOD food, not just any old kind) is my very favorite thing. I even like it better than. . .well we won't go there. It makes me feel better when I'm sad or sick, it gives me something to do when I'm bored, and it brings people together. Everyone loves a party with food, right? Right!

Anyway. Earlier this week I made cranberry orange scones, and they're lovely. Typically my husband and my in-laws eat them with clotted cream and red or black currant jam, which is good, but I didn't think that jam would go with scones that weren't plain. I didn't have any clotted cream in the icebox (shame on me, being married to an Englishman and not having clotted cream on hand), but I had whipping cream so I thought I'd whip some up and that would do. But no, the cream was past due, so I was scared to use it. Then I remembered way in the back of the fridge I'd bought a tub of ricotta with the intention of making a lasagna, and when I pulled it out it was still good! So I decided to dress my scones Italian style instead: split open, spread with ricotta, sprinkled with sugar to make them sparkly. Mmmmmmmm.

Now the sad thing is that after breakfast this morning, I only have one left. :(

Oh Walmart, how I love to hate you.

2010-05-11T00:01:00.000-05:00

Before I picked up Baby Drinkie from daycare today, I made a short list of things I needed to pick up while I was out. I've already been to CVS, HEB, Hubbell & Hudson, Target and Walmart (twice to Walmart!) in the last week - you'd think I'd have enough reserves to last to the Apocalypse, but NO. I had this bright idea that I needed to pick up Kellogg's Nutrigrain bars b/c I noticed Baby D. tearing them up for snack yesterday morning at school, and heavens to Betsy we couldn't go another day without those if he liked them so much!

So on my short list was the following:

Nutrigrain bars
Antiperspirant
Gallon sized zip-top storage bags
Paper towels

Should have run me about $25-ish, right? WRONG. Here is what I walked out of Walmart with:

3 Better Homes & Gardens beach towels
2 tubs Folgers coffee (one for me, one for lake house)
Trash bags for lake house b/c I hate the drawstring-less bags my mom buys ("jick" trash bags, as my dad refers to them)
Nutrigrain bars
Gallon sized zip-top storage bags
Dishwashing detergent
2 Febreze reed diffusers
Antiperspirant
3 Tide wash bags for the laundry
Paper towels

Grand total of $149.43. Dammit I hate going in there. I always spend more than I intend to, b/c there is always a bunch of stuff in there that I forgot I needed! Then to add insult to injury, I realized when I got home that one of Baby D's toys is dead and requires C-sized batteries. Bollocks.

At least it's right outside my subdivision so I can easily stop in pretty much anytime. Wait a minute. . .that may be part of my problem, no?

L'Oreal Sublime Bronze is crap.

2010-05-10T01:27:00.000-05:00

I've read about this aerosol self-tanner time and time again on various fashion and beauty blogs and boards, and everyone seems to love it. Well, I don't.

On Friday, I sprayed my legs all over with this after I showered and exfoliated, and gave it a full 24hrs to develop. Nothing. On Saturday I sprayed again, coating my legs, and 24hrs after that I had orange feet and knees. My shins, calves, and thighs front and back where still pasty pale.

I am no newbie to self-tanning, so it's not like I don't know what I'm doing. The St. Tropez lotion I used to use the past few years gave GREAT color, but I didn't want to keep using lotion b/c I never can get it off my palms. I see now they have an aerosol spray as well so perhaps I'll try that next. $35 per can is more than I wanted to spend, but that's the same price as one trip to the salon for an airbrush and I'm sure I can get at least 3 applications out of a 6.7oz can.

NEXT!

Goody Spin Pins

2010-05-05T14:04:00.000-05:00

So, as I was dashing into CVS to pick up some infant ibuprofen and Benadryl, an "as seen on TV" end cap caught my eye. As I waffled over whether or not a Strap Perfect would benefit me, I wandered toward the baby section and suddenly I realized I hadn't seen the Goody Spin Pins on that display, and I suddenly wanted them - REAL BAD. Just then I was passing the hairdo aisle and lo; there they were! And in brunette! And there was only one pair left! I snatched those babies up right quick, finished my decidedly unglamorous purchase of the aforementioned medicines, and hurried my butt back home to try them.

After I put a Benadryled-up toddler down for a nap, I busted out the Spin Pins to give them a go. Twist hair into a bun, tuck ends in, screw one pin in clockwise from the top and the other up from the bottom. Success! A casual, tousle-y bun that didn't take a bazillion bobby pins or a ponytail holder! Now since my bangs are short and always fall in my eye I'm rocking a headband too, but no matter - I can definitely see the Spin Pins becoming regular players alongside my trusty Ficcare clip. I will say that if your hair is stick straight or otherwise not "grabby" at all these may not work for you, but for $7 it's worth a shot; you can always return them.

I can't wait to get the Pony Pouf Clip too! Maybe I should go back and get that Strap Perfect. . .

Year End

2009-09-22T17:53:00.000-05:00

At work, that is. Our fiscal year end is this Friday, and I've been working like a dog. My contacts feel welded to my eyes. I've been eating nothing but crap, so I've probably gained back the 4lbs I've lost on Weight Watchers so far. I am DYING to watch TV and just veg out but I'm afraid I'll fall asleep and I have so much more to do.

On the plus side of work, word on the street is they're closing our office or relocating to a smaller suite at the end of October. Either way, I won't have a seat in the new suite and will get to work from home full-time! Yay!

Daddy Drinkie is sick and stayed home from work today. Some gastrointestinal issue which I didn't care to hear much about. He's been asleep most of the day, the lucky bugger.

I was debating moving my blog to Wordpress for a while but after I poked around on it last night I couldn't figure out how it was any better than what I've already got.

I made chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight and it looks like it's going to suck. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. It probably sucks b/c I was too tired and distracted to care about cooking!

I can barely hold my eyes open, so maybe I'll close them for just a few minutes. . .

L'Oreal Telescopic is the Holy Grail of mascaras.

2009-09-15T22:41:00.000-05:00

I LOVE IT. It is the BEST mascara I've ever used, designer or drugstore. The comb applicator is tricky at first but I just followed it up with a lash comb and the results were nothing short of awesome.

Just sayin'.

Dior Tropical Light Quint

2009-09-13T00:03:00.002-05:00

So far I have used my Dior quint twice, and can I just say, I'm in love. I was very apprehensive about spending almost $60 on eyeshadow in one fell swoop but I had a gift card so that made things a little easier.

When comparing the actual compact to the picture, the pink at the upper right corner is actually more peach and the white at the lower right is actually more green. So far I have done a lime/taupe/seafoam look and a taupe/brown/peach look and they're BEAUTIFUL. I am way out of practice with the multiple-color application too (I have been wearing vanilla shadow with black or brown liner for 15yrs), but even so I figured it out and the colors were very flattering and not crazy.

The funny thing is, most of the shadow I usually buy is brown, taupe or green, so this suited my fancy just right. Perfect for travel too since it's all consolidated in one spot. Yay Dior!

Cover Girl LashBlast Mascara - FAIL

2009-09-12T23:52:00.002-05:00

So CVS had LashBlast BOGO 1/2 off last week, and I got one tube each in waterproof black and black-brown. I'm not going to mince words - they were total crap. The brush is so large that it's awkward to apply the product, and I don't know if it's the formula or the brush again but I could barely get any mascara on my lashes! I thought they were supposed to make my eyes look all BAM and Hollywood, but the effect was very natural. I didn't want natural, dammit, I wanted drag queen!

Glad I kept my receipt, b/c I'll be exchanging both tomorrow and going back to the usual, L'Oreal Voluminous.

Lowe's - WTF??

2009-09-03T09:19:00.002-05:00

I ordered a cooktop from Lowe's and it came in on Monday. Yesterday I called to schedule delivery and the person put me on hold. After 5mins I was disconnected. I called back and said I had been holding to schedule delivery of my cooktop and got cut off. She said "I'm sorry about that! Please hold." So I held for 5mins more. Then the same girl picked up and asked if she could help me. I said "yes I am trying to schedule delivery of my cooktop." She said "Oh! I can help you with that." OK, so why have you been trying to pass me off for 10mins??

So she pulls up my name in the computer, calls up my order and says "OK when would you like it to be delivered?" I told her that I would be home all day today and Monday, so anytime either day is fine. She says "well I'm going to need to talk to the delivery guys and call you back. Can I call you at xxx-xxx-xxxx?" Now, why did she say she could help me if she has to go checking with someone else?? But I told her that she could call me back at that number and she said "OK I'll call you right back."

Fast forward to this morning, and I still haven't heard from Lowe's. I sent Daddy Drinkie an email explaining what had happened up to the point, and can he call since I can't keep holding on my cell phone. He calls me back and says the delivery guys want to bring it tomorrow, which is Friday. They also wondered why he was calling b/c apparently I had already scheduled this delivery for tomorrow. DAMMIT, that is NOT what I said; I said TODAY OR MONDAY.

Now after all that, Daddy Drinkie is going to pick up the damn cooktop. I am irritated, but I would be SUPER PISSED if I had paid for the damn delivery and gotten this kind of crappy service.

Hello, my name is Amy. . .

2009-08-17T14:32:00.002-05:00

And I'm obsessed with dip. Last night I made that spinach dip that's on the back of the Knorr vegetable soup box and I'm about half finished with it. For breakfast I smeared it on a bagel; for lunch I'm having it with Cracked Pepper & Olive Oil Triscuits. I'm glad I used mayo made from olive oil and reduced fat cream cheese, b/c it looks like I'll be finishing all of it today.

This is not the first time something like this has happened to me. 2 weeks ago I killed 1lb of Central Market Love Dip and 2 bags of potato chips in 2 days. Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix doesn't last a day around here, especially if I have cucumbers or endive spears to shovel it in with.

And queso? Well, forget about queso. I know better than to make that if I'm not having a party. The last time I made it, we were watching a documentary on the history of cheese on the History Channel, and Daddy Drinkie and I ate that for dinner 2 nights in a row. It was glorious, but surely not healthy (even though I used 2% Velveeta).

Once I went to a party where the host had made dip from canned tuna, jalapenos and cream cheese. It sounds weird but DAMN if it wasn't good with those Fritos Scoops.

I could make an entire dinner out of dip, some vehicle for the dip, and wine. My husband thinks I'm crazy and that's "not dinner." Well, if you eat a lot in the evening during the time you'd usually be eating dinner, then THAT IS DINNER, right?? He just does not understand.

What are your favorite dips? Offer up recipes.

Portobello Paninis

2009-08-16T14:34:00.003-05:00

So, I got a new cookbook Saturday night. Borders had 30% off all cookbooks and I needed one that had some healthier selections - I've fallen into this rut where everything I cooked contained a lot of butter or heavy cream. This is my take on one of the recipes.

Mama Drinkie's Portobello Paninis

4 portobello mushroom caps
gorgonzola cheese (you can buy crumbles, but I like to buy a wedge and slice it)
sun dried tomatoes, sliced (I used oil-packed but the dried ones you reconstitute in boiling water are healther)
cracked black pepper

Clean the mushroom caps and cut off the stems so that they lay flat. Slice each cap in half, like you would slice a bagel, so you end up with 8 round halves. Layer the bottom caps with slices of gorgonzola and sun dried tomatoes. Put the top half of each cap on each sandwich, then brush both sides of each sandwich with olive oil. Grill in a skillet like you would a grilled cheese sandwich.

WW points: 2

I served ours atop a small bed of parslied linguini (just add a little butter and chopped parsley after draining the pasta) with a Caesar salad. Caesar dressing is normally very fatty but I found a really tasty yogurt-based one from Bolthouse Farms and it's SO good! It's only 80 calories per serving; the other dressings I compared hat at least double that amount. The fat content isn't as low as I'd like but it does contain Parmesan and Asiago cheeses, so I could look past that. The ranch and bleu cheese are killer too.

Herb Crusted Salmon Fillets

2009-07-30T18:28:00.006-05:00

Last night it was Alaskan wild salmon on the grill with homemade tartar sauce, paired with with Bleu Cheese Potato Salad (picked up from Hubbell & Hudson's salad bar) and preceded with an arugula mix green salad with cucumbers and baby heirloom tomatoes. Sadly the tomatoes didn't come from my garden b/c the bastards never flowered, but I digress. No pics this time b/c I was so excited to eat I totally forgot the camera, but when I make it again I will be sure to come back and post some!

Ingredients

One whole side of salmon, filleted
Dry spice rub that contains come kind of citrus peel - lemon, orange, whatever. I used Hubbell & Hudson's Lemon Peel & Garlic Classic Seafood Rub
Fresh or dried dill, if your rub doesn't contain it already
Extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat your grill and clean the grate. You'll cook the salmon over indirect medium-high heat; on my grill I left the two outer burners on and turned off the middle two and aimed for 425 degrees.

Run your fingers over the salmon fillet using light pressure, and pull out any pin bones (you may need pliers). Cut the salmon into individual portions - I put my hand on the fillet, fingers together, and cut pieces as wide as my hand; I can usually get 5 out of a side. Drizzle some oil in a baking dish and coat the salmon on all sides. Pour some dry rub on a plate and dip each piece of salmon into it, skin side up (don't dip the skin b/c you won't eat that part anyway). After each piece has its herb crust on top, lay them skin side down in a grill basket and apply your dill. Pat everything in with your fingers, close the grill basket, set on the grill and close the lid. Cook for 8-10mins flipping halfway through. You'll lose some rub in the grill but that's OK. Pull the salmon off when one of the thinner edges flakes with a fork - DON'T test the middle because it will look undercooked, and you'll ruin it if you leave it on the grill. As the salmon rests, it will continue to cook all the way through on its own; just tent it with foil to keep it warm while you plate the sides.

Drinkie's Tartar Sauce

1c mayo
Dijon or stone ground mustard; I like 3tbsps or so
1tbsp dried dill
1tbsp capers, drained
1tbsp sweet relish
cracked black pepper

Mix the first 5 ingredients together, add pepper to taste

In my opinion the potato salad was disappointing - it had more of a bleu cheese essence rather than crumbles like I'd expected and I thought it tasted a bit iceboxy, kind of like stale ice cubes. The boys liked it but I could have made it way, WAY better. Stay tuned for my version.

Taco Bake

2009-07-29T10:03:00.005-05:00

I have had many variations of this recipe over the years, all called different things - Mexican Casserole, Tamale Pie. . .my friend's husband even makes another version of Taco Bake. They all contain a combination of beef, taco seasoning and cheese with some other stuff added in but this version is my favorite.

Mama Drinkie's Taco Bake

2lbs ground beef or turkey
1 onion, diced
1 envelope low-sodium taco seasoning
1 can Ro-Tel
1 8oz shredded cheddar or pepper jack
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
1 4oz can diced green chiles
milk
sour cream and avocado (optional)

Preheat oven to whatever it says on the cornbread box (400 degrees I think). Brown meat with onion, drain and return to pan. Mix taco seasoning according to envelope instructions, add to meat along with the Ro-Tel. Stir and simmer for 5-7 minutes; just long enough for it to quit looking soupy. Pour mixture into a 2.5qt casserole dish, top with shredded cheese. Drain the green chiles. Mix the cornbread mix according to package instructions, add green chiles and stir. Pour cornbread mixture into casserole dish and bake for 20-25mins. Plate and garnish with sour cream and avocado slices, if desired.

The strata of cheese is what makes it REALLY good - as you dip it out of the casserole it just oozes everywhere. It's kind of like a spoon bread with taco guts at the bottom.

Working Out (or not)

2009-07-18T01:39:00.005-05:00

I'll be the first to say, I hate working out with the fire of a thousand suns. I would rather gouge my eyes out than lift weights or spend 20mins on my elliptical machine, pedaling to nowhere. I don't think I'll ever understand people who say they enjoy exercise.

My husband is one of those people. He swears up and down that if I just did it 3x a week for a month I would like it, but I'm pretty sure that's wrong. I know from experience! About 4yrs ago I spent a LOT of money on a gym membership and about 6mos worth of personal training, and all it made me was pissed off. I didn't get any lighter, leaner, or hotter; I know this b/c when I'd turn down social invitations due to a scheduled session people would look at me like I had 2 heads, and ask me why I was blowing all that money on a trainer when I looked "perfectly fine" already.

Maybe that was so, but I wanted to look and feel better, and it never happened - in fact I felt worse for spending all that money when my body, health and outlook on life stayed exactly the same. I never wanted to go to a single session but I made myself go b/c I thought I needed it; then blew off the last 2 appointments b/c I just didn't see the point anymore. The funny thing is, I can count on one hand all the times I've worked out in the last 4yrs and my body looks and weighs the same even after having a baby 9mos ago. Isn't that sad?

I don't know why I was even thinking about this. I guess in the back of my mind I'm thinking I really should be working out since everyone else does and says they like it, and that I'd like it too if I gave it a try. What am I doing wrong? Why don't I like it? What would help me not to liken it to torture? Is it a motivation issue? Because I think it would be awesome to look like Britney Spears did before having 2 babies, but if my 6mos of personal training 3x per week didn't do that, what will? I'm damn sure not willing to put more effort into it.

If anyone has any ideas I'd sure like to hear them.

Beer Can Chicken

2009-07-10T13:06:00.005-05:00

Isn't he pretty???

I'd always heard Beer Can Chicken was AWESOME but had never had it, nevermind made it. This was a very special event because during the process, I learned how to light our grill. Normally I have no problems with lighting grills except our igniter is broken and I didn't know how to do it without blowing up something.

So let's get down to business. I used McCormick's Montreal Chicken seasoning as a dry rub just because I already had it. I wanted something with a little lemon "tang" but since Daddy Drinkie is funny about lemon and I fed him a lemony dinner the night before I'd better lay off. The HEB/Central Market hybrid near us has a wide variety of dry rubs, some of the general Lawry's and McCormic stuff and then a bunch of fancier gourmet-type ones.

Mama Drinkie's Beer Can Chicken

1 whole chicken
1 can of beer, of which you've drunk half (I used MGD b/c that's all we had)
Olive oil
Spice blend of your choice (except Herbes de Provence; I think it's a bit weak in this instance)
Salt and pepper

Preheat grill to 350. Oil up your chicken so the rub has something to stick to. Shake your spices onto the chicken and rub it in, also try to separate the skin from the breast meat and rub some in there too. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over and into the cavity. I am pretty liberal with the spices b/c it makes a good crust on the skin.

Next, cut the top off your 1/2 drunk beer with a can opener. Some people say to put some rubbing spices in the beer but I did it last night and thought it didn't do anything. The beer is to impart moisture and aroma, not necessarily flavor. Your rub does more flavoring on the bird than in the beer. Anyway, put the can in a pan and slide the cavity of the bird over the can. My chicken had a broken rib and got stuck so I had to wrestle it a little bit, but you shouldn't have to force it.

Once the chicken's on the can in the pan, arrange your flame - you want to cook over indirect heat, so on my grill (4-burner) I turned off the middle burners and left the 2 end ones on medium. Now set the whole pan on the grill. Close the lid, check the temp after a few minutes, and cook for about 30mins per pound. I generally check with a meat thermometer after an hour to see how things are progressing. Once the thermometer registers 165 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh, pull it off and let rest for 10mins before carving. Some people say you should cook to 170, but the chicken continues to cook while it's resting so that should be factored in.

It was the juiciest chicken we'd ever eaten that wasn't fried. Y'all enjoy!

I feel like chicken tonight. . .

2009-06-30T15:06:00.006-05:00

Well, this post would have been about Chicken Piccata, except Daddy D whined that he "didn't liiiiiiiiiiiike lemon!!!" when he saw the cookbook open in its holder. Lucky for him I had heavy cream so I amended my plans to make Chicken Alfredo.

I can't tell you how much I looooooooove Alfredo sauce. It is probably my most favorite non-sushi and non-alcoholic food item. Don't tell Daddy D. that there's lemon juice. . .it'll be our little secret, 'kay?

Alfredo Sauce

1.5c heavy cream
1/4c lemon juice
6tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
1c parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a heavy skillet over low heat. Stir occasionally while your noodles are boiling (I'm assuming you're serving this over pasta). When the noodles are done drain them and dump them in the skillet, and toss to coat. Sprinkle in the parmesan and toss again. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Yummy in my tummy!

Drinkie's Killer Pizza

2009-06-24T20:56:00.008-05:00

We almost always have a frozen pizza for nights when I'm too tired or time-pressed to cook dinner. Sometimes I throw together a salad from a bag to go along and call it a night. Well the last time I opened a frozen pizza I was so disappointed - it was almost naked, and this was one of the fancy Central Market ones! I made up my mind that I was never going to buy another frozen pizza again b/c I felt ripped off.

During the last grocery shopping trip, I was going to get the Pilsbury pizza crust in a can but then at the deli section by the fancy cheese they had pre-tossed pizza crust, which I knew existed but didn't even think about. There were 2 in the package and the pizza sauce was included which was nice. Here are the details:

Ingredients

1 pre-tossed pizza crust
pizza sauce
1 10oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and wrung dry
1/4 of an onion, sliced
1/2 jar sundried tomatoes, sliced
5 cremini mushrooms
4oz log of goat cheese, sliced into medallions

Prehead oven to 450 degrees. Smear sauce onto crust, stopping about 1/2" from the edges. Layer on the ingredients starting with spinach and ending with cheese, which will melt and hold everything on. Bake until bubbly on the edges and the cheese barely starts turning golden.

I also had frozen artichoke hearts but decided they wouldn't fit; no matter - we LOVED it! Added bonus, there's one more crust left for the Margherita pizza I plan to make tomorrow night with fresh basil from my garden.

Buttered Cheese Ravioli, get in my belly!

2009-06-24T20:30:00.001-05:00

Last week I had to throw together a quick dinner b/c Daddy Drinkie was buggin'. I also mindlessly branded my tongue with a white-hot fork I'd used to stir melting butter with, which was über fun.

Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti with Browned Butter Sauce

2 pkgs Buitoni Riserva Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti
1 stick unsalted butter (yes, the whole stick)
1c slivered almonds, toasted
1/2c grated parmesan cheese (don't use the kind in a can, it's crap)
1c fresh basil leaves

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook agnolotti according to package instructions (about 4-6mins). While the agnolotti is cooking, melt the stick of butter over medium-high heat. When the butter turns golden throw in the basil leaves and almonds. By now the agnolotti should be ready, so drain that and then toss with the butter sauce. Plate and top with parmesan.

Don't be scared of the whole stick of butter. You only live once, right? :)

Should I be nervous?

2009-05-19T21:51:00.003-05:00

Last week our director sent an email to everyone in our department inviting us to apply for a new position that was created to work more exclusively with corporate and less so with the field. I moved from Sales to Service in August of last year, then went on maternity leave from Oct-Jan, so obviously I don't know all the ins and outs of my current position, but I know I could be a rock star in this new role. So I emailed my boss and told her my concerns about not being in the position very long and how I wondered if I'd be taken seriously and she told me "don't be silly." Actually, she had already recommended me for the position! So I emailed the director and told her the same things I told my boss, and she said the same thing about not to be silly and that in her opinion I'm actually very qualified for the new role. I told her "I'm in" and she said that was great and she'd schedule all interviews for late this week.

Tomorrow I have 3 interviews - one with my boss's counterpart, one with HR, and one with my director 1:1 (she actually is going to sit in on all interviews). Then Thursday I have 2 more interviews with the ladies at corporate whom I will work with more closely. I am so nervous! The position is a lateral move for me (as far as I know) so why would I have 5 interviews??? I could see maybe 1:1 with the director, one with my boss's counterpart as an "impartial" party and a blended interview with both ladies from corporate. . .I don't know, it just seems like a lot of interviewing! And the week of Month End too - adding to the stress!

I better eat a good breakfast I guess. . .

Garden Status

2009-05-18T10:54:00.006-05:00

Yesterday Daddy Drinkie repotted the lime tree I got for Mother's Day and also transplanted my hydrangea into one of the beds in front of the dog pen. Everything looks so good! Except my tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are pretty disappointing. So much for not having to buy these at the grocery store. . .

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

If you like the Real Houswives. . .

2009-04-03T15:29:00.002-05:00

Or even if you hate them - if you know who they are, you will love this.

The Uninformed Gardener

2009-03-25T18:25:00.004-05:00

On March 1st I planted a flat of seeds to grow herbs and veggies. I THOUGHT I took a picture of it then to post but I can't find it now, so I either didn't or it got lost. Anyway, about half of the things I planted are sprouting so yay! This weekend Daddy D is going to build a raised bed in the backyard so I can get these babies in the ground. The cucumbers (top right) look like they're already outgrowing their little cups and the tomatoes aren't far behind.

So now that I have started this gardening gig, I figured I better do something about the rest of our yard because it's pretty sad looking! I drew an aerial view of our backyard on graph paper and started filling in what I wanted where - azaleas, redbud trees, camellias, oleanders - but all of these are flowering shrubs that don't require much work and I feel like I need to add more stuff than just flowering shrubs (other things that don't require much work, that is). Then when I got home today I realized our fence to the right, if you go out our back door, is at an angle instead of straight back so now the whole plan is wrong! Gah! So now I have to redraw the whole thing. So stupid.