Food Coma

Sorry for the lack of posts, folks. I've been busy stuffing my face. yummy yummy
There's a lull in the action, so I thought I'd check in before I take another nap.



My sister and her fiance came out to visit so I got to make a whole Thanksgiving feast: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green salad, cranberry sauce, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, and spice cake shaped like a turkey. We also went out for sushi one night, donuts and greasy food at the ESPN Zone. Honorable mention to the cheese trays, toffee, mini chocolate bundt cakes and cheesebake on other days.

No wonder I feel a little sick to my tummy. Weight Watchers weigh in is going to be a complete disaster on Wednesday. Have the Kleenex box ready, bitches.

Hotlanta Housewives Reunion

I watched the Real Housewives of Atlanta Reunion show. It was so awesome. The viewers sent in some really catty questions like: Nene, why do you wear cheap clothes that show your saggy, old boobs? tee hee

They also featured several clips from Kim's country singing career. Her album will be released in January 2009...can't wait.

Nene called Kim a "trashy hooker" and threatened to rip the wig off her head. hot. Kim made up a story about having cancer. That's some baaaad karma right there, folks.

Who didn't love it when Lisa informed Kim that she had no talent. Stupid Kim pressed the issue, so naturally Lisa threatened to flip her over the couch and that she was not the one [to trifle with]. retarculous

The real highlight was when almost-too-gay-to-function Dwight said that the girls looked great except for Kim who needs some work to come into the 21st century. When she gasped and asked what was wrong. He calmly informed her that her hair needed some major work. burn. awesome.

You should really tune into Bravo this weekend to catch the reunion in one of the million reruns. It's definitely worth it.

Word of the Day: Scalawag

I'm seriously in love with pirate lingo. Walk the plank, matey. Aaaaargh! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Battle down the hatches! My personal fave: scalawag...

Honestly, when is the last time you heard scalawag in non-pirate conversation? Believe it or not I heard it tonight on the reality show Real Chance of Love. One of the skanks was making fun of the other skanks by calling her a scalawag. seriously.

I bet you're wondering what this particular scalawag looks like. Here you go:



This lovely wench is a former porn star. Ahoy there, mateys!

Ode to Cladeedah: a Visual Poem

Thanks Natalie Dee.

Christmas Cookie Bake-a-Thon

Every year I like to make Christmas cookies. I give them to friends and neighbors and take some big plates into work. It's getting to be that time of year, so I need to start planning what I want to make.

I always make sugar cookies but everything else is up for grabs. I made gingerbread cookies last year which turned out well. My husband bought me a cookie press so I may do some butter cookies too.

I was wondering if anybody out there has any suggestions on old favorites that I should make. I like to bake from scratch so basically nothing is too hard or detailed. What can I say? I'm an overachiever. I'll take your suggestions for about a week or so and then I have to get down to serious planning. Thanks, guys!

Victory at the Scales

You may have noticed that I have been suspiciously quiet about Weight Watchers the past month or so. To make a long story short, I was close to abandoning ship. I had gained back some of the 35+ pounds I lost...bummer. I decided to buckle down and push away from the table.

Guess what? I'm proud to say that at yesterday's weigh-in, I was down .8 pounds. It's a huge relief to be headed in the right direction again. Thanksgiving will be tough next week, but I'm not going to let another lapse become a collapse.



As a side note, I've switched over to Weight Watchers' core plan. Basically, you can eat all you want from a list of approved foods. In addition, you have 35 flex points for things off the list. The list includes everything you would think--fruit, veggies, lean meat, legumes, whole grain. You know, the stuff you know you should be eating instead of margaritas and doritos. dee-licious.

Starbucks Recipe: Caramel Macchiato

My favorite drink at Starbucks is the caramel macchiato. yummy. They even make a non-fat, sugar-free version so I'm in heaven. If you folks want to make it home, here's the recipe (from an ex-Starbucks employee):

Caramel Macchiato
The average coffee mug is probably equivalent to a Tall (12-oz/355 mL). I am not following precise Starbucks standards, though if you must know it's properly one shot of espresso, about .75 oz syrup (.25 oz per 4 oz liquid capacity).


milk
espresso
vanilla syrup
your favorite caramel sauce
In a regular-sized coffee mug, add vanilla syrup and steamed milk. Top with milk foam and add freshly brewed espresso through the foam. Drizzle with caramel sauce.


Iced Caramel Macchiato
Same ingredients, plus some small ice cubes and (optional) whipped cream

In a pint glass or iced tea glass (we're assuming 16 oz), add vanilla syrup and fill about 3/5 of the way with cold milk. Add ice almost to the top and pour espresso (2 shots would be typical) over the top. If you've done it right, the espresso will mix in only about halfway down without stirring. If adding whipped cream, add it here. Drizzle the top with caramel and enjoy.

NBC B*stards

In case you missed it, Saturday Night Live from last Saturday had a great parody of Beyonce's Single Ladies video featuring Justin Timberlake, Adam Samberg and one of the new guys dancing in black leotards.

The problem is that those Nazi b*stards at NBC have removed all of the videos from the Internet without posting it on the official SNL website. Wha? So mean.

If anyone out there finds the parody, please forward it to me and I'll post it. Until then, you'll have to get by with the real Single Ladies video.

Let's Go to Target!

Folks, I love shopping at Target but since I'm on a budget I often end up at stinky ol' Walmart. No more, friends!

Target announced yesterday that is slashing its prices and will match Walmart. Evidently their third quarter earnings were much lower than expected and they need to increase their holiday earnings to have a chance of making the fourth quarter earnings estimates.

You know what that means? Let's get dressed up and go to Target! Yaa-hoo!

Proctor and Gamble Saver

I have to confess that I like clipping coupons. I am a bargain shopper at heart. There are tons of websites and blogs devoted to coupons and deals but the problem is that most of the deals only apply in certain regions. A great example is that there are no stores in Las Vegas that offer double coupons. None!

You may have experienced similar frustration so I thought I would share a little secret: the P&G Saver. The P&G Saver is a monthly newspaper insert in the first Sunday of the month. If that Sunday is a holiday weekend, then it is the following weekend.

Not impressed, yet? Think about all the P&G products in your house: Tide, Colgate, Cascade, Pampers, Charmin, Oil of Olay, Bounty, Febreze, Folgers, Crest, Iams, Pringles...the list goes on and on. You're probably surrounded by P&G stuff.

Here's the plan: on December 7, by the newpaper or steal it from your job on Monday morning. The P&G saver is its own little booklet in the section with the other coupons. You'll be surprised how much money you'll save on stuff you buy all the time. You can thank me later.

The Universe is Mocking Me

My buddy Cladeedah is still gone on vacation. I miss her soooo much. To get my mind off of her absence, I went to Williams Sonoma to look at Thanksgiving menu and decorating suggestions. Look what I found right on the first page:



Cladeedah, please come home soon!

Church Outfit

I'm going to church later this afternoon so I was wondering what I should wear.

After some brief Internet research, I have decided on this classy outfit modeled by my fave Shauna Sand. It covers all the bases:
black (check), skirt (check), lucite heels (double check).
Perfection!

I Can't Resist

Unmotivated

Sunday is my normal day to clean the house and to finish up errands that I didn't get to during the week. Other than grocery shopping...uh...well that's all I've accomplished other than reading articles on the web about French decorating. I did find a really great house plan that I can't afford. Here's a picture of the front. If you want the rest, go to this plan.


Pretty sweet, right? I can imagine myself poolside right now.

Style Crossroads

When my husband and I started decorating our new house 2 years ago, we decided that we wanted to do a Tuscan theme. We have used warm, saturated colors and plenty of wood and wrought iron. The problem is that I think we unwittingly have chosen things that could also be called Provencal.

What do you think people? Should I get back to Italian or push over to French? They are pretty close but I wanted to get some input. I'm having trouble posting pictures, but I will try to update later. Any thoughts?

I'm Not Going to Make It Without Cladeedah

Today was the first work day without my buddy Cladeedah. She is on a fabulous trip to China. I'm glad that staff photographer SDM was there or I wouldn't have made it.

Cladeedah Come Back to Me!

Viva Las Vegas Scavenger Hunt

When my two best high school friends were here, we decided to do a scavenger hunt for some cheezy Vegas stuff. If we found everything, we would be true Mavericks! Below are the results (thanks Anna):

Cowboy - check
Bad weave/unfortunate hair - check
Hooker - low rent version - check
- high rent version - check
- tranny - bonus!
Bachelorette party - check, more than we could count!
Bride playing at the tables - we couldn't find this one, though we did see a couple brides going into the casinos
Frat boys gone to seed - check
Latex/rubber/pleather mini dress - well, it might have been spandex or stretch satin, hard to tell given how tight it was, but it did have gold lame.
Gambler with an O2 tank - check! this one took quite a while to find - thank you Binion's!
Couple in matching track suits - also a suprisingly tough one, finally at Bellagio of all places.
Fighting couple - check
Collagen lips - check
Enormous fake boobs - oh, dear God, check!
Yard o' Beer - check
Fanny pack - check, again far too many to count.
Unfortunate bare midriff - on a cocktail waitress no doubt
Obvious gold digger - check
Lucite heels - there were actually not truly lucite, but 1 pair seen on an actual person in platform gold and several pairs of patent leather platforms availble for purchase at the World's Largest Gift Shop - so I think that should count
Biker chick/dude - check
Couple making out - check
Swingers/Rat Pack wannabes - check
High roller clearly in it for the attention - check (conveniently with a gold-digger in tow)
Getting checked out by a creepy guy - check
Motorized wheelchair - check

A few Bonus items we had not thought of...
Ascot - on an actual man at Bouchon
Pregnant cocktail waitress
Kids left in the car in one of the casino parking lots
Elvis
And 2 ladies and a possible whore!!!

And we didn't get beat up when trying to find any of this (and then ogling them)
All in all, I think we more than deserve the right to call ourselves "mavericks"!

Only in Las Vegas! You need to see it to believe it.

Friend Me, Please!

You may have noticed that the blog has been pretty quiet lately. My two best friends from high school visited me this past weekend. We had an absolute blast. I'll have some more posts about our adventures, but I wanted to share my new obsession: Facebook.

I am now obsessed in getting as many friends as possible. If you are on Facebook, please friend me. I'm easy so I will definitely accept.

Indiana Went Blue...Huh?

I grew up in Indiana. There are enough good l' boys and conservatives to keep Indiana staunchly Republican. I looked it up and Indiana has voted Republican in every Presidential election since 1964 for Lyndon Johnson. Usually, they just put a little red Indiana in the map before the vote count starts. Kind of tough if you don't vote Republican. sigh.

But look at this, baby:

Obama 1,359,875 50%
McCain 1,337,157 49%

It's a pretty nice feeling to have the candidate you voted for actually win.

The Bitch is Back

Hey folks! I've returned from my vacation in Mexico. I see you've been in good hands with my guest bloggers SDM and Cladeedah. I know, I know, you like them better than me, but you'll have to muddle through with me.

Cause this bitch is back!! Ooooooh yeah.