Monday, September 27, 2010

Cough cough hack

Know what stops a blogger in her tracks?

Lots of work + lots of school + one hell of a cold.

I thought I was going to continue posting on fairly regularly basis even with the new time suck known as night school. What I didn't plan for was one major virus that attacked my sinuses and took no prisoners. Last week I took 2 sick days in a row. TWO IN A ROW. I think I have only ever taken 2 vacation days in a row once in the 4+ years I have been employed. I have class on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and decided to sleep the 48 hours between classes.

This week is my first quiz and I need to concentrate on the principles of economic theory. There are a few posts in the work, and maybe if all things go as planned, I can write up a few of them on Friday.

PS Emergen-c is a life saver. I totally recommend you start drinking it this winter if you never have, even if it vitamin c boosting powers aren't real, the drinks really help you get hydrated which is never a bad thing when your nose drips out of control.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The perfect breakfast treat

What makes a breakfast/brunch special?

Introducing a pancake into the mix. Anyone can fry an egg on a given work morning, so having a person take the time and energy to mix up and fry(?) a pancake is amazing.

What makes that pancake even better?

Adding in some chocolate chips. It's like a dessert for breakfast!

Is there any way that treat could be tricked out even more?

You, betcha! Add some BACON. I kid you not friends, Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix is available for you to order online. The mix can be purchased in sets of three canisters at a time, each canister contains 2 batches of mix. Yummo!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

One of my favorite mustaches

Tom Selleck has a new show this fall on CBS. It is called Blue Bloods, and I can only imagine he will be a cop because I can't think of any other profession that allows for that kind of facial hair.

As exciting as it is to be able to see this mustache on tv every Monday, I am more interested in one of his new movies. IMDB tells me that Three Men and a Bride is in development!!!

If the movie is just being developed, I would guess the earliest it will be released is in 2012. 3 Men and a Baby was released in 1987 which means in two years Mary will be 25 which is a perfectly acceptable age to be getting hitched. This kind of timing could be great or awful. Toy Story 3 worked wonderfully because viewers were able to relate to Andy (and his toys) since they were aging at the same rate. But it could be awful as I don't know if my fellow 20-somethings will be as excited as I am for the film.

Side note: I just checked the actress's IMDB page that played little Mary in the second movie. She hasn't done anything since 1994. I think it might be time for her comback ;)

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Doughnuts and Tampons

I look down at my phone to check the time and see that I missed a call from a 302 number. Since there was no message, I figured I would just let it be, the area code is from Delaware and I couldn't think of anyone I know from that state. People call the wrong person all the time, nbd, I totally did that the other day and hung up on the person who picked up because I panicked when I realized my mistake.

An hour later I notice my phone going off, and again it is that same 302 number. I figure I better pick it up and just let this person know I do not know them. To my surprise it was a recording from Bank of America. The company was concerned that my credit card may have been compromised. Recent charges indicated that the account might have been hacked. To determine if there was fraudulent activity I had to confirm that the last three charges were in fact purchases I authorized.

My mind began to race as the data loaded on the phone. I was preparing to hear about big screen tvs, internet porn, designer splurges, something along these lines. I was ready to hear my credit card was maxed out and I was about to have a major headache. Nope.

What were these crazy three charges?

1. My bar tab from Phoenix Landing
2. A doughnut from DD
3. A small purchase at a locally owned drug store in the Southend (tampons)

They were all legit and all by me. I would love to know what algorithm is used at BoA to determine fraud. What is wrong with alcohol, doughnuts, and tampons being purchased in a 12 hour period of time?? I guess we will never know.

My Mom will not be pleased with this post

It is about burping. Both my sister and I have some serious burping issues, which cause my parents to get a little upset with us. I try my best to keep them under control, but sometimes I get "the burps" and other times, one just needs to come out. Apparently I have a gas issue, it's ok. I'm cool with it.

Today I had to take the T downtown to work at an event. The car that I was in emptied out at Park Street and left maybe 10 of us to continue onto Downtown Crossing. All of a sudden, before I knew what was happening, I let out a burp. Not my biggest by any means, but it definitely had some volume and caught the attention of those around me. There was an older woman, around 60, who just lost it and started to giggle, while the girl standing across from me said "Nice one" with a huge smile on her face. There reactions made me laugh and also made me thankful I had to cross over the Orange line. At least I now know that people of all ages still think burps are funny. It's not just me. :)

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Major Thursday Cuteness

Today's Daily Puppy is full of pictures that make you "awwwwwww". Scroll down and you will see some cross-species love further down the page. You are welcome.

JGL is back

Growing up I thought Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the cutest. His performances in 10 Things I hate About You and 3rd Rock from the Sun were great. After 2001, when 3rd Rock ended, I pretty much lost track of him., but based on imdb he was still working pretty consistently so I guess our taste in movies just didn't line up.

In the last year he was in both Inception and (500) Days of Summer. I loved the first, could have lived without seeing the second (I only just got around to see (500) Days - as in this past weekend - and it failed to meet expectations). Now Joseph is back in the limelight and I couldn't be more thrilled. I can't wait to see what he will be doing next. In the mean time, I will be content watching him rock out on youtube. His take on Bad Romance is below and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Best five minutes of my Wednesday

Ever since I left high school my skin slowly started to go downhill. It wasn't an all over the place issue, pretty much the irritations stayed on the lower half of my face. For the last couple of years I have been avoiding the obvious choice of heading over to see a dermatologist. To some degree I was in denial, to another I was afraid there was nothing to be done, the rest was just laziness. About three months ago I bit the bullet and went.

The appoint was quick and easy. I left with a prescription and hope that my skin could be rebooted. After a few weeks, I saw drastic improvement and now there is just some redness/scarring. I went to Sephora to see if they had any products that might help with cell turnover, which should then allow for the color to fade and disappear. One of the helpful employees showed me the Clearing Mask by Kate Somerville and I found it to be a fantastic product.

The instructions state that it should be used just twice a week, so I go with Wednesday and Sunday nights. This allows for me to feel rejuvenated after three days of work (and now one day of class) and then again prepares me for the week to start all over. The mask goes on smooth. Since I use it on the lower half of my face, I am able to really enjoy the fragrance it gives off. I think it is something like simple tea. After the five minutes is up and I wash the mask off, my skin really does feel happy.

Personally, I think I see a difference and I would say the feeling of relaxation that I get from it is worth the price. If anyone has any other masks they find to be helpful, please let me know. :)

Monday, September 6, 2010

Triumphant return to the kitchen

For the last three months my experiences in the kitchen have been limited to microwaving, toasting, and the occasional nachos or buffalo chicken dip in the oven. As Harry Truman said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen". Personally, I can't during the summer, so I try to keep my distance from that very small room in my apartment.

With the arrival of Earl, the temperatures have dropped to a much more comfortable level and I am more inclined to consider the idea of using my stove top. Tonight, I decided to make my triumphant return by making a pasta sauce. I had some canned tomatoes and sauce that were begging to be put in a frying pan. As I began tossing in spices and cheese, I remembered a recipe that my friend sent me for sauce that involved a stick of butter. It sounded weird to me too, but being high of the smells of freshly made dinner, I just let my hands work and in went a few lumps of butter. Holy moly, so tasty! I highly encourage you all to try it next time it is pasta night, the butter really did make a difference.

Seriously, is there anything butter doesn't make better?

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Catchy Stuff Man

Sometimes a parody is great. Sometimes it isn't. Before we had "No Scrubs" (great) that was followed by "No Pigeons" (bad). Just last week Cee Lo put out a song entitled "F*ck You", which I thought was catchy as hell and was tempted to blog about it. But when I saw the video it already had well over 2 million hits. Today, I saw a post about a parody version. Loved it, and wanted to let you love it too!



The original video of "F*ck You":



To be honest, I don't know if I would love these songs if they had traditional music videos associated with them. It makes for a great sing-a-long video. :)

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Focus please


I just filled out an application for a volunteer position. One of the questions asked for my strengths and weaknesses. Strengths include punctuality and the ability to multitask, weaknesses, alphabetizing.

A few hours later, I thought about how multitasking is considered such a strength and realized that I would give anything to feel ok about doing just one thing at a time. I can no longer bear to only complete one goal at a time. If I am reading, I am also sitting outside to get fresh air and listen to music. If I am watching tv, I try and do some stretches or simple exercises because I can never find time to go to the gym. When I was trying to run, before giving in to my knees, I preferred to do so with my neighbor so we could get in some chat time. My dishes are washed while my delicate items are soaking in the sink. Right now, I am blogging, while watching tv, and cooking dinner.

I did see an article recently providing a series of tips on how adults can lengthen their attention spans and reinstate their focus. While reading that article, I also read a jezebel post, and continued to speak to families on the phone -- at the end the author reassures the reader that if you were able to complete the article start to finish without looking away, you had nothing to worry about. If memory serves me correctly, I don't think I even made it through the first paragraph. I wish I saved the article, it would be helpful to use a reference.

These next few weeks I am going to try and keep more focused on tasks. See if I can just do one thing at a time... Here goes nothing.