Goodbye 2006, Hello 2007!!!

2006 was an interesting year to say the least. This year has really been a roller coaster for me with some of my highest highs and lowest lows. I started the year prepared to put my life on hold for a couple of years and I ended it with a whole new life. I think what I will remember the most about this year was how much my friendships deepened. People who I thought were my friends before 2006 became trusted confidants. I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through some of the things if not for my friends.

I am a military child who also spent most of my adult life moving, even living in LA for 8 years I moved every year or two so a lot of my friends are transitional, friends of convenience. I learned to not get too close or expect too much from my friends. I just enjoyed them when they were around. Yet this year I felt a deepening of many relationships which I already enjoyed and were already lifelong friendships. I really am lucky because I know that I could call any of you reading this and cry on your shoulders if I need to. It's not something I'm comfortable doing and I don't do it often but yet I know when things get tough I can. That's what matters. When things are bad I know my friends will be there but it's more fun to share the good things. For me, all of the good things that happen are better when I get to share them with you. I can imagine various reactions (eyeball rolling, gagging, coffee spewing, LOL) and it doubles the fun for me.

2006 was the year of the friend, or rather the year of many friends and I look forward to ringing 2007 in with some of you. I hope that 2007 brings you much happiness. I love you!I had a great time tonight gals! Thanks to all who played, Chez, Rosie, Lina, Nes, Aimee, Pamela and Jennie! Almost everyone had a webcam which made it even more fun. I think Aims' daughter is traumatized, ok, she's not, I think Aimee is, LOL. I had a fabulous New Year's eve with you all, it's almost 3am and I'm going to crash! See you in 2007!

I love to bring people into my world!

That's part of the reason I do a blog, LOL. So today Brenda (AKA BAM) and her hubby and daughter came over so we could go out to eat. They drive almost 2 hours to get to me, I'm worth it, LOL. I did offer to drive out there but I guess I'll wait til their pool is opened. I already let them know how much a fan I am of barbeque (I always need to lay the groundwork for future meals).

When they showed up, I was singing karaoke, I know, what a shocker! So then I had to try to get them to sing. Charlie (daughter) was being shy so I had to break the ice by singing, LOL. After they were shocked and mazed by my talent they were ready to sing, next thing you know they've all sung and by then I was ready to eat! So karaoke was put on hold while I took them to a korean restaurant. They had never eaten korean food. They LOVED it! Even Charlie! She ordered shrimp fried rice but she was chowing on the beef from the grill. This korean restaurant uses coals instead of a gas grill and you can taste the smoky taste, it's really delish.

Once we've eaten until we could eat no more we came back home. I thought they would be ready to hit the road but not with the lure of karaoke, it was awesome! We all sang. When we weren't singing we were chatting and then we were singing some more, I have to say, they were pretty brave in some of their choices. Charlie sings a beautiful Amazing Grace, Brenda is no Right Said Fred and Brian did an awesome Beatles. 3 more converts, yay!

I was so full from lunch that there was no dinner tonight, well, I did have a dinner of 3 cookies, LOL. There's always room for cookies!

As you may have noticed I have a new blog pic. This is just an interim pic until I take some new ones, Santa Leiha is now dated, LOL. Someone on Karen's board posted a link to this site where you can create your own avatar. I've been playing, LOL. Here's the link if you want to play. If you send me your creation I'll post it for you. Create avatar here

Here's Ms Chez! Don't know what I love more, the devil's tail or the slippers, LOL. She calls hers the avatar of Freedom!Do you know who this asian goddess is? You're right, she's not a goddess, it's Nes, what was I thinking, LOL! Why does this whip look so natural in Aimee's hand? And the casual me. I do like to show some skin! Wish they would have had a tattoo to add to the belly, LOL. Notice my mouth is always open, I did try to make her true to life! Here's Karen from Michigan. Why are we so drawn to the whips? Is that why we all get along so well? I think it just looks right, LOL. As for Mich, she doesn't need a whip, her mouth is her whip (as you've seen by her posts, LOL) she needs a bottle! Enjoy the Corona chick! Whose idea was it for those damn dogs?Here's Lina, you may not be able to tell but the shoes and purse are designer, LOL. I have to say, it's a bold fashion choice by Ann but it's sort of hot! Linda's computer was not working when she tried to do her avatar so I was tasked with the job of dressing the fashion plate, eak! I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the results! I think it's the bling, she likes to blind me with it, LOL. Also, I'm doing a New Year's Eve chat instead of going out so those of you who are on yahoo I will be on about 10ish my time, which is eastern standard time. I would love for more of our gals to join in the fun. So far I know it's Aimee, Rosie, Nancy and probably P.C. and a drunk Nes. I forgot to go buy the champagne today so it's grey goose for me tomorrow. Bring your own booze and Chez, I know you have YIM, you should pop in, it's ok to drink some vodka in the am as long as you're not drinking alone, LOL.

Christmas is not over for me....

As you saw in my comic I started off 2006 with a visit from Su and guess how I'm starting 2007? When Su came to visit last Jan we spent a lot of time eating and drinking. We went to my favorite korean buffet and Pinks hot dog where we got our dogs loaded. I had the Ozzy Osbourne which was a polish sausage with american cheese, nacho cheese, guacamole and onions, it was awesome! Found a pic of the Ozzy and decided to share, if you look really hard, underneath all of that you you can see the sausage, LOL.We drove to Malibu to eat by the ocean and went to a sketchy part of town to eat mexican in the middle of the night and let's not forget the Snake Pit for $3 drinks made just the way she likes it, STRONG, shopping on Melrose and hitting a sidewalk sale and I even took her to my favorite karaoke joint, imagine that, LOL. Here we are at my fave sushi joint.For this trip, I don't really know Atlanta as well but I've done my food research. So there will be lots of eating, that's a given. I do not know the clubs or bars in the area but there is the club we went to when Lina was here, I'm sure Su doesn't want to miss the show, so to speak, LOL. Last but not least, we will be singing! I even ordered a second mic today because we both need out own microphones! If we're home we will be singing, it's all about perfecting your instrument, LOL.

I'm not making any promises but there may be pictures *G*.

The things I do for my friends!!!

Here you go Aimee, remember, you asked for it, LOL.


Remember, blame Aimee! My range is very limited, obviousely. As you see I also take requests, just be careful what you ask for!

A year in the life.....of ME!!!

What better way to describe my year then in a comic book? Click on the images to make them larger. Enjoy!

Nancy the whiner...

So for months and months Nancy has been whining about the fact that she wanted an ipod but couldn't afford one. Everyone she knows has one, shoot some people have two and even my nephew has a shuffle. So since I didn't get her a birthday present and she gifted me with my bookcases for my birthday (as you can see, I'm not great on the birthday presents, LOL) and I'm now employed I decided to get her a nano for Xmas. I know, one for my brother, one for Nancy, am I made of money? Hell no! I shopped on Apple's website and bought refurbished ipods. I wish I would have known they sold refurbished macs before I bought my new laptop, d'oh! Anyway, I thought for some reason when Nancy received her pkg she would know right away what it was since I was ordering off of the Apple website but apparently it wasn't marked as such.

I had given her the opportunity to open it early but she wanted to wait until I got my gift from her. Something to motivate her to mail it (not one of her strong suits). Everyday she would ask if I had received my gift, and everyday I would tell her no. On the day she thought for sure it would be there she actually brought her gift to work (it was taunting her at home) so she could open it there. My pkg did come in that day. Of course I had to taunt her but she called almost as soon as I emailed her. The funny thing is she didn't get my email. I made her wait as I talked a little bit and then I made her wait while I opened my present (a waterproof speaker for my nano). Since she knows I am not much of a swimmer this was surprising but she wanted something for US to use while on vacation, LOL.

Finally I let her open her present and she was extremely surprised and happy with her gift. Now here comes the funny part. A couple of days later I asked her if she had told her parents what I got for her and she said no. I told her I bet they got you an ipod, remember the whining, LOL. So Xmas eve I told her to tell her mom what I got her and watch her reaction but Nancy decided to play it safe and not tell her. Too bad her mom decided to ask, LOL. Because I had planted the seed she watched her mom's face and there was a flicker. So the next morning Nancy opens her present and her mom is like, it's not as cool but her mom had gotten her an 8 gig RED nano. Way cooler then the black 4 gig I got her, LOL. All of a sudden Nancy the whiner goes from no ipods to two! But it works out in my favor because MY nano is 1 gig so I'm taking the one I bought for Nancy and giving her my old one (it's only a few months old) so she can sell it to her brother and buy herself a new present, it's a win win situation for both of us.

And how does Nancy repay me? Well I sent her parents a Xmas card and they commented on the fact that it looked like I had lost a lot of weight quickly and they were worried. Dang, I love them, LOL. So what does Nancy do? She proceeds to argue with them and tell them the secrets behind my self portraits! So what if it takes 30 pictures to get one where my face looks thin, LOL. She showed off the chin tilt and everything, although her dad did point out my chin was pointed down, not up, ha ha! That girl had to go and burst my skinny bubble damn her! I'll have to put some serious thought into what I'm getting her next year, or not!

Happy Boxing Day!!!!

LOL, of course, this was me over a year ago, nowadays boxing day for me is trying to muster up the motivation to take the boxes that have been sitting on my kitchen floor for days to the garbage can, LOL. Don't worry, I only have one box waiting to go out and I just put it there today, that's pretty good for me!

I hope that everyone had a fabulous Christmas. I went to Dao's. She also had a co-worker come and join us. There were a couple of other people who were supposed to come but they got sick. You know what that means, more food for me! Too bad Dao got 2 pumpkin pies instead of a mix and match so I could have had more dessert, LOL. What we did have was a honey baked ham, a smoked turky breast (also from the honey baked store), my white trash casserole, homemade mac and cheese, roasted asparagus and my world famous cucumber salad. I swear, it is the perfect compliment to all of the heavier foods. We also had some apps of brie, blueberries and crackers and shrimp cocktails. I was stuffed! By the time I left (after 2 meals) I didn't even want to think about food. I would have left without taking any food, I would have regretted it later but still, I didn't want any of it but Dao made me take it and of course, today I'm happy, LOL.
The asparaus was in the oven when I took the pic. The top pic is the ooey gooey white trash casserole. I have a lot of leftovers if anyone is interested, LOL.

The original plan was to watch movies, that is, until I found out there was a top chef marathon going on! It was a perfect way to spend the day. My family finally called when they were all gathered. They're not morning people and with the time difference it was late in the day for me before they called. It was much better getting a call in the afternoon. One year my dad had to go to work early so the family gathered at 6am to open presents, I was not a fan of that phone call as much, LOL. My brother Andy had been talking for years about giving my dad a recliner for Christmas, then it was his birthday, then it was Father's day. I'm talking years! Well, he finally came through and my dad was tickled. I told him they just need to move a mini-fridge into the living room and he would never leave, LOL. It was fun to be on the phone with David while he opened his present from me. Everyone else received gift cards or checks but I knew I wanted to buy David an ipod, a combo birthday/Xmas present. Since I have a large family I was on the phone for almost an hour. We're very rarely all gathered together at once and I don't talk to most of them often so it was fun to share in the excitement, even if it was over the phone. Although Jordan scored in presents like he always does (and he loved his check, he's using it for the turtle he wants) and everyone got presents they were excited about David had the best Christmas ever. He called me later on in the night. Andy's girlfriend bought scratch tickets for everyone. David got the last ticket. He won $1,000!!!!!! He was still shaking when he called me. I was so excited for him. I had perma grin while talking to him. I told him to use it for something special like a trip but he has some bills he needs to take care of which is even better because he gets to start the new year with a clean slate. Kimberly is pissed because she had the choice between the last 2 tickets, LOL. Don't tell Kim but I'm more happy that David won, he really needed this.

What did I get from my family? I don't know, I told them what I wanted (it makes things so much easier) so we'll see if I get it. Both Kim and Adam had contacted me to let me know it was going to be late. I guess they looked into trying to get it on time and it was going to cost $100. I would have been appalled if they spent that. You don't think procrastiantion is a trait only I possess, it runs in the family, LOL. As it is, I'm amazed I'm getting my present before New Years so no matter what it is I'll be happy but I'm really hoping it's the Uggs I asked for, LOL.

Here's a family picture from last Christmas. It's missing a couple of the brothers but like I said, you never see us all in one place, LOL.

Merry Christmas!!!

I don't have any holiday traditions but there is one thing I look forward to every year and that is Darlene Love singing on David Letterman. She always sings Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) which is one of my favorite Christmas songs. Friday night she was on and sang it and it was fabulous as usual. I couldn't figure out a way to post the direct link but it's the top link on this page:Darlene Love

This year I decided I wanted to do a gingerbread house. I've never put one together. Of course, I bought a pre-made kit, it is me, after all. The house cost $6 and the extras I bought to put on it were $10 (most of which I did not use, LOL). It took a lot of frosting to keep this sucker together, it kept falling apart. By the time I was done with the roof I had no interest in doing the rest of the house. I figure with that kind of detail on the roof the rest of the house needed to be more sedate and just decorated with snow, LOL. Anyone want me to decorate their house?

Pucca and I hope that wherever you are and whoever you are with that you have a fabulously fantastic Christmas! I will be spending the day at Dao's eating myself silly. I'm going to be making the white trash casserole, I figure that calories don't count on holidays which means I better eat it all tomorrow, LOL.

Who scared who?

I was sitting on my floor singing at the top of my lungs, volume blasting away when the mailwoman put mail in my slot which is on my front door and I jumped a mile high. Then she knocks on the door and I open it and tell her she messed up my karake buy by the time I opened the door she was already at her truck. Do you think she ran there?

I bought new glasses yesterday. They say a week and a half but she said they normally come in sooner then that, which is the good news. The bad news is she wants me to see a specialist, something about the macula in my left eye. Have no clue what that means and my hypochondriac friend Nancy didn't know either. I just went in there looking for a pair of glasses, I came out with a referral for a retinoligist or opthamolagist, LOL. Don't worry, Nancy and I decided I would look quite fabulous in an eye patch. I may get one just because!

I ordered 2 pair of glasses (won't make the same mistake twice) and I got the transitional lenses which is cool because I was tired of the prescription sunglasses I have, too bad one pair of glasses I bought looks like my sunglasses, LOL. So til I get my new glasses I will be wearing contacts and sunglasses. Yes, I'm wearing my sunglasses at night!

A very Kiwi Christmas.

Hi, Leiha has invited me to guest blog about what Christmas is like here in New Zealand.

Christmas is such a special time for our family. Here in New Zealand we don't have a Thanks Giving celebration so Christmas is the big event of the year for us. I know preparations need to start as the temperature starts to get warmer and daylight savings means the days get longer. The Pohutukawa Trees start coming into bloom in mid to late December. These are known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree, they are a native coastal plant that bloom red. I start wearing my shorts and advertisements for bikinis and budgie smugglers start to appear on the telly. Events like 'Christmas in the Park' happen around the country where families take picnic dinners out for the evening and listen to carols whilst sitting on a blanket snacking and drinking wine. The evenings are so warm by now that this is a lovely event. For the less social types fantastic end of year Christmas specials appear on telly for Coronations Street and also for our local homegrown soap Shortland Street, ever popular!

I am a Christmas geek and if I can get my way will have the Christmas Tree up on the 1st of December if not before. Usually around that time I am in the middle of writing kids end of year reports and I reward myself with Christmas Card writing when I have done about 1/2 of them, sad I know!!! I post all my Christmas cards super early, unless you are Leiha, in which case it takes another whole year and much embarrassment before it goes!! LOL!!

School finishes around the 20th of December for me and my 14 year old son, who is now at High School, finishes a week before. Because we are now going into summer we have about 6/7 weeks off and don't go back until the 1st week of February. Our summer holiday; Marvelous! The days get longer and hotter (unless NZ is in the middle of an El Nino weather pattern in which case it will probably be windy, cold and generally crappy. But we don't like to talk about that!). We have started sleeping with the windows wide open as it is so hot and end up with some fantastic mossie bites as a result. We are also have to slather ourselves in suntan lotion too, due to the hole in the ozone layer down here you can burn in less than twenty minutes. Sun smart, ‘Slip, Slap, Slop’ advertisements for this are also apparent on telly and in shops. The Christmas shopping frenzy starts and transactions in the shops around the country are starting to get to over 400 per second on eftpos. Going into town you need to gird your loins for battle! I went early this morning and left quickly, to many fierce looking women on missions!!

On Christmas eve we usually sit in the lounge or on the deck with the Christmas lights on and a glass of wine in hand. Everyone is on holiday now. The US tradition of lighting up your house has made its way here so we also often go for a drive to look at the spectacular houses when it gets dark. Before the kids are asleep there is a flurry of activity to prepare for Father Christmas. In my family we usually leave some of the following out for him: Christmas Mince Pies, a can of beer, Christmas Cake or some Chocolates. My step mum often got cotton wool and left bits of it down the hall to imitate snow.

In the morning the kids are usually up at the crack of dawn. We get up and sit round in our jammies and open all the presents. In my husbands family they don't open presents until the dishes are done after lunch. This is somewhat more restraint than I have!!! We always tell our son Ben we cannot get him whatever it is he wants, usually the, "We're too broke and Mum spent all the money on books" excuse is a goodie. Then we secretly get some big surprises and hide them. He is always astonished and we just love it. He is so hard to buy for as he never really wants anything when we ask!

Food. For most kiwis it is a time of utter excess!! When we go to my husband’s parents we have a huge lunch of ham on the bone, turkey, peas, roast veggies, carrots, new potatoes and salads. Followed by dessert of the Kiwi classic Pavlova (Don't let any Aussies tell you it was invented over there, it was here and that’s all I'll say on the matter) with fresh fruit salad, trifle, ambrosia and jelly! The afternoon is a time to have a nap as we are all by this time rather corpulent!! At night we always have barbeque of steak, chicken kebabs and fresh salads. This year we are having ham, roast boned out leg of lamb stuffed with bacon, mushrooms and other yummies (mums making that one), salads, roast veggies and peas. I like peas! And after we have finished dessert you'll have to roll us all away from the table. Steve's Mum makes nibbles like apricot balls or rum balls and the most divine Christmas Cake. We have chippies and dip to snack on, Roses chocolates for a bit of extra sweet. When people first settled here in New Zealand there were no geese, so roast mutton was on the menu and is often referred to as Christmas Goose. Sheep are in rather plentiful supply here!

There is usually a game of cricket down at the local park during the day. One year we wore out the foot pads of Honey the dog as she chased the ball so much! To fill in the evening we have games of cards and play board games. As a Commonwealth country the Queens message is on the telly in the evening and we usually sit down to watch that (Steve’s Mum and Nan insist!) Boxing day is much the same with more eating and maybe some shopping as the sales start. After the 3rd of January many people go back to work and its all over for another year.

Christmas in New Zealand is about enjoying time in the sun with family. It also marks the start of the summer holiday season with January being the traditional time of year to head to the beach or lake.

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.

Sarah.

Special guest blogger...

It's going to be a quickie tonight because I have a guest coming in, hopefully tonight, LOL. I can't wait to see what she posts! But of course I had to pop in and let you know what I did today! Well besides another Drs appt at 8am, ugh! This one was with my primary care physcian so now I'm all caught up with everything. I can't complain although I had to get a shot and I can feel my arm getting more and more sore. Good thing I don't lift anything other then a fork, well, chopsticks, LOL. I like my Dr. He says if I get another UTI just to call him and I won't have to go in, he'll call in my meds which will then be mailed to me. He also said I could call him with other questions if I needed to. He said I obviousely had plenty of common sense (see why I like him?) so he knew if I needed to call him it would be for a reason. But that's now what I did that I'm posting about. I'm also not posting about the fact I went and spent tons of money on stuff for pretzels. Parchment paper cost me $5, wtf? Which I did not start making today, I meant to but you know how it goes. I didn't even nap today! Work cut into my naptime hate when that happens. So I got less then 6 hours sleep and no nap, I can't believe I'm coherent at this point.

Nope, the briliant thing I did today was break my glasses! I was cleaning the lens after I got out of the shower and SNAP! What a pisser! Now I have to wear my contacts all of the time until I can get some new glasses. So much for spending tomorrow working on my pretzels. First I have to work on the gift of vision, LOL.

I have thick skin...

literally! That's what the lab tech who took my blood today said, LOL. I guess that's why so many people have problems finding my veins. Of course, they only have problems if they're not good, she was good. I told her about the first time I gave blood, she knew it wouldn't be a good story after looking at my veins. It wasn't. Not only couldn't they find my veins, they stuck the needle in and wiggled but once they got it in no blood was coming out! Needless to say, I do not donate blood anymore. She said the needles they use for blood donations are bigger, FYI.

As for thick skin figuratively, I don't know. I just think it depends on the situation. I'm very easy going so it takes a lot to offend me but if something is directed towards me, I'm not so easy going. So let's not test this thick skin theory, LOL.

I brought the rest of my cards to the VA today thinking about all of the sitting around I was going to do but I did not have a chance to finish one card, which is great but of course meant I spent tonight finishing my cards but I think I'm done, woot woot! I celebrated by singing some karaoke!

Here is a pic of me doing the pretzels, this was only half an hour into the project so I still had a smile on my face. LOL, who are we kidding? If there's a camera around I will always have a smile on my face! It's a good thing Franklin didn't know I was giving him some goodies, I got the munchies today and guess what was calling my name? The pretzels I didn't feel like eating yesterday, guess I should have brought some home for me, LOL. Well, guess I did!

I have too many friends...

I can't believe how many Xmas cards I filled out tonight! I thought I was wittling down but as I subtracted I would add. I think maybe next year I'm going to only send cards to people who send me cards (and or gifts, LOL). Right now I have 5 Xmas cards on display, why am I sending out 50? That is not even my final count, I ran out of scrapbook tape so I have to finish the rest tomorrow. That is going to be my plan for next year. Yes, people could be running late (like me) but I don't really expect an influx of 40 cards in the next week. Not that I hold it against them, some people don't do cards, there have been years where I didn't send one (and have felt incredibly guilty) but I definitely don't think I'll be sending out this many next year (unless I have a super fab picture of myself to share then all bets are off, LOL).

I'm totally exhausted tonight. Spending the day standing over the counter making Nancy's super secret super easy chocolate covered pretzel recipe is hard labor! My legs hurt, my feet hurt and I'm pooped! I talked to Nancy about this phenomenon and the reason she doesn't experience it is because she does her pretzels sitting on the couch, not in the kitchen. Something to be aware of if you want to do this project at home. Some other bad news, my camera battery was dying so I only have a couple of pics but I'm too tired to post one. I will show you tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'm going to the post office but they will not be getting any pretzels. Apparently Dao would like to give some to everyone and their brothers so I left most of them with her. I brought 2 little baggies home to give away. I'm debating whether to do some from here while sitting not standing but I don't know. I think I need to recover first. I also have my pap tomorrow. Tomorrow is full of all kinds of joy for me, LOL.

The holiday crunch....

Are you starting to feel it yet? I certainly am. Tonight I spent the evening working on my Christmas cards. I had planned on at least addressing the envelopes this weekend but even that didn't happen. Have I written a word, no (and really, not many words will go into my cards) but lucky lucky people will get a picture of moi inside. That, my dears, is what I was working on tonight. It took many hours and the help of 2 people but I have a picture I am going to use. It's not perfect but at this point I can't wait for perfection, LOL. Too bad my hair falls so quickly, even with mousse and a can of hairspray the curls did not last long and Shannon did a fabulous job with my hair. The funny thing is, I ended up using one of my self portraits (taken while she went tinkle) instead of the ones she took (but she took my 2nd favorite pic, LOL). Franklin was there for entertainment and to bring us pizza rolls while she was doing my hair (a very important job!).

Tomorrow Dao and I will do our version of holiday baking. I don't know how well it will turn out. My contribution will be Nancy's super easy chocolate covered pretzels. I am not even making my saltine cracker recipe this year, LOL. To do Nancy's super secret super easy pretzel recipe you buy vanilla almond bark, melt it in the microwave and dip your pretzels into it. The key to a successful pretzel to almond bark ratio is using a chopstick to tap the pretzel on the bowl. Mine were too thick last year (thinking more is better) and I did not have a good salty/sweet balance, a thin layer is all you need. Of course, I like to do my own spin so I melted some dark chocolate so I could drizzle it over the top for looks, I say, it's not worth the effort. Hard to get a good drizzle, LOL. Dao wants to give some baked goods to her co-workers so I figure I can bring some to mine. The postal workers will be happy!

Now let's talk about shopping or my lack thereof. Considering I make my own hours at work I have absolutely zero excuse for not only not having mailed presents but not bought them either. Now if it's something I'm excited to give then I'm all over it. If I find something special for a person I can't wait to give it to them. That is not the case when shopping for my family. have no freaking idea what to get them. A couple of them told me what they wanted and guess what? They got them! The others, well I have no clue. I'm past the point of getting gift cards and will be sending checks (with my fabulous Xmas card) this year. Such a cop out, I know! It's not like my family is overly sentimental. Plus, I'm giving checks to people I know are not getting me anything so actually, I am exuding the spirit of Christmas when you think about it like that. Wow, I feel so much better. Well, I'll feel even better ten that when I get my checks and cards mailed out. Hopefully tomorrow is the day. I did buy stamps!

I almost got a sunburn today...

First off, I really want to be in bed right now but since I didn't do a blog Fri night I knew I had do this before I went to bed even though I had a couple of drinks and you know that makes me want to sleep, shoot, being awake makes me want to sleep, LOL. But I didn't want Mich to wake up and not have something to keep her entertained while drinking her coffee of course, she could listen to me singing again, that would be a morning joy for her.

Dao called my today to see if I wanted to go eat. Hello, does she not know me? But what I really wanted to do was go to the movies. I have been craving popcorn for a couple of days and I wanted to see the new Will Smith movie so we decided to go eat lunch and then go to the movies. Since it was such a glorious day and we needed to be close for the movies we went to a Cuban restaurant called La Fonda which isn't too far from me. They have outdoor seating. I seriously think I got some sun today, LOL. Dao and I ordered the Paella del Mar. The problem was, we were both ravenous and I ordered some guac to go with our chips and basically I got full on the chips and guac which was really good. But have no fear my dear readers, I was able to make a dent in our paella, LOL.

Once we were done eating I was no longer craving popcorn, hence, no need to go to the movies, LOL. Plus, it was opening weekend. So we skipped the movie and came back to my place. Dao only hung out long enough for us to sing a couple of songs. She scored higher then me, I will never hear the end of that, LOL.

After my nap it was time to get ready for the condo party. Since I rarely have reasons to dress up you know I was going to do it up. Yep, I even put the contacts in. I made a beatiful cheese tray as my contribution. I also brought my karaoke but we couldn't get it hooked up, bummer. Unfortunately, other then a couple of freinds of Shannon's and Franklin I was the only other condo member to show up. I hate people who flake out (unless that person is me, LOL). But it doesn't matter because I looked fabulous (this pic was taken after the first drink and the hair went a little flat). You can't really see the details of the dress but it is a flowered lace type pattern. A pretty conservative dress by my standards (look at the neckline) but I think it's a fun fabuous dress. I bought a black velvet belt to wear under the boobs but I didn't like the way it looked so I will have to just buy the ribbon to tie under next time.

Since not a lot of people showed up I was able to squeeze in watching the Survivor finale which made me happy, go Yul, woot woot! Don't worry, I talked during the commercial breaks, LOL. I really do love hanging with my neighbors, they crack me up and their friends were fun too. I can totally see myself hanging with them, well, when I choose to actually leave my abode.

An early Xmas present....

Due to popular demand, ok, no one asked but still, I'm sure you wanted this, I recorded myself on my mac singing just for you, LOL. Let me say, I spent the second half of the song trying not to laugh, that is some self control on my part. It's hard knowing that I am recording myself on video, no less, while I sing. Keep in mind that the mac is on my lap and the tv across the room which is wy the music is so much softer then my voice. I can hear the music and me but the mac is faced towards me and getting mainly my voice, lucky you huh? I must really love my readers to put this out there for you.

I should have said check back in the afternoon...

I'm not much of a morning person, LOL. Don't get me wrong, I've been awake for hours it sometimes just takes me awhile to do anything.

My neighbor Franklin had been out of town so I called him yesterday to get all of the details because I'm a nozy wench. He called me back when I got home but I had just laid down to take my nap. I offered to get up and gab with him but he told me to take my nap and then call him, what a good friend. Once I woke up I called him, I was going to make dinner for him (don't laugh!) and needed to run to the store and liqour store. He had to make a run too so we went together.

Of course, I wanted to greet him properly so when he knocked on my door I was singing karaoke! Had to show off my new toy but then I was hungry so I shut it off and dragged him out the door with me, LOL. On the drive home from Karen's yesterday I had gotten a craving for beef salad. That is my favorite thing of my mom's. It's such a simple thing but I can never get the recipe right. I have a problem with the dressing. My mom makes her own dressing and it's a simple oil and vinegar, with salt, sugar and pepper but I can never get the portions correct. As I was driving I had an AHA moment. I'll use the dressing I use for the cucumber salad, voila! Only problem is, all I have in my house is the fixings for the dressing nothing for the salad and as I was driving home it was rush hour and traffic was a bear so I just wanted to get home as soon as possible.

So off Franklin and I went, chattering away and catching up. Usually in my salads I like a lot of stuff but in beef salad the ingredients I use are simple. I prefer to slice up flank steak thinly but I didn't see any so I grabbed some pre-sliced meat, I like bibb lettuce but iceberg will do. Because the meat goes on there warm I don't like the leaf lettuce as much for this recipe, actually thinking back I think the iceberg is best for this. I also put in cucumbers and red onions and that was it. I think I could have added cilantro but not much else. It's very similar to a thai beef salad. Basically you put together your salad, make your dressing so that when you are done stir frying your meat with your favorite seasonings you pour the meat right on, add some of the juices and then add the dressing. It's scrumptious, easy and I ate myself silly. Franklin wasn't hungry but he did say it smelled delish and he wished he could eat. Don't worry, I ate for him.

So we sat around gossipping and catching up until I decided it was time to turn the karaoke on. Franklin actually thanked me for singing after the first song, he enjoyed it so much. He said I had a lovely voice and I'm sure it wasn't the booze talking. I did tell him I can only sing a couple of songs well, didn't want to get his expectations high. Then it was time for us to get our groove on so we were up and singing to Bonnie Tyler at the top of our lungs. Shannon, our other neighbor called so we had her come join the fun and she brought cookie dough with her. I popped them into the oven while eating some dough to tide me over, LOL. Both she and Franklin were mighty impressed with my system. They have a friend who has a karaoke set up but she has to change CDs out whereas I have hundreds of songs stored in my microphone. Shannon wouldn't take the mic but she wants to borrow it and play at home, being the generous soul I am, I will let her but not for too long, you know I need my karaoke fix. They didn't think it was weird that I sing everyday. I told them I was working on my craft, LOL.

I had fixed myself a drink to go with dinner, sparkling cider and vodka. It tasted good at first then started to taste like cough syrup, I still drank it naturally but I didn't continue drinking. The first drink made me tired. Nancy thinks I should have kept drinking and I would have been raring to go. As it was I left Shannon's at 11:30 to come home and go to bed (I had gone to check out her tree). Franklin and her can stay up drinking all night long, not I, LOL.

She's having a Xmas party on Sunday for the condo so I guess I will get to know the rest of my neighbors. I haven't talked much to anyone else. I will be bringing a cheese tray, she has the sweets taken care of and my karaoke! Nothing says a party like karaoke, didn't you see the Office this week? They're excited at the thought of me talking about the party on my blog, as they should be. I promise to take pictures because I am dressing up, I have so few reasons nowadays and I have a dress I've been dying to share with you.

Also, some more good news. I found my toner! It was at the Vitamin Shoppe. Weird but true. The rosewater smells a lot better then the witch hazel and must say I'm starting to feel a difference. All of the cleansing I was doing with water was stripping my face. Too bad I don't have the ability to let you touch my face but if you want to in person, you are more then welcome to, LOL.

Check back in the morning...

My neighbors just went home after a night of drinking and karaoking and I'm exhausted. Will be back tomorrow to share the joy with you.

Burt's Bees, Burt's Bees, my kingdom for Burt's Bees

Today I went to Ulta, my new favorite store to get hair and make-up products. Mainly I love this store due to the fact that they constantly have coupons. If you don't get their mailing then you can print a coupon from their website. They had a whole display of Burt's Bees there which made me happy but they didn't have the Rosewater and Glycerin toner I was looking for. Curses! I may have to resort to ordering it online, I'm not someone who will drive to a bunch of different stores. I am going to try the Vitamin Shoppe due to the fact they listed it on their website and if I can't find it there I'll be ordering it onine. Since I was at Ulta I had to look around. I decided it was time to color my hair again. Those greys are coming fast and furious. It seems like I JUST colored my hair. I also bought some cotton pads and a brush to apply my color (I prefer the brush over the squeeze bottle). My coupon was save $3.50 if you spend $10. My total was $10.01 (am I good or what?). So basically I got my cotton pads and brush for free, that is one of my favorite words, LOL.

Since it's 10pm and there's nothing on TV I guess I can go color my hair now. BTW, yesterday my streak of singing everyday ended. How sad. I decided to start another streak today. I would hate for my neighbors to get used to the sounds of silence.

Beauty 101

Su called me today, it's a good thing to because she was getting ready to get spanked! Just because she works and goes to school full time is no excuse not to give me the love and attention I need, especially when she goes to WA for Thanksgiving and Nancy and Linda get to meet her hubby before me, no I'm not bitter or anything, LOL.

The reason I told you Su is not to rub it in to Nancy (just so she knows I don't need her for my Su updates anymore, that was so wrong) was because turns out my whole beauty regimen is wrong. I figure I could share with you what Su shared and maybe ask for some of your favorite beauty tricks.

You all know I spent a fortune on new moisturizer, well my face was still dry and flaky and driving me freaking crazy. So I talked to Dr Su and boy did she have a lot to tell me. What can I say, I'm a person who is overwhelmed by all of the hair and face products out there and don't know how to use most of them. I wish I did. The water here is also a lot harsher so add that with the new climate and I need all of the help I can get. Turns out the key to cleansing is toner. I never use toner because I find it too harsh and it dries me out but that's because I was using the wrong toner. I now need to go buy some Burt's Bees Rose water toner. I also use a deep cleaner which is a big no no. Tonight I bought a gentle cleanser couldn't find the Burt's Bees so I bought witch hazel (which is what Dao uses for toner) for less then $2 until I can find the correct toner. I went out at 10pm tonight to try and find what I needed, I'm desperate to get my skin back to normal. Basically Su informed me that I was moisturizing the hell out of the dead skin, oops! She also mentioned something about apha hydroxy acid to exfoliate, anyone have any recommends for that? What she uses is not longer being made.

Alright, let me know what some of your favorite beauty products are? What is a must for you? Excited about any new products? Dish it! I need to know what I am missing out on. I am at the stage where I am working on preventive maintenance. Although I have the gift of being asian (someone did think I was 26 last week) I am starting to notice the fine lines around my eyes and realize I can no longer rest on my asian laurels, LOL.

BTW, they mentioned on the View today that Consumer Reports did a comparison on expensive moisturizers and cheap ones and found no difference. Makes me feel great about that money I spent, not! Of course, they also said it only makes a 10 percent difference but that part I disagree with, like how I only listen to what I want to hear?

I haven't talked about food in awhile

and I know you all love reading my culinary adventures, LOL. There's this fast food chain called chik-fil-A here. Dao keeps telling me that they have great shakes but everytime we talk about it it's on a Sunday and they're closed then, very frustrating since I love me some ice cream. Finally a couple of weeks ago I was at the mall and they had a chik-fil-A there and I thought, yes, I'll eat there and get my shake! So I wait in line, ugh, and when I get to the front to order a chicken sandwhich and a shake all they have is the chicken sandwhich! Their milkshake machine was broken, major bummer but then I thought I'll just go next door to Johnny Rockets because I love their shakes. So I get my soggy chicken sandwhich and walked over to Johnny's and they had a long line so no shake for me!

Today while Karen and I were out and about we needed a snack and Karen suggested Chik, I thought, hell yeah, I finally get my milkshake! I didn't get anything else since I had a vietnamese sub at home waiting for me. I got the cookies and cream shake. In the pictures there is whipped cream on top, in reality, there is not only whipped cream but a cherry on top! I knew I was going to enjoy this shake and boy did I. It was so yummie, chunks of ice cream, chunks of cookies and whipped cream also! I was in heaven! If I would have had a camera I would have taken a picture for you instead you will just have to picture it yourself.

Tonight I decided to go to eat at this sushi place that has dollar sushi specials on mon and tue. Not the best ever sushi but not bad for the price. Here's the problem. I still ended up spending $24 on sushi! How in the world? I have expensive tastes when it comes to food. I ordered a couple of things off of the special menu and then everything else I pay full price for, that's how they get you! But I have eaten there a couple of times so next time I go, I have a plan. I know I'd rather hve the raw versus the deep fried and the sashimi platter over the sushi pieces. So I figure the previous trips were scouting expeditions and my next trip there will be a wonderful culinary adventure. OK, maybe no wonderful but under $20!

I DO have co-workers!

Dao and I figured out today that the people who work at the post office are my co-workers. I usually go in once or twice a week and they totally recognize me. My guy always waves to me or greets me with a smile while I'm in line. Nancy saw this for herself when she was visiting. Today my guy (I don't know his name, it's so bad I know) was at lunch when Dao and I went in (as you can see, I like to drag others with me to my other office) but he came in while I was still in line so he shoots me a big smile as I wave (his hands were full). Today, I didn't get my guy's window (but I did borrow his pen, LOL) but I got this other woman who I don't normally get her window but she's normally next to my guy so while I'm entertaining him I entertain her so it was fun for me to get her but then I felt the pressure of making her laugh since I make her laugh all of the time prior to getting her window. She told Dao they always look forward to me coming in. I feel like they have to deal with sour people all of the time, the least I can do is make them laugh. The funny thing is, the people behind me are not laughing because the line is always huge when I leave and when I'm at the window, even though I'm fully prepared it seems like I spend a lot of time there, they work a little slower when I'm around because we spend so much time chatting so I try not to make eye contact while I'm leaving, LOL. The post office is my home away from home, I even yelled to my guy I'll be back on Wednesday and I'm bringing a Xmas CD to share with the chick I talked to today. Again, no eye contact with the people in line as I leave, LOL.

My second celeb sighting...

Did you know I had a few celeb sightings before I moved to Los Angeles? I figured I would share with you my second sighting from way back in 1990. I would tell you about my first one but I don't think many if any of you know Tommy Page but if you do and want to hear about it, it's a fun story.

So back in 1990 I was in the Army in Korea and had recently turned 20. I had lived in Korea for a year and a half by then so I had a great group of friends. Actually my friend Fid who I've posted about before is from this time in my life. We all worked at AFKN which was a military run tv station. Fid was a broadcaster and had done an interview with BB King for the station. Fid, John, Julie (my roommate and closest friend) and I went to go see the show. It was BB King and Ray Charles. I didn't really know either of their music but I did know the song When Love Comes to Town that BB sang with U2. I just thought it would be fun to go.

Well Fid brought fried chicken for BB because he has mentioned missing it. Then Fid and John left us at our seats while they went down to meet BB King. I know, how rude! He thought it would be difficult to get us all in. So the show starts and the boys don't come back. I was irritated over the fact that the boys didn't take us with them so I told Julie we should go get ourselves backstage. So we started wandering the halls. We grabbed a korean who was working there and told him we worked for AFKN and wanted to go backstage AND HE TOOK US! So we're outside the dressing room door giggling like a couple of school girls. I mean, it was so easy. Then someone comes over to see who we are and we explain that we're a couple of soldiers and we just wanted to meet Mr King. He says, let me see what I can do. The next thing we know we hear a big booming voice saying, "sure, send them right in!" Now we really only expected to go in and say hi and get our picture with him. He invites us to sit down and talk to him. Remember, I don't know anything about his music, LOL. I was nudging Julie and telling her to ask him questions because she worked as a dj.

She asked him if this was his favorite thing to do, meaning touring. He said, no this is his favorite thing to do, talk to beautiful women, LOL. The next thing you know he's being called on stage to sing the finale with Ray Charles. We're like crap, we still need to get our picture with him so he waits for us. Well, Julie dropped her camera and the batteries came out and the back opened. It was a 110 cam, ugh! So we nervously put it together and snap a couple of pictures to get past the exposed film and BB just waits for us even though they keep calling him to the stage. He was so awesome! and here is the pic! As for the boys, they were back at the seats waiting for us wondering where we had been. We told them we didn't need them to get us backstage, we did it ourselves, LOL.

BTW, sorry for the horrible outfit. I had to grow into my fabulous sense of style, LOL.

Vacay pictures

I figured it's time for me to share my vacation pictures from Europe before Nes comes back with all of her Cuba pictures, LOL. I tried a few times to upload to yahoo but some pics don't get uploaded and there are so many pics that I couldn't figure out which ones got loaded and which ones didn't so I'm going the slideshow route, although I cut out a hundred or so pics for the slideshow, LOL. Enjoy my summer vacation.

Sorry there are no captions but it took awhile to load these and I am ready for bed, LOL.

a mini rant/rave

Leiha is going to rant about women drivers. I know, ironic considering that Leiha is not only a female driver but Asian too, LOL. But Leiha is not complaining about her driving, she already has admitted her skills or lack thereof. Leiha was trying to get out of the post office this afternoon and the lane that she needed to exit into was packed because the light was red. The car in front of her is a woman driver and the car behind her was also a female driver. Leiha just knew that neither would let her out and of course, neither did. It was a male driver who finally let her out of the post office. Then later on Leiha was driving home during rush hour and it wasn't pretty, Leiha thinks that these roads are worse then Los Angeles. Leiha got trapped in the wrong lane (twice) and she knows it's cause she's such a wuss driver but Leiha is a human navigator and was able to find her way home driving on streets she has never been on. When the road was actually driveable there was a car with it's butt hanging out in the road. There was a little parking lot in front of it but yet instead of this car pulling in and turning around this car was trying to maneuver around part in the road and part in the driveway and the driver, female, was cussing at Leiha as she passed her because Leiha honked and wanted her to get her butt out of the road. Leiha drove around her. Leiha was a little sad she didn't flip the driver off when she saw the old biddy giving her lip. Leiha expects other drivers to be as courteous as she is and when they are not there is nothing wrong with a little birdie.

A slight rave will be Leiha's postal worker at the post office today. Leiha went to a different one then she normally goes to because it was along her planned route and it's nice because they have more people working the windows. Leiha was mailing a bunch of stuff for her boss and she had one thing to mail for herself. Leiha bought postcard paper so she could send pictures as postcards (she learned this from Linda, who has yet to mail Leiha one). She finally figured out how to do it and so she used the picture that is on her blog at the top right corner. Leiha was sending it to her old kickboxing teacher who always tells her he misses her face so Leiha sent a face picture to cheer him up. Leiha already had it stamped and handed the card to him face down to be mailed. The worker turned the card up to look and then proceeded to make comments to Leiha about the picture. He greatly enjoyed it. Leiha told him makeup does wonders since Leiha was standing there sans makeup with hair in a bun. Leiha actually got a little embarrassed but Leiha will not complain. Leiha likes having her ego stroked every now and again since Ms Mich refuses to stroke her. BTW, Mich was the first person to call Leiha vain, Leiha feels bad for not giving her the blame.

Do Ray Me Fah So La Tee Do!

Yesterday my Xmas present came in from Nes but I was out and about (yes, I sometimes leave the apartment) so I had to wait until today to pick it up. But then I went to Karen's so I had to wait until I got home to set it up. I already knew what I was getting. Nes pinged me and asked me if I would like her old karaoke system for Christmas? Would I? Hello?!?! I did spend hours and hours singing when I was at Nes'. So I have been anxiousely awaiting my package, which included a chocolate letter L for Sinter Klaas. Since I had some errands to run before I went to K's I got to her house later then I normally do which means I left later then I normally do but that's not a problem because I go opposite of traffic. It is a problem though when there is a major accident on the freeway and the overhead signs are saying get off of the freeway so a trip that normally takes me an hour and a half took me over 3 hours and throw in a stop at a bookstore in Gainesville it took me almost 4 hours to get home, ugh!

Not only am I stuck in traffic and trying to find my way via side streets that everyone and their mother are taking but I'm ravenous. I left early and ate some cereal and that was it. Thank goodness for the chocolate letter Nes sent. I was gnoshing on that and I think that's the only thing that kept my stomach from eating itself. As soon as I came home I dropped everything I brought home (gently) and made my dinner (campbells soup!) and had just enough time to eat before Survivor came on. But as I was watching Survivor my microphone was calling my name so I had to open it up and see how hard it was to set up. Turns out, super easy so before you know it I'm singing away. At first I really couldn't hear my voice so I had to bring the music level down so I could fully hear myself because you know how important that is and then I was off and singing. I did tune in to see who got voted off Survivor and I watched Scrubs but then spent the rest of the evening singing away. Unfortunately for you all, there is no record function so I only get to share my brilliance (or lack thereof) with my poor poor neighbors. So what could have been a crappy ending to the day ended up on a high note (well not that high, my voice has a very limited range, LOL).

I can't post pics on Nes blog

without posting pics here. Now that would just be a shame. Pretty soon I will be debuting a new blog picture and by pretty soon I mean, as soon as I get around to doing it, probably this weekend. Just wanted to give you something to look forward to. Last year for the first time in a long time I went home for Xmas. I don't normally like to travel a lot during the holidays but my sister guilted me into going home and I actually had a good time hanging out with my siblings. One night we went out to sushi in Seattle and then afterwards we went to play pool. Kimberly is as picture horny as I am and we already know what a ham Nancy is. I think my siblings made a big effort to spend time with me which I really enjoyed. Little did we know a month later I would be their neighbor, LOL. Here are 2 of the boys in my family Adam is the goof in the back and Andy is to my side. It's weird going back home and seeing my younger brothers and sisters drinking. I'm not used to socializing with them, they're the kids, LOL!

Now I'm back to being the one who's not going to be home for Christmas. My family has no traditions so other then the opening of the presents we're not usually in the same place at the same time, we don't even really do a sit down dinner unless you count sitting in front of the tv which is why I don't really feel the need to be home during the holidays. I love my family and I love being around the "kids" but I don't feel the need to go home this winter. I keep telling them, if we plan a vacation together I'm in but otherwise, it's going to take a lot for them to lure me home, I've been there and done that, there's so many other places in the world I want to go. Is that bad? It's a good thing they had plenty of quality me time when I lived in OR, LOL. I figure pretty soon, they'll be invading my home so I should enjoy the peace and quiet while I can. My brothers want to ho around in new territory and my sisters want to shop, on my dime (that's the part where they're the kids, LOL).

For someone who cooks as little as I do...

I certainly love to share the recipes, LOL. I mean, I went grocery shopping tonight and I bought 6 boxes of soup (Campbells select, yummie), cereal, fruit and cottage cheese, nothing more involved then pouring into a bowl, LOL. Yet, I have another recipe for you. I actually got this recipe from Barb a couple of years ago. It's super simple to make and it has such a nice sugar and salt combo that everyone will enjoy.

Mich likes to call this recipe Leiha's Candy, it works for me, LOL.

1/2 lb butter
1 cup brown sugar
54 Keebler soda crackers
Chocolate chips
Pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Line a large cookie sheet w/foil, wrapping around the edges. Butter foil. Line crackers to edge. Melt butter and brown sugar until boils for one minute--stirring constantly.

Pour over crackers evenly. Bake 350 for 6-7 minutes until mixture bubbles.

Sprinkle w/ chocolate chips & spread melted chocolate over crackers like icing. Sprinkle with crushed nuts. Cool & then break apart & EAT! Super simple, super yummie!

BTW, I debated whether to do Xmas cards this year but while I was out and about I saw the perfect card for me so I will be sending one out. If I don't have your address and you would like one of my infamous Xmas cards I will add you to the list. Rosie, I know I need your new address, I haven't copied anything over from the cards you sent me, sorry. I promise to make this year's card PG-13 instead of R, LOL.

The lap of luxury...

That is the lap I want to be sitting in. Today on a whim Dao and I went for manicures/pedicures. I've been meaning to give myself one for weeks but haven't gotten around to it, it's hard to squeeze one in in between naps. So when we happened to be in the area of her nail salon and she suggested going in I was all for it! Originally I was only going to get a pedicure but there was a $5 difference to get the manicure too so I was all over that. Remember the pedi I got on my birthday? This one was way better. For one thing, the massage on my feet lasted forever and while my feet were being massaged so were my hands, that's when I knew I was in heaven! Since I rarely get manis I didn't know they have these warmers that they place your hands in while the cuticle cream is on, considering it was a brisk day outside it was doubly nice. Apparently posting pics of my feet is considered weird so here is a pic of my hand, LOL. I like to do lighter colors on my hands so when it chips as we know it will, it won't be quite so noticeable. He made my nails more square then I like but he still did a great job. My hands are not manual labor hands and I'm quite ok with that, LOL.

I also decided that I am not a diner kind of gal. A couple of people have told Dao about the Marietta Diner so we figured we had to check it out. It was packed, another good sign but when all was said and done, it was just a diner, a place with a huge menu, tons of options, not a lot done well. I think people go for the huge portions. I did enjoy the strawberry milkshake that we split. We did see some awesome desserts at the register so we would go there for dessert but that's about it.

A trashy recipe

While surfing my emails looking for something I came across this recipe. When I was in Chattanooga I totally loved their potato dis because it was just like this dish and voila, I have the recipe to share. My friend Tyler brought this to a Christmas dinner we went to almost a year ago hosted by our friend Stephanie. I fell in love with this dish. It's not healthy but it's soooo yummie. Due to the corn flake crust I don't think it's as good the second day because it gets soggy but that doesn't stop me from eating it the next day, I just scrape off the crust.

Tyler's Trailer Trash Potato Casserole

2 lb frozen hash browns
1 stick margarine, melted
1 pint sour cream
½ cup chopped onion
2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated velveeta cheese (optional - only for true trash)
1 can cream of chicken soup (undiluted)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Combine everything EXCEPT the hash browns. Once everything's mixed together (use your hands), add the hash browns. They should be slightly thawed.

Spread out in a 9 X 13" pan.

Now it's time to make the topping:
2 cup crushed corn flakes
½ melted butter

Mix together and sprinkle on top of the casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, then 10 more minutes uncovered. Make sure everything is good and melted.

I don't have a picture of Tyler from that night because he left early to go to another party but I do have a picture of Julie, Stephanie, Brian and I at a bar we went to afterwards. I love this picture because Brian looks like some perv who jumped into the picture, LOL. He's incredibly sweet and if his name sounds familiar it's because he was the host of our fondu mis-adventure back in April (when fondu becomes a fondon't).

The good news is...

I went shopping today, the bad news is, I only picked up something for myself. I did mildy contemplate picking something up for someone else but it just didn't happen, LOL. I saw a commercial for the Parisian, a department store I had never heard of before I moved here but it's one of the ones that is down the street from me. I've not had the inclination to go there yet, because even though my blogs don't sound like it, I really don't go shopping all that much, LOL. The Parisian was having doorbuster sales which means I had to be there before 1pm to get what I really wanted. Waking up in the morning is not a problem, moving is, LOL. But not only did I get out of the house by 12:30 (I like to cut it close) I vacuumed before I left. What is the deal with vacuuming? It's not difficult, the vacuum does all of the work, we just guide it yet I put off vacuuming until my floors scream. I don't know why, I just do.

Anyway, I was going to the P to buy some boots. I really didn't think I had a shoe fetish but maybe I do. I will have to think about that. I wish my calves were smaller so I could wear more boots but maybe it's better for my bank account that I can't fit most boots out there because there are some superfabulous boots available. What I am really in the market for are some furry warm boots but that I can just throw over my fat calves and go but so far, no luck. Although I did see some Uggs today that laced so there was a better chance of me fitting them but then I was like, I'm trying to go to Australia in the fall, shouldn't I wait for then to buy Uggs? So the search for my mukluks continues, LOL. My search for $80 boots for $30 on the other hand, well that search will never end because no matter how many boots one has you can't pass up an opportunity like this which is why I dragged my lazy butt out (the whole 1 mile, yes I drove, I was on a time crunch, plus I also went to the post office, that's right, pretty ambitious of me). If I can fit a boot on it's pretty much guaranteed I will buy it (I did once pass on red boots that fit, they unfortunately didn't look good and I LOVE red shoes) and not only could I fit these, they were comfortable too. Yes, I already have black boots but these have a different heel, a more pointy toe and a little more design to it and hey, they cost $30, woot woot!

Bun, Leiha style!

So remember the other day when I was trying to make a salad 2 days in a row? Well instead of making salad I decided to make my own version of bun, otherwise known as vermecelli. I used to not be able to make it because I could not get the sauce correct. I tried by getting recipes online and from cookbooks but it was never the same as what I could eat in a Vietnamese restaurant so I was destined to not enjoy the benefits of bun at home. Until the day I was in an asian market and saw that they now make spring roll dipping sauce which is the same stuff used for bun, woo hoo! Now I could make my own, minus the things I don't really like like the peanuts, mint and bean sprouts but with lots of cucumber and cilantro. Bun can be made with any kind of meat but I prefer it with pork or shrimp (most often shrimp cause it's easy to cook). Another key to making good bun is finding just the right noodles. Sometimes its too thick, sometimes it's too thin, well you get the picture. This time it was too clear! When I was cooking it I realized that this would not do so instead of rinsing the noodles off and then tossing everything together I cooked the noodles in with the shrimp so it ended up being more of a hot dish but I still put in my sauce as well as the cukes and cilantro and it was so enjoyable I finished the noodles but was too full for the shrimp. Don't worry, I saved my leftover shrimp for the salad I ate the next day. You know I would never let a shrimp go to waste, LOL.