Dinner tonight was out of desperation

and a little laziness, ok, a lot of laziness, LOL. I don't have a lot of food in my house and I was ravenous. I was surfing restaurant websites, something I do when I'm hungry and lazy, which means I do it a lot! I was trying to decide if I wanted to go to the grocery store or go get take out from somewhere. Then I remembered I had pulled out this bag of frozen scallops and put them in the fridge yesterday to defrost. Which means I had to cook. I really had no plan on how to cook them but the suggested way of cooking was with a little butter, olive oil and garlic. I had some spaghetti in the cupboard so decided to have scallops over pasta but I needed more so I also cooked it with lima beans and spinach and when I was done cooking I sprinkled on some parmesan. This was a totally thrown together meal and it was fabulous! I had to resist the urge to go back for seconds. This is the way I normally cook. I pretty much figure almost every thing I cook is a variation of stir fry, LOL. I guess that's why when I see recipes with a lot of ingredients I get overwhelmed and dont' try them. I'm working on that as you all are aware. Linda even talked me through making homemade guacamole and it was delicious! Maybe one day she will blog the recipe for you, LOL. I would except I don't remember what all went in it, LOL.

Alright, it's bedtime for me. Time to read the newest Keri Arthur book. Lina lent me that before she even read it. That's why her name is on my butt.Good thing a tattoo parlor wasn't close by that night, LOL.

Real Women Have Curves

We've all seen Dove's commercials, billboards and ads and I have to say, I love this advertising campaign, the Campaign for Real Beauty. Oprah recently did a story about some of the women that Dove has featured. With so many ads, magazines and tv shows showing us what women should look like, Dove shows the world what women do look like and they're beautiful. I love this because these women are real women, they're not models or actresses. Dove actively seeks out women who are not in the business.

During the Oscars they aired a commercial for their new product line called Dove cream oil and they're doing casting call for it on their website. You send in your picture and you write in why you should be in a Dove ad. Of course I applied because I know I would be perfect for it and I'm sharing it with you all because you would also be perfect for this! We are perfect in our inperfections. We're real women! I would love for all of you to apply. Let's embrace who we are and share it with the world. Of course, most of their ads are either naked or in undies but what's a little nudity between friends, a few million of them, LOL.

Since Linda asked, here is the picture I sent in for my application. I figured I should give a true representation of my body so I didn't do my favorite, the self portrait, LOL. And hell yes, I'm sucking in my tummy, just because I'm comfortable wearing a two piece doesn't mean I want a picture with it ALL hanging out. I just want the boobies to stick out, LOL.

I am such a lucky girl!!!

Not only did I win a plethora (love that word) of sex toys this weekend but last week Aimee sent me a bunch of books to read, with some new to me authors and today I receive books from Lina to read, my original book sugar momma. I had to set aside the Kresley Cole I just started because included in today's box was Lover Revealed. I'm lucky to have gotten anything done today. Which reminds me, I need to take my clothes out of the dryer, LOL.

I did make sure I showered and put some laundry in the wash before I crawled into bed at 5pm for some fabulous uninterupted reading. I love how the story comes right back to you as soon as you open it. My neighbor then sends me an email asking if I wanted to go work out. She wasn't feeling it and wasn't going if I wasn't and I wasn't feeling it, I mean I have a book to read and I didn't want to crawl out of bed but not only did I tell her I would go, I told her she couldn't flake out on me like she did last week (I knew if I didn't go Lina would cut off my supply if they kept me from working out, LOL). Of course, the whole time I was hoping she flaked out on me but to my dismay, she did not so I dragged my reading butt out of bed at the last possible moment to go meet her (after I threw my clothes in the dryer).

My plan was to come right back and read but then Heroes was on and I was going to skip it to read but it was supposed to be a really good episode so I postponed my reading by an hour. Really, I can't believe I'm blogging instead of reading. I was going to blog after I read but let's be honest, I would have just rolled over, turned off the light and went to bed in a satisfied heap after reading LR.

OK, I was getting ready to crawl into bed but my neighbor just called and she can't finish all of the crab legs she bought so she's giving me her leftovers. Did I mention how lucky I am?

I'm ready to open my own sex shop!

A few week's ago Brenda (aka BAM) contacted me about getting together for a girl's night at her house. Count me in. Then she also mentioned that she was getting rid of her stock from back when she sold sex toys. COUNT ME IN!!! Because Brenda lives over an hour away from me the plan was for me to spend the night which meant I could drink as much as I wanted.

I have to tell you I loved her house. I can't wait to see it in the summer. They have a huge yard with a pool with a waterfall. Now that I know where she lives I'll be spending a lot of time lounging by that pool working on my tan sipping margaritas but I'm open minded, I can sip pina coladas too. The first thing I noticed walking in the door was a pig picture of Hugh, the RBL mascot on the wall. I'll get back to him later.

Also at the party was Brenda's co-worker Annette and sister Debbie. I met Debbie briefly at one of Karen's booksignings but it was fun to get to know her better. Right away we got to eating and drinking, these are my kind of peeps! Brenda told me she likes her ritas strong, she wasn't lying. I had to add some mix to my first drink, I like my drinks to get stronger as I go along, LOL. As for food, we didn't even put a dent into it. I was sad that once I got full I never got hungry again. I mean, it was all finger foods and I love to snack! My stomach let me down!I didn't even eat half of what was on this table. The artichoke dip and cheese dip were in the other room as well as the crab stuffed mushrooms (I did stock up on these!). Once we finished stuffing ourselves it was time for the games to begin. I thought Hugh's pic was perfect for pinning the dick on the donkey and guess what our first game was? I volunteered to go first. If you look you can see some of the bags lined up behind me, they were all along the wall. Sad to say, I came in last on the pin the dick game. I know! Not only did I misplace his dick I had it pointing in the wrong direction (hangs head in shame).The good thing is, we all got to choose bags. The winner got first choice, etc. I have to say, there was a lot of pressure in picking your bag, you want to get one loaded with goodies, the good news is, they were ALL loaded with goodies. The next game was a ring toss. Unfortunately Brian (who quickly vacated the premises once I got there, he stayed at his brothers) tossed out the rings so we used their daughter's bracelets. This was a very tough game. We had to keep moving forward til we got to the point where we practically standing over the penis. Here is my reaction to missing even when I cheated!At least this time I came in second. At this point I thought it was time to pull out the karaoke. Then they decided that the next game would be decided by karaoke. Yay, I had a chance at winning. Of course, I do try to be fair so I told them the secrets to scoring well. I sang first, The Rose and scored a 95, Annette sang Dust in the Wind and scored lower then it was Debbie's turn to sing Physical. Two notes in I tell Brenda I won, LOL. Yay, I won! Brenda had a grand prize bag that she didn't know how to decide. She was going to make us do rock, paper, scissors but I thought drawing a name would be better. It was a great idea because I won, woo hoo! So here are some of the girl's winnings. The top one is Annette and the bottom is Debbie.
And as the super grand prize winner, I really scored. Actually, I got a lot of great goodies from the previous bags, including a couple of bullets, a couple of wascially wabbits, 2 pairs of handcuffs, plenty of sex position books, lube, condoms, etc but I was extremely happy win the grand prize bag because that included 2 whips, woo hoo! I even got a few more things after this that Brenda had forgotten to put in the bags! I know, like I needed more but really, is there such a thing as too many vibrators? I have 7 new ones, LMAO! I need to invest in a lot of batteries. After the games we sat around talking and laughing. At 2am I mentioned the fact that Brenda and I needed to get a pic of us with Hugh for RBL. She starts screaming for her sister who had one to bed. I told her it could wait til the next day since it was so late (and I was looking quite haggard at this point) but she figured the next day we would look worse and she was right, LOL. Good thing Debbie got up to take our pics.Brenda says she can't hang with the girls when they come to town because she's normally in bed at 10pm but obviousely, we just need to give her proper motivation because we didn't go to bed til about 2:30am. So I think it's time for her to come do a sleepover at my house next time, LOL.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the fact that Brenda had seen my post last week on the Black Thong Sisterhood blog, the one where I got drunk. So when I get to her house we go to my room to drop off my stuff and sitting on the nightstand is 2 aspirin and a cup of water and next to the bed is a trash can! She must have missed the part where I missed the trash can, LOL. Luckily for all involved, that kind of drinking did not happen last night.

AND, I also got Hugh as a party gift! He'll be coming with me to Vegas, he will be there to decorate our room, LOL. As you can see Brenda spoiled me and as you can see, I love it!

I can't wait for the summertime to come so I can spend more time at Casa de BAM! She sure knows how to throw a party and even though there will be no sex toys to lure me there, I don't need them. I have a lifetime supply already, LOL. Even more important then the food, booze and toys was the company! Brenda and Brian have not only welcomed me into their homes but their lives. Its great to move and meet people like them!

BTW, my blog is up so early because I'll be going to bed early tonight, EG!

I just watched Little Miss Sunshine...

and that is the film I'm rooting for this Oscar season (which would be this Sunday, LOL). Of course, I haven't seen any other movie nominated or any other performances but that is neither here nor there. I always have opinions whether I've seen a movie or not, LOL. I think Little Miss Sunshine has a Wes Anderson quirkiness to it which is excellent because I love Wes Anderson movies. It had much more drama then I expected and the acting was awesome. The surly boy reminded me so much of my youngest brother in looks. Nancy you have to watch the movie just so you can see it. I have to call my brother to tell him. Anyway, I digress. The little girl cries in this one scene and it's so real, I can see why she is nominated for an Oscar. Since I'm so over Jennifer Hudson (too much publicity) I'm rooting for Abigail Breslin. I'm also rooting for this as Best Movie. It you haven't seen it, I totally recommend watching it (in case you haven't noticed) just for the talent show scene alone!

So today I went and bought more fixings for salads and had a salad with tons of goodies (spinach, heart of palm, parmesan cheese, cucumber, cilantro, red onion and tuna) and it was great. I bought some packaged tuna, some flavored as well as some packaged salmon I'm going to check out. Problem is, even though I loved my salad at lunch I didn't feel like salad come dinner time. I ended up melting some cheese on bread, not healthy but oh so tasty, LOL. I really need to think more then one meal at a time when I go to the store! I've been to the store a million times this week and still have nothing come dinner time, LOL.

Course, I don't have to worry about that tomorrow night where I will be enjoying lots and lots of goodies at Brenda's house which will be necessary to sop up the booze it sounds like she's going to force me to drink, LOL.

So there won't be any blog tomorrow night but look for some fun pics and stories on Sunday!

You don't need a special occasion...

to treat yourself like a Queen. Yesterday I was at the market and saw that they had live lobsters. Now I have been craving lobster lately so I asked them if they would cook it for me because while I wanted to eat lobster I'm not down with killing my own food if I don't have to. Don't get me wrong, if I could get the lobster cheaper by cooking it myself I would do what I would have to do, LOL. Since I already had dinner plans yesterday today I went back to the store to get my lobster and a bottle of sparkling wine.

Originally I was going to wait until this weekend but I have plans, then I was like, why do I have to wait? I can make my own occasion! I'm treating myself right and I don't need to wait for a certain day and a certain time which is why I went back today. I deserve to treat myself like a queen whenever the mood strikes me. I don't have someone special in my life so I must treat myself as my someone special. You know who taught me that? Ms Linda! Talking to her on her birthday while she is soaking in a bubble bath drinking champagne just wowed me. I love that about her! The thing is, I can picture her doing this on non-birthday days. Not that I picture her in the tub (often).

It was a different guy at the seafood counter today and he asked me what the occasion was and I told him it was because I wanted to. My lobster cost $14, a lobster tail in their counter cost $20! Of course when I commented that it cost less then I expected he winked at me, LOL. It definitely pays to be nice!

Another thing I learned, don't buy a bottle of sparkling wine because it's pretty! The wine was awful! I'm going to mix it with something tomorrow!

So ladies, remember, you don't need an excuse to treat yourself. Sometimes you should do it, just because!

Had a steak salad tonight...

And the thing about making a great salad is it makes me crave more salads, yum! My neighbor emailed me and asked me to go to the gym with her tonight which I desperately needed to do so I said yes and to reward me she said she would make me a steak salad. You know I love friends who feed me. Tonight she told me if there was anything I wanted cooked she would do it, she's moved up a few notches in my book, LOL.

This weekend I'm going to a girls night at BAM's and she has given me permission to bring my karaoke so it's going to be a party! Woo hoo! Oh, did I mention she used to sell sex toys and she's cleaning out her stock? She says there will be games, I can't wait!

40 Things Rarely Asked

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
no

2. Do you have any weird sleeping habbits?
I like to snuggle my pillow and always pull my hair up to where my neck touches the pillow.

3. When's the last time you've been swimming in a lake?
I was prolly around 10 and swimming wouldn't be the appropriate word, LOL.

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone?
with someone

5. this question didn't make sense so I made my own, do you say soda or pop?
soda

6. you consider yourself creative?
yes, look at all of the creative pics of me!

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
yes!

8. Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears?
Christina

9. Do you stay friends with your ex's?
no

10. Do you know how to play poker?
the answer is yes, am I good at it, the answer is no

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
you should ask me if I have been awake for 4 hours straight!

12.What's your favorite commercial?
none, I am a channel changer, although I did enjoy those old coke commercials from my childhood, I like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony, I like to buy the world a coke, and keep it company, that's the song I sing.

13. What type of food do you eat the most?
right now, probably special K fruit and yogurt cereal

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around do you run red lights?
No, I'm too chicken

15. Have you ever had a Choco Taco?
no, what is it?

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
which team has the cuter men?

17. Made this one up too, since question 17 was missing, who is your favorite Monkee?
Davy Jones

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
when I wake up I remember but usually forget as the day progresses

19. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
last chat with the girls

20. Can you name 5 songs by N SYNC?
Bye, Bye, Bye so the answer would be 1

21. What's the one thing on your mind right now?
bed time!

22. Do you believe in love at first sight?
no

23. Do you put salt on a turkey dinner?
no

24. Do you always wear your seat belt?
not in the back seat but Barb lectured me about that

25. What cell service do you use?
verizon

26. Do you like bananas?
yes, especially chocolate covered banana flavored gelato

27. Have you ever narrowly avoided a fatal accident?
well we know I haven't had a fatal accident, I can't think of when I did so no

28. What do you wear to bed?
tanks and shorts or sweats or pajamas

29. Been caught stealing?
nope

30. Do you pee in the pool?
no

31. Do you truly hate anyone?
no

32. Bluegrass or Rap?
neither

33. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
wow, this is tough, lust after so many. I'm going to say Brad Pitt, just cause he popped into my head.

34. Skim, 1%, 2%, or whole?
Skim

35. What food do you find disgusting?
the live octopus they ate on amazing race a few years ago, the tentacles clung to their mouth as they were trying to swallow, ewwww

36. Windows or Macintosh?
Mac baby!

37. Did you ever play, "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours"?
I tried in New Orleans but the guys wouldn't flash me their dicks so I wouldn't flash them any tit which is funny considering how much I do show, LOL.

38. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
I have but I much rather prefer to make fun of them in front of them, LOL

39. Have you ever stood up for someone you hardly knew?
Yes and it was one of the mest moments of my life

40. Have you ever sung in front of the mirror?
of course, but I prefer to sing in front of a microphone!

Find your grail...

Tonight Dao and I had our own date night. Through work she got tickets to see the opening night of Spamalot and since I love musicals I was totally excited to go with her. First we went to eat some sushi then off we were to the theater. The Fox theater was a beautiful venue. It has the feeling of an open air theater because there is a false sky, sort of like how the Paris or Caesar's casino feels like. We had pretty decent seats which was good because in case you don't know it since I have such a larger then life personality, I am a tad short.

I have to admit going in, I didn't have high expectations even though they won the 2005 Tony for best musical. It's a musical loosely based on Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail, a movie which I never watched and really have no intention of watching, LOL. I was worried about the humor. I didn't know if I was going to like it or not. Turns out I really had a good time.

It was a satire on King Author and Camelot, hence the name Spamalot, LOL. It was a very tongue in cheek comedy about musicals with everything in it, a Lakers cheerleading routine, traditional Phantom of the Opera love songs (approriately titled the Song that Goes Like This, since every musical needs one), Camelot as Las Vegas, the outing of a character (my favorite scene, LOL) and many other LOL moments and songs. Everything is done tongue and cheek and you are in on the joke. They even pull someone up from the audience. I'm so sad it wasn't me. This guy was shy and not making the most of it, you so know I would have, LOL.

During the curtain call the words show up on stage for the last song so you can sing along and there's confetti, it felt like a party. I almost forgot to mention the restroom at intermission! Even though there was a line all the way back to the stairs they had the line moving faster then girls could pee. They actually had ushers inside the restroom directing traffic, I loved it!

For those of you who watch Grey's Anatomy, Sara Ramirez won a Tony award for playing the Lady of the Lake. She was in the original Broadway production. Her character is the only female other then the backup dancers. I wish I had the talent, drive or ambition to be up on that stage. The Lady of the Lake kicked ass. There was one point where she comes out and sings just because she hasn't sung since the second act started and she was ticked. Here's the first part of the song:

What ever happened to my part?
It was exciting at the start.
Now we're halfway through Act 2
And I've had nothing yet to do.

I could picture myself singing this, LOL. You can see this clip here. but I chose to share a better version of one of the songs. It's about searching for your Grail, what makes you happy. I really enjoyed this song and Sara rocks it and yes, that's Tim Curry from my fave Rocky Horro Picture Show!
The woman who played her here was also phenomenal. There was this scene where she changed the color of her dress with the flick of her hand, I'm still trying to figure out how, LOL. When she shows up with the giant grail in the song Dao leans over and days the grail is taking steroids, I pointed out so was her hand, LOL.

I also have to say I'm impressed how these shows change the scenery and make it so seamless. I thought the Lion King had one of the most impressive sets. This one was more simplistic but I still enjoyed the scene changes.

I am totally happy I went to see the show. I didn't take a nap today so on the way to the show I started napping like crazy but I am pleased to say I was able to stay awake and enjoy the show.

And, if you haven't signed up for Karen's newsletter then it's time you did. I wrote this month's newsletter so you need to sign up for my newsletter debut and also because Karen gives a Bloodfever teaser. Click here to sign up.

Well, didn't make it to Target

which means I didn't go walking today. The day just flew by and I only took a half an hour nap! I did go shopping though but Ross is not in walking distance. I decided I needed to wander around there to start getting my vacation clothes (hoochie tops). This Ross is the most picked over Ross I have even been to. I think I need to go to the one by the perimeter mall. But I did not walk away empty handed. I bought a black tank (never have too many of those) and this cute white with polka dot top. I could have taken a pic of it for you but I want to debut it in future pictures, LOL. I also bought a new pan because it was yellow (and the pans I bought when I got here were temporary aluminum ones), a towel rack for my bathroom (because what I have on my door doesn't hold my towels, LOL) and a pair of panties. You know I love to buy my undies from there but like I said, the pickins were slim.

The best purchases of the day were my sandals! Remember I mentioned I wanted some leather ones? Ask you shall receive. You all know I live in my flip flops but they don't go with everything. These will! I got them in brown and in black! Don't worry, I'll pull the stickers off before I wear them, LOL. There were another pair of black sandals but they cost $20 and these cost $13! But don't worry, I didn't just get these because they were $7 cheaper (although it did help in my decision). I put them both on and these were more flattering for my wide ass feet, LOL.

Tomorrow my goal is to get my laundry done. Wish me luck, I'll need it!

There has to be a morning after....

Sorry for the delay in my post. Last night I opened a bottle of champagne, sat down with a glass and proceeded to chat with Linda. Next thing I know there's a party going on and I'm chatting with Linda, Lina, Aimee, Nes and Joanie (while I'm talking to Barb and Nancy on the phone, they had to rub in the fabulous dinner they had, LOL). I am very much a social drinker. It took me three nights to finish my previous bottle of champagne (I re-cork by trimming the cork down with a knife and voila, keeps it from going flat!) and I had no intention of drinking more then a couple of glasses but you know how intentions are, LOL.

It was a great spontaneous chat with the girls, lots of laughter, lots of bubbly and unfortunately for me, lots of food, LOL. After I finished my champagne I went in search of food, first I ate a leftover spring roll but that didn't satisy, next heated up some leftover potatos, as delish as they were that didn't satisfy so I then ate the Vietnamese sub I had in my fridge! I guess I should have eaten a bigger dinner, LOL. I'm happy I ate though because I don't feel too bad this morning. My tongue is a little raw but I think it's from the sandwhich bread. That being said I will be going back to bed for a few after my blog rounds to sleep off the tiny bit of hangover I do have. When I drink I wake up early which makes it difficult to sleep past the hangover but the good thing about drinking is I don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to go pee (since I'm dehydrated of course, that's what causes the hangover, LOL).

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I woke up and met up with a friend who needed to go to the airport. I said I would pick him up at 9:30am, so we could do breakfast, what was I thinking? The worst part was the breakfast joint we were going to was closed due to a water main break and we couldn't find a new place so we ended up eating at the Waffle House, LOL. I should have stayed in bed! Actually breakfast wasn't bad, then I dropped him off at the airport and took a half hour nap then went to meet Dao for lunch. She was judging a beauty contest for Tet (Vietnamese New Year). Turns out it was an all day thing so I only stayed to eat some spring rolls and chat with her until she got called to duty. I didn't want to hang out, it was too loud and I didn't understand anything they were saying, LOL.

When I came home I meant to clean but instead fired up the karaoke, working on my instrument in prep for when I see Nes. It's a tad rusty. Back to singing everyday, my lucky neighbors! Finally I knew it was time, I put down the mic and picked up the vacuum. I worked up a sweat vacuuming the place. Obviousely that means vacuuming is bad for me. If you need more proof, I looked down and there was a gash on my hand with blood on it I have no idea how it happened and it didn't hurt but yet another reminder that I shouldn't be vacuuming but my place certainly looked much prettier once I was done. I also cleaned the kitchen, who am I?

OK, got to go check the girls blogs then I'm going to take a nap! It's going to be in the mid 50s today, I'm excited. I'm going to grab my basket later and walk to Target. How my life has changed when I'm happy about it being in the 50s, LOL!

It's never too late for Christmas!!!

This week I received a package in the mail from Linda. I was giddy with excitement! It was her Christmas present to me, yipppeee! I don't know if you all know it but Linda is a domestic goddess! Every year her and her mother make home made jams, jellies and syrups and guess who gets to reap the rewards? That's right! Me, me, me! Unfortunately, when I moved last year I was not able to bring my goodies with me so I doled them out to Nancy and my family. Knowing I didn't have any of my goodies from last year Linda stocked me up and not only that, she sent a cool basket to go with it! There was blueberry and marionberry syrup as well as apple and grape jelly (no seeds) and strawberry, rasberry and marionberry jam (seeds). Needless to say the first thing I did was go out and buy some english muffins so I could pop open my grape jelly for breakfast. A much tastier breakfast then cereal!

I have to say, I'm having a lot of fun with the basket. As soon as I saw it I wanted to fill it up and go on a picnic (the pic that came with it had a baguette as the woman walked down the street) but since that is unrealistic I am using my basket for my groceries. I walked to Target the other day with my basket swinging on my arm. Now everytime I go to the store I tell them I don't want a bag, just put everything in my basket. I use it as my shopping cart too. The baggers are still adjusting to not bagging everything. I'm constantly pulling things out of bags. I don't want anymore bags, I have a closet full! I have to say, I feel so cosmopolitan shopping with my basket. Of course, when I was telling Nancy how chick I was I was in sweats that have seen better days and my old ugly tennis shoes, LOL. When I was visiting Nes they all brought their own baskets to the store, it's the norm there.

Today I made Jennie's Potato and Fennel Gratin. Here is the recipe:
Prep: 15 min. Cook: 1:15 hr.

For 6 servings you'll need:

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 med onion, thinly sliced
2 med fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
2 tsp. minced garlic
6 med or 4 lg Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced
2/3 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
3/4 cup fat free half and half cream
1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp. Smart Balance margerine to coat a baking dish


Topping
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
3 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs. melted Smart Balance margerine

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Lightly coat shallow baking dish with 1 tsp. Smart balance margerine.
3. Heat oil in a heavy nonstick skillet over med/med-hi heat.
4. Saute onion, fennel, and garlic for 10 minutes, stirring frequently until softened.
5. Layer potatoes, fennel mixture, parmesan, bread crumbs, salt and pepper in “buttered” baking dish. (like lasagna)
6. Beat egg and whites with cream, and pour evenly over vegetables.
7. Combine topping ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle topping over top.
8. Bake uncovered about 1 hour to 1:15 hours or until potatoes are tender and topping is golden.

Note: This recipe originally called for heavy cream, butter, 3 whole eggs, and an 8 oz. package of Marscapone cheese (marscapone cheese was combined with cream and egg in step 7). I substituted in fat free half and half, Smart Balance, 1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites, and omitted the M. cheese to make it a healthier side dish. Add more or use less salt and pepper to your taste. You can add 1 tsp. fresh minced rosemary too, but I don't care for rosemary.

*Fennel: Remove stalks, tough or discolored outer layers, and trim a little off the base. Slice the bulb vertically, from stalk to base The "half moon" inner core holds the bulb together. Cut out that dense core, discard and you're ready to slice the fennel.

This is my first time using fennel in a dish, it actually has a sweet taste to it. I found the topping to be a little redundant since the top layer was bread crumbs and cheese so I don't think it's necessary. I only made a little topping and it burnt. Next time I would cover the dish for at least half of the cooking time. I also added more half and half as I was cooking because it was drying out but I think covering it will keep it more moist. That being said, I ate myself silly. The dish turned out wonderfully and it's totally adaptable. I like the fact that it gave me a base for a lower calorie au gratin. Jennie did wonderful job of making it healthier while keeping it tasty!I also cheated like I said in response to Aimee and bought a rotiserrie chicken to go with it. It was a fabulous dinner!

You'll be happy to know

that my feet are pretty once again! I swear, having a fresh pedicure makes all of the difference in the world! I must admit, I have been slack in my pedis. I am sure part of it is because I no longer live in an open toed shoes in the winter area, of course that doesn't stop me, I do love my flip flops after all, LOL. But even if no one can see my feet, I want them to look good because when they do, I feel better. after all, I have to see them!

I was talking to Dao and she says her sister knows how to do Andy Warhol type pictures. She suggested we do one for Karen. I was like, forget that, we need to do one for me! My walls need artwork and what better art can there be then me? To give you an idea of his style I did this online. Really, is there such a thing as too much of me? I think not!

My goal for Sat is go try and make this recipe that Jenny sent me and I will also work on cleaning my place. I really need to vacuum, LOL. Now I'm off to finish Dream Hunter. Unlike Nes, I can stay awake long enough to read a book, LOL.

I know Nes is waiting...

to see what I got in the mail this week but it will have to wait, I can't find my camera cable and you know a story is not complete without pictures, LOL.

I have no idea what I am doing but my days are flying by. Could it be because I don't like to do anything until I have my nap and sometimes I don't have my nap until 5 or 6pm, LOL. The mornings just fly by! Then after my nap the evenings fly by! It's been going by so fast I haven't had time to lay down and read the new Kenyon book which is why I'm determined to go lay down once I finish my blogs. I want to actually find time to read in my incredibly busy schedule. I have again gotten out of the habit of reading. I want to read before bed again. Really, the only reason I haven't picked up the new Kenyon is I know I'm not going to want to put it down, LOL.

I have been going to the grocery store every day and I have been eaten in for the last 3 days and you know what that means, it means more dirty dishes. It's a vicious cycle! Tomorrow I'm hoping to be able to squeeze in a self pedicure. If only there were more hours in the day!

BTW, in case you don't know, Barb now has a myspace page. Of course I have to pimp it for her since she's never online herself, which begs the question why does she have a myspace page? Because she's cool like that. Check out Tequila Tiner's page when you get a chance.

A few leftover food pictures...

And you thought it was safe to read my blog hungry, it's never safe, LOL. I spent so much time telling you about Savannah I didn't get a chance to talk about our meal before we drove there. We ate at a place called Buckhead Diner which from the outside totally looks like a diner but inside it looks like part of a club, with dark wood and waitors in white coats and the food was pretty good. They are known for their blue cheese covered potato chips so we had that as an app, it was yummy, we cleaned our plate, LOL. Since I wasn't that hungry I got a salad. It was a tuna nicoise salad. Unfortunately, I think the tuna was cooked a tad too much and was a little dry. So I spent my time nibbling on everyone else's food. Bernadette got crab cakes and they were overflowing with huge lumps of crab. And like I had mentioned before I'm not a big fan of meatloaf but Barb ordered a veal and wild mushroom meatloaf that was delicious and the mashed potatoes were so buttery it melted in your mouth! I thought about Su and Nancy's love of meatloaf when I tried this dish. You two would be in heaven and look how big this dish is! 3 slices of meatloaf! We felt bad we had to leave it behind since we were hitting the road after this meal.

While in Savannah Barb wanted pecan pie, after all, we were in the south and Georgia is pecan central. Everyone told us where the best place to get pecan pie was so on our way out of town we stopped there to get some to go (we left Paula Deen's so there was no eating it right then, LOL). It was 1:30pm and they were SOLD OUT! We were so sad. So when we got to Atlanta, after we loaded up all of their suitcases we headed to Twist for all you can eat tapas and dessert. The $10 Sunday night all u can eat tapas is my favorite bargain in town! For dessert we did a chocolate fondue. You know how much I love a fondue!The fruit was wonderful (my fave is the pineapple), there was also marshmallows, biscotti and chocolate balls. Chocolate dipped chocolate is truly decadent. I left that for Barb, way too much chocolate for me, LOL.

Now that my gluttonous week is over Lina had me set some goals. We were chatting on Sunday night and I committed to losing 5 pounds before Vegas. I figure I'll lose 3 of them this week just from eating normally, LOL. Of course, I have yet to weigh myself which makes the weight loss hard to monitor. I really don't want to know what I weigh! I went walking on Mon night and went to the gym on Tue. I even did some weights! Shockingly, I wasn't too sore.

The second part of my goal and the harder part is I agreed to eat out only once a week! Since I've moved to Atlanta I've gotten really lazy with my cooking and have eaten out more then I ever have. I thought once a week was a realistic goal but Monday I was already ready to go out and eat. I wanted sushi for lunch but didn't want to blow my wad on day one! Dang, this was much harder then I thought. It means I've had to go to the grocery store and put some thought into what I want to buy and eat. That Lina, she's an evil genius!

Speaking of Evil, she posts on RBL as Evil Libby to separate herself from the other Libby who posts and she has just started a blog. I'm going to add her link to the right. She's a cool chick, I like her a lot. Here's her link: Adventures of a Badass Warrior Princess.

A feel of Savannah...

I was a little sad that I was going to Savannah in the winter versus the spring when everything ws in bloom and all of the trees lush and green. There was no need for me to worry. The trees that I visualize populating the city were green and all over.


We took a trolley tour since we were only in town for a few days. The driver said that it wasn't spanish moss on the trees but a form of pineapple but turns out it is spanish moss and also a form of pineapple. It looks lovely hanging from the trees and it's not a parastie but finds its nourishment by wafting through the trees.

Apparently Henry Ford used to have a car plant there and decided way back when to stuff his car seats with spanish moss since it was free. Not a good idea. Apparently the moss is loaded with chiggers (similar to fleas or ticks), OUCH! Oh, the things you learn on a trolley tour, LOL.

I didn't take a lot of pics of the houses but here are a couple I snapped.
The bottom we toured. I can't remember the name of it right now, LOL. What amazes me about these houses are how large they are on the outside but so small on the inside. This house had 4 rooms downstairs and 4 room upstairs. Barb pointed out how thick the walls were which I think is makes the inside feel so much smaller.

The people here were also incredibly nice and friendly. Unlike NOLA I didn't get nervous walking off of the beaten path. Also, some other things I learned. Scottish Highlanders were used to defend Savannah and they say that the St Patrick's Day parade in Savannah is the second largest in the country. Who knew? The trolley tour guides knew, that's who!

The Lady and Sons

You can't plan a trip to Savannah without planning a trip to The Lady and Sons which is the restuarant run by Paula Deen, when she is not busy traveling, working on her cooking show or being a grandmother. Unfortunately, everyone else visiting Savannah feels the same way. We went there on Sat to inquire about lunch and the line was huge. We asked about making reservations for the next day but they dont take reservations til the day of. You have to show up at 9:30am to get a reservation for when they open. Luckily Barb and Bernadette were willing to get up, me, not so much, LOL. We had a reservation for when they opened at 11am along with everyone else in line. Although we were 15th on the list they seat according to their needs and I think the fact that we had an odd number hindered us because they called about 30 people before us but finally our name was called and we were allowed into the promised land, LOL. Thank goodness it was a brunch buffet so we were able to get our food right away, well, we had to wait in line for that but it moved. The fried chicken was phenomenal, as if there was any doubt. Let me tell you what else is piled on the plate, macaroni and cheese (you can see the strings of cheese with the mac) and mashed potatoes that tasted like butter, yum! Also wonderful were the lima beans, the creamed corn (so sweeet I thought sugar was added but Barb says the corn was just that sweet), the collard greens, the black eyed peas (I ate some of Barb's). I don't like meatloaf normally but hers was pretty good, that would be the gooey stuff on the right under the cream sauce, LOL. The pork was the only thing I had that didn't wow me.

They also walked around putting fresh parmesan garlic biscuits on your plate and oat cakes. I only had a nibble of the biscuit cause I had no room and skipped the oat cake. The biscuit was wonderfully cheesy. Barb says you could taste the butter on the oat cake, are you surprised? You know I ate myself silly. This was southern cooking at it's most artery clogging best! Waiting to get in is a pain but they have three floors and are used to dealing with the volume. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, one of the waitresses sang a song for everyone. It was a gospel song and she was this tiny white girl, very pleasing but I kept eating while everyone else clapped, I didn't want my food to get cold, LOL.

Restaurant hopping...

Barb and I love to go to different restaurants and have a drink and an app and then move on to the next. When traveling this is the best way to get in several good restaurants in a little amount of time. Sat night Barb's co-worker joined us and off we went. First we went to the Olde Pink House. Several people raved about this place and everyone said we HAD to have the she crab soup. I guess everyone knows about this place because the wait for tables in the bar was 2 hours! Luckily we were able to find seats on the couch just when we were getting ready to leave. We sat next to a couple of friends from the twin cities area and we talked travel with them and books. I wrote down Karen's name for them, LOL. It took a long time for our soup to get to us, the dish isn't beatiful but the soup was very wonderful. My favorite of the night. Next up, we said goodbye to our friends and headed to Vic's on the River. We had stopped here on our way to the Pink House but they were busy so we told them we would come back. We absolutely loved everything about this place. The manager tried to help us get seated as quick as possible. The hostess was sweet and we chatted with her while we waited. The drinks were wonderful. I had a flirtini and it was perfect and Barb enjoyed her lemon drop.Both bars had piano players and Vic's had the superior one, we really enjoyed her and kept tipping her. To top off a wonderful experience, the scallops were perfection. It was served with a goat cheese grit cake and wilted arugula. The scallops were so big they were like steaks! As sad as it was to leave it was time to move on. We were looking for the Shrimp Factory but went in the wrong direction so we stopped at the Conch House. We weren't impressed with the menu so we ordered drinks.

And played with the camera, LOL. We decided to get our drinks in to go cups and off we were to the Shrimp Factory. Unfortunately we were the last ones there but they didn't rush us out. We sat at the bar and enjoyed shrimp with deviled crab, enjoyable but not as good as our earlier stuff. The manager was eating at the bar also and Barb wanted to try a hush puppy. Since they didn't have any in the back he gave Barb one from his plate! Our bartender was a nice Irish boy an the staff had fun with us chatting them up. We also found time to take a few more pics.

Sorry, forgot to take some of the food. I don't know how that happened (see drinks in hand).

We were wandering around and stopped in Jazz'ed which everyone said had the best martinis but it was too loud and crowded for us so then we went to Club One where Lady Chablis from the Midnight Garden of Good and Evil used to perform and still does when she's not touring. We got there just in time to see the 12:30am show. You know I love the drag queens and you would think they would have some fantastic ones here, that was not the case. The girls all had bellys, except the one who had so much muscle she put weight lifters to shame (although she was lean, it was not feminine). All they did was lip sync to songs, they didn't interact with the audience except to take dollar bills that people gave them. Plus, I really miss the smoke free environment of Cali so after an hour I was ready to go. I crawled into bed, fat, sassy and happy!

Checking in from Savannah...

I thought about not bringing my computer this weekend but that was just crazy talk on my part, as if! I love the days of wireless everywhere! I just open up my computer and I'm connected. We're waiting on our 11am reservation at Lady and Sons which is Paula Dean's restaurant. The lines were crazy yesterday so Barb and Bernadette got up to go make an early reservation for us today (I was just barely moving at that time, LOL).

I think Savannah is a mellower version of New Orleans and I think we need to plan a trip here in a year or two (scheduling permits, LOL). Everything is in walking distance. Yes, I walked Nes, LOL. I'm really enjoying the friendliness of everyone and the feel of the city. I told Barb I could live here but she pointed out how difficult the commute would be to Karen's, LOL. I think one of the big differences from NOLA is you can walk around here and feel pretty safe. Of course, we weren't walking in the voodoo part of the city, LOL. There is a lot less foot traffic here too. Although you are allowed to walk around with alcoholic beverages which is nice.

I'll be back later to talk more about our adventures, I left my camera cable at home. I just wanted to say hi and let you all know we're having a great time. Barb is flying out tonight so this will be our last big meal together, we'll have to do it up right! I'll make Ghlutton proud and Phlexie, not so much, LOL.

I guess I've kept you in suspense long enough, LOL.

Last night I decided to take Barb to BJs. She had to work all week long so we spent most of the week just eating dinner and being low key so she was ready to relax and let her hair down, and you know I'm always ready for a good time. First we had to figure out where to go for dinner. Since we planned on having a drink or two we needed something substantial, so there went my idea of going to salads at La Fonda but there was another Cuban restaurant that I've been wanting to try. They're known for their inexpensive cuban sandwhiches. I got a half a sandwhich (ham and cheese), black bean soup and rice for $6! I also crumbled and ordered fried yucca. Barb went with the empanadas and ordered a tamale. We didn't realize the portion sized would be so huge. I saw someone eating boiled yucca that looked really good. The fried ones tasted ok, I've had better. The sammich was a bauette loaded with meat and cheese then toasted. Quite tasty. Barb really enjoyed the beef empanada but the chicken one had bell peppers, she does not like bell peppers, LOL. We had so much food that the tamale got no more then a nibble.

Once we had sustenance in us we headed to BJs. Unfortunately, turns out there are no dancing boys on Thursdays, who knew? But I don't know if I had mentioned it before but BJ as extremely friendly bartenders. Tonight Michael was working and he made our evening a blast. I told Barb we could have a drink and move on but Barb was having none of that, she was having too much fun watching the video clips that were playing. On Sundays when I have gone they play gay porn on them but last night it was music clips and skits from different sketch comedy shows. And then there was Michael. He greeted us with a smile and then spent the evening chit chatting with us. He was so sweet. When he had to go work with other customers he would apologize and come back and talk to us as soon as he could. Barb was ready for a shot so Michael pulled out this bottle. I can't remember what it was called. Since I was driving I refrained. As you can see, Barb was having a good time prior to her shot. So Michael sets the shot up then he says he's going to come around. Barb and I have no idea why he needs to come around the bar for Barb to have a shot but you know us, we just go with it. Then he told Barb where to lick and then we knew, Barb was doing a body shot, you know I jumped up to document it!Barb was quick on the lick, I missed it but I was just in time to get this picture. I like to call that one the money shot, LOL. Of course, I couldn't be left totally out.I have to say that with or without dancing boys BJs is going to be my neighborhood bar. I just love the people there. One of the other guys bought us a drink, another one came up to chat with us. People say goodbye when we leave. We just have a grand time there. I always get phone numbers when I'm there, too bad it's from gay men, LOL. When we left Michael came around the bar to give us hugs and kisses, such a genuine guy. It's a bar like that which will turn me into a drinker, well, that and my lush friends, LOL.

We're off to Savannah tonight. I don't know if I'll be able to get online or not but once in Savannah I won't be driving so tequila is definitely on the menu this weekend. Barb hates to drink alone, LOL.

Barb got action...

and I did not! I guess I'll let the picture speak for itself! Meet Michael...I'll come back in the morning with the story, it's bedtime for me, EG!

Hope that you've eaten already...

I'm including pics from last night and tonight. Barb's best friends have been to Atlanta a couple of times and they raved about a restaurant called Canoe so we HAD to check it out. Since it was packed we ate in the bar which I didn't mind. It's about the food and since we were in the bar I ordered a drink. I ordered a dirty martini, extra dirty, extra olives. They hooked me up on the olives and for $13 they better! I really need to find cheaper drinks, LOL. Since this was a dining experience I decided to get an appetizer. I went with the mussels. I had some fabulous mussels while in Spain and I think this was even better. The mussels were fat and juicy and the sauce was divine. I sopped it up with bread but was afraid of getting too full so then I used my spoon to have some more broth. I would go back and have this with a salad and call it a night. Barb got an African squash soup with peekytoe crab (no idea what it is) and a lime compote. Very enjoyable. For my entree I went with a special of the day which was a whole roasted yellowtail. I was very excited to get it but I must say, it was a little bland. The green beans were excellent though. They do fillet the fish at your table if you like but I told them I was asian, I'm ok eating something with a head on it, LOL. Barb had a lightly breaded flounder and risotto which was nice but didn't blow me away. So some hits and misses but like I said, I would go back for the mussels anytime!

Once dinner was over we went to Barb's hotel room where I made myself at home. Tonight we went to Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles and I'm sad to say, it did not live up to previous meals. I really wanted it to wow Barb. She went with the smothered chicken. I had the Uncle Ron's which is a fave of mine. I only had one piece of chicken, saving the rest for tomorrow. I do love cold fried chicken. Our food was served within minutes after ordering which means it wasn't exactly fresh. The squash casserole which I raved about was sooo sweet I couldn't even eat it and Barb didn't eat her fried corn because it had bell peppers in it, that means 0 for 2 on her sides. Bummer! The chicken wasn't as fantastic as it had been, it was good, I mean come on, it's fried chicken but still not the caliber I had become used to here.

This is the first time I had been at a chicken and waffles place and actually got a waffle. Their waffle of the day was a chocolate waffle which is speaking in Barb's language, LOL. He spoke in my language when he asked if we wanted ice cream with it. I have to say, this was the lightest waffle I had ever had. I would be willing to try a regular waffle here. It was an awesome waffle and it's not only because of the ice cream, LOL. I have no idea where we're eating tomorrow but I do know where we are going for drinks, EG! We're ditching her co-worker and going for some naughty fun. Sorry, no pictures allowed!