Danielle's Meandering Thoughts....

A perfect Saturday

2011-12-10T19:11:00.004-05:00

A Perfect Saturday includes pampering and relaxation. I received both today with a side of two extra special joys.

A super hysterical favorite movie.... Spaceballs...That helped bride the gap between our pedicure specialists and ourselves... 'My password is 1,2,3,4"

and a super sweet and fabulous friend, Sarah :) Who made the morning more lovely and wonderful to catch up on our lives and times.

How Furniture can make a girl ecstatic.....

2011-09-12T22:11:00.004-04:00

The furniture in question is the couch.. yeah it looks good but its squishy...

So to share a lil backstory...
This blogger has been busted up in the past year. BUSTED I tell you.
I did a SINGLE Zumba class last year and could barely walk for weeks!
I blame Wegmans.. I mean its not ACTUALLY they're fault, but my many years of being a cashier and making back bending and lifting decisions (not using my knees or legs but my back,,, dumb!))

ANYWHATs....
So I have learned in the past year that I need to be very careful and aware of the chairs that I choose and I need a strong back support. I can't sit in beanbag chairs or chairs with a low back cushion or weak cushion.

Our current couch is a borrow from my parents and the cushions have a lot to be desired. Ergo-- D cannot sit in that chair at all without days or hours of pain.

So I've been on the hunt for a new couch. We would like our home to be a place where everyone can sit comfortably and relax. I'm not the only one in my family with back problems and it always makes me feel horrible when someone has to pull a chair from the kitchen because all the rest of the chairs are not 'safe'..I mean the same applies to me but being a good hostess and being kind to those who come visit is very important.

So we hunted. Kevin and I sat in hundreds of chairs. HUNDREDS people. We have quite a few furniture stores nearby and we found one we loved, made locally but slightly more than we could afford at that time. I kept going back month after month to sit in it and kinda hope there would be a great sale. And we were wedding planning so the budget was tight!

I may have caused a bankrupcy (gross exaggeration!)...
Because the company that makes this beautiful local furniture is actually going thru a Bankrupcy right now (which is awful!), and so they've sliced their prices and when I went in today,,my couch-to-be was sitting there waiting for me.. One sit , a quick confirmation convo with the hubby and I was sold!! FINALLY.. The waiting and patience and savings paid off and we're going to have this awesome piece of furniture (our first furniture purchase together!) IN OUR HOME!!!

YEAH I'M CLEARLY STOKED...
AND THE TWO SIDES RECLINE!! LOVE LOVE....

but what do you think???

The Laser or the Wax?? Who knew!!

2011-08-30T21:18:00.003-04:00

So I'm an Italian... Its not a secret... and so hair removal is a conversation topic often. Frankly I find it as an aggravation not only that I should conform to the rules of 'the world'.. but primarily it aggravates me because it makes my showering less efficient. It makes me waste precious water and time when I could be sleeping in instead!

So when we found a Groupon to have three laser hair removal sessions for a hugely discounted rate we thought 'oh yeah let's give that there a whirl'.

Meanwhile I was clearly still in wedding planning mode (hence the no posting people, ya'll knew!),, and so I was still partaking in the waxing for some of the special events so that I did not have to worry about shaving the day before or day of the events.

So how do we get this beautiful underarm?? (well besides toned muscles and what not).

Waxing- pulls the hair from the root (or at least its intended to).. But it does require that it be at least 'the size of a piece of rice'. in length. Which is SUPER awkward to try to wait for this to occur especially in the summer!

The place that I went to uses organic creams and lotions and powders to make the hair less painful and also to create a smooth and protected arm afterward. PS. It hurts for a few moments and then its over.

That being said, after doing it three or four separate times in the past few months,,,the hair is much thinner and almost blonde which makes the aggravation much less!

Laser-- According to the consultant laser actually attacks the root folicles and kills them. And well,,,,,,,well I haven't actually DONE it yet.. So the 'after opinions' have yet to occur.

BUT. Unlike Waxing you can NOT have hair! Who knew? Not me! You also have to avoid sun, and antibiotics and all these other rules that they not only just said to us during a quick consultation but that they didn't think MAYBE to give me a handout?

Not only that but I have to say EVERYTIME I buy one of those sneaky Groupons or Seize the Deals, all it is is a commercial to get me to buy more of the products. They can't be happy that I'm intrigued with their business or interested or involved and actually stepped up to purchase from them,, instead they want to push more and more and more and frankly that makes me feel irate and manipulated.

So we will check out these three sessions and see if the Laser changes my life,, but they've already promised me that I would most likely (as all people do apparently bleh) need 6-9 MORE sessions which cost an additional 1700 DOLLARS (insane and never going to happen). and we'll see. I promise to report back.

cause I'm a blogger again.. :) but now a married one , wink.

HOLLA!
D

Why the God's tease me.....

2011-05-11T21:57:00.000-04:00

Okay so I've been MIA for awhile. I'm planning a wedding and a honeymoon and frankly my brain is altogether mush. Some of my friends call it 'bride brain'.. I just say its mush. I feel badly about my mush brain as there are a lot of things running around inside there and its TOTALLY disorganized.

So this week I've been working on our favors for the wedding. So I've been collecting all of my components and playing around with ribbons and options and stylizing. Mostly it stresses me and drives me insane to think about all the possibilities and how to tweak thing while also completing tasks and not over-worrying.

(um let's be honest I'm me so over-worrying is unavoidable,, can someone teach me how to stop that ridiculousness!?)

ANYWAY so I also re-joined Weight Watchers. I know, it might seem like that correlates with the wedding business, but I really don't plan on the watching of the weight having any impact on the wedding at all. Truthfully my body is ready for health and change and positive actions. Its ready for me to be kind and welcoming instead of hateful and cruel.

So Anyway,,,, While I'm making good decisions and being kind with my choices and my body... THIS ,,

THIS!!!!
Is staring at me at Sam's Club!!!

Seriously? A HUGE container of Nacho Cheese!!!
I totally wanted it, but I totally resisted it. Its not an option I want in my home to tease and tempt me. I want great choices and not defeat.

So I continued thru the store of surplus and stock and found the items I needed and went on my merry way.

Oh but the cheese!!!
hahahaha

Dear Blank

2011-03-28T20:20:00.004-04:00

So maybe you've all seen this website... http://www.dearblankpleaseblank.com/
You probably have seen it in FB land from others posts.

First I'll share a few of my faves,, and then I'll write my own. :)

a) Dear Fox News,
so far, no news about foxes.
Sincerely,
Unimpressed

b) Dear Nickleback,
That's enough.
Sincerely,
The World

c)Dear Yahoo,
I've never heard anyone say, "I don't know, let's Yahoo! it..." just saying...
Sincerely,
Google

d) Dear Noah,
We could have sworn you said the ark wasn't leaving till 5.
Sincerely,
Unicorns

So anyway the website is clearly amusing. Some are more R rated, some G... but I love the Unicorn One.

So now its my turn.

1) Dear World,
If you could stop being so overwhelming, I'd be able to spend more time blogging and commenting and Keuriging and doing all the great things I like to do.
Love D

2) Dear Running,
There is a really good reason you were not listed above in the 'great things I like to do. The list could have been a LOT longer but you still would not have made the cut. I'm not sorry.
Love D

3) Dear Friends of A Bride,
Sorry, I know we're annoying,, but imagine being in our own heads, its freaking exhausting and I swear I'm getting wedding-induced dimensia. Or Alzheimers.. or something. What was I talking about. I like flowers.
Love D

4) Dear Kentahn,
I don't like you.
Love D
(this one is actually a text that my friend Ken and I passed back and forth multiple times when Texting just began circa 2002, its still ironic).

5) Dear Carol Tuttle
Your controlling my brain and making me judge people in an all new different way. I'm trying to be good. Its not going well. Still a 4.
Love D

6) Dear feet and back,
I would like you to function as designed
Love D

7) Dear Housewives,
Would you consider paying off my student loans instead of throwing a party for your kids? I could throw them a party, and design amazing and educational and yet fun times! FUN TIMES! in exchange for loan forgiveness!! AAAHHh.
Love D

8) Dear Pre-Cana classes,
Why was everyone warning us against something? Its pretty sweet and Kevin and I get to laugh and joke mid-week. BONUS!
Love The Almost Cana-'d

9) Dear Alaska,
I would very much like to cruise your awesomeness.. Why must you be dark for so many months that I would love to travel?
Love D

10) Dear Vegetables,
I know I have dabbled, and I won't give up, but your just not as good as cheese , chocolate and wine. Sorry. The truth will set you free. Or make you spoil. Either way Adio.
Love D.

A Festivus for the Rest of us!

2010-12-23T14:29:00.002-05:00

OKay so we ALL love Seinfeld, and the Constanzas' are my most favorite!
So I'd like to take a moment to help you recall the steps of a true Festivus!!!

1) Airing of Greivances- So basically you sit everyone down around a table and tell them how they have disappointed you in the past year. Overall I see no problem with doing this, and it should be done daily in a perfect (WHAT!) world. In fact I think perhaps all people would REALLY like to know how they themselves disappoint others.. ya know... for personal growth or something like that.

2) The Pole--- I personally have never had a 'pole' of any sort in my home or apartment that was used for Festivus celebration, but I have friends from HS who absolutely did. I'm not entirely clear on what the pole is used for but I think it may come into play in part three.

3) Feats of Strength- SO I guess at this point, the feat of strength is that whomever is the 'claimed' head of household (HOH as I call them),, needs to be overthrown yearly, and all others must contend for this position and use their strength to literally, pin them to the ground. Overall, sounds like fun right?

So I wish you a Merry Festivus!

The Perfect Friday,,,, almost

2010-11-19T23:28:00.003-05:00

So this Friday we are staying home,, and as you can see above.. its almost perfection.
I have my Harry Potter Book 7 that I'm rereading in preparation for the big movie showing in a few days? And I have my amazingly wonderful micro-suede blanket that is CLEARLY ginormous and wonderous to cuddle me.

Plus I have my fiance hanging at home with me too...
soo really....... what could POSSIBLY make it anything but perfect??

where is the 'almost'???

:)

Did I actually COOK something?

2010-11-10T12:12:00.004-05:00

So when the weather gets cold (my fave!), that's when I like to attempt to cook things. But typically I mess up many recipes being um,,, creative,, or forgetting to add something, or trying to 'double the batch but not calculating properly'. Overall,, I'm TOTALLY inexperienced but I still feel like I could 'make it better'..

Which I realize is insane...

Anyway last nite I was craving my mom's tuna noodle casserole. But after working a 10 hour day I really didn't want to go to my parents house and like 'hope' that was what they were having. Plus I had purchased the ingredients awhile back but never made it.

I printed myself a recipe from the worldwide web (why doesn't anyone call it that anymore!), and I totally made it.!

TOTALLY had an awesome dinner! And leftovers (a ton) for the fiance to take to work tomorrow..

The paprika sprinkled on top made it the best for me,, a lil pop of flavor with my comfort food. I think next time I'll try some Tony Chacere's Original Creole Seasoning, because I LOVE me some of that!.

If your blog hopping from MomsReview4yo--- HOLLA!!!

Confession

2010-10-13T16:28:00.001-04:00

I have a confession bloggies...
Sometimes I get backlogged on my google reader,,,
and so anyone that posted more than 6 times since I last checked automatically goes from full to 'mark as read'.

I know its not kind because your words inspire and excite me,,

but when my reader says i have 526 blog posts to check out I start to panic,, and I figure (this is my logic so be prepared it may be full of holes).... that if you can write more than six times since I last caught up.. chances are you'll probably write again soon and so next time we'll catch up, since I typically open it up and then click thru to the page and scroll down until I'm all caught up.

So if your overambitious,,, well great I'll get to you later...
but I WILL get to you!:)
D

Cupcakes for FLOWERS? Flowers for CUPCAKES!???

2010-10-05T15:50:00.000-04:00

Did you know that America's MOST Common Birthday is October 5th? I mean your probably not surprised the influx of Happy Birthday postings your seeing all of the FB and Twitters!! It seems like this time of year is ripe for lil people to be born and older people to be celebrating!.

I'm partial myself to October, as an October baby myself. (if you'd like my address to send me cards and gives send me an email) hehhehehe, Totally kidding. Frankly you reading my words is gift enough!:)

So 1800-Flowers is doing a promotion for the Month of October to support all the birthday loves in your area. Be sure to check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/1800flowers or their Tweets at www.twitter.com/1800flowers. In a few weeks I'll be posting a giveaway for a gift certificate to 1800-flowers so that you can go buy yourself (or your friends) an awesome display of flowery LOVE!!!

I gave a cupcake floral arrangement to one of my bridesmaids-to-be for her birthday. I was totally late in delivering it since we don't live nearby. but they arrived on time and it was beautiful. Check it out!!!

Monday Minute!

2010-10-04T16:00:00.002-04:00

Monday Minute brought to you by Cristy at Is There a Doctor in the House!

(1) What’s your biggest pet peeve?

I have tons! Some that make me irate My high school band director used to say 'Hate Passive Hate it!"... That is my biggest pet peeve,, people who think that life is something to sleep through or waste away and not be present, either in their family, kids or co-workers lives. WAKE UP!

(2) Describe your first kiss.
Well first kiss was in kindergarten when the cutie sitting next to me would sneak kisses when the teacher's back was turned. I knew it was love when his mom packed him an extra rainbow napkin to give to me.

(3) Describe the drunkest night of your life (or at least, the drunkest night you remember).
That has absolutely never happened.

(4) What’s the last movie you saw and what did you think of it?
I just saw Backup Plan with J-lo and I love love loved it. I'm a sucker for the rom-com movies and one about babies!? So cute and adorable! At one point they go into a cheese storage area, I was like squealing with dreams of cheese!

(5) Do you prefer to take a bath or a shower?

SHOWER!!! I hate baths! HATE HATE! What a waste of time sitting in one's own filth! Now hot tubs and pools,, yeah I could support that!

Wedding Dress Shopping.

2010-09-27T19:58:00.002-04:00

Some people envision their wedding day their whole life. Some know what dress they want, what designer they want, what they hope and dream for. Some even go as far as saving for that Vera Wang or Kleinfelds moments on Say Yes to the Dress (I used to watch but I have since stopped, I have not however stopped watching Cake Boss).

Anyway lots of people have all these thoughts.
Not me so much. I saw the movies of Jennifer Garner above and I felt very happy for the characters. I felt joy and happiness and tears of overwhelming love. I knew someday that would happen for me. But I have no vision of what it will look like, or what it will sound like. I only know how I will feel. I only know that there will be love and joy and overwhelming happiness all around me and I'm stoked. Beyond stoked to have found the person that reflects all my best aspects and simmers all the crazy.

How I'm going to make it without crying is BEYOND me but this post is about dresses!!!

So while ya'll were thinking about pretty dresses, I was panicking and fearing the possibility that a lot of white around my curvaceous bod would inevitably make me look like this guy.... (minus the grimace)

One of my friends told me 'bridal gowns run small, so your normal size,,, add 4 at least and that will likely be your size. As you may have seen in the past, exercising,eating and losing weight is a part of my daily struggles. Some days I win, some days I lose. But to work really hard and then go up four numbers without a choice, well that would normally make me lose my mind.

But the image of the day,,,has nothing to do with an image,,, it has to do with a feeling,,, so I just need to find the feeling while,,, wearing something white, right? Well I went shopping once with my mom and sister and I didnt feel at ALL marshmallowy but I didn't feel like I found that moment with myself...

Ya know the feeling right? Like Father of the Bride?:)

The Life is Good Award.

2010-09-23T15:10:00.003-04:00

My friend, Nikki over at Simple LIving in a Big City gave me this award!! Okay to be fair, she gave it to me in the middle of Sept but I'm so behind on Google Reader (ya'll write a LOT!)that I missed it in the shuffle!

This is my 'Who me?" Face!

The Life is Good Award: To accept the award you must link back and Thank the person who gave you the Life is good award. Answer the 10 questions and pass it along to 6 other blogs :)

1) If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?
I used to blog anonymously back in the livejournal.com days because when people knew that I had a blog they'd use it against me to be hateful. Growing up is annoying, but growing to realize that others are mean and you can approve comments before they get posted,,, is awesome:)

2) Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side.
I'm a middle child so I'm a lot more flexible than most. I find that I'm stubborn till proven wrong. I often (like most people)like to stick to things I am comfortable with, and sometimes that leads me to the wrong choice. My fiance is good at knowing when I'm right and when to push cause he's right, I've come a long way from when I was a teen, but its not impossible for me to say to him "yeah your right but let's pretend I was" haha.

3) What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?
Blue eyes, everything else is either a work in progress or accesory:)

4) What is your favorite summer cold drink?
This year its Diet Coke. Obsessed!

5) When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
I like to catch up on DVR'd television shows that make me laugh, I like to dance around my living room with anyone who will dance with me, and I like to do puzzles. I like napping also. But mostly I don't like to be TOTALLY alone.

6) Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it? Tons! Right now we're wedding planning so I'm trying to take one step at a time but I'm really trying to live each moment and decision to the fullest, I have heard this time goes quickly and I really want to absorb all the blessings and love that there is available. Joy only for me, Please!:)

7) When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever , the shy person, or always ditching?
Mostly the overachiever, I liked to do well and I liked when my parents and teachers were proud of what I could do.

8) If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life what would you see? I have been visualizing moments walking down the aisle, moments of dancing surrounded by friends and family and moments of celebration with those that I care about.

9) Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events? I'm comfortable sharing my true self, but because I have a job other than blogging, I try to articulate the way I feel a lil more polished than perhaps I would say if were sitting on the couch together. Open but cautious.

10) If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why
Always phone, always always, I love to hear about others days and tell them the ridiculous that happens in mine, I like a connection with real people.

Now the award needs to be passed on to 6 people, and contact them :)

1) MilkandCuddles.com- My cousin is a great friend and she shares great recipe ideas, crafts, ideas she's so creative and hysterical and her love for her family emanates thru every morsel of cookies... and milk. Check her out!

2)The Bloggess- Okay so she doesn't know me from a whole in the wall,but she makes me laugh my face off and if people are around me they know what I'm reading, especially when I'm hyperventilating so much cause of the laughter. Thats the best Ab workout.

3)A Daddy Blog- My cousin's husband (which IMO makes him my cousin too but I didnt want you to think my cousin married another cousin cause we're not like that in this here parts),, Anywhoo,, he's my new hero cause he's going to help me build a wedding website,, but beyond that he's coming to our world for Thanksgiving (which I think is brave and awesome to go visit the in-laws family for a holiday,, luckily for him we're all cool and ridiculously fun good times),,, but that is huge props, AND he writes about stuff that effects kids and dads and its a perspective we totally don't see enough in blogworld. Check him out!

4)Life in the Pitts- I only just met her and she goes by lots of names. She's SUPER funny and much like I, she types like she talks so you can kinda imagine her sitting next to you telling you her thoughts which I think is awesome. Go follow her now!

5)Kristal at GoodFoodsGoodFriendsGoodLife (thats a mouthful right?) She takes GREAT pictures and is very introspective and caring about every aspect of her life, She just had an adorable little guy added to her family and while there are things that she explains that I'm not sure if I'll do the same or different when I get to that stage of my life, I love love love reading a perspective outside my own or what I've been exposed to. She's methodical and careful and I really appreciate her insight and love that she speaks of in her blog.
Plus the pictures are SO Freaking cute!.

6)Molly at Sleeperbaker! Molly is actually a fellow NYer, and she's such an inspiration. I love to read how she struggles but keeps on running, and she just ran A MARATHON for the first time ever so if there is determination and strength more than that I know not. She makes me laugh and sometimes her food pics make me drool but mostly she makes me feel like I can do it, one step at a time.:)

Okay Bloggies go make friends,,, go forth!!!

My First Delicious Giveaway EVER (aka,, your chances are great!)

2010-09-21T07:00:00.004-04:00

(Picture borrowed from :twigdecor!)

HOLLA Folks! So as you may recall, this girl LOVES me to eat! I have reviewed foods, and local restaurants . Sometimes I like to play with my food. But mostly when I find something DEEELISHIOUS,,,,, I like to tell ya'll about it so that you can mangia also!.
(member the Oreos, and the brownie lust?)

But I hope you all recall my LURVE cor me some chocolate and peanut butter

WELL GUESS WHAT!??/

In my first EVER (I hear drumrolls do you?) Giveaway, I tried something super super tasty at BlogHer 2010. I tried me some BUTTERFINGER SNACKERZ!!!

Okay so the lowdown,,, they are like little (snack size) bites (think like 1/2 the size of a lil frosted mini-bite) OF CHOCOLATE wafery PEANUT BUTTERY awesomeness.
It was light and airy and they popped in my mouth rapid fire.

My favorite part,, ya know that point where you've eaten a bit of butterfinger and your teeth get all caked in butterypeanuttery goodness? Well with these snackers it happens EVERY TIME. Awesome... so if I had some restraint I'd be eating this giveaway and maybe MAYBE telling you about it (depends on how chocolately my mouth and hands got,, but if I recall I didnt get messy last time)

SO what are you trying to win!?

One lucky winner will win either a) four fun size bags of product (16 pouches inside) or b) 2 boxes of full size pouches (24 pouches inside).
(It depends on the availability at the time of the win)!
The winner MUST be a US Resident (sorry), and I strongly encourage you to leave your email or make sure to login below so I can hail ya when you win!

Mandatory Entry:
1) Follow my blog (and leave me a comment that said you did so!)

Bonus Entry if your so motivated:
1) Refer my blog to a friend and get them to follow me too! (get your friend to follow and leave me a comment with your name on it!)

This Giveaway will last till the end of day on October 2nd, 2010 at which point I'll pick a winner using random.org, which will give the Butterfinger peeps that are so kind to sponsor this giveaway time to get it to you before Halloween!

In case you'd like to know more about these Snackerz...
they can be found at Butterfinger.com and Facebook.com/Butterfinger. or on the Twit at Twitter.com/ButterfingerMmm

GO FORTH PEANUT BUTTER LOVERS!!!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Donnna at ageorgiamomma@gmail.com! You will be contacted as you WON!:)

Wedding Invitations!? KISS THIS!

2010-09-19T07:09:00.001-04:00

Okay so ya'll know I got engaged circa April, and while my thoughts 'meander' on this topic OFTEN (aka nonstop), I try not to bore ya'll with my opinions and decisions.

You might say "Why avoid this? you bore us with all kinds of other crapola why hold back now,, really?"

Well to that I say,, "Well cause brides to be and brides past are NUTS! So when I share my opinions and they differ from yours ya'll get defensive and hurt and I'm so not into making people feel bad". That's not my jam. YO....

So lets start by saying that there are MANY MANY (think COPIOUS!) amounts of decisions that I could freaking care less about,, and as time goes by, those stupid decisions somehow become cataclysmic and monumental in a EFFED up way.

Segue,, Invitations..

something that up to a month ago I said 'I don't care what they look like so long as people can read them and get here if they can'.

SIGH.

So we began to research invitations, and we had lots of internet searches and suggestions and ideas and we mostly wanted to not pay a ton cause we need our monies for better stuff (read: more peeps and feeding them!!) HOLY MOLY paper is expensive and its complicated and involved. So I'm gonna show you some pics (cause you know I like to do that).

At first I was like 'this is complicated!, then I was like 'but everything is in one place so people don't lose all the info and then call me the day of to ask me what time they were supposed to show up'... (who thinks like that!)

See this is simple and sweet, but once you start opening and investigating you (read: me) get NUTS and get all 'that's too normal or simple, and I'm not normal or simple'... AS IF this invite in some IMPOSSIBLE way reflects upon you AT ALL.. that after opening it up they'll ever look twice (however btw now that I know how much thought is going into this I will take many many looks at the rest of them that come our way!).

Um I'm sorry but that is too much ribbon, its only going to get tangled and its making it hard to read.

Final picture folks,, GET EXCITED...(not that this is mine but still)

HOLY MOLY there is no way any male had any input on this one, that is freaking girly and emasculating and horrible. (sorry whomever used this) its too much!.. TOO MUCH..

Alright so I'm not going to show you our invites a) probably ever cause I'd be lying if I said that I'd post them later because b)I'll probably forget.

BUT! I will tell you this,, we went to 5 or more different stores and my opinions from above developed upon these searches and waxed and waned and got more and more cranky and moody. We are SUPER blessed to have family friends that will help us formulate and print the invites, so we were on the hunt for blanks that had all the pieces we needed but had the right 'vibe' for us.

We were amazingly AMAZINGLY lucky to find the right thing, in the right color, with all the right pieces. IN CLEARANCE with enough boxes to make tons of mistakes along the way (expected). So we got ALL the pieces we needed for a little over the prices of one box of the others that we minimally liked.

I was giggling and bouncing with excitement all weekend! We got a deal but better than that , it was EXACTLY what we'd been looking for all along, classy, but fun and in the right colors and sleek :)

Puzzle me This

2010-09-06T20:33:00.003-04:00

Do you like to do puzzles? Are you a Scorpio?

When I was a kid my grandfather and I loved LOVED to do puzzles together. It was like a brainteaser that we could work on together. It was one of my most favorite things to do with him while my mom and her mom and whomever else was home would talk and talk and talk.

We go to a cabin once a year for a week on Lake Ontario. When I was a kid the cabin did not have any technology or connection to the outside world, no phones, no television, no computers (but again computers weren't for most homes at that time either).

I would bring a new puzzle most years, and the lake itself had some that I would work on for hours. Sometimes we'd put RISK or Stratego or another family game on TOP of it while I was working to play, and sometimes my siblings would sit with me for hours and talk while working on the puzzle. It was my favorite part of the vacation, having some time to just sit and figure it out.

So I recently cleared off a clutter-filled table and moved it away from the doorway in an effort to keep us (me mostly) from creating a dumping ground at our front door, I made a puzzle table in the corner of our living room. Its near my weight set so I can work on toning my arms (my new obsession since dress shopping)

This weekend I began my NY City skyline puzzle. Its only 350 pieces and its a pretty picture and I'm excited to work on it and finish it.

Do you like to do puzzles too? Are you a Scorpio or is that just me and my grandpa? :)

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-09-01T09:30:00.001-04:00

This is how I feel about Thanksgiving 2010:)

Anger versus Irate

2010-09-01T07:25:00.001-04:00

Sometimes something occurs in my life and I think... that makes me angry.... and then it INEVITABLY get worse and I think to myself "IRATE!".

Here are some examples... and I'd love for you to share yours also.

but first... I love reading blogs with pics.. so here's angry..

EX People talking on their cell phones while driving. WITH THE PHONE IN THEIR HANDS!

EX People talking on their cell phones while driving with the phone in their hands, AND THEIR CHILDREN IN CAR SEATS in the back.

II
Angry- It makes me angry when people let their children roam around the stores/shops/offices unsupervised.
Irate- It makes me irate when they do it in my office and then do not clean up the mess their child made all over my tables, chairs and toys.

III
Angry- It makes me angry when you care for someone and you try and try and they just couldn't be bother to respond.
Irate- It makes me irate when in lack of response for you they go above and beyond for other people that they have a long history of 'caring less for'.

IV
Angry- It makes me angry when someone drives 10 miles BELOW the speed limit in the passing lane. Honestly if you feel the need to drive slowly or carefully I'm all for it. Just stay in the right lane so that traffic doesn't get backed up and so that people don't act recklessly to try to get around you.

Irate- When someone does this and then randomly juts into the right lane and back as if to 'weave' around someone else. EEEK THE CAT!!!!

V
Angry-When people do not take responsibility for their actions.
Irate- When people place blame on others for their own irresponsible actions.

VI
Angry- When someone brings donuts to work and leaves them near me (okay this is a love/hate lets be honest folks)
Irate- When they leave me ALONE WITH THEM!!! hahaahhaha

VII
Angry- When others hurt eachother's feelings
Irate- When others make a conscious decision to hurt eachother's feelings.

Thoughts about the Twit....

2010-08-29T19:44:00.002-04:00

Okay so I've been twitter for a few weeks and here are my thoughts for you converts and not-yet converts.

Pros:
I have more followers there than here, and unlike FB they're not mostly friends, they're new friends and people with similar interest, similar to blogworld.

I can follow totally entertaining celebrities, like @kathygriffen and @funnyordie

When I watch Real Housewives I can follow the commentary by @carolinemanzo and friends.

It never stops moving like FB and the blogs sometimes do (although blog world seems like I'll never catch up!).

I am constantly finding new friends and new bloggers to follow and twitter-follow and read and it really has helped me connect to new local friends which is awesome and exciting.

It helps me learn about events and social media groups on my neck of the woods which is really has been helpful.

Cons:

Sometimes companies want you to follow them only to post every two seconds another advertisement. If I wanted junkmail or crapola I would watch commercials instead of DVR'ing thru them!

My attention span for garbage is VERY limited and its very EASY to unfollow someone so once their promotion is over sometimes I abort their junk mail. I,,, as you know love purging.

There is not a 'like' or 'dislike' button like on FB so if you are pro- someone's ideas you have to RT or re-tweet the story to all your friends instead of being like 'right on man!'.

While its great that it keeps moving its sometimes overwhelming to follow people.

Where's the Beef!??

2010-08-22T19:37:00.006-04:00

Today we decided to make some homemade taco's for dinner. This is one of my favorite and easiest recipes at home because it requires us to have lettuce, cheese and salsa,tostitos and anything else (sour cream, taco sauce, taco seasoning.. soft shells or hard shells). If we don't have shells we use tostitos or another tortilla chip from the closet and eat out of a bowl with a fork or spoon!

Anyway so depending on what is on sale we buy the cheapest ground beef at the store, and I'm sure a ton of you will yell at me for even eating beef but there are a variety of price points for '60% lean, 70% lean etc'. Well you pay more for THEM to take the fat out, which is sometimes helpful but when you eat ground beef like us,, either in tacos or burgers on the g.foreman,, the fat pretty much comes running out like a bat out of hell.

So today we made tacos, and I'm going to show you how I get the fat out the way my mom taught me how so maybe you can share in the fat and money saving trick I use.

So first here's a snap of the beef and the lil Tupperware I've started to fill.

Now you can see how I hold it up and angle it to kinda pull the liquid to the side. Scoop Scoop!

EEWWWWW FAT IS GROSS!!! Glad that is not going in my belly!

So when your done take the lil tupperware and leave it in the back of the stove (away from lil hands like mine when I was little and wanted to play with it and that is MESS SY!).

Once that solidifies (like an hr or so) it will be much easier to scoop out into the garbage and clean off!

better in the garbage than your belly!!!

Do and Do Nots BlogHer 2010

2010-08-17T11:28:00.003-04:00

So during BlogHer10 there were quite a few things that others did and that I too did that were very annoying and frustrating. Lessons learned I will call them, some of which are amusing,, some more concerning. So as the days progressed I started to document them, so that I could share not only with you bloggies but also if someone is looking for some guidance next year they can read my Do and Do not list:) hahaha (and maybe laugh and or pause for a moment).

HUGE DISCLAIMER- I'm not attacking anyone and you are entitled to pick and choose of these which are offensive and acceptable to you.

Let's just start by saying this was my first BLOGGING conference, but it was not my first conference. In my primary career field we often have conferences or seminars both locally and nationally where we continue and update our education, network, market and have fun seeing people who work in various parts of the country and various 'genres'. We have fun going to parties or dinners after hours.

DO NOT Hold your hand up to ask a question for 40 minutes and turn your ears off. What you often will realize is the question will be answered while your waiting, so you can put your hand DOWN and listen and wait till its Q/A time.

DO NOT Okay I know this is a blogging conference, and social networking is of utmost importance as follower and stats matter. But maybe if your at a SOCIAL conference,, use this time to I dunno GET OFF YOUR PHONE AND COMPUTER for five minutes to be SOCIAL!. This drove me nuts and I understand the irony of this offending me, and perhaps its because there is NO way during my 'work related conferences' would we ever insult a guest speaker by texting/messaging or typing during their presentation. I do understand that you may need to set up a meeting or meet up with people after a class or luncheon,, but if your going to be glued to your computer and not acknowledge the person next to you or the rest of the people at the table around you... maybe you should have stayed home cause I think your missing the SOCIAL part.

DO make new friends at each table/chance opportunity. You might read my name-tag (and I might read yours) and it may not seem like a super catchy blog you have read before, but perhaps,, your blog is the one that will change my life (or vice versa). If there is an empty seat, grab it and start a conversation with the person next to you, exchanged business cards, share knowledge and empart wisdom. SO much of this happened that I LOVE LOVE LOVED, but you DO have to not be shy for about 2.2 seconds and just sit your tushy down! (Anyone can fake being un-shy for 2.2 seconds right?)

DO NOT leave the sound on your computer or cell phone so I can hear every tweet,text, chime that you receive. That is RUDE, and doesn't impress me at all.

DO NOT chug champagne at a party because you have another party to get to. Champagne will mess you up!

DO NOT assume you can get to every party, but DO wear comfortable shoes so that you can TRY!!!

DO feel free to talk to other Bloggies on the elevator, some of my favorite conversations were stuck on the elevator for much longer than needed to go up or down some stairs.

DO NOT try to catch a cab when they are all switching shifts.

DO NOT Use a 'question' at a seminar as an excuse to promote yourself shamelessly. Its one thing to introduce yourself, its another thing to introduce,plug,promote, and give a 10 minute tutorial on what you sell why you sell it and why your the best and most honorable person to buy from (GAG).

DO NOT go to a table of people and pass out your business card before introducing yourself or taking even an IOTA of a second to I dunno.... ask who you just dumped the cards (that are not cute!) if they have names or intersts or even WANT your card. Oh PS.. I threw it out!.

DO sit down at a table of strangers and chat and introduce yourself and get to know the people who you are speaking with and ask for THEIR business cards (if your likely to read their blog) and offer yours in trade. Result: meeting people different from you that help make you more awesome! SCORE!

DO Give it a try! Next year is in S.Diego and I will not be attending as I'll be getting married a few weeks before so I'll be in wedded bliss or something. But you should either go to BlogHer or Blissdom, or I think there is a Canadian Blogher, and look nearby and if there is not a meetup,, create one!

How to have Girl Scout Cookies all year round...

2010-08-14T11:12:00.001-04:00

So I had been putting off eating these until I returned home from Blogher. I thought it would be kind of me to wait and let Kevin have some too and not just eat them all myself. So once they arrived I knew I wouldn't be able to hold off for long.

OH MY GOD!!! Do you remember the first time you had a Thin Mint girl scout cookie? And you were like THESE are deLeeescious!? Except soon you realized that the timeline on thin mints are finite.. and while it was great that you had so many in a packet in comparison to those silly samoas,, they eventually were gone, and there was not going to be another cookie sale till NEXT YEAR!...

(I put three on the plate cause that's the suggested serving size and I like to TRY to start off on the right note.... ps.. I lost the pictures via the crappy camera and so I had to 'redo the pic'... and have three more cookies! oops:))

So these are better than Thin Mints... They are smooth like a peppermint patty with the mint filling but crunchy mint like the cookies of those girl scouts.!
(sorry girl scouts I'm not trying to steal your sale and give it to Oreo,, I'm just allowing us to feed our addictions through the year while your earning badges and stuff, I still plan on partaking in your 'sale')

(This is how they look inside.. YUMMY is what best describes how they look).

Okay so I'm not sure if there was like a coupon in the bag to share ya'll a link or a coupon code but if there is I'll come back and share it with you. That being said... Go buy a pack now cause it will change YOUR life too..

mine are now in the freezer and I'm stoked about my evening snack tomorrow:)

*I was given a box of Mint Fudge Oreos at Blogher 2010. I was not requested or required to review (alliteration folks).I was not monetarily compensated. But I have a personal problem with chocolate and mint so it was worth keeping,,, to me!*

I'm a twit! and I think I like it!

2010-08-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Well it took me a while to convert. I resisted mostly because I was afraid and nervous but as I observed my girl Shannon read and twitter and be apart of the conversation, I thought HOW FUN!??

Of course it makes me overwhelmed, especially when I see tons of Bloggers at the convention attached to their phones and tweeting thru sessions or thru parties and I kept thinking 'how will I ever keep UP!" I can barely keep up reading all your blogs that I love so very much and managing to stop to write mine!!!

But then I started to read blogs about twitter and about how people love to talk and have conversations with the people they read and whom read them, so I thought... aww shucks.. (yeah I totally didnt say that!)..

I said "what the hell!"

So I'm on twitter...
@meanderingD and I would love for you to follow me, and look forward to finding and following all of you!.

Nuggets that have VERY little to do with BlogHer 2010, ,,,, but are awesome

2010-08-10T07:15:00.000-04:00

BlogHer 2010 has all kinds of amazing bloggers and knowledge and women, and frankly I think I was over my head (yay!) So in the next few blogs I'd like to try to share some of what I learned (as a true newbie!). But while I try to use some of my skills to make other pictures prettier or learn how to make my blog something you'll like more!.....

Today I'm going to show you the pics I took that were fun and silly and entertaining along the way:) Cause that's how I roll!:)

Four drinks for four amazing women!

The most amazing (and spicy) Mac and Cheese from Hallmark (someone find me that recipe!!!)

A Christmas cookie that we decorated!

Clyde the best-est friend for my cousin!:)

The mini-bar that we could open but did not buy from!

The fridge they brought us when I wanted to store Diet Coke and didn't want to get charged for it..

The jewelry store in the hotel that is named exactly how my cousin says my name (dan-ee-yell-i) :)

AND FINALLY,, the sky caps playing some hoops while we wait for our plane to get into the runway:) (you can't see this but they're wearing earplugs and that makes me happy)

Take a Bite out of the Apple!

2010-08-05T00:11:00.003-04:00

Dear Bloggies,

I'm headed to Blogher 2010 and maybe I'll meet some of you, and maybe I'll learn lots to make my blog more entertaining and awesome for you to read.
I won't be bringing my laptop since a) its my fiance's and b) if its not plugged in it freaks out and turns off which is NOT useful and c) I don't want to make it more finicky. So I may be posting all my bloggie adventures afterward but I'm sure your all waiting with baited breath.

Or your not going and your annoyed that everyone's talking about it (sorry!).
D