The Last Word

Happy Thanksgiving?

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:00:00 +0000

You're welcome.

Let the countdown begin

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:23:00 +0000

I'm hosting Thanksgiving tomorrow at our small townhouse with our giant family. Luckily, nine people can't make it so there will only be eighteen of us. Eighteen people. And only three of them are from my side of the family. That's what happens when you marry into a family of eight siblings. In a townhouse. It's not like I have a whole lot to cook, I only have to do the bird, throw some crescent rolls in the oven along with three boxes of Trader Joe's sweet potato pie bites. But just making sure the house and everything is in order is tiring. Our house is a mess most of the time, but when I'm having people over, it has to be spotless. Weird. I have a headache and I'm exhausted and I can't think right now, so I leave you with this:

I was on the phone with my dad yesterday and he said, "So what's for dessert on Thursday?" And I said, "Pumpkin pie, apple pie, and cookies." He didn't say it, but I know he was hoping a pecan pie would be making an appearance. He's from the south, and pecan pie is a staple there. So I trekked out to the store, bought a bag of pecans and some corn syrup and got to baking. Yeah, that's a homemade pie crust, no big deal. He should be pleased.

The music rut is over!

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:06:00 +0000

Ever get into a music rut? I love that feeling of finding an album or an artist that you're obsessed with and have on repeat 24/7. Lately I haven't been listening to much of anything.

As cheesy and ridiculous as the movies are (don't get me wrong, I love them regardless) the Twilight movies always have the BEST soundtracks and always expose me to artists who are kind of under the radar. The Breaking Dawn pt 1 album did not disappoint. I'm out of the rut! Right now I'm listening to the band Sleeping at Last. So good! Most of their songs are pretty melancholy but some of them are more upbeat. But the lyrics, oh my goodness, the lyrics are soooo good and I find myself looking up the lyrics to every new song I hear. Just beautiful.

This is from their song "Turning Page", the song that's actually on the soundtrack:

If I had only felt how it feels to be yoursI would have known what I've been living for all alongWhat I've been living for
We're tethered to the story we must tellWhen I saw you well I knew we'd tell it wellWith the whisper we will tame the vicious scenesLike a feather bringing kingdoms to their knees

From "Birthright":

But what doesn't kill usMakes us stronger they sayBut our only birthrightIn this life, is the Breath that we take.

From "Tethered":

I'll be brave when you are frightenedYou'll be strong when I am weak in the kneesI'll be calm when you have had enough of these rushing wavesYou'll be the oxygen I need
You'll be balance when I waverI'll be warmth when you are shivering coldYou'll be patience when I've had enough of this waiting gameI'll be the anchor cast below

From "January White"

Well, we could let our guards down a little easier this time, We could trust that when there's joy, there's nothing dark behind. In spite of history, Hope is January white.

From "Watermark" (this one feels particularly relevant to me right now for some reason):

Dive in with your eyes closedFor the life you were born to claimAnd the water will be paralyzedBy the courage you containAnd the flutter of your earnest heartIt will fill the silent seasAnd all will be restored in your memory

Plus the album artwork is gorgeous and kinda makes me want to break out the watercolors.

I also discovered Sharemyplaylist.com, and it's something I've been looking for a long time. You can type in a song you like and it will find playlists that people contribute that include that song. It's awesome for discovering new music.

Disclamer: I just found out that Sleeping at Last is a christian rock band . . . nothing wrong with that, just not really something I'm typically into. I really wouldn't have guessed based on most of the lyrics, but whatever, I'm totally open minded!

Monday Funday

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:22:00 +0000

Some good things about this Monday:

Baking pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and eating two of them straight out of the oven for lunch

Wearing sweatpants and Uggs to work (my dining room)

Blasting the Breaking Dawn soundtrack with no judgement

Having an eye-opening session with my therapist (I think everyone should see one!)

Frank not having night class this week and knowing it's a 3-day week

Have a good Monday!

Living Room Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:54:00 +0000

If you've ever been to my house, you know that I can't leave a room the same color for too long. We've lived in our house for a little over two years and I've painted every room except for two of our bathrooms. And it's not like it was horrible to start. I just love how painting is a cheap way to totally change the look of a room. And I've become kiiiiiind of a pro after learning some tips from our friend who helped paint the hallways and two story stairwell (he used to be a professional painter).

So anyway, I decided I was tired of the two toned look of our living room, and wanted to lighten it up so it's nice and bright for the winter (hello, SAD sufferer). But once I had the room painted a very pale aqua, it was suddenly way too cool and bland looking. Enter Crate and Barrel and some cheap DIY tricks to add some warm orange accents.

So here is the living room before:

And here is the after:

I did really love that bold teal color but it was a little TOO bold to put all over the room, and I was just over the two toned look. I am also not a fan of beige, and I think it casted a yellow tone on the room. So here's the rundown of the changes:

I kept the light blue trellis-patterned pillows (um yeah, just realized one is sideways. I'm not a photographer and I'm not an interior designer) but replaced the other ones with these bad boys from Crate and Barrel. They're just much better quality pillows and I like the more graphic and colorful look. Kept the framed vintage map of Paris above the couch. (PS - I want a sectional, BAD)

The color is totally off in this photo and doesn't really do this side of the room justice, I swear. We grabbed those rust orange pillows from JCPenney, which have the same burlap feel as the Crate and Barrel ones. And I love the buttons. See the wall art? I bought two cloth napkins from C&B that were on clearance for $8. Then I bought two square canvases from Hobby Lobby and stretched them on it, using a staple gun on the back.

I'm kind of in love with this antelope/gazelle/goat? head from Home Goods. Frank looked at me like when I was completely insane when I plucked it off the shelf and said, "I'm getting this, now," without any consideration. I think he kind of loves it now :) Plus I knew it would look awesome because I saw it's distant cousin here. I share the white ceramic animal obsession, it's a sickness

The lighted nook above the fireplace didn't change much, I just cleared some clutter and added this orange vase that I found at Marshalls.

Here's the surprise! I did paint this wall the light aqua color to begin with, but it felt like one big long blue room. So I decided to use some leftover brown paint to do an accent wall, in order to kind of separate the dining area from the living room area. I LOVE it! This photo really is horrible though, I suck at Photoshop. The paint is definitely warmer and slightly darker and really contrasts with the white chair rail.

The artwork is the same stuff that used to be above the the loveseat. They are pages from an old atlas that I bought at an estate sale. The matting on it was white before, so to make it pop a little more, I grabbed some fabric that I already had and just wrapped the mats.

And here's a picture of Little Man sleeping on the dining room table, because he has no manners.

Taking a day off

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:41:00 +0000

On Wednesday, Frank and I decided we both needed a day off. Except I can basically never take a day off anymore, boo, so I woke up super early and did my "must do" work for the day and left the rest to handle the next day. After he woke up, we decided to take the pup to the dog park since it was such a beautiful day and almost 70 degrees out. Indian summer is just a cruel joke to me though. Mother nature is a lying B.

Wilbur made friends with some Pit Bulls and Boxers because he's bad ass like that. Some pudgy old lady beagle tried to sniff him out but he didn't have time for bitches. It's so funny to watch him play with other dogs. He doesn't like chasing, he likes being chased. So he just annoys other dogs until they basically want to kill him and finally chase him and then he's all like "weeeeeeeee!".

Then we had a picnic lunch including turkey (organic and nitrate/nitrite free) sandwiches, lite organic cheddar, spicy cilantro hummus, raspberries, and whole grain pita chips with hummus, ALL from Trader Joe's. We just got one close by, can you tell I'm obsessed? Look at me, being all organic and hippie, for cheap.

I laid in the sun on a bench.

And stared up at this:

And then we went and got ice cream from Brusters. My pick? Half a scoop of pumpkin pie and half a scoop of caramel apple crunch. Please note my excellent iphone food photography skills. I definitely should have done some kind of vintage filter on that.

My sexy beast of a husband got deep dish apple pie.

And Wilbur stuck with a doggie sundae and a milkbone.

But apparently getting his own ice cream wasn't enough and he begged for ours.

Then we went home, the end.

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:49:00 +0000

It's been a rough few weeks. I got really sick, my anxiety disorder made a triumphant return (it was REALLY bad) and then I got sick again (well . . . it's the same thing as before because I stopped taking my antibiotic, which as it turns out, I was allergic to). I'm finally on a new antibiotic, and have crawled out of the hole that is panic disorder and anxiety disorder. I'm ready to get my shit back together. Winter is always really hard for me, I get the "winter blues" and can't STAND the lack of light in the evenings. In order to stay happy and healthy, I'm going to try a few things:

1. Cardio at least three times per week

2. Yoga twice a week

3. Lifting, twice a week

4. Meditation, once a day

Yeah I know, meditation, weird hippy stuff. But I just downloaded an app so it's directed meditation and its all about relaxing and slowing your breath. The problem is that i usually fall asleep when i do it . . . so I'll have to get that under control.

Plus I lost like three pounds when I was sick and I've been in the mindset that I can eat 5000 calories a day because I'm in the red. Probably not a good idea. They put a Trader Joe's in near my house and I've been eating their dried mangoes like it's crack.

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 02:12:00 +0000

I won't say much about it besides that I'm going through some serious, hard, shit right now.

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow. ~Mary Anne Radmacher

Whoa wait what?

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:59:00 +0000

I'm going to have to step it up on the blogging front because the impossible has happened. My husband started a blog.

Let that sink in for a minute. It's the last thing I ever thought he would do.

The only people that know about it so far are a few of his friends. Stop by and leave him a comment: it would absolutely make his day!

Don't mess with Texas or sinus infections

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:36:00 +0000

I'm back in cold, rainy Pittsburgh and recovering from a massive sinus infection that also spread to my throat. That was the diagnosis I received at the urgent care clinic I visited the morning after I wrote my last post. (Side note: There was also a guy named Kirk there waiting to get stitches. Apparently one of his friends threw a full bottle of Gatorade at his face and basically cracked his face in half. You wouldn't think a Riptide Rush to the grill could do that much damage, but you'd be surprised.) Luckily the combo of antibiotics, Mucinex, Vitamin C, and Advil kicked in quickly and I was feeling noticeably better by that afternoon. We drove around Galveston checking out some of the historical district. I was still feeling like crap so most of the photos were taken from the passenger window of a moving car, so they're not very good. That night I finally felt well enough to actually leave the hotel and eat dinner, so I got a steak (in Texas!) with a gulf view. Then I went to bed by 8.

On Thursday morning, I woke up ready to rock Galveston. I still didn't feel awesome, but I could stay awake for longer than 20 minutes and it was our last day there so I wanted to make the most of it. When Frank got back from his morning class, I convinced him to ditch the rest of the day. We drove around town, did some shopping and got an awesome lunch of crab stuffed shrimp (for me. He got something lame with chicken). The rest of the afternoon was spent laying at the pool and drinking Grey Goose and vodka (which is my new favorite). We also went for a long walk on the beach and I found the biggest seashell I've ever captured! Yes, I captured it. Honestly, looking for seashells is my favorite part of the beach and you can bet I brought this bad boy home with me.

Frank brought this back for me when I didn't feel well enough to go to one of the fancy dinners:

The Hotel Galvez:

These are some of the houses/buildings we saw on our drive around the historic part of town:

The pool area was amazing, so was my view wink wink:

I could do this every day.

My boyfriend:

Me, back from the dead

My giant seashell:

I liked the sun flare

Pointing out grammatical errors on the beach

The view from my deathbed

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:29:00 +0000

(I started this post last week, but the shoddy hotel internet was cooperating, so I'm finishing it now.)

Here's the view from my death bed:

Amazing view, but it would be nice if I could go out and walk on that beach, not just stare at it from my bleached hotel sheets. I tagged along with Frank to a work conference in Galveston, which is actually an island off of Texas. Of course I started feeling weird after I stepped off the plane, and by last night I was feverish and had to call it a night before everyone else. Today has been miserable. I've been able to stay awake for an hour or two, do a little bit of work (even though I'm not at home, I'm technically still working because I didn't tell any of my clients I would be gone). Then I pass out and wake up in a pool of sweat a few hours later. Fever, chills, aches, and a little bit of a sore throat. I've missed a Mexican buffet and a gourmet dinner of seared salmon and who knows what else in favor of a 1/2 gallon of orange juice, some pizza flavored Combos and some gummy worms. I'm praying that today was the worst of it and I'll feel miraculously fine tomorrow.

Galveston is a weird place. We're right on the ocean but there's not much of a beach. The hotel is gorgeous, but when you take a walk down the street there are boarded up houses, pawn shops, and fried chicken joints. We passed through a cute historic houses with gorgeous houses that look like they're right out of a magazine, but if you take a wrong turn, you're in the ghetto.

Anyway, our hotel is pretty impressive. We're staying at the Hotel Galvez,

One way to freak yourself out is to Google your hotel on a whim to find out if it's haunted, and then find out that it is indeed very haunted and has been the subject of many paranormal investigations. The story is that a woman's husband was away at sea and she was staying at the Hotel Galvez. She got word that his ship had wrecked and no one had survived. She was so distraught that she hung herself from one of the turrets. But it turned out that his ship had not wrecked and he returned a few weeks later. Apparently she haunts the hotel now.

I will update later with more Galveston photos and any ghost sighting.

Lunch time win

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:40:00 +0000

Sometimes I go a while without eating a salad because it just sounds blah and boring. And then I start feeling fat and decide to eat one and I'm like "oh yeah. . . that's good".

In the mix:

Romaine

Tomatoes

Garbanzo beans

Artichokes

Goat cheese

Bacon bits (no one's perfect)

Flax seed

Almonds

Light Greek vinagrette

I could live off of chick peas and artichokes alone.

Yeah, I just blogged about salad, and I don't even think it's the first time.

Ahoy Mateys

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:45:00 +0000

So I was sitting out on my deck working this morning, Macbook on lap, coffee to my side, sun in the sky (yes, insert jealousy here). I was writing an article about "wardrobe necessities" and the major pieces every woman must have in their wardrobe in order to be fashionable. Then I looked down and realized, I'm an effin' hypocrite.

I apologize for the quality of these photos, which were taken in Photo Booth, but I have no desire to take high quality pictures of me looking like a junkie. So here's the rundown, which i'll do in the style of a fashion blogger:

On Emily:

Pants: Target, possibly the maternity section judging by the wide waist band

Frank the Tank t-shirt: from brother in law, meant to be for husband but too small for him, I think it's from Steve and Barry's, which I'm pretty sure no longer exists.

Shoes: UGGs, those are fancy.

Yeah, so the next time you're reading a fashion article, take it with a grain of salt. Because it could be written by someone like me, and there's a good chance the author hasn't brushed her teeth yet.

Anyway, later on I had to go to Nordstrom's to spend a gift card that I had from returning some TOMS's. (According to Google, I'm the only person in the world that gets crippling sciatic nerve pain from TOM's. Hopefully the needy children don't.) So I had to put on some fancy clothes, because Nordstrom's is fancy, yo. Here was the awesome outfit I put together:

I look like Pilgrims of the Caribbean. Seriously, wtf? But I went with it, because it looks weird and that's sort of what I was going for. Oh and also? This shirt is appropriate for temperatures ranging from 72 to 72.4 degrees. It's like sheer, yet long sleeved.

On Emily:

BLOUSE: (yes I used that word) Old Navy, steeply discounted

Jeans: Gap (outlet)

Shoes: DSW

I even wore my hair up, which is a big step. I don't do that very often because I generally hate the look of my face and the surrounding head areas. My hair is generally the moneymaker.

So see, sometimes I wear real clothes.

Also, there were turkeys.

I touched a lot of goat this weekend.

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:55:00 +0000

This weekend was kind of awesome. Frank had Friday off and it was gorgeous, so I agreed to go golfing. I actually have a good set of golf clubs but have never used them. I golfed better than I thought I would AND I got to drive the golf cart, bonus.

Frank took some lame pictures of me, and I took an awesome one of him:

I spent the rest of the afternoon staining and painting the front porch and steps while Frank napped (can you sense my frustration?). He's not one for manual labor, or at least manual labor involving paintbrushes. We sat around until 9, when we suddenly both got the urge to go to the gym, mainly because nothing else was going on. He made me do some ridiculous cross-fit stuff until I felt like I was going to throw up. Then we went home and watched Something Borrowed which almost made me dry heave due to the cheesiness. Frank said he liked it though, he's more into the cheesiness than I am. I wanted to strangle both Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson, mainly due to their respective obnoxious laughs. The only redeeming part of the movie was John Krasinski and he didn't even get the girl in the end. Jim, you're better off without that cackling sloot.

On Saturday morning I went to the gym again and did some cardio and then took a yoga class. I'm really getting into yoga because all that downward dog is really strengthening my shoulders, yo. And did you see what I did right there? I told you that I went to the gym two days in a row!

Then we went over to Frank's sister's house to steal her kids for a few hours and take them to a fall festival. See, I love to do fall kind of stuff like festivals and pumpkin patches but Frank's not really into it. So if I use the kids as an excuse to go, he thinks I'm just being a good aunt.

Izzy really wanted to ride a pink pony but she settled for this white one.

Zach said about the Carnie-zombie enthusiast petting zoo owner: "That lady was really nice for letting us feed her goats and ride her ponies."

And we waited forty. five. minutes. to get our faces painted because it was important. We were really impressed with the kids' patience and dedication for waiting in line for so long. You could tell it was really important to them. We, on the other hand, were not patient. Frank disappeared and came back with a beer a few times. He also almost had to throw down on some line cutters. (PS $5 for face painting? $10 if you wanted the whole face painted? I'm in the wrong industry.)

Also, this happened:

Every time we have the kids, we follow up by asking each other, "So did that make you want to have kids now or not want to have kids now?" We both decided we were neutral. We love those kids and have so much fun with them, but it's e.x.h.a.u.s.t.i.n.g.

After a quick nap (and a pizza to the face) I got ready and we went out downtown to celebrate two of our friends' birthdays. We got bored of downtown and ended up at the casino, mainly because of the cheap beer and priceless people-watching opportunities. When I started falling asleep at the casino bar (I can't hang anymore) we all went back to our house, made grilled cheese sandwiches and chili for everyone and passed out. It was a fun night.

Now it's Sunday night and I really have to buckle down and get a ton of work done this week. Why? Because next week we're heading to a beach resort in Galveston (a work conference for frank) and I would like to do as little work as possible.

Fall Feeling

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:51:00 +0000

I get majorly sad when the weather starts to turn and the days get shorter. Last week was much colder than average and it rained every. single. day. But this weekend? Highs in the mid 70's and clear skies. So I've been trying to stay outdoors as much as possible. We took Wilbur to a trail near our house and I went a little crazy with the camera.

One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was dig around in the creek by our house to find salamanders, toads, etc. My sister and I found a toad in our yard and kept it in an aquarium. My mom thought we would have it for a few days or weeks. It lived for ten years.

My dudes.

There's a big stone quarry near the trail and all these great cliff walls.

This water is completely clear but the surface is covered with leaves and lily pads. You can see little fish and any time you make a move, you can see ten or more frogs jump from the edges of the pond into the water to hide.

Wilbur loves water. No he doesn't.

I tried to do the braid thing with my hair and obviously failed.

I can't handle the cute.

So sometime in the middle of winter, while I'm clutching a bottle of antidepressants and soaking in the rays from my artificial light therapy, I can look back at these pictures and remember that it does get better.

The Cost of a Hangover

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:26:00 +0000

I don't really drink that much at all anymore. If I do, its just a beer or two. But there have been an obscene amount of bachelorette parties this year that I've been subjected to and they require alcohol to cope. I love getting the opportunity to hang out with my group of girl friends, don't get me wrong. It's just the fact that we always end up at the most crowded, skankiest bars in town and that's just not my thing anymore. I like being able to freely move my arms without accidentally groping some dude's jewel encrusted Affliction t-shirt. Plus, it seems like everyone there is in college, and I'm just too old for this. So I drink. In order to have some fun. And I always regret it. I'm particularly regretful this time because I've been trying to lose some weight again and this weekend just totally threw me off. So here's the breakdown of the cost of my hangover:

1. The beginning, the Yinzerrita. The specialty drink of choice at the restaurant we ate at was the Yinzer'rita. A giant margartia with a bottle of IC Lite mango stuck in upside down. A feat of physics and alcohol tolerance.

I literally drank about 20% of this drink and was d-r-u-n-k. I knew it was all over from there. But for the sake of this blog post we'll just take the calories from the entire thing. According to an article on Forbes.com, an average 10 oz margarita is 740 calories. Let's ignore the fact that this was more like 20 oz. IC Lite Mango = 95 calories.

= 835

2. Then you have to take into account the approximately 5 other beers I had that night.

= 480 calories

3. Then there was the "Papa Smurf" which capped off the night. It was shared amount 8 of us, so i'm sure I'm probably going to catch a cold somewhere in there too. I have no idea how many calories were in this. I'm going to guess 10,000. So 10,000/8 = 1,250

= 1,250

4. Then there was the obligatory Taco Bell stop on the way home. Something that I typically wouldn't eat sober, but with all that alcohol in me, all bets were off. I had 1 crunchy taco supreme (200 cal), 1 side order of nachos (280 cal) , and 1/2 Frank's chicken quesadilla (265 cal). (We looked like this only less blonde)

= 745 calories

5. The next day, I felt like death. And apparently, death is best served with a Steak and Shake burger (330 cal) and fries (240 cal). Which is weird because I have never even eaten at Steak and Shake before, but at that moment, I NEEDED it.

=570 calories

Total cost of hangover: 3880. Excellent. That is like 3 days worth of calories.

A recipe - beef with broccoli

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:36:00 +0000

I just made something so amazing that I had to write about it immediately, before I'm even done eating it. Mainly, so I don't forget the recipe. I found the recipe online somewhere but I think I tweaked it enough to call it my own.

We've been making a serious effort to cook more, to save money, but mostly to save calories. And I actually kind of like cooking, surprisingly, minus the cleanup. Tonight I was craving Chinese, but instead of ordering takeout, I decided to make beef with broccoli, one of the healthier typical americanized chinese foods. Its also low-carb, which is what I'm needing lately, since i hit the "bad number". The bad number is a particular number on the scale, and if you reach it, you need to pull out all the stops to lose that shit.

So anyway, here's the recipe:

3/4 pound of flank steak or sirloin

3/4 pound of broccoli florets, chopped

2 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil (I used sesame)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water

Marinade:

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon of corn starch

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Sauce:

2 tablespoons hoisen sauce

1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon fresh ginger (I used ginger paste in a squeeze tube)

1. Thinly slice the flank steak against the grain.

2. Mix up the marinade and cover the steak, I put mine in a gallon sized ziplock back. Set aside for 20 minutes or longer.

3. Mix up the all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

4. Heat up two tablespoons of oil in a large skillet, on high heat.

5. When the oil is hot, dump in the beef slices and spread them out. Let them cook for about a minute without stirring. Then flip over, add the garlic and let it all cook for another minute, until there is no pink left.

6. Add the broccoli to the pan. Then pour in all of the sauce and bring to a boil, about one minute.

7. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir it in, let it cook for another minute. The sauce will thicken. Cook until the broccoli is tender yet crisp, which should only take a minute or two.

I served mine over brown rice (a measly half cup, boo). It's awesome!

I'm on a boat.

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:37:00 +0000

I went away this weekend with all my very best friends. We all met in college and of my different groups of friends, these are the ones I know will always be around. We're essentially a big weird family.

We stayed at our newly married friends' parents' lakehouse in Ohio. The house was gorgeous and big enough for us all to sleep comfortably. Frank and I got a bedroom to ourselves (bonus of being one of the few married couples in the group!), the lake was right in the backyard, the pontoon boat was docked and ready to go, and we had a ton of breakfast meat. Pretty much, the perfect weekend.

It was also in the 60's while we were there, so it really felt like fall.

I didn't waste any time getting a fishing rod out and going to work. Frank also tried his luck but nothing was biting.

I was a little obsessed with taking photos of the mushrooms. They were so crazy looking!

Mushroom fun.

On our sunset cruise. That sailboat is not us :P

Frank and I, he's wearing the sweatshirt that he wore every single day of 2003.

A photo of the whole crew. I wish that Miller Lite can wasn't in the way, but ML has been a staple in our friendship for the last 7 or 8 years, so it fits.

I tried to set up a pic of us with the sunset in the background but my camera must have slipped. And Frank looked like an asshole.

The girls, on our romantic sunset cocktail cruise.

The boys drooled over the sailboats.

Hockey Night

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:38:00 +0000

Frank finally took me to a hockey game! I've been saying for years that I wanted to go to one. Well I guess I could have but my main stipulation is that it has to be free, because there's no way I'm paying money to watch a sports event, when that money could be put toward something important, like a new pair of Hunter boots.

But Frank finally got some free tickets from work so we got to go to a preseason game last night. And because we're fancy(??) they were catered box seats, score. Here are some pictures, but none of me and Frank because I suck at blogging.

Obviously I was more excited about the food than the hockey. Our box came with cheesesteaks, italian hoagies, sausage sandwiches, sushi, Mediterranean artichoke salad, hummus, pita, chips and salsa, goat cheese and red pepper dip, soft pretzels, beer, wine, etc. Nom.

I was pretty excited about this blimp that floated around the arena.

Yay hockey.

And since I didn't include any people pictures, here is Wilbur, stalking squirrels. He just stands there and wines, with a puddle of drool on the floor. It's like he's at a beagle strip club. The cat stands by in support.

Deep conversations

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:14:00 +0000

After Frank got home from class he heated up some leftover turkey. I told him he needed to eat a vegetable. A few minutes later . . .

F: Are you happy, Em? I'm eating my vegetables.

E: What did you have?

F: A tomato and garula?

E: What?

F: Argola.

E: Arugula?

F: Yeah, arugula.

E: That's lettuce.

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 02:43:00 +0000

The town I live in is . . . interesting. Anytime someone asks me where I live, I hesitate to answer. It's not really the nicest place in our city. It's not like its dangerous or there's a lot of crime, it's just pretty rundown and almost a ghost town. It is one of the last remaining steel towns around Pittsburgh, with one steel mill that's actually still in operation. (If you don't know much about Pittsburgh, you might picture it as a smoky dirty town as it was when it produced a ton of steel, but it's not like that anymore.)

A while back, there was some pretty devastating flooding, which destroyed most of the businesses on Main Street. Most of them cut their losses and closed their stores and restaurants, leaving abandoned storefronts. A few bars, restaurants, and random shops still exist, but a lot of them still have a lot of flood damage. We ordered take out from one of the restaurants one time but never ordered again, because the smell of mildew in the restaurant was so intense that we were turned off by it.

It's kind of sad, and these ridiculous ordinances in the town prevent ANY chain restaurants from opening. I can understand not wanting chains in a really nice main street town, but this place is struggling and any kind of business that would create jobs and bring in tax money would help.

The fact that we landed in this small town is kind of funny, because Frank actually went to Catholic grade school here and has all kind of memories of it. Our house isn't in this downtown area, we live on the outskirts on top of a huge hill, where they built our townhome community. The town fought the construction of our houses for years, the didn't want anything new there. Our house isn't expensive by any means but it's new and nice. When you drive outside of our little neighborhood, the houses are older and somewhat dilapidated. This place is fine for us now, but once we have kids, we know we'll have to go somewhere with a better school district.

I really don't like this place. It pisses me off how backward it is. It could be a really nice place but all the politics are led by the business owners, and they don't want any new business to compete with theirs. Tonight we went to the town's Arts and Heritage Festival. It was a very cultural experience . . .

The main commercial attraction . . . Family Dollar.

The festivities on Main Street. I really think this place could be nice if more businesses opened up.

The flyer advertised arts, crafts, food, and clothing vendors. The Pittsburgh fashion scene wouldn't be complete with out a "Drink Up Yinz Bitches" t-shirt .

This guy was selling bones, skulls, and various taxidermied animal parts. I begged frank for a deer skull to no avail.

Being cultural.

I hate this place, but someday we will move somewhere nicer and will appreciate it so much more. Peace out, from the hood.

What I've been listening to

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:17:00 +0000

I've realized that music can completely change the mood I'm in. Take yesterday for example. I was in a pretty down mood. I popped in my ear buds and cranked it out to some Gaga on the treadmill and my mood was instantly lifted. Yeah, I'm sure it had to do with the exercise too, but I knew the music also had a part in it.

I thought I'd share the Spotify playlist that I've been listening to on repeat for about a month. It's pretty random, and made up mostly of songs that I heard on Pandora and bookmarked. Oh, what would I do without music social networking? I LOVE Spotify (and I just use the free version) but I haven't really figured out the social aspect of it yet. Does anyone use that and want to give me some pointers?

Anyone have any new suggestions? I need some new playlists!

Chopped

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:32:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, when we were in Chicago, I got the urge to chop off all my hair. I blame it on the ridiculous humidity and heat, and the fact that Frank's cousin had a really good haircut. I started dreaming of short, sleek, angled haircuts.

So as soon as we got home, i made an appointment to get my hairs cut and dyed. But of course I chickened out at the last minute and didn't go for the short cut that I was inspired by. Instead, I got something in between, awkward-length and . . . meh. I couldn't commit.

It was also WAY too dark at the beginning and I looked a little emo for a while. Now it's dulled down a little, some of my natural highlights have poked through, and i'm looking a little less goth. Here are some gratuitous selfies.

Also, I bought some product while I was at the salon, because I'm a sucker for that. I'm not sure if Regis salons are all over the country or not, but they have fake Moroccan oil. Moroccan oil is AMAZING and I've stolen a drop or two from my sister before. But it's like $40 for a tiny bottle. Regis makes a very similar argan oil product called "Fiji Therapy", and it's much cheaper. My hairdresser admitted that its not quite as concentrated as Moroccan oil, but that unless you have really thick and frizzy hair, you won't notice the difference. And I didn't notice the difference.

Ill try to blog about something more exciting next time!

I'm going to be a horrible mother someday

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:54:00 +0000

It's been a weird day so far, a really weird day. And it's only 3:30, so there's probably plenty more where that came from.

First of all, I had so much work to do today, and rather than making me extra productive, this usually results in procrastination paralyzation. I sat there in my pajamas reading blogs for a good hour before I made myself take a shower, get dressed, and haul ass to Starbucks to get work done.

The particular Starbucks I go to is about a 15 minute drive. There are two (maybe more) that are actually closer to me, but this is the only one that I can "get in the zone at". I ordered my drink, got my table and propped open my Mac and . . . where is the internets? Internet man down. Ugh.

So I went home and set up shop at my dining room table, vowing to actually be productive. But the dog had to go out. And then he had to come in. And then he had to howl at leaves blowing in the yard. So annoying. But then I remembered what I bought the other day:

Doggy downers. I bought these because we've been getting a lot of storms lately and Wilbur is terrified of thunder, and I thought these might help. Because he was crazy hyper today and I had so much work to do, I thought . . . why not? So I gave him a couple and he quickly drifted off into dreamland, where i'm sure he had some crazy drug-influenced dreams.

With beagle safely sedated, I got to work on an article that is due tomorrow. Typity, type, type, EARTHQUAKE.

Wtf? Of course, at the time I didn't know that it was an earthquake. Here is my stream of consciousness:

-Am I having a panic attack? Why do I feel like the room is shaking?

-Oh, the dog felt it too, I'm not imagining it. Is there a person trying to break in my house by drilling a giant hole through my roof?

-Must check Twitter!

That's literally what went through my head, in that order. Does this make you wonder about me?

Poor Wilbur, in his drug-induced haze, was jolted awake, kind of crouched low to the ground and then ran upstairs to hide. I have probably scarred him for life.

Anyway, here's a photo of the devastation, please send relief funds to my PayPal account:

Friendly Tips for Camping

noreply@blogger.com (Emily @ TheLastWord) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 01:13:00 +0000

You may not know this about me but I'm pretty high maintenance. I hate admitting that because I generally don't like high maintenance girls, but there it is, and I'm sure my husband will resoundingly agree. I'm basing this on a few facts: I rarely leave the house without makeup (and by rarely, I mean only if the house is on fire), I really like air conditioning and hate anything that makes me sweat, and I have a "product" for everything. I can't help it, I was raised in a climate controlled environment, didn't play sports, and have a naturally ugly face.

But surprisingly, I actually really like camping. I love being out in nature, cooking on a fire, pooping behind a log. I mean, I don't think I could go for more than a couple days or anything, but we always go camping a few times a year. I actually have a pretty impressive camping resume, considering my long Girl Scouts career and the fact that my best friend in high school had a trailer at a campground (the same place where she would reveal, awkwardly, that she was a lesbian, as we slept in the same tent together. Great timing.)

This weekend, we went camping with my best friend, her fiance, and their group of friends. It was so much fun! But it wasn't real camping. The campground was actually labeled as a resort, and though we were sleeping in tents, there was an electricity hookup at every camp site, along with free wifi internet for the whole campground (??!!). This may sound appealing to most high maintenance people, but I really like to go balls to the wall when camping. None of this "official campground" nonsense, we usually just find a random spot in the woods nowhere near civilization. No electricity, no bathrooms, no people except the people you're with. It's like Survivor, but with young urban professionals, Eddie Bauer sleeping bags, and pontoon boats. I like falling asleep in terror to the sounds of rabid animals, not Jimmy Buffet tunes and the whirring of the blender from the cougars making margaritas next to our camp site.

But because I failed at taking any photos this weekend (it's kind of awkward to take pictures of people that you don't really know that well and then posting them on the internet, doesn't really set things off on the right foot), I'll leave you with my camping advice for high maintenance ladies:

1. Earplugs. Seriously, if I could bring one thing camping this would be it. I just started bringing earplugs with me when i sleep overnight anywhere and they are magical. I have trouble falling asleep if there is any kind of noise, and falling asleep to the sounds of wild animals gnashing their teeth on your cooler or retirees making frozen drinks way too late is almost impossible. I pop these earplugs in and I can sleep through anything.

2. Air mattress. I don't sleep on the ground. But the key to sleeping on an air mattress is to sleep on it with someone who is bigger than you. Because after a few uses, they start losing air throughout the night and you end on the ground anyway. My advice to you is to share an air mattress with your boyfriend/husband/fat friend so that they are the one that sinks, and you stay afloat on their displaced air.

3. Cleansing makeup remover cloths. If you don't have access to a bathroom, you can slip into your tent in the cover of night and take off your makeup before you go to sleep. That way no one will see your ugly face and think you are a woodland beast and try to poach you.

4. "Natural" looking makeup. Even if you are the girl that wears makeup during camping, you don't want everyone else to know you're that girl. Bring a hand mirror and apply a "natural look" before you get out of the tent in the morning. A little swirl, tap, buff, of the bare minerals, a swipe of concealer and some mascara will do the trick. Then get out of the tent, yawning and stretching, like you just woke up looking like a hot piece.

This is what I look like without makeup, swearsies.

5. All possibly-needed meds. I usually bring a sampler pack that contain one of each of the following: Advil, Pepto, allergy medicine, immodium, zoloft, tranquilizers. That way you will be prepared for anything. For example, this weekend, I got a pedicure from a shady place in the mall the day before we left to go camping. Once we were camping, I noticed one of my toes was looking infected where the nail lady went a little buck wild with her cuticle scissors. It's a good thing I had some Bactine and a band-aid, otherwise I would have probably thought I was going to get gangrene and would have made Frank drive me to the closest emergency room. We were pretty deep in the country, and I'm pretty sure the only option would have been Dr. Quinn medicine woman.

6. Clothing for every climate. I whine if I'm too hot. I whine if I'm too cold. Bring a clothing option for every situation.

7. Get drunk and take a klonopin. Going to sleep, on the ground, in the great outdoors is enough to put me on edge. I like to self-medicate before bedtime so that when my head hits the pillow, I forget that there are bugs crawling all around me. Usually, a taking a couple Miller Lites to the face in rapid succession will be enough to get me to sleep, but if that doesn't work, I'll usually cap it off with a half a klonopin for good measure. (Please consult your doctor before mixing beer and seizure medication.)'

Got any more tips for going camping and looking like a natural?