Pictures on the TV

I was going to do a Guitar Hero tutorial tonight to explain to you how Guitar Hero works, but I got sucked into a new love of mine. Iron Chef America!

In case you don't know, I will explain how this show works (to the best of my knowledge). An Iron Chef competes against another professional chef to make an entire meal in one hour, usually at least four courses, and each course must include the "secret ingredient," which is introduced at the beginning of the show. There are five Iron Chefs, and they each have a specialty, like Japanese or Italian cuisine.

Today was a holiday dessert contest. At the end of the hour, three "celebrity" judges taste each dish and then pick a winner. The show also has a chairman who sits at the judge's table on every show and tries all the dishes. I think he is one of the judges too. Ok, it is clear that I am not an expert on the Iron Chef rules, but you get the general idea.

Tonight was different. It was a holiday dessert cook-off, and there were teams. Paula Deen (Food Network show host) and Cat Cora (Iron Chef) competed against two male chefs who I think are also Food Network show hosts. The secret ingredient was sugar.

And look who the judges were!


H and I both love Tina Fey. H may love her a little bit more than I do.


It was very hard to take pictures of this show because the chefs were running around the kitchen all willy-nilly. (I am pretty sure that is the first time in my life I used the phrase willy-nilly.)


The chefs always have sous-chefs who help them prepare things. This grown woman dressed like an elf for the holiday-themed show. I feel that she does not get paid enough for this.


This is one of the competing chefs. He took off his white chef's jacket and was flashing his arms around. It was weird and slightly disturbing. He also spent a lot of the episode flirting with Paula Deen. Put your coat back on!


Of course, during the commercials I had to flip to this to watch my guys (Duke).

Stuffing Rules!

Before:



After:



I actually did about half of the cooking! We had turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes (I'm not sure why I didn't label this in the pictures, but you can see it there), cheesy potatoes, rolls, Pilgrims' Salad, and cranberry sauce. I cringe a little every time someone mentions having Stovetop stuffing for Thanksgiving because it means that you have not experienced the joy and wonder that is the Crowley family homemade stuffing. If you had experienced this joy, you would never eat Stovetop again. I promise. But then some of you probably look at my table and see the cranberry sauce straight out of the can, with the can indentations still on it, and cry a little. To you, I say, get your priorities straight! Homemade stuffing is the best! Also, I don't like cranberry sauce, so I don't care.

To those of you who are Sconnies and eat KFC for Thanksgiving I say, you can see that we have plenty of leftovers. You are welcome to come over for real stuffing and Guitar Hero.

I have no idea what we are going to do with so much leftover food. I halved all the recipes, and yet, we STILL went way overboard. Thank goodness I didn't listen to my mom who wanted me to buy an even bigger turkey. Yikes.

It's Time for Thanksgiving

It has been (gently) snowing all morning, and now there is a light dusting of snow covering the neighborhood. The turkey is cooking, the pumpkin pie is ready, and the stuffing smells incredible.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

(Sorry. It's hard to write a long entry with my mom visiting.)

Yes, This Is What Nablopomo Has Brought Me To Do

And now I have nothing to write about.

I could tell you how I just found one of my blog posts on a weird spam blog. Or I could tell you how tired I am. But instead, I think we should discuss tv this week.

House: I was annoyed by the whole gimmick of having a documentary crew follow House and his compatriots (correct use of that word?) around the hospital. And I find the Crazy Bitch Doctor super annoying. But I am in love with House's best friend, the oncologist played by Robert Sean Leonard. I loved when RSL was making up bad stories about House during his interview by the documentary people. And I loved how the documentary was edited to make it look like House is a freakishly nice guy. "I became a doctor because of the movie Patch Adams!"

Gossip Girl: They played Guitar Hero! I want all their clothes! The end.

Project Runway: Do we really need more than one competitor this season with a Flock of Seagulls haircut? Apparently, we do. I knew that the bottom two contestants would be Eyebrows and Crazy Hippie, and I knew they would keep Crazy Hippie just to see what kooky things she will do next week. Did anyone else think that the dress by the Israeli guy who won the challenge fit the model really weird and made her boobs look like they were at stomach level? No? Just me and H thought that? Ok.

30 Rock: I did not get to see this because my sister-in-law taped Real Housewives of the OC (or whatever it's called) instead. Oh well. I will just watch 30 Rock online. It will be online, right? Sorry, writers' strike people, but I need my 30 Rock.

The Office: Normally, I love Kelly, but she is not allowed to talk smack about my Jim! Pam challenging Kelly to a game of ping pong was awesome. Everyone reading Michael's diary was hilarious but also made me want to give Michael a big hug. Actually, I wanted to give Michael a big hug during this whole episode. Was the best part when the lawyers were trying to figure out who this Ryan person is that Michael was dating? That's what she said.

What am I forgetting?

I Can't Have It All, Now I'm Dancing For My Life

People, I am exhausted after writing a million e-mails about this blog share thingy. Oh my gosh. I triple-checked every e-mail, but I make no promises regarding any lack of typos. If you have any problems, please send me an e-mail if you discover an incorrect e-mail address or something. Or if you didn't get an e-mail, please let me know!

In other news, this morning, a 21-year-old man sat 3 rows in front of me on the bus. He wore a huge black hooded sweatshirt, a backwards baseball cap, jeans that were at least two sizes too big for him so that they sagged well below hip level, and headphones. I noticed all these details for two reasons. First, he stood out because every other person on the bus was wearing a suit or at least looked "business casual." Second, his music was so loud that I could hear every note and every word.

The music didn't bother me because I liked it. He played "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West and some older Jay-Z songs. And then he played "What a Feeling" from the classic film Flashdance. I looked around to see if anyone else thought this was as awesome as I did, but no one else seemed to care. I wonder if baggy pants guy knew the rest of us could hear his song selections.

My love for 30 Rock is so deep that even though I watched it last night, I am going to watch it again now. I love you, DVR.

Greenzo out.

Audience Participation Required

I have several questions for you today.

1. For this blog share, should I post a list of sites that are participating? Would that make you uncomfortable because it would be too easy to find out on which blog you are posting anonymously? Or would it just be fun? I think it would be fun, but my anonymous writing is not going to be very serious. I don't really intend for this to be a post-your-deepest-darkest-secret kind of thing, but what is the point of being anonymous if it is that easy to track down your post? Except if my blog is the only one listing all the participants, someone would have to go from your blog to my blog and then to each listed blog ... ok, this is going on way too long so I am going to end this rambling right here.

2. Are knee high boots cute on really short ladies (aka me)?

3. If knee high boots would look cute on me, are they supposed to be kind of wrinkly around the ankles? I tried some on and I thought they looked kind of sloppy because of the ankle wrinkles. But maybe that's just what they're supposed to look like. I am fashion impaired.

4. Do you remember the episode of Blossom when Joey had to write a poem for his girlfriend but couldn't come up with anything, so Blossom told him to just use song lyrics, and the song he chose was "I Touch Myself" and the girlfriend got freaked out and dumped him? Whoa! Oh, Joey.

I Can't Explain It

When I first started working at my office, it was quite an adjustment. It is hard to start at a new place where you don't really know anyone, so you end up acting super-formal all day, and you don't really know what you are doing, so you feel kind of stupid, and the day just drags on. Ok, so maybe "you" = "me," but I am pretending these are universal feelings and behaviors.

It took at least a year for me to get to the point where I am now. I have a work BFF and other friends I can call to say, "Oh my gosh, I have to get out of the office right now before I punch someone in the face. Let's go get coffee!" And my days are so much better.

The point of this is that there is a new woman in my office who just moved here from my home state (Home of the Huskers). When I met her, she seemed tremendously nice, and I know how hard it can be to get started in a new place, so I invited her to have lunch with me today. We went to one of my favorite lunch spots, and we had a great lunch. My new coworker seems really fun, and the conversation was really easy and flowy, and I did not have to resort to the lame list of stories that I have to pull out when conversations run dry. We talked a lot about Nebraska, and our conversation, in conjunction with this post about Minnesota from the author of Thirty Before 30 got me thinking about Nebraska and whether I miss it or not.

The answer, essentially, is that I don't miss it. Which is not to say that it isn't a great place to live because it really is. And there are so many things that are quintessentially Nebraska that other people don't get. Like the entire state stops during a Husker game, and everyone knows who the Huskers are playing and at what time. And Nebraskans know that "Husker game" = "Husker football game" because hello? That is how it works. And that during a Husker game is the best time to go to the mall because there will probably only be 5 other shoppers in the entire mall, and even those 5 shoppers will be wearing red because it is Game Day. I don't know. For some reason, it makes me happy to talk about Dodge Street and the College World Series and Creighton basketball.

What What!

I was goofing around on blogs tonight and happened across Jen's blog, which had a link to Gizoogle. Gizoogle translates any website into "jive." So I translated my blog, and here is my last post, according to Gizoogle.

Happy Independence Day ta all of you (also affectionately referred ta in many nations as tha Day Before -R-'s Birthday) thats off tha hook yo!

I hizzle already begun tha birthday celebrizzles. Today mah assistant bought bagels fo` tha Breakfast Birthday Celebrizzles. Then one of mah boss's tizzle me out ta lunch fo` tha Lunch Birthday Celebrizzles. And tizzy afta wizzle I wizzay ta tha mizzy fo` tha Ann Taylor Loft Birthday Celebrizzle where I bought two skirts fo` $27.50. The sale is buy one sale item, git shot calla sale item fo` half price, so one of tha skirts ended up cost'n $7.50! Then I came home, n mah baby daddy had sizzent flowa fo` tha official Floral Birthday Celebrizzles . Wussup to all my niggaz in the house. I am not sure yet whizzat we is going ta do tomorrow besides attempt ta W-to-tha-izzatch two fireworks displays at once (the Fireworks Birthday Celebrizzles. Thiznen it is mah actual birthday, n Double G is com'n ta ghetto fo` tha Bizzy Friend Birthday Celebrizzles. Finally, on Saturday, H n I is going out fo` tha Official Birthday Dinna in tha hood. Consider'n T-H-to-tha-izzat mah 25th birthday was spizzent straight trippin' an official practice bar exam, I believe tizzle I deserve all tha birthday fanfare, even though mah 25th birthday was 3 years ago. P-L-to-tha-izzus, I am special. [Insert rap fizzy here.]

All tha birthday celebrizzles mizzy one perpetratin': mah mom's birthday is on Monday! Hiznelp . Aint no L-I-M-I-to-tha-T! I asked mah sista fo` gizzift ideas, but mah sista said, "My specialty is Christmas, not birthdays." Are there any birthday specialists out there? I need sum-m sum-m T-H-to-tha-izzat is NOT a knick-knack. My mom's hobbies is golf n ballin'. She has expensive (or straight trippin' she loves a good deal) taste. She is not good wit technology yeah yeah baby. She enjoys long walks on tha beach n messin' champagne in tha moonlight . Keep'n it gangsta dogg. Oh wait fo' rizeal. I think I gots off topic there.

Tiki Time

The hill at the beginning and end of my near-daily bike journey is no longer referred to (in my mind) as The Hill of Death. Now it is The Hill of Slight Pain. Soon it will be The Hill of Indifference. Maybe someday it will seem like The Slight Upward Slope of Happiness. But I doubt it.

I rented a workout video and tried it for the first time tonight. I only did one of the segments, so I will reserve judgment until I try the whole thing. It is a "dance" workout video, though it is really more aerobicizing or something than dancing. Anyway, there was one move that I just could not get down despite repeated attempts. You are supposed to kick with one foot and step back with the other foot, but you aren't supposed to fall over. I don't really get how it works. H was in the other room, and I asked if he was embarrassed that I couldn't do the kick move. He said, "No, I already knew this about you." I am not sure what he meant by "this." I would like to think that H meant, "I already knew that you were too cool to follow a workout video exactly. You have to express yourself by doing your own moves." However, I fear that really he meant, "You are totally uncoordinated." Which would be an accurate thought on this part.

I needed to work out today because last night I went to a tiki bar with (the lovely)Noelle, 3 of Noelle's (very lovely) friends, and Stefanie. While they drank their classy tiki drinks and tried a few fried cheese curds each, I ate approximately 8 giant onion rings and 52 tater tots while drinking wine out of a box. Good times!

Maybe Later I Can Upgrade to the Sparkly Seat

I got my birthday present early this year. I think I received the same gift for my 5th birthday. Well, the one I got for my 5th birthday was yellow and had a banana seat covered in silver sparkles, while this one is mostly white with some seafoam green details and a regular seat. Yes, I got a bike!

I know I said I wanted an iPod shuffle, but H and I have been wanting to get bikes for two years now, so we decided this was the time.

I went for my first ride after work today. And I didn't fall off even once! Wooo! And, even better, I didn't run into anything! Two older ladies and a 12 year old boy did pass me, but that's ok! Also, I thought I was going to die when I was riding my bike into the wind, but I survived! And then I turned and realized that I hadn't really been riding into the wind; NOW I was riding into the wind! And I survived that too! And then I thought I might have to give up and walk my bike when I was going up a big hill, but I didn't! I made it!

With A Vengeance

[Now edited to prevent googling.]

I am in Philadelphia. AND I JUST ATE DINNER WITH WRUCE BILLIS. Oh yes. The Wruce Billis of Die Hard who used to be married to Memi Doore. I also saw the person that I am guessing is his girlfriend, but since Wruce and I are such good friends now, I will be discrete and not tell you about her. Except to say that I didn't recognize her.

Anyway, I feel like my blog's purpose has been fulfilled now. I get to write about a movie star sighting. Because by "I just ate dinner with Wruce Billis," I mean, "We are staying at the same hotel, and I had dinner at the bar of the connected restaurant while he sat at the same bar a few feet away from me and had drinks with his friends, while I pretended like I couldn't care less about the whole thing and continued to read my book by Bill Bryson, but secretly I was pissed that I did not bring my camera to dinner so that I could figure out a way to snap a picture without him noticing."

Here is the part of the blog where I would post a picture of Wruce and me if I hadn't been too cool to take one, and if I had brought my camera to dinner, and if I had brought connector cables or something so that I could upload pictures from my hotel room. I wish I were ruder. Instead, just picture a 5'10" guy in a tight shirt, seriously skinny jeans, cowboy boots, with a shiny bald head, standing next to a 5'2" nerd.

You guys, I do not even like Wruce. Why am I so excited?

Knocked Up

The movie. Go see it. Awesome. Even the 70-year-old woman sitting next to me loved it. A lot. She was laughing really hard throughout the movie.

If the film critics are H, the old lady next to me, and me, this movie gets 6 thumbs up.

You're welcome.

The Pope of Chili-town

I had a fantastic weekend, and I am feeling much happier. I have not been enjoying my job at all for the past few weeks, but I think I am over that feeling for now. I think one of the things that really helped was a happy hour with a group of coworkers (postponed from Wednesday) that reminded me that I work with a lot of fun, enjoyable people.

But enough about that. What made my weekend so enjoyable was that I did nothing and didn't let myself feel guilty about it. H went to a NFL draft party with his high school friends that lasted from 11 am Saturday until 7 am Sunday. (The party was about an hour from our house, and H had been drinking, so he just stayed the night.) Since I had the house to myself, I sat on the back porch for a few hours and read my Maeve Binchy book. Then I did a tiny bit of yard work and came inside to watch a marathon of The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search. Today, we went to Panera Bread for lunch, bought groceries at Target, did some yard work, and did just a little bit of work for my job. I am slightly sunburned and well-rested, which makes me happy.

You may have noticed in the paragraph above that I call the wooden platform attached to the back of our house "the back porch," which annoys H to no end. H calls it the deck and insists that I call it the deck as well. This from a man who calls both the noon meal and the evening meal "lunch." H also used the phrase, "He thinks he's the pope of Chili-town," at least 50 times today, which is from The Simpsons episode in which Homer tastes everyone's chili at the chili cook-off. Thus, I think I am allowed to use the term "porch" if I want.

You may have also noticed my reference to Maeve Binchy. I am mentioned before that I do not own many books. I probably own less than 20 books because I got rid of most during the course of several moves. Of the 20 books I own, I think 5 are by Maeve Binchy because they are books that I can read (and have read) multiple times. H has asked who I love more, Binchy or him. The answer is H, but it's a tough question.

Cool Whip Makes Everything Better

We had a tiny visitor at our house today. My friend and her 8-month-old daughter came over to play. We ripped up an old magazine, crawled around the living room and kitchen, and played with the Nintendo Wii. I will let you guess which activities the 8-month-old instigated and which activity caused her to start screaming because her mom was busy swinging a Wii-mote around. Apparently I am not an adequate substitute attention-giver. H and I also discovered that our house is really not baby-proofed for a crawler, not that we thought it was. No injuries occurred though, so really, what more could you want.

H and I also went to the Mall of America today, and I bought this dress (although mine is a petite size since I am so freaking short) for my brother-in-law's wedding this summer. It is so cute, and I can wear it to work too. I am pathetically pleased by this purchase.

I have been in a bad mood for the past few weeks, but H has been pitching in by doing a lot of cleaning around the house and being all-around hilarious. There are some people I've met who just seem so serious all the time; I don't know how they survive. I need at least a little laughter every day to get by. [/end lame serious paragraph about having a sense of humor]

Do you know what else helps me get by? Freaking Samoa flavored ice cream. How did I live without it? Also, coffee with Cool Whip instead of cream and sugar. Seriously. It is terrific.

Money (That's What I Want)

One Smart Cookie did a list of the 5 "luxuries" that she would spend money on if she had lots of extra money lying around and the five things that aren't important enough for her to spend money a lot of money on, even if she could afford it. So that's not exactly how she worded it, but I am tired, and that is my explanation. Following in her footsteps, here are my lists.

The Five Things Worth My Money:

1. Expensive shoes. I would go for quality over quantity, although I do have limits. There is a blog about purses that I look at from time to time when I get really bored, and the author writes things like, "This purse is only $650, so you can take it to the beach and get sand in it, and you won't even care." Ummm... THEN YOU ARE CRAZY. So the point is, I would not spend $650 on shoes and then say, "Yay, I can run through mud puddles in these since they are only $650," but the occasional pair of designer shoes might be fun.

2. Car. I would probably get a BMW or a Lexus, which is exactly what One Smart Cookie would not spend her money on, but I think it is worth it for the extra control and comfort.

3. Fancy vacations. I would go to Australia first, I think, and then London and Italy. And Canada - I have never been to Canada!

4. Stylist. I feel like having a stylist would rule. I never know if my outfit is ok or not.

5. Swimming pool. I would love to have a swimming pool in my backyard. Not very practical in Minnesota though. Maybe I could get an indoor swimming pool. Yes! That is my new plan.


The Five Things Not Worth My Money:

1. Makeup. I am just not that into makeup. And I am just as happy with Cover Girl lip gloss as I think I would be with the same thing by Chanel.

2. Private jet. Riding in small planes frighten me.

3. Manicures. The paint always chips off in two days anyway.

4. Books. I love the library!

5. Wine. I am with One Smart Cookie on this one. I am no wine connoisseur, and 10 bottles of $20 wine sounds just as good as 1 bottle of $200 wine.

Planning Ahead

Since I last posted, I have gone to a Twins game, worked, eaten some barbecue and also some Samoa (correct name: Caramel Delights) Girl Scout Cookie flavored ice cream, and worked some more. I also bought a red patent faux-leather headband. And now, sadly, you are all caught up with my life.

It has also been warm enough this weekend that I got to wear my new super cute Keds. So comfortable! So cute! Unfortunately, I didn't get much time to enjoy the nice weather. Can I tell you how excited I am about summer and hot weather? Very! I want to wear my Keds everyday, and take bike rides with H, and have barbecues at our house, and make sangria, and invite people over to play Bocce and badminton. What is your favorite thing about summer?

Ready, Set...

In November, I was listening to the radio in my car on the way to the bus stop, and the DJ said that you could buy tickets for a Snow Patrol/OK Go concert on the radio station's website before they went on sale to the general public. (This does not really make sense since the people who listen to this radio station are the general public, but just go with it.) I thought, "I like that OK Go song I hear on the radio, so it would be fun to go to the concert." I called H, and he told me that the concert was going to be too girly and he didn't want to go with me. So I told him that he had no choice, and I bought two tickets.

The concert was great. H and I both really loved OK Go. Snow Patrol was great, but not 100% my style. I think Snow Patrol is what I would have listened to when I was a sophomore in college, lying on my bed and feeling sorry for myself because I didn't have a boyfriend. Whereas OK Go makes me dance.

H said, "Oh, R. You love the geek rock." Yes. Yes, I do.

A Quick Tour of My Playlists

I am uninspired. But will that stop me from writing something and publishing it for the internet to see? No.

Perhaps you are wondering what is in my queue for Blockbuster Online movies? The first ten items are:
1. Or, My Treasure - I have no idea what this is.
2. Numbers, Season 1, Disk 2 - Shut up. I am watching these while working out.
3. Syriana - Parts of this will be too scary for me to watch.
4. Network - I think I have seen this before but would like to see it again.
5. Numbers, Season 1, Disk 3 - I have optimistic views on how much I will work out. I will probably not need this disk quite so soon.
6. Walk the Line
7. History of Violence
8. King Kong
9. Numbers, Season 1, Disk 4 - You get the picture.
10. Mystery Science Theater 3000, vol. 1 - NERDS.

I am kind of embarrassed by the above list. And yet, I will continue to share by listing some songs I have put on H's iPod Nano for my listening enjoyment which make H wish that I would just get my own freaking iPod. (I am considering the Shuffle, but since I always just use H's Nano whenever I want, I don't know if I really need it.) Ok, here's the list.
1. Eternal Flame - The Bangles
2. Sick of Myself - Matthew Sweet
3. Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
4. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
5. Bathwater - No Doubt
6. Rock DJ - Robbie Williams
7. Manic Monday - The Bangles

Actually, there are several more Bangles' songs on the iPod, and H hates all of them. And yet the shortness of this list makes me want to go out and purchase some Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson so that I can really get my dorky groove on during my morning bus rides.

Pump Up the Jam

First, to answer the question that I know has been at the back of your mind: Did you ever finally get a black purse or what? Yes, I did. I finally bought one tonight. Not only is it exactly what I wanted (and yet nothing like either of the purses I was originally choosing from), it was 33% off!

Ta da!


Now we move on to Stefanie's request. She wanted to see pictures of my workout space. Since I was going down there (to the basement) anyway, I brought my camera.

When you first walk down the stairs into the basement, you see the tv and tiny DVD player (on the shelf constructed by H), the punching bag, a curly bar (sorry to use such technical terms), the big bar, boxing gloves and assorted items hanging on the wall, and the lat machine. For some reason I took this picture at an angle so that everything looks crooked, but in real life, it is not.


Here is a closeup of the items on the hook below the tv. I am really into jumping rope lately. I want to say "jumproping" instead of "jumping rope," but it just looks wrong.


Here is the hook in the ceiling where the punching bag hangs when in use. I do not use this.


When you first walk into the basement, to your left is the squat rack and the bench and weights and stuff. (Drywall is overrated.)


Here is the one piece of gym equipment that was actually purchased for me. I love this bike.



And just a random picture because looking over during Scrubs tonight and seeing this cracked me up:
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