Late to the [Proverbial] Party

For the record, I'm usually early or on time for parties, which some might say is much worse than being late.

This post is about the proverbial party...the blog lover's party.

I love reading blogs of all kinds -- cooking, family, pet, exercise.

Up until recently, I simply had them bookmarked and would check each one every so often. This got to be quite time consuming, as I amassed quite a few (thanks Pinterest!)

I would be wasting time going to each blog when only some of them had new posts.

Enter my friend Crystal from My Ramblings. (Speaking of which, CRYSTAL: you need to get back to blogging regularly! :)

She mentioned that she uses Bloglovin to keep track of the blogs she reads.

I decided to check it out.

It's awesome and SUPER simple to use!

Go to bloglovin.com and set up an account (if I recall, this only involves giving an email address and thinking up a password.)

Then, start finding the blogs you read.

You can type a blog's URL into the search box and it will bring back (more than likely) a bunch of results, but usually for the same blog. I'm unsure of why this is (naming differences?), but I went ahead and picked the result that had the largest amount of followers (there's strength in numbers!).

It then adds it to your feed. You can add as many or as few as you like.

Then, sign in when you feel like it and you'll see new posts from those blogs on your feed.

I find the last post that I remember seeing and work my way up through the newer posts.  It's cool because I get the blog post title, the first few sentences, and generally a photo from the post.

If I'm not interested, I move on and I don't have to waste time visiting the blog.

If I want to read a post, I simply click on it and it opens it up in a Bloglovin frame.

So, as the title of this post indicates, I'm probably the last person on Earth to discover Bloglovin. However, if any of my few readers haven't checked it out -- you should!

50 States? 50 Blogs!: Georgia

photo credit

A Boomer Girl's Guide

Georgia...on my mind.

I'm on a midnight train to Georgia.

It's a rule...you HAVE to say those two lines when talking about the state of Georgia.

This post has been in draft form for...well, let's not say how long, shall we? And because it's been so long, I honestly have no recollection how I stumbled across this blog. Now that we've established that I'm slow in writing/posting and have a bad memory, let's move along, shall we?

As the name of the blog indicates, Juhli (the blogger) is a baby boomer. (And yes, I had to go to Wikipedia to make sure I was clear on what ages that specifically covered.) Those born between 1946 & 1964 are considered to be baby boomers. While I'm not considered part of this generation, my parents are and I've recently begun thinking about the next phase of John's and my life -- retirement. (We haven't hit Powerball yet, so I don't think we'll be quitting our jobs tomorrow, but it's always good to think ahead.)

Speaking of thinking ahead, Juhli has written some posts that have helped me in this regard and gotten me thinking about and interested in planning for the retirement phase. (I've even added some retirement-like books to my "to read" list.) Eek.

Another interesting subject/subjects that Juhli writes about are decluttering and only buying things needed. She keeps detailed records about what she's shed from her house and in turn, what she's allowed to come into her house. Bless her heart, she's even done a no spend challenge. (I'm not from the South, but since this post is about a southern blog, I felt it necessary to throw out that a "bless her heart."

Even though we may not be in the same generation, Juhli and I have something in common -- volunteering! (Which I will eventually blog about.) We both are involved in the Friends' group for our local public library. As we're just getting underway at our library, I find Juhli's volunteer posts interesting, specifically ones about book sales.


Things that caught my eye about this blog:

• Tabs at the top of the blog. I especially like the Helpful Reading tab, which gives recommended reading on a variety of subjects germane to retirement -- decluttering, aging, happiness, money, etc...
• Aesthetically pleasing background. The coral color with bird silhouettes is simple, yet beautiful.

Things on this blog that I'd like for my blog:

• The tabs at the top of the blog that I mention above.
• A "theme" for each year. Juhli's theme for her 65th year is PUSH. I think it's great to have a theme/goals in writing as a constant reminder.

While the subjects of retirement and aging aren't my usual blog fare, I enjoy being exposed to these topics and in some small way starting to prepare myself for these things. 

Oh, and did I mention she's a thrift store shopper? I think we'd get along famously "in real life." (Until I wanted to buy something and she'd kindly remind me to only buy what I need...lol.)

The 411 Around Here

Life's been busy. Really busy.

I won't bore you with the details.

OK, I will (that's the point of this blog, right?)



Food, Food, Food!

I've been doing a lot of cooking (a lot for ME) lately.

I made a REALLY good (REALLY rich) dessert -- Butter Brickle Frozen Dessert. (If you haven't tried any recipes from the blog From Valerie's Kitchen, you REALLY should!

For this recipe, I even purchased a new pan to add to my repertoire.

Behold the springform pan!

Behold the springform pan that's from T.J. Maxx for $9.99 AND it's a Calphalon. Woo hoo!

And as crazy as this is, it NEVER occurred to me that you can make a rolling pin out of anything -- even a can of broth! (Thanks to Valerie for that little tip!)

Here's the bottom layer/crust ready to be baked.

Here's the brickle portion of our lovely dessert ready to be baked:

And in my humble opinion, here's the best part (anything that involved Cool Whip is the best part, right?)

Here are some pics of the finished product!

(And it even came out of the springform pan relatively easily!)

I know I didn't really describe what the dessert is made of, but it's just a whole lot of yum. Graham crackers. Nuts. Cool Whip. Butterscotch caramel topping. Wipe the drool off the screen and check out the link to the recipe above!

I don't have any photos, but I tried out a new pork chop recipe -- Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops from the Contented Wife blog. They were really good - a nice departure from plain old pan fried pork chops. (Here's a picture from her blog):

I tried out meal planning. I've seen posts about it before on various blogs and on Pinterest, but after reading a post from one of my fave bloggers, Kristan, at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, I decided to take the plunge. She had a handy dandy meal planner/grocery list printout, which I found helpful.

Here was the first attempt:

For just a little extra work on a Sunday (when we do grocery shopping), it saved a lot of headaches/running around during the week. Regrettably, I haven't done it since (yesterday was nuts), but I will definitely do again the following week.

I've also created an old fashioned recipe binder. While it's good to pin recipes on Pinterest and good to snap a pic of one from a magazine with your phone, I need to have one that I can read without having to reload/take the phone out of sleep mode, etc... So, I took myself to Walmart, got a pretty binder and voila.

Speaking of food, let's talk about Weight Watchers and my status. I personally think this picture sums it up:

Moving right along...


Crafty McCrafterson

I wanted to put something above John's & my bed since we moved in (which was seven-ish years ago? My memory stinks.)

I've bought several things and had several Pinterest/non-Pinterest inspired ideas and they've all gone by the wayside. After reading The Nesting Place (whose subtitle is more important than the main title, in my opinion -- "It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful), I decided to get off my butt and just go with the latest idea that I found and loved. It's in the works, but here are some clues:

New Glasses

I got new glasses a few weeks ago and I LOVE them. (Probably because I hated my previous pair so.much.) I find picking out glasses akin to buying a new car...sort of. First, glasses are ridiculously expensive (not as expensive as a car, but not far behind....) Second, I feel like the optician/car salesperson is waiting with baited breath to see how much I'll spend. When I was at my appointment a few weeks ago and I told the optician I would be buying my contacts online, her lack of interest in my choosing glasses greatly diminished.

In the end, I choose the pair of frames that I liked (not the ones that were necessarily at the height of current optical fashion) and I'm happy with them. (They're purple. Again. Of course.)

Anniversary

John and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on September 13th. Eleven years of wedded bliss! (I am one lucky lady. :) We went to a new/local Mexican restaurant, En Fuego, in Ipswich, MA. It was good (not great, but good.)

We had some lovely cocktails:

John presented me with these beautiful stacking rings:

(Please no criticism of my cuticles...lol.) They're a bit too small and that's why they're not all the way on my finger, so we're exchanging them for a larger size. I love them! He definitely had me beat with the gifts. His words: "Just admit defeat." (He's a much better gift giver than I am!)

As it was our 11th anniversary and steel is the gift for 11 years (as in, "you need nerves of steel to be married to me for 11 years :), I gave him an ice bucket (we don't have one -- imagine that!) with a bottle of sangria and a bottle of rose.

This past Saturday we went out for our "real" anniversary dinner to another local restaurant (one that's been around a lot longer), The Beverly Depot. It's pretty cool as it's actually the old depot/train station and the commuter rail goes by. I had ginger scallion swordfish (which was awesome) and John had prime rib.

We took this selfie before we left:

TV

I've been watching a few shows feverishly (or as feverishly as I can with the busy schedule):

The Great Food Truck Race

photo credit

I binge watched the first four episodes of this season On Demand (which I missed live) and have been watching on Sunday nights live. Eh. I'm not that wedded to any of the teams this go around, but I still think it's fun to see what locations they go to and what the local food specialties are.

Call the Midwife

photo credit

I'm currently watching Season 3 (the newest season) and will be sad when I'm done because I'll have to wait until next year for Season 4!

The Paradise

photo credit

This is the latest addition to my TV watching repertoire. I needed something I could watch on my Kindle via Netflix and I found this BBC series. I'm only a few episodes in and it's only two seasons, so this should be a quick one. It's about the rise of the department store in the late 1800's in London. It's not nearly as good as Call the Midwife, but it makes 30 minutes go by on the treadmill!


Eagles Concert

I bought John tickets to the Eagles concert for Father's Day and we went last Monday night. It was GREAT! It was the "History of the Eagles," so they actually played songs that I knew (vs. a band going on tour to play songs from their new album that no one's ever heard.)

I took the commuter rail from work to Boston.

The concert was at the TD Garden, where the Celtics and Bruins play, so it was cool to see the banners.

Here's a pre-concert selfie. Great of John, fakey smile/double chin on me.

Aloha!

I took this little gem out of the library a few weeks ago:

I've been doing a lot of vacation daydreaming lately and John and I had mentioned that we wanted Hawaii to be one of our next vacations, so I consulted the ever-reliable Fodor. (In case you're not aware, I'm somewhat of a travel guide geek. I LOVE to soak in as much information as I can ahead of time prior to arriving at the destination.)

A few people I'd asked about Hawaii had said we would definitely not want to go to Oahu (too crowded, too much traffic, commercialized, etc...), however, we both want to see Pearl Harbor and Waikiki. So, in a perfect world, we'd go to Oahu first and do these things and then based on my reading, we'd be best suited to the Big Island, Maui, or Kauai. (This will be a LONG vacation!). I just happened to glance at the index and noticed an entry for "bodysurfing!" John LOVES to bodysurf. These three islands have great bodysurfing. Kauai, of the three, seems to be the most unspoiled and I think the one I'd enjoy the most. But...Maui sounds great, too. Decisions, decisions! Any readers have any opinions to share?


That'll do it for now. Thanks for reading (if you lasted this long!)

We're Doomed... and Other Musings On the Demise of Today's Society

I'm not one to whinge about things on this blog...at least not serious things. (I might complain about the Red Sox or the fact that my cooking went awry, but nothing heavy.)

Until now.

photo credit

When I Googled "today's society," this is what I got.

Sad, isn't it?

Well, I've had three real life experiences to back up the fact that we're doomed...that today's society/the young generation is going down the crapper (if not already down it.)

As mentioned above, I don't complain about these big picture things. However, this was a "three strikes and you're out"/"straw that broke the camel's back" situation. (Can I throw any more euphemisms out there? Is euphemism the right word? I digress...) After the last of the three situations below happened, I knew I had to write a blog post. I couldn't keep it in anymore. I had to let it out.

Scenario #1:

A few months ago, I was shopping at Walmart. (Some of you readers are saying to yourself that in and of itself makes us doomed!). There were two customers ahead of me in line. As the person at the front of the line was paying, I saw the cashier doing something on his phone.

Now, I'm pretty naive. So naive that I thought that maybe the cashier was scanning a coupon for the customer off of her phone. I gave the cashier the benefit of the doubt.

The person in front of me moves up, items are scanned, and she's ready to pay. The cashier whips his phone out again and is typing away.

CLEARLY this is not a situation where the cashier is scanning a customer's coupon.

This jerk is texting while working!

The customer swipes her credit card and it doesn't go through so she has to interrupt his texting to ask him what to do. He mumbles, "Swipe it again" and promptly goes back to texting. She swipes again and it's Groundhog Day all over again. It doesn't go through. She asks him what to do. He mumbles, "Swipe it again" and promptly goes back to texting. Now, stay with me here. It doesn't go through for a THIRD time. She says something again and this time her husband (clearly agitated) pipes up, "This is the THIRD time my wife's had to ask you what to do for payment and you're busy texting."

Wait for it.

Little ole' me says, "Yeah, when I was a cashier, we got in trouble for TALKING to other cashiers." (I should've just called myself a dinosaur."

Wait for it. There's more.

The cashier then says, "I'm going to the Army in 30 days. I'll be gone soon. My Mom's really worried about me and she's texting me."

Mother.of.gawd. Yup. That's right. He may be defending our country. I feel sorry for any of his fellow soldiers that he may have to put his life on the line for.

Anywho.

The customer immediately tries to calm everyone down and say it's no big deal but the husband keeps saying it is a big deal and the cashier keeps saying he's leaving to go in the Army.

Can I please just pay for my 40 lb bag of bird seed and get out of dodge???


Scenario #2

John and I were in a Dunkin' Donuts (yes, I know, another stellar establishment) a few weeks ago. We ordered and it came to $4.89. John handed the cashier a $20 bill and she punched it in and the drawer popped open and immediately she yelled to her co-worker, "I have no 5's."

OK. Stop the tape.

Do you not have a 10 and five ones? Do you not have fifteen ones?

Back to the action.

She just stands there, unsure of what to do.

I say that I'm going to buy a bottle of water from the gas station cashier (they're attached) and will come back with a smaller bill.

I do that and come back with a five and hand it to her.

Again with the "unsure of what to do" look.

????

She whips out her phone BECAUSE SHE HAS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE CHANGE WILL BE FOR A FIVE DOLLAR BILL INSTEAD OF A TWENTY DOLLAR BILL, WHICH IS WHAT THE REGISTER IS SHOWING.

Are you f'ing kidding me??????????

ELEVEN CENTS. Just take away the $15 part. It's not rocket science, people. Elementary school math, people.

::sigh::


Scenario #3:

NOTE: The names/situations in this scenario have been slightly altered to protect the innocent (guilty).

Let's just say that Jane's son was graduating from kindergarten and it being a special occasion, a family party would be planned. Jane's significant other's parents offer to her significant other (Adam) to host the party at their house. Adam tells Jane this.

What does Jane do?

Jane sends a message to Adam's mother via social media thanking her so much for offering to host the party and oh, what day would work best for you -- Friday or Saturday?

Stop.the.bus.

What would YOU do?

I'll tell you what I would do. I'd thank my significant other's mother in person (or by phone if in person not possible due to distance, etc...) and maybe even give her a little thank you gift. I'd tell her how much it means and that she won't have to do anything and that whatever day of the week is best for her is best for the party.

OR/IN ADDITION (and I know that this is totally radical), I'd write her a thank you note and mail it to her.

I sound about 90 years old, don't I? It's all about manners, people. Nothing to do with age. Manners.


So, as you can see, we're doomed.

The demise of today's society has begun and is well underway.

That is all. Carry on.

No One Likes to Come Back from Vacation

Unless he or she comes home to this!

Houston: We have walls!

Some "before" pics:

They're somewhat jumbled, but I think you get the gist. We live in a split-level and our lower level used to be a garage (the pink area you see above -- and yes, former owners painted EVERYTHING pink) and pretty much just one big area in front of it (the picture you see directly above with the dehumidifier in the middle of the room.)

We decided to take the wall down between the garage and that room to make one large family room (see top two pics -- the first one shows it the best, I think.) We put in bow windows and it's very light. We're thrilled to have real walls!!!

Next up? Flooring!

Quick Update

How is it possible that it's been almost a month since my last post?

I wanted to get a quick post in...



...because...



...I have BIG news!



I HAVE A NEW JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



(OK...sorry. I'll stop shouting.)

To be clear, I have a new position at the company that I've been working at (for 14+ years!)

This is good news (in case you couldn't tell).

Over the past year and a half, in my previous position, I was exposed to parts of the company that I knew very little about, but was afforded the opportunity to learn about them and work with various departments that I previously had not worked with.

I learned a lot.

Not only about the company, but about myself.

While I appreciated the opportunities I had, I knew it was time for a move for me.

The stars aligned (OK, it wasn't that pretty behind the scenes...lol) and I've now been afforded the opportunity to work on the team behind the company's newest product. I'm beyond thrilled for this opportunity. I look forward to doing work that I'm familiar with and that plays to my strengths but also about learning even more things about the company.

I officially started the new position on July 1st, but am transitioning out of my previous role over throughout the month.

I'm thrilled. (Did I mention that already?)

photo credit

Get a Flat Belly In 10 Minutes

THAT drew you in, didn't it???

Well, let me tell you something.

It's.a.lie.

False advertising.

I did this & four other "flat belly" exercises for LONGER than 10 minutes.

photo credit

What did I get?

SQUAT. (Some sweat with that.)

Now, let me tell you something else.

I'm embarking on doing this 3x week for the next month.

For those in remedial math, that's 120 minutes or 2 hours.

I'll get back to you and let you if I have a flat belly in 120 minutes (vs. 10 minutes).

Stay tuned.

Heeeeeeeeere's Rocky...and Hopefully NOT Bambi

Welcome to Wild Kingdom...in small town Massachusetts.

Do you notice his stare going right through me?

And a few hours later?

Completely empty.

That masked robber has eaten us out of [bird]house and home.

In other news, I'm hoping this tip from my friend Nancy will allow the Hostas in our yard to not be eaten by Bambi.

You're intrigued, aren't you?

This is two bars of Irish Spring soap - each cut in half. 

This is a pair of old pantyhose- each leg cut in half. 

This is homemade deer repellent.

I tied each to the back of a Hosta plant.

Now we wait.

And hope we don't see Bambi and her gang munching on the Hostas.

Do you have homemade "remedies" that will stop raccoons from eating bird seed? Or stop deer from eating Hostas? Do share.

Retail Therapy

Knowing that John was going to be working a good part of this long holiday weekend, I decided it was the perfect opportunity for some retail therapy.

To level set expectations (how do you like that newfangled corporate terminology? ::sigh::), the term "retail therapy" means shopping to make one feel better. In my case, it's generally an "alone" shopping trip.

I can take as long as I want.

I can try on something three times if I feel like it.

I can look through a clearance rack of what others might think is "crap" and be totally OK with that.

I'm no stranger to shopping/retail therapy.

Legend has it that when I was five or six, I blurted out to my Nana, "My Mom says CHARGE IT!"

So, yeah, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Over the past few years, my love for shopping changed. While I still loved going to stores and browsing, it was mostly looking for things for the house, for G., or John. I'd gained weight and I didn't like the way that any clothes looked on me, not to mention that I was in a size range I'd never seen before.

After doing Weight Watchers and keeping the weight (or most of it) off for a while and going back down to what I consider a comfortable size, I started to reacquire my love for clothes shopping. Having been super busy, I haven't had much time to devote to the art. (Yes, clothes shopping is an art in my book.)

Back to the beginning of this post -- John was going to be busy, so I was going to be busy, too-- shopping!

I started on Friday night by going to our local TJ Maxx. You know - that place where you get the maxx for the minimum and you're a Maxxionista for shopping there?

I got a few things for G.'s birthday (which I won't post here should she be lurking) and then I got myself what I consider to be two "hip" tops. (Probably calling them that is making some of you shudder.) They're "young-looking." (in my book). When I was heavier, I just wanted something to cover me. Now I'm OK with my arms showing!

Here's shirt #1 (excuse the wrinkles/bad lighting):

It's a bit light, so I'll probably need a white tank top to go underneath (unless you fashionistas out there have other suggestions!)

Here's shirt #2 (again excuse the wrinkles/bad lighting):

In case you can't tell, it's navy. Navy blue is really my color. I'll plan to wear this with white capris/shorts. This one's a bit sheer, as well, so I'm undecided on what to wear underneath. Do I try to find a navy tank? Help!

I had to bring my car in for service on Saturday morning and I got a free loaner car. Coincidentally, the dealership where it was being serviced is right near a strip mall with Special Thoughts Outlet Store (smaller scale Big Lots) and HomeGoods. Ahhh...HomeGoods...my safe place...lol.

I bought G. some stuff at Special Thoughts for her birthday and then wandered into HomeGoods, grabbed a carriage, and spent almost two hours in there. There's so much to see in there -- even two hours is not enough!

I'm always on the look out in HomeGoods in the girls' room section for purple stuff for G.'s room. Her hamper broke a week or so ago and I'd been thinking I'd have to order a new one from eBay because I can never find a purple one in stores. Wrong!

It's much more adult than her last hamper (this one screams "teen" to me, while the other screamed, "little kid.")

The other purchase was something I'd wanted for a while. At our nephew's fiancee's bridal shower, they had various drinks in glass urns/beverage dispensers with spigots and I LOVED the way they looked. When we have holidays at our house, we use a punch bowl and while I know it's tradition, it's not my fave. So, I figured if I could find a dispenser I liked, we could alternate. I got this for $24.99 (and I had a $25 gift card, so free!)

After HomeGoods, I headed to Stop & Shop for a few "luxury" grocery items. We generally shop at Market Basket (a super duper discount grocery store) and so often we don't have a lot of variety when it comes to brands, flavors, etc... I browsed Stop & Shop just like I would any store! I picked up some funky flavored powdered drink mixes, some salad dressings, and some cheese sticks that we can't get at Market Basket. (I know how to live, don't I?)

I went home for a short break after this and waited until my car was done. I brought my freaky loaner car back and then decided since I was close to Danvers (shopping mecca around here), I'd do some more!

I headed to Burlington Coat Factory and spent a good hour there.

Again, more stuff for G. (although I did try on a ton of stuff.) I only left there with these for me:

These may look like your ordinary run of the mill flip flops, but these are Clarks. Clarks make super comfortable shoes (although not always at the "height" of fashion) and when I found these flip flops I knew I had to try them on. As we all know, flip flops aren't generally super comfortable, but these are! I might even go back and get another pair in another color! Not bad for $19.99!

Next I headed to TJ Maxx (a different one than Friday night) for my last purchases. They were the icing on the shopping trip cake!

My photo will not do it justice. In fact, my photo sucks.

It's a dress (I rarely wear dresses!) with blueish/navyish stripes and a cute pair of navy sandals with a little fake bling.

I love them.

So, take a lesson from my book -- retail therapy is the BEST therapy!

Recipes for the Non-Rocket Scientists

You're probably going to read this post and think to yourself:

"Self? Why did she even bother to write a post about these two 'recipes?' What does she take me for - a dummy?"

Because really-- who can't make pork chops with cream of mushroom gravy and egg salad (not together) without recipes?

Me.

I LOVE recipes.

I love following them to a tee.

Now I just need to learn to be able to stray (ever so slightly) from said recipes.

Enough about me!

First up, my Nana's "recipe."

My Mom gave me this little notebook with family recipes and I cherish it!

And there you have it.

Not rocket science, but pure deliciousness.

P.S. Use Minute Rice.
P.P.S. As the cook, you should always serve yourself the piece of meat that was cut open to ensure appropriate level of doneness. (You can thank me later for that little nugget of etiquette.)

Next, egg salad.

Yes, I said egg salad.

And not just any egg salad, but perfect egg salad.

The Pioneer Woman is one of my latest obsessions. I watched all of the latest episodes On Demand and have gotten her cookbooks out of the library.

I wasn't able to find this online anywhere, so I photocopied the recipe and put in my newfangled recipe binder. (This whole midlife cooking fascination, just well...fascinates me!)

Pioneer Woman Perfect Egg Salad

1 dozen hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup mayo
1-2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp white vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

• Chop the eggs. (This alone is a diversion from my normal egg salad making, as I generally mash the eggs.)
• Add mayo
• Add mustard
• Add Worcestershire
• Add vinegar
• Add salt & pepper
• Mix
• Et voila!

The mustard, Worcestershire & vinegar give it a nice kick!

If you're looking to get out of the egg salad doldrums, this is your recipe.

See?

Not rocket science!