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!

#bostonstrong

We will never forget.

Krystle Campbell

Martin Richard

Lingzi Lu

Sean Collier

Are You There Blog? It's Me, Katie.

Unless you were a tween in the 70's or '80s, you may not get the reference.

photo credit

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is a book by Judy Blume (first published in 1970) that tackles coming of age topics such as buying a first bra, getting a first menstrual period, and oh, on top of that, figuring out what religion to "belong" to.

This blog post tackles none of the above topics.

One night while laying awake and pondering blog posts, this witty little title came to me.

In this case, it means, "Um, hello blog? Are you there still there? Are any readers still there?"

It's been over a month since I've blogged and I decided that even though I have tons of stuff to do today, I needed to take a short while to write.

So, here we are.

Spring has sprung (finally) in New England! I'm ignoring the fact that my loving husband said something about snow mid-week. I have my fingers in my ears and I'm singing, "La la la la" and can't hear him.

I've made some really good recipes since I last wrote.

The latest and greatest is Cinnamon Chip Scones.

Easy peasy and super duper yummy. (Hardest thing was finding cinnamon chips!)

Note: These aren't in perfectly formed scone shapes, but they still taste great.
Another note: It says to roll the dough out to 1/2", but I'd make it a bit thicker.
Last note: Don't judge my cookie sheet.

What else is new? Hmmm...

I was in Florida in March for five days visiting my parents. Had a great time. Got snuggle time with these two cuties:

Saw a FABULOUS movie -- Nebraska.

photo credit

Hilarious. Sad. Real. Definitely worth of Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

And my new favorite hobby?

I finally got a new laptop and installed this (a year + later).

It's fun, but addictive!

I found my great Granddad's draft card and it was so odd to see how much my Dad's & Granddad's handwriting are like his.

I thought I was the first in my family to join a sorority. Nope. My great aunt (or grand aunt, as Family Tree Maker refers to her), was the president of her chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Glad I took the time to write this short post; stay tuned for more!

And the Oscar Goes To...

photo credit

In past years, I've managed an Oscars pool at work. This year and last it just didn't happen. I was much too busy and the Oscars snuck up on me. So, instead of submitting a secret ballot to the work pool, I'll put my predictions out in the open for all to see (for the major categories and ones I cherry pick.)

Let me preface my predictions by saying this:

I've seen ONE movie nominated for Best Picture.

Shots in the dark.

Anywho, my choices are in BOLD.

Best Picture
American Hustle (the one I've seen)
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers' Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director
David O. Russell, "American Hustle"
Alfonso Cuaron, "Gravity"
Alexander Payne, "Nebraska"
Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave"
Martin Scorsese, "Wolf of Wall Street"

Best Actor
Christian Bale, "American Hustle"
Bruce Dern, "Nebraska"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "Wolf of Wall Street"
Chiwetel Eljofor, "12 Years a Slave"
Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers' Club"

Best Actress
Amy Adams, "American Hustle"
Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine" (I actually saw this one, too!)
Sandra Bullock, "Gravity"
Judi Dench, "Philomena"
Meryl Streep, "August: Osage County"

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi, "Captain Phillips"
Bradley Cooper, "American Hustle"
Michael Fassbender, "12 Years a Slave"
Jonah Hill, "Wolf of Wall Street"
Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers' Club"

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins, "Blue Jasmine"
Jennifer Lawrence, "American Hustle"
Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years a Slave"
Julia Roberts, "August: Osage County"
June Squibb, "Nebraska"

Best Animated Feature Film
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Wind Rises

Best Costume Design
American Hustle
The Grandmaster
Great Gatsby
Invisible Woman
12 Years a Slave

And there you have it.

What are your predictions?

Lagging Behind

photo credit

That tiny little bird on the far right? That's me.

I need to catch up on posts!!!!

I thought for sure I'd write more than one with this being a long weekend (and even longer for me, as I took Friday off), but no can do.

Oh well, if this is the worst problem I have at this moment, I'll take it.

As I said, I took Friday off, as did John. For a few months, I'd been saying that I wanted to see a special exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston -- John Singer Sargent's watercolors.

I LOVE Singer Sargent's portraits (which he's known for). I can't remember if I first saw them in D.C. at the National Gallery or at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

This is my fave:

photo credit

This is entitled, "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit." It's a rather dark picture, but I love the youthfulness of it.

When I heard that Singer Sargent had done watercolors, I was pretty surprised. His portraits tend to be dark, like the one above, while as watercolors are generally much lighter.

I bought tickets online and on Friday morning, John and I drove into Boston to check out the exhibit.

We had to wait in line for maybe 20 minutes and it was VERY crowded.

This is the design that was on the elevator bank:

We made it to the lower level!

Once we finally got into the exhibit, the crowd didn't thin out at all. At first we stood "in line" and followed the crowd around the walls. At some point, I couldn't take it anymore and broke free. I realized that I didn't need to be front and center, but could admire the paintings from afar.

Here are some of my favorites (excuse the not so good pics, but not being front & center does have its drawbacks):

All in all, it was a real nice exhibit. I wasn't fond of the quarry series he did, I otherwise like the rest. Interestingly, there weren't as many watercolors as I thought there'd be and there were oils mixed in AND there were paintings from Edward Darley Boit mixed in. Huh.

What else has been going on?

My Mom was here for about five days. I had some time off with her before I got sick (ugh) and we had a nice visit. We shopped, we ate, we shopped, we watched HGTV, we shopped. OK...like mother, like daughter.

I've been engrossed in cookbooks that I've gotten from the library. I bookmark the recipes I like and try to find them online and Pin them. If I can't, I go the old fashioned route and photocopy. Here are the latest I've been plowing through:

Let's talk British TV, shall we?

As you probably know, Season 4 of Downton Abbey has started.

This is me and my reaction so far:

photo credit

It's sad, really. The first episode had promise, but since then it's all gone to crap. Grrr. (Of course, I'll still watch in case it makes a miraculous turnaround.)

On the other side of the spectrum, I started watching another British TV series (from the very beginning) and wasn't so sure about it, but by the end of the first episode of the first season, I'm sold!

photo credit

It's on Netflix, so check it out!

I have to do my 2013 "Year in Books" post -- I read some good ones. (The one I started 2014 with was a dud and I stopped reading it, which I almost NEVER do.)

Got about 100 pages in and couldn't take the arduous details anymore (it's close to 600 pages in total). My Mom loved it, but I just couldn't see wasting my time on it. If you read it and like it, let me know.

I was looking into taking a beginning sewing class, but....

you have to bring your own machine.

WTF? Some people I've told that to thought it made sense and others, not so much.

Needless to say, I won't be buying a sewing machine to take one class to find out I suck at it or hate it.

Phew.

I think that catches us up.

I'd promise that I'll write another post soon, but it might be a lie.