Can You Dig It?

Nothing too exciting going on around these parts.  I could talk about

-Lincoln  (I could talk about him all day but I am trying to expand my horizons)

-Food (which sadly hasn’t been too exciting since I’ve been feasting on leftovers)

-Work (when is that ever exciting??)

So I present:

 What I’m diggin!

1) Mail

To be more specific…..

When companies take your opinion into account when you’ve had a bad experience

Even if that means, I am addressed as “Valued Guest”

 2) Bloggie Love

Erica from Fashion Meets Food sent me these awesome smoothies coupons after I responded to a post of hers on the FB offering them out. 

Has anyone tried them before? Good, bad?

 Thanks Erica for sending these to me 🙂

Is anyone else participating in Tina’s Blogger Gift Exchange? I got the name of the person I am buying for and too excited! I’ve never done one before I want to go all out but have to remember there is a $$$ limit. Dear blogger who I got–from reading your blog, I think you will be happy with your gift!

3) New flavors that make my mouth do a happy dance!

4) Cold Weather

Cold chills invigorate me. I don’t know why but I am happier when it’s cold out and love layering up and getting out there.  I just wish it would be cooler longer. I do more when it’s cold out and oddly enough, lose more weight in the winter. When it’s warm out, I get super lazy. I don’t want to go outside to do anything and just want to be in the A/C or outside on a patio enjoying a cold one or four. When it’s cold, I can sport all of my winter accessories like hats, scarves, gloves and dress my dog up in sweaters. Can you say win-win? That being said…..

5) Caribou Coffee’s Hot Apple Blast

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i.e. Heaven in a cup. I’ve had four in the past week and at $4 a pop for the smallest size, this habit needs to come to a halt asap. But it’s just so yummy……

6) Christmas Songs

`I love Christmas songs. I am going to share my favorite but with that I am sharing my most loathed…..

Favorite:

Even though Im Italian, I got introduced to this song by an ex-boyfriend in college. PIcture it: Morgantown, WV 2002. Said ex boyfriend made me a mix cd for Christmas. Youngins, this is what peeps did before MP3 players. It was cheap but sweet and as much as I don’t want to admit, am a pretty sentimental person. He made me this cd because I was making an 18 hour drive to Florida alone for Christmas to see the parentals. I thought this was a very sweet gesture…..until I heard the first song….”Hoochie Mama”. Umm, excuse me? Homeboy slice couldnt even make a move on me however the first line of the first song on my cd is “Big booty hoes — up wit it!”??? Say what? Luckily for him, I am a South Florida girl raised on 2 Live Crew (which explains so many things). But still, it threw me off a bit. Then I heard Domenic The Donkey and fell in love with it…… yet unfortunately did not fall in love with him. I would go around the sorority house singing and braying over and over again like a mad woman. Ahhh memories. Lately, I’ve been singing and braying to Lincoln and I think he is realizing that  I’m not all there.

Least Favorite:

Cannot. Stand. This. Song. One of my sorority sisters in turn would sing this song in an even-more-voice than the girl in the song. And why would one want a hippopatmus for Christmas? Can’t we think of something more festive like a reindeer or a clydesdale?

7) Aaron Hernandez and his tats!

‘Nuff said

So, a little giveaway action for those still reading since this post was all over the place:

Two coupons for a free bagel at Einstein’s. They expire 12.31.10 and I’m not going to use them by then so thought I would share the love.

Love the circular carbs and want to enter?

Leave a comment with your favorite or least favorite Christmas  holiday song. Couldn’t be easier. I’ll pick a winner at random and announce in my next post.

Cupcakes, Chili and Sanchez

Happy Monday (oxy moron if I’ve ever heard one). This is going to be a little weekend recap of a post. I feel like I was on the go all weekend and really didn’t get a chance to relax. I complain about that but I kinda like it that way because then I can relax on the week nights and don’t have to worry about getting anything done. Hope everyone had a great weekend and is staying warm! It’s supposed to be 17 tomorrow night and I am stoked. I am one of the weird ones who digs the cold weather since I can keep layering clothes on until I can’t put down my arms and have an excuse to hunker down on the couch. Before I forget— thanks for everyone for commenting on Lincoln’s post on Saturday. He had a super fabulous birthday and appreciates all the warm wishes!

I had a Groupon for The Blushing Bakeshop that I’ve been waiting to use. They are located on the side of town and never really make my way down there however when I took Lincoln to get groomed on Saturday, I thought, why not and stop by. I’ve read reviews about them on Yelp, both good and bad and wanted to chime in. And let’s be honest, I just wanted some  cupcakes. There I said it. 

They have little cutesie names for them which I found endearing but at the same time confusing. I like my cupcake names to be straight up: Carrot Cake, Red Velvet Cake, etc. Who knew that Dan meant Boston Crème? I know I didn’t. I got 4 (of course can’t remember the technical names) but they included: birthday cupcake, carrot cake, apple cake and boston crème.

 I tried the carrot cake one which was delectable and everything I hoped it would be along with the birthday one. Their buttercream frosting was out of this world and almost as big as the actual cupcake. I will be going back there for the frosting alone.

Their cupcakes were a bit pricey (I believe $2.75 a pop) but think this would be a special treat kind of place. The size of them reminded me of Georgetown Cupcake  , which is a top-notch cupcake place. I had to place the remaining two in the freezer before I demolished them but my tummy was definitely happy after trying The Blushing Bakeshop!

 Right before I picked up Lincoln, I passed by Lorenzo’s Pizzeria— Another spot I’ve been itching to go to. Any time I think of Lorenzo’s, my mind automatically flashes back to the Van Buren Boys episode on Seinfeld (one of my fave episodes!) Lorenzo’s is also on the other side of town and I knew I wouldn’t be in that area again for awhile. I’ve heard this place is out of this world and has authentic NY Pizza so I stopped in to see what it’s all about. Mind you I’m going to NY this wknd so I won’t need to wait long to have some NY style [pizza (since I didn’t get some this summer) but any excuse for pizza right? I got a slice of their pepperoni to enjoy later but I saw they offered slices of Sicilian pizza which made my heart jump. I never see any places with single slices of Sicilian pizza so this is a good thing this place is 25 mins from where I currently live because that would just be dangerous.

The pizza was terrific just as I expected. I don’t know if it was the cupcakes, the pizza or all the excitement of Lincoln’s birthday but soon after I was in a mini coma and I couldn’t stay awake for the WVU-Rutgers game. Big boooooo to that. It was WVU’s last regular scheduled game of the year and I tried desperately to stay awake but kept falling back into sleep.  But then a few hours later I awoke to the smell of chili. I was competing in a chili cookoff on Sunday and made me chili in the crock ahead of time on Saturday. It was just about finished cooking and I enjoyed a bowl topped with shredded cheese and sour cream.

 I try to go all out when I make my chili and don’t have a set recipe but this time, I just didn’t put any heart into it. I have just been exhausted this past week with doing stuff around the house and trying to get everything done before I leave next weekend, I didn’t plan out what I would put into it and just used the stuff I already had–Morningstar Veggie Crumbles, kidney beans, onions, jalapenos, Tabasco sauce, cumin, chili powder, garlic and black pepper. Next time I want to add more beans like cannellini or black beans instead of the standard kidney beans. I made it extra spicy this time around by adding slices of jalapenos and more Tabasco sauce than normal and you know what? I won 4^th place at the chili cookoff  went to on Sunday! Yeah, 4th is nice and everything but  I am making a vow right now that next year I will place higher.

 Getting pinned with my 4th place chili  boutonniere.

Why do I look like a coffee toting mannequin?

There was a pup that’s smaller than Lincoln! Percy was absolutely adorable.

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 Sunday night  I went over to my friend’s place so Lincoln and I could get our Christmas pictures taken. We had a mini photo shoot and decided on three pictures for our Christmas cards. Lincoln was loving his Santa Paws shirt and even wore it to bed! It’s so sad though because when I bought the shirt it looked small for him but it ended up being too big. Poor little petite doggie. Here’s a few good photos we had.

 Every year I order them on Walgreens.com and they are ready the next day and can pick up there instead of having to worry about shipping +delivery. If you go to Walgreens.com and enter in the code CREATIVE you can get $10 off any $20 photo gift order through December 11! I picked them up tonight and am super excited—you gotta love a place that can make holiday cards in less than 24 hours!

I know many people out there are talking about the big Jets-Patriots game tonight. I love me some football but really don’t care about either team so when people have asked me who I want to win my response has been “Well, I am going with who I think the hotter quarterback is”

Or

 Verdict? Sanchez all the way baby.

 Go Jets.

PS–Win some VS snazzy PINK gear at Fashion Meets Food!