A Shore Thing

It’s Halloween! And that means another chance to dress up and make a fool of myself (see last year). As I mentioned last year, Halloween is a big deal at my work and pretty much everyone dresses up. This year me and a few friends decided to take a page from pop culture and dress up like America’s worst role models…that’s right…the cast of the Jersey Shore!

Being the midget of the group, I was lucky enough to be the one and only Snooki!

Here I am with my bestie JWOWW…

And here we are with DJ Pauly D, fist pumping at the club…I mean our cubicle. 

I had a blast playing dress up for the day. I don’t think I’ll wear that much leopard print anytime soon, but I must admit that the spray tan, heavy make-up, and fake eyelashes are quite addicting. I’ll see you at the Shore!

Birthday Surprise

Last weekend was my Dad’s 60th birthday! We decided to surprise him with a little family get together. We arranged with my Mom to pull off the surprise. We decided to meet at the Tonto Natural Bridge just north of Payson, AZ. We arrived a few minutes before the birthday guest and then SURPRISE! It was so fun to surprise my Dad and be able to spend the day with Dad and Mom.

I had never been to the Tonto Natural Bridge before, and it was beautiful. We went hiking and took in the gorgeous surroundings. Apparently, it the “largest natural travertine bridge in the world.” It is 183 feet high over a 400-foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest point. It really is something else. I’ve driven past the turnoff to the park a thousand times and all this time I never even knew it was there. I was super fun! If you’ve never been and are in the area—I highly recommend it. After the hike we went to Payson for dinner and gave my Dad a memory book we’ve been working on for the past few months. (A special thanks to everyone who contributed!) Happy Birthday Dad! Here are a few pictures of the fun day!

A Bit of Glitter

I have a slight obsession with glitter. And when I say slight, I mean huge. I just can’t help it--I heart things with glitter on them. My motto is, “Everything is a little better with a bit of glitter.” I am especially obsessed with holiday decorations with glitter. If it’s for the holidays and it has glitter, I must have it—much to my husband’s chagrin. It’s become a bit of problem actually. I’m starting to notice that all my holiday decorations have glitter. My house is pretty much covered with glitter from October through December. But it makes me so happy! However, if glitter caused chronic migraine disease, I’d have a crazy amount of migraines. Oh wait. I do have chronic migraines. Hmmm…could too much glitter be the culprit? I don’t know—I’ll have to do some research on that. In the meantime, I’m going to pretend that glitter is the cure and I’m going self-medicate with glitter decorations.

Imagine my joy when our women’s group at church had a craft night that included making Halloween decorations with lots and lots of glitter. I have never been incredibly “crafty” individual, but I was able to muster up enough creative juices to make this lovely decoration. Glitter haters be damned--I am so proud of it and it makes me incredibly happy. May glitter never go out of style.

Red Carpet Red Velvet

If you love ice cream and if you love red velvet cake, then boy do I have a treat for you! Blue Bunny has teamed up with celebrity chef, Duff Goldman (from Ace of Cakes), to create the most magical ice cream concoction I have ever tasted. It’s called Red Carpet Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream. And yes—the ice cream is as fabulous as the name. It’s got yummy red velvet cake flavored ice cream mixed with cream cheese frosting flavored ice cream and red velvet cake pieces. A-MAZ-ING! It’s kind of like dying and going to heaven…on a red carpet! So if you scream for ice cream, you will be squealing with delight for this red velvet deliciousness. Try it!!

When Life Gives You Lemons

In honor of the last day of summer I thought I’d post the recipe for my favorite summer dessert—lemon bundt cake! I love all things lemon—lemon chicken, lemon pie, lemonade (delish!!!)—and I’m now officially obsessed with this super easy, super yummy lemon bundt cake. I say when life gives you lemons, make lemon cake!

Lemon Bundt Cake

Ingredients

·         1 pkg. Lemon Cake Mix

·         1 (3.4 oz.) instant lemon pudding and pie filling

·         4 large eggs

·         1 cup water

·         1/3 cup vegetable oil

·         One container of lemon frosting

Baking Instructions

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bundt pan and coat with sugar.

2.    Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour into pan.

3.    Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 25 minutes. Invert onto heat resistant serving plate. Cool completely.

4.    For glaze, place frosting in microwave and heat for 10 to 15 seconds. Stir until smooth and drizzle over cake.

9/11

2,977 flags. One for each victim of the 9/11 attacks. Each year on 9/11, Tempe Town Lake turns into a beautiful memorial--a place to remember and pay tribute. Each flag has a marker with a victim’s name, age, and a little bit about them. It was humbling to walk through them today and know that each one represents a spouse, parent, child, or friend. We will never forget what happened that day. God bless America. 

Death by Chocolate

Some of you may know this, and some of you may not, but I think it’s time for me to say (a.k.a. blog) it out loud…I have chronic migraines. To be officially diagnosed with chronic migraines, you have to have more than 14 migraines a month, and unfortunately I fall in that category. I’ve basically had a constant headache for over 18 months, with 3-5 migraines a week. Anyone who can do the math can see that 18 + 5 + constant + severe + pain = a not so fun time.

I’ve been seeking treatment for a little over a year now. I’ve seen numerous neurologists, and tried countless medications, supplements, etc., but to no avail. The most interesting thing so far has been all the remedies that people suggest. It seems that all of the sudden, everyone I know either has/had migraines or knows someone who has/had migraines. I have been told about enough remedies (medicinal and naturopathic) to write a book…and someday I just might--working title is 1001 Ways to Stop Feeling Like You’ve Been Kicked in the Head.

I’ve gotten to the point that I’ll try just about anything. I’ve become so desperate that I even gave up chocolate. Yes, I know—I must really be going crazy, but see I’ve read that sometimes chocolate can be a trigger to migraines. It was my husband’s idea, of course, because only a man would dare tell a woman to give up chocolate—women know this suggestion should never be uttered to another woman. But I thought, why not? I had to find out if chocolate was my migraine nemesis. The minute I gave it up, I was craving all things chocolate—chocolate cake, Snickers, chocolate ice cream, brownies, etc. I guess it’s the old adage, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. I didn’t realize how much I LOVE chocolate. I desperately missed it. If only I could be one of those people that HATE chocolate…but well, then I guess that would just make me a guy.

A few days into my no-chocolate challenge I thought, wait a minute, do I really want to know the results of this experiment? Would I be willing to live a chocolate-less life? I wasn’t sure that I was. Perhaps it was my lack of faith, or my prayers that chocolate wouldn’t be a trigger, but after two weeks of no chocolate I luckily (and unluckily) still had my migraines. I never thought I’d be so relieved to have a migraine.    

So crisis was averted. I don’t have a give up chocolate, but I do have to keep searching for my migraine cure. I’m sure I’ll find it someday, and in the meantime with a sigh of relief I’ll say, TGINC…thank goodness it’s not chocolate.

Rising

Image from http://www.wtc.com/media/images/s/the-vision-world-trade-center

It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years. This weekend I started watching a documentary produced by Steven Spielberg titled, Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero. It’s a six-part series that began airing last week on The Discovery Channel. I’ve only had a chance to watch the first hour so far, but already I am amazed with this documentary. It’s absolutely incredible to see the massive undertaking of rebuilding the World Trade Center. The stories of the workers and architects, the symbolism in the design, and the beautiful memorial they are creating make for an inspiring and moving documentary. The remaining three episodes will air this Thursday, September 1^st on Discovery Channel, so be sure to tune in. Seriously—you have to watch this. Warning, you may want to keep a box of Kleenex next to you while you watch, but I’ll say one thing, it sure makes you proud to be an American. God bless America!