Idol Chit Chat

As my downward spiral of getting nothing done continues... it only seems fitting to chime in with my American Idol update and predictions.

First up with have the people I feel will go through

1. The no brainer - who does AI think they're fooling stacking the decks in their favor with the best person to perform last and end the show on a high note? I'm on to you!! Good gracious can this guy sing. He has the quaffed rocker hair and guy liner but the little face of cute Jessie McCartney so I do not believe he'll be scaring anyone off. Amazing, amazing singer.....

2. Cute single mom with the inked sleeve - loved her!! Quirky, odd dancing moves, great voice - I'd say she's a guarantee except for the fact that when I called to vote for her last night, I got through with complete ease. That concerns me... we'll see.

3. Strawberry Shortcake - She rocked it last night, I am however tired of hearing Heart's Alone. It's a great song and all but it's been done 4 or 5 times already. Try some Paramore next time - and if you're taking requests I like Misery's Business. I can accompany you with the Guitar Hero if you like because while I don't like to brag, I am awesome on that one ;)

I quite like Nick/Norman - he's pretty funny. Will the schtick get on my nerves after awhile? Probably not... I like the corny.

I was bummed to see this cute thing crash and burn last night. She's beautiful and seems so sweet.

Can't wait to what goes down tonight! xo, Brie

Disaster in Disguise

Yep, that's me!! A complete disaster this week in a variety of areas. Let's take an inventory....

• Menu planning - not done



• general household activities like my DEW list etc - nope



• working out/watching the diet - huh?



• gearing up for Spring r/g Keeks and Brie - yeah right



• updating my dusty blog with interesting finds and musings - nada

In other news, I did make my bed today and played around facebook and bloglines for around an hour :)

I also found this fantastic discovery on etsy today. I am not sure why one would need a felt moustache finger puppet, but I think it's the funniest and cutest thing ever! By etsy seller Annie Cho

I truly hope you are having a more productive day than I am :) xo, Brie

Idol Chit Chat

Well, the show is finally on the road for American Idol. Was sooooo excited for the real competition to begin! Something was "not right" last night - that's for sure!!! Everything seemed off from beginning to end. Lots of nervous, boring and/or horrible song choices.

There are still WAY too many people for me to make proper predictions but here's who I think has the best chance to make the top three for this week.

Natch, my boy Danny Gokey. I predicted him to take it all awhile back and I'm still supporting him. He sang well last night although "Hero" by Mariah Carey is not for me. Randy failed to mention for the 2 millionth time that he worked with Mariah and I found that disappointing to say the least.

I like this guy with his glasses better... those stylists think they know EVERYTHING

The rest is a crap shoot.... seriously but I am going with

Construction Guy (picked a good song, got a LOT of air time in the shows leading up and didn't massacre his song)

and Crazy Jackie (I like crazy Jackie b/c she is funny and knows my sister so now I feel like I can say I know her - which I don't ;) she actually has a great voice but sure picked a doozy last night (great song, horriblay rendition) - this could be her Achilles Heel in this competition b/c if memory serves she picked a stupid song to audition with and got very lucky with another chance)

I had such high hopes for this gal (she didn't blow it but it Natural Woman has been done and done and done and done some more) I was disappointed.

The judges seemed to like this little lady but I was bored and don't care for the blues!

So what did you think?

Menu Planning Week 7

Week 7 - can you believe it?? I struggle every Sunday coming up with this weekly plan and try very hard not to do too many duplicates. I take into consideration busy nights of the week when I am carting the kids all over town for various activities etc! I'm not going to lie - some of my meals are met with rave reviews and others get 2 thumbs down. My kids (one in particular who shall remain nameless) can be super picky. This has honest to goodness been such a good thing for me, one less thing to fret about each day. I grocery shop on Mondays and the week is all taken care of!

So here it goes... I am going to try to post these every Monday (in the event that anyone may be interested ;) Be sure to check out a contest running over at Organizing Junkie with a fab prize of a year of menu planning through a company called Relish!

Monday - Crock Pot Adobo Chicken (super easy crock pot recipe), rice, broccoli

Tuesday - make your own pizza (mine will be bbq chicken - I love it but nobody else in this house does

Wednesday - tacos

Thursday - spaghetti and meatballs (I make a ton of meatballs at a time so they are all made and prebagged in the freezer)

Friday - Chicken with mascarpone marsala sauce it's a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis that I have made several time before - it's delicious! disclaimer: I am having company this night too :)

Saturday - London Broil, baked potato and salad

Sunday - (family bday party for Kev) hot dogs/hamburgers, yummy pasta salad (will post the recipe next week) and salad

Happy President's Day!!! xo, Brie

Happy Birthday Kev!!!!!

Then: (in prek and insisting on wearing a suit to picture day. I had to break the news that he didn't own a suit and he happily settled for a necktie).

and Now:

Happy Birthday to one of the nicest, sweetest people I have ever known! xo, Mom

Braided Headbands

More "one of a kinds" just listed in our our Etsy shop! Just in time for Spring vacations or dare I say Spring weather? We can only hope! xo, Brie

Costco Magazine

Nerd alert! I LOVE the Costco magazine that comes every so often called The Costco Connection. I'm not sure if I get it because I have the black card there or what... but it is great. I love to read it and look forward to it's arrival each month. I pretty much read it cover to cover every time I get them and even save a copy or two in the car to read when I am waiting to pick up at school. The articles range from featured small business that sell through Costco, book reviews, home owner tips with decorating/gardening etc etc. You can read it online Here but I love reading "real" magazines.

This month in the home section there is a small piece of putting your house on a "clutter diet". Needing a serious clutter diet this caught my attention. Author Lorie Marrero of The Cutter Diet gives some great steps to establish a daily routine and stay on top of things.

Start your morning with a D.E.W. list

D is for dishes (empty your dishwasher first thing)
E is for eating (plan your meals for the day/week)
W is for wash (take your laundry to the next level)

End your Day with the Triple "S" routine

S - Start the dishwasher
S - Straighten up flat surfaces and your floor
S - Set for tomorrow things you will need for the next day (My life is dictated by my palm pilot - it really changed my life for the better)

Once you fall into these regular routines to move onto "attacking" those pesky closets. I only have about 12 that need my serious attention. You can also skip all these steps and play on facebook all night and then wonder who broke into your house and messed it all up! Baby steps, it's all about the baby steps. Hope you enjoyed these tips :) xo, Brie

The things I remember frighten me!

Nevermind that I almost forgot I had to read to Liam's class in libary yesterday, I still remember every word to this catchy jingle!!! Bring back the Big Fig!!!!! xo, Brie

"embedding disabled by request" boooooooo but here's the link

2009 American Idol

and the winner is.....................................

Danny Gokey! You heard it here first :) This guy is good!!! I have a couple of other favorites who are sure to go far too. Please keep in mind my success rate to date with predicting the winner is 0.0 but I have a feeling this year will be THE year! Have a great weekend! xo, Brie

Lemon Squares

I think Lemon Squares are a very underrated delicious sweet treat! You never see them at bake sales, the kids barely know what one it. I remember loving them as a kid but I hardly ever make them! Well that changes today.... they are in the oven now and I CAN'T WAIT! I have a delicious recipe from Susan Branch's Christmas From the Heart of the Home cookbook. I am scared to publish for copy rite reasons but you can email me or look it up. It's on page 101! I really recommend her cookbooks, really good recipes and cute artwork! I am so excited to have one (and I wonder why I am having trouble losing these pesky pounds) xo, Brie

I'm Freezing

We had a lovely little taste of Spring this past w/e in northern NJ with temps in the low 50's!! It was so beautiful out, you could smell Spring in the distance. Today, not so much. Freezing, snowing (not accumulating) I am so cold and lazy I am wearing my Gramma Gert coat sweater and unable to move. The Gramma Gert coat sweater is handmade by my late grandmother and is really the original snuggie. Please tell me you've seen this infomercial (I'll post it and a hilarious spoof of it at the end) I love this sweater so much. There are 3 very decided states for me to be in to bust out this sweater.

1. sick
2. hungover
3. freezing

Today, I'm freezing.... once this magical sweater is on, you are so toasty and warm and any kind of real work is suddenly out of the question! If I weren't so vain, I'd have somebody snap my picture in this - maybe later! Truly, truly, truly one of my most treasured possessions! xo, Brie

The REAL infomercial

and a priceless parody (with bad language so be careful if there are kids around)

I'm in love with my new skirt!!

How freaking cute is this skirt?! 46 dollars.... 46 dollars!!!! I have a hard time keeping good deals to myself. I am sure if I receive a compliment on this skirt I undoubtedly blurt out that it cost me 46 dollars!!! I ♥ Boden! xo, Brie

Superbowl Sunday

Had a great time last night! It was the Superbowl of snacks - all my favorite junkie foods in one fabulous spread! I'm not a football lover but was in heaven anyway :) I made my spinach dip, buffalo chicken dip, and this bittersweet chocolate dipping sauce that I served with tastefully simple almond pound cake, strawberries and bananas. Yum!

Here's some recipes for you!

Spinach Dip
this is my own recipe so the measurements are loose. I can't stand it when people don't share their good recipes - that's a mentality I just don't "get". We used to go to this restaurant Houstons in DC and they had awesome spinach dip served with tortilla chips. The best!

I package of frozen chopped spinach (no sauce)
1 small/medium onion chopped
1 - 2 tbsp of butter
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup heavy cream
approx 8 slices of swiss cheese

In a frying pan melt the butter and add chopped onion - cook about 8-10 minutes until they are cooked through
Add drained, thawed and squeezed out spinach and cook until warmed through. Add salt and pepper. This recipe calls for more salt than I usually use. You will need to taste it. Add heavy cream, heat through, add swiss cheese and cook until all melty. I usually serve it in a shallow pie plate with tortilla chips on the side.


Buffalo Chicken Dip - I didn't invent this, it's so good though

I shredded the breast meat of a rotisserie chicken I bought at costco but you could easily substitute with a 10 oz package of perdue shortcuts
3/4 cup Franks Hot Sauce
2 room temp cream cheese bricks
1 cup Marie's blue cheese dressing
1 cup mexican blend shredded cheese

Heat chicken and Franks' sauce in a saucepan until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and blue cheese dressing until smooth. Mix in cheese. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 375 20 minutes ( I didn't have time to do that and it was just fine straight from the skillet to a shallow serving dish) I also served this with tortilla chips.


Bittersweet Chocolate Dipping Sauce

This is like the best stuff ever. Kind of like a chocolate fondue. So yummy with strawberries, bananas, pound cake, cheese cake..... the list goes on and on

6 oz of good bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar

Melt chocolate on very low heat or in double broiler - avoid burning. Add cream and sugar and mix until smooth and blended.


Certainly not diet food, but who cares it's Superbowl!!!! xo, Brie