Cupping

...that's how they do pants! or... airport security check-points?

Remember Joey on FRIENDS?
All the TSA news reminded me of, well...


Joey's tailor is a very bad man


May your Thanksgiving be full of food, family and laughter...and no groping.

Get in my Belly!

That title was a request for the food Ina Garten makes...not Ina herself... although I'd love to hang out with her. It's a dream, wish, fantasy of mine. She's one of my favorite celebrities.

I have nearly all her cookbooks. I have Back to Basics, Parties, Family Style, and At Home. Now I get to explore her newest How Easy is That? I love these cookbooks for a variety of reasons; pictures, beautiful pictures of what your meal should look like. I love the commentary of how to share food better. I love that every recipe makes me seem like a fabulous cook. I love how the love, devotion she has to her husband, Jeffrey comes through in every page.


The first recipe I tried out was the Weeknight Bolognese.


It was hearty and perfect for a chilly night in the Fall. It was so simple, satisfying and savory. This is one dish we'll be adding in more often to our dinners. My hubby, my girls... we gobbled it up. Next day leftovers gave us something delicious to anticipate.

The second recipe I tried was Tuna and Hummus Sandwiches.

I've always loved hummus, but for some reason never thought to make it myself. Garten includes the Hummus recipe ... this was delicious. I love that with every recipe from Garten, my entire family sits down, and enjoys the food. So tasty.

The third recipe I made was Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs.
I forgot to take pictures, so I'll have to make them again, just to take a pictures... oh darn. I love deviled eggs...and smoked salmon, and ... yeah... I ate more eggs than I probably should've in one sitting.

I hear a lot of people say they don't know how to cook.

I don't believe it.

I didn't really start going crazy with food until maybe four years ago.

My philosophy about cooking/baking is simple. If you can read, follow directions... you can cook. Anyone can - you just have to want to. That's true about most things in life. You have to want it.

For me, cooking and baking is like yoga. In yoga everything melts away as I focus on my breathing. My mind is able to clear out all the worries, the stress, the non-essentials. With cooking and baking, there is order. There's such peace in measuring, mixing, completing... it centers me and makes me happy.

Of course... the journey of creating a meal to share is fulfilling... but the icing on top is sharing it with people you love, and seeing them enjoy your creation.

I'm not being paid to endorse Ina Garten... I endorse her because I have been cooking out of her books for years now...and I think I always will.

Bon Appetit!

Trying my luck

...saw a giveaway on a snazzy lens

here.

It's a race... I hope I win. (Rat Race)

Winning Streak

If most things come in threes... then I am proclaiming my three wins a winning streak. A hat trick... I do pay attention sometimes to my hubby when he's left me for hockey, football or right now... GIANTS baseball... maybe my winning streak will rub-off on them for the final match-up thing... where they get the big giant disco ball, or something.

I know you're actually more interested in hearing about what I've won...

1. Darlybird



I totally won one of the gift certificates for Darlybird's 4th Anniversary. I am saving this for Christmas and am not sure how I will decide what to get as there are just so many, many pretty things. Rachel, the creative genius behind Darlybird, and I met through our mutual friend Bek. Rachel also makes the most tasty cupcakes. If you're looking for unique, pretty gifts, Darlybird is where it's at.


2. Book Shop Talk


My friend and fabulous author JESSICA DAY GEORGE (I don't know why, when I think of her I always think of her in ALL CAPS) and Amy Finnegan (who I like to think is automatically my friend through association) run this fabulous book review site, where we only review books WE LOVE! I've been doing it, you should too. Also... they interview authors. I love authors. And then they giveaway books. HELLO... I would roll around naked in a pile of books, but that might hurt with the sharp corners, and then it might unsanitary to touch the books if I wanted to read them too... but the point is... it's an AWESOME SITE! (quite deserving of ALL CAPS)

Whoops...I got distracted... I won the book Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr


3. Formerly Phread


JUST TODAY... I learned I won a giveaway on my friend ~j's site... I also call her phread...and we've known each other since... '04-'05 I can't even remember anymore. She was one of my first blogging friends...and am grateful for her joy in mothering and wit and sheer brilliance. You should read her... she will amaze you. Also, it's the bom-diggity that I won.

Right... I won Bubbletalk by Pressman toys



ps... I don't know if I need a disclaimer thing...but no one here asked me/paid me to write this post. This is my little online thank you note for the WINS! Plus, they're my friends. It's what amigos do.

Bento and Scriptures

Two new things to me... that are making me giddy.

1. I am in love with Bento. I prefer to make my kids a healthy lunch. Dude, if I can avoid feeding my kids mc-trans-crapables... I do.

I found this adorable site on DesignMom. It's a blog titled, "Another Lunch". The tag line includes this "...making food fun with bento!" I already enjoy using shape cutters to make lunch more cute. So this is right up my alley. Lunch making is so much more fun when you throw in creativity.

I have yet to decide on a cute bento box. So for now I'm just using my plastic ware that will fit into my daughter's lunch box.


Day 1:
Heart sandwiches made with cream cheese.
Havarti and cheddar stars and apple shapes
Grapes speared with a frilly toothpick (as Fancy Nancy says, they do taste better on a frilly toothpick)
Turkey speared with a frilly toothpick
Dried mangoes speared with a frilly toothpick
Two little plums from my friend Sally's garden.
Trader Joe's mini-cheese sandwich crackers


Day 2:
Blueberries and blackberries speared on a shortened bamboo skewer.
Strawberries
Star sandwiches with raspberry jam
Turkey and cheddar speared with a frilly toothpick
Trader Joe's mini-cheese sandwich crackers

I send these off with a little post-it note for my daughter. She loves how cute the lunches are. She loves my notes. I find myself looking up at the clock during her lunchtime and wondering how she is enjoying her pretty little meal. In that moment that she's eating ...we are connected. Like a virtual hug.

I love how something as simple as prettying up a lunch can make me so happy.


2. Scriptures 4 Kids
I found this while searching for new educational apps for my first grader. For LDS families, this site is fabulous. I love the four different reading levels for the scripture summaries. I like that they also have music for this year's sacrament program. The testimonies from the little ones are sweet.

With October General Conference on its way (YAY! Happy Dance) I also like the activity pages I can print off of the site itself.

The scriptures4kids folks state that every app you purchase for your iPhone/iPad goes towards the website. They want to keep the website free for everyone. What a fabulous idea.

My girls are already liking this. Which also makes me happy.

Joy!

How Will You Measure Your Life?

image from http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nviews/nvaw0510.html

Today on facebook I read an article shared by someone I knew back in high school, Mark. He's a genius. I could study for a thousand years and still not be able to have all his deep intelligence.

He shared this article, by Clayton M. Christensen from the Harvard Business Review.

image from microsoft.com

I read it. As I was reading it I couldn't help but wonder. Is Christensen a Mormon? So I did a quick search on wikipedia and pulled up his page. (Dude... his son is an Taiwan return missionary... yahoo!) My hunch proved correct.

Dude...yeah, he's a Mormon. Sweeeeeeeet!

image from snhu.edu

The reason why I felt he was, as I read his inspirational talk was his simple premise that what matters is family. What matters isn't the status, riches, adulation we receive. What matters are the relationships we have with our children, our spouse...and how we hopefully influence people for good.

This simple principle is something we're taught from birth, especially if you were raised in the Church. It's something we work at mastering... sometimes feebly. We believe that we are sent here to earth to learn, to grow, to improve...to become like Him.

Hope you all have a purposeful weekend. Seriously, read the article - it is a joy to read.


ps. Find more Mormons here.

The numbers game...

Loved this recent post on Power Line.

Obama's been tossing this 46 million and sometimes 50 million number around about this mass of uninsured that we must insure. Why? Why must we? The article breaks down what this number represents and it comes down to a number closer to 15-10 million uninsured.

A few of my favorite quotes from the article:

Obama knows he needs a big number of "uninsured" to even get in the vicinity of selling what he has in mind to a skeptical public. But the big number he has selected would not get him in the vicinity if the public better understood who it consists of.

One of the purposes of most health care "reform" proposals, stated or unstated, is to force these young people into the system--to force them, that is, to contribute money to pay the medical bills of others, beyond what they already pay in Medicare taxes. Whatever you think of either the justice or the wisdom of such a policy, it is not worth turning our health care system upside down in order to achieve.

And... remember those Canadians... their oft exampled health care system? The Canadian Press reports that the incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says their system is imploding. The current CMA president finally admits that they need, there is room for private health-care delivery... because the government funded one... stinks.

... things that make me go.... hmmmmmmmmmm

This is all kinds of wonderful

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this.

Obama Care Yay or Nay? The TRUTH About Canada!

Anyone who believes Socialized medicine (government run health insurance) is a good idea - must already have brain damage.

Grateful for FREEDOM

Happy FOURTH OF JULY!!! LET FREEDOM RING!!!

Let us remember the price that has been paid, and the sacrifices still being made so we can have these FREEDOMS. Let us take up that torch and defend, fight and preserve our FREEDOM.

You know it's a little bit dangerous...

(Roxette... 80's music baby)

Vanity that is... vanity that a group of people can believe, to the core that they know what's better for you than you do. Welcome to the ever so progressive world of soft despotism.

If you're as worried as I am about health care - you should be even more concerned now. Sure there needs to be change ... sure it isn't perfect - but the solution... NEVER is "uh, here, let's hand the reigns over to the government...yee haw."

I recently read this well written article by Paul Rahe, about the problem with Obama's proposed government sponsored heath care reform. I would hope that Americans... the bulk, who are not normally able to see through the hype, emotion and smooth talk - will wake up and fight against the destruction of our individual rights. I highly recommend the article and would hope you forward this on to all your family/friends.

Here are a few quotes from the article:

President Obama responded to a question by acknowledging that his plan aimed to reduce medical costs by aligning "incentives" in such a fashion as to discourage the sick and the dying from undergoing "additional tests" or taking "additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care."

Obama's choice of words was, as always, soothing. But anyone familiar with the healthcare debate will immediately recognize what he left unsaid. We all know that, wherever there is socialized medicine, there is rationing. Cutting costs is, in fact, its rationale, and this end is achieved by a refusal on the part of the government to pay for care that the bureaucrats judge uneconomic. Already now, in the semi-socialized system to which we have been made subject, those consigned to HMOs come up against gatekeepers charged with shaving costs by restricting care.

I REFUSE to pick HMO when we pick insurance. I REFUSE. I have seen too many friends on HMOs jump through the same tests to get treatments for the same issues. The amount of wasted time and energy to do this... is ridiculous. BUT it's an HMO so you're stuck following the red-tape. Kaiser is one example of crap health care - we call it "Kaiser, where people go to die". I love having a choice of a PPO so that I make the decisions on health care for me and my family. I have control. It is my life. It's my responsibility, period. Why would anyone want to give up that freedom... that individual right to happiness? Because let's face it - if you're unhealthy and in pain...chances are, you aren't happy.

Defenders of Obama's proposal will reply that I am misrepresenting his proposal. No one, they will say, will be forced to give up the health insurance they have. Technically, of course, this is true. But what President Obama calls the "incentives" will be structured in such a way that employers will no longer have to offer coverage, and to save themselves the expense (which is considerable), they will seize the opportunity to opt out, and then we will have no choice.

Here is where Obama's "incentives" reappear. The government-run insurance program will, for all practical purposes, be a monopsony--the sole purchaser. It will be in a bargaining position enabling it to dictate the price that it will pay, and, of course, it will pay very little. You, as an individual purchaser, will have no leverage at all; and, like those not covered by employer-sponsored insurance plans today, you will have to pay through the nose. Unless you are filthy rich, you may well have to wait your turn for that hip-replacement operation, forego that cataract operation, or do without those expensive tests and procedures. In sum, you will not be in the driver's seat.

"To take from one," Thomas Jefferson wrote, "because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father's has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association--'the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.'" It was on this foundation that Abraham Lincoln objected to slavery, and it is on this foundation that one can object to the health care reform proposed by our President. For this proposal is designed to take from those who have earned and to give to those who have not bothered to do so; and, by way of constraining "incentives," it will take from us the right to manage our own lives in a matter most dear to each and every one of us, and it will confer this responsibility on experts empowered to decide whether, given the cost of care, it is of greater value to society that we suffer or are cured, that we live or die.

How I miss the founding fathers. It is sad to me that in this day of runaway progressives - these great men would never have a chance to be elected.

It is easy enough to see why progressive doctrine should be attractive to our masters. Tyrannical ambition is nothing new, and throughout human history it has nearly always presented itself to men in the guise of idealism. We are all inclined to meddle in other people's business; we are all inclined to think that we know better; and higher education tends to inflate our vanity and to make us more inclined to lord it over those who are less well-instructed. Never for a moment does a Barack Obama stop to ask whether depriving us of responsibility for our own well-being is demeaning. He and his supporters know that they know better, and their putative wisdom in this regard constitutes for them an absolute claim to rule. The logic unfolding within the progressive impulse requires that there be a class of Guardians empowered to supervise our lives in every particular, and to an ever-increasing degree this is the reality with which we live.

Let's not just sit and take it in the rear - let's get up and SAY HELL NO!!! You will not destroy the fruits of my labor. You will not dictate how I live and when I die.

Racy Politics

I don't buy it. I never buy it. I refuse to buy it.

I don't buy the race card.

If you try to sell me on it, I'd more than likely shred it to bits, pulverize it and then run it over a few times with a bulldozer. Clear?

I don't like the race card, nor do I try to use it myself. In fact, I think I work overtime to prevent that race card from ever sticking to me.

So with this hubbub of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor (I will admit it is fun to say her name... nice tasting last name) I am seething.

If you are not familiar with me, you'll know quickly that I despise any kind of favoring based on arbitrary conditions such as race or sex... or length of toes, or belly-button lint. It's ridiculous.

So when I read comments of Sotomajor's in the Washing Times article here, that says this:

In 2002, in a speech in California, Judge Sotomayor said race or sex does affect a judge's rulings, and said because of that, a minority woman is a better decider than a white man: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Three years later, at a panel discussion at Duke Law School, she seemed to endorse judicial activism on the appeals courts, telling students considering clerkships: "Court of Appeals is where policy is made. And I know - I know this is on tape, and I should never say that because we don't make law. I know."

... um... I say THROW HER OUT. We do NOT need this kind of a person in the Supreme Court. The purpose of a court is to INTERPRET, NOT make laws. The purpose of a JUSTICE is to be BLIND. Sotomayor fulfills NONE of these requirements. I don't care how many opinions she's written, how many cases she's overseen - it doesn't matter ... because she doesn't deserve to be a judge.

If anything, it is further proof that picking people on arbitrary requirements such as race and sex is a FAILURE.

In other words... I am a BETTER judge than any white man - because... wait for it... I AM AN ASIAN WOMAN. There... that's it... I have better judgment. Really? Are we stupid or something?

Here's what I know. I am an American. I am unwilling to support someone wholly unqualified to uphold the constitution, and interpret laws, even if that means that kids can look at a minority, female and say, "whoo hoo, maybe I could be that one day." Running a government isn't a feel-good, self-esteem deal. It's about REAL issues, not touchy-feely, kumbaya crap. Have people lost their marbles? There are more important things than some kid's self-esteem. It's not the government's job to do that... I'll give you a hint... it's the PARENT'S job.

UGH... I feel like I'm screaming until I'm blue in the face. I have never, ever, thought Affirmative Action in any sense is smart. It's dumbing things down, it's creating a false layer of success - it's rewarding how many nipples someone has, versus that grey matter between their ears. I mean, c'mon! All this Affirmative Action lunacy has created a class of people who think reverse discrimination is justice. Am I the only one noticing that the inmates of the Asylum are running loose?

Anytime I hear Obama and his crew talking about someones life experience ...meaning their race... and then immediately telling people not to talk about race... I know they are selling me on a rotten bill of goods. Politics never felt so racy when politicians act more greasy than car salesmen.

HAPPY TUESDAY

Breaking News - CA Supreme Court PRESERVES MARRIAGE BETWEEN ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN.

They UPHELD the PEOPLE'S VOICE... a voice that resonated not once, but TWICE.

More details later.

The interesting thing is... I've been feeling incredibly peaceful about the decision today... wasn't worried leading up to today - just peaceful. Although, now the reactions to justice and rule of law will also start it's screeching.

This stepping stone isn't the end of the work to preserve marriage, if anything it's just a taste of more to come.

OTV scares the POOP out of me

Today as I was running... shocking, isn't it. Today I hit three miles... whoo whoo!

I was running, and since I haven't found my head phones, I read the captions. I was watching the news and there was a story that stunned me.

Apparently Obama likes to exclude the already fawning press corps from attending certain events... and instead has his own film/media crew to produce a prettier picture from his perspective. Um... does anyone else think this is rather disturbing? See an example from this ABC news story I found online. The story illustrated seemed inocuous enough...but who is naive enough to think it'll end there... come on... the people of this country are so easily manipulated... I really think people want to be manipulated... otherwise... why would this have happened? Honestly... the easily manipulated need to pull a resonant Homer Simpson "DOH"!

What are we ... a freakin' dictatorship now? Wow...that transition from democracy, to socialism ...straight to a dictatorship happened in like... 100 days. Impressive.

I don't have a problem if he wants his own crew... IF he lets the outside media outlets in too. Let's face it... most of this country would rather stick their heads in the sand than face up to what they did to this country in the last election. And that... always scares the poop out of me.

...and NO I don't want OTV... whether that O is for Obama or Oprah... a BIG N-OOOOOOOOO.

A Letter to the Editor

Dear SacBee,

Thank you for your public tantrum. You have further proved how totally, irrevocably, irrelevant you are. You should have never pulled your childish tirade. Now, not only do you look like an immature, petulant child, you're also a weasel too. Bravo!

In a time when the papers are becoming extinct... you are quickly creating your own demise. Bravo! Encore!

Let's make if very clear - America is a place for people who rule. Not you hacks sitting in a dingy, cubicle office. We rule. We vote. We stick it to the folks we elect. It's OUR job. You want to know how we want the budget changed? STOP spending. Make cuts. Cuts that WILL hurt. Let's face it, these politicians have been running us dry... how could anyone be surprised that the people finally woke up and said, NO WAY, NO HOW... HELL NO. We don't want more spending when we as a state HAVE NO MONEY!!!

Have you heard the latest? The loopy legislature wants to increase gas taxes...but instead of letting the people vote on it - they want to add it as if it wasn't a gas tax... to pull an illegal maneuver on us... changing the definition of words to make it so. Let's just say, next time these fools are up for election - we'll remember - we're angry...and nothing... is going to cool us off.

Oh...and SacBee... remind me how great your circulation is again... oh, right nothing noteworthy to mention.

Sincerely,
One of the people you so dismiss... you're in for it now.


See Michele Malkin and The Radio Patriot

Nice Ride

I'd so love to win one of these...

...not that you were wondering...but been busy enjoying this lovely weather and just hanging out with my fam.

Spoiled Mormon?

Yep, I have been.

Go check out this article and let's all try to do better. I know I need to...

Food and stuff

Okay so... I have neglected my other blog for nearly a year... am going to try to do better.

I'm working on posting this week over here. 

Analogy

A brilliantly written post about an analogy of sub-prime mortgages and same-sex marriage.

Please - go read it.

Get Thee to Disneyland

QS, Dauntless Daughter, Avant Garde Gal, Greek Goddess and her munchkins at Calif Adventure...in A Bug's Life land...

My friend the Greek Goddess has a great guide to Disneyland. We had a great time meeting up with her while we were there.

She has a lot of great tips... but the biggest - is THIS YEAR DISNEYLAND IS FREE ON YOUR BIRTHDAY... but YOU HAVE TO REGISTER HERE!!! GO DO IT NOW.

Oh...and Happy Birthday!

Cheers!