Cynfully Wonderful

#20SongsILove

2012-02-06T20:55:00.000-06:00

Another trend I couldn't resist on Twitter...Here we go...these are in no particular order...

#20 - 'Little Moments' - Brad Paisley - this was our wedding song
#19 - 'Famous in a Small Town' - Miranda Lambert - one line
            'We've been stars of the town since we were 17' if you grew up in a small town, you get it
#18 - 'You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly' - Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty - classic country
#17 - 'Are you Gonna Kiss Me or Not' - Thompson Square - sweet, just a sweet song
#16 - 'Take it on the Run' - REO Speedwagon - Frat Party. Ohio State. Enough Said.
#15 - 'Bawitdaba' - Kid Rock - if you have seen him live you totally understand this
#14 - 'Lucille' - Kenny Rogers - reminds me of my Grandma, not because she ran out on us, but
         because that was her name

#13 - 'Wasting Time' - Kid Rock - to quote the man himself 'it frees your mind'
#12 - 'Out Last Night' - Kenny Chesney - memories of Summerfest
#11 - 'Knee Deep' - Zac Brown Band - thoughts of what the future should be
#10 - 'Drink in My Hand' - Eric Church - guilty pleasure
#9 -   'Bless the Broken Road' - Rascal Flatts - reminds me that all the frogs were worth it for my prince
#8 -   'Only Prettier' - Miranda Lambert - everything you have ever wanted to say to snotty girls
#7 -   'Honey Bee' - Blake Shelton - great song - great video
#6 -  'Tik Tok' - Ke$ha - see #10
#5 -   'Cocky' - Kid Rock - it's great when you are in a bad mood
#4 -   'A.M. Radio' - Everclear - love to jam this when I'm driving
#3 -   'Whiskey Lullaby' - Alison Krauss & Brad Paisley - best line in country music 'She put him out,
           like the burning end of a midnight cigerette'
#2 -  'Every Rose Has it's Thorn' - Poison - because Hubby hates it when I sing it
#1 -  'You Might Think' - The Cars - stalker song. love it

What are your 20?

Enjoy
~Cyn

Product Review - Prima Pasta

2012-01-29T18:36:00.001-06:00

We can all use alittle help now and then. Since I had a coupon and my grocery store was running a buy one, get one free deal, I thought that I would give the sauces from Pasta Prima a try. There was so much to choose from, they have a ton of products out there, but I decided to start with the alfredo sauce, mostly because I hate to make it from scratch, but I love it.

So I made a quick dinner of Chicken Alfredo the other night, and it was wonderful. The sauce was thick and creamy. I did add alittle cracked black pepper while I was heating it up, but that is more about me, then the sauce.

Pasta Prima has many different types of sauces and pastas, they are 100% natural and they are a company with a green philosophy. The next one on the list for me is the butternut squash ravioli. Check out their website here for all the information and products.

Enjoy!
~Cyn

When the Bride Needs a Shower

2012-01-25T21:17:00.002-06:00

We have like a ton of weddings of this year. I have to tell you, I'm pretty excited. My family has even has the honor of throwing a shower for one of these weddings. I haven't thrown a shower in a long time, so that got me thinking that maybe it's time for alittle refresher on the rules.

Who should throw one? This is tricky, some people think that it should be the bridesmaids, some people think it should just be family. The correct answer is either. The shower we are planning is for my cousin, who happens to be my Mom's god daughter, so that is perfectly acceptable. I don't think that the bride's mother (MOB) should be responsible for throwing one, she should be able to sit back and enjoy that the day along with the Bride. Other than that, I think that almost anyone associated with the Bride can host one.

Who should you invite? This is always hard. Of course, anyone who is invited to the wedding is eligible. But, you should really invite immediate family (aunts, cousins, grandmothers) and those friends who you are close to. I also think that it's good idea to invite women that are new to your circle of friends (think the best man's new girlfriend) so that everyone can get to know each other before the wedding.

To Theme or not? If the wedding has a theme incorporate it. In my experience it is much easier to plan around a theme that just around colors. If the wedding doesn't have a theme, think about giving the shower one, maybe an afternoon tea or laundry and linens. Coordinate your invitations and decor around that theme.

What to serve? Finger foods work the best. Something that will not fall, when the paper plate is balanced on Grandma's lap when she is trying to make a veil out of toilet paper. What to drink? I would limit it to one custom drink (think champagne with raspberries) and then just cola and water. If you have children coming, make sure you have a few drink boxes on hand.

Games? I'm not a huge fan of games, but I think there should be at least one. Something simple, I like '20 questions about the Bride' which helps everyone get to know her, or if you have members of the Groom's family involved, change it to '20 questions about the Happy Couple'

Just a few more things to remember...

-Invitations should be mailed, not emailed.
-You should not throw a shower for a second wedding, just plan a special girls night out instead.
-Couples showers are not fun. Plan an engagement party instead.
-Do NOT ask you guests to address an envelope for the their thank you note, you had their address to invite them, you have their address to send a thank you. To the Bride - you are not that busy, they took the time to shop for a gift for you, you should take the time to address an envelope.

Now you are ready, go out and plan!

Did I miss anything? Need help getting started?

Leave me a note below!

Later
~Cyn

SOPA

2012-01-18T18:37:00.000-06:00

I know that everyone else took down there site, but honestly, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get it back up, so I decided not to post, but then I decided I should post something.

So here is my quick post. Educate yourself on SOPA, it is the beginning of a slippery slope. Contact your Congressmen (or woman) here is where you can find them.

Later~
Cyn

52 Bags..okay maybe 24 bags

2012-01-16T20:52:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago on my way home from work, they were talking about clearing out the clutter from your house, one bag (per week) at a time. It was right before New Year's so they were talking about how they were on Week 52 (how I missed this the other 51 weeks, I have no idea) and how successful they were.

It inspired me. But, I'm not sure that I can commit to a bag a week, if I hit a rough week I'll lose focus and then it will stop happening. So my first project was the corner of the bedroom, this has been my donate pile for the last couple of months.

So it literally took me like 20 minutes to go through, make sure everything was clean, fold it up and pack it in bags.

So now that corner looks like this....

So I've decided two bags a month will work just fine for me. Below is my next project.

I know...it's a nightmare!

I only grabbed one thing from the donate pile. This cookie jar, I cannot help thinking that it's a blank slate and it could be something great, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

So, check out the original 52 bags in 52 weeks. The link is right here.

Later~
Cyn

How I've been Spending my time

2012-01-11T19:25:00.001-06:00

This is how I've been spending my free time lately.

First of all, I haven't taught myself anything. It has been the most frustrating couple of days I have had in a very long time. My short stubby fingers are being very uncooperative. But I will not give up.

~Cyn

Old Man Winter Has Arrived, Are you ready for him?

2012-01-04T21:37:00.001-06:00

My least favorite time has arrived, winter. With living in Chicago you have to be prepared for anything. Last year was a terrible year with the blizzard thing and since I have an actual driving commute this year, I need to get ready. I have a pretty good commute, well traveled, nice roads, but if I have learned anything from last year, it doesn't matter, you can still get stuck. Just ask all those people from Lake Shore Drive.

Now I have the basics in my car, jumper cables, and whatnot, but for winter I felt like I needed to be prepared alittle more.

Look who was helping Momma

So this is what I put together:

Parka - yes I do wear a winter coat, but this one is waterproof
Blanket - so I didn't run the heat to much and run out of gas
Extra Hat and Extra Gloves - both big enough to fit over the ones I wear every day
Water - hopefully I won't need that much
Candy Bars - just in case I get hungry or feeling alittle stress
Summer Mix CD - to help me envision warmer weather

So this is now in my trunk...Bring it on old man...I'm ready for you...

~Cyn

Makes Me Want to Shout for the Wrong Reasons

2012-01-01T21:06:00.000-06:00

I really, really try not to use this blog as a means for complaining about everything that goes wrong or products that have not worked right or companies that have let me down. Sometimes I just think that you guys need to know, and sometimes something ruins your favorite shirt and you have to vent.
This Christmas my dear mother got Hubby so much needed new (did I mention that they are bright red?)Ohio State sweatpants, which he loves. I finally got around to washing them this weekend. I knew they would run, because it was the first time that they had been washed. I decided it was time for me to use the Shout Color Catcher that had been collecting dust in my laundry room.

I took this with this intention of writing a glowing review...not so much...

Do you ever have like two white things that you decide can go in with the darks, especially when you are a using a product that is supposedly designed to for that very reason? If you ever have that thought, just put the whites back in the hamper. Because your favorite shirt will end up pink.

I know it's hard to tell, but it's pinkish...

Oh, there I feel better...

~Cyn

2012 - A Checklist

2012-01-01T12:44:00.003-06:00

I’ve decided to ditch the resolutions this year and instead I’ve opted for a checklist of things I want to do in 2012. Mostly, because I’m terrible at keeping my resolutions, so I decided I need to do something different this year. So here we go…

o Learn to Crochet. I have a book and everything.

o See Kid Rock in Detroit, this of course is dependent on him playing Detroit this year.

o Learn to make homemade pie crust, I have a new/old cookbook I hope is going to help with that.

o Read all the books on my nightstand

That's alot right?

o Make it to Columbus to see alitte Urban renewal.

So I don’t have a lot on my list, 2012 is going to be a lot about being comfortable with who I am and figuring out where I want to go with that.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2012 – may you check everything off your list!

~Cyn

Buckeye Brownies Bites

2011-12-31T13:20:00.002-06:00

Happy New Years Eve!! In preparation for Ohio State's big basketball game tonight with Indiana, and Monday's upcoming Gator bowl, I did alittle baking.

Don't get me wrong, being it that I was born and raised in the state of Ohio, I love the traditional buckeyes. But, honestly, they are alot of work, and I was looking for something alittle different (as usual.)

That is when inspiration struck. Brownie Bites!

They are so easy.

Mix up a brownie mix. Fill the cups (in your mini-muffin pan) up about 1/2 way.

Bake at 350 degrees. Note: keep a close eye on these they only need about 8 minutes.

Mix up your peanut butter frosting.

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 tsp of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

cream the butter, peanut butter and vanilla first and then gradually add your powdered sugar

Frost your bites once they have cooled. I topped mine with some mini chocolate chips.

Enjoy!! Go Bucks!!

~Cyn

The Best Present I Gave this Year

2011-12-30T14:41:00.001-06:00

These are my Grandma Tennill's famous Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies. They are the best cookies I have every had. We (my mom, my sisters, etc..) have struggled for years to get these right. I would give you the recipe but it's a closely guarded family secret.

My sister and I don't usually exchange presets, let's just say it's because we are 'frugal'. She loves these cookies, and since I felt that I had actually mastered the texture and taste of my dear Grandmother, I had to make her a batch.

There was a wonderful moment sitting in my Mom's kitchen, when we all enjoyed one!

What was the best gift that you gave or received this year?

~Cyn

2011 Wrap-Up - The Best of the Year

2011-12-27T13:59:00.000-06:00

Here are a few of my favorites for this year.....
Best Song:

Honeybee - Blake Shelton

Best Movie:

Friends with Benefits. Loving the JT.

Best Book:

If I would have had to read anything other than trashy romance novels, I would have put something here.

Best Lunch:

Chipotle. Steak Burrito Bowl. I even tried to make it at home. See the results here.

Best Wedding:

Kate and William. Kicked the Kardishan wedding in the ass. I liked the hats.

Best Concert:

This was a tough one, we saw so many this year, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw...but I'm going with Kid Rock. We saw him three times, I know that's alot, but the last time was the best, small venue, he really interacted with the crowd, and the best part was that it was for charity. Check out his home page, it will change your mind about him. http://www.kidrock.com/

Quote of the Year:

While driving through KY on vacation, I said to Hubby 'I wonder if we will run into Raylan (from Justified) down here" Hubby replied "you know he's not real, right?' - I blame it on the fact that I was tired, really tired and sick of being in the car...

Biggest Disappoint of the Year:

For me and thousand of Ohio State Fans, it had to be the fall of Jim Tressel, big thanks again to you Terrell Pryor.

Best Terrorist Take Down:

Osama.

What were some of your favorites from this year? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Later~
Cyn

Christmas Hangover

2011-12-27T12:49:00.000-06:00

Can you believe another Christmas has come and gone? Every year it goes faster and faster. I'm hoping that Santa was good to you, he was very good to me again this year (and I filled in with the things he missed.)

This was my favorite present to myself this year. It is a three cup food processor, that I picked up for $12 bucks on Black Friday. So far I've used it to make my breadcrumbs and shred some cheese, I imagine that the possibilities are endless.

I did alittle bit of shopping with my Mom, my sister and my niece on Monday, did alittle stocking up, but honestly, I have enough wrapping paper and cards to get me through the next couple of Christmas, so all I really got was tissue paper and boxes. Oh, and green sprinkles that can be used all year long.

With my busy schedule this year, I didn't get to be as crafty as I would have liked to be, but I did mange to make some gift bags and gift card holders, head over to the Crafty Cat to see how you can put all those Christmas cards you received to good use.

Well, I guess that it's time to get going on undecking the halls and getting my house back in order!

Have a great week!

Later~
Cyn

I'm Back....

2011-12-27T11:53:00.002-06:00

I'm back, and I officially have my own web-site and I'm ready to rock...it's going to be a great 2012!

I am a loser....

2011-11-05T18:04:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note....sorry I haven't been around lately...super busy.....promise to be back soon..we have alot to get ready over the next few weeks....

Fall Comfort Foods

2011-10-18T19:38:00.000-05:00

I love fall it's my favorite season. In addition to the football, and sweatshirts, my favorite thing about fall is the food. It's time to break out those dinners you couldn't make in July because the kitchen already felt like it was 95 degrees, and really who enjoys meatloaf on the 4th of July?

Gone are the salads of August, bring on the Swiss steak and beef stew. Below you will find pictures of some of my favorites...

Not sure why I took a picture of the them unbaked...stuffed peppers...

I call this one..Cyndi Spag...

another picture of something uncooked, this time pot roast...

So what recipes are you looking forward to putting back in the rotation this fall? Click on the word comment below and let me know!

Later~

Cyn

Week 12 : Getting Ready for the Holidays..getting spooky with it..

2011-10-16T19:26:00.000-05:00

Since I didn't post anything last week, you are going to get a double or triple dose this week.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays..mostly because it was always so much fun at my house growing up. Since it is my sister's birthday (that is why she is such a witch! haha) we always had cake and candy. I grew up in a very small town, so we always trick or treated on the 31st, and it was always dark. My favorite part was going to my Grandma's (she literally lived a block from my house) we would always go in the back door in a effort to try and scare her while she was at the front handing out candy. I'm sure she always saw us, but she was always a good sport and played along. She also kept a bowl of the 'good stuff' in the kitchen for us!

So needless to say, I love to decorate for Halloween. This week I got out Mr. Bones, he is skeleton for the front door. We also craved pumpkins. Craving pumpkins for me is a double edge sword, it's fun, but always kinda messy. So I'm one that scoops out all of the seeds and uses as much of the pumpkin as I can. Pumpkin seeds are great for using around Thanksgiving for decorating.

The easiest way to get them out, is to scoop them all out and into a bowl. After you have scooped everything out, fill the bowl with cold water, and watch as the seeds float to the top, amazing.

Next, place them on a baking sheet (cover with foil, and non-stick spray), give the top of the seeds another shot of non-stick spray and bake for about 20 mins on 350 degrees or until they look toasty. Let them cool and place them in a air-tight container. Then store them for use.

This is also a great time to think about what kind of candy you will be using in your baking over the Christmas holidays. Look for sales, and don't forget about your coupons! I've already stocked up on some fall M&M's for my monster cookies I'm making for Thanksgiving. I also stock up on tiny peanut butter cups, for my favorite holiday cookies.

Have a great week!

Later~
Cyn

What I did with my week off....

2011-10-11T22:02:00.000-05:00

If you were wondering where I was last week, please see the picture below. No, it's not our audition picture for the next season of hoarders, it's our kitchen table or should I call it our dumping grounds.

Everything ends up here, bills, pens, craft stuff, ziploc bags (haha), clean towels, pans...you name it. So I took a week from blogging, and TV (I know, but I'm caught up now) and straighten everything out. It's cleaned up now and Hubby and I have decided that it's just better if that is my 'work' room until after the holidays, since I have about 10 projects started already (some are for Halloween, you will find out about those next week). Something else that is clear. We are out of room. I cannot wait until Spring when we move to a bigger place (until then, house guest be warned, it's going to be a tight squeeze if you are staying here.)

When I was cleaning I unearthed my 'homemade' cook book. What it actually is an old photo album, filled with a collection of my recipes some of them family, some of them are printed off the internet, some are just cut out of magazines. It inspired me to make some of my Grandma's Sugar Cookies. I dressed them up with some fall M&M's - they were mighty tasty.

So, I'm back now, lots of Holiday stuff coming up this week....Stay Tuned.

Later~

Cyn

In the laundry room....

2011-10-10T18:16:00.000-05:00

My weeks have been a crazy mess since the beginning of the summer. I took a new position at work, and with a new commute so I'm not always getting home when I want to. Thank goodness I have married man who is willing to provide alittle help around the house. He cooks and cleans but if he has one on flaw it is in the laundry room. He will say 'I'll start the laundry when I get home tomorrow' and I know about 4:30 the next afternoon I will get a call asking me how the towels (he always starts with those) should be done.

So being the crafty girl that I am. I made him some cheat sheets.

Simply and to the point. I wrote out simple instructions on index cards, things like, add the oxiclean, fill the fabric softener ball to the line.

I punched a hole in the index cards (I thought that the heart was a nice touch). Then I added some string, and hung in the laundry room in plain view.

I think this not only a good idea for confused husbands, but for also for kids just learning.

While we are on the subject of laundry, have you tried the new Downy fabric softener? They are called Unstopable, they are like little balls, and they are great. No ball or anything, just dump and go. There have been a ton of good coupons for them in the paper lately.

Ok, hope you had a great Monday..Have a fantastic week!

Later~
Cyn

I can do that.....

2011-10-08T18:43:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been out to eat at a restaurant, ordered something really good, and thought...I can do this? I think that we all have. My Mom and I are becoming professionals at it. We try this kinda thing all the time with mixed results.

My latest try was the steak burrito bowl from Chipotle. First of all it is super yummy, it is my favorite lunch (sorry asiago roast beef from Panera).

The ingredients seem easy on the surface. But, there is alot that goes into this.

The bowl starts out with cilantro lime rice. I've always wanted to try and make this. I kept thinking it would be hard. Here you go. Cook rice. Drizzle with lime juice (about 2 tbsp per 2 cups of rice) add chopped cilantro. Done.

Next come the black beans, or as I like to call them, my new favorite ingredient to cook with!

The meat is next. I went with steak, but you can certainly use chicken (actually you really don't need any meat). I marinated it, for about an hour, in a mix of garlic, honey, chopped green chillies, and cilantro. Then we cooked it on the grill, it smelled wonderful.

Then you add the pico de gallo (tomatoes, onion and cilantro). Easy Peasy. Great on tacos too!

Finally, top with cheese (I used triple cheddar), lettuce and sour cream.

Here is the final product.

It was just as good (better in my opinion, because I made it myself) as the restaurant version. We wrapped up the leftovers as snacks for the rest of the week.

yum, yum, yum......try it yourself!!

Later~

Cyn

Week 1 - Getting Ready for the Holidays

2011-09-26T22:02:00.000-05:00

Alert! We are just under 13 weeks until Christmas! Can you believe it! So much to between now and then. Don't worry if you do alittle each week, it won't seem so bad. So each week I'll be posting about what I'm doing to help you get organized. By now you should have made your binder. See how here. That is the best and first thing you should do to get yourself organized.

For me it's easier to plan and decorate if I pick and theme and stick with it. This year I decided I picked blue & silver, with snowflakes for the theme. Last year, my theme was crafty and I used a pastel theme and centered the decorations and stationery around Christmas trees. But, I love snowflakes and since it's already so cold, I figured it would be good for this year.

This my niece modeling one of the bags I made.

Cards

Get your card list out and decide who you are sending to this year to get a count. I have a simple rule, if I have sent you a card for 3 years in a row, and if you haven't sent one back, you are off the list. I keep mine in spreadsheet from with columns for each. We are doing a photo card this year, and I'm having issues trying to pick out a picture, so that is definitely on top of my to do list.

What about this one?

Baking

The stores have already started organizing their baking sections. It's time now to determine what and how much of each that you are going to make. Again, this is another item on your list that can be tracked by spreadsheet. This is also a great time to try those new cookies that you have been thinking about making this year.

Crafts

What do you need/want to make? What supplies will you need. This is a great time to start shopping for materials. All the craft stores are running great sales! Plus, you can get those crafts done way before it is time to start decorating.

Gifts

Create another spreadsheet (your computer will be your best friend) listing each person, and what you would like to get each them (it's okay if you don't know yet.) Create wish lists on your favorite shopping sites for the items you have on your list, check them weekly to make sure that you don't miss a great price.

I know that this seems like alot, but we are in this together!

Later~
Cyn

Week in Review

2011-09-24T11:55:00.000-05:00

What an interesting week this one was. Too many ups and downs, it was like a roller coaster. It's hard to be happy for new opportunities when it comes at the expense of others. Life is starting to get back to normal, today is the last day that we have anything on the calendar until Thanksgiving! I do realize that will not last, but I'm going to enjoy the next couple of weeks at home getting reorganized and ready for the holidays.

Did you have alot of tomatoes this summer? We ended up with alot. We are burned out on fresh salads and BLTs. So last night I took our remaining tomatoes, diced them, cooked them, and put them in the freezer. These will come in handy in a couple of weeks when I make that first batch of chili.

Baby shower! My new office has really gone out of the way to make me feel like I belong. Friday was pot luck day and a baby shower for one of the girls in the office. She is literally the nicest person I have ever met. I put together this gift too easy..alittle bit of tulle and a gift bag and it's good to go..

Things I've learned this week.

Have you ever had to miss a big football game to go to a wedding? I think that this has happened to all of us. Share the misery at this site that I found this week. My compliant was about being a bridesmaid on OSU v. MI weekend. Some of these are really funny...Check it out at fallweddingssuck.com you will get a good laugh out of it.

I also learned this week, that so times people get what they ask for, but then realize it was not what they thought it was going to be.

So have a good weekend, I'll catch you on Monday!

Later~
Cyn

My DVR runneth over...

2011-09-21T19:11:00.000-05:00

I love fall premier week. It makes the week so much easier at work when you can come home to new TV.

What's New that I like so far...

'Up all Night' - I was crying at the end of this one, thought it was great. I liked everything about it.

'2 Broke Girls' - The only part I didn't like was the horse in the back yard. Other than that I like it so far, let's hope they can keep it up.

What I'm not sure about is 'New Girl' - I generally like everything that Zooey Deschanel does, but I just didn't like the 1st episode. I felt that the 'douchbag jar' should have more dollar bills in by the end. I will give it another shot next week, but at this point I don't think it's going to make the cut, at least for me.

Everything old is new again....

I'm cannot wait for some of the season premiers of my favorite shows.

'The Middle' - Tonight (full hour) I love this show, it reminds me of my sister who lives outside of Indianapolis, who has a husband who is a big Colts fan, 2 kids that run cross country and a kid in braces. I imagine this is how their life is sometimes.

'Modern Family' - Tonight (full hour) - Two words. Dude Ranch.

'Harry's Law' - Tonight. Jean Smart joins the cast. Woo Hoo...

'The Big Bang Theory' - Thursday night (2 new in a row) - what is going on with Raj and Penny? How will this effect Sheldon? Cannot wait to find out.

'Parks and Recreation' - Thursday night. Leslie for Mayor?

So far the shows that I have had there premiers have been great.

'Sons of Anarchy' - Tuesday Nights. This has been on for a couple of weeks, SAMCRO is out of the pen, Jax has shorter hair, and it is starting to get really good.

'Two and a Half Men' - Monday Nights. I tweeted on Monday while watching it that I hoped Charlie Sheen wouldn't be mad at me for liking it. I thought it was funny, the funeral was good, Rose & Berta were funny. I did however feel that Chuck Lorre got his two sense worth of the Charlie bashing jokes, let's hope that next week there is less of that and even more laughs.

What I've Missed...

Our DVR is filling up fast. These are the shows I have recorded but haven't had a chance to watch yet.

'The Playboy Club' - I love the sixties and shows (think Mad Men) that revolve around that time period, so there is a good chance that I will enjoy this. I just have to find some time to watch.

'Hawaii 5-0' - I watched this last season, and I liked it for the most part. I'm not sure why all the actors who were on Lost are joining (or guest starring) on this show (maybe they are all still living in Hawaii) but they will really hook me if they can get Matthew Fox to join.

'Raising Hope' - I need to find this on-line (there was an issue with the DVR and someone thinking the marathon of 'Hardcore Pawn' was more important, I will leave it at that.) This was the best new show last year in my opinion, and from what I have seen last night was hilarious.

What I going to try this week..

"Revenge' - Tonight. Another Hamptons who did it I think. We will see.

'Pan Am' - Sunday night. Again, it goes back to loving the sixties. Hope this holds up.

So, in your opinion, what has been the greatest new show so far this year? The greatest disappointment? What are you looking forward to watching? I'm I missing something good? Be the first to let me know by leaving me a comment below.

Later~

Cyn

15 things...Nascar Edition

2011-09-19T11:35:00.000-05:00

As many of you know Hubby and I are big race fans (yep, we like to watch cars go around in circle) and this was our big weekend when the race comes to our home track Chicagoland Speedway. The weather was completely uncooperative on Sunday. They are racing today, but I will be watching, and listening to the scanner, from my nice warm dry living room. So below are the 15 things we will remember from our 2011 race weekend.

15. This guy, must have lost a bet (at least I hope he did.)

Isn't he pretty?

14. You cannot be a pretty princess about porto potties if you are going to have the large coffee at McDonald's.

13. Sometimes, after you have been walking around the rain for hours, you just have to give up and go home, no matter how much you don't want to give up.

12. Trevor Bayne, Jeff Burton and David Reuitmann are class acts, they signed autographs for everyone when they were walking to the starting grid for qualifying, you could learn something from them Jamie McMurray (walked past twice, never made eye contact with anyone.)

11. Going to 'tweet-ups' can be awkward at first by they turn out kinda fun.

10. It is possible for my Hubby to go to a race without buying a die cast car. The only catch is you have to take him to Charlotte two months earlier and let him buy two.

9. Just like in real life, you cannot believe everything you hear about drivers, some people just like to make themselves out to be something they are most definitely not.

8. Landon Cassil is the cutest thing in the world. He is so tiny I think he could fit in your pocket.

7. You make your ticket price back in free stuff. This is just some of it. Cat not included (I pay dearly for him)

6. No one can have too many free drink coozies (we got 9 this year)

5. If you are one of those 'rain tires' people, you need to hear Greg Biffle tell his story from when he hydroplaned in Montreal going 175 mph - it may just change your mind.

4. I have it in me to rip a Denny Hamlin sirt out of the hands of a woman in a poncho, in my defense I had most of the shirt in my hands.

3. Denny Hamlin is a cool drink of water.

2. NASCAR fans are like a family, when you pull in next to someone, you are instant friends. At Chicagoland all of us bond mostly over the crappy parking and the hostile parking attendants.

1. Although watching the race is fun, it is more about spending time together, and even though the weather was a bummer, we laughed and laughed all weekend, and had a great time.

Have a great week!

Later~
Cyn

Play Along at Home and Win!!!

2011-09-14T20:40:00.004-05:00

It is no secret that I love to watch TV. I have since I was a little girl. I wake up to the news in the morning, and fall asleep to SportsCenter at night. So, this is a big week for me, the Emmy's are on Sunday night! I always like to do a 'play along at home' ballot, and while I enjoy that I thought it would be fun to get others to play to. So, I'm running my first ever contest!

The Prize

So let's get to the good stuff first, because this is a self sponsored contest, I figured I would give away a few of my favorite things.

Includes:

$10 itunes gift card (gotta have my music)

A bag of Orville Redenbacher popcorn (great for TV viewing)

A bag of bite size 3 Musketeers (candy, need I say more?)

A bag of Combo's - Cheddar Cheese Cracker (ummm)

Jelly Bellys (mix it with the popcorn)

Chocolate Covered Peeps (they aren't just for Easter anymore)

Mint Flavored Cocoa (because there is nothing better on a cold night)

The Rules

Open to US Residents Only.

To enter, just leave me a comment below, that says 'Cyn – I sent you a ballot' and then email, that ballot, along with your answers to the tie breakers, to me at cynfullywonderful@gmail.com, along with your twitter name if you follow me, your Google+ name if you have me in a circle, and what your user name is if you are a follower of the blog.

All ballots must be received by 4 p.m. CST on Sunday, September 18^th.

The winner will be notified via email on Monday, September 19^th.

The Points System

Each contestant will fill out the ballot below with their, 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place choice in each category.

You will receive 5 points if your first place choice wins ; 3 points if your 2^nd choice wins; and 1 point if your 3^rd choice wins.

Extra Credit

You can earn one point of extra credit, by following me on Twitter (@cyndic88)

You can earn one point of extra credit, by adding me to your circle on Google+

You can earn one point of extra credit, by become a follower (see right hand corner of this page)

** if you already following me on Twitter or have me in one of your circles on Google+ , or are a follower of the blog you will automatically receive those extra credit points (please let me know this in your email)

The Ballot

I've picked my 10 favorite categories…

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

· Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

· Tina Fey, 30 Rock

· Laura Linney, The Big C

· Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly

· Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope

· Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

· Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

· Louis C.K., Louis

· Steve Carrell, The Office

· Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory

· Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

· Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Comedy Series

· 30 Rock

· The Big Bang Theory

· Glee

· Modern Family

· The Office

· Parks and Recreation

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

· Julie Bowen, Modern Family

· Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock

· Jane Lynch, Glee

· Sofia Vengara, Modern Family

· Betty White, Hot in Cleveland

· Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

· Ty Burrell, Modern Family

· Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

· Chris Colfer, Glee

· Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family

· Ed O'Neill, Modern Family

· Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

· Elizabeth Banks, 30 Rock

· Kristin Chenowith, Glee

· Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live

· Dot-Marie Jones, Glee

· Cloris Leachman, Raising Hope

· Gwyneth Paltrow, Glee

Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

· Will Arnett, 30 Rock

· Matt Damon, 30 Rock

· Idris Elba, The Big C

· Zach Galifianakis, Saturday Night Live

· Nathan Lane, Modern Family

· Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

· Kathy Bates, Harry's Law

· Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights

· Mireille Enos, The Killing

· Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order, SVU

· Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

· Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

· Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

· Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights

· Michael C. Hall, Dexter

· Jon Hamm, Mad Men

· Hugh Laurie, House

· Timothy Olyphant, Justified

Drama Series

· Boardwalk Empire

· Dexter

· Friday Night Lights

· Game of Thrones

· The Good Wife

· Mad Men

Ok, there we go. Just 3 more questions to go…

The Tie Breaker

Just in case we have a tie, please answer the following questions, one point will be awarded for each. Please include these answers in the email with your ballot.

What nominee in the, Lead Actress in a Drama Series, category is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield?

What two nominees, one in, Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and the other in, Guest Actor in a Comedy Series are married and have two young children?

This question, and this can be found on my website, Hubby and I have a precious kitty kat, what is his name? Trust me this is all over the website, as he is a constant source of amusement for me.

So I hope that you think this is fun, that's really what I'm after here. I will try to live tweet during the broadcast, but we have race tickets for Sunday, and who knows if we will make it home or not!

Later~
Cyn

Bacon 'Cheeseburger' Macaroni

2011-09-13T19:14:00.000-05:00

I would like to thank my Hubby, and his unconditional love of all things bacon and cheesy, for the inspiration behind this dish.

What you will need:

1 lb. of ground sirloin or any type of ground meat
¼ cup of breadcrumbs, unseasoned
¼ cup of diced white onion
¼ cup of ketchup
2 eggs
¾ lb. uncooked macaroni
6 strips of bacon (any type) cooked
2 cups of milk
3 tbsp of butter
2 cups (one bag) of Kraft, Touch of Philly, Shredded Triple Cheddar Cheese

This is how to do it:

Set your oven to 375 degrees, while it heats up, put your meatballs together.

I start by covering a large baking sheet with aluminum foil (give it alittle spray down with some non-stick spray). Next, add your ground beef, breadcrumbs, onion, ketchup, and eggs to a medium size mixing bowl. After you have done that get out your kitchen scissors (Tip: if your bacon is too hot, wrap it in paper towel and work your way down) and snip up the pieces of bacon into your mixing bowl. It should look like this:

Mix is all up. Start forming balls out of the mixture. Because I was going to add this to a casserole, I made the meatballs alittle smaller than I normally do. Bake in the oven for 20 mins.

While the meatballs are in the oven, prepare your 9x12 casserole dish (give it alittle shot of non-stick spray too), and start boiling your water for macaroni. Once your water has begun to boil, add your macaroni, the next step is making your cheese sauce. Start by adding the 3 tbsp of butter to a 1 1/3 cups of your milk (reserve the rest, you will need it), over medium heat bring this to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and add 1 ½ cups of your shredded cheese, let that all melt together. Just be sure to keep an eye on this, and keep stirring it. This is what it should look like:

Once the meatballs come out of the oven, and your macaroni has been drained, it’s time to put it all together. Start by adding your macaroni, then your pour your cheese sauce over it. Next, place your meatballs in the casserole. Finally, top the casserole with the remaining cheese, reduce the heat in your oven to 350 and place the casserole back in the oven for around 20 minutes.

Next step, pull it out of the oven and Enjoy!

Hubby gave this the 2 thumbs up! Let me know if you try and how you liked it!

Later~
Cyn

Just alittle Sunday Morning Pickin'

2011-09-11T15:11:00.000-05:00

I was surprised last week when Hubby called me at work to tell me that he had found a place where we could go out in the field and pick our own veggies. 'Do you want to go on Sunday?' I was surprised because that is something that is so not on his list of fun ways to spend a Sunday. He's more of an egg sandwich, what games are on, what time is the race kinda guy. Luckily the race was on Saturday night which freed up Sunday for alittle fun.

Given the significance of today, I wasn't sure what we should really do. So this morning, we got up early and watched a wonderful program on the History Channel called '102 Minutes that Changed America' it is replaying tonight at 9:00 EST - and definitely worth a watch. Then we headed out to do some picking.

First of all the place was packed. It was such a beautiful day that I guess everyone figured it would be nice to get out of the house and enjoy the day.

First of all I'm not preggo, this was just taken from an extremely bad angle. Secondly, Do you like my hat? I was going for a Wheezier from 'Steel Magnolias' look. I think that I achieved it.

So it was kinda a bummer that they were out of beans, and the corn was pretty dried up and hard, but I guess that is what you get for going so late in the season. Luckily, up the road (and on our way home) we stopped at another farm market (already picked), and were able to get some good corn, beans, and the best apple cider donuts.

This is some of the fruits (or veggies) of our labor. The plan for this week, stuffed peppers and eggplant parm. My mom sent home a ton of tomatoes with us last week, so I'll also be making some homemade sauce.

Guess I better get busy...

Later~
Cyn

'God Bless Saturday'

2011-09-10T09:36:00.001-05:00

Well, this felt like the longest short week ever,didn't it? So glad that it is Saturday morning, and I can finally sit on my sofa and watch alittle College Gameday, in preparation for a long day of college football, and a then a long night of racing. Saturday is the big football day at my house, we watch on Sunday, but we prefer the boys on Saturday. We had tickets for Ohio State game today, but gave them to my parents last weekend, we made the Ohio trip last weekend, and just couldn't do it two weeks in a row.

It was so nice this morning to open up the window and air out the house. I love fall. It is my favorite season, I love my sweatshirts and jeans, carmel apples, and the beautiful leaves. It is wonderful. It was such a long hot summer that I hope we get to enjoy a beautiful fall. So far so good.

Since the weather has changed, it's time to start pulling out those great comfort food recipes, you know the pot roast and chili, casseroles, and pies. You know all those things it was too hot to make (or turn your stove on for) this summer.

I'm doing alitte experimenting in the kitchen this weekend. I'll share my results, which I think you are going to like, next week.

Later~
Cyn

It's beginning to look alot like....

2011-09-07T18:53:00.000-05:00

Okay, so maybe it's not starting to look like Christmas, but this morning it was cold enough. I'm one of those people that is never happy no matter what the weather is. But, like it or not Christmas will be here before we know it. So, I've decided it's time to start getting organized. It seems like every year no matter how much I try to be organized I'm still wrapping presents in my Mom and Dad's bedroom as my sisters and their families arrive. This year I vow it will be different. I'm going to run Christmas (or at least the planning of it) like I would run any other project.

My first step was to create a binder (I love binders), and get started filling it with everything I'm going to need. So far, these are the tabs I have:

Crafts - projects I'm putting together, I would list them, but my family is super nosey
Cookies - I filled this with the recipes, my Grandma's sugar cookies, the chocolate cherry cookies my husband likes. I also make a list of all the places and people I need to take/send cookies to, this helps me get a handle on how many of each I need to make.
Gifts - this is easy, I keep a spreadsheet on my computer and print out a updated list every couple of weeks as I mark things off. I have alot of pages from magazines and catalogs in there right now, it's a great place to keep all those gift ideas.
Cards - I have our address list in a spreadsheet, so I mark who is getting a homemade card, etc ; print it out and add it to the binder. I also keep a column for each year, who I sent to, and who we received from, you don't send one 3 years in a row, you are off the list. I also keep a mock-up of the card
Shopping List - two lists, grocery, and gifts this section is complete with sizes for all the kiddos
Packing List - we are never home for Christmas, so I start a list of things that need to be packed, I also start a big Rubbermaid container to add things to as they are ready to go.

This is one of last year's cards...

I know that I will need more, but honestly, that is all I could think of in September!

Later~
Cyn

Happy Labor Day!!

2011-09-05T16:48:00.003-05:00

We had an awesome weekend. Just what we needed, our little get away was the perfect end to a great summer. The weather was kinda crazy, when we left Chicago on Friday, it was 99 degrees, and when we left Ohio this morning it was 60 degrees.

Below is a video of Max that I took before we left on Friday. I took this with my new phone and I think it turned out pretty good.

Isn't he cute?

Go enjoy the rest of your weekend..Have a great week!

Later~

Cyn

Old Earrings, Pretty New Barrettes

2011-08-31T21:15:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekends, I got the chance (i.e. free Saturday morning) to go and look around the resale shops. These are my favorite places to look around and think up new projects. I've been looking for some cool looking clip on earrings, and I finally found a pair.

What do you think?

These were easy as pie (which isn't easy by the way) to make.

All you need is some rubbing alchol to clean them.

Then you just clip them on the barrettes you got at the craft store.

Then Enjoy!

Later~

Cyn

How will you remember the day?

2011-08-29T19:52:00.000-05:00

Hubby and I have been watching 'Remembering 9/11' on the National Geographic Channel for the last couple of nights. It has been really interesting and I'm learning (or relearning) things about that day that I never knew. Last night that there was a very interesting interview with Fmr. President Bush, like him or not, it was interesting to hear what his day was like. Tonight we are watching Mayor Giuliani's day, amazing how close it came to being a victim.

I know that everyone remembers where they were that day and what they day was and what it became. I just remember being alone. I was in a new city, with new friends and my closest family was 6 hours away. I remember packing a bag with clothes, water and candy bars in case I had to make a hasty retreat to Ohio. I remember wondering 'what should I do?'

Now, it's 10 years later and I have built a family, in a city that I love, and I'm still known to carry candy bars in my car...but for a much different reason.

There were so many acts of random human kindness that day, that saved alot of lives, what better way to remember those we lost by giving back. There is a wonderful website, 911 day, that helps you create ideas on how you can give back in your community. I would love to hear your ideas.

Later~
Cyn

Are you ready?

2011-08-27T09:11:00.000-05:00

Just sitting here this morning, watching the Hurricane Irene coverage and enjoying an egg sandwich & some Starbucks. I cannot imagine being in the path of this hurricane, especially not knowing what it's going to be.

This got me thinking alittle bit about being - how prepared are you for a natural (or other type) of disaster? I think we would all like to think that we are pretty prepared, we have canned goods and a first aid kit, flashlights and candles. I actually checked Ready.gov and we are anything but ready. We need water, cat food, and so many other things. I am picturing a Rubbermaid tote full of things. So I guess that is something that I need to work on. I encourage you to check out that website and see if your family is ready!

Later~
Cyn

New Use for an Old Shirt

2011-08-24T20:02:00.000-05:00

This is the shirt that I wore to my rehearsal dinner. Of course Hubby didn't remember that when quizzed the other night, but that's okay. When I came across it in the closet the other night I was devastated to find a hole in it. Not because it was something I wore alot, but I just couldn't see getting rid of it, or making it into dust rags. Too much sentimental value for me.

So I came up with an idea. So I turned it inside out and sewed the bottom up.

See my helper...

So this is now hanging in my laundry room filled with dust rags, I remember my Grandma had something similar hanging on her clothes line filled with clothes pins, although I don't think that was the top that she wore to her rehearsal dinner...

Hope that everyone is having a good week. Things are getting better here and sometimes that's all you can ask for.

Later~
Cyn

Late Summer Cleaning Spectular!!

2011-08-20T10:02:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe that I have a weekend with nothing to do and no where to go. It feels awesome. Too bad, that I penciled in a overall house cleaning. So I guess that means I do have something to do, I try and schedule this at least 4 times a year. I block off a weekend, and I get all those things done that I've been meaning to do for the past few months. I'll give you some examples.

Bag up and Drop off the goodwill items

Clean the windows, sills and all

Vacuum the heating & dryer vents (kitty totally hates this one)

Wash bathroom rugs and fabric shower curtains

Clean the burner covers on the stove

Wash down the shelves and bins in frig

Busy day....better get going....Have a great weekend..

Later~
Cyn

Mexician Veggie Pizza

2011-08-18T20:27:00.000-05:00

I promised to post this recipe so here it is. It's great for a potluck or a party. It's soooo easy to make.

What you are going to need:

2 packages of crescent rolls
1 package of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup of sour cream
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 cup of shredded lettuce
3/4 cup of diced tomatoes

1 (8 oz) can of corn, drained

1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained

3 tablespoons of fresh cilantro, coarsely cut

1 cup shredded cheese (I used triple cheddar)

Here's how you do it:

Roll out the crescent rolls onto a cookie sheet and bake according package instructions. **tip: put the package of cream cheese on the stove to soften it up** You will want to let this cool, while it does this rinse both the corn and black beans, layer them on paper towels to dry them out.

After you have done this, you will want to mix up your 'sauce.' Mix together, the cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning. Once the crescent rolls have cooled spread the sauce over the rolls.

Now you are going to start layering your toppings, start with the lettuce, tomatoes, then add the corn and beans. On top of these layers add your cilantro and finally your cheese.

Let this sit in the frig for at least a couple of hours (or overnight) to help it set up, cut and serve.

Hope you enjoy it! If you try it, let me know how it turns out!

Later~

Cyn

Sunday Night Dinner on a Monday

2011-08-16T20:08:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl, my sister and I had a favorite dinner that my mom would make. Beef Stroganoff. It is so so good. But, it was one of those meals that my Mom would always over the weekend, usually on Sunday. My sister and I would complain all afternoon about when it would be done. I thought that it was the hardest thing to make because it took so long. Once I got my own kitchen, I had the bright idea to make it myself, I looked up a recipe, and I was amazed to find out how easy it was to make, it's just the time involved with making it (just give me a minute and you will see what I mean.) When I brought this up to my Mom she said "I didn't say it was hard, it just takes forever." I decided to experiment with it this week. I would prep most of it on Sunday and finish it off on Monday night. Below are the yummy results...

What you are going to need:

1 lb. of Round Steak (or stew meat) cut into bite size pieces

1 cup all purpose flour

ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/4 cup of white onion diced

1 (15 oz) can of beef broth

2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce

1 jar of whole mushrooms, quartered
1 package of Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Savory Garlic
1 bag of egg noodles

Step One: Sunday Afternoon

Add flour to a medium size bowl, ground pepper (I use alot) over the flour, add cut up meat. Coat meat in the flour mixture. At the same time you are doing this, in a large skillet with high sides, add your olive oil and turn the heat to medium. Once the pan is hot, add your onion and allow them to cook down. After this, you are going to add your meat (use a slotted spoon to remove the pieces from the flour mixture, don't worry about getting extra flour in the pan - it's all good.) Brown your meat (haha), and then add your beef broth and worcestershire sauce, bring to a boil. Once that has come to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and let it simmer for an hour. Yes an hour.

While that his simmering quarter your mushrooms, and stir the sauce mixture every 20 mins or so. After an hour, yes an hour. Add your mushrooms and allow it to simmer for another half an hour. Once this is done simmer allow it to cool and put this in the frig for tomorrow.

Step Two: Monday after work

Begin by cooking your noodles, at the same time heat up the sauce mixture, remembering to stir, once this hot, add your Philly Cooking Creme, you can also use a cup of sour cream (if you do, I would recommend adding a couple of cloves of garlic to your onions), drain your noodles and serve. So, on the second night it will only take as long as your noodles do!

The results were so good that I forgot to take a picture. I always serve this dish with a veggie (green beans) and fresh bread.

I hope that you enjoy!

Later~
Cyn

Using Sunday Night to get ready for Monday Morning

2011-08-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

Arghhh…it’s Sunday night again…I think that I dread bedtime on Sunday more than getting up on Monday morning. So last week was a mess at our house, cable was out for a couple of days, everyone working late, I had a seminar one night. Crazy busy…and I was completely unorganized so that just made the week even worse.

This week I vowed to do better, and so today I’ve been busy. So this is the way that I get ready for the week….

Cook Ahead

I plan our menu for the following week on Thursday nights when the new grocery ads come out. I make a list and hang in the frig so that everyone knows what night we are having what. On Sunday’s I do all the prep work that I can do; cleaning and chopping fruits and veggies, cooking ground beef for tacos, grilling chicken for salads, etc…

I was very busy today!!

Today I made some potato salad, some brownies, cooked some meat for beef strongoff, and cleaned lettuce and tomatoes for salads.

Laundry

I hate to fold clothes, and not just socks. That is usually the last task that I do during the week. While as I write this now, all my laundry is clean, folded, and put away. Excuse me while I pat myself on the back.

Briefcase

I have also cleaned out my purse and briefcase. Last week I couldn’t find anything in either of them. Not going to be a problem this week.

Clean House

A clean house leads to unclutter mind. Well, at least for me. House is clean, that ought to help this week.

What are your routines on Sunday night that get you ready for Monday morning?

Later~
Cyn

Rainy Sunday...

2011-08-07T18:12:00.000-05:00

What a lazy day it has been around our house. Which is good because we were out way past our bed time last night, but it was worth it. We had such a good time at the Brad Paisley concert. We had good seats and at one point, he was singing in the middle of the crowd and I was literally 4 feet from the back of his head. See picture below. He is very tiny and I could have just tucked him in my purse and took him home.

So today's has been lazy but productive, I took some things off my master to-do list (only 498 things to go..LOL.) Posted some books to ebay and paperback swap, baked some cookies and finally got to the bottom of the dirty clothes hamper. I even made it to Target this morning to start 'Back to School' present shopping for the nieces and nephews. We got this Justin Bebier (sp?) gear for one of my nieces (she has a hard core case of Bebier fever going on) and since I picked it up I've had "Baby,Baby" running through my head, and since I've started signing it, it's now stuck in Hubby's head too.

Things I've learned this Week...

In a dark parking lot when you cannot find your car, do not separate from your Hubby, because the one without the keys and a dead cell phone will find it first.

That my 5 year old niece is fierce. She had to get 12 stitches in her head this week and hardly shed a tear, and it not mad at her sister for the accident that lead up to it. She keeps walking around saying 'I have freds in head' she can't say the 'th' - she is quite a little girl..

Have a Great Week..I promise to post the Mexican veggie pizza recipe this week..

Later~
Cyn

Creating Jobs for America

2011-08-04T19:30:00.000-05:00

On my way into work this morning, I heard a news story, it was just a few seconds long, but that was enough. The story was about how a business group called Jobs4America was partnering with the FCC to bring 100,000 jobs back to America over the next two years, many of these jobs lately have been 'outsourced' overseas over the years because of cheaper labor. These jobs would be in call centers mainly for customer service representatives. But, think about all the jobs that those jobs will create, positions for managers, cleaning personnel, and just maybe the sandwich shop on the corner will be able to hire more employees because he is getting a larger lunch crowd. Jobs create Jobs. Check out the article here.

How can you help?

Find out where they companies that you use (and pay) have there call centers. This can be as simply as calling the 800 number and asking although sometimes they are not willing to give you this information. If that doesn't work, contact them on their website. Once you have that information, and it turns out that they are not in America, send them a professional, letter asking them to reconsider their decision, and ask them to bring these jobs back to America.

If a company has these jobs in America send them a letter anyway to thank them for making this choice. Sprint is actually one of the company that will be bringing jobs back to America through this program, I'm going to send them a letter to thank them.

One more quick thing on putting Americans back to work. I'm really been enjoying an on-going segment on the ABC 'World News with Diane Sawyer' the segment is called 'Made in America' and it worth checking out. It is a story of the Presidential candidates and there merchandise. Check it out. If it was all 'Made in America' it could create at least 500 jobs. How many jobs could those 500 create?

Later~
Cyn

Summer 2011: A Hot Stinky Mess

2011-08-01T19:35:00.000-05:00

Has everyone’s Summer been as busy as ours? It seems like we are always on the go. To add to the problem, Hubby has been working super long hours and weekends. It seems like we are so busy rushing around from activity to activity that the summer is just passing us by.

To be honest, I have been having some issues keeping everything straight. We days we have events, times, places, etc..so I decided I need to actually start writing things down on a calendar (I know, who would think that would work?) Once the kitchen was remodeled (and redecorated) I made a strict rule that nothing was to be hung on the walls, expect for pre-approved pictures, and shelves. So, per my usual I decided that I could make one that would look better. So the picture below is of July (since I’m in the middle of making August) and it doesn’t seem like a lot, but I really only filled in the last couple of weeks. On the side is our weekly menu, so I guess you could call this my refrigerator organizing center, next to that our grocery list. (COOKIE MONSTER)

The heat has really been screwing with me lately. After the flood last weekend, it turned my car into a rainforest, and it has been impossible to be outside for more than 5 minutes without ducking back in the air conditioning or jumping in the pool. Another side effect of the heat that I’ve noticed is that our kitchen trash has been extremely stinky over the past month with these warm temperatures (even with the air conditioning on), it seems like we take it out every night, and with it just being the two of us and the high amount of recycling we do, that is too much, and a waste of bags. Then I came across this...

First of all the marketing is genius. I love when companies go all out with product presentation (see they little garbage can?) So, these bags are scented with Febreze and it really does work. I saved the sample until this weekend because we had house guests and I’m not sure if they could tell a difference, but I sure could. We put the bag in Saturday morning, and as of tonight when I got home, things still smelled pretty darn good. Thanks so much to Vocalpoint for the sample!

So I guess that is my cue to get into my non-stinky kitchen and actually make some dinner…boo….

Later~
Cyn

Sunday, Super Fun Day...

2011-07-31T20:55:00.000-05:00

What a weekend this has been. We've been busy entertaining houseguests, and making a new TV purchase. I learned this weekend that I've a finalist (I didn't think I was in the running) in the Release your Inner Red Gold Chef contest. I was amazed, this was originally a recipe that my Mom would make for us when we were kids, but I took it and 'jazzed' it up alittle bit. It's crazy to me that a recipe that is 30 years old and still sounds good to people. It is good..check out my 'Recipe of the Week' tab for all the details.

Things I learned this Week

I actually learned this a couple of weeks ago, but kinda forgot about it until I was going through the pictures on my cell phone. When we were at the Tim McGraw concert, I saw someone take a picture of the parking sign so that they could find their car after the concert, and I thought that was such a good idea, until I realized were we had parked.

To quote my husband 'Is it neccessary for you to do that when we park in the first part of the first section?' Maybe not so much. But, it's a good idea, especially at the mall.

A Dairy Queen run on Sunday night of a hot weekend is a most!

Have a great week!

Later~
Cyn

Award Winner Baby!!

2011-07-28T19:14:00.000-05:00

When I got home tonight there was a surprise waiting in my mailbox.

It's a cookbook from Red Gold. Apparently, I was one of the 4 monthly winners in May (nice that they told me, huh?) I had submitted the Pizza Casserole recipe - see recipe here. So I called my Mom and congratulated her, see it was one of her recipes that I jazzed up alittle bit. So if you want to, please head out to the Red Gold site and give it a good rating, maybe we can get it into the next cookbook! It is also listed on the Red Gold Facebook site!

Thanks!

Have a great Friday tomorrow!

Later
~Cyn

Banana Cake

2011-07-26T20:45:00.000-05:00

You know how I hate to waste anything. I know that kinda makes we sound like a hoarder but I promise I’m not turning into one, I try to maintain an even flow of things entering and exiting at my house. So, back to this weekend, I was faced with an all too common problem at my house, leftover fruit. Hubby and I have been on alittle bit of a health kick, and it seems that when I do my shopping I am unable to balance how much fruit (or lettuce, or tomatoes) we will need before they start to go south on us, and this heat wave that we have been in for what seems like weeks, is not helping one bit. So our biggest problem this week revolved around bananas. It’s a good thing they are best to bake with after they are alittle ‘ripe.’ We had the same problem a couple of weeks ago, and I easily solved it by mixing up a batch of oatmeal muffins and adding the mushed bananas into in it (along with some mini chocolate chips.) But, I just wasn’t in the mood for them this week. So I started digging.

I found the greatest website in my quest to find a new banana reciepe. It's called How To Cook Like Your Grandmother it is fabulous, you must check it out! That is where I found this recipe for Banana Cake and let me tell it was good. I actually had enough batter to make 36 mini cupcakes, and a small double layer cake. I even took some to work, the container was from the mini cupcakes we had for 4th of July weekend. I simply washed the container and added alittle of my flair (again, I promise I'm not becoming a hoarder.) This was a nice way to transport them.

I started with this.....

And ended up with this...

Everyone at worked loved them!

Enjoy your week!

Later~
Cyn

What a Week, heat, floods, breast feeding babies....

2011-07-24T19:45:00.000-05:00

Boy, this was a long week. I felt like I was ready to bed every night when I got home. But, we made it through it. Then we woke up to this on Saturday morning....

I knew that it had rained overnight, but I had no idea. W were laying in bed watching the news in the morning, when we heard that the airport was reporting that 6 inches of rain had fallen the night before when we both had the same thought...what does the parking lot look like? Soon the phone started to ring, with people looking for help cleaning up their flooded basements. Hubby was able get his truck out, but my car would not have made it through the water at the center of our parking lot. So I made a pot of coffee and turned out the news. The water was down by midday so I ventured out to do some shopping, it was a mess all over town.

Things I learned this Week

So I hope that everyone uses the reusable 'recycling' bags when they do their shopping. I love mine, I find them so much easier to use that those stupid plastic bags they give you at the store, I always have a problem with those ripping on me before I get them home. So I learned this week that you have to use those at least 11 times for them to equal the environmental impact of a plastic bag. Well it's safe to say that mine have been used at least that many times. Also, one thing I didn't really think about is this. These things are a breding ground for bacteria, and that you can use them to eliminate that treat. Never even crossed my mind. So this week when I wash my kitchen towels, I'll be throwing them in for a good cleaning. For more tips check out this great article from Plant Green. See not only I'm I entertaining, I'm also educational this week.

Just one more thing and you can get on with enjoying your evening. A Spanish toy company will announce this week plans to market and sell a doll that breast feeds. I am not kidding you. The doll is called "Breast Milk Baby" and even comes with a halter top (with flowers for nipples) where your child can latch the baby on to. Really? Thoughts on this? Would you get one for your child? Apparently they are popular in Europe, do you think they will catch on here? I'm going to go out on a limb an say a big "NO" on that. I think that this crosses a line. This doll is deafened by saying it is just another chance for children to 'play learn.' See I understand that but I had one of those babies that would pee when I was growing up, but all I would is hold her head under water until she was full and then hold her up straight so it would all gush out. And, I have never done that with a really baby. For more info, check out this article from USA Today.

So I'm hoping to be in touch alittle more this week. Have a good one!

Later~

Cyn

#40thingsaboutme....

2011-07-14T21:05:00.000-05:00

I saw this on Twitter (follow me @cyndic88) and I just had to do it...

40. I hate to do the dishes.
39. I took French in high school & college, but can say more in Spanish.
38. Dad almost lost me on the Space Mountain ride when I was 5 (apparently I was just sitting on his lap.)
37. I have two older sisters.
36. I had a season pass to Cedar Point each summer from Jr. High through High School.
35. I have driven my car around Chicagoland Speedway's track.
34. I have grown very found of my DVR and if you took it away I would be lost.
33. I am very awkward, but that is part of my charm.
32. Since I was a little girl everyone has told me how much I look like my Dad :)
31. I had to have my appendix out over Thanksgiving weekend one year.
30. I have two nieces named Abby
29. I love this dish that my Dad makes with mac and cheese & scrambled eggs (people thing it's gross.)
28. I always watch repeats of 'Hoarders' while I do my Spring and Fall closet cleanings (motivation!)
27. I am a proud member of the Kid Rock Congregation.
26. I have a slight Starbucks addiction.
25. I failed my driving test twice before I passed it. My whole math class applauded (still embarrassed)
24. I love to go to the grocery store.
23. If I had been a boy, my name was going to George Perry, or Perry George (that's the joke at least!)
22. I love to go fishing.
21. I bought the first wedding dress I tried on.
20. My favorite snack are cheese roll-ups with sour cream and tomatoes.
19. I have a sewing machine, I don't know how to use.
18. I love the smell of cat breath (people thing that's gross too!)
17. I met my husband in a bar (oh - the horror!)
16. Scary movies still give me nightmares.
15. My cabbage patch kids names are Freddy Hal (better known as Herb) & Sonya Emmalynn
14. I prefer Pepsi over Coke.
13. I love to sit at the pool in the hot sun and read a book.
12. I cannot roller or ice skate.
11. I used to help my Grandma deliver Avon.
10. I love to cook.
9. I am also I proud member of Junior Nation!
8. I had the chicken pox in first grade (and gave it to both my sisters!)
7. I was voted most helpful in my graduating class.
6. I am the perfect balance of my Mom and Dad.
5. My secret brownie recipe is a Betty Crocker mix.
4. I am afraid of the dentist (and she is really nice)
3. If I were a Golden Girl, I would be Blanche.
2. I'm a bit of a bed cover hogger.
1. I married my best friend.

Yikes! That was harder than I thought, try it yourself!

What we've been doing this week...

2011-07-13T20:32:00.000-05:00

Did you ever ride a rollar coaster and as you were climbing that first hill you just wanted to scream 'let me off of this thing!' that is how I have felt for the past month and a half. We have been running from dawn to dusk. Last night I felt us going over the top of the hill and by this morning we were free floating down hill. I think the worse is behind us, but I do expect some twists and turns before the summer is over!

So I just emptied my digital camera and I came across some pictures that I have been meaning to share. So I guess that I'm kinda going to do a 'wordless Wednesday' as it's know in the blog world.

Summerfest!

My favorite thing at Summerfest every year!

White Hat?

Black Hat? I've always loved a bad boy!

Hubby and I made a new friend at the 4th of July parade!

Hubby's giving you his best Kid Rock!

Tree that came down during the storms on Monday, ripped right out!

Not sure that this was a good idea, but the neighbor kids loved it!

Sweet Baby Boy!

So 3 days down, 2 more to go this week. Have a great rest of the week!

Later~

Cyn

If it makes you Happy...

2011-07-06T20:55:00.000-05:00

How was everyone's Holiday Weekend? I think that I have a Holiday hangover. This cold just doesn't seem to want to go away!

What a whirlwind of weekend we had. Lots of parades, festivals and concerts. It was exhausting, but fun. Hubby had a tough weekend, we learned of a tragic accident that took one of his best friends from him. It was good that we had a busy weekend, it helped to heal him alittle bit. There were parades and concerts. Hanging by the pool and we both got a good old fashion nap on Monday afternoon!

How cute is he??

So we finally have a new grill (thank you sweetheart for the awesome b-day present!), and it will mean endless possibilities in the way of my cooking this summer. The steaks that we made on it this weekend were fabulous. So I'm too excited to try some new things. We decided against the one with the side burner, because although I thought that it would be super cool, I could not figure out how I would use it.

We even made Smores on Saturday! YUM!

Summerfest was great as always and included some yummy fried cheese curds, and brats. Followed by a rocking Kid Rock concert. Sheryl Crow opened for him and I think that I can say that I don't really need to see her again in concert. It is so obvious that she has a big old crushy poo on Kid. She wasn't bad, I guess that she was just not my cup of tea. We were thinking about seeing him again in August, but I need to make sure that she will not be there, I couldn't take it.

I Love Summerfest!!

So I'm hoping that everyone had a great weekend and are recovering from all the fun!

Have a great week!

Later ~

Cyn

Your Thoughts Please....

2011-06-28T20:14:00.000-05:00

So we are just sitting here watching our new favorite new show 'American's Got Talent' and I have to say that Hubby has turned into quite a critic. 'There good, but I don't know that they should make it to the next round' - really, he's crackin me up. I thought that I would do a quick check in to see how everyone was doing this week.

This being the season of weddings and babies, I wanted to talk about something that I found interesting last week. I overheard some ladies at work discussing that totally threw me for a loop. They were talking about how they hated to watch the guests of honor open their presents at showers. That they hate it when they are forced to sit threw it, and that it was tacky that they did that. I have heard of people getting frustrated with the process, but never that it was tacky. I guess I didn't realize that there was a choice? Every shower (including my own) I have ever been too has run that way. I like to see people's creativity when they are wrapping gifts, I love to see the look on the bride's face when she receives something she really wanted.

So I'm really interested in hearing what everyone else has to say about this. So leave me a comment below, or shoot me an email...let me know!

Later~
Cyn

Look what we had for Dinner...

2011-06-26T20:46:00.000-05:00

This was a crazy weekend (which followed a crazy week) at our house. Jeff was out of town on Friday and most of the day on Saturday, and I had what I'll call a 'maintence' day yesterday. So needless to say I wasn't much in the mood to cook or clean today, but that is exactly what happened! Although we did manage to sneak alittle pool time this afternoon.

So I tried something new for dinner tonight. I've always made chicken fajitas, but they were always alittle plain. But, that has all changed! I found these packets at the grocery store and decided that they were worth a try...

McCormick Grill Mates..yumm

So easy to use too, I just cut up the chicken in strips, added the packet of seasoning, alittle olive oil, water and vinegar. The next step was to put in the frig to marinate, it said only 15 mins, but longer if you wished. Ours was in there longer due to our decision to hit the pool for awhile before dinner.

You would not have believed the wonderful smells involved with this...

On the George Foreman with some onion and green pepper

I added alittle homemade pico de gallo..dinner done!

Considering I didn't even want to make dinner, this was easier that I could have asked for, and the best part is that there alot of leftovers for another night this week. On Saturday we are going to try the Montreal Steak marinade, so I can't wait for that!

Hope everyone has a great week. Remember there is a 4 day holiday weekend on the other side of this week, so enjoy!

Later~

Cyn

Has the chicken in my freezer gone bad?

2011-06-22T19:57:00.000-05:00

After last night's storms that rolled through Chicagoland last night, this is the question that ran through my head all day today at work. See our power was out for about 8 hours and I had concerns that my chicken in the freezer may not have made it, I'm pretty sure that it's good, but we are having chicken tonight just in case. I guess that I should not be too upset about our power, some people are still out and will probably be out until tomorrow night. Those people should probably just throw their chicken out.

I took this about 1/2 hour before the power went out...crazy eyes...

In other news Hubby and I are trying to get back into our 'normal' flow after the best vacation that I think we may have ever had. It was so relaxing, the beach was beautiful, and I spent so much time with my mom and my sisters that I feel like we are all caught up on what is going on with each other. Hubby said that was the most relaxed that he had seen my in a very long time. I've been trying to keep my island spirit alive (I stole that from Kenny Chesney) at home and I'm not letting myself get all worked up about getting stuff done and keeping everyone happy. I'm just going to be me, and see how it goes.

How can you not be relaxed with this as your view?

So when we got home and I got the mail from the post office I was happy to find all my samples that I had been waiting for.

I love free stuff!

So I'm planning a big blog on our vacation, I'm just working on putting it together. So look for that later in the week...

Later~
Cyn

How come the closer you get to a vacation, the more you need one?

2011-06-08T21:58:00.000-05:00

I realized this morning on the walk from the train to my new office that I am tired. I need a break from my everyday, hence the reason that this vacation is so important.

I am tired of trying to get up early, only to get up late every morning. I am tired of missing the early train, and having to take the later, packed train. I am tired of looking for a seat. I am tired of digging in my bag looking for my keys, or my glasses, or my train ticket. I am tired of changing my shoes every morning when I get to work, because high heels are just too painful to wear for 12 hours a day. I am tired of packing my lunch everyday. I am tired of rushing to catch the train home. I am tired of being on a train 2 hours a day. I am tired of having to run errands everyday after work.

In short I need a break……So you will probably not hear from me for a couple of weeks that depends on the WiFi situation at the condo. I’m secretly hoping that we don’t have it. As I told Max, you will miss me, but you will have a better, and relaxed Mommy when I get home! But, if you want make sure to follow me on twitter (@cyndic88) and I’ll be giving plenty of updates on our adventures!

Today was one hot Tamale

2011-06-07T21:10:00.000-05:00

Goodness, I felt like I was melting all day long. Maybe that is because I'm just too darn sweet! These are the days I begged for in February - so there is no way I'm going to complain. It's just a total bummer to be stuck inside working on these days.

Weekend was good, Hubby and I got alot done. I even went and did some bathing suit shopping, and it turns out for the first time in like 20 years, it didn't suck to bad. I actually looked (and felt) good in the suit that I picked out. Hubby was disappointed that I didn't try more suits on because he had found a particularly comfortable chair to park himself in. But, on the other hand, he was glad that it went smoothly and I didn't have a melt down (which is more than likely.)

I spent the rest of the weekend puttering around the house. Cleaning, cooking alittle bit, I spent alittle time working on my base tan for vacation. Made a couple of cards for upcoming things, please see below.

This is a card that I made to accompany the coupons that I cut out and collected to send overseas to a military family. So, if anyone would like to help me collect coupons to send, please drop me a comment or send me an email to cynfullywonderful@gmail.com Thanks in advance!

This is a card for me poppa! Can't wait to see him!

So I think that I have recovered from today's heat (thanks to a quick swim with Hubby before dinner) - and I'm ready for tomorrow - which is suppose to be even hotter...how many more days until vacation???

Later

~Cyn

Resetting your Resolutions

2011-06-02T19:53:00.000-05:00

Howdy! Well it has been a busy couple of weeks at our house. So nice to actully be able to be outside. We had a pretty laid back Memorial Day weekend, we hit the pool, grilled alittle bit, did some shopping and watched some racing. I have to tell you that I do not enjoy the Indy 500 very much because I the sound of the cars (if you can call them that) gives me a headache, they sound like bees to me.

So I was thinking today that we are half way through the year already, do you know where your New Year's Resolutions are? Mine are out the window. So, I've decided that this is a good time to set down some new resolutions for the remaining 6 months of the year.

With the weather being warmer I feel like I can get a better handle on my diet and workout. My new goal is walk at least 3 nights after work and both days on the weekends. It will be easier to eat better, because with the warmer weather to eat lighter (I hope.)

My plan is to blog at least 3 times a week. I hope that I will be inspired on my walks and have insightful and interesting topics to talk about.

My favorite new resolution that I hope will turn into a habit is, one random act of kindness or happiness per day. I've already started on this path, hoping that out of this I will become person and feel better about myself. I have alreay made a new friend be doing this, I helped a little older lady to her car during a drowning rain storm. That kinda gave me the idea to try and look for these opportunities to help others.

So, I hope everyone had a great short week and have a great weekend!!

Later
~Cyn

Wedding Thoughts on our Anniversary

2011-05-24T20:37:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday Hubby and I celebrated 4 years of marital bliss. We went to the Sox/Indians game (does that man know me or what!) We had a great time, even though it started to get pretty cold towards the end.

Not sure why I'm making that face?!?

So this week I had me thinking a lot about the weeks leading up to our wedding and the planning that took place. It boggles my mind that I was able to pull it all together. Hubby laughs when he calls our wedding the 40% off wedding, a joke regarding all the 40% off coupons that were redeemed at Jo Ann Fabrics in the months leading up to the big day. But, I like to think that I did a relatively good job of keeping the costs down. Of course there were the things that I splurged on. So I thought, since the focus of my blog has been saving money lately, that I would share some things I did to keep the costs relatively low.

DIY at your own risk

A recently engaged lady that I work with informed me the other day that she was going to do her own flowers for her wedding, so I ask the centerpieces or bouquets? Both was the answer. ‘Do you think that is a good idea?’ Was my only response. I have said this on numerous occasions. If you are not a florist, or if you are not related to, or friends with a florist, just hire one. It’s a really important element of the day, and it is really hard to put them together and keep them all looking good.

So, that brings me back to my wedding. See I fancy myself a crafty girl. So I thought, I can make all these things for the wedding and it will save us a ton of money. Reality sank in very quickly. It happened one night, in our living room, just me some ribbon, and one of those ‘bow maker’ things. Hubby (back when he was just boyfriend) came home to me sobbing (out of frustration) without even one bow made. To clarify I was making pew bows for the ceremony. Hubby (bless his heart) reminded that the florist had offered to take care of them. No, no, no I had said I make them myself, thinking how hard could it be? Turns out, super hard, I called the florist the next day. For $100 bucks, the problem was solved.

But, I worked through the bow making incident and moved on to bigger things. I made all the save the date cards, favors & place cards, welcome bags for the hotel, and water bottles for the tables that I had made and attached customized labels for. I made a card box for the gift table, the programs, jewelry for all the girls, the baskets for the flower girls and all the Thank you notes. So, it turns out I might be alittle crafty after all.

Miscellaneous Ways to Save

So besides making your own favors, and driving yourself crazy running back and forth to the craft store, there are some ways you can really save.

- Book your wedding on a ‘off-day’ Friday and Sundays – this will usually net you some significant savings, just be mindful if this is a solution that makes sense for your guests. This wasn’t a option for us due to the volume of out-of-town guests we had coming.

- Enlist Friends and Family – we got our limo for free, and paid just $500 bucks for DJ – thanks to Hubby’s friends. Don’t be afraid to ask, at the very least they will be able to recommend someone if they are unavailable.

- Keep things simple. Our tables were decorated very nice with what was termed as the ‘basic’ package. It was simply, white roses in a glass vase, and frames with the table number, classic. We only set-up room blocks at one hotel, because we had some many guests, Hubby and I got two nights free for our room, a free night for both sets of parents, and we did not have a rental fee on conference room where we held the brunch the following day. Research all the options that you have with each one of your vendors, and ask a lot of questions, you will be surprised at how much you may get for free.

Like the water bottles, don't you??

- Scale back on your rehearsal dinner. We pulled ours together for around $250, we had about 20 people, by hosting a cook-out. It was all done with one trip to Gordon Foods. It was a wonderful way for everyone to mingle in a relaxed atmosphere.

Everyone looks too excited don't they? LOL

- Skip the wine. We had an open bar (which was closed during dinner), but we had the option to have wine service with dinner for an extra charge. Since neither of our families are wine drinkers, so there was no need for this extra cost. No one even noticed that the bar was closed; they were too interested in the wonderful food!

Elements worth their price

My best advice is always this. Spend the majority of your budget on what is important to you, and skimp on the other details. There are some elements that you need to be prepared to spend some money on.

Photographer

Why go to all this trouble, if you do not have a professional there to capture it all.

If not for him, I would not have this picture, and it is one of my favorites..

Invitations

This in my option sets the tone for your wedding, which is if you want it to be formal. I do not suggest that you print your own. This can be a relatively low expense if you order from the right company. Do not use address labels. Hand write these all the addresses.

Florists

This was covered above. Unless you are one, hire one.

No way I could have done this.

If you have any tips, or tricks that you used, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at cynfullywonder@gmail.com

Later
~Cyn

Week In Review...stuck on the sofa...

2011-05-15T15:18:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone - hope that you are enjoying your weekend. The weather has turned cold again in Chicago, the joys of Spring. Yesterday was interesting to say the least. I'm in the process of getting a bridge on the right side of my mouth. So I go to the dentist, and it is decided that I need to get a root pulled in order to speed the process up alittle bit. Let's just say that I've only ever had this done one other time, and I was knocked out for it. After 4 shots of Novocaine, and some tears it was done. I had to have Hubby meet me at Walgreen's, because I couldn't talk, to help me get my prescription filled. So needless to say I've been alittle out of it for the past 24 hours. But, I woke up this morning feeling good, and ready to go.

I have been enjoying alot of ice cream over the past couple of days!

I've recently joined a program that sends coupons to our military families stationed overseas. I received an email this week from the family, they seem very nice and our stationed in Japan. If you are interested in helping out a family, please send me an email at cynfullywonderful@gmail.com and I'll get you in touch with the program, or if you have extra coupons just send them to me and I can forward them along. The best part is that they can use them for up to 4 months after the expiration date!

We had alittle baby shower for my friend at work. My girl Laurie brought the cake. She did such an awesome job. See...

Things I made....

I've been busy trying to get some craft projects done before we leave for vacation, so below is what I have been working on. I have specifics one how they were done over on The Crafty Cat, check it out.

Flip Flops for my girls!

Beach bag for me!

I put the instructions for each on the The Craft Cat page. Both were super quick and easy to make.

Things I tried this week....

Kraft 'A Touch of Philly' Shredded Cheese, we tried the Three Cheese and it was quite excellent in my baked Mac and Cheese today. My only issue with this is that it expense. For a 8oz. (2 cup) package it was $4.29 at the store normally, but on sale for $3.40. Usually, I can get a the regular shredded cheese for around $1.60 a package, so this will probably be 'only when I can get a good deal' buy and not an every week purchase.

Then I tried this new Mini-Wheats with fruit, the mixed berry. Had to tell you I was alittle worried when I saw blue-berries (I really do not like those) on the package, but was surprised, it was very good.

So both products get a big thumbs up!

Sorry this was so long today, I've kinda been trapped on the sofa and this was fun to put together!

Have a great week!

Later
~Cyn

Thoughts on a Friday the 13th

2011-05-13T20:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have been away so long, blogger was down so I couldn't post anything. So this will probably be a long one.

I hate Friday the 13th. It is never a 'good day. Today was a long day. I had one of those days were Hubby told me that I'm not allowed to leave the house again tonight, fearing that I shouldn't be 'pressing my luck.' It all started when I woke up completely on the wrong side of the bed (apparently, at some point I told Hubby to shut the F up and let me sleep, nice wife huh?) Then a train derailed and caused my commute home to be 2 hours! I do realize that my day could have been alot worse, by actually being on that train. But, the day was equaled out be being able to visit with an old friend. So I just that we call today a draw.

Well, I’ve been complaining for the past few weeks about how cold our spring has been. Well, I think someone finally heard me. On Tuesday, it was 90 degrees in Chicago, it was warmer here than in LA. Ha! So this is the time of year in Chicago that I like to call Srinumer, not really Spring (too hot), not really summer (still only May). By the time I got home from work, Hubby had the air conditioner cranked since he described our place as ‘oppressive’ when he got home; it was very comfortable when I got there. It was the first night of the year where I deemed it was too hot to cook dinner (common occurrence at our house.) So needless to say, grilled chicken salad night has started at our house already. Thank you George Foreman.

So I have spent the past couple of weeks in full planning mode (which you know I love.) We are gearing up for another ‘Summer of Fun’ as Hubby and I call it. So far this year’s list includes, 5 (I know it seems like a lot, I agree) concerts, a beach vacation (road trip!), at least one baseball game (to see the 1st place Indians defeat the last place White Sox), and a Nascar (first race in the chase!) race weekend. I like to get all the planning done at once so that I can sit back and enjoy all the events. Hubby always says that we just can’t go somewhere and come back, that I have to ‘add’ a few things to the list. For example, we are going to see Kid Rock again over the 4th in Milwaukee (Summerfest, baby!!), and I’ve added in a trip to the outlet mall and the cheese castle. Seriously, we are going to drive right past them, why not? He actually told me not to make any plans (or reservations) for the way home from vacation, because he wanted to try and make good time (something not that important to me.) Now you know what is going to happen right? I’m going to see something on the way down that he will not let me stop at and the whole week he is going to hear about until I get him to agree to stop on the way home, so I’m not sure why he bothered to even mention it.

Well I'm going to turn off the computer and watch a movie, then go to bed. Hoping for a better Saturday the 14th.

Have a Great Weekend!

Later
~Cyn

About Last Night...

2011-05-02T20:47:00.000-05:00

I could not believe it last night when I came into the living room and saw the President on TV, and the headline ‘bin Laden is dead’ crawling across the screen. I yelled for Hubby, we rewound the DVR alittle and let B-Rock (that is my nickname for the President) tell us what happened. First thought, don’t screw with the Special Forces. Second thought, it is about time. Third thought, I wish we could have taken him alive. Later after I learned that it was the Navy Seals that took him down, all I could think about is that movie that Charlie Sheen was in like 20 years ago (back when he was young and crazy.)

My thoughts on this have been random. I hated that we had to kill him. Not that I don’t think he deserved to die, he did, but I really would have loved to see his face every night on the news after facing another day in court where he heard from another group of families effected by his deeds. I would have loved for him to have to come to the United States and had to sit in one our prisons, surrounded by the best America has to offer. Although, it looks like that would have been an upgrade for him.

I don’t think anyone could not think of 9-11 today. I know that it weighed heavily on my mind. From the train I saw a plane in the air, not a big deal since we live pretty close to one of the nation’s busiest airports, and all I could think about were the days after when the only planes in the sky were fighter jets. I’ve read a lot of 9-11 victims families thoughts on the death of Osama bin Laden, most seem relieved that he was finally brought to justice. I’m sure this will bring some closure to many of them. My guess is that the hurt will never go away, but hopefully this will dull it somehow.

So many comments I heard last night said, ‘Osama bin Laden is dead, bring our troops home.’ Sure that makes a great Facebook status, but that is clearly not possible. Just because you have removed the tumor, we clearly have not caught the cancer in time; it has spread all over the world.

Maybe I just watch too many movies, but has anyone given thoughts to how we were able to find him now? I’m not under estimating the abilities of our intelligence teams, I’m just been thinking, did they want us to find him? Had he served his purpose? Was this a way to overthrow him and blame the Americas, thus furthering the hate they already have for us?

Told you, my thoughts have been random. I also think that his neighbors may have been the ones that turned him in, maybe for burning trash and stealing Wi-Fi. Also, how about one of those cowards using a woman as a shield?

Let me know your thoughts, I would love to hear them.

Have a Great Week.

Later
~Cyn

Crafty Weekend

2011-04-30T21:19:00.000-05:00

So far this weekend has been pretty good, and it’s only Saturday night. It was wonderful to wake up to the sun this morning. Hubby went into work this morning, so I actually got to sit down and enjoy my coffee while I caught up on the news. I cried during the Royal Wedding coverage, I feel so bad that his mother was not there to share that day with him. I cannot imagine that. So then I headed off to the garage/estate sales. I picked up a couple of things. I finally found a cake plate for my dining room table and a new shelf for my dining room. I can tell you that Hubby is thrilled (haha) about my purchases.

Crafty Kitty

So when I got home I decided that I needed to sit down and start working on my Mother’s Day cards, and some little projects that I have been working on. Below is the design for this year’s card. I make several, Hubby is very lucky to have a lot of Moms and Grandmas still in his life.

I have been trying to reuse as many things as possible in effort to be greener. So in order to make things look alittle more decorative, and I have been covering them. Below are a couple of things that I have re-purposed lately.

This was a jar of spaghetti sauce, now this is a vase. I think that it’s a cute everyday kind of vase, please excuse the flowers these are leftovers from Easter last week and they are on their last legs.

This was a bottle of peppermint mocha iced coffee, it is now a holder for fabric softener sheets in my laundry room. See, I reuse mine (just once) so I needed to a place to hold the ones that have another use in them, and this seemed like it would work.

I make a lot ice tea, and I like it sweet, so I’ve wanted to try making a simple sugar syrup that I could keep in the frig for tea and coffee, so I tried it today (I’ll let you know tomorrow how it works) and used another mocha bottle to store it in the frig.

Before

One last thing for tonight, last week at work they were passing out mini flashlights (guess who got mine?) in these boxes. So I decorated it in the same design as my mothers day cards and will use it to wrap my mom’s present.

After

So tomorrow I’m hoping to continue with my craft weekend. My plan involves digging my sewing machine out!

Hope you are enjoying the mild weather!

Later
~Cyn

Which hat was your favorite??

2011-04-29T21:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday!! What a day...there was a wedding, and the sun was actually shining in Chicago today.

First of all, how about that dress? I loved it, it was beautiful, she looked wonderful. My favorite part were the hats. Below is my favorite, favorite worn by Lorna Brooking (not quite sure who she is) ; but she had a great hat.

Love the color! Photo Credit: Landov

So I have started to do my grocery shopping on Friday nights. I has been wonderful so far. I go right there from the train station to the store(s) and I can wrap it up in less than an hour. The stores are empty, so I just drop in and get out quick.

This was my big score tonight...35 cents a bag!

So tomorrow is the start of garage/estate sale season for me. I have my route all planned and a list of items I'm looking to find for some up-coming projects I have planned.

Now I'm off to finish cleaning up & folding clothes so that I can enjoy myself tomorrow morning!

Have a Great Weekend!

Later
~Cyn

Odds and Ends...

2011-04-28T19:54:00.000-05:00

I heard the craziest thing on the way to work the other morning. Apparently, Marie Claire did a survey and of the divorced woman that they asked 33% of them claimed that they knew before they married their ex-husbands, that it wasn’t going to work. That is definitely something that makes you go, really? So, they were taking calls from listeners on this subject and the woman called in and said that she had a ‘friend’ that knew before she got engaged that it wasn’t going to work, but still married the guy anyway. So it got me thinking, are there women so desperate to get married that they will marry someone they know that they cannot sustain a long term relationship with?

How could I resist???

In other related wedding news. I’m debating on whether or not to get up and watch the Royal Wedding before work tomorrow. I just remember how great Diana’s was, and I think I would like to see another one. I might as well, it’s not like I’m doing anything else at that time in the morning, and it is Friday. Although, I'm already alittle behind in sleep due to the Hawks game the other night. I guess that we will just see how it goes.

Easter was good, Hubby and I were at home this year, I made way too much dinner and we have been eating it all week. We did enjoy just spending time together, that is something that we cherish due to our busy schedules.

Too Much Food...All too good...

Things that I have learned over the past couple of weeks...

How to make a box without tape (not as cool or easy as it sounds).

That my Mom used to make alot of things for us that she didn't like (green bean casserole) and is apparently done with pretending that she did.

Having a root canal and doing your taxes all in the same weekend is too much for anyone to handle.

Hope that everyone had a great week! Let's get ready for a good weekend!

Later
~Cyn

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

2011-04-05T20:36:00.003-05:00

We have finally recovered from our technical difficulties that we experienced over the last couple of days at our house. Hubby had been having some issues with his computer, and since everything is attached to his (phone, router, webcam) – when it went down it was a bad scene. After completely giving up on trying to fix the whatever the issue was ourselves, we broke down and went to the ‘Geek Squad’ at Best Buy. Now I at one time vowed to never use them. I once told a Best Buy employee that if he mentioned the phrase ‘Geek Squad’ again, I was going to leave and head over to Office Max and buy the computer I had in my hands there, and he would get no commission (I had already said no – three times – three is all you get with me, ask the cashier at Kohls.) There is also the problem I have with them making my Mother feel like an idiot (and taking advantage of her alittle bit) when she was buying my Dad’s laptop. But, with desperate times come the need for desperate measures. We bought the year service plan, which entitles us to coverage on both computers, and all we would have to pay for would be parts if there is a problem. It was alittle expensive for my taste, but I can’t imagine anyone else would have been cheaper. Trust me, there are some things wrong with my laptop that will make that money well spent!

In my long on-going struggle to educate people on customer service, I do have a couple of complaints and one compliment. Their customer service could use alittle work. First of all, don’t tell you will have an answer for by 7:00, and then call me at 9:15, if you don’t have an answer at 7:00 call and tell me that. Don’t wait until I call you (actually, Hubby called, something about me yelling and giving them a customer service lecture) at 7:45 for you tell me that you don’t have an answer yet. Here is the other issue with the ‘Geek Squad’ if your problem stretches over multiple days, you do not always have the same tech working on your computer. So here is how this went down.

On Saturday night (9:15 remember) ‘Mike’ calls to tell me the problem, and that I need to pick up some parts at CompUSA for the computer to be fixed. Just drop them off at the store (more on this later.) Okay, so we go to CompUSA on Sunday morning, and pick up the parts and head to Best Buy to drop them off. First, the young kid behind the counter has zero customer service skills, it was awkward trying to explain to him (as he stared at us) why we were there in the first place (went something like this, me: we are here to drop off some parts for our computer you are working on, him: ummm okay, do you know what we are doing to it? me: would you like to see our receipt? him: ummm yeah I guess…)

So, finally we ask for Mike, turns out it was a different Mike than Saturday, but no problem. Both of them seem to be surprised at the notes on our computer, and that said they would be replacing our motherboard and processor, to quote the young kid to Mike “we are really going to do that?” needless to say that left me with a high level of fear that we were never getting our computer back in one working piece. Note to everyone in retail, do not say that in front of the customer, say it to Mike in the back, not in front of someone who is $342.17 in already on a repair. So I sat all day Sunday, wondering how my computer was doing, and what my response was going to be when they told me that they needed me to go and pick up more parts. Side note, we had to call them again around 5:00 (6 hours after we dropped off the parts, and I understand that it takes a long time to make this repair, but again, follow-up) to see if we would be able to pick up the computer by the time the store closed.

Okay, here is the compliment. I am sure that Best Buy has vendors they work with to purchase motherboards and processors. I am also sure that there is no way for them to get those parts on a Sunday to fix a computer for a customer. Although I was alittle upset about the follow-up (or lack there of) skills, I was extremely pleased that Saturday Mike gave me all the information I needed to pick up the parts at CompUSA so that our computer could be fixed on Sunday. I thought that was great, of course I cannot confirm that this how it works at Best Buy, maybe they do have access to parts like that, but I am sure that would have delayed the repair to Monday or even Tuesday. So, I’m sending out a Big Thank you to both Saturday and Sunday Mike for helping us out.

So, in the end, it was fixed on Sunday and we were up and running by Sunday night.

So I guess as the saying goes, alls well, that ends well….

Have a Great Week…Later
~Cyn

A Rant and a New Recipe

2011-03-30T20:32:00.000-05:00

My Mom just makes we laugh. The other night we were talking on the phone and the conversation turns to what it normally turns to, dinner.

Mom: “What are you making?”

Me: “Homemade Pizza”

Mom: “What kinda crust did you get?”

Me: “ I made my own”

Mom: “Well, aren’t we a little Miss Suzy Homemaker”

It made me laugh, I’m sure that comment was in response to all the’ from scratching’ cooking I have been doing lately. What she doesn’t remember, is that I remember her cooking this way every night of my childhood. My favorite were the homemade, fresh cut French Fries, so good with some fresh perch.

I’m been having a really good time with all my kitchen experiments. This weekend, I’m turning my attention to baking again. I’m developing some Easter cupcakes, with coconut cream filing, sounds pretty good doesn’t it?

Hubby and I are in the midst of planning a ‘road-trip’ for this summer. We are spending a week at the beach with my family, and we have decided to drive down there, we are usually plane people, but I’m protesting the price of flights. So here is my little rant. Hubby and I have been making this same trip for years, I’ve been pricing flights for months, and it just keeps going up. The price now, which was the cheapest I could find and means, traveling on a day I don’t want to travel and would require a hotel stay, is twice the price that we have paid in the past. To quote my niece “no way, Hosey” – so this is my little protest, which I know won’t even phase the airlines, but totally makes me feel better.

Updates, Updates, Updates…

Money diet is going pretty well; this week was filled with eating at home, packing lunches, and minimally shopping. I, along with his parents, was surprised at the early arrival of a friend’s baby, and I had to spurge some on the little guy.

What I’ve learned this week….

Rosie O’Donnell is headed to Chicago to tape her new show for OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) in Harpo Studios (where Oprah tapes today.) My guess is that this isn’t going to go very well; I really don’t think she is a Chicago kinda girl, but I guess we will see.

One last thing I learned this week. It is hard to find the right words to say to a friend when you know they are hurting, and you know there is not anything you can do, but do it anyway, it will make you and them feel so much better.

Opening Day is less than 2 days away, here’s hoping the Tribe has a good year (or at least a better year than the CAVS!)

~Cyn

P.S - I dropped a new recipe over on the Recipe of the Week page, check it out!

A Cold and Rainy Wednesday

2011-03-23T20:25:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday! We made in half-way through another week. Not sure how the spring weather is treating you, but it has been cold and rainy here in Chicago for the last couple of days. I’m counting these days as the April showers, and it’s making me look forward to May flowers!

New Recipe Wednesday

Sunday night I made quite possibly one of the best meals I’ve made all year. This was in great part due to the new Philadelphia Cooking Crème. This wonderful creation is a lot like cream cheese on it’s creamier and is made to be added to recipes. Although it comes in several flavors, I have only tried the Italian Cheese & Herb (although, I have the original, and Santa Fe in my frig) so far. So, this is what I did. I started out with my basic meat sauce recipe, and after that had simmered for about 10 mins, I added in the cooking crème & some cooked lasagna noodles. It was wonderful, and in fact we had the leftovers for dinner tonight! I call it Creamy Skillet Lasagna, pretty catchy, huh? If you would like to check out the whole recipe just click over to my tab New Recipe of the Week and you will find it right on top.

Sad, Sad, Day

Do you ever have one of those mornings, we your whole day seems to be headed in the wrong direction? Well, I had one of those this morning. I forgot my ID badge for work (sort of alittle problem when you work in a building with 32 floors), my IPOD, and before I realized all this, the low fuel light came on in the car this morning (seriously, I put so few miles on my car that I only fill up every 2 weeks, so I always forget to check.) So, I get to work, and at the same time I’m answering my phone, I’m receiving a breaking news email, both delivered the sad news of Elizabeth Taylor’s passing. I was alittle heart-broken. I am completely in love with old Hollywood, the movies, their lives, the glamour, all of it. So losing her is like losing another piece of that history, and that to me is very sad. In honor of her, I’m watching ‘Cat on Hot Tin Roof’ while I write this. It is not my favorite of hers (that would be, 'Giant') but, I am still enjoying her and the very young and handsome Paul Newman.

Updates…

So our money diet seems to be going pretty well, expect for the fact that I left my lunch at home on Monday, but I had some coupons that offset some of the cost of lunch, so it didn’t work out too bad, other than that we have only spent what we had to, and that is the whole plan.

Spring cleaning? Has anyone gotten started on this? Just a couple of additional tips. When you are cleaning out your cleaning supply cabinet, be on the look out for items that may have expired or that maybe too old to be of any use, especially those that are starting to gather rust around the tops and nozzles. Spring cleaning time is also a great time to work through you backlog of freezer goods, so that you can be ready for all that ice cream this summer!

Gotta Go, it’s time for my weekly does of Tim Olyphant in Justified. Hope you have had a great beginning to the week and are now ready for the downward slide into the weekend!

Later
~Cyn

Spring Cleaning...getting the cobwebs out

2011-03-20T17:40:00.001-05:00

Happy First Day of Spring! It is finally starting to feel like it in Chicago, we even had a thunderstorm today.

Everything is starting to come alive, and the birds seem to be coming back. I love Spring for it’s March Madness, and the sense of renewal that is in the air. It is especially welcome this year after the unpleasant winter that we had.

The best part of Spring is finally being able to open the windows and let the fresh air in, getting the deck ready for the numerous cook-outs, the general anticipation of all things summer. With that being said, it is also time to your house in order. Spring cleaning, in my opinion, is a necessary evil. By Spring, I accumulated enough stuff that I don’t really need, and it’s time to get my house straight so I can by outdoors in the sun, and not inside wondering when the last time I cleaned behind the refrigerator. It’s a clean slate for me. It also means I can ignore big cleaning tasks until November.

I have what I would call a system for spring and fall cleaning. It is a simple procedure that I developed over the years, to get it done as quickly and easily, as possible. It helps me avoid, starting one thing, seeing another that needs to be done, and never getting back to the original thing that I started. Below are some of the tips I use to get through it.

Enlist a partner.

The whole process goes much quicker, and easier if there are multiple sets of hands working on it. Hubby is my partner is generally responsible for all the outdoor stuff (deck, cars) and all of the stuff I can’t reach (tops of cabinets, ceiling fans). He also is in charge pulling out the appliances and cleaning behind them. He is usually pretty helpful as long as I give him and list and lots of encouragement.

The squirrels left Hubby a present!

Clean out your closets first.

Seriously, go through each closet before you even pick up a sponge, this can be helpful in reducing your workload. Create a staging area (I use my dining room), and designate three sections, eBay, Goodwill, Trash.
Ask your self the following questions when you are evaluating an item.
   o Do I like it? Stop feeling guilty and get rid of it!
   o Have anyone used this, worn this, or displayed this in the past year? If the answer to either question is
      no, get rid of it.
   o Can CD's be downloaded to your computer, and then sold on eBay or donated? We did this last year
      and I feel like we lost a 100 pounds.

Once you have been through all the closets..

   o Take out the Trash.
   o Load the Goodwill items into your car (or your Hubby’s) and if possible take them for donation right
      away (this is a great Hubby chore). These items need to be gone as soon as possible to avoid them
      ending up back in your house. Don’t forget to get a receipt.
o Take pictures of all the items in your eBay pile, and sit down at your computer and get them listed. If they
     do not sell, they too should be taken for donation.

Time to make your lists.

I make a list for every room, even my laundry room. It is important to do this, so that you do not get sidetracked. Create a second column on your list if the task requires something unique to accomplish, for example, my fabric lamp shades require my lent brush. Create separate lists for each of your helpers, and a shopping list for any items you may need, remember to check out the dollar store first!

All my cleaning supplies in one place!

Don’t Forget

· Ceiling Fans
· Vents, and behind furniture
· Lampshades
· Dishwashers, Microwaves, Ovens, Washing Machines, Dryers, Vacuum Cleaners, Grills
· Windows and sills
· Cars

Now it’s time to get started! Feel free to drop me a line (cynfullywonder@gmail.com) with any questions - or just leave me a comment below.

Good Luck and Happy Cleaning!

~Cyn

It's a Miracle...I tried something new...and I liked it!

2011-03-19T19:38:00.000-05:00

I'm usually pretty open to change for the most part, expect when it comes to some very specific things. My preference in sandwich condiments fall into one of these categories. So needless to say, it has been a really long time since I have even tried Miracle Whip, I was raised in a mayo house. So when I received some samples in the mail I thought, why not. So I made my favorite TBT (toast, bacon and tomato) sandwich for breakfast this morning (very popular at my house) – it was soooo good this morning. I could believe how much flavor it added to my sandwich. Going to have to add this to my shopping list!

The Money Diet - Only the Essentials...

2011-03-19T16:34:00.001-05:00

Hubby and I are officially on a money diet. Only the essentials from now until our vacation in June, it is going to be hard, but I think that we can do it! I read an article on doing this and I have always wanted to try it so here we go!

So how to determine the essentials?

This is going to be the tricky part. Obviously, all the utilities are essential, and we do need a roof over our heads. Insurance will be important to keep up, too. So I guess that brings us to our shopping. Yikes. We really don’t go overboard, but I have a mild addiction to savings and deals. It’s like a rush for me. But, again times like these are what my stockpile is for. So, our only real expenses should be produce and perishables over the next few weeks (yes, I do have that much in my freezer and pantry). I do have to buy some meat (really good deal at Dominick’s this week) and some sugar, but then I should be good. This morning on the train, I wrote out three weeks worth of menus, and that is based on the things I could remember that I had. It will give me a chance to clean out my freezer and pantry, and I’ve sure it will be the cause of several interesting lunches and dinners.

All this for under $60 bucks!

The Rules

· No eating out. This is a sucky rule, but okay it’s only a couple of months.

· Take a lunch to work everyday. Please see above. No more, ‘I don’t like my lunch’ anymore.

· No new clothes, DVDs, CDs, concert tickets, etc..

The only non-essentials that I can see us having to buy are plane tickets, and those are a vacation expense, and because we are doing to pay for vacation, so I believe that is not a rules violation, cat food (which can be clearly defined as an essential at our house), and we are going to try this restaurant by our house (we have a coupon and a gift card so it will practically be free).

Let’s just hope that the Sons of Anarchy Season 3 DVD set does not come out during this time, because that is probably a temptation that Hubby will not be able to resist. I can guarantee that he is going to do better at this than me!

Later
~Cyn

Sunday Catch-Up

2011-03-13T20:20:00.001-05:00

Happy Daylight Savings! Hope everyone remembered to change their clocks and check their smoke detector batteries. We were amazed this morning that our alarm clock auto updated itself, how about that we actually managed to buy something that actually made our lives easier, Cheers to us!

Since I haven't been feeling very well, we had a very lazy weekend. We are caught up to the end of season 2 of Sons of Anarchy. Again, what a great show. We are hoping that season 3 comes out soon so we can figure out what happened. Since I have been confined to the sofa for most of the weekend, I have also caught up on Detroit 1-8-7, aren't DVR's great? I'm not sure what we did without ours!

March Madness

Let it begin! So happy that my Bucks have worked there way to the overall #1 seed! The next couple of days will be spent filling out brackets at our house. We have alot of fun with this. My second favorite part of March madness is the snacking that takes place during the games. I have alot of yummies planned.

Shopping and Menu Planning

I have been trying to do all my grocery shopping on Sunday morning now, this new plan I've been working is really starting to pay off, I was able to plan almost my whole weekly menu with thing from my pantry. This allowed me to free up most of my weekly budget for stock up items included tomato sauce, pasta and ground turkey. Finally starting to see the results I have been looking for. The best part has been not running to the store 2 or 3 times a week. So this what we are having this week

Sunday: Beef Stew (it was so good!)
Monday: Out to dinner with some of Jeff's high school friends (must pick out a cute outfit)
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner (have already made and cooked the homemade hashbrowns)
Wednesday: Leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs (Saturday nights dinner)
Thursday: Leftover Beef Stew
Friday: ??? (probably a $5 pizza from the grocery store - so good and we get two meals out of it!)
Saturday: Ribs (made in the crockpot) with homemade mac and cheese

Well that about wraps up our weekend. Next couple of weeks so prove to be exciting!

Some Funnies for a Friday

2011-03-11T20:23:00.002-06:00

Funniest Pic of me I could find!

I borrowed this idea for the Ice Queen’s blog, “Fat Like Me”. It is that like the ABC of you! It was fun to fill out. Try it and leave your answers in the comments!

Age: 36

Bed size: Queen..but we need a King..

Chore you hate: Cleaning the toilet, that is why I have assigned that to Hubby.

Dogs: Zero, we are kitty kat family.

Essential start of your day: Starbucks Mocha Doubleshot, right out on of the frig. Yum.

Fave color: Toss up between Scarlet and Gray…LOL

Gold or silver: Silver

Height: 5’4 – exactly a foot shorter than hubby

Instruments I play: piano, clarinet

Job title: Account Manager

Kids: None yet, but we keep practicing.. ;)

Live: Palatine, IL

Mom’s name: Jo Ann. Or Mama Jo as I like to call her.

Nicknames: Cyn, CK, Betsy

Overnight hospital stays: Emergency Appendectomy, Thanksgiving 2004.

Pet peeve: Stupid People. Or at least people acting stupid. Think Jessica Simpson and Chicken of the Sea.

Quote from a movie: “You want me to all the way up there, to a Yankee school, just so I can practice free love with you?” - Shag (if you have not seen this movie, you have to, it's great!)

Right or left handed: Right.

Siblings: Two sissies (as my niece puts it “you have two sissies, and I only have one”.) - is that better or worse?

Time you wake up: 5:50 every morning during the weeks, around 9:00 most weekends (that is as long as kitty can hold out before he wants breakfast)

Underwear: Mixture of super comfortable cotton and super uncomfortable, sexy.

Veg you dislike: Brussels Sprouts.

What makes you run late: My inability to get out of bed some mornings.

X-rays you have had done: Other than my teeth, none. I did I have a MRI once.

Yummy food you make: Stuffed peppers and Shrimp Stir-Fry

Zoo Animal, favorite: Cougar of course!

In Tressel I Still Trust

2011-03-08T21:00:00.002-06:00

Okay, loyal readers I apologize for the transgression of this post. But, as you know there is one thing that I am very passionate about and that is my Buckeyes, so I need to get somethings off my chest.

First of all what those players did was wrong. It was against the rules, so that makes it wrong. You break the rules you get punished. Is it there fault? Yes, they knew the rules, knew they were going to get in trouble if they got caught, they got caught, they got in trouble. So they have been suspended for the Sugar Bowl? In my opinion, yes. But they weren't so we all need to get over that. Are these rules fair? Yes, there has to be a line drawn somewhere. Is it big of these players to come back and take there punishment? Yes, they could have just gone to the NFL, but they didn't. Honestly, I hope that they have learned a lesson.

Now on to Tressel...what did he know, and when? I guess those answers will come out. Do I think that he is fair and honest man? Yes, I have shook his hand and looked into his eyes. I trust him. On many occasions he has made the unpopular decision to get rid of 'problems' that were good performers, or had the potential to be good performers. Anyone remember Clarrett? Bet alot of people don't realize that Tressel is still in his life trying still to teach that young man. That is what Tressel does, he teaches. These players come in boys and leave men. He cannot however make all their decisions for them.

I think it's wrong to label Tressel a cheater, or the players in the situation cheaters. Bad decisions were obviously made. I hope that they learn from this and it only makes the program stronger.

I am not an expert, I'm an alumni and life long fan. I know who we are, and what we stand for, and I know that this will only make us stronger...

Sunday Night Catch All

2011-03-06T21:37:00.000-06:00

So I know that I have been alittle out of touch lately. But, it is for good reasons, well at least reasons that I think are good. I've been cooking, cleaning, and spending alot of time with my hubby. I've also noticed that when I get stressed out, I tend to do that. Plus, trying to keep up with Charlie Sheen is exhausting!

Addicted

We have started a really bad trend at our house. Each night, after work, we come home, workout, make dinner, and then head straight for the tv. We have gotten ourselves wrapped up in the show Justified ; we hadn't seen season one, so we put that in our Netflix queue and away we went, we caught up pretty quick. It is such a smart show, the writing is great, the actors are all very skilled. It is great. It centers around a US Marshall (Raylan Gibbons); played by Timothy Olyphant (very yummy eye candy) and his efforts to clean up his home town from the evils that plague it. It does make you hope that the stories it tells are from the mind of creative writers, and not a commentary on what is going on in America.

After we caught up with that, we moved on to Sons of Anarchy which centers around a motorcycle 'club'. So far so good. Katy Seagal plays one of the main characters and she is great! Smart and witty; although not always for good!

To get my husband to sit down and watch an actually show with me (ESPN and games do not count!) is a major accomplishment so I am soaking this up while I can.

Review

Last Saturday night was the last stop on the Jeff has turned 40 tour. Kid Rock at the United Center. Great show, great time, although I had to scare a couple of potheads and tell an old man (not mine) to grow up. But we had a ball - and since that was the only thing that he wanted for his birthday (although not the only thing he asked or got) it was defiantly worth it!

Stockpiling

Okay, so remember when I made fun of the extreme couponers and there stockpiles? Well, if you were to look in my pantry, laundry room, or bedroom closet you would laugh. I have a what I would call a "mini-stockpile' going on. I ordered a program called Grocery University, and it so tempting to not to do it. It's like an addiction with it's own little buzz...

So it's looking to be a busy Spring...Big Ten Men's BB tournament this coming weekend, followed closely by the NCAA tournament, Bulls and Blackhawks look to both make the playoffs, we are less than a month away from Opening Day, and Dale Jr. is 10th in the points.

So this is a warning to Mother Nature, get with the program, we got alot to do!

Have a great week!

Later ~ Cyn

A Year of Savings: DYI in the Kitchen

2011-02-15T19:50:00.012-06:00

My mom and I always laugh about how much my Grandmother would have loved the baby carrots, you know the ones that come cleaned and cut, in the supermarket. She would have loved them, but I don’t know that she would have bought them. I keep thinking that she would have said, ‘I’ll just buy the regular ones, for one they are cheaper and second, I have the time to do the cleaning and the cutting.’

For the second part in my savings series I thought that we would tackle how alittle elbow grease can translate into big savings, in the kitchen. Stores are filled with items with convenience items that make our lives, and our kitchen prep, much easier, but the fact is that you pay for the convenience of these items. If you have the time to give, it could translate to big savings.

Ready to make breadcrumbs.

-Make your own breadcrumbs – neither hubby or I like the ‘ends’ of a loaf of bread, so I keep them in the freezer, once I have enough , I toast them in the oven, grind them up in the blender and store them for use in a air-tight container.

-Make your own croutons – this is a case where the homemade version is so much better than the store. Use leftover French bread (or check your clearance aisle at the store for day old). The next step is to cut them into cubes, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with grinded pepper, and sea salt, and toast in the oven. These can be stored in an air-tight container until you are ready for them.

-Cut your own meat. Flank steak can be used for some much. Buying you meat as a whole steak, when it is on sale, will save you money on buying the convenient ready to use stew meat and fajita meat. Bonus is that it already in your freezer! This is also where you can make your money back on that COSTCO or Sam’s Club membership. TIP: the meat is easiest to cut when it’s still half frozen.

Ummm..Spicy Meatballs.

-Make your own meatballs – this is a favorite at our house. Watch for the meat to go on sale at your local store (I like to check in the mornings, meat expiring that day is generally marked down). With this method you can control the fat content of the meat and other ingredients. I make up a batch, freeze them, and they are ready to go whenever you need them. Plus I don’t trust those ones in the freezer, how do you know what they have in them?

- Make your own spaghetti sauce, I just mix a can of tomato sauce with a can of diced tomatoes; add some seasonings (and meatballs!) which makes a nice chunky sauce. If you don’t like a chucky sauce you can go with either all tomato sauce or substitute a can of crushed tomatoes for the diced tomatoes. These can always be bought at a great stock up price.

-Here we go on the baby carrots. I usually do not buy the baby carrots either unless I can get a really good price or I’m in an extreme hurry. A bag of regular carrots is usually about ¼ of the price of baby carrots.

- Green Beans/Carrots/Corn; these are all great out of the freezer. Stock up on them during the summer, clean them, par boil them and freeze them in single use containers. There is nothing like sweet corn in the middle of the winter.

-Cookies, Cakes, and Muffins; again these are items I never buy at the store. Once you have made the investment in the ingredients, they will pay for themselves, and will taste a 100 times better.

-Waffles. Doesn’t always seem like you make too much batter? After you have finished breakfast, head back to the kitchen, and use up the remaining batter. Freeze, and then pull out of the freezer on hectic mornings to pop in the microwave or toaster. Same can be done with pancakes!

Another reason that I started these practices is that I’m really trying to cut down on the amount of processed foods that I bring into my house. In the past few months that I’ve been doing this, I’ve already lost about 20 lbs. The prep on these items is not as bad as it seems. I usually set aside alittle time on Sundays to cut veggies and fruits, and I leave myself reminders (on my phone) on what needs to come out of the freezer and when.

There are ways to save in every part of your house and your life.

-Learn to Sew; this is what I’m working on now. Learn to hem your pants, mend and replace buttons. It is way cheaper than paying someone else, and your clothes will last longer.

-Make your own household products; I’m not talking about making your own soap or laundry detergent (but you could); but I was looking for a way to clean my oven without all the harsh chemicals (who would want to cook anything in there after that?) and found a method that uses just baking soda (works great on burner covers too!). When we looking for another way to kill me ants near the baby kitty’s food a couple of summers ago, someone tipped us off to a spray bottle filled with 2/3 parts white vinegar and water. Worked great. One last tip on this subject, dust cloths, how I hate to invest money in something I’m going to use once or twice and throw away. You know those clothes/sheets and towels that are not good enough to give to goodwill? Cut them up and store them with your cleaning supplies, they are great for dusting (socks work the best!), hand mopping floors, and other general cleaning chores.

-Plant a garden. Can you imagine how good that salad would be if it all came your own garden?

The bottom line is this. There are ways to save everywhere, just keep your eyes open. Have any tips you would like to share? Drop me a line or comment below!

Good Luck! Have a great week ~Cyn

Blizzard 2011 - The Wrap Up

2011-02-09T20:33:00.000-06:00

To quote Barry Manilow “Looks like we made it” through the blizzard of 2011. It was not easy, but below is a breakdown of the last couple of crazy days at our house. Below is the story of how the show The Secret Life of the American Teenager (or TSLAT) got me through the blizzard of 2011.

Tuesday : Day One (aka – Snow Day)

6:30 a.m. – Off to work. Didn’t sleep well last night, due to watching the news before bed, it got me all jacked up, and nervous. Isn’t there anything else going on? Can’t we talk about Egypt for awhile? Looks like the storm is going to hit somewhere between 1 and 3 pm., perfect there should be at least 3-7 inches on the ground by the time I get home. Perfect.

3:20 p.m – Heading downtown to catch (hopefully) a train home. Jeff called about 45 minutes ago. “You need to leave now” – great advice considering that I don’t have a train I can take until 3:45. It has been snowing downtown since around 1 p.m. but it has really picked up in the last hour. 3:45 full and left, Ok, that didn’t work.

Trying to get on the train..so is everyone else.

So, let’s try the 4:05 – nada on that too.

Finally, I get seat on the 4:39 (that I waited 15 mins for the train to arrive in the wind and the snow), but a seat none the less.

4:46 – Why hasn’t the 4:39 left yet? Really, people? If that guy in front says to one more person that he doesn’t know why everyone is in such a hurry to get home because the storm is a hoax, I’m really going to punch him in the face. Okay, guy standing in the isle screaming about how there is an open seat upstairs (at least 4 times he has made that announcement) – just go sit in it please, before I punch you in the face too.

5:45 – Finally arrived at the Palatine train station, let the fun of driving home begin.

6:10 – Home at last. Drive wasn’t too bad, although the roads are super snowy. Had to implement Ohio driving rules, the one where if there is no one coming do not stop at the stop signs in bad weather. So I didn’t, made the trip go alittle faster. Could have done without the people snowing blowing there driveways out into the street as I was trying to drive. We are hunkered in, making dinner and watching the news.

7:30 – First attempt to shovel car out. Looks perfect now. I am a good shoveller.

8:15 – Just talked to my sister, they are getting ice, snow is better than ice I think. Looks like there is a snow tornado in the courtyard. Lovely.

9:15 – Oh, so that is what thundersnow is. I get it now.

9:30 – Looks like I didn’t do anything. Had to clean off the car and shovel again. Really?

10:00 – All about the news. How in the heck did all these people get stuck on Lake Shore Drive? I would be super pissed, guess I shouldn’t complain about my commute. Oh, it seems to be snowing even harder now.

11:00 – Can’t take anymore, going to bed. Working from home in the morning - that will be a good commute. People still stuck on LSD (Lake Shore Drive), cannot imagine how much that would suck.

Wednesday: Day Two

6:30 am – Up and ready to go. Cannot believe what the parking lot looks like, can see my car though, not much else. I have not seen this much snow since I was a little girl. Jeff gave me a pass on shoveling because I have to work, sucker. Watching the news, looks like people are still stuck on LSD, or at least there cars are.

11:30 am – Local news has been on since 4:30 am, I understand that this is breaking news, but I’ve now missed Oprah and the View, come on people! By the way it’s still snowing…

2:00 pm - Snow has stopped, and the sun is out. Temps to plunge tonight. Great. Jeff is off to plow, good thing he was making me alittle crazy.

5:00 pm – Apparently, all the people have been, or were rescued from the LSD overnight, only there cars remain. Now all the news is talking about is how cold it is going to be overnight, so I have decided to stop watching the news. I am now watching “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” on Netflix, up to season 2. Have decided to make a fabulous dinner since I’m home.

5:45 pm – OK, just woke up from my nap, really going to make dinner this time. Watching more episodes of TSLAT – do all these kids talk about is sex? They actually use the word sex, how about “doing it” what happened to that? High School has definitely changed.

6:45 pm – dinner was most excellent (Swiss steak and mashed potatoes), what to do the rest of the night? Who the hell does this Ricky kid think he is? Two words, Male Whore.

7:15 pm – I love that John Schneider (aka – Bo Duke) plays a church going doctor on this show who is married to Josie Bessett, and Molly Ringwald plays the mother of the girl who is knocked up. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

9:00 pm – that teenage Mom is a super bitch, Jeff is home. Going to have to watch ESPN now…

11:00 pm – off to bed, afraid I’m going to be stuck in the house one more day

Thursday – Day Three

6:30 am – officially stuck at home again today. Car is frozen shut, and I’m frozen from trying to thaw the car out. Jeff is of no help, he is already gone for the day.

8:30 am – seriously I’m off the news - but the house is too quiet. I’ll just run TSLAT in the background.

11:30 am – now Molly Ringwald is pregnant on this show? You have got to be kidding me, didn’t see that coming. How are they going to raise two babies?

2:00 pm – Jeff was home, and is gone again, doesn’t expect to be home until tomorrow morning. What to do tonight? Seriously, they talk about sex to their parents? Really, we were convinced our parents didn’t even know what it was!

5:00 pm – done with work for the day, time to make Orange Chicken to celebrate Chinese New Year!

6:00 pm – that was seriously good orange chicken. Holy Crap, they just killed off Bo Duke.

7:00 pm – ‘no, I’m not watching the basketball game (OSU v. Michigan) how would I know what the score is? Ok, I’ll flip over, yes I’ll call you and give you the score’ – drat. Jeff wants me to watch the game and call him with the score. I’ll get back with you TSLAT.

8:00 pm – win #23 for my Bucks. Okay, I’m back to see how the gang deals with Bo Duke being gone. I’ve also decided to ‘catch up’ on some scrapbooking this weekend. Have set up the kitchen table with all the supplies I need.

9:00 pm – boy there is a lot of scrapbooking to keep up with. Do I keep everything? I may possibly be in over my head.

10:00 pm – Have to watch the first episode of season three and then I’m off to bed, actually have to go into the office tomorrow.

10:30 pm – yes you should break up with the super bitch, son of the sausage king! Good lord, what is wrong with you! The sausage king was on the Soprano’s but I cannot remember who he is. I think he may have been the one that married Janice. Stifler’s Mom plays his girlfriend, who used to be a call girl. This is the weirdest show I have ever watched!

So that is the story of how The Secret Life of the American Teenager kept me entertained while I was stuck in the house for two solid days, mostly just me and the cat. As it turns out, I was in over my head with the scrapbook, and have decided I will need at least another 6 days where all I do is scrapbook to get it all done. Maybe we will have another blizzard in a couple of weeks…..plus I have like a season and half of TSLAT to watch.

Have a great week.

Later ~Cyn

What are you eating during the blizzard of 2011?

2011-02-02T12:53:00.001-06:00

I should have posted this Tuesday night, but I think it's still okay.......

What do you keep in pantry for those ‘just in case’ times. Times like now, when we are expecting a blizzard? For unexpected company? For those nights were you just don’t know/want to make dinner and you need something easy?

The big buzz today everywhere seems to the blizzard that we are expecting today, tomorrow and into Wednesday, although no one is really clear on how much we are getting, it seems they are clear that it will be a lot. So I’ve been reading alot of Facebook status and Tweets regarding grocery store runs and stocking up before the snow comes. Now, I do need to go shopping today, but I really don’t need any necessities, I just want to get my weekly errands done before everything is a mess. I try and keep my pantry and freezer pretty well stocked, for just these occasions, oh and also the occasion that I don’t want to go to the grocery store every week. So I was curious what everyone else keeps in their pantries and freezers. Here’s what I do with mine.

It's kinda messy, but it always is...

Freezer:

Homemade meatballs

Shrimp, Chicken and Turkey

Frozen Pizza

Bread/Bread dough

Frozen Veggies

Ice Cream (of course!) & Cookies

Frozen steaks

Shredded Cheese

Lean Ground Beef

Pantry:

Diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce

Dried Pasta (several sizes and shapes)

Canned Veggies & Beans

Chips and Salsa

Flour/Sugar/Brown Sugar/Powdered Sugar

Brownie Mix

Oatmeal

Mushroom Soup

Soup

So, as you can see, we are ready to go for the snow. I’m hoping that we do not lose electricity, because I do not feel like standing out in blizzard grilling steaks!

I would love to hear what you keep in yours. Drop me a note and let me know!

Later ~Cyn

Blizzard 2011: The Preparation...

2011-01-30T20:13:00.000-06:00

So, did you here the Midwest is going to get one of those blizzard that the East Coast has been hogging all year. So, I guess we can expect it to start on Tuesday night, and we are getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 to 18 inches. That’s a pretty big neighborhood if you ask me. Although I’m positive that it will suck in many ways, I’m kinda excited for it. I actually do like snow, it’s the dealing with it that I don’t appreciate so much. Of course, I should have run my errands today, but Jeff and I were having some an awesome lay around the house day, I hated to leave. So I guess that I will do those tomorrow after work; grocery store, CVS, Walgreens & the post office. Then I have to workout and make dinner, good thing I rested up today!

I would like to think that during the blizzard Jeff and I could sit around drinking hot chocolate and watching it snow. But the reality of that is that we will both have to get up and deal with the snow, and go to work. Which means cleaning off cars, and digging out at 5 in the morning, very romantic, huh?

Just in case I’m going to stock up on hot chocolate and bread (for some reason, my Mom always says that!), pull my super snow boots out of the closet and dig in!

Good Luck and Enjoy the Snow!

Later ~ Cyn

2011 A Year of Savings: Groceries & Household Items

2011-01-25T20:35:00.000-06:00

It seems like everyone has made a resolution to save alittle money this year. I am by no means a financial expert, but I am however, cheap or frugal if you like. So I thought that I would start a blog series on some of the things that I do, to save alittle dough. Each month will be a new topic. Today’s topic is groceries, and the hunt for the best deal. I’ve found that once you have become organized, it gets easier every week to tame the beast that is grocery shopping (and not get ripped off!)

Getting Organized

Develop a list of staples that you family uses all the time and you are always picking up at the store. For example, at our house those include bologna, oatmeal, tortillas, and pop tarts, to name a few.

Create a spreadsheet to use as your list. This is nice for me, because I can then email the spreadsheet to my phone and I know I will not forget my list. At the top of this spreadsheet you should include the items on your staples list.

Develop a coupon system. I have an organizer and as I’m making out my list, I add the coupons I’m using on that trip to the front pocket.

Before you go to the Store

Now that you are organized, it is time to prepare your list and get your coupons ready.

Check your pantry and freezer. Determine what of your staple items you have to replenish. Add these items to your list. Also, make a mental list (or a physical one) of what you have, to help with meal planning.

Put together your meal plan. Plan at least one week out. Sometimes I plan two if we are going to be out of town. I always start with items in my freezer, determine how are you are going to serve them and if you need any additional items to prepare them. Add these items to your list.

Check the ads. If you are like me, there is never enough in the freezer to cover a weeks worth of dinners that you want to make. This is where I turn to the ads for help. Plan you empty days with items on sale. Also, add items that are a particular good deal for meals over the next couple of weeks (that is if you have the freezer/pantry space). Add these items to your list.

*Side Note: You don’t have to go to every store in town. Balance out the savings over the cost of gas and hassle.

*Side Note: Don’t forget your recycled bags; many stores will give you a discount per bag.

At the Store

Don’t forget your recycled bags in the car. (Do not laugh – you know how many times this has happened to me?)

Check the clearance items. Every morning stores mark down meats and pastry that are about to expire. Check these areas first to get the best selection. Also, many seasonal items will be marked down. M&M’s taste the same to me weather they are red & green & pink. Be sure to check the expiration dates & to freeze any items that are alittle close.

Roll past the items on your staples list. You should check these items every time at every store. You never know when an unadvertised sale is going to pop up. These are also items that you should be brand flexible on. That has the potential to save you big money on these products.

Check the unit cost of your items. Sometimes a sale is not really a sale, say the bigger size of an item is on sale, check the unit cost of all the sizes, in the long run you may save more by buying two of the smaller, or vice versa.

Check the expiration date on all the products; this might be why you are getting such a great deal.

Watch the checkout. In the day of computers, there is a high probability that something will not scan correctly. Kindly point this out to your checker. Sometimes you may get that item for free! At the very least you have saved your self another trip back to have the error corrected. Also, make sure they scan all of your coupons.

Back at Home

Organize your checkout coupons.

Check your receipt. Double check it for inaccuracies. Also, if there is a survey at the end, take it. This can lead to free items, and additional coupons, or even free gift cards!

Side Notes

Don’t waste time clipping out coupons for products that you will not use or do not need.

Check out the web sites of the stores that you shop frequently, sometimes they will offer additional in-store coupons on items. Also, check out the websites for the items on your staples list, give them your email address you will be surprised at the amount of coupons and free samples you will get. It is also a good idea to search for them on Facebook or Twitter.

When shopping keep in mind how much space you have for storing items.

Here are some coupon sites that are worth checking out.

Smart Source

Coupons.com

Also, I really like Coupon Mom, she helps me organize the sale items and if I should have a coupon or not.

Have any tips or your own that others might benefit from? Drop me a line or comment below!

Later ~Cyn

A Promise to Myself for 2011

2011-01-03T20:18:00.001-06:00

Happy, Happy New Year! Can you believe the holidays are behind us already? Yikes, they were a blur, but a fun blur. This year I have decided against resolutions. To be honest, I break them. So this year, I've decided on making promises to myself. I think it's harder to break promises to yourself. So here I go...this is what I've promised myself this year.

I promise will be brave. This is am important one for me. I sometimes will let my fear (especially of the unknown) stop me for accomplishing the things I really want. I hope that fear will stop me only long enough to think about what I’m about to do, but will not stop me in my tracks.

I promise that I will slow down. Sometimes I get moving too fast for my own good, and I do not pause to listen the advice of others or to enjoy the successes that come along.

I promise to go with the flow I alittle more than I normally do. I’m not the most spontaneous person in the world, and I hate when someone changes the plan. Makes we crazy and I generally do not enjoy myself as much as I could. I promise to take a deep breath and move along.

I promise to try new things. This has become one of my favorite things to do. New experiences, new recipes, new adventures. That's what life should be like.

Well, since it is back to reality for me to tomorrow I should get going. Have a great week, and let's get 2011 off to a great start!

~Cyn

Craftistic Christmas

2010-12-29T22:23:00.000-06:00

Well, another wonderful Christmas is in the books. As always there was too much food, too many generous gifts and a barrel of wonderful laughs. Before the festivities began there was a ton of work that went into getting ready. This is almost the best part for me all the planning, baking, gluing, wrapping. I love it. So below are a few of the things that I put together.

Cards, this year I tried to simplify. It never works. I still ended up with 4 card designs! I know – maybe I should have just picked one, but I was having way too much fun! Below is my favorite of the group.

This was my favorite!

This year I tried something new with the kids’ gifts, and I think that I worked out pretty good. Instead of making gift tags for all of their gifts (really, I know, but I do – I just hate the ones from the store). I decided that they would all get bags, with their names on them, and then I would wrap all the presents and put each in the corresponding bags. Much easier, you do need to do one child at time to stay organized though. This definitely something I will be doing again!

How cute is the girl modeling the bag?

The ghost of Christmas past….I saw this under my Mom & Dad’s tree when I got there on Friday, I thought that this bag was gone, it was one of the bags I made like three years ago, I wish someone would give me a present in it I would throw it away!

Where do I start with this?

All in the family, this is a tree skirt that my big sister, Denise made for me this year. It’s great I love it!

Love it when everyone gets into the crafting!

The next generation....all of my nieces and nephews are extremely talented in many diverse ways. I am however trying to encourage my niece Dana to embrace her ‘crafty’ side. This is picture of her – after making her first card, about an hour after she opened her gift!

Complete with Marshmallow gun, and her sister's sock!

Hope your Holidays were as wonderful as ours, Hope that there are many more to come....

Later

~Cyn

Sticky Christmas Situations, and I’m not talking about the Eggnog

2010-12-16T22:10:00.000-06:00

Christmas is almost here, and along with the peace and goodwill, it also brings along the potential for some awkward etiquette situations. Most of these have simple solutions and can be handled without missing a beat….

Sticky Situation #1: You receive a gift from someone that you did not have a gift for in return.
First, respond with a “aren’t you sweet, but your really didn’t have to” and Thank them profusely. This happens a lot, there are many of us out there, that like to express our gratitude, or friendship in the form of a little something, something around the holidays. Many of us do this for the simple reason that we enjoy the process of putting together a gift for the someone, most of us are not expecting anything other than a ‘Thank you’ in return. But, if you feel like you must reciprocate, invite your friend to lunch or for out for coffee to catch up after the holidays, your time and friendship will make for the perfect gift. **A side note regarding Christmas cards, if you receive a card from someone you did not send one to, send them a New Year’s Card in January. Many people don’t send out Christmas cards, but Happy New Year’s cards, they will think this was your plan all along!

Sticky Situation #2: You receive a gift that you will never wear/use/or decorate with it.
Even the best shoppers have make mistakes. But, do not hold on to something that you do not need or want (this is how hoarding starts) – so send your Thank you note, and it either put this in your re-gifting closet, up on ebay, or donate it to the goodwill. Do not fall into the thought that you must wear, or display the item in question. These rules however go out the window if the gift is from your Mother. Wear it or display it immediately!

Sticky Situation #3: You are at a party, trapped in a corner talking to the boss’ wife/drunk co-worker/or your crazy neighbor.
There are several methods for getting unstuck from this situation. There is the bathroom break, where you fake a need to visit the little girls room (only attempt this when the person you are trying to get away from is of the opposite sex – they will follow you), there is the ‘I’m being a bad guest, I need to see if the hostess needs some help’ – again, only do this if you are talking to a man (we know they won’t volunteer to help!). A classic made easier by cell phones, ‘I need to check in with the babysitter’ excuse yourself, and make a bee line to a quiet spot. The no-fail is of course ‘It has been wonderful catching up with you, but I just saw so and so, and I really need to speak with him/her regarding book club/PTA/world peace, have a wonderful evening’ – and then walk away, before they can respond. It’s a polite way to remove yourself gracefully.

Now of course these happen all year long, with birthday parties, and 4th of July picnics, they just always seem to be magnified with it being the Holiday season (but isn’t everything?). Don’t be so hard on yourself….Enjoy the Holidays and the Eggnog!!

~Cyn

These are a few of my favorite things.....

2010-12-09T21:04:00.000-06:00

Like Oprah I feel it is completely necessary that I share my favorite things with the world, although I’m not sure people will care about mine as much as they care about hers. Unlike Oprah, I will not be giving one of everything to my studio audience. For two reasons mostly, I do not have a studio audience, and these companies are not giving me anything for free (at least not yet!). So here it goes, you will notice, that based on my list and her list, Oprah and I have little in common, mostly due to the fact she has way more money than I do!

Sweet Leaf Tea – in one word “Yum” I discovered this about a month or so back at Potbelly. At the time I was trying to give up soda pop (I’m still trying) and so I was looking for alternative. It is so good, it’s green tea with spearmint and honey is my favorite. On the inside of the each cap is a ‘Grannyism’ my favorite so far is #30 “MIND YOUR OWN BEESWAX”. So far I’m spotted these delicious teas at Potbelly, CVS and Target. But I’m sure they are all over the place. Oh, and it's organic, a bonus!

See my awesome shark pencil holder in the background?

Taco Bell Cheese Roll-Ups – have been making a ‘at home’ version of these for years. All it is cheese melted and wrapped in a flour tortilla. Simple, cheap (79 cents), and portable. It is the perfect treat while you are out running errands. In case you are wondering, the at home version contains diced tomatoes and sour cream. Always have to upgrade don’t I?

RCA Portable DVD player – how in the world did I make it this long without you? We are now inseparable and I’m burning through the Netflix DVD’s at a maddening place. It is going to be great for car trips, although so far I’ve only used it to sit on the sofa with my sweetie and watch a movie while he watches whatever poker game or NFL game (I am truly only interested in the following NFL teams; Steelers (Big Ben), the Browns (home town allegiance), and the Colts (Peyton Manning)) I don’t want to watch. I’m flirting with the idea of taking you on the train, but I’m afraid I will miss my stop and end up in Wisconsin.

Netflix – I’ve been a big fan for the last couple of years, and with the expectation of the recent price increase that caused me to drop my number of at home DVD’s from three to one (really, $19.99 for three DVD’s at once, steep considering that most of the movies I want to see I cannot get until about a month after they release due to the deals Netflix has made with the studios, I have seen most of the movies by then via On-Demand). But I really love that I can stream some movies and TV shows through the Wii. I have spent many nights catching up on TV shows I wanted to watch but never had the time for. I wonder if that is good or bad. By the way, this was one of Oprah’s favorite things too, so we do have things in common.

McCormick Recipe Inspirations – when I first saw these in the store (they are seasoning packets), I thought, who would buy these, I have all these seasonings and spices at home. Turns out I was totally over estimating the amount of spices and seasonings I have at home. So now I understand the marketing genius behind this. One day I was at the store, and I was looking for something to go with shrimp, since I had some at home and I was totally tired of my awesome shrimp stir-fry, and I came across this packet for the Shrimp & Pasta Primavera, and it was easy and so good. The recipe comes with all the spices you need, it was super easy and very fast. I would even recommend it for a weeknight dinner. The next one I’m going to try is the Caribbean Grilled Steak. They have inspirations for all different kinds of meats and I fully plan on working my way through all of them.

**Right now they are running a Sweepstakes, you could win, $$, spices, even a KitchenAid mixer.

Of course, there are a million other things that I consider my favorites, little things that make my days good smoothly, and more importantly keep me entertained. But these are currently on top of the list. I’d better post this before that changes!

Go forth and enjoy! Is it terrible that most of these things are food??

~Cyn

Thanksgiving Weekend..

2010-12-06T22:29:00.000-06:00

So I know everyone has been waiting to hear how are Thanksgiving weekend was (I'm totally kidding), but it was pretty unremarkable. No really major incidents. We headed to Ohio where we enjoyed some yummy Pizza Wheel pizza (to quote Jeff - how do people know where this is? Me - We just know). Then spent some quality time with my sister and my nieces.

Thursday I decided that I would make a centerpiece from things I found in the yard, boy did that make my Dad grumble (you are going to put leaves from the yard on the table?). I was pleasantly surprised at all the wonderful leaves, and branches, I even stole one of my Mom's Halloween pumpkins. The table looked wonderful, and the meal was do die for. My Mom cooks a mean turkey.

How pretty is that?

On Friday we did alittle shopping, but was brutally cold. My big scores of the day were at Target, lots of Christmas presents for the kiddos, and some new sheets and pillows for Aunt Cyndi and Uncle Jeff. Then we headed back to my parents for breakfast and a nap!

Saturday was the big OSU/Michigan football game, it was ice to watch it with my parents. Everything was fine until half time. That's when Grandpa came down with flu. All and all, 6 people were sick, Jeff included (that was an awesome ride home on Sunday) - Mom and I had dinner together alone in her kitchen while everyone else was sleeping in the living room. It was the most enjoyable meal I had all weekend.

Lots more to come this week, working on my favorite things blog, take that Oprah!

Have a great week!

~Cyn

Let the Countdown Begin!

2010-11-17T22:05:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe that we are one week out from Thanksgiving. It is amazing how fast time goes this time of year. This year we are switching things up a bit and heading for the OH, instead of the IA. We haven't been 'home' to Bellevue in close to a year. It will be great to spend Thanksgiving with my parents, my sister and her family. What I'm looking forward to the most is making dinner with my Mom, I could spend hours with her in the kitchen. I think that I'm finally starting to gain her respect alittle, because she will actually give me a task and then sit and the table while I do it, no longer is she standing over my back making sure I'm doing it the 'right' way.

I know that all the stores have their Christmas stuff out, but Thanksgiving really signals the being of Christmas for me. I am a devoted black Friday shopper, that really starts the shopping off. I'm so behind schedule this year, I've barely made a list. So instead of putting that together, I'm writing this, that's okay I work better under pressure. So I've been thinking alot about shopping, so I thought that I would share my tips. Many of you may have your own, I would love to hear them!

1. Prepare. As I always say "know the price you would pay today" as in if it wasn't on sale, that way you
     will know what kinda deal you are getting. Also, know is the time to start checking the ads, I know it's
     fun to look through them when you are full of turkey and have one more piece of pie, but it's better to get
     your strategy down now. My favorite website for this is www.black-friday.net it is great, helps you
     check out your favorite stores and even comparison shop. It will also help you figure out what you
     'would pay today'
2. You will be what your wear. It is important to dress for comfort. I go with a 'layered look' that is so that
     you can shed them as you go; t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt (Ohio State, of course) and a fleece
     w/pockets. Of course, make sure you where comfy pants, and maybe thermal long johns underneath (it
     can get really cold outside of Best Buy at 5 in the morning). I don't carry my purse but I stash my cash,
     ID, credit cards and coupons (don't forget these!) in my pockets, so I'm not always worried about my
     purse.
3. Buddy system. My husband is always my buddy, we split up, conquer the store, and meet at the
     registers. It also worked great a couple of years ago when it was so cold, we took turns waiting in the
     car with the heater on.
4. Watch your fluids. You don't want to lose your place in line to make a trip to the ladies room. Also,
     there may not be a place to go, and it makes the cold so much worse!
5. Finally, be nice. Do not push and shove. I've seen people fall over pallets, and scream and yell at
     everyone. A DVD for $5 is not worth the hit to your Karma.

So have fun, stay warm, and enjoy the holiday and the shopping! If anyone is looking for me, I'll be a Walmart at midnight on Friday, with my buddy and my comfy pants!

Later ~ Cyn

Getting their kicks on Route 66

2010-11-03T20:45:00.000-05:00

Well, it’s official. We have a rockstar in the family. Last Friday, Jeff and I and a ton of family and friends headed down to the Kinetic Playground to celebrate the kick-off concert of the Red Bull Rock the Route tour. It is the first tour for Cody’s (that’s my awesome brother-in-law) band Young Jesus. They have been blessed with the opportunity to head down Route 66 (by the way, they did a great cover of that song on Friday) and play several clubs on there way to LA, where they will end at the Viper Room (don’t worry, he’s getting me a picture of the River Phoenix stuff). We are beyond proud, and Jeff hasn’t stop smiling since that night.

Can't even tell they are brothers, can you?

Did I mention it was a contest (you probably know that if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook)? They are competing against another band for valuable studio time. From what I understand, from Facebook and Twitter updates the judges love them, but they are losing out on the text vote. So please text YoungJ to 72855 and vote for them, no worries it’s free. I totally promise that they rock!

Thanks…Cyn