For Fun Friday February 27, 2009

I have no idea what this site is saying but the CUTENESS! The CUTENESS!

http://ziza.ru/2009/02/17/krysy_pozirujut_16_foto.html

I want to eat here.

http://conradhotels1.hilton.com/en/ch/hotels/dining.do?ctyhocn=MLEHICI&id=DIN2

˙sıɥʇ op oʇ ʍoɥ ʍouʞ oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ ʍouʞ noʎ ˙ʎʞɐǝɹɟ ɹǝdns

http://www.sherv.net/flip.html

Shut The Door! Do You Live IN A CAVE?

Why, yes. As a matter of fact. I do.



Here's the Ebay listing, just in case you actually want to live in a cave.


Check out my Herald-Leader post today too.

I Just Did My Husband The BIGGEST Favor

I made cookies the other night. Not fabulous, made-from-scratch cookies, just slice and bake Valentine's cookies which were half price but still good. Very good, in fact. We inhaled half of them that night (hey! they were EXTREMELY small) and our grandson was here so he ate some and there were really just a few left the next afternoon.

So.

I ate them all.

Just so Tom wouldn't eat them and possibly gain weight.

God.

I am SUCH a great wife.

And I'm not even going to tell you about the Valentine's candy I bought for half price and how I carefully chose the Hershey's kisses that have cherries in them because I knew he didn't like those.

And I do.

Am I the greatest wife? Or WHAT?

Try It Tuesday: L'Oreal Double Extend Mascara

I had read about this L'Oreal Double Extend Mascara several different places and then finally tore an ad out of a magazine to take with me so I would not forget to buy it because my memory lasts approximately 1/9000 of a second. Seriously. Tom and I stopped at the grocery the other night to pick up a few things and decided to get pancake mix and in between walking from one aisle TO THE NEXT, we completely forgot the pancake mix.

So, I had my ad. I bought the mascara. And just because of you, my faithful readers, I decided to do an actual mascara test. On one eye, I put the mascara I have been using and on the other eye, I put the L'Oreal mascara. The L'Oreal mascara is a little bit of a pain to put on because you put on this white conditioning stuff and THEN you put on the mascara which, really, adding another step to my early morning routine when my eyes are only half open ANYWAY is asking a lot, but I am here to tell you that it is totally WORTH IT. Supposedly this mascara creates a tube around your eyelashes which makes them longer and lusher. And, huh. It really does! There was a noticeable difference in my eyelashes. And the cool thing about the tube mascara is that it easily washes off with just water.

Check it out. Let me know what you think.

And check out my Herald-Leader blog post today too.

Your Reading List Has No Unread Items.

Tell me I am not the only one who gets a strange, perverse thrill of excitement when I get this message on iGoogle?

That I have now read every single blog post I have on there, my iGoogle Reader is completely empty and clean and nice and SO SO SHINY, and I am just SUCH a good, conscientious blog reader.

It's. just. so. satisfying.

Until the damn thing is full again in the morning.

Seriously.

I need to stop reading so many frakin' blogs.

For Fun Friday February 20, 2009

A totally weird but hilarious robot cat.

http://www1.americangreetings.com/ecards/display.pd?prodnum=3085685&N=374226&Ntt=cat&offset=39&navtype=ksearch

We have a well-loved and well-worn My Little Pony at my house that belonged to my son. We never would have considered doing this to it. (I actually lost this link momentarily and had to search for it - it's a little frightening how big this whole world of Pony mods really is.)

http://www.thetoyzone.com/25-inspiring-my-little-pony-mods/

I KNEW I liked watching movies.

http://monster-island.org/tinashumor/humor/movielessons.html

Check out the FAIL Blog.

http://failblog.org/

I Am A Total Magazine HO

I love magazines. Seriously. They are absolutely the best form of reading material. They are thin (except for "O" magazine - that Oprah really gives you your money's worth), they are quick and easy to read, you can tear stuff out of them because they are YOURS, they are delivered in your mailbox all neat and tidy like a crisp and clean present every month. Or your daughter delivers her previously read editions in a nice pile you can add to your pile which sometimes becomes QUITE a pile when you get busy and don't keep up with your magazine reading.

I'm a little afraid to count up the number of magazine subscriptions I have because I know there are quite a few. Let's see. "More", "Ladies Home Journal", "Reader's Digest", "Redbook", the previously mentioned "O", several travel magazines, "People" which I CANNOT live without because otherwise I would have absolutely no idea what is going on in the world, then there is "Woman's World", "Glamour", "Cosmo", and some cooking magazines (who is she kidding? Like I'm going to try a new recipe) that my daughter brings me.

There may be more but I am honestly too lazy to go look through that stack and see what else I subscribe to.

I'd rather just read them.

There is nothing quite like taking a stack of brand-new magazines up onto your lap in the recliner on a snowy winter day and just reading all afternoon.

It's one of my favorite things to do.

What about you?


I was in some serious pain the other day. Really. I made the BIG mistake of putting on my freshly washed jeans after gaining five seven a couple of pounds recently (reference Blizzard Post #1 and Blizzard Post #2 for POSSIBLE reasons why). I noticed they were a LITTLE tight in that I had to dance around to get them over my hips and suck in my breath to snap them but I figured no big deal! they are freshly washed! they will TOTALLY STRETCH OUT. Read more at my Herald-Leader blog HERE.

It Is Seriously Just A Matter Of Time Before The Weight Starts FALLING OFF ME

I realized something the other day when I was at the grocery store. It's not a good idea to wear sleeping pants to the store, although in the name of full disclosure, I have to admit that I have done it once, but it's perfectly OK to wear yoga pants/sweat pants/sweat suit/those stretchy suits with the matching jackets, whatever the heck they are called. I saw someone wearing one there the other day and I looked at her, all comfy in her stretchy exercise/yoga pants and tennis shoes and I thought I GOTTA GET ME SOMMA THEM. Because I always think in redneck.

So, I was at the store the other day and I saw some on sale and I decided this was the perfect time to buy some. I tried on, like, ten sets before I found a set that did not fit like a SECOND SKIN and really why is it that you can try on a dozen things in the EXACT SAME SIZE and they will all fit differently? Why is that? Shouldn't they be uniformly the same measurements if they are the EXACT SAME SIZE?

That is so annoying. Anyway. I found a set that was perfectly DARLING and did not make my ass look like a couple of bowling balls stuffed into a very small sack so (of course) I went back and found it in another color and was slightly annoyed that they did not have EVEN MORE colors because you know I am all about buying something that fits and looks good in every single color they have.

I guess they are technically yoga pants since they are kinda stretchy and they are not that sweatshirt material, so here's what I'm thinking. I am totally going to be wearing EXERCISE CLOTHES. That is absolutely the next best thing to ACTUALLY EXERCISING.

Seriously.

I expect to start losing weight just any day.

Try It Tuesday: Elations Drink

Does anyone else take Glucosamine Chondroitin for arthritis? I've been taking it for a few years, on my sister's recommendation, and it really makes a difference. You don't realize how MUCH of a difference until you have an ice storm and half your family is staying with you and you forget to take any supplements for a few days and all of a sudden your hands are swollen and it hurts to bend them. Oh, yeah. Forgot the Glucosamine! I take it and Omega Fish Oil daily for the arthritis, along with a prescription drug. I was in the grocery recently to pick up some more and found these on the vitamin aisle.

It's Elations drink for healthier joints. The idea of drinking some great tasting juice instead of taking a huge pill was pretty appealing so I bought a couple of six packs. They have two flavors - Cranberry Apple and Raspberry White Grape. I bought the Raspberry White Grape and I am really pleased with it. I drink it in the mornings and it's really good - tart and refreshing. They are 30 calories and have 1500 mg of Glucosamine and 1200 mg of Chondroitin. I found them at Kroger but they are also available at Wal-Mart and other stores. I'm really pleased with it and plan to buy a bunch more to keep in stock.



Try it and let me know what you think!

And check out my travel blog today for ideas about where to snorkel or scuba dive.

News, Smooze. Or More Accurately. Snooze.

I never watch the news. Never. Well. I do watch it when we are in the middle of a catastrophic ice and snow storm and the power goes out everywhere and everything is closed and a state of emergency is declared. I do watch it then. Because God forbid we should not be able to watch the last season of "Gilmore Girls" on our DVD player. But, normally. Never.

Tom watches it faithfully every night and I figure he will fill me in if there is anything to know. And really? If it's not in People magazine, I don't consider it to be news-worthy anyway.

And you don't actually need to watch the news ever again either, if you just print out this detailed list of just what you can expect on the news EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Seriously. You could miss one night, then watch the next night and NEVER MISS ANYTHING. Kind of like a soap opera. Only with less big hair.

So, here you go. My quite accurate and detailed news report.

BIG STORY: Some country is unhappy with another country.

ECONOMIC REPORT: Stock Market is down. Stock Market is up. Someone in charge of some company is making too much money.

SPORTS: Some team won some game. Some team lost some game.

WEATHER: It's sunny. It's rainy. It's hot. It's cold. It's snowy. WAIT. Newflash. It's foggy.

And now you never have to watch the news again.

You're welcome.

Check out my travel blog today for a great trip with your BFF.

For Fun Friday February 13, 2009

These are extremely cool. Or hot, as the case may be.

https://technology.inventables.com/technologies/temperature-sensitive-glass-tiles

Check out these on-screen transformations. Amazing what a little makeup can do. I make a similar transformation every morning.

http://www.popcrunch.com/16-unique-and-impressive-on-screen-transformations/

Wassup, dude? High five!

http://everythingrandom.net/post/77006517/high-five

Check out my travel blog today for some interesting travel news of the week.

I Had A Dairy Queen Blizzard For Dinner Last Night

You know the definition of a friend? A friend is someone who knows of your Dairy Queen Blizzard obsession and does not judge you harshly for it; rather, she actually CUTS A COUPON OUT OF THE PAPER for $1 off a Blizzard and carefully brings it to you. She sees it in the paper. She thinks of you. She cuts it out. She brings it to you. What better devotion could you possibly find?

If I had to sum up Friendship in one word, it would be Comfort. Blizzard. ~Adabella Radici

Or something like that.

Anyway. Once she gave me the coupon, of course, my mind was immediately preoccupied with visions of an M & M Blizzard. I could fairly taste the sweet creamy goodness and the crunchy M & M candies.

Wait.

I need to collect myself.

OK.

Unfortunately, we had a faculty meeting after school and then a project to work on and, by the time I got to Dairy Queen, it was after 5:00. I told myself it was a bad idea. Too close to dinner time. I would ruin my dinner. I told myself this the whole time I was in line and while I was spooning Blizzard greedily into my mouth.

Somehow, it helped NOT AT ALL.

So, of course, I didn't want any dinner. No pork chop. No baked beans. No macaroni and cheese. I completely skipped dinner.

And here's what I'm thinking. I completely SKIPPED DINNER. Think about how many calories I saved.

I bet I'm going to start losing weight just any minute.

Any minute now.

Thanks, Nona.

Check out my travel blog today for a special, special video.
And my Herald-Leader blog for a great place to have that Valentine's dinner.

Adding A "Subscribe By Email" Option To Your Blog

I don't know about anyone else but I have been trying to figure out how to add this subscribe by email option for ages. I don't know if I just have some sort of technological deficiency (shut up, Tom) or what but I just could not figure out how to let people subscribe by email to my blog.

I really wanted this as an option for my new travel blog so I could drive a lot of traffic to that blog so my Travel Authority peoples will appreciate the fabulousness that is me and immediately offer to send me to Bora-Bora for two weeks to lie on the beach stuff my face with food write all about my experience. Hey. It could happen.

Anyway, thanks to my BFF Google, I finally figured it out the other day and I thought I would share this site with you so you can add this option as well. Unless you already have it. And if you do? WHY haven't you shared how to do it with me?

Oh. I didn't ask?

Well, you should TOTALLY by psychic enough to read my mind and know my needs.

What kind of friend are you ANYWAY?

Don't forget to check out Heather's fabulous Valentine giveaway on her blog!

And check out my travel blog today about a great deal for Cancun.

Try It Tuesday: Taco Salad Shells

I like Mexican food. Now, I am the first to temper that statement with the fact that I do not like HOT Mexican food, so I guess I am just another lame American who likes Americanized Mexican food. But I do. I like tacos and quesadillas and burritos and pretty much anything you can stuff some meat and refried beans into. But I especially like a taco salad. Even though it is piled with meat and cheese and refried beans, it also has LETTUCE so you can eat it while deluding yourself with the fact that it is TOTALLY HEALTHY.

One of the things that I like most about a taco salad is the shell. I like the break off pieces and eat them with my salad like crunchy and quite delicious little extra treats. I'm always surprised when people (I'm looking at you Tom) treat their shell like a bowl and THROW IT AWAY.

I recently discovered that you can actually make those bowls yourself if you buy a taco salad shell kit at the grocery. It's really pretty cool. They come completely
flat and you can't imagine how they are going to make that shell shape. But then you lay them on top of the little cardboard molds you snap together which come in the kit, bake them a few minutes and voila! you have a taco salad shell.

And I realize that Voila! is a French term but considering the fact that when Liz and I were in Punta Cana I had a long conversation with the guys at the towel bar who were smiling and friendly and then I walked back to my chair and realized that I had mixed up my high school French and college Spanish with them, it's only natural I would use a French word in the middle of this post about a Spanish dish.

So, make some taco salads and try these bowls. Let me know what you think.

Check out my baby books giveaway at my Herald-Leader blog today.
And think about a trip to Toronto by reading my travel blog today.

I Am Now Officially A World Traveler. I Think I Need Some More Suitcases.

Most of you know I'm now, like, an OFFICIAL member of the quite IMPRESSIVE world of travel professionals or quite possibly the least well-traveled person to maintain a travel blog. One or the other. Or possibly both.

I'm still figuring out my position in the Travel Authority company since this was a position we basically created after I walked in, handed them a resume and said that, uh, I might like to travel and write and maybe get paid for doing that? What did they think? And they said, uh. Let's talk.

So I went to this travel event on Saturday and I talked to everyone and generally tried to appear fairly well-educated about travel and cruising but even though I had actually cruised on several of the cruise lines - SCORE - I was woefully inadequate in the number of places I had visited - FAIL.

I spent a long time talking to the representative from General Tours and can I say again my travel experience is WOEFULLY INADEQUATE? Because even though I have been to a few tropical islands and to Alaska? This woman just got back from a safari in EAST AFRICA. My tales of POSSIBLY seeing some whales and spending all our time eating in Puerto Vallarta? PALE in comparison to stories about warthogs wandering through your kitchen and pictures of leopards that were so close you could almost touch them. If you wanted your hand chomped off.

So, even though I am now OFFICIALLY a member of the travel professionals? I still have a lot of work to do. A lot of places to see. A lot of suitcases to overpack.



But I am up to the task. And I'll keep you updated.


Check out my travel blog today for some special Valentine cruises.

For Fun Friday, February 6, 2009

This is INCREDIBLE.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/845749/strangelydrawn_speed_painting_ray_charles/

This looks ALARMINGLY like the spread of some sort of virus. And it is. Kinda.

http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

I love you but...(click on the page, then click on each illustration to see the quote.)

http://loveyoubut.com/

Have you heard about bump keys? Me either. Kinda scary. (Thanks, Barb for this one!)

Check out the latest travel news every Friday on my travel blog.

Gotta Get The Mail

So, I got home from work, tossed my coat and purse on the couch, got the mail, went through it, sat down at the computer. Paid a bill, read my email, read my blogs, checked the weather, stretched, decided I better think of something for dinner and then. I AM SO NOT KIDDING YOU HERE.

I went out to get the mail.

It was not until I OPENED THE MAILBOX that I realized I had already gotten the mail.

Seriously. I strolled all the way out there, dum-de-dum I'm SO getting the mail, when I had TOTALLY already gotten it once.

Man.

I hope none of the neighbors saw me.


Everyone seems to be trying to economize on all aspects of their lives recently. I keep reading articles about recycling, using coupons, even making your own shampoo and laundry detergent. Even though I do draw the line at making my own detergent, I have also been cutting back at the grocery and using coupons for the first time in years. Read more at my travel blog HERE.

I recently moved some things around on bookshelves and found my tattered collection of Albert Payson Terhune dog stories. Then I sat and read each and every one. Read more at my Herald-Leader blog HERE.

And Now My Husband Thinks I Love Blogging More Than Him. Or That I Am Deaf.

Tom couldn't get his work truck out of the ice and snow the other morning, so he took his personal truck to work, then came home at lunchtime to try to dig the work truck out a little so it would move. He did manage to free the ice-mired wheels and pulled it around to the front of the house so he could just pull forward in the morning instead of trying to drive up the little hill that runs beside our house.

Apparently, sometime during the process of getting some things out of his truck to bring in the house, his foot slipped out from under him and WHOOP he landed right on his butt out in the street. His cell phone went flying and he landed right on his keys, which proceeded to start the truck alarm blaring loudly.

And as he lay spread-eagled in the ice and snow, with the horn blaring away right in front of the house? I was typing away on my blogs on the computer. Just a few feet away from the door and the windows that face the street.

Completely oblivious. Never heard a thing.

I told him I would have checked on him in a little while. Eventually. That he would not have laid out there forever, for God's sake. I am practically positive I would have thought about him before he got frostbite. Practically.

He was not convinced. He dusted the snow off his back and huffed out of the room.


There are many conflicting opinions on the "safest" place to sit on an airplane but most experts concede that the rear of the plane is generally slightly safer than the front. Read more at my travel blog here.

I Didn't Get Much Done This Weekend

I was too busy having snowball fights.

Tasting icicles.



Making snow angels.


Getting a gallant, helping hand.


And just generally enjoying this boy. This perfect boy.

Find out all about taking a trip to Cancun on my Herald-Leader blog today.

And read about great deals in the Caribbean at my Travel blog.

Yet Another Post About The Ice Storm. But It Really Was Incredible.

First, it was rain. Then it was ice. Then it was snow on top of the ice. Then it was pandemonium. Power blinked out all over Kentucky, families were forced to move to shelters and to stay with other family members, schools closed, roads were impassable, limbs fell crashingly to the ground or on top of houses and everyone waited for it. just. to. be. over.

But in the meantime.

Everything was strangely, ethereally beautiful.

Every blade of grass and individual twig on every tree was coated with ice.

And when the sun rose the next morning, every living thing was spangled with diamonds.

Check out my new Travel Authority Blog post this morning.