Blog Peeping

**The names in this entry have been changed to protect the innocent**
I had a really funny experience last night as I was stalking people via their blogs. I googled this a person of interest who happens to be interested in my friend's aunt. We'll call him Matthew Pigparis. The first thing that came up was Dustin Matthew Pigparis. Perhaps this is his son, so I clicked and it was a blog. After reading for a moment, I discover that the guy is LDS (so is Matthew Pigparis), so I'm a step closer, but maybe Pigparis is a common LDS name. Then I read that Dustin M.P. has 4 sisters. Matthew has 5 kids, one son. Hmmm. So, I discover that Dustin's sister just had a baby, click over to her blog to see if she has any info on her father. No info, but instead, on her blog list I see listed, "Poppins Family." And the link is already grey - I have already been there! The Poppins Family is also linked on my friend's blog and I read their blog on a regular basis because they are hilarious! Isn't the interweb awesome! Last night my stalking totally went full circle. wow...

Tagged - Six Things

Ok, Brenna, this is for you.

1. I used to sell Indoor Air Quality Systems aka vacuums and air filters for Filterqueen. I really do believe that they are awesome, but the job did suck. I would go to people's houses and demonstrate the products into the late hours of the night. Luckily, I didn't have to go door to door. To this day I am really picky about which vacuum I use - you know that "vacuum smell"? Yea, that's dust mite poo, rotten food and dirt coming out of your vacuum bag and into your lungs. Gross! Sadly, the jerks at FQ sell their system for thousands of dollars (I suggest eBay). As far as affordable vacs, I would recommend a Dyson, because it runs on the same idea as a FQ.
FYI - expensive vacs that aren't good - Rainbow & Kirby. I grew up with a Kirby. Sure it was good for a workout if you needed to vacuum the stairs, but it has a bag = blows junk into your air. When the salesman come to your house, he doesn't hook the vacuum up to the bag, therefore it never clogs and loses air flow. As for the Rainbow, water isn't a filter. It's something to swim in or drink.
Sorry, I'll stop.

2. I used to have horrible TMJ. My jaw got totally screwed up on my and Ben's first real date. Not from kissing, but from one of those slingshot rides that throws you up into the air a million miles per hour. After years of trips to Dr. Snow in PHX, lots of money, and hard work, my mouth is awesome. Thanks Mom and Dad! Thanks Dr. Snow!

3. I am a little bit of an insomniac. And I love late night TV. There's just something about being up late that makes TV more fun... even if it's just Family Guy.

4. I love morning news, especially the Today Show. When I watch news shows if makes me feel like I'm on vacation. When you are working or going to school, the only time you get to watch those shows is when you are on vacation. When I am away on vacation, I still like to watch the news. I remember watching the news at Clearwater Beach and there was a report on a water spout. You would never see anything like that in New Mexico. I also really enjoy the weather reports.... here and when I'm on vacation.

5. I hate being cold. I much prefer the warm weather. I also prefer the days when I wore a swimsuit for 12 hours a day, but those days are long gone...

6. I am afraid of shower curtains. If I have one, it has to be clear. I am always afraid someone will beat me up and wrap me up in one of those suckers... I am also a little claustrophobic. When Ben and I were first married, and I was in the shower, he would come grab me through the shower curtain and I would get so mad.
For those of you thinking I have issues with thinking Ben wants to kill me, I don't. I am just a freak. (When we were on our cruise, I would run ahead of Ben at night so he couldn't throw me overboard). I am also afraid of boats, dirty water, and algae growing on boats... So, if I ever did fall into dirty water or over a boat, I wouldn't want to touch the algae growing on the ladder, so I would never be rescued. It gives me the willies just thinking about it.

I'll tag anyone who wants to talk about this kind of stuff... Enjoy!

Bridal Show Video

Today I got the link to the video for the bridal show I was in. If you want to see it for laughs, you can go to: http://www.texasweddingmall.com/videotour/fashionshow/

It's 30 minutes, so you can find me at 4:53, 14:08, 23:53, and 28:37 (just for the final waving bye bye thing). Ahh the memories....

Fetish Friday

Ladies and gentlemen, I know a deal when I see one. I almost bought these GB Lady Bugs at Christmas when they were on sale for $35, but I managed to resist the urge to walk to the register. But now, people, NOW they are on sale for only $17.25! That's down from $69.00!!
They come in several colors: black leather, leopard print, sparkly silver & gold, black velvet, satin red, powdery silver (shown), brown, & gold. BUT, they are running low on sizes. If you're a 7.5 or 8 you've hit the jackpot! There are still lots of sizes in certain colors, but run fast to your nearest interweb connection site and order these beauties. And please ask Ben if I can order some for his birthday. I already bought a dress yesterday while shopping for his birthday, lets throw in a pair of shoes, too! (Both the dress and shoes would be for me, not him).

Guessing Game

Guess how much this shoe costs... just guess. I'll tell you later.

UPDATE:

Well, Dani and Amanda... if this was "The Price Is Right", you would both lose. Lucky for you, since I'm so loaded, I will buy you both a pair of ugly rose shoes. The price - $550. I think that is totally ridiculous. They aren't cute. I think there would be way too much naked foot exposed. Wait... that rose is as big as the whole foot.

The Night I Almost Killed My Husband

I got this cookbook for my bridal shower back in '02. It's supposed to be all simple and easy. I never made a thing from it. I stuck it in the shelf and finally pulled it out the other day. Some of the recipes sounded really good, so I decided it wasn't that bad...
As I flipped through the pages I remembered why it earned the place on the shelf in the first place. It has weird recipes in it with lots of lamb, weird fish, and of course Sauteed Kidneys. It says, "sauteed lamb kidneys are a popular dish for breakfast or brunch. Serve with paratas [spicy potatoes] and a fried egg." What? Kidneys are not (nor have they ever been) a popular dish for breakfast or brunch. Apparently a psychotic person wrote this cookbook. I have a hard time cooking with hamburger, chicken breasts, and other meaty items... now you want me to cut open a kidney? Like in AP Biology (yea, I said AP - hard to believe, huh)? Heck no. Seriously, I don't think you could even buy kidneys at the HEB. And you can buy weird stuff here in Texas. I bought some turkey necks (for gravy drippings at Thanksgiving), which were located near the chicken feet, below the chicken livers, and down from the tripe and ox tails. But never did I spy any kidneys. Who am I Jeffrey Dahmer?

Well... I decided I would give this cookbook a shot anyways. Some of the soups really did sound good - lots of Indian and Asian inspired dishes. Yesterday I made the Indian potato and pea soup. It was pretty simple: potatoes, onion, vegetable broth, spices, and a red chili. That's where I ran into trouble - the red chili. I didn't know what kind of red chili to buy. I looked all around the produce department and got the only thing resembling a red chile in the store - a habanero pepper. The sign above it read "medium heat" and I thought one little pepper in a whole pot of soup wouldn't be that bad.

So I start making my soup while Ben played with Lucas (after a long day of work on three hours of sleep). I cut up my pepper thinking to myself wash your hands, wash your hands after this! After I added my pepper I ran upstairs to google "garam masala", one of the spices I couldn't buy. Then I realized I didn't wash my hands. My face started burning like Satan was spitting fire at me.

I went downstairs washed my face off, and continued with my cooking. Then I tasted the soup and realized that it was SO hot that I couldn't feed it to my boys, so I started making macaroni and cheese.

Ben and I ended up eating the soup anyways. Ben just ate tons of bread and produced record amounts of sweat. I think it's a guy thing to sweat when you eat - my brother does it when he eats hot food, too.

Here's a picture of Ben's sweaty noggin. Notice the beads of sweat running down his face. After dinner Ben put Lucas to bed and then put himself to bed. He got a record 10 hours of sleep last night, which he greatly needed. I think I'm going to suggest that he do that once a week. He was so happy this morning after such a good rest. By the way, wikipedia says habaneros are "exceptionally hot." Thanks, HEB.

Walking and walking and walking...

You all know I am quite the philanthropist, right? Well, last weekend I volunteered to be in a bridal show at the Hilton downtown. I modeled for a store called Alexia Gavela Bridal and they had some of the most beautiful (and expensive) gowns I have ever seen! I had to go to a fitting a few weeks earlier to pick out my dresses. I told the owner, Geri, not to put me in anything straight because my butt would be too big, but he brought me straight dresses anyways, and to my surprise, they looked good. I thought I could only wear fluffy princess dresses, so that was a nice discovery.
The day of the show I got there at 10:00 for hair and makeup and then wasted the rest of the day until the show at 4:00. I hung out with other girls who were "real" models, so I had to listen to them talk about all their other jobs and the horrific experiences with the drunk hair dressers, etc.
While we were all sitting around the peeps from Davids Bridal walked in with their dresses. They didn't want to hire their own models, so they asked Geri if they could borrow us. So, we crazily found dresses to fit us for the show and sat around some more.
Long story shorter, the show started late. I was really nervous, walked too fast and had a hard time smiling my first trip out on the runway. Ben and Lucas were in the crowd, so it was good to see them. By the end of the AG show I felt pretty good. And I never fell!
THEN, it was time for the David's Bridal show, which was a near disaster. They weren't organized at all, two of the girls were mean to us, and there was a lot of time when the runway was empty because they were so unorganized. And you should have heard the cheesy music!
By the time I went home at 6:00 I was exhausted, my feet hurt, and my hair was huge. It was still fun, though. The best part was that I learned that "real models" (in Austin, at least) don't have perfect bodies or perfect faces. They were all just normal people with the same problems we all have. I don't have any great pictures... the lighting was horrible and the pictures I have were just from a mom in the audience... a real photographer is supposed to be emailing me pictures, but we'll see.

Curd!

Tonight we had a little birthday celebration at the Baldwin's for Jamie and Megan. My sole responsibility was making the cake. That has kind of become my job in our party network... not that everyone forces me to make cakes, but it's really all I can do. I'm not so good with real food, just desserts.
For tonight's party I wanted to make something fun out of a boring white cake. I decided on a raspberry curd for the filling. I didn't know what the heck raspberry curd was either - don't worry.
It was pretty easy. First you mix 6 oz of raspberries with 3/4 cup sugar, 2 T lemon juice, 2 T butter, and 2 eggs. You cook it on medium heat until it thickens and bubbles. Then you strain it to get the chunks and seeds out. Let it cool in the fridge. When it is cool, fold in a 1 1/2 cups of whipped cream (unsweetened). This made enough filling for me to fill a 4 layer cake.
For the frosting I used a white chocolate whipped cream. To make that, you just fold a couple ounces of melted white chocolate into the sweetened whipped cream. It was pretty good for a first try experiment.
By the way, this picture of the cake is the one I brought home to Ben, hence the beautiful tupperware. He was working... until 4am. He's such a hard working stud.

Secrets....

I would just like to say that I'm a really good secret keeper. This week I have had to keep so many secrets! I have done a good job so far, but I feel like I'm about to explode. I'm excited for tomorrow when one more will be marked off the list... and next weekend one more! But, that's my own secret having to do with Ben's birthday.

Fetish Friday

I figure it's time for something sensible after two sassy high heel shoes. Ben thinks I'm such a dork for always wanting shoes that could lead to a serious injury if I fall... I guess he just doesn't understand.
Today I'm featuring the Privo Trumpet. I recently bought the Privo Hops and they are pretty comfy, so I'm assuming these are also.
These Trumpets would be cute with a pair of jeans.... extra cute because they are brown and pink.

The Taking Tree

Hey Everyone,

A few weeks ago Ben decided to make a Bucket List (the list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket). One of the items on this list is to sell a t-shirt on threadless.com. Threadless is a website where designers submit designs and people vote on them. If the shirt gets high enough votes, they will print and sell the shirt. It is called The Taking Tree, and is a take on the children's book, The Giving Tree. Please do us a BIG favor by registering and voting so Ben can mark one item off his Bucket List. If you like the shirt, give it a high score, and also hit the $ button.

It would mean a lot to Ben if this shirt sells. Oh... and it would also help us pay our bills!!! Thanks so much!

Baby Got Back

I got to watch a little bit of the Grammys last night, and I saw Tina Tuner and Beyonce peform. Being the girl that I am, I noticed that Beyonce is not a skinny girl like the rest of the women in the entertainment industry. It made me happy to see that Beyonce looks more like me, with her hips and butt, than say Carrie Underwood does. And no one ever says a mean thing about Beyonce and her body. Why is is more acceptable for a black woman to have curves than a white woman? Last year when some poor bloke allowed Brit Brit to perform on the MTV music awards, she was chastised for not only a horrible performace, bad hair, and poor decision making skills, but also for letting her body go. Now, if you look at her picture and forget about all of her issues and her dark roots, her body isn't what I would consider a bad body. I think a lot of women would love to have that body. She's still got decent abs. Sure, she gained a little weight, from having a baby and eating chicken fingers and fries, but who doesn't?
Anyhow, I just wish white people could show a little more love to the girls with the hips and butts. Thank goodness for Sir Mix-A-Lot.

Fetish Friday

This week I'm featuring this little pump called "Trip" by BCBG Girls. You can't tell me you don't think this little shoe is hot. I love it and I would wear it with a cute little black suit.
When I look at it, my stomach gets all tied in knots... kind of like when I was 22 and I first met Ben. Every time I would see him or think of him my stomach would get all funny and I would start jumping up and down.

Safety First

I had seen this video a few months ago, but already for got what to do in the case of a grease fire. I think it's good for everyone to watch.
The email said not to pour water on it for sure and not to put sugar or flour on it because it creates the explosive force of two sticks of dynamite.

Fetish Friday

I have a little bit of a shoe fetish. There is an inherent problem with a shoe fetish -- cost. One with a shoe fetish and little self control can easily find themselves in debt. Luckily, I have self control, but I still enjoy a nice shoe. And thank goodness my mother does, too, or I wouldn't own most of my cutest shoes.
Today I'm featuring these beautiful red Antonio Melani's. I already have them in black, but someday if they ever go on sale, I will get them in red too...