They Can't ALL Be Productive

I have been one big sack of lazy bones this weekend! I never even got out of my pj's yesterday. I guess I haven't wasted every second; I did some cooking, watched some movies, read a little. To use up some of my produce I made pasta sauce on Saturday and roasted the sweet potatoes, beets and turnip tonight. Brie and I watched O' Brother Where Art Thou?--I have not seen that movie in years! There are so many funny lines I had forgotten about! Today AV, Brie and I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It wasn't bad but I had some serious ADD going on and could not get out of there fast enough!

Booooo to another Monday coming around :(

Spring Awakening Indeed

Last night I went to see a production of the musical Spring Awakening at the Southern Rep theater. It has been a long time since I have seen any type of live theater so it was nice to get out and do something different with some folks from work. Years ago I saw W&L put on HAIR in Lexington so a scandalous story line is not new to my eyes, but this show last night was definitely up the same risque alley!

"The winner of 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical - SPRING AWAKENING is an electrifying fusion of morality, sexuality and rock & roll that is exhilarating audiences across the nation like no other musical in years. Join this group of late 19th century German students on their passage as the navigate teenage self-discovery and coming of age anxiety in a powerful celebration of youth and rebellion."

What's Up

• My sickness is nearly over. Still have a slight cough though...might just be because humans are not meant to inhale large quantities of lust dust/glitter on a daily basis
• In an effort to avoid nibbling on my nails I have been painting them on a weekly basis. For any manicured ladies (or gentleman) out there: what is the "it" color of the season?
  
• I feel a purge coming on. I want to go through the house and get rid of, trash, or donate anything that does not have a place or an acceptable use.
• Now that I have finished The Hunger Games I need another good book to dive into. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have a few lying around that I could pick up, but I was wondering if there is anything out there that I should prioritize?

And now for your viewing pleasure simply because this kind of non-sense always makes me laugh :) Enjoy!

Market Time

I skipped off for a "lunch break" today and went to the Hollygrove Market. I have not been in months and I am trying to eat more of a variety of healthy food so here is my latest haul:

I don't really know what to do with the beets or a turnip I picked up, but I am going to figure something out! I need to come up with something for those carrot tops too!

I was excited when I saw that Kale was included in this week's bag because I have been wanting to try Kale Chips! After scoping out some recipes online I found out that they are super easy to make.

1. Cut the center stalk from the leaves then tear them into bite size pieces.

2. Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sprinkle with salt. Spread onto a baking sheet.

3. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until the leaves start to brown slightly around the edges.

Turns out they are pretty tasty! Crispy, salted, bitter, not bad. So overall not a bad day food wise! Now if it could just be Friday already :)

I Got A Z-Pak Baby!

This morning I decided that a week of feeling like crud was long enough. Since my attempt at drowning this junk with alcohol and zydeco music last night failed, I headed out to seek professionally prescribed drugs! My mission first led to me the New Orleans Urgent Care on Magazine Street, unfortunately for me they stopped accepting patients five minutes before I arrived. Bummer. So I turned to my trusty smart phone and found another Urgent Care type facility on the West Bank in Gretna. Over the river I went and waited in a cold room with a bunch of sick and ailing folks watching Property Virgins. Woo Hoo. I probably waited a total of an hour and half and was seen by the doctor for literally less than a minute. But whatever, he gave me a Rx for a Z-Pak and Prednisone so I am happy. Plus I had time to re-arrange the apps on my phone, delete unnecessary contacts, look up stuff on eBay, make a new "to do" list and do some Facebook stalking. Not a total waste of time.

Now I am one dose in and feeling ever so slightly better. But this recent change in condition may have to be accredited to the AWESOME pork shoulder Evan and Jon fixed everybody today. It was mighty tasty (the fact that I could actually taste it is saying something about my improving health!)

My Movie Must Sees

I am so happy that I *finally* figured out how to post videos on here!! So, in honor of my new-found skill I want to share a list of movies I want/need/have to see soon accompanied by their trailer!

1) The Vow: I love love love Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum is easy on the eyes so in my mind this movie is the perfect combination of sappy, girly, romantic, sad, lovey-dovey junk!

2) 21 Jump Street: I have never seen the original television show by the same name so I am not sure if there are any similarities but its another Channing Tatum film and it looks like it will be good for a laugh or two!

3) The Woman In Black: While I am not a Harry Potter fan, I am willing to watch Daniel Radcliffe in this spooky movie!

4) The Hunger Games: OMG I cannot wait! I am about 100 pages away from finishing the trilogy and am so looking forward to watching Woody Harrelson portray drunk, cranky Haymitch!

5) Friends With Kids: Maya Rudolph is hilarious! And the cute Irish guy from Bridesmaids is adorable. These help negate the fact that Megan-puke-Fox is in this movie as well...I'm hoping her role is a small one. Looks funny and cute though :)

So there ya have it folks, some upcoming cinematic adventures I hope to go on. What movies are you looking forward to this year?

8 Months of Agony

After an intensely bad game yesterday, the Saints lost to the 49ers in the last few seconds of the game. 36-32. It was the biggest disappointment I have felt all season. I stood staring at the TV for longer than I can remember trying to process what just went down in front of me. Brie and I were wearing all of our normal Saints inspired accessories and clothing. It just wasn't meant to be.

Therefore I now have 8 months of agony ahead of me. 8 months to wait for the next time I get to see the Dome filled with black and gold. 8 months before my Sundays are already planned for me. 8 months until the song "Stand Up and Get Crunk" fills the city's ears. 8 months is a long time. I think I may write to the NFL and request a longer playing season because this just does not seem right!

On a different note, I woke up feeling like crap. My nose is completely clogged, my glands below my ears are swollen and if I could just get my ear to pop I think I would feel much better. A hot shower did not help as much as I had hoped so I have resorted to drugs to help me out.

It's going to be a looooong week if this doesn't clear up quick!

Club Dansko

I am a proud new member of Club Dansko! Hehe! I got my first pair for Christmas and have been living in them ever since. They are very comfy, easy to keep clean (since I am currently up to my elbows in glittery King Cakes this is important), and they increase my meezly 5'3" by 2"!!

Those Europeans sure know how to make footwear!

An Adventure in Candling

So I saw this thing called candling on an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians (yeah, I like to watch that show...don't judge me!) and decided that I too needed to try it too! I had chatted with some folks at work about it and heard mixed reviews. None-the-less Brie and I gave it a shot earlier this week!

The premise: Purchase an ear candling kit which includes 2 long hollow candles. Lie on your side, place a candle in your ear, light one end up. When the candle is only about 3" tall your time is up.

Our supplies and one used candle in the middle

Yup, that's a flaming hollow candle sticking out of my ear!

The "wax" that came out of my ear.

Thoughts: I seriously doubt that is my ear wax in the candle. I did not feel anything "happening" while lying on my side. Since participating in this little experiment I have had the slightest bit of an earache. Nothing too bad; it could have been from shoving a stick in my ear, who knows! I was hoping to be able to hear better post procedure, but I have not noticed any difference.

I don't think I will be candling again anytime soon, but it was something to do!

Saturday Rocked!

Yesterday was a pretty awesome day all-in-all!

I slept in late (which is my ultimate definition of awesome) before heading to my Groupon financed 60 minute massage! *sigh* I have not had a massage in years and man-o-man was it an hour of heaven! I could barely pry myself off the table when it was over!

Thanks to LivingSocial I had a manicure/pedicure scheduled for the afternoon--I love getting a deal on things like that! Now I have a nice set of nails to show off!

Once I had been pampered to the nines I took the rest of my afternoon to finish reading The Hunger Games. Brie insisted I read it and I must say, I am kind of hooked. I'm excited for the movie to come out in a few months. If anyone is looking for a quick read check it out. There are two more books in the series as well; I am starting Catching Fire today.

Saturday is not normally a football day for me but the Saints played the Lions in the Wildcard game last night and we pulled out a 45-28 victory!! The Saints move on to the Divisional Playoffs next week--woo hoo!! They will be playing the San Francisco 49ers in CA.

So I got a massage, manicure and pedicure, finished reading a good book, and watched the Saints pull in another Dome win (they have won ALL of their home games this season)...I would say my Saturday rocked!

Welcome 2012

What better way to ring in a new year than with good friends, good drinks, and good memories to take with you? I can't think of any so that is exactly what I did! Brie and I took our time getting ready, sipping on our home-made drinks, and making a plan for the evening.

We ended up riding the streetcar down to the French Quarter where we stopped by the Pelican Club to see Evan who was working the bar that night before going to Flannigans to continue the fun.

On the super crazy packed streetcar!

Doesn't he look so dapper with his bow tie? He created a yummy champagne cocktail for us ladies :)

Closer to midnight we walked to Jackson Square where there were TONS of people waiting to watch the Fleur de Lis (instead of a ball) drop on top of JAX Brewery. After the official countdown to 2012 there were fireworks over the river for all to enjoy!

We were keeping it classy...

Some Hipstamatic fun outside the Pelican Club

Evan relaxing after a long hard night at work

Once most of the patrons had cleared out of the PC Brie and I entertained ourselves by sucking the helium out of balloons and distracting Evan as he tried to close up for the night!

Happy 2012 Everyone!

Best King Cake In New Orleans?

Sucre is in the running for the title of the BEST King Cake in New Orleans! If you would like to help us secure a spot in the top 5 click here and take 3 seconds to vote for us! The polls close on Friday :) Thanks!!

*Not the best picture, but you get the general idea of what they look like!*

Candied Orange Peels

In my "free time" last month I made candied orange peels and dipped them in dark chocolate. I am not sure why I decided to make these; I don't like oranges and the process is rather long, but none-the-less, I made them and got decent reviews.

I blanched the thinly sliced rinds of 7 oranges multiple times until they were tender

Once the rinds were soft I trimmed off more of the white pith then boiled them in a simple syrup

After an hour of simmering in the sugary liquid I laid the peels out to dry over night

Up close the orange peels look kind of translucent and gummy

The next day I tossed them with sugar so that they were no longer sticky to the touch

The last step was to dip them in dark chocolate and allow that to dry as well!

The whole process took a while to complete, though I am sure if I had been able to commit more focus to them I could have done everything in one day. The longest part is letting the peels dry before sugaring them.

Brie said she liked them because they were liking eating a "gummy" food but without the gelatin (being a vegetarian she does not eat things that contain gelatin--jello, marshmallows, any gummy candy, etc.)

Along with the Candied Orange Peels I also made the super simple "Pretzel Cookies" to put in little boxes for everyone at work.

For these all you do is place round pretzels on a cookie sheet, top each one with a Rolo or Hershey kiss (I used the dark chocolate kind) and place in a oven that is set to 250 degrees for 2 minutes. You really just want to let the chocolate melt some but not run all over the place. Take these out of the oven and top with a pecan or M&M of your choice.

I did a variety of Rolo/Pecan/Kiss/M&M combinations. These are super easy to make! The lengthiest part of the whole recipe is removing the foil from the Rolos and Kisses!

These two confections concluded my holiday cooking this year! Normally I do more baking but lack of time and energy prevented that from happening.

Merry Late Christmas

During my short trip home I was fortunate enough to be able to visit with both sides of my family. We caught up, enjoyed good home cooking, and exchanged gifts. It was so nice to slow down and be around the people I love, especially after the craziness my life had been the past few weeks. (Prior to flying home I worked 278 hours over the course of 25 straight days.)

Below are a hodge podge of pictures from both the Brogan and Smith get-togethers.

Mom & Dad Christmas morning

Bryan in his new snuggie!

Nita, Judy & Mom chatting about a new pot cleaner

Mom & Maw-maw chatting by the Smith stockings

Bryan being weird, Dad & Paw-paw looking over a card

Grant, Bernie & Dale waiting for the dinner bell to ring!

The Other Smith Clan: Lesley, Joanna & John

Grandmaw with her new snowman

Sitting around waiting for the gift exchange to begin

Mike & Grandmaw deep in conversation

Nothing like family to make the holidays feel right :)

I'm Back & Ready to Blog!

Apologies for my lengthy hiatus from the blogosphere. In case you forgot, this is me:

Welp, it is officially 2012! Hope everyone had fun ringing in the new year.

With it being a time of new beginnings and what-not I decided to change the look of my blog some. Hope you like it!

I will be posting on things from the past few weeks to catch up and get back into the swing of things soon :) Stay tuned!