Doing the Cha-Cha!

For the past week or so, I've been doing the ChaCha. 

No, no, not that kind of Cha-Cha!

This kind of ChaCha!

What it is, is you can call, text or go to the website and ask any question you have and we'll answer it. And I really mean, any question! Anything at all. You think of it, you ask it, and we answer it.

I went through the application process with them and got hired to sit at my computer and answer a bunch of questions. Some are silly, some not. Either way, it's really is and I'm getting paid. The pay is pretty cheap- only .02 per answer that I give which ends up being about a dollar every 45 minutes, so it's pretty lowly, definitely not something I could survive on, but it's a good little savings account if you ask me.

You can make bonus' as well and they have a lot of competitions, which are awesome for college kids and those who have more time, but they don't really work for me. I'm happy enough making my $1 here and my $1 there. I'm up to $9.00 already. And, like I said, this is just a savings account for me really. A way to build up extra money, really easily whenever I can.

If it's something you're interested in though, please sign up. It's definitely something that growing exponentially and they are certainly in need of more guides. The sign up process takes about 30 minutes, it's just like filling out an application for a job, because that's how they look at it, but it's really easy. Like, really, really, easy. And when you do sign up, please use my email, trulyenervated@gmail.com as the one who referred you to them. Because, well, I did.

Plus, if you sign up under me, I get like an extra dollar bonus, which is awesome, and if you email me letter me know that you signed up under me and give me your address, I promise to send you a handwritten AND handmade card by me, to you, saying thanks. That's the least I can do.

But, you're wasting time.. go sign up now and start making really quick and easy money (and an extra dollar for me too!)

*P.S. As always, I'm not paid for this :)

Currently.

Just thought I'd share a current, right this moment picture of myself with you guys. Nothing fancy, no airbrushing or anything, but not bad for being dead with asthma for the past few days.

Nothing fancy, just me hanging out in bed working on some upcoming posts, keeping up to date with my Facebook and my Google Reader and checking out some recipes to make in the coming days/weeks. 

My thoughts on.... Sake Part Due.

So it's been a little over two weeks since I posted my original take on Sake and I know I promised an update after trying it out for a couple weeks. You can find my original post on Sake here if you want to brush up.

First, this is the bottle I bought. It's really kind of cute.

Excuse my bad cropping. It was on a black background and well, we all know how great my photo taking skills are, and I can promise you my photoshopping skills are definitely not any better. 

But, this bottle was $2.99 here in New Hampshire and after 2- almost 3 weeks, I still have half a bottle left. So you definitely get your money's worth from it. 

I'm obviously not drinking it though.  

But you can if you want. I don't judge. 

I use it in the morning and at night, pretty much anytime I wash my face. I put some on a cotton ball and run it over my face and that's it. I don't rinse it off as it's not sticky and has a fresh scent and it definitely picks up any dirt and other crap I may have missed. 

The first thing I noticed was that I had a sun spot under my left eye that faded out pretty quick when I first started using the Sake. I still notice it a little bit if I look really hard, but honestly, nobody else can. It really is barely there.

To test this out though I've begun putting Sake on my grandfather's sun/age spots on his forehead now. I know in my reading it said that Sake does indeed lighten spots of extra pigmentation, and while I did notice it on myself, I feel like I need to do an extra experiment if you will to prove this isn't just a fluke. And, I will say that I have begun to notice slight differences in his spots as well. I'll keep you posted. 

Also in my reading it said that Sake helps with moisturizing. Well, it doesn't. At all. Not even a little bit. My skin is definitely drier that it normally is, but for me this is a good thing as my skin tends to be on the oily side. I always use moisturizer anyway, but now with using Sake, I make sure I moisturize every time I put it on. 

Sake also helped BIG time with my pre-period breakouts as well. Usually it's pretty gnarly in my opinion and this time around there was hardly anything. I totally give the credit to the Sake for that one. I definitely don't have perfect skin, but I seem to be the only one who really notices my breakouts anyway, but I've definitely seen a pretty big breakout/pimple difference even not related to my period since using Sake. 

To sum it all up.. go buy this now. No, like, right now. Really. It's definitely one of the best kept secrets. Not only is it 10 times cheaper than the stuff in the beauty aisle, it's free from harsh chemicals and works amazing which is probably the best part. 

Plus, worse case scenario.. you can drink it and feel better!

Peak floooows.

The other night when I was in the ER one of the things they sent me home with was (another) peak flow measuring thingy. 

For those of you not familiar with this, which I'm guessing is most, if not all, even my fellow asthmatics, it's basically this gizmo that measures your breathing output. Basically you take in a really deep breath, or as much as you can, and then breathe out as hard and as fast as you can into this thing. The idea behind it is that more than taking deep breaths, asthmatics have difficulty expelling all the air from their lungs. So say the scientists anyway. All I know is I have trouble breathing. Period. 

You're suppose to do it regularly, daily actually, and it works kind of like a heads up on when your asthma is getting bad, before it actually gets really bad. Had I used it regularly, I probably wouldn't have ended up in the ER. 

And since I'm sure you're wondering, my normal peak flow is around 600, when I was in the ER it was 475 and this morning before using my inhaler, I was down to 450. 

They come in all shapes and sizes, but it just so happens that the one the ER gave me was this one

Pause. Take it in. Do you see what I see?

I find it rather curious that this is a) uhh.. how do I say this politely.. okay, there really isn't a way, it is indeed penis shaped. It's penis shaped. And, second, you blow into it. Really hard. As hard as you can. 

Pause.

There's something wrong and completely inappropriate about this. 

I'm 100% positive that it was created by a guy. 100% positive. 

California Dreamin'

Last week someone found my blog through a google search asking what is a California Transplant. I'm not exactly how they find me by that as I did a search myself for that and gave up some where around page 14.  But, kudos to them for sticking with it and finding me.

The number one question I get asked in my day to day life when someone finds out I rep the 909, is what the (bleep) are you doing here? Well, that's a good question, so here's the story on how I became a California transplant.

So, I was pretty much born and raised in Souther California. I won't tell you the city though because I'm pretty sure I used that a password security answer some where along the times. Probably should have chosen something more difficult huh? Oh well, life goes on. Just don't steal my passwords, k?

Where was I? .. Oh yes. For most of my life, minus a couple years, I lived in Cali. I spent a year in Colorado and a year in Massachusetts when I was younger, but otherwise, I was in Cali.

Anyways, life was good and I really didn't have a care in the world until I was 16, going through the last couple months of my junior year when my mom told me we were moving. It was pretty last minute, definitely not something that had been planned, but my mom had been told that my grandmother was in bad shape and she wasn't expected to last much longer.

And so, just like that, we packed up and drove 3,000 miles here to New Hampshire to be with her.

My grandmother lasted quiet a bit longer than was originally expected and I'm pretty sure that's due to my mom taking such good care of her. So walked in and fought for my grandmother when the rest of the family walked out.

Those few years after moving here were some of the hardest. If you put the math together, I pretty much moved my senior year. So not only did I have to deal with that, I had to deal with my grandmother's failing health on a daily basis. And while I made it through and I believe I'm better for it, it's definitely not something I'd like to go through again.

I've been in New Hampshire now for a good 11 years and I've adjusted to it for the most part. I don't think I could ever live in California again though as I'm pretty adjusted to the quiet life that is N.H. I like the country here and driving on the hilly back roads covered by trees, driving with the windows open and almost drowning in the scent of lilacs, driving 3 hours north and seeing a moose crossing the street. These are things I'm not so ready to give up.

But, in loving these New England things like Dunkin' Donut's, the Red Sox and the Pats, I still can't live too far from the ocean, I miss palm trees like crazy, I still call the freeway a freeway and I live for the hottest of summer days so I can once again feel the burn of the asphalt on my bare toes.

I still carry California with me where ever I go. To me, it will always be home and forever it will be my state of mind.

So much so that here are a couple things from my Christmas list..

which is here

and this

                                           

which is here

(These come in a ton of other states too!)

There's a lot of crazies in the ER

Tonight I decided to take a visit to the local ER for my asthma. I won't lie and say it wasn't scary and I wasn't having an anxiety attack the entire time because I totally was. To prove it my blood pressure was 149/92 when I first got there. Usually it 98-106/70-72 .. yeah, just a little whole lot higher than normal. It also doesn't help that there are always a lot of crazies in the ER and I always expect a whole lot of drama. Thank you television for that.

Today was pretty quiet in the ER though.

Anyways, so, the wind today was insanely cold and as you know from reading how I'm allergic to winter, the cold does not make for happy Liz lungs. Not at all. It actually makes my lungs revolt. Did you know that was possible? Well, I'm proof that it is.

Breathing the past couple days has been pretty miserable anyway, but today it just got 10 times worse as soon as I stepped outside. I managed to make it through the day with my inhaler, but it really wasn't getting any better. I made plans to go to the university library and take an exam that I need to make up before classes end tomorrow and then afterwards I was going to stop by the ER. But, as I was pulling out of my driveway I realized just how ludicrous that sounds and went straight to the ER instead.

See? I have a brain sometimes.

It really was a pretty quick trip and I only had to hang around for a few hours. I expected to be a lot longer, full of chest x-rays and what not. That way they make more money, ya know? But no- no chest x-rays needed, so I just hung out waiting.

That's me just hanging out waiting for one of my two nurses. Yes, I had two. One was just a nurse, and the other was a respiratory nurse. 

I was given a breathing treatment and quickly found breathing to be a little easier. And while it's suppose to last 6-8 hours, it did not as breathing once again is strained. Better, but still strained. 

After another hour or so of waiting (which by the way was still the quickest ER visit known to man) I was on my way home with 2 more prescriptions. This time I'm back on prednisone, again, which is enough to make me cry in and of itself and deserves it's own post; and also Qvar, which I've never taken let along heard of in my entire life, and is an inhaled corticosteroid that I begin taking after I'm done with the prednisone.

Here's to hoping this is the worst of it!

Dressing Up

One of my favorite things to do is dress up. To do my hair, my make up, and put on something fancy. And then to top it off with amazing shoes. It's always the shoes that make it.. but that's really a topic for a different day.

A couple weeks ago I was listening to NPR and Lesley M. M. Blum was on talking about her book, "Let's Bring Back." I don't plan on buying it since she really only said one thing I found interesting, and that was the idea of dressing up. And as a person who loves dressing up, I couldn't agree more. Her reasoning behind this was that when you dress up you're paying honor to the occasion. And I couldn't agree more. Look at weddings after all.

So that's why at Caitlin's birthday party I put on one of my nicest dresses.

Of course, all you can see in this picture is boobs, but trust me, some where in there is a fancy cocktail dress.

And just this past weekend at our group's annual holiday party I did the same.

And of course some fancy shoes. 

In remembering this, I made sure that when I went to church today, I cleaned myself up as well. I mean, I usually do, but occasionally I'm guilty of wearing flip-flops. But not anymore, in honoring the occasion, I will sport something a little more classy. 

And as I thought about it today while I was driving in the car, I can definitely see a connection between the times I remember as good and the times I paid honor to everyday by looking fly. Everyday is a day that deserves to be honored in my opinion (hello.. we didn't have to wake up if you know what I mean!) and I think it's important that we appreciate what we're given by paying attention to it. By not going through everyday sloppy. 

I guess it kind of goes along with the idea of living everyday to the fullest really, and in order to do that, I think we all really need to pay homage to each day and stop being so sloppy and start dressing ourselves up a little bit. 

My favorite place..

One of my favorite places in the whole house, besides my bed and the kitchen, is the shower.

If we had enough hot water to last, I could spend hours in the shower, just sitting on the bottom with the hot water rushing over me. As it is, we have enough to last about an hour, and I have no problem spending all that time using it up. 

You see, I have a mind that never shuts up. Never. It's always going, churning, thinking, over-analyzing, preparing, planning, organizing, understanding, solving, over-analyzing; and one of the few ways I've found that I can get it to quiet down is just by sitting in the bottom of then running shower. 

And it's really weird, because I can honestly feel a difference in the noise when I go from standing to sitting or sitting to standing. And the change in noise has nothing to do with the noise of the water rushing through the shower head or hitting the the tub, walls and shower curtain. The noise comes solely from my mind. Is that weird? Re-reading that I sound a little crazy. 

Truth be told, I kind of am. 

You're probably wondering why I don't just take a bath, but the truth is, that doesn't work. My head is still just as noisy in a bath as it is all the time, so I reserve those only when I feel like surrounding myself with bubbles or a body part needs a hot soak. 

Needless to say though, it's this shift in internal noise that has made the shower one of my favorite places. Because my mind is finally able to calm down a little, I in return can calm down a little. I'm able to unwind, to relax, to mellow for a bit. Sometimes I'll bring in a CD to listen to, but usually I don't. My head makes enough noise and I like to be able to enjoy the quiet when I can. It's not a big fancy thing, no candles or anything. Just the silence. 

McDonald's (not all that surprising) Fail

Usually when I have McDonald's, I order a cheeseburger Happy Meal with a diet soda. I do this for 2 reasons, first, it comes in around 520 calories, which really isn't that bad. Not great, but for fast food, it's not bad at all. Second, I like the toy. I'm not ashamed to admit that either. Currently they have Transformers which are just awesomely fun. Okay, 3 reasons, the third is because it's the perfect size and amount of food. Who needs all that food that comes with the other meals? Is just too much for me.

Except today. Which by the time this posts, was really the other day, but you get the idea.

I skipped breakfast this morning so by the time lunch rolled around, I was starvin' marvin'.

So, I ordered a quarter pounder with cheese meal. It just sounded so good and like I said, I was really hungry.

I like to read while I eat, and I'll read anything. Back of shampoo bottles, year old TV guides, other people's mail.. anything.

Here's a picture of something I read on my quarter pounder box today,

My quarter pounder only has, and I quote, "a pinch of seasoning."

Really McDonald's? Is that what you call a pinch? Somehow I find it hard to believe that "a pinch of seasoning" equals 1190mg of sodium, 50% of my daily allowance.

And don't get me wrong, I'm not tricked into thinking McDonald's is healthy by any means, I know it's not, but I can't help but feel like they're misleading us. In my opinion, they're guilty of false advertising. Anybody else agree? It shows in the picture that correlates with they're " a pinch" caption, salt and pepper shakers.. so if there is only a pinch of these, how does my burger have 1190 mg of sodium?

I'm so confused!

I've always been a fan of fast food restaurants having to put nutrition labels on everything and I think this is a perfect example of why. How misleading would this be without a nutrition label on the bottom of the box stating what exactly McDonald's considers a pinch to be.

Honestly though, I would happier if McDonald's would just remove the false caption from their box. I don't really like being lied to and I have a feeling most of their consumers would agree.

Disclaimer

So, here's the thing.

I have a lot of things running through my head lately- especially the past couple days, and there are things that I've started writing that I have saved and that need to be finished. Which is awesome, because there's nothing worse than having writer's block.

But all of these things are highly personal. Then again though, there's nothing on here that I write and post that isn't highly personal. However, some of the things turning and churning in my head have to do with situations involving others and my feelings and opinions on these situations; and there's something about this that gives me this gut feeling that I might end up saying something that ends up hurting them and so I feel it's time to write a disclaimer and some ground rules for when that moment happens. I hope that they're able to step back and see it from my point of view. Time will tell. But, here we go.

Alright,

First, I give you the right to tell me not to post your picture. This doesn't mean I won't write about you, it just means that I'll give you a fake name like Candy and have to draw a picture of you instead. You pick which is worse. And just so we're clear on my artistic level, I've included a picture of an elephant I created just for this. 

Second, if it's something that could possibly seen be seen in a negative light, I promise to not include your name. That doesn't mean my best friend won't know who you are, but the random people in Singapore, Russia and Belgium won't know who you are.

Third, this is the story of my life. I'm The California Transplant, not you. So, I promise to not tell the story of your life as it's not for me to tell, BUT this does not mean that when your life comes slamming into my life and creates something that I need to write about, that I won't write about it. This just means that I won't tell the world any of your personal details that don't directly deal with me. I think that's fair.

Fourth, I will always be true to myself here. More than anything, CT is for me. So I will always be honest in all of my opinions and feelings that I express here- regardless of who or what is involved. This is the part I see causing problems, sometimes my thoughts and feelings are a little harsh.

And,

Fifth, the chances of me pissing you off based on the third are pretty good. Actually, there just pretty good in general. This will be harder for you than it is for me. See, I piss people off a lot. I'm am inappropriate pretty much 100% of the time, so I'm kind of used to it. But, you might not be. So, consider this my apology in advanced.

Poppy Chow

So I got this recipe from TPW Tasty Kitchen website. I have to be honest and say that I definitely wasn't a fan of the original "Puppy Chow" that this is based on, but when made with popcorn, it sounded absolutely amazing, and it really, really, really didn't disappoint. I mean really. This is a crowd pleaser for sure. I'll post a link to the original recipe at the end.

So, let's start with the players.

9 cups air popped popcorn, 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), a teaspoon vanilla, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Now, let me stop for a minute and share a couple things. First, because the recipe called for air popped popcorn and I don't have a pop corn maker, I tried making it on the stove, in a pan, and it was an ultra fail. That's why you won't find a picture of the popcorn popping, because while it did pop, it took forever and burned. So, instead, I raided our pantry and found the microwave kind that was like 94% fat free or something, and used that. And it came out amazing, so please don't hesitate about using that. I will every time from now on. I'm still going to work on making popcorn on the stove, just so I can say I can do it, but you can totally use microwave popcorn instead. I suggest using the flavorless kind though because when it gets coated, it has a ton of flavor and you don't want to interfere with that. 

And secondly, use a good chocolate, please. It doesn't have to be the best chocolate, just a fairly good brand you can find in the grocery. I used Ghirdelli. 

Alright, let's continue. 

Put in your 1 cup chocolate chips

Now 1/2 cup peanut butter

And your half stick of butter, which comes out roughly to 1/4 cup.

Put these all in the microwave until they're melted and mix them up. 

I forgot to take a picture of this, sorry. 

And pour it all over your popcorn in a BIG bowl. You need a BIG bowl. 

Mix it up until it's as well coated as you can get it. 

Then add your powdered sugar. 

I forgot that picture too, don't hate me. 

And mix it up till it's all coated. 

Your BIG bowl should be a little messy, which is why you need a BIG bowl. 

Now put it on a cookie sheet in an even layer to let the chocolate set. I suggest using a really BIG spoon for this, preferably with holes so you don't end up with a cookie sheet covered in powdered sugar as well. But if you do, you do, no biggie!

And while it's setting, try not to eat all of it. It'll be really hard though so it's okay if you do. I think our batch here is almost half gone.. oops! I plan on making it again for an upcoming holiday party though. I don't think it will last too long there either! Trust me when I say it is amazing. It is. 

Oh, and here's the link I told you about. Poppy Chow

Bah Humbug?

Anybody else having a really hard time this year getting into the Christmas spirit?

I don't know what it is. I've kind of found that I'm an every other year holiday person, and this is my off year. When I think back to this time last year, I was so, so, so excited for the holidays. My apartment was already decked out in decorations and my 8 foot tree was already set up (thanks Caitlin!). This year though I just can't seem to get into it.

I imagine part of it is because I've been sick for the past.. well, since Thanksgiving actually. It's come and gone and come again, leaving me utterly exhausted with little energy to do too much besides sleep. I think the other part of it is that I'm back home. And while that should be enough to put me in the holiday spirit alone, I can't help but really miss decorating my own place and having my own tree.

Let's not even start talking about shopping either. I'm hoping to do it all online this year as entering the stores or the mall just leaves me shuttering. I made the mistake of going to Target the Sunday after Thanksgiving, not even realizing what I was doing and that was just enough of a taste to make to turn my head in disgust. Oh, the people. There were so many of them. I felt like I was the last sardine squished into the can.

I also can't help but feel if it was just a little bit warmer, I'd have an easier time putting on my spirit outfit.

On the upside though, I do get to play the Christmas Elf at work in a couple weeks. I look forward to this one day all year when I finally get to put on my red and green tights and walk around with my sleigh bells jingling. Santa comes in from the North Pole and together we go around and greet children in the store and hand out candy canes. It's terribly exciting, if not for the kids, for myself.

Maybe I should just start wearing the elf costume now seeing as how it seems to bring the spirit along with it. What do you think? What are some things you do to get in the spirit?

Target Fail

There once was a time in my life where I spent countless dollars at Target. I was there all the time. I just loved it. Whenever I was bored, I would go to Target. If I needed a new shirt for Friday night, I went to Target. Whenever I had a day off, I went to Target. It was, in retrospect, a little ridiculous. 

But, in my defense, they have everything- like Wal-Mart only without all the weird Wal-Mart people. It wasn't until I moved out almost 2 years ago that I was finally able to stop the addiction, and that was only because all my money went to rent. But, after living that life for almost a year before having to move home again, I can say that I'm definitely cured. 

I still wander into Target every now and then, but it seems like more and more often I leave empty handed and I'm sure that will be more of the norm after my most recent experience. My issue with Target isn't the associates- at all. Well, except that one of my ex-boyfriend's works at my local one and that's always kind of awkward, but otherwise, the people there are great and friendly. My issue has to do with Target and their policies in general. 

A while ago I bought the Target brand make-up remover. Normally I use baby oil, but because it's so think and, well, oily, I was hoping to try something else. So I decided I would try their oil free waterproof eye make up remover. 

Let me tell you though, it's not good. At all. Don't waste your 5 bucks. It takes like 5 cotton balls and even though it's not oily, it still feels greasy. Anyway, about a week after I bought it I went back and wanted to return it. I had only used it once, so it was still a full bottle (versus using it for a week leaving a couple drops in it and then trying to return it). But, I was denied. In a nice way- the associate wasn't rude about it at all. It's just their policy- which is what I have a problem with. 

What I don't understand is why doesn't Target stand behind their brand? How does that instill confidence in their customers to try their brand items? I can tell you right now that the times I buy Target brand items in the future will be far and few in between and will then only be items I've already tried. I know I can't be the only one who feels this way either. Every other store is so quick to take back anything that you think Target would get the idea and jump on. I can tell you now though that this has really discouraged me from shopping there, which kind of stinks because I liked Target, even if they were more expensive. 

However, when you look at the competition, Wal-Mart takes back anything you're dissatisfied with and so doesn't Rite-Aid. I'm pretty sure that going forward I will be going there instead for my make-up needs. I just have a really hard time liking stores that don't stand behind their products, especially their own brand products. It makes me feel as though I'm not valued as a customer and either is the money I worked hard to earn and want to spend their. 

Red Velvet Cookies

These cookies are definitely worth making, and what better time than now to make them with Christmas around the corner and the weather oh so chilly? They're actually really quick and simple in my opinion- 8 minutes in the oven, 15 minutes or less to cool. The hardest part is just not getting the red food dye all over your kitchen, and good luck with that because as of this very moment, our kitchen counter has a new look of red polka-dots. I'll post the recipe at the end for ya.

So first, let's have the players.

1 bag sugar cookie mix, 1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa, 1/4 cup soft butter (basically a stick), 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon red food coloring and 1 egg. Oh, and frosting! I used cream cheese frosting. 

Make sure your butters soft. Hard, fresh from the fridge butter won't mix with anything. Microwave it 10-15 seconds until it softens up. I did that after taking this picture.

Add your sugar cookie mix.

Add your 1/3 cup cocoa.

And now your 1/4 cup sour cream.

And then in goes your tablespoon food coloring. Becareful not to dye your kitchen here. 

And mix. It was after this picture that I realized I forgot to add my egg. So make sure you do that. And you don't have to add your ingredients in this order, it doesn't really matter. 

Okay, let me pause here for a couple things you need to know. It is at this point that you should roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet, but I need to be honest with you. First, this dough will not roll. There is no rolling that can be done with this dough, it's way too soft. And, because it's red, I was concerned that I would dye my hands, hence my gloves. However, I finally gave up on the gloves and used my hands and there was no dying of them, so don't worry about that. 

And second, go by yourself a small 1 inch ice cream scoop / melon baller for this task if you don't have one already. Trust me, I promise you will be thanking me and naming your first born after me. I will be buying on ASAP for all cookies in the future. 

See? I need a cookie scoop. There is just no rolling here. 

Ta-Da! Oh- cook them on 375 for 7-8 minutes. Let them cool for a couple minutes when you first pull them out.

Then transfer them to a cookie sheet to finish cooling. By the way, the best cookie spatula I've found is a  frosting spatula. It works perfectly. Try it. 

It took mine about 10 minutes to cool completely once I put them on the cookie rack. 

And then frost! I love cream cheese frosting, so I got some from my local grocery store's bakery. Feel free to top them with some almonds, coconut, walnuts, or even just a dusting of cocoa, maybe some sprinkles. I just like them plain. 

The recipe:

1 pouch (1lb 1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon red food coloring

1 egg

Cream cheese frosting

1.  Heat over to 375*F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, cocoa, butter, sour cream, food coloring and egg until soft dough forms. 
2. Roll dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. 
3. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheer to wire rack. Cool completely, about 10 minutes. 
4. Frost cooled cookies with frosting. 

My thoughts on... baking soda

I personally believe in exfoliating daily and while some might disagree saying it harms the skin, I say just look at the glow of my skin. First, let's talk about skin. Skin is made up of  many layers, we won't get into labeling them all but know that there is a few. The bottom layers of the skin is where the skin cells are actually made and as new ones are made it pushes the old ones up towards the part of the skin that we see, the epidermis. However, as the old skin cells move outward, the move farther away from the blood source and eventually end up dying. So yes, all the skin we see is actually dead skin cells.

As is moves to the surface, all the dead skin cells continually build up and form a protective barrier against outside pollutants that would otherwise harm us and they do a really good job of blocking everything, which is why it's so important to exfoliate, especially before you use a moisturizer- otherwise that moisturizer is absolutely useless and you're going to get about as much use of it as your dog would. Honestly.

Think of a babies skin- how soft it is and the rosy glow that it always has. This is because it hasn't had time to form up large layers of thick dead skin cells which become dry and ragged. They still have fresh new skin cells that are highly vascularized. Exfoliating does the same for us. It takes away the thick layers of dead skin cells sitting on the surface leaving us with the younger skin cells showing to the world.

Which brings me to baking soda. Gina suggested this to me about a week ago in the comment section of one of my posts and I'm so thankful she did. Baking soda has over 40 uses and I'm sure if I researched it long enough on the web, I'd find more than that. It's like the little powder that could. The thing I love most about it though is that it's one simple, naturally occurring ingredient- sodium bicarbonate. And while you can use baking soda in cooking/baking (which I do occasionally), in your fridge as a deodorizer and basically anywhere else as a cleaner, my preferred use for baking soda is now as an exfoliator. And what an amazing exfoliator it is.

I mix it in with my Noxema a couple times a week and scrub away when I'm in the shower. It rinses on clean and leaves your skin as smooth as a babies. Honestly. I still can't believe how soft it makes my skin. After I get out I make sure I moisturize and my skin has such a rosy glow that I'm always left in awe.

In summary: Go raid your pantry, pull out your baking soda and start using it immediately. It's free of harsh chemicals, having only one ingredient, so it's gentler on your skin than all the toxic chemicals in other face cleansers. And it's cheap- wicked cheap, which is another reason it's wonderful. I'm always in awe about how some of the greatest beauty remedies are natural and cheap and not found in the beauty section.

Purple Passion

From my cell-phone, excuse the bad quality. Thanks. 

Oooh, the weather outside is...

Winter weather is absolutely frightful. Well usually anyway, the other day is pretty mild- but today's forecast calls for a little snow. And I would love to continue the song above by singing, "But the fire is so delightful," but we don't have a fireplace here, so I can't. And the line, "Let it snow, Let it snow, Let is snow?" Well, it really should just be banished on the bases of vulgarity and obscenity.

But, now that I've ripped apart one of the most loved Christmas songs, my day is complete. Have a good one!

Kidding! Honestly though, the weather in N.H. is horrible, especially for a California Transplant like myself. I can always find something bad about the weather, regardless of what season it is, but seeing as how I'm literally allergic to winter, it is by far the worst in my opinion. I extremely dislike most parts of the winter, including the snow, but I think the worst of it is the snapping wind. It looks much like this picture here, but there's not always the snow mixed in. There are days, like yesterday, where it's just the needle like wind and even though you can't see it, you sure can feel it going right through your clothes and into your bones.

(This isn't my picture by the way, and I have no idea who's it is since I couldn't find a credit listed. I'm definitely not about to take credit for it though, although, I do wish I could take pictures this lovely)

Some people don't mind the winter I guess, I personally detest it. Growing up where it's summer year round, I don't think I'll ever really adapt to winter here. I'm better at handling the cold than I first was 11 years ago and I finally don't consider 50 degrees freezing, but that's not really saying much. I still have long thermal underwear that I wear quite a bit in the colder months (usually Jan-Feb) and I just put my heated blanket on my bed the other day (I take it of around May-June).  However, there's not too much I can do to protect myself from the lapping wind when I need to go outside. 

The winter wind around here is extremely painful. The cold air coming down from Canada whips and snaps at you; it pierces through your clothes and feels much like I would imagine being slapped with a brush full of nails would feel like. It might only be 3 degrees outside, but the whirling wind makes it feel like it's 10 degrees colder than that- and that my friends, is cold. And if there's snow mixed in with it, you're now wet and have snow in places you never wanted it to be in to begin with- and that just makes the sting of the wind all that much worse. 

At least I know where all the bad New England attitudes come from though. It's hard to be cheerful when you're fighting against the winter six months out of the year. 

My thoughts on.... e.l.f. eyeshadow palette

Over the past month of so I've fallen back in love with make-up. It's a love affair that died about 11 years ago, but has recently been rekindled. I love just playing. Mostly though it revolves around my eyes. There isn't too much I can do with my lips as they are either nude or pinkish- I'm not a fan of purple, blue, or even red lipsticks on myself. I do wear blush, but not too often, as I think with my eyeshadows it tends to be over the top and I come out looking like a clown.

Eyeshadows can be really expensive though. Especially when you're trying to find the perfect color, and the perfect color is really important to me. My make-up budget is pretty limited, so you won't find me on the Sephora website anytime soon; although I wish I had a couple hundred to just blow because I'm certain I could spend hours upon hours, from open till close in one of their stores. But mostly my make-up comes from the drugstore, up until recently, from Target (Post idea! I'll explain there), and other like stores. I'm not really a big Cover Girl fan, I'm not sure what it is, but their products just don't seem to apply to me. I love Maybelline (the only mascara I use), Loreal, and Revlon.

Anyway though, while at Target a couple weeks ago, I finally picked up the e.l.f. (eyes, lips, face) 100 color eyeshadow palette for only $10.00.

I debated it for a couple weeks. It's price was what really deterred me from it. There was no way that all those eyeshadows for only 10 bucks could be of good quality and it would surely be a waste of $10.00. But wasn't that what I was doing already buying other shadows that weren't the color I'd hoped they'd be? Surely I could chalk up $10.00 and if it sucks, it sucks, but if it doesn't suck, then I've saved myself a lot of moolah!

So, finally after a couple weeks of looking and looking I finally picked it up. And you know what? I. Love. It. Best 10 bucks I've spent in forever. These colors are highly pigmented and go on so silky smooth. They do tend to crease after 8-10 hours of wear, but so doesn't every other shadow I wear, so no biggie. But I do totally love them and it's definitely something worth picking up if you love eye shadows too. 

Here's a couple pictures I took from my camera phone, hence they're not the best quality, but you definitely get an idea of how pigmented they are. 

This is my clouds, sky and grass look by the way.

In summary, definitely by this if you love eyeshadows- either for yourself or someone else you know. They will love this Christmas gift! Or add it to your own Christmas list, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

(This review is not endorsed and I didn't receive any moolah. They are more than welcome though to send me free things to write about if they'd like though, hint, hint!)

Will you please just sit down when you pee?

This has been a pet peeve of mine for as long as I can remember. There's never been a time when it hasn't just grated against my patience and my nerves. It just aggravates the ever living day lights out of me. And when I sit back and think of all the silly little pet peeves that I have, which are pretty abundant mind you, the worst ones have to deal with public restrooms.

1st up: Sit Down On the Toilet Seat To Pee - No Squatting Allowed


Yes, that's right, ladies. Sit your ass down on the toilet see when you pee. Don't hover, don't try to pee standing up. We weren't made to. If we were, we'd be men rather than women. So just sit your ass down already. I'm so tired of walking into a public bathroom stall and having to wipe up your yellow sprinkles after you used it. For the longest time I couldn't figure out how you could actually miss, I mean, you're sitting over the hole, it's a direct shot. It never occurred to me that women would actually not sit on the seat, I mean, we're women, and it's a seat, that's what we do. What are you afraid of that you can't sit down and pee in the hole? Ahh.. let me guess, you think you might actually catch something from the toilet seat right? Because other women hover over it and sprinkle their pee on it, just like you, leaving behind goodies that if you sit on with multiply into full blow gonorrhea and AIDS, right? Well, you're wrong. First of all, pee is sterile. Meaning that organisms can't reproduce in it. And let me just copy and paste here from Webmd.com just in case you don't believe my smartness on this topic..

"No doubt about it, there could be a witch's brew of germs wherever you turn in public restrooms. Many people consider toilet seats to be public enemy No. 1 -- the playground for organisms responsible for STDs like chlamydia or gonorrhea. But before you panic, the toilet seat is not a common vehicle for transmitting infections to humans. Many disease-causing organisms can survive for only a short time on the surface of the seat, and for an infection to occur, the germs would have to be transferred from the toilet seat to your urethral or genital tract, or through a cut or sore on the buttocks or thighs, which is possible but very unlikely.

 "To my knowledge, no one has ever acquired an STD on the toilet seat -- unless they were having sex on the toilet seat!" says Abigail Salyers, PhD, president of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).

And unless you rubbing your vagina all over the seat, your fears are obviously unfounded. So sit down already.

2nd: If you sprinkle while you tinkle, be a sweety and wipe the seaty

That little poem is from a friend's bathroom when I was little and it's stuck with me ever since. There is not one time that has ever gone by since then that I haven't checked the toilet seat after going to the restroom to make sure I didn't sprinkle- regardless of whether I'm at home or in public. Because even though I sit on the toilet seat, there is the RARE occasion when my pee just goes haywire and manages to get under my butt check and end up on the seat. But I always check and if I've left a sprinkle, I wipe it up. It's not that hard. You make a mess, you clean it up, it's as simple as that and takes a mere two second. And if your one of those that just absolutely refuses to sit down and sprinkles everywhere, make sure your double, triple check.

3rd: Flush the Toilet, and if it's an automatic toilet, make sure it flushes or flush it yourself


My experience with automatic toilets is 50/50 .. 50% of the time they work, 50% of the time they don't and I still need to push the button to flush it myself. You should do the same. Just because it doesn't flush immediately doesn't mean it's broken and besides sitting on a wet toilet, there's not much worse than walking in on a full house if you know what I mean, and I'm not talking about poker hands here. I don't care if you're one of those uptight people and use your foot or your elbow or your ten foot pole, just flush the toilet. There are no "if it's yellow let it mellow" rules when it comes to public restrooms, everything falls under the flush it down category.

4th: Poop gets flushed right away, before your done,  even before you've wiped 


Poop smells. Really bad. Other people's poop smells even worse. So as soon as you've pooped, flush it down. Get rid of it. I know it's still going to smell. It doesn't kill the smell all together, but let me tell you, it makes a hell of a huge difference- rather than letting it sit there and air out while you clean yourself up. And if you have multiple poops, then flush after each one. So what if you flush 5 times- it's better to get rid of the stench than just wait it out and kill every one else who enters the bathroom, nevermind the poor women stuck in the stall next to you. Plus, that way your guaranteed to only have clean water splash on your butt when it plunks in. :)

5th: And for Heaven's sake, wash your hands after you use a public bathroom people


I mean, come on. You're so worried about catching something from the toilet seat, that you won't sit on it. You refuse to flush the toilet with anything besides your hospital booty covered foot. Yet, you just walk right out like you've avoided all the bathroom germs and you need not wash your hands before pulling on the handle and opening the door. Like, EW!! Because, while your pee may be sterile, your poop certainly is not. Here's the best explanation I've been able to find as to why this is necessary-

"The bigger problem is that lots of people use the bathroom and they might not be as neat as you.  

Poop, especially, contains a lot of germs, including E. coli, which can make you sick. Those germs are tiny and invisible, so they can be hiding on the faucet, doorknob, and other bathroom surfaces.

In the bathroom, you can easily get some germs on your hands and, if you don't wash up properly, you just might take them with you. Those germs could get into your body and make you sick — like if you eat your lunch with those unwashed hands. Or you could make someone else sick — like if you give a new friend a nice handshake with those germy hands and then she goes and eats her lunch!"

So, those are my 5 biggest public bathroom pet peeves. And I bet now that you read them and have become more aware about them, they will end up being some of yours too. And while I'm sorry for that, I'm also really thankful because that's one.. or two.. less people sprinkling on the seat.

Quality Time

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is playing Wii with my mum.

She's really one of the coolest people I know, even if she does bug the crap outta me on occasion. I guess that's just what happens when you're an only child.

(I'd also like to draw your attention to two things in this picture.. first, why I call her little mommy and second, that yes, while we might be California Transplants, we still represent the purple and yellow (we were pretty excited by their championship win this past season.))


But, let me just say that there are few things I love more than hanging out in the living room playing Wii with her. It's during those times that I just feel so incredibly blessed to have the family I do and the opportunity to do such simple things like that with them.

It makes me almost glad I moved back in. Almost.