Mom Friendly Meals Monday: Mac and Cheese Burgers

This weekend kicked my butt, so I fully admit that I am not feeling very inspired this week. That said I was watching the Rachel Ray show the other day when this recipe caught my eye. Mac and Cheese Burger Sliders. Doesn't that sound AMAZING!!
I'm not sure that this recipe is as quick and simple as some of the other's I've listed here, so I'm aiming to try it out on Friday when I have a day off!

I'm bartending today and tomorrow so I won't have lot's of time for blog hopping and mingling. I hope you will all still love me anyways! I also wanted to tell you that starting next week, I would like to include a "featured blog" every Monday for Mom Friendly Meals Monday. Just link your best recipe up this week if you'd like to be considered!!

Just Thursdays

Outside my window...garbage cans and recycling bins are flying around. It's still so windy out!
The time is...10 am

Today I feel...pretty good except for my allergies that are acting up

I am thinking..What else can I fit in during this naptime?

At the moment... I am thankful..I have Sunday off so I can take Jack trick or treating!

I am going..to work tonight. Bartending! Hopefully it is a short shift and I make lots of money!

I am wearing..fuzzy slippers, shorts, and my UDA sweat shirt from High School -Amazingly enough it still fits perfect!

I wish... I could pay off more of my credit cards.

I am reading..The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

I am working on..cleaning the house

I am hoping..to be out of work early tonight

I am hearing..the baby monitor.

I bet you didn't know...companies that make baby/children's products are surprisingly customer service friendly. The sound on our brand new monitor started going out a month ago. I called the company and they are sending us out a new one and a box to send back the broken one. No questions asked.

One of my favorite..things is cleaning and organizing the house. I don't get to do it often enough, but when I do it makes me happy!

Weekend plans:
Friday: Jacks one year pic's, lunch with Auntie Meg
Sat: Shopping for Jack's birthday present, Work at night!
Sunday: Watch some football and take Jack trick or treating!!

Hope you all have a great day! Stop on by Murdocks Mama and link up!

I hate that little piece of paper (WMW)

No offense to all of you out there with a college diploma, but I happen to hate that little piece of paper. And here is why...

I went to college. I earned good grades and enjoyed the college experience. But I couldn't for the life of me decide what I wanted to do with my life. I initially went to college become an English teacher, but then I enjoyed a psychology class so much I decided to change majors. Then I decided that I didn't like psychology as much as I thought I did, so I went back to teaching. Then to sociology. And then I went home.

Because college costs butt loads of money and I didn't see the sense of putting myself in debt for the rest of my life while I "found myself".

There are many people out there that told me that I should have just got a degree in whatever. They said most people don't even work in the field that they got their degree in.

And that's what really ticks me off.

Because in reality the only thing that matters about that little piece of paper is that you do, indeed, have one. It angers me because I know that I am more than qualified to do half the jobs out there. I'm not saying I want to preform brain surgery or try a supreme court case or anything, but there are millions of jobs out there that I know I am more than capable of excelling at. Unfortunately I wont even get a second look at my resume just because I didn't graduate from college.

Not to brag or anything but, I'm think I'm a pretty smart girl. Sure I have my blond moments and my punctuation isn't always up to par but I never fell below a 3.5 GPA in my 2 years of college. I like to think I have a good balance of book smarts and common sense. I by no means think I am better than anyone, nor do I mean to belittle the college institution.

But I see dumb people everyday that have college degrees. People that don't know the difference between "week " and "weak". (I'm feeling week) People that no doubt, partied their way thru college and just passed with enough credits to graduate. And it bothers me that people like that are deemed more qualified than me. That they get higher paying, better jobs. It bothers me that people will not even interview me and give me a chance simply because I didn't graduate.

I always hear employers out there say "it's hard to find good people out there" and I agree. As a manager at my previous job I said it all the time. Most people nowadays lack even the least bit of work ethic. They show off their little piece of paper and feel that they are entitled to the job they have because they went to college. Meanwhile there are millions of people out there, like me, who will go un-hired. People who don't take things for granted. People who believe that hard work and determination can sometimes out weigh a fancy education.



Sorry friends visiting from Working Mom Wednesday...I didn't mean to get all worked up! I guess the first prompt just struck a chord with me!



**In Un-related news**

This time last year I was waiting, wishing and hoping that I would go into labor. It was my due date. I wasn't sleeping due to the horrible heartburn I had from Jack's feet being nestled in my ribcage and I was just plain UNCOMFORTABLE. Little did I know, I had 11 more days to endure...

Mom Friendly Meals Monday: Pumpkin seeds

I'm being lazy this week and handing Mom Friendly Meals Monday over to a friend. Truth is, I've worked so much the last few days, that I am too lazy to find a recipe to make on days when you feel lazy...

My friend Dana just started her cooking blog and this post really caught my eye because growing up, my dad and I always made pumpkin seeds.

I even saved the seeds from last weeks pumpkin carving debacle (see this post) with every intention of making some. But after being so frustrated with the whole experience, I ended up leaving them out all night and decided to throw them away. I'm not really sure what the shelf life of fresh pumpkin seeds is but I didn't want to risk it and end up with food poisoning because then I, most certainly, would have never carved another pumpkin for as long as I live.

  

http://just-like-mom.blogspot.com/



After reading Dana's post on her Garlic Parmesan Pumpkin seeds, I almost contemplated carving another pumpkin just to make the seeds.  (Almost...I pretty sure I can wait til next year though)

So enjoy this recipe, check out Dana's blog and don't forget to link up your own!!

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File this post under "Things I do in my spare, spare time"

I love getting crafty.

In High School I was pretty kick ass in my art classes and I'd like to think of myself as a pretty creative person. But as I've gotten older and my responsibilities have grown, I find less and less time for turning my visions into anything more than well...visions.

Luckily my new found blogging hobby has lead me to some very cool crafting blogs that have inspired me to actually follow thru on some of my crafting. First on my list...Fall Decor.
We aren't big on decorating for holidays-except Christmas, and even that is a half assed attempt some years. But now that Jackson is here, we figure we should probably do more for holidays. So I wanted to find some things to make the house a little more "Fall-y". (We have a few Halloween decorations, but I prefer general Fall decor because you can leave it out longer!)
One of my new favorite craft blogs A Girl and A Glue Gun posted this Shout Out to other craft bloggers, and in it I found 2 projects that I completed in one night!!

Here are the pictures of what they are supposed to look like and then there are mine.

 For the How To's on these visit:

Make Mine Lime

and

The Hand me Down House

Mine...

Mine aren't as full but I have another batch coming. I ran out of paper!







I blame poor lighting...this one looks just like the pros!

 If you want other great Fall/Halloween ideas visit

Fill in the Blank Friday

I love me some good blog hopping, but the "hops" I like the most are the ones with prompts built right in. Mostly because then I get to learn so much more about my fellow bloggers but also, because I am sometimes lazy. And prompted posts are awesome for days you feel lazy!
So I found this great link up at The Little Things We Do

1.)I am... a mom, a wife, a dreamer, sometimes too ambitious for my own good, a loyal friend, a lover-not a fighter, loud and sometimes obnoxious, laid back and always looking for a good laugh, me...
2. I wish... that I could earn a living doing something I enjoy and that still let me spend as much time with my family as I wanted.
3. I like... quotes and good music, the way it smells outside after it rains, spell check, chocolate anything, really good food, red red wine, magazines-especially gossip ones, HGTV,  lazy football Sundays with Kev and Jack, blogging at midnight when the house is quiet and everyone is asleep.

4. I can... be a little "judgy" at times but I'm not afraid to admit if I am wrong.
5. I hope... that my little boy is always the happy, smiley person he is today. That my husband always knows how much I love him and how happy he makes me. I also hope that my blog continues to grow and that I keep meeting more of you wonderful ladies out there!
6. I think... everyone should be able to laugh at themselves and not take life so seriously.
7. I was... about to crawl back into bed before I wrote this post. I'm hoping Jack's nap lasts a little longer, because that's where I'm headed when I'm done!

If you entered my giveaway...

Jen is such a generous girl that she is offering a credit to shop at VeeveCosmetics.com to EVERYONE that entered the giveaway! To claim yours send me an email with your email address. You can send it to: IMO-inmyopinion@hotmail.com . (I promise I won't spam you!)

Mama said there would be days like this...

3 posts in one day...can you believe it? In all fairness WMW's post was pre written and the giveaway one took 3 seconds, so this is the REAL post for today!

So yesterday Kev and I both had the day off. I committed to a whole day without the computer so we could really soak up as much time together and with Jack as possible. I envisioned us relaxing, taking a walk outside-maybe to the park. And then, after his afternoon nap, we would put Jack in his highchair and he would watch as we carved our first pumpkin together as a family.
Sounds nice enough, right?
See it would have been a lovely day, except none of that actually happened.
What really went down was this:

We realized that we were is desperate need of groceries so we headed off to the store for a few things. When we got home we gave Jack his 3 o'clock bottle and put him down for his afternoon nap. Then we decided it should be family nap time so we both went up to bed too. Little did we know that this would be Jacks shortest. nap. ever. So by the time I finally fell asleep it was time to get up. (isn't that the worst?)
Then we went downstairs to carve the pumpkin. Except Kev decided at that moment he was going to fix the pipe under the sink that's been broken for a week and a half- in his defense I get it.... Only one person can really carve a pumpkin at a time. It's not like it's exactly a two man job. And I have been hounding him to fix that pipe. But then Jack was less than enthralled by my pumpkin carving skills and wanted no part of it so I was frustrated because so far none of this was going to plan.

**Side note: Carving a pumpkin is not as much fun as I remember it to be. Maybe because my dad did most of the grunt work then. Cleaning out the guts and seeds is a huge pain in the behind. Especially when the sink to wash your hands in isn't working at the time. **

So I took a break from pumpkin carving and brought Jack downstairs to play while Kev finished fixing the sink. Soon it was dinner time for Jack so we went upstairs to eat only to find out that Kev was done with the pipe long ago and had now moved on to installing the safety latches on the drawers in the kitchen. GRRRR. Again, I know it needed to be done, but REALLY? In the middle of my Family Pumpkin Carving Adventure??
So finally with our belly's full I was determined to finish my pumpkin. I had found an awesome stencil of a cat holding a pumpkin that I had traced was starting to cut out. Everything was going fine until I tried to get the last-and biggest-piece out. I ended up tearing the pumpkin and ruining the whole design which meant not only that my plan went to crap, but now I had nothing to show for it...

Except for maybe this sad, sad pumpkin (cat gone, now its just a small pathetic pumpkin in a pumpkin)

On the upside I got Jack and Kevin laughing pretty hard at me!

Now I understand why people carve those fake Styrofoam...

You Win!!

Drumroll please........

The winner is Ali @ LastSplash!!

I'll be emailing you to get your info and pass it on to Jen so she can contact you!

Thank you all so much for entering. I'm planning on another giveaway soon, and I hope to do more in the future, so I hope you'll keep reading!

And don't forget to tell all your friends about VeeveCosmetics!!

Show me what your working with... (WMW)

I'm a semi-organized person, but you would never be able to tell it from looking in my purse, which happens to be a black hole of some sorts.
Want proof? Try calling me.
Even though there is a pocket on the inside of my purse just right for holstering my phone, it never goes there. So instead of answering calls promptly, I spend most of my time blindly fumbling for my ringing phone only to never find it in time.
My current purse is a nice medium size purse. It's not so big that I could pull a lamp out of it or anything but it's big enough that I can fit more than 3 sticks of gum in it. I am actually in need of a new purse, but I've had a really hard time finding one that I like. They are either too big or small, not the right color, or bedazzled a bit too much for my liking. And I need to find one that can accommodate all this:

I had a little fun on Picnik!

My must have's:

*floss

*lip gloss

*nail file

*wallet (Duh?)

*phone

*tampon

*keys

Other crap that's found it's way in:

*my Clinque bonus buy collapsible hair brush w/mirror-totally more useful than I thought it would be.

*my coupon book

*a travel size Lysol. ( I bought this because our toilets used to back up at work and the smell was so awful I couldn't make it for a pee break w/o this, but I must say its come in handy in other situations as well!)

*My date book which rarely gets used past February and mostly houses old receipts and other misc. paper goods in my purse.

*Cough drops from the last cold I had

*My apron for work

What do you carry in your purse that is "out of the ordinary"? How about your "must-haves"?

Link up with us over at Working Mom Wednesday!

Mom Friendly Meals Monday: Under 20 minutes

It's the last day to enter my Veeve Cosmetics Giveaway!!


You know those nights when you want a dinner that takes little to no effort.
This one's for you.
I pull this one out on nights when I would rather order/pick-up something but even that seems like too much work. (i.e. when I am being lazy)

adapted from the Kraft Food & Family Magazine

Fiesta Mac

What You Need:
1 pkg. Macaroni & Cheese Dinner ( I use Kraft Deluxe or Velveeta Shells and Cheese)
1 lb. ground beef
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed (I usually use a can)
1 cup Salsa



PREPARE Dinner in large saucepan as directed on package, cooking Macaroni for just 8 min.
MEANWHILE, brown meat with green pepper in skillet; drain.
ADD meat mixture, corn and salsa to prepared Dinner; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

If you really want to get fancy you can top with some shredded cheese and some crumbled tortilla chips!


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Top 5 Fridays

Here are some things I've enjoyed this week...

1. Fresh Apple Cider from the Pumpkin Farm-we always pick up at least one gallon when we go. The Cider doughnuts there are also AMAZING. I wish I could have them for breakfast every morning, but my waistline is grateful I can't!

2.) Fall Decorations and Crafts: I've become mildly obsessed with craft blogs like this one from A girl and a Glue Gun. I've always been a crafty person I've just never really had a lot of extra time to dabble in it. But now thru these blogs I've found a lot of really cute things to make that aren't terribly time consuming. We don't have a lot of Halloween or Fall Decor so that's my focus right now. Next week I'll link up a post with the how-to's on some of these easy crafts!

3.) Tweetdeck: This application for desktop and the iPhone links up all your social networking in one place. What's even better is I can leave it running in the background and do other things online. It posts all updates in a little window in the corner that pops up when something has been added. This is nice because now I don't have to keep moving from screen to screen if I am talking to someone via Facebook or Twitter. I highly recommend it to anyone that uses multiple forms of social networking.

4.) Another tech-y thing that has been a saving grace this week.The Blog Booster app for the iPhone. I finally downloaded a blogging app to my iPhone. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner because it is awesome. Now I still prefer to do my blogging via my real computer, because looking at a tiny screen for too long gives me a headache, but this app is useful for those nights when I am in bed thinking about something I want to blog but I don't feel like going downstairs to do it. Or if something is wrong with a post and I need to fix it but I'm not at home. Best $2.99 I spent in a long time!

5.) All You magazine: I found this on a recent trip to Barnes and Noble and I love it! I am a magazine junkie and I love coupons and this magazine has both. Not only that but the coupons are good ones-usually $1 or so off popular products. I highly recommend it for you coupon clippers out there.

So what are some things that made your week a little better??

Please help me feed my addiction...

I am seriously obsessed with Scentsy and one of my BBF (blog best friends), Ali at Last Splash, is giving away an awesome Scentsy spread. Check out her giveaway here.

Just Thursday

So I wanted to post but I'm a little short on time so I decided to participate in Just Thursday from Murdocks Mama. I found it thru Erin at Goldylocks and her three bears.

Outside my window... the garbage man is making his rounds

The time is...9:15

Today I feel... so-so
I am thinking... That if the garbage man wakes up Jack from his nap I'm going to be pissed. Also, I don't want to work tonight.
At the moment, I am thankful.. for the yummy breakfast I just made
I am going..to clean and hopefully take a trip to Hobby Lobby before work
I am wearing... sweats. It's a little chilly in the house today.

I wish... I could stay home and relax with my boys today. I hate working when Kev had the day off
I am reading...
When Did I Get Like This?: The Screamer, the Worrier, the Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer, and Other Mothers I Swore I'd Never Be by Amy Wilson.
I am working on... Some Fall crafts. I hope to make a post of them next week!
I am hoping... The leak in the kitchen and floor get repaired soon.
I am hearing... The garbage truck and ESPN
I bet you didn't know..I'm crafty! I just don't have time to work on anything.
One of my favorite..things are mornings when Kevin and I have off together. We bring Jack into bed with us and he snuggles & plays with us.
Weekend Plans..
[Thursday] Clean, shop at Hobby Lobby and work :-(
[Friday] Play with Jack, blog, work on some Fall Decor, run errands
[Saturday] Party
[Sunday] Watch Bears game and then go to work.

Please enter my Veeve Cosmetics giveaway for $50 in Mineral Makeup!

Just breathe (WMW)

I try not to complain too much about my job because

a) I'm grateful to just have a job

b) It was my decision to quit my full time job after Jack was born and waitress part time

c.) It could be a lot worse

The truth is that this job is way less stressful than my last, mostly because I don't have to take my work home with me. That said working with the general public can tough-check out this post for ways to make your servers life easier- and there are plenty of days that I wish I could go could go all Steven Slater on some of my tables. But I can't because we need to put food on the table and buy things so I have to find other ways to de-stess after a tough day.
So when Julia over at Work, Wife, Mom, Life asked, "When Work seems overwhelming I..."

I really stopped to think about how I cope with those days when you just want to scream at everyone in sight.

Of course in doing this I realized that my first instincts when stressed are to indulge in things that are unhealthy and counter productive. I use to be a smoker and that was the first thing I did when I was stressed. Though I am proud to say that I quit 3 years ago, I will admit that every now and again if I'm having a bad night-and there is a co-worker who will enable me- that I will sneak a puff or 2. I'm not proud of that but it takes the edge off a bad day and I don't do it often. Plus half the time I do it, I end up not enjoying it as much as I thought I would and I remember why I quit in the first place.

And then there are the other vices I turn to sometimes, like a glass of wine or food. Again not the best thing to turn to when stressed, but sometimes that glass of Menage A Trois is worth it after a hard days work.

But while all these things help a little, the thing that helps me the most during a stressful day is my husband. Not to get all cheesy, but he is really good at helping me come down from a high strung, overwhelming day. I think it is partially because he knows the business-he also works in the hospitality industry-and he understands what I deal with. He listens to me when I tell him stories of how rude and crazy some people are. He tells me his. He doesn't tune me out or belittle my feelings. And that helps because sometimes all you need at the end of a hard day is a sympathetic ear.

And a back rub doesn't hurt either.

PS: Please enter my Veeve Cosmetics giveaway...you can win a mineral make-up palette and a credit to VeeveCosmetics.com

Mom Friendly Meals Monday: Fall Edition

First things first please enter my giveaway for $50 in Veeve Cosmetics.
If you already have please proceed...

I love Fall.
I blogged about it a few weeks ago with all the reasons why, but the food is what I love the most. The apples are in their prime and comfort food is perfect for those chilly fall nights. I'm pretty sure I probably gain the most weight this time of year. But I am totally ok with that. (sometimes)
This past weekend was a great fall weekend, though it was more of an Indian Summer since it was in the 80's. Yesterday we went to the pumpkin farm. We are lucky to live very close to one of the most popular ones in the area. The day didn't go quite as planned but we still had a great time. I was hoping to get some good pics, including a great family one, but the odds were not in my favor. My camera ran out of batteries, it was so bright out that it was impossible to get a pic-where we weren't squinting and Jack was hot and not his usual ham for the camera. Nonetheless, thanks to my great mother in law I was able to get a few good shots...

But you came here for food, right? So lets move on to the recipe portion of this post...

I tried to think of a recipe with pumpkins to go along with the pumpkin farm story, but the truth is most of the pumpkin dishes I eat are desserts. And while I'm not against dessert posts for Mom Friendly Meals Monday, my main focus is on meals that are quick and/or easy to prepare on those days when you want dinner on the table with little to no effort. 


Then I wanted to post about Pot Roast because I know it's Fall when my husband makes pot roast. He is a fancy graduate of culinary school so his recipes are a little out of the realm of MFMM, but if you are feeling ambitious I highly recommend this recipe for Garlic Studded Pot Roast from Emeril. Since I couldn't find a similar recipe that was more mom friendly I'm moving on to Pork. Pulled Pork.

Pulled Pork sandwiches are up there on my list of Fall Favorites. And Pulled Pork is relatively easy to prepare. We usually throw it in the slow cooker with a seasoning packet from McCormick, but if you google "BBQ Pulled Pork" you can find millions of other ways to prepare it. We like to eat ours on buttermilk biscuits with cole slaw on them. You haven't lived until you try cole slaw in a BBQ anything sandwich...it's amazing. (Thank you Paula Deen!) To round out the meal I also like me a side of Sweet Potato Fries. So my 2-yes 2- recipes for you today are for those sides.
Apple Slaw-great for using up those great Fall apples!



3 cups chopped cabbage 1 unpeeled red apple, cored and chopped

1 unpeeled Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped

1 carrot, grated

1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

2 green onions, finely chopped

1/3 cup mayonnaise 1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste

Directions:In a large bowl, combine cabbage, red apple, green apple, carrot, red bell pepper, and green onions. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Pour dressing over salad.

Gar-licky Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 lb.), cut lengthwise into thick wedges

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Directions:  Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place potatoes on a large baking sheet and toss with 3 Tbsp. olive oil and salt. Roast until browned, 30 to 40 minutes, turning over once halfway through baking time. Combine garlic and remaining Tbsp. oil in a small bowl. Brush sweet potatoes with garlic and oil and roast until garlic is cooked, 2 to 3 minutes

*Found this recipe in All You magazine. Great magazine with a lot of great tips and it contains $50+ in coupons!!

So what's your favorite Fall recipe?? Please link up and share!

Also please grab the Mom Friendly Meals button for your blog in the upper right corner. For those of you that already have it, you may need to re-grab it. I found out the link to it was bad, but I fixed it so it works now!

Have a great week!

Everyone from today's blog hops, thanks for stopping by.

 
 

A Good Looking Giveaway!--UPDATED!!

*For those of you that entered earlier when the links were not working, don't fear...your entries all count. All the links are now fixed. Between having very little sleep and rushing to post this giveaway before work, I goofed on some of them. I guess I really showed how green a blogger I am -and I don't mean in the eco-friendly sense...

Welcome to my first REAL giveaway!

I am very excited to share this with you because not only is it a wonderful giveaway, but it's from a wonderful person.

Meet Jen...

Beautiful right?

In High School, Jen and I borrowed each others clothes, made up dance routines and had sleepovers where Jen was kind enough to keep my eyebrows from looking like fuzzy caterpillars. So when we reconnected at our 10 year reunion it came as no surprise to me that Jen is still in the business of helping people look their best. In addition to being one of Chicago's top make-up artists AND helping brides shine on their big day, Jen is also the creator of Veeve Cosmetics.


Here she is working with the Rancic's!!


Those of you that read my blog regularly know that I have a love of make up and beauty products. So naturally I was very excited when Jen offered to let me try some of Veeve's make-up. And in addition to being beautiful and talented she is also extremely generous....

Jen is offering one lucky reader her credit card make-up palette (your choice of 2 color palettes- a $40 value) AND a $10 credit to shop at Veevecosmetics.com!



The lip gloss in this palette-Peep- is my favorite!!



This makeup palette is awesome because it is small enough to throw in your purse, diaper bag, or desk drawer in case you need a little on-the-go  fix-up. I have the Brown toned palette and I love the lip gloss in it-Peep! The eye and cheek colors all work great together and wear beautifully. You can even use the dark shadow wet as an eyeliner!

To Enter this Giveaway you must:

1) Follow this Blog

2) Visit Veevecosmetics.com and leave me a comment telling me which of Veeve's products you covet most! (Product and Color please!)

That's IT!! This giveaway is open to US residents only-sorry Canada- and will run until October 18th, 2010 12:00 am. A winner will be choosen at random on Octiber 19th.

For extra entries to this giveaway:

Become a Fan of Veeve Cosmetics on Facebook: 1 entry

Follow @VeeveCosmetics on Twitter: 1 entry

Tweet about this giveaway or Blog about it- including a link: 2 entries
Follow me on @Anngee2010 on Twitter-1 entry
Become a Fan of In My Opinion-The Blog on Facebook:-1 entry

Please leave me a comment telling me which you did!

For all you Chicago area ladies, Jen offers amazing make-up services. She can provide one on one make-up lessons, or you can book one of Veeve's Soirees. Soirees are great for Bachelorette Parties, Showers, or special treat for a Girls Night. And if you or anyone you know is getting married check out Magnificent Brides for information on Jen's make-up services for Brides and Bridal Party's.

I think I might be late to this party...

Because even though I consider myself a Twitter newbie, I actually joined a long time ago.

I created a profile, followed a bunch of people ( ie, celebrities and a few friends I found on twitter), and read what everyone else was Tweeting. But I hardly ever used it myself. Maybe to tweet a random thought here and there or tweet about a blog post, but that is the extent of my Twitter usage. Because when I saw all the @ symbols and what I now know are hashtags#... I was intimidated.
But I'm determined to master it and get over my Twitter-phobia.
Why you ask?
At first I only wanted to promote my blog and drive traffic to it. But then I started seeing all these posts on other blogs about Twitter hops and parties. I saw how other bloggers connected on Twitter. What great information was being exchanged via Tweets and I felt left out of the loop. Now I want in!
So I'm getting back on the Twitter horse. I updated my profile and I'm committing myself to at least 3 tweets a day to start out. I've also figured out how to link my Twitter and Facebook account which is good, because one of the things holding me back from Twitter was always this idea that I didn't want to have to check a million different social networking sights a day. Julia over at Work, Wife, Mom, Life wrote a great post with a lot of useful Twitter tips. I bookmarked it so I can reference it when I need to. And then my friend Patti was nice enough to email me a frew pointers too!

Tonight I've been a busy gal...spiffing up my blog and learning the in's and out's of Twitter. I added a button at the top of my blog or you can find me @Anngee2010 if you want to follow me. I also created a Facebook page to link to. I would love to link up with you all there!

And if anyone has any helpful Twitter tips please let me know!

My 1st Top Ten List

Working Mom Wednesday's prompt for today is a top 10 list about anything at all. And so I thought for awhile about what I'd write about and since Jack will be turning one soon-OMG- I decided on the Top 10 things I learned in my first year of motherhood...

Top Ten Things I've Learned in my First Year of Motherhood

10- There are not enough hours in the day...

9- As prepared as I thought I was, I still found myself running out to Babies R Us at least 3 times after Jack was born. Things I thought I needed ended up getting returned and stuff I never thought I'd need was bought.

8- Romance takes on a whole new meaning after the baby arrives. I now consider cleaning bottles and letting me sleep in new forms of foreplay.

7- I suddenly find myself unable to shop for myself most of the time and find myself wandering into the kids department to buy Jack new clothes and toys!

6-It's amazing how many things I can get done during naptime.

5-Time moves at warp speed when you have a child. I feel like just yesterday I was bringing Jack home from the hospital.

4-That even though I swore I would never...I have totally turned into one of those mom's that takes a million pictures of her son and shows them to EVERYONE. And I'm not even sorry.

3-Being a mom isn't as hard as I thought it would be. But I know I still have a very long road ahead of me...

2-Sometimes it is more important to relax and spend time with my boys than it is to have a clean house.

 and the #1 thing I learned in my first year of motherhood...

Even on the worst of days, a smile or giggle from my little boy makes everything seem right in this world!



Mom Friendly Meals Monday: Raid your pantry...

Finding a recipe for this week was a bit of a struggle...
a.) because I don't know what I'm in the mood for lately
b.) we've eaten out a lot so I need to get back into the cooking at home habit
c.) I'm trying not to go grocery shopping. Because there is more than enough food in the house, I just don't know what to do with it.

So this is the time I need to get a bit creative. When I need to raid the pantry and take stock of what is there and then figure out where to go from there.
Now I'm not one of those people who can take a bunch of random stuff and whip up something yummy, so I cheat a bit. When I find random things in my pantry, like say the Ritz Crackers I have left over from a party or soup mix for a dip I never made, I visit the brands website. Often you can find a slew of recipes for things you never would have thought. I have stumbled on some real gems this way and this one-from recipesecrets.com- is one of my quick and easy go to meals. I just happen to have a packet of Savory herb and Garlic Soup in the pantry so I'll be making this tonight!

Cheesy Garlic Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 lbs.)

1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped (I sometimes just use canned tomatoes if I don't have fresh on hand)
1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix
1/3 cup water
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 4 oz.)
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Arrange chicken in 13 x 9-inch baking dish, then top with tomato.
2. Blend Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix, water and olive oil in small bowl. Pour over chicken.
3. Bake 20 minutes. Top with cheeses and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly cooked.

If you have onion soup mix or veggie soup mix on hand you can also get some great recipe idea's there too. They have great ideas for slow cookers as well.

Where do you go if you are in need of a quick and easy recipe?? Link up and share one with us today.  Please grab our button and if you have time...vote for me on the Picket Fence.
 And everyone visiting from Monday Blog Hops...Welcome!!

New Fall Shows: Who made the grade??

It's been a busy week, so this post is a little delayed. I picked up a few extra shifts at work this past week and we also spent the last 2 nights out shopping for a dishwasher. I had no idea appliance shopping would be so difficult. After all the comparing and looking for the best price, I was spent! Thankfully we found one...now I am just crossing my fingers that nothing else breaks anytime soon.
 My DVR has been working overtime recording all the new Fall shows as well as my returning faves. I've tried to stay up as late as I could this past week so I could finally catch up on them all. Here's what I'll be keeping, and what was deleted right after the 1st episode...

It's a Go!! (These shows are my new Fall Fav's)
*The Whole Truth (ABC) -Hands down my favorite premier of the season. Great show, but it isn't getting the ratings it needs. I hope it doesn't get cancelled!
*The Defenders (CBS)
* Terriers (FX)
* Better With You (ABC)

Maybe One More Show... (I'll give these shows a few more episodes before I make my decision)
*Blue Bloods (CBS)
*My Generation (ABC)- 2nd cancelled show of the season...I was actually warming up to it a bit. Sometimes I don't understand why they cancel shows a few episodes into the season. Especially ones with characters that haven't even been developed yet. You never really give people a chance to really get into what the show is about. 
*No Ordinary Family (ABC)
* #$%! My Dad Says (CBS)
*Raising Hope (FOX)
*Boardwalk Empire (HBO) -I had really high hopes for this show but so far it's too slow for me

NO!NO!NO! (Do I really need to explain this one?)
*The Event (ABC)
*Chase (ABC)
*Running Wilde (FOX)
*Lone Star (FOX) -I wanted to like this show, but 2 episodes in and I just can't get into it. Apparently America agrees-it's the 1st canceled show of the season.

I did not see Hawaii Five-0, Mike and Molly, or Detroit 1-8-7 so if anyone has any reviews on those or any other show I missed please leave me a comment!

What was your favorite new show of the season?
What do you think will be the next to be canceled?
What are your returning favorite shows??