New Kids on The Block...let's Rock!!!

Eric surprised me with New Kids concert tickets for my birthday...

You can see the excitement and anticipation on our faces...well, at least MINE!!






The sad part about seeing all of the fans out there was that they were all so OLD and FAT!! There were so many middle aged women...I remember going to my first concert and wishing that I could be in the double digits so that I would have a chance to have one of the New Kids fall in love with me...I'm pretty glad, now, that I was still just a kid!

New Kids Continued...

Jordon Knight (still rocking after two kids- not that a guy's body really changes after having kids...no bitterness there) singing his classic, "I'll be Loving You Forever..." I'm not that kind of guy, who can take a broken heart...so don't ever leave...

Joey Joe McIntyre, pointing and posing for a picture...

O.K., this picture is a little embarrassing...but, hey, when in Rome...cheer your heart out!...Just get on the floor and do the New Kids dance!!! Oh, oH, Oh, OH, oH!

I liked the stark contrast of expressions on our faces...as you can see, I don't think Eric enjoyed himself quite as much as I did!!! Eric really is too kind...he also got me a pedicure and a really cute figurine. I've never had a pedicure for no reason before (it was always because someone was getting married and I was a bridesmaid...)! Eric works so hard during the week and then has to endure New Kids and a nail salon...he's a catch, what can I say?!?

I call this: New Kids a la Temple Clothing. Actually, it's my sad confession that I once gave their security guard a Book of Mormon to give to them...on the front cover I wrote, "Dear Joe, I love you...let me tell you about another Joseph I love...Joseph Smith..." Ironically, I went to dinner when them years and years later and asked about it...and to my dismay, they remembered, "Oh my goodness, that was you?!" I was so thrilled that it took me about five minutes to get that they were TOTALLY MOCKING ME!!! Oh, well, it would have been a good story...

The Laughing Cow 笑牛, Den leende ko, Krówka Śmieszka

So, I had the opportunity to spend the day with my neices, nephews, in-laws and fun, fun Carli...so, we were at the store and I saw my childhood favorite...the Laughing Cow Cheese...or, as they call it in France where it was originally launched in the 20's, "La vache qui rit." My mother-in-law, Julie, always the good host, indulged me and bought a package of the versatile and portable blend of cream, milk and fresh and aged cheeses in bite-sized little silver cubes. Did you know that 125 portions of the cheese are eaten every second around the world?

Oh the joy I felt as I pulled on that all too familiar red string...memories of being a carefree child feeling so happy because my mom loved me so much that she would buy the real brand Laughing Cow cheese for my lunch (since it's pasteurized it is able to sit unrefrigerated for a limited length of time). Some of our neices and nephews did not like it,...but true to form...cute, cute, Hanky LOVED it...as I love him!!! Sad that the love you have for a child can grow based on their mutual love of a food product!

Carli and Julie (neither had ever partaken or heard of it) happily tried & enjoyed it but referred to it as, "vleveeta-like" (which in all fairness is probably a fairly accurate description of it). I couldn't help but feel a little insulted for my childhood friend, the happy red cow...velveeta is not my cup of tea, it's processed and plastic-y and cheap...but the Laughing Cow is French...somehow that adds validity to it's authenticity and quality...right? It's next to the Brie...that has to count for something...or maybe it's just a ploy to make consumers like me believe the farse that it is somehow better than kraft singles. Any cheese coniesseurs out there that want to back me up or tear me down...go ahead.

Don't judge me...I love the Laughing Cow!!

Dinner at the Legal Tender.

Yesterday Eric's parents treated us to a birthday dinner at the Legal Tender in Evanston. Here, Eric and I are happily enjoying our Prime Rib dinner,...Eric, not so much, as they gave him horseradish instead of butter for his potato...oops!!!


What studly men!


The love birds!


Here I am blowing out my candles (the number of candles on the pumpkin cake are totally arbitrary so don’t try counting!). Of course I made a wish…we’ll just have to see if it comes true!!!

Thank you, Jim & Julie!!!

I just wanted to say a special thanks to my wonderful in laws! I thought you two might want to see the beautiful flowers since you might not get to see them in person. They are absolutely gorgeous...



Some close ups...

Hallow's Eve, Eve at the Phillips'

We decided to have a Halloween party with a few of our friends. I think I got it from my mother…I have a need to take pictures of food…strange, I know.
My little harvest display…


I thought these were so creative (it took me forever to come up with the menu)…I made deviled eye balls!...then I looked online the next day and about a billion people had already come up with the same idea…oh well…


We ate yummy Halloween themed foods and played Mofia! It is one of my favorite games….EVER!! Crazy…you could tell we were playing with rookies as no one caught on to the fact that ALL of the men who were chosen to be Mofia (which was all but Denver) each picked off their wives by putting them up on the chopping blocks…literally!!! I would have expected this type of treason from Eric…but Colton, Destry and Josie…I am truly disappointed!!!



Here most of us are...from left to right; Britney, me, Eric, Emily, Bowman (cutest baby EVER!!), Colton, Destry & Kristy and Jill & Josie. We all looked better in this picture...but to be fair to Josie...his eyes were closed so I posted the one below as well!

Party in Midvale!

So, seeing as how I couldn’t come up with a respectable maternity Halloween costume idea combined with the fact that we had no where to go…we didn’t bother getting anything…but then, Jennifer Carlisle decided to host a FABULOUS Halloween party at their Midvale property. There was spectacular food (the Spinach Raviolis with Pesto sauce was my favorite)and great company.


Here, after Eric and I pulled out our old outfits, we are trying to show our old Crypts and Bloods signs from back in the gansta’ days but I think we just ended up looking like we had MS. I didn’t think the tattoo sleeves were that realistic…until we noticed that a lot of the guests seemed wary of us. Then one of them asked Eric if he was really into tattoos… to which he replied, “NO MAN, we got these at Walmart!” We were convicts…but Brooke thought I was a pumpkin…sigh!



Jim and Julie went as a fifties couple…I think Jim should think about wearing his hear like that permanently. They were hot, hot, hot!!!


Carli’s costume sort of freaked me out. I did not like that old woman. Every time I was speaking with someone, I would see her from the corner of my eye…this weird, faceless midget old lady…not good!


Eric’s Aunt Sue is a very talented seamstress and made her daughter and grandsons costumes from Star Wars. Here is Princess Leah and her little Ewok! CUTE! CUTE! CUTE!

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes (Healthy Vs. Yummy) THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE!!!

So, I’m not huge on posting recipes…particularly because I am not a recipe user…but this one happened to have come to life from a few dilemmas:
1) Eric loves junk food
2) I want him to be healthier
3) I’m not uber familiar with cooking American Cuisine

So, on a typical day I will cook one base dinner for us…and create two variations…a healthier version for me (even portions of meat and veggies, no extra toppings and smaller portions) and a less healthy version for Eric (disproportionate amounts of meat comparative to veggies, sometimes extra olive oil drizzled on top, larger servings, etc). On rare occasions, I am forced to make two entirely different meals as I am unwilling to continually let the baby eat food with absolutely no sustenance at all.

So, on one such occasion, Eric looks at his plate and then at mine and declares, “it’s funny how people have different tastes. I mean…like our dinners…yours looks SICK to me…but you like it.” ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!…who wouldn’t want fried, cheesy processed food everyday…but there’s a give and take in life…enjoy now, pay later…or pay now, enjoy later…I’m much more for the latter.
Anyway, on even rarer occasions, I can satisfy both Eric’s desire for total crap and my desire for healthiness. Last night was one such night!

He really wanted cheesy scalloped potatoes…a typical serving provides 32.5g of fat…so, I came up with this recipe and we both thought it worked well!

6-8 Potatoes (I use both brown and red)
1 Can Fiesta Nacho Soup

Combine following
¼ cup milk (I added extra milk powder for more calcium)
¼ cup Chicken broth
¼ cup chopped onions
Garlic
Salt & Pepper
Optional Turkey Bacon bits

I sliced the potatoes alternating from super thin & medium sliced and layered it with revolving layers of potatoes, cheese sauce and milk (each twice). This entire casserole was only 16 grams of fat!!! So, a HUGE helping was only 4 grams of fat!
So, if anyone cares…there you go.

Nothing to Post...

http://twilightersanonymous.com/quiz-result/quiz-results-you-re-an-alice.html

So, yea...I kind of figured as such. For those of you who have no idea what that means...don't worry...I remember this girl wearing a shirt that read, "I'm a Carrie" and my first thought was, 'you're a freaky social outcast who went to the prom and got pig blood dumped on you and sought your revenge by killing everyone?' So, yes...that is all...I said, 'Good day!'

Angkor Wat

Here are a few pictures my brother just emailed me from our Cambodia trip(as Eric was in charge of the Cambodia posts…I’m not sure if we are going to get them on the blog before we go to Greece).


Here is my family (my brother Peter, my father, mother, myself and Eric)standing at the most popular “tourist spot” in front of the Angkor Wat temples. I put tourist spot in quotation marks because it’s amazing how full and rich of history this country is, yet the tourism is almost null. Specifically, Angkor Wat means City Temple. It was first built in the 12th century…but due to political change and unrest, was lost until it was re-discovered two centuries later. This is a real life Duck Tales, Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider (this is actually where Tomb Raider was filmed) story. CRAZY!!!


Sad…we still have a lot of pictures to post detailing the sad history outside of Angkor Wat in Cambodia…a French explorer described Angkor Wat as, “One of these temples—a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo—might take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged.”



Here is a carving I liked, it is of a male and two female "Devatas" (demigods and demigoddesses positioned as guardians of the temples)…they were ALL amazing…the workmanship and the symbolism in each carving…and the fact that it still remains so intact after so many centuries…it’s unfathomable!


Here is Eric with a HUGE shrimp…it’s funny how many people don’t know what shrimp look like in it’s natural form…and how everyone wants to call it a prawn…prawns and shrimp (for culinary references) are the exact same thing….it just depends on where you are…a prawn in Australia IS a shrimp in America…unless you’re at a pseudo up-class restaurant and they want to put on an air of sophistication…they’ll tear open their Costco bought shrimp and label it prawns and everyone will, “ooh” and “aaahh!.” So, there you have it…Eric and his shrimp.