Piano (Wo)Man June 26, 2011

I really want to learn how to play the piano~  I have one sitting right across the room from me almost everyday and when I walk by it I sigh and think “Someday”

and then I get a look at the musical notes and realize I might as well be reading Chinese!     I really must have been sleeping during music class in middle school.

I remeber singing to the teacher as she came into class;  teacher sings ~ “Hello Boys and Girls”  Class replies ” Hello Mrs Hughes”  and then I must have passed out cold.

I do remember a little bit of piano lessons in the class and I think she gave up on me fairly quickly and went on to teach the only kid in class that had any interest or talent.

Its just such an elegant instrument ~  Maybe one day I will play your beautiful keys, just maybe!

Playlist to run to June 25, 2011

I stole this Playlist from Peanut Butter Fingers blog.  I have had $27 dollars on my Itunes for a long time now and I just keep forgetting to get anything with it so when I saw this playlist I thought I would give it a  try.        I am not going to lie I am not really sure who “Mumford & Sons” or “Manian”   are but I am trying to be a little more hip to “what the kids” are listening to.

• Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man
• Katy Perry – Teenage Dream
• Kelly Osborne – Papa Don’t Preach
• Cee Lo Green – Forget You
• Bonnie Raitt – Thing Called Love
• Glee Cast – Don’t Stop Believin’
• Kanye West – Power
• Melissa Etheridge – I’m the Only One
• Robyn – Show Me Love
• Manian – Ravers in the UK
• Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
• Melissa Etheridge – Come to My Window
• K’naan – Bang Bang

OK~ watch out Treadmill me and my tunes are coming for you!

RedBox Scores June 24, 2011

Ha~  Did you read that as “RedSox”  Did you think you were coming to read me talk about baseball?   Nope, just another movie review!

So last week I saw some pretty bad movies but this week I am happy to report I got a few gems.

1st up- “The Other Woman”-

I like Natalie and this movie took me by surprise.  The title has only a little to do with what the movie is actually about.  It is really dark and takes a while to get started.  In the end it all ties together.   Febe from “Friends”- AKA Lisa Kudrow plays a awesome bitch role!

2nd- “Just Go With It”~

I guess I was in a “Friends” mood- Aniston and Kudrow in one week! This movie was light and funny a complete opposite of the first movie I saw.  One of the  best parts of this movie was played but the little girl who played Anistons daughter, she had to keep up an accent the whole time.  I can’t do an accent AT ALL~  Ron often makes fun of me for my lack of being able to do any accent- Not ANY, believe me I try.      This movie was cute and kept me entertained- Ron however took one look at the cover and ran for the Playstation & other TV in the office .

The 3rd- “True Grit”

I was really surprised I liked this one as much as I did.  I thought that Matt Damon played a different role than I expected.    Jeff Bridges as always was great and the young girl  wasn’t bad either sometimes kids in movies annoy me when they try to act too grown up but this girl pulled it off.  Ron and I both enjoyed this film.

On another note- what I am reading right now-  I am only 23 pages in and finding it very hard to keep me interest but I will plug on.

Penny Pence at the Park June 23, 2011

Lake Park is right down the street from me and I like to go and walk on the paths there.

Why do they call it lake park?  Cause there is a lake there silly!  Lake “Quin-sig”  as the locals call it.

I have never been swimming there as I am more of an ocean girl myself, but I would not be opposed to someone inviting me out on their boat for a little day drinking soaking up sun.  This guy did not stop to invite me alone.

Penny and I took off down the more shaded area

It was a really nice day to walk outside but Penny was not in the mood for a photo shoot.

Penny only likes the park  for about 5 minutes. She smells everything and then drags me back to the car.  She loves the old people and stops at the benches to let them pet her.

Not much exercise but  I was happy to head home for one of these.

Penny was just happy to be in the car.   This dog loves a good car ride.

Just for the Halibut June 22, 2011

“Why?  I don’t know why! Just for the Halibut”  Hahaaa I crack myself up!

Tonight I am attempting to make Halibut.  It is Ron’s favorite fish and I am doing it the way my dad used to make fish, or what I remember of him making it anyway.  But I don’t have a grill so I am making it in the oven.

We have a fish place right down the street from us and it is right next to the produce place so I went to get all the ingredients in one stop.

The fish looked good and didn’t smell(also a good sign)  but Ron informed me “it wasn’t halibut”  ~ What?  I got ripped off by the fish dude?  Not Cool.

 I put down some foil and then got a few things together.

I chopped up the produce and put a little salt & pepper on the fish.

then I started to layer it right on the fish

Ron stepped in to make the packets but basically you just take the two sides and meet and fold down in the middle and then fold the ends up,  I could have done it but there are a some things you can’t do while you take pictures at the same time.

The side dish was a simple garlic and sauteed spinach.

The fish came out steamy

Baked Halibut in Foil Packets
serves two

2 halibut filets, one-inch thick
1 small to medium ripe tomato
1 quarter of a red onion, sliced
1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay out two sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil, each about 12-14 inches long.  Lay one piece of halibut on each. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Divide the tomato  and onion slices between the two pieces of fish, laying them on top. Squeeze a wedge of lemon over each, and add the lemon to the pile. Sprinkle another pinch of salt and pepper over each.  A little olive oil on each.

Fold up the edges of the foil to create a closed packet and bake, on a baking sheet, for about 20 minutes, just until the fish is opaque. Serve immediately, in the packets.

RedBox Movie Reviews June 19, 2011

I have seen some BAD, I mean bad, really bad horrible movies lately!

The good thing about RedBox is that they are only $1.00 so at least I don’t have to spend $6 bucks to see a really shitty movie.

The 1st up was “The Roomate”

OMG…..horrible.  I kind of figured it was not going to be great but it was really bad.  It was laughable.

The 2nd I had more hope for and it was a total disappointment.    I was hoping for a “Silence of the Lambs” scary movie but it was boring and never really got started, by the time the scary stuff happened I was already falling asleep.  The only saving thing I thought was that it was based on true events, scary true events are cool.  I  love scary movies so it was a big let down.

Stay tuned for more movie reviews…….for tonight I rented “True Grit” with one of my favorite actors “The Dude” AKA Jeff Bridges.  I loved loved loved him in “Crazy Heart”

If you have not seen it yet…..rent it.  Like RIGHT NOW! It was sad though, sad but good.

Park’s Place June 18, 2011

Emily and Trevor just bought their first home and almost as importantly their first grill so they had me over for a backyard BBQ!

Trev and his Grill:He grilled up some steak, chicken and Kielbasa!  YUM

Emily has set the table with her wedding set that has cute little birds on it.  I love it, adorable.   She even has a matching apron.

Homemade Guac! Served with chips or a healthier option of cucumber and celery.  We munched on this while the boys stood around the grill.

 I decided to try some new Summer Brew by Harpoon.  Not as good as the winter brew but still a nice flavor.  More like a Sam AdamsThe also grilled up some fresh corn on the cobb.  Blurry Cobb Pyramid!

Katie made some Weight Watchers  German potato salad.

andwe also had a a three bean salad

My favorite part of the meal was the grilled Pineapple.  Emily put a little cinnamon and agave on them, it was really good!  

Thanks Em and Trevor for a great BBQ and wonderful food.

Heart Rate Program 12 Weeks June 17, 2011

So I got a heart rate program that I am supposed to follow from the owner of the gym that my trainer is at.  I am ready to start the new adventure so I went out and go a couple new toys.

First the program:

It alternates fat burning days with Interval days and was customized for me from my fitness level, height, weight, age and resting heart rate.       It also comes with some instructional video.  The week one  is all the same heart rate of 130 everyday.  I wanted to go to the park and do some if it outdoors over the summer so I went out and got a fancy handy dandy heart rate watch.

I wanted to give it a try outside so I also picked up some new earphones to go with my Ipod.  I have the regualr ones and they always fall out of my ears when I run.

 Ok….ready to go!

Music~ Check

Heart Rate monitor- Check

Shoes that tell me the distance I went- Check

Alarm goes off at 8:00am  and it is raining!  WTF! ~My life.

Ohhhhhh well, so I went and got on the treadmill and watched Regis and Kelly instead.

I have never done a workout that was based on my heart rate.  It is a little confusing.  You are supposed to stay within +or – (5)  of the number on the training schedule.  Today I was to train at 130.  I started off walking on the treadmill at 3.5 MPH and about 10 minutes in I was still not at the target heart rate.  So I upped it from there and kept going up to 3.8 and then I stayed at about 127 for a little while and then finally I stopped checking and kept at that pace for 40 minutes or so.  I checked a again and I was 142.  I took the speed down a little but my heart rate come down some too.  I am kinda confused about how I  keep the range within 5.

It was a good hour workout and I walked 3.5 miles and got good and sweaty.  I can’t wait to take my toys to the park, rain rain go away I want to go play!

Food Challenge- Watermelon June 8, 2011

 Summer time!  Watermelon is one of my favorites and I usually only indulge in the summer when it is nice and FRESH!  Love it!

Watermelon Margarita

Ingredients

• 4 cups cubed watermelon
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 limes, 2 juiced and 1 cut into wedges for garnish
• 8 ounces tequila
• 5 ounces Triple Sec, divided
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder

Directions

In a blender, puree the watermelon and sugar until smooth. Pour the puree through a fine mesh strainer. Transfer the liquid to a pitcher and add the lime juice, tequila and 4 ounces of the Triple Sec. Stir to combine.

In a shallow dish, combine the kosher salt with the chili powder. In a second small plate, add the remaining 1-ounce of Triple Sec. Dip the rims of 4 margarita glasses in the Triple Sec, then coat them in the salt and chili mixture. Divide the margarita between the 4 glasses and garnish each with a lime wedge.

I found this new margaritta mix from Jose Cuervo that is only 100 Calories per serving.

So I cut up some watermelon and threw it in the blender with a half cup of water and a little sugar and then poured it threw a strainer.

Then I mixed a little dried chili flakes with the salt, not a lot! and rimmed the glass with salt and pepper.

OR

If your feeling Vodka is more your friend than check out this martini recipe!

~ WATERMELON MARTINI~

Much like the Cucumber Martini I made this is a great summer drink recipe too.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup watermelon juice (Blend in blender and press watermelon through a sieve or cheesecloth)
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) Vodka (Citron 0r the Melon ones wold work well too)
• 1/4 cup simple syrup (sugar and water)
• juice of 1 lime
• 3 tablespoons salt (optional- use sea or kosher)
• 3 tablespoons sugar (optional- sugar in the raw works well)
• ice
• Watermelon slices, for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

Makes 2 servings.Mix together the sugar and salt if using. Wet the rim of a chilled martini glass with a piece of watermelon. Dip the rim into the sugar and salt mixture. Repeat for other glass.Place the watermelon juice, vodka, lime juice, and simple syrup into a cocktail shaker. Top with ice. Shake well.Pour contents through strainer into martini glasses.Garnish with a wedge of watermelon if desired.

Desk Flowers for a cause June 7, 2011

I needed some new flowers for my desk and was very excited when I saw these at Stop & Shop….

I was even more excited when I read the tag attached to them

http://www.alexslemonade.org/

Check out the site, what an amazing little girl.