We have ESPN!

My cousin Kelly and I have this strange thing going on. It's as if there are moments when our brains have melted into one and our actions and thoughts mirror each others. At first it was amusing, now it's getting a bit creepy. We are related, we share the same grandparent's, great grandparents and so on and so forth. But I am not like this with Aunt Barbie or Uncle Todd or Cousin Chris. Somehow over the years Kelly and I have begun to think a lot alike, or just know what the other person is doing or is needing. For example I made a bumper sticker for Kelly that says, Should=Shame=Puke. And at the same time Kelly was making a bumper sticker for me that says, Should=Shame=Puke! We did not tell each other we were doing this, we just did it. The other day I had a hunch that Kelly may be enjoying her favorite Bruegger's Bagel Combo of Pumpkin spread on a cinnamon crunch bagel. I texted her, joking that she was probably in the middle of feasting on her bagel. Sure enough, She was! There are all sorts of little things like that... The other day, I was craving these wasabi crisp crackers. Crunchy and spicy and makes your nose tingle from all the wasabi. As I was going to lunch, i sent Kelly an email saying that i was off to lunch... but all I really wanted was the wasabi crackers. And of course, why should I be surprised, Kelly had bought me a bag that morning!
So I have no clue why we are this way... my one suspicion is that they tried to make us be the same person, when they made us dress alike growing up... you tell me!

Just Click Your Heels Three Times...

I didn't plan on spending my weekend shopping... I just don't have the funds for such luxuries, but when my mom asked me to shop with her on Saturday, how could I say no? I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to spend time with my mom. Which is really funny that i can say that now. When I was a teenager, I don't think we liked each other a whole lot. I had a constant attitude, and my mom had no desire to put up with it. But thankfully, we get a long just fine now. My mom even gave me money to get my hair done. Typically, I am fine going to Fantastic Sams, but awhile back my mom treated me to a cut and color at a nice salon, and the lady did an amazing job. I'm not saying I'm hooked, but if my mom wants to help me out, I'm not saying no either. I was thinking of the Katie Holmes cut, but i am realizing just how attached to my long hair I really am. If I had a picture I could download, you would see me about 7 years ago when I cut all my hair off. I'd say at one point it was about 1-2 inches long. It was not a pretty sight, and i looked like a boy. Man it was UGLY! I was so traumatized that I vowed to grow it out and never cut it again. Of course, as I look at what styles the ladies are wearing these days, typically I don't see a lot of long curly hair out there. Mostly, I am realizing how out of place my hair looks when I am with my friends and others. Even my BFF Rachel who always had long curly hair, now wears is strait and chin length. She looks amazing... so I am curious if i could pull it off too? Maybe my hair fits my personality? I always feel a little on the oddball side, not necessarily out of place, but not necessarily cool. But then again, at 30 I am very much past the stage of trying to be cool. I am just trying to be me, and that is the best i can do.

Can you believe that it is almost a new year? What an interesting year this has been. I can't even begin to explain the things that have taken place in my life, sadness mingled with joy... but all very transforming. I wonder if God knew what he was doing? I think He did! Sometimes it takes a little nudge from God and sometimes it takes a huge shove to get me going in the right direction. But like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I too, had it in me the whole time.

How can it be?

On my way to meet Shannon for dinner, I stopped into some of my favorite shops in Linden Hills. I was hoping to score some Halloween decoration deals, but to my surprise, everything was CHRISTMAS! How can it be? Halloween is barely over and Thanksgiving still has a few more weeks to make an appearance. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas, love it! Everything about it, I take great delight in it. I anticipate Christmas all year long, and as it inches forward, I feel it, I really do! My mission today was Halloween, but I broke down, how could I not? At the Garden Room there was Christmas music and ornaments and Christmas cookies! I couldn't resist... So i bought one tinsy little Christmas decoration, a trinket really. But oh, it was surely calling my name... I heard it! I did! I did complete my mission though, because I went to Target and bought a Halloween bowl. Now i have to wait a year to use it. That is the down-side of after the holiday deals. The stuff you buy for the holiday itself is over and done with. So in a box it all goes.

Eventually, I did meet up with Shannon. We met at Joe Sensor's so we could gorge on waffle fries and play trivia until it was time to go to the movie. I can't reiterate enough how completely goofy we get when we are together. Nothing has changed. People look and stare because we can't stop laughing. It was the same in high school. If we had a class together, and we had many, practically everyday we would hear, "Girls, Please Stop!!", from our teachers. But oh it's not our fault, we just can't help ourselves! I pray that we are still laughing like this at 70!

So we ate waffle fries and played trivia, and for fun I wore this thing in my mouth that made my teeth light up... it was crazy and funny... pictures can't do it justice! Shannon and i eventually went and saw Dan in Real Life. I liked it a lot. Steve Carell is a keeper!

BOSTON BLOWOUT!

I really like the Red Sox, not as much as the Twins, but I really do like them. Of course I used to live in New Hampshire, so that helps. I'm glad the Sox swept the Rockies. I don't feel bad. My cousin lives in Denver and I still don't feel bad. However, I was reading the newest issue of Sporting News and on the cover it says: BOSTON BLOWOUT!! Funnily, it looks like Jonathan Papelbon is having a blowout of his own! I almost want to super-impose a toilet under him! I kills myself sometimes!

To Ellen on her Halloween Birthday...

Happy Halloween. Not only is it Halloween but it is also Ellen's (Elbow, Elle, Nellen) Birthday! A couple of us kooky girls met Ellen at Axel's Bonfire on Grand Ave... Something must have been in the punch, (or the margarita's) cause we were one giddy and goofy group. Of course it was Halloween, so maybe there was something in the air?
We had fun, celebrating Ellen and her life. Megan sang for us, and some of the girls had fun taking pictures with my camera of their naughty bits... but I won't name names, and I'm way too classy to post any pictures of that variety! Oooh they are cheeky girls! But I love them all!
We had a beautiful time celebrating Ellen and her life. Happy Birthday Ellen! And to top off the night, we discovered the many ways you can wear a scarf. Ellen was the Model Du Jour... and she was oh so inspiring! Could she be America's Next Top Model? This was WAY better than watching ANTM! Oh yeah... WAY better!

Pumpkin Carving Madness!

The Robideau-Vlachs, held their first annual Pumpkin Carving Madness Party! First I was treated to a delicious dinner, prepared by kelly. She made a wonderful soup that was hearty and healthy! We then set to work on our pumpkins. The vlachs used a Chinese symbol for Peace. Kelly was a bit worried that maybe the symbol wasn't really a symbol for peace, and that maybe it said something bad about Hmong people. And considering her neighbors are Hmong, maybe it would be offensive. But I reassured her that, her Hmong neighbors probably don't read Chinese...
We were having a fun time carving and chatting but unfortunately, Kyle got a little crazy with his carving techniques... and he accidentally cut off his hand! Ooops!

I had no clue what I wanted to do, so I just did some weird swirly design, but all in all I think turned out pretty decent. Fun times.After the carving madness, we ate some amazingly wonderful apple pie that kelly made. Mmmmm... It was a very Spooktacular night! Check out the slideshow on the vlach's blog: http://vlachster.blogspot.com/

Dinner Party Delight

Yesterday, I had a beautifully fun and relaxing day of getting ready for my dinner party guests. I had been planning to have my friends, Shannon, Cindy & Jaime over for dinner for quite some time. So once the menu had been planned and the table scape had been decided upon, I set to work. But I was in no mood to rush myself or take any fun out of the day. Shannon came over around noon to relax with me and help me out with the cooking. (And yes Shannon, transferring meatballs from one plate to another, IS helping). I don't typically need much help in the kitchen, but I do like the company. Good conversation can only aid in the joy of cooking. When we weren't cooking we chilled and watched an America's Next Top Model Marathon on VH1. We also watched country music videos, but I won't go into it. It was fun. Eventually Jaime and Cindy made it over and we began to feast. On the menu was the following: Homemade Meatballs and Spaghetti, Broccoli with lemon bread crumbs, Herbed garlic bread, and for dessert:

Chocolate Pear Pastry.

We ate and ate and ate, and then when we couldn't fit one more meatball in our belly's; we ate more! Dinner was fun and we laughed a lot, including when I tried answering Shannon's question of "what meat did you use in the meatballs?" to which I answered: "Porf-en-berf-en" and couldn't quite spit the words pork and beef out. TO which Shannon and I started to die laughing, followed by Jaime and Cindy laughing at us... to when I almost choked on my meatball and had to cough the whole thing back out! mmmm.... Well done Sabrina!

After dinner we fell upon the couch in a "carb induced coma" as Kelly called it over a text message.
Awwww... a tummy full of meat and carbs... what could be better!

To top the night off, Cindy brought over the 1993 Watertown-Mayer's production of Grease! Both Cindy and I were in Grease our junior year of high school. We were both Pink Ladies; Cindy was Marty and I was Jan. We had a blast putting on Grease! So being able to watch it from 14 years ago was pretty amazing. How young and silly we were... Such a fun time in life. Why was I ever in such a hurry to grow up? (This is my actual Pink Ladies jacket, that I saved)After Grease, I don't know how it got started, but Shannon put on a pair of my pointy shoes, and declared that she looked like the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz, and the next thing I know...

A house fell on her... (or an ottoman, same thing!)

Then one fell on Jaime too...
WE stayed up talking, until we declared that we had somehow become too old to stay up really late, and then we all crashed. Bright and early we woke up, and I made Bloody Mary's for the girls (sans alcohol of course)... We chatted for awhile longer, and then we parted ways with memories of good food, good friends and high school musicals... (Zak and Vanessa, ain't got nothing on us!)

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Chocolate Pear Pastry Recipe:

1 Frozen Puff Pastry Sheet (thawed for 40 min. before using)

2 oz chopped hazelnuts

6 chocolate cookies (I used oreos)

2 ripe pears

1 egg, beaten

2 TBLS sugar

1\2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface roll out pastry sheet into an 18x10inch rectangle. Transfer to the cookie sheet. Fold over 1 1\2 inched on each side of the long sides to make a rim. Use a fork to pierce the center in 1-inch intervals. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Reduce oven temp to 375 degrees.

Combine hazelnuts and cookies in a food processor and pulse until they resemble sand. Peel the pears and cut each lengthwise in half. Discard the cores and stems. Return the pastry to the cookie sheet. Distribute the nut crumbs along the center of each pastry. Arrange the pears, cut-side down, on the crumbs, alternating stem and round ends. Brush the rim of each pastry with some egg. Sprinkle with the sugar.

Return the pastries to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes more or until pears are tender when tested with a fork. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Place the chocolate chips in a small cup and microwave 1-1 1\2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over the pastries.