Lucky!

Kyle of the other half of K and\or K aka Waiting for a Little Vlachster, sent me a text today saying he was at a food demonstration with cool foodie awesome person extraordinaire Andrew Zimmern! If you have ever watched Bizarre Foods on the Travel Chanel, you will know who I am talking about. Andrew Z. is a local celebrity. I got to see him once with Kelly, he was at a movie premiere we were at. It's neat to feel so connected to someone so kinda famous.

Here is a picture that Kyle snapped of Mr. Z... Love the ginormous cucumber. It resembles his head! Twins!

Bored

Yes... I am bored with blogging. Does everyone go through a blogging slump? I just feel like I have nothing mildly interesting to say anymore. Or maybe it is interesting, but I am just too bored to write it down.
Does anyone else feel that way?
I really like blogging though... So I don't want to stop completely, but I don't want to write just to write either. I'm not going to stop blogging, Im just being honest in saying I'm bored with it.
In the mean time I will write 3 good things that have happened recently.

1. I got a new car! Toyota Camry baby! It's a spectacularly wonderful car that I got for a steal! I feel like i won the lottery!

2. I cleaned my kitchen! Okay maybe that is not a big deal, but I hate doing dishes, so sometimes they pile up. But i spent yesterday cleaning and now i feel all fresh and clean and sparkly and ready for Holiday Baking Madness

3. I am wearing a sweater I haven't worn in about 4 years! I gained some of my childhood baby fat back a few years ago. I guess I was being really immature and acting like a baby, so when that happens the baby fat fairy shows up and presto chango... you get the chubs! (or was it going out to eat almost every other night with my boyfriend that did it????)
Anyway, I am wearing the sweater today. And boy oh boy does that make me feel like 1 in 6 billion!!!

Tubular! (my new favorite word, im bringing back)

Would you like to swing on a star....

I woke up singing that song. Remember that show from the 80's, Out of This World? I woke up singing the theme song. Maybe because there are moments when I would like to freeze time like alien Evie Ethel Garland did. This past week i think having freeze power would've come in quite handy.

Really though wouldn't you get bored with that power? What could you do besides push people over and steal things?

If I could have a super power I would erase people's memories. That way whenever i said something inappropriate or weird or potentially offensive, I could just rewind and erase! Viola!

What would be your super power of choice?

A winner and prayer....

Awhile back I held a contest. Guess the number of bags it would take to get up all the leaves in my backyard. Well, after leaving one big pile on my patio because I'm too lazy to rake the rest, I have a total number of bags. 23.
Heather of the EO guessed on the dot. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
This is a perfect day for Heather to win something. Today her little baby boy goes into surgery to have a shunt put in to drain excess fluid on his brain. You can read her wonderful blog here.
And also please pray for little baby Asher... And for the family. I can't even imagine just how scary this is for them. I have got to personally know Heather over this past year and she has been a wonderful and kind friend. And I have also got to know her two little sweet boys... And I just want them to be healthy and happy.
Sending out the love, prayers and lots of peace to you today Heather!
Big Hugs!

TWD~Linzer Sables

I know, I know the name Linzer Sables sounds so frou frou shi shi, but really these were really easy easy. And although I do not like roll-out cookies, because they are more time consuming, these ones didn't seem to bad.

I chose to use ground almonds for the nut. I thought that it might give the cookies a more lighter taste then ground walnuts. Rolling it out was a breeze and into the freezer the disks went.

So while waiting for my dough to get nice and chilled, I watched Gossip Girl, and knitted a scarf and read Twilight! Oh i know, some are saying 'bout time! while others (ahem, kristina p) are saying "Oh great, not another convert!"

But tonight at book club all we talked about was Twilight... Only a few had read the book we were supposed to be reading, because they were all obsessing over Twilight!!! Including our token male who acts all cool like, its just an "alright" book, but has now devoured each book from what i have heard! whatevs...

I am now reading it, just to see what all the fuss is about... I digress.

The cookies came out great. Although i didn't watch one batch close enough and the edges were burnt. I threw those babies out.

I made cute stars, with the cut outs. I made three different types too. Chocolate, Black Raspberry and Lemon Cheese! Okay fine, we would call it Lemon Curd here, but my parents got me a jar in England and on the bottle it says Lemon Cheese.

See...

and my Christmas Table setting that i call Reindeer Chic...

I love cookies and Christmas!

The best of times, the worst of times...

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Family time was really fun! No stress, just laughs and crazy family frivolity. My cousin Kelly tells some of it here.
Now the days before Christmas are fast upon us. Time to decorate and get ready for the blessed holiday!
But first i do have to get some not so happy stuff out of the way.
My car is dying... or is dead? It depends on if my dad wants to fix it or not, or can?... My old crappy Subaru that i actually really do love is coming to an end. boo hoo.
and
My beloved cat Marius is on his last legs, literally... since he is having trouble walking. I've had Mr. Marius now for 16 years and I'm already mourning the loss. But I think it might be time to say goodbye, his body just can't carry him around and his kidneys just don't function the same.
I know he is just a cat, but I do love him a lot. And I'm sad to eventually let him go. (cue the water works)

On the brighter side... Because of the car fiasco I've been able to spend a bit more time with my family and I am just thankful that they are there to help me when I need it. I am more blessed then I want to admit, because sometimes I just don't feel worthy of all the good things i currently have in my life. My life is cake compared to what so many people have to endure.

Has anyone thought about their New Years resolutions? Me neither... because I think they are silly. I just want to set some goals and stick to them. One being that I am going to start running again. I used to run, which means I used to be a runner (gasp)!
After a bad let down at a marathon involving a stress fracture and not being able to finish a race, I put running on the back burner. My goal is a 10k some time this spring. Wish me luck! The last time i ran a race was 6 years ago! eeeeeeeeeeeek!

Giving of Thanks

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
— John Fitzgerald Kennedy

For The Beauty Of The Earth Hymn

For the beauty of the earth,

For the beauty of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

For the beauty of each hour

Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower,

Sun and moon and stars of light,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth, and friends above,

Pleasures pure and undefiled,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

For each perfect gift of thine,

To our race so freely given,

Graces human and divine,

Flowers of earth and buds of heaven,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

For thy Church which evermore

Lifteth holy hands above,

Offering up on every shore

Her pure sacrifice of love,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise

Happy Thanksgiving!