Sex and the City 2 Book

The other day at Target, I came across the book for the Sex and the City 2 movie, and of course had to pick it up. It was on sale, and I had the book from the first movie, so that completely justified the purchase.

I kind of felt weird though having a preview of the movie a few days before it came out, but that quickly passed. I of course browsed through the whole thing, but really only got to read a few of the first pages.

The book has some background on the making of the movie, and one thing I thought was interesting that I wanted to share was in the book Michael Patrick King, the writer of SATC and this movie, explained why he choose this exotic trip to the Middle East for this movie. He said because of the bad economy, he thought the movie should be a big party for the fans and that the girls should go somewhere extravagant. He also said that the theme of the movie is "tradition and how you deal with that in your life." He said how interesting is it that you have these sexually liberating women from the US now in the Middle East.

The book is filled with many more behind the scenes info, and of course lots of pictures of the girls and the fashion!! I can't wait for the movie, and of course will have to do a recap. Anyone else going to see the movie this weekend?

My Sweet Girl

I don't think I have ever introduced my little girl before:

This is Abby. She is a beagle and just turned 8 years old this month! Here is a pic of her as a baby (7 weeks old from back in 2002). She doesn't even look like the same pup:

She has been with me through a lot, and is my little buddy. She does have her issues (don't we all!), and we have dealt with some major seperation anxiety issues over the last couple of years, but we have finally gotten them mostly under control. It's a good thing she is cute, or else she would be in a whole lot of trouble.

Anyway, this weekend she had a bath, which she hates, and every time she goes nuts running around my place trying to dry off. I try and keep her out of the bedrooms so she doesn't get the bedding all wet and smelling like stinky wet dog, and I try to keep her off of the furniture (not succeeding in this video), but I think it is funny. Maybe I am the only one, but just wanted to share some video of my pup.

Pink Saturday -- 5/22/10

Happy Pink Saturday everyone!

Last weekend I was finally able to plant flowers, so I spent part of Saturday cleaning off my patio, setting it up for summer and planting flowers. I wanted to share some pictures of how it looks so far. We haven't had much sun this week, and it's been a little chilly, so I am hoping that in the next few weeks or so, things will really start to take off.

Here is my patio. I purchased the chair and pillows about 3 years ago at Pier 1, and got the wooden table the same year at Target. The hanging baskets and hooks I got on clearance at Walmart about 2 or 3 years ago also, and it's great because you can just keep filling them up every year. As you can see, on the table I am attempting to grow strawberries. This is my first year trying to grow them, so we will see if I am successful.

This is an idea that I got from one of the Martha Stewart magazines (March maybe??). There was a 2 tier container garden featured, but was for an herb garden. I thought about making another one for my herb garden, but I am still trying to get the seedlings going.

I have Angelonia growing in the top pot, and Salvia (white flowers) and something else growing in the bottom pot (I can't remember what the little green plants are).

Every year I plant geraniums because them remind me of my Grandmother and my Mom. I love pink ones, and one time I even found some that were white with hot pink accents. They were my all time favorite, but I haven't been able to find them since.

I purchased this Yucca Cane tree because 1. it kind of reminded me of palm trees on vacation and 2. I thought I could bring this indoors next fall and keep it year after year.

These double impatients are growing in one of my hanging baskets. I thought they reminded me of little mini roses. And I love the hot pink color.

The other hanging basket has begonias in it (which also remind me of my Grandmother), but they have yet to bloom, so I'll have to get a picture of them when they are in full bloom.

Hope you enjoyed my garden. I'll have to post another update in a month or so when things really get going. Plus I am sure I will continue to add things as the season comes along.

For more Pink Saturday, please visit Beverly's blog.

RHNJ -- favorite moments

So right now I am obsessed with the Real Housewives of New Jersy (as I am sure many are!). I kind of got behind on my shows due to vacation, so I was catching up on my DVR and watched the first 3 episodes of RHNJ this week and thought I would share some of my favorite moments:

Ham Game (eps. 2) -- Carolyn's kids were making sandwhiches and started throwing ham at each other. I didn't think much other than, hey they are having a food fight, until Carolyn walks in and starts yelling at them for playing the "Ham Game." I guess this is a game they play and they told their mom to buy the good ham for sandwhiches and the cheap ham for the "Ham Game." Carolyn replied by saying "You know how I feel about the Ham Game....There is nothing funny about the Ham Game." I just about died laughing.

Dina's cats -- I remember the naked cat from the last season, Grandma Wrinkles, but I think she may have a new one. They are kind of creepy, but kind of cute. I just love Dina. She just seems so laid back and easy going, and just doesn't want to get into any drama.

Teresa's 180 jars of red sauce (eps 1 or 2, can't remember) -- Teresa's family (including her parents and her husband's parents) get together every year before the girls start school to make a ton of italian red sauce. They pull out big pots in the garage for the tomatoes for the red sauce. It looked like so much fun. She said they made 180 jars of it last year and it lasts all year long! Now that would be awesome!

Dina delivering Teresa's baby (eps. 3) -- On this week's episode, Teresa's oldest daughter is walking on a runway during fashion week, and she is concerned her water may break or she may go into labor and miss watching her daughter. Dina tells her she hopes she doesn't go into labor because she "doesn't want to deliver Teresa's baby" because "she doesn't want to see her chuckie." Once again, almost died laughing.

So far I love, love, love Carolyn, Teresa and Dina. Carolyn because of how loyal she is to her family and friends and her kids are hilarious. Teresa because she is just fun and crazy and so cute pregnant (see her cute baby bump above). And Dina because of her laid back, I just want to be nice and not stir the pot attitude. She is so into all that Zen stuff, so I hope she doesn't go crazy on us like Spencer from The Hills. But that is another topic, saved for another post at another time. =)

Paula Deen Cheese Biscuits and Mac & Cheese

After visiting the Lady & Sons a few weeks ago on vacation, and purchasing Paula's recipe book The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook, I have been obsessed with trying some of the recipes. I have 2 that I wanted to share (both I tried at the restaurant) Cheese Biscuts and The Lady's Cheesy Mac. Both very good. I want to try her Peach Cobbler next (hopefully this weekend!).

Cheese Biscuits:
-- 2 cups self-rising flour
-- 1 teaspoon baking powder
-- 1 teaspoon sugar
-- 1/3 cup shortening
-- 3/4 cup grated sharp Cheddar
-- 1 cup buttermilk
-- Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt (to taste) and sugar together using a fork; cut in shortening until it resembles cornmeal. Add cheese. Sir in buttermilk all at one time just until blended. Do not over stir.

Drop by tablespoonfuls, or use an ice cream scoop, onto a well-greased baking sheet. Brush dough with melted butter. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. I made about 9 biscuits.

The Lady's Cheesy Mac:

-- 4 cups cooked elbow macaroni, drained
-- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
-- 3 eggs, beaten
-- 1/2 cup sour cream
-- 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
-- 1/2 teaspoon salt
-- 1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Once you have the macaroni cooked and drained, place in a large bowl and while still hot and add the cheddar. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add to the macaroni mixture. Pour macaroni mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Top with additional cheese if desired.

Pink Saturday - 5/15/10

Happy Pink Saturday everyone! I had to take a couple of weeks off from Pink Saturday becuase of vacation, but now I am back! Hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start!

So for this week I wanted to share my latest obsession. I found out this week that I am receiving a little spot bonus for meeting my Q1 numbers. I busted my behind in March (working 60 hour weeks), so I thought I deserved a little something fun, and then the rest would go to pay off bills/put into savings. So right now I am debating on this:

I have not bought a new purse in 1.5 years (I keep rotating out my purses), and I LOVE Coach purses (at one point in time I kind of had a problem). The other day I went shopping for purses (and went into like 6 stores), and so far this one I keep coming back to. The only drawback is it is a little big, more of a tote than a purse. I decided I needed a few days to sleep on it, so we will see what I end up doing.

                                    

I also liked one similar to this, but in a lavendar instead, but it was a little more money, so who knows what I will end up with. I really want a fun colorful bright pink one, so if anyone knows of any fun pink purses, let me know. I typically prefer leather purses, but this silky fabric seemed like fun. I asked the sales associate if it would pull, and she claimed that so far she hasn't had any complaints, but if I did have problems I could take it back anytime and they would fix/replace for free. I love that about coach!

Don't forget to check out Beverly's blog for more Pink Saturday.

Show Us Your Life -- Favorite Books

When I saw the topic for this week's Show Us Your Life -- Favorite Books, I got so excited because I LOVE to read. I am always reading something, and sometimes a couple of books at one time -- although that can get confusing sometimes =)

I have read so many books that I actually started a spreadsheet to keep track of them (yes my friends call me a dork, until they ask to see my spreadsheet...ha!!). But it is great because it helps you keep track of what you have already read. Of course about a year ago my computer crashed, and I lost it, but I did my best to recreate it, and then I came across this great site Goodreads that is like a online bookshelf that keeps track of books you have read, books you are currently reading, and books you would like to read. I love it, and you can access my library by going here. Feel free to check it out and friend me if you would like.

So my favorite type of books is chick lit. I especially love when the books I read turn into movies such as The Devil Wears Prada, The Nanny Diaries, Confessions of a Shopaholic, etc.

My favorite authors are:

Jennifer Weiner -- I think I have read all of her books, but Good in Bed had to be my favorite

Jen Lancaster -- this chick is HILARIOUS. The first book Bitter is the New Black was my favorite and was about losing her job and why you don't want to carry a Prada bag to the unemployment office (ha!). They are all pretty funny, and I can't wait to read her new book My Fair Lazy. She also has a blog Jennsylvania if you want a daily read of her world.

Clare Naylor -- I didn't realize how many of her books I have read until I checked out my bookshelf on Goodreads. I really love the illustrations on the front covers. Do you ever pick up a book because of the cover? I do all the time!!

Lauren Weisberger -- Of course, LOVED the Devil Wears Prada. I think I actually read it 2 or 3 times, and watched the movie a dozen times. She has a couple of other books, Chasing Harry Winston and Everyone Worth Knowing, that were pretty good also.

Sophia Kinsella -- Who doesn't love the Shopaholic series? I'll admit I think I only read the first 3, after a while I was like, STOP SHOPPING! The movie was really cute though. My favorite book of her's actually is Twenties Girl. It was so different from the Shopaholics, it was a mystery book, and really good.

Well, I hope you get a chance to check out my bookshelf, and if anyone else has a Goodreads profile let me know. I am always looking for book recommendations. Feel free to leave me a comment with some recommendations as well.

Tybee Island

While we were visiting Savannah, we decided to drive out to Tybee Island before we headed on back to Hilton Head. By this point in time the weather was really starting to turn bad, so obviously my pictures are a little dreary, but luckily the rain held off so we could enjoy the island for about an hour or so.

We first started off by visiting the lighthouse. I love lighthouses, and I always try and get a picture of every one that I can visit. This one had a cute little community of buildings around it that I suppose you could tour, but unfortunatly the property was closed off with a gate. We couldn't figure out why it was closed. We were bummed we didn't get to see any more of the lighthouse. I didn't realize until I got home that there were those nasty powerlines in my pics. Of course because of the gate, it was hard to get a really good pic of the lighthouse.

We then drove to almost the tip of the island and visited the pier. It was fun to walk out onto the pier, and look back on the beach. There were a couple of people fishing off the pier. My boyfriend always likes to go up to them and ask them what they are trying to catch.

Here is the picture of the beach from the pier.

There was also a cute little discovery shop/welcome center behind the pier, and it had this cute turtle out front. I just loved all of the fun bright colors.

Well that is all I have to share about my trip to Tybee Island. Hopefully I can go back to Savannah again some day and spend a little more time on the island.

Savannah and The Lady And Sons

Savannah is probably one of my favorite cities, and when my boyfriend and I were discussing taking a trip to Hilton Head, I told him the only thing I really wanted to do was go to Savannah for a day. I was so excited that we were able to take a day trip, but was a little bummed that it rained that day. Of course it didn't start to really downpour until later in the day, and luckily that was the only day that it wasn't sunny, so all in all it wasn't too bad.

What I love most about Savannah, and the south in general, is all of the southern trees with the hanging Spanish moss. I really enjoyed walking through the little squares in the city. We weren't able to tour too many of them because of the weather, but the ones we did visit were beautiful.

While we were there, we had the chance to eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant The Lady and Sons. Luckily I looked it up online, because there was a protocol for getting a table at the restaurant.

We arrived about 9:15 am to stand in line, although there were people there at 8 am! The hostess stand opened up at 9:30 am to take our names. It didn’t take long to reach the hostess stand, probably because the weather was cruddy, and it was the middle of the week, in May.

Anyway, we were able to choose what time we wanted to be seated (11 am, Noon, 1 pm or 2 pm) and then were asked to wait across the street from the restaurant 15 mins prior to our reservation (which for us was 10:45 am since we choose the 11 am reservation). Once our names were called (which didn’t take too long), we were given a card, and asked to take the elevator to the 3rd floor to another hostess stand which then took us to our table.

Once we arrived at our table, they took our drink orders (sweet tea of course!) and brought us each a hoe cake and a cheesy biscuit (which were awesome!).

We both decided to try the buffet so that we could sample a lot of different kinds of food. My favorite was the baked chicken, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. We both also got to choose a dessert and I choose the chocolate chip butter cake (which was almost too sweet, but very good), and my boyfriend choose the peach cobbler. Of course we tried each other’s desserts, and the peace cobbler was awesome also.

We really enjoyed the food at The Lady and Sons, but both ate WAY too much. We were a little stuffed, so we sat on a bench and watched these fountains for about 20 mins or so just to feel a little better.

I also went into the Paula Deen store,

I picked up an autographed copy of her book The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook, as well as a cute platter with images of Savannah on it.

We also took a trip to Tybee Island that day, but I’ll save that post for another day.

Hilton Head Beach Pictures

So we are back from the beach, and not happy about this cold dreary weather! I have lots of pictures and things to share, but thought I would go ahead and post some beach pics to get started.

My boyfriend and I at the beach

Cute little bird on the beach

Ocean and the sand dunes

Sunrise on the last day

Sunrise on the last day

OSU Glee Flash Mob

Last Monday (5/3/10) Ohio State University students put on a glee flash mob performance to promote the new Ohio Union student building. I love flash mob performances, and thought it was awesome that our local students were able to come together and pull this off. The performance was to the song "Don't Stop Believin,” included around 70 dancers, Brutus Buckeye and even University President Gordon Gee, and involved around 2.5 months of rehearsals. Check out the video below and you can find out even more from this LA Times new article.

Beach or Bust

Image Source

Vaction time is here! If you are reading this, then my boyfriend and I are probably on our way to the beach for vacation. We are going to Hilton Head for the week and are hoping to take a day trip to Savannah and Tybee Island as well. I am so super excited because I haven't been to the beach in 3 years!! Well I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll be sure to share lots of pictures and stories when I return!