Bunches of us read Elizabeth Gilbert’s book “Eat Pray Love” when it came out, including LilSis and I. We both loved the book, and I think LilSis even read it twice. I was a little on guard about some of the new age aspects in parts of the book, but they didn’t taint the rest of it for me.
Now, a movie based on the book is coming out in about 2 weeks on August 13th. You know how you have a mental picture of a book’s characters as you’re reading it? Well, I absolutely did not imagine Julia Roberts as the lead character in this great book. I’m actually not even planning to go see the movie because I think the casting might just ruin the whole film for me. I’m not hating on Julia; I think she was entertaining in “Pretty Woman”, but I don’t think she has the depth and the soul that this role calls for.
Am I being overly-skeptical, or do you agree with me? Who would be a better choice for the lead role in this movie? It could be so GOOD with the right actress! Who would you choose?
Today is our dad’s birthday. He would have been 75 today.
In some ways it doesn’t seem like 3-1/2 years have passed since we lost him, but at the same time it feels like forever since we’ve seen him. Our birthday celebrations are definitely not the same since he’s been gone; we always used to celebrate Bry’s, Daddy’s, and SisMama’s birthdays all at the same time since they were just days apart. And even though our dad is not with us in body, he’s with us in spirit.
We’re thinking about him today as we do every day, and just look forward to the day when we can see him again when we get to Heaven.
How could I intentially inflict suffering on this adorable little thing?
When I heard the story about the 120 beagles rescued from the bankrupt animal testing lab, I was convicted to renew my commitment to banishing animal-tested products from my house. Since then, every few minutes I think of another product I can’t buy again. Here’s my list so far:
Loreal Lash Out Mascara
Loreal Voluminous Mascara
Loreal Eye Cream
Loreal EverPure Shampoo
Lancome Bi-Facil Eye Make Up Remover
Olay Regenerist Anti-Aging Undereye Roller
Garnier Nutrisse Hair Color
Tide
Clorox Wipes
Clorox Toilet Cleaner
Aveeno Shave Cream
Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
Clean & Clear Blotting Papers
Neutrogena Shampoo, Conditioner and Hair Mask
Redken Align Hair Straightening Lotion
Hawaiian Tropic Sunscreen
Scrubbing Bubbles
Glad AND Ziploc Bags
Puffs Tissues
Swiffer Products
Charmin Bath Tissue
Quite a monster list already, isn’t it? I know that list will just get longer and longer, until it probably looks like it includes everything I use. It really makes me feel bad that I’ve been supporting animal testing by buying all this cr*p from bunches of offending companies.
It’s going to hurt to abandon products that I’ve loved and used faithfully; sometimes for decades. I have to experiment and find new products to replace all those…products that aren’t tested on animals!
But the point is, animal testing hurts bunnies, beagles, primates, mice and rats. A lot. More than we can even imagine. My momentary withdrawal pains are nothing in comparison. Suck it up, BigSis. Instead of adopting a whiney attitude of “look what I’m giving up”, I’m going to approach this as an adventurous opportunity to find some products that are even better than what I was using before. AND, no one will have to suffer because of my purchase.
My cats have never been so beautiful! Look at this shiny coat on my Gaby:
Ashy’s coat is just as shiny. In fact, these two are SO beautiful that I contemplated making a third cat out of the massive blob of hair that the FURminator pulled out of them!
Can you believe this?! And this pile wasn’t even from their first session with this miracle tool; it was the second!
I’d never even heard of the FURminator before, and now I’m the biggest cheerleader for this thing. Do you know about the FURminator? The purple tool in the photo above is the cat version with a 1.75″ edge that literally grabs onto the undercoat and gently pulls it out. There is also a dog FURminator with a 4″ edge.
I know what you’re thinking. “BigSis, you probably don’t brush your cats. We should probably report you to the authorities for animal neglect. No wonder you got so much dead hair out of their coat! And your poor cats are probably Persians that you let get matted! Shame on you, BigSis!”
Honestly, that’s not it at all. My cats get brushed regularly with a slicker brush, and I STILL got this much hair out of them! Plus, they’re short-haired guys, not long-haired dudes!
I’m thinking my hairball problem just got solved with the discovery of the FURminator. Voila. Simple as that. I paid over $35 for mine at PetSMart, and after seeing how well it works, it’s pretty much invaluable to me. I don’t care how much I paid for it. If you follow the FURminator links we’ve given you though, you can get your FURminator for a whole lot less than what I paid locally! That’s a sweet deal!
I don’t RAVE about that many products, but this thing is unbelievable. Do yourself a favor, and FURminate the dead hair out of your animal’s coat instead of cleaning it off your carpet!
Did you hear about the July 4th rescue of 120 beagles from a New York testing lab that went bankrupt? Check this video of their Independence Day!
PetsAlive in Middletown, New York rescued the beagles, and got a hand from Best Friends. Can you imagine 120 dogs who had never been outside, walked on grass, played with a toy, chased a ball, ran, sniffed another dog, walked on a leash, and most importantly…had never been loved? PetsAlive and Best Friends had to be sensitive to these emotional issues, and also take care of the physical needs at the same time: vet checkups, neuterings and spayings, microchipping, shots, etc. Then they had to find homes – good homes – for all of these guys.
As of last Friday the 16th, only 15 beagle babies were still looking for their new home. If you think you might have one of those homes, you can still go to PetsAlive and fill out an online application.
Once all 120 of these beagles are safely placed in loving homes, what else can we do? We can make sure that we DON’T support animal testing. If we commit to only purchasing products that are NOT animal tested, then the testing will stop. If we’re endorsing animal testing by buying those products, then animals like these beagles will continue to suffer.
Who DOESN’T animal test? It’s simple to find out. Go to caringconsumer.com and search for specific companies, or click on “Companies That Don’t Test” and “Companies That Do Test” to see printable lists.
You might be surprised to see that some really large, well-respected companies still animal test: Dial, Johnson & Johnson, Loreal, Max Factor, Bic, Clorox, Clairol, Procter & Gamble, Pantene, etc. It’s disappointing.
The good news is that there are lots of companies who do not animal test, and they aren’t a bunch of hippy-dippy companies with low-quality products: Almay, Arbonne, Aveda, Bare Escentuals, Bath & Body Works, Bobbi Brown, The Body Shop, Caldrea, Calvin Klein, Clarins, Clinique, Essie, Estee Lauder, Jolen, L’Occitane, Lush, MAC, Norelco, Ojon, OPI, Origins, Paul Mitchell, Pureology, Stila, Trader Joe’s, Urban Decay, Victoria’s Secret, Whole Foods 365 House Brand, and hundreds more.
I’m committing to research all of the things I buy, and then I’m boycotting any company still on the testing list. How about you? I don’t want the suffering of more beagles, primates and bunnies on my conscience.
I missed out on Urban Decay’s Alice in Wonderland kit a while back, and I’m still mad at myself for dawdling on the purchase, so when I locked eyes with their new Naked Palette, I was NOT going to disappoint myself again. The minute I got the email from Urban Decay announcing their new fall catalog, I raced to the site and saw this palette. The rest is history! My credit card was snatched from my wallet so fast that it’s numbers were spinning, and within a minute – literally – my order was in.
The exterior of this Urban Decay Naked Palette would be even more beautiful without the cat hair embellishment! Just wait til you see the inside though...
The next morning, I saw a tweet from Urban Decay confirming my intuition…the Naked Palette sold out in a matter of hours, and as of today, it’s still out of stock. The good news? It isn’t a limited edition palette to the extent that the Alice one was, so it IS expected back in stock. My recommendation? Sign up for the email on UrbanDecay.com to be notified when it’s back, and then make a bee-line to get yourself one!
Why am I getting all-Lady-Gaga about this palette? Justlook at it:
12 gorgeous colors AND 2 eyeliners AND a primer!
Can you believe these colors? You get a whole wardrobe of eyeshadows in one slim package: neutrals for work, shimmer for evening (maybe shimmer for work if your workday is more sparkly than mine), and some deeps for smoky eyes. You also get a double-ended 24/7 eyeliner pencil with Zero (black) and Whiskey (a brand new beautiful brown), and a travel-size Primer Potion.
I’ve kept my little mitts off this palette until I got a photo of it, so I haven’t tried any of the colors yet. LilSis and I are both in love with our Summer of Love palettes though, so I know the quality of Urban Decay shadows is fabulous and I can’t wait to play with these. I think these are incredible colors for blue eyes like LilSis and I have, but I can also see them being equally gorgeous on brown eyes, green eyes, hazel eyes, and black eyes.
I’m going to show you some swatches of these colors later on – with and without our favorite Primer Potion eyeshadow primers – so you can get an idea of what they look like. Meanwhile though, sign up for that email and if you get the chance, buy one of these palettes! I promise I paid full price for my palette (a steal of a deal at $44) and I’m not making a dime if you buy one. I just don’t want you to be disappointed when your friends get one, and you kick yourself for not listening to me!
I noticed on Woopra the other day that someone got to BigSisLilSis.com by typing “adam richman weight gain” into Google. I’ve never ever mentioned those words, I swear, Adam! You know I love you!
That started me thinking though. How much has Adam actually had to eat in the last 2 full seasons, plus what we’ve seen of Season 3 so far? Here’s what I come up with:
Amarillo:
Spicy “burger from Hell” at Coyote Bluff
Barbecued ribs at Moose’s
Golden Light’s Albuquerque (Frito pie)
Chicken-fried steak at Youngblood’s
72-oz. Steak Challenge at the Big Texan (72-oz steak, dinner salad, shrimp cocktail, baked potato, and dinner roll in under one hour)
Anchorage:
Massive sandwich at West Rib Café and Pub
Mountainous breakfast with sourdough pancakes at Talkeetna Roadhouse
6-lb. Kodiak Arrest Challenge at Humpy’s Alaskan Alehouse (6 lbs. of Alaskan King Crab, salmon cakes and reindeer sausage)
Atlanta:
Chicken and waffles with soul legend Gladys Knight
11-lb. Carnivore Pizza Challenge at Big Pie in the Sky (30-inches of meat-laden pie)
Austin:
Texas-sized donuts at Round Rock
All-you-can-eat barbecue plate at the Salt Lick
Don Juan Taco Challenge at Juan in a Million (eat 8 massive breakfast tacos as fast as you can)
Baltimore:
Pit beef at Chap’s Charcoal
Blue crabs at Obrycki’s
Great Steak Challenge at Steak and Main
Baseball Stadiums:
Homewrecker hot dog
Burger served between 2 donuts
Fifth Third Burger Challenge
Boise:
Double Big Jud with burger patties the size of Frisbees
Spicy habanero pizza from Flying Pie
Johnny B. Goode Challenge at Rockies Diner
Boston:
Traditional New England clambake from the Barking Crab
Spicy feast from Hell from East Coast Grill
12-lb. Eagle Challenge (5 lbs of hamburger with 2 lbs of bacon and cheese, and 5 lbs of fries)
Boulder:
Wing King Challenge at West End Tavern (50 wings in 30 minutes)
Mountain Pie at Beau Jo’s
Saddlebags at The Buff (a secret recipe of pancakes with bits of bacon and sausage cooked into the batter)
Brooklyn:
Gargiulo Burger from Brennan & Carr (tender roast beef on top of a cheeseburger)
Brooklyn’s best Sicilian pie from L&B Spumoni Gardens
Suicide Wings Challenge at Buffalo Cantina
Charleston:
Oysters served by the shovel
Fried chicken sandwich smothered in sausage gravy
Spicy Tuna Sushi Challenge at Bushido Japanese Restaurant (3 pounds of sushi!)
Chicago:
Lucky’s Overstuffed Sandwich Challenge (eat 3 of their monster sandwiches in an hour)
Italian beef from Al’s
Famous deep-dish pizza from Gino’s
Cleveland:
Greek gyro bursting with savory beef at Steve’s
Polish Boy from Hot Sauce Williams (kielbasa sausage buried by fries and slaw, stuffed in a bun, and drenched in spicy barbecue sauce)
5-lb. Grilled Cheese Challenge at Melt Bar & Grilled (3 giant slices of bread with 3.5 lbs and 14 varieties of cheese, plus fries and slaw)
Columbus:
Thurmanator burger at Thurman Cafe
Half pound cream puffs and all-you-can-eat-sausage buffet at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus
2-1/2-lb. Dagwood Challenge at Ohio Deli (2-1/2 lb cold cut sandwich with fries in less than 30 minutes)
Denver:
Cricket Burger at Duffy’s (half-lb. patty with choice of 21 different toppings)
Rocky Mountain oysters
Breakfast Burrito Challenge at Jack-N-Grill (7 potatoes, a pound of ham, 12 eggs, a whole onion, cheese and chili)
Detroit:
Triple Threat Sandwich (bacon, ham and pulled pork)
Coney dogs
World’s biggest burger at Mallie’s Sports Grill and Bar
Durham:
Burgers at Wimpy’s Grill
Chopped barbecue and smoked ribs
Doughman Challenge (running, swimming, biking, and eating at 5 places)
Hartford:
Woody’s loaded Deputy Dog (a foot-long hot dog topped with pulled pork, melted cheddar cheese and BBQ sauce), and 2 ft Works Dog with every topping
Steamed cheeseburgers
10-pound Super-Stuffed Pizza Challenge at Randy’s Wooster St. Pizza Shop (4 pizza doughs packed with meats, cheeses and veggies)
Hawaii:
Pipikaula short rib and kalua pig
Loco Moco (a burger dish topped with fried eggs and gravy)
Mac Daddy Pancake Challenge (3 pancakes, 14 inches wide, covered in toppings in less than 90 minutes)
Las Vegas:
Hottest crawfish in the country
Fried chicken benedict and a stuffed egg burger at Hash House A G0 G0
Big Badass Burrito Challenge at the Nascar Cafe (6 lbs and 2 ft long, covered with melted cheese, guacamole and sour cream)
Little Rock:
Quadruple Hubcap Burger at Cotham’s Mercantile
Huge community barbecue at the Osborne Family Farm
Shut Up Juice Spicy Pulled-Pork Challenge at The Mean Pig BBQ (super spicy pulled-pork sandwich)
Los Angeles:
French dip at Philippe’s
5-lb. Manuel’s Special at el Tepeyac (designed to feed 2 to 4 people)
Special Number 2 (a spicy Ramen made with 10 different chilies)
Man v Food Live:
Don Shula’s 48-oz Steak Challenge (Adam’s the first to finish it in 20 minutes)
Joe’s jumbo stone crab claws
Supermoon Perro (a Colombian-style hot dog topped with bacon, potato strips, 5 different sauces, and a quail egg)
Sarussi Original (a massive 16-in., 2 1/2-lb. Cuban sandwich)
10-lb. Mother Burger Challenge
Minneapolis:
Juicy Lucy (burger with the cheese on the inside)
Lutefisk at Landmark Grill
Meterbratwurst Challenge (a meter-long 40-oz bratwurst with 2 sides)
New Jersey:
Gigantic Strombolis from Stuff Yer Face (their biggest ‘Bolis are 18 inches and weigh 2 lbs)
Fat Sandwich Challenge at R.U. Hungry grease truck (5 fat sandwiches in 45 minutes)
Triple-decker deli sandwiches from Harold’s Deli
New Orleans:
Po’ boys at Mother’s Restaurant
Seafood at Deanie’s Seafood Restaurant
Coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde
180 oysters in the Acme Oyster House Challenge (15 dozen in under 1 hour)
New York:
1-lb. sandwich at Katz’s Delicatessen
Soul food at Sylvia’s
Hottest curry in the country at Brick Lane Curry House
North Carolina:
Chicken biscuit sandwiches
Whole-hog barbecue
Hot dog Eating Challenge (17 hot dogs in under 1 hour)
Philadelphia:
Italian roast pork sandwich
Mt. Vesuvius at Franklin Fountain (a mountain of homemade chocolate ice cream erupting with hot fudge, brownie chunks and whipped cream)
Ultimate Cheesesteak Challenge at Tony Luke’s (2-1/2 lbs. of beef over 1 lb. of cheese, fried onions and a 20-inch roll)
Italian ice at John’s Water Ice
Pittsburgh:
Scorching Atomic Hot Wings Challenge (150,000 Scoville units)
Sandwich from the famed Primanti Brothers, served with fries on top of all the other fixings
Hearty breakfast at Deluca’s Restaurant
Portland:
Plate-sized mancakes (a stack of 13-inch pancakes)
Doughnuts shaped like voodoo dolls, and a maple bacon bar
Great Balls of Fire Challenge at Salvador Molly’s (5 blazing hot habanero fritters)
Richmond:
Buz and Ned’s hickory-smoked spare ribs
Black Sheep’s battleship size sandwiches (2-ft long, 2-1/2-lb. monster sandwiches loaded with toppings)
Stupid Wings Challenge (8 jumbo wings drenched in habanero, cayenne and pure chili extract)
San Antonio:
Lulu’s Bakery and Café’s 3 1/2-lb. cinnamon roll
The Police Chief Special from Lulu’s (48-oz. chicken-fried steak)
Big Lou Pizza (a 42-inch, 3 1/2-foot wide, 70-lb. mega pizza piled high with toppings)
Four Horseman Challenge at Chunky’s Burgers (a half-pound burger topped with the spiciest chilies in the world, including the infamous ghost chili)
San Diego:
Surfin’ California Burrito from Lucha Libre (filled with steak, shrimp and french-fries)
Tri-tip barbecue and ribs
Ironman Challenge at the Broken Yolk Cafe (a 6-lb. breakfast served on a 15-inch pizza pan: 12-egg omelet with chili plus a mountain of home fries and 2 biscuits in less than 1 hour)
San Francisco:
Mission Style Super Burrito
Kryptonite Sandwich from Ike’s Place
Kitchen Sink Challenge at the San Francisco Creamery (2-gallon sundae heaped with 8 softball-sized scoops of ice cream, 8 servings of whipped cream and 8 different toppings including sprinkles)
San Jose:
Baby back ribs from Henry’s
Burritozilla from Iguana’s (a 17-in, 5 lb burrito)
Hellfire Hot Wing Challenge from SmokeEaters (a dozen wings drenched in lethal sauce that isn’t even on the menu)
Sarasota:
Homemade pies (cherry pie, shoofly pie, and peanut butter cream), and more!
Mystery Challenge at Munchies 420 Cafe
Old Salty Dog (a foot-long hot dog, dipped in beer batter and deep-fried)
Seattle:
Award-winning burgers at Red Mill
Mountains of ultra-fresh seafood at the Crab Pot
Southwestern Exposure Challenge at Beth’s Cafe (12 eggs packed with chili, salsa, sour cream and cheddar cheese)
Springfield:
The Horseshoe at D’Arcy’s Pint
Corndogs at Cozy Dog Drive-In
Firebrand Chili Challenge at Joe Roger’s Chili Parlor
St Louis:
Monte Cristo hot dogs and oak-roasted pork loin entree from Iron Barley
Big Ben from Pappy’s Smokehouse (6 lbs of pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken, loin ribs, and 4 sides)
Crown Candy’s Malt Milkshake Challenge (5 malt shakes in 30 minutes…almost a gallon of milkshake!)
Tucson:
The President’s Plate at Mi Nidito (bean tostada, birria taco, chile relleno, beef tamale and carne seca enchilada)
Sonoran hot dog wrapped in bacon and covered in all the fixins
O.M.G. Burger Challenge at Lindy’s Diner (12 patties and 12 slices of cheese)
Washington, DC:
Jumbo fish sandwich at Horace and Dickie’s
Half-smoke at Ben’s Chili Bowl
Colossal Challenge at Chick & Ruth’s Delly in Anapolis, MD (1-1/2 lb sandwich and a huge milkshake)
Ok, so all of you guys who’re hatin’ on my boy, Adam, consider this. Would you gain a pound or two if you’d just eaten all that? Hmmm? I’d say Adam looks pretty ding dang good. Plus, he’s got awesome hair, so stop the hatin’. Maybe you’re just jealous that you don’t get paid to eat? 😀
Eat on, Adam! We can’t wait to see what’s next on your menu!
I’m always looking for motivating new songs for my iPod cardio playlist. As LilSis just mentioned, I also get tired of my tunes really quickly. I get some songs from old CDs, but most come from iTunes. The only problem with discovering new songs on iTunes is that you get to listen to such a short snippet of the song, who knows if you’re going to like the whole song? You can pay for a song and then not like it at all.
Here’s a solution to that problem…Grooveshark! Voila! At Grooveshark, you can listen to songs in their entirety, and even make your own playlists to come back to and listen to time after time. How is Grooveshark different from iTunes? You don’t download songs and you can’t put them on your MP3 player. You just listen to them online. You also don’t have to pay for using Grooveshark. If you don’t like dealing with ads on the site, you can pay $30/yr for a VIP account, but they don’t bother me.
You can search Grooveshark by artist, or by keywords that can be found in a song name or album name. You can also look at the songs that are most popular with other users at the moment to get some idea of what’s hot.
I like to listen to songs on Grooveshark, and then download them on iTunes for my iPod if I like them enough. It’s the perfect marriage of technology!
I’m back from Vay Cay in Californie (we had a wonderful time, thanks for asking), and now it’s almost July 4th already. So, I’d say it’s WAY past time to talk about our top 15, must-have, can’t-do-without, essential summer beauty products. These are the products that we go back to summer after summer, and we can’t recommend each one of them highly enough. Let’s jump right in!
There you have it! Our Top 15 list of can’t-do-without products for summer. Now, how about yours? Is there a summer essential beauty product that we’ve missed?
Man v Food! Man v Food! Man v Food! Yes! It’s finally time for season 3, and Adam’s back with a vengeance for vittles! Woo hoo!!
What’s Man v Food, you ask? Only the coolest, funnest show on TV, that’s what! Adam Richman is our host, and he travels the country sampling the biggest and most fabulous, crazy food you can imagine. Oh yeah, and he gets down with the wildest food challenges ever! This show is normally on the Travel Channel, so viewers at home should tune in to see this amazing show. If any homeowners don’t have access to that channel, it might be worth finding a new TV package. For example, to learn more about Dish TV Packages click here. Hopefully, more people will be able to watch Adam take on even bigger challenges!
Why should you watch Man v Food?
Adam Richman is adorable! He’s cute, he’s funny, he can eat like a son-of-a-gun, and he has great hair! Yes, we have a little crush on him!
You get to see unbelievable food, without traveling all over the ding dang country yourself, and you can eat it all vicariously through Adam without indigestion or weight gain!
It’s just plain great TV! How fun is it to watch a guy try to beat the Big Texan challenge in Amarillo (season 1)? That would be a 72 ounce steak with a salad, potato and roll. In one hour. In that challenge between Man versus Food, Man definitely won!
Where do you find Man v Food? On the Travel Channel; new episodes begin Wednesday June 16 at 9 pm E/P and 8 pm C. Be there, and set your DVRs!
~BigSis
pulled out of them! 
with a 4″ edge.
