February 26, 2009

Today’s post is being slightly delayed due to technical difficulties.  To be completely honest, BigSis sent a virus of some horrible magnitude to LilSis and she’s still trying to get rid of it today!  So sorry, LilSis!  I found some bikini photos of Heidi Klum that showed her to be a normal woman with the usual kinds of body challenges that we all face, and thinking it was funny, I forwarded them to LilSis.  So, when LilSis opened those photos, her computer sustained an astronomical virus attack.  That’s what I get for spreading photos that are unkind.  Sorry, LilSis.  Sorry, Heidi.   I hope I’ve learned a lesson from this (head hanging in shame).

~BigSis

February 25, 2009

I was out running errands the other day, and happened to notice a small sticker on the back of the SUV in front of me.  It said “Wag More, Bark Less”.  It’s a simple arrangement of 4 little words, but such a profound statement, don’t you think?  It struck me immediately as a great philosophy for life, kind of like those “my dog taught me all I need to know about life” books.

Think about it with me for a minute.  What if we did wag more and bark less?  What would that look like?  First of all, to me wagging more would mean outwardly and gratefully showing our joy at the things that please us – without reservation or self-consciousness.

The other part of that is that more things would please us.  Have you noticed how little it takes to make a dog’s day?  It seems that they think this walk will be the best walk ever, that this meal will be the most delicious thing they ever tasted, that this game of frisbee has to be the most thrilling experience in their life, and that sitting near you on the couch is the greatest fulfilling moment they could imagine.  How would it change our lives if we were a little more dog-like, and focused on celebrating the simple joy in our lives and being thankful for it all?

Now the “bark less” part.  When I think about barking in human terms, it conjures up images of people complaining, being angry or being verbally aggressive or even abusive…all things we could absolutely use less of.  All things that reflect the opposite of gratitude and joy.

I know that we don’t literally have tails to wag or barks to silence, but I think this sentiment is going to be on my mind this week.  I hope it will.  Wag more, bark less.  I like it.

~BigSis

February 24, 2009

Well, I have to say that my Cooking Bucket List is nothing as specific or fun as yours, BigSis! These days, I’m just struggling to stay on top of weekly meal planning and shopping for the family. We have too much going on right now for me to carve out any extra time in the kitchen. Maybe one day things won’t be quite so hectic.

If I could have just one thing on my Cooking Bucket List, it would be to try to become a better baker. I’m going to have to get past the fact that I don’t like to measure ingredients! Actually, I have lots to learn! I think it will just require some time and patience. Hopefully, the day will come when I have time to experiment.

I’ve been working on my ‘other’ Bucket List, ever since I saw the movie. Some things are more trivial than others and some are bigger wishes, but I thought I’d just share a few. (They’re more fun than my cooking list.)

This list is not necessarily in order by priority, but I think the likelihood of me getting front row tickets to Elton John’s Red Piano concert might happen before I get to go to Egypt or spend a month in Maui.

Here’s just part of my Bucket list:

• Go to Vegas and see Elton John’s Red Piano concert again and get front row tickets so I can get onstage
• Go on a hot air balloon ride
• Take my dream trip to Italy
• Learn to speak Spanish fluently
• Learn a little bit of  Italian before the dream trip to Italy
• Go back to Magens Bay in St. Thomas with SirHoney
• Swim in the French Riviera
• Visit Egypt, tour the Valley of the Kings, and see where they discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen
• Watch the sunrise at Haleakala, take the 28 mile bike ride down the mountain, and then spend a month in Maui

Haleakala Sunrise

Oh, how I would love to be there right now! I’m looking forward to the day when I can start scratching some of these off my list.

Come on…I’d love to hear what’s on your Bucket List!

~LilSis

February 23, 2009

Have you seen the movie “The Bucket List” with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman? If you haven’t seen it, the idea is that Jack’s character has a list of things that he wants to do before he kicks the bucket. He meets up with Morgan’s character, who is terminally ill, and the two of them begin to live Jack’s list, one adventure at a time.

The Bucket List (2007)

I was telling my coworker, SA, the other day that I had a list of things that I wanted to learn to cook or bake well, and she said that I should call it my “Cooking Bucket List”. I love the idea of having this list that I can always add to and work through one dish at a time. These bucket lists could also inspire people to cook more often too. These days, it’s become normal for people to constantly buy food when they’re out and about, but it’s much healthier and cheaper to cook yourself. For those wanting to learn how to cook, it might be worth visiting the Prepared Cooks blog to read some tips that might come in handy. Hopefully, that sort of blog will help people to learn the basics, ready for them to complete a cooking bucket list.

Here’s my Cooking Bucket List as of today. I want to learn to make these things, and make them well before I kick the bucket.

What other color would my bucket be?

Intimidating things I’ve never tried to do but really want to…

• Flour tortillas
• Vegetarian tamales
• Macarons – the French kind, not the coconut macaroon we commonly think of
• Mole sauce (vegetarian version)
• Bobby Flay’s Goat Cheese Enchiladas

Things I’ve done once or twice, but want to work on and perfect…

• Pavlova – I made Nigella Lawson’s basic recipe once and loved it, but her chocolate raspberry pavlova is calling to me
• Great pie dough – starting with the foolproof pie dough recipe from Cook’s Illustrated with vodka
• Biscuits – finding the ideal “go-to” recipe, although I love a good biscuit SO much, I could gain 10 pounds working on this bucket list item
• Awesome bread – I think I need to get the book “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day“
• Delicious homemade pizza with fabulously thin crust like Fratelli’s (not cracker-style like Pizza Hut, although it’s good)
• Vegetarian “sushi” rolls – Veganomicon is a great place to start

Failures that I resolve to conquer…

• Chocolate Silk – a multi-layered dessert that was the signature dish of a former co-worker. I made it once, and every single layer failed to set up right. I will not be defeated!

I’ll be posting from time to time as I work on my Cooking Bucket List. Meanwhile, I bet some of you have Cooking Bucket Lists. What’s on your list? How about you, LilSis?

~BigSis

February 22, 2009

The day that changed my life?  It was 8 to 10 years ago.  I can’t remember exactly when I first heard about the Chi ceramic flat iron, but I do recall that it cost me $140 at my salon (they were sold only through salons at that point).   I’d NEVER paid that much money for any hair tool, and haven’t paid that much since then.  But that first Chi lasted me up until 2 weeks ago with zero problems.  So was it worth it?  Oh yeah!  To go from big curly frizzy poofy Texas hair to smooth silky straight hair for only about a dollar a month?  No question!

After having such great results and endurance from my old Chi, I of course wanted to replace him with the same model.  Dance with the one that brought ya, right?  I got the new Chi home, unwrapped him, and prepared to enjoy his smoothing hotness for the first time.  Damn!  This guy couldn’t fill the shoes of my old Chi!  What the heck!!  He wasn’t hot and smooth!  He was draggy and warmish and pulled my hair!

Back to the store he went!  Still, I was loyal to my old Chi and got another exact replica of him.  Surely, I couldn’t be disappointed two times in a row.  Wrong!  Again, it felt like Mr. Chi wasn’t getting hot enough, but he did seem to be frying my hair and pulling the ends.  Back to the store we went for the third time.

I’m loyal, but I’m no fool.  Something has changed in Chi-land since I bought my first one many years ago.  It was time to switch teams, and that’s what I did.  The next applicant to be my new flat iron friend was the T3 Tourmaline.  Tourmaline is a precious crystal that is embedded within the ceramic plates somehow, and it is supposed to use negative ions to lock moisture in the hair, and to lessen the damage inflicted on the hair. It did cost me an extra $20, but I was willing to give it a try.  I can’t live without a flat iron, and the Chi wasn’t an option any longer.  As we say in Texas, he’d done split his britches!

Pink T3 Tourmaline Flat Iron

Did the T3 live up to the claims it made?  Yes yes yes!  I love this flat iron!  I’ve been using it for almost a week, and it honestly is very noticable to me that it is gentler on my hair.  It seems easier to get the ends to curve under, plus it’s much lighter weight than the Chi and the temperature is adjustable.  And did I mention that IT’S PINK??!!  I love this iron.  When your current iron poops out on you, this is the ONE to try!

~BigSis

February 21, 2009

Meow!  Did you get this adorable MAC Hello Kitty purse mirror before it vanished before our very eyes?

Hello Kitty Purse Mirror

No?  Too bad, it has sold on ebay for as much as $71 as of today!

What could be better than this cute mirror and the rest of the new MAC Hello Kitty collection?  If you missed out on some of these impossible-to-find items, how about a contest to win them?  You got it!  I got an email about this new Hello Kitty contest, and I entered it immediately.  You can enter once per day, up until March 31, 2009.

There are 120 instant win prizes, including brush sets, tote bags, t-shirts, bracelets, lipsticks, eyeshadows, makeup bags, plush dolls, purse mirrors (schwing!) and lipglass.  There are 8 Grand Prizes featuring all kinds of goodies, with the winners selected by March 25, 2009.  The complete MAC Hello Kitty contest rules are online.  If you missed out on the Hello Kitty items you wanted, don’t snooze annd miss your chance to win them!

~BigSis

February 20, 2009

I’m just curious, has anyone else ever said anything like this to someone?

“You better not leave mad; I could get hit by a bus today and then you’d feel bad that you never had a chance to apologize.”

OR

“Life is too short to sweat the small stuff…I could get hit by a bus crossing the street today and you’d be sorry that you let the little things make you mad.”

Yes? No? Maybe? Okay, I wouldn’t say this now, but I think I have used a version or two of these phrases in the past.  (I’ve since learned that laying a guilt trip on someone doesn’t do anyone any good.)

So, the reason I even bring that up is because today, I almost got hit by a bus! Seriously!

Here’s what happened. It’s a sunny, beautiful, brisk morning. I’m running down a hill in the bike lane facing oncoming traffic, while listening to some great music on my iPod. (I always face oncoming traffic because I’ve got my music up pretty loud and I don’t want to be unaware of traffic coming up behind me.)

So, I’m singing along, (la dee da dee da), thinking to myself how great of a time I’m having on my run. Then, I see a bus up ahead coming up the hill. (I don’t move yet, because I assume if bikers have the right of way in a bike lane, then runners should, too, right?) Well, obviously the bus driver didn’t think so.

I don’t know if he was just toying with me to see if I could jump to the curb before getting hit, or if he honestly wasn’t paying attention, but he suddenly comes into the bike lane to get ready to make a right turn. If I hadn’t jumped to the curb, well, who knows!

Not a great way to start the day when you see one of these barreling straight towards you!

I’m still analyzing this incident to figure out what I’m supposed to learn from it. Is it something as simple as “Don’t run in the bike lane, dummy!” OR something deeper than that.

For months now, I’ve been trying to wake up every morning and take a few minutes before starting my busy day to say some gratitude prayers and really reflect on all our blessings. Maybe this was just another reminder to not take anything for granted and appreciate every moment of every day.

Thank you to my guardian angels, again!

~LilSis

February 19, 2009

Yep, you read that right.  I’m in love.  Head over heels, in fact.  But don’t start planning the wedding yet, SisMama.  The object of my affection is not tall, dark and handsome but instead is short, clear and square!  I’m in love with these OXO Good Grips POP Storage Containers that I found!

Oh.  My.  Gosh.  I know that I live in Picky Town, and that I have a bad case of Martha Stewart Flu, but these things are seriously off the chart.  I’ve been looking for a new pantry organization system for a while.  I know, it’s borderline pathetic that I just uttered that phrase, but bear with me.  I’ve been using this “system” for my baking ingredients.

Before...

It seemed messy and unorganized to me, and it certainly wouldn’t withstand a swarm of locusts or any other kind of varmint infestation that might befall my kitchen.  You never know, it could happen!  At the very least, a family of weevils could move into my pantry, so I ended up keeping the open bags of flours in the freezer, and my little freezer doesn’t have space for that.  It barely has room for all the bags of nuts and baking chocolates I keep in there, not to mention food for BigSis and the furkids.  So, I determined that I needed canisters that were 1) clear, 2) square or rectangular to be more space efficient and easy to scoop out of, and 3) airtight for freshness and bug-free-ness (if that’s a word).

Enter the OXO Pop Containers.  I bought 4 as a test to see how they worked out, and here’s the result:

...After!

Ahhhh.  Do you hear angels singing?  I do. These make me so happy!  The good news: I love these!  I almost had to smoke a cigarette after I got them filled and labeled, and I don’t even smoke!  The bad news: these are pricey little buggers!  I rewarded myself with these because I had a yukky doctor’s appointment the other day, and I always get myself a treat if I’ve been a big girl and not whined or cried about doing something I REALLY REALLY didn’t want to do.  I’d love a pizza reward, but that would kind of defeat the purpose of working my fanny off at the gym 5 days a week and trying to eat well, right?  So, my treat was the little pantry project.  The big 4 quart ones ($16.95)  hold a 5 pound bag of flour or sugar, and the smaller 1.5 quart ones ($9.99) hold just almost 2 pounds of flour.

Now.  I have many more items in my pantry that need to be tucked away inside these lovely little containers…cocoa, brown sugar, demerara sugar, pastry flour, bread flour, and so on.  Just imagine how beautiful my pantry would be!  I just need about $500 to finish the project! It gives me something to look forward to, right?

~BigSis

February 18, 2009

Hello Kitty! Hello MAC Hello Kitty, that is! I had to go say hello to this new Hello Kitty MAC Collection in person. I just couldn’t buy any of this new collection online without seeing the colors in person! If you’re a MAC fan, you’ve gotta check these out; and soon!

I thought the eyeshadow compacts were adorable and I probably would have used three out of the four colors, but I really like my shadows in their individual compacts; makes it easier for recycling.

Both tinted lip conditioners were really nice colors, Popster and Pink Fish, but I know those won’t stay on long, so I resisted even though they were in precious compacts!

I really wanted the compact purse mirror, but they were sold out. The mirrors are already being sold on Ebay for over $40.00!! I came home with the petite cosmetic bag and two adorable lipsticks!

MAC Hello Kitty petite cosmetic bag and lipsticks

Here is a close up of the two lipsticks. Unfortunately, my photos don’t do the colors justice. I love both of these! The lipstick on the left is ‘Strayin’ Frost lipstick from Hello Kitty Wild and on the right is ‘Cute-Ster’ from Hello Kitty Mild.

MAC Hello Kitty Lipsticks

Now, look close! See the cute little Hello Kitty imprint that they put in the lipstick?

Look Close!!

Oh, I’m so happy with my MAC purchase…But HayHay definitely tried to burst my little ‘happy with my MAC purchase’  bubble. I ran over to the MAC counter right before I had to pick him and his buddies up from the mall. (I actually volunteered to pick them up so I could run into Macy’s).

When we get in the car, he nonchalantly glances into my MAC bag and since it’s clear, he noticed the Hello Kitty cosmetic bag. So, HayHay says “You didn’t just buy something Hello Kitty, did you?” And, I say “Yes, I did, isn’t it cute?”  He responds “What are you, eight?”  (He was just kidding when he said it, obviously trying to get a response from me.) But, I just replied, “Hey, Hello Kitty is cool and you’re just not cool enough to know it’s cool!” (That’s a real grown up thing to say to your child, right?)

~LilSis

February 17, 2009

Here we are early in the week, approaching a new “Lost” episode!  I’m still not used to having a new episode every week after that long break, and it’s a fun little surprise when I remember that Wednesdays bring a fresh show!  You probably know there are tons of us crazed Lost fans out there, but did you know about all of these fun Lost things?  I didn’t until I started digging around, and then I couldn’t find a stopping place…there are gobs of these goodies out there!

• Sawyer’s Nickname Generator.  Have you see this?  You have to try it, it’s oodles of fun.  Sawyer’s nickname for me is Mighty Huntress.  I like it!  I think if he knew I was a long-time vegetarian, he might have another name for me, but for now Mighty Huntress it is!  And while we’re talking about Sawyer, let me bless you with another photo.  You’re welcome!

Finding these photos is hard work, but no sacrifice is too great for you!

• Josh Holloway’s Fan Site.  I don’t love the way this site is done, but you can make up your own mind.

• Video and Audio Podcasts.  ABC puts out new podcasts each week, which you can download to your computer or to iTunes.  The February 12 podcast featured some insights from the gentleman who plays Daniel Faraday, and ran a little over 4 minutes.

• iGoogle Widget.  I added this to my iGoogle home page.  This week we’ve gotten video, photo galleries and Lost news.

• Jorge Garcia’s blog.  Did you know that Jorge (Hurley) has a blog?  It’s called Dispatches from the Island, and it looks like Jorge’s been blogging since 2007.  Check out his post on the cool cake that Duff and the gang from Charm City Cakes did for the show’s 100th episode!  You’ve seen the Ace of Cakes on Food Network, right?

• Lost Magazine.  I had no idea there was a magazine.  Trying.  Not.  To.  Subscribe.

• Lost-TV: the Unofficial Fan Site.  This site is so full of goodies: show transcripts, episode summaries and reviews, news, links, and more.

• Lost.com: another Unofficial Fan Site.  This one is jam packed full of features too, and I love the Puzzles section!

Another photo? I can't stop myself!

Oh dear, another photo?  How’d that get in there?  Oh well, enjoy, my friends!

~BigSis