Happy Birthday to Me!

Late Night

Just got home from a fun night out with the McKinnons.  Matt’s sister’s in town so we all went out to eat at Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  I was very excited since this restaurant made my list of possible birthday dinner options.  I even got to have sushi for lunch, so 1st day of bday weekend was shaping up nicely.  We ordered several appetizers so I got to sample the Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes, Guacamole, Avocado Eggrolls and Buffalo Blasts. I ended up ordering one of my go to items off the menu, Stuffed Chicken Tortillas.  (my other go to is the Thai Chicken Pasta)  I was trying to be more adventurous and branch out, but I’ve had most things off the menu.  I was eyeing the Portobello Mushroom Burger but once the waitress came around I folded and pressured myself into the go to item.  We ordered a couple cheesecakes and I had a few tastes of the Fresh Banana Cream and Key Lime Cheesecakes.  Matt’s mom had them bring me a little scoop of ice cream with a candle, luckily she told them not to sing.  Yummy description of my night.  After dinner I went to see the new Harry Potter with Matt and his sister.  Not everyone was up for a movie so we went off on our own.  We had all rode together so Matt’s dad dropped us off at the movies and then we had to call and have him pick us up at 1am!  So we had our middle school moment tonight waiting for dad to pick us up at the curb. I was sad to say I didn’t remember a lot from the last movie, so I was a bit lost in some parts.  I swear I can never remember all these character’s names. They have all such strange and long names I just can’t keep track.  But the movie was good.  I’m not obsessed with the series nor have I read the books so I was not one of the strange people clapping at the end.  So it’s after 2am and I’m trying to wind down.  I’m supposed to go to the gym by 9am.  I hope I can get up! 

Birthday Wish List

Tomorrow is the official start to my Birthday Week. Not a full week but just like a 5 day work week, Friday thru Tuesday. I have all my plans set and just need the finishing touches of last minute grocery shopping. Saturday I’m going outlet shopping with my sisters and I have a few things on my list of what I’m looking for:

1. Bright Colored Skirts
2. Yellow Top
3. Open Cardigans
4. Bathing Suit and Cover Up
5. Ikat Top
6. Pleated Skirt

But my real birthday present is my plan on purchasing a Michael Kors watch. I’m so happy I found them cheaper on Amazon. I also have been thinking of these wedges from Zara non stop. I really want to find an Ikat shirt this weekend and a red skirt. Oh yeah and on my birthday wish list is Bread Pudding! I LOVE BREAD PUDDING! and this is my no guilt birthday weekend so I have to find a place to get this from. I’ve scouted out a few places already.

My Bday Wishlist by nmeik

Prep for the weekend!

Tonight I got off work late, so did Matt, which ended up canceling our only date night during the week :(  I called my sister last minute because I needed to use the time to go to BJs and buy some food for my Bday Family Lunch this Sunday.  I don’t know if most people put this much effort into their own birthday’s, but I love my birthday.  It’s my most favorite holiday of the year apart from Christmas.  If you asked my boyfriend, “hey what do you want to do for your birthday?”, his responses would include anywhere from “I don’t know” to “I don’t care”  and maybe that is most people’s bday attitude, but not mine.  My birthday is not just one day, there is a Birthday Week and mainly a Birthday Weekend, depending on when the actual day falls.  This year its a Birthday Weekend followed by two vacation days from work = a 4 day celebration of me! 
Back to tonight, I went with my sister to use her BJ’s membership card to find bulk size appetizers for my family.  I figured that my birthday present to myself would be eat whatever I want and regret it later :)  Birthday lunch will include all my favorite appetizers…Cream Cheese Jalapeño Poppers, Sweet Potato Fries, Cheese & Crackers, Ham&Pickle rolls, crossing my fingers my sister will make Texas Caviar, and I’d love to be able to find Fried Mushrooms.  I will definitely regret this meal later.  I caught my sister off guard so I had about 20min to wander around BJs before she arrived.  I checked out the random book aisle.
Did you know that Gwyneth Paltrow had her own Cookbook?  I did not know this or expect this from her.  I flipped through a couple pages and it looked like some fancified meals made to look easy or like something you would normally whip up.  I like Gwyneth Paltrow, even more now after hearing hear sing in Country Strong, or that she can sing!  Maybe her musician husband gave her some pointers. 
Then I saw this guy staring at me.  First thought, who would want to read a book about a 16 yr old kid.  He only has about 13 yrs of his life that he probably can recall.  Then sadly I admit, I am a bit curious about him, his movie about his life looked kinda of interesting to see his home videos.  But NO, I would not read his book no way.  Maybe drag my niece to watch his movie but that is as far as I would go. Well I tried to at least, she turned me down. :)
These books caught my eye.  I love looking at baking books. I’ve always loved to bake and maybe that is because of my mom.  I remember her baking recipes more than her dinner ones.  I loved making cookies with her, we would take turns putting in the ingredients and use our imagination with each one.  The Sugar was the snow, the stick of butter the house, etc…Therefore, I still love baking and being creative with baking is even more fun and delicious to boot!  I have the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book, and sadly I started eating healthy so soon after I got it that I didn’t have time to try any of the recipes yet.  Her Cookies book looks amazing too.  The Hello Cupcake series is so creative and fun, I wish I had the time to try all the ideas in these books or the reason to make them in the first place.  I think I’d have to be like a caterer or own a bakery or something.  Also how fat would I be if I started making all this stuff on a regular basis?  I could always wait until I have kids to gobble all the cookies and cupcakes up, but then I’d probably have chubby little kids waddling around too!
My sister, KT finally arrived and started checking out books too.  She was drawn to…

Senior Moments!  Also thought the Train Your Brain To Get Happy was an interesting book title.

I picked up my poppers and that was all I ended up with.  The poppers rang up .51cents more than what was advertised, and yes I asked for my 2 quarters back.  And yes I should be embarrassed that I bothered to ask for my money back but it’s BJ’s, if money meant nothing I would have gone to Publix. 
My BJ’s trip was not as fruitful as I had hoped.  I’ll have to swing by Wal-Mart later this week to pick up the rest of the stuff.  Luckily my parents will be in town Friday night to help. 

Tough Tuesday

Tuesday is always such a hard day to blog. I feel like there isn't much to talk about or on my mind. My A/C has been acting up, AGAIN, and I had to leave work early to meet the tech guy. He was late of course, and he even called ahead saying he would be there at 3 and still didn't show up for another 45min. Luckily they are always nice guys or I'd be really mad. This time they actually did something instead of just saying there was nothing wrong with my A/C and looking at me like I’m crazy when I tell them my A/C stops and starts working on its own. Since it was working again he couldn't pin point exactly what the issue was but based off what I told him he thought it was the inside fan motor and something wrong with the relay something or other, so he replaced whatever that was. Crossing my fingers that whatever he did fixed it. Everyone is in sales these days I tell ya', tech guy as nice as he was kept trying to sell me on their routine maintenance package and their A/C warranty and how it was better than the home warranty I had. I've been in Sales my whole working career but I hate sales, it makes me so uncomfortable, I feel so bad for the guy trying to sell you and when I'm uncomfortable I have to force back a smile. So I just give blank stares until they stop talking about the product they are trying to sell me while I’m focusing on not smiling.
My workout buddy bailed on me tonight. So I'm flying solo. It is so tough this week working out with my upcoming bday/vacation and thoughts of all the yummy food I'm going to eat. However, that is what is keeping me motivated, thinking of all the yummy yummy fattening food I'm going to ingest over the weekend. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! I bet I'll gain a few pounds back and I'll have to work out double time to get back to where I was before my August beach trip. I've been working hard trying to plan the perfect bday weekend. It's my crappy 30th and I'm pretty much set on being dissatisfied on whatever I decide on. I've been researching tons of restaurants trying to find a great place to eat with my family. Too many options may be the problem. I could always go with places I know I like but aren't that special because I eat at them all the time, or pick somewhere new that I may not like and be disappointed. Birthdays are sure tough! :)
I started working 9am - 6pm only 1 hour off my regular work schedule, but it is making a huge difference in my eating patterns. I am hungry more often and earlier. My appetite is going to have to get used to this. Sorry for the long drawn out post pretty much about nothing. So here is something fun that I came across. Dying to make these!

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies

Baking cookie dough in a waffle iron takes about a minute and a half, a real time-saver when you've got to have warm cookies right away. These cookies, excerpted from the book Dessert Express, look like mini waffles, but they bake up just like oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies, with browned, toasty oats on the outside and gooey, melty chips. Once cooled, they look cute garnishing bowls of ice cream. Yields 24 cookies

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rolled oats semisweet chocolate chips pure vanilla extract more

butter brown sugar eggs all-purpose flour baking soda table salt nonstick cooking spray

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Nonstick cooking spray

Tip: For the best results, measure your flour by weight instead of volume. (1 cup of all-purpose flour equals 4-1/2 oz.) If you don’t have a scale, be sure to use the proper technique when filling your measuring cups.

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Heat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions.
In a large bowl, whisk the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.
Coat the grids of the waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray. Use a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop to portion out a cookie onto each waffle square. Close the iron and cook until set and beginning to brown, 1-1/2 to 3 minutes, depending on the heat of your waffle iron. Use a thin metal spatula to transfer the cooked cookies to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining dough, coating the grids with spray as necessary.

In light of the not so light calorie dessert I just provided, here is a bit of comic relief for the evening.

Celebrity Style Crush: part 2

My next celebrity style crush is Lauren Conrad. I really just love her easy breezy style. Also she has fantastic shoes!

LC also has a great clothing line at Kohls. Here are some items that I like from her current line.

Kohls - LC by nmeik featuring Lauren Conrad tops

Currently Reading: Snow Flower & the Secret Fan

I’ve had this book on my list for a while now. Ever since I read and fell in love with Peony in Love by the same author, Lisa See, I’ve been wanting to read her other novels. I just found out that this summer, the movie of the book is being released, which makes me more excited to read it. As I was researching the movie, I saw that currently Peony in Love is in production, so I’m super excited about all this. I hope to love Snow Flower & the Secret Fan as much as the other one I read of Lisa See’s. I would strongly recommend Peony in Love if you have not read it. The movie looks good too. What do you think?

Cleaning & Sushi

My parents were in town this weekend and they were kind enough to help me clean up my house.  I’m one person and I tend to tidy up after myself as I go about the days, so the overall main cleaning seems to get put on the back burner.  We vacuumed, cleaned floors, tubs, toilets, wiped down counters and appliances, we cleaned it all.  For lunch we treated ourselves to sushi. 

 

We ate at my favorite Sushi restaurant Fuji Sushi.  They have a great Happy Hour menu with $5 rolls! I ordered an Eel & Avocado roll and a Tuna roll.  My dad got a small Veggie Tempura plate and a Shrimp Tempura roll. 

My mom won’t eat Sushi, so she ordered the Veggie Tempura plate.

Overall it was a nice and very productive day!

Book Review: Water for Elephants

Synopsis: As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charasmatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, the untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

I heard such great things about this book. My friend, Basia gave me her copy to read so we could go see the movie afterwards. I mean who passes up a movie starring Robert Pattenson? She gave it to me in May to read and the slow reader that I am had took forever to read it. I finally asked for a deadline and I finished on time, July 4th on the beach! Bottom line, the movie is no longer in the theaters and we will now have to rent the movie. Sorry Basia :( So about the book. It talks of bonds and relationships, but I didn't buy it. I mean the book grabbed me in the beginning with depressing event after depressing event. But somewhere along the lines I got bored. There were ups and downs of events, and being set in the great Depression, it sure was a depressing book. Most people I talk to love this book, so I do recommend it. I just don't think it was my taste. I still am curious to see the movie but I am worried that the movie will be changed a lot. Even the main character that Reese Witherspoon plays is a brunette in the book. Maybe this is a minor detail, but when I read a book I look forward to see the characters I have envisioned after several hundred pages portrayed on the big screen.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

I spy Ikat

This summer one of the hot trends is the Ikat print. I’m finding this print on everything, shoes, scarves, swimsuits, dresses, skirts, tops, shorts, pants, you name it, it will come in Ikat. Not to mention home decor is now being found in Ikat. What is Ikat you ask??? I really don’t know. It looks very much like native american art, kind of aztecy, southwest vibe. I will provide you the official definition: A craft in which one tie-dyes and weaves yarn to create an intricately designed fabric. That sounds better, instead of me inventing words to describe the print. The one great thing about Ikat prints is just like in nature, not one two patterns are alike. Here are some of my favorites from this growing summer trend.