Woman in Corner #3 - "She Couldn't Be Good!"

After months and months of working on this painting, it is finally finished! I think this is my favorite of the Women in Corners series thus far.

New Paintings

I made these paintings for a friend who's having a little boy soon! They are based on the sheets they picked out for the nursery.

Turtle!

Hippo!

Giraffe!

All 3!

What I Made for Dinner - 03/16/09

I am trying to get out of my winter rut of making tofu and refried beans once a week for dinner (even though it is tasty).

Last night, I made an olive and sun dried tomato tapenade and served it with some endive spears from the Everyday Italian cookbook. It was my first time making tapenade and it was so simple! It was also the first time I got to break out my new olive pitter and I don't know how I lived without one.

I also made a lasagna from the America's Best New Recipes cookbook. I modified it a little by using ground turkey instead of meatloaf mix because I don't eat veal. I also forgot to buy heavy cream at the store, but I didn't really miss it in the sauce. The best thing about making sauce now is the awesome dutch oven I received for Christmas! It's the best cookware ever.

Tapenade and Endive!

Sauce is ready!

Lasagna is assembled in the dish!

Piece of lasagna!

New Favorite Snack - Emerald Trail Mix

I tried the Emerald Breakfast Blend Trail Mix yesterday and it is my new favorite snack. Dried apples, glazed nuts, yogurt covered raisins, and more. It's pretty tasty. I also bought the Berry Blend pictured above, but haven't tried it yet.

I don't think I've had yogurt covered raisins since I was in the Girl Scouts, and I forgot how great they taste!

Friday Funny

I think Ricky Gervais has the best laugh on the planet. Here he is with Elmo (who always kind of freaked me out, but is super cute here).

Watchmen

The Watchmen movie was so bad, I don't even feel like searching for a picture of it for my blog. Don't waste your precious time and money seeing this film. Read the graphic novel instead. You won't regret it.

If you've seen the movie, please still read the novel. It is really good. I promise.

Happy Birthday, Barbie!

Today is Barbie's 50th Birthday. Being a child of the 1980's, I had tons of Barbie dolls. Sometimes, my friend Jane and I talk for hours about our favorites. Here's pics of some of my favorite Barbie dolls. (Note that my ultimate favorite is Crystal Barbie with her pretty glittery shoes. They're the only shoes I never lost)

Sorry!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything of note. I haven't been a good blogger. I promise I'll be back with reviews of Watchmen and the new Neko Case album soon!

Hello Kitty MAC!

I have been wearing MAC's makeup for a long time. I have also been collecting Hello Kitty stuff since I was little. So, of course, I was super excited to hear that they have paired up for a makeup line all their own! I don't think I'm going to buy everything, but the lip gloss and nail polish is pretty cute. It can be ordered online now and hits the stores tomorrow. Look for a couture line next month. (But honestly, who is going to pay 90 dollars for POWDER? Not me)

Wall-E Cupcakes!

Yes, I'm still obsessed with Wall-E. Yesterday, I made some belated birthday cupcakes for my friend. These wrappers are so cute, I don't want to throw them away. But, I do so as not to get cake crumbs all over the house.

Do You Think That's EEEEEEeeeevvvvil???!!!

I guess I shouldn't be putting my evil plan out there, but here it is anyway. If you want to make your own evil plan, visit this site

Your objective is simple: World Domination.

Your motive is a little bit more complex: Money

Stage One
To begin your plan, you must first incapacitate a wall street executive. This will cause the world to sense a grave disturbance in the force, overwhelmed by your arrival. Who is this despoiler of all that is good and nice and true? Where did they come from? And why do they look so good in a corporate suit?


Stage Two
Next, you must contaminate/poison the statue of liberty. This will all be done from a corporate tower, a mysterious place of unrivaled dark glory. Upon seeing this, the world will tremble, as countless hordes of corporate suits hasten to do your every bidding.


Stage Three
Finally, you must send forth your secret death ray, bringing about something that's really metal. Your name shall become synonymous with evil, and no man will ever again dare make you clean your room. Everyone will bow before your unmatched physical prowess, and the world will have no choice but to send you all their money.

I Heart Stains

This was on The Soup a few weeks ago, and I am still laughing at it. I don't think it would have been as funny if it weren't for the zombie music playing in the background.

Please Explain

Why that movie, Mall Cop, has been the #1 movie in America for the past two weeks.

I would also like to take this moment to plead with the people of America to stop watching crap.

Thank you.

Just say no to CCC

It has come to my attention that Wilton and other companies are now selling kits to help people make their own cupcake cakes, or puzzle cakes or whatever they decide to call them. They are a serious offense to cupcakes everywhere.

The gloriousness of a cupcake is that it is a small, single cake, alone in its cakeness, and should never be combined to make one giant cake that has icing all over it. (I do make an exception for cupcakes combined like pixels that stand along yet look like a larger image.

I also include those giant cupcake pans in the category of CCC. They are just wrong.

Observe:

Acceptable


Stay Away

End of an Error

Tomorrow, Bush leaves office. I will be in DC with the eight million others waving goodbye to him.

Here's a list of all The Onion headlines about Bush. Enjoy.

Onion Bush Headlines

Angel

The one dorky thing I did manage to accomplish when I was in LA was to pay a visit to the hotel used on the show, Angel. It was fun. Here are some pictures!

Best Chicken Burrito I've Ever Eaten....Ever

I managed to stop in Palm Springs to have lunch with my Aunt, and she suggested we go to Mariposa. It was here that I had the best chicken burrito of my life. I don't think I will ever eat another chicken burrito until I go back to this restaurant. (Much like how I won't eat pecan pie until I go back to Jestine's Kitchen in Charleston, SC). Everything here was wonderful! I learned that it is also Barry Manilow's favorite restaurant. How cute!

If you will be in Palm Springs anytime soon, do not miss it.

Mariposa is located at
155 South Palm Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262

In-N-Out Burger

Having left my wallet at the hotel the only afternoon I had to hang out in LA, I didn't get to visit "The Counter", which was on my list (or Pinks...that was just a depressing day all around). I did, however get to visit In-N-Out Burger twice. The first visit, I got my old standby, grilled cheese and fries. A grilled cheese is the burger without the burger. I decided to try an actual burger my last night in California, and it wasn't as good as the grilled cheese.

In-N-Out burger is my favorite fast food restaurant besides Chick-Fil-A. They pay their workers well, and use fresh ingredients. Their fries ROCK. But, Five Guys burgers are better, as far as the burger itself goes.

YAY! I'm finally back!


Bag of Grilled Cheese and Fries:


Yummy

Most Depressing Cupcake Story Ever

I didn't think I could ever top the sad experience of walking in extreme heat to Cake Love and discovering that their cupcakes tasted like old shoes, but I have.

For about 5 or so years now, I have dreamed of going to Sprinkles in LA for a cupcake for 10. I went there last week, stood in line, met some really nice people, ordered up 6 cupcakes (so I would have some on the plane ride home), and heard them call my name.

Then, I discovered that I had accidentally left my wallet in my hotel room 15 miles away at the airport. The picture above is all I took.

Some might scold me for not going back to the hotel, picking up my wallet, and going to get my cupcakes anyway, but that would've taken me over 2 hours, and I just couldn't drive in the traffic there anymore.

Thanks to the nice woman in front of me who gave me some money so I could pay for parking. I really appreciate it.

I guess I'll just have to wait another year or two for the DC location to open.

So sad.

Favorite Brewery of 2008

This year, I discovered the Laguinitas Brewery, thanks to my new favorite beer store, The Perfect Pour, otherwise known as beer heaven. Everything I've tasted by this brewery has been top notch. They have a terrific line of beers in honor of the albums of Frank Zappa. I highly recommend trying one of their beers soon!