Food and Furniture

One of the things that I love the most about blogging (other than meeting sooo many new awesome friends) is that I love trying new recipes from you guys!

I have sooo many bogging friends that share amazing recipes for snacks, desserts and meals that I could try new recipes everyday for years and never run out!!! Very few are ever hard to make and they are almost always a HIT!

I tried a new one I saw on Jenna's Journey from Pioneer Woman called Pasta-Ai-Quattro-Formaggi.

It was amazing!!! NOTE: It is VERY rich!!! And I cut out some of the cream...there is lots of cheese and lots of calories so this is definitly not an every week food choice and you MUST love cheese :-) !!

I made the following slight changes.....I changed 1 cup of heavy cream to 1/4 cup of heavy cream and 3/4 cup skim milk. Then I addded cooked shrimp and scallops at the very end instead of the filet she says to serve on top - YUM YUM!!!!

I even took the following pictures of the process....

Here is the butter that you start with...

This is all the cheeses shredded...
This is the shrimp and scallops...

Water boiling for the pasta...




First time I ever used three burners at the same time...LOL!!!

Finished product!!!! YUM!!!!!

Further away of the finished product...

Close up of the finished product...

Down Walliacha's hatch with the finshed product (sorry little blurry)...

And....excited purchase news!!! I have made an awesome purchase of a new bed and dresser....the dresser is the picture below...

And my favorite...the new bed (only the bed from the picture below-could not get it all as I have yet to hit the lottery) won't be delivered for a few weeks but how excited an I?? I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!!!!

Happy Monday all my awesome blogger friends!!

I am grateful for each and every one of you!!!

ABC's of Ann

I just saw this on Running In The Delta's blog and thought it was soooo much fun to read hers that I would post my answers for all of you!

- HA HA -

All five of you that actually read this - LOL!!!!




Here are The ABC's of Ann!




A. Age: 42

B. Bed size: Full - and a new mattress I have only had for a month - HEAVEN!

C. Chore you hate: cleaning toilets (torlets as my family will say I pronounce it)

D. Dogs: I own cats but I LOVE all animals! Dogs are just too much work for me...LOL!

E. Essential start to your day: Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee!

F. Favorite color: Purple

G. Gold or silver: Definitely silver

H. Height: 5'7"

I. Instruments you play: Clarinet - but not well at all - tried to play for years in school but mostly just focused on throwing M&M's into the Tuba bells!

J. Job title: Six Sigma Analyst

K. Kids: Just furry ones and wet ones (cats and a fish)!!!!!!!

L. Live: Pittsburgh, PA.

Mom’s name: Jan

N. Nicknames: Annster

O. Overnight hospital stays: appendix, overexertion

P. Pet peeve: Laziness - whether it is in life or work - cannot tolerate laziness and lazy people!!!!!!!!!

Q. Quote from a movie: "Life's a Garden - Dig it!" Joe Dirt

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: Three

T. Time you wake up: normally 6AM

U. Underwear: All about the granny panties!!

V. Vegetables you dislike: Honestly - none - if I had to pick one I would say Lima Beans but I am starting to like those too - with enough garlic and seasoning all veggies are good!

W. What makes you run late: I do not run late!!! Just realized I have another pet peeve - LOL!!! I refuse to run late as I cannot stand this in others! ALWAYS early - seriously!

X. X-rays you’ve had: Many many many - I am very accident prone and have twisted and broken many things - my mom says I am a hypochondriac but better safe than sorry, right?

Y. Yummy food you make: Biscotti (mom's recipe) and Chicken Crescent Squares (also mom's recipe)

Z. Zoo animal favorite: Snow Leopard!! Love these beautiful cats!!!



Happy Day everyone!

Chop Chop Chop

Not sure how long my followers have been following BUT..... do you remember this post?!?!?!

March 2010

Well....finally after that horrible experience of being chopped bald.....my hair had all grown back and I went for a haircut last night!!!!!!!

I am sooooo glad I did...I was sooo scared and the poor hairdresser was wonderful - she listened intently as I complained and shared my horror story from last year and became (I am sure) very frightened to touch my hair let alone cut it!

LOL!!!

Anyway - she was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

Shout out to Philip Pelusi -at Robinson Mall and Ann (my NEW and ONLY stylist)!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE MY HAIR!!!!

It turned out so cute!!!

She cut about an inch off the back and added layering and texturing and it is awesome and full and bouncy and DID I MENTION cute!?!?!?!

I asked for something similar to Jennifer Annsitons new cut and as she was cutting it she asked questions and finally said - I think this will look really good on your face if we tweek this, this and this - is that okay? I am soooo glad I let her do what she thought was best - I love it! Please do not rate my hair on my appearance in the photos below...I have on no makeup today - LOL!!!!

Look a little evil in this one but I thought you could see the haircut much better....at least gives you an idea :-)

This is the state of things in my desktop sandbox....today I am beginning to make a sand castle......my dog is bringing me the starfish and it is not tooo sunny as you can see my sunglasses resting on the back of my longe chair.....just an update since I was at my desk taking photos!!! Ha Ha!

And on the same note - I will leave you with a picture of my NEW polish I got last night also from Philip Pelusi - San tan tonio from OPI!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE IT EVEN MORE ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have an awesome day all!!!!!!
It's almost Friday!!!
Cheers to cute haircuts!!!!!!!

Hot Dang - I Actually Won...

I am sooooooo excited to report that I actually won something - I cannot remember when that last happened!! Very rare...LOL!!!

Anyway Jen at Prior Fat Girl was hosting a giveraway and I won one of the prizes and could not have been more excited!!!

I was even more excited when I came home from work and this was waiting at my door...

I have a secret crush o the UPS man as he brings me gifts of packages every time I see him!!!

In the package was this awesome tote!!!!!!!

This even awesom-er reusable lunch box :-)

These sample pain relief patches that I know for a fact willbe used ASAP after the next hard core workout!!



Yes, the Gods smiled down on me-also enclosed was this sample of Barney Butter - I have been hearing about this on blogs forever and have yet to try it...this will be breakfast on an english muffin...I hope it is half as good as people say....:-)

These cashews look awesome!!!!!!

These packets of Coach's Oats - I have breakfast for the next week I think!!!!

This Attune bar looks awesome and yummy - I am going to watch with this one - chocolate is my fav!

Also, had some Funky Monkey snacks (Banana Cinnamon - anything you can think of that would be better then this as a mid-PM snack with a little crunch?)

Coupons for discounted workouts gear online and trial memberships for Yoga, etc.... I hope I can find a place near me to redeem the Yoga one - sounds like a great diverse workout!!!!

Coupons for more yummy FREE stuff!!!!!!

And brochures loaded with awesome and valuable information!

Last, but definitely not least, this awesome water bottle!!!!!! I love it and now I can switch it off with myCamelbak for a little variety!!!! Yeah!!!

Thanks again Jen!!!!!!! I love your blog sooo much as you are always funny, inspiring, informational, healthy and your giveaways ROCK!!!!

Check her out here - it is worth your time!!!!!!!!!! Thanks again!

I will leave you with what else I saw when I got in the door from work - Angelica was trying to "get" the cardinal on the patio...LOL!!! No need to worry - no birds are EVER harmed in this encounter...they can't even see the cats through the window film....LOL!!!

Only Six Inches

What a FUN night and morning here in Pittsburgh.


I left work yesterday around 3:30 PM and it had just started sleeting...round, hard, little ice balls slamming off my windshield...roads were not bad yet but I figured there was more to come...it's Pittsburgh n @!


I got home and watched the news - the news said we would be getting 2-4 inches throughout the night and into the morning so I decided to stay home - momma didn't raise no dummy!! Mind you: we had no snow at this point...just brown grass...all snow had melted last week!


I Zumba'ed my butt off with the Wii and practiced my dangerous moves on the Dance Dance Revolution (I have progressed from basic to beginner)...definitely NOT a workout but wayyyyyyyyyy fun! Awesome way to spend a night with yourself!


Then I got up in the middle of the night (potty break from all this water I am drinking) and slammed my baby toe into the hope chest at the end of my bed......NOT PLEASANT....I was sooooo tired thought that I went back to bed - after said potty break of course!

I woke up this am with a blood trail down the hallway and into the bathroom...apparently I hit it pretty bad and was half asleep and did not notice the blood.....ick!!!!!!!! Anyway I cleaned it up and hopefully the baby toe will heal and not look more funky than it already does.....LOL!!!


This am I woke up to this......SNOW and lots of it!!!

I had to squeeze my sore baby toe into boots in order to venture out into the SIX inches of snow (I measured on my patio) that we got last night and clean it off my car to go to work....FUN FUN FUN!!!


Last week I was wearing flip flops!!! Such is Pittsburgh - but this is when I wish I lived in the Bahamas!!

HERE ARE THE PICTURES SO YOU CAN SHARE IN MY JOY!!! The windshield scraper shows you how much we got...measured 6 inches on the patio!

Another shout out to Kenz

I feel like I am constantly linking to Kenz at All The Weigh...that must be good right?!?!?

Well - she posted a recipe the other day that looked soooooo yummy that I went right to the store and bought the ingredients to make them - I am SOOOOOO glad I did!!!!!

Last night after work and before I went out with friends I made Kenz's Chocolate Chip Macaroons - YUM!!

Chocolate Chip Macaroon Cookie Recipe

1 box Angel Food cake
1/2 c. water
7 oz. coconut
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. mini chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix the first four ingredients well then add the chocolate chips. Drop on a greased cookies sheet. (I used Parchment paper-my new favorite kitchen helper.) (The batter will seem VERY runny but using a tablespoon cookie dropper they spread out when they bake and puff up.)

Bake for 15 minutes and cool completely before removing from the pan.

Yield: About 30 cookies/3 WW pts. each (on the new plan)

Are you kidding me?!?!?!?! These are amazing!! It doesn't hurt that I love coconut, chocolate AND angelfood!!!!!

Thanks again Kenz - I love them!!!!! They are soooo easy to make and sooo yummy!!

And I shared them with my friends last night!

Keepin' up with the Jones'

I am ALWAYS one of the last ones to buy something new and exciting...

and being that I work in the IT field that is a little suprising even to me!

This is still my personal phone (no texting or data AT ALL)....

Except I do use a blackberry for work. :-)

Up until recently I was doing all my "GAMING" on this awesome console from the 1980's and saw no reason to upgrade...

Anyway - point is....

I got something new!!!! I got something new!!!! I got something new!!!

Can you tell I am excited?!?!?!?

Here it is..... A Wii

With this awesome play set to use WITH IT!!!!!! UHHHHHHHHHH HUHHHHHHHHHH!!



So, now someday soon, I will look like this!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOO HOOOOO!!

PS - It is soooooooooooo fun - it was seriously hard to stop Zumbing last night!!!!

PSS - I think my condo neighbor downstairs is going to HATE this new me!!!!!! LOL

Happy HUMP DAY everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

FMM

I am AGAIN participating in Friend Makin Monday with Kenz - I love me some FMM!!!!!!

It is sooo fun you should jump on over with the link above and play too!!!


Today's question is


How do you plan on celebrating Valentine's Day?


Well, for me it is already over :-(


Waliacha and I celebrated early as it is on a Monday and everyone has to work Tuesday. We went to dinner with a couple that we are friends with (shout out to Suzi and Fitz) at Olive Garden - LOVE IT!!!


Then we went to see the movie Just Go With It with Jennifer Anniston and it was hillarious!!! I love her anyway and she and Adam Sandler were sooooooooo good and sooooo funny in this movie - LOVED IT!!!!!!!!

My gift was this beautiful ring from Waliacha....
It matches these lovely pretties that he gave me for Christmas this year....

Thanks again Waliacha - he does not even read this but I just felt like I should thanks him again!!! So, although it is over early, it was awesome and fun and amazing time with friends and my darling love...tonight I will be going to my usual Monday night support meeting at Hope and back home - yippee!

Also, I am participating in the Valentines Swap with Kena and Janna....I sent my package last week so Cindy should be getting her booty today if she did not already....I am hoping to find mine when I get home from work today - I LOVE PACKAGES~~

I will post as soon as I get my healthy swap package!! YIPPEE - and thanks again to Kenz and Janna for organizing this - I love these swaps!!!!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

I want to wish everyone out there in blog land a VERY happy Valentines Day!!!!!!!!!! XOXO and love to ya'll today and EVERYDAY!!!!

I am sooooo excited since I participated in the Valentine Swap to get my package - MORE EXCITED THAN CHRISTMAS I THINK!

Yippee - I love Valentines Day!

Beauty Secrets

Come along and play to...
Over at Kelly's Korner she is having her Show Us Your Life - Beaty Secrets Day and I am soo excited to share with ya'll!!
Here is a sampling of what I LOVE!!!

First I think water is soooooooooo important to beatuy - I drink a ton of it and it helps with my aging skin - LOL!! I love Smart Water....not sure if it is because of Jennifer Anniston beign the spokesperson or the fun animals on the bottle...see the next photo...

This is just one of many of the animals and sayings they have on their bottles....now they have ducks and otters and crabs oh my......sooo fun!!!!

This is the WORLDS GREATEST quick dry!!! I kid you not!!!! I read about it on someones blog and I now swear by it - they dry amazingly quick in like a minute - no joke!!!! I found it on the internet (I think Amazon) but now my grocery store carries it!!!!

My new favorite polish - OPI called Ali's Big Break....love any OPI polish - I am a fiend!!!!!!!

I used this mascara since high school and still have never found one that works as well!! No mascara can copare to the original.....and still soooooooooooooooooooooo cheap!!!!

I use a dime size of this on my hair before blowdrying and straightening.....it works wonders....no flyaways and straightens like a dream!!!!! Another fav!

And finally....I will leave you with my new obsession!!! I now am able to french manicure myself and and loving it!!!!! I just did these last night for Valentines Day.......I need opinions.....over the top or cute?!?!?!?!? I used marshmallow as the base and Oh Baby Pink on the ends......it is sooooo fun to do this yourself.....everytime I do one I think - - - CHA-CHNG - saved 45 bucks!!!!!!!

Happy weekend all!!!!!!

Can wait to read everyone elses tips and favs!!!!!!