WAVERING

So if you had asked me yesterday, I had my mind made up. Why would anybody NEED an iPad. Why would anybody WANT one. It looked like a humongous iPhone or iPod Touch to me. And look how big it is. It looks so breakable.

I am a fan of all Apple products. Obsessed would be an understatement in regards to my beloved iPhone. And my iPod Classic is practically an appendage to my body. Do not go anywhere without it. I have a Mac Computer at work which of course I believe is far superior to any PC. But I would not necessarily purchase a Mac for my personal use at home because I would not want to spend the thousands of dollars on all the software that I would want to go on said computer.

But really, having a iPhone already I thought, "That iPad thing looks neato but I don't really have any use for it."

But today I'm all

That's preeeeeeeeeeeeetttttttyyyyy!

And you know what did it for me????
This screen/App with the books on the bookshelf with all your favorite book's covers displayed. I want a virtual bookshelf.

And now that is that. I want a iPad. I want to read books on an iPad. Forget the Kindle.

P.S. And if you are going to spend the money. Might as well get the 64 GB. Right?? Anybody with me? These suckers aren't cheap.

MOVIE REVIEW

So Kenny and I are big movie watchers. My husband has this thing for movie popcorn (more like obsession) and will go see any movie with me JUST to eat the popcorn. REALLY.

On top of going to the movie theatre regularly we are also members of Blockbuster.com and rent and watch around 1-2 movies a week. We also have HBO and other movie channels where we watch a lot of movies. Don't ask me how we have time for this. So I thought I would start giving short movie reviews after we watch movies. I have been doing this lately anyway. I promise not to give anything away.

So last night we went to see BOOK OF ELI. I made the mistake of looking at Entertainment Weekly's review. I usually just glance to see what letter grade they give the movie and then go back and read the review afterwards. Yesterday I read the entire review so going into see Book of Eli I had lowered my expectations because EW had given it a low grade.

This movie was intense. I love End of the World movies/Post Apocalyptic because I like seeing how people are surviving. Think I Am Legend, The Road. This movie follows Denzel Washington as he moves through the country trying to survive all the while protecting the only copy left of the King James Holy Bible. People want to take the Bible from him to obtain the power they believe it holds. Parts of this movie are pretty gory because Denzel(Eli) has learned very well to protect himself with a very large knife. HA!

I have to tell you that I was really into this movie. Very suspenseful and perhaps even a bit thought provoking. It is one of those movies that I want to see again to catch things that I missed the first time. I give it a very strong A.

Entertainment Weekly gave it a D. I strongly disagree with pretty much everything the reviewer said. You can read their review here but I would not suggest reading it if you want to see this movie. (Edited to add: In reading people's responses and comments to the review most people also disagreed with the reviewer and thought it was a great movie.)

Oh and P.S. How gorgeous is Mila Kunis. She was in this movie and did a great job. You would recognize her from That 70's Show and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Love her!

WEEKEND RECAP

My weekend was extremely relaxing. Kenny was out of town for market so I was all by my lonesome. On Friday night I can barely remember what I even did. Must have been really interesting. I think I caught up on some Tivo and went to bed early. It was glorious.

On Saturday morning I woke up and went to a Weight Watchers meeting. I needed to get my monthly weigh in done and I decided to stay for the class. I was very happy to hear that I somehow was down a couple of pounds despite my very gluttonous weekend in New Orleans last week and being fully clothed. Now I really need to be more strict on counting my points. I do very well on the weekdays but on the weekends is where it gets tough.

After the meeting I stopped into our Pottery Barn outlet for inspiration. I have finally gotten around to decorating our front room of our house and am planning to redo our den in the near future so I was just looking to get ideas. I love that we have a Pottery Barn outlet. If you scope it out enough you can find some good deals. I found a rug that I really liked for our den that I will keep in mind when I start picking out furniture for that room.

After Pottery Barn I went and purchased this lovely for our front room. I made some changes so it won't look exactly like this picture but its the main idea.I am so relieved to finally be making some headway in getting this room decorated. I have already purchased the rug and two chairs to go in the room also. I have also bought a botanical book to frame some prints. I will be sure to include some before and after pics when I feel like it is complete. Then on to the den.

Saturday night I met up with my girlfriend Susan for cheese dip and margaritas. We planned on going to see The Lovely Bones but the movie theatre did not have power so we went to my house and drank wine and watched the Pregnancy Pact on Lifetime. Did you guys watch this??? It was crazy. I truly cannot believe it was based on a true story. Got to love some Lifetime movies

On Sunday I slept late, watched my back episode of Big Love which was such a good episode and then watched Julie & Julia. I loved this movie. I loved Meryl as Julia and getting to learn more about Julia Childs. I adored all the french cooking and I loved that it was about a blogger. It definitely made me realize that I seriously NEED a Le Creuset stew pot so I can make Beef Bourguignon in a Red Wine Sauce. And that I NEED to Master the Art of French Cooking. Maybe I should enroll in some cooking classes?? I give this movie a A.

About the time I finished watching my movie Kenny came home!!! I was so happy to see him because he had been gone for a long time. He tried to relax a little bit while I got some dips and things ready to have Susan and Andrew over to watch the Saints game. Oh my goodness that game was soooo intense. Susan grew up in New Orleans and we all of course wanted the Saints to win so bad. When it was tied with a minute left and the Vikings were about to score we thought it was over. So sick to our stomachs. But we got so lucky and that turnover and that field goal sealed the deal. SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!! CANNOT WAIT!!!!

So looking back over this post. I basically watched and ate my way through the weekend and it was wonderful. A little boring and monotonous but wonderful. Here is what we are eating this week. Only a couple of recipes because we are busy the rest of the week.

MENU MONDAY
Sunday- Crack Dip( best and easiest dip ever recipe Below) and Susan brought over taco soup served with Frito's,sour cream and Mexican cheese. Yum!!

Monday - Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Tuesday - Make Mine a Mojito's Mexican Stuffed Shells. Recipe Below (She mentioned that this was her favorite recipe that her mom made up and I thought it sounded so good.) I am going to use ground turkey, reduced fat cheese, light sour cream, you get the idea. But I give her all the credit for this recipe. Excited to try it!

CRACK DIP- Named because you can't stop eating it. Like crack. Ha! I usually double this recipe because people love it so much.

2 Blocks of Cream Cheese

2lbs of Mild Sausage

2 cans of rotel tomatoes

Brown sausage and drain. Put into microwave safe bowl. Cube both blocks of cream cheese and add to the sausauge. Pour both cans of rotel tomatoes into bowl and heat in microwave until the dip is melted and combined. Stir every few minutes. So easy!!

Mexican Stuffed Shells (from Make Mine a Mojito)

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 medium-sized yellow onion finely chopped
1 packet taco seasoning
1 package of cream cheese
1 box of jumbo pasta shells
1 10 oz. or 16 oz. can enchilada sauce (mild, medium, or hot) depending on how much sauce you like
1 bunch scallions diced
1 package Mexican cheese blend
Diced tomato for garnish

Directions:

Cook the jumbo shell pasta in boiling water. Drain when al dente. Set aside to cool.

Sautee onions and beef in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the onions are translucent and the meat is cooked through, add the packet of taco seasoning. Stir well. Add the entire package of cream cheese and allow it to melt into the beef mixture. Allow the mixture to cool.

Then stuff a heaping spoonful of the beef mixture into one of the cooked jumbo shells. Place the filled shell in a baking dish. Repeat this process until all of the beef mixture is gone.

On top of the shells in the baking dish pour the enchilada sauce. Sprinkle the diced tomato and scallion on top of the shells. Cover the shells with Mexican cheese.

Bake on 350 degree for 30-40 minutes until the shells are warm in the center and the cheese is melted.

KING CAKES

So a conversation that I was following and participating in on Twitter got me (scuse my country talk for a moment) hankerin for a King Cake. And people started chiming in on who made their favorite King Cake.

Being from Hattiesburg, MS. Yes home of the Tiger Woods Sex Rehab. Can you believe it!! Tiger Woods went to Hattiesburg MS for rehab!!! Thanks for putting us on the map Tiger. Anyway back to the very serious subject at hand. Hattiesburg is only a very short drive from the coast and a couple hours from NOLA. Which lets some of that Mardi Gras fever make its way up to us. And because we have good King Cakes at our disposal I have extremely high standards. A grocery store King cake just will not do.

My absolute favorite King Cakes hail from a place called Paul's Pastry. These are to die for and now I NEEEEED ONE!!!. Anyone want to send me one??? My favorite is the blueberry filling with cream cheese. Yes I said cream cheese!!! For me to truly enjoy a King cake it has to have cream cheese. The standard ones are just okay while more authentic.

My friend Mego(short for Megan pictured here on the left.) lives on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and has season tickets to the Saints game so I trust her opinion! Go Saints!!! She says that Haydel's Bakery makes her favorite King Cake. I looked at them online and they have cream cheese King Cakes too. So they have my stamp of approval too.

Anyway had to share since I have the sweet morsels on the brain now. And to say one more time that I hope that the Saints go all the way!!! Who makes your favorite King Cake??

IDOL

So who is watching this season?? I have loved this show since the first season but I am ready to admit that the episodes so far this year have been somewhat lackluster. It is because Paula is gone? Is it because I know Simon will be gone next year and then I will officially stop watching it.

I am ready for Ellen to get here. I adore Ellen and can't wait to hear her sarcastic quips regarding the contestants performances. I am hoping the season gets better once the actual competition starts because right now I feel like I am just watching fake auditions.

The only people that have caught my attention so far(besides all the TN people that are mortifying) are the people with the sad stories. Last night I loved the guy who had the autistic son who sang the "Someone To Watch Over Me" a song that I love. Or the girl who sings to her grandmother who has Alzheimer's. But I want some new undiscovered talent. It seems so far everyone they have given the golden ticket to sounds the same.

I will end my American Idol rant here. But right now I just hope it gets better. Since this is my last season anyway I would like it to be a good one. I'm going to miss Simon.

WHO DAT

This was the balcony across from our balcony at the hotel.  It was someones home and I was a little obsessed with how he decorated it. I just loved all the details.  And if you are wondering how I knew it was a man... well Saturday morning we saw him in there in his matching set of cowboy and horse pajamas. True story.

This weekend I hopped in the car with a bunch of girls to go to New Orleans for a bachelorette party. And all I can say is thank goodness I had yesterday off. I am still so tired and worn out but it was so much fun!

When Rachael the bachelorette picked the weekend she had no way of knowing that this weekend would be the playoff game vs. the Cardinals for the Saints. Which if you are from Mississippi, Louisiana, or just the south in general this is a HUGE deal. Having the game and all the people in town just made the weekend more fun.

On Friday night we went to a restaurant called Rockin Sake. I normally hate sake but this place had flavored sakes. So we got the lychee. Yum!!! It was so delicious. So we ordered a couple more bottles. And they also had this roll called the LSU roll that was to die for. If you ever go there...get it!!

After dinner we stopped in a little restaurant for an after drink before going to a bar to dance.

On Saturday morning we went and got beignets to go from the famous Cafe Du Monde and had mimosas and had Rachaels lingerie shower. She got a bunch of cute stuff. Afterwards we all got dressed to go watch the Saints game at a bar.

After Saints whooped that behind.My friend Megan in the picture above on the right was sooo excited.  They have season tickets and she is a big Saints fan.  She will get to go this weekends playoff game. We went back to the hotel and got ready to go out. We all wore black, gold, and hot pink. Tracy had made cute little mardi gras masks and other fun favors.Megan and I were trying ours out.

We all went to dinner at Crescent City Brewhouse where the food was divine. And then of course we hit up Bourbon. Bourbon was soooo packed but such good people watching. This guy literally showed up. Dipped a few people including the bachelorette and then disappeared. It was so random. But he was a really good dipper.

It really was such a fun weekend.  And I cannot wait to get back to New Orleans.  I love that city so much.  My friend Susan is getting married there in May and I have already book a room for an extra night so that Kenny and I can have a little vacay.  In the meantime I will be cheering on the Saints.  Hope they go all the way!!!

I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

I have a slightly new obsession. I looove Lady Gaga. It all started with her breakout hit "Just Dance" and then it was "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi" and now I just can't stop listening to "Bad Romance." I have her album and I really love the entire thing.

Yes I know she dresses really outlandishly. And yes her performances are beyond bizarre. But I kind of like all that. It is like I was telling a friend, it really is no different than Madonna wearing a cone bra and setting things on fire in the 80's. Plus I like the theatrical side of her performances. The girl can dance and her videos are crazy. But it all just contributes to the artist that she has created which is meant to be a spectacle. Is it going to do down in history for being monumental. No. But it is fun! And her music is REALLY fun.

Love this video for Bad Romance. It is so weird and crazy! (Click below)

BAD ROMANCE VIDEO

ITS BAAAAACK

Yep I am back to doing this blogging thing and you know what that means. Menu Monday. Hooray!! ( I'm sure you all share my enthusiasm right??)

I had a great weekend. Friday night Kenny and I stayed in minus the really quick trip to Blockbuster. It was just soooo cold out I could not imagine doing anything else. So we watched District 9. I have decided that I might officially be a sci-fi nerd when it comes to movies, but this movie was not my cup of tea. Granted I was fighting off sleep for the last 45 minutes so I don't remember all of it. But it was not what I expected. It did keep our attention and we both just thought it was okay. I would give it a C-.

On Saturday, I had a lunch date with my friend Christin at Old Venice. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and a Bellini. I used to drink Bellini's in college at Old Venice and had not had one since college. It was so good. After lunch we ran a few errands and went to a few stores. It was a fun afternoon.

On Saturday night I had a low key girls night out planned with some girlfriends. We went to Salsa for cheese dip and Margaritas. This is my favorite thing to do!!! Our waitress was awesome and left us alone to just drink and eat our way through many baskets of chips and TWO things of cheese dip while we talked! So much fun! And then afterwards we had to stop by Muddy's Bake Shop. Tracy had never been before so we had to introduce her. It was packed but we managed to get a table and all split a different type of cupcake. I of course brought a box home.

Yesterday, I grocery shopped and we watched some of the Wild Card games. It was such a relaxing Sunday and then last night I was so excited because it was the season premiere of Big Love. One of my favorite shows! It really was such a good weekend. Perfect balance of relaxing and socializing.

And now, what everyone has been waiting on.

MENU MONDAY
Sunday- Slow Cooker Pepper Steak served over white rice

Monday - Barbecue-Stuffed Potatoes served with green beans

Tuesday - Leftovers for Kenny- Dinner out for me

Wednesday - Fresh Tomato, Sausage Pecorino Pasta

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - I leave for New Orleans for a Bachelorette Party. Yay!  So Kenny's bacheloring it up. He's on his own! Ha!

WINTER.....YUCK

So one of my friends just sent me this and it cracked me up. Now granted, it is freakin freezing here. I am already soooooo over winter. I am counting down the days until Spring! (heck even March) It is 10 degrees and feel like it is below 0. Which is so cold for the south. But the South tends to get a little overwhelmed by a little wintry mix.

Warning! Warning!

A snowflake drifted through the jet stream from Iowa and attempted to
land near Nashville. Avoid the area!!!

TDOT has responded with 6 snow plows that were able to surround the
flake.

They hit it with flame throwers and did melt it before it struck the
ground however.

They are now working with a Shop Vac to remove moisture before it
freezes.

33,000 metric tons of salt have also be applied in the general area as a
precaution.

In other news....

A freak salt storm has been reported in the parking areas and sidewalks
around Dell in Nashville.

Walking and driving is hazardous due to the accumulation of salt which
has made walkways slippery due to its round granular shape.

LET'S GO TO THE MOVIES

Hope everyone had a great New Year holiday. I did not take pictures of our little get together. But we had so much fun. I drank waaaay to much champagne and lets just say our competitive game of Catch Phrase made the night. Since then Kenny and I have been trying to stay warm during this cold snap and even snow today!!!

Over the Christmas holidays (we had over a week off) we saw ALOT of movies, some old on DVD and some in theaters. We are a big movie watching couple anyway but I would say we watched more than average in the last few weeks. So here is a rundown!

INVICTUS - Starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. This movie is about rugby, South Africa, and Nelson Mandella. I still know absolutely nothing about Rugby. Nothing. Except for Matt Damon is really really cute as a blonde and in a rugby uniform. But the movie was good. (a little slow) I will give it a solid B.

STAR TREK- To this movie's own credit. I fell asleep during this one. But having never seen a single minute of a Star Trek it was okay. I was totally lost but that fellow that plays Kirk is quite handsome. I give it a C.

SHERLOCK HOLMES - Robert Downey Jr. sure has had quite the comeback. And not to mention I am absolutely obsessed with Rachel McAdams. There was a good plot and lots of action in this movie and of course they set it up for a sequel. Even Jude Law as Watson did not bother me in this flick. I normally do not care for his movies. I give it an A.

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD- Starring Kate Winslet and Leo DeCaprio. (Jack and Rose!!!) I know this movie is old news but I just watched it on HBO from start to finish and I have to say that it is really sticking with me. It is about the demise of a marriage and very sad. But thought provoking and you can't help holding out hope because after all its the reunion of Jack and Rose. (not really) This made me officially in love with Kate Winslet! Love her. I give this movie a -A.

AVATAR- I can't believe that we actually stood in line for this movie New Moon style. I felt like such a nerd. Every showing was sold out. But it was worth it. If you have even the slightest interest in this movie you have to go see it in theatres because I am afraid the effects and the movie just won't be the same at home. The effects are amazing and the story is predictable but draws you in. I would go see it again. A

PUBLIC ENEMIES- Starring Johnny Depp. A gangster style movie where Depp plays the bad guy quite well. You still like him. However this movie is very violent. A lot of people get killed. B

MY SISTERS KEEPER- I hated this movie. As a fan of Jodi Piccoult's books this movie was such a disappointment. It was nothing like the book and they completely changed the ending. No bueno!! D

THE UGLY TRUTH- Cant even really review this one because we took it out after 5 minutes. Terrible is an understatement. F

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED - Starring Anne Hathaway. This one is old too. But I just now watched it. I really like it and Anne Hathaway did a phenomenal job. It is a bit slow and parts of it I found to very odd. It of course takes place during a wedding weekend but this wedding is very strange and offbeat. It left me asking do people really have weddings like these?? C

DEFIANCE - Starring Daniel Craig and Liev Shreiber. This movie takes place during World War II and those movies are generally hard to watch but leave you thinking. Kenny and I both liked it and it kept us on the edge of our seats. A


Okay, so like I said we have watched ALOT of movies. This isn't even all of them. Ha!!!