Book Review - Fifty Shades Darker

I recently wrote a book review about Fifty Shades of Grey which can be found here.

I liked it so much that I immediately picked up the second book and blew right through it! So I figured I may as well write a review for this one, too.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Plot:

Our story begins only a few days after the first book ends. I think this is great, as it allows you to see each and every moment of their relationship as it unfolds. It really creates a connection, as if you were in a relationship yourself - seeing it from every angle. I don't want to get into specifics about the plot because I don't believe in revealing spoilers during book reviews, but I will say that this book is much more action-packed and suspenseful than the first. It keeps you entertained from start to finish. As far as Fifty Shades erotic reputation is concerned, it definitely gets a little more risque in this book - but still probably not as bad as you might imagine. Even with the "S&M" stereotype that this book holds, all the sexual interactions in the book revolve around love first and foremost.

Characters:

The sequel involves many of the characters that were included in the first, as it revolves around the same people. Christian and Ana are still the main characters, and they are joined by all of Christian's family in this book... as well as a few shady antagonists. This is a breath of fresh air, since the first book mainly revolves around Christian's lifestyle taking center stage as the "antagonist". As for this one, it seems he has made the jump successfully to a full-fledged protagonist, which leaves room for plenty of colorful characters to test Christian & Ana.

Scenery:

Like the first book, this one revolves mainly in Seattle. Although I would have to say that it doesn't give you quite the same in-depth feel as the first one does, it doesn't take away from the book any. There is plenty of other stuff going on - you really don't miss it much.

Writing:

If you read my book review for the original Fifty Shades, you know I gave E.L. James a pretty hard time about her writing style. It seemed amateurish, jumped around a lot, and could be confusing at times. This book was much better. She improved a lot, I have to be honest. There were still moments where it could get repetitive - particular in the love-making scenes - but all-in-all it was better.

Rating:

I give this book a 5 out of 5, which is amazing because in my last review I only gave the original book 4 out of 5. I could not put this book down. Upon finishing it, I definitely felt like the first book was only a stepping stone to get to this one. It was that good. I definitely recommend putting this book on your reading list if you haven't already.

Having finished the 2nd book, I will admit that I have begun reading the third book in the trilogy: Fifty Shades Freed. To be honest, I am not loving it so far. I am only a hundred pages in, but so far it has been torture to even force myself to read that much without giving up on it so I'm not optimistic about the outcome. I have made a promise to myself to finish reading it, though, even if only in the interest of being thorough. I sincerely hope that my opinion changes by the time I can write the review for it, but for now it may be hard for me to even find time to read it with school being back in session. (I don't attend school, but my son is in Kindergarten now so I must read to him longer every night for his homework, plus I have extra family responsibilities now that my love is busy with his 2nd year of college.)

Although I am reading my son the first Harry Potter book, so that's fun. =)

Until next time, thanks for reading!

Pinterest Review - Rainbow Butterfly Footprint

You guys. My little girl is growing up way too fast.

I'm sure my fellow Mommies understand.

One minute they are a tiny little bundle of blanket in your arms, and then you blink and they are running around and speaking to you.

Believe it or not (I sure as heck don't!), my baby is turning 2 in just a couple of months. I know! Crazy!

So like the crazy party-planning-person I am, I have already started preparations for her 2nd Birthday Bash. Her birthday parties are especially fun because they are also my birthday party! (Our birthdays are only 8 days apart.) So this year our birthday theme is:

Rainbow Butterflies!

You can follow all my fun party prep here:

But today I am here to show you one pin in particular - 

Rainbow Butterfly Footprints

This pin originally comes from Sawdust & Embryos and it is such a fun, easy, not to mention ADORABLE project to do with your little girl of any age!

Notice how my pin says "but with pastel colors" - that is the beauty of this project. It can be done in ANY color(s). Here is how mine turned out:

Sooo cute!! It is totally fool-proof, too. Ok.... Maybe not totally. I will admit that we had 1 or 2 (or 4) "oopsie" pages first, but as long as you don't make any of the same mistakes we did you should be fine.

First - put the cardstock you are going to be using on a FLAT, HARD surface - we tried it on the bed first and the footprints didn't come out well at all. That resulted in having to re-ink Eva's feet which she wasn't terribly thrilled about. Second - (and this really isn't much of a tip, just more of an FYI) your child's feet will by dyed for a little bit afterward even after you wash the excess ink off... Just be aware of that before you start inking away! And third - just in case you are wondering, the ink pad that I used for this project can be found here. 

Hope you all have fun trying this one out with your wee ones, please let me know if you try it! I would love to hear what you thought, and I'd also love to know if there are any other tips or tricks that helped you make this project different, easier, or more fun!

Thanks for joining me! See you next time!

Book Review - Fifty Shades of Grey

I have had a new obsession recently. It has been consuming my days, and I have to reluctantly admit that my house is not in the condition that I normally keep it in because of it...

Reading.

Ok! I am not a big reader, seriously. I pick up the occasional popular book - for example, I have read the entire Harry Potter series, the Twilight Saga, and the occasional Nicholas Sparks romance novel. I am pretty mainstream with my books, for sure. I just hate investing time in a book that ends up thoroughly disappointing me... I have been hurt before (thanks a lot, James Patterson...) so it's hard for me to commit to a book unless I have heard or read a fabulous review from someone I trust. And that is exactly what happened on our 4th of July visit back home, when my sister-in-law let me borrow/insisted that I read the Fifty Shades Trilogy.

I asked her what it was about, and she immediately started explaining it as if it were some crazy porno or something. At first I was pretty disgusted and didn't want to take them, but she insisted that I would like them and she knows me pretty well, so I took them anyway - fully intending to let them sit on my bookshelf and collect dust for a while and then to return them.

But the other day my husband decided to pick up a book. One of his favorites - Streams of Silver, the 5th installment of the Legend of Drizzt books. It is not unlike Lord of the Rings from what I gather. Regardless, I sat bored on the couch while he was reading and kept pestering him while he was trying to focus on it. Finally he suggested that I pick up a book myself. I told him I had nothing to read, and he mentioned the books that his sister had lent to me. I reluctantly agreed that I should at least try to read it - I figured that if things got too weird then I could always return them to her and say that I gave them an honest shot.

And to my surprise, I spent the entire day reading it. Then, I finished all 500+ pages by Day 3. Yeah, it was that good. I am now happily reading the sequel, and am almost finished with it. So for all you skeptics out there, here is my honest review of the first book.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Plot:

Forget what others have told you, Fifty Shades is a romance novel, first and foremost. Basically, the book revolves around Ana & Christian. It takes you on a journey right from the start of their relationship and forward from there. To my unexpected and pleasant surprise, there was nothing even remotely erotic at all within the first 100+ pages. It was all sweet, basic beginning relationship stuff. It really allows you to care about the characters before it gets into any of that, so that by the time it finally comes around you actually don't mind so much. And don't be afraid, I know that Fifty Shades has a reputation of being a little risque, but trust me - even with the erotic stuff, it starts out totally normally. After all, Ana is a little naive in things herself, and she is new to all things sexual - she does not dive in head first, and thus neither do we.

Characters:

Christian Grey is a young, mysterious millionaire business mogul who falls for Ana, an almost-college-graduate majoring in literature. We see things from Ana's point of view - she is the storyteller. She is naive and clumsy at times, but she loves old English literature and breakfast tea - she has an old soul and has never really experienced any of the breath-taking romance that she reads about in her novels. Enter Christian Grey, who is full of surprises and secrets - "Fifty Shades" of secrets - and this romance gets very interesting very quickly. But, you must dismiss all those notions you had in your mind about Mr. Grey being a domineering womanizer. He is incredibly sweet and playful, and at times even reminds me of my own husband. You really learn to love these characters - neither one too perfect, and very easy to relate to.

Scenery:

Fifty Shades is set in the Seattle to Portland area mainly, and the feel of the book really exemplifies that. It takes you there. It's a great book to curl up to with a cup of tea because you almost feel chilly as you imagine the hovering clouds in the sky with every page turn.

Writing:

E.L. James has only written the Fifty Shades Trilogy, and I may not be an accomplished reader, but I still think it is apparent in her writing that she has little experience. Many phrases are used over and over again to describe things, and sometimes the scene can change dramatically in a very short period of time. The most notable time was when a phone conversation took place randomly, and James went through the process of scripting out everything that was said in the conversation, only to have that paragraph end and the setting change completely without having received any pertinent information from it at all. But beside that, she actually has a fun vocabulary that she uses to its fullest extent, which keeps it interesting despite the sometimes irritating and repetitive phrases. That being said though, be wary - this book has a potty mouth, too, which I honestly could have done without.

Rating:

I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Don't get me wrong, I am totally hooked. But the inexperienced writing, the fact that there is so much language, and the occasional spontaneous unnecessary story shifts make me need to dock a star. That partnered with the fact that there is plenty of erotic scenes in the book, some of which make me a little bit uncomfortable at times (A little bit! Nothing unbearable, and all based on their affection for each other). But I am completely in love with the characters and the romantic settings - definitely worth enduring some of the writing flaws.

So give it a shot, and let me know if you do - I would love to hear if you agree or disagree with my review. I have also heard that they are starting pre-production of a Fifty Shades of Grey movie. I am sort of excited for that, but I am worried about who they might cast - right now my hopes are on Alexis Bledel as Ana and Matt Bomer as Christian Grey. If you have read the book, who do you think should star in the movie?

Thanks for dropping by! I'm sure I will have another review for you shortly on Fifty Shades Darker - the sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey - which I have almost completed. So stop back in for that!

"Laters, baby." - Mr. Christian Grey

101 in 1001 Update

Hello again everybody! Sorry I haven't been around lately again, but I recently returned from a week long vacation in Hawaii! 

It was fantastic! But I won't get into the details here. If you'd like to read more about my Hawaiian experience, you can do so on my other blog by clicking here.

While I was there I checked off a few more things on my 101 in 1001 list! It's been a while hasn't it? Here's what I did...

#40
Fail miserably at something and look back on it as a valuable learning experience.

Yep, totally crossed this one off on my Hawaii vacation. The vacation itself was GREAT! But there was just one night that was a total nightmare. It's a long story, which can also be read on my other blog, but to make the story short I left something very valuable somewhere and ended up driving for 2 straight hours to retrieve it with 2 cranky kids in the backseat. Ugh! Lesson learned - I really need to keep better track of my stuff.

#41
Do something COMPLETELY outside of my comfort zone.

Check! The whole Hawaii vacation itself was totally outside of my comfort zone. Ask anyone who talked to me before the vacation - I was a wreck!! I freaked out about every tiny little detail! And it was all for nothing. The trip was fantastic. I definitely need to step out of my comfort zone more often.

#48
Wear make-up and do my hair every day for a week straight.

I vowed to myself that I was going to do this one while we were in Hawaii, and I actually did. And you know what? It didn't do what I thought it would for my confidence. The whole reason I put this on my list was because I thought it would give me a giant confidence boost. But you know what? I felt the same that I do every other day, even the days where I just throw my hair in a ponytail and get out the door for groceries. But that's not really a bad thing - I learned that I have a fair amount of confidence even when I'm not all dolled up, and that's even better in my opinion. I really, truly don't care what other people think of me! Hooray!

#84
Eat at 10 restaurants I've never tried before.

So I didn't cross this one off, but I did add a couple more to the list. Surprisingly, we didn't go to that many new places while we were in Hawaii (mostly because I didn't want to take the kids to sit-down restaurants - yikes!). But we did try out the Plantation Grille at the Dole Plantation, and it was fan-freaking-tastic. Mmm. So good. And we also tried out BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse in Vegas on the way back home while visiting some family that we hadn't seen in a while. That was really great too! Something for everyone there. Eva scarfed down her meal like I had never seen before in my life. Whoa.

So I guess that's it for now. I have been noticing, though, that all of the goals on my fitness/nutrition/food list have been mysterious left alone.... I need to get on top of that!

Guess that's it for now~

Aloha!

Pinterest Review - Sweet & Sour Chicken

Hey everyone! As usual, I have been absent as of late. Busy with life and all that - the usual excuses.

But you all know I gotta come back and share when I come across an amazing pin from Pinterest! That's right -  time for another Pinterest review!

So, this pin comes from Made It. Ate It. Loved It. I am normally a little leery about Sweet & Sour Chicken recipes because somehow they always seem to be WAY WAY off of what I think it should taste like. I used to work at a Chinese food restaurant, so I'm used to the good stuff, people! But after looking over the ingredients list I decided to give it a try. It sounded the closest to what I remembered from working at that restaurant.

Now, in my previous Pinterest reviews I listed the ingredients and directions next. I have since been informed that it's impolite to do so, as it takes away from the web traffic of the original blog. Whoopsie! I didn't mean any harm by it, but just as a general rule from now on I will be simply providing the link to the original recipe and then listing what I changed (if anything). So here we go!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Original recipe can be found here.

Sorry about the absolutely horrid photo quality. I wasn't originally planning on blogging about this recipe, so I didn't think to take any nice photos. This one is brought to you courtesy of my cell phone haha. But after eating it, I just had to share!! This stuff is absolutely great!

This recipe is pretty easy as it is, and as the pin said - you really do most likely have everything you need already in your pantry. The only thing I needed to buy was garlic salt. That's it. But this recipe also calls for uncooked chicken breasts that you slice up into cubes. That's all fine and dandy - if you want to do that, go ahead!! More power to you. However, I'm the epitome of a lazy cook, so I used frozen diced chicken. The only thing I did differently to accommodate for that is microwaving the frozen chicken first (ice crystals + hot oil = NO NO!) and then cutting the cook time in half. I don't think it made too much of a difference - the sauce might have been not quite as thick for mine, but it still thickened up pretty freakin' nicely after it had cooled a bit. Other than that, follow the recipe to the letter and you are good to go! Super easy. Super delicious. Your family and your taste buds will thank you! This one is getting officially added to my monthly dinner calendar!

Thanks so much to Made it. Ate it. Loved It. for this amazing recipe, I will definitely be coming back your blog for my future recipe needs!

See you all next time!

Pinterest Review - Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies & Coffee Creamer French Toast

Oh, man!

Hopefully I'm not the only one who has been enjoying this beautiful Spring weather lately!

Our days have been filled with walks in the park and family fun since my son got out of pre-school earlier this month. It has been great! We live in Southern Utah on the border of Arizona so it's unusually warm here year-round, but I think it has been especially warm and nice lately. Goodbye, Winter! Don't come back too soon!

So today I have a couple of cool recipes for you all that I discovered on Pinterest recently. The first one is:

Coffee Creamer French Toast

The original recipe can be found here from Today's Creative Blog. I cannot even tell you how happy I was to find this recipe! I have been craving french toast lately even though I have never found or created a recipe that really satisfies me. So today I searched Pinterest looking for any french toast recipe to just get me through dinner tonight. I could not have been happier! 3 ingredients people! Three! Well, actually more if you count the optional cinnamon and use my modifications. But you get the drift.

Ingredients

4 eggs

1/2 cup coffee creamer of your choice

1 loaf french bread

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

butter (optional)

Directions

1. Crack eggs into medium bowl and whisk until well blended.

2. Pour in coffee creamer and cinnamon. Mix well.

3. On hot griddle or skillet, melt a small amount of butter. Dip french bread slice into egg mixture covering both sides, then quickly place in buttered area.

4. Let sit on medium to medium-high heat for approx. 1 minute, flip over.

5. Allow to cook for approximately 2 minutes or until golden brown, flip again.

6. Allow first side to finish cooking about 1 minute more or until golden brown.
7. Repeat process with all french bread slices.

8. Serve with syrup, whip cream, fruit toppings, or whatever you enjoy!

Now, the original recipe calls for International Delight's Cinnabon creamer, but any of your favorite creamer flavors will do. That's another thing that makes this recipe so fantastic - you can change the flavor any time with no extra hassle! I can only imagine how this stuff tastes with Pumpkin Spice creamer. Mmm!

The reason I added such detailed instructions about flipping the french toast is because I know for some people making french toast is like rocket science. I know this because I used to be one of those people. My french toast would always turn out soggy in the middle or burnt on one side etc etc. But this is the method I have created for perfect french toast. You see, when you place it on its first side, all that extra mixture is falling down toward the griddle and making it impossible for it to cook evenly. So you have to flip it over relatively quickly to prevent that from happening. By the time the other side is done, there isn't too much mixture left that isn't already cooked, so browning evenly isn't a problem when it's flipped over the second time. It's a science!

My own review of this recipe? I am never parting with it. Ever. It's so easy. 3-5 ingredients. The eggs blend easier with the thick creamer than it does with milk. Not to mention the fact that the french toast turns out sweet, delicious, and lactose free! That's a big one for me since I am lactose intolerant.

So here's our next one:

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this pin a while ago and have been dying to try it since I found it on Pinterest a week or so ago and read the list of ingredients. Yes, even the ingredients make these sound like a mouthful of heaven. This recipe is originally from Six Sister's Stuff blog and can be found here. I love the Six Sister's site! They are the masters of creative cooking and I bow down to them. Plus, they are based right here in Utah! Hooray!

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oats (quick or old fashioned)

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars until creamy. 

3. Stir in peanut butter, vanilla, and egg until well combined. 

4. Add flour, baking soda, and salt.

5. Fold in oats and chocolate chips and mix until combined.

6. Roll into 1" balls and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

So I didn't change a thing to this recipe. It already sounded so good, I just baked as directed. The only notes that I have for you are to never ever use spreadable margarine for baking cookies. Ever. I truly and honestly believe that the only way your cookies will come out looking and tasting perfect is if you get real unsalted butter. I make a lot of cookies. In my family they call me "The Cookie Queen", and it's because mine always come out looking beautiful and staying soft without crumbling in your hand. And this is my secret. My personal favorite is Tillamook unsalted butter.. Use the real butter people. It's the only way. 

Then soften it the perfect amount. It takes between 30-45 minutes for it to be softened to perfect consistency. If you forget about it and it gets too soft, do not use it anyway. Put it in the fridge until it's right. If you don't have time to soften, do not put it in the microwave. You could jeopardize your whole batch of cookies. Just save yourself the hassle and grate it with a cheese grater instead.. Comes out perfect every time.

The only other note I have about this recipe is that the original says it makes about 2 dozen, but mine made almost 3 dozen. Not that I'm complaining. =)

And these cookies are good! Ridiculously good! They look just like regular chocolate chip cookies, but your friends/family/party guests will be in for a pleasant surprise! Peanut butter-chocolatey goodness and with a yummy oatmeal texture that gives it a little extra something. Loved it, loved it. Another point for the Six Sisters - this one's a keeper!

That's all I've got for you this time, but let me know if you try these out. Tell me what you thought! Give me some suggestions on them, or even suggest a pin for me to review if you've ever wondered if it really works.

Thanks for spending some time with me today!

Churro Cookies Review & Glad to Be Back!

Oh my goodness, the last few weeks have been insane! We have been running around like crazy in this house, but finally things are starting to settle down and I can hopefully update a little bit more often. Summer vacation is starting and we can finally take a little breather.

Like I said, I have been very busy with family responsibilities lately, so I haven't been doing a whole lot for my shop and the sales have really trickled down to almost nothing. I don't really mind, I have needed all the time I can get lately haha! But now that I have some free time I am hoping to make a few more cute, Summery bows. So keep an eye out for that!

As for today, I have a review for you all! As you all know, Cinco de Mayo was just a couple of days ago. Normally our annual tradition is heading over to Taco Bell for dinner, but this time my hubby was working and so I decided to make something instead. But I am a super lazy cook. I don't hate cooking necessarily, but I do hate being stuck in the kitchen for a long time when I could be spending time with my family. Because of this I am a huge fan of Betty Crocker's Helpers. They are so easy and great for when you don't have a ton of time. So I used one I've never tried before on Cinco de Mayo - Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper. It was one of the best I've had so far! It tastes like tacos, spanish rice, and nachos all mixed into one delicious bowl. Try it out if you are ever in the mood for some easy, delicious Mexican food.

But my review today is not about the dinner, it's about what I made for dessert! I 'like' Pillsbury's page on Facebook because I use their refrigerated doughs and such all the time for dinners (like I said, lazy cook here!) and they periodically post recipes that you can use their products in. The other day they posted one for Churro Cookies from Oh, Bite it! I love churros, and I thought this recipe looked promising so I tried it out. Here is the recipe I used, but you can find the original here.

Churro Cookies

Ingredients:

2 pie crusts (made from scratch or packaged)

4 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons melted butter

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Spread over one pie crust, then layer the other pie crust on top.

3. With a cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can manage, place on parchment-lined baking sheet.

4. Gently press together all cookie edges with a fork to seal them.

5. Bake in oven for 12 minutes, allow to cool.

6. Mix together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

7. Brush top of cookies generously with melted butter and immediately dip into cinnamon sugar mixture. Enjoy!

Now, mine is a little bit modified from the original. For starters, I have to admit right here and now that I completely forgot to add the vanilla to the cream cheese mixture. I am super sad that I did because I'm sure it would have been delicious, but in the end I don't think it made too big of a difference. Also, the original calls for 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon. I looked at that and immediately thought that was a ridiculous amount. Even the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon that I used made the sugar a little darker than what I normally use. Another difference is that the original said to butter and coat both sides of the cookie with cinnamon sugar. I thought that was kind of overkill, and so I only did the tops and they were fine. You can do whatever you prefer, though. Oh, and one more thing - be sure to brush one with butter then dip it right into the sugar. Don't try to butter them all before you start dipping them - they won't retain as much sugar and the cinnamon sugar looks prettier that way.

The jury is still out on this one and whether I will be making them again. I personally don't care for pie crust. Never have. I like my pies with a cookie or graham cracker crust. Because of that, I didn't care too much for these cookies but I sort of predicted that from the beginning. My husband, however, could not get enough of them! The batch I made yielded 12 cookies, and I'm pretty sure my husband ate six. But he also loves pie crust, so I guess that's understandable. My 5 year old son loved them as well, but my 1 year old daughter licked the cinnamon sugar off and wouldn't touch the rest haha!

That being said, I think I am interested in making them again using sugar cookie dough. I am sort of worried that they would be way too sweet or even taste more snickerdoodle-y than churro-y, but I might still try it out and let you guys know what happens with that.

Feel free to leave any suggestions or tips in the comments below, and if you tried it then give me your own review! I'd love to know what you thought.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pinterest Review - Easter Edition

Happy Easter!

Whenever a holiday rolls around, our family always has fun traditions. However, that doesn't ever stop me from trying to find new activities and recipes to keep things interesting. Besides, if you come across a really good one and your family loves it... That's how new traditions are born!

So this year I turned to Pinterest. I don't know about you guys, but I am pretty picky with pins. I always like to look at the source first and make sure the pin leads to a good, valid, helpful source before it goes on my board. Sometimes I even Google the pin to see if others have already tried it and to see what their thoughts were on its ease, taste, etc. That made me think that maybe I should also be trying pins out and reviewing them so others can see what worked for me and what didn't!

Welcome to my very 1st Pinterest Review!

Bird Nest Treats

So this first pin I tried can be found here. It originated (as far as I know) from the Curvy Carrot. I made these yesterday and gave them to family and friends as an Easter gift. I have to admit, I didn't actually look at the recipe beforehand because I didn't really plan on making these, it just sort of happened. As a result, I ended up using slightly crushed pretzel sticks instead of chow mein noodles and also I didn't have any butterscotch chips to use so I stuck with milk chocolate and peanut butter. But this was the end result!

They ended up really cute! They held together really well, too. As far as the pin goes, they are not kidding when they talk about greasing the muffin pan beforehand. These things want to stick in there. But I used a generous amount of cooking spray instead of butter and they came out relatively easily that way. I also put the mini Cadbury eggs in the nests before they set up in the fridge. That just made them stick in there instead of roll around, which made more sense to me and it worked well. Overall, I am pretty happy with it! Taste-wise they taste like.... Well, pretzels in chocolate and peanut butter. Haha. Nothing too special about the taste, but still yummy.

Hard Boiled Eggs in the Oven

The second pin I tried was the claim that you can make better hard boiled eggs in the oven. That can be found here. This blog originally got this idea from the food science guru himself - Alton Brown. I love that guy, and that's what really pushed me into the decision to try it this year. Before that, I used this method for years and trusted it with every fiber of my being. Now I have to say... My heart may have been stolen by Mr. Brown's method.

So basically the pin says that you put raw eggs in your oven for 30 mins at 325 for perfect hard boiled eggs that are creamier, cooked more evenly, and easier to peel. It also mentions that putting the eggs on their sides will keep the yolk in the center and positioning them in a mini-muffin pan will keep them from rolling around. Then after they are done baking, you plunge them in an ice bath to stop the cooking and supposedly they are done to perfection.

After mine were cool, I sacrificed one to check that it had been cooked thoroughly. I cracked open the bottom of it and some watery liquid came out. I almost freaked out! I thought that they were sooo under-cooked that they were practically raw. But I was mistaken. I don't know what the deal is with the little bit of liquid that came out, but as I peeled more shell away (relatively easily I might add!) it revealed a perfect egg. The only difference I could tell between actual hard-boiled eggs and this baking method was this:

I know these pictures aren't very good, but you can kind of see a golden-brown discoloration on the bottom of the egg there. There wasn't anything wrong with it, it just looked like when you bake something in the oven and it gets a golden-brown color. It only got it on the bottom and in the two spots where it was touching the muffing tin. It doesn't bother me at all, but if you are making deviled eggs or something and it matters to you, I just thought it would be good to mention. However, these eggs are definitely the easiest to peel I have ever encountered (the peel doesn't slide right off like some pins say about it, but it's definitely easier), so if you are making deviled eggs and don't mind the discolored spots - I would still say this method is best because your egg whites won't end up with chunks missing. As for the yolks...

Ahhh... Beautiful! There is no weird raw-looking spot in the middle and absolutely no yucky green discoloration. They really were perfect. Amazing! They are so velvety and creamy too. So happy with them. I'm really not a yolk person, I will take scrambled egg whites over regular eggs any day, but these were really good.

So be brave! Try it out! This pin is Gela approved! ;)

Marbled Egg Dye

The last pin review I have for you today (I know! This post is already sooo long as it is! But hang in there, we're almost done!) is the marbled egg dyeing method that can be found here. The basic idea behind this one is that if you add some vegetable oil to your egg dye, you can swirl your egg around in it for a few seconds and get these gorgeous marbled, shiny eggs. Now, this pin was confusing because the information is messed up. On the actual pin it said to use one teaspoon of oil, then on the actual website it said to use one tablespoon. I decided to experiment and see what worked best.

First I tried the Tablespoon because that's what the actual website said. This is how it turned out.

Umm... Kinda weird and splotchy. I didn't really like it at all. So I tried it with a teaspoon instead.

Better! Now we are getting somewhere. I achieved this with the one teaspoon of oil, 10 drop of food coloring, 1 Tablespoon of vinegar, and 1/2 cup of water. Then I let it sit for about 10 minutes on the cookie rack before wiping it off. And when I did wipe it off, I didn't just pat it like the pin suggests. I rubbed it all around. This still doesn't match the amazing photos that the pin claims to have accomplished, but it also said to try swirling it around in multiple colors. So I did try that as well. This was the end result.

Now, I'm not gonna lie. This egg is pretty cool. And it did retain a little bit of shine even after wiping off the excess oil! But.... I still don't think it looks marbled, and it definitely doesn't match the picture from the pin at all. It's still a fun way to decorate eggs, but if you're expecting the amazing results shown in the photo.... Sorry kids.

You guys should definitely feel free to try out any of these methods and let me know how they worked out for you! In fact, if you got them to work better some how, please share with us! If you have any questions, I would love to help you out so feel free to ask in the comment section below.

Thanks for stopping by - hope you all have a fabulous Easter Sunday!

Happy Halloween! Halloween Activities for the Family

Happy Halloween everyone!

This is one of my favorite holidays! I go all out. There's something amazing about the new Fall weather and spending time doing things just to make your kids happy. It just makes Halloween one-of-a-kind. Yesterday my family did all our Halloween activities in one night because we have been so busy this month! This is what we did.

Halloween Bingo!

This game has been a family tradition since I was a kid. My family played this every single year, and every single year I looked forward to it. In our married life, we have usually lived close enough to home that we could go to my Mom's house to play every year, but this year we are on our own, so I made our own Halloween Bingo cards! I think they turned out pretty cute. I got the pattern from Artsy Fartsy Mama. She actually has printables for it, and they are ADORABLE. Unfortunately for me, printables are for when your printer is actually working. I would have just printed mine off since they are so cute, but since I couldn't I made my own based on her pictures and bingo cards. It's ok though, it was hard work but I feel like it gave a more personal touch to it and I will treasure it a little more with each passing year.

So, bingo is a pretty simple game and the rules are basic. The only thing you do differently with Halloween Bingo is that you use candy for your markers. Then, when someone calls BINGO! you forfeit all the candy on your card to the player that won. Then after each round, you rotate your cards clockwise.

Vincent enjoyed himself immensely. As you can see by his huge candy pile, he won most of the rounds.

And as you can see by Max's lack-of-candy-pile, he didn't win at all. Haha, don't worry he's only pretending to be upset for the camera. It's actually funny, because he usually won almost every round in previous years. This bingo set must be enhanced with magical kid-advantage powers. =)

Another tradition we have is making Ghost Suckers!

All you need is lollipop sticks, aluminum foil, and chocolate. It is so much fun and tasty too!

This is something else I grew up with. My Mom had us make ghost suckers every year around Halloween. Once again, loved it and always looked forward to it. The picture above is Vincent's "Big Smile Ghost" and also his "Boo from Ruby Gloom" ghost. This is what we normally had when I did it with my Mom growing up - just melted white chocolate and milk chocolate chips. But now I am an adult. And like I said, I go all out for Halloween.

This is my ghost. She's dressed up for Halloween. This year she is going as Little Red Riding Hood. Unfortunately for her, in this version she gets eaten by the Big Bad Gela. =)

Here we have just a couple of the ones Max made. He made a Deadpool sucker for himself (left) and a Spidey sucker for Vincent (right). Turned out great right? He's so talented.

Here's another one Max made - The Grim Reaper! He looks so happy to be here for our Halloween party, doesn't he?

We just happened to have the red and black melting chocolate leftover from Eva's and my birthday party over the weekend. (More on that in the next post! Stay tuned!) But if you are feeling as ambitious as we were, melting chocolate in virtually all colors can be bought at most local crafting stores. I got mine at Jo~Ann. 

And of course, we also carved pumpkins!

Well, I have a long day full of trying to keep my kids' Halloween anxiety down before the fun stuff tonight. Wish me luck!

Happy Halloween!!

101 in 1001 Update

Hi everyone!

I promised you all an update on all the fun stuff I've been doing this month. So here it goes!

I haven't officially crossed anything off of my 101 in 1001 since my past post, but I have been working on it. For starters, I worked on #90: Donate blood twice. I actually made an appointment and went to the donation center last week, and they ended up turning me away because apparently my iron levels were too low. So I got home, made another appointment, and took my iron pill every day until that appointment came around. When I went back, I was able to donate. And you know what? My husband came with me and donated too. It was such a good experience. They really take care of you there, and the feeling you get from doing something good for someone else is just amazing.

I have also been experimenting with #74: Try a juice detox for 10 days straight. I haven't actually started the detox yet, but I started experimenting with making the juice/smoothie. Here's some pictures of the drink that came out of it:

It looks nasty, right?? But you know what? IT WAS DELICIOUS! I couldn't put it down after I made it. Here's what I put into it:

Approx. 1 cup frozen spinach leaves

1/2 cup frozen cucumbers

1/4 cup frozen sliced strawberries

1/2 cup banana slices

1/4 cup frozen cantaloupe

1/4 cup frozen green grapes

1/4 cup frozen honeydew

Filled to the top with water & blended well.

The fruit really does a great job hiding the veggies behind yummy flavors. I can't wait to start incorporating other fruits and veggies like kale, carrots, mangoes, pineapple, etc. I have to admit that I am actually excited to start the detox after trying this, and am planning on starting it near the beginning of November! Wish me luck!

I also started on #8: Try 10 of the amazing tutorials I always see online. Technically this wasn't one for my business even though it's under the "For the biz" category. I dunno what I was thinking putting it under that! But now it's there, and moving it would mess up my numbering, so there it will stay. Anyways, the tutorial I did was this. A Time-Out Bottle. When your kid gets in trouble, you shake up the time-out bottle and give it to them, then send them to go sit somewhere. Tell them that when all the glitter is down at the bottom, they can come out. Meanwhile, your child calms down while watching the glitter settle, and if they don't calm down and throw a fit, it shakes up the bottle and makes their time-out longer. Good idea, right?

Found this idea on Pinterest, and since Vincent seems to be going through a defiant stage, I thought I would give it a try.  Basically all you do is take an empty bottle, fill it up about half-way with water, then dump in some extra-fine glitter and a matching color bottle of glitter glue. Then glue the lid, of course. Don't want your kids trying to drink this stuff.
So, I tried it out when Vincent was being a stinker the other day.....
He refused to hold it.
I tried just setting it in his lap, and he would just take it and put it on the floor. I tried to explain to him that this is how we do time-out now, and he wouldn't budge. I will give it a few more tries, but I'm thinking maybe it's not going to work for him. Too bad, I was so excited about it.

Oh, don't worry. I have lots of other news, but my time is a little pressed right now because I have a HUGE birthday party to throw tomorrow! My life is crazy right now! But as always, thanks for stopping by and be on the lookout for my other fun October Adventures!

~*~Gela~*~

Deaf for the Day

Can't believe it happened already.

I crossed off my 1st goal from my 101 in 1001 list.

Whaaaaat?

It's true!!

#52

Do another “Deaf for the Day” – only this time really do it for a WHOLE day.

To those of you who don't know what "Deaf for the Day" means, let me explain. I am fluent in American Sign Language, as is my hubby Max. No, I don't know anyone deaf. I just fell in love with the language when I took an ASL class in high school, and stuck with it. My hubby learned the same way. He doesn't know anyone deaf either, yet we are both fluent. It has really come in handy when we need to communicate from across a noisy area, or even when we are in a quiet area and don't want to be noisy. Plus the Deaf culture is just amazing. If you didn't know that Deafies had a "culture", you should look up Deaf culture or watch Switched at Birth on Netflix. It's awesome.

Anyways, back to the subject at hand. In our ASL class in high school, we had a project called "Deaf for the Day". It was sort of like our class final exam. We had to take someone else who knows sign language and go somewhere out in public for at least an hour, wearing ear plugs, and using only sign language for communication. Max and I were dating already at this time, so we went on a date to Applebee's while I was being "deaf". It was so interesting. The waitress looked at me at first, then when she realized that I was only signing to her, she started talking through Max. She kept asking "Does she want more water?", "Is she enjoying her food?", etc etc etc. I was astounded. Then everyone else in the restaurant started taking an interest in me. There were a couple of employees standing at the host pedestal near the entrance who kept staring and pointing at me while whispering to each other. By the end of the night, I figured out why. For some reason or another, they didn't believe I was really deaf. When we left, the young employees waited for us to walk outside, then BLASTED the outside speakers. I had taken out my earplugs at this point because they were uncomfortable, and the music made me jump. I looked through the window of the restaurant and saw them all laughing together and pointing at me. It was really embarrassing. But I just kept thinking to myself "How rude was that? If I really was deaf, my then-boyfriend-now-husband would have been furious, because they knew that he was hearing since he was interpreting for me all night. They would have scared the daylights out of him for absolutely no reason. Just to test me.

Years later, when we were married and Vincent was about 2 years old, I was working nights at a Chinese restaurant to help make ends meet. It was a good job, got plenty of free Chinese food and made some great friends, but my proudest moment on the job was when this Deaf couple came in. They signed "menu" to me, and I handed them one. They didn't think anything of that. That sign is pretty straight-forward. But then they signed "seat" and "stay", and I immediately showed them to their seats. I think they were impressed by that, but it wasn't until I signed "Ok?" in reference to their seating, then told them their "Waitress will be with you in a minute" in ASL that they turned to each other with their jaws hanging down. I walked away with pride, thinking that was the only interaction I would have with them, but then their waitress needed my help interpreting their orders. I was able to explain to them what was in each dish, successfully stopped the woman from accidentally ordering "Hot & Sour Soup" when she thought it was "Sweet & Sour Soup", and was able to tell them if I liked certain menu items or not. (Of course there wasn't anything on the menu I didn't like!) When they left, they passed me at the front counter and kept signing over and over "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I was beside myself with happiness.

And so after those experiences, I made a vow that I would do Deaf for the Day again someday, only for an entire day. I hadn't ever gotten around to it (or had a reason to) before my 101 in 1001 list. So when I woke up yesterday with absolutely NO voice from being sick, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. Max just happened to be home for the day so he could help me communicate with the kids. So we went for it.

We started the day off by going to Albertson's - the closest grocery store to where we live. I needed some herbal tea for my throat, not to mention some DayQuil. Also some earplugs - yes, I went all out. I signed with my husband throughout the whole store and I was surprised that unlike my 1st experience, no one seemed to pay any attention. The cashier looked directly at me when she greeted me, even though I know she saw me signing to Max in the checkout line. I nodded to her since I couldn't speak, and then when we were finished she just gave me a little wave goodbye. I was very impressed.

As for communicating with Vincent.... That was a little harder. But Max interpreted for us, and also he learned pretty quickly that if he was looking at me, I could pretty much understand what he wanted by reading his lips. We also gave both the kids unofficial sign-names. I say unofficial because it's an unwritten rule that an actual deaf person is supposed to give you your real sign-name. For Vincent we used "brave" signed with one hand and a "V" touching the shoulder, and for Eva we signed "beautiful" with an "E".

At one point in time though, Max came back from his night class in a huff and started yelling things at me. I just looked at him all confused. He had forgotten that he had been signing with me all day just from being away for an hour. That's because when you have been communicating with your hands for a long period of time, you enter the "Deaf Box". When you're in the Deaf Box, any and all noise sort of wakes you up in a sense. Noise brings you back to the land of the hearing. So in any case, he was furious because there was apparently an ant infestation in our vehicle, and he was trying to tell me that he was going to spray our car that night and asked me if we would be going anywhere for the rest of the night. He had a really hard time trying to sign to me through his anger, but he made it through.

Cooking was also pretty interesting, though. I couldn't hear the ground beef sizzling away in the pan and so I almost forgot about it entirely. Then I had to put the casserole in the oven and realized I wouldn't be able to hear my kitchen timer. I ended up setting the timer on my phone and set it to vibrate so that I would feel it in my pocket when dinner was ready.

When I finally took out the ear plugs that night, everything seemed REALLY noisy. I felt like I couldn't hear Max talking to me over the air conditioner and the hum of the computer. Then I suddenly realized..... That was the most peaceful day I've had in a looong time.

In any case, 12 hours of vocal rest and a million cups of tea later, my voice is almost back to normal today, and I'm back to listening to my kids scream and whine at me. Hooray. Lol.

It was a great experience, though. And before I wrap up, I wanna share some tips with you in case you ever come across a Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing person.

#1: Always look at them when you are talking to them, even if there is an interpreter present. Most Deafies know how to read lips anyway.

#2: If you come across a Deaf person who can't lip-read by chance, and if you can't be bothered to learn at least the alphabet in ASL, just using normal body language or mimicking what you're trying to convey works fine. In fact, a lot of times the normal "body language sign" for something is the same as the ASL sign. Deafies will normally appreciate that you are making the effort.

#3: Never, EVER doubt their ability to do things that hearing people can do. EVER.

Hope you enjoyed sharing my experience with me. I know this was kind of a long one - I appreciate those of you who stuck through it to the end. =) You guys are awesome. 'Til next time!

~*~Gela~*~