I have a taste for…
Summer makes me want to eat seafood. The girls have been reporting back to me daily from their trip. Last night they told me that the went out to eat at the Country Club and had Crab Baltimore for the first time. I had to ask them what exactly Crab Baltimore was. Well, it is simply crab, butter, and lemon. Thats what I like so much about cooking seafood – you can do it simply. My favorite recipe is my spicy shrimp. All you need is shrimp, beer, butter, garlic, and Tabasco. Yummy! Do you have a favorite seafood recipe? If so, you should enter it in the Great American Seafood Cook off put on by The Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board. You can win big prizes! Not only is this event a great way to showcase your favorite seafood recipe, it also promotes the use of domestic seafood. I like to buy domestic because I can be assured that is is local and fresh – and that is very important to me! So why not give it a whirl? Enter your best seafood recipe in the Cook off. Maybe you could even share your recipe with me…I have to be able to create all this fancy food my girls have been used to this past week!
Its all Greek to me!
Maybe it is to much time on my hands…maybe procrastination ( I did get the cabinets painted…they look awesome) but I have been playing around on the internet lately. My sister Amy added me as a friend to her Facebook account. Okay. I had to join to accept her offer. That was no problem. The problem is that I don’t quite get it yet. You send people virtual gifts – like a hug, a cake, or a beer. You poke people ( I still haven’t figured this one out), play little games, and you let everyone know what you are doing at any given moment. Do you Facebook? If so, what do you like best about it? Help a girl out!
I also spent some time creating my very own wordle today. These are really cool snapshots of your blog (or random words that you like) put into really cool collages. It is so fun to create these. You can post them on your blog, print them, or post them to the gallery.
Do you play on the internet? Where?
Take some time for some freebies…
I have been so busy trying to get my kitchen cabinets finished (almost done) that I have not had much of a chance to round up my freebies for the week! Here is what I came up with…
Join the Cheerios Challenge and get a free box! Try out a sample of Oatmeal Crisp cereal.
Take your kids to Home Depot this weekend to build a nifty flag holder- for free!
This is a great deal….Go to Borders online (remember to use Ebates if you are a member- you will get cash back on your purchase)) and use the code BR41925 to get $5 off every book you purchase! I picked out 34 books and only paid $4.44! You can choose to pick your books up at the store and you won’t have to pay anything for shipping!! Beware…their site is super duper slow! It takes a loooong time to do anything on the site.
Have fun book shopping!
Peace and Quiet.
Spending lots of time this week sitting out on the deck enjoying a cold glass of anything. Ah…peace and quiet. I found these really cool candles that I can stick in my empty wine bottle to add a little ambiance to my peaceful moments alone (all alone). Can you tell I miss my girls a whole bunch?
Whew!
What a weekend! We sent the girls off to visit their Aunt & Uncle in NYC. They are spending most of the week in Eagles Mere and ending the week in the city. The lucky ducks get to go see Mama Mia on Broadway Saturday night. We had a few tears when they left (no, they weren’t all mine), but they are having a great time with their Aunt and Uncle. So what do you do when your kids leave? Mike and I decided to paint the kitchen cabinets. Pretty insane don’t you think? This is a BIG project. The prep work alone will kill you. I am happy to report that we are almost done! My favorite part of the project was getting to use my super cute Ladies Tool Kit. You know how much I love pink 
I love that it is my very own set of tools – I don’t have to go rummaging around in the basement for Mike’s stuff. This would make a super gift for someone who is going off to college this Fall.
I’m off to put another coat of paint on the cabinets (this will be the 4th coat) and get myself cleaned up for my much needed massage this afternoon!
Make some money!!
I know you have all heard me talk about Ebates before…some of you have tried it and love it…others are not sure what to think about it. I personally love it. Each time I purchase something on the internet I first go to Ebates and then click through to the store of my choice. A portion of my purchase is credited back to me. Sometimes you get lots for buying and sometimes it might be only a few cents. But it all adds up! I got over $5 back for buying a $7 magazine subscription the other day. I use Ebates a lot for my restaurant.com purchases. You get 15% back for each purchase. Right now you can get $10 for signing up for Ebates. You will receive your $10 after making your first purchase. Restaurant.com is having a 70% off sale which would make it a great (and cheap) first purchase. You will pay $3 for a $25 restaurant gift certificate, get your $10 for signing up, and get another 45 cents for your purchase!! So now you have made $7.45 and a free $25 restaurant.com gift certificate!! Why not try to make a little extra money in this crazy economy?
Busy…
Seriously…packing two girls for their first trip away from Mom & Dad?? Crazy! We have been running around trying to make sure they have everything they need. Maddie wants to take my Plane Comfort bag. Should I let her?
Key Ingredient
I found a new website called Key Ingredients yesterday. It is a really neat cooking site that allows you to find, create, share and collect recipes online. Within seconds, I found this great recipe for French Chocolate Granola that I can’t wait to try! Honey, almonds, and bittersweet chocolate…yum! I’m sure it is healthy because it is granola, right?? Sometimes all you need to get dinner on the table is a little inspiration…thats why I love looking through recipes. You can search the recipes by ingredient, tag, or most recently added. You can read other peoples comments and reviews on each recipe as well as write your own comments and reviews. I think it would be fun to put in some of your favorite recipes and share them with everyone (unless you are one of those “its a family secret” types).
You can also use their site to create and print your own cookbook. How fun is that? I know Riley would love doing this. You could create a classroom cookbook for your child’s teacher, make one for your kids, or finally share all of your recipes with your friends.
Sometimes I can get lost reading recipes…cookbooks are like a good novel to me. Now I can pop on and look for “new chapters” daily!
I bet you are envious!
You should be…envious that is. I’m participating in the Susan G Komen event at Massage Envy on Monday! Actually you don’t have to be envious because you can too. On Monday July 28th they are letting their customers name their price for a full massage with the proceeds benefiting the Susan G Komen For the Cure fund raiser. Very win-win for everyone…they get customers to try out their amazing massages, Susan G Komen gets funds for their research, and I get to melt away my stress.
Massage Envy is a chain of locations throughout the USA that offer affordable and flexible appointments where they offer 6 different types of massages. I’m trying out the Swedish massage…I can’t wait! Get this…it is a full hour massage!!! The perfect way to relax while my kids are away on their trip
freebies!!
Free GeoTrax DVD for kids. Get a Glad Force Flex bag. Sold out…darn!
Stop into your local American Eagle store to sign up for the A List card. Now through August 6th you can get a free pair of undies with the card. Each month on a designated Thursday you show your card and get a little present!
Vote for your favorite look and they will send you a free Schick Quattro Trimmer.
Free box of Zoe Granola.
For all of you fabulous teachers out there….a free set of rulers for your classroom! Also, you might want to order these free earplugs too
Free Multimeter (Mike will love this)…you have to give them the name of the company you work for.
Free subscription to Automobile Magazine (another one for Mike).
Enjoy your day!
