My Top 20 Christmas Movies

Guys!

I need to share my Christmas movie watch list with someone - and that someone is YOU.

So here they are in no particular order.  Unless the order is "the order in which I remembered they existed":

• Christmas Vacation
• This movie cracks me up everytime I watch it.  I can't help it.  I'm actually saving it for closer to Christmas, that's how much I love it.
• Home Alone
• We just watched this the other day.  Kevin McCallister is a sadistic little bastard.  Why didn't he call the cops? Because he's Liam Neeson as a child. That's why.
• The Holiday
• Shut up. You don't get to judge me.  I watched this Thanksgiving night, drinking in my bed alone at 9pm. And I cried (I'm a weeper). And I laughed. And you can suck it.
• Nightmare Before Christmas
• Obviously. Everyone loves this.
• The Family Stone
• I want to be part of this family.  But I have my own crazy family that's perfect.  But this story is so nice and quirky and again, I cried.
• Miracle on 34th Street
• The old one.  Not the new shit with Mara Wilson.  Classic Kris Kringle.
• It's a Wonderful Life
• This is the only movie on this list that John approves of.  And I think it's because it's a good film on it's own.  It tells a great story and it's nostalgic for everyone, you know...because it's old.
• White Christmas
• I don't care that most of my family hates this movie.  It's one of my all time favorites.  I love cheesy musical numbers. Sisters!
• Muppet Christmas Carol
• Again, obviously.  
• Love Actually
• So many adorable love stories mixed up in one great present of a film.  The scene with Hugh Grant dancing is adorable.  
• Scrooged
• This is the only Christmas movie that my step mom absolutely has to watch every year and it's obvious why. It's fantastic!
• Die Hard
• It's a Christmas movie. 
• Elf
• I'm actually watching this over several lunch breaks at work.  And cracking up out loud watching it.
• Jingle All the Way
• DASHER DANCER PRANCER VIXEN COMET CUPID DONNER BLITZEN
• The Santa Clause
• I hadn't seen this movie in a long time so I rented it this year and guess what? It's still great.  Tim Allen at his best. bahaha that's a great sentence.
• A Christmas Story
• I don't care if you hate that it's on for 24 hours every year. It's on for a reason. And that reason is - it's amazing.
• Little Women
• The movie that brought on a sizable crush on Christian Bale.  I still think it's a Christmas movie.
• Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
• Bumbles bounce!  Such a classic.  So much so that I have a stuffed Rudolph under my tree.
• Charlie Brown Christmas
• Come on.  No one can deny this one.  It's got breakaway dance hits!
• Frosty the Snowman
• I love the old claymationy movies.  I just wish I remembered the one that talks about waffling.

5 Things I learned from the movie Sweet Home Alabama

Things I learned from the movie Sweet Home Alabama (which is one of my all time favorite romantic commedies):

• You don't always meet your soulmate when you're 10 - but sometimes you do and it's AMAZING.  This movie has an epic love story.  About 2 kids from the south who find their soulmate when they're 10 years old. And they get married and knocked up and everything just goes wrong.  So they have to go about their lives pretending that they were crazy to think they were right all along.  Well guess what - sometimes you DO find your soulmate when you're 10.  And you shouldn't fight it.

• If you lie about your background you can make it pretty far in the fashion world in NYC.  Melanie Smooter (Reese Witherspoon) is just a small town girl from the wrong side of the tracks in rural Alabama who gets caught up in young love.  When she realizes that her life isn't what she wanted, she adopts a new moniker, lies about her background, and becomes a huge success in the NYC fashion world.  BECAUSE SHE LIED.

• Apparently, songs make great movie titles.  And can serve as main plot motivators.  You can get your main characters to dance to the song!  If there's a location in the title, you can set the film there!  WOW!

• When lightning strikes sand it makes a weird squiggly glass monster.  And that is worth money! Duh. Base a business off it and impress your lover.

• If you strap dynamite to a cat and aim it at a bank not only will the cat live but you'll become a local legend.  Guys. Cat's can totally survive being blown up.  They have NINE lives.  Just make sure you're tracking how many lives they've used up.  I'm pretty sure if it's they're last life they won't make it through the bank explosion.

Post Halloween Post

It's November!!!

I'm so excited because that means I get to go home to Michigan for a whole week soon! 

But before all of that goodness, I wanted to share my Halloween costumes from this year with you because I was super proud of myself.  I actually ended up making 2 costumes for myself (after the first fell apart). And I liked the second/backup costume even more than the first!

Baby Lamb - Inspired by the lamb in Lisa's head on the Simpsons?

The Hamburglar!

The lamb costume was the one I worked hardest on and ended up ruining by not having a good way to take it off.  oops!  But the Hamburglar costume was so much fun!  I wore it to work and to buy a hamburger for lunch and it was just perfect.

What did you do for Halloween this year?

It's a Kenvention!

Over the weekend, Kelly and I went out to Rosemont, IL to go to a Kenvention.  What's a "Kenvention" you ask?  Oh...just a barbie convention for Ken.  No big deal.

WHAT?  It's huge! And so cool!  So don't play it down! 

My step mom, Jean, is an avid Barbie collector and told us about the Kenvention a few months ago when we were stalking her collection in the basement back home.  The convention itself was sold out (and expensive) but they had a public sale that we could attend for like 5 bucks.  So we were sold.  It was a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning.

There were just soooo many outfits to look at!  Barbie has a dream wardrobe.  And seeing so many cute things in one room was almost too much.  Not to mention the sheer volume of Barbies they had for sale.  Did you know there was a Cher Barbie?  Because it's awesome.  And there are Mulder and Scully Barbies? Way awesome.  But my favorite were the 'I Love Lucy' Barbies.  They had the most amazing and Lucy-like expressions.  See for yourself in the pictures below.

Next year's theme is going to be like a Hardy Boys mystery and it's in Wisconsin.  So we might have to check that shit out too.

Kelly - in Ken's living room

so many old school dolls

So smart - Barbie Mannequins

Seriously - look at her perfect face!

Oh!  Have you checked out Michigan Made this week?  I posted a tutorial on how to do a neat and easy nail art DIY.

Camping in Morris

Last weekend, John and I went camping at Gebhard State Park in Morris, IL with Ashdog.  The campground itself was sort of weird in that it was basically a wide open park you could put a tent.  But it was only $6 for a campsite that had a ton of nice amenities.  It had an abundance of fire pits, grills, and picnic tables which sound fantastic except that we didn't know there would be grills so we didn't bring any coal. womp womp.

We also were told that there would be plenty of firewood because some trees had fallen down recently and they'd been chopped up.  Unfortunately, all of that wood was soaked so John had to spend all day Saturday maintaining our baby fire.  But it was worth it to smell like bon fire at the end of the night.  

We spent the day internet free just hanging out by the fire, drinking contraband beer in coozies and trying really hard to focus on our books.  Spoiler: Neither of us read more than 5 pages.  Oops!  But we did complete some awesome Star Wars Mad Libs that I picked up the day before!  They were surprisingly entertaining and ridiculous.  Which is good to have around when you're in a tent in the dark.

Speaking of the dark...it definitely rained shortly after we passed out.  Which was terrifying and woke me up so fast.  I was terrified that our new tent would prove to not be rain proof.  But I had no need to fear because it was completely dry!  Holy crap! It was so awesome!  I think it's so weird how excited I am about a dry tent, but come on.  It was an inexpensive and awesome purchase.

Basically, camping was awesome.  And we're going to go back before it cools down too much.  And you should join us!  We promise to be more prepared next time. :)

Oh!  And have you checked out my new DIY Blog, Michigan Made?  Because this is our first week so you should definitely check it out!

New things!

I know I've been quiet for a long ass time over here. And that's because it's been summer! 

But with Fall just around the corner, I'll be back to my old ways and telling you a little too much about my life. 

More importantly, I've been working with some of my best friends on creating a new collaborative blog called Michigan Made.  It's going to be such a fun and creative space!  You should definitely add it to your preferred readers and bookmark it.

Today is our official launch day and we'll start cranking out awesome posts starting next week that you won't want to miss!

Healthy Oven Nugs

Welcome to take 2 of new recipes in our apartment.  This time, it was all me!

I started out trying to make chicken cordon bleu but I got really frustrated with slicing the chicken into 3 strips without ripping it.  So I threw a mini hissy fit in the crazy heat and ended up deciding to make chicken nuggets instead.

Again, I looked to Skinny Taste for the recipe.  It was easy enough for me to follow along all on my own after getting over my own personal disappointment in not making what i had originally wanted.  If you want to follow along with my awful captions, feel free to continue but I'd really recommend checking the source instead.

Step 1. Ignore your original plans to make chicken cordon blew and start chopping the shit out of your chicken until it's "bite size" and cubey.  Then season it with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 2.  Get your bowls of dipping stuff ready.  That means pour not enough olive oil into the first bowl so that you have to refill it later.  And then put bread crumbs, panko, and parmesan in the other.  But WAY TOO MUCH.  Like, follow the instructions, but know you'll have a ton left over and feel like a waste.

Step 3 (not pictured).  Gross yourself out grabbing chicken bits and tossing it in the olive oil then into the crumb mixture.  Then onto the pan.  Repeat.

Step 4. Worry that the crumbs that are now black midway through cooking signify that your oven is a piece of shit that burns things by randomly increasing temperatures by 100 degrees while you're not looking.  Flip a few pieces over (eventually all) and sigh from relief that you were mistaken.

Step 5. Continue baking the nuggets for a few more minutes then put them on a plate with a better side than potato chips.  Like fries.  Or something healthy.  But it's too damn hot to risk turning the oven back on so I suck it up and try to eat chips.

Honestly, these were REALLY good.  Like, I loved them so much more than any frozen nugs I've ever had. Or even restaurant nugs.  I swear I'm better than restaurants now.  Just don't judge by the shitty iPhone pictures.  I'm going with it being too hot to use a real camera.  Yep.  That's a thing.

Grilled Steak Fajitas

Hey guys!  Remember when I 'vowed' to try new recipes?  Well get ready! because we are getting serious about it over here.  I recently found the blog Skinny Taste and went a little crazy bookmarking recipes.

And then I went to the store and bought enough stuff to cook 7 meals this week and it's going to be insane.  And delicious.  And a lesson in retraining our bodies to enjoy healthier stuff.  Whatever.

So, Sunday night dinner was a tasty treat of Grilled Steak Fajitas.  And you should consider yourselves lucky because John documented the whole endeavor!  Now, obviously you can click on the link above for the actual recipe but if you're a better cook than us you might be able to get it from just the photos and tiny descriptions below.

Step 1: Chop your shit.  Clean it first (I guess).  If you're human, you cry now and end up having to rinse your eyes in the sink.

Step 2: Listen to AMAZING jams on your record player (or computer if you aren't awesome).

Step 3: Keep chopping! Oh my god!!!!!! CHOP IT!!!

Step 4: Throw your veggies in a pot and cook them for like 20 minutes (or until the onions are carmelized).  I'll be honest, this is the point in the cooking where I left the room and cleaned.

Step 5: Grill your flank steak that you preseasoned.  It should be medium rare.  Again, I had no part in this.

Step 6: CHOP MORE STUFF!

Step 7: Enjoy!  It will be amazing!  You can add things to it (sour cream, cheese, etc.)

Seriously, finding this other blog was a great thing.  It tells you the nutriotional info and everything looks amazing and easy to do.  I definitely recommend you check it out.  Or come to our place for dinner.  Because we cook now.  (I swear I'll cook the next one...)

OTW: Grand Rapids 2k12

Ahh! What a weekend!  John, Ashdog, and I trekked out to Grand Rapids on Friday after work for a glorious weekend retreat in our old stomping grounds.  Planned according to the schedule of the annual Heritage Hill garage sale, which just seemed to be a perfect weekend to do.

We got to Hudsonville kind of late on Friday night for our stay in the Super 8 that had a non functioning pool - much to our dismay. And a sporatic internet connection - also bad! But it was cheap! And allowed dogs! And had basic cable! And air conditioning!  So it was pretty perfect.  We fell asleep sort of early so we could fully enjoy our Saturday downtown.

And enjoy we did!  We headed down to The Brandywine, one of our favorite breakfast spots. Where we were THRILLED to find out we could order junior portions of our favorite omelettes (him) and scrambles (her).  It was the perfect light breakfast for a day in the sun.  And the best way to inspire a motto for the weekend - "Yum yum yum!"

After breakfast, we met up with our dear friend Sasha to go garage sale-ing all throughout the neighborhood known as Heritage Hill.  It was fantastic catching up and hanging out.  We got to buy awesome things like framed calendar pages of cowboys and VHS tapes and even a blank cornhole game for $10!  Obviously the last one there was the best purchase made throughout the weekend.  It is something we've been wanting to make and now we don't have to do that at all.  We just get to paint it!

Spending several hours at garage sales leads to a lot of hunger and the best way to satisfy that hunger is to head to Cherry Street Deli for some tasty GR themed Sandwiches.  Seriously, yum yum yum!  And I got to have my favorite cream soda!  So it was a great lunch.

After lunching at the deli and hitting up the antique store (which was a bust) we dropped Sasha off and headed to the hotel to check on the dog/nap.  Had to recharge the batteries for dinner and drinks downtown!  So we did just that and headed back downtown to meetup with Sasha and get sushi at my personal favorite, Marado Sushi.  Anytime I can get a crazy boy roll is a good time.

We finished up and walked down to get some tasty beers and crack fries at the Hopcat.  I mean, no trip to GR is complete without the Hopcat, right?  And sitting on the patio was pretty perfect too.  But we only had 1 or 2 beers there before heading to Stella's where we accidentally camped out for the night.  Honestly, it was just too perfect to leave.  Good beers, good conversations, and a good bartender.  What more can you want? (Hot dogs.  I wanted hot dogs.)

Sasha and Me @ Stella's.  Post "serious face" photo.

 I could go on and on about how great a time it was but there are some things you need to keep to yourself.  Like inside jokes and great conversations with friends you've missed.  And the inexplainable feeling of nostalgia just walking those streets.  I mean, Chicago is great but Grand Rapids feels like home! 

Currently

View from the Zoo

Currently...

Loving: This weather!  Are you kidding me?  It's perfect outside lately (rainy days not included).  I love a day that is sunny and in the mid 70s.  It makes it comfortable enough to leave the windows open and not worry about losing a bet concerning our air conditoner.

Working on: Rededicating myself (again!) to everything I've lapsed on in the past month.  Like eating better.  And working out.  And writing in my blog...  But I'm going to try to do better!

Wishing: That my family lived closer/visited more.  Just the other day, John was making us steaks in the kitchen and I was staring out the door waxing poetic about missing my dad and wishing we could just go to his house and have a BBQ.  So maybe when I say I wish they lived closer, I mean I wish I lived closer.  I miss Michigan a lot in the summer.

Waiting for: The weekend!  John, Ashdog, and I are trekking up to Grand Rapids (!) for the weekend on Friday and it just can't come soon enough.  We've been talking about where we want to eat/drink for well over a month now and I'm just so excited to be back there!

Listening to: A crazy mix of Spotify favorites that range from 90s RnB to teenage pop music to oldies to dance mixes.  To say that I have scattered tastes would be an understatement.

Friday Faves

It's friday!  I'm so excited for the long weekend.  I have no idea what I'll do with my time but something tells me that I might be taking a trip to Ikea.  I just have too many home projects I want to get done and need stuff from there.  Anyway!  Here's a list of my faves from the week:

I love this.  It seriously cracks me up a lot.  So hopefully it does the same for you.

THESE Avengers inspired dresses.  I love them. Especially Thor's.  So cute!

Okay.  Are you freaking KIDDING me with THESE?!? Disneyfied versions of the x-men?  Look how stinking cute Kitty Pryde is!  I wish there was a cartoon in this style.  I would just about die.

            

Who else is super excited to watch Moonrise Kingdom (which comes out today)?  It looks seriously great and I'm pretty excited for it.

It's great for a snack, it fits on your back!

Tuesday Bluesday? Watch this video!



The amount that I love this video is astounding.  I laughed so hard I cried a little bit.  All because I was so worried that the slinky would fall of.

Does it fall off?

Watch the video to find out!

PS - Happy Tuesday!

OTW: Man it's hot!

I think I need a better system for recording things over my weekend - visually.  That system would go something like: bring camera with you and use it.

It's crazy, I know.

Anyway, so this weekend was definitely needed after my 3 day work week last week. ;)  It was rough, let me tell ya!  The weekend itself wasn't super eventful but if you know me at all, you know that's how I like them.

Friday night was spent hanging out with Danielle and John getting amazing ice cream at our local shop, Margie's and watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (part 1).  Oh my god guys.  Ice cream for dinner is one of the best perks of being a grown up!  And hand scooped sundaes are just the tits.  However, in the future I'd rather eat my ice cream dinner before 9 oclock at night because that's a little late to be starting a long epic movie and expect me to behave the whole time.  (spoiler: I didn't).

sundae dinner.

Saturday was spent waking up way earlier than normal, which seems to be how Kelly and I do things.  If I have plans with her I should just be prepared to wake up and go go go!  It was really fun to grab breakfast with her at Einstein bagels and then hit up a neighborhood garage sale. The garage sale was huge.  And spread out over too many blocks.  And hot.  But I came out of it with a cheap copy of Bring it On and a Pyrex bowl to add to me infinitely growing collection. 

hot kitty.

The day turned to evening and was rounded out with a trip to a local pub to share a burger with John.  And to escape our crazy hot apartment.  It was really nice if you don't think about the burger being burned or the service being slow.  At least it was good company.  We stopped in at Hazel on the way home and bought some goodies.  I'm extremely pumped about our DC Comics post cards.  They're amazing.  I just need more pen pals!

zombikeys. disco stu. postcards!

If we're being honest, Sunday was spent playing video games on my computer and not wearing pants.  I'm sorry, but it was just too damn hot.  And it was actually a perfect Sunday being lazy and avoiding the outside world.  I know I wouldn't trade it for a thing.

Photo an Hour - Mother's Day

I've seen photo an hour posts all over the blogosphere and thought it sounded like a fun idea.  The problem was picking a good day to document.  So, when I went home for mother's day, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

So here's what my Sunday looked like!

9:00AM - Wake up in a big ol' bed and snap a photo of myself all crazy looking and poorly lit.  Love it.

10:00AM - Enjoying the fact that the TVs at my dad's house have Cable.  Which gives me the opportunity to watch "Because I Said So", which I own on DVD.

11:00AM - Make up time!  Getting ready for my mom and sister to pick me up.

12:00PM - Mother's day trip to Wojo's to buy some flowers for my amazing mom.  So pretty!

1:00PM - Visiting with my mom's kitties.  The black one, Hannah, is EVIL.

2:00PM - VISITING WITH BABY HAZEL OMG.  All caps because it was completely necessary.  This baby is amazing.  I love her.

3:00PM - Still visiting.  I love it. That's her with her dad.

4:00PM - Baby Hazel got so sleepy so she passed out on her momma.  They had to leave us soon after. :(

5:00PM - Time for me to kick my feet up and fall asleep for the next hour or so.  Which is why there's no 6:00 photo.

7:00PM - Dinner time means Jet's Pizza time.  Yum yum!

8:00PM - Home to my dad's to hang out and stalk Harold the cat.

9:00PM - This is where my night got "interesting".  In that Ash wasn't feeling well and had to be taken to the emergency clinic. :(  BTW - I love Animal Emergency Center in Novi.  They're amazing.

10:00PM - Still at the vet.  Waiting for Ash's tests to be run.

11:00PM - Yep.  Still at the vet.  Can you tell how tired we were?  At least this is our last hour there.  We found out ash essentially had a bladder infection.  So that's surprisingly good news.

12:00AM - Driving home! Finally!  So dark! So tired!

1:00AM - oh.my.god.  Longest day ever!  Finally home and ready for bed.  Oi! The end!