Lookie Lookie!

Our local paper recently had a discussion on interesting things to eat at breakfast and I was happy to see a comment I left on the food blog was published in the Sunday print. I hope someone out there tries it. I love my Italian roots. Panettone is a wonderful Italian sweet bread with little fruit bits in it. Panettone is NOT FRUIT CAKE. Not that there is anything wrong with fruit cake, you just have to have the right one and be sure there is no creepy green fruit in it. I will share with you what I make every Christmas morning. This is my own recipe that my family and friends have enjoyed around our table and I hope you will too. Yum!

Panettone French Toast

Required:

1 Panettone, sliced 1/2 to 3/4 inch rounds and laid out to dry about 30 minutes each side.
2 Large eggs
1/3 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Orange juice
1 Tablespoon sugar
Pinch ground clove
1/4 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 Cup amaretto liquor
Pinch of salt
Butter for the pan

Method:

Combine all ingredients except the panettone and butter in a flat bottom bowl that the panettone will fit into. Warm your skillet to medium. Melt some butter. Dip the sliced panettone quickly through the batter and place in pan. Cook on each side 2 to 3 minutes for a nice golden brown using your spatula to flatten out after the first flip. No need for syrup unless you are a syrup junkie. Enjoy!

Oh, wow!

I was recently turned on to Dragon for dictation on my iPhone. It is great. I had this fantasy that I would dictate my blog on my ride home. I tried...it will take a tweet bit more practice and less cursing at other vehicles. Just as fun and possibly more useful is Dragon Search. If you have an iPhone please go get it now while it is still free. So easy and wonderful. Just tell your friend the dragon what you ponder and he will go fetch the results. No typing.

And on the subject of why I have not been dictating on my way home.....I am effing addicted to Gowalla. Sure, go get it now too while it is still free. Less than 850 people are playing in Georgia currently so I find it a great time to be a founder. This is my first go at playing a geocatching game. I am intrigued. It also inspires me to travel more. I would rather be traveling for work than working to travel......

That is my current iPhone goodness. There are some good zoom camera apps out there. None worth giving kudos to.

Simply Amazing

We snuck down to Orlando for a visit to Universal Studios and Island of Adventure the first weekend in December. Had a blast! The Fab Hub flew in to Minneapolis and I drove down. I really enjoyed the long drive. I had an iPod adapter installed on the TT before I left for added pleasure.
We stayed at the pink castle looking hotel that happens to be a Double Tree. A-la hot cookies whenever you ask. Great location. We were upgraded to the top floor for premier Hilton Honors people because I found a wonderful little code on retailmenot.com. There were dragons all around the hotel.

We went to Universal Studios on Saturday. Had a blast. No lines. No kids. We lost count of how many times we rode The Mummy roller coaster. The only thing we had to wait on was the Rock-it Roller Coaster. You get to pick your own soundtrack and then go straight up for take off only to go plunging back down and then into loops and corkscrews. I listened to Stronger. I think the music element adds to the ride. At the end of the day we watched the Macy's Parade down Main Street and I pined after being a balloon handler.

On Sunday we headed over to Island of Adventure. This was our first time in this park. We rode The Hulk, The Simpsons, Spiderman, Dueling Dragons and got to meet The Grinch. We saw the Grinchmas Show, which was wonderful, and had great food and even some sangria. We headed back over to the Rock-It Roller Coaster and saw some balloon handler people....AND THEY NEEDED VOLUNTEERS!!! That is right, I got to carry a balloon in the Macy's Parade!!! I carried a stupid football but I don't care---I got to do it!! Macy's sends all of the balloons down to Universal after the parade.

Saturday night we went to the Cirque Du Soleil show La Nooba. The show really was like a glimpse into a dream. It tickled my mind. It was layered in a way that was simply amazing. I highly recommend seeing the show. There are so many things going on at once that really put you in pure awe of the art of the performance. The experience is mind bending. I love the escape. The performers are top notch. The costumes are outstanding. Exquisite all around.

Florida was great and a much needed break with all fun and play.

Shoes for Ta Tas

So charity is good....shoes are better.

For the 2009 FFANY event I treated myself. Not sure that this qualifies as a true full price purchase. All of the shoes were donated and they were sold for half off. All of the proceeds go to breast cancer research. To continue to fuel my obsession with red shoes I just could not live without a new addition.

These will be showing up soon.

Communication is Key

So I was thrilled with my Blackjack II for a year and eight months. It called people, emailed, told me about the traffic, gave me directions, and searched the Internet. And then it stopped. And then I developed a relationship with AT&T customer service. It worked again! Then the email stopped harvesting. Then it stopped sending....you get the picture. After at least ten hours of relationship building with AT&T customer service, both over the phone and in person, I learned this was a compatibility issue. While tech one was calling customer service from the AT&T store tech two took me to an iPhone to see if it would work....yep, it sure did. He had time to install and uninstall my email both POP & IMAP and report back that it worked. Tech one was still on hold. It took a week to get the phone due to demand. I have had it less than a week. I love the iPhone. LOVE. So much fun and productivity is possible....or I can just be on Facebook all day.

But not Shuffleboad!

Annual cruise time came upon us quickly this year. The fab hub & I have been working long and hard hours. It was time for a break were cell phones did not work and computers were banished. We flew into Tampa and hopped on the ship and we were off to Belize City. We got to go on a zip line through the canopies of trees in the rain forest. I was really expecting to be scared and maybe scream. Nope, it was a nice easy zip through the trees. We floated on inter tubes through a cave also. The water was cold and I got gravel in my bikini.
I hit the pharmacia for mom and hooked her up with some needed meds since she does not have health care.
I had a drink of the day or three everyday. We hit Costa Maya and has beers on the beach. In Guatemala I got a cool little beaded chicken. When the ship was leaving many of the cab drivers and vendors sang and played music and danced as we set sail. That was really neat. That is the city's way of saying thank you for the tourist that are brought in.
We hit Key West and toured the Hemingway house. I have been to Mile 0. Key West is wonderful. I like how family unfriendly they are. No apologies and no desire to suddenly become a family destination. The people are great. You can get around on a bike and be fine. As the ship sailed we watched the sun set over the square.

London Calling

I really love London. I wish I had a magical red telephone booth to transport me there whenever needed. There is so much to say. The fab hub had a business engagement that got us across the pond. We had to take separate flights since I am a cheap skate and it was the difference of a couple hundred bucks but only two hours. Once we flew into Heathrow we took the Gatwick Express into the city where we met up with Jeff's boss. Boss loves to try new food. I love him for this. I love learning people through their food and community around it. Since I could not sleep on the flight over first things first was to get a power nap. Once I was up we ventured out for some of the best Thai food ever. The sauces were amazing. Light and tasty, not thick and goopy. The vegatables were so fresh. It was just what I needed to be off to a good start.
London knows about transportation. They have this down to a science. The Tube simply works. The buses are everywhere and they work. Traffic is a nightmare. The city is old, there are not intersections or round abouts--there are a mish mash of street converging on one another that you must navigate quickly and with care.
Jeff was off to work at the booth OpenNMS had at the Linux World show. I played. I saw Big Ben, the London Eye, Harrod's, Tower Bridge, and my favorite was going to St. Paul's Cathedral. I am still in awe. Something stirred and moved in me while climbing the steps all the way to the top in Prada shoes. Not the best climbing footwear choice, but hey, they looked great! When I got to the top of the crazy winding stairs and finally outside to view all of London I asked a lady to snap my picture. She said sure with an accent I knew too well. Yeah, she was from Marietta.
We went to an English pub for dinner. They were serving Mexican food. You know I had some. Indeed the enchiladas were super. FYI Guinness is served cold and they have no damn clue what a Tom Collins is but the made me one anyways and it was good too.
Whoever told you the English cannot cook lied to you.
We had some yummy fusion inspired food at a place called I Love Vodka. A great eclectic mix that was not forced together to make the description sound good. I had some wonderful Chinese food. I was enchanted by the food halls in Harrod's.
We stayed in one of the nicest hotels I have ever encountered. The Sofetel was amazing. One of the neatest features I hope to see more places adopt is that if you want the power in your room to work the key must be placed in a slot in the wall. Thus when you are gone you take the key and the power is out. They have Hermes soap. Seriously.
I love London. Fast city, amazing fashion, wonderful food, nice people, cute cabs and an intriguing mix of old and new.
I will visit again!

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

After almost one year to the day it happened: The Pine Sol lady and her fried chicken have moved out.

When did it become okay to email in a resignation? It has happened twice in the last month.

At least I will not have urgent runs to the ladies' room due to the water fountain that used to run all day for soothing sounds. I will no longer be up to date on the latest gospel music. Join my euphoria and raise a glass.

A List for the D List

I love Kathy Griffin. She was at the Fabulous Fox for a stand up show.
The fab hub's schedule has been unpredictable so when the tickets went on sale I was not sure if he was going to be here so I did not buy any. It ended up that he was here on the night of the show. I searched craigslist.org, eBay, StubHub and a few others. Finally, I found a broker in Arizona that had a local guy here on the street. Dude, we got 2nd row center stage. The crazy redhead was insane and 10 feet from us. We had awesome gays in front of us. She railed all over Palin and I loved it. Did I mention the guy that we met for the tickets was named Smooth? Yeah.

I am in "The Club" now

Well, it is the club I frankly do not care to be part of. I am celebrating the 1st anniversary of my 29th birthday. The fab hub says it is better than the alternative.....
I was born at 5:28am on 5/28/78---killer planning mom!
Due to things out of my control I had my birthday party the weekend before. I thought this was the worst thing but it ended up fine. We hosted a murder mystery party that was incredible. We had 20 people participating in the murder mystery that was set in the 1920's in a speakeasy that was a brothel cover up during prohibition. It was so much fun. My mom came up a day early to roll up her sleeves and help cook. My girlfriend from NYC flew in to help celebrate. We made almost everything from scratch--two sauces (marinara and vodka), chicken saltemboca, two kinds of fresh bread sticks-one with Parmesan the other with sesame seeds, six pounds of meatballs, endive stuffed with a Gorgonzola mix, a nut and cheese plate, ravioli, and I had the bakery that made our wedding cake hook up a revolver on the top of my cake. Everyone dressed up and played their role to perfection. There was so much extortion I could not keep up. It was a so much fun that I will be sure to do another one.
Happy birthday to me!

NYC Baby!!!

I am so excited. The fab hub has a gig in NYC later this month. I am going up for a few days. I cannot wait. I will eat my way through the city. I have never had the pleasure of Century 21 so I must go there. I am starting my prayers that I catch a ride in the cash cab. Yay! The fab hub will be working most of the time so I will be on my own. I will get to see my best girl friend and my step mom too. Yippy!!!

Yeah, Another Defense Verdict....

I can tell you when it will rain by the ache in my knee. I can tell you the out come of a trial in some states by my gut feeling. This is the 4th defense verdict. Only 10 days to appeal and 3 of those days have elapsed. I have yet to have a plaintiff appeal. I get a little giddy about my record.

Where I have been? 2 Defense Verdicts--That's Where!!

Yeah, I am the girl with the reflective white skin. This is because I have been in my office working like a mad woman. I got 2 defense verdicts earlier this month and I have been so busy I could not even brag about it. That makes 3 in the less than 6 months I have been doing this. I really have been busy. I was there 13 hours today.

1st Defense Verdict!!!

I am so freaking happy. I really am.

A Change of Plan

Sometimes I really do not know where I am headed, but I know where I am going will be better. I have made the decision to change jobs. Whoopie! I will be moving up the ladder kind of....I have accepted a position as a litigation handler of injury claims and bad faith claims. Basically I will be an attorney wrangler. I am so excited. This will be great for many reasons. I have been in the insurance industry for 5 years now and it was time to do more. I thought law school was the "more", then After careful examination of my lifestyle and what it will take (mainly money) I decided it was not a fit. Then I thought CPCU was the route to go. Not to sound lazy....but I am not in this to run an insurance company and the intense studying was not fitting in with my lifestyle. I will get to learn so much in my new role. I am very excited for this! I have been doing the same thing for awhile. New vocabulary words: summary judgement, deposition, mediation, and the one folks will make me pull my hair out with is proper service. Did I mention I will be handling 19 states? Yeah.

Theft by Taking

DSW is having a mother of a sale. Stop reading this and get your ass over there.
I love DSW for several reasons:
1. They have my favorite brands: Kenzie, BCBG, Jessica Simpson, Guess, Rocket Dog and many more.
2. The sale section is larger than most shoe stores.
3. The prices are unreal. Example: Tonight I scored a pair of Jessica Simpsons that are super soft leather with acrylic leopard heels for $18 that were just marked down 70% from $60. I think crappy shoes at Payless are more than that. I also picked up a killer kitten heel pair of shoes from Charles David for $21.
4. They play good music. One time I was in there and actually turned my iPod off.
Really, they just marked a crap load of shoes down. If you need shoes, want shoes, wear shoes or dream about shoes you need to go. I may make another trip without the fab hub cause, well you know....sometimes shoes just find their way into the house.

Hooks, Spatulas, and Squeegies

Friday was brought to you 100% by Xanex.....

January 2005 I had my first laser eye surgery. It was time for the enhancement on my left eye. My vision was so crappy it could not be done in one shot. I was freaked out for the 1st procedure and the second did not really bring warm fuzzies either. I planned ahead and had my one lonely pill of Xanex. The fab hub took me to the laser center early Friday morning. We were going through the pre op stuff...measuring, comparing and all the good stuff when you correct vision. The first time they "create a flap", aka: cut the top micron layer of your eye to reveal the orange peel layer below. This is freaky. Did I mention you can see when the top layer is off? It is like opening your eyes underwater.
The second time you have laser eye surgery they lift the original flap. This is where it got freaky. The surgeon "marks" the flap edges. When I think of marking things I think of a Sharpie Marker. When a surgeon marks a flap he uses a needle on a handle. CRAP!
I had not had the magic pill yet and he was coming at me like a spider monkey. I asked for 30 minutes to let the magic pill work.
He came back and "marked" the flap. It was more like scoring my eye. Now it was time to go back and visit my friend the laser. I had a patch on my right eye, Yarr! Next it was time to fully lift the flap. The spider monkey came at me with the little hook instruments that are similar to what the dentist uses to scrape your plaque. I see the two hooks fighting to lift the flap. I see them enting my vision from the right, the top, the left, all over moving across my vision to lift the flap. Then a spatula came and lifted the flap to the side. It was finally up and the familiar underwater vision was back. Then there was some laser action. I smelled the yummy burning. The flap was placed back into position. Then there were squeegies smoothing the flap and getting it into good position. It was like two little window washers working quickly. Finally I was done. See ya later!
Next day I was able to read half of the 20/20 line with my left eye only!! Woot! My goal was street signs.
This is the freakiest thing. You see it all. Totally worth it....just bring you Xanex.

We got a Wii, or Two

It finally happened. The world must be coming to an end. The fab hub had a good day in a Tram-Law (wal-mart). We called around 11 in the morning and they had 3 Wii left. About 20 minutes prior I had chugged some night time cold medicine that was beginning to knock me out. Being a good wife I get up and drive our asses to the Retnec Repus Tram-Law since he is still priming the engine in the SmurFJ and the TT is just made to be fast. We get in there and they still have the Wii. We bought one. Then called a friend.....yeah, we went back and got him one too. They tried to pull the "1 per customer" crap. I then pointed out that the fab hub and I are two different people. I am excited.....yippy skippy!