Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Can we have girls weekend every weekend please?

With my 2nd girls' weekend of the summer over I can't help but be depressed that my summer has officially ended- yet happy that it went out with a bang.

I learned a few important things over the weekend:

* Don't blog about hating someone- even if she doesn't read your blog because it might be brought up in conversation and suddenly she wants to read it for the first time. "er...um....uh....before you look at it, I should warn you that I said that I kinda sorta hate you because you don't like soup- I don't really hate you, I love you. I just blogged about hating you" Awwwwkward.

* A girls weekend will bring a group of women closer together than anything else in the world. And even though it's nice to get together with "the men" it's always way better without them.

* Sitting in a room with 8 mothers that have a grand total of 12 children between them, makes me wonder when one mother says to the other "Oh your daughter is so adorable!!" if they secretly say to themselves "yes, she is adorable but my daughter is way cuter." Because I'm pretty positive I will be having those exact thoughts but then again my babies are going to be insanely gorgeous so it will be warranted.

* Don't go on nature walks in the dark without the help of flashlights because in the morning you might discover that you were sitting in an obscene amount of goose poo. HOWEVER, I am pleased to report that my friend must've been standing too close to me because when the Universe sent down the lightning bolt message of "sit here. Sit right here in the poop" my friend accidentally received the message instead of me. I know damn well that message was meant for me because that would be a very, very typical Mandy Moment but SCORE for me for dodging that one!!!

* It may seem like a good idea to bring something "easy" to share but you feel like a total schmo when you see that everyone else has brought gourmet quality food when you brought the least exciting food of the weekend. Next time, all the stops are pulled out.

* Take leftovers when they're offered!! Because even though you think "I don't want to have all that cake at home" when you get home you want all that cake and will do just about anything to get it! And no, the cookies, fudge, licorice, and ice cream you have in your house do NOT cut it.

* "Girls Weekend" and "Girls Night" are two waaay different things. As a married chubby lady that likes to eat and be in lounge pants all weekend, I think Girls Weekends are much better.

* Reminiscing never gets old. Until you get actual confirmation that people didn’t like you when they first met you because there was a citywide APB to not like you. WHAT?!? How could you not like me? I’m awesome.

*Even though taking pictures can seem cumbersome at the time, it's sad when you don't have enough when you get home.

* Every girl NEEDS girls weekends because the foundation of friendships are eternally cemented within the time-span of one little weekend.



Wednesday, September 22, 2010

3 goals, one year, let's see how far I get.

I got to spend a wonderful weekend up north with my college girls this past weekend. There was a lot of food, talking, drinks, pictures- it was everything that a girls weekend should be!

We watched a slideshow of pictures ranging from my sophomore year of college to my wedding (thanks Heidi! We missed you and Melissa). Oh nelly, the changes my body has made since then!

I was reminded of those changes when I laid on my back on Sunday night, I had to slightly roll side to side to even out my swollen back-fat rolls to be able to lay flat. I blame all the salt from the weekend for the newly rounded rolls. Yeah, that's it- it was the salt people! I thought about inserting a picture of a very, very fat back here but I didn't. You're welcome.

And just because I'm completely vain enough to want to bask in my former glory and have everyone around me know: I practically had a 6-pack back in college.

Seriously.

I know how much doubt you're feeling when you hear that but there's pictures to prove it. And those were before Photoshop was user-friendly- so don't even accuse me of faking it.

Ahh....those were the days...

These days my goals are much different than perfecting my abs. I now have my sights set on some new hobbies that I'm hoping my Suzy-Homemaker-Green-Thumb friend, Jen, will teach me.

She's an amazing person to start off with but she also grows and MAKES things- like everything.

Like if you wanted to make a sandwich, where does your bread come from- the store? She makes her own. You want jam on that bread, you break out the Schmuckers that you bought at the store. She makes her own. You want Raspberry Vodka, where do you go? The store right? Oh no, not my friend, she MAKES it (well not the alcohol part but she works her magic and one year later she breaks out the most delicious Raspberry Vodka you've ever had, with raspberries that she, of course, grows).

Here are the following "goals" I have for myself for the next year because I’m a total copy cat
1. I'm making Adam build me an above ground gardening box. Here's what I'm going to plant: tomatoes, raspberries, onions, green beans, basil, and oregano.

2. With said planted veggies, I'm going to try my hand at "canning" (something I've never even seen someone do). For my first year I’m going to set my sights low the only thing I really want to do is pasta sauce. I'm thinking vodka sauce because it's my favorite.

3. I'm going to learn how to knit. I'm 30 now, so now that I'm on old hag it's time for me to take up knitting. I've tried to teach myself with the help of a book in the past but apparently my brain can't look at pictures, read and make my hands do something all at the same time. I even tried making Adam learn so he could teach me but he's not the most patient teacher so that didn't last long- hopefully my friend, Beth, will be a little more tolerant to my limited dexterity when she teaches me.

Okay so I've got my 3 goals. I'm good with 3. Any more and you and I both know that none of them would actually happen because the last time I set a goal for myself was me saying that I was going to post a new blog three times a week. See. I'm not that great with goals.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

New seasons bring new cravings

Lately I've been craving homemade Chicken Wild Rice soup like crazy.

I'm fortunate to get two, count them: TWO, girls' weekends this summer! I was thinking that for the 2nd trip, I'd make my beloved Chicken Wild Rice soup and my excitement level skyrocketed.

It'll be the last weekend of September- just when it's starting to get a little cooler outside and who doesn't like CWR soup when it's cold, can I get an Amen?!

But alas, when there's 9 girls and food involved, you just know that someone is going to spoil it and yep someone "doesn't like soup", so no soup for me!... and I might hate her now- just a little but I can't help it, I don't get my beloved soup and really, who doesn't like soup!?!

Now I should clarify NO recipes posted on this site are "mine" meaning Mandy Created. Oh no, that'll never happen. Instead I eat yummy food my friends have prepared, get the recipes and either make or adapt them. With that being said, I need to give credit where credit is due and I forgot to a couple of months ago, The Mac & Cheese recipe was given to me by my lovely friend Sarah who always seems to be cooking up something delicious. I'm not sure if it was her creation or she just passed it along but she was MY source.

I've gotten two really great Chicken Wild Rice Soup recipes (thanks Heidi and Melissa!!) and I've merged the two of them together for extra deliciousness:

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

1 cup Wild Rice cooked*
1 lb bacon, diced
1/2 bag baby carrots diced
1 Celery rib, diced
1 large onion, diced
2- 4oz. cans sliced mushrooms
1 pint Half & Half
2 cans Cream of Potato soup
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 Chicken bouillon cube
1 Rotisserie chicken shredded warning, I consider shredding a Rotisserie chicken to be the grossest thing you can do in a kitchen so be sure to put your Big Girl pants on first and gear up for the gagfest you're about to have….or just make your husband do it.
Parsley flakes
Salt & Pepper

*The only wild rice I could find was not cooked, so if you have to cook your own, start right away. Cook according to package directions- in 5 cups of water, cook until tender approximately 55 minutes. Drain, but reserve any leftover water.

Fry Bacon in a LARGE soup pot. Remove bacon, set aside. In the bacon drippings, saute carrots and celery for a couple of minutes, then add onion and saute until onion is clear/soft.

Combine all other ingredients and heat thoroughly. If too thick, add reserved wild rice water.

Option: to heighten awesome add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese along with all other ingredients

Monday, September 6, 2010

Now that I've been 30 for 2 months it's time to change my ways apparently

I heard the following list on the radio. It's things every woman should STOP doing once they turn 30* and it's frightful how many of them I do....and can't see myself stopping anytime soon.

Buying clothes from the junior section. Hey on the rare occasion that I can still fit into something from the juniors section I'm totally getting it- especially when it's on sale for like $4.99

Forgetting her parents’ birthdays.
Growing up I only had 3 birthdays to worry about forgetting: my mom, dad, and brother. Now that I'm married and have in-laws and nieces and nephews, I have 15 to remember so unfortunately there's a very good chance I will miss a few here and there. Thank goodness for birthdayalarm.com- without it, I wouldn't even know when my own birthday is!

Making out with her BFFs at bars for attention.
Uh...BFF's: any takers on this one? I couldn't get you to make out with me without the help of a roofy and I'm fresh out.

Making out with her boyfriend at bars for attention. Again, not without the help of a roofy. Adam and public displays of affection? Not so much.

Filling her bed with stuffed animals (really, even one is too many). That's 3 in a row that I don't do! I've never been a stuffed animal kinda girl, they kinda creep me out.

Carrying a torch for anyone she hasn’t seen in the last five years. I married the one torch I carried. {insert the girlish coo "ahhhhh" here}

Rebelling against her parents for the sake of rebelling against her parents. My last act of rebellion wasn't really "rebelling" it was more like "I'm an adult- see what an adult I am, I went and bought a house without asking for your wisdom on what kind of mortgage I should get!" And I will be paying the price for that act for years and years and years. And years.

Declaring an entire gender “all jerks.” But a lot of them are- and that's just not my fault. Stop being a$$holes and I'll stop calling you all jerks, fair?

Holding a grudge against anyone who wronged her in high school. I don't really hold on to grudges- however I am excellent at automatically hating someone that I've never met just because my friend hates them. You wrong my friend, you wrong me pal and you do not want to get on my bad side!

Being “that person” who had a bit too much to drink at the office party. Sometimes someone has to take the bullet so the party can be entertaining. And it just so happens that every single year, I'm the one that steps up to the plate. You're welcome. And I'm sorry.

Crushing on Justin Bieber. Nah, he doesn't do it for me. But Zac Efron, his slightly older but still way too young for me doppelganger- now THAT'S another story!

Thinking she’s got it all figured out. Yeah I made that mistake already with buying my first house. Lesson learned.

Engaging in sibling rivalry. My brother and I avoid this by simply not speaking to each other for 11 months out of the year. It may not work for every family but we've never been conformists.

Trying to get by on her looks. If I had the looks I'd totally do it! Don't judge me- not all of us have ph.d's in....well....anything smart.

Living paycheck to paycheck. Okay, let me make about $40,000 more a year and I won't. Problem solved.

Expecting a man/knight in shining armor to swoop in and save her. Pretty sure the entire nation thought Barrack was going to do this- I couldn't have been the only one. My mortgage is still upside down pal, starting swooping.

Wishing she had someone else’s life. Okay, make mine better and I won't.

Expecting everyone to drop everything because it’s her birthday. But it's my birthday!

Measuring her self-worth by a number on the scale. Ya see I think we should all do this, it's a good investment. According to my scale, my self worth has gone up exponentially over the years and it just keeps rising. The stock market may crash but that scale stays nice and high. Take that Dow Jones.

Romanticizing her 20s. Well if your 20's were as awesome as mine were, you'd romanticize them too. They WERE awesome.

Blaming her mother for all her issues. Good thing I blame my father. Whoo, dodged that bullet.

*full list can be found at: http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-30-things-every-woman-should-quit-doing-by-30/