Fun (For a Good Cause)

I recently stumbled upon a website called Own a Colour, where you can buy one of over sixteen million colors for a small donation to UNICEF, starting at only two dollars. It's an incredibly cool idea and one that allows you to help children all over the world.

I planned on choosing a color quickly, already knowing my favorite colors, but seeing all those colors was incredibly entertaining and my brief visit to the site turned into a colorful hour or so. After playing with several shades in the blue family, I chose a color that was inspired by a photo I took several years ago in Venice:

This is what I came up with:

I also gave a gift of color to my dear friend Christy, the friend who came up with this ridiculously fun blog that we write:

It was only after I submitted Christy's color did I notice a mistake in my story, which gave me a slight ulcer to know that my typing error was out there in cyberspace for everyone to see. But whatever. I love the color, and I know she will too.

Check out this website, pick a favorite color, tell a story, and help a child in need. I can't imagine anything better.

~m~

Fun

Happy St. Patrick's Day...you can either look at this as belated or a jump start for 2013 (it's never too early to plan).  This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to attend the birthday party of a very Irish friend of ours.  It was at this gathering where I was introduced to a new St. Patrick's day refreshment, the Irish Car Bomb (not the best choice of names, but interesting nonetheless).  For those of you feeling a bit adventurous, give it a try:

1/2 shot of Irish Cream

1/2 shot of Irish Whiskey

1/2 pint of Guinness

Pour the Irish Cream and the Whiskey together into a shot glass.  Pour the Guinness into a pint glass.  Drop the shot glass into the pint glass and chug-a-lug. 

Try to drink it right away, as it does not look pretty in the glass.  When all of the alcohols mix, it looks as if the Irish Cream curdles.  The taste is delightful; it reminds me of dark chocolate.

And until the next Car Bomb blows: 

 

Sláinte agus táinte.

"Health and wealth!"

Fabulous Finds (?)*

* I apologize in advance for the overuse of all caps. I realize that it implies screaming... which is exactly what I intended.

Tonight, my friend Christy and I were watching the new NBC show Fashion Star. The show's premise is that you can buy the clothes of aspiring designers the moment the show is over. I found the whole thing unintentionally hilarious
, from the contestants to the judges. But the joke was on me when one of the
better designs was bought by H&M. It was a cute jersey dress with a small cutout in the back. As someone who has very loudly complained to anyone who will listen about the nearest H&M being in Phoenix, I didn't really care . . . UNTIL I FOUND OUT THAT YOU COULD BUY IT ON ONLINE!!!!!! Let me take a deep breath here for a second and explain that you can't buy ANYTHING on H&M online, so this was pretty freaking exciting.
So, at exactly 10:07, SEVEN MINUTES afters the show aired, I went to the site to purchase this awesome dress for 19.95 (!!!!!) to find out that it was SOLD OUT.
What. The. Hell.
Truly, I'm not an impulse buyer and when you throw in the fact that I have to measure myself to see what my tricky H&M size would be and then factor in the fact that I don't even know how to use a ruler, much less a measuring tape, this was never going to be a quick purchase. But really? SEVEN MINUTES?
I didn't want the stupid dress anyway.




~m~

Fabulous Finds

Poor genetics have blessed me with horrible eyesight, strange crater-like dimples, and the math skills of a really smart fourth-grader. But I thought I would give my elementary skills a go to figure out whether a certain purchase would be as great a bargain as it seemed on paper.

H&M has long been regarded as the Mecca for inexpensive fashion finds, and I always walk out of the store with something that I wear over and over. Since the closest H&M to me is in Phoenix, I usually just sigh at the ads in magazines, cry over the coupons being thrown at me on the iPad app, and roll my eyes at the incredibly priced items in Lucky layouts. But this little metallic number
                                                       
made me ponder the following sartorial word problem*:

                                                       How much does a $50 skirt cost?

Let's see.

It's 430 miles from El Paso to Phoenix. It costs roughly 3.65 for a gallon of gas, and I get 36 mpg. It will take 12 gallons to drive to Phoenix. It will cost 43.80 to fill up my Mini-Cooper's tank with 12 gallons of gas. Factor in $5 for a large Coke Zero and some candy bought somewhere between here and there. Add $5.95 for a #1 combo at In-N-Out as soon as I roll into Phoenix. Add $130 for a hotel. Ok, now add $50 plus some tax for the actual skirt. Realistically, add another $100 for other items that catch my eye; after all, I'm here only once or twice a year. Add $40 for a nice dinner and drinks to reward myself for finding such bargains. Another $45 for the gas to get back home. Now add $5.95 for another #1 (don't judge- again, I'm only here once or twice a year).

I believe the answer is (C) $425.70.

A total bargain. 

*This kind of math is fun. And to quote a very wise woman, if more math like was this, I would make every day "mathier."

~m~

Fun

Happy Lundi Gras!  Let the festing begin!


Tomorrow is Mardi Gras 2012 and people all over the world will partake in various festivities to commemorate the day. The real purpose of Mardi Gras is to clean out the house from all of the food and beverages that are forbidden during the Lenten season.  Modern day Mardi Gras is less about the religious aspect and more about the beer, boobs and beads; in other words the big party.  


The traditional beverage of New Orleans is the Hurricane, typically from Pat O'Brien's piano bar on Bourbon Street. It is a delish rum based drink that hits you, well, just like a hurricane: 

Ingredients:

• 2 oz light rum
• 2 oz dark rum
• 2 oz passion fruit juice
• 1 oz orange juice
• juice of a half a lime
• 1 Tbsp simple syrup
• 1 Tbsp grenadine
• orange slice and cherry for garnish

Preparation:

1. Squeeze juice from half a lime into shaker over ice.
2. Pour the remaining ingredients into the cocktail shaker.
3. Shake well.
4. Strain into a hurricane glass.
5. Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice.

(This recipe compliments of http://cocktails.about.com/od/atozcocktailrecipes/r/Hurricane.htm) 

I have also found this recipe from www.drinkoftheweek.com to add to the debauchery of the day. It will be featured at my house tomorrow night along with our traditional jambalaya and King Cake...hopefully I will not get the baby!

King Cake Martini

• 1 ½ oz Absolut Citron
• 3 oz Pineapple Juice
• ¼ oz Agave Nectar
• ½ oz Chambord
• Green Confectionery Sprinkles

Combine Absolut Citron, Pineapple Juice and Agave Nectar in an ice filled mixing glass. Shake and Strain into a cocktail glass rimmed with green sprinkles. Take a bar spoon and drizzle ½ oz Chambord so that it settles at the bottom of the cocktail glass.

Serve with a beaded necklace and a smile!

Most importantly friends, enjoy the day and Laissez les bons temps rouler!!! 

~c~

All Things French

Dear France,
Merci beaucoup.
~m~

Fun

88 Reasons We Love Psych

 For years, my friend Dawnn would talk endlessly about the show Psych. She would quote it, laugh by herself thinking about it, and shoot me one of her famous "You're dead to me" looks whenever I questioned her love-verging-on-obsession.  But one of the most underrated traits in a friend is the ability to be an enabler, and so in order to understand my darling friend's lunacy, I started to watch the show. One episode in, and I was hooked. I started to quote the show, started laughing to myself when I thought of certain scenes, and became pretty excited about the prospect of stalking seeing  James Roday at this summer's Comic-Con.  And so, on this Valentine's Day, here is our love letter (or love list, if you want to get technical) to Psych, written over yummy food and hours of inappropriately loud laughter. Shawn and Gus would be so proud.

1. Like Your High School Reunion But Infinitely Less Painful - For a certain generation, the show is full of 80's and 90's nostalgia. Episodes have revolved around "Twin Peaks," The Lost Boys, the entire John Hughes oeuvre, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Karate Kid, Friday the 13th, Tears for Fears, Michael Jackson . . . the list goes on and on. Watching the show makes you feel like you're back in 9th grade, having deep conversations with your friends about why Keith was so in love with Amanda Jones when Watts was right in front of him the whole time.

2. Isn't That What's Her/His Name? - Part of the nostalgia comes from the casting. Guest stars recreate the personas that made them so famous the first time around. Case in point: Sherilyn Fenn (as an oversexed librarian in the episode "Dual Spires," the Twin Peaks parody), Carey Elwes (as a dapper art thief that brings to mind Wesley from The Princess Bride), and Ralph Macchio (as a wimpy police officer). I could go on and on... but I won't.

3. Clever, Clever, Clever - Here's the thing. Even the titles make me laugh. Out loud. When Dawn and I were going through the list, we couldn't decide which ones to include. But in the end, the ones that made the cut were the ones that kind of hinted at the story itself, the ones that were so pop-culture fantastic, or the ones that were flat out ridiculous: "There Might Be Blood,""Shawn and Gus of the Dead," "Shawn Interrupted," Indiana Shawn and the Temple of the Kinda Crappy, Rusty Old Dagger," "Spellingg Bee," "Lights, Camera . . . Homicidio." I literally giggled while typing this list.

4. Awesome Aliases - Shawn calls his best friend everything but his name. This is ridiculous and maybe only funny to the people who watch it, but it's our list and so it makes it.

5. Wait For Iiiiiiiiiit!  - Again, I realize this may only make Dawnn and I laugh (and people who watch the show), but we find ourselves quoting lines from the show ALL THE TIME. One of our favorites is Shawn's excuse for mispronouncing things: "I've heard it both ways." My favorite might be the best pick up line of all time: "Heard about Pluto? That's messed up, right?" There are more. Trust me.

6. Don't Be a . . . - Feel free to use these with the naysayers in your life.

7. Malarkey, Tomfoolery, and Shenanigans - Any show that uses these words in pretty regular rotation is just... perfect.

8. Foodies- Shawn and Gus think about food constantly. They talk about food constantly. They bond over food. And, just like me and my friends, I can see them planning what they are having for dinner while they are eating lunch. Some of the food mentionables include Pollo Loco, Panda Express, Del Taco, japadogs, churros, and the Psych original recipe fries quatro queso dos fritos.

9. Awesome Stuff You Never Knew Existed - This Christmas, I wanted to add to Dawnn's growing collection of Psych merchandise (friend = enabler, remember?) I found a pineapple pillow, a Psych pen, and customized pencils from Etsy that have some of Gus's more memorable aliases. Um, check out the awesome bobbleheads, magic eight ball in the show's signature color, and the pineapple stress ball. She might have a problem.

10. And those pineapples- Every show has hidden pineapples. It's silly, but sometimes looking for these pineapples happens in the most inappropriate settings. While watching The Descendants, Dawnn and I both giggled and pointed at a ceramic pineapple. Never mind that this was happening during the scene when George Clooney was finally telling people the news that his wife was never going to wake up from her coma. Yay pineapples!

11. James Roday- Finally, what's a love letter without admitting a bit of a crush? 

New episodes (#89) start February 29. 

~m~ and ~d~