French Fries & Beethoven

A lot of Sam's toys have classical music that plays as he swings and bounces and whatnot.  Grainy, electronic versions, but recognizable classic pieces nonetheless.  One popular one being Beethoven's "Fur elise," which TO THIS DAY I cannot listen to without thinking of this McDonald's commercial from *cough* 1986...



Tell me I'm not the only one!!!!!!!!!

SYTYCD Finale

My money is still totally on Melanie after last night's performance finale! It'll definitely be a girl this year - that's for sure. Sasha is great too, but Melanie just melts my heart and hello, she's an Atlanta girl! Here's her delicious performance with All-Star Robert last night...



Guest judge Katie Holmes was so stinkin' gorgeous last night, but the hub and I kept laughing because her vocabulary for every critique consisted almost exclusively of the words strong, amazing, beautiful, and magical.

Go Melanie!

So in other news, it looks like about 70% of you are thinking pink... I hope we'll have an answer for you this afternoon! Exciting!

Namaste

Lots of great numbers last night on SYTYCD, including solos by all the top 6. The solos usually aren't my favorite - I mean, how much awesome can you really fit into 30 seconds? Then Melanie said, "This is how much."



My money's on Melanie!!! (And how freakin' cute is her grandma, by the way?!)

In other news, I went to yoga last night for the first time since being pregnant. I hadn't felt up to it until recently and I finally took the plunge last night. I knew our instructor (at my gym) would be helpful with what-to-do-and-what-not-to-do-while-pregnant tips, but she was amazing. I spoke with her briefly before class just to let her know I was knocked up and she told me generally where I should take it easy, etc. And throughout the class she would look in my direction and give me safer options to do. But then after class she came over and talked with me for like 10 minutes - the girl knows her stuff. She knew all kinds of prenatal facts and big words I've never heard of... I have a whole list of things to google. And she's going to make some copies of some helpful prenatal yoga stuff for me and bring to the next class. How awesome is she? So yeah, it was great to get back to class and do something active besides housework or walking.

And one more thing... we have our 16 week ultrasound in ONE week! So if baby cooperates, we should be able to determine the sex. Seems like everyone I talk to thinks it's a girl (including us for some reason). What do you think? I'm putting a poll up on my sidebar, so go cast your vote!!!

Back to School

School starting back really means nothing to us right now other than heavier traffic in the mornings, but I gotta say I LOVE this commercial for some reason...



Can she my kid's future teacher? I love glitter.

I'm thinking of all my teacher friends who are back in the classroom this week getting prepared for the students. And enjoy these last few days of summer, kids! I can still remember the anticipation of the first day back...

Sasha & Twitch

Apparently it's video day. Last one, I promise! This was easily my favorite from SYTYCD this week. Sasha and all-star Twitch doing a hip hop number. Love, love, love me some Twitch!

SO good...

Go Melanie and Marco!



Also loved this one with Jordan and Tadd...

My favorite from last night...

Such a great Top 20 this year on SYTYCD! I have a lot of favorites but I'm definitely rooting for Georgia's own Melanie!

The Boob Tube

Hey guess what!  No, not that.  I gave up television today.  Not for good, but for 40 days.  And no, not for Lent - our church doesn't observe Lent.  As I've mentioned before, North Point Community Church is launching a new campus this fall in Gwinnett!  We are having Good Friday and Easter services as a kick-off and the church is getting everyone involved in 40 days of prayer and fasting to lead into Easter weekend.  Thanks to my Moo Goo diet, there's really nothing else food or drink-wise that I haven't already eliminated.  Some people give up Facebook, but honestly I'm rarely ever on there so that's no real sacrifice.  TV was the only thing I could think of that would really suck to give up. 

 

I don't watch a ton of TV, but it's basically always on in our house.  Background noise.  And then I do have my shows that I absolutely look forward to every week.  And I'm not allowing myself to watch internet TV either... no Hulu shows.  No TV shows, period.  And no DVD's...  Anything on the tube is prohibited!  This should be interesting. 

 

As far as the new church, the permanent location will be about 10 minutes from our house!  We currently drive a good half hour to get to Buckhead Church (another campus), so that will be a welcome change.  But we'll be in a temporary spot for 2 or 3 years, most likely at the Gwinnett Center.  And this is where the Good Friday and Easter services will be held!  If you are in the area, come check us out!  Even if you attend other campuses, consider joining us for Good Friday.  Buckhead has done Good Friday services for as long as I can remember and they're incredibly powerful, so I expect nothing less from Gwinnett Church.  Click here for service times and details. 

 

I know a lot of you out there observe Lent... what kinds of things have you sacrificed this season?

Yes!!!

Precisely why I don't do shots.

Good things come in small packages.

Another Christmas favorite for you. This one never gets old!



I've got to hurry and get over to Costco today before the mall crazies take over the roads. Hope you all enjoy this last weekend before Christmas. Seven days and counting!

I Wish It Was Christmas Today

T-minus 10 days till Christmas! Here's one of my all-time favorite Christmas goodies from SNL. Stay warm and enjoy!

"Dolphins are just gay sharks."

Brittany: I don’t wanna do Britney.

Kurt: Why no Britney, Brittany?

Brittany: 'Cause my name is also Britney Spears. My Middle name is Susan, my Last Name is Pearce… That makes me Brittany S. Pearce. Brittany Spearce.

Not only am I *huge* un-closeted Britney Spears fan (duh), but Brittany is probably my favorite character on Glee. So the Britney/Brittany episode last night was over the top for me! So glad that Brittany (Heather Morris) got a whole episode to truly shine! And damn, can that girl dance. I'm so glad she finally got to show off her moves. Here's a few fun facts about the talented Glee actress you may not have known...

• Heather auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance (season 2) but missed the top 20 by one vote.


• She toured with Beyonce as a dancer and danced with her in several music videos, including "Single Ladies"


• She was originally hired on Glee as a dancer (and of course was key in teaching the "Single Ladies" routine to the football team)


• Brittany's character was not originally supposed to be so air-headed, but apparently she gave a particularly dim-witted look one day at shooting and from that point on, Brittany was declared dumb.


• A lot of the one-liner's are Heather's own ad-libbing.

Brittany: I’m more talented than all of you. I see that clearly now. It’s Brittany… Bitch.

Twiddling my thumbs on the two-week-wait...

IUI cycles are just crazy. It's like go-go-go, doctor-doctor-doctor, pill-pill-pill until the big day. And after that it's just... wait. Sometimes it can be the longest two weeks of your life, but I'm doing fine so far. I just try not to think on it too much and distract myself with other things, like this video. NBC re-aired an old SNL episode with Peyton Manning this past weekend and it has one of our favorite digital shorts of all time. (I can actually appreciate Peyton Manning now that he doesn't wear an ugly orange jersey anymore.) Enjoy!

Emmy Favorites

Y'all know I'm an awards show junkie... and the Emmy's last night did NOT disappoint! Jimmy Fallon did an incredible job hosting. Lots of great laugh-out-loud moments. And of course seeing the stars glammed up is at least half the fun. Probably my favorite moment was the Glee-inspired opener...




Another fab moment was Jimmy's musical tribute to the shows we lost this last year. I of course especially loved his Billie Joe Armstrong imitation. He totally nailed his quirky head gestures - haha!




And of course there was the obligatory "In Memoriam" segment highlighting all the lost actors and TV crew members. But one of my favorites, Jewel, performed her song "Hole in my Heart" as the images played in the background - wow. This obviously isn't an Emmy clip of the performance (couldn't find one), but this is the song. I've seen her in concert several times. She's simply amazing. She usually just stands up on stage casually with her guitar, as in this video, and does her thing. Incredible...







I of course had E! on with red carpet highlights as soon as it started, but was running around the house getting stuff done. So I wasn't as glued to the tube and probably missed a lot of the glam. But the standout star for me? Claire Dane! WOW! My so-called hotness! Congrats to her for her big Emmy win for Temple Grandin.








And also big Hoorah's! for Jane Lynch taking best supporting actress in a comedy for her role as Sue Sylvester on Glee! SOOOO deserved and what a gracious acceptance speech...



Great show overall. Kudos, Jimmy Fallon! Loved it! What did you guys think?!

Alright, time to get this week rolling. Hope you all have a great one!

It's going to be a great day!

Since I haven't made it on here to post much of any substance in the last couple of weeks, here's another video I can't stop watching. I've probably rerun it on Tivo like 30 times. It makes me do my ugly snort laugh...



Have a GREAT day!

Back at it.

I seriously spent all day in bed Saturday. Can't tell you the last time I did that - for real. I have a hard time doing nothing, but seeing as I really can't afford to get sick this time of year, I forced myself to chill ALL day. I didn't leave my bedroom all day but to go to the kitchen. I sure didn't lack any appetite... in fact, I googled up a good chicken noodle soup recipe for the crockpot while in bed. Who knew it was so easy to make? Just never tried, I guess. I didn't have any carrots or celery on hand, which definitely would've added some nice color and oomph, but I had everything else. It was delish. Here's the recipe from memory - didn't write it down, but it's seriously easy. Oh and I halfed it because it was like a huge amount, so this is my halfed version...

Ingredients:

2-3 boneless chicken breasts (I just dumped them in frozen)

2 cups water

2 cups chicken broth

1 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp salt (or to taste - depends on how salty your broth is)

pepper to taste

1 small onion chopped

1/2 tsp dried basil

(plus carrots and celery chopped up, but I don't remember the amounts since I didn't have these - ha!)

3 oz noodles (I used orzo pasta and it was delish)

Directions:

Dump everything into the crockpot except for the noodles. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Shred the chicken and add the noodles - continue to cook for another 1/2 hr to an hour depending on how long your noodles take (obviously the orzo doesn't take long - I was hungry and didn't want to wait). Serve it up and enjoy!

Soooo good. And super fab on my sore throat that day. And even better on the next day. So now I'm like all about finding more fab soup recipes for the crockpot. Our crockpot gets lots of use this time of year since I don't have the time (or energy) to cook much.

Yes, so a big bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup and a Buffy marathon all day Saturday seemed to do the trick. Feeling much much better now... still draining some of the gunk out, but I feel a ton better. And now I'm back on a Buffy high - I haven't watched my DVD's in forever and everytime I do I like have to watch the whole series. For all you vampire lovin' freaks out there, I have to say Buffy STILL takes the cake over Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, what have you... Those are all great too - I know. But Buffy is just freaking hilarious. It's the only one that's like a true horror-comedy. And Joss Whedon is brilliant. I think the only show since Buffy that I can honestly say is neck-and-neck for my #1 favorite show of all time would have to be Glee. Can't wait for it to come back in April! And apparently Joss Whedon is directing one of the spring episodes... can it get any more brilliant?! So excited.

OK I've got to go curl my hairs and bust out of here... hope you're having a fab week!

Oh and don't forget, Atlanta gals, hop over here to enter my contest for a chance to win a free 2-hour on-location photo session with Chikadeez Photography! You've got until Friday, the 12th - get to it!

Back to the drawing board.

Hey all! Hope you had fabulous Labor Day weekends. Mine was really good - Britney was awesome on Friday! Our seats were great and it was extra awesome considering it was *FREE*... and the funny thing was my boss called me that afternoon to tell me he had two spare tickets and wondered if I wanted them. Of course I would've snagged them had I not already been going. I was just destined to go, wasn't I?! The show was pretty much the same, as expected. But she did change up all her costumes! All but one... it's pretty sad that I know them so well, but yeah, I knew which pieces were repeats and which ones weren't. OK but another new addition that honestly freaked me out was one of her true "circus freaks." I hate to call this girl a freak, but for purposes of the show, she was a real circus freak. She basically had no legs. Which, OK that's not all that off-the-wall, but it wasn't like they were cut off at the knees... no, she had NO legs. Lucky and I were trying to figure out if she had a crotch or not. She was doing trampoline tricks with another dude who was tossing her around. Maybe I can find a picture... OK no luck, sorry. You'll just have to go catch Britney and see for yourself!

What else... my parents' party went really well on Saturday. The Georgia game? NOT so well. We'll just move on. Ahem. The hub's parents were in town for the party and stayed with us Saturday night, so we had a nice visit with them. And Sunday was pretty chill. We took the doggies to the lake and that was about it.

I went in to work Monday to set up my new office and I'm so glad I did because my computer was MIA for a couple of hours. We found it though in someone else's office and my dad helped me put together all my computer junk. I took it all apart (OK, unplugged it) but I wasn't about to try to put it back together by myself.

And also on Labor Day, we took a pregnancy test... I thought the fact that we'd be testing on "Labor Day" might be a good sign. You know, *labor*... haha. Right. Well, not so much. Looks like this 3rd IUI cycle was a bust, but that's OK. I've been the most care-free about this one for whatever reason, so maybe God was just helping me prepare for the answer I didn't want. I of course (duh) was really hoping this one would work out because we're not sure what our next steps are. So many unanswered questions... What are we gonna have to do? How the heck are we going to pay for it? When is it going to freaking happen already? Did you notice I'm AGING here?!? Well our plan (with my doctor) was always to do only 3 IUI cycles before moving to IVF. But since my doctor switched me to Femara last cycle, I'm wondering if he'll want to try IUI again a time or two. Whatever the answer is, I think we've decided to chill this next cycle. Being at the doctor every week starts to really wear on you. As soon as Flo arrives I'll be calling to set up an appointment to lay out our plan, but yeah we'll probably cool our heels for a bit.

Work has been super busy, especially with the move to the new office, so that's kept my mind off things. This whole week is going to be bizzy. Shoot, this whole month is bizzy. But it's all good. Alright... I've got to call it a night. I'm exhausted!!! xoxoxo

Oh P.S. Who else is freaking excited about the premiere of Glee tomorrow?!?!?! We'll be out but my Tivo is SET!

Fried Eggs

No, my eggs aren't fried. That's just what I had for dinner, so I thought it'd be an appropriate blog title. Two eggs over easy atop toast - that's how I do it. I break the yolks half the time and they turn into a mess, but they're still good.

So I'm in much better spirits this week! Had a great weekend... pretty low-key. Friday night the hub and I went for a hot dog dinner at Costco and then to see The Proposal. Very cute movie - even the hub liked it. The storyline is pretty predictable, but I never let that get in my way. Lots of great moments and Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds really had great chemistry.



Definitely rent that one if you don't get out to the theatre to catch it. We met up with Lucky and her man on Saturday morning and she said they saw Julie and Julia the night before. They are big movie-goers and she said that was the best movie she's seen in she can't remember how long. My godmother also saw it this weekend and told my mom "run-don't-walk to go see this movie!" So I'm thinking it must be fab! Anyone catch it yet? That one's next on my list.

So Saturday morning we joined Lucky and her man at the High Museum in midtown - they were having a special discount on tickets from 10am to 12pm. So we got in for only $5 each! I think it's normally $17 or so - quite a deal! Gosh, we hadn't been since the Van Gogh exhibit was here a few years ago and that place has changed SO much. They've added on a ton of space and the whole entrance is totally different than it used to be. I can remember going down that zig-zagging staircase on elementary school field trips. So if you Atlanta gals haven't been in a while, you need to go check it out! The Monet exhibit is here for another couple of weeks, but DaVinci will be coming in October. Here's a peek inside I got with my camera phone...



The rest of our weekend was pretty uneventful... just stayed in and put on my domestic diva hat. Well, no that's a lie. Actually Saturday after we got back I was a total bum till about 6 o'clock. Lucky let me borrow season 1 of True Blood and I finished up the last 5 episodes on Saturday. Yep - five. As in five hours of TV where I was sprawled out on the bed with a remote. OMG I never do that and I gotta tell you it was pretty thrilling.



We don't get HBO, so I'm not up on season 2 yet. Anybody else watch the series? I thought it was really good. Lucky's obsessed with it. I could do without the raunchy sex scenes - it's quite obvious a dude created it. But it's good stuff. Still, it's no Buffy - definitely not - but good. I'm pretty sure nothing will ever top Buffy in the vampire world. OK but after I finished up the DVD's, I really did get domestic and got a good bit of stuff done this weekend. I even vacuumed our den furniture. It needed it. We have three dogs, so I'm sure you can imagine the condition of our furniture.

OH and Saturday I also got the sweetest cards in the mail... one from bestest - because she is the bestest! And another from Lucky and kuntry bride. They all knew I had had a really rotten week last week and being the sweet friends they are, sent me a little encouragement. It's always so fun to get some fun mail amongst all the bills and crap. Plus Lucky and kuntry bride gave me several gift cards to different places for a calorie fest. We used the Cold Stone Creamery one last night! Ice cream makes everything better - always!

So yeah, doing much better this week. Flo FINALLY made her debut on Saturday. So I was back at the doctor this morning getting my ultrasound and bloodwork. So here we go again! I will be very curious to see what my lining looks like when I go for my mid-cycle check next week. Until then, it's just poppin' pills and prayin'. But thank you all for your sweet messages! Every one of them makes me smile!

Hope you all had a fab start to your week. Phoebe is back in business - I drove her to work today and she is good as new! She even has a Honda emblem again! Haha... she was missing it for a while and I can't even remember when she lost it. She is 11, after all.

Full of Glee

Hey, all! So Harry Potter was TOTALLY awesome. They of course changed some stuff and left some stuff out... but it was fabulous. Lots of great funny moments - my favorite being when Harry took the Felix Felicious potion... SO funny. Daniel Radcliffe is really turning into a good little actor. Lavender Brown was hilarious - as was her Won-Won. Snape was delicious as always. Great movie and I can't wait to see the IMAX version on the 31st! We went ahead and got our tickets while we were there.

What else... we've got 5 doggies with us now. They've all been pretty good so far, but I do feel like I'm running a doggie day care! Really meal time is the most challenging part... because some of the lot will go bonkers if the other doggies get near their food. So it takes a little careful planning. Not much else going on this weekend though... I did have my 3rd ultrasound yesterday and my lining has thickened some, but it's still not where it needs to be. My doctor still wants to go through with the insemination this cycle, but he said if we don't get pregnant this turn, he wants to discuss more advanced measures. Not sure what that means... I'm just trying to focus on this cycle for now. I'm hoping I don't get a surge over the weekend so that my lining has time to continue to grow. So we'll see... looks like the IUI won't happen till Tues/Wed unless I surge before then. Ya know I'll keep you updated!

OK so anyway, seeing as summer TV totally bites for the most part, I get my hulu on a lot - especially while on the 'puter. Did y'all catch the sneak preview of Glee back in May? The show premieres on Fox this fall, but they ran the pilot this past spring to get you hooked.



And OMG what a teaser, because I totally took the bait. AND I've watched it again on hulu - I can't even tell you how many times. It's so brilliantly written and the cast is just great - the characters are hilarious. And really, I just love any good high school parody. I think if you love musical theatre you'll absolutely adore it, but it's fun to watch even if that's not your thing. (Bestest - this is right up your alley!)

It's basically about a high school teacher, Mr. Schuester (played by Broadway cutie, Matthew Morrison) who decides to take over the Glee Club after the former leader was fired. His pool of interested students is rather lacking, so he ends up trying to recruit some of the popular kids to garner some interest in the club. Each and every character is so well written... I especially love germaphobe Emma, another teacher at the school, who's obviously head over heels for Mr. Schuester AND whose entire head-to-toe wardrobe appears to be from J. Crew...

It's just absolutely delicious and I can't wait for the show to get here in September! Do go on to hulu and watch the pilot and see if you don't fall in love. The ending number - a remake of one of my favorite Journey songs - is probably my favorite part. But the whole thing is fab, so take a peek and tell me what you think!

Dollhouse.

OK so is anyone else super excited for the premiere of Dollhouse tonight on Fox? As if I need another TV show to follow... But as a total goob for all things Buffy, I am super excited to see what this new show of Joss Whedon's is all about. I just love his writing style and quirky humor. Buffy always CRACKED me up. I hope it's a great show because I haven't been able to fill my Buffy hole, you know.

Plus the main chick on Dollhouse, Eliza Dushku, was on Buffy for a couple of seasons...

And you remember her from Bring it On, right?

Can't wait! And you know, I must say the Buffy alum have done rather well. Momma's so proud...

Mmmm... I miss the sharp teeth, but I daresay Angel's looking good. Bones is a really good show... don't watch it regularly, but it's a good one.

And Oz... what hasn't he done? I love him. He made werewolves cool long before Jacob Black ever existed.

Buffy's lil sis is all grown up! Didn't she do a few episodes of Gossip Girl?

And hello... who knew Willow could be so hot? I don't watch it regulary, but How I Met Your Mother is a super cute show.

OK girls... I'm off to make some dinner for me and the poochies. The hub's working tonight, so it'll just be me, a glass of wine, the remote, and the doggies. Doesn't that sound dreamy?