We still have a lot of snow.

It is a fairly sunny day here. The snow is still pretty deep around our house. My son asked to go outside and play today before it melts.

I was sitting in the kitchen watching him when  I noticed he was just sitting there with our dog.

I opened the door to hear him and he was telling our dog about the snow and how it was going to melt soon.  It was a cute moment.  They sat there for a few minutes and I didn’t hear what he was telling her, but it had to be important.

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I just had to get a go Eagles in for my Philly readers.

If the game goes anything like last week, I am trading in my Eagles jersey for a Colts…..

Go Birds.

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I watched this movie over the weekend.

My love of cooking and blogging combined into one. Need I say anymore? I just put on my Christmas list a late addition – Julia Child’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I am afraid that this is going to unleash a little project of my own.

I am feeling inspired.  Meryl Streep just amazed me as Julia. She is such a great actress. I am not sure if you don’t like food or blogging that you would love the movie. My husband thought it was incredibly slow and my Mom thought it was just ok.

The food scenes were the best! I think this upcoming year I might take on a few of Julia’s recipes.

Do any of you own  MTAOFC?  Do you love it? Hate it?

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I am trying to do 12 Good Deeds for the 12 days of Christmas

When you are out this holiday season, many retailers will be asking you if you want to make a donation to a charity.

I have been asked by many of the retailers to donate to the St. Jude’s charity while out shopping. I can’t always say yes, but I try to donate a few dollars over the shopping season. Many of the companies that you give donate a matching percentage of your donation. St. Jude is one of the world’s premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases. Every research breakthrough at St. Jude is freely shared with the scientific community worldwide, impacting the lives of children in communities across the country and around the world.

I feel especially compelled to share this with you because my brother was diagnosed with cancerwhen he was a teenager. Without programs like this, the survival rate for pediatric cancer would be much less.

Do a good deed – donate! You can check which retailers are participating by visiting HERE.

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I heart glee.

The show is just hysterical and the singing isn’t bad.

I am so excited that I am going to be meeting some of the cast this week. I am headed to NYC to attend a special event held by Marshalls and TJ Maxx. We will get to sing some Christmas carols with some of the cast. It is for a great cause and well I get to see Mark Salling and of course, Amber Riley who can sing her tail off. (Did I mention that Mark Salling is a total cutey?)

“Carol-oke” will be part of YouTube’s new “Caroling Channel,” which will feature two unique carols about off-price holiday shopping and a variety of other traditional carols complete with lyrics to follow, making it easy for consumers to sing “Carol-oke” style and help children in need!  For every consumer who uploads a video singing one of the off-price carols, $1, up to $50,000, will be donated to Toys for Tots to purchase toys for children in need this holiday season – helping more than 3,500 children have a merry Christmas this year.  Entrants will also be eligible to win a variety of prizes, including a $5,000 shopping spree.

When the singing is up live and running I will let you know. Who knows, maybe I will get a picture of Mark Salling too!

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Seeing that I love to cook, I started watching Rachael Ray a few years ago.

I usually like to see her tips on cooking.  She usually makes me laugh and laugh hard. She’s quirky, like me. (maybe thats why I like her)

Today, she made me cry. I don’t mean a single tear, I mean full on tears running down my face.  I couldn’t even see the tv by the end of the show.

She helped feed an entire community for a YEAR!  A YEAR!

It made me realize how incredibly blessed I am,  how blessed my family and friends are, no matter how tough 2009 has been.

After the show, I sent my husband an email saying that we needed to do something this holiday, because we have been so blessed.

His response: I absolutely agree. It made me smile that there was no hesitation or questioning from him. That is why I am thankful for him.

So I am not sure what, but I am going to do something to make a difference — I can’t feed a town for a year, but I can feed a family for a day.  Our local food bank closed because of too many needy people and not enough food donations. How sad is that.

I know that we are all in tough positions, but I am challenging each one of you this holiday season to help feed a family in need, for just one meal.

A breakfast, lunch or dinner . If each of you who visits this blog gives just one meal, can you imagine how much of an impact that can make! You don’t have to actually cook, (well you can) but take the items to a food pantry.

P.S. If you know of a food bank, I will start a list in this post, so we can find them locally. Please email me or leave them in the comments!

Pennsylvania

City Team in Chester, PA    http://www.cityteam.org/philadelphia/

The Patrician Society in Norristown, PA   http://www.patriciansociety.net/home

State College, Pa. Here is their website http://www.foodbank.centreconnect.org/

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Mercer, Pa and the Prince of Peace in Farrell, Pa.

Greater Berks Food Bank http://www.berksfoodbank.org/

Local Community Action services

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I was watching TV the other night with my husband.  It was a rare moment of downtime for us.  I decided that I wanted to have a snack. I grabbed a glass of Iced Tea and 5 saltines.

Saltines, not the most exciting snack. I certainly preferred ice cream or cookies.  I was being good.  I put my saltines and tea on the table next to the couch. I snuggled back into the corner of the couch.

Suddenly my dog looked at me. She looked at the saltines and quick shot a look at my husband. She looked back at the saltines and at me again.

It was like slow motion started at this point.  She jumped up, grabbed the saltines and ran to the kitchen. I said NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO in slow motion too.

I was in shock!  She stole my crackers! She has never stole my food. I mean it is pretty bold to steal my food with me sitting next to it!  Hmmph.

She clearly knew she was bad.

Next time I am eating ice cream, let her try and steal my ice cream!

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My 1oth Wedding anniversary is right around the corner.

For a long time, I said that I want a nice  diamond for my 1oth anniversary, mainly because I deserve it for putting up with my husband for all these years. Somewhere along the line, I changed from a girl who wants a big diamond to a girl who wants cookware. Yep, I am THAT woman. You know the one that is super practical and dare I say, a tad bit boring!

This hit me last week when I was in NYC for a Bloggers Brunch. I was incredibly excited to be there. While I was really looking forward to seeing other bloggers, I really really was looking forward to seeing what new cookware and appliances Cuisinart had.

When I saw this beauty, the Cusinart Elite, Devon (Mama Cheaps) practically had to wipe the drool off my chin. I think she hit me a few times to smack me back into reality.  I was like a kid in a candy store, the table was a glow with all things foodie. I swear to you that the food processor glimmered like a diamond, it really did.  The ultra sleek blender taunted me and the rice cooker made my head turn, more than once!

So I am going to tell my husband instead of diamonds, I want shiny new appliances.  He is going to look at me like I am insane. A few years ago if he bought me cookware or anything that suggested I cook, clean, sew or anything else domestic, I would have physically injured him out of insult!

I must say that I like the practical mid 30’s me much better than the self indulged late 20’s me.  So keep your fingers crossed that I will be opening up this beauty of a food processor on my 10th anniversary. And.. if I am really lucky, I will get a the matching blender, rotisserie, and chopper/grinder… ok, ok a girl can dream right?

Would you pick appliances over diamonds?

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I’m leavin’ on a jet plane. Don’t know when I will be back again.

Ok, not really. I just like to sing that song.

BUT, I am going on a girls getaway retreat  with my best blogging buddy, Devon (you know her as Mama Cheaps.) I am excited, as you know I am a hard working Momma.

I cook, I clean, I blog, I teach, did I mention I clean?  I deserve some rest.

Then again, all of us Mommas work really hard and deserve a little break from the day to day.

So when Country Inn & Suites asked if I would be interested in taking a retreat to New York City location, I had to say YES!  They are providing me a great room to rest in NYC.

Country Inn & Suites has crafted these Women’s Weekday Retreats to encourage busy moms to take the time to relax, rejuvenate, and indulge. From spa appointments, shopping and lunch, to a yoga class or a beautiful walk in the park before savoring a glass of wine with dinner, they have hand-picked cities and activities that will allow you to unplug and reconnect – with your girlfriends or your spirit.

So I am leavin’ in my car. Headed to Country Inn & Suites!

The only catch is, I need to make a resolution to take some time off for myself. As a Mom, this is very hard to do! I can’t just pick up and go. It is just about impossible.

With a little help from my mother and father in law and my friend Carolann, I am able to getaway.(Thanks Grammy, Pa & CA)

It just took me putting myself first. I know, hard for all of us to do. I need this break. Wait, I deserve this break. So while I am gone (Tuesday night and Wednesday)I have prepared some content for you, but if I am behind on the deals, know that I am limiting  my posting to just a few hours!

I am going to wonder aimlessly do some sight seeing in NYC. Just relaxing.. no email, no phone calls,  no laptop…just the concrete jungle and my camera. I may even have wine with lunch GASP! I can’t wait to have dinner, shop and catch a show in NYC.  When I get back, I will tell you all about it!

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I don’t have a Blu-ray. There, I said it.

I usually like to consider myself technology forward. We bought an HD DVD player not to long before the HD format went bye-bye (Thanks, Toshiba).

Now, I see Blu-rays everywhere. Everyone is purchasing them. I am starting to get a complex.  My mother said she just buying Blu-rays now. She doesn’t even have a Blu-ray player! Peer pressure to be like everyone else! I asked her what she intended on doing with them and she said, well I will have a Blu-ray soon.  Are DVDs going to fade away and go to 8-Track  heaven?  (For those of you who are too young to remember 8-track tapes, you really missed out.)

Please tell me that you too are in the stone ages and simply have a DVD player. Better yet, if you still use your VHS.  Our last VHS player just died a few months ago and I was quite sad. It was like the end of an era.  Most of our VHS tapes were Disney movies for my son and we haven’t replaced them.

Do I have to take this plunge? What am I missing out on?

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