Four Year Cycle

I should be sleeping.  It's 3am, I work at 1 tomorrow (today), and I'm tired.  But there's a lot on my mind...

First of all-- how are you?  I know I've neglected you, my readers and strangers passing by, and I apologize.  There's plenty going on in all our lives so the excuse that "I'm busy" is insulting to all you parents, career peeps, students, full time job-bers (it's late-- expect non-words)... I've just been away. Soul searching and ignoring social media.

The BIG MOVE is 3 weeks away.  Holy shit.  There's so much to do. Sign a lease, fix the couches, set the move date, rummage sale our crap (yes I just turned "rummage sale" into a verb), make a few last minute preparation purchases (new glasses-- yay!), PACK, say goodbye... I think I'll save the "Goodbye Blog" for another night when I'm awake in the wee hours of the morning.

Life is good though.  New friends, a great part time job, the tragic loss of my engagement ring turning into a blessing.  God is moving through my life, these plans, my spirit... in every way possible.  Our marriage is getting stronger by the day.  We talk about everything anyway, but lately Michael and I have talked daily about our troubles and joys and hopes and dreams and plans.  Word of advice: ALWAYS be open about finances with your significant other: it will cement your relationship (and save it too if it needs saving).  I grow stronger by the day.  God has opened my eyes so I can finally see my potential and know that as long as I trust in Him... I'm golden.  :)

Tonight on one of our long walks around the apartment complex, I realized God has taught me life lessons in four year increments.  What the heck am I talking about?  As per my usual analyzation of the Past-- we can learn so much from it if we pay attention and are open-- I determined the last 12 years have culminated to bring me to this moment... this point in my life where I'm finally ready to face the hardship of Hollywood.  Finally ready to realize the potential I've been blessed with, grab it by the balls, and hold on for dear life (you enjoy that image).

First came high school.  Those 4 years were all about AMBITION.  Using that brain God gave me to climb to the top of my class.  Yuppers, I was valedictorian of JHS... along with 10 other people mind you (my high school didn't have weighted grades).  Of course I had to defend myself because I took art and music classes which are normally worth less in a weighted system.  Some students felt those of us valedictorians in choir, creative writing, and drawing classes didn't work as hard as the ones who took all AP classes (I only took 1: AP English.  I would've taken AP Calc if it'd fit in my schedule, as well as done Spanish all 4 years if the schedules hadn't been messed up.  Yes, NERD would be the appropriate term for me at this time... okay... always).  Well, choir took tons of extra hours, the guts to perform, and the skill of reading music.  And drawing?  Anyone who'd seen my work knew I wasn't turning in stick figures.  Anyway, I digress.  The pursuit of straight A's taught me the value of learning, hard work, patience, and going the extra mile.  I worked my ass to the bone studying for tests, perfecting projects, memorizing music for concerts. Plus I was active in my church's music program and taught a children's chime choir once a week.  I didn't sit on my hands every day.

College was different.  I met a wider circle of people and began dieting/ working out.  The weight came off and God showed me that yes, I was damn good looking (sexy beast is more like it).  I never believed it before.  Then I met great girlfriends that explained makeup and hair techniques, as well as how to develop my own style (aided by "What Not To Wear" as well-- Stacy and Clinton are life savers).  I progressed from awkward teen to confident young lady. I learned weight can be lost, exercise helps with depression, and there are more important things than grades: friends (seems obvious but I was anti-social).  That's when I discovered what it means to appreciate my physical self.

And now my first 4 years of marriage-- this was the transition from young lady to woman.  When I took on the grown-up (HA!) responsibilities of managing finances, becoming semi-domestic, balancing relationships, and fully understanding what sharing my life with another person truly means I became moved into the next phase of my life.  It's been through God's eyes and Michael's that I now see myself with LOVE.  In turn I have developed a deep-seeded confidence in myself that transitions to how I see life.  Appearance and Ambition are all well and good, but they're nothing without total belief in oneself.  Now I am a triple threat; yes I'm still heavy but I look great in spite of it. No I haven't taken advantage of past opportunities but that stops now.  I love myself inside and out, and now it's time to work my ass off at a thriving career in Hollywood.  I'm ready to work, to create, to network, to be a LEADER. Film is what I'm meant to pursue no matter how hard everyone says it will be.  That's fine-- I like a challenge.

It's 3:43am. "Maps" is playing. Nice.

Current Favorites: August 2011

Though this is a bit over due, I still have 2 weeks of August left for you to indulge in a few of my favorite things.  I must warn you this is a far more girly edition than I've done so far but I've been feeling rather feminine lately.

Sephora by OPI "Arm Candy" nail polish.  It's a sexy shade of pink with a bit of vamp thrown in for good measure.

Turquoise plaid button down.  It's a rugged feminine look perfect for fall... and moving out west.

Sephora Moonshadow Baked Palette (the great... or maybe terrible thing about working at a mall is that I'm right down the lane from Sephora).  These have a lovely shimmer to them when applied dry, but when applied with a wet brush (just found out I could do this!) they're rich and metallic.  I've been experimenting thanks to my friend Lori and having a great time with tons of new "looks."

As part of the move to California, I decided to trade-in my laptop for an iPad 2 then my husband and I will share his iMac.  No, a tablet isn't a substitute for a computer, but financially and mobility wise this made more sense. And I love it.

"Jane Eyre" starring Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska. This was just released on video today and if you love these types of films (and books) as much as I do, just buy it! It's the perfect mix of tragedy and romance highlighted with fantastic British performers.

"Raindrops" by Basement Jaxx. I heard this song on the last performance episode of SYTYCD-- Tadd and Sasha danced a pretty poor Cha Cha to it.  The routine stunk but this song is such fun to  have blaring through your car's stereo.

And did you watch the Season 8 finale? AMAZING!!!

White Chicken Chili

This week, though in the midst of the August heat even in Wisco, my husband requested comfort food (aka Fall Food that's great when there's a chill in the air).  He especially loves anything made in the crockpot because it's less work for me and 90 percent hands off-- not to mention our apartment smells FAB all day (usually). So I turned the A/C down to 66 degrees and pulled out my recipe for White Chicken Chili.  It's tested and approved from my mother-in-law (a mad cooking genius) that I adapted to make even easier (because I too wish to be a mad cooking genius).

I'm telling you-- it's delish.  Try it, even if you don't like beans (you need your fiber, people!), but the best part about this chili is that it's flexible, forgiving, and affordable-- and it makes a bunch!

White Chicken Chili: Crockpot Style

4 chicken breasts
3-4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp cumin
1 med to lg yellow onion, chopped
2 - 14oz cans Northern beans (undrained)
2 - 14oz cans Navy beans (undrained)
Juice of 1 lime
1 - 4oz can diced green chiles
1 packet white chicken chili seasoning
1 Tbsp lemon pepper (or Pampered Chef's Citrus and Basil rub)
3-4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped (optional)
1-2 avocados for garnish (optional)
Shredded cheese-- I recommend finely shredded cheddar or cheddar jack

Combine all ingredients-- except cilantro, avocado, and cheese-- placing the chicken breasts on the bottom. Cook on High for 4 hours OR Low for 8 hours.

Once the chili is done cooking, remove the chicken breasts and shred using 2 forks (mine was so tender I used a fork and a spoon).  Dump back in and add the cilantro-- mix and serve into individual bowls.  Garnish with cheese and avocados.  Enjoy!

FYI:
Yes, the chicken breasts go in raw, though you can par boil them for 10 minutes before and shred if you're afraid you'll kill your company.

The recipe normally calls for 2-3 cups of broth but in the past has ended up too thick for my taste.  This time around I didn't measure and had an almost full box of veggie broth going old in the fridge so I dumped in the whole darn thing. I think it was almost 4 cups... Like I said, this is a forgiving recipe so feel free to add more less liquid depending on your own preference.  That's how it became "Choup."

If you don't have lemon pepper, add about a tsp of lemon juice, pepper, and salt individually-- that should do the trick!

The liquid in canned beans is a great thickener for soups, stews, and chili.

Fresh cilantro is easy to find in the produce sections (make sure you don't grab parsley) at most, if not all, grocery stores.  Although you can buy a smaller amount in those plastic fresh herb containers in the herb section near the lettuce, buy the BUNCH instead.  It's a better deal.  "What else can I use cilantro for?" you might wonder... Well as you may have known from past entries, I'm a cilantro fanatic so my answer is EVERYTHING. Salads, guac, Asian, Mexican, Southwestern cooking, toss it into other soups for more flavor.
The best way I've found for storing it? Remove the tie and place the bunch in a small cup filled with cold water.  Set in your fridge and pull out when needed.  I can get about 2 weeks out of it which is pretty amazing considering how near death most commercial grocery store produce usually is.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Another wonderful contribution from Erica's Sweet Tooth, only she made hers with mixed berries.  I did that the first time I made a batch but they were far too moist-- even though I kept the strawberries to 1 cup-- and turned to mush after a day.  I highly recommend keeping it straight blueberries AND sprinkle a bit of sugar on top for crunch.  Yum!

Quick Fire Movie Reviews: July

With the exception of Harry Potter, I can't justify spending movie theater prices for the less than entertaining films Hollywood has released lately.  So this review round is for RENTALS.

Burlesque: Normally, a concoction of Xtina, Cher, Stanley Tucci, stilettos, and peek-a-boo outfits all wrapped in a musical package with an over-the-top glittery bow is a recipe for fantastic.  And let me say, Burlesque has its moments (not really) BUT... I was bored.  It's the same Cinderella story about the same small town girl with the same big talent (hey! this gal can sing-- give her a record deal!) trying to make it in show business-- all of which I knew-- but the lack of Cher and overabundance of Xtina made the film more painful than fun.  See it if you like this sort of thing, but have your fast forwarding finger ready.

Faster: Originally we rented Faster as a "Good Bad Film" rental, aka a movie that takes itself seriously yet is completely ridiculous and cheesy.  Surprisingly... it was actually a serious film with a powerful story about revenge and a great performance by Dwayne Johnson (how far he's come from Smackdown).  If you like a darker, grittier story then check it out.

Dylan Dog: Oh my... what can I say about this movie... don't bother.  It's not horribly offensive, gory, scary, funny, entertaining-- nothing.  Dyaln Dog is simply boring.  It's so dull I can't even make the review interesting.  The jokes fall flat and I'm not sure if that's because of the writing, directing, acting, or everyone was hoping for a quick buck.  Brandon Roth is usually great. I have a feeling the graphic novel about an investigator for the undead "living" among us is far more interesting than the film.  

Limitless: First let me say-- Bradley Cooper is the type of guy who will become more and more delicious as he gets older... and those eyes.  Back to the point, Limitless was a good film and has me intrigued for the book (yes, like most interesting plot-based movies, this too was an adaptation).  It's intense and has you asking: what would you do if you could take a pill that made you limitless?  And I wasn't entirely sure about where the film was going and if it would work out, but the last 30 minutes really brought everything together.  A must rent.

Source Code: If you love Chicago and have a blu-ray player... SEE THIS IN BLU-RAY!  It's beautiful. At first I really liked the film-- I became invested in Jake's character, the story (even though it was incredibly predictable... all the way through the end)-- but then it ended.  The ending went just one step too far and that's when I became confused... like Inception confused.  But with Inception I'll allow it because you know going into the film that there are layers upon layers of realities to be discovered; with Source Code they take the time to explain what's going on throughout the movie... then contradict it at the end.  ARGH!

If you like to think about films after you watch them, avoid this movie-- it will just make you angry.

Sucker Punch: This film is HORRIBLE.  Being from the director of Watchmen (awful) and 300 (good) you can expect great visuals: color themes, unique costumes, and lots and LOTS of slow motion.  While slow motion can be a great visual accent in action scenes, Zack Snyder's overuse of it made the action boring and repetitive-- we fast forwarded after awhile.  And then there's the sad sack of a story: you need a stiff drink after watching this film.  Yikes. Part of the problem could be that Snyder wrote, directed, and produced the film; in other words, he bit off way more than he could chew. Definitely felt sucker punched after watching this movie.

And finally...

The Mechanic: That's right, it's Jason Statham in a typical Jason Statham film!  How can you not love Jason Statham doing what he does best: kicking ass and taking names?  Well... he didn't kick that much ass and took almost no names in this film.  It's more about him training a younger "Jason" to be an assassin-- nothing we haven't seen before.  And then there's the usual random sex scene.  This is definitely not a worthy "Good Bad Film."

End of an Era

Even if you live under a rock-- though you wouldn't read my blog if you do-- you are probably aware of a small movie premiere last weekend: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  It's the eighth and final film in the Harry Potter movie series, opened in over 4,000 theaters across the country in 2D, 3D, and IMAX, and had the largest box office opening of a film ever in the history of the world.  No big deal.

Being a film and fantasy nerd, I, of course, had tickets to the midnight release in 3D. Normally I prefer 2D as the 21st century interpretation of the third dimension is a joke, but 3D was all they had left and beggars can't be choosers, right?  Thus my husband and I arrived at the Appleton movie theater two hours before our showtime to snag decent seats... and it's a darn good thing we did because the place was hopping!  I know this seems like common sense to you cool urban and suburbanites, but northern Wisco doesn't always jump on the Geek Train like you'd expect.  When we saw Part 1 up here a couple years ago, we didn't buy midnight tickets until the day of and got in without a hitch.  So I was pleasantly surprised to see an array of kids, teens, and adults sporting Trelawney glasses, homemade T-shirts, and full on costumes hours before the bell tolled twelve.  My favorite costumes in our theater were  an older man (like in his 50's older) as Dumbledore-- he even had a wand from the Harry Potter theme park!-- Professor Trelawney and Tonks (dyed hair and all), and finally Mad Eye Moody, complete with walking stick and glass eye. Amazing.

Unfortunately our actual film watching experience wasn't too great.  My husband had some annoying too-cool-for-school jock next to him making snide comments the entire time (dumb ass should've left), the 3D glasses were especially annoying to wear over my real glasses, and the speakers buzzed (like BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ) the whole time-- and if you've seen the film you know there are several key moments that are super quiet.  Needless to say we should go for one more theater viewing.  Though I liked much of the film, it seemed to dwell on scenes that didn't require extra time and placed little to no emphasis on a few key parts (like Fred's death).  I'm not going to do any type of review because you've probably already seen the film; all I have to say is, if you're a fan of the films and books then just see the movie so you too can relate to everyone else.  :)

I would, however, like to briefly reflect on this magical journey provided to me by J.K. Rowling for more than half my life.  On Friday I turn 26 (hooray for birthdays!) and this milestone coupled with the release of HP7P2 made me realize that I've had a relationship with Harry Potter (I promise I'm not a pedophile) and his adventures for 15 years! I began the books at age 11-- the same age Harry was when Hagrid broke down the Dursley's door on that secluded island and said, "Yer a wizard, Harry"-- and am one of the small but fortunate generation that actually grew up with Harry Potter himself.  I love that I have such an experience; it brings the books and Harry's story that much closer to my heart.

The story of how I got into the books is similar to most: my brothers and I received the first three books as a Christmas gift from an aunt (who had a reputation for giving odd presents).  We were less than thrilled, especially since we'd never heard of J.K. Who and Harry Whatshisname-- plus books rank right above clothing as "Presents Kids Love to Get."  Thankfully I enjoyed reading even as a youngin' so I took advantage of the time off Christmas allowed and the rest is history.  It's funny to remember a time before Harry, Ron, and Hermione became household names and wearing black rimmed glasses was cool, but how exciting to see literary history made before our eyes.  My children will never know life without Harry Potter and that's okay, but it's a shame future generations won't get to experience the anticipation for the next book in a series, hanging out at Borders (so sad they're closing) for a BOOK's midnight release-- I was working there when the 7th book came out-- dressing up for movie premieres... we're truly lucky to have known such a phenomenon.  I wonder what the next one will be...

Current Favorites: July 2011

It's that time of the month again!  No... not that time... here are my CURRENT FAVORITES!

Teavana Loose Leaf Tea-- One of the perks of working here is unlimited free drinks on your shift.  How much tea can you really drink, you ask?  A lot when it comes to the tasty variety of teas offered by Teavana, not to mention the unending combinations.  I'm obsessed. 

Starbucks Iced Coffee-- Because I adore the JavaVana Mate iced tea lightly sweetened with a teaspoon of cream... I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try iced coffee.  It's delish with a bit of flavoring and a tiny amount of Half and Half! A refreshing summer boost.

Thread Earrings-- I have these in coral with a gold frame from Charming Charlie's.  I just wish I had more outfits to wear them with.

Shark Bite Tanks-- This is a nice one from Lane Bryant, but the one I got from there is gray with a lovely black and silver rose print.  They're figure flattering (for me anyway), comfortable, and an easy look to accessorize.

Jessie J-- You might be more familiar with her song "Price Tag" but "Do It Like a Dude" (this specific rendition of it) is awesome.  Jessie J is one of a few artists who is BETTER LIVE than recorded.  Hopefully I can see her in concert over and over again!

Graham Norton-- Whenever I'm feeling blue or having a blah day, GN never fails to make me laugh out loud. Never. The new season on BBC America just started but I record the reruns as well because this show is that much fun.  Of course I do have quite the Brit obsession...

Hope you check out some of my faves and have a great July!  Are you into anything new?