A Trick of the Eye

Every time I glance at my inbox today, I see this:

Your Amazon.com order of "Member's Mark - Children's..." has shipped!

I keep thinking that it says my order of Maker's Mark has shipped (as I apparently block out the part that says Children's...because clearly there is no children's version of Maker's Mark).  And then I think to myself, "Self, when did you order liquor on Amazon?  You don't even drink Maker's Mark!"

And then I realize that it says "Member's Mark," and that it is actually allergy medication for the nugget.

But then I back up, and realize that it would be pure awesomeness if I could order liquor from Amazon...because I totally would.

That is all.

 

Half-Time Extraordinaire

What can I say?  Madonna- WOWZA!

Watched last night's Super Bowl Half-Time show on YouTube this morning.  (You know I didn't see it live- thank God for the Interwebs.)  Madonna?  Awesome.  Singing, dancing, cheering, tumbling acrobat style across the stage.  She is 53 years old.  What the what?!?!

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the performance.  The best half-time that I recall in the past several years.

Too bad MIA (whoever that is) had to flip the bird and stir up more half-time controversy.  Sad for Madge that she now has that cloud over her otherwise stellar show.

Feeling a little forlorn that I missed out on all the funny commercials last night.  Looks like I have some more YouTubing to do this afternoon.

Pinterest Recipe Review

Lately, I have been feeling really rather cool.  Like I am way ahead of the trends.  Like, I've been on Pinterest since waaaaay before everybody and their mother joined up.*  It was a sweltering August day when I received my invite.  (I wrote about it here.)  Booyah!

Anywho, since that fateful summer day, I have become even more obsessed.  Of course, there is an app for that, and I could spend hours on my phone just scrolling through recent pins, and pin, pin, pinning away onto my own boards (of which there are now a whopping TEN).

I have been particularly excited about the recipes that I have pinned.  This week, I attempted four of them.  Here is a brief review:

Source: candcmarriagefactory.com via Betsey on Pinterest

Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin- this recipe was delish. I am a sucker for the crock pot, and am always looking for recipes that don't involve chicken. This pork turned out so incredibly tender (as crock pot meats tend to do), and the sweet glaze was fantastic. Definitely making this one again.

Source: amateurgourmet.com via Betsey on Pinterest

Roasted Broccoli- I made this alongside the pork. This broccoli was talked up as the broccoli to beat all broccolis. Let me preface by saying that I am NOT a broccoli lover- in fact, I am a broccoli HATER. But I thought I'd give it a try, given that the chef's husband declared that biting into this broccoli was better than biting into a steak. After trying it myself, I declare that man to be a LIAR. J, who IS a broccoli lover, declared that this tasted weird. As such, I declare that I will not be roasting broccoli again.

Source: lemondropsfoodie.blogspot.com via Betsey on Pinterest

Lemon Blueberry Loaf- again, delish. The bread (or cake?) turned out so moist and yummy. A word of advice to those who may attempt this: I found that the suggested cook time wasn't long enough. I baked for a total of 65 minutes. I also found that I did not grease my loaf pan well enough, and I left the bottom of the loaf in the pan. Sad face. :( Although the loaf didn't look so pretty, it still tasted amazing.

Source: ifyouwantgoodfood.blogspot.com via Betsey on Pinterest

Crock Pot Sesame Chicken- I call bullshit on this one. It tasted nothing like the beloved Chinese takeout version. (Shocking! I know, as I used only chicken breasts and they weren't breaded or fried.) However, the meat was tender and the sauce was good, so it was not a total waste. It just isn't something that will go into my permanent rotation. And I had high hopes for this one. Shucks.

There ya' have it.  Bon apetit.  

* Just to clarify, I am not upset that everyone and their mother has joined up.  In fact, I quite enjoy following so many of my people.  Keep pinning, friends!

Randoms

This morning, not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR sweet kindergarten girls told me as they passed me in the hall this morning that they really liked the dress I was wearing.  From now on, I shall wear it every day.  Okay, not every day, but still, what a way to start the day!

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Remember back when I wrote this post about birds?  Well, this morning, as I was driving to work, I had another quail sighting.  This time, there were probably fifteen or twenty of them!  And I spotted them in the same yard as the last time!  Are they pets, perhaps?  Does one keep yard quails like they do yard chickens?  Or are quail simply drawn to this particular lawn for some reason?  What does a quail eat?  Maybe it's found in abundance on this particular property?  Inquiring minds want to know. 

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I actually did an Internet search for a house cleaning checklist today.  I just feel like there are things that I am missing when I clean the house.  Lately I've been thinking about odd jobs that I need to do, like cleaning the vents that cover the air filters, scrubbing the grout in the kitchen, and removing excess lint from the surfaces in the laundry room.  What is wrong with me?  I am actually trying to find more things to clean.  (And J is cringing right now as he reads this...)

There is your dose of randomness for the day.  AND, I almost typed Happy Friday.  Joke's on me...it's only Thursday.  Boo.

Holy Wow- An Update

J looked into his Amazon orders from 2011.  He had a whopping 27.

I feel shame.

That is all.

Holy Wow

Just for funsies, I decided to generate a report to see my Amazon order history for 2011.

I placed 121 orders last year.

Whoa.  That's a lot.

To be fair, I order diapers and wipes on a semi-regular basis (meaning whenever we run out of the stock my wonderful MIL continuously supplies).  And becoming a mom for the first time meant we had plenty of other baby goods to purchase.

But 121 orders?!  Wow.  And the sad thing is, this doesn't include the orders that J placed using his account.

I think I may have an addiction.

Recent Pinterest Finds

Awhile back, I wrote about how I was in need of a Pintervention (Tee hee! I still find my word play funny, even though I'm sure most of you do not.)

I took some time away from Pinterest, but recently, its popularity seems to be exploding. I have new followers, and I am newly following many more. 'Tis true that I can get carried away sometimes, pinning and pinning and pinning.

Here are some recent finds.

Source: gourmetgirl1.blogspot.com via Christine on Pinterest

Must make these sometime. Don't they look delish?

Source: bing.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

A craft with the nugget! Adorable.

Source: store.apple.com via Anilú on Pinterest

Michael Kors iPhone clutch! BRILLIANT. I definitely need this.

Source: kellehampton.com via Kayla on Pinterest

In my attempt to get great shots of the boy, I shall try this once it warms up.

I Need a Pintervention

Have you all discovered Pinterest? 

It's a website containing "virtual cork boards" where you can "pin" things that you love.  You can also "follow" people and their boards, just like on The Twitter.

I've been spending lots o' time perusing the boards and pinning till my heart's content.  I've started four boards of my own- one for style, one for the home, one for parenting, and one for the randoms.  So much fun.

Next time you're bored and surfing the Interwebs, check it out!  (And check out my boards, if you like, by searching betsey anderson, or directly at pinterest.com/betseyc1980.)

Things I Heart: Babble

It is quite possible that I am extremely behind the times, and all the cool moms already knew about this.  But yesterday I stumbled across a website that I just loved, so I thought I'd share.

Babble.com is a parenting website "for a new generation of parents."  It has all kinds of info on pregnancy, babies, and kids, recipes, family fun, and even some celebrity dish (anyone else craving to see a picture of Harper Seven?). 

Yesterday I read about the 50 Best iPhone Apps for Moms, 10 Ways to Eat Ramen for Dinner, and Tips for Taking Photos of Baby.  And then I read some more.

Seriously great stuff, and some very entertaining motherhood funnies, as well.  Enjoy, mommies!

How has it taken me so long?

To catch on to Etsy?

If you haven't visited this crafty site, you really should check it out.  I've heard lots about it, and my ginger friend Amanda is a frequent shopper there.  But until I recently, I hadn't given it the time of day.

Well, friends...I was wrong.  I've been missing out on all kinds of crafty goodness.

Check out these nursery finds:

Nautical banner from TaffieWishes' shop

Wall art from KZukowski's shop

Name blocks from auntjjsattic's shop- and no, we are not naming the baby William, so don't get excited.

And look at these fantastic choices in baby fashion!

"Cool Baby" from Stitch3D's shop

"Sporty Baby" from klzart's shop

"Funny Baby" from BullyDesignCo's shop

Really, I think I just might be in trouble with this new knowledge of Etsy.  I mean, who wouldn't want all this great stuff?  And it's handmade, not mass produced!  How wonderful is that?

Seriously, I'm in trouble.  But I just might have the cutest baby in the cutest nursery on the block.

If Facebook Existed Years Ago...

I've been seeing this little funny pop up everywhere lately, so maybe many of you have already seen it.  But J had not, when I asked him about it last night.  I then proceeded to try and explain to him the humor in these images.  He failed to laugh.  Or even chuckle.  Apparently my retelling skills suck.

SO, I thought it best that I just post it for all to see!   Happy Friday, everyone!

The Internet kinda creeps me out.

How does it know so much stuff??

For example, on my Yahoo homepage, there is a sidebar featuring all kinds of different ads.  They change every so often.  I'm not sure I've ever paid too much attention to them- they're just an minor, annoying nuisance which I choose to avoid looking at.

But recently an add for Ann Taylor Loft maternity clothes caught my eye.  I thought to myself, "I didn't know Ann Taylor had a maternity line!  How fortunate that that ad appeared and I happened to catch it!"

After this experience, I started checking out these ads a little more frequently.  Who knew what other gems I might uncover?

Well, this is when I started to get a little creeped out by the Internet.  Almost ALL of the ads revolve around maternity clothes, baby necessities, or cord blood banking, such as this:

HOW DOES THE INTERNET KNOW I'M PREGNANT?

I'm sure the computer nerds of the world (yes, I mean you, J) can give me a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.  But nonetheless, I'm not sure I like it.

Big Brother is seriously watching me.