It's the most wonderful time of the year....

...cold season. Gah! Usually it passes without so much as a nod from me, since I rarely ever get a cold. But this year, however, it hit me square in the face (or throat, as the case may be). My mom was sick, and gave it to my dad. He, in turn, gave it to me. Wonderful. It started on Friday with some sneezing and sniffling. I was hoping it was just my allergies acting up. Saturday started the sore throat. Sunday wasn't too bad. But I woke up Monday morning feeling like complete total and utter crap. I was coughing, sniffing, aching...it was horrible. And to make matters worse, it was RD's birthday, so I had things to do. I needed to clean up around his house a little, make him a birthday cake, and cook him dinner ( I made cornish game hens...yeah, I am awesome.) By the time dinner was on the table, I wanted to die. I had been on my feet all day, my eyelids could barely stay open. It sucked. The only day-time medicine he had was liquid Day-quil...I don't do liquid medication. We have issues with each other. I couldn't wait until it was a decent hour so I could take some medicine and go to bed. I don't even remember him coming up to bed, that was how out of it I was. I could barely talk when I woke up yesterday. It was horrible. I laid around watching "The Venture Bros." all day. Going to bed last night was horrible. The medicine wasn't working as well as before and I could not fall asleep. Anytime my head hit the pillow, I would keep coughing. Ugh.

So, I feel like death again today. Awesome! And it's also my special time, so I'm feeling super great. Haha. Sorry for the TMI. Just wanted to give you the full effect of how I'm feeling right now. I'm really hoping this passes soon because it's a busy weekend for me coming up. I have a million things to do and I won't feel like doing them if this is how I will be feeling.

Well, it's time to end this pretty little post...

What do you do when you have a cold?

♥

10 Things I Hate About How to Lose a Guy When in Rome at My Best Friend's Wedding...

Fellow blogger, Natalie, just made a post about how she can't stand society's new "it" girls, i.e. the dumb, vapid, shallow ones who love to suck dick. I commented, and felt the rage slowly start to build within me. I love to watch romantic comedies, but they make me so pissed off. Life is not like that. But that shit sells. Would you really go see a movie that tells the truth? No. Because we like to live in "happy, rainbow, unicorn" land where that shit could really happen. So, here are 10 (over-used) cliches from romantic comedies that drive me insane:

1. Hardcore Career Woman Whose Heart Melts: Pity the loveless, career-driven shrew — that is, until the right man comes along. Best-laid plans, etc. As seen in The Proposal, No Reservations, What Happens In Vegas, Raising Helen, and New In Town, these hard-hearted women learn what really matters through a series of highly convoluted circumstances.

2. Falling In Love With The Help : It's a genre at least as old as Jane Eyre, but the last decade saw no sign of upstairs-downstairs eroticism abating. Often with the service-industry job in the title — Maid in Manhattan, The Wedding Planner, The Nanny Diaries, even Secretary, these movies were mostly Cinderella fantasies, spiced up with power differentials. Love Actually actually managed to fit several such romances into one movie (with Colin Firth, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman's plotlines).

3. Quirky Girl Brings Adventure: It's good news that eighties-style makeover flicks were in short supply in the last decade. And maybe we can also be happy that in the place of the ugly duckling came the nominally indie, self-consciously quirky girl with the adventurous streak — see Natalie Portman in Garden State, (500) Days Of Summer (actually, this genre is essentially owned by Zooey Deschanel), Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist, Juno, and even Serendipity and Along Came Polly.

4. Journalist On Assignment (Often Secretly): The traditional media may be in crisis, but on the silver screen, being a journalist remains glamorous, exciting, and the best way to meet a man. How else does one get into romance-ready scrapes? See: How To Lose A Guy in Ten Days, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Rumor Has It, Down With Love, The Ugly Truth, and even wedged into dual audience comedies like Mr. Deeds (an unconvincing Winona Ryder as a tabloid reporter) and Zoolander (Christine Taylor as an investigatory journalist.)

5. The Reformed Bad Boy. This genre allows both male actors and the audience to have it both ways: first, caddish masculinity and assurance that our hero is a guy's guy, then, the right woman to come along and transform him, unwillingly, into a softy. See, for example, Wedding Crashers, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Hitch, Two Weeks Notice, About a Boy, and What Women Want. Who said you can't change a man?

6. My Best Friend's Wedding (Stretched Over Another Decade). There is a strong correlation between the ballad of the overlooked best friend (or sometimes sibling) and the frantic drama of the wedding. Maybe we can blame Julia Roberts — if her character in the 1997 hit didn't get the guy at the end, well, we've spent the oughts making up for it. Movies like Made of Honor, My Best Friend's Girl, 27 Dresses, Definitely Maybe, Just Friends, and In Her Shoes make it clear from the trailer that the buddy will come to his or her senses in 90 minutes or less.

7. Dealing With The Hardass Parents: In-law jokes are a worn genre in and of themselves, but films like Monster in Law, Meet The Parents, Guess Who, You Me & Dupree, and Just Married took it to the next level with slapstick gags about overbearing parents jealously protecting their offspring. An implicit reaction to the new overparenting?

8. Male Lead, Stammering Charm: Whether you preferred him British (Hugh Grant) or Yiddish (Ben Stiller), it was all about the klutzy je ne sais quoi. Grant in particular owned this genre, starting in the 90s and persisting throughout the oughts with the wretched Music & Lyrics, the Bridget Jones' Diary movies, and now Did You Hear About The Morgans?, among others.

9. Fish Out Of Water: Nothing's hotter than being new in town and needing to be initiated by an attractive stranger. See: Save The Last Dance, The Holiday, The Prince & Me, New In Town, and Under The Tuscan Sun.

10. Time Travel: romantic comedies are all about putting road blocks between hero and heroine. And what's a better impediment than living in different ages? In movies like Kate and Leopold, 13 going on 30, 17 Again, and The Time Traveler's Wife, love proved it could triumph over the time-space continuum.

As I'm sure you've noticed, I didn't really write these...I found them all at this site: http://jezebel.com/5426519/most-overused-romantic-comedy-cliches-of-the-decade/gallery/

But I do agree with all of them.  Another thing that gets me mad are the lengths the guys will go to to win the girl back. No high-school boy is going to pay off the marching band to play "Can't Take My Eyes off of You" while singing and running away from school security guards. Sorry ladies. And no romantic kiss in the rain after you have some sort of argument...most of the time, when it rains, it's freezing. You're not going to be outside in that. And  you can also nix the whole running through the airport. With the way security is nowadays, unless you have a boarding pass, you can't even get to the shops in most airports. 

*sigh* I could go on and on, but I'm getting a little hungry and I still have a million things to do before RD's parents come over for a birthday dinner. So I'm gonna end this now. 

Oh, and tomorrow is my birthday! Yea! :-)

What do you hate most about romantic comedies?

1000 Cranes, 1000 Lives....1000 words needed

I started a new project. I am going to make 1000 paper cranes, with a positive word written on them, and place them in various places around where I live. I stole this idea from Sandy @ Sandy and the 1000 Paper Cranes. I'm doing this mainly because I'm bored all day, but also because I've always wanted to do something in my life that made a difference in other people's lives. I know if I was having a really shitty day, and I found a paper crane that said "Hope" or "Believe", my day will have brightened, even if it's just a little bit.

So, what I need from all of you are words that have a positive meaning or significance, even if it's just to you. I would really appreciate it. If you want to check out my blog, or Sandy's (please read hers...I never would have thought of this on my own.), be my guest: 1000 Cranes, 1000 Lives.

Thanks!
♥

An Award...I has one!

And chances are, if you're reading this, you have one too!

This lovely award was given to me by the lovely Steph G. Since I got this, here's what I have to do:

1 - grab the award and post it on your blog with the name of the person who awarded it to you

2 - pay it forward to 15 other blogs that you've discovered

3 - contact those bloggers and tell them they've been chosen for the one lovely blog award!


So, here they are. Congrats guys!

• Natalie Paige @ Awkward Sex and the City
• Chelsea @ Chelsea Talks Smack
• Mei @ Diary of a Fair Weath Diver
• Katie @ Katie Blogs
• Amy @ life's Journey with a smile (She's also the one who made the kick-ass header you see on my page.)
• Mahalo Apollo
• JoJo @ One Sassy Vixen
• Sara @ Sara Swears a Lot
• Sara @ The Bucket List
• Mel @ The Dumbest Smart Girl You Know
• Intimate Ramblings... (Sorry, her blog name is too long to type. I also am stealing the Manly Lovely Blog button from her for some of the guys on this list.) 

There are also some men I would like to acknowledge, but that button is a little girly. So here is your award.

And these winners are:

• Dan @ From the head of The Danaconda
• HolyJuan
• I am your blog
• David @ The Rest Is Still Unwritten

Now I just have to tell everyone they won...yea. Haha.

♥

Check-ch-check-check-check-ch-check it out

I have a new header!!! WOOT!!! My blog is all pretty-fied now! Hehe. The header is courtesy of Miss Amy, one of my loyal subjects. Actually, I think she was my first loyal subject. But anyway, the header is awesome and I made the rest of my blog match, so now it's all pretty. Enjoy!

HTML....yes, please and thank-you

I don't like admitting that I am one of the few people of my generation that does not understand HTML in the least bit. All I know is "♥", and according to my computer whiz bf, doesn't even really count as HTML. So when it comes to my blog appearance, it is SEVERELY lacking. I can't even use Google Analytics because I have no idea where to put the code. I used to know, and that's the sad part. I used to know a lot about HTML. But somehow, all of my knowledge has left me. I am so clueless about everything computer-related anymore, it is ridiculous.

So, basically what I'm trying to get at here, is I need help with my blog. I would like some sort of fancy-shmancy header, one that includes that cute little pic on the left of the hugging shadowy people. That is the main thing. And if any of you have any other suggestions (and can actually produce them), I'm more than open to them. Of course, if you do this for me, I will acknowledge you and send everyone over to your blog for some happy reading.

I'm just really sick of looking at this boring page all the time.

Thanks, in advance.

♥

New Content

Hey. I just put up a new page. It's all of the recipes I like making when I'm at RD's house. If you have any you would like to share, please send them in. Maybe we can make a blogger cookbook, eventually.


And in case you're lazy, and don't feel like clicking the tab, here are the recipes.

These are some of my favorite recipes to make with my boyfriend. If you have any you'd like to share, send them my way and I'll post them here.

Manda's Meatloaf

1 1/2- 2 lbs ground beef                       1 c. bread crumbs(seasoned is best)                    

1 egg                                                    salt and pepper to taste

1 onion, chopped                                 2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 c. milk                                               2 tbsp. mustard (I use Dijon.)

1/3 c. ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl combine beef, egg, onion, milk and bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in lightly greased 5x9 loaf pan. Or, form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. (I form 2 loaves and put in 9x13 dish. That way, if we don't eat the second one, it can be frozen.) In separate small bowl, combine brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and baste over meatloaf. Bake @ 350 for one hour, or until cooked through. It should be around 150-160 degrees on the inside. (This will be the moistest meatloaf you will ever have. It's delicious.)

Baked French Toast

1/4 c. melted butter            6 pcs. French or Italian bread

4 eggs                                2/3 c. orange juice

1/4 c. sugar                        1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. nutmeg                   1/2 c chopped pecans (or nut of your choice.)

Coat bottom of 9x13 dish with melted butter. Arrange bread in single layer in dish. Whisk eggs, OJ, vanilla, sugar and nutmeg until well blended. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Sprinkle nuts on top and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Serve with orange syrup. (Recipe below.)

Orange Syrup

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. orange juice

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp orange liqueur

Combine ingredients in sauce pan on medium heat until warm and sugar is dissolved. Do not boil.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Picante

4 c. white rice

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 1/2 c. Picante sauce (or salsa)

3 tbsp. packed light brown sugar

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Prepare rice according to package. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken in 2 qt shallow baking dish. Mix picante sauce, brown sugar and mustard in small bowl. Pour over chicken. Bake for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve chicken and sauce over rice. ( I like using pineapple or mange salsa.)

Taco Pie

1 lb ground beef                    1 pkg crescent rolls

1 pkg. taco seasoning             1 bag Doritos

8 oz. sour cream                   1 c. shredded cheese (cheddar or a Mexican blend works best)

Brown ground beef and drain. Mix with taco seasoning according to package directions. Arrange crescent rolls in glass pie dish or square baking dish, pressing together to make a crust. Spread 1/2c. crushed Doritos in bottom. Add ground beef mixture. Spread sour cream over beef. Sprinkle cheese on top. Finish with 1/2 c. crushed Doritos. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown. ( I also put some cheese on the bottom, before the ground beef.)

RD's Famous Meatballs

1 1/2 lbs ground beef                             1/2 tsp parsley

1/4 onion (chopped very fine)                1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic                                             1 tsp salt

1 tsp basil                                              2 eggs

1 tsp oregano                                        1 c bread crumbs

In large bowl, combine all ingredients. You may not want to add both eggs at once. Only add second egg if mixture seems dry. Form into balls, slightly smaller than a golf ball. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. oil. Cook meatballs in skillet until brown on all sides. Place on a wire rack in a baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, or until cooked through. Do not place in sauce until right before serving. (These are the best meatballs you will ever have. Everyone raves about them. Do not cut out any of the spices, or they will not taste right. We use dried, but fresh would taste even better.)

Demi Chocolate Souffle

Butter (for ramekins)

1/2 c. sugar, plus extra to coat ramekins

4 eggs, separated

2 tbsp Grand Marnier (or any orange-flavored liqueur. Grand Marnier is VERY expensive to just use once.)

6 oz. chocolate (melted)

Confectioner's sugar (for dusting. AKA powdered sugar)

1/2 c. chocolate sauce (for serving)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush 4 small ramekins with butter, making sure to coat thoroughly, including rims. Coat completely with sugar, gently tapping out any excess. In a mixing bowl whisk yolks, 1/4 c. sugar and liqueur until thoroughly mixed. Stir in melted chocolate. In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks, add remaining sugar and beat until just stiff. Fold half of eggs whites into chocolate mixture, incorporating completely. Fold in remaining whites, keeping batter as light as you can. Some white streaks may remain. Spoon batter into prepared ramekins. Bake 8-10 minutes until puffed. Serve immediately, dusted with confectioner's sugar and pass warm chocolate sauce at table. (This is surprisingly easy to make.)

♥