Kick in the Teeth Salad

Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce
Crushed Spicy Nacho Doritos (way better than croutons!)
Green Onions
Black Beans
A ton of cilantro (1/3 as much as your lettuce)
Salsa of choice (less fat than dressing!)
(add a squeeze of lime if you have it)

Ohhhhh man I want to eat this again soon. Really soon.

Whoa: A Pineapple's Ring Cycle

The Williams-Sonoma Pineapple Slicer cores and ring-slices a pineapple for you.

Unforgettable Book. (Ages 9+)

The first line:

"So, there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians."

Alcatraz Smedry and his insane family (though he's been raised by foster parents), make this book unbelievably awesome. DIE LAUGHING AWESOME.

You'll love it! I promise you. Especially if you liked Percy Jackson-- you must read Alcatraz.

For Alicia

Thank you, Mr. Pumice

Get your own Mr. Pumice at Sally's Beauty Supply. Your calluses will thank you.

When my hands and feet developed a strange peeling-disease, you were there.
When dragon scales appeared magicians failed to banish them, but you were there.
When ordinary exfoliation didn't help you were there.

Thank you for being so cheap and for lasting so long.

I'll always love you, Mr. Pumice. Always.

Sage & Sesame Bread

In Jerusalem an egg-bread coated with sesame seeds can be found fairly easily, and right now it sounds so tasty. The native way to eat this bread is to tear off a chunk and dip it in sage, as modeled above by friends Karey Knackstedt and Craig Estep. Mmm, sage.

Why include the hideous parts?

Take out rug, remove antler head = deal. Honestly. That rug clashes terribly with the curtains, and as long as Bambi's father's on the wall no one will notice the ceiling lantern. WHY do designers always include nasty stuff when they decorate? So wrong.

I Love You, Daddy.

"My Hawk Says You Can't Have One."

BYU students just won a huge award for this Dorito's ad. Read all about it.

I wonder if his wolverine came from the Bean Museum?

Curious About the History of Wedding Cake?

While I don't know why anyone would volunteer to read a 12 pg research paper just for fun, Piece of Cake: The Revolution of American Wedding Confection, is now available if you wish to read it.

Photo by Eliot Elisofon for LIFE magazine, 1942.

Please note that my paper isn't perfect; I'm just an undergrad and I don't care too much. Also, I apologize for its dry nature. If I'd been able to include all of my fun research, this would have been WAY more interesting. Apparently scholarly writing only includes authoritative-mumbo-jumbo and is limited to facts that impact your thesis. *eyeroll.* I think for AurelianBall I'll include an addendum with random tidbits. Stuff like this:

DID YOU KNOW:
Queen Victoria's wedding cake was 10 ft wide, and 300 lbs, but
Queen Elizabeth II's wedding cake was 9 ft high, and 500 lbs?


...the best part is that I know why Victoria's was tall and Elizabeth's was wide! Ahem.Exercising restraint. Must stop gushing.

Love your floss-- it will love you back.

These Piranha Floss Holders are sweet-awesome! Floss comes out the bottom and then you can use their razor-sharp teeth (ha ha) to cut off your floss.

WHAT PEOPLE KNOW BUT PAY LITTLE ATTENTION TO: Floss is cheap and could save you big money on your next dentist bill.

WHAT PEOPLE DON'T KNOW: Floss can help your heart! Through your gums, plaque can enter your blood stream and cause blockages in your arteries. Plaque can also cause inflammation in your gums, which sets off similar reactions in other parts of your body-- i.e., swelling blood cells, which narrows your arteries. So floss it up, people! :)

Midnight Snack

Oy. Since I'm off of sugar and yeast a LARGE group of my staple food items is defunct. After (daily) pouting over my loss I've been trying to fall in love with new foods. In a desperate and depressing rut of food options I decided to eat something different, but seemingly pathetic:

Fresh cilantro, with corn tortillas (toasted in the toaster) dipped in my favorite Salsa.



A surprisingly awesome combo. I can't wait to eat more tomorrow!

The Sun In Your Heart

Do you feel at the end of your rope? Exhausted? Depressed or angry? Alone? I understand; I know how you feel, and someone else does too. He's the "big guy upstairs," and He knows all about you. So if you feel wrung out, drained, or just don't want to try anymore-- this is for you.

I'm laughing at clouds--so dark up above;

The sun's in my heart and I'm ready for love.
Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place--
Come on with the rain! I've a smile on my face!

For years people smiled and told me "You're in control of the way you feel. You can always control your attitude!" I still do not believe this. Especially considering physiological chemicals your body reacts to (or produces on its own), things are not always in your control. But there is something that can help, and that will cheer and lift both you and those around you that you can control: gratitude.

Make a habit of finding something to be thankful for when you feel low. Even if it's "gee those clouds look pretty," or "I'm glad I have a full tank of gas," or "I'm so glad I can walk up stairs without help," gratitude will help, I promise you. Maybe just a little, but it will help.

Storms in life are unavoidable, and many many times it seems black clouds hover only over our own heads. Instead of trying to fight the storm, because often, nothing can make the rain stop, instead use gratitude to put the sun in your heart. You'll find your own reasons to dance and sing in the rain.

Here's advice from an experienced professional:

"Will prayers that do not demand much of your thought merit much attention from our Heavenly Father? When you find yourself getting into a routine with your prayers, step back and think. Meditate for a while on the things for which you really are grateful. Look for them. They don't have to be grand or glorious. Sometimes we should express our gratitude for the small and simple things like the scent of the rain, the taste of your favorite food, or the sound of a loved one's voice. Thinking of things we are grateful for is a healing balm. It helps us get outside ourselves. It changes our focus from our pains and our trials to the abundance of this beautiful world we live in."

--Joseph B. Wirthlin

Hee Hee Hee.

"More gravy than grave? Oh, what a terrible pun!" Of course, there's always the Chopin Board, too.

Love the Italy-Romance Genre, 2010 ed.

I keep thinking about When in Rome. I fully intend to buy it. It leans to the comedy side of Romantic Comedy--hey-- if Danny DeVito and Napoleon Dynamite (what's his real name, anyway?) simultaneously chase after a girl you know some laughs will pop out. The dreamy Tad Hamilton guy, as in WinADateWith... is again... dreamy, but in this movie he's so nice! Also high on the dreamy-scale is Kristin Bell's total glam-sophisticated job at the Guggenheim in NYC.

This movie contains: street-magicians, both a very good and a very bad wedding toast, magic Roman fountains, catholic priests who play poker, Italian folk dancing, a date in complete darkness, self-absorbed male models, lightning storms, Angelica Houston, and a winning end-scene I quote all the time (but don't want to spoil).

Most recently I saw Letters to Juliet. I love Vanessa Redgrave as an old lady!* Such a lovely film. Less comedy > More romance. The opening credits was a collection of paintings and photographs of people kissing from all ages of time that had breathtaking adorability. In a plot reminiscent of Only You (easily the best Italy-Romance comedy ever,) the characters drive all over Tuscany trying to track down a guy with only his name as a reference. Letters to Juliet has a fabulous ending--something very important in my romance movie choices; because yes, we knew Jane wouldn't end up with Mr. Lefroy, but did Becoming Jane really have to end so badly? I think not.

This movie contains: Italian food, sweet and whimsical romance, gorgeous scenery (including Sienna, where Dylan lived for a summer), an unbelievably dashing British guy--hello, British abs!--whoamagosh, he's charming, the original Camelot movie's Gwenevere & Lancelot back together again (as different characters, obviously), and again-- a dreamy NYC job--this time as a fact checker for the New Yorker.

*please watch her performance of an elderly woman with dementia in Evening.

Forever in Peace May You Wave

Happy Flag Day!

When flying your own flag, please observe official US flag regulation 7.i : When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union (stars) should be uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left. (As shown above.) STARS ALWAYS IN THE UPPER LEFT. Thank you.

Complete rules for flying the US flag found here.

Mumbled truth: the blanket of cold feet*

"Your style of writing is... indirect and confusing," a Professor told me recently. After reviewing a rough draft of my research paper with her I discovered that she graded that draft with a B-. I feel like the little girl (Maggie) on Hook-- "An F? He gave me an F!" Only in my case, I'm shocked to have gotten a B- on a piece of my research.

I am stunned and confused. My writing, which has always been "A-grade," is now poor? I keep trying to remind myself of what happened in HighSchool: Mrs. Brown repeatedly said I had a gift for writing, but Mrs. March told me I needed remedial help. My senior High School year of English I got a D- because of her (still graduated in the top 10% of my class!) but as I got an A in Freshman writing at BYU only a few months later I felt assured that the need for "remedial work" was entirely her false opinion.

But now panic and crisis swim in my eyes! While trying to finish my current paper I keep thinking that I'm going to have to scrap the whole thing and start again--but start where? How do I change my writing style completely? Indirect? But I'm a good writer, right? RIGHT?

Woe is me! I'm lost in this world! Lah-haw-hawwwwst. A once bright future now foretells naught but gloomily strumming a lyre, singing "death cometh to me."

*The sweaty-toothed mad-man has a stare that pounds my brain.

Just A Little Different

Last Night I Dreamt of Baking Chocolate Cake

For health reasons my current diet is devoid of sugar in all its forms. No cake, frosting, caramel, raspberry sauce, WW Brownies, snickerdoodles, oatmeal scotchies, chocolate, or ice cream-- my dear sweet Breyer's (33% more dutch process cocoa!) chocolate ice cream... *whimper*

I will soon lose the will to live.

Rockstar Julie

$5 Sunglasses at Forever 21

If you can stand to walk into that store in the mall --and you know which one I mean-- they have an awesome selection of cheap sunglasses and reading glasses. I think they're all for girls, which is sad since Dylan's fake Ray-Ban's just broke.

Thanks to Garbutt, aka Jules-Julie-JULIE for wearing such amazing sunglasses that I had to ask where you got them. Props for constantly being the peak of style. Every time I see you I want to (non-creepily) rip off a piece of your clothing and steal it for myself. Like 2 years ago at the Sackett wedding-- those snazzy antique seam nylons! Hommina. I officially want your closet.

Hee Hee Hee

Kudos to the designer. Hee hee.

Palestinian Candy Store

(Click to enlarge)

Fresh and Clean

Hard lines abound in the tile, cabinets, windows, photographs-- even the lanterns have square shades. The ordered clarity of the lines and neutral colors creates a serene, safe, environment, and allows warm wood, plants, and circular overhead lamps to really pack a punch. I love that those lamps are the only curves in the shot.

So the hallway is wider than my bedroom. :) Doesn't change it's appeal.

Correct Answer: Mt. Hood, Oregon

Highway 35

Guessing Game #4: Name That Mountain!

It's time to guess, folks! Take a flying leap at what peak in the US this may be, and comment with your answer.

I Feel Happy Today

Feeling so happy today I felt like smiling at everyone and saying "hey!" Either that or wearing rags, claiming that I'm not yet dead, and jumping into a personal tap dance. At least my dancing will make the elevators move!

"Talking rocks? Meh."

The TONY's are coming! The TONY's are coming!

Nothing too exciting this year as far as I can tell. Million-Dollar Quartet and Memphis look pretty snazzy. If I were to get free tickets to one of the nominated shows, I might pick Finnian's Rainbow, but I bet I'd settle on

Come Fly Away-- an all dance musical to nothing but Frank Sinatra vocals + a big band. No script, no singing-- just movement tells the story. This show better win choreography! It's amah-zing.

A number of crazy new shows (including an Adamms Family musical) and "meh" fad musicals. I about panicked when I saw that my beloved Ragtime is in revival and I wouldn't be able to go see it, but it appears that they've killed the magic completely; the choreography and acting are weak. All in all, I'm still excited for the show.

June 13th! THE TONY'S ARE COMING.

One Reason Why I Love the Middle East

People there LOVE children. ADORE them. They have such love for FAMILY, and people WITH FAMILIES. I often hope for more Americans to love children as much.

Myriad of Oddities

I recently heard about the StarWarsShop and thought I'd take a look.

I was unprepared.

It doesn't smell authentic, but "at least it'll keep ya warm."

Tauntaun Sleeping Bags! Complete with lightsaber zipper pulls. Buy it here!

Also found in the shop: Space Slug Oven Mitts, Toasters that burn Darth Vader's helmet shape into the bread, Souvenir Shot-Glasses with "Mos Eisley Cantina" logos, Lightsaber Chopsticks (that connect for DarthMaul!), Dagobah habitats for your pet frog-- WHOA DANG. Oh-- and don't forget your Wampa Rug.

Sheldon from BigBangTheory should have this shirt.

Um, No.

What does this sign even mean?

Toasted Apple, An Obituary.

Farewell my friend. I'm sorry I toasted you.


Thank you for serving me well through long hours, even longer classes, in many climates, and four different countries. Your strong internet connection shall be missed, as will your memory of notes, lectures, and journal files. Mac, aged 3.5 years, is outlived by her partner iClaudius.

"The Young Victoria" is Remarkable

At last another all-around-great film! I completely agree with the above assessment. A healthy perspective of young love and early marriage with unbelievable costumes; the scenes in this movie captured me speechless and riveted to the screen. So did the soundtrack.


Emily Blunt-- whom you'd likely remember as the saucy "you don't deserve this, you eat carbs!" girl from DevilWearsPrada, plays Victoria. Oooh! And! My favorite fashion decade (1835-45) finally has a movie with costumes worthy for showcase! ...Recognize Prince Albert, anyone?

See the Trailer.

Underwater Museum, Cancun

Definitely not my cup of seawater, but I do find the concept highly original.