See ya, 2010!!

Ugh, you guys! I cannot tell you how excited I am to see tomorrow. I am so over 2010. I was going to post the Hanes sock commercial underneath, where both the son and father mutter, "We're sick of it." But I thought I would go old skool instead and show one of my very favorite "In Living Color" skits.



Now, I didn't exactly hate 2010. After all, I did get to go to Hogwarts (the Harry Potter park), Las Vegas with my hubby for our fabulous two year anniversary, and the Parker palm Springs twice. But quite a few awful things happened this year that I don't want to dredge up again, so here's to 2011.

Looking back at my new year's resolutions last year, I see that I didn't hold up to many of them. One was pretty unrealistic for me as well considering my profession and the life I lead. So here's to my resolutions for 2011. Let's see if these babies hold up better:

1. Take a multivitamin every day. You did buy a weekly pill case (that looks like it's for the elderly) for this reason!
2. Bring your Camelback water bottle every day. No more plastic bottles! (BTW, I said that in the mother's voice from "Rosemary's Baby."- "No more wire hangars!")
3. Start shopping for stocking stuffer gifts early... January early. Try to get a few each month. That way you won't almost hurl like you did this year when you try to purchase them all at once.
4. You have six months. If you don't finally lose those ten pounds that are keeping you from fitting into most of your wardrobe, it's all getting donated. Done, and done.
5. Find the most exquisite site you can along the coast in France for when you and the hubs finally film your vow renewal.
6. Make sure you make a list of all the Harry Potter sites you want to visit in England so you don't miss any.
7. Try to be more social. Give up the hermit lifestyle. Attempt to have people over for dinner once a month. That is why you bought all that pretty serveware, right?
8. Make sure you save a little me time. Whether that be if you just take a walk when you get home from work, or dance to your favorite song, or even get back into meditating. Hopefully, this will help you avoid all of the mini-breakdowns you have throughout the year.

::sigh:: For some reason, this list seems much more reasonable. I hope you have a lovely New Year's Eve, whatever you end up doing. Be safe, and see ya in 2011.

Rango

I don't do animated films. I just don't get excited about them like most people do. I assume I will when I have kids, although I have already argued with the husband, "Umm, you will so be taking the kids to see this." But have you seen the trailer for "Rango" in which Johnny Depp is the lead voiceover character?



It looks SO cute, right? OK, geek out moment done. I'm officially excited about an animated film.

I'm a Big Kid Now!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I just realized today that I took no pictures on Christmas, and I am just a tad bit sad about that since we spent it up at my parent's house. Oh well, I will force my mom to take some pictures when I go up to visit next time.

So I found it hilarious that I was most excited about opening this present on Christmas:



Oh, how my wants have changed. I am more excited about the fact that I can now purchase this with the Christmas money I got as well:



Considering I only wanted the "Giada at Home" cookbook and "Eclipse" DVD for Christmas, I made out very well this year. I hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas as well. I'm off to attempt to clean and organize our house, but not take down the Christmas decorations just yet...not until after new year's.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

I am now up in the desert at my parent's house with family and two of my favorite girls: Sisky and Gabby. I wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas and Happy Holidays.




And as a bonus since it makes me so happy, here's a little holiday song from NSYNC:

Here Comes the Rain Again...

J/K! It's actually not raining today! Hurray! While I love the rain, it sure is nice to have a bit of a break from the six straight days of it we've had. I thought it might make me reconsider moving to Seattle, but it hasn't.

And I am loving the way it has made my backyard look...

Look how green it looks? Very Twilight-y, right? Those are mostly all weeds people. That's going to be fun to take care of. And so is this:


Yeah, I am not looking forward to helping the hubs clean this up. =( And after many of these:



And "Felicity" and "Mad Men" marathons, I am looking forward to getting out of the house. We'll be driving up to the desert later today to spend Christmas with my parents. I am so looking forward to the drive now that it is not raining.

Crockpot Sundays

So lately I have been totally into using the crockpot on Sundays. The weekends are actually the only time where I can relax and enjoy cooking, so I love being able to throw something in the crockpot and have the smell permeate the house.

I have made:

A beer and cheese soup...


A spicy as heck chili...



Dilly beef sandwiches...and barbecue chicken, which I apparently forgot to take a picture of.

I LOVE me some crockpot. I even found a hot buttered rum recipe I can throw in there. What are your favorite crockpot recipes?

Holiday, Oh Holiday...

Am I the only dork who finds out about songs from car commercials?

I've fallen in love with the song "Holiday" by Vampire Weekend, which is featured in the new Honda commercials. I've been down this month (we just decorated our tree today finally), but whenever this song has played during commercial breaks it has put a smile on my face.

Now if only the "Jingle Bells" mash-up with "Our House" from the Verizon commercials was available...

Lovin'...

My peppermint jojos...

My vanilla and cinnamon black tea...

And the fact that I am now officially on vacation for two weeks. Happy Friday!!

Black Swan

It's been awhile since I have been moved by someone's performance in a movie, when an actor has had me so mesmerized that I have been left completely spellbound by his/her performance. The last time I was just blown away was when I saw Daniel Day Lewis in "There Will Be Blood." But, it happened again last night watching Natalie Portman in "Black Swan."



I literally walked out of the theater speechless after seeing this movie. Every bit of hype and praise you have heard about it is absolutely true, and I believe Natalie Portman will sweep every major award there is for her performance. She was breathtaking, captivating, and brilliant. The story...amazing. Run, don't walk, to the theater when this opens in major release. You will not regret it.

Too Much Starbuckies...

It's is no big secret that I am a huge fan and customer of Starbucks. I go there way too many times a week and love most of their blended drinks. In fact today at my favorite store, they even gave me a card when I got my drink that will allow me to get a free drink when I purchase one the next time.

So I freaked out big time when I saw the new Jonathan Adler products at Starbucks. When I think of Jonathan, I naturally think of the Parker Palm Springs, and it makes me long for a little road trip.


Since I didn't purchase one of these right away, and they are sold out online, I am hoping my sister in law, who is a manager at a Starbucks, will be able to snag me one.

On another note, what is with this crappy warm weather? I am so over it. I would at least like it to be cold so it feels a bit more like the holidays out here in Cali. ::le sigh::

One Day at a Time

I try to remind myself of this phrase whenever things get too stressful or I get depressed, but it's so hard to do when you get caught up in things sometimes.

Last week on Wednesday, my 29th birthday started off great. In fact, I had just received some gorgeous flowers at work from my husband when I received the most devastating news: his grandmother had died.

I don't know how I made it through the rest of the school day. My students were so sweet, thank goodness. I tried to hold it together for the hubs at home, but I was the one who kept breaking down.

Though I only knew her for a few years, his granny was definitely a kindred spirit. We shared a love of books, wine, and dancing. No one could crack a joke better than her or make someone feel as special.

Our weekend trip to Seattle was pushed aside so we could drive to Arizona to be with his family.

It just made me remember that it is so important to take the time to let your loved ones know how much you truly love them.

Granny, you will be missed more than you could ever know.

Matt's Big Breakfast

Oy vey! Somehow another month has passed by. Every year I say that I am going to try to lighten my load at work, yet somehow I end up taking more and more on. I enjoyed reading all of your blogs though while I struggled to make it through the month.

Originally, we had planned to have Thanksgiving at our house for the first time. However, my husband's grandmother had a heart attack (she's doing fine now), so we drove out to Phoenix to visit her in the hospital instead. My mother spoiled us the day before we left by making us Thanksgiving dinner that day, so on Thanksgiving we started the five hour drive out there at six in the morning.

After an interesting Thanksgiving meal at Marie Calendar's, the next day we decided to hit up one of the restaurants on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives using the Flavortown app I had downloaded. I am SO glad we did.



Matt's Big Breakfast is TINY inside, but the flavor packed into its breakfasts is huge. I had the best waffle I have ever had. It was light and airy, and the maple butter and maple syrup were to die for.





I was in heaven.



If you are in the area, I HIGHLY recommend going there. I almost ordered a side of their peppered bacon to go; it was THAT good. Then, before we drove home, we went to a restaurant we had seen on Man v. Food, Alice Cooper's Cooperstown. I disappointed the hubs by not agreeing to split the 2 ft long hot dog with him since I wanted to try the Anthony Bourdain's Hot Pastrami sandwich. Luckily, he was quite pleased with the barbecue sandwich he chose.









I am getting hungry just looking at these pictures. Well, I hope your holiday season has started off well. I am determined to get some decorating done now before my birthday tomorrow. Ciao!

Teenage Dream

It's no secret that I adore Katy Perry. I still remember the girl from when she was starting to really hit the scene in Hollywood, playing the Hotel Cafe. I had the pleasure of seeing her on a "Two Hour Tour" cruise in Newport Beach. She played last and ended up forgetting some of the lyrics to one of her songs because she was so hammered. I still remember her uttering to someone at the bar before she went on, "I'm getting drunk because they put me on last!"

So I had a Katy Perry moment on Friday when I stumbled upon her new single, "Teenage Dream," on two different blogs. First, The Swede Records posted a cover by the band The Rescues which is INSANELY good.



I freaked when I recognized an old friend/songwriter I used to help promote, Rob Giles, in the band. Then I stumbled upon this lovely cover which will be on Glee on Tuesday on Perez Hilton's site:



These two covers made me so happy. Enjoy!

Weekend Rewind

Boo! Yes, I know I am too late to be saying this, but I swear, this last weekend flew by. Here's a little recap of my weekend:
Friday was spirit day at my school. It was costume day, so I paid homage to one of my favorite book series by dressing up as Hermione Granger. Though I almost fainted during my first period class (I was wearing a wool dress underneath and got WAY too hot), it was well worth it. My student government class then put on our Halloween dance after school for 220 middle school students. It was crazy!

I then went and saw Lady Antebellum at the Nokia Theater, and they were absolutely amazing. It is so rare to find a band that meshes so well together and performs phenomenally live.

HEAVEN!!

We did some car dancing to the Rocky Horror Picture Show on the drive home.

I then made the hubs accompany me to Disneyland on Halloween. I don't know how I made it. And I still have Halloween decorations to take down. I am so glad October is over with considering we had to cancel my hubs b-day road trip since he got sick and out Halloween party when I got sick. Here's to November, though I have a buttload of grading to do this week since it is the end of the quarter.

My Favorite Songbird- Jessie Baylin

The only thing that has been pulling me through today is the fact that I knew I was going to get to go see Jessie Baylin play at the Basement tonight in Los Angeles. I had the flu last week, and was so sick I missed three days of work. Not to mention we had to cancel our Pre-Halloween party over the weekend. So honestly, this concert means the world to me. It's been two years since I've seen the lovely Miss Jessie, and I already can't get her new song out of my mind. If you can make it out to The Basement in Los Angeles tonight at 10:30, I highly suggest you do so. She will not disappoint.

Here she is two week ago singing my new favorite song:

honeycallme from Carrie Todd on Vimeo.

Wino Forever

Last weekend we drive out to Temecula to celebrate a friend's birthday and do some wine tasting. Now, I hate to sound like a wine snob, but I do know quite a bit about wine. Temecula is definitely not my favorite area to go wine tasting in, but this weekend was definitely all about the company.

Happy birthday, Nikki!

And speaking of birthdays, yesterday was the hubby's. Our weekend trip that I had planned out had to be canceled because he got sick, so we just laid low. Doesn't he look cute?

Happy birthday, Love!

Upgrade

Considering how busy things are right now, I am desperately counting down the days until the little weekend getaway I have planned for the hubby's b-day. In the meantime, I'd like to reminisce about the last weekend getaway the hubs and I took during the summer to Palm Springs. Because I am spoiled, we stayed again at the Parker. However, my aunt recommended that we check out the Riveria, which had been recently renovated, and I am so glad we did.

They're definitely trying to lure in the hip Parker crowd by going with a retro glam, vintage Hollywood look to their hotel. I cannot say anything about the hotel itself since we didn't stay there, but we did have dinner at the hotel restaurant, and it was pretty good. The pool area is definitely a see with the fire pits that line it. I cannot wait to go back and visit again.

Work Wallowing

Alas, another school year started, and I am already super busy. I don't think I'm going to be posting much unless I write my blog posts over the weekend. Just wanted to say I'm alive. =)

Summer Vacay Reflect

Oy!! I didn't leave my classroom until six last night, and I still don't have everything I needed to get done accomplished. Alas, this means I will be spending one day in the classroom this weekend. Major bummer.

As I was driving home thinking about my summer vacay this year, I thought back to the goals list I made at the beginning. Let's check in to see how I did:

1) Re-watching the first season of Felicity- I only made it to episode eight. Oh well, maybe it will be my afternoon treat on Wednesdays.

2) Savoring the new episodes of Entourage, Hung, and True Blood- Definitely, did this! It makes me want to cry knowing there is only one more episode of True Blood left!

3) Taking a SLR photography class in my town's community center- Totally forgot I wanted to do this, so I never signed up. Since I am too late for the fall classes at our community college, maybe I will try to take a winter class instead.


4) Finishing up a number of projects for the house I have planned- I did manage to do a couple of little things, but nothing major. I have a new vision for our guest room after visiting the Parker once more, our office didn't get touched, and our new buffet stands un- painted. The husband is going to be in for a lot of weekend work in the next few months!

5) Playing all of the new games we have for our Wii- I didn't even get to play the Nancy Drew game I know we have on a hard drive once!

6) Losing 15 pounds (Ouch, let's not talk about this one.)

7) The free concerts at the lake we get to attend (Hello, Kenny Loggins!) Missed the Doors concert....though we do still have the Kenny Loggins show to look forward to next weekend.

8) Mimosas at our new patio set- I think I might have had a bloody mary out there once, but no mimosa.

9) Baking all kinds of cupcakes using the new mixer I just purchased- I only managed to make once batch. I am planning on making one this weekend though.


10) Trying all the recipes from the Martha Stewart, Sunset, and Rachael Ray magazines that I bookmarked
I did make a few, though not as nearly as many as I had hoped. I was also going to organize my magazine in a binder, pulling the recipes from them that I knew I would use. Didn't happen.

11) Long afternoon naps- I accomplished this one quite nicely.

12) Lounging in my backyard- No again.=(

13) Finishing off the pile of books on my bed stand that I haven't gotten to tackle-
I actually ended up buying more on the Kindle and reading those instead.

14) Hopefully getting to see Tonic and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals-
Neither group played out here! Though I did get to go see Kings of Leon and Tool.

15) NOT WORKING (well, at least as hard as I do during the school year; I'm actually planning on going over my curriculum and updating things)-
This one I Managed somewhat. I went to conference all throughout the month of July, so that shot that month. As for August, I probably relaxed TOO much, so now I am majorly stressed out for the school year thinking of everything I didn't do.

All in all, I think I had grand plans for the summer which failed to materialize. This was the first summer where I wasn't planning a wedding, working on my master's degree, moving, working summer school in a VERY long time.

Anyhoo, I hope all you lovelies enjoy your labor day weekend! It's back to school for me come Tuesday!

L'orangerie

I have become obsessed with the scent of oranges. Ever since we stayed at the Venetian and used the bath products by Agraria in their Bitter Orange scent,I just haven't been able to get enough.
I busted out the orange and vanilla candle by Trapp, which I had been saving.

I even looked through the photos of Versailles I took on our honeymoon to look over Marie Antoinette's L'orangerie.


I highly suggest you check out http://www.agrariahome.com for their products. The bitter orange scent is just to die for. I'm not bananas for anything; it's all about the oranges!

Easiest Dinner Ever

While visiting my parents up in the desert, I happened to catch a couple of episodes of Giada on the cooking network. I don't really watch her show, but I was pleasantly surprised to find her recipes so simple and tempting. She made a pasta dish with only four ingredients that I knew I just had to try.

All you need for this dish is:

• pancetta
• arugula
• a carton of cheese ravioli
• a can of stewed tomatoes

I'm not kidding; that's it.

Cut the pancetta up into tiny little chunks and cook it over medium-low heat in a frying pan for about five to six minutes until it gets a nice brown color. Once it's done cooking, remove it from the frying pan using a slotted spoon and place it on some paper towels so the excess oil can be soaked up. Next, dump that can of stewed tomatoes into the same frying pan, and let them cook for about two to three minutes. At this point, you can place on another burner a pot filled with water and a dash of salt. Set it in on high, and once the water starts to boil you can place the raviolis in it. In the frying pan, you are now going to add a whole bag of arugula to the tomatoes. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the arugula wilts down; this takes about three to four minutes.

Be sure to follow the instructions on the package for the ravioli and cook accordingly. Once they are done, carefully drain out the water, but leave the ravioli in the pot. After the arugula has cooked down, add the pancetta back in and mix. Now, you can add the ravioli to the sauce mixture as well, being careful not to break the ravioli.

I didn't think this meal would taste as good as it did, but trust me: it is insanely good. And my little sister agreed!

In and Out Secrets

Sure, everyone knows you can get your burger animal style with extra sauce and onions. But did you know that you can get pepperoncinis on your burger??

Just ask to have them put on. Somehow my husband found out about this. I will never order a burger without these again.