Chocolate: Purple and Personalization

I went to M&M World recently and had the opportunity to buy purple M&Ms and personalize them. Yippee! I only did half of that though. The cost of personalizing is about $20 for an 8 oz cup. Granted, if you're there you don't have to pay for shipping. It just still seemed like a lot for something you would consume and never see again.

I visited the site and they do even more than I remembered. Instead of just stock images they also put photos on them. One picture shows a girl and her sixteenth birthday M&Ms. I couldn't fathom eating an M&M with someone's face on it. It's like those Cake Wrecks where you're eating a body part. Willies! Anyway, I may go back one day and actually spend the money. In the meantime, I will settle for the Las Vegas mug I purchased.

TV: A Sad State of Affairs

I haven't been able to read the books I want and now it looks like I can't watch the shows I want. My choice, but still. I have been totally consumed by another project that has kept me from reading and watching TV. The shows I do watch are viewed days after airing. It's a travesty!

It just means I have nothing to blog about. :( I will at least let you know which TV I am watching. Biggest Loser hasn't lost its charm for me, I watch CSI OnDemand, Bones and her pregnancy still keeps me interested, and Fringe still has its hold on me. New to the set of shows is Grimm and Once Upon a Time, which even A and M watch. Lastly, they have suckered me into watching their episodes of My Little Pony - yeah, I know.

We were also watching Person of Interest, but somehow didn't get it recorded and I believe it isn't available OnDemand. I'd like to get back to watching that. I never watched those two scary girly sitcoms- one with Deschanel and the other with the rich girl. Terra Nova never captured me, but I hear from others that they really like it. B is really liking The Walking Dead. I have a hard time with that one. Involuntary shiver.

Well, that sums up TV for now!

Miscellaneous: Snakes

When I was young, about 7th grade, we lived in a house with a hole in the floor near the toilet. Don't ask me why our landlord didn't get it fixed, but it never did. Once while I was doing my business, a snake came up from under the house. It was frightening to say the least. I don't have an affinity for the creatures and that episode never helped. I thought I'd share some snake stories, a couple of which have been in the news recently. :o) Snake Snake Snake

Men: Rí Rá

The fam and I recently went to Las Vegas. No need to go into why we were there, but we went out to dinner at Rí Rá Irish Pub in the shopping area between Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and The Luxor. By now you are wondering why I'm going into all this on a "Men" post. The answer lies with the servers. Our server for our meal was a young man named Brian - and he was adorable. Dark hair, dimples, and an accent. The accent comes courtesy of his real Irish roots. He is one of about 20 who are here on a work visa. Let me tell you folks, he wasn't the only cutie. If you happen to be in the area you should stop in to ogle and get some good food - the sweet potato fries were delish.

Chocolate: Chocolate Visions Luscious Lemon

Birthday gift.

61% Bittersweet chocolate (my fave :o))
Handmade Candied Meyer Lemon Peel
Applewood Smoked Almonds
Lemon Oil

I didn't find any real lemon peel in my first few bites, which is good because I don't like fruit in my chocolate. It was really good. I can still taste the chocolate on my tongue. The bar is shiny and crisp. The lemon is strong. It just tastes really good.

Recommend!

Books: A Gift of Magic

Sadly, I haven't been able to read anything in a while. This is especially depressing because I know there are sequels out from books I'd been reading a couple of years ago and I can't keep up! Anyway, I decided that if I was going to keep up with my posting that I needed to write about something. So you're now being subjected to a book I read as a teen. A Gift of Magic by Lois Duncan.

Read when I was wishing for something more out of my life, A Gift of Magic is about a girl who hates that her parents have divorced, that she's had to move away from what she knows, and that she's lost the companionship of her sister due to a gift - dancing. However, shortly after she expresses her discontent, she discovers she was also given a gift - ESP. And it isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I really wanted that kind of gift and tended to read similar stories during my early teen years. However, Lois Duncan didn't write many more stories in that vein. Most of hers were much scarier. In fact, she wrote I Know What You Did Last Summer. Her books are really more appropriate for the 10-14 age range.

TV: A Fond Farewell

Stay tuned this year to the final year of the following shows:

Supernatural
Chuck
Eureka
The Closer

You will be missed, friends.

If you liked The Closer, there is supposed to be a spin-off, Major Crime, featuring Mary McDonnell, the woman that bugged Sedgwick's Brenda Leigh Johnson this year.

Miscellaneous: Hate

I thought about injecting my opinion on the matter, but I thought I'd just post the link instead. Hate

Men: Brandon Stoughton

I do not have much info on this one. I just saw him and thought, "He's cute." He was in Britney Spears' "Womanizer" video and was born in 1981. I believe he is gay though. Bummer.

Chocolate: Fiber One Chocolate Fudge Brownie

Let me level with you. Fiber One Chocolate Fudge Brownie is dry. It just is.

I've noticed that when healthy mixes with chocolate it is generally a miss rather than a hit. The problem is I eat them anyway. I can't drink milk, but I surmise they might just taste decent with a tall glass of milk. M also thinks they taste better when they're warm. My family tends to need fiber, and I'd much rather have these than some other fiber choices out there.

Books: The Kneebone Boy

The Kneebone Boy

by Ellen Potter

In this story, three children, Otto, Max, and Lucia are sent to their aunt's house and find out she isn't home. When they try to take a train back home they can't find one that will take them. Instead they go to their great aunt Haddie's house, and hear the legend of The Kneebone Boy. When they arrive at Haddie's, she isn't what they expected and they go off to find out more about The Kneebone Boy. The characters in the story are very funny and interacted well on pages. I enjoyed it so much reading it went by fast, and I was sad that it was over. Unfortunately Potter's books are about other things, so I won't be reading the others but you should read this one!

A

TV: American Horror Story

I watched the premiere of this show and I will likely never watch it again. It was that creepy.

Okay, so if you like horror I say, "Go for it." But let me set this up for you a little.

This family, Vivien, Ben, and their teenager Violet, are moving into this house with major history. They are going because Vivien caught Ben cheating while she was pregnant with a stillborn baby. They are trying to work things out even though Vivien can't forget what Ben did, Ben is bending over backward trying to be loving, and Violet (depressed as all) nearly hates both of them - Vivien for letting Ben come back and Ben for his betrayal.

Now that you got that, add the truly wickedness this house has, the freakin' crazy neighbors, and the creepy that is the promotional poster. I mean that's supposed to be a pregnant Vivien and that latex clad man on the ceiling may be the father - it's not Ben. I've been having nightmares.

Miscellaneous: Nanowrimo

I like to write. Not enough to get something published, but I like it.

So I've decided to participate, albeit secretly, in Nanowrimo. By secretly I mean not signing up with the other thousands of writers. This year I just want to see if I can to it: writing 50,000 words from November 1 to November 30. I've spent a lot of time the last couple of months trying to come up with a viable plot on paper and a first chapter in my head. (You can't start writing until Nov. 1).

Here were a couple of my ideas (in part taken from multiple sources on the web):
A story based on...
the idea that the dead turn into diamonds.
a society that runs on a fortune telling 8 ball.
that real fairy godmothers help you with your career not your love life.

 Anyway, I got a great suggestion from my dad...and I'm rolling with it. Wish me luck!

Men: "Greg Sanders"

Geek/Nerd: Greg Sanders
Show/Movie: CSI: Crime Scene Investigations
Actor Name: Eric Kyle Szmanda
Year of Birth: 1975
Status: Single
Height: 6'
Fun Fact: Burmese human rights activist

I wish I had more words, but it's simple. He's no real buff looker, just an adorable dork. He's changed a bit since he started on CSI, and moved up in the world. He wasn't really important when the show first started with him and now he's a full fledged CSI out of the office.

MIA

Work has gotten the best of me these last few weeks. If you've been following me at all this year you'll have noticed my less than stellar 2011. However, things have taken a wonderful turn and I'm now enjoying 2011. :) It almost doesn't seem to matter that my nose is full of... well, let's just say I'm not the healthiest at the moment. I apologize for my lapse in posts, but I will be up and going in a week or so. In the meantime, celebrate my new outlook with some chocolate :)

Chocolate: Godiva Chocolatier Gems

I received Godiva Chocolatier Gems Dark Chocolate Caramels as a gift. YUM! Of course I've never found a Godiva chocolate I didn't like, but this one has really good melty in your mouth type of caramel (not the chewy stick to your teeth like Reisens or the sticky stringy kind) and the dark chocolate (at least 2 millimeters thick around) blends in with the caramel as you chew. It turns into chocolate caramel that is oh, so yummy. :o)

Books: The Musician's Daughter

The Musician's Daughter
by Suzanne Dunlap

This is about a girl, Theresa, living in Vienna the year 1779. But this isn't an ordinary girl. She is about to solve a mystery. The mystery of who murdered her father Christmas Eve, 1779. Along the way, she suspects something she would never expected: her father might have a secret. Theresa's adventure leads to facing fears, going undercover, and befriending gypsies. This is a well-written historical fiction that I recommend.
A


To have been posted 9/27/2011

TV: New Season...Biggest Loser

Why? Why does this show make me cry every &%*$ time? And it wasn't even that tear jerking! Bob is back, but as you may have seen from various articles online, there are two new trainers. Anna Kournikova and Dolvett Quince. You may have also heard that they are pitting the three teams against each other...by age. Under Thirty, Over Fifty, and the Middles.  Spoilers...

Miscellaneous: Worry

I've written in the past about not having good days. Right now, I can say that I'm actually smiling when I come home from work. No matter how pleasant my day is, I have to worry. I listen to news stories all the time in the range of "are you kidding me?" Some just leave me sad. This is one.

Men: Henry Cavill

Name: Henry William Dagliesh Cavill
Best Known For: TV, The Tudors; Movies, Man of Steel
Year of Birth: 1983
Status: Engaged
Height: 6'1"
Fun Fact: Apparently has a knack for languages...


and although I'd like to know what languages he's familiar with, I really need to hear this guy speak. According to IMDb he is known for his "deep rich voice." After reading more there, I think he's an interesting fellow in addition to being quite handsome. I think I need to see him act as well.

Chocolate: Haagen Dazs

A quickie and always a hit with me is Haagen Dazs. Just had some of the chocolate with dark chocolate coating. The ice cream is really creamy and the dark chocolate is perfect. I used to prefer the vanilla with milk chocolate and almonds. Yum! And I probably still do, but I haven't had any recently. To round off this short post, there's another favorite following the theme in an unlikely place: Costco. There vanilla bars with chocolate is rolled so thickly with almonds its nearly heavenly. No the ice cream and chocolate aren't perfect, but the almonds....mmmm.

Books: Kindle at the Library

I recently discovered that my local library allows the check out of e-books through my Kindle.

So. Cool.

The MIL has been so adventurous and checked out her first. If not having posts to put up is any indication, I haven't had the opportunity. The key lies in visiting your library's online site. My vacations are currently being booked. Yes, pun intended :)

To have been posted 9/12/2011

TV: Never Unsee

I was a couple of months pregnant. I don't watch TV in the morning, and certainly not the news. I had to get my toddler ready for my in-laws, who were so wonderful as to take care of A while I went to work. B was on a business trip to Buffalo, NY, having just left on Monday. He was supposed to fly out on Sunday. My in-laws were watching the TV when I arrived. I don't know how long I stood there watching before I forced myself to leave and go to work. It was a difficult day. I can't have radio or cellphones during the day where I work. At the time, even TV was sketchy. I remember not much else that day. Like I blocked it out. I only remember thinking when would B come home, and that my stress wouldn't do much for the baby. Because he was a day late getting there, he had a ticket already for one of the first flights out. He remembers the plane being half empty. It's days like that I feel grateful.

Miscellaneous: Bronies

Your experience of reading the title and saying, "Whaa?" is not as painful and frightening as my experience was.  The kiddos have been talking non-stop about their Japanese anime and music videos, so when they started saying how much they liked Pinkie Pie and Twilight I thought it was just one more in the long line...then B joined in on the conversation. "Whaa?"

B explained that the cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the new PowerPuff Girls. It's an animated series based on the My Little Pony toys. Please keep in mind that as a family we are very interested in several animated series. Just because they are made for kids doesn't mean the writers aren't witty and humorous. So when B pointed out that the developer, Lauren Faust, had also worked on Foster's Home and PowerPuff Girls, I was okay with watching several episodes, however it took a long time to get to that point. In the meantime, B tried to convince me to watch based on Bronies.

"What the..." As the top definition on Urban Dictionary:

The male, older fans of my little pony: friendship is magic.

You can't imagine the incredulous look I gave B.  I had to Google and determine for myself.
[speechless]

MLP: FiM Wikia
Scary Article
Equestria Daily
More Madness
or watch for yourself...The Hub or OnDemand

Picture Creator Credit: http://purpletinker.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=/

Men: Neil Etheridge

Name: Neil Leonard Dula Etheridge
Best Known For: Sports, footballer (soccer)
Year of Birth: 1990
Status: Single
Height: 6'3"
Fun Fact: Plays pool


This British-Filipino is just a baby (so young!) and a babe ;) so cute. Love his British accent. Finding him on the Net was chance, so I don't have a lot to say. At this point every interview or bit of information is focused on his budding career. That's quite alright, just supply me with photos :)

Chocolate: Chocolate Visions Hearts Delight Bar

Chocolate Visions Hearts Delight Bar is a bittersweet bar with almonds, but the wrapper says "Blenheim Apricots, Applewood Smoked Almonds." I add that because I can't actually taste apricots, it's just that the bar tastes a little fruity and a little bit sweeter without making the chocolate taste sweeter. I don't know how they do that.

The almonds and the bittersweet are enough to make me really like this bar. I've already put one of their bars on my "love" list due to the wonderful nuts. And I'm really glad that there aren't any little apricot bits as I'm not that fond of fruit in my chocolate. I like the flavoring (remind me to talk about orange and chocolate) but not the actual fruit pieces.

I'm rambling now.

I like the bar. I am a little disappointed that I can't easily find their chocolate bars on their website though. Here's a little info about them.

Books: Wicked Games

I picked up a free Kindle read, Wicked Games, by Jill Myles. I did not look at this book for its content - you did see the word FREE, but I was wonderfully surprised. The story about Abby having to go on a survival show called Endurance Island, where she meets someone she wants to hate, had me laughing out loud several times. I will be looking for more of her humor in other books. I have found that Myles has a series revolving around the supernatural, but I've never been that fond of the particular supernatural she writes about. At the very least, if you are looking for a quick, cute read that doesn't hide the sex scenes, you might like this one.

TV: Eureka Cancelled...

...someone pass the smelling salts! I'm so bummed about this. I want to be angry because we're being given a real ending (which happens because they know so far in advance that they can try to appease us), but they're taking it away. Wah!

In other news, Laurence Fishburne is leaving CSI. Apparently he never intended to stay as long as he had. The CSI score in my mind did drop when Grissom left, but Fishburne didn't do too bad of a job keeping up the show. The show and cast is getting fairly skimpy.

Miscellaneous: Bullet Proof Skin

Sometimes it's really great to have interesting friends on Facebook. While I'm not so fond of all the links posted to various things, every once in a while the "pretty cool" pops up. Now I know there are several directions that we could go with this information, but the first thing I think of is super heroes! LOL! Seriously though, where do you see us going with Bullet Proof Skin?

Men: Guess Whose Eyes?

These eyes belong to an actor who plays a lot of small parts in TV and movies. Overall, he really isn't my kind of eye candy, but many find him to be theirs ;) Whose eyes?

Chocolate: Zotter Butter Caramel

Zotter Butter Caramel

Austrian, organic and fair, hand-scooped dark mountain milk chocolate filled with butter-caramel-cream (31%) cocoa (50%)

First, not what I expected at all. I was thinking of the traditional caramel filled chocolate. Instead there was a thin layer of caramel and a nutty center (sort of chewy and crunchy at the same time - but that might have to do with where I was keeping the bar before consumption).

Second, it's good. I would get it again. It is more like candy than solid chocolate, but I like it anyway.

There's a better description out there of the insides along with some other Zotter bar reviews.

Books: How to Knit a Love Song

B, yes B, picked up and read this book for a solid 5 minutes. Granted it involves a "he knows this person who's the relative of the author" kind of thing and it was the steamy part, but he read it! I know, now you're thinking I'm not going to give this book an honest review.

How to Knit a Love Song by Rachael Herron (<--her blog).
The story background involves knitting - a knitting movement around a late knitting guru named Eliza. Eliza is also a crafty matchmaker even in death. She wills the main character to a cottage and a bit of land located on the property she wills to her nephew. He is none too happy about the arrangement. There's even a real pattern at the end of the book (I'm a crocheter though :()

I will make three comments and leave it at that:
1. Just like any other little romance, this one delivers.
2. One major event foreshadowing wasn't subtle - I could see it coming early. I don't know if that was intentional.
3. This author doesn't sugar coat. This was no Harlequin. There were a couple of scenes that were very nicely described and felt real. Which doesn't always happen in these kinds of books.

Oops, one more thing, I'm going to read her next one :)

TV: That Time Again...

Fall schedule time.

Links...

TV Guide

ABC's pdf or this

NBC

CBS

Fox (with midseason link as well)

Got nothin' for Syfy, but they're putting out the shows now so we'll see. USA also shows its shows off season.

Check it out.

Miscellaneous: Restaurant Food

We went to a comedy club recently and saw Greg Proops. While the three comedians were pretty funny, something Proops said had me recalling something else I had said an hour before about some restaurant food.

He described a food item that was over the top. Something like (and these are my words because I couldn't repeat anything close to what he said) Lemon grilled salmon on rosemary ciabatta bread with sundried tomatoes, arugula, mango chutney, and lobster mayo; Romaine caesar salad with onion grilled sardines, asiago cheese, and dusted with black truffle; basil potato fries (marscapone sauce for dipping).

O.o

Basically I want to go to a restaurant with food I can recognize. I think some of these chefs don't even know what they're cooking anymore. It just sounds cool.

At least the words were something I was familiar with even if the combination of them was insane. I really hate it when I can't read foreign language foods and the restaurant is too posh to put a description for us mortals.

I didn't take French in high school, so what the heck is this: quiche aux legumes- pâte feuilletée, crème fraiche, frisée salad

or tian
or haricot vert
or nicoise

Nor did I take Italian....pappardelle, mignonette, cioppino, or carpaccio.

Suffice to say I am not a foodie. Give me a pepperoni pizza please.

Men: Luke Macfarlane

Name: Thomas Luke Macfarlane Jr.
Best Known For: TV, Brothers and Sisters
Year of Birth: 1980
Status: Single
Height: 6'2"
Fun Fact: Sang in a boys choir

Can't tell you how I spotted this Canadian, because I never watched the show. Somehow I bookmarked a link to him and had forgotten :/ Good news: He's got such a cute wholesome look. He's also a musician, being the lead singer and songwriter for a band he started in middle school. He also plays the cello and trumpet. Sad news: All that said, he bats for the other team.

Chocolate: Soda

I've been wanting this since I watched some show about favorite drinks on Food Network. I've finally gotten the ingredients together. No, it isn't like they were really difficult, but I haven't been motivated to leave the house for the last month. This relaxing stuff feels good.:D


The first recipe I have is from A Taste of Home and makes two servings.
6 tablespoons chocolate syrup
2 tablespoons whipped cream in a can
2-1/2 cups cold carbonated water
4 scoops ice cream of your choice
Additional whipped cream, optional
For each serving, place 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup in a 16-oz. glass. Stir in 1 tablespoon of whipped cream and 1-1/4 cups water until foamy. Add two scoops of ice cream. Top with additional whipped cream if desired.

This one is from Food.com and also makes two servings.
1/3 cup chocolate syrup
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
6 ounces cola or 6 ounces seltzer water
maraschino cherry
Pour chocolate syrup in the bottom of an 8-ounce milk shake glass. Smoosh in one scoop of ice cream. Slowly pour in soda water almost to top of glass. Perch another scoop of ice cream on top. Add a cherry and a colorful straw or two.

Lastly, there was a link to old fashioned shakes which wasn't formatted friendly so you'll have to go take a look.

In the end I put about 1/4 cup of Ghirardelli chocolate syrup into the bottom of a cup. Added a little seltzer water and mixed to make a more liquidy syrup. Put two scoops of Dreyer's vanilla ice cream on top. Poured the seltzer water on and then "chop mixed" the ice cream until nearly dissolved. It was very good!

The only caution I have was that the seltzer water is massively bubbly and I had to make small sodas to keep my tummy from feeling too full. :)

Books: Mike Gayle

The library I frequent has done some renovating and now is similar in organization to another branch (second on my list). They used to have separate sections for genres and now anything that is fiction is mixed up together. The plus is that when I need to find a book by an author I like I don't need to search in three different places if it crosses genres. The minus is that all the romance that used to be grouped together is now mixed in. I have to go row by row to try to find ones by authors I'm not familiar with.

So what has all that nonsense got to do with anything? Well, one, I can't seem to find any of the 250 page Mira's or Harlequin's as a quick read. I'm either misreading the sign about where they've moved to, the library chucked them and is lying to us, or they've all been checked out. Whatever the reason, I've had to walk down aisles trying to filter out the romance from the thriller, classics, and mysteries. Thus, two, I only seem to be able to find British romances!

To that end I'm writing about Mike Gayle, a freelance journalist and advice columnist and a...man! Forgive me if I've written about him (or one of his stories before) as I noticed I've read one of his books in the past, possibly two, Dinner for Two and Mr. Commitment. The third is Turning Thirty and I haven't tackled it quite yet. Funny thing is that it's very cool to get a male perspective on relationships. He does a very nice job of portraying his characters in a way that is humorous and reasonable. I mean, I believe his male characters and still like them. Gayle has a few more books out there and I'm set to keep reading :)

TV: Wilfred

OMG! This show is scary. Wilfred is a show with Elijah Wood playing a crazy man (Ryan) who is the only one who can see his neighbor's dog as a man. And he talks to him. This show is an Australian original starring Jason Gann who plays Wilfred. Gann is one of the shows three creators and also stars as the dog in the American version.

As I was saying OMG! The dog is a cigarette and marijuana smoking, beer drinking, junk food eating, dogpile of trouble with a capital T. While the show says it teaches lessons, I cringe everytime I end up watching because B is. He, of course, loves the show. Why Ryan does what the dog asks, like steal the marijuana plants of another neighbor and let Wilfred crap in the neighbor's boots, I have no idea (well, other than the comedic value). Wilfred leaves Ryan's wallet outside the window after they break in and...

Craziness. However, I realize this is quite a nice cuppa for some (B), so if you're interested check it out. I will continue watching non-Wilfred vids on YouTube with my headphones on.

Miscellaneous: Harry Potter

Well, that's it. The film franchise has come to an end. Harry Potter has defeated Voldemort on screen.

I can't remember if I've said anything about the books in my blog before. I didn't want to read Harry Potter when it first came out. I thought it was a bunch of hype over something I didn't think I was interested in. What caught my attention (about the time that the second book was coming out) was the idea of magic, which I know I've mentioned in my reviews before. That was all it took and I was reading them all. It didn't take more than 12 hours to read any of the books (12 was the longest time) and I would often read them without making much time to eat or take a restroom break. I also have mentioned my thing about movies made from books. They can't be too different or I'm too disappointed.

So when the movies came out I was a skeptic of the biggest sort. I would find differences and rate whether it ruined the movie or not. Overall, I think they, everyone involved, did a decent job of turning the books into movies especially knowing the limitations. I reread the 7th book starting with the second half of The Deathly Hallows movie just today and wrote down 50 discrepancies. Some were inconsequential while others were huge. And I have to say I am a little disappointed in how the final battle went down. But if you are only a movie watcher you MUST make time even in the future to read the books and fully understand what you've missed.

I'm trying desperately to get A & M to read the series. A read Sorcerer's Stone and didn't feel the inexplicable need to read Chamber of Secrets as I had. I'm hoping for more from M.

PS Of course I bawled just like I did when read the books.

Men: Warren Christie

Name: Hans Warren Christie
Best Known For: TV, October Road, Alphas
Year of Birth: 1975
Status: Married (Sonya Salomaa)
Height: 6'1 1/2"
Fun Fact: Nothing except that he was born in Northern Ireland (He grew up in Canada, though). I wonder if he has an accent...

He looks really good on the Alphas although most of the pictures I found in the Net were of him with long hair (not liking the longer hair).

Chocolate: Chocolove 3

I indulged and bought not one, but two expensive chocolate bars. I didn't buy the most expensive which was about $5.50, but it certainly wasn't your $0.60 variety. Chocolove Toffee & Almonds in Milk Chocolate.

At 33% cocoa content, it was milk chocolate for sure. The amount of toffee and almonds were fine, not great because I'm a big almond in my chocolate fan. I think my dark chocolate bias was speaking to me as well, because the chocolate tasted very sweet. The chocolate was smooth and melty. Overall, a good milk bar. I don't scale my chocolate, but I'd say 6 or 7.

I think if I try another Chocolove, I'm going to have to go dark... maybe the orange.

Books: Practically Perfect

First a little apology for not putting up a book post last round (or even a proper one in the last few months). I hadn't been doing any reading this summer which makes things difficult. So Tuesday I went to the library. Today is Friday and now I've read three of the books - which is a little slow, but so was the last book I read.

Practically Perfect, written by Kaite Fforde, is British story about Anna, an interior designer with some mad carpentry skills, who buys a house in this tiny town with the intention of flipping it. Several things happen to put her into a situation with two men.

My problem with the story was how slow and leisurely the story moved along. It was like taking a drive in Iowa. "Oh, there's another farm." "Lots of corn here." "That's a pretty little farmhouse." The only excitement is when suddenly there is a crossroad instead of a farm, but even in this book the surprise of seeing pavement after multiple rows of corn is really not all that surprising.

The Amazon reviewers came up with 3 1/2 stars, ranging from a fan of the author to one who felt Anna salvaging some stairs from a previous renovation makes her a thief. Me? I felt I might have given up if I hadn't wanted so badly to have something for a book post.

Side note: This post will move to it's proper spot after day or so :)

TV: Stuff

Let's hit it...

1. Dallas is baaaack! LOL Keep in mind I never watched that show, not even the commercials if I could help it. I was still compelled to read the Wiki and then look at the photo of the new cast. Had a good laugh ;)

2. One of these days I'll get to go to Comic-Con. Err, maybe not, but a girl can dream. All of my sci-fi favorites.

3. I was less interested in Big Brother premiering than the little snippet provided of journalists playing the show for a day. Very fun!

4. Supernatural: The Animation? Strangely interesting, but I probably won't get into it.

5. Finally...I watched Alphas. I'm liking it. My only worry at this point is that they get to the mystery too soon. Right now I really want to see if there's any more information relating to what they teased about in the premiere. If they give us the goods too soon I won't remain in this When is the Next Episode *twitch* mode. PS I have to wait another day to see Eureka and Warehouse 13, can't wait :)

Miscellaneous: Minecraft 2

It has been almost a year since I posted about Minecraft, and I'm still addicted.

Although it's an exciting game for me, many who like faster paces and more challenges have gotten bored easily. I mean, what's a sandbox game have to go up against Portal or Call of Duty? And with spiffier games that are similar like Terraria?

Minecraft does have some variations though, and those could keep a person going for a while.

1) You can play with others on a multi-player server, and it can be
a. ... a friendly game with everyone helping out to make massive builds.
b. ... anarchy with every man for himself.
c. ... with others doing an adventure map (see below).
d. ... with others playing a game inside a game (Spleef).

2) You can add a modification (mod) to the game which will add more building/creating options, more mobs (animals, creatures, other characters), or both!

3) You can download and play an adventure map. There are several in which someone else has done all the work mining (or invediting, hacking, modding) and has created some goal for you to accomplish.

4) You can do what I've been doing for the past three months, making an adventure map. The work is a harder because I'm not using any mods, but I'm enjoying it :) I'm also working on a t-shirt to show my Minecraft interest ;)

If you're a creative person and not afraid of computer games, check it out.

Men: EHIC

I know right? Who the heck is EHIC? Well, watch the video.

Just in case it doesn't show, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkrCylE-P5U

Chocolate: Frogs

Honestly?

I'm too afraid to eat it! Yes, I got a coveted chocolate frog from Universal's Islands of Adventure: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Afraid the heat of Florida would melt my frog, it was carefully carried in cool places all the way back home. The pretty blue and gold pentagonal package was a bit dented and my surprisingly large chocolate frog was missing a toe, but it's here!

And I can't ruin it. :( What I can say is that the toe tasted good. I expected something similar to that Hershey after taste, but there was none. The first ingredient is sugar so it was very sweet. Sooo, that's all I can tell you with such a small taste.

I have pictures however on the night before the fourth, and having spent an hour sending photos to family members, I'm not thrilled about looking at my camera. Instead I'm putting up a picture of me in front of Honeydukes. Of course you can't see me ;)

If only I could eat that chocolate frog...

Family

I visited family I haven't seen in ten years (or more) last month. It was nice :) and strange. I can't help but think of my relatives as they were when we were young. And while we were closer back then, we really don't know each other now. Isn't it funny how much you still care for and love people you barely know? I'm hoping that over the next several years, even though we are far from each other, that we are able to get at least half of that closeness back from when we were so small.

Enjoy your family this fourth :)

Books: Treachery in Death

Finally read it, Treachery in Death by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts). It was pretty good, but not what I expected. In this one, I got the impression from the preview in the last paperback that Dallas' partner Peabody was going to get more play.

Instead, we finally see Dallas's feelings as she helps Peabody deal with the issue in the main plot of the book. She is changing and Roberts put in bunches of ooey, gooey sentimental bits.

Dallas puts down the evil doer, again not as I expected, but it was good. She did more this time than say, "You're under arrest." A couple of books ago I was disappointed in the calm ending especially after several of her earlier books when Dallas or her hubby Roarke were hanging by a thread.

Finally there was an interesting little development with some minor characters. I'm interested in seeing how that will play out. All in all, decent In Death.

TV: What Killed Me...

The end of the TV season coincides with a very stressful time period at work. I have done everything I can to move projects around just so I could enjoy the finales, but to no avail. So here it is a whole month later and I'm finally getting around to my impressions. Here's my take:

SPOILERS!

First on some shows I don't watch unless another family member is...
Dr. Who: Figured out as soon as River said "He finds out who I am." I knew.
Castle: He says he loves her?
Justified: Now what. She's dead. They're almost all dead. Is Dickie going to be one angry little revenge seeker? No one else saw the handshake you know.

And then my favs...

House: I knew something was up with all the previews being so dramatic so I wasn't as surprised that House would do something whacked out. The driving the car into the house was a little "Whoa," but that he ended up where he did - not so much. Though I'm definitely curious as to what the team is going to be doing come fall.

Chuck: I really thought they'd leave us hanging with Sarah on her deathbed, but that would have been so obvious, right? So instead we have to wonder what the heck they're going to do with Morgan. I mean the show is called "Chuck." That the dynamic duo owns the BuyMore and will run their own organization also not much of a surprise.

Fringe: More shocking was how they made the two worlds coexist on Fringe. I loved how they made it so the worlds didn't have to be destroyed. Really didn't expect Peter to just wink out of existence. So does Fauxlivia still have a baby? Why do Walter and Walternate hate each other if there was no Peter? More questions...

Bones: O M G! I wasn't expecting that until the moment before she opened her mouth. B even said, "That isn't right. You can't know that fast can you?" The answer is yes, but it was still unexpected. I was even thrown off by Booth's reaction - I expected a shocked look not a smile. Can't wait until premieres. This is the one that killed me.

Miscellaneous: Amusement Parks

We recently went on vacation. To Disney World. And Universal Studios Florida. $$$$$ and $$$$$ and $$$$$. I'm still calculating how much money we spent.

There were four of us, and we got a discount (listened to someone's spiel about time shares) on tickets for two of the 4 major parks at Disney World - $500 ($659 without discount). That's two each day with no park hopping ($879 for park hopping between the big four parks). Parking each day you go is currently $14 so even if you spring for the extra park hopping tickets you still have to pay for parking each day. Food for four runs about $35 a meal, times two for lunch and dinner if you stay at the park all day. You can bring in your own food, but no coolers so bring non-perishables. We brought in water bottles and transferred the ice after our lunch. We also tried to take advantage of the Fast Passes when we could. Fast Passes don't mean extra money at Disney...

But they do at Universal. To get their quicker line deals you have to pay more and parking costs $15. However, the park hopping is better with only two parks ($20 more per person). Two day park hopping tickets for 4 (3 adults and 1 child) were $569. The meals and food were about the same as Disney, however they did have a special on the Harry Potter Butterbeer mugs - buy the mug for about $10 and get all soft drinks with that mug for only $0.85 instead of $2.19. Look for any of those deals. Just as a note the Universal in Florida has something called City Walk (read Night Life) and many stay after the parks close for this.

Going to amusement parks now is sooo much more than when we were younger. Find any way to make your costs cheaper. Go off season, get package deals if at all possible, take food into the park (which is much easier when the park is near your home), wear decent shoes (walking every day for 4 days is killer on an old bod'), wear a hat in hot weather (one that can easily attach to a belt loop so it doesn't fly off on the rides), bring in your cash and card (ATMs in the park have extra charges), and don't forget sunblock. You don't want to have to buy anything inside the park if you can help it.

I didn't include souvenirs, lodging, food outside the parks, car rental, gas, and airline tickets (in our case). I'm sure I'm forgetting something. What I'm trying to say is think carefully and plan well. Then enjoy :)

Men: Guess Whose Dimples?

This will be easy - everyone recognizes these famous dimples.

Chocolate: Hershey's Air Delight - Take 2

I tried it.

The only thing that was different was the texture - creamy. It's like you get the melty chocolate taste immediately without having to let it melt in your mouth.

But, other than that, nothing different. It still tastes like a Hershey bar. B says, "The air does nothing. Seems pointless." It reminded me of a 3 Musketeers.

Here's another review.
Which mentions another of Hershey's "pay for air" products. Since I wasn't impressed, I'm in no hurry.

Books: Anne of Green Gables

A's reading issues from this past year have had me looking at a lot of classics or like classic books lately. One I thought A might find interesting is Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I read the book when I was about 9 years old after a summer trip to Nova Scotia in which we visited the National Historical site at Prince Edward Island (very cool!).

I felt that Anne was nothing like me, but it didn't stop me from reading about her misadventures. I think I went on to read at least 2 more from the series, but I either can't remember or have blended them together.

In case you didn't know, there is a cartoon about Anne and while I think they really tried to capture the spirit of Anne and the time period, the show is extremely annoying (imo). I say this even though they really try to teach lessons with each episode.

I'm thinking at the very least I'll be able to get A to read it in the fall. Maybe.

TV: New Fall Shows

While I'm not a fan of E!, they have a plethora of fun TV related info (Watch With Kristen). They put up an article about the new fall shows and a few look like a lot of fun...

Once Upon A Time

New Girl

Terra Nova hmmm...

Okay, this one is a little scary 2 Broke Girls

But this one is scarier Apartment 23

Both still interesting although 2 Broke Girls might not last long. Check them out :)

Miscellaneous: Barbie Craze

A & M love the Barbies. A probably wouldn't win any friends if they knew she still played with them, but I remember playing with them when I was her age. The two like to play with them like they're a family, school & work. There's no overblown drama about Barbie's figure and how it doesn't portray a normal looking female, she's just a mom who rocks her little baby Barbie to sleep and goes to work in the morning.

When they're playing and the Barbies are working, A & M like to go to work themselves. They will pretend to be teachers or get on the computer. When the family goes to the movies, they are suddenly lined up on the sofa watching something on TV.

Ah, those days.

This was brought to my attention lately 1) because they've been playing every weekend and 2)because someone posted something on Facebook about Tuesday Taylor. Remember her? She's the one whose head top swiveled so you could get blonde or brunette. Mine was suntan and could get tan lines wearing a white bikini and a swirly orange coverup.

I still have her.

Men: Damon Wayans Jr.

Name: Damon Kyle Wayans Jr.
Best Known For: TV, Happy Endings
Year of Birth: 1982
Status: Single
Height: 6'1"
Fun Fact: Went to school for fine arts and animation

Didn't even know this one existed! I'm used to seeing goofy "dad." I like this Damon better ;) So I'm looking at some new TV shows (another post) and I see he filmed a pilot called New Girl. However, Happy Endings was picked up for next season so his part is being recast. I may have to look into Happy Endings...

S U M M E R

S is for sleeping in.

U is for the umbrella - for sun!

M is for Minecraft

M is also for movies, specifically Harry Potter.

E is for eating ice cream and popsicles.

R is for relaxing and reading.

Chocolate: Hershey's Air Delight?

What's this? A new chocolate from Hershey? Apparently they are making us pay for air. LOL! Actually it's only 3 grams less than a regular milk chocolate bar. I'm interested. I'm too busy at the moment to get one although I may in the next few days.

In the meantime, let me know if you get a lift from it.

Books: Alice and Other Free Books

Let me start by saying they are free...if you own a Kindle. It is possible that these books are free through other eReaders, but I'm not an expert for Nook or Sony or....anyway...

This is on my mind again, these free reads, because A has to read a certain number of points for reading class. A also has a paper that is called a Book Wheel, in which books from different genres and fitting different descriptions (such as 'new release') must be read. While I have a ton of books, I don't have everything and it is getting more difficult to visit a local library around work, school, holidays, and their dwindling hours.

Kindle Free reads to the rescue! A is currently reading Alice in Wonderland because I downloaded it free. We also downloaded Through the Looking Glass. However, one of the complaints on the Amazon site was that this version was not complete - and that ruined it. So take my free read message with a grain of salt when you check it out. Of course, I downloaded some steamy romances :)

TV: The Fall 2011 Shows

Check here first, then see what I said :)

ABC
My only disappointment was losing No Ordinary Family. While it wasn't as breathtaking as Heroes during its first season, it was holding my attention. I don't watch anything else on ABC

CBS
All I care about is CSI (the original), and that show seems to be holding up.

CW
I'm beginning to sound repetitive, only one show and it's Supernatural, which is amazingly staying for another season.

FOX
While I despise their news program, they have more shows I watch than the others. American Idol (during auditions), American Dad (when I stay up with B), Bones, Family Guy (with B), Fringe (W00t), and House (though Cuddy will be gone next season). I'm sorry we'll be losing Lie to Me. :(

NBC
The Biggest Loser and Chuck (final season :( ) are sticking around. NBC didn't cancel anything I want to see.

So where are all my favorite shows? Syfy. Figures!

Miscellaneous: Rapture

I wish I was talking about what I would feel like if my day was rapturous. It would start with...

breakfast in bed,
the sun shining at just the right temperature,
a day at the beach reading and building sand castles,
a satisfying dinner,
Minecraft and Zuma playing,
ending with a drawn, nearly scalding bubble bath and a tray of chocolates.

Instead it's the day that didn't end. Well, as some had planned. Jokes ran abound on Facebook with little jokes about canceling hair appointments to a link for this. I mean did you Google it today? SMH

Me? I played Minecraft (at least one thing in my perfect day...), went to an event with family, and visited the in-laws for dinner. Nice Saturday!

Men: Guess Whose Eyes?

Very pretty color! These eyes are on someone who I've considered posting about, but never felt like I could. I could give lots of clues, like it isn't Gary Dourdan (his eye color is gorgeous too...), but I'll just dive right in.

Okay, give up?

Chocolate: Mother's Day

I had a very pleasant Mother's Day. Unfortunately, it is followed by a Monday, but I won't dwell on it now ;) I received roses, a handmade card, and... chocolate cheesecake.

B decided to indulge me by purchasing those four cheesecake on a tray dealies from our local warehouse store. Now, I've drooled over those tasty treats when we've gone shopping and unhappily turned away from them because they weren't necessary. Now I know they really weren't necessary. Don't get me wrong. In this case B hit the mark perfectly for me, but The Father's Table cheesecake didn't live up to the high expectations.

The four flavors were triple chocolate, turtle, Mississippi mud, and fudge brownie. All of the cheesecake was decent enough. Sweet, liked the chips, nuts, and caramel. What brought it all to a grinding halt was the graham cracker crust. It chewed like sand, gritty. The first slice I had I thought that maybe it was that flavor, but it wasn't. I took to scraping the cheesecake part off. And that's pretty bad.

Maybe the mistake was the whole Father's Table on Mother's Day thing.

The one I tried is on the top.

Books: Eight Days to Live

I also lost this post, which really sucks because it was twice as long as my previous post. I post when I'm raring to go and I put my thoughts down. Once I've written them they are out of my mind, gone, no returning. &%$#*^@

Well anyway, I summarized the books I was reading or going to read soon. I just don't have the oomph to lay it all out again.

J.D. Robb has three books out from her "In Death" series.
Indulgence in Death (I read and was required to lend it immediately to my MIL ;) )
"Possession in Death" (It is in an anthology called The Other Side.
Treachery in Death (I'm impatiently awaiting paperback or cheaper Kindle version.)

Two more are coming this fall.
New York to Dallas (This breaks the titling mold!)
"Chaos in Death" (Another in an anthology, The Unquiet.)

Iris Johansen also has out a book out that I haven't read, Eight Days to Live, featuring Eve Duncan. My MIL has it on her Kindle, and I hope to figure out how Kindle's lending feature works so I can read it. Johansen also has another coming out in the fall, Chasing the Night.

Happy Reading!

TV: Forward and Back

I'm frustrated that Blogger was out of commission because this post was lost and I was already behind! Grrr!

And of course I have no clue what I said exactly :o( But I did post about three shows on Syfy.

Warehouse 13 which is returning this summer, July 11.

The American Being Human was growing on me and will return in 2012.

And premiering the same day as Warehouse 13, is a new show called Alphas.

EDIT: Adding on...found this from E! and thought I'd share before it got too late in June.
The fall shows! Returning, canceled, and those in between.

Check it out and I'll give my opinions on the rundowns in the next TV post :)

Miscellaneous: The Wedding

I realize an eternity has passed since Prince William married Catherine Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, but I didn't get to have my say.

Initial thoughts:
Prince William, though still decent looking, was quite cute as jailbait. Now isn't he losing a bit of hair?
That was almost a four minute walk from the car to the altar.
Pippa looks a bit thin. So does the mother of the bride for that matter.
Wow, Prince Harry looks more gussied up than the groom.
Prince William has three outfits?
He doesn't have to wear a ring?
They don't have official last names?
Who makes up these rules?

Final thoughts:
Blessedly short at one hour.
Nice dresses.
Those hats were something else.
I wish Princess Diana were still alive

Men: Guess Whose Lips?

I know the pic is small, but it was really hard to find a large view of them. And I know it kind of ruins it to not have that "after the jump" feature (If you know how to do that with Blogger, please fill me in :)) but I just had to do it. I've been thinking of doing some of these best body part types of Men posts for awhile now. Since I'm running out of hotties with the full package (heh, made a funny) I thought now is as good a time as any.Sooo? Whose lips are these?

Chocolate: Randomness

I wouldn't mind trying one of these. Sounds very good. More about "The Wedding" later.

I'm ashamed to admit slipping into the horror that is cheap and readily available chocolate. I received a caramel filled Russell Stover chocolate bunny. While the caramel was tasty there was too much of it and I basically skinned the rabbit for consumption. B also purchased a large bag of peanut M&Ms, a stated weakness of mine. It's almost gone now.

Luckily there is no other chocolate available in the house, but that also means I'm lacking chocolate posts. Now is about the time I had some connections in the chocolate world. Mmmm, free samples ;)

Books: Accidentally Yours

Accidentally Yours by Susan Mallery was my 51st read from last summer. I'm excited that another summer is coming so I can find more books, but I don't think I'll try for the same goal. Anyway, the book was published in 2008 and right after it's release it got a review from a romance blogger. She despised it. She found the entire thing implausible and the characters unlikeable. It makes me sad.

The one thing that struck me the entire book was that even though the heroine was vulnerable, she was tough. Rarely do I read a romance where the female is strong. I'm always reading how she isn't good enough for the man or she had such a tragic past and he can't love her or how shy she is. She is never aggressive. The main character in this story is based on the fact that she doesn't need this man so she doesn't have to play helpless and needy for him. She does, however, play helpless when it comes to her son and his fatal disease. That I find understandable.

Okay, so it all boils down to that I enjoyed reading it, but be forwarned that it has an implausible set of situations, a horrible main character that resorts to blackmail to get money for her son and doesn't consider the morality of it, and a researcher that bypasses normal trials and FDA approval to give the heroine's son a cure. You'll be just as disappointed as that blogger.

TV: Reality TV Scarified

I'm gratefully home on a Monday (yes, I realize I'm posting a day late :( ) and thinking it might be nice to tune in to one of those daytime shows I miss while at work.

First, I hit nothing. I knew the names of almost none of them and flipped through the guide twice thinking I missed something.

Second, what I did find was none too appealing: Maury? "I'm Only 16...I'll Prove Your Boyfriend Is My Baby's Dad!", The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reruns, or Fast Times at Ridgemont High...uh, no. Although I think I would have watched I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant if I'd seen it ;)

Third, I happened upon CMT. The show was 20 Greatest Redneck Moments. Don't laugh! They were talking about mullets, and I had to stop and listen. Of course I watched the whole thing - laughing my head off. What was scary, though, was the show after: My Big Redneck Intervention. Some kind of off-shoot from My Big Redneck Wedding...camouflage tuxes riding in on a tractor or horse manure skee-ball.

Reality TV is something else. Yet another reason to work my 40 hour week.

Miscellaneous: Chain Mail & Hoaxes

One can gather from my posts that I'm a Facebook user, and it is more than obvious that I must have an email account with the amount of blogging I do. So it would come as no surprise to any that I've gotten my share of chain mail and mailed hoaxes.

Some comes from a couple of superstitious or happy-go-lucky friends who either think they really work or have fun participating.Some comes from people (especially on Facebook) that don't have a clue that what they are posting is chain mail or a hoax. Those annoying "If you are... repost this." messages are the worst. Whatever it is, it's extremely annoying. Mostly because I can't risk blocking or filtering everything that comes from that person just to weed the annoying mess out.

Advice? (Not that you asked or anything)
Don't forward it if it's been going around. These >>>>>shouldn't be there. And you're required to foward it to several other people for it to work.
Don't bother if it says that someone on their deathbed will survive and/or receive money if you forward.
If you like the message, click "like" not copy/paste.
Check Snopes or some other hoax checker if you aren't sure.
Be a thoughtful poster and emailer! :)

Okay, end rant now.

Men: Thierry Pepin

Oh. My!

So then I looked here... heavens!

I couldn't find much of a bio, but who cares?

Chocolate: Snickers, It was a Need

Books: Kyndred

Looking for someone new to read, I've found another writer, romance writer, doing paranormal. The series is called Kyndred and it focuses on people who were genetically altered by using the genes of the Darkyn. I can see you frowning. Darkyn are what we uninformed would call vampires and are the basis for the writer's other series aptly named Darkyn. The writer is Sheila Kelly, better known as Lynn Viehl. She also writes another series as S.L. Viehl.

Because the Kyndred come from the Darkyn, there are cross over characters in her first book for the series, Shadowlight. In this book the two are unfamiliar with each other and it will be fun to see how the two discover each other. However, I found the connection between the hero and heroine in this novel, Shadowlight, very thin and I hope that doesn't turn me away from the next book, Dreamveil (which was actually released in May of last year, but not available at the library last summer.)

Realize now that it is April and I read this first book, plus the teaser for it's sequel, in August.

TV: Tidbits 2

March Madness is over! :)

Fringe comes back with an interesting episode this Friday.

Covert Affairs returns this summer!

Is this true? Because...um...ugh.

Yikes! Should I be worried? Nah, I don't watch that much reality TV.

Lastly, I went through this entire list and what got me was the note at the very end. I've watched the Closer over B's shoulder. It grows on ya. I'll probably be watching next summer.

Miscellaneous: Movies

I confess to being the biggest, oldest nerd wanting to see the final installment of the Harry Potter movie this summer. I, if you haven't read this in another post, am such a Potter book fan that I have a record of getting up a 6 am for Amazon book deliveries on release days. Not a big enough fan to wear costumes or ditch work, though. Overall, I think the films have done their best to convey information. There are always those little nagging things - ones where I think I could have portrayed something slightly differently so as to give more background or info. But I have no clue what they left on the cutting room floor.

So it's fairly easy to say automatically that I'll be watching certain films. It's quite another trying to figure out if something new is worth seeing. I usually make a decision based on reviews; newspaper, TV, and random bloggers. One film right now has me interested: Hanna. I'm a mini fan of Saoirse Ronan - she is the quintessential eager child. This movie will portray her much differently than I'm used to. It is a suspenseful thriller. The question will be theater or DVD?

This is also the summer of superheroes.Another X-Men, Thor, Captain America, and Green Lantern.
What about Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean?
I could go on...start here and branch out. What are you looking forward to?

Men: Motorola Xoom

I saw this hunk in a Verizon Motorola Xoom Commercial. I can't find anything else about him. But I'm not the only one who's noticed him :)
Watch here.

Surviving

Work has not been so great lately, folks. It's really depressing when you feel like going to work is like the worst part of your week. Most people (at least it seems like it) don't feel super excited everytime they get up and go to work, but it isn't necessarily the downer part of their day. I'm hoping that the feeling doesn't last because hating to go to work makes the rest of the day gloomy too. But I'm surviving.

I'm trying to find things that make my day better and wishing on the first star every night that things will improve.

Chocolate: Spring

Here's some interesting finds:

Chocolate Salami recipe
Sounds delightful, might try it.

Peeps went all chocolate covered a while ago, but now there's Peepsters.
Another thing to check out.

Not a drinker, but this sounds...interesting.
Chocolate wine?

Oh, and this just bites, literally, when spring is here.Chocolate prices...

Books: Yarn Trilogy

How to Knit a Wild Bikini is the first in a trilogy. By just saying it's a trilogy I'm potentially ruining a plot line, but I felt you had to know. Nikki is a chef who is scaling down from her work as a restaurant chef to become a private chef due to ACL damage to her knee. She is afraid of hospitals and the rehabilitation it will take so she doesn't want surgery yet. She finds a month long stint in the home of a confirmed bachelor and male magazine editor Jay. Obviously he won't be a bachelor much longer. It was a great read with sub plots.

Unravel Me focuses on Juliet who is a widow of a very respected older military man. His daughter is of course unhappy with the entire situation and isn't any happier when her father passes. During the time Juliet's husband was ill, another trusted military man, Noah, was asked by the husband to watch over his wife. Of course Noah falls in love with Juliet.

Dirty Sexy Knitting follows Cassandra, a yarn store owner. She is a central character in all three books. Her story is darker as she has deep feelings for Gabe, her landlord and a man mired in guilt and self-loathing. So the story is about how her connection with him pulls him out of it. There is more going on with Cassandra, but it is part of the three story arc. I enjoyed all three books! Different feel for each and great fluff :)

TV: Tidbits

The fate of Fringe! The show is going off the grid - getting kind of 4400 or Lost, but I'm still enjoying all the twists and turns.

Got a date with Torchwood! Honestly can't wait to see how these British characters adapt to weirdness in LA.

Off and on Dancing with the Stars and American Idol! I'm interested in seeing how Ralph Macchio and Kirstie Alley fare. He keeps talking about his age and not being able to keep up, while she can't even speak after a dance routine. Will she lose weight being on the show? While no one actually catches my eye, I have been peeping in on the "booted" shows to see who is forced to do the song of woe.

And that's all I've got when it comes to TV until this whole March Madness thing is over :(

Miscellaneous: What the...?

Seeing is believing. Er, or maybe not.

Men: Sad Face

I tried, really I did. There aren't any hot guys out there to tap into for my latest post. I know - total disappointment. Maybe I haven't found the right shows to watch. Maybe the in thing is to have male models who look like teenaged boys. Maybe not watching sports has come back to bite me in the... Well, it just comes down to not having any man to post this time. And I'm sad.

Now that doesn't mean there weren't some guys out there with abs I would gladly wash my clothes on for long periods of time. It doesn't mean there weren't several pairs of gorgeous eyes. There were some really tight tushies out there too. But none with the complete package.

Not a fan of:

Kellan Lutz
James Franco
Eric Bana
Christian Bale
Brendan Fraser
Jake Gyllenhaal
Robert Pattinson
Shia LeBeouf
Taylor Lautner

I need some suggestions! What are you watching that I'm not?

Chocolate: Recchiuti Dark Milk Chocolate 55%

Oxymoron, huh? Dark Milk? Well, it works. I love this bar, Recchiuti Dark Milk Chocolate 55%. Simple crisp break, smooth and the milk pulls the edge off the bitter. I do two things with my chocolate, chew and suck. LOL! I did both with this bar. The chew was great all the way down to the little melty bits. The suck was hard at first (my only 'dislike'), but it eventually molded to my mouth and slid down. It seems like it's right there hovering between dark and milk. My kind of bar.

The only review I've found wasn't as favorable as my review, but it's only fair to give you a link.

Books: Jenna Starborn

Jenna Starborn is simply a futuristic Jane Eyre. I have to admit being afraid to read Jane Eyre. I was afraid the content would be too much for me. However, this version written by Sharon Shinn was very easy to read and Jenna didn't have as many of the horrors that Jane had to face. I enjoyed Shinn's portrayal of Jenna and look forward to seeking out more of her writing. There is a concise summary of Jane Eyre at Wikipedia, but I'm glad I didn't read it before reading Jenna Starborn. Also, here is another person's review of the story (another who has never read Jane Eyre :) )

TV: Fringe

I'm nearly caught up on my Fringe! I had 11 episodes saved, watched 10, had 1 more to watch and a new episode was showing Friday. There's always something new although I'm worried about what's going to happen now that the show is heading toward a resolution. If you don't know anything about the show read my post here. The show has now focused more on a parallel universe, btw.

While I'm in the sci fi, my coworkers and I were discussing TV shows and of course I told them I'm into the nerdy ones, Fringe, Chuck, Eureka, Supernatural, Being Human (new episodes soon :)), and Torchwood (which I've heard is gearing up for another miniseries-squeee!) And of course they all looked at me like I was an Observer.

They asked me about V and The Event. Anyone watch those? Should I be interested?

Miscellaneous: Zuma

One of my favorite games to play these days is Zuma Blitz on Facebook. B bought me the regular Zuma game when playing it on Yahoo! Games started grating on my nerves. I played that game over and over again, winning and then playing the endless stream. The game involves a centered frog which spits out colored orbs. The goal is to hit similarly colored orbs that stream onto the screen and keep the string from spiralling down a chomping mouth (thus ending the game).

I hadn't played in a while because the game is on my desktop (what's that? LOL!) Then one of my FB friends found Zuma Blitz, all the same rules except you only have 60 seconds to hit orbs. You collect mojo which allows you to "purchase" extras that help you get more points.

So this is all an intro to the saga I'm about to tell you. This FB friend, hereafter known as FBF, is a gamer. He plays a lot of the FB games and admittedly (reluctantly) is much better than I am. Not only is he the geeky gamer playing things like WoW, he is extremely intelligent and can play a good game of Word Scramble (or other such games). Me? I only play two games, Bejewelled Blitz and Zuma Blitz. My Bejewelled game needs help. I feel lucky if I'm in the top 5 with those other friends of my that score 600, 000 to my 250,000. Yes, FBF can wipe the floor with me on that game.

Now Zuma, that's a different story. I am queen. Since it keeps a weekly top player list, I have to continually prove my prowess. Go back to the second week of February and I score my normal 500,000 points only to have FBF score 666,000. That should have been an omen. Anyway, I play my little fingers to the bone getting 722,000 only to have my Zuma freeze up and kill my score. :( I had to cripple my fingers this time trying to beat him with 748,000. Satisfied, I checked my status all weekend, succumbing to the need to play Minecraft (<--Even more of an addiction) on a Monday. Tuesday is when the winners are posted and the scoreboard clear. Of course, FBF clocks in on Monday night with 758,000 right before the board wipe. I find out Tuesday morning.

The things that came out of my mouth! LOL jk, I was dumbfounded though and only managed 428,000 before I left that morning. Spent the entire day at work figuring out how I was going to beat him. In the meantime we had a few words on our FB walls about how evil he was ;) Came home that night, really motivated. Wait for it....

940,000!!!

Sweet! I threw down my glove and thought I'd won the battle for the week early. No such luck. He tried to get there with 848,000. I knew I wasn't going to last long, evil FBF. So I had to get better than my high score.

1,046,000 :o)

Stay tuned...

Men: Markus Ricci

I don't know much about this hottie except that he is a fitness model, 5'9", and ripped. I think he's in his late twenties, but I can't find a lot of bio info out there. Instead I'm just going to gaze upon the mighty physique.

Chocolate: My Goodness Bar

My hubby spoils me. Seriously. If you didn't know already, I don't cook dinner. He does. Every night. I panic if he calls and says he's running late in coming home from work unless there are leftovers I can heat up. So when Valentine's Day rolls around I know I'm getting something good. I was not disappointed. He brought home Chocolate Visions My Goodness Bar.

61% Bittersweet chocolate, Honey Roasted Peanuts & Toasted
Coconut

Individually handmade and hand-wrapped. I tried to eat one square to savor it and describe it. I couldn't hold back. I LOVE nuts in my chocolate, and this is chock full. The flavors just roll through the ingredients. I get chocolate when I first place the piece on my tongue. Then to get through the peanuts I have to chew, then I get the sweet of the honey roasted which goes straight to a salty. The salt is momentary as the taste slides back to chocolate. Finally I taste the coconut. Love this bar :)

Someone else's review here.