Yes, I am one of them

I never thought it would happen to me. I am a Mom, I am old; well not that old but old enough to know better. I work full time, I don't have time for things like this. Really I don't. Most of the time I can't find enough time in the day to work, cook, clean and get the kids to school. Then the company I work for decided that the holidays would be a great time to give us two weeks vacations. Two weeks during which you are not expected to check voice mail, don't even think about logging into e-mail and DO NOT think about work. I thought about all the things I could do... clean the house, bake, hang out with the kids and maybe just maybe read A book. Just one. I could do it. I had two weeks and during one of those weeks I would be in Lake Tahoe with no house to clean, nothing to be done but relax.

One of my friends mention this amazing series she was reading. She was obsessed. No one heard from her in days. She knew I would love it. So I did it. I borrowed "Twilight" from my Mom and I started reading it on Dec 23rd and I also got the flu. I read as much as I could between running to the bathroom. I was hooked. I had to know what happened next. The next two days my quiet time was limited with 20 people in the house but a interesting thing happened. Two more books in the series showed up under the tree.

I left for Tahoe on the 26th with books 1,2 and 3 determined to read them all. Did I mention that each book was at least 500 pages... at least. When I got to our destination I realized I really had books 1,2 and 4. What in the world was I going to do. I finished book 1 and started book 2 and knew I could not make it through the week without finding book 3. And this is where it got a little crazy... just ask my husband. I took K out for a drive through two states and 10 stores to find Eclipse. It was no where to be found. I was going crazy. The next day I begged Hubby to drive 30 minutes to a town that actually had a Target and a Borders. I HAD to find the book. Thank goodness the hubby loves me and knows how much I would have nagged if I didn't find the book.

I spent the rest of the week finishing all 4 books. Yes I read 4 books in a little over a week. I couldn't put them down. I had to know if Edward came back, I had to know what happened to Bella, I wanted Alice to be my BFF and yes I am now on a first name basis with the characters.

I am now what they call a

My goal is to convince everyone I know to join me and don't think I don't have selfish reasons. I need someone to go see the movie with me. I need to talk about the book and the movies. I can't get enough! This is so unlike me. I am even going to re-read the books. Seriously I have never done that before.

The bottom line is:

Yes - I cook

I told you I would be back. You can't get rid of me that easily. WOW What a week. I am so happy to be back home and in the middle of Thanksgiving break, working, doing laundry, cleaning house, cooking dinner and tonight heading out to a Pampered Chef party. Any excuse to get out of the house right?

Like every other Mom out there I get invited to home parties ALL the time. I finally had to put my foot down and not feel like I had to go but rather go to the ones that sell stuff that I will actually use. I have enough Party Lite candles to light up the block, I am real picky about my jewelry, and don't get me started on purses... but Pampered Chef (PC) that's another story. I love PC parties! Someone cooks me dinner, I get to hang out with my friends and buy stuff I actually use. Well that I use now.

Cooking is not my thing. I laughed the first time I went to a PC party. I think I bought a vegetable peeler and some towels and offered to host a party. That was back in the day when I went to every party and felt guilty for not having any of my own. I had my party and ended up with $300 in credit and 2 half priced items. I went crazy. Then the boxes came and I had to figure out what to do with everything. So I started cooking... and now I love it!

You know what I like best about PC. The quality. Everything works really well. I had an egg slicer break and they sent me a new one no questions asked. I am lucky to have a great consultant too. She has her groupies and we go to parties, learn new recipes and host parties of our own to get free stuff. I have my one party a year every May because that is when PC hosts it's Help Whip Cancer and they have cute pink items that they only sell during May and part of the proceeds go to fighting Breast cancer.

OK so here's my list of my favorite Pampered Chef items - today.

Kitchen Shears - I have the cover too and keep these under my kitchen cupboard. I use them everyday for cutting up the kids food, opening things, cutting box tops off the packages. These are by far the item that I use most of all.

Stoneware - it's one of those things that you just have to use to understand it. When I first saw a piece of used stoneware I said NO WAY not going to use it. The I got a piece for 60% off and tried and I am hooked. Cookies turn out perfect and you can use it for anything and everything.

Easy Read Measuring cups - Yes they are just measuring cups but they are wonderful. You don't have to pick these up to see how much you are pouring in because the lines/measurements and on the inside. I use the 4-cup size as a little bowl to mix things that need to be poured into something else.

I have so many more favorite so if you need some suggestions let me know. If you have to have something listed above I know a great consultant or you are welcome to crash my party in May.

I'll leave you with one last thing - a recipe that we made at my last party. YUMMY!

The Pampered Chef ®Mini Glazed Lemon Cakes
2 tbsp butter, softened, divided
2 tbsp sugar
2 small lemons, divided
1 pkg (9 oz) yellow cake mix
1 egg
1 container (8 oz) sour cream

Glaze and Garnish
2 tbsp lemon juice (from lemon used for cakes)
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sugar

For cakes, brush six Prep Bowls with 1 tbsp of the butter; sprinkle evenly with sugar.

Thinly slice one of the lemons using Ultimate Mandoline fitted with thin slicing blade. Remove any seeds from lemon slices and place one slice into bottom of each bowl; set bowls aside.

Zest remaining lemon using Microplane® Adjustable Grater to measure 1 tbsp zest; set lemon aside for glaze.

Place remaining 1 tbsp butter into Classic Batter Bowl; microwave on HIGH 15-20 seconds or until melted.

Add lemon zest, cake mix, egg and sour cream; whisk 1 minute or until smooth.

Scoop batter evenly into prepared bowls.

Place bowls in a circle on microwave turntable. Microwave on HIGH 4-5 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean.

Carefully remove cakes from microwave using Chef's Tongs; cool in bowls 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, for glaze, juice reserved lemon to measure 2 tbsp juice.

Melt butter in (2-cup) Easy Read Measuring Cup.

Stir in lemon juice and sugar; microwave on HIGH 30-60 seconds or until boiling.
To serve, gently tap sides of bowls to release cakes; invert cakes onto Cutting Board. Transfer cakes to serving plates using Mini-Serving Spatula. Drizzle glaze over cakes.

Yield: 6 servings

My all time favorite - Family & Friends

I have been a little lax in my postings lately and with good reason. On Tuesday I got one of those phone calls that makes you heart skip a beat, my Mom was in the hospital and I needed to get to her as soon as possible. I called my brother who was only 20 minutes away from Mom and he dropped everything. I called my husband at work and asked him to please come home I needed to leave, he too dropped everything and rushed home. I sent a few IM"s to my boss and co-workers, they told me not to think about work, to go be with my family. I posted a message to my friends so they wouldn't think I dropped off the face of the earth. I packed, kissed my daughter and within 30 minutes I was in the car for 2 1/2 hours to get to Mom. The texts and phone calls started before I got out of the driveway. Friends checking on me asking if there was anything they could do, keeping me company on the long drive - with no radio UGH.

As I was driving the sun was setting and both sides of the highway were covered with the most beautiful grapevines in the most amazing shades of yellow, orange and red. That's fall in the Wine Country. I couldn't help but smile, to feel ok about everything, to know deep in my heart that everything was going to be OK. And the cell rang again, more friends to keep me company on my drive. When a friend called late on Tues night my bro said, "Wow you really have great friends". I DO!

For the past two days I have been surrounded by love and by the most thoughtful, caring people I know. The hubby has taken care of everything with the kiddos and hasn't allowed me to stress about not being home for one moment. K made sure that I had two Junie B books so I could still read to her at night so I wouldn't miss her too much. B calls me and tells me what's in his tummy and that he misses Momma. My friends from all over the country have texted, called, e-mailed and posted prayers, positive thoughts and even made me laugh. On top of all of this I work for an amazing company. A company that really believes in family and has made sure that I know that my family is the priority.

Everything you all have done for me has allowed me to focus on Mom. To help her, to stay with her, to get her through this rough time. Tonight Mom came home. She is doing ok. It's going to be awhile before she is herself both physically and mentally but she is going to be fine. She gave me a great big hug today and said thank you for being here I really needed you. I thought about everything it took to get me here and for me to be able to stay here for her and it's all because of you - THANK YOU I really needed you.

5 more favs

Is it Friday yet? This day has been so hectic I don't even know what time it is. I asked K what time is was and she broke out into song. I really need to get her the HSM 3 soundtrack so we can introduce a few more songs to get stuck in our head all day long. Which leads me to... more of my favs!

1. Taylor Swift's new CD Fearless - K and I bought it this weekend and one of our rules is that Mom has to listen to the whole CD first. There is something about Taylor Swift that I really like something that I never got from Miley. The songs are sweet even though she is totally boy crazy... but who wasn't at 15. So far my favs are Love Story and Fifteen. It's Mom approved.

2. Chic Critique - another website I love. The authors describe the site as "We are regular women reviewing beauty products for regular women. " So far I have bought three products based on reviews from this site this, this and this.

3. Hallmark movies - I love this time of year and all the new Hallmark movies. Have you seen the "Love Comes Softly" series? SO GOOD and something you don't have to pause when the kids come in the room. There are six movies in the saga. Set your DVR to tape them all; promise you won't regret it.

4. Friday Night Lights - 2 words... Kyle Chandler. If that wasn't enough this is the BEST show on TV even if you don't like football. The portrayal of the kids and families on this show is REAL. The dynamic between the Coach (Chandler) and his wife and daughter could happen in any American home. It's real and many times I forget they are actors. I love this show! This season is being shown on Direct TV channel 101 but will be shown on NBC next year. You still have time to get caught up! Oh and the best thing about watching on channel 101 - no commercials.

5. Quick Salsa - My neighbor gave me this quick recipe and my blender broke while making it - it was that good. Either that or the blender flipped out because I made salsa and margaritas in the same night and it didn't know what to do. It's so easy and so yummy.

2 cans of Petite Cut Diced with Zesty Jalapenos - Del Monte brand
juice from 2 limes
cilantro
Mix it all in a blender

And there you have it!

Better then sliced bread

My top 5 things I know and love this week in no particular order
Oh TIVO how do I love thee. OK so I don't really have TIVO anymore we have a DVR. OK really we have two DVR's, two HD DVR's but that is all Hubby's doing. What in the world did we do before TIVO? Play outside? Talk? Sleep? Never know what was going on in the Olympics? Watch commericials? Remember when we had to wait until Saturday to watch cartoons, and we had to get UP to change the channels? I remember being home sick and watching 21 Jump Street wishing that there was something that would change channels for me during a commercial. I really think that the dvr is the best invention ever. And yes... I watch way too much TV.

Mr Clean Magic Erasers. These things are amazing. I use them to clean everything and they really do clean almost everything. I have been able to get gum off a wall, sharpie off a dresser, clean my baseboards, and oh my do they work wonders on tile grout. You know I luv you because look - You can get a FREE Mr Clean Magic Eraser

Basin Lip Balm. Not only do I love this product but I love this store. I found it in Downtown Disney in Anaheim. They have the most amazing and creative soaps and bath products. I got the lip balm because it came in the shape of a baseball and you'll soon know I love baseball. Once I started using it I was hooked. The baseball lasted almost a year and I use lip balm ALOT. When we got to Disneyland this year my very 1st stop wasn't Splash Mountain or It's A Small World. It was right to Basin!
Starbucks. I know it's not PC and it's not the best thing to do during an economic crisis, but I LOVE ME SOME STARBUCKS. Did I mention I don't like coffee? I don't know how that works but it does. Peppermint mochas, iced vanilla white mocha and if it comes in the holiday red cup even better. There is just something about stopping by Starbucks on Mon and Thurs that makes my mornings just a little better.

Mommy Blogs - First thing I do in the morning is check CNN. No wait that's probably more like 10th. I don't even know what the weather is going to be like until I check my blogroll. I have a list of blogs that I check daily and a few more that I check when I have time. I feel like I know these women. Like they are speaking to me. I buy products they reccomend, I watch shows they mention, I go to sites they link to and I even cook recipes they list. The Mommy Blog craze is amazing and I love it. On Wedneday I'll even post some of my favorite blogs.