I watch too much TV

I watch a lot of TV. I'm watching more TV than ever, mostly because I have the time. In grad school, I didn't watch much TV, but once I finished school and got married, my TV time has slowly increased. So much so that this year for Christmas, my sweet huband got me a Nook Table - I think he was sick of me subjecting him to my TV shows. In no particular order, these are the shows I watch each week:
- New Girl - so funny! I love how quirky it is. And the daughter I someday hope to have will be named Zooey.
- Castle - not quality TV, but its interesting.
- Up All Night - I started watching this show when I started working out regularly. It was distracting and slightly amusing.
- Gossip Girl - has replaced Up All Night as my go-to work out TV. Love this show.
- Revenge - LOVE it. So dark.
- Grey's Anatomy - I've always loved hospital shows. LOVE the drama.
- Private Practice - probably my favorite show. Its great, but some might not like the politics of the show.
- SMASH - my new favorite show. I used to watch Glee, because I love music and dancing, but this show is sooo much better!
- The Middle - my grandma watches it so I watch it so we can talk about it.
- Body of Proof - same reason as above :)
- Conviction - I'm trying to convince Josh this is a show worth watching.
- Desperate Housewives - this show, along with Private Practice and Grey's is what I think drove my husband to get me my own Tablet...
- White Collar - a great show!
- Pan Am - one of my favorite new shows.
-Awake
Then, my husband and I watch together (but we are almost never caught up, thank goodness for Hulu - he doesn't watch as much TV as I do):
- Parks and Recreation
- The Office
- Parenthood
- The Finder
- Modern Family
- Law and Order SVU
- Raising Hope
- House
- Family Guy
- American Dad
- Community
- The Daily Show

Yikes, I do watch too much TV!!

Method, I love you, but...

Full disclosure, I have some neuroses connected with germs, cleaning, chicken juices, etc. I'm not full blown OCD, but as a child I might have nagged my sister into washing her hands CONSTANTLY. The thought of unwashed hands makes me ill. The thought of germs makes me anxious. Cutting up chicken and imaging the germs infecting my kitchen makes me nauseous. I have issues. That being said, I am also concerned about the environment and the affect that cleaning products have on it. Which poses a slight problem - how to make sure my "environment" is clean, but also safe for the environment.

Trixie is a great friend. There are so many examples of this, but the one that relates to this story is about how she introduced me to Method Smarty Dish dishwasher tabs. When I first got married, I didn't have a dishwasher. I HATED hand washing every dish. To this day, I refuse to hand wash dishes, I am that traumatized (ok, might be a slight exaggeration). Then, about a year later, my sweet grandma gifted us a dishwasher. Of course, this is news you share with your bestie. Who else would you share such happy news with?! What did my dear friend do? She showed up at my house that very day with a tub of pink grapefruit Smarty Dish. And my world changed! I fell in love with Method products, and have now replaced all my cleaning products with Method products. They do a good job, and I feel good using them. No more headaches from the chemicals, no more worrying about where these chemicals go when I flush/drain/throw them out. My whole house is happy.

Except my bathtub. Before I totally switched to Method products, I used to scrub my shower with bleach. It would give me a gigantic headache, but gosh, it would make the grout sparkle! My shower always looked clean. Now, when I have my sister visit, I feel like I have to add the disclaimer, "even thought it might not look like it, I JUST cleaned the shower." My grout isn't white, its a grayish color, and I can't seem to get it sparkly clean looking with my beloved Method. And believe me, I scrub at it! I've started keeping toothbrushes to see if that works better, and I even tried baking soda and water, but its still not clean looking.

The point of this long explanation is to ask for help. Do I have to use bleach to get my shower clean and shiny or is there some trick I'm missing?

Product review - Clinique Even Better Clinical Spot Corrector and Moisturizer SPF 20

**I was not given any form of compensation, monetary or samples, for the reviews in this post**

the first time i used clinique's even better clinical spot corrector was right after the birth of my second child.  my mother, who is sadly is my biggest critic, told me that i had some dark spots on my cheeks.  this is called melasma.  sun exposure exacerbates this condition but i was living in upstate ny, where the sun in the winter barely shined during my 9 months of pregnancy.  so i was confused.  so shortly after baby girl's birth, i headed to the clinique counter at my local mall.  and.... the product worked!  the melasma, i'm sure would have gone away on its own, eventually, but the eb corrector helped speed the process along.

i am a pimple picker.  i don't get many.  but when i get them, it's one HUGE honkin white head the size of mount st helens.  on my chin.  i know break-outs on your chin are more common in your 30s (i JUST turned 30 8 months ago so this can't be it yet, right?)  but since i pick at my pimples because concealer DOES not cover pimples, i have horrible scars on my chin and jaw line that like to stick around.  quick side note: i've been reading bobbi brown's (the make-up genius!) books on beauty that i borrowed from the library and she said to used a cover-up/foundation stick to cover break-outs, NOT concealer.  who knew?  i didn't.  my momma never taught me about make-up.  THIS is all self-taught.

i don't wear foundation.  it scares me.  when i officially started wearing make-up in my mid-20s, i started with a tinted moisturizer.  now i'm a life fan of bb cream.  there are many brands of bb cream and i promise a post on bb cream at a later date.  back to clinique eb corrector.

so my experience this time around with the eb corrector has not been uber magical but it has cleared up the scarring i have on my chin and jaw line.  i used it with a sample of clinique eb moisturizer SPF 20.  i was not ready to fork over the $40+ for this moisturizer if i did not get the results i wanted.  i don't like returning half used products.  i have to say, my skin feel softer/smoother, looks brighter and i've not had a break-out this month.  now i can't fully claim lack of break-out has to do with the moisturizer/serum combo.  i'd like to swear that it is, because i've been just as stressed and eaten just as bad as last month.  maybe it's my dairy intake?  (this will be another post as well.  dairy and skin/pms issues)  anywho.  i'm loving the eb corrector and the moisturizer that i will be purchasing the moisturizer when dillards has clinique bonus time starting march 6.

both products will remain in my beauty arsenal til the end of this world.

Something

***WARNING: this post is super long and you might want to pierce your eyes out. ;)i am not claiming to be perfect in my relationships. i just need to be heard*** i was once told by a very wise woman this mantra/phrase: one needs something to: -believe in -love -look forward to/hope for -do isn't this true? i find that my life feels complete when all these things are full. i want to live a full life. who doesn't? lately, i've been feeling like a part is missing. one of these "somethings" are going unfulfilled: something to look forward to/hope for. i'm not talking vacations or trips. just daily joys, activities. i don't mean this post to be a downer or a place for me to complain but these are just some thoughts i've had and been meaning to post. (my sincerest apologies to those friends that have been my sounding board on this issue MANY a time.. you truly are diamonds in the rough. my life would not be complete without you in it) since i moved to this small west texas town of ________________, for whatever reason friendships have been harder to make/upkeep. i understand that people are busy. i am. my life is full and sometimes all the energy i have at the end of a busy day is to just sit in front of the telly. catch up on the real housewives of beverly hills. in my mind, if a friend is really worth keeping or mattered to someone, you'd try to see them more often, especially if they live in the SAME town. i know i was a spoiled in previous places i lived. my very best of friends lived right across the street from me. one moved and the other one moved into her house. lucky. in another place, even though i lived in an apartment complex isolated from my friends, i still saw jes and 2 other best friends at least once a week. i never felt lonely. i feel lonely now. a "friend" once said to me, 'oh, we'll never see each other when you move across town to a different ward (LDS/Mormon church congregations are called wards. i never understood why. "ward" always makes me think of 'a ward of the state'. moving on....). i replied,'we'll have to make more of an effort, if it really matters to us.' i've not really seen this person this month at least, outside of church, a whole lot. i understand that friendships are a 2 way street but i am feeling tired of always feeling like i'm calling people to invite them places and it's rarely reciprocated. what if they are feeling this way, you might ask? well then everyone loses, right? i don't believe that they are doing this intentionally. i believe they just are completely clueless. i had told the previously mentioned "friend" one time how i was feeling and she apologized saying she had no idea and that she gets stuck inside her world. i get that... but she does do stuff with other people. i know, because of the damn facebook. i use it to keep in touch with people from my past. it's easier than constantly shooting emails. it's all in one place. i digress. i think i am a very social person by nature. i do well in groups of 2, 4. 3 is a crowd. i'm proof of that. i am the 3rd wheel in many relationships. people may try to deny it but i'm smarter than i look. i feel more than i should. i know i am not perfect in my friendships. i'm not as giving or thoughtful as some. but i try. but in the end, i am thankful for the friends i've had for years, some since childhood. they all live far from me now but please know, you are never far from my mind or my heart. i know i could be a better friend. i will be a better friend.

Virtue

this will be post 1 of 2 today from me.  as i was getting ready this morning, I realized that this was something I HAD to write about.

Whenever I heard the word "virtue", it would often make me think of old British ladies in the time of Jane Eyre telling young girls, "Don't let the young chap steal your virtue".  If you look up virtue in any dictionary, it is defined as "moral excellence.  A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus valued as a foundation of principle and good moral value." (Source: Wikipedia).

I follow an anti-pornography group on Facebook called Voices for Virtue.  A video was recently posted by another follower on Facebook about a woman named Dawn Hawkins who is executive director for an anti-pornography non-profit, Morality in Media.  (The MiM website has been shut down due to many hacking attempts).  She posted a YouTube video about her recent experience on a Delta flight she took from Baltimore to Detroit, where she witnessed a man viewing extremely violent child-themed porn on the flight.  No one said anything to this man.  Seriously?  Ms. Hawkins is suffering severe backlash for standing up to this and the video on YouTube has over 20,000 dislikes and threats have been made against her LIFE!  WHAT?!  You are joking, right?  I have always known that pornography is going to be the downfall of mankind, socially and morally.  What has been a sick habit done in secret, is now done openly in public.  Adult porn viewed by adults is one thing but child porn?  Crimes against children are the most abhorrent, disgusting, vile sicknesses of our time.  Adults are supposed to protect children, not victimize them.  We have enough ill-will in this world why attack the most innocent of God's creations?  I am outraged.

A Shower and Some S'mores

This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to co-host a baby shower for a dear friend. It was a lot of fun planning and executing this shower. And I can't wait to meet her baby girl!

In preparing for this shower, I spent a lot of time on Pinterest. Have you joined Pinterest yet? It is amazing. Let me know if you NEED an invite! I will hook you up and you will curse me for months to come because it is so addicting. Moving on. Pinterest was a great inspiration for dessert ideas. I found two fabulous dessert recipes that I will use from now on - they are soooo good!

First, mini fruit pizza - the cookie recipe came from a friend, the idea to make mini fruit pizzas came from Pinterest. I made some delish sugar cookies:

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
1 C. Butter softened
1 C. sour cream--NOT low fat
2 C. sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla (I used Almond Extract)
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda
4 tsp. Baking Powder
5 C. Flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add sour cream and mix. Add eggs and vanilla (or almond extract). Sift dry ingredients together and add gradually. Mix well. (It will be REALLY sticky, but that's ok). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour (until cold). Roll dough out 1/4 inch thick on WELL FLOURED SURFACE (I actually keep whatever I'm not using in the fridge until I use it, even while I'm making the cookies, because the dough needs to be really cold in order to work best). Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
I  then made some cream cheese frosting for them (one block of cream cheese, one tablespoon of lime, and enough powdered sugar to give them a nice consistency - about a cup). The morning of the shower I added slices of strawberry, some raspberries, blueberries, and a slice of kiwi. So good. I like them best cold, but they were a hit even at room temperature. Wish I had a closer picture, but as you can see, the plate is mostly empty!

Second, S'more cups. Oh my. So good. I eat them 4 at a time. It is not good :)

They are so easy to make! The recipe came from here. Make these. You will not regret it.

S'more Cups

7 whole graham crackers (1 cup finely crushed) 

1/4 cup powdered sugar 

6 tablespoons butter, melted 

4 bars (1.55 oz each) milk chocolate candy, divided 

12 large marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place graham crackers into a large resealable plastic bag. Finely crush into crumbs. Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Place 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture in each cup of a mini muffin pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups. Bake 4-5 minutes or until edges are bubbling. Meanwhile, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place one rectangle into each cup.

Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using shears dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are slightly softened. Remove pans from oven to cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan. Cool completely.

Break remaining candy bars and place in small microwavable bowl. Microwave on high 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the top of each marshmallow in melted chocolate. Turn top-side up and let stand 40 to 60 minutes or until set. Makes 24 cups.

And third, my amazing sister, baker and owner of Sarah's Speciality Sweets, made this beautiful cake and drove it from Scranton PA to Virginia!! Best sister ever. 

What a super fun weekend full of good friends, good food, and great memories! Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Pinky and the Brain

No, this post is not about that kid's cartoon from the 90s on the WB about 2 mice, one stupid and one brain (smart). I liked that title so I used it for my post. I like to think that in my "former" life (my life before kids), I was smart. Not uber intelligent, but smart. I did well in HS, did terribly in college (for many reasons, not important for this post)but still smart. I am definitely more right brained that left. In my current life, I think I now have ADD. My brain has to keep track of so much "unimportant" things that all the smarts were ran outta town. I talk to small people all day. Kid people. I post this to give a small explanation (not that it may be needed) as to why I don't post about topics that are of much meat. I leave that to my INTELLIGENT friend, Jes. I'm not saying that I do not care about the things she does. I do. Very much so. I just don't say it as well as she does. So this is why Jes is left to support and defend the social issues of this lovely blog. I'm happy posting about unnecessary things like fashion and poo. Like actual feces. BUt you never know. One day I might surprise you and post something of real importance.

Pinky and the Brain aka June Bug and Jes (in that order)

Oh apple....

A few weeks ago I was catching up on some episodes of The Daily Show. And this clip stopped me in my tracks and I can't get it out of my head:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,
 The Daily Show on Facebook

People are committing suicide to make my iPhone?! This device I love so much is causing pain and suffering? I still use my iPhone, but because of this new awareness, I'm trying to learn more about modern day slavery and the working conditions for many of the devices and products that I use and love. I've come across some resources that have helped me better understand modern day slavery (thank you RedBook! They had an awesome article in the current issue). Check them out and let me know what you think!
- Visit slaveryfootprint.org. By answering 11 questions, you will be able to better understand how your lifestyle and choices affect people all over the world. With that knowledge, we can hold companies accountable!
- Donate to organizations like savethechildren.org/donate. Its a reputable organization that rescues children from dangerous working conditions and protects children from trafficking.
- Download the app Free 2Work. It has a barcode scanner so you can scan your favorite products to find out which companies are working to eliminate forced labor in their supply chains.
- Be an educated consumer - support companies that have fair trade policies.
- Talk to people about this! Many people just don't know how prevalent this problem is. With knowledge comes the responsibility to do something.

Boy band mania

Now, as I mentioned in my post about Bruno Mars, I mentioned that I love a great pop tune.  In fact, I was being WAAY modest. I LUUUV a great pop tune.  Let me share with you my history with the BOY BAND!

We had cable growing up and I really loved to watch The New Mickey Mouse Club.  Not the Annette Funicello one, I'm talking JC Chasez (prounced SHA-ZAY, NOT CHAY-SEZ), Tony Lucca, Keri Russell era Mickey Mouse Club.  I adored the band they created for the show, The Party.  I wanted to be Tiffini Hale. I wanted the hat  and boots she wore in the music video to "I Found Love".  I wanted to kiss Damon Pampolina.  Don't ask me why I did not want to be Deedee Magno, the Asian one.  It was a time when Asian was not cool. Kids made fun of you on the playground.  I digress.....

So I LUUUVed The Party and that started my obsession with all things pop.  Minus the NKOTB.  GASP!  How rude!  Those are things you might be thinking in that pretty little head of yours.  I just did not get it, although I will admit that Jordan Knight is F-I-N-E and still is to this day but NKOTB ain't doin' it for this girl.

Moving forward to January 20, 1998.  I'm a junior in HS and at home watching MTV, like any normal teen my age was doing.  *Note: This was when MTV really played music videos all day and when they did have a TV show, it was dedicated to music and music videos.  I miss you TRL!!!!*  I see this video come on. What is this *NSync and this bad b-movie looking thing they are trying to pass off as a music video?!?  Man, is my mind quickly changed and it's tearin up my heart with its beats and smooth dance moves.  Do I recognize someone?  Well I'll be damned!!  It's F-ING JC Chasez from the New MMC!  I DIE right there on the couch.  I'm sucked in and *NSync (Justin, Chris, Joey, Lansten, and JC) become literally my music obsession for the next several years.  I can't believe I am admitting to all this but here goes: I know several of the dances moves to a few of their hits.  Mostly the dance portions performed during the chorus.  I had at college, a boy, who was just as obsessed with *NSync as I was and he and he roomies would learn the dances and perform them at ward dances.  It was amazing.  Those were some great times. I also swore up and down that I would meet, marry and bear children with JC Chasez.  He is still, without a doubt one of my top celebrity crushes.  He's still got one up on Bryan Greenberg and Chris Lowell, aka Piz.   Sadly, *Nsync went on hiatus in 2002 and eventually let to a retirement so that Timberlake, cry me a rive dude, could focus like Mr. Miyagi on his solo career.  This was slightly fortunate because that was the year I got married and I had to put boy bands behind me.Right?!  I did leave out a few "boy bands" that were in existence during my *NSync phase: FIVE - a British band that was made up of 5 members, hence the name Five.; Soul Decision  - a lesser known Canadian band that had the honor of having hottie pitottie, Ryan Gosling singing back ground vocals to a few songs on their album, "No One Does it Better".  Frankly, no one did.  There are few others, like the BSB but I was not as committed to them as I was to the 3 previously mentioned groups.

This brings us to sometimes last week, February 2012.  I was watching a daytime rerun of one of my favorite E! talk shows, Chelsea Lately.  Now I am not a fan of all of Ms. Handler's comedy (I had to stop listening to her audiobook, "Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me" but I was tired of everyone, albeit jokingly, say that her tits were huge.  I get it.  Plus all the crazy sh*t she puts people through, I could not listen anymore.  My "respect" for her was going down the crapper.  So, back to my watching reruns on tv with my 2.5 year old (I don't advocate CH as a role model for my daughter but sometimes a momma's gotta do what she needs.  Besides, stuff is bleeped out) one morning and Chelsea announces the guest as The Wanted.  WHO?!? I thought to myself but I thought I would stay tuned, mostly because there was nothing on Bravo worth watching at that time. Her intro of this mystery called The Wanted had me hooked: a music video (why yes, I am of the MTV generation.  The MTV era that actually showed music videos.).  The beat got me hooked.  Did I mention I'm a sucker for a great musical hook? Ok, so the thought of me liking their music and even thinking one of them cute, is bordering on child molester. Granted he's 20-ish but it was the same weird moment when I was watching Zac Efron dancing on the end credits of "New Year's Eve".  Guilt, shame but hot and bothered.  I've embeded the video onto this very blog for your eyes and ears to have a nice afternoon treat.  You'll be glad you watched.

Eyebrows

Saturday night my hubs and I went out to dinner with some friends. As I settled into my seat, my friend complimented me on my eyebrows. "Your eyebrows look really great!" she says. "Really??" I replied. No one has ever complimented me on my eyebrows before. By way of background, I have a hate-tolerate relationship with my eyebrows. When I was five or so, I fell down my parents basement stairs and totally scrapped off my left eyebrow. It grew back, and I have a scar, but its not quite right. In the arch of both, I have weird bent hairs, no matter how many times I trim them back, they always grow back bent and funky. And I hate that they are really dark when my hair is not that dark. See, I have serious eyebrow issues.
It doesn't help that nearly every issue of Glamour tells me how IMPORTANT eyebrows are in framing the face. The shape is important, the arch is important, etc. I have a bad habit of plucking them kinda lean - just last week I went a bit overboard on the plucking, and my husband kindly suggested that we leave eyebrow shaping to the professionals. Yikes. It must be bad. He then goes on to say that they look better when I fill them in (how awesome is my husband - he has opinions about filling in eyebrows!!), so that is what I've been doing, every day. Filling in my blasted, over plucked eyebrows. Which is why the comment about how they looked over dinner caused me such JOY. I need a new makeup obsession, and I need to leave the shaping to the professionals, I guess.

Coming soon!

I am working, clearly at a snails pace, to give our blog a facelift. My life moves too quickly that it is hard to find the right balance of what my family/kids needs are and what I need in my life: blogging and online pinning on Pinterest. So bear with me as I figure out the world of blog facelifts and becoming a better blog writer. Oh another thing! A guest post. We are working on that. As you can tell, we would really like to up our readership. That is all. Just a little heads up for the 4! followers we now have! Mazel to us!

Chris Brown

I've been wanting to make a post about domestic violence for some time, and unfortunately, Chris Brown's performance at the Grammy's this Sunday affords me the perfect opportunity.  In 2009, Brown was scheduled to perform at the Grammy, an invitation that was cancelled when he viscously beat the sh*t out of his then girlfriend, Rihanna. After being given a "timeout" for those actions, he was again invited to perform at one of the most prestigious award ceremonies. For an account of the assault, read this. Or don't and take my word for it that it is truly terrible. 

Yesterday a friend made this post on Facebook: "Eve Ensler once said that the fact that we don't think of violence against women as extraordinary and that we are not shocked and appalled that it happens speaks volumes about our culture." Why aren't we shocked and appalled by Brown's actions? Or if we are, why don't we shout from the roof-top "this is not ok - we don't want to see him perform." Why do we support (either explicitly or by our silence) institutions that support violence against women? 

This passage from an excellent book, Transforming a Rape Culture, aptly sums it up, I believe: 

   "We are taught to see women as commodities and objects for men's sexual release and sexual fantasies;  most women are considered interior to men and thus not to be respected or trusted. Such thinking is encouraged and legitimized by our culture and transmitted via institutional structures (churches, workplaces), mass media (Playboy and Penthouse), misogynist music (rap and mainstream), and R-rated  and horror films that use exploitative images of women. And of course there are the ever-present tall, trim, Barbie-doll women featured in advertising for everything from condoms to the latest diet cures. Few men have been taught - really taught - from birth and to the heart and gut to respect, value, or even on occasion honor women." 

The song that makes me want to hurl

I am a huge music fan. I love a great (and even bad) pop tune. I like almost any music genre but there are some that I will not listen to. I'd list them off but this post is about a pop song. Bruno Mars' "The Lazy Song", aka TLS.I am a Bruno fan. I own "Doo-Wops and Hooligans" and love mostly every song on that album. With the exception of one: TLS. It's not the beat that gets me down. I love the island feel of the track. It's the lyrics. Now some pop artist I have a hard time decifering or making out what they are saying until the millionth time I've listened to the track but Bruno is pretty clear. Here's the line that sends me into full gag mode: "Find a nice girl, have some really nice sex and she's gonna scream out: this is great." Just typing that made me feel ill. Now I have no problem with people singing about sex (as long as it's not too graphic) but the visual I get is this: he's really greasy and smelly because he's been in bed all day, plus he just did P90X right before calling this girl. I'm not a germ-a-phobe and without giving out TMI, I've had sex in the morning, unshowered but for wahtever reason Bruno's line makes me ill. Anyway. Blog break over. I'm sure my weird dislike of this song has not properly translated to blogger language but I had to get it out there. If there is anyone ever looking to torture me, use this song. I guarantee it will get the results you desire or the knowledge you seek from me.

It is good to be back!

Thanks to June Bug, and her magic with blogger, we are back! I'm excited to be here and to post more, like  June Bug mentioned. I'm shaking off my almost unemployed depression and I'm going to share more of my adventures here on this blog!

In an effort to shake said job blues, I've started to cook more. Since I am home almost all day, every day, I figure this is something I should be better about. I'm also trying to stick to a budget this year (because I've NEVER stuck to a budget - how sad is that?!), so planning my meals is the only way to do it. I've been scouring pinterest, and found some good stuff. My favorite lately is this: Mini Puffed Oven Pancakes. Let me just say, I would make these everyday if I could. I make a few changes - instead of 3/4 cup of white flour, I use 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 1/4 cup of white flour. My very picky husband has not even noticed! I also just defrost and blend a cup of mixed berries for the topping (I don't mix the berries with jam as the recipe suggests). I also made these for dinner the other night - told you, I'm seriously obsessed.

Enjoy!

New year, new outlook

Greetings, reader! I come to you from the comfort of my shared space: guestroom/craft area! I've really been needing one of these and since we have not found a house yet to buy, I convinced the Dr. I needed to make a craft area just for me. I'm loving it. I just wish since Kumquat and I are making a goal to post more this year, that my iPad could post pics to Blogger. If anyone out there know how to do so HIT ME UP! As you can see we made some changes here. Our url changed. After I found the blog that was actually called Wit and Whimsy, my heart sank and I lost interest our space on the blogosphere. So after soul searching and taking an unintentionally hiatus, Kumquat (Jes) and I (Trixie, aka June Bug) are back with a VENGEANCE. We are writing from different coasts. K on the east and me on CST. My part of the CST is not on a coast but you get what I mean. I hope we can up our readership. I deleted a post or two so that I can start advertising properly our blog and not remain so anonymous. I deleted the posts because of their sensitive material and I did not want to offend, although I do dream of one day offending someone and then slapping them for being a prude. If one person has your link on their blog, the rest is history. Or so I've heard. I don't have a huge chunk of time to post all that I like today but here is a sneak peek of what you can expect from ME in the near future: ~Bruno Mars and his song titled "Lazy Song" ~Why I don't really read a whole lot of strangers' blogs... ~How sometimes you're a complete bitch and then you realize you had it ALL WRONG ~Toms Ballet Flats ~My craft corner til next time, reader! xo, junebug