2/27/11 - Top Chef I Am Not

Meet my stomach ache. Yep, I suck in the kitchen once again. I decided to have a little fun and use allrecipes.com, to insert the ingredients I have and make something to kill some boredom. Low and behold I came across a recipe called "Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies". PERFECT! Or so I thought... The whole "three ingredients" should have been a given, but I don't seem to pay too much attention. I'm rolling the little guys and putting them on the cookie sheet and the dough actually tastes quite good. Once the time is up, I pull them out of the oven (5 minutes after the recipe says to by the way) and I let them cool down a bit. When I finally taste them, I definitely decide I'm taking these to the office to poison someone else there. Hah, totally kidding....maybe. So, I'm sorry to disappoint all of you out there, but I will not be the next Mrs. Fields or the next Kruffles - cake truffles. I just definitely do not have that magic cooking gene embedded anywhere in my DNA. I won't turn in the spatula just yet, but I can at least say that I will not be baking for anything important any time soon (for everyone's sake).

2/26/11 - Take 3 of House Hunting

I bet you can't guess what we did today. Oh alright I will tell you...we went to go look at houses again!!! Who would have thought? This time was a much better experience. We had A LOT more options than ever before and we took the "walk in/walk out" approach to save time. We ended up finding four more that we liked and are going to put in an offer on two! We even found a house that has a basement where that basement has its own basement. It was pretty cool and someone can already see a pool table down there. I can definitely say that we had fun with it this time around (as shown above)!

2/25/11 - Margarita...uh....Friday?

In honor of National Margarita Day this past Tuesday and a long, crazy week behind me, I decided to make me a lovely Pomegranate Margarita this evening while making dinner. My coworker gave me all the supplies (glass too!) and so I decided to venture into it and have a small party here with me, myself, and I. It was a small gathering, but plenty of drinks and food to go around!! (Don't worry, I didn't give Mickey any to drink. He's under age.) hehe :0)

2/24/11 - Sunday Funday

Before I begin, I will go ahead and apologize to Domingo for using this photo of him only because I know he won't be a fan. I, on the other hand, love that I was able to catch his candidness in the dark. I ditched the gym tonight and this wonderful guy met me at my place to pull me out of my funk. In perfect Domingo fashion, all it took was to see him and I instantly felt a thousand times better.

2/23/11 - What Else?!

Earlier this week my heater stopped working in my apartment, our offer on the house was declined, our second favorite home goes under contract, and now a gas leak?! I can definitely say that I've never looked forward to the weekend and seeing Domingo more in my life. My stress level has reached an ultimate high and just when I think I have it under control or reduced a bit, something happens and it sky rockets. Don't I have enough gray hair already??? I'm hoping that since there were already fire trucks and ambulances at my apartment complex today I might be able to sleep in a bit of peace tonight. We will see...

2/22/11 - Prayers Wanted

We got word today that the house we placed an offer on did not accept our offer and went with their other offer instead. Whether this is true or false, either way the house is not ours and it hurt to hear that. It didn't sink in until my drive home from work and it really, really bothered me. It was hard to be positive especially when an ambulance and fire truck appeared in front of my apartment for the umpteenth time this month let alone this week. It's been difficult, but I do know that there's one person up above who will ultimately guide us on the right path.

2/21/11 - Place Your Bids Now

In spirit of placing bids on our (hopefully) new home, I have officially done my first eBay listing. Yes ladies and gentleman, I am selling a North Face Denali jacket (Men's XL) on eBay currently. Take a look at the listing and place a bid if you're interested!!!

Still praying the House Gods by the way!!!!

2/20/11 - Praying to the House Gods!

We did a bit more house hunting today. We saw 5 new houses and 2 of our favorites. This time I actually remembered to take the camera out and snap a few photos to help us remember our favorites later on. Turns out we didn't need them after all. Once we previewed our second favorite house, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to put in an offer. [Insert sound of a stopped heart machine here.] After lots of initialing and going over the financial aspect of the purchase, we made our offer! I won't tell you which photo the house we chose above is and instead will just keep you in suspense (in hopes they accept our offer)!! Pray to the House Gods please!!!!!

2/19/11 - Just Go With It

I got the chance to hang out with Dan & Mary tonight to celebrate Dan's birthday! We went to a wonderful tapas restaurant and ate some awesome food that reminded me of home. Afterwards, we headed to the movies and met Domingo there to watch "Just Go With It". The movie is great! We laughed a lot and so did the lady next to Domingo! At one point I was afraid that lady was going to have a heart attack with all of her laughter. She was quite scary. Anyways, go see it!!

2/18/11 - Shattered Irony

As I sat down on my new toilet tonight, the frame behind me came crashing to the floor. It was super upsetting considering that I've had this frame for over 5 years with one of the first photos I ever took with my camera. Stupid rocking toilet. Ironically, my little cupid updated my facebook status tonight about me being on the toilet just minutes before. Even though I was sad for the frame, I laughed at all the irony of me being on the toilet. Haha, ok enough of my bathroom talk!

2/17/11 - Mickey My Mouse

Meet my little friend, Mickey. Mickey helps me cook food in my kitchen and play fun pranks on people. Mickey also watched the Britney Spears music video with me tonight and thought it was garbage. Mickey also got to hear me rave on and on about how awesome tonight's workout was. Mickey was sadly my last resort of something to photograph in my apartment because today was not a very monumental day. Mickey and I believe I may be getting photographer's block. Any help and/or suggestions are appreciated or you might continue to get weird blogs such as these, haha! Mickey just said I need a life.

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AMAZING GRANDFATHER TODAY!!!!!! I LOVE YOU SOOOOO VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!

2/16/11 - Stress Recipe

Add 153 viewed houses for sale online, 1 part confusion of whether or not to put in an offer, 4 dashes of houses left to see, 30 emails back and forth between realtor and loan officer, and 2 favorites still on our minds. Put in blender and pour mixture into pan hoping someone would accept our offers. Bake at only 4 months left to figure out what to do with this process and enjoy! Ugh, I think I need some Pepto Bismol.

2/15/11 - Shag Me

I finally got this thing cleaned and picked up from the cleaners today. Yes, my friends, this is my bath mat. It's blue, it's shaggy, and it even dyes your toes blue when you step on it after your shower, hehe. Because I have had such wonderful luck with my toilet in my apartment, I had to take Mr. Blue to get a professional bath. I know, I know, I have no shame. Good news is not only do I have clean shaggy rug in my bathroom again, I also have a brand new toilet to make my butt happy. Oh happy day!

2/14/11 - Te Amo

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm really not your usual celebrator of this holiday only because we shouldn't have to be reminded once a year to say "I love you" to our loved ones. However, it was quite a special one! Oddly enough I did not even see Domingo today, but that little cupid did stop by my apartment today while I was gone. Cupid left me a dozen roses with by far the coolest card I have ever had in my entire life. Even the message inside was perfect. He's quite the catch people and I'm so incredibly in love with him!!!

2/13/11 - Choices, Choices

We viewed 12 houses today and came up with 5 favorites!!! This process definitely has more options than I initially thought. It has been so fun going through this with Domingo and he's the only person I would ever want to do this with. We both have a lot of the same things in mind and can agree on quite a bit together (even though he has a different #3 favorite than me...). We encountered some rather strange houses with some interesting things inside such as a half eaten Christmas cake in the garage and ones that resemble a haunted house even in daylight. Other than those few, our top five consists of very livable conditions with renovated kitchens, bathrooms, and fresh flooring. I can't help but want to jump forward through the waiting periods to soon come and pack and move all of our belongings into a new chapter of our lives!

2/12/11 - Dessert Disaster

This right here is a failed attempt to make cookies. For some of us, being naturally domesticated just isn't possible no matter how hard you try. At times it helps if you follow the recipe's directions and actually add the appropriate ingredients. Although the above looks like a happy version of some rolled cookie dough, we are missing the key ingredients that make it taste like a cookie: vanilla, egg, and milk. So after I tossed out this batch while yelling obscenities, I redid the whole entire thing and made it correctly the second time. I haven't baked the cookies yet, but I did taste the batter and this time it tastes like a real cookie. There never seems to be a dull moment when I'm in the kitchen attempting to make anything.

2/11/11 - Dizzy for Dots

I finally have a fun excuse to use my new wrapping paper! We have a 5 year old's Spiderman birthday party tomorrow night. I was told right away that I had the gift wrapping job and got excited knowing I had this waiting at home. My gift wrapping techniques are getting better too! One day I hope to wrap amazing presents like my mommy :0)

2/10/11 - Splat!!

This is not the best picture, but it works for the awful lighting I had tonight. Meet my coolest new addition for my kitchen! This my friends is the coolest spoon rest known to man kind. It even doubles as a coaster and looks like your cup has a hole in it and it leaked everywhere. Super cheap and really fun to have in your home! I absolutely love weird things like this. I did check out this company's website (www.umbra.com) and they have a lot of other awesome, unique things for the home. I really, really need to win the lottery with all my fun finds!

2/9/11 - Going Postal

You know what grinds my gears?! The post office does. While I am thankful for the United States Post Office for providing a service that allows my letters and packages to arrive from point A to point B and for granting my father 30 plus years of a career, I am so not happy with them right now. Above we have a very nice Thank You letter from my sister. She notified me prior to sending this letter that she would be placing some hair ties inside per my request. Now these hair ties are not your average rubber bands most people are accustomed too. They are cloth, flat, stretchy hair ties. Due to Glendale Heights receiving my letter in "damaged condition" my prize was not inside. I did not pass go, did not collect my $200, nada, zilch, nothing. Therefore, I am going postal and I'm sorry to my very kind sister for taking the time to send them to me. However, to the very mean person out there that busted my little letter open and took my really cool hair ties....may your hair fall out, jerk. So there!!

2/8/11 - New Evolving Dilemma

I may look all smiles, but looks can be deceiving. This, my friends, is the perfect case of "My Head is Too Big to Make it Through the Sweatshirt Hole". So, I'm on the phone with my mother this evening and as I'm trying to bundle up due to the arctic temperatures that have chilled my bones when "Houston, we have a problem!" My poor mother had no idea what was going on, but it isn't too hard to wonder for too long as I am a spawn of her and she is just as strange. I lost a few hairs in the incident, but all is well. It took like 83 tugs and pulls to finally get my head through. I'm pretty sure there are other people with bigger heads out there than me (not naming anyone particular, Steph R. haha) that has to have the same (if not worse) problem. I just don't think anyone has ever really come out and said it before.

2/7/11 - Wishful Thinking

A random post for today. I've been really wanting to go on a HUGE shopping spree lately. I mean like toss out all of my old and start all over with a whole new wardrobe. I was talking to a friend the other day and we wanted to plot out a way where one of us could submit the other in TLC's What Not to Wear just for the $5,000 shopping spree!!! YAY! Haha, but then again I would probably feel bad that I had $5,000 to spend on clothes when I could use it on so many other things....yeah so anyways who wants to go shopping??? (Maybe we will just hit up the sales racks.)

2/6/11 - Who Cut the Cheese?

While as a Chicago resident and I'm loyal to my local team, I don't really believe this team deserve a whole post dedicated to them for being Super Bowl Champs....let's talk about my moldy cheese. Exhibit A above is an old piece of Parmesan cheese. You can see it beginning to rot on the sides and should probably toss it out. Ok fine...so the Greenbay Packers won the big game. The End. Snooze fest. We went to Domingo's friend's house to watch the game and had a really good time even though the smelly cheese team won. We had a good time watching the commercials and making fun of the half-time show, but over-all we had a great time. Next year though is Chicago's year! Da' Bears!!!

2/5/11 - Home Cooked Dinner

Before. I ventured into my new "home cooked meals" cookbook today and made my ultimate favorite dinner, Carne Guisada. I have been in the cooking mood and really wanted to have Domingo try this dish. It's a meat and potatoes type of dish that we serve with white rice. It's hard to explain, but once you have this it quickly makes the top of the favorites list. I have been so impressed with my cooking skills lately. This came out far better than I had ever imagined. It wasn't exactly like my mom's only because it missed a little of her love, but I managed to scoop some up in the recipe and add it in.

After. I forgot 4 grains of rice. Thank goodness for leftovers!!!

2/4/11 - Frosty in February

So, if you haven't been living under a rock or reading my previous posts, then you very well know that Chicago got hit with nearly 2 feet of snow. Surprisingly, people's moods have been quite positive throughout all of this. It's been rather fun to see how creative people have gotten with their snow. We literally have no where to put this crap. I have seen dump trucks hauling away snow to some remote location just so that people can maneuver around. Well, this little guy just so happened to appear down the street. Who knew Frosty was present post-Christmas? Mr. Frosty here is a GREAT example of how high the piles of snow have gotten. Notice car and trash bin next to Frosty. If you look closely you can see that Frosty's eyes and buttons are indeed recycled soda cans. Way to go creativity!!

2/3/11 - Snuffleupagus

Although it may look like I've kicked up a new habit, thankfully I have not. Unfortunately this is my survival kit while I get through this sinus infection that I have. No, I do not take all of these at once or all in one day. It is just a collection of medicines that have all played a small role in my sniffles. Please note the Valentine's Day peanut butter M&M's. Even though I cannot smell and barely can taste, these little guys are crucial in the "get-well" phase. Since I cannot work out, I eat chocolate!! It's a win-win if you ask me!

2/2/11 - Snow-M-G Part II

I spy a little friend on the balcony.

Frozen tailpipe

Free sick day!!! Chicago was gracious enough to accept 20 inches of snow (more in some other areas) and call it a city-wide holiday!!! Good news for me since I wasn't feeling so well. Even my prince charming came to my rescue! He brought me food and medicine and hung out with me just about all day. I tell ya, I totally picked an amazing one! He was even nice enough to let me go out and take some photos in the cold. It was a nice, relaxing day as everyone seemed to find their way through this mess. We do have to go back to work tomorrow, but having today off and getting to spend it with Domingo during the middle of the week was definitely a nice surprise.

2/1/11 - Snowmageddon

The snow storm of 2011 has officially made its way into town. At first I wasn't entirely positive it would actually hit and thought everyone was making a big deal out of nothing. It took almost until noon today that I realized this thing was coming. Thank goodness we got to leave work early because it took me over an hour and a half to get home. The weather has definitely turned for the worse. Winds have kicked up quite a bit and it has dumped so much snow so far. We should see tomorrow what it does throughout the night and whether or not we have work in the morning. I'm totally praying for a snow day. Even though I'm not feeling too great, I totally want to take advantage of this cool snow ball launcher and igloo brick-maker I bought for my nephew. I know it'll be a few years before he actually uses them, but I have to test them out to make sure they work, right?