tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74045507135082395292024-03-13T09:53:27.139-07:00Musings in MassA Flint girl firing shots in Western Massachusetts, trying to capture what life is like in the Pioneer Valley. Here you'll find some of my photographs, suggested places to visit, good buys, projects, recipes, and random thoughts.Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-55364818309976899322017-02-22T14:46:00.001-08:002017-02-22T14:46:34.170-08:00Homemade Challah<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I love challah! Being that we are a Jatholic family (Jewish-Catholic), we eat challah every Friday. We have an excellent bakery here in Northampton (Hungry Ghost Bread) that we usually get our challah from, but I was feeling ambitious over the summer and decided that I wanted to learn how to make my own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It is surprisingly really easy! My son and I made it together and it was a fun project. The recipe came from a book we got at the library called Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook by Jane Yolen. She lists the ingredients in the order/amounts in which they are used. Enjoy!<br /><u><b><br />Challah</b></u><br /><br />Ingredients:<br /><br />1/2 cup warm water<br />1 envelope active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)<br />1 tsp sugar<br />2 tbsp honey<br />1 tbsp vegetable oil<br />1 tbsp sugar<br />1 tsp salt<br />1 egg<br />2-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour<br /> vegetable oil<br />1 egg<br /> cooking spray<br /><br />1. Put the water, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar in the bowl of a food processor or a large bowl, and set the timer for 10 minutes. (We used a bowl and mixed everything by hand.)<br />2. While you wait, combine the honey, oil, 1 tbsp sugar, and salt in a small bowl, then add the egg.<br />3. When the timer dings, add the honey mixture to the yeast mixture.<br />4. Mix using the food processor (or a spoon) until blended together.<br />5. Pour flour into the wet mixture a little at a time, mixing in each batch before adding more. When a ball forms, add a little more flour, and mix, remembering that you don’t have to use all the flour and you can always add more.<br />6. Sprinkle flour on a clean counter top or a board, and remove the dough from the processor, or bowl. Knead the dough by hand on the floured surface for about ten minutes.<br />7. Pour a teaspoon of vegetable or any light cooking oil into the large bowl, and put the ball of dough into it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a wet (but not dripping) towel, and place the bowl aside to rise. Set the timer for 90 minutes.<br />8. When the dough has risen for 90 minutes, take a small handful of flour and sprinkle it on the counter or board. Uncover the dough and punch it down with your fist a couple of times. Then put it on the floured surface, and pull or roll it into a fat rope.<br />9. Cut the dough rope into 3 equal pieces then roll and pull those pieces into thinner ropes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">10. Braid the dough (we watched a video on braiding techniques). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">11. Grease the baking sheet with cooking spray and set the challah loaf on it. Cover lightly with plastic wrap, set the timer, and let it rise again for 60 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">12. Heat oven to 350.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">13. After 60 minutes, in a small bowl, mix a beaten egg with a little water, brush onto the top of the challah, then put the loaf in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes (we sprinkled sesame seeds on top).<br />14. When the challah is done, it should be golden brown and make a hollow sound when the bottom is tapped. </span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-54107742327652251252014-10-21T06:15:00.003-07:002014-10-21T06:15:33.437-07:00The Ultimate Halloween Party<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Last weekend, I hosted a Halloween party for eleven third graders. It was a blast! I was going to write a really lengthy post with all of the details of the party and the "how-to's" of party planning... but I decided you'd rather just look at the pictures. PLUS, I realized that I didn't snag pictures of ALL of the games, prizes and decorations (sometimes you just have to live in the moment!) so here are some of the highlights of the Ultimate Halloween Party.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">When the children first arrived, I had three main areas for them to wander between. The first was a Zombie Warrior Training Zone. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I set up some bales of hay and tied on balloons with Zombie faces drawn on them. I had a pile of sticks set next to the hay for the kids to pop the Zombies with and sharpen their swordsmanship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Then I had a Can Knockdown game set up for the kids to test their strength. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This game was a lot of fun to make! I recycled my cans and painted them as pumpkins, ghosts, black cats, Frankenstein's monster, and a mummy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I also had a Craft Table set up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Craft Table had three stations. At the first, the kids could decorate their treat bag with Halloween stickers, stamps, and markers. At the second, I had a Halloween Cootie Catcher (which I found here: http://catchmyparty.com/blog/free-halloween-party-printables-from-b-nute-productions) printed and cut out, ready for the kids to fold. The third was Halloween tattoos. Unfortunately, it was really windy the day of the party so I had to use rocks to hold everything down, but we managed to make it work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Last, I had the Food Table. I tried to have a variety of snacks, all with a Halloween twist!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Autumn Mix consisted of pretzel sticks, Chex corn cereal, Count Chocula cereal, M&M's, and a candy corn mix (with the pumpkins). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The spiders were made from peanut butter (I made sure there were no peanut allergies at the party), Ritz crackers, pretzel sticks, and chocolate chips.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">For the first half hour of the party, I let the kids roam between the three areas. As I suspected, the boys spent most of their time in the Zombie Warrior Training Area (and running around) and the girls stayed closer to the Craft and Food Tables, but all of the kids did go back and forth between all of the areas. Once everyone had arrived and had a chance to run around, we started the games!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The first game is what I like to call the Pumpkin/Bozo/Grand Prize Game. Did you ever watch “The Bozo Show” when you were little? (Fun Fact: Bob Bell aka “Bozo the Clown” was a fellow Flint native.) Towards the end of the show, Bozo would pick a child to play the “Grand Prize Game” (If you aren’t familiar with it, you can watch a clip of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9IMebdCT6s). The game consisted of five buckets in a row and each bucket was associated with different prizes, getting bigger and better with each further bucket. The child would stand in front of the row of buckets and had to throw a ping pong ball into each bucket in order to get the prize associated with it. </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This game was similar to the Grand Prize Game, </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">but with a Halloween twist. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I spray painted a long board black and screwed 5 plastic pumpkins into the board in a row.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I drew a chalk
line on the cement where the kids were supposed to stand and had them
line up behind it. I had 5 different prize buckets and let them choose
prizes from each bucket that they were able to throw the ball into.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The game worked well, but I would recommend using a small bean bag instead of the ping pong ball. The ping pong ball made the game a little too difficult for this age group.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The next game we played was Poke-A-Pumpkin. I've done a pinata for years (see my tutorial on how to make a pinata <a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2012/10/diy-how-to-make-pinata.html" target="_blank">here</a>) and have gotten tired of doing the same thing over and over again. I started searching Pinterest for an alternative to a pinata and found this gem. To make the game, I took an old canvas (you could easily use a foam board) and spray painted it black. I then hot glued orange cups onto the canvas. I then put different prizes and candy into each cup and covered it with tissue paper and a rubber band. The kids lined up and took turns poking a cup and taking the prize inside.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I
wasn't sure how this game would go over with this age group because the game was
so simple, but the kids loved it and I had enough cups for them to each
go twice. Although the hot glue worked out alright, I would recommend using Epoxy glue. I think it would hold better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The next game we played was the Wrap-A-Mummy game. I had the kids get into teams of two. We happened to have eleven kids at the party, so we made one of the teams have three kids. I then had them decide who the "Mummy" was going to be. I gave them a roll of toilet paper and told them that the first team to most carefully cover/wrap their mummy the fastest would win.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The kids did a great job with this game! I thought for sure that they would be running around each other throwing the toilet paper all over the other kid, but they were all very careful and took their time wrapping their mummy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We also played two other really fun games but sadly, I didn't get any pictures of those games. Perhaps I'll save them for next year and tell you all about them then!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">All of the kids appeared to have a really great time and I had a great time hosting! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">As always, thanks for reading and let me know if you end up having your own Ultimate Halloween Party! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-17165543354693001092014-09-30T07:31:00.001-07:002014-09-30T07:31:25.996-07:00Top 10 Music Videos From My Childhood <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> As a child of the 1980’s, MTV was a huge part of my childhood. My parents never really censored or limited what I watched, so even at a very young age I watched A LOT of music videos. I remember being 3 or 4 and watching MTV all morning until my siblings would get home from school. I was hooked and I’m sure my mother was thrilled with having this new free babysitter to keep me occupied. I loved watching the stories that went along with my favorite songs from the radio. Looking back, it’s funny to me what things stuck in my memory about these videos. As a child, I didn’t necessarily follow the storyline, but became fixated on other aspects of the video. I’m going to share with you the Top 10 Videos (with pictures!) from my childhood and why they stood out to me. I apologize for the blurry video stills, it’s the best I could do. Here they are in alphabetical order.<br /><br />Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these videos or songs. I make no money from talking about these videos or using images from them.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1. Big Love-Fleetwood Mac, released 1987.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">I’m not a Fleetwood Mac fan at all, but this video was very memorable for me. The viewer gets to go backwards through all of these various scenes, through doors, windows, television screens, etc. Each scene sort of fits in to the next scene in a very fluid way. Then, a little after the 3 minute marker, you get to go forwards through each scene you passed through, only much faster. I loved that fast part! I would anxiously sit through the whole video just to get to the ending.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Land of Confusion-Genesis, released 1986.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">What can I say, this video was super creepy to watch as a child! It was one of the first I had ever seen (and possibly the only?) that involved puppets. In general, I really had no clue what was going on in the video, but strangely I understood that the lyrics. I knew they were telling adults to be careful of what they do because the children were the ones who would inherit the earth. Even as a small child, I recognized the celebrities that most of the puppets were supposed to resemble and I understood that they were making fun of them (although I didn’t know why). One of the most memorable scenes for me was when the big puppet hands held the little real baby hands inside of them. I remember thinking, “Wow. Those are real baby hands and they need to take care of them.” The directors did a good job of getting the message across to all of the generations watching this video.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">3. Material Girl-Madonna, released 1984.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-XPBef-sIVoyE2DMpzqvp4XJn_ks09i-_5K47uKLIwK92M1Tue0pRotd7bxOXOEPSt5S1It3tKe3W8DyagOFP5ME_eKxEGAkxRB4jlYMTZK9_5mXLre_H0T6q07jNXRVyczuZ9LDiv-b/s1600/Material+Girl+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-XPBef-sIVoyE2DMpzqvp4XJn_ks09i-_5K47uKLIwK92M1Tue0pRotd7bxOXOEPSt5S1It3tKe3W8DyagOFP5ME_eKxEGAkxRB4jlYMTZK9_5mXLre_H0T6q07jNXRVyczuZ9LDiv-b/s1600/Material+Girl+2.png" height="233" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">What little girl in the 80’s didn’t love this video? The pink dress, the jewelry, the furs, the men carrying you around, it looked like fun! I already wanted to be Madonna (see video number 4 description) but this video just really solidified how cool it must be to be Madonna. My mother always used to remind me when I would watch it, that it was basically a remake of Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. I think she wanted to make it known that this was not an original idea and that she felt as though Madonna was simply a cheaper, modern version knockoff of Marilyn Monroe..but she was so wrong because Madonna was WAY COOLER.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4. Open Your Heart-Madonna, released 1986. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This is the first Madonna video that really made me say, “Wow, I want to be just like Madonna when I grow up.”. When I was 4 years old, I insisted that my mom chop off all of my hair (which she did) so that it was short, just like Madonna’s and buy me a black bustier with silver nipples (which she did NOT buy). I remember her describing in horror to my grandmother on the phone the silver nipple outfit that I insisted she purchase.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Unfortunately and luckily, I was never able to complete my full Madonna look. Another reason this video also stood out to me was because I thought it was so cool that Madonna blew off all of the sleazy guys at the peep show to befriend an adorable little boy and dance down the street with him into the night.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Awe, see? She WAS a good role model after all! It all looked like an absolutely perfect night to me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">5. Sara-Starship, released 1985.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I remembered this video and knew I had to add it to the list when I was writing this, but needed to see the video again. Looking back on this video as an adult was...interesting. It was SO CHEESY! As a child, only two things stood out to me: 1) It involved tornadoes. Growing up in Michigan, tornadoes were very much a part of my life. Once we knew a storm was coming, my sister, brother and I would sit at the window and watch the skies get darker and the clouds circle. Once the sirens would go off, we’d pack up all of our “important” belongings in our pillow cases and trot down to the basement. My dad had a “Ham Radio” in the basement that he would use to track the storm’s location. My dad would then give us a play-by-play from the reports on his radio of where the twisters touched down until the storm passed over us and it was safe to go upstairs. Then we would all pile into the car, pick up ice cream cones, and drive around surveying the damage from the storm. Weird Michigan activities, right? That’s just life as a Michigander. I was shocked when I moved to Massachusetts and realized that they didn’t have a siren system here. Anyhow, anything involving twisters fascinated me so that’s mainly what stood out to me about this video.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">2) The only other thing that really stood out to me was that they released the horses to outrun the storm. As an adult, I now understand why they would have done that. But as a child, I was horrified. I didn’t understand when they didn’t bring the horses into the cellar to protect them. It made me sad. On a side note, the song was catchy and easy to sing so it was a favorite in my household.<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">6. Got My Mind Set On You-George Harrison, released 1987.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">My dad was a HUGE Beatles fan. I probably knew all of the words to all of the songs on Abbey Road by the time I was 5. When George Harrison decided to go solo and release this video, my dad just ate it up (although he didn’t necessarily love George’s solo career). I never understood the song or lyrics as a child, but I thought the video was funny. As George Harrison sat in the chair and sang, all of the objects in the room started to come to life and do all sorts of crazy things, which I found hilarious. My favorite part was the squirrel playing the saxophone! That part cracked me up!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Every time we’d watch the video, my dad would point out that it wasn’t really George Harrison who did the dance and the flip into the chair, it was a body double. I think it made him feel smart to point that out, that the video directors didn’t fool him! He knew the truth! Ah, dad...<br /> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">7. Legs-ZZ Top, released 1984.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">When I was little, the guys from ZZ Top fascinated me. I had never seen men with such long beards! They just seemed so mysterious and cool, especially when they spun their fuzzy guitars around while playing them! Nothing was cooler than that.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">But that’s not the part of this video that really stuck in my little brain. Of all the things is this video that could have been memorable, for me it was the pink high heels and ruffle socks. I wanted those high heels and socks SO BADLY. I remember going in to my kindergarten interview and telling the woman interviewing me about how I wanted pink high heels when I grew up. It’s all I could talk about! I never did get those pink heels...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">8. Sledgehammer-Peter Gabriel, released 1986.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This video had all kinds of crazy things going on! Claymation, stop motion animation, this video was definitely an original for the mid 1980’s! The two most memorable scenes were the raw chickens dancing and the light suit that Mr. Gabriel wore at the end. Those two scenes stuck with me over the years. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">What’s most funny to me about the song is that the lyrics completely went over my head. It wasn’t until my mid 20’s when I pulled out the CD and gave it a good listen that I realized that the lyrics were jam packed with sexual innuendos. Mr. Gabriel was a dirty man, but I love it! This is still one of my most favorite songs of all time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">9. Take On Me-A-ha, released 1985.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Another animated video. MTV was amazing because it was the first time I got to see the songs that I heard on the radio come to life and some of the videos produced stories I wouldn’t have otherwise thought about when listening to the song. Those early videos were like short movies. They really gave the listener/watcher a vivid image of what the song could be about. In this video, I loved the love story between the man in the comics and the girl at the diner. I got worried and upset when there was that moment at the end when we weren’t sure if the comic man was going to be able to escape into the real world. Luckily, all ended well, but the video really took me on a journey with those two. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one taken with this video for it won 6 awards at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">10. Thriller-Michael Jackson, released 1983. (I had to really lighten the images because the video is SO dark.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Everyone knows this song and video so I won’t spend too much time on this one, but I can’t discuss memorable videos from the 1980’s without mentioning it. First of all, the video aside, the song scared the crap out of me. My parents had the album on a vinyl record and used to play it frequently. Every time it got to the end where Vincent Price started laughing, I would cover my ears and go hide in the bedroom. When the video came out, I was in awe. My siblings and I had a thing for scary movies and my parents let us watch them from a very early age (which I don’t recommend) so it didn’t scare me as much as you would think it would. I found some parts to be quite humorous while others were very eerie.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I was mostly impressed with the dancing and sheer length of the video. Talk about mini-movies, this video takes the cake! This is one of those videos that will live on for decades. My son is just as fascinated with it today as I was back then. I know it gets a lot of credit for being memorable, but it really deserves it. Since it came out, I really don’t think there has been a story in a music video that has quite caught my attention like this one (well, “November Rain” was pretty captivating but there’s still no comparison).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">So there you have it. If you want to take a trip down memory lane or familiarize yourself with pop culture, I highly recommend you take the time to watch each of these videos. Their stories, characters and images will live on in my memories forever. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-15701472466705791712014-07-15T06:22:00.000-07:002014-07-15T06:22:33.953-07:00Puffer's Pond <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I first heard about Puffer’s Pond in Amherst back in 2008. Some friends of mine had taken their children swimming there and told me that it was a very popular swimming hole in the Amherst area. I never had a chance to visit it (mostly because I’m never really out in that area on the weekends) but was still curious about it all of these years later.<br /><br /> I finally got around to visiting it last week with a friend of mine who had been there before. There is no fee to enter the pond and the entrance we used only had a little tiny sign and looked like this:<br /><br /> (I say “the entrance we used” because I am assuming that there are multiple entrances, but we couldn’t find where the other entrances were.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> We parked the car and walked up to a large grassy area where (mostly) college students were laying in the sun. There were trails going along both the left and right of the pond, however, I didn’t wear appropriate shoes for the trip so we didn’t walk very far.<br /><br /> The part of the pond that we happened to be at had no beach, just a little ledge. The water below looked to be about 3 feet deep and had some people walking around in it. We could see a small beach across the pond but we could NOT figure out how to get to it!! </span><br />
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<br /> <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">After doing some research online, I found an article from the Daily Hampshire Gazette that state that the pond is slated to have $36K in renovations this year. It also read, <br /><br />“Other people who use the pond’s two beaches and nearby walking trails may notice that the wooden cribbing, used to hold sand in place and stabilize the pathways, are sagging.” <br /><br /> Clearly, there were two beaches somewhere but we had no idea how to find them. I don’t feel as though I can give a fair review of this well-known swimming hole because I feel like there are many parts of it I didn’t get a chance to see. Perhaps I’ll take another adventure out there soon. Until then, enjoy a couple of images from my trip. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">To learn more about Puffer’s Pond, visit: http://www.amherstma.gov/index.aspx?NID=1316.</span><br /><br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-46640599972854776332014-03-16T19:51:00.000-07:002014-03-16T19:51:27.228-07:00St. Patrick's Day Chocolate Mint Cookie Bark<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I stumbled across this yummy recipe for chocolate mint cookie bark and thought it would be fun to make with my son. We always bake something festive together for St. Patrick's Day and this recipe combined all of my favorite things! It's a great recipe to involve your child in because of all of the little jobs you can give them while you're melting the chocolate (like sorting the M & M's, crushing the Oreos, etc.). I hope you'll enjoy it!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">St. Patrick's Day Chocolate Mint Cookie Bark</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ingredients<br /> • 12 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips<br /> • 12 ounces white chocolate chips<br /> • 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (like Crisco), divided<br /> • 20 chocolate sandwich cookies (I used regular Oreos)<br /> • 1 cup Andes mints broken into bits<br /> • 1 cup green M&Ms (I used regular)<br /> • Green sprinkles<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> 1. Line a large jellyroll pan or cookie sheet with wax paper. Roughly chop sandwich cookies into quarters.<br /> 2. Pour semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute; stir chocolate well. Microwave for another 30 seconds; stir until chocolate is smooth. (If necessary, microwave in additional 15-second increments, stirring between each one, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.)<br /> 3. Spread melted chocolate in a thin layer onto wax paper. Sprinkle with chopped cookies and Andes pieces, pressing them down into melted chocolate in a single layer.<br /> 4. Melt white chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon shortening in a clean bowl by repeating the above process, but microwave for only 15 seconds after the initial 1 minute since white chocolate melts more quickly than regular chocolate.<br /> 5. Carefully drizzle white chocolate over cookie layer and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle with M&Ms, pressing them down into the white chocolate, and then fill in any bare areas with green sprinkles.<br /> 6. Refrigerate until chocolate is hard. Carefully break into large chunks and enjoy!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYtN8PqRmmRXaoOct092ig0rMXhQ-o9PxwUQ4SgSLvbpMYffcKiCmM6EKAVS2Q3eilix6uIGGhQkrMLWc0f05JuvVJjj6XqHWq_TTQaH7-07k2oNxuB7U3JJP81p_N56rxqxFERM6ZZHO/s1600/IMG_9829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYtN8PqRmmRXaoOct092ig0rMXhQ-o9PxwUQ4SgSLvbpMYffcKiCmM6EKAVS2Q3eilix6uIGGhQkrMLWc0f05JuvVJjj6XqHWq_TTQaH7-07k2oNxuB7U3JJP81p_N56rxqxFERM6ZZHO/s1600/IMG_9829.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everything ready to go in the refrigerator! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1sdhoC1pO3u8pkeuIKmQOtxmwcZfDsAhQukgRpinbkHACIRA8zm7jfL_ncSJEC6EybWy08ruhsetZCPoJc0lmDlchzXyKEaprqf7XbA8Bu6Sh3bnX7ZAAUYUHLVBWBlH8VtzUkvEGcfu/s1600/IMG_9831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1sdhoC1pO3u8pkeuIKmQOtxmwcZfDsAhQukgRpinbkHACIRA8zm7jfL_ncSJEC6EybWy08ruhsetZCPoJc0lmDlchzXyKEaprqf7XbA8Bu6Sh3bnX7ZAAUYUHLVBWBlH8VtzUkvEGcfu/s1600/IMG_9831.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once the bark has cooled, break it apart into pieces.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kcQBjWAM9cvlXKHhJqRXyIiKgU890OpXxiHshCoVpKP4auw-H5DU9Zi699nUD3l2adNnwgQp9ha2O1us9Y-eqndGVsWkmX1tCn4hKfUDLMDsU4uSyscpz33bmBeuXNf9KmuN4gmKgwq0/s1600/IMG_9834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kcQBjWAM9cvlXKHhJqRXyIiKgU890OpXxiHshCoVpKP4auw-H5DU9Zi699nUD3l2adNnwgQp9ha2O1us9Y-eqndGVsWkmX1tCn4hKfUDLMDsU4uSyscpz33bmBeuXNf9KmuN4gmKgwq0/s1600/IMG_9834.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We put some in a little bag and attached the recipe as a gift for my son's teacher.</td></tr>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-81938967697908550162014-01-11T07:35:00.000-08:002014-01-11T07:35:59.633-08:00Lego Party <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We decided to throw a birthday party for my son and his cousins while visiting our home state of Michigan this year. Seeing as how we were traveling, we weren't going to do anything big and crazy, so my sister graciously offered to host a "home" birthday party at her house. I let my son pick whatever theme he wanted and this year he chose a Lego themed birthday party. When I went to the local party store to check out what kind of decorations were available in that theme however, I was disappointed with my options. So what did I do? I logged on to good ol' Pinterest for inspiration!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> The first thing I wanted to tackle were the goody bags. I had decided that in each bag I would put a small Lego set (like the kind you see by the cash register at Target) and a small bag of Lego brick candy that they sell at my local bulk candy store. I already had some clear plastic candy bags, so I purchased a large bag of the brick candy and divided it up. I scooped some of the bricks into each bag and weighed them with a food scale that we had to make sure that each bag had the same amount of candy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> To make the bags, I purchased some paper bags with handles from Michael's, a package of card stock that matched each bag, a 2 inch hole punch and some double-sided foam mounting tape. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoSksyp6OCmIvcxLBl_Uh74lkV9BIcZ5_b3LFk7jZRyJxHV7MHFSt4AC0Y6oztpL82_recf79mFfwmKnXsQq00xzIiy22xctHPYc82ExW6C6GOc84thn7lrcDEE0UIasKFFvwMthHA2b4/s1600/IMG_9686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoSksyp6OCmIvcxLBl_Uh74lkV9BIcZ5_b3LFk7jZRyJxHV7MHFSt4AC0Y6oztpL82_recf79mFfwmKnXsQq00xzIiy22xctHPYc82ExW6C6GOc84thn7lrcDEE0UIasKFFvwMthHA2b4/s1600/IMG_9686.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I punched the holes out of the card stock and attached them to each bag with the mounting tape, measuring with a rule to make sure that the circles were roughly an equal distance from each other. The result was a Lego brick looking bag.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">For the decorations, I purchased square plates from Target, and napkins, cups, plastic tablecloths, balloons and streamers in the same colors as the bags (red, blue, green, yellow, orange) from the Dollar Tree (my favorite place for party supplies!). I happened to already have a "Happy Birthday" banner from last year so I used that as well. I put everything out on the table and scattered Lego pieces down the middle of the table. To create the Lego figure guys that I put on the windows and in various locations around the house, I Googled "Lego Coloring Page" and found a template that I copied into a Word document and then printed onto yellow paper. I then cut each guy out (in stacks of 3-4 at a time) and taped him around the house. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I wanted to keep the party simple, so I only arranged for two games. The first one was "Guess how many Lego pieces are in the jar?" I had my sister put Lego bricks into a jar and count them so that we would know how many were in there. Each child took a turn guessing how many bricks were in the jar by writing their name and number on a piece of paper. The child with the closest number without going over was the winner. The second game we played was "See how many Lego bricks you can move with chop sticks in one minute." I put out two plates, one with Lego pieces and an empty plate. I then gave the child a set of chop sticks and made them put their other hand behind their back. They had one minute to see how many Lego pieces they could move over to the other plate with the chop sticks (I timed them with my phone). The game was a lot of fun for all of the different ages we had at the party (ages 5-11) and it was interesting to see the strategy each child used to move the pieces. The kids all seemed to have a great time!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">For the cake, I ordered a "Lego brick cake" at a local bakery. I wasn't sure what I would end up with, but I thought they did a good job. I then purchased a small Lego set for the top and Lego brick candles from Target. I was happy with the end result.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The small party was very easy to throw together and my son was very happy with the results. Overall, I think the way that I decided to create the decorations was significantly cheaper than if I would have purchased the Lego themed party supplies from the party store. The most expensive part of the party was the goody bags, but I thought they were worth it! What kinds of things did you do at your Lego party? Let me know! </span></span><br />
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-30431781822764643172013-11-19T19:06:00.001-08:002013-11-24T05:00:15.784-08:00Cinnamon Cut Out Ornaments <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> One of my favorite things to do with my son during the holiday season is to make homemade ornaments for the tree. They're fun, creative, and make great gifts! If you haven't seen my other post about homemade salt dough ornaments, you can find it by clicking <a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2012/12/homemade-christmas-ornamentsrecipe-for.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Cinnamon Cut Out Ornaments are one of my favorite kinds of ornaments to make because they're really easy to make, smell delicious and look adorable. Enjoy!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><u>Cinnamon Cut Out Ornaments</u> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">(For decoration only! DO NOT EAT!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1 Cup Ground Cinnamon</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">2/3 Cup Applesauce</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1 Tbs White Glue</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhtTXSGPns140mDaQvMVa0_5tryT0RvHx_0-EZ2cYYHdRBQrx39eRCswqnq0x-AeRgQTmz4aLBeJjSM1TVm0P4UHdijZrCp-z2gyGTndUz-wjuu_fW2CQ8vpWpnSZilPinwZIh3jhLyK6/s1600/IMG_9653.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhtTXSGPns140mDaQvMVa0_5tryT0RvHx_0-EZ2cYYHdRBQrx39eRCswqnq0x-AeRgQTmz4aLBeJjSM1TVm0P4UHdijZrCp-z2gyGTndUz-wjuu_fW2CQ8vpWpnSZilPinwZIh3jhLyK6/s320/IMG_9653.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1. Mix all of the ingredients (the cinnamon, applesauce and glue) together.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtpFPupxuaCjY2pRP3l7U5XWmaZ-4gK5NupfjsGSUxJ_dO8y8dg2okW-1Uzsikl6ozmgw_YETE-loAfujpvxGygYqtI3ij-LsiF3-UBT1XL2ThHyubIxXIcsm-nNpcipJ0WszZwpzvl4m/s1600/IMG_9655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtpFPupxuaCjY2pRP3l7U5XWmaZ-4gK5NupfjsGSUxJ_dO8y8dg2okW-1Uzsikl6ozmgw_YETE-loAfujpvxGygYqtI3ij-LsiF3-UBT1XL2ThHyubIxXIcsm-nNpcipJ0WszZwpzvl4m/s320/IMG_9655.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">2. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick on a surface sprinkled with extra cinnamon. Cut shapes with cookie cutters and lay flat on wax paper. Use a straw to make a hole at the top for the string.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEK2cmtyxiZ8Tww6n9gzus9fH3BFXpneoy2GrJs52UWp5Fy5LdJ2q-e1csR98yF_j4QcpnOKPbZb2IeaTjgxyg9sP1OOUNd96K-huuFTampbz42TLXNh9Eg0IrezBJSOD8j4G_DU8r-oIv/s1600/IMG_9658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEK2cmtyxiZ8Tww6n9gzus9fH3BFXpneoy2GrJs52UWp5Fy5LdJ2q-e1csR98yF_j4QcpnOKPbZb2IeaTjgxyg9sP1OOUNd96K-huuFTampbz42TLXNh9Eg0IrezBJSOD8j4G_DU8r-oIv/s320/IMG_9658.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrYUnvX38nR7-oNtjIpJoBPguOobwmr0UmXEpVvZsQovi4DSRHVhfzSs1BsOL2jngZAXC74VIsi0m5vAWyTMO6oJgSfinuYMXtXWDd0kDY8YertzSd63e0oe_t2bye1ITrTgEj-e_G0pU/s1600/IMG_9660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrYUnvX38nR7-oNtjIpJoBPguOobwmr0UmXEpVvZsQovi4DSRHVhfzSs1BsOL2jngZAXC74VIsi0m5vAWyTMO6oJgSfinuYMXtXWDd0kDY8YertzSd63e0oe_t2bye1ITrTgEj-e_G0pU/s320/IMG_9660.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">3. Turn over frequently for the next 2-3 days. Let them dry completely. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6tuzll88c5FiZahJb-zaYOel0TeZKbKFMeimI_zBNMPNpzlxzU4xJKXw7A7i6hFmjkVXh8y51UZ2YXBD2yQ2xESJYpqqW_hC2itNBTwtZ8rNFtpUfuR0VxVxQNDZ-KD3ta42eHKhxRJc/s1600/IMG_9661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6tuzll88c5FiZahJb-zaYOel0TeZKbKFMeimI_zBNMPNpzlxzU4xJKXw7A7i6hFmjkVXh8y51UZ2YXBD2yQ2xESJYpqqW_hC2itNBTwtZ8rNFtpUfuR0VxVxQNDZ-KD3ta42eHKhxRJc/s320/IMG_9661.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4. Once completely dry, you can decorate with fabric paints or glitter glue, or just leave them as they are!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Don't forget to share with someone you love!</span><br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-67706918102618982852013-10-22T18:39:00.000-07:002013-10-22T18:44:19.558-07:00Hot MummiesThis is a fun, festive Halloween meal I saw on Pinterest a few weeks ago and was very excited to make for my son (he's very into zombies and mummies right now). It was super easy and turned out great!<br />
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<u>Hot Mummies</u> (or Mummy Dogs)<br />
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Preheat the oven to 375.<br />
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You'll need:<br />
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Hot Dogs<br />
One can of crescent dough<br />
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1. Slice the hot dogs using 3 cuts to look like little people (see picture).<br />
2. Unroll the can of dough. With a knife, cut each rectangle lengthwise, into 7-10 long pieces.<br />
3. Wrap the strips of dough around each hot dog to look like "bandages," stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate "bandages" so hot dog shows through for the "face."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTdLrmbUfGC9qUsXwftO6k5PNOKHFuBsJrh_oHXRKsJNr14w1bn2WVNebKUEugZyETztQD75dskspPjISFDYcPaUqHaQZAVMb-6sarLNky53_uX3o3ZTFzoMm9On2zakyoZ4KjfFqVTOU/s1600/IMG_9625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTdLrmbUfGC9qUsXwftO6k5PNOKHFuBsJrh_oHXRKsJNr14w1bn2WVNebKUEugZyETztQD75dskspPjISFDYcPaUqHaQZAVMb-6sarLNky53_uX3o3ZTFzoMm9On2zakyoZ4KjfFqVTOU/s320/IMG_9625.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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4. On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs; spray dough lightly with cooking spray.<br />
5. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on "face" (I didn't do this part because we don't care for mustard).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbP7SpXbAF3Hy6oZjHBJgyNSmnc6BWl9cDQ8izM7qxTJzrvo3Zsklmq3Y3eF8Xwav_v8rWS-HpsADugP2P36ngPPC83vo-fIikxvwhYuvIS3F2v4iAEoETN-Ydxqd5XQbmiCf7zEb1rBSv/s1600/IMG_9628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbP7SpXbAF3Hy6oZjHBJgyNSmnc6BWl9cDQ8izM7qxTJzrvo3Zsklmq3Y3eF8Xwav_v8rWS-HpsADugP2P36ngPPC83vo-fIikxvwhYuvIS3F2v4iAEoETN-Ydxqd5XQbmiCf7zEb1rBSv/s320/IMG_9628.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-74281172281727439692013-10-19T22:20:00.002-07:002013-11-07T17:51:02.869-08:00Made In Flint<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHX01vbxAytrMPHgkcRzmaAb1AfkTAmk1V9YGWFe8H9SYX9-M1vn5islTAeG3ojYsQxkJdmVmX-ulCDWyB_dHEvfiV2R5RTffTqZFUFpmEAUalIysuPNL2jL7jLZpMkvOnLmOUbcmXma26/s1600/IMG_4165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHX01vbxAytrMPHgkcRzmaAb1AfkTAmk1V9YGWFe8H9SYX9-M1vn5islTAeG3ojYsQxkJdmVmX-ulCDWyB_dHEvfiV2R5RTffTqZFUFpmEAUalIysuPNL2jL7jLZpMkvOnLmOUbcmXma26/s320/IMG_4165.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother riding in a wagon being pulled by a goat (?) on Dayton Street in Flint, Michigan. This image is hard to imagine (and particularly humorous) if you are at all familiar with the present day Dayton Street. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> There are, surprisingly, a large number of Michigan transplants living in Massachusetts. Nearly every week, I encounter a new person with a Michigan connection of some sort. Because of this, I frequently get asked (from both former Michiganders and my Massachusetts coworkers and friends) what it’s like to be from Flint. Flint fascinates people! Saying you’re from Flint is like telling people you survived living in the jungle. People are incredibly curious how someone can come from such a violent, infamous city and turn out “normal” (apparently they don’t know me THAT well!). They’re curious how someone can get so nostalgic for a place that they appear to both love and hate. For lack of better explanation, I tell them this...<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Flint is an abusive relationship that I will never escape. We have a history together and a lot of good memories, but we just couldn’t stay together. As much as I tried to hold it close to me and make it better, it beat me down and pushed me away. I will always have a mad, crazy love for Flint, but it will never show me any love in return.<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> OK, maybe that’s not totally true. I’ve gotten quite a bit of love from Flint; after all my roots are there. My grandparents were raised in Flint. My mother and father grew up in Flint. I was born in Flint. I attended both elementary and high school in Flint. I graduated from college in Flint. I met my husband (who was also raised in Flint), fell in love, and got married in Flint. My son was born in Flint. I had a very happy childhood and young adulthood living in Flint and created some very happy memories there over the years. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzGwJVNPJORO3Nwr6kftl-ng_-qqgzQpaYeueIYoyzY9F_2X0BxXqa6LwrFyFDEoCv37oEfB4MXHlvs3On3Y_8ZgquJYAUso7-Xs_723cnf9BX43AtkzJES3HF9tuebfeyV1RA5uZY_qr/s1600/IMG_4176+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzGwJVNPJORO3Nwr6kftl-ng_-qqgzQpaYeueIYoyzY9F_2X0BxXqa6LwrFyFDEoCv37oEfB4MXHlvs3On3Y_8ZgquJYAUso7-Xs_723cnf9BX43AtkzJES3HF9tuebfeyV1RA5uZY_qr/s320/IMG_4176+-+Copy.JPG" width="251" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great aunt Ellen (on the left) and friends at a high school dance in Flint. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> But I also have some not-so-happy memories. I have memories of scary situations, of danger and crime. I have memories of bikes being stolen, friends and neighbors’ houses being broken into, my car being stolen (twice!), my purse being stolen, drugs being dealt next door, guns being pulled on people, all kinds of real, scary events that one can potentially witness when they’re from a city like Flint. Flint is mixed bag of memories.<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> However, those of us who were born and raised there wear that baggage like a badge of honor, and to outsiders it’s like a neon sign flashing, “I survived Flint.” For some strange reason, we are proud! I will never escape Flint’s presence in my blood, nor do I necessarily want too. But what I’ve learned in the past 10 years is that you can take the girl out of Flint, but you can’t take the Flint out of the girl. It’s a big world and I think deep down I always knew that Flint wouldn’t hold me back forever. I knew eventually I would spread my wings and break free. <br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Although I’ve always been appreciative of my experiences there (good and bad), I know breaking up with Flint was the best decision for my family. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t occasionally reminisce about my time in Flint or wonder what it would have been like if I would have stayed. I know it wouldn’t have ever worked out, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t keep it in a special place in my heart. That doesn’t mean that I never have deep, painful urges to go running back. That doesn’t mean that I don’t miss all of the wonderful, smart, talented people that I met while living there. That doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate all of the good things that it has done for me. It’s a conflicting set of emotions. <br /><br /> Flint will always be my hometown. It will always be both the good AND the bad. It will always make me feel happy AND cause me pain. It will always be bittersweet memories. <br /><br />This is what it’s like to be from Flint. </span></span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-61611533110098202792013-10-10T19:17:00.000-07:002013-11-24T05:13:26.660-08:00Living Facebook Free!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QivPH_Bys-a02nH6sjsYubydEicpnLJgG9N9dh7LvGAi1cPvsTzDk6yqkjhiGrAJV7sedJg7bQOL7OIrqVTPuGlnESgo1RnsKLGirqY0ww5BGD-v_7qzMs1GaRBMT4cZduzUzmHZaWbA/s1600/IMG_5967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QivPH_Bys-a02nH6sjsYubydEicpnLJgG9N9dh7LvGAi1cPvsTzDk6yqkjhiGrAJV7sedJg7bQOL7OIrqVTPuGlnESgo1RnsKLGirqY0ww5BGD-v_7qzMs1GaRBMT4cZduzUzmHZaWbA/s320/IMG_5967.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Clearly I was the only one on that ride who realized how awesome it was. Perfect illustration of me in life!)</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I<span style="background-color: white;"> love</span> technology! I love computers. I love iPods and digital music. I love digital cameras and Photoshop. I love email and being able to contact people in other states instantly. I love exploring various topics with my child on the Internet. My husband and I both have jobs in the field of technology. I can't deny it, technology is huge part of my life. <br /><br />But what happens when your love of technology starts to become a problem in your life? What happens when technology starts interfering with the ways in which you interact with your children? What happens when you don’t know how to entertain yourself when your power goes out or when you forget your iPhone and you’re waiting at a restaurant? What happens when your happiness becomes dependent on how many people responded to your Facebook status? That’s when you know you have a problem. That’s when your love of technology has crossed the line from an excellent source of information and way to communicate with long distance friends, to an addiction...and addictions are never healthy.<br /><br />Luckily, I’ve always had a pretty healthy relationship with technology. I am in no way addicted to it. I know when to turn off the computer and complete my other projects. I’ve always been really good about keeping all electronics off while my child is awake and trying to interact with me. I’ve also never owned a Smart Phone, so I’ve always been comfortable entertaining myself in other ways while sitting in waiting rooms and other places. But there was one thing in the technological world that was starting to cause me grief; one thing that I had a love/hate relationship with from the very beginning...<span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>FACEBOOK</b></span>.<br /><br />I first joined Facebook back in 2009. Some of my husband’s friends had joined and convinced him to hop on the FB train (a fun fact a like to tease him about). He then convinced me to join and I knew it was a bad idea from the start. To begin with, I was fiercely protective of our privacy. After living a somewhat public life in Flint (it’s a lot smaller than you think) and moving several times, I was ready for people to not know information about myself or my family. I was ready to keep my mouth shut and no longer be an open book to anyone who would listen. I knew that Facebook had the potential to reveal private information, whether YOU were the one who posted it or not. It could make your privacy vulnerable. There was the risk of other people posting information about you or photographs of your children and you had no control over situations like that. I also didn’t want everyone to be able to find me. I really hated high school and I didn’t have many friends. Facebook seemed like a constant high school reunion that I didn’t want to attend. I loved the fact that I had changed my name and moved several times and I knew that former classmates probably wouldn’t be able to find me. I had kept in touch with the people that I cared about and didn’t see the need to try to keep in touch with the others that had drifted away over the years. <br /><br />Regardless of my reservations, I signed up and so began my four year slide down a slippery slope. Luckily, I was pretty smart about some things right from the beginning. I became very familiar with the privacy settings and made it virtually impossible for people to search for me. I never used my maiden name or filled out any information about my high school or work experience, so this also helped me maintain some privacy. I always kept my “friend” number low. I didn’t go crazy friending every person I had ever spoken too or had classes with. I tried to keep my “friends” limited to family, friends, former professors, references, and people that I had spent time having conversations with. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few times I screwed up and friended a former high school enemy just to see what they were up too. But I always deleted those people instantly and regretted ever friending them in the first place. Anyhow, my point is that I went into it in a pretty smart way, and maintained that most of the time, but other things started to happen that I wasn’t quite as prepared for...<br /><u><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>Knowing when to be silent</b></span></u><b>.</b> I’ve always been a journal keeper and I know how therapeutic it can be to write down your thoughts. Unfortunately, I started to update my status with every little thought that popped into my head. I never aired dirty laundry or anything like that, but I started to post things that I would have normally kept to myself or shared with only my husband or best friend. For example, if I had a bad interaction with another a random person at the grocery store, I’d write about it. If I saw something on the news or something happening in the media that I thought it was stupid, I’d write about it. If I heard a song that I liked, I would post a link to it. If I hated the weather, I’d post about it. Things would happen in my life, and I would think, “I totally need to update my status with this later.” It became ridiculous. It took me a few years to get the mouth diarrhea under control. I realized that just because you have a thought or opinion in your head, doesn’t mean you need to share it with the whole world. It’s not classy, and some things are better left unsaid. I think learning when NOT to speak up is a hard lesson to learn and it’s one that my generation in particular needs to work on. Once I realized this, I then had to go back and delete years worth of embarrassing comments. I was horrified at some of the stupid things I had written. I was so grateful that Facebook was not around when I was in college because I can only imagine the kinds of crap I would have written about back then. Luckily, we only had AOL Instant Messenger to communicate with, and that usually only consisted of leaving up some angry lyrics as your “Away” message. That was how we got our points across back then. People had to read between the lines. Nowadays, nothing is obscure or cryptic. <br /><br /><b><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>Facebook Fights</u></span>.</b> If I read something that someone else had written and that I disagreed with, I’d state my opinion below their status, they would defend themselves, then their mother/brother/friend would hop on and defend them, and thus a little spat would ensue. The same went for if someone disagreed with things I had written. No major name calling or swearing ever occurred, but there was definitely occasional tension. That’s the problem with Facebook though. It’s mixed company. You have friends, former classmates, family, coworkers, and other random people, all thrown into the same mix and it just doesn’t work. <br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>Picture Sharing and Lurkers</u></span>.</b> One reason I stayed on Facebook so long was because of my love of photography. I genuinely LOVED looking at other people’s photographs. Not in a stalker way, but in an art appreciation kind of way. I really appreciate a well-composed photograph and Facebook was a great place to satisfy my need for pretty pictures, as well as share my own. But, as the years went on, more and more people stopped posting pictures (perhaps because of all of Facebook’s privacy/sharing issues?) and some of my “friends” never posted pictures to begin with. That didn’t seem fair to me. It was weird to me to think that my “friends” were potentially looking at my pictures and reading my status updates, but never sharing any pieces of their lives with me. You can’t come to my house and look in my windows and not expect me to be curious about what’s in your house! My friends and I had a name for these people: lurkers. I hated lurkers. These are the people who created a Facebook page (even with a profile picture) but NEVER posted anything. Yes, it’s true, perhaps these people were actually really busy and created their profile pages, but were never actually on them and didn’t have the time to share things. But, I doubted it. Most of them proved themselves to be full of crap about being “too busy for Facebook” because when I would speak with them, they were completely up to date on all of their Facebook gossip. I used to tell myself that I wanted to stay on Facebook to stay in touch with family, but the reality was a lot of my family members never posted anything and never commented on what I posted. So how was that keeping in touch? Lurkers. They were a huge part of what ruined Facebook for me. <br /><b><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>Fake Friends</u></span>.</b> Facebook gives people the illusion of having real friends. Facebook makes you feel like you are a part of people’s lives, even when you are 400 miles away. When people share information or post pictures of their kids at birthday parties, you feel like you were there! Isn’t it nice to feel like you are a part of so many families? Doesn’t it make you feel loved and involved? I definitely fell victim to this. I had several instances where I got in touch with an old friend (either because they found me or I found them) and we had a conversation through a series of messages and at some point in those messages we said, “Man, it’s so good to talk to you again. We should get together some time.” So then, I would make an attempt to actually get together...because that’s what friends do. They spend time together! But the thing was, they didn’t want to actually get together. They were completely happy to have our friendship exist in only the virtual world, and I had a real problem with that. Why would you want to be friends with me on Facebook if you didn’t want to be friends with me in real life? It didn’t make sense to me and it hurt. I also was constantly making plans with people and they would cancel at the last minute via Facebook. It’s a hell of a lot easier to type someone a lame excuse as to why you don’t feel like seeing them than to call them on the phone and hear the disappointment in their voices. It’s a lot easier for someone to “like” your picture than to make the effort to be a real friend. Your virtual friends are not really there for you when you need them. And what’s the point in having those kinds of relationships? <br /><br /><b><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>Humblebragers and Praise Seekers</u></span>.</b> Another huge reason I wanted to get off of Facebook is because I couldn’t stand the things people would post about. I know we all think we are interesting, but the reality is...most of us just aren’t! And we are definitely not interesting when we look like we are fishing for compliments. If you aren’t familiar with the term “Humblebrag”, it means when someone acts like they are complaining about something when they’re actually trying to make something else (a hidden message) known and are bragging about it. Here’s an example: “I’m such a fatty! I just ate about 20 pieces of chocolate. I really have to learn how to control myself when flying first class.” You see, at first, it seems like the person is putting themselves down and telling you something embarrassing, something you can relate too. But then the secret message, the thing that they really wanted you to know, was that they were flying first class. They wanted you to know that either they’ve got the cash to spend to fly first class or are potentially being flown first class by their employer, or something of that nature. The last part was what they really wanted you to know, but they worded it in a way where they were hiding their bragging. Humblebrags always made me laugh because I couldn’t believe that these people didn’t realize how transparent they were. There’s something to be said for actually being humble and unfortunately, it is a dying character trait. Similarly, so many people these days feel like they deserve praise for everything they do. The one subject I saw posted about the most that really killed me was working out and exercise. Now, I get it. Working out can be a big deal for those who aren’t used to doing it and/or are making big attempts to lose weight and change their lives. But for someone who’s always consistently worked out for the past 18 years and never looked for praise for it, I didn’t understand why we needed to praise people for doing something that they should be doing anyways (By the way, I am in no way super fit or muscular or bragging about being super fit or muscular. I’ve just always maintained good health with normal weekly routine workouts). To me, praising someone for working out was the same as saying, “Yay. Good job Betty! I’m so glad that you went to the grocery store to buy food for your family.” You don’t praise people for that! It’s just part of everyday life. It’s something that we need to do. Working out is the same to me. Who wants to say, “Yay, Bobby! I’m so glad you decided not to be lazy any more and are dragging yourself to the gym 3 times a week just like everybody else. Good job!”? Do we really need to be praised for deciding to take care of ourselves or be healthy? Do we really need to be praised for every single personal accomplishment (don’t get me started on the zillion people who post about the races they ran in and are looking for a people to tell them what a good job they did when they weren’t even there to see it)? Can’t we just be content and happy with ourselves for our accomplishments? Can’t we call our friends to tell them about these accomplishments and get the praise from someone who genuinely cares about us? <br /><br />In addition to the things listed above, one of the biggest problems I have with Facebook (and perhaps technology in general) is that I don’t like the way our society is choosing to spend their time and interact with each other. For example, I went to my son’s soccer game the other day and as I was walking past the other games that were being played, I saw kids sitting on the sidelines playing on their parent’s iPhone, either while they were waiting to play in their game or while their siblings were playing. I find that incredibly sad. What the hell is wrong with just sitting there and watching the game? What about cheering on and supporting your sibling or friend? What about picking grass and running around with your friends? Are our children really that desperate for something to do that we need to fill every moment with an iPhone game? It’s even worse when I see the parents doing it instead of watching their child play soccer. I can’t stand that we are so distracted that we are missing life. We are missing the moments that make living worthwhile. Are you going to reminisce on your deathbed about your FarmVille game or about the special moments with your children? <br /><br />Another personal example, when my husband and I first got married, we would play games together like Scrabble and Gin and do crossword puzzles and word searches to unwind and relax in the evenings. It felt good. It felt old-fashioned. It felt like we were really spending time together and living life. As the years went on (and jobs changed) we both became glued to our laptops (or iPads, iPods, etc.) in the evenings. We still had a great relationship and still watched movies together and other things like that, but it just didn’t feel the same as the early days. It felt...distracted. <br /><br />I also didn’t like not having as much time for the hobbies I used to enjoy doing, such as reading, making art, teaching myself guitar, etc. I would tell myself that I simply didn’t have time to pursue those things any more. The reality was, I HAD the time to do those things, but chose to waste it online instead, and that didn’t feel REAL to me. Living online was not the same as REALLY living. <br /><br />Even though I was never fully a technology addict, I knew that it was time to make a change for myself. I had grown so disgusted with Facebook and was starting to become unhappy with the ways I was spending my time. I was unhappy with the friendships that I thought that I had. I was unhappy with our society who can’t sit in an uncomfortable silence for one minute at a restaurant table with other people, the society who can’t think of conversation topics so they resort to looking down at their phones. There needed to be a change and the change was going to start with me. I knew I couldn’t stop the world from handing their kids iPhones to entertain themselves, but I could control the choices I was making for my own family and myself. This was the day I decided to commit...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>Facebook Suicide</u></span>.</span></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I was no longer going to live in the Facebook world because I was going to start/return to living in the REAL world. I wanted to see and speak to REAL friends. I wanted to hear REAL praise at actual appropriate moments. I wanted to feel REAL awkwardness and experience REAL disappointments. <br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Quitting wasn't easy though. Just like quitting anything, I had to go through a process when I finally decided to give up my Facebook life. Immediately after deleting my page, I felt relieved. I was SO thrilled that I no longer had to pretend as if I was interested in the countless posts regarding workout routines or diet habits, I no longer had to check to see who’s birthday it was (It would be bad Facebook etiquette not to acknowledge a birthday on a “Friend’s” page!), I didn’t have to “like” pictures of pet dogs or children I didn’t know, and more importantly, I didn’t have to work to maintain friendships that would never be REAL outside of the virtual world. <br /><br />However, the good feeling didn’t last long because on the second day, a mild sadness and loneliness hit. Part of me felt as if I had lost a big virtual family. Considering I live in a different state than most of my family and friends, Facebook was my only way for staying involved and keeping up with gossip. I had dedicated over four years to watching some of my family members and friends get married and have children, and I was sad that I was no longer going to be able to witness these happy occasions in their lives. Seeing it on Facebook was almost like being there and without it, I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep up. <br /><br />Another thing that hit me (that I wasn’t expecting) was the feeling of, “Well now what do I do with my time?” Facebook had become such a normal, daily habit, that I had to figure out what I was going to do during the time I would have normally been Facebooking. I thought it would be easy to instantly return to my old hobbies, but it took some time to remember what the I used to do before wasting all of my time on the computer. Eventually, it all came back to me though and I have to say that I am ecstatic to be practicing some of my old hobbies. <br /><br />I made a little list of the Pros & Cons I’ve experienced since committing Facebook Suicide. Note: Let me remind you again that I have not quit technology or the Internet entirely, I simply quit Facebook. <br /><br /><u>PROS</u>:<br /><br /><b><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>I have some privacy back</u></span>.</b> No one gets to peek into my life anymore (Well, unless they’re on Instagram. I couldn’t give up all of my guilty pleasures!). No one can engage me in conversations on my page that might be weird, or add me to groups that I don’t want to belong too, or send me invites for games I don’t want to play, or show my pictures to their creepy uncle in their basement, it’s all gone. Of coarse, I can’t control what other people post, so I could still essentially be tagged, mentioned, or make a cameo in random posted pictures, but I can live with that. It’s still an improvement. <br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>My relationships have improved</u></span>.</b> The people who wanted to keep in touch with me have kept in touch. There are so many other ways to communicate: email (my favorite virtual method), texting (my least favorite), phone calls, snail mail, and good, old fashioned arrangements to actually see each other face to face and hang out in person! There are a few people in particular that I feel even closer with since leaving Facebook. As for the others, they didn’t make the cut! My husband and I do more activities together in the evenings like we used too. We were always close, but I feel even closer now without the distractions! <br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>I have more time for my hobbies (and other things)</u></span>.</b> I’ve done more reading than I have in a long time, I’ve done more writing than I have in the past four years, the options of how to spend my time are endless! I can’t believe I panicked for even a minute about how to spend my time. I've even made it to bed early a few times, which is a HUGE deal when you're a mom!<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>I’m more present than ever</u></span>.</b> I’ve always lived very much “in the now” because I learned a long time ago that you can’t plan too far ahead. But now I’m even more present and it’s such a great feeling. It’s very real. It’s life, and I want to live in every moment! <br /><br /><u>CONS (there’s really only one that I can think of)</u>:<br /><b><span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /><u>I no longer get to see pictures of the people that I DO care about</u></span>.</b> Not very many people were posting pictures on Facebook anymore anyways, but for the ones that were, I will miss seeing them! I will miss seeing what those people are up too and watching their kids grow up. I will miss sharing in their sorrows and their successes. But this isn’t really even that much of a con because NOW we will have more to talk about when we finally do see each other! I can ask questions and they can answer them (like a normal conversation) and I won’t feel like I already knew the answers because I already saw everything on Facebook. I look forward to engaging in these conversations about life. Plus, people can still email me pictures. Yes, it requires extra effort, but it is an effort that people put in when they want to be friends.<br /><br />Our society is becoming socially inept and heavily dependent on their "devices" to occupy their time and thoughts. People are forgetting how to communicate and interact with their families. They’re forgetting how to act in social gatherings and how to start conversations in group settings. They’re forgetting how to stay humble and how to protect their private lives. They’re forgetting what it feels like to hurt someone’s feelings. They’re forgetting hobbies and skills they took years perfecting that are now going to waste. They’re becoming insecure and depressed because they’re constantly comparing themselves to others and the material things that other people have. They’re forgetting how to have empathy. They’re making excuses for not getting off of their butts to take care of themselves or even better, take care of others. They’re teaching their children that they don’t need to support their siblings at soccer games and that every uncomfortable silence needs to be filled with a distraction. They’re forgetting about <span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>everything good in life that involves living in the present moment</b></span>. They’re forgetting how to love...AND IT MAKES ME SAD. <br /><br />I can’t change the actions of others but I can control my own and I choose to live in REAL life and have REAL relationships. I couldn’t be happier to be FACEBOOK FREE! </span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-11062320024154753422013-07-23T06:21:00.001-07:002013-07-23T06:21:38.464-07:00Monument Mountain & South Street Package and Variety (Another Secret Spot for Great Indian Food!) <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">My family recently hiked on Monument Mountain in Great Barrington. We’ve been doing the same hike for awhile and decided to change things up. This was a refreshing new hike for us! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> We started out by taking the Indian Monument Trail. According to the brochure/map, it was “the most gradual, providing walkers with a leisurely ascent up a former carriage road.” You start on a path that runs along the side of the road where you can hear the cars buzzing by and you stay on that for quite a while. Then, you head directly through the woods, which was an easy path to take, but there wasn’t much to look at. The path was very straightforward and gradual, but I struggled with how boring it was. It made it seem longer. We took this path because we had our son with us and we weren’t sure of how difficult each path would get.<br /><br /> Once we got near the top, there were some rocks that appear to have been chipped away at/formed to serve as steps.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> At the top, there were some large rocks that we could rest on to have a snack and enjoy the view. To get the best view for picture taking however, you have to climb on top of the rocks, which can be nerve-wracking for those who have children with them or who have a fear of heights. I wouldn’t say it’s the most kid friendly mountaintop I’ve ever been on. There are some steep cliffs and dangerous edges! But the view was beautiful!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> On our way down, we decided to take the Hickey Trail. This trail was a lot more fun!There were several log bridges that you had to cross (that weren’t too far off the ground) and a cave with a tiny stream of water pouring over the edge of it. We all found this path to be far more enjoyable.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> There was also a third trail, the Squaw Peak Trail, that was supposed to have the best views, but we didn’t attempt it because the map said it ran along the top of steep cliffs and that sounded a little too risky to do with a child. If you’ve done this trail or know anything about it, write me and let me know! I’d like to know if it would be appropriate for children. <br /><br /> Overall, my family had a great experience. If we go back, we will skip taking the Indian Monument Trail the whole way up and take one of the other trails. They seemed to have more interesting things to look at. I need a little bit of excitement while I’m hiking!<br /><br />A few points I wanted to make:<br /><br />- I would say this hike is probably best for kids 6 and up. I think younger kids are capable of doing the hike, but I would worry about where they’ll want to explore once they get to the top. Keep a close eye on them!<br /><br />- There are no bathrooms or portable toilets, so make sure you use the bathroom before you arrive to the trails.<br /><br />- Bring your bug spray! Once you’re going directly through the woods, the gnats and mosquitos can get a little crazy around your head. <br /><br />- It states this in the map but I want to make a point of restating it, please keep your dogs on their leashes. We went past several people who did NOT have their dogs on leashes and this makes the hike more uncomfortable for other people, especially when you have children with you. Dogs are curious creatures and that doesn’t go away just because they’re on a hike! Several of the dogs we passed tried to approach us (and it wasn’t always in a playful manner) and it was a little scary. You never know when animals may decide to act out. Just keep them away from other hikers, it’s courteous.<br /><br />One of the most exciting parts of our hiking adventure though wasn’t the hike. It was this:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> South Street Package and Variety near the corner of 143 and 8 (South Street) in Hinsdale. I know, it doesn’t look like much, but this caught our eyes as we were driving by:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Any hole-in-the-wall Indian place that is buried in the hilltowns is worth a try for us! Most people probably wouldn’t even think to stop and try it, but we LOVE hidden finds like this! <br /><br /> When you go in, it looks like a typical package store (that’s a convenience store for you Michigan folks!) but there’s a little dining spot in the back. Nothing fancy, but details like that aren’t important when you’re passionate about good Indian food! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The owners were a very nice family from New Delhi, India. We chatted with the husband for awhile while his wife cooked our order. It’s always fascinating to learn about other people and what brought them to Western Massachusetts! I just love meeting new people!<br /><br /> We ordered the Chicken Saag, Chana Masala, Chicken Tikka, Pratatha, and Raita and they were all DELICIOUS! We especially liked the Chicken Saag and Chana Masala! We practically inhaled it! Even my son loved the Chicken Saag and he normally won’t go anywhere near anything with green in it!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> The food was great and very reasonably priced. We will DEFINITELY be dining there again. If you are ever in the Hinsdale area and LOVE and appreciate good Indian food, please support this business. <br /><br />A final thing I wanted to add... <br /><br /> Please know that I do not make any money from this blog and get nothing for free. I am not asked to visit or review any of the places that I write about. I do this strictly for fun and as a way to catalogue my family’s adventures. Hopefully, it will inspire you to visit and support some of these businesses though and go on some adventures of your own. Thank you for reading and thank you for supporting local businesses! <br /><br /> To read a little history about Monument Mountain, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Mountain_%28reservation%29. To read more reviews of the Monument Mountain hike, go to: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g41586-d2008981-Reviews-Monument_Mountain-Great_Barrington_Massachusetts.html. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-49852907026260015382013-07-19T09:21:00.000-07:002013-07-19T09:21:32.875-07:00Top 5 Places to Eat in Michigan <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It’s funny what you miss when you move away from “home”. A recent visit with family had me thinking about my home state of Michigan and some of the places I liked to go when we lived there (specifically the restaurants). Although there are lots of good restaurants in Western Massachusetts, sometimes I really crave the food at some of the places we used to frequent in Michigan. <br /><br /> This inspired me to compile my <u><b>Top 5 Places to Eat in Michigan</b></u> list. If you currently live in Michigan or plan on visiting, look these places up and give them a try. Then write me and let me know what YOU think of them! <br /><br />Here they are in no particular order (although I did save the best for last).<br /><br />1. Badawest in Flint. I LOVE BADAWEST! We make sure to eat there every time we visit Michigan. I’ve eaten at a lot of different places now and I can’t find better Middle Eastern food. Some of my favorite dishes are the Hummus (It’s so good and creamy that I could eat it off of my hand), Tabouli, Lentil Soup, and Shish Tawook sandwich. Only downside, the bread. It’s flat and not impressive. We used to go to a place near Sterling Heights when we lived in that area and they baked their own pita bread that was amazing (and gave you this delicious garlic spread with it). But you’ll be able to look past the bread once you taste the delicious food. I don’t think they have their own website, but you can find out more information and view the menu here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/badawest-restaurant-flint.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> <br />2. Bi Bim Bab in Novi. Delicious Korean and Japanese food, all in one spot (and for a decent price). We have a pretty good Korean restaurant out here, but what I miss most about Bi Bim Bab are all of the tasty side dishes they bring out before your meal. Some family favorites are the Bulgogi, Sun Du Bu Chige, and the Dragon Roll. Only downside, the location is a little strange. It’s in a little mall that doesn’t really have a lot of other businesses in it (or at least it didn’t last time I was there), but who cares. That keeps it under the radar. You can visit their website here: http://www.bibimbabrestaurant.com/index.html. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />3. El Azteco in East Lansing. I don’t think I can accurately describe how much my husband LOVES this Mexican restaurant which resides close to his alma mater, Michigan State. He used to go out of his way to eat at this place whenever he could when we lived in Michigan. The atmosphere is really nice and you can sit on the roof in the summertime and enjoy your Margarita or Sangria. Some of my favorite dishes are Topopo Salad and the Guacamole and Bean Tostadas. Only downside, it can get busy (and noisy) on the weekends in the fall when there’s tons of college kids around. Check out their website here: http://www.elazteco.me/ELAZTECO.ME/restaurant.html.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />4. Stage Deli in West Bloomfield. This Jewish Deli offers a variety of tasty dishes. I don’t think I’ve ever ordered anything here and NOT liked it. I used to frequent their smaller location in the food court of Somerset Mall during my lunch breaks when I worked in Troy. Some family favorites are the Matzo Ball soup, Lox, Stock & Bagel, and the Mitch Albom Cobb salad. I also used to love buying a loaf of their House-Baked Seedless Rye bread to take home with me. Only downside, I can’t think of any. You can read about their locations and view their menu here: http://thestagedeli.com/.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> <br />5. Sposita’s Ristorante in West Bloomfield. Once you have a steak at Sposita’s, all other steaks at other restaurants will be a disappointment. We loved the cozy atmosphere and how low-key everything was (in comparison to Lelli’s, which is a similar restaurant). The owner was always very friendly and made you feel like an old friend. We always had great service and great experiences. The ONLY thing we order at Sposita’s is the Filet. IT IS THE BEST! Don’t waste your time ordering anything else. Go there for the steak! The Zip Sauce on the Filet is to die for!! We ask for an extra little cup of it on the side so just so that we have more! The only downside, the decor is a little out of date, it’s not particularly kid friendly (although it’s not un-kid friendly either), and the food is pricey. But you get A LOT of food for what you pay for your meal. It’s not just a meal, it’s an experience! First they bring out bread, then they bring you a salad with various toppings, then you get a cup of minestrone soup, then you get a small plate of pasta, then you get your entree which includes potatoes and a vegetable. It’s like a tasty train of food! I used to skip the plate of pasta because I wanted to leave room for the Filet (and I don’t eat a lot of pasta any way). We used to go there every year on our wedding anniversary (until we moved away). On our first anniversary, we brought the top layer of our cake (which you are supposed to freeze and eat on your first anniversary) with us for dessert. Our server took it in the back, put it on a plate with a candle, and came out singing “Happy Anniversary” to us! It was SO SWEET! Every year on our anniversary, I LONG for Sposita’s! I miss it terribly! Nothing will ever compare for me. It holds a special place in my heart. We’re already planing on going there next time we visit. I couldn’t find a website with their menu on it, but you can find the address and some more information here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/spositas-ristorante-west-bloomfield. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Us at Sposita's for our 6th Wedding Anniversary, the last one we spent in Michigan.</span></td></tr>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-29606248676081668432013-07-08T18:14:00.000-07:002013-07-08T18:14:58.499-07:00The Bend (Part Two) <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> You may remember my post about The Bend in Chesterfield from last summer (<a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-bend-chesterfield-gorge.html" target="_blank">click here to read</a>) where I said that I was disappointed. WELL, I decided to give it another try last weekend and I have to say that my opinion has changed. It was lovely! Now that my child is a little bit older and a more experienced swimmer, it was a totally different experience! There still isn't a sandy "beach" but if you have on water shoes the rocks are no big deal. There are also some patches of tiny rocks where you can put down your beach towel and lay comfortably. The water was very clear and surprisingly not too cold. There was a little current that was perfect for throwing your inner tube in and floating down the river (of coarse, not too far). There were families hanging out and collecting rocks and even people playing guitars. It was very peaceful and fun. I imagine if it were the 60's, this would have been a perfect hippie hangout!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I still stand by my previous statement that I don't think it's the best beach for small children. There are lots of rocks that they can slip on, the water gets really deep really fast, and the current in the river can push swimmers downstream. But small children can still wade in the shallow parts and collect rocks. If your kids are a little bit older (I'd say 7+), this place is great! My family had a blast!</span></span><br />
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-90139735009931798452013-06-25T19:33:00.001-07:002013-06-25T19:38:17.307-07:00The Montague Bookmill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Let me start by saying that I forgot my good camera for my trip to the Montague Bookmill and had to use my iPod, so I apologize for the quality of the pictures. I can’t believe I forgot to grab it in all of my excitement and rushing around! Anyway, hopefully you’ll still enjoy what you see.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Nestled on the banks of the Sawmill River, the Montague Bookmill was originally a gristmill. It went through several changes and owners over the years and was eventually converted into a used bookstore in 1987. You can read a more in-depth history <a href="http://www.montaguebookmill.com/history.html" target="_blank">here</a>. The Bookmill now also houses The Lady Killigrew Cafe, The Night Kitchen (a gourmet restaurant), one of the locations of the used music store Turn It Up, and Sawmill River Arts, a collaborative fine art and fine craft gallery. But I, being the book enthusiast that I am, was only really interested in the used books so that’s mostly what I took pictures of.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The location was beautiful! The building was absolutely charming! There were tons of books everywhere, a real dream for an English major! It was very enjoyable to browse while listening to the roars of the waterfalls behind the building (as well as the folky music that was being played over the stereo). The windows let in these amazing rays of light that really lit the place up. It was the perfect image of a New England used book store.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my favorite sections of every book store!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Children's section, another one of my favorites!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">After browsing, I stopped into The Lady Killigrew Cafe for some lunch. I ordered the No. 5, a honey ham, cheddar, whole grain mustard and marinated apple grilled sandwich. It was delicious! What REALLY impressed me though with the house salad that came with the sandwich. I don’t know what was in it, but it was unbelievably tasty! I’m already scheming about when I’m going to be able to go back and order an even bigger salad!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful lunch, beautiful view!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> The only negative points about the Bookmill that I feel as though I should mention are that it had no air conditioning (which can make it less pleasurable to browse when it’s 95 degrees out) and the books weren’t quite as cheap as I’m used too. Most of the books were half of the original listed price, which is still a good deal. But I know of other used book stores where I can pay less than $5 for just about any book that I want and they have just as big of a selection. I have a really hard time spending more than $5 on a used book when I know that I can get a better deal at other book stores, library book sales, goodwill stores, tag sales, and online (with shipping). Heck, our local transfer station has a whole tiny house dedicated to homeless books that you can take for free (but the selection is obviously very limited and the condition of some of the books is questionable)! But please don’t let these minor points discourage you from making the trip out to browse. It’s still completely worth it!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> On a side note, I wanted to mention that while I was walking through the parking lot to my car, I saw a car with a Michigan license plate. I’m always amazed to find out how many Michigan transplants are out here. I meet more people from Michigan than any other state (Just the other day I discovered that one of our local librarians grew up in Lapeer. We both shared a moment as we discussed how badly we miss the beautiful clear waters of the Great Lakes.).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The drive home from the Bookmill was even more beautiful than the drive out there! There’s a gorgeous view of Mount Sugarloaf just as you’re going across the bridge into Deerfield. My crappy iPod picture I took from the car while I was driving just doesn’t do it justice. I decided to take a quick drive up the mountain to snap a couple additional shots of one of my favorite views in all of Western Massachusetts.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> To sum it up, other than the old man standing at the end of his driveway on High Street that flipped me off (Perhaps I was going too fast? I’m pretty sure I was only going 30. Perhaps he didn’t like my music selection? Some people feel very strongly about Sheryl Crow. I guess we’ll never know.) this trip was excellent! I hope you’ll check out the Montague Bookmill soon! </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">To plan your trip to the Bookmill, go to http://www.montaguebookmill.com/index.html. </span></span><br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-69693543891199444312013-04-06T05:57:00.000-07:002013-04-06T05:57:05.509-07:00Peace Pagoda<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“It is imperative that we replace materialism and the economy-centered way of thinking, which have served as the fundamental principles of social organizations and replace them by community based on human solidarity and mutual aid and develop the life of Tangyo-Rai Hai, the offering of respect to everyone.” -The Most Venerable Nichidatsu Fujii, 1953 (It’s amazing how relevant this still is over 60 years later.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I’ve wanted to go to Peace Pagoda in Leverett since the moment I first heard about it (almost 2 years ago now). But I haven’t had time to drive out there and this winter has been particularly brutal. There haven’t really been any good days for picture taking until now. I knew I would have a day off on Friday, so if the weather was cooperating (and sunny), I was determined to go. <br /><br /> Whenever I would talk about going to the Pagoda with other people, I usually got the question, “What’s so special about a temple in the woods?” The answer was, I didn’t really know! But I wanted to find out. I felt drawn to going there, I just had to see it. However, for some reason, I was really nervous about going out there alone. I’m not at all familiar with that area (Sunderland & Leverett) and, while doing research about the Pagoda, had discovered that there was some kind of speed trap nearby, which made it even more nerve-wracking (not that I speed, but sometimes speed limits are not clearly posted here in MA). Anyway, Friday came and I tried calling just about everyone I knew to see if someone would go with me but I couldn’t get ahold of anyone. I wasn’t going to let that stop me though. I printed out the directions, packed up some snacks and my camera and hit the road.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> The drive there was fairly easy. The route was very scenic and pretty, despite it being April. I imagine the best time to make the trip would be in the fall, when all of the beautiful colors are on the trees, but I couldn’t wait that long. My Googlemaps directions told me it would be on the right side of Cave Hill Road (when coming from MA-47 North) but it was actually on the left side of the road.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I saw the signs on the left at the last minute and drove past it and had to turn around.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Once I was there, I drove down the road to a little clearing. There was a road to the left and what appeared to be a parking lot to the right. There was another car parked in the parking lot, so I chose to park and read the sign to see what I was supposed to do next. It turned out that unless you are disabled or older, you are supposed to park and walk, so I made a good call by stopping.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I grabbed my stuff and headed up the dirt road. On my left, I passed some kind of building that appeared to be under construction. I was glad that I wore my comfortable shoes because the path started to go uphill, which made it a little bit of a hike. I started to get a little nervous (I don’t think it’s ever relaxing to walk alone in the woods, there are bears here!). I started to wonder if I was even going the right way. Eventually I came to this:</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotWlNAZ1pmJ9PyPjzgM7Sk7mxl-Pza-akdWOVIZ_s4744fk3kh4HZRb3q7xqnVlIL-j7GqATZZcbTo7wyTpikFV2pCVVJArPUfmiiVGcQ4O3ZCo7aYmMD6mH4pjVhuSZE59GzAbhzKPzq/s1600/IMG_9261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotWlNAZ1pmJ9PyPjzgM7Sk7mxl-Pza-akdWOVIZ_s4744fk3kh4HZRb3q7xqnVlIL-j7GqATZZcbTo7wyTpikFV2pCVVJArPUfmiiVGcQ4O3ZCo7aYmMD6mH4pjVhuSZE59GzAbhzKPzq/s320/IMG_9261.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">on my right</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXaDi76RwAymbVoWwb-6x6G6FN-gLkiVhdo6QldBC2Lhx5_JunZ5SPIUMJ6enI6hx1O_derp_8L53YGeIGd2q7teJsUhe5gGThM4yOpjg0O0Gp1t3iaFgJvFJq9QNCCAtofP_njSznRWjn/s1600/IMG_9262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXaDi76RwAymbVoWwb-6x6G6FN-gLkiVhdo6QldBC2Lhx5_JunZ5SPIUMJ6enI6hx1O_derp_8L53YGeIGd2q7teJsUhe5gGThM4yOpjg0O0Gp1t3iaFgJvFJq9QNCCAtofP_njSznRWjn/s320/IMG_9262.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">on my left</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I wasn’t really sure if I was supposed to go past the barricade or head towards the house (which I’m assuming was where some of the monks lived?). I assumed the barricade was only there to prevent cars from driving any further, so I climbed over it. As I walked along the path, I noticed beautifully stacked rocks everywhere.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I found this information about the stacking of the rocks<span style="font-size: small;">: </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“It is a form of worshiping. Some people use it as a gesture or asking or wishing for good fortune to be bestowed on the stacker and his or her family. Each stone within the stack represents a particular wish and possibly, family member.” (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_meaning_behind_rock_stacking_in_peoples_yard)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Finally, I could see the top of the Pagoda. At that particular moment, the sun happened to be shining down on it and it looked beautiful!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">There were two women sitting on the bench in front of it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I walked up and asked if they had been there before. They said yes. I told them that it was my first time and asked if there was anything I should know about it (e.g. was anyone going to get mad at me for taking a million pictures). They said that the only thing you weren’t supposed do was walk on the gravel in the rock garden. I thanked them and went off happily on my way to take my pictures.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I really can’t describe the feelings I felt at the Peace Pagoda. I was just so excited to be there! I had read on the website that part of the beauty of the Pagoda wasn’t just the temple that had been built or “the end result”, but the process of building it. It stated: <br /><br />“It is the process of engagement that changes hearts, providing the tests of challenge and commitment that bring forth transformation.” <br /><br />This idea was beautiful to me because that’s just how life is<span style="font-size: small;">!</span> It’s not about what happens in the end, we all face the same fate, but it’s about the journey and the process.<br /><br />At one point, the women I had spoken too left and I was completely alone. I sat down on the bench in front of the Pagoda and tried to clear my mind. The silence was so peaceful. The warm sun was shining directly on me and it felt amazing. It was a relief from the bitter cold I’ve felt for the past 6 months. I was so happy that I had made the trip! <br /><br />I could go on and on describing the things that I saw, but I’d rather you just enjoy the photographs I snapped for now until you can go and experience it for yourself.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> As I was walking back down the dirt path to leave, I heard faint drumming coming from the house I had passed on my way up. I tried to take some video of it, but after reviewing the footage later, I realized that you couldn’t really hear the drums. While I was standing there enjoying the drumming, a beautiful little butterfly flew by. I followed it until it landed and was able to take one final picture before my camera battery died.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">What perfect timing! Had my battery died earlier, I wouldn’t have been able to catch that moment. <br /><br /> Just as I got back to my car to leave, a family from Quebec pulled up. I could see all of the same nervousness and excitement from them that I felt when I first arrived. But upon leaving, all I felt was serenity. I guess being in the presence of a great act of peace will do that to you.<br /><br /> I really believe you have to be actively seeking peace or working towards it in order to achieve it. It doesn’t just come to you, you have to look for it. Luckily, through my experiences in the past several years, I’ve learned a lot about finding inner peace and how to be grateful for what I have. Every single day for me really is a gift. I am thankful for my health, my family, and my friends, as well as several other material things (the list could go on and on). But I understand that I am not guaranteed any of those things and all of them could be gone in a second. I try enjoy every moment that I am given. I have also learned that the most important things in life aren’t things. It is the investment we make in other people. I’m constantly trying to invest in other people, even if it doesn’t always feel natural for me. So many people waste so much time and energy being hateful or spiteful towards other people. It’s really easy to go down that route. But most of the time, it stems from their own insecurities, jealousy or lack of understanding. I just don’t have it in me to hate like that. I have learned that I can enjoy and learn from my interactions with people that I know don’t like me or don’t understand me. I can choose to find my own peacefulness and happiness in this life. O<span style="font-size: small;">K</span>, I’ve gone off on a tangent now, let me get back to the Pagoda...</span></span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I really hope you’ll be able to visit the Peace Pagoda for yourself. I definitely plan on going back with my family. I can’t wait to see it in the fall, I just know it will be absolutely beautiful at that time of the year! To learn more about the Peace Pagoda, visit http://www.newenglandpeacepagoda.com/.</span></span><br />
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-20448548646244419902013-03-23T20:23:00.000-07:002013-03-23T20:25:18.734-07:00Random Ramblings on My Favorite Movie of All Time-PART TWO!<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">So, I just watched the version of “Say Anything” with the commentary from Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, and Ione Skye and I have more to say about my <a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2012/04/random-ramblings-on-my-favorite-movie.html" target="_blank">favorite movie of all time</a>. Now you may be wondering, “Why did it take you so long to watch the commentary version when you’ve clearly owned the DVD for several years?” And to that I would say, “I haven’t had any time to watch the special features on a DVD! I barely make it through the movie itself without falling asleep!” People with kids know what I’m talking about. Anyways...<br /><br />You would think after seeing the movie as many times as I have that I would know every little detail and hidden thing in the movie, especially because I DID take the time to watch the deleted, extended, and alternate scenes many, many years ago, BC (that’s Before Children). But apparently I missed some things that I think are crucial for you to know about. So here they are:<br /><br />1) Lloyd Dobbler was based on Cameron Crowe’s neighbor Lowell Marchant. He came to Crowe’s door one day and introduced himself as a kickboxer and talked about how kickboxing was “the sport of the future.” He wiped his hand on his pants before shaking Crowe’s hand and that moment and his mannerisms stuck with Crowe when he was writing the part of Lloyd.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">2) Corey’s room is practically a shrine to Joe. I can’t believe I never noticed it before, but if you look around there are giant cheesy posters and pictures of Corey and Joe in her room. My favorite is the one where they are standing back to back.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">3) J<span style="font-size: small;">a</span>mes Court (John Mahoney)’s (hair was dyed a slightly different color in all of the scenes. In one of the final scenes at the prison where he is talking to Lloyd, the dye was all gone, which symbolized that “the mask was off”. He was no longer faking or covering up who he was.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UR8eMoQm22ZoVUtYNA4tJJ50uqurUsjDFn8bN8bM4t6OY1CAnqpUzihtJ_2_-43gDA0dVzsQoBxopmtUT5gz0oubUZ-PFeng4My-HQgNZK-NJxTY972v-vIbP0Hiylx0XQlZmHkixgh0/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-03-23+at+10.48.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UR8eMoQm22ZoVUtYNA4tJJ50uqurUsjDFn8bN8bM4t6OY1CAnqpUzihtJ_2_-43gDA0dVzsQoBxopmtUT5gz0oubUZ-PFeng4My-HQgNZK-NJxTY972v-vIbP0Hiylx0XQlZmHkixgh0/s320/Screen+shot+2013-03-23+at+10.48.49+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4) Both John Cusack and Ione Skye admitted to being attracted to one another while filming but neither acted on their feelings because they were both seeing other people at the time. As I mentioned in my <a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2012/04/random-ramblings-on-my-favorite-movie.html" target="_blank">first post</a> about the movie, Ione was seeing Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers. She said he used to wait outside of her trailer all day, which she found “really annoying”. I think it’s funny to imagine an angry, jealous Anthony Kiedis waiting to beat up Lloyd Dobbler. Who would want to beat up Lloyd Dobbler?! He’s such a lovable guy! Ione and Anthony were a sexy couple though. Just Google some of their images together, you’ll see what I’m talking about!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />5) The song that was originally supposed to be played during the boombox scene was Billy Idol’s “To Be A Lover.” The song that was actually playing on the boombox while the scene was shot was Fishbone’s “Turn the Other Way.” Crowe eventually found Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” on a tape he made for his wedding to Nancy Wilson and knew it was “the one.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">6) Cameron Crowe and his wife Nancy made several small cameos in the film (Crowe’s hand changes the tape at the party, Nancy’s torso walks by in the final scene in the airplane).<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">7) Diane’s father’s secret life ruined her life, but made it possible for her to recognize the man who would save her life (Lloyd). He wanted so desperately for his daughter to have a good, honest life (unlike the secret life he was living) that he couldn’t even see the criminal acts he was committing as anything but positive acts of love. His love for Diane was borderline creepy though. In the dinner party scene at the house, he treats Diane almost as if she is his wife. Diane is oblivious, but Lloyd senses the awkward tension, which causes him to ramble on in one of the greatest speeches in the whole movie.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“You mean like a career? Um, I don’t know, I’ve thought about this quite a bit sir, and I would have to say considering what’s waiting out there for me, I don't want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought or processed. Or repair anything sold, bought or processed, y'know? As a career I don't want to do that. So, my father's in the army, he wants me to join, but I can't work for that corporation. So what I've been doing lately is kickboxing. Which is a, uh, new sport, but I think it's got a good future. As far as career longevity goes, I don't really know, because, you know, you can't really tell. Your training sticks as a fighter, you know, but it's no good, you know, you have to be great, but I can't really tell if I'm great until I've had a couple of pro fights. But I haven't been knocked out yet. I don't know, I can't figure it all out tonight sir, I'm just going to hang with your daughter.” </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This speech also showed how Lloyd was uncertain of his future, just as Diane had previously stated in her speech at graduation. The only thing Lloyd was certain of was being with Diane.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisl7Cl_gSzHehmlO59NBmBxKhuR0N1SueO3JVHn0a2Ll-WFSLyFUyDZsgNJY4aZ7OvV2aJGB1XNssSu7Qvzkfn_QsC-T0CyuYICTvfynb_48AAxH00sG0cvPTlaIMtDB9oVh696FkhQGHJ/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-03-23+at+10.47.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisl7Cl_gSzHehmlO59NBmBxKhuR0N1SueO3JVHn0a2Ll-WFSLyFUyDZsgNJY4aZ7OvV2aJGB1XNssSu7Qvzkfn_QsC-T0CyuYICTvfynb_48AAxH00sG0cvPTlaIMtDB9oVh696FkhQGHJ/s320/Screen+shot+2013-03-23+at+10.47.06+PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">8) I also wanted to mention (which I can’t believe I forgot to discuss in my <a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2012/04/random-ramblings-on-my-favorite-movie.html" target="_blank">first post</a> about this movie) how much I love the dictionary in Diane’s room. If you haven’t seen the scene, Diane is picking out possible outfits to wear to dinner in her bathroom while Lloyd is waiting for her on the other side of the door in her room. They are talking to each other through the door, and she’s holding up different outfits. While he’s waiting, he starts looking around at the stuff in her room and he picks up this huge dictionary. He says, “Wow, this a mother dictionary.” She then says something like, “Yeah, I used to have this thing with checking off the words I looked up.” He then flips through and sees that almost every word has an “x” next to it. I LOVED how brainy Diane was! I envied her. I wished I was more like her and concentrated more on my schoolwork, but alas I was an insecure, boy-crazed rebel, like most of my fellow female Catholic schoolmates . I DID however, being the pious girl that I was (cough, cough), have a prayerbook that I would put check marks in next to the prayers that I said. That’s kind of the same, right? No? <br /><br />So there you have it. What a story! A corrupted father’s love for his daughter and two outcasts (but in very different ways) finding a home in each other. I’ve always related to outcasts and may now even more than I ever did in my teens. I’ve always felt like an outcast, almost to the point of finding it difficult to connect with other people at all. It’s hard to make connections when you always have this feeling in the back of your mind that nothing is ever permanent and life is short. But there’s always one thing that will NEVER change and that is Lloyd Dobbler and Diane Court stealing our hearts! Watch the movie folks. That’s all I have to say...for now.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">(All film stills belong to 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, I don't claim to own anything.) </span></span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-36856039238776671982013-01-25T12:30:00.003-08:002013-01-25T12:30:45.191-08:00Harry Potter Party<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I recently threw a Harry Potter birthday party for my son. I thought I would share some of the details of the party with you with the hopes that someone else might find it useful. <span style="font-size: small;">Seeing as<span style="font-size: small;"> how</span></span> there is NO Harry Potter party section at most of the chain party stores, <span style="font-size: small;">if </span>you plan to host your own party<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">you should</span></span> be prepared to do your homework and GET CREATIVE<span style="font-size: small;">!</span><br /><b><br /><u>Invitations</u></b>: I didn’t realize that the party pack I ordered online (more on that later) included invitations, so I made my own. I created the invitation document to look like an official letter from Hogwarts (in green ink and all) inviting the child to come to the school for a special party. I also included a separate train ticket to platform 9 3/4. If you are familiar with the book, this will all make sense. If you haven’t read the book, you have a lot of work ahead of you! I<span style="font-size: small;"> didn't <span style="font-size: small;">take a picture of<span style="font-size: small;"> the invitations, but I provided a link to a<span style="font-size: small;">nother blog </span>at the end of this post with an example of someone<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">else's inv<span style="font-size: small;">it<span style="font-size: small;">ations <span style="font-size: small;">which looked <span style="font-size: small;">very similar to min<span style="font-size: small;">e. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /><u><b>Party Supplies</b></u>: I was unable to find any Harry Potter party supplies in any of the stores I visited, however I was able to find them online. I discovered that <a href="http://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=harry+potter+party&category=0|All|matchallpartial|all+categories" target="_blank">Target</a> sold a party pack online (but not in the stores). The pack included 2 different sizes of themed plates, napkins and cups, a blue tablecloth, maroon and gold balloons and curling ribbon, maroon and black crepe paper, a “sorting hat” helium balloon, themed party invitations, black eating utensils and blue candles. The price was a pretty good deal for the amount of stuff, so I ordered it. This was enough<span style="font-size: small;"> plates<span style="font-size: small;">, napkins, and utensil<span style="font-size: small;">s for the amount of <span style="font-size: small;">guests we were going to have, so I didn't<span style="font-size: small;"> need to buy anything extra.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span><br /><u><b>Party Decorations</b></u>: Although balloons and crepe paper can take you pretty far with kids (as far as decorations go)<span style="font-size: small;">...</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyohyB4Gy028mtnyDQZPixweRXDgmmlnhQUBBnJtjjdUD6x0-QsAnRYaLWbTOvo76QPPyZmrzFnzCGFAn_41mb38NyGEmFXox69Pgn4MdgGk8ieVV7hl1cwFa2pZbJ0Sq2LwBxeITiqLq/s1600/IMG_8994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyohyB4Gy028mtnyDQZPixweRXDgmmlnhQUBBnJtjjdUD6x0-QsAnRYaLWbTOvo76QPPyZmrzFnzCGFAn_41mb38NyGEmFXox69Pgn4MdgGk8ieVV7hl1cwFa2pZbJ0Sq2LwBxeITiqLq/s320/IMG_8994.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">...</span>I knew I was going to need more stuff, so I went to my favorite store for party supplies: The <a href="http://www.dollartree.com/home.jsp" target="_blank">Dollar Tree</a>. This particular dollar store chain is great for party supplies and the price for the quantity of things you get (like plates, napkins, etc.) is way better than the packs you can buy at the larger party stores. I picked up a few nice touches like these:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_9DjGRC3um2k464GB7PC4-oXzTKc3uq-SxFpqTuhH5vjCkwacTZtJo9SjFSA8DkZ8741dr7lhccJ3rGfgz4w-kPy355mlWSg5zahAHItNJdw_pWPgwXPVMpe2K_BuriWWntW5ATIs2-X/s1600/IMG_8995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_9DjGRC3um2k464GB7PC4-oXzTKc3uq-SxFpqTuhH5vjCkwacTZtJo9SjFSA8DkZ8741dr7lhccJ3rGfgz4w-kPy355mlWSg5zahAHItNJdw_pWPgwXPVMpe2K_BuriWWntW5ATIs2-X/s320/IMG_8995.JPG" width="244" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50idqvpfjveulL0GdmxxREREO6wuSJMg4fckKHQXASFO2NojTR45tJPPe0qs5eqoktUgeNTrmwW57V0HL6LOtKahX2alvnZH_p9jZwV5ioI4goeewzt_ILI_K0rhYYKZI8QJO_ObJzxhp/s1600/IMG_8996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50idqvpfjveulL0GdmxxREREO6wuSJMg4fckKHQXASFO2NojTR45tJPPe0qs5eqoktUgeNTrmwW57V0HL6LOtKahX2alvnZH_p9jZwV5ioI4goeewzt_ILI_K0rhYYKZI8QJO_ObJzxhp/s320/IMG_8996.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /><br />Although the dollar store and the party pack I ordered were helpful, I ended up making most of my themed decorations like this banner:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarhRRs-yxdqa8EDgHFBp-2lx07yPhB-MBTYaxNA_ZzHCVzjs6m14nekNZKwABYbpQ42vMJre79cTfgoh6GljfAsXGnVshZYbW5XGo-mmOdC23rYeKNaLkJDzzUdEFHURfU73TyxJMA4Wp/s1600/IMG_8992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarhRRs-yxdqa8EDgHFBp-2lx07yPhB-MBTYaxNA_ZzHCVzjs6m14nekNZKwABYbpQ42vMJre79cTfgoh6GljfAsXGnVshZYbW5XGo-mmOdC23rYeKNaLkJDzzUdEFHURfU73TyxJMA4Wp/s320/IMG_8992.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPCECj49IiGwjk0xTIaiyWPiIfDw0Wd6LB7CEqNgEbodx_nSKpybXeZD7GsWgryrnNCcVGswnz0V80sPcWBzdPlToTPbmvhZ5tWToHoXN9Z0DMApfz4X6HQwi9Uu_EK_IHpWlPXc8uwZt/s1600/IMG_8991.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPCECj49IiGwjk0xTIaiyWPiIfDw0Wd6LB7CEqNgEbodx_nSKpybXeZD7GsWgryrnNCcVGswnz0V80sPcWBzdPlToTPbmvhZ5tWToHoXN9Z0DMApfz4X6HQwi9Uu_EK_IHpWlPXc8uwZt/s320/IMG_8991.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(This shot turned out a little funny because the sun was so bright but you get the idea.)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">And these signs:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I got the printouts from a blog that was incredibly helpful during my planning. I’ll share that with you at the end!<br /><u><br /><b>Games and Activities</b></u>: I like to have the games at my parties correlate with the theme of the party as much as possible, but sometimes you have to consider other factors. These include the number of children attending the party, the kind of kids that will be at the party (is it a wild boy crowd? a calm group of girls? etc.), how many adults will be around to help, how much time you have to fill, and several other things that can affect your game<span style="font-size: small;"> choices</span>.<br /><br />For example, one of the games I planned on playing involved two teams of 3 kids. Each child would have a <span style="font-size: small;">Popsicle</span> stick in their mouth and the children would have to pass a pretzel on the stick to the stick of the child next to them. The last child in the line would drop the pretzel from the stick in their mouth to the bowl they would be holding. After being timed for a minute, the team with the most pretzels in their bowl wins. This sounded like a fun, competitive game, however, we received one cancellation on the morning of the party which would have messed up the number of children on each team . Plus, several children had been out of school that week for the flu, so I didn’t think passing food items onto sticks in mouths sounded like a good idea. Luckily, I had enough other activities that filled the time nicely.<br /><br />One of the things I liked that I saw on some of the blogs that I referenced staging the activities/games as “classes” at Hogwarts. One of the classes that looked like fun was the potions class. While I really liked this idea and thought it could be very successful with the right crowd, I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of several little boys mixing liquids at my dining room table. It sounded a little too messy for my liking! I wanted to do something that resembled a magic potion though, so I considered having the children dump Pixie Stick powder into jars that looked like they held magic potions. However, when I got to the Dollar Tree (again, best dollar store ever!), I found these glow-in-the-dark sand art kits that were perfect...and only $1! The kit included 3 bags of colored sand, a container with a lid, a funnel, and a stick (to create designs). Amazing! This was the first activity I had the kids do. I called it “Magic Sand Potion Class” and it went surprisingly well. The children were very careful about their sand creations and were very excited when they discovered that they could take them home!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />After sitting still for so long (and concentrating so carefully on pouring sand into a tiny funnel), I knew the kids would need to move around, so I had them play “Magical Musical Chairs” next. This was a great way for them to burn off some energy and they had a great time dancing to the music! (By the way, I didn’t do anything special from the normal way of playing Musical Chairs, I just gave it a fancy title<span style="font-size: small;">.</span>)<br /><br />The next game we played was “Catch Hedwig Before He Flies Away”. This game was basically like the traditional fishing game, but with owls. To create the “Magic Pole” (or fishing pole), I tied a piece of yarn onto a wooden dowel that I already had. I then hot glued it in place and glued a refrigerator magnet to the end of it. Then I cut out 10 owl shapes from construction paper and wrote the numbers 1-5 on them. I laminated them with my top-secret-super-cheap laminating system (i.e. clear Contact Paper from the shelving paper section of <a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/Con-Tact-Clear-Covering-Multipurpose-Shelf-Liner-18-x-75-Roll-Clear-Gloss/20895773" target="_blank">Walmart</a>) and put 2 paper clips at the top so that the magnet would be able to pick them up.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I had each child kneel backwards on a chair and hold the pole over the top. They then had a minute (I timed with the kitchen timer) to catch as many owls as they could. I wrote down the numbers as they caught the owls and the child with the highest total was the winner. I was surprised at how carefully the boys tried to catch the owls with the higher numbers. They were great! Of coarse, the ones waiting in line basically beat on each other while they waited, but the game went very smoothly. The kids were really excited to help add up their numbers and figure out their grand totals. <br /><br />Next, I had the kids grab some snacks to munch on at the table while they played their last game. I knew the game would take up quite a bit of time, so I wanted something to keep them busy while they sat so nicely for so long. Harry Potter Bingo was the final game. This game took the most time to create but it was worth it. To create the bingo board, I used a larger size piece of white paper and made it big enough for about 1 1/2 inch rows (5 x 5). I left space at the top to write Bingo. For the pictures that were going to go in the squares, I <span style="font-size: small;">Googled</span> black and white coloring pages of various themes (Harry Potter Coloring Pages, Dragons, Cats, Eyeglasses, etc.). I copied and pasted the pictures on to a Pages document (or Word) and played around with the size until I got all of the pictures small enough to fit perfectly inside of the squares I drew (this took a couple times of printing and then going back and resizing and printing again). I used about 28 different images. I printed several copies of the images and then cut out all of the little pictures and glued them randomly on to the Bingo boards, leaving a “Free” space in the middle. I made sure that no two Bingo boards were the same. I then covered the Bingo boards with my top-secret-super-cheap laminating system so that the pictures couldn’t be peeled off from the boards. I cut up an extra set of the pictures along with the letters BINGO and put those in a small plastic bag to use to call out during the game. For the Bingo markers, I purchased some small green vase gems from the Dollar Tree and put them in the middle of the table.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />This game went very well and took up a lot of time. The children sat still very nicely and munched on snacks while waiting to hear what picture would be called next. Even though some of the children weren’t familiar with the characters in the book, they quickly caught on to the names and images that were on the Bingo boards. Towards the end of the game, I started to peek at what was left on some of the kids’ Bingo boards so that I could specifically call out those images and letters (so that everyone won a prize by the end). The games and activities went VERY well and took up about an hour and a half, which was perfect!<br /><br /><u><b>Food/Cake</b></u>: I didn’t do much in the way of food because our party was held in the middle of the afternoon (not during any major meal times). I simply put out a good mix of a few snacks (my son’s favorite kinds of chips, carrots, strawberries, cheese, etc.).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I saw a lot of really wonderful ideas on the blogs I looked at for how to set up a beautiful spread of food and candy with clever titles and cute labels, but I didn’t get that fancy. If I were to throw another Harry Potter party for adults (or a larger number of children AND adults), perhaps I would make more of an effort. <br /><br />For the cake, I saw a really cute idea on <a href="http://pinterest.com/musingsinmass/musings-in-mass/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> (so wonderful for craft and food ideas!) for owl cupcakes. This went along with the theme perfectly so I recreated those.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">They were really easy to make and the kids (and parents) loved them! I baked chocolate cupcakes and frosted them with chocolate frosting. The eyes were created with Oreo’s (which needed to be sliced through the cream with a knife, not twisted apart) and Junior Mints. The beak was made with a banana candy from a package of Wonka Runts. I used a little white frosting in a tube for the owl feathers. They were adorable!<br /><b><br /><u>Prizes/Goody Bags</u></b>: For prizes, I mostly purchased special candy from the party store (<a href="http://www.partycity.com/search.do?query=candy" target="_blank">Party City</a>) and threw in a couple of non-candy items. I wrapped the prizes and put them in a bag and let the kids choose their own prizes. I learned my lesson on wrapping them from a Halloween party I hosted back in October. For that party, I just put all of the prizes in a bag and let the kids pick out their what they wanted. This didn’t work so well because the kids took FOREVER to make a decision and the other kids started to complain that the prize they wanted was already taken, it wasn’t fair, etc. Anyhow, so I wrapped them this time. The biggest hit for prizes was a mini basketball game/whistle/sucker thing. <br /><br />For the goody bags, I purchased gold bags with handles from Michael’s. Some of the goody’s included Snape’s Slime (which was noise putty from the Dollar Tree that I relabeled):</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Jelly Bean’s (which were normal jelly beans that I repackaged and labeled):</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I also threw in some other wonderful surprises (Come on, I can’t give away ALL of my secrets)!<br /><u><br /><b>Magic Wands</b></u>: I debated for awhile on whether or not to hand out magic wands upon the children’s arrival (like they were arriving to Hogwarts and were given their wands as a gift for entering Wizard School) or upon their departure. Last year, I threw a pirate themed birthday party and dressed each child up upon their arrival with a head wrap, eye patch, earring, and gave them each a sword. This led to intense sword fighting for the next 20 minutes, but that was what I wanted! We had rented a large open room where the kids could run around and be crazy, so it worked (although I’m sure there were a few minor pokes and whacks). But this party was going to be held in my house and these wands were a little bit more pointy at the top, so I didn’t want them to turn into swords and eyes to get poked out. I wisely waited until the end of the party to reward each child with their wands and I’m really glad I waited. <br /><br />To make the magic wands, I purchased two thick dowels from Michael’s and cut them into 3’s with a table saw (THANKS DAD!). I then took a hand saw, and cut a notch all around the dowel about an inch and a half from the bottom. I sanded the notch so that it would be smooth. This was going to be the part that the child would hold. Then I took the other end and sanded it with a high grit sandpaper until it started to create a point.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I then painted the wands with two coats of brown paint and sprayed it with a acrylic sealer. I was quite proud with the way they turned out and my son was thrilled with how “realistic” they looked!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>I hope you will find this blog entry helpful if you decide to plan your own Harry Potter party. Some of the blogs I found most helpful were this one: <a href="http://justsweetandsimple.blogspot.com/2011/07/harry-potter-party.html">http://justsweetandsimple.blogspot.com</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7404550713508239529">/2011/07/harry-potter-party.html</a>, for the free printables, and this one: <a href="http://myharrypotterparty.blogspot.com/2009/03/invitation.html">http://myharrypotterparty.blogspot.com/2009/03/invitation.html</a>, for the invitation idea and potion class idea. Both of these blogs were amazing! These people got VERY elaborate with their parties and pretty much transformed their whole houses into Hogwarts! I wasn’t willing to get that fancy, but they were really great for ideas and inspiration. I also used Pinterest quite a bit! <br /><br /> This party was a lot of work but a lot of fun! The kids had a great time and I thought it was a big success! <span style="font-size: small;">Please k</span>eep in min<span style="font-size: small;">d</span> that this party was planned while I was working full time and <span style="font-size: small;">traveling between</span> Michigan and Massachusetts, so if I can do it, trust me YOU CAN DO IT! Enjoy! <br /><br /></span></span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-86901627142173750292013-01-23T06:38:00.001-08:002013-01-23T06:38:45.650-08:00Chicken & Biscuits <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We usually eat pretty healthy here in the MIM household, considering the <a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2012/05/accommodating-difficult-diets-and.html" target="_blank">difficult diets</a> we have to accomodate, but every now and then I long for some comfort food. One of my favorite comfort food dishes to make is Chicken & Biscuits! It's super easy and very tasty. Plus, when I can get both my husband and child to eat a dish, I know it's a success! This recipe is enough for my small family with some leftovers for the next day. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Chicken & Biscuits</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ingredients:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1 Package of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">2 Tablespoons of Butter or Margarine</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">2 Cans of Cream of Chicken Soup (Low Fat)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1 (14 ounces) Can of Chicken Broth (Low Fat or Fat Free)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1 Onion</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1 Package of Frozen Peas</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1 Package of Frozen Broccoli</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1 Tube of Biscuit Dough (We like the Pillsbury buttermilk ones!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Preheat oven to 350.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Directions:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1. Mix soup, butter (softened in microwave), broth, diced onion, and frozen vegetables in a bowl. Set aside.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">2. Cut up chicken breasts into small squares. Put in rectangle Pyrex dish coated in cooking spray. Cover with soup mix.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">3. Bake for 45 minutes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4. Towards the end of the cooking time, prepare the tube of biscuits as directed on package.</span></span></div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-75303728083962024342013-01-22T09:52:00.000-08:002013-01-22T09:52:06.767-08:00Recycled Art <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> My son is really into recycled art! He just loves taking something that would normally be thrown out and turning it into something new! His passion recently inspired me to try my hand at a recycled art project. I took a good look around the house to see what kind of materials I could use. One item that we always have a lot of (but usually just recycle) were paper towel/toilet paper rolls. Back in the day, when I taught preschool, I used to save our rolls for the kids to use for art projects (they make great binoculars!). But I wanted to find a more adult project that I could use the rolls for. Now where, you might ask, is a good place to look for a plethora of ideas on what one can make out of paper towel rolls? Pinterest, of coarse! Within minutes I found some pretty unbelievable creations that people had made simply by cutting and hot gluing the rolls together.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> One design I really liked was a star. I'm quite fond of stars and I had been looking for something to hang on our bedroom wall. I saved our rolls for a couple of weeks and got to work on my creation. First, I cut the rolls into about 1 1/2 inch sections. This smashed the rolls to give them their flattened oval shape. Then I tried out a couple of different designs by arranging the rolls on the table. Once I found a design I liked, I started hot gluing them together. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvqh6uz3kYSsaxfj2VMW1Ob0fxD2odkBIMpeUaHV2NUe65_mXqBjoqwRAreP4T10e0zkeISczl2rv-pWxJkl-dBFStUe9W7kWOtv4XlKj69LehUJmOFRlI-P20IJb5XEE7DvFcI3IzHSL/s1600/IMG_0698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvqh6uz3kYSsaxfj2VMW1Ob0fxD2odkBIMpeUaHV2NUe65_mXqBjoqwRAreP4T10e0zkeISczl2rv-pWxJkl-dBFStUe9W7kWOtv4XlKj69LehUJmOFRlI-P20IJb5XEE7DvFcI3IzHSL/s320/IMG_0698.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I wanted my star to be white (to go with my bedroom colors), so once the rolls were all glued together, I attempted to spray paint them. The paint didn't turn out as white as I wanted it to be and didn't seem to be spreading as evenly as I had hoped, so I decided to hand paint every single roll with acrylic paint (talk about time consuming!). After a couple of days and when the acrylic paint was completely dried, I then went back over the whole thing with another coat of spray paint. This was the only way I could accomplish the bright white look I was going for. Here's the end result!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1O3mjv2KuQ4VybqYvRgjcdW8cNA6bGYjGgKAgumnvCvPyy6h4DWJTf-O-bygQUmKxEPIxsiOsX7u1OWATjNcCwwzAoD0monNmi2BzdDqwPYHKXQ6papzr1EC1mhiJWTBd4BygGjgz1Tf/s1600/IMG_9000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1O3mjv2KuQ4VybqYvRgjcdW8cNA6bGYjGgKAgumnvCvPyy6h4DWJTf-O-bygQUmKxEPIxsiOsX7u1OWATjNcCwwzAoD0monNmi2BzdDqwPYHKXQ6papzr1EC1mhiJWTBd4BygGjgz1Tf/s320/IMG_9000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpql0Qml9ZFJWhuctlgqRbzshIn1EKJtn5nrvAgjC0y4DrI56oxZKgm_2Pn6OlkE9ebZ84XhP8y2m3KwLGuMAHwwKU2oFOwwyAceXesqDjotQB4QTWvv_qO7XLvitKr6SlpxRGuwqUkd2f/s1600/IMG_8999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpql0Qml9ZFJWhuctlgqRbzshIn1EKJtn5nrvAgjC0y4DrI56oxZKgm_2Pn6OlkE9ebZ84XhP8y2m3KwLGuMAHwwKU2oFOwwyAceXesqDjotQB4QTWvv_qO7XLvitKr6SlpxRGuwqUkd2f/s320/IMG_8999.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I was VERY pleased at the way it turned out! A few things I wanted to mention though, if I were to do this project again, <span style="font-size: small;">is that there were a</span> couple of things I would have done differently. The first is I would have made the star/design bigger. It feels big once you start gluing it all together, but once I got it on the wall I realized that it really wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be. I would have continued gluing rolls until it took up more wall space. Second, I would have spray painted (or hand painted) the rolls <span style="font-size: small;">BEFORE</span> I glued them together. Because I painted them after they were already glued, you can see little shadows from the brown parts of the rolls where I couldn't reach with the paint brush. Painting the rolls prior to gluing would have made the finished product even brighter. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Anyhow, thank you Pinterest for giving me a successful project idea! Did you know that you can follow Musings in Mass on Pinterest? Just hop on over <a href="http://pinterest.com/musingsinmass/musings-in-mass/" target="_blank">here.</a> Happ<span style="font-size: small;">y pinning and recycled art making! </span></span></span><br />
<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-68247308812090942932012-12-30T07:33:00.000-08:002012-12-30T07:33:59.612-08:00Flint Crepe Company<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">My f<span style="font-size: small;">amily</span></span> took a trip back "home" to Flint, Michigan for the holidays and were eager to try out the Flint Crepe Company in downt<span style="font-size: small;">own</span>. We heard many good things about this restaurant and wanted to see if it would live up to the hype. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> We were not disappointed! The crepes were delicious! I was thrilled that my crepe was thin and slightly crispy (I can't stand pancake-like crepes). There was also a generous <span style="font-size: small;">portion size of the filling, which made me happy! </span>I was instantly addicted and wanted to order a second one! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I apologize for the poor quality pictures. It was late at night <span style="font-size: small;">(just before closing)</span> and all I had with me was my iPod.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">While searching the Internet for a website for the Crepe Company that I could post a link too (they don't have one), I stumbled across some rather entertaining reviews of the restaurant. Some common complaints listed were the prices of the food and the poor customer service. I found these complaints particularly amusing seeing that we are coming from the land of uninterested hipsters (aka Northampton) and overpriced food. We thought the food was reasonably priced and the service was decent, so don't let these reviews discourage you. The food <span style="font-size: small;">wa</span>s worth the trip. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> What was more important for me to see was something positive happening in Flint. Flint has a special place in my heart and I'll never stop loving it. I give credit where credit is due. I applaud the people who have stayed in the city and are trying to successfully run their businesses and make a positive change. Happy Holidays Flint! I celebrate your successes! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Check out the Flint Crepe Company's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/FlintCrepe.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow weather ball at night.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-91322832419765134552012-12-10T20:41:00.003-08:002013-11-24T04:59:37.101-08:00Homemade Christmas Ornaments/Recipe for Salt Dough Ornaments <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">All of last week, I was chomping at the bit at work for the weekend. I couldn't wait to be home with my family! I had big plans to make homemade Christmas ornaments all weekend with my child and I wanted to get started ASAP!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I couldn't be more pleased with the way that they turned out! Just like cards, ornaments are more special to me when I know little hands have worked hard on creating them. All I see is the beauty and goodness in something when I know it comes from a place of love!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> <span style="font-size: small;">Anyhow, i</span>f you have any questions about the way that any of these are made, please comment your question on either the Blogger website or my Facebook page. They're very easy and pretty self-explanatory. The most important item you will need for all of them is a GLUE GUN. If you are a mom and you don't own a glue gun, you need to run to the store right now (Michael's, Jo-Ann's, Hobby Lobby, etc.) and buy yourself one! You won't regret it! The glue gun has a been a life saver for me, not only for crafts but for many other magical mom tricks such as<span style="font-size: small;">:</span> fixing toys, patching holes so that ants don't get into your house, fixing the soles of shoes, its uses are endless! I also used a lot of popsicle sticks. These are good to have around<span style="font-size: small;"> the house</span> too! If you are curious about what craft supplies might be handy to have at home, please refer to my older post on <a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2012/03/few-words-about-art-at-home.html" target="_blank">Art at Home</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;"></span></span>Another fun Christmas activity to do with your kids is making salt dough ornaments. I'm not sure how long lasting they are, but they are fun to make and decorate. <span style="font-size: small;">I</span>f you HAVE to throw them out, <span style="font-size: small;">at least you'll <span style="font-size: small;">know that you didn't spend a lot of them AND you</span></span> can have fun <span style="font-size: small;">making them</span> again next year! I've seen lots of variations of this recipe, but here's the recipe that I followed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><u>Salt Dough Ornaments</u></b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">You will need:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />2 cups flour<br />1 cup salt<br />3/4 cup warm water<br />Cookie cutters<br />Straw<br />Cooking spray<br />Paint, glitter, etc. to decorate<br />String</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1. Preheat over to 225 degrees.<br />2. Mix flour and salt. Add water. Knead until soft (if dry, add more water).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">3. Roll dough on floured surface to 1/4-inch thick. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Cut with cutters. Add hole at top with straw. Put shapes on sprayed cookie sheet and bake 2 to 4 hours until hard, flipping every 45 minutes.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4. Let cool completely. Decorate. Tie ribbon through hole.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">To see my recipe for Cinnamon Cut Out Ornaments, click <a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2013/11/cinnamon-cut-out-ornaments.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Sources of inspiration: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/tori-spellings-kid-friendly-holiday-entertaining-tips-2012512, http://www.misseberhartsclass.com/christmas_ornaments.htm, http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2008/12/popsicle-stic-2.html. </span></span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-16239529514475680342012-12-09T05:46:00.000-08:002012-12-09T05:46:43.732-08:00Handprint Santa Christmas Card <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Lately, I’ve been obsessed with homemade cards. They mean so much more to me than regular cards. Cards are more special when they are made with love! While researching homemade card ideas, I came across this little gem and had to recreate it with my child! It’s really easy and adorable!<br /><br />You will need:<br /><br />Paper <br />Red Paint<br />White Paint<br />Paint Brush<br />Peach or a Flesh Colored Paint<br />Marker<br />Cotton<br />Glue<br />Googly Eyes (optional)<br />Red Glitter Glue (optional)<br /><br />Directions:<br /><br />1. Fold your paper in half to make a card.<br />2. Take your child’s hand and paint the fingers (excluding the thumb) and top half of the palm with the white paint.<br />3. Paint the lower part of the palm and the thumb with the red paint.<br />4. Carefully place your child’s hand on the paper and push down on it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> 5. Let the paint completely dry.<br />6. Paint the peach or flesh color in the middle of the palm on the print. This will be Santa’s face. Let it dry.<br />7. Once dry, glue the cotton along the bottom of the hat and at the tip.<br />8. Use the marker to draw the nose, mouth, and words on the card.<br />9. Glue the googly eyes on the face.<br />10. Add glitter glue to the words.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> <span style="font-size: small;">To see my source of inspiration, go to http://suite101.com/article/handprint-art-handprint-christmas-card-craft-and-poems-for-presc-a318806. </span> </span></span><br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-290868518472049662012-12-08T21:19:00.000-08:002012-12-08T21:19:05.495-08:00Buckeyes<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ingredients </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />3 cups confectioners’ sugar</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> 1 cup creamy peanut butter </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature or softened in microwave (who has time to let it sit!)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1 teaspoon vanilla extract</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />Directions<br />1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.<br />2. In a bowl, beat together the sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla (or you can mix it with your hands). The dough should end up slightly crumbly.<br />3. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet and stick a toothpick into each ball. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4. Place in the freezer and chill for 1 hour.<br />5. In a double boiler, or in a bowl snugly on top of a pan with a few inches of simmering water, melt the chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">6. Holding a ball by the toothpick, dip it into the hot chocolate, leaving a small hole of the peanut butter dough showing at the top of the ball as the “buckeye.” Let the excess chocolate drip back into the pot. Put the buckeye to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls.<br />7. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">8. Enjoy the delicious buckeyes with a nice glass of milk! Yum!</span></span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-10008393965281603442012-11-27T06:58:00.000-08:002012-11-27T06:59:22.984-08:00How To Remove a Pesky Price Sticker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The other day I purchased a few Christmas cookie tins with huge price stickers on the bottom. As I started to attempt to peel one off, the sticker kept ripping into little sections, making it very difficult for me to remove it. I could see that these stickers were not going to come off without a fight! Another problem I was having was when and if I was able to remove the sticker, it would leave behind a sticky residue on the tin. I had to figure out a way to get these stickers off! Sure, I could have soaked all of the tins in water, but who has time for that? I needed another fast solution. After searching the Internet for all of the possible liquids I could rub on it (Seriously, who has lighter fluid handy? Vegetable oil sounds messy!) I came across a method that worked so beautifully, I just had to share it!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I got out my good old hair dryer, blew it on the sticker for about 15 seconds, and the sticker came off without a problem, glue and all! That's it! How simple is that? I was thrilled! I saved myself so much time! Just be careful if you are doing <span style="font-size: small;">this me<span style="font-size: small;">thod</span></span> with cookie tins like I did because those suckers can get hot! I love time<span style="font-size: small;">-saving tip<span style="font-size: small;">s like this, don't <span style="font-size: small;">you<span style="font-size: small;">?</span></span></span></span></span></span> <br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404550713508239529.post-8322919579699138912012-11-11T14:19:00.000-08:002012-11-11T14:19:08.986-08:00Chex Mix <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Do you have certain foods or treats that you like to make only at certain times of the year? I know I do. <span style="font-size: small;">One of those tre<span style="font-size: small;">ats that</span></span> shouts<span style="font-size: small;"> winter</span> to me <span style="font-size: small;">is</span> Chex Mix. When I was little, it was tradition for my whole family<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>to get together at my Grandmother's house on Christmas Eve. Everyone usually brought some kind of snack food and they usually always brought the same ones each year. One of those items I always looked forward to was my Aunt Kelly's Chex Mix. She didn't do anything special to it, it was just homemade and delicious and I could count on it being there every year! Now, every winter, I look forward to making Chex Mix for my own family and continuing the tradition with my own child.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> For my Chex Mix, I pretty much follow the recipe on the box like my Aunt did (Once again, I do not claim to have invented this recipe, I am simply sharing it. You can thank the General Mills or Ralston Purina people or Betty Crocker for creating it<span style="font-size: small;">.</span> Better <span style="font-size: small;">yet, you could</span> write to them to find out who invented it<span style="font-size: small;">!</span>). However, I have a small family so, I've made a few adjustments here and there. I also don't like certain ingredients so I've added some things and excluded others. Anyhow, the recipe I u<span style="font-size: small;">se </span>for my small family is as follows: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 1/2 cups Corn Chex <span style="font-size: small;">c</span>ereal </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 1/2 cups Rice Chex cereal</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 cup Cheerios </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3/4 cup peanuts</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">3/4 cup pretzels</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">5-6 Tbsp butter or margarine</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 <span style="font-size: small;">T</span>bsp Worcestershire <span style="font-size: small;">sau<span style="font-size: small;">ce</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 1/2 <span style="font-size: small;">t</span>sp<span style="font-size: small;"> seasoned salt (Lawry's)</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">3/4 tsp garlic <span style="font-size: small;">powder</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">1/2 tsp onion powder</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. <span style="font-size: small;">Mix</span> cereals, nuts, and pretzels and put them in a glass rectangle Pyrex dish. </span> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Melt butter in a glass measuring cup<span style="font-size: small;"> or bowl<span style="font-size: small;"> in the microwave for about 40 seconds or until melted, <span style="font-size: small;">taking it out to stir about ever 20 seconds<span style="font-size: small;">. Add Worcest<span style="font-size: small;">ershire sauce and seasonings to the butter, stir, and then pour it over the <span style="font-size: small;">cereal mix</span>. Mix well. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Microwave<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">t</span>he mix in the</span> Pyrex dish uncovered for 5-6 minutes s<span style="font-size: small;">tirring every <span style="font-size: small;">2 minutes. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">5. <span style="font-size: small;">Remo<span style="font-size: small;">ve from microwave<span style="font-size: small;"> and <span style="font-size: small;">spread on paper towels to cool. Store in airtight container.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">The other great thing about making a small batch is that you have plenty of leftover ingredients for other tasty treats, such as Puppy Chow (or Monkey Munch for my East Coast friends)! You can click <a href="http://musingsinmass.blogspot.com/2012/04/monkey-munch-aka-puppy-chow.html" target="_blank">here</a> for that delicious recipe!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> For the Original Chex Party Mix full recipe, please visit http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/original-chex-party-mix/2c7708d0-f7ba-423c-954c-128da4606f02. </span></span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15385691455454885754noreply@blogger.com0