Merry Freakin Christmas

So it is pretty unlikely that I will be doing any blogging this week cats.

I have a pretty full line up of eating and day drinking while I am in Michigan for the week.

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and I will be back soon with some stories from my vacation in the mitten state.

The Biggest Asshats of 2013

So Babwa may like to talk about the most fascinating people of the year, but I would like to take a few minutes to honor the people who I think are the worst this year. I mean obviously they are doing something right because I am talking about them and all, but I am a firm believer that not all press is good press. And I am a goddamn marketing director so I know stuff. I would also like to note I made this list before I watched Bab's special so it is purely coincidental that two of my nominees are the same as hers.

1. Miley. I'm sorry, as much as I think Wrecking Ball is kind of an awesome song, this girl sucks. If you want to smoke the gange go for it, but we aren't in middle school you don't need to convince all your pre-teen fans it is cool by doing it on stage and whatnot. Also, dress as slutty as you want. Hell if I had your body I would walk around naked, but put some creativity into your performances. Be an artist, don't hump a giant teddy bear that is just weird not provocative.

2. The Boston Bomber. I have never run a marathon, I have no doubt in my mind that it sucks complete ass. I also have no doubt in my mind what an amazing experience and accomplishment it is for those running and watching ones they love run in a marathon. What kind of a dick whistle ruins that by being a loser terrorist? Get a life.

3. North West. I feel bad saying this because she is just a babe, but homegirl stands no chance of not being a complete douch. Look at her parents, she is a lost cause and can't even walk yet. Way to go Kimwaye, you have given the world another terrible example of humanity.

4. The US government. I have never been a fan of you, but this year you sucked it up even more than usual. Who just throws a tantrum and shuts down? If 7-11 can be open 365 days a year, so too can the friggen government.

5. The owner of WaWa. Damn you for making such delicious coffee and being the world's best gas station. I spend way too much money in your store and I hate you for it. Would you please at least come out with a rewards program already? I clearly can't control myself enough not to stop in every morning so I should at least like to be racking up some points. If you haven't been to WaWa, you should probably schedule a road trip just to do so. I'm not kidding at all.

6. The Navy Yard shooter. One of my very, very dear friends was in that building. Thank all that is holy he is safe and sound but what the frick. Work sucks enough without having to fear for your life which is what everyone in that building was faced with that day. It is truely sad that terrorists are taking up two spots on this list. This goes out to all school shooters, movie theater shooters, and other terrorists out there too. Ain't nobody got time for that.

7. Prince Fielder. I was 100% behind your giant ass when you became a Tiger. Your dad was my favorite Tiger when I was a little girl and I was so excited to have you on our team. And then you just made one dumb ass comment after another and stopped hitting the ball. Good riddance Prince, that's what I say to you.

Who did I miss???

you spin me right round baby

Right round.

I love that song. But the point of this post is actually to tell you all a little tale about my relationship with a little thing called spin class.

You see, there aren't many things in life I am afraid of. I am not trying to brag or anything, I am just a little bit of a badass when it comes to most things in life.

So when I found myself utterly terrified of trying spin class for the first time it kind of annoyed me.

I really don't know why I was so scared. I wanted to try it out because I heard people talk about spin class all the damn time and I was taking pretty much every other class at my gym so why not give it a go right?

But for whatever reason anytime I planned to try it I chickened out.

Then, about two months ago I took off my little bitch pants and finally tried it. After my first spin class, I realized I was completely right to have been so scared.

That class fuc*ing sucked. It was hard, I was sweaty, and I honestly hated it.

I had never been so sweaty in my life and for that reason I decided that even though I did not enjoy spin, it must be a great workout so I kept going once a week.

It became easier and slightly less shitty the more classes I put under my belt, but I still never enjoyed it like I do most other workouts.

I had pretty much concluded that spin just wasn't my thing until two weeks ago when the Wednesday night class had a substitute.

After that fateful class I discovered I do not hate spin. I actually love it. I love it a lot.

But only when it is being taught by a sassy ass black man named Mark.

Mark's class was amazing. He was fun and motivating and just so much more awesome than any other instructor I have spun with. He played the greatest songs and he told us all about the best way to drink on the weekends to avoid hangovers. A wealth of knowledge that man.

Sadly, his class is at a time when I rarely will be able to attend, but I am going to do my best to go when I can.

In the meantime I am going to keep spinning with the other lameo teachers in hopes that Mark will be subbing more often than not. (some of them really are lame, like the one I had last Saturday who played Goo Goo Dolls the entire class...like not kidding).

So if you think you hate spin, you probably don't. You just need to find your own Mark to make it more fun.

Oh yeah, he played this song my first class with him, which sealed the deal for my obsession.

Christmas time in hippieville

In just two short days Jose, Fred, and I will make the hellish 12 hour trek to Michigan so we can celebrate the holidays by binge drinking with our family and high school friends, and playing in the snow and shit.

Since we already have about fifty tons of presents and various other luggage related items to pack into the back of my Scion with our 100 pound baby dog, we opted to exchange our gifts for each other ahead of time so we didn't need to pack them up just to bring them back after Christmas. And also we just love the holiday so it is fun to celebrate twice!

So we had our own little Christmas last Friday. And it was pretty damn great.

The evening started as any celebration must, with cocktails. White Russians to be exact.

We got the Christmas carols jamming on the iPod, then proceeded to make a great dinner, open gifts and stockings, bake four dozen cookies, eat way too many cookies, and then pass out in cookie and vodka induced comas.

Don't get me wrong, I love presents. Who doesn't right? But, the older I get the less I want and need. I am at a point in my life where for the most part if I want something I go out and buy it. I am not really very materialistic these days (though I certainly was at one time) so I have come to really appreciate just little heartfelt gifts above any other type. I always tell Jose not to get me anything big and that we will instead go on a trip or something because like me, there aren't many things he needs. Every year though he ignores me and buys me a shit ton of stuff.

The thing about Jose though is that he somehow manages to find just the perfect gifts. He is a thoughtful one that manfriend of mine. I guess I am sort of lucky.

This year like expected he got me way too much stuff, but I figured I would tell you about the thing that was the most special to me. Everything else I got will make you realize I am just a giant hippie that likes to hike and camp and I don't want to ruin my image.

But anyway, a few Valentine's days ago Jose bought me a really pretty ceramic watch. I loved it. I wore it almost every day. Until one hungover morning when I dropped the sucker on a sidewalk and it shattered that is. I took it back to the store to see if it could be repaired and it could not. For whatever reason the clerk took pity on me and even though it was damaged and over a year old she returned it and gave me store credit. So I have since been searching every store I set foot in for a watch I like to replace it. The problem is I am so damn picky and I loved that one so much so the gift card sits in my wallet and no watch has been purchased.

So this year when I opened my last gift under the tree and saw the very watch I ruined I nearly peed my pants. I was so excited. And then Jose told me the story of the new watch. Not only had he replaced the one I loved so much but he went through hell and highwater to do so. He wasn't able to find the old watch in any stores or online since they don't make it anymore. So he found a broken one on EBay, ordered it and then took it to pretty much every jewelry repair shop in American before finally finding a company that would fix the watch. He had it repaired and cleaned up and it looks good as new. And I am so amazed that a big laid back guy like Jose took the time and thought to do that for me.

I think that is my favorite part of the holidays, just the way little things like the perfect gift, a song you love, the taste of a cookie, or the glow of a Christmas tree can just make you feel like all is right with the world. Ohh and all the holiday cocktails, I love those a lot too.

This is how I found Fred Friday night....

Traditions

You all know I am quite the traditional little lady...

Psych.

I do however love the shit out of traditions especially when they happen around the holidays. They just give me the warm and fuzzies.

Between my family and friends I have quite a few that go down without fail every year. Most of them revolve around drinking, but not quite all.

Here are a few of my favorites:

-In college I lived with seven other girls. That's a shit ton of estrogen under one roof but I loved every minute of it. Seven of us are still the best of friends and ever since college we have been exchanging ornaments in lieu of regular gifts. It is a special reason to get together every year and also a lot cheaper than buying six gifts :)

-One Christmas eve many years ago, my dad called me in a panic because he had accidentally gotten hammered with his brother and neglected to buy my mom any gifts. Being the wonderful daughter I am, I rushed to his rescue and took him to the mall. He brought a flask and continued taking pulls in every department store. I accidentally got drunk while we were shopping. Instead of learning from his mistake we decided to go drunk shopping every year since. We don't do it on Christmas eve anymore but each year it involves less and less shopping and more and more drinking, and it's pretty great.

could I look like more of a creep? Also note my mom is flipping the bird.

-One of my newer traditions was started just last year. I guess it's not really that new because my mom and I have had an elf party for a few years now, but last year we bumped it up a few hours and started a Christmas Brunch. It is awesome because it incorporates day drinking and me being able to see a ton of my friends while I am home for the holidays. I invite everyone that I miss and my mom and I make a bunch of food. We drink mimosas and bloodys and have a holly jolly good time.

-Ok, so I will not lie, I am not a church goer. More power to ya if you are one, but this girl does not set foot in church with the exception of weddings, funerals, and on Christmas. I love going to church on Christmas because it makes my mom happy and I friggen love Christmas music.

-On Christmas eve ever since I moved out of state my family, Jose's family, and a few of our more hardcore friends have gone bar hopping during the day on Christmas eve. This tradition started as a spin off of my dad and my shopping shennanigans because my mom got jealous we were day drinking without her. So we started inviting her, but obviously we can't buy her gifts with her around so we had to move that tradition to a different day. We always lie to her and say we were "just shopping" but I am a pretty shitty liar, especially when I'm drunk so I think she is on to us.

-The last tradition I will mention is my friend's annual Cousin Eddy party. You know, like Cousin Eddy from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, yea that guy. So a very long time ago, before I was even his friend, my buddy Andrew (who loves Christmas more than anyone else on the planet) and his pals started having an annual party named the Cousin Eddy party. It started small, always at someone's house and all in attendance got dressed up in their craziest Christmas gear and drank like holiday fishes. A few years ago it got larger and a few of my girlfriends took over the annual planning, now it is always at a bar but it is still just as rowdy. And it's so much fun every year.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Squash soup

Since I am obsessed with trying to model my life after my pinterest boards, it made sense that I needed to make butternut squash soup. Keep in mind I had never tasted such a soup, nor did I have any reason to believe I would enjoy it, but pinterest said so, and I made it.

And guess what, it was fu*king awesome. Like blew my shoes off good.

I adapted a recipe from the Whole Foods website, which I tend to do a lot, because they usually post some winners.

Even manfriend liked this one, and it is hard to get him on board with my meatless dinners. Not that that stops me from making them, but I do enjoy when he is happy from time to time.

So here you go kids:

You Will Need:

1 Butternut squash (shocker I know)
1/2 of a Large white onion
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 of a Jalapeno pepper (or a whole one if you are feelin' fiesty)
Salt
Pepper
1 Granny smith apple
4 cups Veggie broth
1 cup half and half (I used fat free)
A dab of butter

Directions:

-Chop up your onion and jalapeno and begin sauteing it in a little butter in a soup pot. While it is cooking start working on your squash. (Cutting that bitch up was the only difficult part of this soup). Chop it so that you remove all the seeds and skin and it is in small chunks. Add it to the pot and stir.

-Peel and chop the apple and add that to the pot as well. Saute a few minutes then add in chopped garlic. Next add in the veggie broth and simmer for thirty minutes.

-Check to be sure the squash is tender, if it is use a stick blender and blend it all up. Add in the half and half and blend as well. Season with salt and pepper. (If you don't have a stick blender, just cool the soup and use a regular blender to mix the soup in batches.)

Its friggen good guys.

Uncle Kenny Strikes again

The sass man is back again.

I got a call from Uncle Kenny the other day. He proceeded to bitch about the Michigan weather and the fact that there is too much salt on the roads and then talked a massive amount of shit about my aunt. He told me how she has been a nerd her whole life and he had a nightmare about her. It was a lovely convo really but what had me concerned was when he told me he had just gotten off the phone with my boyfriend because they had some things to discuss.

The suspense was too much so I called Jose before it killed me. He went on to tell me about the three items Kenny addressed during their 45 minute call. Kenny likes Jose way more than he likes me, and always thanks Jose when I buy him anything...it's great.

this photo melts my heart more than any other photo in the world.

-First on Kenny's agenda was asking Jose if I had mailed his Christmas card yet. Kenny does not fu*k around when it comes to greeting cards. If you miss Christmas, his birthday, Halloween, or any holiday at all you are instantly added to his shit list. Jose assured Kenny that he had seem me take a large stack of cards out to the mail box and that he was sure there was one addressed to him. (Keep in mind this convo went down on December 10, so there were over two weeks left before the big day). Kenny said the mailman had probably lost his card. Jose told him to wait a few days and see if the card comes. Kenny asked again, are you sure Erin sent one? Jose said yes and Kenny proceeded to ask Jose if he wanted him to sign our names to one of the blank cards he has left over in case I did in fact forget to send one.

-Next was Kenny complaining about all the hype surrounding the recent History Chanel movie Bonnie and Clyde. Kenny bitched about how all the media had hyped the movie up and when he watched it he hated it. "A two year old could have written that movie," he said. "Do not tell Erin though, because I know she just loves crap like that. I'm not watching the second part though." He was right, I liked it a lot.

-Lastly, Kenny asked Jose if he remembered when he took Kenny and I to that "fancy restaurant with all the Christmas lights"? It's actually a brewery located in a town where they put on a badass Christmas light display and I am fairly certain I paid for dinner but Jose said that yes he remembered the place. Kenny went on to say, "Well, I think Erin's mom would really like it, so I was thinking you should take me, Erin and her parents out to eat there." Keep in mind Kenny has money just like the rest of us, but moths fly out anytime he opens his wallet. Truth be told we will probably do exactly what he asked and take everyone to eat there because we love his crazy ass so much. That is assuming his card does not get lost in the mail and I am not on the naughty list.

Noodles and gravy baby

I mentioned a while ago how I get home at 8pm every single Monday and Wednesday yet like clock work I came home to a boyfriend who was not thrilled because it was too late for him to eat dinner and he had no idea what time to have it ready.....

In order to save our non-marriage I have taken to using the old crock pot. I am actually really liking coming home and having everything all ready to go and just being able to scarf down some warm food after the gym.

One of my favorite ways to come up with meals is putting my own spin on my mom's old standby recipes because well, I miss her a lot and she made some really good dinners.

Today I wanted to share one of  her old classics, we used to eat this all the time in the winter and it is so good! I often make it without meat and just use lots of shrooms but this week I decided to go all traditional and shit. I made this recipe up a night ahead of time and let it simmer in the crock pot all day, but you could also easily just make it the evening you plan to eat it if you aren't in a time crunch.

You will need:

*recipe makes about 4 servings, or two if you are cows like Jose and I*

-About 8 ounces beef (I used one NY strip steak)

-A package of baby bella mushrooms

-1/2 tbs olive oil

-1/2 cup red wine

-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

-1 tbs flour (mixed into a cup of water)

-Salt and pepper

-1 medium onion

Directions:

-Add olive oil to a skillet and let it get nice and warm over medium-high heat. Slice your beef into small chunks removing excess fat. If you have a dog with an iron stomach as I do, cook that fat up for him. Lightly season beef with salt and pepper. Add it to the skillet.

-Chop your onion into strips (assuming you love onion like I do, if not skip it). Add onion to the skillet of beef and saute until golden brown. 

-Transfer the beef and onion into a crock pot. Add in the container of sliced mushrooms, red, wine, balsamic vinegar, and one cup of water with the flour completely mixed in. Add a few more dashes of salt and pepper and then just let it cook all day. I prepped everything the night before I served this and just refrigerated the stew over night, but if you do it the night you plan to eat just let it simmer over medium-low heat for an hour or so and you will be good to go. 

-Serve the stew over whole wheat egg noodles (or regular ones if you prefer) and garnish with a little parsley.

I like to add a scoop of Greek yogurt to mine right before I eat it, we used to always have it with sour cream as kids but I have convinced myself Greek yogurt is better for you (whether that is true or not I dunno). It makes it really creamy and delicious. 

The Best Holiday Movie of All??

Honestly I would have to say any movie aired on Lifetime or Hallmark during the month of December, but that is coming from a gal who has watched like 11 of those low budget bad boys already...

This is a tough question if you ask me.

There are some real great holiday movies out there.

Bad Santa

Home Alone

Home Alone 2

Prancer

The Family Stone

The Holiday

I could go on for days listing movies that I just love, but there is one Christmas movie that has my vote for the best one ever.

Drum role pleaaaaase.....

That movie is Elf.

If you ask me, Elf has everything you need in a Christmas movie.

-It is set in New York. If you have never been to New York during Christmas time you are seriously missing out. There is something so magical about that place and any movie set there makes me want to move to the big apple just for the holidays.

-There is a great love story. This is a given for any great holiday movie, just ask Lifetime....they make it possible for two people to fall in love in a matter of days.

-It's sweet. Buddy means no harm to anyone he is just a delight the entire movie. It makes me want to be a better person. "Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?"


-Great decorations. The way Buddy transforms the department store is completely underrated...it is gorgeous!! I love me some winter white.

-The last reason I will give (though I can think of at least 45 more) is the music. If you haven't downloaded the Elf soundtrack yet do yourself a favor and do that right now. It's incredible. Second only to maybe Snowed In by Hanson...JK. Kind of.

...to be young at heart

Obviously when the author of my favorite blog Helene in Between says to do something I do it.

When that something happens to be a linkup this awesome I do it even quicker.

I make no excuses for the fact that I friggen love Christmas. 

Hell, everyone in my office hates me right now because I have been blaring non-stop carols since the 1st.

But to them I say bah humbug and I let the little drummer boy keep spreading cheer.

I think we all turn into a bit of a kid during the holidays, and I think that is a great thing.

In case you were wondering that is in fact a rabbit fur cap...it comes out to play every year

-People go ape shit over light displays. Any other time of the year we would call people white trash for covering their brick ranch in light up reindeer and inflatable snowmen but during the month of December we will drive miles and miles to check out a really great display.

Jose and I a few years ago

-Heart warming movies make us tear up instead of throw up. What other time of the year can you handle watching syrupy sweet love stories about a poor girl from a small town who falls in love with a real estate mogul in exactly three days and then at the wedding the maid of honor's father just so happens to be Chris Kringle himself and he lets the couple take his sleigh to Hawaii for their honeymoon? The answer is never. I would never watch that crap if Santa weren't involved.

-We eat with abandon. Most grown ass people give at least some consideration to what food we are putting into our bodies, maybe we don't let those thoughts stop us from eating what we want but we at least think a minute before chowing down. Not during the holidays though. No sirry. That week of Christmas we eat more cookies than seems humanly possible. A little Bailey's in your morning cup of joe? Sure why not, it's Christmas for crying out loud.

Look at all that food, I am sure I had 86 slices of sausage that night

-Gifts make us giddy. I mean yeah, everyone likes getting gifts all year (unless they are a weirdo) but opening up a Christmas present makes everyone get all jazzed up and childlike, it's pretty fun to watch.

-We fight with our families. Growing up my family was always fighting with each other, we screamed and yelled and that is how we showed we care (at least that's what I tell myself). As you get older you (hopefully) become a little less emotional and you also don't live with your family anymore so the fighting seems to cease....until Christmas that is!! I can't remember a single year where my sister and I haven't come to blows causing my parents to get all pissed off, it is just like the good old days.

-We dress like idiots. Kids will literally wear anything. My mom made the mistake of allowing me to choose my own outfit for school photos one year and I went with a Scottish kilt and mardi gras beads...Christmas rolls around and all of us normally well dressed adults start donning Santa hats and snowman earrings, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

My parents and our late baby dog.

-We aren't total dicks to one another. Most kids (while certainly not all) are pretty nice for the most part. They don't do things to intentionally make other people feel bad because the world hasn't yet stolen their innocence. During Christmas the vast majority of people get just a little bit nicer too. And it's friggen awesome.

Yet another reason I can't ever have a child...

Two words: Baby Gap.

That place f-ing bankrupted me last weekend.

I decided I wanted to get my sweet little niece Evie one dress for Christmas along with some toys. You read that right one dress.

She loves dresses and look how gorgeous she is, so naturally I wanted to get her one special dress. You read that right again ONE.

So I went to Baby Gap. And shit got out of hand real quick.

Have you ever been there? It is literally the most adorable collection of overpriced children's wear you will ever see in your life.

I could not stop. I just kept grabbing things that I decided she needs. Like a hot pink sweater dress with black leggings, and white and teal stripped skinny jeans paired with a hipster ass dog wearing a scarf sweater. And an f-ing pink tutu with an old lady sweater for irony you know (it is the creme de le creme of cute shit, I just can't). I just kept going, I bought so much stuff. 

When I checked out and my total was given to me I puked in my mouth a little. Ok, maybe a lot. But I whipped out the old debit card anyway because I just could not help it.

I really don't know how parents do it. I had to stop looking after only browsing half the store, if I had a kid I would go broke....

The outfits miss Ev is going to receive on Christmas morn are worth more than every article of clothing I've bought myself in the last year (like for real I shop pretty much exclusively in the Target clearance section). 

Mark my words, I will never, ever set foot in a Baby JCrew (if there is such a thing) I really just don't think my wallet could handle it.

All I want for Christmas is....

..no it's not you, sorry Mariah.

It is however my two f-ing front teeth.

You know, I never really got the meaning behind that song.

Truth be told I always thought the girl singing about wanting her two front teeth for Christmas was nuts. I would way rather get the hippopotamus personally.

But not this year. No sir, this year I would take the teeth.

                          

I don't know when it happened exactly, I assume when I was tanked, but I have managed to chip my bottom front tooth.

It isn't noticeable or anything like that but I can't seem to quit tonguing it and it is driving me bananas.

I am not a rich folk so I ain't got no dental insurance or anything fancy like that, so I will probably be living with my jagged little incisor for a while. At least until my holiday credit card bill is a distant memory and I can afford to get the bad boy fixed up at the dentist out of pocket.

Have you ever paid for your dental work out of pocket before?? Let me just tell ya, it's really fun.

The season for giving

So I am totally done with my holiday shopping.

Yep, done, 100%.

Sounds awesome right?

Wrong. I know better than to finish shopping prematurely like this.

I did it last year too.

It's not good.

Unless you are on the receiving end of my gifts in which case you are one lucky bastard.

Because there are still a few weeks before the big day and I live somewhere where there is not much to do other than go shopping. There is no way I will be able to avoid stores, especially since Marshall's is in the very same plaza as my gym. I only go there about 38 times a week when I get to the gym a little too early for a class.

And setting foot in a store for me means continuing to find things I want to give people. I have made a point the last few years of making sure my gifts were based on quality not quantity.

Giving a gift with meaning not just for the sake of giving something. For that reason I tried to start early this year. And I did really well finding just the right things for the ones I love, but the holiday spirit always gets the best of me and at this point I will literately buy anything Christmassy.

So if you are on my Christmas list, be prepared to get something really special and then a bunch of shit that I just could not seem to resist buying.

In all reality though I love Christmas shopping. Sure it's expensive, but if you start early and don't stress about it it can be really fun. I love finding something to give someone that I know will make them super happy.

And to my sister, thanks for cracking me up while I did the last of my shopping on good old Cyber Monday.

Elk Hair is an inside joke...I would explain it but I guarantee it would not be funny to anyone else

Oh and to the little boy who we choose off the giving tree, you are lucky I have more holiday spirit than financial sense. And thank you for letting us do something nice during a time of year that can become a little too materialistic even when we try not to make it that way.

What's your shopping style, do you love it like I do??

a badass little salad

Fun fact about me: I eat a salad every single weekday for lunch. I usually have one on the weekends too unless I'm hungover. Because we all know when you're real hungover a salad just won't do.

I get my salad on every day no exceptions for 3 reasons:

-Salad is friggen delicious, there are about 697,694,496 various salad combos you can create so they never get old, and it is fun coming up with new combinations of shit to throw on a salad: leftovers, veggies, nuts, fruit...you name it I will put it atop lettuce.

-I get tired when I eat a big meal. I know the word on the streets is you should have a bigger lunch and smaller dinner, but that is just not my style. If I eat anything heavy for lunch I am super tired in the afternoon and I don't get anything done at work. Plus I like to chow down at dinner and then plant my ass on the couch  for several hours every night like a good American.

-Balance. I feel no guilt having a slightly rich or carb heavy dinner once in a while because I know I had a very healthy lunch. I like that I get my veggies in everyday without fail so I can to some degree eat whatever I want for dinner. This is the same reason I juice for breakfast most days. It makes for less worry about making sure my dinners are balanced and all that crap.

I try to get creative with my salads every week because lunch is my favorite part of the work day. If I have a crummy lunch I am not a happy camper. One of the most fun things about the salads I find is making new dressings. I got one of those fancy dancy stick blenders and while it certainly does not perform half of the functions it claimed to on the box, it works great for making dressing. I occasionally buy bottled dressing, but I usually prefer homemade.

This week I went with the old standby of caprese style salad which is something I could honestly eat probably every single day for the rest of my life. The salad itself is nothing fancy, and pretty much exactly what you would expect, but the dressing is a gd delight. I sort of want to drink it. It is like a phony pesto of sorts and it is gooood.

So here you go in case you want to see if I am lying about this....

You Will Need:

Baby spinach
Cherry Tomatoes
Fresh basil
Fresh mozzarella
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
White vinegar
Ground black pepper
Seat salt

Directions:

(This recipe makes enough dressing for 5-6 servings of salad depending on how saucy ya like it)

-Combine 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 table spoons of white vinegar, two table spoons of balsamic vinegar, a teaspoon each of fresh ground pepper and sea salt, and a shit ton of fresh basil in a jar (or blender if you aren't blessed with an emulsifier like I am). Seriously the more basil the merrier. I used about 4 sprigs (or stalks or whatever they are called) I chopped of the stems and put them right in I didn't worry about picking each leaf off or anything like that. It was one entire package of the small packs you buy at the store so probably about 30 individual leaves in case you are lucky enough to have a basil plant you can gank leaves from.

-Blend that crap up. I just hit it with the stick blender for a few minutes but a food processor or conventional blender will work great too. Give it a taste and see if you want more salt, pepper, more acid, more oil, etc.. and doctor it up to your heart's content.

-Now assemble your little salad. Place washed baby spinach on your plate (or in your to go container as I do each night) top it with a few halved cherry tomatoes and a bunch of chunks of heavenly fresh mozzarella cheese. Dress it right before your eat it and enjoy. I always like to make enough dressing for the week and keep it in little jars I have saved from various products. My dressing this week is chillin out in a few old caper jars because I am ghetto like that. I like to think of it as being green not cheap, but tomato tomato right?

Tell me your favorite salad recipe and I will be your friend for life!

oh and want some more recipes?? Check out the blogs Blissfully Miller and Let's Get Bananas.

I gobbled, and then gobbled some more, and then wobbled.

Guys I'm not going to lie and act like I don't completely love every single weekend, but this one was a real doozie.

It was super special because it contained two extra glorious days and a shit ton of food and booze.

To start the weekend off our old neighbor was in town and he popped in for a visit on Wednesday night. We had a few drinks and shot the shit. He is completely insane so it was interesting conversation to say the least.

Thursday mornin I woke up bright and early to take the dog for a jog and do some yoga in my living room...I knew I would be eating every morsel of food I saw that day so I figured a little workout would do my good.

We then made moves over to our good friend's house for a delicious dinner. We ate a ton and laughed and just had a really, really nice time.

We came home that night and trimmed our little tree while i forced Jose to listen to Christmas music.

Isn't she a beut??

The next morning we headed a few hours away to Frederick, Maryland which is an adorable little town we had never been to. If you get the chance to visit, do it. It's f-ing cute as pie and there are more shops than you can shake ten sticks at. I got almost all my Christmas shopping done and am incredibly proud to report that I didn't buy anything other than two used records for myself. I try every year to not be greedy during the holidays, but sometimes when this gal gets into shopping mode it gets a little ugly. Maybe I am cured, or maybe I am just broke...who knows really.

We also ate and drank every delicious bite of food, beer, and red wine that Frederick had to offer.

Just look at all that goodness...

We even enjoyed a nice bottle of red in our hotel room before going out the first night....let me tell you wine tastes fantastic from a plastic hotel room cup.

That wine had me feeling good enough to put on high heels and lipstick. Those are two things this guy never wears, especially not together. To prove it actually happened I made Fred pose for a few selfies with me.

We toured the Flying Dog Brewery and even got a free goblet out of the deal.

Mostly we just walked Fred around downtown and basked in all the charming ass Christmas delight.

We even drank until I couldn't stand one night in downtown Frederick then hailed a cab back to our hotel. The next morning I ran a very hungover 3 miles to retrieve that car and it was during that run that I accomplished my main mission for visiting Frederick....and that was snapping a picture of Fred the Dog under a Frederick sign. I was still pretty hammered so the photo isn't great but it will do.

I now feel like I need to fast for at least eight or nine days to feel normal again, but realistically we all know I will be noming down some lunch in a few short hours...I am however going to lay of the booze until at least Friday. Mark my words.