you know you have a problem when...

Hi.  My name is Liesl and I'm an addict.  Within the past day I have read three books, and I can't stop.  Curse you stop long series!  It's now almost 2am and I'm highly considering starting book four out of seven (in the House of Night series,which is cheese-tacular and obviously addicting) instead of sleeping.  Aarg!

Stolen Recipe (mhah ha ha -evil laugh)

So I went to Cheesecake Factory awhile ago, and I think I have basically figured out the recipe for my favorite pasta dish there.  so good!!!  It's super easy.  Take penne pasta and toss with olive oil and a little pesto.  Then top with sauteed yumminess including: kalamata olives, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, artichoke hearts, and red bell pepper.  I kid you not, I am drooling as I write this.  Um yeah, gotta go so I can go make some more of this and eat it right now.   :)

The Adventures of...

So I decided to prepare everyone (and by that I suppose I really mean Tova, and perhaps Jeff) for the coming adventures of "The Coffeenator" and "The Devourer of Books". This of course being Carra and myself.  Why the random superhero-esque names you ask?  Um, we were bored?  The better question I think is why we picked those specific names.  Carra works at Starbucks (enough said), and I do things like read half a dozen or so novels I week (partially because I have too much free time, and partially because I get hooked onto various series and can't stop until I've read them all).  Um, so far there are no adventures because we've only just picked cool names... But we warned!  Someday soon you will read of majorly retarded things involving "The Coffeenator" (not to be confused with Ralph Nader) and "The Devourer of Books".  This is your heads up.

goat

I seriously just saw a cat in my backyard that was so large and bushy, that when I first saw only its back half, I thought it was a small goat.  My first thought was of course, "How the heck did a freaking goat get into my yard?"  And that's whn I realized it was indeed a cat.  Wow.

Sad for me, fun for others

So today I played the playstation.  Or should I say "tried" to play it.  I'm definately one of those people who tends to lean left/ right, or bounce in their seat while the character jumps, etc.  The overall concensus is that I suck at video games, but I'm very entertaining for my friends to watch.  As far as I'm concerned, I can either play video games or go to the gym (cause really I think I get the same workout either way).

Drooling

I am totally drooling over this:



I've been wanting to get a dress form for forever.  Yeah, I know.  I'm a huge nerd.

Celebrities

I can't help it. It makes me feel awesome when famous people sound like the idiots they generally are. ...Which reminds me of one of my favorite Avenue Q songs (Schadenfreude). My mind tends to jump around a lot. Anyway, that's why I now have spaztacular "celebrity" quotes on my blog.

happy day

The new definition of a happy day involves spending the majority of the day curled up on the couch reading a book (by the way, I recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. So crazy good!) and being surrounded on said couch by your wonderful husband and your baby brother (who in my case is a dog), with your cat asleep on your lap. Yup, good day.

BTE

Let me tell you what BTE stands for. It stands for "Best Husband Ever" and it thoroughly applies to mine. He got home from a ten hour work shift today and immediately said, "What project do you want to work on?" And he started in one. No nagging or guilt-tripping or anything. Awesome!

stupid...annoying...grumble, grumble

You want to know what the number 1 way to frustrate and annoy me is? It is for you to be the person at my work who writes the schedule, and for you to give me a two hour shift, and for that two hour shift to be the only day I work that week. Yup, that'll do it.

But to that I say this. Want to know how I shrug it off? It involves a large happy glass of red wine and the book I'm supposed to be reading for book club but am way behind on. Well, now I guess I have the free time to catch up! (If anyone cares, the book is The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and it's quite good).

blog

"Bob Loblaw's Law Blog". Anyone?

Something that will keep me awake...

Yeah... Gotta love those days where you start work at 6am, but are forced to park like a mile away (I'm not kidding) so you have to get up that much earlier. Grr. So halfway through the day I start trying to eat stuff that will keep me awake (it's basically a game of "how much sugar/ caffeine can I consume?"). My personal favorite for the day is the graham cracker & chocolate frosting sandwich that my dad created (no shock there for anyone who has ever met him). Maybe I'll make some coffee to go with that...

Work

I think the best part of my job is dressing mannequins. There are currently 34 of them in my store that were dressed by me. That's all but 2 of the total. It's great. They hand you huge headless dolls, and you get to dress them in cute clothes and pose them looking all cute. Sound familiar? Yup, it's like you're five years old again and playing dress up or playing with dolls (or both! Woohoo, it's the best of both worlds). Even better than that though is when you are doing this on the work floor while the store is open, because if you are also rudely stripping the dolls to redress them there is always at least one stupid person who freaks out because they think you are handling a real child. It normally takes them a minute or so to realize "hey, those kids don't have heads, fingers or toes, and are made of fabric. I guess they aren't real." It's kinda funny. The best part though, about doing mannequins is that you're mostly excused from the annoying customer service bits, or trying to make people open a new credit card (you know, the parts of the job you're normally SUPPOSED TO DO).

Yeah, I like to post random stuff, what of it?

So, looking at the picture of Luna in a tiara makes me really thankful to be married (love you honey!) because I realized that otherwise I'd be a crazy cat lady. Not that I'm not one currently, but I'd be the one who is ninety and single, and dresses her cats in clothes AND headwear. Scary thought!

Glee

Ok, so I finally got a chance to watch the latest Glee last night. And it is officially (to me anyway) the best episode ever! Everything I had been looking forward to happened. And let me just mention my favorite bits in no particular order:
1. I love Idina
2. "Dream On" (totally had it in my head this morning and was happy, until I got to work and had to listen to Lady Gaga for 4 straight hours.)
3. Artie dancing looks like amazing Gumby (does that make me sound super old? Do kids even know what Gumby is now?)
4. Joss Whedon's involvement in the show

The Princess's Birthday

So yesterday was the Princess's birthday. This picture is an example of how I have the best kitty ever, because really, how many cats would put up with wearing a tiara for pictures ( I took a bunch)? By the way, she has good reason to wear a tiara.

1. I said so, and I like sparkly things.

2. It's tiny and fit her perfectly, so it was like a sign.

3. Jeff calls her "Princess Princess" (because she is a princess and her name is Princess), and all princesses wear tiaras.

I know she looks a little grumpy in the picture, but it's not because of me. It's because Finley is staying with us, and she really dislikes him. She's kinda a diva.

Followers...mhah ha ha (evil laugh)

Is it wrong that when I see the section for my blog followers (thank you Tova) I think of cults? If only I could change the title to "People Who Must Be Very Bored", or "Yes, I Was Tricked Into Viewing This Page!). Those title might be more appropriate. Let me know what you think. Ok, imaginary people who are actually reading this?

Yay soup!

Ok, so I totally am in love with soup. I know it's the wrong season for it and everything, but I want this particular soup, like right now. So much so that I climbed a ladder into the attic to get the recipe that had been accidentally placed up there. That's saying something...

Harvest Pumpkin Soup (serves 6-8)

15 oz. pumpkin
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups chicken stock
1 sprig thyme
1 parsnip, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 yukon gold potato, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 turnip, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 small shallots, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons heavy cream (or milk, whatever)
1 teaspoon packed light-brown sugar

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the stock and thyme; bring to a gentle simmer. Cook 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the reamining 5 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the pumpkin, parsnip, potato, and turnip; cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add shallots, and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add wine, and cook until liquid has reduced by half. Add broth to the mix and simmer for about 20 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender. Stir in cream, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste just before serving. Yum!

Beginnings

Hi world. Welcome to me. I'm Liesl. I have way too much free time, and I get distracted easily. Starting a blog is me getting distracted. Also, I tend to go off on tangents sometimes, so if it's difficult for you (ha ha to imagine anyone will ever want to read this) to follow twisted weirdness that doesn't make sense (for example, Alice In Wonderland actually makes sense to me) you might want to leave now. On the other hand, I like to do random (hense the blog title) crafts and cooking, and if you continue to read this, I will probably drop recipes, patterns,etc. Wow, I feel like I'm fishing for people.