Fred Flare.

I love fredflare.com, I think that they have the cutest trinkets and gadgets. Once I have a job and can afford to buy fun stuff, I will definitely be making some purchases at fred flare. Here are some items that I found recently that I think are really cute.

1. Personal Library Kit

Okay so when I was younger I basically did this but I didn't have a nifty kit to help me out. I made a 'library' card for my sister and wrote down what she checked out from my library and in most of my books I stamped my name, perhaps so she didn't try and claim them as her own.

2. Singing in the Rain Shower curtain

I love the movie and I would love to have this in my bathroom someday! I think it is really cute.

3. Microphone Tongs

I would have waaaay to much fun with these bad boys. I love to cook/bake and whenever I am in the kitchen I usually have my ihome with me blasting some upbeat, fun music. I have used pots and stirring spoons as my 'microphone' before and to have these tongs would make kitchen singing so much more fun :)

xox

Fri[ed]day

Last summer when I went to T.G.I. Friday's for dinner I was told to try the green bean fries. I have to admit I was a little skeptical but as soon as I tried it, I knew I was in love. About a month ago, instead of going out for dinner, my boyfriend and I decided to cook a meal together and I wanted to have burgers and green bean fries. I found a recipe online that claimed equivalence to Friday's creation, so I had to try it. We didn't have a fryer so instead we put about an inch of vegetable oil in the bottom of a pot that would be used to cook pasta, a fryer would make this much easier because then the fries would be in a basket, instead Dan had to fish them out with tongs, but it worked out regardless. The longest process was breading each bean because you have to dip the green beans in 3 different bowls of ingredients which takes a while. But I will say that they were well worth all the work because they were delicious and in my opinion better than Friday's (but maybe that is just because we toiled over these fries for at least 40 minutes and I was hungry) We did not make the wasabi-ranch sauce, but there were directions for that too.

Here is the recipe! Enjoy :)

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk
4 cups chicken broth
6 to 8 ounces fresh green beans
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup plain, breadcrumbs (like Progresso brand)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 to 12 cups vegetable shortening or oil

1. Prepare beans by bringing 4 cups of chicken broth to a boil. Boil beans in the broth for 15 minutes and then plunge them into ice water to keep them from getting too soft.

2. Combine beaten egg with milk in a shallow bowl. Measure 1 cup of flour into another shallow bowl. Combine bread crumbs 3/4 teaspoon salt, black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder in a third shallow bowl.
3. Working with a small handful of beans at a time, remove them from the ice water and coat them with flour. Shake off any excess flour. Dip the beans one at a time into the egg and milk mixture and then coat each one with the breadcrumb mixture. Lay the coated beans on a plate until all of them have been breaded.
4. Heat shortening or oil to 350 degrees F. Use the amount of oil require by your fryer.

5. Fry the beans in bunches for 1 1/2 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on a rack or paper towels, then serve them up with the wasabi-cucumber ranch dip. <-- If you are interested in making this the complete recipe can be found here.
Serves 2 to 4 as an appetizer.

This is our finished product. :)

xox

FROZEN

With all the snow we've been getting (and ice? what is that about?) of course my first reaction would be to decide that I want to get frozen yogurt. Who does that? Well, I guess I do. So it all started when I was driving down Route 3 and I saw this store sign that said Cups and then had what appeared to be little cupcakes on the sign, but at a closer look, I saw that they were not cupcakes, they were little cups of frozen yogurt. I saw this sign probably 3 months ago and never went in to check it out. But this past Sunday I finally took the plunge. After a hectic drive through Jersey City to scope out the land, I (and my roommate) ventured into Cups on a cold day. I thought that this little shop would be deserted. But I was so wrong. It was a very happening place to be and it was so festive with its purple and green couches and wall decorations. And then of course there is the yogurt. There were probably close to 20 flavors there and I wanted to try [almost] all of them. I was in a sugary mood so I put cookies and cream, red velvet, cake batter, and chocolate yogurt all into my little cup. And then there were tons of toppings to choose from! Cereal, candy, fruit, chocolate sauces. . .you name it, they probably had it. The best part about this place is you can do the whole process yourself. Then to check out, you put your cup on a scale and depending on how many ounces you get, that is how much it costs. (I got 13 ounces) And you get this nifty purple spoon, which I saved because I do things like that. So I can't wait to go back and I want to take all my friends and family there because it was just that good. :)

Here is a picture of my froyo from Cups

I am obviously not a professional frozen yogurt dispenser,

next time I will try to make it look prettier.

xox

Music[als]

Lately I've become very aware of music that is played in the background of TV shows or movies. When I hear a song that I like I'll write down pieces of the lyrics that I can catch and then google it later to find out who sings it. Two of my new favorite songs are from different episodes of season 1 of The Vampire Diaries. The songs are Down by Jason Walker and The Mess I Made by Parachute

This semester I'm taking a class on the history of American broadway. Last week we watch a clip from Fiddler on the Roof, a movie that I haven't seen in ages! We were required to watch a movie called Yankee Doodle Dandy, which is about the life of George M. Cohan and the influence he had on broadway. I never realized that certain patriotic songs like "Over There" and "You're a Grand Old Flag" were written by Cohan and they were sung on broadway. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this movie and found it really interesting. For this week we have to watch an operetta, and I'm not sure how much I will like that.

xox

Disney!

Photo from Disneywiki

Even though I'm 21 years old I still have a major love and obsession for everything Disney. My sister and I play Disney Scene-it all the time which is a lot of fun. I would love if there were major competitions for it. :) I am by no means a Disney expert (though I would like to think that I know a fair amount) there are still many of the classic Disney movies that I have never seen, like Song of the South, and new movies that I want to still see (Tangled). Recently I rewatched 101 Dalmatians & The Rescuers and I realized how sad both of these movies actually are. Sure when you're little Madame Medusa and Cruella De Vil are both scary villains, but seeing them as an adult opened my eyes to what I did not see as a child. The Hunchback of Notre Dame's villain, Claude Frollo, is also very frightening; not only did he consider drowning Quasimodo as a baby because of his hideous features, but he was the cause of Quasi's mother's death. But, kidnapping and skinning dogs are not exactly happy thoughts either. Disney movies usually end in a way that leaves the villain defeated and the underdog victorious. Let's face it, if Phillip hadn't killed Maleficent or if Eric hadn't rammed into Ursula with his ship, then Disney would be showing us how evil prevails and not how love conquers all. Of course Disney isn't like real life.

L: Cruella De Vil
T: Claude Frollo
R: Madame Medusa

FredFlare.com has some cute Disney Couture jewelry
that is reminiscent of movies from my childhood.

1. "One Bite" Apple Ring
From Snow White


$48

2. Drink Me Necklace

From Alice in Wonderland



$70

3. Shark Bracelet
From the Little Mermaid
$58

I am also obsessed with Disney songs. I have been known to burst into Disney songs at random, and I have quite a few on my itunes. My favorite Disney princess is Ariel so here is a cover from Traci Hines of Part of Your World. She has a ton of Disney princess covers on youtube, her user name is TraciHines.

New Year, New Plans

I realize I'm a little behind to be posting new years resolutions, but better late than never I suppose. I'm not calling my resolutions "resolutions", instead I would like to call them goals.

Right now my goals for this year are:

1. Graduate from College.
2. Go to the gym 3-5 times a week.
3. Watch less TV (this is a slow work in progress).
4. Take a cooking/baking class.
5. Find a job that I like.

It's hard to believe that I'm already in my last semester of college. These past 4 years have gone so quickly. Right now I don't feel sad that I am almost done, my attitude is the sooner it's over the better, but I guess that is because I am a bit annoyed with Montclair, my first week back has felt like a month. It will be weird knowing that after this summer is over, for the first time in my life I won't be returning to any type of school. It's scary though, knowing that soon I'll be in the "real" world where work won't be canceled for snow and instead of homework, I'll have other types of projects. I really feel like I should still be in high school. Instead, I will be getting my diploma in 115 days. So weird.


xox


What I'm listening to: Do you love me by Guster

Wow it's been awhile. . .

I seriously cannot wait until winter break. What really sucks is technically I only have 3 days of the semester left. BUT I won't be finished this semester until December 20. yay. I still haven't even started Christmas shopping. Not that I can afford much since I've been out of a job for almost a year and a half. I have a lot of goals for winter break and I do not know if it is possible to accomplish them all because Montclair is giving the puniest winter break EVER. Oh well. One more semester and then graduation, and I will be officially in the 'real' world. On a happier note, here is what I am currently obsessed with :)

Book:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I read this book in my Young Adult Lit Class and fell in love with it!
I would definitely recommend it!
Hopefully I get books 2 and 3 for Christmas so I can find out what happens.
And there is going to be a movie.
But I'm not sure I want this book to turn into the next Twilight.
I'm kinda over that.


TV Show:
Nikita

Okay, this is completely different from all other shows on the CW.
I would describe it as 24 but Jack Bauer is a girl. It is AMAZING.
And Shane West is in it. What could be better?
It's on Thursdays at 9 pm. It won't be back on til January 27
so there is time to catch up if you're behind!


CD:
Taylor Swift - Speak Now

I really like this album. T. Swift is back and does not disappoint.
As of right now my favorite tracks are Mean, Sparks Fly and Speak Now.

Person:
Darren Criss

So I have to admit before Darren's role on Glee, I had no idea who he was.
But after seeing his debut, I did some googling and discovered that he performed in
a college musical that he helped write the music too. This musical is on youtube.
And what was this musical you might ask.
A Very Potter Musical.
And Darren is Harry Potter.
I watched it and loved it! And the soundtrack was free so of course I downloaded that.
Then I continued to look for information
and found some clips he had posted of himself singing
Disney songs.
Yes.
DISNEY SONGS!

Movie:
Burlesque

I must admit I have not seen this. But I really want too!
Watching the preview gives me the chills when Xtina belts out those notes.

xox