Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

For those of you who are interested, here is the recipe for the mason jar desserts from Memorial Day

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/judys-strawberry-pretzel-salad/

Speaking of sharing recipes, have you ever used Pepperplate? Great for sharing recipes online and especially on iPhones and iPads. It allows you to make notes, scale recipes, plan menus, and shoot an email to a friend with your custom recipe at any time.

But for y'all I'll just tell you the modifications Julie and I made:

1. Mason jars. Duh. I bought 1/2 pint jars from the grocery and they were prefect. This recipe made 10 jars, but you could definitely fit 12. The thing is that it makes 16 servings, so we had couples share the 10 that we made and it was just about the right about. If you want a big dessert though, go one per person.
2. Cut down on the sugar and butter in the crust. 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 cup of butter is plenty. I also recommend a food processor to chop them up if you want the crust smoother. If you like a course crust just go at it with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin. If you leave it chunky people will think there are nuts in it.
3. Skinny please. Go with low fat cream cheese, cool whip, and sugar free jello. No one will miss the extra calories. Note: if you always make recipes skinny, people never try the fully loaded kind and likely wont know what they are missing out on. I'm so sneaky that way. Don't tell hubs :-)

The perfect make-ahead, cool, fruity summer dessert.

Except for maybe daiquiri ice from Baskin Robbins.

Or a margarita.

Or sangria. Who doesn't want to end a gorgeous night with sangria? Sigh...

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Memorial Day

I know I told you I'd write about baseball, and I full intended to today, but then there was a heated game last night and I got all riled up. So it's best if I let myself take a chill pill and write about that later.

In the mean time, I'll tell you about my weekend.

Friday hubs went left and I went right. Actually, we were only a block apart for a good portion of the night, but who's counting? His bestie is getting married and they had their bachelor party. Do men call their best friends "besties"? Probs not. Let's call him his best "bud". I don't think hubster uses that phrase, but I'm at a loss. Anyway, they had a bachelor party and I went to the associated bachelorette cause the future Mrs. Best Bud is great and we get along well. No photos from the evening, but the boys ended the night at 3am with Taco Bell sooo... just sayin.

Blah blah boring things on Saturday morning and mid-day. Then that afternoon we went my sister move into her new place. It was super duper hot, so no photos there either. Even if they did exist, which they don't, I wouldn't show you.

Then Sunday the pictures began. We went to Celebration at the Station. Ever been? Basically the Symphony has a free concert on the lawn between Union Station and the Liberty Memorial. Did you know the Liberty Memorial is one of very few WWI museums in America? Well we sat on blankets between the two landmarks and listened to the symphony while we enjoyed wine, fruit, bread with oil, and (duh) dessert.

My lovely friend and I made what I like to refer to as the classic grandma style potluck dessert- strawberry jello cheesecake crusty things. That's the technical term. I'll find the recipe and post it here. But the fun of it was the mini-mason jars. Everything is more fun in a jar, doncha know? Long story short, I didn't know how to transport the dessert for more than 10 people in a cooler to the park. Much less, something that could baked in and served from. Solution? My friend mason. Check out these little cutie pies?*

Pardon the photo quality. Not sure what happened here. 

There were also some wonderful designs on Union Station behind the symphony stage. How cool?!

They also shot of cannons. Like real cannons. The really loud ones. I jumped every time. Then they shot off fireworks behind the memorial. A lot of them. Probably the best firework show I've been to in a long time. 

Then Monday came and we had a b-day party for my cuz. Pool party, to be specific. It was the perfect day for it. Mack-attack loves to swim. 

False. He does not love to swim. That picture was staged. Hard to imagine, but true. 

And I baked a cake. Cause that's how I roll. 

Then my sister and I wore matchy-matchy outfits. She called us "twinkles" all day. Not sure what that means... But I do  know that she thought our dresses were green sooo she's clearly a bit coo-coo for cocoa puffs.

That's all folks. 

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the towel is still damp

Confession:
Remember how I had a friend who got mad because some guy at work didn't remember meeting her? Well, she was sitting in a meeting the next day and her coworker says "yesterday in our meeting with Ashton Kutcher*..."

And a lightbulb went on.

Why? Because my friend thought she was talking to Brad Pitt* the whole time. And was very upset that Brad didn't remember her. When in reality, she had never met Brad before. She just thought Brad was Ashton.

Oh humility...

*Names have been changed for confidentiality. And Ashton and Brad were the first two celebrity names that came to my head just now. Is that weird?


In other news:
I brought creamer to work a few weeks ago and put it in the fridge. I don't often have creamer at work because I don't often drink the office coffee. Office coffee has a bad reputation for a reason, peeps. Well anyway, I brought creamer and I've used it a few times. When I say a few, we're talking 3-5 times today. But when I puled it out yesterday it was almost empty. And I got annoyed. And then I remembered my friend's dose of humility and thought to myself "What if this isn't my creamer after all? What if I put it in the fridge on the wrong floor? What if the cleaning people threw it out as part of their Friday-fridge-cleans? Then I thought of New Girl.

Have you ever seen New Girl? Hilarious show.

The first time I showed it to my cousin I told him there were more sex jokes and more foul language than I'm normally comfortable with.

His response: "Sooo... exactly how many are you normally comfortable with?"
My response: "Touche"

It is slightly crass, but oh so hilarious. Watch this clip...

So there you have it. Someone else thinks the French Vanilla Coffee-mate legitimately belongs to them and I legitimately think it is mine. 

I guess it just gets down to who wears whose underpants. 

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What (not) to do at work

Welcome back to my blog. 

I have been trying to blackmail my family and friends 

that have ceased blogging by refusing to blog until ya'll do. 

But I'm not convinced its working 

so I'll just hold a grudge and jump back in.

Upcoming blog posts (in no particular order):

New York

Little League

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Bran Muffins

Summer Garden

Now I can't promise I'll blog about those things, but I'll sure try.

Today, though, we're talking about what you should and should not do at work. Most of you have seen my opinions on professional dresscode on my FB, so I'll spare you more opinions on that and jump to another sensitive subject. Here is a question from one of my imaginary readers:

Dear crazy blog lady, What do I do when I am introduced to someone and they say they have met me before but I don't remember them? 

Good question! Thanks for asking :-)

What you should not do is tell them that they are wrong. "No, you must be wrong. We've never met" is not a nice response.

You should apologize for forgetting and ask where you've met before. Try something like "Gosh, I'm so sorry! I knew your name sounded familiar, remind me- where did we met?"

If you miss this step and the kind person that you don't remember tries to help you out by saying "I think we've spoken over the phone a few times. I'm the one that led the meeting last week about Project X." You should not shrug your shoulders and say "Nope, don't remember. Oh well." That is actually very rude and makes the kind person that you're talking to feel very insignificant. Or indignant. Those words can be used interchangeably sometimes. That kind person might feel the urge to snap you like a green bean in the hands of a southern black woman in a rocking chair.

You should say "You're right! I must not have had enough coffee this morning. Good to see you again!" This comment is acceptable, even appropriate, regardless of whether or not you have met the person.

But really, if you're being a butthead to other people, you should confess to them and to God about it. I read an article last night that talks about holiness at work and it was helpful and humbling to me. Below are some snippets:

Dependence. Go to work utterly dependent on God 

Integrity. More people rob their employers by being slackers than by filching the petty cash.

Skill. Get good at what you do. 

Corporate shaping. As you have influence and opportunity, shape the ethos of the workplace so that the structures and policies and expectations and aims move toward accordance with Christ. 

Impact. Aim to help your company have an impact that is life-enhancing.

Communication. Work places are webs of relationships and communication.Let those who love their salvation say continually, Great is the Lord! 

Love. Serve others. Take an interest in others at work. Be known as the one who cares not just about the light-hearted weekend tales, but the burdens of heavy and painful Monday mornings. 

Money. Don’t work to earn to have. Work to earn to have to give and to invest in Christ-exalting ventures. Make your money speak of Christ as your supreme Treasure.

Thanks. Don’t be among the complainers. Let your thankfulness to God overflow in a humble spirit of gratitude to others. Be known as the hope-filled, humble, thankful one at work.

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life in the fast lane

We're in our mid-twenties. Therefore we move fast. Actually, I have always moved fast. I try to fit as many things into my day as possible which is why I'm always 5 minutes late everywhere I go. But that's another story for another day.

We are just busy busy people. And we love it.

Here's a few days in the life*:
Warning: this is long and it is not fancy. It is very matter-of-fact. A true play-by-play. 

• Thursday night got off work at 6:30 after emotionally hyper-ventilating cause work was nuts. Changed and mowed the lawn. Friends came over at 8 for hot dogs. They left at 10. 
• Friday worked until 3:30 then bailed early to go pick up some last minute birthday/ mother's day/ wedding gifts. By 4:30 I was at the park picking up a packet for a race on Saturday morning. By 5:30 we were at the neighbors helping them move a couch. By 6:30 we were on the plaza in Royals attire picking up my in-laws for a birthday/ mother's day celebration. At 11:00 we arrived back at home in time to put some laundry in the dryer before bed that had been there since 6:20. Be sure to step over the massive amount of water gathering at the base of the stairs and soaking the carpet. Deal with that later. 
• Saturday morning at 6:15 we're out the door for a race. You know, the "is that really possible?" race. I ran (and walked). Bestie ran. We were alive and out of the park by 9:00. Home, shower, bestie back to the Plaza to meet his parentals and I to a wedding brunch then to get our nails done. I finished at 1:45 and was to the baseball field by 2:15 where I produced a fair amount of glisten while watching the kids bust out another win. At 3:15 I was back in the car heading home. Don't shower before the rehearsal dinner. Just spritz with perfume (I'll get complemented on this later). Pick up the house a bit, try to kill as many ants as possible, catch up on some blogs, then start doing hair and makeup at 4:15 to be out the door for a 5:00 rehearsal dinner. By 8:30 we're on the road again. This time we're off to see my fam. The night is young, doncha know?! At 11:00- give or take 20 minutes- we crash. 
• Sunday morning at 7:45 alarm goes off. Hit the showers and dry the lions mane before heading to a dear friend's wedding day preparations. More on the wedding later. Hubs is heading to church then to brunch with friends before he joins me for the ceremony at 2:30. I leave the wedding at 6:30, stop at the store to pickup snacks, arrive home at 7:10. Hub was able to leave the wedding early to come home and clean because friends are coming over at 7:15. We sit and talk about what it means to be in the kingdom of God. More on that later. They all leave by 9:45. We have just enough time to pick up, load the dishwasher, watch an episode of Parks and Rec, and crash. 
• Today I left work at 6pm which is pretty standard. Good thing dinner is in the crock pot because by the time we get home, feed the pup, eat, clean up, and fold some laundry its time to head out to grab coffee with a friend at 7:30. By the time you leave the coffee shop Sam's Club is closed and you don't have a chance to get toilet paper or creamer so you just head home thinking about how I need to pick up creamer (and a coffee for 7 people by 7:30am) to be ready for an 8-hour meeting that starts at 8am. Don't think about it. When I get home at 9:20 hubs is working in our home office and I'm left wishing I had time to go for a run and staring at the laundry and the dust on the furniture and the piles on the counter and I just don't wanna...

So I blog. And I tell you how I feel.

And in two days a man will arrive at our house and he will give us an estimate of how much it would cost to have pros come clean for us once a month. To give us a little bit of life back. Is this lazy of us? Maybe. It is needed? I don't know. You see that big long story a lead in to what I will write tomorrow about my feelings on this concept of hiring a cleaning company. It will be shorter. I promise :-) See you then!

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i love to run

You know that moment when you go look at the map for the run tomorrow morning that you're mentally ignoring cause you don't wanna do it cause you thought you were signing up for a large group thing but actually you were signing up for an every-man-for-himself race representing your company and you finally find a girl to run with and she breaks her foot that very night and you find out the race starts at 7am on a Saturday and you're seriously dreading it and wishing you could just go home and eat your scones?

When that happens to you, try out a fun tool called Map My Run. Its very handy and will tell you how far you ran, and when you crossed the mile-markers and your pace and all that fun stuff. This is the map for tomorrow:


You know what else it tells you? Elevation. Check this out...

You see that little hill in the middle that is a miiilllleee long? And that nice little one at the end? Yeah I got that under control. No big deal.

You wanna know the cherry on top? Weather.com is predicting 87% humidity at 7am tomorrow morning. I was joking yesterday when I said the humidity was 90%. I didn't know it could actually get that high...

Hubs is running tomorrow morning too, but his race starts an hour and 15 minutes after mine. He said he'd happily cheer me on while sleeping in the car.

Can we get some comments up in the house telling the punk that he best be on those sidelines?

I do get participation points for this, right... right...? Sigh...

PS- Dear Punk, I'll love you either way I guess. 

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Welcome to summer

Today it was 90 degrees. And 90% humidity I think. We broke down and turned on the AC last night in mental preparation. I dislike heat. Which generally makes summer one of my least favorite seasons. Except I love them all. And I love flowers. But I very much dislike the heat. Lord help us if we ever move south.

But earlier this week I got a Patagonia magazine in the mail. It has lots of fantastic running and hiking and camping gear that makes me homesick for Colorado and the mountains. As if it were ever my home. Maybe Ijust want a getaway in general. Well I'm boycotting running, as you know, and we aren't moving to the mountains anytime soon so I just skipped those pages and- dun dun dunnnnn...

In the magazine is this coat. It has stolen my heart.

Maybe I just long for it cause I'm bitter that winter got away without a dumping of snow. Regardless, it is beautiful and very expensive.

Also, a friend of mine got some fantastic Chacos for her wedding shower (way cool of you, Ash's mom). I am coveting them now.

All you crummy feet people like me- are you drooling too?

Trying to shake off a crummy work day with online shopping. And baking more on scones later.

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