When I was in Kindergarten, at Christmas time my teacher had all her students sit in a circle and say what we wanted for Christmas. All the kids kept saying a Lite Brite and I had no idea what it was. When my turn came, I said what I wanted and threw in the Lite Brite. Apparently the list got back to my parentals because I got a Lite Brite that year. And it was my favorite toy. Pretty much ever. Seriously. Well, that Christmas anyway.
For some reason I thought of the Lite Brite today and wondered if I could still get one. Hooray, I can! (http://www.hasbro.com/litebrite/) Also I discovered I can unleash my inner child by playing Lite Brite online! I am ecstatic! You create your own design then you can print it. Here is my first custom design. (Clearly I need practice.) You too can partake in the fun here.
Section 2 of this post is slightly disturbing. It's too much for me, but I absolutely had to share.
SECTION 1: There is only one place in Dallas that I have found where people from ALL walks of life can go and have a common interest. This special place is Fuel City! You will see everything from construction workers, cops, regular Joe's, working girls, business men in suits, and everything in between.
Fuel City is open 24/7 and has cheap gas, cold beer and delicious tacos. The tacos have been voted "The Great Texas Taco" by Texas Monthly magazine. You can get an breakfast tacos from 5am-10am and traditional tacos the remainder of the day. Tacos are served with pico de gallo, onions, lime slices and green or red hot sauce. You can mix and match from chicken and beef fajita, barbacoa, pork or chopped beef. Each taco is $1.16 + tax. This taco stand has 2 ordering stations, one inside the gas station and a window outside. Prepare to stand in line, but trust me (and the rest of Dallas), it's totally worth it.
While you wait, you can partake of the Mexican cream corn. You've never seen heaven in a styrofoam cup until you've had this corn for $2.50. Imagine if you will, corn in the bottom of a cup, a layer of liquid butter, a splash of hot sauce, more corn, more butter, sour cream, hot sauce and crumbled cheese. Oh yeh, and there is lemon pepper seasoning sprinkled in the mix.
Wait to eat the corn until you have a nice frosty beverage from inside. (You're gonna need it. Woo! Spicy!) After you purchase your drink, I would recommend a nice Bud Light Lime, swing back by the taco window and your food will be ready.
Fuel City advertises a lovely and refreshing swimming pool. I recently asked the attendant when the pool was open and apparently it's just for show. Whateve. I bring my own lawn chairs to sit in the shade and watch the longhorn cattle and donkeys in the pasture next door. That takes us into section 2.
SECTION 2: Again, WARNING, this is gross. While waiting for my friend Nicole today (shout out!), I was parked facing the pasture. Aw, how nice. Some Texas Longhorns, some feisty donkeys and a very horny donkey. I've never thought anything about the anatomy of donkeys, but today I received a crash course. Homeboy was feeling frisky and decided to show his donkey schlong to the world. Holy crap it was HUGE! It was like nothing I had ever seen before. It would slowly stretch down from his nether region and it would just hang. It would hang until he decided to bounce it up and down to his stomach. Talk about a train wreck you can't stop watching! After he bounced it around for a bit, it would shrink up for a little rest and then it would come back out. I'm racking my brain trying to think of something to relate it to, but I just can't compare the shrinking and stretching.
I just scheduled an emergency session with my therapist. Actually I don't have one but I think I now need one. Know any good ones?
Anywho, I still love Fuel City and had some wonderful tacos for lunch! Here's a video from YouTube featuring Fuel City. Sans donkey schlong.
Wendesday evening I had to drive Amy to DFW Airport so she can go see her fam in Cali. (Yes, I know. She's a dirty pirate hooker. I kid, I kid!) On the way out there it started raining. Really hard. However, there was a full rainbow. You never see a full rainbow! It was goregous! After I dropped her off and was driving back to the casa, a second rainbow had started forming above the first. I have NEVER seen a double rainbow.
Note to self, do not try to drive an unfamiliar car, in the pouring rain, while trying to take phone pictures of a rainbow. Not very safe.
Unfortunately I'm not able to upload pics from my phone, but Karyn Bosnak had a post where a reader sent her a picture of my rainbow. Kinda cool! Small world! Click the link below to check it out.
My favorite liquor store is the new(er) Sigel's off Fitzhugh and Cole. It is super nice, always clean, a HUGE selection of wine, and the staff is super friendly. They even sell cheese and Allen Brothers steaks. This Sigel's is a perfect date stop. You can pick up everything at one place!
Now for the exciting part, Sigel's is having an Inventory Reduction Sale!!! All wines are on sale to make room for new inventory. Yay for cheap wine! It's Thursday so the weekend is less than 24hours away. Why not start sooner?
Do a service to your lips! Burt's Bees has a new chapstick out: Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil. Pomegranate chapstick! AMAZING! It has a pink color but it goes on clear, which I really like. It smells really yummy and it makes your lips feel really good without the gloppy feeling.
I got mine at Target but I'll keep an eye out for other places around Dallas to get it. Check it out!
I'm not sure whether or not this kid is "preaching" or just screaching, but it's funny all the same.
UPDATE: The server that hosts this video is currently down. Should be back up on Monday, 8/18. I'll leave this on there until Monday. Hopefully you can see it soon!
A few months ago I wrote about Black Joe Lewis. Well, he's back! The first time he was in town, I got to meet him and most of the band. Totally cool guys and fun as heck.
They're performing at the Granada again. The Granada is having a 14th Anniversary/Birthday bash with several Dallas bands playing. Doors open at 7:00 and the first band goes on at 8:00. Here's who you can look forward to seeing, that of course in addition to Black Joe Lewis!
My junior year of college I lived with a lovely lady, Jamie Veal. She and I met working as score keepers for Baylor Intramurals. Jamie is pretty much awesome and we hit it off from the get go. During the time that we lived together, she met Kellen, now her husband. These 2 crazy kids are now living in Chicago. Unfortunately, I haven't seen Jamie since her wedding 2 summers ago, but thanks to the internet, aka Facebook, I kinda get to keep up with how she's doing.
Yesterday she posted this link in her status: http://windycitizen.com/node/2448. Yay Jamie! That's awesome! I'm really proud of her. If you read her article, you totally get who she is, funny, witty and oh so fashionable! I'll definitely have to add her to my faves blog list.
Last night I stayed up ridiculously late finishing The Beach House, by Jane Green. So good! It totally deserves all the raves it's been getting.
Now it's time to move on to the next book on my list. However, I'm slightly b-r-o-k-e at the moment so it's time for me to hit up the Dallas Pulbic Library! It's the library so obviously you don't have to pay to borrow the books. There are a ton of locations around Dallas for convenience. If you want a book that is unavailable at your home branch, you can request the book be transferred from another branch.
There are online resources available as well. The entire card catalog is available through the website. Once you have your very own library card, you can go online, enter your card number and assigned/created pin number to renew books, request book transfers, pay fines, etc. Very simple and user friendly.
I'm excited to start my next book and to continue exploring the Dallas Public Library system. There are evening programs, book fairs, fund raisers and much more!
While hanging out with my friend Amy (shout out!) this evening, I RANDOMLY think of a song an older gentleman used to tell me about. Don't think "older gentleman" in a creepy sense. We became friends from one of my jobs in high school.
His wife died several years before I met him and his family lived kinda far. He would tell me about this song, Stranger On The Shore, that he and his wife would listen to. It is a clarinet instrumental written by Acker Bilk. (Weird but still a cool name.) In 1962 Andy Williams recorded a vocal version.
It is smooth jazz and cheesy but old-school awesome. For some reason, I thought of the song tonight and I want to share it with you guys. Here it is for your listening pleasure!
We are floating the Guatalupe River today!!! My sister put a trip together for my cousins, me, her, and some friends. A natural lazy river, booze, insane sun = an amazing time! Woo Hoo!
UPDATE: The river is a special place. Not only is a good time had by all, but you get to see thigns from all walks of life, as shown in the pic below. No joke, this guy was just wandering around. Like all day.
It's the weekend!!! Time to party! New flirty dress - check! Strappy sandals - check! Moola - sorta check! Plan to get you and your drunk friends home - uh...
You may, or may not, need a wingman to pick up dates, but if you are going out this weekend, you DEFINITELY need this wingman. Here's the skinny: You're out with friends and at the end of the night, not only are you seeing double vodka cranberries, but you see double everything else, too. Clearly, driving your car home is not an option. Cabs are expensive and finding your car through hangover haze is never a pleasant experience.
Enter Wingman. When you call Wingman, a guy on a moped shows up, folds up his scooter and puts it in the back of your vehicle, then drives you and your friends home in YOUR car! The only thing you have to worry about the next morning through hangover haze is finding the pizza delivery number.
Wingman is open 7 days a week, 8pm - 3am. They will also contract out drivers for special events and make reservations prior to 8pm for medical visits. (Laser eye surgery + driving = disaster. Call Wingman!)
I have used this service before and it's AWESOME! It only costs $20 and $2 per mile. Splitting that between friends totally makes it more affordable than roundtrip cab rides. Heck, I'd pay $20 NOT to deal with Dallas cab drivers! If you don't want peeps crashing on your couch, Wingman will drop them off for an additional $5. While I have yet to find any downfalls to Wingman, the only thing I would suggest is to call prior to bar close. It typically takes them about 20 minutes to arrive.
Well, not exactly. In subtle attempts to make me more domesticated, my parents bought me a subscription to Taste of Home: Cooking for 2 magazine. It's actually a really cool magazine! Not only does it have recipes, but it has cooking tips, a "Cook Now, Eat Later" section, an index that cross references ingredients (my favorite!) and a ton more!
I know, I know, guys are probably gagging, but the summer issue, for instance, has grilling recipes as well as a recipe for Grilled Seasoned Bratwurst! What boy doesn't like bratwurst?
The recipes have the perfect portion for an individual, or a few people. A yummy dinner with leftovers for lunch! As an added bonus for the health conscious cook, each recipe has the nutritionals listed below it.
Combining an Italian pasta and Mexican ingredients created an exceptional dish for Mrs. Larry Phillips from Shreveport, Louisiana. She writes, "This recipe is well-liked even in Cajun Country Louisiana!"
SERVINGS 2 PREP 25 min. COOK 25 min. TOTAL 50 min.
INGREDIENTS
4 uncooked manicotti shells 1 cup cubed cooked chicken breast 1 cup salsa, divided 1/2 cup ricotta cheese 2 tablespoons sliced ripe olives 4 teaspoons minced fresh parsley 1 tablespoon diced pimientos 1 green onion, thinly sliced 1 small garlic clove, minced 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 1/3 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
DIRECTIONS
Cook manicotti according to package directions. In a small bowl, combine the chicken, 1/4 cup salsa, ricotta cheese, olives, parsley, pimientos, green onion, garlic and pepper sauce. Drain manicotti; fill with chicken mixture. Spread 1/4 cup salsa in an 8-in. square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with manicotti shells and remaining salsa. Cover and bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese and bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and filling is heated through. Yield: 2 servings.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
Nutrition Facts: 2 stuffed manicotti (prepared with reduced-fat ricotta cheese and reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend) equals 395 calories, 10 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 82 mg cholesterol, 795 mg sodium, 38 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 35 g protein.
Two nights ago the fire alarm in my apartment starts going off at 3:30 in the morning. Scary! It smelt so funky, like an electrical fire or something. There wasn't any smoke, just the horrible smell. My roomie and I (shout out!) thought our neighbors below us were idiots and caught their oven on fire.
The next day when I got home from work the air conditioner is broken. *Note, it was 103 degrees at 7pm that day. Long story short, our air conditioner had blown up/caught on fire and that was the smell and cause for the fire alarm. SCARY! We had no idea!
Too bad I didn't get to call some cute fireman to come over! Anywho, now I'm on the hunt for a fire extinguisher.
When it comes to coffee, I didn't have a drop until college and even then it wasn't more than a Starbucks frapaccino. Once I entered the "real world," I started drinking the real deal but still with a ton of creamer and 2 packets of Splenda or Equal! During a recent trip to the grocery store, I came across an amazing new creamer flavor: Black Cherry Streusel by Coffee-Mate! Holy moly this stuff is good! It's only available for a limited amount of time so I am seriouslygoing to have to stock up!
TGI Friday's, you've been put on notice. Yes, you are a typical American food chain restaurant with an annoying guy in commercials, but you have several fun nibbles that I occasionally like to eat. My ultimate favorite being the oreo cake, and now you've gone and discontinued it. Seriously? And you carded me to get into the mall location; not carded me to buy booze (that's fine), carded me to enter the establishment! Shit list Fridays. Shit list.
For those of you who read my blog, you are aware that this is not a relationship blog. But today, I'm going to make an exception.
A good friend of mine met a guy recently. She lives at Point A and he lives at Point B. Point B happens to be my hometown. My friend is totally smitten with this guy and as her friend I feel it necessary to see what we can find out about this guy from my peeps back home.
Is that wrong? It was brought to my attention that this is evil and not fair to this guy. Whateve! I gotta look out for my girl!
Growing up I LOVED reading. In the summer, the local libraries had a "Reading Is Fun" contest. Basically you read as many books on your level as possible and you could win prizes. I soooo miss that! I've compiled a list of books that I'm going to try to read by the end of summer. (The end of summer being Labor Day weekend.)
These are in no particular order.
Shoe Addicts Annonymous, Beth Harbison - When I finish this book, and I if like it, I’ll prolly read Secrets of a Shoe Addict.
Chasing Harry Winston, Lauren Weisberger – She wrote The Devil Wears Prada, and there’s another book of her’s that sounds really entertaining, Everyone Worth Knowing.
The Beach House, Jane Green - My friend Chelsea is hosting a book club on this book and it looks really good!
If you've read any of these, or have some suggestions of good books, leave me a comment!
UPDATE: I just realized this list includes 6 books, possibly 7! Whoa! I better go to Half Price Books and get reading!
UPDATE v2: This book may get pushed to the fall because of lack of time, but my roomie read it and said it's really good. Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper, Diablo Cody - She was the screenwriter for Juno. Seems like a cool chick.
In college I had a roommate from Brazil and she taught the roomies how to make caipirinhas with cachaca. I'm going to try and make them tonight. There is a website, http://www.caipirinha.us/, that has a ton of recipes to make with cachaca, including yummy looking fruity ones! Of course, practice makes perfect so I'll have to keep making them til they're perfect!
UPDATE: Yummy! Delicious! Wee, way fun drinky drink!! Fruity! I LOVE cairpirinhas!!!!
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