busygirl

fashion friday: easy halloween costumes.

I can't really justify spending $60 at a costume store to wear something for one night, regardless of the fact that Halloween might possibly be my FAVORITE holiday.  So I pretty much go the route of scrounging a costume from my closet with the addition of a few dollar store pieces.  Here are a few that I'm considering for this year using only what's in my closet already!  Chances are you might have some similar pieces you could adapt:

Scary but insanely cute looking witch

 

1) lace backed dress from express 2) argyle tights from new york & company 3) suede foldover booties from charlotte russe

black cat (use the eyeliner to draw on a nose and whiskers!)

 
1) black skinny knit jeans from express 2) shirred black shirt from new york & company 3) suede foldover booties from charlotte russe

school girl a la britney spears (tie shirt up into a midriff)

 
1) white button-down shirt from new york and company 2) plaid skirt with tulle from forever 21 3) white knee highs from forever 21 4) mary janes pumps from charlotte russe

What will Adam be wearing this Halloween?  Check out this easy option to dress up as Dr. Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory:

 

1) tailored khakis from gap 2) long sleeve shirt from gap 3) official Sheldon shirt from amazon 4) brown mariner shoes from sketchers

update from the blackberry graveyard.

Well, the current blackberry is officially kaputz as well. 

Apparently (not that Verizon would EVER tell you this unless you make friends with level 10 tech support), there's some sort of Verizon Blackberry problem that Verizon doesn't know how to fix so they do what they do best: assume their customers are stupid enough to believe that a refurbed phone is just as good as a new one.  Don't think for a second that I don't know that you just take people's reject blackberries, go in the back room and slap as screen protector sticker on it so it LOOKS new.  If you can't fix my phone at the counter, how on earth can you fix it in the back room?  They must be allowed to perform black magic on phones as long as they are out of sight of the customers.

Or my other favorite line we heard last night?  That our closest tower is a hybrid so if we want better service we should move.

Seriously?

I finally got a solution though, once Adam was able to talk to someone who knew how to add and subtract.

Brand new Verizon phone = $569

Verizon Termination Fee + iPhone = $350 + $200 = $550!!!

Don't tempt me.

In an effort to salvage a ten-year contract that was skipping out the door to AT&T at any moment, they finally offered me a Droid or something of the sort.  I just need to decide between the Fascinate or the Incredible.

   
I'm leaning towards the Incredible after reading reviews.  Apparently the Fascinate has some major lag issues.  Regardless, neither is a blackberry which means I'll be able to make phone calls again!  Sorry if we were BBM friends, I just can't hack it anymore.

In other Verizon news, look what's here TODAY!!! iPhone can't be far behind, right???

tricks for a verizon blackberry.

Everyone knows that to realign your phone to the nearest tower you press *228. 

But what Verizon doesn't tell you is that there is also a code to align your DATA PLAN to the nearest tower, not JUST your calls.  Luckily I spend enough time in the Verizon store (once a week) to make friends and uncover that by pressing *22899, you can speed up your data.

Also?  If you're not traveling overseas, on your blackberry go to Options, Mobile Network and change your Network Technology to 1XEV instead of Global.

Of course none of this helps me since my house is where Verizon Blackberries go to die.  But someone without a refurbed version might be able to salvage their phone with these tricks.

So my final trick for making your Verizon Blackberry work for you?  Get an AT&T one.

wordless wednesday: how come HE gets a popsicle...

 

merry smiles!

I know, it's not even Halloween yet, but I'm already thinking ahead to our holiday cards.  I actually was plotting different ways to convince Adam that we need a 'family photo' with the dog since it's the first holiday that we're officially married for!  That deserves a card, right?

I've been scouting out some possibilities on Shutterfly for our holiday photo cards.  Personally, I love modern, clean designs.  And since we send them to all our friends, religious-neutral colors and wording are key.  My front runner right now is definitely this, I love the sage color and the snowflakes!  Adam would probably say that it's too girly. 

 
I'm more concerned with getting a photo with all three of us (Adam, doggie and me) looking at the camera.  Ricki is really the culprit in this, he gets too distracted by squirrels, carrots, etc to pay attention to the camera long enough for us to capture his best angle.  I suppose we could always go the three separate photos route.  I love this blue and red card...but I think we need a few more pets so we can fill the space.  And would need to change the greeting.

 
I'm also the kind of person who takes other people's Christmas photo cards and cuts out the photo to keep on my fridge all year.  It would be a bit difficult to navigate the scissors around all the boxes in the card above, but something simple like this card would make photo-saving a snap!

 
Do you want 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly? Click here to go to Shutterfly for information on how you can get 50 free cards this holiday season, and make sure to select Clever 1000 as the referral source.

And good luck gathering your spouses and children and pets for that holiday photo.  I'm going to have to bribe mine with Wendy's!

 

This post is part of a series sponsored by Shutterfly. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

try this: boston cream pie

At the request of the birthday boy (hubby), I made a Boston Cream Pie for the first time ever.  Surprisingly, it was fairly easy, even making the chocolate ganache, a frosting that I have always been wary of because it seems difficult.  The only twist on the traditional recipe that we included was a layer of chocolate chips on top of the filling.  Because well, chocolate chips make everything better!

Ingredients

Yellow cake mix (along with eggs, oil and water)

Jello Instant Pudding/Pie Filling in Vanilla (along with milk)

8 oz of semi-sweet chocolate

3/4 cup of heavy cream

semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Prepare and bake cake mix as directed on box in two 8" or 9" circle cake pans.  Be sure to grease and flour pans for easy removal.

After letting cool, place one cake on a platter.  Prepare vanilla pudding as directed (mix with cold milk for 2 minutes and then let sit for five).  Smooth pudding on top of cake.  Add chocolate chips on top of that layer if desired.  Top with second cake.

On the stove, slowly heat cream in a pan until boiling (watch carefully as the cream will boil over the pan!)  Place chocolate in a mixing bowl and pour boiling cream over it.  Stir until well mixed and let sit for one minute.  Then pour ganache over the cake letting it drip down the sides.

Refrigerate cake until ready to enjoy!

miscellany monday: how bout them browns?

 
1. Monday Schmunday and Adam's officially another year older as of yesterday!

2. We celebrated his birthday with my family on Friday night, complete with pizza and my attempt at a Boston Cream Pie (request from the birthday boy).  He loved it, I thought it was okay, although I'm not really a fan to begin with.  I'll post the recipe later today, it's fairly easy to make and if someone is a huge Boston Cream donut fan, they're bound to love this cake.  Me?  Give me ice cream cake...and a spoon.

 
3. We're both finally feeling about 90% healthwise.  Still have a lingering cough but compared to last week, we seem to be in the clear, finally.  Vicks will be sad to know that their Dayquil sales will be suddenly decreasing this week.  I'm surprised we're not immune to that stuff yet.

4. Um, THE BROWNS?  Need I say more??? I don't know where that came from, but we showed up to play...as a team...and to win.  It was a phenomenal game.  And come on, we beat the Super Bowl champs, maybe there's hope for Cleveland after all.

 
5. Speaking of Cleveland, they're talking on the radio about performing witchcraft to curse LeBron James.  Gosh, this guy outta be dreading the day he has to come play at the Qagain.  I can't even imagine how much security they're going to have just to protect him from his former fans.  He deserves it though, for his 'decision'.

6. We're planning to go on our honeymoon to Mexico in December, along with hitting up a water park with our friends in November.  AKA, I need to make Jillian Michaels my new best friend for the next month.  I just got her 30-day Shred video and so far so good.  I will say that she is without a doubt, one of the most annoying workout instructors ever.  Her voice, her demeanor.  But, that's what the mute button is for right?  Her workouts are fast and easy enough to follow without the sound, thank goodness.  Hopefully I'll see the results everyone else seems to be getting.  Of course this is highly dependent on the dog.  Try working out in sneakers in your living room with a 12lb furball attacking your legs because well, you're wearing SHOES.  You must be about to take me for a walk, right?

7. I still don't have a Halloweencostume, helppppp!  Ideas please!  What are you dressing up as this year??

tgif mate.

I seriously wonder how many posts I have that are titled TGIF or some form of it.  Why is Friday so delicious?

I'm still knocking on death's door with this monster cold.  And am entirely sick of living on peanut butter sandwiches and McDonalds smoothies.  My appetite is kaputz when I'm sick and I can't really taste anything.  I tried to remedy that by making meatloaf and mashed potatoes from dinner last night.  Adam said it was good, I honestly couldn't taste a thing.  It just felt so good to cook again.  Making dinner always feels like an accomplishment to me for some reason.

I whipped up Adam's birthday cake last night too, complete with chocolate ganache, which, looks phenomenal for my first time ever making it.  He had very specific requests, including a cake inspired by the Boston Creme Donut that included chocolate chips in some way.  Depending on the reviews I'll post it here next week.

I'm frustrated with Amazon.  After ordering a birthday present for Adam on Monday and paying expedited shipping to have it here by today, it's still not here.  Where is it you might ask?  Well, it's currently shipping from Nashua, NH to Boston, MA and to Nashua, NH and so on and so forth.  Hmph.  That doesn't really work well when it needs to be in Cleveland, OH.  Morons.

I'm off to guzzle some coffee, happy Friday everyone.

about me in 140 characters (or less).

 
I was challenged by Miss Grace to embarkk in this twitter inspired game to create an 'about me' in 140-characters or less.  Hmph.  Have you seen my About Me page?  It's a rambling novel.  Grace was able to condense herself quite nicely:

 
And I suppose my shortened, twitter friendly version isn't all too bad:

 
What do you think?  Who are you in 140 characters?  Can you shorten your 'about you' to a quick snippit?

try this: homemade chicken soup.

Easy on the stomach and always delicious.  Not to mention easy to make! Here's the recipe for a 16 quart pot of soup, which for some people might be a bit too much soup.  So just cut it down accordingly.

Ingredients

(2) 5lb roasting chickens

4lbs of carrots, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 stalks of celery, chopped

4 yellow onions chopped

1 cup fresh chopped parsley

1 package of egg noodles

Directions

Remove gizzards from chicken and rinse inside out.  Place in soup pot and fill with water, enough to cover the chicken.  Bring to boil and simmer for 45 minutes.

Add in vegetables, bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Take out chickens, remove from bone, shred and place back in soup.  (If you taste the soup and feel that the chicken did not produce enough flavor, add a couple chicken bouillon cubes for flavor).

In a separate pot, boil water and cook egg noodles.  Add noodles into bowls when serving soup.

You can refrigerate soup up to one week but keep noodles separate as they will get mushy if kept in the soup pot.