... Shutter Island ...

Movie Review

Movie: Shutter Island
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

I think the trailer for this movie does it no justice. The trailer makes you think it is a horror movie. I would by no means categorize this movie as a horror flick. There were a few jumpy parts, but nothing too sever and not too much blood and gore. I would definitely say suspense drama. I think this is the second movie I have seen as Leonardo DiCarpio as the main character since Titanic and Catch Me If You Can. As for his role in this movie, overall, I think he did a good job. I'm not a huge fan of Leonardo DiCarpio and by no means think he is hot. But to each their own ... I felt that the plot was a little predictable. I mean what did you expect to visit a mental institution on an island and then not come back? ::yawn:: boring movie right there ... No! There had to be something suspenseful about it ... Without giving away much more of the movie ... I definitely left the movie clueless that night. However, the next day when I was discussing it with a fellow co-worker that also went to the pre-screening, I realized, DUH! The whole point at the end of the movie was to feel and question was he really crazy? Or did he become crazy? Or are you crazy for wondering whether he is or is not crazy. After having this epiphany - which seemed so dumb, I had a good laugh and realized then that the movie was not too bad. Definitely go check this one out if you like suspense and being on the edge of your seat.

Next on the pre-screening line up is Hot Tub Time Machine ... this coming Wednesday ... Stay tuned!

... Cooper River Bridge 10K Walk/Run ...

This past October (2009), I walked my first 5k, The Komen Race for the Cure 5K Walk/Run. I never thought I could do a 5K, but I did it, even though it was walking. One of my goals for 2010 is to run The Komen 5K Race this year. As many of you know, my step-dad's mom is currently battling breast cancer. So the Komen Foundation means a lot to me. To accomplish this goal, I plan on joining the running group in March/April (depending when it begins) in the Ballantyne Corporate Park, in addition to going to the gym and running the green way at least once a week.

I also would like to walk The Cooper River Bridge 10K. I know you are probably thinking, "Is this girl crazy?! She is going from a 5K to a 10K?!" Well, my thoughts are ... I have only been to Charleston once and I absolutely fell in love with it for the short time I was there. I figured the 10K Cooper River Bridge Walk/Run will be a great way for me to see Charleston as well as get in some great exercise. Plus! This year the Cooper River Bridge Race is in March, which puts Charleston around 60ish in temperature (at least that is what I was told by a Charleston expert) which makes it perfect for walking and running. Not to mention, I have a few friends that live in Charleston that I would love to see. I am hoping to get a group of friends together to go. I am thinking/hoping it will be a great experience. If you're interested in joining me and/or my friends for the Cooper River Bridge Walk/Run shoot me an e-mail. The more the merrier!

LET THE TRAINING BEGIN!

... cooking TIME OUT! ...

Alright, so I know my original inspiration for starting this blog was the movie Julie & Julia. But I have to tell you the honest truth, I'M TAKING A COOKING TIME OUT! Don't get me wrong some of my recipes I have found and tried have turned out very well, but some have been a flop. Now that I don't have a room mate, I have tons of food floating around in my refrigerator. Many lunches and many dinners during the week consists of left overs. Don't get me wrong I love left overs, easy and quick, the best. But it's getting to the point that I seriously just miss a good ol' evening of mac 'n' cheese or even a lean cuisine. So! I think for now I am going to stick to maybe trying a new recipe once a week or once every other week. Not to mention buying some of the ingredients for some of these recipes gets a bit pricey! Hmmm ... Maybe I should have a dinner party night, instead of doing all this cooking and eating it myself. I'm going to get fat at this rate! I thought that majority of people's New Year's Resolutions were to loose weight, not gain it! Back to hitting the gym! And hitting it hard!

... Valentine's Day ...

Movie Review

Movie: Valentine's Day
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

I absolutely fell in love with this movie. Before seeing the movie, I thought it was going to be one of those movies about the extreme side of being in a love relationship to the extreme side of being bitterly single. Amazingly, there was a little bit of that, but not too much. I enjoyed how this movie showed the love relationship, wonderful parts of love and hardships of love, between newly dating couples, cheating men, married couples, being single, love between a mother and her son and love between strangers. It is interesting how the story consists of different small plots, but manage to cross over in the end somehow. It's very easy to follow, unlike some movies out there that have numerous plots going on and leave you saying, "Wait! What just happened? [Or] How does this relate to the other plot?" I also enjoyed the popular/familiar actors in this movie. Here are a few: Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Ann Hathaway, Carter Jenkins, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift, Julia Roberts. This movie was definitely a chick flick, but nothing too bad, such as a Nicholas Sparks' book turned movie flick. I definitely think any guy could sit through this movie and get a good laugh and maybe even relate to some of the situations! This movie is definitely on my list to purchase once it hits shelves for DVD. Well, I don't want to ruin the movie for you, so definitely be sure to go and check this movie out! Definitely worth the $10 (weekend price) or $5 (matinee price) ticket.

"All you need is love, all you need is love, all you need is love, love, love is all you need" - The Beatles

... slacker ...

Hello fellow bloggers! Sorry, I've totally slacked off on my blogging ... Life has been a bit crazy! Just wanted to wish all you fellow single bloggers a Happy B-lated Valentine's Day. Hopefully, someone is out there reading me ... anyone ... ???

Stay tuned for my review of the movie Valentine's Day and more to come!

.. snow day, sweet tooth, kraft so easy ... oh my! ...

To be honest with you, I was not overly thrilled to wake up to see snow. I knew it meant a day stuck in the house. (Yes, I am your typical southern girl of staying in when it snows.) Well, I shouldn't say snow. It was freezing rain that had fallen on the ground and eventually formed a large ice pad in my back yard. But! I remembered this is the first time Lola (my pup) has ever seen snow! And to add to this mile marker for Lola, today she is exactly 5 months old! Lola wasn't thrilled about the snow/freezing rain either. I'm sure she remembers the freezing rain we encountered earlier this year. She hated it, as did I. But Lola gave it a chance and explored a little today and tried to figure out why there was no grass to go to the bathroom on. Of course, upon finishing her business outside, she came running back into the warm house. She is such a miss priss and spoiled rotten! The rest of my day, I spent cleaning up the house, being my room mate moved out this past week. Being stuck inside, this was a good time to do some reorganizing around my house.

On the verge of cabin fever syndrome and having nothing to do other than sit around the house after cleaning, I decided I would cook. I recently have had this very big sweet tooth that I can't seem to satisfy. Without having to leave the house, due to the bad weather conditions, I found I had all the ingredients for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, minus the raisins and substituting chocolate chips instead. It's really simple and they are yummy!

Quaker Oats Vanishing Chocolatechip Oatmeal Cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8-11 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cups (1 stick) plus 6 tbs butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups Quaker Oats, uncooked
1 cup chocolate chips (or raisins if you like them instead)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Ad oats and chocolate chips; mix well. Drop dough by round tablespoonfulls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. (I don't let my cookies cool all the way before putting them in a container, being if there is a little bit of steam from the cookies in the container it seems to keep the cookies a little softer and moister. Oatmeal Cookies can sometimes be a bit hard and rough on the mouth.) Store tightly covered.

For dinner ... I have been postponing this recipe, more or less because it has been such a busy week that it was nice to get take out for the past few days. But it's back to cooking! Tonight's challange ... Kraft Pesto-Chicken Italiano. I found this on the back of the the Kraft Italian Five Cheese Blend bag. It's basically Chicken Pesto with a fancy name. Yipee! It actually was quite yummy, quick and easy. Always a plus when cooking. Being it is now just Lola (my pup) and I, I have leftovers for tomorrow for lunch. Dinner tomorrow at the rents, pending weather.

Kraft Pesto-Chicken Italiano
Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Serves: 4 (1-1/2 cups each)

Ingredients:
1 tbs oil
1lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large red pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup pesto
1 lemon, cut in half, divided
1 cup KRAFT shredded Italian Five Cheese Blend
2 cups hot cooked angel hair pasta

Directions:
1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook and stir in 4 to 5 minutes or until chicken is evenly browned. Stir in peppers; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until chicken is done, stirring frequently.
2. Stir in pesto and juice from 1 lemon half, top with cheese. Cover; cook on low heat 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Spoon over pasta.
3. Serve with remaing lemon half, cut into wedges.

Note: Since I don't want to risk the roads to run out and get a RedBox movie, I am sitting here in my living room watching Julie & Julia, my main inspirational movie! Love it!

... go go apple ipad ...

Wednesday, January 27, 2010, Apple announced their newest gadget, the iPad! To be honest with you, I am VERY excited about the iPad. Why you may ask? Well, those of you that know me: 1. I am a designer - so of course I am on a mac base platform; 2. I am in a love relationship with apple products. I love apple! (Think about it: 1. They don't tell me what to do, 2. They're easy and accommodate me, 3. Always loyal, 4. Never give me a difficult time. What is there not to love? haha ...); 3. Apple makes products and programs simple by using common sense. Think smarter, not harder; 4. I have been wanting a small laptop that I can use to carry ALL my music (being my large old school iPod finally decided to fry its hard drive; RIP), videos, play games, check e-mail, blog! (of course) and surf the web ANYWHERE. Just think! If I had an iPad right now, I could do a heck of a lot more blogs! More blogs = more thoughts, more inspirations, more interests and of course more fun. Ultimately, iPad = no more wasting time and more brain functioning. Yes, the iPad looks like a glorified iPhone, minus the phone part, but hey! who cares?! Plus! I love my iPhone and would not trade it in for any other phone. (Well, maybe trade it in for an upgraded 3GS! It is still an iPhone though!) iPads are going to be above and beyond the netbooks out there, yes, I know that is what Apple has marketed, but! knowing Apple, they will release the iPad and it can only go up from there. Plus, I've never heard of a promise that Apple has made to their customers and have not kept their promise. They are all about expanding the product their customers already have. I heard through the grape vine, the iPad is to be released sometime in March or April (possibly?). I can hardly wait! I'm definitely going to be one of those crazies that have to hit up the Apple Store as soon as they are released to try it out. Look out South Park Mall, here I come! I hope there will be an Apple representative booth at the HOW Design Conference I am going to in June! Only time will tell! If I do decide to get an iPad, goal would be to let it stay out on the market for a while to let them work out the main kinks. Maybe December 2010 Christmas gift to myself? We will see ... Plus, not like I have a spare $500 right now for a new gadet. (Don't forget I am a homeowner and now a dog owner too!) The only let down of the iPad visually is no webcam. So Apple, slap a webcam on there and you have yourself a buyer! Guess I better start saving now for an iPad!

Click here to watch videos on the iPad, including the Keynote Presentation of the Apple iPad.