My brother is SO creative!

Check out his cool blog post about his trip to Chicago!!

Irish Fair at Coney Island!

I heard about the 28th annual Great Irish Fair of New York so we had to check it out!

Don't you love our Irish hats? Brenda in her shamrock sombrero and me with my frothing mug of ale! Don't forget to notice my shamrock shades, totally rad.
more fabulous Irish garb- L to R Cary, Brittany, April and Brenda. Feather boas are HUGE among the irish... ;)

I found some very cute jewelry! I got these earrings...
And this beautiful necklace! Loves it.
After hanging out at the fair we headed to the boardwalk at Coney Island! Here I am with Brittany and April. Interesting fact: Coney Island is not an island, but a beach in Brooklyn.

Here we are with the Atlantic Ocean! Cary, April, Brenda, me

Brenda gathered some seashells... check out her stylish new haircut!
The weather couldn't have been more beautiful! What a fun day! :)

I didn't fall off a turnip truck yesterday!

Today I took a little field trip to a courthouse in Long Island (for work). I met lots of helpful people and watched lots of interesting people, and was startled by one man with a BOOMING voice who went chasing after another man (who was out of view) while screaming down the hall, "I didn't fall off a turnip truck yesterday, Bob! You think you can blah blah blah and sandbag me in the parking lot?! Oh, no! I did not fall off a turnip truck yesterday!"

A: I have never heard this phrase before.
B: When crazy started booming, it was scary!
C: A serious looking Police man followed and ended the tirade.

To me,
turnips and radishes look very similar... both not very pretty...

Turnip vs. Radish

When I see either it makes me think of the radish spirit from Spirited Away.Looking at Radish Spirit makes me understand why my sisters think Japanese animation is weird...

On a completely different note, I have the song "Walk Like A Man" stuck in my head and I couldn't be happier with the results of Project Runway tonight. Two completely unrelated and yet significant facts of the moment.
Good night!

"9" gets a 2

☆☆
I finally saw the new animation "9" tonight, and I was left wanting... well, anything but "9"! I did not like the story. There wasn't anything great or cutting edge about the animation ("8" looked like the Oogie Boogie man from Nightmare Before Christmas). And *Spoiler Alert* I did not like watching the souls sucked out of cute little sock puppets, talk about the heebie jeebies! Do NOT bring children to this movie unless you want them to have nightmares.

On a positive note, there were some cutsie parts and fun parts, but the BEST part of this movie by far were the voices! Nicely done, Elijah Wood (9), Jennifer Connelly (7), John C. Riley (5), and Martin Landau (2). But... it still gets a 2.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

☆☆☆☆.5
I LOVED this movie! Yes, there were definitely several "kid" moments, but I still loved it. Incredibly inventive and original! And Hello, where the heck have I been?! I totally need to read the Jules Verne book, cause I would totally love it too!

Thursday

I know what you're thinking... all I do is watch movies. Well... it's kinda true! It's my favorite thing to do... aside from going to work. :) And sleeping. One thing I am SO bored with is showering!.. don't worry though, I won't stop- because another thing I really like is men!

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
☆☆☆☆.5
I've been wanting to watch this youth fantasy movie for awhile. The cinematography was really cool, I really felt "in" the story. It's a movie that younger audiences would like. I really liked the family dynamic, lots of kids is great! And PS I love it when movies make me gasp. I did gasp a lot watching this one.

The Secret Life of Bees
☆☆☆☆.5
What a moving/touching/well done movie! The acting was great, the story was phenom, I really liked everything about this movie. And I cried. Very touching.

Overboard
☆☆☆☆
First of all, how great is this poster?! They never make movie posters like this anymore... This movie is cute and funny, I'd never seen the beginning before, and it totally adds to it! Though if someone kidnapped me when I had amnesia, I would punch them. Oh Hollywood!

5 Guys

I will gain (at least) 5 pounds because I fell in love with 5 Guys.

State of Play

☆☆☆☆☆
I watched this movie with subtitles on (english language/english subtitles) so that I wouldn't miss any of the words (my apartment has bad acoustics) and I think I maybe should have just blasted the TV instead... I did "hear" everything, but I couldn't see all the facial expressions cause I was too busy reading the subtitles... the point is, I bought the movie so I can watch it again tomorrow without the subtitles if I want. And I may.
Several of you told me I would like this movie, and thank you, I did! It was a well made thriller, but you could tell who the bad guys were because all the important characters who weren't obviously good guys were played by famous actors! And I had a feeling all along that "you know who" was bad too... I loved the cinematography, the production design, and hello, Russell Crowe. Affleck, McAdams, Mirren and that other guy did a great job too. Oh! And Robin Wright Penn, too!

Side-note about the text on screen: They subtitled "Gasps!" like this, and that was awesome. See this movie! I'll even let you borrow my copy. ;)

Proof of Life

☆☆☆☆☆
This was an excellent film. Russell Crowe is such an affecting actor. The last scene the camera literally stays on his face for like twenty seconds straight, and the range of emotions he glides through sum up the story all on their own. Impressive. The film overall was very well done! And Russell Crowe is totally smokin' sexy hot. :)

Stalemate!

After my fourth attempt at making honeycomb at home, and sort of succeeding (in that it was finally edible), I am SO over it. I managed to cook it long enough to reach hardball stage while not burning it... which is so bizarre because I'm telling you, it's almost burned, and almost too soft to break! The point is, I've decided I don't need to try again. I'm thinking honeycomb is meant to be a Carpinteria delight. Cause if we could have it every day, it wouldn't be as special (or delicious!).

The best place in the world to find honeycomb or any kind of candy is Robitailles Candies in Carpinteria, California.

For those of you unfamiliar with what honeycomb is supposed to look like, here is a perfect example.

Third times (not so much) a charm!

Burnt! Even worse than the first time! My candy thermometer sucks. And my apartment REEKS like burned sugar. :(

Movies!

The Princess Bride ☆☆☆☆☆
I had a sudden urge to watch the Princess Bride the other night... thanks to HBO and DVR, my wish came true! I love this movie, it's always a good one.

The Ringer
Okay... have you seen this movie? I can't really rate it on the star system (that just wouldn't be... appropriate?) I only caught the last two-thirds of this movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was cute and funny, and cute some more, and funny some more. I will be buying this.

Failure to Launch ☆☆☆.5
I have never sat down and actually watched this movie all the way through, but I did last night and really enjoyed it! Knowing there would be a couple cheesy "animal attack" scenes, I actually found them funny. This movie was amusing. My favorite part?...
Zoey D. as the alcoholic abrasive roommate with violent mood swings. And the whole paint ball scene was awesome. I've always wanted to go paintballing!

Strike 2

Honeycomb take two... sadly, it did not reach hard ball stage, and had the consistency of taffy. I've run out of sugar so I have to stop by the grocery store before commencing on the third honeycomb trial.

The Saga of AP, Whole Foods and the Candy Thermometer - PART 2

Top reasons why I love New York:
-unexpected friendliness (the woman who, when she saw the handle had ripped off my bag, gave me an extra plastic back she had)
-short building streets lined with trees
-architecture
-the liveliness and life
-frequency of book stores
-the breeze on warm days

When I made it home from the grocery store, I got straight to work! My family has a borderline obsession with a delicious candy called "Honeycomb" which comes in all flavors of chocolate covered. My personal fave, Milk Chocolate. Matt and Dave love the Dark Chocolate, Shelby and Mom love the White Chocolate. I decided to attempt the possible when I found a recipe online for home made honeycomb!
I had purchased a brand new candy thermometer, so I unwrapped it, and propped it inside my 2 quart pan. I added the ingredients and turned on the heat. The thermometer got pretty hot pretty quickly, it being completely metal, so I used a folded paper towel to adjust it. As the bubbly boiling mixture of sugar got bubblier, and the little red dial on the candy thermometer got higher, I started to get scared! The bubbly mixture now filled half the pan at 250 degrees. Once it hit three hundred, I was supposed to add baking powder and the mixture would TRIPLE in size! That would mean it would overflow my pan! And I was barefoot! I stirred the mixture then quickly ran to my room to put on some shoes. My Uggs called to me, they being thick and covering half-way up to my knees. I returned and stirred, the red dial quickly hit 300 degrees! I shut off the heat, picked up the candy thermometer with the paper towel to toss it to the side so I could stir then dump the mixture, only the thermometer was incredibly top heavy and when I set it down it flipped completely upside down, smacking my finger along the way with its 300 degree skewer! AHHH!!! I ran to the sink, doused my finger under cold water, but 10 seconds had passed! I had to add the baking soda immediately! So I ran back to the mixture, poured in the baking soda and whisked, and the mixture exploded to literally FIVE TIMES what the recipe said would happen! It was bubbling HUGE and I whisked it into my prepared tins... the bubbly yellow goo filled the tins to the brim, almost overflowing! The pan was now empty and I threw it into the sink and cranked on the cold water. My finger was ON FIRE it hurt so bad. I stayed there for a good 8 minutes before calling Brenda, who graciously brought me a baggy filled with ice for my hurt finger. The Honeycomb looked PERFECT.

We waited and waited for it to harden enough to crack and eat. When the time came, I picked up a slab and broke it in half. The inside of the golden slab was DARK ORANGE in color, and smelled CHARRED. I'd not only managed to burn myself, but the Honeycomb too! I slumped down on the couch where I continued to ice my finger and complained to Brenda for a good thirty minutes why this disaster meant no boy would ever love me. The worst part was, after ALL MY HARD WORD, I didn't even have the satisfaction of enjoying a tasty hunk of chocolate covered Honeycomb! Brenda managed to cheer me up by suggesting we throw the honeycomb out and just eat chocolate chips instead. :) Chocolate makes an excellent band-aid for an wounded ego.

For all those fanatics out there wondering about the potential of obtaining honeycomb outside of Carpinteria, California... I found a different recipe online (that does NOT involve a candy thermometer) and will be attempting to make another batch tonight!
STAY TUNED...

The Saga of AP, Whole Foods and the Candy Thermometer

Grocery Stores and me do not get along. The aisles. The choices. The looking and searching. My inability to see things that are right in front of my face! I am a terrible, uncomfortable grocery shopper.

I had a specific goal in mind when I entered the local Whole Foods tonight- a store I never go to alone, or for any reason of my own (my grocery needs are typically met online at FreshDirect.com). So tonight when I entered Whole Foods Tribeca, I should have guessed I'd be in for it. I kid you not, there was no back wall. The place was HUGE. There were SEVEN ROWS OF ROWS. I was looking for the baking aisle. I walked for 6 and a half minutes and finally reached the other side with no sighting. I was directed halfway back where I found the aisle I was looking for, having managed to pass it twice. I stared at the shelves. The term "Whole Foods" really means "everything's organic and you've never heard of the brand". I was further crippled. Crisco? Shortening? Why would that be easy to find? Five minutes of my life, gone. Did they have any corn syrup?? I had to call Brenda... "Corn syrup is organic" she tells me. Ten minutes, gone. I finally found "Brown Rice Syrup" and "Baking Syrup". I went with the non-specific Baking Syrup. On to the checkout. Third in line, I was almost free! The cashier rang up the first person. "I brought my own bags" they said, and the cashier smiled. Second in line! The cashier says to the man- "Did you bring your own bags?" he said, "Yes, of course!" and her friendliness continued. Suddenly I realized-wait... I don't have my own bags! My arms were full, and it was clear I was without... what was going to happen? Would she charge me extra for the brown paper bag? Would they make me shove the corn syrup and shortening in my purse?? I felt her eyes, could she tell I don't recycle?? (regularly)?? My heart was racing, it was MY TURN. I smiled, and held my breath...

The next few moments were a bit hazy, but I managed to escape with my life, sanity, and a recyclable brown paper bag holding several organic items. Things were looking up!

Halfway home I tripped and the paper handle ripped off my bag.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Mars is down!

This commercial makes me laugh....