Getting Nutty

Happy weekend!

I actually slept until 8:30 today.  For those of you who read regularly, this is unheard of!  But appreciated nonetheless.

I’m so glad we just had our last full week of work for the year. In my office, most people will be out for a good part of next week.  Not only will it be a short week, but a laid back one. Merry Christmas to me! 

Yesterday I skipped my morning workout, but still got cardio in after work.  2 miles on the tread and 25 minutes on the elliptical.  I rushed through it because I had an appointment at Mon’s.  We were cleaning makeup brushes (weird, yes, but she just got this new cleaner that’s *amazing* and I’m notorious for, um, hardly ever washing them). 

Another wild Friday night in my part of the world, yes?

If it makes up for being lame, we watched Donnie Darko. If I start freaking out around Easter, or whenever a rabbit crosses my path, you’ll know why.

Cleaning makeup brushes and Donnie Darko.  Two things that have never been combined in the same sentence.

Let’s talk about something else.  Like nuts.Look what I got with the gift certificate I won from Retta? I received a gift certificate from Oh Nuts! to order whatever I wanted. So I got a pound of almonds, a pound of walnuts, and some malted milk balls that were opened at work almost as quickly as the box was and didn’t survive by the time pictures were taken.  Oops.

Soooo excited!  Thanks, Retta! 

Speaking of nuts, I’ve got one more post from last week’s baking extravaganza.

I know.  Still going… can you believe how much stuff we made???We’re all aware of Bakerella and her cake balls.

I didn’t follow any real recipe on that one, but gotta give her props for the idea.  Start with cake.  Then destroy it.Add icing into the bowl/pot and combine.  Keep adding icing until it is easily workable to roll into balls.  Then chill.  I don’t have pics of this because I forgot.  But you can make the balls as big or as small as you’d like. 

As Mon and I were rolling balls, we enjoyed making Schwetty Balls references.Come on.  Someone had to do it.

After your balls have chilled (he he he), it’s time for dipping them.Now you may understand why I’m grinning like an idiot with a tear or two in my eyes.  Balls jokes are fun.

We had a few things to cover our balls with after dipping it in chocolate or vanilla almond bark.Leftover toasted coconut (told you I had a plan!), sprinkles, and toffee.  I liked the taste of the toffee the most- but just a heads up, you make a mess when you try to get it to stick to your balls…

Let them chill again and then enjoy…Too big to put in your mouth all at once.

Ahem. 

This is also the general idea I went with to get rid of all the extra peppermint Oreos from the peppermint bark I made.Most people use chocolate ganache or cream cheese when they make Oreo Truffles.  I just went with leftover icing from the cake balls I made.

This may have been because I wasn’t sure how the cream cheese and peppermint would taste together.  Or because I was too cheap to buy cream cheese solely for the truffles.  You decide.

Same concept.  Roll the balls.  Chill.  Dip.  Enjoy.If you have leftover melted almond bark (which I did), you can also dip things other than your balls.We’re all about being resourceful up in here.

And THAT, my friends, is the end of my baking adventure.

My apron isn’t retired, but it’s not moving for a while.

Time to get up and moving.  I’ve got a few things to take care of before heading to the city to hang out with Miss Megan tonight.  Later!

How To Become Addicted to Peppermint

Just when I was trying to convince you I don’t JUST bake around here…The third thing Mon and I tackled over last Saturday’s Baking Extravaganza was peppermint bark. 

Now… I’ve done the standard chocolate and crushed peppermint before. And it’s good.  But that’s not what this was.  THIS blows my standard candy out of the water.

Basically, they’re slabs of junk food goodness.  That’s the only way I can think of to explain it. And yes, it’s a slab.  No “cute” or “sexy” way to put it. 

I found the idea by stumbling across this post by Gingerbread Bagels, but did some substituting here and there.  And didn’t really follow the measurements.  Because sometimes I just feel like winging it.

My version had a peppermint theme going on, but I’m positive there would be a way to make an amazing Andes mint remake of it (if you’re so inclined to do so).

I melted the semi-sweet and milk chocolate together.  No problem.If you like peppermint bark REALLY minty (hence the name, right?), I would suggest adding peppermint extract to the chocolate after you melt it. Just a thought.

My issue came when it was time to melt the almond bark.  The original recipe calls for buying separate red and green candy disks to melt.  Did I do this?  No… my thoughts were that I’d just buy the white almond bark and dye it.  Cheaper and just as easy, right?

Um.  No.

Once that dye hit the almond bark, it became this really weird, almost paste-like, concoction. Trying to heat it more did absolutely nothing.  I had to throw it out. Can someone explain this to me?  Chemistry was not my strongest subject.

On to Plan B.

The bark itself just wouldn’t be as “festive”.  I think we were close to hour 3 or 4 at that point and a break to run to Michael’s was not happening.  Plus, we were drinking and it was sleeting outside. And a pizza was on it’s way.  Priorities, people!But after plenty of swirling with a knife, it still looked oh so pretty.On to the toppings…When was the last time I bought Oreos?  I don’t remember.  I’m not one to buy packaged cookies (because I prefer to bake instead).  But in case you’re wondering, the peppermint Oreos?  Deadly…

That goes for pretzel M&M’s and peppermint Hershey kisses, too. I’m wasn’t overly sad there’s still about half of each bag leftover. They’ve been coming in handy this week. 

Like I said, I’m sure you could buy as much christmas-y candy you’d like and really load up on this thing.  But I kept it simple…This is where the large knife came in…After it cooled in the refrigerator, I was trying to figure out how to best break it up without smashing all the stuff on top. 

Clearly Mon took care of it.

This was her favorite out of all the things I made.  And she even replicated it on her own a couple days ago.

Since Mon doesn’t spend time in the kitchen, you know it’s easy.Well.  Not THAT easy.  Melting things can be hard…

I say that kind of seriously.  I’ve burned my share of chocolate. And other food.  And skin.  Now that I think of it, I have no idea why I’m allowed extreme heat or open flame.

Speaking of that half bag of M&M’s… I’d be lying if I didn’t say they were a good chunk of my dinner last night after a 20-minute walk on the treadmill because I wasn’t feeling very energetic.

What?  Sometimes Hump Days are just rough. 

I still got a round of resistance bands in yesterday morning and The Shred this morning.

We’ll call it even.

A Few Green Men

I’m so glad you guys liked the samoas I made! 

They are quite fantastic.  And unbelievably easy compared to how difficult I thought they’d be to replicate.  A win in my book.

And if you hadn’t noticed already- I added a new tab at the top of my blog for all the baking adventures.  Enter only if you dare…

Anyhoo, as you can imagine, I’ve been feeling the need for a little sugar detox after such a crazy weekend of baking.

But alas, duty calls.That’s right, I spent last night icing sugar cookies!  The exclamation mark may be a little over the top- I wasn’t super excited about it if we’re being completely honest.  My baking energy levels are shot. So these cookies were baked on Saturday, but sat around naked for a few days.

The gingerbread men were feeling exposed. And I wanted to get all the cookies out to everyone they were made for. So I persevered.

It wasn’t so bad.  I didn’t make an overly big batch (as I sometimes do).Does anyone else put bread slices in the tupperware with the cookies?  It’s a trick I learned to keep them soft.  Does it work?  I like to think so.  If it doesn’t, please don’t tell me all my efforts and bread have been wasted all this time…Aren’t they cute?

I use my Grandma’s recipe.  I don’t think it’s anything too different from most recipes, but hey- gotta keep it in the family sometimes…

Do you have any recipes like that?Notice my red trees?  My brother and I sometimes help my mom ice sugar cookies.  I have no idea why she asks for our assistance.  Because she refuses to ice the trees anything but green.  Since my brother and I are the way we are (ahem… difficult), we often spend the entire time grabbing and icing as many of the trees as we can with any other color than green before she can get to them. Our defense is that we’re trying to get her to think outside of the box.  It’s become a running joke.  So I wanted to make sure she got a nice look at a couple of the RED trees I made.

You’re welcome, mom.  I also introduced a few alien gingerbread men to the Christmas cookie gathering.  I assume they’ll enjoy hanging out with Psycho Pete- in my tummy.  Maybe they’ll even change his attitude around.  Because, well, they come in peace… right?

You can groan at that one.  I did. 

Anyway, so I didn’t get away from the cookies completely, but I did make an effort to at least keep the rest of the day on the lighter side.  And I’ve been keeping up my usual gym routine.  Trying hard not to overdo it (burnout would be a disaster!), but definitely making sure it happens as normal.

This week, because work is a little later (9:00 versus 7:30), my goal is to pull early morning sessions of The Shred by Jillian or resistance bands all this week.  Wish me luck.  I’m currently 2 for 2 (yesterday and this morning), so I’m feeling pretty cocky at the moment.

For a little more cardio, last night I did abs and hit the elliptical for 30 minutes as well. 30 minutes! On the elliptical!  Who am I?!?!

Oh yeah, How I Met Your Mother was on.  That helped…

The Day After

Hola everyone!

I am pooped.

Yesterday started with some innocent baking, and quickly turned into Holiday Baking Extravaganza 2010.

Ok fine, I saw it coming, but still- standing in the kitchen for 6 or 7 hours is NO joke. 

If you choose to participate in something similar, may I give you some helpful hints?

Deal with it, I’m giving them to you anyways…

1. Hit the gym beforehand.  Yesterday I was determined to get a long session in beforehand.  Because I know myself too well to not think I’ll be dipping my finger into the dough/chocolate/icing.  In total, I ran about 6.5 miles.  There really wasn’t a plan when I started.  But when there was an issue with the circuit breaker, I was forced into intervals (and walked 1/10 a mile between each one).  It didn’t really bother me.  My run looked like this:  3 miles (papa run), 2 miles (mama run), 1 mile (baby run), .5 mile (uuuhhhh… itty bitty baby run?).

2. Fuel up.The one healthy decision I made all day.  It cancels out some of the sugar, right???

3. Enlist the help of a friend.  Preferably one who is a little obsessive compulsive. Enter Monica:She likes to clean.  I do not.  And she pretty much followed me around the entire time, cleaning up the messy trail I’d leave behind.  She even scrubbed the drip pans from my stove top.  And I didn’t once use the stove top.  Back in the day, I’d yell at  her for cleaning the entire time because I felt bad.  But now, I’ve accepted her sick obsession.

Plus, she’s not scared of big knives (clearly).  And I sort of am. 

Either way, I loved that she was willing to help.  Cause she knows my baking adventures are straight-up crazy.  As shown by her comment she left me after posting the picture from yesterday:I told her a test strip would just be silly. If I don’t get diabetes by the end of this weekend, we’re chalking it up to a Christmas miracle.

4. Make a list of steps for EVERYTHING.  I like lists.  They’re fun.  Because there is no greater sense of accomplishment when things are crossed off.  (And I may even write something down that I’ve already done JUST to check it off.  Gotta start somewhere, right?)  Either way, it keeps you from being frazzled about making four or five different things all at the same time.

5. Refuel again.Now that seems more like it.  It had been AGES since either one of us had gotten pizza delivered, so you can imagine how happy we were.  Bacon, mushroom, black olives and spinach.  Delightful.

Deliver is a must, by the way.  Because really- do you want to take the time to make even MORE food?  I don’t think so.

5. Drink more wine.  Make balls jokes as you dip cake balls for what seems like FOREVER.They never get old.

And I like to think my middle school sense of humor keeps me youthful.

6. Cap it off at 7 hours.  Seriously.  You’re risking sanity if you push it over that.

Which means I still have sugar cookies to ice.  Because the thought of whipping up another batch of frosting was making me laugh nervously…

Anyhoo, I’ll be posting the recipes starting tomorrow.  Because there’s a lot and I’ve got to get going.  Sure the baking is almost done- but now I have to figure out how I’m going to get to the mall in this fierce snowfall… meh.

Static

Do you know what happens when the internet is down for a good chunk of your Sunday evening?

You go to bed early.

It’s absolutely amazing how much I depend on it.  Maybe even a little embarrassing.  I seriously had  nothing to do.

Except for that HUGE pile of dishes that piled up in less than 48 hours.  And the laundry I didn’t touch.

Funny how I’m crazy about picking up after myself and cleaning up any messes all week long when I’m busy, but on a weekend when I have loads of free time?  It can wait…

Either way, since I like to write at night, this may be a little short.  Which is sad, because there was so much going on yesterday.Like this sandwich.  I decided I was a little obsessed with how good my zucchini sandwich was last week and wanted to remake it. So I did.  With onions and mozzarella.  Still good.  Not as good… but I wasn’t crying about it by any means.

Exciting,  yes?  And I love how my weights/resistance bands are in the background of this pic.  Unused yesterday- but still representin’.  Heeeeeyyyyy!

No workouts yesterday.  My cardio came in the form of holiday shopping.  Lifting heavy shopping bags, dodging unruly children, endurance training (standing in lines- that counts, right?)…

I’m happy to report that I at least put a dent in all that needed to be done.

Next weekend’s focus? Baking! 

That’s a holiday tradition I’m a little more into.

Get your sweat pants ready.

And one more exciting tid bit of news today.  I am definitely a walking ball of static electricity.  Sparks are starting to fly and it’s making me nervous.  Because now I am no longer just a hazard to myself- but a mild annoyance to all who come in contact with me.  Great…

Any ideas of how I can use this new power for good and not evil?Happy Monday everyone!

Rockin’ Out

Hey kids!  How are you this fine day?

I’m a little anxious.  Because this is gonna be me in a short period of time:It can’t avoid it any longer.  Off to the mall I go to battle the crazies.

And who am I kidding?  For me, it would be a good idea to wear the helmet anyways in daily life.  I’m a walking catastrophe.

But before I battle the crowds to get into holiday spirit, here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to this weekend.

Friday night wine night.Mon and I watched Sex and the City.  Notice the theme we were rockin’? We like to think we’re cute like that.

I woke up to snow.  Lots and lots of snow.  As in, I’m pretty sure it didn’t stop snowing at all yesterday.

Since I didn’t have much to do (thanks weather…), I made it a super long gym day.  The Shred happened early- because I knew it wouldn’t happen later on.  Plans to do it (or any strength training in general) kept getting pushed back almost all last week.  Not feeling the weight training lately.

What can I say?  This girl is a cardio junkie at heart.  As evidenced by my 5 miles that I rocked out yesterday.  Really only 4 were planned.  I was running it at a relaxed pace (8:45) the entire time, but wasn’t tired when I stopped to walk.  So what else is a crazy girl with nothing else going on to do?  Run another one.  Duh.

I also continued my belief that breakfast all day is a good thing:Hey look at my Christmas mug I’m rockin’? The snowman represents the fact that outside it was snowing.  

Did I mention it snowed ALL DAY?

 Of course the show must go on!We dug a car out of the snow and went back to Cubby Bear North- the scene of the crime from our random Thursday night happy hour(s).

What can I say?  We like to rock out to Rod Tuffcurls.For real.  As in we like to get up and be stupid on the dance floor.  I’m wondering how long it’s going to take for the band to judge us.

My guess?  Not long. I’ve got no rhythm.  And it’s obvious.

*Sigh.

What’s your favorite song to rock out to?  I won’t judge- the crazier, the better!

You should totally see me break out the “running man” to “500 Miles” by The Proclaimers.  Ok, maybe you’ll never see it (no pictures please!), but I bet you can imagine it. 

Time to get this show on the road.  Have a good Sunday!

And where’s my helmet??

Not Until December

That’s what I said over and over.

I refuse to put up my Christmas tree before December.  Not sure why.  Maybe because when I was little, we didn’t put the tree up until two weeks before?  Who knows…

So anyways, here I was swearing against it.  Over and over.

What did I do last Saturday?

I put up my tree.

My thought process was this…  Clearly, I have time.  I am not going out tonight.  There’s nothing else to do while I watch this movie.  I’d rather not throw it up in a rush if for some reason I’m crazy busy the next week (doubtful, but anything’s possible).

So I put it up while watching the movie Grown Ups.  Errr… tis the season?

Sad tree:Yeah, I have to straighten it with a magazine… shhhhh!

Bedazzled tree:It looks pretty much the same as last year, just in a new spot due to the acquirement of bigger furniture.  With a few extra ornaments.  And lights.  Because I live on the belief that the more glitter there is, the better.  This applies to every aspect of my life but my hair.  In my opinion, glitter does not go in one’s hair unless you’re on the way to prom.  Or if your place of employment involves a curb. 

There are exceptions to every rule.

Speaking of Christmas, this is an example of the goods that have been coming in:I considered sharing it.  But then I took a bite. 

No. I’m not sharing this one.

I had a permanent smile for the rest of work.  And even when I entered the gym later on.

The sugar was most likely the fuel for my decent 2 miles at an 8:20 pace.  And then the 25 minutes on the elliptical. And ab work. 

Maybe I should have cookies like that every day.  Even if it cancels out the time spent at the gym.  Worth it?  Very likely.

I’m so happy it’s Thursday.  It feels like last weekend was AGES ago, but at the same time, this week of work has flown.  How is that possible?  Let’s hope it continues.

When do you start getting into the “holiday spirit”?  I feel weird saying that it really doesn’t affect me much until the week before.  Most likely because I celebrate Christmas in Missouri and so I don’t feel like it’s really here until I’m planning my trip…

The Day After

Holidays away from the family can be hard.  My family is very important to me and I wish I could see them more often.I mean, come on.  Who wouldn’t want to spend the holidays with a group of characters like us?  We’re fun.

But sometimes that can’t always happen. I’ve spent the last two Thanksgivings in Chicago for various reasons, and it’s ok.  This year I’m taking an extra day or so off of work so I can go back to Missouri and give it the proper attention it deserves over Christmas. 

I think the first year I did this, my mom was terrified I’d be sitting alone with a turkey tv dinner in my apartment.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.

I’m a very lucky girl.

Take this year, for example. I spent my Thanksgiving Eve celebrating with good friends.Oh and yes, my hair is very tasty.  Thanks for asking.

We went to Durty Nellie’s to see Rod Tuffcurls and the Bench Press again.  Clearly we’re making this a regular thing.  It’s good music.  Entertaining.  And sometimes I just want to dance.  It works.

I’m also lucky enough to have families here in Chicagoland that have taken me in.

Last year, I was lucky enough to spend time with Jaime’s family.  This year, I went with Annie to hers.

I know Annie’s in-laws pretty well.  They’ve been wonderful to me.  And I could not be more thankful for that.I’m also thankful they feed me really good food.Seriously.  Good food.

I took the pecan pie cupcakes as another dessert option.

Believe it or not, I had overdone it a little on them by eating one every chance I got, but everyone else approved. (Shout out to Mark on this one- he made sure to let me know with every bite how good they are.  Thanks, sir!)

I also learned the finer points of the game “Bananagrams”This game was new to me. My family usually sticks to Scrabble and Scattergories.  Any favorite family games?

I’m proud to report I won one game.  Especially since the competition is so intense!  Whew…

By the end of the night, I was in food coma/exhaustion mode.  Bed time came early.  But that was fine- this girl had enough excitement and a race this morning (not talking about it now, but it went well!).

All in all, a good holiday! 

Pecan Pie Remix

There are certain staples in any Thanksgiving dinner that you come to expect.  Hence the term “staple”.

Turkey.  Pumpkin pie.  A potato of some sort.

Pecan pie is a staple for me.  I have to have it.  There’s something about that sugar-infested filling that I can’t keep away from.  It’s a holiday must-have.

But I don’t do well with baking pie.  It intimidates me.  The crust burns.  The filling doesn’t “set”.  There are too many variables that can go wrong.  So when I said I’d take something to Thanksgiving dinner at my friend’s family gathering, I played it safe and went into my comfort zone – cupcakes.

Cupcakes are fun.  Because, like cookies I make, they become obnoxious and over-the-top.  It’s just how I roll.

I searched high and low for a cupcake recipe that included a filling- not just pecan cupcakes.  For a while, it looked like I’d be experimenting.  Which is not the best thing to do right before a big dinner.  But I found one at Tastebook (finally-whew!).

Like any recipe I tackle, this one came in steps, too.  Quite a challenge when you’re coordinating all this baking with a Friends-giving dinner.

Anyhoo, first goes the filling.  This was the first little bump in the road I encountered.  Because I had used more semi-sweet chocolate on the Chubby Hubby cookies the day before, I was completely out of semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Milk chocolate chips were on hand.  I wasn’t going back out to the grocery store.  It would have to work.Nom nom nom… I could eat this filling with a spoon.

Then come the brown sugar cupcakes.  After tasting these, I would tell you just to make them on your own if you wanted- they’re delicious.  But that’s for another time.  For now, I’m putting a scoop of filling on top of each one.  The recipe says to do it gently, but I have no idea why.  The batter isn’t runny, and either way, it comes out looking like poo sitting on your cupcake.See?  Poo.  And don’t overfill the liners- the cupcake rises A LOT. 

They come out looking like this:Still pretty stupid-looking.  Serious doubts started to set in.  But at least the filling sunk in.  I was concerned it would just be a layer over the actual cupcake.  So that made me feel better.

Still holding on to hope these will turn out. 

And then comes the icing.Ooooohhhh yeah….  I heart cool whip.  I used to get mad at my brother because he’d eat it ALL.  With a spoon.  Out of the container.  That’s right, bro- I’m calling you out on that one.

Anyhoo, these days I can’t say “cool whip” without giving it a little flair.

Thanks Stewie.  I can’t even remember how to say it normal anymore.

This is another place where I was forced to switch it up.  As in, I had to buy more cool whip.  If you just spread on a thin layer of cool whip icing with a knife, you’re fine.  But if you’re like me and really pipe the crap out of some cupcakes, you will need a second container of it. 

Because wouldn’t you much rather have cupcakes that look like this:That’s what I thought.  Don’t hold back.  It’s the holidays.  Cool whip it up!

One more time for the kids in the back…Not to brag, but these are probably my favorite thing I’ve ever made.  Yeah.  I said that.  Even better than the chubby hubby cookies.  The filling is NUTS. (get it?  pecan pie… nuts…?)

Now I’m starting to sweat a little because I’ve got to figure out a new Christmas dessert…. Gah!

Oh and um… Happy Thanksgiving, kids!  It’s been yet another fantastic year and am so lucky to be able to share it with so many wonderful people.  I assume that if I were to write it all out, my list of things to be thankful for would be similar to the same one I had last year.

Enjoy celebrating the season! 

Make sure you’ve located your stretchy pants before dinner.  It makes for a quicker change after…

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Lot on the Mind…

We made it to Friday!

Here’s to the weekend and the short work week ahead of us!  YES!

Look at all the exclamation points.  Clearly I feel much better than I did last Friday…

Probably because I didn’t do a thing last night.  I had done the Shred again in the morning and planned to keep it a low key night.  Which I did.  I even had time to read before my Thursday night line-up.  And that never happens…We can talk about my latest obsession with Michael Ian Black later.  And yeah, that’s tuna from a can.  I like tuna, but (and I may have mentioned this before) I have issues when it comes to preparing fish.  It intimidates me.  Add that to my list of other things that intimidate me in the kitchen.  So now it’s fish, using yeast, and full-sized potatoes. 

And yes- I KNOW you can do potatoes in the microwave.  Punch a few holes in them and let them go.  Yada yada yada.  I’ve tried.  Over and over.  It just doesn’t work for me.  Ah baked potato… you win!

Anyways, so I use tuna in a can.  I’m also a real snot when it come to what kind of tuna I use.  I go to Trader Joe’s and use their Albacore.  Why, you ask?  Well I used to go for the cheaper stuff.  Or whatever was on sale at the grocery store.  Light tuna is sometimes under 70 cents a can- crazy right? Anyways, it happened more than once (so I think my fear is legit), to where I’ve bitten into something hard and crunchy before.  

I repeat- it was crunchy and shouldn’t have been there.  So I did the classy thing and pull it with my mouth full of food.  I don’t know if it was a scale or something- don’t care to know either way.  I do know I’ve started only buying it at TJ’s (after a hiatus from tuna altogether) and am happy to report I have not had any instances since.  Yuck.

But I have things of greater importance to worry about other than tuna in a can. Or at least I think so.

I’m baking two things (possibly three) next week.  I want them to be as fresh as possible on Thursday, need one done by Wednesday, and am going out Wednesday night.  Both things require multiple steps.  I feel like I made need some paper and a schedule for this. Possibly some highlighters.  Or email alerts.  Either way, it’s going to be hectic.

What am I getting myself into?

Thank God I never paid attention long enough to be able to offer to make the turkey…

I’ve also got my race to think about.  I’m not worried about the mileage.  It’s four miles.  I do it often enough.  I even did it this morning at an 8:30 pace (exactly).  Yeah- I actually made it outside of my apartment to get to the workout room this morning.  It was dark.  And cold.  And quiet- I was the only one there.  But the workout is done for the day and it makes me happy. 

And finally, holiday shopping is starting to enter the brain. 

Yeah.  I said it.  I’m bringing up holiday shopping.  Has anyone started?  Or even better- does anyone participate in Black Friday?

I never have.  As a retail worker in college, I’ve experienced it from the other side.  And it… is… terrifying.  For two years I worked in the lingerie department of a big department store.  I wasn’t there for the actual opening, but two hours later, people were still running through the store.  Underwear everywhere.  Kids running around unsupervised, pulling down the panties on all the mannequins.  Cash register lines wrapped around the store.

Even the seasoned retail worker would have been tempted to cry in the corner behind a rack of clothes.

Some people are INTENSE.

My friend Danielle is one of those people.  She is a chick with a plan.  And after asking nicely, she agreed to share her secrets with everyone by doing a guest post for me.  So look for that later today. 

At first I was nervous she was going to be like this chick:

I showed her this video.  And she said no way- she could take this chick.

I have awesome friends.

Happy Friday!