Half-Full Friday-9/16/11

I've been taking a non-paid blog vacation.
I've actually been working on some crafts but they are for a party I'm throwing for someone later so I can't share them yet.

Half Full Sitches-
I was insanely tired on Wednesday but that was because I stayed up past midnight watching the new SMG (Sarah Michelle Gellar, duh) show, Ringer.  This is positive because....1-New TV is starting up again.  2-SMG is back on TV (your guys watched Buffy, right????).  I was a little iffy on the pilot (and also the giant SMG art in the apartment) but I'm pretty sure I will eventually love it and get to discuss it with Shanzie every week.

I had to drive/walk all over main campus (my building is off campus) on Wednesday (my super sleepy day) to get payroll submitted for a new student employee.  But.....1-I did get it, so her payments won't be delayed (although she will never know about all my hard behind the scenes work and that she almost didn't get paid) and 2-once I came back from campus the whole morning was gone and it was time for my lunch break (time passing fast at work=Win).  So, win, win.

I bought some airplane pants (aka slightly fashionable sweatpants that can be worn on an overnight plane flight).

One of my friends had a new niece born this week while another friend has a new nephew 2 days later. They will probably get married in 28 years.

I learned how to make a really easy frozen key lime pie.

I'm addicted to Zappos.

It's semi cold today (50s).  I heart Fall!

Half Day Friday!!

What's making your Friday, half full?
Did you watch Ringer?

TV Talk Tuesday-One Tree Hill Set Tour

My mom and I hung out with these people this weekend.

OK well I didn't actually see any of those people but I did go on the One Tree Hill set tour in Wilmington, NC where One Tree Hill (and previously Dawson's Creek) is filmed (at Screen Gems Studios).  I even conned my mom into going with me so I didn't have to go alone. 

They threatened to escort us off the property if we took pictures so I don't have any pictures of the sets but it was pretty interesting.  I saw Nathan and Haley's house, Brooke's Beach house and Red Bedroom Records. 

Fun Facts...

1-The brick isn't real.  Although Red Bedroom Records looks like it has brick walls, when you touch the walls you realize they are hollow.  It's wood or plastic that has been painted.  Same for the granite counter top in Haley's kitchen.  It's actually just painted wood.  I think the set designers do a really good job of making it look real on tv.

2-Lots of other stuff is fake.  The sinks don't have running water.  If they need water or electricity for any of the kitchen items, they have to run in a hose or bring in an extension cord. 

3-There's no real food in the fridge.  They showed us Brooke's fridge which has no power.  Most of the stuff is just empty boxes or Tupperware that has been painted to make it look like there is food in it.  Sometimes they move things around to make it look like people have actually been eating food from the fridge. 

4-The pool from Nathan and Haley's house is inside.  It's a real pool but they actually have it on a set beside the house.  They definitely had me convinced that the pool was outside on the show.

5-The stairs lead to nowhere.  All the sets are on one story so if you see someone go up stairs, they are not really going anywhere.  It just ends.  They put tops of trees outside of windows to make it look like they are on a higher level.

6-They have a side parking lot with cars used in the show.  A few years back when I drove by I saw Peyton's old car.  I guess they don't need that anymore.  But I'm pretty sure these are the cars from the hit and run last year.  Yeah, look familiar?

Ok, so those might only be fun facts if you've actually seen the show.  Overall things were a lot less fancy and high tech than I would expect them to be on a TV set.  They do a good job of making fake things look real on the show.  So now I have fulfilled my lifelong dream of touring a tv set so I can move on.  (But if anyone wants to get me on the set of PRec or The Office, I will still accept the invite.)



parking lot outside the studio

Have you ever been on the One Tree Hill set tour or on any other TV show set?
Are you going to watch the final season of One Tree Hill this year?

Wine and Cheese....

are really awesome....
and we had a lot of both at our wine and cheese party the other night.

Veggies and dips (my mom made me the dips cause she's cool like that)....

The artistic fruit platter (the berries are "wine" and the pineapple and melon are "cheese", get it?)...

Cheese (and nuts, honey, mustard, jelly, etc)...

Meat and Cheese....

Wine (well wine charms)...

In conclusion, I recommend that you all have a wine (or beer, or Shirley Temple) and cheese party.  Have your friends bring over some cheese and wine of their choosing and then get someone to make something chocolate (like the awesome chocolate fondue we had which I don't have a picture of).  Then add in fruit, veggies, bread, crackers, etc.  Good stuff.  In all we had about 6 types of cheese, a goat cheese ball with basil oil, goat cheese corn cakes, a fruit platter, veggie platter, fondue with strawberries and pound cake, cheese straws, salami, and a ton of crackers and bread.  Luckily we had those veggies and fruit to balance out all the other stuff.  But as always, the best part was the friendships (which I forgot to capture with my camera).

Have you ever hosted a wine and cheese party?

Handmade Birthday Presents Continued...Inspired by Pinterest

I accomplished 2 goals this past weekend.

1-I finally finished Mo Yo's birthday present and

2-I made something inspired by Pinterest.

(ok well this was one thing but it accomplished 2 different goals.  Multi-tasking)

(Oddly enough my Pinterest insipration came from something I repinned from Mo Yo's sister.)

When I was visiting Mo in Las Vegas last month, I was reminded of the lovely bar/pool table area in their home and I decided I wanted to make something for that.  I found a coaster tutorial on Pinterest and went with that.  It seemed easy enough.

How to Make Easy Coasters from Tiles and Scrapbook Paper.....
Needs-Tiles (from Home Depot or Lowes), Scrapbook paper, Modge Podge or other glue, paper cutter or scissors, clear spray paint.
1-Get your husband or man friend (well or yourself) to buy you some tiles (4.25 x 4.24 inch is a standard size) from Home Depot.  I'm not sure what section, I just know they have them there and my husband has to go to Home Depot a lot for work.  They are really cheap.
2-Buy some pretty scrapbooking paper from Michaels or another craft store.  The 12x12 paper works well for this.
3-Use a paper cutter (you can get these for cheap at a craft store) or scissors or an exacto knife to cut out 4x4 inch squares from the paper.  The 12x12 works well to make exactly 9 even 4x4 squares.
4-Then glue the paper square to a tile with Modge Podge.  I only put Modge Podge on the backside but i think next time I might do a coat on top too.  Let this dry.
5-Once this is dry, spray a coat or 2 of clear spray paint (follow instructions on can) onto each tile.  This seals the tile and makes it water resistant.

I think these came out really well.  Plus they are very cheap to make.  I can just picture myself making millions of these for Christmas presents in December.

Yay, Pinterest success!

Do you use Pinterest to come up with craft ideas?
Are coasters an acceptable birthday present?

The Best Food I Made This Weekend-Shrimp, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Quinoa

I made several food items this weekend but my favorite was the Shrimp, Avocado, Tomato and Quinoa Salad that I made Sunday.  I got the inspiration from this salad I found on Pinterest then I made some changes and additions.

I forgot to upload the photos I took so here is a photo of my inspiration
salad from here.  Mine had quinoa though.

Shrimp, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Quinoa and Lime Vinaigrette
1/2 pound of shrimp (I like easy peel)
cumin
chili powder
garlic salt
olive oil-for cooking shrimp
1/2 cup quinoa
1 small lime
2 tablespoons olive oil (can vary depending on how you like your vinaigrette)
sugar
2 small avocado's (or 1 large), cut into small bite sized pieces
a cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 small red onion, chopped

1-Peel shrimp and sprinkle with a little cumin, chili powder and garlic salt.  Cook these in the olive oil and set aside to cool.  Once cooled, cut the shrimp into smaller pieces.
2-Cook quinoa per directions and let cool
3-Make a vinaigrette by whisking together the juice of one lime, the olive oil, a couple sprinkles of cumin, chili powder and garlic salt.  Add a small sprinkle of sugar.  You can adjust this all to your own taste and preference.  I mix it and taste it and add more as I go.
4-Add veggies to the vinaigrette and then add in the shrimp and quinoa once they've cooled some.  Mix everything together and refrigerate before serving.

This is a very refreshing and healthy summer salad!

What's your favorite summer salad/dish?

Vegetarian Fare

B has decided to cut out the red meat and chicken for a bit so this has given me the perfect opportunity to experiment with some vegetables.  Plus people at work keep bringing tons of veggies in for me to have.

Jumbo green peppers were on sale at Harris Teeter last week so I decided to attempt some stuffed peppers.  I have only ever made stuffed peppers with ground beef in them so I decided to try something different.  I have been using Pinterest a lot lately and used it as an inspiration for my peppers.  I went for a Mexican theme and they ended up pretty good.

Mexican Style Stuffed Peppers
3 jumbo green peppers (or 4 regular)
1 cup instant brown rice
1 can tomatoes with green chillies
1 can black beans
1 envelope of taco seasoning
pepper jack cheese
salsa-optional

Preheat oven to 400.  Cook rice per directions.  Cut peppers in half and seed them and then microwave them for about 5 minutes.  Then in a sauce pan add rice, tomatoes, black beans and taco seasoning and cook until heated.  Put peppers cut side up in a baking pan and stuff each pepper with rice mixture.  Top each pepper with a slice of pepper jack cheese.  Then cover the whole pan with foil and cook for 15 minutes.  Take the foil off and cook for 5 more minutes.

These came out pretty good.  I would have liked my peppers to be a little softer (maybe microwave them more) but B really enjoyed them.  The next day I microwaved one of the leftover peppers with some salsa and extra cheese.  It was really good.

Yesterday Harris Teeter had lemon artichoke pesto on sale so I decided to make some pasta salad out of that.

Lemon Artichoke Pasta Salad with Veggies

1/2 box of shell pasta

1 medium zucchini

1 medium yellow squash

sun dried tomatoes

Parmesan cheese

lemon artichoke pesto

Cook pasta.  Slice and seed the zucchini and squash and then blanch them for a couple minutes.  Mix pasta, squashes, chopped sun dried tomatoes, some fresh Parmesan cheese and some of the pesto.  I also added in garlic salt, pepper and some red pepper flakes.  My vegetarian sister approved this recipe.

Do you use Pinterest?

What is your favorite vegetarian dish?

Craft Hour at the Beach

I went to the beach this weekend with a few friends and I decided it would be nice to have a good wholesome girl bonding activity to do.  So I came up with craft hour.  It was actually supposed to be 'craft 20 minutes' where I showed everyone how to make an easy pair of earring.  For some people, making stuff was fun, while for others making stuff was hard.  Apparently not everyone is in to crafting.  I won't name names.

Beezus5 gets the gold star in crafting as she finished hers first and with the least help.  Plus they were pretty cute.  Hers are the big ones in the front.  (Everyone else did great too, for the most part.)

Even though some people had a little trouble (mostly with selecting the beads they wanted to use), everyone did end up with a pair of nice fashion earrings to wear out to dinner.  (Although B5 didn't put hers on until after the photo.)

The boys did not participate.

Would you be mad if your friend made you have craft time at the beach?