Life Archives - Page 56 of 96

This week in: Oreos, movies, and other stuff

February 13, 2015 by Jana 27 Comments

This week in adulting…dealing with bills. Specifically my county who makes absolutely no sense in the way they issue the sewer bill and then having to choose between magically conjuring up an impossibly obscene amount of money in a very short time or getting screwed 8 ways till Sunday if we opt for a payment plan. Awesome.

This week in TV…I missed the premiere of Better Call Saul. Did anyone watch it? Was it as good as I’m hoping it is?

This week in reading…I finished All the Bright Places. I read it in about 5 hours and a few days later, I’m still not over the last 100 pages. That book wrecked me. Wrecked. Me. I’ll give a full review in next month’s Show Us Your Books linkup (March 10 so mark your calendars) but suffice it to say, I think you should read it.

This week in cooking…I made a loaded baked potato chicken casserole. So delicious and easy. Here’s what you do: layer diced chicken, potatoes, about 1 cup of cheddar cheese, and bacon in a casserole dish. Green onions optional. Season with salt and pepper. Bake at 450 for 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are soft. We had it with the steam in a bag broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot medley but you can have it with whatever you want.

This week in binge eating…I’m pretty confident I could subsist on red velvet Oreos and wasabi and soy almonds. Let’s just say I bought the Oreos on Monday and ate a shameful amount of them on the 10 minute ride home from the supermarket. Yep. I couldn’t even make it home before I opened them. Perhaps this is why I need to lose weight.

This week in things I don’t care about…Fifty Shades of Grey. Can everything relating to this wretched book series go the fuck away? I’m 100% confident that the movie is a steaming pile of shit as well that can’t get any worse unless Kanye West did the soundtrack because he’s a disrespectful asshole who needs to shut his trap. There is no way I will see it unless you pay me a large sum of money, have Matt Damon, Chris Pratt, and John Krasinski as my dates, and then shower me in diamonds and first edition books. And maybe not even then.

This week in 40 by 40 list update…I made plans to go to the Cherry Blossom festival this year and figured out how to pay off all of our credit card debt (admittedly, it’s not much but it’s enough that it bothers me) by June. Maybe earlier. One step closer to debt free, which is a list item. I also tried to get Jimmy Fallon tickets but by the time I got to my computer, all the March tickets had been claimed. Sonofabitch!

This week in shit that’s so awesome I can’t stand it…The Breakfast Club turns 30 this year. This is one of my all-time favorite movies and, old as I am, I was still a bit too young to see it in theaters the first time around. Not this time, though. My ass will be in one of those seats. If you want to see it, here’s a listing of all theaters in the country that will be showing it. And you can buy your tickets today. Like I am.

That’s all she wrote this week. I’ll see you guys back here on Monday or Tuesday. If you celebrate it, have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

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This Week In: Doctors, cooking, and other stuff

February 6, 2015 by Jana 14 Comments

No clever intro, diving right in except to ask if I made this topic a Friday linkup, would anyone participate? Please don’t feel pressure to say yes but I thought I’d ask. Let me know in the comments.

This week in being an adult…More doctors! I’m starting to wonder if I’m 37 or 87 and I am so sick of getting blood drawn. I basically have track marks and, seeing as how I have no diagnosis yet, they’re really there for no reason. And I don’t want to even mention the unpleasantness that is coming my way next month. Hopefully after that I’ll know what’s wrong with me and I can get effective treatment.

This week in cooking…I have been killing it with recipes this week. Hoisin meatballs (and I don’t like ground beef so you know it’s good if I’m recommending it), cheesesteak stuffed peppers, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and chicken ranch tacos. I typically don’t do recipe posts because I’m too lazy to take pictures but I think I need to do that with these. Any preferences on which ones I should share?

This week in blogging…I don’t know what’s going on but my comment plugin is eating legit comments from real bloggers and dumping them in my spam comments. So, if you’re commenting and it looks like your comment disappears, it probably didn’t. It’s in spam jail. Don’t fret, though. I check it every day and release the prisoners who deserve it.

This week in reading…Finishing up Denis Leary’s Why We Suck and started Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You. I placed The Girl on the Train on reserve at the library and I’m like 235th in line. Fortunately, Steph saved the day and is mailing me her copy. Which segways nicely into…

This week in travel planning…Since Steph is awesome enough to mail me the book, I’m returning it by going into Philly next month so we can have lunch. I haven’t seen her since roughly 1999 so this is extra exciting.

This week in TV watching…I won’t bother to recap the Super Bowl but let’s discuss The Blacklist. Anyone else watch it? Anyone else hella frustrated by all the commercials? This is exactly why I DVR everything. No commercials. Oh, and thanks for the comedy recommendations last week. I have some new shows to check out now.

This week in updating my look…You guys know by now that I don’t do selfies but trust when I say I had Duggar hair. I cut about 5 inches off my hair AND had long layers added to it. Plus, it’s a new color and I absolutely love the way my hair looks now. And having it cut and healthy makes me not look like shit, which is an added bonus.

This week in saving money…Lowering my cell phone bill (thanks for the heads up, The Consumerist), actually remembering to return my library books on time (no fines!), having my very handy brother in law work with my husband to replace the brakes on our car (saving around $400!), and using my CVS coupons (thanks to the app on my phone!) for stuff we need. Being cheap never felt so good.

This week in sheer awesomeness…Everyone catch Jimmy Fallon’s Saved By the Bell reunion? No? Here it is. You can thank me later.

How was your week? Anything exciting planned for the weekend?

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Choose Your Own Adventure: January recap and February goals

February 5, 2015 by Jana 26 Comments

So remember last month when I set all kinds of ambitious goals for January’s theme of complete? Remember I said I wanted to edit my book, start a newsletter, update the photos in my living room, and update the decor in my daughter’s playroom?

Yeah. Me, too. I think the high of the freshness and possibility of the new year had kicked in and I was feeling extra motivated. Then, you know, the high wore off and I shit the bed on all of the goals. Well, three of them. I opted out of doing the newsletter for now because I just don’t have the energy right now to take on a new project. So quitting technically isn’t failing.

That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway.

As far as the book, I did write the summary and started combining bits and pieces and scraps into one cohesive story (sort of), and I’ve written some new content. So it’s both a pass and a fail on this one.

With the photos and the decor, I know what I want to do. And there’s no reason except my own laziness that I haven’t done it. I mean, lack of funds isn’t helping but it’s mostly due to my own lack of motivation. So that’s a huge fail.

You know what I did manage to complete? Seven books, 3 seasons of Rescue Me, 1 season of SouthLAnd, some laundry, our February budget, and going to approximately 2934073 doctor appointments (not to mention scheduling a shit ton more). And I managed to stick to my new blogging schedule.

So I didn’t totally suck at life during January but I didn’t succeed either. Neutral will have to do at this point.

But now it’s February. A new month, a new theme–create. Since I can’t handle failing for another month, I decided that I’d limit myself to only three things to create and absolutely none of them will involve arts and crafts. I need to do stuff that will not intimidate me nor make me cry at the thought of doing them. That said, here’s what I’m creating in February:

My 40 x 40 list. I’ve wanted to do one of these for awhile and I’m finally doing it. Well, truth be told, since Steph is gracious enough to give us the themes in advance, I knew this was something I wanted to do this month and I’ve already completed this one. If you guys are interested, I’ll be happy to share what I put on it.
My “already done” list. When I was researching what others put on their age related bucket lists, I realized how fortunate I’ve been thus far in my life and how much I’ve actually done. In a way to not feel so pathetic regarding the current state of my affairs, I think it’ll be helpful to look at how much I’ve done. If you guys are interested, I can share that list, too.
A recipe binder. Technically, I already have one of these but it desperately needs an overhaul, including removing recipes we’ll never try and adding ones we love. I’ve been having trouble with Pinterest (where I get the bulk of my recipes) crashing as well as finding dead links and I don’t want to keep having these problems. So back to the old school paper method we go.

If time and motivation permit, as well as permission from my husband, I’ll start editing the short stories my husband writes for our daughter because I want to have them put in a printed book (he has a blog where he writes them now). If anyone can draw and wants to help with some illustrations, I’d love to talk to you. I can’t draw for shit.

So that’s what my month looks like. How about you guys? What are you creating in February?

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It’s Tuesday. It’s okay.

February 3, 2015 by Jana 35 Comments

Every week, Amber over at Airing My Dirty Laundry does a “Hey, It’s Okay Tuesday” linkup where you can talk about anything you want to be okay with and it’s totally fine. I’ve been meaning to do this for longer than I should probably admit but I’m terrible at remembering things and since I’ve remembered this week, we’re participating.

That said, this week it’s completely okay that…

I think Tuesday is a waste of a day that really has no purpose except for bringing me a new episode of Justified (and before that, SOA but let’s not talk about that now).

I am annoyed with all the kids today who don’t know who Missy Elliot is or who Paul McCarthy is. Parents, I blame you. Educate your kids. This is important knowledge.

I unabashedly used the phrase “kids today”. #oldladyspeak #noshame

I hated almost all of the Super Bowl commercials. Holy hell, were they awful this year. Dead kids? Constant pushing of social agendas? Point taken. Ineffective timing. Except for Estelle’s Brilliant Bus. That shit is awesome. That can have all the commercials.

I totally missed a webinar yesterday because I completely forgot about it. Oops.

I’m sitting in my living room, writing this as I watch SouthLAnd, still in my workout clothes that I wore to actually workout (and then proceeded to actually exercise) because I’m too tired and lazy to take a shower.

This is my cat, Boots. She was less than thrilled to have her picture taken.

I’m #sorrynotsorry for all the animal pictures I post on Instagram. Truth be told, they’re pretty much the most interesting part of my life.

I’m over the moon that pitchers and catchers report in roughly 2 weeks. Baseball is almost back and once again everything will be right with the world.

I shared my dust cover summary for my book with my mastermind group and THEY DIDN’T HATE IT!!! Even the guys! And it’s a chick lit book!!! This has me freaked out because now that I know it’s not a terrible idea and people would actually read it, I have to write it.

I crapped the bed on Steph and Stephanie’s Choose Your Own Adventure Challenge this month. More on that this Thursday.

I’m more than excited for next week’s (it’s on Tuesday, 2/10. A week from today) monthly Show Us Your Books linkup that Steph and I host. I read some kick ass books this past month and I want you to know all about them.

How about you guys? What’s okay for you this week?

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This week in: Traveling, Baking, Celebrating, and more

January 30, 2015 by Jana 17 Comments

I’d start off this week’s recap by mentioning the snow, or lack thereof, but that seems like it’s all been done to death this week so instead, let’s just jump right in and see what happened This Week in Jana’s Life.

This week in reading…Still working through The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace. When that’s done, I’ll move on to All the Bright Places because my library actually has one copy!!! In other news, I’ve checked out The Goldfinch for the 9204723th time and I still have yet to read it. I think I need to surrender the fantasy on this one.

This week in being an adult…I made an appointment with a GI doctor to deal with some issues that have been plaguing me for a long, long time. Longer than I should admit. But I put on my big girl panties and made the appointment. It means I have to postpone my haircut but hell, that’s waited long enough. What’s a few more days?

This week in travel planning…In addition to our big trip to Disney in April, I’m planning some short day trips to get me through the spring. Living in Delaware doesn’t have many advantages outside of tax free shopping but one perk is the proximity to 4 major cities (plus the beach). In less than 2 hours, I can get to Philly, Baltimore, DC, and NYC. I’m actually taking advantage of this in the upcoming months.

This week in celebrating…We’re headed to Long Island on Saturday to celebrate my dad’s birthday (1/28) and my nephew’s (2/1). Plus, I get to see my grandmother who is finally moving back up to NY from Florida! There might also be a surprise addition if time permits. Stay tuned on Instagram for that. (It’s not a new pet. Although I want one because I want all the dogs).

This week in TV watching…Guys, the final season of Parks and Rec is both awesome and making me so sad. I don’t watch many comedies besides this one, Mom, and Big Bang and I can’t not have any on my viewing schedule. Suggestions?

This week in being annoyed by Buzzfeed…Hey, Buzzfeed! Enough with the Harry Potter shit. Also Friends. We get it. You like it. But enough already.

This week in wishing I had more money…I found out Rush and Billy Joel will be performing in Philly this summer. They’re two of my favorites and I’ve seen them before but they’re old and I don’t know how much longer they’ll be around so I feel like I need to go see them now except I really can’t afford to.

This week in writing…My book is getting there! I’ve managed to condense two half started stories into one longer one and I’m working through making it a little more cohesive. Once that’s done, I can work on the second half which is mostly mapped out in my head. When this draft is done, I’m going to need proofreaders and people who are willing to give me honest feedback, even if it hurts my feelings (trust when I say nothing you can say to me will be worse than I say to myself). Anyone interested?

This week in laughing…If you follow me on Instagram, you saw the picture of my daughter’s math homework and you know why this is funny:

This week in baking…Nadine gave her recipe for peanut butter cookies. Because peanut butter is basically one of the best foods ever, and because I mentioned this recipe to her, here’s a recipe for peanut butter cheesecake balls (I can’t remember where I found it originally):

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls

Ingredients

1/2 cup peanut butter (I suggest using regular creamy, or the fake natural stuff from Skippy or Jif or whatever brand you prefer. The actual natural peanut butter doesn’t work right in recipes)
8 oz. cream cheese (full fat, of course)
2 tbsp sugar
Chocolate chips (I don’t measure these. I just dump a whole bunch in until I decide it’s enough)

Directions

Mix together peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar. I found using a hand mixer did a fine job. Probably too much for a regular spoon. This stuff is thick.
Add in the chocolate chips.
Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Take mixture out of fridge, roll into balls. Put them in the freezer for 15 minutes or so.
Eat.

The original recipe called for them to be coated in melted chocolate but that just seemed like too much effort and way too messy so I skipped that part. Didn’t matter, though, because my family ate them like I’ve been forbidden from ever making them again.

That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday or Tuesday (still trying to work out a good blogging schedule). Enjoy the Super Bowl! Or the commercials! Or just the food!

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This week in: Oreos, movies, and other stuff

This Week In: Doctors, cooking, and other stuff

Choose Your Own Adventure: January recap and February goals

It’s Tuesday. It’s okay.

This week in: Traveling, Baking, Celebrating, and more

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