In case you were wondering...

I did get a bread bowl on Tuesday (it WAS raining!)...


I wasn't going to have one until Rachel asked if I wanted to go get soup at Claim Jumper. It's not like I ever pass up lunch with Rach!

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

Rachel (of Rachel Made Me Do This fame) is currently in Maui celebrating her birthday and anniversary. If she's not having a fantastic time, I'm very surprised!

It was only when trying to find a picture of Rachel to add to this post that I realized I had more pictures of Kim and I together, than of Rach and I. Please keep in mind that Rachel and I have spent 40 hours a week in the same office building, and averaged going to lunch together at least once a week, for the last 5 years. Not so subtley, I cornered her in the office and had someone take a picture of us shortly before she left for the airport. Rach, this is why :)


Rach, thank you for being such a great friend!! I still blame you for my addiction to blogging though :) Let's try to take more pictures together this year!

It Sure Beats Hot Wax

Rachel and a few other girls at work have been RAVING about eyebrow threading ever since it was introduced to them by one of the Indian guys that works here. Not being a big fan of waxing or plucking, and seeing Kim's excitement to experience eyebrow threading when Rachel told her about it, I figured I should suck it up and try something new. Off to Ziba we went...

When we first walked in it was pretty empty so all of the threaders were standing around staring at us - totally intimidating!

First, you assume the position:
Your eyes are closed, so you miss all the action, but the lady basically rips out all of your stray eyebrows (or any other hair) by twisting/rolling thread over them.
They them trim them up...
The whole process takes about 5 minutes and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as waxing. I will definitely be doing it again!

Adventures with Rachel

Today Rachel and I took an early lunch to try and snag some free ribs from Pat & Oscars. We were not willing to wait in much of a line as we didn't want them that badly, but figured it was worth a try. (They were giving away free ribs to the first 110 people at each location). When we got there, this was the line:






So we left.



I sent the picture to Kim and then handed Mr. Pearl over to Rachel to have her follow up with a message. (It's all part of our master plan to get Rachel a Pearl - the more she uses it, the more she'll want one). As Kim1Champ pointed out yesterday, today is the first day under the new cell phone law which prevents you from holding a cell phone to your ear while driving.



While stopped at a red light, Rachel handed the phone back to me and I started browsing through my Inbox . Rachel started to say "That cop is totally looking for people..." when the Buena Park Police Officer in the cruiser next to us (who was also holding his cell phone) waved at us.



Rachel rolled down the window and the follow exchanged:

BPPD: (while laughing) You can get a ticket for that.

Me: (laughing with him) I wasn't talking on it, just holding it.

BPPD: CHP will still give you a ticket for that. But it's okay, I use mine too (holds up his phone).

Me: OK (Rachel rolls back up the window)



Me to Rachel: Not true. The phone has to be up to your ear. You can still text while driving. It's a loop hole. You just can't have the phone against your ear. Had he actually given me a ticket, I would have used the cell phone in question to pull up the law and show him.



:)

This Post is For Rachel

Only she knows why. :) I will neither confirm or deny any and all speculations.

However, for the rest of y'all...
We went to Dream Dinners tonight and Rachel got to test out my "fold the bag over for the Alfredo" trick. She found that it also works extremely well with the Marinara.

I learned something from her too...when making the chicken enchiladas, she folded them more like burritos and they fit into the pan much more easily and efficiently. The other ladies that were waiting for me to finish, saw me do this after Rach and were impressed as well.

I absolutely CANNOT wait for May! The menu looks quite tasty, with lots of new and tasty meals. I ordered a ton of servings...they just all looked so good!

Moment of BRILLIANCE!

Rachel and I have gone to Dream Dinners a couple times together and both times have struggled with the Creamy Chicken Risotto. Our struggle is with the alfredo sauce because there didn't seem to be a way to get it into the bag without getting it all over the outside of the bag and your hands.

Yesterday, at my add-on session to make meals for my mom, I had a moment of BRILLIANCE! I turned the top of the bag down, spooned in the sauce, and then rolled it back up and TA DA! All of the sauce was contained on the inside of the bag and not on my hands!

While this was probably an obvious solution for many of you, I considered it quite the accomplishment. Please let me have my moment.

Dream Dinners

If you've never done this, you should!!! It's a little overwhelming at first (and you could be an idiot like me and make a different beef meal than the one you ordered) but it's totally awesome!!!! I've wanted to do this ever since Kim blogged about it and finally got to go!

I went tonight with Rach and she showed me the ropes - thanks Rach! It was totally fun and we've already booked our next visit in March.

Reasons I LOVED it:
-I prepped 12 dinners in a little over an hour
-I didn't have to spend any time in a grocery store
-Everything was ready and waiting for me
-I didn't have to clean up ANYTHING
-They packed my cooler for me and then carried it out to the car
-I got a free meal when signing up for a March session tonight
-All of the choices were things that I'd never make because I'd never have all of the ingredients
-It doesn't really cost much more than if I were to make something similar myself

Reasons I didn't love it:
-The stupid lady that took FOREVER at the last station I needed. I tried really hard to take a discreet photo of her but I didn't want to be kicked out after I'd already made a meal I didn't order. (Thankfully they were really nice about the meal and just let me keep that one. The one I'd originally ordered didn't really seem that appetizing anymore anyhow). She took up the entire counter space that was intended for three separate stations and moved really slowly. I hung out with Rach while she made 2 different meals and FINALLY the lady finished.

Note of caution: Those that are really picky eaters (or have spouses that are - sorry Kat!) might not find too many things that are plain enough. I consider myself fairly picky though (no seafood and not too many veggies) but I found that almost all of the meals sounded appetizing. If there's something you hate in a recipe, you can always leave it out.

Two Sisters Eat Yams

Not that it's too surprising, but in other Rachel Made Me Do This news, the Dahl sisters tried yams on Christmas...and loved them!!! After the Evans sisters tried the yams at Thanksgiving and loved them, I decided I needed to give them a try. I intended to try them at Thanksgiving, but it was just a bunch of chunks of sweet potato in a dish...no brown sugar anywhere...I just couldn't do it!

Since I was cooking Christmas dinner, I looked for a recipe that had lots of brown sugar and pecans and found one I thought might have just the right amount of "yummage".

And then it was time for the moment of truth:
Sweet potato goodness on the right, and cheesy potatoes on the left (also an experiment and a hit!).

Nicole went first...

And she LOVED them! I was still skeptical since she likes sushi, but I LOVED them. She wants me to make sweet potatoes for her in lieu of a birthday cake. YAY!

Tips for New Bloggers

Since so there are so many new bloggers this week, I thought it might be helpful to offer them a few tips (with a little help from the HCBC):

1) Make sure to post often on your blog and post comments on other blogs (in particular the hot chicks blog). If you do this, they may make you a lucky part of their group
-Rachel
As seen on This Pickle has something to say

2) Photos and links liven up each post. A little required reading goes a long way. News stories are great fillers on a slow day!

3) Everyone loves a poll!

4) Funny mom stories are great!

5) Discreet photos can make even the simplest things entertaining!

I'm sure there are more...Ladies?

Rachel's "unofficial" blog

Rachel refuses to "blog", yet I beg to differ. My evidence can be found here.

Rachel is a TRAITOR!!!

How long have I been blogging now? MONTHS! How long have Kim and I been trying to get Rachel to blog? MONTHS!

Imagine my shock and HORROR to find out this morning that RACHEL IS A TRAITOR!!!

My proof? Here

Rachel Made Me Post This

Rachel and I have decided that as long as she periodically provides me with material for my blog, I'll stop nagging her to write her own blog (even though her job could provide her with days full of material and I can never write about work).

And so, to follow up on the bottled water debate, some required reading. I am addicted to bottled water and Starbucks. Is that so bad?

Useful Information

Required reading can be found here

This article brought to you by Rachel...she made me do this. :)

Questions:
1) How is it possible for a person NOT to panic if their car is suddenly submerged in water?

2) If you were to be extra prepared and buy the LifeHammer, how long would it take you to find it and use it should you ever need to? I see that it comes with a mounting bracket, but where exactly would you mount it?