Thanksgiving Calorie Calculator

picture from deniseskitchen.files.wordpress.com

About.com lists an article in their health section on how far you'll have to walk in order to "walk off" your Thanksgiving dinner.

Yes, I agree, such a mean little game.

It divides all the traditional food one might consume on Turkey Day into the following categories: Drinks, Snacks, Salads, Main Course, Dessert, and even Leftovers.

Click here to see the damage you're gonna do.

...........................................................................................................Gym, anyone?!

until next time,

g

Ailments & Goodies

Before I begin with what I actually intend to blog about, I need to tell you about my bug bite.

Yes, my bug bite.

At some point over the course of this past weekend, a bug bit me. (ouch, Chawlie!) And we're not talking about a nice little baby bug. We're talking about a monstrous, grutesque and MEAN bug. It attacked the top of my left wrist leaving it red, incredibly swollen and itchy beyond belief. The redness even extended up my arm to my neck and face last night. (what the hell did this critter inject?)

So here I sit...dragging the metal inside of my stapler across my hand.

~Sigh~

This, of course, occurred immediately after my pulled neck muscle started to get better. Note to self: even if you are looking for a fabulous birthday-girl outfit, there is no hope in trying anything on when you cannot move your neck.

I found this out the hard way.
In Loehmann's....ahem, in Loehmann's communal dressing room.

All I have to say is that it is a very humbling experience to have a complete stranger help you emerge from the neck-hole of a top -- as opposed to the sleeve in which I was stuck. And seeing as the top was two-sizes-too-small, I can now regretfully empathize with the Orca whales that get tangled in fishermen's nets.

~clearing my throat~

So now that you're caught up on my recent ailments, I'd like to share a super easy last-minute recipe. With Thanksgiving later this week (yowza!), you may find yourself in a pickle when it comes to having enough dessert for everyone. This is a good alternative to the traditional desserts and you probably already have the ingredients in your pantry! I plan on making this tonight as a farewell to the BF who's been staying with me the past two months and is moving out on Thursday.

............Okay, okay - you caught me. Farewell, schmarewell. It's totally comfort food for this little lady. I'll just say that goodbyes are not my forte.

Alas, bring on the sugah'!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker pie crust (or Oreo, if you're feelin' extra fancy)

1 cup confectioners sugar

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (i'm a Jif fan)

1 box chocolate pudding (not instant, must be cooked)

Cool "wHip"

Mix peanut butter and sugar until crumbly and pour into pie crust.
Pack it down with spoon or spatula.
Leave 1 tablespoon aside for garnish.
Cook pudding according to directions on box and pour over peanut butter mixture.
Refridgerate immediately.
When cooled, top with Cool Whip and garnish with remaining peanut butter mixture.

Enjoy!

until next time,

g

Happy Birthday To Me

** a little birthday fun that will surely make you smile. **

until next time,

g

'Excited' is an Understatement

I just purchased my ticket to see New Moon this Saturday.

(YES, that's my birthday and NO, I cannot think of a better present to myself!)

If you need to see Mister Edward Cullen once more in preparation, click here.

Pshhh, you didn't think I'd leave you with just one preview, now did you? Here's another.

Now go wipe the drool off your face.

until next time,

g

It's Time to Deck the Halls.

Christmas is 45 days away.


SHUT.THE.FRONT.DOOR.


Ok, let's all have a little freak-out session together. Inhale.......now SCREAM!

Feel better? Yeah me neither.

Maybe this will help. Real Simple Magazine offers a Holiday Savings Plan in attempt to keep us all from spazzing out too much. Here are some of their/my/others' ideas:

1. Make a list. (lists are your friend, remember?)

2. Set dollar limits.

3. Don't forget about all the nongift expenses. (such as entertaining, a festive new top for holiday pictures,....booze....)

4. Coordinate group trips for holiday travel to cut back on expenses.

5. Avoid booking fees by purchasing flights on actual airline websites.

6. If you need a rental, do a little research and rent a car from a local agency for a better price.

7. Use ca$h. According to cardweb.com, consumers spend 30% more on purchases they charge than if they use cash.

8. Check out fatwallet.com for online coupons. The website offers you cash back via PayPal when you make purchases with listed vendors.

9. Magically regift. If you have an unused giftcard collecting dust in your wallet and you want to exchange it for another store (Grandpa Joe miiiiight not know what to do with $20 at American Eagle), go to swapagift.com and put your giftcard towards another retailer for only a $4 fee.

10. Get one big family gift. Are you a parent? Feeling the pressure to buy out Toys"R"Us? In lieu of a bunch of little gifts, get one big gift like a vacation for the upcoming year. You can even get the kids excited by getting them something to use on the trip.

11. Have a bunch of unused frequent-flyer miles? But not enough to actually treat someone to a trip? Bump them up to first class for a leg of their already-booked upcoming travel.

12. Group gifts. Let's say your best friends/relatives have a family of five and they want to go to the Bronx Zoo. That's $63 for ONE visit. You can buy them an annual membership that includes 16 passes plus store/restaurant discounts for $120.

13. Not sure the cheapest way to mail those large cumbersome boxes to your relatives in Timbuktu? Check out iship.com which compares prices for FedEx, DHL, UPS, and the post office.

14. Make sure you're up-to-date on all your reimbursements. Is that work expense report from July still lying around? Send it in and use that money towards buying gifts!

15. Homemade gifts. (I would share what I've been up to, but my gift-recipients might be reading. Y'all are just gonna have to wait!) Do you have a ton of pictures from events this past year? Put them to use! My coworker, Nichole, makes yearly calendars for her family members on Shutterfly. You can also use Kodak's website. Each month in the upcoming year will feature a great family photo. Now that's pretty darn cute.

16. Decorate cheaply. Fill jars with holiday candy. You can even string popcorn and cranberries (my contribution as a child....no wonder I can sit for hours and hours working on tedious projects). Take glass canisters and punch bowls and fill them with glass balls from your ornament collection. (I'll give my mother credit for that one.) I suggest purchasing a spray-can of gold paint. Go to town on some pine cones from the yard to make a fabulous centerpiece! Sadly, I don't have a yard let alone a neighboring pinetree. Hmph.

17. Wrap-it-up! Hit up that neighborhood restaurant or bar for their free coasters and use them as gift tags. Get the kiddies involved. Wrap presents in white poster paper and give 'em some Crayolas.

18. Having a "shoot-she-got-me-a-present-and-I-got-nada-for-her" moment? Try giftcertificates.com. The recipient can choose where to use the gift. I always think nice candles or homemade jams/jellies are nice gifts too. Maybe stock up on a couple of these "suitable-for-many" gifts just in case you forget someone on your Nice list this year.

19. Get someone a magazine subscription. What's better than a gift that keeps on giving? 12 times?! Real Simple is currently offering a 2-for-1 gift special. Get 2 subscriptions with 12 issues each for you and a loved-one for only $23.88!

20. Have fun with it. Giving should be the best part of the season.

Oh and if you're thinking about dragging your beau along for a little holiday shopping, read this. You might reconsider.

Why o' why does this sound like something my fella would do? Wink.

Happy Holiday Preparations!

.......And yes, I realize I kinda just skipped over Thankgiving all-together. To be honest, I can't really relate to a normal Thanksgiving since ours involves over twenty people, a talent show and perhaps even an award ceremony. Yes.

until next time,
-g

No. 27

...just another reason to love living in NYC.

"The Yankees won. The world is right again."

- team president, Randy Levine.

until next time,

g

Breathtaking Talent

First of all, I must give credit to Joanna Goddard for blogging about this first in her delightful "A Cup of Jo". I just couldn't resist sharing this with you!

Stephen Wiltshire, an autistic artist from London, has one very special talent: he draws cityscapes from memory. Wiltshire didn't completely learn how to talk until he was nine years old. He was diagnosed with autisim when he was three and until the age of five, he was completely mute. It was not until his teachers took away his art utensils as a way to encourage communication did Wiltshire speak. His first word? "Paper". Wiltshire, who is now thirty-five, recently took a helicopter ride over Manhattan that lasted only a matter of minutes. Afterwards, he sketched the entire NYC skyline completely from memory, proportionately drawing every building with a pen; this was his ninth panoramic work of a cityscape. The twenty feet of meticulous detailing, all from what he remembers, proves to be nothing short of an amazing & breathtaking talent. It is a gift that has earned him the title of the "leading architectural artist of the world".

images from Wiltshire's online gallery

As reported this morning in a Reuters news article, Wiltshire smiles and recalls the city as "the noises, the bright lights on Broadway". His personal website suggests that New York is his "spiritual home".

"I'm going to live in New York.

I've designed my penthouse on Park Avenue."

- Stephen Wiltshire

until next time,

g

26.2

Today was bittersweet.

Today was the NYC Marathon -- and I was supposed to be running.

I have never really been the athletic type; I played field hockey at boarding school and it was probably the only time my family has ever seen me sweat (well, other than when I'm outlet shopping). Nonetheless, I decided to challenge myself to run the marathon with my work's charity team. I watched the race in '08 - if people with prosthetic legs could run it and if a blind man holding on a string attached to his friend could run it, then I could finish it.

BUT the big guy had another plan. I have something called genu recurvatum where my knees naturally hyperextend. I was approaching the sixth mile of a Saturday run when my knee completely gave way. I'm pretty sure my (lack of) leg muscles weren't used to the demand and my legs had been hyperextending for a mile or two. After my knee gave out I could barely walk. I hobbled at snail-speed and had to push myself up and down the subway stairs by the disgusting handrails I usually refuse to touch. (sidenote: I will never be angry at the slow-walkers again). I irritated the tendons on the inside of my knee and my doctor told me I either needed a cortisone shot or I couldn't run for six weeks. I asked for the shot - annnnd he refused to give it to me. It had to do with something about me being too young and not competing in the Superbowl the following day; I stopped listening when reality kicked in.

I rested, iced, compressed, elevated and repeated.
And repeated again.
To no immediate avail.

After a good amount of pouting and denial, I deferred my entry to next year. One of the hardest lessons to learn in life is realizing that things are out of your control. We set out and make plans for a week, a month, a year and even a lifetime and more often then not things happen in ways we don't ever imagine - let alone plan. So, yes, today was bittersweet. I loved watching the enthusiasm at mile 20 and cheering for my co-workers and friends. I loved high-fiving strangers and seeing children cheer on their parents with colorful posters. I loved the motivation that lifted my spirits for next year and with a tear that filled my eye (that I completely blame on the cold weather), I fell in love with this city all over again.

image from http://www.patcarrollonline.com/

Congratulations to team Robinhood for finishing with great times and for raising over $25,000 to fight poverty in NYC!! I am so proud of you.

until next time (and until next year, mister marathon),

-g