I am sort of obsessed with Will and Jada Smith and their family. Willow debuted her second single at the ripe old age of 10. (yeah, 10…) I know she fits into the “teeny bopper” category, but all I am saying is that she will be around. She is much better than kesha (of course I think that I could be better than her as well) but nonetheless.
I love the award season and I love the Oscars, since the are airing tonight I decided to give a couple of my picks. I am not going to go through every category…just the main ones. 
So, I am obsessed with this movie. It is not only my pick for Best Picture but also for Colin Firth in the Best Actor category. It is hilarious, witty, and historical. To be honest I think Geoffrey Rush should win Best Supporting Actor as well…but I hear Christian Bale did an awesome job in The Fighter. (I have not seen it yet)
Best Actress -
For me, this is a no-brainer…I thought Natalie Portman was absolutely phenomenal. The story was twisted and crazy, but the role she took on to play this part and the training she put in to pull that off. I thought the movie altogether was a great master piece and the story came altogether in the end and she better win.
I am also really excited about James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosting, it should be a very fun show…ohhhhh don’t forget the PS22 chorus, they will be performing!! check out their blog and YouTube channel.
Who do you want to win? What are you looking forward to?
Best Meal – Chik fil a chicken nuggets and fries for lunch on Tuesday. Those waffle fries always brighten my day.
Best Tweet - RT @eroberts7: Sometimes, I wish that I was Adele so that when I open my mouth her voice comes out.
Best Song - I am sure Ya’ll think I am ridiculous but Adele’s new album came out this week and to say I am obsessed is an understatement. “Someone Like You” is my song of the week…
Best TV time – Brothers and sisters!
oh and for this week I will add…
Best Coffee Creamer -
Yes – that is Christmas trees, snow and the words “seasonal celebrations”…Don’t worry I checked the expiration date.
I really love international delight coffee creamers and I obviously really like the flavor combination of white chocolate and raspberry so you can imagine my reaction when I found this on the shelf at Publix this week.
It was on sale and probably because they found it in the corner somewhere…but oh well, it tastes sooooo good.
I apologize for being so absent from the blog world this week…I had a test in my constitutional history class and my civil war class. But now the tests are over and whew, I am relieved. Tomorrow Matthew and I are heading home for the weekend and I am very excited because we have not been home since Christmas break.
So on to bigger and better things… I have been in a strawberry frenzy! I love fresh produce but unfortunately that always seems to be the pricey section in the grocery store. Well this week Publix had strawberries on sale and I decided to “splurge” and even bought some bananas (which are always cheap).
I inhaled ate them all week long. Just plain with a little sugar coating, in a smoothie, on my cheerios…basically any way I could find.
(check out the “All For The Union” yep, civil war letters)
Smoothie time…threw in some bananas, strawberries, and peach fat free yogurt.
“Shake Me Down” – Cage the Elephant
and well, because my goal is to get every one on the Adele bandwagon… 14 minutes of goodness.
Dear The New York Times,
ARE YOU KIDDING ME??
The newspaper LEAD film critics recently published an article that discussed black actors who have previously won Oscars. Whoopi was not included anywhere within the article…I was so glad that she confronted the issue on The View.
She won an Oscar for her role in Ghost, a fabulous role starring alongside Demi Moore and the magnificent Patrick Swayze. Her win was historic and the movie was so good, how a lead film critic from one of the biggest newspapers in the country, and maybe even the world, just baffles me.
In case they missed this… here is Whoopi on her Oscar win
It is not like she was a one hit wonder…she is one of TWELVE people that claim the E.G.O.T…she holds in her possession one of each of the major awards in the different industries.
Don’t worry Whoopster, you are loved and respected for all of your work and I am so glad you are on the view!!
For some reason this week I became quite obsessed with the idea of planning my nephew’s 1st birthday party. Yes, it is six months away…but one must always be prepared right?
I found a blog site titled Hostess with the Mostess and it had the cutest party ideas/themes along with pictures and links to get all of the fun stuff. In browsing and speaking with my sister we decided that we would throw Bode a sock monkey themed 1st birthday. To say I am excited about this would be an understatement. In the midst of my studying this week I practically planned the entire party.
Gift bag ideas, table décor, the food menu…his outfit. Yep, got it planned. My sister is actually thankful (I think?) and I am beginning to wonder if maybe I should have been an event planner. This is so much fun. The party will be in August…but don’t worry I will keep updates on it planning progress. Look at these pictures, aren’t they adorable.
There is so much fun stuff all over Esty, this is actually quite dangerous. I feel that I am planning this as if it is my party. Bode man will not even remember it…oh well. I am going to go all out anyway!
What do you think? Do you know anywhere to get fun sock monkey stuff or do you have any ideas?
My blogging has been slacking this week, school and life has just been busy. But here are my hot topics!
Best Meal - Matthew and I went to a new restaurant in town called “5” for dinner on Valentines, it was pretty tasty.
Best TV Time – I am quite behind on my dvr’d shows, but I will say that the Grammys were the highlight thus far.
Best Tweet - @KanyeWest “I didn't know Johnny Depp played guitar” …(during the Grammys)
Best Song – Anything by Adele, I have been obsessed. Her current hit “rolling through the deep” or check out her performance at the Brit awards “someone like you” and even better yet watch the music video for that song. It is in the living room of her house and she just decides to make the video with herself, a microphone, and a piano. She really rocks.
Last night was the Grammy awards. I personally really liked the show…not every single part, but I really loved the majority of it.
Uhm…Florence killed it.
I will never say that Lady Gaga is “normal” but I believe she is a musical genius.
I do sort of have “bieber fever” but I thought Jaden Smith was just precious and even more so…Will and Jada cheering him on during the performance and shouting “that’s my baby” at the end, that was so precious. I would like to be adopted into the family.
okay and one more…
I thought Katy’s performance was soooo good. She has such a good voice and when they were showing her wedding footage in the background – so cute. Then she added the fun-ness with Teenage Dream. Loved it Katy, good job!!
What were your favorite performances or least favorite?
I decided I wanted to make some valentines cupcakes but since I do not have a lot of ingredients here I decided to go for the “fun” valentines funfetti cake mix. I am no hater of box cake mixes and no lie, funfetti is the bomb.
Since I was using a box mix I made a recipe from The Pioneer Woman’s recipe blog the tasty kitchen. Ree blogged that this was one of the best frosting she had ever tasted…and for the exact recipe click here.
In the picture below you can see the consistency of the frosting of course the dash of confetti in the cake =)
I love being the taste tester…
for the cake mix, I just simply followed the directions of the box but only baked them for 15 minutes and not a bit longer.
The weekend began with my attempt to remain “up” with the current trends and to add to my recent nail polish infatuations. I purchased Katy Perry’s OPI “shatter” which looks like black nail polish but when you paint it on it creates this shatter effect on whatever base color you put on.
All of those things to equal this….
I actually LOVE it. It is not my “normal” style but I find it a lot of fun!!
On Saturday Matthew and I made a day trip to Jackson, Ms to meet up with one of my Aunt’s and her family at my cousins volleyball tournament. She did great and it was a lot of fun getting to hang with them. (Ps- these pictures are of Matthew and my uncle, Uncle Craig gets a big quick out of picture taking…)
That is my presh cousin…she is number 15. She is quite the little volleyballer!!
We also ventured to the Goodwill in Jackson (yeah I know) and this is what we found… like for real. We were so humored by this I had to take a pic.
I also baked some valentines goodies and will post on them soon!! What all did you do this weekend?
Best Meal- Iguana Grill...steak quesadilla and ridiculously good cheese dip.
Best Tweet - I do not have a specific tweet but last night Alabama’s basketball coach Anthony Grant (whom I love) was a trending topic. (that was after a heart breaking loss and horrible fouls/calls or lack there of.
Best TV Time – Oh my! Glee is BACK!!
Best Song - I have been obsessed with Adele this week...she is just fabulous.
So yesterday I spoke quite pessimistically of the possibility of snow. I apologize because it actually did snow all of last evening and night. It wasn’t more than a couple inches but it accumulated, roads were still drive-able, and school was still in session.
I will say what I love about the Alabama “snow” is that it normally comes once or twice a year, gives a light dusting...just enough to make everything very pretty and then it melts. It doesn’t obstruct life for days or look anything like what some of you readers are experiencing.
Here are a few snap shots from my phone of the wintery weather...
This is what I came across on my walk to class...very creative...
I even busted out the knock-off ugg-like boots that I have only used the two times I have been skiing out in Colorado. They are warm, comfy and were really cheap!
Here was the view from our “front door” and the snow man that I also came across on my walk to class. I would like to call this the “college” snow man. It sort of looks like he got short or something...Roll Tide!
The University has just cancelled all operations beginning at 5pm...my one class that I have on Wednesdays is from 5:00-7:30. Do I think it will actually snow, probably not! But I am definitely not complaining about having the night off.
I am writing this under the full light of our dining room table...we have been missing 4 of the 5 light bulbs oh, for a good week now. I finally got around to buying the bulbs and I just put them in. (it was a fiasco of a task, involving buying the wrong bulbs and having to go back to get the correct ones)...but, Let there be light!!
hahaha, not for me...do not worry! My brother and sister-in-law found out over the holidays they were expecting. Of course the entire family is very excited! They found out today that I will be the proud aunt of another little nephew! At the moment his name will be William Warner Ledbetter and we will call him Warner (sis-in-law’s maiden name) and I love the idea! Warner, I cannot wait to meet you, love you, and spoil you even more!!
Oh and an update on my other nephew...I have not shared any pics of him recently so just for fun
Isn’t he just too stinkin cute! and soon enough I will have two of them to play with!!
Have a good rest of the week and happy hump day!
I am still working my way through my best friends list she sent me of ‘new’ music I needed to check out, well at least new to me... this is my pick for the day.
Mumford and Sons – The Cave
Mumford and Sons – Awake my soul
This weekend is the Grammys and oh my, I love the Grammys. As mentioned before I am an award show junky and the Grammys are by far the most entertaining and exciting of them all. I am so pumped for the performances of Lady Gaga, Eminem, Katy Perry and oh sooo many more.
Who are you excited to see?
Next week’s post will be dedicated to the show and some of my favorite performances – I would love to hear what you think.
I have been feeling the need to bake something, anything. Over Christmas break I took full advantage of my time off and was baking non-stop. But once school begun and I ventured back to my college budget...well the baking has been nonexistent.
Until now... I decided to make a white chocolate cake with raspberry filling. It was a recipe I actually found on Kraft.com, it seemed to be fairly easy and so I figured why not.
Well anyone who bakes or has ever baked knows the pride that fills your heart when you flip the pan over after baking the cake and it comes out squeaky clean and a perfect layer. I love that feeling, but unfortunately it did not happen, whatsoever, today. Here is what my layers looked like (at this point I figured, maybe I should just mash it all and do who knows what with it...)
not only was it quite “golden” but it just fell apart. But I had already made the frosting and just figured...well I will do a crumb coating and try and glue it all together which was followed by putting it into the refrigerator to enhance the molding together and then a final layer of frosting.
and...
VOILA!
the decorating...is not a thing to brag about. Every time I ice a cake I remember why I love cupcakes so much 1) I can pipe all frosting 2)they never stick to the pan.
Miraculously this thing turned out to be pretty tasty and actually molded together as a complete cake.
oops I forgot to add this into the slideshow...here you can see the inside (sorry, this was taken on my phone)
It is that time of the week again, here are my weekly hot topics.
Best Meal - oh this is easy...Café Margot in Nashville, it was so delicious.
Best Tweet - @HogwartsRadio
“Luna Lovegood grew up to become an influence among muggles. Today she is known as Lady Gaga. #nationalladygagaday"
Best Song - That is tough...How about Adele – Chasing Pavements
Best TV time – The SAG awards!
So when I use the phrase iced in, I mean..there is a wintery mix falling outside and my last class of the day got cancelled due to the winter weather advisory. It is ice, the steps up to my apartment were actually quite hazardous but it is no major weather storm. But since it is very cold and quite dreary outside I decided to consider myself iced in for the night. I am going to heat up leftover pizza (which is one of my favorite foods)..
And in between bites I will be reading this, probably all night for my WWII class. I am determined to finish it this weekend because I have to write a paper on it by next Friday.
I hope that everyone has a lovely weekend and stays warm in this crazy cold weather!
One of my new favorite food blogs is Annie’s Eats and I have heard many rave reviews on her recipe titled “Benchiladas”, they sounded tasty the first time I saw the actual recipe and then I saw a number of other blogs trying out the recipe and loving it too.
I decided this week to test it out for myself. I apologize for my photography skills they are greatly lacking and my camera – well, it desperately needs an upgrade – but here were my results!
Mine seemed to be a little bit more runny than Annie’s Eats but oh well, nonetheless they were scrumptious and the link to specific recipe is here.
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