Getting Back into the Swing of Things

It has been slow getting back into the swing of things. It is hard to believe that I haven’t written since before Thanksgiving.
 

I downloaded a journal, which I started using. I like the setup because it allows for compartmentalization. It also allows me to put in info about the weather.

For Christmas I took my mother to see Mamma Mia! At the Bushnell thanks to Quinnipac University. It was absolutely excellent. I loved to see the dancers dance and boy can they jump. Everyone cheered and there was a standing ovation.

That same week my Mother volunteered at the Ivoryton Playhouse and saw The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever. It was fun with all the kids performing.

The next day I went with my Mother to visit Mark Twain’s house in Hartford. Upon entering the house we were greeted with carolers. In the museum entrance they have a Mark Twain made out of LEGO®, and in another room they had his home made out LEGO®. It was beautiful and full of so much detail work from the wood to the stenciling.

We then went to the Harriet Beecher Stowe house which was right next store. Her life was amazing. Her husband was a professor and she was home raising her kids, but she wanted to make some money on the side so she wrote books. In 1852, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published and she made $10,000. Because of her work there was the underground railroad into Canada.


For the holiday I made a number of recipes. For thanksgiving, I went to my boyfriend’s brother’s home in New York. I brought as a gift a Cider Pumpkin Bread.

And here is the recipe which I found in the 12th Anniversary A.R. Mazzotta

I also made a Cranberry-Orange Brie which I do not have a picture of but is a family favorite.

I made Salmon Dill Dip for the company party. For my brother's birthday on Christmas Eve I made Ultimate Fudge Brownies. They are a cake-like brownie.

This recipe came from The Brownie Experience Cookbook by Lisa Tanner. Here is the recipe.

These brownies were a hit!! 


That is all for now.


Be adventurous in all things!


Cassandra

 

Catching Up From All the Work

Sorry I haven’t written in a while, I have been far busier than expected between the volunteer work and my job, and now I am ready for action with more time available.

This week I went to go see Jerry’s Girls at the Ivoryton Playhouse. Jerry’s Girls included Amy D. Forbes, Julia Kiley, MaryAnne Piccolo, Jackie Sidle, and Elizabeth Talbot. The girls performance was excellent, and I loved hearing some of my favorite tunes from Hello, Dolly!, and La Cage ay Folles.

These articles were written while I was working on the project for The Barnaba Institute: The Thrill of Laughs in the Great Race, The Exciting Life of the Sims, The 20-minute Steak Meal, Being on Humira, and Howard Hawks’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

I also made some jewelry. I have been working on Christmas gifts. At the moment I am working on two more necklaces, all are expected to be Christmas gifts.

Recently I prepared Roast Chicken with Garlic and Potatoes. I prepared it minus the carrots, and I basted the chicken with chicken broth. It was nice and crisp and a definite winner. The potatoes had enough flavor not to need butter.

I also prepared Hoisin Oven Barbecue Chicken. I love the flavor of the Hoisin Sauce and it gives a definite flavor to the chicken that makes you want to say ‘Dynamite’.

All the dishes were very easy to prepare and truly enjoyable.

The only thing left to do now is start preparing for the holidays.

Volenteering at Ivoryton Playhouse

Chicken is a typical thing to have in our household. Recently we had Rachael Ray's Citrus Chicken Skewers with Tzatziki For Dippin'. It is scrumptious especially if you like Greek food.
In a time when President Obama has been reminding us to volunteer I recently started volunteering with my mother as an usher at the Ivoryton Playhouse in Ivoryton, Connecticut. They have autographed photos all over the playhouse. It is along the Connecticut River. I am use to seeing plays, it is a new thing for me to show people to their seats, but it is a wonderful experience. We saw the play Marilyn: Forever Blonde. It was a very interesting show because it is in Marilyn Monroe's own words. I enjoyed it so much I wrote about the play.

I am also volunteering for The Barnaba Institute. I am helping them with some manuals.

I was also reminded of some old movies, Bye Bye Birdie and My Fair Lady. These movies are very old and worth seeing again. Who doesn't like to watch Dick van Dyke and Audrey Hepburn. I also wrote Role Model articles on Brooke Davis from One Tree Hill, and John McClane from Die Hard. Let us not forget I also became a little obsessed over goverment after watching the movie Protocol and had to express my opinion.

My boyfriend bought me the game Sims 3. I am not really a game person but he enjoys games and wanted to see me enjoy myself playing a video game. I am really getting into playing but I have to remember not to get too attached.

Here is some jewelry I worked on.



Life isn't anything unless you fill it with people and things to keep you busy which you can turn into accomplishments.

Apartment Rearrangement and New Computers

For dinner recently I made Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken. It had a wonderful flavor but instead of chicken pieces I used chicken breasts. The one thing I forgot to do was add chicken broth because I was missing the skin and bone from the chicken pieces which would have made the chicken moister.
I also wrote two articles, one was on the Double Parallel Brochure which is really part of a series of articles which I have written on brochures and their design. My most popular article in this category is the Barrel-Fold Tri-Fold Brochure. I look at not only the layout but how the customer reads the actual brochure and what types of information are best placed on certain brochures.

I also wrote an article called Corruption: Michael, The Guys and the Great Snapple Caper on Roswell This article is about corruption, of course. It has been so much in the news lately with the loss of jobs who can't resist writing about it especially with all the things in the news today.

This was also the month to rearrange the apartment. My boyfriend and I live in an 800-square foot 1 bedroom apartment. Sometimes the apartment can be a tight squeeze between his stuff and my stuff. We finally decided to rearrange the living room. My computer was all dusty and my boyfriend blew it out for me with a can of air and then an accident occurred. Needless to say after the incident my boyfriend bought me a new computer. I went from a 32-bit computer to a 64-bit computer. The one thing I can say is that I have a really great boyfriend. The one thing I can say is that the room is almost all arranged and the computer is up and running. The living room also has more light.

I also started making a necklace. I bought a bunch of beads from Ebay which came from China. I received this tip from another fellow jewelry maker.

He also took me to the movie Star Trek and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. The movies are both excellent and I don't recommend missing them.

Easter Eggs and Recipes to Satisfy

I have been very busy. This economy definitely keeps you on your toes. I am always looking for new business opportunities and trying something new. I have been so busy I have been unable to make any jewelry, but I am looking forward to putting forth the time.

I haven't been reading as much either. I should have finished the book that I have been reading by now. I am happy I will have more time starting on Friday, although I also have to catch up on work.

I have also been watching the world's going through Twitter. I have been using the add-on Twitbin with Mozilla Firefox. Twitter is great for learning. I found blogs by people in my field along with other tips and trends which can really be quite helpful. A big topic at this time has been the swine flu.

For Easter my family and I went to Old Lyme to The Hideaway Restaurant.
I had their veal roast for dinner. I really wanted lamb but was disappointed because they sold out. The meal was excellent and they were very busy.

While we were there we also celebrated my mother's birthday. My brother and I bought my mother a cake from Take the Cake! in Guilford, CT.
Their cakes are divine. This cake was terrific. This cake is a White Chocolate Mousse cake and it was rich and wonderful. It was perfect and not to sweet.

The one thing I have made time to do is write. I wrote an article for small businesses, Strategizing Your U.S. Business in a Global Economy, Role Model: Daphne Millbrook of Heroes, Power Plus Money Equals Success, and Queenie: The Life and Times of Merle Oberon. With everything that has been going on at in the business and financial markets I couldn't help but add information of what I saw that was happening with businesses that I have worked with.

I also cooked up some wonderful meals for my boyfriend. He is big for Caesar Salad Wraps. I made him and Easy Baked Caesar Salmon. I found this recipe along with the other below on Recipezaar.Chris loved the flavor and it was really easy to make. Their were only seven ingredients. It is a 30 minute meal!

We also had a Honey Curry Chicken. This was excellent also.
This recipe only had seven ingredients and did not take that long to put together, but this took an hour to bake.

I did have some time to do a little crafting. I did some decoupaging.
Here is a great hint for a book to get great pictures for decoupaging -- use an FTD catalog.

Have fun and happy living!!!

What is life that is not busy?

What is a life that is not busy? I try to keep mine busy at that. Recently I became sick and am on antibodics which is in no way fun. I also purchased my first pair of Keds. They are very comfortable.
I loved them so much I wrote an article about them. They are a classic sneaker I have to say. I also wrote an article on Autolycus "The Prince of Thieves".

I am also the very proud owner of my first Vera Bradley handbag. It is the Little Betsy from the Hope Garden collection. It was such a surprise to receive since it was not even my birthday.

This is the time of many events. My father's birthday just passed along with my niece's in which myself and my boyfriend gave her a homemade French Memo Board. My Mother's birthday is in the middle of the week, and then of course, Easter. Spring really gets me into the spring of things.

We recently dined at the Equinox Diner in Orange. It was worth the trip and am intent on going back. We also went to the Baja Restaurant. Although the food was quite good we didn't care for the atmosphere.

Today we are having a peaceful Sunday at home. Chris is drawing and I am working on my writing and other projects. I am a bit behind in my reading and have not finished The Egyptian. The week may be slow but life will be speeding up by next weekend.

The Land of Pleasantville

I was surprised when I awoke on Monday morning to see snow. I thought the snow was over and spring was coming by the sound of the birds, but then the groundhog did predict six more weeks of winter.

Chris has been working on his drawing projects. Here is the link to his latest masterpiece.

Recently I started reading The Egyptian by Mika Waltari. It is the story of Sinuhe, the son of Senmut and it takes place at the time of the 18th Dynasty. It was a New York Times Bestseller, and was made into a movie in 1954.

I have also been trying to keep myself busy writing, I wrote the following articles, Role Model: Chark Bartowski of Chuck,
Role Model: Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery of Private Practice, Role Model: Salomoneus of Hercules; Legendary Journeys, Role Model: Cordelia Chase of Angel, Role Model: Winifred Burkle of Angel, and A Reminder for the Young and Old.

I found a new place to follow what is going on in the world, Twitter. The information is really quite interesting. I also follow digg.

This weekend I made meatloaf for my boyfriend Chris, Pleasantville Leave it To Meatloaf to be exact.


Here is dessert. Couldn't go without that Starbucks Red Velvet cupcake.

I have been working on a couple of projects -- designing packaging for a box, new business cards, and a cross-stitch project. I also have a piece of jewelry I am working on. Part of life is about keeping busy and meeting people.