What I Made Today

I have a new favorite cooking show -5 Ingredient Fix with Claire Robinson- and have been wanting to try some of the recipes. We had some leftover french bread sitting around and thought this recipe was just perfect to use it up. Turns out the bread wasn't stale enough, so the texture of the soup was a little mushy, but the flavors were great and it was warm and hearty.

Roasted Tomato-Bread Soup Recipe



this is claire. i love this show mostly because the food is simple and creative, but also because she's so fun! she's always wearing something super cute, has more aprons than i knew existed, and killer hair. i might have dreamed one time that she was my hairdresser and i magically had long perfectly wavy hair like her. i have weird dreams sometimes. that's another story.

watch her show, you'll love it!

Golden Globes 2010

can't believe it's that time of year again . . .

thoughts overall...Ricky Gervais was okay but Robert Downey Jr. was funnier. Love that guy. Meryl and Sandra were so lovely. Should I feel bad that I haven't seen any Martin Scorsese movies? The new one looks good though. Favorite presenters? Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana from Avatar. Gosh, they're just so beautiful!

here's the dresses:


emily blunt. john krasinski
these guys are pretty much my favorite. i want to be their friend and go to brunch i love them so much. and isn't her dress fantastic?


zoe saldana
beautiful color, interesting details


jayma mays
very different from her character on glee, but i like it.


maggie gyllenhaal.
love the folding details. not so fond of the color.


jennifer garner.
she looks great but her hair is too fussy for me. i think she looks better with more natural hair.


sandra bullock
fun color, simple hair and she looks beautiful.


tina fey.
kinda looks like she's going to fly away, mary poppins style. the dress is amazing, so unique and a fun pattern.


will arnett. amy poehler.
have you seen their super awkward blind date on parks and rec? so funny. amy looks beautiful in this color and the belt is a nice touch.


stephen moyer. anna paquin
kinda crazy, but i think this dress really works.


amy adams.
love this girl, and she definitely has that pregnancy glow!


lea michele. jenna ushkowitz. dianna agron.
so excited for glee, and these girls looked like they were having the time of their lives. oh and lea's dress is killer. perfect for a diva.

a few good books

sometimes i have trouble finding good books to read, but i have been on a lucky streak lately! here's what i've been reading:

the help by kathryn stockett


(i laughed, cried, and as soon as i read the last page, i was ready to read it again)

the last olympian by rick riordan


(this series is right behind Harry Potter as one of my favorites)

the physick book of deliverance dane by katherine howe


(perfect balance of magic, history and romance)


what are you reading?

* i'm also currently reading the history of love and the monster of florence but i'm not quite finished so i can't endorse them...yet

What I'm Watching

it is a widely accepted fact that i watch too much television. clarification: i watch too many tv shows, but i am always behind because i never have time to sit down and watch them all. if i actually stayed on top of all of my shows, i'd never leave the couch. however, there are some shows i always make time for:

White Collar

this new show on USA is yet another great original series they've come out with (like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, and Royal Pains to name a few) and i am LOVING it! i've followed Matt Bomer on the last few shows he's done, and i just really get a kick out of him. i love the relationship between the two main characters and their banter. the supporting cast is pretty talented, and i'm crossing my fingers that lots of people are watching.
but let's be honest, this face is the real reason i'm loving White Collar.




Glee



While definitely not a show i can watch with everyone in my family, i am getting such a kick out of Glee. of course, i love the singing, especially lea michele and matthew morrison's broadway voices. i'm also secretly in love with resident bad-boy puck. his version of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" was one of the best things i've seen/heard this season/ever. not sure how i'm going to last until April for new episodes, but buying the soundtracks will definitely help.

NBC Comedy
(30 Rock, Parks & Recreation)

i know some people might dislike 30 Rock simply because they win everything, but there's a reason for that: it's ridiculously funny! i don't often laugh out loud during shows but 30 Rock gets me every time. liz lemon at times borders on crazy, but some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth/the mind of tina fey is genius.



now, amy poehler is one of my favorite comedians out there, but i just did not love parks & rec the first time around. thank goodness i gave it another chance this season because it is on fire! i have been busting my gut at poehler's leslie knope and her ridiculous coworkers. example: check out the episode "hunting trip." i was dying by the end of the episode. comedy at it's finest.



also on nbc: community, which is pretty funny too. but mostly because of troy and abed.

Lie to Me/The Mentalist

these shows are just variations of the same concept: male and female working together, hints at a more than friendly relationship, guy who has special talents and uses them to solve crimes, guys with accents doing a not-so-great job at hiding it and intriguing supporting casts. love them both, LOVE the leads on both shows --i pretty much want to be a combination of teresa lisbon (robin tunney) and gillian foster (kelli williams)-- i also think that i can pretty much be a human lie detector because i've learned so much from the show.






so that's what i'm loving this season. what are you watching?

mmm Pumpkin

i made these little gems today after a tip from Sarah. original recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine (which i love!). they turned out so delicious and everyone was just snacking on it all day.

update

so the boots finally came and big surprise, they didn't fit. oh, they were plenty wide enough in the calf, but they are apparently for people with blocks for legs, or whose ankles are as wide as their calves. basically, waaay too big everywhere else. so disappointing. not sure if i should try for a smaller size and hope the calf still fits or just return them and use the money for something else. boo.

on the bright side, i also ordered this j. crew sweater a few weeks ago and after being backordered, it came yesterday and it's perfect! i was looking for a sweater with no buttons that could be easily belted over dresses or shirts. it's so soft and the perfect color!

Saving up for a Rainy Day

i've been struggling this fall with the rain and keeping my toes dry. i've never owned rain boots and wasn't sure i needed to start, but i think my toes have suffered enough. i just ordered these from zappos.com (free shipping both ways!) and am excited to see how they fit. i ordered the "huntress" version because i heard they were more generously cut for those of us blessed with more athletic calves. now i just need to find really tall socks.