Uncategorized – Girl On Kenmore

March 5, 2015March 5, 2015

Oscar Sunday Somewhat Funday?

“And the Oscar for the longest Academy Awards goes to…. This years 87^th Academy Awards!” I guess it wouldn’t be the Oscars if it didn’t run over, but unfortunately this year it seemed to drag. This years 87^th Academy Awards had a lot of potential to be great but for me it fell short of being anything but Oscar worthy.

Despite it having several great nominees and a host with a history of hosting other award shows, the jokes and entertainment seemed to lack in several categories. Don’t get me wrong there was highlights to this year but it seemed that the lows outweighed them.

My personal opinion to the Highs and Lows to the Oscars and what I got from them.

Highs

The opening skit/performance with Neil Patrick Harris, Jack Black and Anna Kendrick. It set the tone the Oscars to have potential, but I guess the bar was set too high.
K Simmons acceptance speech. Yea I called my parents after that.
Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez’s reaction to Patricia Arquette’s acceptance speech. The finger pointing!
Lady Gaga’s performance leading to Julie Andrew’s grand entrance. Gaga has come a long way since “Pocker Face” days, I guess Tony Bennett has really influenced her. And lets all be honest who wouldn’t want Julie Andrews as your grandmother. Basically The Queen.
The performance by John Legend and Common for the song “Glory.” It lead to tears and a very heart felt speech from the award-winning singers.
Harris coming out on stage wearing tighty whities, imitating a scene from “Birdman.”

Lows

Michael Keaton being seen grabbing his acceptance speech for best actor. Sorry Michael I thought you had it to but don’t count your awards before you get them.
Michael Keaton’s gum chewing. Yikes.
The amount of times the camera flashed to Oprah. I love her but I saw more of Oprah than some of actual nominees.
Terrance Howard’s awkward performance while presenting. Trying to win an Oscar for best presenter?
“Everything Is Awesome” performance…. Not so awesome. Seemed more like a Kids Choice Awards performance than an Oscar performance.
The long, over-run skit of Neil Patrick Harris’s box. I was beginning to feel bad for Octavia Spencer.
“Boyhoods” hype for being the longest movie to make and only winning one award. 12 years for one award, and it being for an actor’s performance not for the actual film itself.
Matthew McConnehay’s beard. All right, all right, all right…. We get it. Time to shave. Please!
John Travolta’s creepy chin stroke to Idna Menzel. Uuggghhhh take it easy John.
Harris’ somewhat funny one-liners. Some of them could have been better but they were definitely pushing limits.

Even though the show still managed to pull of a good joke here and there I was unimpressed with it’s over all performance. Maybe next year we can pull off another memorable selfie that shut down twitter, or an actor jumping over several chairs to accept his award. But hey you can’t win every year, but you can still try. Better luck next year Academy Awards.

January 12, 2015

Who Knew There Were So Many Options!?

The other day my upstairs neighbor had texted me asking me to go grocery shopping with her. When I received the message my immediate response was no. I was content in my big comfy chair watching tv and relaxing. She pleaded me to go with her and explained that she was home all alone and didn’t want to take on the bitter cold alone. As I contemplated I had realized that I too was alone in my apartment and also sitting a dark apartment…. well this is depressing. I agreed to tag along, to at least get some fresh air and a little human interaction.

I bundled myself up with several layers and my warm snow shoes. If I had added another layer I would have been as bulky as Randy from “A Christmas Story” minus the hat. The nearest grocery store was about 7-8 blocks away and with it being 10 degrees outside, it seemed even further. As we ventured out I immediately regretted my decision, but nevertheless we were off and I didn’t want to leave my friend alone.

When we finally got to Trader Joe’s immediate warmth filled our frozen faces, greeting us with a warm embrace. We grabbed a basket and began to roam the aisles. I didn’t need anything but didn’t mind helping myself to the free samples of juice and chips that the employees were handing out. We were almost done when we stumbled across Beef Jerky. I had always thought the stuff was disgusting. I had always seen it in the stick form and honestly it did not seem appealing. Trust me, I am always open to trying new food, and not a particularly picky eater but this no. Who would want strips of dry beef? “Oh, you didn’t get your daily protein? Not a problem! Beef Jerky is your solution!” Um no.

My friend immediately decided that I had to try it. She browsed the choices trying to decide upon a good first flavor for me to encounter. I never realized how many choices there were! You had beef, pork, even salmon, plus the different seasonings of each one! Who knew there we so many options? I would have figured there was just one but apparently not. I shot down the salmon, because even though I love fish, a jerky version sounded gross. Upon review of each flavor we decided on just the basic flavor of Beef. When we checked out she immediately opened it and handed it to me. I looked at her a little nervous, swallowed, took a deep breath and dove in. I grabbed a small piece and took a bite. Immediately, my tastes buds clung to the salted meat and absored the flavors. I chewed the tough meat and swallowed. She looked at me with anticipation.

I smiled and shrugged, “You know it ain’t too bad.”

She laughed and grabbed herself a piece and said I told you so. It was true, it wasn’t that bad. I took a couple more pieces and savored the saltness of the beef all the way home in the cold. When we got back to the apartment she handed it to me to keep. I shook my head and gave it back and said if you leave this with me I’ll eat it all and that won’t be good. I let her keep it as an excuse to come upstairs and visit her. I wouldn’t say Beef Jerky is going to be on my list of groceries anytime soon but if the opportunity presents itself to have some I wouldn’t turn it down.

September 30, 2014September 30, 2014

The Wrong Use of Facebook?

Recently, my roommate and I noticed posts on Facebook that were meant to gain a certain amount of likes. We asked ourselves if this was the purpose of Facebook? Gaining likes and attention? I thought Facebook was to keep in touch with your friends that you do and don’t see on a regular basis.

We came to realize that Facebook is just a big competition. I cannot tell how many times I have seen people repost pictures just to get a certain amount of likes. The fact that getting ‘likes’ is similar to getting approval is upsetting. We shouldn’t have to do things or post things to get peoples attention, but isn’t this the whole point of Facebook?

I have sat and wondered why people do these things and it’s because in our generation we feel we need to always be in the spot light. It’s almost like a big popularity contest with our fellow “friends” and the objective is to see who is more popular than the other. I am all for posting pictures and creating statuses about what you did that day. I mean facebook is just mindless entertainment, right?

However, I feel like it is much more than that. Facebook has turned to more opinionated topics. I recently came across a post about someones personal problems and how they have dealt with them and how we as society should act a certain way. My first reaction was why are you telling me how I should act and second it is not your place to dictate how others should act.

Am I reaching for the stars here or has Facebook turned for the worse?

September 1, 2014

25 Things About Yourself

I decided for this post to write 25 things about myself. I know what you are thinking, “Wow, shallow.” But please don’t think that way. I am doing it to figure out 25 things just in general about myself. Some people might relate this to Us Weekly doing it with a celebrity every week. I actually enjoy reading them because it’s interesting to see what people put down as their 25 things. Some of them you can relate to and others you are shocked that the person would have that down.

I mean to be honest, have you ever sat there and really thought about things about yourself. How easy is it to write down 25 things about yourself. I know it took time for me to think of things. You could probably write down 10 things fast but once you start to near the higher numbers it can become harder. What are a few things that people don’t really know about you or what are 25 things you don’t know about someone else. I know a lot of people don’t know that I eat a lot of foods in even numbers. Chips, popcorn, pasta noodles, some cereal… I eat in two at a time or four. It has to be even. The same goes for volume on a TV, phone, radio. I know it seems strange but that is just one of the things that most people don’t know about me and I am sure you have a few things that maybe only a handful of people know about. Try it, write 25 things about yourself and to be honest you might surprise not only people but also yourself.

1.) I could watch a movie anytime of the day. I love them.

2.) I could listen to a song maybe two or three times and I would have it almost completely memorized. Except Benny and the Jets because lets be honest who really knows the actual lyrics to that song.

3.) I love doing the crossword and the Sadoku in pen.

4.) Sunday nights are prime days in the evening for either a good movie or a cup of tea/coffee and a good book.

5.) I would rather go to a baseball game than a fancy dinner.

6.) I am a Cubs fan and was dead set on marrying one but I have opened to the idea of other teams except Cardinals.

7.) Favorite book “To Kill a Mockingbird.” I have read it three times and love it more each time.

8.)Top 3 favorite movies are “Shine”, “The Kings Speech” and “The Devil Wears Prada”. Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth and Meryl Streep are spectacular actors.

9.) I could eat chocolate whenever.

10.) I will laugh at you if you fall or trip and will probably cry while laughing. I am sorry.

11.) Most of my family has died from cancer. One was my baby cousin Antonio at 14 months.

12.) I wear my cousins footprint around my neck everyday to remind myself that life can be short and to live each day like it’s last. It’s hard and at times I forget but the necklace helps to remind me.

13.) I am not one to watch what I eat. If I want another cookie, I will have another one.

14.) I have friends several who are in their 60s and up. They are such great talkers and give the best advice.

15.) At a party “family or friends”, if I had the choice to sit and talk to guys or girls, I would probably pick guys. Guys are much more entertaining to talk to.

16.) Pretty sure I am the son my dad never had.

17.) I was a three sport athlete in high school and I still do all three in college whether it’s club or for fun.

18.) I am super competitive.

19.) If I like a guy, it will take me a long time for me to tell him if he doesn’t approach me first.

20.) I can be a tad stand offish at times but once you get to know me I can be the most sentimental gal ever. I will always be there for you though, no matter what.

21.) I love hugs more than anything. It honestly brightens up any mood.

22.) I hate negative people but I also hate preppy positive people. I am realist. I will be straight up honest with you.

23.) I prefer actions to words.

24.) My role models in life are Grandma DJ and my Grandpa George.

25.) I am major sucker for blue eyes, a great smile, and a guy that can make me laugh because lord knows that is my favorite thing to do.

Now you know 25 Things about me. 🙂

July 11, 2014

The Chaotic Lasagna

I am big fan of cooking. I love experimenting and trying out new recipes and just having the satisfaction of eating a home cooked meal. The other day my roommate and I decided to try something neither one of us has ever tried to make on our own before…. Lasagna. Now I have always helped my mom make lasagna and I am a big fan of the dish at restaurants. Hell I am Italian, I like several different types of pasta dishes and this is definitely in my top. So my roommate and I out of curiosity and hunger decided to give it a try.

We made our way to the local grocery store to pick up the ingredients for the meal and laid out all the essential dish wear and got to work. Following the recipe to a point, we were off to a great start. I was in charge of cutting up the ingredients and Caroline was in charge of cooking them. We had music going, rich smells of onion and garlic were filling the room until I noticed the noodles weren’t cooking properly. They were sticking together and looking a little over cooked.

Preparing the meat and noodles before the disaster.

I asked Caroline what she thought and she said that maybe we weren’t supposed to cook them. I started to question whether we were supposed to or not but even if we were or weren’t supposed to cook them, the noodles were ruined and we needed more. I decided that I would run back over to the store and get a new box to try again.

It was already hot in the kitchen so walking outside in the month of July on a hot summer day in Chicago was not helping either. I was sweating while speed walking to the store and was regretting my shoe choice of flip flops because it was not only slowing down my pace but also beginning to hurt my feet. Now the first store we went to was Trader Joe’s but instead of walking up to the second level there was an Aldi right next to it on the first floor and I was in a rush. So I ran in and out in about 5 minutes and began my journey home. While walking home I noticed on the box that you had to cook the noodles! When I got home I yelled to Caroline that we were fine and that we could use the noodles. I walked into her holding up the box pointing at the fine manuscript saying “Ready To Go-

Our tiny coffee table taken over my preparation.

No Need To Boil Noodles.” I just stood there with my mouth open in utter disbelief…. “You have got to be kidding me.” We laughed at our stupidity for a good minute and moved on and started over with the noodles.

We were almost done cooking when Caroline read the last part of the recipe which was to cook the lasagna for 25 minutes with tin foil covering it. We both looked up and we both knew what was wrong. We didn’t have any aluminum foil. This time it was Caroline’s turn to venture out and get us what we needed. She ran to 7/11 and I stayed and made sure the pasta this time was cooked properly. I burned myself several times mixing the pasta with scalding water splashing all over. A few swear words and several loud screams were thrown around, probably concerning the neighbors but all I could think about was this dish better taste good. When Caroline came back it was time to piece everything together.

Now the biggest obstacle of all was where we were going to do all this. Our counter space isn’t big enough to begin with and was already covered with our mess from preparing it and on top of it we don’t have a kitchen table just yet. So we improvised and dragged our tiny coffee table into the kitchen and set up everything on it. Caroline and I burned our fingers on several noodles placing them in but we had finally gotten everything together. Then we stuck the dish in the oven

and set the timer and sighed a breath of relief until we turned around and saw the mess we had to clean up. But first things first, we needed to cool down because the kitchen was about 10 degrees hotter than any other room in the house including outside. We busted open the back door and cooled down on the back porch asking ourselves why the hell we decided to make this dish and put ourselves through all this stress.

Cooking anything takes a lot of time and patience. You can’t rush any recipe and you have to be willing to put in the work. Yes, there was a lot things we did wrong in the making of this dish and definitely learned a lot from it with a few minor injuries along the way, but the end result was totally worth it. The lasagna turned out great and I must say just a few more times and I will have it down for keeps.

Pretty proud of my first homemade cooked lasagna.

June 17, 2014

Father’s Day: The Ideal Gift

Well another Father’s Day has come and gone, and every year we go through the same routine of making my dad a nice dinner and spending the day with him. Almost every year we get him a boring gift of some sort like a shirt, or a book with a funny card. It was looking like it was going to be another typical Father’s Day when June had come around and of course my sister and I had no idea what we wanted to get for my dad. He was not an easy buy to say the least. He never gave any hints and always gave the same old excuse when asked what he would like, “I don’t need anything, I just want to spend the day with my family.” Well this year I was determined to make it different.

Last Father’s Day my sister wasn’t able to spend Father’s Day with us because she was at school. This year I was going to be in school right up to the weekend of Father’s Day and my sister was going to still be in school till the end of July. My parents wanted to go see my sister the weekend of to spend time with her but seeing that my roommates and I would be moving into our new apartment that weekend it was going to be difficult. I wanted to go and spend the weekend with my family but seeing that I had such a big task at hand of moving, I knew the smart decision was to stay home.

I had called my sister the week before asking her what she had in mind for dad, and of course it was a dead end of the “I don’t know” and “well I helped pick out mom’s gift why don’t you do dad’s.” What to get the old man is a head scratching, and mind numbing task. I didn’t want to get him some ordinary gift. I wanted to make it something different, something he wouldn’t expect and something I knew he would want. I decided to take advantage of being home the weekend before FD to look around the house and see what he had and what he didn’t have. We had countless number of movies, several different sport nicknacks, too many tools to count, what is something that my dad needed and would be different from any other gift he had received from us?

As I walked around the house scanning the rooms for some sort of clue, it hit me. It had slapped me in the face and stared me right in the eye and told me this what the “ideal gift” for my dad, a record player. My dad is a big fan of the “oldies” music. He has almost every CD of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Billy Joel, Huey Lewis… you name an artist I am sure my dad has at least one CD, tape or record by them. I grew up listening to the several different artists in the car with him and have now adapted his taste in music. If there is one thing my dad and I enjoy more then watching a good sports game on tv is jamming out to the “oldies” in the car.

Testing out the machine to make sure it was worth worth every penny

His old record player had broken a few years ago and decided to put the old records on the shelf and stick with the radio and the occasional CD. I decided to do some research on some record players and lets just say there are numerous kinds. Small ones, big ones, complex ones, wooden ones, colorful ones… all types. After going through the various types and several different price ranges I had narrowed it down to two. I couldn’t decide between one really nice wooden one that played just records with speakers or one around the same price, not as nice that played not only records, but tapes and the radio. After contemplating between the two I decided that it was either go big or go home. I got the 3 in 1 deal and knew that it was the right choice. I showed it to my sister and mom and told them that this was the gift and that I hope they liked it. Both were totally on board and agreed that it was perfect for dad.

The gift had finally came in the mail just a few days before Father’s Day and I was beyond excited. Thank god my parents were both out of town when it arrived so of course I opened up the package to give it a listen. I pulled off a few records from the shelf and decided to test out the machine to see if it was worth every cent that went into it. I carefully read the instructions, placed the record on the turntable, dropped the needle, and turned the volume up. Beautiful sound exploded from the speakers with several different instruments and voices of the artists from the past. I smiled and knew this was the right gift.

Dusting off the record collection before putting them to use. — Just pull those old records off the shelf.

Father’s Day rolled around and my mom and dad had come home from visiting my sister. I hid the player in the basement and waited until they were all unpacked and settled in. I then gave my dad his card. He looked at me like “what the hell is this?” He opened it and laughed at the cover staring at it saying the guy looked like him on the cover and read the “oh so touchy feely” message. On the bottom it said to pull the records off the shelf and celebrate. He looked at me confused and I asked him to follow me downstairs. I sat him down on the couch and asked him if he saw anything that was different about the basement. He looked around for about 10 seconds and saw it. His eyes grew wide and laughed and asked “How did you know that’s exactly what I wanted?” A tear may have been brought to my eye and a smile grew on both of our faces as we hugged. I pulled a record from behind the table and told him Happy Father’s Day.

Father’s Day is a time to celebrate the one guy in your life who helped raise you. To me my dad is the guy who taught to me be the woman I am today and always reminded me that no matter what he will always be there for me and that he will always be the number one guy in my life. Happy Father’s Day.

The old man rocking the stache in his 20s.

Always there for me no matter what. Good for a laugh and a jam session.