In case you wanted to know...

I saw this one over on Meredith's blog and it looked like fun. So here goes:

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE: Remember the actress Michele Lee of Knot's Landing fame? That was my mom's inspiration to name me "Michelle Lee." What can I say? I'm a child of the '70s.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED:
I'm not sure -- I can't remember.

DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING:
Yes.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT:
Boar's Head Honey Maple Turkey. That's pretty much the only lunch meat I'll eat.

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Three -- Jillian (5), Josh (3), Grace (1)

IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Yeah. I'd like to think so.

DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
On occassion.

DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS:
Yes.

WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I almost did, but then I chickened out at the last minute. It was so high up!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Grape Nuts Trail Mix Crunch

DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Only if I tied them too tight to begin with.

DO YOU THINK YOU'RE STRONG?
At times.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Rocky Road

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their eyes.

RED OR PINK?
I didn't think I liked pink, until I realized that I wear it quite a bit. So, I'll go with pink.

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My tendency to procrastinate.

WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
I'm wearing black yoga pants and tan suede, fur-lined slippers (cute, huh?)

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
A whole wheat english muffin with cream cheese.

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Nothing! Two kids at school, the littlest one sleeping.

IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Turquoise

FAVORITE SMELLS?
Chocolate, cinnamon, jasmine, honeysuckle, lilac

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My sister

FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?
Tennis

HAIR COLOR:
Brown

EYE COLOR:
Brown

DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Nope

FAVORITE FOOD?
Pizza

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings. My overactive imagination doesn't need any more fodder than it already has in the scary department. :)

LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
I can't honestly remember. But I know the next movie I'll see will be Twilight, coming out Nov. 21st. (Yeah, still obsessed.)

SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer, hands down.

HUGS OR KISSES?
Both!

FAVORITE DESSERT?
Chocolate chip cookies and milk.

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
The Lady of Milkweed Manor

WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
I don't have a mouse pad.

WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LATE LAST NIGHT?
I didn't watch TV last night. I was reading blogs. :)

FAVORITE SOUND?
My kids playing happily together.

ROLLING STONES OR THE BEATLES?
Definitely the Beatles.

WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Thailand

WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
New York

Makeup Application 101: Brushing up on the basics

When I first got married, I could not cook to save my life.

My culinary repertoire consisted of cold cereal, boiling water and, on a good day, maybe a scrambled egg.

Despite my gastronomic deficiencies, my mother and grandmother insisted on outfitting my newlywed kitchen with every utensil, gadget and pan known to mankind. At the time, it seemed like overkill. I mean, it was highly unlikely I'd be reaching for a meat thermometer to check a turkey when I was still trying to master toast.

But, as my cooking skills slowly improved, I discovered a need for various kitchen tools. Time and again I would be thrilled to discover the perfect tool hiding out in my kitchen drawer (lovingly purchased by mom or grandmom) for use at just the right time.

What on earth does this have to do with beauty?

When you're trying to do a job well, it pays to have the right tools in your arsenal. Cooking is easier when you have the right utensils. When it comes to makeup, what you use to apply it makes all the difference in the world. (read more)

Bloggy Giveaway Time!

I just finished reading one of the best book series I've read in a long time. It's one of those can't-put-it-down-for-one-second kind of reads.

I walked around depressed for a week when I finished because I didn't want it to end.

Seriously. It's that good.

So, to share the love, I'm giving away one brand-new, never-read copy of Twilight. It's just the first book, but it should be enough to get you addicted hooked started. (If you've already read it, enter anyway -- it would make a great Christmas gift.)

For a chance to win, leave a comment on this post by 11 p.m. on Friday, October 31st.

For a valid entry, you must include a good book recommendation -- because now that I'm done with Edward and Bella, I need something good to read. Help a girl out, would ya?

One comment per person please (duplicates will be deleted). You do NOT have to have a blog to play along, but please provide a valid email address where I can contact you. I'm willing to ship internationally, but I'm not sure how the duty and taxes will work on your end. (If you're willing to handle that part, please feel free to enter.) I will randomly draw a winner and notify you via email over the weekend.

Thanks for visiting and, if you're new here, feel free to stop back when you have time to look around. Don't forget to check out all the other fantastic prizes up for grabs this week as part of the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival. Good luck!

The Great Computer Meltdown and... Soup's On!

***Recipe update below ***

Well, my little computer snafu will, from here on out, be referred to as "The Great Computer Meltdown of 2008." Really. It's worthy of its own Weather Channel graphic. If I was able to, I would have created a snappy little graphic myself, but I'm afraid to make one wrong move for fear that I'll screw something up.

My dear, sweet husband spent literally all weekend cleansing and rebuilding my laptop. Everything had to be wiped off the hard drive because this particular virus (or series of viruses -- I told you the virus scan discovered about 400) was ruthless. Fortunately, I did manage to back up our photos to an external hard drive before we left for vacation. And, for once my procrastination actually paid off -- I needed to download 1,145 pictures off my digital camera (I have a HUGE memory card), so I think the important stuff -- family photos -- was preserved.

My laptop is now like Fort Knox. Nothing should be getting through and we even updated the virus scan software to the "deluxe" auto scan version. I can assure you that was $70 well spent.

All that to offer you a friendly little reminder -- have you backed up your computer lately? How's your virus protection? Do yourself a favor and make sure it's up to date. Or buy a Mac. Either option would work.

Secondly, I did promise soup, right? I am so glad the temps are dropping because I can finally pull out all of my soup recipes. I love to make soup in the winter. And, while this is not a recipe blog, I'm going to try and share a soup recipe each Monday for a few weeks. If you have a recipe to share, leave a link in the comments. I'd love to try some new recipes.

This soup is a take on Panera's Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. So good! We had this the other night for dinner and my 5-year-old ate every bite. She'll be taking the leftovers for lunch this week.


Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Serves 8

**I originally got this recipe from my mom, who is notorious for changing the original recipe. True to form, she revamped this one as well. I have changed the measurements below to reflect her changes.**

1/2 cup butter
1 finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 pound fresh sliced mushrooms (I leave these out, because if my daughter spotted a mushroom, she'd refuse to eat the soup.)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked wild rice
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (you can use a rotisserie chicken to save time)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup slivered almonds (optional)
3 tablespoons dry sherry
2 cups half-and-half

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery and carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 more minutes. Then add the flour and stir well to create a roux. Gradually pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly, until all has been added. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer.

Next, add the rice, chicken, salt, curry powder, mustard powder, parsley, ground black pepper, almonds and sherry. Allow to heat through, then pour in the half-and-half. Let simmer for 1 to 2 hours. Be sure not to boil the soup, or your roux will break.

**Note: The longer this soup sits, the thicker it gets. When you reheat it, you'll need to add some water or chicken broth to thin it out slightly.

And, if you're looking for more great menu ideas, don't forget -- it's Monday! Laura's got a whole slew of menus up for your perusal at Menu Plan Monday!

Experiencing Technical Difficulties...

I'm on a temporary blog hiatus, because my computer pretty much crashed last night. Hubs checked it out and discovered it had 400 viruses on it.

Yeah. You read that right.

400.

I didn't even know that was possible.

Turns out I was supposed to be scanning the computer regularly. I thought that the antivirus software was supposed to do that automatically. And that's when my husband informed me that we didn't pay for the "deluxe" auto-scan version.

Oh.

So, I've been officially "unplugged" until we can recitify the problem -- hopefully sometime this weekend.

With any luck, I'll have that soup recipe to share with you on Monday.

Have a good weekend!

Random Bits of Randomness

A few items of note...

1. The crafting continues. I bought more fabric today because I simply cannot stop at one small bathroom window. No m'am. I've decided to do my entire kitchen and great room -- because the crafting bug will not leave me alone.

I've been running around here like HGTV's next Design Star. I even found myself in Michaels today buying the items needed to make a fall centerpiece. Oh, my creativity clearly knows no bounds these days. With any luck, all this "design exuberance" will pass in about a week or so. But, not before I do a "big reveal" for y'all sometime next week. Think of it as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Only, not nearly as exciting.

2. As I was driving back from dropping Jilly off at school the other morning, I noticed an animal crossing the street in front of our house. At first I thought it was a fox. But, I quickly realized this animal was too big to be a fox. Then I thought it might be a dog, but I was pretty sure I didn't see a collar and the tail was much too bushy. The animal sought cover in the woods across from our house, and I stalked him with the minivan until he ran right out in front of me. I could have sworn it was a coyote. Later that day, a neighbor confirmed my suspicions.

This kind of disturbs me. For a while, I walked around expecting the coyote to jump out of a shrub at any moment to attack me or the kids. I've calmed down a little, but not enough to let the kids play in the front yard unsupervised.

3. In other wildlife news, I think I have a new favorite show. Anyone seen Man vs. Wild? My husband was watching it when I came in from karate the other night. The show features Bear Grylls, a most appropriately named survivalist, who demonstates how to survive in some of the world's toughest terrain. It's kind of like Fear Factor on steroids. My husband and I watched the entire hour with our noses wrinkled and our mouths hung open in shock. If you're brave enough, here's an example of what I'm talking about (and, a word of warning, I wouldn't click on it if you have a weak stomach):



It's oddly fascinating in a "I can't ever imagine doing that" kind of way. We've ti-voed the next several episodes.

4. I was going to share a delicious new soup recipe with y'all. But, for those of you who chose to watch the clip I embedded above, I can see that doing so would be wildly inappropriate at this point. The recipe will be another post for another day.

And on that note, I'm off to bed. My husband and I have been doing P90X -- which has involved a lot of early morning workouts. It's a lot easier to get up at 5:15 a.m. when I get to bed before 11 p.m.

Go figure.

Lookout! I'm feeling crafty!

I'm not sure what it is about fall, but this time of year always seems to find me channeling my inner Martha Stewart.

I'm not really a terribly "crafty" person. I do a little scrapbooking. I do crafts with my kids. That's pretty much the extent of it.

But then the temperatures begin to drop, the leaves start changing colors, and I start dreaming up home decor projects that must be executed immediately. Last year, it was a charming pair of fall wreaths for our front door. Armed with a couple twig wreaths from Michael's, a handful of fake foliage and my trusty glue gun, I created this:

Last week as I was scrolling through Works for me Wednesday posts, I saw this post for "Window Coverings in Minutes -- No Sew!" When I clicked over, I was absolutely amazed at the gorgeous window treatment Lora Lynn created with scrap fabric, packing tape and upholstery tacks. She called it a window mistreatment, and credited the Nester for this flash of brilliance.

I headed over to the Nesting Place to get a few more details, and my fall craft obsession shifted into high gear.

Did I mention we have about 80 windows in our house, not counting the skylights? Yep. I went through and counted them myself. I love window treatments, but when you've got 80 windows, you quickly come to the realization that mini blinds are the cheapest and easiest answer.

Because, after all, you do have to send the kids to college.

But the Nester says these treatments are supposed to be done with remnants. Scraps. Whatever you've got lying around or can find on the cheap.

And I'm all about cheap.

So, I headed up to the attic and unearthed about a yard and half of leftover decorator fabric (from a few fall projects ago). I got out my packing tape, bought some upholstery tacks and just look at what I did to our bathroom window:

See the upholstery tacks? I hammered them right into the wall!

Here's what it looks like when you take a few steps back.

Isn't it pretty?!? It took me about 15 minutes and cost all of 99 cents (for the package of upholstery tacks).

I'm so psyched, I can't wait to go hunting for more remnant fabric, because I've got a few other windows to dress.

Yanno.

Only 79 more to go.