lurrve, saucy

Before I tell you who the winner of the Valentine bracelet is, let me just say that today was very productive. Veto and I leave for Vegas on Sunday so I'm feeling the pressure to have things well in hand before we go. The Fan will be staying here with Loopy and Buddy Budderson - and Duke, who survived the candy heart incident, but is still in - there's no other way to say this: my poop book. 

Kate was right. It was a new low, even for Duke. I asked the vet about it and she assured me that Duke's constitution was tough enough to endure the digestion of lacquered, glittered conversation hearts. I'm guessing she was right as I've seen no secret messages like TEXT ME or SWEET TALK in scandalous places.

The rest of the untainted candy hearts went into little swap packages, aren't they so cute?

Oh, and the winner of the bracelet? Chapfan, you are lucky to have come out of hiding. You're the winner. Shoot me an email (address in the sidebar) and if I get your snail mail address in time, I might even be able to send you your booty from Vegas. Otherwise, I'll mail it off as soon as we get back.

valentine bracelet giveaway

I'm buried alive under a pile of conversation hearts and glitter. I lacquered another 100 hearts yesterday and left them to dry on a tray... and Duke ate them. Can you believe it? They don't even smell like candy when the lacquer is dry and they have been sealed with glitter, I don't know what he was thinking. He owes me an apology, don't you think?

In the meantime, if you would like to win one of my cute conversation heart charm bracelets, drop me a comment. You need to make a link to me on your blog or Facebook profile for this one! Are we Facebook friends yet?

One comment/entry per person, with link. Draw will be made Friday at Midnight CST.

crumbs on the keyboard

What else is there to do when you're snowed in, Loopy is studying for exams and there's nothing on television?  Make cookies and curl up with a good book.  These Skor Bit Cookies are perfectly crisp on the edges but gooey on the insides.  They're pretty sweet but perfect with a glass of cold, cold milk.

1 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

2 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 and 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup Skor candy bits

Cream butter, sugars and vanilla.  Blend in egg and beat until light and fluffy.  Stir in the dry ingredients and then mix in the chips and toffee bits.  Oh, and I may have used the entire package of Skor bits this time... so closer to two cups. They still worked, but man, are they sweet.

Form 1" balls and bake on silicone baking pad in 350 degree oven, 12 minutes.

In spite of the weather, Veto took me to see The Lovely Bones over the weekend. In spite of everything, in fact.

In spite of the fact that it was one of the best books I've ever read, the movie didn't live up.

In spite of the fact that the storyline is disturbing... the book was uplifting and I expected so much from the movie.

In spite of the fact that Susan Sarandon was brilliant as the grandmother, and Stanley Tucci absolutely played the creepy part of the serial killer so well that, at one point, I realized that my hands were shaking, he was that good, it still wasn't a great movie.

In spite of the fact that the special effects were supposed to be dazzling, I was just too aware that I was seeing the movie with Veto, who hadn't read the book, and I realized that if you didn't read the book, the in-between sequences would seem pretty silly. So they were.

In spite of the fact that The Lovely Bones is considered one of the most important pieces of literature in the last 100 years - according to The New York Times - the movie was a bit of a stinker. In spite of being a good book, the screenwriters made some major changes and left out several things that made the whole thing, characters and all, worth only two and a half cupcakes.

Lastly, I will just say... I think some books just should not be made into movies. Some books are so engaging and imaginative that if attempts are made to play the story on the screen, delicate (but important) bits get lost along the way.  The beauty about some books is in the way you see it in your head, not how it will look in a movie.  Can someone please tell Hollywood that for me?  Make yourself some Skor Bit cookies and read the book instead.

Reader, did Hollywood ever take one of your favourite pieces of literature and turn it into a Mark Wahlburg vehicle?

macy's cup o' m&m's cupcakes

It's Loopy's bud's birthday... Macy is fifteen. We invented a whole new cupcake concept in her honour. 

Get a load of this... piled high with the buttery-est buttercream and then filled with mini m&m's. Filled, I tell you. It's like a bowl made of icing and then filled with candy coated chocolates.

 

Wanna know how? I'll tell ya.

Using a batch of my delicious, softest buttercream (the recipe is in the sidebar) I piped a sort of inverted tornado on the top... creating a bowl or pit to collect the candy.

Then I just simply spooned in the mini's until they were pretty much spilling out over the top. 

The best part... one good bit into these bad boys, and the little m&m's spill out like confetti. It's literally like a cupcake pinata.

Make sure you store these cupcakes in a cool spot and then set them out at room temperature an hour before serving. There are so many candies stuffed in there, you don't want them to topple right over.

a letter to the cheerios

Listen up! I have some things I want to tell the Cheerios. This is as good a time as any. I'm sharing it with all of you because, well, I think it's good advice. Even if you aren't a cheerleader.

No matter what, your schoolwork comes first. You need to commit to be a lifelong learner. This means, never stop learning. Never, ever stop trying new things and accepting new challenges. There's no harm in having fun, but remember: you're at school for a reason, and it's not cheering. It's reading, writing, and 'rithmatic. Hit the books and do well on your final exams this week. We'll get back at it next week and I'll have a little surprise planned to celebrate that you are now 1/8th finished high school.

Be true to your school... just like the old song says. Trust me, these days will go by quickly and soon enough you'll be *my age* and looking back on your glory days. Make the most of these times. You won't regret it.

Take lots of pictures. Document your high school life. Find a box and put it under your bed right now. Until you graduate, save your report cards, notes from friends, school newsletters, some of your assignments, and all of those photos you are taking. They will be invaluable to you someday.

That boy you are worried about... even though he's the center of your world right now, boyfriends come and go...

... but these friendships you are making will last a lifetime. 

Togetherness counts! You are a team. You're like... sisters from different mothers. Lord help the "mister" who comes between you and your sister.

I'm going to talk to all of you soon about how to pose for pictures together. Because in those boxes under your beds, the pictures will be around for a long time. You don't want to be the one with the funny look on your face or who isn't standing in line nicely... if I show you how to stand up straight and tall and full of self-confidence now, you'll do so for the rest of your lives.

Be good to your captains, they are real gems. You're a lucky bunch that way. Help when you can, listen to their suggestions, and be good teammates. Their job isn't easy sometimes, but they really care about the team.

Don't ever be afraid to be different. You may even feel a little silly doing it. Trust me on this, different is good.

Be ladies. Be someone that your family and school will be proud of. Be dignified while having fun. 

Wear your school uniforms with pride. We-are-proud-of-you! We are proud of you.

These are fun times. They can be anything you want them to be. If you want to be winners, you will be winners. You just have to believe in yourselves.

Give it all you've got. Trust me on this, too... if you give 110%, you'll achieve more and you'll have better memories for it. It's worth it. Smile like you mean it.

What seems impossible today is attainable tomorrow. Practice makes perfect. A good cheerleader is measured not only by the height of her jump but by the span of her spirit.

Every team has to start somewhere. Where do you think this team started? Right were you are this year. These things take time and commitment. Excellence takes time and dedication. You have both. I know it.

You will find at least one very special friend on this team. As you grow older, you will attend weddings, baby showers and each other's 40th birthday parties. Take care of each other.

Because, like the Disney song says, "you're all in this together".

I hope you're enjoying it as much as I'm enjoying coaching you. I'm proud of each and every one of you. The amount that you have learned in two months is astonishing... you should be proud of yourselves. This is one of the all-round, hands-down, nicest teams I've ever had the pleasure to work with.

Oh, and lastly - I almost forgot. Be good to Thomas. Being the only boy, he puts up with a lot. He's a good guy. Plus, he could be the Prime Minister one day. This is a picture of George W. Bush in his cheerleading days... you just never know, huh?

Lurrve,

Saucy

cuppie

This is what Loopy stitched together for my Christmas gift. Isn't he adorable? She named him Cuppie. Loopy's biggest challenge in finishing Cuppie for the holidays was keeping him away from Duke, who somehow identified that she was, in fact, whipping up some sort of little cake and it really had his attention. He tried to steal Cuppie away from her stitching basket a few times. Even now, Cuppie is still sort of under a house-arrest in the china cabinet, away from Duke's beady eyes.

Veto and I stole away on a date to see Sherlock Holmes. I can't tell you how great it was... just fantastic. Not just the story, but the costumes, the sets and even the props. It made me want to come home and turn the living room into one giant science experiment. If you haven't seen it, be sure to. If you don't have a full-fledged crush on Robert Downey Jr., you will after this movie. 

This is a perfect role for him... especially if you loved him in Charlie Chaplin. It must be that he's so utterly charming and believable in the role of the charming but insufferable, misunderstood genius... because I think he is. He keeps picking great roles, and Guy Ritchie keeps turning out good movies.  The cinemetography is dark and moody, Holmes and Watson (played by Jude Law) have great scenes together - it's comical, so don't expect an overly dark thriller.  Just enough action to keep you drawn into the story but mostly, this is about the character of Sherlock and his unusual ways.  Oh, and even the opening and ending titles are cool to see.  Check it out.

Five Cuppies out of five!

golden globe dress review

Saucy almost didn't do a Golden Globe fashion rundown this year, what with all the gloomy earthquake coverage and all. It just seemed so... trivial.

Then, she had a hard time finding some of the pictures of the dresses that sashayed across the television screen. Finally, she snagged the last few shots from Perez Hilton's website... putting herself in grave danger of some sort of lawsuit or something. Saucy wants to publicly thank Perez for the following images and remind him, she spent all of her Etsy money already so there's nothing left. Don't even bother.

Do you see how that smart and sassy Perez has slapped his name right inside January Jones' umbrella? It almost, almost, takes your attention away from that headband she's wearing. When Saucy watched her being interviewed on the red carpet, it looked better from the side than it did from the front. But the overall look is so very Audrey Hepburn, so very sixties, that Saucy will give it a pass simply because she lurrves Mad Men so very much.

Friends, Saucy can summarize the evening's fashion in three words: strapless, asymmetrical, and colourful. Think ruffly and diagonal with lots of jewel tones. Oh, and there was ruching everywhere. Even Ripley wore a variation on the theme:

The accessory of the night was an umbrella, thanks to the downpour in Southern California. It was sad to see some of the dresses splashed and wet. Some ladies, like Penelope Cruz, managed to look lovely in spite of the weather...

... and some, in photo after photo, looked as gloomy as can be. Jane Adams, why so sad? Your blue dress is so perfectly ruched.

Ruffles, ruffles, ruffles. Saucy is torn about this look that Chloe Sevigny is sporting. Surely Valentino can do no wrong. Saucy wasn't the only one torn, the dress got snagged when she took the stage to accept her award! Saucy guesses it was a disaster waiting to happen. Chloe will take heat for this choice so Saucy will refrain from adding more.

Saucy couldn't even find a full-length photo of Mariah Carey to show you. Not even one. It seems the internets were swamped with closeup shots of Mariah's very own Golden Globes:

Conversely, Saucy thinks Heather Graham should eat a ham sandwich already.

Better in basic black was Sophia Loren, who managed to redeem herself from last year's ruffly disaster. Proving that women after a certain age should ixnaye on the ufflerays.

The hottest hue of the night? By far it was purple. Saucy needs to run out and grab some purple for her closet, and STAT! Rose Byrne wore it safe and strapless:

... and so did Sandra Bullock.

Also seen in purple: Jane Krakowski in eggplant, Fergie in lavender, and Natalie Morales in a very ruffly hot violet number. Even Leona Lewis got in on the act. Strapless, purple, and asymmetrical. Too much shine and too much tan. Sandra wins the Purple Parade.

Here we are, a year later, and Saucy still wonders what Mickey Rourke smells like. Well, if smells can smell like looks can look, horrible is the answer.

Saucy just wants to point out that Maria Menunos did in fact get the memo and she really paid attention to it: one shoulder, draped, balloon-train skirt, gladiator shoes, chandelier earrings and big hair. She even threw a belt on that hot mess.

Marion Cotillard got the memo, too. At least she had the good sense to pull her hair back in the rain. Is that her spanx showing?

In fairness to Drew Barrymore, this dress looked lurrvley on the high def telly. Those loofah-style thingys on her shoulder and waist were actually spikey with crystals on the tips and when she was on the screen, Saucy could think of nothing else but touching them. Pick, pick, poke.

A couple of gals wore black, but they kept it strapless too. Julie Bowen played it super-safe:

Glenn Close... yowza! Saucy wants to look like you when she is seventy.

The Best of Black Award goes to Olivia Wilde from House. Sparkly and drapey, it was slightly asymmetrical too but look... someone point this out to Mariah Carey... this is how you do cleavage:

The ruffliest dress of the night? Jennifer Morrison. She is going to be lambasted for this one.

Followed by Zoe Saldana from Avatar. Saucy almost didn't recognize her without the blue skin. But the dress is nice. It would overwhelm anyone with a larger frame but it works on her. Saucy digs the whole artsy, deconstructed vibe. She watches Project Runway.

Christina Hendricks from Mad Men also rocked the ruffles. Saucy thinks the colour fell a little flat in that sea of brights.

Samantha Harris got the ruffles and the colour right:

Even Amy Poehler was on trend for the evening with her bright red, one-shoulder, belted dress.

What did you think of Maggie Gyllenhaal's dress, Dear Reader? Saucy thought and thought until her thinker was sore. In the end, she decided to give it an unenthusiastic thumbs-up. It has some nice details, to be sure.

Saucy reserved her thumbs-down for Julianne Moore. Do you not think this looks like it is slipping right off? Loopy could surely have whipped this up in Home Ec, if she wasn't so busy working on those boxer shorts of hers. Come to think of it, Julianne could be wearing boxers under that sack.

Better in blue: Sofia Vergara in Carolina Herrera. That slash of red is delightful. This dress could have been and Oscar dress.

Because typically, the stars go a little more casual at the Globes. Take for instance, Julia Roberts:

Ginnifer Goodwyn wore a nice cocktail dress but she kept it... you guessed it... asymmetrical, bright and off the shoulder. She makes Saucy want to cut her hair short. But she won't.

Kristen Bell: strapless and ruched like that. Are we sensing a theme, people?

Kate Hudson did it too - but it was more structured. Perhaps she was trying to show A-Rod how nice she would look in a wedding gown.

Anna Kendrick, for a good little actress you need to work on your "pleasant surprise that someone else won" face. You looked positively miffed when M'onique won... but at least your ruffly, one shoulder dress was pleasant enough. Maybe a bit more Oscar-worthy than Globe-worthy, but you are young and you will learn.

Saucy can't really say anything bad about Toni Collette's look, but she's out of good things to say too. It's not great, it's not horrible, it is... there. There are some raves and some boos, so apparently the consensus is meh.

And the same goes for Lauren Graham, who Saucy just lurrves on any given day. Twitter was a-flutter about this gown and Saucy was pretty excited for it, but when it actually appeared on the screen, it felt a little bridesmaid-ish. Oh well, maybe she can shorten it and wear it again.

No group of ladies was as anticipated as the cast of Glee! Jessalyn Gilsig went so strapless, it made Saucy nervous. Don't jump up if you win Best Television Program, Comedy or Musical!

Lea Michele in Oscar de la Renta was still ruffly and strapless, but a little matronly.

The internets hacked poor Jayma Mays look to death. Saucy, for one, didn't mind it that much. In a sea of tiered ruffles it was unique. You can see what she was trying to do here. This one will get knocked off for high school proms everywhere.

The winner in the Glee category: Jane Lynch. Sue Sylvester kept it competitive. It was elegant, age-appropriate, and with those pockets, it even looked comfortable. That shade of olive clinches it. She's a winner.

M'onique wore a stunning dress in a similar shade of green, but alas, Saucy could not find it anywhere. Gabourey Sidibe also went with green, it was the perfect colour for her:

Even in her advanced condition, Amy Adams in emerald green (coincidence with that Leap Year movie out?) looks fresh and off-the-shoulder.

Was this dress on Elisabeth Moss a light green or a light blue? The Mad Men star looked so modern, Saucy almost didn't recognize her. The hairdo didn't match the dress. Did those accessories come from Claire's?

You've waited long enough. You must be dying to know who Saucy thought looked the worst and the best at the Golden Globes. If not, she's going to tell you anyway, starting with the worst: Anna Paquin.

Anna Paquin, the dress is not nearly as tragic as that footwear but when combined they are absolutely flammable. Burn all of it.

Second best: Diane Kruger of Inglorious Basterds. Bright, happy, ruffly and feminine. Everyone will be talking about this dress by Christian Lacroix.

Saucy's favourite strapless, ruffly, ruched, asymmetrical look? Young Victoria's Emily Blunt. Proving once again, you can't fake class.

People, award season is now in full swing. Saucy can only say, the Academy Awards are around the corner. Let's not all work off the same memorandum for that one, shall we? Saucy's peepers need a rest from all these ruffles.