I’m still on my gardening kick! Check out my baby basil plant that I just started:

This is so exciting for a girl with a black thumb such as myself. These were just SEEDS not a week ago! And now they are already growing green leaves. How awesome!

The biggest problem I have is knowing how much to water my plants. Today I saw THIS!

It’s a self-watering planter with the cutest little squirrel. As long as you can see the squirrel you know your plant has enough water. If the squirrel disappears, it’s time to water. I WANT THIS!!!!!!!

I am thinking about growing strawberries or tomatoes next. Which one is easier???

Seems like fans are pretty split on how they felt about the Lost finale.

This girl really liked it.

This guy hated it.

I was somewhere in the middle. Either way, it was a great show and I am sad that it ended. What am I going to do now?

No seriously…suggest me what show I should watch next in the comments. Lost was literally the only show I watched (ok, I occasionally caught an episode or 2 of The Hills hehe).

And you thought I was a geek before…

This whole post is on how excited I am about the Harry Potter theme park!!

This writer got to attend a private party at the not-yet-opened park. All of his details (sans pictures because they weren’t allowed) makes it sound like it will be just as good as anyone could have hoped! I can’t wait to try the butterbeer and pumpkin juice!!!

This is a theme park, and it’s quite possibly the most detailed theme park “land” ever created. Don’t treat it like the county fair and run from ride to ride. Plan to spend several hours here taking in all the awesome details.

This got me searching for more Harry Potter park info:

Theme Park Map

First reviews of wizarding world of harry potter:

THE soon-to-be-opened Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park has been labelled “stunning” by gushing reviewers.

Leigh Caldwell from Travelling Mamas said the recreation of the famous books was so realistic she felt like a student at Hogwarts.

“My job involves visiting a lot of theme parks and seeing a lot of cool stuff, but I have never felt so immersed in a fictional environment,” she said.

Harry Potter actors visit theme park

Official Wizarding World of Harry Potter Amusement Park Website

and check out these funny hp tshirts!

In honor of the best tv show ever…

Some random links
Lost answers – a blog that tracks every question Lost answers
Vintage dharma ads
Marilyn Manson draws Locke
Lost 365 – different Lost illustration a day
Recipe for Lost cookies
George Lucas writes a letter to Lost
Lost wallpaper

Some comics:

and some videos:

*tears*

And here is his letter contesting the ticket. Classic!

So…to add to the long list of things that are wrong with me, I developed pityriasis rosea awhile ago. Yeah, don’t google it because it is gross. Trust me on this one. Luckily the really bad parts of my body are covered up so no one really knows I’m suffering from this skin disease unless I tell them. So what is pityriasis rosea?

Pityriasis rosea is a common skin disease. It appears as a rash that can last from several weeks to several months. The way the rash looks may differ from person to person. It most often develops in the spring and the fall, and seems to favor adolescents and young adults.

There is one shining light in all of this…at least this disease still considers me a young adult! :P

It’s not contagious luckily and it is usually not itchy which it wasn’t at first but in the past couple of weeks…o m g. so itchy. So if you see me scratching myself a lot it’s the pityriasis rosea! :(

I was researching online and I started reading that there is no known cure for pityriasis rosea (it will just go away on it’s own over time) but that suntanning will help! I’m stuck indoors all day during the week working so I haven’t been getting much sun at all but I am going to make a conscious effort to spend some time outdoors this weekend. This of course led me to plan for my first picnic of the year!!! I looooove picnics so I can’t wait. My sister gave me a picnic blanket and an awesome picnic basket as part of my bridal shower present last year and this will be my first chance to use it!

On the menu:

mini roasted red pepper and goat cheese sandwiches (using lee’s bread of course!)
assorted crackers (we have so many boxes of crackers left over from all of our parties)
some kind of cheese (haven’t decided which one yet) and salami
olive hummus (boyrobot loves this stuff!)
assorted fresh fruits

the picnic basket even comes with glasses! so we’ll be bring a bottle of the 5-star rated italian soda from world market (love this stuff!!)

we’ll be near the pier at huntington beach…you know….the part that’s all grassy! if you’d like to join us

sun + fun + relaxin.

Feeling stressed? Here is a link to an article of 20 things that are therapeutic. There were some I had never heard of like:

eating pumpkin seeds or avocados, drinking lavender tea, and this cool website called sound sleeping

I started listening to it while I was blogging….it is relaxing!! hehe

Blogging by the way is also therapeutic…maybe that’s why I’m hardly ever stressed! :)

Remember when I posted about making your own homemade flavored butter?

Well turns out there is an even easier method!

All you do is take heavy whipping cream (add salt if desired), put it in a container with a lid and shake for 5 minutes! Keep refrigerated and it should last about 2 weeks. I can’t wait to try different variations of it! When the weather starts warming up I’m going to make some more homemade bread to go with it….mmmmmm…..!

A quiz about lawn care – i know nobody really cares about this unless u have a lawn to take care of but I thought the tips were interesting….I scored a 60% :( good thing I’m not in charge of the lawn!
html 5 gradient – this won’t work for ppl with IE browsers but it’s pretty cool to see what html 5 can do! I have to agree with apple that the internet will be better without clunky flash websites!
new york profile of chatroulette creator – amazing he is only 18!
facebook page praying for god to till obama passes 1M members – why are people so stupid?
Fun with a bank’s security questions – this is so awesome/hilarious
Miracle man survives without food for 70 yrs – i’ve been reading about this guy everywhere. it can’t be real!

Body scans of two women….crazy!

Now that I have had a few months of cooking under my belt, I thought I would share some of my go-to recipes. I am all about meals that are cheap, somewhat healthy, quick to prepare, and of course tasty! Unfortunately, most of these recipes require products exclusive to Trader Joe’s but I wonder if other stores might sell something similar? Anyways, I love TJs….best grocery store ever!!

Since I work very late hours, by the time I get home I really don’t have time to spend hours in front of the stove if I want to eat at a reasonable time. This meal looks fancy but literally takes about 15 mins to prepare! Plus, I always have the ingredients on hand for an emergency dinner if I have nothing else to eat :)

Clams With Linguine

Ingredients:
Linguine Pasta
Trader Joe’s Clams in Garlic Butter Sauce
2TBSP Lemon Juice (fresh would be great but I always have some lemon juice in those plastic lemon bottles on hand in case)
Basil (fresh or dry)

1. Cook pasta (you know, dump in boiling, salted water til al dente)
2. Meanwhile cook the clams (dump package in pan and heat)
3. Add lemon to the clams and stir
4. Drain pasta, pour the clams over the pasta, and sprinkle basil (and parmesan cheese if you’d like!)

You can always make some garlic bread and a salad on the side. Dinner’s never been so easy!

We’re finally done with all of our housewarming parties…one dish I made that I thought was really tasty (and super easy!) was this artichoke dip. This will definitely be my go to potluck/big party dish now if I can’t find anything else to make.

Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:
TJs 1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
1C reduced fat mayo
1C freshly shredded parmesan cheese
8oz light cream cheese, softened
TJs 1 pkg of Sweet and Spicy Pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Drain and chop the artichoke hearts, then mix them with everything except for the nuts in a baking dish
3. Chop nuts
4. Sprinkle nuts on top of mixture
5. Pop in the oven for 35 minutes.

Serve with tortilla chips, bread, crackers, whatever you like! I got a lot of compliments for this at my last housewarming. You know when people ask you for the recipe that they like it! And I know the nuts sound weird but it really is GOOD and gives it a little kick!

My go to dessert is a simple chocolate cake that I also made at one of my housewarming parties. I’m not sure if people were just being nice but everyone really liked it and it was the only dish that was completely gone at the end of the day! Warning: This is not healthy at all!!!

Too Much Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
1(18.25oz) package deveil’s food cake mix
1(5.9oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1C sour cream
1C vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2C warm water
2C semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all of the ingredients with the chocolate chips being last
3. Pour into a 12C bundt pan
4. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until you do the toothpick trick and it comes out clean
5. Dust with powdered sugar

I loved how this recipe didn’t even need a hand mixer which has prevented me from making so many desserts! Super easy!

Sorry I don’t have pictures to accompany these recipes….too busy eating them before I could remember to snap a photo :)