Friday Things
1. Earlier this week, I got a text from my Chief Culinary Consultant with the above photo of his neighbor’s new Golden Retriever puppy, Deacon. I have yet to meet the little guy, but am now officially craving another Golden Retriever puppy. Einstein would love a little brother, right?! I don’t have children, but I have friends that do, and it seems that every time they sniff a newborn’s head or see an ultrasound photo, their uterus starts doing backflips. I think I just experienced the same thing, but with puppies, no uterus involved.
2. I am many things, but hip is not one them. I don’t know popular music; instead I find myself clinging to the glory days of the 80’s and 90’s. I’m pretty sure it was almost an entire year before I heard “Call Me Maybe,” and then once I did, I totally didn’t understand why it was even popular. Enter “Gangnam Style.” I’d seen it mentioned virtually everywhere, but just heard it last week. Actually, I saw a spoof of it on “Mike & Mike in the Morning” on Halloween, and then had to pull it up on YouTube to see the real thing. I’m still unsure of what to make of it, but it’s been stuck in my head ever since. In case you live in the dark like me, here you go:
3. Remember last week when I told you I had started watching Homeland? I think I had watched four episodes at that point. Well, look out. As of today, I’ve blown through the entire first season and watched the first episode of Season 2. Can you say addicting?!
4. Yesterday, I painted my fingernails for the first time since I was on vacation in September. I don’t keep them painted regularly since they chip easily with all of the dish washing that goes on in my kitchen, but I love when I can get some color on them. It makes me feel girly, even when I’m wearing a hockey sweatshirt :)
Currently wearing: Recessionista by Essie
5. Facebook is at it again with their algorithms and fancy schmancy math. I usually stay as far away from math as possible, but I recently discovered that less than 20% of the folks who like the BEB Facebook page actually end up seeing the posts in their timeline. For whatever reason, Facebook’s algorithm decides who sees updates and who doesn’t. Total bummer, right?! There are a couple of ways you can guarantee you get the BEB updates:
- Make sure that if you have liked the page, when you hover over the “Like” button and see a little drop-down appear, that you have checked “Show in News Feed”.
- Additionally, you can click “Add to Interest Lists”. This will prompt you to add the page to an Interest List. You could create a list just of food blogs, for example, and choose whether to make your list public or keep it private. The link for “Interest Lists” will show up in the left sidebar from your homepage, and you can click it and easily see all of the updates from the pages you have saved in that category.
6. It’s November 9th and I haven’t listened to any Christmas music yet, but it’s only a matter of time. I found this Merry Little Playlist on Pinterest, and there are quite a few songs on it I’ve never heard before. I can’t wait to do some downloading, make a cup of hot chocolate, mix up some sugar cookie dough and get listening!
7. How cute are these prints for the kitchen?!
You can get them for free at Over the Big Moon!
8. During my last hockey lesson, we began learning how to skate backward. It involves a lot of swiveling of the hips and other highly coordinated movements that I’m not good at, yet. It reminded me of when I first began learning how to play tennis, and my Chief Culinary Consultant was trying to teach me to turn my hips during the follow-through of my forehand. I’ve determined that my pathetic lack of rhythm not only curses me on the dance floor, but also on the court and on the ice. Heaven help me when I try to learn how to swing a golf club next year!
9. I am in desperate need of a new hair dryer. I’d love one that has a good diffuser for when I want to wear my hair curly, but that also does a good job when I want to straighten. Speaking of straightening, I’m in the market for a new flat iron, as well. Any and all recommendations are highly encouraged! GO!
10. TGIF! Some dog wisdom for the weekend:
Aw that puppy is so cute! I just decided to keep the last puppy out of my golden retrievers little and made him some super cheesy dog biscuits as a welcome to the family present! He loved them! I posted the recipe for them on my blog bakingblondebites.com! Check it out! Thanks :D
Aww, I love it! I just can’t resist those soft puppies!
Now I want a puppy! A big ‘ol great dane is my dream and that isn’t happening until we’re in our own house. Sigh. Guess I’ll just have to keep having babies instead! :)
Homeland is pretty much the main reason I look forward to Sundays (aside from football). It’s the best show ever! And thank you for sharing those kitchen prints – I just adore them, I need to get printing asap :)
I understand your Homeland addiction we did the same, got into the first season long after it had aired and watched it within a week or two. Thankfully I have my husband to fill me in on popular youtube videos etc, he catches up on more of that during his train commute. I say get the second dog it will make you and Einstein happy!
I too blew through the first season of Homeland right before the season began a few weeks ago. I was so bummed when I caught up as I couldn’t watch two episodes a night anymore! Best show on t.v.
love the kitchen printables! and i swear by a chi. couldn’t live without it :)
Ok, Michelle, you just endorsed that we would be BFF’s if we lived near each other! lol! I am SO with you on the music thing, like, right up to everything you said. :) I’ll have to try out Homeland, sounds good!!
Thanks so much for keeping me updated! We play a game in our family whenever riding in the car. We scan stations and the first to shout out the title and/or the artist gets a point for each, The score is usually in the 50’s for my husband and college daughter and 1 or 2 points for me. So I love it when I can shout out something like “Call Me Maybe” or “Gangnam Style.” It just throws them for a loop that I would even know that & then we all burst out laughing!
I also love the straightener suggestions. I, too, have curly hair which I like to wear straight somedays!
HA, I totally get the puppy craving. We have a King Charles Spaniel who is 3 years old and heaven forbid we see a KCS puppy. The breeder we got her from is on my Facebook and periodically posts photos of the newborn babies. Puppy lust! :)
Gangnam style never fails to make me smile and dance. Homeland only gets better. I always have polish on my nails even if I am touching up every night. No matter how crappy a day I’m having I love seeing that my nails still have it together. I think T3 makes good hair dryers and flat irons. Sometimes you can find the hair dryers on ssle on QVC.
Hey Michelle!
I love your blog and read it all the time! I just got a golden puppy over the summer, she is so sweet! She has so much love to give and I think you should totally get another golden!
Anyways, as for flat iron, I have a Centrix and it is awesome! I have curly hair just like you, so I would highly recommend it! I am also in the market for a new blow dryer! let me know if you find a good one! I heard to look for one with 1875 watts or more? I was contemplating getting the John Frieda one from Target it was only around forty bucks!
Molly
Thanks to everyone for all of the recommendations on hair dryers and flat irons… going to check them all out!
Hey! Flat iron recommendation…. I use the IQ ceramic flat iron… Works real good! Makes your hair soft and styleable. :) hope this helps! P.s. chi irons are ok, but usually their blow dryers are better than their straightening irons…
P.s. I still need the answer to my question on the Hershey’s brownie thing…. Not to bother u though…. It’s up there in the comments, I just need the recipe before thnxgiving dinner….
Bye! :)
Thank you for the link to Over the Moon! I really enjoyed reading this post and I love Dog Lessons for People. I saw it on a plaque in a card store a few years ago and didn’t buy it…I should have :)
I can skate backwards but I still can’t move from the hips like I’m supposed to when I play golf. No matter…I still love the game and I’m sure you will too. Enjoy the weekend and your hockey lessons.
P.S. Pup is adorable.
Oh, forgot to read the previous comments when I jumped in, I’m old but I’m up on Gangnam – from the Today show I think. Am also a Homeland addict and is it too soon to start playing the Christmas music??? Have a Chi, and I have coarse, thick, frizzy hair, it’s fine but I feel there is a better flat iron out there for my hair, sometimes need a few passes of the iron on a stretch of hair to straighten it. Got my new dryer from Sally’s, also, because I couldn’t afford the ultra brands…. good luck with the shopping and the puppy love.
Loving this post, wanting a golden, sigh! Hair dryers, have heard the T3 is a good brand for the hard to manage such as my own tresses. Flat iron, just saw one that looked promising, was not familiar with the brand name but it was highly recommended (even more than the Chi brand) on the Boomingdales website. It ran about seventy some dollars which seems reasonable. Always looking for suggestions on the hair styling tools, keep us informed.
I recommend the HAI Hair Straighteners, they are way better than Chi’s!
LOVE those printables for the kitchen! thanks for sharing!
So glad you finally got to watching gangnam style. When I first watched it, I was weirded out and now I can’t stop listening to it! Oh and Homeland is the best! I hope you get to catch up soon. Well, with 4 episodes, I’m sure that’ll be a breeze!
I have heard great things about Chi flat irons – just make sure you get a good one because the cheap ones are horrible for your hair and will cause it to break (learned that the hard way). I feel the same way about nail polish – it comes off way too easily and then looks so messy ’til I get around to taking it off – so I just leave my nails naked most of the time :)
Lol, yup I was totally in the dark on Gangnam other than FB references. I can say I’ve seen it now thanks to you. ;) (I’ll happily cling to my 80’s and early 90’s music.) We have a local station that plays Christmas music solid from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and our classical King station has an online channel that is classical Christmas in December too. I’ll be a happy camper. (I like my mom’s 20 year old hairdryer, never found one as good.)
As the mother of two Golden Retriever babies (oh, & 2 humans) I can honestly tell you that two is better than one!~ I got my first baby, Charlie, for my birthday & I enjoyed him so much; but he would get so lonesome when we had to leave for school & jobs, etc.. So I put him in a fabulous Doggy Daycare a few days a week & this helped. After about 18 months I was called by a friend & she told me a big sob story about this beautiful little Golden that was found running down the highway, & could I foster him JUST until they found him a permanent home. So how could I say no? Well, long story longer.. After having him in my home for less than a week Charlie fell madly in love & told me that we had to adopt this little brother for him. So I made a call & now we have “Charlie & Goose”, best friends & perfect golden Children! No more day care!! So get another, you won’t regret it~!~!
Aww, I love the story of Charlie and Goose! Give them big hugs from me :)
I had to buy a new hairdryer recently. I went to the Ulta store. They had them all lined up on a wall and plugged in so I could try them out. I found some to be too hot on the low temp setting for me. I was also looking for inexpensive. I don’t need a $200 hair dryer. I was also being picky about where the controls were located and what kind they were. I went with this one:
http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2246126&productId=xlsImpprod4350485
It’s quieter than my old hair dryer and more powerful. It’s low setting is a little more powerful than I would like but I think most of them are like that. It has a diffuser and a concentrator, neither of which I use much. I’m pretty happy with it.
Oh my gosh! I feel the same way about puppies. I have all sorts of female friends who get baby-aches. I have recently been getting puppy-aches. Like my two dopey 70 pound hounds aren’t enough, now I want another one.
Funny, I am reading this as I paint my nails with recessionista by Essie! Also, it is difficult to type only with my left hand as I wait for my right to dry…
OMG! I am so like you when it comes to dogs! I have a golden retriever and a lab and since I don’t have kids they are my babies! WIth there doritto smelling feet and there corn pop puppy breath! Sigh… I want a another dog, but three! Oh my gosh that would be a lot of work! My friend just got a new Lab puppy and as soon as I saw him, I immedialty begged my Husband to get another. He said no, but I know if I showed him a picture, he would of caved. He’s more sappy when it comes to puppies, then me! But I didn’t! :( Get a puppy! It’s a decision you will never regret and besides Einstein needs a brother! Have a great weekend!!
Their feet TOTALLY smell like Fritos/Doritos, ha! So funny!
That’s so interesting! I have a Siberian Husky, who smells like clean fur and her breath just smells like air, no scent at all really. Love that about her. I liked your comment about puppies, we don’t have kids either and no plans to have one but are totally obsessed with our dog. She’s 17 months old and pure joy! Huskies are essentially like big cats so I never know what she’s going to do next. I have a Silk hair straightener and like it. When it dies I’m going to look up some of the other brands mentioned in this post for sure. Thanks for the Gangnam style video, apparently I live at the bottom of the sea – I’d never seen it.
We did the same thing with Homeland, and now it’s so sad we have to wait a whole week between episodes. It’s TORTURE.
I had to comment because I have a very strange obsession with my hairdryer :) My best friend got one and I tried it and had to have my own. The company is Elchim – you can find them online. A little bit pricey but it has a lifetime guarantee. The cord got worn out on mine and I sent it in and they replaced it. I have long, thick hair and it dries it in no time. All of my friends and family have them now – you won’t be disappointed!
Thanks, Michelle! I just added all those songs to my Grooveshark. It’s getting me in the mood. Now we just need some snow.
Cheers!
I’m totally with you about wearing hair curly or straight! I love a good hairdryer that can do both. When I was in college, a girl in my dorm had a Chi flat iron, and I probably annoyed her by asking to use it every time I wanted to straighten my hair. I loved it so much, my parents got it for me for Christmas probably 4 years ago, and I still love it. I would highly recommend a Chi! As for Christmas Music, it snowed here on Wednesday, so I couldn’t watch the snow fall without listening to Christmas Music, and since then, I haven’t stopped :)
For a great hair dryer, I like Tool Science Nano Silver Lightweight Hair Dryer http://www.sallybeauty.com/nano-silver-hairdryer/TCNCE02,default,pd.html?cgid=Hair09 It has a bowl diffuser (for the curls) and a narrow diffuser (for help blow drying straight). For straightening my naturally curly hair, I use Power IQ Cermaic Flat Iron. http://www.sallybeauty.com/ceramic-flat-iron/SBS-734751,default,pd.html?cgid=Hair09-06 It wasn’t crazy expensive, it has a wider iron so I can work in larger sections, getting done faster. I also use a spray to help straighten the hair and protect it from the heat of the iron.
Get a second dog. Best decision we ever made (for our first dog).
Michelle, I bought a CHI flat iron a few years ago and I love it! They run about $100, but I think it’s totally worth it. It does a great job and has held up well since I bought it. Good luck!!
p.s. I have never been able to skate backwards. Very frustrating :(
p.s.s. I just went to amazon to look for the iron I bought, and it’s on sale for $48!
http://www.amazon.com/Farouk-CHI-Inch-Ceramic-Hairstyling/dp/B0009V1YR8
I too have a CHI and LOVE it. For that price I think I will pick up another one. Mine is OLD!
Happy Friday! I’m totally with you on the homeland addiction!
Flat iron recommendation: Jilbere Nano. I bought one at Sally’s for my daughter in college. She recently told me that all the girls in her dorm line up to use it and many of them have ditched their Chi and other known brands for the Nano. I’ve used it too and it really does work better. We bought it at Sally’s. Not sure if there are different types, but my daughter’s is white and I think the plates are 1 1/4. Best flat iron ever.
Homeland – my husband and I also recently watched the entire 1st season and are up to date with the current one. Take your time catching up on them because it is SO hard to wait a whole week for the new one! Yes, we are also addicted.
Goldens- lots in common with you..our sweet golden retriever, Simon, died 2 yrs ago. Still miss him. We have a framed picture of him wearing duckie Mardi Gras
beads in our kitchen. It was taken during Mardi Gras time in New Orleans at the annual doggie parade, Barkus
Thanks so much for the flat iron recommendation! I’m so sorry to hear about Simon :( It always hurts my heart to hear about pets’ passings.
I just recently found your blog and LOVE it. I am spending my Friday off looking at all of your recipes…….YUMMY! I have a GHD straightener and while it was a little pricey, I really love it. Can’t wait to start trying out some of your recipes.
Oooo, time for Christmas music! :D Last year, I listened the heck out of Beegie Adair’s “Jazz Piano Christmas”. Just the right background for everything, especially get-togethers. LOVE the nail polish color and Dog Lessons for People- thanks!! Have a great weekend!
Oh and if you are looking for new Christmas songs… I don’t know if you have ever heard of The Darkness (Christmas Time – Don’t Let the Bells End). Completely over the top, reminiscent of Queen and it kind of get’s stuck in your head.
Love this post! Since you posted last week I have also gotten through the entire first season of Homeland. Very addicting. My goal now is to catch up to the current season so I can dvr it. Really makes you think.
Thanks for sharing all the non-recipe tidbits, love the playlist! Keep it up!
I just spent two days with my nieces (8 and 10) and they perform the gangnam style dance at the drop of a hat (very funny!). I totally understand the puppy craving. I lost my dog earlier this year and missed having a furry friend. I finally caved this summer and looked up the breeder where my first dog came from. She contacted me when she had puppies available and I now have an new little friend (he is now fifteen weeks old). A kooikerhondje called Dapper (means Brave in Dutch). Incredibly cute but watch out for those sharp little teeth! ;)
Hi Anne, I’m so sorry for the loss of your dog, but so happy to hear that another little furry one was able to fill the void in your heart. And yes, puppy teeth are like razors!
I’ve heard “Gangnam Style” many times, but this is actually the first time I watched the video. :) It’s amazing how quickly some things can catch on. Like you, most of my music is from a previous decade, but I do like some of today’s stuff.
Love the kitchen prints, too.
I too, am not up on popular music (and I’m not even out of my 20’s LOL). I had heard Gangnam style referenced all over the place so I finally Youtubed it YESTERDAY! I made the mistake of watching it with my 4 year old, but you are right, can’t get it out of my head. I literally laughed out loud when I saw you post it! Thanks for being in the dark with me and enjoying it’s oddness all at the same time. Now I need to look it up with an English translation because I swear it says he’s a “condom star” LOL.
PS Do you find yourself doing the dance in your kitchen?!
I don’t have enough rhythm or coordination to do the dance, or else I might ;-)