In Review: The Voice

   I recently caught an episode of The Voice and I was really intrigued! I don't like American Idol, or America's Got Talent, or Dancing With the Stars, so I was surprised that I really liked The Voice. The auditions were okay, but what I really enjoyed were the battle rounds. There is such excellent talent on that show! It is nice to not have any obligation like texting in your vote or calling a bunch of times for the contestants to win, The Voice is not so much a popularity contest as it is a talent contest. It feels more true.

   What is clearly not true is Christina's boobs. Someone had to say it! They are ALWAYS out and about and its almost become a game, how much can she push them out before they're actually completely out?! I was shocked to see last week she was wearing a scoop neck shirt that didn't feature her girls, it almost didn't feel like The Voice.

   Anyway -- watching The Voice just brings back my insane level of jealousy that I have for anyone who can sing good. Take my word for it, I can't sing. At all. It doesn't stop me though :)

Anyone else have thoughts on The Voice??

A Weekend Summary: 5/4/12

Wellll I don't even know where to start. This Friday marked the last week of classes for SUNY Oswego as well as many other universities and colleges across the country. We kicked off the 'college kid weekend' on Thursday night going to Mug Night at Old City Hall bar in Oswego. The attraction for this event is the $.50 refills on mugs for draft beers. Doesn't attract me, because beer makes me ill, but its a real crowd pleaser overall. After some drinks at Old City, we crossed the street to get our dance on at Hurricane's bar. Hurricane's is a really hit or miss place for us, either its a great place to dance and get down or its a ghost town with creepy townies with lingering eyes. Thursday it was great. The unbearable heat caused us to leave a little early, we went to University Hots for some garbage plates. We're not from Rochester, but we appreciate certain types of food while drunk. And macaroni salad, home fries, meat sauce and ketchup with a burger on top is just that type. Overall, Thursday was fun.

Friday, we woke up mid morning and each did our errands etc. for the day, but came together around 2 to get ready for the bar crawl. Once all our guests had arrived, we headed to start our crawl around 5:45 and we were planning on starting at Gary's bar, but found some friends at Steamer's so we just started there. We hit up Old City, Hurricanes, ate some Franco's in between, went to Clubhouse Tavern, then Raven Pub, and then we split ways. We ordered some WonTon House and it hit the spot, and was a screamin' deal! Sesame chicken, on white rice, with a side of crabmeat rangoon, delivered, for $8!!! That's my kinda dinner. That about sums up Friday, very fun.

Saturday, we woke up mid morning and had chicken wing dip for breakfast. See recipe here. We went to Port City Cafe for lunch. Can you say yum? Eat there, and get the Rajun Cajun. We walked home, some of us napped, some played KanJam and then we had nachos for dinner and went out for Cinco de Drinko.. i mean Mayo! We hit up Raven Pub and Clubhouse Tavern, then came home. We ate the leftover nachos for a snack and to bed we went. Saturday, relaxed and enjoyable.

Sunday, woke up mid morning and needed breakfast. We hit up Friendly's which was not so friendly. We were unaware that they did not serve breakfast all day, so we showed up half of us wanting lunch and half wanting breakfast. We had to have the breakfast folk order before 11:30 and then wait til the kitchen was reset, and us lunch folk could then order. It would have been more fine if we hadn't heard/seen the waitress and cook bitching about us. Then we relaxed the afternoon away!

What a fine weekend indeed :) Now onto exam week...

In review: River Valley Inn

The River Valley Inn is a small locally owned restaurant in Lyons Falls, NY. The restaurant is nestled just behind the Tug Hill Plateau between Lowville and Boonville, off Rt. 26.

This was my first visit, February 18, and it was fantastic. My dad and step-mom are super fans and they promote the restaurant a lot through their website, Camp Pol-Cat. Of course, with Dad at the wheel, he drove us down their for dinner.

My step-mother warned me as I was reading the menu and I quote, "I've never had a disappointing dish from here." She also mentioned that the portion sizes are more than adequate and boy was she right! I ordered the Chicken Parmesan, over pasta & I've had two meals just from the leftovers!! My dad ordered the Chicken Wellington, which he has before and wanted more of. My step-mom got the Shrimp & Scallop stuffed Sole, which was pretty tasty too! [I snagged a bite!]

The restaurant has a very homey feel, and although you might wait a little bit longer for you food than you would at a chain restaurant, it is well worth it! Very very nice place! No complaints from us!

In review: Rob's Comedy Playhouse & Charlie Weiner

As part of my boyfriend & my Valentines Day celebration, we went to Rob Lederman's Comedy Playhouse, of 97ROCK in Buffalo. The headliner was Charlie Weiner.

The venue was much smaller than we expected, however the setting was just right. The seating arrangements were a bit crowded but still very manageable. The wait staff was accommodating and served drinks and appetizers as ordered throughout the show. I would definitely recommend this venue to anyone in the area looking for an enjoyable night out.


Charlie himself was quite entertaining. He came out on stage with such spastic energy that he was speaking a mile a minute, and I was afraid that I was not going to be able to understand a word that he was saying. I'm a capable listener and I was struggling, however he did settle in and the pace became much more tolerable. The crowd was tough on poor Charlie, it took a few blunders to really hit a topic that the audience was responsive to but once he did he was off and on a roll. I would definitely recommend him as a performer, he was quite funny and put on a great show.

We also sat at the bar in Dandelions before the show and had drinks and shared an appetizer. The loaded nachos were really good, the drinks were drinks. I would be interested in going back there to have dinner, the menu was very tempting!

An Adoption Story

Please please take a few moments & see if you can help!


Musings of the Lame: Life as a Birthmother: Help This Dad Find His Kingston Family: Former Hudson Valley Adoptee Born December 25th, 1976 Searching for His Birthmother While most of the world sees adoption as a good thing, ...

Chopped!

If you are not sure the of the show I am referring to, check it out: here!

I used to be obsessed with show, and I still consider myself a super fan - but I must tell you I am very cautious about watching it lately. On the two previous episodes the contestants were given live animals in their baskets, and I just am not into watching them die on a stove. The lobsters were dropped into boiling water and the baby squids were put into a searing hot buttered pan ....

I realize they have to die to be eaten, but I don't really want to watch a close up view of them squirming trying to escape. Out of sight out of mind I suppose; it just makes me wonder where this trend is taking us. Is someday a live chicken going to pop out of the basket? Let's hope not.

While waiting to see where this issue goes, I can still be inspired by the fabulously strange dishes that the Chopped contestants whip out, and aspire to someday make such delicious things for my family.

Erica's Famous Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

I am not the type to "toot my own horn" but I can not explain to you the amount of compliments I have gotten on this dish and how many people have asked for this recipe. There are several versions of this around the internet but if you want the best recipe you need to go right to the source - in this case, someone from Buffalo! So enjoy :)


Ingredients

1 brick of cream cheese
10 - 12 oz sour cream
1 large can white chunk chicken or 1 & 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup Franks Red Hot sauce
Tortilla Chips [or whatever you want to dip in it]

1] Soften cream cheese in microwave; 30 seconds, stir & another 30 seconds should do it.

2] Add sour cream and mix until it is reasonably consistent

3] Open can of chicken, drain out juices. Stir chicken in can until it is 'frayed' out into small pieces. It should look like this when its done:

It is easiest to pour out the can into a separate bowl and use a fork to fluff it, I just do it right out of the can because I have had a ton of practice..

4] Add in chicken and stir until it is reasonably consistent

5] Add cheese and stir until it is reasonably consistent

6] Add hot sauce, *TO TASTE*, and mix until it is consistent in color

I actually don't measure the hot sauce, I tried to give you a ballpark guess, but I just judge on taste.

7] I use tin foil disposable trays because once this gets baked it is very difficult to wash, however you can use any oven safe dish. These below are 3" x 6" x 2" small loaf pans.

8] Sprinkle some cheese across the top & bake in oven at 325F for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted

*I prefer to bake the dip, stir it, let it cool in the fridge, then reheat it, because it thickens & I like it better than way*

And the final reason that this is the best recipe ever, because it can be done without dirtying a ton of dishes

ENJOY! & let me know your thoughts!

Define Yourself

My photography project for the weekend was to 'define myself' through photographs. Below are my top choices and how they relate to me..

My boots -- they are some of my most prized possessions. Their scratches, scuffs, and wrinkles show all the memories I've had in them & I wouldn't trade them for heels, ever.

My jewelry - I don't dress up very often but I stock an arsenal of jewelry because when I do dress up, I go all out.

The heart - I am a hopeless romantic. I fall for even the most obvious love stories. They get me every single time.

On the slide at the playground --  I will always be a kid on the inside! I try to always appreciate the small things, and I never want to be too mature for my own good.

Product Review: ORLY French Manicure Polish

As a rule, I have very nice fingernails. I'll thank genetics for that, and I don't have to do much to keep them nice. Recently, I decided I wanted to start giving myself a French manicure every week.

So I stopped at my local Sally Beauty Supply store, and picked up a french manicure pink & a french tip white. Both are made my ORLY. 

It was working out very well, I'm reasonably close to ambidextrous so they always turned out nice. However, after a few weeks of doing this my nails started splitting and falling apart. I suspect that the enamel in the nail polish was so hard that when it started to chip and peel, it was taking my nails with it. See Below:

Clearly, this is not going to work out. I've stopped using the polish and I'm working on restoring my nails to their previous condition.. Moral of the story: shop carefully, my friends.

In review: A Talk with film director Christopher Monger

I must admit that going into this 'Talk' I was feeling very unworldly and very uneducated. I had heard the name Christopher Monger before, but I could give no legitimate description of who he was or what he did. If you currently are in the same boat that I was in, here are your options:

Check out his website
Check out his IMDB Profile
Or Check out what Wikipedia has to say ** Please note, ANYONE can post onto Wikipedia so read with that in mind.

Now that we are familiar with him, at least a bit, I can tell you that the 'Talk' was fascinating and he is quite the interesting person. He is witty and funny, plus his accent makes everything that much better.

I had the option to go this 'Talk' for my public speaking class and I am glad that I did. He is a dynamic presenter and speaker. No matter what interest level students had in his work, I know they were paying attention because he spoke in a manner that made listening to him worthwhile.

After attending this event, I have added 'Watch the Temple Grandin Movie' to my weekend To Do List.

 Side note: I am 5'10" [hence the name of this blog] and he said he needed to tippy toe since I'm so tall, & he did.

Corduroy

When I was little - I loved the book Corduroy

 A then when my boyfriend got me this when I went away to school, I instantly fell in love with the bear.

Anyone else see the connection? It all makes sense now :)

Photo of the Week - Jan 30th

 

A student makes a friend in a resident squirrel in Oswego, NY.

Locks of Love & Madison Academy

Original article available here...

This stands out to me as an example of the media twisting a story and creating a bad guy. At first when I went to read this article, I figured on being appalled and furious with the school for their actions. I came away being annoyed with the media.

This academy appears to be a private institution, and therefore it was no surprise to me that they had in place guidelines to govern the physical appearance of their students. When students must pay to attend an institution, they are also usually agreeing to abide by the established rules.

This 'hair rule' is standard procedure, and the student is disobeying it. It boils down to the fact that a violation is a violation. I understand that a level of compassion and understanding should exist in the world, but in the case of a private entity especially in an educational setting, all students must be treated equally and exceptions are few and far between.

I recently donated to Locks of Love as well.  Below are my before and after pictures, I donated 11.5 inches of hair.

Technorati

I am looking to join the Technorati world & I'm working on verifying that I own this blog.

VU6ATGZRJTDE

Pure Maple Syrup

There is nothing like real maple syrup. It is somewhat of an acquired taste due to the true sweetness of it, however I assure it is delicious. I have grown to appreciate it mostly because my boyfriend and his family are large scale maple producers in Wyoming County, NY.

Check them out at on Facebook here, or here: Siler's Sugar Shanty

I used to think that I could live with the 'fake' syrup and be fine. Then, I found out that the fake syrup is less than 5% pure maple syrup and that 5% is some of the lowest quality syrup available. It is the equivalent quality to what is used in dog foods. Ick! No, thank you! So now I'm a diehard pure girl & I'm lovin it.

There is more to pure maple syrup than just the stuff you put on your pancakes. I want to enlighten you to the variety of maple products available today.

Frozen Yogurt Snacks

A simple fantastic frozen snack that can be eaten alone or put in ice cream,

Take the strawberries, which can be cut or uncut, and once you've removed the stems and pits, roll them in Yogurt & place on a tin lined baking sheet or plate. Once you've used all the fruit, pour the extra yogurt on top of the fruit. Leave in freezer for a few hours & yummy..

Experiment with other fruits -- I originally did this with bananas :)

Need a visual?

How Well Do YOU Know YOU?

My sexuality professor suggested to us that we do this little activity to see how well we know ourselves -- give it a try!


The three people you would have sex with, the instant they asked you:
1. Channing Tatum
2. Brantley Gilbert
3. Justin Timberlake

Three people you would not have sex with, ever:
1. Snoop Dogg
2. Daniel Radcliffe
4. Rupert Grint

Three sexiest people of your sex:
1. Rachel McAdams
2. Scarlett Johannson
3. Mila Kunis