Taste of Summer

With the nice sunny skies and warm weather this weekend, we decided to lay low and chill since the Celtics were on.

Headed over to Whole Foods to pick up some food, but mostly to grab some RIPE fresh cocktail mixer. It was hard to find only because I didn't realize it was literally next to all the fresh fruit at Whole Foods. This stuff is SO GOOD.

So now it was time to become a Mixologist. Full recipe in my last post.

Ingredients:

Muddle.Club Soda.

And you are fabulous after a garnish.

Throw some shrimp on the barbie.

Fit for a king, and his jesters.

Plus: Ripe and Club Soda make for great MOCKTAILS too! Since the amount of friends who are now pregnant have increased very much in the past year! Exciting times :) Auntie Julie has become a sucker for Baby GAP and their lil adorable outfits, but that's a whole 'notha post.

Until I have my Beach House...

Since you know I have a big obsession with HomeGoods, its no surprise I found the most amazing thing ever there the other day, and decided to give it a shot. OOOH! HomeGoods is on Twitter now!

*am I embarassed that 1 yr later, our old ugly hallway linoleum floor still has paint splatter on it? nopers

Okay, so the tag says this is meant to be put in a Bathroom, but it kept SCREAMING makeup vanity! When I asked Toughguy to hang it up, I warned him that someday when we get a beach house, this will be in the downstairs bathroom (cos I'm articulate like that when planning our 4 future vacation homes)

One large Ice Coffee bribe later...

Anddddd I hosted a draft where I picked out my favorite makeup, and left the rest of the B-listers in that maroon box on my bureau.This was a page out of a 2008 Kate Spade Daily Planner. I have a crush on typography and pretty colors.

Of course my Lexie shares it with me...Once she grows tall enough to reach it.

You're a fine man, Rocco [ a birthday post!]

"You know, puppies do get older, and you still have to take care of them when they are regular dogs." -said the snarky random girl who was hugging and kissing my puppy Rocco on a beautiful summer day in July 2004. Granted, we were dropping him off for the day at my friends house to go party at the 10 Ugly Men Festival in ROC, but I thought we were being responsible have someone dog sit him!

While everyone oo'd and ahh'd when we adopted our 6 week old Rocco from a shelter in upstate NY, there were plenty of other opinions, including that chick's. Why would you guys get a dog when you're still in college? What happens if you two break up? How are you going to be able to afford a dog? Do you know how much puppy shots are? Really.. you think you can handle the responsibility? (and that was just from our parents!)

And then the day we adopted him on a whim, we learned our roommate was allergic to dogs. Maybe we can sneak Rocco in the basement and he wouldn't even notice! The sneezes started, and Toughguy and I packed up our things to crash in our friends living room for what would be the next 2 months, 2 college kids on a couch, with a dog, while paying rent at a different fab apartment. All this for a little puppy who had the sharpest teeth I've ever seen a 10 lb thing have, and wasn't afraid to use them.

It was a roller coaster ride at first, the heels he chewed, my hair straightener that no longer straightens, when he'd sneak out the back door and give us a panic attack running around to find him on the other side of the street, the $300 vet bills where I'm not sure they even did anything. But for all the bad things there were awesome great things we now had by having a dog.. the never ending dog kisses, having someone so excited to see you when you walk in the door, his grumbles where I swear he's laughing, the day i came home from the bar and cried because Toughguy had taught him how to 'shake' and I felt bad for missing it because i was having drinks with the gals, teaching him how to swim at Ellison Park, asking him to pose for our Table # pictures so he could 'be' at our wedding, and him being the first one to jump up and give us a hug and say congrats when Toughguy got down on one knee and proposed in our rose petal, tealight filled apartment.

6 years later, our dear old friend Rocco turns 6 years old. Its crazy to think he's counted on us for his entire life, as well as my Mom who at first thought he was a big brat. Then the summer we bought our house, we asked if she could take him up to VT with her while we packed. A few weeks hanging out with him, I'm pretty sure Rocco is more regarded to Mamma Q than most humans she knows. And now he's a big brother to Lexie! I'm sure he misses the days he got all of the attention, but the fact that she idolizes him and worships his every move 24/7.

I'd like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Rocco. While I'm going to stop somewhere after work to pick him up a special gift, if he had his choice, he'd just ask for a simple pair of dirty socks to chew on... his absolute favorite thing in the world. Think of that next time you get a big kiss from him!

Meet George!

The tallest dog in the world according to Guinness Book of Records. And the best part? There is controversy over it by Titan (the world's 2nd tallest dog) on Titan's blog. George clocks in at 3 Feet 7 inches. And after a lengthy description by Titan's owner (i'm assuming its not Titan typing it) they say he's actually 3 inches taller due to the way they measured within regulation.

George is going to be on Oprah today, but before Oprah gives George her endorsement- I think they should have the Guinness people measure both dogs together to put the drama to rest.

As a dog lover, I cannot pick sides*. I think they should share the title and be treated to a nice steak dinner with a snausage pie treat!

*my dogs are about a foot tall on a good day, so I'm not one to judge.

Happy President's Day!

In honor today's Holiday I'll make sure the movie of choice is Dave, or Point Break. Hope everyone has a great day off! And if you don't have today off, let me know if there's anything you'd like me to pick you up while shopping..

UPDATE: Laundry, Quick trip to Marshalls and Crate & Barrel, Snuggling with the dogs watching Wendy Williams and GH, Grocery Shopping and Cleaning ended up being my day off. Ahhhhh, now gearing up for a 4 day work week. Yippeeeeeee

Cookin' with Q

This edition of Cookin' with Q is a lovely dish I call Casserola Fabulosa.

I recommend you cooking this with someone you heart, because its messy and requires multiple hands during cleanup (aka the boy shall wash the dishes while you dry)

Ingredients! You may have most of them in your kitchen already..

Milk, Breadcrumbs, Pasta, Fontina Cheese, Parmesan, Evoo, Onion, Nutmug, Flour, Salt & Pepper

Turn oven on to 350 degrees. In one pan- mix the Evoo, Flour & Milk.. then add in some nutmeg and S&P. Meanwhile, in another pan you are sauteing the onions and peas

Cook the pasta and transfer it back into the pot after its drained. We wanted to spice things up so we cooked some Turkey Sausage, threw it in the Food Processor and mixed it in with the pasta.

Pour the Milk Mixture craziness into a separate pan where you've sauteed the Onions and Peas.

Stir in the Fontina

Then you mix everything together into an orgy full of flavor and awesomeness.

Pour into a dish that was coated with breadcrumbs, and top it off with some Parmesan.Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes, which gives you the perfect amount of time to clean up all 58 pots, pans, spoons and bowls that you've managed to use.

Dogs LOVE watching you cook. They think you're going to drop the entire thing on the floor by accident. (that's only happened once)

30 minutes later, you got yourself one tasty dinner!! It really was delish so we will definitely cook it again soon. Plus there were a ton of leftovers for lunch the next day.

Entire Recipe, here

Sunday is the new Snowday?

One more day of staying in before going back to work...

When it Snows, it Snows.

What I plan to do today since there's 8 inches of snow outside (all of which hopefully involves NOT stepping one foot outside!)

• Cooking Hubs a hearty breakfast since he already shoveled the driveway and walkway
  
• Finally going through my Digicam and uploading some pix!
  
• Watching some Christmas Movies as well as Its Always Sunny Xmas special (again)
• Planning our Christmas Eve menu (and designing Wedding-esque Style menus to print out since I like to let my mom know my College Degree is useful at any type of holiday)
• Wrap some presents, which goes along with Tracking some presents.
• Laughing at the dogs when they try to go outside to pee but skip around because its way too cold be doing your business outside. That's unfortunate for them.
  
• Cleaning/Laundry aka normal Sunday activities
• Making an insane Xmas Playlist for Xmas Eve, yes, I said insane..

What are you up to this beautifully snowy East Coast Sunday? And West Coasters, feel free to mention you are hanging out at the beach! Only if you send sunny pix as well..

Help during the Holidays!

Today I read about a sad, sad story that hopefully will have a happy ending. Turtle, an innocent little pitbull was found fighting for her life on Sunday in a city nearby terribly beat up. They think she was a 'bait' dog that is part of a Dog Fighting Circle.

For me, I haven't thought about Dog Fighting since the Michael Vick hoopla that came up again recently after he went back to playing Football.

This terrible act still exists, and evenly more shockingly, its a lot close than you think.

Turtle has good people taking care of her at the Animal Rescue League of Boston and she will be undergoing treatment and care for the next 6 months as her bite wounds heel.

So many people commented about this terrible event, but one comment hit me hard. They basically said to put your money where your mouth is. Which made me think. These shelters have so many animals coming in, whether its dog fighting, foreclosures, or cases where their owners just can't handle it anymore. While I would love everyone to be able to adopt a rescue dog.. it'd be such a nice gift to donate to people who are helping these animals now.

Even if you don't have the extra funds since I know everyone is stressed out with the last minute Christmas shopping. Even $10 would make a difference. I hope you can share the wealth and donate to these innocent creatures who are the most loving of things when given a chance.

Click here to donate!

I just donated $30, in honor of Turtle, the lovable pup hurt this weekend in the Dog Fight. Keeping her in my thoughts and wish I could give her a big gigantic hug. Rocco & Lexie were heartbroken when I told them about dog fighting. They don't get it.

Happy Holidays, to my four legged friends.

The Dog and the Chimp

This is a MUST watch for dog lovers, and if you don't love dogs, you are on the wrong blog, mon frère.
The Orangutan and the Hound

Funny Friday

WHY can I not post this amazing video to my blog? you MUST check out this clip on BuzzFeed, cos it is amazing. If I was a Dog in another lifetime, this is how me and my children would walk around. For reals.




If you have not had the luxury of meeting my dog Rocco, this is the closest thing on Youtube that I can compare to my special buddy. While he's only half bassett (other half rotty) the mannerisms this dog has is spot on!

I'm pretty sure the Palm Pre lady needs a spot on Lost as one of the others. I get freaked out every time I see her on tv.
Mimi, what the Helvetica is going on here? I'm no skinny minnie myself, but I'd be damn sure I wouldn't parade around in a bathing suit like this and bend down like that. It just doesn't look physically possible. And sing on top of it?! Dang, girl! (insert Wendy Williams 'How you doin!')