Legally Blonde's Proceedings

I'm obsessed with Swiss Oatmeal.  I particularly love   Corner Bakery's Swiss Oatmeal.  If you are not familiar with Swiss Oatmeal, it is a cold oatmeal cereal with fruit and nuts. I've had a similar recipe for years, but it was only similar.  It wasn't close enough for my liking.  So I finally set out into the land of Pinterest to find a recipe that was a good Copy Cat.  I found a few, combined them and came up with what I think is a very close Copy Cat Recipe of Corner Bakery's Swiss Oatmeal. Here's what I do (note, this recipe is really just pictures, because I don't really have measurements for these things.  The photos aren't great, but it's easier if I show you what I do)... Here's the Phase 1 ingredients...   Milk Honey Yogurt (I use a vanilla greek yogurt) Oats (old fashioned, not quick...you probably could do steel cut too)    I've simplified this to where you only need a bowl and a spoon for Phase 1 becau...

So I read yesterday that LeAnn Rimes has entered a 30 day rehab program for "stress and anxiety".  I'm calling BS on that right now!  I believe "drugs and alcohol" would be more accurate.  I mean seriously, is there really even rehab programs for stress?  I thought that was called a vacation, no? Even if there is such a thing, why in the heck does she need it.  The woman and her husband freaking live on vacation.  I read gossip sites daily, and I can tell you that at least 3 times a month, there is some photo of her super skinny body in a barely there bikini on a different beach...Mexico, Miami, etc.  If you live on vacation 90% of the time, how can you be so stressed that you need rehab?  It's total BS. I guess thank goodness LeAnn doesn't live my life, because I can tell you that on Monday & Tuesday I had about 3 months of stress compacted into less than 24 hours.  If I'd known there was a rehab for such things, I might have checke...

I love music.  I love finding new songs or new artists (not necessarily new, but new to me).  I find that I go through spells where I listen to the same 5 to 10 songs every single time I get in the car.  Right now, this is my "play list"...   Of course, Ryan's new single is played often! He just released this a couple of weeks ago and then was on The Tonight Show. He's getting Big Time folks! I'm also so excited because Perez Hilton told his readers to check out Stay Awhile .     On a side note, I've turned my hair lady on to Ryan, so now I get to hear his music playing in her salon while getting my hair done.   I'm sort of addicted to listening to  Free by Graffiti6. It's such a fun song.  In fact, when I was getting my hair done on Tuesday, my hair lady had this on her play list also.  We cranked the volume and were having a totally good time!     I'm loving  Run by Matt Nathanson (f...

After having the second summer semester off from teaching, today is the day that I have to get back to the grind of being a professor.  I have three classes this semester at two different campuses.  All three of my classes are the exact same class, so I'll be repeating myself a lot.  That is good and bad.  I only have to prep for one class and then do it three times, but I also finding myself saying "Have we already talked about Citizens United ?"  or "Have we discussed the Articles of Confederation?" often. This semester is really going to be different than all others because in addition to a night class two nights a week, and a morning (7 AM!!!!) class two mornings a week, I'm teaching what is officially called a "Weekend Express" class.  I've dubbed it my "suicide weekends".  Three weekends this semester I will teach a class that meets on Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday afternoon.  It's good because it's over...

I watch the news every night with Diane Sawyer.  This week they have been having a special where they talking about the Mormon church.  Prior to seeing this segment, I honestly didn't know much about the Mormon church.  My limited knowledge was based on observations made of the Mormon church that is across the street from the entrance to my neighborhood: (1) They seem to go to church often (2) They do not appear to go to church on Easter (3) They drive like bats out of hell when church does let out (based on almost being ran over by several of their members leaving church).  Though I think this is a common trait among all faiths of people getting out of church, as I recall most Sundays my Dad expressing urgency in "beating the Baptists to the Ranch House for lunch!".  But honestly, this post really has nothing to do with Mormons.  The piece on the news has had me thinking about other religions and what I know about them.  I don't know a ton....

Hell on Wheels... though that can describe me on any random day, I'm actually referring to the television show on AMC.  It just started it's second season last Sunday.  I managed to never hear about it until a couple of weeks ago.  I saw Common on Good Afternoon America, and though only half watching the interview, I got the gist that his character lived in the post-civil war America and was a recently freed slave.  I honestly thought he was talking about a made for tv movie or something, but when I did a search for it on my DVR, I saw that in fact it was a series.  It was actually very good timing because in preparation for the second season premier last Sunday, they ran the entire first season.  I sat my DVR and thought, "well, I'll check it out."  You know, because I need another series to watch like I need a hole in my head.  I didn't expect to love it, but love it I did, so I spent last Sunday watching season one like it was my job. ...

You know how Us Weekly does Stars, They're Just Like Us! pages where they show celebrities shopping for groceries, getting a pedi, etc.?  Well today is my own version of that! The lovely and super talented Meryl Streep is on a press tour about her new movie Hope Spring , and she is sporting a bandage on her left hand... See that is Meryl, this was me... While Meryl could have gone for a sassier color of bandage, they look pretty similar.  In fact, it seems Meryl hadn't heard my PSA about NEVER EVER EVER using a knife to remove a pit from an avocado, and while doing just that, severed the nerves in her hand.  She has already had the surgery to re-attach the nerves.  I haven't heard her mention any tendon damage, and since her bandage doesn't look like this... I assume, she only managed to get the nerves, and not both tendons like I managed to do. Remember, don't use a knife to remove the pit no matter how many cooking shows you see it on.  I kno...

Last night I went down to Dallas to see the author Emily Giffin.  My friend Lisa went with me and this is the third time we've gone to one of her signings.  She is definitely more popular now than she was 6+ years ago when we went to the first event.  I'm so happy that she is popular, but this means that the events are a bigger pain in the rear-end to attend...well that and the fact that Barnes and Noble couldn't organize their way out of a paper bag, but that's another issue. Not only do I love Emily's books, but get this:  Emily was a lawyer, quit her job, moved to London and wrote her first book.  Now she lives with her family in Atlanta, but I've got to bow down to anyone who quits her job and up and moves to London. Emily was on tour this time because she just published her 6th Novel, Where We Belong... It was a fun event and in addition to grilling her about whether she plans to write a sequel to this book ( and it looks like she just might!) ...

Every year, mid-July, my favorite "holiday" rolls around... the Nordstrom Anniversary sale!  This is the best sale because it is all new fall stuff at a reduced price.  As soon as the sale is over, the price goes right back up.  It's becoming a bit of a pain because pre-sale shopping is more and more important to be able to get the stuff you really want.  To pre-sale shop in store, you have to be a card member and have an appointment.  This year they did allow pre-sale shopping online, but I rarely buy any clothes or shoes online if I haven't actually tried them on in person. I had a pre-sale appointment a couple of weeks ago.  It was one thing that kept me in check at the outlet mall.  Also, it's good that my birthday is around the corner and I do my own birthday gift shopping.  I have developed the habit of buying multiples of something I like.  This shopping excursion was no exception, as you can see.  Here's my loo...