The Peanut Butter Saga

As someone who is allergic to peanuts, this crazy situation has not affected me. But for those of you who have an affinity towards peanut butter, my sympathies. I understand that peanut butter is awesome and necessary, and it's terrible that you now have to question whether or not your peanut butter products are suitable for eating.



I hope that you're coping well, and if you need support services, I'm sure that there are a ton of people out there (um, yeah, try your friends...that would be a good start) who could empathize with you. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide that service.



In the meantime, there are several non-peanut-butter snacks that might help you cope with cravings (notice that I did not say satisfy). And if you make any, be sure to let me know. :)

Fling Candy Bar

I love trying new candy bars...the only problem is that so many of them have peanuts, peanut butter, hazelnuts, coffee, etc. (Category? Things that I'm allergic or have severe reactions to.)

This is not the case with the Fling Candy Bar, distributed by the Mars company. I guess they had to make up for taking away the Mars bar from me. (Yes, I know that they make Snickers Almond Bars now and that should be a good enough substitute for me...but I don't really want to test how closely these bars were made to their regular Snickers bars.)

Anyhow, back to Fling. Upon first glance, it resembles a Twix bar. But don't be fooled, it's totally a girlie candy bar - sort of like chocolate truffle filling on top of a meringue bar, covered with a chocolate that shimmers and has embossing on the bottom. So pretty!

That shouldn't stop you boys from trying it though. Show the world that you're secure in your manhood and try it!

Pictures to follow...

Biggest Fan of Short-Lived Shows

It's so sad, but I think that I'm the biggest fan of short-lived shows. Examples?

Really short lives...

LAX

Kitchen Confidential

Cashmere Mafia

Back to You

Not so short...but short, nonetheless...

Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place

Prison Break

I hope this short-lived thing isn't contagious...and that it doesn't affect the other shows that I like...

Prison Break - Cancelled

Yes, you read that correctly. So says Entertainment Weekly. And Yahoo News.

They'll come back as promised to finish out the season, but they haven't decided how many episodes there will be...or if it will be a TV movie?!

Plans for a goodbye party are in the works.

Boo.

:(

Four Square

Okay, so this may date me, but I'm going to write it anyway...

On New Year's Day, the family (big family - small and big kids) got together to play some games and get some exercise. There was a 2 hour game of kickball, a warm-up for a game of Ultimate Frisbee, some biking, some basketball, and other random things (boys seeing who could kick the ball the farthest). Then everyone packed up to leave...except four people. Two of my cousins, my brother, and I decided to play a friendly game of Four Square. Do you remember how to play that? Anyway, the two boys decided that they would make the rules - only bubbles and high wires. I only understood half of that. So we start playing. It was 10 minutes into the game - probably 5 minutes were spent chasing the ball around - when I got my first demonstration of 'bubbles.' Silly boys. That's not a real rule. Well, I guess it was invented after I played it - or I never played the cheater way!

But I also was in the D square most of the game. Better learn how to use "bubbles" huh? Or just stick to Dodgeball...

Here's a new way to play four square - on a ping pong table!

Do-It-Yourself Oreos

What a concept. Looks like a party huh? Make everyone happy with a kit like this - people who don't want any creme filling, and those who like lots of it!

Happy New Year!

Krispy Kreme Minis

When's the last time you indulged in a Krispy Kreme doughnut? Did you feel guilty after? Well, Krispy Kreme is making their treats less of a guilty pleasure. They've introduced Minis - smaller versions of their most popular varieties... Check here to see if your local store is participating...

Support Your Holiday

Whatever holiday you celebrate, don't support the Happy Holidays generic. Make the companies work for your business! If you celebrate Christmas, buy the wrapping paper that says Merry Christmas. If you celebrate Hanukkah, buy the gift wrap that says Happy Hanukkah. You get my drift?

Don't let them get away with products that will work for everyone...they should have to work harder to receive your hard earned money!

Or you can go totally green and just don't buy any new wrapping paper. Tell those companies "too bad, so sad" and be a little creative on your own. Wrap your gifts in blankets, towels, or even newspaper...something that the recipient can reuse or recycle!

Man vs. Food

The holidays are in full swing. If you haven't already recovered from your Thanksgiving dinner, you don't have much time left before Christmas hits! My Christmas celebrations start next week. Ahhh, the holiday food challenge. With so much food at the different parties, how does one tackle it all? Sorry - no answers here...I haven't figured it out for myself! Besides, that's not what this post is about.

Have you ever been in a restaurant that issues food challenges to their patrons? For example, those restaurants that have huge burgers/sandwiches/pizzas and will pay for your food if you can finish it? The closest that I've gotten to trying one of these is buying a Vermonster from Ben & Jerry's for my sister and her friends and helping them eat it.

ANYWAY, there's this guy - Adam Richman - who has made it his mission in life to complete as many of these challenges as possible. His reward? The Travel Channel gave him his own show, Man vs. Food, which puts his never-ending appetite on TV for your viewing pleasure!

I wonder if he'll ever come to Los Angeles...

Happy eating!

Christmas is for Sharing

Christmas is the time for sharing. Right? Right.


This made me think about how I share. Have you ever been eating a box/bag of candy that's mixed flavors, and you eat all the ones that you like less to save your favorite flavors for the very end...then you decide to share with someone and they take all of your favorite flavors? Does that make the sharing even more noble?

This didn't actually happen to me, and I think I'm actually a pretty good sharer (is that a word?). Anyway, this is your one chance this year to wax philosophical... :)

Christmas Music Video - the Premiere

You might recognize some of the people in the video...
View...enjoy...get into the Christmas Spirit!



Music: "O Holy Night" by Clay Aiken

Survived Black Friday!

Black Friday is usually the time when people start buying gifts for those on their Christmas lists. This year, my Black Friday was completely self-serving. The highlight? I bought myself a vacuum. Think that's a weird highlight? Obviously, you don't know me very well. Those who know me know about me obsession with cleaning and cleaning products. I think I've vacuumed every night since I've opened it up and put it together!


Even with all of the vacuuming, I've made time to shop...so it's allllllllll good! :)

Christmas Gift for Someone Who Has Everything

Why not give them a Lamborghini Laptop? Of course that would require you to have $3300 (plus applicable taxes) to spend on this lucky someone.

And hey, if they already have the laptop, you can always try to help them accessorize! :)

Getting Ready for Christmas

I know Costco's been selling Christmas goods since October, and Target is all holiday-ed out as well. But there's some good news! The Christmas season can officially begin on Sunday, November 23. That's when Dr. Stephen Colbert's Christmas special airs on Comedy Central.

Yippee! Enjoy - 'cuz I know I will! :)

Soon to be Taking Applications

I'm looking for a friend replacement! If I've seen you recently, you have nothing to worry about because you're not on my list. If you haven't seen me recently, your friend status could be in jeopardy. That doesn't mean that you can't apply. (Yes, you can apply to replace yourself.) However, you should keep in mind that you might be asked to make some improvements before your application will be considered.

Sounds a little like a school or job application, right? Well, if it doesn't, it should. I do take into consideration the fact that at least one of the two applications has been completed and led to successful acceptance by a REAL institution. :)

Am I losing my mind? Perhaps...
It it lunchtime, after all...

Oreo Idiosyncrasy

I scrape out the cream before eating Oreos. Is that weird?

Tim Tams SLAM the U.S.

Not only have they made their way into production in the United States, but they're available to everyone in Target! Pepperidge Farm is the smart company that jumped onto this bandwagon.

They're really there at Target...I just got back from buying some. And I wouldn't have known if my mom hadn't pointed them out in the Target mailer.
I'm not sure how they're going to stack up to Arnott's Tim Tams, but I'll find out soon. Testing commences this week! :)

Stephen Colbert and Halloween (he's always right)

Dr. Colbert correctly identified "trick-or-treating" as teaching children how to panhandle. But now the kids are getting picky! Here we were...giving free candy to strange looking children...when they started making requests!!! My sister was smart and engaged the first kid in conversation:

Kid (looking into the candy basket): "Can I have some Oreos?"
Sissy: "What are you going to give me back?"
Kid: "Anything you want..."

The last five kids that came by ALL asked for Oreos. I'm thinking that next year we should buy no candy and all cookies.

Stylish Baby - Courtesy of Gucci

Gucci realizes that sometimes some moms have awesome purses and they don't get to carry them when they are carrying a baby, so they've made a way to make it a little easier for both mom and baby to be stylin'...in the form of the Gucci Baby Carrier!


If you have friends that will be in need of something like this, plan ahead. You can only buy 3 within a 3 month period. :)

Warcraft the Movie

My first thought: Oh no. WoW the movie. Please-please-goodness-gracious-they-cannot-possibly-be-serious.

For all of you who jumped on the World of Warcraft bandwagon, denied your addiction (and still deny the addiction), (thankfully) got bored, and finally stopped playing, the WoW movie will bring you on a trip down Nostalgia Lane. For those of you still playing, this must've been awesome news.

Well......we'll see how this all develops. Who knows - I may be the first one in line to watch it. :)