In the spirit of June Cleaver, who prepared meals day after day for her family without complaint (or at least it wasn’t in the script):

Hot days call for easy cooking.  Love. Love. Love me a meal prepared in my slow cooker.  Throw it all in the morning and enjoy in the evening without a fuss.  This is one of my favorites and it is a true crowd pleaser.  Just made it on Sunday for a family barbeque.

Pulled Pork

2-2.5 lbs pork tenderloin
1 medium sized onion (sweet onions are particularly good!)
Tom Douglas’s Rub with Love, Pork Rub
1 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbeque, Original

1. Dice onion and put in bottom of slow cooker
2. Cut pork loin into 4-5 inch sections
3. Use rub to coat both sides of pork sections. 
4. Place each pork section into slow cooker.  Arrange so that none of the pieces overlap.
5. Pour Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce on top.
6. Cook on high for 1 hour.
7. Turn down to low and cook for another 6-7 hours.
8. Remove pork and shred with two forks.  It should just fall apart
9. Place pulled pork back in slow cooker and mix with onion and sauce
10. Allow to cook on low for 30 minutes or until you are ready to serve

Serve on buns or rolls of your choosing.  Oh, it is so, so good!
Now, get outside and play!

love it.  I held out for a very, very long time.  I literally get no cell coverage from AT&T at my house, so it made no sense to invest in a super fun toy and not be able to use it at my house.  Verizon came to the rescue.  I brought mine home in early spring and have not regretted it once.

I swear I learn to do something new everyday on this little thing.  One trick that many, many people ask about are how to take screen shots.   It lets you save images of anything you are looking at on your phone. Then you can post or send in an email or in a text message (MMS). I recently posted this screen shot on my facebook page.

How do you do it?
1. Have your screen on the image you want to save
2.  Hold the home and sleep buttons down at the same time.  You will hear your camera shutter click.
3.  The image is now saved in your Camera Roll.  Open Camera.
4.  Select Camera Roll and find your screen shot. Now you can send it via email or text using the bottom left arrow on the image screen.

VOILA!
Anyone else have any super fun tricks I might not know about yet?

07.28.2001~ yours forever
Ten years strong.

I think about a cold Thursday night, at a dingy bar called Dantes, a heart broken girl saw a boy and had the guts to talk to him! How could she know she was about to have her first conversation with the man who would someday be her best friend and husband and the father to her children? She just knew she had to try again because she was certain there was someone in the world she could love and who would love her back! He proved her right!
(Plus, she needed a cigarette and was too cheap to buy a pack of her own.)

 

What is it?  They are a series of running music mixes based on beats per minute (bpm).  You can equate a beat with every foot strike.  The faster the bpm, the faster your running pace.  Every single one is different. I like them because they set my pace and keep me focused.  I always run solo, so this is a huge help to get in a great workout on my own.  Even better……they are free.  Yes, you heard me.  They are in iTunes as podcasts (FREE!) and there is also an app for the iPhone (FREE!)

If you are training for a long road run or marathon, you might also want to check out Podrunnner: Intervals.  Don’t know anyone who likes intervals, but they are a necessary evil if you are trying to build speed and endurance.  (One of the reasons I hung up my racing flats and settled into long, easy runs!)

So, lace em’ up, hit the pavement and groove with this great running partner.  Or call me up.  I would love to go for a run.

While chatting with a friend the other day, she spoke of the greatest thing I had heard of in a long time.  Her knowledge has become a new obsession.  MYHABIT

As described on their website:
MYHABIT is a private fashion sale site offering up to 60% off hand-picked selections from designer and boutique brands. Most of our events start daily at 9 AM PT/ 12 PM ET and last 72 hours. Most of our events start daily at 9 AM PT/ 12 PM ET and last 72 hours.

These are a few of the “events” that are going on right now:

The fresh faced, totally charismatic Duchess of Cambridge, is a huge, HUGE fan of old school hosiery.  She has been photographed wearing stockings at almost every public engagement. They were on full display on her recent trip to North America.   I have read that it is royal protocol-that along with closed toe shoes.  However, I have also read that it is totally her choice and that the many young European women LOVE them. 

Pantyhose?  Really?  I know everything 80’s is hot, so hot……but this-I just can’t wrap my head around it!  The last time I can actually remember wearing a pair of these torture devices was at my wedding-10 years ago.  (Now that I think of it- I have not a clue why!)  Never, and I repeat NEVER, have I worn a pair of pantyhose without the crotch hovering around my knees in no time flat.  I am a midget, so there has never been a pair that actually fit me correctly.  And then there is the whole business of picking the right color.  If you are going for skin tone, that is nearly impossible.  It never looks the same once you put them on and if you try to slide it on your forearm to test the color -you are guaranteed to snag it!  They cost a fortune and always, ALWAYS run.  (Pink nail polish, anyone?)

Snags, runs, and low riding crotches.  Who needs it?  Please tell me I am not the only one who (passionately) feels that this piece of the 1980’s needs to stay there!

Evan Rachel Wood.  Rhianna. Emma Watson. Ginnifer Goodwin.  Halle Berry.  All with very different ethnic backgrounds, skin tones, hair color, and bone structure.  But all smokin’ hot with short hair! I am envious of how their great cuts can look classy, punk, or demure- with the help from “just the right” product. In the midst of growing my hair longer, I often daydream of chopping it all off.  And then I remember…….

Yes, that is me-circa 1992.  Without telling anyone or thinking about it for more than 3 minutes, I cut off all of my hair!  Hair that grown to the middle of my back.  I went, spur of the moment, and transformed myself with this pixie cut.  What was I thinking?  Little did I know, short hair is not easier. (Don’t let anyone tell you differently!)  It always has to be styled or you look like a boy.  No pony tails, no fun up-dos.  And don’t even get me started on the process of growing this decision out!  Excruciating.  I will not be posting any pictures from that time period.  It goes without saying, I will never, EVER go short again.

Although, those girls do look great……..

Sadly, I am giving up caffeine. With that, my beloved cup of morning coffee goes with it!  If you are one who looks forward to your first cup of the day, you will understand my trepidation.

I dread the first week’s excruciating headache (yes, I have done this before).  It is never quite the same when you meet someone for coffee and sip on an herbal tea.  But mostly, I will truly miss my mug of sanity to sip on as my crazy family comes to life in the morning.  Some days it is my life line as the bustle- preparing breakfast, packing lunches, clearing dishes, signing homework journals, finding glasses and readying two non-compliant boys for the day ahead -hits me like a Peterbilt!  How will I ever do it?

The positive effects better drastically outweigh the significant downside.  All this hype about cutting out caffeine…..better pan out!  Do you know what I am talking about?