trivia...

every thursday my office does 'lunch time trivia'. we take turns hosting it and you can ask any questions you want, but it's more fun if their not impossible to answer. we usually divide up into teams of 'the old' vs. 'the new' (it's usually the owners & the office manager vs. the younger employees)...the oldies usually win unfortunately (i'm on 'the new' team in case you were wondering). this week was my turn to host it, i chose the olympics & u.s. geography(-ish) as my topics. i practiced my questions on the boyfriend first (he did average so i thought the office staff might do well too). here they are, with the answers, if you want to try it out at home too...

OLYMPICS:

1. What country has won more gold metals at the Winter Games than any other country?
Norway 280, USA 216, Soviet Union 194

2. What is the average speed of the ice luge in the Olympics?
80 MPH

3. What are the two newest sports to be added to the summer olympics starting in 2016?
Rugby & Golf

4. Where are the next 3 olympics 2012, 2014 and 2016 going to be played?
2012- london, england
2014- sochi, russia
2016- rio de janiero, brazil


US GEOGRAPHY:

5. Which of the Great Lakes does NOT border Michigan?
Lake Ontario (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie)

6. What are the four states where the first letter of the capital city is the same letter as the first letter of the state?
Dover, Delware; Honolulu, Hawaii; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

7. There are four Commonwealths in the United States, which states consider themselves Commonwealths, name 2?

Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia

8. Which park became the first public park in America?
1634: Boston Common

9. Name 1 of the 2 States that are touched by 8 other States?
Tennessee ( Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina
and Virginia)
Missouri ( Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennesee, Kentucky and Illinois)

10. How many US States begin with the letter M? Name them... (8)

• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana

BONUS:

Name 3 of the 7 wonders of the world:

• Great Pyramid of Giza
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
• Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
• Colossus of Rhodes
• Lighthouse of Alexandria

playing in my head...

many of my good friends are turning 30 years old this year (including myself, yikes!). which got me to thinking about who my good friends really are now, and how we became so close...and then i heard this song over the radio and thought it was very fitting. so i dedicate this to my friends, who are ALWAYS there for me, no matter how far away they are...



find out who your friends are- tracy lawrence

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
Or get yourself in a bind,
Lose the shirt off your back,
Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare…

This is where the rubber meets the road
This is where the cream is gonna rise
This is where this is what you really didn’t know
This is where the truth don’t lie

Find out who your friends are
Somebody’s gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think “what’s in it for me?”
Or “it’s way too far”
They just show on up
With their big ol’ heart
Yeah find out who your friends are.


Everybody wants to slap your back
Wants to shake your hand
When you’re up on top of that mountain
Then one of those rocks will get wet
And you slide back down
Look up and see who’s around then

This is where the road comes to an end
This is where the band wagon stops
This is just one of those times when
A lotta folks jump off.

Yeah find out who your friends are
Somebody’s gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think “what’s in it for me?”
Or “it’s way too far”
They just show on up
With their big ol’ heart
Yeah find out who your friends are.

When the water’s high
When the weather’s not so fair
When the well runs dry
Who’s gonna be there?

Yeah find out who your friends are
Somebody’s gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think “what’s in it for me?”
Or “it’s way too far”
They just show on up
With their big ol’ heart
Yeah find out who your friends are.

Yeah find out who your friends are.

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
Man I been there
Or get yourself in a bind
Lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor, need a couch
Need a bus fare…
Man I been there
Man I been there…

yummy dinner recipe...

i made this for dinner the other night. the boyfriend said it was the best dinner i've ever cooked, that's a mega compliment coming from him, so i thought i'd share it with you too. it's from cooking light cookbook, my best friend got me a subscription to the magazine for christmas this year and i love it.

i did make a few substitutions to work with what i already had...i used turkey sausage instead of chicken sausage, shredded mozzarella instead of provolone and mixed it all in rather than just on top, and i sliced up fresh mozzarella and layered it across the top instead...delish!

chicken sausage penne bake

ingredients:

• 1 pound uncooked penne (tube-shaped pasta)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 (12-ounce) package sweet basil and pine nut chicken sausage (such as Gerhard's), halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 3 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp provolone cheese
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

preparation:

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, sausage, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until sausage is browned. Add tomato paste and next 5 ingredients (through diced tomatoes); cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.

Combine pasta and tomato mixture; spoon into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

a little behind...

sorry for the lack of posts lately. my boss has been out of town, i'm swamped at work, and have been feeling less than creative lately. i did manage to take a break at work this afternoon and snap a shot of me & penny...

put it in the pantry...

you must go check out tobi fairley's blog post about butler pantries, it's serious eye candy! oh, i dream of someday having a pantry someday... and a butler to go along with it...

small space, big style...

i'm thrilled to have just read about 25 year old zach motl's itsy-bitsy apartment on nytimes.com tonight. he is seriously talented, and works for a pretty fabulous company too, looking forward to seeing what he does in the future. check out the article here....

all images courtesy of nytimes.com

cheekey-baby....

yesterday i spent the afternoon with two of my best friends and my goddaughter. of course i was like the paparazzi with this poor kid, but she's so cute it's hard to take your eyes off her! she's a spitting image of her father but is totally smitten with her mommy...


auntie steph got in on the floor play time action too...


this picture alone let's me know she's definitely 'one of the girls'. i can't wait until she's old enough to call me and chit-chat with her auntie blair...


we got to stay for dinner & bath time, although i was afraid the 'blog police' would come arrest me if i took pictures of the baby in the bathtub, so i passed on that part. however, i could not stop laughing at this face when she decided she didn't like what was being put in her mouth. i even got a little video footage of it...

loved the ceremonies last night...

i thought canada did an excellent job with the opening ceremonies last night (despite the horrible loss of an olympic athlete earlier that day). there's something so beautiful about the olympics; the way nations come together for 2 weeks, the human spirit, the sportsmanship, the camaraderie...


i couldn't help myself and watched the video of nodar kumaritashvili, the 21 year old luger from georgia, and his horrific accident on the track. i honestly felt sick watching it and wish i hadn't (after the fact). i know no one wants to be blamed for such a tragic accident, but i think it's sad that they are now placing the blame on the athlete...

olympic mania...

don't forget to watch the opening ceremonies of the 2010 winter olympics in vancouver tonight!

happy valentine's day weekend...

nothing much planned for the valentine's day weekend other than going to visit my future goddaughter...don't worry, tons of pictures to come of her sweet little chubby cheeks! the boyfriend and i may have our usual 'anti-valentine's day' dinner (tbd) on sunday evening.

thought i'd leave you for the weekend with our valentine's day card this year (which i only send out to immediate family & cousins/children/babies). the photo used was from our photo shoot with fat orange cat studio this past fall on the mall of commonwealth avenue and the card was a tiny prints design...

lowcountry style...

i have always loved the lowcountry style of home, probably because of its similarity to the farmhouse vernacular, but also because i have a soft spot in my heart for the south (and south carolina in particular). i love the broad hipped roofs that extend out over the expansive porches, i'm a sucker for a good porch as you know...

weak in the knees from cyber window shopping...

ummm, i need to put my computer down NOW, this is not healthy. i am going to go into major credit debt if i don't close my laptop and STOP 'cyber window shopping' for furniture i don't need, nor can afford. damn you jayson home & garden, you are my temptation, my weakness...

quality time with graydy...

graydy and i had a little 'playdate' tonight, he's a little sweetie (he has a love hate relationship with his mouse)...

smitten with sundance home decor...

i don't usually look at the sundance catalog for home decor, but i took a peek tonight and sort of, well, kind of, loved these things...

sit & stay pillows

wright's peak chicken coop bin

meridian pendant