2008 In Review

Below you will see our favorite moments of the past year. We hope you enjoy them. Happy New Year!

~Monica & Kim

Resolution time

Thursday starts the New Year; therefore, it is that time to make your list of resolutions. We thought that we would help you out by giving you some ideas to put on your own list. Here's Sarah Palin's list of resolutions:

Sources tell our newshound that these are Sarah Palin's Top Ten New Year's Resolutions for 2009:
10. Memorize the names of at least 3 major news magazines (such as US News and World Report, Newsweek, Time)
9. Pose nude for Playboy to get in touch with her "inner Republican"
8. Get a GPS device with Google Maps, so that she can see "where Russia really is."
7. Get a clue as to why McCain and the Party chose her (HINT: Not for her intelligent conversation)
6. Submit her application to become Oprah's assistant
5. Co-host Rosie O'Donnell's new talk show - the show should last as long as Palin's run for the White House - almost one season
4. Subscribe to "ALL of them news magazines" and actually READ them so that she actually will have intelligent debate responses in the future
3. Convert to Democrat - there's more chance of her being elected that way
2. Announce her plans to run in 2012 with David Hasselhoff as her running mate
1. STOP TALKING, and just stand there and look beautiful. Because: "You can make people wonder if you're a fool, or you can open your mouth, and remove all doubt" (paraphrased from Mark Twain's quote)

Monica found another list on www.womansday.com for some additional ideas for "20 feel-good resolutions you can actually keep."

20. Start your own blog – (ha! We did that. Mark that off the list)
19. Swap CDs with your teen – (The teen we know listens to our music already and we introduce the new stuff.)
18. Be more spontaneous
17. Make your kids laugh – (Maybe they should try to make us laugh so that their parents don't want to ground them.)
16. Surround yourself with color
15. Indulge guilt-free
14. Spread cheer
13. Think like a kid
12. Find the funny – (We found the funny in everything already. The problem is that the "regular" people don't get our sense of humor.)
11. Make one new friend – (I have enough friends.)
10. Get more sleep – (ah, now we are talking.)
9. Put your right brain to work
8. Explore your hometown
7. Start a potluck ritual – (If you do this one make sure you are confident in the skills of the people you participate with. You don't want to end up with green Jell-o with carrots, cottage cheese and fruit cocktail all mixed together. )
6. Do something that scares you silly – (Why in the hell would I do that? I want a nice, pleasant 2009, not a horror-movie 2009.)
5. Simplify without stress
4. Take a "me" day – (This should be everyday.)
3. Lock lips with your husband – (Can we add to that "lock lips with your husband while thinking of Gerard Butler or some other attractive man?)
2. Host a closet raid
1. Play a new kind of hide-and-seek – (Give me a break that was the number one?)

If Sarah Palin or Woman's Day have inspired you then congratulations. We hope that you will be able to achieve all of your goals for the New Year. May it be filled with happiness, joy, money, and great adventures.

Merry Christmas

We hope that you have had an enjoyable day. Please let us know what the best part of your day was be it a present, a traditiion that you participated in, or the lovely food you may have eaten.

We were "tagged" and it was requested to post a picture of ourselves as young kids and then a current photo. There are not too many pictures of Monica & Kim together but we did find one. We hope that you enjoy the picture from high school. We know, we know, our hair style really dates us but that is how we looked.



We tried to give a current representation of the high school picture. Hope you enjoy it.

Thursday Quiz

What was the best and worst Christmas gift that you ever received?

Monica:
Best gift was anything that I bought myself. Worst gift was from my stepmother-in-law, the size 6 slippers (I wear size 9) with the wood wedge sole. She has a talent of giving the tackiest gifts.

Kim:
Best gift is a tie between the Donny & Marie dolls with accompanying stage and the Muppets Drum Kit. Worst gift was the footed pajamas that I received when I was about 10 years old (and yes, the zipper started on one leg and zipped all of the way up to the neck).

Ask Girly Tom Cruise

My 9 year old apparently dislikes Tom Cruise as well as Ricky Martin, Suri, and Ricky’s magical twins. Oprah and Katie are left unscathed by the budding artist. I wonder why? Notice how she blocks out Tom’s Adam’s Apple, she finds it very disturbing. Darling Daughter has vowed to never, ever, marry a man with a protruding Adam’s Apple.

Oh Christmas Tree

Thursday Quiz

If you had a theme song, what song would you pick? Your theme song would play every time you walked down the street or entered a room. Would this change your choice?

Monica’s Pick: We Are The Champions & Another One Bites The Dust By Queen. I pick two songs because I need a song to enter the room and then leave. Those two songs are also great when I stomp someone on my road bike by 15 minutes in the spring. That’s right, the gauntlet has now been publicly thrown down! Boo-yah!!!

Kim's pick: When I am coming at you the song is "Independent Woman Part 1" by Destiny's Child. I know it is a little embarrassing to admit that but still, I love the song. When I am walking away from you the song is "She's Always A Woman" by Billy Joel. (As you listen to my songs you will see that I am a very independent woman that does not need to ride side-by-side with someone up the canyon. I will accept your spring-time challenge and scare the CRAP out of you in the spring.)

Calling all Christmas trees

Please email a picture of your Christmas tree to us to post on our blog. The picture today is a preview of Monica's Pretty Little Putti Tree.

Please email your tree photos to addictedtoblog@gmail.com by Saturday, December 13.

La Petite Maison

My friend has the sweetest French cottage that happens to be in Utah. Who would've thunk it??? She has lots of style & hates it when I tell her young Elizabeth Taylor looks just like her. Her charming house is all decorated up for Christmas. I love several things in her home, like the terracotta tiles on her floor. Well, I should be very honest, I love everything in her home. I covet her creamy white slipcovered sofas, which I can't have due to a messy/sloppy husband & children. Her home is a place where you could linger or be the house guest that never leaves. One day she may come home to find me napping on her fluffy white sofas or bed (which would totally creep her out, but it would be extremely funny)!

Be sure to notice the cute pictures of Kim & I that are now posted to the left under "My Profile". We're soooo adorable!

What a crybaby

So I took my sister out last night to help finish her Christmas shopping. It all went okay and it wasn't as painful as it could have been like in years past. So I finally got home about 10 pm and decided I wanted to watch my Thursday night shows. The first is Survivor. Okay, yes, I watch Survivor. I am one of those fools that enjoy reality shows (especially the Bravo TV reality shows, they are the best). Anyway, I'm watching Survivor and I realize that it is the "family visit" episode. So Bob, the physics teacher, won reward and surprise, surprise Bob's wife shows up and gets to actually spend time with him. Bob starts to cry. Bob's wife starts to cry. I start to cry. I am such an idiot that I choke up when people cry, it's like I can't let them have all of the fun and so I must join in too. Fortunately, there was only like one tear and then I was tear-free because I realized how stupid I was.

So I'm still watching the show and then Bob takes Mrs. Bob back to their little Survivor hut village and the other Survivor players come out to meet Mrs. Bob and they all start to cry. Well, Bob has an extra surprise and all of the other players get to see their family members. Oh there were tears all around but none were mine this time, thank goodness. Then it happened, Matty proposes to his girlfriend. This time I was laughing and thinking LOSERS!

If it was me, I don't know if I could have accepted the proposal. Okay, we all know that I am not married but I have decided a long time ago that if I am proposed to one day I will have to think twice about saying yes if the proposal happens in one of the following circumstances:

* Proposal is on the jumbo-tron at a sporting event. I guess we can assume that a reality TV show would fall under this category.
* Proposal occurs on Christmas or Valentine's Day (it makes me think that the guy couldn't think of anything for a gift so he decided all he could do was propose).
* Proposal on New Year's Eve again, it's a holiday but with New Year's Eve it has to have some total cheesy crap that must go along with the proposal like "as we start this new year together we can prepare to be husband and wife." Give me strength!
* Proposal happens with a large audience. I think this happens for one of two reasons. Once, the guy is afraid of rejection and thinks that the girl will have to say yes so that she doesn't look like a b*!@h to the crowd. Or two, he is so self-centered that he wants everyone to see what a "romantic" guy he is for attention.

Author's note: The author did not have any intention to offend reader if they were proposed to in such a manner as listed above.

It wasn't even close

Well, it was pretty obvious who the sexiest man is, Hugh Jackman. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend the movie "Australia." To quote my mom when we walked out of the movie, "He definitely is sexy." I hope that we all have good dreams tonight.

YOU choose the Sexiest Man Alive

Which of People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive winner do you think is sexiest?
Results will be posted Friday, December 5th.

2000 Brad Pitt
2001 Pierce Brosnan
2002 Ben Affleck
2003 Johnny Depp
2004 Jude Law
2005 Matthew McConaughey
2006 George Clooney
2007 Matt Damon
2008 Hugh Jackman

Tuesday night

There are so many thoughts going through my head tonight that I just don't know where to start.

First, there was the baby shower and my friend's little girl running around bare-butt after using the potty (she is getting potty trained and she uses the potty when she wants a piece of candy). After doing her business this fine evening, she didn't put her underpants back on before asking for candy. The funny part was her mother was so involved hosting the baby shower, she didn't even notice that her little princess was flashing all of us!

Second, Whatever, Martha! is one of my new shows that I enjoy watching. In fact I’m watching it at this very moment. It can be found on the Fine Living Network on Tuesday night. Martha's daughter, Alexis, and her daughter's friend Jennifer, watch old episodes of Martha's shows. They both comment about Martha and her projects. The comments are usually something that the rest of us are thinking. Right now, the episode the girls are watching is about Martha Stewart being taught about hand analysis. The comments made are witty and sometimes a little shocking when you realize that this is coming from Martha's daughter. I recommend the show highly.

My last thought for the day, my head hurts. I am tired of my head hurting. Remember the movie The Shining when Jack Nicholson is working on his novel and his wife takes a peak at his writing. All the pages repeat over and over "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Well, I am going to change that to "All work and a bad headache makes Kim on ornery woman." I think it is time for a tall glass of water, a handful of Advil and a warm bed.

Ahhh, sweet drug induced dreams!

Tis the season for indulgence

A trip to Park City, Utah would not be complete without a visit to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. So many choices, so little time, so little space left in my tummy!

Thanksgiving at Sundance

This year (yet again) we had a fabulous Thanksgiving feast at the Sundance Resort. I will not admit to how many trips I made to the buffet table. I did partake of the expected food...turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, and Diet Coke with lemon. However, this year the wonderful chef included the breakfast fare. So, I indulged in blueberry cream cheese filled french toast and yummy, crispy, bacon. I totally stayed clear of the salad table. Who wants salad on a day like today (or any day for that matter)? The desserts were divine, I had an undisclosed amount of sugary sensations. When we finally rolled out of the restruant, we strolled around the grounds at Sundance trying to burn a few calories. The only snow that has fallen is all man-made, but the kids had a great time playing in it.

Upon arriving home, I was shocked to see a holiday monstrosity. Someone (who will be very sorry) put the inflated tackiness in our front yard where the whole world could see it, while we were enjoying our Thanksgiving feast. I had my husband and son immediately remove it from the premises. We are now holding it hostage. The culprit/Holiday Bandit will be forced to turn him/herself in.

The old quiver chin trick

So it is over, Dancing with the Stars has announced the newest winner. While watching the final dances I saw Lance mess up a few times in his dance and Warren appeared to do the same. Then it was Brooke's turn. I wondered to myself if she was going to pull thru or buckle under the pressure like the other two. Brooke and Derek chose to do a waltz instead of something that was full of energy and excitement. The waltz was really nice and I didn't see any obvious errors with my untrained dancing eyes.

Once the dance was over I thought to myself that Brooke did a really good job and was feeling really good about Brooke's chances of winning. She has been getting my vote this season so of course I am probably biased in that opinion. And then, there it was. The camera closed in tight. It had to at least be a 15 second shot. Brooke's fiance, David Charvet, had the quiver chin. I lost it. I started to giggle at the quiver chin because I thought to myself that he stole my look.

This is the look I still give my mom when I want to comically annoy her. She gets irritated with me and just says to stop it. Sometimes she likes me to show the quiver chin to others when their kids through a tantrum or try pouting and she says that my sad face is much better.

So Brooke, I'm sure that your man's quiver chin was a ploy for a last minute sympathy vote but if it was or wasn't in the end you are the winner! Congratulations!!

Go into the light, Carol Anne

I’m back from sunny California and back to chilly Utah. It is so hard to come back into reality after you have spent a few days at the happiest place on earth (minus my bickering children). As I walked around Disneyland, I noticed how many different lighting fixtures they had. I LOVE lighting fixtures, you could even call it a fetish (but only if they are cute)! I know I didn’t even come close to getting pictures all of them, but I hope you will enjoy the ones that I did capture.

Thursday Quiz - well, it's a question this week

When growing up in Kansas we ate dinner with whatever family was within an hour’s driving distance but I also remember a girl from Japan joining us one year. Then there was the family from Tonga. It was fun teaching them about the holiday and learning about their culture’s holidays. Then there were those good family friends that we invited over to join us so that they would not be alone for the holiday. But my mother reminds me of when my brother and sister and I were just small kids and my kind, loving father would invite people over for dinner that they didn’t even know. My mom would feed them and these guests would fall asleep on the floor watching football with my dad. She was a little nervous to let us play around people that she knew nothing about but the people came, ate, slept, and then went on their way.

I wouldn’t say that my family is steeped in tradition but the meal itself is pretty basic with the roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, pumpkin pie, etc. When I lived in Louisiana I learned about turduken. If you don’t know what that is well you stuff a chicken inside of a duck and that goes inside of a turkey. This is what I would call untraditional food. I never tried it but I heard that it was really good.

So the Thursday quiz/question is: How do you celebrate Thanksgiving? Are you traditional or untraditional? Do you eat only roasted turkey or do you fry it? Do you eat steak instead of turkey? Let us know and give us some fresh ideas.

Fun pics

Greetings from sunny California! The weather is so warm (as in t-shirts & shorts). It's a big difference coming from wintery Utah. The Christmas decorations are up and looking fabulous. Most of the pictures for today's post were taken in New Orleans Square, also known as the French Quarter. One of my favorite spots to wander around. I love Disney's attention to detail!

Joys of the season

I love this time of year. The leaves have changed and the gold and red colors seem to be so vibrant against the drab brown of the mountains. Sadly, the trees in the mountains have lost most of their leaves but to drive around the valley I can still catch some of those amazing colors.

I used to not like to wear sweaters. They felt so bulky and scratchy but in the last couple of years I have grown to love them. When I lived in New Orleans I had a gray sweater that I wore just about every day. It has since gone away but I would love to get a comfy sweater like that one but without the holes that seemed to have found their way to Old Gray. But now, when I leave for work in the morning I have to have a sweater on because the brisk air touches my skin of my face and gives that great shock to my body to remind me that I am still alive and the sweater gives me that bit of warmth that keeps me comfortable.

Autumn makes me want to sleep in and never get out of bed. I want to drink hot chocolate and the yummy spiced cider from Starbucks. Fortunately, I have a family that I love to spend time with so the holidays are always filled with family. I love to find out which family members will be coming to Thanksgiving because even though we live minutes to a couple of hours from each other it seems like the day will be more enjoyable with more people there.

What I don’t like about this time of year is that spiders seem to show up inside my home. I wouldn’t say that I have a fear of spiders but I feel that we have this understanding: you stay away from me and I won’t kill you. When I lived at home I used to make my sister kill them but I haven’t been able to abuse those services for quite a while. A few years ago I was watching TV while sitting on my oversized chair. I don’t know what made me do it but I looked over the armrest and saw the biggest spider that I had ever seen inside of a home. It had to have been 2 to 2-1/2 inches across. My heart started racing and I had to take a moment to plan my attack. I thought to myself that I could use the vacuum but then I realized that he would likely clog the vacuum hose and that would not be acceptable. There was NO WAY I was going to step on it because I could imagine hearing his exoskeleton body cracking under foot. Then it came to me, I had spider spray! I jumped up and ran to get it. I think I used half of the can of spray on that guy and he wouldn’t die but just ran from me. Finally he started to convulse and then flipped over and died. I had to sit there for another hour or so with the can of spray just in case he came alive to try one last attack like at the end of a horror movie. I hate spiders.

Pure delight

Since arriving home from Paris about a month ago, I’ve been on a quest to find chocolate croissants like we had every day for breakfast. I finally found some that are flakey perfection from Williams-Sonoma online. They are made by pastry chef Jean-Yves Charon. They arrive frozen & you let them thaw overnight. The smell of them baking in my oven is heaven on earth. And of course they had to be enjoyed on Apilco porcelain with a nice cup of hot chocolate.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/

Secret agent man

In honor of the new James Bond flick coming out tomorrow.

Is James Bond a sex addict or just a slut. Please feel free to elaborate.

Ding, ding, ding…..BONUS QUESTION: Who is your favorite Bond?

It's starting to get good

That’s right, Maurice Green & Cheryl Burke were voted off Dancing With The Stars this week.

* Which couples do you think will be competing in the finals?

* Who is your favorite celebrity and/or professional dancer?

* Which professional dancer would you like to “train” with?

* And which dance would you perform together?