These are a few of my favorite things...

1. Salad Dressing: Trader Joe's Champagne & Pear Vinaigrette with Gorgonzola Cheese. It is super tasty with a romaine mix with chicken, walnuts and pears.

2. Red Wine: Kim Crawford Pinot Noir. I am in love with the Kim Crawford vineyard, from New Zealand. Reasonably priced wines and really bold flavors! Can be found at Sam's Club liqour stores at a better price than most wine shops.

3. Reuseable Shopping Bags: I have finally broken my habit of plastic/paper bags and have made the switch to reuseable. They hold more product and they never break! I love the canvas bags from Target.

4. Doggy Daycare: I never thought I would be that person, that obsessed over and sacrificed other things to splurge on the dog. But I'm guilty, Murphy has me suckered into complete submission - no Alpha leader here. I am so happy that we found Pampered Pooch Playground in St Louis Park. The staff there is just the best. They know Murphy by name and get so excited when we drop her off. And when we pick her up, we have a tuckered out puppy (at least for a few hours!).

5. Madonna: You know, the good old Material Girl Madonna. Before Kaballah, Guy Ritchie, bulging biceps, A-Rod and all the other foolishness. We are living in a Material World, and I am a Material Girl.

Happy New Year!

I can only hope that 2009 does not fly by as quickly as 2008. Last year included 3 trips to China, lots of little trips around the country, and a new dog! This year I plan on less travel and more time at home.

Here are some pictures from the past couple weeks as I enjoyed my vacation time with friends and family:

Happy New Year Ya'll!!!!

The best thing to do when stuck at the airport...

is to sit down at Ike's and enjoy The Weekender Bloody Mary. It's fantastic! It's about the only thing that will help pass the time while you wait for another flight to Chicago...after the first flight took off and had to land back at Minneapolis due to mechanical issues.

Salted Nut Rolls

Last night, I attempted to make a Salted Nut Roll. I love the Pearson's Salted Nut Rolls, but there is nothing like a homemade one.

When I was in elementary school, my family won a salted nut roll at a school fundraiser - I will never forget it. The thing was gigantic, and lasted for months in the freezer. So I thought it would be fun to make one for Christmas this year. My first attempt was not too successful - my brother-in-law thought it looked like a pork tenderloin. I rushed it and didn't wait for the caramel to cool, so follow the directions!

Recipe:
SALTED NUT ROLL
Printed from COOKS.COM

2 tbsp. butter
5 oz. marshmallows
1 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. chopped salted peanuts
7 oz. caramels
1 tbsp. water

Melt 1 tablespoon butter; add marshmallows, stirring until melted. Beat in enough powdered sugar to make mixture workable to knead; knead until smooth. Add vanilla and 1/2 cup peanuts. Knead, using remaining sugar, until smooth. Shape into a 12 inch roll.

On a piece of plastic wrap place remaining nuts in a 12x4 inch rectangle. Melt caramels with 1 tablespoon butter and water. Pour over peanuts, spreading with knife dipped in hot water. When cool, place marshmallow roll in center. Using the plastic wrap, lift caramel around marshmallow center and seal edges. Press peanuts carefully into caramel. refrigerate; slice when ready to serve.

This is why i love music

Yesterday was a tough day, probably one of the most challenging in my career. I spent 15 hours at the office, and probably could have stayed another 5 just to make a dent in my to-do list. I was on the verge of melt-down by the time I got to my car in the (empty) parking ramp. I turned on my car and the song "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter was playing. It was perfect timing. I don't particularly love that song, but it just was the perfect end to my crappy day and made me laugh. I love how perfectly timed songs can change your mood.

So this morning, I was convinced that today had to better than yesterday, so I was in search of the perfect song to get me going on my drive in this morning. I couldn't help but giggle (and sing along) as "Shake Your Money Maker" by Ludacris started playing. There are some quality lines in that song and now it will be stuck in my head all day. I'll be shaking it all around the office today - ha ha.

I hope that all of you have a good day too.

Well, we are trying out the Christmas tree and puppy combination....so far it's been working. Murphy has tried to eat the tree and lights but I think she figured out pretty quickly that it didn't taste good. So we have strategically kept the ornaments away from where she can reach them and it seems to be working!

She does like to lie under the tree with her bones and hang out, it's pretty cute!

Although the tree isn't as fully decorated as usual, I still love it!

Fun Weekend!!

Here is a recap of a super fun weekend with friends:

Friday night was our Bennie's Holiday party - the friends from college get together with great food and we exchange gifts. Mindy always does a great job of decorating their home for the holidays!!

Saturday, I went to the No Coast Craft-O-Rama at the Midtown Global Market. It was a great craft fair. I did pick up a really cute gift for a friend, but I can't show it to you because it would ruin the surprise! It made me want to learn how to sew...we'll see if that happens.

Saturday evening was a birthday party for Jaime and Amy at the 508 bar downtown. It was such a fun night! Happy 30th Amy & Jaime!!!

I also had a fun surprise, I ran into my good friend Ben whom I haven't seen in ages! This is our prom pose:

And we spent the rest of the evening dancing, even though we were about 100 years older than everyone else there!!

We finished the weekend with my company's holiday party at Bar Lurcat. The food was fantastic and it was just a really special evening. Aaron decided to have a Michael Jackson dance-off with a co-worker's spouse...it's hard to say who won!