I'm not a director or even a film student, but I know what I like and I like music videos that are directed by Mark Romanek.
This post has nothing to do with anything, but please enjoy.
Hurt - Johnny Cash
The Perfect Drug - Nine Inch Nails
99 Problems - Jay-Z
Novocaine for the Soul - The Eels
Monday, April 4, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sarah Tries Something New
Thank you to P&G’s Have You Tried This Yet? program and Kroger for sponsoring my writing about trying new things and breaking out of my everyday routine. Click here to find great savings on high-performing P&G products at a Kroger store near you. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.
* * *
Growing up I was an extremely picky eater.
Oh hell, who am I kidding? I was an extremely picky eater well into my 30s. I am the person who goes through the McDonald's drive thru (their spelling, not mine) and orders a plain cheeseburger and then has to pull up and wait. I mean, mustard and those little onions are gross, right?
I didn't really eat fish (except some shellfish), the only pork I ate was bacon and sausage and I was terrified of Indian food.
The problem, of course, is that as I grew up I fell in love with fancy food and wine. Of course, I wanted fancy food that only included ingredients that I already liked.
This got tricky.
I mean, how many times can a person eat beef bourguignon?
Then one time my husband and I went out with some friends to a very nice restaurant. After a few drinks we decided to just do the tasting menu with wine pairings.
Are you familiar with tasting menus? I wasn't, but tasting menus are where the chef picks what you eat and you usually have somewhere between 5 and 9 small plates.
This particular occasion was the first time I ever tried rare lamb. It was also the first time I ate black truffles.
Both were outstanding.
I made myself a promise. If I are at a chef driven restaurant I would try anything at least once.
This is a promise I have yet to regret. I am not saying that I have loved everything I have eaten, but I have tried some food that made my eyes roll back in my head.
In a good way.
If I hadn't let it go and tried new and different foods (IN MY 30s!) I would be a lesser person today. My entire world has opened up to new cuisines and now my whole family has more options.
Deconstructed Guacamole from Minibar - Photo By Me
Have I mentioned what a good example this sets for my children?
Trying something new can change your life. It isn't just food either. Did you read about when I experimented with making my bed for an entire month? I'm still doing that too.
What have you tried that has improved your life?
* * *
Growing up I was an extremely picky eater.
Oh hell, who am I kidding? I was an extremely picky eater well into my 30s. I am the person who goes through the McDonald's drive thru (their spelling, not mine) and orders a plain cheeseburger and then has to pull up and wait. I mean, mustard and those little onions are gross, right?
I didn't really eat fish (except some shellfish), the only pork I ate was bacon and sausage and I was terrified of Indian food.
The problem, of course, is that as I grew up I fell in love with fancy food and wine. Of course, I wanted fancy food that only included ingredients that I already liked.
This got tricky.
I mean, how many times can a person eat beef bourguignon?
Then one time my husband and I went out with some friends to a very nice restaurant. After a few drinks we decided to just do the tasting menu with wine pairings.
Are you familiar with tasting menus? I wasn't, but tasting menus are where the chef picks what you eat and you usually have somewhere between 5 and 9 small plates.
This particular occasion was the first time I ever tried rare lamb. It was also the first time I ate black truffles.
Both were outstanding.
I made myself a promise. If I are at a chef driven restaurant I would try anything at least once.
This is a promise I have yet to regret. I am not saying that I have loved everything I have eaten, but I have tried some food that made my eyes roll back in my head.
In a good way.
If I hadn't let it go and tried new and different foods (IN MY 30s!) I would be a lesser person today. My entire world has opened up to new cuisines and now my whole family has more options.
Deconstructed Guacamole from Minibar - Photo By Me
Have I mentioned what a good example this sets for my children?
Trying something new can change your life. It isn't just food either. Did you read about when I experimented with making my bed for an entire month? I'm still doing that too.
What have you tried that has improved your life?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Five Fabulous Bloggers
Thanks to Trop 50 for sponsoring my writing about fabulous bloggers.
This year Trop50 is granting 50 fabulous wishes. Click here to enter for a chance to win $1,000 to help grant a friend's wish!
* * *
When I was asked to write a post about five fabulous bloggers I said "No problem!" I thought, easy peasy, I can name five bloggers that I think are fabulous while patting my head, rubbing my belly and chewing gum.
I mean, I could do this all day. I could probably name thirty blogs that I read daily. I could name a dozen blog post that have changed the way I do something or the way I feel about a topic. I could tell you about 15 people with whom I have had a playdate or attended a sporting event. I could name seven bloggers who I could call if my car broke down.
Here is the problem. I can only name five.
So, first I limited it to women. No reason. I had to make arbitrary rules and so I did. You can't stop me. Then I thought about who I would be actively sad if they stopped blogging.
Then I still had a really long list, so I just picked five. You were probably #6 or #7 so don't feel bad, but DO read these ladies. You will not be sorry.
Angela from Fluid Pudding - Angela has been a fabulous blogger since I was just figuring out what blogs were. At least that is true in my mind, her archives only go back to 2008. But no! I am certain that I was reading her back in 2005. Actually I know it for sure because I remember being convinced that one of her children was a model for a book that my kids had when they were babies but that was back in the day when I didn't realize you could just e-mail something like that to Angela and she would probably think it was awesome.
One time she posted a video of herself shoving a dozen marshmallows in her mouth in honor of her 38th birthday.
THAT is when I fell in love with Angela.
And when I e-mailed Angela to ask if I could post this video on my site she e-mailed me back in 10 minutes and said of course! That is what I call a fabulous blogger.
Danielle from Knotty Yarn - Danielle is the only blogger I know that has a blog post that is on a college syllabus. Beat that! Go ahead. Of course, if you go around writing posts like this it is bound to happen sooner or later. That isn't even my favorite one of Danielle's posts. Did I mention she is tall and pretty and an amazing photographer?
Deb from Deb on the Rocks - Deb might actually be the smartest woman I know. That is a huge compliment because I know a lot of brilliant ladies. Deb is astoundingly witty and also the reason I know what the word sigil means. She is like Sesame Street for grown people. Fabulous!
Jean from Stimeyland - Jean is truly as funny in real life as she is on her site. She also curses as much as I do and it makes me feel normal. Jean somehow manages to write about autism, parenting, pets and addictions to crossword apps all with equal hilarity. If I had a bucket list one of the things on it would be to go just hang out at her house and watch what happens. Jean is absolutely fabulous.
Laurie from Laurie Writes - Laurie is my favorite writer. She is also my best friend. I think the two are somehow related but it is difficult to wrap my head around. I can take her to a baseball game or a hair metal festival and we have a blast and act like morons but then she writes things like Stones proving that just because a person yells at strangers on a Pittsburgh Street because they are wearing a Sidney Crosby jersey doesn't automatically mean that they aren't brilliant. Did I mention that she is also an outstanding editor? She is. I could tell you how fabulous Laurie is all day long but it would just make her uncomfortable so I will stop now.
Tell me who your five fabulous bloggers are.
* * *
Photo of Sarah and Jean via Mommy Needs a Cocktail - also fabulous.
* * *
This year Trop50 is granting 50 fabulous wishes. Click here to enter for a chance to win $1,000 to help grant a friend's wish!* * *
When I was asked to write a post about five fabulous bloggers I said "No problem!" I thought, easy peasy, I can name five bloggers that I think are fabulous while patting my head, rubbing my belly and chewing gum.
I mean, I could do this all day. I could probably name thirty blogs that I read daily. I could name a dozen blog post that have changed the way I do something or the way I feel about a topic. I could tell you about 15 people with whom I have had a playdate or attended a sporting event. I could name seven bloggers who I could call if my car broke down.
Here is the problem. I can only name five.
So, first I limited it to women. No reason. I had to make arbitrary rules and so I did. You can't stop me. Then I thought about who I would be actively sad if they stopped blogging.
Then I still had a really long list, so I just picked five. You were probably #6 or #7 so don't feel bad, but DO read these ladies. You will not be sorry.
Angela from Fluid Pudding - Angela has been a fabulous blogger since I was just figuring out what blogs were. At least that is true in my mind, her archives only go back to 2008. But no! I am certain that I was reading her back in 2005. Actually I know it for sure because I remember being convinced that one of her children was a model for a book that my kids had when they were babies but that was back in the day when I didn't realize you could just e-mail something like that to Angela and she would probably think it was awesome.
One time she posted a video of herself shoving a dozen marshmallows in her mouth in honor of her 38th birthday.
THAT is when I fell in love with Angela.
And when I e-mailed Angela to ask if I could post this video on my site she e-mailed me back in 10 minutes and said of course! That is what I call a fabulous blogger.
Danielle from Knotty Yarn - Danielle is the only blogger I know that has a blog post that is on a college syllabus. Beat that! Go ahead. Of course, if you go around writing posts like this it is bound to happen sooner or later. That isn't even my favorite one of Danielle's posts. Did I mention she is tall and pretty and an amazing photographer?
Deb from Deb on the Rocks - Deb might actually be the smartest woman I know. That is a huge compliment because I know a lot of brilliant ladies. Deb is astoundingly witty and also the reason I know what the word sigil means. She is like Sesame Street for grown people. Fabulous!
Jean from Stimeyland - Jean is truly as funny in real life as she is on her site. She also curses as much as I do and it makes me feel normal. Jean somehow manages to write about autism, parenting, pets and addictions to crossword apps all with equal hilarity. If I had a bucket list one of the things on it would be to go just hang out at her house and watch what happens. Jean is absolutely fabulous.
Laurie from Laurie Writes - Laurie is my favorite writer. She is also my best friend. I think the two are somehow related but it is difficult to wrap my head around. I can take her to a baseball game or a hair metal festival and we have a blast and act like morons but then she writes things like Stones proving that just because a person yells at strangers on a Pittsburgh Street because they are wearing a Sidney Crosby jersey doesn't automatically mean that they aren't brilliant. Did I mention that she is also an outstanding editor? She is. I could tell you how fabulous Laurie is all day long but it would just make her uncomfortable so I will stop now.
Tell me who your five fabulous bloggers are.
* * *
Photo of Sarah and Jean via Mommy Needs a Cocktail - also fabulous.
* * *
Don't forget to enter the 50 Fabulous Wishes contest for a chance to win $1,000 to support a friend's wish. I was selected for this Tropicana Trop50 sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do. I received compensation to use and facilitate my post.
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Best Gift I Ever Gave
SWAGG is a free mobile app (download here) that lets you shop smarter using your mobile phone. Buy, send or swap SWAGG GIFTS and organize your old school plastic gift cards.
For every download of the app between now and Dec. 31, 2010, SWAGG will donate $1 to Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) , up to $125,000.
Clever Girls Collective and SWAGG are sending a pair of movie fans to the Sundance Film Festival! Download the SWAGG app and then visit the Ultimate SWAGG Getaway Sweepstakes site to enter to win a trip for two to the Sundance Film Festival. Entry deadline is January 3, 2011, 11:59pm, PST.
* * *
The best gift I ever gave was mostly stolen.
Well, it was sort of stolen. I did steal the box of old photographs from my mom's house. I did, but I bought the photo albums.
My parents would never have even noticed the box was missing. When I got married in 1999 and my mom developed pictures from my wedding shower there were photographs on that same roll of film from my brother's prom in 1994.
This was back before digital cameras were reasonably priced.
What I did for evenings over the next five weeks was sort through 30 years of photographs. I picked out the best ones and put them in chronological order. Then I took forty or so pictures from my own collection and I added them at the end.
The box of pictures was just this thing that sat up overflowing on a shelf. I was the only one that ever really looked at it.
But that Christmas I gave my mom two and a half photo albums filled with memories starting from her childhood and ending with her first grandchild.
The whole family spent hours together looking at the pictures.
It was magical.
And now my parents can keep them out and look at them anytime.
They could also throw away that old box.
It was the best present I have ever given anybody - I mean, not including the time I gave four people twin grandbabies all at the same time. They seemed to really like that too.
I'm sure if you asked my mother she would tell you that she liked the twins better, but (and don't tell her this) I made them for me. The photo albums, I made those for my parents.
* * *
Learn more about the coolest new app that revolutionizes the whole shopping, gifting, and gift card-organizing experience and Download the SWAGG app to your iPhone or Droid. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Sarah Reviews BATTLE OF GIANTS: DINOSAURS - Plus a Giveaway!
As a member of the Clever Girls Collective, I get to do some pretty fun stuff. This week I threw a Battle of the Giants: Dinosaurs Wii party for my kids and some of their friends.
The kids all loved it.Of course the kids that came over ranged from ages 4 - 9 and most of them were boys, so really, what was there not to love? Fighting? Dinosaurs? Head to head battles? This game has everything!
When I asked my friend Tyler what his favorite part of the game was I believe his exact words were "DINOSAUR FIGHTING IS AWESOME!!! RAWR!!!!"
And I have to admit, it did look pretty awesome.
The coolness is as follows:1) You get to pick what kind of dinosaur you want to be and as you go along you can earn the rights to choose from even more really cool looking dinosaurs.
2) Head to head battles. Even little kids know that video games are about 100 times more fun when you get to trash talk your friends.
3) This game tricked the children into cardio - especially Jacob, who thought you had to kick.
4) Once again, I look super cool in front of the neighborhood children. Now I will know all of the second grade gossip.
Also, my friend Eric who is in 4th grade and wasn't even at my party, but he heard about it from other kids, told me that he has the Battle of Giants: Dragons game and it is so awesome that I wouldn't even believe it.
Then he asked me if I had a copy of Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs I could give him for his DS.
Well, I don't, but I do have a copy of Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs to give you. Or really Ubisoft and The Clever Girls Collective have a copy of Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs for Wii to give you.
All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favorite kind of dinosaur is.
I'm not telling you mine because I am ineligible to win and my answer is embarrassing anyway.
Leave a comment! Tell me your favorite dinosaur! Win a free game! Be awesome!
I will choose a random winner by the end of the year. Make sure you leave an e-mail address where I can notify you if you win.
Ubisoft provided me with a copy of Battle of Giants and sponsored my BOG party. The opinions I've expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. Ubisoft, Clever Girls Collective and I promote Blog With Integrity.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Sarah Should Just Stop Watching Woody Allen Movies
Sarah Should Just Stop Watching Woody Allen Movies
You know what I hated about the movie "Manhattan
" - you know besides the statutory rape and Woody Allen?
Why is this man not in prison again?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
