It's Only My Opinion But Only My Opinion Counts.

I am the queen of Buyer's Remorse.

If I need something new and it happens to be a little pricey

I will spend hours researching reviews

and consumer reports.

I'll comparison shop using Amazon, Ebay,

and any site that may give me an edge.

And then I make my purchase and will immediately lose sleep

for the next several nights.

Spending large amounts of money makes me want to vomit.

I like money.

I like my money to be in my bank.

Where I can look at it virtually through my bank's website.

And I like to transfer it back and forth from savings to checking,
from checking to savings,

just because it's fun.

I like to go to my bank

because the people are nice,

they know me by name,

and they give me free coffee and suckers.

What I'm saying here is,

it's hard to get me to part with my money.

There is just so little of it so it is precious to me.

However,

that said,

there are some things that I will never regret purchasing.

I have found that these items

have been well worth the money spent.

My super heavy extra large cast iron skillet.

Cornbread, chicken, pizza, need I say more?

Get a good one and take care of it.

It will last you all your days.

Until death do you part.

A microplane zester.

Not a pricey item but one that I can't believe I went so long without.

Wen Cleansing Conditioner.

I bit the bullet and tried it.

I NEVER order anything off the television.

Ever!

So I went to Ebay and bought Wen.

Because I only purchase off the internet using Paypal.

I can't tell you what a difference this made

 from the very first time I used it.

I will never use shampoo again.

FoodSaver.

Saves Foods.

I use it almost every day.

If it weren't ugly I'd keep it on the counter.

My Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Pricey?

Yes.

Worth it?

Indubitably.

And my Cuisinart Immersion Blender.

I don't think I truly lived until I bought this.

And that's about it.

Everything else I own I regret.

Except for my dog.

And my husband.

I own them both but they were free.

If I'd had to pay for either,

I probably would have checked the reviews more carefully.

Holly



Sometimes I Do Things

If you know me at all,

this post will not surprise you in the least.

Of all the things I am known for,

the most prevailing would be my forgetfulness

and the rate at which my mind is decaying.

I am well known for my

consistent inability to remember anything.

Like my anniversary.

And my husband's birthday.

And to take the garlic bread out of the oven before it burns.

Mmmmm, garlic bread.

What was I talking about?

Oh, forgetfulness.

And Mental Decay.

So it shouldn't surprise you that

this morning when my washing machine did it's

little "ting-a-ling" thing

and I went to move the clothes into the dryer

that I found I had never put the clothes in the washer

in the first place.

On the up-side,

my washer is squeaky clean.

Having said that,

one could only assume that I had lost my mind once again

after seeing this picture.

On the contrary,

I did this outlandish thing on purpose.

And here's why.

I bought these brand new Brighton Shoes

at a consignment shop for $6.00.

Leather and velvet, yes please!

They were a little snug in the toes

and at the balls of my chubby little feet.

But they were $6.00

and they were Brighton's!

So I bought them and tried to stretch

them out by wearing them.

Painful.

Don't do that.

And then the wide world web came to my rescue.

What did we do before the Internet?

I filled freezer bags 1/3 full and placed one in each shoe

and then stuck them in the freezer.

As the water turns to ice,

it expands and stretches out the shoe.

Just leave them in the freezer overnight.

Take the shoes out in the morning and let the ice thaw

before taking the bags out.

Try them on.

If they are still too tight,

you can repeat the process.

I only had to do this once.

And now they fit like a glove.

If I wore a glove on my foot.

Which I don't.

Yet.

But really, we all know it's just a matter of time.

Holly

OUCH!!!

My back aches from being pulled off my high horse.

Being inaccurate should be so easy and comfortable for me,

considering I spend an awful lot of time there.

But every single time that I pack my bags and start my long,

smug journey to Righteoustown,

I veer off course,

fall off the map,

and end up where all my long-winded rantings

eventually drop me off.

Wrongsville.

So here I sit once more.

Dumbfounded.

Trying to figure out how I got here.

I was so sure this time that I would end up at my planned destination.

The only thing that makes me feel better

is that this time,

Brian came with me.

I almost can't believe that we shared this ride.

Brian is never wrong.

I'm saying it again.

Brian is NEVER wrong.

And that's not sarcasm.

We were both so sure.

And we were both so wrong.

Yup.

Same couches.

Lighting does make a big difference

and apparently,

we live in a cave.

We went back to La-Z-Boy yesterday

and looked at the showroom couches again.

And they were darker than we remembered.

And the numbers on the tags matched.

We just looked at each other and laughed.

My only comfort is knowing that the next time

I travel down that winding road,

it will be from the comfort of my new

uber cushy dark brown La-Z-Boy reclining loveseat.

Holly

Look Here, Then Look There, Then Look Here Again.

Look Here:

And Here:

And then Look Here:

And then Here:

Hmmmmmmmm.

Do you see anything strange with these pictures?

Let me help you .



I was sure they delivered the wrong furniture.

The set at the LazyBoy Showroom was a light tan.

My set is a darkish brown.

Now, I'm not stupid, I know lighting plays a big role in

how colors may appear different in different settings.

This is not the case.

My set is DARK!

As soon as the men carried it in I said,

"Whoa!  Wrong Set."

They checked the invoice.

We checked the order.

I called the showroom.

Everyone swears that my set

is the same color as the set in the showroom.

Everyone is a liar.

There is nothing removable on this furniture,

like a pillow or an armrest cover

that I can take with me and show the sales people.

My daughter was just here and she agrees that

this is a different color than the one we ordered.

And I made her look at the couch,

then look at the photo of the showroom couch,

then look at our couch,

then look again at the photo.

And back and forth.

Over and over again.

Until she refused to talk to me about couches anymore.

She did say that the ones we have will not show dirt

as easily as the others.

This is true.

And I'm not really hating them.

I'm kinda liking them.

And my husband is dirty.

So I'm thinking I might keep them.

But I still feel the need to show everyone that I'm not crazy.

And I'm thinking I might just carry one of the recliner ends

back into the showroom with me

and prove to them I'm right.

And then they will try to exchange it.

And I will tell them,

"That's ok, I've decided to keep it."

That's Right!

Who's crazy Now?

Holly

Things I'm Lovin

When I woke up this morning,

the first thought in my head was,

"Tomato Bisque!!!"

Which is really strange

because usually my first thought is

"I gotta pee!"

Then I think about tomato bisque.

I love this warm, comforting, creamy soup.

My hips do not.

Sometimes I don't care what my hips think

and I throw caution to the wind

and just spoon mouthful after mouthful

of this yummy goodness down my gullet.

So this morning I awoke with a desire to find

a much more hip pleasing recipe for my favorite soup.

I used this recipe from SkinnyTaste and tweaked it just a bit.

I used 5 large Virtuoso tomatoes

and 1 1/2 cups of canned crushed tomatoes.

The only fat in this recipe is the one Tablespoon of butter

that I used to saute the vegetables.

I used fat free chicken broth

and fat free sour cream.

Here's what it looks like before I mixed it up

and added the sour cream.

(note the pepper spilled all over the stove)

Now, enter stage left,

the star of the show.

Do you have one of these?

Let me tell you,

I've been thinking about getting one

for the past couple of months.

Would it be worth it?

Would I actually use it?

And then Genn went and bought one

and showed it off all pretty

and I knew that in my desire to be all things Genn,

I had to have one too.

I had $20 in Kohls cash and this was on sale for $29.99.

I swooped in and grabbed the aqua one.

She is so pretty.

If you don't have one,

let me just answer the question for you,

YES!!!

You Need One!

And you need it today!

After adding the sour cream

I used my new immersion blender to make this.

It's creamy and luscious and it kinda made me tear up a little.

And it's only 1.5 points plus per cup

on Weight Watchers.

Which means that I can eat 18 cups of this soup

a day and still stay within my points.

What?  Too Much?

I found that the best way to eat this

is with one of these.

Mini spinach flatbread pizzas

from Trader Joe's.

I love you Trader Joe's!

I also grabbed this while I was there.

A pot of herbs.

This one has oregano, thyme and rosemary.

So excited to get some basil and get these

planted in a pot on my patio.

Have you had enough yet?

One more thing.

New couches are finally being delivered tomorrow.

We've been looking for new couches for over a year.

I wanted pretty and reasonably priced,

Brian wanted comfy.

We compromised.

We got kinda pretty and really comfy.

We DID NOT get reasonably priced.

We finally bit the bullet

and went with La-Z-Boy.

Because you just really can't beat their

comfort and their warranty.

They had a President's Sale going on but

we still paid more that we wanted to.

My daughter, Katie, is coming over for lunch tomorrow.

This, I look forward to more than anything else.

Love you Puddums!

Holly

Rock Springs and a Bedroom

Yesterday Brian and I headed north of Phoenix

to Rock Springs Cafe and Saloon

in Black Canyon City.

Brian used to do security for a band years ago

and a couple of the band members

have been playing in the saloon there.

We love getting together with this crowd.

We dance and wear ourselves out.

If you're in the Phoenix area,

Rock Springs Cafe is a great place to visit.

They are known statewide for their amazing pies.

Like this strawberry rhubarb pie.

It's such a fun little place to visit.

I may or may not have washed these salt and vinegar crickets down

with a shot of Cuervo Gold.

I do not drink alcohol.

But after the crickets I really felt the need to sterilize my mouth.

Funny the things I will do on a bet.

They were crunchy and tasted like potato chips.

Except the legs get stuck between your teeth.

If potato chips had legs, it would be exactly the same.

I am just about finished with the guest room

just in time for my sister Kelly's arrival in a couple of weeks.

The headboard was a thrift store find.

I was happy with the nightstands that I purchased from

Target Clearance for $35 a piece.

I love the lamps (also from Target).

That picture on the nightstand is

of Kelly and I in our bikinis

at a motel pool.

I love how we are holding hands.

I'm getting a massage on Monday.

Much needed and very overdue.

Have a Happy Sunday!!

Holly

Did you Know?

Did You Know?

That I don't have a key to my own house?

I always use the garage door opener.

If we have a power failure,

I fear my butt will become trapped in the doggie door.

Did you Know?

That my Dear Sweet Redneck husband

who has no idea how to use the Internet

has finally talked me into getting Smart phones?

And that last night he downloaded an app

for Fart Sounds?

Did you Know?

That I miss Jack in the Box Cheesecake?

And that it misses me?

Did you Know?
 That Weight Watchers is going really well?
I'm loving it.
It's just almost too easy.
Eat what you want,
when you want,
in the right proportions.
No problem.

Today I was in the mood for pizza
and didn't want all the points from
a delivery pizza so I made my own.

Turkey pepperoni and mushroom
on flat bread.

Did you Know?
That there is a new app
for scanning bar codes
with Weight Watchers and it
automatically gives you the points?

I scanned the bar codes on these:

1 flat bread = 1 point
1/4 cup mozzarella = 2 points
1/4 cup pizza sauce = 1 point
Turkey Pepperoni = 1 point
Mushrooms = 0 points

Total = 5 points plus

Did you Know?
That if you're not on Weight Watchers
that you don't care about any of that?
I care though.
Down 12.5 lbs so far.
Loving that!

Did you know?
That my couch smells like this?

Did you Know?
That I am having a really hard time
coming up with blog material lately?

Did you Know?
That my sissy is coming all the way
from Florida to visit
and is staying with me for 3 whole nights?

I can't wait to have her all to myself for

three whole days!

What should we do?

Did you Know?

That I've missed you all?

Holly

When Mormons Attack

I met these strange people for lunch today.

Laraine, Me, Jo, and Roe.

"Hey Waitress with the massive quantity of eyeliner! 

Four Diet Cokes over here please and keep them coming!"

These women are a hoot to be around.

We laughed all through lunch.

We took several pictures.

We decided to be cute in one of them.

Sexy in another.

Flirtatious in another one.

Not sure which shot that above photo was

but Jo was all three at once.

Don't you agree?

At one point, these three women started talking about Wards

and other Mormon terms that I wasn't familiar with.

I started singing,

One of these things is not like the others,

One of these things just doesn't belong!"

It was Laraine's first time meeting bloggers.

I hope we didn't scare her off.

We loved her.

She is much smarter than I but didn't make me feel bad about it.

Roe had us cracking up telling us a story

about the crazy old woman who lives next door to her

and believes that Roe is trying to kill her with

the wood chips in her front yard.

I so hope Jo and I didn't scare them off.

We tend to do that.

Jo came home with me and met Brian who was

made to suffer from our lunch out

by having to make his own bologna sandwiches for lunch.

He survived.

Let's do this next month!!

What do you say?

Holly

xxx-ooo