I was compensated for my participation in Coca-Cola’s Balanced Living Workshop, but my thoughts and views are my own. So, I’m back. It probably won’t surprise you to learn that when I was telling people that I was going to a Balanced Living Workshop about health and wellness that was hosted by Coca-Cola, I got a lot of the following: “Huh?” “Coca-Cola? RIGHT.” “hahahahahaha!” The fact is, not only does Coca-Cola have so many brands–including lots of no- and low-calorie drinks–that I would rather link to them than list them here, but they also have some great initiatives that make it easier for people to enjoy healthier servings of their…
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Plate Prop Demo, Or “Evidence of My Crazy”: You Pick.
I learned this week that Fiestaware knives, when combined with dinner plates that are completely flat (rather than having a deeper part in the middle), don’t cut it (see what I did there?) when it comes to propping my Thanksgiving plate adequately enough so that the gravy stays on the turkey where it belongs. I had to use a spoon instead, bottom-side-up. Backstory here.
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Hostess With The Mostess
Today was a sad day in the snack cake world. The Hostess company (probably best known for Twinkies, Ho Hos, and Ding Dongs but also the home of other well-known brands) shut down after a union strike prevented the company from baking their various food products. The company had threatened to close down if the employees didn’t return to work by yesterday afternoon and ended up having to make good on its promise: it couldn’t financially handle another day of being in limbo. Of course, the worst news is the laying off of 18,500 workers. The second worst news is that, unless another company buys the Hostess brands and resumes…
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Come On, Eat! (Or Not.)
I hope you enjoy this month’s contribution to Hallmark’s “Life Is A Special Occasion” campaign! (Go grab a snack. It’ll enhance your experience.) These days, dinner around this house goes pretty smoothly. Someone does the cooking, calls everyone to the table, and, well, we eat. Conversation goes on throughout the meal, and then when we’re all done–because nobody leaves the table until everyone else is finished eating–everyone helps to clear the table and then a couple of us (but not the one who cooked) do the dishes. It hasn’t always been that way, mind you. Mealtime around here used to be stressful when the boys were little. In addition to…
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Retirement Party Surprise!
Next month, my Dad turns seventy and retires from a long (37 years-ish?) and storied* career in the hospitality industry, hotel management to be more specific. He is looking forward to Retirement Day so much that he has been counting the days for months now. (His enjoyment of the countdown has been greatly aided because of what he’s had to deal with at work lately: pimps, hookers, and drug dealers. Yes, really.) We wanted to throw a party in honor of his retirement, and it just so happened that he and my Mom were coming to town last weekend for her 50th high school reunion. Perfect. My sister designed some…
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Making A Fun Meal Plan Takes Talent & A Lazy Eye For Editing
For the entire time (minus a couple of lazy weeks here and there) since my sister moved in with us, she and I have made a monthly meal plan so we can keep track of who is cooking what and on which day. (Jim and J get dinner duty here and there, too.) At first we started with a straight-up paper calendar that we hung on the refrigerator, but once I finally entered the 21st century and started using Google Calendar for my own scheduling purposes after Julesie had been suggesting it to me for eons, I realized that being able to see the meal plan on my phone–say, if…
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Good Posture And Blueberries
I know. Quite possibly my most bizarre title ever, in more than five years of blogging. Chalk it up to laziness more than creativity, but you clicked here, didn’t you? Score one for laziness. This morning I took my sixth Dailey Method class in eight days. Today is the day I (my brain and the rest of my body) got it. It clicked. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t any less difficult than it has been. Today I didn’t get as many pose corrections from the instructor as much as I did in the five previous classes, I knew what she meant with her cues, and for the first time…
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Chicago Food Swap: Seriously Yummy.
My sister and I had a great experience at the 2nd Chicago Food Swap back in March, and we signed up immediately for the 3rd one, which was today. Just like last time, my friends Emily and Vanessa did a fabulous job of organizing the event. New this time was the location: the folks at the Savory Spice Shop in Hinsdale were kind enough to host. I wanted to give a shout-out to Dave and the rest of his crew over there, because they have a great store (the smells! so good!) and we all really appreciated their allowing us to “clutter up” the shop for two hours! (Thanks, Savory…
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Vienna Beef = Hot Dog Heaven
I really don’t even know where to start. I was invited to the Vienna Beef Headquarters and Factory Store to be in the small (miniscule, actually: there were about eight of us!) blogger audience for a broadcasting of Chicagonista Live, with my Social RevUp partner MJ Tam, BBRadio hostess Beth Rosen, and the other two CL ladies, Nancy Loo (Big Tiny) and Duong Sheehan. The experience was set up to be really fun: we would meet some of the folks from Vienna Beef while enjoying some Chicago hot dogs (THE Chicago hot dogs, actually: Vienna Beef hot dogs were first introduced at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, otherwise known as…
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Where’s The Beef?
Excuse the 80’s reminder about an entirely different brand altogether, but here it is. I visited the Mothership today. It’s late, though. I’ll be posting about this tomorrow. The only problem is, if you just show up here by clicking the home page, you won’t see it because although it’s not a review, it’ll be listed on my review page because it’s a “brand interaction” post. That being said, if you subscribe to my feed, like my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter the post will be delivered to you hot, fresh, and full of a variety of great ingredients, much like a Chicago hot dog. Get some rest.…