What-What?! Week of April 14th

This week has actually been busy, on account of having the internal analysis due, as well as a bunch of assignments due for another class (those ones involve watching videos, which I hate; reading an article is so much easier with children around).  Apparently, I now have a subscription to the Wall Street Journal; I don’t know if I signed up for a promo subscription, or if someone gifted it to me, or what.  I never received anything in the mail about it, but it is definitely coming to my apartment (it’s been stuck in the plumbing directly underneath my apartment number).  I like reading the WSJ, though, so that’s cool.  Today, we’ll be visiting the San Jose Fantasy Faire, which I have high hopes for, especially given that it looks more kid-oriented than the RenFaire in Casa de Fruita.  It’s also way cheaper, so even if it turns out to be a bust, we’re not out as much money.

 
News:  Steampunk Advertisement in WSJ, via the WSJ paper edition

I don’t normally look at the ads in the WSJ very closely, because it’s usually fancy cars, watches, jewelry, or financial planning services that I cannot afford nor have desire for.  But this one caught my eye, on account of the steampunk "foresight goggles".  The only thing that really puzzles me about this, is location appropriate for their target market?  If this company is trying to get younger customers, then the ad itself is fine, but is the Wall Street Journal the most appropriate place for this?  According to a source I found (which I can't seem to find the link to now...?), the median age of readership for the WSJ is 45.4, so half their readers are younger than that, which is more like it.  However, it seems to me that Invesco hasn’t invested much into online advertising, which would tap better into a younger market.

Fashion: Kate Upton in the May issue of Harper’s Bazaar

Okay, so Kate Upton is probably best known for her cover of Sports Illustrated, in which she wore a pair of undies and a coat.  But, I am in love with the kind of British explorer vintage quality of this latest shoot, the Bazaar Animal Collection.  My favorite piece is the dress/coat combination shown above, which is by Christian Dior; it’s got some nice draping around her hips, all the while avoiding being a bustle.  I liked the combination of textures created with the wool coats, cotton dresses, and silk coordinates.  Also, those big soft curls in Kate Upton’s hair are just beautiful.

Product Review:  St.Dalfour Wild Blueberry Preserves

After seeing this on clearance at Safeway, I picked it up to try; I am a sucker for blueberry preserves, but more so a sucker for jams and jellies made without corn syrup.  I grew up on my mother’s homemade jams, and eating anything made with corn syrup tastes wrong.

The ingredients are:

• Blueberries
• Fruit juice concentrate (apple, grape)
• Fruit pectin
• Lemon juice.

Generally speaking, this brand is expensive, about $4-5 for a 10 ounce bottle.  The flavor is fantastic, sweet without being cloying, with a nice mix of whole berries and jelly.  If I find it on clearance again, I will be stocking up.  If you are looking for something similar, but less expensive, I suggest trying the Welch’s Naturals strawberry or grape jellies, which have similar ingredients, though it is much sweeter.

'Til next week. :)

What-What?! Week of January 27th

This last week has been busy; my husband had his wisdom teeth taken out, and school started for me.  Most of this week, I didn't cook real dinners, opting instead to have things like sandwiches, eggs, macaroni and cheese, and so on.  I made spaghetti once.  I need to plan better for next week.

On Writing: Squidoo and School

I had some happenings with Squidoo this week; a few new articles, some squid-likes and comments.  My lowest ranked article is at about #124,000ish, which is a far cry from the 20,000 ranking that is my goal (that's when the money happens), but much better than many of my others, which are in the 300,000 range.

I'll be doing a lot more writing in general now that school has started, but I'm hoping that some of the assignments will lend well to incorporating onto Squidoo.

Food:  Lemon Butter via Tasty Kitchen

This I did do.  I don't have a real double-broiler, so I had a pot of water with a bowl over it, and that worked out okay.  It still came out amazing!  So delicious!

Osric’s Birthday:  Hot Air Balloon Ideas

After making cake bites last week, I decided to go looking for other hot air balloon birthday ideas.  Here's some of what I found:



I found these brilliant woven paper hot air balloons.  They are so cute!  The pattern doesn't look that hard, so I might try them sometime.



This hot air balloon cake is a pretty blah by itself, but I think the idea has potential.  I could see maybe doing a group of them, maybe creating some kind of scene?  Marshmallow clouds could work.


These little cake pop guys on the left have some potential as well. (if you follow that link, beware the million pictures).

News:  Tips for Getting Your Product in Big Box Stores via Entrepreneur
Not much by way of news this week, but I thought this article was worth a read.  It's pretty fantastic that small businesses can get stocked at large chains, but her discussion of the required infastructure you need to have ready is somewhat staggering.  What she doesn't talk about are all the services that help you with that infastructure; you don't have to develop a national warehouse system or worry about shipping your items to stores, because businesses like UPS will do that for you.

Well, that's it for this week.  Hopefully next week I'll something a bit more substantial.

What-What?! Week of January 13th

On Writing: Squidoo

This week has been busy!  I’ve still looking for internships in the area, and so far not coming up with much.  It seems that most of the big companies here in the Silicon Valley only employ interns during the summer, so since I’m looking for something before the summer, I have to look elsewhere.

Other things that I’ve been working on include starting on Squidoo; I posted most of my old articles from eHow (which are no longer available there), and I’ll probably add some new ones as I get time.  Other websites I’m looking at writing for includes Text Broker and Demand Media.

I went ahead and started a page on here with links to the articles I have up on Squidoo and FireHow.  As I expand my article list, and try other websites, I’ll add additional links.

 

Food: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole via Tasty Kitchen

We tried this recipe a while ago, to much success; everyone very much liked it, though my husband thought that it was too rich.  Because I knew it was going to be a heavy meal, I made it with a simple salad, no other sides.  I highly recommend adding the lemon to this recipe; it gives it a great little zing that really makes the sauce special.

 

Food:  Nutella Chocolate Cake in a Mug

I made this the other day as a special treat for my daughter.  It was so easy and delish!  I admit that I didn’t measure anything properly, but it still came out fine.  I subbed out the cocoa powder for more Nutella, and it was delightfully chocolately and moist.  Like some of the comments say on the recipe page, this is too much for one mug; I am glad that I mixed mine up in a bowl, because even my largest mug would have been too small.  The amount is just right for two people, and worked perfectly for us to share.

Movies: Willow and Common Sense Media

One of the art nouveau heroines I saw last week was Sorsha, from Willow.  This week, the kids and I watched it together; I thought that maybe the baby stealing would be a bit much for them, but overall they did fine.  I keep having to remind myself that my kids aren’t as scared of things as I was at that age.

One website that I’ve started checking pretty regularly is Common Sense Media.  They provide reviews and age recommendations on all kinds of media, though I’ve only read reviews from the movies and TV section.  I’ve been finding that what I think is okay for my kids is just a bit older than their suggestions, but it’s great to have this resource available anyway, so I get an idea of what kinds of things are presented in the movie or show.

The bestest “oh no, I’ve made a terrible mistake” I've seen was probably this one woman’s review I read on Netflix, for a film titled Sleeping Beauty, directed by Catherine Breillat (no longer available on Netflix, but is on Amazon Instant).  This film is unrated, which is the first clue, and just looking at the cover, it looks dark and scary.  The best clue, though, would probably be the nudity.  In her review, this lady actually said “I thought the first flash of nudity was a fluke”.  WHAT?  A fluke?!

Sadly, you can’t see the review anymore, but when it was up, it was pretty good reading.

 

News:  Construction is Complete on Behemoth Airship

This is pretty cool; the maker, Worldwide Aeros Corp, has created this 36,000 pound airship for the U.S. military.  It is a hybrid zeppelin/plane, with a rigid aluminum structure, that can lift straight up; ultimately they hope for it to carry about 66 tons.  When I asked my husband how much a tank weighs, he said about 60 tons.  So, obviously not so much for transporting tanks, but it could carry a lot of smaller vehicles and such.

(Images from Tasty Kitchen, Kirbie's Cravings, IMDB)

What-What?! Week of January 6th

First up, our recipe: Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup, via The Pioneer Woman
This has become one of my go-to soup recipes for the winter.  Instead of using crumbled sausage, I usually use Aidells Chicken and Apple sausage, and brown them lightly for some nice flavor.  I leave out the red pepper flakes, and use whatever milk or half-and-half I have sitting around.  Even with substitutions, it has always come out delicious!
The verdict:

• Husband:  Peter likes it just as much as I do. :)
• Kids:  The big kids just aren’t in to soups, and they particularly don’t like kale.  I always plan on feeding them something different when I make this.

(photo via The Pioneer Woman)

Item Review:  Bulleit Bourbon

Pete and I picked this bourbon up from Bevmo about a week ago.  Funny enough, the brand is owned by Diageo, the same company that owned the winery Peter worked for eons ago.  It came highly recommended from friends, and is well rated by experts as well.  That said, I’m not sure I like it as much as other bourbons I’ve had.  It has an almost overpowering oaky flavor, probably due to its long aging process.  I’ll be the first to admit that I could just be me, though, as I haven’t had bourbon at all since before Peter and I were married (almost 6 years).
(photo via www.thewhiskeyexchange.com)

Blog: Epbot’s January Art Roundup

Jen over at Epbot just posted this fantastic Art Roundup.  This wrapped Millennium Falcon reminded me of my childhood, stealing my brother’s Star Wars toys, as well as Peter’s experience falling from a bunk bed onto their Millennium Falcon (yeah, what a horrific shame D: ).

The Oswald piece that she posted is a bit frightening to me, rather than cute.  I think it’s the one big eye.  It just looks evil. D:

She posted a great piece by Amy Mebberson, who I know more from her Pocket Princesses series.  While I find that some of her comics are a little derived, there are clever strips, and I do enjoy the idea of the Disney princesses interacting with each other and the funny moments that could ensue.

The one thing that I have to make a dig at, though, is the steampunk Art Nouveau Batgirl, but then I’m just kind of tired of steampunk.  I don’t think this had to be steampunk to do this, and have it be so good.  On the non-steampunk front, I was quite delighted by these Art Nouveau princesses.  They reminded me of quite a few movies that I need to watch with my kids. :)
(photos via Epbot and Pocket Princesses)

News:  Patrick Dempsey buys Tully's Coffee
Patrick Dempsey (who most people know from Grey's Anatomy, but I know from Enchanted) stole Tully's Coffee out from under the likes of Starbucks and BaristaTV, buying the bankrupt company for $9.15 million dollars.  I know I'm very interested to see what he does with the brand, and how it competes against all the other players in the coffee industry.

And now, I leave you with a war that never happened, thanks to Wikipedia.

Until next week!