Month: April 2012

Ian Somerhalder, Currently Heating up Mystic Falls

CarrieLeave a comment

This blog entry is at the request of my dear friend, Karla.  We share a lot of things in common but one of them is our love for Ian Somerhalder.  We first discovered his twinkling eyes and stunning sex appeal on a short-run show called Young Americans.  In 2000, Young Americans began as a summer spin-off of Dawson’s Creek.  The young and inexperienced cast also included Kate Bosworth.  Sadly, the series only lasted 8 episodes, but it made a lasting impression on me.  Its where I first fell in love with Mr. Somerhalder.

He made a few more significant appearances in Life as a House, The Rules of Attraction, Wake and Lost.  But now he has finally hit his stride in The Vampire Diaries.  He plays the insatiably handsome vampire, Damon Salvatore.  He plays the ultimate bad boy who falls in love with a human girl who makes him want to change his bad boy ways.  We all love this romantic plot line, but let’s face it ladies…in reality, no one can change a man but himself.  We all like to dream and The Vampire Diaries let’s us carry out that fantasy.  So tune in every Thursday on the CW at 8.  Here’s a little preview for you.

Protein Power

SadieLeave a comment

Lately I’ve really taken to hitting the weight room at the gym.  I like some of the circuit machines, but when I’m feeling particularly hard core, I head for what I call the “boy section.”  The area with the free weights and all the intense large weight racks for squats and bench presses, etc.  I call it the “boy section” for obvious reasons, it’s typically populated by the gorilla juice heads as Snooki would say.  I learned some legitimate weight lifting routines when I played water polo in college, so I try to channel my former identity as a college athelete.

From what I’ve learned, the best way to follow up a heavy duty weight workout is to fuel your body.  This brings me to my recent use of protein powder and making protein shakes.  I try to be strategic and only make a protein shake if I’ve just finished a workout, because otherwise I feel like the shake sort of goes to waste.  While hopefully nutitionally beneficial, protein shakes are not usually low cal, so I try to be a little cautious.

I try to keep it simple, here’s what I’ve been mixing up lately

Banana Cream Protien Shake

yeilds one serving

Ingredients

  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 banana
  • splash of almond milk (or non-dairy/dairy equivilant of your choice)
  • 3 ice cubes
  • handful of spinach (you won’t taste it but it might make the shake green, and you gotta eat your spinach baby)

Method

Throw all the ingredients into a blender, blend, enjoy.

Not only is it delicious but it’s nice and filling.  If I’m having a particularly healthy day all I really need for lunch is this shake and an apple, then I’m set until my mid afternoon snack.  Not to mention I feel that much closer to qualifying for the Jersey Shore.

Flower Cupcakes

Carrie2 Comments

For Fionna’s 5th Birthday, I made her cupcakes to take into preschool. Now I’m with Sandra Lee and make them semi-homemade. I used a boxed devils food cake mix for the cake and made homemade buttercream icing to top it off. She requested a pink and green color scheme a la Lily Pulitzer. I decided that these colors would lend itself to a flower theme. I put a green icing base layer on top of the cupcake. Then I sliced a large marshmallow into five slices and dipped those slices in pink sanding sugar to make the petals. After forming the slices (now petals) into a flower shape, I piped a dot of icing in the center of the petal formation. It takes a bit of time but it’s easy and makes a lasting impression on any crowd. See for yourself!

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