TV Talk-Hell's Kitchen

I don't know if anyone watches this but I got into it a few seasons ago when my friend Larry suggested it and now I can't miss it. Its a few weeks in but tonight is shapping up to be entertaining!!

First up is a quick challenge and the challenge was to create a gourmet pizza. The girl who got burned on her hand last week, Vanessa, was a bit weepy with the whole "I wanted them to pick my pizza b/c I did it without my hand, yada yada and I was so upset they didn't pick mine" Whatever. The girl they did pick, Jen, has not been one of my faves but has grown on me lately. During the challenge the woman team worked really well together as a team to try them all and then choice one. The men on the other hand didn't communicate at all, and only two of the guys actually seemed to make the decision on which to decide on.

Chef Ramsey liked them both, did tell the men they didn't completely clean the mushrooms they used on the pizza and he could feel/taste the grit. Ultimately, the women won the challenge and got to go on a helicopter flight with Chef Ramsey to some fancy restaurant, "Square One", with $90 kobe beef hamburgers. One of the girls is shown in a "confessional" saying that her "dream has always been to ride a helicopter". MY reaction, "seriously? Come on-get a better dream!"

As the losers, the men had to prep for dinner and they got burgers too but they were like mcdonalds thin burgers-too funny.

For evening service where the bulk of the competion is, the woman's pizza was a special on the menu. The girl who burned her hand is having some difficulty in the kitchen and went up to talk to Chef and see what he could say. He told her she could still win this but the choice was hers whether to stay or go. She decided to go because she "couldn't be here 100%, I don't want to be here." Oh well but I think with the burn like she got on her hand, she is smart to go and take care of things, not worth taking a chance on getting hurt more or potentially hurting someone else because she is limited.

The "twist" of the evening part is that Hell's Kitchen is also offering Pizza delivery of the special pizza and because the men lost, they will also be the ones delivering which can also affect how their service goes. But ultimately, they don't communicate at all so it should be interesting!!

Dinner service....
Girls have a good start getting their appitizers out quickly. First orders for delivery comes in too!! The woman's first entree did not go out well and their second was better but they were nothaving a good evening either. Both teams struggle through the service. As "mean" as Chef Ramsey gets, I think he really does run the kitchen in such a way that you can truly see if someone can handle the pressures in the kitchen and therefore be able to handle the pressures of running a kitchen as well.

The girls desserts were not going so well, Christina was having a meltdown and said Jen was suppossed to help but didn't. They show Jen in a "confession" basicallysaying she was not the other girls mother. Her attitude is still not good and she is not a team player unless they are all pulling for her and while she might know her stuff, she is not impressive.

Amazingly, both teams completed a service which is not a common envent. Often times things are so chaotic or going wrong that Chef closes the kitchen and people go unfed.

After the dinner service, Chef had to pick a winner and then someone from the other team will be sent home. Tonight, Chef decided there was no losing team but each team has to nominate one person from their team. Then Chef tells them all to "piss off". He cracks me up! Its such an odd dynamic when they have to pick someone.

A lot of times Chef appoints someone to pick but tonight it was a team decision. Chef is not happy with the woman's choice of Christine and the men choose louross. Chef didn't like Jen's statement when he asked her about Christine and then also called out Rosanne who was pretty bad tonight. Chef asks both the nominees who they think is the weakest if its not them....Louross says Matt is weaker and Christine says Roseanne. Chef decides to give them a "present" for completing a service tonight and says that the chef leaving tonight already left, which was Vanessa. But I LOVE how he screws with them and let them go through the picking which pulls out the vicious in them all. Its diabolic-and I love it. And I know Larry would too:)

Til next week....

American Idol "Neil Diamond" Week-Live blog!

Ok, taking a cue from my blogging buddy Kim, I thought I would "live blog" tonight which for me means I type as I watch then post:)

So, we are watching American Idol, its the Top 5 this week and the theme is Neil Diamond. Tonight they are also singing two songs each (would have preferred that last week since I am more into Broadway showtunes but then again I don't think I could have handled two of Carly LOL!)

So let's get started...
Jason-First up tonight, singing Forever in Jeans. I thought it was ok. Nothing special. It was sort of odd he mixed up words when performing right in front of Neil Diamond in the video but I do enjoy his voice and I would purchase any CD he made because I like the distinct sound of his voice. But his performance tonight was just ok. Although he did flash that smile that melts the hearts of many at the end!!

David C-Again, nothing fantastic. Not his best, not his worst and he DID make it current so that is good. I do think he will go to the end and I am very happy with him overall.

Brooke-I am a Brooke fan however, she is much better in front of a piano than a guitar and the song choice "I am a believer" was just not the best for her but I am hoping she pulls it out with the second song.

David A-Sang, Sweet Caroline, Didn't like the arrangment of a song I like, honestly I have been a fan but felt it was forgettable.

Syesha-Not normally a fan but I was not bothered by her tonight. She has always had a good voice but tonight I felt she seemed more grounded (maybe being in the bottom two or three has knocked her ego down a bit) and I thought she did well.

Round 1-top two for me were actually David C and Syesha(which is NOT easy for me to say!)

Judges: OMG, WTF did Paula just do? She is either REALLY drunk/high or someone gave her notes to read ahead of time and she let the cat out of the bag on that one. That was SOOO bad it wasn't even funny.

Round 2!
Jason-Sang "September Morn", again he didn't blow me away like he did earlier in the competion. I see him in the bottom this week with a possibility of going home unless his fan base really pulls it all out for him. And I am a fan but this week, just not feeling it as much.

David C.- Sang "All I need is you", Wonderful! Not only did he make it his own and bring it current, it was fantastic. I really do think he will take it all. The only thing that could get in his way is who votes in the end but I think he deserves it and I think he is the best there is-and at the begining I was not as convinced but he has just grown better and better every week. got my vote.

Brooke-Sang "I am I said", Much better than first song, she really does belong behind a piano and could produce a beautiful unplugged album with her and the piano. I liked how she took Neil's advice and changed lyrics from NT to Arizona and thought she did well. I liked it.

David A.-Sang "America", Ok, I hate to say it but I am over David A. He is cute, and has song some really good numbers but I just cant get behind him. He sings the same stuff over and over often sounds to me like he is singing christian rock no matter what song he sings (nothing against that type of music, I have liked some) but I don't see him doing anything really current or "pop". He is 16 and when he sings love songs its just not believable. I see him as a Disney character and could do well in the next High School Musical but I just don't see him as the American Idol.

Syesha-Sang "Thank the lord for the nighttime", I thought she did ok. Again, not the worst and I completely see her on Broadway within the year, not the American Idol winner. I also think she looks much better with her hair down then her usual poof:)

Judges-WTF again! Paula just called Syesha "Brooke" when she was giving her comments. That woman is so high or something and honestly it makes the show less credible when she does these things. Wow, its just bad. I always thought that this show, part of the play of it all is these three judges but if they decide to make any changes next season i think they need to lose Paula because she just hurts things. She has no credibility at all.

Overall, I think the show was a bit lackluster this evening and not one of my faves. That may have to do with songs since nothing is overly exciting although I really did enjoy the second performance of David C.


I guess we will see how it all goes tomorrow!!!

Next up for me this evening is Hell's Kitchen...anyone care about that? :)

Ta ta for now!!!

American Idol Results *SPOILERS* Do NOT read if you have not watched tonight's results episode!

Tonight's Results episode for American Idol was very nice. It started out with a performance of All I Ask of You with Andrew Lloyd Webber playing the piano and then they spent a few minutes talking to him which was nice too. And then it was time for the results....

American voted and...

David A.-Safe
David C.-Safe
Brooke-Safe
Jason-Safe

Bottom two:
Syesha and Carly

And the one going home was ...... CARLY!!!

THANK YOU AMERICA!!!

I don't think I had been as happy about an elimination since Sanjaya was voted off last season. I thought it was nice that they had both the bottom two sing their songs before the results were announced. Although I thought it was quite rude of Carly during Syesha's performance to be animately upset or something with Ryan on stage while Syesha was singing and they cut to her during the perfomance just like they did to syesha when carly was singing and she wasn't even paying attention. Just seemed rude to me.

But all in all it was a great American Idol night (and week!) and I even found out the tour dates for the summer concert today and I am already planning to go with my great friend Kim on Aug 2 in Atlantic City! Now if I could just figure out how to get us into a "meet and greet" :)

ta ta for now!!

TV Talk-American Idol Andrew Llyod Webber

Its TV talk time. Taking a page out of the blog book from my friend, I am going to try and post my thouhts before I forget!

Tonight's episode is one I had been waiting for because it was some of my favorite music. I was happy that the people I like the best were still on and could perform. So, here are my thoughts:

Syesha-Honestly, she is not a bad singer and did seem more in her "element" tonight but I just do not enjoy listening or watching her and I did not find her performance memorable. I am hoping she is in the bottom 3, because I would not mind seeing her gone.

Jason-I really enjoy most of his performances. He has a very distinct sound to his singing and I really look forward to it. Tonight he sang Memory from Cats and while I think there are probably better songs he could have done b/c this one is so iconic and its like singing a Whitney or Celine, I don't think it was horrible. I think its tough b/c it will be compared to how it normally sounds band he is not that sound. I enjoyed his performance but I am a little worried for him. I am hoping he is not in the bottom 3 but even if he is, I hope he is safe. I do enjoy listening and watching him each week. I see him making good albums but being more of the intimate venue performance place type performer.

Brooke- I thought she did well. She had a rough start but I think it is very classy to stop and start fresh (she was only a few notes in) then to try and make it up or fake a recovery. I was highly bothered by Paula's comment to her about not starting and stopping, especially since the last time it was a little rough for her, she told Brooke she was classy to stop start. I am really seeing how useless she is more and more each week. I thought the song was a good choice for Brooke and that she did well even though she was a little shaky. She obviously gets nervous but I enjoy her voice and even more when she accompanies it with the piano. I see her struggling this week but again I am hopping she is not in bottom 3.

David A.-I thought he did ok. I enjoyed it, it was a good performance but I was not blown away but I was definately not disappointed either. He will go far and I honestly see a David-David top two. He does remind me of christian rock singer though week after week and I can totally see him getting a deal with Disney when this is all over (especially if they do another High School Musical). I think he will be safe.

Carly-Let me start by saying, I just can not stand this girl. I hate watching her, I hate listening to her and she is my "sanjaya" of this season. Week after week I keep hoping she will go home. What is sad though, is during auditions, I was pulling for her and I liked her but week after week it gets harder and harder for me to even look at her without my skin crawling. With that being said, I was obviously not impressed by her performance this week and what I think bothered me the most was when she messed up the words to the song, and it threw off the backup and band but NO ONE mentioned it from the judges table. WTF? I think for that reason alone she should go home (or at least be in the bottom 3 but going home would make me so happy!!! But I know at this point I am a little biased).

David-Loved it. Ben has called David as a winner since hollywood week and for me he is the singer that has grown on me more and more the more I saw him perform (a lot like Blake was for me last year). I thought this performance showed how he can be versitile and while his "rocker" style is a hit and he has changed some songs performed some songs different but well, and tonight showed he could do more than the rock songs. As I watched I told Ben that I think he won American Idol tonight with that performance. Not because it was his best ever but because he really showed he can do rock and ballad type song and most strong artists can do both and some people prefer one or the other but they can still do it. I think the only thing in his way from winning AI this year is the number of tween votes for David A. I plan to buy his studio version of this song from itunes on Thursday!

So, overall I thought it was a good AI night. I am anxious for tomorrow night but looking forward to seeing who stays and who goes. I have my fingers crossed for a Syesha or Carly going home:) A girl can dream....

Quick Shout out and Hello

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We were busy over here going to Ben's cousin's wedding in PA on Saturday (and it turned out to be the same Church from the last PA wedding we went to together-what are the odds?? And we got lost b/c of directions both times LOL!)

Monday came too quickly for me this weekend and work is shaping up to be a busy week so I am not sure when I will get on for a proper update but I promise to try and do it by the weekend (or on the weekend at the very least-I can easily type up my update while watching the NFL draft on Saturday-even if Ben's cousins come to watch it with us!)

I did want to first give a shout out to my friend Kim who has designed my blog! I have been meaning to do this and I know there is a link to her Spice Up Your Blog site that talks more about her designs (and prices and packages) but I was not as motivated to keep my blog going here until she helped me out. I LOVE the design she came up with and look forward to seeing her work on other people's blogs soon! So if you are reading this and would like some Spice on your blog....please go check her out (and you can tell her I sent you!) Thanks Kim(and Tim)!!!!

Tomorrow is laundry night and after that I will probably be working on photos from this weekend. We took over 1100 between the two of us at the Ceremony AND the Reception and some at the "after party" in the hotel lounge. I also need to work on getting the video onto my computer for editing. The bride had asked me to video tape for them b/c of some things that came up and since I will see her in 2 weeks at another family function, I want to at least have the raw footage of the ceremony onto a DVD for her, and *maybe* some highlight clips of the reception. Ultimately I want to put together something nice with the video and some photos but I dont want to rush that just to get it done. The raw will be good for now so she can show who she needed/wanted to and the rest will be icing on the cake later!

I also need to get all the photos uploaded so the rest of the family can see them. I had people asking me for them already! I really want to do a little more *editing* on some before posting but what I may just do is put them up in bulk and then create a "best of" or highlights gallery later with more editing done. I don't know yet. I would like to play around with a few photos and pretty them up a bit (some are dark and need a little more work than my basic lighting processing). Its hard for me sometimes b/c I put so much thought and effort into the pics, for even the littlest detail and most of the people are just happy to see what I got, even if they aren't all great shots. I am way to critical of stuff I shoot:)

Also, I think I was elected to try and get some information together on having a family reunion in Disney World next year. Not 100% sure how it all happened but it did so I started to gather some info today and I need to put it up on our website to share with family. Does anyone know if you can easily post polls on blogger? I was just going to use my smugmug site as a place to post info and get comments but I was thinking maybe it would be easier to make a blog page only for reunion info, and then I can update it any where, any time. I will have to think about that one....

So that should get me up to date for a few days. Hope everyone is well and I will be back soon!
ta ta for now!!

TV Talk-American Idol *Spoilers Ahead if you haven't watched yet!*

I just needed to jump on here real fast and say that while I would have preferred to see Carly (or even Syesha) go home tonight, I am just very thankful Brooke did not leave us yet. I don't know if she has the stuff to win it all but I think she deserves to be the last girl standing at the very least!

I was not upset to see Kristy Lee Cook go home. I think she has done well and showed she has some chops and I do see her with a good country album when this is all over. And I do hope the guy changes his mind and lets her have her horse back!!! She accomplished a lot getting into the top 10 and I am happy for that.

I really can't wait to see Carly go. I know her voice is not the worst ever but I seriously can NOT watch her perform. She is not enjoyable to watch. And in my opinion, not all her songs were that hot either. I often wonder if the judges really do hear it that differently live than through the TV because some nights I really have to wonder!

My boys right now are David Cook and Jason Castro. I think David has a good shot to take it all and I would be quite happy with that. He is going to have some tough competion with the tween vote for David A. but while I think David A. can sing, I don't think he has the "stuff" to go out and make an album right now. I think he would be perfect for Disney or High School Musical 4 or 5 or whatever and I think this show will have helped him to propell his career no matter what, I just don't know if he should really be the AMERICAN IDOL. I am a fan of Jason Castro as well but again, I think he could totally sell an album (and I know I would buy it-I love his voice with the guitar and such) and I would love to see him in Top 3. Fingers crossed all around!!!

So that is my AI thoughts for tonight. Its time for bed, or rather to head to bed and go watch Top Chef. Be back soon!!!

Ta ta for now!

Busy Weekend-but loads of fun!

So how was everyone's weekend? Mine was pretty good. It went by way too fast though, that is for sure!!

Saturday was spent cleaning the house and making meatballs. I love making meatballs and since I am not a big cook, this is one of the things I first made when I started too cook. It comes from my grandmother's reciepe and I have adapted at times to make it a little easier for me (but if I am ever making them for someone other than me and Ben, I go with the original!!) A lot of Saturdays I am out running around or doing something and so on the ones when I am home, I like to make meatballs since ben is working and its one of those things that I can do while I do other things in the house. This weekend I tried something a friend of mine suggested (Thanks Deb!) and I baked the meatballs before putting them in the sauce (instead of frying or cooking them entirely in the crockpot). It worked out well for being not only easy but cutting down on the grease tremediously-yeah!! I was quite happy they turned out ok. Only slightly different and most people wouldn't even notice, I am just picky about my sauce and meatballs and its probably the only food I notice a difference when Ben doesn;t (He usually notices any change in food and, he has a taste for things.)

On Sunday we went to DE for our friend's daughter's 4th Birthday! It was a nice time. I can't believe Nina is 4 already and her baby sister will be 1 this summer and is getting so big already! It was a nice party-only a few people but I think the adults were out numbered by the kids. Good food, good friends and cute kids-what is better than that! I took TONS of photos (Thank God for Digital!!! It saves me so much money!!) And I even let Nina take a few photos with my camera. She did really well too! She took a bunch with her mom's camera and then tried mine-she is a natural and takes after her Aunt Colleen!! I haven't had time to go through and *edit* any of the photos yet (I like to try and lighten some occassionally if they are a little dark) but I will post some for you to enjoy anyway!

Here is the birthday girl using my camera:


Here are a few others she took of me and her mother, as well as one with another friend and then one we had taken with her!




And because I can not stop without posting a few photos of the little one with her Aunt Colleen and Uncle Ben and then some of the birthday girl with us as well!









I will have the rest of them up to share soon but that should keep people happy for now!

We got home from the party pretty late and pretty much went to sleep. Today it was back to work and a busy day it was and it looks like it will be all week! Tomorrow the VP from our main office is coming to visit. I don't know if I will actually see her or not because we are quite busy and I just hope its a short and sweet visit so we can get back to what we do. It can be disruptive when we have others come to see us when we are so busy b/c any "downtime" far and few in between. And of course tomorrow night is LAUNDRY NIGHT!! Myself and two friend go to the laundrymat after work and its much more enjoyable when you are there with friends then alone! Then I will pick up hoagies (although in this area they are considered "subs") for dinner and get home to settle in for American Idol! We don't usually get started on time but we might tomorrow since Ben is not playing his game I don't think. So hopefully I will be online to watch the show!!!

I guess that about covers it for tonight!! Ta ta for now!!!

Spring is here....hopefully for good!

Hello all!!!
I just wanted to post quickly and say I will be trying to post an update soon-I know I have slacked off here lately! This weekend will be a big spring cleaning since I hope this warmer weather is here to stay!!! Sunday is a birthday party for a good friend of mine's daughter who is turning 4!!! I can't believe how fast these kids grow. And Spring also means that in a few weeks I will be celebrating my 4th anniversary as well!!!

If the weather holds up making I can get out and get some photos soon (Which of course means eye candy for my readers!) I also considering being a vendor in a local flea market and sell some photos but I have to weigh out the costs first and see if its worth a try or just too soon (its only 2 weeks away)!

Also, has anyone noticed how "Spiced Up" my blog is? I LOVE it! This design is the work of my good friend who has started to get into blog designs! Check out the link to her page by clicking the SPICED UP button and see what is going on there! She does great work!!!

And for now, I will leave you with a few spring photos!