My Next Project

 Each month on the BlogHer website they have an open blogroll. There is a topic for the month and writing prompts in case you need a little inspiration. The subject for May is as seen above Photo. This coming month not only are there writing prompts but photo ones as well. The challenge is to blog everyday for the month and by being added to the blogroll I can check out some new blogs and hopefully gain some interest in mine. I just figure it will be good practice for me so wish me luck.
FYI: NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month

Avengers!!!!

In continuing with my proclamation of love for Marvel I give to you just one of many trailers for The Avengers Age of Ultron which opens tomorrow May 1. I am so excited and yes I totally fangirl out and wait til the very end of each Marvel movie for the extra scene to get my fix of what to expect in the next installment.  I have to say it would be very hard to pick my fav between Thor and Iron Man but  who doesn't love a sexy, snarky, genius like Tony Stark. I plan to watch this opening weekend although I am debating between the theater and our area Drive-in as far as venue goes. Everyone in my house love these movies but my daughter and I have a very unhealthy fixation with the french fries at the Drive-in so that will probably be the winner. Lol. I will be sure to post my review on here so you know what I thought.

I love Marvel

So I have been very slow as of late to post anything new but I am going to remedy that right now!  I mentioned in a previous post that Netflix has debuted a new series called Daredevil. It is based on the Stan Lee/Marvel comic and for those of you who remember the movie starring Ben Affleck and his now wife Jennifer Garner, I assure this is not a thing like it. The new series is dark and gritty and has an amazing cast. I am only halfway through as of this post but so far I am hooked. It stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil who you may remember from Boardwalk Empire where he played Owen Slater. Elden Henson ( Pollux in The Hunger Games Mockingjay /Fulton Reed in The Mighty Ducks) stars as Foggy Nelson bff  and legal partner to Matt. Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica Hamby from TrueBlood) is Karen Page acting secretary to the law practice Matt and Foggy run. Rosario Dawson really needs no introduction and she appears on about 5 episodes as Claire Temple an ER nurse who helps patch Matt up after a pretty nasty evening of crime fighting. Also let's not forget Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk. If you have no idea who D'Onofrio is then shame on you and we have no more to discuss. The rest of the supporting characters are also pretty amazing.

The basic storyline: Matt becomes blinded as a young man due to a chemical accident and he soon realizes that he has been left with superhero type senses. He lives in Hell's Kitchen, NY and wants to make it a safe place where residents can be proud to live. By day he is Matt Murdoch-lawyer....by night he is Daredevil- mask wearing city protector who fights "baddies" to protect his community. As with all stories of this nature there is of course an Archenemy and several henchmen to fight. This is an amazing series that stays true to the feel that Marvel Studios has been cranking out for the last several years. Give it a shot you will not be disappointed. You can see the trailer above to get a better idea of what the show is like.

Sunday: A Thin Line Between Love and Hate

I look forward to the weekends with so much excitement. I swear I end up with a list of like a million projects that I want to take care of but it NEVER happens! I just hate how fast the time goes. Like this weekend for example...I was supposed to dig a spot out and build our new fire pit. Fail. I literally never even picked up a shovel. I did however try a new recipe and catch up on Vikings on the History channel. I love Sundays because it is still part of the weekend but it also represents the return of " the dreaded Monday".  Oh well.

Review on The Rosie Project/ The Rosie Effect

On Wednesdays I like to review any new book I have just read. This week I actually have two. They are by Graeme Simsion.  The first one is The Rosie Project. The main character is a professor of genetics named Don Tillman. He is brilliant in academics and socially awkward and hysterical in all other areas. Don decides that since he is only ever able to get 1 date from any woman he needs to be more scientific in his approach. He designs a very thorough survey to pass out at social events to women in the hopes of finding "The One". He then meets Rosie, who from the very start is exactly the opposite of an acceptable life-mate. They do form a friendship while working on a project to help Rosie figure out who her real father is.  All I will say is that I couldn't read this fast enough just so I could get to part 2....The Rosie Effect.

The Second book lets the reader see what happens now that Don has gotten married an relocated to NYC.  I was still laughing about it long after the book was done.  There is something so touching about Don and Rosie as a married couple with a baby nicknamed B.U.D ( baby under development) on the way. However, this book is just as charming as the first one.  I would recommend these books to any book club or just anyone who likes heartfelt and hysterical books. These two were part of my pledged books for this year's Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge. I pledged to read 150 books this year and I will keep you updated on what I enjoyed or what I did not.http://www.goodreads.com

New Dvd Releases for 1st Two Weeks in April

So I meant to post these yesterday but I got wrapped up watching the next installment of Daredevil on Netflix but you will hear all about that on Friday.

April 7: The Voices starring Ryan Reynolds, Anna Kendrick, Gemma Arterton
              Home Sweet Hell starring Katherine Heigl, Jordana Brewster, Patrick Wilson, James Belushi
              A Most Violent Year starring Jessica Chastain , Oscar Isaac
              The Immigrant starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner, Marion Cotillard
April 14:Big Eyes starring Amy Adams, Jason Schwartzman, Christoph Waltz
              The Man With the Iron Fists 2 starring RZA
               Maps to the Stars  starring Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson
               Whitney starring Yaya DaCosta
               You're Not You starring Hilary Swank, Josh Duhamel, Emmy Rossum
               Kidnapping Mr. Heineken starring Anthony Hopkins, Sam Worthington, Ryan Kwanten

I am not sure which ones we are watching this weekend besides Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey.

This Historic Day

My Newest Addictions

Today I wanna take a few minutes to talk about the 2 shows on TV that have me going crazy. First up is Fox networks Empire. The first season just recently ended and all I can say is OMG!!! I love the cast. I love the storyline. I love that it got picked up for a second season. I love, love, love the music. Seriously, I actually went to FYE and bought the soundtrack. If you have not seen any of this show please make the time to watch. The show  is all about Empire records which belongs to Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard). Lucious is trying to decide which one of his three sons will rule the "empire" and all kinds family drama ensues. His ex-wife Cookie ( Taraji P. Henson) has just gotten out of jail after 17 years and just wants to bond with her kids and get what is owed to her.  The family is rounded out by Hakeem ( Bryshere Gray), Jamal (Jussie Smollett), and Andre (Trai Byers). I don't want to give away too many spoilers but the two youngest sons are both musically gifted between rap and r&b, while the oldest son is the brains behind taking the label and making it a publically traded company.

There are so many guest appearances on this show it is amazing. Like I said it is a must watch especially for music fans. You can head over to www.fox.com and watch all episodes for free.

Another show that is airing currently is Lip Sync Battle hosted by LL Cool J with Chrissy Teigen aka: Mrs. John Legend.  This is on Spike network ( www.spike.com/shows/lip-sync-battle). It airs on Thursdays 10/9C. You get to watch your favorite celebs go head to head in the time honored tradition of the lip sync battle. There are 2 rounds and the winner gets bragging rights as well as a pretty sweet championship belt. So far there have been 3 episodes and they did not disappoint. Battle 1: The Rock aka: Dwayne Johnson vs. Jimmy Fallon. Battle 2: John Legend vs. Common. Battle 3: Anne Hathaway vs. Emily Blunt. I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite battle at this point because they are just that funny. This week features John Krasinski vs. Anna Kendrick and I can not wait.

Life with Sweets

This is Sweets aka: Mrs. Pies, aka: The Duchess of Destruction. She is our dog who sometimes thinks she is human and other times she thinks she is a large jungle cat.  I love my dog. I do, I swear. We rescued her from the SPCA about 3 years ago and she has been a great addition to my crazy life. Once a week she manages to do something to make me crazy. Usually she just runs around stealing seats as soon as you get up or throws her babies all over. Tonight, however, she committed a heinous crime.....she broke into the fridge while she was home alone today and stole the rest of my pulled pork that I was planning on using for pulled pork nachos!!! She is not my friend tonight no matter how cute she tries to be. That is all....

Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Beef

So I would like to start this post by saying I am an idiot. I live on Pinterest. Seriously I have what seems like a board for everything and I decided that we would incorporate at least 1 recipe found on the site to our weekly food menu. We love Asian food in my house so I thought maybe we could try something in a crockpot. I found this recipe on the site Damn Delicious. First of all, if you have not been to this blog you should check it out. It is full of great recipes. I did state that I was an idiot, right? I made this recipe (although I did tweak it a bit) and it was amazing and so pretty and yet it never dawned on me to take a pic. Going forward there will be lots of photos of these recipes as I make them.
I followed the recipe pretty closely. (You can find it here: http://damndelicious.net/)
I cooked 3lbs of stew beef in a pan with 1 can of beef broth and a little cornstarch until it was medium well. Then I added to my crockpot  with 3 cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic, a diced up bunch of scallions, grated ginger and sesame seeds. I then used a jar of House of Tsang Korean Teriyaki sauce. I let everything cook on low for about 4 hours. We had it with sushi grade white rice. I wish I had taken a pic more than ever because it tasted just as good as it looked but this one is right from the Damn Delicious website.

Furious 7 is Phenomenal

So I am a huge fan of the Fast and Furious franchise. I own everyone of the films and could not wait to see the newest addition.  I will admit to following all the updates on facebook as the filming progressed and especially after the untimely passing of Paul Walker. I was concerned with how they were going to finish the film without him.  His brothers were able to step in and finish the rest of the scenes and voice overs needed, which was very cool. 

My daughter and I went to see this film on Easter Sunday and........it did not disappoint. I absolutely, positively, and undoubtedly proclaim it is my favorite movie of the whole franchise! The stunts were amazing. The comedic remarks were spot on. The fight scenes were awesome. They even filled in the missing links between all he other films. I could not get enough of this movie. Then the ending happened (I will not give up specifics that could be spoilers for you slackers that haven't seen it yet) and it was PERFECT! It was emotional and touching. Yes, I was teary eyed. I am not ashamed nor was I alone as there were at least 3 grown men in the row across from us and they too were emotional.

Moral of this post: Go see this movie. It is so worth the cost of the movie ticket!

I love good books, good movies, good music, and good food! I know how cliché that sounds but honestly these are the things that help me stay sane.  I can be having the worst day ever and then get in my car to drive home and the perfect song could come on and turn my mood right around.

The best part of books are that I get to be a different person living out a new adventure every time I open one. We are not even gonna talk about the "tunnel vision" I get when reading a book or watching something on TV. Literally, no one in my house even attempts to talk to me when I am in my "zone".

I LOVE FOOD....it is such a rewarding experience being able to create a meal from a recipe I found or just one I made up. The smells from the kitchen are so comforting. It is also pretty gratifying to watch someone enjoy a meal I made.

Since I couldn't decide what exactly to blog about I thought I would just cover it all. I mean I can't possibly be the only one out there who gets equally excited by the newest series on Netflix and the self-imposed Goodreads 2015 challenge. Right? Lol