Thanksgiving Turkey Card:

Putting this up a little late but hey, I've been busy!

I made these cards for the grandparents and great grandparents with my seven-month-old before the holiday. Due to my work and holiday party schedule conflicts and we couldn't make it to all the rounds.    So we sent a few of these out as a little sign of love and wishing we were there. 

It was as easy as it looks. I just sponged several colors onto his toes and hands and placed the paper on them. I hand drew on little eyes, beaks and mouth. Then placed them on a 4 x 6 card stock with glue and hand wrote a little note. 

Sunday Summary: 11.23.14

Well, it's parade time! I worked a bit these past few days so there isn't a whole lot to share. But, here's what I've got!

Monday, H had his first swim class! The gym is offering a special one month of lessons so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for us to try it out. He loved it!!! There are 4 other kids and their parents in his class. An 18 month old girl, a pair of two year old boys and a three year old boy. Surprisingly, they're not all further along them him. So it was really cool not to feel like we were dragging the class down. He learned how to kick, he went on his back and he even reached underwater for his toy. His only real struggle will be trying to keep his mouth shut! He just wants to put everything in it and the pool water is no exception. He was so cute though, happy as a clam. I can't wait to go back next week! 

Tuesday, my busy day kind of fell apart. I pretty much just ran a lot of errands, oh and our washing machine broke! 

Wednesday, I spent half my day researching, purchasing and preparing for our new washer. If you're reading this and local, Bill & Rod's Appliance in Livonia was awesome! I went in at 10:00 am with $270 and 4 hours later a new washer was delivered and installed. And they hauled my old one off!!!

Thursday, I was on soup delivery detail. I had made an extra large batch of dill pickle soup and dropped it off to my friend who was housebound with HFM, took a large bin to my parents and another to my grandma. She just loves watching H plays, it's so cool to see, even when her dog Frankie and H played tug-o-war over his dog bed. Ended up passing the last of the soup of to GUP on Sunday, much to my Aunt Trish's disapproval. She thought it smelled bad! Lol

Friday, as you may have seen in my previous post I worked at WDIV Local 4 for the Hob a noble gobble coverage of the Parade Company's annual black tie parade week kick off. I was a blast! I won't bore you with re-writing the details but if you want them read the piece on it.

Saturday, I woke up with the intention to reorganize my life. I actually just worked at home, cleaned my kitchen and went Christmas shopping. Still productive but a lot more fun!! That night, we went out for our friend's 30th. Happy Birthday Jenna!!!! They all went to see a band at the bar but since we're old we just went over for the pre-party at their house. Had a few drinks, D smoked a cigar, had some laughs and called it a night. We stopped at the new Applebee's on the way home. Oh my god, terrible service, bad food, wrong order. I seriously doubt I'll ever go back! Shame too cause I was really excited about it coming.

Sunday, I woke up early, we went to Leon's for our usual breakfast and I headed off to work. We had to put books together for the parade. Books = scripts + pictures + run downs + lineups. It doesn't seem that involved but it is mainly because there are all these little steps. Print the scripts, print the pictures backwards so they face the scripts, flip through the scripts and put in the pictures, make and assemble tabs, make covers..... It goes on. Six hours of Beyoncé radio and 3 coffees later it as done. Why so much coffee? The work is so tediously boring you'll fall asleep otherwise. Afterward, I was weird up and bowled 3 games on our league night. After days of witty competitive prodding, it was really nice to take 5 points from my Mom's team. Last and most look forwarded to moment of the week: snuggling Briscoe in the pitch black watching the new episode of The Walking a Dead. My gosh, that show is incredible.

There you have it!! Another week has come and another week has gone. 

 

Hob Nobble Gobble 2014

Oh what a night! Another wonderful year working with WDIV Local 4 at Hob Nobble Gobble, the Parade Company's black tie affair to kick off Thanksgiving week!

Had a great time working with Guy Gordon and Karen Drews for the news and special event show. What a fun duo! 

Guy & Karen getting photo bombed by cameraman Vic!

 

Guy Gordon & I, it was nice working together cause it had been a while!

 

Guy & Sheree

 

Sheree & I

 

Guy interviewing Tom Lewand from the Detroit Lions

 

Guy Gordon & Karen Drew interviewing pop duo MKTO's Malcolm Kelley & Tony Oller

Guy Gordon & Karen Drew interviewing pop duo MKTO's Malcolm Kelley & Tony Oller

Guy Gordon & Karen Drew interviewing pop duo MKTO's Malcolm Kelley & Tony Oller

Guy Gordon & Karen Drew interviewing pop duo MKTO's Malcolm Kelley & Tony Oller

 

(Most of....) The 2-14 WDIV Local 4 Hob Nob & Gobble Crew

 

The party certainly did not disappoint. Upholding it's standard of prestige and extravagance with decadent food, lively entertainment and fun for all ages. 

Clockwise: The traditional ice tower of shrimp, a fruit display with the parade's mascot "Clownie", the "Vanilla Ice Ice Baby Martini Bar" and the dessert table.... yum!

Holy gluttony! I have to be rolled out the door.

A terrible photo of Vanilla Ice's performance.

 

Detroit City Marching Band rocking out.

 

 And finally…

"Santa! Oh my God Santa's coming!! I know him"

 

Sunday Summary: 11.16.14

Posting this a little late cause my week has been hectic! This week isn't letting up much either. What's got me so busy? Well here we have it: 

Monday -- I woke up feeling unwell. I wasted time Tuesday going to urgent care to hear I probably have a cold. (That'll be $50 please!) I still kept my weekly garbage date at Grandma's though! No sense in making her worry just cause I have a little cold. Honestly, I think my body just hates the winter. It will do anything to keep my b*tt inside. 

Wednesday things got better, I didn't go to our play date because it was cancelled. However, my friend LeaLu came over anyway for a visit. She spoils me. Brought us a bag full of H clothes and about half a dozen bags of frozen baby food! I learned H likes squash. Thursday, I went to a local author'a presentation of his book "Detroit's Thanksgiving Day Parade". (Which by the way is technically named America's Thanksgiving Day Parade) Anyway, his name is Romie Minor and he's a historian friend of my librarian great-uncle Paul. It was interesting, I learned a bit about the parade that I've been a part of for the last 8 years. The coolest part for me was spending time with GUP and maybe that I have another author autographed copy of a book.

Oh also, H said "dada", here he is after being so proud! 

 Friday was busy too! We went to the gym for the 5th day in a row. When we got home my mom stopped to smoosh H for a second before my friend Christina stopped by. The two of us drank coffee and sat on my couch chatting for hours! It was lovely. D played poker with his group that night, so I settled in with meatloaf and a scary movie. Two things D does not care for. Sadly, he came home 30 mins into the movie! Poker did not go well. Saturday, D ended up working (surprise) and I took H to the gym for the 6th day that week. He loves day care. The night was pretty relaxed, we went to "Food On Grill"a local middle eastern restaurant for dinner. It was pretty good, except the server didn't speak English well and gave me the wrong food. It was still yummy.

Plus, I don't think there is a "wrong food" with middle eastern. He was really good at replacing fallen silverware. Like the butler in Mr. Deeds quick when I dropped H's spoon on the floor. Oh, he doesn't like lentil bean soup. I must change that. Then on Sunday, for some odd reason I felt compelled at the crack of dawn to pick the family up and had the big boys for brunch. It was our typical Sunday fare but this time felt a little off… wasn't sure I wanted to go there so bad until I looked at my placemat and it said "fall in love with pie". This is going to sound goofy and I don't believe in this kind of thing but it was such a Nardo moment it was like I was supposed to be there and having it. I can't wait for Hayden to get older so I can teach him about my grandpa.

The rest of the day we just kind of hung around the house and went to celebrate D's parents 10th anniversary with a big family dinner at a nice restaurant Steve and Rocky's in Novi. The presentation was beautiful, especially the dessert. I had a Cesar Salad and an Aacorn Squash for an entree.

The desert rock was unreal too.

But, the company was the best. ;-) 

Remake of Zoup's Over Stuffed Pepper Soup

I've been making a lot of food lately but I can't help it. I've made dinner 3 times this week, crazy! After I had Zoup's Overstuffed Pepper Soup, I had to TRY to make it. So, here is what I researched, experimented with and enjoyed. 

What you need: 

1 lb of ground beef

1-2 green peppers, diced

1/2 onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, finely diced

1 - 12 oz. can of diced tomatoes

2 - 24 ounce beef broths

2 cups of instant rice

1 tsp. of diced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste. 

What to do:

Place onion in frying pan over medium heat with a small amount of EVOO until golden. Add to pan beef. Cook until brown. While cooking, set crock pot to high heat setting and add remaining ingredients. Once beef mixture is ready, add to crock pot. Stir and let sit for 4-6 hours to let favors blend. About 15 minutes before serving add in up to two cups of instant rice. Amount varies with pot temperature. Once it's complete you can add cheese, oyster crackers or serve alone. All are delicious! 

Thanks Zoup for a delicious, comforting meal for this chilly weather! If you know a better way to get closer to Zoup's original recipe, email me. I'd love some advice: GingeristaCo@gmail.com.

Thanks Aunt Sue! ;-)

Pizza Roll Up Night

Growing up, pizza nights came around occasionally but almost always on a Friday. It was probably my parent's nod to a busy week or their way to give us some excitement before they headed out for theirs. At least, that's how I think of pizza night. That and McDonald's Happy Meals, especially on sick days. Anyways, in always seeking a craftier, healthier way of doing things I decided last Monday was Pizza Roll Up Night!



Here's what you need:

2-4 packages of Pillsbury's crescent rolls (depending on how many you're serving)
1 jar of tomato sauce
2 package of shredded cheese to your taste
Any additional toppings your diner's desire








How to:

It's really easy.... first preheat your oven to 350-375 degrees. Roll out your crescent rolls on to a non-stick surface. Once laid out, add to each 1-2 tbs of tomato sauce, top with 2 pinches of cheese. Then add whatever toppings your heart desires. I found Kraft Pizza Mix cheese blend and added 2-3 pepperonis on top. I like to then add a little bit of cheese on top of each. Once put together, roll up your crescents and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. *Check your dough's baking instructions before preparing because each brand and household require unique instructions.

Once you're done, voila!

Who says you can't have Pizza Night on a Monday?

Sunday Summary: 11.2.14

Photo credit: Jamie Attard

Happy November! How did that happen? I swear this past year has been whirlwind and this past month was no exception. Last week I didn't do a summary because I was hung over.... party hung over! We finally celebrated our marriage with a HalloWedding reception on 10.24. Oh my gosh it was a lot of work!!!! And I loved every minute of it. Despite the many family members chipping in to help (including 2 nights of watching H) by the time we unpacked the truck on Sunday we were burnt out! The Michigan Vs. Michigan State game that we brought a keg to on Saturday night probably didn't help. But don't worry, I won't leave you out. As soon as our professional pictures arrive I will tell you all about our reception, cause it was worth sharing! #PartyLikeAPietraz

Back to today, this week has been good. Monday I woke up with the intention of solely piecing my life back together. I put H back to his regularly scheduled programming, organized what I could of our gifts and even went grocery shopping. I also, for the first time ever took H and B on a walk at the same time. They did fantastic, it's just unfortunate that as soon as we got half way down the block it started to rain. They we're were doing so good I didn't want to turn back, I just kept going, taking rain in along the way. Worth it.

Tuesday, H had his six month check up which included four immunization shots and part one of his flu shot. Afterward we took our now weekly trip to GG's to take her garbage out. He played with Frankie while she laughed. Between the excitement and the shots the trip to the mall, full of returns, was very pleasant. Thankfully, everyone was pretty understanding about this except the women at Victoria's Secret. Which I found ironic considering she declared upon approach that she had an 8 week old and a 21 month old at home. After two royally bad experiences there, I'm done.

Wednesday and Thursday was kind of rough. H ended up having a pretty nasty reaction to his shots which landed him with a fever, pain and irritability. When your infant hits 103.8 degrees at 4:00 AM, you just stop caring about sleep. Joyfully, I report he's perfect now! By the time Friday rolled around I was ready for some fun & what a fun night it was.... HALLOWEEN!

For his first year, H had four outfit changes. The "big one" was our family ensemble of Goldie Locks & the Three Bears. B was Goldie Locks.We spent the night over at GG's house with my parents and Marnie passing out candy. Despite the high volume of children in the neighborhood, we only passed out about one bag of chocolate goodness. I think it was just too cold. So, we packed it up and ate dinner at our local Italian hole Luigi's. It was the first time ever H ate pasta and he loved it!

Saturday, was the usual cleaning house, running laundry and catching up on recuperating from the week's adventures. Somewhere around 5:00 PM my in-laws came over and kicked us out. We hit downtown Detroit for a date night. After a detour through Lincoln Art Park we found ourselves at the black jack table inside MGM casino. Unfortunately, my luckiest moment of the night was finding a parking spot literally at the door. But, D won some funds and convinced the pit boss to give us some host credit so we dined at Wolfgang Puck's Pizzeria Cucina. It was good delicious as always. I had a baby kale salad, pumpkin ravioli and tiramisu. I woke up today and felt like I needed to run a marathon to work that off but was so glutenous I could barely move. Didn't stop me from taking H our for our usual Sunday Dive Brunch alone  though. He was so cool at the table, he sat in his chair and ate sausage and pancakes from his own order. It was a moment in time that I felt my life stand still for just a brief moment and I was happy. In my core, happy.

So there's my week! Nothing too thrilling: lots of baby raising, fun making, housewife life.

TBT: Product Review: Hard Candy's Take It Off

This Throwback Thursday is surely to be a hit because it comes back just in time to take your ghostly or ghastly Halloween make up off this weekend. This product is still a daily use, found front and center in my bathroom vanity. So, check out what I had to say about a year ago regarding this cream-based make up remover by Hard Candy called "Take It Off". 

Brand:  Hard Candy

Product: Take It Off 

Review:

     I'm going to try to stay unbiased as this was one of the first ever brands I fell in love with in the cosmetic industry. The other one being Urban Decay. When I was a little girl I lived for trips to the mall just to check out the cosmetic counters or beauty stores. One of the first things I always did was look at Hard Cany's new nail polish colors and the rings adorned on their brush handles. I always wore them with pride even if my manicure was shotty at best. In all honestly, I still have one in my jewelry box today as a reminder of my uninhibited love of all things pretty.  

There she is, my plastic gold sparkly star, right there in the middle.

     My heart hurt when I noticed that Hard Candy was starting to pullback from the market. The timing seemed to work out perfectly. I watched my childhood fade with their presence in the industry. No more ring matching nail polish, sassy shadow pallets or long before it's time my popin' lipgloss. I missed Hard Candy. That is, until 10 years later I saw my old friend in my local big box store.

     It wasn't exactly the same familiarity but I felt it was still kismet. The day I ran out of my trusty cream-based make up remover, I happened upon the display. They were now producing a mass line but still upheld there edgy image. They also offered a lot of the same great products, this time at an affordable price.

   So, I grabbed "Take It Off" their make up remover for only $5! My reliable alternative was priced at $15. It's creamy without being too thick, it removes even waterproof products and leaves no residue or dryness behind. This was the perfect treat for my Halloween trick a.k.a. extremely heavy duty waterproof make up with a lot of primer and setting spray. "Take It Off" is known for being a strong remover, it gloats about even being able to take off glitter. It does not disappoint! 

On a sidenote: ironically this is an affordable alternative to my trusty previous remover which was Urband Decay's Meltdown.

Recommendation: Save some time and $$$ at with this quick, easy and effective remover today!

Update: it's now available in wipes for travel!!! Yay, Hard Candy you continue to rock my world. 

Funny Causes of Death

Can't imagine there are many people that would he looking for this list. Except maybe during this time of year. Personally, I compiled this list to fill out funny ways to die for toe tags. Many of which my guests will find in Friday. So, any guests out there reading ***SPOILER ALERT**** if you don't want to know, don't keep reading! 

Here is a list of "Fun Causes of Death" for Halloween fun! 

Marriage (of course) 

Brain Freeze 

Saturday Night Fever

Scared to Dearh 

Past Expiration Date 

Ctrl-Alt-Delete

Holding Bladder 

Death by Chocolate 

Played Funky Music 

Orgasim to Death 

Boogied 6ft Down  

Sucked Into A Black Hole

Walked In On His Parents

Voodoo Doll 

Unsolvable Math Problem 

Spinal Tap 

Spontaneous Combustion

Changing A Stinky Diaper

Falling off High Heels 

Unbalanced Dismount

Love of Bacon 

The Hunger Games 

Not Forwarding Chainletter

Stuck in Quicksand 

Cat Scratch Fever  

# # # # 

And, that's what I got so far! 😝 I'll add more when I come up with more fun ones. 

#TBT - Breast Cancer Awareness MakeUp

Since we're only half way through the month of Ebola and pink madness,  I might as well throw back to a good cause: Breast Cancer Awareness. While there have been a lot of critics about the BCRF, I think we can all agree spreading awareness and education about the actual disease is important. So I say, educate yourself and look pretty doing it. More people will listen.

Steal My Look:

Face: Smashbox's BB Cream in light medium topped with Too Faced's Amazing Face SPF 15 Powder Foundation in Vanilla Creme. For my cheeks I used Benefit's Benetint under Rockateur. I concealed my early morning dark circles with Bare Minerals' correcting concealer in Light 1 over Benefit's Stay Don't Stray Primer both on top and under. 

Eyes: Here's where the fun is! I used two colors from my Vice Palette however, if you don't have it try this trio in their staple colors Midnight Cowboy on the lid, Virgin on the brow bone and Woodstock on the outside corners and blended into the crease. I lined my water line and upper line with Urban Decay's Zero topped with Bare Minerals' Volumizing mascara in black. Finally, I framed my eyes with a little fill in from Lorac's brow pencil in Auburn. 

Lips: I'm fighting the fall chap with Burt's Bees rejuvenating chap stick under Bare Minerals' limited edition Best Friend XOXO lip color.

 

Now.... Steal My Knowledge! 

Curteosy of the National Breast Cancer Foundation:

 

To me, this is alarming. 

I'm astonished by the misconceptions. 

 Its not a myth, it's fact. 

Share this graphic friends!!! 

When detected early, the 5 year survival rate of a patient is 98%. Make a plan here!