the grieving period...

we suffered a loss in our house this week. yesterday my trusty old canon powershot camera died :( oh the tragedy.  it seems silly to be upset about the loss of a camera, but seriously, 'she' has gone everywhere with me for the past 4 years and 3 months. birthdays, holidays, weddings, high school reunion, the zoo, vegas (several times!), lotsa concerts... she has been there capturing the moments i don't want to forget. she was a dependable old girl. maybe she didn't take the best pics, or the best video... but she was always in my handbag, waiting, in case i want to use her. these are the last 2 pics i took with the old girl...

not bad, huh?!

anyway, our beast cat was having a uhhh... strange... abnormal problem yesterday. hubs wasn't home, so i thought "i'm gonna take a pic and send it to him. he won't believe me unless he sees the pic". i grabbed the old girl out of my bag, turned her on, and the lcd screen was cracked. no picture shown at all. just cracks. ugh. i seriously panicked. my stomach dropped. forget the cat and his issues. THIS was an emergency! "how will i survive without a camera on hand at all times???? i can't take pics with my horrible *gasp/panic* cell phone camera!?!" (i take pics way more often than you can imagine!). it didn't take me long to start researching new cameras online (thank goodness for cyber monday shopping!). i found one on costco's website, and in 3-5 days i will be the proud new owner of a panasonic lumix zs10. i'll let you know how me and the new girl get along. :)

oh, about the cat. were you wondering what the strange problem was that i so urgently needed to take a picture of??

stupid camera phone pic

nope, not the crossed eyes... that's normal... well for him it is. yep, the 4 inches of drool hanging out of his mouth! his drooling was out of control. he normally drools a bit when he's really happy and 'massaging' blankets and stuff, but this was weird. he was walking around with drool hanging down, like a st. bernard. don't worry, we took him to the vet. he has some mouth problems, but should be alright. he got injections and has antibiotics... and might have to get some teeth pulled. seriously, it's never ending with this kid. at least he decided to get 'sick' during regular business hours this time!!! we didn't have to rush him to the after hours emergency vet. we're making progress!

crush of the week...

this weeks crush is mateus verdelho! model, skater, 6'1" brazilian hottie. 

maybe tats and piercings aren't up your alley... but you can't deny he has a cute face and hot bod, right?! i happen to like the body 'art'.

the gun!

*in my best jim carrey/dumb & dumber voice*
"he must workout!"

just a boy eatin' a burger n fries...
in his underwear!

oh, and this is what he looks like with a shirt on,
in case you were wondering, haaa

love

AND... i found a video :)

by the time you'll be reading this, i'll be on a plane. got a 1 way ticket to brazil, thank goodness it's a long flight, cause i really need to brush up on my portuguese. as of now, all i know how to say is 'obrigado'... but when he tells me 'i'm calling the cops, unless you leave my property, NOW!', i'm not sure 'thank you' will be the correct response ;)

crush of the week...

this weeks crush is rob pattinson!

ok, i'll be honest, this isn't MY crush, it's for all of you twihards that are rushing out to see 'twilight: breaking dawn' this weekend. don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a little rpattz here and there, but he's not on my short list of loves. i actually didn't know 'breaking dawn' was the 4th twilight movie either. GASP!!!! i was talking with a friend on facebook this week, and i told her i "wasn't really a twilight fan, but i had seen the first 2 movies, so i'd probably see the new one... but not in the theater". she said "you have to see the 3rd movie before you see the new one". oops! haha didn't know there was a 3rd movie. i then asked hubs "did you know there have been 3 twilight movies already?" and he said "yeah, we saw all 3, you just don't remember. actually, i think you went upstairs halfway through the 3rd movie." then he tried to tell me what the 3rd movie was about... but he couldn't remember. *chuckles* i'm TOTALLY not gaining new friends or followers here, am i?! ;) anyway, whether i'm a twilight fan or not... i like cute boys, and i like accents... and vampires are pretty cool too.

LOVE this sweater!!

cool shot

vamp

i'd choose the real life anti-aging vampire on the right,
any day of the week. for real.
just sayin'

ch-ch-ch-chia...

i'm sure you ALL remember chia pets, and their horribly catchy theme song.

i never would've guessed that years and years later i'd be eating the same sticky seeds that created the fur/sprouts on my chia cat. have you had chia seeds before? i was reading about them and their amazing health benefits, and had to try them for myself. these tiny seeds are packed with omega-3's, antioxidants, iron, fiber and soooo much more. they're amazing! click HERE to read more about chia seeds and their benefits. if you're thinking "ewww, how am i gonna eat those?"... well lucky for you, you can sneak them into anything! they have little to no flavor at all. you can eat them straight out of the bag, sprinkle them on a salad, or put them in your smoothies, oatmeal, yogurt, seriously anything!!! my bag of chia seeds has 2 recipes on the back, 1 is for a lemon cake that sounds super good. another way to eat them is to make chia gel or chia pudding. the seeds absorb 10 times their weight in water, making a tapioca-kind of-consistency-gel-stuff (clearly, i'm not a professional food blogger, ha!). you can make the gel with water or nut milk. i've seen recipes where people use the chia gel as an egg substitute while baking cookies, brownies, etc.!!! i'll have to try that.

this 1lb. bag of chia seeds is around $7-$8 at henry's market. it might sound like a lot, but you use such a small amount of seeds each time, so this bag will last quite awhile.

here are some of the ways i used chia seeds this past week:

chocolate cinnamon chia seed pudding

1 1/2 cups almond milk

1/2 cup chia seeds

2 tbsp. agave 

2 tsp. cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. vanilla

pinch of sea salt

i mix the milk and cocoa powder together first, then add the rest of the ingredients. let it sit at room temperature (uncovered) for 20 minutes. after 20 minutes it will be super thick and gel-y. the longer you let it sit, the more gel-y it will get. refrigerate unused portions. after it's thickened you can also pop it in the freezer and it will harden up to a nice frozen treat - kind of like ice cream, but different, and wayyyyy healthier!

the pudding right after i've mixed it up.

after a few minutes, the seeds are starting to 'pop'

almost 20 minutes later and the seeds have all popped
and have formed their tapioca-like gel

i also added the seeds into some pancake batter this weekend! you'd never know they were in there :)

 hubs: "what are you making?"

me: "banana pancakes with chia seeds"

hubs: "CHEESE SEEDS???????? WHATTTTT????"

haha, poor guy. by the way, the pancakes were delicious!

why stop at pancakes?! i put about 1 tsp of seeds into the egg mixture for some french toast!

you can see where some of the seeds gathered on the french toast.

ps. i used whole grain bread for my french toast, that's why it doesn't look ANYTHING like restaurant style french toast. it's sooo much better with whole grain bread. nutty, great texture, delish and better for you anyway :)

so, see, even if you don't eat healthy meals all of the time, you can still add chia seeds to your 'cheat' meals, and maybe feel a little less guilty about it ;)

there are a TON of recipes online that incorporate chia seeds... but experiment on your own. add them to things you're already planning on making. and let me know whatcha think!!!!

crush of the week...

this weeks crush is ollie edwards! model, brit, hottie. first of all... how much do you LOVE the name ollie?! he's cute and he has an accent... but that's not how he made it on my blog. you'll find out later how he made the 'cut' onto my crush list ;)

love this artsy shot!

so maybe you're thinking "alright, he's kinda cute... but...?!?!".

now i'll tell you why i chose him. he has a HUGE, gnarly scar across his stomach... and i like it! is that weird?!?! when he was 4 or 5 years old he was sliding down his slip'n'slide and slid over a sharp rock. he doesn't like to tell people the truth of how he got it, so he just says it's from a samurai sword! haaa

whatcha think?! do you like the scar or does it gross you out?