it's a tiara!

yup.  love the Big Bang Theory.

source

may the road rise to meet you...

embracing my irish heritage today...from the couch that is...got a nasty cough and as usual, can't sleep at night...

but here is one of my favorite irish proverbs...

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

friday funny

source

by far...the funniest case of food poisoning ever.

from one of my new favorite shows...parks & Recreation

on the slopes again...

practice makes perfect...so here we go again!

spent the day at Whitetail with some friends...and I did pretty good!  my legs, well they are still recovering...but overall, my best ski trip yet!!

friday funny

source

what every teacher needs at this point of the year...

sketchbook project 2013

I finally finished my sketchbook.

fiiiiinally.

when that happy little email graced my inbox, i was so excited to know that even though i was a super slacker, i could still send my sketchbook in!

here are a few of my "creatures' - since that was the topic i had chosen...the rest you can find if you click here

that time I ranted about the Bachelor...

i never thought i'd be someone who watched the Bachelor- not only watched, but recorded so i wouldn't miss it...

but it is fun, sometimes painful to watch, and sometimes i find myself yelling at the tv when I am watching...
 

okay, so it isn't very realistic, and it's obvious why so many of the couples don't make it...i guess regular life isn't quite as glamorous as jetting around the world, having candle-lit dinners on the side of mountains...


i guess what is always funny to me, is that there is always that one "crazy" contestant that the others don't get along with...and obviously the producers like that for ratings...and i know they are living in a weird, cut off from the rest of the world 'reality'...but i can't believe the way some people act on national tv!

it does feel like it's all about the ratings sometimes...and not about actually finding love...because if it was, they would warn the contestants when someone is not there...to quote just about everyone on the show...."for the right reasons"...


anyway, i am all for folloiwng how you feel- but Sean, you need a girl who gets along with at least one other person...can't spend all your time together...honestly, how annoying would it be to be with someone who gets hurt and needs to be sent to the ER multiple times in just a few short weeks?  drama central!  send Tierra packing please!

anyway, my front runners are Catherine...and maybe Dez.

time to go detox from two days in a row of bachelor-mania.

things you'll never hear me say

sure, you can have my pickle.

boo!  it's snowing.

I have enough sketch books.

you can't put glitter on that.

i know exactly what to wear today.

pizza in maryland is just as good as pizza in new jersey.

i hate sleeping in.

recipe box: healthy pizza bites!

I love me some pizza bagels.  bagel bites, full sized ones.  you name it, I love it.

but they are certainly not the healthiest thing to eat...and when it came to the super bowl...i was not ready to throw my diet* completely out the window. 

*okay, not a diet per se...I just don't want to start eating bad again...and the super bowl is a slippery-slope for that...day of junk food!


so Bonnie and I started planning out our menu a few days before, and she was making guacamole, stuffed mushrooms, pigs in a blanket...and I was down for veggies and dip, baked mozzarella bites and pizza bites.  the mozzarella sticks never made it out...but I did make buffalo chicken dip instead...not for healthy-ness, but for pure deliciousness :P



but i LOVED how the pizza bites turned out, so i thought i'd share the recipe with you all :)  i found a few places on the internets that had some recipe ideas and sort of mushed them all together to make these.


I give you, pizza bites!


Ingreedients:

whole wheat tortillas
pizza sauce
mozzarella cheese
garlic powder
oregano

and toppings- i used mini pepperoni, but want to try peppers and onions next time!


directions:

preheat your oven to 400 degrees

using a cookie cutter- or a glass, or whatever you can cut circles with- cut as many circles as you can from each tortilla.
* I saved the extra pieces to toast up in the oven to make chips for our guacamole with :)

 on a baking sheet- i lined mine with foil- place out as many mini pizza custs as you'd like to make

add the pizza sauce, cheese and toppings

sprinkle with some garlic salt and oregano

bake for 8-10 minutes *keep an eye on them, mine took a little longer, but my oven is weird...

oh yeah, then enjoy!!



an easy, and not so unhealthy way to eat pizza!!

what? another Vlog?

so this morning i headed back to Kym's to see who else had linked up with us...and i got a chance to watch some of the other videos, and i realized, i didn't really fit the natural, no makeup, part of the challenge.  i also just felt like practicing my vlogging skills, so here, for your viewing pleasure is another video blog...this one is just about what i do on my days off...enjoy!

it certainly was Super!

okay, before I start this, remember...I am a Giants fan, through and through.  always have been.  always will be. 


but it was pretty cool to watch the Ravens win last night.  we could hear fireworks going off around our house, and even though they really made us "wait for it..." they pulled off a very nice win.


we watched the game with Bonnie & Andy...made lots of yummy snacks...and I only covered my eyes a few times.

wasn't super impressed by many commercials- I can't even really think of one off the top of my head to tell you the truth.  but i will say this...the city was mighty purple today, and i am happy to have tomorrow off because i hear there is some sort of parade happening ;)

also, i know it makes me sound old...but very glad we were not out watching the game last night- this is a picture from the news of Federal Hill...

weekend wrap-up...part 1

this weekend is jam-packed with fun!

no, but really, I've already done a lot of fun stuff...so I figured I'd cut the weekend in half...Friday and Saturday, and then Super Bowl Sunday.


so far, I got in the car and drove up to New Jersey to see my Brother for a belated celebration of his birthday...we feasted on Pizza and birthday apple pie

 then I got all fancy, and made us breakfast on Saturday- after sleeping "in" till 8:15...I love my furry little friends, but not having anyone poke me in the face or hurl themselves into the blinds to wake me up for food, was pretty awesome today.


I have been trying out this whole Vine app, making some stop-motion videos...here is one of me making breakfast!

then we went out to run a few errands...bank, gas station, grocery store...and had Thai food for lunch...

I feel like I talk about food a lot...hmmm...


then Brandyce & Pete came over...and we had ourselves a grown-up dinner party :)  I made lasagna rolls, some just regular cheese and the others were with chicken and spinach...

more funny videos were made...and when they were leaving, we realized it was snowing...yet again!

so tomorrow I'm heading back to Maryland, to watch the super bowl...hopefully the Ravens can win one for Charm City...I'm afraid to see what happens if they lose...


fingers crossed the roads aren't too snowy tomorrow!  even though it is mighty comfy here...

I'm the worst at...a VLOG.

this post has been sitting in my drafts forever...but I was motivated by Kym today, so I turned it into a VLOG- aka: video blog.

so enjoy!!

if I worte commercials

I went to college (the first time) and got a degree in Marketing.  I always said it was because I wanted to write commercials...or as me and my Dad would say, write commercials that weren't horrible...


but every once and a while, i see a commercial that restores my faith in those people who make them...

this one really made me laugh :)




also, thanks Dad for teaching me how to throw a softball the right way ;)

friday funny

source

penguin cat?  awesome :)

it's okay...

i have never done one of these before...but it seemed like a good day to start...so i am linking up with Amber for "It's Okay Thursdays"




it's okay...

to take a sick day


to have lunch for breakfast and breakfast for lunch


to watch an entire tv series on netflix and be mad when its done


to be more excited for snow days as an adult


to expect my cats to answer when I ask them questions


to still be in school at 31


to love wearing sweats and slippers more than dresses and heels


 to dream about being a full time artist

"You know, it occurs to me you could solve all your problems by obtaining more money."

story of my life these days...

I love this clip from the Big Bang Theory...but they wouldn't let me embed it...so go watch it if you need a little laugh :)  and know you're not the only poor starving artist/teacher out there...

things my students say...

"Ms Brownlie, you're white, right?"


oooooohhhhh boyyyyy.


not really sure when I get a question like that, where the conversation is going to go.


that conversation turned into one of if it's okay to date someone who is black, if you are white...oh man.  these kids live in such a different world then I grew up in...and the fact that they have to ask these questions makes me feel for them...but of course, I told her that 10 was too young to date anyway...but when she was old enough, that it didn't matter if you were black, white, blue or polka dotted...hopefully that was the right answer...


I also got told by a 1st grader today that I looked like a hippopotamus...which I was offended by, until the clarified that it was because my coat was gray, like a hippopotamus.  either way, I'm running an extra mile tomorrow at the gym...


aside from the sometimes awkward conversations...we had a 2 hour delay for "snow" this morning...so most of my classes were on the small side again...and because of that I didn't want to start our new projects with so many kids out.


so what did we do you ask?


well my 2nd graders made this awesome banner for the Ravens!  because if you ask them what is happening this weekend, it's not the Super Bowl...its just the Raven's game :)

2 hour delay? I'll take it!

it might still seem a little silly to me, considering this would never have granted us a delay when I was growing up...but as a teacher, I'll take any extra sleep I can get :)

not going to lie...I slept two more hours...didn't wash my hair...in lieu of eating breakfast ;)

oh well!  another short day...haven't had a long full day of work since the 17th!


happy Monday all :)