Notes from a hot Monday: Carjackers, Christian Rock, and Carrots

• Last week, I was wearing mittens and a scarf. Today, I was wearing a dress and subjecting my shockingly white legs to the masses. Since I am very much the leader of the Pale is the New Tan movement, the world is just going to have to get used to them...or buy sunglasses.
• My office is located in a very very very secure complex. We are talking gates, scary pointy fences, and guards everywhere. Yet today, for the second time in my career, we went into lockdown because someone jumped the fence. Last time it was a bank robber; this time it was a carjacker (yes, I work in an awesome neighborhood). They later found him in the basement of the parking garage.
• My new favorite song is Show Me What I'm Looking For by Carolina Liar. After hearing it on Gossip Girl and 90210, I downloaded it. Then I spent way too much time over the weekend contemplating whether it was a Christian Rock song or a Pop Rock song. Given the shows that I heard it on, I didn't think it was the former but the lyrics left me perplexed. So today I passed them on to a colleague who I know rocked the reading comprehension section of the SAT. And he could not give me a definitive answer. We decided that it was Pop Rock. But really that had nothing to do with the lyrics and everything to do with the fact that another song on the album is entitled All The S$#! is Gone (edited because those words will never appear on this blog).
• And lastly, I have to give a big Farewell and Good Luck shoutout to my former colleague Aaron who took a reassignment within our organization and moved to a different office. I am lucky to be surrounded by many coworkers who fully understand the humor when your own office becomes a wee bit too much like an episode of The Office. And I could always count on Aaron to be one of those people. Case in point: Anyone who knows me at all know that I do not tolerate the sound of people eating crunchy foods. I have been this way since about age 4. Aaron sat by me. Aaron frequently ate large (or so it seemed) bags of carrots for lunch. Aaron would send me an email or instant message along the lines of "I have a lot of carrots in my lunch today. You might want to put your Ipod on." We had a perfect system worked out. He ate his carrots; I didn't get annoyed. His farewell gift to me...a big bag of baby carrots. Good luck, Aaron! We'll miss you!

What came first: the toaster pastry or the PopTart?

Today I woke craving Pop Tarts. I have neither eaten nor thought about Pop Tarts in about five years but this morning, it was ALL I could think about. They (whoever "they" is) say when your body is craving certain foods, it means you are lacking some nutrient. Like when you are craving peanut butter, your body is lacking certain essential oils. I have no idea what a Pop Tart craving means?

But by the time the craving hit full force, I happened to be toiling the day away at Whole Foods. Shockingly enough, Whole Foods does not carry Kellogg's Pop Tarts (Crazy, right?!) HA! So I had to settle for an Organic Toaster Pastry. In order to make the fulfilling of the craving worth it, I thought I would do a product review of the Nature's Path Organic Frosted (yeah, I went all out) Toaster Pastry in the Apple Cinnamon flavor.

It was delicious. LOL, how is that for a review? I SO do not have a future as a food blogger. The apple filling was sandwiched between a flaky crust and topped with a light frosting sprinkle with cinnamon. I prefer my Pop Tarts, er toaster pastries, not toasted but this one might actually be pretty great warm. The downside to toaster pastries....210 calories in one pastry. YIKES!

And if cereals are more your thing, do not stop, do not pause, dash to the store and get the Cascadian Farms Organic Cinnamon Crunch Cereal (Bonus...it is on sale at Whole Foods right now for $3.50 and there is a dollar off coupon in the little flyer thing by customer service. So $2.50 for a box of delicious cereal that normally retails for $4.99!). Having tried every cereal ever recently in the Sweet Sixteen of Cereal, this one would have absolutely would have gotten my vote for champion. It is like a cousin of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. But the much cooler cousin. The one with the effortlessly chic cinnamon coating. And no preservatives. It is a new cereal so it is not even on the website yet. That drives me crazy. And is also a poor marketing effort on their part. So I guess I will lead the grassroots campaign for the cereal. It's that good!

These are a few of my favorite things...to swap

Okay, I keep reading about all these fun blogger swaps where you are paired with another blogger send a themed package of stuff to that blogger and get one in return. Sort of like the Valentine's Day Card Swap that I did and had a cheese-tastic time doing.

I have seen various themed swaps...monograms, pajamas, stationary. Then I came across this one from Dandelion Wishes, "My Favorite Things." I just have to send a package to another assigned blogger full of things that I would like to receive. Easy enough! I am so in. I will report back when the swap is made in late May.

Okay there also appear to be a series of rules to RSVP to these thing. The first of which I have to post this little button linking to Dandelion Wishes. So here goes....

Shoe Fun in the Summertime!

It is an amazingly nice Friday here in D.C. I don't want to jinx it but I think we are experiencing those four weeks of tolerable weather that we get before the humidity gives the city a big ole five-month long bear hug. Looking out the window, I am watching the neighboring condo's workers fill the swimming pool. So summer must be upon us. And I was in desperate need of summery shoes. And I was ready SO to buy some fun shoes (I had given up shopping for Lent). And did I find the best deals!!!

Miz Mooz is my favorite shoe designer. It is the perfect mix of comfort+style. Given that I walk nearly everywhere and I am perpetually trekking up and down Metro escalators and across the ridiculously slick Metro floor tiles, I will place a high premium on comfort. But I will not forsake fashion for it. Miz Mooz has super cute shoes that do not kill your (well, my) feet. More shoe designers need to get on board with this movement. Not surprisingly, three of my summer shoes are by Miz Mooz.

Love the green color of this shoe!

Love the ruffle of this shoe!

Love that this shoe just screams SUMMER. It also screams "Rebecca will fall if she runs down the escalator in these." This shoe is the very definition of a non-Metro friendly shoes. It is a shoe that I would throw in my bag and change into in the office. Or a shoe I would wear if I was being driven somewhere. This shoes is also a public service announcement for tourists in the D.C. area as well. If you wear this shoe or one like it on the cobblestone sidewalks of Georgetown, your chances of tumbling increase by a phenomenal factor. I should start keeping a tourist tumble count.

As a kid, I wanted a pair of white canvas Keds SO badly. This of course was during the period of time that these shoes were uber trendy. For whatever reason, I wanted the blue Keds label on my shoe like all the cool kids had. I now fully realize that the cost of the Keds white canvas shoes was exorbitant. And my white canvas shoes from Shopko were just as good. However, when I saw these super cute Keds, I HAD to have them. So Cute. But the blue Keds label is on the bottom of the shoe. Which I am okay with.

Whenever my mom and I go shopping, we always calculate our savings. We have been doing this since I was like 7. It's probably how I got to be so good at math. It's also a fun way to justify an expenditure. "This stuff WOULD have cost me XXX dollars, but I ONLY paid YYY dollars." In that spirit, "These shoes WOULD have cost me 270 dollars, but I ONLY paid 95 dollars."

Lady the Easter Bunny

(Yep, I got those ears for her...and the Easter dog chew toy.)

Random Easter Monday thoughts

I swear every person in D.C. had leftover Easter ham in their lunch today. Everywhere I went, elevators, Metro, kitchens at the office, all I could smell was ham. I started to get paranoid and think I had sprayed ham perfume or something instead of my usual Sassitude perfume (yes, that is its real name.)

Every time I see a picture of the hostage (this guy) released by the pirates, I think it's a picture of Billy Joel.

Speaking of pirates, I get that they are not the swashbuckling kind of pirates, but it's weird that there are still pirates.

Fabulousness in a Basket

Not so long ago, my mom asked me what I wanted in my Easter basket. I thought very hard about this and came up with this "cute paper napkins, headbands, sprinkles, cupcake liners." I realized in general that those are things that just make me happy.

My mom outdid herself:

First, check out the Easter basket. Was there ever a more Rebecca-appropriate Easter basket?

And the goodies...

Candy and toothpaste - because we cannot relax our dental standards for any holiday.

Hairclips - A concession from the headbands. I have a big head, literally (probably figuratively too...but is it bigheaded to call yourself bigheaded?) I love headbands and wear them often but they are kind of hit or miss for fitting me. I have perfected angle at which to wear a headband without getting a headache. I plan to update my resume with this skill.

Tootsie Roll Bank - These were such a staple of my childhood holiday memories.

Magazines - I am a magazine addict. One of main accomplishments over the weekend was implementing my magazine clipping organization system.

Plates and napkins - Making dinners more fun since 2009.

Thanks, Mom!!!

Hope everyone else got a basket of fabulous this weekend!!!

Hoppy Cereal!

For each major holiday, my cooking/baking mothership, Sur La Table, has a holiday-themed cereal bowl (it could really be any kind of bowl, but I eat my cereal or oatmeal out of it). Starting with this past Valentine's Day, I have established a tradition of buying said bowl (usually the day before the holiday, when it is marked down 50 percent).

And that is why, I started this Easter Sunday eating my shredded wheat and blueberries out of an Easter bunny bowl. How cute!

More Easter posts coming soon (either tonight or tomorrow)!

The Annual Weighing of the Reese’s Easter Egg

Last year, I answered the age-old question: Which Reese’s product packs the biggest pb punch? Answer: The original Easter Egg. And we all slept a little better at night knowing that.

I was standing in line today at the grocery store and the Reese’s eggs were within reach so I thought, hmm, I wonder if Reese’s keeps the same the peanut butter to chocolate ratio every year? Is the ratio affected by the economy? The salmonella outbreak? (PS: Can we start a pool on what nut is next affected by salmonella? I am thinking Almonds!)

So I picked up a regular sized egg and a King sized egg and headed home to my “lab.” (Really, I think Reese’s could hire me as a quality control expert.)

First observation: the package for the regular-sized egg says “34 g.” My scale says…35g! GASP! In an economy where every package is getting a little smaller (but not cheaper), Reese’s is giving more than advertised!

Second observation: the peanut butter weight for the regular-sized egg was 20 g, the same as last year. But given that the total weight of the egg was higher this year, the 2009 peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio is lower.

Third observation: The King sized egg weighed in at 68 g, as advertised on the package. 39 grams of this was peanut butter. (It was also sort of melted. Which made the peanut butter extraction more difficult than it already is.)

A summary of the results:

Reese's Item	Total Weight	Peanut Butter Weight in grams (Percentage of Total Weight)	Chocolate Weight in grams (Percentage of Total Weight)	Peanut Butter-to-Chocolate Ratio
Easter Egg	35	20 (57%)	15 (43%)	1.33
King-sized Egg	68	39 (57%)	29 (43%)	1.34

Conclusion: Reese's Easter product's peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio is apparently recession proof. Perhaps the Big Three in Detroit should examine the Reese's method.

Kicking off Easter Weekend

Perfectly relaxing mani/pedi at Elizabeth Arden (I fell asleep) + Personal Sized Cheese Pizza from neighborhood Italian restaurant + 27 hours of DVR'd television from this week = Very Good Friday.

A Peek at my Summery Toes (and a sneak peak at my Easter basket...and Alan Greenspan, ha)