At Home with the Hinkleys: February 2013

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

February Meet and Greet

Has this month flown by or what?? I wanted to take a day to spotlight my sidebar and the great bloggers who help support this little endeavour of mine. They all have really great blogs and I'd love for you to stop by and show them some love!

Meet Megan from Elliott Wife, Elliott Life

I asked Megan,
Where is home? Spouse/Pets/kids?

Home is in Colorado. I am married to an amazing guy named Aran. We have three fur babies. Louie, is our 2 year old Yorkie and we also have Sheldon and Beckett (they are larger than most) kitties.

If you could max out a creditcard anywhere, what store would you pick?

I could max out a credit card at lots of places, haha! Target, Eddie Bauer, Victoria's Secret would have to be my top three.

Favorite pizza topping?

My favorite pizza topping is pepperoni.

Speaking of food, the best meal/dish/thing you can cook/bake?

Toss up between Stuffed Bell Peppers and Eggplant Parmesan.

Finish the sentence: If I were a vegetable...

If I were a vegetable, I would be Zucchini. I'm not sure why, but I love them so it seemed fitting, haha!

What would the title of your autobiography be?

A Polka Dot Life

Meet Sarah from Love, Sarah K

lol

I asked Sarah,
Where is home? Spouse/Pets/kids?

I currently reside in Dallas with my husband! No pets or kids

If you could max out a creditcard anywhere, what store would you pick?

I could max out a creditcard at AMAZON!

Favorite pizza topping?

My favorite pizza topping is cheese and mushroom (yes it's boring, but I love it :))

Speaking of food, the best meal/dish/thing you can cook/bake?

Cookies and cupcakes.

Finish the sentence: If I were a vegetable...

If I were a vegetable, I would be broccoli! Because I want curly hair! :) Get it? ^_~

What would the title of your autobiography be?

Clutter

Meet Sam from Simply, Sam

I asked Sam,

Where is home? Spouse/Pets/kids?

Home is in Orlando, Fl with my boyfriend Nic and our two dogs.

awwwwwww!!!

If you could max out a creditcard anywhere, what store would you pick?

I could max out a creditcard at Express, Bath and Body Works, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond.

Favorite pizza topping?

My favorite pizza topping is green peppers and onions.

Speaking of food, the best meal/dish/thing you can cook/bake?

French onion burgers

Finish the sentence: If I were a vegetable...

If I were a vegetable, I would be spinach. So healthy and nutritious lol.

What would the title of your autobiography be?

The Sassy Chronicle

Meet Nay from Coffee-n-ink

I asked Nay,
Where is home? Spouse/Pets/kids?

I live in California with my hubby of 8 years and two kids (9 yr old girl "Lovebug" and 7 yr old boy "Little Love")

If you could max out a creditcard anywhere, what store would you pick?

I could max out a creditcard at Target lol!

Favorite pizza topping?

My favorite pizza topping is mushroom

Speaking of food, the best meal/dish/thing you can cook/bake?

3-Cheese Meat Lasagna

Finish the sentance: If I were a vegetable...

If I were a vegetable, I would be avocado?

What would the title of your autobiography be?

Girl in Focus

Meet Natalie from here.

I asked myself,
Where is home? Spouse/Pets/kids?

Home is Houston! Unofficial home is also San Antonio, and college home was Dallas. Spouse of Aaron. He has a pet, Irene the cat, who is usually mean and which I take no claim to.

If you could max out a creditcard anywhere, what store would you pick?

This feels like a trick question, you should never max out a credit card! But if this is not a trick, I could max out a credit card at Costco without question. That would be so many deals!!

Favorite pizza topping?

My favorite pizza topping is Hawaiian - Canadian Bacon and Pineapple, yum!!

Speaking of food, the best meal/dish/thing you can cook/bake?

Mashed Potatoes. My mom taught me, and they are totally restaurant caliber.

Finish the sentence: If I were a vegetable...

If I were a vegetable, I would be creamed corn, if that were allowed.

What would the title of your autobiography be?

Who cut the cheese?

Thanks for checking out some of my friends! Want to be featured here? Become a sponsor!

Oh and get excited readers, I totally won a blog design fromLizette at Northern Belle Diaries - getting an upgrade, woohoo!!

Monday, February 25, 2013

The Weekend In Review

Good Monday to everyone! I didn't have anything cool to write about today, but my weekend wasn't totally lame, so I will give you guys an update!

Friday night Aaron and I acted like young people for once and went out to see our friend's band plan in midtown at this festive little dive bar. It was fun, and they were pretty good for a band whose show starts at 7:30pm ;) It was kind of perfect because I am beat by Friday so staying out late just isn't going to happen. We were home by 10, so all was good, lol.

Fussing & Fighting

We also ate some pretty darn delicious tacos at Tacos A Go Go, we are totally going to go back for more, but probably on a week night because it was crowded and we almost couldn't get a seat in this tiny place.

Saturday was so lazy. I slept until 11! I only had 2 beers too, how lame is that? 22 year old Natalie from college doesn't recognize the new me, and laughs.

Then it was basically uneventful things like going to the grocery store and doing laundry.

Sunday was another lazy day. We skipped church again, and I am certain that the Lord is very disappointed in us. We did go to Costco mostly for lunch - $1.50 hot dogs and the best churros in town for $1!

After a solid nap I did more work on tax returns for my friends, woot! Then I settled in for red carpet coverage and then The Oscars.

Now my abbreviated review of the Oscars. I have no opinion about the winners of things because I didn't see all the films so I don't know for sure if so and so should have won. I do think that Hugh Jackman was snubbed for Best Actor. But I think the people who vote feel like if they don't vote for Lincoln it is like saying they like slavery, and they don't want people thinking that about them. I get it.

My best dressed goes to:

Naomi Watts

Others who looked smashing: Octavia Spencer, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Kelly Osborne

My worst dressed picks are:

Anne Hathaway, whom I love, but she stole my look from Homecoming Dance 1997

It might have been better if she walked backwards because the back was a bit better

Others who looked rough: Kristen Stewart, but I think that had nothing to do with the dress, Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, and Helena Bonham Carter (though I think she tries to get this title.)

General comments are that I mostly enjoyed the musical numbers. Some were a bit long. I was lost a bit on the opening. I like Seth MacFarlane, but his comedy I don't think it suited for the Oscars. The Oscars needs someone more 'Tina and Amy', Billy Crystal, William Shatner, non offensive family friendly comedy.

As far as Seth goes, I think he was chosen because they want to appeal to the younger people who typically don't watch, but I don't think he was the best choice to meet that need. I mean, watch 10 mins of any of his shows and that is what you are going to get. Add to the fact that I think you can 100% more get away with stuff when a cartoon says it versus a live person. Case in point, this Oscars show, and Don't Trust the B in Apt 23 getting cancelled. But yeah, I could take it or leave it. Some stuff that didn't get any laughs I literally LOLed at, and others felt like Family Guy - which I was so over about 10 years ago. It doesn't offend me, it is just obnoxious.

The fashion this year was totes disappointing. No one except for Jane Fonda took much risk, which was a bummer. Thus I am still deciding if I loved or hated her look. Most people looked boring and neutral and just ::yawn::. With no thanks to the Red Carpet coverage, I didn't even see what most people were wearing unless they get up on the stage at the actual show. What is this??!

All in all, an underwhelming night where Hollywood gets all dressed up and gives awards to themselves.

How was your weekend??

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Snuggle Saturday #6 - The Oscars

It is Oscar week! Are you excited??

Aaron and I used to be bigtime movie buffs but we have had to cut down on that somewhat because movies are dang expensive these days. So before when we would see any movie that looked halfway decent just for something to do on the weekend, we now only go see things that look REALLY good.

The Oscars are great though, because whatever gets nominated is usually very good so it takes out the guesswork!

Am I rooting for anyone specifically to win?

Well I always root for people in the movies I have seen. After checking out the nominees here and reviewing the movies I have seen that are Oscar worthy I am rooting for anything Les Miserables or Lincoln. And really I am 100% team Les Mis minus Sally Field as the wacko Marry Todd Lincoln, because she dominated that role!

Lincoln was good, but truth be told it was not my cup of tea and I found it kind of slow at times. I am so not into history things. #sorrynotsorry. I am very into singing things, therefore Les Mis made the cut, lol.

I am super bummed that I didn't get a chance to see Argo or Beasts of the Southern Wild before the show - (I suppose there is still time if I hurry!) I bet I would have really liked them both.

Nominated or not, favorite movie of 2012?
Tie goes to Moonrise Kingdom
(I love anything Wes Anderson makes, forever.) Him films take you to another world, and so so funny in such a subtle, remarkable way.

If you didn't love it, you don't get it. These movies are for smart people. lol

The movie it tied with, hands down:
Bernie

This shocking but true story is absolutely fascinating! Every single person involved with this movie was totally snubbed. I should really boycott the Oscars over this. I highly recommend you see it!

Honorable Mentions go to Skyfall, and 21 Jump Street just for being so stinkin' hilarious!

Best or Worst Dressed from any year?

Good Gracious, Whoopi.

What would I wear?

backwards suit a la Celine Dion!!! (only joking!)

maybe something Chanel?

and a heavy duty pair of Spanx, please. lol.

Join us next week - our topic will be 'stuff we'd NEVER do'!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Taste on ABC: Tuesday 8/7C

If you were on Twitter at all on Tuesday you may have noticed all the hullabaloo in the blogosphere about the new show The Taste.

I was really excited to see that Influenster had partnered with this show and were giving all the member opportunities to speak their mind about this new show since I have been watching it since the beginning. What you are thinking is true, there isn't a reality show out there that I wont watch, lol.

If you are a fan of 'The Voice' you will already understand the concept of this show. If not (me) allow me to explain. We have 4 celebrity chefs and a ton of people trying out to join their team. Just like a singing audition, some people rock it like Fantasia, and others are William Hung. So you prepare one bite of food for the judges to try in a blind taste test and they either pick you or not and invite you to join their team. Once the teams are all chosen each episode has a theme and they have both group and individual challenges until 2 people are ultimately eliminated in a blind taste test.

Now that you get this gist, let me tell you what a fun show this is! First of all the judges.

They are funny, very sassy, and most importantly know their stuff! It is amazing how they can eat a spoonful of mystery food and pick out all the flavors and perfectly describe the artfulness or where it falls short. They get to eat some super delicious looking things, I would totally volunteer to help them judge!!

The contestants are great too. After these first few episodes you really get to know everyone's stories and what sorts of things they enjoy cooking. The best part is that there are both professionals and home cooks. Surprisingly the home cooks can really hold their own against the pros. It inspires me to get creative in my kitchen and try something wacky and creative every once in a while. If these home cooks can do it, why can't I?!

My favorites that are still in the game are:

Sarah

I am totally biased because Sarah is a food blogger! She blogs here: http://www.bysarahashley.com/

followed! She was having problems with setting things on fire last week...

I also really love Lauren from Nigella's Kitchen. She seems like such a sweet girl and for as young as she is, she knows her stuff - esp for being a home cook as well!

I am def rooting for her because she is the last woman standing on Nigella's team, and there are still 10 contestants left!

Catch the latest episode here: http://abc.tv/Z3jimp and the whole season can be watched on ABC.com if you want to catch up with the gang. It is a really fun show and you may learn a few tips and tricks for your own kitchen!

Have you seen it? What are your thoughts?

Throwback Thursday - A Love Letter to Molly Shannon

It is throwback Thursday Day! Head over to Megan's blog and link up your throwback post!

Today I want to discuss SNL. Everyone always says SNL was never as good as it used to be. It doesn't matter what point in time you are at 2013, 2004, 1983 - at that point in time you thought current SNL stinks and the old stuff was solid gold. I get it.

Like all shows that withstand the test of time as SNL has, there are ebbs and flows throughout. I think SNL is so fantastic because you get to watch the amateur comedians start out in their careers then blossom into comedic greats that define generations. Will Ferrell anyone? So sure, the current cast might not be as awesome as casts past, but let them hit their stride and 10 years from now they will be starring in every funny movie being made.

I have a slew of favorite SNL cast members that I miss dearly, but whom I miss most of all and is my personal comedienne heroine is Molly Shannon. No one has ever in my life made me laugh as hard as her.

How good was Goth Talk??

Dog Show = Classic

Sally O'Malley <3

And I am still mad about this. What clown decided to shut down Kath & Kim? That show was awesome and apparently too ahead of its time.

So anyways, I hope you enjoyed my Molly Shannon tribute. She is a gem and a treasure and I wish she would make more TV and movies!

Monday, February 18, 2013

My Weekend of Solitude

Just a quick update on my weekend. It was magical! Aaron was gone at a conference and I had the whole place to myself. I got to sleep in the middle of the bed, I didn't have to cook anyone dinner at night (cereal night!!), I got to hang up all of Aaron's clothes that were in piles everywhere without him there to object.

But really.

But seriously, after the first couple of days I was ready for him to come back because I was bored. Basically I just cleaned out the hall closet that was filled from boxes we never unpacked when we moved in a year ago (for shame.) and gathered some things for a future garage sale my Mom is having.

The highlight of the weekend was dropping off said garage sale stuff at my Mom's house and my little bro and I took my car to the carwash. She looks like a new woman! But yeah, my weekend was the dullest of the dull, and I am sorry that I wasted 3 minutes of your time to read this post, lol.

Tomorrow I have my Sponsor giveaway going on, so be sure to check back :)

And check out Carly's Giveaway I am participating in here!

Oooh and I won a sweet custom signature from Chelsea @ Olive & Ivy - what do you think?? I love it! :)

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Snuggle Saturday #5 - Valentine's Day

Welcome to another edition of Snuggle Saturday!
We are chatting about Valentine's Day this week <3

1. Describe your most memorable Valentine's Day

My most memorable Valentine's Day was 2011, it was Aaron and I's 'engaged' Valentine's Day. It was mainly pretty simple but Aaron cooked us a fancy dinner and I thought he was going to burn my apartment down with fire...I actually blogged about it (with a video) here on my wedding blog which I need to start recapping on now that I finally have all my wedding pictures (a year later...)

2. Describe your worst Valentine's Day

I don't have a Valentine's Day that was bad in any real way. I suppose the ones where I didn't have a date were pretty boring, but I have never been too sad about anything on Valentine's Day. To me, it is about all sorts of love aside from romantic love, and I am lucky that I have never ever lacked in that department.

3. What's your ideal Valentine's Day date

I am not super picky about this or that making the 'perfect date' but preferably I'd like to watch the sun set in a hot air balloon. I have always wanted to do that and it just seems really cheesy and romantic :)

Source

Rules:

Follow the hosts, Sarah K and Natalie,
and co-hosts, Nicole at Pharr Away and Mandy at Through the Newlywed Lens.
Grab the button and be sure to visit two other bloggers!

**If you're interested in co-hosting and/or have a theme in mind,
please email your hosts at loveee.sarah@gmail.com or veggienat@gmail.com **

Next week's theme: THE OSCAR'S
1. Are you rooting for any film or actor/actress to win?

2. Nominated or not – what was your favorite movie of 2012?

3. Do you have a favorite best/worst dressed Oscar attendee from any year?

4. What would you wear to the Oscar’s??

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

General Updates

These are just some general life updates because I haven't felt creative lately. My brain is mush after doing a whole lot of tax returns this week, lol.

So Aaron and I had Valentine's Day festivities yesterday because he is going out of town tomorrow morning. We kept it super simple because we just had our anniversary two weeks ago, and we are anti-social a lot of the time so I cooked us dinner. I made lobster tails for the first time ever, and I totally rocked it. I also made really good creamed spinach. Sorry for the bragging, I was just really proud of myself, lol.

Here are the links to the recipes I used:
Lobster Tails and Creamed Spinach

This is not the actual one I made. I wish!

I think if I didn't have to have a full time job, I would just blog and cook all day long. I am learning to love it now that I am getting more skilled.

Did anyone watch the State of the Union address last night? I really liked it. I think Obama is by far one of the most intelligent Presidents the US has seen in decades. At very least he is super knowledgeable about economic factors that can drive positive outcomes. I am certain he aced all his social econ. classes. I was also very moved in the portion of the speech when he talked about the victims of gun violence deserving a vote.

Side note that bothers me about the Republican rebuttal by Marco Rubio and I suppose all right wingers is how they want smaller government. I get the point of it all, but when it is coming out of the mouth of someone currently employed by the government, I have a hard time with taking it seriously. It is more of just an attitude thing, like I got elected here and I don't want to spread my wings and make things better for citizens, I just want to assume it is all bad and shut it down. I feel like it would be me going to my boss and saying, I'd like the same paycheck and all but I only want to do A B and C because the accounting department is just too big and involved and I don't want to do anything hard. So I am just going to stop filing, and making collection calls, researching inventory errors and analyzing statements because we don't really 'need' those things. Maybe that is just me...?

So I am really looking forward to my alone time this weekend. It is incredibly difficult to be an introvert and never getting to be by yourself in your home. So I am going to savor it while it lasts! I for sure am going to spend some of that time doing some blog posts so the same ol' post wont be up for days on end. Sorry about that, by the way.

There will be an awesome giveaway I have joined in on with a bunch of other bloggers going up tomorrow, so be sure to check back and enter!

That is all I have for today!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Snuggle Saturday #4 - Doppelgangers

The Rules:

Follow the hosts and co-hosts for the week,

and share the button on your post!

Follow Hosts:

Natalie at At Home With The Hinkleys and Sarah at Love, Sarah K

Follow Co-Hosts

Andi at Just Another Smith.

This is me

and I look a lot like

Jonah Hill.

Feel free to have a chuckle at my expense, I have already made peace with it. lol.

I def think it is the hair and the blue eyes and roundness that make us look so similar, what do you think? Brother from another mother, or not?

I hope you link up with us and show us your lookalike!!

Next week's questions:
1. Describe your most memorable Valentines Day?
2. Describe your worst Valentines Day?
3. What's your ideal Valentines Date?http://just-another-smith.blogspot.com/

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Throwback Thursday! Childhood Crushes

This is one of my favorite linkups! Isn't nostalgia wonderful?? :)

Megan is sharing her childhood crushes, and I thought I would do the same and just keep this week consistent, lol.

Jordan from The New Kids on the Block was probably my first memorable crush. I had the barbie doll version of him and everything. Fun fact, this doll had totally plastic painted on hair yet a barbie hair rat tail. It was awesome and gross all at the same time.

What girl didn't have a crush on Zack Morris back then?? He was the sassy bad boy, right? Now he is totally lame, everything has come full circle. Fun fact, I was thrown out of a Dustin Diamond (Screech) stand-up comedy show because my bf at the time and his friend were heckling him, lol. He is terrible and totally deserved it, so don't feel bad for him.

Remember that movie Ladybugs with Rodney Dangerfield? Well this young gent was his son, who cross dressed to join a girl's soccer team? Anyway, I thought he was the cuuutest back then. Not so fun fact, I googled him to see what he was up to these days and he actually committed suicide in 2003. That is a downer, to say the least. :(

Jordan Catalono. His eyes pierce my soul. I was a giant fan of My So Called Life back in the day and like Angela, had it bad for Jordan. Such an enigma. My grunge heart throb <3 Not so fun fact, Jared Leto is 41 now!!? Way to make me feel super old.

So that wraps up this edition of Natalie's childhood crushes.

Who did you crush on when you were young?

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

My Celebrity Crushes

Welcome to Natalie's celebrity crush list. This post was inspired my one of my pinterest friends pinning 1000 pictures of Ryan Gosling recently, lol. So here is an abbreviated list of my celebrity crushes. Enjoy!

(these are in no particular order)
1. Ryan Gosling. I fell for Ryan Gosling after seeing Lars and the Real Girl. I think I am just attracted to weirdos. Case in point, my husband. lol. I was late to the party on seeing The Notebook, and I didn't really think it was all that. But I looooved Lars and the Real Girl. Plus it made me want to live somewhere with snow.
2. Jake Gyllenhaal. He is my celebrity crush I have loved the longest. When I saw Donnie Darko, I pledged to find Jake and force him to marry me. I guess I just got sidetracked. But darn, he is so cute and mysterious.
3. Nev Schulman (and Max). The duo on MTV's new show Catfish. The story lines of catfish are always the same. People lie about who they are online. But these two are really why I love watching week after week. They are all artsy film makers, and Nev is so kind and understanding. And that smile. Sigh...
4. Mo Rocca. Mo became my celebrity crush one fateful day when I caught one of those all day marathons of I love the 90's on Vh1. He was SO FUNNY. And cute! The way to my heart is def through my funny bone.
5. Ira Glass. Host of This American Life on NPR. I could listen to him talk forever!
6. Colin Meloy. Lead singer of the Decemberists. Brilliant song-writer and musician. How could I not??
7. Jemaine Clement. He is another one who is very funny and cute. One of my all time favorite movies, Eagle vs. Shark, stars Clement and he is a total weirdo. Be still my heart. lol.

In conclusion, I think it is plain to see that I love a smart/artsy guy in glasses. <3

Who are your celebrity crushes??