30 Minutes That Changed My Outlook

Today was just one of those days at work. So instead of staying stressed all day, I went for a walk along the Potomac River. And on my walk I...

- Saw a bald eagle.

- Marveled at the beautiful weather, colors, and scenery.

- Ignored the emails, meetings, and phone calls back at work.

- Left the path to crunch leaves under my feet.

- Escaped to my own piece of solitude.

And smiled at everyone along the way. I'm going to make it a daily routine.

Carrie Underwood Play On Review

Ever since I saw her on American Idol, I've been a big Carrie Underwood fan so I've been eagerly anticipating the release of her third album. I love Some Hearts but will admit that I was a little disappointed with Carnival Ride. There were some songs on it that I loved but probably only 5 or 6. I thought that since I posted about getting Play On that it would be fitting to let you know what I think.

So here's a play by play.

#1- Cowboy Casanova- I love this song. It reminds me a lot of Before He Cheats with the big voice and upbeat tempo. And it's a lot of fun to sing. 5 out of 5 stars.

#2- Quitter - The beginning of this song reminds me of a "Boys Are Better Than Girls" song that my sister-in-law made at Disney Quest, which makes me smile. It's a fun upbeat number that's pretty catchy. 3 out of 5 stars.

#3- Mama's Song- I really like this song about a girl telling her mom that she's found someone else to take care of her and that he'll take good care of her. It reminds me a lot of Don't Forget to Remember Me but Carrie's vocals are amazing. 4 out of 5 stars.

#4- Change - I've read a bunch of reviews that call this song cliche and "the next Idol Gives Back theme song," but I love it. A song about a small thing making all the difference and amazing vocals make it one of my favorites on the album. 5 out of 5 stars.

#5- Undo It - Another upbeat one with fun vocals. Probably my 2nd favorite upbeat song after Cowboy Casanova. 4 out of 5 stars.

#6- Someday When I Stop Loving You - This song is my least favorite out of the first eight, but I still like it. A slow ballad with good vocals and a beautiful chorus. 3 out of 5 stars.

#7- Songs Like This - A catchy upbeat song with good chorus (and it's a lot of fun to sing); another Carrie revenge song that is addicting. 3 out of stars.

#8 - Temporary Home - This song reminds me why I love country music. Stories, beautiful singing, and a great message. 5 out of 5 stars.

#9 - This Time - This upbeat ballad is just okay for me and kind of forgettable. I had to listen to it four times before I really remembered it at all. 3 out of 5 stars for good vocals.

#10- Look At Me - This song reminded me a lot of the last half of Carnival Ride that I skip over pretty much every time I listen to it. I'm not a huge fan of real slow ballads, and yes Carrie sings it well, but similiar to I Told You So, I just get bored. 2 out of 5 stars for good vocals.

#11- Unapologize - A song about a girl who tells someone about her feelings, apologizes for those feelings, then decides to unapologize for what she says. Not particularly catchy or memorable although the more I listen to it, it's growing on me. 3 out of 5 stars.

#12 - What Can I Say - This could be one of my favorite Carrie songs ever. A duet with Sons of Sylvia (who I didn't know before but am going to look up now), their voices blend together to create a beautiful sound. 5 out of 5 stars.

#13- Play On - My least favorite out of all of the upbeat songs, this just isn't memorable to me at all. Another song about pushing (or playing) on when you get to the end or hit difficulty. The idea reminded me of The Climb, but it's nowhere near as catchy or powerful. 2 out of 5 stars.

My Least Favorites:
- Play On
- Unapologize
- Look At Me

My Favorites:
- Change
- Temporary Home
- What Can I Say

Overall album rating - 4 out of 5 stars

Wax On, Wax Off

For the first time since I bought my car six years ago, I failed my safety inspection. And the reason? My headlights are too dirty. The car place was going to charge me $180 to CLEAN MY HEADLIGHTS. Since I don't have an extra couple of hundred dollars sitting around, I decided to try and clean them myself. Hopefully this is good enough to pass the inspection.

Before (Left)

After (Left)

Before (Right)
After (Right)

A Lot to Look Forward To

I've seen lots of people doing the NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and a lot of people posting something they're grateful for every day this month. I don't think I can commit to posting every day this month, but I'll do my best to post more regularly.

This fall is proving to be a great one, and I'm expecting it to get even better. Here are ten things I'm looking forward to in the next few months.

1. Carrie Underwood's new album Play On comes out tomorrow. Already pre-ordered.
2. I'm going to see Giada from Food Network do a demonstration at the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show on Saturday. Oh and did I mention there will be samples galore?
3. We are going out (with five other couples) to a cabin in the Shenandoah Valley in two weeks for the weekend. What could be better than good friends, games, and the outdoors?
4. New Moon at 12:01 AM. Enough said.
5. Going to Ohio for Thanksgiving to see my family including an aunt and uncle I haven't seen in over three years.
6. Christmas parties. Christmas cookies. Christmas music. Really just anything Christmas.
7. Going to Texas for Christmas; we haven't been since last fall, and it's definitely time.
8. My office is moving over to National Harbor. I'm really falling in love with that area.
9. Time off from work. I haven't really taken time off since our trip to Europe in May. That's a long time to work every day especially for a girl who really enjoys her vacation time.
10. Doing something fun and exciting to celebrate our 3-year anniversary in December.

What are you looking forward to right now?

H1N1 + Octomom = One Great Halloween Party

We co-hosted our first Halloween party this weekend for a bunch of our friends that we've been planning for the last month. We had around 30 people there, and I'd say from their smiles they had a great time.

We of course had a costume contest - what Halloween party is complete without a costume contest - with some very creative entries including Octomom (my personal favorite), H1N1, Burger King and Wendy, and Mario and Peach. Richie was wolverine, and I was planning to be Carrie Underwood but basically ended up just wearing normal clothes because I couldn't get a bat.

H1N1

Flapper and Gangster

Dr. Grey/McDreamy & Pope/Nun

Egor and Mad Scientist

Wolverine

The girls

And the guys

Richie and Me

The big event of the night was an Amazing race type game Richie and I put together based on a combination of reality shows we've seen lately (Survivor, Amazing Race, Food Network Race). We split everyone into teams of eight and everyone had to race through four different challenges with two people on each team participating in each challenge.

It all started out with team members eating pieces of candy out of a pile until they found one with a sticker. And then they had to wrap up their team member with toilet paper like a mummy. Once the mummy was wrapped up, the mummy had to transfer pieces of candy corn from a bowl to a cup with a spoon in their mouth.

After the candy corn, the next team member had to finish a plate full of food I wouldn’t have been able to down. Once the food was completely gone the final team members had to pop balloons with letters and then the first team to unscramble the word was the winner and won a set of gift cards to some of our favorite places around here.

And now I'm ready to start planning the Christmas party.

Fall Food

I just read through a bunch of blogs and noticed that people are cooking galore. I think maybe it's fall that makes people want to stay in and cook rather than going out. Who knows? We've been doing a lot of experimenting lately and it's turned out well, mostly. Here's the goodness we've been enjoying lately.

Couscous Stuffed Acorn Squash

Citrus Fennel Salad

Cannellini Spinach Dip (Giada recipe)

Cucumber Carpaccio

Fritto Misto (another Giada recipe)

Lettuce Wraps

Baked Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato Chips

Mommy and Me

This weekend was exactly what I needed. Shopping, relaxaing, eating good food, and catching up with my mom. It's hard for me knowing that the rest of my immediate family is all living in the same house (including my older brother's family) right now and doing everything together. So it was so nice to have my mom come see me so I wasn't quite so homesick.

We started it out with a delicious dinner Friday night at a Japanese steakhouse. I really want to know what they put in Japanese fried rice; there just isn't anything like it. Maybe it's the yummy sauce.

Then Saturday I went out to Vienna and ran the 5K with a bunch of my good friends. We all finished and had a great time, but I realized that I need to learn how to run fast. I've got the distance thing down, now I just need to work on speed. Oh and I told my friend I'd run a marathon with her in March but more about that tomorrow.

After the 5K, my mom an dI went down to Potomac Mills and shopped until we couldn't walk anymore, literally. My mom's shoes fell apart, and my feet were killing me by the end. But it was worth it. Check out the goods.

Pink sweater from Banana Republic and brown pants from Ann Taylor

Orange and red wrap top and black pencil skirt from Ann Taylor

(I’ve been looking for one forever!!!)

Gray sweater from Espirit (with a hoodie type pouch)

And shopping wouldn’t be complete without boots.

And then we had dinner at Famous Daves, and I figured out the perfect order at Famous Daves. Chicken tender appetizer with a bun, bacon, and buffalo sauce on the side = delicious crispy chicken sandwich. Sunday we went to church then played games. My mom beat me by five points in Scrabble on the word Helix. Then we went and visited a good family friend who lives in Great Falls and had a delicious dinner of steak and strawberry salad.

And then the weekend ended way too quickly and my mom had to go home. But luckily I'll see her (and the rest of my family) in Ohio for Thanksgiving. But overall, a great weekend! I love you mom.