I am wanting to be healthier but still craving chocolate so I made these cookies and they were not that bad and only 70 calories per cookie and 1 point on Weight Watchers.
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray. 2. In large bowl, mix all ingredients with spoon. Onto cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart. 3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered container. Freeze up to 2 months if desire
The Regis and Kelly show decided that it would be a great idea to five hundred women in NYC run a race in 3 inch heels. My friends Reagan and Becca were lucky enough to be chosen to be part of this one time event. Kelly was in the race and was favored to win but she did not stand a chance against some of these girls that took it very seriously. Great job Reagan and Becca for completing the race with so much grace.
Once a month for two years now I have been a member of a very important club, the card club. No, we don't sit around and play games, we make cards that we then give out to others. Many of you might have noticed that I send more cards out these days and I put a lot of work into them. There are about nine of us girls that get together and someone different each month hosts the evening. The person hosting comes up an idea that we should all do and has the supplies for everyone else. Then, everyone comes with enough cards to hand out to every other member of the group, it is a great set up. I have really come to enjoy this evening (so does Doug because it usually gives him an opportunity to play Halo). Not only are we learning a skill but we are also forming some great friendships. I have come to really value all of these ladies in many different ways. I admire how we all look after each other and we make sure that every ones needs are met. This is truly something that I am going to miss when we move. Thank you ladies for the fond memories, I will cherish them always. The picture shows one of the cards made this month, so cute.
Yesterday Doug was able to skip out of work early so that we could go see the filming of The Conan Obrien Show. Thanks to our friend Kayte we were able to get VIP seating. It was enjoyable, we didn't have to wait in any long lines or anything which is always a plus these days. They showed us a clip of all the "Best of Conan" that was really funny. Conan came out and had a little chat with us, he seems like a nice guy. His kids were there so it was fun to watch him play with them. When the show started it really was not that funny until he admitted that his lines were true but not that funny.
The first guest was Kyra Sedgwick (Doug had no idea who she was and all I could say was that she was married to Kevin Bacon). She was way thin in person but did not have much to say. She just wanted to talk about her experience at the nudest beach with her brothers.
Then there was Jim Cramer from Mad Money. His ideas were a little out there but he seemed to think that he had some great ideas. Doug said that nobody of importance really listens to him, he may know his stuff but he is often wrong in his opinions.
Then there was Joe Crocker who I did not recognize until he started to sing. I very much enjoyed his performance even though he looked like he was going to fall over. He sang two songs and in my opinion he still has it.
I am glad that we had the opportunity to go, Conan Obrein has now been checked off the list.
This week’s appreciation goes out to Stacey Hallmark. I cannot say enough good things about her but there is one bad thing....she makes all of us other wives look bad. Not only did she plan a Halo night for all the husbands, she then cooked them dinner and baked cookies once they were all there. I just buy them pizza and go out with the girls!! Truly...Stacey is an amazing friend, wife, and mother. There has been many nights that she has cooked us dinner when I just did not have the strength to do it and it was always incredible. She will take me to Costco when needed, and always makes sure to check in with me. She is very talented as well. I went over for a birthday lunch (yep, still working that birthday thing) and she made me some beautiful earrings on the fly...the girl has skills.
I don't know if this is just sad, but I know that it is true. I love this world of blogs because I can actually keep in touch with friends but are we taking away from everything personal??
When we went to Coney Island, I thought I was prepared for an epic battle between Joey "Jaws" Chestnut and Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi. I was totally unprepared for the spectacle that ensued. As some background, Kobayashi burst onto the scene in 2001. Over years the hot dog eating record had risen to 24 1/2 and in 2001 Kobayashi, as a rookie, ate 50 hot dogs (which was such a shock that they didn't have signs counting that high) and remained undefeated until last year when Joey Chestnut defeated Kobayashi and set a world record of 66 hot dogs in the process. There was a bit of a mark on the victory because Kobayashi had a jaw injury. Somehow, showing the triumph of the human spirit, he still managed 63 hot dogs. This year there were no excuses and it was bound to be awesome. We were not disappointed. We arrived at 10:30 and thought the competition was at 12:00. Initially we thought an hour and a half would be long. Then we found out the coverage on ESPN started at noon but the contest wasn't until 12:40ish. I wasn't sure what to do. Fortunately, the world's greatest emcee was running the event. George Shea, who is also the chairman of the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE), burst onto the stage with this line: Competitive eating is the battleground upon which God and Lucifer waged war for men's souls. It caught me totally unprepared and he went on with some of the most over the top, preposterous, and amazing introductions of the competitive eaters. Here's a little highlight:
Needless to say, we were entertained. Finally the competition started. Chestnut jumped out to a quick lead, downing 10 hot dogs in the opening minute. I'm pretty sure there were two hot dogs in his mouth in the first 10 seconds. Ridonculous. He built up a four hot dog lead. Kobayashi battle back, took the lead, and was up by several hot dogs late in the competition. Somehow, and I'm still not sure how this happened, Chestnut came back and tied Kobayashi at the very last second. I mean, the very last second. It's known (I'm sure you already knew) Chestnut has a bigger mouth and he somehow stuffed an extra hot dog in at the last second. You don't have to the brät swallowed when time is up, it just has to be in your mouth. But seriously, how many hot dogs can you stuff in your mouth? Especially after eating over 50 in ten minute? But I digress. For the first time in history, there was a tie. 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes. To break the tie, they had an eat off. The first to eat five more hot dogs. No biggie, right?. Joey won by maybe a quarter of a dog. It was so epic. The place went nuts. There were tens of thousands (seriously, the official count was 45,000 last year) crammed around watching the US reassert it's global dominance. We celebrated for a few minutes and then headed off to the beach, awestruck and amazed. Many of you will remember for our previous post about Coney Island. While we didn't go visit the official freak show this time, the freaks were out en force. After topping the day off with a funnel cake, I had accomplished pretty much everything I set out to do. We had a sweet time at Coney Island. If you're ever in NY for the fourth, there's only one place you should be.
Our friend Ryan, whom you all might remember from my birthday videos, out did himself last night. He put on a one man show to celebrate this 4th of July. Words can not express how funny this man is so here are the videos:
If these videos don't get you excited to be an American and proud of our country, I don't know what will.
I have a feeling that last night was the last supper that this group will all be together. Everyone is the picture above has affected my life more then any of them will ever know. The picture shows Tracy, Doug, myself, Carl, Jeff, Caitlin, and Dave. We all have a bond of be single and Mormon here in NYC. Doug, Carl, and Dave (all guys in blue) were roommates when Doug and I started dating. There were many times that I was the fourth roommate especially during the subway strike of 2005. I could always count on Dave being there to talk and sending embarrassing texts from my phone and Carl having a chocolate snack stored somewhere in the apartment. My favorite quote from Carl is "Your shoes are your exclamation point to your outfits" He just gets me!! Caitlin and Doug were good friends from BYU so they continued their friendship here in the city. Because I was always with Doug, Caitlin and I became fast friends. I actually met Caitlin before meeting Doug because she is one of the most social and friendly people that I know. The first time that I met her she told me that I was so pretty and I knew that we were going to be friends forever. Tracy and Caitlin are besties and Tracy, Dave, and Doug used to hang out all the time with their dessert group. Tracey and I were both Activity Leaders for our wards so we would plan the parties together. We were a perfect team, I loved to plan the parties and her ward had all the money (thanks to Doug being the clerk and demanding more money). Tracy is one of those friends that you can count on no matter what. Jeff joined the gang when him and Caitlin met at Duck Beach and started dating (I had actually met Jeff earlier from my old roommate), but Jeff fit right in. He came to my birthday party two years ago and totally understood what I big deal it was...I knew that he was perfect for Caitlin. So did everyone else after Caitlin sent me an e-mail talking about her new crush but sent to "reply all" instead of just to me (this reply all e-mail went to everyone invited to Doug's birthday party so it was no short list). All in all we have had some good times and great memories together. I am sad to see them come to an end. Last night we did it right. We went to dinner at Grapes and Grain downtown and way on the east side. I thought that people were kidding when they said that there was an Avenue B. The reviews seemed to good to be true but they had it right on. This place is great and worth the two subways and walk to get to. We were able to take our time and enjoy everything. We then walked to ChikaLicious and enjoyed some yummy dessert. Carl once again came through and bought me some creme brulee'...fantastic!! I so love all of these guys and I am hoping that our Blogs and Facebook will make it so that we always keep in touch. Ok Tracy and Dave....and gmail.
