Things I Love Thursday-Cake Doughnuts

I LOVE cake doughnuts! If you're ever in the Portland area, do try to stop at Voodoo Doughnuts. You won't be disappointed!

The couple that eats an inappropriate baked good together, stays together.

Things I Love Thursday-Good Things Come in small Packages

I LOVE my new business card holder. My old one was a hand me down from my former boss and wasn't really my style so I've been in the market for a new one for awhile now. The other holders I've had my eye on were going for around $20 to $30. Pricey, right? Luckily, the shopping gods have been smiling down on me recently so last week I found this new treasure for the low, low price of $4.50. It works great for work or play since it fits neatly into a small purse or clutch too. Thanks, Forever 21 accessories!

Things I Love Thursday-New Music

I LOVE discovering new music. Although I have to be honest and say that most of the music that I discover is mostly music that Josh has discovered first and either a) recommended to me or b) left lying around for me to get my greedy little paws on. And that my friends, is what marriage is all about.

Most recently, I've incorporated the Avett Brothers into my music library. They'll be in Des Moines in June, so excited to see them live!

Things I Love Thursday-I've got Shoes, they're Multiplying

I LOVE flats. It wasn't until this past winter that I really embraced the shoe that is the flat. Generally, I've opted for the pointy toe heel but after buying a pair at Kohl's for only $4, I am definitely a flat convert and enthusiast. I picked up these two pairs at DSW on clearance, not for $4, but I love them just the same.

Things I Love Thursday-Library Books

A good read and it's free!

I LOVE library books. I forgot how much I liked them but fortunately I was in the neighborhood last week and ended up stopping by the West Des Moines one, thus rekindling my love. I was discouraged at first because they didn't have the books that I was looking for but luckily, I was able to get Jennifer on the phone and she had a few other suggestions for me. And now, I think I've been pulled out of my Twilight reverie and am officially ready to re-enter the world of Chick Lit.

Things I Love Thursday-Open Sesame

I LOVE sesame chicken. It's been my most favorite Chinese food dish ever since I discovered Chinese food. However, it wasn't until last year that I stumbled upon the BEST sesame chicken ever in the history of ever. It's crispy, has the perfect amount of breading, sesame seeds and sauce. In one word, delightful. And you can find it here...

For your convenience, here's a map to the sesame chicken that will forever change your life.

Things I Love Thursday-Nard Dog

I LOVE Andy Bernard. I jumped on "The Office" bandwagon last year and ever since then I've been in stitches. I think all the characters are pretty hilarious but Andy Bernard has definitely won me over. How can you resist that a capella singing Cornell grad?

Things I Love Thursday-Brits

I LOVE sassy British girl music. I've found that the heavier the accent, the sassier they get. I've also found that it's way more fun to sing really loud while doing a British accent.

Kate Nash-




Lily Allen-

Things I Love Thursday-POTATOES

Pic from here

I LOVE potatoes. Baked, fried, mashed, it's all delicious in my book. As part of our Lenten journey, Josh and I gave up potatoes of any kind. It may sound like a silly sacrifice, but my love affair with this little vegetable is borderline crazy so this was a logical choice for me.

Now, the 40 days are nearly up and I'm very excited to welcome back 'Tato' and his close relatives, fries and chips. I'm particularly excited about fries and have developed a plan of attack for places that I will visit in order to satiate my fry appetite. B-Bop's beware, I'm coming for you first!

Things I Love Thursday-Summer Treats

I LOVE popsicles. Josh took ill last week and asked me to buy him some popsicles. I came home from Hy-Vee that afternoon with a 20-count of assorted flavors and have since determined that this might be the single best purchase I've made in 2009 so far. I totally forgot how much I like these summer treats! It definitely reminds me of summer. And to think, I've been wasting all this time on ice cream, what a shame!

Things I Love Thursday-Guilty as Charged

I LOVE guilty pleasures. They may make others cringe or laugh out loud but I can't help indulging myself! Here, in no particular order, are my top 5 Guilty Pleasures:

1. 90s and early 2000s pop music-NSync, Britney, Backstreet Boys, the cheesier the better. I nearly shed tears of joy when I hear a one hit wonder like Dream.
2. Vinegar-on anything and everything.
3. Reading the Twilight books a second time and then re-reading my favorite parts out of each individual book because I'm not ready to commit to another book yet.
4. Dancing to "Get Low" by Lil Jon as if I'm 18; I probably should've left the getting low on The Hill when I said farewell to UNI.
5. Forgoing any news program to watch reruns of just about any 90s sitcom. My morning schedule includes "Saved by the Bell" and "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and the noon hour features a viewing of "Home Improvement", (insert Tim Taylor grunt here).

Things I Love Thursday-Pretty Pictures

I LOVE pictures. I like taking them, hanging them up, looking at them and "enhancing" them. Jennifer introduced me to the photo editing site, Picnik when she decided to redo the header on her own blog. Naturally, I followed suit and for awhile my blog title looked like this...

Since then, I've really embraced Picnik and all it has to offer. I used it to create our wedding thank yous, my current blog header as well as some work related stuff. It's definitely a good tool for anyone looking to add that certain je ne sais quoi to their most beloved photo.

Things I Love Thursday-Brunch

I LOVE brunch, more specifically, Granite City's brunch. Feasting on their all-you-can-eat smorgasboard of tasty breakfast and lunch foods is the best way to start a Sunday. I don't really dig on the lunch items but their thick cut bacon, hash browns and giant caramel rolls are more than enough reason for me to hand over my $16.99. Yum!

Our local Granite City.

Things I Love Thursday-Pants Party

I LOVE these pants from Target. Dean and Dawn gave them to me as a Christmas gift and they are officially my favorite workout pants. They aren't nearly as hot as my sweatpants and they provide the flexibility that my cat-like reflexes require :)

C9 by Champion Bootcut Pants (P.S. this isn't me, in case you were wondering)

Things I Love Thursday-I Wanna Dance!

I LOVE reality TV dance competitions. I truly cannot get enough of America's Best Dance Crew and So You Think You Can Dance. How could these two shows get any better? Simple, take contestants from So You Think You Can Dance season 3 and have them form a crew to compete on America's Best Dance Crew season 3. Maybe my subconscious is telling me that I should've taken dance instead of devoting my childhood years to gymnastics. Sigh, I'll just have to live vicariously through these guys.

Things I Love Thursday-South Beach

I LOVE South Beach Diet's High Protein Cinnamon Raisin Cereal Bars. Every day, for the past six months or so, I've been grabbing one of these nutritious and delicious bars on my way to work. It's really the perfect way to start a morning (and a great way for me to justify all the other junk food I eat during the rest of the day).

Things I Love Thursday-"let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters..."

I LOVE Ingrid Michaelson. Last summer we went to 80-35 with BJ and Jill and at first I was skeptical about going both days since it was little pricey. However, Jill was super excited about seeing up and comer Ingrid Michaelson. I thought Ms. Michaelson put on a pretty good show at the time but I was far too preoccupied with getting my gyro fix to truly enjoy her music. Now six months later, I'm constantly listening to her on Pandora and I bought both of her CDs on iTunes.

I'm particularly in love with the song that she does with Jason Mraz on her "Be OK" CD.

A belated thank you to Jill for unknowingly introducing me to my new favorite CD six months ago.

Things I Love Thursday-Robin Sparkles

I LOVE this music video from "How I Met Your Mother". Who can resist the Canadian pop stylings of Robin Sparkles?

Things I Love Thursday-music to my ears

I LOVE Pandora. Josh introduced me to this internet radio last year and now every time I sit down at the computer I automatically go to Pandora before doing anything else. It's nice to have a little background music while blogging or checking email. Just type in a favorite song or artist and then it creates a station that plays music similar to that genre, plus it's free!

Here's a screenshot of Pandora playing a few tunes while I blog.

Things I Love Thursday-the best things come in threes, or fours, or sevens...

I LOVE being able to read a series of books,watch the seasons of a TV show or view a trilogy of movies back-to-back-to-back until I'm completely and utterly finished with it. I've spent many a day/week absorbed in a fictional world, only getting up from the couch for food and to go to the bathroom. To illustrate, I'll give you my "Lord of the Rings" example. I watched the first two movies in the trilogy back-to-back and then headed to the theater to see the third one as the credits of the second one were rolling on my TV. Last year, TNT decided it would be a good idea to play all three movies consecutively on a Sunday afternoon. Great for them, bad for my productivity. Some might call this sort of activity, (or lack thereof), ridiculous but I call it awesome.

I've handed over much of my hard earned cash to Barnes & Noble and Target just to get my series fix.