From the category archives:

31 While 31

Fancy Jello Shots

by agirlandhermutt on April 9, 2012

Sometimes you just have to state the obvious. Here is how my weekend went down…

Silly pictures of the moon.

Fancy schmancy jello shots.

Deviled eggs. The Scientist’s favorite and something I didn’t know about him.

The world’s cutest dog. Seriously. Korky melts my heart every.time.

Another adorable face for me to look at.

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See those fancy jello shots? I was doing a little browsing around Pinterest for some fun things to make over the weekend (32W32 is gettin’ done!) and caught of a glimpse of fantastic looking jello shots in fruit. What a genius idea. I knew we would be going to a birthday party over the weekend so this was the perfect time to make them. What would I have done with no party? Would it be weird to just make them for yourself? Heh.

“What are we having for dinner tonight Erin?”
“Oh, just a few jello shots. Do you want some roasted brussels too?”

Anywho…

I tried making them with oranges and lemons. They both tasted great, but the lemons held up so much better.

There are TONS of directions out there on how to make these, but I do have a few tips.

*Cut stem to stem. This is especially true for the orange. When you start to remove the flesh of the fruit there is a tendency for it to rip where the stem was.

*To keep the shells upright while the jello set I used a muffin tin. You could use a clean one. I decided to use this gross one and then photograph it for you all to see.

*When pouring into the fruit shells use a container with a pour spout.

*Fill it all the way to the top of the shell. As the jello sets, it will shrink a little.

*Use mini (nips) of alcohol for your flavored shooters. Most of the recipes call for 1 cup which is just a little more than 4 minis. I used the 4 and it worked perfectly. I also didn’t have to buy a big ol’ bottle of flavored vodka that I would NEVER work all the way through.

*When slicing the jello after it has set, use a sharp knife that has been run under warm water and then dried off. The knife doesn’t tear the jello as much that way.

Folks, I might retire the boxed wine that I typically bring to parties and make these jello shots my contribution. Who wants to invite me first?!

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I hope you guys all had a great weekend!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Fishs Eddy giveaway. The winner is…

Suki!

Congrats! Email me your mailing info and I will get you your goodies ASAP!

See ya tomorrow!

{ 6 comments }

New 32-While-32 List!

by agirlandhermutt on February 28, 2012

Hello friends! That time of year has come again for me to look at the year ahead, think about a few things I want to accomplish and put those items into a nice little list. This list of items to accomplish is meant to be fun and to be used as a tool to drive me to do things that I may otherwise not think to do. This list isn’t meant to be stressful or a pain in my butt, but rather doable and entertaining. There is no pressure to finish this list, but the satisfaction in doing so would be immense. Or I imagine it would be if I had ever finished my list. I’m talking about the X While X list. I’ve been making this list for several years now and started documenting my list fun a few years ago. No, I haven’t been 100% successful in marking everything off the list, but it was fun trying.

30W30
31W31 (still updating my final results!)

On Feb 13th I turned 32 and officially my list name changed from 31W31 to 32W32.

Without further ado….

*32-While-32*

1. Go on a proper picnic.
2. Visit the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.
3. Visit a state I haven’t been to before.
4. Visit an out of town friend.
5. Give someone flowers for no reason.
6. “Unplug” for one week at home. No computer, internet, or surfing on the phone.
7. Complete Project 365.
8. Have pictures of Korky taken.
9. Donate/Throw Out/Give Away 100 items.
10. Attend a blogging conference.
11. Go to the zoo.
12. Eat at a restaurant run by a former Top Chef contestant.
13. Film a YouTube video & post it.
14. Have “Discover the Neighborhood Day” on bike.
15. Run a 5k.
16. Create/Make 5 things from Pinterest.
17. Go vegan for 1 week.
18. Make ravioli from scratch.
19. Learn to play chess.
20. Learn the perfect cookie recipe by heart.
21. Learn to cook a recipe from 10 different countries.
22. Read 12 books that are NOT part of book club.
23. Take a ride in a hot air balloon.
24. Visit 3 museums.
25. Make at least 5 homemade gifts for friends.
26. Take a sewing class.
27. Document my CSA share experience each week.
28. Complete NROLFW.
29. Plan a surprise day for The Scientist.
30. Make a photobook of my favorite photos.
31. Host a girls dinner party.
32. Take Korky to the beach.

*A new feature to this list is that for every item I complete I will add $5 to the Spa Day Savings jar. For every item that I do not complete I will donate $5 to the Humane Society. <—Don’t worry. I donate on a regular basis, but this would be in addition to my yearly donation.

Do any of you have a X While X list? Maybe a 101 in 1001 list? Leave a link in the comments to your list!

{ 4 comments }

January Goals Update and New February Goals!

by agirlandhermutt on February 1, 2012

Hello friends! Its officially MY BIRTHDAY MONTH! I love February!

Since it is the first of the month it is time to buckle down and see how I did with those monthly goals and move onwards with new goals!

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January Goals

1. Take lunch to work every day.- Kind of. I didn’t take it every single day, but I only missed about 3 times total. Not bad, huh? This particular goals wasn’t that realistic since there are time where I do enjoy going out to lunch with my co-workers or friends. The all or nothing approach just doesn’t work for me.

2. Practice yoga at least 2x/week.- YEP! I’m so glad to be back to a regular practice schedule. I’d love to try a local studio and The Scientist said he would be into going.

3. Mark 2 items off the 31W31 list.-YES! I need to do a little updating on the page, but I made some progress here.

5. Identify 100 things that make me happy- DONE!
18. Make a font out of my handwriting- DONE!
23. Make a birthday cake for someone.- KIND OF! But with a little bit of a disaster ending. I made a cake for my friend Karen, but it just didn’t work. Waahhhh! It is the thought that counts?

4. No clothing purchases until Feb 1st.- Maybe? Do 2 belts count? I bought them in a moment of frenzy shopping at Target. oops!

5. Find a photography class to take online.- Kind of! I found a great class online that I had heard about, but then my camera broke. Now I am doing a lot of debating on the type and style of camera I want to get. The class starts the beginning of March so I really need to decide. As a bonus, I did sign up for an ASL class!

Overall- A great month! I set out to accomplish some small little goals and I did. Woot!

Next up?! Birthday Month Goals!

FEBRUARY GOALS

1. Stick with NROLFW schedule 2-3x/week. I got the book New Rules of Lifting for Women about two weeks ago and I’ve been doing it faithfully. I’m really enjoying the program and I can already see some progress. I’m also slowly pulling folks into the cult following.

2. Get my Scentsy business up and running! I’m officially a Scentsy Independent Consultant and while I don’t want this to become a part-time job kind of thing, I would like to make the most out of it. Seriously. Who doesn’t love the smell and effect of a candle without all that fear of burning down your house?! I’ll probably do a post on this in the future if you are interested in learning more (or you can email me). If you are already a fan and looking for someone to buy from, check out my site here. Bonus=10% off tons of products in February! No pressure kids. Just doing this for fun.

3. Finish up as much as I can from the 31W31 list before Feb 13th (my birthday). Eek! 32 is around the corner.

4. Come up with my 32W32. Yep, I’m doing it again. Hopefully with even more success.

5. Track my food in the fun little WW program at least 5 days a week. I track in my head on some days but this just isn’t the same as doing it for real. Suddenly I forget that extra piece of cheese or little bite of chocolate.

6. Go to a WW meeting every single week. I’m having a lot of success right now and I find that weighing in at the meetings is helping. Ugh. I can’t tell you how much I don’t enjoy the meetings, but they do work for me.

7. No make-up purchases till March 1st. I bought myself a pretty nice birthday present so I need to lay low in this area.

8. ENJOY MY BIRTHDAY! I love celebrating and I love celebrating my birthday even more. I think this comes from my lifetime of being an only child. I wasn’t spoiled unnecessarily as a kid, but I was raised to think my birthday could be a national holiday. Kidding…kind of.

Phew…quite a few goals, but all doable. Right? RIGHT!

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Do you have any big goals for February? Any other February birthdays out there?