NKOTBSB (wait a second, that doesn't sound right!?!)

New Kids On The Back Street Boys. I feel that the name mesh kinda give the wrong impression. Bet they didn't even think about that.

Last weekend B and I were able to make my Jr. High (and High school) dreams come true by finally seeing a boy band in concert! I have been a BSB fan since about 5th grade. NKOTB, umm....not so much. They are a little before my time.

Going into the concert I told B that this should be a more tame crowd when compared to when I went to see the Biebs because the audience should be older people and not small girls screaming and crying. B then informed me that it's going to be a lot of people our age and wished I would call them old. Sometimes I forget that I'm in my mid twenties. oops!

I was wrong. Well, Kinda. It was a lot of people our age and tons of Mom's (when I saw Mom's, I am referring to people around my mom's age). And they? were outta control! So many of them dressed in their 80s and 90s finest to commemorate the occasion. And were drunk. haha.

The girls sitting in front of us had their hair twisted back with butterfly clips (Tiff and I used to be the master at that look). At first we thought they did it as a joke, but the more we observed them, I swear they stepped out of a 1997 time machine. They were a little awkward.

I have never laughed so much at a concert before! In between the pelvic thrusting to the crying ladies, it was awesome!

My fave moments:

• The BSB turned the lights on the audience so they could get a look at the fine Texas women. B acted like she was going to flash them. (This is also funny because previously some creeper was checking us out at a red light and she thought about getting her boob out and playing with it so he would stop.) I guess it was just a boobs out day for her. haha!
• BSB brought 4 women up on stage, and I didn't make the cut (WTF Nick?). One of the ladies was probably at least 25, and crying like crazy. Our whole row was cracking up at her. Not to say I would have kept it completely cool, but girl? when you cry you can't experience the full hotness of the BSB. get those tears out of yo eyes!
• Another girl had total creeper face (it was awesome!) as she whipped out her camera and started snapping photos of them while she was on stage. Yes, I would totally do that too. Just the face made it priceless.
• The 20 pelvic thrusts from NKOTB made me awkward laugh. Almost as bad as the O-town microphone stand. ha.
• Joey almost started crying during his ballad. (He's always doing that...) He also shouldn't do that because he doesn't have a super cute Brook Davis crying face.

It was also the bomb when they used their original dance moves. For the most part they still moved pretty good, but Nick was def MVP. 

And yes, I was screaming like a crazy person. You can probably hear me in the background of B's video's screaming "I love you Nick!"

The only thing that could have made this better? If O-town had also been there. I would have died.

***I don't have pictures because my camera has failure to capture in concert situations.

Being a stripper is hard work

The girls and I have taken two classes at Pole La Teaz these last two weeks, and they were awesome! I just figured that every girl needs a backup plan. (just kidding mom...kind of). After the first class I realized that I have a long way to go before being a successful stripper, but don't worry because with the help of groupon the journey will continue!

• Stripper push-ups are no joke.
• How do I bend my back into a 90 degree angle?
• Our instructor had a "magic body"
• When all else fails, just pelvic thrust (but not too hard, right B? haha)
• My responses to what I hope to get out of the class: skills to score a husband (the first class), continue to uncover my inner sex kitten. rawrr (the second class). I think the instructors think I'm crazy. 
• My "sexy" walk just looks like I'm really drunk. 

Why yes, I would love for you to hit on me

No. No, I wouldn't.

Word of advice to the men out there; if you are old enough to be my father, please do not look at me like I'm a piece of meat. It's just plain creepy! I'm probably as old as your daughter. Gross.

And to everyone else, If I have headphones in, I'm giving out the "don't talk to me" signal.

When I worked out at Bally there was a trainer that would always hit on me. He was young and attractive, but even if I hadn't had a bf at the time I still wouldn't have been into it. It would annoy the shizz out of me. Hello, please notice that I never approach you...it's because I don't want to effing talk! I'm here to get my workout on biotch!

There was this also this guy as old as my father that would always check me out when I was lifting. creepay! This guy actually reminded me of my dad, which made it even more uncomfortable. But at least he never approached me. win!

***I honestly don't understand why I would get hit on at the gym because I would wear clothes that intentionally made me look bad. My old sweats and oversized tees were my workout staples there. I just wonder how many more hits I would have gotten had I been wearing my Nike tights and these guys could get a good look at my nice assets. It probably would have been outta control! haha.

Last week at Memorial was the worst. Bald stubby guy as old as my dad ends up pacing with me. He started with, "Do you run here often?" I kid you not. Had I not been so worn down from the heat, I probably would have cracked up. He continued to attempt a convo with me, until I just picked up my pace to get the eff outta there. I think he finally got the hint.

1. If I'm wearing my headphones, I'm letting the world know that it's not chat time. In fact, my iPod is often turned off, I just have the headphones in so people will leave me alone. (anti-social much? maybe.)
2. If you are over the age of 35, please, for the love of all that is right in the world, don't hit on me. I just can't.
3. If I'm running and have my "angry face" on, I'm obviously not in convo mode.
4. If I'm only providing you with one word answers and not asking questions in return, ummm....yeah, it's because I'm not interested and don't know how to kindly tell you to efff off.

Does this happen to anyone else? How do you keep the creepers at bay?

WTF, Cupcake?

I must confess, I love box cake mix. When my birthday would come around, I would always request that my mom skip the bakery and just whip me up a chocolate box mix cake. My fave. Like for real, yo. I am wanting to whip one up just thinking about it!

Anyway, although I love my cake mix, I feel like I should be more legit and make them from scratch. In my first attempt I ended up karate chopping it and turning it into cake balls (you can read about that here). I finally felt healed from that experience and was ready to give it another go. I made the You Rock Cupcakes from 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know.

You Rock Cupcakes
makes 18 cupcakes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 c whole milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened (10 tbs)
• 1 1/4 c sugar
• 3 large eggs

1. To start, preheat oven to 350 and put liners in pan.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a different medium bowl mix together the milk and vanilla.
4. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until fluffy with an electric mixer on medium, about 5 min.
5. Beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth and evenly mixed.
6. with the mixer on low alternate adding the flour and milk mixture (2 batches each) until just combined (don't over mix!).
7. separate into the 18 cups and bake for 20-24 min, or until you have a clean toothpick.
8. Set on cooling wracks and remove once completely cool, then remove and frost!

Wilton Buttercream Icing

• 1c solid white vegetable shortening (not crisco brand!)
• 1 tsp Wilton Flavor (Vanilla, Almond, or Butter...or you could use 1tsp of each like me!)
• 2 tbs water (add more to thin it out to your preference)
• 1lb (4 c) powdered sugar
• 1 tbs Meringue Powder

Mix all wet ingredients (shortening, flavor, water). Then slowly add in dry ingredients. Blend until creamy.

I took some to work and sent some with B. The reviews were good, but I'm just not loving it. Maybe if I had followed step 5 with the eggs correctly it would have made a difference? I don't know. I felt that they were too dense and maybe not sweet enough? Even though they were a hit, I'm continuing the search for a recipe that I will love as much as funfetti box mix.

The icing was a whole other situation. I have made buttercream tons of times (literally tons of times), and it's always perfect. This time it tasted the same, but the texture was off. Maybe I was having a Mandy Moore moment from the movie Because I Said So. Who knows. Someone said it's because I'm a perfectionist so I just need to relax. Anyway, my taste testers enjoyed it, so you should give it a try too.

Do you have a favorite vanilla/white cake recipe? Please share!!!

Gettin Down and Dirty in Fberg-FYeah!

F-berg was even more F'n-awesome than last time! We had a group of 6 and all shared a suite. Luckily it worked out flawlessly. Since I live with B, you know the fun started early, Thursday night to be exact. From our speed taco eating (It's taco tiimmmmeee) to our first joint trip to the bulk heaven, aka Sam's.

Honestly, most of the dirty details can't be shared, so here are just a few snip-bits of the weekend. Enjoy!

• Rhonda's heart stopped before we left, and again when we got back
• "I'm going to be a really good mom because I like to buy stuff in Bulk."
• "You can have water, rum, and ice."
• "I only buy my peer pressure in bulk from Sam's."
• My duffel bag ripping the silverware drawer out as we are trying to leave. yikes!
• We learned why you shouldn't text (or map) while driving
• We got addicted to cigarettes, candy cigarettes
• Managed to make the surrounding tables a tad uncomfy due to our dinner convo (that'll teach people to eaves drop!)
• The Flip camera sounded like a good idea at the time, but now is a huge source of black mail. haha.
• "You're so warm."
• Pretty sure B touched my tonsils
• "It just chugged in my face!"
• Mini wine bottles are excellent for chugging contests...

Honestly, there is so much more to add, I'm just kinda blanking...so Ladies, feel free to add your memories, etc, in the comments!

Dinner For One...kill me

Ugh. Honestly, I don't cook as much as I used to because it's just not gratifying to cook for myself. I'm working on it, but it's a lot of work that I don't always appreciate.

I have started baking again, and that's been successful, I guess. I used to bake stuff for Daniel, but since that's obviously no longer happening, I have a new wife to send sweets with! (love you B!). Anyway, I say I guess because I feel that some of the recipes need improvement, but then again it's hard for me to gage the tastiness of something I don't like to begin with. For example, red velvet cake. I don't hate it, but I don't like. I just can't. blah. I made it anyway, and B said that it was a hit at work! Fan-freaking-tastic! I'm not even going to share the recipe because I feel that it could be improved...but here's a peek at it.

P.S. this cake was freaking heavy! It completely smashed the cream cheese icing between the two layers. I didn't think B was going to be able to handle it.

I also made some Butterscotch Chocolate Rice Krispy treats. They were good, but I'm going to switch up the recipe before I share it, so stay tuned!

This week I sent B to work with those delicious mini cherry cheese cakes that I previously posted about. Luckily they were also a hit! Not that I ever doubted it since it's a recipe from grandma.

Back to the title...

Tonight I cooked myself dinner. And it.was.awesome!

Fried Chicken

I didn't measure anything, I just 'eye-balled' it. good luck!

• milk
• flour seasoned with salt and pepper
• chicken breast
• veg oil

Heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Dip chicken in milk, flour, milk again, flour again, then carefully place in the hot oil. each side about 4 min? Honestly, I don't know. Just watch it until it browns.

Grilled Veggies

• vegetables (I used zucchini, squash, and asparagus)
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• olive oil

Just toss veggies, oil, and seasoning in a bowl, then lay out on the grill (or in my case the grill pan) about 4 min on each side.

I was also in the mood for fries (I prefer the sweet potato variety, but I was out).

Truffle Potato Wedges? Fries? Slices? Whatever.

• Potato
• Olive Oil
• Pepper
• Truffle Salt

Preheat oven to 450, cover baking sheet with foil, spray with Pam.

Slice and dice that potato, toss with olive oil, pepper, and truffle salt. Lay out on baking sheet. Cook for 20 min, turn, then 20 more min. Eat.