Nickelodeon Date Night!

Woo hoo! We successfully completed another date.

This week's date was Nickelodeon night where we were tasked to watch all the classics.

***Side Note*** I realize that this is another date where I designed the night around sitting on the couch and eating. Is it any wonder I need a trainer? Just kidding (kind of). When I wrote these dates I tried to think of ones that wouldn't cost a lot of money since I planned for us to do one each week. Eating dinner made at home and watching TV is about as cheap as you can get. ***End of Side Note***

We figured if we were watching shows from our childhood, we should eat kiddie food. So dinosaur nuggets, tater tots and orange slices were on the menu:

And, like any children, we played with our food a little:

For dessert, Joe had the great idea to make pistachio pudding since it looks like slime (and if you've ever watched a Kids' Choice Awards, you know how much that station digs their slime). The pudding didn't turn out green enough, so I added a bit of food coloring and voilà:

As far as shows for the night, here was the line-up:

Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Legends of the Hidden Temple
What Would You Do?
Doug
Double Dare
All That
Hey Dude
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Family Double Dare
Family Double Dare

If you couldn't tell, we decided that Legends of the Hidden Temple was our favorite... and we couldn't stop watching! I kept hoping a temple guard would get punched or a kid would pee his pants when a guard grabbed him. No luck on either count and I was bummed. (Does this make me a bad person?)

Family Double Dare was good too. We lucked out and saw an episode with DJ Tanner and Steve Urkel! They looked like babies! And it was hilarious to see what the fabulous 90's prizes were. I have a feeling our future children won't even be able to identify 1 out of 3 of them.

But it wasn't all good...

Honestly, I was SUPER disappointed with Are You Afraid of the Dark? (And not just because I guessed the "twist" a mile away...). It was super cheesy. The acting was terrible. The camerawork was even worse. I'd hazard a guess that every amateur video on YouTube is better produced than this show. Plus, it annoyed me that these children, *ahem* members of the Midnight Society, were allowed to go into a forest in the middle of the night and light a campfire. Where are their parents?! Where is Smokey Bear?!

I was also disappointed with What Would You Do?. Though we got to see Marc Summers slide down the pie slide, the rest of the episode was *meh.* Speaking of the pie slide, I don't understand why everyone pretends they don't want to go down it. Be real folks - you know you want to slide face first into some whipped cream. Who doesn't?!

Hey Dude wasn't much better. I LOVED that show as a kid, but Danny's "acting" was so awful that it distracted from the show. (I feel a little bad criticizing him because there are rumors the "actor" died of liver failure... but no one can confirm this because no real record exists of him after the show. I know, I am as shocked as you are that his "acting" career didn't take off.) Anyways, in this episode Ted and Brad challenged one another to a battle of the sexes (of course) and the boys and girls did a cook-off. The girls made tuna noodle casserole (WTH were they thinking?) but the judge was allergic to tuna. This forced them to choose another challenge. You know, because there is only one human being on that dude ranch who could judge. What? The only adult staffer (a.k.a. Lucy) doesn't have a refined enough palate to be your tuna noodle casserole back-up judge? At least Ted and Danny made cupcakes.

Alright - enough complaining about children's shows. I loved ALL Nick shows as a kid, and it was a blast to revisit them the other night with Joe :)

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P.S. If you ask why Salute Your Shorts wasn't viewed, it's because my dad wouldn't let me watch the show as a kid. He thought the title was dirty. At 28 I agree with him, but I still maintain that the show was perfectly fine for youngsters.

Stacey's Visit to Philly

It's springtime in Philadelphia! (finally)

I had forgotten how much I love this city thanks to the record-breaking snowfall that trapped me in our apartment for several months. But with Stacey visiting last week and the sun shining, I was able to re-visit some of my favorite places with one of my favorite people :)

Stacey arrived last Wednesday night and we promptly hit up a cheesesteak joint with Joe. Tony Luke's is still our current favorite, but it's hard to complain about eating beef piled onto roll and covered with whiz and onions.

Upon returning home, we watched some Full House (of course) and were reminded again and again that Michelle Tanner is a spoiled brat.

Seriously. Hate her.

Michelle didn't really annoy me as a kid, but now I want to smack her butt and send her to her room for, well, ever. I feel for D.J. and Stephanie, as Michelle is the clear favorite of Danny, Jesse and Joey. Frankly, who cares what Joey thinks, but if I were in that house I'd be vying much harder for Uncle Jesse's attention.

One constant and the biggest reason to watch Full House ;)

Plus, Michelle gets away with saying the most rude, smart-mouthed things ever. I can't imagine how much soap I would have ingested if I talked like her as a child. And the eye-rolling? I swear, if she rolls her eyes at an adult one more time I'll throw a shoe at my T.V. with the hope that it'll act like a voodoo doll and one (or both!) of the Olsen twins will get a swift kick.

And don't get me started on how she is always lying and stealing things. And DEFINITELY don't get me started on her getting to be princess for the day in the Disney World episodes.

What happened before part 1 of that episode ended? Oh, that's right. Bratty Michelle didn't like being called out for her rude behavior and decided to run off. This led to everyone frantically looking for her and wasting valuable ride and turkey leg time. How RUDE! Of course *SPOILER ALERT* they found her.

But I digress... ;)

On Thursday, Stacey and I decided to head to Germantown for a little shopping. I discovered this area right outside Philadelphia when my parents visited for Christmas and knew that Stacey and I needed to visit when she came. We had some lunch and hit up some shops. I scored a great deal on a couple of purses and a nautical-themed scarf that will be perfect for our cruise :)

Since quaint shops are just one side of the shopping coin, we also headed to a nearby mall for a little H&M, Charming Charlie's and LOFT action.

Friday morning we worked out with my trainer and, because that wasn't enough sweating for one day, we decided to walk to Rittenhouse Square and do some more shopping. (Rittenhouse Square is a major shopping area in Philadephia and is a few miles from my apartment.) Though my feet got tired, the weather was BEAUTIFUL and it was great to walk, chat, and buy more stuff :)

That night, we went to a restaurant called City Tavern. Although the original burnt down, the tavern was where historical figures like George Washington would drink and dine. The servers here wear historical garb and the menu includes old-fashioned recipes that the founding fathers enjoyed. Of course, I had to ask the busboy if the building was haunted. He and the waiter then went into a several minutes long historical overview of City Tavern - and it was AWESOME. As a history semi-buff I couldn't imagine a better ending to the meal, though they were both a little wish-washy on the presence of ghosts in the building :(

Saturday was our Reading Terminal Market day and I shared one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten with Stacey. Seriously - if you are a food fan (and, really, who isn't?), you MUST go to Reading Terminal Market if you visit Philadelphia. Grab a sandwich from DiNic's (I recommend the hand-cut beef brisket with sharp provolone) and finish up with an Amish donut for dessert :)

Photo credit

After Reading, we chilled out at home and watched Tangled. Well, Joe and Stacey watched and I dozed - shopping and eating had worn me out ;)

That night, we went to a Phillies game. Honestly, I'm not a big baseball fan and the game was BORING, but it was still fun to hang out with Joe and Stacey. The weather was also nice, and I enjoyed soaking up the sun and fresh air. We ended up leaving a little early and watched some Toddlers and Tiaras when we got home. It's not a true visit with Stacey unless we watch a guilty pleasure TLC show.

Sunday we did a little more shopping (this time with Joe!) and then we brought Stacey to the airport.

Thus ended Stacey's visit to Philly - but I'm sure she'll be back soon :)

What didn't end is my marathon of Full House viewing. I've been watching it daily since she left, and my feeling on Michelle aren't changing in the slightest.

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So Scandalous!

I have just one thing to say this morning:

WHY DID NO ONE EVER TELL ME THAT I NEEDED TO WATCH SCANDAL?! 

Seriously.

At my Paparazzi party last Thursday I asked everyone what their favorite current TV show is (then I put the names of people who answered into a drawing for free jewelry. My parties are fun like that.) I was expecting lots of Downton Abbey, Walking Dead, etc. But NOPE. Most people put Scandal. 

Hating to be behind on a great show (as I always seem to be), Joe and I started watching on Tuesday. We finished the first season last night. (Ya, that's how we roll.)  

I am obsessed. Obsessed enough that I was legitimately mad at Joe last night because he needed to go to bed early since he had a test this morning. (Have no fear for poor Joe; knowing the anger was ridiculous, I held it in quite well).

So this leads me to wonder, what else am I missing out on?

Please comment below on your favorite shows (past and/or present) so Joe and I can move on to another awesome show once we get caught up with Scandal.

Thanks :)

P.S. And if you dare spoil Scandal for me, you may want to sign up for the witness protection program.

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Weigh-In Wednesday

Weigh-in Wednesday was unkind to me this week. I don't want to share the picture, but this morning I was 1.5 pounds up from last Wednesday. While my actions over the last week didn't necessarily warrant weight loss, I really didn't expect to be up. So I am disappointed.

It's a common recommendation to weigh yourself once a week, and this week I tried doing that. What I realized, though, is that when I don't weigh myself daily I don't keep myself accountable on a day-to-day basis. Plus, I build up the weekly weigh-in WAY too much. I was scared and anxious for most of last night just thinking about stepping on the scale this morning. And if I weren't going to weigh myself for another week, I'd probably feel like crap for the next several days.

So I'm going to go back to daily weigh-ins (for now). I'll still do "Weigh-in Wednesdays" on this blog to keep myself more publicly accountable, but I need to micromanage myself.

I did manage to make it to the gym yesterday for week 3 / day 2 of c25k - so that's a win! Philly is experiencing a major snowstorm, and I finished up my workout as the first layer of snow was dusting the ground. I had planned to hit up the grocery store to stock up a bit, but it started coming down fast and I wanted to make it home before the Californian in me freaked out and was unable to drive. Joe and I will just have to get creative with our meals for the next several days.

I complained a lot about the heat and humidity last summer, but I'd give anything for a taste of it right now.

In other news, Joe and I are FINALLY watching Scandal.

Yes, just like with Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and many others, I am late to the party with this show. But, better late than never.

It's not that I haven't been eyeing it as must-see TV. Ever since I heard how juicy Scandal is, I've wanted to convince Joe to watch it with me. He was reluctant, until last night, so I jumped on his willingness to give it a shot. We both really liked it (when will he just learn to trust me with TV shows? I have excellent taste!), so it'll be our new hour-long show for as long as it takes for us to catch-up with the current season.

***Side Note*** This shouldn't take long; Joe and I can't casually watch a show we like. We totally binge-watch. There are 29 episodes on Netflix and I predict we will be finished in 10 days. That number would definitely be smaller if it weren't for dental school. ***End of Side Note***

I am so excited to see what else is in store for Olivia Pope and crew!

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Downton Abbey is Back! ***SPOILER ALERT***

Longtime readers of this blog may remember two things:

1) I am ALWAYS behind when it comes to good TV
2) Last March Joe and I finally watched Downton Abbey and became mega-fans.

Yes - JOE included :)

He was a hard one to convince to start watching, but he quickly realized how great it is and may have been more excited than me leading up to Season 4's premiere tonight.

SPOILERS from here on out...

***Side Note*** I blame being under-enthused on my anger and shock over the end of Season 3. I mean, OMG - just stab me in the heart why don't you?! ***End of Side Note***

Much like Mary in tonight's episode, I am coming to grips with my grief and (despite some tears shed) was able to accept Matthew's death somewhat and enjoy the premiere more than I expected I would.

***Side Note*** Frankly, I expected to be in tears and depressed for two hours. I don't handle death well, not even fictional deaths. ***End of Side Note***

I am glad that Mary isn't wallowing as much as I feared she might (the 6 month jump cut that down for us viewers. Thanks Mr. Fellows). I am also glad that even though she is clearly distant from baby George, it appears that she wants to be closer to him. Although some people I know can't stand Mary (*cough* Stacey), I like her and want her to be happy. But even I don't think I could manage an even icier ice-queen who spends the whole season shooting daggers at people and refusing to care about her baby.

One person I was not impressed with tonight was Cora. She's always seemed gullible, but tonight she just seemed like a total moron. I have a feeling that poor Anna is in for some trouble thanks to Thomas and Lady's Maid Hussy (I don't remember her name and don't care to learn it).

Of course, it didn't help that Thomas was proven right by that terrible AWFUL nanny. How dare she speak to poor Sibby that way!? I hope she hasn't been the nanny for long :(

Anyways, it's too late for a full de-construct of the episode, but I am happy to say that I have good feelings about this season.

Please Mr. Fellows, don't prove me wrong.

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Mad Scientist Date

Joe loves science. Me, not so much. But as I put together ideas for the date jars, I wanted to have a few dates where I was forced to do things I would never voluntarily do :)

Last week, he pulled one such date: Mad Scientists!

The idea was that Joe and I would find a science experiment online that sounded fun and try to replicate it. When I came up with the original idea, I was actually excited for the possibilities. I imagined exploding volcanoes and things of that sort.

Unfortunately, we let life get in the way and the date ended up being a dud.

Like we've done the past couple weeks, we postponed the date until Sunday - which is dangerous since we want to be sure that we don't skip weeks. When Sunday came, studying took a lot longer than Joe expected and we also wanted to devote time to celebrating the Breaking Bad finale. Since we are HUGE fans of the show, we wanted to watch the first two episodes of the series so we could remember how far the characters and story have come. The juxtaposition was awesome - but left us with no chance to do an experiment before the show.

After the show, I was ready for bed. But Joe insisted we couldn't go to bed before doing some kind of experiment. He looked up ideas on his phone and found one we could do quickly.

By this point, though, I was pretty drunk (a combination of celebration and depression BB was over). Thanks to my exhaustion and inebriation, I frankly didn't do much besides take photos and nod my head pretending to understand Joe.

The experiment was to make homemade lava, but we don't have food coloring so it was lame clear lava. The scientific principle at play was density. Salt was also involved. And oil.

That's all I've got by way of explanation.

***Side Note*** Let's be honest, even if I was completely sober and wide awake I probably wouldn't have gathered much more from the experiment than that due to my terrible scientific mind ***End of Side Note***

Here are some pictures, maybe you can get a better idea through them what happened :)

Joe - "Check it out Kate! It's SCIENCE!"

A bit skeptical. Lava that isn't red isn't impressive.

Explaining something about density and how the oil rises to the top of the water and when you pour salt down it weighs down the oil so it comes to the bottom of the cup

Woah. Wait! I do *kinda* understand it!

Yay science!

Can we please go to bed now.

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Bit By the BBC Bug

I was late to the Downton Abbey party (as I typically am to great TV: see Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead). But when I finally caught up this Spring, I became an equally obsessed fan pining away for new episodes; new episodes which started airing last night for those lucky Brits.

Maybe it was jealousy that we Americans have to wait until JANUARY (wth?!). Maybe I was just bored out of my mind now that Joe is in 24/7 study-mode. Whatever the reason, 11 days ago I was bit by the BBC bug and have yet to recover.

It started with The Buccaneers and was quickly followed by North & South, Bleak House, Wuthering Heights, and now The Forsyte Saga.

That's over 25 hours of BBC miniseries (mini-serieses? mini-seri?) in 11 days.

A feat made possible by sheer boredom and loneliness.

While I have enjoyed them all (well, except for Wuthering Heights because Catherine and Heathcliff are certifiably INSANE), there's something special about Downton Abbey and I can't wait for it to be back!

Since I have 4 more months (ugh), I am on the lookout for another series to start once I finish The Forsyte Saga. Any recommendations?

Also, since 25 hours of BBC in 11 days doesn't scream BORED enough, I took a quiz to see which Downton Abbey character I am most like. I got Mary Crawley. Twice.

Which 'Downton Abbey' Character Are You?

More on Downton Abbey.Created by BuddyTV

I took the quiz twice because I don't like the cold and mean thing. I suppose some people might think that because I am definitely shy around new people, but I don't think I am an ice queen like Mary. 

However, I like the ingenious thing... so I'll say that this quiz isn't too far off ;) Plus, I do like to try to get ahead, don't like my plans foiled, and I am a big fan of both love and money.

Anyone else curious as to who they'd be at Downton Abbey? Take the quiz and then leave a comment letting me know who you got :) Any other Marys in the house?

Sports Date

Joe and I just completed our weekly date and now he is off watching the Notre Dame game with some new friends (go Irish!). I'd go too, if I wasn't still recovering from last night (boy do I feel old). So, instead, I'll do a re-cap of our date :)

If you recall, Joe pulled another yellow date from its jar this week. The instructions were to watch a sports movie and eat foods that you'd find in a stadium for dinner. Joe was excited because he loves sports, but I was a little bummed because I was hoping for something more active after our two previous dates involved eating and watching a movie (though having created the dates for the date jars, I only have myself to blame haha).

Despite not being as excited as I have been previous weeks, I still spent the week wondering what super classic sports flick we'd wind up watching. I was hoping Netflix would have options like Rudy, Field of Dreams, A League of Their Own, Invincible, or even Space Jam ;). Unfortunately, we were disappointed today to find that instant streaming had some pretty pathetic options in the sports category.

Oh, well.

Since we were underwhelmed by the options on Netflix (and Hulu), we decided that we would FINALLY start Friday Night Lights. I've heard forever what a great show it is, and we have talked about starting it for months and just haven't.

Not only did we start it, but we blasted through 4 episodes. I guess you could call us fans already :)

For the food portion of the evening, I made hot dogs and nachos. We also had sunflower seeds and peanuts on hand. Joe was in heaven.

We both dressed in Cardinal garb, and I wanted a pic of us but my camera won't focus right when we do the self-timer (note to self... need a remote!) and we aren't too good at selfies.

Of course, I figured out a solution when Joe was getting ready to go out. Oh, well, next time we'll know to use a mirror.

Overall, it was a fun evening. Here's to hoping our next date gets us out of the house, though :)

Hope you are all having a fun weekend!

This Gal Needs a Glass of Wine

I'm feeling very antsy lately, full of nervous energy and I hate it.

The unknowing as to what job I'll have, how many interviews I'll have to do, when I'll start, etc. is not pleasant for a control freak like me. I should be enjoying my free-from-work time, but instead I am constantly refreshing my inbox.

I really wish I could have some booze to get me through this, but I am on a diet and can't trust myself with a glass of wine (since it will undoubtedly turn into multiple glasses of wine).

Oh don't I wish

So, instead, Joe and I have been watching a ton of Saved By The Bell. It's actually pretty therapeutic to watch the antics at Bayside again. A few things I've noticed now that I am older:

1.) Mr. Belding is the world's creepiest principal (click here for proof from Buzzfeed)

2.) Alan (the "fat nerd") probably has a lower BMI than most high school students nowadays

3.) The teachers aren't shy about throwing shade at their students

4.) I'm pretty sure Jessie did more harm than good to the feminist movement. Ever heard the phrase, "Catch more flies with honey?" - she clearly hadn't 

5.) Does Bayside provide adult education classes? What else would explain the (obviously) 30-year-old extras trolling the halls 

6.) They could show episodes to today's youth as anti-bullying videos - the gang can say some pretty hurtful stuff

7.) I feel really sorry for the guy who played Max. First a regular, then reduced to a "guest star", and then suddenly MIA. As Joe put it, "I guess they decided to go a different direction than a restaurant owner/waiter who did magic"

8.) On the topic of magician waiters, how annoying would this be to the average person? Stop playing around and give me my darn food!

9.) It's still fun to sing along to the theme song (and impossible NOT to)

10.) Zach is still a hottie

I'm Alive!

Just a quick update... this cold of mine has been pretty nasty. I have had zero energy and I've pretty much stayed in one place on the couch 24 hours a day (sleeping here both to spare Joe of as many germs as possible and because it's a recliner and that helps me stay propped up so I don't wake up coughing too much).

I've gone out a few times because I refuse to miss out on EVERYTHING, but each time I've come home from a mini-excursion I've been exhausted. Frankly, I've barely had the energy to surf the internet, let alone type up a blog post, which is why I've been M.I.A for much of this Missouri leg of the trip.

Tomorrow we were supposed to leave bright and early for Memphis, but I just can't bring myself to start the road part of our road trip again. If the thought of showering wears me out, the thought of hours in the car and sightseeing makes me want to take a Rip-Van-Winkle style nap. The plan is to leave Wednesday instead - assuming I'm up for it. Today is the best I've felt in over a week, so my fingers are crossed. Our pod arrives in Philly on June 7, so we have to be there by then. Each day we stay in St. Louis is a day that we have to knock off the road trip, so I don't want to delay TOO much.

It hasn't been all bad - we are still spending time with Joe's family and we got his mom, step-dad, sister, brother, and sister-in-law to try The Walking Dead. They are all obsessed. While the siblings are now in their respective homes, they are still watching on their own, and we are blasting through season 2 at his mom's house. We'll probably finish today and get started on Season 3 tonight or tomorrow. Even though Joe and I just watched The Walking Dead about two months ago, it's really fun to re-watch.

Welp, that's all I can bring myself to write for now. Time to watch The Walking Dead and lay on the couch some more.

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Walking Dead Season 3 Finished! ***SPOILERS***

It's been a day of resolution.

First I finished my road trip binder and now I just finished season 3 of The Walking Dead.

So, as I do every time I am fully caught up on a show that I was late to the party to, I've been searching the interwebs for info about the actors, the show, etc. Here's some fun stuff I found on Pinterest:

***Spoilers if you haven't seen Season 3***

And my favorite is too long to post here, but click here to go to BuzzFeed and see how the Walking Dead copied the plot of the Toy Story movies!

Alright - must go to bed :)

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Sick = Boredom = Too Much Pinterest

I've missed the last two days of work (worked from home yesterday, took a sick day today) to try to get the rest of my cold annihilated. I've slept - A LOT - but aside from that I've been pretty bored and have spent too much time on Pinterest.

Speaking of Pinterest, you can find me here.

After recovering (slightly) from the Downton season 3 finale, I've also enjoyed the chance to look up information about the actors, show, etc. I HATE spoilers - so when watching a show that has already aired, I avoid any mention of it like the plague. Once I finish that last episode though, I immediately hit up IMDB (as in, credits start rolling and my fingers are already typing imdb.com on my laptop).

***Side Note*** I have a system because, as previously mentioned, I am often late to the popular culture party. Most recent example? Joe and I just started The Walking Dead a couple nights ago ***End of Side Note***

This time around, I also realized I could do a search on Pinterest for things related to Downton Abbey, and found some gems.

Some of my favorites (no spoilers past season 2, promise):

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