Low Impact Snow Zone

We are getting ready for an East Coast winter. Snow boots have arrived, I am trying to find an alternate commute in case my train isn't running, and we went to purchase chains for Justin's car. The route he takes to school has a few Emergency Snow Route roads and we want him to get to school safely. I already had chains for my car, purchased when I went to Montana for Christmas several years ago. I understand that many people here get snow tires or studded tires, but we were trying to save some time, hassle, and money so went to look for chains.

We went to our local Pepboys Auto Store, despite our previous negative experience. This was the closest and most convenient parts store. You'd think we'd have learned our lesson from all the other things that have gone wrong since living here, but alas, we just went to the store expecting to get what we wanted.

We looked around for a few minutes and then I went to the help desk asking for chains. The salesman told us they don't carry chains because this is a "low impact snow zone." Are you kidding me? Philadelphia? The same city that by February 10, 2010 broke its snowfall record with a whopping 70.3 inches? The salesman proceeded to tell us we wouldn't need them. He's lived here a long time and has never needed them. What happened to trying to sell product to your customer?

I understand the city has plows, salt, etc. . . to help make the roads safer, but really, no chains? Not to worry though, my in-laws found some on Amazon for us so we will be good to go out and brave the roads. Hope you enjoyed the photo at the top, taken during Philadelphia's Snowmageddon of 2010.

Southwestern Chicken Soup

I have never been all that great in the kitchen. I like the idea of cooking and trying new things, but when it comes down to planning it all out and actually executing it, I haven't been very successful. Or shall I say motivated? Until this past month. I felt like we were kind of in a rut for our evening meal rotation and I wanted a change. I am all for eating more healthy options, but not at the cost of taste. I also find that so many recipes call for too many ingredients and not stuff that we typically stock. I took some time at Barnes & Noble to select a few cookbooks, ones with healthier options, limited ingredients and for busy people. I had already been doing a monthly meal calendar which definitely helped with grocery shopping/budgeting, but this month I added 3-4 new recipes to each week and wanted to share one of my new favorites. It is super easy, makes a lot, and best of all, is really delicious. Give it a try!

Southwestern Chicken Soup

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 3 quarts water
• 12 chicken bouillon cubes
• 2 cups salsa
• 1 box Spanish rice (I used Rice-a-Roni)

In a large pot mix the chicken, water, bouillon, salsa and Spanish rice. Bring to a boil. Boil 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Suggested side- corn bread

A 1 cup serving has 110 calories, 4 g fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 10 g carbs, 13 g protein and 1088 mg sodium.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any tasty, quick recipes to share.

Homecoming

Back in October I had the opportunity to head down to Johnson City, TN for my 10 year college reunion. I'm that old ; ) Justin had some exams he couldn't miss so I made the trek on my own. I had known for awhile that I'd be on the East Coast making the trip a lot more convenient so emailed all my roommates so everyone could make plans to be there. And they were! We went to a beautiful college in east TN, Milligan College, and fall is amazing there.

Here is a picture of the chapel and then down to the left, the library. The weather was gorgeous, pushing 80 on Saturday.

We spent Friday taking a self guided tour of the campus. So much had changed, building-wise, but in way, it was just as we left it. I have so many fond memories of my time there.

Here is a picture of a cross in the courtyard with one of the education buildings behind it.


Milligan's mascot is a buffalo, so here we all are posing with "Buffy." From left to right is: Laura, Rachel, me, Mara and Nancy.

Rachel and I were both Biology majors so here we are in The Science Buliding posing with one of the anatomy models. So many hours spent there!

Saturday was the actual Class of 2000 reception, followed by a Firehouse catered lunch (delicious BBQ), a Homecoming parade and then the Fall Festival with inflatables and kettle corn. Saturday was also Laura's birthday so we went out on the big town of Johnson City for a tasty dinner at Jack's City Grill.

Sunday morning I went to Grandview Christian Church, where we all attended church while in college. It was great to visit with so many friends. The trip was short, I headed back to Philly Sunday afternoon, but the memories were perfect. Thanks for making the trip everyone!

Happy Birthday Love!

Happy Birthday Honey! Hope you had a special day and enjoyed your yummy birthday dinner at Bugaboo (it wasn't the Keg, but not a bad substitute). I love you!

Mall Cop

Justin and I had to go back to the mall this weekend and I was reminded of something else that had caught our attention the previous week. The have mall cops. On Segways. Couldn't help but think of Paul Blart: Mall Cop. At least the mall security at Franklin Mills were wearing helmets, don't need any head injuries.

Let's go to . . . The Mall!!

Neither Justin and I are really mall people. Everytime I even say the word mall, I think of an episode of How I Met Your Mother where one of the characters, Robin, was a Canadian pop star who sang a song called Let's Go To the Mall. You can watch it here. Good times! But there was a movie we wanted to see and it was showing at our local mall, Franklin Mills, so we decided to give it a go. After the movie and lunch (which all was a surprise date planned by Justin), we decided to do a little shopping. We hardly ever go shopping, and had never been to this mall before, except to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond for something when we first moved to Philadelphia. We had no idea what we were in store for (no pun intended). First of all, it really may have been the biggest mall I have ever been to. It just kept going and going. And it was very eclectic. It had something for every culture group, every economic class, every age. They even had factory outlet stores. And seeing as there was so much store variety, there was the same degree of variety in the people. Here are a few of our favorite things we saw or experienced: 1. Kraft was giving away free samples of a new style of Mac and Cheese, Homestyle. We ended up with 4 packs. But as we were walking around, we noticed a gentleman eating the raw noodles right out of the bag. What? 2. Eyebrow designing- I don't know much about eyebrow design and we didn't really investigate this too much, but it looked like they were using some sort of string and laying it on people's faces. What is that about? 3. Massage parlors- I have seen massage chairs you put a few quarters in at a mall before, but there were actually massage tables in the middle of the mall and creepy men standing there waiting to give massages. 4. Shower caps- we saw two women walking around in shower caps. That is all I can remember for now, but all I know is it was one interesting day. What did you do this weekend?

Polo!

Yesterday I had the chance to go to my first polo match. Tinicum Park in Bucks County, Pennsylvania hosts polo matches every Saturday from May to October. My friend Becca and I loaded up the dogs and headed out for a nice drive and Saturday afternoon. The Polo club has several themed activities throughout the season, such as Pooches and Polo or Wine and Polo. Yesterday was just a normal game which we thoroughly enjoyed. I had never been to a match before so did some quick research on wikipedia to get a better understanding of the game and rules. At this particular park, people either watch from a public tent, rent individual tents/canopies or tailgate. We went the tailgate route, packed some snacks and camp chairs and sat back and relaxed in the hot sun. We even went out on the field to help replace the divets during halftime. Check out the pictures.

Here are the hot puppies sharing some water.

What did you do this weekend?