Spicy Beef Roast

Like pretty much every single other person on the planet, I'm always looking for things. A new purse, the exact right pair of jeans that fit perfectly and make me look flawless while being extraordinarily affordable, a nifty pair of shoes that don't hurt my feet and yet offer decent support, the best deal on Fancy Feast cat food for two picky cats who don't know how good they've got it.

Mostly, though? I look for recipes. Because cooking is not my favorite thing to do. I don't MIND it, oddly enough, I just get tired of DOING it every night, and I'm occasionally always looking for something new to try that's easy, that tastes delicious, and that doesn't break my budget.

While in recent months, both Pinterest and Six Sisters' Stuff has filled that void, I came across a recipe of my own that I discovered a few years back. It's from a booklet of recipes at Crock-Pot.com and is amazingly good.

Image borrowed from Blossy's Cook Book

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Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip

I found this on Tumblr and it had been reblogged so many times, I could not find the actual original attribution. I traced it as far back as I could, to the blog of the person (Jessica) who first posted it, but not the exact post.

That being said? It looks so sinfully delicious I can't wait to try it, and I thought it'd be worth sharing.

Book Review: The Lives of the Monster Dogs

I picked up The Lives of the Monster Dogs at the library one weekend strictly on its cover; a beautiful Siberian Husky/Malamute-type dog in a smoking jacket. The blurb on the back was intriguing; dogs that walk upright on their hind legs, have prosthetic-yet-working human hands and voice boxes, land in New York City.

You'd think they'd have all kinds of zany adventures; wrong-o! Turns out these are Monster Dogs, that's the name they accept for themselves, and they set up housekeeping in NYC. Of course, they're all still stuck in the 1800s (there's a long, semi-pointless back story that vaguely involves Kaiser Wilhelm that explains this) and are all wearing bustled dresses and Prussian uniforms, but that's okay because it's New York City and that's where the Freak Flag flies. At least, that's their rationale for landing in NYC.

Talking dogs, Victorian clothes, and laser guns (yes, laser guns). What could go wrong?

DIY Project: Jewelry Box

How many of you have trinket boxes, junk boxes, photo boxes, or any other kind of box piled around the house with no idea what to do with them?

Oh, just me, is it?

Well, I am a box collector. I have quite a few, of many varied shapes and sizes, but the box in question, that precipitated this whole project, is one I've had for eighteen years; it was a senior gift from my high school the year I graduated, and over time, it's served as a pencil box, trinket box, necklace box, bead box, storage box, empty-box-sitting-around-looking-pretty box... you get the idea.

I also collect rings. I rarely wear them; they get in my way when I type, and when I get hot and cranky, my hands swell and the rings get really tight and uncomfortable. But I love collecting them, especially unique ones. Like these ones.

And so, I made this:

You can, too, and for under $10. More likely, it'll be under $5, depending on if you already have felt at home or not.

Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat

... because a cat's the only cat who knows where it's at.

Yeah, I'm a cat person. I love dogs, don't get me wrong. I almost adopted a little terrier-lab mix (and no, I don't know how that happened. God, please let the mother be the Labrador, because otherwise, owie.), but tickle my feet and make me declare, and I'm cat girl all the way.

I'm feeling the need to announce my cat allegiance because of My Cat From Hell and its host, Jackson Galaxy.

This would be Jackson Galaxy, and yes, real men DO love cats.

I have two cats myself, Maggie (Margaret May, for when she's in trouble) and Sammy (Samhain Murray, for when he's in trouble), and while they are not cats from Hell by any stretch of the imagination, the things that I've learned from Jackson Galaxy and My Cat From Hell have made me understand my kids a little bit better.

Book Review: The Man Who Left Too Soon (Barry Forshaw)

Earlier this month, I blogged about all the reasons that I don't do reviews. And then, as I went to my local library with my mom, we were browsing the stacks together and she found The Man Who Left Too Soon: The Life and Works of Stieg Larsson. Being a fan of the Millennium trilogy, and knowing that I liked the books too, Mom picked it up for me and I checked it out.

Big, big mistake.

Reviews and Reports

You know, I sometimes wonder why I don't write reviews.

And then I re-read some of the reviews I've written in the past, and I realize why I don't. I suck at it. It's not for lack of trying; God knows I've tried. But I just don't have the right voice for it.

I've tried to write reviews for Flash Gordon as well as for Supernatural, and while I think my Supernatural reviews might not suck, they're also not gold standard.