If We Were Having Coffee...

Good Evening,

I don't tend to post a lot at this time of day but I figured this was the first time I was feeling in the mood to sit here today and write so why not! I've actually come to love these types of post because I get a lot of stuff said but not in boring old paragraphs and I like that. Plus I would love to have coffee with each and every one of you!

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that literally every time I sign onto the computer I pray its still working right. I sadly don't have a lot of faith that whatever they did has solved the problem, so its a waiting game.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I gave notice to our apartment yesterday and we are officially moving out of our apartment on May 15, 2015. Don't get too excited, we wont be staying at home.. we have to come back.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I was watching a bunch of British beauty vloggers yesterday and they were all talking about Mothers Day and sending their giveaways ASAP so they would get to the winners in time, and so on.. and the whole time I kept thinking "shit isn't Mothers Day in May?" apparently Mothers Day in the UK is March 15th! Who knew!!

If we were having coffee... I would brag a little that I attempted making my own yorkshire pudding on the weekend and it was a freakin' success! Yorkshire pudding is probably one of my all time favorite foods, I have loved it since I was a kid but never ever made it myself. Sadly it kind of goes with a larger meal so I don't often get it when I go home and I have really been wanting it. I am pretty excited and scared that I can now have it anytime I want!

If we were having coffee... I would tell you I am a little scared talk about Spring because I don't want to jinx it but I think it might actually be here.. and I am SO EXCITED!

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that tomorrow its suppose to be 80 degrees at home, and I'm not there!!

If we were having coffee... I would tell you how much I like coffee and Jason has such a huge issue with it. I honestly don't get it at all, I have one MAYBE two coffees at most in a day and Jason thinks its going to kill me or something. He grew up in a tea where they never ever had tea or coffee and now he thinks its the devil or something. He doesn't know what he's missing.

If we were having coffee... I would ask how you have been lately?

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I am out of Bath and Body Works candles and this makes me terribly sad.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you I have been burning a Yankee Candle and they just don't cut it for me anymore. Bath and Body Works all the way!

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I am on the hunt for the PERFECT raspberry colored lipstick of Spring. Not to dark, very bright!

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I have a whole notebook full of blog ideas and I need to get my shit together and get some posts written so I have them backed up when I don't feel like writing one day.

If we were having coffee... and talking about blogs I would say how blogging really is the funniest little thing. I follow so many bloggers who just recently are scaling back, not writing at all, having a hard time with the hate they receive, facing writers block or just plain and simple not feeling it. I get it, my blog is less about our life and more about other random things that are of interest to me but I think I like it that way, its more well rounded. Our lives aren't exciting enough to write about everyday and I enjoy talking about other things for a change, I think although I don't always manage to post everyday it keeps me interested.

If we were having coffee... I would ask if you have any travel plans? We talk about vacations all the time, just wondering what you're up to.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you I am over Starbucks and really into Dunkin Donuts.. crazy I know. I am just sick of the same old, same old at Starbucks and I don't want to pay $5.00 for a drink that I'm not really loving. Dunkin Donuts has a million different flavors of coffee so you can never really get bored and they bring out all different drinks throughout the year.. see right now their White Chocolate Raspberry Mocha. You're welcome!

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I am really into the Body Shop skin care stuff. I got a bunch of stuff for Christmas and their skin care lines are FANTASTIC! If you get a minute check out their Vitamin E line or their new Drops of Youth line!

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I am back to never sleeping, I stay up way too late because I can't sleep and then I toss and turn all night. I have tried reading before bed, melatonin, sleepy time tea and so on.. nothing is working for me.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you now that I'm not sleeping I enjoy my coffee in the morning that much more!

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I know our apartment people are going to try and screw us out of our deposit, I told them I knew that as well when I went and gave our notice and I am prepared to fight with them. What they don't know is I have experienced more move outs than most people will in their entire life time and I've been on their side of things.. so good luck to them. They are going to need it.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I am trying to use up my make up and skin care that I have and not buy anything new because I am starting to feel like a hoarder.. but its really freakin' hard! There are always new products coming out that I want to try. Did I mention I am looking for a good highlighter?

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I am have winter scarves but not many for Spring and summer, and I really like scarves. I will probably have to keep my eye out for some gorgeous thin, floral scarves.. or even bright plan scarves, I'm not picky.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you seeings how its almost 7:00pm its probably a little late to be having coffee... did you get decaf?

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that Jason bought some Girl Scout cookies from one of the guys at work (technically his daughters were selling them, not him) and when he brought them home and said there were thin mint (thank god!) and peanut butter ones I didn't really think much of a peanut butter cookie. WELL... they are like a thin mint but with peanut butter cream instead. Apparently Girl Guide cookies and Girl Scout cookies are two very different things.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you I want a burrito from Moe's.. now.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I should probably get going because Tanya and I are heading into the city early tomorrow and I need to shower and wash my hair tonight. You see my hair is quite long right now and there is just soooo much of it. If I plan to wash, dry and straighten my hair I am looking at almost two hours. That's a lot of friggin time and work guys!

I hope you guys all have a great Tuesday, I did some running around and enjoyed a really nice long walk the river today. I am really diggin' this Spring like weather! Maybe.. just maybe (but doubtful because I really do need to wash and dry my hair) I might get another post written for tomorrow morning so its not coming to you tomorrow night. Who knows.

Thank you as always for stopping by!

Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel: A Book Review

Well... I did not think I was going to make it here today!

As you know we have been having computer issues and finally on Saturday I took it into Geek Squad and begged them to fix it. When Jason got a call last night that it was done, I woke lie I was extremely skeptical. Mostly I wondered what they would do differently in store than when they accessed my computer remotely in the past. I was anxious to get over there today and pick it up. When I got there the wait was absolutely RIDICULOUS, word of advise.. if you have to go to Geek Squad, Make an appointment. Anyways when they came out with the computer I insisted we open it up and check it out. What do you know, same issues! I ended up being there FOREVER and after trying a few more things we seem to be on a good path. I brought it home and hopefully we have fixed the problem.

Besides that its an absolutely GORGEOUS day here, just like Spring and I was so excited to get out and enjoy it. First stop of our leasing office to GIVE OUR NOTICE!!!! Two months and we are moving out!! YAY!! I am seriously counting down the days! It also means that we go home at the end of the month and then again in a month after that!!! Things are looking up people!

Anyways now that I have rambled I have a bunch of blogs planned for this week so stay tuned. Today I thought I would stop by now that I have the computer back unexpectedly and share a book review because there hasn't been one around these parts in awhile!! Lets jump in!

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This is a synopsis taken directly from the goodreads.com website:

Twin boys grow up in the same family, in the same town. Dramatically different, they become bitter enemies, even as children: one good, one bad. One leaves his peaceful hometown, but when all else fails, the prodigal son returns, twenty years later, moving into his parents' lakeside cottage. But the reunion of the brothers, sweet and healing at first, exposes shattering revelations...

I know what you are thinking, another Danielle Steel.. get use to it guys! I really like her books and really we should be giving her props for banging out a new book what seems like every single week! 

I really enjoyed this book, I found it to be slightly different from her usual writing style. There is very rarely a villain that plays such a large role within her books. Not to mention that you would never expect, it was funny although so much was insinuated while reading it was in such a slight way that I wasn't entire convinced he would end up being such a horrific character! 

The book is quite sad, so many tragic events and tragic lives but so real at the same time. There were obvious main characters but even secondary characters were felt to play a major role and you got to know them which I really enjoy in a book, I feel that its more well rounded. 

If you are looking for a new book and this is your style then I would highly recommend checking this out! I believe it just came last week so I haven't seen it in stores yet but I know you can get it for e-readers! 

This book marks the 8th book towards my goal of reading 50 books this year! This puts me at 16%, not too shabby!!

I am off to get things done around the apartment, I didn't plan to be out all day today so some chores around here have fallen to the wayside! I hope you guys all had a great weekend, and are lucky enough to be getting this wonderful weather we are!! 

Thank you again for stopping by!

High Five for Friday 3.5.15

Good Morning,

Sorry for a week of crappy blogging guys, we are having computer issues again ( I know you're sick of hearing that and let me tell you I am sick of dealing with it) and in conjunction with my most recent bout of insomnia I honestly just haven't had the patience to deal with it! I am hoping to try and get it fixed today, if not I am going to have to take it in to Best Buy and leave it for a week so before it comes to that I will try and get some posts written out!

Anyways its been a really good week and I am happy to be here and share it with you!


1. The Smell of Homemade Baking!

As you know I posted last week a recipe for banana bread and because Jason and I enjoyed it so much I decided because I had all the stuff and he was working all weekend last week that I would make some for him to take to work. With Jason working all day it was a quiet day at home and it was so relaxing, candle burning, tea, a good book and the smell of fresh baked good in the air! Its the little things folks!

2. Raspberry Mojito Lemonade

Because Tanya and I would be in the city on her birthday starting very early in the morning we decided to get together the day before just for coffee and so I could give her her birthday gifts. We haven't been feeling Starbucks lately but there isn't a ton of coffee shops around here, and for reason we tend to forget about Cosi. It was raining but the most mild day that we have had in a really long time and when we arrived they had the place BOILING inside (probably the wood fire pizza oven). We decided on something cold instead of coffee and I had the Raspberry Mojito Lemonade and it was INCREDIBLE. It reminded me of summer, so refreshing but not sweet at all. Tanya got the Agave Lemonade and that too was fantastic. I tend to stick with what I know and like when I get something while out but it always proves wise to try something new!

3. Live Tapings, The Chew & The View 

As I mentioned last week Tanya and I had tickets to The Chew on her birthday! We were really excited to go as we both watch the show, but knowing this big snow storm was coming we were unsure about how the day was going to go! It started snowing a lot later than they thought it would so getting to the Path station to meet wasn't terrible, just slippery. When we came out of the subway at Columbus Circle it was a mess! We stopped for Starbucks and made it to the show, wet and frizzy! We went into the holding room and tried to dry off and clean up! The show was absolutely AMAZING! I will be blogging about it next week! When we were on our way out they were pulling people aside and letting us know that if we wanted to we could stay and see a taping of The View, as the weather was terrible and a lot of people hadn't showed up. We decided why not? We were already there and had wanted to see The View anyways! Another really great show! Sadly both aired yesterday so we had to view them online but fantastic! 

4. Snow - the Good & Bad

We all know I hate winter, that hasn't changed. But yesterday was the first time I have been in the city while it was snowing like this and it was beautiful. When we came out of the taping we were facing Central Park, although Central Park is always incredible.. snow covered it really shines. The city was an absolute mess, the streets were a mess, people were honking five times faster than they usually would but there was something magical about it. Its funny, we were cold, wet and tired.. just wanting to get home but there was something peaceful about the snow falling on this great city. Don't worry I'm over the peacefulness today or was yesterday after I fell in the parking lot, I'm ready for winter to take a hike. 

5. Quality Time

Thursday Jason and I had decided that we were going to go out to dinner, Jason has been dying to go to Chili's for quite some time now and so we decided to just go last night. Jason got home and showered and changed,  and although I really didn't feel like going out it is just across the street. Believe it or not we got there and it was CLOSED! I guess they decided not to come in because of the weather, and Jason was none too happy about it. We ended up grabbing a pizza and coming home. We got cozy in our pajamas and ate pizza while playing cribbage on the couch! It was an upset that our original plan didn't work out but sometimes better things come from that! Jason is really busy at work right now so I savor all our time together, last night was perfect!!

So that was my week, I will be back next week with more about our shows taping and so on! I believe Jason will be working all weekend so hopefully I will get some blog posts done for next week. Next week is shaping up to be much better weather wise and let me tell you guys nothing sounds better to me. I am SO OVER WINTER!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Stay warm and as always thank you so much for stopping by!!

This week I am linking up with:

Tanya @ Prairie Girl in the Big Scary World

and these lovely ladies!

Shredded Buffalo Chicken

Hello there!

Well I am here with another recipe! It wasn't my intention to post two recipes side by side but it just happened to work out that way! I don't have a ton going on, I haven't been sleeping which has left me not feeling so hot and I haven't finished my book so a recipe is what is going on!

I saw this recipe last week on a blog and knew I wanted to make it right away, but then yesterday when I went to find the recipe to make sure I had it down before I started and I couldn't find it anywhere! I don't know if I don't remember whose blog it was on, or if they took it off.. lord knows. Anyways I decided to do it to the best of my memory and see what happened.

I will say there are TONS of recipes on Pinterest for this and I am sure they are all very similar so I am just letting you know what I did, how it turned out and how I think you could play with it.

What you will need:

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

1 Cup of Franks Hot Sauce (or whatever hot sauce you prefer)

1 Package of Hidden Valley Ranch Powdered Salad Dressing Mix. 

Crockpot

I put a little bit of hot sauce on the bottom of the crockpot so the chicken wouldn't stick. I sprinkled the package of hidden valley ranch powdered salad dressing over the top of the chicken and then poured a cup of Franks Hot Sauce over the chicken. 

I set the crockpot to medium heat and cooked it for three and a half hours! Honestly the apartment smelled AMAZING while it was cooking. 

After the three and a half hours I opened up the crockpot and the chicken shredded apart super easily. I mixed it around and let it sit on low until Jason got home. 

We had ours on a sandwich which a side salad. If I was thinking I would have made some type of slaw to go on top but I didn't. The sandwiches were fantastic!

If you are thinking you wouldn't like this because its hot, it really wasn't. The ranch dressing mix really takes away from the heat. But you can always add some barbecue sauce or honey to it if its too much for you! Or if you don't like the tang of the hot sauce you could put chicken in the crockpot and just add a whole jar of your favorite salsa and cook it the same way!

Obviously Jason and I didn't eat all of that last night so I froze the rest. In the future I was thinking we could use it for:

- Nachos

- Burritos 

- Quesadillas

- A salad topping

- In chili

- Tacos

And whatever else you can think of! Shredded chicken isn't something we eat a lot of and I cant really give you a reason why because we definitely eat a lot of chicken but I think I will definitely add it into our mix now. If you aren't around to throw this in three and a half hours before dinner then I would recommend putting it in 6-7 hours before on low! There is enough liquid in there that you really aren't going to overcook it! 

Sorry I didn't take pictures, it was so super easy that I wasn't sure I was going to make a whole blog post out of it but it turned out to be so super good that I really wanted to share it with you guys! 

There are tons of recipes on Pinterest for this, just type "shredded buffalo chicken" in the search bar! 

If you like a little spice in your life give this a whirl, I would say it would easily feed 4 people! 

Hope you guys are having a great week!! Thank you as always for stopping by! 

Chicken Pizza's!

Good Afternoon,

I am super excited to share this recipe with you guys today, one because it is sooo good and two because you guys seem to be enjoying the recipes around here lately and I love hearing how you have tried them yourselves and what you think!

As you know last week I went to a taping of the Rachael Ray Show and the final recipe she shared was this one. Again as I always say you can take any recipe and make it your own and that is exactly why I like cooking. I knew that I was definitely going to try this recipe and as soon as I tasted it I knew I was going to share it with you guys!

So lets get started!

Basically what you are making is a pizza but the crust of your pizza is going to be a chicken breast, the point of this is not only for flavor but to eliminate the carbs. Its super easy and even something you can get your kids involved in!

What You'll Need:

Chicken Breast (One per person)

Cheese (of your choice)

Pizza toppings (I used mushrooms and onions)

Cherry or Grape tomatoes

Garlic

Olive Oil 

Spices of your preference

Salt and Pepper

Tools:

Cutting Board

Sharp Knife

Baking Sheet

Meat Tenderizer (If you don't have one use a coffee mug)

I started out chopping the things I wanted for my pizza, sadly I forgot green peppers which are one of my favorites so you can add that if its something you like and I couldn't find any fresh basil. The next time I make these (and there will be a next time) I will make sure to grab a green pepper as well as try and find fresh basil. 

I decided to chop my veggies and saute them a little before I put them on my pizza. You could put them on raw but I thought it might be nice to have them cooked a little so at the end I could add my toppings and cheese and just broil. Again however you would like to do it! I chopped my mushrooms SUPER thin because when I do them that way Jason will actually eat them and then I roughly chopped my onions. I added them to a pay with a little garlic infused olive oil and moved onto my sauce. 

Of course wash your tomatoes to start, then you are going to chop up your garlic, using as much as you desire. I LOVE garlic so I tend to use a little more. You can add onions to this if you would like but I was already putting them on top of my pizza so I chose not to, if you are not adding onions to the top of your pizza maybe put some in your sauce. 

You are going to take a pot that has a lid, if you have a frying pan with a lid you can use that as well. Put a generous amount of olive in the bottom of your pan and let it get warm. If you let it get too hot you risk the flavor and when you add your ingredients the grease will splatter so be mindful of that. Once your oil is warm, add your tomatoes whole along with your garlic and whatever else you choose. Salt and Pepper to taste. Essentially you want these tomatoes to cook through and they will eventually soften and pop or you can break them up with a fork or potato masher. Just like you were making real spaghetti sauce to jar. If you can't be around to watch this part of the cooking process I would wait until the tomatoes cook down a bit before adding the garlic so it doesn't burn.

(I'm sorry guys I flaked and didn't take a picture of the finished product, but basically your tomatoes are going to mash up. It smells and tastes incredibly fresh!)

I purchased my garlic infused olive oil at the Union Square Market in NYC, its from The Filling Station but you can use regular extra virgin olive oil of course. If by chance you can get near an Oil and Vinegar store though, guys I highly recommend it! Infused oils can make all the difference in your flavors!

I sauteed my onions and mushrooms until they had really good color, the key to this is NOT to add salt while they are cooking. Salt is going to pull the natural juices out of any vegetable therefore adding too much moisture to your pan and you want get the color or crispy edges. If you prefer not to have that than by all means salt away! When these were done though they almost tasted as though they were done on the grill, it was fantastic. 

At this point pull out your chicken breast! I used one per person I was cooking for. You are basically going to butterfly your chicken to make it larger as well as thinner. For this step I use my Ulu, for my its just the sharpest and because of its shape easiest to work with, a sharp fillet knife will work just fine. Whatever you are using, be careful. 

Once you are finished I laid a piece of plastic wrap on the counter, laid my butterflied chicken on it and then added another piece over the top. If you have a meat tenderizer than this would be the time that you would pull it out, I however do not. I really need to get one though. Anyways I just used a coffee mug (you do what you gotta do!), I basically banged my coffee mug on the chicken until it was to my desired thickness. 

Once you are finished you will want to season your chicken. You can season your chicken however you want, I used a little garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning and a bit of seasoning salt. Make sure to season both sides! I would use regular extra virgin olive oil to lightly oil the bottom of you pan as the infused oils tend to burn. Keep in mind because your chicken is now so thin its going to to take as long to cook. 

I baked my chicken at 375 for almost 40 minutes, it was done well but not overdone. I am really over the top about making sure meats are THOROUGHLY cooked. When my chicken was done, I brought it out of the oven, set the oven to broil and then added my toppings. 

I added my sauce, mushrooms and onions and cheese over top. You can use whatever cheese you want, I used a shredded mozzarella! I put the chicken back in the oven under the broiler and let it brown. 

Keep in mind this is going to be SUPER filling so you wont want to plan a big side dish unless you're feeding a bunch of teenage boys are something. I chose to do a cesar salad. 

Guys the flavor was so good, it was even better than I thought. It was just so FRESH tasting. You can add whatever you want to it, add as much as you want but the whole point is to avoid the crust. 

I feel like this is definitely going to be a staple in our house, I get really tired of dinners.. having the same old thing and at this time of year it can be really hard to add freshness into your meals as produce isn't at its best. 

You can simply this meal by buying already butterflied chicken, using quick pizza toppings such a pepperoni and bacon bits (Jason's kind of pizza) and go from there. You can change it up (and make it a little less healthy) by doing BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce, or alfredo sauce and greens. Make it your own, that's half the fun!!

I highly recommend giving this a whirl, if you do please let me know what you think!! 

As always thank you so much for taking the time to stop by!! Have a fabulous day!!

High Five for Friday 2.27.15

Good Morning,

Another week has passed which means we are one week closer to going home and let me tell you guys the count down is on, I feel like as the days pass my home sickness gets worse and worse. Not because they are having such fantastic weather at home, because they got a ton of snow yesterday but because I want to be at home. Having said that the weather here hasn't been all that fantastic, as one would expect during winter.

So what good things happened this week? Lets chat about them shall we?

1. Sunday's Rare Weather

Sunday the weather was absolutely AMAZING! They were calling for it to be warm but when it actually almost reached 50 I couldn't have been happier! Jason and I got up in the morning and I made my way over to the mall to do some birthday shopping and basically just get out of the apartment and enjoy the weather! Jason ended up meeting me there as he generally doesn't care to shop with me, we got a Starbucks and went for a walk by the water. It was just such a gorgeous day and the weather was what we wait for after every winter! I wish it could have lasted.

Who knew the Hudson even froze? Apparently its quite rare!

2. Sunday Afternoon

It may be a little cliche but Jason only has Sunday's off and I really look forward to our one day together. When we got back from our outing we laid around the apartment in our sweats and Jason made an amazing dinner. Naturally I cook dinner all week but Jason likes to cook and is really good at it. I know its nothing special, a day at home but with Jason's work schedule we really don't get a lot of time together and so I love those days. Dinner was amazing, I didn't have to watch the Daytona 500 and basically it was perfect! Sorry to all you NASCAR fans.. I just can't.

3. Rachael Ray Swag

As I mentioned in yesterdays post Tanya and I went to a taping of the Rachael Ray show on Wednesday and we were so fortunate to get a bunch of treats from the show! I haven't used them yet but I definitely plan to.

4. Target Patio Furniture!

Target has their patio furniture out and what does that mean... THE END IS NEAR!!!!!! Summer is coming! Good luck prying me out of the South next winter, I swear it will be kicking and screaming. I was so excited to see patio furniture, Barbecues and lanterns! I cannot wait for hot weather!!

5. Subway

No, not the one you ride on. Last night Jason and I went over to the mall because we had a few things we wanted to look at and decided we would grab dinner there. I was more than fine with this on account that I have been dying for a Subway sandwich. Weird I know but when we travel majority of the time we grab Subway to eat in the truck and I love it. Sadly we haven't done much traveling lately and there isn't a convenient Subway stop on the way back here from our house so I don't know the last time we had it. Jason ended up getting something he didn't like at all which sucked by my sub was exactly what I had hoped it would be and that is always amazing. Sometimes you just need a Subway sandwich guys!

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I hope you guys had a great week, next week the weather is looking to warm up significantly and I cant tell you how thrilled I am about that! One day is actually suppose to be 50 and right about now that sounds heavenly! Have a great weekend!!!

As always thank you so much for stopping by!!

This week I am linking up with:

Tanya @ Prairie Girl in the Big, Scary World

Cait @ Fierce, Fabulous & Fit

Steph @ Life According to Steph

and these lovely ladies!!

Rachael Ray Show

Hi Guys,

So as you know yesterday Tanya and I went to a taping of the Rachael Ray show! We were really excited especially after seeing Live with Kelly and Michael two weeks ago! We were aware that they gave out a few extra tickets in case some people didn't show, as they didn't want to have empty seats but when we arrived and there was a HUGE line I was a little worried. I won't lie though, the peanut butter hot chocolate we stopped for on the way might have been worth missing the show.

We got in line and were really hoping we wouldn't be turned away. To our surprise people continued to show up, there was a good 25-30 people in the line behind us and I could just not imagine that they gave out that many extra tickets. To our surprise we got in along with the 4 people behind us and that was it! I honestly couldn't believe they gave out that many extra tickets, people traveled from all over the US, from different states to be there and to be turned away. I can see giving out maybe 10 extra tickets but 25?

While standing in line we were asked to fill out a waiver and got our ticket. We entered the building, handed in our waiver and had our ticket color coated. They gave you one of three colors, I have absolutely no idea if it was random, according to when you got your ticket or what. It definitely had nothing to do with where you were in line. We went through security and all of that and were ushered into a holding room. Guys.. smallest room ever! They were offering snacks and water but good luck getting to them.. no kidding. They had some shirts for sale as well but I couldn't bring myself to spend $30.00!

While we were waiting they had their entertainment guy come out and lay down the rules, Joey Kola. Guys.. HE IS HILARIOUS! He totally made the show, he is a stand up comedian who basically interacts with the audience before and after the show, as well as in between taping segments.

They told us they would call us by the color on our ticket to enter the studio and we were so lucky that our color was called first. Sadly they were EXTREMELY strict that no pictures were allowed to be taken, no phones on at all, no gum chewing.. weird. It wasn't even live! I get that they don't want people taking pictures during filming I guess although we were allowed to do so at Kelly and Michael, but we couldn't have taken pictures before or after the show? I mean come on!!

Everyone was seated and Joey Kola entertained. He told us that the show we were filming that day would air sometime in April but they didn't know when - umm really? So apparently we just have to watch for the guests that were on.

So Rachael had Curtis Stone as her co-host which was great, he is often on the show and not bad to look at by any means. But let me tell you.. they didn't even acknowledge the audience. I went into the show thinking Rachael Ray was super funny and down to earth.. guys... not even a little bit! First of all we couldn't even see the taping because there were so many cameras and camera men in front of them. Literally we basically watched the entire show on the monitor in front of us. This was not at all what I thought.

Then the first break came and I really thought they would address the audience, or at least acknowledge them. Negative. When we went to Michael and Kelly and they couldn't get enough of the audience during commercial breaks. They were taking pictures and signing stuff, and Rachael Ray didn't even look towards the audience. Thank god for Joey Kola or it would have been some silent breaks.

The first guest other than Curtis was Katie Lee from the Saturday Food Network show The Kitchen. I have seen this show a couple of times and really like it. Katie was there to demonstrate with a few kitchen tools, a shot glass mold, a ravioli making rolling pin and ice cream sandwich presses. We were so excited when they announced we would be going home with all of them!

I was pretty interested in the shot glass mold, you can make candy ones, cookie ones and put milk in them. It can go in the oven or the freezer. 

We don't eat a lot of ice cream but hey, we live in the south.. I could be persuaded! 

I've never made fresh ravioli but I think I might just give it a try now. 

Its not a given that people go home with gifts from every show so we were extremely thankful. They handed out the swag at the end of the show. 

They also brought out Tiffany Thiessen you know.. Kelly Kapowski from Safe by the Bell! Haha when I told Jason she was on the show he wrote back and said "OMG you met Kelly Kapowski" haha! I didn't realize that she was starting her own cooking show, Dinner at Tiffani's. Not sure why they are spelling her name with an I for the show but there you have it. I was excited to see her as I have watched her on many shows over the years, and she is still as gorgeous as ever and totally rocking that pregnant glow! 

At this point though the only time any guest was acknowledging the audience was to wave as they walked off stage, even though there were breaks. Not to mention we were almost done the taping and Rachael Ray herself had barely looked our way! I hate to say it because I know how fortunate we were to go but guys she was kind of awful. She was constantly snapping at her staff on breaks, she didn't interact with the audience at all and basically if the cameras weren't rolling she looked completely miserable. I was completely shocked. 

When the show was over she came out and basically said, hope we put on a good show for you.. we are going to take a picture with the audience. They stood in the audience for a minute for a photo and left. She didn't say thank you for coming, shake anyone's hand, offer to sign anything or take a picture.. nothing! I couldn't believe it. I felt that she didn't appreciate the fact that people traveled and stood in the cold to see her show, what is her show without an audience? They sent an email to ticket holders the day before the show asking them to bring non-perishables for her 9 million meals program and when we were there they asked for cash donations, people donated and not a thank you for their contributions.. seriously.. nothing. 

After we left the studio Tanya and I talked about how we couldn't believe how unappreciative and rude she seemed. I left there with a completely different outlook on her and her show that's for sure. 

When I got home I was talking to Barb telling her all about it and she said I should look up reviews on the show, which truthfully had never crossed my mind before. I did just that when I got off the phone with her only to find 90% of people who wrote reviews for the show said the exact same thing!!! She didn't care about the audience, she was rude and nasty to her staff, she looked nasty and miserable as soon as the cameras went off. Crazy!

All in all I am very grateful for the experience of being at a taping and the gifts we got. I am sad that her personality isn't at all what I would have expected and I will say I wouldn't go back to another taping of her show. There are so many shows to be seen in the city and most of them offer free tickets, I honestly wouldn't waste your time with this particular show. That may sound harsh but its completely true. 

I hope you guys are having a great week, I am starting to feel a little better today as I actually got some sleep last night. I am hoping to feel much better tomorrow!! 

Thank you as always for taking the time out of your day to stop by, I have been getting some fabulous comments around here lately from you guys and I absolutely LOVE it, so thank you for taking the time.