This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hormel Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.
Loyal readers of Roxiticus Desperate Housewives and Roxy's Bay Head Blog know that Rex does all the cooking in our family, and Roxy does all the spreadsheets. When it comes to cooking, my bestest pal correctly pointed out years and years ago, "What you do isn't called cooking, Roxy... it's called heating up." For those of us who don't have Rex's extraordinary talents in the kitchen, Dinty Moore® products and hormel® chili enable us to replicate childhood favorites like Chili-mac and Easy Shepherd's Pie and create (heat up?) classic hearty meal recipes like Chili Cheese Dip and Chili and 3-Cheese Fondue. London and Maddie and all of their friends know that if it's chips and cheese and chili (my all-time favorite way to eat Hormel® chili), Roxy is probably doing the "cooking." Apparently, Roxy is not alone...Hormel, the nation’s leading chili brand, has topped nachos and filled the bowls of American families for generations, celebrating their 75th anniversary this year.
Heading into the Easter weekend, the weather is supposed to be warm and sunny, so we're planning the traditional Easter egg hunt in our Roxiticus Valley backyard on Sunday, followed by one of Rex's delicious ham dinners for Grammy (and maybe Grandmom, if she's home from rehab after her hip surgery). But Saturday is game day and Roxy's day in the kitchen (danger, beware!)....even though our brackets are busted, with both Villanova and Syracuse out of the NCAA tournament, we're still celebrating March Madness and cheering on great college basketball... and enjoying nostaligic comfort foods from Hormel® chili and Dinty Moore®. For a great collection of game time recipes, visit http://www.hormelrecipes.com/.
"The way we play tonight is what we leave behind..."
This year's March Madness NCAA tournament has been one of the wildest rollercoaster rides with the most surprises. #1 seeds Syracuse (my alma mater) and Kansas headed home early, as well as #2 seeds Villanova and Kansas State. Because of all the upsets, for the first time ever, the Elite Eight will include two teams ranked #5 (or lower).
In between college basketball games, the girls and I have been watching the DVD of High School Musical 3, which is my favorite in the HSM trilogy. Rex didn't see it with us on the big screen, so we made the DVD a gift for him on Maddie's 8th birthday.
You're allowed to mock me for choosing a hokey Disney song for this week's Music Monday, but I love this song and what it says this time of year...here with the Official 16 Minutes (Now or Never) video, Roxy's Bay Head Blog presents Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens as Troy Bolton & Gabriella Montez in High School Musical 3.
16, 16, 16 minutes left Better get it done 16, 16, 16 more minutes Get ready, GAME ON!
16, 16, 16 minutes left Runnin out of time (WILDCATS!) (West High) 16, 16, 16 more minutes It's on the line (WILDCATS!) 16, 16, 16 minutes left Better get it done (WILDCATS!)
16, 16, 16 more minutes Till we're number one! LET'S GO TEAM!
Gotta get it together Yeah, pull up and shoot (SCORE!) Are you ready? Are you with me?
(Team, team, team, yeah!) Shake'em with the crossover (Wildcats!) Tell me what are we here for? (To Win) Cuz' we know that we're the best team (Come on boys, come on boys, come on!)
The way we play tonight Is what we leave behind (that's right) It all comes down to right now
It's up to us (Let's go!) So what are we gonna be? T-E-A-M TEAM! Gotta work it out Turn it on
Come on!
This is the last time to get it right (Ooh) This is the last chance to make it or not (Yeah) We gotta show what we are all about (Team!) Work together
This is the last chance to make our mark (Shoot!) History will know who we are (Yeah) This is the last game so make it count It's now or never
W-I-L-D WILDCATS! You know we are W-I-L-D WILDCATS! Come on, come on! West High Knights, heey Yeah, we're doing it right, oh yeah W-I-L-D WILDCATS! Now's the time!
Gotta get it inside, down low In the paint now shoot, SCORE! We gotta work it together Gimme the ball Gimme the ball Gimme the ball
Fastbreak! Keep the ball in control Let it fly from downtown Show'em we can do it better Go, go, go Come on boys! (Wildcats!)
The way we play tonight (yeah) Is what we leave behind (that's right) It all comes down to right now It's up to us (Let's go) So what are we gonna be? T-E-A-M TEAM! Gotta work it out Turn it all Come on!
This is the last time to get it right (Ooh) This is the last chance to make it or not (Yeah) We gotta show what we are all about (Team!) Work together
This is the last chance to make our mark (Hoop!) History will know who we are (Yeah) This is the last game so make it count It's now or never
Right now I can hardly breathe Ohh, you can do it Just know that I believe And that's all I really need
Then come on! Make me strong It's time to turn it up GAME ON!
WILDCATS! Gonna tear it up GO WILDCATS! Yeah we're number one HEY WILDCATS! We're the champions GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO TEAM! Oh! West High Knights, heey Yeah, we're putting up a fight (Wildcats!) We'll never quit it, gonna win it Let me hear you say HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY
This is the last time to get it right (Ooh) This is the last chance to make it or not (Yeah) We gotta show what we are all about (Team)
Work together (Come on!)
This is the last chance to make our mark History will know who we are This is the last game so make it count It's now or never
Yeaaah!
Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.
PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!
Rex just got off the phone with his son, Trader, who has booked the Bruce Springsteen cover band Tramps Like Us to perform in the backyard of our Bay Head, New Jersey, beach house for his 40th birthday party this summer. With the weather feeling raw and chilly going into our weekend up north in the Roxiticus Valley, it's good to be planning a summer celebration at the beach. London and Maddie are really looking forward to summer in Bay Head, getting our cockapoo puppy in June, and partying at the beach with their big brothers, niece and nephew in August.
After a rough week -- my 84-year-old mom is in the hospital after dislocating her hip for the third time in a month on Thursday and is having very complicated surgery on Wednesday -- I considered a repeat of my October "Lightning Crashes" post on my Roxiticus Desperate Housewives blog, but instead of focusing on the cycles of life, death, and growing old, I've decided to go with something light and breezy on both of my blogs.
London and Maddie have been into American Idol this season, staying up way past their bedtimes to vote for their favorites. Our entire family thinks Crystal Bowersox is likely to win it all, but Maddie has rooted for 17-year-old Katie Stevens since her audition. The judges keep telling Katie to sing something "young" and "current," but it is clear that Katie is an old soul who can't relate to Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, or the Jonas Brothers. We did some thinking, and came up with a few suggestions for Katie Stevens....maybe something from a Disney movie or Broadway show that would show off Katie's "big voice. Over on Roxiticus Desperate Housewives, we posted "That's How You Know" from Enchanted. Our other suggestion for Katie Stevens is to sing something young, but from another decade, such as "Hopelessly Devoted to You" by Olivia Newton-John from Grease or this week's Music Monday post on Roxy's Bay Head Blog: "It's In His Kiss (Shoop Shoop Song)"... done by Merry Clayton and Betty Everett in the 60s, we found a great video of Cher's 1990 cover from her movie, Mermaids:
Does he love me? I wanna know! How can I tell if he loves me so?
(Is it in his eyes?) Oh no! You need to see! (Is it in his eyes?) Oh no! You make believe! If you wanna know If he loves you so Its in his kiss! (That's where it is!)
(Oh yeah! Or is it in his face?) Oh no! It's just his charms! (In his warm embrace?) Oh no! That's just his arms! If you wanna know If he loves you so It's in his kiss! (That's where it is!) Oh,ooh, oh! Its in his kiss! (That's where it is!)
Oh, oh, oh, hug him! Squeeze him tight! Find out what you wanna know! If it's love, if it really is, It's there in his kiss!
(How 'bout the way he acts?) Oh no! That's not the way! You're not listenin' to all I'm sayin'! If you wanna know If he loves you so It's in his kiss! (That's where it is!) Oh, ooh, oh! Its in his kiss! (That's where it is!)
Oh, oh, oh, hug him! Squeeze him tight! Find out what you wanna know! If it's love, if it really is, It's there in his kiss!
(How 'bout the way he acts?) Oh no! That's not the way! You're not listenin' to all I'm sayin'! If you wanna know If he loves you so It's in his kiss! (That's where it is!) Oh, ooh, oh! Its in his kiss! (That's where it is!) Oh, yeah! Its in his kiss! (It's in his hiss, that's where it is!) ooh! It's in his kiss! (It's in his kiss, that's where it is!) (It's in his kiss, that's where it is!) (It's in his kiss, that's where it is!) (It's in his kiss, that's where it is!) (It's in his kiss, that's where it is!) MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.
PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of wellnessdaily.com. All opinions are 100% mine.
Roxiticus Roxy, our groundhog up north, has spoken, and even though the snow is melting, there are still another six to eight weeks before we open up our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey. Just the right amount of time to start asking the question, what are YOU doing to increase the wellness factor in your life? So far this year, this new decade, I haven't followed through on any of my diet and exercise plans or New Year's wellness resolutions. Maybe there's help for me. http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/post?slot_id=191732&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellnessdaily.com is a new online community that collects all of the latest news, plus healthy living blogs, expert opinions, easy and nutritious recipes, with videos on a variety of topics ranging from weight loss to healthier eating to exercise to stress relief and mental health.
This year certainly wouldn't be the first year that I've set a 50-day goal to lose 10 pounds ahead of bikini season, but this may be the first year that I've had the proper tools and motivation... I'm going use the site to create my own customized personal health and wellness news feed so that I'll receive the most relevant news possible....and I'm going to clip the photo of the Ed Hardy bikini from Venus swimsuits and tape it onto Roxy's refrigerator.
Come along with Roxy and join wellnessdaily.com... if you're one of the first 25,000 visitors, you can claim a $5 product rebate. Sign up and enter the wellnessdaily.com Twitter contest for a chance to win a WellnessDaily.com prize package valued at $1,250, including coupons for a year-long supply of Jennie-O Turkey Store products and a one-year gym membership. Enter the Twitter promotion through March 10th by tweeting: “Enter to win $ towards a gym membership & JENNIE-O turkey products. Just follow @wellness_daily & RT this! http://bit.ly/tbd123."
Good luck to all... in the contest and with your 2010 wellness goals.
This Music Monday post is for London and Maddie, who adore the Jonas Brothers... but the inspiration for my choice was actually a firm handshake this afternoon from the teenage brother of one of Maddie's friends. As a parent of two girls, now 8 and 9, I've come to admire other parents who have raised respectful, confident teenagers...instead of the surly kind who won't look adults in the eye. Up north in the Roxiticus Valley, we have three sisters who babysit for London and Maddie, and they are all so poised and responsible, ready for college or job interviews or whatever opportunities life has to offer....same goes for the teenage brothers of a couple of London and Maddie's friends. So, while the Jonas Brothers intended this one as a mushy love song, I've chosen it to honor the cool teenagers in our lives.
If the heart is always searching, Can you ever find a home? I've been looking for that someone, I'll never make it on my own. Dreams can't take the place of loving you, There's gotta be a million reasons why it's true
When you look me in the eyes, And tell me that you love me. Everything's alright, When you're right here by my side. When you look me in the eyes, I catch a glimpse of heaven. I find my paradise, When you look me in the eyes.
How long will I be waiting, To be with you again Gonna tell you that I love you, In the best way that I can. I can't take a day without you here, You're the light that makes my darkness disappear.
When you look me in the eyes, And tell me that you love me. Everything's alright, When you're right here by my side. When you look me in the eyes, I catch a glimpse of heaven. I find my paradise, When you look me in the eyes.
More and more, I start to realize, I can reach my tomorrow, I can hold my head high, And it's all because you're by my side.
When you look me in the eyes, And tell me that you love me. Everything's alright, When you're right here by my side. When I hold you in my arms I know that it's forever I just gotta let you know I never wanna let you go
Cause when you look me in the eyes.
And tell me that you love me. Everything's alright, When you're right here by my side. When you look me in the eyes, I catch a glimpse of heaven. I find my paradise, When you look me in the eyes. Oh
Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.
PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!
