So during the week I go to a coffee shop in the morning to kill an hour before work and while there buy a cup of Earl Grey tea.
I drank so many that I had enough to get any drink free! I asked the barista what she recommended and they said a London Fog- Earl Grey tea with Vanilla and heated, foamy milk. I tried it and LOVED it!
I had to have more of it. So I decided to make it myself.
Ingredients:
Tea Kettle/Teapot
Earl Grey Tea (I use loose leaf but you can do bagged)
Milk
Vanilla Creamer
Milk Frothier
Sugar (optional)
Tall Glass
Tea Mug or Teacup
Directions:
Put your kettle or teapot on and heat the water.
Prepare your loose leaf tea (one teaspoon per cup of water). [I typically drink out of a two cup tea mug.]
When water is ready pour in mug over tea infuser or tea bag. (Tea should steep no more than three minutes.)
When tea is steeping prepare the milk. This is something that might take a few trials until you find your perfect taste. I typically take 1/4 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of Vanilla creamer and pour both into the tall glass.
Using the frothier, whisk the milk mixture until it is nice and airy. If you don’t have a frothier you can use a tall glass jar and shake it up.
Heat the milk mixture in the microwave for a minute.
When the tea has steeped, remove it from the mug and add sugar (if needed) and foamy milk mixture.
Drink & enjoy!
It was delicious, and cheaper than forking over four dollars every time you wished to have it. Delicious!
So I know you’ve probably been wondering, what’s going on? Where have I been? Have I just crashed from my Valentine’s Day postings?
Well not exactly. I’m sure you have seen on the news how crazy the weather in California has been. We actually had to evacuate the area for fear of flooding.
Headed up more north, where I connected to the internet and was able to finish the Valentine’s Day countdown. Then we returned home, as no water had overflowed, repacked and planned to head down to Southern California to wait out the evacuation.
I’m outta here
But they were going to get the worse storm in 20 years. We decided to skip it, which was good as everyone I knew house’s got flooded.
Not good
So we were trying to decide where to head next, when Las Vegas was just randomly chosen. There we headed out in a trailer, with my cat (as I wasn’t leaving her) for Sin City.
I’d never leave you.
Now I’ve never really had a desire to go to Vegas. I like gambling, but just for fun. Anytime money is involved I lose; if we play for fun, chores, candy-I’m golden.
If money-
But that is where everyone wants to go, so we went. Well it took a day to get there as California is huge.
What?!
We got there around five, but were too tired we just stayed there in the trailer resting.
The next day it poured! Like crazy pouring, like monsoon weather. It was so crazy and we were so tired of the water that we decided to just stay in again.
The next day was sunny, but cool which was nice, and we decided to head out. But you know me, I’m not normal.
Now what I wanted to see more than anything was the mob museum.
It was AMAZING! Tri-level, with information from the early years to present time. It was chock full of information on the 1920s to the 60s. The later years focused more on the police and FBI. It was extremely interactive with video in a replica of the Las Vegas courthouse, depicting the hearings and using actual furnture from the time period.
They had practice with weapons, a fake tommy gun that you could pretend shoot:
and the wall from the St. Valentine’s Massacre that was brough over and reassembled brick by brick. You could see the bullet holes.
There is so much more, I barely even skimmed the surface in this review of all the amazing things this building has to offer. If you are ever there you should check it out as it was AMAZING!
After that we drove down the strip looking at all the lighted signs and buildings.
Wow!
The next day we hit the casinos, but not to play.
Yep, I wanted to look at all the architecture.
Hey, I told you I was different.
I loved looking at them, and spent hours walking and checking them all out. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see everything, but I tried my best. My favorite was probably Caesar’s Palace. I loved the extensive details in recreating the roman architecture. It was beautiful. As a former Art History student, I was enthralled.
They even have a life-size replica of Michelangelo’s David, made from the same marble as the original.
Michaelangelo purposely made this disproportionate as it was supposed to me placed high above on a roof in Florence, so that all could see it.
The sculpture is designed to show David’s warrior soul, not actual physical age, that is why is so muscular and strong. It was also designed to be right before he throws the slingshot, his face in fierce contemplation. It is amazing the way Michelangelo is able to create life out of stone.
The Flamingo is the oldest casino on the strip. It was created by the mobster Bugsy Siegal and his friends and the reason for his death. It was taking too long to build, using too much money, and many believed Bugsy was skimming off the top. Never try to cheat the mob, they will always take you out.
The Paris Casino was also amazing as it tried hard to replicate the city-from the Arc de Triomphe, to the “cobblestone” floors, to the Rococo style artwork and Salon furniture.
Wow
And it was cool looking at the Bellagio first hand instead of just a movie, like Ocean’s Eleven.
But there was one big disappointment for me.
So you all know how much I love Elvis, I am a super fan.
So I was looking for an Elvis themed souvenir in all the souvenir shops on the strip. But I couldn’t find anything!
I know, right?! I searched every where and was getting desperate…at this point I would have bought anything.
But there was nothing, nada, zip!
I know, crazy! No Elvis in Vegas! No nothing! Not even an impersonator! Not a copy of the film Viva Las Vegas!
Oh well, I could probably find something cheaper online.
But hey, just because I missed out doesn’t mean you should. So Elvis, take us out:
Well we have reached the end of another Valentine’s Day countdown. Hopefully you all have enjoyed it as much as I have.
I hope everyone had a great day whether you spend it with a spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, family, friend(s), a pet, or food.
And if you didn’t enjoy it, there is always tomorrow when everything will be marked down really low.
So let’s move on to our final pick:
Romantic Moment #14
“Episode Four” from Pride and Prejudice (1995)
So what can I say about this?
I LOVE this miniseries. It is one of the best versions of Pride & Prejudice; Colin Firth is tied with Pride & Prejudice (1940)’s Laurence Olivier in best Darcy.
So I thought and thought about what I which moment I think would be a good one to choose, and I think I picked one that everyone will love.
So the story of Pride & Prejudice should be something you are familiar with if you are a fan of my blog. Even so, I’ll give a quick synopsis.
So Elizabeth Bennet is the second of five daughters in the Bennet family. This wouldn’t be too bad if the estate was not entailed making it harder for them to find husbands and forcing them to lose everything if Mr. Bennet dies. No one is really concerned with it except their mother who desperately wants them to all to secure a relationship.
A Mr. Bingley rents a home in the area, thinking about purchasing, and brings his sisters and best friend Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is more aloof, having many dislike him even though he is very wealthy. When Elizabeth overhears him saying she isn’t pretty enough for him, she becomes very upset and the one who dislikes him the most.
A very handsome soldier, Mr. Wickham, comes into the picture and charms everyone along with giving more ammo on why we should all jump on the “I dislike Darcy train.” Also, the Bennet’s cousin who is set to inherit comes, Mr. Collins, and is extremely disliked by all.
Bingley leaves suddenly and his sisters and Jane write to each other, with the sisters saying that Mr. Bingley is getting very close to asking Mr. Darcy’s sister for her hand in marriage. Mr. Collins also exits after he is rejected by Elizabeth, deferring his interests for her friend.
Elizabeth visits Charlotte after she is married and meets Mr. Darcy’s insufferable aunt, Lady Catherine.
She also finds out from Mr. Darcy’s cousin that Mr. Darcy was the one who convinced Bingley to leave and forget about her sister, being the one to blame for Jane’s broken heart.
After this Mr. Darcy ends up proposing to Elizabeth! It turns out while her dislike was growing he was falling for her!
She refuses him:
Elizabeth thinks that is the end of it, but then Darcy gives her a letter with an extensive explanation. Will it be enough to forgive him or will she just forget him?
Most Romantic Moment: Even Though I’m Not Presentable, I Don’t Care I Want to Spend Time With You
So the moment I have chosen occurs when Elizabeth travels to Pemberley. Here she looks upon Mr. Darcy’s home and hears how everyone talks about him. This coupled with what he revealed in his letter has her wondering if maybe she was wrong to refuse him.
Now the only reason Elizabeth agreed to look upon the house was because she thought that Mr. Darcy wouldn’t be there, but unbeknownst to everyone, Mr. Darcy has decided to come home early. As he heads home, he decides to take a dip in the pond.
I just love how shocked yet excited he is to see her that he just wants to talk to her, yet at the same time doesn’t know what to say. It is so cute how he doesn’t even realize his wet clothes or tries to get away to change them.
And then after he realizes his attire, he races to dress and runs downstairs, still wet, in a hurry to not let her slip through his fingers. Even though she rejected him, he still cares deeply for her and wants to spend time with her to change her impressions. So cute!
So I haven’t gotten around to adding this show to my list of fangirling, but this is a show I thought was just fantastic.
My friend actually got me interested, and once I started watching, I just couldn’t stop.
Why did they only have three season? It was amazingly well done in presenting the characters, the backstories, and the issues they face. This should have kept going.
Why?
Anyways, let’s move on.
So this episode comes at the very end of the first season. Having been rejected into joining the Justice League, they have their own group, Young Justice, that consists of Superboy (Superman’s clone): M’gann/Megan as Miss Martian (John the Martin Manhuter’s niece); Artemis (Green Arrow’s niece); Dick Grayson’s Robin/Nightwing (Batman’s protogeé); Wally West as Kid Flash (the Flash’s nephew); and Kaldur’ahm’s Aqualad (Aqua Man’s sidekick).
The team work hard to prove their worth; showing that are more than secondary characters. There is also secrets, betrayal, love; and a lot more twists and turns that make this series solid.
Most Romantic Moment: I Knew and I Didn’t Care
**Spoiler Warning**
So Megan has been blackmailed by a villain into doing her bidding or else it will be revealed as to what she really looks like. You see, on Mars there is serious racism between the Green and White martians. Megan was born as a White Martian, and not gonna lie is pretty terrifying. She’s always hated how she looks,
As she has the power to change her appearance all the way down to a cellular level, when she comes to Earth she pretends to be a green martian and copies the form of an actress she admired.
But when this secret threatens the group, she decides to reveal all, but is terrified that they will have the same disgust as those on her home planet.
However, when she reveals her true form; her boyfriend Superboy and the others don’t care. In fact Superboy has known all along, even before they were a couple, and it never mattered to him.
Aw! How sweet!
And to make it even cuter. In an earlier episode, Image, Megan lies about how she looks and Superboy told her then he didn’t care.
He knew then, but never let on: letting Megan reveal herself when she was ready. How sweet!
So I started watching this movie one day because I thought it was a different film. I enjoyed it, except for one thing: Jennifer Aniston’s clothes. They are ATROCIOUS. I don’t know who picked them out, but they are ugly. Anyways…
Kate (Jennifer Aniston) is having issues at work. She keeps getting passed over as she isn’t “stable”. She doesn’t own a house, a car, isn’t married, and has no children. Pretty much she has nothing tying her to the company and keeping her from stealing clients; so they will never give her the big accounts.
Not sure about what to do next, her best friend Darcy actually makes the move for her. She takes a picture of Kate at a friend’s wedding, posed with the guy, Nick (Jay Mohr), who won the garter (as she won the bouquet), and tells everyone that he is Kate’s fiancé.
Not good
Now “stable”, Kate lands a promotion, great office, and the attention of the office hunk, Sam (Kevin Bacon). Kate sends herself flowers, goes “house hunting”, etc. But everything comes to a head when Nick becomes a national hero when he saves a girl from a fire. Everyone wants to meet him; so she calls him up and has him come to a big night to pretend to be her fiancé, coming up with a plan for them to “break up.”
However, things do not go well as Nick is actually a really great and nice guy; one who refuses to break up with her as he likes her and wants to date her.
Will everything turn out the way Kate wishes? Or will this just be a giant flop?
Most Romantic Moment: Even Though You Were Mean, And Everyone Hates Me; I Still Want to Help You
So this moment comes after the big dinner that Kate’s work is putting on. Nick has charmed everybody and been a total dreamboat. However, Kate keeps trying to bring up ways to start a breakup and “end” it, but nothing works as Nick rolls with every punch.
Hmmm…
So in the end Kate lays it on super thick that he’s cheating on her, breaking her heart, crying hysterically; the whole works. Everyone thinks he is a jerk and he not only gets slapped, and wine thrown in his face; but stuck with a very expensive check, and left to stay in the apartment alone as his “fake fiancé” is ditching him for her “lover,” Sam.
Now anyone after this would be unhappy, say they were finished, I didn’t sign up for this, etc. Does Nick? No! He continues to help her out. She comes home having broken up with Sam and accidentally been given a black eye when the door sticks. Immediately Nick goes and gets her something to heal it. He continues to care for her, and make her comfortable.
Then to extend that, when her mother calls (the two having a tumultuous relationship) he takes over that situation by talking to her and charming her; sparing Kate having to continue a bad day or lie to her mom.
janeaustenrunsmylife 