A Bad Day in London...

This print is available from 3LambsGraphics on Etsy. I think I could spend at least $100 at this shop- everything is adorable! You know I love all things Harry Potter too; there's some great HP artwork available.

TEAM CONAN.

'Nuff said. Pishaw with you, NBC.

Ocean Expedition Flag Contest

National Geographic Kids is having a Flag Designing Contest for kids ages 8 to 14!

National Geographic will create a flag using the winning Flag Design, and will fly the flag on the National Geographic Ocean Now expedition ship during its outing in 2010.

How cool is that?!

go HERE for the contest information.

Disaster Relief Aid for Haiti

$10 from every "Blessed Necklace" sold from The Rusted Chain will be donated to Compassion, to help with disaster relief in Haiti.

Etsians (that is, people who are connected with the handmade shopping site Etsy) love to help others. Right now, you can find all sorts of beautiful things where proceeds go to help with disaster relief aid in Haiti.

Please consider this the next time you need to buy a birthday gift or maybe something for your sweetheart for Valentine's Day!

Your Daily Humorscope

Need a little silliness in your life? Check out your daily humorscope (get it... a humorous horoscope?!) Here's my humorscope for today:

Pisces (February 19 - March 20)
Your ancestors were berserkers -- feared warriors who attacked without fear or common sense. You will soon enter the same state of mind, and when you finally "snap out of it", you will find an enormous pile of peeled potatoes and family members edging towards the door.

see? Told ya it was silly.

and since I'm feeling silly, here's what I'll pretend my warrior ancestors looked like.

While the movie 300 is quite bloody, it does give a FINE demonstration of the muscular potential for the male species. Mmm.

What to do with the leftover Almond Roca

Like we ever have LEFTOVER Almond Roca lying around the house... so before it leaves the store shelves until next holiday season; stock up so you can make this yummy cheesecake. Because I'm on a diet (and failed miserably while making Christmas cookies) I will NOT be baking nor tasting this Almond Roca Cheesecake. So have an extra slice for me, and tell me how wonderful it was. Then I'll tell you how I lost another five pounds this week and we'll both be happy. Right?!

Almond Roca Cheesecake

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup chopped or ground Almond Roca Buttercrunch Candy

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

24 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine crumbs, Almond Roca, sugar and butter; press firmly on bottom of a 9-inch springform pan or 13-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, beat cheese until fluffy; gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth; add eggs and extract; mix well. Pour into prepared pan; bake 55 to 60 minutes or until center is set.
Cool; top with Almond Roca Topping; chill; refrigerate leftovers.

Almond Roca Topping*1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar1/3 cup whipping cream1/2 cup chopped or ground Almond Roca Buttercrunch

In a small saucepan combine brown sugar and whipping cream; heat and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves; simmer 5 minutes or until thickened; remove from heat and stir in Almond Roca; spoon evenly over cake.

* If using a 13 x 9-inch pan, double all topping ingredients; simmer 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened.

Pretty New Year's Garland

I found this "how to" for this New Year's Garland. So pretty. Not sure if I have the patience to cut out all those felt circles; but maybe I can find them pre-cut. Let me know if you find felt circles!