My Mega Millions

Have you heard?  America has the fever!

Yikes!  Not the Bieber Fever.

The lottery fever!  

The mega millions pot is at an all-time high, currently sitting around $540 million.  Can you imagine opening up your internet banking statement and seeing all those zeros?  

There are many boards on Pinterest titled When I Win the Lottery, If I Win the Lottery, How I'll Spend My Lottery Winnings, etc.  

And, for reasons unknown but too funny not to share, If I had time to knit, I'd make... also comes up when I search lottery.  My assumption is, Pinterest feels she'd have more time for knitting if she won the lottery. That's quite thoughtful on Pinterest's part.  

The odds of winning the mega millions lottery are 1 in 176 million.  The odds are not in my favor.  I'm more likely to be run over by a bus on my way into the store, to buy the tickets, than winning.  

Nevertheless, I'll play along.  Some of the things I'd pin on my Lots of Loot board...

This house.  I have a thing for house plans.  This plan is my current favorite.  

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In the backyard.  For the kids.

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For the adults.

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Just because I can.

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My kids are dying to go on the Nickelodeon Cruise.  

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After that experience, I'm going to need a kid-free vacation.  Fiji sounds good.  

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A beach house.  

Transportation for the beach house.

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A fabulous chicken coop for the chickens I'd buy before the ink dries on the check. Nothing but the best for my Will and Grace.  

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Massive inflatable Twister.  Why not?  

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I'd eat a dozen cupcakes and buy the body of my dreams.  If I had $500 million dollars, I'd have my cake, eat it, and look like I didn't.  Take that, passive aggressive Pinterest picture.

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Of course, there would also be the charitable donations, investments, college educations, upgraded practical cars, etc. 

The closest thing I have to a Lots of Loot board is Dream House.  Do you have a lottery what if board?  What's on it?  

If you're suffering from lottery fever, good luck.  If I don't win, I hope you win.  Or, at the very least, I hope neither one of us gets hit by a bus while attempting to win.

Melissa

Dude, Where's My Five Favorite Finds?

I apologize for the lack of posts last week.  And, I'm sorry to say, there also will not be a five favorite finds post.  I don't know if I even pinned five things last week.  "Here are my five pins from last week" isn't nearly as interesting as, "Out of the hundreds of pins I did this week, here are my five favorite."  The week that was...

The craziness started with my new gig, recapping Dancing with the Stars.  You can find my weekly recap here and my Pinterest board here.  

That's URKEL!  (abc.com)

At one point last week, I had been awake for 43 hours.  When the mojo is happening, it's so hard to go to bed.  Then, when I wake up, it's like, why did I do that?!?

A lot of this as I prepared for my daughter's 5th birthday.

I had to deal with some of this.  Two pediatrician appointments in less than 24 hours.  My kids are so good at sharing, they even share their ear infections.  

Happily, the week ended with an ecstatic-to-be-five 5 year old.  She woke me up Friday morning by screaming in my face, "It's my birthday!  I'm 5 today!!" I had a similar wake up alarm on Saturday.  This time, she screamed, "I'm STILL 5 today."    

I treated myself to The Hunger Games movie on Saturday.  Forced to sit for 3 hours, candy, soda, and movie popcorn.  It was great.  The movie was pretty good too.  

(imdb.com)

Ended the week with my daughter's 5th birthday party.  Nice relaxing time with the family.  

Happy Monday!

Melissa

Five Favorite Finds

1.  Peach Crunch Cake.  Pinterest made me crave peaches this week.  This cake comes from bakerella, one of my favorite places on the internet.  It's simple and calls for brown sugar; I'm sold.  I accidentally became the owner of 4 cans of peach slices this week, so the timing of this pin couldn't have been better.  Pinned on Cakes to Eat.  

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2.  I pinned this on my Parenting board with the caption, Spring Break Survival Ideas.  In all seriousness, though, the pictures on this blog are AMAZING.

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3.  Superb "ordinary" bathroom makeover.  My kids' bathroom is set up exactly like this.  I wouldn't make all the same finish choices but it's a great starting point for adding some design interest to a small, boring bathroom.  Pinned on Bathrooms.  

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4.  Another perfectly timed pin.  This comes from Stephanie Ackerman.  There's a banner across the top of her blog that reads, "Creating a life that reflects my dreams...Living a life that defines my purpose."  Powerful.   And very personal to me right now, as I'm finding myself in the middle of a "What's my purpose? What am I supposed to do with my life?" identity crisis.  I'm hoping to set aside some time this week to read more of her blog.  Pinned on Furries, Funnies, Feel Goods.  

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5.  Peach Sangria Sorbet.  See?  More peaches.  White wine, peach schnapps, water, peaches, and sugar.  I'm totally making some drunken sorbet this summer!  Sorry, kids, this is mommy's treat.  Yummy.  Pinned on Happy Hour.

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I hope you enjoy my five favorite finds from this week.  Share your own interesting finds with us with a comment below.  Happy pinning!

Melissa

Hilarious Hot Dogs

I'm not a big fan of hot dogs.  Growing up, I hated everything about them.  My mom used to make me sit at the dinner table, just me and my hot dogs, until they were gone.  I'd probably still be sitting at my mother's kitchen table if it weren't for our dog.

About 5 months into my first pregnancy, my cravings for hot dogs (seriously?!) began.  I held out as long as I could since hot dogs are on the "do not eat when pregnant" list, but I did eventually give in to the craving.  Repeatedly.  I can just imagine what the people at Wawa were saying, "Oh, look, there's that wolfish pregnant lady eating our hot dogs again."

I only eat a hot dog a few times a year now.  Usually at a picnic.  I don't detest them like I did pre-pregnancy, but I'm no longer on exhibit at the Wawa hot dog counter.

My kids don't like hot dogs either.  This used to make me happy.  I don't have to buy them or cook them.  And I don't have to worry about what's in them.  Enter Pinterest, and now I mourn what could have been if I had kids that like hot dogs.

AHHH!  Don't let the pregnant lady eat us!

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Breaded hot dog butterfly.

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Hot dog caterpillar.  Super cute for the toddlers.

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Santa's reindeer.

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2 crabs and 2 octopi.

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Slightly disturbing fingers.  

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For your sweetheart.

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 Crescent roll and hot dog snail.  Complete with the snail slime trail.

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Hot dog mummies.  Hot dummies?

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Hot dog fairy with cheese wand.  

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Hot dog octopus on green seaweed.

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Butterfly.  

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Hot dogs wrapped in soft pretzels.  I could be on board with this one.

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I have no idea what these are, as the website is definitely not written in English.  Bunnies?  Pigs in a blanket?  Regardless, they're darling.

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Fashionable octopi and bumble bees!

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Weiner dog.

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Sunflower egg.

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Heart attack waiting to happen disguised as a turtle.

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Did you ever think, man, I wish I knew how to spiral a hot dog?  Well, here it is.  

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Hot dog roadster.

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Hot dog corn muffins.

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Fun with spaghetti and hot dogs!

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Cruising pickles.

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The hot dog massacre.  Mom-to-mom advice, you might not want to serve this one to your kids.  It's too hilarious not to be included, though.  

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Pinned on Fun Food for Kids.

I have a friend, Lianne*, whose son loves chili cheese dogs.  I tried to find some cute chili cheese dogs.  Sadly, I came up empty. No matter how cute the hot dog is, once you dump chili all over it, the cuteness just looks like a pile of chili.  But, I did find some variations that I want to lump in here, because I'm not writing two blogs about hot dogs.  I can't believe I even wrote one.

Chili Dog Taco
Chili Cheese Dog Casserole
Chili Cheese Dog Casserole 2
Chili Dog Pot Pie
Chili Dogs in a Blanket

*I swear Lianne isn't my only friend.

Pinned on Good Eats.

Melissa