What's the worst part of this story?

A. A four-year old boy dressed up in a girl's brown dress.

B. A four-year old boy wandering the streets in the middle of the night.

C. The same four-year old stealing Christmas presents from someone's home.

D. The four-year old drinking a Bud Light while committing the above acts.

If you chose D, you're right! Everyone knows that Bud Light has GHT, while Miller Lite does not. What was this kid thinking???

kidcrochet: fierce

Wanna know what's fierce? My cousin Sarah's website/blog: http://kidcrochet.tumblr.com/

She has all kinds of amazing crocheted items, including the ones below, which are some of my faves.

Food Network WIN!

I like the way CNN.com puts it, so I'll just copy/paste:

"In times of economic uncertainty folks look for comfort. Since nothing is more comfortable than food, this year they found it on the Food Network which has enjoyed its highest ratings since the network launched in 1993."

That's awesome! I watched less TV this year than I have in the past, but I definitely always check out the Food Network when there's nothing else on. Congrats!

This is just cute.

I don't really have much else to say... It's a cute Asian kid playing the ukelele and "singing" Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours." Aww!

"We did this for the show..."

As the calendar year draws to a close, I'm beginning to think about what happened to me in the past year. Also, I'm working on an entry covering the 10 most influential things that happened to me over the past 10 years... Any thoughts?

Anyhow, some GENIUS auto-tuned a hilarious musical number highlighting some of the biggest stories of 2009. It's pretty funny. Obviously there are some oversights (Michael Jackson, the recession, the gay marriage debate, Twilight, Adam Lambert, etc.), but it's a very clever idea done quite well.

Check it out!

Photo of the Day

At last night's Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool, England, The Queen her self showed up to catch some of the performances and meet some of the stars. Notable American celebrities who presented themselves to The Queen included Whoppi Goldberg, Bette Midler, Lindsay Lohan and Lady Gaga. See below.

Interesting photo, eh?

Team Jacob or Team Edward?

Just for the record, I'm Team Jacob all the way. Robert Pattinson, though very attractive in a brooding, sexy, I'll suck your blood way, just doesn't hold a flame to Taylor Lautner.

At Bandera, the tablecloths are covered with a new piece of butcher paper for each party that's seated. Whenever there are kids at the tables, we give them some crayons so they can draw or do whatever kids do on the tables. The other night, one little girl left the following note on her table paper:

"Team Jacob! Because real men don't glitter."

What a hilarious statement! I did some research on this whole "real men don't glitter thing," and found out that there are not only websites dedicated to the Jacob/Edward debate, but you can also get lipgloss, t-shirts, and coffee mugs, among other things.

The Other Family

This is hilarious.

When I was a kid, I remember reading my family's Family Circus books that were kept on a dusty shelf of The Big House, our common summer home on Torch Lake. I spent hours every summer turning the yellowed pages, laughing aloud at the hilarity that was the Family Circus. Truly a gem.

It's 2009 now, and a genius website has popped up and brought new life to this treasured collection of comics. The Other Family takes pages from the original Family Circus books and has comedians/artists/writers/whatevers write new anecdotes and captions for the pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:

Via OMG Blog.

Flashback: 2000 Summer Olympics

For me and all of my musical theatre friends in college, the highlight of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney was not sports-related. Instead, our fondest moment was when unknown DIVA Vanessa Amorosi sang "Heroes Live Forever" at the opening ceremony. Nothing short of incredible, Amorosi's voice rang through the Olympic Stadium and into our hearts; the song was played during just about every Singing Hoosier party, bus ride, slideshow, or other social event.

Here's the live performance:

Where is Vanessa Amorosi now, and what is she up to? Well, she has a new single out titled "This Is Who I Am," which comes from her newest CD Hazardous. More info is available on her website.

Wikipedia has a great article on Amorosi as well, including this paragraph about her vocal abilities:

Amorosi is known for her versatile vocal ability. She is able to vocally cover many genres of music including, pop, rock, blues, jazz, and gospel. Amorosi is also known for her vocal range which reaches Soprano C6 in what is perceived to be full chest voice. Amorosi's ability to connect chest voice and head voice is one of her trademark talents. Amorosi's effortless approach to singing in her upper registry is what helped her become well known in both Australia and Germany. She is also noted for her ability to sing in the whistle registry as well, hitting notes above E6. Amorosi's most powerful vocals can be heard in her song "Start It" from her 2008 album Somewhere in the Real World, in which she can be heard belting two A5's and two B5's in mixed/chest voice and an E6 in the whistle registry. Also in "I Am Woman", performed at the ARIA Hall of Fame tribute for Helen Reddy in 2006, Amorosi can be heard belting a sustained C6.

Noooooo!

According to UsWeekly (via Dlisted), former Crush of the Day (and my favorite star of Glee) Mark Salling is hooking up with Audrina Patridge. Gross! He is way too hot/talented/amazing/MINE for her to be messing with that business...

PS--if you haven't yet watched Glee, please please PLEASE watch an episode. I don't care which one. You'll be hooked! It's an amazing show.

Image via Dlisted.

How Fun!

Elle magaine's website has this fun new feature where you can vote on Adam Lambert's best looks! For example, which eye makeup scheme do you prefer in the above picture?

Check it out!

DWTS Live!!!

I decided to liveblog the results show of Dancing With The Stars. Mostly because my favorite dancer to ever grace the stage, Sabrina Bryan, was performing in the "Design A Dance" contest. Amazing.

Here it is!

Liveblogging Dancing With The Stars

01 omg i am so excited! only five stars left! and performances by michael buble, susan boyle, and SABRINA BRYAN!

02 encore dance: Joanna and Derek’s futuristic paso doble... pretty crazy. and totally amazing choreography. derek’s hair looks awesome.

04 this paso has everything! it’s so awesome. Hough Hefner and his girlfriends are in the audience.

04 last night’s leader board

50 aaron & karina, donny & kym

51 kelly & louis

52 joanna & derek

59 mya & dmitry loving dmitry’s pornstache. he rocks it.

07 let’s get some results! first couple safe for the semi-final: joanna & derek. duh. aaron carter looks nervous, dmitry looks hot!

09 ps so you think you can dance is on also... mary murphy is amazing!

12 kelly: i love you, louis van amstel. awwww so cute!

15 michael buble! who is gonna be dancing? it would be great if he was better looking, because i definitely think he’s talented and love his sound. jonathan, maks (looking hot, duh), cheryl, and anna d.

18 the pro dancers are so talented! they make it look so easy and fun.

18 jane seymour in the audience. she’s fierce.

19 next week each couple will do three dances!

20 the next couple safe: mya & dmitry. again, duh.

21 amazing! sabrina is explaining the design-a-dance: we picked her out of sixteen stars, chose the paso doble, the song (“eye of the tiger”) and designed the costume! i can’t wait.

25 dance center with kenny mayne. funny. joanna is hot, donny is excited and energetic.

27 bruno and donny having an affair? dumb. aaron “rapped with Shaq” and he’s a crybaby. sooooo gay. no, really, soooooo gay. and they’re totally calling him out.

28 OMG it’s happening! and she’s dancing with mark OF COURSE!!! this is heaven.

30 costumes are pretty hideous. but sabrina has it ALL! she is so into mark again; their chemistry is unbeatable.i bet mark is so excited to be dancing with someone so competent again.

31 wow! killer choreography! totally crazy. the best two minutes of my life thus far. jane seymour is stunned.

34 michael buble doing “feeling good.” amazing song... hahaha i once did a dance to this choreographed by will angulo!

39 the next couple safe: donny & kym. that means that aaron carter might be going home. :(

45 susan boyle. i am nervous about this. it’s sooo strange! the crowd is going WILD! i mean, i get it that she has a nice voice, but i just don’t get it.

46 at least tony is dancing during this hellish moment. awww and he’s dancing with chelsie! that’s cute. ok this is old.

47 i think this is just a big joke. but tony and chelsie are dancing their faces off!!! he is so strong; very sexy. i wish

48 i wish he had his shirt off. susan boyle gives me and kim the willies. she has a debut album coming out? oh christ. now more dance center.

50 mya is an accomplished dancer, they’re right. and kelly cusses like a sailor, which i like.

53 dance center pics mya as the winner! interesting... i think she will win too.

54 time to find out who is eliminated... my heart is beating so fast! ugh, commercial break

58 ok let’s find out who’s going home... nervous! aaron and karina. BOOOO!!! i love aaron carter!!!

00 awwww len’s speech to aaron! so cute! i am tearing up!

Happy Birthday / Hit It or Quit It: Nick Lachey

Today is the 36th birthday of former boybander / former reality TV star / brother of former Dancing With The Stars all-star Drew Lachey / former celebrity Nick Lachey.

Happy Birthday, Nick! But one question remains... Hit it or quit it?

Side note: the picture above is actually one of my favorite celebrity editorial photos... I just like the vibe.

Contenders for World's Dumbest Criminals

The two idiots pictured above allegedly committed a robbery in some small town in Iowa. But, instead of wearing the go-to ski mask or stocking over their faces, they brilliantly decided to cover their mugs with permanent markers. Needless to say, when they were pulled over, they had guilt written all over their faces.

The Star Spangled Banner, Glee Style

Check out the cast of Glee (featuring the solo stylings of Amber Riley) singing the National Anthem at the 5th game of the World Series late last week.

Pretty awesome. These kids are ridiculously talented.

Halloween Costumes for Gay Kids

I bet my parents wish The Onion had done this investigative journalism when I was a kid! Check out this in-depth look at how to hide your effeminate son's prance, lisp, and girlish looks with a simple and effective Halloween costume!

Pretty hilarious.

How To Find A Masculine Halloween Costume For Your Effeminate Son

Inspired "Cooking"

Food Network's Sandra Lee never ceases to amaze me. I once learned a fun fact that Sandra shoots a season's worth of "Semi-Homemade" in a day or two, and the set (her kitchen) is completely redecorated for each episode. Crazy, right?

Anyhow, Sandra always makes some interesting dishes, provides a cocktail recipe, and creates and incredible tablescape. Here's a clip of a delicious dessert that I can't wait to enjoy: baked potato ice cream.

Via D Listed.

New fun fact, after looking at her Wikipedia: Sandra's last name is Christiansen! I love her even more.

DWTS Michael Jackson Tribute

Since the loss of the King of Pop, there have been quite a few tributes to his music, dance, and overall performance. This is one of my favorites so far.

The best part for me is when all of the pros dance to "Thriller." It's pretty awesome, to say the least.

Trashy Tyra

Tyra Banks never ceases to amaze me... Coming soon: the first LIVE television colonic.

Perez asks, and I'm forced to also ask:

Is this really necessary?

Sick.

http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-15-ewwwwww-is-this-really-necessary-tyra

Balloon Boy

Occasionally it happens at Bandera: the entire service staff (and some of the kitchen guys) are huddled around the two TVs in the bar area to watch a breaking news story. Usually it's the coverage of our veggie burger (dul) or something Chicago-related, but today it was the story of "Balloon Boy."

A six year old child caught in a helium balloon, flying through the sky with nothing more than the breeze to carry him. Completely frightening, right?

Wrong.

It was all a publicity stunt. And, to be honest, it's ruffled my feathers.

Check out Wolf Blitzer's interview with the family... The kid clearly states that it was "for the show." Unreal.

Don't Judge My Hair

Another great blog out there is Don't Judge My Hair. It's a collection of "epic hairstyles" that really caught my attention the other night.

Here are a few photos to get you motivated!

Hit It Or Quit It / Crush of the Day / Jailbait: Taylor Lautner

Taylor Lautner, one of the many breakout stars from the Twilight movie series, has the body of a God. Seriously. And he's only 17 years old. I'm not sure if it's illegal for me to ask this (I hope it's not), but...

Taylor Lautner: hit it or quit it? All I'm saying is that I haven't seen abs like that in a long time. Sigh.

In addition, Taylor is HANDS DOWN my crush of the day. He's adorable and I can't wait till he's 18 so I can move to Hollywood and become his BFF/BF. :)

Thanks, Perez, for making my jaw drop for a minute and a half when I clicked on your page...

Do you want fries with that?

Spending my summers in Northern Michigan as a child, I came to the realization that one of the reasons for "summering" was to get away from it all. Bellaire, MI, the town closest to Torch Lake, always had a grocery store, two gas stations, a few ice cream shops, half a dozen restaurants, and that's about it. I remember quite clearly the summer that McDonald's opened up on the main street through Bellaire; everyone was immediately against it. "We will never eat there! It's destroying the culture of this little town!" people said. On the other hand, it brought much-needed jobs and some economic stability to the financially uneasy Antrim county. Personally, I've stopped at that McDonald's maybe twice in my life; I try to stay away from fast food in general, and when I'm Up North, it makes more sense to me to try and support the locally-owned businesses.

Anyhow, here's a really cool map of the United States that shows the location of every McDonald's in the country. It's pretty interesting. If you look closely, you can even see the singular dot of the McDonald's in Bellaire!

What a glamorous wedding!

If you know me, you know that it isn't one of my life ambitions to get married. I don't know, I just think the whole thing is a little archaic for the lifestyle that I lead... Maybe I'll change my mind in a few years when I finally meet the man of my dreams (who lives in the same city as I do), and if that's the case, then I have a feeling our wedding will take a lot of inspiration from the one pictured below.

Stunning, right? Via DListed via Insight News.

Gibraltar Airport

Whenever a plane lands at or takes off from Gibraltar airport (GIB), the city's main road must be closed. This is because the airport's runway intersects the street. Pretty crazy, if you ask me. It's kind of like a raising bridge in a sense; the bridge in Charlevoix, Michigan is the only way to get around or through the city, so when the bridge is up to let boat traffic through, cars are stuck on either side.

Check out a few pics of the Gibraltar airport and the raising bridge in Charlevoix below.

Gibraltar airport info and pics via JustWhatever and Wikipedia.

Things I Love About Glee / Crush Of The Day: Mark Salling

If you haven't yet caught an episode of Glee, you must do so immediately. Go to Hulu and check it out--you will not regret it.

The show is magic. It follows the ups and downs of a high school glee club, complete with music video-like performances, musical theatre fierceness, hot guys, great belting, football (yeah, seriously), teen pregnancy, desperate housewives, etc., etc.

Here are my favorite things about the most recent episode:

1. Kurt's coming out scene with his dad... Super emotional, super real.

2. "Single Ladies" on the football field.

3. Will Schuster.

4. Lima, OH. "I don't want to be a Lima Loser!"

5. Rachel singing Celine Dion's "Taking Chances."

6. Crush of the Day Mark Salling. See below.

Hit It or Quit It: Aaron Carter

Dancing With The Stars is back for a ninth season, and the male "stars" danced two dances each tonight. A few were good, a few were horrible, and the rest were mediocre. The first contestant tonight was Aaron Carter, brother of former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter. First of all, I think Aaron Carter is as gay as Christmas. Second of all, I can't decide if he's hot or not. I need some feedback.

So, here we go... Aaron Carter: Hit It or Quit It?

I'm not a vegetarian...

...but my roommate is. I love cooking for other people, but I've only cooked for Lora a few times, mostly because cooking a vegetarian menu scared me. The only things I've ever really made for her are pasta dishes or other things that are easy to leave meat out of. However, I've never planned and executed a true vegetarian dinner.

Until last night, that is.

The menu consisted of three items: baked spaghetti squash with an herb-infused butter, sweet potato and zucchini fritters, and a spinach and tomato orzo. All in all, I am pretty happy with how everything turned out; the squash was a big hit with Lora and Libby, while Josh and I freaked over the fritters. The orzo was a crowd-pleaser as well, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

The recipes are below, but I have to confess that they are not 100% accurate to how I prepared them last night... I will definitely make a few changes the next time I try any of these items.

Baked Spaghetti Squash

two large organic spaghetti squash

4 T. butter

1/4 white onion, diced (approx. 1/8 c.)

1 T. minced garlic

3 T. shredded Parmesan cheese

spices, to taste (oregano, parsley, thyme, etc.)

salt & pepper, to taste

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place face down on a baking dish and add enough water to the baking dish to cover the bottom of it. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor until smooth and well-combined.

Once the squash is cooked, cut each half into two pieces and divide the compound butter evenly among the pieces. Sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese if desired.

Sweet Potato & Zucchini Fritters

two medium sweet potatoes

two zucchini squash

1/4 C. white onion, minced

1/4 green pepper, minced

1 t. garlic, minced

3 T. flour

1/4 C. breadcrumbs, divided

2 eggs, beaten

salt & pepper, to taste

Tabasco sauce, to taste

Shred the sweet potato and zucchini, both raw, and pat dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

Combine sweet potato, zucchini, onion, green pepper, and garlic in a large bowl. Mix by hand and add flour, half of the breadcrumbs, and salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add Tabasco sauce (to taste). Add the egg mixture to the other ingredients and mix until combined.

Shape the fritters in the palm of your hand, approximately 1/4 C. each. Dust both sides with breadcrumbs.

In a nonstick skillet, heat a small amount of olive oil over medium heat. Add the fritters and cook until they begin to brown, approximately 4-5 minutes on each side.

Sing, sing, sing!

Two American Idol alums have given some stellar performances recently, and I very much enjoy both of them.

First of all, Kelly Clarkson sang back-up for her back-up singers recently, doing a hotel room cover of Miley Cyrus' "The Climb." It's super laid back, full of rich harmonies, and just plain fun. I think it says a lot about Kelly that she'd sit in the background, hanging out with some friends, and not try to be the star of the video. I respect that.

Next up, David Archuleta recently won the award for Best New Artist at the ALMA awards. After winning, he performed a breathtaking acoustic version of the classic "Contigo En La Distancia." His voice is as angelic as it ever was, but it's also maturing and showing more signs of confidence and comfort.

Famous People Are Crazy, Pt. 2

You know who might be crazier than Serena Williams? Kanye. Last night at the MTV VMA's, the adorable Taylor Swift upset some heavy hitters to win Best Female Video. Just as she was begining to give what should have been a super cute speech, crazy Kanye jumped on stage, grabbed the mic, and stole Taylor's spotlight.

Taylor's reaction is so sad; she didn't know what to do or say, so she just stood there and watched Kanye be a jerk. That's rude, Kanye, and totally expected from someone with as little class as you have.

Read more about the incident here.

Famous People Are Crazy, Pt. 1

In the semifinals of the US Open this past weekend, Serena Williams (probably a favorite to win the tournament) was playing Kim Clijsters, who just came back from a 28-month maternity leave. Early in the first set, Serena was docked a point for slamming her racket against the court, a big no-no in the always-classy sport of tennis. Later in the second set, Kim found herself up 6-5, trying to break Serena to make it to the finals. At 15-30, Serena was called for a foot fault; she then freaked out, approached the lineswoman who called her foot fault, and apparently threatened her in a very unsportsmanlike way. Anyhow, the lineswoman, the chair umpire, and the tournament director all quickly came together and docked Serena another point for unsportsmanlike conduct, thus giving Kim two points (one for the foot fault, one for the unsportsmanlike conduct call), and the win. CRAZY!

I guess my description wasn't completely necessary, because you can see it all in the clip below...

The Circus: Starring Britney Spears

So, last Wednesday I had the pleasure of seeing Britney Spears performing live at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. In a word, I thought it was fierce. Britney looked great, danced her ass off, and honestly looked like she was enjoying it. She was a bit removed from the crowd, not really engaging with us too much, but I think she was just playing it safe. I especially enjoyed the diversity of the setlist, the costumes, and the super hot backup dancers (duh).

Here's her setlist from her Chicago show:

1. Circus

2. Piece Of Me

3. Radar

4. Ooh Ooh Baby/Hot As Ice

5. Boys

6. If You Seek Amy

7. Me Against The Music

8. Freakshow

9. Get Naked

10. Breathe On Me/Touch Of My Hand

11. Do Something

12. Slave For You

13. Toxic

14. Baby One More Time

15. Womanizer (encore)

Some of my favorites were Boys, Me Against The Music (done in a Bollywood theme), Get Naked, Breathe On Me/Touch Of My Hand, and (of course) Toxic.

All in all, a great show! Pics (from my iPhone) below...