1. Earlier this week, I got a text from my Chief Culinary Consultant with the above photo of his neighbor’s new Golden Retriever puppy, Deacon. I have yet to meet the little guy, but am now officially craving another Golden Retriever puppy. Einstein would love a little brother, right?! I don’t have children, but I have friends that do, and it seems that every time they sniff a newborn’s head or see an ultrasound photo, their uterus starts doing backflips. I think I just experienced the same thing, but with puppies, no uterus involved.

2. I am many things, but hip is not one them. I don’t know popular music; instead I find myself clinging to the glory days of the 80’s and 90’s. I’m pretty sure it was almost an entire year before I heard “Call Me Maybe,” and then once I did, I totally didn’t understand why it was even popular. Enter “Gangnam Style.” I’d seen it mentioned virtually everywhere, but just heard it last week. Actually, I saw a spoof of it on “Mike & Mike in the Morning” on Halloween, and then had to pull it up on YouTube to see the real thing. I’m still unsure of what to make of it, but it’s been stuck in my head ever since. In case you live in the dark like me, here you go:

3. Remember last week when I told you I had started watching Homeland? I think I had watched four episodes at that point. Well, look out. As of today, I’ve blown through the entire first season and watched the first episode of Season 2. Can you say addicting?!

4. Yesterday, I painted my fingernails for the first time since I was on vacation in September. I don’t keep them painted regularly since they chip easily with all of the dish washing that goes on in my kitchen, but I love when I can get some color on them. It makes me feel girly, even when I’m wearing a hockey sweatshirt :)

Currently wearing: Recessionista by Essie

5. Facebook is at it again with their algorithms and fancy schmancy math. I usually stay as far away from math as possible, but I recently discovered that less than 20% of the folks who like the BEB Facebook page actually end up seeing the posts in their timeline. For whatever reason, Facebook’s algorithm decides who sees updates and who doesn’t. Total bummer, right?! There are a couple of ways you can guarantee you get the BEB updates:

  • Make sure that if you have liked the page, when you hover over the “Like” button and see a little drop-down appear, that you have checked “Show in News Feed”.
  • Additionally, you can click “Add to Interest Lists”. This will prompt you to add the page to an Interest List. You could create a list just of food blogs, for example, and choose whether to make your list public or keep it private. The link for “Interest Lists” will show up in the left sidebar from your homepage, and you can click it and easily see all of the updates from the pages you have saved in that category.

6. It’s November 9th and I haven’t listened to any Christmas music yet, but it’s only a matter of time. I found this Merry Little Playlist on Pinterest, and there are quite a few songs on it I’ve never heard before. I can’t wait to do some downloading, make a cup of hot chocolate, mix up some sugar cookie dough and get listening!

7. How cute are these prints for the kitchen?!

You can get them for free at Over the Big Moon!

8. During my last hockey lesson, we began learning how to skate backward. It involves a lot of swiveling of the hips and other highly coordinated movements that I’m not good at, yet. It reminded me of when I first began learning how to play tennis, and my Chief Culinary Consultant was trying to teach me to turn my hips during the follow-through of my forehand. I’ve determined that my pathetic lack of rhythm not only curses me on the dance floor, but also on the court and on the ice. Heaven help me when I try to learn how to swing a golf club next year!

9. I am in desperate need of a new hair dryer. I’d love one that has a good diffuser for when I want to wear my hair curly, but that also does a good job when I want to straighten. Speaking of straightening, I’m in the market for a new flat iron, as well. Any and all recommendations are highly encouraged! GO!

10. TGIF! Some dog wisdom for the weekend: