Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe

This dip is SO simple to make, but trust me, it's delish. I found it here.

In a crock pot, mix:

-One 8 oz. package of cream cheese.
-1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
-1/2 cup of Ranch dressing.
-1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot Sauce.
-One 12 oz. can of cooked chicken, drained.

Cook on HIGH for one hour, then turn to low to keep warm. Serve with celery sticks and crackers. Enjoy!

Music Monday

My brother always keeps me in tune with the latest music and for Christmas he got me a bunch of great music to keep me awake during my drive back to Indy.

My favorite is The National's High Violet. Download "Sorrow," I like it because it has some great piano melodies in it.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/

He also gave me The XX's self-titled album. It's very mellow and a little different from what I'm used to, but I loved it all the same. Check out "Islands."

Here are a few other songs I've been loving lately:

Miike Snow -- Black and Blue
Empire of the Sun -- Walking on Dreams
Passion Pit -- Little Secrets

Mont Tremblant

Last weekend I spent the days snowboarding in Mont Tremblant which is about an hour and a half north of Montreal. My boyfriend, a few of his friends and I were lucky to rent a very nice chalet close to the hills. The skiing there definitely beats anything we have in the Midwest, and I hope I can go back next year!

Here are some photos from the trip:

The first day was -22 degrees on the summit!



View of the Village from the Mountain.




The boys in the chalet.



Warming up by the fire in the Village.

Things I like this week ...

1. Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work

strangeglue.com

2. Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

3. Great vegan recipes from the Eat and Talk blog.

4. This YouTube video. Hilarious!

5. The Dean Martin station on Pandora. Maybe because it's because of the holidays but I promise it'll make you smile.

Running Around Kansas City

Last week I was in Kansas City for work. I had some extra time so I went for a run downtown. One thing that I like about this city is some of the unique architecture:

Barney Allis Plaza (photo from KCphotos.com)



Kansas City Star (KansasCity.com)

I'm a journogeek so I loved this building. What an awesome place to work.


Last time I was in KC I stopped by the Country Club Plaza. Pretty much every shopper's dream with Tiffany's, Coach, Burberry and about a hundred others.

Indy Weekend with the Parents

This weekend my parents came down from Grand Rapids to visit. A couple of highlights were dinner at the Aristocrat in Broad Ripple -- an Irish pub with all the essentials.



Aristocrat

 My dad had the fish and chips which he loved, my mom enjoyed her turkey burger and I absolutely loved my chicken gorgonzola which had a blue cheese sauce with red peppers and walnuts -- seriously it was amazing!

Another treat from the weekend: pumpkin muffins from the Fresh Market!

What I'm Reading Right Now: The Magus

With a hectic travel schedule combined with constant deadlines at work, reading for leisure is definitely one of the simple pleasures I am thankful for.

I stumbledupon this list by Time of the top 100 Hundred Novels (the original inspiration for this blog) and started with John Fowles' "Magus." The novel is written from the point of view of a narcassistic young man, Nicholas Urfe, who takes a teaching position on an unnerving island off the coast of Greece, where he forms a friendship with a rich man who lives on the island's coast.

The book delves into the mind games the old man, Conchis, plays with Nicholas. While the writing is impressively descriptive -- "The house was as quiet as death, as the inside of a skull."-- and the suspense of the games results in a page turner, I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to understand the point of these constant lies and game changers. Regardless, I'm eager to finish the story and discover where the confusion will lead to an ending.

"It poured with rain the day I left. But I was filled with excitement, a strange exuberant sense of taking wing. I didn't know where I was going, but I needed a new land, a new race, a new language; and, although I couldn't have put it to words then, I needed a new mystery."

Listen to this: Metric

I pretty much love indie music, and I love Canada, so it only makes sense that I love Metric from Toronto. I haven't heard that much of them in the States besides on Pandora, but they are very popular with our neighbors to the North. The band's chords have a fuzzy sound similar to the Silversun Pickups and vocalist Emily Haines gives the band a unique flavor.


Their current single is "Help I'm Alive" on their Fantasies album. Other songs to check out are: "Gimme Sympathy," "Stadium Love" and "Gold Guns Girls." Oh and for your Twihards, their song "All Yours" was on the Eclipse movie.

Photo by MetroWeekly.com

Toronto in the Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year: the colors, the cooler, crisp weather and of course, the best events of the year: Oktoberfest, Halloween and Butler Homecoming. I spent last weekend in Toronto and got a first hand tour of the city on the back of a motorbike.

First stop: Beaches Park.

With a spectacular view of Toronto's cityscape, walking trails, sand volleyball courts and obviously, beach access, Beaches Park is a great stop during a sunny fall day.

Second stop: Second Cup Coffee on Queens Quay. I love going to new venues, even if this is a large chain, because we don't have any Second Cup's in the U.S. We grabbed a cup of joe and sat on the dock extending from the store's front watching the tourist boats pass in the harbour.

Date night: I got a great surprise that night -- dinner on top of the CN Tower at 360 Restaurant! The restaurant rotates completely every 72 minutes giving you a full view of the city. At our table we could even see the lights from Buffalo, N.Y. across Lake Ontario.

360 had an extensive wine list -- we picked the Bogle Petit Sirah --and a great selection of appetizers and entrees.

We decided on the seafood appetizer which included fresh crab, salmon, oysters, mussels and shrimp served on a chilled platter. It was the perfect starter for us; not too filling but enough for us to savor it while we waited for our entrees.

Brett chose the rack of lamb, while I selected the prime rib (I know, I know, I'm supposed to be a veggie, but sometimes I just can't say no to a juicy prime rib! Please don't judge me!). Both meals were amazing, and our attentive waiter made it a perfect date night.

After dinner we went to soak in the views on the outdoor observatory deck. Seeing the flashing lights on Yonge street, all the way around the lake to Missassauga and beyond was the cherry on top of a perfect night. Anyone visiting Toronto (or locals) should take the time to visit the CN tower.