Ten on Tuesday On A Wednesday Because I Am Late Like That

Today's 10 on Tuesday are inspired by Amber at A Little Pink in The Cornfields, of course! 

1. What’s the recipe for your favorite drink? (Smoothie, alcoholic, coffee, whatever.)


I can’t think of any drink recipes right off the top of my head unless it would be a mimosa (orange juice & champagne, easy peasy) otherwise I take my coffee black, my water with lemon, and my iced tea with lemonade (good old Arnie Palmer!). In a related matter, I really want to try the strawberry frozen lemonade at McDonalds, but I am sure it has a gazillion calories.

2. What kind of razor do you use?

A few Christmases ago I received an electric razor as a gift and I really wanted it, but guess what—like many gadgets that you think you have to have (think Roomba!) I never use it. I like my cheap old disposable razors in the popsicle colors.

3. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?

I don’t have a favorite Sesame Street character, honestly. Maybe cookie monster??!! I like cookies!



4. What makes the perfect salad? (Lettuce type, toppings, dressing, etc.)

I am a vegetarian who doesn’t really like lettuce all that much - the best salads have pasta! And chick peas. And blue cheese.

5. What was your favorite subject in school?

English, art and history – I hated anything to do with math and science and was not a fan of gym class.

6. What’s your favorite summer tradition?

Going to Mackinac Island, S’mores, patio dining at my favorite restaurants, fireworks, brunch cruises on Lake Minnetonka – summer when the living is easy!

7. Do you suffer from seasonal allergies? How do you combat them?

I never had allergies until I hit my 30s and now I think I am allergic to cats, lilies, my dog, wine and dust! So I wouldn’t say they are seasonal but rather situational! The only thing that really helps is Benadryl and I hate how it makes me feel—all tired and dopey.

8. How often do you have to charge your cell phone?

Constantly. I think Words with Friends is really a drain on my iPhone. I charge it in my car(s) when I am driving and a few times a week I try to remember to hook it up to my Mac and get a really good charge. And I try to remember to turn it off at bedtime.  BTW, if you play Words With Friends, find me at Leslialison.

9. Do you have a bucket list?

Not officially, just a vague notion of things in my head. I should make a list. Lists are good!

10. Do you have any desire to go back to school?


Yes and no. I always say I want to finish getting my degree in interior design, but no because I don’t want any more student loans. It was such a relief to pay them off.

THE END




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When Did I Become 92 Years Old?!

This is what I look like lately!  (I realize the girl above is not 92 years old!  The picture is a perfect example of my position lately and I just FEEL like I am 92 years old.  )  

When it comes to exercise, I am not that extreme--I do like to exercise about 40 minutes a day--but light exercise like walking and the elliptical and casually pedaling my bicycle around the neighorhood is my speed.  I don't like anything like heavy weight lifting or running.  I figure I do just enough to stay in shape and be able to indulge in the occasional French Toast. 

But lately my back has been killing me, not all the time but sporadically.  It really started to hurt this weekend when I was out shopping, heaven forbid!   Whereas last weekend I went horseback riding for an hour and rode my bicycle for 16 miles and walked all over Mackinac Island and nothing--no pain, I felt fine.  But try to run around Costco and Target and the grocery store and owwwwwwwwww.

Eric finally got fed up with me and bought me a pair of ATHLETIC shoes because he doesn't like how I run around in flip flops and heels and I even work out that way--well, not heels on the elliptical but I have been known to go for a walk in them!  It is his opinion that I am not giving my back enough support in my choice of footwear.

So anyhow I now own some white trainers with light blue trim.  And we will see if it helps.  My massage person says I need to stretch before and after exercising.  So I am trying to remember to do that.  Or it will be aspirin and a heating pad for me! 

Anyone have any back ache stories or home remedies to share?  Thank you in advance!

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A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

 I really, really have to get better at updating this thing or I will lose my readers.  You know, all 3 or 4 of you at this point in time!  It has been a hectic month of June so far.  The month started off with me getting waylaid by either food poisoning or a stomach bug--I am still not sure which it was but let's just say I have been avoiding sushi and Greek salad with feta cheese for the past two weeks! 

I had just recovered when Eric's parents arrived for a visit from New Hampshire.  We did a lot of entertaining and eating and drinking and then I think I broke my baby toe or severely bruised it (something about peanut shells and a Twins baseball game and a veggie dog and a hard metal seat--I will spare you the details--just know my toe looks like a Vienna sausage and it sort of limits my choice of footwear). 

Anyhow we went to the casino and to a Twins game and out to eat at Joe's Garage and Pier 500 and did a lovely brunch cruise down the St. Croix River.  It was a lot of eating & drinking and I only worked out one night the entire time they were here so am feeling fat.  Have to get back in the groove!  I did work out last night but I had to do the elliptical in flip flops because of my toe.  I wore a really cushiony pair so that was nice but I kind of felt like I didn't have much traction.  It has rained the past two nights but I am hopeful I can do a walk tonight. 

So they left on Tuesday morning and now this weekend Eric and I are taking off for a lovely trip to Mackinac Island, Michigan--one of my favorite road trip destinations!   It is all about bicycles and fudge and relaxing and unplugging.  This time I also bought us tickets for a ghost tour of some haunted places around the island and I am also hoping that we can go horseback riding.  You can rent a horse for $40 per hour.

So I am all excited about that!   And that is what has been going on with me in a nutshell.  I will put up some new pictures over at Daisy Chloe.

Happy Weekend Eve!



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Happy Memorial Weekend!

This is a little bit of a belated post, but I hope everyone had a lovely extended weekend!  Shockingly, I went into the weekend with no plans to speak of and no travel plans, but I still ended up doing something fun every day.

Saturday I waffled between driving to Iowa to take my mom out for lunch or driving an hour north to the outlet mall in Albertville.  The outlet mall won out; sorry, Mom!   Eric and I had lunch at Boston's Gourmet Pizza in Maple Grove (wine and cranberry pecan salad for me) and then we hit Nordstrom Rack where I scored a cute pair of flip flops and some Pink Sugar perfume at half price!  Half price I tell you!   Last week, I paid full price at the regular Nordstrom, so from now on I think I need to check Nordstrom Rack although I am not sure that they always carry Pink Sugar. 

Then we proceeded on to the outlet mall where Eric bought me a really cute black skirt embellished at the hem with a black & white polka dot flower.  It is really cute!  Then we did some boring guy shopping at the Levi Store and the Nike Store  - yawn!!  :-) 

At Bath and Body Works I found a couple of very adorable car air fresheners shaped like turtles. I got a yellow one for Buttercup and a purple one for Daisy. The yellow is a peach bellini fragrance and the purple one is coconut.   Also some strawberry anti-bacterial soap, small enough for my purse, and then a bottle of Coconut shower gel. 



I also got a couple of peanut butter oatmeal cookies at Mrs. Fields.  It was a successful outlet mall shopping day!

Sunday, Eric had golf so I met my friend Sara at Starbucks at the Galleria in Edina and we talked FOREVER.  I had Tazo Tea Lemonade in Passion Fruit.  2 of them.  It was good to catch up with Sara.

Then Monday I went to see "Bridesmaids" with my friend, Donna and her younger sister, Megan.  We saw it at the West End in St. Louis Park where we had VIP seating.  I had white wine and chips and onion dip.  The movie was really pretty funny, made more so by the two glasses of wine, I think.   I highly recommend seeing all movies at the West End in VIP!

I also planted some things to remember two of my best friends who are no longer with me.  I like to do this every Memorial Day to remember my dad and my cat, Chloe.  This year I planted an orange geranium in memory of my dad and for Chloe, catnip, of course!

So that's it for my weekend--it was lovely.  Now back at the office on a Tuesday, but it seems like a Monday, but thank goodness it is not! 

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My Summer Reading List

Summer is upon us and it has come to my attention that there are a couple of classics that I have never read.  It is shocking, I know!  The first one is To Kill A Mockingbird.

I started to read this book when I was younger because growing up it was in our house, but then I didn't. Now I am going to!

The second book is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

I recently uploaded this book to my Nook Color and now I am determined to read it.

I can't believe I let these classics pass me by.  Have you read one or both?  Did you enjoy them?  Comment please!!


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Good Old-Fashioned Midwest Salads

I stopped by my pal, Margaret's wonderful blog and I saw her recipe for Strawberry Salad.  I hope she doesn't mind if I share it here with you!  It got me to thinking about "salads" in the Midwest and the particular kind that we make with Cool Whip and cream cheese and Jell-o.  I think those types of dessert-y  salads could be particularly indigenous to the Midwest.  I have lived in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin my whole life and I think so!

Here is Margaret's recipe:

STRAWBERRY SALAD

8oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar

20oz can crushed pineapple, very well drained
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup nuts - I used pecans
10oz frozen strawberries, thawed
Cool Whip - about 2 cups

Cream sugar and cream cheese.  Add pineapple, bananas, and berries.  Stir in nuts.  Fold in Cool Whip.  Freeze in a 9x9 pan.  Remove from the freezer 20-30 minutes before servings. 



And then I was also reminded of a salad that I like to make called Snickers Salad or Caramel Apple Salad

SNICKERS SALAD

For that you will need

One package of instant vanilla pudding
8 ounces of Cool Whip
6 Snickers candy bars
6-8 green apples

Follow the directions to make the vanilla pudding and then add the Cool Whip and blend.  Core (obviously!) and chop up the apples, and also cut the Snickers into bite size pieces and blend into the pudding mixture. 

Voila!  Salad!

Do you have any recipes for your region?  Share with this Midwestern girl!











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Words With Friends!

I am addicted to playing Words With Friends on my iPhone. If you play, please find me. I am at Leslialison.

Thank you!!



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Something Borrowed!

I saw "Something Borrowed" twice this past weekend & it is easily my favorite chick flick of the year so far! 

I read the orignal book by Emily Giffin when it first came out, but when was that?  2003?  2004?  2005?  But it has been awhile.   Therefore, I cannot tell you for sure how much the movie followed the book, but I am sure they took some liberties with the story.  Nevertheless, I loved it! 

Target has the book so I might want to re-read it.  Here is the story in a nutshell without giving anything way!

It is about 2 best friends, Rachel and Darcy.  Rachel is the serious brunette who went to law school and Darcy is the bubbly blonde and the one for whom things always seem to be perfect.  She always gets what she wants.  She is not as serious or as smart as Rachel.  Darcy is engaged to Dex whom Rachel went to law school with.

Two BFFs played by Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin (who is adorable!)

Rachel had a crush on Dex in law school and he on her, too--but neither one knew how the other felt (although the chemistry was undeniable!), and Rachel never felt beautiful enough for Dex.  So it was Darcy who ended up with Dex.

Fast forward to present day and Darcy is throwing Rachel a surprise 30th birthday party...and that is when things between Dex and Rachel start to heat up again! 

Anyhow I won't spoil anything for you.  It is a lovely movie & a delightful way to spend a few hours--although my husband might not agree with that!










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Happy Mother's Day!

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Ten On Tuesday

Yes, I know it is Thursday and this is from a couple of weeks ago even, but nevertheless--here are my Ten On Tuesday....on Thursday. 

1. How many blogs do you read every day and what are they? (I’m talking the ones you NEVER miss)


I read many, many blogs so don’t feel slighted if I leave you out. It doesn’t mean I don’t read your blog! These are just my few “go-to” blogs whose addresses I have memorized and who I do check on every day.



The Chloe Conspiracy

Glammed If You Do, Glammed If You Don’t

Slice of Pink

A Little Pink in the Cornfields

Crazy Aunt Purl

Pretty In The City

(I completely plan to go back and insert links--I just wanted to get this out there!)

As I said, there are many, many more; these are just the first ones I like to check on first thing every morning!

2. How many “best friends” do you have? Do you have different “besties” for different areas of your life?

This may sound like a cop-out but my best friends at the moment are my husband and my dog. I have many, many, MANY girlfriends in my personal life and at the office and also through blogging, but I don’t have a best girlfriend anymore which kind of makes me sad. But there is not just that one female friend who I do everything with and share everything with. Maybe that just comes from getting older and being married and growing apart from certain people.

3. What’s your daily make up routine?

Philosophy’s Hope In A Jar moisturizer with sunscreen, then a primer—I like either a Sephora primer, a primer by Smashbox , or a really good primer by L’Oreal that just smoothes my skin and gets it ready for foundation. My foundation of choice and my newest favorite right now is L’Oreal’s Magic Souffle—I just put a little on and it blends right in and makes my skin really smooth. Then I use a little Maybelline illuminator powder on my cheekbones, bridge of my nose, forehead (making a W shape) and then sometimes a little on my chin. Followed by a plum colored blush by Cover Girl. As far as eyes, I curl my lashes and then put on several coats of Cover Girl Lash Blast in black, eyeliner pencil (I like blue), and sometimes a little highlighter on my brown bone. The highlighter is from Sephora & the shade is Aspen. For lips, I like Lip Venom lip plumper, Philosophy Red Velvet lip gloss (sadly this has been discontinued!), and sometimes a little Revlon lipstick in raisin or plum shades. And that’s it. I can do it all in under 10 minutes. But reading this, it sounds like a lot!

4. What is your ideal girl’s night?

Dinner and girl talk over glasses of wine. It is also fun just to sit around in sweats or pjs and watch movies and eat junk food—but I haven’t done that in ages. Maybe I should!



5. Do you keep up with your nails/toenails or are they au natural?

I get a pedicure every 3-4 weeks, more in the summer and I generally do my own finger nails. I like color, no naked nails! I am lucky in that we have someone come to our office every other Tuesday for manicures & pedicures.



6. What’s your best roommate story (assuming you had a roommate at some point in your life)?

I once had two male roommates; I would not recommend this to anyone – they were both complete slobs. On the other hand, when I had female roommates, it completely ruined our friendships—one permanently and the other one temporarily. I don’t recommend moving in with girlfriends either. Yikes! In my memory, roommates involved arguments over boyfriends, food in the fridge, cleaning, borrowed clothes, etc., etc. Not fun. Before marriage, my best years were when I had my OWN place!

7. What’s your “go to” outfit that you wear more than anything else?

Jeans, heels (because I am short!), cute top, cute scarf to tie everything together.


8. Do you have a beauty secret?

I really believe the two best things you can do for your skin and keep yourself looking young is a) exfoliate (sugar makes a great scrub and I love anything by Olay), and b) stay out of the sun and, if you are going to be in the sun, wear sunscreen. Oh, and one more thing and this is so true—a smile is your best accessory!  (Cheesy, I know!)

9. Did you read Seventeen magazine growing up?

I loved it!


10. How did you learn to put on makeup?

Self taught. I often “played” with my mom’s makeup. I started wearing mascara occasionally when I was 13; by the time I was 15 I was wearing more & more makeup and sometime around 16 I discovered eyeliner. I wouldn’t say I always wore it well but I had fun.



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Update * Update * Update

I updated ONE of my blogs. Not this one though--ha ha! Stay tuned tomorrow (perhaps!). In the meantime, stop by Daisy, Chloe....and read my update!

Happy Wednesday!!
xoxo



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Blast From The Past

I found this post from almost 2 years ago--May of 2009!!  I thought it was interesting especially because THIS May 13th, I will be attending a Jennifer Lancaster book singing with my good friend, Amber!!

I recently put a How Well Do You Know Lesli quiz on my Facebook and most of my friends got 80 to 90% correct. But that could be because I made the questions super easy. A few questions tripped everyone up--such as what is my middle name and what happened to me in the second grade. 

So I decided to make a little refresher list of stuff about me--and I have to give credit for this idea to Michelle over at Just Jump.

1 - My middle name is Alison, not Anne as most people would guess. Lesli Alison is the name!

2 - In second grade, I was I was voted the cutest girl in my class.

3 - And shockingly sent to advanced math.

4 - And spent most of my time drawing & playing with Barbies while in class

5 - Fast forward, I met my husband at work when we both worked at a collection agency.

6 - He did not attend interior design school with me.

7 - Nor did we meet on a cruise ....

8 - And not in line at Taco Bell either!

9 - I am 5'3" barely and maybe even 5'2" and 3/4th--but I round up

10 - I have been a vegetarian since I was 6 years old

11 - I don't like watching sports of any kind on TV, but I am all for attending live events because there is always people watching and snacks

12 - My birthday is October 13 & that makes me a Libra

13 - I have lived in the states of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, but would love to live in California, Washington State and Hawaii & hope to add them to my places of residence some day

14 - I went to school for interior design but somehow wound up as a receptionist at a bath & body company

15 - I decided a long time ago I am never having children

16 - My maternal instinct comes out for my cats and my Pug

17 - My favorite colors are lavender, pink and yellow.

18 - I wear a lot of pink.

19 - And black. 

20 - My favorite shows are Gossip Girl, Real Housewives, Samantha Who (farewell!), Ugly Betty, Tori & Dean, and Denise Richards, It's Complicated.

21 - I like watching a lot of reality shows, but not Survivor or Amazing Race.

22. My favorite movies are Confessions of a Shopaholic, Clueless and Legally Blonde.

23 - I am scared of mice and rats.

24 - I am also scared of being fat, ugly or poor. 

25 - To that list add house fires and becoming blind.

26 - I have always wanted to own a Porsche

27 - And a Volkswagen Beetle - either in pink or light yellow

28 - I have seen Legally Blonde the musical twice

29 - My favorite concert ever was Britney Spears Circus

30 - My favorite Las Vegas show was Donny & Marie

31 - I love reading ...

32- Almost as much as I love shopping.

33 - I don't really cook but I like to bake

34 - I collect Hello Kitty

35 - I have a Pug named Noodles

36 - And would like a girl Shih Tzu named Betsey Johnson

37 - I miss my cat, Chloe, every day

38 - I have my backup cats who are very much loved, but not the same as Chloe - she was one of a kind

39 - I keep this blog because I love to write & be creative and make new friends

40 - I will probably regret not going to the Jen Lancaster Pretty in Plaid book signing!








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