Two Cents: Best and Worst of 2011 Wrap-Up

As 2012 begins, we thought we would wrap up some of the Best and Worst stories, headlines and scandals of the previous year, Two Cents Style.

Best Wedding

The Royal Wedding of Kate and William

Who doesn't love a real-life fairytale?! I was beyond obsessed with this Royal Wedding. It might have something to do with the fact that they married one week before me. But a real life prince and princess, how could you not watch? And to top it off, they seem like genuine people that are really in love. I can't wait to watch what happens with these two after the wedding. I know they will both do great things.



Biggest Scandal

Arnold's Love Child with his Housekeeper

I mean, we all saw something coming with him. There have been rumors for years about him cheating, groping women, etc. But a 11+ year old love child with his housekeeper?! The same age as one of his other kids! Right under his family's roof. No one saw that coming. I just feel bad for Maria and their children. Disgusting.




Biggest Meltdown

Charlie Sheen

Wow! What a trainwreck! Seems like Charlie Sheen was on a slippery downslope that started from trashing his boss, his ex-wife, to obtaining a few goddesses and going on his Winning tour looking like a maniac. Let's just hope 2012 brings less of him.



Biggest Sham/Waste of Our Time

Kim and Kris' 72 day marriage and the sham leading up to it

I don't want to waste any more time on these fame-seekers. But really, you tricked us, lead us on and then dumped on us. Good bye. Let's hope 2012 brings less of the Kardashian family please!



Cutest Girls of the Year

Sophia Grace and Rosie singing Adele and Nikki Minaj

Omg! The cutest girls and videos you have ever seen. If you haven't seen these yet, please stop what you are doing and watch! Ellen found them on You Tube and made them a sensation. They are beyond adorable and I hope to see more of them in 2012.

Here's a link to their video performance: http://youtu.be/odhUPMYXpX4

Biggest Comeback

Britney Spears

Yay! Britney's Back B#tch! After a few rough years, Britney looks like she's finally on the road to having it all again! Touring, caring for her adorable boys and finding love! Sounds like he's a good guy too, which is what she needs. You go girl!



Biggest Repeat-Offender Disaster

Lindsay Lohan

2011 was a bad year for the former Mean Girl star, Lindsay Lohan. She was in and out of court,  jail, rehab, did community service, was under house-arrest. She didn't seem to learn her lesson after each one. Let's hope she has learned her lesson now and won't be repeating her mistakes in 2012.





What big stories will 2012 bring?! Who will have the best wedding? Who will have the biggest meltdown? Let's stay tuned to see. Two Cents will keep you informed as always!

Happy New Year Friends!

Our Favorite Things........Holiday Edition

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!



We wanted to share some of our Holiday favorites with you.










One song that I absolutely love this time of year, is Burl Ives' Holly Jolly Christmas. It always puts a smile on my face and makes me want to dance around.

Listen to it here:

http://youtu.be/Up1t5siifEw





This is one of my favorite Christmas movies. I love little Cindy Lou Who, Grinch's dog Max and when the Grinch's heart grows three times it's size!!










Love the Holiday drinks at Starbucks! Something about the warm drinks, whip cream and deliciousness inside always puts me in a good mood. Grabbing a cup and driving around to look at the Christmas lights in the neighborhood are one of my favorite holidays things to do.

Yum, SweeTarts Candy Canes.  The candy canes come in three flavors green apple, cherry and blue punch.

Candy Cane Lane Sauganash off of Devon

If anyone wants to look at Christmas Lights in the city, check out the Lincolnwood neighborhood. This is east of Central, north of Devon, on Pratt and Sauganash. This three story tree has been put up for years, its near Albion and Leroy.

Dancing Santa's Elves hat.  Do you want to be the coolest person at your Holiday party?  This hat is a guaranteed hit!  Walgreens has one for $9.99 that lights up, sings and dances. 

Book Club Questions: The Hunger Games

This month's virtual book club pick was The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. Have you been reading The Hunger Games along with us?! We hope so. 


As we mentioned before, The Hunger Games introduces a sixteen-year-old girl, Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where North America once existed. This is where the government, called the Capitol, holds power. The Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts for a massive televised battle in which only one person can survive.








Here are some questions that we thought of while we were reading The Hunger Games.


Who was your favorite character? What made them your favorite?


What do you think of Katniss' relationship with Peeta and Gale? Can she have feelings for both? Who are you rooting for? Team Peeta or Team Gale?


Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of The Hunger Games. She volunteered to take her sister Prim's place in the Games. What's Katniss' story? Will she do anything to win? Including faking a love, playing up for the cameras and charming the audience with a song for Rue?

Peeta Mellark, a baker's son who was also chosen to compete in The Hunger Games. From the start, he went out of his way to protect Katniss. Has he loved her from afar since they were young? Are they really 'Star Crossed Lovers'? Do you think Katniss has true feelings for him or is she just putting on a show for the cameras? Are Peeta's feelings for Katniss genuine?

Gale Hawthorne, Katniss' best friend. They have been through everything together except The Hunger Games. Can Gale truely understand Katniss now that she's been involved in the games?


Do you think Fire was an appropriate symbol for Katniss during the games? Why do you think so?


What did you think of the fact that they changed the rules during the middle of the game, so that two tributes could end up winning?


The tributes are on camera 24/7, how does this affect this behavior from the moment they are chosen until the end?

Let us know your thoughts about The Hunger Games!

Will you be reading the next two installments of this series? Catching Fire and Mockingjay are also excellent and you will get to see how the story turns out. What's great about reading them now, is they are already published so you don't have to wait months for the next book to come out.

In case you missed it, the trailer for The Hunger Games was just released. It looks amazing!! You can watch it here. It comes out in March 2012, so not too much longer to wait!!

http://www.imdb.com/rg/s/4/video/imdb/vi2402131481/


We will announce our next virtual book club pick soon, so stay tuned!

You're know you are a Chocoholic when......

You dream of chocolate. 

You wake up thinking about chocolate.

You don't have any chocolate at home, so you run to the store specifically for chocolate.  Even with no make up on and in your pajamas.  You wear a hood, so no one will recognize you. 

You have a secret stash of cookies in your house, that is hidden from your roommate, spouse, kids.  You leave a note on the stash, "Don't Even Think About It" to warn off intruders.

You run out of chocolate in your house, so you eat the chocolate chips for baking.  OR You squirt Hershey's chocolate syrup in your mouth.





You get defensive when someone recommends that you slow down or teases you about eating too many cookies.  You might say something like "Ugh, this is my first cookie, relax!"  Knowing that it's really your tenth.

You leave the bar or a night out with friends becaue you have been fantasizing about chocolate and you can't hold out any longer.  You give an excuse like "I have to wake up early."  It's all a lie.

You buy extra halloween candy just in case you run out, but end up eating the extra bags yourself.

You can eat a whole sleeve of cookies, like Thin Mints, in one sitting.

You shop at the Jewel by the Blommer Chocolate Factory, just to smell the wonderful chocolate in the air!  People stare at you because you keep sniffing and smiling. They think you are creepy.

Not everyone loves the rich flavor of chocolate.  They wouldn't walk a mile for this treat.  They don't understand our lack of control when it comes to this divine dessert.  But we, lovers of chocolate, undersand each other.  We understand why your face lights up when you take your first bite of a dark chocolate Dove bar.  Why your body starts wiggling to an imaginary song after you tasted a Ghirardelli milk chocolate bar.  We have felt the gratification.  We are Chocoholics! 

What are your chocoholic moments? Please don't make us feel like we are the only ones!

Christmas Cookies - Seven Layer Bars Recipe

Here is another one of my favorite Christmas Cookies/Bars to make. This recipe is easy to make and delicious. You may have had one of these before and I've seen them by several different names. The combination of the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and nuts is incredible!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/3 cups shredded coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Place butter in 13 x 9 inch pan and melt in oven. Swirl to coat bottom and sides with butter.
3. Spread crumbs evenly over bottom of pan. Layer chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and nuts over crumbs. Pour condensed milk over nuts. Sprinkle coconut over condensed milk.
4. Bake until edges are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool.

Enjoy!

Christmas Cookies - Potato Chip Cookies Recipe

It's that time of year again........time to start baking Christmas cookies! This is one of my favorite things to do during the holiday season. My sisters and I always bake several kinds of cookies each and then share our cookies over Christmas. It's always fun to see what new recipes we each come up with every year.

Now I know what you're thinking. Potato Chips and Cookies? That can't be right. This is a family recipe that is one of my must-bake Christmas cookies every year. This really has potato chips in it! Jays or Lays are my favorite. The chips add the salti-ness you need to make these cookies delicious and they give them a little extra crunch. Plus you get to nibble the potato chips while you bake. Everyone will be asking you for the recipe after they try these!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3/4 crushed (not fine) potato chips (Jays or Lays)
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans)
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Or I like to use parchment paper, makes for easy clean-up after you bake the cookies.
2. Cream together the butter, powdered sugar and egg yolk.
3. Add the flour and mix again.
4. Then add the vanilla, nuts and potato chips.
5. Then roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Flatten slightly.
6. Bake 15 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Try baking these this holiday season! Let me know what you think!

Two Cents picks the sexiest characters alive!

Two Cents is picking their sexiest television and movie characters!

We can all say certain actors are sexy, but what television and/or movie character make them the sexiest?

Take a look and let us know, do you agree with our sexiest character picks? Which character do you find yourself day dreaming about?

Enjoy!


Phil (Bradley Cooper) from The Hangover, Dirty Sexy - Sexiest Groomsman












Noah (Ryan Gosling) from The Notebook, Sexiest Lover





Micky Ward (Mark Walberg) from The Fighter, Sexiest Fighter/Bad Boy




Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) from The Town, Sexiest Bad Boy

Mike O'Donnell (Zac Efron) from 17 Again, Sexiest Teen Heartthrob








Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) from The Proposal, Sexiest Fake Fiance














Jacob (Ryan Gosling) from Crazy Stupid Love, Sexiest Wing Man









Edward Cullen (Rob Pattinson) from The Twilight Saga, Sexiest Vampire

Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) from Twilight, Sexiest Wolf

Will Gardner (Josh Charles) from The Good Wife, Sexiest Litigator




George Altman (Jeremy Merton Sisto) from Suburgatory, Sexiest Suburban Dad





Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) from Friday Night Lights, Sexiest Husband



Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) from Grey's Anatomy, Sexiest Surgeon




Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) from the Office, Sexiest Paper Salesman




Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Funny Sexy





Achilles (Brad Pitt) and Hector (Eric Bana) from Troy, Sexiest Warriors

Duke (Channing Tatum) from She's the Man, Sexiest College Guy (with a sweet side)