Have you seen this episode of Portlandia?

That’s us. We can’t eat. We can’t sleep. We’re just focused on queuing up the next episode on Hulu Plus.  You know, until they run out. Like last night. And now, they are out until JANUARY. (all caps to emphasize yelling)  Who starts their season in January? The English? Whatever.

In the meantime, this is what I’m left with. This is what we’ve become.  Well, mostly, this is what’s happened to my husband:

1. During Downton, I’m not allowed to curse.  According to my husband “That’s not Masterpiece”.  (You know, because it’s a Masterpiece Classic . . . get it . . .) So, now I’ve got Downton refining my behavior.
2. My husband has started calling me Ma’Lady
3. We’re angry. We want Bates to grow a pair and quit worrying about being so honorable. We’re mad at Lord Crowley and the maid. Thomas is the devil in an English suit. There’s a lot to be angry about.
4.  We’re probably going to quit our jobs and start making “Free Bates” t-shirts.
5. My husband has taken in interest in these hats all of a sudden. I mean, I don’t think anyone at Downton wears them, but they look English right? Well, yeah. He’s been wearing one around the house.  I’m sure next he’ll venture outside with it.

So, yeah. What am I suppose to do now?

Thanks Downton.

Need a little somthin’ somethin’ to tide you over until January? Here’s 9 Downton Abbey Spoilers.  Try to be strong.

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I may or may not have cried as the Russian boxer was KO’d in Rocky 4.  Yes, I know Apollo Creed died at his hands, but for some reason, Draco (aka Dolph Lundgren) is an enigma in my book.  Many think he retired years ago.  Nope, he’s just been doing karate and making DVDs in Europe.  Did you know he’s also a Chemical Engineer and went to MIT?  And now?

He’s on StarFit, a new celebrity fitness tabloid-style show on the BeFit channel.   What’s a little celebrity fitness show without a big new celebrity?  Go Dolph.

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Even better to find EW.com includes a feature, “Top 10 Will Ferrell Movies”

Having only seen 2 of the 10 movies on the list, I’m certainly no expert.  But I still know that Will Ferrell is hilarious.  I also loved seeing him in Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls.

What’s your favorite Will Ferrell movie?  Did it make the list?

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Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn and Dylan Lauren

How did you get involved with Project Runway this season?

We were approched by the show. Dylan’s Candy Bar makes a great backdrop for the challenge with the colors and our incredible options–we’re the biggest candy store in the world. And since I come from a fashion background (I have experience in the industry, attending fashion shows, and reading the reviews,) the producers thought I’d make a good judge (Dylan is also the daughter of fashion legend Ralph Lauren.)

What makes candy such an interesting material to work with?

There are so many colors and shapes! The many textures, the opaque and the translucent, long and short candies, even the gummy. When you collage them together candy can form these amazing designs.

What are the challenges of working with candy?

The biggest challenge? People want to eat it! For one thing, candy is small, but if you have to cover a surface with a lot of candy, the weight of it can be an issue. And then there are the glues! Some glues don’t work, sometimes glue gun heat melts candy, it makes the challenge exciting.

What were you most surprised by?

I was most surprised by people who didn’t chose more than one kind of candy or color. I’m a color freak, and there are so many bars and types of candy!

Was there anything that you watched people do and thought, “Oh honey, no!”?

When I saw the contestants shopping for very small items. I don’t think they knew how much it would take to fill the muslin. There are so many different colors and sizes of candy, and figuring out how to use them while working inside the limited amount of muslin they had. I was nervous!

Is there anything you wanted the designers to use or anything you thought they should have stayed away from?

There were a few products the desginers weren’t able to use because of trademark issues–like the vintage products, Charleston Chew for example. Some tried cotton candy and that becomes tricky to shape. I, personally, would have liked to the designers use more giant lollipops.

Anything you would have wanted to see differently in the styling of the outfits?

I would have liked to have seen a big gown with a train. There were a lot of great dresses, but I was hoping to see something big.

What candy would you have used to create a dress?

I think the episode was so challenging because anyone who came into the store could be overwhelmed with the choices! I ‘d want to use one of everything! I would definitely have wanted to use the Dylan’s Candy Bar lollipops, or the translucent gummies in all the colors. We have more than 200 shades of colored candy!

Alright, what do you think? Are you excited to watch the Unconventional Material challenge on tonight’s Project Runway?

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I shared this, maybe, with my 5-year-old, and now we’re all singing it!

The post Call Me Maybe Cookie Monster appeared first on TodaysMama.

Thanks to Jessica’s Coupons, we’ll be dueling again in no time! She figured out how to turn pool noodles into lightsabers. Genius!

Check out the full (EASY!) instructions for the pool noodle lightsabers from Jessica’s Coupons here.

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The post Pool Noodle Lightsabers appeared first on TodaysMama.

A friend recommended I check out NBC’s Best Friends Forever show. I was blindsided by how good it was. The show was so funny, so true-to-life, and did I mention hilarious? Friends in real life, and Upright Citizens Brigade alums, Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair created, write, and star in Best Friends Forever. After her divorce, Jessica moves back in with her best friend Lennon, and Lennon’s boyfriend.

I can’t think of another show off the top of my head that speaks so much to me and my generation of women. I feel like so often women have to grasp at straws to see themselves represented on TV and in the media. This is our show, sisters! Parham and St. Clair portray the kind of chemistry that only comes from years, and years, of friendship. I can’t recommend this show more highly.

Just check out this clip!

This is me begging you to watch the show! Please? I hope Best Friends Forever sticks around for, well, EVER.

One more clip? OK.

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Bread is super symbolic in the Hunger Games books. Panem, the name of the nation in the dystopian tales, means “bread” in Latin. It’s short for “panem and circenses,” or “bread and circuses.” In order to keep the population of Rome appeased, the rulers would provide grain (bread) and games (circuses) to distract the citizens. Hmm. Sounds a little like the Hunger Games, right? That’s no accident. Fans of the series know the importance of bread as well, from the baker’s son Peeta, to a very needed gift that arrived right on time.

In honor of the movie (out March 23rd!) I decided to make some Hunger Games bread by stenciling the mockingjay symbol onto a loaf.

I printed out a mockingjay symbol that I found here and cut it out. I used both scissors and an x-acto knife. As you can see, you’ll want to cut away the sections that aren’t part of the symbol (that’s pretty much the opposite of most stencils.)

I brushed a risen bread loaf ready to go in the oven with water, and then placed the cut stencil on top. I sifted flour on top of the loaf, covering the stencil completely. I then carefully lifted away the paper stencil leaving the loaf with the imprint.

There’s the loaf ready to go into the oven! I made a rye bread recipe (you can find out more about how I made the dough here) so that the finished loaf would be beautifully dark really showing off the design. The loaf baked at 425 for about 40 minutes.

Wow! It really turned out!

Now that’s a loaf that Katniss and Peeta could really chew on! Are you as excited for the movie as we are?

Other posts you might enjoy:

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I had the chance to hop on a call with All Stars judge, one of my favorite designers, the fabulous Isaac Mizrahi about this week’s finale. (If you aren’t up to date, there are a few spoilers from the season so far, but nothing from the finale.)

Thank you for being with us today!

Not at all, not at all.

Which contestant do you think has grown the most since their first time on Project Runway?

Michael has grown the most since his first season, I remember thinking, “He really needs to come a long way.” But by the end of that season I thought he had learned a lot. By the time he came to All Stars, Michael was really ready.

We heard that reference to Teletubbies the other week! What’s with the Teletubby love?

I love the Teletubbies! I did a collection once that was inspired by Teletubbies: so clean, beautiful futuristic, with brass, and all these primary colors.

How would you describe in one word the four remaining designers?

Austin Scarlet – flamboyant, feminine
Kenley – Sure, witty
Mondo – Inventive, soulful
Michael – Sexy and luxurious

We loved that moment when Austin was on the runway and you misheard “Scarlet” as “Starlet”

What can I say? I was talking really fast and you can barely hear two syllables on set. And you’re old, and you take too much Xanax. But wouldn’t “Starlet” be perfect? It really did happen!

Before becoming a Project Runway Allstars judge had you watched previous seasons?

I’d watched selectively. I was aware of it. After all, fashion is my work; [Project Runway] is something I was attracted to and repelled by. It’s the subject of my life; it’s interesting and I also wanted to run away from it.

Did previous exposure to the contestants affect your judging at all?

I knew some of the contestants from their past season, but some were completely new. I will say, that each week we watched what they did and we judged them on that. It’s important as a judge to divorce yourself from any predisposition. After a while that’s an easy thing to do. These designers are so talented. It was really good for me to see things that way and I learned from the process.

Which designer were you most shocked to see go?

I was most shocked to see Rami go. I felt like we could hear the gasps across America. That was a rough week; it was about highs and lows. The judges were extremely honest about our answers. We judge, period. The lowest score got eliminated that week. He’s such a great competitor, thinker, and artist. For me, the most profound loss [of the season] was Rami.

Who was your favorite guest judge?

Diane Von Furstenberg! She’s so eternal, such an icon. When she opens her mouth it’s both incredibly entertaining and wise. I love watching Diane and love being around her. My first job in fashion, before college, was working for a company that licensed her blouses! I lasted about two weeks.

A lot of seasons we see a menswear or a real woman challenge. Which contestant would have done the best at a menswear/real woman challenge?

It’s really hard to say, because the chips fall where they fall every week. It’s always a surprise. For men’s clothes, I think Rami would have done well because of that good tailoring hand. Kenley for plus size or regular size. She really thinks about real women when she designs. Kenley is abbreviated, witty, and pithy–which I think people respond to.

What’s been your favorite moment of the season so far?

When the winner won. Week after week the worst was sending someone home. Honestly, I think every one of us were candid about our criticism, giving it to the contestants as straight as possible. No matter what it’s difficult to tell someone they have to go home. Somehow, what made up for that was watching the winner win every week. It was wonderful to see how motivating and inspiring it was to see the designers win.

Who was the most beneficial guest judge?

Again, Diane Von Furstenberg. She taught them so much. The designers really, really learned from her. They respect Diane for being an icon: how she presents herself, her look, she’s just an inspiration the minute she walks in the door.

When you judge are you looking for what’s the most wearable or what makes the biggest splash on the runway?

Sometimes the most wearable thing is the thing that makes the biggest splash on the runway. For example, the flag episode: Mondo won because it was so eminently wearable and it made the model look so beautiful. There were so many flashy things in the flag episode that didn’t win.

So often, The Muse visits the set and says, “Here’s the winner, darling.” When the model walks down the runway you get the soul of the ensemble. Sometimes the ensemble wins because it’s plain and perfect, and sometimes it’s because it’s big and flashy.

Tell us about Kenley

I love her. We would tell her to do this or that, but Kenley would sometimes lie to our face–even when we told her to do certain things. It’s her greatest asset–that she does not listen. Sometimes I want to kill her, but it’s also her biggest virtue.

Thank you, Isaac, for talking to us!

My pleasure!

So, gang, what do you think? Who is going to win? Is there a designer you wish were in the running to win? Do you agree with last week’s elimination? I was sad to see Kenley go, for all that cheek she kept showing. Have you loved seeing Isaac Mizrahi on Project Runway? I certainly have!

The part one of the Project Runway All Stars finale airs Thursday night on Lifetime, check your local listings, yo!

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The post Isaac Mizrahi on Project Runway Allstars Season and Finale! appeared first on TodaysMama.

“I’m Cinna and I’m here to help.” –  The Hunger Games Cinna clip

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