American Idol - Hollywood Week, Night 1

Hollywood Week at the Kodak Theatre....181 people there!

Ellen DeGeneres....woohoo!!!!

Day 1 of Hollywood Week

1)Katie Stevens - They highlighted her story about taking care of her grandma at her original audition.  She went on!

2) Skii Bo Ski (Antonio Wheeler) - He looks way more normal than he did at his first audition!!  But his voice wasn't so great...he's out!

3) Andrew Garcia - Ooooh wow, Straight Up by Paula Abdul.  But kind of in the new style I like....like how Jason Mraz sings I'm Yours.  Does this style have a name????

4) Vanessa Wolfe -  Oh no, she was awful in Hollywood.

5) Tasha Layton - They skipped her Hollywood audition but had shown her original audition...don't know if she made it through or not.

6) Cornelius Edwards - I wondered if he went through to Hollywood because his pants split...and that's what Ryan just said...he stunk in Hollywood!

7) Maegan Wright - Too bad she didn't do so well in Hollywood..I bet her little brother will be sad :(

8) Amadeo Diroco - Awww...sad that he didn't do well in Hollywood.

9) Janell Wheeler - She sang American Boy by Kanye West and Estelle.....what an awesome second audition and her guitar playing was great!!!

10) Haeley Vaughn - I wasn't overly impressed by Randy liked her!  She got through to the next round.

11) Mary Powers - She sang Sober by Pink in Hollywood...Ellen loved her.  She went on...and I think she deserved it!

12) Todrick Hall - He is moving on but they didn't show his Hollywood solo...

13) Charity Vance - Also moving on...also didn't show her solo

14) Ashley Rodriguez - See notes on above two lol

46 people made it through at the end of Day 1...and they only mentioned 14!!!

Day 2 of Hollywood Week

1) Jay Stone - Uh oh...I am rooting for him...did they not like him?  They didn't really show his solo...sad times!!!

2) Lilly Scott - She is the first person they showed in Hollywood whose original audition they didn't show...I thought she was amazing!

3) Michael Lynche - He sang while his wife was in labor!!!!  He sang Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer and played guitar....I still really like him!!!!  Remember when Sanjaya sang this song???  Much better lol

4) Justin Williams - He got cancer while serving a mission?? :(  A vocal coach who can sing...yay!  How did I not notice how cute he was before????  Sad that his first audition was better than his second.

5) Tim Urban - He auditioned in Dallas but they didn't show him or I didn't blog about him. He sang Come Back to Me by David Cook.  He was a big shaky but went through.

6) Paige Dechausse - They didn't show her solo but she didn't make it...

7) Erica Rhodes - Awww the Barney girl didn't make it...

8) Bernadette and Amanda Desimone - They both didn't make it.....


9) Maddy Curtis - I didn't comment on her first audition...but the fact that she has 4 brothers with Down Syndrome is just amazing!  They didn't like her song choice :(  Awwww she didn't make it...poor thing!

10) Casey James - He plays Blues guitar!  Should he have auditioned with his shirt off?? LOL  I'm really glad he made it through...his audition was great!!!

11) Didi Benami - She sang a song by Kara...and much like her first audition...I loved her solo!!!!  I'm so glad the judges did too!  Yay, she made it!

12) Crystal Bowersox - The judges liked her first audition more than I did...but I thought she was really good in Hollywood!  Yay, she made it also!

95 people total went through to the next set of auditions?


Wow....they didn't show a ton of people in Hollywood whose first audition they showed!!!!!

What's Your Grandma or Grandpa Name?

Your Name is Grandma Sadie

Eh? Speak up!

What's Your Grandma or Grandpa Name?

I feel like that could totally look like me when I get older!

Weird Finger Thing

So twice in the last month or so after showering...I have gotten weird white marks on some of my fingers.  The first time it happened, I thought I was crazy.  The second time it happened, I took pictures.

The bottom picture is the same picture as the top finger...like 30 minutes later.  Does anyone have any idea what it could be?????

Homemade Mac N Cheese

OMG I am so behind on blogging about my life.  2 weekends ago, I invited a friend over for homemade Mac N Cheese.  I have never made this before and my friend is super picky, so I was really nervous!  But I found a great recipe on Recipe Zaar and went for it!

I haven't done a Tempt My Tummy Tuesday in a long time, but what great timing!  As I started writing this post, I remembered that awesome meme, and this post is just perfect for it!

Those are all of my ingredients..minus the Windex and juice of course ;)

2 uncooked cups of noodles...that's a lot!

Noodles "boiling" on the stove

Butter and cheese in another pot...not fun to wash!!!

Melted butter and cheese in the bottom of the crockpot...ewww lol

Everything mixed together...raw

The final result....yum!!!!

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups about 10 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

*Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain.
*In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts.
*In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well.
*Then add drained macaroni and stir again.
*Cook for 3 hours on low, stirring occasionally.

Holey Donuts! News

As I posted a few days ago, Holey Donuts! is running a contest. They have also sent me info for a special offer....

Need a special offer to try America's best tasting ,Hand Made,Gourmet Low Fat Donuts?!


Buy 2, get ONE BOX FREE (3 for the price of 2)


This is great if you want to try"a smaller" order or don't have so much room in your freezer. Each box is as small as a frozen dinner entree so they will fit easily in your freezer too!


And while you're at www.holeydonuts.net remember to enter our Blog reader giveaway for a chance to win 4 assortments and a $250 store credit! Just find the contact page then add your email address and the NAME OF THIS BLOG (Becca's Backyard) in the subject line and you're in. PLEASE ONLY ENTER ONCE.


Here the code information


BUY 2, GET 1 FREE - place 3 assortments in your cart, enter the code VDAY1 at checkout, click recalculate and the cost of 1 of those assortments will be FREE.

Caress Evenly Gorgeous Review

Thanks to my friend Kailani at An Island Life blog, I got the chance to review Caress Evenly Gorgeous body wash and beauty bar.

From their website...

Caress® makes skin the ultimate fashion statement with the introduction of the Caress Skinwear Collection®. Caress gives you gorgeous skin – right out of the shower – that you will want to flaunt just like the season’s hottest styles. Now you can shower on your look with Caress body washes and beauty bars for even toned, radiant or silky skin … and have the confidence to show it off!

The “Latest” Look: Even Tone
NEW! Evenly Gorgeous™ Exfoliating Body Wash & Beauty Bar
With Burnt Brown Sugar and Karite Butter
Caress® Evenly Gorgeous™, with burnt brown sugar and karite butter, gently exfoliates and lusciously moisturizes to reveal smooth, even toned skin.

I am always eager to try out any body wash that claims to moisturize your skin.  Until I tried Caress, I had only found 1 brand that actually moisturized as advertised.  I was pleasantly surprised when I tried out the Caress and it moisturized just as well as the other kind I like.  And...it smells way better!  It has the sweetest most amazing smell.  I love smelling it every time I use it.  I also love how well it lathers up!  There is nothing worse to me than a body wash that doesn't lather!


I have to admit, I am not a beauty bar fan.  I have been using body wash for as long as I can remember.  So to be fair, I had my mom try out the beauty bar because I knew she would give it a "fair" shot.  In my mom's own words:


"I’ve been using the same brand of soap for over ten years now, so I was very excited to try Caress Soap. I was immediately impressed when I opened the box and didn’t smell that typical soap smell. Instead I was greeted by a very pleasant, light fragrance.

In the shower, as I began using the soap, still no soap smell. This was very exciting. I loved the texture of the soap as I began to feel the burnt sugar. The soap washed off without that sticky feeling many brands leave.

The soap left my skin soft and clean. I definitely see a new brand in my future."

As you can see, we both loved it!  If you are in the market for a new soap, or just like to try high quality products, check out Caress Evenly Gorgeous!

I received Caress body wash and beauty bars from RocketXL on behalf of Caress to do this review. I was not paid in any other way and all opinions are mine and my moms ;)

Blog Awards

A number of bloggy friends have gifted me with blog awards recently.  I have felt really behind on everything and haven't had a chance to post them.  But I am finally sitting at home so here goes...

My friend Amy at Keeping Up With the Schultz Family gave me the Sugar Doll Award.

I am supposed to list 10 things about me....

1. I am only 4'10...I think with shoes on I am about 5'
2. I am half-Japanese (from my dad's side)
3. From my mom's side, I am Jewish.  With all of the cool Jewish holidays coming up, you will probably see that side of me coming through :)
4. My favorite colors are turquoise and purple.  Those were my colors for my Bat Mitzvah at 13, and are still my favorite colors to this day.
5. I run an online dominoes league on a site called Eliters
6.  I love love love almost anything chocolate
7. I love to bake yummy treats!
8. I really miss my doggies and can't wait to get new ones!
9. I am addicted to TV shows aimed at teenagers such as Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, 90210 and more!
10. I also love Reality TV shows such as American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Hell's Kitchen and Survivor (it might only be those 4 lol)


My two friends Audrey at Audrey's Country Crafts and Missy at Loving My Children's Gifts gave me the Sunshine Award

 

What a pretty award!  Thankfully I don't have to do anything except pass it on...

And finally...my friend Ms Bibi from From Misery to Happiness gave me the Beautiful Blogger Award




For this award, you have to list 7 things about yourself...this is hard since I just listed 10 up above

1. Sunflowers are my favorite flower...I think they are gorgeous!
2. I have one little tattoo of something called a "foppy."  I thought my friends made it up, but apparently it's from a video game.
3. I am "addicted" to Bejeweled Blitz on facebook.  I swore I wouldn't play any facebook games that were addicting, but this one tricked me!
4. I was a total band geek in high school.  I marched flute and played clarinet in concert band.  I was also band manager my senior year.
5. I have 3 holes in each of my ears...but I only wear earrings in my top 2 holes most of the time
6. I own way too many pairs of shoes...I stopped counting at 30 (that's how many my shoe rack holds)
7. To go along with my too many shoes...are too many socks.  I love crazy sock designs!

Thanks to Amy, Audrey and Ms Bibi for these great awards.

Instead of tagging individual people, I "tag" all of you.  If you want to accept 1 or all of these awards, please do!