
Almost Better Than Sex Cake (I don't know if it's THAT good, but this cake is pretty tasty!)
16 servings
1 german chocolate cake mix
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
caramel topping
12 ounces Cool Whip
3 heath bars, crushed
Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan. Prepare cake mix as directed on package; pour into prepared pan. After 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle with chocolate chips. Continue baking until cake is done. While cake is still hot, poke holes in it with handle of wooden spoon. Pour sweetened condensed milk over cake; let cool. Top with caramel sauce, then whipped topping. Sprinkle with candy bars.
TUBBS Sojourn Snowshoes- Get out there! www.rei.com
This adorable little reading lamp is sure to warm up any interior! From www.rejuvenation.com
Curl up with the Wicked Warm Fleece Throw from www.LLbean.com
So what if you can't make it out to the spaje'-don't forgo the love, bring it home baby, with New York's Own Bliss World Best of Bliss www.blissworld.com
Wrap up your day of indulgence with a Kashwere robe...Tiffani Thiessen & Sarah Jessica love theirs! www.sleepyheads.com
This set of two cookies sheets from NordicWare comes with lids for easy transportation & storage-www.chefscatalog.com
Try lighting these wonderful Oatmeal Raisin Scented Candles from Illuminations, & watch the neighbors stop by for a visit! www.illuminations.com

-When you get the urge to hug a Spruce, try Keen's earth friendly bags made with recycled aluminum & tire rubber. www.keenfootwear.com
It's Movie Time!
Outside in front of the ticket window, you can feel the anticipation in the air as you line up behind the balding man in the conscientious baseball cap and his date, the woman with the bright yellow blouse and too much aqua net in her mane. Standing there checking out the rest of the line, you gaze up at the list of movie titles in big bold letters and try to guess what feature presentation each party is there to see. Of course, the point of this pointless activity is not necessarily to pass the time, although that is what naturally happens, but rather to discern whether or not everyone is there to see the same flick as you. This determines if you are going to get primo seats or end up in the front row with your head tilted back for two long hours. After evaluating the circumstances, you begin to weigh in the costs of the snackie-bar line. Do you have enough time to go straight to calorie-heaven, or should you first go place that sweater that you always remember to bring over the back of the best available seat in the house before tending to your tummy? Once that has been decided, you again start to suspiciously eyeball the other movie-goers present and still waiting in line for their tickets. That couple looks like they'll go for the jumbo-tub, but she looks as though she's never eaten a Raisinette in her life, so you'd rather stand behind her because that line will move faster! Now it's time to lean out and look sympathetically at all of people that are standing behind you, and turn back with smug satisfaction as you watch yourself get closer and closer to the ticket window. Those poor people should have left the house sooner, you were so practical to leave when you did that you want to give yourself a pat on the back! But there is no time for that now...the man in the cap and the lady with the up-do are getting their tickets, so it's almost your turn! With anticipation, you fumble anxiously for your cash, hardly believing that your time for tickets has finally come, and so soon for such a long line! When the couple steps away, you don't rush the booth. No, you have enough self-control to stand there, on the tips of your toes, and stare at the pimple-faced young fellow behind the glass until he makes eye contact with you and utters that word you have been so patient to hear! As he casually looks up, flipping one long "Flock of Seagulls" lock away from his left eye, he practically yawns as he utters, "Next" in the flattest voice he possibly can. You confidently step up, money in hand, rest your elbow on the small sill, and lean in close as though you have a terrible secret to share, "One adult for the Teary-Eyed Chick-Flick please". Just to show him that you're prepared, you hold up the little cute tissue squares folded neatly in the pocket of your sweater, grinning and winking like you both know something everyone else doesn't. Greasy-Locks looks at you like you need to have your head examined, and slides your tickets through the tiny slot at the bottom of the window. The toss of his bangs tells you he doesn't have time for any loners but himself, so it's time to get lost. Grasping the movie ticket in your hand, you look down to read it before moving toward the door, making sure that ganja-boy wasn't high when he printed your ticket, and didn't accidentally give you one to the Death-Fest of Doom instead. Smiling proudly, you head for the entrance, with one last glance toward the pitiful people still shuffling idly where you used to be. You smile and nod, thinking, "Oh yea, they're wishing they had left the house when I did, suckers!" and turn to let the graying colored woman open the door for you, "Welcome to the Mega-Multi-Movie-Plex, madam."
As the double doors open, the theater lets out an inviting sigh of cool air that beckons you in out of the summer heat. Inside, the lobby smells of fresh popped buttery goodness, but it's not time for treats yet. You were wise enough to wear your favorite pair of loafers, so you quickly speed-walk past the twins in the pumps to the ticket-tearing line. Fanny-swishing your way to the front, the older gentleman in the starched uniform takes your ticket, "This is a wonderful film," he smiles as he parts it in two, "Door number four on the Left, enjoy your movie." You delicately take your half of the torn ticket and place it in your back pocket, just in case you run out of tissue mid-movie and have to run for the restroom. The thought of being drug out by your elbows because you can't hold up the ripped ticket as proof of payment makes you shudder like the Zombie in You Go Ghoulfriend. Patting your back pocket for good measure, you turn and head down the long, darkened hallway. Reading the screens posted above the doorways, you quickly realize that something has gone terribly wrong...1,3,5...where is door number 4? For a brief moment you begin to sweat harder than the girl in the Fangs of Fear poster on the wall above you, wondering if your ticket actually reads The Twilight Zone. But then you realize that perhaps you should just be looking on the left, like the fellow said. Once safely inside theater number four, you gaze up and down the rows of seats to spy two empty chairs in the back row, your favorite, because no one can kick the back of your chair. When suddenly, directly across from you is the Raisinette girl from outside. In slow motion, both of your eyes sweep from each other up to the vacant seats, and back again. Game on, girlfriend! You take those steps two by two, launching the sweater from over your shoulders to land gracefully upon the back of the chair like a superhero cape before Raisinette has even had a chance to make it half-way there...perhaps she could use a little more sugar in her diet!
Ticket and seat securely in place, you follow the haunting aroma of junk food back down to the lobby. Pausing briefly, you check out the lines at the snack bar. Over there is shorter, but the mom with four snarfling kids all begging for ice pops and monster-munchies makes you get in the longer line behind the love-couple instead. With their arms around each other and hands stuffed into each other's back pockets, they move forward in unison in a way that takes you back to the time you won the three-legged man-race in the third grade. Looking up at the menu of carnival-food choices for gourmet prices on the wall, you wonder what food group Jujubes really come from. One auto payment later, you are handed a bag of crunchy popcorn and chilled cola. Fighting off the reptilian urge of your tongue to lash out and snatch up some of the salty snack without the use of your hands, you casually sip your soda on the way back to your seat instead. Plunking yourself down at last, you admire the armrest with the cute little round holder for your tasty beverage. As the lights dim, and the picture begins to play, you finally toss a well-deserved handful of corn at your happy mouth: there's nothing better than a Saturday Matinée! -Cheers
we love the curved details of Islandic Design's Hayden Sweater-
www.moosemtntradingco.com