RIP, GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
Girl Scout cookie season is upon us. And while we fill out orders for classics like Thin Mints and new treats like Rah Rah Raisins, we should take a moment to reflect on some of the recipes that have been sent off into retirement.
- Kookaburras – Rectangular cookies with crispy rice, caramel, and chocolate.
- Praline Royales – Soft vanilla cookies with praline filling, pecans, coconut, and chocolate drizzled on top.
- Juliettes – The Girl Scout version of the chocolate turtle.
- Apple Cinnamons – Sugar cookies dusted with cinnamon sugar that were also reduced fat. (Mental Floss)
National Hug Day
Kevin Zaborney is credited with coming up with the idea of National Hug Day in 1986. Celebrate National Hugging Day by hugging someone you care about!
Deflate-gate 2015 – New England Patriots: According to sources, the team under-inflated 11 of 12 of their footballs, by using 2 lbs less air than required by the NFL's rules.
Super Bowl Ads – Dove's Super Bowl commercial has hit the web early, and it's a tear-jerker.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoqWo3SJ73c]
The commercial touts Dove's Men+Care product line, and fittingly, the commercial pays tribute to fathers. The great majority of the 30-second spot is children shouting "dad" or "daddy." Over the 30 seconds, babies are born, great times are had, a few sad moments are interjected here and there and the commercial's only test reads, "What makes a man stronger? Showing that he cares."
A Dove spokesman told TIME that the 30-second spot will air during the first quarter of the Super Bowl on Feb. 1. The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. NBC will have the broadcast.
Country Music Extras . . .
Miranda Lambert Used to Doubt Her Skills as a Singer
MIRANDA LAMBERT seems so confident in everything she does, but there was a time when she thought her singing was weak. Fortunately, BLAKE SHELTON was around to set her straight.
She explains, quote, "Blake really pushed me as a singer. I never thought I was a singer. I always thought I was just a songwriter, who could kind of sing. And he was like, 'You need to start singing. I don't know where you got that in your head!'"
Turns out they have a mutual admiration thing going on, which is good, seeing as they're married. She says, quote, "And him being such an amazing vocalist, it's great to have him this close in my life.
"I get to hear him sing around the house, which is amazing. I love that his voice is so country and he's so fun with that. He doesn't try to be anything he's not and his range is just so effortless when he sings. It's something I strive to be as a vocalist."
I bet you're NOT surprised BLAKE SHELTON has jumped into the "American Sniper" chaos. He hit up Twitter on Monday and wrote, "I can't wait to see 'American Sniper'." That was followed by, "Proud to support our military." And then, "Sickens me to see celebrities or anybody slam the very people who protect their right to talk [crap]."
Congratulations to MALLARY HOPE on the birth of her first child, a girl named Scarlett Ruth. Little Scarlett was born Monday, but is already starring in a collection of photos on Mallary's Instagram.
RASCAL FLATTS announced the cities but not the dates of their "Riot Tour 2015". It'll kick off May 29th in St. Louis, Missouri and continue through the summer. SCOTTY MCCREERY will open the shows. You can check for updates at RascalFlatts.com.
There's Only a 32% Chance a Messy Desk Will Hurt Your Career
If your desk at work is SO messy that you just KNOW a family of rats has set up camp in there . . . it STILL probably isn't going to tank your career.
A new survey asked HR managers what they think about someone who has a messy desk, here's what it found . . .
- 59% say it's okay to have a messy desk.
- 32% say it's not okay, and makes them question your professionalism.
- 9% say it's GOOD to have a messy desk, because it's a sign of creativity.
In other words, there's only about a one-in-three chance your messy desk could hurt your career . . . and about a one-in-10 chance it could actually HELP it.
Red Velvet Oreos Are Coming… The First New Cookie Color in 11 Years
Well, your New Year's resolution to lose weight never really had a chance anyway.
Nabisco just announced they're rolling out a brand new line of Oreos for Valentine's Day this year . . . Red Velvet Oreos.
The red velvet Oreos use red cookies and cream cheese-flavored filling.
Oreo has been pretty crazy with its fillings in the past several years . . . they've had watermelon Oreos, candy corn Oreos, rainbow sherbet Oreos, and more. But they have always used either the chocolate or vanilla cookies with those fillings.
The red cookies are only the third color of cookies in Oreo history. They started with the brown chocolate cookies in 1912 . . . introduced the golden vanilla cookies in 2004 . . . and now are rolling out the red ones in 2015.
The cookies come out on February 2nd and will be on sale for at least six weeks. Depending on how they sell, they have a shot at becoming a permanent Oreo flavor. (Bloomberg)
