Hey what’s up everybody?  Welcome back to #DoubleFML!  You know, in my lifetime, I’ve been fortunate enough to have met some very influential people…world changers even.  Professional and Olympic athletes, actors, writers, musicians, humanitarians, religious and political figures.  As a result, I’m often asked to share my favorite motivational speech and inspirational words of wisdom.  So okay, that’s exactly what I’m going to do right now… and it’s only 10 seconds!  Check it out…

Haha wow, such a passionate message eh? The poor little guy even tired himself out pumping me up!  Longtime readers may recognize that was my 5-year-old nephew Domonick so no, it wasn’t a Maya Angelou poem or Joel Osteen sermon, but hey, the kid still has a valid and concise point.  Get big…go big – just do it!  End of story.

With that said, considering that it’s now March, let’s check in on those New Year Resolutions.  How are they going so far?  Have you stuck with it?  Did you even start yet?  If not, what are you waiting for?  Rewatch that video as many times as you need to but the time is now my friend.  Life is short.  If you want something to happen, you have to go for it!  That’s why you can learn a lot from a 5-year-old.  They’re fearless in many ways and truly believe that anything is possible.  And they’re right, anything is possible but you have to be willing to put in the work.  I truly believe that so if you need a pep talk, I’m always available.  Dom is also probably willing to give you another pep talk as well but he may require a down payment of mac and cheese, Hot Wheels cars and video games.  Oh yeah, and if it’s during the week it’ll probably have to be before 7:30…

What were your New Year Resolutions and how are they going?  Tell us about it below!

So last post I mentioned my grandmother and that reminded me of the craziest dream I had last year.  It wasn’t a very long dream but I’ll never forget it because I’ve never had a dream that felt that real before.  She appeared in it, didn’t say a word but gave me a warm hug and then I woke up.  Unfortunately, she passed away many years ago, and one of my biggest regrets is not being able to see her one last time before it happened.  I was trying to wait until Christmas to travel from New Jersey down to South Carolina to see her instead of just rushing to visit right after her surgery. I was standing in the middle of Macy’s since I had literally just purchased her present when I got the call that she was gone.  That’s the moment when I fully embraced the “life is short” mantra and learned the hard way not to take tomorrow for granted. 

Anyway, that dream felt different than any I’ve ever had before so I posted about it on Facebook around this time last year and everyone said that it was her way of letting me know that she was looking out for me.  This is one of the articles I read on the subject as well, I found it really interesting so maybe you will too: http://www.ask-angels.com/spiritual-guidance/visitation-dreams/

Whatever your take is on the subject of angels and visitations, it was definitely comforting to see her again and that hug sure felt real.  If it ever happens again, I’ll have to ask for some of her recipes that I should have written down when I had the chance! 

Have any of you ever had a dream like that?  Tell us in the comments below!

It is a fascinating subject though; being able to communicate with the dead.  I mean, it happened all the time in biblical days but in modern society it always seems more like a parlor trick.  Those paranormal shows are fun to watch but it’s usually just a bunch of jumpy loud guys with green lights making a big deal over undiscernible noises.  Even when something does seem to happen on those shows, it’s still just that…a show.  So I don’t know.  I’ve never had a personal encounter but I’m completely fine with that!  My brother believed the apartment he rented many years ago in New Brunswick, NJ was haunted by some horny ghost that used to squeeze his butt in the shower!  No seriously, I’m not kidding!  My sister-in-law mentioned a few encounters there as well! I also showered at their place a few times back then but that never happened to me so I’m not sure if I’m relieved or insulted that I wasn’t hit on by this paranormal pervert too.  I didn’t squat as much back then I suppose…

Have you ever had ghostly encounter?  Tell us about it below!

A few months ago my friend Vicki from New Jersey, went to visit a medium for a reading.  For those who don’t know what a medium is (aside from the shirt size that I often buy so my muscles look bigger…or a small…a schmedium lol) it’s a person who supposedly communicates with the dead.  I say supposedly because again, many people with no actual ability simply make general statements when doing a “reading” so it’s more of a parlor trick.  Whoever Vicki spoke to however, I believe has true abilities.  Why?  Because he specifically mentioned me! 

During the reading, Vicki was talking to her deceased aunt and grandmother through the medium and they asked about a guy she had gone on a few dates with.  They expressed concern that he wasn’t right for her and then they said that she should “get with Darrell because he’s good to her and always makes her laugh”!  Crazy right?  I can assure you that I’ve never met the medium or any of Vicki’s relatives.  I’m also currently 12 hours south of New Jersey in Atlanta and my name definitely isn’t the first you’d guess if you were faking your way through a reading.  Plus I DO make her laugh all the time so wow, I’ve got to believe that medium has some abilities.  If Vicki goes back for another reading she should find out who shot Kennedy, if aliens exist…and again, get those recipes from my grandmother! 

Have any of you ever gone for a reading?  Was it accurate?  What happened?  Tell us about it below!

 

Oh yeah, check these out!  Jessica Cairns from Ocala, Florida sent this photo over since I’m always talking about Michael Jackson.  Whoa!  Ha, you know I’d absolutely rock these, right?  Lol but I’m a fashion daredevil so hey, why not?  “JUST DO IT!” that’s right, you tell ‘em Dom!  I’ll have to find these ha too funny.  Thanks Jessica!

 

So last post I jokingly referenced Little Caesar’s Pizza and then lo and behold, ever since then my TV has been flooded with commercials from them advertising their brand new Smokehouse Pizza!  Wow, speaking of “powers” did I somehow manifest this new creation simply by mentioning them?  Whoa!  Talk about the Laws of attraction eh? Hmm, would that work for other things too?  Hold on, let me try! ….  Hmm, nothing yet, let me try again… Okay, apparently Sofia Vergara is not going to appear in a bikini to feed me spaghetti so I guess I’ll move on.  Anyway, this pizza though!  It’s a large round pie with beef brisket, pulled pork, Applewood-smoked bacon and BBQ sauce, plus a smokehouse-seasoned crust.  Ha, calm down Little Caesar’s, you already had me at bacon.  Anyway, yeah, I say we throw on the old pizza tank top (see this post for the original write up on that shirt) and try one of these, shall we?

Okay, now before we begin, note that this is a specialty pizza so it’s going to cost you $9 instead of $5.  But with all of those toppings, it’s seems justified.  I was pretty impressed by that bacon wrapped deep dish pizza they rolled out last year too so I have equally high hopes for this one! 

First Impressions:  This looks pretty good!  Since it’s made to order, it’s piping hot and man, they really didn’t skimp on the toppings!  Yeah, $9 makes absolute sense now that I’m seeing this up close. 

The taste:  WOW – this is REALLY good!  The bbq sauce is tangy with a little kick.  The special crust is delicious and the toppings are a perfect blend with flavor in every bite.  And again, there are so many!  You could probably grab a roll and make a separate beef brisket sandwich out of the toppings alone and still have enough to cover the pizza!  Many times when pizza chains try to do a “meat lovers” type combination it ends up being way too busy and the blend upsets your stomach because the tastes and textures don’t really go well together.  Not in this case however.  Little Caesar’s really knocked it out of the park with this one!

The verdict:  Thumbs WAY up!  Well, unless you’re a vegan or don’t eat pork that is.  For the rest of us though, this is ridiculously good…especially for a chain restaurant.  I remember back in the day when Little Caesar’s first debuted and they had tiny thin pizzas with little baby slices.  Ever since the “Hot and Ready” relaunch a few years ago however, Little Caesar is all grown up (Big Caesar?).  Welcome to the big leagues kid!  Get it while you can though, these promotions don’t last long.  I remember going back to get another bacon wrapped pizza last year and it was gone so you should probably head over to Little Caesar’s soon if you want to try this yourself.  “JUST DO IT” – thank you again Dom.

Oh yeah, and speaking of limited time promotions, if you read about the first cup of coffee I actually liked, you know I’ve been struggling to find that Chestnut Praline flavor at Starbucks again since it was only around for the holidays.  Anyway, in a bittersweet twist of irony, the manager there told me that they did in fact order too much of it so they literally had that flavor available until last Friday!  I checked last month and the barista said it was gone already!  Ughhh…anyway, the manager said that it really won’t be back until November now that it’s officially gone for real this time.  She did recommend a Toffee Nut Latte as the next best thing though and you know what?  It wasn’t bad either.  It’s no Chestnut Praline but that blend may be enough to get me by until November for whenever I have another craving.  Although, if they ordered too much and just ran out, another location may have done the same.  Hmmm…the search continues…

Before we wrap up here, during The Smokehouse pizza review I mentioned that it’s obviously not for Vegans since it’s loaded with meat toppings.  However, my friend and fellow blogger Abby Bean has a great post that contains a step by step vegan white pizza recipe, a Chicago deep Dish Vegan Pizza and more!  Here’s the link!  http://a-soy-bean.blogspot.com/search?q=pizza

Today’s Soundtrack

My Time is Now – John Cena (Ha, this one’s for Dom aka Dom Cena – his favorite WWE wrestler)

Doin It – LL Cool J (this song is definitely NOT for Dom though lol…careful parents)

Do it – Nelly Furtado (very talented, very underrated)

Angel – Aerosmith (classic)

Angel – Shaggy (Ha, I forgot about this one)

Angel – Sarah Mclachlan (it’s the “sad dogs” ASPCA song!  I wonder if they get as many donations now that they changed the music?  You should go back to this one ASAP ASPCA!)

Dead and Gone – T.I featuring Justin Timberlake (this whole album was incredible)

Nice N’ Round – Smokehouse (See what I did there?  Round like a pizza?  Smokehouse?)

Have another song that fits today’s theme’s?  Tell us about it in the comments below!

Okay well that’s a wrap for today.  Make sure to like, comment and share this page.  Also follow me on social media – the links are on the side panel. Thanks again for dropping by and as always, May the fork be with you my friends.  Have a great weekend, I’ll be back again on Monday!

Hasta la Pasta (spaghetti perhaps…)

“I try to find the good in every situation. Wait. That was a typo. I meant ‘food.’ I try to find the food in every situation…”

-Darrell