Last night, while looking for my checkbook in the office, I stumbled upon this old photo of me:
I bet you didn’t know… I lived in a trailer in Kentucky for the first few years of my life.
We were so poor, I didn’t even have a crib. According to my mom, I slept in a laundry basket! After living in Kentucky, my family moved to Italy and then to Massachusetts, where we lived on a dairy farm until I was 12-years-old.
I bet you didn’t know… I won a car.
Back in 2004, I filled out a paper entry form at a concert, put it in the little cardboard box, and my entry was picked! People really do win cars!
I won a brand new Toyota Scion Xa. At the time, I took the T to work and lived in Brookline (where parking is VERY expensive), so I ended up selling it.
I bet you didn’t know… I met Dave Matthews and he offered me one of his chicken wings.
I was so star-struck, I politely declined his offer. But, wouldn’t that have been a really good story if I had eaten it!? I ended up getting his autograph though! 
Breakfast
Breakfast was really fun this morning! Mal and I did a Grilled Banana Sandwich tastetest: canola oil versus butter.
The other day, we were out of butter, so I made a Grilled Banana Sandwich using canola oil. It came out really well, but I was curious how butter would taste. So, this morning, I cooked one of each: a Grilled Banana Sandwich made with canola oil and a Grilled Banana Sandwich made with butter.
For the canola oil sandwich, I followed this recipe. For the butter sandwich, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter in the microwave and mixed it with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Then, I followed the same directions for the Grilled Banana Sandwich with canola oil.
Verdict: the Grilled Banana Sandwich made with canola oil ROCKED!!! 
I’m not going to lie, I was pretty surprised. Butter always seems to make things taste better, but the canola oil caramelized and made the bread much more crispy than the butter. Mal liked the canola oil sandwich more too, but both were very yummy. Holy delicious!
I also enjoyed a delicious caramel iced coffee with breakfast.
The caramel syrup mixed right into my iced coffee, and with a little vanilla soy milk, it provided just the right amount of sweetness. My iced coffee was definitely a treat this morning! 
The caramel syrup is part of the Le Caramel 3-pack Bundle that I talked about in my lunch post yesterday.
Le Caramel 3-pack Bundle, $28 – Buy now!
VinoVoyage Raffle
Have you been thinking about buying tickets to the VinoVoyage?
Well, NOW is the time! Check out this deal:
If you buy a ticket to the VinoVoyage before Sunday, May 2 and enter the code “CnCVino” with your registration, you will be entered into a raffle to win a pair of Red Sox tickets to the August 3rd game against the Cleveland Indians. (The seats are in Sec 8 Box 94 Row RR.)
When registering for the VinoVoyage, be sure to enter “CnCVino” into the Optional Invite Code field. You will need to do this in order to be entered into the raffle.
The winner of the Red Sox tickets will be announced on Monday, May 3 on Carrots ‘N’ Cake.
I’ll definitely be at the VinoVoyage on May 13th. I had such a blast at last year’s event!
Question of the Day
What are some of your “I Bet You Didn’t Knows”?
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You were so adorable! You still are, but there’s just something about toddlers.
Such a cute picture, you were adorable!!!
So incredible that you met Dave Mathews! One of my best friends LOVES the Dave Mathews Band so he would DIE!
Very interesting about the tests, you would think the butter would be better!
cool post!
Betcha didn’t know I studied nutrition in Switzerland and Italy for 3 weeks in a study abroad trip
VERY cool that you met Dave- and he offered a chicken wing!! I would have been so starstruck too! I saw Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen filming in Toronto once, which was pretty amazing since I was in middle school at the time. I recognized them from SO far away because of the back of one of their hair.
Awesome fun facts! OMG Dave Matthews?!?! Holy crap I’m not sure what I would have done!
you met Dave Matthews!?!?!?! I am dying of envy right now!
I once ran into Dave Matthews while I was listening to one of his songs on my I-pod. Unlike you, I didn’t talk to him, just stared at him completely star-struck. Sigh. One of my greatest regrets in life is that I didn’t just march up to him and show him what I was listening to! Haha.
I didn’t know you lived in a trailer, ever!! Boy have you come a long way, baby!!!! (I still say your mother did something right…:-)
Bet you didn’t know…
I survived with appendicitis for 6 days (and the doctors think a ruptured appendix for 5).
Keith Hernandez (of Mets and Seinfeld fame) bought me a drink. (Well, my table a round of drinks… he wasn’t hitting on me or anything.)
We went to the same college. (Doubt you’d know who I was, but you were friends with my fiance!)
I have nothing cool to say. How sad! I did live in a trailer for two years growing up though.
I did stalk John Travolta in Hawaii when we were staying at the same hotel.
I guess my life is just pretty boring?
I bet you didn’t know…
* I was born in the same hospital as my Dad had been 22 years previously
* A photo I drew in 4th grade was selected to be included in the local phone book that year
* My brother’s roommate in college was Tim Tebow’s older brother
AHHHHH! I would absolutely die if I met DM. I would be wayyyyyyy too star struck!
Wow, you’ve lived quite the life! Thanks for sharing with us, it’s great to get to know a little bit more about you.
I bet you didn’t know that I burned my foot by stepping on a dying campfire at the beach when I was 5.
Wow, all this talk of grilled bannana sandwiches makes me wish I liked bannanas. They sound yummy!
That is awesome that you won a car!!!! I always wonder if people actually win! haha. Where did your family live in Italy?? That is pretty cool. How old were you? Do you remember it?
I am surprised the Canola Oil Sandwich tasted better!! That’s interesting!
Such good info about yourself!
I bet you didnt know … that I carry a list of books I want in my purse. (just in case I stop by a book store!)
I’ll bet you didn’t know that I went to the same high school as Axl Rose and Tammy Lynn Michaels (Melissa Etheridge’s partner).
I would have guessed the butter would have been better also. Those are some surprising facts about yourself. You lived in Italy, wow.
Wow, I had no idea you lived in a trailer with no crib!! It is amazing how far you’ve come. Just goes to show that someone’s circumstances do not dictate the kind of life they will live. Way to go Tina (and your mom and sis!)
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I won a cow milking contest at the Scooper Bowl on the Boston Common in grade school. It was the early 80s. I had my picture taking with Harry Hood, the cow I milked and the cow’s handler. I don’t think I ever saw a cow except at a few ice cream places.
Baby Tina!! Adorable
I’m glad the canola oil sandwich turned out better! Maybe you could also try it with coconut oil?? It would be pb + banana + a hint of coconuttiness
My good friend actually hung out with Dave Mathews when she was babysitting his neighbor’s kids. Pretty sweet babysitting gig I think
Ah! I want to meet Dave Matthews like you want to meet Ellen someday! He’s such an amazing musician. And he seems friendly, too, if he offered you a chicken wing. haha.
Okay, I knew about Italy and I think you mentioned Kentucky but you won a CAR?! I always think no one ever wins those things. How amazing! But the most exciting was meeting DAVE!!! I don’t know what I would do if I met the man. He’s the reason I’m in love with music.
One of my “But you didn’t know” things is that a good friend of mine had her own reality show on MTV I went to see her in Atlanta and was filmed but only a second made it on..I don’t think I was interesting enough!
Beta you didn’t know…
1. that I met Rob Thomas in a Radio Shack (got a pic and an autograph!)
2. I once worked at Smoothie King for a whole week
3. I almost got kicked out of my freshman dorm for throwing chicken soup out the window of the 8th floor
That was so cool – I LOVED reading your I bet you didn’t know
Yes that was so interesting. I love tidbits if information about people. A couple weeks ago I left my camera at work and was pictureless in my post that day. I wrote a post with ten things you never wanted to know about me, since no body really asked, hahaha!
A theater company performed a play I wrote when I was 18 (way back in 1999 when dinosaurs roamed the earth!)
I have experience Zero-G (Flying on the same plane, nicknamed the Vomit Comet, that they filmed Apollo 13 on. Fun fact- Tom Hanks puked during his flight but I didn’t during mine!)
I’m allergic to sunscreen.
Bet you didn’t know I flew an airplane by myself, take off and landing included!
Bet you didn’t know that I was a Disney character. Best job ever!
that’s so cool about the car – that’s actually the car i drive now!!!
I love Dave Matthews…”I bet you didn’t know…” that I used to work at a kitchen store in Seattle that he would frequently visit. My Assistant Manager was so in love with him that she almost couldn’t contain herself when he’d come in to buy cookie sheets, or whatever he was getting.
Love the “little girl” picture. My daughter doesn’t understand why I enjoy looking at all the pictures from when she was little. Mothers are like that.
I bet you didn’t know I have dual citizenship…perk of being a military brat.
I bet you didn’ tknow I speak with a southern drawl when I’m excited because of my years in Louisiana…and we pronounce it Lou-si-ana
Great post! I won a car too! Back in 2007 on Kiss 108 in Boston! I never knew people actually won cars either – very cool that you also won!
I bet you didn’t know I have been stuck in Cambodia! While I was travelling solo, my bag with passports, all my money, cards etc and plane ticket was stolen by a guy on a motorbike.
I spent two weeks trying to get out of the country. Not easy when there is no embassy, you have no money and they won’t let you out (or in anywhere else for that matter) without a passport.
Nightmare!
One of my very best friends drives one of those Scions – we affectionately refer to it as “Peanut”, or, occasionally, “the pregnant roller skate”
Bet you didn’t know I spent my early childhood in Mississippi and our outside toybox was a small dumpster my dad appropriated for the use.
you were such a cute little girl! AW!!!
My did you know is….my parents met at a hospital? My dad was a dishwasher and my mom was in a coma (she was in a terrible car accident.) My mom obviously made it out fine and they started talking while she recovered. So cute and strange.
Some of my favorite I Bet You Didn’t Knows might include:
*I lost 80 pounds and kept it off
*In college I had a piercing that only 5 people have seen
*If I was a boy my name was going to be Nicholas!
Dave Matthews rules! He’s one of the best concerts I’ve been too.
I would have been a stammering mess if I met Dave Matthews!
Love the Dave story!
I bet you didn’t know…My grandfather was born in 1900 (I think that’s pretty cool) (I’m only 24)
I bet you didn’t know….I think I was at the same bar as Mal near Fenway the night before Opening Day this yearl…I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to be a creeper!
I bet you didn’t know…I’ve been blogging for 14 days.
Bet you didn’t know I was an extra in the sequel to A Christmas Story. It was called All in the Family. It was never released nationally but I met and played jacks between takes with Kieran Culkin. He was super sweet but his dad was CRAZY.
I like those bet you didn’t knows…crazy that you won a car!
Bet you didn’t know when I was 6 I won a free blimpe gift certificate for coming in first in my age group at a kid’s 1 mile fun run…I was a speed demon back then, haha!
@Sarah: It must have been a Mal look-a-like! We stayed in the night before.
What a fun post! I will have to give my I bet you didn’t know more thought…hmmm…
Tina, this post ROCKS! Thanks for the extra glimpse into your life! I probably would have accepted the chicken wing but just held it, not taking a bite, for fear of sauce on the face or some other “disaster”. What a cute pic of you as a lil tyke!
I bet you didn’t know that I went on an all expense paid trip from Camel cigarettes
I bet you didn’t know that I went on an all expense paid trip from Marlboro cigarettes
I bet you didn’t know that I don’t even smoke
I would love to meet Dave…Swoon!
That picture of you as a baby is hilarious and priceless. You look a little mischivieous!
The only thing I’ve ever won is a bike when I was six!
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