A very fishy Christmas… outing

Darth Husband and I try to do something holiday-ish every year. Usually it has Christmas lights as part of it with driving around the neighborhood as the smaller scale or going downtown for a more major version. The downtown version usually includes a peppermint mochas or salted caramel hot chocolates. This time we decided to do something totally different, well at least for part of it.

Not that long ago we picked up the Groupon offer for two adult admissions to the Shedd Aquarium including the Jellies exhibit and their holiday show Fantasea. It ended up being only $20 for us to go which was a good deal plus it was an evening event so it would work better with our work schedules. I hadn’t been there since I was in grade school which was part of a field trip most likely.

While we had known there’d be traffic, we got stuck in some serious traffic including people going 10 mph under the speed limit for NO reason. It was disappointing that we’d miss the show but even with giving a good amount of extra time we arrived after it had started. However, they told us that it had sold out  (odd with it being a deal) but they gave us a voucher for two adult admissions for another show (fair deal and good business IMO.)

We wandered around looking at the various exhibits/tanks/confused inhabitants since the aquarium usually isn’t open that late. While talking to a staff member we found out that most areas have lights on timers and it then made sense why quite a few were quite dark.  Nonetheless, we were able to see a lot. Downstairs there is even more like the sharks, beluga whales, dolphins (viewing area) and penguins which always crack me up. If you picture a penguin going WAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOO as it zips past you they are even funnier. Yes I know I’ve seen Happy Feet too many times.

There was a decent line for the Jellies but the wait wasn’t horrible since we beat the crowd getting out of the Fantasea show.  I seriously could have stayed there for an hour if the flow of people wasn’t there.  The jellies were beautiful and so graceful.

We wandered a little bit after the exhibit and then had to head out since we had dinner reservations at Wildfire.  Both of us had never been there and thought that it would be a nice place to try for the end of our night.  We both ordered the Filet Medallion Trio – medium rare with peppercorn, horseradish and mushroom for him, well done with parmesan, mushroom and baked potato for me with sides of baked potato and roasted vegetables.

My steak

My side of roasted veggies that we shared

Darth Husband's giant baked potato that we shared

The food was excellent. The service was very good as well. Our waiter was attentive without being overkill and even asked if I was taking pictures for Facebook. When I told him it was for a blog, he asked the name even though I said it was a really small one and commented that it didn’t matter. I thought that was pretty cool.

I however didn’t get the full dining experience due to the combo of an earlier headache that refused to go away, the decision to wear a wool blend sweater (smart for the aquarium and REALLY stupid for a steakhouse) and sitting near the grills. If I get to warm I feel ill and lose my appetite which is really frustrating.  While I did pop outside and felt better, I ended up doggie bagging my leftovers (we fully paid for dinner so might as well.) Darth Husband loved Wildfire and I’m up to going again.  I’ll just be sure to go on a day sans headache, more appropriately attired and request a table as far from the grill as possible. Yes, I know it’s weird but if it will work and I can enjoy my steak fully, I’m all up for it!

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Disclaimer: Aquarium admissions and dinner were completely paid out of pocket and we received no compensation towards either.

Cue the Electricity and Relax

While I enjoy various kinds of music, I find from time to time they all fall back to several categories: 80s/early 90s based pop rock, female fronted groups/solo acts with some sort of indie rock or ethereal element,  punk/ska, industrial, and electronic. It is almost like reverting back to my audio childhood and when something new reminds me of it I’ll find myself kicking the old back alongside the new.

The recent kickback has more of an electronic base. I can still remember when The Crystal Method & Filter’s “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do” was played on repeat – ie rewinded the cassette tape that I had used to record the song off the radio. (Now I have the MP3.) The local record store used to call the house giving heads up when the latest Plastic Compilation was out. I never headed out to the raves but I knew people who did. I channeled my inner Acid Burn and Trinity. This kind of music almost totally carried me through four years of computer programming.

Now I do a lot of design work to electronic based music .(I say electronic based since there are so many subcategories that I would need to do proper research and there are many I do not know about that well.)  This is also music I enjoy hooping to as well. The bleep blip tempo kicks and changes work extremely well for stops etc.

By chance I was looking through hooping videos on YouTube and found this video of a hoop dance to Zed’s Dead remix of “Eyes on Fire” by Blue Foundation. I LOVE the remix.

I mean LOVE the remix to the point where I had to buy it and the MP3 has been on repeat numerous times since. When looking for the track dubstep mentions came up as part of the results. I had heard this before but in discussion mostly with a bit here and there. I was on more of an indie rock kick then so it was a “oh cool” and that was it for then. While I know referencing Wikipedia on any subject can lead to varying levels of truthdom, it gave me a good place to start.

The elements work well for me and my brain responds to it. By saying responds to it I see it as each element has some sort of reaction. Perhaps it is from my years of college radio but I can see the levels flicking in my mind and elements swirling together. (No I’m not on drugs. I never touched that stuff.)

So what I am taking as the dubstep elements have become a new way to reset, be it in the morning or the evening. It also seems to work extremely well on headphones when Darth Husband has the XBox running. I have added a dubstep station on Pandora and have been checking out Skrillex lately. He does various styles but that is included. I’ve read a little about him so far but mostly it’s listen and zone out or listen and hoop.

The final chapter in THIS Zumba saga

While the obvious comment about December would be that it brings the end of 2011, it also brings the end of my zumba class session. It’s been an adventure: being excited, being frustrated, and deciding to just roll with it. Deciding to roll with it ended up being the best option and while I didn’t end up with the class I had hoped for, I still had the experience.

For the most part, I think that I had gotten spoiled with my earlier (2008-ish) fitness classes. The majority clicked within the first few classes and I saw and felt results.  I had a set goal in my mind since  I was also preparing myself for the trip to Havasupai in Arizona.  We were going to be doing some serious hiking and I wanted to prepare myself as best as possible beforehand. I reached my goal and pushed myself harder than I thought possible both physically and mentally on that trip.

Afterwards, it was a mixmosh. My favorite class, which was a combo of stability ball, hand weights, and resistance bands, ended up getting discontinued due to low interest and them wanting to try new classes. I ended up bouncing around trying to find a new class that I enjoyed and had the results as I had with my favorite. While I enjoyed the majority of them, I never found that match. Taking on the win some, lose some mentality worked for awhile until our budget no longer allowed for classes. That was the case until this past class. The class was less than the others but my MiL offered to cover my Zumba class. She wanted me to get out there since she knew I missed classes and it was something we could do together.

I do not regret taking the class at all. It wasn’t what I had hoped but it taught me more about classes and what I want to do in the future. The instructor ended up talking to everyone more and more during class as well as afterwards. She listened and made changes to her routines so that it worked with the varying ability levels. I might have had to add an extra jump here and there but the people who couldn’t jump had a way to do it as well.

Basically, the level wasn’t what I needed and so I won’t be rejoining for the next session.  I’m back on the hunt for another class. This time I am seriously thinking that drop in classes might work well for me. With it being winter and Chicago supposedly to end up with another bad season, I think this should work. That way if I “miss” a class for whatever reason I am technically not completely missing it. True, it will be a break from routine but not a charge for nothing. It will be less motivating to not miss classes, it gives me a chance to try more than one class. If one sticks then I’ll stick with it. If it doesn’t, then I’ll move on.

Because they look like dead Tribbles and they are ugly

Darth Husband usually does not give hints or let me pick out any sort of presents. Usually there is some sort of funny element like the time he FIRST gave me a bag of fruit. THEN I got the fancy blender w the individual travel mugs AND the giant tank o’ spouted greatness. (The spouted tank of greatness worked extremely well once for margaritas and now lives in the cabinet. Travel mugs = great deal esp for oddball things blending mini batches of spaghetti sauces.) This year he broke tradition and I know somewhat about one gift.

I’m getting new slippers. WOOHOO! I needed new ones because my furry – yes furry, purple and white ones are worn out to the point where the base of the right one falls out. Before it falls out it is a combo move of slide back in, mash a bit, walk around until I end up w a quasi flipper and repeat. Darth Husband also thinks that they like dead Tribbles and they are ugly. I disagree but will wear them until the replacements arrive. I did the same thing w the prior slippers – the aqua blue ones w the beaded penguin couple (from Avon) that eventually started sliding off my feet only when I was on the stairs. Vengeful footwear is not fun!

In the summer I run amuck barefoot to the point where Darth Husband genuinely gets concerned that I’m going to have to pull rocks out of my feet. See, I LOOK for the rocks on the driveway and more times than not I’m fine.  However, when it starts getting cold out our floors get cold. (There are two areas in the house with carpet and by carpet I mean the tacked down carpet. We have area rugs and runners that the pets like to throw up on around the house.) Cue the slippers.

So this is the practical gift I’m guessing and my buying new pjs has solved the pj debate (grey/pink for one and blue for other) so that won’t be part. I grew up in a household where you gave hints and one of those hints always ended up true. Even with this being the 5th Christmas together, I still can’t get him to crack. He just has no idea what he is getting… unless he had discovered my hiding spots!

Does gift giving mean total surprises, hints accepted, or “here buy me this thing “for you? 

Guest post: Winter brews with A Girl & Her Mutt

Hello Can’t Survive On Yarn Alone Readers! My name is Erin and I’m hopping over to say hello from A Girl & Her Mutt. My blog is a mixture of my daily life, food adventures, wine sipping, beer drinking, and of course, the Mutt.

As winter in Boston starts to approach I am starting to see some of my favorite winter brews peaking out on shelves. Some are created specifically for the holidays to bring a little cheer and festive flavor. Others are year round brews that I especially enjoy while curled up under a blanket in front of my fireplace (heh. cheers to a fake fireplace!).

I thought I would share with you a few of the beers I will be ordering up while I’m out and about or keep in the fridge for those nights when I’m hunkering down to weather a snow storm.

The Perfect Winter 6-Pack

1. Troegs Mad Elf Ale
Belgian Strong Dark Ale/ABV 11%

This garnet red beer has a fruity taste, but still packs quite the punch. It has a great tart cherry flavor with some honey, spice, and a little banana thrown in there too. This is a full bodied beer that has the illusion of cough syrup, but without that nasty medicinal taste. Definitely a sipping beer and would be perfect as a drink while decorating the Christmas tree.

2. Great Divide Brewing Co. Hibernation Ale
Old Ale/8.7% ABV

This ale is the perfect combo of roasted nuts, dark fruits, and toffee. I love that it tastes like a really thick and solid beer. It has a great slightly heavy and creamy feel without leaving an unwanted coating in your mouth. *gross* It is a wonderfully balanced beer that is perfect after some serious snow shoveling.

3. Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Russian Imperial Stout/10% ABV

I love that the minute this beer starts pouring out that you can tell it is going to be a heavy beer that stays with ya. It isn’t overly chocolate, but there is definitely a presence of dark chocolate along with coffee and roasted malts. This beer is a bit intense with a slightly boozy smell. It is delicious, smooth, silky and just my kind of perfect dessert.

*Note: I’m partial to this one partly because I just visited this brewery. It was love at first sight.*

4. Anchor 2011 Christmas Ale
Winter Warmer/5.5% ABV

This lovely rust colored beer is tons of spice and everything nice. There are hints of cinnamon, nutmeg and licorice all swirling around together. It is medium bodied that feels heavy at first, but becomes nice and crisp as you sip it. If fruit cake is done right, it would taste like this beer.

5. Rogue Ales Santa’s Private Reserve Ale
American Amber/Red Ale/ 6% ABV

Christmas hops in a bottle right here! This beer pours a light amber color and not exactly clear. It has a haze that stays the entire time. There are tastes of dark fruit, baked goods, and slightly malty.This isn’t an overly thick beer so it is perfect for those who aren’t Guinness-like lovers. Light done right.

6. 21st Amendment Fireside Chat
Winter Warmer/7.9% ABV

You can’t have a 6-pack without a canned beer, right? This beer pours a lovely dark ruby color. While it smells quite like pumpkin pie, on first sip it has tastes of caramel followed by vanilla. A little bit hoppy, a little bit nutty, and a little bit spicy. Drink this beer and you will find more than a few empty cans around the house the next day.

Enjoy your winter beer and have a great holiday season. Hopefully I will see you over at A Girl & Her Mutt in the future. CHEERS!

The (Not) Good, the Bad (Attitudes), and the Tamales

Within the past week I’ve seen five grown adults screaming at each other in a mall parking lot and at least five grown adults throwing a holiday party-ish deal in a train car. While I wish I could say we signed back up for cable and I am talking about reality TV, it’s not. (Netflix and Hulu+ are a decent enough time-suck when I need one.)

The first was when I headed out to wreath supplies (including The Stabby Ribbon) and was heading back to my car. Mall parking lots are insane to begin with and adding people flipping out due to whatever gift they HAVE to find RIGHT at that moment doesn’t help. Don’t forget that the absolute closest parking space is THEIRS.

Seriously. The women were fighting over a parking space. At a glance the cars looked like it may have been an accident the way they were stopped. ( Believe me if someone hit me in a parking lot and wasn’t apologetic and/or wanting to work everything out my Irish temper wouldn’t be kept under wraps.) As I walked back to my car, I overheard one woman saying that the other threatened to beat her up over the parking spot. A parking spot!

This is when my eyes go all twitchy.  I know people have different preferences for where they park as well as limitations to how far they can walk.  I’m one to generally park a ways from any store door. It’s been something I’ve done for years and I’ve gotten used to it. However, have I gotten cut off by someone pulling into the space I had intended? Sure. Did I yell something at them? Sure and most likely “SERIOUSLY?!?!” due to my frequent Grey’s Anatomy viewing. Did I need to have mall security PLUS the local police be there? Noooooo.

Maybe there was something else going on with those women and part of me hopes so. This is the holiday season which is touted as when you are supposed to be nicer to people.  They clearly missed the memo.

The people on the train however didn’t miss the memo. They wrote it and included a menu that smelled amazing. While you are generally allowed to eat and drink on the train, this was the first time I’ve seen anyone passing around plates of food.  I didn’t get too good of a look since they were above and behind me but I overheard them discussing tamales (yum), cheese pizza (yum), and Chinese food (yum) in regards to what was to be passed where. Since I was in a decent mood while heading home, it didn’t bother me that they were loud. Their toasting to 2012 was amusing and you could tell that they were enjoying each others company. I can understand that since I have my “train friends” and realistically if I wasn’t in a great mood I would have moved or just sat in the quiet (but not silent) car.

Having two extremely opposite situations arise in such a short time period was pretty random and I doubt that I’ll encounter that combo for awhile.  It doesn’t even count as a Things That Make You Go Hmmmm since the genuine reaction was WOW.

Battling Murphy’s Law of Crafting

Sidenote: I am typing this over a large orange and white cat dozing on my lap.  He has shifted enough now to allow for me to type with both hands.

I have always been an artsy/crafty person.  While I did try sports, it never really stuck. I As a kid was much happier to have new coloring books or art supplies than sports equipment. Oddly enough I won my roller blades in a local coloring contest. My rabbit was just THAT awesome to have me end up with the black, neon green, and purple contraptions that caused me to waddle like a duck prize.

I wish I had more time to work on my projects as well as get my room in order. My 70s-tastic small kitchen set is still needed to be reassembled but I have a plan.  I think with any sort of art and/or craft project planning is key. Another key for me is a backup plan.  If I don’t have a backup plan, things turn into the instance when I decided to wait until a specific yarn went on sale. I ended up losing a good 4 months of knitting time since I was waiting. Once I decided on another yarn, then the first option of course went on sale.

I lucked out with last week’s sales papers. Holiday ribbon was half off at Michaels and I was able to get a decent number of two patterns.  I have a project in the works that specified the length of ribbon needed. Did I buy just that length? Of course not! That means tempting fate and ending up something silly like a foot short.

Now reading the packaging would have been beneficial since I ended up getting wired ribbon for one. If you have never purchased craft ribbon, wired ribbon has an extremely fine wire running through the edge/stitching so it can bend, hold shape, or in this case stab my in the hands every 42 seconds. Luckily it’s too minor to actually tear up my hands. I have now named it “The Stabby Ribbon” and am currently giving it a break to act as a cat bed write this post.

Nonetheless, the project is working well.   There will most likely be some sort of cell phone photo since I still can’t find the camera charger. The latest guess is that it may have fallen out of my bag during the horrendous return flight home from Philly. I am currently stalking ebay to find a decent real Canon charger.

It’ll be nice to finally get my Fall photos off that thing!

If you are a crafter, do you buy extra materials for a project or are you the person running to the local craft supply store to get ONE more thing to finish?

Ways to get through the holiday season

For a lot of people the holiday season means crazyland. There is so much to do, so many places to go and so many people to see that it ends up overkill. I understand because I have done it. More and more, however, I realize that I cannot do it all and have to take a more realistic approach.

1. You cannot be at two places at once. EVERYONE has ideas and since I haven’t invented a cloning machine because then I’d have the cleanest, most organized ever house and dogs walked at least once a day, it won’t work. I recently set up a girls night holiday-esque shindig minus Christmas decorations since they are still in the attic, on the same night as a charity ugly sweater bar crawl. I obviously didn’t get decked out in hideously yarned glory and some friends didn’t make my deal.
2. It truly is the thought that counts. Gift giving can end up VERY expensive if you are not careful, have a large list of people to get things, or are hunting down whatever fad toy is hot this year. I’ve learned how to put together some pretty good themed gifts on a budget over the years. Knowing exactly what works for someone and getting that more than once is not a cop-out. It’s smart and keeps you from falling into the general generic gift trap.
3. Don’t try something new to bring to a holiday potluck/party/etc without a trial run. I’ve done this in the past and the end result is a destroyed kitchen, a cleanup I didn’t want to tackle, and a scramble to make something new. The key is finding at least one dessert, one main dish and one appetizer that can easily be made and caters to a wide variety of people and/or can be modified. I have one of each and it is so less stressful when there is somewhere to go.
4. Cute shoes are fun but comfy cute shoes are better.  I have given up on heels when hosting parties. I have a heavy heel strike when I’m on a mission to get something done and so everyone is stuck hearing BOOM BOOM BOOM on the impossible to keep clean white kitchen tile. If you are a heels person and can run around in them for hours without problems, more power to you. I’ll settle for a cute pair of flats or even a cute pair of slippers depending on who is over.
5. Naps are a good thing.  While I think this is a smart idea in general, being able to squeeze in even an hour long nap is a great thing. I know it saves me from drooping later especially if I am driving and also from being that one person who starts the yawn chain. I hate being the first yawner! Then it is all your fault.
6. There is always next year.  I have ideas for decorations, cookies, wrapping themes, cards etc. I want to do them all but it goes back to the lack of a cloning machine as well as a delorean and the fact that my craft room is still in progress. Planning ahead for next holiday season also helps control impulse buying to crafting plans that get put on hold and come back to haunt you like the cones of cotton yarn that fell out of the closet and tried to take me out.
7. Remember what is at the heart of the season. Everyone has a different focus during the holidays and that focus should be the center of it all.

Will something go wonky this holiday season? Will Frankie try to eat the wrapping paper and Bond try to run away with the ribbon spool? Will some sort of baking burn or frosting get smushed? Yes, yes and yes but then it will give me something new to talk about like I really need an excuse though.

Music Monday: Switching to lyrical autopilot

I have a box of old tapes, as in cassette tapes, that I recorded numerous songs off the radio over the years. This was back when MTV actually played music videos and my walls were covered in various posters and tear-out magazine pages of grunge and punk bands. Monster Magnet was a band that was on at least one of the tapes.

I was going through numerous 90s band videos and came across this one. I remember it on TV and thinking the guy vacuuming the rug was hilarious since we had a very similar one in our family room.

Thing is though, I remembered every single lyric as it played in some sort of lyrical autopilot. The mind works in strange ways.

Crystal Light Pure review/Hydration tips

From time to time, I enjoy the opportunity to do a product review. Kraft Foods recently sent me a sample of Crystal Light Pure. I had genuinely been interested in this product before the review opp too.  (This is all keeping w my goal to make sure you all know that my thoughts are my own about a product and that I won’t include something on CSYA that I wouldn’t fit into my life or at least try it!)

I walk over two miles a day at least five days a week. I walk a a pretty quick default speed. Plus I am a multi-tasker.  If I don’t drink enough, I get that not-quite cranky headache bleh feeling. If possible, I keep some sort of bottle or giant glass near me (though open glasses stay as far from the pets when possible when I’m home… oh look cat/dog hair!)  This review gave me the chance to add something new to the mix, or rather add a new mix to the something.

The kiwi strawberry flavor  I preferred over the grape but that was mostly due to opting for kiwi strawberry over grape in general. I was impressed by the samples and I could see myself getting Crystal Light Pure in the future. One of the packets is going to be added once I refuel my snack section in my bag (Yes there is a snack section. No one likes a hungry grumpy pants!)

And now for some tips from someone who has hit the books, paid her dues, and earned those two little letters after her name that many I know aspire to have as well. 

Hydration Tips from Crystal Light Pure Spokesperson Molly Kimball, RD

1.       Keep a Tally

We can’t actually tell how well we’re hydrated by how thirsty we feel. For many of us, by the time we start to feel thirsty, we’re already dehydrated, but just how much water is enough when it comes to staying hydrated? Keep a running tally of how much fluid you’re getting and aim for half of your body weight in ounces of fluid per day, plus an extra 16 ounces for every pound of sweat lost during exercise or work in the heat.

2.       Flavor Up to Drink Up

Want to drink water to stay hydrated, but hate the boring taste? Add the flavor you want and none of what you don’t by sipping on naturally sweetened Crystal Light Pure. It’s got no artificial sweeteners, flavors, or preservatives and is sweetened with sugar and Truvia, a natural sweetener derived from the stevia plant. It’ll give your water light, refreshing flavor with just 15 calories and 4 grams of sugar per serving. And the Grape and Strawberry Kiwi flavors have the added bonus of electrolytes!

3.       Don’t Forget about Food

Staying well-hydrated is essential for maintaining optimal energy levels, preventing muscle cramping and headaches, and more serious issues like heatstroke. But that doesn’t mean you have to force down gallons of water or bottles of sugary sports drinks. Any type of alcohol-free beverage can count toward your fluid intake – and even some foods! Some of the top electrolyte-rich, hydrating foods include all types of fresh fruit, soups like gazpacho and Greek yogurt.

4.       Watch the Caffeine

For years, the widely-held belief was that caffeinated beverages were dehydrating. An abundance of research has proven otherwise, however. The amount of caffeine typically found in standard servings of tea, coffee, and soft drinks appears to have no diuretic effect, meaning that these beverages don’t cause us to lose more fluid than they provide. But remember that you don’t want the majority of your fluids to come from caffeinated drinks since most health organizations recommend we limit our caffeine intake. Instead, try to vary what you’re drinking.

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Note : I received the Crystal Light Pure as a sample product from Kraft Foods. Opinions about the product are my own.