Cold Feet

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

I ♥ slipper socks.

In fact, I love them so much that I have about eight pairs of them just so I have enough to last me between laundry loads. In the winter, if I'm at home, I'm wearing slipper socks. At all times. (Well, unless I'm sleeping, in which case I'm barefoot because I can't sleep with anything on my feet. I'm weird like that. But I digress.)

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So what is wrong with this picture?

It's September 30, that's what. Seeing as how it was only 48 degrees when I got home from work today, it couldn't be avoided. There's something very wrong about wearing slipper socks before October. I know, I know... tomorrow's October. But still.

In any case, my feet are warm and happy. And I'll admit I am pretty giddy about the return of my most favoritest comfy slipper socks. Even if I am a little bit disturbed at how early I had to bust them out.

What next? Turning on the heat?

Not happening.

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Heading to... Texas?

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Thanks to all who made suggestions on my post about where to take our next vacation. We're still debating about what to do in the late January/early February time frame, but for now, we've got our sights set on a smaller vacation.

For a while now, we've been discussing taking a trip down to New York City in December. Even though I've been to the city many times, I've never been at Christmastime.

But then, earlier this week, Michael said, out of nowhere, "What if we go to San Antonio for Christmas?" And, well... he may have been partially joking, but the idea kind of stuck. It would be kind of nice to go to Texas for Christmas. Not actually FOR Christmas, but in early December. During the Christmas season, you see.

As much as I like New York City, and even though I still want to get there at Christmas time, we are so.much.closer to NYC. It's a super short flight, we could drive if we had to, and essentially, we could go at any time. Any year.

But going to Texas? That's not something we would just do.

We were originally considering San Antonio as a "stop" for one of our January/February vacation options, but we figured... why not just go to Texas for a long weekend in December? For us, it's no further a flight than the one to Las Vegas, and we certainly managed that earlier this year.

After chatting with my lovely Texas friends (whom I've never actually met in person, but who knows, maybe I can convince them to drive to Austin from Dallas? It's only.three.hours. I'm just saying), we rounded out the idea even more. Not only would we visit San Antonio, but we'd also spend a few nights in Austin.

And it just keeps getting more and more tempting.

So, although we have yet to book anything, we are seriously considering heading on down to the Lone Star State.

I just have one question: Are cowboy boots and hats required? :)

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Tortilla Soup with Black Beans

Sunday, September 27, 2009

I have had this recipe bookmarked since last January. I honestly have no idea how I made it through the last three winter months without making this, but it's a damn shame.

The weather for this weekend was forecasted to be pretty cool, so I thought--what better soup to kick off soup/stew/chowder season? Plus, it's super easy, so it was perfect to make on a Friday night after work. The whole thing literally came together in 10 minutes. Can't beat that.

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This soup is fabulous. I love it. In fact, I love it so much that we polished off the leftovers for dinner during the football game tonight. And I'm already planning on making it again this week so that I can bring it for lunches at work. Do yourselves a favor--make this soup!
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Tortilla Soup with Black Beans
(Source: On My Mind, Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder (or more to taste)
- 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice
- 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) tomato sauce (I used low sodium)
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels (I used a 15 oz. can of corn, also low sodium)
- 1 cup water (I accidentally omitted this with no ill effects)
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 1 cup crushed tortilla chips, plus more for serving (optional)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
- Mexican cheese, for sprinkling on top
- Dried or fresh cilantro, also for topping

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium. Cook garlic and chili powder until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes (with juice), tomato sauce, beans, broth, corn, and 1 cup water; season with salt and pepper.

2. Bring soup to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Add tortilla chips; cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice, and season with salt and pepper. Serve soup with lime wedges and, if desired, more chips. Sprinkle with cheese and cilantro.

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Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Now that we are 3+ weeks into September, I am completely and totally immersed in FALL. I want apples and pumpkin and spice. I want jeans and boots and jackets and hoodies.

Last week, I was perusing food blogs looking for a nice autumnal recipe to make as a dessert for a get-together with my girlfriends from college this weekend. I came across these pumpkin cookies, and I was intrigued by the addition of butterscotch chips. I quickly decided to give them a go.

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Straight out of the oven, these cookies are light and fluffy, and really cake-like. The butterscotch flavor really complements the pumpkin, even though I wasn't sure what to expect. Completely cooled, they are flavorful, moist, and not too sweet. I even ate one for breakfast. :)

Mine didn't come out as pretty as Joy's, as my butterscotch chips were all mixed into the middle of the cookies instead of sitting exposed on top. Also, I had a few problems with some of the chips falling out of the bottom of the cookies, but that wasn't really a problem, per se (more chips for me). :) These cookies come out quite large (again, not a problem for me!), so reduce the amount of batter used for each cookie if you'd like smaller ones--and don't forget to reduce baking time.

I made a few changes to this recipe, as I wanted more cookies (I also sent some with Michael to give to his family), and made some additions (nutmeg and cloves), and substitutions (applesauce for some of the oil). Click through to Joy's blog for the original recipe.

Now... off to girls' night!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies
(Source: Adapted from Joy the Baker)

Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- pinch of ground cloves
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used homemade, but store-bought is fine)
- 1/4 cup canola or corn oil
- 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

Directions:
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray.

2. Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves together in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing.

4. On low speed, mix the applesauce, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips.

5. Using an ice cream scoop with a 1/4-cup capacity, scoop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 1/2-inches apart. You could also simply use a 1/4-cup measuring cup if you don’t have a scoop. Use a thin metal spatula to smooth and flatten the rounds.

6. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 12-16 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 30 cookies.

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Recent Read: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Wow, it has been forever since I've shared a book with you all. Earlier in the summer, I didn't have (or didn't make) all that much time to read. But on my 101 in 1001 list, I set a goal to read at least one book a month. I've been putting more effort into setting aside time for reading, and it certainly helps when I've got a great book! In fact, I'm actually a bit behind, as this was my August read, and I've already finished my September one as well!

Anyway...

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert first caught my interest simply because of its subject matter. After spending our honeymoon in Hawaii, I would do just about anything to be "taken back" there, whether it's through watching movies or reading books. Much of the history that is discussed in the book, we learned about during our time on the islands, and it was wonderful to read a book that incorporates the fascinating history of Hawaii, starting back in the late 1800s and taking the reader through 1970.

Moloka'i is the story of Rachel Kalama, who, at the age of 7, is diagnosed with leprosy and taken from her family. Within a year, she ends up at Kalaupapa, a leprosy colony founded by Father Damien. At the time, people who had leprosy were sent to Kalaupapa on Moloka'i to essentially quarantine them, separating people from their families indefinitely.

On Moloka'i, the only person Rachel knows is her Uncle Pono, who was also diagnosed with leprosy. Unfortunately, she is not allowed to live with him, and is basically forced to live in an orphanage run by Catholic nuns.

The people on Moloka'i have been sent there to die, but so many of them live instead. Their lives are not only filled with pain, separation and heartache... but also with love, fun, laughter and most of all, hope. The residents of Kalaupapa know that they are there to stay, so they make the best of it and live their lives--no matter how short or how long those lives turn out to be--the only way they can.

As a 7-year-old girl, Rachel feels abandoned and alone on Moloka'i. But over time, through the people she meets and the life that she builds for herself, she comes to view the island as home.

In Moloka'i, we're taken on this journey with Rachel.

I REALLY enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, the setting, and the story. Don't get me wrong; there are many parts of this book that aren't pleasant--the way the leprosy victims were treated, the progression of the disease, and the inevitable deaths.

Still, it was pretty inspirational to read about these outcasts from society, all doing the only thing they could do--keep living life. While reading, I kept thinking about the silly phrase, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Because as dumb as it sometimes sounds, it's actually pretty sound advice. Reading about all of these people who put that advice into practice was uplifting. As ugly as the circumstances were, Rachel's life was beautiful.

Although this is a work of fiction, Brennert completed a lot of research before and while writing this book. Many of the characters are based on actual Kalaupapa residents, and Brennert does a great job of working in historical facts. Readers are also treated to a bit of Hawaiian culture, which I absolutely love.

In short, I thought this was a beautiful story and I highly recommend.

As always, the comments are open for any and all discussion about the book, if you so choose. Warning to those who haven't read it--be careful in the comments, as spoilers are not off limits!

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Destination Unknown

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

As I mentioned last week, we are trying to plan our next vacation. We're thinking about going at the end of January or beginning/middle of February (to beat the spring break rush and price gouging).

We'd like to go someplace warm... at least warmer than here. By mid-winter, we really need a break from the cold. I'd love beach time, but it seems like that might not really be possible unless we go REALLY far away. So we'd be happy just going to a fun city, with mild weather, with a lot to do. We're thinking we'll have about 7-8 days. And we don't want to spend a ton of money.

Here are the current front-runners:

1. South Florida
We're thinking about flying into Miami (or Fort Lauderdale), spending a few days there, and then driving down to Key West and spending the rest of the time there. From my internet research, sounds like the average high temperature for this time of year is 75 degrees. Not exactly beach weather, but a hell of a lot warmer than it'll be here. And even though I know there are other things to do, we keep asking ourselves... is it really worth going to Florida if you can't go to the beach??

2. San Diego/Los Angeles, California & San Antonio, Texas
With this trip, we're thinking about flying out to San Diego or L.A. (whichever is cheapest for airfare), spending 4 days there, then flying to San Antonio to spend 3-4 days there before heading back east. Average temperatures in San Diego/L.A. are only about 65 degrees. Not sure about San Antonio, but since they don't have beaches, it doesn't really matter all that much. I've been to SoCal (multiple times, actually), but it's obviously beautiful, and Michael has never been. San Antonio is one of those cities I've always wanted to go to. But again, I ask... if you take the beach out of SoCal, is it worth going to? I've only ever been in the summertime.

3. Costa Rica
This one is obviously a lot more expensive than our other options. Weather should definitely be warm. Budget plays the biggest role in the decision on this one. Airfare alone is approximately twice as much as the other options. We might have a hook-up for a good deal on accommodations, but we're really not sure. Anyone ever been? What did you do there? Where did you stay? Do you recommend?

4. Options yet to be discovered
Are there other places we should be considering? Originally, I really wanted to go to the Caribbean, but I researched a few places and they're either really expensive, or the weather is iffy that time of year (or both). We really don't want to go on a cruise... I'm not sure why exactly, but the idea of one has never appealed to us. Just not our "thing," I suppose?

We're obviously not really set on any one place. We're open to suggestions and reviews. We'll appreciate any information that can be provided by people who have actually been to these places. I've found this little blog community to be so helpful for past trips, so I figured... who better to ask? :)

Give us your best shot!

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Calling All Baking Gals

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Does everybody know what time it is?

Tool Time!

Once again, it's time for all of you enthusiastic bakers to whip up some treats in support of our troops overseas! It's Operation Baking Gals, Round 13!

I don't know about you, but I love to bake... and then quickly get the goodies out of the house. The results are always too good to keep around because I'd eat them all, and then my pants wouldn't fit. And that makes for an unhappy Heather.

So! Instead of pawning treats off on my family, friends, and coworkers, I'd always like to take the opportunity to do something a bit more meaningful. What better way to get rid of some delicious baked goods than to send them overseas to our most deserving soldiers? They're undoubtedly missing home, and we can send them little bits of home-baked goodness.

This round, I've teamed up with Jen from Beantown Baker. We're co-leading a team together, so we should hopefully have a record number of participants! It's made even more special by the fact that we are baking for one of Jen's friends from high school.

Our soldier's name is Jonathan, and judging from his list of favorite baked goods (which seems to include everything but the kitchen sink), he's my kind of guy. As a bonus, Jonathan has essentially challenged us to take the craziest recipes we've come across and send them. You see, he's a foodie and loves trying new things. So if you're feeling a little adventurous, this is the round for you!

Jonathan doesn't get to come home until July 2010, so I think he's going to appreciate the care packages. And his fellow soldiers will reap the benefits as well! Shipping dates for this round are October 1 through October 12. Hmmm... perhaps some autumnal or Halloween-themed treats are in order? ;)

So get on over to www.bakinggals.com and register to participate with Team Heather Drive/Beantown Baker!

If you don't bake, there are plenty of other store-bought items that you can send if you would still like to participate. Check out the Baking Gals website (FAQ section) for more details.

Questions? Feel free to leave them in the comments. Or you can e-mail me at roadtotheaisle@gmail.com. Participating? Tell us! And thank you!

If you have no idea what Operation Baking Gals is, and would like to find out, check out my Operation Baking Gals label to see past posts about this project. I hope you'll consider joining us!

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Workaholic

Sunday, September 20, 2009

This is the little guy I worked with at my photography session Saturday morning. It was BRIGHT AND EARLY.

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GAH, can you believe how cute he is? Can't blame me for wanting to photograph children when they're this adorable, right?

I had my two photo shoots yesterday, and since then, I have been "working" every free moment, sorting, editing, finalizing photo files. I just can't help myself. I love it. Who knew work could be so much fun?

I could get used to this.

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The Return of Pumpkin Ale

Saturday, September 19, 2009

We've really started to officially transition to fall here in New York. The air is starting to get a little bit crispy, the weather a little bit cooler, the days a bit shorter.

And after the day I had (busy, busy!), all I wanted was a pumpkin ale.

My cousin happened to post her recommendation for the best pumpkin ale on Facebook last night, and since it's brewed right here in N.Y., we decided to check it out at the store. We found it, in the form of a 22 oz. bottle. And it was quite pricy for beer. But we picked one up anyway, just to try it.

All hail THE KING...

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Pumking, that is.

We actually weren't all that impressed with it. It was a bit sweet, which is weird for beer. It's fine for a once-in-a-while type thing, but I think we're going to stick to some of the others. When we were at the store, we also picked up a 6-pack of Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale, which was good. But I think our favorite is still Saranac's version, which we purchased several times last fall.

Just another reason to love fall. Gotta love pumpkin ale!

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Flattened

Friday, September 18, 2009

Dear Mama,

I'm sorry for flattening the couch cushions.

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But you can't be mad! You see, I'm little, and you know how much I love to sit up on my "perch." And it's just so comfy, I can't help but snooze here, too.

I'll work on evening out the other ones... at least they'll all be equally flattened, right? Any time you find yourself feeling angry, just remember how cute I am.

Love,
Tessa

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The World is Ours

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Tonight, we tackled #50 on my "101 in 1001" list: Start a newlywed map.

We've been talking about doing this for several weeks now, but as with pretty much everything I do, I had to research it to death. What size map should we get, what color map, what frame would we use, what color map tacks? We debated, we procrastinated, and then... we finally pulled the trigger.

Then, we had all of the supplies, and all we had to do was actually make the thing. And tonight, we decided it would be our after-dinner project. We are thrilled with how it turned out! I just want to keep going into our den to look at it.

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Never heard of newlywed map? Well, I hadn't either, until I saw this blog post. I thought it was such a cool idea, so I sent the link to Michael, and he agreed. We definitely wanted to make one for ourselves.

The gist is... you mount a map on foam core, frame it, and then stick tacks into all of the cities you've traveled to together. Of course, you display it on your wall. I love maps as art anyway, so I'm happy to put a map up in our house. The tacks marking our travels really just add a personal touch to it.
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Jordan lists out supplies and prices, but ours cost a bit more than hers for some reason. Plus, we framed it, which she didn't do in her example, so that was an added expense as well.

Here is our final supply list as well as costs:
- 36"x 24" world map (executive version) from Mapcenter.com = $12.99
- 1 box medium map tacks (black) from Mapcenter.com = $4.79
- 36"x 24" piece of foam core = $7.50 (with 50% off coupon at Michaels)
- 36"x 24" black frame, glass removed = $27 (on sale, 55% off at Michaels)
- Elmer's spray adhesive = $3 (with 40% off coupon at Michaels)

Total cost for this project, including shipping, tax, etc. was approximately $60-65.

Note: For the foam core, I could not find a piece that was 36"x 24". All of the ones I found were 30"x 20", which is obviously way too small. What I did find, though, was that the foam core trifold display boards (the ones with the big board in the middle with two smaller boards that fold out on the sides) had a 36"x 24" piece as the middle part, so I bought one of those and then we cut the side panels off.

For more information and instructions, be sure to visit Jordan's detailed post.

Obviously there are a lot of options for you to make this map your own--varying types of maps and colors, different map tacks, and endless frame options. Have fun with it!
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As you see from the photos I've posted, all of our map tacks are currently in the United States (at least our Hawaii ones put us outside of the continental U.S.!)... now that we have this map, we want to travel even more! Every time we go somewhere new, we'll be able to add another tack.

Also, after we have kids, we plan to use a different color map tack to mark the places we've gone as a family. I think our kids will probably get a kick out of being able to see all the places they've been. We hope to still take trips as a couple (and leave the kids at home!), so we'll keep the black tacks for marking those solo trips as well.

It's nice to think about starting this now, and having the map stick around in our family for a long, long time. So I guess it's best to not really call it a "newlywed map." I think "family travel map" is a better fit.

Go forth... travel... and start your own maps! :)

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Ketchup Day

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

We only went away for three days, but I feel like I've been running myself ragged this week just trying to "catch up" from being gone--at work, at home, and on my blog. I'm doing OK, but I find that I can't organize my thoughts enough or concentrate on one thing long enough to put together a coherent blog post.

Instead, this will jump around quite a bit, with a little of everything! Get ready to read some of the thoughts rolling around in my head, none of which are really worthy of individual posts.
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At this point, I'm happy to say that with this post, I am officially caught up on my blog. For now. I intended to blog from Chicago since our hotel had free internet access, but every night, I just wanted to relax. Looking back, I can't believe I managed to blog every day of our honeymoon last year. At the time, it didn't even seem like a big deal, and it's not like it really took that much time.

Who was that Heather? I'd like to have her back.
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One thing I failed to mention about Chicago... it's currently in the running to host the Summer Olympics in 2016. I had no idea until we were visiting and I saw all of the advertisements everywhere, and also heard about it on the city's local news.

But how AWESOME would that be??

I can't imagine a better city to serve as host. The other candidate cities are Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid. I don't know how good Chicago's chances are, but if it does get chosen, I'll go ahead and say right now that we would seriously be looking into making a trip to the Olympics.

Not only do I love Chicago, but I loooooove the Olympics. The final selection will be made on October 2. I'm anxious to see what happens.
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The day before we left for Chicago, I did a "portfolio building" photo session with a coworker's son. "Porfolio building" = I offered to do it for free. It went really well, and I've spent the last few nights furiously editing the photos to put together a little collage to display at her son's first birthday (totally cute for my coworker and her family, and totally awesome advertising for me).

Speaking of his first birthday... this same coworker has hired me to photograph the birthday party. I'm still only charging about half of what I probably should be charging, but since I'm just starting out, I'm feeling OK about that. At this point, I'm just excited that people actually want to hire me.

Speaking of HIRING me... I actually have a second paid photo session on Saturday morning. It's to take photos of my friend's son. So Saturday's going to be busy! I have to do his session in the morning, then head over to photograph the coworker's son's big birthday in the afternoon. Fun, fun!

I'm working hard and getting excited about the payoff I'm starting to see. I'm afraid to dream too big, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds for me...
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My aerobics classes started up again on Monday night. Well, actually, kickboxing started on Thursday, but I had to skip it since we were flying to Chicago. I'm back on my schedule of step on Monday nights and kickboxing on Thursdays (and regular ol' gym on the weekends, as time permits). So last night was my first class, and wow, it was nice to get back into it. It's nice to have a break over the summer, but I always sort of want to kick my own ass once I realize how much I've let my fitness level slide in those 2.5 months off. Stupid. But the good news is that I'm really not all that sore, so I might not be in as bad shape as I thought. Thank you, 30 Day Shred.

Since I brought that up, I feel the need to confess that I stopped doing The Shred the second week in August. I'm seriously not cut out for DVD workouts. Yes, 20 minute workouts are appealing. But HOLY CRAP did I get bored with it. Sure, the elliptical is boring as hell, but I keep myself entertained with reading my books. I'd much rather spend 60 minutes reading on the elliptical than spend 20 minutes following along with Jillian Michaels, knowing every word she's going to say before she even says it. Knowing the workout by heart made it seem impossibly and torturously long.

The good thing is that I felt so guilty for giving up the 30 Day Shred that I actually started going to the gym more often. Funny how that works.
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Now that our weekend in Chicago has come and gone, this is the first time in over a year that we have not had our next vacation already planned. We've done quite a bit of traveling over these past 15 months of marriage. First came Hawaii, then Charlotte, then Vegas, then Seattle and San Francisco, and finally Chicago. Since I'm a planner by nature, we always had the "next" thing planned. Now? Nothing. It's a weird feeling, and I'm not sure I like it. Since we got married, I've liked always having a trip to look forward to.

We'd like to remedy this by planning our next vacation, but there seem to be a lot of variables. Mainly, where do we want to go? And when? We have quite a few places on our "list," but we're sort of having trouble prioritizing. I think some research is in order.
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I'm feeling the need to tell you that when I did a Google Image search for "Ketchup Day" for this post, I came across a picture of ketchup cake. I love me some ketchup (like, seriously love) but even I think that ketchup cake is wrong on so many levels. I'm thinking that those crazy, ketchup-loving Canadians must be responsible for that. ;)

Anyway, I think that's enough randomness for one day. But this was actually really fun--perhaps more "Ketchup Days" are in the cards for Heather Drive?

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Heartbreaker

Monday, September 14, 2009

My Buffalo Bills. Oh, how they break my heart.

I've been dreading the season opener ever since I found out it was going to be Monday Night Football, against the New England Patriots, at Foxboro. All of these things added up to a trifecta of SUCK for the Buffalo Bills.

I actually missed most of the first quarter because I was at my aerobics class. (That should say a lot right there. Under any other circumstances, I would have totally skipped my aerobics class for football.) But imagine my surprise when I got into my car and, on the way home, listened to the Bills score a touchdown to take the lead over New England, 7-0. The rest of the game went surprisingly well. I was afraid to really BILLieve it, but it looked like they were actually going to pull off a win.

Over the New England Patriots (and Golden Boy Tom Brady).

At Foxboro.

On Monday Night Football.

But alas, it wasn't meant to be. As Bills fans, we do not know the elation of winning a big game, because it just never happens for us.

For whatever reason, when there were less than two minutes left in the game (and ALL they had to do was hold.onto.the.damn.ball), Leodis McKelvin received the kickoff and decided to take it out of the endzone. Then, as he was being tackled, for whatever reason, he tried to fight for another measly half a yard (which didn't even matter!), and in doing so, the ball popped out. Fumble. New England recovers, and three plays later, scores their game-winning touchdown.

I'm not going to lie; I want to give McKelvin a good kick to the face.

But what can you do?

I want to be proud of them for not embarrassing themselves, when everybody thought they were surely going to embarrass themselves. (I was actually predicting a 52-0 loss after the pathetic showing they put on during the preseason.) But I just can't shake off the overwhelming disappointment. As Bills fans, it feels like we've already been beaten to a pulp, and we just keep getting kicked while we're down. It just feels like we will NEVER be good. I'm honestly having a hard time keeping myself "into" it, and you know me... I'd consider myself die-hard.

I've been following them religiously for eight seasons, and they've never given me a reason to keep doing so. In these eight years, I've never seen them make the playoffs. They disappoint more often than they thrill. Watching the games feels like such a waste of time. Why do I want to spend three hours watching if I'm just going to walk away upset? Something's gotta change.

*sigh*

Still, I find myself looking at the positives. New England is one of the best teams, and the Bills were only beaten by 1 point. Our struggling quarterback actually looked decent. Backup running back Fred Jackson looked awesome. So is there still reason to hope? Do I dare let myself do so?

We'll see.

Right now, I'm just concentrating on picking myself up and dusting myself off for Week 2 versus Tampa Bay...

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Just Keep Swimming

Sunday, September 13, 2009

When we went to San Francisco, I really wanted to go to the aquarium there. It's been years since I've been to one, and I just think that they are so neat. Well, when we got to the aquarium in San Francisco, it was closing. :( Poor planning on our part. Anyway, when one of you readers mentioned the aquarium in your recommendations, it was on our "maybe" list--something to do if we had enough time.

Well, with our flight not leaving until 2:20 p.m., we decided to get up a little extra early this morning so that we could get to the aquarium, spend a few hours there, and then head back to the hotel, pick up our stuff, and travel to the airport.

We got down to the aquarium right after it opened.

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Admission was $24.95, which is a little bit expensive in my opinion, but when you consider how much time you could spend there, it's worth it. Plus, I can't imagine how much money they have to spend to care for the animals, acquire the animals, hire qualified staff, etc., so I think the cost is probably justified.

Anyway, we went right into the exhibits to make the most of our time there.
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Turtles! I love turtles.
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These guys were eating breakfast. It looked like a really nice fruit salad, actually.
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Big ass fish.
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This guy's eyes were really creepy.
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Speaking of creepy... we thought this guy was fake. He wasn't.
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These fish have built-in bouffants. I like to call them Amy Winehouse fish.
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Iguana
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This frog was cracking me up. Check out how he was just hanging there!
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This guy has a "Penelope" nose.
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This turtle was in a giant tank that was in the middle of one of the big halls. It had all sorts of fish in it, as well as sting rays, and even a few small sharks. Look at him! He was chillin' with his head between the branches of a plant. At first, I questioned whether he was even real, as he wasn't moving at all.
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Really cool display of jellyfish. I think they're awesome as long as they're not swimming with me.
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Dolphins from above.
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Dolphins from below.
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Beluga whales.

I didn't get any good pictures of them because they move so damn fast, but the penguins were so much fun. LOVE the penguins.
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Who can go to an aquarium without thinking about Nemo the whole time? Anyway, we found him.

A cute little side story... We were in an exhibit area where there were scuba divers in the tanks with the fish to feed them, clean the tanks, etc. This little girl standing next to me says to her father, "A diver, like in Nemo!" Her father responds, "Yes, but this is a nice diver." The little girl says, all serious, "Yeah, a nice diver. Nemo's diver was mean." :) Made me laugh.
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We managed to make it through the whole aquarium in about two hours, and then we had to head out to get back to the hotel in time for checkout before getting on the train for the airport.
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But of course, we had to take one last shot of the skyline (view from outside of Shedd Aquarium).

We had an absolutely wonderful time in Chicago. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a long weekend getaway... or even if you have longer to spend there. I'm sure you won't run out of things to do. I honestly think Chicago has surpassed NYC on my list of favorite cities. There's just something about Chicago that I like better, but I can't really put my finger on it. I'd go back in a heartbeat. Who knows... maybe next year!

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Skyscrapin'

Saturday, September 12, 2009

We woke up ready for another day in the city. It was a little bit hazy this morning, but it mostly burned off and we had another gorgeous, sunny day here in Chicago.

We set off from our hotel around 9:00 a.m. and headed down to the Willis Tower (or, if you refuse to conform, like me, you can continue calling it the Sears Tower).

One thing I forgot to mention about yesterday was that we picked up two $14 3-day CTA passes which give us unlimited rides on the trains (the "L"), as well as buses. It's really come in handy so far and we know that we'll get our money's worth. It's a great deal, so I highly recommend the multi-day passes if you visit. You can't get them at the train stations, though. (This was confusing to me, as I always buy multi-day subway passes on my trips to NYC, and I've always purchased them right in the subway stations.) We had to go to a CVS to buy them, but that was fine as it wasn't too far out of the way.

Anyway, so we left our hotel and hopped on the Red Line for a few stops, then walked several blocks over to the Sears Tower. Once we got there, the woman in the lobby told us that visibility was pretty poor up there this morning (only 0-5 miles), but that it was expected to get better later in the day. We quickly decided to postpone our trip up to the top and come back later.

Instead, we did some more walking, and hopped back on the train up toward Michigan Avenue. Our other plans for the day included an architecture boat tour, so we figured we'd check that out while we were waiting for the fog to clear from the top of Sears Tower. There are several companies that do these architecture boat tours, but we went with Wendella. Tickets were $22.

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We got there about 1/2 hour before our tour was to start, so we purchased the tickets, then waited for a few minutes. Soon enough, they were boarding us onto the boat, so it wasn't much of a wait after all.
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This was the view from the Wendella "station" while we waited. Not a bad place to spend a few minutes.
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This beautiful building was towering over us as we waited for the ride to begin. I wasn't at all surprised when I found out that this is the new Trump International Tower. Say what you want about him--the guy certainly knows how to build stuff.

Once we started moving, our tour guide immediately launched into her explanation of all of the amazing buildings located along the Chicago River, and even some of the ones set further back. I was immediately impressed with her memorization skills, as her delivery of this information was flawless. All of the architects, the timelines for construction, the square feet or the heights of the buildings... whoa.

Anyway, the sights were rather impressive, too.
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The tour was 60 minutes and it was a really great way to see the city. Plus, it was such a perfect day to be cruising along the river. The tour was really informative, mixing history and some interesting trivia.
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Before we got off the boat, we had someone take a photo of us.

At this point, it was noon, and we wanted to head back down to the Sears Tower. But not before making a crucial pit stop (more on that in a second).
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On our way back over the river, I stopped to take this photo on one of the bridges. LOVE THIS CITY.

Once over the river, we quickly made our way to our non-negotiable pit stop. Where's that, you ask?

It was a little place called Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique.
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One of my lovely blog readers went to Chicago a couple of weeks ago and happened to mention to me that she and her husband found this little bakery. And um, hello, I am ME, after all, and I wasn't going to let that piece of information go unnoticed.
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Inside, we were greeted with... well, CUPCAKES. The most adorable, delicious-looking cupcakes. In several flavors. We had trouble deciding, really.
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Ultimately, we chose Strawberry Dream (fresh strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese icing) and a traditional Black & White (dark chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream icing).

Just look at them! They're GLORIOUS!

As cute as the bakery was, they didn't offer much in the way of seating, so we decided to get our cupcakes to go. Which ended up being awesome, since they put them in that sweet little box for us. We walked them over to Millenium Park and sat in the shade to enjoy every single morsel.
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See? Here I am, enjoying it before I've even tasted it. YUM.

After the cupcakes (the Black & White was my favorite, by the way), we headed back down to the Sears Tower.
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Thankfully, there weren't any lines outside, so we were able to get right into the building and to the floor where they do ticketing/security. There was a bit of a line there, so we were delayed for probably half an hour to 45 minutes or so? It wasn't bad.

Before we knew it, our ears were popping as we rode the elevator all the way to the top--to the Skydeck on the 103rd floor. We immediately walked around to the other side of the building to the Skydeck Ledge, since we knew they were a big attraction. After waiting for a few minutes in the crowd, we made our way out onto the Ledge.
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First Michael...
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Then my turn...
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Then a fellow tourist took a few photos of the both of us. The Ledges are really cool. I was sort of freaked out by it at first but I didn't have any problems walking out onto it. It's a strange feeling to stand out there and look straight down.

We moved out of the box to give other people a chance, and wandered around the Skydeck, just checking out the view.
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Then Michael had an idea. He wanted me to go onto one Ledge, while he went in the other, then take pictures that way. They came out pretty cool...
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Unfortunately, there was a lot of sun glare on Michael's side!
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We spent some more time looking around and taking photos...
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...and eventually made our way to the elevators and back down to ground level.

From there, we went back to the hotel for a little bit to relax and figure out where to head to dinner. After looking at various restaurants, we decided to go to a little Irish pub called Timothy O'Toole's.
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This place was great. I was hungry and it totally hit the spot. I had an awesome turkey club sandwich (with honey mustard instead of mayo!). The turkey was amazing (had a honey roasted taste). Also, they have a ton of flat-panel TVs in the place, making it a perfect place to watch sports. We enjoyed some college football while eating our meal.

After dinner, we cut back over to Michigan Avenue, which was only a few blocks away. On the way over there, we unfortunately saw this: Man Dies in Plunge from Building. We didn't actually witness the incident (THANK GOD), but we came upon police cars and a taped off area of the street. And then we saw the white sheet. It was pretty shocking, and greatly disturbing. We paused for a few seconds, but ultimately kept moving. I am so grateful we only came upon the scene after it had already happened.

Switching gears back to "happy" and "fun"...

We wandered Michigan Avenue for a little bit, waiting for it to get dark. We browsed Crate and Barrel, and went to "visit" our dream computer at the Apple Store. From there, we walked down to the Hancock Building and once again, found ourselves in an elevator all the way up to the top.
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Many people had recommended we enjoy cocktails at The Signature Lounge, which is located on the 96th floor of the Hancock Center. Disappointingly, it was a little foggy up there, so visibility wasn't all that great. Plus, all of the tables by the windows were understandably occupied. Still, we had fun and enjoyed our drinks.

It felt nice to be on ground level again. We seemingly spent a lot of time in elevators today! And we were all about the skyscrapers--looking up at them, traveling to the top of them, etc. It certainly gave us an appreciation for the architecture in Chicago.

Since we were blessed with another gorgeous late summer evening, we took our time walking back to our hotel.
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On Michigan Avenue...
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A view of the river and skyline on the way back.

And so the book closes on another wonderful day in Chicago. We get to enjoy the city for a few more hours in the morning before we have to head to the airport to go home! We'll be sad to leave but it is always nice to get home.

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