I don’t think this is working
The Other was having a bad day so I bought him a smiley face chocolate pop to cheer him up. I am not sure how well it worked!
Kitteh pouch
Best Christmas gift I ever got!
The Chimes (Unabridged)
I finished listening to The Chimes (Unabridged) by Charles Dickens, narrated by Richard Armitage on my Audible app.
Try Audible and get it free: https://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B0198R8TJO&source_code=AFAORWS04241590G4
I can eat what?
I ate at Meatheads the other day which is a gourmet burger joint. They really do have delicious burgers however I was reviewing my cup and noticed something disturbing.
- Cow – they server burgers, I can eat this
- Chicken – they serve chicken sandwiches, i can eat this
- hot dogs – they serve hot dogs, i can eat this
- people – I didn’t see this on the menu, i have concerns…..
Maybe its on a secret menu?
Chocolate Strawberries!
I have been wanting to do something fun (and pink) with my hair for a while and I finally did it. I had a wonderful stylist who is very familar with fashion colors (her own hair was beautiful) and did a great job of understanding what I want, what would work and even did research before I arrived to make sure the end result looked fantastic!!
I told her I wanted it to look “natural” as much as pink hair can look natural and I think she hit the mark blending it into my normal hair. Fashion colors fade pretty fast (I will have to go every 2-3 weeks for touch ups) but the way its layered in even when it does fade it will still look good. Which is great cause I am a pretty low-maintenance kinda girl. The other great part of how she worked it in is that it looks better with waves or curls so its easy for me to let my hair air dry and my usually annoying waves actually work for me instead of against me!!
Review: The Emerald Atlas
The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked this book alot. Haven’t got the second one yet but I am sure I will. Jim Dale did amazing as always but I really identified with this book as it was about 3 siblings – and older sister, middle brother, and younger sister. Although not exact, I saw a lot of the personality of my own family in the characters which made this a fun listen!!
and then I was like “vroom vroom vroom”
For Christmas, The Other, got me the most coveted item on my wishlist. A Triumph Daytona 675R. It finally came in last week and we went today to pick it up!
It was a balmy 42 degrees F today but sunny so honestly not too bad. Would I want to do this regularly? probably not, but it wasn’t the shiver-fest I was expecting. Scott met me at the Harley shop (which also happens to be a Triumph dealer) to ride home. It made what probably would have been a rush to get home into a pretty great ride. We did stop for coffee once to warm up and rest but otherwise we rode straight through. Regardless it was fantastic and I can’t wait for spring so I can ride regularly. I was even thinking of taking it out tomorrow to fill it up with gas..
This bike is completely different from the Spyder (which is still a great bike, don’t get me wrong). Everything on the bike is made for performance so its not exactly make for cold weather and heavy boots and gloves. It has features like a lap time and shift alert based on RPMs. The sales guy said they do some track days (including track training) and invited me out so maybe I will try that and really see what this bike can do!! It definitely likes to go fast – about 50 mph the bike really smoothes out. So much fun!!
For dinner The Other and I made a Blue Apron recipe “Chicken and Sage Biscuit Pot Pie” which was perfect after a cold day of riding. It was easy to put together and super delicious – I would make this recipe again. I really liked that to make the biscuits you simple dropped the dough on the top of the filling mixture and then cooked in the oven for 12 minutes. I also liked that the vegetables were large and roughly chopped. Again, this was a fast quick saving tip that made everything come together faster. The only thing we changed in this recipe was to make the Roux (flour/oil mix) in a separate pan before adding it to the pot of vegetables – I think any other way would have resulted in a mess and a watery sauce.
Discovery: Pork
Been trying to eat healthier but simpler. Last night we had pork stir-fried with rice.
I have had pork in the past but it’s not my favorite. It’s either bacon or a super dry pork chop. Both are kinda underwhelming. (Except jowl bacon which is amazing!) Why would I eat pork when I could have perfectly deliciously beef?
Anyway, The Other said that pork is delicious and I should give it another shot so I did.
The Other cooked it up with some hosin sauce and white rice and it was pretty great. Better than beef? No. But definitely my choice over chicken. I look forward to trying it in other dishes.
Laotian Larb Gai
Made an old favorite from Blue Apron for dinner. I stayed pretty true to the recipe although I didn’t add mint leaves and skipped the cabbage. The cucumbers are more then enough to balance the saltiness from the meat. I also don’t add the chile pepper but I think this dish works whether its spicy or not.
Only downside was that my peanuts were a bit rancid (i think) so it lent an off flavor to the dish. They were easily picked off so it didn’t ruin dinner.
Here is the recipe from Blue Apron in case you want to try for yourself! The more rare ingredients (Coconut Palm Sugar and Golden Mountain Sauce) can both be purchased on Amazon.
Deer of DOOM!
They are all majestic during the day however at night they become the creepiest thing ever. Look at this one – just standing in my driveway, staring at my house.
And these two in the backyard. I think I am gonna have nightmares…
Pothole
She was a great cat with so much personality. She was the cat that would snuggle me when I was sad. She was a fantastic travelling companion. She didn’t mind being dressed up (and maybe even enjoyed it a little bit) I will miss her greatly.
I see you!
To The Other Door and back tonight. I am getting spoiled by this nice weather!!!! No picture tonight since it gets dark at 4pm now. As long as the weather stays this nice I’ll take it!
I biked with MapMyRide!
Distance: 12.81mi
time: 01:12:46
pace: 5:41min/mi
speed: 10.56mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1238272511
Power Ride
Didn’t have a lot of time today but wanted to get in a ride while this beautiful weather lasts! Decided to do a short ride but got as fast as I could. You can see I slow down as I go but I’m still pretty proud of myself. Definitely going to work on improving that time!
I biked with MapMyRide!
Distance: 6.60mi
time: 31:41
pace: 4:48min/mi
speed: 12.49mi/h.
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/1236317115
Settlers of Catan – the book!
The year is 850. In the seas of northern Europe, the small coastal village of Elasund falls prey to marauding neighbors. Their food stores pillaged, women and children stolen, livestock destroyed, the villagers are left to barely survive the harsh winter — and contemplate a drastic solution to their recurring hardships: leaving the only village they have ever known. Foster brothers Candamir and Osmund lead their people on an epic quest to a mythic island home, but without knowledge of exactly where the island is, they must trust the gods to deliver them safely. Lost at sea and set adrift, an extraordinarily violent storm washes them ashore the island famed in pagan lore: Catan. They quickly set about building a new society but old grudges, animosities, and social orders lead to fraternal strife. As the ideals of Candamir’s Christian slave spread throughout the village and conflict with pagan law, the two belief systems clash. When both Osmund and Candamir fall in love with Siglind, the mysterious queen of the Cold Islands, things come to a head. Based on the wildly popular board game of the same name designed by Klaus Teuber, Rebecca Gable’s The Settlers of Catan is a must-read adventure rich in detail and rippling with intensity
Earlier this year I went to GenCon (the best 4 days in gaming!) and one of the most ridiculous things I picked up there was a hard cover leather bound copy of the “Settlers of Catan” book. Its a book about the characters in the board game. I am not a huge fan of the board game but when I saw this item I couldn’t pass it up.
How I imagine the book:
Jane looked over to Robert, rugged in his manliness while he chopped wood. She knew the time was now or never, she urged her flock over to him.
“Robert, can you please trade me 3 wood for 1 wool?”
“I don’t need any wool right now, I am waiting on bricks – do you have bricks?” replied Robert
Jane did have bricks, but if she traded it she would never be able to complete her road.
“I’m sorry, I can’t”, she replied morosely, “Can’t we please trade, How about 2 wool?”
“No!” replied Robert harshly, “I’m not going to help you after you let the Robber into my ore mine!”
and so on and so forth. (Yes I was totally giggling while writing that)
I haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet but from what I skimmed I think it will be awesome. I plan to appreciate it ironically but who knows – the book does have 4 stars on Amazon over 111 reviews so it can’t be that bad – right? I mean, its not like people on Amazon have ever given high reviews to a terrible book right? Don’t worry, I will report back once I finish to let you know how it goes…if you trade me 3 bricks for 1 wool…..
Peace and Quiet
After a cold and rainy Halloween the first day of November was perfect! Sunny 65* with blue skies and a slight breeze. Halfway through the ride I stopped at this lake and just sat and listened to the waves lap at the shore. It was so serene. The rest of the ride was beautiful as well – wind through the trees rustling the leaves as the seasons change – overall just a really beautiful and relaxing ride.
I biked with MapMyRide!
Distance: 11.64mi
time: 59:43
pace: 5:08min/mi
speed: 11.70mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1233773673
Awwww!
I can’t believe its been 2 years with this little man!!
Car seats…now with auto-drive!
Guess who got a new car seat!!! You guessed it – the kitties!!! Part of this is because I was reading online about pets who became bullets who flew threw the windshield in accidents, the other part is because I am slightly a crazy cat mom. The best benefit though is that it keeps all the nervous shedding and accidently bathroom breaks confined and off my car seats.
Pothole is a great passenger, she does fine even without a car seat so this was more of a test of the seat itself. I hope that the other cats do just as well in it. Although I have an image of Brutus jumping out of the seat and hanging over the front by his harness…..
In other news, we got the update to the Tesla with auto-pilot. The car seriously drives itself now!!! It steers and changes lanes and stops and goes. Its amazing, and scary, but mostly amazing. Here is a video of the car set on cruise on the highway following the cars in front of it. I then activate the turn signal so the car changes lanes on its own. so cool.
Leaves are falling all around
Its that time of year when the leaves are changing colors and I was really excited to ride today to see it. It was a beautiful ride!!
I also did a bit of exploring and took a new way home. It wasn’t as nice since it was mostly along the road but the trail did go farther west so I am excited to explore that in the future. While on the way home I passed this adorable church. I think its very cute with it’s princess turrets.
Overall a little slower today – a bit because I was exploring, a bit cause I haven’t ridden in a while, and a bit cause I got new biking pants. They are very warm (they are my winter pants) but they were also a bit tight so it was weird to get used to.
I biked with MapMyRide!
Distance: 11.57mi
time: 01:06:40
pace: 5:46min/mi
speed: 10.41mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1225559525
After my shower I came out to discover Brutus had a new trick:
Sunset exploration ride
Went out today around sunset. It was a bit cool but otherwise a beautiful night. The sky was so pretty with shades of pink, purple and blue. I did a bit of exploring but nothing too drastic
I biked with MapMyRide!
Distance: 7.57mi
time: 40:47
pace: 5:23min/mi
speed: 11.14mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1205898647
Made a Blue Apron for dinner afterwards. Crispy Tofu with Red Curry. It was spicy – almost too much – but the tofu was really good so I ate it. I am looking forward to making more crispy tofu in the future but just with soy or miso sauce instead of the curry.
Recent Comments