GenCon 2016
Great GenCon this year – probably the best one yet. On the day we left, we stopped at the Indiana State fair for a couple hours which was fun. Pics for your enjoyment!
Vacation Adventures
I haven’t done one of these for a while, but here you go – obligatory vacation sandy toes picture!! That right there is Flo Progressive Blue – are you jelly yet?
The Other and I are in Florida for our nephew’s 1st birthday. We got him some books which I am excited about. At this age kids get so many toys that I really enjoy passing on things like books or activities that are more unique. Plus his Mom is an avid reader so I am sure he will grow up with a love of books! The most favorite out of the 3 we got him was called “Little Kitten” and it was a finger puppet board book. I highly recommend to any tiny tots in your life.
Our rental is right across from the beach which affords some nice views but also results in a lot of traffic – both foot and car. The other night it was storming and I opened the door to get a lawnchair to put my feet upon and one of the pedestrians called out to me. I was taken aback but apparently he was eating dinner with his wife then she left but couldn’t find her way back so he was stuck walking in the rain (there does seems to be some missing elements but oh well). After talking to his wife on the phone and trying to give her directions to pick him up The Other and I decided to drive him home. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with “Good Samaritan Wendy’s” 🙂
The rest of the trip has been nice weather. I have been reading a lot and walked up and down the beach. I have also been playing a lot of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and the rumors are true, I am a Pokémon Master!
Bad Burmesey
The Burmeseys have been a bit rambunctious since we returned from Arkansas. They have been on the counter, fighting, teaming up on the other cats (!) and just general destruction.
My Aunt recently posted this image to Facebook, and although most people think of cats as quiet creatures the Burmesey are not. So when they are quite, you know something is up
also if you have a Burmese kitten…
Case in point, we heard Brutus quietly playing with something near the computers and the first thought was “That’s nice that he is playing with a toy instead of harassing the other cats” Then our next thought was to get up and see what he was playing with since he was too interested in it for it to be something wholesome.
We were right – here you can see our USB memory stick that Brutus CHEWED apart.
You can clearly see on this chart that Brutus has the highest bite force of any creature alive, dead or imagined.
The next incident was due to Luna, who is even worse than Brutus in counter-surfing. We heard a noise in the kitchen during a commercial break and turned around to find our water on and running. I think this one solved itself though since Luna is notorious for eating scraps from the sink but I bet she’ll think twice after being soaked.
I’m slightly pleased by this one because it occured shortly after we had to throw out a stick of butter after finding Luna munching on it after we made some popcorn.
PaizoCon 2014 – Seattle, WA
So whew! I’ve finally had time to go through all my vacation pictures and organize them so I can start uploading them. Just in time for more trips too! This is from our trip to Seattle, WA for PaizoCon (manufacturer’s of the game Pathfinder, which we play with friends)
Overall the convention was a bit small. We played some Pathfinder, and looked at all the new stuff they had to offer, but overall it was like any other small convention in a hotel. We left ourselves a few extra days to visit Seattle while there and that by far was the best part of the trip. We did head out to the LeMay Auto Muesum one day, but most of our time was spent in downtown Seattle at the Pike’s Place Market.
my my look at all that sausage!
Some famous pig at the market
This guy!
We also visited the original Starbucks!! I was very excited for this, being the Starbucks Fan Girl I am. We also visited the Starbucks concept store (Roy Street Coffee) where they try out new concepts and even serve wine. It was kinda fun to get a Chai and a wine from the coffee shop!
Outside the original Starbucks
Proof!
Chai and Wine: I could get used to this!
We also ate a ton of food. All the food is delicious in Seattle. One of my favorite places was a restaurant in a hotel called Shuckers. It was so much more than an Oyster bar though. The Oysters Rockerfeller were amazing, they had a crab mac and cheese that I would travel to Seattle just to eat, and the dessert was the perfect amount of chocolatey crunchy goodness.
I also got the opportunity to try escargot, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be
We visited some of the famous tourist spots in the area. Biscuits Bitch had probably the best bicuits and gravy I’ve ever eaten, and I say that having tried them in the south. We also tried crumpets which is everything an english muffin wished it could be. Crisp outside, fluffy center, perfect flavor. yum yum! We also tried Piroshky Piroshky which makes things in puff pastry. It was good – every culture has their own version of this food and I love trying the different variations
Overall it was a great time. I would definitely visit Seattle again, but I probably wouldn’t go back for PaizoCon. There is a lot to do in Seattle and the surrounding area and I would love more time to explore. (and eat!)
Onward to Glory!
Heading out to Seattle for PaizoCon but we left a few extra days for site seeing. I’m most excited about seeing the original Starbucks!! There is also a Starbucks concept store in the area too but its a bit hidden – I will sniff it out though. I’m sure there is other stuff to do as well (space needle, troll statue, yada yada yada)
A couple weeks ago a found a Reddit thread on what the Starbucks Baristas like to drink when they are working. This isn’t that “secret menu” bullshit (which doesn’t exist BTW) There were some good suggestions but my favorite was getting a Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher made with black tea instead of water. It cuts the sweetness a bit and makes the drink less “mouth coating”. It’s probably my #1 favorite drink right now.
Enjoying the weather
The weather is finally getting nice and the kitties are getting spring fever. Magritte has been especially bad begging at the front door even though she has a wonderful outside kitty playland and screened in porch. But in the end I guess she knows I will give in an let her out – I just wish she wouldn’t immediately run and eat grass. Grass barf is the worst!
We also ordered some Pineapples from Hawaii a couple weeks back. These are Kauai SugarLoaf Pineapples and they are amazing! They are less acidic (almost none) compared to regular pineapples and much sweeter. We orignally had them when we travelled to Kauai in 2009 and have been trying ever since to get them shipped to the mainland. Finally they were available and just as good as I remember. Now if only I can find a way to ship Coco Puffs.
Late but still delicious
I’m not big in to celebrating Easter except for the obvious reasons (food and candy). This Easter there was no big family get together so I decided to enlist The Other to make a lamb soup. Lamb, I have learned, is traditional on Easter but soup is not. This would be my first foray into a more adventurous soup from my Cook’s Illustrated Soup and Stew book.
The soup – officially called Irish Stew in the book – consisted of Lamb shoulder, and potatoes. There was a variant which included turnips and carrots which I decided to try. I thought this would add a little more variety to the soup. Although I love potatoes, my results with lamb have been mixed about 50/50. Brutus on the other hand was just excited meat was being cooked and decided to jump on the counter ( a no-no) and photo bomb while I was taking photos #throughglass
The bad news was that since it was Easter weekend and people like to eat lamb on Easter my butcher didn’t have any lamb shoulder and the Jewel had only 1 package left. I quickly called The Other to see if we could sucessfully scale down the soup from the required 4.5 pounds of lamb to just 1 pound. He said it could be done and was not worried.
My two tiny lamb shoulder chops
All that’s left after removing from the bone and trimming – it doesn’t look like enough!!!!
We successfully scaled down the recipe and made enough for about 4 servings of soup. It was awesomely delicious. The lamb was cook perfectly and so tender and flavorful it was by far my most favorite part of the soup (again just making me sad I didn’t have more lamb!) There was a weird aromatic in the soup which I think came from the turnips that I didn’t care for. It wasn’t enough to not eat it but if I made this again I would leave out the turnips and just do potatoes and carrots.
The cook book also listed a complimentary quick biscuit recipe which was supposed to be easier and faster than traditional biscuits. We did not scale down this recipe….
They turned out pretty good even though I forgot the salt during the mixing. They were easy to work with and cooked in about 15 minutes and for those doing Weight Watchers were about 3 points each. I am definitely going to keep this recipe on hand for get togethers and parties. I also liked that the biscuits were small (2.5″ round) so a good option for finger food or hors d’oeuvre.
A Haiku for my Mom
We are in Peru
It may be hard for us to
contact you, Don’t fret.
Before Peru
I’m going to Peru! It’s exciting and a little scary – definitely an advanced vacation. The Other and I are going with my brother and his girlfriend and its part of a tour group. There are a lot of things on this trip I have never done before: the trip is all inclusive, we had to get vaccines, it’s 3rd world country, there is an active terrorist organization…
Honestly I’m not worried about the vaccines or the terrorists, because most importantly our trip is all inclusive. We are going with a tour company which regulates what we do each day, where we stay, what we eat, and how we get places. They run tons of trips so I’m sure they have this down to a science. I will definitely document while I am there, but I’ve been searching the internet and besides eating a Guinea Pig, here are some things I want to do in Peru
of Beaches and Boats
Today I received my sticker for my ASA 110 sailing certification. This is a day sailing standard on monohull or multihull sailboats less than 20 feet in length and without a fixed, weighted keel. I don’t expect to use it much (I like big boats, and I cannot lie!) but I really enjoyed getting it since it was with Out-Island Explorers in the Exumas, Bahamas.
Out-Island Explorers (OIE) does many sailboat and kayak trips during the year for happy tourists in the Bahamas but this excursion was sponsored by the American Sailing Association (ASA). You have to join or be a member of the ASA to go on the trip (due to the discounted rate) but in exchange a certified ASA instructor comes along and helps you along the way. At the end of the trip you can take the test for the ASA110 cert.
Overall the trip was fantastic. You sail a 21′ Sea Pearl to get to your destinations but the guide boat is always close by in case you run into trouble. You visit 5 or 6 cays on the trip and camp on 3-4 different beaches. The weather was great for most of the trip (I think it only rained one night) with a steady wind and light waves. Although breakfast and lunch were standard camp fare the guides worked magic with dinner – most of which was cooked over a campfire – including fresh caught Mahi. There were activities to keep you busy almost every day such as snorkeling, fishing, daysailing, swimming, hiking and more.
OIE did a fantastic job of making sure that everyone was happy, taken care of, and as comfortable as can be on a camping trip. Tents, food, snorkeling gear, and necessities were taken care of. All you had to provide were clothing, alcohol (if you wanted it), and a good attitude. This was an active trip and I would caution you against going if you can’t swim, don’t like to camp, or won’t pee in the wilderness. I would also suggest that you do have some sailing experience, although if you don’t Out-Island Explorers will make sure that you are put in a boat with someone who does.
If you have taken ASA course stateside this will not be the rigorous program you are used too. I don’t think that had much to do with OIE and more to do with the ASA instructor that was assigned to our trip; I heard that the previous week the instructor was more involved. As the ASA is fond of saying, “remember that your sailing education begins, not ends, with your earning the certification sticker”.
If you have the opportunity I highly recommend you try Out-Island Explorers for a trip. Whether or not you attend the ASA Flotilla sail or just attend one of OIE standard excursions, I am sure you will have just as much fun as I did!
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