I Win

~ meh ~ 1 Comment

It is no secret that Netflix’s streaming movies selection is less than stellar.  Last night, having made my way through all of the “Top Picks for Meagan”, “Dark Biographical Documentaries”, “Quirky Movies”, and “Reality TV” custom lists pre-selected based on my previous choices, I begrudgingly clicked on the new “Teen Movies” category that popped up.

Oh. My. God.  Gold mine.

First up:

I had completely forgotten about Center Stage.  Edgy hip hop numbers to Mandy Moore singles.  Bad-boy ballarinos that battle for the girl’s heart in twirl-offs.  RED POINTER SHOES.

Whatever you feel, just DANCE it.

Let us begin

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So let us begin anew —

Remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.  …

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.  …

All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days; nor in the life of this Administration; nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

~John F Kennedy, Inaugural Address
January 20, 1961

Just don’t read his Harvard application essay.

Wedding mags, anyone?

~ meh ~ 1 Comment

About 2 months ago a photo editor from The Knot emailed me and let me know that The Knot Northern California wanted to run a picture from our wedding in its Spring 2011 issue.  The issue came out last month, so I went online and ordered a few copies, thinking it might be nice to send copies to our parents or Granny or whoever.  When they arrived yesterday I wasn’t home and Paul, not knowing what they were, opened up the box and was like, “Ummm…are you planning on getting married again in the South?”

Northern California…North Carolina….Dammit.

Update: Turns out this was their mistake, not mine.  I called them and they apologized and said the copies or Northern California are on their way.  The box arrived yesterday…4 more copies of North Carolina.  Seriously.

Updated update: Replacement box #2 came, we now have 12 copies of North Carolina.

Breaking up is hard to do

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…but apparently not in March.

Exit Holiday Season, enter Breakup Season.  We are on the precipice of a lot of heartbreak…as if January and February needed another reason to suck.

Via Silicon Alley Insider‘s charts of the day:

Update: Literally the day after I posted this, a good friend of mine wrote and said she and her boyfriend of 4 years had just called it quits.  And so it begins…

Updated Update:  A second friend just told me she just broke up with the guy she was dating too.  Facebook doesn’t lie.

Holiday Review

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…and we’re back from the Lull.

A summary of what’s new:

We stuck around town for the holidays, Christmas Eve was our one year anniversary (Paul took me out to dinner and his brother Karl was nice enough to be our chaufer).  We woke up to fresh snow Christmas morning for our walk over to the inlaws.  

Paul and Spike in the front yard, Christmas day

Paul got me a pink Wicked Witch of the West commuter bike to ride around town, which has been great because I can now ride to work instead of walk.  Cuts my commute down by like 20 minutes.  Awesome.   Paul got P90X, which he has started doing every day, but because he refuses to let me see him do it (he just stops cold if I walk in the room and yells at me to get out…I guess it involves a lot of jumping and weird positions or something?) I still have no idea what it is.   Spike got a huge stuffed dog with squeakers in both hands, which he carries around the house with him all day long.

We rang in the New Year with my friend Kristin, some pizza from Mello Mushroom, and Paul and Drew.  I discovered the Fx Camera App on my phone (a little late, I know) and promptly became obsessed.

new years eve

new years day

fishbowl

 

rainy day walk

With the new year also came a new wave of motivation to figure out exactly what I am going to do here in Kentucky for the next few years (besides cook poorly and try not to get shot by hunters while hiking.)  While my current job at the University is great for the short term and I am truly grateful to be gainfully employed, I am still looking for something more permanent.  

Onward and upward!

Good or Gross?

~ meh ~ 5 Comments

I’m torn. 

As a rule, warm beer is a no brainer in terms of what I will and will not go out of my way to drink.   Enter Buttered Beere.   It looks festive, could it be warm and seasonal?  Eggnogal?

Via 12 Bottle Bar:

Adapted from ‘The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin’ (1588)

3 pint (16.9 oz) Bottles of real Ale
0.5 tsp ground Cloves
0.5 tsp ground Cinnamon
0.25 tsp ground Ginger
5 Egg Yolks
1 Cup Brown Sugar (Demerara)
12 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

Add ale and spices to a saucepan
Bring to a boil, then immediately turn to lowest setting
Beat together eggs and sugar until light and creamy
Remove ale from heat, whisk in egg mixture, returning to low heat
Whisk constantly over low until mixture begins to thicken slightly (about 5 minutes)
Remove from heat and whisk in butter quickly until a nice foam forms
Serve warm

Notes: If you’re concerned about the alcohol level, here are some notes:  We used Fuller’s London Pride, which is 4.7% ABV.  Before adding the egg mixture, letting the beer simmer longer (20 minutes or so) should boil off all the alcohol, if that’s what you’re after.  Use your discretion.

VROOOOM!

~ meh ~ 5 Comments

Welcome to Thunder Road.  Feel the thunder.

Colleague and I traveled down to Charlotte, NC…home of Bank of America, bars that don’t open on the weekends, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and Carolina barbecue void…to run our half marathon this past weekend.  After hitting up the expo (above) and carbo-loading the night before (beer, fried pickles with ranch, and gravy cheese fries) we woke up the next morning rarin’ to go…and promptly missed the start of the race.  Along with about 1,000 other people.  But we followed the mad crush and it eventually carried us across the starting line at the very rear of the group.  We were off!

…and then we were stuck behind everyone who made it to the starting line on time, including all the walkers.  Because we started so far back, the first 6 miles were exceptionally crowded and consisted of a lot of dodging and passing.  But, when it was all said and done, we were both well under 2 hours and right on our best times.   The fried pickles did their job.

After a shower we headed out in search of some real Carolina barbecue, something we had been looking forward to for months.  We found the Tourism Center downtown and asked where we could get some.  Blank stare from the lady who works there.  Apparently it doesn’t exist in Charlotte.  But we ended up finding an awesome soul food place that also served beer and red velvet cake.   So.  Happy.

After more fried goodness, we went looking for a bar where we could relax and talk about how awesome we are and how weird it is that Charlotte has no barbecue.  We were surprised once again to find that almost all of the bars in town are closed on the weekend.  What.

We finally found one that was open…and stayed there for 5 hours.  Until we both went home and fell asleep at 7pm.  Thanks to the snow storm in the middle of the country the trip home was a nightmare for both of us, but I’ll spare you my rant about a 12 hour wait in the airport and Colleague’s 3-hour train ride to Raleigh because apparently there were no flights out of Charlotte to Boston.

Overall:  success!  More or less.  Disappointments included the barbecue situation, not getting to go to the Dale Earnhardt Jr bar, and lack of revving engine noises broadcast over loudspeakers throughout the race (though they did play a really loud, prolonged one at the start.)

Next up: Marathon.  Probably.  (And probably another half before that.)