New Years 5 for Five!

Yay Monday. Time for this!



Let's see how I did on my list from last week... Green good, red fail!

1. Put away Christmas presents - new fan, new blender/processor, new pots and pans. So close! I put away the new blender/food processor, pots and pans, but not the new fan. 
2. Go to Zumba twice. Well when I failed on this I failed hard. I didn't go once!!
3. Strip the bed and remake it with fresh sheets. Did it yesterday - it counts!
4. Keep your schedule how it is now... open. Non chaotic. Yay. Did it. 
5. Just... make it through the next few days. I hate the end of the year at work -- SO MUCH to do! Well it's a week later and I survived so... well done, self!

Not touching the long term ones this time... I didn't do anything on that list.

So we're doing it a little different this week since Monday falls on New Years Eve. Usually I would now make a list of things to accomplish in the next five days but.... drumroll please...


Five things I want to accomplish in 2013... Hm. Okay go!

1. Complete my 2013 Reading Challenge - read 3 or 13 (aim for 3... if you hit 3 early on, go for 13!) books from the BBC Big Read list in 2013.

2. Lose 20 pounds. I'm not putting my weight here... I have other tracking methods. I know what it is. And I know what it needs to be. And those numbers are not really very close. But they CAN be.

3. Cook more often! What's more often? Hm... I guess I should make these goals SMART -- Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Okay so let's make it measurable.
Cook at least once a week. Use the crockpot for a meal at least once a month. That's pretty attainable.
Take a cooking class? Maybe.. those are stupid expensive. And I have plenty of recipes I want to try (thank you, Pinterest!). I think I'm good on my own.

4. Oh this one's pretty important... and I've been telling myself for weeks I need to do this. Control your schedule! Too many times I joke, "I don't know how many hours in the day I thought there were when I made this week's schedule" because I'll have something planned every single night and still need to do laundry, clean, sleep, etc. My sister can see my Google calendar and tells me often she has to hide it because it makes her feel a little crazy. So yes. More me time. Remember to have at least one night a week where you're not doing a damn thing and it's so glorious.

5. This one's a little vague but okay. Do something adventurous I haven't done before. I've gone sky diving, rappelled down a building, rock climbing (indoor), scuba diving... So what's next? Bunjee jumping? Base jumping (lol right)? Trapeze work?

Sunday Confessions - Late again

Whoops late on this again. Oh well, better than last week where I didn't do it at all, right?


1. It's 7am on my day off and I'm awake. Sure why not. This is actually a regular occurrence for me now on the weekends and holidays it just still freaks me out a little bit. I used to be able to sleep in til noon no problem! (Actually it was a bit of a problem -- I'd intend to get up at 9, set alarms, and then it would be 1pm and I'd just then be getting out of bed wondering where had the day gone. Kinda miss those days.)

2. I'm a little freaked out that tomorrow is going to be 2013. That was a super crazy fast year! And one of the best... at least for me. I'm sad to see it go. But excited to see what the new year will bring!

3. One of my favorite things about a new year is setting my new Goodreads Reading Challenge. Here is my 2012 one and my 2011 one. It is driving me a little crazy the 2013 one isn't up yet. Come on, guys, don't make me wait until it's actually 2013 to set my goals!! A few weeks ago I decided on a new reading challenge (2013 reading challenge - BBC The Big Read list) and I've actually got a head start on one of the books! I started reading The Hobbit a few days after seeing the movie. I know, reverse order! I'm about halfway through. I've had to pace myself so I finish it in 2013 not 2012.

4. Valentine's Day, SLOW DOWN! You're not here yet! And stores need to stop making me think you're just around the corner! Sheesh... it's not even January yet. I say this because on Wednesday I was getting lunch at the Park Shops (think: mall) and saw this at the cookie place:

Seriously! Let December end first!

5. I went to a gag gift white elephant party this past weekend. I was honestly a little scared of what I might bring home but hey, we all went into it KNOWING it's a gag gift theme, so that's part of the fun. I brought Perfect Brownie baking set, you know it from As Seen on TV! I thought it was too perfect. Someone will want it. It's mildly useful. You'd never buy it yourself. But it's not complete garbage. That's how I go into purchasing for a gag gift white elephant. "What's something I'd want but never admit I want or know I want?"
I was #11 and there was nothing I really wanted to steal so I opened a new gift and first I got this gem:

Too kind! What I always wanted!

And Chris was the best boyfriend ever. He made it DISAPPEAR. (Ok here's what really happened. I had to go use the restroom so I left it with him to "guard" and told me to be sure to display it, so everyone knows how cool it is, and when I got back he's holding something else and said someone stole the mug. So did he really do anything? I don't know. There could have been some serious coercion while I was gone. I wasn't there. So he gets all the credit.)
So I ended up with this:

As Seen on TV stuff is the best for gag gifts.

I'm kind of excited about it... Okay excited is the wrong word. It's a vacuum attachment. Excited is definitely the wrong word. Anyway I need to use it. I plan to soon. I just first really need to empty out the vacuum canister before I vacuum anything again.

Christmas 5 for Five!

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates! And to those who don't, happy Tuesday! Sorry everything's closed - you didn't need to shop though, did you? The stores will be more normal again starting tomorrow.

Good Christmas weekend! Busy Christmas weekend... It was my first time handling one with two families to take into consideration. I think I did okay with it... Some flaws. I'll work on them next year!

Friday I ended up taking the day off because I had to finish shopping and wrap up all the gifts -- except my own. Told the boyfriend I would wrap all of his stuff but not my own present. It's the principle of the matter, yea?

A Friday well spent! Seriously, when did I expect to do this stuff?

On Friday night the boyfriend and I met up with a friend of mine who moved away last year and her husband. They'd heard about the boyfriend but hadn't met him -- they moved away about a month before I started dating him. We went to Ninfa's on Navigation -- the original Ninfa's in Houston! And now the only Ninfa's in Houston... The other locations are now Maggie Rita's. It was so good. I love their queso. I love their fresh tortillas. I love their fresh tortillas rolled up and dipped in queso! My boyfriend ordered something I seriously have to try next time -- fajita burger. It's, you guessed it, fajita meat on a burger. Delicious!

I joked that they seated us in the perfect spot -- by the pun wall. Have I mentioned Chris loves puns? Like, almost unhealthily?

You read that right. Fleece Navidad!!

And then Chris and I spent a very romantic evening bagging his cards for his multiple expansions of Dominion so he can actually carry it with him and play it. Seriously, it has about 8 expansions! He got the newest one for Christmas from my sister and brother-in-law.

So many little baggies....

Saturday morning we drove down to my parents' house to meet up with my family for Christmas lunch and present exchange, and played some games with my parents and siblings.

Merry Christmas to my kitchen!!

That night we had a party to attend with some friends. I made my Funfetti dip and Chris made a cheesecake and we brought some presents for a white elephant gift exchange. Chris was feeling under the weather so my sister went with me. I've played white elephant gift exchanges with various house rules and I don't think the ones we did on Saturday is my favorite version.

1. #1 goes first, picks a gift. #2 can pick a new gift, or steal #1's. Pretty standard here.
2. After the third steal, so the fourth owner (not necessarily the fourth UNIQUE owner, just the fourth owner) the gift locks.
3. After the final person goes, #1 has another turn. All gifts unlock for them and they can swap presents with someone or keep what they have.

Here's where it gets different. The way I've played in the past the game stops there. But the way we played this weekend, #1 stole the present from someone at the end and they then had the chance to steal or keep what #1 had. So then it became a circle of stealing... Just different house rules than how I've ever played. I think of this more as a Dirty Santa? Just part of the fun!

We came back late afternoon on Sunday and yesterday we went down to Clear Lake to hang out with some of Chris' friends early in the afternoon and play board games. And then around 6 headed over to his uncle's house for a big family dinner. He actually just left again for Clear Lake for a big family gift exchange, that he found out about last night. I had to bow out... I feel bad but I had to. We originally planned to do nothing but hang around the house all day Christmas Day. I don't have presents for anyone so I would feel awkward just sitting and watching everyone open gifts but more so, I have such a busy week... no, month really, ahead of me at work I just need to take some time, the only time I have, to relax and breathe and just stop. Take a nap if I want! I already did all morning. :) Clean if I want! Organize some of the presents, out with the old in with the new. Read a book.  Make some cookies. Eat some cookies. Do some Wii Zumba. What does the rest of the day hold for me? No idea! After I finish blogging I'll find out!

No Sunday confessions for me this week. It's already Tuesday! I will do an update for the 5/Five though.

Last week's goals:
1. Finish up Christmas shopping.
2. Wrap up Christmas presents. 
3. Zumba once!
4. Do laundry.
5. Vacuum. 

Successful week! Even if I did have to look up if I made it to Zumba or not. I totally did. Not on the day I was originally expecting to, but it doesn't matter. I went!

New list!
1. Put away Christmas presents - new fan, new blender/processor, new pots and pans. 
2. Go to Zumba twice. 
3. Strip the bed and remake it with fresh sheets. 
4. Keep your schedule how it is now... open. Non chaotic. All I really have on it this week is exercising, a party on Saturday night with the single's group. Maybe get one more use out of a Groupon I bought at a hot yoga place. It's good for 10 sessions, it expires 12/31. I've been... once. Whatever. Hot yoga's a pain.
5. Just... make it through the next few days. I hate the end of the year at work -- SO MUCH to do!

And where am I on my long term goals?
1. Organize books and movies.
2. Put up wall art.
3. Go through clothes.
4. Go to Goodwill.
5. Buy fake book boxes for the table near the TV. Did this yesterday!! Combined errands with the boyfriend. He needed to go to Hobby Lobby sometime to get more craft bags that are sized right for his Dominion cards, I knew that Hobby Lobby had the book boxes I wanted. Bingo! Went to one in Clear Lake on the way to his friend's place. Go team!
6. Revisit the shoe cubby idea.
7. Figure out how to make Thai tea.
8. Measure table and hit up Target on 12/26 for clearance holiday table clothes. Actually did this already! I went to Target on Friday with a friend, before we had lunch, so I could buy gift wrapping. We were walking in the holiday tableware section and the cloth napkins and tablecloths were already on 50% so I just did it then. Didn't even need to measure the table - bought a round one that says the measurements and says the table would seat 4-6. Mine seats 4 so took a chance. Perfect fit! So now I don't have to go near Target the day after Christmas. YAY. I do need to go to some store before Saturday night though to get more tissue paper and one more thing for a white elephant gift.
9. Buy my iPad. Done!! Did this on Tuesday with the boyfriend on our way to dinner with his family.
10. Clean my car. Partially done... used a shop vac at my sister's house to vacuum out the floorboards and sides next to the driver and passenger seats. And while I was doing that... lo and behold, I found the phone I lost a month ago. That I already got replaced. Sigh.
11. Reorganize the pantry. Seriously. There's no rhyme or reason to the order it's in now.

Me, Myself, & I link up #2. And cookies!!

It's that time of the month again (no not THAT time of the month) - the Me, Myself, & I link up party. My second time doing this, I believe!


1. What was your favorite gift given to you as a child?
Let me paint the picture! It was 1991... I was 10 years old, sister was 13, brother was 15. We had banded together and asked for the Super Nintendo game system. It was all we wanted for Christmas! Christmas Eve we exchanged the family gifts, all good stuff, but no SNES. But that's okay, Santa had yet to come (and yes I think at this point I still believed in Santa - is that weird??) So Christmas morning comes, we get our Santa gift and still no SNES so we're all three a little bummed and then my dad's all, 'Hey, what's that behind the tree?' The end of this story would be terrible if it wasn't an SNES. Well it was! Man, my siblings and I played so much Super Mario World that Christmas break. And that next summer (I think) sooo much MarioKart.
There have been a lot of great presents over the years, but this was definitely the most memorable.

2. Christmas is almost here, what is that one Christmas song you could listen to on repeat?
Carol of the Bells and O Holy Night. Practically any version. I could also watch that video of the house lights synced with a Trans-Siberian Orchestra song constantly. 

3. What are a few of the items on your Christmas list this year?
New set of pots and pans, food processor, blender... It's a very kitcheny Christmas! Not a Kitschy Christmas. That's different. 

4. Do you and your family have any special holiday traditions?
We exchange family gifts on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning is all about Santa gifts! It's a little different as we get older... since Santa doesn't visit adults anymore. We're still figuring it out. But usually when we're around the tree exchanging presents, alcoholic beverages are involved. 

5. Which do you prefer: wrapping paper or gift bags? Why?
I love the look of wrapping paper and beautiful bows, but do enjoy the ease of gift bags. When you know what you're doing with tissue paper, you can make them look nice. All gift wrapping is really wasteful though... but I don't really care!

Let's see... what else is going on this week for me.

Oh, so no cookie swap party for me as it turns out. As usual, I way overbooked myself this week (seriously. I really need to work on that) and left no time to finish my Christmas shopping and gift wrapping. So I was looking at my schedule, workwise and lifewise, and realized I had one remaining day of vacation hanging out in my balance that I'd been saving for something or just wanting to rollover. I actually debated taking it off or not because I really wanted to go to the cookie party. I had my cookie picked out (holiday confetti cake batter cookies) and I had heard from a new commenter on my blog that the chocolate mint cloud cookies would totally work, since you're essentially making a meringue which bakes fine... AND she told me about a new cookie I should look for, and I totally did and will have to try out sometime (strawberry cake mix and cool whip cookies - yes I am a little obsessed with all the cookies I can make from cake mix! But hey, I had such success with the chocolate chip pumpkin spice cookies, why stop there?)

But I had to. I have the day, I need to take it, I have so much to do. I would have been going crazy Friday night. I also need to take advantage of the fact that there's the long weekend and I get presents and see family and friends and I can just BREATHE... before the year end mess and January busy'ness hits me and hits me hard.

Maybe I'll just make some cookies tomorrow. I have having lunch with a friend who's on holiday break from law school and back in town. Maybe she'll make cookies with me! It all depends on where I am come lunch time with my private gift wrapping party.

This week I also bought my Christmas present to myself -- 4th generation black iPad with 64 gig. I LOVE IT. MERRY CHRISTMAS, SELF.

In case I don't have a chance to blog again in the next few days, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! And have a good weekend to those who don't!

Recipe - Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili

I wanted to do a crockpot recipe yesterday so I did! I hadn't done chili yet so I purused my Pinterest boards on Saturday with my boyfriend so he could veto anything I might choose and decided to do this one:

I have it pinned here on my Completed board. Here's the recipe below, with my few changes.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
Servings: 10

1 onion, chopped (used 1 medium sized yellow onion)
1 16-oz can black beans (used 1 15-oz can of Ranch Style black beans - drained off most of the liquid)
1 16-oz can kidney beans (used 1 15.5-oz can of HEB dark red kidney beans - drained off most of the liquid)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce (used 1 15-oz can of HEB tomato sauce)
10 oz package frozen corn kernels (used 1 15-oz can of Hill Country Fare whole kernel corn - drained off most of the liquid)
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies (used 2 10-oz cans of Ro*Tel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies - 1 Mild, 1 Original)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
24 0z. (3) boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used just over two pounds, chicken breast tenders, cut into about 4 pieces each. Since the chicken didn't really shred, very glad I did this)
chili peppers, chopped (optional) (didn't do this, the BF isn't a huge fan of spicy)
chopped fresh cilantro (sadly didn't do this, the BF hates cilantro. If I want him to not eat something, a way to protect it so it's mine, all mine, is add cilantro. But that's mean.)
 
Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours (usually I prefer to cook on low but I didn't get this in the crockpot until around 11, and I didn't want to have to wait until 9PM to eat so I did high for 6 hours). Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred (didn't do this - when it had about an hour left, I poked the chicken with a fork and it wasn't shredding so I just stirred it down into the liquid so it would get the flavor and mix up better). Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro (nope). Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream (extra points) (served on a handful of Fritos and with a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese). 

I also stirred it around every once in awhile. Maybe every 2 hours or so? 

Whoops, the only pic I took of it cooking - pretty much right after I dumped everything in.

And I also forgot to take pics of the day of when it was ready.
So here it is the next day! Sunday crockpot, Monday leftovers!

Cookie swap prep

Just found out my department is doing a cookie swap on Friday. Hmmm.... Time to invade the Pinterest board o' sweets!

Holiday Confetti Cake Batter Cookies - it uses box cake mix, yay! I do like sprinkles...

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Cookies - tried and true, always turns out well, easy easy easy...

Dark Chocolate & Mint Chip Clouds - only egg whites and sugar? Doesn't seem like they'd stay together...

Funfetti Cake Cookies -  you can bake yogurt? Hmm. This IS from the same blog that brought us Funfetti dip...

Decisions, decisions...

5 for Five #2

It's Monday... and I'm putting off getting ready for work... so it's that time again!

Let's see how I did last week, then set the new goals for this week! Green is successful, red is epic fail.

1. Put my laundry away.
2. Zumba at least twice this week.
3. Make food for parties.
4. Do some more Christmas shopping.
5. Call my parents.

Not bad, not bad... I did at least go to Zumba once last week. On Thursday I thought about it, but I got stuck at work a little late, and I needed to go to the store to get ingredients for the things I was making for Friday and Saturday. And the last time I want to go to the store is after I've worked out so I'm sweaty and tired. So I just went straight to the store and then home and spent some time with my boyfriend. And Saturday morning I could have gone... but didn't. Instead I made the Jello for cherry coke salad and went back to bed and lazed and then did Christmas shopping.

So here are my new ones! This week's are hard to come up with because it's a really busy week for work and socially... but here we go.

1. Finish up Christmas shopping. One more present to go, one more present to go!!

2. Wrap up Christmas presents! I usually like to do one big wrapping party and get them all out of the way in one shot, but I might have to do a present a night or something this year. This week is really busy... I think I'm doing something every night. Gotta cram in my social time because I'm going to disappear come January thanks to W-2 season and other year-end and quarter-end filing required for my job.

3. Zumba once! Tomorrow is my only chance! It's offered M-Th at 7:00P and Saturday morning at 10:30A. Tonight I have kickball, Wednesday I have the Rockets vs. 76'ers game (Chandler Parsons bobblehead night!), Thursday I have Bingo with coworkers for one of my coworker's birthdays, and Friday is up in the air. Invited to two End of the World parties or I may have dinner with my sister and a friend or I may just stay home and finish wrapping presents.

4. Do laundry. Getting low on my favorite workout clothes... I need to just buy more good workout pants.

5. Vacuum. We had people over unexpectedly yesterday and I realized I hadn't really swept or vacuumed in awhile, and I didn't have a chance to before they came over... It's presentable, and probably fine, but it still bugs me.

And here are some that I don't expect to get done in the next 5 days but they need to be done at some point... So... long term 5 for 5! Do in the next... 5 months?

1. Organize books and DVDs/Blurays. I was looking for Love Actually yesterday to watch with Ana, as is my yearly tradition around Christmas, and it took me awhile to find it. The order to the books and movies in the bookshelves is still 'get it out of boxes and into the shelves' that was created months ago when I finished unpacking.
I still need to do some measurements and make it down to Harwin where there are a lot of merchandise display stores. I have my books and DVDs in two rows in the bookshelves, because they're really deep, and I would like to put the back row up on risers. Just a half inch or so would do it. Just so I could see the titles of what's on the back row.

2. Put up wall art. I have a lot of it, I have wall hangers, I have a hammer... I just need to get it all out, organize the layout in my head, ask Chris if he wants any input on it (lol), and then DO IT! Put some holes in those walls!

3. Go through clothes. I have stuff I'm sure I never wear. Some may not even fit that well or I may not even like anymore. And if I go through clothes and get rid of it... I can justify getting new clothes~~~.

4. After #3 is done, Go to Goodwill. I actually know I will need to go to Goodwill soon after Christmas because I happen to know I'm getting a gift that will replace some stuff I currently have, and it will find a good home with Goodwill.

5. Buy fake book boxes for the table near the TV. Just an idea I came up over the weekend. They're really handy, and I think they look nice. Pretty sure Hobby Lobby always has them.

6. Revisit the shoe cubby idea. Need to continue looking for something that would fit near the door for our shoes and guest shoes. They're all spread out now and it drives me a little crazy.

7. Figure out how to make Thai tea. I have the mix, I have a tea sock. The method of using a coffee pot to just brew it won't really work for me since I have a single cup coffee maker (got it at Kohl's for $9!), so... figure something else out!

8. Measure kitchen table and hit up Target on 12/26 for clearance holiday table clothes. Maybe matching napkins if there is anything really pretty left over.

9. Buy my iPad. Okay, this one actually should be done in the next week or so, but I keep forgetting to go over to Microcenter so here it is. 

10. Clean my car. Go all out -- car wash, vacuum the inside, clear out the stuff in the backseat, clear out the stuff in the trunk. 

Recipe - Cherry Coke Salad

My first real recipe post! And it's not just a regurgitation of something I found on Pinterest!

So a little back story  This is a dish my great aunt on my dad's side would always bring to the family dinner at our house on Thanksgiving. My dad has the recipe and my sister made it for Thanksgiving this year. I had a holiday dinner with a bunch of friends last night and decided to bring this to the meal.

Is it good? Weird but yes it's good. But half of my enjoyment of it is really more nostalgia than anything.

So here it is! And contrary to what a lot of my friends assume when they hear the name, you don't use cherry Coke. This recipe has been made in my family for long before cherry Coke was invented.

Cherry Coke Salad


2 pkg (4-serving-size) black cherry flavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 can Coca Cola
1 cup cherry liquid, make up the needed liquid with more Coca Cola
1 can seedless black cherries (drain and reserve liquid)
1/2 cup broken pecans
1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
1/3 cup chopped celery
8 oz cream cheese, chopped into small chunks
Juice of 1 lemon

Put gelatin in a bowl and add hot water, stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add Coke and reserved cherry juice. Add lemon juice and place mixture in refrigerator: allow to gel completely. When mixture has gelled fully, use a spoon to break up into small chunks: add cherries, pecans, celery, marshmallows and cream cheese; mix lightly. Return to refrigerator to maintain gel, serve cold.

Notes: Chopped Pineapple can be used as additional filling in the salad – 1 cup.
I leave out the marshmallows and celery.

Sunday Confessions

It's that time again! That was a seriously fast week... It's been a seriously fast weekend too but it's been so great. Love this time of year! So many parties.... I've gotten to spend more time with people I haven't seen in weeks, find out what's going on in their life... So great.


1. I finally got my jelly beans! I was running various errands yesterday and doing Christmas shopping, and heading to Candylicious on West Alabama was on my list but I really didn't want to go there because it was across town from everything else I was doing and no other errand required me to go that direction. So I was heading back on Westheimer, out past the Beltway and I passed an HEB and thought to myself, that seems like a pretty big HEB. I wonder... So I pulled in, parked, hunted down their candy aisle...

It's like the promised land. Or something.

2. It's raining and I want it to stop. I need to go to the store soon to get stuff for crockpot chili (I'm planning to do this recipe) and I hate driving in the pouring rain. Other drivers are crazy when it's raining...

3. I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping! I need to go to one more store to get my dad's present and that's it.

4. Funfetti dip gathers new fans! I made it for a party on Friday night. I was bored and it didn't seem colorful enough so I dug in the pantry to see what I had and added red sprinkles. I'm going to get green ones so I can make it red and green sometime and call it my Christmas Snow Dip!
Here is the recipe for Funfetti for those of you who may have missed it on my earlier blog post.

5. I had a dream last night about reconciling with a friend who I essentially "broke up with" years ago. The dream was absolutely crazy. She was taller, and a mother now, and had an accent that she'd picked up from the foreign guy she married a few years ago. It made absolutely no sense. But now I'm going to thinking about her all week. Stupid dream!

6. I love the little clementines that arrive in all stores around the holiday season. So delicious  so easy to peel! I get one whiff of that delicious citrus smell and my mind is swept away to CHRISTMAS TIMES, YAY! That smell just reminds me of Christmas. It's really interesting how closely connected to our memories our scent of smell.

I've always seen them named Cuties. Maybe Cuties are from Florida, Sweeties are from California?

Movie review - The Hobbit

Here it is, finally! I went to a movie screening of The Hobbit on Monday with a friend and I have been dying to talk about this movie. But the invitation asked viewers not to talk about the movie (on Facebook, blogs, etc.) until the release date of the movie... so fine. Blah. I'll play by the rules. I do want to still get invited to screenings and not get banned!

So here it is, 12:01 AM on 12/14/2012... at least according to East Coast time zones. The movie is starting in theaters, I can finally say my thoughts!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

 I'll focus on this in two parts -- the movie itself and the 3D aspect I saw it in, the new HFR 3D.

The movie is very good! A little long... 2 hours, 49 minutes... but it's Tolkien and Peter Jackson, what do you expect? I knew beforehand so I was able to plan accordingly. Go to the restroom before the movie and NO DRINKS in the movie! Yea that soda is delicious but having to leave midway through cos you gots ta pee? Not fun. It starts a little slow, the whole set up of the characters kind of being introduced, but then it moves along pretty well. It's pretty easy to tell when you're getting to the end of the movie.

Now... let's talk about the latest and greatest technology in 3D movies. The High Frame Rate format. For those not fully aware, High Frame Rate 3D (HFR 3D) is the "latest and greatest" technology for 3D movies. The usual frame rate I believe is 24 fps, this is 48 fps. It was designed I believe to improve 3D quality and reduce blurring, etc.

Whatever.

I. Hated. It. 

Maybe you do need to first keep in mind, I'm not a sucker for 3D movies. If a movie comes out in 3D, typically I'll just go for the 2D. I don't see that it really adds much. I know the rocks or birds or whatever are not really flying at my head, I don't need to think they are. I don't need to feeeel like I'm in the movie. I'm not. Sorry, my suspension of disbelief is cynical sometimes. I also don't like paying the extra money. I also think the 3D glasses fit weird. Also a lot of times there are the obligatory 3D scenes... you know the ones I mean. The camera's panning around, you're zooming through things, things are flying at you. Lame. So, I think you get my point. 3D doesn't add anything for me, and in this case, I felt it actually took away from the movie. At first I didn't notice it... then in the first action scene came up and everything seemed really jerky and sped up. You know how most DVD/Bluray players have multiple speeds for fast forward? I know the PS3 has what I"m talking about. Think of the first one, where you can still still the scenes and hear the dialogue, it's just all sped up. I thought something was wrong with the film... Once I noticed it, it's all I could see in every scene.

I've read some stuff about it online and critics say it just takes awhile to get used to... Lies!! The movie was nearly 3 hours long, I had plenty of time to "get used to it", I didn't. I at least didn't get sick from it... As I was leaving, I heard that some people in another theater did get motion sickness from it. I'm not sure how but I believe it.

Phew, that's enough ranting about the new stupid 3D technology.

So overall, I recommend the movie. It is very good, an interesting start to a new trilogy (next movies are in December 2013 and December 2014). I really should go read the book now. (Haha, maybe I will next year, it can count towards my 2013 reading challenge since it's on the BBC The Big Read list!) Clearly I can't say how true to the book the movie is... not yet! Maybe the next two I can? I just do not recommend the movie in 3D or at least the HFR 3D. I think it's also being presented in the Real 3D, which is pretty good, and IMAX 3D. And just plain ol' 2D! I like plain ol' 2D.

5 for Five #1

I really like this idea... Saw this linked on one of my new followers' blogs (Hi Mia!) And since this is my first time doing this, I only have to make a list! I don't have to update how I did on this last week.

So here's the deal. This is a link up with Jenn and Jessica. Every Monday, I'll set five goals for myself to be accomplished over the next five days. Then the next Monday, I'll evaluate how I did on my goals and set new ones. And then the next Monday, I'll evaluate those and set new ones... Do you see the pattern?

Okay, new motivation method... Let's go.


1. Put my laundry away. That's right. I know. I did some of it last night but I still need to hang stuff up. So. Do it!

2. Zumba at least twice this week. Last week I was sick, so didn't. Fine, whatever. But this week, no excuses! I have it on my calendar for Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I want to make it to at least two. If I can do all three even better!

3. Make food for parties. I have some get togethers this weekend, Friday and Saturday night, and I plan to make Funfetti dip for Friday's and cherry coke salad (no link for this, it's an old family recipe and I can't find the exact recipe online... I may just have to make one on Allrecipes and then take a picture) for Saturday's. And maybe my dad's cranberry sauce for Saturday's. Maybe. I don't have a zester or a small hand held juicer and I would need that for the recipe.

4. Do some more Christmas shopping. Need to get a present for my dad, my mom, and a white elephant gift for a party in late December. That gift might bring me to Bed Bath & Beyond... which is a dangerous place to go when I already stated I don't have a zester or juicer!

5. Call my parents. I haven't talked to them in awhile... Dang, self, have you even talked to them since Thanksgiving? Bad daughter, bad. Call mom and dad.

Sunday Confessions - Look guys, on a Sunday!

It's that time again! And look, I'm even doing it on a Sunday. I haven't done that in about three weeks...


1. I kind of totally bailed on the pub crawl I organized last night. Well technically I didn't organize it, St Arnold's did, I just found out about it and made a Facebook event for it so my friends knew it was happening.
Chris and I were running a little late but as planned we were able to eat beforehand at Le Madeline with some friends and then headed over to meet up with more people at Buffalo Wild Wings, which was one of the first four stops. I didn't want to eat there because I was afraid everyone would have that idea since it was one of the pub crawl stops. Guess what? I was right!! Got a text from one of my friends while at BW3: 'Understand now why you ate at La Madeline. They took forever with Sheldon's burger!' See? Sometimes I do know what I'm 'talking about.
BW3 was so crowded!! A bunch of people were eating so we stayed awhile and then most of the group was ready to go so headed on out to the next place. My other friends who were at another table were finishing up beers, and they were nice beers, no chugging, so we stayed another five minutes or so to let them finish then headed out. Next place was Little Woodrow's on Morningside which is pretty much all outdoors and a bar with no real front wall, just open air... so! Crowded! And cigarette smoke filled. Gross. I did find the rest of the group but they were "inside" near the bar and I stood with them for about a minute before I started to get claustrophobic from the press of people and had to escape. Chris, a friend of his, and I decided to just hit the rest of the places to get our stamps since they were all so close and then camp out in Black Walnut Cafe, which was NOT on the crawl, until it was time for the final stop and the pint glasses. So that's what we did. I did at least text as many people as I could think of to let them know that's what we were doing, and they could join us if they wanted, and Black Walnut had beer and wine if they wanted to drink! I got accused of cheating. Whatever. I can't deal with crowds and cigarette smoke. Ok I probably could but I choose not to. It's not my idea of fun. I like being able to hear the conversation I'm having with someone. I like personal space. And I like AC!
So if anyone who came out is reading this... I hope you had fun. I  hope you didn't feel abandoned by me, that was not my intention. I hope no one was off by their lonesome. That was not my intention.
And if anyone is still saying I cheated, haha, shut up. I got the same glass you did. Look how my collection grows!

Santo - from Dec crawl, C Ale - from Nov crawl, Summer Pills - from a crawl years ago I did  in Market Square area with my sister and brother-in-law, Lawnmower - from when I went to the brewery a few weeks ago.

2. Do you want to see my Christmas decorations for the apartment? Boom! That's it. :) I know. I go all out, what can I say?

3. I need to put laundry away. Seriously. I did laundry on Wednesday or so and it's all in a basket in the living room, just waiting for me. Maybe today. Maybe. I should today.... or else when the heck will I?

4. This weekend is just way too busy... I just want to hide. Yesterday it was the spa at 9, get gas, go to the bank. Book club holiday book exchange at 11 (I gave World War Z, I got Little Bee. PLEASE don't tell me anything about it! Somehow I've gone this long without being spoiled on it). Pick up equipment for ultimate frisbee today on my way home. Get ready for the pub crawl. Crawl. And then I was actually invited to two other parties last night, and my singles group had a games night. I called it quits after we hit up Chocolate Bar after getting our pint glasses. Enough is enough! I'm tired. And I wanted to spend time with my friends who drove up from where they live, an hour away, And then I wanted to spend time with my boyfriend. I felt like I never saw him this week cos I was sick and sleeping almost all the time I was home.
And today is just as crazy... Dim sum brunch with one of his friends at 11. I may have to bail early because I have ultimate frisbee that I'm hosting for the singles group at 1. Then this evening, we have dinner with Chris' family at 6 to celebrate his grandmother's 80th birthday.
All fun but aaaah! WTF! Did I even look at my calendar when I made my schedule this weekend, to notice the other events scheduled?
At least I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping.

5. I'm going to a screening of The Hobbit tomorrow with a friend -- IMAX!! Not 3D, I think. I meant to read the book before I saw the movie... whoops.

6. My blog hit 700 page views today!!

7. My confessions will probably never be juicy... sorry. This is my personal blog but it's still the internet, not my locked away diary. I still am very cautious the amount of deeply personal information I put out here.

2013 Reading Challenge!

I am making this reading challenge to myself -- feel free to challenge yourself as well. If you do, let me know!

I already do the Goodreads Annual Reading Challenge -- in 2011 and 2012 but I really want to read more classic novels and literature. Because some of the stuff I read is not quality literature... but I don't care. I'll still read it!

So in addition to doing the Goodreads annual reading challenge, starting in 2013 and forward, I am going to challenge myself to read a certain number of books per year from the BBC Big Read list. It's a list that's.... 8 years old, but I think it holds up.

I also have the Big Read books in Goodreads lists -- Books 1-100 and Books 101-200

How to decide how many of the books should be from the Big Read? Hm... Easy!

2013 - 3 books from BBC Big Read (Or 13? I don't know if I'm that ambitious...)
2014 - 4 books from BBC Big Read
And so forth. I'll figure out 2020 when I get to it. (2019 - 9 books. 2020 - .... 20 books?)

Friday! No more quarantine!

It's Friday!!!

It's also the first day of the week I really feel normal again. And healthy. I had a sore throat on Sunday when I woke up for the Graffiti Run and powered through it. And then slept for most of Sunday as I mentioned in my blog earlier this week. Monday and Tuesday, powered through work cos I had things I needed to get done and slept long hours in the evening. Tuesday I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to meet up with friends figuring I'd order some wings some a spice sauce -- spice is good for clearing sinuses, right? After I left BW3, I went to get some serious meds. Wednesday I left work early because I finished my very time sensitive work for the week and figured this is dumb, I need rest, I need to recover. That is what sick time is for! Yesterday I was feeling much better... unfortunately not better enough to go to Zumba. Especially not when I had to spend an hour in traffic getting home! Ridiculous! So I was very bad this week with the working out... but I was sick. So leave me alone. I'm doing yoga tonight with a friend. Hot yoga! Sweat out the rest of my sicky toxins!

On Wednesday I did FINALLY cook the curry thing I'd been meaning to cook for about a week now...

How it's supposed to look - per the box.

How mine looked... Hmm.

It's actually pretty good. Cut up about 2.5 pounds of chicken into little chunks (I was supposed to cube it -- time consuming!!), a whole yellow onion into small chunks, two red bell peppers into chunks. I kind of browned the onions and chicken in the pot in oil but not really. I am so bad at doing that. I always add too much oil and then it gets hot and starts popping and I get scared and take it off the heat and use the heated up oil to brown things. It's really probably hilarious to watch. I eventually gave up on it and continued on, dumping in the rest of the chicken and onion and bell pepper. I worry more about browning red meat than poultry. Then I added six cups of water and brought it to a boil and then it simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. (I had a bag of little carrots to add but didn't -- it didn't seem like I had enough room in the pot for another veggie.) Then took it off the heat and broke up the curry mix into it and let them melt which turned it the brown color!

Grade for the curry sauce mix: B+. I'll buy it again. The first night it was really liquidy -- I probably should have added some flour or corn starch to the pot to thicken it but didn't want to deal with it. Actually as it cools though the sauce thickens up. It's thicker now than it was the first day. It's really handy and goes a long way. And is pretty tasty. I wish I could just make it myself because the sodium level on the boxed stuff is really high... But considering how much the entire pack makes, it's not terrible. Definitely not something I'll make every week. Is the curry I buy at Tokyo Bowl better? Yes. But you can't eat out every day!

The first night I made it we ate it over rice. Yum. Last night my boyfriend got creative and got out some of the leftover curry and some packs of ramen. Curry ramen noodles! Yum!

Yesterday was my holiday office party. We went ice skating and played broomball (senior manager went down!!!) and then had a raffle. I put in to win the CEO's courtside seats for a game, and an iPad... Didn't win a thing. They also raffled off, pulling from everyone's tickets, cash! Two $250, $500, and $1,000... Nope. No money for me. But it was all in good fun. Congrats to those who did win (grumble, grumble). I can't complain. When Chris and I went to his holiday office party, I won two free movie tickets from their raffle.

So now all of my chances to win a free iPad are gone for the season. Guess I should just buy one already. One black 32 gig iPad with retina display (just call it the iPad 4, Apple), coming up! Merry Christmas. To myself! This morning I was listening to my radio show on my drive to work and they were talking about a study that says women expect their partner to give them $480 worth of Christmas gifts. The formula is about 1% of the partner's annual salary. That is absolutely ridiculous. About a month ago Chris actually asked me, so you want an iPad, and I told him not to get one for me. Can he afford it? Yes, of course. Do I deserve it? Of course, I'm awesome! But that's way too much. He already has my love, he doesn't have to try to buy it.

All right, time to do some work. Then it's the weekend!!

Today -- lunch with my sister at Food truck Fridays! Yoga!
Then this weekend... Spa! Holiday book exchange with my book club! Pub crawl! Game night (maybe)! Dim sum! Ultimate Frisbee! Busy weekend.

Sunday Confessions - Not on Sunday, again

1. I think I need to just call this my Weekly Confessions. This is my third time doing it and second time I've done it a day late. I have an excuse though! I felt under the weather yesterday. Woke up with a sore throat but pushed myself to deal with it because I had the Graffiti Run with a friend at 8. Got home, de-colored myself and my gear. Watched some tv. Went to eat lunch with the boyfriend and knew then something had me. My tastebuds were totally dead. I only ate half a burger and about a third of my shake. The rest of it is still in my freezer. Laid down for a nap at 3:30 and was pretty much out the rest of the day. Still feeling it today but not nearly as bad. Just have a headache and my nose is all stopped up. Definitely sinus congestion. Blah. Boyfriend was a total sweetheart. He got me water and medication and then left me be!

2. I am in love with colorful runs! I did the Color Run in November, the Graffiti Run yesterday. Signed up for Color in Motion in February... They're so much better than mud runs. Not as gross, clean up is so much easier, and they're just so happy! Look how cool this is! And I'm pretty sure they are all based on the Holi festival celebrated by Hindus in early spring. Maybe I just need to go to India or Nepal to see the real color throws.

Not my picture, got it from here: http://alohaphotog.blogspot.com/2012/07/color-throw.html. My picture of the big color throw at the end was not nearly this nice. But the color throw itself was just as awesome!

Here's a pic of my friend and me who walked together. They had out a box of pink (and green, but we didn't get to it) powder to play in pre-race. So our before pictures are colorful too:

Crazy girls, me and Dede!

 3. Still on track to do Zumba twice this week... tomorrow and Thursday. Just need to feel better. Can you sweat away feeling bad?

4. I need to cook more. I was a bad girlfriend last week. We ate out a lot (helping the economy?). I was supposed to cook some chicken curry thing yesterday but I realized halfway through my nap the chicken was still in the freezer and I also couldn't get myself out of bed to do anything with it.

5. I need to hunt down which grocery stores have a bulk candy section because I want to buy Jelly Belly jelly beans (of my own flavor choice) and keep them at work. I have some now but I'm down to the hard-to-recognize colors/flavors and the ones that I can recognize, I just don't like that much. They're so nice to have at work -- so easy to turn down sweets when you can go back to your desk and enjoy a delicious chocolate pudding or Dr. Pepper or peach jelly bean (or 2 or 3 or 10). Fat free, gluten free, 4 calories a bean!
I had the brilliant idea this weekend to go to the Galleria... dragged the boyfriend because it's dangerous to go to a candy store alone. We were going to eat lunch at E-Tao and then head to Dylan's Candy Bar. Well.... we made it to the Galleria, after sitting in traffic for about 20 minutes on Westheimer to go 1 mile. In the parking garage we couldn't find a spot so we went over to the orange garage and STILL couldn't find a spot. So I finally admitted defeat, admitted my boyfriend was right and this was a terrible idea (at least for this time of year -- any other day it would have been a great, well-thought out plan!) and we went to Chipotle.
So yea... Still need jelly beans. And now every time I want to eat I want E-Tao because for the next 22 days, I CAN'T HAVE IT! Stupid Galleria.