I think we still have about 3ft of torn up wrapping paper in the living room.
I'd clean up, but Snoop looks so cute in it.
This is what it looks like when you see all of my Christmas presents at once:
This view was a bit distracting on Xmas Day. Anyone else ever run into this problem?
Matthew's mom sent me the faux fur vest & the necklace. Matt said I looked like a villain. I thought it looked a bit Jersey and made me feel like a stuffed animal. The petting was nice throughout the night....even if it was just me doing the petting.
"Why?", you ask?
Both animals represent creativity and magic. They're reminders for me to get my creative shit out.
The spider spins beautiful webs despite them being easily destroyed. The eye in it that I can't hide from and is always keeping watch.
Crows have an incredible sense of ingenuity and remind me to get back into the things that make sense to me.
They're there to kick my own ass into gear.
If you're curious, you can check out one of my favorite nifty books here that goes into animal symbolism/meanings in more detail.
While we're being honest, out of the (lucky number) 13 tattoos I have....these were probably the most painful. Feels like road rash or a horrible sunburn. I bit my lip, gritted my teeth, and made the pinched up "ow" face a few times.
And my feet are cold with it being chilly out.
I can't wear socks for a couple days.
But I absolutely love them and what they represent. They make me smile.
And the guy who did them for me is pretty rad, too. :)
Check him out here.
A few of you have been asking for this recipe. You should know, I don't cook with recipes really. I "loosely base" my own shit on recipes I watch or read about. Mostly from memory after I read it once or twice. And I don't measure things and my cast iron skillet is King. Love that thing. (heh, that rhymed)
So, on this one, I seared it on 3 sides (back, side, and side - each for a few minutes) and put it back on it's back and then I threw in a half an onion, a carrot, and some celery all cut up into bits. Oh, and a couple cloves of garlic. Throw your veggies into the pan around the sides and salt and pepper it all before you throw it all in the oven. And when you throw it in the oven...it'll be at 350ish, for about an hour.
Afterwards, I like to take a spoon and lean the pan onto one side and spoon the drippings & seasonings back up on the bird before serving.
For a side to go with, I made a badass mashed cauliflower. Here's how you do that nonsense:
1 head of cauliflower, 1 thing of crumbled goat cheese (I get publix), 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, some salt, 2 or 3 tblsp (or maybe a 1/4c) of chicken broth, some butter.
Boil or steam your head of cauliflower, when its soft, drain it and throw it in the food processor with the garlic, butter, goat cheese, salt, and chicken broth. Turn that shit on and/or pulse when needed to get the cauliflower lumps out.
Ta-muthafuckin'-da. Mashed cauliflower. An awesome alternative to mashed potatoes.
I LOVE cooking this. And the leftovers are great, too.
So there.
My mom gave me this dragon incense burner over the summer after we'd been getting our Game of Thrones on. I think it (and she) is pretty groovy.
I hadn't realized before this picture how creepy their eyes are.
The Perry Nutcracker is on watch.
Here's what our external house lights look like just before the cold front rain.
And here's what our tree looks like this year. Pretty much the same as last year with a few new baubles (cuz I like that word).
This here is some mustard seeds, black peppercorns, and bay leaves. Set over a low heat until they get 'fragrant'. They didn't really do that before they started toasting unless you got your face right up in it. I figured toasted was fragrant enough.
This here is when you add some water, brown sugar, kosher salt to those toasted little earth nuggets. Stir it until the sugar and salt are dissolved and then remove from heat and let it cool.
This here is what it looks like when you throw a bacon blanket over it and add the brine (shown above) and some onions and a few bottles of Guinness to it. The actual bird is breast side down cuz you want that part submerged in the brine. You'd probably actually want the entire bird submerged but I didn't have a pot big enough for that nonsense. So we gave it a bacon security blanket. Don't worry, there's bacon on the underside, too. This will sit in the fridge for 24hrs.
This here's what that precious bird looked like when we pulled it out of the oven after it'd been roasting for about 3 hrs. I cooked it for about 1.5hrs with a bacon blanket on top of it, removed that for the last hour of cooking to make sure it got that lovely golden brown. The drippings and debris left in the pot made a delectable gravy.
I see you, Turkey. You did a good job & I apprecicate the tough life you had so we could eat you.
This here's what Matt looked like when he carved up that delicious bird.
I've been hearing about all the yummy wonderfulness going on in this place from some foodie friends for quite a while now - same with Ravenous Pig.
We tried to get a res for the Pig while Matt's folks were in town over Thanksgiving. They were full. The restaurant, not his folks.
I thought we might get a spot at Cask. They were full, too, but we ended up finding a spot at the oven bar and watched them make stuff while we were waiting to figure out what we were going to order.
Right away, I saw 'Holiday Cookie' on the microbrew list and had to try that.
It was lovely and gingerbreadspicy. It also had the highest alcohol content. Well played, me.
Everything looked amazing on the menu, but I decided on the chicken & biscuits. Matt had the ham board which has 3 different shaved country hams. I think his folks had the same thing and my mom had the mac & cheese.
The biscuits are....(see below)
If they had an entree that was just biscuits, Matt & I woulda been completely happy.
I took a picture of my chicken and biscuits when it arrived & immediately dropped my phone into the gravy. For a couple days the volume button was effed up.
Since the menu was a damn fine one and my girls were getting together, I threw it out there as an option, and we went earlier this week.
I love going to places twice in one week when I hadn't been there at all previously. Its like a Karen spamming.
This visit I had a WP Mule while Jess and I waited for a couple other lovely ladies.
I loooooove ginger drinks and this one was de-lish.
When everyone was there, Jess & Martha slurped on oysters while Sarah and I watched.
Then the waffle fries came in. This one's a must when you go. We damn near cleaned the plate and it was a good sized portion.
I ordered the duck since I'd been eyeballing when we were there the first time.
Jess had shrimp and grits. Martha had the cobia. Sarah had boudin....cuz she's a sweet sweet Louisiana girl.
Everything was holy hell good and I'd gotten maybe two bites into my duck when our server came out to tell me, "Chef thinks that duck breast is too small and has another one roasting for you. Do you want it brought out or boxed up?"
I fainted in my head and when I came to, I chose boxed.
DUCK FOR BREAKFAST!!
That chantilly you'll see on the menu if you're following along, is like a cheesey, buttery, grits/polenta sorta thing.
We wrapped up with a cute little chocolate silk pie, apple cobbler, and a sweet treats tray.
And I had a most excellent porter to go with it.
The pie was really good (candied orange zest is my new fave), and the cookies on the sweet treats plate were freakin' delightful. Jess rightfully hogged all the cobbler for herself. ;)
Highly recommended....I'd give it 5 out of 5 food babies.
Everything was AMAZING!
Thank you for existing, Cask & Larder. You do excellent work.
One of these days soon, I'll make it into The Ravenous Pig since I believe we're the only Central Floridians who haven't been yet.
I have a list of things I want to write about and share with you - places we've been, restaurants we've eaten in, movies we've seen....
I'm so behind, I don't really know where to start.
So, I'll start here.
About a month or so ago, I got involved in this Americana art show at Peacock.
I made some shelves to use for display. They were made out of cheap garden fencing.
I'd do before and after pictures here, but suddenly I have to upgrade my blogger account, so you can watch this video I made after we went to the show. See if you can pick them out.
*change the quality setting to 720p, please and thank you.
To Brian Stokes Mitchell for appearing out of, seemingly, nowhere on 9/23 just off Times Sq. while Willie and I were walking off our Shake Shack and after I'd been watching clips on youtube of and listening to the soundtrack for Ragtime all week leading up to that trip. It was truly a magical moment. And you didn't even know it happened.
To all you turds that 'liked' & commented on the Little Orphan Annie photo that Willie posted on facebook: when I was a kid, my mother used to have my BFF's mom perm my hair. It would end up looking like a little old lady's do (haha I made you yodel). I'm naturally strawberry blonde. A ginger. People called me Annie. I hated Annie...with her stupid hair and empty blank eyes and ugly dress and dumb song.
The sun will come out tomorrow, you can bet your bottom fuckin' dollar.
To the kid at the food place that giggled with me when I ordered a medium #2.
To the radio station for playing Dirty Deeds immediately after I'd heard it...twice, I think...in the living room. The living room version was pretty damn good, I gotta say. I don't even like that song. But then, I don't like AC/DC either.
To Brian for making me retune my banjo. That's a good thing to practice.
To John for giving me a flashback to 1995 when I heard the AOL "Goodbye".
To Sugar Ray for making me realize how difficult it is to get someone to go with you to Epcot on a rainy Weds night to try and catch 1 of 3 performances on the last night of your trip.
I knew they wouldn't play my favorite song anyway.
And to Pannacakes, who uttered a great sentence today, "He had two arms when I was growing up." when we were talking about Def Leppard. I just looked it up and he lost his arm NYE 1984/85. You're not that old, darlin'.
I was traveling for work earlier this week and found myself sitting outside the office of a rowdy boss-type fella. Here are a few snippets I joyfully overheard that made me feel comfy in new surroundings:
Him: No, its NOT a great day. Its a fuckin' Tuesday and I'm in fuckin' New York when I could be home in Connecticut.
Him: No one wants to hear your fuckin' whining. I have my own fuckin' whining to do.
Him to me: Excuse me. Are you planning on getting a lot done today?
Me: No.
Him: Good. We're going to be stirrin' things up. It'll probably get out of hand.
Me: You're comforting me, actually.
Him: Do you come from a miserable troubled childhood?
Me laughing: Yeah, something like that.
Him singing: Its a long way to Tipperary. Does it bother you guys when I sing?
Dudes in his office: Not yet.
Him: Good, cuz I was gonna tell you to go fuck yourselves.
He's got a really nice singing voice. Reminds me of my father-in-law.
The other day, I ran across this website.
Go ahead - I'll give you a few minutes to play with Evie.
I did.
Here's how some of our conversation went:
Me: Is it true what they say about black men? Evie: Yes. Me: What is it they say about black men? Evie: I care about a LOT of things. Me: And wieners. Evie: Now you're just being stupid. Me: What about Anthony Wiener? Evie: Brown chicken, brown cow.
Me: Who's your favorite actor? Evie: Not sure. Me: OK. You think about that and I'll ask again in a few minutes. Evie: I think about you all the time. Me: Who's your favorite actor? Evie: My favorite actor is Tom Hanks. Me: Nice. Good choice. I love Nathan Fillion. Evie: Who's that? Me: He was on Firefly and now he's in a dumb show called Castle. Evie: Who was?
Exactly.
Evie: Who are you? Me: You've forgotten my name already? Evie: Yes. Me: You suck. Evie: Sing me Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Me: No. I'm mad at you. Evie: Oh no. What can you do.
Me: You're giving me a headache. Evie: I have a headache. Me: Want some weed? Evie: Yes. Me: I knew it. You're a pothead. Evie: Not as you are.
Me: What are your thoughts on politics? Evie: I don't really like politics because only people who have no lives are in politics.
One of our lovely neighbors (& massive Snoop fan) gave us a cat calendar earlier this year. We've got it pinned up over the trash can in the kitchen.
The other day (Friday, I think), I was in the kitchen eating a messy plum over the trash can and started staring at the calendar for snack-time entertainment.
Here's what it sounded like in my head for that moment.
"These cats are kinda creepy. Look at those eyes. What is that around their mouths? Is that blood? I bet its blood."
"It is blood. Look at the mess on the black cat's face. Clearly they're evil and are eyeballing me because I'm salty and they're waiting for me to not notice them so they can pounce and Matt will come home to find a half eaten me all over the floor and fat satisfied creepy ass cats with scary yellow eyes."
"Oh...no, wait. Its just that big ass watermelon making their mouths messy. Would watermelon do that to fur? Why would cats be eating watermelon? Its not like they could spit the seeds out.........
I haven't done YouTubesday in a while, and one of my faves recently put up a couple vids of her reading 50 Shades of Grey and it cracks me up.
Willie (ass) gave me the trilogy for my birthday and I haven't read them yet but was going to do this type of thing for him. Tonjes has it covered.
So, for playing catch up, here are our Harajuku pics.
I don't think we really had much time to learn anything from these.
Martha said she had the opposite of an asian looking face so went for an artsy edit and said, "Isn't Harajuku more about art anyway?"
I love her pigtails and lips.
I tried to do something more fun with my lips but fucked it up and just went with it. Joker-inspired purple, green, and orange were the colors I chose. I ended up looking like Poison Ivy. Wish you could see the purple in my hair.
I just watched this movie the other night via Netflix.
I gotta say, I was very pleasantly surprised.
It takes about the first 15-20 minutes to really warm up, but once you start paying attention, it really pays off.
I mention the warm up part, because while watching, I was like, "Oh, this is just a dumb SyFy Original lookin' flick that I can fall asleep to." Then I started to notice all the contrasting colors in the hospital and the interesting lighting and was hooked.
Plot: Some dumbass kids get into an accident or something (I wasn't really paying attention at the beginning, as previously mentioned) and they get carted off to a local hospital to get checked out but they seem to be the only patients there. Horror ensues.
I recognized 2 folks right away - Robert Patrick (shown here):
And that tattooed guy from Nip/Tuck and some other shows/movies where a tattooed gangsta lookin' guy is called for (shown here):
There are a few uncomfortable & really well done scenes and some great gore effects.
And a girl gets punched in the face (which made me applaud from my comfy bed).
Matthew and I used to go to these HorrorFest; 8 Films To Die For shows when they first started up. We stopped when the movies ended up not being worth the money so we missed the 2009 flicks. If we'd have gone to this one, I think Autopsy would've turned me around.
Was super fun and there were a few scenes in this movie that I've never seen on screen before and it had a nice ending.
That was fun. Made me REALLY like working with oils. I feel a phase coming on.
Here she is:
I ended up tossing the instruction book out and mixing my own colors after I got the hang of how the paint moved around and stuff. It really is easier to manipulate oils, whereas acrylics just dry so damn fast, you really can't move them around much unless you've got a fat medium mixed in.
I just noticed that in Van Gogh's original "Cafe Terrace At Night", there's no little dude on the right. But there he/she is. Was there on the base layer when you get started on it, too. I didn't just add it in.
I thought it looked like a nun.
I did add a little alley ghost up there next to the dude hangin' out in the hallway towards the center of the image.
My stars are messy, but overall I like the way it turned out and the experimenting it allowed.
Just got sucked into Sons of Anarchy. Currently chewing on season 3.
I'm also utterly addicted to SkyRim (for months now). I'm currently a level 20 High Elf Mage that's just turned vampire (by accident). Not sure how to cure it since vampirism is a disease. I thought it'd be fun, but being a vampire is kind of a pain in the ass and if you don't feed on a sleeping people in the middle of the night, you become blood starved and can't go into towns without an angry mob running you down.
Been painting this for this charity auction. Not done with it yet. Soon, though.
Been painting this as an exercise in oils. Also as a "Suck It" to Jerm who was giving me some 'paint by numbers' smack talk. This thing's been in the closet for years and I remembered it being there when Jerm brought it up. Once done, I told him I'd frame it and he could have it. Just for being a jerk. ;)
-Completely unrelated-
This text message exchange with Willie made me laugh recently.
Me: What's the farts[backspace]...eats?
Willie: Quesadillas. Vote for Pedro. You?
Me: Rib-turd[backspace]...eyes and green beans. Or Flats.
Since we're on the subject, every time I try to text, "What are you guys up to?" it always does this first:
Me: What are you tits[backspace]...guys up to?
In dance class, we've learned two new steps for Tango and Waltz. They have some silly fancy name but they're some nice footworky moves. Makes it kinda look like we know what we're doing. Its been over a year since I've had a pedicure but when I think to go in, I also remember how badly my toes get torn up from dancin'. Seems a lost cause.
In Fat Saga news: I've been holding steady at -8lbs. My eating habits are still going well but the occasional wrench gets thrown in from time to time. Gym soreness is still awesome. Been going twice a week. Lame, I know. Will light a fire to get in there more often....maybe.
FOCUS, ME, FOCUS!!
Its fuzzy Monday.*
Pretty sure my noggin is still not firing on all cylinders yet. Although, I doubt it ever really is.
Saturday started at about 7 or 8 a.m. with a mad rush of chores. Matthew put quite a list together for the day and we ran around knockin' each task off the list until there was only booze and food errands left.
At about 4, some folks started to show up and we got our costumes on and started actin' like fools.
This was the first year there was no keg. Was kinda sad but we made doo (haha) with lots of cheap garbage beers....which makes for very full recycling bins and trash cans.
---------- (stuff went on later Monday and then I crashed early. Tuesday was full of running around, so now I'm writing this on Wednesday. keep up.) ------------
11 XL pizza boxes are still a tower out front because recycle day isn't til Friday. We probably could've built a clubhouse had they not been rained on. We also still have a big cooler full of aforementioned garbage beers and neither of us wants to drink them.
I found a pair of men's Hanes boxer briefs on the bathroom floor if anyone wants to claim those (if not, I'll keep them as a souvenir like last year's tiny spidermanties).
Anyway, enough about all the garbage, let's get back to the thing...
So, we did shit, and then Michelle did my hairs so I could be a Fighter.
Matthew threw on his Flash costume and we went outside to go start playing and hangin' with a handful of folks and getting the pizza situated and crap and stuff.
Among the costumes were:
Pats from Absolutely Fabulous.
Red Fraggle from Fraggle Rock Flava Flav
a Freeloader
a Flasher Frieda Kahlo
a Fallen Angel
a few Fairies
a Frankentigger Flashdance
Nick Fury
2 Frenchmen
2 sets of Flinstones
a Foreign Tourist
a Flamingo
a Fluffer
a Function Fanta!
a Fisherman Flo from Mel's Diner
a Fuckin' Pregnant lady
and a Fuckin' Surprise (thanks, Tom and Martha!!)
I'm sure I'm Forgetting some.
The costumes were great - the slide and bouncehouse were awesome, as always....and the pool was.....
fucking warm.
Later in the night there were Fire dancers and synchronized swimming along with grandiose toasts and drunk jenga.
There's some great footage I'll be piecing together this weekend and hope to have it done over the next few days.
-------------(now its Saturday and I need to recap the week)------------
Monday, we had dance class and the big boss gave us some feedback and pointers. I feel we'll be better next Tuesday when we go in. His pointers were simple but made a huge difference. We've discovered that 6:30 pm is NOT our time slot. We much prefer the 8:45. Hustle is our shit, which is an easy transition into Swing (which is the whole reason I signed us up). Waltz we kinda choked on since it had been a couple weeks.
Tuesday, was some family stuff I won't talk about here.
Wednesday, I got my hairs did and then we went to see Static-X at the Beacham. They were awesome and I got to push boys into the pit. Andrew was pitblockin' me. He's very protective. I bought him a shirt and some shots cuz he took good care of me. Planet Pizza afterwards was heavenly.
Thursday, was Thursday.
Friday, we went to a birthday shindig for a musician friend and chatted up some new folks, drank a bunch of rum, and watched some beer pong but gave the Stephenson Slip before the cake was cut.
This morning, I awoke to the smell of Matthew cooking organic bacon.
Bliss.
------------------------------
*Obviously, it isn't Monday anymore.
I skipped posting last week. Felt like a vacation week with the 4th being on a Wednesday.
Again, I'm still eating really well, but lately my gym routine has sucked. I've been only twice a week for the past two.
Trainer Brian said that eating was more important than workouts so I don't feel as bad as I probably should.
When I do go, I hit it hard.
Lifted legs yesterday and my butt cheeks are sore.
Gym soreness rules.
I should go more often just for that.
After the first month, I'm down about 6 or 7 lbs. Just shy of my two pounds a week goal.
I reckon if I were stickin' to the gym better, I'd have done better with meeting that.
We hustled all night with some stumbles on hammerlocks.
Later in the evening (back at home), we decided we wanted to try doing a tango to this The Kills song:
And we want to do a waltz to The Game of Thrones intro song (skipping the middle part that gets slow):
So we'll be practicing to those songs. I gotta find a good hustle song for us to practice to. In the studio, we practiced to MJ's Billy Jean last night before someone switched it up again. The music is difficult in there because there are folks practicing competition stuff so the music's constantly changing.
Also, I don't think I showed off my new shoes, ones I had on Pinterest - the ones Instructor Brian says are 'angry':
------------------------------------
UPDATE!!
We found a song to hustle to!
I don't feel like weighing myself today.
I'm still eating well. My jeans fit better.
I went to the gym 3, maybe 4 times.
Slacked off over the weekend because we were in Siesta Key and its been so rainy.
Rainy mornings command me to stay in bed a little while longer.
But I did manage to get up and after it this morning.
Hit the grocery store for more fancy water, meat, veg, & nuts. They didn't have my favorite grass fed ribeyes, sadly.
Will check back tomorrow.
Raw organic cashews* are effing awesome. I've also picked up raw organic sunflower seeds, walnuts, and almonds.
Matt & I had an interesting conversation this morning while I was eating my grass fed burger with cashews, post workout.
He (Matt, not the burger) was eyeballin' me and asked how the red meat was treating my guts.
I hadn't really thought about it up until this point, but in the past, after going to steakhouses and crap with friends, my guts were always pissed off with me from whatever I'd eaten.
Not so much anymore. (knocking on wood)
I haven't had any uncomfortable issues and not much in the way of IBS pains/noises either.
The more I think about it, the more I realize, HOLY CRAP (literally)....I was effin' my body up big time to be in that much discomfort. It wasn't like chronic pain or anything, but I seriously can't recall being in ANY over the past 3 weeks.
Nowadays, the only time I ever hear the belly monster is when I'm hungry. It isn't due to borborygmus.
So, that's cool.
-----------------------------------
*which are NOT legumes.
ps. THIS is the fuckin' business. A small slice of that in a hot cast iron skillet with pink salt and throw one of those aforementioned ribeyes in, maybe some asparagus....that shit is perfection.
"At the end of two weeks, you can have a day to eat whatever you want...", Trainer Brian said.
Something about spiking levels.
So, over the weekend, we went to Publix for subs.
Turkey on wheat.
It felt funny to watch while the dude was making it....even funnier just saying it...."wheat".
It tasted good & sanguichy...but it wasn't a grassfed ribeye with shrooms and onions from the cast iron with a side of asparagus.
I have seen The Devil and it's name is Bread.
On Friday, I was down the 2lbs I needed for the week.
After Saturday's sub fest followed by a few thin-crust meaty Papa John's slices, those 2lbs were back to party and they brought a friend.
All this garbage about having a "cheat day" and "don't deny yourself anything" is a load of horseshit.
Those are the things that got me in this fat mess to begin with.
So, fuck you, cheat day.
I was in the gym 5 days but 0lbs lost in week two because I was busy burnin' off that stupid ass cheat food.
On a positive note, I'm glad to have gone through this and that my body reacted the way it did. Further reinforces my determination.
Which is good, since we're looking at week 3 and that's usually where I fall off the wagon & lose focus.
Pretty sure that That Thing that clicks when you want something to happen that you have control over has finally clicked for me again this time.
I must say, it's nice to have it back on again after so many years.
So, Matthew pointed out that my math was wrong on my Declaration post from last week.
Then I stopped to think about it and DUH!! I'm a mathtard.
30lbs in 28wks is NOT 2lbs a week.
Its only a little over 1lb a week.
But I like 2lbs a week better.
And none of you turds corrected me.
So, once again....
FUCK YOU, MATH!!
Additionally, last week I studied up and listened to Trainer Brian preach on about going paleo.
So, I've been eating meats (organic/grassfed/wild caught) and nuts in the a.m. Meats and veg (organic & mainly green; broccoli and asparagus and green beans) for lunch and dinner.
(Which is exactly how I was eating 10yrs ago, before anyone started calling it "paleo".)
Drinking 2-3L of water a day.
I've been to the gym 5 times since The Declaration.
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