Riot and Frolic

The Get Smart Book Club – Anna Karenina – Update

January 24, 2013

Hey y'all, remember that book club thing?

Gah, it's going on 2 months with this epic novel (Anna Karenina) and it is still woefully under-read.

I really enjoy reading it. (I think I'm still recovering from those terrible Gray books.) I expected something a bit drier and along the lines of Steinbeck's never-ending, descriptive "storytelling", but Tolstoy jumps right in with interesting, melodramatic characters and political juxtapositions.

In my typical book club fashion, I'm about to throw in the towel and watch the movie (Cliff Notes for the cool kids). But that's missing the point now, isn't it.

Sigh.

At this rate, my book list will take me 30 years to finish. But then what will I do with my retirement?!

Is anyone else reading it? Read it already? Chime in.

One year ago: IKEA cooking. Orka borka.
Coffee Run Club

January 23, 2013
Last Saturday night while sipping Guiness milkshakes, my friend America and I dreamt up LOTS of brilliant schemes, one of which was the Coffee Run Club.

Problem: We both have a slight problem with motivation when it comes to running. Unless there's a race coming up (and I use the term "race" rather loosely), we have trouble commiting to a training schedule.

We also find it more enjoyable to run with other people, as it takes our minds off the whole running thing.

We also think it's hard to start a running program because one generally feels stupid. "Look at me! I'm running! and now I'm not… now I am sucking wind… And now I'm running again! but this time it's slower! and now I'm not… oh, I am walking… still walking…"

And we love coffee.

Solution? Start a friendly, supportive running club for non-runner-ladies with a post-run coffee party.

Beginning runners, former runners who'd like to be current runners, slow runners, somewhat-fast runners, and fun runners are also accepted. Hell, fast runners can come, too. We'll admire your speed from behind.

Plan: schedule a group run Sunday afternoons.

A loop will be mapped out (anywhere from 1.5 miles to 3 miles, lakes seem very convenient for this) and a meeting place (duh, a coffee joint) decided prior to each week's run. You can check out our Facebook page or our group page on Map My Run for the sched.

The runs will begin as a group and then different paces can break off as needed. Ladies can run 1 loop or 25 loops, depending on training schedules. Post-run coffee drinkers can hang as long as they'd like.

Here's our rules:
1. Meeting times listed are when we START RUNNING. Get there early to park, tie your shoes, chat, do vocal warmups, etc.
2. Run at your own pace. Walk when necessary. Sprint when necessary. If you go slow, go slow; if you go fast, go fast.
3. Running is "fun", so be supportive of yourself and others.
4. Everyone's invited. Want to run? Come on down. You might have to listen to me sing, but whatever. Don't want to run? You probably should, but if you can't make it, don't come. We might call you to make sure you're not dead, though.
It should be a good time.

Click on any of the links above if you're interested!
This is Not For Vegans

January 22, 2013

This is not for vegans, or vegetarians, or anyone who thinks piglets are adorable, or anyone who thinks raw meat is pretty gross or people who mind a bleeped-out curse word.

But it is awesome. And hilarious.

Bacon strips.

Bacon strips.

Bacon strips.

Did I hear bacon croissant dressing?

Yes.

Yes, I did.

Don't Tell Me What To Do.
List of Last Week’s Labors of Love

January 21, 2013

– cinnamon roll with maple-bacon icing at the New Louisiana Cafe. No joke. Go get one.

My father-in-law (from Illinois) loves this place and really, everyone should. They have delicious coffee from local Morningstar Coffee, crab cake benedict, and hello, cinnamon rolls with maple-bacon icing. Go.

– a Guiness milkshake. At TGIFriday's, of all places. "Cutting edge" and "nationwide chain sports bars" are not two things I usually put together, but this was GENIUS.

– "genius" is very hard to spell after typing "Guinness".

– practicing so much that my body is constantly sore. Just. All. The. Time.

– yoga. Every morning!

– my running schedule for the next year. There's a couple fun runs, maybe a half marathon, and either the TC marathon (again), or the ye olde Chicago one.

– my friend America and I thought up this brilliant run club. It's for people who don't quite like running. Or don't run, but will fake it with us. Or will tolerate it to hang out with friends and get some caffeine. The Coffee Run Club is for ladies only (sorry, dudes). We'll run, and then… have coffee. Our Facebook page has the running schedule.

– started meal planning again and while it is GREAT for my budget, it is not great for snacking. I am currently making brownies to satisfy my sweet tooth since there is NOTHING pre-manufactured in the house. The G just joked, "I'll probably come home to you frying up tortillas for chips," and I kid you not, I had just thought of it. And thought it was totally worth it.

– realizing my week has very much revolved around food.

Meh. What are you up to? Keeping the cold at bay?
Jazz is Stupid

January 18, 2013

I've been to a bunch of ballroom competitions lately and I've come to this conclusion:

Jazz is stupid.

it's true

Let's face it, the dance floor is no place for improvisation and artistic license when you're looking to win a competition.

Dancesport (as competitive ballroom dancing is known, to those in the know) is not Dancing. Dancing is what you do at a wedding, or a bar, or at a… dance.

Dancesport is that crazy combo of ballroom and sport where one couple is judged against another couple. Whoever appears the best wins.

So when I'm watching competitors, I want to see "pop music" dancing. Overly-produced, well-rehearsed, maybe-a-little-auto-tune-to-cover-up-your-lack-of-technique, pop music.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of a little scooby-doo-bee-do scatting to get yourself out of a floorcraft jam.

But throw some rainbow arms or Fred-and-Gingers or winks and nods into your simple, yet well-crafted choreography and you'll be music to my ears.

Holla.

One year ago: Self Promotion.
DPN, WTF

January 17, 2013

Okay, so I knit that thing.

And then I thought I could knit all the things.

Because if I can go in a straight line and in a circle, I can just go right ahead and make a knit catsuit, right?

No.

In fact, trying out DPNs (Double Pointed Needles, or The Devil, as I like to call them) was a big blow to my self-confidence in the knitting department.

YES, I HAD KNITTING SELF-CONFIDENCE! INFLATED, FALSELY-HELD KNITTING SELF-CONFIDENCE!

Anyhoo, I took another look at the Purl Bee's tutorial for the dreaded DPNs and dang, they make it look so easy. You just do this, and this, and this.

Maybe I'll try it again when 3 toddlers aren't telling me how they're soooooo hungry, they are starving.

Seriously, when did these ladies start eating so much? So much and constantly. And the little one doesn't talk yet, so she just follows me around, or literally hangs on my leg, crying and squeaking at any food she can glimpse. She insists on chowing every banana in the house until there are no more visible ones and then she insists I'm hiding some invisible ones in the basket.

"Nana! Nana! NANA!" she yells, squeaking while pointing at the empty basket for emphasis.

"You ate them all, like 3 today, lady. All gone!" and make the universal "all gone" sign.

She throws herself on the ground and cries in protest. She really needs that 4th banana.

Sigh.

So, knitting. DPNs.

This hat?

Dudes (and dudettes). I just want to knit a hat.

One year ago: Self Portrait.
Digital 40 Days – Quarterly Report

January 16, 2013

In hindsight, I don't think the first of the year was a great time to start this project of "8am RUN YOGA!" We had a big trip planned (a wedding in North Carolina and skiing in West Virginia), there was a dance competition directly after the trip, and I am freaking tired.

But then again, maybe those are great reasons to have started it.

Here's my progress so far:

Day one: hungover. Running. Happy new year.

Day two: easy yoga via yogaglo.com. Seriously love that Tara girl.

Day Three: 2 mile run after driving/passengering in the car for 10 hours. 10 hours and then running. Inside at a foreign Lifetime Fitness (some very friendly gym in Indiana), but SACRIFICE, nonetheless.

Day Four: lovely quiet vinyasa on the carpet next to my bed at the Stowe Manor. Seriously, in a house full of 25 early-risers, I never thought I'd be the first one awake and, like, conscious.

where my sis-in-law got married

yeah, I slept here

Day Five: SICK AS A DOG. Thought of running despite the… running, but wisely withdrew for the day. Fun fact: a 24-hour bug flew around the Manor and the in-laws-to-be in the days surrounding the wedding. I got it ON the wedding day, as did several of the groomsmen.

Day six: at the ski lodge… a little yoga flowing in the hallway while everyone else was arguing (for fun) downstairs.

ski-in/ski-out, beaches!

Day 7: running in the altitude. And the snow. After snowboarding. 'Cause that's how I roll.

Day 8: NO ONE ELSE IS IN THE HOUSE. Did I mention we were with 25+ people? I'm not sure how I lucked out, but I yoga-ed like no one was watching. Because no one was.

my spot for heavy breathing

Day 9 & 10: FELL OFF THE WAGON. Despite my best intentions to get up before our breakfast reservation and go for a run, the entire house was buzzing with packing and chatting and people at the ungodly hour of 8am. I ran up and down the stairs about 47 times fetching our belongings from all over the townhouse, but didn't actually put on running shoes.

Day 10 consisted of arriving at our house, drunkenly (from sleep deprivation, not drinking) throwing the kids and myself into bed, sleeping for 3 hours, unpacking, re-packing for a dance thing, and driving to the hotel for the competition.

But Day 11! Watch out for the next quarter. There's meditation and shit happening.
Food Frenzy 2013

January 15, 2013
I wrote a post last year that is consistently one of my highest rated, so with only my SEO in mind, here goes the 2013 version:

Pinterest and I are good friends and I actually use the site as a virtual bulletin board. Like the 2012 Food Frenzy? I made all of those.

So there were only 3. What?

This year, I'm upping the ante and listing my top 5 dying-to-try dishes.
1. almond milk: I drink this stuff like it's going out of style and also add it to oatmeal, coffee, smoothies. I'm curious to see if the homemade stuff will A) taste as good as store-bought B) be less expensive to make myself C) be a pain in the arse to make.
  
  photo courtesy lululemon
2. DIY Velveeta: what. Do I really need to describe this? I mean, it's Velveeta. But without the creeping, inherent sense of plastic you might be ingesting.
  
  photo courtesy of fromaway.com
3. Peanut Butter Cups: these look divine. I've tried a couple other PB/chocolate things that I didn't like. I know, blasphemy. But the ratio was off or the peanut butter was too salty/sugary/crunchy/not Reese's. So, this is the next experiment.
  
  photo courtesy of Blue Eyed Bakers
4. Cookie Dough Bars: I mean, if you're gonna eat dessert, you might as well go all out, and it had better involve sweetened condensed milk. Because SCM is the shit.
  
  photo courtesy Life's Simple Measures
5. "Heroin" Chicken: I highly oppose using a drug reference to indicate how good something is supposed to be, but apparently calling it "Delicious Chicken" did not suffice and they didn't have a thesaurus, or a sense of creativity. In any case, this recipe involves a lot of butter. And you guessed it. Butter is also, The Shit.
  
  photo courtesy food.com
Yum yum yum yum yum.

Who's hungry now?

Have you tried any of these? Want to? What were your winners from 2012? Any new dishes that blew your socks off? Next week, I'll share my kitchen failures from 2012.

watching the Avengers movies
List of Last Week’s Labors of Love

January 14, 2013

– a new Facebook page for my other job (you know, besides the live-in nanny gig I got). FB is such a beach sometimes. I swear, getting a cover photo to look right is A CHORE. I mean, 851 x 315 pixels? 851? Not just 850.

Shut up, Facebook.

– drove through 10 states. No joke. We started in MN, went to NC for a wedding, then up to WV for some snowboarding (or skiing for the lame-os), then back home. MN, WI, IL, IN, OH, TN, KY (hehe), WV, VA, NC.

Fifty, nifty, United States, from 13 original colonies, shout 'em, scout 'em, tell all about 'em…

Anybody?

– I took a run, AFTER snowboarding, in the "altitude" (4848 feet). I was obviously high on oxygen deprivation, because I took about 15 pictures of my feet while trying to turn up the volume on my music.

running!

I wore my YakTrax, although I didn't really need them since it was FORTY-FIVE DEGREES at Snowshoe Mountain. Yeehaw, I say. Boarding and then a slushy run in a sweatshirt? OKAY.

i ran through the lift area. what

– FINALLY got the hang of snowboarding. I was always a pretty decent skiier, but my learning curve for boarding was definitely more of a bunny hill than a black diamond. (Or is that the other way around? Let's just say I was bad at it) I'm proud to say that, while I still fall down A LOT, I can turn with some accuracy and not run into the other idiots who haven't figured it out yet.

– spoiled my oldest.

eyeing the cute Starbucks guy

– prepared myself for our first ballroom comp of the year, an event that notoriously begins my cold season.

– did my first pro-am ballroom event (as a pro, you nerds) in almost 2 years. SO FUN. More about that on Friday.

– Rainbow Dash.

walking jauntily

– looking at the Vermont Country Store catalog, I came across this:

oooooooh, like [ener]-gizer

Does anyone else find that unacceptable?

How was your week? How many states did you hit? What's on tap for 2013?

finally watched thor
Things I Love Right Now- Dancetastic Version

January 11, 2013
- Mint. Gah. Minty minty mint. So pretty.
- No stones and then ALL THE STONES. Like, a not-stoned dress, OR SO YOU THINK, and then BAM! A crazy-stoned belt, shoulder strap, cut-out outline, flower, whatevs.
- Bangles. Lots of bracelets: still cool.
It's not that many things, is it?

One year ago: The Day That Will Not End.

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