28 Days Later

Here I am at the end of 28 days away from Facebook. What have I been up to?

Books I've Read:
Morrissey: Autobiography (UK Edition)
Why Can't I Be You - Allie Larkin
Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
Summer In A Glass: The Coming of Age of Winemaking in the Finger Lakes - Evan Dawson

Movies I've Seen:
The Monuments Men
The Way Way Back

Blog Entries I've Written = 29

Pounds Lost = 2

Exercise Classes Attended = 8 (guessing at this since I only started recording on Feb 18th)

Nights Spent Snuggling on the Coach with Sammy & McKinley while watching many episodes of Poirot on Netflix = Too numerous to count

Outings Out Into the Cold to See Friends Socially That Weren't Connected to Work/Boards/Organizational Events = 3

Phone Calls to Parents = Three. One 2-hour call and one 1.5-hour call and one 40-minute call.

New Beers/Ciders Imbibed = 7
Southern Tier Brewing - 2XOne
Southern Tier Brewing - Grand Arbor
Otter Creek Brewing - Citra Mantra
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits - Tongue Buckler
Stella Artois - Cidre
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - 75 Minute IPA
Lagunitas Brewing Company - A Little Sumpin' Wild Ale

Musical Rehearsals Attended - 2. Will increase exponentially in the next week

Paczkis Consumed Prior to Fat Tuesday - One solitary over-filled, seemingly double-glazed wonder

Tickets Purchased To See Morrissey In Concert at Artpark: - 3. One for me and 2 for my cousin and his friend.

Buffalo Sabres Traded: Two

29 Common Myths About Booze

Thank you Mental Floss for this. I shall never worry about beer before liquor again. Unless it's 2 beers and 2 kinds of liquor. Anyway, just watch...

2010 - Is It Over Already?

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
I began teaching violin at Infinity Visual & Performing Arts

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Not much of a resolution making sort of person, but I did pinky swear with a few friends that 2011 will be the year we're more positive.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My cousin, Rachel, had a baby girl in May.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My Grandfather died October 5th. He had been sick since this summer, but took quite a turn that first weekend of the month. Just by chance I was able to be there in the room with my family when he died. In an odd way, being there helped bring a lot more closure than I've had when other family members have died.

5. What countries did you visit?
Matt and I went to Hamilton, Ontario to see Star Wars In Concert on our 6th wedding anniversary.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
The feeling like I can move forward with things I want to do.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Losing some fear to do the things I want to do.

8. What was your biggest failure?
Still not saying no enough.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I'm still a pretty healthy gal.

10. What was the best thing you bought?
PlayStation 3, which enabled us to "cut the cord" on the upper tiers of cable.

11. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Matt still gets high marks.

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
It would not be polite to name names.

13. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage and house related stuff such as replacing the foundation on the backside of our house, fixing the furnace, and having to get our sewer line roto-rootered twice.

14. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Signing up for a Zumba certification class that will take place in February 2011.

15. What song will always remind you of 2010?
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition



16. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? I am happier. I feel more even going into the New Year than last year.
b) thinner or fatter? I think I gained a couple pounds from where I was last year. Hard to say since I KNOW I gained some "holiday weight" over the holidays last year.
c) richer or poorer? Edging toward a little poorer after some hard home maintenance costs over the last year.  We're still on course though to try to purchase a car to replace my beloved Toyota Tercel.

17. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I think I should have written more.  I had a nice streak going at the beginning of the year, but lost focus.  I always wish I had taken more time to read, and that continues.  You know it's bad when you have a monthly magazine that you still haven't read and the next issue is probably in the mail today.

18. What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I had stressed less.

19. How did you spend Christmas?
We went to Cheektowaga for Christmas Eve dinner with my family.  Much to my joyous excitement, Matt gave me my big Christmas gift of tickets to see New Kids On The Block/Backstreet Boys with Ali in Pittsburgh this June.  After opening presents, we headed off to Midnight Mass at Queen of Martyrs where the service actually began at 10pm and only lasted 42 minutes.  We left Christmas morning after eggs, toast, and copious amounts of coffee to come back to Jamestown for Christmas day with Matt's parents.

20. Did you fall in love in 2010?
I stayed in love.

21. What was your favorite TV program?
Paranormal State, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Psychic Kids, and the news.

22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No. I'm not big on hate because it wastes so much energy. There are people who disappoint me, but I don't hate them.

23. What did you want and get?
Some pure joy.

24. What did you want and not get?
That sense that I can change some things in order to be more happy

25. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I worked and later went to the Brick Room for dinner with Matt, TJ Maxx, and then ice cream at The Big Dipper. I turned 34.

26. Who did you miss?
I was sorting Christmas decorations when I came across a box from my grandmother's house that hadn't been opened since she died 5 years ago.  When I opened it, all the linens smelled like her house and reminded me of how much I still miss her.

27. Good Things About 2010 (a list)

Pre-Labor Day Summer Wrap-Up

The unofficial end to summer is this weekend. I'm currently scanning RADAR and several weather websites in an attempt to divine whether we're going to get so much rain that the city's Labor Day Festival, which I help organize, has to be postponed until Monday. Fingers are crossed right now.

So what about the rest of this summer?

- We took a 4-day weekend to the Midwest. A stop in Chicago was made for dinner at Hop Leaf with friends. A fantastic party in Pontiac came next with a theme of "Video Games." I went as Princess Peach.

- Matt and I spent our 6th wedding anniversary in Hamilton, Ontario to see "Star Wars In Concert." It was a fabulous performance that we capped off by having dinner at La Bella Sicilia's which is where we held our rehearsal dinner. I also convinced Matt that we needed frozen custard from Fran Ceil's.

- We took in a lecture by Ed Kashi at Chautauqua Institution courtesy of our friends from Kodak who were there for Photography week.

- An evening of Bellini's and Ballet was had with friends at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute.

- My two young violin students showed up regularly for the rest of the summer. I'm hoping they come back to the program this Fall.

- Matt scored tickets to see an Abba tribute band perform at Chautauqua Institution. It was surprisingly good and revived my appreciation for that Swedish pop band.

- I was asked to play violin in the pit orchestra for Lucille Ball Little Theatre's production of "Chicago" in October. Rehearsals started this past weekend.

- We met up with Len and Ali in Cleveland for the "Dog Days of Summer" at Great Lakes Brewing Company.  After admiring lots of people's dogs and having some food/beer, we headed downtown for more beverages at Flannery's.  Before heading back to Jamestown, we walked around downtown and I showed Ali and Len Tower City Mall.

- We celebrated Ali and Len's 10th wedding anniversary with them, family, and friends in the cool middle-of-nowhere log cabin where Len's mom and step-dad live.

- I earnestly started clearing out a lot of my clothes that don't fit or I haven't worn in awhile. I also started a consignment account at a local shop to try to sell some of things I no longer wanted.

The Fall, which eventually turns into my "slow time" at work, is shaping up to be rather busy. There's Labor Day Festival this Sunday (unless it gets rained out), Local Music Showcase, WRFA fundraiser at Southern Tier Brewing Company, my mom's 60th birthday, "Chicago," Jamestown Community Orchestra concert, Halloween Fun Fest, pierogi party, and when we get to November I'll finally get a 2-week vacation. Just doing my best to hang in there until then!

Garbage Plates & Southern Tier Beer

Homemade garbage plates by candle light with a 2X IPA by Southern Tier Brewing Co.

Listing to the 10th Degree

1. It's finally Spring. I thought for awhile that it might pass us by but the weekend forecast says 75 and sunny.

2. Busy season is clearing its throat and saying, "Hey! Notice me!!" Phone is starting to ring off the hook and people are lining up at the window at work again.

3. We have a new, dual flush toilet in our upstairs bathroom because the old one had an internal leak that we couldn't fix and an external leak that caused water to run down through the walls onto our kitchen counter on the 1st floor.

4. I thought not blogging for a couple weeks was bad until I found out PreppyGirl hadn't blogged for two years. She ended her drought today.

5. Near the end of January, I bought a six-pack of Southern Tier Brewing's Old Man Winter and hid it in our cellar. I finally clued Matt in on this on Saturday. He was mad, at first, that I had hid it from him but then very, very happy as we both cracked into the pack. It was delicious. It's gone now. We're sad. November, or whenever it's available again, seems so very far away.

6. Apparently, ahem, certain kinds of body hair are becoming acceptable in some circles. I laughed and laughed. Hand me a razor, thankyouverymuch.

7. I passed a civil service exam and placed in the top 3. I needed to do this to keep my job. Hooray. In this economy, I can't really complain.

8. Heidi and Ryan surprised a lot of us by eloping this month out in Lake Placid. Congrats to the happy couple!

9. Facebook has increasingly become my go-to spot to post updates and see what my friends are up to. A good percentage of blogger friends are now sucking in the update category but thanks to Facebook I can tell you if work sucked or wasn't so bad, how hungover they are, and what awesome lunch special they ate at Jones 212 Bakery & Cafe. And then my mom got a Facebook account and added me as a friend.

10. I have a couple projects going and only one has a true deadline. Well, I don't know what the deadline is exactly, so I'm going with April 10th until the guys over at The Word tell me differently. How's that for a teaser?

Empty Pint: Saturday Afternoon Edition

Guess who came back to the Empty Pint on this fine Saturday afternoon? This is certainly another great way to spend the day after dealing with a civil service exam this morning that will determine if I can keep my job.

Dinner at the Empty Pint

We went to the new location for Southern Tier Brewing Company for dinner and a drink.

The Empty Pint is like a ski chalet inside with high ceilings and nice hardwood detailing. One wall features a long window looking into where the beer is brewed. Impressive new space and 14 taps for beer!

Also, they currently have a $5 hot roast beef sandwich with beer special. That's really the only food they have besides snack bags of kettle chips. Still was mighty good!

Old Man Winter Returns!

Yes. Your eyes do not deceive you. That is a large display of Southern Tier Old Man Winter at the Lakewood Wegmans. And yes, a couple of those will be coming home with me.

Technically.. It's Still the Christmas Season

Since the Epiphany isn't until January 6th, I figure I'm not being too tardy in giving the Christmas update.

This had to be one of the more odd years. To be casual and personal, I swear that all the women in my family either had PMS or they're in some weird stage of menopause that makes them a little cranky.

Christmas Eve is a big deal for my side of the family. We eat a meatless dinner, open presents, and those who are still awake go to Midnight Mass. I'm just going to share the Christmas Eve dinner story.

This year is the first Christmas that all the cousins are age 21 and older. My cousin Andrew celebrated his newly legal status by disappearing just before prayers and oplatek breaking. As the family gathered in the dining room, my Aunt Ginny whispered urgently to my Uncle, "Where is Andrew?"

"He went on an errand."

"Where did he go?"

"Don't worry. He'll be back," my Uncle evaded her question as she tried to look him in the eye. My Aunt asked my cousin, April, if she knew but she wouldn't give a straight answer either. I finally asked out of the corner of my mouth, "So where did he go?"

"Beer," she replied.

Andrew sauntered in after we were all seated. His mom glared at him and said, "Don't talk to me," shaking her head as she walked away after sharing a saved piece of oplatek. He shrugged and grinned at the rest of us, taking a seat at the kids table.

As said before, all the cousins are age 21 and over but we still are required to sit at the kid's table in the kitchen. I think my younger cousins still prefer this because there's less harassment from various family members of, "Are you eating?" "Why aren't you eating?"

We still heard plenty of that since we sit right by the stove and all the food. This was great for getting food first, but not so great for my cousin Craig. My mom, as she carried a bowl of hot mushroom soup to our table, had a clumsy moment and began spilling some of the contents on Craig's leg causing him to yell,

"Ow! Ow!"

"Oh! Oh!" my mom panicked as she noticed what she was doing, but then proceeded to spill more soup on top of Craig.

Fortunately, Craig wasn't burned but his pants were left a little soggy and smelling of soup.

Fried fish, mashed potatoes, pierogis, and green peas round out the rest of Christmas Eve dinner for our family. The pierogis are the ones that we made back in October by the hundreds. Every year, as we roll out the dough someone says, "We have to be sure to make a lot of cheese. Everyone really likes the cheese pierogis."

Sometime between then and Christmas Eve, the women cooking apparently forgot this fact and sauteed up mostly sauerkraut-filled pierogis, which the majority of the people at the kids table do not eat. We can be a rather finicky bunch.

"Where are the cheese pierogis?" we cried to our parents and grandparents in the dining room.

"They're on the plate! You have to poke at them to see what is what!" they yelled back.

I began carefully poking each steaming doughy pocket to see if I could see the hint of white Farmer's cheese inside, "Nope, sauerkraut. Nope, that's another saurkraut. This one is apricot filled. Oh, here's one!"

We stared at the one cheese pierogi on the plate.

"Mom! There's only one cheese pierogi here!" April called out.

"Well, you're just going to have to make yourself more or come to this table to see if we have any," my mom called back to her.

Andrew, knowing he had to make up for sneaking out on prayers, took a plate over to the adult table and returned with enough cheese pierogi to just satisfy everyone.

"They mixed up the sauerkraut and cheese pierogies. You can't tell what is what!"

We sighed, shook our heads and ate.

The mood changed somewhere during dessert. Everyone around the adult table was leaning back, swapping stories and and laughing. My cousins, who had retired to the living room, were lightly teasing each other but smiling too. No one even argued when I threw dish towels at them and told them it was time to tackle the mounds of plates and bowls on the counter.

A moment of relaxed harmony. Merry Christmas to us.

It All Starts After Labor Day...

The subject line is a bit misleading since I'm going to backtrack a little to say, "Hey! This is what we've been up to!" Fortunately, I don't have to go into many details because I've had my cell at ready to transmit pictures from wherever we've been this summer.

My parents came down for a visit/house work last week. My mom wanted to finish sewing seat cushions for a window bench in our dining room along with the dining room curtains. To give you an idea for how long the latter project has been in the works, we had bought the fabric for those curtains around the same time that my grandmother died in August 2005. Since my dad is unemployed, he tagged along figuring he could work on other house related projects for us. The impressive list of what happened over a four day period includes:

• seat cushions sewed


• curtain rod hung


• curtains sewed and hung


• new-to-us screen door installed on our back door (previous one busted)
• railing installed on back steps


• moisture barrier laid down in basement crawl space

In turn, we took my parents out for dinner to Forte last Friday and also provided them with musical entertainment (King Rail in Allen Park) and tasty beverages (Beer at Forte and Beer at the Empty Pint at Southern Tier Brewing). I'm really fortunate to have parents who are as crafty and handy as my mom and dad.

On the downside, while working on the crawl space project, my dad came across some troubling issues with several of our foundation blocks. We have a call into the guy who worked on our garage to come look at our situation. I'm not feeling too optimistic about how much this will cost us right now.

On the positive side, once I get past the city's big Labor Day Festival on September 6th, the craziness takes a turn toward crazy of my own making. I've signed up for Tuesday/Thursday sessions of Zumba that start September 9th and go until December 22nd. I decided that keeping good health is important and I've enjoyed the weight I've lost over the past couple years (over 17 pounds!!).

The Wednesday after Labor Day will be the first rehearsal of the pit orchestra for "The Producers" at Jamestown Community College. I have the music and Broadway soundtrack to guide me. I just need my violin back from the repair shop where I sent it to get a new bridge put on. Other music endeavors for the Fall will be the usual Jamestown Community Orchestra and The Living Christmas Tree. Non-performance items we're looking forward to include the Elvis Costello concert at Chautauqua Institution this Saturday and the Chautauqua Region Word Local Music Showcase on September 12th.

Throw two more weddings in there, including one where I'm supposed to play violin, and it's a full Fall. Possibly a little less crazy at work, but I don't think anything ever really slows down. It should be fun!

Rochester Skyline and Flour City Brewfest

Somethings just make me extremely happy. I am having one of those moments. It's the view, being with my family, and enjoying summer.

Flour City Brewfest in Rochester

Just a small part of the very large crowd at the Flour City Brew Fest. Had some cask ale from Tap & Mallet. Some Pumking from Southern Tier. Several IPAs. Phew!

10 Things To Do This Summer

Borrowed liberally from All Things Jennifer and Mary Kunz Goldman, here is my list of 10 Things To Do This Summer (2009 edition):

1. Have a drink whilst sitting in a rocking chair, watching the sun set at the Hotel Lenhart in Bemus Point

2. Plant dahlias, an azalea bush, and maybe some begonias and geraniums in my garden

3. Dance at three of the four weddings we're invited to before Labor Day (the fourth is a Muslim celebration, no drinking or dancing).

4. Read 2 books. I set my standards low when the weather is nice.

5. Enjoy limoncello over frozen lemon ice on my porch

6. Play skee ball at Midway Park

7. Eat chicken souvlaki at the Yassou! Festival

8. Drink a super chilled beer outside in the middle of a blazing hot day somewhere I can people watch

9. Take a day trip somewhere near water and just hang out watching the water lap against the shore for a few hours

10. Make caprese salad at home and eat it with fresh Italian bread slathered with butter while drinking lots of red wine and hanging out with friends.

A Sort of Beer Heaven

For the past couple weeks, Wegmans has been tantalizing us with an open area back near the beer coolers that was to become the new International/Microbrew Beer section of the store. This weekend, it was unveiled.

I was the lone girl in a meandering group of guys who wandered down the short aisles, mouths agape at the selection. While it's not a big section, there are some good picks. I immediately snagged a 4-pack of Dogfish Head Brewery's 90 Minute IPA. I also saw a sixer of Sackets Harbor Brewing Co.'s 1812 Amber Ale that I'll have to pick up sometime. Naturally, there was an abundant selection of Southern Tier Brewing Company beers including the limited edition 4-22 Earth Day Ale. FYI, Hop Sun is now available!

The new beer area seems popular since some brands looked a little depleted. Note: you cannot mix six packs up. Your best bet is to get a friend who wants to try something different from you and split the cost that way.