Christmas Surprise

So hiding under the Christmas tree was a HUGE box that I was surprised was to me from my brothers.  I had NO IDEA what they could have bought me that weighed 5 million pounds (okay, more like 40, but STILL).  Opening the box didn't help - just saw this:

What in the world???

But taking off the cardboard revealed this (think of angels singing as cardboard removed):

*Angels Singing*

TWENTY-FOUR DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROOT BEER!  I've only had about 4 of them before - I will be sure to update their reviews.  SO COOL THO.  Now my fridge looks like this:

My fridge is 1/4th root beer.  What is yours?

Thanks Toby & Steve (and family)!  

Root Beer Review: Maine Root

I was SO looking forward to this one.  I've had Maine Root before and really liked it.  To my shock though, this tasted like cardboard mixed with Dirt. Had to dump it out. Maybe will try again if I can find it.  Ingredients:  Carbonated pure water, Fair Trade Certified organic cane juice and spices. Grade: D-.

IT CROWD: One of the best sitcoms EVER

Christmas Craftiness

Look what I made!

I made Christmas freezer jelly all on my own for the first time!  Yay!  Today I plan to make bread to put it on tomorrow.

Look what I didn't make!

But maybe will this year.  I feel like I need to do more girly things and since I am not the best seamstress in the world, pillowcases sound obtainable.  The ones pictured are gifts from my mom.  Anyone interested?

Root Beer Review Special: Old Town Root Beer Company: Sarparilla

Yes, Sarsparilla.  Is the first "r" silent?

Smells like a root beer barrel, but doesn't taste like one!  The scent is actually stronger than the flavoring.  There is a nice carbonation burn on the tongue that transitions to a smooth vanilla flavor.  Ingredients:  Carbonated Filtered Water, Cane Sugar, Natural & Other Flavors, Caramel Color, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (preserves freshness).  Grade:  B

Note:  Label says "premium vanilla cream!, but vanilla isn't an ingredient.  Hmmm...

Special Guest Review by ANNA!  The vanilla cuts fine - no "tinny" taste that some root beers tend to have.  Flavor seems to spread nicely across the palate.  Carbonation is not too heavy.  Sitting on the tongue, it doesn't bite too much.  Carbonation seems like it would go flat quickly, but waiting 30 minutes and it didn't!  Grade:  B+

Sometimes I feel like this exercise ball.

So alone.  Left out in the cold.  Forgotten.

Why am I here?  And how did I get here? 

Kristen Fails to take a Good Picture of her Christmas Decorations

Makes it look like the tree is spinning...or is on a heart monitor.

Someday I will learn to use the flash on my camera correctly

Guess what I'm listening to...

Around Dodge City and in the territory out west, there's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with the US marshal and the smell of...

Root Beer Review: Stewart's Fountain Classics

Mmm...smells delicious.  Like the name of the root beer says, this tastes like a fountain root beer.  Very tasty, with just a little more carbonation than needed (hence the fountain taste).  Very smooth, rich flavor.  Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Sodium Benzoate (a preservative), Citric Acid, Quillaia Extract, Gum Acacia, Yucca Extract.  Grade:  A-

Redskins Cookie Phones (but not in that order)

This obsession with cell phones is really getting on my nerves now.  I understand how nice it is to have such communications at your beck and call (ha), but if you are at a party, MUST you be doing something on your phone every few minutes?  I was at a very nice cookie and movie party last night, and almost everyone there had their mobiles in front of them and checked them every few minutes, or would just randomly send a text.  Is keeping in communication really that important? It's one thing to have your phone out in front of you IN CASE someone calls.  But to keep fiddling with it is distracting to the people around you and makes the people around feel unimportant.  It bugs me to no end if you are out with someone and they start texting other people with no apology for interrupting your event.  AT LEAST apologize and say you'll just be a minute.  I have been on the phone end of that situation and it is AWKWARD.  Especially since I only have a cell phone (no home phone) so people always assume I'm at home am want to talk for years.  I try very hard to let the person/people I'm with know that they are more important.  Honestly, if I were the type to give parties, I might enforce a no cell phone rule.

Cookies!  Did you know Cookie Monster has been campaigning to host Saturday Night Live?  He was on briefly yesterday to sing a Christmas song with the host.  I don't think they understand how funny a Cookie Monster show could be.  Dress him up as any celebrity parody and/or have him keep getting distracted by cookies? Comedy Gold.  I brought Cadbury cookies to the party last night.  Good to try, but not enough of the chocolate flavor I crave.

Almost time for the Redskins - Cowboys game.  Even though both teams are doing great this season, I'm worried this will not be a good game.  Backup quarterback Sexy Rexy is up - I don't think Donovan McNabb has been the problem though.  However, unlike other seasons I don't have an idea what needs to be changed this season.  All the players seem to be able to do good.  Maybe that means the issue is the playbook (I know very little about the plays, so can't comment on that too much.  The 3-2-1 throwing offense does seem to make sense to me.  We shall see what happens I guess.  GO SKINS!

Happy Birthday Steve!

Can you find an awesome guy in this picture?

Love you bro! 

Root Beer Review: Thomas Kemper

I bought this not realizing it was a low calorie root beer (only 20 calories).  It didn't have the normal harder taste of a "diet" soda.  There is a mild honey taste, with a small bite to it.  But it tastes more like a flavored water than a root beer.  Ended up giving some of the six pack away and threw out the rest of the bottles halfway through.  Ingredients:  carbonated water, honey, caramel color, maltodextrin, sodium benzoate (for freshness), natural flavor, phosphoric acid, sucralose (Splenda brand), salt, vanilla extract, and acesulfam K.  Grade: C-.

Root Beer Review: Natural Brew

Minty!  That's right, there's mint in dem der beer.  In fact, in my opinion, there are TOO many flavors in this root beer.  So much it tastes like potpourri, or a Christmas decoration.  Plus, it smells like a candle. Ingredients:  Sparkling Filtered Water, Evaporated Cane Juice, Natural Flavors, Bourbon Vanilla Extract, Anise, Sarsaparilla, Licorice Root, Birch Oil, Wintergreen oil, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid.  Grade:  C-

GUEST REVIEWS!
Colleen:  Can't taste anything.  Light.  C+
Brent:  Non much flavor, light carbonation.  B-

(so fun that their reviews are almost the same - did they start out that way, or did 30+ years of marriage do that to them?)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Starring Pat's cat Lucky!  Supporting players:  Pat, Mom, Dad & Kristen.

Why hello there!  Looking for some pictures?  Enjoy the ones below!

Lucky went straight for Dad (the only one not trying to pet him) and the massage chair.

Guess which one of these two knew I was taking a picture?

I look awful, but the cat looks content.

Dad relaxing in the massage chair. 

Mom giving and receiving kitty love.

Dad & me 

Root Beer Review: IBC

RANCID.  The first bottle of this root beer tasted like something had died in it.  I've had not-so-great root beers before, but I've never dumped on out after the first few sips.  UGH.  Unfortunately, I still had 5 of these left.  Luckily, none of them tasted like the first.  They weren't the best - lots of carbonation over flavor and an aftertaste that was slightly sour (and reminded me a bit of the first nasty bottle).  Ingredients:  Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (preservative), Natural and Artificial Flavors, Modified Food Starch, Citric Acid.  First bottle:  F-.  Other bottles (yes, I drank all 5, so not that bad) C+.

Happy Birthday Emily!

Rain, Rain Stay Stay Stay!

It's raining! Hooray! For an instant earlier this week I was envious of my siblings already having snow this year, but then I remembered that I haven't gotten enough rain yet. I love the rain. It's so soothing. And it keeps the kids from the playground outside my apartment (I think I should get my rent lowered because of that playground. It is non-stop screaming from 2:45-8PM (or later - the parents in this place - I couldn't even see the children one night, but I could hear them. It was like a G-rated horror movie)). When I got the place, it was a tennis court.

How did this get into a Kristen is an old-fuddy-duddy rant? RAIN. I occasionally consider buying one of those nature sound albums, but it's just not the same. There isn't the same misty feeling in the air. You can't fantasize about going outside and dancing in the puddles.

One of my most relaxing memories is being in the parking lot of my first apartment in Texas and hearing a rustling, I turned and was able to watch the rain come across the parking lot towards me. It was summer so it was also a warm rain. BLISS.

Smell Like a Monster

Brilliant Idea: Portion Plate

On my incredibly annoying drive home today (charities are stalking all the intersections...again), I randomly came up with the idea for a portion plate.  It is not really a plate per se, but an overlay that people can put over their plates while they are doling out their portions.  There would be sections for protein (size of the palm of your hand), starch, and vegetable. It would give weight watchers an easy guide to what the size of their meals should look like, but would be removable so they an eat their meals on a normal plate.  And of course, it would be collapsible for easy storage.  Maybe there would be a secondary type of tupperware so you can have the correct portion sizes for lunch the next day - the lid would also help limit the height.  What do you think?  Is there something like this already out there?

Happy Birthday Samuel! (one day late)

What you looking at?

"I've always been scared of you." "That's cause you're smart." Movie Review: Winter's Bone

Mesmerizing and traumatic.  This movie was like a modern-day, non-stereotypical western.  Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone tells the story of a seventeen year old girl who is raising her two younger siblings in a backwoods town in modern-day Arkansas.  She goes on the search for her crank-cooking father so he can make his court date and her family doesn't lose their house due to his bail bond.  To find him, she has to deal with a bunch of people who pride themselves on not talking, and will kill anyone who does (even if they are family).  There is a lot of menace and the need to read between-lines.  I found myself feeling the emotions for the lead character (Ree) because there was no way she could show them to anyone else - and those emotions were a roller coaster ride from small moments of joy to one of the most traumatic things I've seen on film.  Highly recommend.  Rated: R  Type: Film  Grade:  A.

Jello 123

Do you remember Jello 123?  It was an awesome Jello treat that was out in the early 90's (discontinued around 1995 I believe).  It was so good I still remember it today.  I was lucky enough to get a Christmas gift from my parents last year of a similar product called Trio Treat.   On Sunday I made my last box.  See the awesomeness below.

Trio Treat

This is the first time I've tried making them in the champagne style glasses - had to use a chopstick to get to the part in the stem.  But it looks so pretty, doesn't it?

I have also tried several recipes for Jello 123 - this is the tastiest one I've come across - though the middle layer in the separation is usually really thin.  It's a great low-cal and inexpensive treat.

Jello 123
Ingredients:
Water
1 small package Jello  (regular or sugar-free)
Ice cubes
Cool Whip Non Dairy Whipped Topping

Instructions:
Pour 3/4 cup boiling water into blender
Add Jello mix
Cover and blend at low speed for 30 seconds
Combine 1/2 cup cold water and ice cubes to make 1 1/4 cups.
Add to gelatin and stir until ice is partially melted.
Add 1/2 cup Cool Whip Non-Dairy Whipped Topping
Blend for 30 seconds
Pour immediately into dessert glasses (I recommend filling half full and then topping off)
Chill for 30 minutes.
Makes 3 cups.

Let me know if you try it!

"Darling, I kill people" Movie Review: RED and Shutter Island

RED - Starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren.  (aka Retired, Extremely Dangerous) I had really low expectations going into this movie, which may have helped the grade.  I swear, I should go into all movies thinking they are horrible and so I can be pleasantly surprised each time.  This was a fun action romp.  Bruce Willis plays the character he always does, but the action was mostly new and creative.  I was surprised to find out this was originally a comic book by Warren Ellis (and I looooove comic book movies).  Movie is worth watching for Helen Mirren alone (see quote in title).  HIGHLY recommend. Type:  Flick  Grade:  A.

Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  Took a LONG TIME for me to be very interested in it.  Way too long (almost 2 and half hours) and DiCaprio's Boston accent was distracting.  The movie was shot beautifully, but the storyline was plodding until the last 20 minutes.  SPOILER ALERT:  Highlight to read: I knew there was a twist at the end - thank goodness it wasn't JUST yeah, you're a patient - the last line DiCaprio's character said made the movie.  I totally thought it would fold back on itself and have it all be a brain experiment and DiCaprio would actually be a Federal Agent that they convinced was a patient.  END SPOILER  Type: Movie Grade:  C-.

Movie Types

I plan to start to do some movie reviews on here (the first after this post) so I thought I should explain my categories of movies:

1.  Flick:  Basically a popcorn movie.  These movies are for pure entertainment only.  They are not trying to make you think.  Example:  Clueless, The Mummy

2. Movie:  A movie that makes you think (or tries to) and tells a story.  Basically, a flick with a reason beyond making just making you laugh or showing action.  Examples:  My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Spiderman

3.  Film:  Epic.  A movie that transports you to another world.  One that feels like you are watching a book. Usually involves a strong metaphor or moral.  Example:  Lord of the Rings, Titanic

Root Beer Review: Dad's

I remember really liking this root beer when I was a kid.  It was definitely different from the others in the box sampler.  First taste was a flavor explosion!  Very creamy flavor with a strong licorice-ish taste.  It had lighter carbonation than most of the others I've tried so far.  However, the taste is so strong, sometimes it came across like an almost medicinal flavor, especially toward the bottom of the bottle.  Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (a preservative), Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors.  Grade:  B-

Or my unicorn will smash in your face.

Didn't expect to read the whole thing but I devoured Zombies vs Unicorns yesterday like a zombie does brains.  There were two editors (Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier) who each argues for one faction or the other. The arguments for zombies won based on their conversations, in my opinion, however the unicorn stories were more memorable.  I've never read about evil unicorns with venom in their fangs before.  The line "Or my unicorn will smash in your face" actually came from a story with a unicorn name Princess Prettypants who farted rainbows.  Humour, mayhem, really odd visuals!  Bliss!  Highly recommend.  There are definitely some new authors for me to check out.

Root Beer Review: Sioux City

Boo.  Another watery root beer.  Actually, it almost tasted more like a cream soda.  Unfortunately, the taste all aftertaste - when drinking it seemed to be just carbonated water.  The second bottle was a bit different - there was a cinnamon flavor to it.  Very odd.  Ingredients:Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (a preservative), Natural and Artificial Flavor, Citric Acid.  Grade:  D

Root Beer Review: Frostie

Finally!  A root beer that doesn't taste watery!  Frostie had the creamy almost vanilla flavor of good root beers.  It also had a good ratio of carbonation to taste (didn't feel like it was burning into my tongue).  It's taste was consistent in both bottles.  Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Pure Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (a preservative), Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial flavors.  Grade:  B+

Family Emergency (all is good now)

Here is a pic from Dad's hospital stay (this is in the ER on 10/27/10).  We can always tell when he is really sick because his hands get cold, so Mom is warming his hands up.  He is mostly better now (at 77% last I spoke with him).  He was diagnosed with TIA (transient ischemic attack) which mimics the symptoms of a small stroke but for a shorter time period and no changes in brain.  It was definitely an experience and I'm still emotionally worn out.  Nice to have so many people offering their support (thank you!).  It feels very strange that life is now "back to normal."  I still brace myself every time my phone rings in case something else has happened.   

Root Beer Review: Americana

First sip of bottle one:  All carbonated water.  Felt the "burn" all down my tongue into my throat.  First sip of bottle two:  bland and watery.  Second sip had more carbonation.  I was very disappointed to have my second almost flavorless root beer in a row.  Especially since licorice extract was included in the ingredients.  I didn't get any licorice flavoring until the last fourth of  liquid in the bottle.  The taste settled at the bottom of the bottle.  The last few sips tasted like a root beer barrel candy.  Unfortunately, it is hard to shake a root beer bottle to mix unless you want the root beer all on you instead of in you.  Ingredients: carbonated water, cane sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, pure organic honey, extracts of licorice and sassafras root bard, citric acid, phosphoric acid.  Grade:  D+.

Dancing with the Stars, PB&J and Sherlock Holmes Texting

As some of you know, it's a tradition for my mom and I to watch Dancing with the Stars together on Monday nights (bonus points when Dad gets home before it's over).  This season, neither of us really has a favorite to win.  We love Lacey's choreography with Kyle (which the judges rarely do), we're ready for Bristol Palin to go home (is it me or is Mark Ballas getting creepier every season?), Kurt Warner is hit-or-miss for both of us with more misses lately, Mom thinks Rick Fox is getting better, I think they should have had the tall girl (the blonde Anna) be his partner because the height difference of over a foot is very distracting in ballroom holds.  We also like Jennifer Grey and Derek (but I'm kind of tired of Derek winning, even if he deserves it), and Maks and Brandy are doing better and I'd like Maks to have a win.  Who's left?  Audrina and Tony.  I'm just happy that Tony has someone easy to work with, even if he is somewhat delusional on her facial expression being anything more than blank.  If she learns to express herself in her face better, they can be contenders.

For dinner last night, we both had our first PB&J sandwiches in FOREVER.  Comfort food yummy.  Used creamy peanut butter for the first time in age (I like crunchy).  I now remember why when my older sister asked my to maker her a sandwich (I was 7 at the time) I buttered the bread before spreading the peanut butter.  I still remember her calling me from working and telling me to skip the butter next time (I don't think there was a next time - so there's a hint for you younger siblings - if you don't want to fix PB&J for anyone, add butter).  That creamy stuff is hard to spread without ripping the bread a bit!

Also last night, we watched the Masterpiece Theatre of the new modern-era Sherlock Holmes.  It was very well done in keeping with the characterizations in the modern age.  Sherlock was a little strange looking (would look perfect for playing a vampire - very pale), but Watson was much more fleshed out than usual.  There are two more episodes on PBS - I highly recommend.  They were written by Steven Moffat, one of my favorite TV writers (he also did the fantastic Jekyll mini-series, Coupling (British version), and is currently writing the new Doctor Who which was somewhat disappointing this season story-wise, but part of that might be the new actors and characters and loss of David Tennant).  Keep a lookout for a Princess Bride scene (in my opinion least - it is never explained as so).

Current music on Pandora:  Eve6 - Inside Out  - LOVE that song - should see if Eve6 is still putting out music.  I've always loved their lyrical wrangling.  "I would swallow my doubt/turn it inside out/find nothing but faith in nothing..."

Root Beer Review: Bulldog

No deductions for the label being askew. :)

Very mild root beer.  There is a small burn on the tongue with the carbonation after a few seconds.  There is a small vanilla flavor that lingers a few seconds, but otherwise almost no flavor and no aftertaste.  Watery. Ingredients:  Carbonated water, cane sugar, honey, maltodextrin, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate, real vanilla, phosphoric acid, salt.   Total grade:  C-.

Weekend Update

Guess where I went this weekend?

                                          (he's much more sporty than I remember)

That's right!  After a morning of bowling (best score was 153 - woot!)  Wayne & I went to Chuck E Cheese.    Why did we voluntarily go to a place full of screaming children to eat?  Because there is a Deal or No Deal machine there and Wayne is a bit obsessed with that game.  However, he is not very good at it, as he kept winning only four tickets (I won 13 and 16 on the two games I played).  We also played skeeball (he beat me) and the basketball throwing games (which I totally rocked on - I totally get why tall people are better basketball players now - I make many more baskets when the basket is only a couple inches higher than me).

Also on Saturday, Wayne, Dwayne and I went to Terror After Dark at Dulles Town Center.  My favorite attraction was the maze that was totally in the dark.  Dwayne went first and couldn't see anything and Wayne was holding on to me from behind.  Apparently I have good eyesight in the total dark cause I ended up guiding Dwayne from behind (I used my maze knowledge from playing Tomb Raider and it totally worked - heh).  The best part was when there were fake spiderwebs and Wayne started shrieking that there was a bug on him.  PAYBACK for all the times he's tried to freak me out with bugs.  All and all not very scary (jumping was mostly from surprise of air cannons on once or twice from people bursting in with masks).  We may try to go to a haunted trail later this week.

Sunday was mostly relaxing with TV catchup and books.  Best part was the Redskins winning over the Bears (my company has an office in Chicago - always fun to one-up them).  Most turnovers I've ever seen in a game!  I also took a computer break - I need a day off from this thing every once in awhile.

What have you done lately?

Finally started a blog...

I have contemplated writing a blog for years.  I used to have a webpage (several in fact) back in the days when html was the only way to go.  But alas, the years of geocities are long gone.  What finally got me to start was two things.  1.  My sister Jana updated her blog just for me.  I felt the need to reciprocate in some fashion (hi Jana!). and 2.  Root beer.  That's right.  That yummy caramel colored carbonated beverage that goes great with pizza and better with football games on TV.  I was at World Market today and saw that there was a 10 pack sampler case of root beer.  HEAVEN.  I MUST SAMPLE THEM ALL!  I have been trying a few different flavors here and there for the past few weeks with the only requirement being that the root beer must come in a bottle.  So far my favorites have been Dominion (which you can get in most stores - I got mine from Wegmans) and Maine Root (from World Market).  But I felt the need to be able to share my reviews somewhere and this seemed just the place.  Besides root beer reviews, I will try to put up pictures and updates about random happenings and thoughts.  I totally take requests.