Make The Season Bright: Holiday Blog Hop 2011!
Today I’m participating in a little blog hop called Make the Season Bright! One of my new bloggy friends, Rachel, introduced me to the group, and I’m excited to be part of it and share some of what we’re doing this year for the holidays. You can check out the full list on hostess Abby’s blog.
Although this is the first married Christmas Erik and I are sharing, this is the second Christmas with us living together, and the third Christmas we’ve celebrated together. Our very first Christmas, in 2008, took place one week after we started dating, so I was in Oregon with my family and Erik spent it at his sister’s house.
Last year, when we moved into our apartment, we decided we wanted to have a tree and decorate for the holidays. We bought a tree from a tree farm, but this year we decided that a real tree is a hassle in an apartment building and so we were going to explore the idea of having a fake one. I know – scandalous! But we ended up waiting too long and all the good fake trees were sold out! Who would have thought? So we ended up just buying a real tree from Home Depot, which isn’t as romantic as a family farm, but there’s something to be said for that: it’s was less than half the cost of a family farm tree! Kind of incredible.
Then we came home, did a little cosmetic surgery on the tree because we couldn’t fit our star on top, and then trimmed the tree with ornaments. Most of the ornaments are from our parents, who gave them to us last year.
We also have a lovely tree skirt that I bought from Etsy last Christmas. There are so many on Etsy, but I’m afraid I don’t remember where I got this one. Sorry!
These are some of my favorite ornaments!
The ballerina
Just a beautiful crystal ornament – it’s very heavy, though
The Naked Baby ornament – it’s was from my first Christmas, and my brother and I used to take the naked baby out of the cradle and play with it. We were odd little children… 
We’ve also added several ornaments to our collection. We bought this beautiful purple ornament in Park City a couple weeks. It’s nice that our families gave us a starting point with our tree, but now it’s also fun to collect ornaments that have a special meaning for Erik and I.
The first festive thing you’ll see in our apartment is the wreath hanging on our front door. We noticed our downstairs neighbor had a wreath on her door, and we thought that was a great idea. It immediately brings a little bit of seasonal cheer and it smells so good!
The next thing you’ll see in our apartment is this little snow man frame that we have hanging in our entryway. We bought it at an antique store in Cold Spring, NY. It’s so cute. I love snowmen.
I’m a big fan of decorating our dining table regularly, because it’s a prominent fixture in our apartment and we eat there every day. These tower of presents and Santa are both from Erik’s mom, and we picked up the poinsettia for $5 at the grocery store.
We also have a couple of holiday cards, though hopefully we’ll have more coming in (I still need to finish mine and mail them out! Yikes!). We’re going to put up some shelves in our living room to have a better place for the cards, because clearly they are going to block the TV pretty soon.
Yesterday, we hosted our very first holiday party! Well, we actually co-hosted it with our next door neighbors, who are newly married twentysomethings just like us, but the party took place in our apartment. We decided that we wanted to throw a party for all of our neighbors, especially after the ordeal we went through with the hurricane and the exile. We had about 15 people or so come over, and it was so fun meeting people who not only live in our building, but live in the other buildings in our complex. It’s a huge complex, but a lot of people moved out during and after the hurricane. We met two other newly married couples who recently moved in. One of the couples lives in the other apartment on our floor, so out of 3 apartments on our floor, all of us are newly married twentysomethings! How crazy and cool! We also met one couple who have been married for a few years but don’t have children. Since we live in the suburbs, it’s really easy to feel like everyone is wealthy and has kids, but that’s not the case anymore!
It was just really fun to feel like we had a bit of community in our lives. I certainly have loads of community through the diabetes and twentysomething communities, but those friendships live online most of the time. It was just really refreshing to have people who are so close to us, both physically and in their “life stage.”
I am horrible at taking pictures when I’m busy — I was off “living in the moment” I guess — but I did snap this one picture of our lovely buffet table. We actually had even more food brought throughout the party, and tons of beer and wine. All the beer is gone now, but we have several bottles of wine. I’m planning on saving them for the next party!
Are you friends with your neighbors? Have you or would you consider hosting a holiday party for your neighbors? Do you host a holiday party for friends or family?
{Ten Things on Tuesday} Thirty-Eight + Three Years!
Thanks to Chelsea for providing questions and as always for hosting TTOT!
1. How do you eat your eggs?
At a restaurant, I order them over-easy. But I don’t know how to make them at home, so usually I just fry them or scramble.
2. Do you volunteer?
I used to volunteer a lot more with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. But as I’ve gotten older, it’s been harder and harder to do. I wish I could devote more time to volunteering.
3. What’s your favorite brand of jeans?
I wear Levi’s most of the time. Sometimes Gap. Just depends on what I find.
4. What was your child’s first word? Or what was your first word?
I don’t know what my first word was, and I don’t have a child.
5. Can you french braid?
No, I can’t. I always try, and I just fail. But one of my weird habits with my hair is braiding. If you see me at a meet-up or a conference, eventually I will start braiding a small piece of my hair. Over and over and over again.
6. Do you prefer wide rule, college rule, or blank paper?
I don’t use notebook paper that often. Usually I write in a journal, if anything, and I think they’re usually wide rule. But since I pick the journal for the cover (it has to be pretty!) and not the lines, I don’t think I’ve paid much attention.
7. Is there a specific treat do you always make during the holidays?
Not something that I always make, but I often make almond crescent cookies.
8. Do you have a KitchenAid mixer? Do you want one?
We do not have a KitchenAid mixer. It was on our registry, but we didn’t get it. Sad face.
9. What kind of computer do you use?
I have a Macbook Pro.
10. Favorite Christmas movie?
Muppet Christmas Carol!
And last but not least… today is my 3rd anniversary with my husband. On this day in 2008, we rendezvoused for the first time by the clock in Grand Central Station. We’ve had our fair share of ups and downs, but I’m really glad he sent me that first message on OKCupid.
{Film Review Friday} Now Available On DVD.
I’m getting all caught up on my Friday Film Reviews. Last week I did a post on movies that are currently out in the theater. Now I’m doing ones that we saw at home.
As a reminder, here’s the run-down of how I grade films:
{A} must-see
{B} nice to watch
{C} watch if you have nothing else to watch or they just weren’t my cup of tea
{F} please don’t waste your time
{Hanna}: B+
This movie was hard for me to get into. The movie doesn’t really explain the backstory of the characters very well. However, the main character, Hanna, is a young girl trained by her former assassin former to evade a government organization essentially hellbent on capturing and killing her. Woah. Heavy stuff. It was very intriguing and the plot is suspenseful and interesting, but I didn’t get a very good sense of why they actually wanted to capture her until the very end of the movie. Which is all fine and well, but I wish I had understood the point of the movie a little earlier. I eventually got over the fact that I had no idea what was going on, and I ended up really enjoying it the action and suspense. The acting was very good, and there were some very clever lines. Saoirse Ronan was phenomenal and really is a kick-butt action girl. And the ending? Was kind of worth the whole movie, in my opinion.
{Limitless}: B+
I really thought I was going to hate this movie. I thought this was going to be one of those stupid, unrealistic action movies where nothing makes sense and it’s just all violence and sex and drugs. And there certainly is violence, sex and drugs, but the film really dives into a lot of the moral and ethical issues to its plot. The movie actually has some brains behind it, and that was refreshing. I actually briefly saw one of the scenes being filmed in NYC last year, so I kind of wanted to see if I could figure out which scene it was, but they must have either cut it or did some editing to it because I didn’t recognize the street in the film. Too bad. Anyway, I wouldn’t say it’s the greatest film ever, but if you’re in the mood for another action film and aren’t into cutthroat killer 12-year-olds (aka Hanna), then this would be a good option too.
{Paul}: B
This movie is courtesy of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the guys who brought you Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (both of which are AMAZING movies). This one? Meh. It’s about two totally geeked-out sci-fi obsessed fans from England who travel to a science fiction convention and end up running into an actual alien, Paul, who needs their help to go home. Kind of like E.T., but raunchier and vulger-er. (I know that’s not a word, just go with it.) And it is a funny movie, but I just didn’t quite get into it as much as their first two movies. It was cute, and Kirsten Wiig is hilarious as a religious fanatic who goes bat-shit crazy when she meets Paul. But I honestly just didn’t think it was quite as funny as it could have been. Had its moments, but it just wasn’t as clever of a story as Shaun of the Dead or had quite the twists and turns as Hot Fuzz. If you’re a fan of Pegg and Frost’s work, I mean, obviously you should check it out. But if you haven’t seen Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz (my favorite is Hot Fuzz), I’d recommend skipping this one and catching one of those.
{Wine and Love} Fourteen.
Wow! First of all, yesterday’s conversation was lovely and wonderful and thank you to everyone for chiming in. It was great to hear that my post resonated with so many people, but there were also lots of interesting points that you all made so I hope you will continue to share your thoughts.
Now, on to Wine and Love, hosted by lovely Nora! Which I promise will be a much, much shorter post!
W(h)ining about…
… My cold! I have been sick for two weeks! When is this damn thing going to vacate my body?! I have never been so sick in my life. I don’t understand it. I’m not even around that many people. I woke up with a fever in the middle of the night a couple weeks ago, and ever since then I’ve been fighting a sore throat, laryngitis, congestion, coughing, sneezing (oh dear Lord, you should have seen me at the SLC airport — I think I sneezed 20 times in a row!) and in general, just plain yuckiness. I’m so ready for this to be over!
… Um, it’s cold. And I don’t really like the cold. So this will be something I’ll be whining about until, um, April?
… My favorite shows are on mid-season hiatus. No Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead or Once Upon A Time for a month. I know it’s the busy holiday season and I probably won’t even notice, but still. There were some major cliff-hangers and I’m just dying over here.
… Holiday shopping and crowds. I never know what to buy people! And I hate crowds! (Which is ironic for a girl who loves living in NYC, but mall crowds are different than NYC crowds).
Totally loving…
… Comments on yesterday’s post! Thanks again!
… This weekend we’re going to NYC with the quarterlife group at our church to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, visit FAO Schwarz, and get hot chocolate at Serendipity (yes, from the movie!) which I have never been to because I’m always convinced it will be a total madhouse and not worth it. I’m so glad someone is dragging me there because I might never go otherwise. I love NYC at Christmas and can’t wait to share pics.
… That in three weeks I get to see my family in California and stand next to one of my best friends as she gets married!
… My husband. He’s good people.
On Being An “It Girl”.
This is a topic that I contemplated writing a couple of months ago, but decided that I was uncomfortable putting this out in the community. However, in the last couple days, I’ve read a variety of comments about the blogging community and I have been inspired to write a little bit about what it feels to be an influential blogger — and what it feels like to an outsider. This might seem like it’s directed just to the diabetes community, but it’s not. This is for everyone.
I also want to say that this is not a response to any particular person in particular, but is a culmination of months — actually, years — of conversations about what it means to be in a blogging community. I’m sure there will be people who disagree with my thoughts and maybe will think I’m stuck-up or delusional or wrong (and hey, all 3 could be true), and I welcome discussion, but please — be nice.
I am an influencer.
At least, that’s what people tell me.
Specifically, I am an influencer in the diabetes community. I have been blogging in the diabetes community for seven years. I have attended social media summits with Roche Diabetes and Medtronic Diabetes. I have been published in newspapers, appeared on local TV, and featured on a couple of podcasts. I have met the presidents and former presidents of most of the diabetes organizations, and most of them actually know who I am (and if they don’t, their assistants probably do).
It’s pretty cool, actually. And it certainly isn’t something that happened over night. I started doing diabetes advocacy soon after I was diagnosed, and I became even more active in creating my own advocacy projects when I was in high school. I launched my first diabetes website over 10 years ago. There even remains some evidence of it online. A lot has changed since then. In addition to even more platforms and tools (Facebook wasn’t even a glimmer in Zuckerberg’s eye), the community has also grown a lot. It’s wonderful and awesome to see so many people joining in the Diabetes Online Community, but it’s also a tad overwhelming. One of the most common things I hear people say — and this actually goes for anyone who is in any kind of blogging community — is how much time it takes to keep up with everyone. There are just so many of us. That’s not a judgement call — it’s just a fact.
Somehow, through the years, I became an influencer. I don’t know how that happened, because I certainly haven’t had diabetes the longest. I’m not in particularly good diabetes control. I’m not even particularly eloquent or brilliant or funny or outgoing. I’m kind of shy and a bit of a dork and I don’t always know what to say to people. I can be funny and witty, but it’s usually an accident when it happens.
In any event, I was fortunate enough to be thought of as an “influencer” in the diabetes community. Which is cool, don’t get me wrong. But I feel like this “influencer” group has come under a lot of heat in the last couple of years — both directly in blog posts and tweets and also indirectly — because many people feel like the diabetes community has formed cliques. We are “cliquey.” That we ignore people or don’t like people for one reason or another. I want to respond to some of this.
The first thing I want to say is that I’m sorry. I’m not apologizing for anything in particular that I did, but I know that there are a lot of people in the diabetes community who don’t feel included in things, like meet-ups or events or discussions. I get the impression that people feel there is a hierarchy similar to high school, where there is a separation between the cool kids and the not-cool kids. People don’t understand why some of us are always invited to certain things, while others aren’t. And let me say this: I completely agree. It really sucks that not everyone can come. In the case of corporate events, I understand the reasons: it costs money for companies to invite people, so eventually some kind of list has to be created. Did I wish it were more inclusive? Yes. Do I wish it more diverse? Yes. Do I like being included on the list? Yes. It’s a complete honor, I do my very best to represent the crew, and it’s also fun. Sorry, speaking truth here.
Another thing I want to say is that this community is enormous. And that’s GREAT. Well, I mean, I wish there were less people with diabetes, but given the option between living with diabetes alone and living with diabetes with the DOC, I’m sure as heck glad you found us! But one thing I want to say is that it is impossible to be close, personal friends with everyone. Trust me, I’ve tried. Remember my earlier comment about keeping up with all the blogs? It’s really hard to follow everyone personally, so eventually groups do form. Certain moms will become closer with certain moms. Some of us Type 1s will form closer bonds with other type 1s. You might even end up inviting a couple of these ladies to your wedding. That does not mean that people don’t like you or don’t want to be friends with you. Think of it this way: were you friends with everyone you went to high school with? No, of course not. Did you hate everyone you went to high school with? No, of course not (oh, come on! You had to have to liked someone). There were some people you clicked with more than others — and that’s normal!
Because the community is so large, sometimes it can be difficult to make sure everyone knows everything that’s going on with conferences and meet-ups and what-not. It can lead to a lot of hurt feelings when you think that you’ve been left off the invite list. There are loads of things that I’ve had the opportunity to go to, and there are loads of things that I missed. It’s not that you’re being left off a list, it’s just that sometimes it can be difficult to make sure everyone knows everything because there are so many of us. It isn’t anyone’s fault, and it certainly isn’t because we don’t like you.
It’s a serious bummer when it happens. Trust me, there have been many times where I have wanted to go somewhere or I have wanted to be close, personal friends with another blogger — and this has happened in both in the diabetes community and in other blogging communities — but it sometimes just doesn’t work out.
Yep, I — a proclaimed “influencer” — have felt like an outsider on more than one occasion. Do I blame the other bloggers? No, I don’t. Even though it hurt to feel like I wasn’t being included or that I wasn’t liked as much as another blogger, I also realized that some personalities don’t mesh well, even if we do share dysfunctional pancreases. Dysfunctional pancreases make us all part of the diabetes community and that means we should all support each other and be kind — but it doesn’t make us insta-BFFs.
But just because we’re not insta-BFFs does not mean we have the right to hurt other bloggers. There has been a lot of conversation in recent days on the language and tone used toward other bloggers, and I just want to say: Being a jerk is wrong. Maybe you were gone that day in kindergarten, but being an ass to people does not endear you to anyone and will not help your cause or help you make friends. That said, everyone is well within their right to have their own opinions about life. Diversity is what makes the world go round, but crappy people bring it down. Communities as large as this one often have a variety of perspectives, and we have to be respectful, even if we don’t agree, even if we don’t particularly like the person. It’s something that we’re sorely missing in society as a whole, and our community in particular.
Okay, so we’ve covered three main issues: it’s easy to feel left out, you can’t be friends with everyone, and mean people suck.
But maybe you don’t believe that I really know what it’s like to be an outsider. Early last year, I decided I didn’t want to devote as much time to writing about diabetes on Lemonade Life. I was getting tired of talking about my everyday life with it, and then in January, I started writing about it full-time at DiabetesMine. I began slowly incorporating more “twentysomething” topics and started to develop relationships with other twentysomething bloggers. And you know what? Now I’ve switched roles. In the twentysomething community, very few people know who I am. I have some very wonderful twentysomething readers now, but it’s small compared to twentysomething bloggers who have been doing it longer. I am never asked to do a giveaway or visit some company’s headquarters or form a blogger/company partnership. I get fewer comments and hits. I’m a newbie. I’m not an It Girl. I crave the attention and friendship of other twentysomething bloggers, and sometimes it hurts when I feel like I’m not part of that community.
It takes a great deal of effort to make friends in real life, and it also takes a great deal of effort to make friends online. And just like you can’t be friends with everyone in real life, you also can’t expect to be friends with everyone online. That doesn’t mean allowing for rudeness, but it does mean understanding if someone doesn’t comment on every single blog post, or retweets you, or wants to give you full access to their Facebook profile.
So I just want you to know that I get it. I get it because I’m in both camps. I know how much it hurts to not be “in” with the bloggers you think are cool, to be jealous of the attention they get, and wonder how they got where they are — and trust me, half the time, they are wondering the same thing!
I also know what it’s like to be a leader, to want everyone to feel included, and to support and counsel those who need it because you know how much you appreciate it when people support you.
A lot of people talk about cliques in the blogging community — in every blogging community. And the truth is, I think it’s natural. I think it’s natural to form bonds with a few particular people whom you share not only a dysfunctional organ or a passion for running or an adoration for alcoholic beverages. I have formed bonds with a few people who I can count on to support me during the rough times, and I appreciate the wider network of acquaintances that I have. I am part of a big, wide wonderful community, but within that, I have developed an even closer network of people I can count on. I support and listen to as many people as I can, but I also understand my limits and I know that spreading myself around and trying to invest deeply in everyone I meet is not healthy for me. It’s not healthy for you, either, and you’re putting too much pressure on yourself if you’re going to try.
There are so many people out there who are looking for you. There are people who are in your shoes, who need a friend, a hug, a shoulder to cry on. It might not be me, but there is definitely someone out there for you. You are not alone in your struggles.
I want very much to be friends with everyone, and it is painful to feel rejected when my advances in friendship are spurned or ignored. I’ve been there. I imagine that many of the bloggers I look up to and respect sometimes feel the same way, too. It’s hard to want to build intimate relationships with your blogging community, while also realizing you have limited time, energy and resources. And I’m learning to be okay with the limitations of community. I am eager to make new friends, but I am learning to be realistic in what that looks like.
I love getting to know my readers and I love getting to know the people I read. But friendship and community should not have so much pressure and so many expectations built into it. I believe that is one of the main causes of hurt feelings, and that’s why I felt like I needed to write this post.
You are all so precious and a blessing. Whether or not we become close, personal friends, I want you to know you are valuable to the community as a whole and you have the right to be heard. Please do not let anything stand in your way. You belong here and we are glad you’re with us on this crazy ride.
{Ten Things on Tuesday} Thirty-Seven.
1. What are 3 things that are on your Christmas wishlist?
There is really only one thing I want for Christmas this year: an iPad. I am so sick of trying to use my laptop on five hour cross country trips. So that’s what I want Santa to bring me. Other than, I could always use more clothes (what girl couldn’t?) and a gift card to Amazon to help in my book buying habit.
2. What’s your favorite Christmas song?
Carole of the Bells. Gorgeous.
3. Do you have a favorite band or singer that sings it especially awesome?
I don’t actually… But I’ve never heard a version I didn’t like.
4. Have you heard about the website goodreads?
Yes, I have. I’m a member, but I have a hard time using it to update my books. I’m pretty lazy about it and usually do it in bunches. And I almost never write book reviews there, which is sort of the whole point. But it is very helpful in figuring out what to read next.
5. What are 3 books you want to read?
Three books I want to read are: The Marriage Plot (which is our next #twookclub pick!), Hunger Games (because I’ve heard so many good things about the series and wow does the movie trailer look amazing) and Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (because I’m the last person on the planet to read the book and I’m not sure my husband will let me see the movie before reading the book).
6. Do you hunt deer?
I don’t, and have no interested in hunting.
7. Have you started Christmas shopping? Are you completely finished?
I haven’t started. It’s only December 6. Plenty of time!
8. Did you shop on Black Friday? What was the best deal you got?
No, I didn’t shop on Black Friday. I wouldn’t and don’t plan on ever starting.
9. What’s one holiday tradition your family has?
We don’t really have a lot of traditions… Erik and I have only celebrated a handful of Christmases together. When I was growing up, I would always go to my friend’s house to decorate gingerbread houses made out of graham crackers. Some years there would be up to 40 people in her house! It’s intense. People get very creative… and competitive. It’s awesome, but I haven’t gone in four years and I miss it dearly.
10. How many blogs do you read? Do you subscribe/unsubscribe often or do you purge every once in a while?
I’m subscribed to 120 blogs in Google Reader. I definitely subscribe often, and don’t unsubscribe too often unless I notice someone has not blogged in a long time or if I realize I’m skimming / skipping their posts too often.
Utah!
Last week, Erik and I traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah for my company’s holiday party. Erik almost never travels with me on business, unless it happens to be over a weekend because he has such limited time off work. However, neither of us have ever been to Utah before and we thought this would be a really fun opportunity to be part of my work community (which is a hard thing sometimes when you work at home on the other side of the country) and also to explore Utah.
I had flown through SLC once before, in college while flying to Georgia from Oregon, and I remember seeing these enormous snow-covered mountains on all sides of the airport. The mountains are still there, although it’s still very early in the season so there wasn’t as much snow. We weren’t really sure what to expect. I suppose we expected it to be boring and uptight — and there are certainly elements of that — but for the most part, SLC was pretty nice and the scenery is gorgeous!
Wednesday
We landed on Wednesday just in time for dinner. We rented a car to make it easier to explore the area and thanks to an ex-coworker of mine, we had a few dinner recommendations. We picked Red Iguana, a Mexican restaurant near downtown SLC. We absolutely loved their tagline, “Killer Mexican Food.”
Their selection of moles were incredible, and I picked their special, a chicken enchilada while a mole sauce made with strawberries and chocolate. It was sweet and spicy and basically perfection.
Yes, there is a strawberry on top of my enchilada
Our dessert of fried ice cream was a little less perfect. Although it looked tasty, the thing was frozen solid. We had to use a fork and knife to eat it!
Their menu is extensive and it has this eclectic dive-bar feel to it and several of the patrons (and our waitress) had tattoos, which was definitely not something we were expecting in Salt Lake City! Later we read that SLC is actually a lot more laid back than the rest of the SLC metro area.
Thursday
It was still a workday for me, so Erik dropped me off at work. My husband, for those that don’t know this, is a geologist by training, so he kept himself busy by exploring the local geology of Utah (of which there is a lot!). Around 5pm, Erik picked me up and we drove back to the hotel to get ready for our holiday party. It took us almost twenty minutes to drive four blocks because traffic was so bad! We were joking that it was faster to get some place in New York City!
Once we dressed and picked up Amy from her hotel, we drove up to Red Butte Garden at the University of Utah, which is just ten minutes from where we were staying. Although it was dark by the time we got there, so there wasn’t much of a view, the room was beautiful.
The food, which included bacon-wrapped filet mignon, was delicious. It’s definitely something I’m considering making — or at least attempting to make!
Friday
Friday morning involved more work and meetings, so while I spent time at Alliance Health’s headquarters, Erik went exploring at the Rio Tinto Natural History Museum at the University of Utah so he could look at more rocks and dinosaur bones (yes, I realize I married an 8-year-old boy). But I took Friday afternoon off from work so Erik and I could explore the area while there was still some daylight out.
We really wanted to check out the Great Salt Lake, so we drove about 45 minutes up I-15 to Antelope Island, a big island at the southern part of the lake that was connected by a narrow road. On the island, it was incredibly quiet. We got out of the car at the Visitor Center and we couldn’t hear a thing. No birds, no animals, no cars, no people, no waves, nothing. It was incredibly eery, but also very beautiful and peaceful. We checked out the Visitor Center, which had your standard information about the island and the animals that inhabited it. There was a lovely little video about the island playing in their “theater.”
After that, we drove around the island because it was freezing! I mean, I could barely handle how cold and dry it was in Utah, especially while getting over a cold. Part way around the island, we also spotted some bison. At first we thought they were fake because they were so far away and we couldn’t see them moving.
A bison through the viewfinder at an overlook — yes, those are birds on the bison
The weather started to look pretty crummy so we drove back to SLC for dinner and a walk around the Temple Grounds. We had dinner at a place called The Lion House, which is a restaurant in Brigham Young’s historical house right next to the Temple and the LDS headquarters. The Lion House isn’t your typical restaurant, in that it’s set up cafeteria-style, but the food was really good! Their honey butter rolls are delicious and the food was cooked well and very tasty. I was impressed considering it is such a casual set up, but it’s perfect if you want something quick and easy, that isn’t fast food, and close to Temple Square.
It was frigid and slightly snowing when we were done with dinner. We took a quick peek inside Hotel Utah, which is now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, before going next door to the Temple Square. The Temple, as you can imagine, is gorgeous.
But it’s also not open to non-Mormon types, so we had to settle for the model of the Temple inside the Temple Visitor Center, which also has all kinds of info about how the Mormons settled in Utah, how the Temple was built, their basic beliefs and how they really really like family.
We also spent some time looking up our families using their Family Search database. We found quite a few of Erik’s relatives, but not as many of mine, which was kind of disappointing. Oh well. There was also a high school choir performance in one of the buildings near the Temple (I forget what it’s called) and they were quite good. They sang my favorite Christmas carol, “Carol of the Bells.” It was very pretty.
There were also some folks selling hot chocolate and cookies outside the Memorial Building. Two hot chocolates and a cookie were like $5, which is so cheap compared to New York City that it almost felt like it was free! On our way back to the car, we ducked inside Deseret Books, which is a Mormon publishing company and bookstore. Most of the stuff there is strictly LDS, but we did buy a little quote on marriage that we thought was really sweet.
Saturday
Oh boy. Saturday. Saturday was skiing day. Erik and I woke up bright and early to drive to Park City Mountain Resort for half-day of beginner ski lessons. My cold and the dry air was making me feel pretty miserable, but I was committed to our plans.
That is, until I actually got out on the slope. I’ve only gone skiing once before, back in high school at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. I had a rough idea of what I was supposed to do, but we thought the beginner ski lessons would be a perfect refresher. However, our instructor, upon hearing we’d gone skiing before, thought the beginner’s class would be too rudimentary for us and encouraged us to join the group at the next level, which we did.
All while this was going on, I started noticing the my toes were tingling. Like, really tingling. It hurt a lot. Erik tried adjusting my boots, but nothing was helping. Finally, we started some basic skiing, starting off by skiing across the slope, rather than down it. But there was a point in the slope that went up, and no matter what I did, I could not ski up the tiny (tiny!) slope. All the while, there were loads of skiiers flying past us, and the other students, including Erik, were waiting for me to hurry up. The instructor tried over and over to give me instructions, but it just wasn’t working. I couldn’t get to where I needed to go.
So, naturally, I gave up. In tears. I stormed off the slope, took off my boots and let my feet regain some feeling. Erik came over and gave me a pep talk and let me cry. He told me he believed that I could do it even though I felt like a big fat failure. And he convinced me to get back in my boots and onto the slope, but not before exchanging socks with him. Turns out, the socks I was wearing were uber thick and they were contributing to cutting off my circulation. Oh joy.
Unfortunately, by the time I felt motivated to get back on the slope, it was too late to join the group. But our ski lift ticket was only for the first half of the day, and we had spent $180 on equipment rentals, lift tickets and the lesson. I felt even worse for wasting so much money! So instead, my husband became my ski instructor.
And turns out, he’s pretty good!
My husband, my wonderful ski instructor
We spent some time on fairly flat part of the slope, where they have the children start out. (Hey, don’t judge.) And I was slow. Slooow. But I practiced, and I got a bit better, and I practiced some more. And even though it took me like 15 minutes to go 10 feet, I eventually was skiing more-or-less like a normal person.
And then we got on the ski lift, which was fun, albeit a bit scary. Getting off the ski lift was even scarier, and the only time I fell the entire morning was getting off the ski lift. Ouch!
But I skied down the hill. Twice. Slowly. But hey, I started at the top and ended at the bottom, I didn’t fall and I didn’t take off the skis.
I consider that a success.
After we were finished, we drove up to Park City for lunch. Only a few of the places were open for lunch, so we went to a BBQ place called Bandits. It was perfect for a chill lunch. Not too fancy, but pretty good. Then we walked up and down Main Street, checked out the galleries and boutiques. I bought a pretty new ornament for our tree at Rootd. And we also got coffee and hot fudge sundae at Java Cow (even though it was 25 degrees outside).
Look what we spotted in Park City!
Unfortunately, we were exhausted, and sore, and freezing. So we decided to head back to SLC after just a few hours of wandering.
And when we got back to the hotel we promptly fell asleep, waking only to get some dinner from the hotel restaurant.
Sunday
Sunday is the day we flew home! It was a wonderful trip and I’m looking forward to heading back to Utah. I don’t think it’s a place I would necessarily want to live, but it is a lovely place to visit.
{Friday Film Review} Now In Theaters.
Once again, I am waaay behind in my movie reviews, so I decided to take the next two Fridays to catch up. This week, I’m going to focus on the new releases, or at least, the movies that are still currently in theaters. And then next week, I’ll have the reviews of the movies that are available to rent.
As a reminder, here’s the run-down of how I grade films:
{A} must-see
{B} nice to watch
{C} watch if you have nothing else to watch or they just weren’t my cup of tea
{F} please don’t waste your time
{Ides of March}: B+
I really liked this movie! It’s a political drama that doesn’t put too much emphasis on the politics and instead it’s more of a human story between a young woman, her budding relationship with her boss, the campaign manager, and the politician for whom they both work for. There’s a lot of drama and intrigue, but there are also some funny moments, too. Plus, it has Ryan Gosling and George Clooney, so it’s a crowd-pleaser for all the ladies. The believability, especially at the end, is a little sketchy. I’m not entirely sure I buy that it’s realistic. But needless to say, it’s decent drama with a great-looking cast and good acting. Erik and I both enjoyed it, so I’d say it’s a good date movie.
{Midnight in Paris}: B
I actually wanted to like movie way more than I actually do. I feel sort of bad giving it not an A rating, but I just didn’t get into it as much as I thought I would. I suppose, first of all, I thought the movie would be more about Paris, but instead, it basically just takes place in Paris. It’s a fantasy movie, in which the main character, Owen Wilson, travels back to his favorite era, 1920s Paris, where he meets all the famous ex-pats, like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzergerald and Gertrude Stein (whom I wrote a paper about in high school – so that was cool). In present day, Owen and his fiancee, Rachel McAdams (LOVE her!) are having some relationship issue, so really the whole movie is about relationships, and how we are often in conflict because our reality never lives up to our fantasy, even if our fantasy suddenly becomes our reality. In short, the movie is about never being satisfied with what you have. So maybe that’s why I didn’t like it as much! Actually, the message of the movie is very poignant and important, and I appreciated that, but I think I expected there to be a bit more Paris involved in the movie, rather than just using it as a pretty set.
{The Muppets}: A+
If you don’t see this movie, or if you see this movie and you don’t like it, I’m just going to go ahead and assume you have no soul. Because honest to God, how can you not like this movie? It has everything: Kermit the Frog and the whole Muppet gang, heartfelt singing and dancing, Jason Segal and Amy Adams as the humans (LOVE), Chris Cooper as the bad guy who RAPS about being the bad guy, cameos from some of the best actors in showbiz (including Sheldon from Big Bang Theory), show tunes, ironic asides to the audience, and a story of good triumphing over evil. I mean, come on. What’s not to love?
{Currently} December.
Current Book: I just finished our first twookclub book club pick, which was The Scent of Rain and Lightning. Our next twookclub book club meeting isn’t until the end of January, so I’ll be reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which was given to me by my grandmother when I saw her in October. She’s a big reader and always had good recommendations for me.
Current Movie: Erik and I just saw The Muppets over the Thanksgiving holiday and it was awesome! I highly recommend checking it out. But beware of the thousand children in the audience.
Current Song: I feel a bit embarrassed admitting where I found this song (the commercial for the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas), but I am a huge fan of this song:
I cannot listen to this song without wanting to boogie. Puts a smile on my face every time.
Current Restaurant: There’s this deli place about two blocks away from the hotel where we lived for two months that has the most amazing chicken nuggets that you’ve ever tasted. They are real pieces of chicken (not that fake processed stuff from McDonalds) and the batter is delicious. They also have these marvelous little things called “cones.” These cones are fried mashed potatoes. I’m serious. Fried mashed potatoes. Just let that sink in. And they give out this tasty honey mustard sauce for dipping and it’s basically the most amazing thing I’ve ever had in my life. I introduced Erik to it a couple weeks ago after singing its praises for weeks. He agreed.
Current Needs: Now that it’s December, the Christmas season — for me — has officially started. I usually like to take a bit of a break between Thanksgiving and December 1st where I don’t really think too much about Christmas. For some reason I just equate Thanksgiving with November and Christmas with December and so doing anything Christmas-related in November seems strange to me. I just prefer that Thanksgiving be given a proper relaxing weekend. But as soon as the calendar turns to December, I’m ready to break out the decorations, trim the tree, see all the holiday lights and participate in all the festivities in the city! I love Christmas in NYC!
Current Dream Travel Destination: Over Thanksgiving dinner, we talked a little bit about London and even broke out a map of London and a map of the tube system so I could show my sister-in-law and her husband where I visited in 2008. Of course, it totally made me want to go back to England, although I think I’d prefer to visit other parts of the England, as well as the rest of Britain and also Ireland. So much to see!
Current Bane of My Existence: Always failing to beat my husband at Words with Friends. I do not understand how I, the writer, can so frequently lose a game about words to my husband, the scientist. It really boggles the mind. And irritates me to no end.
Current Inspiration: I recently joined The Council: Holiday Edition, hosted by Stratejoy. I’ve never joined anything like this before, but a few of my favorite bloggers are participating, and so I thought, Hey, why not? It was almost $50, so no small investment, but at the same time, I thought that I could really use a little direction in my annual self-assessment of the year. There was a lot of good this year, and a lot of bad (most of which I didn’t blog about because, well, I don’t have to tell you everything) and so I feel like I want to go into 2012 a little more intentional about my decisions instead of being so freaking whimsical about everything.
Current Favorite Website or Blog: OK, I modified this slightly from just “blog” to website or blog in general, because I realized that sometimes my greatest Internet discoveries are not actually blogs. My favorite website for this month is probably Dear Blank, Please Blank. It is hilarious! And filled with gems that include:
Current Excitement: I’m currently in Salt Lake City for my company’s holiday party, so I’m excited for that. But I’m even more excited to go to Park City on Saturday for a half-day skiing lesson for beginners (I have gone skiing a total of once and I sucked!) and then we’re going to just hang around Park City. If anyone has any suggestions for things to do, let me know!
Current Blood Sugar: 165 mg/dl.
{Fun in the Kitchen} Butternut Squash Casserole.
I don’t write about cooking very often on Lemonade Life. Despite some previous attempts at expanding our culinary skills, for the most part we eat a lot of pre-made food from Trader Joe’s that we just heat up. Occasionally we cook some recipes, but it’s not something that happens very often.
Last winter, we hosted Christmas dinner at our apartment when my parents and younger brother came to visit. For dinner, we made a lot of traditional favorites, but I wanted to do something different. After looking at several recipes online, we discovered Butternut Squash Casserole on AllRecipes.com. It looked tasty, so we decided to make it! It was a bit tricky because we’d never made it before and we didn’t have all the dishes we needed because we weren’t buying anything before our wedding.
For Thanksgiving this year, we did not host it, but instead went to Erik’s sister’s house for dinner. But we wanted to contribute something, so we cooked up the Butternut Squash Casserole, since it was the only festive thing we knew how to cook. This year, we had the right casserole dish and whisk that we needed, and I think it turned out even better than before.
Even though Thanksgiving is over, this is a perfect seasonal dish for a holiday part or for Christmas Eve / Christmas dinner!
{The Recipe}
- Ingredients:
Casserole:
1 butternut squash
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup margarine, melted
Topping:
1/2 (16 ounce) package vanilla wafers, crushed
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 cup brown sugar
- Directions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Put butternut squash in the microwave and cook on high, until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Cut in half, scoop out seeds and cube. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add squash and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and mash.
- In a 9×13 inch casserole dish combine 3 cups mashed butternut squash, white sugar, milk, vanilla extract, salt, flour, eggs and 1/4 cup melted margarine.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until set.
- In a medium bowl combine crushed vanilla wafers, 1/2 cup melted margarine and brown sugar. Crumble over top of cooked casserole and return to oven to brown.
Although the recipe instructs you to buy a whole butternut squash, we actually found butternut squash already peeled and cubed at the grocery store. We bought two packs of the butternut squash, which equaled almost the same weight as the whole squash. It was so much easier than having to microwave, cut, peel and scoop.
It’s incredibly easy to mix everything up in a bowl, but make sure it’s big enough! We started out with a small bowl to mix the flour and eggs and vanilla, but had to transfer it to a bigger mixing bowl.
We have a slightly different shaped casserole dish from Crate & Barrel that we used to cook the casserole. As long as it’s fairly deep, whatever you have should work, I think. Last year we used a much shallower pan and it didn’t have the right consistency.
Ta da!
We actually forgot to take a picture of the casserole once it was browned, because we were rushing out the door. But it looks very similar to this. It took about 10 or 15 minutes for us to brown the topping. Basically looked like this, just a little, well, browned!
If you make it, let me know what you think!
