My drinking history: the good the bad the ugly

After speaking briefly about this topic the other night, I thought I’d recap my relationship with alcohol…not only for myself but for you, my loyal readers…ha.

It started, I believe, when I stole gin from my parents and it made me oh-so-sick. I didn’t know how to drink or what to drink, and I think I was about 16 years old. After that, I tried all kinds of horrible liquors like Aftershock (!) and Bicardi Limon and Bicardi O. Sick. Why my friends and I chose these drinks, I do not know.

As time went on, we drank beer–any beer–it didn’t matter. Light beer, ghetto beer, any beer. I swear I was at a party and Mad Dog was served. Nice.

Once college came about, I was a lowly freshman and pretty much drank keg beer or cans of Natty Light. (Nothing but class.) At that time, I also preferred Bud Light to Miller, which has changed since. I dabbled in Captain, finishing a handle with 3 other girls before going out on Halloween night our freshman year. I moved on to bigger and better things like…Captain & Diet – oh yeah. I still can’t drink one of those without being reminded of late summer nights. I think I overdid the whole rum & diet thing…

My love affair for Vodka started my senior year of college. I was old enough to go out to the bars and I’d always order the same thing: Raspberry Vodka & Sprite. If I felt like a badass, I’d order a tall Stoli Razz & Sprite. Mmm. I always kept vodka in my apartment for pre-drinking, too.

Then came wine. Oh, sweet sweet vino. My friend Mandy and I finished a huge bottle of Carlo Rossi once night at her apartment and it was one of the best nights ever. I fell off her desk chair and had never laughed so hard in my life!

I began my real wine obsession shortly after getting hired at a Wine Bar down near ISU. I learned so much about wine and just wanted to learn more. When the bar was slow, I’d read about wine. There were 100 bottles of wine on tap, hooked up to oxygen and stored in temperature-controlled cabinets. It was awesome. The 100 bottle wine bar went from heavy reds that could stay at about room temp at one end to super sweet dessert whites that were chilled. I tried as much as I could and started deciding which types I liked best. I was into Shiraz and Riesling then, especially Shingleback Shiraz. Now I’m more into Pinot Noir or an occasional Merlot. For a solid easy drinking Pinot Noir I like La Crema or Mondavi. I like pretty much any California/Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir or Oregon Pinot Noir. But I’ll try any and all. I love all reds and typically there isn’t one I don’t like. Smooth, silky, spicy, anything. As for whites, I love Gewürztraminer and Riesling.

As of late, vodka has given me that warm buzz that I loooove, but it hasn’t been agreeing with me lately. In fact, it’s been giving me a drunk that I don’t like so much, at all, so I’ve been avoiding it.

So for now, it’s beer and wine for me … and that’s just fine.

One of the best parts of fall…

As many of you know, I like to partake in drinking tasty alcoholic beverages. This year we bought some new as well as some tried-and-true fall brews.

They were tasty, let me tell you. My favorites were Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale, Magic Hat’s Circus Boy and Magic Hat’s #9. Mmm-mmm!

Post-fall brew binge, I’m trying to cut back on any random drinking because we boozed it up so much during Kevin’s furlough. I hate to say it, but I believe it may have been one of the reasons we both gained so much weight! (Typically we stick to light beer.)

Enjoy the pic!

The quick run-down of the past 2 months!

First things first, I know people say this a lot, but time really does fly. I haven’t blogged much since late August! So much has happened since then…

Condo:
The c’doh is good, things are just moving right along. All repairs to the roof, etc. were made so it’s nice to have that out of the way. At our last association meeting, we decided it’d be cost-effective to each take on the duties of keeping the common areas & halls clean so we’ve decided to let our cleaning lady go. Three of the 4 condo units are participating. A couple in one of the units is relatively unable to help because they’re both pretty immobile and elderly. (The good thing is they’re almost always home to sign for our packages – so that’s a huge help to all of us.) Anyway, we decided each unit will take on a month and perform the common area duties: check light bulbs, vacuum, check the air fresheners and sweep/mop if needed. It’s a nice way to save cash–and besides, we heard that our cleaning lady was doing a poor job and was showing up whenever it was convenient for her anyway. Last month was our month to clean and we just vacuumed a bunch of leaves that had acquired. It’s a small building so it’s not too big of a job. It does feel good that we’re all in it together and want to keep the place nice and fresh. We will also sell the snow blower soon because we like our snow removal guys from last year. We’ll put that money into the association for any unforeseen issues that may come up. Other than that, we just took down the Halloween decorations (*tear*) in our condo. But all in all, the place is pretty normal.

Relationship:
All is well on the home front. Right now it’s rough because Kevin has been off for about 3.5 weeks and he will be going back into work tomorrow. Boo…Boo…Boo-Hiss. Things tend to feel a bit off when he dives right back into work, and that’s because we simply don’t have the time to communicate as much as we’d like to. He sleeps while I work, but if he gets up and tries to call, sometimes I’m busy and we can’t chat. He works while I sleep and sometimes when I’m up late and give him a ring, he can’t answer. Such is life; such is the schedule. But his furlough has been a good time overall.

We went to 4 haunted houses, watched over 10 thriller/horror movies, had a Bears party complete with friends on our couch and food in their bellies, went to a Bears game, spent time with my mom & his parents, went to THREE weddings (wow!) and did a lot of lazing around together. We had an awesome time drinking lots of Oregon wine with Mark & Kim and they even had a fun Halloween party. But the fun times are on hold for now. I must admit that coming home to a clean condo and dinner in the works has been amazing! I’ve really enjoyed watching all of the Netflix movies as well as having the freedom to see our friends & family whenever we feel like it.

But, we’ve also both gained a good amount of weight in the past month or so – well, my weight gain starting during or just after our trip to Vegas in June. Yikes. Let’s just say I’m the highest weight I’ve ever been and my jeans are pretty darn tight. I know it’s all on me and the decisions I make. If I wanted to go get larger jeans, I would. But I don’t want to go up a size. I’ve gotta gain control. So if I want a better body, I’ve got to make better decisions. I’ll be trading pizza, tacos, brownies, beer and other booze for salads, chicken, fruit, veggies, fish and eggs for now. Sigh. It’s hard – but I want it. I think my biggest problems are cravings and being around others that have goodies. If it’s around and readily available, I’ll eat it. Bad habit.

Family:
Sadly, I’ve learned that my mom and step-dad are officially divorced. I still love him as family and it will be hard to see them actually go their separate ways. They’re still living together until the end of this month. Unfortunately they’ve got lots of assets to divide so it’s a bit messy. He emailed me and told me he’d like to have a dinner with me and my sister before he moves out. His plan is to use one of their vacation homes in Steamboat, Colorado as his main housing for now, and stay with his parents in Arizona and friends in California as well. He can work from home so it works out. They’re still waiting for their old condo in Steamboat to sell…

Work:
Work here, in its natural form, is fuggin’ bi-polar and usually pretty nutty. But we got the 7.5% of our pay back, so that takes off a bit of stress. Things are busy, then slow, busy, then slow. It’d be nice if they were just steady, but rolling with the punches is easy. Especially when we get to goof around and wear hoodies here. I can’t complain all that much, even if the Coug makes me want to rip my ears off sometimes.

Look at this f*$#%@) hipster

Ahh, finally…it’s good to be back.

I figured after my blogging lull of sorts I’d share a funny site with you.

I stumbled upon this lovely collection of images and decided I’d like to do nothing more than post it for those I love most – my readers.

It’s a little bit inappropriate, a little bit creepy, and all sorts of funny. In other words, right up my alley.

latfh.com

Enjoy!

New website for your viewing pleasure:

Enjoy: keggersofyore.com

You’ll find nostalgic photographs from keggers of yore such as this one:

Oh yeah, and there is definitely some Schlitz action in some of those pics.

I’m pretty much obsessed with this site:

How to properly catch a laptop – in case you were wondering.

The ex debacle.

My parents are divorced and have been for quite some time. It’s fine, I’m over it, and it’s been the norm for most of my life. As some of you may know, my dad was married before he married my mom and they had two sons. He then divorced his first wife and married my mom. They had me and later, my sister. Therefore, I have two half-brothers: one lives in Dallas and one lives in Downers Grove. Their mother is still a part of the family. How? Why? Well, the simple answer is because they’re the mother of my father’s sons. But the answer is much more complex than that–as with most family drama.

My dad’s first wife grew up knowing my grandparents, meaning she always had an “in.” From what I’ve heard she was first interested in my dad because he was one of the tallest young men in town. My dad has two brothers and a sister – she’s the youngest – and they all got to know her as well. Though my dad and his first wife haven’t been together in decades, my aunt is still very close with her. In fact, she travels out of state with her husband and young kids to visit her and even stays at her house. I know my aunt loves my dad and all of us kids very much, but I can’t help but wonder how or why she chose to stay close to the woman my dad divorced so long ago.

Growing up, it made me angry. Why does she go visit her? Why are they so close? My dad divorced his first wife and married my mom, then they divorced. Years have gone by…my brothers, sister and I are grown up for the most part, yet my aunt and my dad’s first wife still remain close.

I’ve seen the way it tears my dad apart and I’ve watched him leave the room when someone brings up his sister taking a trip down to visit his first wife. He really has no control, (nor should he), over the relationships his sister has, but I know it still angers him.

In a way, I am kind of coming to realize that it’s not an act of deceit on my aunt’s part, though I used to become angry like my dad. Being the youngest of my dad’s siblings, she basically grew up around the woman my dad first married. They shared holidays, special events, birthdays, graduations, the birth of my brothers, hardships, etc. Though I know she’s not necessarily choosing sides, it was probably difficult to imagine losing someone she’d known for so long.

A relatively trivial incidence of a friend being friends with an ex was when I’d learned that a girlfriend of mine contacted my ex-boyfriend for a hotel deal. I guess she didn’t necessarily become buddies with him, but she befriended him in this way. He worked at a hotel and she wanted to get a deal for her parents. I really didn’t care that she was basically using him for something she wanted, therefore she wasn’t *really* befriending him, it didn’t matter. The dude was a jerk, we had broken up and were not on speaking terms – she knew this – and she reached out to him (via instant message) for a cheap hotel rate. Not cool.

So what are the rules when it comes to being friends with a friends ex, and how do we set them up? As long as we keep them separate, is it okay? If a couple makes a clean break and mutually decide to be friends, it’s different. If a couple has a messy break-up and try to get people to take sides, it’s different.

Despite the whole notion being totally case-by-case, as I experience more people in my life, I am coming to realize that as easy as it can be to completely discard an ex-boyfriend from my life forevermore, it’s difficult to discard a friend’s ex, especially when you’ve grown to like him or her.

My favorite Food Network chefs.

10. Cat Cora.
Totally cute. Totally lesbo. Totally fun and her southern accent is the icing on the cupcake!

9. Guy Fieri.
He likes big, bold, spicy foods. A man after my own heart!

8. Ina Garten.
She’s large, which means one thing…she has some amazing dessert skills. I’ve never seen anyone (except maybe Paula Deen) use as much butter as this woman. Anyone else think her husband is gay?

7. Sandra Lee.
I have to admit, semi-homemade is the way to go. Each show has a themed party, which I can always appreciate. She also makes some sort of cocktail during each show. Yum! Sandra makes really fun (but really unrealistic) tablescapes, too, which adds to the ambience. I love how she does a wardrobe change after cooking!

6. Tyler Florence.
I don’t really learn from him as much as I sit and watch him in his sweet green kitchen. He’s a cutie.

5. Masaharu Morimotu.
He’s as badass as he is Japanese!

4. Anne Burrell.
I whole-heartedly appreciate her funny voices and growls as she gets excited about her onions sweating. I also appreciate the fact that she says A LITTLE salt—-and grabs a HUGE handful.

3. Michael Symon.
I’d totally hit that.

2. Giada DeLaurentis.
Hot, hot hot. Not to mention totally likable and classy. She makes some damn tasty stuff, too. Watch her as she tastes food…she totally has a food orgasm each time. Look at her hands, though. Chubby fingers!

1. Alton Brown.
I must admit, at first I thought this 1-part scientist 1-part foodie was somewhat mundane and weird, but now I find him to be quirky and oh-so-charming! I love the view of Alton from inside the oven. Just the fact that he’s an oddball and dresses up as different characters and teaches us historic or scientific lessons in each show wins me over every time. Aside from his unique show Good Eats, I also enjoyed watching him travel and eat on both Feasting on Asphalt and Feasting on Waves.

More stuff from Trader Joe!

-Iberico cheese
This complex Spanish cheese can probably be found at many different grocery stores, but Kev and I tried this cheese for the first time and fell in love! Cheese enthusiasts at heart, we decided we’d choose a cheese that was new to both of us. We hoped it’d be good–and it delivered for sure! We paired it with TJ’s Soy and Flaxseed tortilla chips and it was amazing. The cheese is semi-hard and a blend of cow, goat and sheep’s milk.

-Black bean and roasted corn salsa
This stuff speaks for itself. It can be combined with salad for a southwest twist or scooped onto chips. Red onion and loads of cilantro round out this flavorful salsa.

-Hormone and antibiotic-free burgers
Just like regular burgers. But without some of the crappy crap. We topped ours with cheese, onions, mustard, ketchup, sport peppers, pepperoncini and…I think that’s it.