It Wouldn't Be Christmas...

...without a mess in the travel plans. I'm glad I've realized this already and have been able to accept it. When the mess came this year, I was pretty ok with just sitting and waiting til things got fixed. But I really haven't had a Christmas since going to college that traveling went without a hitch.

This year's travel actually started out a little too smoothly. There were no issues getting a cab with Ant to the airport, everything in Cali was on time and going well, and even security was quick and easy to get through (we'll see how that is for the return trip with the new terrorist issues...). I had a short flight to Phoenix, and then a reasonable yet fairly short layover there. The problems began when we were scheduled to board the next plane.

Boarding what scheduled for 7:16. We waited for quite a while without hearing anything, wondering why we were delayed. There were no messages saying we were waiting for a plane, and in fact one was sitting at the end of the jet bridge. Eventually, we were informed that we awaited our crew coming from another flight. At this point, I was debating getting food; on one hand I was intended to land in about an hour and a half, could save money by not eating, and didn't want to be waiting in line when our crew arrived and boarding began. On the other hand, though, the longer I sat, the hungrier I got. When we heard another announcement 20 minutes later saying we would wait another 15 for the captain, I went ahead and got in line for Burger King. And I am glad I did.

We finally boarded about a half hour late, and were informed that we scheduled a POSSIBLE alternate landing for Denver, weather-depending. We would not know for sure, however, until we arrived and it was clearly too late to inform anyone picking us up at the airport of a change in plans. I was hopeful we'd be able to get in, though, since the storm was only starting.

As we approached Colorado Springs, all signs pointed to landing. However, we sat in a holding pattern for 10-15 minutes before being informed that we would in fact land in Denver. Apparently, there was a mechanical failure on the plane (having to do with the flap sensors on the wings used to aid in braking), and that, in conjunction with weather conditions, meant the runways in COS were too short for a guaranteed safe landing. Of course, this information was not provided in the air, and it only spread by passenger conversations; the airline itself did not inform us of what had happened.

When we did touch down, it was on the runway farthest from the airport and we were greeted by several fire trucks nearby. Thankfully they had no occasion to actually approach the plane, and we taxied in without a problem. When they finally decided to deplane the passengers, they still weren't sure how to get us to the Springs. We were told to wait in the boarding area, because it would be warmer than on the plan, as they figured out a plan. Of course, they left the door to the outside open for at least 20-30 minutes, so it was actually colder in the boarding area than it had been on-board. As we waited, several people decided they would simply have family come collect them in Denver; it was announced that this was fine, but as we were not a scheduled landing, there was no crew to remove their luggage from the hold.

Finally we were informed that the mechanical issue had been fixed, and we could line up to re-board the plane. A few moments later, and we were told it would be another 5 minutes, and they started checking us off a list. About another 20 minutes later, they informed us that we would not be taking the plane after all and they were organizing ground transportation. So we began the move to baggage claim.

At this point, we had landed 30 minutes late and probably spent another hour waiting in the boarding area. Of course it was late enough that all restaurants and bars were closed (I was glad I decided to get that burger). The Rock Bottom Brewery, dark and gated, that sat right next to our boarding area taunted us for the hour we waited there. Of course, the arrivals board in COS, where people were waiting for us, showed that we had arrived, and online updates stated that the plane was landed and only 20 minutes late. There was no information provided to them that we weren't even in the right city.

Of course, being as late as it was (by this time it's after 11 pm), even the trains between the concourses weren't running regularly. If you've never flown through Denver, there is a platform in every concourse to board trains transporting you between them and the main terminal. There are 2 trains that run, usually one in each direction, and digital signs informing you which side to board. When we arrived at the platform, we saw a train depart from one side, so lined up to wait there. Soon, however, there was an announcement made to board from the other side, as this position was closed. So we all shuffled over to the other side. Eventually, we got a notice that this side was out of order, and we should board from the other side, so we all shuffled back. An announcement finally came for an approaching train, but then it didn't come. It announced about 4 times, then informed us that "this position is closed" without the train ever arriving. We were shuffled between the two platforms about 6 times before a train finally came, unannounced, and we all crammed in through the open doors. Ignoring another message that this train was not operational, we simply got on the train.

Finally, the doors did close, and we were told that the next stop was "All C Gates," though we were already at the C terminal... But the train took off anyway, and we hoped for the right direction. As we began to slow, we thankfully did see signs for the B concourse. An announcement was made that we were approaching C gates, and that all passengers must exit. Nobody paid it any attention but to comment that we were shuffling through the Twilight Zone. When the doors closed again, it announced that the next stop was all C gates (again), and we kept our fingers crossed for continued misinformation. Thankfully, the train continued in the right direction, even if the announcements were going haywire.

When we finally arrived at baggage claim, several flights were flashing across the board, but no luggage came through, so we waited. And waited. On the walk down, I'd met another guy about my age, and we'd stuck together (which certainly made the evening a little more light-hearted). After some waiting, I set down my heavy carry-on. Eventually he sat down on the floor. After about an hour, I decided to stretch my legs and find a restroom. I almost hoped my leaving would prompt the bags to arrive, but no such luck; I returned to sit and wait some more. While we were all waiting, our shuttle driver even came in, questioned if we were the ones going to COS, and impatiently told us that they were waiting for us and we should get on. We, of course, were STILL waiting for our bags.

When they finally did arrive, about 1:30 in the morning (our flight was scheduled to arrive in COS originally at 9:30pm), they were all wet as though they'd been unloaded and left sitting in the snow for the last hour. But we finally had our luggage and all rushed to the shuttles. Then waited. With the air conditioning running full blast. Finally the front passenger changed the temperature to heat (these were several small 12-person shuttles, not a single large bus), and we waited some more. It turns out that a couple of the passengers, the two who had looked the most stressed from the onset, had not received their luggage. The airline finally decided they would just sort it out in Colorado Springs, and everyone was sardine-packed into the vans and took off.

Thankfully the drive down was rather uneventful. None of my group was all too pleased with the shuttle we got as there was a crack 2/3 of the way horizontally on the windshield, and the wipers didn't appear to be functioning well. In fact, the passenger side wiper was barely hanging on by the time we reached our destination, and the driver had only a small patch he could actually see through on his side. But there were no accidents or major issues on the road, and we finally arrived at our intended airport at 4am.

I was just glad that I had no pressing reasons to be home, my family was coming from a local home (some rides had come in from 1-1.5 hours away and had to leave), and that my dad was comfortable enough driving in the snow to pick me up when we arrived. Many of the passengers wound up spending the night in the airport to allow their families the night to sleep. In the end, this adventure finished (for me) about 7 hours later than was intended, and was, of course, a typical Christmas flight home...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday of the year, and not because of the gifts, either. I've really just always loved the snow and the lights and that magic "Christmas feel" in the air. I do try very hard, however, to not jump the gun with the decorations and music, but once Thanksgiving is over, it's all about bringing it all out! These decorations have been up since the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I've just been a little slow getting them online.

Thankfully, I've collected enough decorations from the dorms and my apartment in Rochester that I really didn't need to buy much more for this apartment. The tree was bought last year in Rochester, and was definitely the most exciting purchase of the collection. The decor is fairly simple... just gold, red, purple, and silver baubles (as Liz calls them), some gold ribbon, and a box of candy canes! But I love the elegant feel it gives. Some day, when I'm filthy rich and have a big house of my own, I'll have 12 Christmas trees, all with different themes, spread all over in different rooms. For now, this is the first.

Of course, Christmas wouldn't be complete without stockings by the fire. We managed to find a couple very nice ones in the store, brought them home, and personalized them with our names. We have stockings with our names!!! They won't be stuffed this year, but I just couldn't have a Christmas without the stockings on the mantle.

The front door was a fun new addition to the decorations this year. I'm excited to have seasonal decorations, and having something on the front entry just makes this apartment that much more homey. Overall, I managed to keep my decorating budget this year to right around $20, which couldn't be better with the recession and working to establish ourselves in new jobs. I really couldn't be any happier with the feel we've had this season, and I'm sure they will stay up well into the new year. It's been great being able to work from home and enjoy the lights for the full season.

First Thanksgiving in SoCal

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since Thanksgiving, but I'm finally getting caught up with the adventures with Liz in November. This was the first Thanksgiving not going home for both myself and Anthony, and of course Liz was with us for her annual visit. So it was, of course, our first adventure in cooking Thanksgiving dinner ourselves. And I must say, it was very successful!

I had three hockey games in the early morning as part of our local Thanksgiving Tournament, so I was out of the house for the beginning of the cooking adventure. Anthony, as the most expert chef among us, was in charge of the turkey. With an excellent chef for an uncle, and a mother whose cooking is that of any legend, he certainly had all the help he could need just a phone call away.


Liz and I were tasked with the side dishes, which we were more than happy to do. We made Ant's mom's mashed sweet potatoes, tasty mashed white potatoes, the compulsory French's green been casserole, and tasty tasty stuffing. For dessert, Ant's parents had sent us a cheesecake from Junior's in Brooklyn, and Liz made her traditional Knobeloch-recipe Special K bars (peanut butter Rice Crispy bars topped with chocolate and butterscotch).

It made for a very delicious dinner, and an incredibly successful first Thanksgiving on our own. Of course the day after involved Liz's and my traditional Black Friday shopping, and Saturday was all about Christmas music, hot cocoa, and putting up the decorations! Picture of that are soon to come...

November Travels: Return to SoCal

After a few nice days of relaxing in beautiful Colorado, it was time to pack up and head back. After all, half the point of visiting was the roadtrip itself.

The morning we packed up the car started out like any other morning, except for an occasional snowflake drifting slowly to the ground. I didn't think much of it; we'd heard there may be a little snow as we got closer to Denver and then headed west. But within half an hour the streets went from dry to significantly dusted in snow, and continued to accumulate. I was actually impressed with how quickly Liz and I managed to pack the car and get out; we were gone about an hour after getting up.

With so much snow already accumulating at home, threats of a big storm west of Denver, and a little too much experience trying to get in and out of town during the winter, I was a bit nervous about our day's plan. The intent was to make it all the way to Las Vegas, which is about 12 hours in good conditions. Thankfully, though, there were only small spots of snow, and none caused any major problems aside from getting the brand new car incredibly dirty.

The trip was as beautiful as expected, with dramatic scenery and the trademark colors of the Southwest. We'd managed to find a MadLibs book at Garden of the Gods, and enjoyed all silliness that entails. It was an amusing review of our parts of speech, too, as it took a little reminding between the differences of adverbs to adjectives and so on. The drive made for a long day, but we enjoyed each others' company and the wonders of the open road. And the day was not without it's adventures; the most significant, and humorous, of these adventures came right around lunch time when we stopped for a bite to eat...

When I travel, I tend to 'treat' myself to the junk food I avoid on a regular basis. So that means I finally get to indulge in my fatty Taco Bell and McDonald's. This day was all about Mickey D's. As roadtrips go, a lunch stop of course also meant a bathroom break, and this is where the adventure begins.

I'm sure any of you who travel know the types of bathrooms you'll find - never really knowing what you're gonna get. This was one of those bathrooms. It was clean enough, but the trouble always comes with the doors. There were two stalls, so each of us got one, and drew figurative straws for locks. Liz's didn't work at all, and mine worked a little too well. When I tried to leave, the handle would no longer release. These weren't standard stall doors, either, but reached both unusually high and low. There was room to literally crawl under the door, but I wasn't interested in actually laying on a public bathroom floor, so Liz rushed off for help.

I honestly expected them to come back with a screw driver and remove the handle to let me out (yeah, I expected McDonald's to have a screwdriver on hand). After disbelieving Liz that her "friend is stuck in the bathroom!" (complete with British accent and all, in middle-of-nowhere-Colorado), two employees came in, and the guy crawled under the door to try and fix it from the inside (apparently they not only have no screwdrivers, but no keys, either). The final solution? Bust right through the door. I guess they're ok with having bathroom doors that just don't work.

With that adventure over, though the disbelief followed us for a while on the road, our next intended stop was Las Vegas!

If you ever visit Vegas, be sure to go at night if you can. And not just seeing the main strip at night, either. I mean drive in at night, especially from the east. It is BREATHTAKING! Imagine turning a bend along the highway through dark nothingness, and then laid out below you is a sea of lights. A vast, extensive sea of lights. There is just no other way to describe it. I've often enjoyed going up the mountains a little bit and looking down on Colorado Springs from above... I used to say it was like Christmas every night of the year. That holds nothing to Las Vegas. Absolutely incredible.

Surprisingly enough, we'd found a great rate on a room at the Bellagio, so upon arriving we checked in to the most prestigious hotel on the strip before going to explore a bit. Neither of us had a terrible desire to gamble, and we were tired from the day's drive, so we just walked out to the strip to enjoy the lights. It was rather chilly, so we walked to the end, had dinner at another hotel, and then turned back. It was fun to visit a few various casinos and compare the themed decor. Paris is certainly an interesting one, with a blue sky and fluffy white clouds painted on the ceiling for a perpetual summer's day inside. Returning to the Bellagio, we of course hung around to see the fountain show before coming back to the warm indoors. This is another attraction you don't want to miss, especially at night, with the fountain and lights choreographed to music (we saw All That Jazz).

Back inside the Bellagio we explored a little more, visiting the confectionery and chocolate fountain, and then wandering through their seasonal indoor garden. When Ant and I visited, it had been decked out for the summer season with snails made of roses, a giant windmill, Chihuly flowers 20ft tall, and a little greenhouse full of birds. Now it was all dressed up for fall, complete with creepy talking trees that would move and look at you as you passed. It didn't take too long, however, for the day to feel complete, and us to wander up and finally find our beds. It certainly did make for a great day, and despite the shortness of our visit in Vegas, that felt rather satisfying, as well.

The next day was just another quick four hours in the car, and returning to sunny SoCal. The previous days had showed us temperatures of 11 degrees mid-day; returning to LA it was well into the balmy 60s and even low 70s. It was certainly an odd return; we'd just come from a land of certain winter, returning to find it looking like October with colorful leaves still decorating the trees. It's taking some time to get used to living here, but at least I can look forward to snow in CO for Christmas again soon.

It's A Small, Small World

I was just blown away last night on our daily dinner-food shopping trip to the grocery store. I have always been fascinated by how small this world can feel, running into people (especially from hockey) all over the country when I've met them somewhere totally different. But this last week has been quite a testament to that fact.

To start, last weekend while working my regular hockey games I managed to have a midget team (that's high-school-aged, not small people) from San Diego. As I was skating over to the time keeper's box during warm-ups, I glanced over and noticed that one coach looked extremely familiar. When he turned to face me I saw that, sure enough, it was my old coach from the Rochester Edge, a team I'd played for my freshman year at college. I knew he was here in SoCal, and coaching in San Diego, but I hadn't expected to run into him, and especially not in Anaheim. This was certainly a nice surprise, and I enjoyed catching up a little bit.

Now, like I said, I'm getting fairly used to the hockey community feeling very small, and running into familiar faces in unexpected places. However, when Ant and I were doing our daily grocery shopping last night, I saw yet another extremely familiar face. At first I thought I was making an obscure connection to some movie star, but when he made eye contact and gave the same "I think I know you" look, the cogs really started working in my brain. Eventually I did place him, and the woman he was with... They were our Tango instructors at RIT this last spring. I couldn't believe it! What were THEY doing in Aliso Viejo?! Well, it turns out they've just recently relocated (a week ago) to the area for a job transfer. The coincidence just blew my mind, and I'm wondering how often we'll run into them on an evening shopping run.

So, that's my story of the morning. Just remember, you really never know when and where you'll run into someone again.

November Travels: Pike's Peak

You know how you never see the major attractions in your hometown unless guests come to visit? I feel like I've had a lot of new guests come home with me recently. Really, it's just been Liz, Anthony, and Ant's sister, but that's made for quite a few tours of town. And each time, of course, must include our own famous 14er: Pike's Peak.

The last two times I went up the Peak (once with Liz and Anthony, once with Ant and his sister) we took the cog railway. So this time visiting, and in the spirit of Liz getting her true western US driving experience, we decided to drive up for a change! Unfortunately, with all the snow that had been coming, we couldn't reach the summit; only the first 14 of 19 miles were left open. That did, however, get us above timberline, past the pavement ending, and above 11,000ft elevation. And, after all, we had seen the summit several times before, but had never driven the highway together. So off we went...

Considering the season, as well as the road being partially closed, there was very little traffic to cause problems. There was some ice on the road, and plenty of snow for Liz to write her name in, not to mention BITTER cold and wind the higher we climbed. But we saw the Big Foot warning signs and made sure to see both gifts shops on the way back down. And, of course, we got plenty of pictures on the way.

November Travels: Roadtrip to CO

While Liz visited for her traditional 2-week Thanksgiving trip, she decided it wouldn't be right not to visit my parents. They would be spending Thanksgiving in TX with Roger and his fiance, and plans hadn't worked out for us all to be together, but we could still visit the weekend prior! Plus, Liz wanted an American road trip, so off we went.

The first day was really nothing but driving. I'd had an early morning meeting to attend, so we left around 10am and drove just past Flagstaff before stopping for the night. The plan was to hit Four Corners early in the morning on our way in to Colorado. Apparently, in all of Liz's visits to the States, she has never made it to Four Corners. There's not much terribly interesting, but it's something worth being able to say, "yeah, I've been there." Plus, I've been DYING for a white Navajo horse-hair pot, and thought this would be a great chance to finally get one.

After a very long day of driving (and since the sun sets so early, several hours of night driving), we decided we'd come unprepared for roadtrip entertainment, and what we really needed was a MadLibs book. Well, that was an adventure in itself. After several stops in Flagstaff and one semi-crazy old man at WalMart, we were still without our MadLibs and entering no-mans land for the next day.

The next day placed us at Four Corners around 9/10am. I wasn't sure what time the gates would open, but we didn't have trouble getting in. However, it was even more desolate during the winter than I'd ever seen in other (summer) months. The best part about the monument are the Native vendors with their pottery, jewelry, and other artwork for sale, not to mention the Navajo fry bread. By the time we arrived, not a single booth was set up, though a few were arriving.

So, Liz took her traditional Four Corners photos, and we waited a bit for a few vendors. Unfortunately, none had quite what I was looking for. With the slow business of winter and the downturn of the economy, few sellers had serious pottery; most were small trinkets or souvenir-sized bowls. I did find one gorgeous Kokopelli statue in the style I wanted, but that particular vendor didn't take credit (many of them do, by the way). So, we continued on empty handed.

This second day of driving, we finally entered beautiful Colorado and got a nice taste of mountain driving. I really felt like I was coming home, being able to approach through the mountains, and apparently Liz felt the same way a bit. The weather wasn't bad at all, and though it was frigid and we saw snow, the road conditions were dry and clear. Perfect opportunity for Liz to have her first real mountain driving experience!

We arrived in the Springs early enough for dinner on Thursday, and had a few days to relax. Liz, of course, did plenty of her own shopping, and I did more packing to bring a few more boxes to California. Friday night involved an awesome vocal concert at the Air Force Academy by the Ten Tenors, a group of ... well ... ten tenors from Australia. Overall, it was just a few days to relax and enjoy Colorado Springs in the midst of our week-long road trip, but it was a great few days to be home again.

California Winter

So, I have been a little thrown by the seasons here in California. This month I've traveled to both New York and Colorado, and seen real fall and winter, only to return and be confused on the seasons again. It wasn't until VERY late November that things really started looking like fall, and apparently I'm just starting to see what California winter is.

I actually had to turn on the heat the other day when the apartment temp dropped below 65 degrees and my hands were too cold working on the computer. Actually, we turned it on and it wasn't even working! I suppose I didn't find that too surprising, considering I wouldn't have expected to need it. But all of yesterday was freezing cold and raining. And I mean ALL day; I don't think it let up until the evening. Then this morning it was only 34 degrees outside. Thankfully maintenance has a quick turn around on such repairs here, and I was plenty warm inside, but it was certainly interesting to see sunny SoCal's take on winter.

Anyway, I just wanted to post a picture for any of you wondering if California gets winter. I think this is about as much as I'll expect, and there is snow on the mountains today. And anyone who's wondering if I'll be missing the snow at Christmas this year, the answer is no... I'll be in CO for two weeks to get my fill!

Trans Siberian Orchestra

Last Thursday, Trans Siberian Orchestra came to Anaheim for a concert. I have been dying to see them for probably 6 years now, so Ant got us tickets to go!! We had seats about as far away as possible since we waited too long to book, but we were there!

With that said, the concert was NOTHING like I expected. I've played the Trans Siberian tracks at Christmas-time for several years now, and I always interpreted their performances as classical with a twist of metal, envisioning performances as such. I always pictured a fairly traditional concert hall with a medium to large orchestra on stage, and a small grouping to the side of some electric guitars, basses, etc. I'd always heard about their light shows, too, so I was expecting some cool photo-antics.

I was NOT expecting: metal with a classical twist, big 80s rocker hair, metal-style head banging by the musicians, and an overall metal feel. I was absolutely blown away by the show we actually got. Don't get me wrong; I'm still VERY happy we went, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I just had to adjust a bit. We were also far enough away that binoculars were necessary to see anything more than the lights/laser show. Luckily, the women sitting next to us had brought a pair, and were more than happy to pass them along when anything interesting was going on.

So, I would recommend for anyone going to see them to be prepared for lots of fog machine smoke (for the unbeatable laser show), and get tickets as close as possible. You want to see these guys up close! It was an awesome addition to our Christmas season kick-off.

Feeling Homey

As of late, I have taken great pleasure in making this apartment feel like a real home, especially after spending the last four years not putting much effort into making any college living very personal or homey. Over those years, I always felt it wasn't logical to try and settle in to a place I'd be leaving in a 9 months, or two years tops. I am now strongly against that opinion, and am all about being happy and comfy at home.

Of course, a big part of that change probably has to do with the amount of time spent at home. Now that I'm working from home, I do spend significantly more than just sleeping hours in the apartment. The picture above is our mantle piece decked out for fall (Halloween and Thanksgiving). I love having a place to decorate for the seasons! And below is a picture of my new(ish) home office, which has replaced our entirely unused dining room.














The following pictures (I know they're a little small), are around the main living room of our place. It is, actually, already outdated as you can see our old TV, which has been sold and (soon to be) replaced with a gorgeous plasma TV!

The last images (below), are of our bathroom. Perhaps a little odd, but I've enjoyed decorating it with a little more of a seaside theme. Ant loves everything Southwest, so most of the apartment has been accented more in that direction. But that left me a little bit bummed that it didn't work out as a California beach-home. So I took over the bathroom with chocolate, seafoam and dolphins!


For more pictures, and some of these larger, visit this link.

Busy Life, Empty Blog

I have been informed, several weeks ago now, actually, that this blog is significantly out of date. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that it's really a good sign. It means I've been too busy to write, and for me, that's something I was struggling with.

So what have I been doing? Where do I start...? Of course there was Halloween. I will hopefully be adding an entry in order to post some pictures about pumpkins and decorations and such. Then I took a weekend a reffed a tournament in Rochester, returned for two weeks, and have since been in the wonderful company of my British "sister," Liz. She and I then turned around for a road trip to CO for the weekend before Thanksgiving, and returned to sunny CA in time for Thanksgiving and some Black Friday shopping.

So... busy, busy, busy. And amidst all the busy, some great prospective design projects and a lot of looking into working regularly. I've essentially stopped searching for a traditional job position, and have been pouring my focus and energy into making a successful run with freelance design. But more of that later. I just wanted to add a quick post to let everyone who follows my blog (apparently there are more than I thought) know that I am still alive and (very) well.

As a side note, if you do read this blog, I would LOVE to hear from you. If you have an account and username with Google (gmail), AIM (AOL), LiveJournal, WordPress, TypePad, or OpenID, you can leave comments directly on each post by clicking the "Comments" link at the bottom of the post. If you don't have any of these, all are free, and I know from experience that Google and AIM won't be spamming you through email; both do, however, come with email accounts (which you can, of course, just ignore). Knowing that there are people actually following these updates may help with my motivation of putting something up. Otherwise, I might as well just be talking to myself.

On A Very Rare Occasion...

Some of you may know, and some may not, that my boyfriend is an incredible catch. One of the huge reasons I say that (one of many, really) is that he loves to cook, and I don't. So, at the end of most days, when he comes home from work, he still has no problem whipping up something delicious. He says it's relaxing for him, and he enjoys it, so it all works out great. On a rare occasion, though, I do take over the kitchen (or at least help out a little).

We've gone through most of the meals that we both just "know," so we've started going through some of his recipe books. Let me make a recommendation to you: it's Rocco's Real Life Recipes, Fast Flavor for Everyday, and it's phenomenal. Most of the recipes are very easy, can be done in about 15-30 minutes, and are delicious. The book also includes a lot of great tips for beginning cooks, like how to set up your kitchen, what things you should keep stored, advice on how to cook and prepare some standard foods, even tips on entertaining and wine! The recipes we've tried so far have been fantastic; both are very meat/cheese heavy, which is something both Ant and I enjoy.

A couple weeks ago, Ant got me in the kitchen to help make the most recent adventure from this book. It was Beef and Crispy Potatoes with Bleu Cheese, and the crispy potato pancakes were my charge. They took a little longer than we expected to fry, but I had fun pretending to make latkes for Hanukkah or something (which is something I've never done, as I'm not actually Jewish). Probably the most fun part of this task of the meal was the instruction to "squeeze [the grated potatoes] like a snowball to remove excess liquid" before frying. Who knew cooking could turn into a snowball fight? Ok, so there was no food/snowball fight, but we laughed about it for a while.


The rest of the dinner was pretty easy. Just sauté some strips of beef with onions after frying the potatoes, and mix a bunch of sour cream and bleu cheese together for the sauce! And it was DELICIOUS! Have I said that before? That these recipes are great? Well, they are. We actually had leftovers for several days, and we were both a little depressed when they were gone. Actually, a couple times I think we fought about who would get to eat the leftovers for lunch.

With the dinner we decided to try one of our new wines from the Temecula tour: the Sangiovese from Bella Vista. It's a pretty light, sweet red that's low on tannin, and we both really enjoyed the wine on its own. It went well with the dinner, but wasn't a stunning pair. Like I said before, we're still working on our wine and food pairing skills. But, it certainly wasn't bad, and we had fun with it.

Just this last week, I was in the kitchen cooking again and we made my Dad's "famous" kielbasa with potatoes and apples in a maple syrup sauce. That's pretty much all there is to the dish, but it is SUPER tasty. We tried it with one of the wines left over from our Fingerlakes (NY) wine tour. It's a riesling, but a little less sweet, and with some sour apple notes, so I thought it would go well with this particular dish. I think we would have been better off with a sweeter riesling, or maybe a blush wine, though. Oh well, live and learn!

Ok, I really have to stop writing now, because all this talk of tasty food is starting to make me REALLY hungry. I'm off to find something for my grumbling belly now...

Temecula Wine Country

Some of you may know that I have (fairly) recently fallen in love with wine. It started about four years ago when I took a wine-tasting class at RIT, but that's really another story. The point of this story, is wine tours.

Somewhere along the way to building my passion for wine, and very likely contributing to it, is the fact that Anthony has very much been on-board with exploring this rich new world. We've had a lot of fun trying new wines, testing our skills at wine and food pairing (yeah, that could use a lot of work still), and just overall enjoying wine as it's meant to be.

One of our major goals before leaving New York was to take a tour of the Fingerlakes Wine Region. A lot of that was just to get that particular regional experience, but another large part was to compare the New York wines and wineries with those of California. And our first California tour took place a couple weekends ago through Temecula Valley.

The trip began with a beautiful drive along scenic Ortega Highway. Ant hadn't actually told me what we were doing - only that he had a surprise for me and it was a couple hours away. We hadn't made any plan for the trip, and we didn't have cell signal to research the wineries from Anthony's phone, so we just headed down the road and started stopping in where we saw the signs. Over the day, we only visited 4 wineries, and one had just closed their tasting room, but it was a great day. The wineries we visited were Thornton, the Inn at Churon, Bella Vista, and Hart.

The first stop, Thornton, was actually the one site that was technically closed. They were setting up for a large concert and so were no longer doing tastings, but we did get to look around their sales room briefly. They had lots of gorgeous glasses, photo books, and decorative wall-hanging wine racks. One little bottle of wine, though, caught our attention in particular: a late harvest Zinfandel. For any of you who aren't particularly familiar with wines, Zinfandels are generally a fairly heavy, full-bodied, very tannic red wine, and late harvest wines are very sweet and generally considered dessert wines. My only experience with late harvest wines has been Rieslings, so of course a late harvest Zin caught both Ant's and my attention. So, we decided to not leave empty handed and take home a bottle of it. Turns out it was on special, two for one, so we brought home two!

Our second stop was the Inn at Churon. It was very quiet, and we wandered a bit trying to find the entrance since there were no people coming in and out. Once we found the shop/tasting room, though, it was gorgeous. The woman who served us was very friendly and helpful in choosing wines to try. Overall we had a great time chatting with her and another couple there, and of course trying their wines.

The third stop ended up being our favorite vineyard of the day: Bella Vista. We had a hard time picking the wines we wanted to try, and didn't try a single one we wouldn't love to bring home. They actually have a pretty cool wine club we're seriously considering joining. Every 2 months, they send you 2 bottles of wine to try at a discount price. So you get to try a wide variety of their picks, and all their new wines. They also send recipes and recommended food pairings with the wines, and the membership gets you a free tasting any time you stop by, as well as discounts on any/all wine. They do ship your bi-monthly tasters to you, but if you'd rather come pick up your wine, you can do that and do a little tasting that day, too.

The tasting room itself was pretty cool, too. When you first walk in, it seems like a very small shop. They have all their wines out and stocked with descriptions for you to look through, along with a few winey-type souvenir things. But the really cool feature is their tasting room behind the shop.

We have discovered that tastings are fairly different here in CA than they were on the Fingerlakes. For one thing, they generally cost $10 here, compared to $1 or free in NY. They were generally more intimate in NY, as well, with apparently less traffic. Another difference is that the CA wineries give six samples, compared to four in NY, and your tasting fee includes the price of your glass, which you get to keep.

In NY, we would have expected to take a sampling right there in the tasting room at the front counter. However, at Bella Vista, you have to pay for the tastings out front in the shop, and they give you six "coins" to take to the tasting room in the back. I say "in the back" because it's behind the main shop, but really the tasting room is 3-4 times larger than the shop in front. That seemed a little odd when we first arrived, seeing as we were perhaps two of five tasters there, and the tasting we'd just come from was very slow and empty. We discovered later, however, that this was apparently a very popular location and the large setup was entirely necessary. Per usual, there were papers listings the wines with short descriptions at each spot around the bar, and when you've selected your wines, you place your coins over the top of their descriptions. I found this rather strange and unusual, as well, seeing as we'd always been to the smaller tastings where you have one pourer "assigned" to help you select the wines. Well, this question, too, was answered as the crowds came in and the two pourers were responsible for helping 20-30 tasters. It was really easy for them to just make rounds, see who was empty, take their coin, and pour the next glass.

Overall, both Ant and I really enjoyed this vineyard, and all of their wines. We only brought home three bottles, but I am hoping we'll get to join their wine club very soon.

The last stop on our tour was Hart Winery (it's the one pictured at the top of this post). Anthony had heard great reviews about them, so we had to stop in. It actually wasn't really our type of vineyard, as most of the wines are very dry and we still lean more toward the sweets. They did have a lot of cool wine-related crafty souvenirs, though, like bottle cork magnet clips and hummingbird feeders made out of wine bottles. It was fun to stop in, and I'd had enough to drink I didn't care much what the wines were like. Ant had just had small samples of my wines so he would stay sober enough to drive, and I got the round 1-oz per pour at three vineyards.

Overall, it was a very fun day. We came back with another three glasses and 10 wines to add to our collections, and we've been enjoying them thoroughly. I'm sure we'll be returning soon to check out a few more of the vineyards farther along the road.

Labor Day Part II - Vegas

So, the last post left off with a busy busy Saturday in Colorado Springs, going to the balloon festival and Air Force Football game. I also forgot to mention that that particular day was also 1. my parents' 28th wedding anniversary; 2. my brother's 24th birthday; and 3. the first full day of his engagement. That's right, my big brother is now engaged to be married!

Sunday, however, it was time to depart for a 2-day drive back to California. It's about a 17-hour drive from Colorado Springs to our new California home, so we decided to go ahead and split it up since we had the extra day off. Sunday was really just a typical roadtrip, with new landscapes to explore and an extra state to add to both Ant's and my travel lists. I think he was excited to be seeing something along the way I hadn't seen before. We stopped most of the way through Utah for the night, which only left about 5 hours of driving for Monday. Which meant... time for VEGAS!!

So, with a reasonable morning getting up and a couple hours' drive, we arrived in Las Vegas for the afternoon. We got lunch at the MGM Grand and had fun with their interactive menus in front of the cafe, then headed outside to walk a bit of the Strip. It was pretty awesome, but HOT outside.

Eventually we found our way to the Bellagio and decided to stop in for a little afternoon gaming. The fountain out front wasn't doing anything spectacular as we walked in (though later they had it going for some wedding photos off an interior balcony), but the interior of the hotel was phenomenal. I don't know if it's a permanent thing (though I would expect at least part is), but they had a lot of Chihuly glasswork, both in the entrance and again in an incredible garden. Although we were incredibly thirsty, we had to wander through, and on the other side stumbled on this MASSIVE chocolate fountain. I think it was in the Guinness World Records, and pipes white, milk, and dark chocolate through the system. Pretty incredible. The little shop had amazing wedding cakes and some delicious-looking little pastries, but we passed them up to return to the gaming tables and to grab a drink.

For the first time either of us had gambled in a casino, I'd say we did pretty well. We just stuck to Black Jack as we had fairly limited time, but we had a blast. Once Ant had worked up to a $50 profit he brought me in to play. I think in the end we made about $130 between us (maybe more?), so it was a very productive day of entertainment.

Around 6pm, we figured it was time to head out and finish the 4 hours of driving to get back home. The last nifty little surprise we found (and what I'll leave you readers with) was discovered walking back through the MGM to the car. As I'm sure you know, their major icon is a golden lion. Well, it turns out that they have 2 lionesses that they keep right there in the hotel with big glass walls to watch them climbing around. It looked like maybe feeding or training time, as there were two people in the exhibit with the girls, but the coolest bit was this little tunnel you could go into to actually go under the exhibit. The lions were actually laying on top of the tunnel, and the picture here is directly below them. Not the best photo, but certainly cool if you know what it's of.