Karaoke?
Today as I was driving along the streets of Avon, belting out “Every Morning” by Sugar Ray (thank you, SiriusXM 90′s on 9!) I started to think about Karaoke. I was thinking that if I were ever brave enough –err, drunk enough?– to dare get up on stage to sing, I would probably like to sing that song. Or probably a Beatles’ song.
Have you taken the karaoke plunge? What is your favorite song to sing at karaoke or just out LOUD when you are in your car?
Here’s the video for “Every Morning” (could Mark McGrath possibly be any cuter?!) sing along if you want to, and you know you do!!!
My Favorite Holiday Tradition– Stinky Cheese Day!!
The story goes that my Great Uncle gathered some friends before Christmas to enjoy a selection of cheeses and sausages. My Grandma GG decided that she wanted in (and she’s not one to be told no!) so she joined the guys to enjoy the feast. Soon, my Great Aunt peeked in and said, “Oh! How can you eat all of that stinky cheese!!??”
That was over 50 years ago, and now “Stinky Cheese Day” is my favorite Holiday Tradition.
- A full spread of deliciousness!
In this photo you can see a small sampling of the feast! Artichokes, gorgonzola, prosciutto, capicole, bread, mozzerella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and black olives. And of course, PLENTY of wine to go with the fabulous food!
The fresh italian sausage was boiling in the kitchen, and a selection of 3 or 4 salamies barely fit on the table! There are always a variety of chocolates and cookies as well.
Every year my Grandma GG and my Aunt and Uncle go to an Italian deli in Chicago on the morning of Stinky Cheese Day. They buy all this amazing food and we get together, tell stories, and munch all afternoon long. We always have it on the Sunday before Christmas.
I enjoy the tradition so much that I have decided to share with my neighbors, and we are looking forward to another Stinky Cheese party at my house in February.
What is your Passion??
I love to hear what people are passionate about. I love when people start talking to me about something that is important to me, and they get all excited and happy. I love to learn about what their hobbies are or what is important to them.
Me? Well, I’m using this whole blog to tell you (bit by bit) about things I am passionate about. I needed an outlet to get all the good stuff out. Here’s a quick list of things that I get all smiley over:
- My Family– My husband and my boys take top priority and making them happy and secure is what I really love. When they walk in the room, I feel all giddy inside. And when I see them all together reading or playing or whatever, I melt.
- Music– I tend to go a bit obsessive over music. The Beatles, the hair bands of the early 90′s, The Beatles, Here Come the Mummies, The Beatles. I grew up around music, and I have always enjoyed going out to concerts any chance I get. I always will.
- Real Estate– I get all excited when I start talking about my marketing plan, or the neighborhoods in my town, or what the market is doing this week. It is such a blessing to love your career and really feel passionate about it.
- Connecting with people– This is probably part of why I love my career. I love using social media of all kinds and meeting new people, connecting with old friends, talking to local business owners.
So, I would love for you to talk to me about something that you are passionate about. Post a link or write a bit or something.
Sun King Brewery, I luv you!
Waiting to be refilled!
I enjoy a good beer now and then, and I do love to support local businesses, but what I really enjoy is combining the two! Sun King is a local brewery (located at 135 North College in Indianapolis) that produces delicious brews. You can enjoy their beer at many restaurants and bars in the area.
What I love most about Sun King is the tasting room. On most Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons, you can go to the brewery and sample FREE BEER! That’s right, free. Upon entering, you show your ID, and once it is verified, you get 4 coupons and 2 bottle caps. The coupons are for samples of their House Beers, and the 2 bottle caps are for trying seasonal brews.
The second you walk in, you can smell the … well, I’m not sure what that smell is, but it is part of the brewing process. You hang out in a room with tall tables and stand around sampling the beer. It is fun watching the different types of people who walk in. And they always have great music playing. It’s a great place to bring visitors to Indy, plus it makes people think you’re cool.
Also, during tastings (check their website for hours) you can fill your growler for $5 (house beers)! You purchase the glass container (growler) for about $4 or $5, then fill it with fresh, local beer! After you finish the beer at home, bring it back for a refill!
My favorite is the Wee Mac Scottish Ale, we usually go home with a growler full of it, and use the majority of our coupons on it too 
I wish I could go to the tasting room every Friday, because everyone is in a good mood and happy that it is Friday and they are drinking yummy beer. The people who work there are very friendly and helpful and will explain what that smell is to you if you ask. Bring extra money for t-shirts!
Check out their story on their website: http://sunkingbrewing.com/index.php
Finally, I love Sun King Brewery because it reminds me of this song:
Evan VS Food
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- Phase 1– I WILL NOT eat this!!!
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- Phase 2– Trying really hard not to smile
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- Phase 3– Whoopsie!! I like it, I like it!!!
Tonight I slaved over the stove to make a delicious Chicken Chili Blanco. Yummmm. Chicken, red peppers, onion, garlic, mushrooms, chicken broth, wine, white kidney beans, corn. I served it with come crusty bread. Ok, so it wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever made, but if you took Evan’s word for it, you would think I served him worms and crickets!
This is a common scenario with Evan. He refuses to eat if he thinks he won’t like it. He psyches himself out so much that he goes into hysterics over what I’m serving for dinner. He fights and fights, until I am so angry that I’m going crazy. He gets sent to bed, then comes back down and says he will try it, then sits there and cries, then begs for something else to eat. Wash, rinse, repeat…
Then, I finally get him to put a spoonful into his mouth.
Slowly… but surely. Every single time, it happens. A smile slowly creeps across his face. A smile that he also fights. A smile and then a giggle. A smile and a giggle that say… “oops. I like it.”
I want to learn to cook (kinda)
Beignets-- Image via Wikipedia
I am not a good cook, I just do not have the patience for it. I do, however, enjoy eating! To that end, I have decided that I would like to learn how to make a few yummy things from scratch. If you have any recipes, send them my way!!!
Pierogies — A pierogi is a Polish version of the dumpling. It has a pasta shell with delicious filling, usually potatoes, sweet cheese, meat, plum, or sauerkraut. I prefer to stick with potatoes or sweet stuff. There is an annual Pierogi Fest in Whiting every Auguest, if you’d like to go get some amazing home made pierogies. Otherwise, for a decent version, try the frozen version in your grocery store.
Pralines– When Andy and I went to Savannah, I fell in love with the Pralines. I couldn’t get enough! Plus, the free samples were just too amazing to pass up. It would be rude to just walk by and not get a sample, wouldn’t it? So, I decided that I need to learn how to make these.
Beignet– Another find while we were in Savannah, at a yummy place called “Tubby’s” (right on the River walk) was the amazing Beignet. I saw this thing sitting on the table next to ours, and I could not resist. This is a warm French pastry drenched in powdered sugar. Can you imagine anything more delectable? In the US, Beignets are associated with New orleans, and are the official state doughnut of Louisiana.
debt sucks, yo.
Image via Wikipedia
It seems like everyone is stuck with debt right now. So many people get sucked in like we did, for whatever reason.
Our reason was a job layoff at the worst possible time. We were young, it was 2001, we were due to have our first child in 2 weeks, we were already living paycheck to paycheck. I wasn’t working because I was about to pop. When Andy got laid off, we knew we would be in big trouble, but we didn’t quite realize how big, because when Jakob was born he decided that he didn’t want to properly saturate his oxygen. He didn’t want to breathe. He had to be in the ICU for a week.
So there we were, brand new parents with no jobs. Huge hospital bills, rent, etc. So, we did what we had to do and part of that was to turn to our credit cards. By 2008 we had racked up a huge amount of debt. Who knows, it might actually have been more than what I’m about to share but this is the earliest record that I have right now.
In May of 2008, we were (are you ready for this?) $50,827 in credit card debt (!!!)
I’ll let that sink in for a minute. I’ll let the fact that I’m admitting that sink in for another minute.
We were at that point where you feel helpless. You feel like no matter how many payments you make, you will never make a dent in that huge amount. You feel like just making the minimum payment on that is taking your entire paycheck. You wonder how it will ever be possible for you to get ahead. I know, I was there.
Now, I’m not a huge Dave Ramsey freak. I have never been to his classes or anything. I didn’t follow his plan to the letter, I didn’t give up my car or sell my house or cut of my cable tv… but I did read his book. I felt relieved that there was a way out and I liked his idea of the “Debt Snowball”. With this method you start by making a budget, and a list of your debts. You list your debts from smallest to biggest, and take whatever you can from your budget to pay off that first debt on the list while still making payments on all of your other debts. Then, when you pay off that first one you apply that payment to the next, and so forth. Pretty soon you are making much larger payments on your debts and knocking them out faster and faster.
Today I paid off our First National credit card. We have been battling this one for what seems like an eternity. At one point, our debt on this card alone was $15,132. It felt like we would never get this paid off.
Today, my total credit card debt is $5,585.
$585 of that is a zero percent Lowes account, that is zero percent until 6/2012, so I am in no rush (no guilt) to pay that off. The rest (about $5,000) is our UPromise credit card. We get a percentage back that goes into a college fund for the boys. We put all of Andy’s MBA classes on that card, and most of my work expenses. It will most likelybe paid off by the end of this year or very early next year.
Why am I telling you this? I’m hoping that you will listen to the cautionary tale and stay away from building up huge credit card debt like I did. If it is too late for that, then I hope you can take away some hope that it IS possible to get yourself out of debt.
Love,
M.
A Man You Would Have Loved to Have Met.
My grandparents love jazz, he was a trumpet player, she was the singer. In 1973, he and my grandma and a few of their friends decided to create the Illiana Club of Traditional Jazz. They had been getting together informally in the Chicago area to see great live jazz, and decided to make it official. The Jazz Club now has thousands of members and monthly concerts. It got to the point where I wasn’t sure where my real family and “Jazz Club Family” began and ended.
Because of him, I grew up around jazz all the time. I went to club picnics and concerts and learned what great music really is. I remember running around the “After Four Supper Club” with the other children while the adults enjoyed the band. (Later, I had my wedding reception at that same venue). I remember him playing tunes on his trumpet for me. I remember when he made me sit down and listen to his favorite song of all time, “Stardust” (I also danced with him at my wedding to this song). I remember when my Grandma came home to find music notes had been painted on their garage door— the first three notes of her favorite song, “Willow Weep for Me”.
Have you seen the movie Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium? You really should if you haven’t. If you have, you probably remember the following scene:
Mr. Edward Magorium: [to Molly, about dying] When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He’s written “He dies.” That’s all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is “He dies.” It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with “He dies.” And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it’s only natural to be sad, but not because of the words “He dies.” but because of the life we saw prior to the words.
[pause, walks over to Molly]
Mr. Edward Magorium: I’ve lived all five of my acts, Mahoney, and I am not asking you to be happy that I must go. I’m only asking that you turn the page, continue reading… and let the next story begin. And if anyone asks what became of me, you relate my life in all its wonder, and end it with a simple and modest “He died.”
Molly Mahoney: [starting to sob] I love you.
Mr. Edward Magorium: I love you, too.
[picks Molly up, sighs heavily]
Mr. Edward Magorium: Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.
78.5 miles in 25 days??
Rememer how I told you that I am going to walk 100 miles in 45 days? I challenged all of my friends to join me, and many of you have! Well, it’s time to check in! If you are walking 100 miles in 45 days with me, I want to hear how you are doing. Please leave a comment letting us know how it’s going.
I have walked 21.5 miles so far. It is my 20th day. I wish I was a little bit futher, but I know I will be ok. I should have walked 2.23 miles every day to evenly stretch out my 100 miles over the 45 days. If I had done it that way, I would be at 44.6 miles already! Well, I slacked some days and some days did more to catch up. As it is right now, I have 78.5 miles to go in 25 days… that means at LEAST 3.14 miles per day.
But I did 5 miles today, so I’m happy about that. Wouldn’t it be cool if I could do 5 miles every day from here on out? hahaha!
