Becoming Rooks

Fat Tuesday Paczki

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Happy Fat Tuesday!

I'll be honest: this blog has been so quiet because the running bug has left me. Gone. I have been caught up in an off again-on again relationship with strength training but the truth is: I have a returned to an old love.

Oh hello baking.

I've been one happy camper in the kitchen lately. Although, as Jeff has mentioned more than once, if I keep baking like this we definitely need to start running again. Okay, so we'll get to the running. But today's Fat Tuesday.

And if you're Polish and live in the Midwest that means paczki (poonch-key).

Don't call them jelly doughnuts, they are so much better than jelly doughnuts.

They're also a good amount of work, but totally worth it. The dough was frustratingly sticky after I mixed all of the ingredients and before the initial rise. I went with my instinct and added more flour than the recipe called for but eventually I had to take a leap of faith that it would all turn out - and it did. After the first rise and a quick second knead, the dough rolled out beautifully.

Cut, fry, fill and dust with powdered sugar.

Polish Paczki
Makes 2 dozen.
(Adapted from a recipe at About.com)

1 1/2 cups warm milk (no warmer than 110 degrees)
2 packages (1/2 oz.) active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
4 ounces (1 stick) room-temperature butter
1 large room-temperature egg
3 large room-temperature egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups all-purpose flour

1. Mix yeast and warm milk until the mixture becomes frothy; set aside.
2. In in the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to whip the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add eggs one at a time, vanilla and salt.
3. Set speed to low and alternate adding flour and milk/yeast mixture to butter/egg mix. Once all ingredients have been added, set mixer to medium and mix for 5 minutes.
4. Switch to the dough hook (sprayed with non-stick spray) and knead 5 more minutes. The dough will be very sticky and may still stick to the side of the bowl. Cover and let rise 1-2 hours.
5. Punch down dough and knead a few more times. Roll out dough to 1/2" thickness and cut with a round biscuit cutter (or the mouth of a glass or the ring of a mason jar). Allow the cut rounds to rise for 30 minutes.
6. Heat oil to 350 degrees. Gently place paczki top side down into the oil. Fry for 1-2 minutes. Flip and fry the second side for 1-2 additional minutes. Remove from oil and allow to drain on an upside-down drying rack over newspaper. (This helps to wick away the excess oil.)
7. Once cool enough to handle, use a chopstick to poke a hole in the side of the paczki. Use a piping bag with a large round tip to fill the paczki with filling.
8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Eat within 24hrs.

Meal Pinning

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

The other day my mom asked me about meal planning, "How do you plan for the week? What do you eat?"

I paused, thought, and rattled off a short list.

"Chili, fajitas, pasta with grilled chicken, salad with grilled shrimp, whole wheat pizza."

It was a short list because that's what we were eating every single week.

Every Sunday I'd sit down to plan meals for the week and end up falling back on the same easy, familiar dishes we always ate. All the while recipes that I had found long ago got lost in the dark abyss of the Bookmarks folder. We were in a rut.

And then came Pinterest.

(I know, I know, everyone is gushing about Pinterest right now, but bear with me.)

For me, Pinterest is the ultimate tool for meal planning. Instead of hoarding bookmarks I never remember to go revisit, Pinterest is a mouth-watering photo board of meals just waiting to be made. It doesn't hurt that Jeff sees what I am pinning and can make suggestions on what he wants to make for the week.

And so one Sunday, the miraculous happened. We planned our meals for the week: all new, never before tasted recipes, thanks to pinning and repinning on Pinterest. So how did it go?

Recipe #1: Shrimp "Po Boys"

Original photo and recipe from Bev Cooks.

I will admit that when Jeff pulled out the herbs de provence along with the paprika and cayenne I looked at him like he had three heads. The combination didn't make sense to me. I was proven wrong: the shrimp was delicious. We're not mayo people so we made our own sauce out of ranch dressing and hot sauce and I think it worked really well. We were both pleased, definitely a Pinterest Win.

Recipe #2: Baked Green Bean Fries

Original photo and recipe from The Realistic Nutritionist.

I might have been operator error (like me forgetting the chili powder) but I definitely feel like these need a little work. They were tasty (especially with that aforementioned ranch/hot sauce mix to dip in) but the green beans were still watery inside. If I could figure out how to get the water out of the beans they'd be a total win.

Recipe #3: West African Chicken and Peanut Stew

Original photo and recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen.

I think there might have been some misunderstanding with the word stew here. To me, a stew is a really thick soup you eat with a spoon and serve with crusty bread. I've come to realize that in some cases a stew might be the type of dish you serve over rice. I think this recipe is the latter; the recipe barely made enough to feed the two of us in an entree portion. Aside from that, it was fantastically delicious (and very spicy!) but I have some ideas to make it even more so (watch this space!).

Recipe #4: Chicken, Black Bean and Cilantro Soup

Original photo and recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen.

A good winter warmer soup. Tasty but it won't take the place of my favorite chicken tortilla soup. It was very easy to make, though, so it's a good soup for weeknights if you tend to be tight on time,

Recipe #5: Sweet and Fiery Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa

Original photo and recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes.

Jeff and I rarely make pork. I don't know why, but we both seem to have an aversion to it. Perhaps too many shoe leather pork chops in our lifetime. Anyway, in an attempt to vary things up I was drawn to this pork tenderloin recipe. The good: the pork was good, and I think we are starting to become a little more comfortable with cooking it. The downside: the salsa was pretty lackluster. The garlic stole the show, and not in a good way. My suggestion: trade the garlic in for some fresh grated ginger root.

If you're interested, you can follow me on Pinterest or just follow my healthy recipes board Becoming a Healthy Cook.

QotD: Have you had any success (or failures!) with anything on Pinterest?

2012 Walt Disney World Half Marathon Race Recap: Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

If you missed Part 1 of my 2012 Walt Disney World Half Marathon recap, go here!

It was well after 5:00am when we finally hopped off the buses. There were actually several buses pulling in at the same time and I wondered {hoped} that they would delay the start a little because so many of us had been stuck in traffic.

We reached the staging area, handed off our bags of gear to my MIL, who was spectating, and rushed off to join the crowd heading toward the start. I was anxious and panicky and I needed to pee, but all I could focus on was reaching our corral.

Jeff and I had reached the back of the last corral when the fireworks went off and Corral A started. There was a row of port-o-potties there so we took advantage of the no lines and then somehow made it up to join with Corral C. I thought we had only made it as far as D, so I was pleasantly surprised when I realized we made it to the right corral.

Hello crazy!

The thing I love about Disney races is that each corral gets their own fanfare and fireworks as they start. Whether you are Corral A or Corral H, you get to experience the joy and rush as the race starts for you. Just one of the many reasons I think Disney is a great place to experience your first half marathon.

So the fireworks went off and after some slow shuffling, we were off!

Like always, my goal was not start off too fast. Not possible. Miles 1 and 2 were actually much slower than I had anticipated. There was a lot of passing people, being passed, weaving, etc. In retrospect, those first two miles probably felt harder than they were because we spent so much energy just trying to get somewhere.

I really feel like once you turn on to World Drive the course just starts lighting up. There is much more course entertainment and excitement. I had just started to enjoy all of the sights ahead of me when Jeff shouted “DUCK! I see a Duck!” and pointed left. We weaved through runners and joined a small line when I saw: Ludwig von Drake!

{I know. I’m crazy. I run this race for the sights, the sounds, the characters. And I love ducks. I just do.}

We also met another Donald in line who I had to take a photo with!

After two photos were back running (with me shouting “BEST RACE EVER!!), through the entry gates to the Magic Kingdom parking area and around the Walt Disney World Speedway. I knew my friend Christine was working the Mile 3 water stop so I took out my Yurbuds to look out for her. I never did find her but guess who we did find? Darkwing Duck!!

We had already stopped twice and we weren’t even in the Magic Kingdom yet. I looked at Jeff and I told him I didn’t care about time, I just wanted to have fun. I was already running on such an adrenaline high.

Mile 4 took us through the Transportation and Ticketing Center, where I noticed just how much more crowd support there was than in 2010. I don’t blame them, I didn’t want to be out there either! It was so much fun hearing people should "Go Donald!" and "Run Perry!" (as in Perry the Platypus - Jeff's hat).

Around Mile 5 we hit what is jokingly called Disney’s “Heartbreak Hill”, a bizarre sharp downhill/uphill point where the road goes underwater. {Oh the magic of Disney!} The combination of steep angle and narrow roadway is what gives it the nickname; it’s congested, a lot of people walk it and it can really put a kink in your game.

I had walked this portion in 2010 (it scared me!) so I was determined to run it with Jeff this time. I was cresting comfortably on the downhill when I was slammed into from behind. Hard. I guess another runner had tripped on the curb mid run and I think I was the only thing that prevented her from face planting. I am glad I didn’t face plant myself! I don’t remember much else other than being in state of confusion/shock and reaching the top of the hill. I did it running, though!

We passed by the area where the resort buses drop off for the Magic Kingdom and turned left through the security gate and entered backstage. It wasn’t far before we entered Main Street between Tony’s and the hat shop. We saw my MIL, waved and basked in the awe of Main Street, down to the hub and off to the spoke to Tomorrowland.

We ran through Tomorrowland, turning at Astro Orbiter, and ran past the Tomorrowland Speedway.

We stopped at a long, slow line for Alice and the Queen.

And another line for Rapunzel and ~~Eugene~~ Flynn Rider.

Rapunzel told me my friend Donald was right around the corner and I should go say hi.

I flipped a lid. No joke. I had two goals this race: get the Donald medal, and get a photo with Donald in my Donald costume.

{Can you tell I’m obsessed? It’s sad, truly. I’m like a six year old. Just wait and see.}

We reached the line for Donald and Daisy right outside the back of Cinderella’s Castle. I had no sooner zipped into the end of the line when the Character Handler came over to me and said “the line is closed.” I looked at her and blinked. “I’m sorry, the line is closed.”

And I did what any sane adult would do. I begged. Hard.

“NO! Please! Please you have to let me see Donald. Look at my costume. Please? PLEASE!”

The poor woman looked at me pitifully. “Okay, he’s coming back in 5 minutes. You can stay, but you have to wait 5 minutes.” I looked at Jeff and he nodded.

“We’ll wait.”

By some brilliant act of Disney magic, the other CM came over and told our CM that Donald would be staying out an additional 15 minutes. I may or may not have squealed.

Photo with Donald accomplished.

I shouted another “BEST RACE EVER!!” as we ran through Cinderella’s Castle.

The rest of our journey took us through Liberty Square and Frontierland into another backstage area where they keep the parade floats and then out to a quiet path that would meet up with Floridian Way. Miles 6 and 7 were very narrow and congested, much more so than miles 1 and 2. Despite the congestion, I was surprised to see we were running much closer to race pace than we had been before. Everyone seemed to be in really good spirits here, too. It was probably the high having just ran through Magic Kingdom but there were a lot of smiles and support/encouragement between runners. I even had a few runners sprint a head of me so they could turn around and take a picture of my costume!

Things opened up more around mile 8 and they were handing out Cliff Shots. Our fueling had been pretty much non-existent with the stopping so we both grabbed a mocha flavored shot. I was surprised at how delicious it was (or maybe anything is delicious at mile 8?).

Around mile 9 Jeff started feeling the same pains he experienced at the Towpath Half Marathon. Brick like calf muscles, painful hip flexors and an aching knee. Walk breaks became more frequent and eventually we stopped running altogether. I really didn’t care though; there were times when I really just wanted to run, but even if we walked the rest I was thrilled with how everything had gone.

The rest of the miles are a bit of a blur. A mixture of small attempts at running but mostly a lot of walking. And 3:11:29 later, we crossed the finish line. I had my Donald medal. I was thrilled.

We met up with the rest of our family and took some pictures at the finish line. (I had to complete my Duck collection!)

Clearly, my take on this half marathon was different than other runners. For some folks, "real runners" don't stop for photographs, wear costumes and certainly don't finish in over 3 hours. But that's okay. I don’t care too much whether or not I'm a “real runner”. I'm a funner runner. I had way too much fun being a crazy girl in a Donald costume. We all have to run our own race, and at the end of the day, everyone gets the same medal and hopefully, the same sense of joy.

Races will come and go, but this is one experience that will bring a smile to my face forever.

2012 WDW Half Marathon Recap: Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

The 2012 Walt Disney World Half Marathon.

Where do I start?

If you had ever told me I could have so much fun while running, I probably would have said you were crazy. But this race was so much fun I immediately wanted to do it again.

Crazy, right?

We arrived in Orlando on Friday and immediately went to packet pickup. Unlike the long, winding lines we encountered in 2010, packet pickup was pretty empty so we were able to sail through the lines with ease and head over to the expo.

Where I perfected my running pose.

By that point it was well after lunch and we were all hungry, so we hopped a cab to Downtown Disney for some Earl of Sandwich and a little bit of shopping until our room was ready. Earl was boasting a special holiday turkey sandwich, and since it didn’t have any dairy on it I thought it sounded like the perfect choice for a pre-race day meal. Turkey? Good. Stuffing? Good. Cranberry sauce? Goooooooood.

(No, it didn’t taste like feet!)

We have this thing where we take pictures eating sandwiches.
Just sandwiches. I don't know either. Blame The Hat.

It was pretty yumtastic.

Finally our room at Old Key West was ready so we went back, unpacked and relaxed until our dinner reservations at Via Napoli in Epcot’s Italy Pavilion. The only dairy free entrée option there was spicy seafood pasta, which was just okay, but I had filled up on salad and bread anyway. We had just started to leave the restaurant when I started noticing the war going on in my stomach.

(Note: I just want to mention that I don’t think it was Via Napoli that made me sick. I don’t know what did, but if I had to guess it was the {incredibly tasty} sandwich at Earl, seeing as both my mom and I ate that sandwich and both started getting sick at the same time. Just wanted to clarify so people didn’t start swearing off Via Napoli. Or Earl, for that matter. I’d still eat at Earl. Maybe just not the day before a race.)

I didn’t even make it out of Epcot before I got sick the first time. After a very uncomfortable bus ride back to the resort, the rest of my evening was spent in the bathroom. Not exactly the way I had planned to spend the night before the race. Sometime after 11pm, I convinced myself that there couldn’t possibly be anything left in my stomach so I forced myself to go to bed. 2:30 was going to come very early. I lay in bed and listened to my stomach rage and wondered if I have to DNF or even DNS.

The alarm went off and my stomach was still gurgling. Thankfully I remembered that we had some meds in our toiletry bag for just such an occasion so I took two and prayed for the best. I also realized that my hydration levels were probably low from being sick so I needed to take more liquids on the course than I normally do. At that point, there was little I could do but keep moving and hope for the best.

I got dressed and debuted my costume for the family.

Just putting on my running costume/outfit lifted my spirits by miles. I was excited and secretly hoped the adrenaline would push me through and distract me from my ills. I shoved down my planned pre-race meal of PB toast and Sugar Free Red Bull (“it gives you wings!”) and promptly at 3:30 I was shouting everyone out the door to head to the Hospitality House to catch our bus to the start.

After about 15 minutes of waiting in a very long line, two buses arrived and we loaded up and began to make the very long, roundabout way into Epcot (since the usual route was blocked for the race).

I've heard various rumors - that there was an accident; that there were trucks that had to get into Epcot and can only go via one route; what really happened, I don't know - what I do know is that it was almost 5:00am we were still stuck in traffic.

I started to freak out.

Bag check was closing. We should have already been in our corrals.

I knew I should have made everyone wake up earlier.

Part 2 coming soon!

Back to snowy Cleveland.

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Back to reality.

A cold, snowy reality.

I promise a full WDW Half race recap soon. This is one race I'll never, ever forget.

What it wasn't (for me):

A PR, by any stretch
A race, we had fun and did not race this at all
Pain/injury/incident free

What it was (for me):

Awesome photos.
Miles of smiles; I don't think I stopped grinning
A lot of me shouting "Best. race. EVER!!"

1. Chasing the White Rabbit. | 2. Butterbeer! | 3. Keeping warm, TDL style. | 4. Medal love.

Reflecting on 2011 goals

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Howdy hi!

So apparently its the end of 2011 - how did that happen?!

Between the work and the holidays the last few weeks have absolutely flow by. I feel like I am desperately trying to catch up on sleep. I'm so looking forward to our Disney vacation - even if does kick off with a not-so-restful half marathon!

This year has definitely had it's fare share of highs and lows but I am thankful for every minute of it. I learned a lot, I experienced a lot, and I was very fortunate to share with my wonderful husband, family and friends.

So how did I do on those goals I set for myself for 2011?

1. Run my 2nd Half Marathon

Accomplished!! Woot! It wasn't the Air Force Half as intended, and of course, it didn't go quite as planned but I'm glad to have another half under my belt.

2. Run a 31 minute 5k

I think I was dreaming with this one. I only ran one 5k this year, and although I set a PR in some seriously hot, sticky weather, it wasn't close to 31. Still, you gotta have goals so maybe this one will stick around for next year. I did hit some close numbers in training runs but it doesn't count if it's not a race :)

3. Preplan more dinners

Accomplished! Jeff and I did really well with this. Not to say we were always perfect, but we definitely had a game plan when we would grocery shop for the week.

4. Try a hot yoga class

Accomplished! And I have a confession: I don't think I like yoga. Sure I was all excited after the first few classes but then I realized it stressed me out more than anything. It was probably just bad class timing but I always felt stressed, awkward and uncomfortable. Also, too quiet!

5. Be a nicer person

It would be kind of egotistical of me to say I accomplished this, right? "I am so nice. I am awesome! Yeah!"

6. Try one new healthy thing each month

This one... was off and on. If I stretched I could probably make this true, but let's just say partial accomplishment?

How did you do in meeting your goals for 2011?

Festive Friday: Wrap it Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

I am obsessed with wrapping paper. Obsessed. Growing up, my dad wrapped 95% of all of the Christmas presents under our tree. He was pretty particular about it, too. We had tons and tons of wrapping paper and as fast as a roll was used, two or three new rolls appeared. Most of my Christmas memories involve shiny wrapping paper, sharp, perfect corners and no two presents ever looking the same.

So of course I have to carry on the family tradition of perfect presents. Thank goodness we now have Pinterest to help.

Source

I love this wrapping utilizing different paper and bows. What a great way to use up your lingering rolls of wrapping paper and bows!

Source

This pom-pom is made out of Target bags. Genius, right? Who doesn't have a million Target bags - especially this time of year? (Or is that just me?)

Source

Trader Joe's holiday bags and bakers twine! So cute, right?

I'm a big fan of making your own/recycling things. Things like gift tags can be so expensive! One year I made my own using kraft paper and a gingerbread Mickey cookie cutter!

Easy and super cheap! I used a White Out pen so it looked like the iced Gingerbread Mickeys I had made that year.

QotD: Wrapping: love it or hate it?

Thankful Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Okay, where did the last two days go?

I'm pretty gosh darn thankful that the weather has been dry enough and "warm" enough to continue to run our long runs outside. I don't know how we did so much of our training for the WDW '10 half marathon indoors. The idea of two hours on a treadmill kind of sends me into a fit of panic-induced psychosis. Or at least just makes me grumpy.

Cold, but okay with that.

I'm thankful that when we go to my parents house for dinner my mom still remembers to make my favorite sides, like collard greens. Yum!

I''m thankful that Jeff deep cleaned the bathroom and kitchen on his day off. I know, right? You're actually supposed to clean those rooms? (Just kidding!)

I'm also thankful that the internet can provide a constant source of motivation/inspiration and aided in the successful completion of getting my butt out of bed before work to work out. Let's see if we can make that one stick this time!

Source.

I'm thankful that my alarm clock lets me wake up to serene nature sounds like ocean waves or gentle rain instead of the radio. I think it improves my wake up mood, especially since after the 5th day in a row of waking up to Rihanna's We Found Love I was ready to chuck the thing out the window. I usually like Rihanna, but I can't stand that song! (I'm also going to blame that as the reason I skipped workouts. Yes, I couldn't bear the thought of getting up to work out because that dumb Rihanna song made me cover my head with my pillow. Yes, that sounds right.)

Okay, enough of that. You want to know who won the 1-year subscription to Runners World, don't you?

Congratulations, Christine!! E-mail me your info and we'll get you all set up for a year of fantastical reading!

QotD: What are you thankful for this Thursday?

Baby, It's Cold Outside

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Don't forget you have until tomorrow at midnight to enter my Runners World giveaway!!

Speaking of Runners World, I am a big fan of their What to Wear for Runners app, but sometimes I seriously question its judgement.

Shorts in 30 degree weather? Really, RW? Surely, you jest.

I compromised an wore capris under my running skirt and a long sleeve RunLove top. At the last moment I grabbed my pullover as well, and I am glad I did! It was coollllddd out there!

I doesn't look cold, but it was cold.

Who thought half marathon training in December was a good idea? Oh yes, I guess that was me.

This is a serious mishmash of an outfit. The earwarmer is particularly stylish. I think I might have been wearing it backwards - was I wearing it backwards? But shouldn't the logo always be on the front?

Whatever, it kept me warm for 9 miles and that's all that was really necessary.

And that meant it was time to wash up and go Christmas shopping! We did some major damage over the weekend and got some pretty good sales. Have you ever bought a Christmas gift that you really didn't actually want to give away? Yeah, I think I've got one of those on my hands.

I'm pretty sure my exact words to Jeff were something along the lines of "But we're like TWINS!!" Isn't she the cutest thing ever ever? (Yes, I meant to type that twice).

We also spent the weekend driving around looking at Christmas lights. Around here it seems like you either have streets with no lights or streets with every house decorated. I like to think one house pulls out the mega decorations and shames the other houses in participating. That's fine by me!

This house had a reeeeaaallly creepy Santa in an easy chair. He waved, but he kind of looked possessed.

QotD: Do you drive around to look at Christmas lights? Also, do you think I was wearing my ear warmers backwards?

Festive Friday: Christmas TV Specials... or how I was a child of the 80s.

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

We have a serious problem, folks. It's December 2nd and I still do not have an advent calendar. This is a HUGE deal! It means I have missed out on two days of adventy goodness.

Growing up we had this cloth advent calendar with a mouse - I am pretty sure it was from Avon - and I just loved moving the little mouse from pocket to pocket each day. I'm not sure how I've gone the last few Christmases without an advent calendar. Well, there was the one year Jeff had his Lego advent calendar. That was pretty cool.

Anyway, it's Festive Friday and you know what that means! The definitive Christmas list from yours truly. Today we're talking about Favorite Christmas TV Specials!

I feel like kids are a bit jipped these days. I don't think they get anywhere near the amount of awesome Christmas specials like those of us who grew up in the 80s did.

Let us start with the #1 undeniable best Christmas TV special of all time.

Jim Henson's The Christmas Toy. Long before Woody got his pull string and Buzz got his wings (haha), we had Rugby, and Apple, and let us not forget the amazing Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids showing us all about how toys came alive when kids weren't around. So ahead of it's time. Sometimes I wonder if this is where Gwyneth and Chris got the idea to name their daughter Apple. Probably not, but it would be really cool if it was.

Another big favorite: A Garfield Christmas. I was pretty much a fan of anything Garfield related as a kid (remember Garfield and Friends??) Let's ignore the fact that the Garfield Halloween Special pretty much scared the pants off of me as a child (who thought skeleton pirates were a kid-friendly idea?!) and remember this special had the awesome grandma with the too-spicy sausage gravy and how Odie made Garfield the really cool back scratcher. Who knew Odie could be so resourceful? Did you know the voice of Grandma was also the voice of Ursula? Yes, really!

And of course there are all time classics... like A Charlie Brown Christmas and Mickey's Christmas Carol. Okay, so maybe Charlie Brown Christmas wasn't made in the 80s, but it can still be a part of the awesomeness that was the 80s Christmas Special.

Oh and let's not forget Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Can we just agree that Jim Henson kind of ruled the Christmas Special?

So what did I leave out? What is your favorite Christmas TV special of all time? Maybe Alvin and his Golden Harmonica? Or perhaps that random Dinosaurs episode where they celebrated Refrigerator Day?

Thankful Thursdays and Brain Clouds

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

I need today's Thankful Thursday post. I've not been feeling particularly thankful lately. I'm mad at myself for gaining weight over the holidays. I'm mad at myself for not getting out of bed for my workouts Monday or yesterday. And I'm really, really mad at my stomach for being supremely wonky lately and basically trying to ruin my life.

Combine those things and I am a pretty miserable person to be around.

Maybe I have a brain cloud.

Okay, enough of that. Today I am thankful for....

Christmas songs. I always wonder how other drivers perceive me when I am shouting and waving at them angrily for cutting me off in traffic one second and merrily singing along to Jingle Bell Rock the next. Apparently Christmas music calms my road rage. (Not that I have road rage.... ahem.)

Roasted brussels sprouts. Don't even argue this one. They are delicious and you know it.

The Hunger Games trilogy, because even though I've already read it once, it took a lot to pull me away from Mockingjay long enough to write this post. Also, with my second reading I am finally realizing the awesomeness of Finnick. I must have been way too wrapped up in the Peeta love the first time around to pay attention to him properly.

I'm also rather thankful for tea. Republic of Tea's BeWell "Get Relief" in particular, but also tea in general. It's all warm and soothing on icky cold, rainy nights and a far better after-dinner treat than eating half of a Terry's Dark Chocolate Orange. Okay, maybe not better, but probably better for you.

I'm thankful for people who get the brain cloud reference.

So what are you thankful for this fine Thursday?

Don't forget to enter my Runners World subscription giveaway!

Runners World Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

"Fail to plan, plan to fail."

It's more than one of my favorite sayings, it's almost a life motto. So why, then, am I 37 days away from the Walt Disney World Half Marathon with nary a training plan in sight?

I have a confession.

Training plans make me... what's that word? Obsessive? Insane? A lunatic?

One of those (all of those, if you ask my husband).

If you're reading this and you're a runner, you probably have an idea of what I am talking about. How you live and breathe by your training plan? How you obsess about each run and check weather.com about 50 times and when that run is over you start obsessing about the next one? How everything you eat, do or say is carefully analyzed about how it will impact your next run? (Please tell me someone else understands this!)

Training plans - good for running, bad for my marriage.

Okay, its not like we're heading for counseling but my husband - and frankly everyone, except maybe my friend Theresa - likes me better when I am not wild-eyed, fire breathing training plan maniac.

This is the face of a mad woman. Mad, I tell you! Or least one who won't share her crepe.

It's not like I'm throwing training to the wind; I am just "flying casually". (Anyone get that? Anyone? Not you, Jeff). It's kind of nice, not being obsessively tied to a training plan.

And honestly, I think this only works because we just trained for a half marathon not too long ago.

And because it's winter and I don't have to worry about it being too hot if we wake up later than 7am. In fact, it's probably better if we wait for it to warm up a bit.

So, you know, results may vary.

When I did use a training plan I was pretty happy with the one provided by the Runners World website. Funny you mention Runners World because....

I'm giving away a 1-year subscription to Runners World!

Nothing says "Christmas morning once a month" like opening your mailbox to find the new Runners World. It's a great feeling!

TO ENTER: Leave a comment with your favorite training tip.

Bonus entries:

(Leave a comment for each one you do)

1. Follow Becoming Rooks on Facebook.

2. Follow Becoming Rooks on Twitter.

3. Facebook/Tweet/Blog about this contest (be sure to tag @BecomingRooks)

(One comment/entry for each)

Contest ends Tuesday, Dec 6 at midnight EST!

Tokyo Day 4: Sensoji Temple & Yebisu Beer Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Tokyo Day 1 - Getting there is half the fun?
Tokyo Day 2, Part 1: Meiji Shrine
Tokyo Day 2, Part 2: Mmm, piggy!
Toyko Day 3: Mitsukoshi and Yakitori

It was our last day in Tokyo proper and the weather had finally decided to cool down a bit. Unfortunately, slightly cool means crank the heater in Japanese stores, so it may not have been complete relief.

We started the morning like we did every morning, with our choice of canned coffee:

...and then we made our way to the train station headed toward Senso-ji Temple. Somewhere between standing on the train and the short walk at Kanda between the JR line station and the Ginza subway line I realized that either vomiting or passing out was imminent and that I needed food right now. Luckily, there just so happened to be a bakery/cafe in our immediate path that just so happened to be wafting the scents of chocolate croissants.

Yes, I do believe a chocolate croissant is exactly what I needed. And whatever that thing with the egg is. I'll have one of those, too.

Jeff is fine with any detour as long as there is coffee.

Feeling human again, we made our way to the subway and joined the masses of (mostly German) tourists who were departing for Senso-ji Temple. It was really the first time we felt like we hit a touristy area of Tokyo. There were rickshaw carts and shops filled with cheap trinkets and nothing like the modern hustle of Shinjuku.

Senso-ji is a Buddhist temple, unlike Meiji which was a Shinto Shrine. Senso-ji is one of the oldest temples in Japan, and it was also partially destroyed by bombing in WWII. Since then, the temple was rebuilt and is a symbol of peace and rebirth for the Japanese people (or so the intertubes tell me).

Before you reach the temple itself, you walk through a line of small shops called nakamise-dori selling traditional wares and some not-so traditional.

Ice cream burger?

One of the first things we noticed once we arrived near the entrance to the shrine was the omikuji, or random fortunes. (After a small donation) you make a wish while shaking a long metal cylinder with a small hole at one end.

The shaking eventually makes a wooden stick fall out with a number that corresponds to the long row of wooden drawers.

You match up your number to the number on the drawer and procure your fortune.

Don't worry, they are written in English, too.

So then we saw some other ladies tying their fortunes to the wire racks near the omikuji, so we decided to do that, too. I guess you normally only do this if your fortune is bad and want it to be blown away with the wind. Whoops. I guess this is what happens when you don't read Japanese!!

After we tied up our fortunes to the wind, we participated in the ritual hand washing and made our way into the temple - only to find it closed for a service.

By this point the ballet flats that I just had to have for the trip were killing my feet so we decided to head back to the hotel so I could change shoes. I know, I know... I will never learn function over fashion.

But it ended up working out since the Yebisu Beer Museum was only one stop from our hotel, anyway.

The Yebisu Beer museum was small, but very cool looking. It offered a history of the beer and how it impacted and changed with Japanese culture.

But we all know we were there for the beer tastings. We got one of each of the four offerings and the "beer snack".

The beer snack was prawn crackers, regular crackers, salty peas and that gummy out of focus stuff in the back? Dried salted fish. Yum!

Actually it wasn't that bad. The texture was a little jarring after a while but the flavor was actually nice. The prawn crackers were my favorite, though! It did bring back memories of the one Christmas where my sister went to the Asian grocery store and bought the oddest things she could find and dared us to try it!

QotD: What is the most unusual food you've ever tried?

The one with the Moist Maker

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

In a rather unfortunate turn of events, I spent my holiday weekend with a cold that seems to like knocking every bit of energy out of me. I had to be threatened in order to not venture out on my planned weekend long run or do any bit of exercise (even though I really need to do something about that food baby that appeared over the past few days).

Despite the sucky cold, Thanksgiving was a fun-filled holiday as always!

Turkeyyyyyyy. | Yes, my shirt has Stormtroopers on it. |
Thankfully, no one actually lets me carve the turkey. | Supermegadelicious Spiced Pecan-Bourbon Pie.

And it's finally the holiday season - hurrah! We put up our cute skinny tree and have been playing Christmas music non-stop. Okay, that's not entirely true, holiday music is in steady rotation with the sounds of Halo-whatever-edition-it-is my husband is currently playing. It's all about compromise folks.

Roll on Christmas 2011! | Christmas Fozzie always make a cameo |
Jeff actually touched a glitter ornament this year. It's a Christmas miracle folks! | Mistletoe kisses.

I need to work on photographing our little tree... in our little apartment.. Why no, the holidays do not make me wish I had a huge house with a grand dining room in which to host fabulous parties and hang incredible DIY decor with an "Oh, that? It's nothing. Took me 5 minutes" when in reality it took me 5 hours and a lot of swearing.

I blame Pinterest.

But we officially bid Thanksgiving 2011 farewell with the eating of the last Moist Maker. Yes, as in that Moist Maker.

Knock-knock. Who's there? Ross Geller's lunch. Ross Geller's lunch, who?
Ross Geller's lunch, please don't take me. Okay?

QotD: What is your favorite thanksgiving leftover?

Festive Friday: Top 5 Christmas Albums

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Normally I am not one to rush Christmas, but I've been in a seriously Christmas-y mood for the past few days so I am excited that I can finally start to celebrate without the guilt of running over poor Thanksgiving.

I still love you, Thanksgiving, I really do!

So I wanted to do this Festive Friday thing where I share all of my holiday favorites! And since it just so happen to be Friday.... It's the very first Festive Friday!! Woo hoo!!

I LOVE Christmas songs/carols. When I was a little girl, I had a coloring book that had the lyrics to several carols so I learned them at a young age. We also listened to a lot of Christmas music growing up. So, in no particular order, I give you my Top 5 Holiday Albums of All Time!

'N Sync - Home for Christmas

I am fairly sure Jeff thinks I am nuts because every year I proclaim this to be "the best Christmas album of all time". Sure it's heavy on the cheese factor, but I love the mix of traditional songs and new "classics". "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" always puts me in a happy, Christmasy mood. Plus, I am a sucker for the 'N Sync boys 5 part harmony. My Christmas wish for a reunion tour. Okay, maybe not, but I would ~~probably~~ definitely buy tickets if they did reunite.

Standout Songs: "Under My Tree" - I don't know why, but I find this song both awesome and hilarious at the same time. "The Only Gift" - Super sweet classic boyband cheese. Plus, it's like the only time Lance ever go a solo. His low note is rather impressive. (Am I the only one that thought it was funny that Lance Bass was a bass singer?). "O Holy Night" - Seriously the best song on the album containing the aforementioned swoonable 5 part harmony acapella. Le sigh.

Harry Connick, Jr - When My Heart Finds Christmas

I know Michael Buble is the crooner du jour but my heart still has a soft spot for Mr. Connick since first hearing his sweet voice in When Harry Met Sally. Besides, who doesn't love a bit of sassy jazz at Christmas time?

Standout Songs: "I Pray on Christmas" - I challenge you not to dance around while this song is playing! "What Are You Doing New Years Eve" - My angsty teenage heart swooned over this song many-a-time, and if you are a diehard WHMS fan such as I, you can't help but think of the fabulous NYE where Harry told Sally "I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

John Denver and The Muppets - Christmas Together

Every Christmas, along with the ornaments and decorations, my parents would pull out a crate of Christmas albums. Yes, albums as in records. Vinyl. When you had to line up the needle with the grooves on the record to find the track you wanted. Yes, I am that old. Anyway, in that crate of Christmas Albums (noteworthy titles included Kenny Rodgers Christmas and Alabama's Christmas - they were very original with titles back then) was a selection of Christmas albums especially for me. Tucked between Rainbow Brite Christmas and Pound Puppies Christmas (again with the originality) was this Christmas classic. And although John Denver's coolness factor is pretty much -10, The Muppets are always awesome.

Standout Songs: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Only Rowlf can do this sentimental favorite justice. "Twelve Days of Christmas" - It just isn't Christmas until I hear Miss Piggy's resonant "BA-DUM DUM DUM!".

Disney's Merry Christmas Carols

I love that there are random people on Amazon still selling this. Much like The Muppets album, this was part of my vinyl Christmas collection. I remember loving this album because all of the lyrics were on the back. And Donald Duck singing is, as Martha would say, a good thing.

Standout Songs: They are all classics!!

Aly & AJ - Acoustic Hearts of Winter

A recent addition that has rapidly made it on to my annual "must play" Christmas album list. If I need to be kicked into the Christmas spirit fast "Greatest Time of Year" will probably do it. I love that Aly & AJ changed up arrangements and added their own flare to the traditional Christmas songs on the album instead of straight up covers. Plus, there is an anti-Christmas cheer song on the album, which may seem counter-intuitive to my jolly Christmas disposition, but actually makes me love the album even more.

Standout Songs: "Greatest Time of Year", "Not This Year" - the aforementioned anti-Christmas cheer song, and "I'll Be Home for Christmas".

QotD: What are your favorite Christmas albums?

Thankful Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:45:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today, and every day, I am thankful for my family and friends. I am so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing group of people in my life. If I didn't know it before, my heart was truly filled with the love and support of family and friends over the last few days. I am a lucky, lucky girl.

Of course that thankfulness extends to my amazing husband. He's been by my side (and tolerated my insanity) for 8 years (as of yesterday!!) and I have loved him for every minute of it.

I'm thank for not only having a job, but having a pretty cool job at a really cool place. The kind of place that works really hard but also rewards you with ice cream socials, happy hours, pizza parties, casino parties. I full recognize that those are not normal workplace occurrences!

I am thankful for all of you!! For all of your support and advice and kind comments! It truly makes my day every time I receive a comment; I still get a special thrill thinking that someone cared enough to comment!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Tokyo Day 3: Mitsukoshi and Yakitori

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Thank to everyone who left sweet comments for Crystal on yesterday's OBA Blog Swap and who checked out my post on her blog. It was fun being able to share our fond memories of our grandmothers and our holiday cookie traditions!

I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Wasn't I just blogging about Easter? I also can't believe it's been a month since we left for Japan. In someways it seems like we just got back and in others it seems like forever ago. So I guess I should get crackin' on this trip report before I forget everything!

Tokyo Day 1 - Getting there is half the fun?
Tokyo Day 2, Part 1: Meiji Shrine
Tokyo Day 2, Part 2: Mmm, piggy!

Our plan for this morning was to head over to the main Mitsukoshi department store over in Ginza. Fans of Walt Disney World probably know that Mitsukoshi has a very small "branch" store located in the Japan pavilion at Epcot. Let's just call the Epcot version a distant cousin - but more on that later.

Like every morning, we stopped in the convenience store at the hotel to grab some canned coffee to keep us functioning for the day. We really wanted to try something different everyday, so I went for the Dororich Crushed Jelly Sweets coffee. Now I am a big fan of bubble tea, and I've had some types of bubble tea that combine the tapioca pearls with jelly bits, so I think I knew what I was in for.

Not so much.

The whole drink was like coffee flavored mushy bits of jelly. Like as if someone had shredded coffee Jell-o, added a little bit of cold coffee and forced you to drink it through a straw. The flavor was nice, the consistency was a bit much to take.

We ended up missing the grand opening ceremonies at Mitsukoshi, but apparently they do a rather elaborate ceremony before opening the store. I didn't mind terribly though because were able to walk right into the incredible first floor food hall right from the subway station.

Yep, I said food hall. Turns out Mitsukoshi is nothing like its Epcot counterpart and a whole like a store in my other favorite town, Harrods (there is even a mini-Harrods stand on the food hall floor).

Honestly, the food hall was the coolest part. Aside from some beautiful ornate artwork on the main floor, it was just a regular high-end department store. So, since we didn't eat breakfast we decided to grab some food and head up to the roof to eat an early lunch.

My sushi lunch.

Oh sushi, how do I love thee. I'm not entirely sure what all the white fish pieces were but it didn't matter as each piece was so fresh and delicious!

Then it was off to my own personal heaven: the Sanrio flagship store in Ginza!!

I've loved Hello Kitty since before I could talk. There are photos of me in my crib with a plush Hello Kitty. I was seriously in heaven! (No, we didn't go Sanrio Puroland... maybe next time!)

Since I subjected poor Jeff to the crazy Sanrio store (and their cranked heat, it was so hot!) I promised him we could stop for a beer. We found a pub that was about to close (from lunch service) but they let us grab a quick drink anyway.

My awesome new iPhone case!

From there we wandered around the city a bit. We went to Akihabara,the electronics district and realized it wasn't all that great. The stores looked like low end Radio Shacks and it was all peppered with a lot of "adult" type stores. We did see a Maid Cafe, which I found hilarious. A Maid Cafe is a cosplay restaurant where all of the pretty waitresses are dressed in maid costumes and wait on you hand and foot. They are run very strict, no touching so it's not sleazy, but definitely not something we are accustomed to in America.

We ended up back in Harajuku, this time with directions for the stores we wanted to go to. I was especially excited when we (finally) stumbled on Takeshita-dōri, one of the main shopping streets I had been searching for! So excited, in fact, that I didn't take any pictures. But I bought an adorable hat.

We headed back to Shinjuku and decided to grab some dinner. We really wanted to find this place called Yakitori Alley that was in Shinjuku and Jeff was pretty sure we had passed it the first day we wandered around when we got to Tokyo. Yakitori Alley are a few back alley ways that hold a plethora of small stall-type restaurants that basically serve meat on a stick and beer. Many are regulars only, so the trick is to figure out which one to go to. A few had lines, so we passed them up and we kind of awkwardly peeked in a few stalls to find them full until we were beckoned by a young lady into a open stall. We walked into find it empty.

Uh oh.

And then the owner showed the per person seat charge. The one thing I knew from research is that seat charges were not the norm and this place was trying to take advantage of us. But even knowing that, we just kind of looked at each other and went with it. We got served some type of special, we didn't get to pick our meat or type. Basically, we got served the dumb Westerner special.

It was tasty, but overall the experience was pretty disappointing. It kind of seemed like the type of place that is good to go with a local or if you/someone your with has a really good grasp of the language.

You live and you learn, right? It's the experience of travel! Besides, if we had a great experience with the yakitori man we probably never would have met the funny Turkish guy selling doner kebabs!

He didn't swindle us; he gave us the hook up with the extra garlic sauce. Yum!!

OBA Blog Swap!!

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Hi blends! Something a little different today at Becoming Rooks - I am participating in the Ohio Blogging Association's Cleveland Blogger swap! Today a bunch of bloggers from the NEOhio area are guest posting on other blogs and I am happy to share a post with you from Crystal at Eat, Drink, Cleveland!

In turn, I am guest blogging over on her website. It's a post that is very special to me and explains why I've been so quiet this past week. I hope you enjoy both of our posts and thank you so much Crystal for being my blog partner!

Christmas Cookie Memories

When I first found out about the Ohio Blogging Association's November Blog Swap, I jumped at the chance to participate! And I was even more excited when I found out that my swap partner was someone I had not yet met because I love meeting new bloggers. When trying to come up with a topic, my mind was consumed with cookies. I'm sure this has to do with the quickly approaching holidays and my participation in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.

As I familiarized myself with Becoming Rooks, I found out through Twitter that Morgan's grandmother was very ill. Terrible timing for her to worry about blogging when someone so special was being moved to hospice, but she decided to participate even when her Grandma passed away. We decided to move forward with the cookie theme with a special twist. In honor of Morgan's Grandma, this post is in honor of all the wonderful grandparents that we love and especially those we have lost.

As a kid, I remember that Christmas was the most magical time of year - the decorations, Christmas songs, mountains of presents, and of course Santa! One of my favorite memories is making cookies with my Grammie. My Mom's Mom was not the traditional grandmother that stayed home and was a housewife. My grandfather left her long before I was born and she was a working woman before it was the norm. She was much more likely to be wearing her red shoes and carrying her matching red purse than to be wearing an apron! She was an excellent cook but didn't really have time to bake on a regular basis. Except at Christmas...

Every year we would make cookies. Not just any cookie, but an Italian specialty that has been passed down for generations - her special anise pizzelles. Anise is a flavor that you either love, or you hate. I have always loved it and would happily gobble up my friends' discarded black jelly beans. While you can make pizzelles in other flavors, for me, the only true pizzelle has a heavy dose of anise mixed in. I love how the whole house would smell like it thanks to the steam created when baking the cookies in the special waffle iron-like pizzelle maker.

I always looked forward to making these delicate cookies with my Grammie! And because they are so time consuming, we would spend a lot of quality time in the kitchen mixing the batter and making the cookies. We would talk about when she was a little girl and how it was growing up as part of a large immigrant family. I was always so fascinated because she was one of nine children and I was an only child. She talked about their huge garden, making countless loaves of bread, and how she always had to wear hand me downs because she was the youngest girl. We would play Italian music on records and she would sing along as she plopped the dough on the pizzelle iron and pressed the cookies two at a time. I was in charge of flipping the cookies on the table so they wouldn't get soggy and stacking them up once they were cool. We both shared the job of Cookie Taster and ate all the rejects that weren't perfect or that broke.

When I was old enough to move out on my own, my Grammie made sure that I had my very own pizzelle iron to take with me. At the time I wondered why she would get me something with such a specialized use when I didn't even have a set of dishes. Now I know that she was making sure the the tradition we always shared would continue to be a part of my life even when I wasn't able to make them with her. As an adult, I've become the official pizzelle maker in my family. I make them by the hundreds for my tiny family and dearest friends.

Every year when I unpack the pizzelle iron and unfold the splattered and stained recipe written in her handwriting, my heart floods with love and I'm transported back to those perfect years spent in my Grammie's kitchen surrounded my the scent of anise and my Grammie's love.

What's your favorite Christmas cookie?

****For a full listing of blog swap participants, please visit Poise in Parma today.

Tokyo Day 2, Part 3: Shopping in Harajuku

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

You are probably thinking this is the longest day in Harajuku ever, right? By this point it was probably only 2pm!

If you need to catch up:
Tokyo Day 1 - Getting there is half the fun?
Tokyo Day 2, Part 1: Meiji Shrine
Tokyo Day 2, Part 2: Mmm, piggy!

So like I said, since Harajuku is known for it's crazy fashion and trendy shops, we went shopping. Or at least window shopping. One of the things we both really got a kick out of is the current Japanese trend for "vintage" stores.

Do you ever wonder why when you visit your local Goodwill/Salvation Army there's never anything good? Well I now know why: it's all getting shipped to Tokyo to be sold in stores like Chicago Thrift. This store was a hipsters paradise and quite amusing from an American perspective. It was chock-full of old Boy Scout uniforms, US military uniforms, various US high school/college tees and sweatshirts (I even found a number of "Turkey Trot" shirts!), old retro theme park tees, cowboy boots, and a lot from the 80s.

Including my old bed sheets.

Jeff was such a trooper; I dragged him into a lot of crazy shops. Like this store Cheer that makes VS Pink look like Coldwater Creek and this other store called Sadistic Action. Okay, we didn't actually go into Sadistic Action - but only because it was closed.

It was kind of like Spencers meets Ambiance.

After trapising the million floors of La Foret, a trendy department-type store, we decided to go off in search of food. This I had actually planned for! After reading the delicious review from White on Rice Couple, I knew we had to eat at Kyushu Jangara Ramen in Harajuku. It's actually a chain, but the Harajuku location was right on our way back to the train station.

Kyushu Jangara Ramen in Harajuku

Ramen shops seem to operate in one of two ways in Tokyo: you order your food from a ticket machine outside of the restaurant, recieve your ticket/tokens and go inside OR you order from a counter at the entrance, receive your ticket/tokens and get directed to your seat. Kyushu Jangara operates with the counter method.

The guy at the counter was friendly, in a gruff old man kind of way. He provided us with a menu written in very poor English, we ordered and got our tokens and sat up at the counter.

One of the things I loved that showed up in several restaurants in Tokyo was large pitchers of water and glasses so you can just help yourself. The counter also had a box with chopstick and spoons and seasonings so there was no need for any other staff than the cooking staff. Much like everything else in Tokyo, it was stylized so you can get in and out quickly without waiting for your waiter to fill your water or bring you your check.

So it wasn't long before it was noodley goodness time.

I got the house special Kyushu Jangara: house broth (pork bone, chicken stock and vegetable stock), soy boiled egg, marinated pork, pork belly and seasoned cod roe (and noodles, of course). The broth was an art in itself; rich, silky, with perfectly balanced flavors of pork and vegetable. It was just the right amount of salty to go with the other (also salty) ingredients. I also horribly underestimated how delicious a soy boiled egg would be. Honestly, it sounds really strange, and when you get this oddly colored egg put in front of you, your first reaction is to cringe, but it was really addicting.

Jeff got the Bonshan ramen: thick, rich, super-collagen-y pork bone stock with hunks of marinated pork.

It was so rich it was insane. Look at how creamy the broth is! By the time we were done there were actual sheets of collagen forming on the top of the soup. That probably sounds gross, but it goes to show you how rich and pure the broth was -no watered down broth here!

The plan for that evening was to wander Shibuya and eventually hit a pub that specialized in craft beer.

Our guidebook said the bar wouldn't be open until 7pm, so we spent some time wandering around Shibuya. We hit the Shibuya Disney Store, which is themed Alice in Wonderland style with spiral staircases and tiny doors. Somehow we didn't really a lot of pictures of it.

I found my souvenir!

There was a really cool Andy's room set up, though!

One of my goals for Tokyo was to hit up a pachinko parlor. But here's thing: I am a bad gambler. Bad. As in, I don't always know when to walk away. So I pretty much avoid it unless I am playing with fake money. So we hit up an arcade instead!

And trust me, the crane game is addicting enough.

I don't think I want to know what I spent on these. Jeff just kept feeding me coins.

We eventually made our way to the bar - only to discover that it had opened early and was packed for the rugby World Cup. We could barely get in, move, or breathe. I was tired, hot, and my feet hurt. I barely drank my beer and Jeff chugged his and we made our way back to the hotel. I felt bad that it was kind of a bust, but it was so crazy in there. Did I mention it was on the third floor and had no central air? They had two windows open on the one wall but it was pretty miserable.

We decided to call it a loss and try going back later. Our early wake up time had caught up with us and tomorrow held new adventures.

Next up: A Hello Kitty lovers paradise and getting taken as a tourist.

Tokyo Day 2, Part 2: Mmm, piggy!

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

When we last left our fearless explorers they had already:

Landed in Tokyo: Tokyo Day 1
Explored Meiji Shrine: Tokyo Day 2, Part 1: Meiji Shrine

So where did their journey take them next?

It was still Sunday, and after an amazing detour through Meiji, we were still in search of those crazy Harajuku fashion fiends. We stopped at the cafeteria at the shrine for some water and to check the guidebooks that I had in PDF form on my phone. This was also the time I got to really utilize my mediocre grasp of the Japanese language to order two bottles of water. There wasn't much of a hitch, so I think I got it right.

Since we're talking about the language.... I had been practicing with Rosetta Stone off and on for a few months and had practiced some key phrases closer to travel time. Jeff knew no Japanese at all. I would teach him key phrases as we went along, but mostly he learned konnichiwa and arigato gozimasu and that was his grasp of the Japanese language. Honestly, those were the two phrases we used the most. Most places would assume that we didn't know Japanese and would speak to us in broken English. It really would have been nice to converse with the people more, but we rarely encountered a situation where a few key words, pointing and gesturing couldn't get us through. Take the time to learn some key phrases and you'll be fine.

At the advice of my guidebook, we ended up in Yoyogi Park. Fun facts: Yoyogi Park was the site of the first powered aircraft flight in Japan and also host to the athletes village in the 1964 Summer Olympics. Those Olympians would have been proud because there was a ton of activity going on in the park; yoga, tai chi, and tons of runners. The coolest thing we saw was a running group that paired abled runners with differnetly-abled runners; they ran in pairs, both holding a loop of rope with the lead runner providing verbal cues. It was pretty amazing.

We were a little ways into the park when we spotted a bridge with some pretty cool artwork. We decided to head up the stairs to the bridge to get a better view of the park.

Then we spotted it.

Smoke.

Not bad "my house is on fire" smoke. Good smoke. The smoke that comes from grilled meats.

We walked to the other side and found A Festival!! How fun!! We were pretty excited to find something unique and a bit "off the beaten path". There were a ton of vendors selling handmade items like soap, yarn, and goods that we had no idea what they were. We had fun wandering between the tents, looking around, even if we didn't know what most of the items were.

Eventually we made it to the food tents and the source of the yummy smelling smoke. We passed a tent selling pizza and the owner exclaimed loudly and tried to push some pizza samples on us. Sorry dude, we're not buying your pizza!

But then we passed the pork guy... the pork guy with his sizzling bacon, decent English and free samples. The samples were delicious, so we offered to buy whatever he was selling, figuring it would be a sandwich or something similar. What we bought was a pork cup.

Quite literally, a cup of pork.

Bacon, pork belly, various sausages; all of it varied in flavor and very, very good. We got some beverages from a nearby machine and chowed down.

#mmmpiggy had gone international. And it was delicious. Eat your heart out Michael Symon, these random street vendors had it going on.

Doesn't everyone drink cold coffee from a can with their pork in a cup?

Did I mention the festival was great people watching?

Can the girl dressed as Chip even see!?!

With our bellies full and happy (and no, we didn't finish the pork cup) we set off again back to the main area of Harajuku. I had kind of given up on finding the kids and decided to do what I do best: go shopping!

QotD: What are you plans for the weekend? Anything pork related? (Haha!)

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

It's time for another Thankful Thursday!

I'm so thankful I got to experience this. This is exactly the area where our hotel was an such an awesome reminder of our trip. I wish I could claim it as our video, but credit belongs to the amazing creator.

Short 'n sweet, but more trip reportage is on it's way!!

QotD: What are you thankful for this Thursday? Also, Daylight Savings ending - thankful or no?

Tokyo Day 2, Part 1: Meiji Shrine

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

The one thing I marveled at was how quiet Tokyo (at least our part of Shinjuku) got at night. Maybe it speaks of our hotel but even looking outside in the early morning the city was quiet. Peaceful. I was content to sit in the window, check e-mails and sip a cup of green tea at 6am.

Please ignore my disgusting post-airplane bedhead.

It was Sunday in Tokyo and for me that meant heading to Harajuku to find all of the super cool fashion kids hanging out on display just waiting for cheesy western tourists to take their photo. (Like me!) So we finally scrubbed ourselves clean of all of that airline funk and made our way to Shinkuku Station.

Shinjuku Station is the busiest train station in the world. Or at least that's what the internet tells me. After several days in Tokyo, I believe it. It is huge serves several different rail lines and has about 100 entrances (clearly, I am exaggerating... maybe) so it took us a little bit of wondering to find the suica card machines and find the right rail line.Sucia cards are rechargeable cards that you can use to pay for your train/subway fare and is also accepted in a lot of shops, like 7-11 or Lawsons. They are insanely useful and so much easier than buying a rail ticket each time you want to go somewhere.

Soon we were stepping off the train at Harajuku Station... without a single clue of where to go. I should probably mention that this point that we didn't really plan out our days in Tokyo. We just figured we'd kind of wing it. Sometimes this worked in our favor, sometimes... not so much.

So after wandering in the wrong direction for a few minutes, we turned around and found ourselves smack dab in front of Meiji Shrine. Meiji was on my mental to-do list so we decided to head in and look around.

Meiji is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the souls of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. It's a lush, densely forrested area, I completely forgot there was a bustling city just a few hundred feet away.

I was content to snap off a ton of photos as we walked. I was kind of enamored with these sake casks. They were so large and colorful. I couldn't find a lot of information about them, but it seems like they are donated to the shrine.

Barrels of sake that are donated to the shrine.

Barrels of wine, also donated.

I'm also enamored with my handsome husband, with his hair that curls in the humidity.

Eventually the gravel, tree lined path led us to the main shrine. There was a service going and a I wedding. I didn't want to be too intrusive so I took a sneaky wedding photo. We also spied them later taking formal photos.

At this point we saw the era where all of the ema hung. Ema are wooden plaques that worshipers write wishes or prayers on. Like most everything at Meiji, visitors are encouraged to take part regardless of their own faith/beliefs. So of course I had to write out an ema of my own... but not before "desecrating" the shrine first.

Apparently I missed the sign that said taking photos of the gift stand (where you buy the ema) is a big no-no. Jeff, of course, found it appropriate to tease me incessantly about this for the rest of the day.

The offending picture.

Hanging my ema.

We wandered a bit more, taking in the beauty of the shrine and it's grounds before we went of in search of those crazy Harajuku kids. But not before getting lost/turnaround/not really knowing where we were going. But we ended up in a much cooler place than expected....

Meiji Shrine path.

Next up: we take #mmmpiggy international.

QotD: Are you an obsessive travel planner or do you like to wing it?

Tokyo Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Our day started around 3am in Cleveland, finishing packing and heading to CLE for our early flight to DFW. We both marveled at how CLE seems to change it's shopping/eating areas every 3 years as I horked down an olive oil rosemary bagel from Bruggers.

I'm very particular about things before/while I fly. I must eat before I board. I must carry on a bottle of water. I must have a window seat. If I don't have these things I get very twitchy/anxious.

So as I said, I horked down a bagel while we waited in the very long security line to board. There was an extremely talkative woman in front of us and we got hear her entire life story while waiting to pass through security. And she wasn't even talking to us! (I was really thankful she wasn't talking to us.. I'm not chatty at 5am).

Our flight to Dallas was mostly uneventful. I alternated watching the sunrise with reading An Omnivores Dilemma. Honestly, watching the sun come up from the plane was pretty cool. I felt like I was in the opening scene of The Lion King. I'm pretty sure nants ingonyama bagithi baba went through my head at least once. (And yes, I did have to Google that!)

We had a short layover in Dallas where I unsuccessfully searched for the perfect travel pillow (I really should've bought the one I liked at Tarjay!) and also unsuccessfully tried to post a blog post (DFW: your WiFi sucks!). Before I knew it, it was time to board the very large 777 to Tokyo.

We walked through the luxurious first class and the spacious business class into the cramped quarters of economy class, barely avoiding the impatient glares of the flight attendants. Listen, I know flight attendants work hard. I know 13+ hours is a very long shift. I know they probably got there hours before hand and don't get paid until the aircraft door is shut. But for reals, both to and from Tokyo, the flight staff for American Airlines was by far the rudest and most impatient that I have ever encountered.

Anyway, we ended up taking off 45 minutes late because we had to taxi back to the gate after they realized a mechanic forgot to put the cap back on one of the fuel tanks. I'm not kidding! Luckily they got everything clear and soon we were up in the air for the long haul to Tokyo.

I have a theory that they feed you a lot on airplanes to keep you occupied. About an hour in, we got our first snack. Party mix.

I played Tetris on the inseat entertainment system for a short while until it was time for dinner. Yes, they were feeding us again. Jeff got the beef and potatoes. I got the chicken and rice. The salad was fresh, the meal tasted like a Lean Cuisine (Jeff's was better), the sushi was meh, the cream crackers were a nice touch of my other international excursions

Jeff's first sushi in years. On a plane. Yeah.

And then we settled in and tried to sleep. We watched movies and slept off and on. They fed us again. This time it was a half frozen turkey sandwich. I gave mine to Jeff and tucked into the homemade trial mix I'd brought.

Jeff also teased me for my in-flight travel kit which included Evian spray, eye drops, hand lotion and lip balm. Air travel is dehydrating and murder to your skin! My pores thank me.

Around the half way point the flight started to feel really, really long. I tried watching Midnight in Paris. At some point my OCD need to know where we were kicked in and switched over to the flight path screen, not knowing I couldn't return to my spot in the film. So basically, I have no idea how it ends. Can someone please tell me how it ends? I got to the part where they were watching the cancan girls.

They fed us again and we made a very turbulent decent into Tokyo.

Deep dish pizza. Pretty tasty for airline food.

And we got our first glimpse that things in Japan move very, very fast.

It was a whirlwind as we were whisked through immigration, customs and to baggage claim where our bags were already waiting. We exchanged money and bought our shuttle ticket to our hotel. There was no time to stop as the shuttle was already waiting.

We drove through the outskirts of Tokyo and into the bustling city; through Ginza and past the Mitsukoshi department store, through Akakasa and finally into the bustling neon of Shinjuku and our hotel.

Again, things moved ridiculously fast as we were swept from the bus by two bellhelps to the check-in desk and rapidly up to our cozy room.

Knowing we had to stay up to avoid jet lag, we freshened up and hit the streets of Shinjuku. It was warmer than expected (77 degrees) and very humid and it wasn't long before we realized how tired we were.

Trying to fight off jet lag with some BOSS canned coffee.

The sheer amounts of people, neon, shops and well, lack of English, became stimulation overload. Eventually we picked a restaurant that boasted an English menu (cop out, I know) and sat looking like zombies until we could (literally) slurp down our food and return to the room.

Misokatsu Udon.

Zaru soba.

We returned to our hotel and I discovered the large bottle of Shiseido face wash, lathered up contently and went to bed. Tomorrow: Harajuku!

QotD: What is your favorite and least favorite thing about airline travel?

Konnichiwa!

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:50:00 +0000

I'm baaaaack.

I'm not really jetlagged, but I am not running on a lot of sleep, either. And I really don't want to be at work. I'd rather be at home, gazing lovingly at all of the treasures we brought home. Instead I can gaze lovingly at the new Donald Duck pen I brought to work to remind me of all of our fun times in Tokyo.

Funny how little things can you bring you joy, no?

I promise a trip report will start soon. In the meantime, some photos to hold you over.

Finding Local Events

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:30:00 +0000

Today's guest post is from Christine at Random Hangers. She's quite the guru on fun and inexpensive events in the Orlando area, but she has some great tips for finding events in your home town, too! Thanks Christine!

I started my blog Random Hangers in answer to the folks that complained "there's nothing to do around here." In the past year, I've learned a thing or two about how to find unique (and usually frugal!) local events, so thought I'd share a few ideas with you.

*Do you live near a Whole Foods? Did you know that most offer cheap classes (ranging from free up to about $10/person) on various food and health products? Over the past year alone, we've been to several cheese tastings, an Iron Chef-like competition pitting local cooks against each other, and most recently, Octoberfest, with endless samples of beer! Check their store page or customer service desk for specifics.

Whole Foods Cheese Tasting.

*Are you up to date on what your library offers? Ours has had everything from book discussions with local authors to cooking demonstrations to computer classes. Most are free, but some have a nominal fee, usually to cover the cost of supplies. And if you have kids, forget about it! Most libraries offer storytime hours and other playgroups to keep your little one occupied.

*Have you checked your newspaper website, and do you have a favorite local events blog bookmarked? If not, it's usually as simple as searching "things to do in [your city]." Most cities have art festivals, craft expos, and sometimes even cook-offs. My husband loves the annual chili cook-off in our town, for example, but I'm partial to the Pie Festival. Picture it: an all-you-can-eat pie buffet for only $10, not to mention kids' rides, food and craft vendors, and last year, even a car show! I had no idea it existed until I started seeking out local entertainment.

*Want to kill two birds with one stone? Try volunteering: you get something to do, and someone benefits from your good deed. Everybody wins! Opportunities vary, but so far I've cleaned soap to send to third-world countries, participated in a lake cleanup, and handed out water at foot races. Search volunteermatch for events in your area.

Have you explored your city? What's your favorite thing to do?