Busy holidays in Michigan

January 17, 2012 at 18:17 pm · 2 comments

So after all of the excitement in mid-December, I drove to Michigan with Nigel and Nacho on December 23. It was a long drive, as usual, made longer by the fact that I was the sole driver, but Nacho was a great travel buddy and stayed awake chatting with me the whole time. We did make the mistake on the Ohio turnpike of holding out for Panda Express (we really wanted to get lunch there), only to find NONE! I swear they used to have Panda Express restaurants in the highway oases on I-80…but perhaps I am confusing them with the ones on the way to Chicago/Wisconsin. Oh well.

So after a less than fulfilling late lunch at Burger King, we rolled into Fenton, where Corner awaited our arrival. He flew to Michigan from Ohio that afternoon since he had been in Bethel for another 4 weeks of work.

As usual, we went to Grandma’s house for Christmas Eve.

Grandma's Christmas tree

Grandma's Christmas tree

I received a lot of great gifts. Mom made me an awesome Michigan State quilt and throw pillow using my old Spartan Marching Band trumpet shirts. I also received a Kindle Touch from Corner’s Aunt Koreen, a Jawbone UP wristband from Corner’s parents, and the Urban Decay 15th anniversary eyeliner set from Mom & Les. I received many others gifts as well, but I’m feeling too lazy to list them all out right now, so those are just the highlights.

We took care of a lot of wedding-related errands while in Michigan. We visited the ceremony/reception venue and met with the photobooth company. I went dress shopping with Mom, KC, and Kathy. The bridesmaids dresses are ordered and perhaps the most exciting news of all is that I FOUND MY DRESS! I don’t want to say too much about it and spoil the surprise, but I will say that it is NOT white and it makes me feel like a Hollywood starlet. I can’t wait for it to arrive (in 5–7 months…who knew these things took so long?)!

I didn’t get a chance to skate while in Michigan, but I did go to 5 of Abby’s fitness classes with Mom (kickboxing core, body vamp, spin, and 2 Zumba classes).

Corner and I welcomed 2012 by eating a 4-course meal with wine pairings at the Fenton Winery with Mom, Les, and Adam. Blackberry merlot…YUM! 2011 was such a great year and I can’t wait for this year to top it!

It also snowed a bit while we were in Michigan.

Snow in Fenton

Snow in Fenton

Meanwhile, it still hasn’t snowed much here in New York. I was thoroughly enjoying the mild winter weather, then it reached 18 degrees on Sunday and it was freeeeeeezing! I went out and bought Nike Therma Fit tights for those cold derby practices at the Crashpad.

And in closing, happy birthday to KC!!! How is my baby sister 21 already?!

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Nigel already knows what he is getting from Santa

December 21, 2011 at 22:43 pm · 0 comments

Today I arrived home from work to discover that Nigel had opened his Christmas present. Last night I started packing for my upcoming trip to Michigan; I had gathered up all of the wrapped Christmas presents and placed them in a reusable shopping bag, which I left on top of the coffee table. Nigel’s gift is a new toy and an individually wrapped stick-shaped treat. Well, when I got home today I found his gift bag strewn on the floor. Tissue paper was everywhere. The toy was ignored, but the remnants of the treat packaging were scattered all over the living room.

I was actually on the phone with my mom when I walked in the front door and surveyed the damage. I had just finished telling her to remind everyone at home that they need to hide their dirty laundry when Nigel arrives at Mom’s house on Friday. He is a Houdini dog and can open duffle bags and even pull clothes through the tiny holes in plastic laundry hampers.

Usually, I know better than to leave smelly items within his reach, but today I just forgot.

Here is a picture of the perpetrator (this photo does not show the aftermath of today’s present-opening, but was taken a few mornings ago after he got done rubbing his face around on the comforter).

Nigel Petrie

And yes, Nigel will be getting a haircut while we are in Michigan.

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I’m going to be a Gotham Girl!

December 20, 2011 at 13:56 pm · 4 comments

This post could also be titled “The Best Christmas Gift Ever!”

I have been bursting at the seams to share this news with everyone, and now that all of my ducks are in a row, I finally can!

GGRD logo

On November 19, I tried out for Gotham Girls Roller Derby for the second time. I think 80-some girls tried out, and about 30 of us were invited to callbacks the following day. I made it to callbacks last year, too, but there was another round of cuts after callbacks, and I was not asked to continue on in the process. This year, however, I was invited to be part of the Fresh Meat pool! So for the past 3 weeks, I attended 3 practices/week with the 20 girls in the Fresh Meat pool. I also got to participate in a scrimmage with a bunch of World Cup skaters from around the world (I was a bit awestruck at the fact that I was sharing the track with Bonnie Thunders, Donna Matrix, OMG WTF, and Fisti Cuffs). What a great night!

It was an amazing experience overall, and I felt like I could see a difference in my skating after just 9 practices.

The final practice was on Sunday — and it was just scrimmaging. I say “just” not because scrimmaging is easy, but because that’s all we did. So the potential Fresh Meats scrimmaged while the coaches stood around in the middle of the track making notes on their clipboards. Nervewracking, for sure.

On Sunday evening, I eagerly awaited the phone call that would determine my fate. Ariel Assault called at 6:19 PM with good news. I am so, so proud to announce that I am one of 13 girls who make up Gotham’s 2012 Fresh Meat class!

GGRD jacket

Thank you to Bonita for allowing me to borrow her jacket for this shot. Next year at this time, I will have my own. :)

So while I am sad to leave my friends at Suburbia, I am thrilled that I will no longer have a 1.5 hour commute to and from practice. More time spent with Corner + Nigel = happy Kristen.

I can’t wait to skate with the best league in the country. I’m going to learn so much. Who knows where my derby career will go from here?

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Library books and squirrel tails

December 14, 2011 at 15:56 pm · 0 comments

I just used my lunch break to run up to the library and pick up 5 books that I had placed on hold. My friend Sarah pointed out that the New York Public Library system allows you to find and reserve books online and have them sent to a designated library location, where they can be picked up at your leisure. BRILLIANT. So I am officially working on my Day Zero goals of re-reading the Chronicles of Narnia and the Little House books.

As I walked out of the library, I noticed a dog store next door that looked hip and fairly upscale. I popped in on a whim thinking I could kill some time browsing designer dog toys. And what do I find? A squirrel tail, which I immediately purchased for Nigel.

Allow me to explain: while we lived in California, there was an awesome holistic pet food store that also carried a few toys. Corner and I bought Nigel one of these squirrel tails and he LOVED it. So much so that he chewed the ball portion of the first toy apart after a few months. So we went back and bought him a new one because it had quickly become his favorite toy. Fast forward to now, we’re living in NYC, and we sorely need to replace Nigel’s squirrel tail toy because the elastic that holds the tail piece to the ball is breaking. But I just can’t bring myself to throw it out because, again, NIGEL LOVES THIS THING. So what do I see hanging on the shelf when I walked into the dog store today? SQUIRREL TAILS. I was so excited the two salesgirls must have thought I was crazy.

I’m going to have one excited puppy on my hands when I get home today.

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Corner is gone and Kristen has to cook for herself (again)

December 5, 2011 at 11:41 am · 0 comments

Corner is in Ohio again for the month of December (he actually flies to Michigan on the day that I will be driving to Michigan for the holidays…jerk).

As you may know, Corner does the majority of the cooking in our household, so it’s been interesting for me to figure out what on earth I’m going to eat while he’s gone.

Last week, on the Sunday before Corner left, he helped me prep these freezer-friendly bean and rice burritos. I opted not to freeze them, since once frozen they have to be baked for 35-40 minutes! I don’t have that kind of time…the whole point of prepping these beforehand was so I could rush in the door before or after derby practice and have something ready to go. I stored these in the fridge instead and heated them up in the microwave for about 3 minutes at 50% power. I made sure to flip them over a few times during the process to help alleviate sogginess. I added a bit of hot taco sauce to spice them up a bit. I will definitely be making these again.

I am also a big fan of this baked pumpkin pie oatmeal, which I bake in a small glass baking dish and then distribute into mason jars for serving sizes that are easy to grab and reheat each morning.

Later in the week I made these peanut butter protein balls to stick in the freezer and to eat post-practice. They are pretty yummy, and the taste of the whey protein is pretty well masked (that or I’m just getting used to the taste of whey, haha).

Yesterday, I made this skinny zucchini ziti. It is a crockpot recipe that only takes 2ish hours to cook. Which, come to find, is sort of inconvenient because I had a hard time finding an opportunity to make it (you can’t just turn it on and leave for work…bah!). So once again, food prep was relegated to Sunday afternoon. Anyway, this turned out pretty well, except that the various layers of pasta noodles did not cook evenly. Luckily I don’t really care, and this made a pretty delicious dinner last night (and I have enough left over for at least 3 more meals this week).

I also decided to make my own protein bars yesterday afternoon. I have been trying to keep healthy snacks around since I am always ravenous after aforementioned derby practice. I already had most of the ingredients for these bars onhand. I will say one thing: this was one messy recipe. I ended up with sticky oatmeal all over my kitchen. And after I took the frozen mass out of the freezer, it was hard to cut it into bars. BUT, I did get 20-some pieces that are sized something like a regular granola bar that you would buy at the store, so I should be set on these for awhile.

Upcoming meal attempts will include the following:

(Notice I don’t cook any meat? The only meat I am willing to use when I cook is ground beef because it doesn’t require any prep…prepping meat grosses me out! So it’s almost like I’m a vegetarian when Corner is gone.)

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One of these days I will have a derby name.

October 28, 2011

I’m starting to feel like I may be leaving Fresh Meat purgatory very soon! I am out of pack hours and into scrimmage hours! In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, Suburbia Roller Derby requires members of the Fresh Meat class to complete 10 pack hours, followed by 10 scrimmage hours. At [...]

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Until now I had no idea just how expensive it is to get married.

October 17, 2011

Corner is in Ohio for work, and the other night we had a rather long wedding planning discussion via Skype that got us nowhere. We talked about our proposed budget for the event and decided that we want to pull off throwing the party within a year without sacrificing our lifestyle in the meantime. Not [...]

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Look Mom, I made letterpress stuff!

October 2, 2011

I took a letterpress workshop at The Arm NYC in Brooklyn. So fun!

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Wedding vision and planning, take one

September 27, 2011

Life has been nothing short of crazy lately. The wedding planning process has been slow going, so for those of you who have asked, we do not have a date set and we aren’t sure where the wedding will be. We did have an appointment last week to check out a possible venue in SoHo, [...]

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Corner and I are getting married!

September 10, 2011

I’ve told my family and we made it Facebook official on Thursday night, so I think it’s safe to post here to let you know that Corner and I are engaged! Wednesday afternoon, I found out that derby practice was canceled. It had been raining pretty much non-stop for several days, and the roof at [...]

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