Random Thoughts...Food, Firearms, and Fun

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Oregon Beach Vacation Rentals . All opinions are 100% mine. Looking to take a break from work and spend some time relaxing at the beach? Why not spend some time along Oregon's gorgeous coast? Consider Lincoln City! If you're like me, when you go to the beach, you want more than a hotel room. I like being able to cook meals and have some space in which to relax. This is where Oregon vacation beach rentals by A1 Beach Rentals enters the picture. They have some amazing deals for the fall. If you book 2 nights, you get a 3rd night for free in November. This also applies to weekdays during October. That's like saving 1/3 on the cost of your lodging! Who doesn't like saving money? It's not too late to book one last vacation for 2014, and you can take advantage of some great rates and deals, while enjoying a gorgeous fall season along the Oregon coast! Check it out! beach vacation rentals oregon oregon beach...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Overnight Reputation for IZEA . All opinions are 100% mine. A few years ago, I was given the opportunity to spend a weekend in Los Angeles. I arrived on Friday morning, and returned home on Sunday evening! Talk about a crazy weekend, and oh, the jet lag!!! I drove the employees at the hotel crazy, because I wanted to know why, at 3 AM, the internet wasn't working! Then, by 7 PM, I was ready for bed! Even with those issues, I loved my stay! Sunshine, warm weather, gorgeous skies, and gorgeous views! When I travel, I sometimes have a tough time not having every second of every day planned out in advance. I want to do touristy things, but I also realize that the "locals" know far more about the good places to eat (the ones that stay in business because their food is amazing, not just because the tourists frequent it), the neat sights to see, etc. This is where Justin Sather enters the picture ( http://www.justinsath...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Erik Pitoniak for IZEA . All opinions are 100% mine. Do you like to travel? Does the cost of travel prohibit your wanderlust? Do you have responsibilities at home, and you can’t leave for long? If you are like me, and can’t afford to travel the globe, or you have family responsibilities like I do, you need to live vicariously through someone else to satisfy your wanderlust! I have the perfect solution for that! Visit this website, and read about someone else’s journeys across the globe! Snuggle up with a cup of coffee or an adult beverage, and read all about Erik Pitoniak ’s travels! Travel along with him while avoiding all of the hassles of TSA lines, flight delays, being crammed into a metal tube with 200 of your closest friends, and having someone’s seat-back in your lap as they recline! Visit far-off destinations with Erik Pitoniak , all while staying in the comfort of your own home! I love hitting the road, or flying the ...

I had my Dream Dinners session tonight. Mac was going to come with me, and then we were going to do some shopping nearby. We arrived, and there were so many people there that Mac opted to do the shopping while I prepared the Dream Dinners order. It was really busy, but I was only preparing four meals, although I was preparing two each of two of them (Chicken and Pasta with Lemon and Artichoke Sauce and Southwest Pork Carnitas with Chipotle Maple Corn) and three each of two of them (Cattleman's Pie and Creamy Chicken Florentine Tortellini). My other two were Fast Lane meals (Central Park Garlic Chicken with Roasted Heirloom Potatoes and Sage and Parmesan Boneless Pork Chops with Toasted Onion Potato Wedges). In preparing the Cattleman's Pie, one adds the onions and carrots in one bag, and the peas and parsley in another. However, the peas and carrots are next to each other in the back, and the onions are in front of the peas, with the parsley in front of the carrots. To me, ...

At the May meeting, there was a lot of drama over practicing the opening and closing for our Shrine. The friend that invited me to join was involved in this drama, and her role in it was used to remove her from her position as Worthy Herald. I agonized, prayed, meditated, and sought advice from those both inside and outside of Masonic orders on what I should do, as I felt loyalty to my friend, plus a sense of an injustice having been committed against her. I posted in an off-topic section of FlyerTalk about the situation, so rather than retype everything, that post is below: "It was the first meeting after their national convention, and we all heard about how we'd be doing things differently, and practicing the opening and closing ceremonies at each event, unlike the last year, where they never bothered with those. However, this was not conveyed prior to the meeting, and frustrated those who were supposed to start the closing ceremony. One of those involved was the woman w...

Mac and I spent the weekend in Philadelphia. Well, outside of Philadelphia, technically. We arrived around dinnertime on Friday, and checked in to a very pet-friendly hotel, the Hampton Inn in Downingtown/Exton, PA. It was probably one of the least painful hotel check-ins with the dogs for a few reasons: It was self-parking, so Mac and the dogs could stay in the car while I checked into the hotel. No pet fees No pet agreements to sign Since it was self-parking, we could park, take the dogs to the room, then get the luggage. I'd guess our experiences when traveling with the dogs at a hotel with valet parking probably resemble those from people who travel with kids to those locations. You have to pull the dogs out of the car, plus the luggage, and it's never just one or two bags. The dogs share a bag, then Mac and I each generally have a bag each, plus our laptop bags. If we each only end up carrying two bags, plus managing a dog, we're lucky! So, this was nice. It w...

I participated in the Less Bitching, More Stitching Handmade Holiday Gift Exchange this year. Due to our travel plans and our mailperson's either thoughtfulness or annoyance (jury is still out on that one), I didn't receive my gift until yesterday. I'd placed a hold on our mail while we were out of town for the holidays, and the mail was delivered again starting on the 26th. That day, we had about 2-3 inches of snow, plus a lot of sleet. I don't know if our mailperson didn't want to leave our packages (there were 4 for us) in that sort of weather or if she simply didn't want to be bothered dealing with our driveway in that weather. I'm hoping it was that she was being nice and simply was afraid that things would get ruined. This meant that it was like Christmas when I came home yesterday, as there were 4 packages. One was a gift that I'd ordered for someone, and was supposed to be shipped to them, but Barnes & Noble screwed up that order, two ot...

Wow, thank you Erin, from Less Bitching, More Stitching , for awarding me the Liebster Award! I first started reading Erin's blog when I noticed it in one of her posts on FlyerTalk. She's far more creative than me. :) "Liebster" is a German word meaning "dearest," "favorite," or "beloved." Liebster Awards are given by bloggers to other bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers to spread the word and help newer bloggers gain wider recognition. Here is how it works: Choose five bloggers with fewer than 200 followers to whom you would like to give the Liebster Award. Show thanks to the blogger who awarded you the Liebster by linking back to their blog. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers to whom you are giving awards, with links to their sites, and comment on their blog with a link back to your blog to let them know that you have given them the award. Here are my picks: Bullets and Biscuits --I stumbled acr...

We headed to Philadelphia on Monday afternoon for the Mark Knopfler/Bob Dylan concert. Since we have two dogs, our choices were: Drive out to Philadelphia and back immediately after the concert, leaving the dogs at home Board the dogs and stay at a hotel ($50-$75 to board the dogs for the night, plus a hotel room) Stay at the Hotel Palomar Philadelphia, and since Kimpton gives new meaning to pet-friendly, just pay for our room, no pet deposits. We opted to stay at the Hotel Palomar. The dogs LOVED it! When we arrived and walked into the lobby, one of the front desk clerks cooed all over both of them, and immediately knew their names. She kept them distracted while I checked into our room, a process that was complicated by a change in credit card, since I'd cancelled the card that I'd initially used to book the room. At check-in, we were given a sign to hang on the door that said, "Caution, pets at play" so everyone knew we had pets in the room. We were upgrade...

My sister and I participated in the Color Me Rad 5K in Pittsburgh last weekend, even though I was still fighting a sinus infection (which has now progressed into a sinus infection with an ear infection). Traffic was horrible, both getting there and leaving, as the fairgrounds and township police were completely unprepared for the number of people. I think I heard something about 8,000 participants. The course was challenging for those of us who aren't in top shape and especially those of us who have knee issues. However, it was gratifying to participate, and was tons of fun! There were a lot of runners who were encouraging others to keep going, and it was a great excuse to get covered in color. We wore white t-shirts, and they're covered in colors--pink, purple, yellow, green, blue, and red/orange. It took 2 showers to remove most of the color from my arms, neck, and hair, although even after that, I had a lot of green and blue on my back, since it's tough to really s...

My travels out to Minneapolis and home were quite enjoyable, at times an adventure, and reinforced how much I love Kimpton and to travel in general! We left early on Friday, with Mac dropping me off at the airport, after a quick breakfast, and an adventure trying to find an ATM. The flight to Chicago departed a minute or two early, and I had a pre-departure beverage of coffee. Once in-flight service began, my coffee mug wasn't permitted to remain empty. As Mac said on one of his flights, "They kept offering another drink, and it would've been rude to refuse it." I also enjoyed a fresh, warm, cranberry scone as a snack. In Chicago, we landed, made it to our gate with over an hour to spare, so we opted to have a snack at Goose Island Brewpub. Granted, it was only 9 AM or so, but I opted to have 2 beers. It's one of the few times I'll drink early in the morning, so why not take advantage of it? We then returned to our gate, and boarded our flight to Minneap...

I love FlyerTalk! Thanks to a nice arrangement, three of my four flights to Minneapolis at the end of the month have been upgraded! The fourth is waitlisted. I love this!

I called Kimpton Hotels today and inquired about a status match to Inner Circle. They asked that I email proof of status elsewhere, so I did. I sent that email at 9:52 AM. By 12:05 PM, they replied, with an email welcoming me to Inner Circle. A few minutes after that, I received an email from one of their employees, inquiring about my preferences as far as snacks and drinks!!! *sigh* I so love how much they cater to their guests!!!

It's only Monday, but plans have already changed, at least slightly. I think tomorrow, we're going to meet up with friends from FlyerTalk, for a mini-DO. While it's still in the planning stages, I don't know if I'll cook, or if we'll end up eating over drinks. I'm really excited to try the Mango Chutney Chicken, so I may cook that before the mini-DO, so we'll at least have lunch for the week. I should clarify that and say that at least I'll have lunch for the week. Mac has sandwiches and my leftovers from Saturday's lunch for lunch for Tuesday and Wednesday. Since he's leaving early on Thursday, he'll eat lunch once he's home. Wednesday, we're going to go to dinner with Tiffany and her boyfriend. While Mac was in Saudi Arabia, they took care of the yard for me, and helped me move our new living room furniture, so at a minimum, we owe them dinner. I think I'll move the Chicken Yakitori to dinner on Sunday. Hmm, decisions, dec...

In the past few months, I've been really tracking our expenses, and I've noticed that because we eat out quite a bit, we're spending a LOT of money on food. Some of the dinners out are for mystery shops, while others are simply because I'm tired after work and don't want to deal with cooking. Mac usually wants to eat when he gets home, while I'd prefer to take some time to relax before cooking. I usually get home an hour before Mac, so even if I relax for 15 minutes after taking the dogs outside, I'm still only half an hour into cooking when Mac gets home. This means that if I do cook, we often don't eat until 7 or 8 PM. We were in the car one weekend, and they were discussing once a month cooking on the radio. I did some research, and discovered that basically, once a month cooking isn't really where you cook everything once a month and then simply reheat it. Rather, it's where you do all of the prep work, divide things into gallon Ziploc bags,...