The Hess Truck’s back & it’s better than ever!!

Now I KNOW it’s really the holiday season…I’m seeing commercials for the Hess Truck!

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

We used to watch it every Thanksgiving growing up. The house smelled of turkey and my sister and I would be watching the parade and drawing while watching the floats go past.

We only went to the parade once. It was probably one of the coldest Thanksgivings I remember. I was 13 and we got up early to get on the train. We found a spot towards the beginning of the parade so it wasn’t as crowded. I remember climbing up on the base of a lamp post to see the parade better. Snoopy was always my favorite float.

Right behind where we were standing, there was a coffee shop, so we went in there and drank hot chocolate while watching the parade from the inside.

I don’t watch the parade often now, but today I’ve been watching. The best part was that the PARADE GOT RICKROLLED! And it was awesome. Some puppet even said, “I love Rickrolling!” I had to sit through Miley Cyrus but it was worth it.

Annoying

I kind of wish I never wrote that previous post, but I guess it’s too late now, especially with all the comments that wound up on Universal Hub. Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t open up my big trap, but then what else is this blog for? :-)

In other news, Turkey Day is the day after tomorrow. Let’s discuss that instead. Mashed potatoes, yams, pie, etc.

Be careful what you say…

I like to write reviews on Yelp. It’s a hobby of mine. I’ve written almost 300 good reviews, 58 mediocre reviews, and 78 bad ones.

When I felt ripped off by the smoothie I bought at the Clear Conscience Cafe in Central Square, I Yelped. I gave it two stars and said that for a whopping $6, I thought the smoothie was sub-par, too sweet, and small.

First, I got a scathing message from an owner of the Clear Conscience Cafe. I was LIVID. I lowered my rating to one star, and then today, I got another message in response to my Clear Conscience Cafe review from someone who I imagine is also an owner saying:

“you sound like a very snotty person. have you ever considered the fact that you are, in the end, completely wrong about everything you believe to be true? it’s a helpful exersize.”

I messaged them back telling them to NEVER contact me again and I reported them to Yelp. I also received a message from someone else saying that they also received harassing messages from people about his negative review of the Clear Conscience Cafe.

This whole situation is surreal. I certainly don’t think it helps their cause. I have gotten contacted by business owners in response to a negative Yelp review before, but usually they’re asking for my opinion on how they can better serve me or apologizing for any bad experience I’ve had. I think that’s wonderful. But sending out nasty messages to people who don’t like their service? Highly inappropriate.

Cheep cheep cheep

Am I getting even more cheap or is EVERYTHING getting more expensive? I went clothes shopping the other day and everything was so expensive that I could hardly bear to buy anything. Even at places like Marshall’s! I had noticed that food had gone up significantly in price (WHY are my pears so expensive?) but now it seems like clothes is more expensive too.

Unless I’m just getting more cheap, which is also a possibility.

Krissy and Matt Take Europe!

It’s really going to happen! In the summer of 2009, we are going to Europe! I’ve never been to Europe and Matt has only been to Barcelona for a conference so he didn’t get to see much, so we’re extremely excited.

These are our tentative plans:

London: We’ll start off in London. We don’t plan to stay in London long because everything is so expensive there, but luckily we will have a place to stay.

Cluj, Romania: I thought it would be fun to visit Transylvania. I’m a pretty big fan of The Count from Sesame Street, so my desire to visit Transylvania likely stems from that. I really want to see castles. It’s not a very expensive place to stay in hotels and there are reasonably priced flights back around Europe.

Lussin, Croatia: My mom is from Lussin, a Dalmatian Island in the Adriatic. My nonna’s house is still in our family so we will have a place to stay. The majority of our trip will be spent here, lazing around the island, eating fish and cheese and figs, drinking wine, and swimming in the sea.

Trieste, Italy: It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Lussin, so we plan to go there for a day or two.

Zagreb, Croatia: We will have to go home via Zagreb, so why not spend a few days there? After reading a bit about Zagreb on Wikitravel, I think it will be a fun place to spend some time there. Sounds like a fun city with some good nightlife and cuisine.

Another possibility is Venice, which is a ferry ride away from Lussin. Flights from Cluj land in Venice regularly, so we might spend a night in Venice…but probably just a night! We’re going to try to keep this trip as inexpensive as possible which is why we’re not going to places like Paris and Rome.

We’re very excited. The only real international travel we’ve done is to China. After Europe, the next continent we want to go to is South America. And once we have school-aged kids we want to do one of those family-oriented African safaris!

But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. :-) We’re going to Europe next year…YAAAY!

Time machine

This evening I stepped in a time machine, pressed “1-9-8-8″ and went back 20 years.

First I went to Friendly’s, where I had grilled cheese and a Conehead Sundae. (My favorite meal back in 1988)

Then, I went shopping and I bought leggings and leg-warmers. (Some of my favorite types of attire back in 1988, but now leggings are only to be worn with full and proper butt coverage)

I stepped back into the time machine and pressed “2-0-0-8″ but everything must have carried over. I’m still stuffed from the grilled cheese and the sundae, and leggings and leg-warmers are back in style.

Live entertainment on the Bolt Bus

Little did I know that there would be some live entertainment on the Bolt Bus to NYC on Friday afternoon. I didn’t even need my magazines or my videos or my MP3s!

I sat down on the bus in front of a guy and girl. Before the bus was even fully boarded, the guy began to put the moves on the girl. He seemed pretty shocked that she was still in college, but that didn’t stop him!

About 2 hours into the ride, she asked him, “So, what are you doing in New York this weekend?”

“I’m visiting my girlfriend,” he said.

The girl: “Oh, cool.”

The guy: “We’re probably going to fight all weekend. That’s all we ever do.”

The girl: “That’s too bad.”

The guy: “She lives in NY so we visit each other on the weekends and we always end up fighting.”

Then when we reached NYC, the girl said, “Enjoy your weekend with your girlfriend.”

And the guy’s response? “In an hour, I may not even HAVE a girlfriend.”

I was laughing on the inside. It was just so ridiculous.

My ride home was less eventful. I got stuck next to some young guy who slept most of the ride but took up way too much room. I had to push him at some point because he was encroaching on my space.

The joys of the Bolt Bus! But it beats the Fung Wah :-)

A few more things I love about fall/winter

I am one of those unique people who appreciates all seasons, all weather. I love a cold winter night as much as I like a sunny summer afternoon.

Let’s recap from a previous post:

- Hot chocolate!!!! Yes, hot chocolate especially with soy milk and WHIPPED CREAM!

- The smell of fireplaces. (I wish we had one.)

- Apple picking!

- Snow! I love snow. (Until March) But everything seems happy and magical when it snows.

- Better yet: blizzards! I love me a blizzard. I love being snowed in when they don’t plow my street because then I can walk to Keltic Krust for cookies and hot chocolate! And later to Crowley’s for some beer.

- HALLOWEEN!!!

- The picturesque leaves changing.

- Hot apple cider.

- Thanksgiving (and noodle kugel) because I only have kugel over Thanksgiving and Christmas!

- Christmas and spending time with family.

- The sound of the radiators at night.

- Using the steam room at the YMCA when I know it’s freezing out. Something’s very comforting about it.

- Having an excuse to just lie around the house watching TV, playing cards and board games with Matt, and reading.

- Brunch! This can be done year round but I particularly love it in the winter because it’s all comfort foods!

- Scarves, hats, and gloves. Fashionable AND functional!

- Cooking! When it’s 80 degrees in the kitchen, I don’t always feel like cooking. But in the fall and winter, I love it. I make extras and stick ‘em in the freezer.

- Flannel nightgowns!!

- Cream of Wheat. I know, Cream of Wheat is actually kind of gross but it reminds me of when I was a kid. We’d have that and hot chocolate on cold winter mornings. Also, waffles.

- Our attic. It’s so warm and cozy in the winter. I could just live up there. Actually, I probably would if the attic stairs weren’t so scary.

- Valentine’s Day. People hate it, but I really like it - CANDY! Especially because Matt and I like to go to CVS the day after Valentine’s Day and get candy on discount.

- At the end of winter when bulbs start poking out from the ground.

- Getting pizza or Chinese food delivered because it’s too cold to go outside.

- Shoveling the sidewalk. People think I’m nuts for liking this. But the way I see it, it’s great exercise AND it’s usually a time to chit chat with neighbors because the whole neighborhood is out there shoveling!

- The winter is the only time of the year when I don’t have allergies.

- Wearing pajama pants under long skirts. Nobody ever knows how comfortable I am!

- SOCKS!

- Cold, sunny days after a snowfall. Everything glows.

- Oktoberfest! BEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Sledding.

- Chamomile tea with honey.

- Cuddling with my cat…he’s not so cuddly when it’s hot out.

- Turtlenecks. I like to watch TV with the neck part of the turtleneck pulled over my mouth and nose. It’s very cozy.

- Getting into my car and not scalding my hands on the steering wheel.

And now I have a few more to add:

- CLEMENTINES! I just bought my first crate of the season on Sunday and I’ve really been enjoying them.

- Convertible mittens! After years of coveting them, I finally broke down and bought a pair. What do I mean by convertible mittens, you ask? Here is an example!

- A few months of a break from gardening. I love gardening, but between November and April, it’s kind of nice to not have to worry about watering the tomatoes, harvesting the lettuce, making sure none of the flowers die. Instead we can just work on adding to our compost so we have some nice soil come spring. (Though we still have our Aerogarden, but that is low maintenance. Speaking of which, final harvest might be coming soon…)

- Being a homebody. Come to our house and we’ll drink wine and play Taboo!

- CrockPot cooking. Mmm…maybe I’ll make chili next week.

- Heating up cider at home, which is easy to do with our Choco Latte Beverage Maker, courtesy of Julienne.

- Tea tea tea. Yerba Mate tea.

- Cinnamon toast! And thanks to this I can just easily shake out the proper ratio of cinnamon and sugar.

- Heating pads. I have bad circulation so my feet are often as cold as ice. When it’s cold, I put the heating pad on my feet and I put a blanket on em.

Clumsy

Yesterday I was standing on the T, and I lost my balance. I began to fall, and then I proceeded to trip over some poor unsuspecting guy. Another guy sitting down caught me. I was very embarrassed.

And then, about 2 minutes later, it almost happened again, but I caught myself after tripping over the same guy.