It's time to play "Which CDs was Whitney Too Lazy to Remove from Her Car in 2011"!

I'm exaggerating.

A little.

So here are my favorite albums from the year. Remember, that doesn't mean they were actually released this year, it just means these were on constant repeat around these parts. Who are we kidding. They were on repeat in my car, because honestly, that really is where I listen to almost all of my music (damn you, 6-disc CD changer).

Let's get on with it (in no particular order):

Bombay Bicyle Club - I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
I don't remember how I found these guys...it might have been Pandora, but I fell hard for this album. It's catchy, but not catchy enough to hear it all over the radio. I still find songs getting stuck in my head though. It's been stuck in the car for the past 6 months, and as I'm gearing up for an actual CD switch, I may keep this one in there.

Beach Fossils - Self Titled and What a Pleasure
These may very well be my favorite find of 2011 (Thanks Turntable Kitchen!). They're mellow, surfy and shoegaze-y and apparently that's the prefect combination for me. I LOVE both of these albums. I can't pick a favorite. It doesn't help that I've got them both burned on one cd so they just blend together (in a totally good way).

Katie The Pest - This Giant Will Kill You
I discovered Katie the Pest on a compilation album five years ago and was instantly hooked. In that time, I think this CD has left the disc changer in my car for only a couple of months. This may be one of my "desert island" records. They're a little bit grunge, but still lady-like and damn can they play. I sing along with every song at the top of my lungs (that may be why I love this album so much).

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Another one I found through Turntable Kitchen, and I'm so glad I did. I don't know how else to describe this album except BIG. The music fills my car, and I love it. It's another one I sing along with all the time.

Gotye - Like Drawing Blood
The boy-fiance became a bit obsessed with Gotye late last year, and once I heard him, so did I. We played "Somebody that I Used to Know" over and over again, but since the album wasn't out at the time, I bought this one. We listened to it over and over again and it amazes me how one album can cross so many genres but still feel like it all goes together. I think this may be Gotye's thing though. I'm listening to the latest album as I type, and it's got the same kind of vibe.

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
I hope I'm not the only one that does this: buy/download a cd, listen to it once, and forget about it. Then months later discover a song in a commercial or movie credits and realize it's on an album you already own. This album has been sitting almost unlistened to in iTunes, and then a few months ago I discovered "Tenousness" playing during the credits of "Crazy Stupid Love" and now I can't get enough Andrew Bird. I guess it's a good thing I already had some.

The Drums - Portamento
After I became obsessed with Beach Fossils last year, I went in search of more surfy/shoegaze music and found The Drums. They're a bit more poppy than Beach Fossils but they still fit the bill and I couldn't be happier.

Beirut - The Rip Tide
I was so excited when this album came out, and while it took a little while for me to warm up to it, it was worth the effort. There's a reason it's still in the car's disc changer (and it's not due to laziness).

Thao - We Brave Bee Stings and All
Yet another "sing along at the top of your lungs in the car" album (I guess I kind of like those). If I was ever having a bad day, the song "Bag of Hammers" never failed to help cheer me up. I may need to put this one back in the car!

My preferred place to buy music is Amazon, so that's where all those albums link to. Go have a listen and discover some new-to-you music!

Remember that Kickstarter project I mentioned? They reached their goal! I couldn't be more excited! Crap-free popsicles for everyone! Hooray!

This weekend's other great happening was leaving the cats alone for 24 hours (aside from someone coming to feed them), and arriving home to find everyone still had fur and eyeballs! The boys, much to my dismay, like to get in little (and sometimes not so little) scuffles every so often, and I've been worried about leaving them alone for more than 8 hours. It's a relief to know that they were on good behavior (as far as I can tell) while we were gone.

I'm still recovering from a week away visiting my mum and this weekend's visit to the in-laws, but stay tuned for my top 10 albums from 2011 (the 2010 post is over here) and a review of some Amy Sacks frames!

Eleven years ago today, I wrote my very first entry on this blog. ELEVEN!

I, of course, had no idea I'd still be doing this eleven years later, but here we are.

I try and do all this for me. I do actually go back and re-read the things I've written here, to see what was going on then or to sometimes look up a recipe. Though, I think the fact that I've been doing it for as long as I have is because of all of you! Thank you to everyone who reads and leaves comments. This little blog wouldn't be the same without you.

Happy eleventh birthday Ugly Green Chair!

Since we were having people over on Christmas day, we decided to put up our little silver tinsel tree. Just for the day. Any longer and it would have been destroyed by the cats. We figured there would be enough people around to keep them from being too interested in the New Thing in the living room, and we were right. They pretty much left it alone, and if they did start to gnaw on anything, someone was always ready with the squirt bottle.

Having people over meant I cooked dinner! Which was a bit of a challenge due to multiple food issues. Dinner needed to be gluten, poultry and pork free. Beef it is!

Here's what I made:

• Onion Braised Beef Brisket (recipe from Cook's Illustrated): This recipe is awesome for a "I'm feeding the masses" meal. You're supposed to make it the day ahead, and the brisket sits overnight in it's own sauce. And let me tell you, since it took 4 hours for the meat too cook, I'm really glad I did it the day before. So on the day of, all you do is reheat everything. No smoky kitchen or oven on all day. Perfect! It was my first time making this recipe, and it was well received, so I think I'll definitely be using this one again.

• Gluten-Free Stuffing: I really wanted stuffing. And I didn't have time to make bread, so I bought a couple loaves of Udi's gluten-free sandwich bread. I followed the recipe instructions, and the stuffing turned out...kind of meh. The flavor was good, but it was dry. Really dry. While I was making it, I had considered adding more stock (I used veggie instead of chicken), but decided to follow the recipe exactly. I ended up revamping the stuffing for leftovers the next day and added another egg yolk and 2 more cups of broth and re-baking it. That seemed to help a lot. So next time? I'm doing that from the start.

• Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes: The same recipe I made for Thanksgiving, and one I've got to post here! Everybody loves them. I made a double recipe and between 8 people, there were hardly any leftovers.

• Broccoli with Creamy Herb Sauce (from an issue of Cook's Illustrated Entertaining): Easy peasy tasty broccoli! Basically steam the broccoli, and toss in a mixture of goat cheese, chopped parsley, heavy cream, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I made this last year too, and everyone seemed to like it, so why mess with a good thing?

• Gluten-Free Apple Crisp: I was worried about making this. Mostly worried that I wouldn't be able to find Quinoa flakes, but Whole Foods saved the day (look for them with the hot cereals). It was easy to put together and ended up being really tasty. The topping is a bit on the crumbly side, but it sort of mixes in with the apples while you're eating it so you get apples and topping in every bite. The recipe is also vegan, though I did use real butter to grease the baking pan. You could probably use real butter in the topping too, but I thought it turned out great with the coconut oil.

I so wanted to take photos of everything I made, but it just didn't happen. Though I have a feeling I'll be making that crisp again, and maybe even the potatoes. Even if it's just so I can post the recipes here! I'd happily cook and eat it all again.

I hope everyone had a happy holiday and is looking forward to the new year!

I'm not ready. Not quite done shopping (but SO close), not a single present wrapped, not one Christmas dinner ingredient purchased (though we just figured out last night that we're hosting, so I don't feel too bad about this one), and not a single hand-made thing created.

I try and make a couple of hand-made gifts every year. Usually something edible or something crafty, but that was a gigantic fail this year. It's okay though. I may still whip up a small knitting project at some point before Sunday. I'll have to lock myself in a room so that cats can't attack the yarn, but if that's what has to happen then so be it!

It will all get done, it always does. It will all be okay.

On a totally unrelated note, I have some friends who are trying to start a little popsicle company and I would be forever grateful if you took a look at their Kickstarter page (the video they made is pretty good!)

They make handmade, honey-sweetened pops from all-local ingredients. The pops have seasonal fruit, healthy fats, and are certified crap-free. No corn syrup, preservatives, flavor chemicals, or food dyes! They're also going to be using 100% compostable packaging!

They still need a little help to get their business off the ground and if you can make any sort of pledge at all, it would make so many people very happy. I've already pledged, but if they don't reach their goal, they don't get anything! So I'm really trying to spread the word and help make this a reality!

Also, if you make a pledge and let me know, I'd be willing to send you an official Ugly Green Chair button or a photo print or something! Maybe that will help sway you?

The nephew I mentioned in my last post? He arrived very late the next day! Some day, I'll have to thank him for having the good sense to wait until the 1st to make his arrival (any earlier and there's no way I would have finished NaBloPoMo).

I'm still loving the Clarisonic. It's been about a month and a half, and you'd have to pry it from my cold, dead hands to get me to stop using it. The obnoxious under-chin pimples are completely gone! There's been a small new crop that showed up on a different part of my chin, but they're the kind that aren't that visible, and they're close to being gone at this point, so I can deal. I have a feeling that any new pimples that are brave enough to appear are going to be the kind that aren't too obvious and don't stick around very long. I can totally deal with this.

I'm still loving these boots. Last weekend we were in a couple of my favorite shoe stores, and the urge to buy something new really wasn't there and I think it was because I was wearing those boots! I love them that much.

And finally, I'm amazed that the little cat is still alive. Late last week, he ingested a yard-long sweatshirt string (you know, the string that makes it so you can tighten the hood over your head? I never actually use them for that and usually remove them) that had been attached to a toy. Of course, we didn't realize what he had done until he barfed it up on Sunday morning. Which was pretty gross, but thank jeebus it happened. Had it not come back out through that end, I think we would have had to make another emergency vet visit (and honestly we've had enough of those this year). I'm still shaking my head in disbelief just thinking about it. I also took some (hopefully) preventative measures - all the cat toys with any sort of string attached to them have now been hidden.

P.S. Could someone please make December slow down? Just a little?

I'm going to be honest, I'm not sad this is the last NaBloPoMo day. It's hard to post every day! I commend those of you who are able to do it (and do it well).

At the beginning, I mentioned I had made a list. Okay, I just checked. I didn't mention it. But I wrote up a list of stuff I was going to post about. Some of it actually made it up here!

Some of it didn't:

• The gluten-free bake-off I did with my friend Jennie (the photos are on flickr, but I intend to actually write more about it)
  
• The state of my hair (it's the longest it's been in FIVE YEARS)
  
• The tools I use to take notes and keep track of internet things
  
• Apple picking with K!
  
• Canning (may get to this eventually)
  
• My favorite etsy sellers
  
• How we ended up with 2 couches and I made it work!
  
• Cat videos (it's probably a good thing I didn't get to this one)
  
• Making my lunch (may still get to this one)
  
• Posting some old photos (my aunt has been sending me stacks of old photos since my grandparents passed away)
  
• a post about ice cream (I may get to this one at some point too, I need to try something first)

Okay, that's a lot of stuff. Hopefully I'll remember to come back here for ideas when I'm at a loss.

There's this other thing going on that I haven't mentioned so I might as well mention it now. The almost-sister-in-law is pregnant. Way pregnant. Like, every time I get a text or my phone rings, it's highly probable that it's the "She's in labor!" notification. So I'm going to be an Auntie, for the 5th time! But this time, my nephew will be living right upstairs, so I have a feeling I'm going to be pretty involved. Which means I'll have no time to make ice cream or talk about my lunches. Or, it means you're going to be bombarded with photos of my adorable new nephew.

Either way, I think I can make it work.

I'm exhausted, but part of the reason is from a fondue dinner with some friends tonight. So it's the good kind of exhausted.

I'm also annoyed because it's finally time to stop ignoring the fact that my iMac is kind of old, and it's running out of room, and having to reboot multiple times while I'm using it because the dock keeps freezing up (among other things) isn't normal and it might be time for a new one. Ugh.

And finally, I'm relieved that tomorrow is the last day of NaBloPoMo. This has been fun and all, but on nights like tonight, I really just want to skip the blog post and go to bed because I'm tired! And I'd rather skip a day (or five) than publish sub-par content (it would be nice if this was stuff I actually want to go back and read some day).

I think I may have dreams about cheese tonight. Damn, that fondue was good.
(There was cheddar AND bacon!)

There was a dense fog advisory this morning, which meant it was pretty misty and foggy outside. I didn't think much about it and went about my morning routine.

And then I walked out my front door and noticed the shrubs. They were covered in spider webs, which I had never noticed, but the mist from the dense fog had settled on them and now there were all these white gauzy spider web pockets. I had never seen anything like it, especially right outside my front door.

That's when "the voice" spoke up. You know the one...

"You don't have time to take photos of this."
"If the neighbors see you, they'll think you're weird."
"You'll be late for work!"

I found the whole situation a little funny, because just last week one of my flickr contacts had posted a reminder about ignoring that voice. And here I was with a photo opportunity and a little voice to contend with.

I stood there, looking at those spider webs and my brain, which sometimes manages to be louder than the voice, took over. It reminded me that my camera was right there in my bag and it would only take a minute, so just take a photo already!

And while this may not be the best photo ever, it's proof that I ignored the voice.

I need to do that more often.

The trouble with matching cats is that I want them to be matchy in other ways. Same beds, and the same ID tags (but in different colors - Miles has blue, Monk has black). Miles even has a blue collar with white stars to go with his blue tag. So when I found a tan collar with stars on it, I HAD to buy it for Monk. It was one of those safety collars that pops off if they get caught on something, but after a year of kitten wear, it seemed to fall off if you glanced at it a little too long.

Miles' collar (from The Modern Pet on Etsy) has held up incredibly well, so I went back there to find a new one for Monk. There's a wide selection, but I wanted something to go with Monk's black tag, and all the collars in black didn't have stars. So I gave in. It doesn't matter if they have matching collars. Hell, if they don't, it might make them easier to tell apart (it's not really an issue for us, but other people find it hard to tell). I knew this was the right way to go when I came across a black collar with a white skull and cross bones pattern. Bad. Ass.

Monk is our long, lean, cuddle machine. He's not much of a fighter, or a bad ass. But now, he at least looks like one.

It's no "fall on the east coast" color, but it'll do.

This is what a post-turkey day dinner walk looks like in my Dad's neighborhood.

I hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving!

Today, and every day, I'm thankful for my family, friends, and all of you! Oh, and the cats. Even if they're a bit of a pain sometimes, I'm glad they're around.

Happy Thanksgiving, Internets!

These are not just any old pair of boots. These are boots that I internet stalked for months on the John Fluevog site. And when I was finally ready to plunk down the money for them, they were out of my size. Woe!

So I continued to internet stalk them to see if maybe more of my size would be added to the site. No dice. So I sent a message into the Fluevog ether using their "Contact Us" form, and someone replied! They might have a pair! Call us to place an order!

Call? I hate talking on the phone. But I wanted these boots. Bad.

So I called and the nice guy on the other end of the line called the store that supposedly had inventory to double check. Annnd it was an error. They didn't have any. Double Woe! But he suggested I send an e-mail out to the Canadian Fluevog ether to see if they could ship me a pair from the Fluevog homeland. So I did. And then I waited.

But while I was waiting, it occurred to me that maybe I could just order online from the Canadian site. So I browsed on over and instead of selecting U.S. for shopping, I selected Canada. Found my shoes and they had my size! Added them to my cart, and when I selected the U.S. as the ship to country, I got an angry red and yellow box telling me I couldn't do that! I should call a Fluevog store if I was going to order from Canada and ship to the U.S. DAMN.

So I continued to wait for the Canadian Fluevog ether to reply. But I was getting antsy. The site had said there were only 3 pairs left (I love and hate when they do that). I eventually caved and called one of the Vancouver stores. A very nice and helpful guy answered the phone and was happy to help me buy and ship shoes to the U.S. So I finally placed an order! I was going to get my boots! Joy!

I was relaying all of this info to Regan over IM later that day, and she asked me, "Did you try them on in a store first? Do you know if they'll fit?" Gulp. I hadn't tried them on in a store. I had bought Fluevogs before, so I was pretty sure what size I would need. But boots are tricky. I didn't think they'd be tall enough for calf circumference to be an issues, but honestly, I wasn't sure.

And then I realized, this is how I gamble. Forget slot machines, the stock market, or black jack. I ORDER SHOES FROM CANADA.

I figured worse case scenario, if they didn't fit, I could take them with me next time I visit my mom, and ask her to drive me to Canada so I could return them in person.

But it turns out I won't need to do that. I picked up the boots at the post office this morning, and despite a slight panic when I could barely get the right boot on, they fit. The nice guy who helped me with my order had included a note telling me that they would probably be snug at first but to buy some leather stretching spray and then they'd be perfect. So that's exactly what I did, and oh man, did it help! These boots are on their way to being the best boots ever. I may never have to buy another pair!

(Well, at least not for a while.)

This Thursday is going to be my first gluten-free Thanksgiving. Well, not the first time I've had to worry about feeding a gluten-free person, but the first time I'll have to eat as a gluten-free person.

My big concern? Stuffing.

I love stuffing. LOVE it. I went through a Stove Top stuffing phase at one point after I moved out, because I love it that much. Even when it's Stove Top. So naturally, I'm concerned. If I were hosting Thanksgiving, I'd find a way to do it myself. In fact, I thought about bringing my own stuffing, but I've sort of run out of time to make that a possibility. So we'll see what happens. My family knows that I'm avoiding gluten, but I think it's going to be hard to incorporate that in every dish on the Thanksgiving table.

But! I am bringing some food. A double batch of make-ahead mashed potatoes (I'll have to post the recipe for them at some point) and this casserole. Though even that I'll have to de-gluten. The topping calls for Ritz crackers, but I think I've found a gluten-free substitute. I'm only making a half batch, just in case it turns out wonky. Though I think it'll probably be fine.

And if I can't eat the stuffing on Thursday, I'm going to hunt down a gluten-free recipe and make some. Even if I don't eat it on Thanksgiving, as long as I get some, I'll be a happy camper.