Day 22 Advent Beer Calendar! Crabbies Alcoholic Lemonade!

We're coming to an end! :-(

Tonight left us with only two more beers after we were done!  It's been a fun journey, but there sure have been a lot of flavors in the last 22 days!!

Tonight, we have a grown up kids drink!  How's alcoholic lemonade sound to y'all?  It was pretty good!  Quite tart and very lemony I liked it but I'm not sure I could do more than one!  It's like a summer thirst-quenching drink, which works well since we're mid-80's for the first week of WINTER here in Florida!

Crabbie's began in Edinburgh, Scotland during the early 19th Century.  Their iconic elephant trademark is a symbol of its heritage.  Hundreds of years ago, elephants were traditionally used by importers to explore untrodden grounds to procure ingredients.

Crabbie's is also the leader in the US for Ginger Beer, something I have never had.  They also offer a Spiced Orange and a Scottish Raspberry (again, never had).  They have some great recipes on their website.

Want to win Crabbie's prizes?  They're doing a 12 Days of Christmas Twitter Contest, follow them, tweet and maybe you'll win!

No info on this one in Beer Advocate, but we were able to check it in on Untappd.  I can't find it locally in a bar, but you can buy some to go and you know where!

Check this one out at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon, you won't be disappointed.  Sit out by the pool on Christmas afternoon, and crack open a Crabbie's Lemonade!

Day 19 ~ Einstok Icelandic Toasted Porter

Well we're a couple of days behind!  This was from Saturday, 12/19....our Advent Beer Box.  We went out last night and ended up too full to open a beer when we got home late!  Making up for it tonight I believe.

Also I skipped Day 16, it was a hard root beer and I just plain don't like those.  This was the second one I've had and, to me, they have a cough syrup after taste, and I hate cough syrup!  That one was a Mission Brewery Hard Root beer....enough about that.


Anyway, let's talk about this one, because it's pretty darn good!  Einstok Icelandic Toasted Porter.  This one is a dark color and toasted is a great description!  It comes from Iceland, but Beer Advocate says it's an American Porter?? Um...ok....

This one, though, is smooth, a little hoppy with some underlying hints of coffee.  It tasted lighter than I thought it would.  My assumption is that porters are heavy and thick but this one is not.

Food pairings for this beer are listed on the Einstok website, rich and roasty it pairs well with short ribs, roasts, prime rib, steaks, ice cream, dark chocolate and cigars.  They also have a white ale, a pale ale, a berry & a doppelbock that have food pairings as well.

The brewery, located 60 miles south of the Arctic circle in a fishing port with a mission of 'quenching the thirst of the modern Viking'....sounds very Icelandic to me... Here's what else I learned on their website...

The brewery name comes from the Icelandic word Unique and Olgero stands for Brewery. Their slogan is Drink.Conquer.Repeat.  I think that speaks for itself!  However, it's a cry for modern Vikings and it calls them to the great adventure that lies ahead.  Broken down however, it stands for this:

Drink, of course, the beer, savor and drink in moderation.  Respect the great skill in which it was made but being responsible citizens of this earth.

Conquer:  Conquer new lands and people, not to pillage them but to leave them better than they were found.

Repeat:  When the thrill of adventure is that good, you can't help but do it over and over, but doing so responsibly.

I love this! :)

Beer advocate score this one an 85....it's definitely worth the tasting!  You can, of course, find it at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon but not on tap anywhere that Untappd was able to find.  Give it a shot!

Advent Beer Blog Day 17 ~ The Duck Rabbit Hoppy Bunny ABA

Happy Thursday!!  Tonight we had a party and I'm already a night behind (day 16 not done yet) but I wanted to get this out there because it was pretty good!

Tonight, day 17....we only have a week left, What to do?!?!  We enjoyed tonight a Duck-Rabbit Hoppy Bunny ABA

This was a new and different one for us!  ABA-American Black Ale and was quite hoppy and very black in color.  It had great flavor with hints of chocolate.  Apparently there are 8 different hops in this beer giving i's aroma and flavor.

This is a beer available all year-round by Duck Rabbit Craft Brewery in Farmville, NC.  Duck Rabbit sold its first beer in 2004 and has been growing ever since.  They have a selection of core brews as well as a list of seasonal brews including Barleywine, Scotch Ale and Porters.

Let's chat for a moment about their logo.  Apparently there is a bit of folklore in their logo which is an adaptation of Ludwig Wittgenstein's illustration.  Depending on how you look at it, it could be a duck or you could see a rabbit.

This brewer, Paul Phillippon, enjoys brewing a dark beer.  Indicating that the secret to brewring a dark beer is knowing the ingredients you want to us.  Duck-Rabbit combines barley from North Dakota (where my brother-in-law lives) and Canada with hops from Washington state  Paul also suggests the serving temperature of dark beer to be 50 degrees, not ice cold.  This helps preserve the taste and aroma.

Beer Advocate scores this one an 87 and I would agree, it was enjoyable and packs a 7.3% alcohol content.

You can find this one on tap at The Brass Tap in Lakeland or at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon!

Check it out:

Advent Beer Day 15 Hofbrau Winter Spezial 2015

Well what an exciting day we had today!  We live in Florida, as many of you know and we had to have our air conditioner unit replaced today....it's 80+ degrees in Florida in the middle of December. I think it's pretty warm everywhere though!


Tonight we're back to a really great selection, 4.25 stars from me on the Hofbrau Winter Spezial beer. It was excellent!  This is listed as a Doppelbock beer and it had excellent taste.  It also packed 8.4% alcohol in its 11.2 oz bottle!

This particular beer goes unrated on Beer Advocate, I assume because it's specifically the 2015 version so it's very seasonal.  Based on the reviews that I read, it appears different from the Winter Spezial of 2014 and 2013....

This one is a coppery brown color, very pretty.  People also indicate the best Hofbrau ever had ...so try it!  There's not a lot of info on it though!

I can tell you this though...they just opened a brand new Hofbrauhaus in St. Pete and maybe you can find it there although their website doesn't list it?!  Even Untappd indicates it's not available anywhere (but we know Craft Beer Cellar at least started out the season with it!)

This beer's a tough on to find but with spices and the taste of Christmas, it's one you should look for!

Here's tonight's picture, with a really boring blog....Although, let me tell you about this site I learned about tonight!

Have y'all ever seen www.seekabrew.com ?!  What a great website to find out what beer is available in your state, to compare what state you might be traveling to and what's available there and to find your favorite brewery and see where they have a presence with their beer.  Check them out!

I learned about this tonight on something new called Blab, and on Blab (think interactive Periscope) there was a Craft Beer Blab where they were discussing Saison's....apparently it's on every week (think Podcast with video) and it was pretty cool...another something to check out!

Sorry we were information-less tonight----maybe tomorrow we'll have excellent beer AND info!

Check it out at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon!!

Day 14 Advent Beer Box ~ Lion Stout

Happy Monday!  For those of you following along who don't know me, here's a little bit about me.  I own an independent insurance agency in Florida.  We write all types of personal and commercial insurance, including health insurance.  We're coming to the end of open enrollment for health insurance for January 1, 2016 policies.  Today was complete and utter hell.  Busy and so many people with last minute questions.  The deadline is midnight tomorrow, so a full day still left.  This is the first time I felt like a CPA on 4/14!  I was so looking forward to coming home and breaking open bottle # 14 (and then having some wine, because truly I like that too!)

I did have a question and if you have an answer I'd love to know.... I went to the website for tonight's beer, like I do each website and for whatever reason I have to certify on EVERY beer website that I am "of age" (I'm 46, I qualify!) to enter their site.... Really, WHY?  I know, for a fact, there are all types of sites I can go on that I don't have to certify my 'adult' status....why would this matter?  I really want to know.  I Googled but found no answer.

Anywhoo.... tonight we had a really dark, really heavy alcohol tasting beer called Lion Stout.  I thought there were some chocolate notes in there but Todd tasted just alcohol.  It definitely had a strong alcohol smell.  I only had a couple of sips, I just couldn't do it.  Todd finished it off though, liking it much better than last night's sour.

Lion Stout is brewed by Lion Brewery in Sri Lanka and they also brew Carlsberg beer which was the only one I was familiar with on their page.  They have 5 brews, including the Stout and Carlsberg.

What is there to know about Lion Brewery?  Well their story starts in 1860 when the founder, British Planter Sir Samuel Baker established a home brewery.  It appears 1881 is when commercial brewing started.  Ownership changed in 1884 and again in 1911 to the Ceylon Brewery.

Their website says, about Lion Stout, "The dark caramel, large dense headed brew, with its 8.8% alcoholic content, is unique due to its sweet notes of chocolate and coffee interspersed into a foundation of dark roasted barley. Symbolic black to denote leadership, power, focus and strength, is dominant in the labeling as the lion journeys in the twilight unafraid, unbowed and unchallenged."

My opinion when first seeing the bottle was one of Strong and Powerful.  The dark bottle, dark beer color and the lion just resonated 'strong' to me.

Beer Advocate scores this 8.8% Alcohol content beer as a "very good" with a score of 88.  If you like a strong, dark beer, this one is for you!

Try it locally---stop by Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon to grab a bottle or on draft, check out Mr. Dunderbak's in Tampa or World of Beer in Sarasota for a sample!

By the way--have y'all ever really read any of the reviews on Beer Advocate?  I need to learn more about A-S-T-M-O!  If you're not sure what that is, check out Beer Advocate's community page on how to review a beer!

Here's tonight's photo!


ENJOY!

Day 13~ Advent Box ~ Rodenbach

Day 13, Catching up on the posts!

Tonight was unlucky 13 for us!  They can't all be great, right?  This one, unfortunately went down the drain.... but we're still blogging it because everyone has different tastes and I'm certain there are people who like it, but we weren't those people.

Tonight we tried the Rodenbach 'Flanders Red/Brown beer'.  This was a sweet and sour product, mixing 75% young beer and 25% 2 year old mature beer.  This beer's mixed fermentation is likely the reason I didn't like it.  It tasted cider-ish and sour --not a fan

But, alas, let's talk about it anyway!

This beer comes from Belgium and has won several awards, including a Silver & Bronze in the Brussels Beer Challenge in 2012 and 2013.  Palm Breweries has been brewing beer since 1686 wiht Rodenbach staring in 1836...that's a long darn time!

I wish I could find more to say about this, but I truly wasn't a fan, we dumped it out.... and I'm sure there's some good, but the website made it hard to find info for me to really blog about!

If you like sours then this one would be one to try.  Beer Advocate scores this one a 90, so check it out!

I bet you can find it at Craft Beer Cellar but a search on Untapped shows it not able to be found anywhere close by.

Here's to hoping tomorrow night is a better option!!

Day 12 ~ Advent Beer Box ~ 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale

Saturday post!  It's a Christmas Beer!!

Day 12 of our Advent Beer Box had us packing and transporting a 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale by Thirsty Dog Brewing Company!

Thirsty Dog Brewing Company is based in Akron, Ohio and brews 20 different beers, most "dog" themed which I am a fan of!

12 Dogs of Christmas Ale, only available from November 1 until Christmas is a spiced beer with the Christmas flavors that you could imagine. Honey, Cinnamon, Ginger & Nutmeg flavor this beer and it just 'tastes' like Christmas.  At 8.3% alcohol, it could make you laugh like a Christmas elf if you drink too much of it!

It's a 'Winter Warmer' per Beer Advocate with a score of 87 and similar to Sam Adams Old Fezziwig Ale it's definitely something to try through the holidays!  Get it quick it's gone in just a couple of weeks!

Thirsty Dog Brewing was named USA Brewery of the Year in 2014 in the New York International Beer Competition and they also have an app...check it out for more information about this brewery!!

Day 11 Advent Beer Box ~ Wells Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale

I've got some blog catching up to do!  We were traveling this weekend and I didn't bring a charger for my tablet so I'm blogging Friday, Saturday and tonight's beers all tonight to get us back on track!

Friday night we drove to Orlando to spend the weekend with friends at Disney.  We brought along our Advent beers for the two nights so we wouldn't be behind!

Friday, the 11th.... our choice from Craft Beer Cellar was an interesting selection from the United Kingdom called Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale.  It was like dessert in a bottle!

This selection, from Wells & Youngs Ltd was an English Brown Ale, with 5% alcohol and a very sweet taste.  I liked it, Todd said he wouldn't want a lot of it, it was different....but the flavors were good, just not something we expect in a beer.

This beer had a toffee/caramel scent and is pretty sweet at first and then becomes a little hoppy with a taste of   It was definitely not something I would have picked off the shelf to try, which is why this Advent box is so much fun!  I have definitely found things I would try again and things I think I know for sure to sway away from  :)

Wells has been brewing since 1876 brewing 28 different beers, among them a Double Chocolate Stout and a Banana Bread beer.  They also have a beer named Waggle Dance-a pale ale with a South American honey.  Sounds good to me!  On a plus note for them, and something that Todd will find interesting when he reads this is that they also brew Kirin Ichiban, his 'sushi dinner beer'.... good stuff!

All in all this was pretty good, but definitely a dessert beer.  Excuse the glass, we had to work with what we had in the hotel! :) :)



Don't be afraid to check this one out!  Locally, at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon or check it out at Brass Tap in Ybor or in Wesley Chapel as well as Ed's Tavern in Lakewood Ranch!

Day 10 Advent Beer Box Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier

Tonight we enjoyed American's oldest brewery (Yuengling) with a tour and a dinner that my office co-sponsored and came home to enjoy a beer from The World's oldest brewery! 

Tonight was Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier and it was okay.  Not Todd's favorite, not my favorite either but it we absolutely still drank it~

This one comes from Germany and is a Hefeweizen .... it is a golden yellow wheat beer.

Beer Advocate gives this one a 98!  Seems like Beer Advocate really likes the ones I'm not overly crazy about!

This particular brewery has been brewing beer since 1040!  This started in the Weihenstephaner Monastery Brewery.  In 1921 the brewery got its name Bavarian State Brewery and has used the great seal of the Bavarian State as its logo since 1923.

There's definitely a lot of history in the brewery!  Check it out!  They brew several different beers as well!

This post is going to be rather short, we are traveling this weekend and without a charger I am trying to blog!  I'm already a day behind so I'm going to get this one posted so we can move on!

Day 9 ~ Advent Beer Box ~ La Fin Du Monde

Day 9....and for the first day I considered not blogging this one.  I have a terrible headache and I tasted this beer and it was just 'okay'....but I'm still going to tell you about the brewery, the beer and let you make your own decision on what you think!  I mean, my judgment could be clouded by Advil!

Tonight's selection comes from Quebec, Canada and it's the first one we've had from Canada in this box.  It was a golden blonde color and a Tripel style with.... 9% alcohol.  I mean it wasn't terrible by any means but I hoped it to be better than it was.

This is a beer I should have liked....it has champagne like bubbles!!  I'm totally blaming the headache!  Maybe I'll have to try this one again sometime!  #Iwantadoover

This beer is brewed by Unibroue and there's a legend about this particular beer.  It recreates the style of beer originally developed in the Middle Ages by trappist monks for special occasions.  It's a neat story--go check it out on their website and watch the video (www.unibroue.com) .  There's also a video about its characteristics, serving temperature and the correct glass to serve it in...we did NOT have the correct glass, but....we made due.

One of the things I liked best about this website is the food pairings that they share for their beers!  Tonight's selection is recommended to be paired with things I love!  Salty blue cheese, mussels, salmon, scallops sausage (and game, but I don't love that!)

I was surprised tonight by the date on the bottle which indicated this beer was best by 2018 which seemed like a long time away in my opinion.  Their website however, explains that like wine, over time their beers become smoother and this has a potential aging time of 3-5 years.  The high alcohol content certainly helps with that!

Beer Advocate scores this one the highest we've seen at a 96!  In addition, there are 2864 reviews on Beer Advocate's website about this particular beer.  I must have missed something.  Todd gave it a 3.75 star tonight.

The local spots you can look for this one, of course is Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon and World of Beer in St. Petersburg as well as World of Beer in Tampa (Fowler).

 

Check it out, I'm going to try it again, post-headache!

 

Night Night!

Day 8 ~ Advent Beer Box ~ Lost Coast Brewery 8 Ball Stout

Welcome to Day # 8....17 more days until Christmas and 16 more beers to go! 

Tonight our selection was excellent!  Craft Beer Cellar provided us with a Lost Coast Brewery 8 Ball Stout.  I thought it was excellent and Todd gave it 4.25 which he said is better than last night's but I don't think I asked him last night what his rating was.

Lost Coast Brewery, based in Eureka, California is a woman owned brewery with a very cool story, "Her" Story.  This makes me an instant fan!

In addition to Barbara Groom starting her brewery, she purchased a 100 year old castle, the Pythian Castle, built in 1892 and turned this into her brewery and cafe.  Since their start in 1990 the brewery did outgrow this location and another location and now calls Eureka home.  Their new facility which just opened is brewing at a 90,000 annual barrel capacity--holy cow!

Lost Coast Brewery is the 43rd largest (which tells me there's a list somewhere that I need to find!) craft beer brewery in the US and distributes in several places throughout the world.

The selection from Lost Coast is vast and includes their newest beer, Sharkinator, a white IPA, which just sounds fun!  They also offer a Tangerine, a Brown Ale, an Amber Ale, a Pale Ale, a Winterbraun an IPA and a Raspberry Brown....I think I'd like to try all of these!

Let's talk about tonight's selection though.  The 8 Ball Stout was wonderful with malts, hops and cream flavored, I score this one pretty high.  I loved the taste but it was heavy.  It's a dark brown in color and based on their website, has won several awards including a Silver in a World of Beer Championship.

I definitely recommend you try this one!  You might be surprised, I was a bit afraid of the 'stout', defined as a darker beer made using roasted malt or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast.  Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters.  Guinness is a stout and I'm not a Guinness fan (or at least I don't think I am, now I feel like I could taste it to be sure!)

Beer advocate says that this is an Oatmeal (does that mean it's good for breakfast?!) Stout at 6.3% alcohol and they score it an 87 'very good' on their rating.  

It was a great venture for me into a dark beer.  I would absolutely try this one again!

Want to give this one a try.... of course Craft Beer Cellar must have some, but as for local bars, Untappd shows it's not available anywhere locally.  I'm bummed.  Keep checking for this one though!  It's worth it!

Until tomorrow~

~M

Day 7 ~ Roebling Vanilla Espresso Imperial Porter

Happy Monday---I'm glad today is almost over!!

What an excellent pick from Craft Beer Cellar today!  Tonight we enjoyed beer and coffee with a selection from Rivertown Brewing in Cincinnati, Ohio.

This was excellent.  I loved the vanilla flavor and the coffee flavors in this beer.  It was, however, an Imperial Porter which does make this extra strong.  A dark brown color, it was full of flavor and alcohol content at 7.80%

Rivertown Brewing was the dream of the founder, Jason Roeper and much like me, he struggled his way through, didn't take no for an answer and in 2009 they got their start.

This particular beer is described as a big chocolate, espresso infused brownie with fresh organic Ugandan vanilla beans, organic Peruvian coffee and natural raw cane sugar....OHMYGOSH!

Admittedly I was curious what a Ugandan vanilla bean was, so I Googled it...and apparently vanilla in Uganda is incredible.  There's an earthy aroma with tones of milk-chocolate making them perfect for desserts and chocolates.  (I bet that makes some good kahlua too!)

Beer Advocate rates this one an 84 and I can completely see why.  Other than being a bit heavy, I scored it a 4.5 stars, the flavor was amazing.  I'm not sure how many of them I could drink though and still be able to stand!  LOL

I can only guess that there's only one of these in the Advent box but I can hope, right?!  I could have another one of these anytime!

Rivertown also has a winter ale-Cinnamon & Molasses Spiced Beer...sounds pretty good to me! They also carry a White Wheat, a porter, a blonde, a Session IPA, a Blueberry Lager, a Pumpkin Ale, and some sours....not a fan of those, so we'll just skip that, unless one appears in the box! :)

If you're ever in Cincinnati, I might suggest you check them out.  Their brewery & barrel house has free arcade games, you can take a tour, eat BBQ, watch games, eat wings, have Sunday brunch....oh, and try their beers!  I've never been to Cincinnati, but I have somewhere to check out if I go!

Y'all have a great night!  See ya tomorrow!

~M

Day 6 ~ Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale

What a crazy busy day!  This is going to be a quick blog because it's late and I'm tired!

Day # 6 left us a great surprise from Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon with Ballast Point's Calico Copper Amber Ale.  This rated pretty high on my rankings, I thought it was great and the color was a coppery red, very pretty.... I've decided beer is pretty :)

Ballast Point.....This is one reason I'm glad that on Day 2 I started to do a bit of research about these beers.  Even though I know it's not, at very first sight of a Ballast Point beer, I assumed it was from Tampa.  I mean, we have a Ballast Point, and I have friends that live on Ballast Point Blvd!  But, it actually refers to a number of geographical locations.

This particular Ballast Point started in an apartment at UCLA (I mean, college is for something, right?!  I think they've done well!)

Ballast Point's logo appears to have changed about 8 times since their existence began in 1996, different fonts, different colors but one thing has remained the same.  The picture in their logo is a sextant.  A sextant is a navigational tool used to measure a star's angle relative to the horizon.  For the guys at Ballast Point Brewing it's a constant reminder to keep on their journey, seeking new ideas, new flavors and new people with whom to share their beer and spirits.  Yes, I said Spirits....there's more to this spot than beer!

Ballast Point also has a line of distilled products.  How about some Three Sheets Rum (yum!) in regular, barrel aged and spiced (my favorite kind of rum, but I've never had this one)!  They also have gin, vodka, whiskey Liqueur, canned cocktails and mixers...holy line of product!  They have it all (except wine??!)

Let's talk about the beer though!  Calico Copper Amber Ale was excellent!  It was a bit hoppy, but it is an ale...and I thought it had great flavor.  Todd score this one a 4 and thought it was similar to an IPA.

Beer Advocate says it's an American Amber/Red Ale at 5.50% alcohol content.  They score this one an 86 which ranks "very good" for them.  The other reviews I read indicate it is hoppy with more of an IPA feel than an Amber, yet most people seemed to enjoy it.

If you want to venture into IPA this might be a good starting point?! :) I made that up, but hey--try it!  It's worth it!

Want to buy some?!  Well, guess where you can go?  Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon of course!  Have you checked out their website yet?  Here's the link:  https://www.craftbeercellar.com/brandon/

Want to sample a bit before you commit to purchasing?  Check out these local spots for a taste~ World of Beer Tampa (on Fowler) and The Flying Pig Taphouse on Central in St. Pete.

Here's the picture!!  See y'all tomorrow!

Day 5 ~ Estaminet Premium Pils

Happy Saturday!  It's the first Saturday in December and I really need to get a jump on shopping!

Today's selection was another Belgium selection, this time in the Pilsner family, Estaminet Premium Pils is a Euro Pale Lager.  Todd gave this one 4 starts but I only gave it about 2.75.  Untappd average was 3.11

Apparently I'm not a pilsner fan, it seemed watery to me but the color was a blonde and it just didn't have as much flavor as the rest of the beers we've tried so far.  That being said, the glass is empty! :)

So let's visit this a little further.... I learned that this beer made its US debut in 2011, and it debuted in TAMPA!  This beer is brewed by Palm Breweries and JJ Taylor Distributors was chosen because of Tampa's progressive outlook on beer and because JJ Taylor is one of the best specialty beer distributors in the company.  Go Tampa!

This beer is brewed with a Saaz Hops which is the main hops variety used in brewing Stella Artois.

Beer Advocate rates this the lowest so far that we've seen in our 5 days, at a 79.

An interesting story on their website in regard to the name of the beer....

In the 16th century the Catholic Spanish army marched into the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and certain parts of Northern France) to do battle against advancing Protestantism. The Spanish soldiers, led by Alva, had a keen eye for inns offering a pleasant stay, with delicious drinks, tasty meals and a friendly atmosphere. The lively serving wenches were an added attraction. That’s why “esta minetta” (“there are girls”) became a code name for the preferred inns.

That made me giggle, I bet lively serving wenches weren't all that was in those Inns! :) 

Maybe I wasn't generous enough on my stars, I had wine earlier and maybe that clouded my judgement but it definitely wasn't as good as the first few!  We have 19 more days though!  I'm going with the best part of this being that it made it to the US through Tampa!

Here's the photo, I really like the label, it's distinguished looking to me.  

Want to try this one?  You know where to go to grab a bottle or two to bring home.  Want to try it out.... you can visit The Tap Room at the Hollander in St. Petersburg.

See y'all tomorrow!!!

Day 4 ~ Advent Beer Box ~ Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

Happy Friday!  I hope you're looking forward to the weekend as much as I am!

Today was yet another great selection by Craft Beer Cellar!  We were able to enjoy Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale.   Golden in color it was very good, but heavy with a bourbon finish.

The 12 ounce bottle provided 8.1 % alcohol content, a doozie!

I did a bit of research and learned that the ale is the finished product of Kentucky Ale and then aged for six weeks in a once use bourbon barrel.  This is where it receives its vanilla and caramel tastes that some people say pairs well as an after dinner drink or with dessert.  It's also suggested to pair this with ribs or other smoked meats.

This beer is brewed by Alltech Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company in Lexington, Kentucky and their website is full of great recipes (Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale Ribs) and they also distill Bourbon and Rye (I've no idea what Rye is!)!  Check out their website here:  Kentucky Ale.  I also learned on this website that there's something called the Kentucky Bourbon Trail...this sounds like a cool vacation spot!  I'm not much on bourbon but this sounds fun! Check it out here: kybourbontrail.com!

Beer Advocate says this is an English Strong Ale, a unique (for sure!) sipping beer with the nose of well-crafted bourbon.  Sign me up!!  I bet it'd go great with the Bourbon balls I used to make at Christmas!

They scored it an 82, but Todd gave it a 4.5 and I think I'm probably at a 4...I only have a few sips so it's hard to really tell!

I suggest trying this beer, it's pretty, it had good flavor and people rave about it (other than Beer Advocate...I wonder what they score in the 90's!)

Want to taste something similar, our very own Cigar City Brewing Campeador-Greaves is suggested as a 'recommendation by style'

Want to give it a shot....of course, reach out to Craft Beer Cellar or try it at tons of local places!  LBC in Palm Harbor, World of Beer Tampa (Fowler), Dunedin House of Beer, Fords Garage (Brandon), Daiquiri Shak (Madiera Beach) and one of my favorite places, Stein & Vine (Brandon).

Until tomorrow---Enjoy!!

~M

Day 3 ~ Advent Beer Box ~ Lazy Magnolia

December 3

It's day 3 of the Advent Beer Box and another good selection from Craft Beer Cellar.  Tonight Lazy Magnolia Brewing's Southern Pecan.  It's pretty good, although I found it a little malty and kind of thick on my tongue.  That being said, the color was really pretty (if beer can be pretty) Todd scored this one 4.25 stars!

Tonight I learned an interesting tid-bit about this brewery.  It is Mississippi's first package brewery since prohibition.

This particular beer, in 2006 won the Bronze medal in the World Beer Cup (um, who knew there was such a thing??!) in the Specialty Beer category.  This beer is also the first beer commercially made with whole roasted pecans.

Lazy Magnolia also offers Indian Summer Spiced Wheat, Jefferson Stout (Sweet Potato Cream Stout ---ewww), Southern Gold (a golden honey ale) and Gulf Porter.

Beer Advocate tells me that this is an English Brown Ale with a 4.5% ABV (need more than one!) and they score it an 82.  This is the lowest score so far..... On their scale 82 is 'good'

Want to try some Southern Pecan?  Well, of course, Craft Beer Cellar and if you want to try it on tap, locally, here's a few spots...

Yard of Ale in St. Petersburg, EATS! American Grill in Winthrop Town Center, Riverview and Palace Pizza in Lakeland.

Want to know how I know that?  I promised you this answer was coming tonight!  There's an excellent beer app, called Untappd 'drink socially' (yes, that's spelled right)...Think 'Foursquare' for beer!

Untappd is a social networking service allowing users (like me!) to check in beers and share check-ins.  This app also lets y ou rate the beer, earn badges, share photos and FIND the beer you are looking for near you!  It also suggests beers that are similar.  If you're looking for something similar to Southern Pecan, for example, Untappd says Turbodog by Abita and Newcastle Brown Ale are similar.

I use this app mostly because I want to be able to remember what I liked when I drank it, so I check them in (and earn badges, which, come on, is kinda fun) and I rate them....so if I  am out somewhere and want a beer, I can see if I have had it before and if I liked it!

We are using Untappd to rate our beers in the Advent Beer Box so we can track what we liked and/or didn't like without having to read each of these blog posts ;)

Untappd is a free download, was launched in 2010 and in 2014 hit over 1,000,000 users....WOW, maybe y'all already know about Untappd!  I love this app!  Download it, you won't be sorry and if you download it, friend me!

Here's tonight's photo, again, it's a very pretty beer!

See y'all tomorrow!

Advent Beer Box ~ Day 2 Two Brothers Wobble India Pale Ale

December 2nd!

Day two brings us another nice selection from Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon.  Tonight we enjoyed Two Brothers Wobble IPA.

Todd's not a big fan of IPA's because they tend to be more on the 'hoppy' side.  Typical hops (the flowers of the plant Humulus Lupulus are primarily used as a stabilizing agent for beer and give beer a bitter, tangy flavor...here's a picture of compressed hops

.

Todd scored tonight's selection a 3.5 on our '5-star scale' simply because he's not a fan of IPA's.  He did say it was definitely drinkable but one was enough.

I thought it was pretty good but I'm also not sure if I could drink more than one (mind you I had three sips of this one!)

The color was pretty and the label, well....reminded me a bit of my office logo!  First I said it was a boring logo, until Todd reminded me that it should look faintly familiar!  Whooops!

Here's the bottle (a full 12 oz tonight!) and the glass from tonight:

Let's talk about the beer and the brewery!

Beer Advocate tells us tonight that this beer is Brewed by Two Brothers Brewing Company in Illinois.  It's an American IPA with 6.3% Alcohol content.  Beer Advocate score this one an 87.  A few of these could make you Wobble!!

A quick search of Two Brothers Brewing's Facebook page tells me they are a family owned and operated craft brewery in the western suburbs of Chicago.  Their story on their "About" page on Facebook is pretty cool.  Check it out!  

Per their website (www.twobrothersbrewing.com) They also brew a French Country Ale, A Prarie Path Ale that appears to be Gluten free (I think that's pretty cool!), Ebel's Weiss, and a few more...if I tell you all of them you won't go to their website!  One thing I thought sounded pretty good, Peppermint Bark Porter.  I'm not sure about a porter style, they tend to be really heavy, but um, peppermint bark....HELLO!

Want to try Wobble IPA local?  You can pick some up at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon or you can head over to The Mermaid Tavern on Nebraska in Tampa.  Want to try Peppermint Bark Porter (I do!)  Head over to Brass Tap at Wiregrass Mall in Brandon or Palm Harbor House of Beer in Palm Harbor!  If you do, get me one to go!

Want to know how I know that?!  Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you!

Night Night!

Advent Beer Box-Day One!

Happy December!

It's 84* in Florida, the weather is downright crazy!

A week or so ago I purchased an "Advent Beer Box" from Craft Beer Cellar on Hwy. 60 in Brandon.  I saw it advertised on their Facebook page and thought it was a cool idea, forgot about it for a couple weeks and ended up ordering their 'last one' on Tuesday last week as an early Christmas present for Todd (and maybe for me too).  I picked it up on Wednesday and could not wait for today so we could start the process.

Here's what it looked like when I picked it up...

I thought it was super cute and realized if I knew what to put in it, I probably could have made it myself for him.  However, I don't have any idea what's in there either and there's a bit of fun associated with that.

I'm not sure when I began to drink craft beer.  I've always enjoyed beer (or wine, vodka-equal opportunity drinking I call it~ Don't judge!)!  The first time I met Todd we met at a brewery (in November 2009) ... maybe it was then, maybe it was before but I do enjoy good beer.

Anyway--so tonight we were able to dive into the box!  I've been looking forward to this all day!  My goal in these posts will be to unveil the beer of the day....share whether I liked it or not and then tell you what the pros say (thanks, Beer Advocate) AND where (if you're local) you can find it....besides Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon!

FINALLY!  Tonight's choice was  Affligem Blonde and it was given 4.5 stars by Todd and I have to agree.  It was tasty, light and crisp.  The only negative from me was that the bottle was only 10.1 oz vs. a standard 12 oz bottle.

So, what about the BEER?!  

It's brewed by Brouwerij De Semdt in Belgium.  It's considered a Belgian Pale Ale.  The ABV was 6.8% which could explain why it's in a smaller bottle!

Beer Advocate scores it an 88, which they say is "Very Good"

The aroma is lemon/hops and it's golden in color with a lot of foam.  Tasting notes in my research say Honey and spice with a velvety smooth clean finish and I'd agree.  This should be served in chalise style glass which we definitely did not do as you'll see by the pictures :) 

Want to try this on tap locally?  Check out Champions Sports Bar on Florida Ave in Tampa ... Want to get a bottle?  I bet Craft Beer Cellar Brandon has one!

All in all, day one was an excellent choice!

End of The Challenge~ "Freestyle"....

We made it!  Just a couple little snafu's in the month but we are successfully completing the 30 Day Blog Challenge tonight!!  Thirty days of topics was great.  I bet it would be hard to blog every night with no topics...and speaking of that....That's exactly what we're doing tonight!

Tonight's topic:  Anything You Want To Post About....uh.....Multi-Tasking!  That's what I'm going to talk about, because that's what I'm doing right now!

Well, let's see...in my multi-tasking life, I am currently working with my mother on Facebook chat, trying desperately to explain to her how to make a post public vs. just shared to her friends.  She's on an Android tablet and can't figure it out.

Seems every year for Christmas we open the door to frustration by getting either one of my parents an electronic device.  This year we're vowing to go E-free on them!  They want no more electronics and I'm perfectly okay with not taking the time in our visits to train on said devices!  Last year it was ChromeCast, the year before the new iPhone and Android tablet, the year before a new computer...not to mention dad's Nook tablet and holy wow!  Time for this family to break free from the electronics!!!  (Says the girl who just got-and LOVES-her Surface Pro 4)

Along with multi-tasking on Facebook and writing a blog, I'm answering emails that come in on my work email.  I'm also settling up bills with Todd and making online deposits... crazy!  Never a dull moment!

As I do all of this one dog is asleep next to me and one has already gone to bed.  Elise still has her lights on and now it's a mad rush to get this night over with!  I still have a lunch to make (or two) and bags to pack up for tomorrow with all my work stuff.  All this and not even a glass of wine!

I do a lot of multi-tasking...as I think about this, it's part of what I do all day, every day.  There are people who don't function well when multi-tasking and yet I thrive on it.  One thing to do to me just isn't normal.

There are people who disagree though.  They say (I know who 'they' are this time)...

What you call multitasking is really task-switching, says Guy Winch, PhD, author of Emotional First Aid: Practical Strategies for Treating Failure, Rejection, Guilt and Other Everyday Psychological Injuries. “When it comes to attention and productivity, our brains have a finite amount,” he says. 

“It’s like a pie chart, and whatever we’re working on is going to take up the majority of that pie. There’s not a lot left over for other things, with the exception of automatic behaviors like walking or chewing gum.” Moving back and forth between several tasks actually wastes productivity, he says, because your attention is expended on the act of switching gears—plus, you never get fully “in the zone” for either activity.

I can understand parts of this but it's how I've always worked so I don't know if I'm just used to it or if I truly just have no focus at all!?  Hmmm...some might say I just have no focus!

That same article also says I could have memory issues.  If you ask Todd, he'll tell you I remember every thing...things that were said, things that were done, what he buys at Publix without me.... I just have an odd memory sense....

So far I've seen no memory issues, but I certainly don't want to discover any either!!

Tell me about you---do you multi-task or do you do one task until it's complete and move on to the next?

Until Next Time~~

Day 29 ~ Picture Taker Picture Maker

It's Sunday night after a long weekend.... I barely even looked at my work email.  This weekend we have rested, celebrated, cooked, cleaned, laundered, shopped (local) and had a nice four days together, off work!

Tomorrow kicks off yet another busy week.  I have an event on Thursday night this week and another next week and before you blink, it will be Christmas!

Today's blog post is supposed to be a photo of myself.... I thought that might be kind of boring so I made a couple of collages, one from when I was a kid and one from some of my favorite times since I've been on Facebook (because that's where all the pictures are, ya know!?) :)

So here's a couple collages of things I wanted to share!  I hope you enjoy the look into my life!

The Early Years:

The Current Stuff:

It was so hard to choose these pictures and not overwhelm you guys with photos of the fun times in my life.  I have an awesome time, all the time.... but these are just a quick snapshot...of course my daddy, my hubs, my 96 year old grandmother and I, and my dear friend Laura when she was visiting Tampa several years ago.  There's so much I didn't put in there maybe I'll make another collage for tomorrow....maybe you could just go randomly scroll through my Facebook pictures, they're all there, the good, the bad....the ugly I probably deleted!   :)

Until tomorrow!!!   ~M~

Day 28~ If it was 11:11, what would be your wish?

It's Saturday....and for significance reasons, I'm going to try to post this at 11:11 ... but we'll see how that all works out.

Today's post reads ... "Do you wish for anything at 11:11?  If so, what do you wish for?"

I have to be honest, I don't pay a bit of attention to wishing for something at 11:11, be it day or night. I see random posts on Facebook of people reminding people it's 11:11 but I really didn't get the significance of it until tonight when I Googled it to see what I could find.

Apparently the common theory is, well, i mean, we already know the numbers are all the same, but it's believed when you see the numbers and make a wish then it's believed to come true.  I call bull-donkeys.... I just don't believe it.

Some people claim that when they see the numbers you should ask for guidance from your 'angels'...again, bull ;)

According to numerology, the number 11 possess the qualities of patience, honesty, spirituality, sensitivity, intuition and is idealistic.

Whatever you believe, if you are a wisher, or a dreamer and believe those things can come true for you....by all means, keep doing what you're doing....it's just not my thing.

As a matter o' fact, in case it's not your thing and you always wondered about it and now you know more and you want to make it your thing....I'm posting early so you're ready if the mood strikes and you want to wish at 11:11....

What would you wish for?

Day 27~ The writing on the....paper

Happy Friday---Yes, I know it's Saturday, and we're a day behind!  I'm working on it!

This post is going to be a photo post.... a picture of my handwriting, so I hand wrote the blog post ;)

In case you can't read it, here's what it says:

Today's blog post is to be a sample of my handwriting.  So, here you have it.  I'm actually pretty particular about my handwriting.  It's part OCD to me that there's a level of perfection and little mistakes make me want to start all over!   Eeeek (I had a little snafu)....

I decided that at least through the beginning of December, I am going to do a little big of blogging as well as photo-blogging (is that a thing?!) the December adventures we have~

Stay Tuned!

Late Posts # 25 & 26~ Personalities and Warm Fuzzies

Wow am I behind on blogging!!  I think I missed Wednesday and Thursday and now it's Friday too!

Hoping everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving.  We have celebrated Elise's birthday and Thanksgiving and are enjoying a long weekend close to home.  Today we put up our new tree and letting it 'fall out' before we decorate it.

The upcoming week kicks off a busy couple of weeks before the Holiday again!!

Wednesday I was supposed to write about if I would rather date someone with an amazing personality or someone beautiful with a plain personality--- 

Well, SCORE!  I got great personality and really nice to look at too, all wrapped up in one package!!  I'm a lucky girl! :)

Thursday (Thanksgiving) I was supposed to write about some little things that make me feel warm & fuzzy.  

This one is easy...I get warm and fuzzies when I snuggle with my dogs, especially Cocoa.  She's a big snuggle bunny.  She is a cuddler and has been since day one.  She makes my hear smile ;) 

I also get warm fuzzies when I cook for my family.   I love to cook (not always after a long day at work) but, like yesterday....I cooked a turkey and the fixings for just the three of us.  It warms my heart to do that.... (of course it wasn't until after the parade was over) LOL!

I also get warm fuzzies when I'm out with Todd.  I love our date nights when we go out and hang with friends or even just by ourselves.  We have fun together and that makes me warm & fuzzy :) 

I love my whole entire life, my family, my friends, my pets... all warm and fuzzies :) :) 

Hoping your black Friday was a successful day, be it shopping, chilling, napping, eating left overs or all of the above!!!

Another blog coming for today---but soon :) 

See ya shortly!

Day 24~Seven Things That Cross My Mind A Lot

Two more days until the best day of the year!  I love Thanksgiving and the kick off to the Holiday season!!!  I can't wait to curl up and watch THE PARADE and cook and just hang with my family.  Perfection!!!!!!!!

We're on Day 24....I can't believe we're a week away from December and from the end of my 30-day blog challenge!  If I were to continue after this 30 days, what would you guys want to read about?  I need to know so I know if it's something to move forward with or not :)

On Day 24 our topic is "Seven Things That Cross My Mind A Lot"....Wow....my mind goes a million miles a minute sometimes...so let's see what the first seven things are tonight....

1.  Clock Watching & Car Line-Every since the first day of this school year I have been the pick-up parent.  Because Elise is in magnet school, the bus transportation is sketchy at best.  It's a long trip (yet school is 2 miles from home) and most magnet school transportation seems to center around car line.  Most days, my day is crazy and I have an alarm set on my phone for the time I need to leave to pick her up from school.  I have an intense fear that the alarm won't go off and I'll forget to get her.  It's crazy, but it's true....every day.... yet so far, we're 1/4 of the way (plus) through the school year and she's yet to be left at school wondering where I am.... I worry sometimes for nothing!

2.  Technology enhancements for the Agency in 2016- This is something I think about a LOT!  As the person in the office who tracks where the business comes from and how we get new business I want to make sure we are doing everything we need to be doing and the right amounts of it to meet our goals.  It seems that during the daytime I work IN the business and at night I work ON the business.  I research things that people recommend and think about how those things fit into the agency.  It's a never ending thought!

3.  What to get Todd for ___________ (Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary, etc)- He's the hardest person I know to buy for!  Seems I'm writing this near the Holiday's so maybe that's why it's fresh on my mind.  After Christmas I won't have to think about it for a while but between his birthday in September, our Anniversary in October and then Christmas it's all bang, bang, bang!  Yikes, whatcha want for Christmas honey???

4.  What to have for dinner-Most every single night.  Which is ridiculous.  Ridiculous because I mean it's not like we buy food we don't like, but we can never make a decision as to what to have for dinner.  I don't know, what do you want?  I don't care... ugh.  It's a struggle unless I just make a meal plan every week....guess that would make that thought go away--but then I'd have to think about the meal plan!

5.  I wonder what my dogs think when we talk to them- We have two dogs, Cocoa and Lilly and we talk to them all the time....and I just wonder when they look at us what they are thinking.  I'm pretty sure they think we're nuts, but it's fun to watch their facial expressions when you say or do different things.  A dog's life...sure seems easy.  Maybe Lilly can go sell some insurance tomorrow and I'll nap in the bath tub!

6.  Where to go on our next vacation- I don't know, where do you want to go?  We may as well be eating dinner!  Usually when Elise is gone we try to get away for a couple of days during the Holidays for some R&R.  We've done Key West, Savannah, a Cruise, a staycation with lots of little day trips and now we're discussing what to do this year.  We have no child the week between Christmas & New Years but we need to be back for January 2, for Kristin's wedding (our part timer in the office), so we're looking for Tuesday-Friday and if you have a "Florida" suggestion, we're interested in investigating it further!

7.  How to find more time in my day- If anyone has any insight on this one I need help.  My typical day starts with an alarm at or before 6:00 each morning (weekends not included), a meeting at 7:30 (three days per week) and ends at 11:00 PM when I finally go to bed to catch the headlines before calling it a night.  In between there is work, meetings, client visits, car line, dinner, more work, a bit of tv/computer/family hang out time but it seems like the days fly by.  What's up with that?!?!


There you go, that's seven and I even expounded upon them. That being said, it's time to call it quits for the night.  My goal tomorrow is to be out of the office by 3:00 for the holiday.  I have a 5:00 conference call that I can do from anywhere and it's Elise's actual birthday, so I'm thinking about working from home after lunch (taking her to lunch) so I can just begin my four day weekend!  We'll see how the day plays out and if that will work or not!!

See y'all tomorrow!!

~M

Day 23~ A Blank Canvas ~

It's the Monday of a short work week!!  The upcoming 4 day weekend is nearing us quickly!!

Today we're writing a letter, to anyone about anything....it's a blank canvas.  I don't even have a clue, so let's see what happens...


Dear Elise,

I wanted to write my letter to you and it works out well because it's my turn for our journal entry!  We just finished up your "Elise turns 12" birthday party weekend and what a great time!  So many wonderful experiences and memories.  I hope you had a wonderful birthday party!

I can' believe in two more days you will be 12 years old.  I remember that little girl that I met at Red Robin 5 years ago (coming up next week), who could barely finish her bowl of pasta because you were so excited to go see the Wiregrass Christmas lights and meet some new friends.  You were such a little thing, adorable and shy!  Check you out!

From there you have blossomed into an inquisitive pre-teen.  Sometimes still very much a little girl and sometimes so grown up I can't even figure out when that happened.  Every day you experience new things and learn more about this crazy world that we live in.

It's been such an honor to be in your life and to help mold you into the person you are today.  I know sometimes we have our differences, but my truest desire is to help you turn into a loving, kind and wonderful woman (with good manners, and a great wardrobe!) :-)

I look forward to watching over the next years how you'll develop and learn what good decisions you can make all by yourself.  I can't wait to see how you choose your friends, how your future education and career moves fall into place and your future husband and children.  They sure will be lucky people to be in your life.

I love you like you were my very own, and I'm always just a shout away.

Here's to our next five years, and many more 1/2 decades to go!

Love you tons,

~M~

Days 21 & 22 ~ It's another Two for One!

E X H A U S T E D!  That sums up this weekend pretty good!  What a great time we had and there's a ton of photos on Facebook to document it if you want to peruse them (if you haven't already!)

We had a wonderful time with the girls at our Hotel Sleepover Takeover last night with Elise and four of her friends at Art of Animation Resort at Disney.  What a great hotel and a ton of fun they had both at the resort and at our lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge.  Everyone came home exhausted!

Yesterday I was supposed to write about turn on's and turn off's but I've already written about things I love and pet peeves so it seems like we really didn't miss anything on this one.

Let's just say that yesterday's post was all about photo-journalism and it's documented on Facebook, but here's a few fun pictures to share in case you can't see my Facebook pics!

We had a blast and we are exhausted.  The experience was fun, although I am a planner and things didn't always go according to my plan.  

We were supposed to have a dance party at 11:30 but the girls were pretty wound up and kind of loud.  In an effort not to get kicked out, we scrubbed the dance party :) 

They decided not to watch the movie last night because a couple of the girls had seen it and they said it was sad....how on earth can a Disney film be sad (Well....lemme tell you, we rented it tonight, and yes, yes it was!) :(

All in all it was a fun trip.  Definitely something I would do again but maybe on a smaller budget!

In addition to yesterday's blog, I was supposed to blog tonight a photo of the clothes I wore today---

Well, since we got home and situated, I have been in jammies....so let's suffice it to say that I'm not posting THAT photo :) 

It's been a long weekend, and with a short, three-day week coming up, I have a lot to accomplish in a little bit of time!  

Y'all have a great night!  Those of you who don't have to get up in the morning, ENJOY!!!!

Day 20~ Music Makers!

TGIF!  I so look forward to a couple of days of R&R after busy weeks!!

Today our challenge was to write about the concerts I have attended... I have seen a lot but going to focus on the absolute best one!

My first concert was when I was in high school and it was a heavy metal concert that I attended with my at-the-time-boyfriend.  It was horrible!

Those that know me know that I have some pretty good success with winning random things on the radio.... it's my lucky thing.

In 2012 I won the concert experience that has been hard to beat for every other concert we have been to, even hard to beat ones we think about going to and know that it just won't compare.  I have ruined concerts for us forever with my luck this particular day.

In July 2012 on a radio contest, I had to text a word for iHeartRadio.  It was a nationwide contest to go to the Second Annual iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.  The word was "Sweet".  About thirty minutes after I texted that word, on a Sunday afternoon, out by the pool, my phone rang and it was a concert promoter telling me that I won.  Todd didn't believe me, told me at some point they were going to ask for our credit card info and I wasn't allowed to give it ;)

A week or two went by, I got an email here and there and next thing I knew they were booking our plane tickets (paid for by the winnings), booking our room at the MGM Grand Hotel, adding us to the Facebook group for the winners so we could meet and greet people before the show, which happened to fall on Todd's 45th birthday weekend.  Birthday weekend in Vegas!

Truly it was amazing and all we paid for was our food, incidentals and anything we specifically wanted to do in Vegas.  Concert tickets, Hotel & Airfare all covered by iHeartRadio Media Group (well, and a 1099 at the end of the year for the value of the winnings)!

The concert line-up was incredible:

Friday night we saw:  Bon Jovi, Green Day (complete with a meltdown on stage), Jason Aldean, Lil Wayne, Megan & Liz (?), Miranda Lambert, No Doubt, PSY (Gagnam Style), Rihanna, Swedish House Mafia, Usher and Gwen Stefani made a special appearance.

Saturday night was:  Aerosmith, Brad Paisley, Calvin Harris, Enrique Iglesias, Linkin Park, Mary J. Blige (who brought Prince as her guest), Pink (who was AMAZING), Pitbull, Taylor Swift and a techno DJ named Deadmau5

It was the absolute best concert experience anyone could ask for.  The set up, the way the concert ran, the people, the artists, the surprises...it was absolutely amazing!!!

I still try to win again, every.single.year.  No such luck yet, but I haven't given up and I won't!!!

What's the best concert you've ever been to??

Days 18 & 19...It's a Two for One!

WHERE has the month gone??!  It's the 19th already, and next week is Thanksgiving!  Before we know it 2016 will be here.  WOW!

This week, the last couple of weeks seem to have been a whirlwind of activity.  To say I'm overwhelmed might be an understatement, but I do see light at the end of the tunnel!!  YAY!

Today you get a special two blogs in one post, since I was unable to post yesterday due to another commitment that kept me out past my bedtime :)

So, Wednesday, the 18th we were supposed to "Name the TV show you have become addicted to"...well, I DVR several shows, but the one I watch religiously (on DVR, because I pretty much watch nothing live these days) is Grey's Anatomy.  I do believe I have seen every single episode of this show, at least once.

A quick Wikipedia search also tells me that this show has been on television since 2005, currently in it's 12th season and has 244 episodes .... that's a lot of hours spent on one show!  Doesn't matter, I will continue to watch!  As a matter of fact, there's the Winter Finale on tonight and when I'm done with this blog, guess what I'll be watching (in 43 minutes, thanks to my DVR and no commercials!) WOO HOOO!

I also had some other shows that I loved which are no longer on the air.  I fell in love with Army Wives and the portrayal of being a military spouses living on a base ... yeah, 117 hours committed to that.

Lest we forget Private Practice, a spin off of Grey's Anatomy (Shonda Rhimes is amazing) and yes, another 111 hours of time watching television!

Those are my absolute favorites in the recent years.  Things I wouldn't miss or wouldn't get "old" on the DVR....

Now all of that being said, let's be clear....Webster's defines addiction as "A strong and harmful need to regularly have something or do something or an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something.

That's a pretty solid definition, but I'm not sure it really fits my (what I would call) desire to watch Grey's Anatomy.  I mean, when it's over, I don't lose sleep, I don't drink more wine, I don't have withdraws or binge on past seasons or episodes...so I don't know if 'addiction' is the right word.  That's what the Blog for 30 Day Challenge listed though.   So, technically my blog is incorrect.  It's an enjoyment factor, it's my 'favorite' tv show...it's NOT an addiction.

Now, we're current!!  Today we have been asked to write a list of places I have lived (at)....seems "at" shouldn't be at the end of that phrase, but whatever.....let's see if I can do this.  I've lived at a lot of places in my lifetime!

My life started in Springfield, Massachusetts.  When I was a little tiny thing we moved to the Norfolk, Virginia area and also lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  I believe it was third grade when we headed to Florida.  The first place we lived in Florida was Clay County.  I lived in Lake Geneva and in Keystone Heights, Florida while my parents helped my father's aunt with her business, a bar that they ran.

In sixth grade, we moved to Seminole County (just north of Orlando) and this is the area we lived until after I was out of high school.  We lived in Longwood and then after high school moved to Winter Springs.

As an adult, there's been (I think!) even more moves.  I've been to Deltona, then Orange Park/Jacksonville area, then transferred to Tampa.  From Tampa I went NORTH!  North consisted of Snow Hill, Maryland, Wallops Island, Virginia, Pocomoke City, Maryland for a while, then on to Hamden, Connecticut and Middletown, Connecticut before a job transferred me back "HOME" and that job brought me to Jacksonville/Orange Park area (again) and ended for me after I made it back to the Tampa area.  I moved back to Tampa in 2007 and lived in Land O Lakes, then Lutz before I bought my home in Wesley Chapel.  We now make Riverview, Florida our home... Shew, I'm tired!

Moving sucks, and as you see I've had LOTS of practice over the years.  Being a former Navy wife, a lot of those moves were easy and there were a couple of corporate moves in there too with State Farm and Infinity.  The ones that were not done with big moving companies who came in and packed and moved stuff, well, those were worse as you can imagine, but we absolutely survived!

 I'd like to say I'm done, but I know we have at least one more move in us!  What about you?  Is your family done moving or do you have 'at least' one more move left to go?

See y'all tomorrow!!!!!!!!!  TGIF (almost!)
~M

Day 17 ~ In My Second Lifetime ~ When I'm Grown Up ~

Happy Tuesday-I'm exhausted!  Today was the kick off for our new BNI chapter and lots of work. Health Insurance is in full swing and I had a lot of Workers Comp calls today as well.  Busy is good, but I'm going to bed early tonight!

So we're at Day 17---where has the month gone?

Today I'm supposed to write about what I want to be when I get older.  Well, I am....Older.  I'm older than I was yesterday, older than I was when I did most of my stupid stuff (pre-internet, thankfully)!

If I had to pick now what I want to be when I'm am older, I think I want to be independently wealthy and retired!  I'm not sure that's an option at almost 47 and nowhere near independently wealthy (or retired!).  The only independent thing I am is an insurance agent!  LOL!

But, what if I wasn't older yet... hard to say, because, well, I am...but if I were writing to you at 20 vs. 46 it might be different.  That being said it would also be different if I were writing to you at 20, twenty six years ago vs. being twenty now.

So much has changed in our world since the 1980's....it would definitely be different.  If I were twenty-something year ago me at age 20 I would probably want to be right where I am (minus that whole independently wealthy thing)....I love what I do and how I do it and I'm not sure that would ever be any different.

If I were twenty now....I may well still do the same thing and want the same thing.  However, with the fact that technology is so huge in our world, I'd hope to have enough knowledge to develop some sort of life-changing piece of technology and have sold it to Google!  Then I could be independently wealthy and retired!

What would I do though if I were retired?  I feel like I would be bored.  I could Facebook but even that gets old sometimes (Say it isn't so!)

I could volunteer more, although as much as I volunteer now, that could be like a full-time job and I don't want that if I'm retired!  I could travel (because Google would have made me wealthy!) and I would love that!  There's so many places I want to go!  I could be all over some traveling, but we also have a child in school, so that makes full time travel pretty complicated.  I'm sure NOT home-schooling her!  #ihatemath

Definitely something I don't have to worry about.  I'm pretty set in my work forever, build up this business and either have Elise take it over some day or sell it and actually retire.  Maybe, just maybe, we could 'summer' in Wisconsin :)

See y'all tomorrow!!

Day 16~The End of the World As I Know It~

Happy Monday---I come to you with a skinned knee, a bit lip, ripped jeans and a twisted ankle...only I can step on a rock (think a small landscape rock, not a boulder, not a pebble, simply a stupid rock), make said rock roll a bit under my shoe and end up face down in my driveway---totally stone cold sober.  I need a glass of wine now!

That's how my afternoon was, I picked up Elise from school, and going back out to the car to go back to the office had a little blunder.... jeesh!  #rockandroll #clutz

Anyway-today we are blogging about If the world were to end tomorrow, what would I do with my remaining time on earth....

As I saw my life flash before my eyes as I was going face first into my driveway I thought I would give anything to get up before a neighbor sees me sprawled out in the driveway.  I thought I was close to the end of my life!  That being said, that's not how I would have wanted to spend it.

Questions like this are tough for me.  I mean, tomorrow doesn't give me much time since it's um...8:20 PM and I assume wishing for more time isn't going to be a productive waste of the time I have left....so since we're limited on time, I'd probably spend as much possible time as I could with my family.

I guess I wouldn't care about making sure Todd could access my checking account or knew where my life insurance policies were, since the world is ending there's no need for all that time wasting.  I would eat at the most expensive restaurant in town (since we've got no time to travel!)  I'd have the best glass of wine I could find and I'd splurge on amazing desserts and cheese :) I love cheese.  I'd miss cheese.  Maybe that should have been my food I could eat forever...anyway, I could ...if the world were ending tomorrow.

It's interesting to me that this post was after all of the tragedy that happened in Paris this weekend.  I am NOT political and I'm not turning this political, but those people who were killed certainly had no idea that morning that they were living their last day on earth.  It really makes you think about each thing that you do.  I'm pretty sure Hallmark didn't make a card for this!

I certainly don't want to go through life with a doom and gloom attitude of what if this is the last blog post I write (it' not my plan) or the last time I log into Facebook (the horror!)

I know far too many people who have lived their last day and due to some sort of tragic accident, they didn't know that was the case.  I suppose that's why "they" say, live each day to your fullest.  Sometimes life gets in the way of living life.  That makes sense in my head...hopefully it does in your head too!

If I knew it were my last day on earth, I'd skip work.  I'd want to hang with those that mean the most to me, I'd want to watch one last Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (there's a tradition, I will write about it when it's time...the 26th you'll hear more about that....anyway, I'd snuggle with my Puggle and I'd just BE ME.  I'd miss my friends, I'd miss my family it's something I'm not ready to think about....and so that's that.  I'm done with that topic.

I sure hope it's not the end of our world.  It's a crazy world we live in today-but let's hope we all have a long time left in it!

Until tomorrow....assumingly~

~M

Day 15~Saturday Skip Day~Sunday Family Day!

I did it...broke the 30 day blogging challenge by not posting yesterday and not blogging about the topic.

Just so y'all know, the topic was to list 5 Celebrity Crushes....and quite honestly I don't have them.

So I skipped!  I hope you're okay with it, because I am! :)

Let's get on with Sunday!  This one might be short, because it shouldn't come as a big surprise!

Today I'm supposed to post about "Someone I fancy at the moment"....didn't take long to come up with this .... I FANCY THIS FAMILY!  I love being this little family....Todd, Elise, Cocoa and Lilly and I....it is perfect and here's some of my favorite pictures of US!

This is who I fancy, most ever day!  We have a lot of fun together and we're getting ready for a lot of fun coming up.  This upcoming weekend is Elise's birthday party but we have fun with most everything we do.

If you ask my parents, we're always going somewhere and doing something and usually it's fun stuff.  We've had some great experiences along our 5 year ride so far, and I can't wait to see where this life takes us!  Just a handful of the things we've done in five years....

I met Elise 5 years ago at Watergrass Mall Christmas Light Extravaganza, and we try to do that every year although since we've moved, it has been less and less :(  We attend the St. Pete Grand Prix every year, we have had several trips to Daytona and Orlando for conferences.

Todd and I have had some great trips, Las Vegas, a cruise, Key West, Savannah, a stay-cation where we went sailing and day trips to all over the bay area. We've all been on a cruise together (happy honeymoon to us).  We visit local attractions, have taken a driving vacation to Wisconsin, through Atlanta, Nashville & Chicago.  We rented a house on a lake in WI for a week.... we love to venture to new places and I can't wait to see what's next for us!  Seems to never be a dull moment.  I love it!

Who do you fancy?  Show us a picture!

See y'all tomorrow!