Small Business Saturday

So if you caught my Thanksgiving blog, than you know I'm becoming a little anti Black Friday. I just feel like all those big retailers who decided to open Thanksgiving night for 'Black Friday' are destroying what used to be a nice holiday that you just spent with family - one of the few not based around gifts or other material goods. Just good food and company. Having said that, though, I'm ashamed to say that I ended up taking part in the night shopping.

It was Eric's fault. He saw something in the Target ad (a vacuum cleaner) that he wanted. His parents were long gone and we were surprisingly still wide awake after the long day, so I obliged him and we went to Target. And Macy's, since it's across the parking lot (at Glendale Town Center). We walked out of Target with a vacuum cleaner and Macy's was all about stuff for him, believe it or not. Mostly for 'now' but I talked him into letting me wrap one thing for the tree. He's just so hard to shop for...

But back to the blog at hand... Today is Small Business Saturday! I've come to love this day... way more than Black Friday. I'm lucky enough to have some very cool local small shops that I like to frequent on a regular basis, anyway, and today just gives me a reason to hit them all again. And I love seeing them all busy! And while some more gifts were picked up, most of it was for me. Just because.

Now if you don't know what Small Business Saturday is, where have you been??? American Express has be promoting and sponsoring this day for years, now... and I think it's an awesome idea. So many people don't realize what they can find out there is they look beyond the big box retailers. Even cooler is often these small, local shops also carry locally made stuff that is only sold on a small scale locally. And there are some cool local makers out there. This I've learned more recently, thanks to Eric's job.

So you still have time. Get out there and shop local today. You might just find a new favorite store.

Thanksgiving

Is it just me, or has the creep of 'Black Friday' one Thanksgiving starting the make Thanksgiving, itself, insignificant?

I'm not trying to be Negative Nelly over here... but between that and the smaller Thanksgivings we've had (with family not all being able to get together), I feel like it's becoming a 'glossed over' holiday. How long before it's just another day that you may, or may not, get off from work and you just have turkey sandwiches for dinner to celebrate? Just look at how many people had to work (in retail, at least) today... Why must the almighty buck always seem to dominate?

Okay... rant over... thinking happy thoughts.

As foreshadowed, we are having a very small celebration at our house today... Jut Eric and I, and his parents. Not a bad thing... it'll still be nice and we're still doing turkey (albeit, just a breast). And I'm baking a cake, right now... hope it turns out, since it's my first stab at this recipe. You never know with a new recipe.

In the meantime, I've barely glanced at the Black Friday ads. Why bother? Most of them are for deals tonight. That, and the fact that I'm really about done with shopping already. And before you curse me, know that it wasn't on purpose... I've just been finding things along the way this year. Yes... I think about Christmas gifts all year long.

Oh, well. I guess all I can say at this point is, "Happy Thanksgiving!" Hope all you out there reading this can restrain yourself from going shopping. It's much better to spend time with family.

Jags Game (at the Colts)

Since giving up our season tickets a few years ago, Eric and I typically go to one Colts game a year. it was easy, at first... always the Jaguars game. but then they flipped the home/away schedule, and the Jags were always in Indy when we were down in Jacksonville. That sucked. So while we still went to a game, it gave little excitement to either of us.

But then this year, the schedule was adjusted so the Jags were up in Indy earlier than in recent years (but not flipped), and I literally just realized this a couple of weeks ago. So of course, this quickly became our game for the season. Even if my Jags are doing poorly (they are the poster child this year), I still like to see them play. Besides, I wanted to check out the new quarterback in person - he was seemingly pretty good, from things that float around the media.

So the game was this afternoon. Eric was a good sport about humoring me with the 'one game' of the season... he's really just not a big fan of the NFL in general, anymore. And I went to the game with absolutely no expectations, other than just seeing my Jags in person. We managed to snag some great seats... NOT through a broker or reseller, but actually directly from the ticket source (go figure - not a sell out). They were even better than what we used to have for season tickets, so score!

The first half actually gave me some hope. The Jags held the Colts to 6 and they scored a field goal, themselves. Not great, by any means, but defense was earning their pay, at least!

But then came the second half. Despite the defense forcing 6 fumbles throughout the game, the offense could do nothing with it. I'm not sure if it was the Colts defense (I doubt it) or the horrible offense of the Jags, but it was sad to watch. There was a reason I only saw a handful of Jags jerseys in the stadium, when in years past I'd see sections of them. Colts won, 23-3.

Alas, I got to at least see my Jags this year. It's been a couple of years, I think. Here's hoping to better luck next year.

First Snow

We got our first snow overnight, last night! And I have very mixed feeling about it...

Technically, it supposedly snowed on Halloween... when Eric and I were in New York. So despite what 'people' might say, I'm calling last night's snow the first snow of the season.

But back to my mixed feelings. On one hand, it's pretty to look at. It's wonderful if you don't have to go anywhere, and you can just sit inside and look at it. But on the other, it's cold. And as much as I wish I could just sit at home with a Rumchata Hot Chocolate, and just look out the window, I can't. And did I mention that it's cold?

Seriously, though... snow. On November 16th/17th. Granted, it was just a couple of inches, unlike some other parts of the country that got upwards of a foot or more. But in true Indianapolis form, everyone freaked out. They forgot how to treat the roads correctly, and/or everyone forgot how to drive, right on cue. There were slide-offs everywhere, this morning. They even had to completely shut one interstate down because there were so many slide-offs in one stretch. Which, technically, that would be INDOT's responsibility, not the City's. It seems it takes a few storms to remind jurisdictions every year that whether it's 2" or 12" of snow, they both cause the roads to be slick, and in both instances, something needs to be put one the roads to allow people the safely drive them. If there's evidence of moisture on the roads and it's below freezing, you've gotta treat. Period. If the pavements is warm and melting everything, and even drying with traffic, then fine - leave them be. But that was not the case with this storm, nor with most storms that fall overnight... we just don't have enough traffic on our roads to

I digress.

The sun did at least come out a bit, today, and helped with some of the pavement areas (roads) fully melting and even drying. But then is snowed some more. And I'm guessing, as it gets later and colder with no sun beating down, some of those melted areas will ice over nicely if there's still moisture left on them. So it might be a fun drive, again, tomorrow. But at least it's pretty to gawk at.

The Mouse

I'm not going to say I grew up a sheltered life, but I was lucky enough to almost always live in a new house. Not just 'new to us', but actually 'new', as in, we watched it get built. I didn't know about living in old houses, and what comes with living in an old house, until I moved in with Eric into his 100+yr-old house.

Recently, I discovered a true negative to the old house, with the creaks and slanted floors and drafty windows... the ability for vermin to get in (especially when it gets cold outside). A mouse. I've never seen a 'wild' mouse before. At first, I didn't know what I saw. It was a blur across the floor, and I jumped. Eric shrugged it of and said, "yeah.. I thought I saw a mouse earlier, too. If you think you saw one, then you did." About this time, he darted again, this time a little too close to comfort for me (still halfway across the room, mind you). I screamed this time, and curled up into a frantic ball. Eric just laughed at me. But he finally humored me and got up to see if the mouse was hiding behind a foot stool, and thought it was gone. I was still on edge. Then I saw it again, and by this time, I'm freaking out so much I'm near tears! And I have no idea why it freaked me out so much - I just never had a mouse in my house. I felt so... violated!

We didn't see him again and, in fact, Eric was convinced it left the house, since it warmed up a bit, again. Then, I came home to find what I thought was to be a perfectly fine loaf of bread in the garbage. I just assumed it was Eric being Eric about bread - he throws it out when it's just close to the expiration date. But then he told me he thought a mouse got to it. Uh oh.

Now, we are not dirty people, by any means. We have some clutter, just like anyone, but I'm OCD about dishes in the sink or leaving any plates around, let alone food out. So this really kind of got to me... where did this little sh*t come from and why our house??

Other than putting EVERYTHING in the fridge or high cabinet, we didn't change anything about our routine, at this point. We had no idea where he was 'living' and where to try to trap him. Then last weekend, I was cooking standing at the sink, washing a plate off, when I swear I felt something scurry past my toes along the kickboard. I looked and saw nothing... but was now on high alert. About 10 minutes later, I see him scurry under the fridge. And I saw him, in full mouse view, this time. For some reason, truly seeing him and just not a blur made me ready to mouse hunt... I was going to get the sucker. Or so I hoped/thought. I texted Eric and told him to bring home traps. In the meantime, I stood guard so he couldn't get out from under the fridge.

Oh, and he tried! He's poke his little head out, and I'd jump at him, knowing it would only scare him and there was no way I'd catch him by doing that. We played this game until Eric got home. He threw out a couple of the sticky traps on either side of the fridge and we left the kitchen.

Alas, no mouse. He was too smart for that. So we positioned the two traps a little better around the kitchen in hopes he's get stuck overnight. But again, no mouse. So I looked up some mouse traps online and found a simple and seemingly effective (and humane) trap. Put some peanut butter on the inside, bottom of a small glass, balance it upside down, with one side of the rim on a nickel, and let the heavy, easily off-balance glass do the work. I set up my trap (even with the sticky traps still out) and waited. I thought surely he's knock this over within a day.

A few days later (Friday), and the glass was unmoved. But wait... I looked a little closer. The peanut butter was GONE and the nickel was rotated 90 degrees so it couldn't roll with the weight of the glass. WTH?? Did this mouse take physics??

Yesterday, I was in the living room and heard a noise in my fish tank cabinet. I knew it had to be the mouse. Either that, or one of the fish got out. So I briskly opened the cabinet... but didn't see him. I shuffled stuff around, but still no mouse. An hour or so later, I heard the noise again. I ran over and opened the door, and there it was, just sitting in the cabinet. It darted out the back (there's no back on these cabinets) and I ran to get one of the sticky traps. but again, no luck. So I proceeds to investigate what he had found in the fish tank cabinet. Wow... the little sh*t found old fish food I had long forgotten about. So that was quickly removed and put in the trash. Now he had nothing to go after there.

Then I heard a noise behind the couch... where I was sitting. This freaked me out a bit because I couldn't see it... hopefully, it was just the same mouse. And just a mouse. So I cautiously looked over the back to see a bag of candy that had fallen back there some how... it definitely matched the crinkling sound.

I should mention that every time I removed a food source, I'd hear the mouse, again, in the same vicinity, squeaking up a storm. I think I was pissing it off.

That was the last straw. Eric decided it was time for the old school snap traps. I told him I didn't want to know where he set it, and it couldn't be anywhere I'd see it before him (so he could check it). Basically, there was no way I'd be able to see the dead mouse in the trap. So he set it before we went to bed last night

This morning, Eric woke me up by nudging me and tell me the mouse is dead. He was all excited because he heard it go off just a few minutes earlier, and continued to go into detail of what the whole thing sounded like. I tried to get him to stop - I didn't want to know. I just asked him to please make it all go away before I came downstairs. And he did.

So now comes the fun task of complete disinfection. That's been fun today... and gross, because the damn mouse left a trail of where he'd been. I've cleaned out the fish tank cabinet and all the counters in the kitchen (we had done the floors after the first round with this damn mouse). But I think I might have to go a second round of cleaning here shortly, for my own sanity. Here's hoping that is was, indeed, just one mouse. I really hope the next time I see a blur, it's my mind playing tricks on me.

New York, New York!

This time last week, I never thought I would have just gotten back from a trip to New York City. But I did... late last night. Seriously.

Friday morning, Eric went into work a little early to knock our something before the normal bustle of his office started. I get a call right before I get in the shower, him telling me to stop by his office on my way in because he had a surprise. All I could think was, "What is he up to?"

I didn't rush through my normal routine and when I stopped by, I was only slightly surprised when he told me he found cheap flights to NYC, using his Delta Skymiles. We had been talking about going so we could do the Brooklyn Makers Tour, though we had talked about NOT traveling over the upcoming weekend. But he was determined, hence, the only slight surprise to me. So I agreed - let's go do this. He booked the flights and I told him I'd look at hotels and a car service when I got into work. Somehow, this last minute trip all came together, quite easily.

So Friday at 6pm, we were on a direct flight to LGA. And we were in the heart of NYC by 9pm. We got to the hotel, checked in, and decided to just grab food there instead of wandering. We stayed just off of Times Square in the Hilton. It was a surprisingly good deal and, quite frankly, you can't beat the location, as one of the larger MTA Subway hubs is right there. After we ate, we decided the brave Times Square, itself, just so we could say we did do it... we only did a lap, and even in a drizzly rain, it was still packed!

Saturday morning, we woke up without an alarm (always awesome, in my mind), grabbed breakfast at the hotel, and decided to check off a few items on our list of places to go before we headed over to Brooklyn. Believe it or not, these were shopping destinations of Eric's choosing. Stuff we don't have in Indy... I think Eric misses his travelling more that he likes to admit. But we also found one of the many small parks throughout Manhattan, Bryant Park. Eric's determined to make the small park on Mass Ave cooler, so he ate up this little find. Granted, we can't do a skating rink, but there were some other cool ideas in the park.

From there, it was back to hotel, briefly, and then on to the subway to head over to Brooklyn. We routed it out, based on what the Made in Brooklyn Tours company website suggested, and had no problem getting to where we need to be, despite the dreary, drizzly rain. It was a little chilly, but not at the freezing level. I still knew we'd be cold and wetter than we'd like to be by the end. Yet, I was still looking forward to it. We started at a little coffee shop located in a building that, historically, used to roast coffee. And that first tidbit of the tour confirmed this was going to be a good tour, even if we would be walking all over Brooklyn in the rain.

The tour guide, Dom, made the tour spectacular. He was born and raised in Brooklyn and knew all sorts of cool tidbits of information. We only went on one of the many offered (Made in Williamsburg), but I would imagine if you did multiple, you'd never get bored. Seriously. We visited an ice cream place that has crazy flavors (there was bacon in one of the flavors... literally), and artists' sketchbook library, a chocolate shop, a cheese shop, jewelry store, and a bagel shop. Not only did he have stories about the places we stopped, but also all sorts of history tidbits as we walked. It was really cool. I highly recommend you check out one of their tours if you're ever in NYC. Their page is linked above, in italics.

After it was done, Eric and I decided to hop a bus to another part of Brooklyn and tour a little more on our own. We essentially ended up in the area under the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. First, we found the Brooklyn Roasting Company, thinking it would be a good place to warm up. And it was. Coffee was excellent and I even bought some to bring back with me. We then decided to do an early dinner at Grimaldi's Pizzeria 'under' the Brooklyn Bridge. And after that, we decided it was time to head back to Manhattan. As we walked to the nearest subway station, we came across a Brooklyn Industries store. This was right up Eric's alley with his involvement with the Pattern Store. I just loved the stuff they had - kind of wish we had found it earlier. We both ended up finding things we like there to buy. Not that it's hard for me to find something I like...

Once we got back to our hotel, we warmed up just enough to take another 'hike', this time down to Tavern on Third. "Why?" you might ask? Well, I found out from a fellow alumni that spotted my Auburn hat at breakfast that this was the official NYC Auburn Alumni watch party location. So of course I had to check it out. Eric was a good sport about it, too... even if when we got there, we found more than we bargained for. It was PACKED! Wall to wall Auburn people, cheering on the game on the 32 TV's throughout. It was standing room only, and with us being on our feet all day, we knew we couldn't make it though the whole game on our feet. So, even though it bummed me out a little, we went back to the hotel for the second half of the game. Found some alumni and fans there, too. In fact, I was a bit blown away by how much Auburn apparel I saw all weekend. Gotta love Auburn pride.

Sunday morning we woke up knowing two things. One, we had until noon to be out of the hotel, and until 5pm before we were actually picked up by our car and two, we had unknowingly came to New York on the weekend of the NYC Marathon, which was Sunday. The later at least explained why our rate went up the second night... but the good news was that it all stayed north of where we were (came no further south than Central Park) and in the other boroughs. So for what we wanted to do, there was no issue. It just kept one thing off my desired 'to-do' list, and that was to stroll through Central Park for a bit. But it was going to be crazy with the marathon finishing there, so we nixed that idea quickly. Instead, we did some more shopping and wandering. Again, mostly Eric's chosen shops. I got him to go to Macy's to see the wooden escalators... which I still think are just so cool.

We ended up by the Flatiron building, and another little park, coincidentally. I don't think I realized how many little parks there really were throughout NYC. Plus, they made much of Broadway a pedestrian plaza. This was a very nice change from last time... a lot more walking room through the busy areas. And it just looked nicer! We took a brief pause in our shopping and touring to go check out of the hotel and store our bags, and then we were off again, this time to the Highline to walk to new north end of it that had just opened. There were some cold, blustery winds blowing across the Highline since it was so close to the water - the new leg even skirts over right next to the water! It was sunny, at least. And I'm still glad we checked it out. We hit another few shops and then decided to grab a late lunch/early dinner before going back to the hotel and wait for the car to pick us up.

We were both feeling (are still feeling) the pains of walking around for two days. But it was worth it. It turned out to be a spectacular weekend trip. I never would've gone to Brooklyn without this tour being a reason for me to cross the East River - I just didn't think there was anything worth seeing over there. But it was really cool... Brooklyn's pretty cool. And just getting to see more of NYC after our very brief visit back in July... will always love that. I think I will just always love New York City and exploring what else it has to offer. No trip has been the same, yet, nor do I think any trip will be the same... unless I want it to be the same, that is. But why would I want that?