I Suck At Apple Picking

Today, Karen, our eighteen month old daughter (Briana) and I headed North. What's north? Well, if you are my BFF (Kerry)... apples... lots and lots of apples. Kerry was kind enough to organize a trip to go apple picking.

Unfortunately, I suck at apple picking. Among my finer memories of apple picking are the hour wait in line at Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stowe for a single bag of cider donuts. (And no, the wait was not worth it.) And of course, who could forget the blazing car on the highway that same day. By blazing, I don't mean the car was going at a fast speed. I mean the car was literally on fire. It was awesome.

Anyway, Kerry organized the trip to go to the Brooksby Farm located in Peabody, which was where we went last year. This time, joining us for the trip were my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea). Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, we actually decided against picking apples in the wet muddy orchards. We did, however, still go to the local store at the farm.

Andrea was a riot at the Brooksby Farm store. For anyone who has never been there, there are live animals there. It is a farm after all. There are llamas, emus, chickens, and pigs. Needless to say, the pigs... stink. Andrea was so grossed out by the smell of the pigs... or to be technical... the manure that the pigs seemed to be so comfortable around. She was so grossed out that she didn't think she could ever own a pet... or have a baby. I thought that was funny.

It turns out that the Brooksby Farm is actually quite close to where I work in Danvers. I only know this because after going to the farm, we headed to the local Target, which was at the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers. So next time I'm craving a bag full of apples, I can always stop on the way home from work.

Following Brooksby Farm and Target, all of us headed back to Kerry's in Salem where we had lunch at King's. For anyone curious, King's was delicious. I had their "Super Beef". Yum! And let me tell you, it is big... super even. I was also impressed with their chicken fingers. Those were good too.

All in all, it was a great day. Thank you BFF for planning a fun day. It was good to just hang out with friends.

I Suck At Drinking Apple Juice

Tonight, I got to spend some quality father/daughter bonding time with my fifteen month old daughter (Briana). Karen was having a girls night out. I think she's been looking forward to having a girls night out for some time. Plus, I'm a believer that people need individual time now and then. So I was thrilled that she was able to go out and enjoy a night on her own.

Anyway while she was out, I got to have Briana all to myself which is something I don't get to do normally. I'm not sure if I remember the last time I had Briana all to myself. It may have been shortly after she was born in which I took a week off to take care of her. She was such a peanut then. (Well, she's a peanut now.) Back then, she would just fall asleep in your arms.

Needless to say, Briana was definitely good tonight. Lately, Briana has been awful going to bed. Briana's recent routine reminds me of my niece (Kaleigh) who used to always cry "I'm not tired" whenever she had to go to bed. And yes, Kaleigh was tired when she went to bed. Similarly, Briana has started to cling on for dear life whenever Karen or I have put her to bed recently. It's definitely tough when your daughter has a stranglehold around your neck while you put her down.

But not tonight. Tonight, she went down like an angel. She did not even whimper. It was definitely a nice change from the stranglehold. So in celebration, I went wild and polished off the bottle of apple juice in the refrigerator. Yes, I suck at drinking apple juice.

Interestingly enough, that bottle of apple juice was free complements of Stop and Shop. I purchased the bottle last week for Briana while she was feverish and in need of fluids due to her reaction to her vaccination. Making sure the apple juice did not contain high fructose corn syrup, I purchased the bottle.

For anyone curious, I try to avoid foods with high fructose corn syrup as much as I can. My achille's heel, however, is soda. I think soda must be laced with nicotine or something because it just tastes so darn good and keeps you wanting more. Damn you soda for tasting so good. Some day, I'll break the habit. Some day!

Anyway, the bottle of apple juice rang up incorrectly. I debated about going to customer service because the difference was only twenty cents. As it turned out, it was a good thing that I did because they gave me the entire bottle for free. I had figured that they would refund the difference or something. But nope, free!

Needless to say, that bottle of apple juice tasted great as I drank its last drops. Yum! It was a good way to end the night.

I Suck At Apple Bread

Today, Karen had a day out with a bunch of her friends. She was meeting her friends for a late breakfast/early lunch and taking our baby daughter (Briana) with her. So naturally, that left me by my lonesome.

So what is a person to do with some free time? Well, if you were me, you would have gone grocery shopping, done a few chores, and make apple bread. The problem: I suck at apple bread.

Having gone apple picking the day before with my BFF (Kerry), Karen and I thought it would be nice to make apple bread. And as it turned out, we had a recipe from our friend (Kelley) who makes great apple bread. Truth be told, I think Kelley makes great baked goods. I absolutely love her chocolate chips. I love her banana bread with and without chocolate. Kelley is a scientist, so it probably makes sense that she is precise when baking.

Me, on the other hand... not so good at baking. Don't get me wrong. I can do it. I just don't like it as much as cooking. For me, baking seems to require a lot more cleanup than cooking. And until Briana can start washing dishes, I like to try to limit the amount of things I have to wash.

Sure, it's lazy, but if you saw me today you'd probably understand. I had flour everywhere. There was flour all over the stove. There was flour all over the floor. My little compost container was full of apple peels and broken egg shells. There was oil and remnants of other spices on the counter. There was apple bread batter on the counter. It was not a pretty sight.

Eventually, I got around to baking the apple bread. It seems to taste okay so far. Of course, I only ate a small piece of apple bread when it was done. I probably could have eaten more, but we had other plans coming up for the rest of the day.

Those plans involved going to Karen's parents for dinner. Karen's parents were kind enough to invite us over for dinner. Sure, it was the second day in a row that we would be seeing them. And sure, it was rather spontaneous because Karen's parents had called us in the morning to see if we were available. But all in all, it was great especially since Karen and I did not know what we were going to make for dinner today.

For anyone curious, it turns out that Briana loves this Fisher Price turtle that my in-laws have. The turtle has a see-through shell with balls in it. When the top of the shell is pressed, the balls spin around and there are flashy lights and a little tune plays. Briana absolutely loves this turtle. She must take after her daddy in being attracted to shiny things. Who knew?

All in all, it was a good time.

And if anyone is still curious about my movie addiction, yes I have watched a third movie during the HBO/Cinemax free trial provided by Verizon within as many days. Three straight days. Sad.

The movie today was Drag Me to Hell.

(The video below is a trailer for Drag Me to Hell.)


The horror film is about a loan officer who gets cursed by a gypsy when she refuses to extend the gypsy's loan. The movie had some screen-framing camera shot trademarks of director Sam Raimi's other movies, like the Evil Dead series. The movie was okay. As far as horror films go, the film was not that scary at all. Plus, the movie had a very predictable ending. But all in all, it was entertaining.

I Suck At Apple Picking

Yesterday was a pretty fun day as Karen, our baby daughter (Briana), and I went apple picking. Too bad I suck at apple picking.

Luckily for me, I have a BFF (Kerry) who organized the plans for picking apples. Originally, the people available to pick apples yesterday were Karen, Briana, Kerry, myself and my friends (Marc and Kelley). Unfortunately, Marc and Kelley had to back out that morning as each came down with a sickness. I wonder if they have been hanging out with my friend (Hot Amy) too much, because Hot Amy is always sick. I'm just kidding.

Needless to say, it was just going to be Karen, Briana, Kerry and I picking apples. We ended up going to the Brooksby Farm in Peabody. The place is a quick drive from Kerry as she lives in neighboring Salem.

Anyway, the place was very nice. Although Kerry has never been to the apple orchards there, she mentioned that the farm was owned by the city of Peabody. There's a lot to love about Peabody. I'm just kidding.

The orchards, however, are nice. The place was not that crowded, at least not when we went late morning. There was plenty of parking. We didn't have to pay to get into the orchard like that ripoff, the Marino Lookout Farm. There was no hour wait for apple cider donuts like at the Honey Pot Hill Orchards. (And for anyone curious, the apple cider donuts at Brooksby were much better. They were delicious!)

Last year, a bunch of us went to the Honey Pot Hill Orchards for apple picking. On our way back, we saw a car literally in flames. We could feel the heat as we drove past the car. It was that crazy. Yeah, well this year: no car on fire... always a good sign.

I had a good time at Brooksby and I'd say their prices were very reasonable. In addition to the apples, the farm has a store with... apple cider donuts... other farm-grown vegetables, pumpkins, etc. The place even has animals for people to "feed at their own risk". The animals consisted of pigs, sheep, turkeys, chickens, emus, and llamas (or alpacas)... oh my!

It was definitely a good place to go apple picking. Following the trip to the farm, we ended up having lunch together back at Kerry's before grabbing some ice cream up the street from her at a place called Treadwell's. The ice cream was good, but I would still say that Kimball's in Westford is my top choice for ice cream.

As a random side note, our friends (Renee and Jeff) who live in nearby Lynn happened to have been driving down the street when we were walking to Treadwell's. It was a bizarre coincidence. Apparently, Jeff had recognized us, which led to Renee calling Karen's cell phone to inquire if indeed that was us walking down the street.

Regardless, the ice cream was a good way to end the day. Al in all, it was definitely a great day. And really, how could it not since we were spending it with my BFF? Speaking of whom, we thought Kerry should write a book about grilled cheeses because... well... she is a grilled cheese aficionado. Karen added the part that Kerry could rate grilled cheese sandwiches at various restaurants by slices of cheese.

I don't think Kerry was going for it though. That was just one of the various topics of discussion. Among the other topics was whether it was worse to not vote or to vote ignorantly. Both are pretty terrible options in my opinion. I suppose from a purely ideological point of view, not voting is worse because you are not exercising your freedom to vote. At the same time, if you are ignorantly voting then your vote has more potential to do greater harm to everyone.

Naturally, that led to a discussion of politics and well... discussions of politics are never good, especially when the parties involved include someone who works for the government and someone who thinks the system is highly flawed and inefficient. I happen to be the latter.

On the lighter side, Kerry did joke about how my high school memory is better than my real life memory. Perhaps that is why I enjoy high school movies so much. That whole topic of conversation was a result of our discussion of someone we knew in high school who currently is engaged to an actress.

From there, I ranted about our high school boys volleyball team because that person was on the boys volleyball team. My main gripe was that after every volleyball match, all I ever heard from every single player on the team was how they should have won the game. For anyone curious, when I was in high school the boys volleyball team was absolutely terrible. I'm not sure they won any games all year, yet after every match I heard the same thing about how they should have won.

Kerry was impressed that I could rattle off the names of so many people on the boys volleyball team. (Hence, her joke about how my high school memory was better than my real life memory.) Truthfully, I could rattle off so many names because all I ever heard after every losing match from different members on the volleyball team was how they should have won. It was so annoying at the time. Heck, it's still annoying.

Anyway, Karen and I made a brief pit stop on our way home from Kerry's after apple picking. We stopped by Karen's parents to drop off a few apples as well as get Briana used to seeing my in-laws. With Briana's separation anxiety, we were hoping that she would get used to seeing other people now and then who were not named "mommy" or "daddy".

From there, we headed home whereby I ended up watching another movie while everyone else went to bed. That movie happened to be Sherlock Holmes.

(The video below is a trailer for Sherlock Holmes.)


The movie was okay. Obviously, the film left open the opportunity for a sequel. All in all it was entertaining.

I Suck At The Apple Store

last night, karen and i decided to go out for dinner. we ended up going to bertucci's in hingham (at the derby shoppes). (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) bertucci's pizza is so good. i do thoroughly enjoy the pizza there.

anyway, following dinner we decided to take a little stroll around the derby shoppes. with my friend's (meredith) upcoming wedding this fourth of july weekend, karen figured she'd browse around for some dresses. she actually had purchased a dress the day before with my friend (kelley). but, i guess in an effort to keep her options open, karen decided to look around some more at dresses... just in case. (i believe this is what is called... a woman's prerogative.)

while we were walking around the derby shoppes, we ran into my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and her friend (gretchen). janine and gretchen were on their way to the apple store because gretchen was ready to make a big purchase: a new computer. thus, karen and i tagged along.

now, i suck at the apple store. truth be told, i have never purchased a computer from the apple store. it's not that i dislike apple computers. quite the contrary, i think apple computers are great. in terms of quality and ease of use, apple computers are very good. perhaps that is why their computers are also costlier.

given the choice between microsoft and apple, i would go with apple. (justin long fans unite! just kidding.) before anyone starts accusing me of being pro-apple (or pro-justin long)... i'm actually not. i just happen to have a huge dislike for microsoft because microsoft's software is proprietary and generally full of bugs. (hence, you'll notice that a computer using a microsoft operating system... left on its own... will need to be routinely rebooted.)

interestingly enough, our computers at work are setup to use microsoft applications. (i have no say on our architecture at work.) so unfortunately, i'm stuck using "the evil empire" for the time being.

anyway, gretchen was quite nervous about purchasing her computer. apparently, she gets very nervous with large purchases. so, i can only imagine how she must have felt when she purchased her condo in hingham.

as it turns out, teachers get a discount the apple store. and luckily for gretchen, she is a teacher in the hingham school system. it also turns out that if she were to purchase a new computer, she would be receiving a free apple itouch and a $100 discount off a printer. not bad for a deal. plus, she would be purchasing the computer just in time before the big 25% sales tax hike next month in massachusetts. (truth be told, i think gretchen was more about the free apple itouch than the new computer itself.)

all in all, it was an interesting time at the apple store. we were actually in the apple store for quite some time because there was a long wait... with very little employees around to offer assistance. i find the way the apple store functions in terms of its inventory and employees... a little bit bizarre, but that's just me. for instance, the store did not know if it would ever get a particular piece of inventory in because... they just don't know what will arrive or when a piece of merchandise will come in... if it even does. that just seemed odd to me.

nevertheless, it was fun to hang out with janine and gretchen. incidentally, i think gretchen wants to meet men with all of our other single female friends now. she seemed quite interested in one of the apple employees... which was interesting because not too long ago, there was a report that the apple store was a good place to meet men.

I Suck At Making Apple Crisp

yesterday, i did something that i hardly ever do... bake.

my friend (hot amy) asked if i would be willing to make some apple crisp. apparently, hot amy is a big fan of apple crisp... and really, what is there not to like about all that sugary goodness? too bad i suck at making apple crisp.

anyway, hot amy was finally making the mac 'n cheese meal that was wagered during my billiards challenge back in august. for anyone curious, that was the challenge where i had to compete against her champion (carlos) in a game of billiards. i don't think carlos got anything out of the deal, other than the $150 that i paid him to lose. just kidding.

needless to say, hot amy thought the apple crisp would go well with the mac 'n cheese meal. out of the kindness of my heart, i figured making the apple crisp is the least i could do... since she is genetically predisposed to losing wagers. (perhaps my guilt of constantly winning is finally getting to me.)

i have never made apple crisp. surprisingly, the apple crisp was not that hard to make. the hardest part (aside from finding a recipe that sounded good) is peeling the apples. the recipe i used is called "olga's giant apple crisp" and it comes from emeril lagasse... bam!

(pictured below is hot amy with a bowl of apple crisp.)


anyway, i think everyone (hot amy, hot amy's parents, karen and i) enjoyed the apple crisp. little did hot amy know, i placed laxatives in the apple crisp so that she would lose at the upcoming wii bowling wager that night. just kidding.

if anyone is curious, hot amy makes good mac 'n cheese. the mac n' cheese was worth the five month wait. although i suppose if you asked her dad, the mac 'n cheese was just ok. her father likes mac 'n cheese with a little more cheese. (also for anyone curious, hot amy's father... very good at wii bowling. i got a little sensei-student training in the ways of wii bowling while karen and hot amy worked on their upcoming course that they are teaching at simmons.)

needless to say, the mac 'n cheese meal and the wii bowling training were great. i hope everyone liked the apple crisp too.

I Suck At Meeting Men

i suck at meeting men... which is a good thing because i'm not attracted to men (okay, sure i may have the occasional man-crush but that's beside the point). i have a lot of female friends who are single. so, there will be times where i'll be asked how come its so hard to find a good single guy and all that good stuff. (personally, i think my single female friends have a laundry list of expectations that are too high... not that they should "settle" but i think they rule out a lot of men before even giving them a try).

anyway, after making some tea for karen (which i'll blog about later), i got on the computer and discovered an interesting article from cosmo. (i don't normally read cosmo, there just happened to be a link on yahoo to the article). according to cosmo, one of the best places to meet a guy is: the apple store! yay apple! (it's just another reason to dislike microsoft)

"The draw: Most guys are natural gadget lovers, and with sales of iPods and MacBooks skyrocketing, more men than ever are stopping by Apple boutiques. The vibe at the stores is conducive to man meeting too: You can check your email among cuties, take a free workshop on anything from Photoshop to podcasting (a great opportunity to strike up a conversation), or just survey the, ahem, good-looking merchandise."

naturally, this got me thinking that my original suggestion to my friend (kerry) about going to a geek star trek conference could pay dividends for her.