All posts in holidays

In Camera Heaven!

by Erin on December 14, 2010 in holidays, photography with Comments Off

For Christmas this year, I asked for a DSLR camera. I had one eons ago—a 2MP one at that!—that I adored and took a huge amount of photos with. Over the years I’ve had numerous point-and-shoot cameras. From cheap Kodak Easyshares to more expensive Olympus models. Currently I own a Sony Cyber-shot and an Olympus SP560UZ. But this Christmas, I wanted a DSLR. I wanted a Canon Rebel. I’ve been lusting over this camera for ages. Never could justify, but honestly, the lust outweighed the cost in the end.

I’m still learning the ropes and what settings to use for what. Some photos come out blurry as all heck because I’ve touched a setting I shouldn’t have. I am currently trying to learn how to take the best Christmas tree photos. So far, this is what I’ve come up with:

And here is one of our new ornaments that I think is great:

And finally, I wanted to try my hand at a bokeh photo:

I don’t think it’s too bad for a first try. They do say to have a darker background so the lights will pop… I’ll try again tonight!

Also, many thanks to The Pioneer Woman for her Boost action. Love it!

So as Christmas draws near (uhm, hello, 11 days away!! And that’s for Christmas day—we’re seeing family the 23rd and the 24th. So only 9 and 10 days away!) I’m definitely going to be taking more photos. (Especially since the house will be cleaned for the holiday!)

Hershey Park or Bust(ed)

by Erin on November 30, 2010 in holidays with Comments Off

The weekend before Thanksgiving we went to Christmas in Hershey for the first time ever. It was fantastic. We haven’t been to Hershey in about 5 or 6 years and have never gone for the Christmas/Winter celebration. They had lights EVERYWHERE. (Of course, I didn’t take my good—brand new—camera so the pictures are just so-so.) We went to the preview Friday night which was nice because it was pretty empty. But cold. Really cold. Freeze-your-butt-off cold, especially if you forget and sit down on one of the metal benches. :/ The kiddo and the other kids loved going on all the rides. The coasters are all closed, so it’s really, in my opinion, more for younger kids—maybe up til 13ish—since a lot of the bigger rides are shut down. There are a few there and if you like to look at the lights and all that stuff, it’s worth it, but there are certainly more rides opened for the younger ones. After about 3 hours of freezing and walking, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We ate at Fuddruckers for the first time. I, personally, wasn’t impressed. I had a chicken sandwich and fries. The fries were super spicy, which I don’t care for. The husband had one of the hamburgers and said it was really good. But honestly, nothing to write home about. So after that we headed back to the hotel. And that’s when I knew I was in trouble. The husband was going to play cards so the kiddo and I got ready for bed. We both got in and watched TV for a bit. I got up to shut the heat off and I knew it. I knew I did something to my back. I normally have lower back pain and it comes and goes, but this was different. It was stiffer quicker and more painfully. I thought a good night sleep would fix me up though.

Wrong. Saturday I woke up in agony. I got in the shower hoping the hot water would help, only, I couldn’t get my right leg out of the shower when I was done. I had to ask the husband to help me get out of the shower! Ugh. Of course I didn’t want to miss anything that day so I worked through the pain and got us ready and off we went to breakfast and the park. We spent a good portion of the day there and headed back to the hotel about 6ish to go to dinner at 8. The pain was unbelievably bad at this point and walking to the restaurant (and in!) was excruciating.

Sunday wasn’t much better, but luckily we were just doing breakfast, the Trolley Ride and the Chocolate World tour. The Trolley ride/tour was really cute and I highly recommend it if you go at Christmas. We’ve never done that, not even when we were younger, and it was a real treat. The Chocolate World tour we’ve done before, but the kiddo didn’t remember it, so he loved smelling and seeing all the chocolate. His “prize” for being so good on the tour was “the largest Hershey Kiss we can find” when we get off the tour. And that we did:

We then saw Santa and then headed home. I was sooo happy to be on our way. All I wanted to do was get home and relax and try to deal with the pain. The ride home was a bit brutal at times.

It’s now been a week and one day and I still have back pain. :/ It’s a 1000 times better, but not 100% back to normal. I can bend and I can walk. It’s better than nothing, which is where I was a week ago. ;)

How did we get to 52 days til Christmas?

by Erin on November 3, 2010 in holidays with 2 Comments

Imagine my horrified surprise when I went to eBay to look for something and right smack dab at the top it says, “52 Days.” Whoa. I thought I was doing better than that! I thought I had more time.

Now it’s time to scramble and finish various gifts I started and finish the lists for people I don’t know what to get and come up with ideas for others that want to get the kiddo something.

The only positive is that I’ve actually got all the teachers done already! No more last minute on that end. ;)

When Cocoa Disappoints

by Erin on October 13, 2010 in food, geekness, holidays with Comments Off

So, not the best photo, but I used the iphone and an app called camera+. Anywho… I saw this stuff last year at Home Goods and then again this year and since I’m all for things that contain pumpkin spice, I couldn’t resist again. BIG mistake. I can’t even say exactly what kind of flavor it is. It’s definitely chocolaty-cocoa, but I don’t know where the pumpkin spice is. There was something added to it, but not pumpkin spice. Not even pumpkin. Even when it was still in the container, before it met my hot milk, there was an off smell. The stuff is good until 2012 and when you pop the circle top off the can there is an inner foil seal that you have to break. So the stuff was “good” in that it was fresh. Wasn’t so good on the taste buds.

At least I now have a tin with a pop top like the old International Coffee tins (I think it was International Coffee). I remember we use to keep the Lite Brite pieces inside of one. Ah, memories. :)

Vampire Obsession

by Erin on October 8, 2010 in geekness, holidays with Comments Off

Photo by JLplusAL

I know I’ve written about my vampire obsession before. I just can’t help myself, especially around this time of year; my only favoritest time of year.

The kiddo isn’t big on Halloween costumes, but normally (ok, for the past 5 years) he’s some sort of Star Wars character. We’ve been Boba Fett, Jango Fett, Darth Vader, Obi Wan and a storm trooper. Yeah, that’s a LOT of Star Wars.

But this year, THIS YEAR, he’s going to be a vampire! Muahahahahaha. Ok, so he really didn’t pick it out himself—it was more “Well, you could be a vampire and just wear a cape!” But still… a win is a win, right?

I’ve also started back into The Black Dagger Brotherhood. I’m picking up on book 6, Lover Enshrined. There is just something so fantastic about big, beefy vampires ruling and fighting for their own kind. Don’t get me wrong, Edward Cullen still rocks my socks, Eric Northman is beyond sexy and Damon Salvatore could turn me any day, but the way JR Ward makes The Brotherhood so protective and gentle (when they need to be), it’s just beyond sexy. It makes me glad I have the nook because I can keep the entire collection with me all the time.

V”"V –night!