What is This World Coming To?

This is a picture of my husband taking a picture to send to @ChaunceyCC via the twitter, that I took to prove some point about it being ridiculous, which caused me to learn that I am in fact ridiculous.

HAVE A LUSTY HOLIDAY...

This year's holiday card was a hit.



Happy Holidays blog readers!

There Was a Week in November...

I've been a blog slacker for awhile, and I was going through the photos that are starting to fill up my phone, and I decided it's time to throw a few out there. I'll start with my arena rock week in November.

On Tuesday, I saw Katy Perry... I went with my girlfriend Tracey and it was awesome!
Friday of the same week, Sean and I went to "Watch the Throne" on a pretty bad ass hook up... Seeing Kanye and Jay Z was amazing. It's definitely near the top of my list of the greatest arena performances I've ever seen. So much pyro! So many video screens! So many lasers!

As if this wasn't enough, the very next night, we headed to see Sebastian Bach and, yes, GUNS-N-ROSES! Say what you will about it not REALLY being Guns-n-Roses, or what you want about Axl Rose, I cannot hear it or be affected by it! I love that crazy, eccentric maniac. And he's not kidding when he says "When the time is right... the stage will ignite". He didn't come out until well after midnight, and there was so much pyro, the stage did indeed ignite. Haha. A wonderful friend of ours works for GNR and I had the BEST view of Sebastian Bach's set... For GNR's set, we had to move to a safer location in front of the stage, to not get burned by all that pyro! I was so enthralled by Axl I forgot to snap a picture! Boo! Guns-n-Roses was my first concert EVER so there was a lot of nostalgia for me, and Axl Rose really does still sound AMAZING. He hit every note. The band is a little over the top ridiculous, but I suppose that's what they're getting paid for, and they sound great, so what if they look stupid? Haha. Thanks to Armond Butts Crump III for making all of my Guns-N-Roses dreams come true.

The Final Product...

Labeled and ready to go! Some of our favorite friends will be getting gift honey for Christmas, and all other bottles are for sale. Need some raw local honey? Get at me! $5.00 per 1/2lb.

Sweet Success...

The honey is finally bottled. Our bees made us 70 jars! That's quite a haul for some first year beekeepers. We had an exciting and rewarding season as new beekeepers, and hope to have great success with the next challenge our bees are facing... living through the New England winter! Stay warm little buddies!

Jack-O-Lanterns...

Last night, Sean and I made these...
I haven't carved a pumpkin in so long! It was a lot of fun and they look so good on our porch, we may just do a couple more.

Ding!

How did the tall and handsome Joshua Morgan Holden win TWO inflatable monkeys? With help from this guy, of course... Try to contain your envy, ladies, that lusty Marlboro man is all mine!

So, Josh came up from NYC to visit us for the weekend, and after I heard that as a CT native, he had never been to the Big E, I felt it was my duty to drag him there. It was the hottest day of the fair, but we made the best of it, eating and drinking anything that got in our way.

As we wandered around the midway, the men in our group thought it'd be fun to test their strength. They paid the man... Sean had a turn... Josh had a turn... And everyone went home a winner! But not until after we rode this...

Highway Honey...

Last Saturday was our big honey harvest day! I suspected we were going to get something out of the hive even though it was our first year. However, I never expected to get as much as we did. I don't know where they got it, considering our close proximity to the highway, but, our bees collected enough nectar to make us 50 lbs. of honey! Go bees!

The harvesting process was tricky, sticky and fun. I think we did alright for first timers. Some pictures... After we stole the honey supers from the bees and secured them in the garage, we checked out the hive to make sure everything was good. That's me on the left and on the right, my Bee.F.F. Mike, helping me with the harvest. Everything was good with the bees, they didn't even seem to notice we robbed them! Sean would like everyone to know that he is NOT afraid of bees. Now we get that honey...Like a hot knife through, well, wax. Now all that's left is the bottling!

Feet...

Yesterday, Sean and I had to go to court (we're trying to collect back rent from some scumbag tenants who we evicted) and when you go to court, you spend a lot of time waiting for your case to be called. While we waited, and unbeknownst to me, Sean snapped this photo of our feet. He's all up on the instagram, and I haven't taken the plunge yet. So, I stole this picture from him because I thought it was really cute. Sometimes I can't even believe how queer I am.

Happy Birthday Bee...

We don't usually get a lot of bees up near the house, but occasionally they buzz by the windows close enough for me to be excited that they've come by to visit me. This morning, this little girl landed on my kitchen screen and hung out the entire time I had my breakfast. It's my birthday today, so I think she came by to wish me a happy one.

Philly Cheesesteak Challenge...

Sean and I spent this Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia. I had a tattoo appointment with Martin LaCasse at Olde City Tattoo to start my back piece on Sunday, (more on that some other time, as I'm not quite ready to relive the experience! Those of you with back/butt tattoos can sympathize I'm sure.) so we decided to enjoy a little Philly since we were going to be there anyway.

Needless to say, the day after I got tattooed I was not exactly feeling up for an action packed day of tourist activity. We decided to do one easy-ish activity and while choosing which one, we were hungry, so we went for the Philadelphia Tourist Cheesesteak Challenge! It seems everyone has an answer as to who has the best cheesesteak, Geno's or Pat's. Unless of course you ask a local because they'll always tell you neither. I wanted to decide for myself. We went in to the challenge knowing that nothing would beat the amazing cheesesteak we ate the night before (that's right, 3 cheesesteaks in 2 days! We're animals.). But, we had to see what the "beef" was all about.

We started at Pat's...

Mmmouth full... The sandwich looked great at Pat's, and I think you get some points for presentation. The meat was a little tough and the only flavor really coming through strong was the Whiz.

We immediately headed across the street to Geno's... Sean takes a bite...On first sight, the Geno's sandwich didn't look as good. I wasn't even sure if they remembered the Whiz... It was in there!
The meat was much more tender in the Geno's sandwich and had a little more flavor. So, for Monday's challenge, Geno's wins!

I think either place is going to be hit or miss depending on things like time of day, and who's working the stand. So maybe Pat's was just bad timing. Either way, I don't see how most people could even tell the difference enough to claim one is better than the other. And those who swear by one or the other are FOOLS. The best cheesesteaks in Philadelphia are everywhere BUT Pat's or Geno's.

The best cheesesteaks we've had in Philly so far were from Brownies Irish Pub. You want authentic, delicious, flavorful cheesesteak, get one there! You can even have a beer with it, and avoid the tourists toting their tribes of children to the trendy spots from TV.

Check them out here http://www.browniesirishpub.com/

Job Stopper...

Last night, I got my first finger tattoo! I've wanted it for a long time, and I'm so happy to finally have it. Now I just hope this whole tattoo machine building career thing works out. I'd hate to have to find decent work with this tattoo on my finger! Ha!
Thanks to Corey Scoolidge at Brass City Tattoo for the awesome mini tat. He used our new EST. inks! Check him out! http://coreyscoolidge.tumblr.com/

Sometimes Life Just Isn't Fair...

This is especially true today while I'm at work taking care of business all the while being inudated with news of a hurricane that's making it's way toward us, which will inevitably ruin my weekend and everything else in it's wake. (Is that a run-on sentence?) Anyway, while I'm doing that, my husband is doing THIS... Just enjoying a few days off from work... IN PARIS. Poor guy.

Who Likes Crab Arms?

THIS GIRL!
That's all for now.

Last Weekend's Tat Con...

We had a booth at the Art Riot tattoo convention in Boxborough, MA last weekend. My mother once told me that if you didn't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all.

But, I guess it wasn't all bad. Our friend Myke Chambers was our booth neighbor, so that was a plus. And our booth looked good. And the only other thing worth mentioning is that Katie and I took home some trophies... for being AWESOME!

Book Review "A Reliable Wife" by Robert Goolrick...

“This debut novel, set in the early 1900s, is a beautifully written psychological mystery, almost gothic at times. Advertising for 'a reliable wife,' Ralph Truitt, wealthy businessman, gets more than he realizes when Catherine Land steps off the train. Secrets on top of secrets, all revealed in Goolrick's lyrical prose in this a beautiful examination of love and regret.”
-- Leslie Reiner, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL

And my review...
Eh. For all the twists and treacherous cunning this novel was still boring. None of the characters are very likeable, and maybe that's the point. We're all flawed? I don't know if that's what Goolrick was getting at, but these characters are all seriously damaged. There are so many awful things that happen in the current day where the book is taking place and in the character's pasts, that it's hard to read this book and put it down feeling good. Even though the ending is happy... sort of.

I couldn't recommend you read it and feel good about doing so.

My book club meets to discuss this book at the end of the month. I unfortunately will not be able to attend, because, that's right, I'm getting my back tattooed!!!!

Dinner...

This is how we do "healthy" Mexican at our house.

Carnival Time...

I love the first weekend of August every year because that's when they put THIS...
in our back yard!

I took this picture last night and this morning there were already more rides back there, including a ferris wheel and one of my favorites, the Tilt-a-Whirl. It's so fun watching the carnival go up, and there's nothing like watching a carnie take a pee in the woods behind your house while you have your morning coffee!

How Sweet It Is...

I don't want to be too big a braggart, but I have to say, our bees are super productive, our queen is strong and our hive is an example of beehive perfection! I can't take all the credit of course, as the bees are doing most of the work, but I am turning out to be quite a good little beekeeper. I say this with my fingers crossed, but it is looking like we may have a honey harvest in our first year!
Look at all that honey!

July's HCBA BeeBQ...

A big thank you to Carrie and Arthur Naatz for having us all over to eat and socialize! The food was great and there was plenty of it!
Anthony Trani attended the picnic and showed off some of his great beehive woodenware. He is a local craftsman and if you did not attend the picnic but would like to check out his work please click this link Anthony had a lot of nice stuff at very fair prices!
Some of us ventured down to the Naatz's beeyard. I love Carrie's choices of colors!
That's a good looking bunch of beekeepers!

Thanks again to Arthur and Carrie! See everyone in August!