Posts tagged ‘birthday’

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February 7th, 2013

Birthday Boy!

by Tiff

Today’s post is all about wishing a happy birthday to the world’s best dad! Happy Birthday Ol’ Man!

Germany

Today’s my dad turns the big Five-Oh! I’m honored to call him my dad and blessed to be his daughter, but most importantly (at least to me…) I’m happy to spend the next 50+ years with him in my life.

dad wedding

Though I’m sad I don’t get to see him until next month, you better believe I’m looking forward to it!

sweetwater

me n’ my boys at Sweetwater Brewery, ATL

One of the least important but most fun things Dad passed on to me was a respect for good beer. And on that note, I bring you another beer review. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, eh? This one is totally worth a write-up. I really enjoyed it!

beer

Sweetwater Brewing Company’s LowRYEder IPA (ABV 6.2%, IBUs 45)

  • Appearance: I had it in a bottle, so not much to note here except that the head in lingering.
  • Smell: earthy and a wee bit dank with some hoppy aroma as well
  • Taste: hoppy but not a hop-wallop, slightly sweet in a grassy way (not actually sweet in a fruity way)
  • Mouthfeel: thicker than expected yet smooth and moderately carbonated
  • Overall: great feel, great taste, and interesting aroma – I could enjoy this any season

As stated, I really liked this one. I was initially worried that the rye might create a more bitter flavor than I’d like, but it didn’t. This was really well balanced. No bitter-beer-face here!

bitter beerSources 1, 2, 3, 4

Had any good beers lately?

Posted in Brews | 18 Comments »

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August 24th, 2012

Birthdays n’ Brews

by Tiff

Thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes yesterday.  It really helped make the day special.  Although I had to work on my birthday, it still turned out to be a pretty good one.

I started off with a quick run in the morning.  Since I’m coming off an injury, I’d like to say I’m slowly building up my mileage, but that’d be a lie.  I’ve actually just been sticking to 2-mile jogs.  I may try for 3 miles next week, but I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I get there.

WIAW 033

After my run, I had my first Vega One shake (my first Vega product ever, actually).  I was impressed.  It was tasty, and the texture did not disappoint.  Vega sent this single-serve packet for me to try, and I’ll admit that I will certainly consider a future purchase.  According to Vega’s website:

Good for your body and the planet, Vega One Nutritional Shake is the clean, plant-based choice to fuel your healthy, active lifestyle—without compromise. Made from natural, whole food ingredients, Vega One is a convenient, all-in-one, supplement, packed with: 50% daily intake of vitamins and minerals, 15g protein, 6g fibre, 1.5g omega-3, antioxidants, probiotics, and greens.

Formulated by Brendan Brazier, professional Ironman triathlete and bestselling author on performance nutrition, Vega One is free from dairy, gluten and soy, and contains no added sugar, artificial flavours, colours or sweeteners.

Not all of yesterday’s beverages were so healthy.

I met Kevin and a couple friends out for happy hour after work.  I was drinking Samuel Adams Boston Lager (since it was on special that night), and then Samuel Adams promo peeps came in with a contest.

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It wasn’t a drinking contest; it was a test of strength.  Their “Raise the Stein” competition includes holding a large (maybe 32 oz?) glass mug filled with water out in front of you (as pictured) for as long as you can.  I held it for 2 min 7 sec.  Maybe I could have gone longer, but I spilled a little at the end, which put me out of the running.

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But hey – I still won!  That’s $20 gift card to the bar, and the promo guy let me keep my stein since it was my bday.  I could have gone to the city’s finals in order to win tickets to our local Oktoberfest and be entered to win a trip to the real deal in Munich.  However, I was informed that I’d be competing against ladies much larger than myself who held their mugs well over 3 minutes.  I decided to quit while I was ahead.

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More birthday fun ensues today, and I can’t wait.  Happy Friday!

 

  • Ever competed in a crazy contest?  A bar contest?  Did you win?

Posted in Brews | 18 Comments »

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August 23rd, 2012

Book of the month… or at least the moment

by Tiff

I started this book on Monday.  Though I’m not done with it yet, I’m enjoying it.  I was concerned since I saw the movie Julie & Julia, but this is different.  Julia describes her expat times in France while fumbling through the language and developing a passion for cooking.

 

As you can imagine, it makes me want to live abroad for a while (as if I didn’t already).  Did you know there are expat job boards out there?  Just sayin…

Back to the book.

Reading this also makes me want to cook.  It won’t give the reader an urge to make some Hamburger Helper.  It makes the reader pretend he or she is a chef making something fabulous.

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By “fabulous,” I mean something with 30 ingredients and a 2-hour cook time.  You know, like something from one of the gourmet magazines.

I always find myself restricted by the desire to cook healthier meals, time constraints, and budget constraints.  For instance, the hubs and I both adore slow roasted lamb, possibly in coconut milk with spices, but that’s not exactly the leanest, cheapest, or quickest meal.

Nevertheless, a girl can dream… and eat this in the meantime.

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I quickly whipped up this vegetarian shepherd’s pie last night after body pump. Delish!

In other book news, the renowned historian and author, John Keegan recently passed.  In his honor, I persuaded Kevin to buy the only book of his I’ve attempted to read, The First World War. Though I have yet to finish the book, I enjoyed the parts I read before having to return it to the library. Perhaps once we own it, we’ll both actually get ‘er done.

Lastly, today’s my birthday!  I’m 100 followers away from 1k on Twitter, so a great bday gift would be >1k by Sept.  Sorry to be a ham, but it’d be cool.  And since it’s a special day, I leave you with a funny.

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Posted in Food, Uncategorized | 16 Comments »

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August 20th, 2012

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

by Tiff

Change is in the air.  There isn’t a huge gust of change, but I feel the breeze.  Here’s what’s up…

It’s my birthday week, so my age will change on Thursday.  Last year’s bday was a bit more exciting since I hit the quarter-century mark.  26?  Meh.  No biggie, but it’s still a reason to have a celebratory brewski.

birthday

I got a promotion at work, so I start my new job in a couple weeks.  This new role will allow me to work from home 4 days per week.  Since I’m not a big fan of commuting, dry cleaning my work clothes, or even just putting on makeup every day, this is huge.  I see lots of kitty snuggles in my future.

cats

Kevin starts grad school soon.  As he studies, I hope to put a little more time into the blog.  I guess that means two changes, less party time but hopefully a blog makeover.  We’ll see how it goes.  Either way, there will be a more weekend dinners at home like the one from Friday.  (Don’t worry, I still got my party fix on Saturday.)

dinner

Lastly, summer hours are wrapping up at the office.  This means I only have one or two more Friday’s off from work.  (Waaaah!  No more Friday afternoons on the lake.)  On the bright side, I’ll be putting in slightly less hours M-Th.  My workouts will be back to normal soon.  I plan to start a workout very similar to this in September.  Wish me luck!

boat

  • Any changes going in with you?

Posted in Out & About | 20 Comments »

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August 2nd, 2012

Happy Birthday Kevin!

by Tiff

Happy Birthday to the best hubby a woman could want.  Thanks for being awesome.

kev

the ol’ man

 

He’s exactly one year and two weeks older than I am, so I for these two weeks, I get to call him an old man.  I know… loving terms of endearment…

Psssst… mine’s the hot one

By the way – y’all know how I’ve raved about Sierra Nevada’s Southern Hemisphere Harvest before, right?  It’s one of my favorite beers.  The Foaming Head recently tweeted their video review.  I found it both interesting and on-point, even the comment about larger craft breweries.

 

Cheers to beers and birthdays!

What would be your birthday beer or cake?

I’d pick this beer and more of these cheesecake bars, but not together… ;)

Posted in Brews | 12 Comments »

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